. - -- --.: y.: '- -v .".-rrv v- --.i; ---! VOL. LIX 30. 18,133 Entered at Portland (Ore son) PoMofflce an Second -C am; Matter PORTLAND, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1920 28 PAGES PRICE FIVE CENTS YONCALLAMEN QUIT, WOMEN TAKE OFFICE MAYOR AXD COUXCII RESIGN CITY GOVERNMENT. DUTY, NOT GLORY, COLONEL McALEXANDER UP FOR HIGHER RANK ALASKANS STARVING; BUREAU NEEDS FUNDS TEACHER KILLED; CATTLEMEN ASK FOR EXPOSE OF PACKERS WILSON MESSAGE ADVISES ECONOMY DESERTER BOASTS HE SERVED US SPY Plan to Lead U.S. Troops to Slaughter Related. .HARDING'S VISIQNIr ilLSON NOMINATES "ROCK OF FOOD AT ONCE ASKED IN MES- SAGE TO SEATTLE. ATTORNEY-GENERAL TO INSTI TUTE INQUIRY. THE MARNE" FOR PROMOTION. V Is BIG CROWDS DISAPPOINTED President, at Doctor's Bid ding, Does Not Appear. TREATY IS LEFT ALONE Recommendations Are Confined to Domestic Questions and Pres ent Financial Stringency. WASHINGTON, Dec. 7. Both houses of congress were in brief session to day to hear President Wilson's an nual message. It was read by the clerk. Mr. Wilson having heeded the advice of his physician not to appear in person to present his recommen dations. Galleries in senate and house were crowded. Both these galleries were drawn by the chance that the presi dent might appear in person or by the possibility that his message might touch upon the league of nations question, or his own approaching re tirement to private life, but were dis appointed. Sir. Wilson confined himself almost wholly to domestic questions. Only by inference did his message refer to the nearing close of his administra tion and that was in concluding. Prrldent Aueria Faith. The proposals he presented, the president wrote, were not so much a series of recommendations as a con fession "of the faith in which I was bred and which it is my solemn pur pose to stand by until my last fighting- day." Congress made definite progress on one of the problems it faces during the brief session. The house re ceived a rule under which an effort will be made Thursday to take up the Immigration bill for prompt action. It would limit general debate to four hours. The two days" interval was allowed to permit Representative Sie gel, New York, a member of the im migration committee, to frame a mi nority report. All Blue With Committees. No other matter In either house had passed today beyond the committee stage. At both ends of the capitol however, members were deep in plans to deal with business depression, un employment and farmers' relief. Dis cussions in the senate of the plight of farmers delayed the reading of the president's message. The industrial situation also found a place in the president's message. Jiecovery from war effects gave promise of early completion "only in our fortunate country," Mr. Wilson said, and even here "halts and is Im peded at times." A programme of "immediately serviceable acts of leg islation" to aid that "recovery "and prove the indestructible recuperative force of a great government of the people" should be undertaken, Mr. Wilson said", adding: "One of these is to prove that .a great democracy can keep h6use as successfully and in as businesslike fashion as any other government." Workable Budget Urged. Firt among the recommended steps. Mr. Wilson placed enactment of a "workable budget system." He said he had vetoed the budget bill passed at the last session "reluctantly" and because of "a constitutional objec tion," but as It was later revised in the house, he believed it would, with other measures, furnish "foundations for a national budget system." Mr. Wilson cited figures as to the national debt and urged "rigid econ omy in which all branches of the gov ernment should co-operate." "I cannot overemphasize," he said 'The necessity of economy in govern ment appropriations and expenditures and the avoidance by congress of practices which take money from the treasury by indefinite or revolving fund appropriations." Difficulties Are Cited. Tirls year's estimates "strikingly illustrated," the importance of spe cific appropriations, he added, the transportation act having "disturbed' the relationship between current re ceipts and expenditures to the extent of over a billion dollars. "It is obvious," the message con tinued, "that these large payments have already seriously