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GASTONIA, N. C, TUESDAY AFERNOON, FEB. 3. . 1 920
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WITH III SIS
SEGRETABV DAWiELS
THE SECRETARY BACKS
HIS ARGUMENT VITH RECORD
FROM WAVY DEPARTMENT
Asserts That Admiral Sims on 'Shore Duty
"Demonstrated Ability of a High Order" -Points
Out Difference ' Between Shore x Duty
and Sea Duty Says There Was No Distinction
In Awards Made Between Admiral, Captain
or Enlisted Man.
(By The Associated Press.)
WASHINGTON, Feb. Secretary
Daniels appeared today before the sen
ate naval subcommittee investigating the
Award of naval decorations to answer
charges made by Rear Admiral Sims that
injustices had been committed inVthe
awards. The secretary was prepared to
jrive exhaustive testimony in an effort
to substantiate the navy's policy in
Awarding war honors and refuting the al
legations of Admiral Sims that the
.method followed had "shot to pieces"
the morale of the sea forces.
DANIEL'S STATEMENT.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3. Taking up
the contentions of Bear Admiral William
H. Sims in the matter of naval medal a
wards point by point, Secretary Daniels
in his appearance today before the senate
investigating subcommittee took direct
And emphatic issue with the admiral.
Planked by voluminous records from the
navy department, the secretary went Into
detail in explaining changes he made In
conferring decorations as recommended
by the commanding officers of the navy
And by the Knight board of medal a
wards. The naval 'secretary outlined to the
.committee the two chief differences be
tween his views and the views held by
Admiral Sims in the awarding of medals.
These were at variance as to the import
ance of service at sea compared with
service on shoro and differences on the
question of whether a distinguished serv
ice medal should be awarded under any
4-irenm stances to a commander of a ship
aunl or seriously damaged by enemy sub
marines or mines.
Asserting that Admiral Sims while on
bore duty both in the Spanish-American J
and world war "demonstrated ability of
a high order," Secretary Daniels' said
' ' the position of Bear Admiral Sims in
placing shore duty above sea duty in the
danger tone is, no doubt, influenced by
hia own record. ' ' Figures were presented
by Mr.' Daniels showing that during the
last 25 years Admiral Sims -had served
bont 16 years on shore duty and nine
Vars at sea.
"So rarely did he take a sea trip,"
aid the secretary, referring to the ad
miral work as commander of the United
States naval forces in European waters,
4 4 that in his book he tells a story of one
of the few times be was afloat, going then
with the British admiral who had been
placed by Bear Admiral Sims in com-
1 . . V A . J 1 V. .1
aana oi vne American aesiroyers uuscu
on Queenstown. "
As justifying his contention that indi
vidual duties ashore are necessarily of
aeeoadary importance, to duties afloat,
Mr. Daniels asserted: "On shore a man
decides important questions in the quiet
f his office surroundings wun time w
weigh the proa and cons, and if he makes
a? mistake his error sr decision is not im
mediately fallowed by disastrous result.
At sea, particularly in submarine war
fare, the commander, like all his men, la
is imminent peril of death. He must
snake momentous decisions in the flash of
single moment, often when hia ship baa
bees attacked, and when coolness and
X . 4A m.m tti A?
'ttoores and hundreds of men. A mistake
in this emergency is fatal to an omeer in
command at sea."
With this as an impeding reason the
amntArr said he dlnamrrovrd of the dis
parity between honors to men ashore and
. afloat as recommended by the Knight
board and accordingly reduced or eumin
cted a number of awards for shore serv
lea,. . .
Ia support of his contention that a
eannander of a ship sunk or damaged by
submarine attack was entitled to a medal
if he showed proper qualm cations even
though the ship was unable to combat
the submarine Secretary Daniels cited
numerous examples in American naval
history and also pointed to instances of
smeh awards by the French government
daring the world war. American naval
history, he told the committee, was filled
with precedents upholding his action in
jsrwardiag the distinguished service medal
t commanders of ships sunk by sutana-
rme or mnve.
