T
VOL. XLVI. NO. 14,408.
PORTLAND, OliEGOX, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1907.
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
OPERATORS DEFY
WESTERN ONION
Chicago Employes Are
in Favor of Strike.
WOULD AFFECT WIDE AREA
Reinstatement of Expelled
Union Employes Demanded.
HIGHER WAGES WANTED
Mass Meeting of 800 Operators Pass
Resolutions Defining Their Atti
tude Secret Organisation of
Union Has Been Active.
CHICAGO. Feb. 10. fSpeclal.)
Open defiance of the Western Union
Telegraph Company was voiced at a
mass meeting of Its employes held in
Musicians" Hall, 134 Van Buren street,
this afternoon. More than 800 opera
tors were packed in the hall, and many
of them favored calling an immediate
strike on the company unless the men
who have recently been discharged for
Joining the union are at once rein
stated. Resolutions practically announcing
their membership In the Commercial
Telegraphers' Union of America were
Hdopted by the operators, and the ex
ecutive committee of the union was In
structed to notify the company that
a continuation of its alleged discrim
inating attitude will be resented.
Strike May Be General.
President S. J. Small and Secretary
'Wesley Russell of the National organi
zation attended the meeting, and urged
the men in the local office of the West
ern Union Company not to take hasty
action until the union is ready to act
in all large cities. President Small
said after the meeting that the opera
tors in 22 cities had joined in the
movement and that if a strike were
declared It would not be confined to
Chicago.
The men have been secretly organ
izing for about two years, and Presi
dent Small asserts that recently nine
old employes of the company have been
discharged in the local office because
of their activity in union affairs.
Demand Increase In Pav.
The first demand to be made will
be for the reinstatement of those men,
and it is asserted that the operators
will insist on having an answer to the
request they made two months ago for
an increase of 10 per cent in salaries.
This petition for a wage increase was
signed by more than 00 employes in
the Chicago office and forwarded to
R. C. Clowry, president of the com
pany, in New York.
The petition was ignored, according
to the employes, and they declare that
the time has arrived when they must
assert themselves. The operators de
clare that the wages paid by the West
ern Union Company are 10 per cent
less than paid by the competing com
pany, and by private concerns.
VXION IS READY FOR TROUBLE
Portland Operators Say Plans for
Strikes Have Been Made.
This news, according, to Portland ope
rators. Is more serious even than is Indi
cated in the dispatch. The Telegraphers'
Union for the past two or three years
has been secretly organizing in all parts
of the United States and is supposed to
control somewhere in the neighborhood Of
60 per cent of the total operators of the
country. The union is reported to be
extremely strong on Puget Sound and
in San Francisco.
In Portland Its strength Is absolutely
unknown even to those who are avowedly
union members? There are very few
"open" members here. This comes of the
peculiar nithod this union has resorted
to in proselyting. The union is com
posed of two classes of members "open"
members and "secret" members. Men
who occupy positions with private con
cerns and telegraph companies who do
not place any embargo on union men
induce nonmembers to agree to join.
Kach is furnished with proper applica
tion blanks, which he forwards to a Na
tional officer of the union. This official
and the applicant himself are the only
ones, consequently, who are aware " that
the nonmember has Joined the ranks of
the union. These secret members remit
their dues directly to this National of
ficial, who credits the members, and, after
deducting the National organization's per
centage, returns in a lump sum the bal
ance of the secret members' dues to the
proper local unions.
Strength Is Kept Secret.
It can thus be seen that the union
strength of the National organization or
of any of the local organizations is ab
solutely unknown to everybody save this
one man, who is pledged not alone not
to reveal the secret members' names, but
not even the exact strength in any city
or district. This rule is applied so
strictly that even the other National offi
cers themselves cannot tell, except In
round numbers, the strength In a par
ticular section of the country.
In case of a strike, the service in Port
land would be paralyzed in two ways.
First, no union operator would work a
wra on which the "sending" operators
out of Chicago or intermediate points
were not union members. In turn the
union member at any intermediate point
would refuse to handle any "scab" mat
ter filed with him which had been received
from Chicago or from a nonunion ope
rator at any intermediate point. The sec
ond way would be that in order to
break the backbone of the strike, the
Western Union would probably call in
from the outside Portland as well as
other towns all operators who remained
faithful to the company.
