Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, February 22, 1922, Page 1

DISASTER TOLL STANDS AT 34, PROBE ORDERED Che Casper Daily Crihune | S| Weather Forecast Snow tonight and Thursday, much colder tonight; cold wave in southeast temperatures; CASPER, WYO., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1922. SINN FEINERS WILL ADJOURN Agreement Reached by Ard Fheis Calls for No Election or Government Change by Dail Eireann Vote DUBLIN, Feb. 22.—(By The Associated Press.)—An agreement to adjourn the Ard Fheis, the Sinn Fein national convention, for three months, was reached today by the con- vention leaders. The agreement provides that no vote in the Dail Eireann shall require the resignation of the provisional government and that there shall be no election meanwhile. When the election is-held, it is stipulated, a new constitution un- der the AngloIrish treaty shall be submitted to the country. After Eamoon De Valera and Ar- thur Griffith bad answered several questions respecting the agreement, the Ard Fheis, by a vee ‘voos vote ap- proved the agreement and adjourned. Feb. DETROIT, Mich., credence in the statement of Harry N. Fiel il here, that he could throw light upon the slay- the county j PHILADELPHIA, Feb, 22.—It was the inevitable working of poetic justice in human history that the. greatest conference ever held in the interest of peace should meet nearly a century and a half after George Wasiington'’s strug- gles and triumpls, General Sir Ar- thur W. Currie, head of McGill university, Montreal, declared today. Sir Arthur was the orator of the day at the University of Pennsyl- vania Washington's birthday exer- cises, After his address the for- mer Canadian general and General Pershing were honored with the de- gree of doctor of laws, conferred by the university. DETROIT HOLDS TAYLOR WITHESS OFFICERS NOT OVERLY HOPEFUL 22.—Although placing little ids, a priscrer in ing at Los Angeles of William Desmond Taylor, mction pic- ture director, local authorities from Los Angeles before 0. disniasing the inqu: Sheriff Irving Coffin, who admit last night that Fields'nad declared he could furnish leading clues in the ‘Taylor case, declined to disclose de- tails of the prisoner's statement Ed: ward H, Fox, chief of detectives, as- sertei, however, that Fielis claimed to have a wife and four children in Los Angeles and that he was in that city on the night Taylor was Blain, Fields, at the time of his arrest two weeks ago on a charge of issuing a worthless check, gave his home as Buffalo. Chief Fox who interview Fields at the county jail last night refusea to comment today on rumors that Fields when such élections were held a con- stitution for the free state should be submitted to the people as woll as the signatories to the Lond ment to draft a constitution #o that when the people are asked to vote in fan election to decide between the re public and the Free State the consti- tution of the latter may be definitely before them, it is hereby agree? that:/.414 no statement could be made until 4 Loa Angeles authorities had been heard from. Chief Fox said, however that Fields had told him he formerly was an in- ternal revenue agent in Los Angeles, that he later had become a drug ped- dler and that he came to Detroit about three weeks ago in search of drugs. LOS ANGELES, . Feb. 22.—Police and county officials @irecting the in- vestigation in the murder of William Desmond Taylor here three weeks ago, said early today they had not re- celved any message from the sheriff at Detroit relating to a man held there because of purported knowledge of the case. They said they would welcome any such message. fore the signing of the articles of the London agreement, and no vote of the Dail Hireaun shall be regarded as a party vote requiring the resignation of the president and the cabinet; in the meantime no parliamentary elec tion shall be held, and when it is held the constitution of the Free State be fn its final form of agreement. “3—That this agreement shall be submitted to the Ard Fhels, and, if ap- proved, shall be binding.’ SURVIVORS OF SHIP DISASTER ARE PICKED UP GALVESTON, Texas, Feb. 22—Six or seven men who were picked up at sea from a raft by the Morgan, line steamer El Oriente, were brought into port by that vessel this morning. First reports said that one of the men had died after having been picked up and was buried at sea. Jury Votes to Review Finding, Defendant Dies BERLIN, Feb. 22.—When a jury returned a verdict of life imprison- ment upon A. Koppe, a murderer, and then announced it would have to reconsider the verdict on account of an error, Koppe became so fright- ened over the possibility of a death sentence that he suffered a heart stroke and died within a few hours. PROBE OF FRAUD IS EXTENDED HERE Western Land «nd Operating Company _ and Standard Drilling Company Affairs , Investigated by Government | Investigation of the investment scandal] in Chicago involv- ing Raymond J. Bischoff, said to have been short $1,500,000 in deals he made for clients, has extended to Casper, due pri- marily to the alleged connection of the Western Land and Operating company with the affair. The probe EXre is said to have been occasioned by the pur- chase of lands reported to the prospec-|the Western Land and Operating com-| tive of oil bearing by the Western] pany. nd and Operating company, and the ~ P. West. one of the men under ofations of the Standard Drilling | indictment in Chieago is well known ompary, said to be a subsidiary of!in Casper and is said to be the guiding! virtually had admitted being impli- cated in the slaying of Taylor. He were ode | dy eco advices ere. NUMBER 115. Washington's ideals still live upon the earth, he said. “The men | and boys who went out from your | country and mine to die on foreign | fields for their principles during the recent years of world tragedy were similar to tim in spirit,” he said. “They, too, like another of your statesmen, would have liberty of each. And surely above their graves, with the Anglo-Saxon ideale of Washington to strengthen we shall remember in the future | only the common cause for which | our race bas always struggied.” “Washington's rhetoric was ney: | er the rhetoric of a rebel,” Sir Ar- | thur said. “Tt was the calm, judi clous and earnest appeal of a man with clear and far vision who rep- resented the best and noblest spirit of his age. “Washington was not without friends and comrades in ideals in Britain. His ideals were thave of Britain's best. The weight of pow- or was against him, it is true, but we must not forget the courageous minority who sympathized with his views,” |POLICY OF WASHINGTON BALTIMORE, Md., Feb. 22.—The United States has adopted toward the world the policy of George Wash- ington, not a policy of “dictation, coercion or imperialiam, but of co operation and of faith in the senc- tion of the universal conscience of mankind,” Vice President Coolidge declared in an address here today at Johns Hopkins untversity. “America stands ready,” he maid, “to bear its share of the burdens of the world but it cannot live the life of other peoples or remove from then the necessity of working out their own destiny.” The willingness of the American people to make sacrifices for the welfare of the world, the vice presi- dent said. is shown by the policy pursued by their government in call- ing the Washington conference and of the inalienable liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness, his principle of governments instituted among men and deriving Srst and only of “the prophets. He represented th. ideals of majority of the thinking snen of Britain. He ‘was but one clarion voice in the great chorus singing tn his time the paen of freedom. particularly it proposal for the re- duction of naval armament, which he said, was the “voice of the peo- (Continued on Page Four) FIVE ITALIANS HELD AS CRIME SUSPECTS Half Holiday Is Enjoyed by" Casper Clerks Casper is observing Washington's birthday by virtually “ suspending business. All public offices and many business and industrial insti- tutions in Casper and vicinity are giving employes either half or full holida: iv. Holiday hours prevail at the_post- office and other government branches here. City and county of- fices are closed and a general spirit of observance of the holiday is man- ifest. No special features for the day have been arranged. Washington programs were held in many of the schools yesterday but all institutions of learning are closed