The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, December 2, 1937, Page 1

The Weather Generally fair tonight THE BISMARCK TRIBUNE Confession Details of the Confession of Keith Craig Will Be Found On Page 9 in This Issue. ESTABLISHED 1873 North Dakota’s Oldest Newspaper BISMARCK, N. D., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1937 PRICE FIVE CENTS Taxpayers’ Effort to Reduce Levy Secretary Wallace Criticizes Senate Farm Bill Craig Confesses Slaying Woman CALLS MEASURE 100 RESTRICTIVE; EARLY ENACTMENT UNLIKELY 218th Signature Springs Wage- Hour Bill From House Rules Committee FISH ASKS INVESTIGATION MoNary Asks Senate to Send Agriculture Measure Back to Committee signed a petition to force a vote on the measure by mid-December. Rep. Mansfield (Dem., Texas) rolled up on his wheel chair to be the final B:gner, amid a roar of cheers. Before the 21t8h signature went on the petition the house heard a Repub- lican demand investigation of state- ments that backers of the administra- tion’s wages and hours bill “swapped everything but the capitol” to insure quiry. ‘The vote to table his resolution ‘was 281 to 94. Even if the house should pass the feasure, there is no assurance it will get. to the White House. before between the two measures would have tu be composed, Wallace Hits Farm Bill Criticism of the senate farm bill by Secretary Wallace and legislators prompted Majority Leader Barkley to revise his predictions that the measure would be enacted this week. Barkley clung to his demand, how- ever, that the senate begin consider- ing a score of amendments to the measure, which it has been debating for_neasly. two weeks. Wallace declared in a letter Wed. nesday to Senators Pope (Dem., Idaho) end McGill (Dem., Kans.) that “ senate bill does not safeguard con. sumers ‘against high prices and might Jead to further losses in the export market. ‘The legislation as it stands, he said, fails to provide sufficiently large re- serves of wheat and corn for the “ever- debit granary” which he has ad- would result in mn frequent imposition ot marketing quotas. Wallace asserted that several pro- visions would tend to raise prices of cotton and wheat far above world Jevels, resulting in a reduction in ex- Port outlets, He suggested that income received by cotton and wheat growers from crops sold at world prices be supple- by federal expenditures of from $100,000,- 000 to more than $500,000,000 above ‘the $500,000,000 now authorised an- nually for the soil conservation pro- gram. Senator McNary of Oregon, Repub- lican leader, asked the senate to send the Pope-McGill bill back to the ag- riculture committee for redrafting along lines. suggested by Secretary ‘Wallace. McNary forecast that if the bill was ” Senator Copeland (Dem. N. ¥.), who had the floor ‘Thursday to pro- ments, these changes were proposed: Changes Propesed By Rep. Boileau (Prog. we, prevent undue diversion of land dairy feed crops; by Rep. Coffee (| Neb.) to substitute marke! control i HH Boa ts ghye Hane i é sion on President Roosevelt's other jovernment reor- 6 duction in road sppropriations— tually had been abandoned by con- gressional chieftains. PRINCE, ACTRESS WED Vienna, Dec. 2—(#)—Prince Ernest ‘on Starhemberg; former vice chan- cellor of Australia, and Nora Gregor, pretty Viennese actress, were mar- med ‘Thursday in a private church geremony. COUPLE ‘QUESTIONE IN KUNTZ SLAYING: PET DOG IS KILLED Clothing of Exonerated Pair Al so Burned; Leave Montana Community Authorities Begin Probe of Con- flicting Points in Story of Armstrong Murder Kenneth Craig, 21-year-old Steele ferm hand who confessed slaying Mrs. Hugh Armstrong at her farm home Tuesday night, Thursday stood charged with first degree murder as a “quiet investigation” by Sheriff John Seckman and State’s Attorney Arne Vinje of Kidder county went for- The officials began the investiga- tion of what Sheriff Sackman said were “conflicting points” in his signed statement regarding the slaying. Vinje of and Sackman said the former CCC from jail to their ranch shack home to find their clothing had been burned and their shaggy little dog killed, Un- dersheriff Jack Benjamin reported ‘Thursday. He said the