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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 1918)
Omaha Daily, Be s THE WEATHER Fair VOL. XLVII. NO. 172 OMAHA, FRIDAY MORNING, JANUARY 4, 1918. TEN PAGES. SINGLE COPY TWO CENTS THE TElJTlvfS 9 f- KAISER SEES HIS PEACE TERMS REJECTED AND HAS fW OFFER TO BOLSHEVIKI Crisis Near at Hand in Peace Negotiations; Reichstag May Be Convened; Russian Workmen Starting for Trenches Stop German Movement of Troops to Western Front fbr Big Offensive. (By Associated FrM.) ' A crisis is near in g in the Riuso-German peace negotiations and indications are that a definite break is not far off. The Russian government has demanded that the confer ence, which was to have reconvened on January 4, be trans ferred to Stockholm, and has protested against the German at titude regarding occupied territory. A resumption of hostilities is not improbable should 'the Germans decline to meet the Russian demands. VATSTTP MOW WORRTF.n. O Emperor William and the rulers of Germany apparently are aroused over the sudden change in the situa tion and the German and Austrian foreign secretaries are reported hur rying back to Brest-Litovsk with new instructions. German military and political lead ers conferred yesterday with the em peror and there is a widespread de mand throughout Germany that the Reichstag be convened immediately: Reichstag leaders at a conference with Foreign Secretary von Kuehl mann discussed the situation and the leaders of the regular and independent socialists are reported to have ex pressed dissatisfaction with the Ger man attitude concerning occupied territory. TO RELIEVE WESTERN FRONT. A breaking off in Reaee negotiations probably will upset all German plans to press a formidable attack on the western front. Confidence is ex pressed in Petrograd that the Rus sian government might put an army of 3,000,0(10 men in the field and the Bolsheviki Red Guard made up of armed Russian workme already has staited toward the fighjyig front. A complete break undoubtedly would compel the Germans to return to the eastern- front the troops" they have taken away within the past six weeks and would make it impossible for the Germans to renew trade re lations with Russia in order to ob tain much needed foodstuffs. Serious Dispute at First Meeting. London,' Jan. 3. Petrograd dis patches indicate that differences de veloped at the first meeting there of the Russian and German commis sioners for the discussion of economic relations. The Germans desired to reach an understanding with the Rus sians regarding regulation of railroad transit between the two countries. The Russian delegates strongly em phasized their unwillingness to go be yond the lines indicated in the armis tice, and .refused to fix regulations vi;thout precise definition as to what classes of persons and goods the rail roads were to carry. Prisoners Likely to Remain. A Petrograd dispatch to the Post says a very large proportion of the German war prisoners and still larger proportion of the Austrians will re turn to their fighting fronts only under compulsion, lhey have not been confined in prison camps but have lived among the people and everywhere have proved their woth in agricultural, industrial, (commercial and even artistic pursuits. Many of them are getting on better than they did at home and are more than con tented to remain in Russia. Furthermore, it is improbable, thS dispatch says, that Germany desires the return from Russia of a majority of her war prisoners. She tfill get back the officers and non-commissioned officers in any case, and many of them already have returned. But (Continued on Yuge Two, Column One.) The Weather i'or Nebraska Fair; warmer. Temperatures at Omaha Yesterday. Hour. Desr. ...19 ...20 ...20 ...20 ...20 ...22 ...25 6 a. m. 6 a. m. 7 a. m. 8 a. m. 9 a. m. li) a. m. 11 a. m. 12 in 27 1 Ffni.... 2 p. m.... 3 p. m . . . . 4 p. m . . . . f. p. m..,. 6 p. m. , . . , 7 p. m..... 8 p. m.... Loral Record. ...36 ...35 ...34 ...82 ...31 Compare Uto 1918. 1917. 191. 1315. Kfcrtest yesterday.. 36 46 44 zd 38 46 44 18 23 20 27 34 32 Lofcest yesterday... 18 ZJ z " Mean temperature.. 27 34 32 24 Precipitation 00 .00 .00 .00 Temperature and precipitation departures from the normal: Normal temperature Excess for the day..... Total deficiency since March 1 454 degrees Normal precipitation 02 inch Deficiency for the day 0! Inch Total precipitation since Mar. 1 21.84 Inches Deficiency since Mr. 1 747 inches Deficiency for cor. period In 'IS 12.69 inches Deficiency for cor. period in 1915 1.90 Inches Ronnrts irom Bunions i r. ax. station and State Temp. High- Rain of Weather. IP. n. Cheyenne, cloudy 51 Davenport, cloudy 18 Denver, cloudy 58 Dea Moines, clear 26 Dodgre City, clear 42 Lander, clear 4 North Platte, claar 42 Omaha, clear .....32 Pueblo, cloudy ..