La Grande evening observer., January 10, 1914, Image 1

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AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER PRINTS THE NEWS THE DAY IT HAPPENS
VOLUME XHL
LA GRANDE, OREGON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 1914.
NUMBER 182.
F
STRIKE SIGNAL
GENERAL MASSACRE OF EURO
PEANS THREATENED BY
NATIVE RIOTERS.
TWO TRAINS DYNAMITED
AND THIRD ATTEMPTED
Sudden Break of Railroad Strike In
South Africa Likely to Create Gen-
' eral Starvation Demands for Food
Already More' Than Supply Situ
ation Growing Tenser. V
Jagersfontin, South Africa, Jan. 10
Seven natives are dead ar.d forty
'wounded, and twelve whites are suf
fering from hurts as the result of
last night's fighe between whites and
natives who had taken advantage of
the wprising and chaotic conditions
incidental to the South African rail
road strike. There are nearly a
thousand natives breaking out in
- Compound. They raided the town
and are threatening a general mas
sacre of Europeans. The whites
have suppressed outbreaks after hard
struggles. The situation is tense
and furthe rtrouble is feared.
' Starvatfott A onrrnvates Strike
Pretoria. South Africa,' tlrl0.i
The railroad strike situation is alawn
ing throughout the nation. 'It devel
oped with paralysizing suddenness
and two dynamitings of trains and
the attempted dynamiting of a third,
Jias aggravated matters. Quitting
work on short notice, "food supplies
are short in many towns ana it is
Jiuttea intiv a gcucim wcuy ex
portation means starvation of thous
ands of natives and whites. Natives
in many places are reported unruly.
"Widespread outbreak is feared and a
number of labor leaders are under ar
rest. If not liberated the (strike will
spread to all industries it. is antici
pated. 1 1 1 iL.l i: m.n ffanal
UNION PEOPLE IN CITY
County Convention and Shopping
, Draw Many Union People.
Close to a score of Union people
are in La Grande today. Many came
tto attend the county meeting of the
Farmers' Union and others came on
Tegular shopping tours.'
Those who came to participate in
the convention include, Theodore
TCeckrite, A. G. and William Paddock,
J. W. Baxter, L. L. McKennon, Dr.
C. H. Law, Jacob Kohler and W. 0.
Haggerty.
. Other Union people here today are
Dexter Mcllroy and mother, Mrs. Lau
ar Elmer, Will McMasters, Mrsr. W.
Stevens, Miss Perry, a school teacher,
and George Scibird. '
No Pool or Cigarettes for Minors.
Elgin, Oregon, Jan. 10. (Special.)
. The city fathers held their regular
meeting Thursday night, and besides
disposing of the usual grist of bills
and smaller matters of routine busi
ness, devoted some time to the dis
cussion of the law that prohibits
minors from playing pool. The dis
r,AaA in the marshal being
instructed to enforce the law to the
letter and also one in regard to the
selling of tobacco to boys under 18,
as well as their using it.
Bi Evangelistic Campaign.
Tj;.niia Tnd.. Jan. 10. More
tW knlf nf the 130 churches of In
dianapolis have arranged to partici
pate in the great evangelistic com
.wh is to be inaugurated
here tomorrow with the avowed pur
pose of those in charge to make - it
stir Indianapolis as religion has never
before succeeded in doing. For an
.i, thant will be nightly
i; , s- .11 tiio churches . ana
in the business centers,
A number of noted evangelists and
, out-of-town ministers will assist the
local clergy in tne cam'is"-
SOUTH
N
FUR IN
Wedding Unites Noted Families
New, York, Jan. 10. Two of the
wealthiest and best known families in
New York were united at the wed
ding of Miss Margaret Louise Schief
felin and Frederick Henry Osborn,
which took place this afternoon in the
Madison Avenue Presbyterian
church. The bride is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. William Jay Schieffelin
and a great-granddaughter of Will
iam H. Vanderbilt. Mr. Osborn is a
son of Mr. and Mrs. William Church
Osborn and a great-gandson Of Will
iam Earl Dodge, the millionaire phil
anthropist. ' Postmaster Twenty Years.
Springfield, Minn., Jan. 10. Will
iam Mueller, iwho is believed to be one
of the oldest, if not the oldest post
master in the United States in point
of service, retired from his position
today as postmaster of this place.
Mr. Mueller received his first . com
mission as postmaster from. President
Cleveland twenty years ago and has
served continuously ever since.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS COMES
LATE TODAY.
State President Brown Among Guests
at Big Convention Today.
