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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1937)
Sunday SporU . . The 8 u n d a y morning . newspaper brings its readers stews of imporant Saturday sport ... events more, than a day ahead of other papers. The Weather Occasional rain today as3 tlouday, contlnned e o o 1; )fax. Temp. Saturday - 50. alln. 88, river 5.1 feet, rata 11 Inch, aontherly wind. EIGHTY-SIXTH YEAR Salem, Oregon, Sunday Morning, March 21, 1937 " Price 3c; Newsstand 5c fio. 3C3 . . . , " . - v - . , i TP lie ami Warning Given On School Gas System, Claim Expert Advised; Official of Danger Prior to Blast, Testifies , ; Funerals Held ; Total ot Victims Reaches 455, Latest Tabulation NEW. LONDON, Texas, March 2 0.-P)-A military court of In quiry into the school disaster which . took 455 childrena' and teachers lives heard A. J.. Belew testify today h9 had ; w a r n e d school officials "it was danger ous" not to install a new gas reg ulator leading into the main build ing. . , Dr." B: P.- Schoch, explosions expert from the faculty of the University of Texas, questioned Belew, representing James B. Clow and Sons company, -while in nearby communities reverent thousands bowed in grief at the burials 'of the dead in rich oil lands. Sought Saving in Heating, Declared Tfe court of inquiry adduced first eyidence that the reputed richest school in the world had sought to save money by install ing an unsafe heating system. Dr. Schoch, who earlier- ex pressed a theory that an accumu lation of gas caused the Blast, asked Belew if he had told' offi cials of the regulator fault. The salesman replied: "I told Mr. Shaw W. C. Shaw, school superintendent) that it was dangerous. 1 told him he would have to reduce the pres sure. Belew testified that a new gas i emulator was Installed in the main building some time after January 1 and a change from dry gas to wet gas was made. He said ho told school officials the regu lator would not hold the Increased pressure, following the change. George II. Green way ? Dallas heating engineer and an unsuc cessful bidder on the heating con tract for the destroyed scnool building, testified that "It's a crime to put gas steam radiators in public buildings. When you put in 72 such radiators, you have ... . 72 chances for Individual explo sions." Minerals Held for Many of Victims Scores of the 455 victims of the nation's greatest child dis aster were lowered" into graves as the inquiry court sat in a ram bling wooden structure only 50 yards from the remnants of the schoolhouse. - , Captain . Zachariah Cooinbes of the Texas national guard sat as judge advocate and closely ques- . tioned witnesses who told of con struction of the - building and heating system, believed by at least one expert to have caused - the explosion that turned the once pretentious school into a wreckage of horror. ' Contractor Ross Maddox, called to testify concerning the heating . system, told the court original plans for building did not call for a gas heating system, but for a boiler. . ; "The change to gas steam radi ation was : on account of cost, I I presume," he said. . Vincents of Salem, Sail For Orient, Hoy Land SAN FRANCISCO, March 20-(P)-Two globe-girdling residents of Salem, Ore., left today on the Dollar liner President Taft en route to the orient. They are the Rev. and Mrs. O. R. Vincent, who, after a tour of the orient, will continue to India, the holy land and Europe. ; Western Maritime Group to Join Lewis Union, Drop AFL SEATTLE, March 20-(p)-Or-. ganized labor split tonight In Se attle one of the strongest union cities In the United States when the Washington district council of the powerful maritime federa tion announced It would withdraw from the American Federation of Labor and Join John L. Lewis' committee for Industrial organiza tion. ; . : - . The Seattle local of the lumber and sawmill workers tederaUon immediately endorsed the action of the maritime federation, 4 James Engstrom, secretary t the maritime federation council, said 50 - delegates to the central labor council had been given In structions to Tote against, A.F.O.L. Pres. William Green's request of the council to reaffirm Its pledge "to the federation and lend "un compromising support to the bat tle against the C. I. O." "We have taken our stand," Engstrom said. "Our men have Plot to Slay Britain9 s King During Procession Throwing Knife Found Wrapped rVith Route Map and Clippings' Giving Man, 'tails; Scotland' Yard Keeps Usual Silence; iNo Name Given IONDON, March 21 (Sunday) -(AP) The