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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 1939)
Last Minnie I Last minute sews hap penings go to make wp your Statesman each morn ing. While yon sleep As sociated Press reports the latest world news to the Statesman. Weather Showers today; Wednes day, cloudy and colder, pro bably with showers. Snow in the mountains. Max. temp, lion. 62, mln. 88. Hirer -3.0 ft. South wind. P8UNDDO 1651 EIGHTY-NINTH YEAR Salem, Oregon, Tuesday Morning:, October 24, 1939 Price 3c; Newsstands 5c No. 181 (Eemnam'' Raider Seizes American Frei Alter 4 English Claim Three German Warships and Bombers Given Credit for Nazi Attacks British Government Says Air Raids of Germans Are Unsuccessful LONDON, Oct. 23-5-Tbe Brit Ish tonight reported the sinking of three German submarines by Brit ish warships and bombing planes. These attacks on the nail un dersea craft were announced as the government described German air raids on British" naval bases and convoys as failures and con tinued Its preparations for a wait ing war. Tha sinking , of one submarine by warships was reported belated ly after the air ministry earlier told of the two successful attacks on U-boats by battle planes. Warships Reported Summoned To Aid of Vessel The report said the warships were summoned to the aid of a merchant vessel which engaged In a fight with the attacking subma rine. It said- both the freighter and the submarine were hit and that the latter, unable to sub merge, was sent to the bottom. Also announced were the sink ings of two British merchantmen, coinciding with the statement by naval authorities that submarine attacks on allied shipping had again become "considerable," but that losses were small In compar ison with those of 1917. The German submarines were reported attacked by Royal air force planes scouting from their home bases, one in the North sea, the other in the Atlantic. Plane Pilots Say ' They Saw Babbles Pilots of the two RAF planes said they saw air babbles and oil on the surface after bombing the submarineaaad expressed confi dence they had been sunk. In a naval press conference au thorities said Germany bad lost about IS planes In last week's (Turn to page 2, col. 8 ) la ae Eas.. Paul Uauser Column The Sage of Salem Is still dis pensing, his homely philosophy and mellowed wit, but the old -mill" on which he used to tap it Into column shape for The Sta teaman is pretty quiet these days. As for the Sage, who is D. II. Tal m a d g e, veteran printer and newspaper man who isn't quite sure whether he's "74, 76 or 100," he's feeling fine, D- H. Tslsitdjs thank you, and hopes he'U soon be back on the old beat. His eyes, for which he under went an operation some months ago. now permit him to read newspapers. He hopes pretty soon he'll be able to venture back Into the movie palaces, for he was the most ardent movie fan this side , of Keokuk. "Maybe," says the Sage, "that's the reason my eyes went bad." but since he also blames the quantity and quali ty of the coffee be used to drink and a few other things, too, his statement Is open to question. When the weather is good the Sage walks a little around the quiet neighborhood where he now lives, but he misses the pave ments and the coffee spots and the hundreds of people he used to chat with every day Take It from us, he'll be back before long. ' i CEST LA GUERRE Rationing, undoubtedly due to war conditions, has hit the sport world. The International Blx-day bicycle race will be held In five days. . 4 We are no more scared of the dark than the next man. We want that fully understood before we tart in, : but, under ordinary cir cumstances, we don't care to be any more in the dark than we usually are. So when darkness came last night Just as we had a spoonful of soup poised for ac tion the results. were not entire ly satisfactory. The lights went out. but the soup aidn't go in. It didn't go around, either. We have nothing against the power company, but we' were a bit unhappy : with them ' last night. Just as we were set on returning to the life of the plo- neers and had barked oar shins . three times bunting for a can dle and bad the candle lit, the lights came back on. That hap pened three times. . They (Turn to page X. col. 7) "fe ,- -A y' Army Engine Takes Over Wage Adminis? Today?JWinimum Wage Rate Under Law Is 30 Cents Instead of 25 an Hour, and Maximum Work' Week Is 42 Instead of 44 Hours WASHINGTON, Oct. 23.