Prea ck, ,Hpffi; iPfactice ::SiJil" iy mm : Savings: Slinipi
, A 'yl , .;.2sh-. - - " - ' '. ' ' ' ' . out of the way. I
.--11-.'
vl 01;
VOL XXIV. NO
WILMIffTON, NORTH CAROLINA, WfiDNESdiV TERNOO JANUARY -1 6.U918.
PRICE FIVE CENTS
7tP
3 m
EM
State Department Publishes
Communications of Dam-
agmg
Character to
Caillaux
BERNSTORFF KEPT
i
BERLIN INFORMED
Former Premier's - Action
Shown m Message r rem
BernstorfF to German Fore
ign Onice Censorship on
Caillaux's Name
Washington, Jan. 16. Prom its
mysterious stock of intercepted diplo
matic communications the State-De
partment today published correspon
dence between Count von Bernstorff,
brmer German ambassador here and
the Berlin Foreign Office, showing
flat formsr Premeir Caillaux of
France was in communication with
Graan agents In Argentine In 1915.
The first Bernstorff . dispatch con
tained very damaging reference to
Caffiarc's references' to the- French
gorernment and warned -German
levspapers agaixist-pnUsii
oflier gave notice of the ship on which
Cafflanx was sailing from Argentine
and planned its capture! "by subma
rines. The capture of the ship, was sought
because her captain carried import
ant papers. The German - government
Ta9 asked to treat Caillaux with ev
ery courtesy and consideration if the
ship was taken.
Mowing is the text of the, mtwsage
sent by Bernstorff: . .
"Buenos Aires telegraphed the fol
lowing:
Caillaux has left Buenos Aires aft
er a short stay and is going direct to
France, evidently on account of the
(group undecipherable) scandal which
lie regards as a personal attack upon
timself. He speaks contemptuously
c! the President and tie rest " of tho
Tench government with the. excep
tion o! Briand. He sees through the
poiicy of England perfectly' "He does
cat anticipate the complete' overthrow
if France. He sees in the war now a
straggle for existence on the part of
gland. Although -he spoke much of
&e ''indiscretions and, clumsy- policy"
0 the Wnhel-mstrnnaA anil . rvrrvf ssd
to believe in German atrocities. He
N in essentials hardly changed . his
political orientation. -Caillaux wel
wmed indirect courtesies from me,
"at emphasized the extreme caution
Jfcich he is obliged to show, as the
"each government, he said, had him
etched even here. He warns us
a?ainst the excessive praise -bestowal
npon him by our papers, especial
ly the NueTrie Presse, and desired
n the other hand that the Mediter-
ean and Moror.cn agreements
would be adversely criticised . Our
praise injures his position in France.
imauxs receutirm hp.ro was cool.
Bi3
report about Brazil had nothint
On
reside in his own constituency;
fears Paris and the fate of Jau-
, "BERNSTORFF."
tiSl0tlier message which Von Bern-
wr had forwarded was from Ha
vaa as follows: - C -
,t Tol io de Janeiro, telegraphs
eamer Araguaya left Buenos Aires
ary 30- The captain is carrying
.f? papers. Capture very de-
'abl.e. Caillaux is on board. In
wL cai)ture Caillaux should in an
ecuS way be treated v with
u-tesy and considerations Can you
f0rm our cruisers?.. ., . . .:
!The
'BERNSTORFF.
mrniptinn A U -I .
lfi ir?-t0 tho German press on June
!,J517. follows: . . v
rem," t F?l5tic"1 reasons it is urgently
bout - that ntaing. be- written
bou
lormer French Prime Mm-
ier pint - vuv.
aotL .auz anl that his name, be
es rationed under any circumstano-
officii COfresPondence, - although -no
avaiiavanncuncement to that effect is
tae!jt 'e.' was ade public by arrage
Wch tlle French government
Co . aesired its exposure. Caillaux
tre,..! Waiting trial in France for
the Pp,nln revelations", developed" by
M TT M
ACTION IN CAELLAUX
E IS ENDORSEI
The Chamber of Deputies
Votes Approval of Govern-
ment s course
Jt-ans, .jan. it. Tne UHamber of
Deputies sustained the koverument's
action in the Caillaux case late yes
terday by a majority of 274 out of the
484 members. present.. The vote was
taken after the government had been
Interpellated by Ernest LaFont, a So
cialist Deputy, who held that the
opening of Caillaux's safe deposit box
in the absence of a representative of
the accused' was Illegal.