"In the stiletto attack of submarine
warfare," said Mr. Daniels, "it is not
the fact that man strikes or is struck
that tests true mettle and true naval
leadership. The question is: Does he
play the part of the man, with chivalry
and thought only of others and of his
country. And has he by preparation
and foresight done all that is possible to
meet any and every emergency. And
when he faces a court of his, brother of
ficers, do they find that he has meas
ured up in the terrible ordeal to the high
naval traditions! Admirals Mayo and
Gleaves and Vice Admiral Grant recom
mended commanding officers under them
for distinguished service medals who dis
played these high qualities when their
ships, struck by mines or torpedoes, were
sunk or damaged. The board of awards
approved their recommendations. The
greatest thing that a man ever does in
this world is to turn a stumbling block
into a stepping stone. If medals are not
given for this sort of noble courage and
coolness and direction in supreme danger,
what on earth are they designed forf "
Referring to Admiral Sims ' statement
that he had not recommended any en
listed men for medals because ' ' we had
nothing to give them, ' ' the secretary
culled the committee 's attention to the
act creating the awards which he said
made no distinction between an admiral,
captain and enlisted men.
"It is the Bervice he renders, the ser
vice in peril, and not his rank that
counts," he added. "There are occas
ions when a ship is threatened with de
struction and when for a moment, its
safety and protection depends on an en
listed man and he is then in a 'position
of great responsibility' and if he per
forms his duties at that moment with
courage and devotion, he is fully en
titled to the recognition of his conduct
by the distinguished service medal . ' '
1 Referring to the bestowal of that med
al on Admiral Benson, for his service as
chief of naval operations, Mr. Daniels
declared he would give the same medal
' ' that goes to that great and distinguish
ed officer to the humblest sailor lad,
who when placed in a position of great
responsibility in a time that tested the
stuff of which a man is made, met the
demands of those duties and placed his
life in jeopardy in order that his ship
and the lives of others might be pre
served. ' '
With that in mind, he ordered further
study of navy records when he found that
only 119 enlisted men of the 500,000 in
the navy during the war had been rec
ommended for any high honor, he ex
plained. As the result of this study as
yet incomplete,' he said 13 additional en
listed men were awarded the distinguish
ed service medal and 68 more men wre
put on the list for navy crosses.
Emphatic denial was made by the
secretary of Admiral Sims' statement
that the policy followed in awarding med
als -had ' shot to pieces ' ' the navy 's ,
morale.
"It is an insult to the splendid men
of the navy to aay thai the morale of
the service would be seriously impaired
by any question of awards to individ
uals," the secretary said on- that point.
"They are made of sterner stuff than
to be rattled by a matter so unimpor
tant in comparison with their devotion
to their duties. Their loyalty is ia no
sense dependent upon medals."
Explaining Admiral Sim's mention of
a message from the secretary asking
what recommendatioa had been made for
"Bagley (Mr. Daniels' brother-in-law)
and other officers of the Jacob Jones and
other destroyers that were attacked,"
Mr. Daniels said the note was written
late one afternoon after all officers in
charge of reports had left the depart
ment and was written aa the easiest way
of getting the information. There was
not at that time and never has been, Mr.
Daniels declared, any question of favor
itism or relationship in the matter of his
relations with Commander Bagley.'
Mr. Daniels said be had no criticism
of the work of the board of awards head
ed by Bear Admiral Austin M. Knight,
and that its recommendations were faith
fully made on the basis of the meagre in
formation in its possession.
SEES WONDERFUL FUTURE
AHEAD FOR GASTONIA
Mr,C. C. Wilson, Well-Known
Architect, Says Gastonia is
LiyestTown He Knows of
His Firm Has Two Million
Dollars Worth of Work Here
Now Predicts Great
Growth for City.
According to Mr. C. ('. Wilson, of
Columbia, 8. C, who spent several days
last week here looking after const rue
fiou ork for which his firm prepared
plans and specifications, Gastonia is the
liveliest town in the Carolinas. To a
Gazette reporter Mr. Wilson expressed
himself as really surprised and gratified
at the enormous amount of building
either now going on here or in contem
plation for the immediate future. "It
is the livest and one of the best towns I
know of anywhere in the South, ' ' he
said. And this is saying quite a good
deal for Mr. Wilson visits and has bus
iness in many of the loading towns of
the South. He is particularly familiar
with the towns in North and South Car
olina and Georgia.
It was the realization of the great fu
ture Gastonia has before it which led
Mr. Wilson to establish an office in Gas
tonia a year or more ago. It is in
charge of Mr. Hugh E. White, whose
ability as a supervisor of construction is
widely recognized. For many years Mr.
White was with the government, super
vising the construction of public build
ings, lie supervised the building of the
Gastonia postoffice and of the new post
office at Columbia, S. C. At present Mr.
