Evening Star Newspaper, August 31, 1931, Page 4

PONERS DECLARED SANE BY EXPERT CIarlgsbura Police Chief Says He Is*Not Through With” “ -Slayer’s Wife. (Continued From First Page.) thorities there in “checking clues that Mrs. Flerence McCartney, Chicago, was one of the victims of Powers. Southern said the man told him Mrs. McCattney disappeared two months ago. Mrs, Eicher and her three children disappeared about two months ago from their home near Chicago and police said the man admitted he was in Chicago several times. An Associated Press Chicago. however, quoted Norton as denying he had knowledge of the in- quiry concerning Mrs. McCartney. In almost cvery State of the Union, meanwhile, police and postal authori- ties sought women who had written to Powers in his guise of Cornelius O. Plerson, wealthy and r.ome-seeking civil engineer. | Detalls of the killings came from him little by little. ‘Boy Saw Mother Slain. Harry Eicher, 12, saw his mother killed, Powers said, “but in the middle of it he let out an awful scream. I was afraid the neighbors would hear it, so I picked up a hammer and let him/| have it.” Discovery of his victims and his con- fession seemingly affected powers little, once he had revealed his secret. Hel ate well and played poker with other | prisoners in the county jail, using matches for chips. At intervals he talked of himself. Rudolph Valentino t.as his idol, he said, his hobbies were crime—"scientific erime”—and sex psychology. His let- ters, police said, revealed him as a self-assigned student of women. Mean- while, he was professionally a rousta- bout salesman. g Years ago he began dallying with rhatrimonial agencies, “for fun' he said. More recently he became “Cor- nelius O. Powers,” civil engineer blocked by professional duties from social con- tacts, yet longing meanwhile for a woman to share his wealth, his farms in the Midwest, his “beautiful 10-room house, completely furnished.” In that way he met Mrs. Eicher, seeking to extricate herself from pressing debt while seemingly well to do herself. Similarly he met Mrs. Lempke, in re- cent years a resident of Worcester, though in the past a resident of St. Paul, Minn, Imprisoned His Vietims. The two women came to Clarksburg at almost the same time, “about Au- gust 1,” Powers was quoted as relating. Farly in the day, he took the Illinois widow and her three children to the oddly-constructed garage and made them prisoners in individual sound- proof tile chambers, specially fashioned in the basement of the small, frame building. ‘Mrs. Lempke arrived from New Eng- land later in the day and she, in turn, was taken to the garage and impris- oned. Then, police said, Powers told how, one g;y one, he removed his five victims to the upper floor of the garage, where a rope was suspended from a rafter. Each of the persons, excepting Mrs. Eicher's son, was hanged. Fearing stzéngulation might not be complete, the slayer then bashed in their heads with a hammer, he was quoted as say- ing,. The five bodies-then were buried in the sewer trench beneath the ga- rage, where they were found last week. e badly decomposed bodies of the Eicher family were uncovered Friday, a day. after Powers' arrest here. Mrs. flpke's body was found Saturday night. dispatch from Tells Conflicting Stories. Powers was asked how many persons he thad slain. With a shrug of his shoulders .he replied quietly, “I don't know" Later, however, he was told that a gang of prisoners from the county jail had been: taken out to the “murder farm” to dig for more bodies. “Le§ them go. Let them dig up the whole farm; theyll not find any more out there.” Powers’ wife, Luella, and her sister, Belle Strother, were permitted to return hog! after being held for questioning. ‘hief of Police A. Duckworth said after interviewing Mrs. Powers that. he was “not through with her.” The woman, arrested shortly after|® her husband, was released Saturday after being questioned. In his state- ment confessing the killings, Powers absolved her. Mrs. Powers told Duckworth and newspaper men who interviewed her at her home that “I love that kid,” and “each morning I carried him two bot- |, ;l:;‘ot soft drink before he was out of ‘The woman said Powers had given her only $12 in their four years of marriage. Newspaper men who attempted to interview Mrs. Powers last night were ordered away by the woman. Duck- | worth accompanied them to her house | today. & Clue to Other Bodies. The search for additional bodies was predicated presumably on evidence that over-a period of years Powers had cor- responded with ~hundreds of matri- montally-inclined wemen and on the discdvery of bones in the ruins of a small cottage which adjoins the garage. THe cottage. as well as the land on | which it and the garage were built, is ownéd by Mrs. Powers. It was de- stroyed recently by an unexplained fire. Bopes found Saturday near the cRim- ney’pf the dwelling were turned over to experts to determine whether they are | of