WORLD HAPPENINGS
Of CURRENT WEEK
Brief Resume Most Important
Daily News Items.
COMPILED fOR BUSY READERS
Events of Noted People, Government
nd Pacific Northwest and Other
Thingi Worth Knowing.
A total tonnage of 24,622 1b the toll
by U-boati in the submarine warfare
Monday.
The Russians renewed their attacks
, Tuesday in the Carpathians, in the vi
cinity of Tartar Pass. Berlin's official
' statement says the attacks were with
out success.
A bill appropriating $45,000,000 for
controlling floods on the Mississippi
and $5,600,000 for similar work on the
Sacramento in California was passed
Monday by the senate. It already had
passed the house.
Twenty-eight persons have been ar
rested in Ireland, Henry E. Duke,
chief secretary for Ireland, told the
house of commons Monday. The ar
rests were made under the defense-of-the-realm
act. It was not proposed to
try these men.
From 10 te 20 personB are reported
to have been killed and a number in
jured in a rear-end collision between
the Mercantile Epxress and a freight
train on the Pennsylvania railroad at
Mount Union station, between Altoona
and Rarrisburg, Pa., early Monday.
, German destroyers bombarded Broad
stairs and Margate early Monday
morning. One woman and one child
were killed and two persons were in
jured. Two houses were damaged.
This announcement was made by Sir
Edward Carson, first lord of the ad
miralty. Kut-el-Amara has been captured
from the Turks by the British forces,
according to a statement made by
Andrew Bonar Law, member of the
British war council. ' The Turks are
in retreat toward Baghailah, 24 miles
to the west of Kut-el-Amara, pursued
by British cavalry.
News dispatches from Holland to
the London newspapers emphasize the
continued indignation aroused among
the Dutch by the recent destruction of
ships by the German submarines. The
dispatches say that there is a com
plete absence of noisy protest, the
gravity of the situation having pro
duced "a marked silence, amounting to
a sense of solemnity."
Thousands of cars, filled with food
stuffs consigned to the Atlantic sea
board for export, are lying on the
sidings of the WeBtern railroads be
tween Chicago and Lob Angeles, Cal.,
held there because of the congestion in
Eastern railroad yards, according to
reports received by the bureau of in
vestigation, United States department
of Justice, from special investigators
who have just returned to Chicago
from food inspection trips along the
Western lines.
Boise, Idaho The proposed creation
of a new state out of territory com
prised in the 10 counties in Northern
Idaho was one step nearer realization
Tuesday, when the House of represen
tatives adopted by a vote of 86 to 25
house joint resolution No. 196 calling
for a constitutional convention to con
sider the proposal. Because a call of
the house was insisted upon and or
dered before debate had been heard for
and against the resolution, debate was
entirely shut off and the measure
without comment.
A woman suffrage bill is passed by
he Indiana legislature. The bill gives
the women the right to vote for Presi
dential electors and practically all
Btate officers except governor and sec
retary of state.
Vindication of all public officials
mentioned In the investigation of
charges that there was a leak to Wall
street on President Wilson's peace
note was voted unanimously Wednes
day by the house rule committee. The
report, now virtually complete, prob
ably will be put in final shape soon.
A net gain of 1413 recruits has been
made in the navy in the last 20 days,
compared with a total net gain for the
whole of January of approximately the
same number.
The Panama canal did its biggest
month's business in January, according
to figures available this week, 176
vessels with a tonnage of 667,839 hav
ing passed through the waterway. The
previous record was in July, 1915,
when 170 Bhips of 547,370 tonnage
paased through.
Germany's undersea warfare is
greatly affecting exports of grain and
flour from this country.
A 4-months-old Berkshire boar, sired
by Epochal, an English hog, Bold for
$1000 at the annual sale in connection
with the American Berkshire congress
In convention at Purdue University,
La Fayette, Ind.
The Montana senate, by a vote of 20
to 19, defeated the bill providing for
the closing of saloons on Sunday.