-...... 58 Rapid City, part cloudy 46 Salt Lake, cloudy 42 Santa Fe, part cloudy... 44 Sheridan, clear 26 Sioux City City, clear.. 33 Valentine, clear 44 est. fall. .00 T. ,00 .00 .10 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .oo .00 .00 .00 .00 58 20 66 28 50 54 66 36 7" 0 53 54 44 34 (0 inaicaiea iraco i ijrpwpiwuun, 4T" - lu A. WELSH, Meteorologist. FRENCH CAPTURE MORE MEN THAN THEY HAD IN FIGHT Small Force Takes Large Num ber of Prisoners and Counts Many Dead Left on the Field. BULLETIN. Headquarters of the Italian Army in Northern Italy, Wednesday, Jan uary 2. The enemy today attempted to gain the west bank of the Piave river, to offset the loss of Zenson, but met with a quick repulse and the en tire west bank now is definitely clea and held by the Italians. A landing party on flat boats attempted to cross near Intestadura, but an intense ar tillery and machine gun fire concen trated on the boats led to the abandonment -of the attempt before the west bank was reached. Record Making Fight. (By Associated Frees.) Italian Headquarters in Northern Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 2. The French in their recent successful op eration on Monte Tomba captured more prisoners than . they had men engaged, according to a veteran of ficer who witnessed the fight. "It was a record making fight in many respects," he declared. "Just think, the French took more prison ers than they had men engaged. They also captured their first Austrian pris oners; which is another milestone for them, as heretofore they had cap tured only Germans. " "In addition to the 1,400 prisoners we counted 560 dead on the ground and no one knows how many more were in the caverns and underbrush. The perfect French military system enabled them to accomplish tltis with insignificant loss less than 50 men. "The SOth Austrian division, which was the one attacked, is considered a good fighting organization. But the Austrians were accustomed to fight ing Russians and Roumanians, and this was the; first time they had met the highly-trained French troops. The result was that rawness and indisci pline were swept away before disci pline and training. "When the' prisoners were brought in I never saw a more miserable, piti ful, starved lot of soldiers. They looked like the riff-raff from the slums of some big city. Even the officers appeared underfed and underclothed and I saw only one with a whole pair of breeches." ' Twenty Men of Draft Age Enlist Under Navy Colors Twenty men of draft age enlisted in the navy Wednesday. "The number of enlistments , would have been larger," said Ensign Condjct, "had the boys known tnat it was necessary to get a certificate from their local exemption boards. As a result of their failure to do so we were forced to turn them down. The more de termined ones telegraphed their boards for the certificates and were compelled to remain in Omaha pend ing the action of the exemption of ficials." With the exception of about five, most of the enlisted men were from the rural precincts of South Dakota, Fish Commissioner Wants to Go Into Fish business in Omaha "Can the state take out a license and become fish peddler in Omaha?" W. J. O'Brien, superintendent of state fisheries of Nebraska, wants to know. He Has 700 pounds of good fish he wants to sell in Omaha. He has written to State Food Administrator Wattles to ask about the license. The legal phase of the situation i being looked up. Mr. O'Brien, acting for the state, is seining the lakes of the state to take out the coarse fish to help the food supply at present, and at the same time to prepare the lakes for a stock of a better grade of young fish next spring. A few days ago he took 700 pounds of fish out of Lake Quinnebaugh, near - -r aft. Th HOCK ISLAND . TURNS FREIGHT TO OTHER LINES Gives Way to Burlington and ' Missouri Pacific to Speed Hauls Over More Direct Routes. Kansas City, Mo., Jan. 3. Volun tary pooling of rails, terminals and equipment of the 14 railroads en tering Kansas City and the terminal company, was announced today, fol lowing meetins of the local commit tee of the railway car service com mission. The agreement went into effect at nooa today. Officials of the Rock Island rail road announced that the company had surrendered its freight business between Kansas City and Leaven worth and South Omaha and Coun cil Bluffs, giving way to the Burling ton and Missouri Pacific, more direct