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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 1918)
..I Omaha Sunday PART ONE NEWS SECTION PAGES 1 TO 16 THE WEATHER Fair VOL. XLVIIl NO. 32. OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 20, 1918. FOUR SECTIONS. THIRTY-SIX PAGES. SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS. FIVE KILLED AS RUSSIAN ASSEMBLY OPENS; U. S. BREAKS BLOCKADE; SHIPS TO GET FUEL The Bee o f- f ; ? RAILROAD WO? IS EAST RELIEVED AS COAL CARS ARE RUSHED Enforcement of Five-Day Closing Order Results in Little Disturbance to Business; Food and War Industries Are Not Affected By Fuel Administrator's , Recent Drastic Ruling. Washington, Jan. 19. Reports to the fuel administration today showed, transportation congestion throughout the 'east be ing cleared and bunker coal being unloaded in increasingly large quantities. Few empty cars, however, have be-0 gun to move back yet to the coal; OUT DAvvtMLpR mines. CONFUSION CONTINUES. Although much of the confusion at tending the enforcement of the fuel administration's five-day closing order continued' today, it was evident that its application would be far less dras tis than first believed. FOOD INDUSTRY EXEMPT. A list of interpretations in speci fic cases which probably will be given general application was being prepared. In addition' food administrators gay be expected to make further ex emptions in the case of food produc ing plants and related industries. Food Administrator Hoover yester day interpreted the closing order to mean that no. check would be pur on the manufacfuring or distribution of arty essential food product. War Work Not Affected. Considerable relief was expressed by officials here when it was learned that most of the plants engaged in government war contracts had been exempted. The country at large was ignorant of, these exceptions how ever, until late yesterday, when ad ministration officials admitted thai itnnnrtsnt war wnrt wnnld tint he affected. Dr. Garfield then made public the list prepared by Secretaries Baker and Daniels including manufacturers of gas masks, explosives, machine guns, rifles, small -arms and ammuni tion; forging, electrical supplies and tool steel for the government de stroyers and destrov.ee jxarts;?ajrcraft and aircraft parts: signal corps equip -wentj -Wbm g, -Joeamotiveship"; equipment; woolens for uniforms; tenting and optical supplies. s , Ship Yards Under Special Ruling. " Ship yards were' not named in or ders, but Avill continue' to operate un der special ruling, as will virtually an ore piouuLiiiK mines. There will be no more general ex emptions, it was announced, except over : the signatures of Secretaries Baker and Daniels. Liberal interpre tations, however, will be given to rules applying to raw material. Backed by vigorous defense of the president. Dr. Garfield today gave his attention to the situation at At lantic ports. Immediate improvement in the situation is expected and more than a million tons of shipping de tained will be on its way in a short Backed by Wilson, t In the face of President Wilson's statement that . the . order was issued with his full acknowledge and ap proval and another explanation from Dr. Garfield. declaring, that the rail road congestion is threatening the food supply,- vigorous opposition in congress apparently has spent itself. 'On instructions from Director Gen eral McAdoo to-co-operate with the fuel administration, railroad officials set about directing coal shipments. Few violations have, been noted by fuel officials and these, it was be lieved, were 'due ' to" misunderstand- Serious consideration was given by Fuel Administrator Garfield today to the request of theaters that they be permitted to close on Tuesdays rather than on Mondays. It was indicated that the change might be nade. Wilson Opposes Creation Of Munitions Director Washington, Jan. 19. It was stated officially today that President Wil son's opposition to the creation of a minister of munitions with a cabinet rant extends to the proposed crea- tion pt a director or mu, o, m . ciah1ifiment of a war council ol director or munitions ana . i three. He is said to feel that the proposed laws would have the same effect as that to which he was opposed. The Weather For Nebraska Fair; continued -old, 1 . . Temperatures ( urnans leBienwj. Hours. ve- a. m m P. 3 P. 1 8F" I a p. I I 4 p. m 1 T p. m ' Coinparoiivt I-wal Rrroril. I 1918. 1917. 1916. 1915 Highest rKterday ... 15 43 3 31 Lowest ypsttrday ... 23 14 IT Mean temperature .. 12 S3 23 24 I'recipltatlon & -r2 -07 Temperature and precipitation departure from the normal: Normal temperature !0 Deficiency for the day Total deficiency elnce Mafckj 1 12 Normal precipitation 02 Inch Ieflclency for the day 62 Inch Total rainfall since March 1.... 22.11 Inchei" deficiency elnce March 1 7.68 inches Deficiency for cor. period 1917. 12. 