Newspapers / The Daily Advance (Elizabeth … / Feb. 15, 1924, edition 1 / Page 1
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* THE WEATHER * Fair tonight. Saturday * increasing cloudi n e s s * and colder. Xorthicest *? to northeast triads. ******** * CIRCULATION Thursday 3.286 (.o/iies KIGIIT PACKS. NO. 40. Harding's Name Dragged In Teapot Dome Scandal Bui Amazing Thing Is ISot Length to \\ hich Washington Gossip Will Go hut That Frank Yanderlip Should Have Kepeatecl Mere Gossip in I'uhlic Speech Ily DAVID l,A\\ l!K\( K Copf i i?ht. 192*. by The Atfuncr Washington, Fob. 14. ? Rumor, unverified and" unsponsorod, has broken through the restraints of caution and the name of the late President Harding has been dragged into the implications of the Teapot Dome oil controversy. r or ( Weeks th?re has been xos sip which knew no bounds. But Washington is accustomed to gossip. The amazing thing is that any one felt prompted to' make a public speech repeating the gossip. Even Senators and members of the public who had heard the gossip did not think enough of it to make a public statement and the reason was simple ? they had no proof. The writer happens to be in a po sition to state some of the clrcum-j stances surrounding the appraisal in President Harding's mind of the worth of his newspaper property, the Marion Star. It was during the latter part of January of last year that the writer spent an evening in the White House talking with Mr. Harding on the prohibition question^ obtaining material for a series of ar ticles on that subject. When the discussion was concluded, the con versation fell naturally to newspa pers and their development. Mr. Har ding was feeling quite happy over the progress the Marlon Star had made. He said he had received in quiries as to whether he would sell it and he remarked that he might accept "one of those days." "Why the Marion Star made $60, 000 last year." said Mr. Harding with pride. "Pretty good, isn't it. for a little newspaper?" The writer agreed with Mr. Har ding that thi? Marlon Star was pro gressing and. then the President asked what the writer thought the property was worth. On the basis of earnings of $r,o,000 a year the re ply given was that the property was certainly worth in the fcelnhborhood of $<100,000. inasmuch as 10 per cent ?was considered an average earning. When six months later the Mar lon Star was sold and rumor had it that the price was $500,000 the writer was not surprised. But It turns out that the purchase price was $380,000. Any business man can figure out for himself whether an exaggerated price was paid for the property on the bnsls of its prv ? vlous earnings. The Inferences that have been drawn from the rumors about the supposedly high price paid fqr the newspaper are unwarranted. The charges that somehow oil money found Its way Into the transaction are absurd. Mr. Harding knew the prospective purchasers ? they were not in the oil business but in the newspaper business. That was their chief preoccupation. He wanted to make sure the paoer would remain in Republican hands and the sale to Ills friends made that a certainty. Frank Vanderllp's speech repeat ing gossip he had heard In Washing ton naturally has stirred the nation al capital but what few people can understand Is why Mr. Vanderllp. who admits he had no proof, went ahead and made a speech about gos sip. The Incident will have this effect ? It will make everyone who has a hearsay accusation in his system keep It there. Other high officials besides Mr. Harding have been men tioned In the gossip. The main line of rumor is that these officials knew about the oil leases in advance and speculated in oil stocks. Another line of rumor Is that some of the men who made the leases purposely made the conditions so beneficial to t 'the Government and disadvantageous fo themselves that no other concerns \ would bid and then when the lease* were made thoy are alleged to have represented the prospective purchas ers of stock that the lenses were worth more than they really were. Tf that Is true, the leases may turn out to have been advantageous to the Ooverntmnt after all and the Irregu larity may II" In the manipulation of the leases after the contracts were made. This Is but an example of the tan gle In which the whole thing Is en veloped and Indicates more than ev er the necessltv for a suspension of judgment till facts ? not gossip ? are disclosed. STATE PROHIBITION LOSES IN MARYLAND Annapolis, Feb. 15. ? The state prohibition enforcement bill was de feated In the general assembly yes terday. . FALL HASTENS TO BEDSIDE OF WIFE St. Louis, Feb. 15.? Albert Fall former Secretary of the Interior, la'st night hastened to the bedside of his wife who Is very HI. MCLEAN ARRIVES TO SPEAK TONIGHT Gubernatorial (la 11 d i d a t e Will Address Elizabeth City People at Formal Opening New School