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About The Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 19??-1984 | View Entire Issue (June 17, 1921)
President Harding Dedicates Bolivar Statue Census Reveals Less Illiteracy Decrease of From 22.9 to 16.1 Per Cent in Ten Years Shown in Alabama. DECLINE IN OTHER STATES Marked Improvement Is Shown In the Education of the Negro Popula tion in the Southern States— Funds Are Limited. Scene during tlie ceremony of unveiling the stutue of Simon Bolivar In Centrul park, New York city, anil, nt right. President Harding delivering the principal address. Swindlers Net Near Million ir Atlanta, Long Mecca for Slippery Gang of Crooks. Starts a Cleanup. MURDER IS PART DF GAME Bankers and Buelnesa Men Among the Victims Lured From Many States —Raid Reveals Bogus Broker age Offices—Police Accused. Atlanta, Ga.—That a dupe Is born every minute nnd that uo scheme Is so fantastic that It does not find some one—hard headed business man in many cases—to fall for it, has been proved to the satisfaction of every body In Atlanta through revelations made during the hearing by a council committee of the activities here of a million dollar bunco gang, who oper ated, It la charged, either with the connivance or through the colossal Ig norance of the police department The hearing also has proved that no section or locality la exempt from Its crop of dupes. Men with money to contribute to the support of the gang that operated In Atlanta have come to this city to be fleeced from Bending and Philadelphia, from Maryland, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Louls- lana. Florida, Ohio, Indiana nnd Tex as. Indeed, Texas was very good to the Atlanta seekers for easy money. Especially wns one W. It. Manning, a dapper young man of Dallas, Tex., kindly disposed to the eon men. And It has been shown tliat when money Is at stake even murder Is not too high a price to pay in order to keep It and retain liberty. Here is the death roil of Atlanta's bunco Rung: Doctor Blanchard, son of a former governor of Txiulslana. who committed suicide In Memphis after losing his roil. W. C. Dukes, banker of Milan, 0a., who came to Atlanta to confer with the gnng on an easy money proposal nnd mysteriously disappeared. Ed Mills, member of the gang, roommate of Floyd I* *. Woodward, al leged leader, who wns shot nnd killed hy Woodward because, it Is alleged, Mills wns tipping the police off to the operations of the gnng. Charles Dorsey, taxicab driver, who. It Is said, knew too much nbout the Mills killing. Ruth Gobel, another witness, was disposed of when Woodward married her. Left Their Rosy Hopes Behind. Here Is a partial list of the men who came to Atlanta with roseate hopes nnd who left—If they were able to get away—heartbroken and pockets empty: W. D. Hill, an aged Confederate veteran, former ordinary of his coun ty nt Clarkesville, Ga.. who lost about $2.600. J. A. Nations of Asworth. Ga.. who lost $3.500 at the Cedi hotel here In a gnme that was framed by Mark Til lery, recently captured in Texas, brought bnek to Atlanta nnd turned over to Solicitor John A. Boykin. Til lery wns reputed boss of the local game at one time. W. II. Manning, from Dallas, Tex., lost $7.000. George W. Wiley of Whitehall. Va.. lost $10.000. D. II. and W. M. Bland of Drew, Miss., who contributed $10.000 to the game. M. E. Holtey of Aiken. S. <1. lost $11,000 and would have lost more had he been able to get checks cashed, but a hanker friend tipped him off Just In time to keep him from losing $50,- 000 more. This wns a stock deal, In which his supposed winnings had run up In the hundred thousands. C. T. Madeira of Heading Pa., who lost $27.000, at one time had a big apparent winning, hut In the end the pn|>er profit disappeared and be went back to Pennsylvania sadder but may be wiser. In this deal one of Atlan ta's best-known citizens aided the op erating gung. One comparatively old man came to Atlanta from Indiana, lost his money nnd is still here. Ills story was one of the many already told during the four weeks of Investigation of the eusy money syndicate of Atlanta. Then there was on Ohio banker who came to this city, fell In with smooth talkers and attempted to get checks cashed for approximately $30,0*10, hut all the gnng got him for was $2,000. Chicago Man Involved. There is the case of Albert H. Thompson of Chicago. Thompson Is being sought on a larceny chnrge and It is thought that lie Is in Cuba. So licitor John Boykin refuses to di vulge for the present the details. Thompson’s Indictment wns a sur prise, for his wife was known to be wealthy. The Thompsons have a fine home In Asheville. More than one hundred indictments have been returned. The situation Wfts first called to the attention of the public when John Boykin, solicitor, made an address at a forum luncheon o f chamber of com merce members. He charged that the situation wns known to police officials and others In authority. Finally there was a demand In council for un Investigation and Mr. Boykin agreed to appear before this body. A mass meeting of 1,000 Atlanta citizens was held and money was raised to prosecute the solicitor’s charges. Eugene It. Black, one of