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50VCRSTHt MORNING FIELD ONTHC LOWER COLUMBIA
33rd YEAR. 80. 288 v., ASTORIA, OREGON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1S03 PCICE RYE CrrT3
SIS
Hen Do Work Unmasked
in Broad Day )Jght :
MA(E AN EASY ESCAPE
President Newhall and His Son
are Helpless at the Point
of Robbers Gun
TAKE ALL CASH IN SIGHT
Out Mn Keeps Ills Victims Cov
red WU1 Companion Watches
Outsids and Another Cnwli Thro
TJleri Window For Booty. ,. . .
PORTLAND. Dec. 7.-An east
tide lord bank, located on East
.Washington and Grand avenue wai
held up and robbed at 6 o'clock to
night by three nnmaiked men. It ii
understood they secured about 16
500. The president of the bank,
nnrjr II. NrwhaJI and hfi ion, Rog
er Newhall, were Juit closing the
day's business when two men armed
with revolver! entered. President
Newhall and hit ion were com
manded to hold up their hands and
while thus under cover of the robbers
one man crawled through the teller's,
window, passed out gold and cur
rency and silver to his confederates
and then crawled back into the foyer
through the window. The three then
made their escape before an alarm
could be aounded. From the neat
ness of the job and the expedious
way in which the robbers made their
escape the police surmise they must
nave had other assistance or had
cache somewhere in the vicinity ff
the bank, Ai soon as the frightened
bankers recovered their senses vt
alarm was sounded. Newhall and hl
ion started In pursuit, each armed
with a revolver' and fired several
hots , at the fleeing robbers, Both
aides of the river is being patrolled
by a corps of police and detectives
but it will be no easy matter to ap
prehend the criminals. The crime is
perhaps the boldest ever committed
in this cily and capya a series of
murders for robbery and, general
reign of terror which a gnng of
yeggmen and hold-ups have created
in . Portland for the past three
month. President Newhall made
the following statement to the Asso
ciated Press:
"We were just preparing to close
tip for the night when the robbery
occurred. The bookkeeper, Mr. Col-
SENATE MOURNS
ALLISON'S ABSENCE
Pall of Sadness Over Assemblage as they Gather
for Second Session of Sixtieth Congress
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7. -There
was S pall of sadnuess over the Sen
ate when it convened for the second
session of the 60th congress, due to
the absence of the late Senator Alli
son, of Iowa, who died In August,
after service of more than 35 years
in that body. The assemblage was a
brilliant 'one, 82 members being pres
ent, white the galleries were filled
with representatives of the official
and social life of the capital, The
session lasted IS minutes and then
adjourned in respect of the memory
of Allison.
After being in session for an hour,
SECURED
ton, had just gone out to post a let
ter and my ion Roger and myself
were completing details Incident to
the closing of the bank when the
unmasked man entered. He had a
big automatic revolver In Ida band,
and ordered us to hold up our
hands and then commanded ui .o
retire to my private office. We were
In no position to make a defense and
immediately complied. Almost in an
instant another man entered and the
GATHERII EVIDENCE
DEFENSE OE SISTER
BROTHER WILL AID DENVER
WOMAN ON TRIAL FOR
EXTORTION.
FINDS OUT OTHER TROUBLE
He Had Several Long Conferences
With Houm Detectivea of Audi
torium Annex Who Recovered
Other Property. "" ' 7
CHICAGO, Dec. 7. After working
secretly In Chicago for a week gath
ering evidence to be used in the de
fense of his iter. Mrs. Allen F,
Read, the Denver woman who is ac
cused of trying to extort money from
Mrs. Genevieve Chandler Phipps, i
wealthy society leader in the Colors
do city by threats of dynamiting, and
who obtained bonds worth $20,000 on
a forged check froni Bnbcock, Rush
ton, and Louderback of Chicago, W.
C. Campbell, left the city last even
ing for the West.
Although Mr. Campbell arrived in
the city last week, only a few persons
with whom he did business knew of
his presence in the city.