limited) the government's progress in. retiring the floating debt." The president renewed some of the recommendations he made at the opening of the last session andadded: Loan to Armenia Favored. "I do not feel it my privilege at present to suggest yie detailed and particular methods by which these objects may be attained, but I have faith that the inquiries of your sev eral committees will discover the way and the method." The only recommendations for other than domestic matters wae that for a loan to Armenia to be administered through American commissioners to iCfli.c.uicd u& B Uj.uiiia ij Budget System Also Urged on Congress. Officials Beaten at Polls Give Vp Jobs to Successors Before Expiration of Terms. YONCALLA, Or.. Dec. 7. (Special.) Mayor Lasswel! 'and all the other city officers turned In their resigna tions at last night's council meeting andr appointed In their places the women who were elected at the gen era! election November 2. The wom en, who successfully opposed the men at the polls and captured the entire city government, would' have taken office January 1 had the men served out their unexpired terms. The women who took office today were Mrs. Mary Burt, mayor, and Mrs. Jennie S. Lasswell, Mrs. Edith B. Thompson, Mrs. Bernice Wilson, and Mrs. Nettie Hannan. After the recent election Mayor Lasswell, whose wife had been elected a mem ber of the city council, announced that the women would have every assistance he and his colleagues could give them. The women's party took the men completely by surprise at the No vember election. There was a sort of gentlemen's agreement thatthere would be no city election, and that the incumbents would hold over for the next term without the formality of being elected. , The women, however, did not feel bound by an agreement to which they were not a party and they quietly nominated candidates and voted them Into office. The women had protested that the men officials took no interest in the city, which, the women maintained, might be made an attractive home for retired farmers. The women have announced an" immediate cleanup campaign and the inauguration of many city Im provements. The retiring officials declared in farewell speeches that they had re signed merely to let the women in augurate their cii-ic improvements at once, without waiting until Janu ary 1. They professed absolute good will toward the feminine city govern ment which was about to assume control. The councilmen first resigned and the mayor appointed the councllwo-men-elect to their places. Then Mayor Lasswell himself resigned and the new councilwomen elected Mrs. Burt. PLANE FALLS INTO SEA Air Craft Floats All Day Without Help for Ten Passengers. LOS ANGELES. Cal., Dec. 7. Navy seaplane No. 13, with 10 persons aboard, fell from an altitude of 1100 feet into the ocean off Newport beach, about 20 miles south of Los Angeles harbor, late today and for hours drifted about until tonight. The plane was returning to Los Angeles from a trip of inspection to San Diego. Over Newport beach, the engine broke down, but the pilot man aged to volplane to the waves. FOUR KILLED IN- WRECK Several Injured, 2 Missing When Sunshine Special Turns Over. TEXARKASA, Ark., Dec. 8. Four persons were reported to have been killed and several injured early today when the first section of the Texas ii Pacific "Sunshine Special," north bound, turned over five miles south of Texarkana. A baggageman and fireman were still missing. A relief train, carrying physicians and railroad officials, has gone from here to the scene of the wreck. HISTORIC PAPERS IN PERIL Original Copy of Constitution Kept Onl in Steel Safe. WASHINGTON, Dec 7. The orig inal copies of the declaration of in dependence and the constitution are protected only by a thin steel safe In the library of the state department and surrounded by combustible ma terials usually found in libraries, says a memorandum to congress from Secretary of State Colby, transmitted to congress today. - He asked for an appropriation of $25,000 to safeguard the documents. POLITICIAN GETS 2 YEARS G. W. Egan of North Dakota Con victed of Fire Insurance Fraud. SIOUX FALLS, S. D., Dec. 7. George W. Egan, prominent in business and political circles in South Dakota, was sentenced to two years in the state