Montana will go "dry" January 1,
1919, under the initiative act adopted
by the voters last November.
NEWS ITEMS
Of General Interest!
About Oregon
Improvement Plans for New
State Buildings Due Soon
Salem Plans for the new state
buildings which were provided for by
the legislature are expected to be un
der way soon.
The most important building work
at Salem will be the construction of a
wing to the receiving ward at the Ore
gon State Hospital. The legislature
appropriated $60,000 of the $65,000
asked for that purpose. The receiving
ward was constructed a number of
years ago, but one wing was left un
built. The object of the ward is to receive
patients, examine them, and if possi
ble cure them before they ever enter
the asylum proper. In reality the
ward is considered as the State Hos
pital, and a patient received there,
cured and discharged has not the rec
ord of ever having been in the asylum
itself.
The building as it stands now is
used only for the reception of women,
and no male patient ever has been
committed to that portion Of the insti
tution. With the construction of the
new wing it will be ready for the re
ception of male patients, as well as
female patients.
Hill Promises to Help.
San Francisco Louis W. Hill, pres
ident of the Great Northern railway,
said here recently that although his
road does not connect directly with one
now being advocated for Central Ore
gon by R. E. Strahorn, of Portland
and Spokane, the Hill interests would
encourage this development.
Strahorn 's lines, centering at Bend,
Or., would connect the vast Central
Oregon country with markets north,
south or east, and afford development
to a tremendous. territory.
"We will encourage and by no
means oppose Strahorn," Mr. Hill
said. "In fact, I should like to see
him fill the gap."
Bridge Wrecked by Snow.
Eugene The Stafford bridge over
the Mohawk river near Donna col
lapsed under the weight of snow Wed
nesday, according to word received in
Eugene. The structure, which is one
of the oldest bridges in the county,
was to have been replaced by a new
bridge next summer.
A barn belonging to Ralph Sears, at
Creswell, collapsed, killing several
head of cattle.
The Willamette river at Eugene is
rising slowly, but there are no indica
tions of a flood.
Spuds Rise $1 a Mile.
Gastonw'-Oregon potatoes increase in
value at the rate of $1 a mile as they
travel East. A car of 655 sacks
standing on the track here is worth
$2500. When it reaches the New
York market, its value rises to $6000.
The highest price ever paid for pota
toes here was received by farmers
from J. H. Westcott & Son, who gave
$3.25 a hundred. Twelve cars of Bur
banks have been shipped and six more
are awaiting cars. Many farmerB are
holding for higher prices.
West Quits Land Agency.
Oswald West has resigned as agent
for the Federal government in the ad
judication of taxes on the Oregon &
California grant lands. The ex-governor
says he was just about through
with the work, anyway, but that "the
legislative monkey-wrench," as he
termed it, thrown into the machinery
in the shape of the Bean bill, which
authorizes the county assessors to re
store the lands to the taxrolls, makes
it impossible for him to continue in
any event.
Bill Yet Missing.
Salem Although Attorney General
Brown held a conference with Chief
Clerk Drager, of the house of the re
cent legistuare, relative to the mys
tery of the missing Polk-Marion coun
ty bridge bill, no formal opinion has
been given by that official as to wheth
er a substituted bill with the same
wording might be sent to the governor
and become a law, or, if the original
bill were found, it still could go to the
executive for his signature.
Pamphlet Cost is Fixed.
Salem Secretary Olcott has been
notified by W. M. Plympton, secretary
of the State Printing board, that the
cost to persons or associations who de
sire to file and have printed arguments
in the pamphlet prior to the special
election in June will be $75 a page.
This cost is based on the expense of
printing and paper, and on an esti
mated size of 48 pages for the pamph
let. SIOOO Goose Dies in Fire,
Marshfield Hans, a $1000 trained
goose, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Thaten,
vaudeville performers, died in a fire
which occurred in the Orpheum Thea
ter Monday. The damage to the thea
ter was about $500. The trained goose
was kept in the basement where the
fire originated.