Operators Now in Demand.
At the present time there is a great
scarcity even of mediocre operators
throughout the country, so great has
been the expansion of the telegraph busi
ness in the past few years, and the with
drawal of very few operators from the
"provinces" would seriously handicap the
expediting of messages. What the out
come of the strike would be is problem
atical. If the operators had waited
another three to five years, at their recent
rate of organization, they would prob
ably have had no difficulty In enforcing
any demand they saw fit to make. At the
present time they have to contend with
2f f tt
fa'".
Mayor Schmitz, of San Francisco,
Who Is I'rarf d to Take a firm Stand
in Conference on Japanese Question.
the fact that many of the operators re
member with wholesome respect the ter
rible strike of 'S3, when the Western
Union succeeded in disrupting the Teleg
raphers' Union, and also, -according to
recent issues of their monthly official
paper, they have in their strike fund
something less than J50.000. a mere baga
telle to what would be required to make a
fight against their huge opponent,
the question, in short. Is whether
they could sufficiently cripple the
telegraph service so as to speed
ily bring matters to a head.
The union appears confident that It can,
while the telegraph company Is confident
it can maintain a semblance of a service
until it has exhausted the union's
resources.
GERMS IN PICTURE HATS
EXPENSIVE HEADGEAR MADE
IX VILE SWEATSHOPS.
Miss Helen Mahon Denounces Condi
tions Under Which Art Crea
tions Are Manufactured.
CHICAGO. Feb. 10. (Special.) Beware
the picture hat; it's full of germs.1 Also
its cost to the purchaser bears no fair
relation to the wages paid those who
made it.
The ornate bonnet of the kind that costs
from ?35 to $50 was held up to public
scorn and, denounced as a "sweatshop .cre
ation" this afternoon by a woman milli
ner. Miss Helen Mahon, in an address be.
fore the Woniens' Trade Union League at
Hull House. Miss Mahon. gave statistics
tending to show that the. labor conditions
in the millinery trade have deteriorated
during the last few years to the level of
some of the worst sweatshop conditions
in the slums.
When the Federal authorities hold ses
sions in Chicago for the investigation of
the "Social, moral, economic and physi
cal conditions." under which women and
children are employed in all the great
cities of the country. Miss Mahon will,
she said, take the witness stand and tell
the story of "the slummizing and sweat
shopping" of the millinery trade. .
"It would shock, or at least ought to
shock the society queens and debutantes
who wear the American-made rival to the
imported picture hat to be -told that these
magnificent art creations are made in this
city under conditions that are about as
degraded and squalid as the worst slum
sweatshops in which women and children
make the cheapest garments thrown on
the market for the shoddy trade," said
Miss Mahon.
"There are no more abject industrial
slaves than the Chicago sisters of the
women who In Paris and London are
called art milliners. The four employes
known as the copyist, the maker, the pre.
parer and the saleswomen, get between
them J49 a week in pay and they produce
exclusive of the work of the buyer and
designer. 48 picture hats in six days.
These hats average $25 to $30 each and
bring about $1000 in the open market. It
Is clear, therefore, that the real worker
does not get any adequate pay for her
toil, especially as she gets work only in
certain seasons of the year, and is liable
to be unemployed more than half of the
time.
THIRSTY 0HI0ANS CAUGHT
Springfield Police Make Sensational
Raid on Saloon.
SPRING FIEIJX O.. Feb. 10. The police,
with the aid of the fire department, this
afternoon raided a saloon and with lad
dens scaled the walls of a five-story build
ing and captured 31 men who, had escaped
from the place and taken refuge on the
roof.
The police attempted to go up to tha
roof through the building, but found
their way barred by a steel trapdoor. The
men on the roof refused to surrender,
but when the fire department arrived
with ladders the officers ascended with
drawn revolvers and no further resist
ance was encountered.
t 1
f
SCHMITZ URGED
TO
Hundreds of Messages
Sent to Him.
EXCLUSION IS DEMANDED
San Francisco Will Not Be
Satisfied With Treaty.
WILL NOT YIELD AN IOTA
Roosevelt and Root In Conference.