Building. A. W. McLean of Lumberton, Robeson County, whose friends ex pect to see become the next Gover nor of North Carolina, arrived in Elizabeth City Friday morning. At one o'clock Mr. McLean was the honor guest of the Elizabeth City Rotary Club at their luncheon at the Southern Hotel and addressed the club briefly at that time. During the day he was enter tained by friends in the city and to night at eight o'clock he will deliv er an address at the formal opening of the new high school building. The public is very cordially In vited to hear Mr. McLean, who will speak not on political matters but upon "Education In Its Rroader As pects." After the address the building will be thrown open to the public and committees frc/m the faculty and student body will show the way to the various rooms. Mr. McLean arrived in Elizabeth City from Windsor where he spoke Thursday night before the classes in citizenship of the Windsor High School on the subject. "Training in Citizenship." Coming to this city by moti/r car he was a half hour late for the Hotary Luncheon, at which lie explained that directions for reaching Elizabeth City had been given hi in by Judge Francis I). Winston of Windsor. "I knew some things about Judge Winston heretofore/' said Mr. Mc Lean. "but today I learned some thing else: He is either an extra ordinarily poor judge of roads or else he is an awful liar." Mr. McLean's subject in his talk to the Itotarians was "Business in Government." He characterized good government as having three qualtles: "It must bo honest. It must be wise, and It must be effi cient." ho said, and addressed him self to the last of these In particu lar. making a plea for something of the same economic administra tion of governmental affairs as has been achieved In the business ad ministration of such great corpora tions as the Ford Motor Car Com pany. "With the plant expansion that we have had in governmental af fairs in our own State government," he declared, "we cannot continue to use our present outworn system much longer." He was of the opin ion, that a step in the rlnht direction would be io make the State Budget Commission function continuously instead of periodically. FREE MOTION I'MTl IlKS AT THE FIRST METHODIST The pictures at the First Metho dist Church tonight promise to be very attractive. The Bible picture Is Noah nnd the Ark. It Is suggest ed that all read the chapter in Gen esis whi^b describe the Ark (Chan ters 6 aim 7) before coming. The Y. M. C. A. Industrial pictures will be Th?' Menace, two reels an exhibi tion of the Fir<* Menace. The Story of Virgin Wool, one reel. In this some surprising Information con cernlg wool cloth comes to light. The material and processes from sheep to cloth are shown. And the Panama Canal from a Seaplane, o'ne reel 'You and your children are cordially invited," says the pastor, Dr. N H. D. WINon. ELEVEN MVE9 LOST IN VEKMONT F1KE Montpeller. Vermont. Feb. 15.? Two persons w< re killed and nln^ nre missing, believed to have lost their llv?-s. In the fire which today destroyed th?- Lawrence Iluildinu on Main street. A number of oth??rt were seriously hurt and the loss Is estimated at $300, 000. COTTON >1 A It K KT New York. Feb. 13 ? Spot <ot."in closed quiet this afternoon, declin ing 80 points. Middling 31.35. Fu tures closed at the following levels. Marc 31.00: May 31.25; July 10 07: October 27.07: Octo'?e>' 26: 90; December 26.45; January 21.22. Ne*- York. Feb. lf?. ? Cotton fu tures opened today at the followlnv levels: March 31.60, May 32.00, Ju ly 30.48, Oct. 27.25, Dec. 26.70. CARTER IS REFUSED ADMISSION TO TOMB IB? Th? Ai?xiat(d Pffii) Luxor, Egypt. Feb. 15 ? Howard Carter presented himself at Tutank hamen's tomb today and was refus al admission by the chief c it police who presented a written, order from the government. Carter then re tired. VKHDKT FOU DKI'KNDWT IX r/THKI. MOItltlS CASK Verdict In favor of the defendant was brought in by a Superior Court jury Thursday evening in the case of kthel Morris vs. Roscoe Smith, in which the plaintifT was suing the de fendant as father of her natural child. In view of the plaintiff's re lations with witnesses for the de fondant. however, as testified by these witnesses, the jury could 'not find beyond a reasonable doubt that Smith was the child's father. Other cases disposed of up to nojon Friday included: It. M. Sawve.r vs. Norfolk South ern Railroad, settled by agreement after trial was begun and ordered stricken off the docket. Compromise was reached also af ter trial had begun in the case of C. C. Robinson vs. John Pool et^al Friday morning. This was a caso in which the plaintifT. a negro preach er, was suing for his salary ?