7 lnchen Delicieucy for cor. period, 191. 1.75 lncaea IV. mm 1 K u m 11 a u?M. imtf P m 7 ft m 7 n 12 ft vJJ A 8 12 &f ' a. m 12 7 s I 10 a. m 13 SylV W 1 p. m i 16 - 3 p. m M i u i..; 14 13 12 .11 TO DESTINATIOS uui I nuuLnuui TRAINS TO SPEED FREIGHT HAULS M'Adoo May Take Drastic Step to Relsase Locomotives for Needed Service in Eas ing Tie-Up. (By Associated Press.) Washington, Jan. 19. The railroad situation in the middle west is so serious ,thhat Secretary McAdoo, di rector general of the railroads, may suspend half of the present passen ger trains for two days to release locomotives for freight. At the same time the railroad administration was rushing locomo tives out of repair shops and from railroads in the west to help get trains through the heavy snowdrifts in states along the Ohio river. The railroads of the middle west were reported moving only from 20 to 40 per cent of their normal freight. Speed Ship Loading. Freight congestion on wharves along the Atlantic seaboard, officials said, will continue until ships are bunkered and set free. The shipping board and the War and Navy de partments turned. -their attention to speeding up loading arrangements' and perfecting a-plan --for more ef ficiency in loading and unloading. Theaters today won their appeal for a tnodifi&tioh! of the closing of der to permit them t,remain open on the Monday holidays and close on Tuesday. The fuel administration today ruled that lumber mills working on emerg ency fleet contracts are exempt from the order, but at the same time it re fused to exempt a long list of, indus tries which government officials want-i ed exempted hecause they are de clared to be working on war orders. A few reports of violaticn of the order reached the fuel administration today. These were turned over to the Department of Justice for investiga tion. Fuel Flows to Homes. A iteadily increasing flow of fuel to ships, homes and public utilities was reported to the fuel administration to day 28 a result of the second day's enforcement of the fuel restriction order. Apparently the railroad congestion had not yet been much affected by the order but milder weather condi tions had! improved the situation in the east and at the same time bad weather paralyzed traffic again in the middle west. Business interests today seemed" to feel better about the government's action and hundreds of telegrams reached the White House and the fuel administration assuring the gov ernment of co-operation and a will ingness to undergo sacrifices as a patriotic duty.' Coal Reaches Seaboard. Coal was reported today reaching the seaboard in greater volume than any time in the last few weeks. The movement, if kept up, it was declared, will make it possible to bunker and send out all ships now held in port by lack of fuel. Homes and public utilities were re ceiving supplies of fuel diverted from the industries closed down. Coal production for the next few days probably will be far below nor mal, but fuel administration omciais expect it to increase as soon as the fl f t- undef : ' Flyer3 Stage Balloon Flight. A free balloon flight was made Sat urday from Fort Omiha. Lieutenant L. B. bchrff piloted the. big gas bag The northwest wind carried the bal- .oon into southeastern Iowa. McGuire and Fitzgerald Mix Over What Constitutes a Home City Prosecutor McGuire and Po lice Judge Fitzgerald, after Saturday morning's session of police court, ex changed words which would not be exjrtted at a peace parlance. Luci'le Reed, Fourteenth and Jack son streets, was tried on a charge of illegal possession of intoxicants. She was defended by Lloyd Magney and entered a plea that a bottle of whisky which was found in her ilace was taken from her "home" within the meaning of the prohibitoiy amend ment. She testified, however, that she main'ained a rooming house an. I a policeman testified that he had known d.srepiitable ' women to fre quent her place. Prose.-ufor M:Guire contended that by the woman's own testimony she U IW . 1 ill man -rZJ WAR STAMP MARK N EARS MILLION AS DRIVE CLOSES Hundreds of People Volunteer to Sell "Baby Bondsf Sub scrjptions Pour. Into Cam 4. HI paign -Headquarters. t Omaha committee of .)he war stamps drive has gone over the $750,- 000 mark in subscriptions. It is ex pected that when figures are totalled sometime after midnight tonight the total will be found crowding closely upon the heels of $1,000,000. Omaha people have responded with a generous spirit, and the workers fairly tumbled Over themselves to get to serve on the teams selling the stamps. So many . volunteered that .the committee was unable to find places for all of them, though "shock troops" were organized momentarily and sent out to certain districts which the committee had special reasons for wanting to canvass at the moment. Hundreds, of people who had not been solicited came into the head quarters of the ' committee volun tarily and bought