penitentiary here today after convic tion last May of having made fraudu lent affidavits in connection with in surance policies covering a fire. At torneys for the defendant served no tice that the case will be appealed. MAN AT BAY DIES IN FIRE Homesteader-Burns in Cabii Sur. rounded by Posse. -BILLINGS. Mont., Dec 7. E. F. Lampson, a homesteader near Tuffley, Mont., was burned to death in his cabin last night in an effort of a posse to capture him, after he had shot and dangerously wounded Jesse Garfield sheriff of Golden Valley county. Garfield was endeavoring to arrest iaaiioa ofx aa insanity ciiare. Presidency Seen to Mean Self-Sacrifice. CAPITAL FOUND RESPONSIYE Impression Made by Senator Distinctly Favorable. - MUCH HEARD, LITTLE SAID President-Elect Non-committal as to Many Plans, but Already Moving for Results. BY MARK SULLIVAN. (Copyright by the New York Evening Post, Inc., Published by Arrangement.) . WASHINGTON. Dec. 7. (Special.) When Senator Harding left Washing ton this afternoon he had spent almost exactly- 40 hours In the capi tal. He saw a good many persons and they told him a good many things. Harding himself did me listening than talking. About the only thing that he himself initiated was a movement looking to as early action as is reasonable on what is conveniently called the league o.f na tions question, but is, in fact, the whole problem of our foreign rela tions. He brought this up with sev eral members of the senate commit tee on foreign relations and with other senators and urged action on their part toward getting on com mon ground. Senator Harding himsell was a member of the foreign affairs com mittee and sat with it during all the sessions that dealt with the league of nations. He knows the various points of view held by individual members and he tried yesterday and today to make a beginning toward finding common ground on which all differing views can meet. Action ob Cabinet Vrjsed. Thisis about the only affirmative thing that Harding did, about the only thing in which he toolt the Ini tiative. But he listened to a lot of other things. Among the sugges tions laid before him by one or an other of those who called were the following: He was urged to name his secre tary of state and his secretary of the treasury immediately, without wait ing until he has made up his' mind about the. cabinet as a whole. The idea 'of those who urged this course was that the names of these two of ficials would carry a certain amount of weight with the public and would give business men and others inter ested a bails upon which to make their calculations for the future. It "was urged also that these two offi- (Concluded on Fage 2. Column 1.) THE TAXPAYERS I ' : ' ; .: k-CON-O-MY ' I ill If, ' E-.cotM-o-rY - t i llvlllil ifl VSfcvHA"r "rHE-SA,n HlLL ' i. W0( I II' H I f . OEiTHrTMErN? . I '. ' . - : . . " ' I - -- -' - Colonel Amos A. Fries, Formerly Stationed in Portland, Named . for Advancement. THE OREGONIAN NEWS BUREAU, Washington, Dec. 7. Colonel U. G. McAlexander, 'known as "the'Vock of the Marne," was nominated by Pres ident Wilson today for advancement to' the rank ' of brigadier-general. Coloner McAlexander was at one time stationed at Oregon Agricul tural college, Corvallis. Another mtlitary officer well known in Portland, where e 'was at one time stationed. Colonel Amos A. Fries, also was nominated for the same advanc in' rank. ' Colonel Fries, like Colonel McAlexander, re ceived several decorations on ac count of gallant performance with the American expeditionary forces. James J. O'Keane was nominated for receiver of the land office at Vancouver. Wash., and Charlea S. Dunn was named for register of the land office at La Grande, Or. George Clay Jones, whose residence Is given as in Oregon, was nominated for hydrographic and geodetic engi neer, with the rank of lieutenant In the navy. Major Arthur -E. ' Rowland, Fort SteVens, Or., is ordered - to Oregon university, Eugene, as assistant mil itary instructor. SHOOTING STORY DENIED Report of Wounding Robber in Holdup Near Elnia Explodes. ABERDEEN, Was., Dec. 7. (Spe cial.) A report that a robber had been seriously wounded by the son of Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Knowles, four miles east of Elma, as therobber was staging a hold-up in the Knowles