Swamp Colony
Knows No Law
Laws of God and Man Do Not
Penetrate Isolated Section
in Michigan.
WiFE COMMITS TWIN KILLING
a/hen Asked If She Didn't Know It
Was a Crims, She Replied, "Wo
Don't Know About God In
the Swamps.”
Detroit, Mich.—A country without a
noral code! A weird, strange country
>f gloomy swamp lands, sparsely In-
mbited, and so Isolated from the
•eat of the world that laws of God and
tian do not penetrate.
Against this background Is painted
be figure of the woman without a
wul, the spiritually deficient figure of
i slim young wife who has confessed
to two of the most shocking crimes In
llstory, the murder of her husband
■ nd her husband's father, sluln In cold
)I< hw |, the husband "because be was
In the way"—the father, an old man,
"because be was a nuisance.”
Aiding und abetting the young wom
an was her mother, also shut off by
an abyss of Ignorance from any knowl
edge of right ami wrong and appar
ently unconscious even yet thnt hu-
man beings may not ba killed as one
kills stray cats "because they _re In
the way."
No Moral Code.
Not far from White Cloud, Mich., tn
Goodwell township, exists the country
without a code, the home of the two
women whose cotifreslon has stirred
the whole state of Michigan Into a
vigorous Investigation of conditions in
the swamp binds.
The lending characters of ‘he swamp
murder nre: First. Mrs. Meda Hodell,
twenty-six, the wife, frail and thin,
weighing less than 100 pounds nnd
confessing unemotionally to the mur
der of her husband nnd father-ln-lnw
Second, her mother, Mrs. Alice Dud-
gon, who helped her nnd who Is
equally unnwnre thnt there wns any
thing out of the wny In their actions.
When Meda Hodell told the story to
the officials of White Cloud the prose
cutor naked her If she didn’t know
thnt It was n crime.
“We live so far away from everyone
we don't know much about such
thing«." wns her reply.
"But have you never heard the
commandment. Tnou »halt not klllT •
he persisted.
“Well." she replied, “we never hear
much about religion nnd those things
In the swamp land. We don't know
about God in the swamps."
Meda was bom In the swamps,
which have always been regarded with
superstitious awe by the Inhabitants
of the towns nenr them. It was
known that human beings dwelt In
the few tumbledown shacks scattered
over the drenched land, but those
“Swamp Nailya" were left nlone, In n
loneliness scaring the soul nnd dend-
enlng nil sensibility, Strange stories
of crime came out of the swnmps
from time to time.
In tills cheerless environment the
girl grew to womanhood, a woman
hood devoid of beauty, gentleness and
righteousness, and finally sne was
married to tiie son of old David
Hodell who had come to live on the
siime farm where sin nnd her mother
eked out a precarious existence.
Poisoned His Coffee.
The old man became obnoxious to
her.
“Why not get rid of him?" sho said
to herself. And with no more com
punction than she would have reed In
killing a mouse she (miaoued Ids cof
fee with arsenic and watched him stag
ger from th» house to die.
Iler next discovery was that she
would be more contented without her
husband. No in the dead of night,
while llomlu was sleeping, she took a
weapon to which cartoonists have
given a growsome familiarity, u roll-
Ing pin. Nwamp life bad given Aledn
the mus<les of a man, but her first
blows did not kill the sleeping man.
"He sort of quivered all over," Meda
si^d, "and 1 felt kind of sorry for
him.”
Her momentary hesitancy was made
up for by her mother. While Meda
was lying at the side of the man
whose head she had broken, tl.e moth
er picked up the weapon and with
one blow finished the deed begun by
her daughter.
All the parties to the murder are In
Jail.
Skirted Man Secures
Room in Women’s Hotel
First Trip Around World Is Commemorated
New York.—A guest who reg
istered as "Betty Berg, Oakdale.
I*. I.," nt u hotel conducted ex
clusively for women, wus arrest
ed and declared by the police to
bo William Berg, n Nwwelgsn
cook, thirty-five years old.