Grange Opposes Bonds.
Eugene The Lane County Pomona
grange, the largest county grange or
ganization in Oregon in proportion to
population, at a meeing held at Santa
Clara Tuesday adpoted a resolution op
posing the issuance of $6,000,000 pav
ing bonds by the state.
2 AMERICAN LIVES
LOST ON LACONIA
Chicago Woman and Daughter
Are Reported Victims.
LINER SUNK WITHOUT WARNING
Vessel Armed for Defense But Attack
Comes in Dark Washington is
Greatly Stirred Over Act
London Two American women, Mrs.
Mary E. Hoy and her daughter, Miss
Elizabeth Hoy, both of Chicago, lost
their lives in the sinking of the Cun
ard liner Laconia, a great vessel of
18,099 tons gross, which had been only
recently . taken from the admiralty
service to resume her run as a mer
chant vessel, destruction of which was
officially reported by the British ad
miralty Monday. '
A Central News dispatch from
Queenstown says Mrs. and Miss Hoy
were drowned by the swamping of a
boat.
The dispatch says many survivors
suffered severely from exposure. All
hospitals and hotels in Queenstown
vere prepared for the reception of the
survivors, and plenty of warm food,
clothing and beds were available when
they arrived.
The Laconia was torpedoed by a
German submarine and sunk' without
warning in the darkness of late night.
She was armed for defense, but ap
parently had no opportunity to use her
gun.
There were 26 Americans aboard, of
whom six were cabin passengers and
20 were members of the crew. Two
lives are known to have been lost.
Wesley Frost, American consul at
Queenstown, telegraphed the American
embassy here Monday:
"Cunarder Laconia torpedoed 10:50
Sunday night. Two hundred and seventy-eight
survivors landed. Details
lacking but known some missing. One
dead."
Washington, D. C The sinking of
the big Cunard liner Laconia, appar
ently without warning, and with 26
Americans on board, loomed up Mon
day night as the most serious disre
gard of American rights since the
ruthless German submarine campaign
began.
Government officials here made no
attempt to conceal their concern.
President Asks Congress' Support
in Protection of Americans
Washington, D. C President Wil
son Monday asked congress for author
ity to use the forces of the United
States to protect American ships and
lives against the German submarine
menace to put the Nation in a state of
armed neutrality.
The immeidate response was the
introduction in the house of a bill, ap
proved in advance by the President,
empowering him to furnish guns and
gunners to American merchantmen to
"employ such other instrumentalities
and methods" as may become neces
sary, and providing for a $100,000,000
bond issue, to be used in his discretion
for war insurance to encourage Amer
ican commerce to brave the submarine
peril.
The President's long-expected ac
tion, while received in the main with
expressions of support, threatens to
force an extra session of congress.
Republicans, disinclined to grant
blanket authority while, congress is in
recess, give evidence of opposing the
legislation the President asks, not for
the purpose of withholding it, but to
force him to have congress in special
session to take a hand in the next
steps, which they feel will lead to war.
The Republicans are receiving passive
support from the Democratic element
classed as pacifist.
The President's advisers deplore this
situation, for its effect on Germany,
where, they are convinced, it will feed
the official impression that congress
will not support the President if he
finds it necessary to go to war, and
that he is not speaking the sentiments
of a united country.
Missionaries Will Stay.
Boston The American board of com
missioners for foreign missions and
other boards controlling the missions
and the mission colleges in Turkey
have decided not to order the Ameri
can missionary workers to leave that
country, Dr. James L, Barton, secre
tary of the American board, announced
Tuesday night.
All American workers in Turkey
have permission to leave, but it is ex
pected, he said, that none except those
whose term of service has expired will
quit their posts.
Newspapers Accept Plan.
Washington, D. C. Newspaper pub
lishers from throughout the United
States, meeting here Monday with the
Federal Trade commission, voted unan
imously to co-operate with the com
mission if it decides to accept the
proposal by news print manufacturers
that the commission fix a price for
their products.
