TIIE MORNING OREGONIAX, TIIURSDAT, FEBRUARY 22, 1917. 3 BOARD OF TRADE TO ASK CONGRESS' AID President to Be Requested to Jake Summary Action ' With Railroads. FOOD SHIPMENTS DELAYED lemoraIization Said to Be Extending to All Commodities as Result of Preference Given to Moving Munitions. CHICAGO. Feb. 21. President Wil son and Congress will be asked to ap point a special board with temporarily dictatorial powers to take transportar tion problems out of the hands of the Interstate Commerce Commission and the railroads, it was authoritatively stated here today, unless adequate ac tion to solve the car shortage situa tion had been taken by Friday. i This would virtually place the rail roads on a war basis. In a public statement this afternoon J. P. Griffin, president of the Chicago Board of Trade, asserted that in addi tion to 40,000.000 bushels of grain In Chicago awaiting shipment there are from 50.000.000 to 75.000,0,00 more in country elevators held up" because of the congestion here. - j Intervention Called Harmful. "I have no hesitancy In declaring that both the commission and the rail roads are completely overwhelmed and have lost grasp of the situation." said Mr. Griffin. "As a matter of fact, the. intervention of the Interstate Com merce Commission has been harmful, rather than otherwise, and the method of relief insisted upon or offered by them was fanciful and without any substantial results." The statement asserts that- unless a remedy is found the demoralisation will extend to all commodities. 'It con cludes: "I am willing to predict that within less than 30 days the commerce of this country will be prostrated unless some large and more influential power than the railroads and the Interstate Com merce Commission is placed in control of the matter." Grain Comparatively Cheap. Mr. Griffin said that grain is today the cheapest food commodity in the world. He said that prices here at present are but 20 per cent above the level which has ruled during the war, while "potatoes and produce generally are selling from 200 to 1000 per cent higher than the level of a year ago." "The distress at consuming points," he contimied, "is clearly demonstrated by the prices prevailing for spot grain. While the value at Chicago and other Western markets is moderate, grain for immediate delivery in the East is selling at a premium of from 5 to 20 cents a bushel above Chicago parity, freight conditions considered." His attention was invited to the offi cial statement that the car shortage of the country is now 109.000 cars. "I don't know Just what those fig ures mean." he said, "but I do know that we could use 20,000 cars in Chi cago right now." Telegrams along the lines given in this statement were sent by Mr. Grif fin to presidents of Kastern railroads and the Interstate Commerce Commis sion earlier in the day. Discrimination Is Charged. In these he asserted among other things that a continuance of the pres ent situation will lead to the danger of" anarchy and rioting. He asserted that the root of the trouble lies in the use of a disproportionate number of cars on Eastern roads for carrying manufac tured articles bringing the railroads a higher revenue than grain and food stuffs. He said that munitions of war formed only a part of 200 or 300 arti cles which were given preference in the matters of cars. Referring to a Washington dispatch which said only a part of Mr. Grif fin's telegram had been made public In' Chicago, and therefore was being withheld by the Interstate Commerce Commission, Mr. Griffin said he had sent two telegrams; that the second or supplementary telegram was sta tistical; that he had not given it out on that account and because it was of minor general Importance. Mr. Griffin added that while he could see no rea son for not giving the message in its lntirety, since the commission was withholding a portion of it he would not make it public. This, he thought, was common courtesy to th'e Commission. HOUSEWIVES CRY FOR AID (Continued From First Page.) roughly handled and had to call for reserves to rescue them. "We are not criminals," the women chouted when the reserves attempted to disperse them. "We want bread." Food Suggestions Made. The department of health began issu ing bulletins containing suggestions de signed to aid housewives in meeting the present high prices. The first of the bulletin pointed out that a pound of rice costs six cents and contains 1610 food units, whereas a pound of pota toes costs seven cents and contains only 370 food units. Three committees representing East Side women were admitted to the Mayor's office after an attempted dem onstration by housewives at the door of the City Hall was prevented by the police. The Mayor said he did not believe the city