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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (April 28, 1913)
WIFE ADMITS MAN IS J. G. LA F Insurance Fraud May Be Solved Soon. BODY FOUND PROVES PUZZLE Prisoners Are Expected Here Wednesday. SEARCH OF EFFECTS MADE Insurance Company Receives Word From CoqnlHe and Is Confident Accused Persons Are Those Long Sought by DetectWes. Admission of her Identity and that of her husband haa been made by the oman held In jail at Marshfleld as Mrs. Jamea C LaFrance. charged, with LaFrance. of having- swindled an In surance company and fraternal orders out of $16,000 by placing LaFrance'a clothing upon another man's dead body, according; to advices received last night by Attorney H. B. Adams, representing the Postal Life Insurance Company, one of the victims. The message is meager, but Is to the effect that the woman, who Is held closely guarded In jail, haa admitted that ah la Mrs. LaFrance. and that her fellow prisoner Is her husband. Fur ther than that. It appears, the confes lon did not go. but Attorney Adams lays there Is now no question that the persons nnder arrest are the right ne. Their arrival In Portland is not pected before Wednesday. There was nothing In the circum stances at the time to arouse suspicion, tara Coroner "W. J. Wilson, of Oregon Jlty. who took charge of the body. Krery article on the body, so far as uld bo determined, was the property sf La. Franca, even to a few loose i sates rn the pockets. These, In fact, -linched the Identification when the Torocer hunted up Mrs. La France and tsked her what articles rulgiit serve to dcntlfy her husband. She mentioned the agates, presumably cot knowing that the Coroner already had found them In the dead man's pockets. JI rs. La Franca teemed fittingly distressed when the news was conveyed to her. saya Coroner Wilson. Many papers be longing to La Franca remained In his office, he says, having been taken off t'ae body. "PI atlas' Considered Improbable. That La France found a dead body ready to his hand whan, as it Is al leged, he dressed it In his own gar ments, disappeared and then caused Ms wtfa to cpllect his life insurance to the amount of 115.000. is the belief of residents In the vicinity of Estacada, where the body was found last July. They base the conclusion upon the natural difficulties of the country, which, they believe, would render It virtually Impossible to "plant" a dead body where this on was found without extreme risk of detection. Not only Is the spot reached only by a rough mountain road, from which a long portage would have to be made, but the sparseness of the settlement around would make any stranger sub ject to general observation. N Saaplctoa Aroued. So. If the ehargea brought against the man nnder arrest are true. It must be that he stnmbled upon the body of some man who had met his death In the woods, and waa struck by the Idea of substitution. La Fraae Hoar Searched. At Coqulllo yesterday the officers and private detectives working on the rase, were busy searching the home of the supposed La France, looking for evidence to support the charge. Mean- while, the man and his wife aro be ing kept closely guarded In Jail, at a dlatanca from each other. It Is be lieved In Marshfleld that the unknown man who accompanied Mrs. La France in her windings about the country after he was subjected to surveillance, was in the Coos Bay country quite recently. Detectives may Implicate him in the case. The charges which took the form of an Information of felony leading to the arrests Saturday, were not the ' first that had been brought In this care. Many months ago the Portland detec tives and Sheriff Mass; of Clackamas County, collaborated upon a report that an Insurance swindle bad been com mitted. The report waa made to De tectives Vaughn and Lltherland. but. It appearing that the crime. If any. had been committee in the adjoining coun ty, they mailed a full report of their Information to the Sheriff there and he spent some time in an effort to run It down. . La Franc K iim. 1m Poller. Patrolman W. C. Epps was the police officer sent to the Coos Bay country some time ago in an effort to Identify La France, and In his being selected an Interesting sidelight upon the man la brought to the front. In Novcint-er. 1111. Epps. working partners with Pa trolman Taft. out of detective head quarters, waa put upon