Evening Star Newspaper, May 14, 1923, Page 1

WEATHER. Fair tonight: -tomorrow increasing cloudiness, followed ty showers to- morrow afternoon or night. Temperature for twenty-four hours “From Press to Home Within the Hour” The S5tar’s carrier system covers ended at 2 p.m. today: 5 p.m, yesterday; lowest, a 5:30 a.m. today. Hoghest, 68, 47, at Full report on page 7. Closing N. Y. Stocks l_l!d Bonds, Page 24 Entered as second-class matter No. 28,868. post_office Wa shington, D. C. 12 DEAD IN PATH OF TEXAS TORNADO TOLL MAY REACH 30 Incomplete Reports Indicate Terrible Tragedy in Sections Outside Colorado City. RESCUERS FIND VICTIMS AT NEARLY EVERY FARM Killed and Wounded Discovered Amid Wreckage of Home After Home in Devastated Area. B the Associated Press. 'OLORADO CITY, Tex., May 14— Tight bodies of persons killed in a rornado near here early this morning have been brought to Colorado City and it was reported that several more hedies are on the way here. Twelve persons have been counted dead and there is no official estimate of the sumber of persons killed, it was stat- ed. Persons doing relief work re- vorted dead and injured being found at almost every scattered farm and ranch dwelling for miles southeast of here. J. H. Green, chairman of Red Cross workers here, said the injured “prob- ably will reach 100 v as many as fifty are Doctors and nurfes from a dozen nearby towns have been appealed to and are searching in the devastated @rea. Only slight damage was done to the town of Colorado itself. REPORT FIFTY KILLED. Toll in Outlying Sections May Raise Total —Wires Are Down. By the Associoted P BIC May 14.—Fifty persons were and about 100 tnjured three miles from Colorado City, Tex., when a tornado swept this kection, according to reports tele- phoned here this morning. Since this news was received communication has been cut off, due to damage to telephone and telegraph lines. Th worst damage is forty miles from Big Springs, it was reported. It is believed damage to crops and ttle is heavy and that the loss of life and property is heavier in the country district than in Colorado Cit: according to the unconfirmed reports. Relief parties left here in automo- | biles this morning. CUTS 25-MILE SWATH. Demolished Buildings and Many Dead Lie in Path of Wind. By the Associated Press. ABILI Tex., May 14.—Joe Rich- burg and his two children were killed and a number of persons injured in & tornado which struck the Spade ranch, south of Colorado City, and mowed a path twenty-five miles long across Mitchell county, Tex.. last night. Just west of Lor eight house were demolis # number of persons are reported fa- tally injured, Otis Wiilis, Joe Willis and eigh bers of the family of Henri T A report from Loraine said the storra did not strike Colorado City. The tornado centered between Lorraine and Colorado City, according to reports here, The Southwestern ‘Lelephone and Telegraph Company Teports a large number of its poles were blown completely away. Cross ties along the right of way of the Texas and Paclfic were blown so far that no traces of them have yet been found. A long distance Sweetwater at 11 a.m. said the tor- nade struck between the town of Lorraine and the water tank, which is three miles east of the town and that the death list will not exceed four, with perhaps eight injured. All were farmers, the message said. OPEN RECOGNITION PARLEY IN MEXICO U. S. and Obregon Commis- sions Begin Work in Opti- mistic Mood. mem- message from ¥ the Associated Press. MEXICO CITY, May 14.—The open- ing of the conference here between the American and Mexican delegates appointed to discuss the differences between the two governments found officials, public and press all optimis- tlc that recognition of the Obregon administration by the Washington government would follow. It has been unofficially learned that the Mexican government is prepared to promise support of the pending petroleum legislation intended to meet the requests of the United States without infringing her national sov- ereignty and dignity by signing any treaty acceding to these requests as preliminary requisite to recognition, Tt was reported on the eve of the conference that a solution avolding a pre-recognition treaty, and at the same time offering ' the effective guarantees which the United States is seeking, might be found by fol- lowing the precedent established in 1886, when both governments agreed upon a diplomatic modus operandi for the settlement of otherwise baf- fling difficuities. President Obregon made. public a decrec ordering indemnification for Jand seized between the beginning of the revolution of 1913 and the pro- mulgation of the