Sunday Ref l eree j reported today a suspected plot against the life of King George VI was being investigated by Scotland Yard following a raid on the room of an unnamed man where detectives found a throwing knife wrapped up with a map of the coronation route, f : - The newipaper asserted high Building Program Topic: For Monday t ! Nature of PWA Aid to Be - Queried ; Provisions May Reduce Value Monday morning a meeting is scheduled of the the state board of controland the state capitol re construction commission. Under consideration will be the program for purchase of land and erection of a library building as authorized in S.B. 411 which is now a law. The responsibility rests on the cap itol commission, but the approval of the board of control is required before any; steps may be taken. The meeting Monday is expected to consider; matters of procedure as well as the wisdom of under taking the work now. j One of the early matters on which light will be sought is the nature and character of PWA aid. When the. report came some days ago that PWA had agreed to con tribute 45 per cent 'of of the cost of a library building and a high way office building it was assum ed that this: was on the former basis of a direct grant. However a dispatch to the OregonianM a s t week from its Washington bureau -i seemed to indicate that the. allot ment was on the new basis of meeting cost of labor taken from relief rolls plus 15 per cent, up to a top of 45 per cent of the total cost. Unless this can be changed (Turn to page 10, col. 3) General Strike in Detroit Is Threat Wijl Be Called if Police Evict Sit-Downers in Automotive Plants DETROIT, March 20-;P)-The United Automobile Workers of America threatened tonight to call a general strike in Detroit automotive plants unless "the brutal eviction of sit-down strikers and the ruthless clubbing of workers by Detroit police is stopped immediately." '. The threat was contained in a statement issued by Homer Martin, president of the U.A.W. A., after police had ejected strik ers from 'the Newton Packing Co. Plant and the Bernard Schwartz Cigar Co. ! factory. Six persons were injured during rioting which accompanied the ejection ot 75 women from the cigar factory. Martin declared that "every organized ! automobile l plant in the city will be closed down Mon day'' unless the raids Cease, and that "the 175,000 organized auto mobile workers of Detroit will mass Tuesday night in Cadillac square to protest these actions." Martin said that the U.A.W.A. was determined that strikers in these smaller plants shall not be the victims of police brutality." ' made known their desires for in dustrial organization. ; We dont want a split in the labor movement, but if they force a split, naturally we will stick to our guns." - , Meanwhile a waterfront em ployers' lockout that Ued up this port for two and a half hours end ed late today when inland boat men's; union pickets were with drawn from two Canadian-owned ships. .,: m ;:. v ?y ' j-." ; Longshore gangs were discharg ed at noon on all ocean-going ves sels when: the international Jong shoremen's association ignored an ultimatum issued by the employers to furnish gangs to w a t k the Canadian freighters Eastholm and Southholm. - Longshoremen refused to pass the boatmen's union's picket lines set up five days ago by an agree ment with the union's Canadian division 'not to work vessels un loaded at Vancouver, B. C, by men not sanctioned by the I.L.A. Cor option Vn.de Probe officials of Scotland Yard were questioning the unnamed man aft er the search of a house in a Lon don suburb yielded the knife and a number of documents. It reported that detectives who raided the man's room found, besides the throwing knife wrapped up with a map of the coronation route, more than 100 newspaper clippings giving de tails of the coronation procession May 12.' - f ; Details covered by the clip pings, it said, included the posi tion to be occupied by the king's carriage in the procession, the times when the. procession was scheduled to pass certain points and the exact route to be fol lowed. No Information From Scotland Yard Men Inquiries at the special branch of Scotland Yard the department which protects royalty and deals (Turn to page 2, col. 2) Funeral Corteges Jam Rural Roads Highway Patrolmen Called Out to Aid Traffic as r- Children Are Buried NEW LONDON, Texas, t March 20 (iP)-Pneral processions jammed' the country roads -of Rusk county today. , The homes and family churches of the 455 victims of the London consolidated school ex