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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 1917)
80 Pages SIX SECTIONS Section One Pages 1 to 24 VOL. XXXVI. XO. 10. PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 11, 1917. PRICE FIVE CENTS. j- J U. S. SHIPS TO SINK U-BOATS Of SIGHT Declaration of War by Berlin Possible. AUTHORITY GIVEN GUNNERS Effect on Germany May Be to Cause Open Hostilities. WORD IS SENT TO KAISER Any One of Four Acts by America May Lead to War Reopening of Money Market Great Aid to. the Allies. T BY JOHN CALIBAN O'LAUGHLIN. WASHINGTON". D. C, March 10. (Special.) Armed American merchant vessels will sink German submarines on eight. This authority will be given to the gunners aboard the American ships. In reaching this decision the Presi dent and his officials are guided by the necessity of permitting the vessels to tave themselves from destruction. Ruthless Campaign Met. In her submarine decree which com pelled the President to break oft rela tions and subsequently to permit the arming of merchantmen, Germany an nounced her purpose to destroy with out warning any ship approaching the British Isles, the Atlantic coasts of Europe or the harbors of the eastern Mediterranean. In other words, her submarines were to sneak upon a vessel, whether bellig erent or neutral, and send it to the bottom without determining the na tionality of the craft or taking meas ures for the safety of those on board. Warning Given American Snips. The provisions of this decree have been carried out by German submarine commanders. It is true that two Ameri can vessels sunk were destroyed after a warnlns:. but belligerent merchant men upon which Americans were trav eling or serving as members of the crew were sent to the bottom without notice and without mercy. German submarines which appear to he somewhat considerate of American ships now are expected to attack the armed ships without warning. There is only one way therefore in which those ehips can be saved. That Is by sinking a German submarine before it gets a chance to launch a torpedo. Berlin May Declare War. "What Germany will say in conse quence of the action of the President in authorizing the arming of merchant chips remains to be seen. Officials and diplomats are generally agreed that she will regard such an action as an act of war. Whether she will formally declare war, however, will be determined at the conference which doubtless now is pro ceeding between the Kaiser and his ad visers. Information of the decision of the President has been communicated to Berlin through the Swiss Minister to the United States, who has charge of German interests. Technical War May Be Avoided. That Germany will hold that this Government has ranged itself definite ly on the side of the allies is un doubted in official and diplomatic cir cles. That she will announce that she will sink on sight armed merchant men flying the American flag equally is undoubted. She may prefer, how ever, to have hostilities without tech nical war. The State Department made it clear today that the mere appearance of a submarine or a periscope In the vicinity (Concluded on Page 2. Column 1.) 17 V " i --. - ' f - . . ----- ...................... ' - -IT1-T-T-- - - - I S I s . NOOSE SLIP SAVES; CONFESSION CLEARS MAN" WHO ESCAPED HAXGIXG IS EXONERATED. Dying Farmer Admits Murder of 2 5 Years Ago, Proving Innocence of Suspect Once Convicted. COLUMBIA, Miss., March 10. A death bed confession by Joseph Beard, a farmer, announced today by the Sher iffs office, cleared of suspicion Will iam Purvis, who 25 years ago escaped death by hanging after conviction of murder only because the noose about his neck slipped when, the scaffold trap was sprung. Purvis was found guilty of killing from ambush William Buckley. When he fell from the scaffold unharmed after the rope slipped spectators who thought it was an intervention of Prov idence induced the authorities to put him back in Jail and appeal to the Gov ernor brought a, commutation of sen tence. Several years later Purvis was pardoned. He now lives in Lamar County. Beard, dying of pneumonia, confessed Sunday that he and two other men killed Buckley. "The Sheriff said he knew where to locate the others, but declined to say whether any action would be started against them. AUSTRIA SEEMS CONFIDENT Count Tarnowski Arranging xor New Embassy Building. WASHINGTON.. March 10. The fact that Count Tarnowski, the newly-ap pointed Ambassador from Austria-Hun gary, is arranging to obtain a new Em bassy building is taken to indicate that his government does not expect diplo matic relations to be severed in the near future. The Count has not yet presented his credentials to the President. PHYSICIAN 100 YEARS OLD Century Mark Also Seen by Chica goan's Ancestors. , CHICAGO, March 10. Dr. Herman n.rrv uhratii his 100th birthday yesterday. Until 14 years ago he prac ticed medicine. He was corn in ixew York, where his grandfather lived to be 103 years old, his father 100 and his mother 97 years old. The doctor's wife died at the age of 87. 