Medford mail tribune., March 17, 1917, Page 1, Image 1

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' WEATHER Ma.siiimm yesterday 56; minimum today, 3 4. FORECAST Fair, light frost.
Medford Mml Tribune
. NO. 305
Fortv-Blxth Year.
Pally Eleventh Year.I
MEDFORD. OREGON, SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 1917.
TR1KE
RAILROAD. S
POSTPONED 48 HOURS
MEDIATORS GRAND DUKE
STRIVING FOR THRQN
SETfLEMENT
Inauguration of Great Railroad
Strike Which Was to Have Gone
tnto Effect Tonight, Has Been
Averted for 48 Hours Peace Con
ferences to Be Resumed Sunday
With Hope of Reaching Agreement
Court Decision Expected.
NEW YORK, March 17. The inau
guration of tho great railway strike
which wits to hnve gone into effect lit
7 o'clock tonight hns been averted for
48 hours. The three mediators rep
resenting the council of national de
fense, Secretaries Lane and Wilson
and Daniel Willard, after laboring
since last night to bring the brother
hood chiefs of the railroad employes
and the railroad managers into ac
cord on the questions at issue between
them, succeeded in bringing about a
truce. Tomorrow they will continue
their efforts to induce both sides to
reach an agreement. The brother
hood chiefs .witli three .hours grace
left in which to prevent n strike going
into effect "tonight began sending
telegraph and telephone messages to
the men to continue at work.
Important Concession.
' The willingness of the brotherhood
chiefs to postpone the strike order
was declared by representatives of
the managers to be tho most, import
ant concession the brotherhood heads
had made since negotiations to settle
the eight-hour controversy first began
last August. The belief was express
ed in behalf of the ruilroud that the
strike would be prevented.
The possibility that on Monday the
United States supremo court might
hand down n decision on the constitu
tionality of the Adanison eight-hour
law was a factor in the situation
which was considered by both sides,
fttntcmcnt Issued.
Secretary Lnno gave out the fol
lowing statement :
"A our request and out of an ap
preciation of the international situ
ation the brotherhoods and the rail
road nianngers have resumed nego
tiations. In the hope that some
adjustment may be had that will avoid
the necessity for a strike, the brother
hoods have wired or telephoned their
general chairmen asking that all ac
tion he postponed for 48 hours, and
unless prior to that time ndvised of
a settlement the men will leave the
service under the authority already
given." v
The statement is signed by Secre
tary Franklin K. Lime, Secretary Wil-
licim B. Wilson und Daniel Willuid of
the railroad mediators. Samuel Gom
M'rs, the fourth mediator, did not
participate in the conference at any
tune.
Conference Sunday.
A joint conference between the me.
' dintors, the brotherhood chiefs and
the railroad managers will be held at
ten o'clock tomorrow morning when
the negotiations will be resumed. Tho
48-hour postponement dates from
o'click tonight eastern time, the hour
at which the strike was to have gone
into effect.
"Undoubtedly there is hope," said
(Continued on Page Six.)
AT SVEA EORG REVOLTS
LONDON, March 17 Tho Rus
at the fortress of Sven-
borg, which defends llelsingfors, has
refused to join the 'evolution, accord
ing to a dispatch received by the Swe
dish newspner Xyheternnd forward
ed here by the Stockholm correspon
dent of the Kxchaiige Telegraph c"in
iianv. The Russian soldiers, the dis-
pntch adds, mutinied" nnd the fortress
bus been declured iu a stale of siege.
E
CZARS ABDICATION
PETROGRAD, March 17 The following is the
text of the imperial manifesto in which the Russian
emperor announced his abdication and that of his
son :
"We, Nicholas IT. by the grace of Ood, emperor of
all the Rnssias, czar of Poland and grand duke of Fin
land, etc., make known to all our faithful subjects
in the day of the great struggle against a foreign foe
who lias been striving for three years to enslave our .
country, Ood has wished to send to Russia a new and
painful trial. Interior troubles threaten to have a
fatal repercussion on the final outcome of the war.'
The destines of Russia and the honor of our heroic
army, the happiness of the people and all the future
of our dear fatherland require that the war be pros
ecuted at all cost to a victorious end. The cruel en
emy is making his last effort and the moment is near
when our valiant army, in concert with those of our
glorious allies, will defnitely chastise the foe.
