North Carolina Newspapers

fife- A A mi WEATHER FORECAST. RAIN AND COLDER. riff t VOLUME XX. NO. 293. ASHEVILLE, N. 0., SATURDAY AFTERNOON, JANUARY 22, 1916. PRICE 2 CENTS n Tralo etc REBEL 1 ASHEVILLE'S BIG TRADE VEEK OPENS TODAY'REBEL SMALL 110 U.S. F0BE1I OF PLOT SERIOUS HUNDREDS OF OUT-OF-TOWN SHOPPERS HERE POLICy JESUS THE GAZETTE-NEWS Bm The Associated Pre Serrlcat It la In Every Respect Complete. Member Audit Bureau Circulation. Jk. 1 A. H A -r A A CAUSE FIRE MYSTERY Unusual Features About Blaze Wbioh Forced Norwegian Steamer Sygna Back to Port. C .1IGINATED IN HOLD CONTAINING STEEL Will Be Partly Unloaded in Ef -fort to Determine Whether Blaze Was Incendiary Going to Russia. New York, Jan. 22. 'Mystery sur rounds the fire which forced the Nor wegian steamer Sygna to put back to Dort today after she had sailed yesterday for Archangel carrying a large cargo consigned to, the Russian government. The officers and crew of the steam er said that so far as they knew no explosion preceded the fire but they were unable to offer an explanation es to how it originated in a hold which they said contained only struc tural steel and railroad material. When asked If there was any evi dence Indicating that the fire was In-. cendiary, the officers said, "It is too ioon to make an investigation," and declined to comment on the unusual features of the blaze. ' i Members of the crew who covered the hatch of the fore hold yesterday iaid that there were no indications of fire when the ship sailed and it was early yesterday evening before one of the men saw smoke escaping from around the hold. The cover was hurriedly take noff and while no flames were seen, a great quantity of tmoke came from the hold. The steamer wilt be docked, partly tflnloaded and thoroughly examined to determine the .cause Of the fife. Steel rails and various forma of trc tuarl steel was said to have been in the bottom of the fore hold, while on top of that material was a large mount of railroad supplies, chiefly steel car parts to be assembled in Russia. It could not be learned wheth er the steamer had any munitions . aboard. The fire on the Sygna is the latest ef a long series of fires and explo sions which have occurrecjon ships shortly after they had left this and other ports carrying munitions and supplies for the allies. In numerous cases it was found that the fires were caused by incendiary bombs or fuses. PRESIDENT i YACHT Going Down Potomac With Mrs. Wilson on Two Days' Trip on Mayflower. Washington, Jan. 12. President fend Mrs. Wilson; were aboard the presidential yacht Mayflower today, going down the Potomac to Chesa peake bay on a trip which will occu py two days, taken to enable the president to prepare in seclusion the address he is to make In New Ydrk on January 27 at the Railway Busi ness association's banquet, and to make tentative drafts of other speeches on national preparedness. which he la to deliver on his western trip. President Wilson carried with him a mass of date from tht navy and war departments which he will u in dictating his addresses to his sten ographer. The president la keeping In touch with the white house by wireless. Oazette-New Bureau, RIkks Building, Washington, Jan. 23. President Wilson Informed Senator Simmons and Overman yesterday that he would not be able to visit North Carolina on his first awing around the circuit which begina some time next week, but that he will make another trip ahortly after he returna and he experta to visit at leant two North Carolina cities. Gretmboro la cer tainly to be Included In hie southern itinerary. It Is Mild, and he will atop, a lso, probably at Ralelrh or Wilming ton. Representative Godwin stated yes trday that It would be a very fine thing for the president to visit Wil mington, where he spent part of hla boyhood daya and deliver a speech aa president of the United States. Mr. Godwin doea not care what the presi dent apeaka about; ha la only Interest ed In having him visit the etat and p-laUy Wilmington. , There are others In the delegation, fcowever, who do not look with favor upon the proposed Visit ol the presi dent to the state to make a "prenar tilnM" spwh and If he gn he will do ao without being akd by quite a fnw of the (tntx'a rongrewimen who lira oppoaed to Mr. WUaon'a "prewar- JaoM iirogram, , Opponents of Carranza Form ally Decreed Death to Ameri cans in Mexico in Con vention Assembled. AGREEMENT REACHED SEVERAL WEEKS AGO Complete Details Just Learned Washington Looks to Car ranza. Government to Pre vent Scheme's Execution. ' Washington, Jan. 22. Revelation that Mexican bandit leaders had