71-2C LOAF IS TO APPEAR San Francisco Bakery. Announces New Size In Bread. SAN FRANCISCO. March 10. Bread at 7 cents a loaf will make its in itial appearance here Monday, accord ing to officials of a large baking com tisitiv vhn said the new loaf would be of a size of between the present 5 and 10-cent sizes. No Increase In bread prices was con templated, it was said. TROOP SCHEDULES UPSET National Guards to Be Sent Home When Coaclies Are Available,, EL PASO, Tex., March 10. All for mer schedules for the sending of the National Guard troops home from this part of the border have been ordered disregarded. The guard troops will be sent home In day coaches as rapidly as equipment can be obtained fr.om the railroads. WEEK TO BE PARTLY RAINY Northwest Temperature to Be Near Seasonal Normal. WASHINGTON. March 10. Weather predictions for the week beginning Sunday. March 11, issued by the Weather Bureau today, are: Pacific states: Generally fal-- in Cal ifornia and occasional rains in Wash Ington and Oregon; temperature near seasonal normal. PICTORIAL ROAD ENTHUSIASTS RALLY AT EUGENE 300 'Attend" Western Oregon Conference. COMMISSIONER ADAMS LEADS Only One County in District Not Represented. VIEWS EXPRESSED FREELY While Meeting Is Specially for Dis cussion, Many Delegates De clare Their Counties Are Al ready Solid for Measure. EUGENE. Or.. March 10. (Special.) Three hundred good road enthusiasts met here today In a rally In behalf of the proposed $6,000,000 bond issue for the purpose of constructing a system of hard-surfaced roads in Oregon, when sessions of the Western Oregon Road Conference were held both afternoon and evening. The Interest manifested probably was the greatest in the history of road planning in Southern Oregon. Every county In the First Congres sional District, with one exception, was represented at the sessions, and spokes men for County Cpurts and commercial organizations declared that their object in coming was to get more Information about the proposed highway project. Decision Not Advocated. Highway Commissioner E. J. Adams announced that the purpose of the meeting was to create interest and dis cussion of the proposed bonding plan; that it was not desired that the confer ence should take any action for or against the bond Issue. Attorney L. E. Bean, Representative from Lane County and Joint author of the Bean-Barrett bill providing for matching, dollar-for-dollar, funds to be supplied by the Federal Government under the terms of the Shackleford bill explained the application of the law. Plea for Byways Made. During a discussion of the Pacific Highway, Commissioner Adams said: The Pacific , Highway would be of great benefit, but I want to say to you gentlemen that mere are pioneers locked up in the byways of this state who have nothing more than a trail to travel over for the greater part of the year and who are entitled to some con sideration before they pass on." Those lnattendance Included some of the most prominent road authorities in the Northwest. Engineers. County Com mlssloners, representatives of commer cial organizations and road supervisors were present at the afternoon session. Mr. Adams was elected to preside at the conference arid James Stewart, edl tor of the Fossil Journal, acted as sec r"etary. Federal Funds Available. B. J. Fitch, of the Federal High Bu reau, addressed the meeting on the ap plication of the Federal road laws. He announced that of the 1 237,000 available for use on roads in Oregon forest re serves, only about J100.000 had been matched by local contributions, leaving a balance of $157,000 available for use in this state. O. M. P. Goss, technical engineer of the West Coast Lumbermen's Associa- tion, gave an illustrated talk in which he explained the especial values of lumber as a paving material and as material for bridge construction. Oregon pine and Douglas fir, treated with creosote, make the most nearly perfect of all paving, he asserted. He urged the wood because it Is a home