Evening Star Newspaper, December 12, 1934, Page 5

23 KNOWN DEAD INHOTEL DISASTER, Charred Remains of Three Taken From Debris—Toll May Reach 70. By the Assoclated Press. LANSING, Mich., December 12.—As fire blackened, ice-shrouded ruins of the Hotel Kerns began giving up their dead today, State police announced that 23 persons had been listed as victims of the flames that trapped the sleeping guests yesterday morning. The roster of “known dead” in| Michigan's most horrible fire tragedy included those whose bodies were taken from the icy waters of the| | Grand River, into which many terri- fied guests plunged, those who leaped to the street, dying of injuries, and | those definitely reported by relatives to have spent the night in the hotel and to be missing now. Charred Bones Removed. Searchers began digging into me‘ still smoking debris this morning and | three bodies were removed, but none | was identified One apparently had died in the lobby. The other two, found close together, evidently had occupied the same room and died in their sleep. The arms, legs and head of one were missing and it could not be told definitely whether the body was that of a man or a woman. The bones were believed to be those of David Monroe, assistant hotel manager. Twelve other bodies of terror- stricken guests, driven by flames to leap to their deaths into the Grand River or into the street, lay in under- taking establishments To the known dead were added the names of State Senator John Leidlein, Saginaw, whose friends were unable to arouse him from sleep when the fire broke cut Toll of®0 Possibte. Estimates of the numbs possibly still in the ruins, based upon the number unaccounted for, ranged from 8 to 70. A painstaking survey by State police accounted for 182 guests, either among the known dead, the 35 injured or those who escaped unharmed The hotel’ register was destroyed, and estimates of the fflumber of guests quartered in the 0-room hostelry when the fire broke out early yester- day ranged from 190 to 250. Author- ities said the complete list of dead might never be known. Relatives of persons still missing waited silently in the cold, bshind a rope barricade. As the searchers car- ried into the warehouse-morgue the covered form representing their first gruesome find, the fearful spectators filed through the death house, but neither their fears nor their hopes couid be realized. Alarm Delay Charged. Official investigations by State, county and city brought forth accusa- tions of delay in sounding the alarm, along with statements and denials that an explosion preceded the fire, and the assertion by one person that the fire first was noticeable as a mere | flicker of flame in a second-floor guest | room. Mrs. William Lesher. a permanent | resident of the hotel, said she and her | husband notified the clerk at 5 am. that they smelled smoke. Fire De- partment records showed that the alarm was not received until about 5:30. By the time firemen reached the hotel, flames were swirling through | the upper floors of the four-story structure and the only rescues that could be made were of those p?rwnfil who would b> reached from ladders | through windows. The fire, taking the lives of two Re- publican and one Democratic Repre- sentative who would have been mem- bers of the L January, broke a 50-50 deadlock in the House and gave Democrats a probable slender majority of 49 to 48 Special elections to fill the vacancies cannot be held until after the House is organiz TIGHT LAW URGED TO SMASH NUMBERS RACKET IN CAPITAL (Continued From First Page.) of bodies if it isn't checked early you'll find worse trouble here. “The first necessity in any fight against it is effective law. That places the issue squarely up to the enforce- ment agencies and if gambling still flourishes then it means either ineffi- ciency or protection. Tighten up your laws and then stamp the racket out; if vou don't you'll find sooner or later | that graft and bribery will become a part of it all and the problem will get | worse steadily.” Such a tightening of District of Columbia laws probably will take place this Winter, it was predicted today by Senator Ashurst, Democrat, of Arizona, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Gambling is the most baneful of all habits,” Senator Ashurst declared, “angd every possible means of check- ing it should be provided. I