the city’s best lawyers, wus engaged to represent Mr. Boykin. It has developed that the chief of police and the detective chief have clashed. On one occnsion when the chief of police was wiring to a Florida point trying to get n confidence man the chief of detectives wns wiring that the man wns not wanted in Atlanta, although lie wus under indictment at that time. It wns nlso charged that a detective for several years had received $200 a week to allow n notorious blind tiger to operate unmolested. *The raids started as a result of the fleecing of Holley of Alikin cut of $11,- 000. Ha and a companion made a noise tliat all Atlanta heard. Officers were sent to see liim, and he nnd his com panion laid a trap for Abe Powers, the alleged steerer in the game. The detec tives told them to go on out and meet Powers and they would follow. Thnt wns nbout the last they heard of the detectives, but they met Powers by agreement and seized him. A pnsslng policeman wns liniled finally and Powers went to Jail. Then started a search for tlie head quarters of the gnng. The detectives the next <lny were piloted to the build ing in a downtown locality, where the South Carollntans said they had been robbed. But search ns they might, the officers could not find the room. Raid Reveaia Broker’s Office. The next day they appeuled to the solicitor and lie led a personal raid of the building. The room was found at once and lie seized all the parapher nalia. The place was fitted up with all the elaborateness of n stock broker’s office in New York. There were black boards, fake telegraph Instruments, fake money, nnd everything else needed. It looked like there was all tlie money In the world there, hut In vestigation revealed that only the cover hills were good. The rest was green paper. Thnt was the beginning. Within the next few days the solicitor raided three places operated by the gang. In one case using axes to break In. In this place were found nil the Instruments needed for marking cards, crooking dice; fake money, several hundred dol lars of real money In the safe; crap tables; and before the night was out ninny visitors, who liad been taken Into custody had to tell what they knew or go to Jail. The raids were followed by many prosecutions. The gang had seen that the jig was np and most of them had disappeared. Gradually they are being rounded up and brought back to Atlan ta. Abe Powers and eight of his con freres have been sent to the penitenti ary, but carelessness at the prison farm was utilized by Abe Powers and he is at large again. Many others are under arrest and some have given bond. Among those Indicted and soon to stand trial will be Ira Fort, who was mixed up. It Is said In the Madeira swindle. A feature of this prosecution Is found In tlie fact that the solicitor himself has ofTered big rewards for the cap ture of the various "con” men, and ' paid some of them. The search continues the country over for Floyd P. Woodward. He Is held up as the “Master Mind" of the gang. Since his escape he has written a letter back to Atlanta In which he charges that he had paid out $2,000 as a bribe at one time to Solicitor Boykin; had paid large sums at other times, a cut In of his receipts to Joseph Ewing, a lawyer formerly con nected with Boykin’s office before he became solicitor, a id who, according to Woodward was the go-between for Boykin. These charges by Woodward, the hall fellow, who was friendly with every body In town, went hunting with Chief Poole, gave diamond rings and phono graphs to councllmen and dispensed money with a liberal hand, have given the police a club to lilt Boykin. So they chnrge that Boykin knew as much of the operations of the gang as they did, or more. One feature of the investigation has been the charge made by Joe Ewing, lawyer, that Councilman A1 Martin and Floyd P. Woodward ran one of the “dons” together; Martin for whiskey nnd Woodward for gaming; nnd that nt this place hundreds of gallons of liquor find been delivered by n young man now In Birmingham. Anoiher allegation was that Aldine Chnmbers, who led the campaign in Georgia for Pnlmer when lie was seeking the presi dential nomination, had worked to re cruit the gnng by getting men out of the federal penitentiary for this purpose. Texas Victim Gets Angry. There is the case of young Mr. Man ning of Texas, who started out In his testimony before tlie committee very bravely, but wilted toward- tlie end under a rapid fire cross-examination. Manning lind told his story. He had asserted that Chief of Detectives I.nmar Poole nnd I-leut. Shaw had permitted swindle operators to escape after he had furnished Information Hint should have resulted lu their cap ture. Then he wns confronted suddenly with a letter signed W. K. Manning, In which an offer was made to drop all prosecution of the swindlers con cerned provided that they would re turn his money. He vehemently de nied that he had written It, branding It a forgery. During tills cross-examination he re peatedly contradicted himself; lost all his sang-froid, became angry and offered to make It a personal matter with one of the lawyers for the defense. He told the committee that he missed his train In Atlanta and that