humans. | #bank book and letters which aided in jdentification of Mrs. Lemke also were found near the scene of the fire. Mrs. Lemke, according to word from ! Narthboro, left the Massachusetts town last: July in the company of a man ideptified from newspaper photographs as Rowers. She married Albert Lemke in ‘Worcester, Mass., in 1914 and lived with him in St. Paul, Minn, for 10; b The husband is reported to be vifig in the Minnesota city. Presh Mounds Found. “The search for additional bodies also ‘was ispurred by the discovery of several; rrufis mounds of earth in the rear of the: structure. State police and county officers fought o keep huge crowds of curious persons from hampering the diggers. Peddlers did a brisk business selling “souvenir” Wupl‘u of the confessed slayer and yictims. %me Clarksburg Post Office mean- ! | wl letters from women throughout theZountry. who had answered Powers' mafrimonial advertisements, continued to Brrive by the score. se letters were added to hundreds of ‘athers found in trunks, boxes and a dozep other hiding places in the home and-in the garage where he slew his victims. Seek Clues in Letters, Detectives began poring over the - sives in the hope that new clues might be sdded to the evidence that is ex- packed to send Powers to the gallows. "Phe letters, addressed to Cornelius O. Pierson, were in a post office box. They willnot be removed .until a postal in- spector arrives, Letters taken from the box yesterday bore the following return Wallace street, Phila- Bos Kock, Walnut Grove Camp ‘Walto: 205 Flower street, Bur- n, Fla. llw C.;- 601 Martin street, Clear. i Pl;*l , T342 Ve 8t. {.’Dllll,um; 116 Clifton’ street, Olean, N. ff Grimm ed a conviction Ends Career ADMIRAL GLEAVES RETIRES FROM NAVAL HOME POST. ADMIRAL" ALBERT GLEAVES. By the Associated Press. PHILADELPHIA, August 31.—Ad- miral Albert Gleaves retired today as governor of the United States Naval Home, thus closing a naval career of 58 years for the officer. l THE E\'ENL\‘H STAR, WASHINGION, D. C, MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 1931. ASKS LEAGUE RIGHT [THREE SHOT IN GUN 10 USE ALL ARMIES Paul-Boncour, Paris Leader, Offers Plan as Solution of Parity Problem. (Continued From First Page.) he said, “which, by unanimous con- sent, will maintain naval superiority 10;;1@10 United States and Great Bri- ain.” t \ ‘Then he announced his proposal that armed forces be placed at the disposi- tion of the League of Nations, and he predicted that Prance would support such an undertaking at Geneva, “be- cause it hdYmponizes with the convic-| tions of the French nation.” Until the prcblem om mutual assist- ance is settled, formidable obstacles: will be encountered, he said, citing the difficulties 't by the Washington and London Naval Confesrences as such in-| stances. “Gen. Von Seeckt has said the World substituted for the eventual and' feared hegemony of Germany the very | real supremacy of France,” said M. Paul-Boncour. ‘Much could be said about this, but that is not the question. The question is not one of a succession pf hegemonies or of a struggle for hegémony. What we must assure is a hegemony of the League of Nations.” ALOOFNESS SEEN ENDED. U. 8. Now Definitely Entangled in European Affairs, Berenger Says. GENEVA, August 31 (#).—The warn- ings of Washington and Monroe against “foreign entanglements” have lost their force, Senator Henry Berenger, former French Ambassador to the United States, today told the committee for- mulating a constitution for a European economic federation. “American entanglement in world af. The admiral, who e: ts to return to private life here, will be succeeded by Rear Admiral Thomas Washington of San Prancisco, who will take charge on September 15. During the World War Admiral Gleaves had command of the Ameri- can transport fleet and received nu- merous decorations for his success in convoying millidns of American soldiers without loss of a single life through submarine attacks. He was born January 1, 1858, in Nashville, Tenn.; retired from active service in the Navy December 31, 1922, and was promoted to the full rank of admiral on August 23, 1930. He had been in charge of the Naval Home for the past three year: that additional bodies would be found. The search will be directed particularly at a well—the rear of the garage, he said. Sherif’s deputies reported that at the bottom of the well they found 4 feet of rock which probably was dumped there recently. Several deep holes in a creek which runs by the Power property also will be explored. ‘Gas Mask Offers Clue. Discovery of a gas mask caused au- thorities to believe the basement of the garage may have been designed for asphyxiation by means of natural gas. The gas mask was found under a corner of & house owned by Powers’ wife and sister-in-law here. The houre was occupied by J. H. Stone, a tenant, who moved late last week, police said. Stone could not be found today. There were gas jets in the basement of Powers' garage, but there were none in the garage above. A former Army service man said the gas mask was of the type used by the United States Army, but that, in his opinion, it was not a souvenir of the World War. Says He Needs Records. Corpl. Dorsey C. Dailey of the West Vlra‘nh State police and City De- tect Carl Southern, to whom Powers made his oral confession, announced they would receive a written ccnfes- sion from the prisoner today. Powers said he could not write his confession last night “because I will need some of the records you have in order to give you the dates and other things you will want to know.” MRS. LEMKE WEALTHY. Attorney Says Murder Victim Had Several Thousand. ST. PAUL, August 31 (#).