Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, February 28, 1916, Page 1

| Many English Ships Are Sent to the Bottom - OMAHA DAILY BEE. v WHEN AWAY FROM HOME The Bee is the Paper § Jou ask for; if you plan %o be | Bave The Bes matled to Jou. ENGLISH LINERS SUNK BY MINES . OUTSIDE DOVER Oriental Steamship Maloja Goes | Down and Empress of Fort Wil- | { liam, Coming to Rescue, Meets Same Fate. MANY LIVES REPORTED LOST e Beveral Other Vessels Under Union Jack Lost During Dis- astrous Day, TWENTY-FIVE BODIES FOUND LONDON, Feb. ~The Peninsu- lar and Oriental line steamship Ma- loja, 12,431 tons gross, carrying ap- proximately 130 passengers, a crew of about 200, mostly Lascars, was sunk in the straits of Dover at 11:20 o'clock this morning, presumably by striking a mine, A majority of the passengers, ac- cording to an official announcement made this evening, was saved. An unofficial report says that about twenty-five bodies were landed at Dover. Amother Liner Sunk. The steamship Empress of Fort William, 2,181 tons gross, while at- tempting to rescue thé survivors of the Maloja struck another mine and sunk in less than half an hour, The crew of the Empress was saved by other boats in the vicinity. The scene of the disaster was two miles off the port of Dover and the along the water front were shaken. Relief boats quickly put out from the harbor of Dover and succeeded in pick- ing up a number of the Maloja's crew and. passengers when the liner went down. The Maloja carried in the first class cabin twenty-six men, twenty-three women and seven children. Among the passengers was Justice Oldfield of the India high courts. - Steamer Birgit Sunk. The steamship Birgit has been sunk. Beventeen survivors have been landed. The Britith steamship Seulver, from New York February 11 for Havre, has been abandoned afire at sea, aacording to a dispa from: Ireland. All the members of the crew are reported to have been taken off by angther stéamer. Ship Lost Off Flushing. FLUSHING, Holland (Vis London), Feb. 27.-The mall steamer Mecklenburg of the Zeeland line ran on a mine while on a voyage from Tilbury to Flushing. The vessel was lost. Officials of the lne state that the passengers and crew and the mails were saved. A There are three small steamers of the name of Birgit, according to shipping records, two Swedish and one Norweglan. The largest of the three s 220 feet long and of 117 gross tonnage. The vessel flies the Swedish flag. The Peninsular and Oriental line steam- ship Maloja was an Australian mail boat and a sister boat of the Persia, which was torpedoed and sunk off the Island of Crete December 30 list, with the loss of 396 lives, The Maloja was I reported as having arrived at Marseilles January 31 bound for London from Sydney, New South Wales. Bullt ut Beltast. The steamship was 30 feet long, 62 feet beam and 34 feet deep. It was built at Belfast in 1911, 7 In February of 1915 it was reported that the Maloja on entering the English chan- nel with 400 passengers on board was ordered to stop by an unknown armed merchantman. The mail boat is sald to have ignored the omder and made for Plymouth, whereupon the merchantman fired five shells at it, but all fell short. The Empress of Fort Willlam was for- merly the Mount Stephen and wWas built at New Castle in 198. It was %0 feet long, 43 feet beam and 22 feet deep. The vessel Was owned by the Empress Transporta- ton Company of Midland, Ltd, SALMON ENOUGH TO FEED | TEN MILLION OFF EAST| . A solid s of Puget sound and salmon, with banners on the o s.des, departed for New York today over | We=he Union Pucific railroad systerr Thers explosion was so violent that houses | are 2400000 cans of salmon in the ship- ment, or enough to farnish one meal for 19,000,000 persons. Much of the fish will be | shipped to Europe | : The W;ather | sage back and forth through almost any MERCHANT CRAFT - IN MEDITERRANEAN | British Steamship Fastnet Sent to | Bottom by German Submarine, | but Its Crew is Rescued. PARIS SEA OFFICE REPORTS I(llptam of Lost Craft Says He Saw Swedish Vessel Also Suffer Like Fate, TOWS BOATS OF LATTER AWAY PARIS, Feb. 26 (Via Feb. ~—An official announcement made by the French ministry marine today regarding the sinking of the British steamship Fastnet, }uays the vessel was sent to the bot- | Mediterranean. The crew of the | steamship was rescued by a French cruiser. The captain of the Fastnet reports that he saw the same submarine sink the Swedish steamer Tornborg, the boats of which the undersea vessel | towed away. | The Fastnet was of 2,227 tons | &ross and built in 1887, It was 290 | feet long, thirty-eight feet beam and nineteen feet deep. Breach Between the Packers and Striking | Workers is Widening SIOUX CITY, la., Feb. 27.