Evening Star Newspaper, December 27, 1926, Page 1

min t tontgh Highest vesterduy; 1o Full repor pm today ht about 40, west, 26, t on page at #Closing N.Y. Stocks and Bonds, Page 12 Entered as seco post office, Wa No. 30,190. ond class matter shington, D. C. @b WASHINGTON, DIAZ NIGARAGUAN ARMY WARNED 0UT OF NEUTRAL ZONE Latimer Informs Retreating, Federals Bluefields Agree- ment Still Holds. FAILS TO SEND WORD ON PUERTO CABEZAS Russian Agent Here Denies Soviet Is Behind Mexico in Central America. By the Associated Press. Rear Admiral Latimer, who land- ed American bluejackets at Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and proclaimed a neutral zone last week, advised the State Department today that he had notified Nicaraguan government forces, recently defeated by Liberal troops, that they would be disarmed 1 they were forced into the Bluefields neutral zone. The Bluefields zone was established Jast October by agreement of the two Nicaraguan factions. The overn- ment troops, the admiral said, had retreated from Pearl Lagoon, where they met defeat, to False Bluff and | ¥l Bluff and might be driven into the neutral zone by lack of food. Government forces had sustained losses at Pearl Lagoon, the message said, and had left dead and wounded on the field. Gen. Moncada, com- manding the Liberal forces, has granted the government commander permission to send an unarmed force to bring in the bodies and the | wounded. Agreement Still Holds. It was emphasized at the State De- partment that the Bluefield neutral zone agreement was still in effect and that the military leaders of both sides had intrusted to American mnaval forces the task of seeing that neutral- ity was observed within the zone. The department also asserted em- phatically today that the United States forces landed in Nicaragua are for the sole purpose of protecting Ameri- can citizens and not for the aid of any faction striving to maintain ‘or set up a government in the Central American republic. - Assurance that this is the position of the United States Government and the State Department -has been con- veyed to Senator Borah of Idaho, chairman of the foreign relations com- mittee. ‘While Senator Bora-l: decllne;l to dl: cuss the Nicaraguan situal for pub- Hcation today, it is und %&fl &IX as long as the United States forces operate mervely for the protection of American citizens, and not to establish a government ‘in_Nicaragua, it is un- likely the chalrman of the foreign relations committee will seek an in- vestigation by his committee. A resolution calling upon the State Department for tho correspondence relating to the Nicaraguan situation, introduced by Senator Moses of New Hampshire, Republican member of the foreign relations committee, be- fore the Senate adjourned for the holi- days, is pending before the committee, Likely to Be Adopted. 1t Senator Moses presses for action, it probably will be adopted. In that event the State Department will be in a position to state very clearly all the facts in the case which have led to the recogrition by this Govern- ment of the Diaz government in Nica- rogua snd the reasons for landing American naval forces. “ There was no additional word at the State Department today as to the situation at Puerto Cabezas. State | Department records show that there are from 1,000 to 1,100 American pa- ! tionals living in this area, the great | majority of them being employes of American Lumber and other com- panies. Charges made by the agent in Mex- jco City of the Nigaraguan Liberal faction that the landing of naval forces at Puerto Cabezas constituted armed intervention in Nicaraggan political affairs and was not in 're- sponse to-any request for protection of American citizens and their prop- erty were met at the State Depart- ment with the official reiteration that such requests had been received. For obvious reasons, it was added, | ate then decide whether Col. Smith {up the costs of prosecution. | gations, in the grand jury work which 'Poison Rum Kills Man Set Free to Enjoy Christmas| | By the Associated Press. DES MOINES, Iowa, December 27.—Sherman Dougherty, 38, whose 30-day sentence for intoxication had been commuted Christmas so that he might enjoy freedom over the holiday, died yesterday after drinking poison liquor. F. G. Pearson was another vic- tim of poison Christmas liquor, Coroner Guy Clift announced after investigating both cases | | ot SENTIMENT SWINGS T0 SEATING SMITH Changed Attitude Declared Not Confined Alone to Republicans. Sentiment is crystallizing among | leaders of the Senate in favor of seat- ing Col. Frank L. Smith immediately upon the presentation of his creden- tials as Senator from Illinois, under appointment of Gov. Small to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Willlam B. McKinley, it developed today. Nor is this senti- ment confined to Republicans. Wheth- er the sentiment will grow strong enough to swing a majority of the Senate in favor of this course remains to be seen. But influential Senators | of both parties now in Washington | said they believed it to be the orderly course and should be followed. 