cer- tainly believe that Congress will look with favor this Winter upon any proposal to tighten District laws so the. police can effectively hit at this racket. The numbers game, the claw lature taking office in | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, ‘D.' C, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1834, Ruins’ of Mlchlgan Hotel and Leglslator Vlctlms S 0 OSRGOS %% A-S FARMING SYSTEM HELD PERMANENT Nashville Convention Told Importance of Capital- istic Features. By the Associated Press. NASHVILLE Tenn., December 12. America’s agricultural industry “should and will” remain capitalistic in form, says Donald Kirkpatrick, general counsel of the American Farm Bureau Federation. The good of such a system should be retained, he told the organiza- tion's convention in an address pre- pared for delivery today—and the No. 1—Policemen in rowboats dragging the Grand River for victims «of the Kerns Hotel blaze at Lansing, Mich. Many guests plunged from their windows into the ice-covered stream, dying by drowning or injury from striking the ice. No. 2—The smoke-grimed skele- ton of the hotel, 2ll that remained. Rescuers, in the center fore- ground, can be seen about to enter the wreckage to seek bodies of victims. Note how front of build- ing collapsed, leaving only jagged fragments of brickwork in place. No. 3—Vern Voorhees, 56, rep- resentative in the Michigan Legislature, one of the dead. Nc. 4—State Senator Leidlein, dead. No. 5—Representative Howlett, dead. No. 6—Representative Charles D. John Henry evils discarded. “The American farmer,” he sald, “should and will continue to own and control his instrumentalities of pro- duction and directly so, as the per- sonal proprietor and master of his unit, obtaining a fair return on his investment and adequate compensa- tion for his management and labor, and a reasonable profit for his en- terprise.” Services Described. Kirkpatrick described co-operative services to be rendered by farm or- ganizations as including marketing, mutual insurance, pooled purchases and other major business operations in which he believed farmers could ef- fect savings through collective action. “I might remind you,” he said, “that it is the job of the farm or- ganization and its service organiza- tions to solve the farmer's problem before starting in on the thankless task of revolutionizing the world. * * * We do not need to enter entangling alliances at this time with other movements.” Secretary of Agriculture Wallace, in an address last night called for a re- duction in import duties, especially on products he classified as non- agricultural. For Tariff Program. “I think it is high time,” he said “that we worked out a tariff pro- gram. The need for increased im- ports is imperative if we are to main- tain our exports. This is impossible unless we reduce import duties, and I think these should be lowered on non-agricultural products, particu- larly. A high tariff on industrial products increases prices and reduces purchasing power.” Increased imports, Wallace de- clared, “would give us a sound foreign market for wheat, cotton, tobacco | and our other exports.” “We would increase purchasing power,” he continued.” and the farmers Parker, dead. No. 7T—Another view of the skeleton of the building. Donald former No. 8—Representative E. Sias of Midland, Mich,, World War aviator, dead. No. 9—Representative John W. Goodwine, dead. —A. P. Photos. Official Toll Death List Includes 11 Missing, Known to Have Been in Hotel. By the Associated Press. fire was announced today: State Representative T. Henry How- | lett, Gregory, Mich. Representative Vern Voorhees, Al- | bion. Marlette. Representative Charles D. Parker, Otisville. Representative Donald W. Sias, Mid- land. R. S. McFarland, Dayton, salesman. Isaac Wishneff, Lansing and Los Angeles. James Gratrix, Chicago. A. B. Bosman, Grand Rapids, Mich. Clarence Smith, Coldwater, Mich. —— Kohn (first name and address unknown). Unidentified woman, about 60. Those named in the official list as having perished beyond doubt: Mrs. Elisa Robbins, matron of the State Capitol. resident of the hotel. Charles B. Searle, Fort Wayne, Ind., salesman. Lloyd E. Rockey, Addison, Mich. H. Millard, South Norwalk, Conn., salesman. J. H. Byrnes, Grand Rapids, Mich., salesman. C. L. Fisher, Marshall, Mich. R. V. Horney, Detroit. Joel Palmer, Ionia, Mich., field