->s pas tor of "Mary Holly Grov" CiiurcS." It developed that he had not collect ed all his salary but ilso tliat tie had not filled all his appointments, in explanation of which il?e t?nri?n said that the collections fell off *o much that there was litt'e tncertiye to his filling his pulpit. The first Sunday he preached th-? collection amounted, he said, to $4. Oft; btat when this amount fell -if? to hO c'oijts he naturally became dUroura^t BANDITS IMPERSONATED T B A F F I C OFFICERS Cleveland. Feb. 15. ? Three men pretending to be speed cops last night held up Irving Liverman, a jewelry salesman, and then robbed him of $r, 0,000 in Jewels and cash. MAN KILLED WHEN VENEEB PLANT BUBNS Hickman. N. Y.. Feb. 15. ? O%io man was killed, several injured, and $KOO.OOft damage was done by flfv* which destroyed a larjre veneer plant here last night. TESTIFIES ? ? m Frederick (?. llonlils, publisher, of. Denver, Colorado, testified before the Sena to committee invest! gating: oil laud frauds that Harry F. Sin clair paid $250,000 in payment for an alleged prior claim to rtlie Tea Pot Dome oil reserve. KIM. KI) HIS DAUGHTERS F O K LIFE INSUK ANCE Johnson City. Feb. 15. ? Charles Hawkins was jailed here last night for mur'der of his two daughters^. Their bodies were found in the ruins of the home, destroyed by lire, with : wounds In th^lr head?*. When he wad arrested he had life insurance policies on their IJves in his pocket. Bloodiest Gotham Bandits Are Yellow To The Core Diamond Ill-others Who Shut Down Ilmik Mo'iicngrr* With out 4 > i v iii|C Hi. il. a C.haiicr in Most Odd (Hooded Sort of Way Crying and Whimpering at Their Fate IJy ROtlKIlT T. HMAI.ti Cooyrioiit. IW1. by Thr Advance New York, Feb. 15 ? New York's lx>lflest bandits arc yellow to the core, according to the police. They shoot and shoot to kiil when they have the drop on the other fellow, but they cry aloud for mercy when the advantage is on the other side. They plot the death of inno cent persons in the most cold blooded way, but let their own lives be in danger and they whimper and whine and cry "unfair" at the top of their lanKs. This new condemnation and scorn of the "terrors" of the sidewalks of New York has been railed forth by the conduct of Morris n. Diamond over sine** his conviction several day* ago of first degree murder. Diamond has boon moaning and groaning an 1 railing at his fate to such an extent In th?* Raymond Street Jail over in Brooklyn that the other prisoners, thieves, firebugs and what nets, have made a formal complaint to the war den that they cannot sleep at night and will have to ask for their release or transfer If somethinK Is not don to quiet the "cowardly crying" of the ex-football player who Is facing the electric chair. Diamond Is one of four men charged with the murder of two Brooklyn bank messengers som three months a no. The messenger never had a chance, They stepped from an elevated train carrying a satchel containing $46,000 In cur rency. The jobbers opened fire on them without a word of warning or a command of surrender. Rfiatchnig the money from the hands of th dead men, the robbers made o IT In the motor car which Is always stand Ing nearby with engine runnlntt. The cold blood edn ess. as well as the bOldnes*. of thl? daylight mur der and robbery shocked New York to a greater extent than any crlm ? committed here In a decade. The en tire pollc" and detective force wa> put upon th" case. "Solve this case or admit your ut ter inability to cope with the modem bandit." the police were told. in remarkably short time the ca* was solved. The two outstanding figures In the robbery were Morris M. Diamond and his younger broth er, Joseph. Morris was nearby in the car. Joseph has been Identified ns one- of the men who fired the ac tual shots. Morris was tried first and convicted within the span *>f a day. His own denial was aboift all the defense he could make. Morris returned to tin* jail where his brother Joseph wan awaiting trial. The two brothers have not been allowed to communicate direct ly with each other. Hut their cells are within call and they have been making the nights as well as the days hideous to all "the! f fellow pris oners by cryln*? "'it to * neh other nnd denouncing all of t'*.elr foes Morris Diamond has been In tears a dozen times since ho was convicted. He says he Is helnt: railroaded to the electric Chair. Morris wails tbrt Is fine "grati tude" for this nation to sentence him to be "burned" at Hlng Sing when he volunteered to defend the country less than one week after war was declared on Germany. The hard boiled member's of the Jill company have n<? sympathy *>r pntivnee with the Diamond boys. They say they are of the n' W br'?t?d of criminals and have non<- of the "finer traditions of crhii"" about them. They always want the best of it and are not willing to taU< I heir medicine like rentlemin when they are caught with the !'