lines. Take Care of Employes. Chicago, Jart. 3. In accordance with governmental instructions, rail road executives in Chicago, as in other parts of the country, were busy today adjusting their working forces to care for the hundreds of business solicitors and similar employes whose services in their particular lines are not re quired under government operation'; It was said that there would be little difficulty in each line placing its own men, as approximately 70,000 railroad men have joined the colors, which intensified an already acute la bor situation. Reports that advertising depart ments were to be wiped out were said by Gerrit Fort, passenger traffic man ager of the Union Pacific, to have only a small foundation. "Existing advertising contracts will (Contlnned on' Pace Two, Colnmii One.) FIRE DESTROYS MUNITION DEPOT IN PETROGRAD Petrograd, Wednesday, . Jan. 3.- Eleven hundred airplane machine guns and a quantity of ammunition were destroyed and approximately 20 persons killed as the result of a mys terious fire and explosion today in a military depot in the Gutuyevsky basin in Petrograd. Decatur, the lake upon whose shady shores the Boy Scouts of Omaha camped for weeks lastummer. In the lot he got catfish, carp, buffalo, and many other varieties which are not considered most desirable in the lakes of Nebraska. Some of these will have to be marketed in Omaha, according to Mr. O'Brien, and it is for this rea son that he wants to know immediate ly what wiir be the status of the commonwealth of Nebraska as a fish peddler. ' Before going to Lake Quinnebaugh, O'-Brien and his assistants -took be tween eight and nine tons of fish out of Jackson lake in Dakota county. That was during the month of No- vemt day, ember. These fish, taken out day by were largely marketed locally. J TheOmahaBeefaineJ v-z 'A '''K ' prp'a n. Rpasnn CROVDER SAYS ONLY CLASS ONE WILL j CALLED Provost- Marshal - Tells Con gress Only Men Now Listed Will Be Used in Draft Army. Washington, Jan, 3. Provost MarJ shall General Crowder, reporting to congress today on the progress of the draft, expresses for the firs time a definite promise and aim of the gov ernment .not to take for army duty any other men than those listed in class one of the new draft question naire. - This classification excludes married men entirely whose wives or families are dependent on them for support, and other men with dependents. General Crowder does this on the estimate that 1,000,000 men physically fit for army duty will be available from class one. This number he thinks sufficient for the present mili tary needs of the nation, but to as sure the future supply for those needs he recommends that men who have become 21 years since June 5, 1917, (the first draft), and who become of age hereafter shall be added to class one as they come available. This will insure, the general estimates, a supply of 700,000 men a year. General Crowder outlines tJhc new policy in this language: "Whether this guess (1,000,000 available men) be justified in prac tice or not,lt can be announced now as the policy and belief of this of fice that in all probability it will be possible to fill our military needs without Invading any class more de ferred than class one; and this is the promise, the standard, and the goal, here for the first time announced, to ward which every administrative ef fort of this office shall be directed." Also, in the interest of fair distribu tion of the military burden, General Crowder proposes that the quotas of states or districts be determined here after on the basis of the number of men in class one and not upon popu lation. Class one comprises: Single men without dependent rela tives, married men who have habitual ly failed to support their families, who are dependent upon wives for support or not usefully engaged, and whose families are supported by incomes in dependent of their labor; unskilled farm 'laborers, unskilled industrial laborers, registrants by or in respect of.whom no deferred classification is claimed or made, registrants who fail to submit questionaire and in respect of whom no deferred classification is claimed or made, and all registrants not included in any other division of the schedule. The plan places upon unattached single men and married men with in dependent incomes most of the weight of military duty, for the number of men in the other divisions of class one are very small. City Council Will Apply Pruning Knife to Salaries City council will sit at 9 o'clock Safurday morning as a budget board to apportion the 1918 general fund of $1,750,000. Total of what the de partments want amounts to more than the general fund. The pruning knife will be applied. Undercurrent of talk indicates the probability of the salary lists of several of the boards being reduced. TROTZKY NOW SPURNS KAISER PEACE TERMS. TO DEFEND COUNTRY Bolsheviki Government Prepares to Resume Fighting With An Army of Three Million Men; Break Comes When Germans Refuse to Remove Conference to Stock holm or Other Neutral Ground; Russian Factions Reunit- ' ing for Supreme Struggle. Petrograd, an. 3.