Wilson has $2,000,000 worth of work
here, some of it already begun and the
remainder of it is definitely planned for
the immediate future. He has several
million dollars, worth of other work in
various towns in the two States.
Mr: Wilson's main office ife in Colum
bia, S. C, where he has a considerable
force of designers and draughtsmen busy
all the time preparing plans for build
ings. His chief designer is Mr. L. C.
Darnet, a Frenchman and a graduate of
the Ecole des Beaux Arts of Paris. Mr.
Darnet was with the firm when the war
broke out. He immediately responded to
the call of his country and went to France
to enter the service. At the close of the
war he returned to America and resum
ed his position with Mr. Wilson.
The first work designed for Gastonia
by Mr. Wilson was more than twenty
years ago. It was thfe First Presby
terian church which is recognized as a
splendid piece of architecture. The
largest building so far designed for
Gastonia by him was the First National
Rank Building.
"I have no fears for Gastonia 's fu
ture," said Mr. Wilson. "I think its
prospects are unusually bright for an
unprecedented growth in the next few
years."
WILL DEFINE ATTITUDE
ON WAGE DEMANDS
(By The Associated Press.)
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3. Director
General Hines late today will declare the
attitude of the government on the wage
demands of the 2,000,000 railroad em
ploys presented last July. The announce
ment will be made at a conference with
officers of the brotherhoods and other
railroad unions.
As government control of railroads
ends on March 1, Mr. Hines' answer is
expected to be final as far as the govern
ment is concerned. No intimation was
given by officials as to the content of the
director general's reply. Action on the
railroad .men 's request had been deferred
to await the outcome of the government's
campaign against the high cost of living.
TRY TO LINK SOCIAL
ISTS WITH BOLSHEVIK
(By Toe Associated Press.)
. ALBANY, N. Y., Feb. 3. With the
prosecution resuming today presentation
of its case and requiring at least three
days to put in all its evidence of alleged
disloyalty, counsel for the five suspended
socialist assemblymen, it has been learn
ed, , will call ia defense witnesses who
personally have observed changing con
ditions in Russia during the last few
yeari
While the defense would not name
these witnesses, It was said they were
persons who hid seen the downfall of
the Romanoffs, the rise and fall of the
Kerensky government and introduction of
the Lenine-Trotzky regime. Their testi
mony following an effort by counsel foi
the assembly judiciary committee to link
the socialists of America with the bolshe
vik of Russia, will be introduced In an
attempt to show that conditions in Russia
have been misrepresented and 4hat the
present rulers are not so bad as they
have been painted.
FLU EPIDEMIC HERE
IS NOW ON THE WANE
Only Eleven New Cases Re
ported to State Yesterday j
No New Pneumonia Cases
That Are Serious.
Reports both from City Manager W. J.
Alexander and from physicians indicnte
that the flu epidemic here is on the wane.
Yesterday's report to the State Board of
Health from City Manager Alexander,
filed at 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon and
covering a period of 24 hours, showed
only 11 new cases. According to physi
cians in touch with the situation many
more than that number were discharged.
No new serious ease of flu or pneumonia
were reported.
TRIO OF GAR THIEVES
ROUNDED UP BY POLICE
Three Negroes With Head
quarters Here Had Been
Breaking and Robbing Rail
road Cars Between Gastonia
and Spencer For Two Years
Bicycle Stealing a Side-
- line. j
Chief of Police Joe Orr and his Argus- I
eyed policemen have succeeded in round
ing up a Ivuiich of car thieves who have
been giving the Southern Railroad trou
ble for the past two years and for whom
the road's detectives have searched high
and low for these many moons. The
gang is composed of a trio of young ne
groes, aged 25 to 30, all of whom live in
Gastonia. They are Tom . Froneberger,
Chris Froneberger and Jim Johnson.
Making their headquarters here they have
operated all along the line between Spen
cer and Gastonia, including Concord and
Charlotte. How much their thefts have
netted them during the past two years, is
not known but it is believed that they
are the ones who have rifled scores of
cars at various points along the line.
The two Fronebergcrs, brothers, were
apparently the principals in committing
the thefts and Johnson 's job was to dis
pose of the goods. Five Hundred dollars
worth of goods taken from railroad cars
was recovered by the officers in the edge
of Mecklenburg county.
In Municipal Court yesterday Judge
Jones gave Tom Froneberger sen fences
aggregating 510 days on the county
roads for the larceny of six bicycles here.