government hadauthority to- ap propriate $1,000,000 for the purpose the women requested, but pending a de cision he directed an Investigation of conditions. The women pointed out that the city had .authority to buy food for patients in hospitals, and declared it had equal power to appropriate sums to be used to- buy food for persons ill for want of nourishment. The Mayor asserted that state and National governments were the only authorities proper to deal with the food situation, and urged the commit tees to use their influence o the State Legislature Representatives to enact laws which enable the city to establish public markets, so that food specu lators would be eliminated and the city be given power legally to control food prices. Three women were arrested In the Bronx tonight for attacking another woman who had emerged from a grocery store carrying a bag of pota toes. Housewives who had volunteered as pickets were posted in front of grocery and vegetable stores in some of the poorer sections of the city to night, determined to enforce a boycott against potatoes, onions and cabbage until the prices were lowered. FUND FOR INQUIRY AWAITED No Move to Be Made Until Congress Acts on Food Prices. WASHINGTON', 'eb. 21. No move will be made by the Federal Trade Commission to begin the food cost in vestigation ordered by President vv II- son. it was learned today, until Con gress appropriates money with which to conduct it. The President approved a request for J400.000 for the Inquiry and the Commission has outlined an ln- vestigatiion to cost that sum and to cover a period of from six to eight months. The President has let It be known that he will insist that the appropria tion be made befone Congress adjourns. The House appropriations committee failed tjy include It in the sundry civil bill, but when the bill reaches the House the provision will be offered as an amendment. If the Inquiry Is 'undertaken on the scale planned it is considered likely that It would be under the direction of Francis J. Heney, the San Francisco attorney, who now has charge of the Commission's new print paper investi gation. ONIONS RISE $8.75 IN YEAR Potatoes Advance $3 In Same Period at San Francisco. SAN FRANCISCO. Feb. 21. Federal Investigation of fresh vegetable prices, under the direction of United States District .Attorney J. W. Preston, re vealed the following comparfsons: Onions, today $11 per sack; one year ago. $2.25 per sack. Potatoes, today. $5.25 per 100 pounds; one year ago. $2.25. Carrots, turnips, parsnips and cab bage were 4 cents a pound today. Just twice their cost one year ago. Spinach remained the same price, 5 cents a pound. KALAMATH RATES LOWER MATERIAL, REDUCTION TO CALL KORNIA POINTS ORDERED. Southern Pacific Instructed to Publish New Schedule, by March 4. Merchants Are Pleased. KLAMATH FALLS, Or., Feb. 21. (Special.) According to word received today by the Klamath Commercial Club from Bishop & Baliler, traffic attorneys of San Francisco, a material reduction in class freight rates to all California points on the KlR-math Falls branch of the Southern Pacific has been or dered by the California Railroad Com mission. This reduction will approxi mate 40 per cent and applies now only to California points. This reduction in rates has been sought repeatedly by Klamath mer chants, .who, through the Klamath Business Men's Association and Com mercial Club, some time ago, engaged Bishop & Bahler to prosecute the' mat ter In California. The California Railroad Commission, after much delay, ordered' the reduc tions, to become effective January 3. The Southern Pacific Company then procured delay until February 4. after which the time was again extended to February 19. The Commission has Just denied the rehearing and ordered the new sched ules published not later than March 4. Reduction of the rates between San Francisco and Klamath Falls does not mean necessarily that the rates be tween Portland and Klamath Falls will be reduced, say railroad' officials. San Francisco always has enjoyed a slight advantage over Portland in the Klam ath Falls territory. Most of the business of that section is done with San Francisco, as it requires a circuit ous haul via Weed, Cal., to reach Klamath Falls from Portland. M'ARTHUR BONE-DRY FOE AMED3IEXT DECLARED BLOW AT SELF-COVERXMEST. Dandruff Surely Destroys the Hair Girls If you want plenty of thick, beautiful, glossy, ellky hair, do by all means get rid of dandruff, for it will starve your hair and ruin it If you don't. It doesn't do much good to try to brush or wash It out. The only sure way to get rid of dandruff is to dissolve It, then you destroy It entirely. To do this, get about four ounces of. ordinary liquid arvon: apply it at night when re tiring: use enough