in convention assembled decreed death to Americans in Mexico as well as armed opposition to the de facto gov ernment, was the outstanding feature in the Mexican situation today. It became known that the agree ment had been reached at a formal convention near Cordoba, Mexico, ac cording to information which came to tho state department at that time. The. participants in the agreement, It is said, t included representatives of Francisco Villa, Zapata and other leaders. " The murder of the American min ing men near Santa Isabel recently is believed to have been carried out pur suant to the Cordoba agreement.' Administration officials are -looking to the Carranza authorities, who have been fully Informed of the develop ments, to prevent the carrying out of the threat against Americans. They are believed to have the situation fairly well in hand now, although the rebel leaders are still conducting op erations. Meager reports of the gathering came to the state department long ago but they were not made public, and until last night few People In Washington knew that there was' a general conspiracy against Americans, or even that the various rjbel factions In the field in Mexico had effected any kind of an agreement for concerted activities against the de facto govern ment Officials think the long period elaps ed after the Cordoba meeting before the murders because of the time re- mitred bv the various delegates to make reports to their commanders, Mid tho fact that news of the conven tion's decision had to be carried to subordinate military commanders by courier. Cordoba is on the railroad between Vera Cruz and Mexico City, and seme one thousand miles from Santa Isabel. UP; TWENTY-THREE DIE Outrage Supposed to Have Been Perpetrated by Fol lowers of Zapata. El Paao, Jan. 12. Twenty-three persons were killed near Puebla -e-cently when a passenger train was blown up supposedly by Zapata srt herenta, according to A. J. Trumbo, wealthy mine owner of the state of Oaxaca, Mex., who arrived hera yea terday. Only one passenger survived, It was reported. Trumbo said the train waa Immediately ahead or one wnicn ne waa traveling from Mexico City. "Several volleys were fired into our train," aald Trumbo. With Trumbo and hla wife waa H. C. Tanner of Mexico, who Is conva lescing, from a bullet wound Inflict ed, he said, by a military officer when Tanner resented Insulting refer ences to the United Stntea Trumbo reported typhus fever ram pant throughout southern and een tral Mexico. The party had only dry tortlllaa to eat during the Journey and at every atop officers demanded money, Trumbo'e atory of the blowing up of a passenger train near Puebla with 11 casualties is the first Intima tion of such a tragedy to reach the border. DEFENSE I!) MRS. IHIH Til OPBSp WEEK Providence, ,R. I., an . 22. Mm. Elizabeth Mohr, who haa been on trial for two weeka with two negroes whom aha la accuaed of having hired to kill her husband, Dr. C. Franklin Mohr of thla city, lent Augusted, rested over the Saturday court rereaa In the aa auranra that next week will see the beginning of introduction of evidence In her dnfenaq. Testimony for the prosecution waa I acknowledged ' to be nearlng Its and '! whaa court ad lourntd yesterday, This is the first day of Ashevllle Trade Week and the big co-operative fare-refunding sale Inaugurated by The Gazette-News opened this morn ing with more than forty of Ashe vllle' s leading stores and business men co-operating. . Although the day has been none too pleasant on account of the rain and mud encountered by a great many of the out-of-town shoppers, the business houses have had a very satisfactory opening for the first day of the big sale, and the prospects for a week of unprecedented sales for each store participating are very bright and encouraging. A large number of , out-of-town shoppers are in evidence on the streets and in the stores and Judging from the number of inquiries receiv ed In The Gazette-News office,, next week will be a busy one for everyone promoting and participating in th'.s sale. The Gazette-News haa from day to day carried instructions and In formation in detail for the benefit of the thousands of shoppers within the trading zone of Ashevllle. Because of the limited space on the first page of the Special Bargain is sue-of last Thursday, the names of several towns within the trading zone or Ashevllle had to be omitted, but it should be understood that all fares or their equivalent will be refunded during the big trade week providing tne towns are within the trading zone of Ashevllle in accordance with THEN ESCAPES Bandit Makes Most Daring Robbery of Years in Chicago Woman With Him. -Chicago Jant-JSi." A .bandU.