a case In which La France, then posing as a real estate man of Creswell. Or, waa the In formant. La France had been "steered" y a gang of raca track swindlers, who mad their approach to him near Portland Hotel. The Intended vlctlu smelled the scheme from the first, but rlayed the "sucker" and led the awta. RANGE ICeacladed oa rase A.vr. rORTLAXD, OREGON, MOXDAY, AfltlL 23, 1913. TRICE FIVE CENTS. HEN WITH RECORD OF 4500 EGGS DIES INCOM PARABLE THEODOSIA IN 25 YF.VnS NETS $68.75. Mrs- Itu.eII Sage Numbered Among Admirers of Pasadena Biddy Noted for Industry. n.cirvfVA r.l.. Anrll 27. Theodo- sia P.oosevelt,'so named because of iter evident antagonism toward race been the oldest hen In America, died today at the home of her owner. Mrs. Elizabeth C-rlnnell, of Pasadena. She was 2 years oiu. Theodosia numbered among her friends many of the notables who haye j h.i. winters in Pasadena. In the last quarter of a century, among them Mrs. Russell Sage, wno, on nn i. Ti.it to this city made three calls at the Grinnell home to pet Theodosia. The aged hen laid approximately ieaa rr in her long and useful life besides mothering many broods of in cubator-hatched chickens. Matisucians ri-ur that the eggs laid by Theodosia, at the average price of only 23 cents a dozen, were worth 193.7b. 'ine c ind cost of koeDing a hen In these parts Is II a year, making Theodosia's net earnings 168.76. At a capiiamw. value of 11.25. she has made S0OO per cent on her valuation for her owners. Poultry eiDerts admit their accepted theories of the extreme egg possibili ties of a hen have been shattered by th. rxcentlonal Theodosia, wno in ner nrtim laid several times the number of eggs that naturalists and poultry college experts would have saia any hen could attain to. AMERICA IS "INELEGANT" Paris Dancer Says Any Charm or Style We Have Is Imported. PAFJS, April 57. (Special.) Napier kowska. the Paris dancer who has Just returned from America, made some plain remarks today on the subject of Americana. "Really. I have not brought away a single pleasant memory from the United States," she says. "What a narrow-minded people they are: how utterly Impervious to any beautiful Im pression! I cannot understand how any one can sincerely admire them or their customs, or their towns without monuments or trees and hardly any museums. -Th. r. bardlv civilized. They Jostle you in th street without apolo gizing. Any charming or stylish object one sees over there invariably comes They have not the slightest feeling of elegance of any sort. In fact. I am completely aisiuu sioned about them." La Napierkowska complains bitterly of her prosecution on a charge of in decency, saying that th dance for which aha waa marched off to the courts like any ordinary criminal in New York, had previously been given by her In several amailer cities without the allghtest objection. Th Judg who had the "Intelligence" to release her. she says. Is the only exception which proves the rule of general . barbarism In the United States. MRS. ADAMS BADLY HURT Portland Woman Ron Down by Mo torcycle and Skull Fractured. ijdS AXGELES. CaL. April 27. (Spe cial.) While crossing th street lat last night Mrs. A. H. Adams, of Port land, who Is visiting friends In this city, was run down and severely hurt by a motorcycle ridden by jonn atrange land. of Long Beach. Beside many bruises Mrs. Adams sus tained a fracture of the skull. While th doctors do not believe 'he accident will prove fatal, the fact that she is SO years of age makes her friends feel uneasy. Mrs. Adams had been callins ana .-.. nn hr wn v home. As she neared the house of her friend whom she was staying with, she camo to a crossing .. -. 1 1 ..h ( nnri AS Rha stepped from the curb the motorcycle struck ner. nen sne " i. . k. M,K W.nblnr h.r unCOn- clou. While the motorcycle had a heaallgnt. sne lunru iu -Strangeland. who was riding at a fast clip, also did not see Mrs. Adams until he hit her. OFFICERS NOT DEBARRED Activity In Politics Permitted After lletlrement. WASHINGTON. April 17. Retired Naval officers are not debarred rrom taking part In politics. Secretary Dan iels believes. The same rule will apply tr Armv officers. Sometime ago Senator Johnson, of Alabama, complained that Rear-AO mlral Wadhams. retired, had been lec turlng In Alabama on the reed of a big Navy. Indirectly the Senator thought this waa ralculated to help along Rep