present constitution on May 1, 1917. This step, it is be- lieved, should simpliy discussion of the land problem by’ the commissions. The United States has insisted that the Mexican government safeguard property rights in land held by Ameri- cans. The presidential decree provides that justifiable claims resulting from expropriations made within _ the period shail be paid in bonds of the public agricultural wesk including T. E. Willis, | well. | ¢h WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION ¢ Foening Star. tion is del as fast as tl every city bléck and the regular edi- ered to Washington homes he papers are printed. Saturday’ Sunday’s Circulation, Net Circulation, 90,215 98,117 WASHINGTON, D.'C., MONDAY, MAY 14, 1923—THIRTY-SIX PAGES. Probation Conference Backs Vote for District Residents The plight of voteless Washington, | suffering “taxation without repre- sentation” was brought to the atten- tion of more than 500 judges, proba- tion officers and others interested in social service problems now attending the seventeenth annual conference of | the National Probation Association, | today by Edward F. Colladay, presi- | dent of the Washington Board of | Trade, as a climax to his address of | welcome. | “When you go back home.” suggest- | ed Mr. Colladay, who is chalrman of | the executive committee of the joint | Citizens' Committee on National Rep- | resentation, “you all vote, some of | you act as judges, vou do not pay ! taxes without representation. Here you see a people, numbering nearly half a million, who are without rep- BERLIN CRITIGIZES NOTE FROM BRITAIN Believe Curzon Wants Flat‘ Fifty Billion Marks Rep- aration Offer. BY GEORGE WITTE. less to The Star and Chicago Daily News. Copyright, 1023, BERLIN, May 14.—Lord Curzon's note on the reparations question is in- terpreted here as a hint that Germany { should make an offer of 50,000,000,000 | Rold marks ($11,900,000,000). and that then he would make it his busifess to get France to negotiate on that basis. ‘Wilhelmstrasse today was pessimistic | and a number of representative officials, { when interviewed, agreed that the Cuno cabinet could never make such an offer and exist and that anyway Germany } could not pay that much. | “There still remains a possibility of | By Wi negotiations, but the Curzon note shows a poor understanding of the situation that it is hard to say at present how the discussion can be continued.” the Berlin Lokal Anzeiger reports one high official to have sald. This official criticizes Curzon for [not giving any consideration to Sec- retary Hughes’ suggestion that an in- ternational commission be appointed | to determine just how much Germany { is able to pay. It is expected that; Chancellor Cuno in a speech in thei reichstag within the next few days! will reply to the notes of both Curzon | and Mussolini and will then demand a vote of confidence which may not| be_glven, 3 In many quarters dissatisfaction with Cuno’s policy, which is said to have run Germany into a cul-de-sac,/ is expressed, but it is expected that ! the chancellor will put up a hard | fight before he hands in his resigna- tion. ! FRENCH SATISFIED. British and Italian Notes Better Than Expected. By the Massceicted Press. PARIS, May 14—Premier Poincare { will acknowledge receint of the {Italian and British replies to the | German reparation proposals without | comment, it was sald at the foreign, office today. French official expressions thus far eard indicate there is considerable satisfaction that the notes from Lon- don and Rome did not_vary so radi- cally from the Franco-Belglan stand- point as was thought might be the case. Stress is lald on the fact that both Lord Curzon and Premier Mussolini claim credit for drawing the Germans out, and this is taken as an indica- tion that both think the proposals made by Germany may prove to be the starting point for new negoti- ations. It is also pointed out that the writers of both notes dwell upon the lack of guarantees in the German ofter. P —— MOTHER AND DAUGHTER SHOT, FATHER JAILED Young Woman Killed, Other Se- riously Wounded, in “Little Italy” Quarrel. NEW YORK, May 14.—Mrs. Camilla Favetta, twenty-nine, was shot and killed and_her mother, Cologara Mon- gove, was ‘seriously wounded on Chris- tie street, in “Little Italy,” this morn- ing. Pasquale Mongove, father of the dead woman, was arrested. The ~shooting followed a quarrel, The neighborhood was thrown into such turmoil that the police got two sets of names and addresses, making it appear for a time that there had been two murdeys of women living in ad- | Joining houses. family For Every By the Associated Pross. CHICAGO, May 14.