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About Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918 | View Entire Issue (March 30, 1917)
DAILY EDITION Ko Other Town in the World tho Size of Grants Pass Has a Newspaper With Pull Leased Wire Telegraph Service VOL, VII., No. t'iH. GRANTS PASS. JOSEPHINE COUNTY, OREGON. FHIUAY, MARCH 30, 1917. WHOLE Xl'MBEK 801 S. WIS SPEECHES IN SOCIALIST M KM HE II CENHl HEM SECRETARY ZIMMEHMAYH MEXICAN-JAPAN PLAN Mow Adherent Are It log Gained by Um flortallata In Germany In Report Amsterdam, Mr. SO. For the flmt time since the start of the war, note of doubt as to Germsny's fu ture hss crept Into relchstag apeechei, according to dispatches received from Berlin. Member Bpahn wa quoted aa de claring In debate today, following Imperial Chancellor von Belhniann- lfollweg' tpeerh, that he "hoped Oermany -w prepared to light a new and powerful foe." The socialist member Notice bit terly ventured Foreign Secretary 'Zimmerman'! Mexican-Japanese plan against the Untied State and de clared the "Pruatlan lyttem of nor eminent muat be abollahed." "Germany muat not be considered reactionary country." Noske de clared. . 8pahn assarted that all entente alert r were now sitting on untsfs thrones. "Even In Italy,' he aald, "a rev olutionary aplrlt Is teeth Inn and the kind la tottering on hit throne." Although dltpatrhea front Oermany Indicated approbation over llollweg's peech on the strbmsrtne warfare, ex pressed In hi formal speech of yes terday, there were varloua reports here of widespread discontent over hit failure to announce promised electoral reforms. lioltweg we quo ted "a declaring the time was not yet ripe for such reforms, in view of the fact that the greater part of Oor many's voting population was now In the trenches, finriallHtlc plans are gaining now -adherent In Germany, according to various reports. The Russian revolu tion and the apparent aurcess of the completely democratic government there, have created a profound Im pression among the German public. That' (he German leaders foresee a menace to tholr power In such unrest, waa Indicated In reporta of varloua efforts to placate by promises. MKIKOIU GIRL CliArSlH TO HE FIIIHT TO FN 1,1 NT Medford, Mar. 30. claiming the distinction of being the first woman to enlist In the naval reserve as a yeoman in th. coast state and th. ninth In America, Miss Bertha liOf tut, a telephone operator, today Is . awaiting th. call to service. PATRIOTISM IN 1 Chicago, Mar. 80. When congress meets next Monday, 850,000 children In Chicago' publlo schools will rise, atand beside their desks and sing pa triotic longs. Plan for (ola demonstration were perfected today by John D. Snoop, su perintendent of schools, .At 11 a m Monday as congress assembles, .-all publlo school clause will hall their regular bualness, Speaker will enter th rooms and explain to tht children Just what Is happening at th capital, - As the congresslonsl session I csl led to order, th kiddles will Join their voices In sieging: "My Conntr "Tls of, Thee," THE REICHSTAG FOOD SUPPLY OF IIS T A Mining KejMirtN of Itatnage Come Prom lite Wheat Fields of the Middle West . Chicago, Mar. SO. That (lie food supply of the nation Is In danger was the cry In Chicago meat and grain market today. Alarming report poured Into the market today from the great winter wheat field pf Kansas and Nebraska. They told of drouth and the plowing up of thousand of acres of winter wheat. Report from Kansas City and Lincoln confirmed statement In the Chicago pit. .Another grave menace to the na tion's food wa th fact that the la bor shortage, already acute, ha been made critical by the calling out of the national guard In the agricultural states. A conservative estimate to day wa that the present national guard call would take 80,000 men from th strictly agricultural states. In addition to those Joining the reg ular army and nary. This figures th regiments called at war strength. These men r th cream of th able (bodied workers. Farmers hesitated to Increase acreage In the fare of cer tain labor famine. . Th high price of all seeds Is also I threatening disaster. 