to moisten the scalp and rub It in gently with the finger tips. By morning moet, if not all,- of your dandruff will be gone, and three or four more applications will completely dis solve and entirely destroy every single sign and trace of It. You will find, too, that all Itching and digging of the scalp will stop, and your hair will look and feel a hundred times better. You can get liquid arvon at any drug store. It is Inexpensive and four ounces Is all you will need, no matter how much da-ndruff you have. This simple remedy- never fails. Adv. Unholy Alliance Between Prohibition ists and Brewers Is Fur ther Chnrge. OREGONIAN NEWS BUR E AIT, Wash ington, Feb. 21. Representative Mc Arthur alone of all Northwestern mem bers of the House voted today against th acceptance by the House of the Reed bone-dry amendment to the post office appropriation bill. Representa tives Hawley and Sinnott. of Oregon; Johnson, LaFollette, Hadley and Dill, of Washington, and the two Idaho members, voted for the .amendment. Representative Humphrey was ill and absent. Mr. McArthur explaining his vote said the amendment will make bone dry 15 states, which while prohibiting the manufacture and sale of liquor, now permit its importation. Such legisla tion, he says, strikes at the root of local self-government, and establishes a policy which if continued will make mere provinces of the states. Mr. McArthur said the amendment was sponsored by those who are op posed to the use of liquor and by brew ers, the latter favoring it because they hope through this legislation to bring about a reversal of public sentiment and the repeal of state "dry" laws. He denounced the unholy alliance be tween the real prohibitionists and the brewers. Mr. McArthur said the vote of his district indicated that a majority of his constituents are not in sympathy with this radical legislation. Woman Ordered to Pay $4500. J. M. Mclntire received damages of $450 from Laura W. Krebs by the ver dict of a Jury in the court of Circuit Judge Gantenbein yesterday. A logging outfit In Tillamook County, leased to Mr. Mclntire. was seized last July on a Judgment against Conrad Krebs, and Mr. Mclntire alleged this was a breach of his contract with Mrs. Krebs. He asked damages of $11,383. Read The Oregonian. classified ads, I STEPS TO RELIEVE SHORTAGE DRASTIG Cities and Towns of Middle West Face Loss of Light, Heat and Power. GAS COKE STORES SMALL Interstate Commerce Commission Try ing to Get Railroads' to Act. Chicago Trade Board's Head Message Causes Wrath. WASHINGTON. Feb. 21. Drastic measures of precaution were adopted today by the chief railroads of the East to meet varying emergency needs for coal and foodstuffs from the Missis sippi River to Maine, due to the acute shortage and congestion of freight cars. Chief of these measure was the dis patch of orders to all railroads con cerned for prompt transportation of gas. coal and coke to 18 towns and cities in the Middle West, where it was announced "possible interruption of light, heat and power service would result unless the shortage was relieved at once." Indianapolis Without Fuel. The shortage was said to be most acute at Indianapolis, where the coal supply of gas was reported to be only three days- ahead of requirements. Chicago's 100,000 - ton emergency store of gas coke has been cut to 23,000 tons, barely sufficient for three weeks' service, although Chicago was said to be better supplied than any other city on the list. The Interstate Commerce Commission Is working to meet the situation in co operation with the railroad men.' Griffin Telegram Stirs Ire. A telegram from President . Griffin, of the Chicago Board of Trade, appeal ing for relief and asserting that riots would result unless an embargo were placed immediately on all products out of Chicago except fuel and foodstuffs, stirred up considerable indignation at the Commission and drew a prompt reply. Assertions in the message were de clared "erroneous" by the Commission, insofar as they reflected upon steps taken by the Commission to relieve the situation at Chicago. Commissioner McChord. replying to a portion of the telegram not made pub lie, which apparently charged that he had ruled Chicago could not expect re lief from the commission, declared the telegram contained "many statements which are not true." Riots Not Discussed. That portion of the telegram refer ring to possible food riots was not spe cifically answered and officials de clined to comment on it. Members of the commission are understood, how ever, to regard the situation as de picted by Mr. Griffin as highly im probable. Commissioners declined also to comment upon dispatches from Chi cago indicating that the Chicago Board of Trade might request Presi dent Wilson and Congress