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About The morning Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1899-1930 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 1907)
0a 'llf1lH'1fl1i1i N I IN II II II I -UBUVHH FULL AMOOIATtO PUIS REPORT UOVERS THK MORNINO PIBLO ON TrtS LOWE OOLUMBMil ; f& ii n i i mi i ii - 1 & ..STOMA, OREGON, WKDNKbDAY. FKDHUAUY 27. 1907, PRICE FIVE CENTS V0UIMKLX1II NO. 40 STOESSEL A COWARD Charge Made By Smirnoff In Secret Report. Y WAS ALSO INCAPABLE Blunders and Treason Given Causes of the Fall of Port Arthur. as OTHER COMMANDERS BLAMED High Offloer In tho GarrUon of Be eeiged Fortre Wore Almoit at Sword Are Now on Trial For Thoir Live. HT, I'KTF.RHlUjna, Feb. U.A copy of tho secret report on tho defeino of I'ort Arthur, which la the basl of the Indictment on which Lieutenant Gen eral Btonaaol, Lieutenant Qonoral Fock, who commanded th fourth F.nt BI brlnn division at Port Arthur and Major General RnlM. are standing trial for their live before the supreme court martial. ha been obtained by the AMa'Inted Pre It la of the arcittt'iit Interest a explaining the do rlalon to try these three officer and null.! prosequi the other defender! of Port Arthur. The reort which wna written by Lloutcitunt General Smir noff tho artunl commandant of the fortress, la sensational In tho extreme and eatagorleally accuse 8tocel of cowardice and Incapacity nnd flnnlly of the deliberate, treasonable hasten ing of tho surrender to save hla own life and In defiance of tho decisions of two successive rounclla of war."- Tho report la biased In tho extreme, brea the tho moat )lttir enmity un.l show that tho hlh officer of Port Arthur garrison In tho darkest duya of tho siege worn nlnioat at each other' throat. The Indictments summed up In tho conclusion of Ocneral Smirnoff a follow! : "A aerlea of unpardonable blunder! outside tho fortress due to tho Ignor ance and lack of military capacity and martial prowess of General Htoessol and Fock bmiiKht about the Investment of the forlreaa aovernl mnntha earlier than necessary and after tho Invest meni a desire for undeserved glry moved Stoeaael to Interfere In the Jo fwise with unfortunate results. Fi nally at the last period of tho siege StoeHHrl uHurped my imtlimlty wlih the assistance of Generals Fock and Uolaa and rommltted treason In sur rendering suddenly and prematurely. 1 regard our defeat at Mukden tw a direct result of this treaaon." Smirnoff derlurea that when he pro hibited tho withdrawal of provisions In preparation for the siege, StoeSsel disregarded the orders and allowed their Rale to the field army. lie Is chanted also that Stocssol removed an order '."or tho establishment of a hospital for contnglnun disease be cause tho site chosen would lessen tho desirability as a residence of General Fock'a villa. He relates numerous In stance! of confllcta of authority and aays that at one period tha relation! between Stoessel and the late Admiral WHhoft, In command of the Russian fleet, were eeverly atrained. He also tolls of severe condemnation of Stoea se, hla plans for the defense of the for tress and his failure to supplement the supply of provisions by General Kuropatkln and Admiral Allexleff, the viceroy of the far east when they vis ited the fortress in June.- General Smirnoff chargea that Stoeasel was niltv of the rankest kind of coward- Ice, the most inexcusable ignorance of I a engineering, of costly tactical errors, and that bo Nought to bring credit to himself for ill" notable achievement of other. BOMB DISCOVERED. Attempt on Life of Grand Duke Nieho lat Nioholalevloh Fails. ht. prrrF.itsnwto, Ft. j7. The Nov.on Vremyn thla morning prints a aetmatlonnl account of the foiling of another plot on tha Ufa of Grand Duke is'leholu Nlcholalovlih. The plot la xalil to have been discovered shortly bn fore linen u'clock thla inornlng, tho limn achtsdulod for the arrival of the Imperial train brliiKlng the Grand Duke from Taurskon Helo. The guard pu trolllng tho track nwir station at 31. Petersburg end of lino caught a man dreftsid a u workman In the net of placing a wooden box In the mMdlo of the track. Aldod by tho darkness thn plotter escaped. Tho box was 'mind to contain an lnfr:il . of enormous power. T. B. ALDRICH ILL. IlOHTON', Feb. 27. Thomas Ilalley Aldrlch, the poet, la In a critical con ditlon on account of an operation per formed yesterday. RETAINS CHAMPIONSHIP. I-ONDON, Feb. 2. "Gunner" Jim Motor, heavyweight champion of Eng land, knocked out "Tiger" Smith to night lit tho first round. Tho purse wna $6,000. DIME NOVEL PLOT Story of Gypsy Kidnapping and Rescue Comes from Illinois. FATHER SEARCHES FOR YEAR King of Gypsy Camp Snatohot Up Girl at Moment of Reeou But After Struggle Parent 8eoures Her Aided by Officer of the Law. CHICAGO, Feb. 