President Proposes Compromise,
but Schmttz Denies Any Propo
sition Has Been Offered. '
WASHINGTON. D. C, Feb. 10. Mayor
Schmitz and the members of the San
Francisco School Board were in confer
ence twice today, and formally agreed on
the policy they will pursue in connection
with the question of the Japanese and
San Francisco schools. The Mayor and
members of the board have refused to
make any statement as To what position
they will take when they call at the
White House tomorrow to confer wrth
President Roosevelt and Secretary Root.
In a telegram, however, to the Califor
nia Exclusion League tonight Mayor
Schmitz declared the legation has not
made 'any arrangements up to date of
any kind. More than 300 telegrams were
received by. Mayor Schmitz and the mem
bers of the board today urging them to
stand firm for the exclusion of the Jap
anese coolies from the United States.
Message From Exclusion League.
A telegram received today by Mayor
Schmitz from the president of the Cali
fornia Exclusion League in part reads:
Morning papers announce In big head
lines that "Schmitz deserts labor for Japan.
Mayor and School Board make complete
surrender." We cannot and will not believe
It. Exclusion League demands exclusion by
act of Congress. Treaty will not exclude.
Sovereign rights must not be bartered away
by promlM and . should not, be basis for
compromise. We will not yield one lota of
our rights as a sovereign people, regardless
of cost or consequences.
Mayor Schmitz' reply in part follows:
Telegram received. Announcement in
morning papers absolutely false. Have made
no arrangements up to date of any kind.
Story false like all other statements made
about me. Have refused to give any state
ment to reporters. President has refused also
until conference completed, and he is show
ing friendly spirit. I am a Californlan try
ing to do my duty to my state. Cannot suc
ceed if hampered by hostile press or San
Francisco.
Sleet Roosevelt Today.
At tomorrow's conference the Califor
nians will present their views to Presi
dent Roosevelt in writing, and a final
and definite agreement probably will not
be reached until Tuesday. Secretary Root
spent two hours at the White House to
night discussing the school question with
the President, and it can be authorita
tively stated that the President tomor
row will assure Mayor Schmitz and the
School Board that if they will agree to
end the agitation by abolishing the Ori
ental schools, the President will in turn
use his influence to secure a treaty with
Japan that will exclude the coolie labor
from this country.
"It can be stated positively," said
Mayor Schmitz tonight, "that President
Roosevelt has made no definite proposi
tion to us. We discussed the matter with
Mr. Roosevelt yesterday, and he under
stands our position. There has been no
change in the situation since that, and
cannot be until after tomorrow's confer
ence." POLICY FUNDS NOT USED
President Orr, or Xew York Life,
Issues a Statement.
NEW YORK, Feb. 10. A circular let
ter to policy-holders by Alexander E.
Orr. president of the New York Life In
surance Company, was made public to
day. Mr. Orr declared the company's
affairs are being economically conducted.
Concerning the reports that the policy
holders' funds were used in favor of
one of the tickets for trustees at the re
cent election, Mr. Orr declared the com
pany's representatives were forbidden to
use such funds or to take up the time of
salaried employes in business houses and
that to the beet of his knowledge "not
a dollar of the policy-holders' money was
improperly used."
On the subject of the company's
finances, Mr. Orr says that In 16 there
was a heavy shrinkage of bonds of un
exceptional quality, but the company suf
fered little as a result, because its state
ment placed the bonds at their book
value. About this depression, he asserts
thai the assets of the company increased
nearly $3,000,000 in 1903. and the gross as
sets over legal reliabilities are nearly
$10,000,000 more than they were at the
close of 1905.
FIRST TRAIN
WEEKS
Snow Blockade in Montana Finally
Raised.
MISSOULA, Mont., Feb. 10. The first
train from Wallace, Idaho, to Missoula
for two weeks arrived today. The snow
blockade on the Coeur d'Alene branch of
the Northern Pacific has been the worst
ever experienced. ' In many places the
road was covered by 40 feet of snow,
particularly in the Bitter Root Mountains.
The train which arrived today had four
tfeet of snow on top, from which may be
STAND
FIRM
EEK
At the close of the last week the
naval bill was before the Howe and
the Army in the Senate and both
will be proceeded with at the earliest
opportunity by the two houses re
spectively. The Senate will continue
its work on the Army bill, but the
House will devote Monday to legisla
tion for the District of Columbia and
will not resume work on the appro
priations until Tuesday.