- Vc-. companled by a woman, yesterday robbed the tourist agency of Thomas A. Cook & Son of $900, wounded the cashier, killed a policeman and es caped. . . According to the police the deed was the most daring of years in this city. It was accomplished on one of the busiest streets of the down-town district at an hour when the thor oughfare was congested with automo biles and workers on their way home. The woman did not participate In the actual robbery. She ordered a taxi cab at the Great Northern hotel and John McCabe responded. The woman instructed hhn to drive to 15 East Jackson street, the Cook offices. There she waited without alighting. Meanwhile the robber had entered the office. The cashier, Ernest, I Walsh, attempted to reach a revolver, but was shot and painfully Injured and backed Into a vault with four other employe B. A. Johnson, a traffic policeman. was attracted to the scene, but found that the bandit had locked the door after entering. Johnson waa trying to force an entrance when the robber suddenly threw It open and fired a bullot into the officer's heart. The robber scattered the throng on the sidewalk and leaped toward the taxlcab. Pointing hla weapon toward McCabe, the robber ordered him to drive away, but McCabe Jumped. The bandit hesitated a second and then sped up an alley. The woman fol lowed. The gazed for a moment at the face of the dead policeman, and, according to wltnesnes, seemed about to faint, but recovered and disap peared In the crowd. McCabe was interviewed at head quarters and allowed to return to work. The police were satisfied of his Innocence. The crowd attracted by the tragedy blocked all traffic on State and Jack son streets for some time. A few at tempted to pursue the bandit, but aoon gava it up. STATE REFUSES GIFT OF REPUDIATED N. C. BONDS Raleigh. Jan. 2!. That Missouri state authorities have refused to ao- cent a gift of old repudiated North Carolina reconstruction bonds, offer ed with a view to getting that state to aue North Carolina for their re covery, waa the official Information that came to Governor Craig yester day afternoon. The aovernor brands this aa another futile effort or 'ad venturers to g't a atandlng In court for these bonds tainted by all man ner of fraud and corruption." MRS. MARTHAGARLAND DIED HERE YESTERDAY Mm. Martha Oaland, aged (0. died yesterday afternoon at her noma at No. II View street. The fune"M ewr vires will be held at the residence thla afternoon and the Interment will take lilac at lUveralda oaineUrT. BANDIT ROBS a special computation to be seen at The Gazette-News office. The carfare schemes have been thoroughly worked out and carefully studied by those who will have charge of the refunding of fares and Just as soon as a refund slip Is presented to the clerk in charge at The Gazette News office the cash fare will be handed out. Refund week Is a. big advertisement for Ashevllle and for this reason Ashevllle merchants have v Joined heartily in promoting it. While it may be said that in one way no merchant expects to reap a rich harvest in this sale everyone of them expects to at tract new customers who, by reason of courteous treatment and honest values at low prices, will become reg ular patrons. In short, these mer chants are dealing In futures; by making satisfied customers they ex pect to build up a trade for years to come and establish firmly in the minds of people that Ashevllle is the best place to trade. Where to Get Bargains. . Here is a list of the stores where bargains will be found and where fares will be refunded. Cut it out and send It to. your relatives and friends residing outside of Ashevllle. It will give them some idea of the magni tude of this sale and whjrt It will mean to them: '. Bon Murche. ' ' McGrnw Dry Goods Co. . . 51. .V. Moore and Co. One Invading Army Marching Toward Important Port With Resumption of Monte- . negrin Campaign.