Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1914)
VOL.. L.IV. NO. 16,857. PORTLAND, OREGON. FRIDAY. DECEMBER 4, .1914. PRICE FIVE CENTS. y DEAD ARE SIX DEEP IN PQLANDTRENGHES Hand-to-Hand Battle Lasts 24 Hours. UNEQUALED FEROCITY SHOWN Austrian Inability to Keep Up . Is Cause of Division. HUSSIANS TAKE RAILROAD Ixidz-Warsaw Line Captured With Strjkow Toe Is Now Reported Eight Miles From Cracow I and Beyond Carpathians. PETROGRAD. Dec. 3. (Special.) Official reports now confirm the news of November 30 that or.e and a half German army corps under General Francois from Breslau wer-s surround ed at Rzgow. south of Lodz, but that they finally cut their way out after enormous losses. A Russian describing the fight says: "For 24 hours the armies of Russia and Germany battled hand to hand witn equal valor. Our enemies, fighting like tigers, preferred to die rather than sur render. When they got away toward Kriziny and Etrykow their trenches presented an awful spectacle. Dead Are Piled Six Deep. "They were piled six deep with the dead of both armies, some transfixed with bayonets, others with their heads mashed In with rifle butts, and the whole presenting a mutilated, bleeding mass of humanity. The battle on the German-Russian front surpasses la fierceness anything heretofore seen in the eastern theater of the war." The lines of the armies remain about the same as at the end of .last week, although here and there gains have been made by either side through the heaviest fighting. The first Important news from the Austrian front since the signal Russian victory early in November, whenr the Russians captured 50,000 prisoners in two weeks of fighting, is that the Aus trlans near Cracow are assuming the aggressive, but that their efforts are Ineffective. Austrian. tTneqnal tm Face. It is evident that a battle is raging With unequaled violence from the ex treme southwest to the north of Poland. It Is reported that the German army separated from the Austrinns because Francis Joseph's troops could not keep pace with the Germans, and that the German officers demand more of their commands than the Austrian troops could accomplish. Consequently, the officers considered that both armies were stronger when acting independ ently. On tho other hand, they hoped to Weaken the Russians by dividing their forces through a German advance into the northern part of Poland. ( Kew War Phase Expected. The Germans, by holding the line across Northwest Poland from' Jllava to the Impassable lake region, protect their own forces on the extreme east' erg frontier of East Prussia and pre vent the war from being carried into German territory. ExpertB think the present battle will fce decisive and will introduce new chases In the war. . If Russia wins. Germany will lose the initiative and be forced to defend its own territory. Germans Open Offensive. The following official statement was Issued tonight from general headquar ters: "Fighting continues In certain dis tricts along the front in the region of Lowicfc. Important forces of the enemy, chiefly the troops transported In No ember from the German west front. opened an offensive December 2 in the recion of Lloutonersk and Sezerzow. "On the rest of the front, on the left lank of the Vistula, there Is no par ticular modification in the situation. "Beyond the Carpathians our troop have taken Bartfeldt, capturing eight officers. 1200 men and six machine guns." lili-Variii Line Captured. By retaking Strykow the Russians have retrained possession of the Lodz Warsaw Railway. The Russians are making progress In the neighborhood of Cracow. They are now within eight miles, of the city A pitiful appeal has been received by the municipal authorities of the Rus tan capital from Lembeg, urging that relief be extended to Russian widows. orphans and other destitute persons who are stranded n Galicia. About 10.000 Russians, the appeal says, have been arrested by the Austrians. The Russian army rescued 2000 of these men. The remainder were taken Into the interior of Hungary and nothing has neen heard of them since their de parture. lOOO Reported Executed. It is said in the appeal that since the beginning of the war, 1300 men fcuve been executed in Galicia. A dispatch from Lemberg, Galicia, says that city today was intensely Interested in some 2000 Austrian