The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 16, 1938, Page 1

JUNEAU, ALASKA, FRIDAY, l)liCEMBER 16, 1938. VOL. LIIL, NO. 7976. MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS NAVY PLANES ASKED TO AID RES Written to Coster Probe Jimmy Acquaints Himself With New Film Jokt }SEAMEN MAY 'BE RESCUED ramatic Finale DRUG CONCERN HEAD SHOOTS, ARGENTINA KILLS SELF AFTER UNHAPPY BALKS AT “Left at Altar” PAST REVEALED IN RECORDS President of McKesson- Robbins Ends Life as Of- ficers Arrive at Home PUTS PISTOL TO HEAD AS LAW ASKS ENTRY Exposed Criminal Record! Blamed for Dramatic Action by Financier Conn., Dec. 16. F. Donald Coster, indicted President of the McKesson- Rebbins Drug Corporation who was disclosed as an ex-convict with a criminal record going back more than a quarter of a century, shot and killed him- self today in his ceuntry man- cion mear here while Federal authorities were on their way to his luxurious home to arrest him. Fully dressed, Coster went into a bathroom, pressed a pistol to his right ear and pulled the trigger. First reports indicated that Mrs. Cester had seen her hus- band with the pistol but was powerless to restrain him. She ccllapsed shortly after, Samuel Reich, his attorney, rushed to the home as soon as he heard what had happened. He put his hand on his head, pointing his finger as though it were a pistol and shouted: “He shot himself! he shot himself!” Investigators were told that three weeks ago Coste who formerly was Philip Musica, ex- convi until he made the al- most incredible change of his name, his associations and his whole life, indicated his inten- tien to take his own life and three pistols had been secreted in the garage by his chauffeur. Investigation of the $87,000,000 drug firm had not begun at that time. From the investiga- ticn, authorities said, it was apparent there was an SI8,- 000,000 overstatement of assets. Art Forman, Assistant Feder- al Attorney, arrived at the frent door of the Coster home teday only to hear the shot which ended Coster’s life. e, BLINDING RAIN IN LOS ANGELES KILLS 5 PERSONS FAIRFIELD, LOS ANGELES, Cal., toll of Southern California’s storm to five. The three men were killed in an electric train and traffic acci- dents last night. The rain storm brought bene’/. to crops and gave Los Angeles'a rain fall of 2% inches. e (Charles McDonald Sent Up to Priso LOS ANGELES, Cal, Dec. Charles McDonald was today sen- tenced from one to ten years at San' Quetin for the serious shooting of Mrs. Edith Kreuger, wife of Carl Kreuger, conductor of the Los An- geles Symphony Orchestra. The shooting was the outgrowth of an alleged intimidation case. — e — An aggregate area of 3,680 square mile—nearly twice as large as the State of Delaware—has been plant- ed in trees in the United States since 1924. ke Dec. 16.—| A blinding rain is blamed for the deaths of three men bringing the! 16— | Quarter Century Old Rec- ord Shows Coster to Be Ex-Convict, Swindler HAD CHANGED NAME, PARENTAGE HISTORY Noted Business Executive| Stands Revealed as Philip Musica NEW YORK, Dec. 16, Mccking fingerprints emerged from quarter century old police files te identify F. Donald Cos- ter, indicted President of the $87,000,000 McKes:hn-Ropbins, drug concern, as Philip Musica, ex-convict and swindler. In routine hion, Inspec- tor John J. Donovan, announc- ed (hat the fi zcr])rlnts were discovered in old file de- strect station. These fingerprints showed Coster to be Musica, twice convicted and once par- doned by President Taft. Coster is now facing Federal charges, with two of his drug firm aides. Thus stood revealed a man who cast his past aside, fiction- ized a home with a more bril- liant background when fortune once again decreed that he to held a commanding position in the world, especially in the drug world, and with money at his command. Musica was an immigrant boy but taking a new name of Cos- ter, in his own version written for Who's Who in America, gave himself American birth in Washington, D. C., and new parents, with a background of culture and a foreign educa- tion. Coster, George Deitrich, As- sistant Treasurer of the drug firm, and George Vernard, agent in charge of sales, are to be arraigned on charges of conspiracy in filing false statement with the New York Stock Exchange in the $18,000,- 000 alleged shortage in securi- ties, NAZIS TURNING EYES LONGINGLY TOWARD UKRAINE New Move foWard "State-| less Ukranians Believed of Great Significance BERLIN, Dec. 16 here today carried a short an- nouncement that all “stateless” Uk- ranians had been asked to send ‘their names and personal data to the “Ukranian Confidential Office” which takes care of stateless Ukran- {ians living within Germany. | The announcement was of powblv ,portentous significance in view of | {Germany’s growing interest in the 3 Uncle Sam Gives | Ukraine in the Soviet Russian Re- | (H e o a1 nvoen unece. Anofher Warning declined to become Soviet Ru&sbm"l’o “ili Germany citizens. The press notice indicated the WASHINGTON, Dec. 16.