?ods. They hnv" told f he Diamond boys fo "hire i> hall* and otherwise have called out to them In terms of derision Joseph Diamond hap b- ? n in something of a panic ns the lime for his trial has come, and has- seemed to r?ill7e that with Ms brother con victed there was no chance for him. He hns written a sentimental poem plCt\lHn;r bis plluht. He saVS "the judge Is like the ur?inlr< . In the good old days of baseball: It's two and three and The ne\*t Is the bard one he has to call." Jes'?nh goes on to remark "I hope he calls It as he sees It, Just like I hope In this case; for I'm fuitttng my chance on winning or forever leaving this place.'* Despite all this maudlin senti ment apd the bitter reproaches upon fate, the bandits , have never once expressed any pity for t lie slain men or their families. What makes the c?se Mill more atrocious Is the fact that one of the bank messengers wa-? a friend cf the Diamond boys. The conviction of Ithese boys marka a red letter day In the battle for law and order In New York. Producers Are Confident That Oil Will Go Higher Vt Any Kale Jump in I'rices Made Producers ami Holder* of Spot Oil, Anticipating: Further Advances, l.oatli to Part With Tlieir (!rude Oil Product VANDERLIP SAYS HE HAD NO FACTS Only Told the Humor* About Suit- of llarding*s Paper in Order That Truth Might In Brought to Light. Washington. Feb. 15 ? Frank Vanderlip today told the Senate oil committee that he had no facts whatever to go on when he recently brought the name of President Harding into the oil scandal. His Osslning speech which asked for an inquiry inter the circumstan ces surrounding the sale of the Marion Star he said was made he cause he thought it a "public duty to call attention to current rumors so as to stop them.' "1 don't even know the price the paper sold for." Vanderlip said. "The current story was $550, 000V He 'regarded the rumors he said as akin to the "whispering campaign" that marked the last month of the Harding campaign in 1 !> 20 . "i had full basis for what I said," he continued., "that these were current rumors. 1 had never heard any intimation that the money paid lor the Star came from oil interests. 1 thought my statements would bring the truth to light and kill those rumors." Questioned about his statement that the copimitee had not dared to push the" questioning of Albert Fall, Vanderlip said it was an im pression he got from the news paper*. The witness admitted he bad not read in the newspapers that Fall had claimed constitutional im munity, although the story was pub lished prominently by practically every paper in the country. The Star owners submitted a statement and the committee turned its attention to other matters. Thomas Johnson. foreman of 1 Fall's New Mexico ranch, made flat denial that lie ever received $68,000 from the Sinclair Interests, imports of such payments had been brought to the committee recently by Archie Roosevelt. Meantime Coolldge sent to the Senate the nomination 'of Owen Rob erts in place of Silas Strawn of Chi cago whom the committee had lound unacceptable. Tries! Ijcase t'oal Fields. Washington, Feb. 15. ? Former Secretary Fall and Secretary Den by were declared in a letter laid bei'oro Coolldge today by John Ralllne, Alaskan railroad constructor, to have entered into negotiations in July 1021, for the transfer and lease of the rich Mantanuska coal re serves of Alaska along the sai.'e lines as were later followed In tlie Teapot Dome oil leases. The Alaskan lease vVas not exe cuted but t h?? letter said the Navy Department had assiduously refused ever since to permit the use of Alas kan coal by the Navy. Strawn's Name Withdrawn Washington, Feb. in The Senate oil committee last night advised President Cool Id ge that Atlee Poitt efene and Silas H. Strawn were not acceptable hh special counsel to pros ecute the oil I?-ase rases and the President .withdrew Strawn's name but refused to withdraw Potnereno's on the wound that the Senate had given no reason why he should do so. rjMM Hisi.: \w\iti>t-;i> |.-o?t ormivrirw or \r.\v kmium Kdentpn. Fob. 1G.-? After three nn Tflnufl. during which due conald craHon had been given each appll rnnt. the Choxvan Jload Commission Thursday morning n warded tlif fran chise for the operation of the new f"irv across t!?" lower Chowan Hlver to the Kdf nton MacVeya Kerry Com pany. In thla connection It la Interesting to note that, the ferry company offi cials left It with the romnuasloM to fix the ratr-H to be charred, knowing that reasonable and Just charges Would be allowed. The new ferry will be put into op eration aa aoon aa the details can be arra nged. Thla new ferry across ?!>?? lower Chowan River will closely connect Hertie and thla county, something that the people across the river have been pleading for for the past two yea i a, aa they have bad no conve nient outlet. ntn h,%vi vc? iv ro\i, Minneapolis,) Feb. 15 ? Home ht.ds. railroads, fectofles and land lords n*lng aoft coal have been saved SIO.OOO'.OOQ In the Northwest an a result of ths mild winter. There If 1.000. 