The
Omaha Daily. B
THE WEATHER
W,
armer
'VOL. XL VII NO. 214
OMAHA, FRIDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 22, 1918 FOURTEEN PAGES
On Tralat, tt Notlll, V
Nswi Sting's, tie.. o
SINGLE COPY TWO" CENTS.
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VERDICT !
ON LYNCH
1 SIGHT,
Judge Sears Remains Ready to
' Accept Answer of Jury Until
Midnight; Five Specifica
tions Named.
BULLETIN.
At the hour of going to press a ver
diet on the Lynch ouster case was ex
pected within 20 minutes. .
I he Clark-Lynch ouster suit in
district court was given to the jury
Thursday afternoon at 4:05 o'clock.
after a day of closing arguments by
Attorneys Kose and Baker.
. ; The court room was crowded to
the judge's' stand. Judge Sears read
his instructions tor 30 minutes and
. charged the jury with these brief
words:
i "Gentlemen, you may retire with
. the bailiff.",
Baker Makes Final Plea.
Attorney Baker, for Sheriff Clark,
presented the final arguments of the
case to the jury.- He related that
when Mike Clark went into the of
fice of sheriff he was a poor man,
having raised, a family on a salary
of $110 a month and did not have
even an automobile. He added that
when Lynch entered public office he
did ,not own a wheelbarrow, and
opined that when he quit official life
lie would not of necessity return to
his former work of plumbing.
"The hearts of the women and the
men, of Omaha demand of you men
of the jury that such men as Lynch
be forever put out of public office,"
were the closing words of Baker.
Trial Not Contest.
He impressed the jury with , the
thought that the trial was not a con
test whether lorn Denmson of John
Lynch should endure, but whether
Lynch should continue in office. : He
told the jury that a verdict of . not
guilty; would mean that' Lynch, could
operate a gymnasium andassignatian
house.. in the court house, .and ride
rough-shod fever, the sheriff's-; office.
He declared that the evidence .offered
' sustained the charges. ? , vv--v
ln his instructions, Judge Sears ad
vised, the jurors that they should re
turn a separate verdict on each of the
five specifications. A verdict of guilty
on one or more of the counts will be
sufficient to convict Lynch. Jhe court
instructed that Lynches private life did
no( enter into the issues of the suit,
and he also stated that no considera
tion should be given to references of
jail-feeding, graft, because no,evidence
had been presented to sustain' that al
legation. Rose Makes Plea.
Halleck Rose., in his closing argu
ment for "Johnny" Lynch poured
forth vitriolic, eloquence upon the
heads of those who testified for Sheriff
Clark. Rose spoke for three hours
and made the only argument for the
defense.
Attorney Baker, for the sheriff, be
gan the second and closing argument
for the prosecution immediately after
the noon recess. At the conclusion
of Baker's testimony Judge Sears read
his instructions to thejurors, who were
instructed to retier in charge of a
bailiff and deliberate on the case:
Court Room, Packed..
The court room was packed to the
doors, many spectators standing dur
ing hte long argument. .
In his extenuation of "any inci
dental occupancy by Lynch of the
northeast room of . the court house
basement," Attorney Rose confessed
that in the years of long ago, when
he was a poor and ambitious young
lawyer in the capital city of this
state, he slept in a library room of
-the state house for two and a half
years, using the state's heat and light,
(Continued on rage Two, Column One.)
The Weather
For Nebraska Cloudy: warmer.
Temperature at Omaha Yesterday. '
. Hour. De.
WARMER
i a. m. . .
6 a. m. . .
t
7 a. m $
8 a. in --)
9 a. in. . 5
10 a. ni. . .. . .. . . . t
11 a. m 1
12 m 4
1 p. ni. H
2 p. m 10
:i p. m..... 11
4 p. m 12
5 p. m.. 13
6 p. m.... 19
7 p. m '. 16
8 p. m 15
t Comparative Loral Record.
1918. 1917. 1911. 1913.
Highest yeaterdajr 18 ' SO 55 40
Lowest yemerday ... 10 .21 33 - 3&
Mean tamporatars .. 3 .00 .00 .30
Temperatures and precipitation departures
from tha normal:
Normal temneraturo 21.