26. After a search Ot nearly a year. In which almost ev ery gypsy camp In tho South and Northwest had been visited, Cecilia Deinetro, 12 years old, daughter of a wealthy Greek In Little Rock, Ark, who had been kldnnpped March 1, 1906 was found yesterday In a camp near Thornton, III. Tho little girl was giv en shelter at the police station here last night. Trace o tho girl waa obtained by I.eo Demetro, her father, who had searched for her eight month In vuln. Then he met a gypsy In Salt Lake City who learned of his sorrow. The man promised to Inform him should he ev er hear of the eanip in which the child was held. Accompanied by four deputy sheriffs Itciuetro went to Thornton yesterday. Ju.sl beyond tho outskirts of the town Is a camp consisting of moro than 100 tciilM. It was there that Cecilia was held prisoner. When the Greek cop persmith and his companions arrived tho girl was playing on the prairie with several other youngstors. Before Demetro could reach his daughter ho was thrust aside by John Joe, king of the camp, and who is sold to , nave s.u.ir . 9 U.. T.i.mt burst from a tent ana soiaea uecna . . . as sno waa aooui 10 apuiia nn , . . . , father's arms. In an Instant hundreds of gypsies wore swarming out of tneir ' , . , . ,u smoko-fllled homes and hurrying to the i"0' . . t u . u uomeiro aeizeu mo gypsy uuu mo ,, threat. While they were struggling on the ground scores of Joe s followers crowded around and threatened to in terfere but the officers drew their re volvers and then seized the little girl. An Instant later Demetro regain ed his feet and taking hla daughter stood with the officers. Awed by the display of weapons, the gypsies re treated and the deputy sheriffs hur ried to Thornton where the boarded train for Chicago. ENDS CROSS EXAMINATION Mrs. Thaw Leaves Wit. ncss Stand. TRIAL NEARS IT'S END Delmas Blocks Introduction of Much of Hummel's Tes timony. ALIENIST WILL COME NEXT Doctor Britton Evan Will be Cross Examined Today by Jerome Mr. Thaw'e Mother Drew Three Thous and Dollar From White in One Year. NEW YORK, Feb. 26. Mrs. Evelyn Thaw's long ordeal on the witness stand at the trial here ended today. Jerome ended the cross examination, which has lasted nearly five days, at thla afternoon were brief, The dis amlnatlon and ro-cross examination the morning session. The direct ex trlct attorney tomorrow will begin his cross examination of Dr. Britton D. Evans, one of the defense's alienists. Drs. Wagner, Deemar and Hlngamnan will be called In rapid order. The trial at last seemB to be entering on the final atsges. The completion of Mrs. Thaw's testimony followed an unauc cesful effort of tho prosecution to draw fiom Abraham Hummel certain facts relating to the affidavit which Mrs. Thaw in sa'd to have made in Hum mel'a office. In this affidavit It Is declared that Thaw beat Mrs. Thaw while abroad in 190S. Delmas blocked practically ev ery question. The witness got no fur ther than to say that he knew Mrs. Thaw, that she came to his office Oc tober 27, 1903 and that he dictated to a fi!?nograp1i'" while :.o was there. Justice Fitzgerald held that under the rules of evidence covering Mrs. Thaw's testimony, the Introduction of collater al facta was not permlssable, the dis trict attorney not being allowed to con trovert her testimony though he may test her credibility. Jerome said In open court, thnt he realized that If ho could show that Stanford White was In Kurope on the night Mrs. Thaw de clares she was assaulted by him, he would not be allowed to introduce such testimony. Mrs. Thaw today leared up tho odds and ends of her testimony. She denied ever using any of the letter of credit given to her by fchmford White when she started on t lie European trip Vith Thaw and herj mother. She denie.l that she had ever: been mentioned In connection with the James Garland divorce case. She snld Stanford White paid all her brother's school expense) and Identified the re ceipts nnd checks signed by her moth-, er showing that tho latter drew more than $3,000 from Stanford White's fund 190, 19Mi Kvo,yn - was at school most of this time, Just I , , ., ,. .,, ,f befoie Harry Thaw was taken out or mnnrt. mw j tha following note. "Mrs. Thaw and .... , i.n,aB Lady Ashburton, formerly Frances Belmont, vrre not friends, they were , , simply acquaintances wnon both were ' y f. . MR. ALLEN'S RESIGNATION. Succession in District Attorneyship Still Undetermined, The resignation of Hon. Harrison Allen, as district attorney for the Fourth Judicial district of Oregon, was placed in the hands of Gov. George to In speaking of the matter yester rday, Mr. Allen assured a representative the Morning Astorlan that his rell of qulshment of the post was made ab- solutcly without any reservations his part or anyone elses, so far as he knew; ho la