-i(AP) Col. Philip Fleming, 52-year-old army engineer, took over administration of the wage-hour law today, on the eve of a statutory change In the law's standards. Beginning tomorrow, the minimum wage rate under the law becomes 30 cents instead of 25 cents an hour, and the O maximum work week, unless time mi I Fleming Takes Andrews Place Lieut Col. Philip Fleming, army district engineer at bu rani, yesterday took over the duties of Warns and Hour Administra tor Elmer F. Andrews, who re signed. Indict Browder for False Passport National Communist Head Spends Night in Federal Cell NEW YORK, Oct. 23-(iP)-Earl Browder, national leader of the communist party in the United States, who was indicted today for fraudulently obtaining and using a passport, sat glumly in a fed eral cell tonight despite the ef forts of a socially prominent ma tron to obtain his early release. After he had spent a few hours in custody, Mrs. Hester G. Hunt ington, a worker in philanthropy; posted $7500 bail for him a 15000 US government bond and $2500 in cash, most of it in $10 bills. It was too late, however, to obtain the necessary court order, so Browder had to spend the night in jail. An Indictment containing two counts was returned this morn ing by the federal grand jury in vestigating a fake passport ring. It charged Browder, in obtain ing a passport in September, 1934, and in its renewal in February, 1937, lied when he swore he had never had a passport before. The maximum penalty on con viction is a five-year prison sen tence and $2000 fine on each count. ' - y f Baseball Buddies of 31 Years Ago Meet and Talk Old Times Baseball buddies of 31 years ago reminisced in The Statesman office last night. J. Latimer "DoUy" Gray, here tor a brief visit, and H. V. "Har ry" Collins, who played together with the Kansas City Blues back in 1906, '07, and "08 and later with Juneau, Alaska were the oldtlme baseball buckoa who tossed a few tales of past diamond days. "Dolly," who is an official of the city of Juneau now, and for merly its mayor, is back on the western coast after a vacation trip that very definitely included the world series. Two baseballs, autographed by the members of the world cham pionship Yankee club, and given him by Joe DiMaggio, were proudly exhibited by Gray as proof Jour Law tion Tiller and a half overtime Is paid, be- come . wulftdn nmi? lncr.e"e! '.r lag of the work week, or over time benefits, for 2,380,000. ! Fleming, at his first press con ference, declared be had only one policy: "fair dealing" with industry and labor. "I am not a crack-downer," he asserted. 'I think you can achieve your ends In other ways. There comes s time when you might have to crack down, but you can sit down and talk to people across the table and achieve your ends without resort to drastic means." Fleming had experience with both labor and Industry through executive work on PWA's $3, 300.000.000 construction pro gram and later on the Passama quoddy tide-harnessing project. Fleming will be the head of the wage-hour administration in fact, but not in title. He was selected by President Roosevelt to succeed Administrator Elmer F. Andrews, who resigned, but because fed eral statutes prohibit army offi cers on' active duty from taking an elective or appointive posi tion in the government, Fleming wUl not hold the title of wage hour administrator unless con gress makes special provision for his case. n the meantime, the title of acting administrator will be held by Harold D. Jacobs, who was deputy administrator under An drews. Fewer Than 800 Affected in Salem Only Small Percentage to Receive Automatic Wage Increase Fewer than 800 Salem workers are affected by the second-year provisions of federal wage-hour law going Into affect today, ac cording to an estimate made yes terday by Dan Hay, executive manager of the Salem Merchants association and only a very small percentage of these will receive automatic wage Increases from 25 to 30 cents an hour. Approximately 20,000 Oregon workers are affected by the 42- hour work week and about 900 Oregon workers will receive wage Increases, it has been estimated by the wage and hour division of the US department of labor at Washington, DC. Principal concerns in Salem which the law, applying to em ployes producing goods sold in inter-state commerce, will affect are the canneries, banks, woolen mills, paper manufacturing plants and lumber companies. Retail stores are not affected. Although it is not known how many workers have been receiv ing the 25 cent minimum wage, Hayes states that the number is probably negligible. When the 25 cent minimum went into af feet no worker in the city was affected, since all had been re ceiving at least that wage. Wo men cannery workers are prob ably the largest group which have been receiving the minimum ana will, as a result, get the wage In crease. Propp on Panel PORTLAND, Oct. 23.