Evening Star Newspaper, July 14, 1923, Page 2

2 DELAY SUBPOENA OF EX-PRESIDENT Conference With Admiral Grayson to Decide Appear- ance at Morse Trial. Action the subpoena prepared for former President Wilson calling him as a witness in the pending trial of Charles W. Morse and associates for alleged frauds against the gov ernment today went over, at least until next Monday. Counsel for Morse and his co-defen ts announced that no effort would be made to serve the subpoena upon Mr. Wilson before next Monday, because of the absence of Admiral Cary Grayson, Mr. Wil- son's physician. Attorneys for the defendants said that they planned t have a conferenc probably n Monday, with Dr. Grayson to deter- mine thelr future disposition of the subpoena. It was learned today that Attorney Wi n J. Lambert already had a brief re with Dr. Grayson regard Ing the possibility of Mr. Wilson tes ng, but the results of this talk were said to have been inconclusive, and a further conference with Dr. on was scheduled for next Mon- y preliminary conference it was understood that Dr. Grayson was non-committal regarding the possible appearance of Mr. Wilson in court. McAdoo May Appear. counsel today refused to con- yorts that Willlam G. MeAdoo, of the Treasury, wat his way to testify. Newspaper ports have it that the former S g Treasury is on his way to and may be a witness next week at the trial United States Marshal Snyder stated toda, that the subpoena had not his office and that his own » of it was what he saw in the papers, Wanted Specific Gravity. Dexter Roode, former manager at the Groton Iron Works testified late yesterday afternoon as a witness for the defense. He had previously been a_government witness. Roode told of the delay in securing the passage of vouchers, and said the government auditor at the plant allowed the vouchers to accummulate on his desk. This auditor spent only three hours & day on an average at the plant, the witness averred Roode said the launching of one of the wooden vessels at the Noank plant had been held up by a fleet cor- poration official who first wanted to ascertain the specific gravity of the water into which the v be launched. This official declared the specific gravity of the water to be the most essential thing in_ship- building, according to the witness. The statement caused a laugh, in which Justice Stafford participated. JONES LEADS FIELD AT INWOOD GOLF (Continued from First Page.) on 1 r Secretar holes of the national open golf tour- nament today in par 37. Out «.44.445435 437 Melhorn, with a 75 in his first 18 today, had a 54-hole total of 227. In., 4435535 4 5—38—T73—227 Hagen Takes 38 Out. Bob Cruikshank, West Field, N. J., who finished third in yesterday's field with 145, took 42 strokes on his first nine today. Walter Hagen, with 152 yesterday, took 38 out today. Macdonald Smith, San Francisco, was virtually out of the running, after taking a 43 going out today. Francis Ouimet, his partner, took 42. The first withdrawal today was Richard Walsh of New York, national public links champion. Weather conditions for the final day’s play were better even than yes- terday, when low scores were made. Cooling breezes blew in from the sea. Crowds started coming into the grounds early, bent upon following Jones and Hutchison, the leaders. ores for Fifty-Four Holes. Scores for the first eighteen holes on the national open golf tournament today and the total for fifty-four follow: les L. Mothersele, New York, Mehlhorn, St. Louis, M. Barnes, Pelham, N. Y. razen, New York, 73—230. P. O. Hart, Marietta, Ohio, 78—237. Emil Loeffier, Pittsburgh, withdrew. James Hendry, Manchester, N. H., withdrew. Z.I)an Williams, Westfleld, N. J., 81— Jacl Willi 231, E. L. Ryall, Kennsbunk Beach, M., 81—231. % Bobby Jones, Atlanta, 76—220, Dave Campbell, Hollywood, N. ., Frya;;i; Dyer, Upper Montclair, N. J., Eugene McCarthy, Philadelphia 84 Ben Parola, Linden, N. J., 82—252. Tom Kerrigan, Mount Vernon, N. ¥., Burke, St. Paul, 87—239, am Creavy, Kansas Cit; 82 81 Williams, West Field, N. J., zufiufldlu Willlams, Peoria, IIl, 87— 50. Bob'MacDonald, Chicago, 77—233. 2go0hn, Farrell, Mamaroneck, N.'¥., 7 . Willlam Reekie, Upper Mount Clair, N. J, 75—229. ¢ Thomas Harmon, New York, 84—240. oe urnesa, Slmsf V. Y. TR sford, N. Y., Richard Walsh, New York, withdrew. Francis Ouimet, Boston, 78—235. Donald Smith, San Francisco, 234 Grow, Western, Mass., 82—249, Booth, Putnam, Conn., 81—262. Baroni, Philadeiphia, 78—238. Mike Brady, Detroit, 76—231. 