With State President Brown, of
Arlington, in attendance, the annual
Convention of the Union county locals
of the Farmers' union is in progress
this afternoon. The attendance is
large and an enthusiastic meeting is
in progress, to come to a 'close with
the election of officers. Retiring
President Wells presided at the ses
sions today.
COUNTY LOCALS
IN CONVENTION
aa-A. i -. .,. rto nf fnp m.n
.....
appearing on t;ie program this after
noon. -.
The sessions began at noon and
will continue until late in the day.
Joseph Geddes Dead.
Baker lost a highly respected pio
neer, an honored hesident and a busi
ness man last evening in the death of
Joseph Geddes, who passed away at
10:30 o'clock at his home" n East
street, following an extended illness.
His conditions 'had puzzled the te
tetiding physician's, various complica
tions having contriDUtea to nis aeam,
only after he had fought a hard
fight. ;
Tho deceased was 63 vears of age.
Indiana was his nativesrtate, but Mr.
Geddes came to Baker 43 years ago,
shortly after his first marriage, ne
was engaged in ranching and stock
raising and amassed a fortune by
strict and careful attention to bust
He was for a long time asso
ciated with William Pollman in con
ducting the Geddes-Pollman mantei
in Baker, and has always been prom
inent in public affairs. While never
holding public office, Mr. Geddes was
hard worker for the inter
ests of the republican party and a man
numbering his friends tnrougnuuv
it.. ...v.Oo nf Rnatern Oreeon. He
was a member of the Baker lodge
No 338, Benevolent ana rroieuuve
Order of Elks, and Baker Lodge No.
25, Independent Order of Odd Fellows-
. ,. jj ......
By his first wife, Mr. ue.aaea w
the father of several cnuaren, w
of whom are now living, Mrs. Eva
Landreth of North Powder, ana r rami.
nAA nt this citv. His first wife
died a number of years ago and in
1908 he was married to miss emma
Moeller of this city, who with three
young children children survive him.
The funeral arrangements have not
been completed, but the services will
be held Sunday arternoon, wn w
hour and place not yet decided on.
Baker Democrat.
' i
- Palls On Icy Walk.
Charles Ethell had the misfortune
to slip and fall on the icy street at
the corner of Adams and Depot this
noon and severely sprained his knee.
He had just about recovered from a
serious iniury to this same knee and
?-the new injury wUl retard recovery.
BOVERttOR AND HIS LIEUTENANTS
KEEP AWAY FROM BAKER HEARING
SENDING
LEGAL
Argument to Be Heard This Afternoon Before
Judge Anderson, is Plan
Baker, Jan. 10-. Attorney Collier,
representing Governor West, Miss
Fern Hobbs and Colonel Lawson, de
fendants in the injunction suit in
which the circuit eourt injunction was
ignored a week ago, arrived here
today, Collier filed his answer at
two o'clock and at that time it was
planned to proceed at once to tegu
ment in the case.
Legal Tangles Loom.
Baker, Jan. 10. Court proceedings
in the now famous, Copperfteld case
promise to furnish some likely tang
les when the case was called at two
o'clock for hearing- before Circuit
Judge Gustav Anderson in the circuit
court room at the county court house
today. The defendants, Governor
West,' Miss Fern Hobbs and Colonel
B. K. Lawson, will not appear in per
son, but by attorney, Frank - Col
lier. It is said that ' the proceeding
will be an answer to the complaint on
which the .temporary restraining or
der was issued in which the defend
ants will set forth that martial lav
was proclaimed at Copperfteld and
will set forth that the conditions in
the little town were such as to war
rant the closing of the saloons and
the shipment from the town f the
liquors, and will set forth that Col
onel Lawson, . acting under orders
from his superior officer, Governor
West, disregarded the 'njunction.
To this procedure which it is
gid.wir,?tke place will be a demur
rer which . will be filed by Attorney
James H. Nichols, acting for the two
saloonmen of Copperfield, H. A. Stew
art and Wm. Wiegand, . in which the
plaintiff will admit that -martial
law might have been passed legally
proclaimed and will admit that con
ditions might have been described as
outlined in the answer, but will con
Local Bank s Joining the
Regional Reserve Force
La Grandelnstitutiohs Hope toSee
Regional Bank at Portland
Both La Grande banking institu-
tions have complied with the require
merits of the recently-passed curren
cy bill and have filed their applica
tions for members of the regional
reserve banks. - The December meet
ings of the directorates of both the
La Grande National and the United
States National banks have been held
and at these meetings the directors
REUTER BATTLE IS ON
Bartlesville, Okla., Jan. 10. A
great legal battle to save Mrs. Laura
H. Reuter from imprisonment in the
penitentiary for life is scheduled to
begin here Monday, which is the day
set for the opening of the second trial
of the Tulsa woman on the charge of
having murdered her husband. The
first trial was held last October and
resulted in a verdict of guilty and a
sentence of life imprisonment. Since
her conviction Mrs. Reuter has been
at liberty on $5,000 bail. Judge R. C.
