The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, December 17, 1935, Page 1

North Dakota’s Oldest Newspaper iti 1 negra: Panerai Le 9 aI THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE peter 1873 BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA; TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1935 § Hoover Proposes Decentralized Relief P Thelma Todd, Movie Actress, Found Dead in Auto CARBON MONOXDE POISONING FATAL, DOCTOR DECLARES Blonde Comedienne Last Seen Alive in Early Hours of Sunday Morning eer eRe DISCOVERY MADE BY MAID Investigators Baffled by Con- flicting Stories. of Victim's Last Hours : Los Angeles, Dec. 17.—(P)}—A maze of conflicting and mysterious circum- ‘stances confronted police Tuesday in the investigation of the death of Thelma Todd, blonde screen beauty. Finding definite traces‘of carbon monoxide poisoning, the county au- topsy surgeon said she probably died in her garage about 4 a. m. Sun- day, after she had been driven home from a gay Hollywood party by Er- nest Peters, auto livery proprietor. But Mrs. Martha Ford, wife of Wal- lace Ford of the films, told police she talked with the actress late Sunday afternoon over the telephone. “I am certain it was her voice,” Mrs, Ford said. “She told me: “I'll be with you in a half hour. When you see who I am bringing with me to your party, you'll drop dead!’” Still in Evening Clothes Mrs. Ford said the“ voice added: “Oh, and another thing—I went to ® party last night, and I’m still in evening clothes. Do you mind?” Clad in a sequin-spangled evening gown and mink. coat, which she had worn to the Saturday night affair at & Hollywood cafe, the actress was found dead at 10:30 a. m. Monday by her maid, May Whitehead. The body was slumped behind the wheel of her automobile in the garage. The actress’ face was bloody and a crown of a tooth had been dislodged in her mouth. .The ignition key was in the lock of the car, and it had been turned on. Peters, who police said was the last person known to have seen Miss Todd alive, related he drove her and her mother to Hollywood at 8 p. m. Sat- urday. Between 2 and 3 a. m., he called for her at the Cafe Trocadero and drove her home to her own cafe on the coast, highway four miles north of Santa Monica. Refused the Courtesy Accustomed to escorting her from the machine to the door of her apart: ment above the cafe, Peters said he was told by Miss Todd-that she.would “look after herself.” He arrived back at his Hollywood stand at 4:20 a.-m., he said. Co-partner with the actress in the Cafe Venture, Roland West, former film director, told Capt. Bruce Clark he had “locked out” Miss Todd Sun- day morning from her living quarters because she had been “getting in late.” “As it was necessary for me to stay up late and open the door for her,” West said, “I told her when she started for the Trocadero that she should be “home at 2 o'clock in the morning. “She replied that she’d be home at five minutes after two. “At 2 o'clock I locked the door. I stayed awake until 2:30 then retired. At about 3:30 I was awakened by the whining of my bulldog. I know it must have been Miss Todd at my door because had: it been anyone else; the dog would. have growled. Surmises.Her Movements “But she didn’t make any noise or attempt to awaken me. Instead she must have walked up the hill to the garage in which she kept her car, and | of the body of Thelma Todd, motion picture comedienne in an automobile in her garage DR. BRANDES HEADS CIVIC ASSOCIATION H. P. Goddard Renamed Secre- tary-Manager at Organ- ization Meeting Dr. H. A. Brandes, vice president of the Bismarck Association of Com- merce for the last year, was elected to the presidency here Monday night at the annual organization meeting of the new board of directors. He suc- ceeds John A. Larson, retiring board member. Other officers chosen were George Shafer, vice president; E. T. Mc- Canna, treasurer; H. P. Goddard, sec- retary-manager;. and Ruth Wetmere, Office secretary. Goddard is serving his 11th term as secretary. Bg ea of the old board met prior the meeting and wound up business affairs for the year just ended. A committ-:. com- Based of C. R. Robertson, A. R. Tavis «Continued on Page 1wo) County Agents Name [ana pr. Brandes, was appointed to its for the annual Brush as President) 22.,.tin senvu Fargo, N. D., Dec. 17.—()}—County agents and extension workers of North Dakota Monday night elected Harper J. Brush of Jamestown president of their organization. Brush, Stutsman county agent, succeeds J. C, Russell of Beach, Hendrickson vice president and Ed Vancura of Fessenden, secretary-treasurer. ' RAIL BUSINESS BETSER Beginning Monday Retiring members of the board in- clude Larson, John L. Peterson, treas- urer; J. E. Guthrie, R. B. Webb and Robertson. ‘A discussion of the program for the ensuing year followed the elec- tion of officers when the new board Fargo, N. D, Dee. 1 11.