Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, January 28, 1918, Image 1

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    The
Daily
Bee
MAHA
VOL. XLVH. NO. 192.
OMAHA, MONDAY' JIORNING, JANUARY 28, 1918.
6 Trslss. tt MsMs.
Nmh Km, I ft.. J.
SINGLE COPY
CENTS
I-
THE WEATHER
Warmer '
" i ' ,1
i t
PACKERS' SLUSH FUND
IS USED TO STOP PROBE
OF BIG MEAT CONCERNS
Members of Congress Who Favored Investigation of Live
stock Industry Hounded, Secret Federal Information
PriedJnto and Reported to "Big Four"
at Chicago, Says Heney.
(By Associated Frr.)
Washington, Jan. 26. Confidential reports on the atti
tude of congressmen toward legislation for an inquiry into the
live stock and .packing industry, taken from the secret files of
big packing concerns, were read today into the records of the
Federal Trade commission's meat packing investigation. 1
In addition to the continued recital of efforts made by
the packers to forestall affirmative action by congress in 1916
on the Borland resolution for an inquiry, the commission was
given further indication of the ramifications of the packers'"
financial control.
HOUNDED CONGRESSMEN. 0.
Francis J. Heney,' special counsel,
'said this extended to the street rail
way lines of Kansas City, to banks
throughout the country and to the
tin industry. j
Alleged political retribution visited
on congressmen inimical to the pack
ers' interests, will be one of the
major subjects taken up -next week,
according to Mr. Heney, who an
nounced that he would offer evidence
designed to show that one representa
tive was defeated with the aid of the
packers, after he made a fight for an
investigation of their business.
"Insidious" methods of endeavor
ing to influence congressmen through
business for their law firms, and by
appealing to their political welfare
will be developed, Mr. Heney told the
commission. '
GET INSIDE INFORMATION. '
' After it had been disclosed today
that in 1916, R. C. McManus, of coun
sel for Swift and Company, made a re
port to the company giving a re
sume of a complaint filed with the
commission .aai shb, was .conijden-,
tial under the commission s roles, no
tices were posted in the commission
building that hereaiter passes worn
heads of, department will be required
for all persons, : even employes, wno
enter the building, outside of working
hours. .
When the McManus report was
read Mr. Heney protested that the
practice of leaving- the office doors
unlocked offered a chance for "un
fortunate" happenings, and said he
had several times found an attorney
for the packers alone in the office
when he returned there.
It appeared from the evidence to
day that the packers received ad
vance -information of a postpone
went of action on the Borland resolu
tion by the house judiciary sub-committee.-
I Close watch was kept on the views
of congressmen on the Boreland reso
lution by agents of the packers in
Washington, their reports usually be
ing cautiously devised so that identi
ties were indicated only by initial or
state.
Use $15,000 Slush Fund.
Especial attention was given to
Representative Gard of Ohio, and
Representative Morgan of Oklahoma,
from whom' opposition was feared.
Opposition to the Boreland resolution
- including a flood of telegrams in
spired by the packers, .was financed,
- according to the evidence by a fund
of $15,000 raised on a percentage basis
among the Armour, Swift, Morris,
Cudahy and Sulzberger or Wilson
firms. ,
This percentage received the close
attention of the commission who were
told by Mr. Heney that it was a con
tinuation and extension of the-'pool
known as the National Packing com
pany, ordered dissolved by the federal
courts in 1912.
"We will show that this understand
ing between the packers has con
tinued and is now in effect," he said,
"and that they apportion the live stock
purchases throughout the United
States on the basis of their property
holdings and that all joint expenses
-met the same basis."
Buying agreements, tending to
eliminate competition and to permit
(Continued on Pass Two, Column Tut.)
The Weather
For Nebraska Unsettled with" ris
ing temperature.
Rcmfwyp ow ocmfwyp ow omfw owy
Temperature at Omaha Yesterday,
WARMER!
iirs.
m.
m.
m.
3
I
1
7 a.
8 a. m.
S a. m
10 a. m
11 a. m
11 m...
1 p.- m
i
J p. m.
a , p. m.
4 p. m.
B p. m.
p. m.
t p. m.
Comparative Lorn! Beeord.
' 11S. 117. IMS. HIS.