—One divorce has been granted for every five mar- riage licenses issued in Chicago dur- ing the first three months of this i vear, and in the last ten years the iratio of divorces to marriages has | nearly doubled. Judges, who have heard from 2,000 to 6,000 divorce cases, cribe the in- creasing number of marriage disso- lutions to changing economic condi- tions. In January, February and March 17,605 marriage licenses were issued During the same period circuit and superior court judges signed 1,588 divorce decrees. In 1922, 38,094 mar- riage licenses were issued and 7,285 divorces granted. Divorces ha: doubled in the last eight years, whil marriages have increased one-eighth, For.every thousand marriages. the E. F. Colladay’s Plea Wins Approval of Judges and Officers From Many Sections of Country. resentation in the affairs of govern- ment. Congress makes all the laws for us. These people could easily have representation in the Congress and electoral college. For that pur- pose we are now urging the passage of a constitutional amendment grant- ing national representation to the people of the National Capital and bespeak your co-operation so that we, at the seat of government, may enjoy the same rights of citizenship that you enjoy. At present we have no representation whatever." Approve Votes for District. A. C. Backus, judge of the munici- pal court of Milwaukee, who is presi- dent of the assoclation, replied: "It isn't mecessary for us to go back home and inform our members of Congress and the people that there ought to be true government in the Natioal Capital. Tt is so deci 4 (Continued on Page 2, Column J{ Same Debt Terms U. By C News. Copyright. 1023. MILAN, May 14.—Sig. De Stefani, the Italian finance minister, Sun- day delivered his long expected speech on the financial situation of the country. He enumerated the grat economies realized in six months the fascist govern- ment and expressed the belief that the revenue would be increased 442,000,000 lire. Six months the deficit for 1 stimated at 4,000, -ould now be con dently estimated at 1.187,000,000 lire As to Italy’s debt to the United States, De Stefani said that it would be paid, but only if the terms were proportionately the same as those granted to Great Britain. e —— WOV SUSPECTED N POISDN PEN ASE Friends of Maxwell Say He Is Victim of Plot to Ruin Character. By the Associated Press, NEW YORK, May 14—A woman will be named as the suspected writer of the scurrilous letters which George Maxwell, internationally known music publisher, has been charged with having written in defamation of Mrs. Allan A. Ryan, Mrs. Albert R. Gallatin and seven other soclally prominent women in the last ten years, his friends announced today. Maxwell's intimates, ralling to his defense, declared that he had long suspected a woman of being the au- | thor of the “poison pen” missives, and said that they expected him to give her name to District Attorney Banton on his arrival here. Maxwell has an- nounced in London that he will return here immediately to face the indict- ment found against him. Officers of the American Society of Composers, ‘Authors and Publishers, of which Maxwell is president, said that it would have been impossible for Maxwell to write some of the let- ters whose authorship he iwas cused of, as he was so ill at the time they were mailed that he could not sign checks of the concern. They declared, too, that himself had for years Leea the re- cipient of similar letters. Several years ago, they said. he had gone to Havana, Cuba, with another without having first told his friends his destination. On_arriving at their hotel in Havana, Maxwell's friends says, he and his companioa were handed “poison pen” ietters which had been mailed from New York. A short time later, it was said, Maxwell went to Miami, Fla. He met a New York society womaa and the two went motoring for sevcral hours The story goes that on returning tc her hotel the woman found one of the accusative Yetters. Maxwell, on re- Maxwell turning to his hotel, was said to also | have received a letter, couched in similar terms. HAS HIGH REGARD FOR U.S. PARIS, May 14.