Evening Star Newspaper, May 19, 1922, Page 1

Mostly cloudy tonight; generally fair; not much temparature. ‘Temperature for twen ended at 3 p.m. t noon today. Lowest, 58, at Full report on page 7. Closing N. Y. Stocks and Bonds, Page 28 No. 28,509. -four hours oo T8 at a.m. today. Entered as second-class matter post ofice Washingian, D. C. tomorrow change. in WASHING’L‘ON; D. C, FRIDAY, MAY 19, 1922—-FORTY-FOUR PAGES. SANCTION OF TRUCE DELAYEDBY FRENCH AS PARLEY GLOSES Barthou to Recommend Pact to Paris—Some Other Na- tions Resgrve Rights. LLOYD GEORGE HOPEFUL DESPITE DISAPPOINTMENT | French Delegate Declares Solution in Russia Is Impossible Without .U. S. Participation. ! | BY the Associated Pre: i GENOA, May 19.—The Genoa eco- nomic conference, one of the greatest Poltical gatherings in Europe's his-| tory, which brought here the repre- sentatives of thirty-four nations, ad- Journed at 1:15 p.m. today after six weeks of momentous deltberations. Its labors will be begun anew at The Hague on June 15. The conference adopted the report ©f the economic commission, Whica contains constructive recommenda- | tions for the economic reorganization of Europe; adopted the arrangements | for the conference at The Hague, and proclaimed Prime Minister Lloyd George's famous non-aggression pact, ‘which, though provisional in its na- ture, it 1s hoped to follow with a permanent European peace pact. M. Rarthou, for France, merely sald he| would recommend the truce to his| sovernment, Facta Closes Sesslons. Premier Facta of*Italy, as presi- dent of the conference, solemnly closed its sessions by bidding fare- well to all the delegations on behalf of the king, the government and the people of Italy by thanking them for their valuable work and by express- | ing best wishes for the future pros- | | | perity of all the nations. The Dutch minister, on behalf of lolland, voiced the assurance that everything possible would be done by the ~Netherlands to facilitate the work of the forthcoming conference of experts, with the Dutch govern- mnent and people contributing all they + could to the success of the meeting at The Hague. ® Keynote Ome of Friendship. The keynote of all the remarks at the final session was one of friend- ship and earnest desire to help Ru si2, but Premier Lloyd @eorge point- ed out to the Russian soviet repre- sentatives the unfortunate effect their ramous memorandum had had on the world and told them that if they wished for success at The Hague they had better abandon their eloquent presentation of the doctrine of Te- pudiation of debts. “Such a course is unwise when one wants to borrow money,” the; British premier remarked. Foreign Minister Tchitcherin of Russia protestdd against the exclu- sion of the Russians from the work of the labor committee of the con- ference, but M. Colrat of the French delegation retorted that they had been left out because they did not attend the meetings and seemed to show little interest in the cause of labor. Footing of Equality Lost. M. Tchitcherin's last word at the conference was that the real cause of “he failure to reach a settlement of the Russian question was that the footing of equality between Russia and. the other powers had not been malintained. - Baron Hayashi of Japan was at one + with Mr. Lloyd George in declaring great good had been accomplished by the conference. He went the British yremier one better, however, by in- This_attitude,” added Baron Ha- cashi, “will bring help to the other untries in Europe In future days, perhaps in the near future from ‘America™ | The British premier warned Russia that Europe was gradually fllling up | the gap left by Russta’s decline, but sad to see millions of Russians despair and starving. Says Russians Must Accept. When a man sells goods, declared Mr. Lloyd George, he expects the buy- er to pay for them; when a man lends money, he expects the borrower to re- pay, and when a man asks a second loan, he must repay the first one. He argued that “the Russian tornado” had not uprooted these basi: laws of the world’s busin and declared the Russians must accept them if they wished the world's co-operation. Foreign Minister Tchitcherin of so- viet Russia, responding to Mr. Lioyd George's remarks regarding the Rus- n memorandum and the appeal | from the British premier to the Rus- sians to modify their economic views, i it rloquence canmot convert the R n people, who have other prejudices. For nstance, if one’s neighbor burns dowa en Mr. Lloyd Georg: brillia; |LADY RHONDDA IS | \DENIED SEAT IN one's house, he should pay for the damage. The Russians, however, will continue their efforts for peacs. Palaces Still Deecorated. San Giorgio Palacé and. the royal palace were still brillianlty decorated with flowers. ahd the flags of all the nations when the delegates gathered for the last time. Immuculately uni- formed soldiers were on-duty every- where. ~ - The report of the économic commi: sion, which has been laboring l:‘r five weeks, studying jects for thy economic reconstruction, of the con- tinent, was pregented By its chair- M. o M‘thn French T conference e e HOUSE OF LORDS LADY RHONDDA. By the Associated Press. LONDON, May 19.