Itfgh.st yesterday ... T 39 4 i
lowest yesterday .... J 17 10
Mn temperature ... 3 - It 1 1
jTcclpitation .23 T .15 .11
i Temperature and precipitation departures
from the normal:
.'tmat temperature 21
Deficiency tor the dayi 19
Total deficiency sl-ice. .March 1 64
Kormal precipitation 0.02 inch
Kxccsa tor the day..... 0.21 Inch
Total rainfall since March 1.... 21.41 Inches
leftciency since March 1 7.41 Inches
Jeficlency for co period, 1917. 12. S4 lnrhes
leflciency for cor. period, 1916. 0.JJ Inch.
Report From. Station at 7 I. 31.
Station and Bute Temp. High- JUin-
Of Weathar.
1 Omao. anoning
T p. in, est. Jail.
....... T t" .!
Paint Ed Burke as j
Regular Pessimist
A legislative committee, consist
ing of R. C McManus, J. M.! Chap
lin, and A. D. White of the Swift
staff was sent to Washington to di
rect the fieht I
The report of the committee,
read into the record, assailed some
of the witnesses who appeared in
advocacy of the Borland resolution.
These characterizations were: '
"Ed Burke of Omaha is a sincere
man, but Mr. Meeker, . who has
known him all his life, says he is a
curious, solitary man, has few in
timates, and is obsessed with the
idea that be always gets the worst
of everything.
"A. E. De Ricqles of Denver, sec
retary of the American Live Stock
association, wishes to be United
States senator from Colorado. He
has been a disturber all his life, and
has a gift for organizing revolts.
,"Stubbs of, Kansas,, while gov
ernor, ousted, th. .Standard. Oil.
company ,?rom Kansas, He Is a
bitter politician and M. now trying
to be United States senator..- .
-"Borland of . Missouri is seeking
renomination.. He .boasts that' he
has a life job assured by reason of
this agitation.
"Congressman Doolittle is a boy
of small ability.: He thinks he sees
an opportunity to secure promi
nence in politics.
"There are many cattlemen who
believe the packers are in a com
bination and have destroyed com
petition. Some of them are bitter
and want revenge, believing in in
dictments and prison sentences.
"Walter Fisher is frankly petti
fo?ging. He is concerned for the
consumer. He is determined there
shail be no mutual, adjustment of
differences and that there shall be
started a long campaign of official
investigation, in which he shall par
ticipate." f
i :
Nordica's Estate Goes to
Sisters by Judge's Decision
Newark, N. J., Jan. 27. A' decision
adverse to George W. Young in his
legal fight to obtain possession of the
estate left by his wife, Madame Lil
lian Nordics, who died at Batavia.
Java, was returned by Vice Chancel
lor Mevenson here yesterday.
The detision upholds a will made by
Madame Nordica four months before
her death, naming her three sisters as
the chief beneficiaries.
: An earlier will, which left most of
the estate to Young, was declared in-
vaiio, 1
Finland Threatens Declare
"v War on Red .Government
Helsingfors, Finland, Inn. 27. The
Finnish Senate .has sent an ultima'
turn to the Russian government de
manding that Russia cease supplying
arms to Finnish rioters, who, as
sisted by Russian, soldiers, are com
mitting acts of violence every day,
or otherwise war wil 6e proclaimed
immediately.
The Russian answer, just pub
lished,: contains a Dromise to rle-
(mand that the arms be returned.
GEN. LEONARD WOOD WOUNDED
AND FIVE AMERICANS HURT
Washington, Jan. 27. Major Gen
eral Wood, in France on an observa '
tion tour, was slightly wounded today
by an accidental exolosion which
killed five French soldiers and hurt
two otner American officers. .
General Pershing today reported the
wounded in ttction of five infantry
men of the-expeditionary forces.
No details of the fight were given.
. Secretary Baker announced the ac
cident in this statement:
"A cable dispatch from the head
quarters, of General Pershing states
that an accidental explosion occurring
today killed five French soldiers ond
slightly injured General Wood in the
arm. Lieutenant-Colonel Charles E.
Kilbourne in the eye and Major KenA
yon A.' Joyce in the arm."
It is understood the message gave
no further details.