stamps and cer tificates. Many $100 subscriptions came in this way. Following are some of the more re cent subscriptions of $1,000 and $500: $1,000 James E. Ludlow, W. R. Adair, Guy L. Smith, Alfis Garrotti, rideletfo tatonio, Mrs. frank Col petzer, James 8. Kilkenny, Paxton hotel, Klopp-Bartlett Printing com pany, Joe B. Redfield, Mrs, H. H. Fish, H. H. Fish, C. L. Farnsworth, Billings Dental Supply company and Major Walter btern. $500 VVaite H. Squier". Nichol Oil company, S. A. Houser, George F. Reim, Western Motor Car com pany. C. L. Gould, Studebaker corporation, Jonts-Hansen-Cadillac company, Joseph C. Weeth, M. G. Colpetzer, Richard Kitchen, W. F. Holmes, J. M. Hogan, Waters-Barn hart Printing company, H. E. Milli ken, G. F. Jones and Postal Tele graph company. Railroads Want Increased Rates From Missouri River Washington, Jan. 19. Railroads today applied to the Interstate Com merce commission for permission to increase export rates slightly on packinghouse products from Chi cago, Milwaukee, Louisville, St Louis, Denver, Fort Worth and Mis souri river points to gul: ports in or der to restore pre-existing relation- ships with rates to New York and other Atlantic ports. was amerable to the prohibitory law and he asked Judge Fitzgerald whether he intended to rvle in ac cordance with the plea of defendant, whereupon the judge flashed up and said: "I don't wart any of your news psper stuff in this court." "I am willing to iack up whatever I may a and if what 1 say is punish able, then I will stand on what i say," responded the prosecutor. Mr. Mi-Guire further told Judge Fitzgerald that if he intended to rule that livirg roo'iio in a "rooming house' constitute a "home" within the meaning cf the liquor laws, then he (McGuire) did not intend to take any more liquor cases to t'at court. The judge took the case under advisement jreuows Japs Land Troops At Vladivostok To Check Disorder Washington, Jan. 19. Although 5 wo battleships, one British and one apanese, are in the port of Vladi vostok,' reports to the State de partment do not indicate any con dition ashore to warrant landing troops. It is assumed here that the land ing of patrols from the Japanese cruiser as reported last n'ht, was due more to a fear that sorders might occur and in order to be pre pared if they did, than to any actual ' change in the situation, . , , HEAVIEST SNOW OF WINTER OVER WESTERN LINES Railroads- Prepare to Battle Blizzard if Storm Becomes ' Worse; Perishable Freight Held Back. The heaviest snowstorm of the winter in general over western Ne braska and west to the Rocky moun tains, according to reports to the rail roads. Burlington reports indicate that along the Wyoming line the snow be gan falling early Friday night and up to Saturday morning had attained a depth of 10 to 20 inches over the area lying between Edgemont, S. D., and Billings, Mont. Temperatures are 20 to 30 degrees above zero. Along the Burlington the Montana and Wyoming storm extends over into Nebraska, with three to six inches of snow as far east as Alliance Temperatures Around freezing.' The Northwestern reports six to 15 inches of snow all the way across country from Crawford, Neb., to Lan der, Wyo., and still snowing. Tem peratures are around freezing, or above. On the Union Pacific the morning reports indicated six to 18 inches of snow from east of North Platte to as far west as Ogden, Utah., with three feet in Echo canyon, and at every point along the line it was still snowing. At no place along the lines is the snow drifting. There is a little wind, but nothing aki , to a blizzard. Should the wind rise, a blizzard is certain, say the railroad men and in order to nght r succes?lully no chances are being taken. Snow plows are being put in condition and they are to be run out on the lines upon the appearance of the first signs of trouble. . While the railroad officials are not anticipating a blizzard, they are taking all possible precautions tha; they may be prepared for one. The loading of live stock is not being encouraged at country stations and perishable freight is being held back. Railroad men assert that the coun try to the west is in good shape to withstand the effect of a aiorm. The cities and towns are well supplied with provision of ah kinds and as a rule the stocks of coal, while not large, are sufficient to run several days in the event trains should be tied up and unable to reach destinations. Gets Thirty Days Upon Charge of Breaking Up tfome Fremont, Neb., Jan. 19. (Special Telegram.) Oscar E. Sallee. a car penter, was sentenced to 30 days in the county jail on a charge of vagran cy. Sallee was arrested on complaint of Judson Wren of North Platte, who charged Salee with breaking up his home.; . ' - r BIG SUM RAISED FOR PREACHERS BY PROTESTANTS Omaha Methodists Subscribe More Than $23,000 in Na- . ) tional Campaign; '. Ail -, Churchesjiclc Move. Omaha Methodists