The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, March 24, 1934, Page 1

ESTABLISHED 1873 ~ ASPLAMES RAVAGE TRANSIENT BUREAU Grease Boiling Over on Hot Stove Blamed for Blaze; Victims Are Trapped HORRIBLE SCENES ENACTED Men, Wakened From Sleep, Be- come Panic Stricken and Leap From Windows Lynchburg, Va., March 24.—(AP) —Fourteen persons were burned to death and at least 80 others were injured in a fire than swept the fed- eral transient bureau here shortly before dawn Saturday. Three of the dead were negroes and the rest white. The bodies, some of them charred apparently beyond hope of recogni- tion, were carried to Lynchburg un- dertaking establishments while the injured were taken to two hospita's in every available ambulance, hearse, truck and private car. * Seventy of the victims, approxi- mately half of them white and the rest negroes, were taken to Lynch- burg hospital in every conveyance available and 14 negroes were in the Virginia state hospital. Power fa- cilities were cut off at Memorial hospital by the fire and this institu- tion was unable to help. Grease boiling over a hot stove was blamed for the fire—the worst in Lynchburg’s history. William Rash, the cook, said he had begun preparing breakfast for the esti- mated 200 occupants of the building when the grease boiled over on the stove and quickly set fire to the building. Blaze Proves Stubborn ‘The cook said he grabbed ‘a bucket of water and dashed it on the blaze. This did no . He then emptied Se fire extinguishers without ef- fect. Ras! sistant, C. H. Fizer, and the night watchman, James Webb, turned in the alarm. Two stories above the fire, sleep- ing in cots only a few feet apart, lay two hundred men—the white transients in one section of the double building and the negroes in another. At the first call of “fire” the men became panic stricken. A high board wall surrounded the windows of their sleeping began tearing the street. Some dived to the street, 15 feet below. Others clung to the window sills and dropped. , Policemen reported seeing some of the men clang to trolley wires be- fore they fell. All those who were badly hurt. Many had legs and arm, in addition to burns ee had sustained. ‘he fire spread with tremendous speed. The firemen said that within 10 minutes after trucks arrived floors at the rear of the building had collapsed. One of Several Camps The Lynchburg bureau was one of several camps set up throughout the state to care for homeless persons. It was administered as a federal emergency relief measure. Most of the men had on little or no clothing. Over one hundred were herded into the Salvation Army cita- del across the street and clothing ‘was provided there. Those who reached the scene first said the horror was uni le. ing and Men lay groaning and writ the now was blood-stained. As soon as firemen could enter the building they began bringing out 0 quaker and the men this down to leap into lies. . Night Superintendent C. F. Ander- 100 son of the transient bureau said 86 James Webb woke him and he was 194 able to save the records. The roster ‘702 showed there were 190 men in the 007 building, 83 whites and 107 nagTone. 386 They were from all parts the 237 United States. Foster 138 He believed that by checkiog his |Golden 53 % records against the men injured the 537 H dead could be identified. 41 2,925.55] Friday evening's style presentations Push Zt aaeess which wes fire’ on the program, sad Will Revised 165 1,864.30) by the Rose shop at 9:15 o'clock. Miss Air Mail Measure 303 © -2870.71|Ann Bergeson assisted as page. 2 tal... arr ne ee Washington, March 24.—(AP)— | seorcer ml L47a@0|_The 8. and L. company’s models Chalsaae McKellar of thesezest|Moren :. ro) Sige.s7| Vee Miss dren’ Concer Who wore § Unday. that his. revised og 318240610 pion who modeled a dark bive cost airmail bill would be reported favor. Shaves” 100149745 |and a plaid dress outfit, Mrs, Alvin T. BMY Se the SIONS in the next/aioux , 16? Va4s4i Peterson who showed § blue swagser Study of the measure, containing |S1°P2 - ee ee Oe ae mons ono wen many criticized provisions, be- ‘ 683+ 7,478.53) Cpe Fin Baturday if fossible, he said,” |Stuteman 613 425.73 |sttired in an evening costume and Te bil which ts undeatood, | Wa 8 SBR meee hee, Sores contain modifications recommended Sra 8001.74) the little boy who carried the long by the administration, was offered) - mom STRASBURG STORE | Wedding vell worn by Mrs. Nelson. Kellar and Chairman k of the (Special to The Tribune! ‘Miss Czeczok’s three-quarter length al ting committee, pirastie, M.D. March 3e- thieves swagger coat was trimmed with but- It was considered ‘that | Cleaned out the entire. stock of gro-| tons to the waist line and.s white this step came soon ‘an airmail |Ceries of the Strashurg Basser here|Feter Pan collar, worn with a white co} by the t, Attor- | Wednesday night, Entrance was| dotted waist, hat with a black of the postoffice and commerce de- | Officials bac igd the burglary PM | celes De aa is on as nent: cl’ tan ae cermeneeny | mnietoa eames hemariteee eae sits WILL SEEK GOVERNORSHIP i % Aberdeen, 8. D., March 24.—(AP) Pittsburgh, March 24.—(#)—Satur-| Were of postman blue wool. The coat 4 prepa a) pale Seems cay. wae Andrew W, Meier's irtidas [Dac Sutians cman te Se. ams ‘tien publisher of the Dakota | know how cld he ts. ‘white cuffs. Her ensemble was com- Al ‘in| pleted with he be trimmed Feb. *Troken {Fe BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA, SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1934 Motor Magnates in Hot Spot at Washington Automobile Parley White House to talk Roosevelt are Alfred dent of General P. Sloan, presi: Pictured above as they came to the tional Automobile Chamber of Com- with President |merce; Walter P. Chrysler of Chrysler - |motors; Donaldson Brown, vice presi- Motors; Alvin Mac- jdent of General Motors; C. W. Nash, auley, president of Packard Motor chairman of Nash Motors; Nicholas Car company and head of the Na-|Kelly, vice president of General Mo- | tion. tors; John Thomas Smith, vice presi- dent of General Motors, and Roy D. Chapin, president of Hudson Motor Car company and former secretary of commerce in the Hoover administra- CIVIL WORKS RELIEF | ATTENDANCE 1S GOOD AT AUTOMOBILE AND STYLE SHOW SO FAR As the work-relief program, substi-| ting Weather Saturday Is Ex- program, tute for the civil works acmad tiie first week of its existence} pected to Result in Greatest Attendance in History Friday, a compilation for the 15 DOLLARS INTO STATE Wages Are Reduced in Final Week of Great Government Emergency Effort Attendance at the Bismarck auto- mobile and style show Friday exceed- led. the expectations. of the. commit- tee, according to M. B. Gilman, gen- eral chairman. ‘With a good break in the weather Saturday, he ted the attendance that of a year ago, cars have been ‘not made by dealers, that feature has admin- ‘Wages |line. $106,482) The 1902 Ford model displayed in 186,286|front of the entrance to the large 256,190 | Auditorium has attracted a lot of at- 290,045 | tention from visitors. Its one cylin- 354,941|der, narrow wheels, and high clear- 455,191 | ance stand out in sharp contrast with 517,208|the ultra-modern engines and body 353,000] construction of the new cars on dis- quit 41 Men And Five Firms (LAMMAN, WOMAN BRINGS 43 MILLION Indicted in Petroleum War SAW MURDERERS OF California Grand Jury Claims: Accused Persons Violated Oil Industry Code \ eet { Los Angeles, March 24.—(7)—A fed- | eral grand jury tossed = bombshell into the California petroleum indus-[ try Saturday with a wholesale indict- ment of 41 individuals and five com- panies, including Standard Oil of California, on charges of starting price wars through marketing sub- terfuges. Charged with violations of the na- tional petroleum code of fair competi- tion and infraction of interstate com- merce regulations, two of the com- panies, Standard and Associated Oil, face possible maxtmum: fines, if-ton- nae Tanging from $1,600,000 to $2,- ,000, Among the individuals named in the indictment was Kenneth R. Kingsbury, r-esident of Standard and & prominent figure in preliminary discussions during the formation of| the code. The indictments, accompanied by bench warrants for the arrest of in- dividuals and setting bonds of $1,000 each, was voted on the heels of an apparent truce the tr bill named Signal 4 ue named the Oil & Gas companies of Delaware and Cali- fornia, and the Seaside Oil company. GRAFTON, SVEA 10 BATTLE FOR TITLE y|Grafton Beats Hettinger, Svea Eliminates Larimore in Semi-Final Play Valley City, N. D., March 24.—()— Grafton and Svea high schools will bettie it out here Saturday night for at championship of Class B basketball teams. That was decided when they i Ht gE H ‘ i : a2i5| FET fine iM ru x eas geees R2EE PT, z i ; i CHASELEY FARMER Officials Issue Appeal to Two Parked in Auto to As- sist in Probe | Fessenden, N. D., March 24—()}— The hunt tor the murderers of Henry Zirbel, found bound with barbed wire atop a burning straw stack last Mon- day night, swung into new channels Saturday as officials announced they are seeking witnesses to the slaying. J. W. Schmidt, state's attorney of Wells county, said he had definite word @ man and woman were perked in an automobile near the strawstack and would prove valuable in solv- ing the crime. He has been unable tw learn the names of the couple. ae issued the following state- ment: “Information has come to the state’s attorney that a certain party and a lady were parked on the road in Wells county near the strawstack where Henry Zirbel was found dead on the night of last March 19, and saw the movements of certain par- “The state's attorney would like to get in touch with the party and lady as information which they have may assist in solving the crime and lead to discovery of the guilty parties. Kindly get in touch with J. 'W. Schmidt, state’s attorney for Wells county, at Fessenden. “Officials of Wells county also are informed the man they are trying to contact was at Aneta, N. D., on *¥===] THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE See Agreement in Auto Strike 14 Homeless Men Burned in Virginia Fire JOB INSURANCE [S| ADDED TO TASKS OF U. §. LEGISLATORS Roosevelt Is Specific in Asking Action on Proposal at This Session SUPPORTS WAGNER BILL Says Provision Should Be Made Now to Retard Effects of Future Crises Washington, March 24.—(#)—The task of enacting a job insurance plan against future economic slumps was added Saturday to the growing con- gressional work-sheet. President Roosevelt was specific in directing the job done. He said, first, that such legislation would fulfill a promise made in the last Democratic party platform. Secondly, he declared sound the general principles of the Wagner- Lewis bill, A ways and means sub- committee promptly resumed hearings Saturday on this measure. In a letter to Chairman Doughton of the house ways and means com- mittee the chief executive wrote that, while unemployment insurance alone would not make unnecessary other relief for the future jobless, he be- lieved it would act as a stabilizing de- vice to retain economic crises. The first big industrialist to be heard by the sub-committee—Gerard Swope, president of General Electric— opposed the bill and critized the pro- posed 5 per cent federal tax on busi- nesses employing more than 10 per- sons. He spoke a few hours before Roosevelt's letter was received Fri- day. Meanwhile the new Fletcher-Ray- burn stock market control bill faced ‘a brighter future as @ result of quall- fied administration approval. Quotations on the measure’s chan- ces of enactment this session, with- out further major alteration, neared a new high overnight. The senate banking committe noted the following boosts as it resumed hearings: A statement by President Roosevelt that, although he had not read the latest draft, he desired a bill with Plenty of teeth.” Word from Governor Black of the federal reserve board ization was ready to “approve the bill as revised.” Testimony by Tom K. Smith, aide to Secretary Morgenthau, that the treasury was in “full accord” with the “general objectives” of the measure, fait nears spnclied all:chiasesiot the Agent Warns Insull » N. D., the evening of March 22, between 7:30 and 8 p. m., and was driving a small dark Ford coupe in a northerly or north- easterly direction.” Investigation into the crime, mean- while, lagged while officials await funeral services for the victim, set for Saturday afternoon. There have been m0 concrete developments, officials said, other than discovery that the crime was witnessed by the couple mentioned in the statement. Man Is Identified As Robber of Bank Minneapolis, March 24.—()}—Wit- nesses late Friday identified Prank Dennis Carpenter, John Dillinger’s “double,” as one of the bandits who To Avoid Port Said Port Said, Egypt, March 24—()— The belief grew Saturday that some secret agent is warning Samuel Insull against putting in at Port Said in the Greek freighter in which he has been expected here for days. From many sources had come re- ports that Insull was not far out in the Mediterranean and the arrival of his expensively-chartered vessel, the Matiotis, was expected by many late Friday. Saturday, however, as hours passed with no news of the craft on which Insull is seeking some new haven from extradition to the United States, port authorities relaxed their watch. It was believed generally that Insull ‘on | W85 awaiting the signal to hes orders to permit such a procedure , {the fact is being kept secret, Glass Drawing Bill For Industrial Loans that his organ- | ou. Seen ane re if Will Speak Here a a a WILLIAM McINTYRE Commissioner William McIntyre, Chi- cago, head of Salvation Army opera- tions in 13 central states and sec- ond in command of the Salvation Army in the United States, will con- guct the 38th anniversary services for the local corps on Easter Sun- day, April 1. He will speak at pub- lic gatherings at the city auditorium at 3 o'clock and at the McCabe Meth- odist Episcopal church in the evening. Monday, April 2, he will address the Rory, Kiwanis and Lions clubs of and neighboring cities. SUBSISTENCE PLOTS WILL BE OFFERED 70 WORKERS ON RELIEF Christian'son, However, Says Plans for Action Here Are Not Complete Details of plans formulated by Harry L. Hopkins, national emergency relief administrator, for placing in- digent families in towns of over 5,000 Population on plots of ground where they could sustain themselves, had Not been received by Judge A. M. Christianson, state relief administra- tor, Saturday. The plan was discussed at a confer- lence in St. Pau) recently Christian- Son said, but he did not believe it would apply generally in North Da- because there is no congestion of Population here and comparatively few towns of over 5,000 population. In an interview with newspapermen in Washington late Friday Hopkins outlined six types of work that may be undertaken in cities. He said the rural program, start- ing April 1 in towns of less than 5,000 population and the open country, would aim at placing families on Plots of ground where they could sustain themselves. Hopkins also directed state admin- istrators to prepare, not later than April 10, a plan for further carrying out this program. He asked reports on the proposed method of obtaining houses and land for displaced farm- ers; arrangement for garden and feed crop plots for destitute farmers who have obtained houses; proposed meth- ods of furnishing cows, chickens and pigs; types of projects to provide sup- plementary income; types of projects to provide income for destitute per- sons living within towns who are un- Periglday noe 60° col Neale The Weather PRICE FIVE CENTS IMPARTIAL BOARD TO REVIEW ISSUES IN LABOR DISPUTE Motor Manufacturers Willing to Have Committee Check Claims of Unions | i} GOVERNMENT AGENTS BUSY Expect Quick Settlement of Argument Over Matter Which Is Rending Industry Washington, March 24.—(#)—Set- tlement of the disordered automobile labor situation apparently hinged Saturday afternoon on one major re= maining difference between the mane ufecturers and union spokesmen, with expectation of an early announces ment still evident. ‘That point is when the manufac turers shall get lists of the union memberships. Dropping their insist ence on labor elections, the union representatives assented to submit- ting their lists of members to the gov- ernment for comparison with the auto concerns’ payrolls submitted by the manufacturers; but the latter demand that they get the lists in question. The manufacturers issued @ state- ment Saturday saying they had agreed to appointment of an impartial board to pass on labor grievances, but they charged again that the labor unions intend to obtain a dominant position. Settlement in Sight Despite the statement, administra- tion officials expected s settlement of the dispute within a few hours. The manufacturers spoke in reply to reports that settlement of the strike depended only on willingness of the management to let the gov- ernment check the union member- ship claims with payrolls and say whether they are correct. “If that is the only remaining is- sue,” the statement said, “let there be no misunderstandings as to what it means, “Ie means that the union refuses to tell the manufacturers whom the union represents. It wants! the right tu act for employes disclos- ing their authority from them. lke a lawyer saying to you, ‘I a client ea ebjers tell you who he is, but I gain for him.” Union Claims Unchecked “No outside agency can check union claims against the payroll, come to any fair decision without closing the names to the manufac- turers. “The unions’ refusa ito say whom it represents is just another indica- tion of its purpose to dominate in- dustry. Dar- the can dis- say whom the union same issue of union domination another form. “The unions’ refusal to say manufacturers whem it represents, there will be discrimination against union members. On the contrary the manufacturers have agreed to able to obtain land or sufficient em-| Pest Ployment to meet their need, and an outline of the organization and ad- ministration necessary to put the program into effect. He informed the state administra- tions that where work is given the wage must be paid but that | prevailing it must not be less than 30 cents an hour. Working hours shall not be more than 24 a week or less than 54 ® month. He also informed the administrators any persons having available land who do not plant a home garden should not receive any relief. a ee 1 More Wheat Checks | | Received in County | —_—_—_—_—O ‘Three hundred wheat allotment x Officials, however, refused to say that this was the basis of the plan they were trying to put through. Fourteen of 31 member firms of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce announced had de- eided to act on the chamber’s re- commendation to cut pg from 40 to 36 and ra of