pleased with his business prospects at Portland, and desires be free to make the most of a n to and successful business venture, an t In this connection, It may be said passing, that while there are hosts of people here who will regret sincere ly to see him pass out of the social and official life of the city and coun ity there are none to begrudge him the last limit of a success In sight In ev ery Held he may occupy. A rumor was current In this c Ity yesterday that the district attorney ship hits been promised to Repre sentaeive -John C. McCue th rul of courtesy In such matters being followed by tlie appointment of a republican In succession of a republi can, but this report was btyond all chance of confirmation or denial yesterday. The possibility of the appointment of Attorney A. M. Smith to the vacan cy was negatived ,to a certain extent by the assurances received from that gentleman that he had made no over tures for tho place nor had he reclv ed any from his friend, the governor; so the matter remains In status quo until His Excellency shall see fit to lift the veil which will be probably, when the vacancy actually occurs, on Friday next. Confronted in the H am man In vestigation in New York. POWER 0FSW0LLEN FORTUNES Northwest Held Back For Years by Failur of Union Pacific to Secure Northern Pacific Many Grave Char ges Against Roads. NEW YORK, Feb. 26. The asser tion by E. H. Harrlman that Stuyves ant Fish was deposed from the preal dency of the Illinois Central because of misconduct as to the funds of the com pany was a leading feature of today's session of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Harrlman was the only witness, and events brought out by testimony make the hearing memor able. Other features of Harriman's testimony were; his continued refusal to answer the questions relating to In dividual stock transactions. The explanation of the transfer of 300,000 shares of Southern Ifciclflc stock to William Rockefeller, during the at tempt of James B. Kerr to secure con trol of the road and of the delaye.1 an nouncement of dividends In Union and southern Pacific. Regordlng the latter, Harlman testified that he was compel- led to attend a funeral the board had agreed to meet and that the meeting ,was not held and the dividend not, un til three o'clock in the afternoon declar ed. Harrlman said this was after the close of the stock market, and the fact that the dividend had been declared was withheld in order to give the New York market an advantage over the London markets. Then followed tho attempts of the government to show that the Union Pacific charges unfair rates, stifles competition In the vast territory tra versed by its line, and that Its divi dends of 10 per cent and its expendi ture of $240,000,000 came from an un fair toll on Its patrons. An academic discussion of railway regulation, by high authorities on either side, that ran from plea for legalized combina tions of railroads under government supervision to the suggestion that gov ernment control railway stock issues. The charge and admission were made that the misconduct of the rail roads created a popular anger that moves determinedly for their regula tion. The charge was made that no K. Chamberlain on Saturday last become effective on March 1st NATION AND MAN Y TO DIG DITCH Engineering Branch to Try Panama Canal. PRESIDENT CHANGES Abandons Design of Having the! " " , Work Done By Contract! System. ENGINEER STEVENS RESIGNS Said to Have Taken Criticism of Work to Heart President Determined No- thina Shall Check Continuance of! Digging of Canal. WASHINGTON, Feb. 26. By order addressed to Chairman Shonts of the panama canal commission, President Roosevelt as far as lay in his power under existing the law transferred to l.i -.1 . VtA eA the engineer branch of the army re sponsibillty for the further construc tion of the Panama Canal. He also formally recorded the abandonment, for the present at least, of the project of having the canal work done by con tract Another feature was the an nouncement of the resignation of John F. Stevens as Chief Engineer of the canal construction. The President In tends that there shall be re organization of the Commission with three army officers, General Goethals, Major Galllard and Major Slebert, of the engineer corps as its leading mem bers who are to have charge of the engineering features of the canal work. General Goethals will be chairman and chls" engineer. Blackburn of Ken tucky who will retire from the Senate In March will be made a member of the commission. The retirement of Shonts and Stevens will leave but two vacancies, so thre w'll be two more retirements necessary to make way for the army officers and Blackburn. The President is determined that the work cn the canal shall proceed ulnuously and