All of the divisional commanders
have been or will be sent to Eurrpe
for brief periods. General Wood,
commanding Camp Fuhston, Kan ,
went over several weeks ago. '' ,
T
SKKOR OF FRITZIES WHEN TOMMY
ri
ATKINS
Silz.lar.s Scurry to Cover When Firespitting Monsters Bear Down on Besieged Village of Fon
taine Notre Dame; English Airman Drops Fireballs to Light Artillery
Targets, Only to Be Crushed by German battleplanes.
(By Assoclsted Press.)
Amsterdam, Jan. 26. Tank warfare
as it , strikes the German troops is
described by) the Cologne Gazette in
a story of the fighting around Fon
taine Notre Dame during the Cam
brai offensive. The writefc declared
that many of the German ptivate sol-
diers look upon
the tanks with .a
feeline of terror. He says:
"The village is still suffering tinder
shell fire; houses and men are ming
led in the same ruin; whole roofs
have been lifted through the air like
feathers; but fdr 'the moment the
storm has gone beyond the unhappy
place.
"From a cellar in the main street
a Silesian rifleman looks out. He
sniffs at first -for fear of gas, then he
stuffs his mask in his, pocket and
looks' around. Heavens, , what a
street! Gradually the riflemen creep
like mice after a hailstorm out of
Clancy, First American to Carry U. S. Flag
Over Top, Now Prisoner in France Because
He Inj$feon lighting Under 'Old Glory
Entered CaManf Army When
War Stied;anded for
Court-Martfef Because He
tyants to Join Yankees.
By HENRY C. KROGER.
Walter. W, Clancy, native of Texas,
citizen of the United States, gunner
with the field artillery of the Canadian
army. in. France and the first. Ameri
can. t$ carry -theVStartv , snd-Stripes
"over the top" on .'European bajttle
fields; is a -prisoner of war "some
where in France."
. .He has a host of friends at Kearney,
Neb. Some.of-them have communi
cated with him. They eive his ad
dress as Military Prison No. 4, Army
Postoffice, Section , 21, - France. A
brother. R. R. Clancv. livinir at Co-
, lumbus, Kan., is trying to affect his
release.
Clancy's story : might be told by
hundreds of Americans with red blood
in their veins who when the war for
a world-wide democracy began could
not await the call of Uncle Sam and
scurried across "the line into Canada
to enlist under the Union Jack or
worked their way to England and
tnere joined hands with their broth
ers in a death pact to wipe out Hohen
zollernism. In September, 1915, Clancy left the
Lone Star state and went to New Or-
leans, where he took passage on the
jinisii snip visian as a muieieer .ana
worked his passage across the Atlan
tic so that he might "smell powder."
Attacked by Submarine.
Even on his initial iournev across
the se?.s he had a touch of Prussian
imwhen a submarine sought to
make the Asian a target. But for the
timely appearance of a British patrol
boat the Texan might have' joined the
hundreds who perished on the Lusi
tania, as the attack took place on al
most the same spot where this giant
passenger steamer went down wkh
1,000 men. wome. and children.
In October 9, 1915, Clancy, having
enlisted in the British army, wai
assigned to the royal garrison artil
lery, First battery. He immediately
went into intensive training and his
early letters, referring to camp life
in England, state the "days were
pleasing."
In January of the followin vear.
while still in England, he speaks of
tne cnances ot a "Yank" wearing
stripes in the British armyv saying
that they are mighty slim and; in a
spirit of criticism he refers to the Ca
nadian fighters, and their record as
the "real fighters of the west fronff
Dut remember they are for the most
part Yanks." , - . ,
Those were stirring times along the
(Continued en Pace Jwo, Colnmn Threw.)
4 4r&w&
' a ' f'
Max our. TirrAtar SjnoTk
jR WRITER DESCRIBES
urn . . - v
CHARGES WITH HIS TANKS
their cellars. Is Tommy Atkins com
ing back? ' That is the question, for
the battalion has orders to hold the
village z all costs.
Monsters Spit Flame.
"But suppose -Tommy conies back
with his tanks? The word passes
from lip to lip. It has a sinister
sound, as when one in a cloister men
tions the devil by name. In the big
thrust the English used 300 tanks,
some said 500. The monsters were
hsaid to spit flame, so that no one
could approach them, and to crawl
over every obstacle.