—Marshal Foch still considers his trip to America as one of his greatest experiences. Before the marshal left for Poland recently he gave some reminiscences to Prince Poniatowskl, a descendant of Napo- lepn’s marshal, whose statue Foch went. t& Poland to unveil. “If 1 had to start life over again,” sald the ‘Marshal to Porflatowski dur- ing his recital, “I would go to Los Angeles. It is'a magnificent country. It is the Riviera—but greater. Grant One Divorce in Chicago Five Marriages following number -of divorce decrees have been entered: 1906, 117; 1914, 106; 1915, 130, and 1922, 191. In 1885 the ratio was one divorce to every seventeen marriages. Some of the reasons for divorce ad- | vanced by the judges are: Entrance of women into the fields of commerce, industry and business, too much “jazz,” too much cabareting and liquor toting, ultra-sophistication of the rising generation, tendency of young marriage couples to live with their parents, thus becoming sus- ceptible to their influence, failure of cntracting parties regard properly the solemn bonds of matrimony, too little religion in the home, poor cook- ing, resulting from woman's desire to leave the “home fires” for a business career and makeshift delicatessen dinners. Economic marriages, where both husband and wife work, the figures indicaf are a success, as the prin- cipals rarely seek dissolution of the matrimonial -bonds, taly Demands the | S. Gave British!| Pl man, | RUSS AVERT BREAK ITH BRITAIN; ASK PARLEY ON DISPUTE British Regard Soviet Reply - to Ultimatum as Complete Acquiescence. CURZON TO ASK FULL REDRESS AND APOLOGY | Bolshevik Leaders Express Will- ingness to Make Redress for Slaying of English. By the Assoclated Press. LONDON, May 14.—In British official jcircles the reply of the Russian soviet i government to the British note is con- sidered as avoiding a rupture. Satis- faction is expressed at what the Brit- |ish consider an about face on the part ! of Moscow in its attituie toward Great Britain. While the British government is ready | to discuss the disputed matters with | Leonid Krassin or another credited en- | voy, Lord Curzon seems determined to ntain all the points raised in the| British note and will not tolerate long discursive explanations from Moscow, it is indjeated. He will also insist, it is declated, on adequate redress and apologies for the | wrongs alleged by the British in their note. REPLY CONCILIATORY. Soviet Expresses Keen Desire to! Hold British Friendship. By the Associated Precs. MOSCOW, May 14.—Soviet Russia’ note to Great Britain, the text of | which was given out here today. is | couched in conciliatory terms. Ex- | pressing regretful surprise at the ultimatum, it proposes a conference | {at a time and place to be arranged with England, at which responsible | representatives of both governments shall discuss not only the disputed | secondary questions raised in the| Britist. note, but shall also regularize | fully (he relations between Russia and Great Britain. The note sets| forth what it declares are certain | errors in the British charges with re- | gard to propaganda by Russta in thi east. While admitting that Russia naturally sent money to the Russian representative in Persia, it says the | first British are ova~wuspicious in thinking that. “has no use for money i the east other than for propaganda. The note ‘disavows responsibility for the third (Moscow) international. It offers to settle by arbitration the question raised by the Russian seiz- |ures of British trawlers and com- pensate the families of Charles F.| Davison, an English civil engineer, executed in Russia in 1920, and nf] another British subject in whose case | A claim was made, if the British will agree to give compensation for the long imprisonment of several Rus- | ans in England and India. With regard to the two notes sent to England signed by “Weinstein which Mr. Hodgson. the British agen in Moscow, returned, complaining | that they were couched in language. the reply savs the | note returned by Mr. Hodgson never sent again to the British gov- | ernment and therefore must be re- | garded as unsent. while the second | letter did not contain anything offen. sive. Thesc notes were in reply to! Mr. Hodgson's protest against the | | execution Gf Mgr. Butchkavitch. ! The note declares that despite mi understandings Russiagreatly appre- | | ciates friendly relations with Great | Britain. H The document of about 3,000 words | is signed by Maxim Litvinotf. assist- | ant commissar for foreign affairs, and addressed to Mr. Hodgson. Hostility a Surprise. Although European reaction to en-; | mity toward the soviet republic has| been growing during the past few months, the note begins, the British ultimatum nevertheless was a sur- prise “because of its sharp and un- Justified hostility. “Ultimatums and threats.” it de- clares, “are not the way to settle pri { vate and relatively unimportant mis- understandings between states, and | in any case the establishment of cor- rect relations with the soviet repub. lic_is not attainable by this means | _While appreciation is_expressed of | | the value to Russia of the British | { agreement, nevertheless