product The meeting following Mr. Goss' address took the form of round table discussion, with the proposed (Concluded on Par 5 Column 3.) IMPRESSIONS OF SOME INDEX OF TODAY'S NEWS The Weather. TESTEBDArs Maximum temperature, 47 degrees; minimum, 8tt degree. TODAY'S Sunday partly cloudy; northwest erly wind. Submarines. Salvador's Minister denies German spies use , his country as operation base. Section 1, page a. American Government begins to arm mer chantmen. Section 1. page 6. Western America offered to Jkpan by Ger- many as reward tor aid. Section 1. page 1. f United States ships authorized to sink U-boats on sight. Section 1. page 1. War. Armies on Western front fighting la blis- zard. Section 1, page 4. Belgian relief ahlp Storstad torpedoed and sunk; one life loat. Section 1. page 4. Austrlait army chief says dual monarchy la absolutely united. Section 1, page 5. Foreign. London poison plotters convicted. Section 1. page 2. Reichstag leader forecasts Russo-Japanese- Oerman coalition against Anglo-American alliance. Section 1, page 3. National. Many submarine chasers wanted by Navy. Section 1, page 7. Domestic Government loses suit to unmerge Central and Southern Pacific lines. Section 1, page 6. Governor Hiram Johnson denies Intent to resign from United States Senate. Sec tion 1, page 1. Major-Genera I Sam Hughes, of Canada, confers ,wlth General Wood. Section 1, page 5. Prominent German-Americans arrested in alleged smuggling plot. Section 1. page 5. Railway brotherhoods to offer compromise. section l, page a. Pacific Northwest. "The Last Leaf" read by descendant of patriot before Revolution Daughters. Section 1, page 9. Ex-Mayor Starcher's higher strategy Jails alleged safeblower. Section 1. page 11. Oregon V. A. R. pledges support to Presi dent Wilson. Section 1, page 9. Lister approved banking codes. Section J, page za. Bullet hole made by I. W. W. Is shown In court. Section 1, page 8. Commissioner Adams tabulates figures showing how road bonds will be paid off. Section 1, page 10. D. A. R. place marker on old Immigrant camping sp6t. Section 1, page 9. Bllllngsley. long unruffled, quails at last. Section 1, page 1. Enthusiastic good roads rally held at Eu gene. Section 1, page 1. Sports. - West far ahead of East in tennis tourney. Section 2. page 1. New rules out for Pacific Coast track meet. Section 2. page 1. 1 Columbia "U" prepares for big entry list at April track meet. Section 2, page 4. Columbia-Willamette trap shooting league to be formed. Section 2. page 5. Intercity league may ask class X rating. Section 2. page 2. Oregon- track team outlook la dubious. See. tlon 2. page G. Fans in Northwestern League circuit await sound of gong on April 24. Section 2, page 2. Portland Beavers defeat Chinese, 7 to 1. Section 2, page 2. Duffy happy over showing at Seattle with orbea. Section 2, page 3. Commercial and Marine. Wool contracting stopped by failure of Congress to pass Army bill. Section 2, page 15. Chicago wheat rnsrket affected by peace rumors. Section 2, page 15. Stock .market responds sharply to arming of American ships. Section 2, page 15. Government calls wooden shipbuilders for conference. Section 2. page 16. Ship master held liable for passenger limit excesses. Section 2, page 16. Shifting of funds for river projects con sidered. Section 2. page 16. Portland lowest bidder for $162,073 lumber order. Section 2, page 16. Portland and Vicinity. Attempt to oust Adjutant-General Whits fails. Section 1, page 7. Sentiment all over state apparently in favor of road bonds. Section 1. page 10. Gypsies destroy property and annoy neigh bors. Section 1. page 12. C B. Moores pays tribute to Colonel E. D. Baker. Section 1, page 14. O. M. Clark says Portland must secure foreign trade. Section 1, page 15. Growers urge grain elevator In Portland. Section 1. page 16. Astoria lines up behind road bond Issue. Section 1, page 17. Commissioner Daly announces candidacy for Mayor. Section 1. page 18. Cost of councilmanlc and commission gov ernment compared. Section 1, page 18. Joint legislative committee to plan cam paign to urge road bonds bill. Section X, page 21. Weather report, data and forecast. Sec tion 1, page IS. Flans laid for 1 Billy Sunday campaign. Section 1, page 16. HUMPTY DUMPTY" IS DEAD Famous Clown Is victim of Fall When 78 Years Old. KINGSTON, N. T March. 