plosion Thursday sent a steady stream of hearses and mourners' cars into the highways. Texas highway patrolmen were ordered out on the roads as traf fic clogged to a standstill In many places. A tie-up in the vicinity of Pleas anthlll cemetery, where scores were buried during the day, had automobiles stopped at times for more than a mile. Processions ready to move from churches and homes waited in the bright sunshine for an oppor (Turn to page 2. col. 4) Two Men Die When Airplane Plunges EPHRATA, Wash., March 20 (JPf Nosediving after only a few minutes in the air, an airplane carried two fliers to their deaths in a mass of twisted wreckage a mile south of here shortly after 2 p.m. today, ; . ? The victims were Burleigh Nicks, Wenatchee, and Wilbur Anderson, 25, a state patrolman stationed at Grand Coulee dam. Both were klUed almost In stantly. - Witnesses said the plane had not gained much altitude when it suddenly dived. Nicks was reported giving in structions to Anderson. Nicks was an experienced pilot. SEEKING Crash Wrecks Amelia's Trip Around World Aviatrix Unhurt But Her Plane Damaged; Sails , : Homeward by Boat x Tire Bursts and Plane's Wing Breaks; Resume' Jaunt Later, Plan . HONOLULU. March !0-ffr-By a hair's breadth. Amelia Earhart sidestepped disaster for herself and two colleagues today when she wrecked her 180,000 "labor atory plane" and her world night plans during an attempted dawn takeoff for Howland island, lr 532 miles out In the Pacific. Tearing down the Luke field runway at 60 miles an hour In the half light, the powerful plane began swaying under Its three ton gasoline load.' The light tire hurst. The left undercarriage gave way, and the plane veered to the left. In a flash Miss Earhart "gunned the left motor In an attempt to level the ship. -Then the left wing slashed into the ground. Ignition Cut Off To Prev.nt Blaze Quickly and cooly Miss Ear hart cut the ignition switches and thereby saved herself and her two navigators from possible .death in a pyre of gasoline-soaked wreckage. A single spurt ot flame came from the hurtling ship. It spun to the right and stopped on its right wing. Miss Earhart appeared at the cabin door as horrified army Am bulance men dashed up. "Something must have gone wrong," she said. She was un hurt. The navigators. Captain Harry Manning and Fred J. Noonan. climbed out unscathed. "Sure, .I'm okay," said ro nan as ha surveyed "the broken plane. A few hours later Miss Ear hart, Manning, Noonan and Paul (Turn to page 2, col. 5) Pumps Gain Upon Water at Coulee GRAND COULEE DAM, Wash., March 20-vP)-Giant pumps turn ed the tide today and gained on water which gushed for two days to form a three-acre lake between cofferdams in the Grand Coulee project excavation area. The water level dropped eight feet by noon today from the mid night peak, when the water was more than 30 feet deep and threatening to flood the entire east side excavation workings. The leak was through a metal walled cell of the downstream cofferdam. During jthe night work men with lanterns, ladders and hatchets swarmed over the Nes pelem hills, cutting trees and branches to' mix with clay and gravel which was dumped steadily on the outside to cut off the flow through the defective cell. The brush was used to "bind" the clay to keep It from being washed through the hole. The flooded area Is what for merly was the riverbed. The stream was diverted three montna ago and the old riverbed pumped dry for the excavation for the cen ter section of the Grand Coulee foundation dam. The leak caused the suspension of excavation activ ity in the area. FOR CHILDREN'S Rescue workers at scene of destruction ef the London consolidated school. New London, Texas, were 455 pupils and teachers. Note the scattered debris, crumpled walls and roofs.! International Illna- i trated News eoundphoto. Mutorr made WtmemF Teams FIRST B TEAM TO WIN OREGON HOOP TITLE C- The Giant-KiUers from Bell founts in, who won the distinction of being the first quintet from a high school of less than ISO students to win the Oregon " basketball championship. What's more, they did It with ease, defeating Lincoln of Portland In the finals 35 to 21. BiIT Lemxnon, Willamette gradu ate of lOSd, turned out this championship team la his first year of coaching:, but he hands much of the credit to Kenneth Litchfield,' last year's coach and also a Willamette fcrad. From left, Coach Lrmmon, nrst player not on tournament jjarain, Hinton, Jvessier. Lumber Workers Vote For Demand No Agreement With Any of Slills Yet Though Some Raise