couple, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Downard, had left the com- munity permanently, asserting Wash- ington state was ther destination. The undersheriff said he was con- tinuing his investigation into the case, checking points in the story told by Frank Robideau, 38 - year-old former who is facing a first degree murder charge. Sheriff Frank Murphy said Thurs- worker may have shot Mrs. Armstrong while under the influence of narcotics. Vinje said the young man will not be arraigned in Kidder county until after funeral services for Mrs. Arm- very word’s signing a 22-; confession before Kidder county offi- clals and C. A, Miller of the state bureau of criminal identification. Sackman said Hugh Armstrong, husband of the slain woman, returned from Iowa, Wednesday night but had not been questioned on the habits: of Craig, who had been working at the farm the last two months. Craig’s confession was heard by As- sistant At General T. A. Thompson, who substituted for At- torney General P.O. Sathre, who was busy with a pardon board session. Funeral rites had not been definitely in| arranged Thursday, according to Mrs. Sidney Smith, Bismarck, mother of the slain woman, She said Mr. Armstrong is with his aise children at a nearby relative’s PILOT, EX-NORTH ting by hls parents,.to attend services. Mr. and Mrs. Kunts were born and reared here. Mrs. Sam Amonti, Jamestown, cousin of Mr. Kunts, was to attend the ‘funeral. Phillip Boehm, also of Jemestown, another cousin, will not be present. MRS, FRANK BROOKS PASSES AWAY HERE Daughter of Pioneer Burleigh County Family Is Victim of Hemorrhage Daughter of one of Burleigh coun- DAKOTAN, MISSING James Jones, Once Valley City Student, in Plane Believed to Have Crashed Norfolk, Va., Dec. 2—(4)—Search- ing parties scanned breakers off Vir- ginia Beach Thursday for a clue to the fate. of two navy fliers, missing since wreckage of their scouting plane washed ashore an hour after they took off from the Norfolk naval air station, Navy airmen, reported Thursday the sighted a parachute a mile inland from where the plane fell. A search- ing party started to the spot. Officials expressed a belief that Aviation Cadet J. J. Jones of Wash- ington was attempting to land on the beach because of engine trouble when he plunged into the water. Troy W. Blanton, Lafayette, Ala., machinist’s mate, accompanied Jones on the flight. JONES FORMER VALLEY CITY RESIDENT Valley City, N. D., Dec. Jemes J, Jones, missing pilot in the czash of a naval plane off the coast of Virginia, attended Valley City state teachers college intermittently from 1929 to 1934 and was prominent in athletics. His father, J. J. Jones, tolformer Bemidji attorney, was ap- pointed assistant attorney general for United States shortly after President Roosevelt took office and in 1934 was appointed federal judge of the Virgin Islands. JONES’S FATHER LEAVES FOR WASHINGTON Springfield, Ill., Dec. 2—()}—George P. Jones, formerly U. 8. district judge ia the Virgin Islands end one of the special prosecutors in a bombing con- spiracy trial here, planned to leave Thursday for Washington, following and/the report that his son was missing bridge and Alfred Ryberg of Bis- marck. The body will lie in state at the Cainan funeral home until the hour of the funeral. Notice of Appeal in License Test Filed of Minot, fendant, Walter G. Johnson of Min- neapolis. President’s Jaw Infection Better after @ plane fell into the ocean off Virginia coast. YOUNG DEMOCRATS INCASSBACK BATON Adopt Resolution Opposing Ef- forts to Unseat State Com- mittee Chairman CHICAGOANS NAMED AS THREATENERS OF ORGANIZER FOR C10 Pair Are Linked With Death of Minneapolis Labor Leader; Spats Liven Inquest JURORS JOIN SQUABBLES Fought in Clubroom, Eddie Fior- otto Testifies; No Real Clues Unearthed Minneapolis, Dec. 2.