—(P)—Exten- per gerrrnlly Mlchelten See a cl college Tuesday estimated proziniately 85 per cent of the state 26 Icelanders Perish In Storm; 2 20 Missing SHOPPING WEATHER and colder. udge Directs Ac Hunt for Missing Heir Is Fruitless 95 Per Cent of Wheat _|pinins the oud, In N. D. Under Contract) soe inttenea'oy a atid’ out ignite near Hollywood has investigating officers puzzled: Was it murder or suicide? Grandfather Demand for $50,000 Ran- ‘som for Scion New York; ‘Dec. 17.—(#)—Federal agents, spurning the assistance of New York police, pressed a fruitless search Tuesday for the missing Caleb Jones’ Milne, 4th, scion of a wealthy Philadelphia family. “The New York detectives are on the outside’ ‘looking in,” said Rhea Whitley, head of the federal agents here. He declared police failure to co- operate was the reason for the split. Every clue to the supposed abduc- tors of the 24-year old actor, how- ever, ended ina cold trail. New York police continued to record him merely as a missing person. Reports ‘that the youth’s grand- father, Calbe Milne, Jr., retired Phil- adelphia Textile manufacturer, had been in contact with kidnapers were believed baseless. : ‘The New York Times said it was reported, but not confirmed, that: $50,000 in ransom. had been demand- ed ina letter to the grandfather which threatened death for the miss- ing youth, -The letter arrived in a package con- taining a wrist watch the grandfath- er had given the boy in 1924, the pa- ahd hour Stains on the paper in which the watch was wrapped, the Times said, had not been analyzed. Milne, however, wag quoted later as saying he had received “no note or clippings or demands for ransom.” Meat Prices Decline Since September pea, Dec. 17.—(?)}—Retail meat were in some instances Fee 0 io 01 ber cont lowe Gane » When butchers’ charges consumers’ com- Most tous auth- icant increase in hog receipts during ths, Ww ‘[leys. “I accepted ies Receiving FAVORS PEACE PLAN TO STAVE OFF WAR} British Cabinet Meeting to Draft Reply to Critics of CRISIS LOOMS IN LONDON Further Conce: Demanded of Conferees By Mussolini (By the Associated Press) Premier Pierre Laval told the French chamber of deputies Tuesday he agreed on the now celebrated Franco- war between Tey and Sthiopia to war between avert war in Europe. While he spoke before legislators who both insulted and praised him, the British.cabinet met in portentous session to draft an answer to critics of the peace plan drawn up at Paris by Laval and Sir Samuel Hoare, the British foreign secretary. The turn taken by the diplomatic interchange tangent to the East Af- rican cempaign at arms—resentmen: against the plan which has forced French and British leaders to the de- fensive—found Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin reportedly staking the life of his government on th; issue that the Program was reasonable. Majority Sufficient However, the government majority in the house of commons appeared sufficient to avert a crisis if the 7 mat- ter came.to @ vote, despite widespread defections, Laval was sanguine on the question of his participation in the peace par- ideas of Gre: Britain,” he related, “on whose derstanding with France depends our safety.” Those proposals, he related, repre-' sented the limit of Franco-British ef- forts to settle the war. Leftist dep-|&w uties shouted insults at him; the right. wing and part of the center ap- Plauded. Laval had challenged the deputies to overthrow his government, and said he refused “to go to Geneva under humiliating. conditions.” He demand- ed that interpellations of the govern- ment in the Italo-Ethiopian situation be deferred until Dec. 27. The cham- ber approved his request by a vote of 306 to 252. Wants to Build Railway Meantime, diplomatic sources said Italian ambassador Vittorio Cerruti had brought Laval demands for fur- ther concessions in Ethiopia for Pre- mier Mussolini. Il Duce was reported to be asking the right to build a rail- fae swinging west of Addis Ababa and joining Italy's East African col- onies of Eritrea and Somaliland. These sources added Italy also wants the colonization zone in south- ern Ethiopia, suggested in the original plan, extended to include a triangle the Sudan. No danger to the life of the French government apparently attached to Laval’s explanations before the cham- ber of deputies.. The Baldwin govern- ment in Britain, though ostensibly safe, faced more bitter criticism, both at home and abroad. German ‘Red’ Leader Beheaded for Treason Lec 5 RN Berlin, Dec. 17.