VOL. L. NO. 15,734.
I'OKTLAXD, OREGON, MONDAY, JAVUARY 1G, 1911.
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
ADROIT
SHARPERS
SWNDLE
BANKER
Whole Northwest Field
of Operation.
PORTLAND MEN LOSE HEAVILY
Confidence Established by Pa-
tientlv Laid Plans.
LAWYER UNWITTING AID
Note Prepared for Collection and Gen-
nine Check Make Credit Good.
Seattle. Ticom and Walla
Walla A1m Caught.
alleged for;f.r cAroHT at
ROT MTUX.8. ARK.
HOT SPR'NO. Ark. Jan. IS.
Charles H. Everett, charged specif
ically with having forged New York
drafts drawn through the Peoole-a
Savings Bank of Seattle, to th
amount of $1821. u arreeted hara
toAar br bank detective after a
chat which haa extended through a
half dosea Western state.
That raclfWs ceaat bank recent
ly hara I oat heavily through tlia la
auanoa of fraudulent paper and that
detective ara within reaching dis
taste at several maa alleged to hara
bad a part la th tranaactloaa, la
Intimated by dataotrraa hara. Other
arrest ara expected within a raw
47. t ta said, bat for the present
detalla of tha alleged awlndla ara
with bald.
After carrying on for more than a
rear a successful bank swindling schema
h rough which banker and business men
a various cities on the Pacific Coast were
"..r.il of nnu ranaina from CO to
SiOO, Roy R Thorpe, alia) ueorg o.
-Itlmpaon. was arrested by Plnkerton
ectlves at Hot Pprtnga. Ark. Saturday
nlglit. Thorpe's two accomplices, J. J.
Ham sad Roe CorelU. are being
hadowvd and. the detective say. will be
masted within a weak.
Among th heaviest losers in the opera-
ions PI Attorpv nidi ' -
hants" National Bank of Portland, a Se
ttle bank, three banks at Walla Walla.
na t Tacoma. two In Nevada and two at
an Francisco. In addition, merchants In
he various eltle vlaited by th awtndlera
er bilked of thousand of dollars of
welrv. dlamocda and other valuable
Tierchandis.
Prominent Men Hoodwinked.
The extent of their operations, th no.
ess which attended them In every case.
hoodwinking of both bankers and
rominent lawyer and th effrontery of
h gang in following op Its work from
T to city without detection are feature
hlch make h th most striking swindling
am In th criminal annals of th F
Me Coaaw.
Henry EZ.von Groenewald. superlnten-
ent of th Plnkerton Detective Agency
i Portland, who has been on the trail of
.e trio sine thy operated In Portland
st liar, said yesterday that Thorpe and
is accomplices worked the smoothest
am ever brought to hla attention. Bo
des) th Pinkertons. three other detee-
ve agencies have been working on the
w sine th Thorpe crowd began their
wlndllng regime at San Francisco more
ian a year ago. Th cleverness displayed
th gang In eluding officers and
eutha convince Mr. Von Groenewald
at Thorpe and Ross are veteran crlml-
ila although th Portland offlc haa no
cord of them before their appearance
a th Pacific Coast.
runs Well Laid.
Th general plan of the swindlers was
open real estate or stock brokerage
ftlcesi In th large cities and to cultivate
confidence of prominent attorneys.
irough whom the gang waa able to
tab!lsh banking "relations and create a
inking credit. The first swindle that
as successful, however, waa baaed upon
presentations that th two men had
ad a big "clean-up" In the Alaakan
Id field, when tbey announced In th
in Francisco newspaper that they bad
elded to const-uct a mammoth sky-
raprr In San Francisco, they were met
lih open hands by bankers and bus!
ss men. A cleverly forged bank draft
r KCO) purporting to have been drawn
i a bank at Juneau. Alaska, was ac
pted by the Anglo-London-Parls Bank
San Francisco. Before th bank dls-
vered the fraud. Thorpe and Roes, who
ere operating then under other names,
J secured Sl'50. By similar methods.
ry succeeded In obtaining a large
nount from the Metropolis Trust A
vlnga Bank of San Francisco. It Is
t known that Rose Corelll was con-
rted with them while they were In
i Francisco.