Deficiency for tha day . Zl
Total deficiency Klnce, March 1..... 70S
Normal precipitation 02 Inch
Deficiency for the day .02 inch
Total rainfall ilnce March ..1.. 23.36 inches
Deficiency since March 1 7.15 lncha
Deficiency for cor. period. 1916. .13.01 Inches
Deficiency for cor. period, 1915.. 0.15 inch i
Krports From Mittlon at 7 P. M.
Station and State Temp. High- Rain-
of Weather. 7 p. m. est. ' fall.
Cheyenne, part cloudy.. 40 44 .00
Davenport, part cloudy. 12 14 .00
Denver, cloar 5 J . 66 .00
Des Moines, cloudy ....14 14 .00
Dodge City, part cloudy. 30 ::6 .00
Lander, clear ..24 V,'t .00
North Platte, clear 2i .13 .00
Omaha, part cloudy 16 .00
Pueblo, part cloudy... .58 84 .00
Rapid City, clear IX .26 .00
Salt Lake City, clear. ...36 ' 43 .00
Santa Fo, part cloudy. .46 50 .00
Sheridan, clear IS 30 .00
Sioux City, part cloudy.. 10 .no
Minneapolis, clear 4 4 .00
T Indicates trace of precipitation.
Indicates below aero.
. A. WELSH, Meteorologist.
Court Room Scene at Sheriff Clark-" Johnny" Lynch Ouster Suit
Hearing Which Went to Jury in District Court Thursday Afternoon
if Harry Dtvorsky
I t ' ' 1 I. , .,1,1-, 1 , ' .
NATION'S CUPBOARD IS
BARE, DECLARES HOOVER;
SERIOUS CRISIS LOOMS
Food Administrator, Says Traffic Congestion Is Cause of
Acute Economic Situation Which Prevents Us From
Feeding Our Allies; Foodstuffs Rotting
On Producers' Hands.
(By Associated Press.)
Washington, Feb. 21. The eastern part of the United
States faces a food shortage; likely to continue for the next 60
days. .v. ' --' w- - v :
:it"X lawmaking this disclosure
Hoover declared .that the situation the most critical in the
counry's history and that in many of the large consuming areas
reserve food stores are at the point of exhaustion. ' ' ' "
RAIL TIE-UP CAUSE. &
The whole blame is put by the food
administration on railroad conges
tion, which he says also has thrown
the food administration far behind in
its program for feeding the allies.
The only solution he sees is a greatly
Increased' rail .movement of food
stuffs to the exclusion of much other
commerce.
It was very evident tonight that i
the railroad administration- is . in
clined to resent Mr. Hoover's blame
of the railroads and Director General
McAdoo declared he was ready to
provide every transportation facility
for expediting food movement.
The railroad administration, he
said, had suggested that farmers be
urged to release their grain, holdings
that large numbers of available cars
might be utilized in moving them.
Cereal exports' to the allies, Mr.
Hoover's statement says, will be 45,
000,000 bushels short on March 1 and
meat shipments also are far short of
the amounts promised.
Corn Crop Spoiling.1"
A large part of the corn crop is
about to spoil because it is not mov
ing to terminals for drying. The per
centage of soft corn in last year's
crop, all of which must be dried if it
is to be saved, is the largest ever
known. Estimates place the amount
s high as a billion bushels.
Mr. Hoover's statement follows:
"In response to many inquiries I
beg to say it is true that since Decem
ber 1 we have fallen far behind our
agreed food program with the allies.
"By the end of February we will be
short 45,000,000 bushels in cereal
products which we uudertook as our
share of their supplies. We will also
be. short of, the amount of meat and
pork products that we were to de
liver. This deficiency is due solely to
the railway congestion. The railway
directorate since coming into control
on January 1 has made effort to find
a remedy, but during the nionth of
January the weather was insuperable
and although progress has been made
since rebruary 5 the situation is the
accumulation of three months' delays.
Crisis Faces Nation.
"The next 60 days will be the most
critical period in our food history.
The simple fact is that the problem
goes far deeper than supplies to the
allies.- During the last three months
(Continued on Pace Two, Column four.)
Federal Officials Say Some
Nebraska Postmasters 'Boneheads
An exhibition of widespread "bone
hcadedness" by some postmasters of
Nebraska is remarked by the federal
officials in Omaha, kores of them
have returned the filled out registra
tion blanks of German aliens, al
though the directions state in plain
English that these are to be hell
for 10 days after the close of the
registration time.