residence was emphatically denied this afternoon by residents of Elma who know the people involved. The story printed in some papers stated that the young man, hearing a strange voice in the front room of his parents' home, looked through the door to see a man ordering Mr. and Mrs Knowles to put up their hands. Knowles junior, the story went on. shot the intruder, who was taken, to Moirtesano in a serious condition. The sheriff's office at Montesano has re ceived no Intimation of either -robbery or shooting. PRIZE TO BE GIVEN DEC. 10 President to Get Nobel Award of $40,000. COPENHAGEN, -Dec. 7. (By the Associated' Press.) Announcement has been made that the Nobel peace prize will be conferred on President Wilson of the United States Decem ber 10. The Nobel peace prize carries with it a grant of about J10.000, which la one-fifth of the annual interest on about J9, 000.000 .left for that purpose by Alfred B. Nobel, the Swedish scien tist and the inventor of dynamite, who died in 1896. The', only two Americans who have in the past re ceived the Nobel peace prize were Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, and Elihu Root in 1912. COULD TELL HIM WIIAT THE One Native Found Dead; Sickness Reported Sweeping Through River .Settlements. SEATTLE, Wash., Dec. 7. (Spe cials Natives of the Kuskokwim river region in Alaska are confronted by death from starvation this winter unless food Is sent them at once, according to an urgent message re ceived here', today by the Alaska bureau of the United States depart ment of education from George W. Hoffman, United States commissioner at Idltarod. The Alaska bureau has no funds with which to buy food. One natjve-was found dead from starvation last wejek. He is survived by a widow and six children, who were reported to be without food. Sickness and starvation are re ported to be sweeping through the native sections on the Kuskokwim river below Napamutee. Food can be supplied from Iditarod, Commissioner Hoffman states in his message, provided the government will supply funds with which to pur chase it and pay for transportation across the divide. BAN ON JAPANESE URGED State Controller of California Says Congress Must Act. SAN JOSE, Cal., Dec. 7. Action of congress to .stop immigration and denial of citizenship to children born here of parents ineligible to citizen ship are the next steps needed in dealing with the Japanese situation, John S. Chambers, state controller, said in an address before the "Farm ers' Educational and Co-operative union here tonight. He advocated a "trading tariff that would make it possible "to bar gain with other countries along -the most beneficial lines." The federal government, he said, is doing much for the wheat and 'corn growers, but is neglecting the prune and raisin growers. He advo cated co-operative buying and marketing. STEAMER SUDBURY -AFIRE Blaze Not K Under Control, but No Assistance Is Asked. SAN FRANCISCO, Cal., Dec 7. The steamer Sudbury, bound from New York to San Francisco, reported her self afire tonight between San Diego and San Pedro, in a wireless message to the marine department of the chamber of commerce. The message said thef fire was not yet under con trol. The Sudbury reported she was head ing for San Pedro and said she did not need any immediate assistance. JAPANESE LOSSES 1437 Siberian Casualties Show 586 Die of Illness and 152 2 Wounded. TOKIO, Dec-- 7. Casualties among the Japanese troops in the Siberian fighting to date include 1437 men killed in action and 586 deaths from sickness, i xvas announced by the war office today. The records show 1322 wounded in action. WORD MEANS. MISTS CAUGHT Miss Maud Ferguson of Jefferson High Hit. TRICK BY PAIR IS FAILURE Quiz as Witnesses Brings Accidental Admission. FIRST STORY IS FALSE Tale of Unidentified Driver Speed ing On After Hitting Wom an Collapses.' Miss Maud Ferguson, aged 33, teacher of English at Jefferson high school, was struck down and almost instantly killed by an automobile at the intersection of East Forty first and Glisan streets at 5:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon, driven by Alfred Axelsen, 25, of 2064 Wasco street and carrying Pat Caves, 50, of 2054 Wasco street, according to a confession made by the men after they had declared that they wit nessed