Evening Star Newspaper, April 25, 1927, Page 1

WEATHER. (U. 8. Weather Bureau Forecast.) Fair, slightly warmer tonight; to- morrow increasing cloudiness and ‘warmer. Temperature—Highest, 54, at noon today; lowest, 33, Full report on page 9. Closing N. Y. Stocks and Bonds, Page 10 30,309. Entered as second olass matte No. - CHINESE OPEN FIRE ONU. 3. DESTROYER AND BRITISH SHIPS Peary Attacked on Yangtze Near Hankow—English Silence Land Batteries. ost _office, MARINES ARE LANDED TO SAVE AMERICANS Chaos Prevails Outside Swatow. Cantonese Reported Slaughtered by Peasant Troops. the Associated Press. HANGHAIL, April —The United States destroyer Pe was fired on yesterday near Kiukiang, on the Yang- {ze. about 125 miles east of Hankow. "The source of the firing was mot lo- cated and the warship did not return the fire. Three Br..ish warships, the Mantis, Keppel and Wolsey, engaged in an ex- change of shots with Chinese batteries on the south bank of the Yangtze near Chinkiang. The warships let loose a heavy bombardment after they had been fired on and soon silenced the Chinese attack. American Marines had to go to the rescue of three Americans at Hankow when Chinese pickets attempted to remove them to the headquarters of the General Labor Union from the Standard Oil Co.’s office, to which they were attached, Fifty Marines were Janded by the U. S. S. Isabel, flagship of the Yangtze patrol. The pickets gaid the union headquarters merely desired to question the men and learn ithelr names. Chang Attack Feared. ‘A’ wireless message from Hankow says that military preparations are ‘under way on the outskirts of the city, ostensibly in anticipation of an attack by Gen. Chang Kai-shek, leader of the moderate section of the Kuomintang (Cantonese political party), Who re- cently established a government at Nanking for the announced purpose of combatting the Communist influ- ce. .nTherO are about 800 foreigners in Hankow, including 68 Americans. Be- icause of the tension in the city they: nd the nights at the water front, almost under the guns of 45 foreign warships. A American sailors and marines as- signed to the task of searching Chi- nese entering Shanghai by way of the bund are finding many of them wear- ing uniforms under their cloths These are turned over to the polis ‘who seek to determine whether they are merely seeking refuge from the Chinese sections or spies joining the yed labor ranks. Most of the Chinese ere taking the searsh good paturedly. Chaos Outside Swatow. at 6 a.m. today. = BY THOMAS F. MILLARD. By Cable to The Star and the New York World, SHANGHAIL, April 25 —Latest events are bringing a new orientation of the Chinese situation, affecting not only the internal military situation, but injecting new elements and changing the probable action of foreign powers on present issues. Although both sides are retarding the breach between the moderate and extremist factions of the Kuomintang, now juxtaposed by separate regimes at Hankow and Nanking, it 1s certain nevertheless that Gen. Chang Kai Shek has definitely broken with the Communists and is determined to oust them from Kuomintang councils. Gen. Chang followed the clear-up of Communists from the Shanghal dis- trict by organizing a new government at Nanking which openly declares independence of Hankow, appealing for support of all stable Chinese @h CHANG’S STRENGTH IS GROWING, RECENT INCIDENTS INDICATE WASHINGTON, D. C, Many Elements Urge Foreign Bankers to Aid Moderates’ Leader to Establish Stable Government. advanced a loan enabling him to finance his military and other activitles. They openly declare them- selves opposed to Communism. Hankow radicals evidently are non- plussed at these developments, and uncertain as to what action to take in offsetting them. Their only measures so far have been the deten- tion at Hankow of Kuomintang members suspected of moderate lean- ings. Those detained include Eugene Chen, foreign minister, who is be- lieved to be virtually a prisoner there although allowed the freedom of movement within the city. ‘Wang Ching Hui, chairman of the Kuomintang General Council and who conferred_recently - with Gen. Chang at Shanghai before going to Hankow to persuade that regime to participate in the Nanking conference, has sent a letter to f iends here telling that he is unable to use the telegraph and is prevented from leaving Hankow. In this letter he said the Hankow regime was dominated by _extreme classes. Chinese bankers at Shanghai (Continued on Page 5, Column 2.) 5. P. SMIDDY HELD AS RUM SMUGGLER Youth, 21, Arrested in De- troit, Says Father Is Irish Minister to U. S. By the Associated Press. DETROIT, April 25.