"At least 25 per cent of the cer
tificates which havejbecn 6ent here
are not filled out correctly," said
one official. "Some have omitted the
finger prints. Some have failed to ftil
in half of. the blanks. Some have even
left off the names, and some have no
photographs." r
tohight : Food 'Administrator
STOLE MILLIONS
FROM NATION IN
ARMY CLOTH PLOT
Country-Wide Conspiracy Is
Bared, ' Showing Methods
.Employed to Cheat
Government.
(By Associated Press.)
New York, Feb. 21. An alleged
country-wide plot involving illegal
profiteering in army cloths .at the ex
pense of the government ' was dis
closed here today with the indictment
by the federal grand jury of IT men,
one a clerk in the quartermaster's
department of the army, on charges
of fraud.
Investigations which wilt" extend to
other cities, federal authorities here
believe, will show the government has
suffered to the' extent of $5,000,000,
but at the same time it was stated
the indictments today would serve
to terminate further conspiring and
save the government from' millions
nicrre in losses.
Eight of the defendants arc manu
facturers of army uniforms.
Cheat in Cutting. .
The profiteering is made possible,
the federal investigators explained, by
the methods in which the cloth is cut.
From material which the government
estimated would provide a dozen uni
forms, the manufacturers would cut 10'
or less, according to the authorities,
and the excess cloth, known to the
trade as "clippings,'' would be resold,
either to, the government itself or to
other manufacturers.'
Some of the defendants, Lieutenant
Earnitz said, represented to the gov
ernment that their "clippings" amount
ed to 3 per cent, whereas, actually,
due to the methods of cloth cutting,
they amounted to 8 per cent, the dif
ference representing the excess cloth
alleged to have been retained. .
One postmaster blandly wrote th.-.t
he had forwarded one certificate to
Washington, one to Omaha, one to
Columbus, and was keeping one him
self. "If he can cac. FnglUh, he couldn't
fail to know where and wlicp '.he cer
tificates are to be sent. Where he con
ceived the idea of sending one to
Columbus, I don't know," said t-.i
official.
All the certificates that are made
out wrong have to be sent back and
this bungling by the. postmasters,
and other registration o'fficcrs is caus
ing an, endless tangle of work to the
Omaha official
U.S.CONTROL
OF UTILITIES
IS PREDICTED
Senator Lewis Says Govern
ment Will Take Over All
Public Utilities Before
War is Over.
Washington, Feb. 21. Senator J.
Hamilton Lewis of Illinois, speaking
in the ..senate today, declared the ad
ministration railroad bill is a forerun
ner of '.gwernment control over vari
ous public utilities and predicted that
the question would be the great ''do
mestic issue in the next presidential
campaign;
"Leti us not deceive ourselves as to
the meaning of this measure," Senator
Lewis sajd.j "This is the beginning of
the government taking the railroads as
a government agency. I lie roads
never will be permitted to return to
the former state of personal control
for private benefit.
Tak Over Privileges.
"At the same time the United States
takes over the railroads it will take
the telegraph and telephone privileges
and then the products for fuel, par
ticularly the lands of coal and oil, and
put these under government direction.
"All agencies of this nature neces
sary to the public welfare of man will
be taken by the" government as a nec
essary protection of the republic."
'The railroads, Senator Lewis- de
clared, confessed their inability to
meet the situation and by surrendering
to the government-admitted that the
one power capable of the work under
the existing conditions was the gov
ernment itself.
Proof of Federal Power.
"The government now conducts the
roads and directs them as the proof
of its power and ability to do so," he
asserted. "Private ownership of rail
roads failed .'us for the purpose of
sending supplies to ships or for trans
port of soldiers for foreign service.
What would be the calamity under pri
vate ownership if enemies were at our
gates and in possession of our coun
try?" "Let us announce that the United
States is u government and shall as
sume governmental responsibilities in
protecting all public agencies of hu
man welfare from being a monopoly
of private pillage."
If this is done, Senator Lewis said,
any Bolshevik uprising in the United
States will be avoided.
DON TROUSERS
Bavarian Women Petition
for Permission to Change.