—The breach | in settlement negotiations betwen of- | ficials of the Cudahy and Armour Pack- Ing companies and the 2300 strikers at the Sioux City plants was widened today, when at a mass meeting of strikers it was decided to demand the original seale of 221 cents an hour for all common laborers, instead of accepting the 2i-cent an hour offer, which Saturday was prac- tically decided. upon. Unless - the ors grant a written agreement setting forth that there shall hmnvm from wage scales for one vear, or ng of men from one do- was settlement. Officials of both companies have re- fusied to grant theke . Packe:s believed today that.the e would be mettled by the granting of cession of 1 cent to the strikers. ‘Was unanimously rejected when no writ- ten agreoment was advanced. Both packing plants will continue closed. Meantime strike léaders are en- deavoring fo instigate sympathetic strikes at the Armour and Cudahy plants in South Omaha, Chicago, St. Joseph and Kansas City. Hangs from Limb of Tree in River Where Boats Cannot Come OSKALOOSA, Ta, Feb, 2.—Charles ‘Thomas is probably the most uncomfort- able man in the United States tonight. He is perched on the limb of a tree in the Des Moines river seven miles south- west of this city and boats cannot reach him because of floating ice. Thomas not only is marooned In the dark, but his clothing is wet and he has not eaten since noon. The adventure which landed Thomas In the tree cost the life of A. E. Rom- mell, officlal engineer of Mahaska county. The two men started out in a skiff to dynamite an ice gorge. The boat was capsized by a big cake of ice and Rom- mell was drowned. The river out of its banks as a result of the gorge. Russia Orders 0il Engines for Front PHILADELPHIA, Feb., 21.—An order| for 30 gasoline locomotives to be used in the trenches on the eastern battle | front, has been placed with the Baldwin | | Locomotive company by the Russian government, These engines will travel on rails two feet apart. They will vir- tually be automobiles on rails and will weigh seven tons each. The narrow track requirements will permit their pas- }' part of the earthworks on the firing | Iine. Bonding Clause : at Om. Hours. w Temperatur: m m. m m m p. m Tp. m ’ Comparative Loeal Record, 1916. 1915. 1914 1913 EE [] Highest yesterday a Lowest yesterday 2 4 Mean temperature il B & Precipitation w T .3 T ..® ‘Temperature and greclmuuu- depar- tures from the normal: Normal temperature ... Deficlency for the day otal deficiency sin: Normal precipitation Deficlency for the day Total rainfell since March | Ineficien since March 1 Deficlency for cor. period Deficiency for cor period T ind LA 1914 1913 5 ates trece of Dre. WELSH, Local Fy | of the postoffice appropriation bill rela- | | tive to the bonding of employes up to 7| Omitged from Bill! (From a Staff Correspondent.) | WASHINGTON, Feh. Z.—(Special Tele- | gram.)—It will be of ijterest to a number | of employes of the postoffice at Omaha to know that the rules committee of the | house has failed to include that section | per cent of their salaries, and conse- "PHE "U-BOAT TORPEDOES London), | of | tom by a submarine in the western | | victims themselves were 1esponsible since |gated the camp on November 20 and OMAHA WILLIAM ORPET-—Latest || picture of the University of || Wisconsin student charged || with poisoning his sweet- || heart, Miss Marian Lambert, || an Oak Park High school || girl, made as he appeared || before the grand jury which || indicted him, | | | | | . Wmsiamarcorern ANSWERS GERARD'S " PRISON CRITIGISKS | Prussian War Minister Replies to | Statements Made About Camps by Envoys. BERLIN (Via London), Feb. 27. ~—The Prussian war minister today handed to James W. Gerard, the American ambassador to Germany, a long communication, in which courte- ous reply is made to the ambassa- report ot November 8, regard- German high tary at ‘were astonished, the reply says, when they saw portions of the ambassa-~ dor’s report printed in distorted form ir. the English papers. It declates that Mr. Gerard had communicated his criticismé to the Prussian war ministry through John B. Jackson, who investigated prison camp condi- tions for the embassy. Mr, Gerard, it is said, received as- surance that the conditions criticised would be remedied, whereupon Mr, Jackson said he was convinced the ambassador would be satisfied with this