When the Army bill Is again taken
up the first subject of consideration
will be an amendment authorizing
the Army officers to accept reduced
or free transportation and it Is ex
pected the debate on that point
will continue. This matter disposed
of. the bill will be speedily passed.
The general debate in the House
on the naval bill will give place on
Tuesday to speeches under the five
minute rule, and It Is not expected
that the measure will consume. much
more time. In the House the pos-t-office
appropriation bill will next re
ceive attention, while In the Senate
the District of Columbia bill will
follow the Army bill, and It will in
turn be followed by the agricultu
ral appropriation bill.
Senator Todge will make an effort
in the Senate on Tuesday to se
cure consideration of the Philippine
agricultural bank bill.
Resume Thaw Trial.
Monday morning the trial In New
York City of Harry K. Thaw will
"be resumed with the defendant's
wife on the stand. District Attorney
Jerome will probably begin his cross
examination of Mrs. Thaw on Tues
day. In Boston on Tuesday evening. .
Representative Julius Kahn, of Cali
fornia, will discus "The Japanese
Question," and will argue in favor
of the exclusion of Japanese coolies.
Opening of Parliament.
The British Parliament reassem
bles February 12. in the presence of
King Edward and Queen Alexandra
at a full state ceremonial. The re
opening has aroued intense inter
est in London as the government
intends Immediately to Inaugurate
measures to check the powers of the
House of Lords. King Edward has
Insisted that the speech from the
throne be kept secret, and while the
address will doubtless refer to the
long list of pending Parliamentary
measures, it Is probable that some ref
erence to the House of Peers may be
included. The Irish question also is
likely to occupy the attention of
the session, the government being
about ready to. submit the proposed
reform measures.
Elaborate preparations have been
made for the street pageant and the
gorgeous ceremony in the House of
Lords.
Take Up Colonial Issue.
The modus Vivendi arranged last
year between Great Britain and the
I'nlfed States will be discussed at
leugth in the Ntrtovlildland legis
lature. February 12, when Premier
Bond will make an address on. the
subject to the BrltlBh Ministry for
the colonies. The arrangement Is un
popular In Newfoundland.
- Thursday the National American
Woman's Suffrage Association will
meet In convention In Chicago.
judged the amount of snowfall during the
time the trains were held in the drifts.
Although the road is now clear of snow,
there is still grave danger to bridges and
to the line in the mountains from snow
besides the floods that may be experi
enced when the thaw comes.
JAPANESE TOLD TO LEAVE
YVOODBURX SECTION' CREW DE
LIVERS ULTIMATUM.
White Laborers Object to Southern
Pacific Filling Their Places
With Little Brown Men.
WOODBURN, Or., Feb. 10. (Spe
cial.) Considerable feeling was en
gendered here by the Southern Pacific
Company laying- off white men em
ployed on the railroad section at this
point, and replacing them with eight
or ten Japanese.
The feeling ran so high that from
60 tc 75 Americans called at the sec
tion house last night and warned the
Japanese to leave the town.
There was no violence and he brown
men promised to leave. They were
given until this morning to depart,
and left for Portland within the limit
specified. A. Schwabauer, tlje section
foreman, refused tt, work with them,
and resigned his position yesterday.
The Japanese decided to go before the
promise of a visit from 400 to 500 citi
zens was carried out.
It Is reported that there will be war
rants sworn out tomorrow for the ar
rest of the ringleaders of the crowd
that drove the Japanese out.
WILL DROP 38 MIDDIES
Xaval Academy Reports Many Oth
ers Deficient in Studies.
WASHINGTON. Feb. 10. A report re
ceived at the Bureau of Navigation of the
Navy Department regarding affairs at
the naval academy, shows that 38 mid
shipmen will be dropped on account of
deficiencies, 15 will be turned back and
77 slightly deficient will be warned and
continued with their present class. The
3S vacancies will be filled by appointments
between now and March 1.
CUT THE TARIFF ON WHEAT
Mexico, Fearing Crop Failure, Wants
Cheap Breadstuffs.
CITY OF MEXICO. Feb. 10. Fearing a
wheat famine in the ' country in conse
quence of the bad crops, the finance de
portment has considerably decreased the
customary duties on wheat imported from
the United States. The duty That wheat
will have to pay from. February 15 to
June 1 will be tl.90 for 109 kilograms.-
EVENTS OF COMING WEEK
GIGANTIC THEFT
E POSSIBLE
No Record Burning of
$5,000,000 Stamps.
