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WIRE DISPATCHES
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CIRCULATION IS
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4
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THIRTY-EIGHTH YEAR
SALEM, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 19 16
PRICE TWO CENTS aafS
. 4 !
if m : il Umwirifjf
it ill tr i n n i t r
N
CAPTURED
Erzerum, Principal City of Armenia, With G son of
160,000 About to Fall Into Russian Hands Sur-
render Would Pave Way for Slavs Advance i I Might
Compel Turkey to Sue for Separate Peace- a gland
! ; Prepares for Long Drawn Out War
Russians Capture the City.
London, Feb. 16. After unconfirmed reports
had chronicled the fall of Erzerum, Turkish Ar-
menia, into Russian hands, later Petrograd reports
this afternoon said the capture of the city was
confirmed.
;
Petrograd, Feb. 16. Erzerum, principal city of Turk
ish Armenia, is threatened with capture by Slav troops
under Grand Duke Nicholas.
Already, according to official announcement today,
nine forts of the city have been taken by storm. With
fixed bayonets, the Russians dashed up the mountain
sides in zero weather and under an intense hre from the
.defenders. The struggle at the forts, however, was com
paratively brief.
To wrest the remaining forts from the defenders,
however, is a more severe task, for artillery guards them
while a Turkish garrison of 160,000 is reported to be in
side the walls of the city.
The fall of the city will pave the way for the Grand
Duke's spring advance through Armenia, and may per
haps force Turkey to sue for a separate peace.
Erzerum is one of the most strongly fortified cities
in the East. Hence even the niost optimistic authorities
do not expect its surrender until several weeks of artil
lery and infantry attacks have broken the spirit of its
defenders.
The city has a population of 40,000, many of whom,
are engaged in lucrative trade, though this in modern
times has rather depreciated. Erzerum lies at the end of
a valley on a high plain, with a huge stone wall and mod
ern forts gurding it. It was built by the Turks three cen
turies ago.
London, Feb. 1(1. England is non
pitting her whole soul into the war.
Announcement today of issuance of
two new orders in council preceded an
intimation from the government that
the nation has decided on a series of
nggressive measures designed for a
more vigorous prosecution of the war.
At the same time, officials recalled that
the king's message yesterday advocat
ed unlimited efforts to make the war a
mice ess.
The orders ?ave the eovernment con
trol of practically nil merchantmen af-1
ter February, and at the same time laid j
a linn on importation of materials forj
making papers, upon tobacco, furniture;
woods, hard woods, veneers and slate.
Issuance of these decrees followed
the statement of Premier Asquith to
parliament that England is preparing to
exert her mnximum war strength and
therefore is investigating her financial
and industrial reserves, ns well as en
forcing the conscription measures.
lie pointed out at the same time that
the financial drain is enormous but he
asserted his faith in England's ability
ami readiness to go to any proper length
to gain victory.
Allies Renew Pledges.
Havre. France, Feb. 10. The allies
have formally renewed their solemn
; khz Martin J!
!
I'd
jet as leave eat a croquet ball
mil
if
s a hand-me-down dougimut. What Niuth American soldier of fortune who
tiei-onie o' th" ole f ihioac 1 girl who' was broke peddled hira to the city for
us afraid th' powder would ahowf j$13. I
URKISH FORTS
BY RUSSIANS
pledge not to arrange a peace until the
political and economic independence of
Belgium lias been re-established.
Entente diplomats went to the Bel
gian foreign office in a body, and pre
sented a joint message, making such a
decree, presumably as a direct answer
to recent reports of peace offers to
Belgium.
Mrs. Farwell Safe.
Salonika, Feb. Hi Bulgaria today no
tified the American consul here that
Mrs. Walter Farwell, wife of a Chicago
newspaper man, and Dr. Harry Forbes
of Boston, a Red Cross man, had been
released from Monastir and were pro
ceeding to Switzerland. The pair had
been practically prisoners shite trouble
with authorities since Monastir over the
latter 's efforts to obtain Red Cross re
lief supplies for military use.
Austrian Steamer Sunk.
London, Feb. l(i The ton form
er Austrian steamer Tergestca has been
sunk off the east coast of England.