Berg, who Is an extreme
blonde type, wus inside up to look
like a large, fairly attractive
woman and had obtained a room
nt the hotel without difficulty.
The guest conversed several
times with tiie clerk, whose sus
picions became aroused. Detec
tives were called in and the ar
rest followed.
Berg readily told who he was.
Maid tie had Just finished a se»
son's Job as cook at tiie Sports
man's club at Oakdale, L. I., and
was In town looking for work.
Ills trunk contained a com
plete wardrobe of feminine ap
parel, the police said.
N. J. ; Miss Jenn Vancouver of Phila
delphia, und MUs Margaret Rust of
MONKS GRATEFUL TO YANKS Bonding Green, Ky. The three are
nurses connected with the Near East
Armenian Monastery Breaks Thou- Relief.
sand-Year Rule In Recognition of
The breaking of the 1,000-year rule
Services of American Nurses.
of tiie monastery was In recognition
of the work which Jhe three nurses
Erlvan, Armenia.—The famous is have done for refugee orphan children
land monastery of Lake Kevan, near In the district.
here, which for ten centuries tins
never permitted a woman to enter Its
Discouraging.
gates, has Ignored this time honored
“Love’at fust sight sure am de
regulation and extended the freedom ticket,” said Charcoal Eph, moodily.
of It» grounds a ml buildings to three “Efn a man took a second look, suh,
American women.
They are Miss hit would be all off wld housekeepin’."
Grace Blackwell of Hamilton Square, —Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Four hundred years ago Juan Sebastiano Eleano, one of Magellan's captains, completed the first voyage around
the world, and the event has Just been celebrated in hla native town, Guetarla, Spain, with elaborate ceremony. The
king and queen of Spain were present, and so were representatives of many other countries. Part of the big pro*
cession is here shown.
Who Is World’s
Richest Man?
Broadway Has
New Sensation FORD HAS GREATEST INCOME
Rockefeller, Ford and Mellon
Each Picked by as Many
Authoritative Spokesmen.
Salvation Army Captain Out
draws Famous Show Beauties
of the Gay White Way.
GIVES PEOPLE JAZZY HYMNS
Crowd Almost Mobs Police When Cap
tain Crawford Is Arrested for Ob
structing Traffic—Talks to Broad
way In Own Language.
Captain Crawford meets the Broad
way beauties on their own ground. She
has Irish-blue eyes, a creamy skin,
red-gold hair, ankles that Ziegfeld him
self couldn't criticize, and lines of such
slender loveliness you are ready to
count your calories the res* of your
life.
"To stay on Broadway, you must be
a good showman," she continued know
ingly. “You must have tact, sympathy
and the ability to sense the feelings of
your audience. You must know the
psychology of the crowd. You must
give them your best and let them
know you are giving It.
“I have no moving-picture outfit, but
I can make the men and women In my
audience see pictures no camera could
show when I remind them of their
homes and mothers and their child
hood associations.
“When a man laughs or looks skep
tical 1 single him out for special at
tention, Just as a vaudeville performer
sometimes does. 'Do you remember
what you were when you left your
small town home to capture the big
city?’ I ask him. 'What do you really
think of what you’ve become?’
“I keep after him uatll he does
think, and every one else thinks.
New York.—A new queen reigns on
Broadway!
A new face has captured the fickle
heart and the sophisticated taste of
the pleasure seekers of the gay White
Way.
She Is Capt. Rheba Crawford. The
“Vamp of the Salvation Army,” they
call her around Times aqunre.
Within a stone's throw of 50 the-
nters and as many dance halls and
cabarets where the world’s highest
priced entertainers hold forth nnd
Wealth Invites Youth. Captain Craw
ford takes her nightly stand and di
rects traffic down the straight and
narrow road.
Gives Audience Jazzy Hymns.
She’s the only Salvation Army lass
"Broadway loves Its Jazz, so I Jazz
who has ever been able to draw a big
ger crowd, single-handed, outside a the up the hymns a little.