- Teheran. Fersia, Jan. 22. (Via London) Russian columns operating in Persia have occupied Sultanabad, one hundred and fifty miles south west of Teheran and about an equal distance northwest of Ishpahan. Tho garrison and the German consul have fled to HouroudJIr, fifty miles west of Sultanabad. Newspaper dispatches from Vienna report that active operations have been resumed by ' the Austrlans against the Montenegrlna One Aus trian army Is said to be marching. toward Antlvarl, while other forces are reported to be within fifteen miles of Scutari, Albania Little runner ngnt is thrown on the situation In Freece where the entente powers are said by German reports to be applying further coer cive measure;--. TO KEEP OUT OF QUARRELS Commanders of Troops Strike Zone Are Given Specific Instructions. in Washington, Jan. !2. Federal army officers commanding troops where strike or riots have occurred are warned by Instructions announced to day at the war department against participating in questions of a polltl cal character or the equity of disputed issues between the parties to the con troversy. ' In announcing the policy tho de partment Indicated a reply to the criticism raised by labor organizations and officials against tha conduct and management of aotdlers who are doing duty in riot and strike sonea. The order, however, doea not apply to regular army officers holding com missions In the organised militia, they being guided by atate lawa and regula tions on the subject. THE II. T.-N. 0. DERAILED NEAR MOBILE . tn . Mobile, an. I J. The southbound New York-NewOrleana limited train operated Jointly by tha Louisville h Nashville and the Houthorn railways between New Orleana and Washing ton waa derailed early today on the L. A N. bridge over the Mobile river IS miles north of thla city. Railway officiate atated that no passenger or membora of the train' crew were In jured. The engine Is reported to be ntlrely off the track and an expreaal car wai derailed, XraXlla was suspend.!, ILSITIRlif AUSTRIAN EDAE Lowr-nbeln-Rutenberg. Chas. E. Henderson. The Racket Store. : Nichols Shoe Co, : ' Green Bros Ottis Green Hardware Co. Brown Book Co. Pack Square Book Co. Ashevllle Power and Light C Coopers, "On the Square.' -." Globe Sample Co. ., .a Hills Market. v J. L. Smathers I. X. Ii. Dep' Ashevllle Pai"'nd Glass Co. Dunham's Music House. Toague and Oates. H. L. Finkelsteln Loan Office. Williams-Huffman Musle Co. Smlth-Bruns Clothing Co. Brown Hardware Co. I Gem Clothing Co. ' Susquehanna Furniture Co. Ashevllle Furniture Co. Falk's Muslo House. : "fl"r Allison Drug Store. '.'...' ... 'r Star Market. The Call Co. Ashevllle Package Co. Carolina Paint & Varnish Co. J. M. Henrn & Co.' J. M. McCanlcss. The Fair. Carolina Paint and Varnish Co. Piedmont Electric Co. J. H. Law. Smith's Drug Store. Hood's Millinery. Crystal Cafo System. Tho Battery Park Bank. WILLIAMS TALKS EOF Tells Committee Some Banks Have Charged as High as 200 Percent. ' Vf-'- ,(5azctte-Kews"Bdrea,' '" Riggs Building, Washington. Jan. 22, John Skolton Williams, comptroller of the currency, told the house com mittee on rules In urging legislation giving the department of Justice au thorlty to proceed against banks charging usurious rates of Interest that some banks have charged re cently as high as 00 per cent on loans and declared he Is considering suing to cancel tho charters of the worst offenders. Asked what authority the comptroller now haa to correct the usury situation, Mr. Williams said: "The only thing my office can do Is t. bring suit for the cancellation of the bank's charter. This Is a drastic method but I do not mind telling you I am considering such action against certain hanks. The only other means of reaching the usurious loan Is through the borrower and he does not dare to bring suit because he Is a frald he will be put upon the black list." "What law do you recommend?" asked Congressman Howard, In sup port of whose resolution for a con gressional inquiry into usurious prac tices the comptroller appeared. "The present law might be sufficient If the department of Justice Is given authority to proceed against a bank charging more than the legal rate," said the comptroller. "I had thought of requiring national banks to print at the head of their regular reports a statement of the loans mada at usurious rates. If such a system of pitiless publicity failed to bring results, legislation doubtless would bring them." Mr. Williams suggested .hat "prlsoi, sentences" for bankers violating the usury laws deter excemive Interest rates, but aald he understood only three states had such a law. Without naming the banks, Mr. Williams furnished the committee with a partial list of national banking Institutions which have been lending money at 12 to 254 per cent and above. A bank In Georgia, he said, had charged a maximum of 82 per rent; another In that state bad $10,- 000 loaned at more than 24 per cent; an Oklahoma bank had 134.000 loaned at 24 por cent, and several Texas banks had made loana at above 24 per cent. II added that on some- small loana that hundred, thousand and ever, two thousand per cent had been charged Usurious rates, he said, were preva lent In the southwest and south more than In