000 ton? accumulated at the head of the lake* which will not need to b? moved this year. My KOYI.K (Capyright. I'?2I. By The Ad?*ner) Xew York. Feb. 15 ? The inde pendent ofl .rentiers declare that their struggle to "keep both ends of the market from meeting in the mid dle" has return, d. Producers and holders of spot nil are loath to turn it loose at present prices. This is true in the Pennsylvania fields, in the Arkansas and Louisi ana district, in the^ mid continent field. In Texas and In the Colorado. Wyoming and Montana sections. In each district, producers are confident prices will go hlKher. In the mid continent section, for example, holders are hanging on ev en with crude at $2.50 a barrel, and a 50 cents premium over the posted price on 3ft gravity and. over. "The producers and spot oil hold ers have Just gone crazy with the rapid advance of crude and are at tempting to anticipate further ad vances much faster than the market will allow refiners to advance prices of refined products," one Middle West refiner said today. This was confirmed by the presl dent of a Cleveland refinery, who said in connection with the recent Jump In gasoline prices: * "Gasoline was below the cost of production when the Increase in crude -prices started." A lot of oil picked up in North Texas a few days at a 150 cents pre mium was rated as a bargain and one owner of 100.000 barrels of spot oil in storage at Wichita Falls In the last week is known to have refused flatly to consider an bfTer of $2.50 a barrel. As a result, drilling operations are being rushed in practically all the oil fields of til*- country- To this fact to some extent is due the shortage i of fuel oil in certain sections. In I some parts of Texas quotations on ! this product range from an absolute j minimum of $1.36 a barrel to $1.50, j as heavy requirements for drilling purposes have been added to the , heavy usual s< asonnl demands. Out of the tightening up of the oil situation will come. It seems ex treme! v probable, the blguest devel opment program California oil com panies ever have undertaken. All the companies there now are zealously seeking new field?- and It Is entlmat ed $5,000,000 will be spent in the next six months by the Standard OH of California alone in "wild cat ting." The I'nlon. the Associated, the Shell and other big companies are outlining almost equally big de velopment programs. The "town lot" and "shoe string" oil companies, which last year were responsible to a large extent for the California over production, have al most entirely disappeared from the Long Peach, Huntington Beach and Santa Fe Springs fields. These com panies. many of which left a most unsavory trail behind them# sunk thousands of wells in the Itonanza fields. In order to prevent their wells from draining the oil pools, the large holders alongside were com pelled to sink "offset" wells, with the result that a flood of oil which overflowed the market was produced. The unsavory nftermath of the op erations of some of these shoe string companies arose from the fact that while some of them got producing wells, their stockholders were not permitted to benefit to the extent which said stockholders and state and Federal authorities believed they should. In some Instances, huge sums w?*re paid by promoters to them selves ns "salaries." Is it charged. In others, promoters, who got their stock for nothing, or for n price un der that paid bv the general public, are alleged to have used the bring ing In of new wells to manipulate the stock ii lid unload their holdings at a price to show a profit to theni but not liiuh < nough to allow the le gitimate stockholders to sell. Federal authorities aided by ihe state corporation commission' r, nr.* known to have been gathering evi dence in many cases and to have asked for a flood of Indictments. California producers. however, have had a slice of Kastern markets and will pot relinquish their holds on those r:?arkefs without a struggle, aided ? they pre by cheap transpor tation through the Panama Canal and the Mi*s!s?iopi River and other waterways reached from Atlantic and Ou If ports. ItJtOTIIKKS SHOOT AND KILL EACH OTIIEH Whlt?fthtirff. Ky.. Fob. 15. T^oh Ilat'H and Pain mrt on an open road 1a??t nt?M and ^ntrn <d in n |da tol dufl J?' mime of n dispute over lands l?*ff fhein by t li^-flr f?<hcr and aw a recti It both worn *hot dead, fieli by th#> other. COOPER CASE GOES TO THE JURY TODAY Wilmington. Prt. 15. ? The caae of the Government nt:ilns>( I. leu t en - ant Governor W. 11. Cooper and Thorns* I". Cooper will to tp the Jury today after the charge* are .made to that body. The testimony waa completed Thuraday.
The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.)
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Feb. 15, 1924, edition 1
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