promise, Not Recelved by Commander. The communication refers to Mr Gerard's statement, which was ‘“obvi- ously made in a reproachful sense,” that when he visited the Wittenburg camp he was not received by the camp com- mander. “The German military authorities are fully aware uf the consideration due the ambass;dor because of his position,” the reply says, adding the explapation that the commander of the camp was com- pelled by military duties to be absent on the day of the visit of the ambassador. The communication points out that Mr. Gerard reported the accommodation: d fare of the prisoners were the same as those in other camps. English press re- ports, based on the ambassador's alleged statements, reported conditions at Wit- tenberg as extraopdinarily unsdtisfac- tory. It 1s admitied that police dogs are used at Wittenberg, but It is said they are employed for guard duty at night and also to prevent thefts among prisoners. As to the ambassador's report that in certain cases prisoners complained their clothes had been torn ba the dogs, the ministry says that if thls be true the they were surprised at night at forbidden try and climbed the barbed wire fence. Refers to Report. Reply 1s made to Mr. Gerard's criticism of sanitary conditions by referring to the report of & commission of American phy- siclans under Dr. Caldwell which investi- praised its sanitary and hyglenic equip ment Ambassador Gerard's statement that a British army surgeon had been beaten by a German noncommissioned officer was investigated by the ministry of wa understanding had occurred, the German officer having exceeded his power. The English surgeon in question has declared that the matter has been adjusted satis- | tactorily, In reference to Mr. Gerard's statement quently the point of order that will be! made against the section will be sus- tained { American Nurses Go | to the British Front LONDOM, Feb. 2.=~Thirty-three Amer- fean nurses, most of them from Mercy hospital, Chicago, left London today for the British front. They have been de- talled to service for aix months in field | hospitals. The nurses had been in London | for nearly two weeks gathering thelr equipment that prisoners had complained that pay due them for work was unpaid, it is un- derstood the ambassador told the officer who {s conducting him through the camp of this complaint, South Africans Rout ColumnAof phe Turks LONDON, Feb. 27.—A Turkish column was attacked and rovted by Sonth African MONDAY DISTORTED BY ENGLISH PRESS gares, ran when challenged by the sen- | | hour seemed to bring it closer. —— = MORNING, FEBRU 'PARIS MAINTAINS ITS 'SANG-FROID AS GUNS * ORTEUTONS HENACE |Inhabitants of City on the Seine ‘ Extraordinarily Calm in Pres- ence of Great Battle Raging Around Verdun, | CONFIDERCE IN THE RESULT | People Believe Germans Will Wear | Themselves Out Attacking Positions, | WHOLE FRONT ON THE ALERT PARIS, Feb, 27.- | Paris is extra- | ordinarily calm in the presence of the great battle now fin progress ;lro\md Verdun. There are no indi- cations of tension or nervousness, but only sober confidence in the result prevails, | The desire among those who know the defensive strength of the lines | seems to be that the attacks should | continue, for, they argue, the losses | on the German side would be in pro- | portion to their efforts There were few persons around the newspaper bulletin boards today, and no crowds at the ministry of war and other public offices. The whole front from the North Sea to Switzer- land is on the alert, and all leaves of absence have been recalled. Maximum Effort Made. The French maximum effort has not yot been made. The total French losses [in killed, wounded, and prisoners, since the Verdun battle, it was authoritatively stated this evening, has been less than the German official communication claims in prisoners. The Temps military reviow, ustally written by General de la Croix, A up the situation thus The battle being fought is extremely serious. Even should the helghts of Polvre and the Vauche be taken, the enemy would find us perhaps stronger on the Froideterre-Dovaumont line, from which begins the de; speaking, of the fortress, covered with trenches and batteries. Tils is a slege by the Germans; it Js & battle aguinst one of our armies in the garrison at Ver- dun, and its forts do not figure In these combats as & support. The big guns of the enemy might destroy the fort of ¢ an tnert of ément: ‘ Cannot Be Suspended. ““The snow has not catsed any diminu- tlon of the attacks because they cannot ‘be suspended. They must be continued ‘to ‘the end. The trocps engaged would be unable to remain 1dle long in the terri- tory captured while awaiting better ‘weather conditions. A thaw would ren. der their situation worse and It must al- ready be painful.” The Temps s to the possibility of the attacks continuing for two weeks and adds: “Let us continue to have complete and unshakeable confidence in the firial is- sue.” Censor Apparently Has Been Busy with Following Dispatch PARIS, Feb. 3.