41145ty Humpton, Rochester, Mich. 546, g George 035 81— Cyril Walker, Englew V. s glewood, N. J, Sargent, Columbus, Jock Hutchison, Chlcago, 82—224, L 3 6Ilelt. Port Washington, 25WVillio OgE,” Worcester, Mass, ““George Bowden, 239. Chick Evans, Chicago, 76—235. ogiohn Black,” Wichita, ‘Kans,’ 73— 2‘,‘4be Espinosa, Oakland, Calif., 78— 80— Cincinnati, $1— Cree Indians Passing. From the London Times. The Cree Indians are wards of the Canadlan government. When Canada took their country, she became re- sponsible for their future. In par- ticular, she pays each one yearly $5 in cash, and, In_the words of the treaty, this will be paid, “while the sun shines and water flow: But they are dying out. They have “not the will to live.” In a certain district within recent times there were 30,000 Indlans. Today there are 3,000; and the tale everywhere is the same. They drink tea to excess. They smoke tobacco to excess. The women and the little children smoke, Some are tubercular. And they keep dying. They are honest and good-natured, but their moral fiber has weakened. They loat and slouch around the and have the mentality of emo- children, and their - delicate, weathered faces soon will be but a el was to | Montana Claims Oldest Woman As Postmaster Postmaster General New has re- celved a letter declaring that Mrs. Mary Harlan, postmaster at Como, Mont., is the oldest woman post- master in the United States. She is eighthy-three years old, and has been postmaster for nearly thirty- four years. Not long ago New Mexico claimed the distinction for Mrs. Ellen M. Bolles, seventy-five years old, who has been postmaster at Lumberton, N. M., for nine years. The claim of David J. Tavenner, ninety-nine years old, postmaster at Philomont, Va, as the oldest living postmaster, still remains undisputed. NULESAGAT ., ON O'BREN CAARGE Justice Bailey Upholds De- murrer to Army Fraud Con- spiracy Indictment. E Bailey of the District Su- preme Court today decided, against the government and upheld a demur- rer of Col. Arthur A. O'Brlen of New York to an indictment charging the former Army officer with a conspir- acy to defraud the United States by approving a clalm for $28000 in | favor of the Newbury Realty Com- any of Boston for repalrs to the Newbury building in thst city, which department of the Army. The gov- ernment claimed that the company should not be reimbursed under the Dent act of March 2, 1919, and charged that in conspiracy with David J. Maloney, a Boston lawyer, Col. O'Brien had used his position in the’ War Department to have the claim passed. Q'Brien Files Demurrer. O'Brien, through Attorney Frank J. Hogan, filed a demurrer to the indict- ment, alleging that the indictment shows the clalm to have been valid and to have been within the purview of the statute. Justice Bailey finds the indictment insufficient in~ two respects. He points out that it does not clearly aver that the defendants knew that the claim was not based on or aris- ing out of any agreement, expressed or implied, entered into by any offi- cer or agent acting under authority of the President of the United States or the Secretary of War. It is true, the court says, that the indictment does aver that the defendants well knew that the claim was not a valid claim under the act of March 2, 1919, but it does not appear whether the reason given for its invalidity is the averment of the pleader or was a fact known to the defendants. Insufiiclency of Faects, The court further points out that the indlctment does not sufficiently set out the facts upon which the clalm was based for the court to determine whether it was a claim based upon an implied agreement entered into under authority of the President or Secretary of War. the statute had provided, the court suggests, for claims based only upon an_ express contract, the Indictment might have been sufficient, but as it also includes claims based on im- plid contracts, the facts should be set out so the court could determine whether it was an implied contract. JONES NOMINATED AMBULANCE HEAD Member of Local Club to Be Voted on With Logan F. Metcalf. Col, Percy L. Jones of the local club of the United States Army Ambulance Association, holding its fourth an- nual convention at the New Ebbitt Hotel, was nominated today with Logan F. Metcalf, the present presi- dent of the organization, to head the body during the ensuing year. The nominating committee also sug- gested the names of Harold De Witt Jeftrey, president of the local organ- ization, and T. B. Brawner, also of the local organization, to be vice presidents. There are four vice pres- idents and the committee named a selection of eight members. Col. Jones was commander of the Ameri- can expeditionary force ambulance service in France. Surgeon General Merritt W. Ire- land, honorary president of the as- soclation, addressed the meeting and told the members how Americans with private automobiles helped carry the wounded off the battle- field at the Marne in the early part of the war. He declared that work done by the ambulance service had added history to the medical depart- ment of