Mr. Campbell had several long con
fcrencei with Frank Repetta, the
house detective of the Auditorium
Annex, who recovered from Mrs.
Read the bonds she secured from
Babcock, Rushton and Louderback
on a worthies check.-
Mr. Campbell wanted to know every
detail of his sister's visit in Chicago
and all about the trouble she got In
to here" said Mr. Repetto. From the
questions he asked I gathered that
he was looking up evidence to be
used, in her defense. He would talk
very little about it here, however"
SEVERAL MEET DEATH.
SHELBOURNE, N. S., Dec. 5.
Sevcral men met death today off the
southern coast off Nova Scotia
Thursday morning when barge No.
101 of the Barrett Manufacturing
Co., in tow of the tug John Hughes
bound from Boston to Halifax with
coal tar went down with all the crew.
half the time consumed in the roll
call of the house which met at noon
adjourndd in respect of the memory
of several of its members and of
Senator Allison, all of whom died
during recess. Speaker Cannon, Rep
resentative Sherman of New York,
and vice-president-elect, and Champ
Clark of Missouri, the successor 'of
John Sharp Williams, the minority
leader, were given - ovations. The
most important action was the pas
sage and unanimous consent of the
resolution authorizing t he commit
tee on ways and means in its tariff
(Continued on page 6)
third one standing outside. The first
man, protected by the revolver in the
hands of his confederate, then crawl
ed through the teller's window, al
ways keeping us covered, and com
menced to hand out coin and cur
rency to his companion. The, third
man then entered and between them
they took away a bag of gold con
taining $8000, a package of currency
containing $5,300, mostly in large
bills, and s lot of miscellaneous
coins, In all shout -$16,500, I think.
They had s receptacle of some kind
to dump a portion of the loot into.
"Having secured practicaly all the
coin there was in aight, the robbers
made s hurried exit. My ion Roger
and myself, each securing a revolver
and ran out after them. The robbers
ran easterly in the darkness on
Washington street toward the slough
which lies in that vicinity. We each
fired several -shots but owing to the
darkne! we think we did not hit
them. They did not return our fire
and disappeared as if the earth swal
lowed them.
"From the time which the robbers
selected for the crime I am of the
opinion they, must have been watch
ing us for some time and knew exact
ly what time. the clerks went home
and other conditions necessary to
successfully complete the job. I have
a fairly accurate description of one
of the men.
"The robbery will not affect the
bank's stability in the least. We
have ample money on hand to meet
nil requirements.1
Up to s late hour tonight the police
and detectives had secured no tangi
ble clue to the identity of the rob
bers nor their means of escape from
the scene. A general accepted theory
is that the men hal a buggy or per
haps an automobile stationed at some
point distant from the bask and es
caped in it.
IRISH -UNIVERSITY.
DUBLIN. Dec. 5-The title for
the new university which has been
the subject of an acute controversy
for some time, was settled yesterday
to the satisfaction of all parties,
when King Edward issued letters of
patent constituting it as the Na
tional University of Ireland.
RUEF'S DEFENSE WEAK
FOR THIRD TRIAL
PROSECUTION HAS YESTER
DAY AND ALL TODAY FOR
ARGUMENT.
IN THE FUREY BRIBERY
Defense Presents Little or no Evi
dence in Yesterday's Session f
Court Assistant District Attorney
Strong Argumen.
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 7.-The
third trial of Ruef on the charge of
bribery of Former Supervisor John
J. Furey in connection with the trol
ley franchise award is in the argu
ment stage, defense presenting little
or no evidence. The prosecution had
this afternoon and Wednesday for ar
gument and the defense all day to
morrow according to the ruling of
the court. Assistant District Attor-?
ney Ogara, who entered the case
when Heney was shot, was sad in in
cluding his remark today, he said:
"God forbid that any verdict that
you might return should place Abra
ham Ruef and his band of thieves
again in control of this city, Show
by your verdict that this city has as
serted Its manhood and has relieved
itself of the dishonor and disgrace he
has brought upon it."