The publishers agreed to reduce
their requirements if necessary to
make the plan successful.
PRUDENCE
(Copyright, by the Bobbs-Merrill Com
pany, i
IT'S TRULY AN ILL WIND
THAT BLOWS NOBODY
GOOD AND THIS WIND
BRINGS LUCK TO THE
PARSONAGE.
Mr. Starr, widower Methodist
minister, is assigned to the con
gregation at Mount 'Murk, la.
He hus five churmlng daughters.
Prudence, the eldest, keeps
house for him. Fulry is a col
lege freshman. Carol and Lark,
twins, are in high school. Con
stance is the "baby." The ac
tivities of the Sturr girls Pru
dence's work, Fairy's school af
fairs, the pranks of the young
sters and the family perplexi
ties make the story ; It is simply
a recital of glorified homely in
cidents. This installment de
scribes the capture of a burglar
in the parsonage.
CHAPTER VII Continued.
Mr. Starr had gouo to Burlington
that morning to attend special revival
services for three days, and Prudence
had fifty whole dollars in the house,
an unwonted sum In that parsonage!
And the dungeon was uot locked. With
out a word, she slipped softly out of
the room, ran down the stairs, making
never a sound in her bare feet, and
saw, somewhat to her surprise, that
the dungeon door was open. Quickly
she flung it shut, pushed the tiny key
that moved the "catch," and was rush
ing up the stairs again with never a
pause for breath.
A strange sight met her eyes In the
twins' room. Tho twins themselves
were In each other's arms, sobbing bit
terly. Fairy was still looking hurried
ly through tho dresser drawers.
"They are gone," wailed Carol, "our
beautiful ruby rings that belonged to
grandmother."
"Nonsense," cried Prue with nervous
anger, "you've left theui In the bath
room, or on the kitchen shelves.
You're always leaving them somewhere
over tho place. Come on, and we'll
search the house just to convince you."
"No, no," shrieked the twins. "Let's
lock the door and get under the bed."
Tho rings were really valuable.
Their grandmother, their mother's
mother, whom they had never seen,
had divided her "real jewelry" between
her two daughters. And the mother of
these parsonngo girls, had further di
vided her portion to make it reach
through her own family of girls!
"Our rings! Our rings!" tho twins
wero wailing, und Connie, awakened
by the noise, was crying beneath the
covers of her bed.
"Maybe we'd better phone for Mr.
Allan," suggested Fairy. "The girls are
so nervous they will be hysterical by
the time w?. finish searching the
house."
"Well, lot's do the upstairs then,"
said Prudenmt. "Get your slippers and
kimonos, nnd we'll go into daddy's
room."
But Inside the door of daddy's room,
with the youugsr girls clinging to her,
and Fairy looking odd und disturbed,
Prudence stopped abruptly and stared
about the room curiously.
"Fniry, didn't father leave h!s watch
hnni'ing oa that nail by the table?
Secmr. to mo I saw 1: there this morn
ing. I remember thinking I would
tense ii'.m for belr.;: f&rgotful.".
And the watch Vi.-.i not there.
"I think It was tcnOny he left it,"
answered F.".!ry In a low voice. "I re
member seeing It on the mil, and think
ing he would need It b"t I believe It
was Sunday."
Prudenco looked under the bed, and
In tile closet, but their lather's room
was empty. Should they go farther?
For a moment, tl:! girls stood lookiug
at ono another r.ii'.stloningly. Then
they heard a l'.:d thud downstairs, as
of someone pounding on a .'.oor. There
was no lender any doubt. Someone
was in it house! Coun!e nnd the
twins enamel arain and clung to
Prudence fran;:rally. Anil Fulry said,
"I think we'd bttei lock tho door and
stay rigtit her until moraine, Prue."
But Prudence faced thfiu stubborn
ly. "If you think I'm going to let any
one steal that fifty dollars, you are
mistaken. Fifty dollars does not come
often enough for that, I can tell you."