as his wife was visiting her people and there wus no room for him there he decided he might as well remain in Atlanta. He declared he liad been picked up nt the Union station by bunco steerer« who had conducted him to the Ansley hotel, and how they had become very warm friends. This steerer, he said, was Clyde Smith, who said he was a representative of the Harry Payne Whitney company. In his story a fake telegram from Harry Payne Whitney of New York was described. According to his narra tive tlie gang had two exchanges. One wns No. 2 In a downtown spot, and the other wns supposed to be the Capital City club (Atlanta’s swellest). But somehow the bunco victims were al ways steered to No. 2. something al ways eop-ing np to bar a trip to ex change -'O. 1. WEAVES THOUGH BLIND Washington.—Thut illiteracy is de- ,’reasing in this country la indicated by l survey of early reports from the cen- ius office by Sara L. Doran for the Bureau of Education of the United States. The figures for Alabama, Ar- tansas, Delaware and the District of Columbia have been published and all )f them show substantial Improvement iince 1010. In Alabama the proportion of per- 10ns ten years old and more who can- iot write In any language lias dropped !rom 22.9 per cent to 16.1 per cent; n Arkansas from 12.0 per cent to 9.4 per cent, In Delaware from 8.1 per ?ent to 5.9 per cent. In the District of Columbia from 4.9 per cent to 2.8 per tent. “The condition Is even more encour- «glng than the figures thnt relate to he total population seem to Indicate,” tontlnues the Investigator, "for It Is svldent that the coming generation of intive Americans will he practically Tree from Illiteracy In nearly every part of the country. "Alabamans have been constantly mindful of the evils of Illiteracy dur ing the last 20 years. The census of 1900 showed a marked Increase In the ictual number of Illiterates In the pre vious decade. The figures were pub- Ished widely throughout the state and h e people awakened to the fact that h e public school system was not hold- tig its own. The result was shown In he census returns of 1910. The ten ancy to increase in numbers which lad appeared previously was entirely jvercome, tlie illiterates were reduced )y 91,880 and the proportion of 11- Jterates in the total population was tut from 34 per cent to 22.9 per cent Government Helps. ‘These numbers were recognized as much too high, and the agitation for iniversal education continued. This tulminated in a survey of educational conditions throughout the state under h e direction of the United States commissioner of education and n gen eral revision of the laws in consonance with the recommendations of the sur vey commission. Alabama's first com pulsory education law was passed In 1915. and nn Illiteracy commission was sstabllshed In the same year. It has Jlnce been engaged In direct efforts :o educate Illiterates. “The money available for these pur poses has been limited, however, for h e finances of the state have not been n an entirely satisfactory condition, ind the efforts of education have been tampered by that fact. No stnte money las yet been appropriated for the 11- lteracy commission, although it was established by legislative action; and the only funds which the commission Pas had came from private sources. "It is well known that the greater pnrt of the Illiteracy that exists in the southern states Is among the negroes, tn 1890, seven negroes In every ten lu Alabama were unable to write. Tills proportion has been reduced nt every census since that time, and In 1920 It was three In every ten. Nearly 211,000 Alabama negroes were reported Illiter ate In that year. A similar lack of education prevails to an undue extent imong the native white people of the state; 67,287 of them cannot write. That number is 6.4 per cent of the native white population over ten years of age. “With a much smaller proportion of negroes In her population, Arkansas may be expected to excel the showing made by Alabama In the education of her citizens. The number of taxpayers among negroes Is relatively small In all the southern states and the amount they pay In school taxes Is not enough to maintain their own schools. The whites, therefore, must educate not only their own children, but those of the negroes as well. “Arkansas has within her borders 121,837 persons ten years old or over who cannot read; 4*,753 of them are nutlve whites and 79,245 are negroes. The percentages of the corresponding totatepopulatlon are 4.6 per cent, and 21.8 per cent, respectively. Clearly, Arkansas Is better off educationally than Alabama. “Like Alabama, and presumably many other states, Arkunsas has much less of Illiteracy in the cities than In the rural portions of the state. “Negroes constitute only 13.0 per cent of the population of Delaware, and the proportion Is decreasing. “Native whites In the cities of Dela ware show only 0.7 per cent of Illiter acy, and tliat is presumably among the adults. Outside the cities, however, 3.2 per cent of the native whites are unable to write. City negroes are Il literate to the extent of 17.1 per cent, and country negroes to the extent of 20.8 per cent. “The reverse Is true of the for