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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 26, 1922)
Mebforb Mai Tr The Weather IBUNE Weather Year Ago Maximum . 35 Minimum 29 Precipitation ...31 Prediction ..........Rain Pally Seventeenth Tear. MEDFORD.OIiWiOX, TUESDAY, DKCEMDER 2(5, 1922 NO. 2:55 fVeuKly ! lily-second near. I SAW NIGHT RIDERS WHEN TIMinRllIK ti uuiinummi Farmer 'Recognized Members : ;of Masked Band When They Lifted Masks to Drink From Water Bucket He Was Told to Get Them Witnesses Heavily Guarded. ' BALTJMOIUK, Dec. 30. Tho Baltimore police department re ceived a, telegram from Gover nor 1'iu-ker of Louisluiui re (putting Uto arrest of Dr. 11. M. McKoln, foimcr mnyor of Mer Ilouto, La., on a charge of limr iler. Two headquarters detect lvw Willi u' warrant started at onco for Johns Hopkins hospital to arrest Dr. McKoln. BALTIMORE, Dec. 26. Dr. IJ. M. McKoln, former mayor of Mer Kouge, La., who Is wanted by the Louisiana authorities for interroga tion concerning the Morehouse par ish kldnaplngs, is attached to the Drady urologlcal clinic at the Johns Hopkins hospital. He said to day that he knew nothing about the kidnaping case and could givo the authorities no information concern ing it. For this reason, he added, he had not yet made up his mind whether ;he would return to Louisi ana... Later Dr. McKoin said he had de cided to return to Louisiana and would leave here tomorrow. He sal(i' that while ho - knew nothing' about the case, he would answer any questions. " . 1 BASTROP, La.; Dee. 20. (By Asso ciated Pfess). The state will -be able to establish the Identity of - several members of the masked mob which last August kidnaped five Mer Rouge residents, including Watt Daniels and Thomas Richards, whose bodies were found last week, investigators who have been working on the case for several months said today. The investigation will be made, the secret service men said through test! mony at the opening hearings ordered by Governor John M. Parker to begin here January 5, , of a farmer whose home is near Oak Ridge, Morehouse parish. They said he told them he witnessed the capture and spiriting away of the quintet and recognized some of the abductors. ':. The farmer, according to the invest! gators, was held up by the band on the Mer Rogue-Bastrop highway the night of the kidnaping -and commanded to go to a nearby ranch and get a bucket of water. When he returned he is said to have declared that he recognized several members of the band when they raised their masks to drink from the bucket. .The investigators declined to dis close the present whereabouts of the farmer, but it was intimated he was somewhere in Mississippi under the protection of a government officer. It was stated that he would be produced when wanted. Plans for the open hearing will be formulated at a conference in' New Orleans next Thursday of those con ducting' the inquiry. The coroner's inquest over the bodies of Daniels if nil Richards and tho report of the New Orleans pathologists who conducted the autopsy will be discussed. " A report that the farmer who gave his name as Berry Whetstone, was being secreted in Baton Rouge, along with another important state witness, could not be verified from Baton Rogue today. Another witness Is reported as hav ing been removed to Texas to await the hearing. Those acquainted .with (Continued on Page slx.J CHINESE BIBLE PEKING, Dec. 2. (Correspondence of Associated Press). China's capital Is now guarded by many soldiers who are credited with reading the bible or with hearing lessons from it. General Feng YuHsiag, known as the Christian general, who with his troops recently moved from Honan province to take over the guarding of Peking, an nounces that about twenty per cent of his soldiers have professed Christian ity. Ai General Feng hng about 30.000 men In bis command, It Is estimated Every Drunkard in . Des Moines, la., to Have Picture Taken DES MOINES, la., Dec. 26. John 1). Hammond, chief of police announced today that every drun- ken man who is brought into police headquarters will have his picture taken. When the often- S dor has become sober again he will bo presontod with a picture J- of hlniHelf so that ho may know how he looked when taken to the jail. Hammond hopes the