the Army. The association held a banquet at the New Ebbitt Hotel, the convention headquarters, last night. Capt. Lom- bard, assistant military attache to the French embassy here, praised the heroism of the American ambulance men in France. Col. Marquis Vittorio di Bernezzo, mfllta.r¥ attache of the Italian embassy, also praised the spirit of the American ambulance men. Other speakers included Logan P. Metcalf, president of the asso- ciation; Harold De Witt Jeffery, president of the local organizatio: Capt. William McFarland, Maj. J. D. Byers and Maj. J. R. Devereaux. Later this afternoon the association will _elect officers from the names submitted by the nominating com- mittee. TWO HELD IN THEFT OF U. S. TYPEWRITERS Colored Man Arrested After Chase; Another in Bank, Follow- ing Sale. Charged with being implicated in thefts of typewriters from a govern- ment bullding at 19th and B streets, ‘William Wells and Robert Paul, colored, the former residing 35 P street and the latter at 904 French street, were locked up In a police station today. ‘Wells, the police say, is a familliar character about the city, known as “Long Shot Red” because of his tips on the races. Paul, it is stated, for- merly worked in the bullding wh a number of typewriters were stolen. Detectives Waldron and Sweeney arrested Wells in a bank yesterday afternoon when he appeared with a cheok for $50, alleged to have been glven in payment for a typewriter, while Paul was arrested this morning by Detectives Jon and Jackson after a short chase' in.the vicinity of his home. Three alleged stolen typewriters have been recovered. Larceny from the United States government is the technical charge agalnst the m They will be arralgned .in Poli Sourt, Mondag, THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., SATURDAY, JULY 14, 1923, YELLOWSTONE PARK HAS CAVEIN AND DELUGE OF LIME A cave-in which occurred at the beautifal Juplter terrace of the Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., recentiy, was the had been used by the quartermaster's | most serious within the memory of the old residents. a hole approximately 20 by 40 feet. supply reservoir. ARRESTS FOR DRUNKEN- NESS JUMP 1,044 DURING YEAR; TOTAL, 2,987 (Continued from First Page.) not stay out more than twenty-four hours at a time. New Generation Coming. “THe records show that men now past middle age have been committed here seventy-five times for short terms, and just when there are every expectation of the type dying out a new generation takes up the deflance of law and nature under more rigid regulations.” Discussing the question of what is the dangerous age, the jailer says in another part of the report: “Of a total of 6,364 prisoners re- celved during the year, 2,464 were between the ages of twenty and thirty years and 2,053 were between thirty and forty years. Two-thirds of all were within the age limits where the capacity for maximum achievement is oonsidered to be at its best. Beyond forty years there appears the old offenders, and, 60 far as this institution is concerned, they are mostly short-term men sent in from Police Court for petty infrac- tions of the law. Finds Youths Reckless. “Law enforcement and welfare work meet their toughest problems among the youth of the community, and recklessness seems to be a more dom- inant quality than criminality. “The crimes for which many young men are sent to jail have no prospect of galn among their allurements and are simply the fmpulse of an idle hour in bad environment. The de- struction of the environment through police activity would seem certain of effective resuits, and it is encourag- ing that the police departments throughout the country are working to that end.” Five Hung; 31 Wait. During the year five men paid the death penalty on the gallows and thirty-one prisoners were received for murder. Speaking of the hang- ings, the report states: “In spite of the horror and the undoubted ignom- iny of the method, competent judges are of the opinlon that this distaste- ful service is performed as humanely as_possible.”” In the introduction to his report Capt. Peak sald he had to maintain 1,415 more prisoners last year than in the preceding twelve montl which increased the number of meal: served by 32,850, Despite that fact, the cost to the District was $2,812 less than the total food cost for 1922. 