—Charged with violating the tariff act by smuggling 43 bottles of whisky from Canada, Sarsfield P. Smiddy, 21, claiming to be the son of T. A. Smiddy, Minister to the United States of the Irish Free State, was remanded to the county jail today in default of $1,500 bail after arraignment before J. Stanley Hurd, United States commissioner. Smiddy, who said he had been in Detroit about two years working at an automobile plant, was arrested last Friday. According to his story, he and a party of four friends went to Canada in an automobile which, Smiddy said, he borrowed without the owner's knowledge of the use to which it was to be put. Returning to Detroit, Smiddy de- clared, his friends left the machine when a ferryboat crossing the De- troit River reached midstream. The liquor, which he is alleged to have smuggled, was found packed under the radiator of the automobile, custom officials said. The liquor was .de- tected when one of the bottles began to leak. During the confusion the friends Employment records at the auto- mobile plant where Smiddy said he worked shows that he left there last Chaos prevails outside the city of Swatow, in Kwangtung, following an cutbreak by red peasant troops, Who were aided by remnants of the army of Gen. Chen Chiung-Min. Chen's soldiers are reported to have turned bandits. Dispatches from Swatow say that the red peasant troops slaughtered a number of Cantonese troops and for- mer students of the propaganda corps. The Cantonese retaliated with field guns, but the peasants eventually gained control. Many houses were burned. Gen. Sun Chuang-Fang, one of the Northern commanders and original defender of Shanghai, it is learned from foreign sources, has offered to surrender to Gem. Chang Kai-Shek. Gen. Sun 1s deélared to be ready to retire to private life. His actual sur- Tender, it is Teported, has been de- layed because various generals under him are holding out for better terms. ‘Sun is represented as stating that his troops after fighting for six ‘months are tired and hungry. More Radicals Seized. Gen. Chang’s soldiers have rounded up another batch of radicals. They sought to arrest Ling Chuen, local radical leader, but he learned of their plans and escaped. A score of his Jieutenants were captured and much literature was selzed at headquarters, which were locked later by the sol- diers. Headquarters of the moderate Kuo- mintang announced today that the Communists at Hankow have raised huge sums of money from various banks on the pretext of circulating notes issued by the Central Bank, but in reality to finance Communist propa- ganda, especially in the Shanghal area. It was also announced by the mod- erate section of the Kuomintang that Sun Ping-Wen, notorious Canton Com- munist leader, recently arrested on a French mail boat, was executed at Lungwha. His wife is said to have offered a bribe to obtain his release. . 8 HONGKONG, American subr flotilla, of subm: today. REPLY TO CH Ships at Hongkong. April 25 (P).—Two irine tenders and a vines arrived here N DELAYED. Representatives of Powers to Confer Further. By the Associnted F Further consultation will be neces- gary before the powers submit their | reply to the note of Eugene Chen, foreign minister of the ¥ ©f Chinese N alists, regarding the Nanking out: Recommendations made by Ameri- tan Minister MacMurray and his dip- Jomatic colleagues at Peking have led to meet the approval of the Washington government, and are understood also to be unacceptable to some of the four other governments involved. The commur Murray, which is w embodied a propose Chen designed to reparation for the reached Washington y last week. It was said at the State Department today, however, that the Washington government had not vet decided What action it would take, and prob- ably would continue.to defer that de- cision because of chaotic conditions in the Nationalist party in China. Denies Ending Parleys. At the same time the State De- partment denie blished reports that Mr. M i heen in- structed mot to confer further with PBritish, Japanese, French and 1 Ministers in Peking regarding the Nanking incident ation from Mr. Mac- rrstood to identic note to 1force demands for nking outrages, Mur January 7, saying he “had a better job.” The name’ “Prof. Smiddy, Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C.,”” was given as an emergency address on his em- ployment card. SON-IN DETROIT AREA. Irish Legation Has Heard Nothing of His Arrest, However. Sarsfield P. Smiddy is a son of the Irish Free State Minister, and Irish legation officials said today he was in the Detroit area, but they sald they had no knowledge of his arrest. Minister Smiddy is in New York, and legation officials apprised him of the situation by telephone. They declined to say what action would be taken or whether the question of diplomatic im- munity might be injected, pending re- ceipt of details of the case. STEAMER HITS ICEBERG. Japanese Vessel Sprinks Leak and Assistance Is Sent. YOKOMAMA, April 25 (#).