—()—Testify- ing at the inquest into the death of Patrick J. Corcoran, union head, Wil- liam Mauseth, an organizer for the Committe For Industrial Organization, ‘Thursday named Joe Bellini and Al Fiorotto, both formerly of Chicago, as the men who accosted him and a co- worker and threatened to “rub you out” if they did not “play ball.” Mauseth followed Ballini and Al Fi- rotto as witnesses on the stand. Mau- ese |seth, prior to the inquest, had charged | “gangsterism” and “racketeering” in the Minneapolis labor movement. Mauseth testified also that Bellini and Fiorotto had told him and Hil- liard Smith, a co-organizer for the CIO that they “had the inside track with police” and cautioned them nov to report the incident. TURN DOWN REQUEST FOR SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR Minneapolis, Dec. 2.—()—Hen- nepin county district court judges Thursday turned down the Com- monwealth club's request that ‘they appoint a special investigator to clean up the “rackets and un- solved murders” in Minneapolis. Presiding Judge E. F. Waite said the judges “are of the opinion thet it is not appropriate for us to make such an appointment as it re- quested, or to to do so without more information .as ‘to the expenses involved and the availability of the necessary sum.” Eddie Fiorotto, Chicago labor argan- izer, Thursday told the jury he and hus brother Al had an altercation with Corcoran four days before the slaying. Fought in Clubrooms The quarrel, he said, took place in the club rooms of General Drivers ‘Union 544. Corcoran was an official of the teamsters joint council which si:ared headquarters with the drivers union, Fiorotto also testified he and his brother were in the Elgin cafe from 10:14 p. m. to 11 p. m, the night Cor- coran was killed. Frequent verbal clashes between Fio- rotto’s attorney, A. M. Carey, and Wil- liam Compton, assistant county attor- ney conducting the examination, in which jurors joined, spiced the fore- noon session. Fiorotto testified he came to Min- neapolis to work for truck driver local ‘No. 500 at a salary of $40 a week and after unions. No. 500 and 544 combined t» form 574, he and his brother began forming a wholesale fruit and vege- table association, Repeatedly Carey objected to ques- The inquest was in its third day Thursday, two weeks after the labor leader was ambushed and shot near his home. The inquiry has brought to light numerous charges of “gangsterism” and “terrorism” in the local labor movement, but the questions of why or by whom Corcorn was slain re- mained unanswered. (Continued on Page Two) CHINA ASSEMBLING SOVIET-MADE CRAFT TO STEM JAP DRIVE 20-Twin Engine Bombers Re- ported Arrived From Russia; 13 Said Shot Down 1,000 CIVILIANS SAID KILLED Germany Offers to Negotiate Peace; Delbos Leaves Paris on Significant Trip ee (By the Associated Press) China’s airforce was veported as- sembling powerful Russian-built war- planes Thursday for a mass attempt to stem the advancing Japanese army. At Hankow, one of the cities to which China moved her government from Nanking, well-informed sources said at least 20 twin-engine bombers already had arrived from Russia and nt Possibly 280 more were on the Nuavenese authorities reported 13 of the new Chinese planes were shot down in an air battle near or over Nanking in a battle with six Japanese Planes. Two Chinese planes bombe} Japanese positions at Shanghai in the first aerial warfare there in a month, 1,000 Reported Killed Chinese dispatches from said more than 1,000 civilians were killed and wounded in a Japanese air raid on Hsiaoshan, about 12 miles £outheast of Five hundred dead and wounded non-combatants were reported found in ruins of buildings. Shanghai municipal authorities re- ceived notice six battalions of Japa- nese troops would march through the International Settlement Friday in victory perade. Heavy Japanese pomness showered projectiles ahead of try units ¢riving toward Nanking ‘Wuhu, Yangtze river port’ 60 miles south- west of the almost-deserted Chinese capital. Japanese army officers re- ported “slow but satisfactory” . pru- gress in this campaign. Foreigners Told to Leave Chinese authorities at Nanking in- dicated all foreigners should leave the city as soon as possible. Germany was authoritatively re- ported to have offered to negotiate peace in the Far Eastern conflict. Oskar P. Trautmann, Germany's ambassador to China was in Nanking ccnferring with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, head of the central Chi- ‘nese government. The terms of the German offer, it was said, included China's participa-| tion in the German-lItalian-Japanese