Cents PORTLAND, Ore.. March 20-(jpy- Members ot the ' Columbia River district council of the Lumber . and Sawmill .Workers' union began a tabulation of votes today on proposals for a 10-cent-an-hour wage increase and at the. and of a conference an In quiry on the ' outcome brought the reply: "It was favorable." ' The speaker declined to com ment further but said - another meeting would be held tomorrow. Employers have offered a 7 cent Increase. A statement Issued said that contrary to reports no union has obtained "a satisfactory settle ment of their demands, although several employers have raised the wages of their employes ?tt cents." This action has "not been accepted by any local union as a settlement," the statement asserted. Recommendations for future ne gotiations will be made by the dis (Turn to page 2, col. 7) Pinball Petition Has 22,409 Names PORTLAND, March 20.-(fl?)-More than 4,400 additional names were added today to a petition of Interests seeking a referendum on the anti-pinball ordinance estab lished by the city. The new list brought the total of signers claimed by pinball In terests to 22,409. or nearly double the 12,125 required. If -the signa tures are found sufficient by -the city auditor, enforcement of the ordinance ' cannot be ' attompted pending an election in May, 193 8. In the meantime, forces -behind the ordinance indicated an effort would be made to pass an emer gency measure to subvert a possi ble referendum. BODIES IN SCHOOL RUINS Copt I 1 : t ( - U til A -"-! squaa;, Wallace, K. Buckingham, j. Dimick Produces Last Champ Five For Walla Walla WALLA WALLA. March 20 -AV-Harold A. Dimick, the coach who tonight led the Walla Walla Blue Devils to their fourth state basketball cham pionship and the. second of his eleven-year regime here, will not be back at the state tour ney next year at least with a Wa-Hi squad. . - iDlmick's contract was'not re newed by the board of directors when they elected teachers re cently, v , - . . . - Coach of teams that have wen 25 S games and lost only. 45 since he took hold here in the fall ot 112$. Dimick has Uken squads to every state basket ball tournament held since his regime began. Dimlek's successor here has not been named. Harold Dimick graduated from Willamette university in 1920. He was football captain two years at Willamette and also played basketball and base ball. Oil Blaze Quelled j In Oklahoma City OKLAHOMA CITY. March 20-i (JPy-Flaming oil raged for three, hours in a huge underground storm sewer In a mile square ot east side Oklahoma City tonlghtf before firemen brought the blaie under controL As the flames broke out with a roar in a series of six explosions; firemen snd police rushed into the. residential district, roped off the streets and kept all persons out- Citizens ran from their homes. Near the fire were large num bers of storage tanks of the east1 Oklahoma City oil field. Fire Chief George Ross said a. storage tank at the No. 1 Harper; Turner oil well of the Grlesson Oil company ; overflower. Crude oil poured down Into thestorm sewer, 20 feet in diameter, and became: Ignited in some manner, he said, 1 ! j i ure$ Championship Key, Humphrey. S. Buckingham, New York Justice Backs noosevelt Peeora Hands Opponents' Medicine Back; Quotes Cbnnallj on Policy I i - - ' ... v - y Judge i Ferdinand Pecora of the New Tork supreme ' court, first member of the bench to testify oh- the Roosevelt .court reorgan isation bill, urged Its passage upon the- senate Judiciary committee today so - that . the , government "may reach the disease ef which the present outburst of sit-down strikes Is only a symptom-, t )' He criticized the recent trend of supreme, court .opinions, de claring they were predicated upon the economic . theories of the Judges, He. also asserted the bill might reasonably be. fortified by si 'constitutional amendment, and charged business and finance with conducting the first sit-down strike against . new . deal legisla tion. I; PecQra, who as counsel for the senate! banking committee in its investigation ; of WaH street do ings, hurled many a question across j the committee table, found the situations reversed today. He was the target of cross-examination by committee . members. I; A large crowd thoroughly en joyed the frequently vigorous ex change. i To Senator Connally (D., Tex.), an opponent of the bill, he meted out some of the treatment that has been given this week to wit- Besses favoring the bllL Earlier In the week several law prof es- t (Turn to page 2, col. 5) Violent Hail Storm at .Gold