have already subscribed more than $23,000 in the national campaign for a Protestant preachers' pension fund, according to Rev. U. G. Brown, superintendent of the Omaha district of the Methodist church. The Methodists lead all Protestant denominations in the aWut.t sub- sc4lbed in the nationaf campaign. Rev. Mr. Brown says the fund the Metho dists have subscribed is already $12, 000,000 of the $34,000,000 total thus far subscribed throughout the United States. "We migh. have had a great deal more subscribed in Omaha had not so many other campaigns for money in tervened," said Rev. Mr. Brown. "Omaha has done splendidly on this as it has on the many bthcr cam paigns for the Red Cross, Young Men's and Young Womcn'i Christian associations, Liberty bonds, war stamps, Armenian relief, and a lot of other important work that came in since our campaign for the preachers' pension has been in progress. Nebraska. Quota $400,000. "The campaign still continues and will continue for some time. The quota for the Nebraska conference was fixed at $400,000. Omaha's quota was $50,000, as vas also the Lincoln quota. Many of our Omaha men sub scribed $1,000 apiece." Other Protesant churches Jn the city are working also on tMs cam (Contlnurd on rage Two..CMuina Two.) 3 German Owned" Yacht Is Seized by U. S. Marshal New York, Jan. 19. The steel pleasure yacht Joyeuse, said to be owned by Emil H. Kleuge, an un naturalized German of Englewood, N. J., was seized here today by United States Marshal McCarthy Federal authorities said the yacht, equipped with wireless, with Kleuge on board and manned by a Swedish crew, had been cruising re cently along the Atlantic coast. General Haig Announces New Chief of Staff London, Jan. 19. Among the many drastic changes Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig is making at Brit ish headquarters in France, according to the Times, is the appointment of Lieutenant General Sir Herbert A. Lawrence as his chief of staff. Price Fixers oi Food Body Slash Cent Per Pound Off Cornmeal Cornmeal has been reduced 1 cent ...! u.. .1,. ... T ti. ...... -f 1,1 wanna. new sc.icuu.c i J fair prices recommended by the com- ' mittee lists cornmeal at 5 cents per pound, whereas it was 6 cents for - merly. Rye flour is listed at $1.30 for. a 24-nnnnH sack, which is 10 cents rheaner than tln former figure. Eggs are listed at from 5 to 6 cents per dozen higher. Storage eggs at e listed at io ana W cents lor tn- tiesi RED GOVERNMENT LOSES IN FIRST TEST OF POWER AS SLAV CONGRESS MEETS Five Killed in Petrograd Riots; Control of Constituent Body and Elect Former Kerensky Minister Chairman; Bolshevik! v May Ignore New Government. BULLETIN. London, Jan. 19. The Bolsheviki members of the con stituent assembly and those belonging ta the left wing of the social revolutionists withdrew from the constituent assembly in Petrograd at its first meeting, according to a Russian wireless report of the session received today,' (By Associated Press.) f . Petrograd, Jan. 18. Five persons were killed and a dozen wounded by Red guards today in attendant upon the opening of sembly. BOLSHEVIKI, DEFEATED. On the first test of strength the Bolsheviki were defeated by the social revolutionists. M. Tchernoff, minister of agriculture in the Kerensky government and the nominee of the social revolutionists of the right for chairman of the assembly, was elected by a vote of 244 to 151. The candidate of the Bolsheviki was Maria Spiridonovo, long a prom inent revolutionists, who was released from exile in Siberia after the over throw of the Romanoffs. ' ,' O DEMOCRATS KEEP AWAY. PEACE PROMISE GIVEN SOLDIERS BY THE KAISER Scarcity of Food in Germany is Becoming Serious; People ; Are Restjes But Afraid to Organize. .(IV AkMctetaJ rrM.) ,'.;' British "'Army Headquarterl France, Jan. 19. Small infantry raids, with the customary amount of artil lery and air activity by both sides continue to be the order of the day along the British front. ; Much milder weather, accompanied by rain, has swept away the last, of the snow, but the mud remains as the dictator of military affairs. The opposing forces are continuing their . wily feeling-out processes throughout the long line by making surprise incursions into each other's trenches and returning with a few prisoners. The British lately have secured captives in this way. Prisoner Outlines Situation. One prisoner, who had thrice been wounded, made a statement in sub stance as follows: "The scarcity of food at home is very serious, xnere is nttie meat ana fatty substances and virtually no bread. Potatoes are very expensive, although there is no serious shortage. The people are in a state of unrest, but are afraid to attempt organized disturbances. "On Field Marshal von Hinden burg's birthday small busU of the general were placed on the street cor ners in nearly all German towns. In most places the people had hurled these