—By a vote of 20 to 4 the committee on privileges of the house of lords decided today that Lady Rhondda’s claim and Ppetition to sit in the house of lords had “not been made out.” Lady Rhondda’s petition to sit In the house of lords was granted by the committee on privileges March 2, but when the decision was re- ported to the house late in March it was referred back to the com- mittee. The sentiment of the debate in the house of lords over the refer- ence back to the committee was apparently against the admission of women. Lady Rhondda, daugh- ter of the late Viscount Rhondda, Great Britain's war-time food con- troller, is one bf the leading figures in the business world of Great Britain, having succeeded her father, long known as the ‘“coal king,” In the direction of numerous of his large business enterprises. CHILE-PERU SSUES - NEARER SOLUTION. Delegates of -Two Nations Hopeful of Settling Ancon Treaty Problems. By the Assoclated Press. ! After 2 two-day recess, during lwhich both sides are understood to have taken steps to inform them- selves more fully regarding the at- titude of thelr governments, the Chilean-Peruyian conference was called together again today with the delegates hopeful that definite re- sults soon would be attained. Details of the discussions again were kept in closest confidence, al- though 'the Chileans disclosed thai they still were holding to their atti- tude that the valldity of the treaty of Ancon was not open to question and that they were here to consider “fulfillment” of the pact's unenforced provisions. ntime, any possibility that Bo- Iivia might be given a seat eventual- 1y ia the conference appeared to have heen removed by a statement by the Chilean foreign office in Santiago, saying that such a proposition was not “susceptible of being considered.” The announcement occasioned no sur- prise here, since the attitude of Chile on that question already had been well established in previous responses to Bolivia'a repeated claims for rec- ognition. \ Progress Made in Discussien. Despite the unwillingness of the Chilean and Peruvian delegates to talk about details of the moves al- ready made, it was learned today that the conference had progressed further in_its discussions than the ordinary observer might guess from the sur- face -appearance of the official an- nouncements. As a general plan, the delegations ‘are attempting to deal first with subjects more or less col- lateral in their nature and giving most promise of quick solution, but they have found it impossible to put aside entirely the major issues, even in the opening phases of their con- versations. So far the exchanges still are in a stage described in diplomacy as “pre- CATHOLICS PULLED FROMBEDS, SLAIN, INTRISH TERRORISM Outrage Believed Reprisal for Murders of Members of Ulster Constabulary. BELFAST ARSON SQUAD SETS SIX SERIOUS FIRES Factions Seeking Peace at Dublin Now Fear Second Breakdown in Negotiations. By the Associated Press. BELFAST, May 19.—Four men. all of them Catholics, were dragged from treir beds at Desertmartin, county Derry, arly today and murdered. Half of the Village was burned. It 15 believed here that the outrage Wag meant as a reprisal for the re- cent murders of members of the con- stabulary in South Derry. The victims were John Higgins, forty; Frank Higgins, eighteen: Henry McCreghan, twenty-seven, and James McGreghan, forty. The bodles were found in a heap. & The buildings burned included a flour mill, the residence of a Cath- olic named Wilson and two saloons. The residence of Magistrate Heg- garty was fired into, and a number of other Fouses were wrecked and their furniture destroyed. Four armed men held up a south- ern mall train bound for Dublin at Sallins, County Kildare, this morning. More than 100 registéred letters and four mail bags consigned to the pro- visional government were selsed. De- tective Constable Heslip was attack- ed and fatally wounded while on duty in Belfast this afternoon. Terroriats Set Fires in Belfast. The terrorists in Belfast began thelr work again early today. Two hours Dbefore the expiratlon of curfew period incendiary blazes were started in dif- ferent parts of the city, and before 9 o'clock six: buildings were on fire, including the offices of a distllle; Soon after midnight & number of armed men attacked the barracks of the speclal constabulary in Dock treet, and a flerce conflict ensued in which several of the attackers were injured. It is reported that three motor cars were used to remove the wounded. None of