resentative HohKon In his campaign for the Senator's seat. He thereupon pro tested. It Is expected, now that Secretary aniels has declined to Interfere, that an effort wlil be made to secure legls iatlon prohibiting retired officers from engaging in political work. LUMBER RATE HEARING SET Special Examiner to Open Cae In Portland on May 9. OREGONIAX NEWS BUREAU. Wash Ir.gton. April 27. A hearing will he heid at Portland Mar 9 by Special Ex amlr.er Carmalt. of the Interstate Com mere Commission, on the complaint against the proposed advance In lum ber rates from Oregon and Washing ton to Eastern destinations. A hearlna- was held May 5 at Mln neapolis by Carmalt on proposed ad vances In class and commodity rates between' points In Minnesota and Iowa and Pacific Coast territory. Th commission hss suspended these proposed advances until November I. : 1 I ... REPUBLICANS WILL PROFIT BY EVENTS Party in Position of Strong Leadership. OUTLOOK FOR T. R. HOPELESS Ex-Secretary for McKinley Analyzes Situation. GOVERNORS FALLING AWAY Only Three Progesslves Now Execu tives of States, and In Various legislatures They Are in Small Minority. WASHINGTON. April 27. (Special.) James M. Boyle, who was private secretary to William McKinley when McKinley was Governor of Ohio, and a political and economic writer of con siderable note, has written a pamphlet entitled. Will the Republican Party Come Back?" which is being circulated widely by Harry M. Daugherty. Repub lican National committeeman irom Ohio. Mr. Boyle In the course of his argument says: "Taking political conditions as they ar and giving duo consideration to th trend of the times whether from a radical or conservative standpoint the conclusion seems Irresistible: "1. That there must be a reunion of the two divisions of the historic Re publican party. In order to beat the Democrats. "2. The growth of the Progressive party based on the personality of Colo nel Roosevelt is hopeless. 'Tiftt' eaalvt Governors Scarce. "There are now only three state Gov ernors who class themselves as mem bers of th Progressive party Gover nor Johnson, of California; Governor Carey, of Wyoming, and Governor Byrne, of South Dakota and the two former were elected in 1910, long be fore th Progressive party was thought of. It will be remembered that seven Governors Indorsed the candidacy of Roosevelt for the Republican nomina tion for President. "There are now 15 Governors who are listed as Republicans. Governor Byrne, of South Dakota, was the only state orflcer elected by the Progres sives last November outside of Judge Wanamaker, of the Ohio Supreme Court, who was nominated by petition as an Independent, although It Is fair to say that he had been active in the formation of the Progressive party and received Its Indorsement aa a candi date. As to Governor Byrne, there was no Republican opposition to him. Legislative Strength. Compared. "The Progressives have representa tives in only 16 State Legislatures, the combined representation being only (Concluded on P Z. INDEX OF TODAY'S NEWS The Weather. YESTERDAY'S Maximum temperature. 55 TODAY'S Fair, with fro.t In early morning. Rising temperature. Westerly winds. Foreign. European courts disturbed over approaching marriage of Duke of Croy to commoner. Page 3. National. State Department officials deny Japan is tnreatemng. rage Portland and Vicinity. Craied woman poisons children and self, then shoots. Page 1. Practical prises are offered for Colfax and Pendleton corn shows. Page 4. Domestic. Republican party, not Progressives, in po sition to profit by political events. Page 1. Actress, suing hotel man, admits she found It easy to love two men at once. Page - Kanra farmers perturbed bv wives' demands for reform In night dress. Page 1. Hen dies at 25 years old, after having laid 4500 eggs. Pago 1. Rector hair hour late to church because he stops to fish and forKets service. Page 3. Official California awaiting Bryan's arrival In Sacramento today. Page 1. Pretender lover who answers tender letter Intended for another sues for false arrest. Page S. New revelations indicated in San Francisco bunco cases. Page 1. Threat made to extend wireless strike to KuL Page o. STRIKERS FAIL IN BOAST Paciric Shipping Not Tied Cp hy Wireless Operators. HirTTT.l? Wash.. Arjrll 27. (Spe cial.) Although the strikers assert that B0 wireless operators have left their vessels at. ban rrancisco, i