Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, July 24, 1918, Page 1

HUGE GRAFT lS'- | UNEARTHEDBY FEDERAL MEN; ARRESTS MADE Off Contracts for His Own Personal Plant. GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR OF RAINCOATS ADMITS Amazing Plot of Robbing Gov- ernment Involves Whole- ° salm"Bnbery Gharges. New York July 24.—Agencies of the Council of National ‘Defense are involved, in the nation-wide conspir- acy of ‘alleged bribery and graft in the manufacture of soldiers’ rubber raincoats through the arrest of Harry ¥, Lazarus, a member of the defense council’s. subcommittee - supervising raincoat production. He is accused of attempting to bribe a government inspector. - Inspector Confesses. . Department 'of justice agents also +took. into custody Charlgg L._Full;r. or.-the raflread trucks. WATCH LOST TWO YEARS FOUND AS CULTIVATOR WORKS IN CORNFIELD an extensive bribery system in a con.| *That’s going to be what might well nection with the manufacture of|be termed.‘some corn crop” on. the Taincoats and -other soldiers’ cloth-| farm of John Swanson of Swanson ing. Lake, judging from what has already These were the first of a series of | happened. In addition to the stand sensational developments promised | being one of the best in that vicinity as a sequél to the arrest of seven-|the crop of jewelry also seems to be teen railcoat manufacturers on brib-| coming along in fine shape, for in ery, fraud or conspiracy charges, and cultivating the corn quite recently the confession of a number of con-|agold watch was turned up. - tractors and quartermaster’s depart-| ~The timepiece is the property of iment inspectors. Albert Nelson, a neighbor of Mr. Member of Comnllittee. Egialsgn: Lazarus, a_wealthy clothing man-{ o, gtack.corn when the-watch-slip -+ ufacturer, was.a-member-of-the dex a%'é from h%s“flbcket unnéticed andits fense council’s committee which-ad-|{cyaet whereabouts has. always re- vised the war department what man- mained a mystery. The field has been ufacturing plants were ‘equipped regularly plowed for the past two properly to make raincoats, and aid-lvears and cultivated: frequently, and ed in placing these contracts. ‘After| when ‘a cultivator tirned up the he_obtained contracts for his own|yatch its mysterious disappearance plant, it is charged he sought to give| was solved. money to a governmen? '® Thspector who Mr. Swanson rewound the watch was expected to approve materials| ng it started off as if nothing un- and workmanship not up to the prop-| ygual had happened. 3, er standards. Others Involved. < < Developments will show, it is said, that others of the numerous subcom- -~ mittee of the defense -council had Coats Fell Avart.’ members who ysed their position to In this connection 1t -was reca]led get special favors,: All evidence un-| that many raincoats sent to soldiers covered will be presented to a grand| fell apart after brief use. One manu-{ facturer of rubber cement'was among the seventeen arrested. ment inspectors to use a certain kind of rubber cement which he described as ‘“rotten.” Fuller, the chief inspector, con- fessed that he received weekly allow- An offieer of the Sydeman Rubber ances from several contractors, it was| company, under arrest, admitted that announced by Assistant Attorney| when inspection of his product was General Huston Thompson, who 18| transferred from the quartermaster’s directing the campaign against|depot to his- plant it was easler to fraudulent profiteers. have the goods accepted, department Ralpir~Rosenthal, one of the con-|of justice officials announced. - tractors arrested and arraigned be- Some concerns, it was learned, fore a United - States commissioner,| were required to discontiaue manu- admitted to department of justice of-| facturing clothing materials in cer- ficlals, it was announced, that pay-| tain cities and to perform their con- ments described as “loans” were|tracts in New York where the sys- made to a government inspector in| tem of “understanding” was well de- his plant and that no request ever|veloped among governmept inspec- was made for repayment. tors. Special permission also was Similar payments also. were made| given a favored few contractors to to subordinate inspectors, at least one| make changes in manufacturing pro- = of whom received more than $500 in| cesses which added thousands of dol- i the last three weeks. lars to their profits. One inspector adopted a plan of Papers seized in connection with having “birthday” or “anniversary”|the arrests showed that wealthy parties as a means.of collecting gifts| young men sought exemptions from from contractors whose gbods he su-| the draft by getting menial jobs with pervised. The contractors flocked to| manufacturers holding government his house, it was said, and left arm-| contracts. loads of presents. 