1f it is followed, then an investiga- tion by the Senate privileges and elections committee, or a further in- vestigation by the Reed slush fund committee, probably will be made with the understanding that a prompt report should be made, and the Sen- is qualified to retain his seat or not. Those who would halt Smith at the door and deny him the right to be sworn in hold that the Senate, through the Reed committee, already: has investigated Col. Smith and found that he benefited from contributions to his primary campaign by Samuel Insull and other utility magnates and that the expenditures for him in that | campaign were large. i The contention of those leaders who believe in seating Smith and then passing upon his qualifications does not necessarily mean they believe he should be allowed to retain his seat. But they contend that a man who presents himself with the proper cre- dentlals is entitled to be seated. To | do otherwise would be to deny full right to the States to send Senators to Washington. One Democratic Senator said today that he belleved if Smith were seated upon his arrival here after the:holi. days, he would continue in office until the close of the present session of Congress. That Is what some of his | opponents fear, and explains in part their desire to halt him at the door of the Senate. MELLETT CASE COST FIGURED AT $100,000 Stark County Alone Said to Have| Spent $20,000 to Convict McDermott of Murder. By the Associated Press, f CANTON, Ohio, December 27.—| While passing of sentence on Patrick Eugene McDermott, convicted of the murder of Don R. Mellett, is held up| pending the filing of a motion by de- tense cotunsel for a new trial, Prose- | cutor €. B. McClintock today checked | He discovered that, since the Can- ton publisher was murdered, Stark! County has spent $20,000 in investi- resulted in the indictment of McDer- mott, Ben Rudner and Louis Mazer, and in the MeDermott trial. The Rud- ner and Mazer trials are yet to come. Altogether the prosecutor estimates more than $100,000 has been spent in the inquiry, this including the amount spent by the county, by private in- terests, by the Federal Government and by the State executive depart- ment. If McDermott’s motion for a new the State Departmnt was unwilling to make public the names of the indi- viduals or concerns which submitted these requests, as that information might prove to their disadvantage in their dealings with Nicaraguan factional authorities. Vaca Without Word. | i . Vaca, representative here icasa_ Liberals, has heard nothing from Nicaragua since he was | informed by radio Friday ican forces had landed at Puerto Cabezas and that Sacasa and his fol- | lowers had been ordered to evacuate the city. Commenting on the statement of Gen. Chamorro, a leader in the Diaz faction, who 1s on his way to Europe to act as its representative there, that the Sacasa liberals were under the influence of the Russian Soviet gov- ernment, of the Rus Information Bureau here, said yesterday that there was “not’ the ntilla of truth” in Chamorro is well aware that S no truth in it,” said Skvirsky ne who is at all situation. a than it has in the moun- of the moon. It has exerted, or is exerting, no more influence in Nicaraguan politics than it exerted re- cently in the election of Mr. Will Rogers as mayor of Beverly Hills, Calif. Calls Trade Only Interest. “The Soviet government has one interest and one interest only in the American continent. That is to de- velop its commercial relations with the various countries, particularly with the United States. It is doing that despite considerable handicaps. “During the past few years it has become a habit of certain persons in varjous parts of the world, to pro- claim loudly, but without specifica- tions, that the forces opposing them e tools of Moscow. This custom 118 been carried to such excesses that ~(Continued on Page 2, Column § ¢ that Amer- | E. Skvirsky, d!rncmri The | , Column 5. . trial is overruled, he probably will| be sentenced to the Ohio Penitentlary ! for life before the end of the week. The jury convicting McDermott re-| turned its verdict Christmas eve ana' recommended mercy. I ALBANIANS FLEE VOLCANIC TREMORS | Lake Boils Amid Violent Quakes and 1,000 Persons Are Reported Homeless. | { | | B5 the Associared Press. TIRANA, Albania, December 27 (P). -Violent earthshocks havé persisted | for several days in the mountain zone | near Durazzo, and a new crater has {formed and is in constant eruption. {Water in a neavby lake is boiling FRON HONES, 4 DE N FLODOED SOUTH |land prepared to combat the floods.