navo quit at Seattle and the shore operator at Friday Harbor and one of the land operators here have come out in obedi ence to the call Issued Tuesday by the Commercial Telegraphers' Union, all steamships sailed on schedule time from Seattle today. So far the strikers have failed to carry out their boast that they would tie up all shipping on the Pacific Coast unless their demands for Increased wages were complied with by the Mar coni Wireless Telegraph Company. BABY DROWNS IN CISTERN Child's Body Recovered Within Six Minutes, but Life Is Extinct. LEWISTON, Idaho", April 26. (Spe cial.) The two-year-old child of Mr. and Mrs. Tony Aichelmaier, of Clarks ton, met death today by drowning in a cistern. The parents are almost pros trated with grief. The mother had noticed the child a few minutes before near the cistern. Becoming alarmed at his absence, she ran to the cistern and peering below saw the child's form.. He was taken from the cistern within six minutes, but life had become extinct. MRS. WILSON TO ENTERTAIN Garden Parties Will Be Giyen at White House Beginning May 9. ' WASHINGTON. April 27. The Presi dent and Mrs. Wilson intend to con tinue the usual custom of holding gar den parties weekly on the south lawn of the White House during the Spring and early Summer. Announcement was made today that the first garden party would be given on May 9. Others will follow on May 16 and 23. Vegetable Coloring Order Stands. WASHINGTON. April 27. The Pure Food Board has denied an application of Importers and distributors for a postponement beyond May 1 of the or der forbidding the interstate shipment of vegetables greened with copper salts. Enforcement of th order pre viously had been deferred from Jan uary 1. STUDYING TEE CHARTER. - NEW WITNESSES POLICE CASE FOUND Activities of "Bunco Ring" Extended. REVELATIONS ARE AMAZING Dual Detective Department Immersed in Politics. TWO' MURDERS INVOLVED Accused San Francisco Officers Ad here to Defense That They Are Victims of Plot Because They Did Their Duty. cw T7T?AN-crrsCO. April 27. (Spe clal.)" When the grand jury resumes tomorrow its investigation wo , ..ninn nf members of the San leseu n"'" - Francisco Police Department with the Italian bunco ring, new witnesses ... r the charges against vui . www. ----- eight men now under suspension will be called. That both JJisinct Flckert and Police Commissioner Kuhl have discovered new and amazing cir cumstances was whispered around po where the absence gauH ' , of the heads of departments caused a temporary lull In the inquirj. .i.. i.uioi .mnsA of the alleged con . e ihn Italian bunco ring, which fleeced victims of $300,000 In -o nuila more than seven months ago and the failure of the head of the department to proDe tae ..cs. tions is being investigated by members of the Police Board. Hotel Named as Rendesvons. fv.- ..i.Di tnosa named Lello Pel legrini's Exposition Hotel. 17 Plnckney Place ' as the rendezvous oi ie t - said then by August Jouanou. who notified District Attorney Flckert of the fleecing of Joseph Marchand of ,1500. that members of the detective bureau were seen in the hotel with Pellegrini and that bribes had been offered to secure silence, inai Loglano Rovlgo, alias Chito, was ar rested here on March 11, 1912, under the Tnhn Munso and that his photograph never was taken for the police records was learnea iuua,. ii i f.r hoasted to members of the bunco ring that a small sum of money had Insured the release or cnuo wim ., K.vinr hla nlcture taken. This will be brought out by one of the witnesses before the grand jury. w $5000 Deal Charged. Besides the numerous charges al ready made against Paulino Necci, real jitnr of the bunco ring, a complaint from Riverside charging the buncoing of J. Ferrari of $5000. of which fooo is said to have gone for police protection, has been unearthed. Paulino worked with Volpl, Golgl and Gori. It Is alleged. (Concluded on Page 2.) V I T ! "NIGHTIE" EDICT ANGERS FARMERS 'BILED' SHIRT AND TUXEDO DE MAND DREADED. Tillers of Soil in Kansas Object to "Wives' Requirements as Sac rifice of Comfort. TOPFR-J Tfnn . Aorll 27. (Special.) Kansas farmers are much perturbed. astounded and dtsconraeeo. i ny xee ahead the finish of one of the sacred privileges of the horny-handed son of toll and the introduction 01 an in novation which will put the farmer on the same basis as the city man. ine women folks