—Assist- ance has been sent to the Japanese steamer Yechigo Maru, which is_re- ported to have sprung a leak after striking an iceberg off Shipetpkosaki on Saturday, The Yechigo Maru is a steel steamer 300 feet long, of 2,658 net tonnage, built in 1889 at Newcastle for the Kaburagi Yoshitane Co. Her home port is Kobe. Shiretokosaki is the northeastern tip of Hokkaldo (Yezo) Island. SHIP CAPTAH\'I DISAPPEARS United Fruit Co. Notified Tivives Skipper Missing. BOSTON, April 25 ().—The offices of the United Friut Co., here were notified by radio yesterday of the mysterious disappearance at sea of Capt. Alexander H. Birks, commander of the Steamship Tivives southbound to Jamaica. The Tivives sailed from New York on February 20, and is due today. Capt. Birks was missed on Friday evening at 8 o'clock, and an immediate search of the ship was made without effect. He was 43 years old, and had been in the service of the company for 16 SNYDER'S BROTHER 1S FIRST WITNESS Murder Trial of Widow and Gray Gets Under Way in New York. By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, April 25.— Warren Snyder, brother of the Queens Village art editor for whose murder Mrs. Ruth Snyder and Henry Judd Gray are on trial, was called as the first witness today. His appearance on the stand fol- lowed a half-hour opening statement by the State and after defense counsel had waived rights to Opening state. ments at the time. Was “Slated for Death.”, Snyder was ‘“slated for death” on March 7 last, District Attorney New- combe told the jury in his opening statement today. “Mrs. Ruth Snyder and her lover, Henry Judd Gray, met in Manhattan that day,” he said, “after Gray had bought a sash-weight and chloroform in Kingston, N. Y. “That day the death of Albert Snyder was decided on and the im- plements of murder were procured. “Prior to' that two policies. for $50,000 had been taker out on the life of Albert Snyder, with a double indemity ‘clause for death by violence. Never Knew of Policies. “Albert Snyder never -knew about those policies, gentlemen, but Mrs. Snyder knew of them, for she had taken them out, and Judd Gray knew of them, for he hoped to benefit.,” “Gray then went away, but he re- turned on the night of the murder and hid in a darkened room while Snyder was put to bed by his wife. “When the poor devil was asleep Mrs. Snvder sneaked out of bed and told her skuiking lover, ‘Now is the time." “They kissed and then they went to Albert Snyder’s room. They stun him with the sashweight, they stick chloroformed cotton up his nose, they strangle him with picture wire. “Then, gentlemen, the job is done. Gray wore suede gloves and after the murder he takes these off and goes into the bathroom, where he sees blood on his shirt. They burn the shirt and her bloody gown. She lends him a blue shirt belonging te her husband. “Then they decide to make it look like a burglary and they upset every- thing in the house. Neither Shows Emotion. “They sat then in the house from 3 in the morning to 6, plotting what God knows, “Before leaving Gray binds and gags Mrs. Snyder to help out the burglary story. Then he takes the train for Syracuse.” Only when he got to Syracuse, New- comb said, did he discover a large spot of blood on his vest. ‘While the district attorney shouted to the jury in a trembling voice, Mrs. Snyder and Gray sat close behind him, without any show of emotion stronger than very mild interest. Schneider, who has retained the original spelling of the family name, established the fact of his brother’s death, a necessary legal preliminary to the trial. He said he had identi- fled the body in the presence of a county medical examiner, Brother Describes Home. Dr. H. W. Neail, medical examiner, also established the corpus delicti, Dr. Neail described the Snyder home in Gstail as he found it on March 20, dfter the murder was discovered. How the stub of a Pullman car ticket broke down the “perfect alibi” of Gray was pevealed for the first time today. The ticket, showing the date and the train on which he had traveled from New York to Albany after the slaying of Snyder was found by po- lice in a waste basket in his Syra- | vears. He was married and resided | in New York City. BY HIRAM K. MODERWELL. By Cable to The Star and Chicazo Daily News. Copyright, 1027, GENEVA, April 25.