Work Talus Several Months.
The two came to Portland and re-
alned her several montha before
mpletlng their carefully planned
heme to defraud th Merchants Na-
nal Bank of 11300. When In Port
nd Thorpe went under the name of
orge P. Stlmpson. Ross left his part
r here and went on to Pocatello,
aho. where he established himself as
expert stock breeder. Soon after-
rd. Thorpe, or Stlmpson. presented a
oml.Korr nnte to a Portland attnr-
(Concluded ea Pass !!.
3 PITCHED DOWN
ELEVATOR SHAFT
JANITORS NARROWLY KSCAPK
DE.UII IX CAPITOL.
Two Fall Head Fhut and Save TlM-m-
rlvcs Only by Grasping Cable
Attached to Car.
PTATR CAriTOt. Salem. Or.. Jan. 18.
9peclar Charles Rockwell, head Janitor
of the State Capitol, with George Duns-
ford and Henry Htldebrand. employed at
the Capitol had a narrow escape from
death this morning, when a plank
stretched across the third story of the
elevator shaft broke and hurled them
down the shaft. Hildebrand was on a
ladder on tha fourth floor, the ladder
renting- on the plank of the floor below.
Rockwell and Dunaford wwre standing on
the plank.
When the plank broke In the center.
Dunaford and Rockwell were hurled head
downward, but succeeded In grasping the
cable. Their handa were badly burned and
they received severe wrenches and
bruises, but were not otherwise Injured.
Hildebrand dropped with hla feet fore
most from the fourth floor to the top
of the elevator, which was stationary be
tween tha first and second floor He felt
on his back, receiving sever cuts and
bruises, but will recover.
Hildebrand teems to bear a charmed
life, as a few months ago he was em
ployed at a ranch near tha city and waa
sawing limbs from trees. He climbed to
the end of one of these limb, turned and
sawed the limb In toward the tree, fall
ing to the ground as he severed the limb.
Ha escaped at that time with a tew .
bruises. This morning he fell about t
feet-
The Capitol elevator will probably be
replaced by a near on tbla session, as
repairs are necessary upon It every day
or two and have been for aeveral months.
It Is considered dangerous by many of the
Btatehous attaches, regardless of the
fact that It travel) at only a snail'a
pac.
BRADY SUFFRAGE APOSTLE
Governor of Idaho Honored ;
Ta
coma la Headquarters.
TACOMA. Wash. Jan. 18. At tha
final meeting of th delegate of the
National Council of Women Voters In
this city today. It waa decided to or
ganlse an advisory board, headed by
Governor J. IL Brady, of Idaho. Isaac
W. 8t evens, of Denver, was named as a
member of the board and other members
will ' b announced by Governor Brady
later.
National headquarters have been, lo
cated In Tacoma to be used until after
th National convention of 1112.
TACT RFTC TARIFF PI FnfiF
At Dinner Republicans Bay They'll
Adjust Differences.
WASHINGTON. Jan. 16. President
Taft entertained th Republican mem
ber of the way and means commute
at dinner at th Whit House tonight
and renewed hla efforts to get them to
agree on some form of legislation that
will create a permanent tariff commis
sion. What the President fears most Is that
In th congestion of tariff commission
bills In th House, th present session
rill fall to pass any of them.
Th President obtained a half-way
promise from the Representative thit
they would . consider the matter further
with a view to harmonising their dif
ferences. ' 1
SLED IMPALES WINDPIPE
Rnssell RUndley, 19 Years Old, Is In
jured While Coasting.
Russell Btandlejt 11-year-old son of Mr.
and Mrs. W. J. Stsndtoy, living at
Robln'a Creat. Portland Heights, lies at
the point of death at Good Samaritan
Hospital, th victim of an accident while
coasting last night with a crowd of boys
on Davenport street.
Th runner of one of the sleds struck
Toung Standley In such a manner aa to
Impale th windpipe. He waa removed
to th hospital and placed under the car
of Dr. J. Marsh.
In th event young Stanley recovers.
It Is believed that be may lose his voice.