10. Famous for 40 years as the original "Humpty. Dumpty" clown, Tony Denier died here today from a fall on an icy sidewalk. He was 78 years old, and had been an inmate of the almshouse since June. He retired as a clown eight years ago. EVENTS IN THE WEEK'S WESTERN AMERICA OFFERED TO JAPAN Only Part of Zimmer mann Note Published. GERMAN PLOT EXTENT WIDE All Territory West of Rockies " Reward for Aid. TERMS ARE KEPT SECRET state Department Gives Out Only Mexican Part of Situation, but JLets It Be Known Definite Offer Was Sent to Toklo. OREGONIAN NEWS BUREAU. Wash ington, March 10. "The whole of the United States lying west of the Rocky Mountains" was the inducement which Germany held out to Japan, through the Instrumentality of the famous Zim- mermann note. If Japan, In the event of war between the United States and Germany, would become an active ally of the Kaiser. This Information comes from -on of the most prominent Democrats of the Senate, who is in a position to enjoy the confidence of the State Department, and as related by him. this portion of the Zimmerman n note was suppressed last week, when the German offer to Mexico was allowed to become public through the agency of the Associated Press. Zlmmrrmnnn Note Censored. The extract from the Zlmmermann note, heretofore published, bore evi dences of- having been censored, and the first comments made by Zlmmer mann himself were carefully guarded, as stated by cable dispatches, because he did not then know accurately how much of his communication had been made public In the United States. While the extract heretofore pub lished showed that Germany was mak ing overtures t. both Mexico and Ja pan, there was no allusion to a par celling out of American territory to Japan, though Arizona. New Mexico and Texas were set forth as being offered Mexico as the price of her active co-operation. Information la Measer. The terms in which Germany offered the Pacific Coast states to Japan can not be learned, nor is it pcssible to ascertain whether the offer included also the Hawaiian Islands, the Philip pines or Alaska. The information avail able Is meager, but appears to be authentic. That the offer to Japan w'as sup pressed by the State Department is probably due to the same motives which led the Department to kill off the anti alien land bills in the Oregon and Idaho legislatures. The Japanese government, through its Ambassador at Washington, has al ready assured the State Department that Japan is faithful In her allegiance to the allied powers, and entertains none but the friendliest feeling toward the United States. Intimation Made In Senate. In a speech in the Senate only a few days before adjournment. Senator Phe lan. of California, intir.ted his belief that if Germany was- offering the bor der states to Mexico, it doubtless was holding out the Pacific Coast states as the reward to be tendered to Japan 1, for co-operation in the event of war against the United States, but he stopped short of stating that such a definite offer had been made. The mere possibility of such an of fer, however, he thought was ample justification for tho United States tak ing immediate rteps better to protect the Pacific Coast, for he cited the tes- (Concluded on Page 2, Column 2.) NEWS BY CARTOONIST HIRAM JOHNSON TO KEEP SENATE POST RUMOR OF INTENT TO REMAIN GOVERNOR DENIED. Washlngton Takes Report Seriously and California Is Flooded With Messages From All Sides. SACRAMENTO. Cal., March 10. Con jectural reports emanating from Sacra mento today that Hiram Johnson was planning to relinquish' his United States Senatorsnlp-elect in favor of Chester Rowell, of 'Fresno, and to re tain his present post as Governor, brought forth a shower of denials to day. , At noon today the Governor per sonally Issued the statement that the report was "wholly and absolutely false." - By mid-afternoon his secretary's desk was piled with telegrams from all parts of the country, demanding whether theVe was truth in the rumor. One Washington dispatch indicated that the report had been accepted as fact and that history was being searched for precedents of a Senator elect preferring to remain Governor. Discovering that Nation-wide cred ence had been given the rumor, John son gave out another statement through his secretaries late this after noon repeating that it was all a plot fabricated by his political enemies and claiming that proof of the plot had been found. Itwas repeated that no statement of Johnson's future plans will be forthcoming before Monday. BERNSTORFF IN NORWAY Former Ambassador, After' Rough Voyage, Reaches Port. LONDON. March 10. Count von Bernstorff, former German Ambassa dor at Washington, arrived at Chrts tiania this morning, according to