a large touring car driven by an unidentified man strike the woman and speed on without stop ping. The first story was told by the men evidently in an effort to throw the police off the track in the in vestigation that was sure to follow. At 1:30 this morning at police sta tion Axelsen admitted that he was driving the death car and that the tale of another machine hitting the woman was false. Windxbirld Blocked View. In their confession the men said they were driving 15 miles an hour and that the windshield was covered with mist and rain and that they did not see the woman until after they had knocked her down and had run 20 feet past the body. Three other cars, they said, were ahead of them and both insisted that one of the three cars also hit her. Axelsen was held on the charge of failing to report an accident. His bond was fixed at $500. Caves was allowed to return to his home but will report at the hear'ng this morn ing. The arrest was made by Lieutenant John Goltz and Inspectors Tackaberry and Phillips, who went to the home of Caves to hear his version of the accident. Caves intimated that the machine might have struck thewom an and the patrolmen took him into custody. The four men went to the home of Axelsen. He was routed from bed and the two autoists were then taken to police station. Autolatu Give Aid. The woman, after she had been hit, was picked up by Caves and Axelsen and H. L. Crosby of 298 East Fifth street. They called to E. W. Martin of 706 East Sixty-sixth street North, who assisted in carrying her to the home Of Mrs. E. J. Schefter, 1196 East Gli san street, where they called for the police and the ambulance. In the first version of the accident, given to reporters and the police, the men insisted that they were a block away from the scene oT the accident and that the car was driven by a man. who, they declared to be an unidentified driver, bit the woman and that they had rushed to the aid of the victim. Woman Boarding: Car. They also at first declared that the woman had just stepped into the street while about to board an ap proaching street car, when the auto mobile struck her and dragged her for more than 20 feet. Their later confession, however, dis proved the whole previous story. It was only when the detectives went to the homes of the men to quiz them as to the possible identity of the driver and with no thought that they were to blame that they let slip that they had been in the death car. Police discovered the imprint of a woman's hand in the dust on the. hood of the death car after it had been driven to the police station. Dr. Martin W. Rose of the police emergency hospital arrived a few mo ments later with motorcycle police men and, after a hurried examination, said that death had been almost In stant. An ambulance took the body to the morgue, as Miss Ferguson had died before the physician arrived. Home Made With Sister. Miss Ferguson had been living at the home of her sister, MVs. Ralph L. Collett, 1192 East Davis street, where her mother, Mrs. C. E. Ferguson had also been living until recently. She had left the home shortly before 5:30 o'clock In the afternoon to take a street car to the west side. She had planned to meet other high school teachers on the west side and take dinner with .them. When the body was first taken to the morgue there was noth'iig on her clothing or in her shopping purse which would give any clew as to her Identity and it was not until 7:30 o'clock last night that the first posi tive identification was made. Christmas List la Carried. In the shopping purse which Miss' Ferguson carried was a Christmas shopping list containing the follow- Disclosure of Means by Which Re-j tailcrs Are Enabled to Keep Prices Up Desired. SALT LAKE CITY, Utah., Dec. 7. Resolutions calling upon Attorney General .A. Mitchel Palmer to Insti tute an inquiry aimed to expose the methods between packers and retail ers which were alleged to keep the retail price of meat at a high figure and to effect reforms that will ef fectively lower the prices were adopted today at the conference of officials of the 12 western states cat tlemens' associations. The conference adopted a resolution relating to the devising of plans whereby the seasonable surplus of cattle from the western states may be gauged and means