"A Silesian rifleman who stood in
their way would be cnished like a
worm under a steam-roller. What
could a poor soldier do but scuttle
out of the way? It was true the Herr
Lieutenant said that steel bullets
would go through the armor of the
tank, and that we had only to hurl
bombs at it and the tank would stop
" ?" K 'r - ' s
1 7 0 o o o c
1 , ...
Gunner W. W. Clancy of the British royal field artillery was the first
American to carry the Stars and Stripes into battle on the French front. A
Texan by birth, he had enlisted in Canada, and in the great victory of Vimy
ridge Clancy tied an American flag to his bayonet and went with the .van
of the charge. He was severely wounded. As a mark of distinction he is
permitted to wear a small American flag on his left arm. '
ATTACK BAKER
AT PATRIOTIC
SOCIETY MEET
New
York. Jan. 27. The
annual
convention of the national committee
of patriotic .societies at whidi del
egates from 30 organizations were
present were thrown into a turmoil,
at its first session yesterdri by intro
duction of a resolution attking Sec-retary-of-War
Baker and favoring the
creation of a war cabinet. After an
acrimonious discussion the resolution
was tabled.
Charles S. Davison, of the Amer
ican Defense society, presented the
resolution which called upon the
president to appoint as secretary of
war, ,regardlesj of politics, "a man
who is aggressively military and fa
miliar with war politics."
Declaring that the resolution was
prompted by partisan politics, E. W.
Estes, representing the Sons of. the
American Revolution and the Sons of
Veterans, moved that it be tabled.
S. Stanwood Menken of the Amer
ican Security league, insisted upon fa
vorable action, however. He asserted
that business interests all over the
country 'favored the proposals.
General Samuel W. Fountain of
the Loyal Legion declared he could
not remain at the meeting if the res
olution was adopted. Men who had
control of military affairs long before
the advent of the present administra
tion were in i large measure respon
sible, he asserted, for national un
preparedness for war. He was
backed in his stand by Colonel Wil
liam S. Cogswell and Mrs. Coffin
Van Rensselaer.
Phelps Citizens Out in Force
To Hear Ross Hammond
Holdrege, Neb., Jan. 26. (Specif
Telegram.) Every business house in
Phelps county was closed this after
noon to permit attendance at Ross
Hammond's lecture about his visit to
the western front Three thousand
persons were present. AcoMection
of $211.55 was taken for the" Nebraska
building, at Camp Funston,
and catch fire. But suppose it did
not stop?"
"In the meantime the infantry bat
tie flamed up alt along the line. One
of the riflemen at the barricade
climbed up on a damaged roof and
peered into the distance. Over Bour
Ion wood towards the canal lay a sea
of smoke in which the flash of shells
could be seen. There were the Ger
man reserves swarming forward in
light ftring lines .under the fire of the
guns. An English airman flew down
to a height of about 200 yards and
dropped fireball after fireball so that
the English' artillery csjuld get their
mark. He was a bold fellow. Hur
rah I The German battleplanes
swooped down like hawks on a dove.
The Silesians would have clapped
their hands for. joy, but they were
holding bombs ready to fire.
- "Suddenly there was the cry, 'the
tanks are comingl' But where? Where?
(Continued on rage Two, Column four.)
British Bring Down
' 16 German Planes
London, Jan. 27. There was great
aerial activity on the British front
in France yesterday arid last night,
according to the report from Field
Marshal Haig's headquarters : to
night The British airmen account-'
ed for 16 hostile airplanes and them
selves lost only one machine,' which
is reported missing. . In addition the
British bombing planes dropped
eight tons of explosives on various
i enemy objectives.
Demented Woman, Fearing
Burglars, Attempts Suicide
Laboring under an hallucination that
burglars were continually attempting
to enter her home, and driven, to the
verge of insanity through fear, Mrs.
Elizabeth Robertson, -young wife of
C. D. Robertson, 815 South Twenty
fifth street, attempted suicide last
night. .
Mr. Robertson told the police that
his work compelled him to be out of
(he city most of the time and that his
Wife, being left aloner lived in con
stant fear of burglars. ( '.
The. couple was married a year ago.
GERMANS IMPALE BABES ON
BAYQNETS BEFORE MOTHERS
- i (By Associated Press.)