| i I the L. & N. to Pond, thence over the THOUSANDS DRIVEN | Forecast of Rain Presages Greater Peril as Loss Soars Toward Million. CITIES WITHOUT LIGHTS, TRAIN SERVICE CRIPPLED Families Marooned, Miners Out of Work, Highways Blocked. Crest Due Tomorrow. By the Associated Press. i MEMPHIS, Tenn., December 27.— With thousands already driven Arom their homes by floods and property damage estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Tennessee, Ar- kansas, Mississippi and Kentucky to- day were preparing to/meet an even greater emergency. General rains were forecast. Nashville, Tenn, with more than 50 blocks inundated and 2,500 people driven from their homes, was prob- ably the most severely hit point in the area affected by the floods. Four were known dead as a result of the swollen rivers and other smaller streams in the affected area. Three were drownings resulting directly from adtomobile accidents. At Pine Bluff, | Ark., two men were drowned when their car turned over into a small stream. A similar accident cost a Co- lumbus, Miss., man his life. Exposure from wading in a creek was the cause of a fourth death, a man from Selmar, Tenn. Fifty Blocks Inundated. More than 50 blocks in Nashville were inundated by ‘the backwater from the Cumberland River, which runs “S” shaped through the ci The crest of the flood there is e: pected to be reached tomorrow, bar- ring further rains in the headlands. Estimates of the probable number of people who would be driven from their homes, should the river attain the expected 53 feet, increased to 4,000, while buildings which would be flooded would pass the 1,000 mark. Swollen streams in Mississippl had sent hyndreds away from their homes. More than a hundred had vacated their dwellings in and near Aberdeen last night as the waters from the Tombigbee River inundated a section of the town. Damage to highways, live stock and crops there is expected to_exceed $100,000. Familles marooned near Columbia, ports were that several had drowned. West Point, Goodman and several other Mississippi towns heavy damage from floods. Streams at Record Height. Continuous general rains over parts of Arkansas had brought the water levels in numbers of streams to rec- ord-breaking heights. There was heavy damage to highways, live stock ; and’crops. 1 The rivers in Tennessee have | caused considerably more area to be flooded than in any other single State, it was believed. Roads in | many sections of the lowlands have been abandoned and water was stand- ing in some places several feet deep. | Chattanooga, Clarksville and other citles and towns along the Cumber- reported | Hartsville, Tenn., was without lights| and other wires were affected. Reports from Kentucky towns and cities located on swollen streams were | that much property damage was done, | but that no deaths had been reported | in the State as a result of flood con- | ditions. The upper Cumberland had | attained a record height of 15 years| at Glasgow. Relief work in all four States was | reported progressing, though in some | places the high water had made in-| accessible, except by rowboat, some | isolated spots where families were marooned. With the exception of Virginia, the Carolinas and Florida, rain was fore- cast for every Scuthern State before tomorrow night. 11 TOWNS WITHOUT TRAINS. Flood Waters Make Tracks in Ten- nessee Impassable. CLARKSVILLE, Tenn., December 27 (P).—Eleven towns on the Louls- ville to Memphis branch of the Louis- ville & Nashville Railroad were with- | out train service today as the result | of the flood waters from the Cumber- | {land and Tennessee Rivers. A detour Wwus being made from | | Hamatite over the Pond branch of ! v | N. C. & St. L. via Dickson to Paris. The isolated towns are Palmyra, Car- bandale, Sailors’ Rest, Cumberland City, Erin, Tennessee Ridge, Stewart, | | McKinnon, Danville, Faxor, and Big iSandy. Water was reported to be three feet deep over portions of the | tracks. The Cumberland River here | today lacked only 36 inches of reach- ing the 1882 high flood stage. i Tobacco warehousemen aiong the | Cumberland water front Saturday and | yesterday moved nearly 700 hogsheads | of tobacco. At least 20 families have | { been driven from their homes. { 1,000 OUT OF WORK. ! | | Waters Rise in Mining District—High- | way Is Blocked. i | furiously and the inhabitantz of the | region are fleeing in terror. ROME, December 27 (#).—Numer- lous houses have been destroyed at {Durazzo. in Albania, by a violent | earthquake. This information comes from the royal legation at Durazzo, !'which says that a thousand or more people are without shelter. Premier Mussolinl has _ordered | measures taken to ald the homeless and provide for the helpless. English Shipping Man Dies. LEEDS, England, December 27 (&), —Oswald Sanderson, one of England’s famous shipping men, died in a nurs- ing home here yesterday. He recently underwent a surgical operation. He was 63 years old. He was the manag- ing director of Ellermans Wilson Line. Radio Progri;xns;—Page 26. BIRMINGHAM, Ala., December 27 | UP).