—The recent Italo-Rumanian and Italo-Hungarian ireaties have completed the gradual isintegration of the political struc- ture erected by the Paris Conference for the Preservation of Peace, and the Albanian war menace finds Eu- rope politically divided and perplexed us to how to avert it. Unless some new unforeseen factor enters, war in | southeastern Europe, which might in- volve other nations, is not only pos- sible, but probable. ‘This view is widely held through- out the Balkans and southeastern Eu- yope, according to investigations made by the writer on a tour which ine uded Bucharest, Belgrade, Budapest ‘While there is evidence that the “(Continued on Page 5, Column 34 and Vienna. While France, entren¢hed behind - cuse hotel room. {War Scare in Southeast Europe Revived By New Treaties Engineered by Italy the Locarno walls, is steadily with- drawing her diplomatic_front from this section of Europe, Italy is rap- idly marching her diplomatic shock troops in, causing mixed feelings in some nations like Rumania and acute fear in others like Jugoslavia. The present situation, full of un- certainties, results directly from, first, the Italo-Albanian treaty giving Italy, under certain circumstances, the right to establish a military foothold in the Balkans, thus permanently threaten- ing Jugoslavia; two, the Italo- Rumanian treaty, which is believed to guarantee Italian support to the latter in preparing the ground for the achievement of two avowed aims— restoration -of the Hapshurg monor- chy and eventual reconquest of the former Hungarian territories acquired by the little entente nations—thus ending Hungary's diplomatic impris- onment and virtually sounding the death note of the little entente, ‘WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION MONDAY, SMITH'S AIDS PLAN 10 MEET DRY ISSUE Friends Say He Will Declare Eighteenth Amendment Has Come to Stay. Special Dispatch to The, Star. NEW YORK, April York World today says: “Gov. Alfred E. Smith is ready and waiting for an opportune time to meet the challenge of those demanding a further expression of his views on prohibition. “This information comes from such a high source that it can be regarded as authoritative. “Those in the confidence of the governor are firmly convinced. that when the expression comes it will be of a nature to satisfy the law enforce- ment_group of the ~—The New and ; g tfon on which the wets and moderates can unite. “Here 1§ the program those on the inside assert the governor will lay down: Program Is Outlined. “Recognition that the eighteenth amendment has come to stay and that attempts to repeal it are both unwise and futile. “A general statement that the saloon should be banished in per- petuity and that the Volstead law should be rigidly enforced. “A proposal to seek improvement of present lawless conditions by amend- ing the law to permit the States to legislate for themselves on the non- intoxicating alcoholic contents within a limit of 2.75 per cent. That would be the maximum which any State would be authorized by Congress to legalize, “It can be said truthfully that many friends of the governor are trying to give the country at large to under- stand that Gov. Smith, while a wet, is not nearly as wet as frequently painted. Less Wet Than Butler. “He has never gone to the extent of Nicholas Murray Butler and ex- Senator James W. Wadsworth in call- ing for the repeal or even revision of the eighteenth amendment. And —Ilarge emphasis is being placed on this point—he has in every public utterance vigorously upheld enforce- ment of the prohibition laws on a parity with all other laws. “While a good proportion of the dripping wet rank and file of Tam- many is still hoping for a plank of its own devising in the next national platform, those more intimately con- nected with the presidential campaign for the governor appear almost with- out exception to have joined those counting on keeping the issue off the floor, ‘Many, like Carter Glass of Vir- ginia and other Southern leaders, have adopted the view that the wet and dry question ‘should be fought out in the congressional districts and does not belong in the presidential cam- paign.” EVASION IS CHARGED. Minister Says Governor Failed to Answer Religious Questions. RICHMOND, Va., April 25 (@.— Declaring that Gov. Alfred E. Smith of New York had failed to answer the religious questionnaire put to him by Charles C, Marshall and that he had done nothing but “avow his faith and vouch his record,” Dr. George W. Mc- Daniel, president of the Southern Baptist convention, said in a sermon here last night that “millions of God- fearing Democrats” would not remain quiescent while Smith is being men- tioned as standard bearer of his party. Dr. McDaniel said that the gov- ernor’s reply to the open letter of Mr. Marshall addressed to him in a recent jssue of the Atlanta Monthly ‘“had been commented on favorably by the daily press and extravagantly praised by partisans as an expression of the governor's personal faith and official conductance.” Dr. McDaniel charged that Gov. Smith “emphasized what his corre- spondent_conceded and ignored the matter about which his correspondent inquired.” Gov Smith’s “record as a firm, active and influential friend of the saloon and of the licensed liquor traffic” was cited in the course of the sermon. Brennan'’s Slayer Surrénders. SAN DIEGO, Calif., April 25 (#).