COUNTESS MADE VICTIM
Blackmailer, Threatening Daughter
of exAmbaador White, Caught.
NEW YORK, Jan. 15 A dispatch to
tue .n-w york limes rrom Berlin says
that the Countew Muriel von Scherr
Those, daughter of Henry White, former
ly American Ambaaaador to France, has
been the victim of a sensational attempt-
to blackmail at her castle at Stelnseifcrs-
'dorf In Silesia.
According to the story a man named
Fiedler, now under arrest, wrote her
many threatening letters, demanding that
she place money In a bank to his credit
under pain that h would blow up her
castl with dynamite. A decoy letter
brought about his arrest.
BIG FIRE; 40 BELOW ZERO
Winnipeg Fights $400,000 Blaxe In
Frigid Weather.
WINNIPEG. Man., an. 15 Fire.
which started last night at midnight and
destroyed the Kelly block, caused a Iom
of $400,000. The Dominion Fur Com
pany was the principal loser. Its loss
being 1:00.000
The fire wal fought In weather 40 de
grees below xero. and the firemen were
literally moving masses of Ice.
BIG FIGHT IS DUE
CONSE T i
r
Policy in West Is Held
Unconstitutional.
COLORADO CASE IS BASIS
State Officials Will Argue Be
fore Supreme Court.
CONTEST TO BE THOROUGH
Antl-Cotteervatlonlsts File Brief At
tacking Roosevelt Policies Argu
' nient Will Begin on Mon
day, January 23.
WASHINGTON. Jan. 16. An attack on
the conservation policies Inaugurated by
the Roosevelt Administration, more seri
ous probably than heretofore made, will
be contained in an appeal next week to
the Supreme Court of the United States
to declare unconstitutional the creation
of the big forest reservstlons of the
West.
Failure to win on this proposition is
not to end th campaign of the anti
conservationists. They have prepared to
fight a step further against the alleged
Independence of the forest reservations
from the state laws on tha theory that
th Federal Government, In creating
them, holds the land merely as a big land
proprietor and not with any prerogatives
of sovereignty.
Cattle Case Issue.
The fight has arisen out of the attempt
of the United States to enjoin Fred Light,
a Colorado cattleman, from "allowing his
cattle to trespass" on the Holy Cross
forest reserve In the state. Despite
Light' claim that th formation of the
reserva- without the consent of the state
was In violation of the Federal Constitu
tion, and that action for trespass could
not be maintained under the Colorado
laws, unless th land In question had
been fenced, th Federal Circuit Court
Issued' the Injunction.
Th case was appealed to the Supreme
Court and It was advanced for oral ar
gument Monday. January II
Colorado has Joined In the fight against
the Federal Government. Governor
Sh a froth approves of It. Attorney-Gen
eral Harnett heads the corps of attorneys
carrying on th fight for Light. Among
the attorney are James H. Teller and
ex-Senator Teller. An outline of the ar
guments they will present to the court
ha Just arrived In Washington In a brief.
Th brief develop the argument that
by withdrawing from settlement and Im
provement the large areas of land, the
Western Btates are not being treated on
any equality with their sister states, all
In violation of the Constitution.
Other. States Not Affected.
"Other states were left free to develop
through the settlement of public lands
within their borders the settlers having
free pasturage upon such lands and tim
ber therefrom for their necessities until
th entire area of lands having any value
became private property," It Is argued
In the brief. "To withdraw large bodies
of land Is to deprive a stats of these ad
vantages and to deny to It constitutional
equalities with other states." ,
With one-fifth of Its area withdrawn
from development and permanently ex
empt from taxation, Colorado has been
curtailed greatly In its right to develop
and secure Increase of revenue. It la de
clared. It Is shown that the total re
serve In Colorado Is equal to th area of
the States of Connecticut, New Hamp
shire and Massachusetts.
The question Is asked as to what Is the
legitimate end, within the scope of the
Constitution, to be served by the system
of reserves. According to the brief, the
general answer is that It ' to conserve
the National resources by providing for
a continuing supply of timber, regulate
the flow of streams and preserve power
sites from being monopolized.