—More than 1,000 coal miners in | Walker County were thrown out of | employment temporarily today as a | I result of flood waters rising in several { properties. In some instances much | damage was reported. | “Trafic over the Bankhead Highway ! between Jasper and Birmingham was | blocked by high water near the War- |rior River. The loss in cattle, hogs {and other live stock has been consid- {erable. | The Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals reached a 21.9-foot stage, and with more rain predicted it is expected | that the river here will be the highest in years. Dam No. 1, just completed, and the main highway bridge at Flor- ence are under water. Lowlands in the vicinity are vast lakes. Bandits Rob Druggist of $10,750. FAIRFIELD, Conn., December 27 (#).—John E. Boyle, druggist, was iten to Secretary of War Davis WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION D. C, MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, PILING 1926 —THIRTY ¢ Foening Star. PAGES. " service. The only evening in Washington wit Associated Press R the news S () Means Associated Press. Saturday's Circulation, 88,138 day’s Circulation, 108,764 WO CENTS. IT UP ON CONGRESS. COLLEGE ‘GAG'LAID TOARMY OFFICERS Foes of Compulsory Training Harassed, Says Rev. John Nevin Sayre. By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, December 27.—Rev. John Nevin Sayre, Episcopalian, min- ister and brother-in-law of Mrs. J sie Woodrow Wilson Sayre, has s- com- plaining that Army officers are harassing opponents of compulsory military training in colleges, and seeking to deprive them of their right of free speech. Mr. Sayre specifically charges Lieut. Col. George Chase Lewis of the Reg- | ular Army and of the 95th Reserve Division objected to his addressing students. of the University. of Okla- homa, at Norman, and that, perhaps in consequence, students who were opposed to the compulsory military training there and who attempted to arrange a meeting for him to address them were unable to obtain the use of the university Y. M. C. A. hall. Cites Lewis Letter. Mr. Sayre, who is a member of the Civil Liberties Union and vice chalrman of the committee on mili- tarism in education, declares that Lieut. Col. Lewis wrote a letter from Oklahoma City to the president of the university stating his objections to Mr. Sayre, and calling him more dangerous than ar “open communist.” The officer called attention to the fact that Mr. Sayre had signed an ap peal for a $200,000 fund for the de- fense of Soviet organizers in Bridge: man, Mich. Mr. Sayre declares in his letter to the Secretary of War that he is not and never has been a communist, and that he signed the letter because of his belief that any man accused of vio- lating a law is entitled to a fair trial. “I should like to know,” says the letter, ‘“‘whether you consider it a proper function of an Army officer to attempt to shut off free speech for peace in universities, for Y. M. C. As and even churches? Sees Free Speech Ban. “Finally, may I ask, if the War De- partment does not take energetic measures to restrain Lieut. Col. Lewis and others in activities similar to the case mentioned, will I not be justified in charging that the War Department is responsible for the campalgn of defamation of character and attempts to repress free speech for peace in which its subordinates are engaged?” Mr. Sayre also declares he was re- fused permission to make addresses at the Universities of Missouri and Indi- ana, and that no one can speak on the University of Wyoming campus with- out the indorsement of the R. O T. C. officer. 2 BIZZELL DENIES CHARGE, Never Refused Sayre Permission to Speak, He Says. NORMAN, Okla., December 27 (#).— Dr. W. B. Bizzell, president of the University of Oklahoma, today denied that he had ever refused the Rev. John Nevin Sayre perniission to speak against compulsory military training in the Y. M. A. Building at the university, He explained that such matters always pass through the presi- dent’s office. “No person ever made a request to me for use of any of the university build.ngs by Mr. Sayre. All I know is that Mr. Sayre arranged to speak at one of the churches in Norman,” Mr. Bizzell said. Dr. Bizzell said that the university had in no way been connected with the case. Dr. Bizzell sald that he had re- ceived a letter of protest in regard to the Rev. Mr. Sayre from Lieut. Col. George Chase Lewis of Okla- homa City. “Col. Lewis wrote me prior to Sayre’'s coming about certain ac- tivities of Sayre and quoted some statements attributed to Sayre said to have been made by him before | Congressional hearings,” he added. Rows River 20 Years; Drowns. KINGSPORT, Tenn., December 27 (®).