are demanding that the men folks on the Kansas farms wear r, ; o-i to-nu-n or naiamas. The next thing will be putting on a rblled" shirt for supper and tne wearing 01 a iiiTcda while farmer sits about the house at night reading the daily pa pers. -r rnnras it reallv doesn't seem right for the women folks to Insist that the men of the soil wear uigui-.hii-ii it ihrv don't want to. Most of the farmers assert vehemently that it is a waste of time putting one ou and taking it off. especially in the cold mornings when It behooves one to make haste into warm doming ana get out and start the fires. CARNIVAL IDEA ORGANIZED Pacific Coast Cities Urged to Co operate in Civic Gayety. SANTA BARBARA, Cal., April 27. TT-i .1, V. avolnnmAnt Of the Carnival spirit and the making of the entire West into a gigantic playground as Its objects, the California Celebrations Committee has been organizea nere. The meeting was attended by promi nent California officials of several rail, roads and representatives from civic bodies. A committee to formulate the general plans of the new organization and to invite representatives of oth-A- tn attend Another meeting to be held here as soon as possible was appointed. The committee expressed the hope that Portland. Seattle, Honolulu and other cities would co-operate with the organization in a plan to have the fes tivals in the various cities arranged to follow one another instead of being held simultaneously, and to have fea tures typical of the cities as well as historical. HIGH COLUMBIA FORECAST Wenatchee's "Shacktown" Might Be Swept Away, Say Pioneers. WEN'ATCHEE. Wash., April 27. (Special.) High water records for 15 years will be broken by the Columbia River this Spring, say old river men B. W. Jones, official forecaster for the Columbia & Okanagon Steamboat Com pany, who has accurately gauged the rise of the stream for two decades, says that the 45-foot record of 190S will be exceeded by 10 feet at least. Such a rise would bring the waters of the river far up into Wenatchee and would undoubtedly sweep away "shack town." The Columbia Is now rising at the rate of two feet a day and is. now more than 20 feet above low water. HUNGER RANKS WAVERING "Insurgent" Prisoners Would Glad ly Work for Regular Prison Fare. rnTimnn sPRIX'ns Anrll 27. -c.. 17 TnamhAm nf the Indus trial Workers of the World, now on a hunger strike in the City J an, noti fied Chief of Police Burns last night that they were ready to work out the remaining seven days of their Jail sen tence provided they received me reg ulation prison fare. The decision came at the conclusion o atAfm-u- "Ktnr rhamher" session this afternoon, at which those tiring of the bread and water on wmcn tney had subsisted for 48 hours were called MnBo-Anta" hv thMr comDanions, while the others are referred to as "standpatters." STORE ACCUSED OF FRAUD Association of Advertisers Aids In Minneapolis Prosecution. MINNEAPOLIS. April 27. The first case under the advertising law recently passed by the Minnesota Legislature moirir.tr liahio to nroHpcutlon lndivid- uals or firms who misrepresent the value of their gooas 111 an aoierum ment wa8 begun In District Court here a mtnrA i a nrr.iised of having IU"J- ' 1 t advertised a certain line of shoes ana the Inducement held out to prospective purchasers is declared fraudulent. An association of advertisers furnished the evidence on which the prosecution is based. FUNERAL tARGO PLANNED Single Vessel to Carry Bodies of Thousands of Chinese. SAN FRANCISCO, April 27. It is re. ported that arrangements are being made here by the great Chinese mer cantile concern, the Six Companies, i send from California to China at a date yet to be fixed the mortal remains of between 5000 and 6000 Chinese, the skeletons of nearly all of the Chinese who have died in the state within the past 50 years. The transfer, it is said, will be made in a single shipload. OPERA RECORDS' BROKEN Atlanta Pays $91,000 in Week, and 643-0 Attend One Performance.' ATLANTA. April 27. Previous at .apnrHs w.rA hrnken at the 1913 grand opera season. whlch was concluded here last night. During the week a.4-s persons paiti t-uiai ou... for admission of J91.000. At the con- UIUUI115 ..." - was sung, the audience numbered t430. This is said to be the largest attend ance In this country at a single per formance oi grana opera. 