It is contended that the Federal Gov
ernment, was not created, to carry on
such a work, even the "general welfare"
clause of th Constitution not being
broad snough to Include this object. Even
If the power did exist. It Is argued. It
could not be exercised without the con
sent of the states directly affected.
That the power to establish these re
(Concluded on Page 2.)
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF STATE,
y
if
I - " Greraor Stafrotb. '
e4 "" e e
FIRST THINGS IN OREGON
There is hardly a week that
the newspapers are not called
upon to tell where and'when the
first streetcar was operated in
Oregon, when the first telegram
was sent, when the first white
child was born in the state, or
to answer other questions of
similar nature.
Several hundred short para
graphs concerning first things in
Oregon will comprise one depart
ment of the Fiftieth Anniver
sary Edition of The Oregonian.
Every resident of OregonTvill
find these paragraphs instruct
ive and interesting. It will be
worth while to clip them out for
reference when facts in Oregon
history are in question. This
information, as published, will
be authoritative.
The Anniversary Edition will
be published February 4. The
historical section will be only
one division of an exceptionally
readable and attractive publication.
INDEX OF TODAY'S NEWS
The Weather.
TESTER DAY'S Maximum temperature, 83
cecreea: minimum. -3 oecreea.
TODAY'S Rain and warmer, with lncreas'
ins aoutherly winds.
Legislatures.
ImDirllil analysis br board of experts of
all Initiative meaaurea la promised mr in
Esslaaton'e bill. Pare 4-
Etevena' factions assemble at Olympla . for
county division legislation. Paso a.
Eaton forces admit defeat la fight over com
mittees, page 1. x
Foreign.
DisDosai of Dlarue victims' bodies causes
row in China. Paae
Honduran rebels eaDture Truxlllo. Page 3.
National.
Colorado will make bitter flcht aaalnst con
serration before Supremo Court. Page l.
Democrats In House will hold caucus this
week. Page 2.
Admiral Barry relieved of poat pending
action on request for retirement, page la.
Domestic.
Food trust" preparing to unload millions
or pounas or ooia storage proaucu.
Page 1.
Three negroes lynched by mob. Page .
New York City Chamberlain missing 33 days
returns and makes denials, page .
Appeal not to fortify Tanama Canal issued
by publicists. Page 11.
Sport". .
Pr.rk shooting B9mmon
haa stormy ending.
' Page 10.
Soldiers see fast boxing bout.
McCredle home, hears good
Page
news
10.
from
Cleveland. jage 10.
Scotchmen win International soccer cham
pionship. Page 10.
Parian Northwest.
Farmers will hold Institute at Corvallls.
Page 4.
postal bank at Klamath falls haa nine de
positors and $-00 cash. Page 3. '
Non-union waiters may serre at Labor Fed
eration banquet. Paae 1.
Three Janitors narrowly escape death In
State Capitol elevator shaft. Page 1.
Commercial and Marine.
Stock market shows improvement. Page IS.
Dock commission will hire expert engineer
before making purchases. Page 16.
Portland and Vicinity.
The Chocolate Soldier" acores tremendous
hit at Helllg. Page 6.
Portland bank and others Is Northwest
fleeced by swindlers. . Page 1.
Judge Gatens. In church talk, tells why some
boys are bad. Page .
Archbishop Christie and other church dig
nitaries consecrate oi. r rmncir nurco.
Page 8.
Weather forecaster predicts end of cold snap.
Page .
Educator tells of progress of moral Instruc
tion in schools, page s.
Hill and Hariiman roads to use Malheur
Canyon route in common. Page 9.
Joseph Fels coming to lecture In Oregon on
single tax. Page 14.
Peninsula residents make plans for Roae-
Piantlng day. Page 3.
Livestock show premiums are announced.
Page 14. "
Man. Insulting stenographers, arrested on
suspicion of similar onense. after release
from rockplle. Page 11.
RAILROAD MENASK RAISE
Trainmasters and Dispatchers Voice
Demand Today.
Trainmasters, as well as the dis
patchers, on railroads In the Northwest
III today .make a demand upon the
general managers lor an Increase In pay.
The dispatchers gave notice of their
Intentions a few days ago. The general
managers state that In the absenoe of
official Information they cannot con
sider the increase that the men will ask.