—Mrs. Dor- othy A. Lemke, formerly of St. Paul and fifth victim of Harry F. Powers at Clarksburg, W. Va, was known to have had several thousand dolla: the tire of her divorce, seven ago. from A W. Lemke here. This was disclosed *nday by Frank A McAllister of Chicago, former 8t. Paui attorney. who represented Mrs. Lemke in the divorce action. McAllister was here on business. / “Mrs, Lemke told me she had means of her own end was noi interested in obtaining alimony.” McAllister -said. “When the time came for the final he ing in the.case, she was in Worcester, ]\;l!nss., and would nol return to tes- tify.” McAllister said Mrs. Lemke intimated she had several thousand dollars snd had been given about $1,500 by Lemke previous to the diverce. id he thought Mrs. Lemke suffered from hal- lucinations which followed the deatlr of her child. “1 investigated several stories she told ‘re and founa they were without foun- dation,” McAllister said. POWERS OPERATED HERE. Reported Seen at Time of Mary Baker's Murder. Reports that Harry O. Powers has times used Washington as base operatigns, and that he was here in April, 1930, when Mary Baker was killed, were understood to be under in- vestigation by police here today. Powers is said. to have met a woman in a hotel here and to have corres- ponded with several others living in nearby communities in connection with his matrimonial bureau. Mary Baker was killod by an un- identified man who was seen beating her in her automobile near the Navy Departmen Her mutilated body was found in a ditch near Arlington Ceme- tery. at of fairs is now complete,” he said; “the penetration of American capital since the World War has made a ‘European bloc' impossible, and provincialism ap- pears to be a thing of the past for continents as well as for nations. “Recent events demonstrated that the whole world is involved as soon as one nation is in peril No state can be pe: mitted to collapse without menacing all other states. “The intercontinental meetings at Paris and Lendon last month surpassed in importance the meetings »f the| League of Nations, for Mr. Stimson and Mr. Mellon could not have sat at Ge- neva as ministers of the United States. Soviet Renews Pact Plea. ‘The Soviet proposal for an interna- tional pact of economic non-aggression came before the committee. Foreign Commissar Maxim Litvinoff himself, who advanced the project at the last meeting in May, was here to explain the application of his proposal to the statesmen and technical experts of 26 European nations. Other measures for relief placed be- fore the committee by subcommittees included recommendations for concerted reduction of tariff barriers, preferences for Eurepean cereals, disposal of future harvest surpluses and the creation of iln international bank to gain long- term credits. Protective Systems Asked. A vigorous attack on protective sys- tems as one of the fundamental causes of the prevailing world depression is contained in the report of economic ex- perts who have been studying the situ- ation since the last meeting.. As long' as the free movement of goods is ob- structed, it is said. there is no chance BATTLE AT HARLAN One Dead, Another Dying as Deputy Returns Fire' of Miners. By thé Associated Press. HARLAN, Ky, August miner dead, one dyin wounded was the toll ay of the lates sbooting in Harlon County's troubled mine area. Deputy Sheriff Lee Fleener said he 31.—One THE HECHT and another | emptied his pistol at the three miners t_him. last mflt . Joe Moore, 40, was instantly killed by a bullet in the heart. Julius Bald- win, 30, shot twice in the head, was ven no chance for recovery. His rother, Jeff Baldwin, 32, was wounded twice in the shoulder. ‘The shooting -occurred at a pavilion & mile from Harlan, where miners often Deputy sheriffs had pre- viously confiscated firearms found In the place. After last night's shooting four shotguns, & pump gun and an au- were confiscated by Sheriff J. H. Blair. Sheriff Blair sald he believed the miners fired in an attempt to prevent Fleener from searching the place. He released the deputy on his own recog- nizance to appear for trial. Fleener sald the three opened fire when he stopped his automobile in front of the pavilion, which contains a soup kitchen and small swimming pool. Five persons previously had been slain in Harlan County's mine labor disorders, which resulted in the sending ! t; of State troops here for several weeks. ‘Two deputies, & mine commissary clerk and a miner were slain in May in a gun battle near Evarts. A deputy sher- iff was shot to death a month before at the same place. A deputy sheriff figured in anothér killing last night which was not re- lated to the labor troubles. Carlo Hy- att, 19, was shot and killed by Deputy Sheriff Ed Rose, who said Hyatt began fighting him when he attempted to ar- rest the youth on a drunkenness charge. Two Plan Lisbon-U. 8. Hop. LISBON, Portugal, August 31 (#).