"In these decisive: days in the life of Russia we
believe our people should have the closest union and
organization of all their forces for the realization of
speedy victory. For this reason, in accord with the
duma of the empire, we have. considered it desirable
to abdicate the throne of Russia and lay aside our
supreme power. Not wishing to be separated from
our loved son, we leave our heritage to our brother,
the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch, blessing his
advent to the. throne of Russia. We hand over the
government to our brother in full union with the
representatives of the nation who are seated in the
legislative chambers, taking this step with an in
violable oath in the name of our well beloved country.
We call on all faithful sons of the fatherland to fulfill
their sacred patriotic duty in this painful moment of
national trial and to aid our brother and the repre
sentatives, of the nation in bringing Russia into the
path of prosperity and glory. May God aid Russia. ' '
T
I
PARIS, March 17. A Zeppelin has
been shot down in flames near Com
piegne. All of its crew were lost.
The Zeppelin was sighted shortly
before dawn and was reached by
French anti-aircraft guns nt a height
of more than two miles. The nirship
caught fire and the wreckage, with
the, burned bodies of the crew, fell
outside Compiegne.
The following official statement
was given out.
"A Zeppelin was brought down
this moniing at Compiegne by anti
aircraft artillery while flying over the
town at a height of 3500 meters. It
remaineu flying in the air for a mo
ment nnd then fell, striking a garden
wall and broke in two.
"All of the bombs were thrown
overboard during the fall. They
dropiied on vacant ground. Most of
them did not explode.
'Several 'of the crew jumped out
and were crushed to death. The others
were burned."
An official report on the occur
rence says that the Zeppelin brought
down was the L-39. The incident
occurred, adds the statement in the
region of Compiegne ut 5:30 o'clock
this morning.
, y
STILL A MYSTERY
BOSTON', March 17. The mystery
of the bomb explosion at the court
bouse yesterday was as deep as ever
today. One of the two killed Is
known to have been the Janitor of the
building, but the other body has not
been identified. i
MICHAEL ACCEPTS
OF RUSSIA
T
OF FINLAND BY
OF
LONDON, March 17. Major Gen
eral Zein, governor general of Fin
land, has ben arrested by tho com
mander of tne Baltic fleet on the or-
dov of the provisional government, ac
cording to a Reuter's Petrograd dis
patch. Senator Dorovitinoff, vice
president ot the economic department
of the Finnish senate, has also been
arrested.
F. I. Roditcheff, leader of the con
stitutional democrats in the duma,
has been appointed minister for Fin
land and directed to proceed at once
to Helslngfors.
Governor Zein has been governor
of Finland since November, 1909,
and has been noted for the drastic
methods he used to suppress any
popular outbreak. M. Roditcheff has
been prominent in duma affairs since
the Russian parliament was creat
ed. He has been a vigorous advo
cate of the rights of the Jews,
HAPARAXDA, Sweden, March 17.
General Ignatieff, commanding tho
troops In Finland, has Isued a .proc
lamation exhorting the troops to sup
port the new government.
REFUSE' TO STRIKE
COLUMBUS, O., March 17. Kngi
neers, conductors and truinmen of
the Cincinuti, Lebannon and Northern
railroad, a suhsidtnrv coinnnnv nf the
Pennylvnnia railroad, this morning
informed General Superintendent . I.
W. Oeer of the Southwest system of
the Pennsylvania that the would re
fuse to obey the strike order.
TEMPORARILY
REIGNS ONLY BY
PEOPLE'S WISH
New Monarch Declares That He Ac
cepts Throne , Only By Popular
Wish Until People Ely Plebiscite
Establish New Form of Govern
ment. LONDON, March 17. Grand Duke
Michael has accepted the throne of
Russia conditioned on the consent of
the Russian people, according to a
statement received here today from
the semi-official ifews agency.
The statement follows:
"Grand Duke Michael Alexandro
vitch, accepting the throne from hlB
brother, declares that he does so on
ly with the consent of the Russian
people, who should by a plebiscite
establish a new form of government
and new fundamental laws."
The declaration made by the grand
duke on his acceptance of the throne
as given out by the news agency
reads as follows:
nuke's Acceptance.
"This heavy responsibility has
come to me at the voluntary request
of my brother , who has 'transferred
the .imperial throne to mo during a
period 'of warfane which is. accom
panied by unprecedented popular dis
turbances.
'Moved by the thought which is
in the minds of the entire people,
that the good of the country is para
mount, I have adopted the firm res
olution to accept the supreme power
only it this be the will of your great
people, who, by a plebiscito organ
ized by their representatives In a
constituent assembly shall establish
a form of government and new fun
damental laws for the Russian state.