picture "cure" will be a potent weapon against drunkenness. Eighty intoxicated men spent 4- Christmas eve in the city Jail. MURDERS THREE Ghastly Tragedy Enacted in Seattle Home By Rejected Suitor Baby With Dolls in Arms, Shot Thru Head- Parents Escape- SEATTLE, Dec. 26. Tho coroner's office here was seeking this morning to learn something of the history of Emil Neurlter, a ferryboat operator, who yesterday Invaded the home of D. C. Engel, a woodworker, and slew three of Engel's children and himself. ' The only light shed upon the holiday tragedy was given by Helen Engel, 16 year old sister of the victims of the tragedy who said the slayer had made love to her last spring, had shot at her when she repelled his advances and had afterward written letters threat ening to kill her and her family. Funeral arrangements were being made for the three Engel children, Anno, 17, who was shot in the. heart when she sprang to the defense of the family after Neurlter had forced her father with two leveled revolvers to admit him to the house; Lillie, three, who received a bullet in her forehead as she stood on a chair with two dolls In her arms while her parents ran out of the front door, and Hans, 14, who was slain in his bedroom, where Neuriter shot himself in tho chest. The surviving members of the fam ily are the parents, Helen, and a brother, Ernest, 15, who escaped with Helen through a window after Neu rlter had announced his intention to kill Helen "and you all." . It has been learned that Neurlter worked in Seattle shipyards during the war and that last summer he oper ated a ferryboat on Puget Sound from Bremerton to Manlette, Wash. His recent address has not been ascertain ed, nor has the coroner found "William Carroll," who wrote a note to Neurlter telling him hpw to reach the home of the Engels in this city, the family hav ing lived on Bainbridge island, four miles from here, when Neurlter mado Helen's acquaintance by taking the children boat riding. SAX FRANCISCO, Dec. 26. The California ..and ..Hawaiian ..refinery and the Western refinery announced a 10-cent drop a hundred pounds in the price of refined cane sugar, $7.40 effective today. A cut of 10 cents a hundred" pounds In refined beet sugar to $7.20 was announced by the Sprcckles Sugar company, alse ef fective today. GUARDING PFKIN TO JUSTIFY KILLING : I that about 8000 of them are somewhat familiar with the bible. The general asserts he Is an ardent Christian and as such feels It is his duty to acquaint his followers regard Ing the scriptures. During the fighting with Chang Tso Lin last spring. General Feng, ns n supporter of Wu Pel Fu, ordered his men to show no quarter to the enemy and ho quoted the blblo to Justify his stand. Shortly after General Feng left Honan a few weeks ago the bandits became active In kidnaping mission aries. LIT E CHILDREN CHRISTMAS DAY Santa Didn't Bring . I :il' i ! ! '. i i. WW. i,i - si i! 'Mtj ft J Y I 11 4 HOB ,H PHILADELPHIA l'lUS ; 1 fH M aSA . clover. C pr??,WL . PHTLADELP.HIA It was n sad, sad Cln-lstmns for Mrs. Emma C. Dergdoll, nintlier of America's two most prominent draft dodjrer.s.- FJoth the sons alio so industriously proserved from the riK'rs of army llf-o were con spicuously absent from the family fireside Christmas day. A pardon has beon asked for Erwin C. JlerRdoll. now serving a four-year term in Fort Leavenworth for evading tho draft, but It Is not likely to bo granted. When the news pot 'round that ".Mama" Mergdol had ordered turkey with cranberry snueo and set a plate for Erwin nt tho coming Christinas dinner. District, Attorney roles got busy. Ho had a bench warrant, issued for Bergdoll's arrest on chances pending since lii20, which will bo served on him tho minute he's freed and he'll he "clapped right back in Jail. ' Orovcr Bergdoll, tho other son, is "somewhero In Germany." He escaped- from officers while en route to servo a prison term for the same offense. TEN COWS AND 1 BULL BURNED Ten cows and one bull 'were burned to death last Saturday night in the barn on the George B. Young ranch in the Orchard Home district. The fire which destroyed the barn, cattle, farm implements and eight tons of hay in the barn started from an unknown cause and the alarm was sounded about 10:30 p. m. One horse which was'in .the