Premier Clemenceau was called
upon by the Socialist to reply.
Edouard Ignace, under secretary for
military Justice, however, answered
for the government, saying that the
case was in the hands of lhe Depart
ment of Justice and. was following the
usual course.
' After repeated calls, Premier Clem
enceau rose from the government
bench and said it was the Italian gov
eroment which had presided at the
haik, and France was obliged lo'Hsur
pose that all legal forms - had been
observed.
The Chamber then by a vote of 379
to. 105 gave precedence to a resolu
tion accepted by the - government
over a resolution introduced by - the
Socialists. The Socialist resolution
invited the government to observe le
gal forms and the principles of Jus
tice in the prosecution of the cases
being investigated. .
TAG-YOUR-SHOVEL DAY
fur
Twenty Million School Child
ren to Tag Coal Shovels
Jan. 30
Washington, Jan. ,15. As "Tag-Tour-Shovel-Day"
approaches a country-wide
interest in its observance is
shown by ; the Voluminous correspond
ence that is flowing into the Fuel-Administration
headquarters. Letters re
ceived from the fuel administrators In
the various States show that exten
sive plans are .being laid to spread
the idea of - conservation of fuel
throughout every nook and corner of
the country.
The' "Tag-Day," designated to . in
voke conservation of coal, is exactly
opposite in, character ta the idea as
worked in behalf of other enterprises.
Generally, the acquisition of a tag "in
volves an outlay of' money, whereas'
the present undertaking is designed to
save money to' all coal users.
The enlisting of the school children
in this work was a happy idea. To
set the children at work in popularis
ing an enterprise for the public wel
fare means tbat the task is well-nigh
accomplished at the starting point.
The drive will be made on January
30 next, when more than 20,000,000
school children will visit the millions
of cokl users and attach a tag to the
coal shovel, reminding the' user to
save whenever possible. Tbe least
economy pracicel steadily amounts to
a gigantic total when 100,000,000 peo
ple resort .to It. .
In Florida , an elaborate and, novel
program lias been designed. Thomas
A., Edison, Henry watterson, and Wil
liam Jennings' Bryai. air of whom have
winter homes in that State, have been
ted to serid their "home"' shovel to
Florida, to be tagged with; appropriate
ceremonies. Likewise they have been
asked to .write .tletters ' encouraging
oconbmy in the use of coal, the reading
of which letters will become a part of
the exerceofrthe'day..'X
(While ihet- general plans for 'the ob
BervanceTbf t the dayi are being: . direct
edcffom Fuel H Administration bfead
quarterseach' State and each commun
ity is perfecting Its celebration in 1
I'M
FOR
CONSERVING
-t A
Mm'-Wy)'' :.v. Ag.tfcr
Fighting machine, named after sunken liner, called "Avenger", and was photographed as it was making
its way through a ruined French village, to attack, Germans in - the offensive atNCambrai. , . r ... . '
PLANS FOR
To Cut Down Title Excunina
tion - Cost -Many, Loans
Negotiated
-.Washington, "Jan. 16. Plans for re
lieving borrowers under the. Federal
Farm Loan system of most, of the ex
pense of title examination were mode
today by. presidents of the 12 Farm
Land Banks in their first annual con
ference with the Federal Farm Loan
Board since organization last spring.
Arrangements probably will be made
by a few Eastern land banks with
surety companies to guarantee . titles
after limited examination and if the
experiment proves successful the sys
tem will be adopted by all banks.