"Consequently, invoking the ben
ediction of our ldwl, I urge all cit
izens of Russia to submit to the pro
visional government established upon
the initiative of tho duma and in
vested with full plenary powers; un
til such time which will follow with
as little delay as possible, as the con
stituent assembly, on a basis of uni
versal, direct, equal and secret suf
frage, shall, by Its decision as to the
now form of government, express the
will of the people."
Conflicting ItcMiitf4.
A dispatch dlroct from Petrograd
last night filed at !:.':0 p. m. Petro
grad time, says that Emiieror Nich
olas had abdicated In favor of Grand
Duke Micheal and that at 2:30
o'clock yesterday afternoon the grand
duke himself had abdicated, thus
bringing the Romanoff dynasty to an
end. The foregoing dispatch, which
is from the Petrograd agency, a semi
official Institution, was sent from
Petrograd today.
Advices from Petrograd yesterday
said that there had been some dif
ference of opinion between the duma
leaders and the representatives of
the working men. Tho latter wlr.hej
to leave undecided tho question of
form of the Ruslan government un
til after the holding of a constitution
al assembly whereas tho duma group
(Continued on Page Two.)
ADIT DEFEAT OF
MARGUIA BY VILLA
JUAREZ, Mexico, March 17. It
was seml-officially admitted here to-
day that General Francisco Murgula's
forces had suffered reverses In the
field south of Parral. It was also
said the reported taking of Parral
and Jlminez was probable, although
no confirmation had been received
here from Chihuahua City because of
the rush of sending forces from the
state capital against tho Villa rebels.
OLDEST DAUGHTER THIRD WHITE
HOUSE BRIDE IN PRESIDENT'S FAMILY
f Vv lTrV. Ji
1 flfo, ; 1
Margaret Wilson, lank (jiinptoii and
Miss manignrot WIlRon, whose engagement to Frank K. Compton,
head of a Chicago publishing firm, Is being rumored wll lbe the third ot
President Wilson's throe daughters to bo married In the white house. Sho
is the oldest. Miss Joss'.o Wilson, second daughter, wus'mnrrlod to Fran
cis Say re In 1913 und tho youngset daughter, 'Miss Kloarnor 'WIlBon, was
married to William G. McAdoo, socrotury'of the treasury In 19M. Conip
ton Is 42, and a widower with a U-year-old son and un adopted daughter.
REVOLT
E
BERLIN, March 17. Tho German
papers still hesitate to discuss at
length Russian developments, due to
the confusion of the reports of the
progress of events. Tho Vorwaerts,
the 'socialist organ, Is the only paper
to go Into details in the expresipu of
Its views. The Vorwaerts says:
"This revolution is not, as might
first appear, tho rebellion of a peo
ple who want peace agutnst a warlike
government. It is truo that hunger
an dwur tried, crowda In tho labor
portions of St. Petersburg- played a
decisive role, but they wore only a
pawn. Their dissatisfaction was us
ed by political leaders who are any
thing but pacifists nor Is the revolu
tion one of landless men, but a revolt
of national super-patriots and Rus
sian liberals like Milukoff and Uod-
zianko.
"This war party has crowded czar
Ism into a corner but tho latter dem
onstrated Its incapacity to carry tho
war into a victory for Russia. There
are only two possibilities of success
to the Russian liberals: one is a great
victory over Germany and the fulfill
ment of all pan-Slavic desires of con
quest; tho other is the hurried con
clusion of an honoratilo peace. Re
tween these the new Russian govern
ment must choose.'
WHITE STAR LINER
NEW YOI1K, March 17. Two at
tempts were n-nde to sink tho White
Star lino nnsBeugcr steamer Lapland
on her last outward voyage from this
port beginning February 14, accoid
Ing to officers of the ship which ar
rived here today from Liverpool.
Tho first attempt occurred Just oft
the Irish coast whore a submarine
appeared in the ship's path and was
sunk by a patrol boat. The second
attempt, a few hours later, was near
the mouth of the Mersey river when
a torpedo was observed passing the
Lapland's bows.
tho (.ompton Homo at (Iniieoe. III.
LITTLE DAMAGE
MADE ON LONDON
LONDON, Mnn-h 17 The air raid
last night wns the first visit of Zep
pelins in many mouths nnd it seemed
to hnve been expeided as it failed to
cause any -excitement, even among
the home-going theater goers. The
raiders were favored by a dark and
moonless mjjil.
io luruuT omeiiii information on
the raid in addition to Inst night's
brief report has yet been issued.