~The defense of Ver- dun 1s belleved to be under the direction of General + who Is commanding the gToup of armies of the east, mec- onded by General » _one of the youngest and most actlve French gen- erals, who took an important part in the battles in Lorraine before and during the battle of the Marne. Another of the commanding officers before the battie of Verdun, General . during the battle was in charge of the artillery of the Sixth corps while the army of the German crown prince was making the first attack on the fort- ress. On this occasion a rumor was cir- culated in Berlin that Verdun had been taken. The geueral placed three groups of three-inch guns in the Boze woods, and permitted the German troops, who | were overwhelming the French infantry, | te advance until they reached a distance seven-eighths of a mile. Then the three groups of field guns opened fire and thecked the advance. The losses of the crown prince’s army on that day were| estimated at 20,000 The names of the three French gen-| erals referred to apparently have been | stricken out by the French censor. ‘Republican Party in California Uniting SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 21.—Two of republicans met here today, the and the * and waved olive branches at each other. An agreement under which & united and uncontested republican dele- | gation might be sent from California to | the natlonal convention at Chicago was #ajd to be the end sought, and hour after Just be- sets “old” which is | ses, properly | ARY 28, 1916, 'WILSON SAYS HONOR 'DEARER THAN PEACE | President Asserts America Willi | Sacrifice All But Sense of Justice to,Avoid War. On Trains, at Motel News Stands, eto, S0 SERGEANT SLAVIKA TO- MITOH — This 17 - year - old girl was promoted from the rank of private in the Ser- bian army for heroic conduct in action. 8he served two years in the comitajes, under Major Tankositch. | — | |ONE THING IT MUST INSIST ON | { WASHINGTON, Feb Presi- dent Wilson told members and guest | At a Gridiron club dinner last night that America ought to keep out of | the Kuropean war, ‘At the sacrifice | of everything except this single thing | upon which its character and fits | | history are founded its sense of |humanity and justice.” | The address was contidential, since | the speeches at the dinners of the Gridiron club, composed of paper correspondents, are not re-| ported. It was not made public to- night, however, because many of | those who heard it urged that it | should go to the country | Speaks with Gravity. The president spoke of the nation's affairs with unusual gravity, His Ihmr«u, including several hundred members of congress, government of- |ficlals and correspondents were brought to their feet cheering when | he concluded with these words: I would be just as much ashamed to be rash as I would to be a coward, Valor is self-respecting. Valor f{s | | circumspeet. Valor strikes only | when it is right to strike, Vpjor | withholds itself from all small im- | plications and entanglements, and [ waits for the great opportunity when | the sword will flash as if it carried the light of heaven on its blade." f Not & New Feellng. | The address in part folloy “Your talk, Mr, Toastmaster, has been a great deal about candidacy for the | presidency. It 1 not a new feeling on my | rart, but one which I entertain with a greater intensity than formerly, this at a man who secks the presidency of the United States for anything that it will bring to him s an audacious fool, The | responsibilities of the office ought to |mober & man even before he approach'a [1t. One of the difficulties of the office seldom appreciated, 1 dare say, in that it Is very difficult to think while so many plo tAIKIng, and particularly while many people are talking in & way that o “The potnt 1n national afi aT. | news- | it is founded on a profounded humanity. and Uberty, and whene it bases its polloy upon any other feunda- tions than those it builds on the and not upon the solid rock, Must Keep Out of War. “America ought to keep out of this war. It ought to keep out of this war at the