were adopted for preventing the glutting of mar kets with surpluses. The resolution calls upon the western states cattle men to co-operate in furnishing the United States bureau of crop statistics with estimates as to the number of cattle to be shipped outside of the several states. A resolution to enact federal legis lation to eradicate tuberculosis among cattle was adopted, also one relating to the withholding from prime cat tle markets of nalf-faf cattle and feeders. EYEWITNESS NOT HEARD State Refuses to Call Man Who Saw Alleged Murder Done. PENDLETON, Or., Dec. 7. (Spe cial.) The state rested its presenta tion of evidence today in the re-trial of Frederick Rader, Grant county man charged with the murder of E. E. McCue In February, 1918. near John Day. Or., whose case was re manded to the circuit 'court here by the state supreme court, without calling- Frank Bales, only eyewitness of the shooting, to testify. Nine witnesses were called. Their testimony centered for the most part on a purported death-bed confession said to have been made by McCue to the effect that R'ader had shot him twice. The defense, using self-defense as the basis of its plea, closely cross examined the witnesses for the pur pose of Bhqwing that McCue was shot in an altercation which he himself had started. It Is thought the defense will call Bales to the stand tomorrow. MRS. HARDING IS GUEST Mrs. Thomas Marshall Entertains( With Luncheon at Capital. WASHINGTON, Dec. 7. Mrs War ren G. Harding was the guest of honor a. a luncheon given today by Mrs. Thomas Marshall, wife of the vice-president. The luncheon was attended by about 40 wives of senators and other offi cials and was the second social af fair for Mrs. Harding during her two-day stay in Washington, Mrs. Wilson, wife of the president, having entertained her at tea at the White House yesterduy. INDEX JOF TODAY'S NEWS The Weather. YESTERDAY'S Maximum temperature, 47 degrees; minimum, aegrece. TODAY'S Hain; increasing -southeasterly winds. Foreign. B'Annunzio troops occupy Zara a Italians be Ran to evacuate uaimaiia. rage a. AsFPmbly debates war on typhus in near east. Fage 3. National. President-elect Harding realizes that high office mean- scii-sacnnce. rage 1. Wilson nominates Colonel McAlexander for promotion. iatfe 1. Wilson in message to cunffress favors econ omy and budget system. Page 1. President-elect spends day in conference with leaders in Washington. .Page . Let us dare to do our duty, says PreHldent Wilson, quoting x-incoin. t-age o. Backers of farmer measure undaunted. Page 2. President-elect Harding holds own counsel regarding policies and cabinet. Pago '2. Prohibition law extends to American ships wherever they may be. Page 17. Congress prepares to aid in readjustment of business conditions. Page 9. Domentlc. Deserter Boasts of work as German spy in U. S. army. Page 1. Clara Barton Smith, wanted In connec tion with millionaire's shooting, traced to Mexico. Page Iti. Western cattlemen ask attorney-general to expose practices of packers. Page 1. Alaskans starving; bureau without funds. Page 1. Court arrants wage rise to packer employes. PLge 18. Pacific Northwest. Yoncalla men quit, women take office. Page 1. Veteran jurist says divorce evil la ham of Seattle, Wash. Page 6. Interest lacking In Seattle school election. Page 7. Livestock industry outlook bright, says slate veterinarian. Page 6. Western Forestry and Conservation asso ciation holds convention in Spokane, Wash. Page 4. Sports. Basketball season gets under way tonight Page 10. Youth and punch versus experience In Levintiky-McCormick bout. Page 10. Commercial said Marine. Wheat 10c to 15c lower in local market. Page 27. Withdrawal of exporters causes wheat slump at Chicago. Page 27. Oils and rails only firm stocks In Wall street market. Page 27. Big rmtch steamer Arakan arrives to load wheat. Page 19. Portland and Vicinity. Ralph R. Duniway, prominent Portland at torney, dies suddenly. Page 10. City will again ask state to assist In main tenance of The Cedars. Page 2. Public welfare bureau lists 500 Portland families tTmt need relief. Page 10. Butter sale held illegal ty court. Page 21. Commissioner Mann tells Rotarians of pub lia health and sanitation standards of Portland. Page 14. Drue gists opposed to selling liquor. Page 