England has benefited also, the document points out, and Russian trade has been growing, with consequent reduction in the prices of many commodities throughout Europe. “Great Britain speaks of the nu- | merous challenges which Russia has thrown to Great Britain,” says the note, adding: “The soviet government permits itself to assert the complete baselessness of such a statemen! MISSING MAN FOUND HANDCUFFED IN PIT | Resort Owner Believed Kidnaped by Gang of Boot- s leggers. | | | By the Associated Press. PETERSBURG, Va., May 14—James | E. Griffin, owner of a bathing resort | near hare, who mysteriously disap. peared last Monday night while driv- ing along a road in his automobile, was found today in a gravel pit, handecuffed and unconsclous. He was | | répresented by SUT OVER OYSTER WAL S SETTLED Widow Is Said to Receive Be-' tween $75,000 and $100, & 000 in Compromise. The contest over the estate of George 1 M. Oyster, jr. seventy-one years old. wealthy Washington dairyman, who dled at Atlantic City in April, 1921, about three months after his marriage | to Miss Cecile Ready of Syracuse, twen- ty-six years of age. was settled today Justice Siddons of the District Supreme | Court signed an order afirming a com- : promise between the widow, who has since remarried and is now Mrs. Cecile R. Shir-Clifte of Troy, N. Y., and Henry N. Brawner, r. owner of the dairy business. The former Mrs. Oyster was given only $25.000 by & codicil to the will of her husband, made on his death- bed after a disagreement with his young wife. She refused to accept this portion of the estate and filed a caveat to the will, which named Edwin C. Brandenbufg as executor and trustee of the estate. The widow then brought suit in equity, attack- ing the valldity of the contract by which Mr. Brawner secured a large interest in the business onlv a_few weeks before her husband’s death with the right to purchase his in- terest at death. She claimed the | business is worth $1,000,000. The terms of the compromise are! not made public. but it is understood : offensive that the widow receives a cash settle- |the continued ment of between $75.000 and $100,000. ; She will aleo get a portion of the| residue of the estate remaining after | the settiement of debts and legacies. | The administration of the estate will be proceeded with by Mr. Branden- | burg, it is understood. ~Several par- | cels of real estate in Maryland were covered by the agrecment between Oyster and Brawner and Mrs. Shir- | Cliffe will execute deeds conveying to | Mr. Brawner her dower interest in, those properties. The caveat to the| ¥l provably will be dropped. it was sald. Aftorneys Daniel . apd Arthur A. Alexand the widow, while Mr. O'Donoghue | er represented ! Brawner was| Attorney Roger J. Whiteford. The executor is repre-. sented by Attorneys Tobriner and| Graham. ESTFIES WORSE | VERGHARGED . § Witness Says $20 Lumber Sold to Government for $51 by Ship Yard. Charles W. Morse, New York ship- charged with conspiracy to détraud the United States in wartime céntracts, purchased lumber at $20 a thousand feet and priced it to the government at $51 a thousand, ac- cording to testimony offered today by the prosecution when the trial of Morse. his three sons and four oth- ers was resumed before Justice Staf- ford and a jury in Criminal Division United States Attorney Gordon elicited this statement from R. M. Williams of New York, a lumber dealer summoned to testify for the government. g ? willlams testified that he entered into a contract with Morse to fur- nish lumber for the building of ooden ships at $20 a thousand feet, and that Morse wrote an agent of the fleet corporation that the lumber could be obtained for $51 a thousand. n the letter Morse asked that this | taken to a hospital, where his condi~ tion is satd to be serious. Physicians sald he was suffering from fear and exposurz. Griffin, for several weeks prior t his disappearance, had received threats supposedly from a gang o bootleggers whom he had forbidde: to entar his resort. He was on his way home from the bathing beach when he disappeared. His abandoned autqmobile was found next mornin near a bridge, and since then ever: avallabl> officer of this city, aided by} Chesterfield county authorities, clti- zens: and _scores of members .of the Ku Klux Klan, have searched for him almost ° constantly' day and night. d to be a leader of the i i price be approved. The witness said he first went to Morse for financial aid in starting a wooden shipyard at Tampa, Fla., but forse declined to enter the project. At further conferences - Williams agreed to furnish 9,000,000 feet of imber for six ships which Morse was uilding at Noank for the fleet cor- poration. A purchasing company was organized under the name Citrus Lumber Company, of which Henry C. Seigel, a banker of New York, was made president. All the stock ex- epting a few qualifying shares was issued In Seigel's name, the witness id. Morse was to furnish $50,000 in cash gnd a credit of $100,000 for Williams, with which backing Willilams was to seek a contract for a wooden ship to be bullt at Tamoa. iChief Jus: France AimsBlow AtU.S.Exclusion| Of Liquor Ships Br Cable to The Star and Clicago Daily News. Copyright. 