271 in Jail July 1. Capt. Peak reported there were no escapes, either from the cell block or from the personal custody of guards during the year, for which he com- plimented the jail personnel. - The number of prisoners commit- After softening, because of an unusual flov of hot water, a chunk of the formation fell, leaving The material, consisting of white carbonate of lime, then flowed down to the highway below and Into the wate: ‘Felix’ Arrives to Sacrifice Life as Martyr to Science Felix of Philadelphia, a man- eating bedbug, is being held in- communicado at the Insecticide testing board laboratory at Vi- enna, Va. a most preclous and valuable prisoner. Felix is the only one in posses- slon of the Department of Agri- culture's special agency, which Wednesday, through The Star, broadcast an appeal for bedbugs and more bedbugs. Dr. Walter S. Abbott, in charge of the testing board, offered to pay 1 cent aplece for the insects and declared they were in great need. Yesterday a letter was received from Philadelphia, addressed to Dr. Abbott, in which was inclosed a little box bearing Felix. Felix was alive and well, though a little tired from his strénuous trip. He made no statement. Officials of the laboratory seized him with eagerness and immedi- ately took steps to see that no harm befell him. Special quarters were constructed and orders were left a corporal's guard that Felix should not want for anything. The name of the man who an- swered Dr. Abbott’s appeal was withheld, as well as the contents of the letter accompanying the bug. It is known, however, that Felix was the most ferocious actor of bedroom scenes in the Quaker City, and much energy was ex- pended In tracking him down. One night he was cleverly trapped, put in frons, fed on bread and water and placed in solitary confinement. While awalting decision as to ulti- mate disposition, Dr. Abbott's call for help reached Philadelphia. So this is Felix's sentence for being a bad actor. If he had oper- ated on & moderate scale, perhaps he would have received a lighter punishment. But Felix is doomed. He must eventually succumb to divers preparations put on the market which are guaranteed to kill such as he. He's hard-boiled, though, and maybe there isn't a polson ' vet discovered that will knock him on his back and turn his toes skyward. That's the job of Dr. Abbott and his gang ove Vienna. They must see that killing” preparations do kill, and Felix and his kind are the only positive proof. Felix, they say, hasn't a chance. Philadelphia is due congratulations on getting rid of him. Since publication of the urgent need here, Dr. Abbott has received many letters, but only one bedbug. The general trend of their contents is along a frivolous and doubting line. Dr. Abbott is serious. He needs the bugs. Heretofore they were purchased from yarious com- munities, but the crop this year is non-bumper—in fact, it is almost extinct. The government is willing to pay 1-cent aplece for the ani- | mals—be patriotic. Plan Sought to Save Many Thousand; Lost in Parcel Post Plans for the safer transportation of parcel post mail are being worked out by the Post Office Department, under the direction of H. H. Billany, fourth assistant postmaster general. Tubs of new construction, to hold parcels in a manner to prevent other | and heavier parcels from descending upon them heavily, are being planned, and other devises being investigated by experts of the department. Thousands of dallars in damages are being pald each year by the pos- tal service to patrons who have had articles smashed while in the mails. ‘The claims for damaged and lost par- cels mounts up heavily. ted during the year for violating the national prohibition law was 271. The number of prisoners in the jail July 1, 1922, was 300. Prisoners re-committed during the year, 160. This made a total of 6,824. The nui ber released during the year was 6,653. This left 271 in the jail July 1 of this year. Extension of the service, with larger and larger packages being ad- | mitted to the malils, has led to a com- | Plex problem, the larger parcels being liable to damage the smaller ones. Some classes of parcels, such as are easily recognized and carefully handled, but most packages fail to readily Indicate a fragile nature. Experiments are being carried out by which it {s hoped to do away witl the splitting of boxes, and all chances of damage due to the different sized packages, and difference in welght. It has been suggested that racks of varied sizes be used in parcel cars, 50 that the parcels could be slid into them, and held safe from the chance of any parcel being thrown upon them. The dumping of parcels into mall sacks, helter-skelter, is regarded as another distinct problem. The growth of the parcel post business has been so rapld and so amazing that many problems yet remain to be worked out. eggs, in distinctive aluminum boxes, | |BRITISH DISCUSSING U. S. PARTICIPATION IN NEW RUHR MOVE (Continued from First Page.) casm and some ridicule in their com- ments. The semi-official Temps prints a two- column blast. concluding: ngland persists in her policy of maintain- ing a balance of power between the nations on the European continent.” Emphasize Condemnation. All the newspapers emphasize