— Joseph Pioli, who says he escaped from Sing Sing Prison, at Ossining, N. Y., March 2, by hiding in a box of cotton, surrendered to the police here yesterday. He was serving a term of 20 i for the killing of Bill Brennan, p t, in New York. 25, APRIL 1927—THIRTY-SIX ¢ Toening Star. PAGES. s Blue Law Warrants Issued for 9 After Symphony Concert By the Associated Press. PITTSBURGH, April 25.—War- rants charging violation of the Sunday “blue laws” of 1794 were issued today against nine officers and one musician of th® Pittsburgh mphony Society in connection with a concert given by the society last night. Thirty-five hundred patrons at- tended the concert, which was ar- ranged after J M. Clark, di- rector of public safety, ruled that the society's plan of concerts “for members only” was legal and did not _constitute a_violation of the ancient code prohibiting “employ- ment for worldly gain” on Sunday. Informations upon which the warrants were issued were filed by Edgar R. Ray, an investigatoy for the Sabbath Association of the Pittsburgh area, which had op- posed the plan for Sunday con- certs on the ground that a prece- dent for commercializing Sunday would be established. The war- PRESIDENT LEAVES T0 MAKE ADDRESS Goes 1o New York to Speak at Press Banquet This Evening. President and Mrs. Coolidge left Washington at noon today for New York, where the President will make an address at a banquet given by the United Press Associations 'to com- memorate the twentieth anniversary of its founding. In the presidential party were Edward T. Clark, personal secretary to the President; Col. S. A. Cheney, U. 8. A, and Capt. Wilson Brown, U. S. N., military and naval aides to the President. Maj. James F. Coupal, the White House phys’ fan; a number of secret service men, newspaper corre- spondents and news photographers. Everett Sanders, secretary to the President, is ill at his home with a cold and could not make the trip. The party left on a special train on the Pennsylvania Railroad and will arrive in New York at 5 o'clock. Ac- cording to the arrangements made in advance, the President and Mrs. Cool- idge will go direct to the Biltmore Hotel. The banquet is scheduled for 7:30 o'clock and it has heen indicated by the President that he and his party will go direct from the banquet hail to his speclal train before midnight when the journey back to Washing- ton will be started. It is expected that the party will arrive back in Washington about breakfast time to- morrow morning. This is the first trip outside of ‘Washington President Coolidge has made since late last December, when he journeyed to New Jersey to make a ratriotic address incident to the cere- monies celebrating the 150th anni- versary of the Battle of Trenton. g oo Conslos iy 12-FOOT FALL FATAL. John Moore, 74, Killed While Over- seeing Construction Work. ‘While superintending the work of constructing a winding stairway in the new library at Catholic University this morning, John Moore, 74 years old, 2621 North Capltol street, fell from a scaffold to the floor, a distance of about 12 feet, and was killed. Frank Wilson, another employe in the building, found the unconscious man and summoned Dr. Willlam Mei- man of Emergency Hospital, who pronounced him dead. Death was due to a fracture of the skull. Moore, a widower, is survived by several daughters. He has been in the employ of the C. J. Cassidy Co., the library, for a number of years. MACDONALD IMPROVING. — British Laborite, Patient in Phila- delphia, Recovering. PHILADELPHIA, April 25 (#).— Former Premier J. Ramsay MacDon- ald of Great Britain, who has been a patient in Jefferson Hospital here since Saturday with a sore throat, was today reported as continuing to improve. His physician said that he bad a comfortable night, Inc., builders, who are constructing | FIRST ERROR" KILL ELECTRIC WORKER Utilities Board Orders Safety Probe After Power of City Is Cut Off. The Public Utilitles Commission to- day asked the electrical department of the District to make an investiga- tion of the panel board in the Benning plant of the Potomac Electric Power Co. to determine whether any safety device can be installed to prevent a recurrence of the accident yesterday which killed an employe and paralyzed street car traffic and stopped every- thing else that was dependent upon the electrical service. Col. Harrison Brand, vice chairman of the commission, believes that the accident was due to a human element that cannot be removed. He pointed out that the power plant is regarded as a model of efficlency and safety. An investigation by an pert, however, he said, may reveal whether it is possible to add some protective device to the instrument board. A coroner’s jury today returned a verdict of accidental death. Was First Mistake. For seven years Joseph G. Spraker, an electrician at the Benning station pulled switches without making a mis- take. Yesterday afternoon he pulled the wrong switch. There was a blind- ing explosion, and for more than an hour the greater part of Washington was without light and power, Five hours after he made his fatal mistake he died of burns at Casualty Hospital. Lights went out all over the city, street cars were stalled, elevators stopped between floors and thousands of persons dependent upon electricity found their apparatus useless. Two Blasts Follow. 