the contables was injures The staff at the offices of the dis- tillery, which was the Doran plant, were forced to face the wall and were covered with revoivers while other raiders carried out the work of destruction. ~After a time, however,, the guard told the office men to'mhuke themselves comfortable and hande around cigarettes. Heavy Lossea Sustainmed. The premises involved in the in- cendlary attack included principally establishments conducted, by whole- sale concerns. Two of the outbreaks wers of considerable extent, but in the majority of cases the firemen quickly ‘extinguished the flames. In one case the incendiaries entersd a motion picture theater, held up the charwoman and_sprinkled the ‘place with gasoline. The caretaker of the establishment, on entering, was struck on the head by the butt of a revolver but escaped and gave the alarm. The total damage, it is estimated, will reach many thousands of poun: Another tramcar murder occurred vesterday afternoon under circum- stances similar to those surroundt the killing of the two tramcai sengers in the morning. The - noon victim was a bookmaker's clerk named McCaffery. The assassin escaped. FEAR SECOND BREAKDOWN. Rival Factions at Dublin Renew Eftorts for Peace. By the Associated Press. DUBLIN, May 19.—Fears were ex- pressed in political circles today that the negotlations for peace between the rival factions f Ireland, renewed Wednesday after what had appeared to be a final breakdown, would again result in a report by the negotiators that they had failed to come to an agreement. Further attempts were In pmful today, however, anll there was hope in some quarters that the last moment might see a favorable turn.’ Michael Collins, head of the pro- visional government, and Eamonn De Valera, the republican leader, in a prolonged consuitation with no others present, are believed to have been near a Be‘tlement. The views of ob- srvers, however, 18 that each has been embarrassed by the difficulty of carry- ing his followers with him, Prospects Less Bright liminary and informal.” however, and how soon the main problems of the conference can be narrowed to & point of decision cannot be foretold with authority. In some well in- formed circles it would occasion no surprise to see at least a direct and definite basls for negotiation estab- lished by early next week. Latin Amerieans Interested. Realizing the possibility bf rapid development, the diplomatic repre- sentatives of all.the Latin American countries here are taking the live- Mest interest 4n the proceedings. Some.-67 them are not as well advised aa they would like to be, because of the cloak 6f secrecy thrown about the conference. They are neglecting no source of information, however, and several have made comprehensive re- ports to- their governments. ‘The United States State Department has taken a stmilar attitude of. watéh- althi it, too. has had 2 ely ~on more or less roundabout methods of obtaining information. Not only is the Washingtorny govern- ment keeping aloof from the actual negotiations, but’ it is recelving no formal or icial reports of develop- ments from either of the delegations. The interest of both: - t-l‘:lg tl‘\’n fi:(h the Stats Ds. and leg sified b‘, the ft‘ tration by outside powers oircles close to the corference. - The legates are unanimous in declaring T T X t in for dis- At a meeting last night the mem- bers of the pro-treaty party heard from Collins the result of his con- versation with De Valera and when the meeting broke up, the prospect of peace seemed less bright. ‘The fnnd‘mllfll‘l ml:t g:: aiffer- ence it appears is X ot party thinks a coalition tovar::e;,v. should be formed only to work the treaty, while Mr. De Valera thinki any acceptance of the treaty is dental of the nepublican principle. The republican leader Indicated he would help the government against “Hoo. but the pro-treaty mem. sahi to fear he would em- what remains to be done un- der the treaty, particularly regarding the constitution of the free state. —_—_— BONUS BILL UP AGAIN. Measure to be Discussed at White House Conference. “The soldiers’ bonus bill will be dls- cussed, it is ‘understood, at a confer- ence between the President‘and Sena- tor Watson' of Indiana, republican ‘member of the finance committes, at the White House this afte; ; It is now several weeks since the republican’ conference of the Senate ‘went on record as favoring the sage of a soldiers’ bonus bill and the report & measure for that e committee in & rea- sonable u:: Bo far i to waiE B “n ;rc-lfl‘ug has to say. . At the . col Taees hua bean |1 BLIZZARD DEFENSE BALKED BY JUDGE Overrules Motion to Order Verdict of Not Guilty on arguments, war existed the armed men. y Divisios Argument Overruled. He also reviewed the argument that treason against a state was impos- sible because of the division of au- thority