that Premier Baldwin condemned the Ruhr oceupation, but did not reprove Ger- many for her passive resistance. |, L'Intransigeant calls the statement “only another in a long string of doc- uments,” reminding Great Britain that the French are in the Ruhr and that “we are not going to spoll the operation when it is half finished.” The paper admits that France would be greatly distressed if the entente were broken, but adds: “If its main- tenance Is to be at the price of our abdication and the cancellation of the German debt, we would deem the cost too dear.” Termed Not Practical. Jacques Bainvile, the political writ- er, says ia La Liberte: “The statement has no sort of sense from a practical point of view, and it is evident that Mr. Baldwin does not know himselt how the world and peace can be saved.” Auguste Gauvain, in the Journal des Debats, characterizes the statement as courteous in form but mediocre in substance, and supporting a view opposed to that of France and Bel- gium. " he adds, “no step has been made since January toward a real accord.” The Temps dissects the statement, phrase by phrase, attempting to re- fute Premier Baldwin's assertions and to show that Great Britain is pros- pering by the Ruhr occupation and Germany Is not being wrecked. It reproaches Great Britain for con demning the occupation, inquiring if Britain “was equally disturbed over the occupation of French territory in 1871. Did she regret proposing in- definite occupation of Herzegovina by Austria in 1878? Was she much dis- tressed at occupying Egypt indefinite- 1y, and did she deplore maintaining troops in Persia?’ When Watch Springs Snap. From the Sctentific American. The spontaneous breaking of watch springs 18 believed to occur chiefly in the summer months. From the re pair records of two firms for several years it is found that the breakages are most numerous during the season of frequent thunderstorms. Further experiments indicate that it is mois- ture instead of heat that plays the chief part. It Is suggested that the springs may be weakened by rusting spots, and in fifty-six samples, sealed up In equal division in a jar contain- ing moist air and one containing dry alr, seventeen springs broke, all in the jar of moist air. The liability to break was greatly reduced by the ap- plication of oil. G. 0. P. LEADERS OF SEVEN STATES MEET IN CHICAGO Some of the delegntes who attended the get-together the mext meeting place for the mational convention would D. W. Mulvany, national. Uoham, wife of Ticmnmrer i - be up for auvnr; B. V. Bur-qnt: 1tteem w—;’ Jobn K Adamsy, witiGass vuuemnu, Aol .. s eeting called by Natiomal Chatrman John T. dixcusxion hat man, B, o Tt e Sommittocma, adinnny A ht: J, B. Kealing, national com: I il s Wigar ;‘. FHawk, state ch~ivman, Kansas; Mrs. Fred ainry, of Lincoln, Neb. DEAN PLEADS NOT GUILTY; TO BE TRIED NEXT WEEK Denies Charges of Assault Pre-| ferred by Young Women Answer- | ing Advertisement. Edward B. Dean, sald to be a wealthy real estate investor of Scran- ton, Pa., charged in four iInforma- tions with a technical assault upon four young women, appeared i the United States branch of Police Court today and was arraigned. He pleaded not guilty to each charge. He out on a $3,000 bond. The complain- ants arc = Margarct Hocock, 18 Hickory street, koma Park, D. C.;{ Yoonie_ Levy, 4521 th street north- | west; Bernice Vachon, 1214 I street northwest, and IHelen Manville, the | Alabama apartments. Dean is charged with making im- proper proposals to these young | women. He maintained an office at 1344 G street northwest and in- serted advertisements In_ the local papers for & young woman fo act as companion for his wife. It is - leged by the four complainants that | when they went to his offices, In re- sponse to the advertisements, that| Dean made the improper proposals to them. Mr. Dean is sixty-elght years old. T. Morris Wampler is the attorney | for the defendant. The cases will in all probability be tried by juries next week. KEPNER DEFENSE } BATTERED BY DEAD | WIFE’S RELATIVES| i (Continued from F somebody would wake and find | somebody gone, Finding of Body. In simple language, Mr. Houck, the | dead woman's father, told how Kepner came home from his office at | about 3:45 o'clock the afternoon of June 18 and asked where his wife was. Upon being told that she was taking her usual nap in her bedroom | Mr. Houck declared that Kepner {mounted the stairs and remained ithere for fully ten minutes. When he | came down, the witness testified, the husband sald, “My God, Grace dead.” Yesterday, on the stand, Kepner had | testified that he was not upstairs| more than ten or fifteen seconds. | “] never heard of my daughter| {wishing to commit suicide,” Mr. Houck continued. Mr. Kepner had declared under oath that his wife had | |several times threatened to end her | 1 r. Kepner made no comment about the death of his wife at the time. I think all of the blinds of the room were raised and I saw | her body distinctly when I entered. “My daughter was not accustome to handling revolvers.” 