to the ground before noon. "In Cologne there are over 12,000 deserters in various prisons." Promised Early Peace. Another prisoner said that for a year the German soldiers and people had been promised an early peace. Emperor William in reviewing a di vision after the battle of Cambrai said: ' ' . ' "Peace on the Russian front is as sured. It remains for us to force an early peace on the western front." Peace Negotiations At Brest Halted London, Jan. 19. The negotia tions at Brest-Litovsk have been in terrupted temporarily, according to a Petrograd dispatch to the Daily Mail dated Thursday, and the Rus sian delegation is returning to Pe trograd. The Germans, it is added, ap peared to be maneuvering to force the Russians to break the parley over a minor point, bo as to throw the blame on the Russian repre sentatives in the eyes of the Rus sian people. stoiage selects and the No. 1 stor . ace. resuectivelv. Only a few days ago the federal . f . . . . unred .ex consumption of storage eggs because the food value of these will from : now on deteriorate. At the sane time the administration recommended a wholesale price at basic-points, such as Chicago. Pittsburgh. Atlan- tic coas. etc. Now the Omaha deal- J ers say there are scarcely any eggs ( left in storage in Omaha and there- i lore tney raise uic yntc. Social Revolutionists Gain an attempt to quell disorder the long-delayed constituent at-. This defeat was administered with- out the ' help of the constitutional democrats, whose members did not attend the opening session. Much uncertainty exists as to what effect the convening of the new body will have upon the foreign and do mestic policies of Russia. , There have been intimations from the Bolsheviki side that the new body would be ignored by the Bol sheviki and an .independent legisla- r tive body set up if the assembly,"""' should definitely challenge the Bp3 sheviki power. ' ; - r I , " ' 'Chafonan Was Under Fire; V " -J i' lnsecalled that the chairman" of me assemoiy, ai, iencrnorr, was un der fire as a member of the Kerensky government, being accused of pro Germanism and of having relations with the enemy. "' He was afterwards rehabilitated, however, and continued a strong in fluence in social revolutionary circles. In November he was one of the1 po litical leaders who attended a con ference at Russian headquarters when an.. effort was under way. to form a new government in opposition to the Bolsheviki. ' . .-'';'. Some disorder preceded the open ing of the assembly, five persons he i j killed and. a dozen wounded in street fighting. ' " y Relations between the' Bolsheviki and Roumania are at the breaking point. The Ninth Russian army has demanded that the Roumanian army on two hours', notice permit the Rus sians free passage through Jassy. , i Allies Protect King. Kine Ferdinand, whose arrest has been ordered by Premier Lenine, is reported to be under the protection of thch entente allies.' In Italy, as in France, the fighting fronts have settled down to :the usual winter routine of raids and ar tillery duels at various points. ) There has been no break , in the monotony on the western front, the pntisn portion or wnicn., is. now : sea of mud, the snow haying disap peared. . . " ' ' f Briti-h laboring men - have- been told by Premier Lloyd George that the new man power bill is urgent and that Great Britain "must either go on or go under. '. He praised the war-aims ot rresK dent Wilson and declared he wanted to be informed if any man could find an honorable and equitable way .out of the war without -fighting it through to overthrow, German mili- . tarism. . The premier said he was to appeal to the country on the army issue , Body of Vrank H.You,ig, Drowned at Pensacola, Found Broken Bow, Neb-, Jan. 19. (Spe cial.) A telegram was received here today by H. Lomax stating that the bod v of Frank' H.- Young, lost' off "the coast of Florida between Decem ber 24 and 26 last, has been recover ed and turned over to an undertaker at Pensacola. James Lomax, Yuong's son-in-law, leaves here . tonight for the latter place to identify and bring home the remains. Alpha Morgan, who was the last to see Young alive, returned, to Broken M Bow the first ; of the week after having conducted an active search for the body 4 ' Third Balloon Squadron u -, Leaves for Atlantic Port The Third ' Balloon squadron, in training at Fort Omaha for several months, left Thursday afternoon at $ o'clock for "an Atlantic seaport. .The squadron consisted of about 500 offi-, cers and-men. Baggage for the de tachment left several days prior t$ , the departure of the men. i - j.-'r" The destination of the troops is not . known, but it is believed they will be sent to France within a. few weeks. Additional training in eastern artillery camps is possible, but not thought probable by the men in tire" camp. The squadron -was undtr the corn mind of Major Bosttcher, . ,