anti-Communism pact, withdrawal of Japanese troops from China and as- surance by Japan that she does not seek territory in yee Chine but only economic co-operatic Early last month China Teplied to a similar report with a statement she would consider no exclusive negotia- tions with Japan until every possi- bility of international intervention was exhausted and every collective peace effort had failed. Delbos Leaves For Warsaw In Paris, Foreign Minister Yvon Delbos of France arranged to leave for Warsaw, first stop on a 17-day tour of the capitals of Poland, Ru- mania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslo- vakia in the third move of Europe's complicated diplomatic maneuvers. He reportedly carried assurance that France and Britain would not give Germany @ “free hand” in Central Xmas Lighting Contest For Bismarck Planned Cheery Christmas lights in Bis- marck homes will again twinkle this year in direct competition for Junior Association of Com- merce home decoration awards. Decision to again sponsor the contest which brings $25 in cash to the Capital City’s best-deco- rated homes was announced Thursday by Charles C. Goodwin. chairman of the association's contest committee. Ten dollars will go to the home, which, in the opinion of lights be turned on each evening ape in Prizes ENTRY from Curtiss) Eve through New Other mas lighting committee, besides Goodwin and Solum, are Charles Home Lighting Contest #5 BLANK Please enter my home in the Junior Association of Commerce's Christmas home decoration contest. NAME ADDRESS (Mail this blank to Donald Bolum, Post Office Box ‘Ki-Yi, Mrs. GREEN AND LEWIS SEEK LABOR PEACE AFL, Sb these Leaders Conferring Thursday; Won't Reveal Progress Washington, Dec. 2—(7)—John L. Lewis and William Green recessed their dramatic peace conference Thursday afternoon until 3 p. m. (O8T) without arriving at any con- clusions. “We have taken a recess until 3 o'clock,” Lewis shouted to newsmen after his two and a half hour con- ference with Green. “All we had was general conversation. No conclusions Teached.” Green, who followed Lewis out of the conference room, said: “We had an interesting discussion. but we have nothing more to say now. Informed persons said that Lewis might be willing to give up the CIO &» an entity in exchange for a selt- tuling department within the AFL framework. ‘The nub of the controversy has been whether to organize workers along the Federation's concept of craft unionism or on the CIO theory that al) workers in the same plant, skilled and unskilled, should belong to the same Ce ede a ee MONTANAN 1S MILL PRODUCTION CHIEF Ed Gannon, Lewiston, Suc- ceeds L. H. Patten; Has 25 Ye Experience Appointment of Ed Gannon, Lewis- ‘ton, Mont., as production manager of the state mill and elevator was con- firmed Thursday by the North Dakota industrial commission, Named by A. J. Scott, mill head, Gannon immediately succeeds L. H. Patten, one of four mill officials re- leased nearly two weeks ago. John N, Hagan, commissioner of ag- riculture and labor and member of the industrial commission, said Gannon has 25 years experience in the flour Attempt to Hang Self By Shoestrings Fails ‘When Fred Sparks of Hazen at- to commit suicide in the Mor- 180) Vanderbilt? Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt watches Swift Eagle of the Kewa tribe tap out a tom-tom rhythm as though his antics brought to mind all the stories of Indian war dances she ever had heard. Swift Eagle gave the New York society leader a preview of his dance recital at the opening of the Dance International at Rockefeller Center, Take Testimony In Benner Trial Mitnieode evoked Fro Excluded From Court- room; St. Paul Judge Hearing Embezztement Action = BF Taking ‘teatimotiy int the case of the government vs. Perry Benner began in federal district court here Thursday after Judge George F. Sullivan, At. Paul, had ordered that all upetile in the case be excluded from the court- room during the hearing except gov- ernment officers and Mrs. Benner. Action to exclude the witnesses from hearing the testimony was taken on motion of Scott Cameron, chief defense counsel. In his opening statement to the jury, Lashkowitz, Fargo, assistant