— Willy Rody and Christian Johannsen, German airmen, who flew here recently from Berlin, plan to take off from Villa Pranca de Xira on a transatlan- tic flight to New York as soon as work |on a flving field now under construc- tion is completed. ki A e 'Xl"he Labor paréy is in power in Aus- ral COLEMAN ANNOUNCED MINISTER TO DENMARK Robert P. Skinner to Be Sent to Baltic Countries and Successor Named in Greece. Acting Secretary of State Castle to- day announced appointment of Pred- erick W. B. Coleman of Detroit, now Minister to Latvia, Estonia and !fi'filua— nis, to be Minister to Deamark. Robert " Peet Skinner of Massilion, Ohlo, for more than five years Amer- ican Minister to Greece, ‘was named Minister to the' three Baltic countries. Coleman fills the vacancy-caused by the death of the late Ralph H. An a) to the Booth. intment will be made later ens post. REFEREE ROUTS BANDITS Dave Barry, Noted for Decision on Dempsey, Saves $2,000. CHICAGO, August 31 (#).—Dave Barry, of 14-count note, swung a longer count on two bandits Saturday night. The referee of the Dempsey-Tu battle at Soldiers Field was arfi?fi along a West Side boulevard when he saw two men slug a third in Union Park ~“Fourteen Count” oined the le. He swung several Tigh lefts and the assajants fled. o Then Barry learned the victim of the :g:!a!.:sa’l;ltdwn ;'bhlnk messenger and e had saved the $2,000 a bottling works. i Michael Alton, aged 16, of St. Paul's School, London, has the distinction. of being the first competitor at Bisley to The birthrate of the United States is | obtain the highest possible score with decreasing rapidiy. Free Auto Pafking, E St. between 6th & 7th F Street at Seventh .for this pre-season sale the manufacturer sold us his best suits. for less! «.Qur buyer in turn priced | them accordingly! Now get beautiful - New Fall Suits That will sell for more in regular season! for improvement in the international trade outlook. Today's meeting marked the begin- ning of the League's busy season, in which economic relief measures will occupy the foreground. The League Council convenes tomorrow. the Euro- pean Commission proper Thursday and the annual Assembly of the League next Monday. In view of authoritative opinion in many countries that the coming Winter will be one of unusual hardships for the world's estimated 20,000,000 unem- ployed, with the accompanying threat of ‘political disturbances, the League's officials feel there is a desperate need for remedial action on an international sc: Bech Chosen Chairman. ‘The League is belleved never to have approached its annual plenary assembly under circumstances more gravely threatening to world tranquillity than ! those which mow prevail. M. Bech, President of the govern- ment of Luxembourg, was selected as chairman of the sessions at the morn- ' ting, and the serious business gin In the afternoon. All the meetings will be private, except the last one. It wi announced that Aristide Briand, Frgnch foreign minister, who was the originator of the scheme for European union, will not be able to come to Geneva because of poor health. 0000000600000« e S Every suit lined with lustrous, long- wearing celanese. The majority of these suits have TWO PAIRS of TROUSERS! Fine, rich worsteds, tweeds and cheviots. Plenty of fashionable blues and oxford Others, too. 1931-1932 style ideas. range that takes in every man. greys. 2 Seconds by Direct Elevators to the Men's Clothing Department & any OIl Burner with out vesting ourself on OIL-ELEC-TRIC Let us quote on dividual requirements. We are OIL BURNER PIONEERS. 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NAtional 5100 | 25| Paralleling Our Men’s Clothing Sale with Values Equally Startling in Selling 2400 $1.95 to $2.50 SHIRTS 55 Six for made. ’s 50c, 75¢ and $1 Irregulars of Nationally Known SOCKS—29c¢ 4 for 81 (Main Floor) Practically every Sizes 1312 to 18. = $1 and $.150 Neckties 69c " 3 for 82 Reductions in our own stocks . . supplemented by special pur- e chases to complete assortments. Greater part hand tailored. All new fashions, $9 $1.85 to $2.50 Pajamas $1.55 3 for $4.50 Special selection of broadcloth, A, B7C, D. end to end madras, plain cham- brays andffigured fabrics. White, colors, fancies. English collar, coat. and slip-over style. Sizes 4Main Floor. The Hecht o)