LAX SYSTEM IN TAX BUREAU
Comptroller Glynn, of Albany,
Makes Investigation. '
WERE IN CHARGE ONE MAN
Xo Attempt Was Made to Guard Tax
Stamps and Only Record of
Their Destruction Is Word
of Single Employe.
ALBANY. N. Y., Feb. 10. Comptroller
Martin H. Glynn made public tonight the
results of an investigation which he has
been making Into the condition of the
Stock Transfer Tax Bureau of his office
with reference to the handling and dis
posal of $7,000,000 worth of the stamps
Issued by the department for use in the
transfer of stocks under the act of 10O5.
According to the Comptroller's state
ment, more than fcV.OOO.OOO worth of the
stamps have been destroyed, either in
process of manufacture or by actual
burning, without adequate record or su
pervision in the two years since the act
was passed, and there wag only the per
sonal word of a single clerk, salaried at
12500 and not under bond, to certify the
fact that they were destroyed at all.
Under Ordinary Lock.
The stamps were printed by Quayle &
Son, of this city. The plates were In the
custody of the Comptroller's representa
tive, and each day were delivered to
Quayle. The paper first used was of an
ordinary commercial sort, which Comp
troller Glynn said was stored in the
Quayle shop, under an ordinary lock, tn
an ordinary room, and, while sheets were
counted out before printing, there was
no safeguard to prevent their being ex
tracted. The Comptroller declares the count of
sheets does not tally, the explanation
being that some of It was used for other
purposes.' The first issue was found to
be susceptible of counterfeiting, and In
May or June of last year the printing of
these was stopped, and a new issue was
begun on patent paper.
"When the new paper, which was to
defy counterfeiting, came to hand," said
the Comptroller, "it received no better
safeguard, but was left in the Quayle
shop. And the Comptroller's seal with
which the bundles were sealed was ap
parently as carelessly treated."
A statement was made to him by Wat
kins, the Comptroller said, adding:
"He says that early In October he took
alT that remained of the. old issue of
stamps from the vaults down to Quayle's
shop In Green street, boxed them up,
and they remained there without guard
or watchman at least one night. The
safe - deposit - people say, however, they
were not returned until December 26.
Burned Without Counting.
"There were over 2.000,000 In this lot
1.256.211 which had been returned by the
Bank of Manhattan County to the offi
cial distributors of the stamps, and 1.027,
386 which had never been issued. I do
not know how long they remained at
the Green-street shop, but, according to
Watklns' statement, they were brought
back here to the Statehouse on December
29. Two days before I assumed office they
were burned in the furnace downstairs
without being counted or checked up, and
without witnesses save a clerk, who was
in no way legally responsible for their
care. The record of the burning of De
cember 29 was not entered until Decem
ber 31, the day before I took office."
RIOTERS BEAT ITALIANS
Assault on Motorman Enrages Pas
sengers on Streetcar.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 10. Police re
serves were called out tonight to quell
a streetcar riot on Sutter street be
tween Fillmore and Devlsadero streets.
The motorman of an outbound Sutter
street car, obeying an order recently
issued by the United Railroads, stopped
his car because four Italians persisted
In hanging onto the running board on
the locked side of the car. They were
finally Induced by angry passengers to
come Inside, and the motorman threw
on the current.
One of the Italians then stepped up
behind the motorman and knocked him
senseless with a blow of his fist. A
quick-witted passenger succeeded In
bringing the car to a stop within the
block, and the passengers, about 100 in
number, proceeded to give the Italians
a fearful beating. The police reserves
were called out, and they had to use
their clubs to restore order.
PRESIDENT SENDS ADVICE
Writes Letter Setting Forth Ideas on
Duties of Mothers.
SYRACUSE. N. Y., Feb. 10. Mrs. E. H.