today. serdar TUNNEL CAVES. THREE BURIED CANTON, Ohio, Feb. 22. — Three men were buried whet a tunnel be- ing dug under car tracks in a city street here caved in this morning. One man was rescued alive and will re- cover. Two others have been impris- ned for more than an hour and au- thorities fear they have been crushed to.death or suffocated. The tunnel was being put through the streets under the car tracks in connection with the laying of a large sewer. genius of the Western Land and of the Standard Drilling companies. Among the most recent deals of the company here was the purchase by Mr. West of 1,800 acres of land lying in the eastern extension of the alt Creek field for which he gaid A. J. Hazlett and associates $5,000 cash and gave a contract for 15 per cent royalty. He is said to have purchased lands extensively in the vicinity of other proven and prospective fields, much of the acreage being offered to Chicago, investors. The Standard Drilling company is being probed on the ground that funds were diverted to ‘this organization for a test of a small structure said)to be linked with the Poison Spider anti- clinial series. C. E. Woodruff said to haye been an accountant in the employ of N.'P. Body of Walter Christensen, Mechanic, Is Found South of Cheyenne; Bootleg Row Offers Clue for Officers CHEYENNE, Feb. 22.—(Special to The Tribune.) —Five men, ail Italians, are under arrest and others are sought in connection with the investigation in the slaying of Walter H. Christensen, 30 years of age, mechanic and former sol- dier, whose body was found at 3 o’cloek yesterday afternoon two miles south of Cheyenne with nine bullet wounds in the head. ‘The body was found lying in a; theory that Christensen was associat- pit deside the old and long since/ed with a gang of Italians in boot- abandoned roadbed of the Union Pa-|legging operations and that ho was cifie’s Cheyenne-Denver line. slain by this gang becuse of appre- Examination at the morgue reveal-|hension that he would become an il that Christensen had been shot|informer. An automobile of the theft with two guns of different calibres| 0% which Christensen recently was and that his skull was crushed. It|*uspected wus found last night at the is belfeved he wag first slugged and| headquarters of tho gang. Its tires bis murderers then stood’ over him|™ake tracks similar to those at the pouring bullets into his head. edge of the pit. Christensen left his room Inst Pri-}| Mrs. Avery has identified two of @sy" morning, sayiv; that he expecced| the Italian suspects as men with to return in 15 riinutes. It is be |Whom she saw Christensen talking re- Meved the murder was committea}cently. She said that she saw Chris. Friday. tensen last on February 12. ‘Two hours after the discovery of the Christensen's body was found by body Mrs. “Bille” Avery, sald to be|John Berger, 22, while Berger was the former wife of an army officer,}hunting rabbits. Berger observed and Ed. Brownlee, with whom she is} what he thought to be a bundle of said to have been living, were ques-|old clothing. He was about to pass tioned by Sheriff George Carroll} when he noticed a shoe projecting Christensen, it is related, was Brown-|queerly from the supposed bundle. He lee’s rival for Mrs. Avery's affections,| stepped nearer and was horrified by and it 1s said that during a recent|realization that he ewas gazing at a absence from town of Brownlee he|corpse. He hastened to town and no- took the latter’s place in Mrs. Avery's| tified the sheriff. Coroner Finkbiner home. Brownlee and the woman,|took charge of the body. hdwever, have told straightforward] ‘The sheriff's office and police re and logical stories that it is believed! ported today that Christensen came in official quarters they are innocent|from.a prominent Fort Collins, Colo., of connection with the homicide. The] family. sheriff's office now is working on a Thought Wife Was ‘Kidding,’ Man Is Slain BAKERSFIELD, Cal, Feb. 22.