an Exchange Telegraph dispatch from Copenhagen. On reaching the quay several hundred members of the German colony and representatives of the legation gave the returning passengers an enthusiastic welcome. Passengers on the liner said that bad weather prevailed throughout the voy age. MEMBER IN CONGRESS DIES C. A. Sulloway, Veteran Xew Hamp shire Representative, 78. ' WASHINGTON, March 10. Cyrus Adams Sulloway, veteran Representa tive in Congress from the First New Hampshire District, died here late to night of pneumonia, aged 78 years. - Representative Sulloway was a Re publican and had served his district in the lower house at Washington through the Fifty-fourth. Sixty-second and Sixty-fourth Congresses. His home was at Manchester. N. H. MEXICO TO VOTE TODAY Election of Carranza as President Regarded as Certain. MEXICO CITT, March 10. Prepara tions were completed today for the holding tomorrow throughout Mexico of Presidential and Congressional elec tions, the first to' be held since July, 1914. There is little doubt .that General Venustiano Carranza will be elected President almost unanimously, as the other candidates for the Presidential office are not taken seriously. PRESIDENT ABLE TO SIT UP Executive Is Weakened by Cold; Attorney-General Is Seen. WASHINGTON. March 10. President Wilson had recovered tonight from the cold that kept him in bed for the last four days. He was said to be weak ened, however, and greatly in need of rest. He sat up today and attended to of ficlal business, conferring briefly with Attorney-General Gregory. REYNOLDS. BILUNGSLEY CALM IS BROKEN AT LAST Nonchalant Witness , Quails at Question. COURTROOM GASPS AT CLIMAX Memory Fails Suddenly Over Visit. to-City Hall. $4000 BRIBE HELD CHEAP $7500 Carried to Mayor's Office, but Only Part of It Used to Get Protection, lie Says. Ex-Sheriff Exonerated. SEATTLE, Wash., March 10. (Spe cial.) A smashing climax, as nerve stirring as a theater could visualize, came in the Federal Court today at the llquor-consplracy trial of Mayor Gill. Chief of Police BeckSneham. ex-Sheriff Hodge and City Detectives Peyser, Pool- man, Doom ana McLennan, when Logan Billingsley, self-disclosed director of wholesale bootlegging operations, the Government's chief witness, after two days of suavity, calm and deliberation on the witness stand, as suddenly as the snapping of a cord, paled and stam mered and was at a loss to reply to a merciless cross-examination. There fell upon the courtroom the same shock that comes at the "big" moment of a play of fiction. It was led up to in the same subtle way that dramatists manufacture crises in the lives of their characters. long Effort Is Futile. Logan Billingsley had completed his direct examination yesterday and Wil- mon Tucker, one of Mayor GUI's attor neys, had then and early this morning, prodded, in all the ways a skilled legal mind could devise, to shake the witness. Mr. Tucker had, not succeeded. Retro spection ad not worried Logan. His pact replete with arrest, convictions. briberies, so-termed, schemes to defeat the laws he laid before the Jury as a big book, stained, but legible. When Walter S. Fulton, counsel for Chief Beckingham. started his cross-examination it seemed that he would not worry the calm Mr. Billingsley. The witness seemed impregnable, so far as one viewed his demeanor on the stand. Mr. Fulton examined Into the capacity or antipathy of the witness for truthfulness. Perjury Not on Crime List. Logan said: "I don't claim to be any George Washington. Tea, I have told lots of lies in a. business way, but I've never yet gotten on the witness stand and perjured myself. Don't find any records of me having been arrested for perjury, do you?" Every question was answered promptly and clearly, just as Logan had replied to queries for two days. Then the cross-examiner asked a cas ual question about Logan's version of a visit to the Mayor's office on the same day, August 30. and preceding his alleged visit to the Chiefs office, when, he testified, he paid the Mayor $4000. "By the way," remarked counsel for the defense, "was Mr. James Crehan, the Mayor's secretary, in the office of the Mayor that day?" Memory Falls Suddenly. "I don't remember," said Billingsley glibly. "Did you see the Mayor?" "No." "Why didn't you see the Mayor?" "J wasn't allowed to." "Who wouldn't allow you to?" "Why why" (there was a hint of a breaking down of the witness' reserve strength) "whoever was there " "But who was there?" . (Concluded on Pase 8. Column 2.) r: v . ' r t r i " - : v,V.