and Hungarian prisoners who have been Drought into the city. They came by train and virtually att or tne men showed some evidence of the extreme cold they had endured in - the moun tains. A great many of them had their feac or hands frozen. Most of the (Ceacluded om Page 2.) GERMANS BRAVE FLOODS OF YSER DESPERATE NIGHT VENTURE IS ATTEMPTED ON RAFTS. Plot Discovered at Daybreak and Artillery of Allies Does Terrible Execution Many Drown. LONDON, Dec 4. In the dark hours before dawn yesterday a large force of Germans crossed the flood waters of the Yser by means of big, broad rafts, says the correspondent of the Dally News In Northern France, under date of December 3. ' The venture was a desperate one, for not a man who set out on it could have been ignorant of the fact that death was almost certainly awaiting him. The rafts were punted through the shallow waters Is dead silence and in utter darkness. Bach carried 60 or 60 men and some machine guns. In preparation for dawn a further fleet of rafts, drawn by motorboats, was waiting on the German side of the muddy waters, but before dawn came the plot was discovered. When day break did arrive the artillery of the allies met the advancing Germans with devastating effect. Yet, despite their losses, the Germans, brave even to mad ness, still essayed the crossing until midday. Several rafts were upset In midstream by the fire of the French guns, and a great number of Germans were drowned, while others were shot. Fierce fighting now Is taking place, adds the correspondent. The Germans are concentrating their attack princi pally to the north of Ypres. They have withdrawn their heavy artillery on ac count of the mud and are using light guns mounted on motor lorries. DEATH FOLLOWS MESSAGE Missouri Parents Will Bury Son In stead of Enjoying Visit. WENATCHEE, Wash.. Dec 3.--(Spe cial.) "Come home for Thanksgiving or for Christmas sure." waa the tenor f a message sent to L. G. Monroe, of Waterville. by his aged parents In fur- din. Mo. The young man had planned on makins the trip East for Christmas, but last week was taken seriously 111 with typhoid fever and died yesterday. Instead of their boy arriving home in the full vigor of bis mannooa. tne body will reach them for Interment. It was prepared for shipment today and 111 leave on the alternoon tram to morrow. .Tne young man was j years of age and for the past four years had been in the Northwest, residing some time in Waterville. INCOME TAX IN FAVOR Russian Economists Suggest Plan to Supplant Vodka Revenue. . LONDON, Dec 4. The Petrograd correspondent of Renter's Telegram Company, writing under date of Thurs day, says: 'A meeting of prominent economists and leading representatives of Russian commerce and Industry approved today of a temporary Imposition of an in come tax, to balance the loss to the government of the revenue formerly derived from the sale of vodka, traffic In which has been prohibited. . Count Sergius Witte opposed an In come tax and favored Instead a levy on the owners of big estates and an in crease in the existing taxes." SOCIALISTS REGRET VOTE Llebknecht, Opposing "War Credit, Violates Party Discipline. BERLIN, Dec. 3, via The Hague and London, Dec 4. The Democratic fac tion of the Reichstag Issued today a statement which says that Dr. Carl Llebknecht, Socialist. In voting against the new war credit which was ap proved by the Reichstag yesterday, acted against party discipline, as espe cially reiterated in case of the war credit measure. Dr. Llebknecht was the only mem ber of the Reichstag voting against the proposition. The statement expresses the deepest regret over the occurrence, which. It Is said, will be investigated further. BREAK FLOODS CANYON CITY Water Surrounds Residences When Elume Clogs and Bursts. BAKER, Or., Dec 3. (Special.) Word reached here today from Canyon City that the flume running down Main street of Canyon City from the Jack Chambers placer mine filled up with tailings at the mouth and backed up the water so that the pressure broke the flume and the water ran over Into the streets yesterday. The water was several feet deep In some places and surrounded residences. filled cellars and Impeded traffic Con siderable damage was done In some places, the R. A. Clark residence al most being washed away. JAPAN COUNTSMTS BOOTY Some