—For the first time in 20 years Pat Steadmfn failed today to make his daily rowboat trip across the Holston River from his home to his work at a local plant. He started out as usual at 6 o'clock this morning, but midway was throwp from held up in his store today by three men and robbed of §10,750. The rob- , bers escaped, . light craft by the swollen stream and drowned. His body has not been re- covered, the | Noblewoman Begins 12,000-Mile Air Trip With One Suit Case By the Associated Press LONDON, December 27.—Carry- ing only one small suit case con- taining 20 pounds of clothes and toilet articles, Lady Maud Hoare climbed into a large passenger airplane at Croydon this morning, and with her hushand, Sir Samuel Hoare, British air minister, sailed off on a 12000 mile journey to India and return. Her trip is the longest flight ever undertaken by a woman and is an epoch-making one for British civil aviation. The air minister will fnaugu- rate a new Cairo-Karachi service and will visit scattered British air posts on the northern frontiers of India. RULE IS GRANTED Youth Charged With Killing Barbee Wins Rockville Motion. Special Dispatch to The Star. ROCKVILLE, Md., December 27.— A new trial was granted today to Richard H. Rule, convicted recently of the killing of Willlam J. Barbee, Jr. at a club near Burnt Mills, Md., Halloween night. Judge8 Worthington and Peter an- nounced their agreement following several conferences and Rule was al- lowed $5,000 bail. The case will be docketed again, :s if it had not been tried, and a date set. The motion for a new trial, argued last week, was based on the grounds that questions calculated to prejudice the jury were asked by the prose- cuting attorney during the trial of Rule,” and other grounds. Judge Worthington had been opposed to the motion. Rule was convicted of manslaugh- ter. Evidence had been given that he shot Barbee when the latter arrived at the club, of which he was in charge, with a party of young friends, and an argument arose when some one re- marked upon seeing Rule in Scotch clothes, “Oh, see the jolly Scotch- man.” Several blows were struck and it was claimed by the defense that the firing was accidental. Rule lives in Washington, as did Barbee. OIL REFINERY BLAST KILLS TWO WORKERS Flames Follow Explosion in Cali- fornia Plant—Several Re- ported Injured. By the Associated Press. VENTURA, Calif., December 27— Two men were reported killed and several others injured when an explo- sion rocked the refinery of the Gen. eral Petroleum Co., two and a half miles from here, this morning. The explosion occurred in the ab- sorption unit of the plant. Flames broke out uncontrolled and threatened a nearby gasoline storage tank, which was expected to blow up at any min- ute, The two men were believed to have burned to death.” Six or seven others were rushed to hospitals. The header of the reducing unit blew off from an undetermined cause. The refinery is located in approxi- mately the center of the Ventura oil- producing area. All available equipment for com- bating the flames was rushed to the scene from nearby towns and oil com- panies. MARTHA ATTWOOD HURT. Taxicab Collision With “L” Pillar Causes Injury. NEW YORK, December 27 (#). Injured when a taxicab ‘n which she was returning with friends fro Christmas party, crashed into an “L" pillar, Martha Attwood, Metropolitan Opera Co. singer, will be sonfined to her bed for several days. She suffered a painful injury to her left arm, and it is feared a ligament has been torn. Allessandro Alberini of the Boston Opera Co., who was in the cab, suf- fered a twisted knee. ANOTHER TR VASSARPROFESSR ROBGED N RS Customs Men Take Woman’s Papers—Passengers on Train Get Lingerie. BY JUNIUS B. WOOD. By Radio_to The Star and Chic ongs Conpriens, 163600 Dol REVAL, Esthonia, December 27- Mrs. Hallie F. Flannigan, associate director of the experimental theater, and who is now studying the Euro- pean stage under a traveling scholar- ship given by the Guggenheim Foundation of New York, has ar- rived here after the weirdest experi- ence which has befallen any recent visitor to temperamental Russia. ‘The climax of her studles had been a private invitation to a performance in her honor at the famous Lenin- gard Ballet School, In her six weeks’ association with the Russian theaters and opera in Moscow and Leningrad, Anatole Lunatcharsky, commissar of education and director of dramatists, afforded unlimited facilities to Prof. Flannigan for pursuit of her studies, of which the Soviet Society of Cul- tural Relations Abroad, assumed di- rection. On her arrival at the Esthonian frontier, at the village of Kingisen, on the day