WHEN SKIRTS GO
Copenhagen, Feb. 21. Women
conductors, and guards on the Bavar
ian , railways want to wear trousers
instead of skirts.
'.They, have ! sent a petition to the
authorities' demanding that the trous
ers must be supplied at once, as
their skirts are worn out and' re
pairs are impossible, owing to the
scarcity of cotton thread.
Would "Establish Horse
Meat Market in Omaha
George P. Gaver of the Equine
Meat and Packing company of
Grand Island is in Omaha with a
.view to establishing' a market for
horse meat here.
Gaver declares that the Grand
Island market is at the present con
suming about five horses each week,
and that the demand is growing
steadily.
"No horses are killed that have
ever, had a collar on," states Gaver.
"The horses we butcher are all
young stock, just off the range.
They are in good condition, and the
meat costs the consumer about 10
cents a pound less than beef, and
can be eaten on meatless days."
TEUTON ARMIES SWEEP
THROUGH SLAV CITIES
GATHERING RICH BOOTY
; I
Germans Seize 5,000 Motor Cars ajid Hundreds of Guns
Town After Town Falls Prey to Invading Hordes;
No Resistance Apparent; Will Make Stand
At Petrograd.
(By Associated Press.)
Berlin, Feb. 21. The Berlin war office announces that
1,353 guns and between 4,000 and 5,000 motor cars have been
captured from the Russians thus far in the new campaign.' The
Germans have made prisoner a general, commanding art army,
425 officers and 8,700 men, making a total of 9,125 troops.
The German troops have entered Minsk in their advance
eastward, in Russia, according to the report from headquarters
this evening.
' O GERMANS STRIP ROVNO.
no
CLASSIFY ALL
COAL CONSUMERS
Fuel Administrator Has New
Plan for Distribution to Help
Win the War, Household
ers on Preferred List.
Washington, ,Feb. 21. A plan for
coal distribution to supply consum
ers in the order of their importance
toward winning the war will be put
into operation soon by the fuel ad
ministration. According tq a plan outlined by
Administrator Garfield, consumers
will fall into four classes.
Preferred Class.
Class 1 will include householders,
shipping interests, railroads and pub
lic utilities put in the preferential
list issued in connection with the clos
ing order of January 17.
Swedish Shipping Not
Included in U. S. Agreement
Stockholm, Feb. 21. In Nelson
Morris, the American embassador,
today received from Washington an
announcement that the new bunker
regulations are not applicable to 100,
000 tons of Swedish shipping included
in the proposed agreement between
the two countries.
GOVERNMEN
Bee Want-Ads
Pour in the
Results
C MlNNICN. m o
Fa'or., 18th, 1916.
Omaha Ba,
Qraaha, Ksb.
Gentlemen:
For goodness saite stop
ny ad In the Bee, about the druj
tore. An swamped nlth repllee
and aold the store. Could have
sold lateral timet.
0
f I Bevy. Qio4 l !. WMI Mil
rifht. Xr. MnUK feigw. n,
rttS IS TH AO
The Russian town of Rovno has
been cleared of the Russians, the war
office reports. Trains with about
1,000 cars, many laden with food, have
been captured, as well as airplanes
and an incalculable amount of war ma
terial. Rovno is the most easterly of the
triangle of Russian fortresses in Vol
hynia. Lutsk, thewestern citadel in
the triangle, capitulated to the Ger
mans on February 18, without fight
ing. The third fortress in Volhynia,
Dubno, lies about midway between
Rovno and the town of Brody, on
the Galician frontier.
DESCEND ON RIGA.
The Germans have passed through
Wenden, 55 miles northeast of Riga,
and are now before Wolmar, 79 miles
northeast of Riga.
Between Cvinsk and Pinsk the Ger
mans are pressing eastward. General
von Linsingen's movement continues.
Important railway and highway junc
tions have been occupied. 1
SLAVS WILL MAKE STAND.
Petrograd, Feb. 21. Bolshevik lead
ers declare that if the German ad
vance continues, they will defend Pet
rograd with the Red Guard and ha
rass the German advance by guerilla
warfare. No plans have been niad
for evacuation of the city.
Teutons Near Petrograd.
London, Feb. 21. German troops,
having occupied Dvinsk, are advanc
ing toward Pskoff, 180 miles south
southwest of Petrogradi according to
a Reuter dispatch from Petrograd.