SCHOOL FOR CHINESE.
BERLIN, Dec. 5. The colonial
budget includes an original appro
priation of $150,000 to be followed
by $32,000 annually for the erection
and maintenance at Tsing Tao, in the
Germany territory of Kiao Chau,
China, of schools for the Chinese
natives where instruction in techni
cal matters will be given.
IISOECOISELFOR
HIS FELLOV-CITIZENS
HON. P. T. TAYLOR HAS AN
OTHER MESSAGE OF HON
EST WARNING.
"Astoria, Or.j Dee. 5, 1908.
"Editor Astorian:
"One MAY be stating a truth when
he says that 'with the levy fixed at
one-third of a mill about t7 cents a
year is what a person whose prop
erty is assessed at $500 will pay for
the construction of the proposed sea
wall." One is stating a truth when
he states that '2 and 2 are 4,' but
neither statement has any bearing on
the seawall proposition ,as proposed
in the pending amendment. However,
I have my doubts about the truthful
ness of the statement first quoted
above, for the following reason:
'A levy of one-third of a mill on
the present assessed valuation of the
taxable property of the city ($3,
470,478.00) would produce the full
sum of $1156.82, and that wouldn't
pay the attorney fee of the commis
sion's attorney, let alone building a
seawall. Therefore, the statement
should be revised to read 'with the
levy fixed at one-third of a mill
about 17 cents a year is what a per
son whose . property is assessed at
$500 will pay towards the salary of
the attorney for the Seawall Commis
sion. ' ; . ,
"The seawall amendment proposes
a five mill levy, which would produce,
if fully collected, $17,J.39, and the
interest on $300,000 of bonds, at 5
per' cent, would amount, to $15,000,
leaving $235259 to pay attorneys'
fees and other expenses of the com
mission. There is no provision in the
bill whereby the principle debt can
be paid off, and the person whose
property is assessed at $500, as well
as other taxpayers, can calculate on
paying the full tax levy for the re
mainder of their lives.
"Then, too, it is proposed to con
struct a wooden seawall, which, like
the wooden streets, will soon decav.
and a new seawall will have to be
built. Then the $500 property owner
will have to pay another tax which
will last the remainder of his life.
and so on ad infinitum. Query: how
long will it take said property owner
and his descendants to pay off the
seawall debt under those circum
stances?
"In a recent communication to The
Astorian, C. M. Foley made the
statement that the city's indebted
ness is about $800,000., This state
ment is challenged in last evening's
paper, and an attack is made unon
the water commission. I , do not
know who Mr. Foley is, nor where
he got his information; but, unfor
tunately, his statement is nearer the
truth than is that of his critic. Here
are the figures:
Municipal bonds (auditor's
report) $189,050.00
Street bonds (auditor's re-'-' "
port) .. 4.968.22
Warrants (auditor's report) 122,464.63
School district bonds..... 87,000.00
School district bonds -. 75,000.00
School district warrants... 16,000.00
County indebtedness, $150,-
000, 40 per cent of which
will fall upon the taxable
property of the city 60,000
Total liabilities for which area of
area of city is liable....... $779,482.85
It is useless to quibble 'and split
hairs and say that all of the above
is not technically city indebtedness.
It is indebtedness for which the city
will have to put up the last dollar.
Because the city has some money in
a fund to be applied to some other
purpose it cannot be said that such
money should be deducted from the
indebtedness to show the exact lia
bility, Nor can the assets of the city
be properly deducted from the
amount of the city's total liability
for the purpose of determining the
city's indebtedness. The city's as
sets are not convertible into debt
paying assets. As well might a man
argue thus: I owe John Jones $500,
hut I have a farm worth $1000; hence
I don't owe John Jones anything.