rep- resentative of the Union Joint Stock Land Bank of Detroit. Fred Barnard, Lansing. David Monroe, manager of the hotel. State Senator John Leidlein, Sag- inaw, Mich. Others Missing. Others reported missing, but not in- cluded in those “known” to be dead, are: Robert E. Shepherd, Grand Rapids. Miss Ronnie Curran, hotel waitress. Herbert Brown, Detroit. Ohio, machines and all the other rackets that instill the gambling habit into decent citizens should be stamped out.” In Youngstown, Ohio, recourse also was taken to tightening laws and hit- ting quickly and constantly at the numbers runners. “We found two gangs operating thete,” Chief of Police Leroy Good- win said today, “and we made no progress against them until we had a special ordinance passed about two years ago. Then we picked a special police squad and put them on this racket permanently. We pulled in runners whenever located, hu.stled them through the courts and kep! them pretty well scared. It's a blg business and we haven't stopped it entirely, but we have kept them from running wild. “It's the kind of erime that is a pain in the neck to police depart- ments and prosecuting lawyers, but it can't be allowed to continue with- out interruption.” Deaths R.eported Marina Cusimano. 90. 3620 15th st ne Hagriet M. Via Devanter. 82, 6100 Ml rd e Margaret H. Yerkes. Roseanna_ Thorne. Willlam H_Witte Nellie N. Faucett, Horace Elliott. 5. 1006 h pl. Cora Mohler. 65. Garfleld Hospital Luey Tonz G4 Emergency Hospital Sydfey A Schwartz G1. 2414 15th st. n.w. . 2115 Pennsylvania 71._Gallinger Hospital. 70.'80% Decatur st. 70. 1026 15th st Ity Hospital. 34 1433 Columbia rd. 481 Elizabeth’s Hos- 1932 15th st. Freeamen's Hos el Crawford. !1 bom Butler, M rlgn Minor. 65, fi r Gallinger 4 E. Carrol Rospit wl‘m’r Griffin. 42 elamere are oy % H. Price. 41 764 Lamont st. Brown. 41,1822 th st. B " P ard, aa. 824" st chulu hnson. 1, 7 Terrace pl. n.e. Edward Booth, Grand Rapids, James H. Weisse, Flint. Mrs. Lameroux (first name and ad- dress unknown). Leo J. Morris, Detroit. Charles Gunn, Bay City. C. R. Johnson, Milwaukee. Paul Barrows, Hartford, Mich. C. E. Gerner, Owosso. Glenn Schoup, Toledo. M. Seavoy, L'Anse, Mich. The Injured. Those reported injured included: Dr. F. C. Thiedes, Grand Rapids. Harris Silverberg, Detroit. William Jacobi, Rutherford, N. J., fractured foot. Lloyd Keck, Lansing, fireman. Representative Maurice E. Post, Kent County. M. S. Nolan, Battle Creek. Thomas Skedgell, Coral, Mich. Frank Sochia, Lansing. C. H. Thompson, Grand Rapids. Representative John Dykstra, Mus- kegon. R. J. Dubay, Los Angeles. Fred Van Dyne, Owosso. J. L. Zandler. Ralph Froh, Detroit. E. S. Allen, Mancelona. Mrs. Georgia Ball, Lansing. R. C. Bliss, Saginaw. Mrs. Alice Casterlin, resident of the hotel. Representative Charles T. Kimball, Jonesville. A. D. Carr, Bloomington, Ind. A. B. Hanson, Oscoda, Mich. Representative Knox Hanna, Caro, Mich. C. B. Herrendeen, Grand Rapids. Patrick Kilpatrick, Saginaw. ‘Ted Kleidinest, Blissford, Mich, Harry Levine, Detroit. R. Thomas Lowther, Ferndale. James McMillen, Petoskey. LANSING, December 12.—The offi- | cial list of dend in the Kerns Hotel | The identified bodies are those of: | Representative John W. Goodwine, | LABOR OPENS J0B INSURANCE DRIVE Green Proposes 5 Per Cent Tax on Pay Rolls, Freeing Workers of Levy. By the Associated Press. Union labor's legislative drive for | 1935 opened today with a proposal by | William Green that unemployment in- surance be financed wholly by a 5 per cent tax on pay rolls. | Opposing any direct levy on work- ers, the president of the American Federation of Labor said they would pay most of the cost anyway. Em- ployers add their cost to prices and employes buy 85 per cent of all goods, he said. If workers shared the direct cost of insurance, he added, they would be paying twice. | The labor chief made his proposals in & message to all A. F. of L. unions. Congressional supporters of another | measure that has A. F. of L. backing— the 30-hour week—prepared to at- | temp. to pass it quickly in the next Congress, though high officials in the | Roosevelt administration have shown signs of opposition. Black Backs Connery. Chairman Connery of the House Labor Committee has reported to col- leagues that sentiment for the meas- ure as & means of reducing unemploy- ment is growing. Backing Connery is Senator