burning: structure was saved but it was impossible to get the cattle out. The Mcdford fire department's chemical car went to the scene and the department saved the silo which was only two or three feet from the barn. . Seventy gallons of chemical I were used in squelching tho flames! as there Is no fire plug within strik ing distance of tho Young placo. Mr. Young estimates his loss at $2,000 exclusive of $600 Insurance which was cariod on the barn and contents. Eight tons of hay, tho cattle and implements were lost and the cattle wore not Insured. The prune dryer on the Young place burned Inst spring and al though the fire depnrtemnt was called nothing could be done as no water was available. Mr. Young Btates that he wishes to thank tho fire department for saving the silo from Saturday night's blazo and praises ; their work with the chemical. '' RICHMOND, Cnl., Dec. 20. A tr.an-who said ho Is Wlllam T. Price surrendered to the police here today and said he was wanted for the rob bery of the Bank of Hulbort, Chero kee county, Oklahoma. Ho said his brother, Charles, and a third man obtained $2,855 in the robbery. Price, the police snd, confessed his brothers, Charles and George, were killed attempting to rob a bank at Eureka Springs, Ark. UNIONTOWN, Pa , Dec. 26. Four men were killed during Christ mas colehratlons In the Fayetto-coun-ty oil fields. IN BARN FIRE 'Em Back! It Was r-v -. e urear vnnstmas tcr Mamma rsergdoll RECEIVE LETTER PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 26. Police and the district attorney's officers were faced with another puzzlo today in their InvestiKatlon of tho story of Mrs. .Helen Leary that a fifteen-year-old girl had been killed in tho boUHC boat of Cash Wolr, veteran river man, last September. The new de velopment canio in the shupo of an anonymous letter received by Chief of Police L. V. Jenkins stilting the writer was tho alrl who was in the houseboat, and that she had with hold her name because sho wnntod to spare her family publicity in con nection with the case. Chief Jenkins announced that It the writer of tho letter would com municate 'with him and arranKO for a meeting, ho would see that her name did not becomo public. Tho letter gave details of an altercation in the housebnut In which Mrs. Lenry clashed with Cash Weir and tho writer took Weir's part. Mrs. Leary was taken by officers today on n trip over tho Colum bia river highway to point out tho today oo a trip ovor tho lowet Coluin spot where sho snld Earl Weir, son of Cash, had told her the body of the al leged victim of the houseboat trag edy had been burled "under aton of rocks." Daily Report on the Crime Wave LOS ANGELES, Dec. 29. Burg lars carried away early today a res taurant safa 'weighing a thousand pounds, containing currency nnd ne gotiable papers valued at $1200. ' Shortly afterward in the same dis trict near tho Southern Pacific sta tion, the safe of a floral shop was blown open and $2,000 taken. Dog Aids IlnblK-r. Seattle, Dec. 26. Leon Nntoll told police that with the aid of a trained dog he had robbed more than 100 Seattle homes. The dog, ho said, stood watch outside the dwell ings while bo worked lnsldo. m mm MURDERED G RL ; mi, ' k ''!' i -n : i 11 DRY CHRISTMAS NEW YORK CITY 8 NEW YORK, Dec. 20; Eight deaths were attributed today to the drinking of poisonous liquor over Christmas. A score or more of vlc time were continod to hospitals. Of those who died, two were women. A woman was arested as tho seller of whiskey which caused the death Of ono of tho women. Prohibition Director E. W. Yellow loy, whose aides succeeded In keep ing tho white lights dimmer than usual, declared that whllo the dry navy wes busy In holding rum run ners outside tho threo mile limit, Innd rum runners succeded in an old ruse, smuggling liquor Into the city under thnusunds of Christmas trees. This liquor, however, apparently was reserved' for home consumption as little of it wus to be found In the whlto light cabarets. NEW YORK, Dee. 26. Whllo po lice recordH show that yesterday was the "driest" Christmas In New York's history, six donthshvere attributed by police to bootleg liquor. Autopsies were to be performed on tho bodies of the six five men nnd ono woman today. ' Threats of prohibition nulhorl'.les to make tho