The raid was Hie J'irst that has
taken place since November. Twenty-
seven bombs are reported to have
been dropped in rural districts.
The foregoing dispatch indicates
that London was attacked by Zeppe
lins. At hull' past twelve last night.
an official eoinmiinicatiou was issued
in London stating that an air raid hud
taken place over the southeastern
counties of Knlaml arid was still in
progress.
RETURN TO POSTS
WASHINGTON, March 17 Amei
can consult) r of icers, withdrawn from
Mexico ninny inonllu au'o when th
border situation' was acute, have beei
ordered back to their districts, th
slate department airinunced todaj
Koi the present the poiicy of denyin;
nassnorts to Americam wisbin
return to Mexico will be eonliniifd,
change being contemplated until t
consuls have reported on conditio?
In the meantime Aincrii-aus are 11
vised by the slate department n,t
return to Mexico.
John if. Siliimau will return
Guadalajara, his old pit; Thorn
Dickinson goes to San Luis I'otosi,
vice consul- Kando n h Robertson
Monterey as vice consul: Thomas
Mowmnn to Front era as consul a
William K. Chapman to Ma.atlan
consul.
BAPAUME :
CAPTURED
BY BRITISH
Center of German Defense on Ancre
River Front Falls Achiet-le-Petlt '
and Le TransUiy Also Taken
German Retreat on Large ' Scale
Forecasted French Advance 3
Miles on 1 3-Mile Front Between the
Avre and the Olse.
LONDON, March 17. Bupaumo,
Iho center of the German defenses on .
tho Ancro front, fell into British
bands this morning. Simultaneously
Aohiet-lo-Petit, to the northwest of
Hupuuino and l.o Transloy, a town
almost the same distance to tho
southwest 'wove, according to press
dispatches from tinny headquarters,
entered by British troops.
Town Set on Fire.
Bupanme was set on firo by the
Germans before their . departure,
which only occurred nftor stiff fight
ing. Tho full of Biipnumo had been
unlicipaled for some time and the
rupture .of Achiet-le-Pelit and Lo
Trunsloy were looked upon lis) a ,
necessary conseipienco of that event,
Tho British public, however, hardly,
hnd hoped for such a nuiuk result of
the continued British pressure foMown
ing tlm (lennnii retirement as it wns
believed the Germans would ' make
stubborn resistance on Bapimtiio ridge
so as to enable tlidm to retire' 'front '
(he Arras salient which now becomes '
more pronounceil tlinn ever.' '
Apparently tho' 'British, following';
up tho advantage gained in the re
cent operations, prevented this boing
dono nnd ns n result n Gennnn re
treat on a much larger sealo-is ex
pected by military writers.
Facing Disaster.
(Mails of the operations with the
number of prisoners and the amount
of booly lalion are nnxiously awaited
as Ibis will dispose of the question
whether the Gcrmiiiis nro making a
"stralcgic retirement," or us the Brit
ish writers contend, they are being
driven from their positions by British
gunl' iro and the never-ending pres- '
sure of the infantry. - ; . .
II is believed here the new advance
of the British brings the Gormnns on
the western front almost to tho edge
of disaster for the retirements from
tho Arras salient and from tliio posi
tion si.iilh of l'eronnc with tho Brit
ish in eonl nil of so many of tho main
muds will bo fur from un easy opera
tion. French Advance.
l'AUIS, March 17. French troops
advanced last ii'urht north nP l,
Avre and between the Avre arid the
Disc, ninkiug progress over a front of
twenty kilometers (13 miles) nnd to a
depth at sonio points of four HI.,
meters (2'i miles) the war office
announced today. Spirited fighting
is in progress along the entire French
line. .
On Macedonian, Front.
DF.liUX, March 17. On the Mace
donian front the nltnck recently bo-'
gun by the French still is in progress,
says todpy's army report. The stato.
nicnt follows:
"XArth of Monnslir new ougago
rneuls are going on. A British bat
lalion occupied tho rnilronfl station
ot Poroy situated beforo our protect,
ing lines east of Doiran lake."
U-BOAT THREATS
TRADE
WASHINGTON, March 17-Ame.U0
can foreign trndo decreased approxi
mately $100,000,000 during Fchru-'
ury, tho first month of Germany's
unrestricted submnrino warfare. In
n statement issued today tho depart
ment of commerce gives the deereuxe
in exports nt $147,0.TJ,(ir,9 nl tho
decrciiSQ in imports $12,230,073.