macrifice of everything except the single thing upon which its character and history are founded, its sense of human- Ity and justice, If it sacrifices that, it has ceased to be America; it has ceased to entertain to love the traditions which have made us proud to be Americans, and when we go about seeking safety at the expense of humanity, then I for ons will believe that I have always been mis- taken in what I have conceived to be the spirit of American history, “'You never can tell your direction ex- cept by long measurements. You can- not establish a line by two posts; you have to have three at least to know whether they are straight with anything and the longer your line, the more cer- tain your measurements. There is only one way in which to determine how the future of the United States s going to be projected and that is by looking back and seeing which was the lines ran which led up to the present”moment of power and of opportunity. There is no doubt wbout that. There is no question what the roll of honor In America is. The Roll of N “The roll of honor con of the names of the' men who have squared their conduct by ideals of duty. There | 18 no one else upon the roster, there is no one else whose name we care to re- {Continued on Page Two, Column Three.) Those Who Make Money Out of War Must Come Across with it for Fatherland. : NO ESTIMATES ARE YET MADE BERLIN, Feb 26 (Via London), Feb. 27.—Germany’s next expected taxation measures were announced by the government today. They in~ clude taxes upon the war profits of Individuals and corporations; also in- direct measures of taxation. of war profits is given. The govern- ment, in fact, is unable to estimate the sum to be derivéd because a large number of corporations nave not yet sent in their reports, and only the roughest guesses regerding the financlal status of individuals are possible, The war profits measure is divided into two sections, The section for individuals takes the form of a graduated tax on property increment between January 1, 1914 and 1917, The tax commences with § per cent upon the first 20,000 marks, 6 per and then rising In successive stages to 26 per cent on Increases over S T g TS 1 500,000 marks, Scores Perish as | " aireot taz upon inereased tnosenss s | avolded largely owing to objections, it is Steamers Gollide}nm, made by individual states of the empire, in which the Income tax is re " SINGLE No estimated yleld on the taxation | |cent upon the next 30,000 marks, | BEATTLE, Wash., Feb. 27.—The Nippon Yusen Kaisha liner Awa Maru arrived from Yokohama today, and hrought de- tails of the loss of the Osaka Shosen Kalsha liner Taifin Maru by collision recently with the Butterfield and Swire steamer Linan, aiready briefly cabled The collision accurred 100 miles from Hong Kong, and the Taijin sank in three minutes. Only seven Chinese pas- sengers of 111, and fourteen members of & orew of seventy, including the cap- tain and eleven Chinese deck hands were saved, owing to the fact that he passengers had been ping soundly in their berths. Bo far as kmown there were no European passengers on the ship. fore nightfall committees appointed from both factions met to see what could be done. The party has been split since 1910, | and a further digression of s madority into the progressive party further com- plicated matters. Austrians Occupy City of Durazz VIENNA, Feb. 9., ia London,)-Aus- trian-Hungarian troops occupied the Al- troops yesterday at Agagla, Egypt ac- cording to a British officlal statement lesued tonight which adds that the tlee ing Turks are being pursed nian port of Durraszzo this morning, according to an oificial announcement issued today at the Austrian war de partment Universal Service! BUFFALO, N. Y. Feb. 2.—Governor | Whitman in a speech dellvered here to- night advocated compulsory military training for the American youth, holding | It to be the one true base of the citizen | soldlery idea “The battlefields of Europe strate to all the world,' ernor, “that demon #ald the gov- | rght must stil be hacked | » by might. Let us hold to our anclent | falth s steadfastly as in the past, but let us not be blind to the bitter facts of | the present that made adequate prepared ness & necessity Whitman Advocates | | served, but by an Ingentous subterfuge when an Increase In the amount of prop- erty is accompanied by a correspondingly ‘ncreased income, mainly, when property increment represents hoardings from an increased income, the rate of taxation is doubled. It 18 admitted that this will rebound to |the advantage of lavish spenders who live up to ther war profits, but 1t is #ald that this is unavcidable. 