They also have occupied Hapsal,
Esthonia, and their cavalry is push
(Contlnued on Fan Two, Column Four.)
ROOT SAYS
PEACE IS
FAR OFF
Warns American Public Not to
Heed Discussions on Peace
Negotiations; Germany
Fooled Russia.
Chicago, Feb. 21. Elihu
Root of New York, who head
ed the American mission to
Russia, in a letter read at the
congress of national service to
day, said that the American
public should be careful not
to have its intention distract
ed from the intense, concentra
tion necessary to win the war
by discussion about peace
terms that was appearing in
certain newspapers and at
some gatherings.
NO BASIS.
He pointed out that there
were not only no negotiations
but no basis for peace negotia
tions. The congress, to be held under the
auspices of the National Security
league, opened a three-day session to
day with delegates present from many
states in the union. Among those on
the program for addresses today was
William Howard Taft, former presi-
aenr ot tne unitea states.
LEADERS ARE TRAITORS. '
In his letter regretting his inability
through illness to be present at the
congress, Mr. Root said:
"Let us be warned by poor Russia's
present position.
"The Bolshevik! were very eloquent
about peace 'without annexations nr
indemnities,' and they filled the minds
of Russian soldiers and workmen, with
the idea to such n extent that they
stopped .fighting and making mum-.
tio'is.bUt "when "theygoV to. 'Brest-:
Litivsk , they, found what, the leaders
probably, Itne.w, all along-that Ger
many had no intention of making any
such peace. ' '
Will Keep Provinces. , f
"They wanted the Baltic provinces
of Russia and they seized and purr
nose to keen them, and Russia,- hav
ing stopped fighting in favor of the
kind of peace they admired, finds it
self in a position where for the pres
ent it has nothing whatever to say
about the kind of peace there shall be.
"We must beware of anything in
the remotest degree approaching that.
"Of course, there have been mis
takes and shortcomings in the conduct
of the war it would be a miracle if
there were not.
" "Sincere and constructive criticism
of executive conduct is a very usefu'
thing. But we all must be careful that
neither shortcoming or criticism tends,
in the slightest degree to divert or
decrease the heartiness with which,
we all support and reinforce the presi-;
dent and his civil and military officers
in carrying on this war. ;
'I beg of you as citizens of this
great repuoiic not 10 iei your mmas
be carried, from the great work we
have before us. , ....
The object of the congress is to
arous the morale of the ocoole so
that loyal support may be accorded
every effort put forth to accomplish
the speedy winning of the war..
RUSS DIVIDED
ON GERMANY'S ?
PEACE TERMS
Petrograd, Wednesday, Feb. 20.
The decision of the . soldiers' and
workmen's delegates to accept the
German peace terms was reached by
a majority of only one vote, after a.
heated debate lasting throughout '
Premier Lenine, Foreign Minister
Trotzky, Ensign Krytenko, commander-in-chief,
and many other leaders
addressed the council. .
Military men explained the impos
sibility of offering effective resist- '
ance, but no decision was reached un-
:i k-i me- c t nm m Uil I t A clinur
ing that the Germans had captured
Tlvi'nt with a nrifl wr aflvanr-
mg all alonfr the front. ,
This new reached the council earlv-.
Tuesday morning and influenqed the
delegates to decide for peace.
Before the capture of Dvinsk Pre-
peace, but finally urged. that peace be
ohtain'H at anv nrir in nrHur to in.
sure the reconstruction of Russia. He
said the Germans were advancing on .
' I i r . r a. .1. . it
a soma tram irum uic nurui 10 inc
south.' ;, ' . ' '' -; '.
The announcement of Russia's de- 1
was sent by wireless Tuesday morn- .
inn. . At firct th fl..rw i r. wirfcs
station showed a disposition to re
fuse to take the message, but finally
Nebraska Enrolls More
Than Half Required Men
From K Staff C.nrrmmnnnAmnt
Lincoln. Feb. 21. fSnecial Th
great national drive for the registra
tion of men for the shipbuilding
trades, State Director Norman states,
has resulted in the enrollment of more
than one-half of Nebraska's ntinta rf
4,500 men estimated to be needed dur
ing the next seven months. .