other sections. Congressman Howard asked the comptroller to supply the committee with additional Information, and Mr. Wllllama aald hi olflce la now collect, Ing data to i-how whvt bank have been charging high rates. An orlg Inai Investigation, he said, developed that there were more than, a thousand of such Institutions, Peking, Jan. 22. The coronation of Tuan 8hl-kal as emperor of China ha been postponed indefinitely. The -aaon that la given officially la be- caua of th uprlalnga In southern China. .Th Clilnnaa foreign office had USURY notified tha various legatlona that thslnd last wek and prophecy and ful ChlneM government had lct 2 that; flllment must be Justified even though th coronation should take place early In Vehruary but Yuan Hhl-kal Issued an order cancelling th arrangement b'juuae of the dlnturhanoea In Yun nan province. Ther I no Intimation aa lo whan th coronation will tak Lfrlac, , SUM! PIT Insurgent at Soldiers' Home Scouts Idea That He Will Leave Because Authorities Think He Will HEADS OF HOME URGE VETERAN TO RETIRE Daughters of the Confederacy, However, Will Do All in Their Power Against Re tention of Lineberry, (By W. T. Bost), Raleigh, Jan. 22. -Insurgent C. W. Small of the Soldiers' home has an nounced that he will not budge as the result of Thursday's meeting of the directors of the home and that ho will take his $60 and go south is a great mistake. Chairman A. H. Boyden disagrees with him about that and certainly do Auditor William Penn Wood, whose Quaker blood is not so non-combative as the name implies, and Superin tendent Lineberry, both of whom confess themselves weary of the lusty kicker. "Me go? Hell no," Captain Small said yesterday afternoon. How he is to stay with a superintendent against him, with a great array of comrades opposing him; with Chairman Boy den, the real boss, urging him to re tire gracefully and Auditor Wood the paymaster and defender of Cap tain Lineberry, the eagerest of all, how he can stand upon the order of ill going,, does not appear. But Cap tain Small says he will Btay. Tnrtnv the Daughters of the Con federacy reading the announcement in the papers that Captain Lineberry Is to remain the active head of the institution arose in protest, called a meeting to be held within a day or two at which time they will war with all their power against Captain Llne hfirrv's retention, and will call upon the chapters all over North Carolina to protest the longer superlntenaency nf thfi nrpsent head. The bouncing of Old Man Small does not appear to be worrying the H iughters. It is generally tnougni in Raleigh that it was an unwise inmg to do in the face of the fearful re port against the Soldiers' home that had b'een prepared by persons em ployed by the state to investigate. It is true that Superintendent Lineberry and Mr. Small cannot get along and that Mr. Small's threats of murder on grand scale out there have been disagreeable rather than dangerous. But the conduct of the one-armed insurgent Is regarded as entirely seo ondary and to have had no effect up on the general dissatisfaction as ex pressed in the reports of Mrs. Price and Mr. Webb. Source of Daughter rrotcst. The source of the daughters' pro test Is their declared inability to do for tho old soldiers what they should have. "Kor years the Daughters of the Confederacy have not been going out to the home because they were unwilling to be offended by Captain Lineberry. Miss Martha Haywood, one of the most prominent of them has, twice declared to your correspondent. My chapter has not had an oppor tunity to do much in several years. We were not willing to go out there and be offended by the superintend ent who showed that he did not want us there. "Hut while our chapter absented Itself I told the members that I flia not Intend to allow any incivility to keen me away. I want to be Just to Captain Lineberry and say that he haa not treatoj me rudely, l cannot say that the treatment haa been par ticularly cordial but he haa not been offensive." While the auditor' office was de- nvlna-the first story carried In the Raleigh correspondence and deelar lnor thiit thla opposition all comes from the Small contingent, the daughters were expressing . Indlgna- tlon and tho reports of Mrs. Price and Alex Webb were In the making. The auditor la standing by Mr. IJneberry. Hut Governor Craig had reference to the chargca of the daughtera when ha declared that he had heard of of- fenslveneM to the ladles. Newspaper men have lnterpreto.1 the action of the home management to mean the retention of Captain Lineberry and also the early demo tion and final