-65VA1 fred D. Propp, Salem, was named today to the jury panel for the No vember term of the federal district court. that he saw the series. "It's a great ball club it's a great baseball machine," said Gray. "Why they want to talk of breaking it up is beyond me." Gray carried yet another auto graphed pellet. One he "wouldn't take a $1000 for." It carried the signature of Jos. B. Gunson, who back in 1888, while playing with the KC Blues, invented the catch ers mitt. Gunson is a friend of both Gray and Collins. Collins,. now president of the Oregon State' Softball association. was the first baseman and Gray was the shortstop of the old Kan sas City Blues. Both later went to Alaska to play ball. - Gray, and Mrs. Gray, stopped over with Mr. and Mrs. Collins at their 14th street home last night, and expect to continue on north today. Goebbels Says British Ships Sank Athenia Announcement Made Late as Eighth Week of Hostilities Begin Move Reported to Stiffen German Opinion for Long War By KIRKE L. SIMPSON The strange war in Europe took a new twist as the eighth week of hostilities opened. Overshadowing the actual fight ing was a charge by Paul Goeb bels, nazi propaganda minister, that British warships sank the liner Athenia In hope of dragging the United States into the war. It was an accusation without parallel even among all the World war tales of "atrocities," and neu tral observers around the world groped for an explanation as to why it was made at this time. Even Berlin dispatches pictured the Goebbels' flash as a move pri marily to stiffen German public opinion for a long war wth'all'lts hardships for the civil population. Another Motive Would Appear Possible There would appear to be anoth er possible motive. Goebbels launched his attack on Winston Churchill, first lord of the British admiralty, who personifies the war-to-the-end spirit in England and France, at a time when a cru cial test is approaching in the United States senate on the ques tion of repealing the arms em bargo. It might represent a desperate hope of inflaming a sufficient ele ment of American public opinion to offset the expected success of the administration in its repeal ef forts. Washington observers were in clined to discount' the probability that the Goebbels' broadside would have any such effect.; Among the eyewitness accounts of the sink ing, the single Item which lends any support to the contention is an affidavit of Gustav A. Ander son, an American survivor, made public by the state department. Anderson told of the arrival of British destroyers on the scene and, In response to a question, said he had "learned later" that the Athenia had been sunk by the destroyers as a "floating derelict" the day after the explosion that wrecked her. London, Washsgton Expected to Report Findings Both the London and Washing ton governments are expected in due course to make public their (Turn to page 2, col. 6) Nazis Reported Adding Pressure Germans Get Ready for Drive on French After Calm PARIS, Oct. 23.-(iiP)-The Ger mans were reported tonight to be increasing pressure on the French advance line after five days of al most dead calm on the western front. As the French strengthened their outposts to meet renewed German activity, reinforced pa trols of both sides skirmished briskly along the northern flank where the nazis have been cau tiously feeling their way with un its as small as three and five men. The French evening commun ique said there was "marked activ ity" west of the Saar river. As the western front came to life, Premier Daladler announced he had decided to summon parlia ment to meet late in November to consider the 1940 budget for an other war year. The semi-dictatorial powers un der which Daladier has been rul ing expire November 30 and all decrees must be approved by par liament before then. Steam Kills Five Nursery Infants PERTH AMBOT, NJ, Oct. 23 -OF) Five unchrlstened infants died today after steam, escaping from a radiator valve, filled their nursery in the Perth Amboy hos pital. Acting Police 7hief- Frank Sei both said the valve had been re paired with adhesive tape. Six infants occupied the nurs ery. Four died in the nursery. The fifth victim, six-day-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Hatarick of Perth Amboy, died in the hos pital several hours later. Four physicians and internes worked several hours attempting to restore life to the tiny bodies. They thought they had saved two of the babies. The death of the Hatarick baby led Dr. William C. WUents, Mid dlesex county medical examiner, to perform an autopsy to ascer tain definitely the cause of death. After; the autopsy he said death was caused by steam asphyxiation. He Will Outline I German Policy W JOACHIM VON RIBBENTROP Von Ribbentrop to Speak in Danzig Political Quarters Ponder Whether Hitler Will Make Peace Gesture BERLIN, Oct. !3.