Allen of Muskogee county has been
named to preside at the second trial.
Few cases in the court records of
Oklahoma have attracted so much at
tention as the Reuter case. Charles
T. Reuter, the murdered man, was
one of the leading attorneys of Tul
sa. Prior to coming to Oklahoma he
AGENT INSTEAD
tend that even under such conditions
the defendants had no right to inter
fere with the saloon business of the
plaintiffs, under the law.
On this will be the argument be
fore the court and it is said that this
argument will follow promptly the
filing of the answer and the demurrer.
Schedule Not Clear.
Baker, Jan. 10. (Special.) Today
the legal scrap resulting from the
governor's so-called vice crusade in
this county will start, but just how
far matters will progress is uncer
tain. Attorney James. H. Nichols,
representing Vfm. Stewart and Wm.
Wiegand - in their injunction suit
against the governor, Colonel Law
son, Miss Fern Hobbs and others, is
informed that an answer to the com
plaint in; the cases will be filed at
two. o'clock today. Mr. Nichols'
further action depends then entirely
on the nature of the answer which
Attorney Collier will file. , Then pos
sibly a demurred to the answer will
"-v fi'ed and possibly argued before
Judge Anderson at once. On the
other hand, no demurrer may be filed
and the question of law will be sub
mitted at once to the court.
Thus the action in the drama to
day hinges entirely on one detail
the answer to the complaint that will
be made by the attorney for the de
fendants. It had been hoped that
the governor and his secretary would
appear in-person to answer the re
straining order, although it was not
thought likely that they would make
the trip to Baker, although Miss
Hobbs stated positively that she
would return.
The doings of the day will be
awaited with keen interest and that
the court room, will be well filled
if arguments are heard, is certain.
took steps to become members of the
reserve banks. . All national banks
must join, but have 60 days in which
to join. The local institutions have
joined within 16 days from the time
the bill was passed. As Portland
would offer better banking facilities
for the local institutions, both are
working to have one of the eight or
12 banks established at Portland.'
had resided in Peoria, III. On the
morning of May 6, 1912, he was found
dead in the bed room of his home, in
the fashionable residential section of
Tulsa. He was shot twice through
the head. Neighbors found Mrs.
Reuter, who slept across the hall,
locked in her room. They had been
attracted by the shots and the scream
of the woman. One hundred and fifty
dollars in cash and some valuable
jewelry which Mr. Reuter waa known
to wear were missing and the natural
inference was that the lawyer had
been killed by burglars.
But the burglary theory did not
altogether satisfy the police and they
started an investigation along differ
ent lines. The result was the arrest
of Guy D. Mackenzie, Grover Bellew,
his chauffeur, and Joe Baker. , The
1
three were taken into custody on the
theory that Router's murder was the
result of -conspiracy, with robber as
a blind to conceal the real motive.
The police learned that' Mackenzie
often visited the Reuter home;, that
he had taken Mrs. Reuter on automo
bile rides frequently; that he had re
ceived presents from her; that he had
helped Mrs. Reuter put her children
to bed when Mr. Reuter was absent;
that he stole Mr. Router's revolver
from his office desk and that Reuter
had threatened to kill him if he did
not stay away from his home.
Bellow, the chauffeur, made a con
fession of the part he had taken in
the conspiracy. Immediately after,
Mrs. Reuter was arrested on a charge
of first degree murder. The charge
against Bellow was dropped in con
sideration of his turning State's evi
dence. Mackenzie and Baker were
tried, convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment. Mrs. Reuter was then
placed on trial and likewise was con
victed and sentenced to the peniten
tiary for life.
The convicted woman comes of . a
good family and prior to the tragedy
occupied a high social position, in
Tulsa, where she was prominently
identified with church work and
women's club life.
OFFICIALS ON
SPECIAL TRAIN CARRYING THE
PRESIDENT HERE.
President Farrel and Many of
Lieutenants In La Grande.
His
President J. D. Farrell, president
. e .i r nr & .1 u a - Vir
Perley, special representative for the
O.-W. of the mechanical department,
R. Blaisdell general auditor, M. J.
Buckley general superintendent, J. T.
Langley, assistant superintendent 'of
motor power, and Division Superin
tendent Wm. Bollinsr left this noon
on a special train for Huntington on
a tour of inspection. They were ac
companied by local officials of the
road.
ANNUAL MEETING TUESDAY
Important Reports to Be Read by the
Commercial Club Chiefs.