eign born, for it appears that the bet ter class of them go to the farms and the Ignorant laborers are Inclined to tlie cities; 6 per cent of the foreign- born population of the country are Il literate, but 19.2 per cent of those In the cities are In that category.” Miss Agnes Stafford, although bill'd from the age of four months, has a remarkable color sense and makes all the color selections for the exquisite tapestry weaving which is her work at the New-York Lighthouse for the Blind. With President Harding as honorary chairman and Miss Winifred Holt, “The Lady of the Lighthouse.” as director, the committee for light houses for the blind is carrying on a campaign for the extension of Just such work us goes on every day In the weaving, sewing and handcraft rooms of the lighthouse. Babylon Had Rent Woes 4,000 B. C., Bulletin Says Washington. — The modern head of a family who must move or worry about rental rates and leases may think Americans are alone In huvlag such troubles. But, according to a bulletin Is sued from the Washington (D. C.) headquarters of the National Geographic society, families are having similar tribulations whether In Japan, Persia or Eng land, and have had evictions and harsher penalties hanging over them since men wrote on clay tablets 4,000 or more years ago. ‘T he very earliest records of dally transactions that have been found, the clay tablets on which were written the contracts of Babylonia 8,000 and 4.000 years ago, show that the renting of houses was a flourishing busi ness among the landlords of Babylon and Nippur.” The Mountain Goes to Mahomet Marion, Ky.—Sunday school teachers were In dismay when It was learned thnt tlie track tenm of the Marlon high school and the rooters would not be back In time for Sunday school on “Go to Sunday School day,” so the Sunday school moved over to Blackford, Ky., half way, and there the rooters and track tenm assembled and the services were held. The Marlon Sunday schools had a 100 per cent attendance. Red Leaders Are Two-Faced Take Both Sides of the Argu ment to Appease the Peas ants and Workers. IN FEAR OF FARMER POWER Bolshevik Organ Warns the Peasants That if They Do Not Support the Soviet the Resuscitated White Generals Will Return. Helsingfors. — Recent speeches of Bolshevist lenders in Russia and the utterances of the Bolshevist press have Indicated a double purpose—to nppease both peasants and city work ers, whose Interests are very differ ent This two-sided attitude is main tained, It Is said, to conciliate the peasants, who form the vast majority In Russia, even at the cost of sacriflc- Mr. Harding Starts a New Church Bite of Polson Bug Kilt« Man. Cumberland, Md.—M. A. Tutweller, age fifty, a huckster, died at* his home President Harding breaking ground far the National Baptist Memorial In Kersey, W. Va., from poisoning church In Washington, to be bntlt as a memorial to Roger Williams and re caused hy the bite of an Insect while ligious liberty. The dirt was pMcad in ihe toy wagon of Griffith Joiinvm, Jr., at church. son of the ;>astor of Emmanuel Baptist church. lng some communist principles, and at the same time of persuading the town workers tliat the adoption of a con servative land policy, like the granting of concessions to foreigners, Is a clever bit of tactics. “The Last Battle.” Nikolai Lenin, the Bolshevist pre mier, addressing a meeting of railway workers at Moscow the other day, dwelt on “the last battle” with the peasants, whom he characterized as an uncertain factor that might swing In favor of capitalism or of the proletariat. “The peasants helped the revolu tion.” he declared, "but now they are tired and have swung around to a pro nonneed petite bourgeoisie. They might even turn monarchist.” This “last battle” with the peasant« Is In reality a battle of cajolement. It Is n campaign to win over the land workers. The well-known Journal Derevensknia Kommun (Village Com mune) hns been rechristened Dere- venskala Pravda (Village Truth) and the peasants are begged to regard It as their special pnper nnd to make their wants known to Its sympathetic ear. Threat of “White General«." “You most know, peasants,” It writes, “tliat If you will not support soviet rule, tomorrow the resuscitated white generals will reappear. Only the czar can replace the Bolshevlkl. You must decide for yourselves wheth er you want him or not.” Meanwhile the peasants are filled with relief at the substitution of a corn tax for the odious requisition and the réintroduction of free commerce. »■ ■ — Sense of Smell Least Intellectual of Senses New York.-r-One hit In ten chances I A hatting average of only .100 was scored hy Dr. Nlchi^as Murray Butler In a spe cial test submitted by the engi neering society of Columbia uni versity at its dinner in Earl hall. Doctor Butler was asked to Identify as many as he could of ten odors. Successively placed before him were cloves, sassa fras, anise, cltronella, winter- green, carbolic acid, lemon oil, hay rum. alcohol and turpentine. And of the ten he recognized only that venerable scent of the barbershops—hay rum. “Well, gentlemen," Doctor But ler said, “the sense of smell Is the least Intellectual of the senses.” ----------------- •