— Mrs, Eva Davis, 39, was held in the county jail today following the fatal shooting of her husband, J. Ed Da- vis, 46, an oll worker, at the home of his brother here last night. In & deathbed xtatement at a hospi- tal, Davis said he thought his wife was “kidding” when she told him she was going to shoot. Davis died two hours after he was shot. Questioned by the police, Mrs. Da- vis is reported to have said she and her husband arguec, after they had gone to bed, over whether he would get her a glass of water. The po- lice quoted her as having admitted she shot Davis as he lay in bed, the bullet passing through a quilt and entering :his abdomen. She assert- ed, according to thé police, that her husband slapped her, and she got his revolvers West and associated organizations, ‘was in Casper during the past week probing the conditions of the Stand- ard Drilling company. It is said that the test being conducted by this con- cern was under the direction of Charles E. Phillips, who left Casper immediately after the disclosures were made in Chicago, The equipment owned by the company is said to have been dismantled and to have been found in many places in this vicinity. Some of the machinery which had been consigned to points outside of Casper was stopped at local railroad yards before it could be rnoved. Other agencies are said to wh investi- gating the connections of West and cther organizations here in an endeav- or to connect them up with tahe dis- (Continued on Page Four) American aeronautics——at thirty-i ead, eight injured and three practs ally unhurt. Of the dead thirty had been identified although many of the bodies of those caught in the interior of the ship when she crashed were burned, blackened and charred almost beyond recognition. These dead incluaea some of the air service's ost gallant officers and men, the list containing the names of Major John Thornell, commander of the ship at her christening in Wash- ington last December and Captain Dale Mabry, her commander’ during yesterday's ill-fated flight. Air service meg -rom Langley Field the home station of the craft, began shortly after dawn today the clearing up of the wreckage of the warped and blistered skeleton and at the same time preparations began for an offi- cial inquiry. Major General Mason M. Patrick, chief of the air service who came here by airplane yesterday as seon as word of the disaster was Mashed to Washington, made a person: al inspection of the wreck during the night and ordered an immediate in- vestigation. Officers at Langrer Field still were at a loss to account for the mishap that caused the ship's rudder to tilt and thereby rendered the 410 foot ¢raft to become unamanageable. Pos- sibility developed however, that the inquiry would take notice of reports that the bag of the Roma, constructed in Italy, was rotten although officers at the field declined to discuss such reports. In connection with the forth- coming inquiry, these developments some officers said, had been establish- ed definitety: First, that the Ieft rvJZer of the Roma gave way when ‘he was less than half a mile from where she went down near the army base fire station. Second, that there was no fire on the ship until after the tilt began as @ result of the righ hand side of the rudder going into an almost vertical position. Third, that the craft began unman- ageable as she swooped over the base reservation, narrowly missing a 150 foot smokestack of the Central Heat- ing plant. Fourth, that the immediate cause of the explosion with such force as to wreck the entire craft and set her on fite was contact with a net of 2,200 volt high power electric wires, less than one hundred feet from where the Roma crashett into a pile of debris. Fifth, that the Liberty motors, which were being tested, were not responsible for the disaster, unless something; more tangible should be learned than appeared today. The potnt which the army board of investigation, which will be organized today, will decide is what caused the rudder supports to gtve way, There were two pilets in charge of the ship's steering gear. They were Capt. Walter J. Reed and Lieut. B. G. Burt, both of whom had been at the wheels of the Roma on previous trips. Burt was uninjured and Reed is on the road to recovery from slight in- Juries. Charles Dworack, superintendent of construction of McCook field, Dayton, Ohio, one of the passengers on the Roma, was in a serious condition to- day at the public health hospital, hav- ing swallowed flames and is also suf. fering from the effects of gas fumes Other injured survivors are expected to recover. Work of identification pi slowly last night, the officers men from Langley detailed for this work completing their examination shortty before daylight. ‘Identifica-| tion was established by scars, teeth| and hatr in some instances, but even| and| Thirty Bodies of Roma Victims, M any Charred and Blackened, Are Positively Identified; Mishap Which Caused Ship’s Rud- der to Tilt, Starting Downward Plunge, Is Still a Mystery to Flying Experts; Wreckage of Craft Being Cleared Away NORFOLK, Va., Feb. 22.