"It's probably stolen already," ob
jected Fairy.
"Well, If It is, we'll find out who did
It, and have them arrested. I'm going
down to telephone to the police. Xou
girls must lock the door after me, and
stny right here."
The little ones screamed again, and
Fairy said: "Don't be silly, Prue, if
you go I'm going with you, of course.
We'll leave the kiddies here and they
can lock the door. They'll be perfectly
safe In here."
But the children loudly objected to
this. If Prue and Fairy, went, they
would go! So down the stairs they
trooped, a timorous trembling crowd.
Prudence went at once to the tele
phone, and called up the residence of
the Allans, their neighbors across the
street. After a seemingly never-ending
wait, the kind-hearted neighbor left
his bed to answer the insistent tele
phone. Falteringly Prudence explained
their predicament, and asked him to
come and search the house. He prom
ised to be there In five minutes, with
his son to help.-
"Now," said Prudence more cheer
fully, "we'll Just go out to the kitchen
and wait. It's quiet there, and away
from the rest of the house, and we'll
be perfectly safe." To the kitchen,
then, they hurried, and found real
comfort In Its smallness and secure
ness. Prudence raked up the dying
embers of the fire, and Fairy drew the
blinds to their lowest limits. The
twins and Connie trailed them fear
fully at every step.
Every breath of wind against the
windows drew startled cries from the
younger girls, and both Fairy and Pru
dence were white with anxiety when
they heard the loud voices of the Al
lans outside the kitchen door. Pru
dence began crying nervously tho mo
ment the two angels of mercy ap
peared before her, und Fairy told their
tale of woe.
"Well, there pow," Mr. Allan said
with rough sympathy, "you just got
scared, that's all. Everything's sus
picious when folks get scared. I told
my wife the other day I bet you girls
would get a good fright sometime, left
here alono. Come on, Jim, and we'll
go over the house In a jiffy."
He was standing near the dining
room door. He lifted his head sud
denly, and seemed to sniff a little.
There was undoubtedly a faint odor
of tobacco in the house.
"Been any men In here tonight?" he
asked. "Or this afternoon? Think,
now !"
"No one," answered Prudence. "I
was alone nil afternoon, and there has
been no one in this evening."
He passed slowly through the din
ing room into the hall, closely followed
by his son and the five girls, already
much reassured. As he passed the
dungeon door he paused for a moment,
listening intently, his head bent.
"Oh, Mr. Allan," cried Prudence,
"let's look in the dungeon first. I want
to see If the money is safe." Her hand
was already on the lock, but he shoved
her away quickly.
"Is there any way out of that closet
besides this door?" he asked.
"No. We call It the dungeon,"
laughed Prudence, her self-possession
quite recovered. "It Is right under
the stairs, and not even a mouse could
gnaw Its way out, with this door shut."
"Who shut the door?" he inquired,
still holding Prudence's hand from the
lock. Then, without waiting for an
answer, he went on, "Let's go back in
the other room a minute. Come on, nil
of you." In the liviug room he hur
ried to the telephone, and spoke to the
operator in a low voice. "Call the po
lice headquarters, and have them send
two or three men to the Methodist par
sonage, right away. We've got a bur
glar locked in a closet, and they'll have
to get him out. Please hurry."
At this, tho girls crowded around
him again in renewed fear.
"Dou't be scared," he said calmly,
"we're all right. He's in there safe
enough and can't get out for a while.
Now, tell me nbout it. How did you
Quickly She Flung It Shut
get him In the closet? Begin at the
beginning, nnd tell me all about it"
Carol began the story with keen rel
Ish. "I woke up, and thought I heard
someone In the room. I supposed It
was Prudence. I said, 'Prudence,' and
nobody answered, and everything was
quiet. But I felt there was someone
In there. I nudged Lark, and she woke
up. He moved then, and we both heard
him. He was fumbling at the dresser,
and our ruby rings are gone. We
heard him step across the room and
into a closet He closed the door after
him, didn't he Lark?"