following the unforget- able Leningrad performance, zealous customs officlals confiscated her pro- fessional notes on this and other theatrical performances, two Ameri- can letters of credit and various au- tographed photographs presented by otficials and artists in appreciation of America’s participation in Rus- sian stage development. Her fellow passengers helped themselves to sou- venirs from her unguarded baggage office. Plow Through Suit Case. M. Semeniov, director of the former Imperial Ballet School, founded 200 years ago, staged a “special ballet per- formance from Russia to the United States in honor of the visiting Ameri- can professor, Flannigan.” Semeniov, who is hailed as a greater master of the dance than Mordkin, declared the tribute was dedicated to the United States, first, because of America’s un- abating interest in Russian art and, second, on account of the assistance in Leningrad following the war. ‘The customs officials plowed through the professor’s papers in her sult case without result until they discovered one photograph fraternally inscribed, “To our American cousin.” This the unsmiling officials considered as proof of Russian nationality, although the stranger held an American passport and was unable to speak Russian. “Why are you leaving your own country?” an official peremptorily de- manded while his aldes continued to scatter the contents of the American’s baggage. When they dug out the let- ters of credit totaling $3,000, less the drafts drawn, the entire staff soared into bolshevik hysteria, never having seen similar documents and conclud- ing that they were tabooed bonds. Letters of Credit Seized. “Nobody ought to present that much money,” said the gray-whiskered officer presiding at the rump court, “and certainly you cannot take it out of Russia.” The papers, including Prof. Flanni- gan’s undecipherable English notes, were seized after the train' had been held an extra hour beyond the usual !two-hour frontier stop. The American, with only sufficient small change to permit her to com- municate with relatives in Iowa, was then permitted to proceed. When the experience was repeated to the Soviet consul here he emphatically declared the local officlals' had exceeded their authority and promised that the pa- pers would be restored. It is doubt- ful whether the personal articles, chiefly silken lingerie, which appealed to her fellow passengers, are still within the jurisdiction of the court. STRAUS GIVES $250,000. Fund Will Create Health Center in Jerusalem. NEW YORK, December 27 ().— Announcement of the donation of $250,000 by Nathan Straus, philan- thropist, for the creation of a health center in Jerusalem, was made today by Mrs. Irma L. Limheim, national president, at the third annual con- ference of Hadasan, the women's zionist organization of America. One of the features of the hea'th professor at Vassar, where she is the | while she was taken to the policeI of the American relief administration | Denies Offered | By the Assoclated Press. BERLIN, December 27.—The Montag Morgen today publishes a sensational article claiming to have discovered that the arrest of two Germans, Dr. Goldman and Herr Dietz, several months ago at Elberfeld on a charge of revealing military secrets, was really be- cause they attempted to sell an ar- tillery invention declined by the German government to the Ameri- can embassy. Col. Arthur L. Conger, military attache at the American embassy, today informed the Associated Press that no such offer had ever been received. “Firstly, we would never receive any German to offer or demon- strate a military invention without first notifying the German govern- ment,” he said nd secondly, the names, Goldman and Dietz, as well as the alleged invention, are un- known to u: ARKANSAS POLICE SEEK MRS. HOUCK. Woman Answering Descrip- tion Arrives at Blytheville on Bus—Goes to Joneshoro. { | By the Associated Pres: BLYTHEVILLE, Ark., December 27.—Local police were engaged today n running down the clue they appear to have establishing the identity of a | woman who passed through Blythe- ville Thursday of last week en route from Cairo, IIl, to Springfield, Mo., answering almost in detail the de- scription of Mrs. Gladys W. Houck of Washington, D. C., who is the ob- ject of a nation-wide search. The woman arrived here on an in- terstate bus and stopped only to take {another car to Jonesboro. She made herself conspicuous, according to the police chief, by her nervous manner. She bore marks on one cheek, but ! she denied she had been in any ac- cident. A passenger on the bus later saw a paper containing the photo- graph of Mrs. Houck and it was this passenger who noted a resemblance between the photograph and the | woman. TOYS ARRIVE FOR BOY. Houck Is Described as Being in Ex- cellent Condition. Additional word was awaited