New York, Jan. 27.i-Gcrman atrocities have been roinimued 100 times
where they have been magnified once; members of the republican club
were told today by Captain A P. Simmons, Unifrid States military ob
server in Germany during the mobilization attached to the American em
bassy in Berlin. , " '
"Don't let any one tell you that German atrocities are merely fiction,"
Captain Simmons declared. "One of the most gruesome sights I ever saw
was-the impaling of babies on the-ends of Germa bayonets and their re
turn to frantic mothers. If you knew the horrors that patient, suffering,
little Belgium has been through, your blood would freeze in your veins.
"We've got to sacrifice till the skin is worn down to the bones of our
hands. The dragon is just outside our gate. Well pay, but not in the way
Germany wants us to pay."
Captain Simmons said the United States roust send 5,000,000 men to
France to make, any showing, "for our enemy is fortified by almost im
pregnable forces." ..'.-" ;
DELEGATE REFUTES CHARGE
THAT GERMANY FELL BONN
IN NEGOTIATIONS AT BREST
. r , "
Peace Parley With Russ to be Reopened Immediately;
Secretary for Foreign Affairs Say Trotzfey Re
sponsible for Lack of Definite Settlement
of Teuton-Slay Question. 5 r .
Amsterdam, Jan. 27. Dr. Richard von Kuehlmann, the
German secretary for foreign
the main committee of the Reichstag made a long explanation
in defense of the central powers' negotiations with the Russians
at Brest-Litovsk. v ' ' . i I
Scheidemann's Thrust
at Military Dictators
Scheidemann's reply in the
Reichstag to the German military
dictators contained these ringing
sentences which are of supreme
importance at' this critical stage
of Germany's internal affairs: .
"If they do not bring peace be
tween Germany and Russia they
will be hurled from power."
"U-boats and our army were to
have given us a decisive victory in
six months. That was in 1916, but
the chief visible effect was the
entry of the United States into
theVar."
"If ope clear word regarding
Belgium Is spoken England's war
mongering will end. An honor
able complete reinstatement - of
Belgium is our duty."
"Mr. Wilson must be told
plainly that Alsace is Germany's
and will remain so."
"If the United States had not.
entered the war the Russian revo
lution' would long . ago have
brought peace."
; "If we captured Calais and Paris,
and even France and England we
r TThe attitude of onr militarist
leaders toward Austria is likely to
lose, us our last friend." ' ,
AtJTI-OOLSIIEVIKI
FEELING GROWS
r IM PETROGRAD
Recent Murder", or Two Ke
rensky Ministers Incites Pop
ular Sentiment Against.
Reds. ;
(By Amodt4 Press.)
Lbndon. Jan. 27. The latest reports
1 I I t Tl !. L
rctcivcu jicic ii viii oniisn tuirc-j
sponaenis in rcirograa say inai con
ditions there are steadily becoming
worse. Opposition to the Bolshcviki
government is growing, principally
because of the recent murder of two
former members of the Kerensky
cabinet.
, The Bolshevik! are bringing many
troops from the front, apparently for
the protection of the government
members. Crowds of persons assem
ble at the street corners to listen to
sidewalk orators, many of whom
openly denounce the Bolsheviki
regime. .
The police have disappeared and it
is a daily occurrence for soldiers in
automobiles to pull well dressed citi
zens into the cars, to divest them of
their outer garments and leave them
half naked in the, snow. t
No family in Petrograd is allowed
to occupy more than four rooms. A
simple meal costs from 60 to 80
rubles.
Economic conditions are m a state
of complete chaos. Postage stamps, of
the czaristic regime are made to serve
for small change. Similar conditions
exist at Kronstadt, where the hanks
have been sacked and their officials
turned into the streets.
A Reuters' limted dispatch from
Petrograd quotes an announcement
signeLby M. Joffe chairman of the
Russian Dea-e delegation at Brest-
Litovsk that the Bolsheviki govern
ment has selected a new delegation
from the People'1! Secretariat of the
Workmen and Peasants of the Ukra
inian republic
affairs, speaking Friday before
) SELF-DETERMINATION.;'
The general tone of the .foreign
secretary's speech indicated that there
had been strong criticisms from Ger
man sources, chiefly that the govern
ment had not dealt with the Bolsheviki
as conquerors dictating to the con
quered.