1923. PARIS, May 14.—Replying to a protest from the Bordeaux Cham- ber of Commerce against the ex- clusion of liquor-bearing ships from American territorial waters, Premier Poincare states that the attention of the United States gov- ernment has been called to the grave consequences that may en- sue for the maritime relations be- tween France and the United States. He asserts that the “mea ures of reciprocity” against Amer- ican ships visiting French ports are being studied. WOULD CONTINUE PEPCO IMPOUNDIN fee McCoy this after- moon took under advisement the application of the Public Utilities Commission for the continued im- pounding by the Potomac Electric Power Company of the difference between the 10-cent rate for elee- triec current collected from con- sumers and the rate fixed by the commisnion. begun today _before ce McCoy of the District Supreme Court on the application of the Public Utilities Commission for impounding by the Potomac Electric Power Company of the difference between the 10-cent rate for electric current collected from the consumers and the rate fixed by the commission. The company is opposing any further impounding of its money, but has not yet asked the court to direct the disposition of the fund of nearly four millions, which Las accumulated since Justice Gould. in 1917, enjoined the commission from enforcing its new rate on condition that the company set aside the differ- ence, then 2 cents, to awalt the final determination of the case involving the vaiuation of the property of the company on which valuation the new rate was predicated. Stephens Opens Argument. The argument before the chief jus- tice was opened by Corporation Coun- Hearing was | sel Stephens with a brief outline of | | the litigation since Imh.sm,-‘: valuation, he stated, had |of & large number of building enter- 1917. The com- been sustained by Justice Gould after reading the testimony, comprising 6,000 pages, and after a lengthy ar- gument of several days. The Court of Appeals reversed the declsion of the lower court, because the commis- sion did not give the company the i benefit of the high prices obtaining | between 1914 and 1916, when con- sidering reproduction costs. The commission noted an appeal to the United States Supreme Court, which declined to entertain the case, ! holding that Congress could not im- pose on that tribunal a non-judicial function. - The court h2ld, however. that the local tribunal did have jurisdiction, and thus afirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals, remanding the case for further consideration by the Dis- trict Supreme Court. Mr. Stephens pointed out to the court why, in his opinion, the differ- ence In prices allowed and collected should continue to be impounded. Th> argument will be taken up by Attorneys Samuel H. Bowen and John S. Barbour for the company, and con- cluded by Conrad H. Syme, special counsel to the commission. William F. Ham, president of the Potomac Electric Company, was present at the hearing. Detends Court's Right. Attorney John S. Barbour, for the company, urged that rate order No. 223 has no legal evidence to support it ‘and is without legal foundation, as it was based on valuation order No. HIGH PRICES MAY (HALTD. C. BUILDING Vast Development May Stop | With Material and Labor Up, Realtors Say. Complete cessatlon of all but es- sential building operations in Wash- ington may become necessary with- in the mext six months or a year un- less material prices drop and costly labor difficulties are ended, according to leading real estate men. Already | several prominent realtors have halt- {ed plans for new projects, and there tis a growing sentiment among others to follow suit. A substantial increase in the price of houses must be made next year tions is cut drastically, experts pre- dicted. There are grave fears that an price of new homes would result in a serious drop in buying and general business dislocations would necessarily New Yo In New York building projects worth $60,000.000 have been temporarily us- pended. While there is no movement vriderway here to suspend