-(P)-Ger- many's interest centered tonight on a foreign policy speech Foreign Minister Joachim Von Ribbentrop is to make in Danzig tomorrow before an organization of war veterans. Officials would give no hint of what the foreign minister would say beyond declaring his speech. scheduled for 8: 15 p. m. (11:15 a. m. PST) was important. Political q u a r t ers speculated whether Adolf Hitler with the military and diplomatic war fronts quiet, had commissioned Von Rib bentrop to make another peace (Turn to page 2, col. 6) Italy Is Reported Pushing New Bloc Mussolini Ig Said to Be Seeking Organization of Balkan Neutrals BUDAPEST, Oct. 23-UP)-Re- ports that Italy was pushing for mation of a bloc of southeastern European nations were interpret ed by Balkan diplomats tonight as foreshadowing better rela tions between the fascist govern ment and Britain and France. Pointing out that such a bloc, composed of Hungary, Tugosla vakia, Greece, Bulgaria, Ruma nia and Turkey, would resist ex pansion of Soviet or German in fluence in the region, diplomats declared it would provide a com mon ground for a meeting of the fascists with the western allies. There were widespread reports without official confirmation that Premier Mussolini intended to call a meeting of the interest ed states at Rome or Belgrade, perhaps as early as next week. Diplomats said that formation of a balkan neutral bloc would be made easier by the fact that Turkey already was allied to Brl tain and France while Greece and Rumania had French-British pledges for defense of their in dependence. Baby Chick Body Convention Opens Two-day convention of the Ore gon Baby Chick association opens in Salem today with registration at 9:30 at the chamber of com merce. Program for the first .day .in cludes talks by Fred Cockell, Mrs. T. M. Russell, Dr. Cliff Carpenter and Harm Coyle in the morning and Judge Charles Brewster, - Dr. Dickerson, Merle Moore and Lloyd Lee in the afternoon. The after noon session opens at 1:30 fol lowing a luncheon at the Quelle in honor of Fred Cockell. Hatchery men, poultrymen and flock owners have been invited to attend the second day's pro gram, which opens at 10 o'clock Wednesday with a demonstration on selecting' breeders by Noel Bennlon. Dr. Dickenson, Lloyd Lee, Prof. H. E. Cosby, . William Newmeyer, G rover Keeney and W. Jarratt will also speak. A 12 o'clock luncheon will be held at the Argo hotel. Thief Takes Coast EUGENE, Oct 23-iAVA thief with no respect for. place or per son was being sought today. The thief stole the coat of Mrs.. Ida B. Wise Smith, national WCTU president, from a church here yesterday. She was a speaker at the' services. Mishap Series Causes Salem Area Blackout Power Trouble Is Started When Motorist Snaps Pole Near Mulino Total Service Interruption During Day Amounts to six Minutes Some Idea of what a European blackout ts like was gained by residents of an area, extending from Molalla to Salem last night as the concluding act in a series of mishaps which Interrupted power service Intermittently from noon until 8:50 o'clock last night. ; ' It all began when a motorist snapped a pole of a 57,000 volt line near Mulino in Clackamas county at 11:55 a.m. From then on It was one thing after another for employes of the Portland General Electric company tracing the trouble. ' Interruption of Service Totals Six Minutes Total interruption of service during the day ; aggregated six minutes, but at! no time were the power i lines Iead for over a minute. ; Industrial activity was slowed by low voltage conditions which existed from 4:22 p.m. until 8:50 p.m. Many electric motors would not run while voltage was at a low point ' and police radio sta tions had some difficulty staying on the air. Within three minutes after the Mulino line was shorted the power company bad located the section- in trouble and by 4 o'clock had the line repaired. The 57,000 volt line was cut in at 4:05, held a few minutes and then "kicked out" due to trouble elsewhere, later found to be a broken Insulator. Mountain States Company Called to Aid Meanwhile the PGE ompany had called oi the Mountain States Power company to aid In feed ing power here and the Oregon Puln & Paper company dropped 4000 kilowatts of its normal con