Incidentally von Kuehlmann gave
sn interpretation of the German Idea
of self-determination for the peoples
of Poland, Courland and Lithuania. '
The plan is not to proviBe a refer
endum, but a decision by the repre
sentative bodies or the leaders of pub '
lie opinion. The significant point in
this scheme is contained in the fact
that the so-called . representative
bodies of those countries now consist
of representatives mostly choser$by
the German administrative.
Von Kuehlmann and Count Czernmy
theAustro-Hungarian foreign, mini
ster, are .returning to Brest-Litovsk
for a renewal of the negotiations with
the Russians. '
DENIES IMPROMPTU POLICY.
Von Kuehlmann in his speech be
fore the committee referred , to what
he termed the "fiction .that the
negotiators went to Brest-Litovsk and
there concocted a policy to accord
with the requirements of the situs
tion.".- This, he aid, lacked founds
tion. s Of rmany's eastern policy had.,
been decijed upon before be,, took of -
flee. v!."v ,,y i j tfvr- ':' .t '' fi
11 . Dr, voh Kuehlmann .' said that after ,
thfe -arrival at. BresttLitovsk - b- M.
Trotsky: -the Russian: foreign min
ister, tne friendly; spirit which previ-
ously had prevailed on the -Russian
side totally vanished. The Russians
shut themselves off and the entire na- ,
ture of the negotiations changed. '
' The foreign secretary spoke of the
Russian . dessolution : into a series of.
republics in which there were .further'
disintegrating elements v and ) ex
pressed the opinion that peace would
b& arranged with they Ukraine when
that republic had been recognized. He
declared there was a still better prds- ,
pect of peace with Finland.- '
"Our differences with the Bolshevik
government," Dr. Vop Kuehlmao said,
relate mainly tolktails '. regarding
the carrying out of self determination,
which, after all is not entirely a mod
em innovation, Bismarck having stip
ulated it in the peace treaty after tne
campaign of I860" . - ? .. ,
, Considers Russia Dismembered. .
London, Jan. 26. Press, opinion
thug far received from' German sup
ports Count von Hertling in his dec-
laration of war aims, bat some dis
saisfaction is expressed that he was -not
more precise. -
Noting, the difference between the
statements - of the chancellor and
Count CzefTiin, the Austro-Hungarian
foreign minister, in, regard tc( Russian .
negotiations, the Berlin Vossiche Zei
tuim savs that Count Czernin's offer
to tjie various Russian states of no an '
ncxations or indemnities snows pa
ne considers the dismemberment of ''
Russia has been accomplished.. " '
"We had always believed that Austria-Hungary.
Jike Germany, was ne
gotiating with the Russian state as -whole,
the paper says: "The absence
of any reference to this situation by
Count von Hertling is a mistake" be
cause theVquestion of how we stand
regarding peace in the east remains
the foundation stone "of a general
peace." .
The Munich Neusste Nachrichten'
complains that Count von Hettling's
speech failed to meet the expectations r
of the German public. His' words
cleared up certain points in regard to
Germany s war aims, but full precision '
and clearness was absolutely neces
sary after the confused impressions
left by the recent -conference in Ber
lin. . . . ,
Submarines Shoot Up Large
Quantity of Good Cheese
Newport, England, Jan., 27. Ad
dressing the farmers of Monmouth
shire yesterday, Lord Rhondda, the
food controller, said that in one week
in December the submarines eestroyed
3,000,000 pounds of bacon-and 4,008,
000 pounds of cheese. i .
The enemies might put the alHei
to a great deal -of trouble, incon
venience and privation, but they could
further pull in their belts. and laugh
at the Germans. He claimed to have,
reduced the price of 13 of 21 artiH, '
of prime necessity. . 1 , .
Frigid Weathsr Boosts
Gotham's Gas Consumotion
, New York Jan. 27. Fro 50 to 75
per cent morj, gas was used in New
York City during the first 20 days of
1918 than in the same period of 1917,
because of the coal, shortage and in
tense cold, according to figures sub
mitted. by seven gas manufacturing1
companies to the public service com-,
mission, and made-pubUcday,,, s !