Merrill, of this city, president of the New
York State Mothers' Assembly, is in re
ceipt of a letter from President Roose
velt In which, he defined the place of the
MAD
father and mother In the home. The let
ter was in response to questions from the
Council of Mothers recently held at
Newburg and the state convention to be
held In the Fall. The President says:
"For one of our topics why would it
do to speak of the place of the father In
the home? Now and then people forget
that exactly as the mother must help
the breadwinner by being a good house
wife, so the father in his turn., if he is
worth his salt, must in every way back
up the mother in bringing up the chil
dren. "After all the prime duties are element
al and no amount of force and sagacity
will make the average man a good citizen
unless he be a good tousband and a father
and unless he is a successful breadwin
ner, is tender and considerate to his wife
and both loving and wise (for to be lov
ing and weak and foolish is utterly ruin
ous), in dealing with the. children.
"I think it a crime for the. woman to
shirk her primary duties, to shrink from
being a good wife and mother. Of course,
the woman should have the same r srjlit
as the man to train her mind, to better
herself and occasionally a woman can
and ought to follow some special voca
tion in addition to (never in substitution
for) her home work.
"But Just as the highest work for the
81
Arthur Conan Doyle, Who Is
Playing Role of Sherlock Holmes in
KealHy In See-king- to Release
(ieorge Edalji From Prison.
normal man is work for his wife and
children, so the highest work for the
normal woman is the work of the home,
where, heaven knows, the work is simple
enough.
"But I also feel she can do her best
work in her home if she has healthy out
side interests and occupation In addition,
and I most firmly believe that she can
not do her full duty by her husband if
she occupies a merely servile attitude
toward him, or submits to ill treatment
and that she Is quite as bad a mother if
weak and foolish as if hard and unlov
ing." TRY SIEVE ADAMS TODAY
IMPORTANT MURDER CASE TO
BEGIX AT WALLACE.
Man Who Made Confession In Steu
nenberg Case, Charged With
Death of Fred Tyler.
BOISE, Idaho. Feb. 10. (Special.) The
trial of Steve Adams will begin at Wal
lace tomorrow. He is charged with the
murder of Fred Tyler, on the 9t. Joseph
River, in August, 3904. Adams is the man
who made a confession In the Steunen-
berg case and afterward repudiated it and
sued out a writ of .habeas corpus to es
cape from the hands of the state, though
he would have been released at any time
upon making, a demand. ...
In his confession he told of this Tyler
murder, saying It was committed at the
Instance of Jack Slmpklns, the man who
Is so badly wanted In connection with
the murder of the former Governor. That
was the first knowledge the state had of
the facts of the crime, though It had al
ways been laid to the door of SSImpklns.
Adams told several persons the story, and
two or three of these will go on the stand
and testify.
It Is not believed by the prosecution
that the defense will attempt to delay
the trial. Though D. F. Richardson, of
counsel for Moyer and Haywood, is de
fending him, and J. H. Hawley, counsel
for the state in the greater case, is as
sisting In the prosecution, it is not
thought the policy of delay will be adopt
ed, as In the other cases, it being the
theory that the defense hopes to get some
points In this trial on the extent of the
state's information, thus affecting the
Moyer case.
CONTENTS TODAY'S PAPER
The Weather.
YESTERDAY'S Maximum temperature, 53
degrees; minimum, 44.,
Today's Fair; southeasterly winds.
Foreign.
Letter of Cardinal Hohenloh to Pope Leo
made public. Page
Election In Russian cities Indicates opposi
tion victory. Page 2.
National.
Haskln writes on rapid rise of the automo
bile. Page 'Z.
San Francisco Exclusion league urges May
or Schmitz to stand Arm in conference
with President. Page 1.
Iomestlc.
Evelyn Xeshft Thaw will probably not be
able to take the witness stand today.
Page 3.
Chicago telegraph operators bid defiance to
Western Union. Page J.
Gigantic theft of tax stamps made possible
at Albany. Page 1.
Ftcture hats denounced as full of germs
and. made in sweatshops. Page 3.
Pacific Coast
Boy who escaped from reform school fol
lows In Tracy's footsteps. Page 4.
Lobby for Chaptn bill by Chamber of Com
merce frightens s..ay support. Page 4.
Portland and VlcinJty.
Candidates for city offices line up for com
ing fray. Page 8-
Senator John M. Gearfn return from Wash
ington; ambition is satisfied. Page 9.
Sheriff Stevens takes steps to prevent Jall
break by postofTice robbers. Page 12.
Major Schoof denounces King Leopold's pol
icy in Congo. Page 9.