—The United States is calling again Nazis were turning their attention mcreasmgly to Ukraine. R e upon Germany for assurances Americans Jews living there will not suffer by the anti-Jewish STEWARTS RETURNING TODAY ON PRINCESS “7™suie mepartment mas kept to itself whether some form Commisioner of Mines B. D. Stew- of retaliation will be undertaken art and Mrs. Stewart are returing| if the request is refused. this afternoon on the Princes Norah. —————— Mr. Stewart has been in Washing-| KRAFT ABOARD NORAH ton and was recently designated to| Edwin B. Kraft, of Station KINY,| have charge of wage and hour law |is a passenger for Juneau aboard the |admnifstration in Alaska. Princess Norah, Mrs. Walter Lawrence Donahue (above), 24-year-old model and singer, charges that upon comple~ husband told her “he did not wish ta live with me and would have notkh- ing further to do with me.” She is seeking her freedom and support for her seven-year-old son, Walter, Jr., in New York courts The mars | riage was in 1931, Sanfa Claus Gag Worked; Monfana Farmer Fleeced by Two Self-Styled Philanthropists BILLINGS, Mont., Dec. 16.—Two self - styled philanthropists, who| fleeced their Santa Claus of $4,000 in cash, after persuading him to dis- tribute $30,000 as Christmas presents | to needy families in Laurel, peing sought in Montana and Wyo- ming. John Fox, 58, retired farmer, told the Sheriff that two men selected him to ot at Santa Claus because they thought him to be an honest man. The two men however insisted that he put up $4,000 in cash, which he posted with them as a mark of good faith, but before the $30,000 was handed to him, they disap- peared. LIGHT CRUISER JUNEAU SOON TO BE CONSTRUCTED WASHINGTON, Dec. 16. — The | Navy Department has asked pnvam shipbuilders for bids on two G.UUU- ton light cruisers. Two other light crui assigned to Navy Yards One of the cruisers will bear the name of Juneau — Newspapers ers will b(' | tion of their wedding ceremony her | Costs $4,000 LIMA PACT Insists United States s Possible Aggres- sor Nation FRENCH RIGHT WING FIGHTS COMMUNISTS | ' ltalians Take Jewish Lands! -Make Them Take Bonds Instead (By Associated Press) Insistence of Argentina that there is possibility of aggression by the | United States, m be considered |as the main obstacle to any declar- |ation of the Pan-American Confer- ence of a solid front gressors with consideration cooperative defense plan The Lima meeting has so far envisioned invasion primarily from abroad, but Argentine delegates want the resolution to provide de- [fense againsi any atlack by any| nation. | In the fact of the | position to the pact, delegates indicated |content with strong they included a decla |aggression of nations |the Americas In France, right wing parties |launched a concerted drive towards the dissolution of the French Com- munist Party as Premier Daladier sought Parliamentary support for his budget. The Italian government today ordered Jews to exchange all their land and buildings above a fixed value for bonds bearing four per- cent interest. The order fulfilled decrees adopt- |ed November 10, forbidding Jews | to own land with a taxable income | of more than $260 a year, or build- |ings whose annual taxable income | exceeds about $1,000 dollars. of Argentine op- it would resolutions ration outside it inst of are | Investigation by Dies Commitiee i Temporarily Ends WASHINGTON, Dec. 16. The Dies Committee has wound up the |long investigation of unAmerican | activities Chairman Martin Dies, of Texas, announces he will ask Congress to | appropriate as large an amount | possible to continue the investig | tion which so far has made astound- | inst ag- | al | | | James Roosevelt and Samuel Goldwyn | | First task for James Roosevelt, new vice president of Samuel Goldwyn movie productions, is to ac- quaint himself with his job. So here he is with to hav interview said th: HOPKINS MAY SUCCEED ~ROPER IN CABINET FOR United States | be | WASHINGTON, Dec. 16.