P. O'Brien, of the Harrlman system.
said yesterday that he knows nothing
of the wants of the men excepting what
he has learned from outside sources.
Testerday the trainmasters gave no
tice to the effect that they will ask for
Increase In wages of t-5 per month.
Their petition will be filed with heads
of roads In Portland and other cities In
the Northwest.
OPENING CONSERVATION WAE
PRESIDENT ATTACKED. .
Theodora Reoaevelt.
C
! EATON FORCES
ADMIT DEFEAT
Fight on Rusk Doomed
to Failure.
SUPPORTERS ENTICED AWAY I
m. J-.. r r !( .
TieUyeS Ul OUmmiliee HSSign-
merits Win Members.
SPEAKER GAINS HIS WAY
Adoption of Rules of Last House
Will Permit Appointment of Com
mittees as Usual Eaton to
Protest Formally.
SALEM. Or., Jan. 15. (Special.)
Friends, of Representative Eaton to
night admitted defeat in their effort to
deprive Speaker Rusk of the appoint
ment of the standing committees of
the House.
Baton, himself, declined to make any
estimate of his following numerically.
He declared that he would go down to
defeat on the floor of the House pro
testing against what he regards an im
proper delegation of authority by the
Speaker in the nomination of his com
mittees, rather than retire from the
fight at this hour. Mr. Eaton said he
would pursue this course, rather than
surrender. At the same time he leaves
to the Individual members the selection
of their own course.
, Eaton's Forces Dwindle.
Men Included In the Rusk-Thompson
forces tonight claimed a following of
at least 36 votes, or five more than the
necessary majority, that can be depend
ed upon to, stand solidly against any
attempted usurpation of the Speaker's
prerogatives by the Insurgents, under
the leadership of Eaton or any other
member. This strength, aver friends of
Rusk, may be Increased to 40 when the
test comes tomorrow. -'
Eaton's forces apparently have dwin
dled to about 20 tonight, and the
strength of the Lane County man may
drop to 16 before the vote that will de
termine the committee' appointments is
taken tomorrow afternoon.
New Agreement Circulated.
Recognizing the futility of their
fight, some of Eaton's firends desire to
quit the-contest. A majority, however.
Insist that the controversy must be set
tled on the floor of the House by ballot,
win or lose. These tonight began cir
culating an agreement among the few
Representatives In the city, binding the
signers. If 31 signatures are secured, to
stand together
r and take out of Rusk's
hands the appointment of the commit
tees. The course to be pursued by the
Eaton men tomorrow depends entirely
on the extent to which this agreement
Is signed.-
Rusk's friends professed not to be
alarmed by this move on the part of the
insurgents, explaining that they already
had 35 members securely tied up in sup
port of Rusk.
Resentment Is Cooled.
From the beginning of the fight over
the committees Eaton's chances of win
ning Jiavo not been altogether encourag
ing. There was, for a time, however, an
undercurrent sentiment of resentment
among some of the House members be
cause of the reported trade of the com
mittees by Rusk to Thompson in consid
eration of Thompson's support of Rusk
for Speaker. This feeling did not prove
lasting and . the attempt of Eaton's
friends to develop an effective insurrec
tion against Rusk has proved futile. It
was impossible for them to organise an
adequate fighting force.
Baton not only lost the Speakership,
but his attitude 'respecting the commit
tee appointments may result in his re
ceiving Insignificant committee assign
ments, as- there Is an apparent demand
from some Rusk-Tbdmpeon men that he
be punished for his Insurgency leader
hip.
Rusk Men Prompt to Act.
Timely snd effective action on the part
tfi the Rusk supporters was a determin
ing factor la subduing the Eaton Insur
rection. When Eaton launched his fight
(Concluded on Page 2.
ATTORNEY IN-jCASE AND EX-
. -
V
Kx-Seaator Teller.
I k . fcV J
1 .
NON-UNION HELP
MAY SERVE LABOR
UNORGANIZED WAITERS LIKELY
. AT FEDERATION BANQUET.
Washington Body Faces Unique Quan
dary Because Olympla Restaurant
Employes Bo Not Boast Label. .