—(#)—Rudolf Claus, German Communist leader, was be- headed Tuesday after Reichsfuehrer Hitler refused him clemency. Claus was sentenced by the peoples court for “preparation of high treason,” last July 25. Baffles Ellendale, N. D. Dec. 17. Search for William Oe5csch, alleged prices|slayer of Henry Kaphingst, Dickey county commissioner, continued Tues- Latest Proposal | GOVERNMENT RESTS CASE ions in Ethiopia | uittal of Erickson in Cons DEATH PUZZLES HOLLYWOOD |LAVAL DECLARES HE MURPHY’S MOTI MOTIONS BURIED IN MINNEAPOLIS MONDA TOOBTAIN FREEDOM FOR OTHERS FAILS Evidence Fails to Prove Allega- tions in Indictment of Publisher Defense Counsel Insists That Clients Intended to Do Lawful Things Three defendants remained in the federal conspiracy trial of Former Gov. William Langer and associates Tuesday as the defense opened its attack on prosecution evidence, fol- lowing directed acquital of Oscar E. Erickson, chairman of the Republican state ceytral committee. Erickson walked from the federal courtroom freed of the charges an hour after the morning session of court opened. He was absolved of conspiracy allegations by directed ver- dict of Federal Judge A. Lee Wyman of Sioux Falls, 8. D. Remaining as defendants are Lan- ger, Frank A. Vogel, former state highway commissioner and R. A. Kin- zer, once executive secretary of the state relief organization. Motions for directed verdicts of ac- quittal for the remaining trio, made by Chief Defense Counsel Francis Murphy, failed. Nearly an hour's arguments by U. 8. District Attorney P. W. Lanier and Murphy preceded the court's ruling. Accepts Responsibility Declaring he “accepted full respon- sibility” for the directed verdict, Judge Wyman appointed George C. Ottis, Wyndmere merchant, foreman of the jury for the purpose of returning the rdict; The jury was excused from the courtroom after Lanier had rested fol- lowing short testimony from a con- cluding government. witness, and ar- guments on Murphy’s motion for di- rected verdict for the four defendants began. Erickson smiled broadly as he strode from the courtroom, to reap- (Continued on Page Two) WPA WORKER KILLS FOUR, WOUNDS TRIO 500 Drainage Ditch Laborers Flee as 44-Year Old Man Opens Fire on Them Los Angeles, Dec. 17.—(#)—Charley Tuesday for the slaying of four WPA workers because he said they “picked on” him. Police said Layman would be given a psycopathic examination. The workers shot down in a drain- age ditch without warning Monday were Lloyd E. Holden, 42; Peter M. Coklit, 46; Harry Sell, 56, and Lloyd Davis, 25, all of Los Angeles, Three others were wounded. Hos- pital attaches said Francis Secrist, 33 and Harold Johnston, 27, were near death. James Healey, 49, received a slight arm wound. Cliff Gill, an eye witness, sald Lay- man “ran along beside the ditch, which is about 10 feet wide and 10 feet deep, and began picking out his men, “He was very cool and took his time. It looked like a battlefield with dead Oesch’s Hiding Place and wounded when Layman finished.’ Nearly 500 men on the job fled for cover as Layman fired. State Police N. Layman, 44-year old “water boy,” was held on “suspicion of murder” ag. Pictured here- with is Mrs. Mary E. Hughes, widow of the late Alexan- der Hughes and mother of one of North Dakota's most distinguisned , families. She died early Sunday in Chicago and was buried Monday in Minneapolis, the city to which she moved upon leav- ing Bismarck in 1899. $ Fathers of Needy Families Helped Open Heart Campaign to Re- store Hard-Pressed ‘Dads’ to Santa Claus Role is AID TO SELF-RESPECT 250 Given Clothes and Other Help Monday; Radio Pro- gram Tonight Bismarck’s hard-pressed fathers got @ break Tuesday from the Open Your Heart campaign. In the past, when toys have been distributed to the city’s indigent chil- dren, the job has been done in such ®@ way as to let any intelligent child know that “Dad” hadn't filled the role of Santa Claus. This year it will be different and Dad, with the help of the Open Your Heart organization, will resume his traditional role in every Bismarck family. In line with this, parents of needy families were being brought into Open Your Heart headquarters Tuesday and permitted to select toys for distribu- tion to members of their families. No father, of course, is permitted to take more than his share, but he is en- couraged to carry the toys away with him to be hidden in the closet, the basement or the attic until the arrival of the magic evening when they are to be produced and tucked into the stocking or placed around the Christ- mas tree. Brophy Endorses Idea The aim, according to Salvation Army Adjutant Herbert Smith, is to help stimulate Dad's self-respect as well as the respect the children have for him. It was Smith’s idea, enthus- jastically endorsed by Chairman W. J. Brophy and other members of the general committee. At a general committee meeting Monday night, Brophy reported that 250 persons had given clothes and other items at the headquarters Monday and that the demand for assistance continues heavy. Considerable goods for distribution also are being received daily, he said. Considerable attention to the prob- lem of Christmas baszets was had at Monday night's meeting and it was decided to ask the county welfare board, in charge of Burleigh county's official charity activities, to assist by donating food obtained by it from the surplus commodities division of the WPA. Several members said they would be glad to assist if the federal Tules permit.them to do so. The prob- ability is that the donations will con- sist largely of canned beef. “pretty skimpy” contributions of food and cash are re- $100,000 PROPOSED FOR INVESTIGATION OF MILL CITY CRIME Kid Cann Expects to Be Indict- ed for Assassination of Walter Liggett Minneapolis, Dec. 17.