displacement of that official. This correspondent having started the trouble In almple chron Icllng, read the result to mean a new matron, an Infusion of new blood 'n- I to It. gradual change to a hospital with a young man, perhaps a physl I clan In charge. It appears that way now. but thla correspondent prophe It tak bnll-dor.lng of th language to bring It about, Anyway, the daughter ar de ir.andlng th retirement of Mr. Line berry and Old Man Small alts on the 1 ltd ousalng and eaylng: "M go? Hell no.' Henry Wise Wood Before Na tional Security League At tacks Administration for Lack of Definite Code. ' NATION-WIDE REACTION IN OPINION PREDICTED Geo. Von L. Meyer Points Out. Defects in Navy Depart ment; System of Direo tion Wrong, He Says, Washington, Jan. 22. -X letter trn? military conditions by Elihu Root, former secretary of state, and an ad-i dress endorsing the administration'' continental army plan by Henry I... Stlmson, former secretary of war. featured the program of the closing' session today of the National Securi ty League congress. The congress wiH close tonight with a banquet at which Senator Lodge and Former Attorney General Wickersham will be the prin cipal speakers. Unqualified endorsement of the ad ministration's continental army plan was given by Mr. Stlmson, who de clared himself to be in favor of com pulsory universal military training as the true solution of the defense prob lem and said that he regarded Secre tary Garrison's plan as a sound Ini tial step. If congress is not ready yet to sanction the movement for such training, the measures which it en acts should be those which so far as they go are in accord wit hthe great ' fundamental duty and which as time passes and experience ripen should -lead most naturally to the establish ment of such a system, Mr. Stlmson stated. Washington, Jan. 22. Attacks on the administration's rorelgn policy i featured ' the addresses of speakers yesterday before the National Security league. Henry Wise Wood of New York, declared that the United States has no foreign policy at the moment. Mr. Wood said It was to be doubted whether at this moment we will en force by armed Intervention such of our domestic policies as are Inimical to the interests of foreign nations. "To discuss a naval policy at this time for the United States seems a mere academic occupation," said Mr. Wood, were It not for certain indica tion that we are about to experience a nation wide reaction of public opinion which cannot fail to crystalize Into a national spirit, finding expression in a definite code of policies for dealing with our foreign affairs In order to sustain which the United State, If need be, would declare war." Mr. Wood said that the United States should formulate a naval policy which could bear the full brunt If necessary of a coalition of power. Ha advocated a naval policy which would maintain at all time In the Atlantic a force superior to that of Japan, to protect the Panama canal against capture or destruction by land or sea or from Injury by air. George Von L. Meyer, former ee- retary of the navy declared that the 'fundamental defect in the navy de partment Is that it has no brain, no competent military organization charged with the preparation of the fleet for war and with it condition in war and in consequence the navy is oeing Duut ana administered on a peace basis and is not being effectively prepared for war service. "In thi respect it differ from that of the admiralties of all other navies whose energies are all directed by a thoroughly trained and educated mili tary staff. "Leading officers of the navy have for year advocated continuously the importance, of organization, but con gress haa always refused to grant it" Mr. von I Meyer urged th forti fication of the Panama canal and ad ditional protection of It by naval de fense, the abolition of useless navy yards, the establishment of a national council of defense, oi ir animation of a naval reserve of over 25,000 men and tha creation of a naval general staff. E MAY STOP THE RISING OF STREAMS Chicago, Jan. 22. Th cold war which la aald by the weather .bureau to be aweolng eastward from the Rocky mountain region today waa held a bringing hop for relief frm. the flood condition which have pre vailed In northern Illinol and nutgn boring atate aa th result of recent heavy rain which were followed by rapid line In th streams. Thoiinnn.1 of people wer rendered temporarily homeless and th property loaa will be hundreds of thsuaanda of dollar. Several cities aim) face pnnalble i l demlc aa th result of the D-gluH-n vf drinking wator ry the flood.