operations already started, the _sentiment of prominent realtors today was almost { unanimous for this city to follow the {lead of New York bullders and re- | fuse to let contracts for additional work until costs have been brought down. As a matter of fact building oper- atlons in Washington have been go- |ing forward with such feverish hasta for the past few years that the city | as “almost “cauht upe with *its ineeds, in the opinion of Harry Ward- {man. He expressed an opinion that I there must be a g=>neral slacking of construction work shortly until the structures already raised have be- come tenanted. Mr. Wariman de- clared, however, that the pric2 of ma- terials has soared o rapidly in the past year that a general increase of about 10 per cent would be added to the buyers' price next year. | “I have already started to curtail | my operation.” satd Allan E. Walker lof Allan T Walker & Co. “After 1 jhave finished work already under {way I shall begin no new operations | for the present. “You have asked me 10 express my iviews concerning the postponement {prises throughout the country, due { to excessive cost of building and the uncertainties and delays therein. No jone who had at heart the best inter- ests of his particular community icould but welcome such action. What {we need now is stabilization of the | building industry. “I, for ome, am glad to see high | wages paid to the mechanical trades 1 engaged in building, but no one can i1ook with favor upon the hectic con- ditions now existing which are r sulting _in a constant turnover labor, with a constantly decreasing productivity on its part. “I am not at all certain that th cost of building during the next few years will not be as high as it is today, and possibly even higher. The high cost of bullding is one of the most important elements in the high cost of living. The most important question entering into this high cost is that of immigration. The Ameri- present high-cost levels and the changing of immigration restrictions to such an extent as will result in a substantial increase in the num- ber of immigrants entering the coun- try.” Wages Problem. The difficulties builders are experi- encing with labor. according to most of the realtors interviewed, concern wages much less than production. The head of one real estate house that has large projects under way asserted he is paying his bricklayers 208, which has been annuled by the+ 20 per cent more today than a year decision of the Court of Appeals. It 18 necessary to find proper valuation, he claimed, before making a rate order, so as to give the rate order legal existence: and as valuation or- der No. 208 has been declared erroy neous, the rate order Is without legal foundation, and the rate fixed by Con- gress continues the only valid rate until a legal raté order is found by the Public Utilitles Commission in .compliance with its organic law. Special Counsel Syme concluded the | argument on behalf of the commis- sion. This court has the right to make a valuation, he contended, by giving additional rates to reproduc- tion costs which may not weigh much in arriving at a fair valuation of the company's property, as of December 31, 1916, or affect materially the rates as fixed by the commission in 1917. He made a complete analysis of the public utility act and of the decision of the United States Supreme Court and asserted that it is well within the power of thé. District Supreme Court to consider what additional rates should be given reproduction costs as only ‘one and by no means a controlling means of arrivirg at a just_valuation and a consequent fair rate : against the ultimate buyer. jago and getting only 60 per cent as i much work. Another realtor declared he was paying some ‘colored laborers |'fiat salaries of $60 a week, which they receive, rain or shine, work or no work. “The salaries of our men are not too -high,” sald another prominent bullder, who refused to be quoted by name, “but the trouble is that they are not doing enough work. T believe in equitable distribution of the coun- try's wealth, The average bricklayer only. actually works about 200 days a year. If he received $10 a day his total income would be only $2,000 a year. That is little enough for any man to'raise a family on. “But brick- layers wha used to lay 800 to 1,000 brick a @&y are now laying only 500." Another complaint -of the builders terials. The railroads are’ so con- gested. it was asserted, that fre- quently tremendous operations are completely halted for as much as a half day waiting for supplies. Work- men must be kept on the job all of this time and the huge financial loss incurred therein, must be