" "The partisans of one department
charging another department with
responsibility '"-ill not lessen the
! debt. The important thing to under
stand is that the indebtedness exists,
and that no additional burdens
should be imposed upon the city un
til its present difficulties are some
what straightened. In order to pro
vide sufficient educational facilities
we will soon require additional school
buildings, and to protect our present
water system large sums will have
to be expended. These we must
have. A seawall we do not need, at
present. It will add nothing to our
revenues. It will do nothing for the
public health that cannot be done by
imply extending our, sewers. It
will interfere with our sawmills and
our canneries, and be a drawback to
the construction of other factories
along our waterfront, and it will
saddle the city with a debt that this
generation and their children's chil
dren will not be able to get from
under.
"It is not pleasant to have to pa
rade our misfortunes before the
world, but it seems to be necessary in
this instance, in order to avoid con
tinuing a course of treatment which
has produced those misfortunes. In
curring further indebtedness to build
seawalls would be like feeding a
man who was sick from eating mince
pie more mince pie to cure him.
"FRANK J. TAYLOR."
BUY HOUSE FOR HIM.
NEW YORK, Dec. 7. If the Rev.
Dr. Rob't MacArthur of the Calvary
Baptist Church had his way, the cus
itom of having Christmas trees would
be abandoned. In his sermon yester
day after a plea for early shopping to
relieve the tired workers in depart
ment stores, he said: How came
hwe i to adopt this custom, which
is one of the many,' taken" from the
heathen. We are re-foresting many
portions of our state and country. We
ought to save the trees to prevent
flood and give the proper amount, of
shade. To do my share in the work,
1 have forbidden the purchase of ev
ergreen trees in this church for the
coming holidays."
mm STARTED ey
RAILROAD ASS!
MANUFACTURERS WANT BUSI
. NESS -EMPLOYEES WANT
WORK, IS THE CRY.
REPRESENT $500,000,000
Urges Legislators to Discourage
All Measures Having Tendency
to Continue Against Corporate In
terests. NEW YORK, Dec. 7.-The Times
in a news article today gives what
purports to be the details of a cam
paign started by the recently organ
ized Railway Buhiness Association
looking to the restoration of the pur
chasing power of the railroads
throughout the United States. The
association, says the article, has al
ready a membership representing an
aggregate, capital of $500,000,000.
Circulars are being sent broadcast
throughout the country from head
quarters of the association in New
York quoting a resolution recently
passed by the Illinois Manufacturing
Association which declared that "all
interests have suffered by loss of con
fidence in- the security of invest
ments," and urging legisaltors, state
and national, to "discourage all meas
ures having a tendency to continue or
aggravate the agitation against cor
porate interests and to support all
legislation which, without injury to
their own constituents will tend to
allay the hostility toward business
conducted under corporate form, in
cluding manufacturing, commercial
and transportation companies, while
the new laws on the statute books
ere-being carried out."
The reason for the organization of
the association as outlined is" that
these manufacturers want business,
the employees want work. Members
of the association say that the man-
MB!0 FOR
III ASTORIA
afacturing concerns which supply the
railroads with equipment, the trades
men from whom the employes of the
'manufacturing concern buy the nec
essaries of life, and even the railroad
employes themselves,' are suffering
from the shutting off in part of that
vast stream of money which amount
ed to nearly $2,500,000,000 in 1907.
The names of prominent manufac
turers of equipment and supplies are
given as organizers of the movement.
lUHlECG LETTERS
ARE UNSOLVED
ARE SIGNED BY "THE KNIGHTS
OF THE WHITE DEATH"
AND MEAN BUSINESS
WRAPPED ON COFFIN HANDLES
Letters of Same Character and Pur
port Have Been Received Before
Signed in the Same Way by Other
People. "' H ,..:! -"..
CHICAGO, Dec. 7. The mystery
of recent threatening letters signed
"The Knights of the White Death"
and wrapped around coffin handles
and human bones ; which had lain
long in the grave, has dove-tailed
into ' another mystery of two months
ago. It became known last flight
that the target of two of the grisly
missives is Dr. Adolph , Gchrmann,
3816 Ellis avenue,: who, in company
with his father,' Theodore Gehrmann,
shot and killed Louis Louterbach, an
ex-convict,- while in the act of rob
bing the Gehrmann house on Sep
tember 28.