Labor unions protest against imprisonment
of Moyer, Heywood and Pettibone. Page
S.
Steamer Nome City passes through bridges;
traffic oa riverfront resumed. Pa-go 12.
A
I Vi
STRANGE CASE
GEORGE EDALJl
Conan Doyle Turns
Detective Himself,
MYSTERY NEW DREYFUS CASE
English World Stirred Over Re
cent Startling Disclosures.
EFFORT TO RIGHT WRONG
His Majesty's Criminal Courts Be.
lleved to Have Blundered and
Young Lawyer Has Suffered
an Unjust Imprisonment.
Special Cable to the Xew York Times.
Copyright, 1907.
LOXDON". Feb. B. Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, the creator of that wonderful
and world-beloved character, Sherlock
Holmes, Is walking In the footsteps of
his literary child and practicing the
art in which Holmes so greatly ex
celled. He Is endeavoring to right
what he conceives to be a grievous
THE HASKIN ARTICLE.
The Haskln article on "Re
markable Rise of Automobiles,"
usually found in this column, is
printed today on page 2.
wrong. With all the energy and all
the skill he can command, and with no
other motive than a desire and a de
termination that justice shall be done
the man who, he believes, has suffered
and is suffering punishment for an
other's crime, he Is working day and
night to vindicate the character of
George Kdaljf, a young lawyer of Bir
mingham, restore to him his good name
and secure for him satisfactory tepa ra
tion for the great injury done him
through the blundering operations of
one of His Majesty's criminal courts. '.
"A Dreyfus Case in I.itt'c" ls the
phrase which inevitably suggests itself
to any one who follows the ramifica
tions of this Staffordshire tragedy. The
victim oi an anonymous but daring
hostility for years, young Kdaljl was
In J903 convicted of serious crimes and
sentenced to seven years' penal servi
tude. At that time the nelgb.be rhood
of Great Wyrley was in a state of
panic over a series of outrages, chiefly
the brutal maiming and slaughter of
horses and catlle and the circulation
of unsigned letters spreading scandal
and threats. The police of the district
were active against Edaljl.
Expects to Kelease Kdaljl.
Sir Conan Doyle has summoned the
attention of the whole English world
to the events of the Great Wyrley
countryside, the proceedings of the.
Quarter Sessions Court which convicted
EdaIJi, and the persistence in support
of his sentence of two Home Secretaries
and their advisers. As a result of his
efforts, Sir Conan believes that he will
succeed in his aim, and that within a
very short time Edalji, who now is liv
ing the life of a convicted felon, re
leased from prison on tlcket-of-leave,
will stand among his fellows a free
man purged of the disgrace that has
attached to him since October, 1903.
The method adopted by Sir Conan was
of the kind he has made famous In. his
literary work. He visited the scene of
the crimes, saw the accused, studied tha
contemporary accounts of the trial, and
then sat down and wrote for the Daily
Telegraph an analysis of the evidence,
applying the principles he has made fa
miliar through their employment by Sher
lock Holmes. His story of "The Strange
Case of George Edalji" reads like a new
adventure of Sherlock Holmes; the keen
ness of Its scrutiny of facts, the brilliancy
of its deductions, the literary art which
builds up in the reader's mind a pro
gressive conviction that the accused man
Is innocent, make a tale which, were ic
fiction, would be as breathlessly Interest
ing as any of the author's stories, and
which, being an accurate statement of
an actual case loudly calling for rectifi
cation. Is doubly thrilling.
Makes Case National Isue.
Sir Conan has made a national issue
out of an affair in which, until he took
It tip, the British public had only a lan
guid interest. A month ago there were
comparatively few persons who knew,
enough about the matter to form opin
ions on the merits of the contention that
Edalji was guiltless of the crimes of
which he was convicted that of maim
ing a horse and that of writing a letter
threatening the murder of a police ser
geant. Today it seems to be the general belief
of Intelligent people in this country that
Edalji had nothing whatever to do with
those offenses. Dr. Doyle apparently has
convinced the British public of Edalji's
innocence, and it is believed that the
Home Office is rapidly advancing toward
the same conclusion.
They told me at the Home Office to
day that recent developments In the
Edalji case were being minutely exam
ined, and that a decision would be an
nounced as soon as possible. A decision
favorable to Edalji is generally expected,
(Concluded on Page .2.)