OLTMFIA, Wash., Jan. 15. (Special.)
Non-union waiters may be engaged to
serve the delegates at the State Federa
tion of Labor banquet in Olympla-
Wedenwiay right unless some of the
union waiters in attendance at the con
vention don aprons and turn in tc work.
i men irum nil over tne state
gather In Olympla tomorrow for their
convention, which is to last a week. On
Wedenaday night they are to be guests
of honor at a big banquet and the man
In charge admits he will probably have
to hire non-union waiters. In fact three
non-union men have been asked If they
will Hssiwt, but have given no answer yet.
Olympla Is an "open town" for waiters
as the kitchen workers are not organ
ized. Tho hotels and restaurants employ
Chinese cooks, although a union man
has been put in charge of the plans for a
big banquet. He says it is practically
impossible to get union waiters, as they
would have to be Imported, and If he goes
to that expense he win not make much
profit.
The situation Is a trying one and will
add to the general interest that is being
displayed in the coming sessions. Ac
cording to reports the union men are go
ing to have a "wet" and "dry" or local
option fight all of their own. Charges
are to be preferred against Fred Hud
son, a Belllngham printer, and his re
moval asked on the ground that he
worked for a "dry" town in Belllngham
and therefore put the bartenders' union
out of business. He Is third vice-presl
dent of the state organization and his
resignation is asked.
At the convention the laboring men
will go on record either in favor of or
against the employes' compensation act
which is now pending before the Legisla
ture.
OREGON TEACHER HONORED
Ir.
Boynton, , Physicist, Is Ranked
With Great Scientists.
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, Eugene,
Jan. 15. (Special.) Dr. W. H. Boynton,
the head of the physics department at
the university, has been placed among
the foremost 150 Americans In this
branch of science.
The compilatlou was made under tha
direction 'of Dr. J. McKeen Cottrell, a
Cornell faculty member who edits "Sci
ence" and "The Popular Science Month
ly." The method of selecting the .names
was by votes of the ten leading scien
tists of America.
The Oregon professor is the only man
In the Northwest honored with this rec
ognition and the first man who has ever
been chosen from this state.
Dr. Boynton has published many not
able articles on his subject but a treatise
on Kinetic energy is held directly re
sponsible for his recent distinction.
"fiRflRRER " INSIST WflMFN
I '
Sewing Machine Agent Is Jailed by
Eugene Chief.
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, Eugene,
Or., Jan. 15. (Special.) Upon identifi
cation by two women. Chief of Police
Farrlngton arrested a man by the name
of Curry, a sewing-machine agent here.
believing he had at last captured the
"Jack the Grabber," who has been the
dread of Eugene for over one year.
Various women victims are being con
sulted as to the suspect's guilt. Eugene
Is much aroused over the arrest, but
there is little likelihood of violence.
as many believe Curry Is innocent.
AFIRE, BOYS RUN TO DEATH
Playing With Matches, 2 Lads
plode Gasoline Tank.
Ex.
FRESNO, CaL, Jan. 16. A special
from Madera says that Harold Miner,
aged 8 years, and Otis Russell, aged
13, were burned to death when a 50-
gallon gasoline tank was set afire by'
matches with which the boys were
playing and exploded.
The boys ran three blocks, scream
ing and with clothes blazing, before
they were stopped and the fire ex
tinguished. BLAST KILLS 5, MAIMS 4
Gas Explosion Starts Fire Which De
stroys Frame Hotel.
NIOBRARA, Neb., Jan. 15. Four per
sons were killed and four Injured in an
explosion which occurred here at 7:30
o'clock tonight. The fire which result
ed from the explosion burned to. the
ground a three-story frame hotel
owned by Michael Kendall.
The explosion was caused by a leak
in a gas plant in the cellar of the ho
tel. It is thought that all the injured
will recover. ,
INITIATIVE LAW IS URGED
Bourne Tells New Jersey Voters to
Disregard Party Lines.
JERSEY CITY, N. J., Jan. 15.-Senator
Bourne, of Oregon, speaking today before
the People's Institute, urged all listeners
to make the adoption of the initiative
and referendum the Issue in every cam
paign wtihout regard to party lines.