—Completely wrecke? by fire and explosion, the Roma, the world’s largest semi-rigid airship and the pride « today the last of the dead of the disaster which o ing over Hanipton Roads and sent her hurtling down tric wires that wrought her destruction. Recovery of the last body fixed the toll of the disas American air service, had yielded up ™ her y 9 crash into the network of elec- B d of sterday while maneuver- e greatest in the history of TOF DEA TSANNOUNCED WASHINGTON, Feb. 22.—The air service insued today a lat of dead in he Roma disaster with home addresses as follows: Thornell, Sidney, Major Waller W. Vautsmeler, Free port, Ill. Captain Dale Mabry, Tampa, Fis. Captain George D. Watts, Indianola, —— Allan P. Mc¥Fartand, In- Capen Frederick J. Durschmidt, Derby, © First Tiout. John Hall, Kings- ville, Mo. First Lieut. Wallace C. Burns, Gran- Miss. First Lieut. William E. Reilly, Now York. Clifford Smythe, Chi First Lieut. cago. First Lieut. Wallace C. Cummings, Springficid, Tenn. address of wifo 406 South Ivy Street, Mourovia, Calif. First Lieat. Ambrose V. Clinton, Se vannah, Ge. First Lieat. Harold K. Hine, Bridge- port, Conn. we Orbey B. Hevron, Elwood, private John E. Thomassen, Benton- Master Sergeant Roger B, McNally, Philadelphia. Master Sergeant James Murray, New York. maker, Red Bank, N. 4. Staff Sergeant James M. Holmes, Ashland, Ky. Sergeant V. Hoffman, Eaton Rapids, Mich. Master (Sergeant. Gorby, Raymond Oty, W; Va. ‘Technical Sergeant Leo M. Harris, Langley Field, Va. Staff Sergeant Louis Hillyard, Cold- water, Kans. Staff Sergeant Marion C. Ball, La Plata, Mo. Sergeant Selma, Ala. Private Theron M. Blakely, 516 Sev- onth Ave., San Francisco, CIVILIANS. Walter W. Stryker, McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio. Robert J. Hanson. McCook Field. William O'’Laug! , MeCook Field. Charles N. Shulenberg, McCook Field. T. H. Harriman, McCook field, Day- ton, Ohio. THE SURVIVORS: Charles A, Dworack, McCook field, Dayton, Ohio. Walter A. McNair, Bureau Standards, Washington, D. C. Maj. John D. Reardon, Wachington, D.C. Capt. Walter J. N.Y. First Lieut, Papillion, Neb. Master Sgt. Harry A. Chapman, St. Joseph,’ Mo. Corp. Albert 0. Flores, Norfolk, Va. UNINJURED. Ray Hurley, McCook field, Dayton, First Lieut. New York, Sgt. Birden T. Peek, 2904 Lafay- Cc. Thomas Yarborough, of Reed, Scarsdale, Byron T. Burt, Jr., then there were four bodies which no| jase Ay. Terre) Remmbey, el one could positively identify. A morbidly about outside of the undertaking Phe 3 tablishment far into the night, or two ventured inside on one or an-| other pretext but staggered out gasp-| ing for breath a few seconds later. There was one man who stood stoic-| never shifting his position. | H. Mabry of Newport| ally by, He was Dr.-J. News. He was looking for his broth- er, Captain Mabry. Body after body examination. The last body brought (Continued on Page Four) CHICAGO, Feb. 22.—(By curious crowd milled! GIANT LIQUOR RAID IS MADE KALAMAZOO, Mich., Feb. 22.-- In tho largest liquor raid ever made in Michigan federal and -local officers be worth $200,000,on the farm of James I. Day, near Lawton. Moral Support Only Asked by Union, Says President of Miners in Address to Joint Conference at Chicago The Associated Press.)—The United Mine Workers of America do not want the nation’s railroad employes to join them in a strike, John L. president of the miners, said the conference of leaders of mine and railway unions. Lewis spoke of what he termed “the coming strike” miners and said his organization want ed only the full moral support of the carricr employes. t Lewis, today in an address opening Mr. of Mr. Lewis, without suggesting any specific program, told the delegates he felt the miners and railroad workers Clarence H. Welch,| | GIANT GAS BAG ROTTEN, GAUSED GREAT TRAGEDY Inquiry Takes Up Investigation to Determine Facts NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Feb. 22.