17. Highway commission wants to rush road work. Page 2tT. Miss Maud Ferguson, teacher at Jeffer- ! sou high school, is killed by speeding I auto. Page 1. Ifjbert M. rir-v, c.vlege man, held for! attempted robbery, develops inji ol TRAINING GIVEN IN GERMANY "You Would Also Be Killed;" "What Of It?" Is Reply. CAPTURE IS accidental: Ex-Officer and Alleged Thief ol Company Funds Is Recognized by es-Cohtrade in Street, NEW YORK. Dec. 7. Sensational disclosures of his mission to this country as a spy for the German gov ernment were given in an alleged confession by John AVillers, formerly captain in Company I, 48th United States infantry, alleged thief and de serter, after his arrest here tonight, charged with absconding: with 0000 of his company funds on December 19, 1918. His regiment was then sta tioned at Camp Sevier, Greenville, S. C. His capture was accidental. He was crossing Fifth avenue at Forty-second street, when Hugh J. Hannigan. formerly a lieutenant in Willers' com pany, recognized him. Hannigan called a policeman and Willers was arrested, rrisoner Further Identified. At a police station the prisoner was further identified by two other ex-lieutenants in company I, Sidney P. Howell and Francis Hatch. Willers was then taken to Governor's island and 'placed in confinement at Fort Jay. Willers, the police said, recited in a brazen fashion how he was sent to the United States as one of 2u0 cadets trained in acts of espionage to enlist in the American army. On his arrival in the United States. Willers went to Albany where he en listed, he said, as a private. His mil itary aptitude won him rapid "pro motion and his knowledge of Eng lish and his ability to "speak like an American" enabled him to obtain a commission. Slaasnter of Men Planned. Willers said ho had never been sent across the ocean and while in this country his instructions were "to act the part of a loyal American" and to take no action until he reached the war zone. "What was yoiir plan after reaching the other side?" he was aked. "I could lead the company to slaughter," the police said he replied. "You would also be killed," he was reminded. "What of that? Thousands of better men died that way." The police say Willers remarked that they would be surprised if they knew "the number of officials at Washington during the war who were employed by Germany as spies." "Are they still th,ere?" he was asked. "That 1 don't know," he was said to have answered. "But there were many of them during the war." Deserter Weda American. The 4Sth Infantry was still at Camp Sevier when the armistice was signed and, his usefulness as a spy at an end, Willers told the police, he de cided to become a deserter and to take, they alleged, the company funds. The deserter then went to Chicago, where, about a year ago, he married an American woman named Crawford. From Chicago, Wilier" roamed about the country, at various times trying unsuccessfully to get a pass port to Germany. He disguised him self and waited an opportunity to quit the country. A pair of heavy eyeglasses, he said, was an important part of his disguise. When questioned by military au thorities at Governor's Island, Willers declined to amplify his alleged con fession. COX TELLS WHY HE LOST Defeat Blamed Upon Human. Na ture by Ohioan i Human nature defeated Governor Cox in his race for the presidency, ac cording to a letter he has written to Miss L.lllian M. Hackleman, secretary of the Cox-Roosevelt cjub. Says the recent candidate: "I am constrained to believe that it was again a case of human nature." Conditions were the same everywhere. The reactions of the war brought re sentment, prejudice and misunder standings, but let us hope that in the end things that are vital wilf be con served by the result." FIRE DAMAGE IS MILLION Blaze in Shops of Southern Pacific Company Spreads Rapidly. HOUSTON, Tex., Dec 7, Fire which broke out in the shops of the South ern Pacific railroad company here to night had caused damage estimated at $1. 000,000 and the flames were still spreading. The paint and air brake shops, an office building and a storehouse, together with a quantity of rolling stock, were destroyed. A stiff wind was carrying the flames to the heart of the shop dis- tflct. &i4A covuja oil blocks. i ; u s -- - t -V. 7 .- - v.-.