1t was just about 1:50 o'clock when - switch was pulled, causing a short circuit which resulted in an ex- plosion of such violence that it ripped through the oil switches and discon- nected boxes containing a powerful voltage. Two additional explosions immediately followed, coming like flashes of lightning, and blowing the protective housing from the machin- ery of the plant. His clothes aflame from the first ex- plosion, Spraker ran about 15 feet be- fore he fell to the floor. Bergling, a tellow employe, smothered the flames by throwing an overcoat about his body. Taken to Casualty Hospital it was neces: y to carry him to the sec- ond floor, since the accident at the plant had made the elevator useless. Officials of the power company stated this morning that Spraker had a long record of efficiency and had never be- fore made a mistake. He had pulled the same set of switches virtually every day for the past seven years. Leaves Wife and Two Children. Each of the switches is contained in a numbered box, protected by a heavy door and it was necessary to lift the door before pulling the switch. Before touching the live switch, Spraker had, as_usual, pulled two “dead” switches. He was about 30 years old and lived at McLean, Va. He leaves a wife and two children. A few minutes after the fatal accl- dent, L. E. Sinclair, general superin- terldent, personally directed the work of repairing the machinery and suc- ceeded in having the trouble entirely corrected by 4 o'clock, while some service was resumed prior to that time. Interurban electric lines as well as local street cars of the Washington “From Press to Home Within the Hour” ‘The Star’s carrier system covers every city block and the regular edi- tion is delivered to Washington homes Saturday’s Sunday’s P) Means Associated Press. Minister Scores Competition of $200 Speakers By the Associated Press. ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 25.— Declaring that Sunday morning university convocations had “ser- fously impaired the program of re- ligious work among students car- ried on by several of the churches of the city,” Rev. Herbert Jump has resigned as pastor of the Con- gregational Church here. “The competition of famous visit- ing speakers brought here at $200 a sermon is a discouraging competi- tion to us local clergymen,” Mr. Jump said. “Even though the con- vocations do not come every week, they tend to discourage our con- gregations and’ inject a new ele- ment into the religious problems of this university town.” The Sunday morning convoca- tions were inaugurated about a year ago by the student council of tho University of Michigan. Ann Arbor ministers entered a formal protest to university officials and the controversy abated with the understanding the convocations would be restricted to students. NELLIE ROSS HOPES CATHOLIC WILL WIN Says Election to Presidency Would Prove U. S. Is Re- public in Reality. By the Associated Press. Nellie Tayloe Ross, former Governor of Wyoming, declared today that al- though she is a Protestant, she would like to see a Catholic elected Presi- dent “just to prove that this is, in reality, a republic in which we live and not one in name only.” Speaking before the National Wom- en’s Democratic Club, Mrs. Ross de- nounced as unworthy of the “precious heritage of American citizenship any declaration by policy or practice that as fast as the papers are printed. Circulation, 102,150 Circulation, 1 14 TWO CENTS. HOOVER REACHES FLOOD ZONE TO AID 130,000 REFUGEES Water Sweeps Over More Towns, With Dead Already Estimated at 300. SITUATION IN 3 STATES GROWS WORSE HOURLY Secretary and Party Staat Downa River Today for Personal Survey of Conditions. BY REX COLLIER, Staft Correspondent of The Star. MEMPHIS, Tenn., April 25.