U. |S. district attorney, outlined the four ‘counts in the indictment against Ben- ner which the government expects to Prove. One count charges Benner with em- bezsling $250 paid to the government by a Hettinger liquor dealer in July, 1935. Two other counts relate to trans- actions with the same man. The fourth count accuses Benner of taking a shot- gun from Thomas Asbridge, rural Bis- Imarck, and converting the funds from its sale to his own use. The shot gun ‘was valued at $45. Because they tampered with checks issued by the U. 8. treasury, two young married men Wednesday re- ceived the stiffest sentences imposed Both 30 years old, Maynard Towle of Dawson and Robley John Evans of Fort Yates, were sentenced to serve six months each in a local jail after they had pleaded guilty to charges of forgery. Towle admitted to secret service: agents that he had forged the signa- tures of eight youths on wage checks issued them by the National Youth administration. Towle was acting as supervisor of the NYA in Kidder county at the time, Each of the eight checks was for a sum of $13. Towle told Judge Donohoe that liquor was the cause of his acts. Evans would not admit he had any specific motive for extracting checks from the U. 8. mails while he was an employe of the Indian service at Fort Yates. Evans loses a lifetime job un- der civil service as a result of his acts. His peculation totaled about $180, Considers Conditions Judge Donohoe declared he was not unmindful of agricultural conditions. in western North Dakota in placing 20 (Continued on Page Two) WAGE BOOST ENDS GREYHOUND STRIKE Demands for Closed Shop Are Not Granted; Agreement Voids Ultimatum Cleveland, Dec. 2—(#)—Nine Grey- hound bus lines resumed normal oper- ations in 16 states Thursday—a com- Ue tr of te retest, te companies granted reflbed B. RT, demands for a closed to all intents and purposes, wiped out the company ultimatum that striking drivers must have returned to work by noon Wednesday to be considered still in the employ of the companies, and Friday; colder Friday. Fails N.D, HGH COURT DECIDES AGAINST CUT OF 2.4 MILLS Mandamus ‘May Not Be Em- ployed as Appeal or Writ of Error’, Court Holds BOND PAYMENTS EXEMPTED Do Not Come Under 4-Mill Limit Set by State Constitution, Judges Decide In a unanimous decision, written by, ‘Chief Justice A. M. Christianson, a ‘writ of mandamus through which peti- tioners sought to force a reduction of nied Wednesday night. The North Dakota supreme court held that mandamus is ordinarily a remedy for official inaction and “it may not be employed as an appeal or writ of error.” Petitioners for the writ, seven direc- tors of the State Taxpayers associa- tion, had sought the order from the high court to compel the state board of equalization to “convene and cor- rect” the levy by eliminating items which they asserted were for bond Payment. AUDITORS TOLD TO PROCEED WITH LEVY Tax Commissioner Owen T. Owen Thursday instructed North Dakota county auditors to with Sending the 6.10 mill state levy upon tax lists. Owens’ instructions were for- warded to auditors after the state supreme court handed down a de- cision denying @ writ of mandamus through which petitioners sought to reduce the levy. Owen They contended ¢he teryiet SA em was excessive because of constitutional section 174 which provides for s limi- tation of four mills for annual ex- penses of the state plus any amounts for interest. Board P. O. Sathre, rep- resenting the board, declared the court was powerless to reconvene the board, that the levy was not excessive, and that the four mill limitation did not apply to items of bond payment. Pointing out that the petitioners had invoked the original jurisdiction of the court, the decision declared, “it is well settled that this jurisdiction will not be exercised to vindicate private rights. It is reserved for the use of the prerogatives or the franchises or lib- erties of its people.” Agree On General Fund “The question,” the court said, “re- solves itself to this: Is the levy made by the state board of equalization in euoees of Hie four mill mit prescribed by tion?” Both sides of section 174, the The item for the (Continued on Page Two) CHRISTMAS SUPERSTITIONS