5 The accuséd raincoat makers were Rosenthal also explained, it was| held in bail rang announced, that after receiving con-{ $10,000-each w tracts he was compelled by govern-|examination was set for July 30. NEW ULM'S FORMER PROHUN MAYOR NEW PARTY LEADER St. Paul, July 24.—That the state “Milk-fed Nonpartisan league” is - will be flooded with socialist cam- gre t;&rm applied t;) the xlxatv orisgizz- on in same quarters, although O. A. paign literature attacking.the present Knudtson of Minneapolis, another state administration, particularly the} charter member, has said that the governor and the Public Safety com- organization has no connection with mission, by the New Press Society,| the league. which filed articles of incorporation Costs $15 to Join. with the secretary of state Tuesday,| The stated purpose of the society is is predicted by those who have been to publish newspapers, books and watching the trend of political|pamphlets, and this will include the events. publication of a socialist campaign The society will have its headquar- | paper and other literature attacking ters in Minneapolis and Lynn Thomp-| the governor and the Safety Com- son, radical socialist and member of | mission for failure to prevent inter- the Minneapolis school board, is onef ference with Nonpartisan league of the organizers. meetings and for closing saloons Fritsche a Backer where proprietors were accused of Dr. L. A. Fritsche, former mayor| violating the law, it is said, of New Ulm, deposed for pro-Ger- The $15 initiation fee and the 50 manism and connection with the New | cents a month dues charged members Ulm anti-draft meeting, is another,| will provide a campaign fund, after and he is said to be the chief finan-| the manner of the Nonpartisan cial backer of the society. - ) league, s N »? e e e e e e e s e | AL RO SEPRL. 5 L The photograph shows German prlsoners, captured uu.rlng a nlght raid, It so happened that two|! years-ago he was helping Mr. Swan-|: ron: $5,000 tol JUDGE SPOONER LANDS afternoon-.Janded -a . fine’ two-pouts brook trout while fishing in Gishwah river, about twelve miles from -Bi iu!dji The judge is an apt spo: man and has just recently added trout fishing as one of his favorite pastimes. He was in company with C. 'W. Brandhorg and .togetner they caught eleven fire trout. DR. SAKEN TO SPEAK _London, July 24.—Field Marshal von Hindenburg, chief of the general staff, is-seriously ill and has taken no part in military operations of the present year, according to informa- tion from Berlin, says a Central News dispatch from Berne. At great pergonal effort, the mes. sage afdds, the field marshal was pres- ORDERTOTEUTONS 1fl“NfESTHEP*AN (BULLETIN ) . - (By United Press.) Washmgton July 24.—“It seems likely that the Lord is getting tired of the partnership with the kaiser,” said General March today. Between the Marne and Rheims the Germans have only one rail line left for retreat unless minor field tracks are constructed. In the face of reinforce- ments the allies have steadily advanced for the last three days on this ten mile front. . By Lowell Mellett. (United Press Correspondent.) . With the French Afield, Juliy 24.—The Germans gained a slight success when they ousted the Ameri- cans from Epides. Then the Yankees threw out the Huns and made a further gain. Apother day of hard fighting has gone well with the alhe.:. The Germans have been compelled to give ground in many places, specially in the regions of Sois- sons aNd Rheims.where the greatest importance is attncl!e'd. Near Soissons, the Germans felt the Franco- An'xe.rlcan pinching and near the Rheims the Franco- Prltlsh shears jabbed in a point slightly farther, add- ing to the danger of the. German army below. By Webb Miller. 