between state and federal govemments, and held that this posi- tian could/mot be maintained. and Treason Charge. By the Associated Press. CHARLES TOWN, W. V3 —Judge J. M. Woods today overruled a motion to direct a verdict of not gullty in the case of Willlam Bliz- zard, mine union official, charged vllth’ treason as & result of the armed march last summer against Logan county non-union strongholds in the coal flelds of the state. Judge Woeds on the other defense motion lmited the state as to the overt et on which it relied to_con- vict the defendant to his presence with the armed marchers in Logan sounty: Taking up one by one in his decision the' principal points advanced in the L Judge Woods held that there had been evidence sufficient for consideration by the jury that had been levied by May 19. first Points raised by A. M. Belcher of the prosecution in his argument as suporting the treason charge: That levying war was proven by the testi- pur unlawful failed, the attorfiey constituted authoriti by id, mony and constituted the overt act alleged; that defense claims that the ses of the marchers were ecause the purpose, was to kill all the not of Logan coun- ty before they began union organiza- tion, and that was a treasonable pur- pose; that the federal government's authority was delegated from sover- eign states, invalidating the defense argument there could be no treason against a state because the federal Constitution limited the sovereignty of the separate state; that successful- 1y to instigate treason is to commit it, and that the forces with whom the armed miners fought were military forces called under power given the governor. Many Defense Arguments. Among contentions stressed by T.C. Townsend, defense attorney, were: That, although there had:been much evidence that many people committed | were killed and one was My ninifA 0 DROPS COUNTER SUIT. Chauffeur Husband of Grand Opera Singer Permits Divorce. i { SAN FRANCISCO, May 19.—Floyd | Glotzbach, chauffeur, of Del Monte, | Callf, today instructed his attorney | to cancel his divorce petition flled several weeks ago as a counter action to the suit brought by his wife, Mme. Margaret Matzenauer, grand opera singer. Her suit was Instituted in New York after thelr separation. Glota- bach sald he would not oppose her efforts to get a divoroe. SEMENOFF FREED OF SEIZURE CHARGE Court Holds “Complaint * of Company That Operated in Siberia as Unsupported. By the Assdclated Press. NEW YORK, May 19.—Gen. Gregorie Semenoft, former ataman of the Cos- sacks, was ordered released from ar- rest today by the appellate division of the supreme court, which reversed the decision of Supreme Court Justice Delehanty. Semenoft was arrested on a2 civil warrant obtained by.the Youroveta Home and Foreign Trade Company, & New York bankrupt concern, which charged him with seizing supplies owned by the company in Siberia. %he higber court directed that $10 costs be awarded. He is now out on $25,000 bail. The appellate judges unanimously held thit there was no competent évi- dence that the court in China which granted a judgment against Seme- noft had jurisdiction over the sub- ject matter involved or had acquired jurisdiction over the defendant. The court held that even if the judgment of the Chinese court were enforceable here there was no ground for holding Semenoff, as the plain- tift had failed to show by afidavit that Semenoff was “about to remove or dispose of his property with in- tent to defraud“his creditors. prrsa CAVE-IN KILLS THREE.’ Another Injured When Walls of 3 Sewer Collapse. CLINTON, Towa., May 1 | | | Three men jured when & crimes different and distinot from }sewer under construction at Lost Na- treason, the jury should not be given the opportunity to pass on & ques- tion of treason, because treason was the thought most remote from the mind of the defendant or any other!genly gave way. Moving pictures now may be trans- thitted by radio from a central broad- Moving Picture Shows by Radio " Perfected by Local Inventor casting station into the htl:mu olh ‘the ictures of people or hap- ::::::’on the other side of . the world may be. transmitted instantly intc mewspaper. they happen, criminals may be stood up in one central station and "their likeness shown to the police in every city, town and hamiet of the world {nstan- tanéously. flices the moment d even notorious This announcement came “today $rom the local laboratory of C. Fran- cis Jenkins, 1519 Connecticut avenue ‘where northwest, h:m Sl st dn e O eld medal, swarded cute u;flfltlnm tmenty'y this idea picture Elliott eunmllh &0 by the #r ica, as of the moving which be provements, purpose [ for = more than ears | dete tion, Iowa, near here, caved in and buried the three?men under ten feet of earth. Four men had been work- ing in the trench, about twenty feet deep and two feet wide, when