1 Elizabeth Houck, the sister-in-law for whom Kepner had professed a friendship in his testimony y rday, | told the jurors that her sister had | seemed somewhat depressed on nu- | merous occasions during the pu\l[ year, but she explained her condition | as one only similar to that felt now and then by almost every person. The last few days of her life, Miss | Houck said, Mrs. Kepner was as| cheerful as ever, and accompanied | her to church on the Sunday night before” her body was found lyingj peacefully on the bed of her room, a | 38 automatic pistol near her right hand and a splotch of blood on the carpet in the center of the floor. Breakfast Scene Described. he week before my sister passed away,” Miss Houck continued, “I re- member that one morning Mr. Kepner ate very little breakfast. When I tasked him what the trouble was he said: ‘One of these mornings I am going to light out of Frederick and when I go somebody is going with me. Grace is always nagging me about an_ unfortunate investment I made. The biggest mistake of my life was when I begged Grace to be my wife." “I sald, ‘Why, Ez I had always thought you were a -devoted hus- | band’ He replied: ‘Well, there is no love between us now.'" The witness concluded testimony with a description of how she had left her sister, Grace, in the best of spirits after lunch on June 18, and had gone to some commencement ex- ercises with her other sister, Eleanor. When they were called home, she de- clared, her dead sister lay on the left side of her bed, whereas she had always occupied the right side. | It was several days later, she said, | that she received first news of her | brother-in-law’'s alleged friendship | up i is | | with the Ricketts girl and the breach | mi between them began. Miss Houck denfed that her sister had ever made | threats or attempts to kill herself. | Kept Secrets From Sister. { * A buzz of interest ran around the | courtroom when Eleanor Houck, the sister-in-law whom Kepner had so bitterly denounced in his testimony | yesterday, took the stand and ex- | plained how she had carefully con- Cealed from his wife certain indis- cretions she charged against Kepner. She denied statements that Mrs. Kep- ner had ever tried to hang herself or drink a quantity of poison. While | her sister lay dead, a few minutes| after the family returned home, Miss | Eleanor asserted, Kepner Kept r peating: “Grace was all the time jawing at me about some money I lost. She never stopped. ! The witness corroborated previous | testimony of how Kepner had openly regretted his wedding day and how, when he refused to swear after the funeral that he hwd led a virtuous lifo the past two years, he was re- quested to leave the home. Ques- tioned regarding Kepner's disposal of his wife's estate, the witness said | she had approached him on the sub- ject and had been informed that he might not even consider it for six | months. Rk | “Shortly after my sister's death | Miss Eleanor continued, “'Mr. Kepner | came to me and said, ‘There is one thing that makes me feel good. That is that the day Grace died I sat at a soda fountain with Coroner Wood at 2:45 o'clock.” Two days after the | funeral he again came to me and said, ‘I am going to leave Frederick, and when I go somebody is going with me’” Gifts From Kepner. Miss Ricketts admitted that she had been friendly with Kepner for nine months, that she knew he was married, and that he had taken ler on trips_to Baltimore and Hagers- town. She sald he had given her perhaps $500 in cash besides clothins a white gold wrist watch and othel jewelry. Under examination she frankly admitted she had gone with him to Baltimore and Hagerstown, and that as late as July 2, less than two weeks after his wife's death, she had met him in Baltimore by appoint- ment. That any impropriety had ex- isted, however, she denied “Did you ever receive any letters from him?" asked the state’s attor- i i “Were they mushy?” continued the interrogator. she laughed. “He “A - little bit,” i addressed me Dear VI’ and signed B' Sometimes himself ‘Devotedly, when he met me, however, he was out of humor and complained that Eleanor was constantly nagging him. Once he said. ‘I'm damn good and tired_of this nagging. Some day somebody 18 going to wake up and find somebody gone.’ " Asked if whisky had been carried on the trips she took with Kepner, Miss Ricketts replied in the affirma- |1 | tederal Mr (i | Turnage {an obstruction as he boarded the {and passengers of the stre ORY FORCE PROBE COMES 10 No Further Investigation to Be Made Following Two Indictments. No further investigation the local prohibitiomt forces will be made by prohibition chiefs, they day, following davelopme: day in which a federal agent, Leon Ackerman, and his companion, George Arnold Fugitt, grand jury by sioner Turnage under se the criminal code, charging Federal Prohibition Commissioner nes, Chief of G Agents- Yellowley Chief Harry M. Luckett were united in declaring that the charges of b ery brought agair kerma Fugitt did not reflect against th 1 force, but constituted case which would be pro: all the ability the gover command brib ana n isolat uted w ment cc Statementx Ruled Out. Statements of the first gove witness, Raymond Prettyma were ruled out by the co: as evidence, and which intir one point collusion ) cer agents, were mi hibition authorities today basis of fact disturbed who been erman, had At th aring bef yesterday man testified 1t charged with viol laws, had by Acke: eration, two men to capture them Thursday his residence, 1923 I street. Promised to Absent Self. Prettyman testified that Ack had to get ho authorities ags destroy it. Fugitt's scheme, Prettyman t have been to it himself frox ty when man’s trial called Other witnesse: were Detective Di Harry M. Luckett Muen and E. S the defendants, and trict Attorney Otto H. Koegel r sented the governmer Ackerman taken into home Thursday Murphy and Arri ence of Federal Fred T. Rose. cased until he was ty U. S. s but Fugitt wa i Pre: for thé gove 1d V. Mu. Atto Clark 1ast night on bond of respectively. From Yesterd 1on of The Star BOY SHOOTS SELF GETTING ON CAR Rifle He Carried Explodes, Causing ‘Wound That May Prove Fatal, Physicians Say. John L. Thume, sixteen vears old, of 227 North Carolina avenue east, shot and perhaps fatally wounde ed himself yesterday afternoon when a 22-bore shotgun he was carrying ace cidentally exploded. Thume was boarding a street car at 2d and East Capitol en route to Cabin John, where he was ta eet a party of voung friends and spend several days camping along the upper Potomac river. In some unexplained ma lad caught the trigger of the gun in southe streets 5 car, The cartridge in the single barrel exe« ploded, and the full charge ripped its way into the boy's right side Thuine fell to the street carried to the sidewalk by the awaiting the arrival of an an from Casualty Hospital there, he fou; carious condition, dered his parents, peake Beach, notified imm From Yesterdas's 5:30 Edition of The Star MELLON ANSWERS CONTRACTORS’ SUIT Says Fuller Co. Bids to Remodel D. C. Courthouse Too Late for Benefits. Andrew W. Mellon, Secretary of Treasury, yesterday ed the Di Supreme Court to d niss suit for mandamus brought by the George A Fuiler Company to compel him to ap= !prove the company's claim for $3%.- 408.88 for losses sustained in repair= ing the courthouse in Washington, D. C. by reason of the increase in wages and materials due to the en- trance of the United States into the world war. Through United States Attorney Gordon and Assistant ed States Attorney West, the Secre= tary points out that the bid of tha Fuller company to remodel the court= house was made one day too late to entitle the company to benefit under the act of Congress providing re for contractors because of war creases. The court is told that the claim of the company was referred to the con- troller general, who decided that it could not be approved because the bid was not filed with the architects c the Capitol until April 7, 1917, or day after_the entrance info the war. and Congress in the act has seen fig to set the limit of April 6 for par- ticipation 4n the benefit of the legis- lation. LUMBERMAN DEAD . n""Dll.l he glve you any?” queried the state’s attorney. “Oh! Sure,” laughed the witness and the jurors joined with her. Miss Ricketts ended her testimony with the statement under questioning that Kepner had visited her place of busi- ness the day his wife was buried and had complained of feeling very bad. Mrs. Emma Worman, a distant rela. tive of the Houck family, sprang a surprise when she entered the jury- room and demanded the right of con- tradicting certain statements Kepner was alleged to have made. She de- nied that she had stood in the room while he changed certain articles of clothing )%Uu Houck home. AT AIR SHAFT FOOT By the Associated Press, PHILADELPHIA, July 14— a ence B. Sweet of Bluefield, W. Va., president of the National Lumber Company, was found dead today atl the bottom of an air shaft of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, -where he had a room on the fifth floor. : Sweet's skull was crushed, evi- dently from a fall from the window of his room, the police believe. Papers found among his effects in the room indicated, according to the police, that things had not been o+ ing well for him.