Black, Democrat, of Ala- bama, co-author of the measure, which was sidetracked in 1933. Connery said advocates are inter- ested in giving “employers their just due, while at the same time giving to workers a fair share of the products of their labor in the form of decent living conditions.” Meantime, agitation for some form of Government protection agsinst the vicissitudes of old age gained .iomen- | tum within and outside the admini- stration today, Pension Issue Seen. New indications were seen that old- age pensions would be debated by the | next Congress whether President Roosevelt recommends it or not. Among developments were these: 1. Representative Keller, Democrat, of Illinois mailed letters to the 48 Governors asking suggestions for an old-age pension law which he will ‘opose. 2. President Roosevelt’s Committee on Economic Security wound up its survey of schemes for such pensions and related subjects. It will report recommendations to the President Monday. 3. Dr. F. E. Townsend of Cali- fornia, author of an “old-age revolving pension plan,” was here to set up headquarters and push his proposal. He claimed wide support for the plan, under which a universal sales tax would be levied to finance pensions of $200 monthly to about 8,000,000 per- sons over 60. Dr. Edwin Witte, chair- man of the Committee on Economic Security, called this “financially im- | wire from him at Muskegon, possible.” Keller Expects Passage. Representative Keller said popular demand for a national old-age pension law “is s0o widespread and so- intense that there seems little room to doubt the passage of such a law.” Nancy Parker, Lansing. Jay Peck, Detroit. Charles Stokes, Lansing. D. W. Pierson, Cadillac. ‘W. H. Brooks, Lansing. Representative Joseph Green, Crys- ich. .Washington Man, Feared Lost in Fire, Found Alive | Joseph W. Rhodes Wires Wife From Muskegon, Happy Over Luck. Joseph W. Rhodes, 29, of 500 Whit- ing after the burning of the Kerns Hotel at Lansing, Mich,, early yester- day, was not at the hotel when the | fire occurred, it was learned today from his wife, Mrs. Pearl Rhodes, who received a telegram from him last might. Mrs. Rhodes had telephonéd to Grand Rapids, Mich, where her hus- band was due to ston while in the State, and learned hz had been there | a short while before. Shortly afterward she received a Mich., reading: Lucky for me." Mrs. Rhodes said tcday she did not know whether her husband had been nearby at the time of the fire or had witnessed any of it. Mrs. Annie Mae Casterlin, 3079 Al- bemerle street, whose husband, the late Charles L. Casterlin, was a cousin of Mrs. Alice Casterlin, 71, who was injured in the fire, said she had re- ceived no word from the latter for several years. Mrs. Alice Casterlin had owned an interest in the hotel, it was said. and when last heard from was planning to lease it. Several times she had stopped over in Washington en route from Florida to Michigan. Capt. Milliken to Speak. Capt. Rhoda Milliken of the Police Department Woman's Bureau will speak at the meeting of the Woman's Guild of the Central Union Mission tomorrow afternoon in the board room of the mission. THE GIFT STORE FOR For the 42nd Christmas Wash- mg!omanq are coming to A. Kahn Inc. for... Platinum Diamond Ring $175 Half-carat (50-100ths) @ center stone 27 .. .6 diamonds in mounting Jewelers Stationers MESSAGES POLICY MAY BE RESUMED |President Expected to Give Congress Only General Preview at Start. | tier street, salesman for a New Vork | firm of importers who has been listed | in Associated Fress dispatches as miss- | By the Assoclated Press. The Seventy-fourth Congress, like its predecessor, is expected to get only a very general preview of Presi- | dent Roosevelt's program at the start. | | After that, the aces and kings prob- | ably will be popping out of the New | Deal legisiative deck singly and on dates carefully selected by the dealer at the other end of Pennsylvania avenue. Mr. Roosevelt's lieutenants expect him to continue sending special mes- sages recommending single pieces of legislation at a time | | “There's some virtue in that sys-| tem,” says Senator Barkley, Demo- | crat, of Kentucky. “It gives the op- | ! position very little to shoot at and | against another.” After his first message to the extra session of the Seventy-third Con- gress, the President wrote 17 special messages proposing as many bills. In | the last session, he sent up 30, along | with 18 vetoes. In addition, he forwarded the texts of many measures he was recommend- ing, another innovation The opposition contends this goes to show the diminishing importance of Congress, a view which is disputed by leading New Dealers. Mr. Roosevelt, as in the past, is expected to call in committee chair- men from time to time to talk over a special bill. He also may again ex- press his desires in formal notes to committee heads. ‘The way things shape up now, Cap!