temporary disloca tions" caused by resignations of high er officials will not be allowed to in terfere with the progress. The president I unaware of any specific reasons for Steven's resigna tion. It surprised him very much for as late as the middle of December Ste vens made no mention of a wish to re tire. It had been known, however, that Stevens had been stung very much by the criticism aimed at him in con nection with the canal work, some of which came out during tho hearings before committees of congress. It Is understood that S'tevens Is leaving to accept a position with a great engi neering enterprise in this country at an annual salary more than double that which he now receives from the govt eminent. country in the world is so hostile to large transportation interests. The assertion was made the pur chase of the Southern Pacific by the Union Pacific had given the southwest ten years advantage In development and that the failure of the Union Pac Iflic to secure the Northern Pacific had left the Northwest ten years behind w here it would have been if the con trol had been obtained. All this end ed in a remarkable scene where govern ment and the man stood confronted. The days events gave a vivid and m tlmate realization of the problem of swollen wealth and railway regulation, It made a notable contribution to the innclal history, light and dark, of tlm ''TJI!$fT 1 '' Harrlman's examination was conduc- ted by Frank B. Kellogg of St. Paul, special counsel for the government The statement of the witness as to Stuyvesant Fish came in the middle of the ' morning session. Kellogg In reference to the Illinois Central spoke twice of a squabble between the wit ness and FlHh. DIES FOR CHILDREN. MONTREAL, Feb. 28. Principal Maxwell and sixteen children perished In a Are this afternoon in the Hoche laga school of the Protestant commis sion. The fire was first noticed by some workmen employed nearby. . The teachers were notified and the work of getting the children out of ( 'the building was begun. The Klnder l garten department waa located on the ' second floor and It was here that the ! loss of life occurred. The children were 8tarte1 out but found tb'-,0,r on II full r,f Hmnkn nn.t refused to Je stend. They retreated to the room whence they had come. The fire waa making its way upward and by tni' time the smoke was growing so dense that even the experienced firemen could not stand it. Fireman tried to get Miss Maxwell to go down the lad der but she refused and rushed back Into the building In search of the child ren. Later she was found lying on the door with a child beside her. Their deaths were caused by asphyxiation. No Are escapes were on the building. The children killed were aged from three to eight years. It was asserted In the office of. the building Commissioner that official notice was served on the school commissioners In November that not only this school but fifty oth hers In the city must be provided with Are escapes. None had been built at the Hochelaga school. Another point I . a to be explained is why the kindergar ten class had to be taken to an upper story. PASS ALDRICH BILL Senate Bill for Issuance of Ten Dollar Gold Certificates. OPEN INDIAN RESERVATION Senate Measur, Authorizes Depoiit of Customs Receipt in National Banki Raisee Limit of National Bank Cir Circulation Withdrawable Monthly. WASHINGTON, Feb. 26. The Sen ate today passed the Sundry Civil bill carrying $114,000,000. It also passed the Aldrlch Currency bill by a vote of 43 to 14. The Currency bill authorizes the isssuance of ten dollars gold certi ficates to the end that the ten dollar greenbacks may be broken up into one, two and five dollar bills for which there is great demand. It also author izes the deposit of customs receipts in national banks as the Internal revenue receipts are now. It raises from $3, 000,000 to $9,000,000 the national bank clrcula:tn that may be retuv 1 in any one mouth. The conference reports were adopted on the Naval Army, For tification and District of Columbia ap propriation bills. The conference re port on the bill allowing the Govern ment the right of appeal in criminal cases was agreed to as was also that on a bill opening to settlement one million acres of Rosebud Indian preser vation In South Dakota. CHANGE PASTURE LIMITS. The conference reports on the Army and River and Harbor Appropriation bills were presented. Conferee! were appointed on the Postofflce Appropria tion bills after ineffectual effort had been made to recede and concur In cer tain Senate amendments relating to the pay of rural letter carriers and rail- way mall employes. .Two veto mes- sages of House bills wee received, one of them negativing the Kiowa paa- ture townsite bill and the other a bill Cor the rel,eI ' civilian who serr- ed In the Civil war.