Bicycle-stealing was apparently a side
line with the trio, being indulged in while
they were resting from car breaking.
The six bicycles were recovered. Chris
Froneberger is being held under a bond
of $500 on a charge of car-breaking and
larceny and Johnson is being held under
a similar bond on the charge of receiving
stolen goods. All three are in jail in
default of bond. They will be tried at
the next term of Gaston Superior Court.
Chief Orr thinks that the capture of
these men, who were evidently engaged
in car breaking- as a profession, will re
sult in quite a slump in this line'of crime
on this section of the Southern.
AWAIT WORD FROM
AMERICAN AVIATORS
(By The Associated Press.)
EL PASO, TEX., Feb. 3. Word was
awaited today concerning Lieutenants G.
L. . Usher and L. M. Wolf, American
army aviators stationed at Fort Bliss,
who were captured yesterday by Mexican
soldiers near Nseozari, Sonora, Mexico,
and taken to Nacozari, technically under
arrest.
The Americans on a flight from Fort
Bliss to Nogales, Arii., became lost yes
terday and were 16 kilometres south of
Nacozari when engine trouble necessitat
ed a forced landing.
Major General Robert L. Howze said
he anticipated no difficulty in obtaining
the release of the aviators, although it
ia believed their detention was merely to
get a formal statement as to thetr excuse
for venturing south of the border.
H.CL STILL UP
FOR SETTLEMENT
(Bv The Associated Press)
WASHINGTON. Feb. 3. Further
efforts were made today by officials of Jthe
department of justice and representa
tives of the men's clothing industry to
devise means for reducing the cost of
clothing. At the conference lasting until
a late hoar last night tbey failed to
reach aa agreement and the suggestion
that the conferees be divided into com
mittees to-expedite their work will be
acted on today. The conference Is being
held behind closed doors and officials de
clined to comment on the proposal pre
sented nntil a definite program was out
lined. -
DEFENSE ARGUES THAT
NEWBERRY ENTERED RACE
AT SOLICITATION OF OTHERS
'' 1 " '"
James O. Murfin, of Detroit, Outlines Attitude
Defense ' Will Assume Toward Charges of
Conspiracy and Fraud - Says Newberry Vol
unteered Within 48 Hours After War Was
Declared.
(By The Associated Tress.;
(ill AND RAPIDS, MICH., Feb
Truman II. Newberry entered the 191M
senatorial enmpuign in Michigan at the
solicitation of others and not in further
ance of a scheme to get a sent in the
senate, said James O. Murfin, of Detroit,
in outlining to the jury in United States
district court the attitude the defense
will assume toward the charges of con
spiracy and fraud for which 123 men are
on trial.
Judge Murfin explained the defense's
view of the specif! details of the offenses
charged in the six counts of the Indict
ment, emphasizing thntt conspiracy is the
essence of the charges.
Tt was pointed out that on the first
four counts "the gist of the charge is
not fraud in the election, corruption in
the election or anything of that descrip
tion but that these respondents are charg
ed with conspiring to aid, abet, assist
and encourage Truman II. Newberry to
commit an offense, towit: The offense of
expending more of his money than the
law allows.
It was argued that under the Michigan
law as long as expenses come within the
eleven enumerated classes in the statute
there is no limit as to the amount of
money a committee of a candidate friends
can spend in bis behalf.
"It is .my purpose," Judge Murfin
told the jurors, "to point out to you in
exact detail everything that was done by
anybody connected with this campaign In
order that you may understand it in Its
infinite detail.. The campaign was unusu
ally hot and in analyzing and considering
whut these respondents did, the atmos
phere under which they did it should bo"
considered.
"Our country was at war. The fate
of the civilized world was hanging in the
balance with the last German drive at Us
height, the channel ports threatened and
the German ndvance armies within 30
miles of Paris.
"The records will show Jhat Michigan
sent to this war 1 AO ,000 young men in
the army, navy and marine corps; they
left behind them fathers, relatives and
friends. Americanism and patriotic ex
citement were at their crest.
"Rightly or wrongly, and this is neith
er the time nor the place to discuss it,
there was a very general feeling that
Henry Ford did not represent the type
of American who, at that critical junct
ure, should represent his state in the Uni
ted States senate.
"On the other hard Commander New
berry had had an honsrable record in the
Spanish-American war, when in the navy
he was under fire and actively participat
ed in overcoming a superior force. He
had been secretary of the navy in the
cabinet of that militant American, Theo
dore Roosevelt.