city as dry over tho holl dny as tho 18th amondrnnt contem plated for 'the whole year had Its ef fect as far an public drinking was concerned, police repnrted. For tho first tlmo within tho mem ory of oldest nttuches of the west fide court, not a defendant was brought to tho bar on a chnrte of Intoxication, BelleviKy hospltnl reported that only twelve peiuons nufforimr .from alcoholism were treated there yes terday. That Is the lowest .number for Christmas in tho Institution's his tory. BOSTON, Dec. 26. One man Is dead and more thnn SO persons are in hospitals today as a result of drinking liquor sold during the Christmas holiday. DETROIT, "Dec. 20. Poisonous liquor obtained over tho Christmas holidays was declared by tho police today to have been responsible for one deatlr and the Mines of more than a score of persons here. ONLY DEAD Force Bootleggers to View Dead Body Of Xmas Customer SHELBY, Ohio. Dec. 26. For five minutes Phillip Weiganotl and Les ter Elston stood at the bier of ltobort Longley today, sobs shaking their bodies. Wordless they guzed upon tho still form of Longley, who died yesterday after drinking "moon shine" they admitted they made. l'ojlce conducted Wolganott and Elston to the coffin and compelled them to gaze upon tho body ns a ' moral example." The two men are held on charges of murder. Two other men who drank some of the same liquor are totally blind today and little, hope of roeovory of their sight is held. Tho liquor is Bald to have contained wood alcohol. Republican Leaders Trying to Agree On Changes They Favor in Proposal for New Economies and Disarma ment Conference. WASHINGTON, Dec. 26. Senate republican leaders conferred to day in an effort to agree on what changes they will seek In tho pro posal of Senator Borah for an eco nomlu and disarmament conference. Tho proposal is embodied In . an amendment to the naval appropria tions bill which Is to como before hto senate- tomorrow. ' ' A large part of the republlenn membership and a large number of demourntn aro reported to.-be-agulnst tho Horah amendment In Its present form. The, views of President Hardr ing. Secretary Hughes and other ad ministration officials have been sought, . but thoso who have talked with them will not disclose tho opin ions expressed, , Senntor Lodge, was said to oppose the amendment ns it stands, although ho and other administration sup porters, it was said, might be willing to give their support If it were limited in scope, Thoso who want to sec the Inngiingc of the proposal changed, include Senators Curtis of Kansas, assistant republican leader, Smoot of Utah and Watson of lndinna. Most of tho republican lrroconsll ablo group wero said to bo against tho amendment as written . or any similar provision, likely, in their opin ion to result In European entangle ments. Senntor Smoot's view is that such a conforonco ns proposed by Senator Borah would be impractical. Europe's chief aim, frankly an nounced, is cancellation of her debts to America, said Senator Smoot, a member of the allied debt commis sion. . - "This tho American pcoplo will never consent to, Tho debt forgive ness question would bo the principal ono Europe would deslro to present. Its presentation ' or - consideration would be useless." A compromlso on tho form of tho amendment Is regard ed by the leaders as not Impossible since Senator Borah has expressed himself as willing to accept a change which would define the scopo of the conference. He believes, however, that President Harding, if ho should call such a conference, would pre scribe Its program. Tomorrow's debate is expected to bring forth some deflnlto proposals after tho senate has heard the views of Senators Lodge, Borah, Johnson of California, and others. Tho lead ers are endeavoring to bring about a party vote so as to dispose of tho navnl hill and resumo work on tho shipping bill, '. Baseball Veteran Dead PHILADELPHIA, Doc. 26. Weston D. Flsler, a noted baseball player of half a century ago, died in a local hospital yesterday. He was about 81 years, old and was born In Camden, N. J. SENATORBORAH'S CONFERENCE IS TOUGH PROBLEM UNITED STATES CELEBRATES WARMEST CHRISTMAS DAY IN ITS HISTORY CHICAOO, Deo. 26. Throughout the United States all previous authentic records for warm temperature for Christmas day were broken, according to reports available today. Santa Cluus returned to his mythical home in the cold north without experi encing zero weather in any part of the country. Tho highest reading yesterday was rocorded at Fort Worth, Texas, whero tho thermomoter registered 78 degrees. Kansas City, Mo., roportod a tempera 100 MILLION MEAT TRUST IS LAUNCHED Armour Lawyers Preparing Giant Combine in New Jersey Information Leaks Out Prematurely Morris & Co. to Be Absorbed Is Belief Information Refused. WILMINOTON, Del.. Dec. 20. The Corporation Trust company of America, it was learned here today, is preparing an ajplicntidn for a charter for tho Now Armour Meat Packing corporation. Some details of phraseology are yet to be decided upon and until application Is filed at tho Htato capltol at Dover, no in formation will be given out. , CHICAGO, Dec- 26. Attorneys hero are preparing the legal details for application in Delaware for a charter for n new $100,000,000 Ar mour and company corporation, term ed a subsidlnry of tho present Armour and company and which it was be lieved hero today was ono of the pre liminary steps to the purchase and absorption of Morris and company. Publicity to the plan was premature, according to attorneys Involved, since as yet' the application has not been completed nor filed in Dolaware. Vir-I tually tho only information made pihllc was that it was proposed that tho corporation would authorize $160,000,000 in capital stock, divided between $110,000,000 of . preferred stock and $50,000,000 of common stock, nltbougb it was expected that Only about $110,000,000 of tho stock would be issued. ' .. .. "Tho-: new. norporMloiii- wilt : -bo n"' subsidiary of the present Armour, andr company," said . Attorney Russell Piatt of tho firm which Is handling tho legal details of tho plans, j- - -. Mr. Piatt said tho. purpose of-tne'' new corporation, was to handle, cor- ,'J tain businesses of Armour and com-, pnny. but said ho could not go into', details and refused to discuss whether the purchase of Morris and company was Involved. He would say only thnt Moris nnd company had no con nection with the ne wcorporatlon. . News that application for a Dela ware charter for tho new company would bo made did not elicit any Im mediate stntement from Armour nnd company or .1. Ogden Armour, presi dent, who since tho first reports of tho proposed, purchase of Morris nnd company hns preserved slleni;o con cerning his plnns even while these plnns wero under eonpldoratlcm by government department heads : to whom Mr. Armour submitted them. Armour and company has an au thorized capital stock of $400,000,000 ' of which $100,000,000 Is preferred and tho balance evenly divided Into com mon Htock Issues, although only a small portion of the common stock ever was Issued. This capitalization , was authorized under ro-financlng in 1920. Morris nnd company has $30,000,-' 000 In common stock .and $10,000,000 in preferred Btnek. : While It Is understood thnt auditors have been at work in the offices of both companies, in efforts to reach . tho final figures as to the valuation of the physical .property involved in the proposed merger, nnd specula-; tion has put tho price on Morris and company at from $100,000,000 to $150,000,000 no announcement of the plans for financing or any detail of them has been made by cither of the packing companies. - ' WASHINGTON, Dot). 20. Published k reports that Secretnry Fall of the Interior department might soon resign from. the cabinet resulted In a state ment by White House spokesmen to day that President Harding had no Information about such a move. - It was Indicated In other quarters that the secretary himself probably would take notice of the reports and Issue a statement regarding them when he returns to Washington from a holiday viBlt in West Virginia.' ture only ten degrees lower, the' warm, est Christmas ever officially recorded there. Residents, of Chicago were given the hottest Christmas in years with tho mercury reaching 46 at five o'clock In the' afternoon. Exceptionally high temperatures prevailed over Illinois,. Missouri and Kansas. . In the northwest above zero temper atures maintained, i Pacific States roportod tomberatnres , from 42 degrees at Spokane to 61 at n Diego. . '