Arms, Coal and Foot! but No Ships Taken at Tslng-Tau. TOKIO, Dec S. A list of the war booty captured by Japan at Tslng Tu, the German stronghold In China, was made public by army headquarters to day. It includes 2500 rifle 100 machine guns, 30 field guns, all needing repair; a small amount of ammunition, $6000 in cash. 15.000 tons of coal, 40 automobiles and provisions sufficient to feed 6000 persons three months. All ships In tho harbor. It lr an nounced, were destroyed. BRITISH POSITION IS Official Observer Ad mits Reinforcements. HARD FIGHTING DESCRIBED Final Success Declared to De pend on Raw Material. WAR ONE OF EXHAUSTION Duty of Allies In Western Field That of Containing Force, Oc cupying Enemy While Rus sians Are Busy in East. LONDON. Dec . Colonel E. D, S win ton. of the intelligence department of the general staff of the British ex peditionary force in France and Bel gium, in a narrative dated November 26. gives a general review of the de velopment of the situation of the force for six weeks preceding that date. There has recently been a lull in the active operations, he says. No progress has been made by either side and yet there has corns about an important modification, comprising a readjust ment In the scope of the part played by the British army as a whole. He explains the movement from the River Alsne to the Belgian frontier to pro long the left flank of the French army. and eays that in attempting this tee British forces were compelled to assume responsibility for a much extended sec tion of the front. British Hold Twelfth of Line. . He points out. as did General French, commander-in-chief of the British force, that the British held one twelfth of the line, so that the greater share' of the common task of opposing the enemy fell and still falls to the French, while the Belgians played an almost vital part. , With the fall of Antwerp, the Ger mans made every effort to push for ward a besieging force toward the west and hastened to bring up a new army corps which had been hastily raised and trained, their object being to drive the allies out of Belgium, and break through to Dunkirk and Calais. Alto gether, they had 250,000 fresh men. German Attacking: Force I.a rje. Eventually the Germans had north of La Basse about 14 corps and eight cavalry divisions; that Is, a "force of 750,000 men with which to attempt to drive the allies into the sea. In addi tion there was immensely powerful armament and heavy siege artillery which also had been brought up from around Antwerp." The official eyewitness tells of the (Concluded on Pass 4.) MADE STRONGER INDEX OF TOWS NEWS 1 The Weather. YESTERDAY'S Maximum temperature, 43.9 usreea; minimum, aegreea. TODAY'S Rain; southerly wind. War. Germans attempt crosslns of Yser floods on raits, face 1. British strengthen position with reinforce ments, fags i. Famous wines of champagne district spared y war. rasa z. Germans to batiln tA ffnlli T . m M , FrefTch war office abolishes navy sinecures. rage 2. Families In Alsace divided by war. Face S. Dead are piled eix deep In Poland trenches iiw (jcrxiia.il a cut way out. rage x. Italian Premier urses doIIct of watchful neutrality, with "just aspirations" In mind. Pace 2. NatloaaU Cash In hand declared Secretary Lane's re quirement tor irrigation aid. Page o. Underwood tariff, not war In Europe, re sponsible for so-called "wax tax." Pag ft. Torpedo defects held misleading. Page 4. Domestic Bx-Senator Patterson blames Governor Amnions lor labor crisis In Colorado. Pass 1. Impersonator of member of Congress sen tenced to two years. Page 6. Arisona liquor men prepare to attaok pro hibition amendment In courts. Paga 5. Confession of ringleader tells of police orioery ana Dig proiits. page 4. Sports. Walter Johnson signs with Chicago Fed erals. Page 14. Eastern Oregon sportsmen in session recom mend chaagea In game and fish laws. Page 14. Portland may get 1015 Oregon-Aggie football game, page 14. Pacific Northwest. Irrigation ruling by Mr. Lane stuns and angers Central Oregon. Page &. Insanity to be defense of accused Wallowa County official. Page 9. Progressives and Socialists lose following In Washington. Page 9. - Woolmen at Pendleton meeting hear crisis facing Industry described. Page 7. Freedom for convicted murderers declared assured. Page 7 Traveling school for