1n order to checkmate various devices of tix dodgers, it is provided that gifts to chil dren and others, and money invested abroad during the war must be reported |to the muthorities. Individuals who have been putting | ana other articles of art or luxury, which as personal property heretofore have escaped taxation, must return them at their purchase value. As a further meas vre against tax dodgin persons moving | out in the country or attempting to send property abroad before the date of the col ection, may be forced to deposit with the authorities enough to cover the tax. | A jall penalty s provided for offenders. | The corporation tax starts with 40 per cent on the yearly profits made during the war as compared with the averase ante-belum profits when this additional profit does not ex- | ceed 2 per cent of the corporation’s eapi tal stock the wdditional profits exceed 2 per cent | of the capital, away thelr profits in jewelry, paintings | n wartime profits | THE WEATHER. Unsettled COPY GERMANS INSIST VERDUN FORT IS STILL RETAINED Official Report Says Five Attempts of the French to Retake Fort Douaumont Have Been Repulsed. | CLAIM MANY PRISONERS TAKEN } Teutons Also Tell of Storming Forti- | fied Works of Hardamount, as Well as Cote de Talou. PARIS DENIES LOSS OF LATTER PARIS, Feb, 27.-—Except around Fort Douaumont the French office reports some abatement of the (ler- man attacks to the north of Verdun. To the east and west of the Douau- mont position, the French troops are closely pressing the German detach- ments, which were able to gain a footing in those sections, and which, the war office further reports, are maintaining themselves with diffi- [ culty. The French deny that the eGr- mans have occupled the chief Cote de Talou. 4 | | | | | | | | | Germans Claim Advantage, BERLIN, Feb, don.)—Five determined attempts made by French troops to recapture from the Germans Fort Duaumont, one of the outlylng Verdun fortifi- cations, were repulsed yesterday with sanguinary losses, mccarding to the official statement issued’ to- day by the German headquarters staff, German rtoops, it was as- serted, had stormed the fortified works of Hardamount, as well as the town of Champneuville and the Cote de Talou. The number of un- wounded Frenchmen taken prison- ors, it was added, totalled 15,000. i : ge i 87 .¢ ged= fis !E é Nave on the southern northwest of Bras. “To the east of the stortn the extended fortified works Hardaumont. “In the Wovre plain vigorous fighting Is taxing place on the werman frontier, the battles extending as far as the Cotes Lorraine, ' ; § 13 i o i i i i “Bastern and Balkan theaters: There Is nothing of importance to rej Freneh Official State it PARIS, Feb. 21.—The ofticial communi- cation issued late today reads as fol- lows: “‘Between Solssons and Rhiems, destruc- tive fives have ben carried out on the ¢nemy works in front of Venizel and to the east of Troyon. “In the region to the north of Verdun, fcllowing the violent actions of the pre- ced ng days, there has been some abate- ment in the efforts of the enemy in the course of the day, except between tha helghts of Douaumont and the plateau 10 tke north of the vil'age of Vaux, where | @ strong attack carried out egalnst our Positions was repulsed. Pressing Germauns Closely, “To the east and west of the position | of Dovaumont the slopes of which are | covered with German bodies, our troups | are pressing closely the enemy detach- | ments which were able to gain a foot hold there and who are meintaining themselves with difficulty. ‘“‘According to the latest reports the Cote de Talou, rendered untensable as | well for s as for the enemy by the bom- rardment of the two artilleries Is oc- | eupied by any of the advisary forces. | “In the Woevre the enemy has come In contuet with our advance posts in the direction of “Blancee and Moranville, where their efforts to debouch toward | HIll 265 falled. | “In the Vosges there was an artillery | duel. at Hartmanswelierkopf. We took | under our fire and dispersed an enemy cetachment in the region of Semones.” The Belgian offigial communication ve- ports qule along the Belgian frent. The British Statement. LONDON, Feb. 2.—The British offialal statement on the campaign in Flanders, reads: L Lost night we repulsed a smal at- tack on our tienches north of the Ypres. 1t rises to 3 per cent when [Comines canal. ‘“Today the artillery on both sides hag becu active about Hulluch and. Ypwea® 27~~(Via Lon--