10:05 A.M. (United Press Correspondent.) Paris, July 24.—The Germans suddenly changed their AHER B AND CONCERT ent af a fow' of the imperial recep-|plans for their “stragetic retreat” in the Soissons-Rheims salient tions,but went through the functions 3 {vlthout speaking. He is quite incap- A motable feature of the Twenty. le ot writing,:the adyices declare. flrat”flo‘ine "Guard battalion band con: Et o' s i ) TWO MILLION SAMMIES the German aonttity; who win speak| - ACROSS BEFORE WINTER to Bemidji on the war situation with relation to Germany, and his address- Washington, July 24.—with prob- es are always intensely interesting. ? He is now. engaged in the service of ably: not much more than a quarter the United States government in the of'a million American troops engaged America First movement and has been | 1B the present battle, but with virtu- in Minnesota, his trip taking him ally a million others either in France through the northern part of the or hastening across the ocean. Gen- He is just finishing Beltrami eral Foch has been able to turn the table on the enemy and strike a blow that has changed the whole trend of the war. Officials here, while knowing ‘the Americans are today only a compara- tive small part of the vast forces the supreme commander is using, realize} the fact that the American army is going forward in a constantly in- creasing stream, is the governing factor in restoring the initiative to the allied soldiers. It is now virtually certain Gen- eral Foch will command at least 2,000,000 American troops before winter. state. county. * Those who have not heard him speak should take advantage of this opportunity.’ BEMIDJI WOMAN HAS ~ FIVE BROTHERS ENLISTED The preve]nnce of setvice flag em- blems being worn by those who have members of their families in the ser- vice of Uncle Sam, brings to light the fact that Mrs. H. Connelly of Bemidji is entitled to wear a service flag with five siars, for she has five brothers enlisted in the military. The family ‘home”is in St. Cloud where the fa- ther, N. A. Prish, resides and when he attempted to buy an emblematic button he was able to find only one in the business district. The list of brothers of Mrs. Con- ‘nelly is: Harry Parish, Camp Dix, New Jer- sey. Edgar there.” ) Eugene Parish, on duty in Chat- tanooga, Tenn. Joseph Parish, Camp Dix, New Jer- sey. Harvey Parish, Camp Lewis, Wash- ington, D. C. The eldest of the brothers is just 30 years old and the youngest is just 21 years. HASSAUER NEW HEAD OF AUSTRIAN CABINET (By United Press.) ister of Public Instruction Hassauer has succeeded Seydler as head of the Austrian cabinet. Parish, enroute over OAK TRIMMING BEING " SET IN DALTON CAFE The work of installing tihe oak trimming and panel work in the new cafe to be dpened in the New Dalton building by John Dalton, owner of the building, is in order, and judging from what has already been installed the interfor of the new cafe will pres- ent a most attractive appearance.The tile floor is all laid and it is of pretty design. Work is also progressing on the setting of the frames for the plate front and the other frames for the windows on the first floor will soon be ready for their glass. HOME GUARD MAKES ROUNDUP OF SUSPECTS ' Under the direction of Lieut. Scott Stewart, in command of the Home Guard company, five squads of the guard made the rounds of the busi- ness district last evening and round- ed up about 20 men who were unable off hand to produce evidence that they were observing the ‘“work or fight”” order. They were taker to the city hall and questioned and with few exceptions were found to be all right. Included in the squad roundeda up were some members of the draft from out of the city, here for re-classifica- tion. Such action on the part of Home Guards is being carried out through- out the state and Bemidji is fortunate in that her eligibles have plenty to do and are doing it. RAIN DOESN'T BOTHER NEWSBOYS ON PICNIC The newsboys of the city were guests today of Captain MacLachlan and the youngsters gathered in force at the city dock this morning eager to make the lake trip to a point where they would be safe in case of rain. It did rain, however, but the lads didn’t seem to mind it and had the time of the season on the outing. The trip was made in the ‘“Yankee Girl.” Lunches were bountiful and ice cream added to the menu. They re- turned right side up and with no mis- hap reports, and Captain Mac was voted a prince of hosts for his gener- PERSHING'S CASUALTY LIST. (By United Press.) Washington, July 24.—General Pershing today reported 108 ~asual- ties, osity and the good time he made pos- and determined to fight it out there, ‘ence and increased remforcementa indicated this, but this morning German countermanded and not explained, German politicians, fearing the international effect of the huge retirement, forced a change in the plans. July 24.—The German movement within the salient north of Chateau Thierry, northward since the retire- ment began, has now become south- ward. ments of troops have arrived for the Germans and are prepapring to make a stiff stand in certain locations. of the success of the push they had even appointed mayors of the- Fr;r;::sl: MUN]TION FACTGRY cities they expeted to capture. oners are doubtful if the proposed other drives are ever started. ALLIES DOWN 41 AIRCRAFT: 37 PLANES AND FOUR BALLOONS | in a German ammunition factory at allies downed thirty-seven enemy air- planes and four balloons Monday. SIX NEW NATIONAL ARMY DIVISIONS HAVE BEEN ORDERED Stiffening enemy resist- sonérs confirmed that the order had been But military experts think The Germans continue to order new divisions into the pocket, drawing some from their main British front. German losses are here estimated at from 125,000 to 150,000, including 25,000 prisoners. “ GERMANS UNABLE TO OBEY DRASTIC COMMAND. : (United Press Correspondent.) With the Americans Afield, July 24.—Despite orders to “Hold to the death,” the German rear guard was forced to give way before allied attacks along practically the whole of the battle frnnt. oners say the rear guard units were ordered to hold off: the" Americans to the last, but under violent American assault they are being wiped out or taken prisoner. The advance is proceeding cautiously, however. New German divisions are constantly identified. The most bitter fighting is north of Jaulgonne where the Amencans are enlarging the bridge head. The Americans are pressing northward along the main road from Chateau Thierry to Fercentardenios, in the region of Epides. captured Marie Farm. Here our forcea Coming through the wood the Americans found the Boche had established a machine gun every ten yards, apparently an impregnable defense. frontal assault and the Germans centered their attention on what was ahead of them. Amsterdam, July 24 —Fotmer Min-|ing movement, then both forces closed in an attack. Every German surrendered. The Americans drew up as if for a Other Americans made a wide circl- PRESENT DRIVE DISASTER Tesers pran oF ceruans| BERLIN STILL CLAIMS REPULSE OF ALLIES Berlin, Via Landon, July 24.—The headquarters report last evening says: ‘““There have been local engage- ments on the western bank of the Avre. Between Soissons and Rheims the crown prince’s army frustrated a strong attack by joint enemy forces.” By FRANK J. TAYLOR. (United Press (‘orrespondent ) With the Americans in France, It is believed fresh replace- Prisoners say the German drive south between Soissons and Main ITALIANS [N RUSSIA Demassingnes was one of the three drives contemplated this summer, to- ward Harrison, toward ‘the channel. The present drive, which ‘was dis- rupted, has spoiled the entire pro- gram. Epernay. JOIN CZECH FORCES (By United Press.) Berne, July 24.—Italians in Rus- sia have formed a battalion and German officers were so sanguine|Jjoined the Czechs. It was aimed at Chalon and BLAST KILLS MANY (By United Press.) Amsterdam, July 24.—An explosion Planen Friday caused great damage (By United Press.) and killed many of the employes, says July 24.—(Official.) —The|, German dispatch. GERMANY WOULD MAKE FORMER GREEK KING FINN RULER (By United Press.) Paris, July 24.—Germany plans on (By United Press.) placing Constantine, former king of Washington, .July 24.—S8ix new Greece, on the throne of Finland and Paris, National army divisions were today is soynding Finland upon the proosi- sible, ordered formed. tion, FORTY-FIVE CENTS PER MONTH “HOLD TOTHELAST”