"Yes, he did," agreed Lark. "His
hand was on the knob,"
"So we sneaked out of bed, and
went Into Prudence's room and woke
her and Fairy." She looked at Connie
and blushed. "Connie was asleep, and
we didn't waken her because we didn't
want to frighten her. We woke the
girls and you tell the rest, Prudence."
"We didn't believe ner, or course.
We went back into their room and
there was no one there. But the rings
were gone. While they were looking
at the dresser, I remembered that I
forgot to lock the dungeon door, where
we keep the money and the silver
ware, and I ran downstairs and
slammed the door and locked It, and
went back up. I didn't hear a sound
downstairs." .
Mr. Allan laughed heartily. "Well,
your burglar was In that closet after
the money, no doubt, and he didn't
hear you coming, and got locked in."
In a few minutes they heard foot
steps around the house and knew the
officers had arrived. Mr. Allan let
"Aren't You Llmber-LImb Grant?"
them Into the house, four of them, and
led them out to the hall. There could
be no doubt whatever that the burglur
was in the dunsrenn. Tin had hepn
busy with his knife, and the lock was
neany removea. It tne omcers nau
been two minutes Inter, the dnnsenn
would have been empty. The girls were
sent upstairs at once, with the Allan
boy as guard as guard, without re
gard for the fact that he was probably
more frightened than any one of them.
The chief officer rapped briskly on .
the dungeon door. Then he clicked his
revolver.
"There are enough of us to over
power three of you," he said curtly.
"And we have men outside the house,
too. If you put your firearms on the
floor, and hold both hands over your
head, you'll be well treated. If vour
hands are not up, we fire on sight. Get
your revolvers ready, boys."
Then the officer opened the door,
Evidently the burglar was wise enough
to appreciate the futility of fighting
against odds. His hands were above
his head, and in less than a second he
was securely mnnacled.
The chief officer had been eying him
closely. "Say 1" he exclaimed. "Aren't
you Limber-Limb Grant?" The burglar
grinned, but did not answer. "By
Jove!" shouted the officer. "It 1st
Call the girls down here," he ordered,
and when they appeared, gazing at the
burglar with mingled admiration, pity
and fear, he congratulated them with
considerable excitement.
"It's Limber-Limb Grant," he ex
plained. "There's a reward of five
hundred dollars for him. You'll get
the money, as sure as you're born."
Then he turned again to the burglar.
"Say, Grant, what's a fellow like you
doing on such a fifth-rate Job as this?
A Methodist parsonage is not Just in
your line, is it?"
Limber-Limb laughed sheepishly.
"Well," he explained good-naturedly,
"Chicago got too hot for me. I had
to get out In a hurry, and I couldn't
get my hands on any money. J had a
fine lot of jewels, but I was so pushed
I couldn't use them. I came here and
loafed around town for a while, be
cause folks said Mount Mark was so
fast asleep It did not even wake up
long enough to read the daily papers.
I heard about this parsonage bunch,
and knew the old man had gone off to
get more religion. This afternoon at
the station I saw a detective from Chi
cago get oft the train, and I knew what
that meant. But I needed some cash,
and so I wasn't above a little job of
this kind. I never dreamed of getting
done up by a bunch of preacher's kids.
I went upstairs to get those family
Jewels Tve heard about and one of
the little ones Eave the alarm. I al
ready had some of them, so I came
down at once. I stopped in the dun
geon to get that money, and first thing
I knew the door banged shut That's
all. You're welcome to the five nun
dred dollars, ladles. Someone wag
bound to get it sooner or later, and
Tm partial to the ladles, every time,"
Now what do yon suppose the
girls will do with that five nun
dred dollars? How much, will
they devote to church purposes
foreign missions, for instance T
(TO BB CONTINUED.)
Treet Affected by Lightning.
No particular species of tree is mors
susceptible to lightning stroke) than
any other except in so far as the spe
cies determines the height of the tree, ;