When these measures have been adopt
ed, he urged a campaign for direct nomi
nations, corrupt practices, registration
and the recal-
FOOD TRUST" IS
NEAR COLLAPSE
Cold Storage Corner
Defeats Own End
VAST QUANTITY IS UNSOLD
Dairy Products in Hand Five
Years to Be Unloaded.
DROP IN PRICES COMING
Single Firm Has 41,000,000 Pounds ot
Butter on Hand Recent Exces
sive Prices Have Reacted
Upon the Demand.
BUTTER AND EGG PRICKS MA-'
TCRIALX.Y LOWER.
The following comparison of prices
of butter and eggs iliowi tha reduc
tion of the past 10 days:
Eggs Jan. S. Jan. 15.
Fresh I .34 f .33
Prime 3a .20
Firsts 30 .2$
Butter
Kxtra creamery .29 .27
Firsts 25 tt .23
Dairy US .23
CHICAGO, Jan. 16. (Special.) Mil
lions of pounds of cold storage butter,
eggs, cheese and poultry, some of it as
much as five years old, according
estimates of dealers, are abr .t to be
thrown on the market and sacrificed at
whatever price they will bring as the
result of the collapse within the last
few days of the "food trust," which, by
steady aggressions has piled prices of
provisions up to their present figures.
Chicago, as the center of the cold-
storage industry of the country, Is to
be the vortex of the wholesale unload
ing.
Pinch Is Widely Felt,
Chicago wholesalers admit that the
bottom has fallen out of prices for
dairy products and poultry and that a
big slump is due as soon as the con
tents of the cold storage warehouses
can be put on the market. They as
sert that an attempt Is being made by
retailers to keep prices up to an abnor
mal level by buying such stocks at low
figures and selling them to the public at
the old high levels.
Although the collapse of the "corner"
s likely to be felt most keenly by the
cold storage men of Chicago, the pinch
will be felt In many of the Eastern
and Middle West shipping- centers. Chi
cago, New York, Philadelphia, Omaha,
Kansas City, St. Louis and Minneapolis,
were spoken of yesterday as the
points where most of the unloading
probably would be done.
Poultry Due to Fall.
Prices for dairy products. It is said.
will drop to a reasonable figure. Chick
ens, turkeys, geese and domestic fowls
of all sorts are expected to become
cheap enough for the poor man's table.
The collapse has been due to natural
causes.
The present troubles of the cold
storage people have been brought about
by their own manipulations at the ex
pense of the public. A large number of
them got together five years ago In
more or less Informal agreements and
proceeded tq put artificial prices on
butter, eggs, cheese, fowls and every
thing else that could be kept In cold
Btorage. They were able to do this by
the simple method of putting goods in
storage Instead of delivering them im
mediately to the market. Their com
bined storage facilities gave them a
position of supremacy which not only
enabled them to limit the supply to the
publio and thus keep prices up, but to
control nearly absolutely the prices
paid to producers.
Thus while producers were getting lit
tle enough for their butter, eggs and
poultry, the publio was paying extor
tionate prices.
Greed Destroys Market.
In putting up prices to the high
figures attained during the last two
years the cold storage men cut the
ground from under their own feet.
People who could not afford to pay 35
and 40 cents a dozen for eggs stopped
eating them. Families that found but
ter too expensive used oleomargerlne.
The result waa that after this had gone
on for a year or two the wholesalers
found themselves with full warehouses
and no demand. General uneasiness
was followed by a downward trend In
prices. Then came a more pronounced
drop. Now the wholesalers find them
selves In the Imperative necessity of
unloading or going out of business.
Just how much food is in storage in
and around Chicago there is no means
of ascertaining. Only the wholesalers
know, and they will not tell. A few
days ago one firm controlling 33 ware
houses admitted It had In storage 44,
000,000 pounds of butter .that must be
disposed of before May 1 at the latest.
Storage Consumes Profits.
It cost from 27 to 28 cents a pound
to store this butter and it will cost
2 or 3 cents more a pound to market
It. The normal prioe for first-class
butter at the present time Is gives
(Concluded on Page 8.)
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