—With Secretary Hoover, war-time relief ex- pert, as active field marshal, the Na- tion’s authorized agencies of mercy mobilized here today to combat the increasing horror of America’s great- est Mississippi flood catastrophe. Secretary Hoover, Maj. Gen. Edgar Jadwin, chief of Army engineers; James L. Fieser, acting chairman of the Red Cross, and a group of other Red Cross officials arrived at this official concentration center today to find the mighty father of waters roll- ing irresistibly southward to even greater heights and probably graver fields of mischief. The Hoover party immediately went into conference with Henfy N. Baker, director of disaster relief for the Red Cross, who announced that latest re- ports show more than 130,000 refugees actually under care of the Red Cross at 32 concentration centers. Of this number 8,000 are from Missourt, 35,000 from Illinois, 3,000 from Kentucky, 2,000 from Tennessee, 80,000 from Mis- sissippi and 5,000 from Louisiana. Death Estimates Vary. Death estimates vary widely and are mostly guess work, Red Cross offi- prejudice rather than liberal principles shall prevail in this government,” and called upon the women of the Demo- cratic party to back her up in this stand. Mrs. Ross spoke at the weekly luncheon meeting at the clubhouse, 820 Connecticut avenue. ‘Wants Issue Met. Mrs. Ross said she was not referring to any particular potential presidential candidate, but ‘speaking ‘“only of the principle” involved, and added that the issue was one “that cannot be dodged or evaded.” “There are many factors to be take; church alignment. “I believe that the sin of intolerance is the greatest sin of the age. It is amazing that those who call them- selves Christians can harbor and en- courage in others a sentiment so in- consistent with the teachings of Christ.” Mrs. Ross then told of a recent visit to Monticello and the tomb of Thomas Jefferson, adding: “There, graven in stone, is the epi- taph which he, himself, composed and directed should be placed above his grave. It epitomizes the principles for which he stood. “He stood for the freedom of the individual upon the principle that all men are endowed with certain inalien- able rights that no power on erth, church or state, can take away. He stood, likewise, for religious freedom —that is, that in America all men are entitled to worship their creator as they please and shall suffer no loss of civil rights thereby. He stood for the education of the masses. Basis of Party. “These are the principles upon which ths Democratic party was founded. It is charged that we have receded from them. Constantly we hear it sald that party activities ane no longer based on principles; that neither of the parties is standing for issues that are vital to tha people. “If this be true, and it is more true than we like to admit, let us Demo- cratic women rise in the might that universal enfranchisement has given to us and demand that our party shall stand for something; that it shall return to the great tenets upon which it was found-d. “I am a Democrat because I believe in my heart in_the traditional prin- ciples of the Democratic party. I am not afraid of the amplification of any of those principles to modern problems, even to religious con- troversy, which properly has no place in the politics of this country. “It looks now as if a leading issue that is going to face us as Democrats this coming year is whether or not a Catholic can be nominated to the presidéncy by the Democratic party. It is an issue that cannot be dodged or evaded. Distasteful as it is to us all, it is well to have it brought out into the open. “Whatever may be 8ur religious creed, this is an issue that chal- lenges our Democracy. To many it will be and is an acid test. “I hope that the Democratic wom- en of this country will not be found wanting, but that they will fearlessly proclaim, individually and from every (Continued on Page 5, Column 5.) (Continued on Page 5, Column 1.) Prisoners Will Get Fresh Air in Yard, Following Commissioners’ Cell Tour Beginning Monday, the doors of the narrow congested cell rooms at Police Court will be flung open and all the prisoners will be allowed to stand in the fresh air of the court yard. This decision, declared to be an act of humanity, was reached by the Police Court judges today following a conference in the office of Frank A. Sebring, chief clerk, after the de- parture of District Commissioners Proctor L. Dougherty and Sidney F. Taliaferro, At the request of Judge George H. Macdohald, the Commissioners made a tour of inspection today when the total number of locked-up cases num- bered 200. It was the largest crowd to be confined to the small cells in recent months, The Commissioners were escorted through every nosk and cranny of the court, visiting both cells, the United States and strict branch, where men and omen were crowded up against the §ars, many of them unable to stand ughight. The office of the jqorporation Counsel als was visited, where a line of police- men waiting to make out papers ex- tended nearly 100 feet down the corridor. Both Mr, Taliaferro