Beach Is Reported GOLD BEACH. March 20-WV- - uan stones three-quarters of an Inch in diameter' fell here . early today in a violent storm and with heavy ; snows swept inland ranges, and glvtnr rise to fears that the Curry j county lamb crop, serious ly ' Injured , by winter storms, would; be further crippled. Carney Bill Status Cleared; Martin Pinball Measure Law No 'fears are entertained by Mrs. Hannar 'Martin,' Marlon county representat tTe. ov er the validity of SB 17. the Car ney bill against slot machines. Friday the claim was made that 0the Journal shewed Mrs. Martin had offered the wrong motion to eliminate amendments in the houseJ The engrossed till depos ited with the secretary of state Is the same as the" original sen ate bill, with no amendments. U1 remember the proceedings very well, said Mrs. Martin last night.) 1 moved that the horse recede, by unanimous . consent. xrom tne committee amendments, which!' had been made by the house ! committee when the bill came over from the senate.' Rep. McAllister said he would, object unless; he: knew' the 'committee concurred. . Rep. Grant of Baker, cialraan of the committee, rose to state that the committee was willing to have the amendments it had made stricken " from the bill. Rep. McAllister thereupon withdrew his objection. The bill was then passed as It came over from the senate. There was no question In anyone's mind over what was being voted on. And 1 am sure In my own mind that I followed the correct procedure. irst df.B Small Benton op Little Fellows Get Lead Early, and Increase It as Gamer Proceeds Franklin Winds Up Third in State; Awards for Merit Presented FINAL STANDINGS Oregon state high school bas ketball championship, Bellf oa tain. Second place, Lincoln. Third place. Franklin. Fourth place, Salem. - Fifth place, Astoria. Sixth place, McLonghlin. Seventh place, Eugene. Eighth place, LaGrande. Scores Yesterday Bellf ountain 35. Lincoln 21. - Franklin 35, McLonghlin 17. Salem 25. Eugene 23. Astoria 53, LaGrande 33. Special Awards -Player' most valuable .to his team: Stanley Fish, MeLoughUn. - KXL trophy for outstandlng sportsmanship, Richard Kessher, Bellfountaln. ' By PAUL HAUSER Jim Corbett beat John L. Sul livan in 1S92. Centre college licked. Harvard in 1921 and Dav id beat Goliath several years age but last night Bellfountaia beat Lincoln 35 to 21 to become tke' "basketball champion of the state of Oregon. . Bellfountaln, a town which has no poatoffice, no electric lights and is litle more than a cross roads in the Benton county kills, has the state basketball cham pions, as fine a bunch ot ball handlers that ever made an op posing team look sick. While Bellfountaln has the champs and a truckful of tro phies the gallant little team which sailed through all opposi Uon to two state championships really belongs to the basketball fans of Oregon. The lltUe team from a school of 28 pupils Is probably the most popular cham pion that ever won a state bas ketball tiUe. Another Portland Team Gets Lesson Like they had Instructed Franklin, the Portland city champs. In the rudiments of bas ketball the night before Bell fountaln gave Lincoln an object lesson v in style, form and sports manship last night The whole Bellfountaln student body could be lost without trace In Lineola high school inr Portland bat at basketball they had to how to the ability of Bellfountaln. Just as ' it had raced like a three alarm fire through Amity andChiloquin and Franklin. Bell fountaln did It up. brown by starting out ahead of Lincoln and keeping: there. If there were any honors Bell fnnntatn HMn ihara last cht j they were small ones. From the . (Turn to page 2, col. 1) . Further investigation indicate that the Oregon supreme court has ruled that the engrossed bill as filed with the secretary of state is to be accepted as alid, despite. .irregularities in the pro ceedings. Hannah's Bill Law -Says Van Winkle All of House Bill 159, the Martin -bill . banning slot ma chines and . pinball devices, is a law, except the emergency clause, as far as action by the legisla ture and governor are concerned, and will take effect 90 days af ter the close of the legislature, subject to the referendum srori ' (Turn to page 2, coL 3) " A L LAD E of TODA A By R. C, The little fellow always has the crowd's support in every fight; onlookers hope hell win, whereas the bigger foe is never right; but satisfaction's greater still if when the strife and struggle's - done, your little hero'sfilled the bill and proved his right to honors won. Town Is Ho GapitalT oday