Her crew landed. It is believed she had
been captured by the British and im
pressed into government service.
Rain Stops the Fighting.
London, 'Feb. 1(5. Stormv, rainv
! weather put a stop last night to the
appalling artillery tire along the west
ern front, though furious infantry at
tacks were made around Vpres and in
the Champagne without important re
sults. The Berlin official statement de
:y,uz; 'rzr"Z'7 v."" :" :
rn, I. 1'Tl.a l.'....i:..l. .1. - .
... ., v HJiiinr
southeast of Ypres but were repulsed
and we took 10H prisoners.
"In the Champagne the French again
tried to recapture positions northwest
of Tahure, but their attempts failed.-'
The l'aris war office did not claim
any important activity in this new
struggle.
As for the eastern front, tiie Berlin
statement said that deep snow had pre
vented fighting there.
4
Rumor Says City Falls,
London, Feb. Hi. I'nconfirmed re
ports from 1'etrograd today said that
hrzerum, Turkish Armenia, had fallen
before the attack of Grand iHike Nich
olas' Russian forces.
PORTLAND HAS A KINKAJOTT
Portland. Ore.. Feb. 1(1. A perfertlv
! docile kinkajou is today getting ac
quainted with the othr animals in
Washington 1'ark Zoo. lie combines
some of the characteristics of the ra'-
son the antentcr and the opposum. A
TURKS STILL WORRY BRITISH FORCES
I. .
L R'Wlfe J BATTLE NOV. 221e ISIS. TURKS ll th
Mj&,.0 $)'CT,l?,ltf$' I TURKISH REINFORKMENTS R. S t
MaJlUUiie Ml ;j TO RETREAT TO KUT-EL-AMARA P2 -i y, V 1
HELMi8ABYL0N(RlllNS) Muia'&0wa''1 GENERAL AYLMtRS FORCE '
1 H ,,7,W,XTrU PS, EROM ALIGHERBI DEFEATS .
ffma T mUa 1' iTVL SHEIKH SAAD j , :V
Of J JmamJTamxar JSllll4jKl2Cf SHEIKH SAAD. ' 7. J' ' - )
M. fhv I BRITISH FORCES I lXFOcuFiba?ar
c45fcJ Mk" J Vj HC"-ING T0WN I SKiUelBai Llrrum,jfllSherffi ( jji'
xMap showing country
Bagdad!
J
LAID Iti IIS Ci
Barnes Whom Teddy
Called the "Boss" Con
trolled Committee
HAD 36 VOTES AGAINST
EIGHT FOR WHITMAN
Chaimcey Depew Sang Roots
Praises, But His Voice Has
Lost Its Charm
New York, Feb, 1G. Former United
States Senator Klihu Root was today
denied the endorsement of New York
state republicans for tho presidential
nomination, in the report of the resolu
tions committee at the state conven
tion. William Barnes, of Albanj, whom
Roosevelt termed "boss" of the party
in New York state, -was victorious in
the preliminary engagement With Gov
ernor Whitman's supporters at the op
ening of the session thiB forenoon for,
by a vote of 2(i to 8, the resolutions
committee refused to include indorse
ment of Whitman in a resolution con
cerning national questions. However,
such indorsement will bo reported sep
arately. Root 'a supporters sought to force his
endorsement, though it is reported Root
did not approve. While the committee
was rejecting Root after a fight,
Cliauncoy Depew waa lauding him to
the convention as tho "greatest Amer
ican statesman."
After the committee had acted, Nich
olas Murray Butler explained:
"The committee discussed the wis
dom of commending Root to the repub
licans as a most fit candidate. There
was a complete agreement on Root's
political fitness, but in view of differ
ences of opinion, regarding the wisdom
of pressing a resolution of this nature,
and since he himself desired no such
action, no action was taken by the com
mittee." It is the general opinion that the
resolutions committee put the quietus
on the Root presidential fcoom.
Killed His Wife and
Embalmed the Body
New Yor, Feb. 10. After having
confessed that he had killed his wife
because she scolded, had embalmed her
body, forged a death certificate and
buried her, Harry Schroeffel, an under
taker, will be formally charged with
murder today.