8tate agricul tural societies are keeping watch on th seed question and advancing seed I to farmer unable to buy. The de mand I still greater than the visible UPHI7. No way baa so far been devised to meet th farm labor problem. . Th great packing house and steel mills around Chicago are bringing ten of thousand of negroes from the south to meet the labor shortage, which In turn, Is Injuring the labor supply of th southern state. Tentative suggestions from the west have been mad of importing Chinese laborers. GKH.M.V CLAIM OF SHIPS SI NK IN MONTH Amsterdam, Mar. ' SO. Admiral von Capelle confidently advised the relchstag main committee on Thurs day that the total shipping sunk by German submarines In February was 781,000,- according to dispatches re ceived here today. HI HH ADMIRALTY. 001'NCIL nACKS NEW GOVERNMENT Petrograd, Mar, SO. Th admir alty council haa mad a formal oath of allegiance to the provisional gov ernment, it wa announced today. ' POLICE OFFICERS TO HUNT FOR SPIES Washington, Mar. 80. -Every policeman In th.. country, from th. be-starred constable to the New York blue-coat, will become an emergency member of th. department of Jus tic. In the detection of spies qr "un friendly actions" against the gov ernment, under a plan announced to day by Attorney General Gregory. Gregord sent a letter to every po lice chief In th. country, calling at tention to th. Necessity of co-operation between -"street men" and de partment of Justice operatives. His request Is nreetlng with hearty co operation. ; "Th department believe," Gre gory' letter said, "that every care ful Investigation should b. made to ascertain th location of any stores of arms or ammunition; to discover and keep watch upon meeting places of men In sympathy with enemies of this country and that careful watch be kept upon aupplles of dynamite and explosive." k ' Washington Is th. most heavily guarded spot In th. country Joday. Polio, and secret service men nr. working a unit.. MTU Belierisg That State of War acd That This Is No ice fcr Paci&a, German . Acfa'ca Will Be Met With Warb Statement By Robert J. Bender -".( Not only I a state of war now gen Washington, Mar. ' SO. President eravly admitted, but there I a man- WUeon baa definitely determined that a .tat. of war between th. United . State and Oeraany mast be form - ally recognised by thla government. according to hi Intimate adviser, mi developed thi afternoon fol- lowing ..on. of th. briefest cabinet meeting held sine the break with Germany. There I every .rld.DC that tail government is going forward with "strong and aggressive policy." ac cording to on. of the members who at at this afternoon' cabinet meet ing. "You need not worry about where he I standing on this matter; this Is no time for pacifism and no one need doubt th. president's forceful position." ssld a cabinet member af ter the session. "' HI opinion waa supported by other of the president' advisory council when they left the meeting. On evidence supplied by these ad visersthe White House continues silent the government I going to meet Oermany' aggression with war haxt week. . The United Press correspondent told his Informant that there had (been some doubt in a number of minds for several day that the pres ident ws to act entirety forcibly. The member' reply was: "I will tell yon Uils: President Roosevelt gathered hla facts quickly and acted quickly, and that waa the end of It. President Wilson always haa gathered hi facta slowly and haa been skeptical In tb. meantime. but yon always can rely upon him. i Ton earn .ntlrely rely upon hhn Jn the praarat situation."- , J ' By W. P. Slmms With the British Armies la Franc, March 80. British oflloers saw eign behind the German line today that aw the Teutons were uncertain of their alblllty to hold their new defensive' position. . This belief was baaed on reports of numerous fires, series of explo sions and preparation reported In progress by th. German for flood ing operation of th same character as those adopted In their retreat to the "Hlndenburg line." Moreover, French civilians left be hind by the wave of retreating Ger mans reported an increasing dissat isfaction spreading among the Ger man soldiers themselves. Before leaving, many cltltens said the sol dier revealed to them a revolution In Germany somewhat akin to that In Russia, The, soldiers expressed dissatisfaction with the state of af fair at.home. They aald they were treated nk dog In th army, while their folk at horn, were regarded as "mere cattle." French Inhabitants declared an oft-repeated phrase they heard from th. German soldiers wa that "when the war I over thoae who are responsible will have to suf fer." : " - - . . British troops, Y Gorging steadily ahead, ar. tremendously