charged ' unless the cost of building opera- | increase of even 10 per cent in the | i ot can people must choose between n.g] was over delay in shipment of ma- | teen miles south-of tais. city TWO CENTS. SEIZE SHIP: ROB MANY FOREIGNERS Terrorize Passengers After Robbing Them of Money and Personal Effects. BANDITS THREATEN TO SLAY FOREIGN CAPTIVES Americans and Others Must Be Ransomed or Killed, Lead- ers of Band Say. May 14—European passengers were among those terror- ized and robbed when the Chinese steamer Taishun was seized near Swatow Saturday by pirates, who, disguised as passengers, overpowered the crew, sailed the ship for nearly twenty-four hours, at night withuut lights, and finally left her yesterday lat the mouth of a small creek, trans- ferring loot valued at $50,000 to & junk. The Taishun, bound from Hong- kong for Shanghal, returned to Hong- kong yesterday. The chief officer, wounded in the forearm by a pirate, was taken to a hospital. Most of the passengers had lost all their money and personal effects. The vessel's cargo; a valuable one, was not dis turbed Pirates as Passengers. | The steamer, which registers 2,000 tons, left Hongkong with more than 100 passengers. The pirate passen- gers numbered about forty. When |a point near Swatow was reached the buccaneers had spread into small par- | ties, as prearranged, worked sudden- and systematically. Soon they had the ship at their mercy. They rushed the armory, obtaining {all equipment there. The crew was taken by surprise. The captain and {the officers and the European pas- sengers were locked up together in the captain’s cabin, where they were compelled to remain until the pirates left the ship. A large number of Chimese passen- gers. panic-stricken, were herded into the Tiold after they had been searched and their valuables stolen. The pirates had_no difficulty in handling the ship. Steaming all night in complete darkness, they reached the small creek that was their ren- dezvous, about 100 milés from Swa. tow, yesterday morning. A junk slipped alongside, the 0ot was low- | ered into it,and the pirates vanished. THREATEN CAPTIVES. i | Bandit Leader Sets Two-Day Limit for Rensom Payment. Byt Associated Press. PEKING., May 14.—A conference last Saturday night between repre- sentatives of the railway bandits and the Peking government resulted in agreement DLy the brigands to res lease some of their captives immes diately and to free the remainder when ir terms—including the | withdrawal of the troops—were com- plied with, the ministry of communi- cations announced yesterday. The American, French and Itallan legations have received word from their respective consuls, now at | Lincheng, that the bandit chief early Saturday morning informed the ofs ficlals of his intention of killing every captive in two days if his terms were not met. PRIEST TO SEE BANDITS. i Aged Missionary Reaches Camp After Long, Torturous Trip. By the Associated Press. SHANGHAL May 14—Max Fried: man, whose brother, Leon Friedman 1s one of the forelgn captives held in the Shantung hills:by Chinese bandits, | received today a pathetic letter from | Father William Lenfers, an aged Ger- man Catholic priest of Lincheng, who went alone into the wild mountain country to visit the bandit stronghold and aid the prisoners. The letter was dispatched late Sat- | urday, when the priest evidently was near exhaustion. He closed the let ter by saying: “More I cannot write now. Am too sick, will write again when see leaders. He had described his feverish jour- ney, day and night, to climb to a brigand village on a mountainside, with a population of 2,000. But he found the village deserted until mid- night, when returning members of the band informed him_ that bandit lead+ ers would see him Sunday morning at 8 o'clock. Communication between the villagers and bandits higher on the mountain had been exchanged by sig- nal lights. ‘Father Lenfers belongs to the mis« sion order of the Divine Word, whos American headquarters are at Techny, piiN BANDITS SLAY WOMAN. By Wireless to The Star and the Chicage ’ Daily Cop: 1923. PEKING, May 14.—Manchurian ban- dits who last Saturday captured the fourth wife of Gen. Chang Tso-Lin, war lord of Manchuria, have mure dered her after first demanding a huge sum for ransom. The murdef followed rejection of the ransom de- mands and the sending by Chang Tso= Lin of troops to effect her rescue. 6 DIE WHEN FRENCH . AIRPLANE CRASHES American Named Schwab. Among Those Killed Near Anlxiem. By the Associated Press. AMIENS, France, May 14.—Six per- sons, including a New Yorker named Schwab, were killed in the, fall of a passenger airplane at Conty, thire w