He was arrested last night while at
tending a banquet, after police had re
ceived an annoymous letter tellinj of
screams from the Schroeffel home on
tho murder night.
At the police utation, Schroeffel re
vtaled the tragedy saying he had hi
hand over the womnn's mouth and his
arm around her neck during an argu
ment. In this position he held her un
til che fell to the floor.
Then he went to bed calmly, ami!
slept soundly. I he next morning he said,
he found that the woman was dead and
that rigor mortis had set in. There
upon ho embalmed her and buried her.
ROOFS BOD M LET
GIVEN PAREGORIC
through which English advanced to
SujSZ 'LIT
CENSURE DEMOCRATIC
FOREIGN POLICY TO BE
REPUBLICAN WAR CRY
New York, Feb. Hi Unmeasured cen
sure of the democratic foreign policy
coupled with criticism of its economic
ideas, will be the republican conserva
tives' battle cry in the coming cam
paign. Itiis fact was admitted by republican
leaders when they reconvened for their
state convention af'ter hearing ex-Senator
FJihu Root ,as temporary chairman
sound such a slogan last night.
"No flag Is dishonored and no citi
zenship so little worth tho claiming in
Mexico an ours," he declared after sug
gesting armed intervention should huvc
been used to force Mexican respect.
Of the policy toward Kurope, he said:
"Our diplomacy has lost its author
ity and influence because we have been
brave in words and irresolute in action.
We have been blindly stumb
ling'along the road that, continued, will
lead to inevitable war."
MYSTERIOUS FIRES
Two ships burned in Brooklyn
and pier near them ignited with
loss estimated at $4,000,00(1.
l'.oml) plot suspected.
Fire starting from explosion
in basement of a Kail River,
M issachusetts, store did $1,U0,
Ooo estimated damage.
Small fire, apparently incen
diary, found near laboratory in
Chicago, wiiere poison of a sus
pected anarchist plotter were
being analyzed.
Tire destroyed American club
at Toronto. iStirted with an ex
plosion on top floor.
Mysterious fire on the oil
cake laden Veendyk of the Holland-American
line extinguished
late last nifht, after she put
back from sea.
Unaccountable blaze did over
$100,1100 damage on sugar-laden
steimer Daltiu at Philadelphia,
before she was due to sail for
Kugland.
:( y,;
Several Factors Cause
Depression In Stock
(Copyright it'll! by the New York liv
ening Post.)
New York, Feb. 10. The stock mar
ket as a whole moved more or less ir
regularly today. Prices of industrial
ami railway stuck declined during the
early hours, but recovered partly be
fore the close, though the final trading
was unsettled.
F.x-Senator Root's speech to the re
publican state convention lust night and
the fall of certain stocks were regard
ed as explaining the existing decline of
stocks, and perhaps these factors helped
it to continue. The budget speech of
the finance minister to the Canadian
legislature yesterday, proposing to tax
most businesses one-fourth of their net
profits over seven per cent caused a
slinrp break in Canadian railway and
mining stocks.
BOBBER tTP-TO DATE
Portland, Ore., Feb. 10. Somewhere 1
in Portland there's a gentlemanly high-!
wuyman who believes in seuding forj
his victims instead of faring forth to'
meet them.
Last night he called up John George,
jitney driver, and asked him to come to
a certain corner at a certain hour. .
(irore kept the appointment and was'
promptly hold up. i
IN MESOPOTAMIA
SCALC OF MlLCS
10 20 30 40
gates of Bagdad.
1!Z 1 a"f nt
At the same time lie criticised the
administration for failing to have al
ready provided proper preparedness for
such an outcome.
The fact that the United States did
not protest against violation of Belgian
neutrality was excoriated. Boot de
dared the democratic auministrntiou a
failure becauso of the president's tera
pernment ami the fact that he tried to
govern "with a club."
Restoration of the republican .-party
to power, ho said,' would result in
"moderate but adequate" protection to
American industry; a "frank and fear
less and honest" dealing in diplomatic
affairs; and "adequate preparation by
the American people for their own de
fense." Republican leaders are preparing to
send copies of the Root speech to voters
as a campaign document.