The annual meeting of the Com
mercial club will take place next
Tuesday night, when the election of
officers for the ensuing year will take
Place. The meeting is called for
7:30 sharp. The important part of
the meeting will be the reading of
the annual report. ,
On Wednesday night Tom Rich
ardson is scheduled to arrive at 8:30
p. m and will then address the imeet
ing on good roads.
Sumpter Mill Wins.
For the second time the Service &
Wright Lumber company has been
winner over the Sumpter Valley
Railroad company in its damage suit
to recover for overcharges on log
and lumber shipments, the . jury in
the second trial of the case early
yesterday morning reporting a sealed
verdict in favor of the plaintiff com
pany, which was reported to the
court at 9 o'clock.
By the terms of the judgment, the
plaintiffs will recover approximately
$17000 damages, including the costs
of both trials. The jury in the pres.
ent caBe found for Service & Wright
in the sum of $11,345.62, with in
terest at the rate of 6 per cent from
May 27, 1906. The interest added to
the amount of the judgment brings
the amount to $16,860.59.
The present trial lasted 11 full
days, and during its progress several
evening sessions were held by Judge
Dalton Biggs of the 8th judicial dis
trict, who presided for Judge Ander
ton. the latter having been of the
attorneys for plaintiff in the first
trial and having since been elected
circuit judge, ineligible to hear the
case.
Interest has been high and the
verdict eagerly awaited, owing to the
long record of the case in the courts
and the issues it involved. That it
will aeain journev to the supreme
court is the announcement, and the
action of the state's highest tribunal
twill likewise be awaited with keen
anticipation. Baker Democrat.
AN INSPECTION
GOPPERSTIE
BRUTAL, FINDS
FEDERALPROBE
FEDERAL AUTHORITIES FIND
CONDITIONS THAT CALL FOR
SHARP CRITICISM.
MEDIATION MEASURES
REJECTED BY OWNERS
Strikebreakers Give Testimony 'That
Indicates Strike Wan Caused Pur
posely By the Mineowners, In Mich
igan Congress Will Be Asked to
Intervene, It Is Said.
Washington, Jan. 10. The federal
labor department issued a statement
criticising the treatment a'ceorded the
strikers and the strikebreakers by the
mineowners in the Michigan control
versy. Five mediation proposition! .
were outlined, all of which the mine
owners rejected. There is bat a pass
ing reference of the Christmas eve;
panic at Calumet. ;
The report contained an informal
recital of facts and conditions in the
strike region, as furnished by three
agents of the department sent there
to make an attempt to settle the big
strike. Regarding the treatment of
strikebreakers the report said: '.'Many
!i TCT"'
OI . ineSO
men mads affidavit to the
agents and informed them that there,
was no trouble or strike where they
were at work, but on their arrival
they were guarded by deputies and
not,allowedBto leave the bunk houses
at the mines."
No further information is give
out by the department, but it is as
sumed that congress will take a. hand
in the settlement of the difficulty, and
just what the nature of the interven
tion will be is beyond calculation.
r ' x" Sand Cars Off . Track.-
Two cars of sand were derailed at
Nelson's siding by the falling of a
brake beam today noon. The wreck
er left at noon to put the cars back
on the track. There will be no de
lay of trains, asthey will be able to
pass on the passing track nearby.
Chinaman's House Burns.
A silent alarm was sent to tho fire
department this ' nvn f-om the ex
treme end of North Greenwood. When
the department amved they discov
ered a small blaze in the home of a
Chinaman, whose name could not be
learned. A small portion of chemi
cal was used in extinguishing the
flames.
Many Gall Stones Removed.
" L. H. Russell of this city, was op
erated on this morning at the Grande
Ronde hospital for gall stones, by Dr.
Rockey of Portland, assisted by local
physicians. Seventy stones were re
moved from the bladder. The oper
ation was successful and the patient
is resting Well. '
President Returns to Washington
Pass Christian. Jan. 10. President
Wilson played his last game of golf
here this afternoon. , He said goodby
to local friends he has made since
his coming here, and will leave to
morrow for Washington.
Flemings Will Leave Soon.
(Elgin Recorder.)
Thomas Fleming has sold his ranch
of 245 acres located on Gordon creek
to C! R. Hibberd of La Grande, and
will move from here with his family
to the Willamette valley in the course
of the next two or three weeks. Mr.
Fleming h purchased 72 acres of
choice land near Gaston, a mile and
a half from Cherry Grove, and will
continue to make a specialty of the
dairy business in his new location.
With this objecti in view he is tak
ing with him seven head of his well
known Jrsey herd, and also three
horses. These fine cows should aid
him materially in making a succesa ,