—Word is circulated on Capitol Hill that Harry L. Hopkins, WPA Administrator, is in line to succeed Secretary of Com- merce Daniel C. Roper, whose re | nation yesterday and acceptance by President Roosevelt, created intense interest. One prominent Democratic Sena- tor, who declined to be quoted by | name, predicted that Hopkins will | be appointed in the vacancy “to| build him up” for the Presidential | nomination in 1940. The Senator, often a critic of the | Administration policies, said he is | convinced that President Roosevelt ‘bohcves Hopkins more nearly rep- resents his views than any other na- tionally prominent Democrat. This Senator said that if Hopkins is ced in the Cabinet and given a| chance to demonstrate he can work | in cooperation with business men, his political stature will be en- hanced. Although occasional resignation rumors have touched every member of the President's Cabinet, chief | speculation today shifted to the War | Department, where long reported | rumors claim Secretary Harry H.| Woodring will soon step out. dent Roosevelt today said, amid| talk that Harry L. Hopkins might | be the new Secretary of Commerce, said he had not made up his mind yet as to Cabinet replacements. The resignation of Attorney Gen- eral Cummings and Secretary of Commerce Roper leaves two vacan-, cies. | The President also said he could not teil when the Cabinet appoint-| ments would be made, neither the |appointment to the Supreme Court. United States Senator Lewis B.| | Schwellenbach, Democrat from the state of Washington, has been among those mentioned for the {bench but there has been no indi- | cation as to whom the President has in mind Big Fraud Unearthed In France [Nation Is Snlckenng Over PRESIDENT NONCOMMITAL ) WASHING'I‘ON 60P Lowers "L ‘ ing revelations. | After Analyzing Recent Gains. | By PRESTON GROVER WASHINGTON, Dec. 16—It is almost fun these days to cover a | Republican National Committee | meeting—fun for the first time in | six years. | It is no fun to attend funerals, land Republican meetings for six | years have been funerals, no 1l | Forlorn faces told forlorn stories |and made forlorn predictions of | party victory, when all the while everybody knew there wasn’t a ray of honest optimism. Now the party faces, once so long, are positively | glowing. | There are other changes, too. Some of the party leaders have abandoned their effort to make the | party sound liberal—that is, too | liberal. The last election looked -to the Reported Find, Ancient Greek Sculpture PARIS, Dec. 16.—A Polish night| club entertainer pointed proudly to herself and announced she was the {nude model for “Venus of the Tur- nip Patch” which Prench experts | | first hailed perfect example of net result is that some Republi-| ancient Greek sculpture. Now Lh(-v cans may prefer now to be known as ... o clover fraud conservative rather than liberal.| ppe giscovery of the statue, buried Even John Hamilon, Nationall,cor” gaing Btienne, southcentral chairman, hesitates now to call @ pance, resulted in a battle royal man a liberal, willy nilly | but now has the nation snicl k(‘VII)" In 1936 everybody who had any-! puncesco Remonse, Italian sculp- thing to do with the party Was|,r announces he made the xuruc‘ glibly described by Hamilton and ,ng then buried it himself to ob- other party leaders as a great..,, rum,mw)n liberal statesman. But somebody New Slamps, Coins iberal” Yoice to the executive committee, was a | that special stamps and coins will| liberal or a conservative. Hnmllloxr ! be issued to commemorate the com- backed out. YOUNGSTERS | ing visit of the King and Queen. EXCITEMENT Naturally the most exciting ele- PROVIDE | Republicans like at least a partial repudiation of liberalism as de- fined by President Roosevelt. The at the recent meeting asked Ham- ‘ ilton whether Harvey Jewett Jr., of South Dakota, newly elected| “I never try to name the tag on| ¥ 2 any man,” he said. | OTTAWA, Dec. 16.