Interested In American developments. A fav orite greeting which I beard every where Is 'Good morning, ally, what's the latest!" GERkIAII ARL1IES SEEL1 UNABLE TO HOLD POSITION PREPARED BY HINDENBURG With Germsj Now Exists, ,fe"1 determination by those la the , Z, , strong determined campaign that will ;,elT, no aoubt , the ,ye, of tte ! world that the United States Is Dis pared to face any challenge to her right, personal and oroDerty. . The president baa practically com pleted hi "war message" to be de livered to the forthcoming congreas. Th. tentative draft wa discussed In detail today by the cabinet. It met with unanimous approval. No cabinet member would say spe cifically what the president would recommend, but the Intimation waa carried generally that congress will be asked by the president to declare a state of war exist despite this gov ernment's effort along opposite line, and to prepare to meet act of ag gression by Germany in such a man ner that a tasting peace may be brought about and toon. , Nearly an hour after the cabinet adjourned, White House authorities let It be known that the war situa tion I entirely shaped. President Wilson has reached bis full decision 'and this decision means a stste of war , ! v . ' ,; . In fact, so completely were the president and hi cabinet agreed that they'even found time to dispose of matter of a strictly routine nature; after deciding the International ques tion. The White House also let K be known that matter are entirely "sat isfactory." and this mean that the question Is as stated, that the pres ident's mind is made up, that It Is firm against Germany, and that a atat of war wtn b th. next step In the International situation. A new German plan for raising money wss revealed at Jeacourt and other French cities recently occupied jby the British forces. At Jeacourt I the German official Inquired what A the commune waa worth and on be jlng told, promptly Issued notes for this full amount, forcing the French civil officers of the town to sign these obligations. -' .A, number of other villages report jed they, were victims of the same plan. MORE GUARDSMEN ARB CALIEI BY VNCIiR SAM Washington; Mar. 80. The "war department today added approxi mately two thousand national guards men, to the 45,000 which have al- ready been called out for police duty In th. past week. . Today's call affected three batterlea Of the field artillery, twq regiments of Infantry and one squadron of cav alry. Nl'SPEND ATHLETICS- IN ; COLLEGES if war comes Corvallls, Mar. SO. Th. board of athletlo directors of the Oregon Ag ricultural college la on record today In favor of suspension of all athletic activities on the" schedule of the Pa cific, coast conference, In esse' war Is declared between th. United States nnd Germany. . COFIGRESSnEN ARE ii All But SO Metnfcers Were at the Capital Lata Today for Session Convening Monday Washington, Mar. 30. Represen tative Capstlck, republican, Monte vllle, N.J., will not be able to at tend the house organization session Monday, according to a telegram to day from Capstick's physician. ' Capstick's inability to attend win mean (be republicans have 218 votes, the democrat 214 and the Indepen dents five. Two additional member arrived at the capital late today, leaving 80 absentees. Th absentees included several committeemen. Including Representatives Brucker, Dale, Dool- Ing. Flynn. Griffin, Hulbert, Maher and Sullivan. ' Galllvan' absence from :u cau cus is deliberate. He Is in i.ue city. but did not go to the capitol. He I determined to continue his fight against southern control of the house. B Galveston, Mar. SO. Passengers on the tank steamer Topila,' which recently haa arrived at an Ameri can port, relate thrilling tales of a reign of terror In Mexico Including the slaying of two British subjects. W. H. T. Buckingham, general manager for the Agnila Oil corpora tion, on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and George Bannerman, cashier, both British subjects, were killed by Mex ican bandits at Nanchltal on March 8. according to the passengers. Buck ingham's body was hacked to pieces with machette. Other outrages In the oil fields above Puerto Mexico also are related and it Is declared that In the vicinity of Mtnatltlan, disputed country lying! between the camps of Carransa and Zapata armies, bandit rove at will and keep the country in a atate of constant terror. These passenger request that their