to take the entire car shortage and congestion situation out of the commission's hands. Figures compiled by the American Railway Association was made public showmg appreciable diminution at New York, Philadelphia. Boston and Balti more of the number of cars of export freight on hand and the number, of bushels of wheat held In elevators and cars awaiting ocean transportation. Officials of the association declared that the situation had improved per ceptibly within the last fortnight and that while the pinch would probably be felt here and thene in certain commodi ties, there was little likelihood of a general foodstuffs or fuel shortage in the East. The car shortage is said to be less acute than it was a year ago. New England Gets Relief. In this connection It became known that a week ago virtually every town and city in New England faced a flour famine and that livestock all through New England was starving for lack of grain and feed. Prompt action by the railroads in shipping feed, flour and grain, ahead of passenger trains from Minneapolis has temporarily relieved the pinch. . At that time, it was learned, the com mission ordered the railroads to strain every effort to extricate the thousands of empty cars from their congested yards and rush them West for grain and flour to be brought East. New York. Philadelphia. Pittsburg and other cities were threatened by a serious flour shortage. One of the roads pro tested that the empties were frozen to the rails and that it would be impossi ble to get them out and was told to use dynamite If necessary. Announcement that towns and cities in the Middle West were threatened with a suspension of operations of their light, heat and power plants because of a shortage of coal and coke came wfth unexpected force and surprise at a time when the situation was apparently clearing In other quarters. The threat ened foodstuffs shortage in New Eng land and the larger Eastern cities was believed safely past the crisis, and the roads were concentrating their efforts toward stripping congested yards of empties, dispatching them West and otherwise reducing the congestion in the East. GERMAN IS CONFIDENT ENGLAND'S RESERVE FOOD DE CLARED DEPLETED. Monthly Arrival of Shipping: Reduced by 2,000,000 Tons, Says Imperial Vice-Chancellor. BERLIN. Feb. 19. (By wireless to Sayville, N. Y., Feb. 21.) The address of Dr. Karl Helfferich, the Imperial vice-chancellor and secretary of the Imperial treasury, before the German agricultural council's convention in Berlin is reported today by the Over seas News Agency. Dr. Helfferich In alluding to the German submarine war fare declared: "We are sure of success and shall al low nothing and nobody to wrest this success from us. The tonnage in Brit ish ports arriving In December last was only 2.200.000 net. while the monthly average of the last peace year was 4.200,000 tons. Already England's re serve stocks of the most Important things necessary for her life and mili tary operations are depleted to such a point that she more than ever before is dependent upon plentifully assured importations. England more than ever before has to rely upon her own soil, German Boil is now fighting against English soil." Dr. Helfferich said he recognized the capabilities of British agriculture and British willingness to endure priva tions, but pointed out that natural lim itations could not be escaped. For In stance, he said, Germany's normal crop of bread grain before the war was. 230 kilograms per head, while England's was but 30; Germany's potato crop was 650 kilograms per head and Eng land's only 150, while the stock of cat tle per thousand inhabitants in Ger many was 320 and in England 260, and pigs in Germany 370 as against Eng land's 80. "If all do their full duty rand every German does his duty then the year 1917." concluded Dr. Helfferich, "will bring the turning point of the age; then the year 1917 will crush our Brit ish enemy on the seas and open for the German nations the doors leading to a, free, great future." SPY SUSPECTS TO RETURN Britain to Surrender Prisoner to Testify In America. NEW YORK. Feb. 21. Federal In dictments against A. Sander and Karl W. Wunnenberg.