The presidents also considered
plans for marketing their own farm
loan bonds, between $10,000,000 and
$12,000,000 of which must be disposed
of monthlv in the next. vnar. smrn
JmavTrdtirnr fh-rvricrh rTli7oto 1-rm4 : ilaaT.
ers has been abandoned. 1
Loans paid to farmers in-December
by the Federal Land banks amounted
to $9,309,000, the Federal Farm Loan
Board, .announced today.; The ' total
loans made 'to farmers upxto January
1 by. tbe 12 banks was $39,112,000, and
applications f or loans were v$243,622,
000, while loans approved were $121,-500,000..-
By banks, the"1 ;December
loan payments included: s 1
Houston, $972,000; , New. ' Orleans,
$612,000;' Louisville, ,$521,q00; Balti
more, $253,000; , and I Columbia, C,
$252,000. "
l &IYE AND TAKE
Agreement reached
London, Jan. -16. German, .newspapers-,-as
.quoted . In an Exchange
Telegraph dispatch from Amsterdam
say that as a result of conferences an
understanding; has been reached - between-the
Apolitical v and ' military par
ties in Germany i in order to avoid
further frictfonr The Lokal Anzeiger
of Berlin says the basis ;of the agree
ment is 'that Chancellor von Hertling'a
view point - in regard ' to -the Eastern
questions 'Cacouiesence in the Russian
program of no annexations or indem
nities and the right of self determina
tioh of peoples), is to, prevail, whereas
Field JTarshal von Hindenburg .y will
have full liberty- in the West in case
of a German victory to deal with any
possible annexations there.
Hill Carter Dead. .
Richmond, Va., Jan. 16. Hill Car
ter,.; s2 years, old, prominent Confeder
ate veteran, ' member ofthe last' con
stitutional convention," and one of the
best known : members of the legal pro I
fession; in Virginia, did last night at
12 o'clock in his home in Ashland, aft
er an : illness of several days of blood
poison which" resulted from an infect
ed abrasion on one of his limbs.
: '. ' v . . ; i
V? French , Deliver an Attack S
-Berlin, Jan.V 16. (Via London.
French " troops, after several hours of
artillery preparation, delivered an. at-
tack in the vicinity of Badonvlllier, in
he iYpges. region 3 and temporarily
penetrate theGsrman
army, headquarters announced today.
LOAN MSE
THE "AVENGER" GOINGflNTOi ACTION
PEOPLE ON ROANOKE
Relief Supplies 'Reached1 the
Storm Bound Islanders
Just in
Norfolk a:, Janv6leijef froin
Elizaoeth "City afld Washington, N.
C reached the residents, of , Roanoke
Island and Cape Hattefas today and
the threatened suffering as the re
sult of afaaaine was averted. The
warmer weather of yesterday and to
day freed the sounds of ice sufficient
ly for the operation, of small boats,
land sailings were made both
from the islands and main land today.
The boats from the main land car
ried supplies to the stricken people
and the boats from the- islands car?
ried a number of -people who were
eager to escape from the , terrible con
ditions which have existed at Cape
Hatteras and Roanoke Island 'since
the recent freeze prevented the op
eration of :boats.
Suffering from the extreme cold
and lack of adequate food supplies has
been acute at both Cape Hatteras and
on Ronbke Island for more than' two
weeks. . The stocks of groceries - and
other; foodstuffs in the . small stores
wereexhausted- several" days ago and
the people have been forced, to divide
among themselves , what " little :: food
they had at their houses. '. ; ; ,
Had the Ice-bound conditions in-the
sound continued for more: days, it is
certain that there, would ; have . been
untold suffering and possibly many
deaths. . . - .
: The climax to ' the islanders' trou
bles came yesterday, when the .wind,'
which at one time reached a velocity
of 72 miles an hour, blew between 15
and 18 houses off their- foundations
and damaged two or three of them" be
yood repair, leaving- a -large number
of -.-men,- womep - and children j; without,
shelter other than- the- scanty accommodations-
their neighbors off r -them;
doUghton AS! for
, MOTOR M AIL SERVIOE I
. -. -. . . .
(By George H. Manninfl.)
Washington,- D. -Cfc, aJn. 16. Con
gressman" Doughton1, is Making a
strong effort to have the- Post Office
Department establish one or, more of
the motor mail express routes through
his " district. He talked with v Post
master General Burleson about ' the
plan one. day this week. .