—Reports that the bag of the semi-rigid dirigi- ble Roma, destroyed yester- day at the Norfolk army base with a loss of 34 lives was rotten, will be probed by an army bomrd of inquiry. Both officers and men early today declined to comment on the report. Boliet was eipressed today by thoee who saw the Roma on her flight that one of the after compartments gave way, forcing the rudder out of align- ment. Mechanics who worked on the Roma when she was brought to Lang- ley field are quoted indirectly as say- ing the bag was rotten. This ts dis counted by officers and enlisted men who point out that the Roma was given several thorough tests by ex- perts before she ever was sent up. They further declare that had the bag been rotten or construction faulty trouble would have developed on the trial flight to Washington sometime Ago, at which time the Roma raced back to Lafigley field ahead of one of the worst storms of the year. WASHINGTON, Feeb. 22—Appoint- ment of a board headed by Maj. Dav- enport Johnson to inquire into the Roma disaster, was announced today by the army alr setvice. Other mem- bers are Majors John H. Jouett and Joseph T. McNary. NORFOLK, Va, Feb. 22.—Investi- gation of the crash of the giant army dirigible Roma at the army base here yesterday will begin today with the arrival of officers of the army air service from Washington. The number of dead early today re mained at 34, al} of whom had been identified. Of the 11 survivors of the crew and passengers, eight were in the public hospitals. Charlies Dwor- ack, of Dayton, Ohio, a superintend- ent of aerial construction at McCook field, was in a critical condition but the others were expected to live, Army officers whe, survived the dis- aster declared it was caused by the collapse of the elevating rudder. The Roma was sailing along smoothiy about three hundred feet in the air, they said, when the elevating rudder suddenly buckled. throwing, the. stern lof the craft upward, ‘The downward progress of the alr. ship was checked by shutting off the engines, but the pilots. were power- less to right the craft and it plunged to the ground crashing through a line jof high tension electric wires and landing on a pile of steel rails and wheels. The survivors emphatically denied statements of civilians who saw the | accident, that fire broke out on the Roma’ before she struck the ground. ‘The army officers who escaped also said they believed the fire and, ex- | plosions which followed the crash | were cansed by the heat of the mo- | tors, rather than by contact with the electric wires. Striking these, the big dirigible cap- sized, its great 410-foot hydrogen bag | smothering the passenger and engine |compartments as it crashed to earth, to become immediately a raging fur- nace of blazing hydrogen’ gas in which all-who had not jumped to earth met a terrible death. AN of the 11 survivors escaped by jumping as the ship struck, only one of the vic- tims meeting death in this way. fect peggere steers Father of Mrs. sa Stillman Dead | | RICHMOND, Va., Feb. Brown Potter, father of Mrs. Fifi Potter Stillman, of New York, died suddenly today at the home of Frank was identified or sent back for a later|early today seized intoxicants said to|Powers in West Hampton, a suburb lof Richmond. Mr. Potter came hero |from New York last night. RAILROAD WALKOUT NOT SOUCHT BY MINERS IN FIGHTING CUT IN WACE should form “some definite coalition which would react to the benefit of both.” “If the railroad workers ever went on. strike,” he said, it would not be necessary for the miners officials to make a declaration of suppoft by the mine workers. Th miners would of their own accord give “support” to a road ‘strike, he maid. ‘We do not ask the railroad workers to go on a sympathetic strike to help us," he added, “but we do ask their support.” CHICAGO, Feb. 22—(By The As- sociated Press.)—Leade:s of mine and railroad labor unions in a joint - sidn today voted to form “a protective alliance’ through which the United ‘ (Continued from Page Four)