and Mr. Dough- erty were shocked by the congestion. A request to Maj. Edwin B. Hesse will be forwarded to obtain additional policemen to guard the prisoners next Monday. It was also the belief of the judges today that the inspection of the Com- missioners may result in allowing those arrested over Saturday and Sunday to put up $10 collateral in- stead of the $25 now required arbi- trarily in intoxication cases. ' More than 90 per cent of those arrested over the week ends in the District branch are for intoxication, and it is felt that in a majority of these cases the defendants could raise $10 where they could not $25 and.so forfeit the :‘Lmount and not come into court Mon- ays. cials declare. The estimates range from 150 to more than 300 persons. Many of the deaths have been in the Greenville section, the evacuation of which was completed today. Mr. Hoover announced, following the con- ference, that Col. Spaulding of the Army engineers has been ordered to report to Director Baker and take charge of water transportation and all rescue work. All Government craft will be placed at his disposal. “The organization for the care of refugees is far advanced,” Mr. Hoover stated. ‘“‘Supplies are moving at all points. The details of accounting, the registration of refugees and other mat- ters well under way. "B:z‘m'auon camps are being en- rrangen for the s a generally efficient organization throughout the area, Crest Not Reached. “The fact that the crest of the, flood has not passed makes further expansion always possible. Reserves of ‘supplies and transportation facili- ties are being held in readiness at all critical points. “Gen. Jadwin, Acting Chairman Fieser of the Red Cross and mysel? will leave Memphis this afternoon for Vicksburg aboard the Government boat Chisca. At Vicksburg we will confer with authorities from the lower areas.” Although the Important work of relief co-ordination was well advanced prior to their arrival, the Federal and Red Cross authoritics learned today that the crisis is vet to come. In addition to the estimate by Secretary Hoover of some 100,000 persons already homeless, there arose a grow- ing fear of possibly more serious havoc in the vast ‘no man’s land” lying between this city and New Or- leans. Officials in Conference. Gen. Jadwin, at a conference with the Commerce Secretary and Chair- man Feiser, pointed out that the crest of the swelling tide of turbulent wa- ters is moving inexorably south of Memphis toward uncompleted levees already menaced by the unprecedent- ed floods. These dykes, he declared, are an “unknown quantity,” and on their apparently questionable de- pendibility hangs the fate of thou- sands of residents of Mississippi River cities and towns, including Vicksburg, Natchez, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Under the direction of Mr. Baker more than 32 refugee camps have been established on the highlands, where the thousands of pitiable men, women and children are hud- dled in box cars, tents and other improvised forms of shelter. More than 7,500 Army tents were or- dered rushed to the Vicksburg area today. While a fleet of 16 Government river craft proceeded to the frenzied task of rescuing flood victims from housetops, trees and promontories in the flooded sections, particularly around Greensville, Miss., Secretary Hoover, Gen. Jadwin and Mr. Fieser prepared to embark on an Engineer steamer to conduct a first hand sur- vey of the devastation. All Facilities Offered. Mr. Hoover, who is envoy extraor- dinary of President Coolidge, head of the Red Cross as well as of the Nation, went into conference with Director Baker and other field authori- tles immediately upon arrival here this morning. He offered to the re- llet forces all available facilities of the Government and set about to aid in the complete co-ordination of all interested agencies. “The situation throughout the whole lower Mississipp! Valley still presents a problem of great concern,” Mr. Hoover announced. “The river is sweeping southward at a rate estl- mated at more than 2,000,000 cubic feet per second, or more than four times it usual rate, and the crest appears to be somewhere between Greenville and Vicksburg. At the present rate the peak will reach New Orleans, a low-lying city, in about 10 days or two weeks.” Gen. Jadwin pointed out that at Vicksburg the river is 10 feet above normal and half a foot above the previous high record of 54.8 feet, At New Orleans the waters have ap- proached within less than half a foot of the high record of 1922, when only an unforeseen break in a levee south of the city saved it from dis- aster. Outlook Is Ominous. ‘The outlook for New Orleans, it was indicated, is especially omino: i Radio Program—Page 22 ready are nearly lapping o (Continued on Page 4, Column 3)