it sud- One mén escaped with slight injuries. S He sajd that he worked and studied the problem, withqut. dvail, .until’ he said his mind became sluggish cw decided: to ‘take a rest. ter automobile trip -he ‘finally bought an aeroplune, with which he made many flights over Washington and used it'to €0 on fishing trips. = 2 It was while returning t6 Wishing- ton ;on one of these -trips that . the thought occurred to him tHat if he took two of the prismatic. rings, one with & plus‘error and the othér With an uwwro “mln’.:‘A error, it Jnnld‘vv[ln the plish " the’ results ch- he announced today.: . It - 1 pictyre W can be sent out from & cen- tral station: to audiences and;people in . according to the in A rrm& -the prismatic, rii hicly furnish the real secret of” mew method of brosdeasting pictures, ?:‘ other instruments have bsen iown in. the sclentific and technical ‘world for years. There is a light 3 8 Sir RA axthe velouiis v} ent od o ft. . The light rays | looked -um. as.a “v’“ reward mb. “Mrs. Woods entered in a minor FRIENDS OF BONUS. LOSERS AT POLLS Recent Pennsylvania Primary Results Hard to Analyze, However. Except in the case of the renomi- nation of Senator Pepper, where the Issue was more acutely drawn, an- alysts of recent primary results in nomination contests are experiencing difficulty in drawing fair conclusions as to the influence of the pending bonus legislation on the verdict at the polls. In that (nstance, the In- ference that the result evidenced sen- timent against the bonus seems more discernible, for two reasons—first, because Senator Pepper made no con- ‘cealmgnt of* his opposition to the bonus, but, on the contrary, rather welcomed opportunity to declare himself, and, second, because his ma- Jority over his opponent, who sus- tained the bonus proposition, was so marked, while at the same time the party organization back of him did not support Candidate Alter for the Eovernorship. Bemus Supporters Lose. It develops that several of the re- publican candidates for the House who failed of renomination had voted for the bonus in the House, and stress has been laid upon that fact by those ‘who are contesting the plan. Yet, it is known that other considerations entered into the contest besides the bonus question. Representatives Wal- ters,- Darrow, Connell and Jones, who failed, voted for the bonus. Repre- sentative Focht, however, who claims nomination on later returns, also voted for the bonus. Gov. Sproul of Pennsylvania, in his statement, laid the result in Pennsyl. vania to & number of causes, includ- ing discontent, unemployment and restlessness, and it is said by poli- ticians that in some cases the wet and dry question entered. Liquor Issue in Iilinots. In Dllinols, where Representatives Copley and Ireland, both supporters of the bonus, were defeated, it is asserted that the wet and dry In- terests figured materially, although no'direct issue was made openly. The bonus question 1s not thought voted on. the question and had not would cl him as being not very enthusidstic for the bonus. At American Legion headquarters in this city .comment is being with- held for the present on the primary results in their bearing ‘upon public sentiment over the bonu The Oregon primaries, which are being held today, may throw more light upon the subject,-as in several candidacies in “that state the influ- ence of the service men's vote and the bonus is expected to play a prom- inent part. WOMAN TO SUPERINTEND ~LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Mrs. de K. Woods Named by President to Have Charge of Building and Grounds. s - Mrs. Harriet de K. Woods of Tllinois has ' been nominated by President Harding to be superiptendent of the Congressionsl Library building and grounds, to succeed Frank I Averill of New York, who was appointed by ‘President Wilson nine years ago. Mrs. Woods is at present chief of the_certificate division of the ocopy- right office of thé library, which po- sition she has held for several years, and her elevation to the superintend- ency of the bullding, which carries ‘with it & large Increass in salary and consl added responsibilit; of the library sition twenty-two Mrs. Wi to {8 i | { { get the rent commission bill passed | U. S. RELIEF WORKERS * REPORTING ATROCITIES, 1 | to have influenced the defeat of Een- | ator New of Indiana, as he had not| made any decided announcement as | to his attitude. His friends say they, | ! a the | architects. po- FIND LIVES IN JEOPARDY By the Associated Press. CONSTANTINOPLE,, May 18.