: Mr.: Doughton, believes that one ot
these, routes' could' be - established to
run, ovjerthe. good roads.: between Sal
isbury, Moorsvilje, V Statesville and
Concord makmg-stopX at smaller plac
es along the route, v" V . .-
.These routes .which vparry parcel
post mail have performed highly .bene-,
ficiar service 4 to the communities -in
which they5, have been operated, ind
have proved a quick, and cheap medi
um of transportation of ; city, goods ' to
the farmers and farm products to the
city people. : .' '-: ? j . '. . v
STEAMER TEXAN ;
IS REPORTED SAFE
Haijari'vlihe sf eanjsaTn Texan, re
ported ;siiiking off th'eeoasf two daysj
ago, . is BAe, ine. uuo; ;ias nounea- w
',x uue..
ciay by the-wavy "Departmemv
SEVERAL WILMINGTON
TO BE CADETS
Congressman Godwin Names
YoungVi! Men r For West
Point an
Washington,' ifcC . . Jan. 16.--Con
gressman Godwin sent io the War -and
Navy Departments today the nomina
tions of several-young men to be ca
dets at West Point and Annapolis. He
nominated Frederick S. Dixon,: of Fay
etteville, and Thomas -M.. Wells,- of
Wilmington, to be principal ; candi
dates ..f or West Point Military Acad
emy. Fonientrance to ? Annapolis Na
val Academy, he made the following
nominations: Steven" Rozier McRae,
Fayetteville, principal, and . .Ancrum
Spencer, of Whiteville, first alternate;
Ellison - Goddard, v of . Dunn, principal,
and ' W.: G. Farmer, of Wilmington,
first alternate; Lewis' Pennington
Hihton, of Wilmington, principal,
Howard Allen Penton, of Wilmington,
first alternate, and A'. . E. "McKeithan,
or ; Wilmington, second alternate; Al
exander Cook, of Fayetteville, prin
cipal. ... V
GERMAN NEWSPAPERS
WOR&Y ABOUtlPiEACE
:....,-.- ..- S.-i :r '
, Amsterdam, .Jan. ' 16.-r--Great dissat
isfaction is exnressd by : the . German
newspapers atthe- slow 'progress vt
jeace i negotiations - at Bres-Lltovsk
antd the Russians are ' charged with
prolonging: them . delibepLtely., This
'delay is: affecting ; the negotiations in
progress at Petrograd. where, accord
ing tothe Weser eitiing of Bremen,
thediscussion regarding exchange of
prisoners', has ..' yielded; no results yet.
The Tagebiatt of Berlin makes a sim
ilar cbmplaint . regarding .. the work of
the .special tierman commercial com
missions now in; Petrograd.
t Most of , the newspapers' asst Ger
many will never think 'of' completely
evacuating" theloccupied Russian terri
tory . before - peace 'has:' been brought
about on' all fronts:
FULL INVESTIGATION
i OF CAMP CONDITIONS
Washington, Jan. 16.--Strong sentl
ment in favor of a sweeping inyestiga.
tion of j health : conditions in army
camps arising from the shock of the
recent , death of Major Augustus P.
Gardner, former Massachusetts Con
gressman,' who succumb&l ;to pneu
monjatCamp1nei;G apparent in the House 'today." Indica
tions' onevery side pointed to support
for aresolutlon -introduced .by Repre
sentative Gard authorizing such an In.
quiry. . '. ; -'.r-L . . ., ' ;. ' .
At. ther same time , House, members
planned a public , funeral asf a ioark; of
unprecedented respect-to their former
colleague. Demoeratio.Xieaderf .Kttch
in annoupced : thatl'if Mrs. Gardnor
agreed," the funeral will be; held: at the
capito where' the body : will He' rin
Istate.
ThaboiJyccorix;ried by Mrsjto th6seagaits,tCallaux: and the tftoJ
Gardner-leftAtlantv yesterday -afteiM
noon anaw
about noon;
noon andas .to-arrive'ia eshingtoa
NS INFLICT
HP LOSSES ON
STRO-GERIiNS
Several Hundred Prisoners and
, Large Amount of War
Material Captured
THREE BLOODY FIGHTS
STAGED IN ONE DAY
Enemy Dislodged From Com
manding Position at Monte
- Asolone by Attack of
Italians
Italian Army Headquarters in
Northern Italy, Tueslay, Jan. 15.