1 PQ SDNS BABES A SHOOTS Four in Hospital, Two May Recover. EARLY REPENTANCE EVIDENT Father Returning Home Finds, Family in Throes. TRAGEDY RECALLS THREAT Mrs. Iilllian Strang, After Attempt ing to Take Her Own and Chil dren's Iives, Administers Emetics to Victims. In a moment of emotional insanity Mrs. Lillian Strang. 16. living at 14S3 Macrum street, administered bichloride of mercury to two of her three small children and herself and then shot her self and two of tha children In the heads with 'a small rifle. Recovering her senses, probably at the shock of the bullet wound, she set about ad ministering emetics to the children andi was found at this occupation by her husband, returning home. In one room at the Good Samaritan Hospital the woman, with a terrible wound in her brain and her condition further imperiled by the corrosive poi son, lies surrounded by her moaning children, slowly sinking, but rational and languidly remorseful for her mad deed. Mother Shows Interest. The casualty list arising from her aberration Is: Mrs. Lillian Strang, 26, poisoned and shot; small chance of recovery. Edwin Strang, 7, poisoned and suf fering from a scalp wound, expected to recover. Marcla Strang, 5, poisoned, condition critical. Oakley Strang, 2, shot in the brain, may recover. - "I'm feeling much better," said young Edwin, in answer to a question at the hospital yesterday. "It's a good thing someone is feeling better," sighed the apparently dying mother, catching the remark of her son. As much as her condition permits, she displays interest in their condition. ' Time Not Known Definitely. The attempt at quadruple homicide occurred Saturday night, when the mother and children were alone in their cottage home in the Peninsular district. The time Is fixed between 7 and 9:30 o'clock, but on account of tha distance and the delay In reaching tho hospital the case did not come to tho attention of the authorities for Beveral hours. Then Detectives Moloney and Swennes were assigned to make an In vestigation, as the result of which the facts are comparatively well estab lished. Hysterical threats, made to neigh bors, are said to have preceded the act at Intervals in several months recently. Saturday night, the father. Earl O. Strang, a salesman for RasmuBsen & Co., was out. returning home about 10:30 P. M. Mrs. Strang's mother had been at the house about 7 o'clock, and at that time all seemed normal In the little home. ' Rifle Shots Heard. At 9:15, S. E. Combs, who lives In the adjoining house, only a few feet away, heard three Tlfle reports, as he afterward knew them to be. but paid no attention until he was summoned, over an hour later, by Mr. Strang. Prior to the firing t the rifle, from her statement. Mrs. Strang had given each of the children a potion of mer cury tablets and had taken the same dose herself. When neighbors arrived Mrs. Strang was sitting in a chair In the living room, the little girl, at whom she had fired but missed, lay on a couch near her, and the two wounded boys lay In, separate bedrooms behind. All around the place broken eggs attested the ef forts of the mother to undo her work. The rifle used was a small ..22 caliber, single-shot weapon, charged with BB shot. Mrs. Strang had a powder burned wound In the top of her head. The older boy's scalp was laid open for two inches. The baby was shot direct, ly in the forehead. The shot which missed the girl was found by Detective Swennes in the plaster wall. Interest In Children Slow.. First-aid measures occupied a long time before the trip to the hospital was attempted. Then the suffering four were placed In two ambulances and carried to the city. "Why did you do It?" Dr. Christmas asked, as he was attending Mrs. Strang. "I don't know; I don't know," she moaned in reply. "I realized what I had done Just after I shot them, and I did all I could to save them. I didn't give the baby any poison." "How are the children?" was her first question at tho hospital ye.ter day morning. The full horror of the situation was not realized by the father at first, for he telephoned to Dr. Christmas, men tioning only tho poisoning. Later ha called again, urging haste, as he thought Mrs. Strang had cut herself, because her face was bloody. Only later did he learn that the two boys were shot. The Strangs had been married close to ten years and the lmpresion In th neighborhood prevailed that their do- '.Coocluded oa Tate 5.) 4 1 10.2 F r