-The Bolsheviki foreign minister, Leon Trotzky, declared to day that the government of the Russian workers would not consent to the Ger man peace proposals. , M. Trotzky's declaration was made before the central committee of the councO of soldiers' and workmen's delegates, during an address in which he denounced in scathing terms "Germany's hypocritical peace proposals." He asserted that the government of Russian workers would not consent to such conditions, and that if the central powers did not agree to free disposal of the des tiny of the Polish and Lettish nations it would be urgently necessary to defend the Russian revolution. M; Trotzky said the needs at the front would be satisfied, whatever efforts might be necessary, ' BOLSHEVIKI NAME EXILES AS MINISTERS Ambassador to London and Ministers to Sweden and Switzerland Appointed by New Republic, Petrograd, Wednesday, January 2. Three appointments of Russian rep resentatives abroad were announced today by the Bolsheviki government. The appointees are: Ambassador at London, M. juuvin- off. Minister to Switzerland, M. Kar- pinski. v Minister to Sweden. M. Borovsky- trlovsky. All three appointees were exiles un der the imperial government. TURN OVER PRISONERS. The Bolsheviki government has turned over to revolutionary tribunals on charges of resistance to the Bol sheviki authorities the following: Colonel L. De Maier, Russian mili tary attache at The Hague; M. Yac hontoff, in Japan; Colonel O. Enkel, Russian military attache at Rome; Major' General Yermotcff, Russian military-attache at London. England. France and the United States have asked of the Bolsheviki authorities what disposition will be made of the foreign property in the banks when the banks have become entirely nationalized. Ihere is no mistaking the meaning of the telegrams sent by Chairman Joffe of the Russian peace delega tion to the chairman of the German, Austrian, Bulgarian and Turkish dele gations. He declares the Russian re public deems it necessary to conduct further peace negotiations on neutral soil and suggests 1 a transfer of the conference to Stockholm, The tele grams declare that replies to the mes sage are expected by Russian in Petrograd. N Objects tcTerms. Objections are raised to specific paragraphs in the German proposals. They are: Articles 1 and 2 of the Austro-Ger-man terms submitted December 12 (December 25 new style), the mes sage says, are in .direct conflict with the principles of self-definition of na tions insisted upon by the Russian peace delegation and supported by the Russian republic, atod the central ex ecutive committee of the congress of workmen and soldiers' delegates. Flower Merchant, Aged 7 Years,. Is Main Support of Large Family Jackie Stock, 7 years old, is the youngest street flower merchant in Omaha. He starts in the morning with a capital of 1 cent and before the day's work is done nctsfrom $2 to $3. Jackie knows nothing about eco nomics, but he knows how to invest in a business which. will bring him profits at the, rate of 300 to 1,000 per cent, ibis is the way he does it In the morning he goes straight to one of the flower shops and buys one of . i i La the short stemmed carnations v Then he is ready to be a salesman. The next scene takes place in the lobby of some hotel or on a street corner where the little flower urchin is telling some young man .about the beauty of flowers. Finally after he has quoted the Biblical reference to Solomon and the lily of the desert he convinces the customer aai col lects a nicKei piece, ' WILL DEFEND RUSSIA. Representatives from all the fronts who attended the meet ing declared the troops would defend the revolution, but said bread and boots were necessary. The halt in the negotiations and indications of a German refusal to remove the conference to Stockholm have revived universal discussion in Petrograd of a resumption of fighting -with a greatly reduced army, probably 3,000,000 men. I Even the most radical Bolsheviki and the most ardent peace advocates have been aroused by the German position. They declare that a resumption of hostilities is imminent and express the belief that it is