names be concealed for fear of re prisals on themselves or friends. One of the passenger told the following story: , . . - "For. the last seven months Mex ican bandits have entered the camps at Nanchltal and Txhuatlaa every week and taken th. payroll of the Agnila corporation, amounting . to more than 110,000. On March 1, six teen armed Mexicans called upon Bannerman and demanded his pay roll. They looted the-building and were angered because they could find but $1,300. They demanded $1,500. Buckingham and two other friends were in Buckingham's office. The bandit drove the whole bunch to the warehouse and began taking grocer ies. . "Here they became Insolent and one of them shot down Tterao Crux, Of Bannerman' party. Bannerman and his other guests ducked wider the warehouse' and headed toward the river. The second shot fired by the Ibandlts struck Bannerman In the groin, resulting in his death. Buck ingham started to leave. When he turned his back his body was riddled with bullets. Then the bandit took machettea and hacked his body' to pieces. Next morning the bandits went up the river, killed a Mexican farmer, hla wire and father and cut off the hands of two of hla children." - Since March 9. It is said, the oil and mining camp have been . Idle. Carransa hold the towns and Zapata holds the country. The two tactions are fighting continually and have made repeated threat to destroy the big refinery at Mlnatlan. Mr. and Mra. E. R. Williams, who have been visiting here for a short time with the. A. E, 'William fam ily, left yesterday -for 'Roseburg to make ttjeJr home, ' mm nnv GERM IS DEB MMr BEHUH ADMITS INABILITY OP TROOPS TO HOLD ON WEST , KKX FRONT f FRENCH mil HECKD Artillery Fighting Is Lively on the 'Allots Front, and Attack Are ' :'" "Bloodily Repabed" ' ' Berlin via Bayvllle, Mar. 80. Encountering stronger British force, German troop northeast of Peronne and north of KoaeJl gave way on a line from Rnyaleourt to Sorel. to day' official statement asserted. Else where, particularly at points near Nenville and Marglval and 'eaat of Nenville 8t. Vaast, Franco-British at tack -were bloodily repulsed. " "On the Artoia front.", th. state ment aald. "artillery fighting -waa lively. Ob both aides of the road from Peronne to Fin our rear guard retired toward Ruyalcourt and Sorel after engagements with superior Eng lish force. .Northeast of Solssons, French battalion tried In vain to gala groamd. Their attacks against our positions near ' Nenville ' ' and Mergival were repulsed with heavy losses." Y ': -.":v v" SLAYER II ;!IED i ifvr ni i"i ti nr n inrn ltUlhU.LIlUri..U.M ftanYr Mar SA Af r Stella Newten . Moor Smith, slayer of her chauffeur-hdsband, .John Lawrence Smith, waa freed of a charge of mur- . der -by a Jury In exactly one and one halt minutes this afternoon, a th. termination of Colorado's most sen-1 national, murder trial, which lasted twentv-one dava. . The public was excluded from the courtroom when Mrs. Smith ' testi fied.. Her sordid story of love, hate, Jealousy, passion and criminal de generacy convinced the twelve men who Judged her that she was Justi fied In killing the man who. accord- ing to her testimony, ruined her life. Mrs. Smith, former society leader, was divorced from her first husband, ' William A. Moore, Denver attorney, four years ago. She did not contest his application for divorce, charging desertton. Shortly afterward she married Smith, who had been her stepfather's chauffeur, at Treka, Cat. Then began a four-year period of de- bauchery and sordldness, . which ex tended across the continent from California to Detroit, finally ending in Denver. ',, V ' ' WARNING OF GERMAN MYKR8 IN THE, ATLANTIC . Norfolk. Va.. Mar. . 80. Vlrele " warnings to British shipping against possible attack by Oerman submar-' Ine in contiguous Atlantic water were lent (broadcast from allied war-, ships off Vara tbdayj - Allied warships, it was stated have received orders not to anchor at night tor fear of attack. ' " fORTLAND EXHIBITS GREAT . SPIRIT OF PATRIOTISM Portland. Mar. .30. Portland's unit of the militia paraded 'through down-town streets at noon today be tore leaving for Vancouver barracks, where the Third Oregon .regiment will be mobilised. The affair wa th biggest patriotic demonstration, seen her. in years. City official ar ranged, for an escort of police. Up state companies of the mUttl passed through Portland on their way to. Vancouver today. , NEAR PERO