by po- lice here this afternoon to supple- ment the brief wire from Blytheville, {Ark., last night to the effect that a |woman answering the description of | Mrs. Gladys W. Houck, the missing | wife of Dr. Knutt Houck, had passed |through that point on a train bound {for Springfield, Mo. | In the meantime neither Dr. Houck |nor any of his psychiatrist friends at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, where he was | a member of the staff before he was | stricken with a mental collap: were ! {able to supply the authoritles with the names of persons Mrs. Houck might | be likely to visit in that part of the country. Theories for Trip. | Both Dr. Houck and friends pointed out, however, that as an alumnus of | Northwestern University he would | probably have some old friends all | {around that section whose names he {would not immediately recall. It is | possible that Mrs. Houck, suffering from a nervous breakdown herself, would seek to reach some such desti- { C0BB AND SPEAKER ON WAY HERE T0 SEEK OFFICIAL AID Deposed Managers Due in Today to Give Their Side of Base Ball “Scandal.” JUST WHI_\T CAN BE DONE, HOWEVER, IS NOT KNOWN Case May Be Laid Before Post Office or Justice Departments. No Appointments Are Made. The two central figures in base ball’s latest scandal—Tyrus Raymond Cobb, late manager of the Detroft team, and Tris Speaker. formerly pilot of the Cleveland Indians—were due in Washington today, according to press dispatches, presumably pre- pared to lay before Government offi- cials their side of the case which has rocked the sporting world because of the enormity of the charges of gam- bling against them, and which vir- tually forced a pair of outstanding diamond leaders to resign as man- agers shortly after the close of the last campaign. Although Cobb was reported to have arrived in Washington shortly before 8 o'clock this morning from his home in Augusta, Ga., he had not regis- tered at any of the leading hotels, in- cluding the Ralelgh, where the De- troit club stops when in Washington, and had not been in touch with Sena- tor W. J. Harris of Georgia, a close personal friend of the base ball star, Who expressed a wish to see Cobb as soon as he arrived in the Capital, and one report had it that he would not get in untll late today. Speaker, who was sald to have left Cleveland late yesterday, about the time Cobb was leaving home, had not registered at Wardman Park Hotel, where the Cleveland club stays, or at any of the other hotels. Senator Harris sald he did not know what he could do for Cobb in Wash- ington when the fiery Georgian meets him, but assumed Cobb had made his plans for a campaign for reinstate- ment before the bar of public opinion and the base ball worid and that some action might be initiated in Coungress. May Visit Two Departments. Early telegraphic advices said the two former base ball stars were com- ing to the Capital to lay their cases before the Department of Justice, or perhaps the Post Office Department. They had no appointments with officers of either, however. The Justice De- { partment, it was pointed out, might be asked to initiate a proceeding de- signed to investigate organized base ball as an alleged trust. Any Post Office Department investi gation would be based on the letters through which Hubert (“Dutch”) Leonard, caused the “scandal” to break. Leaders in Congress have pub- licly expressed their sympathy with Cobb and Speaker, but were in a quandary as to just what might be done to reinstate the two men in base ball and in_ the eyes of the public. Cobb and Speaker are said to have been involved in the “fixing” of & base ball game in Detroit, September 25,1919, Letters involving the pair and Joe Wood, a former big league pitch- er, were sold to the American League during the Summer, by Leonard, who refused to face the two former man- agers when they were given a hear- ing before the base ball commissioner early in the Fall. The entire case was laid betore executives of the major leagues during the joint league meet- ing at Chicago 10 days ago. Griffith Not Present. nation. It is possible, too, that she might be | | endeavoring to reach the home of | some of Dr. Houck’s relatives in Ore- | {gon by a circuitous route. Two big i bundles of toys from the Oregon fam. {ily, addressed to Hugh Houck, the | |3-year-cld son, were received at | Elizabeth’s Hospital several days ago. | They were hurried on to Canton, Ohio, | | where Hugh is in the care of his wife i parents. | Message Is Doubted. Although Dr. Houck and his closer associates profess continued belief that Mrs. Houck is alive, they do not i pin very serious hopes to the message from Arkansas. At the same time the jauthorities here have been requested | to expedite confirmation of the me: sage. It was received from S. | Hardin, chief of police at