sumption of 5000 kilowatts to relieve the load on the one trans mission line In service. At 4:22 the Mountain States company developed trouble on its own lines and was unable to con tinue to feed the local system continuously. This resulted in low voltage here and in Molalla and several short "kick-outs" un til 6 o'clock. Albany, served by the Mountain States Power company, also naa brief "kick-outs" during the time the two systems were con nected as the result of load varia tions. ; Power Employes, Find Broken Insulator The broken insulator which power company employes believed broken by power surges when power was returned to the line after the ! original break, was located at 8:30 o'clock. The Mu line line was restored to normal condition at 8:38 and voltage be came normal by 8:50. Trouble S resulting from a de fective switch motor at the Sa lem powerhouse also caused two "kick-outs'?' during the afternoon. Company employes believed the trouble originated in the main 12,500 kilowatt transformer. Several thousand telephone calls were received on the com pany's five trunk telephone lines during the time voltage was low. Zane Grey's Pen Stilled by Death ALTADENA, CaUf., Oct. 23-fcP) -The prolific pen of Zane Grey, a pen which converted a romantic picture of the old west into color ful reality for millions of readers, was stilled by death today. The 64-year-old former dentist who wrote more than 50 novels all of them in longhand died of a sudden heart attack at his pa latial home early today. His lamily said that, although he was under treatment for a heart ailment, he had appeared in excellent sprrlts. He is survived by his widow and his three children, Romer, Loren and Betty, pho is Mrs. Robert W. Carney. j Governor Says Making Changes for Present Would-be prognosticators of state executive department fir ings and hlrlngs were quieted, if not silenced, .yesterday when Governor Charles A. Sprague an nounced he was' through making changes for the present "I have most of my appoint ments behind me and I'll make no more for awhile," the gover nor told newspaper men. The Immediate effect of the ex ecutive's announcement was , to belie reports frequently given newspaper voice in recent weeks that Hugh H. Earle, democratic state insurance commission, was Ship Is Said Taken To Kola Bay, IS ear Murmansk, Russia City of Flint, Owned by United States 1111 r PiMmiociiTi From New York to Liverpool Grounds for Seizure Not Announced But Assumption Is Germans Thought She Carried Contrabrand WASHINGTON, Oct. 23. (AP) The freighter City of Flint, owned by the United States maritime commission, has been captured somewhere on the Atlantic by a German raider, and, according to reports tonight, has been taken to Kola Bay, near Murmansk; Russia. The 4,963-ton vessel was en route from New York for Liverpool and Glasgow when taken. Reports to the maritime commission, which announced the seizure, did not say on what grounds the ship was taken, but it was assumed that the Germans considered she was carrying contraband to Britain. News dispatches from Russia described the cargo as tractors, grain, fruit, leather and wax. These dispatches said the ship arrived at Kola Bay under the German flag and man ned by a German crew. The dispatches made no mention of Owhat became of the American Course of City of Flint Is Mystery Vessel Sailed From New York October 3 and Unreported Since NEW YORK. Oct. 23-(iip)-The course of the U.S. freighter City of Flint, which took her into the hands of a German raider, re mained a mystqry tonight as ef forts were made to trace It through maritime reports. The" U. maritime commission in Washington said its only in formation was that the vessel sailed from New York Oct. S for Manchester, Dublin, Liverpool and Glasgow, but had been unre ported since. On the other hand, the Oct. 18 New York Maritime Register, a shipping journal listing arrivals and departures of the marine world, showed that the City of Flint had reached Manchester on Oct. 15. This was confirmed by the U.S. lines, which added, however, that there was no information avail able here to indicate that she had called also, as intended, at Liver pool, Glasgow or Dublin. The ship had not intended to call at Tromso, Norway, or any other foreign port, before return ing to the United States, the line said. Therefore, it speculated, if the City of Flint never reached an other British port after leaving Manchester, it might have been seized in waters presumably dominated by the British navy. Macomber Sent To Penitentiary DALLAS Glenn Theodore Ma comber was sentenced to 39 years and 360 days