This So Far As Germany Is
Concerned-Wilson Awaits
Arrival of House
Washington, Feb. 10. Germany's lat
est proposal in the I.usitnnia case was
presented today to Secretary of State
j 1. arising Dy (icrman Ambassador on
Bernstorff. Its acceptance or rejection
I is now up to President Wilson.
After their brief conference, ncith
I er Lansing nor the envoy would dis
! cuss the situation, but it was unde
rstood that in the event of a final aet-
i tloment, at which the proposal is aimed
the department will not announce it
until Von Bernstorft has cabled Herlin
concerning it.
That the latest memorandum is satis
factory was intimated nt the depart
ment, and unless tho Whito House asks
a change, the ease will be closed by
making today's communication a form
al answer to the lust American I.usitnn
ia note.
The final attitude of the government,
however, is not likely to be determined
until the president's personal envoy,
Colonel House, returns from Kurope, it
was intimated today. He is now obtain
ing the London view, and has already
learned the purpose and reasons of Ger
many from conversations with Herlin
officials.
He will not arrive before March 1.
hence the situation nrrnrently will
hung fire at least until that time.
Beyond acknowledging the decree, of
ficial said that no further cognizance
of the Teutonic plnns will be taken
until after the allies announce their
position in the matter. Moreover, there
will be no protest against the decree
until a-concrete case involving Amer
ica arises. German v, it is believed, wil'
apply the new order largely to ships
plying off the trails-Atlantic routes, and
hence the rhnnces of complications wit'
the T'nited States are regarded as re
mote. The German I.usitnnia note wi" '
made public Friday. Clmirman Stone
postponed today n meeting of the sen
ate foreign committee. The Sterling
resolution protesting ngainst any recog
nition of the new decree will be pigeon-
' ' 1
(Continued on ?ag Two.)
FOUR BIG BLAZES ARE
DIE 10 INCENDIARIES
One Starts From Explosion In Hold of Steamship, Being
Loaded With Gasoline and Other Inflammables-Two
Steamships and Pier Burned-Damage Above $4,000,
000 Fall River Has $1,500,000 Blaze-Attempt Made
to Burn Chicago City Hall, and Evidence in Poison Case
New York, Feb. 16. Fed by inflammable oils, parafine
and gasoline, the steamships Bolton Castle and Pacific
were destroyed early today by fire which spread to the
Brooklyn pier 36 between them. The flames at dawn
were still eating through this structure while ice coated
firemen coped with them.
Four million dollars damage was -done, but it was
learned authoritatively that there was no casualties. It
had been feared earlier that some men from the two ves
sels had perished. This fear was dissipated, however,
when 50 naked men were rescued from a sand barge.
Authorities set to work today on the theory that the
fire was due to a bomb plot. Members of the crew were
gathered for examination, but little information was
forthcoming.
The fire, the worst the Brooklyn waterfront has
known in years, started soon after 1 o'clock. Billows of
flame and smoke rolled above the doomed vessels as the
inflammable material took fire. For a time the fire
seemed uncontrollable. Soon it spread to the pier, while
all available firemen and fireboats in the Brooklyn service
were called into action.
The bomb theory was strengthened by the story of
Joseph Johnson, engineer of the Bolton Castle. He told
of hearing a heavy explosion in the hold while walking
on the forward deck. Instantly the ship became a fur
nace, and the flames quickly spread to the freight-strewn
pier. Johnson leaped overboard and swam to safety.
Tho steamer Bcllagio, near the oil
ships wns ignited, but was saved after
a hard fight. A score of lighters along
the pier were damaged, too.
Firemen rescued the captain of the
Castle and his wife, after they and
some coolies hud jumped o'rbonrd.
Twenty-five coolies from the Pacific
were missing, along with six sailors
from the Castle, but they apparently
fled home.
While the fire wns at its worst, a
fire boat crew, at risk of their own
lives, drew their vessel alongside the
Pacific and towed away a gasoline
laden lighter, on which sparks were
already falling.