- officials of the Cen tral Powers War Film Exchange, for alleged violation of the neutrality laws in sending men abroad to obtain British war secrets for the German military authorities, will be brought here next Friday. George Vaux Bacon, of Duluth, under arrest in En-gland, and two other sus pects detained, in Holland, will be sent back by the governments of England and Holland, Federal officials have been assured, on condition, the three men become Government witnesses against Sander and Wunnenberg, or others im plicated in the alleged conspiracy. Persons who vouched for the three suspects when they applied for Amer ican passports will be called as wit nesses by the Federal grand Jury. THIRD OF ARMENIANS DEAD Half of Remaining Population Dy ing in Exile. NEW YORK. Feb. 21. One-third of the Armenian population either has been massacred or died of starvation or disease since the European war began, and one-half of those remaining are homeless and dying in exile, according to a cable message from John Mase fleld. famous English writer, made pub lic here tonight by the American com mittee for Armenian and Syrian relief. The message said in part: Far away as she is from the main conflict. Armenia has suffered more In this war than any devastated land in Europe. She is like a victim met by troops on the march, beaten and stabbed, and left to die. There is noth ing in her misery to make a headline or a battle cry. It Is Just dumb suffer ing lying by the road. DRY LAW QUERIES PILE UP Attorney-General Brown Says He Will Issue Blanket Opinion. SALEM. Or.. Feb. 21. (Special.) Scores of inquiries as to the operation of the new "bone-dry" prohibition law are lying untouched on the desk of Attorney-General Brown as his office has been "head over heels" in work during the legislative session which just closed. Mr. Brown stated today that It Is his plan to allow these inquiries to collect to a certain extent, and will Issue a blanket opinion In the near future covering all of the points -involved. Many of the questions are duplicated in the various letters and his general opinion, in a way will pretty well cover all of the main noints of the law which are subject to dispute. AID FUND GIVEN TO JEWS American Ambassador at Vienna ' Delivers $2 75,000. BERLIN, Feb. 20 (By wireless to Sayville, N. Y.. Feb. 21.) Frederick C. penfield. United States Ambassador to Austria-Hungary, has handed to the Vienna Jewish Association $250,000, collected by the New York relief com mittee. This sum. says the Overseas News Agency, is destined for the re lief of Galicjan Jews and Jewish ref ugees from the occupied territory of Galicia. The Ambassador also turned over to the association $25,000 to be used for the relief of Jews in the occupied dis tricts of Roumaiiia and Serbia. Fixing of Morgue Fees Asked. Suggestion was made to the County Commissioners yesterday by Coroner Dammasch that the county morgue fees be fixed at 115 for embalming and $5 for handling bodies not embalmed, but turned over to undertakers. Such fees would result in the operation of the morgue without increase of the funds set aside by the county for the conduct of the office, in the opinion of Dr. Dam masch, based on two years' experience as Coroner. Junction City Stores Robbed. EUGENE, Or.. Fb. 21. (Special.) Fryer's pharmacy at Junction City was burglarized last night, according to word receivedr here this morning. The thief obtained $6.45 in cash and cigars valued at $23. The Kaiser general mer chandise store at Junction City was robbed three days ago. A quantity of merchandise was taken. Authorities believe both robberies were committed by the same persons. Democrat Wins for Congress. COLUMBIA. S. C, Feb. 21. W. F. Stevenson, of Chesterfield, Democrat, was elected to Congress today from the Fifth South Carolina district for the term beginning with the next session of Congress, according to unofficial returns. Kansas Enacts "Bone Dry" Law. TOPEKA, Kan.. Feb. 21. The "bone dry" liquor bill, already passed by the Lower House of the State Legislature, was adopted by the State Senate to day and will become a law upon the Governor's signature, probably this week. -MEM . THE LAST CALL1 . Are i ou reaay t A To Reap the Greatest Economy in This Final Disposal Sale . 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WASHINGTON. Feb. 21. Recent in dications that the Administration has determined to indorse the broad prin ciple of general military training were strengthened today when Secretary Baker announced after a conference with President Wilson that a training bill drawn up by Army General Staff and War College experts would be Bent to Congress later this week. It is un derstood, however, that neither the President nor Secretary Baker is ready to advocate the adoption of the Gen eral Staff bill or of any other par ticular measure. Secretary Baker would not Indicate what recommendations, if any, will be sent to Congress with the General Staff bill. The Senate military committee already has reported a bill differing in several respects from the one before Secretary Baker, and It is expected that when the annual Army appropriation bill comes before the Senate efforts will be made to attach a universal training provision In some form. Defendant Wins Damage Suit. 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