The identity of Louterbach never
was explained satisfactorily to the
police, and it has been made many
times more interesting a study on ac
count of the fact that" one of the
blackmailing letters to Dr. Gehrmann
was written the day after the shoot
ing of Louterbach and announced
that the burglar was a member of
"The Knights of the White Death."
It threatened the physician and his
father and mother with death unless j
$500 was placed in the confessional
box of St. Jarlath's Roman Catholic
church, Jackson Boulevard and
Hermitage avenue, at 11 o'clock
Sunday inght, October 25th. It was
followed by a similar threat dated
October 11th and embellished with
rough drawings of daggers and re
volvers, similar to those found on
letters by the same author addressed
to the Rev. W. O. Waters of Grace
Episcopal Church and Assistant
Chief of Police Herman F. Schuet-
tler. . .-',- .... . .
WINDY CITY HAS
BIG FUNERAL TRUST
Too Many in the Business to Raise Prices so
All of Them
CHICAGO, Dec. 7.-That Chicago
is at the mercy of a "funeral trust" is
the allegation of P, J. Hursen, an
embalmer, who in a "display" adver
tisement in daily papers has been stir
ring up his brother undertakers. He
spoke in part: '
"There are so many undertakers in
Chicago that many of them bury but
15 or 20 bodies a year. The result is
that for a funeral which should cost
$200, the undertakers invariably
charge as high as $500. Caskets which
should be sold at about $50 at a good
profit they sell for $200 or $250.
ALLEGED Fill
TIDE I
H J. Hendryx of Pcribnd
Real Estate Crebr
n
VI
CAPT. SUVA'S CHARGE
Says Ha Was Viciimlzsd and
Declares There are
Many Others
sells sa:,:e land twice
Hendryx is Said to Have Gone to
Captain Silva Last March Repre
senting That he Was Promoting
the Concern,
PORTLAND, Dec 7 (Special to
the Astorian) H. T. Hendryx, real
estate broker ' and promoter, with
offices in the Failing building, was
arrested by the police today on a
charge of embezzlement. The charge
was brought through the district at
torney's office by Captain V. M. C.
Silva, agent of the Seattle Dock. Co.
Captain Silva accuses the promoter,
who is widely known,' of having prac
ticed high finance in an unworthy
manner. - 1 '
Hendryx denouncing his arrest as
totally unwarranted, was ' taken into
custody. Hendryx 1 was booked at
the police station and gained his re
lease through F, A. Spencer and F.
S.' Standley, who qualified as bonds
men for $500 each. '
"' Investment in Astoria tide ; lands
was what brought, about the difficul
ty. Captain Silva says he was vic
timized only to the extent of $250,
but that there are others." " ; "
The" specific transaction, as related .
to the officials, is that Hendryx went
to Captain Silva last March repre
senting that he was promoting a new
concern to be known as the Colum
bia Dock & Terminat Company. ' He
said there was a chance to make $200
on an investment of $250, and secur
ed that amount, issuing accept which
Captain Silva now has as evidence. I
Shortly after that Captain Silva
happened to be talking with M. F.
Brady, who occupies the same office
with, him in the chamber of com
merce. During this conversation it
developed, the two men say, that
both had put up money for exactly
the same piece of land, a parcel of
33 acres, shown on a blueprint map
as being most desirable. ' Captain
Silva demanded the money a number
of times, and failing to receive it or
. (Cor.::r-- d e page 6)
Can Live
"When death comes the relatives
in the stress of preparation and grief
have neither time nor inclination to
look into values. They call the near
est undertaker. They select as an
expression of their love the finest
casket within their means. At great
personal sacrifice they pay $200, say,
for a casket that should cost but $50
or :
Marlow M. Goodale, president of
the Chicago Undertakers'. ':; Associa
tion, declares that the charges ma.ie
by Mr. Hursen are not based upon
fact.
ffl