— Publication of reports by Ameri- can relief workers in the interior of Asia Minor concerning the sys- tematic persecution of Christians by the Turkish nationalists has Jeopardized the position of the workers, it is declared in American missionary circles here. Many of these reports had been submitted confidentially to the league of nations, and it is believ- ed that prompt and energetic ac- tion by the powers is necessary to secure the safety of the agents, now that publicity has been given to their evidence. All the workers corroborate the stories of atrocities, especially the progress of the so-called white massacres, which consist of driv- ing parties of Christians /from place to place until they die from sickness, famine or exhaustion. The statement issued by the Turkish nationalist representative .here that some of the missionaries and relief workers had denied the reported atrocities. is declared by the missionary authorities to be & fabrication. BALLACT MAY PASS HOUSE ON MONDAY Reed peclares Changes Will Forestall Serious Objections. Although he has not made any can- vass of the House, Representative Reed of West Virginia expressed con- fidence today that he will be able to by the House on Monday. He says | that he has been careful to get writ- | | ten into the bill such changes as will { forestall any serious objection on the | !pul of property owners. i 1 | Among these changes he considers that of doing away with the sub- {1e3se evil as the most important. He | | believes that the enlargement of the | commission and allowing .the five| i members indivadually to conduct hearings will do away with the much- criticized delay in getting dectsions. He pointed out also that % has been made easier for an owner to get possession of his property, so that & person occupying only a few rooms could not delay the tearing down of the old structure to be replaced by an apartment house which would house many times as many people. Representative Keed gave: this en- couragement to tenants that they can allay their fears as to the possibility of immediate evictions, since they will, have the bemelit"of tem to twelve days even in cases where the first no- tices have been served, under the pro- visions eof the retroactive clause in the bill, for extension of the Rent Commission act. Representative Millspaugh of Mis- sourl, who has led the fight against the measure, and who has prepared a minority report, expects to have it signed by Chairman Focht of the Dis- trict committee, by the ranking dem- ocrat, Representative Gilbert of Ken- tucky, by Representative Lee of New York and himself. He insisted today that those who are trying to put through this legislation are creating a false impression to the effect that there are to be wholesale evictions and a general ralse in rents as soon as the present act expires next Mon- day. His own personal investigations have led him to believe that there will not be any such action on the part of real estate men and landlords. VOTE T0 OPPOSE PRIZEFIGHTS HERE | tion of the Knickerbocker Theater build- Commissioners Back Stand of Police Head—Too Many Evils Feared. The District Commissioners today voted to oppose the bill now pending in Congress to legalize boxing in the District. The city heads; at their board ses- slon today, received from Maj. Daniel Sulltvan, superintendent of police, an unfavorable report on the bill and they concurred in his views. ‘The superintendent of police told the Commissioners the art of self-de- fense is commendable in itself and should e encouraged wherever pos- sible, “but I do not believe that the holding of the big professional title contests should be encouraged in the National Capital, and I belleve that everything possible looking to the pré- vention and restriction of the influx of the undesirable element which is usu- ally found & part of those who attend such events should be done,” he added. In the opening paragraph of his report to the city heads Maj. Sullivan said: Against Professional Matches. “While I can see no particular ob- Jection to the holding of purely ama- teur boxing contests, I do not be- lieve that national professional cham- plonship matches, which I infer would. De permissible under the proposed legislation, would be conducive to the Dest interests of the community when the type of some of the followers who gather on such- occasions con- sidered. The bill referred to was introduced in the Senate by Senator Walsh of unm!uabo:.ronm for the appointment of a ing commission. l"r’:n District Commissioners also went on” record today in favor of legislation to provide for the licens- ing of tects and engineers who take part in the. construction of builoings in Washington. - ‘On motion of Engineer €0 Keller they voted to send a hvma'. Teport to Congress on the bill pending to create & license board for state that they belleve engi- ors tikowiss. should b it thes Wil Bave i . Disaster | thracite industry will result IMMUNITY ASKED FORDEATH OF 97 INTHEATER CRASH Defendant in Knickerbocker Case Pleads Statute of Limitations. NOT LIABLE UNDER LAW, SAYS IRON WORKS’ HEAD Seeks to Have Indictment for Man- slaughter Set Aside—Disclaims