“I keep constantly in motion. Eva
ater, than a chorus of beauties could
Inside. She talks to Broadway in Its Tnnguay doesn't use more pep In a
performance than I do.”
own language.
Captain Crawford wns arrested re
Vies With Broadway Queens.
"I conquered Broadway because I cently on a charge of obstructing traf
have the soul of Broadway myself,” fic. She was accompanied to the police
she said, “and Its mind nnd heart ns station by a crowd of 4.00Q sympa
well. I love Broadway nnd understand thizers who hissed and booed the po
It. It Is the greatest street In the lice and created such a Jam that the
reserves were called out. The captain
world nnd hits the biggest heart.”
was promptly acquitted.
Captain Crawford is unmarried. She
Is the daughter of a colonel in the
Salvation Army. In her five years of
active service for the organization she
has spoken In practically every city of
any size in the South and West.
Hardly a week goes by that she
doesn't have an offer to go into mov
ing pictures. Many Broadway pro
ducers have tried to Induce her to
draw crowds from behind the foot
lights rather than outside In the
street. But no offer has ever tempted
her to leave the work she loves.
Meanwhile, Broadwayltes don't care
whether she stays cut In front or goes
Inside—Just so she stays on the street.
“Long live the queenI” they cry.
Training Camp of Scoutmasters
TIPSY
BIDDIE
FIGHTS
DOG
Farmer Asks Dry Agent to Find Poul
try’s Mash Supply In His
Neighborhood.
Scoutmasters from all countries in the world are gathered at scout head
quarters, Gilwell park, Essex, England, where they are undergoing a course
of training In preparation for increased International activity In the coming
year. Above is pictured an aerial ropeway with monkey bridge In the back
ground. Below, tlie owl patrol nt lunch. All camp equipment is made by the
scoutmasters themselves, and their knowledge Is In turn imparted to the boys
in their various patrols.
Cincinnati, O.—Inebriated chickens
on his farm have so Incensed George
W. Perry on the Dayton pike, near
Dayton, Ky., that he has asked James
M. Wood, prohibition agent, to appre
hend the person or persons who fur
nish the fowls with moonshine whisky.
It has been an all too common sight
on his farm for several days. Perry
said, for the chickens to be trying to
perform stunts that Mother Nature
never Intended they should attempt. A
heretofore meek old hen was observed
to be trying to fight a bulldog, finally
putting the dog to flight.
The reason, Perry told Wood, Is that
moonshiners operating somewhere in
the neighborhood had poured their
mash on his farip and the chickens
partook liberally of It. Their spree
was fatal to some of the chickens.
Financial Experts Say There Is Basie
for Claim That Each of These Men
Has Largest Fortune—John
D.'s Easiest to Cash.
New York.—Within the last few
weeks each of three Americans has
been proclaimed “the richest man in
the world" by as many authoritative
spokesmen.
The Wall Street Journal gave Henry
Ford that distinction; James A. Davis,
accounted a reliable financial expert
in the Middle West, retorted with John
D. Rockefeller; Roger W. Babson, a
famous statistician, came forward with
Andrew W. Mellon, secretary of the
treasury in President Harding’s cabi
net, and went so far as to say that
Mellon could probably match, dollar
for dollar, the Joint income of Ford
and Rockefeller.
Financial experts say there are
bases for all three claims, that these
tremendous fortunes have so many
aspects and traits that they cannot be
compared in toto, no more than one
may compare five Inches to five apples.
cash and easily negotiable, gilt edged
securities; that Is, whose fortune has
the greatest quick, force-sale value?
The answer is John D. Rockefeller.
In-ome $25,000,000 a Year.
“He is an Investor today and he has
practically retired from active busi
ness. Of course, his advice is avail
able for the many companies in which
he Is interested, but be is not actively
engaged In business as he was twenty
years ago. His Income is about $25,-
000,000 a year, or perhaps a little more.
Some of this he gives away and much
of It be reinvests. It Is the Income
of his investments.
“His wealth varies from day to day,
perhaps $1,000,000 or even $5,000,000,
but his securities are sound invest
ments that would be worth Just as
much if he were dead as when he is
living, which is very different from the
case with Mr. Ford. Mr. Rockefeller's
fortune today is certainly $500,000,000
probably nearer $750,000,000, and
when the present bull market reaches
its peak he will be worth approximate
ly $1,000,000,000, which Justifies the
popular appellation of ‘billionaire.’
“Third, who has the biggest individ
ual income? I agree that thfe man Is
Henry Ford, but not In the sense of
actually handling the money. Mr. Ford
only draws out enough for his personal
and family requirements, but the bulk
of the $125,000,000 a year or so which
the Ford Motor company and its sub- •
sldiaries earn for him he leaves in
the business. In actual wealth he is
worth far less than Mr. Rockefeller.
“If Edsel Ford and Mr. Ford were
killed In an automobile accident to
night, and Mrs. Ford desired to liqui
date the business, she would find it a
very difficult thing to do. Itqvould be
a task requiring great care and Judg
ment, and if the business could be sold
out for half the amount of Mr. Rocke
feller’s fortune it would be very fortu
nate.”
The name of “John D.” has stood so
long for the richest man in the world
that It is still strange to hear of Ford,
comparatively a newcomer, and Mel
lon, until recently an obscure name to
most of the country, contesting his po
sition. Yet there seems little choice be
tween wishing for his money and wish
ing for Ford’s right profitable busi
ness.
Cow Bells on Dahlias
to Foil Garden Thieves
Pittsburgh.—Miss Ethel Chris
ty and her sister. Miss Abbey
Christy, of Frederick avenue,
Sewickley, have a fine garden of
flowers in the rear of their home,
including luxuriant specimens of
dahlias which they have been
fostering for the Sewickley dah
lia show. Some one entered the
gardens and clipped off half a
dozen of large deep red dahlias
of the General Pershing variety.
The Misses Christy reported
their loss to Chief of Police 8. Y.
McFarland of Sewickley, who is
investigating. As a precaution
the women purchased about a
dozen cowbells, which they
strung with heavy cord on the
dahlia stalks, so that the bells
will tinkle If any miscreant here-
after attempts to tamper with
the flowers.
;
:
:
■
:
:
taxation drive rich men into loading up
on exempt securities, and no doubt
Ford has protected himself In the same
way. Mayor Couzens of Detroit, a man
worth In the neighborhood of $35,000,-
000, makes no bones of the fact that
the greater part of his wealth is ex
empt from taxation.
Mellon’s Status.
Mellon’s wealth was brought star
tlingly into focus when political ene
mies gave It as a reason why he should
not be appointed to President Hard
ing’s cabinet. Until that time Mellon
was an inconspicuous figure in Penn
sylvania Industrial and banking life,
known and respected by industrialists
Ford Has Greatest Income.
and bankers throughout the country,
Ford, for instance, has the biggest
but the name did not mean money as
of ail Incomes, the most profitable busi
Rockefeller's did. When partisan news
ness, but It Is of such a character that
papers attacked him with the owner
its actual value, the value for which
ship of the largest fortune in America,
it actually could be sold, is no more
in the world, general opinion was that
than half its accurate paper value.
political enmity was spreading Itself
The Ford business may return Ford
to an Incredible extent. It did not seem
the profits of a $2,000,000,000 business,
possible that so rich a man could be
and in such event it would be, by all
so unknown.
financial rules, worth $2,000,000,000;
As Mellon has become better known
yet it Is not probable that if he at
and with only the customary modest
tempted to liquidate it he could get
denial that he Is only a well-to-do man,
much more than half of that amount
the size of his fortune has become bet
for it.
ter known and generally believed. He
In that case, Ford's business wealth,
is now recognized as being wealthier
though greater than Rockefeller’s,
than ever Andrew Carnegie or Henry
would not be worth as much to one
Frick were.
who wanted to cash in and get out
Referring again to the tax rate, Mel
of it as Rockefeller’s, which is much
lon has paid an Income tax on an an
more negotiable.
nual Income of between $2,000,000 and
Mellon's fortune is of a third stripe;
$3,000,000. Ford ^as paid on $5,000,-
Greatest Fortunes in U. S.
his is a potential wealth, power over
money, opportunity. If not inclination,
It is also odd sounding that the three 000. Rockefeller h s paid on the same
to hold possession of more money than richest men should all be in America. amount as Ford.
any other living man. He is said to; But Hugo Stinnes’ fortune, the great
His Business Is His Pleasure.
wield the greatest power over money, est in Europe, is generally rated below
more even than the elder Morgan all three of the American fortunes. The
Babson, who knows him well, says:
wielded in his heyday.
Rothschild money is so split and divid “His income can be practically what
These experts also say that it Is ed that no one of the family can make he makes It He has the financial pow
anybody's guess which of these for a claim on the little kingpin moneyed er If he cares to exercise It. But he
tunes is the greatest on paper. Any man.
•
is a banker and capitalist rather than
body's guess is as good as anybody
Henry Ford has an income of $125,- an investor; he enjoys the exercise of
else’s.
000,000, roughly speaking (if one may his remarkable talents for organizing
Office Handicaps Mellon.
speak roughly of such a sum) which and building up great financial and in
Those who are In the lower strata is the largest pay envelope any man dustrial enterprises, and he devotes
of financial standing, particularly draws down yearly. It would not be more attention to thess activities than
those who are accounted no more than improper in any way for him to at to increasing his already great personal
well-to-do at the outside, would prob tempt a capitalization of his business fortune and earning the tremendous In
ably prefer Rockefeller's wealth first. for $2.000,000,000. But Babson thinks come he could undoubtedly have if he
Ford's second, and Mellon’s third. The he could not sell the securities, no mat chose.”
only probable change might be that ter how solid and profitable the invest
As for Rockefeller, various estimates
Ford's should supersede Rockefeller’s. ment. There is that much money in have been made of his fortune. The
Itegardless of the truth of Babson's the country, but there isn’t that much American Economic league a few years
statement that
Secretary Mellon desiring to buy For I stock.
ago said it was worth $2,000,000,000.
wields more power and would be able
There is no way of telling, for with
Ford’s wealth differs In this respect
to get more money more quickly than from Rockefeller’s; Ford is reinvesting Investments fluctuating, gifts altering
either Ford or Itockefeller, his posl- his profits regularly In his own busi it, various forms of Investment chang
tlbn is third in attractiveness.
ness. John D. reinvests, when he does ing regularly from good to bad and
“I do not refer io Mr. Mellon in hfs reinvest, in other businesses than the from bad to good, It Is a difficult, prac
official capacity,” Babson says,, “but Standard Oil.
tically impossible Job to set it at a
as a private banker and capitalist. His
Ford gave some Interesting Insight I figure.
public office is actually a handicap to Into his wealth when he disclosed some
The only conclusion Is the Inevitable
him. It prevents his doing many of his Income tax figures. He said he general feeling among financiers. With
things he could do as a private citi had $145,985,669.31 In cash In the bank. out doubt Mellon, Ford and Rockefel
zen.
He is the greatest financial His assets—taxable assets—in Michi ler are the richest men In the world.
power In the world today In spite of gan were given at $215,215,662.92, and Which is the richest Is a problem. The
the fact that he is secretary of the outside of Michigan, $114.404,470.05. only definite feeling In the money
treasury. He controls more wealth The total he gave, Including good will, 1 marts Is this: that Rockefeller Is worth
in his private capacity—banks, mines, was $409,820,132.97.
approximately $750,000,000, after all
oil companies, and a multitude of In
But taxable property Is not all that gifts have been deducted; that Ford
terests—than both Mr. Ford and Mr. Ford owns, or any other rich man. could realize $500,000,000; and that
Rockefeller together.
The tax fee is an Inaccurate way of 1 Mellon could realize the same amount
"Who is the richest man in actual gauging a fortune. The high rates of
This guess la as good as any.