farmers is Oregon Agricultural College plan. Page 9. State Treasurer Kay recommends new tax MTnmnt nlan I1 r n T J. F. Batchelder says orchards of state can be made to pay by use of by-products. Page 19. Tacoma financier blames Influx of aliens for present unrest In country. Page 13. Commercial and Marine, Steamer Beaver's captain blames storm for epidemic of seasickness. Page 18. Eastern brewers are heavy buyers of Ore gon hops. Page 19. Chicago wheat market weakened by profit- taking sales, page IB. Bond trade Is broader and beat Issues an firmer. Page 19. ' Portland and Vicinity. Druggists want liquor sales prohibited even under pnysician a prescription, rage xa. Pledged votes 'assure election of Ben Selling to bpeaKersnip. raga -l. Plan to provide work for willing needy is discussed at Commercial Club. Page lo. Weather report, data and forecast. Page 11, Civil Service Board puts foot down on prac tice of city employing persons not on eligible list. Page 11. Christmas relief fund passes S1000 mark and still grows. Page 15. County bnda-et committee recommends levy of l.o mills for county roads.- Fage 8. Belo-tan relief committee ask - towns to aid. Pane . , City stuns contract to let Multnomah high school students attend In Portland tuition free. Page 18. Shriners caravan leaves for Seattle meeting. Page 8. Servian Losses 100,000. BERLIN, Dec 8. (By Wireless to London.) Ninteen thousand Servian prisoners have been taken since the Austrlans began the present offensive movement, according to a report today from Vienna. News from other sources indicate that Servla's casualties since the beginning of the war will reach about 100,000, or virtually one-third of her entire strength. , IT SEEMS THAT TEDDY IS NOT FOND OF COLORADO CRISIS LAID TO AMMDHS Abuse of Power of Mi litia Charged. GOOD FEELING IS DESTROYED Ex-Senator Patterson Says "Gunmen" Were Enlisted. OWNERS ARE CRITICISED Operators Said to Have Held Em ployes In Contempt. Yet to Have Secured Non-English-Speak Ing Ones Deliberately. DENVER, Dec 2. Ex-United States Senator Patterson, testifying before the Federal Commission on Industrial Rela tions today, said that after Governor Ammons had called out the militia in the Colorado coal strike, the Governor changed his call from one to protect all property, afford protection to men at work and protect strikers who wished to return to wcrit, to one directing that they be used to protect strikebreakers. In effect the authorization suspended the right of habeas corpus and made Adlutant-General Chase the Judicial and military arbiter of the strike dis tricts. Decision Declared Demoralising;. "That decision has done more to demoralize society where these In dustrlal disputes r.rise than any other o v declared Mr. Patterson. -x O"' think where you put the lives of a r-ommunitv at the will of a mere soldier on stianend the operations of the courts that the soldier Is more than human If he does not abuse it. think it is a grave mistake for any Governor to abdicate his power as a commander In chief to a military officer " He declared that after the order to the militia had been changed the .troops were engaged in taking strike breakers into the mines, arrests, were m.da without court proceedings, per- r arrested. among them - Mother Jones," and held Incommuni cado on suspicion. , . Gm4 Keeling Vanlsb.es. The stood feeling with which the i strikers had received the militia at the time of their arrival vanished under the change in the order. "Some authority," he said, "ordered the enlistment of 'gun men,' mine guards and men under obligations to the operators In the militia, men who uad absolutely no right in the militia of any state. "About this time Governor Ammons (Concluded on Page 4.) CROW. Thursday's War Moves W ITH the lull In the battle In the West, which has assumed the proportions of a heavy cannonade at widely separated points, with only oc casional infantry attacks. Interest Is almost entirely centered in the strug gle between the Russian and German hosts in the East. At last the Russians have approached within firing distance of Cracow, their steady advance from Przemsyl having proceeded . without any real check. They were reported yesterday to be mounting heavy batteries around the town of Wlellczka, which they occu pied yesterday, and from which the outer