"Within 4S hours after our country
threatened to enter-the world war he vol
unteered and, in the spring of 1917, was
commissioned a lieutenant commander
and made aide to the commandant of
the third naval district at New York.
His brother and his two sons were also
in military service.
"This combination of circumstances
roused many Americans in Michigan to
the firm belief that it was their patriotic
duty to do all in their power to assure
the election of Commander Newberry and
we expect to conclusively show that they
were prompted not by pay but by patri
otism, they were actuated not by avarice
but by Americanism.
"Getting into this campaign was not
of the choosing of Commander Newberry
and he entered with the utmost reluct
ance and only after repeated urging.
"He stipulated that be could not leave
his duties; that he could not be active
and that he' could not contribute one dol
lar to the movement. This determination
not to be active nor to contribute one
cent was religiously adhered to by htm
from the beginning to the end and the
proof will positively show that not one
dollar of bis money was ever handled by
any One.
"The organization that was subse
quently built up wider the supervision of
Mr. Paul King was undoubtedly the most
perfect political organization ever put to
gether. With few eonspicuious excep
tions every township, hamlet, and city in
the state was organized. The commHttee
was running against the best advertised
man in America. It -was indispensably
necessary, in the judgment of these re
spondents in charge of the campaign that
his qualifications be given the widest publicity."
JAZZ RRANCH OF CON
GRESS DECIDES ISSUES
Little Congress, Composed of
Clerks and Secretaries Or
ganizes and Attempts to Set
tle Problems That Vex the
Larger Body of Legislators.
(By The Associated pre.l
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 Described
as the jazz branch of the real law mak
ing body "the little congress," com
posed of secretaries and clerks of repre
sentatives and senators has been formal- '
ly organized and now is "deciding" na
tional imues without thought apparently,
as to how it might affect the election
next fall. At its first meeting the
tie congress took the heart out of some
of its leaders by voting down a bill of
fered by a Rhode Island member- pro
viding for nine per cent beer. Com
pulsory military training was defeated
by a decisive vote, but the anti-strike pro
vision of the railroad bill stood by a nar
row margin. The question of freedom
for Ireland will be settled Saturday
night.
Ned Baldwin, republican, of Oregon, ,
clerk of the house committee on public
lands, was elected speaker. Harry
Handnger, republican, Rhode Island, won
out as clerk, and J. M. Barker, demo
crat, of Missouri', overturned the formal
republican majority and got away with
the jobs of sergeant-at-arms and boas of
the steering committee. Other members
of the steering committee are: Kenneth
Komney democrat, Montana; and Charles
Lewis, republican, Iowa. The commit
tee on elections includes Harold Hallen,
r epublican, Seattle, Waahn. ; Don C.
Hunt, Missouri, and Lehr Fess, republi
can, Ohio .
The understudies of statesmen have an
nounced that unless the peace treaty is
out of the way soon they will take a
hand and settle it.
FLU SITUATION IN
CHICA60 IMPROVES
(By The Associated Press.)
CHICAGO, Feb. 3 Improvement in
the influenza epidemic was reported today
by health department officials with a con
siderable reduction in the number of new
cases. During the 24 hours period yes
terday only 802 new cases were report
ed while deaths from the disease dropped
to 89. Sixty -nine deaths from pneu
monia were recorded with 374 new eases.
Announcement was made that the in
fluenza epidemic at the great lakes naval
training station had practically spent it
self. No death occurred there during
the last 24 hours and only 53 patients
were admitted to the hospital in the last
two days.
STRIKE MAY CUT OFF
HEAT FROM FLU PATIENTS
NEW YORK, Feb. 3 A final effort
to avert a strike which would cut off heat
in apartment houses, hotels, office build
ings and factories tomorrow morning, and ' '
which Health Commissioner Copeland de
clares would have a serious effect on the
thousands of influenza and pneumonia
patients in this city, will be made to
night by the health commissioner if the
landlords and firemen fail to reach aa
agreement today. Mr. Copeland in
duced the men Sunday to declare a 48
hoar armistice and conferred; with both
sides but without results.
"If everything else fails I will mfc
I a final appeal to the men tonight," he
said. "That will be m dnHr
-
A ..wood preservation method invent
ed in France consists of forcing a tea
per cent solution' of borax and a five
per cent one of rosin Into it with electricity.-
' ; i .