in the Oregon State penitentiary by Circuit Judge Arlie G. Walker here Mon day afternoon. The sentence was given under thepr ovislons of the habitual criminal act. Macomber was convicted of grand larceny here recently and was sentenced to five years in the state penitentiary last Thurs day by Judge Walker. Following the sentence. District Attorney Bruce Spaulding filed an Infor mation charging Macomber under the habitual criminal act with three felony convictions. In sentencing Macomber Mon day afternoon. Judge Walker stated that the maximum sen tence in this case as given in the law was for 80 years with a mi nimum of 40 years. Judge Wal ker gave the minimum sentence and deducted the five days al ready served in the penitentiary since the last sentence, which Is required by the law, making the sentence for 39 years and SCO days. He's Through on the verge of being discharged and a republican appointed in his stead. Earle, formerly of Eu gene, was appointed early in the administration of Charles H. Martin as governor. The announcement also made more secure for the time , being the positions of J. W. Ferguson as state forester and Daniel J. Fry as secretary of the state board of control. ' They hold their pobts by virtue of appointment by the state board of forestry and the board of control, : respectively. The governor is a member of both bodies. . crew. The United States government immediately started inquiries to learn just what goods were carried by the craft, which is ope,dted un der charter of the United States lines, private organization subsid ized by the government. Officials said that if 51 per cent or more of the cargo consisted of contraband. international law permitted the Germans to seize the vessel. Commission Informed Ship Taken First to Norway The maritime commission was informed the vessel was taken first to Tromso, Norway, on Sat urday, and that same day set sail from that port for an unknown destination. Although the commis sion received no official informa tion as to where she went after that, the dispatches from Russia said she was at Kola Bay. There was some question among legal experts as to Germany's right to take the vessel Into neu tral ports. They-said only excep tional circumstances, such as stress or weatner. iacK or supplies. or need of repairs, could warrant such action. In such exceptional cases, the neutral is supposed to allow th necessary repairs to be made, or if it sees fit, to give the ship the nec essary supplies and to tell it to move along. If the ship falls to do so, it must be Interned, together with the prize crew. American Crew Must Be Released The American crew aboard the iiijr ui ruui, ii in a neuirai pun, must be released and allowed to return to their home country. They cannot be interned unless engaged in hostile activities. - 171,1. I t - A , a It is presumed here that the case of the City ot Flint will be taken under consideration shortly by a German prize court. This prize court must sit in Germany and not in the neutral country to which the City of Flint has been brought. If the prize court finds that the City of Flint carried a contraband percentage of 51 or more it can condemn the ship, whereupon it becomes German property. If, meantime, the ship has , been In terned owing to the inability of the prize crew to take her into a German port, the interned ship re mains the property of the German government, to be released to the account of the German govern ment at the end of the war. The cargo can be kept in the neutral port No Passengers Aboard Captured Freighter The skipper of the City of Fliat is Captain J. A. Gainard. There were no passengers aboard. The state department announ ced that it had asked the minister at Oslo and the ambassador at Moscow to make inquiries of the Norwegian and Russian govern ments concerning the circumstan ces of the freighter's seizure. It was expected that a similar inquiry would be directed to Ber lin tonight or tomorrow. Centennial Plans j Body Books Meet First meeting ot the Salem cen tennial planning commission will be held at the chamber of com merce at 8 o'clock Wednesday night, Daniel Hay, chairman, an nounced last night. Hay and the other 14 members of the commission were appointed by Mayor W. W. Chadwick last week following a mass meeting at which a temporary centennial sponsoring organization was set UP. ! Sumner Lake Popular PORTLAND, Oct t i.--Snm. ner lake and the Chewaucan river marshes in Lake county and shooting areas of Klamath coun ty were attracting many migratory bird hunters today, the second dav .A ll ..... O ! , . ui liih Beja.Bii.il