forts of Cracow can be reached. Important as this for the fall of Cracow would lay open the roads to Vienna, Breslau and Berlin the main Interest In the East continues to rest with the operations on the Irregular front from Czenstochowa through Lodz and Lowlcx to the East Prussian bor der. Official pronouncements as to progress on this line are guarded ami indefinite, and it Is thus difficult to arrive at a conclusion with regard to the course of events. It is apparent, however, that a new battle has developed to the southwest of Lodz, where the Germans have formed a new line with fresh forces brought from Kalisz and are again try ing to penetrate the Russian center. The Russians, too, have had time to straighten out their line, and In the eyes of the allies another battle follow ing so closely that Just concluded In this region must help them In the long run. for It is argued, win or lose, the Germans must be further weakened and In addition will soon have to turn their attention to the Russian offen sive against Silesia and around Cracow. On the other hand, German experts believed that defeat for the Russians would enable the German Generals to unite all their forces for another blow against the allies on the West. However, the battle, it is believed must last for some days. There has been no news for some days of the fighting In the Caucasus or in Egypt, but throughout the whele of Africa more liveliness is expected, now that General Christian De Wet has been captured and General Louis Botha can carry out his original plans of movlnr. against German Southwest Africa. The first Australian and New Zea land contingents have been landed in Egypt for operations against the Turks and Portuguese reinforcements nave reached Angola to take the offensive against the Germans on their African borders. The political event of the day was the announcement' by the Premier of Italy that nothing had intervened to prompt Italy to alter her policy ol neu trallty. Premier Salandra. in a statement made at the opening of the Italian Parliament, In the course of which he frequently was applauded, declared a careful study of her treaty obligations and the causes of the present war had convinced the government that Italy was not called on to participate. Italy, he added, has vital Interests to protect, and Justly aspires to maintain her position as a great power, and must therefore be ready for any eventuality. Thus the supreme task of the government was to bring the army and navy to a state of prepareaness. Nineteen thousand Servian prisoners are said to have been taken by the Anstrians since they began the pres ent offensive movement, and Servla casualties since the beginning of the war are estimated at 100,000. Berlin observers think the end of Servian re sistance cannot be far off. The Frendh Cabinet Is to return to Paris from Bordeaux, and the French Parliament will meet In extraordinary session In Paris on December 22. The announcement of the return of the government to the capital Is taken as an indication that the allies are con vlnced they now have lu Northern France forces of sufficient strength to check any further advance the Ger mans may attempt. WOUNDED BLOCK RAILWAY Friend and Foe Are Treated Alike ' by German Doctors. GENEVA, Switzerland, Dec 3, (Via Paris.) The number of wounded sol diers arriving by train, at Dusseldorf, Luxembourg, Cologne and Kolmar is so great that many ammunition trains on the way to the front have been sidetracked, according to advices reach ing Geneva today. This has been go ins on for the last 10 days. German doctors are having a hard time caring for these wounded, made up of French, English and German soldiers, but all are being treated alike. SUEZ jS NOT IN DANGER Arabs Reported Near Canal Believed to Have Ketired. LONDON, Dec 4. News that the Suez Canal is in no danger from an Arab raid is contained in a dispatch from Cairo. "Reconnaissances have failed to dis cover any hostile bodies in the vicinity of the canal." says the message. "The Arabs previously reported near Katleh evidently have retired." English Commands Given. BERLIN, Nov. 10. (Correspondence of the Associated Press.) Tho English are not the only soldiers in the present war who are hearing their commands in the English language. According to a letter from an Aus trian