- tol observers believe the Executive will experience his greatest difficulties with Congress over the soldiers’ bonus, per- manent N. R. A. legislation, relief, St. Lawrence waterway and perhaps the currency issue. ALL THE PEOPLE DIAMONDS WATCHES — SILVER LAMPS AND CLOCKS Platinumsmiths _ A.Kahn Jnc. Arthur J. Sundlun, Pres. 42 Years at 935 F St. UPRISINGS FOUGHT BY CUBA OFFICIALS Constitutional Guarantees in Most Provinces Sus- pended for Drive. { By the Assaciated Press, HAVANA, December 12.— Drastic | measures were invoked by provisional government authorities today to cope with threatened uprisings. In the Provinces of Havana, Santa Clara and Camaguey constitutional | guarantees were suspended. Authori-‘ ties thus were enabled to search homes without warrants, hold prisoners with- | out bringing charges against them and | inspect personal mail. Matanzas is the only remaining province where citizens are assured constitutional rights, since the guar- antees were suspended in Pinar Del Rio and Oriente Provinces some time ago. Cabinet members said the action was “Wasn't in fire at hotel.) goesn't let them play one proposal|taken 'to enable the government to combat acts of terrorism against life and property by certain groups. The swift moves were said to have caused a marked change in the attitude of opposition leaders. Reports that 26 army officers, most of them leutenants, had been “re- tired” drew no comment from author- ities. The officers presumably were “retired” for conspiring Police heightened their vigilance in Havana, searching pedestrians and ve- hicles minutely after midnight. The military supervisor in Santiago | issued an order prohibiting pedestrians or vehicles on the streets after that hour. Theaters and other public gath- ering places were ordered cleared by | | 11 pm. JAPANESE RELEASED Drawings in Diary Declared Not to Be Seditious. SAN DIEGO, Calif, December 12 (#).—Teruo Muramoto, 28, Japanese, arrested near Fort Rosecrans, was re- leased yesterday by police who said they were convinced there was noth- ing seditious in a diary he carried. “Apparently it was just a diary kept | f his everyday doings” said De- tective Harry J. Kelly. Police- found him studying a diary | written in Japanese, containing sev- eral rough drawings. One of these was of a road which runs above the fort. He was taken in custody Mon- Charles Adler Dies. LEONARDTOWN, Md., December 12 (Special).—Funeral services were heled yesterday for Charles Adler, 60, of Baltimore, who died following a | heart attack at his store here. He was a well-known merchant and had | made his home here for 13 years. of the South and Middle West would | buy more machinery, not only from | the factories of the Midwest but from | the East.” This, he said could be shown by “definite figures” as result- ing in a general benefit to industry. 'METAL SOCIETY TO MEET Dr. James Aston Speaks Tonight on “Wrought Iron.” The Washington Chapter of the American Society for Metals will meet | this evening in the Harrington Hotel, | where Dr. James Aston, discoverer of the “Aston process,” “Wrought Iron.” Dr. Aston is head of the department of mining and metallurgy of the Car- negie Institute of Technology. LEDEDETETETE Christmas 2 Shop at the friendly store— you're always greeted with a smile—with no obligation to buy. Specializing in Perfect Diamonds And All Standard American Watches will speak on : ; I The Finest Genuine CULTURED PEARL NECKLACES $14.00 up. LL LT 28 2 Y Complete Line of Gifts M. Wurtzburger Co. 901 G St. N.W, Oeen | ; Charge Accounts Inivted Tis a canny idea to get your new overcoat right now- during Bond's exciting Overcoat Parade. Ye'll save all of $10. mon / O'course.ye can usethe Overcoat Parade Specials! Sedan Fleeces . . . « Royal Melions . . . Burlingame Polos . They're '.-l.’n l---‘n $32.50 BCND 1335 F N.-W.