Another heroic act was the rescue
over a rope bridge by firemen of more
than 50 stevedores and their families
sleeping on six lighters near the burn
ing vessels.
A number of men jumped overboard
and swam to safety from the scows
and lighters surrounding tho two ships.
A few smaller vessels were ignited.
The Pacific was a 2,021 ton vessel
of the Castle line, while the Bolton Cas
tle was a 3,lisi) ton ship of the same
line. Both are Knglish but had been
engaged in the Russian service recently-One
explanation of the cause of the
fire was that a short circuit at the dock
company's office was responsible and
that the flames swept along the 700
foot pier, setting fi. to tho steamers
while the crew were asleep.
Official also had under investigation
today a strange fire on the oil cake
laden Holland-American liner vcemiyKC
which put back into port yesterday aft
er hcndinir for Rotterdam. This blaze
was controlled after many hours' of
work.
Another Suspicious Fire.
Toronto, Out., Feb. 10. One man is
dead today nnil two are seriously hurt
as the result of a fire, supposedly in
cendiary, that destroyed the American
club here.
P. I. Hurston, of Dallas, Texas, a
guest of the club, perished, when lie
was umiblc to escape from his room,
while the caretaker and paymaster, A.
R. Mainard, of the American legion,
were badly hurt.
An explosion preceding the fire
shook the whole building, and authori
ties are convinced thnt this was the
work of an incendiary. The loss is
placed at $30,000.
Fire on Bugar Steamer.
Philadelphia, F"b. 10. Authorities
were puzzled today to account for the
mysterious fire that did over $100,000
damage in the hold of the sugnr lnden
steamer Itnlton here last night. She I
was bound for Lnglnnd. . .
Entire Square Burned.
Fall River, Mass., Feb. 10. After an
all night fight against a $1,500,000
fire, the combined apparatus or the
New Bedford, Taunton and Newport de
partments checked it early today.
Starting with an explosion in trie
basement of the Nteiger department
store, the fire burned over an entire
square, including the Lenox hotel, and
just missed the city hall and St, Mary's
cathedral.
A shift in tho wind for a time threat
ened tho congested tenement district
whore many textile workers dwell, but
quick work prevented the spread of the
flames to thnt quarter.
Guests of the Lenox hotel ran out
into the snow in their night clothes,
while hundreds of frightened mill
hands deserted their homes after throw
ing furnittiro out into heaps.
An unconfirmed report was that
fireman had been electrocuted.
The cathedral withstood a shower of
sparks, because of its granite wall
and slate roof.
Tire Suggests Crones Gang.
Chicago, Feb. 10. A mysterious, and
evidently incendiary fire, early today
caused slight loss iu tho city hull near
the laboratory in which poisons be
longing to Jetm Crones, supposed "pois
on banquet" plotter wero being analy
sed. - A quart bottlo of oil was found in a
cloak room on the seventh floor, and
flames wero curling up the walls when
Dr. R. M. Phillips arriving early at the
laboratory, discovered tho blaze. Fire
men soon checked it, however.
Tho fire was regarded as more sig
nificant because maps nhowing the
floor plans of the city hull and federal
building were among Crones' effect
found after he disappeared following
the poison attempt on the lives of
Archbishop Mundelein, Governor Dunna
and others at a banquet last week.
Tho search for Crones has produced!
scores of letters, the police say, indi
cating plots in many cities.
"Anarchistic activity in tho lni'-
Htates has doubled recently," said De
tective Captain Hunt today. "We
have known it and have been on our
guard."
Arrests in New York, Milwaukee anil
Piqua, 111., have resulted from th,e ef
fort, of authorities to round up friends)
of Crones. It is believed, however, that
Crones himself is still hiding in Chi
cago. Lota of Anarchist Stuff.
Chicago, IVh. . 0. Destruction of thu
city hall by fire, along with evidence
in tho "poison banquet" case, wa
sought by anarchists today, the polica
believe. This view was given after in
vestigation of the strange fire near the.
(Continued on nage two)
iiiii iiLiiiiun
Oregon: Generally
fair tonight and,
Thursday variabl
winds,' and mostly
southerly.