Any Negligence. John H. Ford, president of the CTnion Iron Works, today pleaded the statute of limitations in bar of his prosecution under an indictment charging him with manslaughter in comnection with the collapse of the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater January 28 last, which resulted in the death of ninety-seven patrons of the theater. No claims that the indict ment on its face shows that the of fense charged did mot accrue within three years before the finding of the indictment. The construction of the theater was completed in 1918 and the indictment was returned April 3, 1922 Through Attorneys Barnard & John son and George P. Hoover Mr. Ford also filed a demurrer to the indictment and assigns seventeen defects which make the “true biil” bad in substance and untenable, according to their view of the law. Pesition of Maj. Gordon. In reference to the plea of the stat- ute of limitations, United States At- torney Gordon declares that the stat ute would not begin to run until the collapse of the building and the causx ing of the death of the victims with-s out regard to the time of the com- pletion of the structure. The people were killed January 28 last and the indictment reported April 3, he point~ out. As to the points of demurrer they will be combated by Maj. Gor- don when the matter is set down for hearing by Chief Justice McCo; Among the matters of law to be argued on the demurrer of counse for Mr. Ford are the misoinder of par- tiea: that the indictment is vague, in- definite_ and uncertain: that it at tempts to impose upon the defendant certain duties without aileging the facts by reason of which such duties are alleged to have arisen; that such leged duties are based upon conclu- ans of law and no facts are alleged in“Bupport. The clahu is also made that the indictment falls to e Ford with a definite, individual duty for the neglect of which he is songht to be held responsible and there are no facts alleged to show that any duty was imposed on Mr. Ford, when undertaking his part of the construc- tion work, “in unison and conjointly with any of the other defendants.” Farther Comtentions. The indictment also fails to show, it is claimed, that Mr. Ford's duties were not wholly independent of the duties of the other defendants or that he had any authority or contgol over the co-defendants or any of them as to the work done or material furnished by any of the co-defendants, and therefore he cannot be held re- sponsible criminally for any- alleged defect in the work done or material also claimed that the indictment does not apprise the defendant of the par- ticular acts of negligence sought to be charged against him and falls to show any act or omission of the de- fendant which was the direct and immediate cause of the death of the theater victims. There is nothing in the indictment showing any facts from which it can be inferred, it is asserted by counsel for Mr. Ford, that there was any duty on him either by contract or operation of law to notify and warn any person of the alleged dangerous and unsafe condi- ing or any neglect of duty in permitting patrons to attend the theater and be in the building at the time of its collapse Mr. Ford is indicted on a charge of manslaughter jointly with Reginald W Geare, architect of the building; Rich- ard G. Fletcher, foreman of the con- tracting firm in charge of the cement work; Donald M. Wallace, foreman for the building contractor, and Julian R. Downman, assistant building inspector. Geare filed a_demurrer when the men were sammoned for arraignment and the others entered pleas of not guilty. The latter are expected to join in the demurrer filed by Mr. Ford and to with- draw their pleas. CUTINCOALPRICE - AIM OF OPERATORS By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, May 19.—Wage cuts which may be enforced in the an- imme- diately in cheaper coal to the public, operators announced today after their offer to settle with the striking miners on a basis of 21 per cent wage reductions. The offer was made as a reply to the miners’ demand for an increase of 20 per cent for contract men and $1 a day for shift workers, made prior to the strike which began April 1. Reductions of 18 per cent for con- tract men and $1.20 a day for shift workers were proposed by the oper- ators yesterday. Although refused, they will form a basis for future ne-' gotiations, labor leaders asserted. “What we have definitely made up our minds to do is to lower the price of coal,” said 8. D. Warriner, spokes- for the operators. “This is the n for our insistence that ajre- luced scale be put into effec . The average labo= cost of a ton of hard coal prior to the strike was $3.92, he said. A reduction of 21 per cent in wages would mean a cut of 80 cents in this labor cost, he pointed %, Warriner declined to state mpfldw. household "