—(?)—Investi- gation of the Walter Liggett assassina- tion and the strike riots of a year ago by a legislative committee, which would be given $100,000 for expenses, was proposed to the state senate Tues- day by Senator Mike Galvin, Winona. Galvin’s resolution referred to the recent stoning of trucks moving me chandise out of the Strutwear Knit ting company plant here, where strike has been in progress, as an effort “to overthrow all government and bring about a reign of anarcl in Minneapolis and the entire state.” “As long as those who incite riots and murder go unpunished,” said the resolution, “industrial peace will not be established in Minneapolis. Previously the legislature had re- ceived another resolution calling for $50,000 to finance investigation of the tae case and crime conditions: ere. In his jail cell Tuesday, Isadore Blumenfeld alias Kid Cann, said he expected to be indicted for the Liggett murder. He has been identified by Mrs. Liggett and Wesley Andersch as the editor’s slayer. “But they can't convict me,” he shouted. “They're trying to make a football out of me. They're trying to use me to clean up dirty Minneapolis.” Investigators rechecked Blumefeld’s alibi that he was in a barbershop at the time Liggett was slain, continuing questioning of alibi witnesses. “Tl beat the rap,” Blumenfeld as- serted “my witnesses are all right. I can account for every minute of my time. It’s a frame-up.” In checking Blumenfeld’s alibi, Detective John Hillborn made several stopwatch tests of the driving time PRICE FIVE CENTS HIS PLANS BASED ON VOLUNTARY SERVICE iracy Case) 0F MEN AND WOMEN Former President Draws Cheers and Laughter From 1,000 St. Louis Republicans SAYS REFORM NEEDED NOW Blames Democrats for Bank Panic of 1933 and Lag in Prospering With World St. Louis, Dec. 17.—()—Herbert Hoover's lashing attack here on New Deal relief threw before the nation Tuesday a Hoover plan of decentral- ized relief based on “the voluntary services of American men and wo-, men.” The former Republican president, answering President Roosevelt's re- cent speeches, offered his Monday night as an alternative to the New Deal relief set up which he branded as “typical of the whole gamut of waste, folly, ineffectiveness, Politics and destruction of self gov- ernment.” His caustic indictment of the Dem- ocratic administration generally, and its relief system in particular, drew cheers and laughter from the more than 1,000 persons who heard him address the John Marshall Republican club of St. Louis and its guests. Wants Nonpolitical Setup He asserted the administration of relief needs reform “right now...” and demanded a setup devoid of poli- tics. He advanced a plan to “confine public works projects to the projects which meet the needs of the nation”, decentralize and turn back “to the states and local communities” all other forms of relief; cut government allotments to states by more than half and relieve human distress “which suffers enough without the poison of politics in its bread.” Introduced: as “the most distin- guished leader of our party,” Hoover Taunched into a direct attack on the Roosevelt administration, Pictures Bureaucracy He asserted that under the New Deals vas polticel Sane June and July 1932, but that the New Deal caused this country to lag two years while the rest of the world pro- gressed. He blamed the administration for the 1933 bank panic, and predicted that under the New Deal the public debt would rise to 32 or 33 billion by next July. CITY ORDERS BEER LICENSE RENEWALS Application for New Permits Must Be Made by Jan. 6, Board Decides Applications for the renewal of li- censes to sell beer in the city must © be made before Jan. 6, date of the | first regular meeting of the board of city commissioners in 1936, the board decided Monday night. : Applications for the new licenses are to be placed in the hands of My- ron Atkinson, city auditor, by the commissioners. This danger- ous practice of the small boys been particularly prevalent at streets where motorists must their cars to a complete halt proceeding across the int There is grave danger one between several points mentioned ind chijdren will be killed or crij Cann’s alibi statement. The proposed legislative inquiry which ‘would be patterned after the famous Seabury study of New York (Continued on Page Two) Shopping Season Is Approaching Climax Bismarck’s Christmas shopping sea- son neared its peak Tuesday with an- nouncement of an agreement by local merchants to keep their stores open evenings from now until the holiday. life if the practice persists, missioners said. ool officials and the police will be enlisted