possible to organize and make effec tive a small army. V Indications are that the German attitude is harmonizing domestic differences and is convincing Russians that they must fight to save their revolutionary principles. r ; JOFFE WIRES RUSS ULTIMATUM. Chairman Joffe of the Russian peace delegation today sent an official telegram to the chairman of the German, Austrian, Bulgarian and Turkish delegations, saying the Russian republic deems it necessary to conduct further peace negotiations on neutral soil and suggesting a transfer 'of the conference to Stockholm. The telegram declares that replies to the message are expected by Russia in Petrograd. The Germans are reported to have transferred 300,000 civilian Poles and Lithuanians forcibly to Germany. General Korniloff, former commander-in-chief and one of the leaders in the movement against he Bolsheviki, has arrived in the district of the Don Cossacks. (The death of General1 Korniloff was reported unofficially on Tuesday). The members of former Russian governments who are un der arrest in the fortress of St Peter and St. Paul have aban doned their hunger strike. x N DENOUNCED AS LIES. ' The Izvestia today gives the text of a pamphlet which the Bolsheviki are circulating in the German lines, in which it is declared that the peace con ditions submitted by the central powers show the Austro-German promises of a democratic peace to be "unconscionable lies," and describes the actions of the Germans in Poland and Lithuania in recruiting forced labor and shoot-' ing hunger strikers. i UKRAINIANS ISSUE ULTIMATUM. A dispatch from' Kiev reports that the Ukranian government has sent an ultimatum to the Bolsheviki demanding that they withdraw their troops within 24 hours and state whether they, consider themselves at war or at peace with Ukraine.. Shipments of sugar and grain to northern Russia have been cut off. i A small party of delegates frorm the Ukraine elected to the constituent assembly arrived here today and demanded an answer from the council of people's commissioners as to when the constitutent assembly would open. A conference of all parties, except the Bolsheviki, from which the mem bers of the Left of the social revolutionists withdrew, decided that the con stituent assembly could be opened upon the arrival in Petrograd of one-third of tho membership. TWO AMERICANS KILLED IN YAQVI RAID ON TRAIN Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 3. H. J. Poe of Los igeles and Miguel Martinez ofNogales, Ariz., Amerkans, were among the 36 persons killed yester day when Yaqui Indians attacked a Southern Pacific . of Mexico train south of Empalme, Sonora, accord ing to messages reaching the rail road's offices here today. Poe pre viously was reported among the dead. Now he is ready ta.buy five carna tions, but he does not do that. He gets two carnations, a red one and a white one, and one rose. To make $2 by selling short stemmed flowers requires skill and ingenuity and Jackie has discovered the secret. He also seems to know by intuition that love is blind. ' Next he sets out to canvass the office buildings. He not only inter ests the office boy and telephone girl but also enters the private offices. He . ... , r caters to all in a democratic way, for money is money to him. Jackie attends Cass school and lives at 1809 Burt street. When he can't work all day he works after school and in the evenings. He give9 all his money to his mother, as he is the main support of the family con sisting of father, mother, sisters and brothers. The father is incapacitated or work, BOLSHEVIKI SEIZE ANOTHER AMERICAN BANK Moscow Branch of National City Bank of New York Closed, But Manager Not Arrested. Petrograd, Wednesday, Jan. 2. The Moscow branch of the National City bank of New York, which for several days escaped the general order for the confiscation of all banks there, was seized by the Bolsheviki Saturday night. H. J. Dreher, the manager, was not arrested. The Petrograd branch of the Na tional City bank, which was seized by the Bolsheviki a week ago, expects to arrange to take care of the financial needs of American residents in a few days. The currency shortage in Rus sia is becoming increasingly serious. Not Reported to Washington. Washington, Jan. 3. News of the Bolsheviki seizure of banks in Mos cow reached the State department to day i.i diplomatic dispatches which, however, wade no specific mention of the National City bank's branch. Madrid Palace Burns. Paris, Jan. 3. A Havas dispatch from Madrid says that the royal pal, ace at La Granja, near Madrid, is oaj fire. Details of the fire are . not JLknOWD- n. i I I