The action east of the Brenta;; river
yesterday in which the Italians inf Hot
el heavy loses on the enemy and cap
turel several hundrei prisoners and
a large amount of war material, began
late in the afternoon, and was carried
out by. infantry.' It was djrectel
chiefly against Monte Asolone, where
the enemy has set up observation
posts overlooking the ' San (Lorenzo
valley and -the Venetian plain leading
down to Bassino. ; ' , -
From these heights the enemy as
a - continual . menace, . his vguns having
a range of .a considerable distance
down the valley and oyer, the plain.
The cannonade- beian' toward' 'noon
with the Italian batteries, being sec
onded ably by - French" artillery on
their right. A heavy fog screened the
movement as the uitantry . was flraer
dtpya4Taace, It ; medtrgM pj
isriow, f mud , end ; sluah. -There., wasi no
halt until' the positrons on -Monte As
olone were . -reached . arid the . enemy
advance posts, where observations
hadleen- conducted, were swept away,
Along the. whole line the Italians gain
ed a-foothold. Under the, concentrat
ed fire., of the enemy lines; the latter
were withdrawn slightly after laying
waste the enemy works.
- The eitruggle around Monte Asolone
continues, ".but" one of : the main, ob
jects already has ' been accomplished,
that of dislodging the enemy from his
works, to say nothing" o' the prison
ers and material taken.
About the Bjxne time an incursion
Into the enemy trenches . was made
further east arOund Monte Solarolofl
where more prisoners and - material
were captured.
The third bloody fight occurred on
the Lower Piave, where the, Italians
enlarged their - positions between : the
Piave and Sile rivers arid "beat back
a counter,; attack with heavy loss., v
. An officer who .has: just . returned
from Monte Asolone says - that the
enemy there made. his chief resistance
with machine guns and did " not" have
time to bring any considerable 'f pree
of infantry into action. When the
Italians first reached - the crest they
found all the , enenaysoldiersJn their
winter quarters in log barracks. A
large part of one', battalion, includ
ing one mayor and. two captains, was
captured in one -of, these, buildings.
v An Alleged ;Boml Found.
An Atlantic Port, Jan.. 16.-rA metal
tube ; resembling a ; bomb was found
i .1. .. j. . rwmi . : 9 f
y w . " -. . -
i navy yaru. iae suppoeu oqino was
about six inches long, wound wittt
string and wire, . and had a fuse at
tached. Written on it in German, of
ficials sad were the words :- "This is
a 25-secopd explosive bomb." The of
ficials declined to be : more specific
regarding .theharacter of the missile.
ANOTHER ARREST IN
i THE CAILLAUX CASE
. Paris, Tuesday, Jan. 15. Paul Com-1;
by was arrested tonight ; in connectionJ
with the ..government's : Jnvestlgation
of thp Activities of former Premier
Caillaux, at a luncheon given to vSIg-
nor Cavallinle, an Italian. Comby al
so is said;tot.have accompanied Dep
uty Loustalot, whose-" immunity", has
been ' suspended inf - connection with
the Paillaux affair' tb. Switzerland,' to
see .Abbas : Hilmi, ; the former febedive
of Egypt. ; V.J -
General Dubail, the prosecutor of
former Premier Caillaux, signed an;
order for the - pfbse'eution of Paul
Comby on December 24 -and' on. the
same day M. Comby. was examined by
Captain Bouchardon, in jyiarge . of the
investigation. Signor Cavallinle' is al
leged to have been connected with
Bolo -iasha; He. was arrested in -Italy
on November- 21. The charges
against .Deputy-Loustalot - are similar
munity of the twowas suspjendediat
the y sanjeV4ime 'by."he; Chamberof
Deputies
ITAL
EiORSElN
fo m
. .- .- - ..; lit',
CENTRAL CONTHO
OF
Statement by War CommititeW
of United States Chamber , 5 : V;
- -s.
of Commerce
A SMALL BOARD
THE BETTER PLAN. I
The Committee Points Oit
Inability to Get Results
or Locate Responsibility; !j v
Under Old Rule
WAR SUPPU
m
. f" ' -' "lj
Washington, Jan. 16. Endorsement- 1 1 ?
Of centralized control for war supplied, ,fl'-r
was given in a statement made pubUo V h
ber of Commerce of the United States : f
today,, but none of the proposals now
before " Congress, including' one-man
responsibility, was specifically.. SuIk
ported. ' , .' 'V;: -Zjv;
The committee, headed by WaddiJI
Catchings, of New-York, was Teady to'
appear before the Senate war Inquiry; .-1
with tVio roanlte nf ita InvaaMraf Atv'ltt-X li
to the production and purchase, of wa;p ,
supplies, which, accbrdng to thelstate-i '
ment, was begun last June in an f; ;
fort to co-operate with the National' 1
Council of Defense- , ; . 'p-.li.
Bills provided a department '.oftmar I -nitions
headed by a new cabinet ojfll
per -already, have. been introacfiatit 1 J
pjongresa; .TWg senate jnyeaatag:
vr legislation tor ne-man contreX
probably through an -adminlstrjjitoi
with' broad powers under the-, PresiV.
dent, instead of the new departments
ber of Commerce Committee wis i:un-.
animously approved by the Chamber s .
board of directors and points outf that
the. newest plans of the 'government '
are "tending to decentralize wan efv
forts." The : statement urged i'JwiQi,
the strongest emphasis -the. :creaUoh! i
of . an adequate central ieontrol. -:.t
The committee's statement protels.'
against the government's recent plan,
of making the war industries' board Hi,
co-ordinating . body, and 'dlsagreesT?ltK
Secretary Baker, that Ihe re-organiza
tion of the War Department .takes th
place of a "department of munitions.!
or a -board of central bontrOtL-
small board,or council is viewed bjr
the committeemen as1 the' most feas-'
ible plan. - - t;:
A large part of the statement ii!i
voted .to - the' work -of 'the committeo
through which information -?wasga!a-s
od upon which the 'report ig based. Ia
this connection the statement says:-:
' "It soon became evident that" net-;
withstanding "the intimate relationship!
established, your committee - wlur.Txn-)
able to secure information regarding
the government's - program vajad:r3
quirements,. for the obvious , reascr;
that there was ;np centralized;, power
from which such comprehensive finT:?-!
matlon could bo:, obtained. ; In vt:?'
there was no central authority? ensia
ed in securing such informatlQn;OC'iS!
formulating general, plans to noet-tb3
mji, iiih war. . , j a ..
r ' - j- .1 i..t
LITTLE EVIDENCE
AGAINST SPOE
'Baltimore, Jan. 16. United r States
District Attorney Samuel , ; Dennis
declared today that: after a thorough
examination of . the papers' and effects
of Walter Snoerm'ahn,' alleged German
spy arrested at; the new. armyfarla
tion depot pear Newport . 'NevMjVai'
he did 'not believe "the - man i inthe
Baltimore jail was guilty of .anythiT j i
more serious than ' violating ihe I i -visions
of the President's;; prpclama"-l
tion concerning the 'movements "of .en-j I
emy aliens. ... Mr. Dennis added' that, if ;
the naval intelligence agents have , mo f ;
more eYtdMceJtn'.'ihat.wlilefir'.wts-- j
brought' to- his attention nothlngiwiUi .
come o the casef: ' -" -,J '"i 'i
1 INDUSTRIES BOARDi
w asmngton,- Jan. 16. Daniel ; vvii-s
lard, president .; of the Baltimore, tind
Ohio railroad, has resigned as -' chair
man of the War Industries Boardv Hlj
resignation .wilFbe accepted as scon
as a successor is found. . . I -
In offering, his! resignation Mr. . WT-j
lard gave as his . reason that; the al-j
timore, and ,Ohio railroad squired ; els
entire attenUonlI'Itv was Stated ' ttat
his resignation iWtanot brought about
Byranbther - apparerit.f conflict - between
the war industries boardUand lthe. to
mm i
4.
f
il'v.
e1
s-: - s--r-?-
1 .
- v- . ..
V.v " - 'v. v -J1 J
i J-T""' iT- ' -J- is"f.i-' " " - f-,