Blytheville, {and read as follows: “Woman passed through here De- {cember 23 en route from Cairo, Il to Springfield, Mo. Have three men who positively identified her as Gladys W. Houck after seeing press pictures. Carried black grip with Washington, D. C., haberdasher’s tag. Wire de- tailed description.” It was recalled that Dr. Houck some days ago gave the police the name of friends in Cairo whom his wife might visit. This alone lends | hope over the clue, police said. The 1 detailed description was wired both to | Blytheville and Springfield last night, | but the message would not have been delivered until this morning as tele- graph offices at both places were closed Sunday night. Publicity Is Limited. Physicians who know Mrs. Houck {well ‘hold_that the continued failure! of the police to find her either dead or alive is stronger indication that | | she is still alive. Her faflure to com- | i municate even with her son is ex-| | plained by the fact that her memory may even have been destroyed by the | nervous breakdown that is believed to | have struck her just before she dis- | appeared. They pointed out that little or noth- ing is printed about the case, even as | close as Philadelphia. She could | wander around for weeks, or even ob- tain employment, without being de- tected, if she chose to conceal her identity. There are domestic reasons, too, it was explained, why she would not wish to be found until public in- terest has turned definitely elsewhere here, too. Dr. Houck could not remember any grip which Mrs. Houck may have taken wih her. He also was perplexed | as to where she could have obtained funds either to travel so far or pur- chase clothing with which to complete (Continued on Page 2, Column 7.) Many Dead in Siberian Snow. MOSCOW, December 27 (#).— Eastern S.beria is being swept by the worst_snowstorm in 70 years. Many | center, the first of its kind in the Ee‘a; be & milk pasteuriz: casualties have already been reported, together with a great amount of damage, ¥ lark Griffith, president of the Washington Base Ball Club, was in Chicago, but did not attend the meet- ing called by Judge Landis, because of a misunderstanding. Neither Cobb nor Speaker had been in touch with executives of the base ball clubs today. riffith, aithough he declared he ould be “the happiest man in Amer- if Cobb and Speaker are cleared of the gambling charges, was inclined to feel that there is more to the case than is generally known. Mr. Griffith said he did not know of any reason for Cobb and Speaker coming to Washington and scoffed at the idea of instituting proceedings to investigate base ball as an alleged trust. He said an investigation of this phase of the national pastime was made some years ago and base ball was cleared of the trust charges. Cobb left Augusta with expressions of confidence of his fellow citizens of the orgia city ringing in his ears and with an official vote of confi- dence tendered him by officers of one of the large civic organizations. In addition a banquet for the former De- troit manager is being planned. CASE PUZZLES OFFICIALS. Justice Department Unlikely to Act in Present Status. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. Federal officials are interested, but nevertheless puzzled, as to what they can do about the latest scandal in base ball which Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker are reported to be anxious to lay before the Department of Justice. 1t one individual is damaged by an- other, his redress is to be found in the courts. Assuming that “Dutch” Leonard, the former Detroft pitcher, refused to come East from his Cali- fornia home to submit to cross-ex- amination, the Department of Justice cannot do anything about it unless some proceedings are brought requir- ing him to testify. The Post Office Department s nat- urally interested in how the malls are used, but unless the communications show a deliberate threat of exposure or some other form of coercion, the chances of Federal inquiry into that phase can be crossed off as not likely to materialize. Like Any Other Business. Base ball as a business is, like any other operation, subject to scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission to de- termine whether an unfair practice exists. Firms, as a rule, have recourse to this commission, and though the first reports stated that Cobb and Speaker were coming to Washington to ask the advice of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the likelihood is that this was confused with the Federal Trade Commission. If Cobb were incorporated as a busi- ness institution and some one did something to injure his business, he could appeal to the Federal Trade Commission, which would then in. vestigate, and if it decided that there was basis for a complaint, the (Continued on Page 2, Column l%