Lieutenant serving in Galicia, there are in his regiment several Ruthenians who returned to Austria from the United States, to fight, and as these men understand almost no Ger man, he says, the commands are given in English. CHOICE OF SELLING AS SPEAKER IS SURE Pledged Votes' Already Enough to Elect. COMMITTEES TO BE FORMED Multnomah Legislator to Take Up Work at Once. SENATE FAVORS THOMPSON Chief Clerks of 1913 Session of Legislature Seem Certain of Ke electlon, but Keen Rivalry Surrounds Other IMaccs. Ben Selling, of Portland, doubtless will be Speaker of the House at the next session of the Legislature. He has the pledged support of SI members and the passive support or seven or eight others. It Is probable that Mr. Selling will have more than 4u votes on the first ballot when the Legislature organizes. The only opponent of Mr. Selling re maining in the field is Allen LL Eaton, of Eugene, who, according to unauthen- ticated reports, has a maximum of 17 pledged votes. All other candidates withdrew Immediately following the action of the Multnomah delegation last Monday night in centering their strength on Mr. Selling. The Portland man will have the sup port not only of the solid Multnomah delegation of 12 members, but of nearly all the Representatives from Eastern Oregon, most of whom were waiting tor action by the Multnomah caucus. He also will have five or six votes from Western Oregon Representatives, somo of whom heretofore considered the ad-. vlsablllty of supporting Mr. Eaton. Election Deemed Certain. T am confident that I'll be elected Speaker." said Mr. Selling last night. "1 have more than enough votes to elect me pledged already, beveral Rep resentatives in the outlyl- districts of the state, who I am sure will sup port me, have yet to be heard from. They will Increase my majority. I'll be elected. There's no question about that." Now that his election Is assured, Mr. Selling proposes to devote much of his time between now - and the time the Legislature convenes to an arrange ment of his committee appointments and to considering legislation likely to come up at the session. It is probable that he will have his list of committees prepared so that the House can get down to real business on the opening day of the session. Although Mr. Selling's election as Speaker was assured from the time ths Multnomah County caucus indorsed him. the previous contest for the Mult- . nomah indorsement had prevented members of the -House in other parts of the state from placing themselves on record. Eastern Oregon for Selling;. Nearly all the Eastern Oregon repre sentatives had agreed to support the choice of Multnomah County regard less of the lawmaker chosen. As soon as they were advised that this -choice was Mr. Selling they telegraphed or wrote their intentions to vote for him. Meanwhile Mr. Belling had enlisted Independent support in the up-state counties. Each of the othor candidates Conrad P. Olson, S. B. Huston and E. V. Llttlefleld also had gathered con siderable independent support for him jlConcluaed on Page 13.) IV KW FACTORY TANGIBLE EVI DENCE OF PROGRESS. A new manufacturing concern, said to be the only one of its kind on the Pacific Coast, will be launched in Portland next month, when the new machines of the Paclflo Furniture Specialties Manufacturing Company will be set In motion. Witnout solicita tion, orders have already been placed with the management that will keep between 40 and 60 men busy the year around. The building of the company, a : ! recently completed on a three acre tract at East Twenty-sev enth and Morgan streets, in Irv Ington Park, along the tracks of the O.-W. R. & N. Railway, cost the company 312,000. When all of the machinery has been in stalled the plant will represent an Investment of approximately $30. 000. The factory . building, . which was constructed as a unit to .-'! proposed larger ultimate struc ..tiil.twnfnll Ktorlaa above a basement 60 by 110 feet in ares, , The management will be conduct- J ed on a co-operative basis, -all workers being .stockholders, the T membership for the most, part be- t ing made up of builders, contrac- J tors and mechanics. The officers of tho new com- t pany are: President, L. F. Parker; I vice-president. John Moore; sec- J retary-treasurer. O. G. Hughson, 4 and general manager. Odavllle Tates.