—Prime Min- | |ister Mackenzie King announces ‘There will be special one and two| cent stamps and possibly a specinl] silver dollar, ment in the governing body of Re- (Contiued on Page Three) Goldwyn on the Hollywood set. signed for about $50,000 a year, but in an | erties to former i would return it has s | surgent |arrests have been made and 210| | Loyalist Jimmy is reported at the report was too high. |FORMER KING ALFONSO NOW GIVEN RIGHTS pURPOSES OI: PO[ITI(S General Franco Serves Ouf, a Little Sop to Roy- alist Followers BURGOS, Dec. 16.—The Insur- gent Government has restored full citizenship and rights of former King Alfonso of Spain A decree was adopted by the Council of Ministers, over which Gen. Francisco Franco presided. It is reported Gen. Franco might | agree to put Alfonso’s youngest son, Juan, on the throne as a bid to reassure the Royalists among his followers, OPINION DIVIDED HENDAYE, Dec. 16.—Decision of the Spanish Insurgent Gen. Franco to restore all civil rights and prop- King Alfonso has sharply divided opinion, according to reports. It is not believed the former King to Spain, also there to returning is much opposition | Spain to a monarchy. The decree passed by the Coun- cil of Ministers would give Alfonso “all rights that correspond him as a citizen of Spain.” One side of the Insurgents said | this is the first step toward restor- ing a Bourbon monarchy backed by Gen, Franco but Spanish circles in Rome, where Alfonso is living, | doubted whether he will return soon | | to Spain as the result of the decree. It is said that all Royalist§ are reed that Prince Juan, 25, rather than Alfonso himself, who is 52, - eee — HUGE RING OF ESPIONAGE 1S SMASHED NOW/ ONA, Dec. 16.—The Loy- rnment announces ashed a huge rin espionage and over BARCE alist Go? In-| 1,200 | of death sentences doled out to those convicted of working behind the lines. ,-e— NORIH POLE FLIER IS DEAD IN CRASH MOSCOW, Dec 16.—Valeri Che- kaloff, one of the three Soviet Rus- sian aviators who flew across the North Pole to Vancouver, Wash., in 1937, was killed today in a crash while testing a new plane. |SOUTHEAST 6 E that | » - AT DRY BAY 'New Plan for Taking Off Shipwrecked Men Calls for Sitka Bombers o e ERS BEACH Simmons Turned Back by Storm-Was fo Drop More Food BULLE" The Customs House officials said this after- noon there is a possibility Lt. Cmdr. Ricketts of the Haida will agree to sending Les Cook, Northern Airways pilot, to the wreck scene with a wheel plane and land on the beach. Cook is flying a fast Waco ship and although unfamiliar with the region, is willing to make the flight. With a southeast gale blowing at the scene of the Patterson wreck to- day, rescue of the eighteen surviv- ors went into its fifth day of stale- mate, with the Coast Guard mercy ships Haida and Morris proceeding to Yakutat for conference, and seaplane pilot Shell Simmons turned | back by the prevailing bad weather on another flight with food for the camp. Advices recelved by the Customs House today from the cutter Halda said “seas are very rough this morn- ing, and it is impossible to make a landing today. Guides on Morris say high rivers make walk to Lituya |Bay from survivor's camp imprac- | ticable. “Will proceed to Yakutat with |Morris for conference, expecting to |arrive at 2:30 this afternoon and chanse personnel.” Pilot Simmons was to have flown a hundred pounds more of groceries to the scene today with axes, cig- arettes, smoking tobacco, “snuse,” two rolls of toilet tissue and eighteen I suits of oilskins. Low visibility and southeast gale reports caused Simmons to decide against the trip and he turned back from Hirst. It is indicated from the Halda wires to the Customs House here that Navy bombers may be asked to fly a rescue party to Dry Bay, twenty miles nort of Sea Otter Creek and the survivor’s camp. Simmons was to | have flown to Yakutat today, thirty | miles north of Dry Bay to meet the | Haida and report on the possibilities of ferrying survivors by air out of Dry Bay, to Yakutat and the walt- ing Haida, or the Morris. The Navy was asked also as to the possibility of dropping tarpaul- ins aud swres at the Patterson wreck along with light stoves and pipes. Flashlight messages from the would be the best for Spanish King, | ¢ach camp to the Haida last night | said the shipwreckc® men were “bet- ter than vexmvrdx\) 2 TANKERS HIT; WINDOWS FROSTY PORTLAND, Me.. Dec. 16. — Two tank Gulf of Maine and nber collided early this | m ing nage to bo!h and killing two seamen. Frost on the windows of the pfld houses are given as the reason (u' the collision. Five 15 cau: SHOPPING DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS