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The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, January 10, 1913, Image 3

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WOULD REVIVE
ARMY CANTEEN
General Wood Also Recommends
New Merit System.
Would Weed Out Unfit Officers,
Recognizing Fitness and
Ability in Promotion.
Washington, D. C—The restoration
arm y canteen and enactment of
pislation for the elimination from
S United States army of unfit offi
... are among the principal recom
mendations of Major General Leonard
Wood chief of staff, in his annual re
port made public Saturday.
General Wood recommends the con
ntrat ion of the army on strategic
lines and in areas where it can be
maintained more economically. He
would transfer all the personnel of the
tall" corps — excepting engineers,
medical officers and chaplains—to the
. me increasing the number of the,
g enera l officers and line officers in the
different grades.
. transfer of the personnel of
staff corps to the line, in General
Woo d's opinion, will terminate the
constani struggle between line and
a struggle which is as old as the
army and one which promises to con
tinue. There would be no interfer
ence with promotion, nor would the
members of the present staff corps
lose any of their present advantages.
Discussing means for the elimina
tion of unfit officers the chief of staff
"The full efficiency of an organiza
tion of men cannot be secured without
a system by which the merits of the
individuals shall have some effect upon
their advancement.
"The army long has suffered from
the lack of such a system. Up to the
grade of colonel promotion is by sen
iority in each branch, and there is no
way under the law by which an officer,
no matter what his merit, can be ad
vanced a single number except by
making him a general officer."
CASTRO MAY REMAIN IN U. S.
Legal Steps Taken to Establish
Status of Venezuelan.
New York — The Federal courts
have been invoked in behalf of Cip
riano Castro, and a writ of habeas cor
pus was granted to bring him before a
judicial tribunal which may determine
the cause of his detention at this port.
It was alleged in the application that
the ex-president of Venezuela was il
legally held at the immigration sta
tion on Ellis island, where he has been
detained since his arrival. The court
will be asked to sustain the writ and
thus set him at liberty.
Castro, immediately upon finding
his right to land was questioned, had
decided to return voluntarily to Eu
rope, and had passage on the steamer
Amerika for Hamburg. As soon as
he learned the writ had been granted
he cancelled his passage.
BODY OF AMBASSADOR REID
REACHES NATIVE SHORES
New York—Great Britain delivered
Saturday to his countrymen the body
ofWhitelaw Reid, editor, statesman
and American ambassador, who died
in London. The British cruiser Natal
brought the body home and placed it
under the Stars and Stripes in the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
President Taft, dignitaries from the
Btty and navy and representatives of
foreign powers will attend the funeral
services.
The Natal was met off Nantucket
Jy two United States battleships and
our destroyers and the funeral fleet
ay off Sandy Hook Friday night. A
hick fog blanketed the bay and it was
no clock before the procession got
under way. A gale that swept up the
r 'ver made landing the coffin a diffi
cuii task.
Sugar Dividend Passed.
New York The directors of : the
American Beet Sugar company. decid
« not to declare the - usual dividend
sued; COmmon stock- They . is-
n Uethls statement: "Resolved, that
act?H thelarge stock Sag
J^^aronhad.UMoH, no ac-
Cd „ .1 en on Payment of the divi
ent •' the common stock at pres
on ar; me common stock was placed
n!l me f nV ftheactionofthedire C
the eo^n T? by heaVy ■ selline of
™mon stock on the exchange.
Gompers' Appeal Is Filed. :. *
per ajol ngn ' D' C-Samuel Gom
•Wn o f i Mlt A Chell . and Frank Mor-
Labo convi A merican Federation.of
an<l •itSJ'S^? 9f • conte*^«t
with thp i £ 311 m connection.
fil^thei r ß^ S ) tove& Range case,
CoCbiao\ PPeal, m the District, of
WmeTw° f APPeaIS- V lt al"
content nf n 'Were c°nvicted^not of
S^ori L d° Ur 1 t 'butof w*nt ofr*
teet>ale ?d l lal authorit Seven
gecl err «rs are charged. ;-^
bTj Find« Fortune. :;:
laborer, uneJ, aGeOrge Hardsook, a
rhiie^ g Sat ed ! 37 '500 in g°id
age °f Si e« ch near the vil-
Slon of the wSuv Hards <>ok's •: P°SB<*
-111 b * of s£ ?' however,. probably
> ringth a ° t rtd\ rat'on, a state law
deredtheo^ h ? nds be surr«n-
? oneyC^5erof the land. The
burie^nu^: n f e yea ° r f s .having been
SNOWSLIDE CRUSHES TRAIN
Rain, Wind and Snow Do Immense
Damage to Property.
I Ellensburg, Wash. — Snowslide
crushes 15 freight cars into kind
ling.
Seattle—Boiler on rotary snow
plow on Great Northern road ex
: plodes, injuring five, two fatally.
| Aberdeen —Traffic and wire com
| munication badly hit by storm —
I landslide throws two houses from
j foundations —shipping tied up.
':: Falls City, Or. — Heaviest rain
i and wind storm ever recorded.
| Newport—Rain heavy and wind
t blows a gale, but no shipping dam
l age reported.
: Dallas — Telephone lines down
j and bridges washed out with La-
Creole river flooding adjacent land.
! Chehails—Chehalis river on a
i rampage for two days. Big log
j jam likely to break any time.
i Vancouver—Several Clark county
j bridges and roads washed out and
: rainfall of Sunday 1.92 inches.
t Centralia —Surrounding country
' flooded—citizens fear inundation in
I business district.
Ellensburg, Wash. —The Chicago,
Milwaukee & Puget Sound eastbound
fast freight, which was stalled in a
drift one mile west of Laconia, in
Snoqualmie Pass, Saturday afternoon,
was wrecked late Monday by an ava
lanche that swept down the mountain
just when the train was almost free
from the first drift.
Two locomotives were knocked off
the track and wrecked, 12 cars loaded
with Oriental imports were smashed
into small bits and 23 other cars were
buried under the snow, part of which
is 15 feet deep.
Roadmaster W. R. Hunt was caught
in the slide and severely injured.
Snow conditions in the Cascade
mountains are the worst in 20 years,
according to railroad officials here.
The Milwaukee was completely tied
up by slides. The Northern Pacific
refused to handle Milwaukee trains
over the mountains. Snow plows at
Easton and Lester were wedged in the
snow.
A plow stationed at Ellensburg,
with a 15-foot double fan, released
one imprisoned plow. A locomotive
left the rails at Easton and turned on
its side.
A wrecking outfit left here by spe
cial train, with 95 laborers following.
A foot of snow an hour was reported
at the summit. Lower down rain fell
and then froze, forming a heavy crust
on the snow and making conditions
much worse.
33 CONVICTED DYNAMITERS
RECEIVE THEIR SENTENCES
Indianapolis, Ind. —Imprisonment in
the Federal prison at Leavenworth,
Kan., was imposed as a punishment up
on 33 labor union officials convicted of
having engaged in the destruction of
property by dynamiting over an area
stretching from Boston to Los An
geles.
As the head of the union whose
strike was given as the motive for
promoting the dynamite plots, Frank
M. Ryan was sentenced to seven years'
imprisonment, the heaviest sentence of
all. He is president of the Ironwork
ers' International union..
Of the 38 men convicted as conspir
ators and aiders in the McNamara dy
namiting schemes, eight other men
affiliated with Ryan were each sen
tenced to prison terms of six years,
two men each were sentenced to four
years, 12 men were each sentenced to
three years, four men were sentenced
to two years each, six men to one year
and one day each, and six men, includ
ing Edward Clark, of Cincinnati, a
dynamiter who pleaded guilty, receiv
ed their liberty on suspended sen
tences.
The elimination of those who re
ceived suspended sentences left 33
who are to go to Leavenworth, where
the shortest sentence will be one year
and one day.
Municipal Carline Pays.
San Francisco—ln the first day and
a half of its operation, San Francisco's
new railway line returned
to the city a profit of $632.75. The
first car was sent out Saturday noon
and the receipts for the half day were
$748.75. Sunday's receipts were $910,
making a total of $1658.75 for the day
and a half. The estimated operating
expenses of the road are $450 a day
and the fixed charges on the bonds
$234 a day. There is an owl service
with cars running every hour between
12:30 and 5:30 in the morning.
Anns Stored at El Paso.
El Paso, Tex.-—At least 4000 rifles
and untold quantities of ammunition,
in shipments of from 5000 to 50,000
pounds each, have been received here
within the last three months, official
figures show. That the arms and
cartridges were not all sold to sports
men s iself-evident. Some months ago
enforcement of neutrality was remov
ed from the Department of Justice's^
secret agents along the border and*
turned over to the War department.
Greeks Lose Naval Battle.
London —A naval battle between
Turkish and Greek forces occurred
Wednesday off the island of Tenedos,
in which the Greeks suffered severe
losses, according to a news agency dis
patch received here from Constantino
ple.
PARCEL POST IS
GREAT SUCCESS
First Day's Business Shows
Benefits of New System.
Many Use Insurance Feature— Spe
cial Delivery Also Helps—Com
mon Stamps Don't Go.
Washington, D. C—The inaugura
tion of the parcel post system in
Washington was an unqualified suc
cess. Owing to the number of sub
stations it was impossible to tell with
accuracy the volume of business in the
city during the first day, but the num
ber of packages handled at the main
office seemed to warrant the statemet
that the public has quickly adjusted
itself to the new service and will make
much use of it.
No reports from postoffices through
out the country were received indicat
ing any material difficulty in caring
for the new business. Here in Wash
ington all patrons complied with the
rules in regard to the size and weight
of packages and none had to be re
fused.
By the payment of an additional 10
cents senders of parcel post packages
may have them insured and about 10
per cent of the packages were so in
sured. At the main postoffice the re
ceipt of. packages averaged about 17
an hour. There was large business in
the sale of parcel post stamps, many
being taken by colleitors.
It is expected to show wonderful
growth when its success is demon
strated to the people and they come to
a full realization of what it means to
them in the saving of time as well as
in cost of transportation.
The parcel post system worked
without a hitch during its first 24
hours in New York. There was little
rush, due to the holiday, and the
clerks were able easily to cope with
the business. It was said that the
first full day's business there would
show a total of about 350 packages.
Postmaster Morgan received on an
early train from Washington the silver
loving cup sent by Postmaster General
Hitchcock to inaugurate the service.
Six fresh eggs, mailed from St.
Louis to Edwardsville, 111., early in
the morning, were returned at night
made into a cake. The eggs were
mailed at the main postoffice at 12:05
o'clock a. m., and the cake was deliv
ered at 7p. m. Edwardsville is about
20 miles from St. Louis.
A four-pound piece of side pork,
mailed from Addison, Mich., was the
first package received by parcel post
in Detroit. The second was a broken
horse collar which a farmer at Peck,
Mich., sent in for repairs to a whole
sale harness dealer.
A brisk business marked the open
ing of the parcel post service in Bos
ton, more than 100 persons wating for
the signal inaugurating the system at
midnight.
One of the first packages was a
small pot of Boston baked beans, sent
to Mayor Fitzgerald.
Chicago's New Year resolution to
make use of the nation's gift—the
parcel post system—was initiated the
first day by the sending of approxi
mately 2500 packages of merchandise.
A mail-order firm deposited 450 pack
ages for delivery.
One concern alone bought $17,000
worth of stamps.
Dog Is Sent By Parcel Post.
Yonkers, N. V.—A brindle bulldog
was the first parcel post package
mailed in Yonkers. It was in a box
addressed to William Trievor, of 30
Woodworth avenue. Although live
animals are not accepted for transpor
tation through the mails, Postmaster
Warren made an exception, as it was
the first parcel, and had a carrier de
liver it. The postmaster went in his
private carriage to deliver personally
a six-pound roast from New York ad
dressed to a Yonkers housewife, so
it might be in time for dinner.
Power Wires Shot Down.
Mexico City — Rebels are said to
have shot the power transmission lines
from the poles carrying them from the
River Necaxa, in the State of Puebla,
to the capital, and this reason is given
for the failure of the electric power
service of the city, which caused the
stoppage of the streetcar lines for sev
eral hours. The lines were discon
nected at a distance of 20 miles from
the city. A partial service of light
and power was re-established.
San Jose After Record.
San Jose, Cal. — Residents of San
Jose are hoping that for New Year's
day they will hold the country's record
for quantity of parcel post packages
handled. To this end and for the
glorification of the Santa Clara valley
prune, two carloards of prunes, done
into small packages, were sent out by
parcel post to addresses all over the
country. Directions for proper cook
ing of the prunes were on each pack
age. ;.
Rebel General Defiant.
El Paso, Tex.—"We will respect all
foreigners respecting us; none others,
says a proclamation signed by General
InezSalazar and 18 rebel generals,
copies of which were distributed along
the border. It also is declared that
the rebels will continue their policy
of destroying bridges, station-houses
and rolling stock of railroads * j aiding
our enemies by hauling *»eral
troops."
COURTS PRAISED FOR WORK
Speaker Declares Rights of People
Are Fully Protected.
Omaha—Frank B. Kellogg, of St.
Paul, speaking before the meeting of
the Nebraska State Bar association,
vigorously defended the integrity of
the American judiciary and condemned
what he said was a disposition of
these days to criticise the courts.
He said that of all the branches of
the government, the judicial, in his
opinion, is the least subject to the ex
ercise of arbitrary power, to scandal
or to improper influence. Kellogg
said he believed it to be a fact that
the Supreme court of the United
States is the most progressive and lib
eral branch {of this government and
that it has always been solicitous of
the rights of the people.
Kellogg argued at length against at
tacks on the judiciary, because he said
he felt that the reiteration of these
unfounded charges has had a prejudi
cial effect upon the public mind. He
continued:
"The people (few, I am glad to say)
who are denouncing the Supreme court
as reactionary and the 'last resort of
the vested interests,' should remember
that but for the decision of that court,
commencing with those written by
John Marshall and ending with the lat
est decision under the commerce
clause, the nation would have been
powerless before the greatest combina
tions of wealth and power that any
age has ever seen."
WILSON EXPECTS TO FIGHT
President-Elect Believes, However,
in Retaining Manners.
Staunton, Va.—President-elect Wil
son, by birth a Virginian, but by adop
tion a son of New Jersey, proclaimed
the hope that his administration might
mean the final obliteration of every
thing that in the past divided the
North and South.
"I suggest an added significance to
the occasion," said Governor Wilson,
in presenting the greetings of New
Jersey to Virginia, "because it is a
son of the South who brings the greet
ings of the North."
Standing on the porch of Mary Bald
win Seminary, in the chapel of which
he was baptized, the president-elect
spoke to a great crowd gathered from
far and wide on the occasion of his '
return to his native town on his 56th !
birthday anniversary. While Mr.
Wilson spoke with feeling of his hopes
for a spirit of reunion that would rec
ognize "neither . region nor section,
nor North nor South," he talked sig
nificantly of his future course in pol
itics, with particular reference to the
conduct of business.
The presidency, the governor said,
he regarded "as an office in which a
man must put on his war paint," but
he added that his visage was such that'
he "did not mind marring it, for a man
can keep his manners and still fight"
POWER CLAIMS ARE HELD UP
Secretary Sees Plan to Block Gov
ernment Control.
Washington, D. C. —By the joint
action of the War, Interior and Agri
cultural departments, extensive land
patents of the International Power &
Manufacturing company of the state
of Washington were held up because
of the belief of Secretary Fisher, as
expressed in a statement, that the
company was trying to "free itself
from all control by the government by
securing patents to lands under the
guise of mining claims or by railroad
scrip filings in combination with a
special dam license."
The company was planning to build
a series of power plants which, it was
estimated, would produce 200,000
horsepower, having a value of $5,000,
--o*oo to $8,000,000 a year.
The power site is in the so-called
"Z" canyon of the Pend d'Oreille
river, situated partly in the Kaniksu
National forest and partly in a power-,
site reserve set aside by President
Taft. . . :.-
Christmas Cost Carnegie $75,000.
New York—Andrew Carnegie's mer
ry Christmas to his friends and rela
tives cost him $75,000. This amount
of money was sent out in checks espe
cially engraved with a border of holly
in amounts ranging from $50 to $1000.
Altogether about 500. persons had the
Christmas brightened and made a bit
more merry by Carnegie's remem
brances. He did not give any
amounts larger than $1000, and it was
charitable organizations for the most
part that received more than $500 of
the $75,000.
Herrin's Position Secure.
San Francisco—W. F. Herrin, vice
president 6f the Southern Pacific com
pany, who arrived here for a five-day
visit, said that the recent merger de
cision of the Supreme court would not
affect his position with the railroad or
that of President Sproule. "It will
affect such positions as the chairman
of the board of directors," said Her
rin, "director of maintenance and way
and other positions on the Union Pa
cific and Southern Pacific railroads."
Home Left for Museum.
Paris—The will of the late French
battle painter, Edouard Detaille,
leaves his residence as a museum of
historical costumes. One floor of the
house is to be devoted exclusively to
uniforms of the French army. De
taille also bequeathed $40,000 for the
reconstruction of the house, so as to
make it suitable for a museum.
All I
C/£/E or TtiE WIND
THE ordinary visitor to Niagara
finds the excursion to the Cave
of the Winds quite sensational
enough for his peace of mind.
With proper care the trip is
pen'ectly safe, but there is one mo
ment of the journey when the mist
and spray from the falls blot out from
signt his nearest companion, which
gives the man of average nerve as
keen a thrill as he cares for. His ver
dict when he is "through" is that he
is glad to have done it once, but will
be content not to attempt it again.
There is a certain temperament, how
ever, which the very sight of these ap
palling waters seems to goad to a
frenzy of mad adventure. Some time
ago, for instance, a man who normally
followed the unheroic occupation of
keeping a restaurant, went over the
Horseshoe falls in a- steel barrel and
was safely fished out afterward, hav
ing suffered no damage but a broken
leg. This act of foolhardiness at any
rate cannot be charged to youthful
rashness, for the man was in his sev
entieth year, nor can it be explained
by ignorance of what such a feat must
involve, for he had already made the
'. passage of the seething rapids some
distance below in similar fashion.
In some of the most remarkable
feats of which Niagara has been the
scene the fascination of the encoun
ter itself has been seconded by a cer
tain commercial instinct. The per
formances of Blondin, we may be sure,
were shredwly calculated with a view
to future box office receipts. In 1859
and 1860 he crossed the falls several
times on a tight rope three and a
quarter inches in diameter, 1,100 feet
long and 160 feet above the water.
He was not satisfied with the mere
promenade, but would raise the hair
of the spectators—sometimes there
would be as many as 25,000
watching him —by all manner of freak
ish variations. Perhaps he would
make the Journey blindfold, or he
would trundle a wheelbarrow in front
of him, or he would appear burdened
with heavy shackles from head to
foot In the character of a Siberian
slave, or he would carry a cooking
stove and stop to make an omelette
on the way, or he would stand on his
head when half way across. Once he
carried a man on his back and the un
easy movements of his passenger, so
It is reported, drew from him the
threat: "If you don't sit quiet I shall
have to put you down." , The late king
of England, then prince of Wales, was
among the spectators one day when
Blondin crossed on stilts, and in spite
of the success of this feat declined
the acrobat's offer to take him over.
Gorge Below the Falls.
Since Blondin's day there have been
several "equilibrist" exhibitions at Ni
agara, but no imitator has quite riv
aled the example of daring set by the
master of the'profession. Perhaps
the nearest approach to his triumphs
was that of Dixon in 1890. He crossed
the river below the falls on a three
quarter inch wire cable, and in one
of his feats lay for a time with his
back on the wire. But, startling as
such performances may be, presum
ably they do not surpass either in ac
tual risk or in trial of the nerves
some of the ordinary feats of acrobats
In the circus or even the daily round
and common task of steeplejacks and
other useful persons whose work re
quires a cool head and a sure step. A
quite different kind of problem is that
of "shooting Niagara," either at the
falls themselves or at the rapids
Every one has seen pictures of the
falls and can form some conception
of what it must mean to take the
drop over the cataract The Niagara
rapids are less familiar, so a brief
topographical note may be helpful.
One let of rapids occurs about the
falls. J»«t before the waters gather
themselves for their great leap. But
the more notable series Is further
down. Below the falls the river moves
sleepily alcng for a while, but pres
ently it is compressed into a narrow
gorge through which it makes its de
scent to Lake Ontario. This sudden
narrowing into a defile whose bed is
studded with rocks churns the im
mense volume of water into a mass of
turbulent waves, where the main cur-i
rent, traveling at 30 miles an hour, is,
swung backward and forward and
from side to side like a drunken thing.;
These whirlpool rapids, as they are
called, empty the stream into the
whirlpool itself, from which It has
still to surge through the Devil's Hole
rapids, no less triumphant, before it
once more becomes navigable near'
Lewiston.
The Whirlpool rapids were tafely
threaded in 1861 by the Maid of the
Mist, but the ordeal turned the cap
tain of the steamer into an old man.
Many years later a man named Perry
made the same trip in a lifeboat A
rival, R. W. Flack, challenged him to
a race over the course, and lost bis
life in a preliminary rehearsal. But
the most tragic story Niagara has to
tell is that of Captain Matthew Webb.
The son of an English country doc
tor, he entered the mercantile marine
as a lad, but before he was thirty he
abandoned a seafaring life to become
a professional swimmer. In 1875 he
swam from Dover to Calais. In 1883,
though warned that physically he waa
not what he had been, he made the
desperate resolve to swim the Whirl
pool rapids. In describing his plans
he explained that when he found the
water very bad he would go under,
and would remain under until com
pelled to come up for breath. He In
tended at the whirlpool to strike out
with all his strength to keep out of
the suck hole in the center. "My life,"
he added, "will then depend upon my
muscles and my breath, with a little
touch of science behind them." On
the afternoon of July 24 he took the
plunge from a small boat. On enter
ing the whirlpool rapids he was al
most turned over by the force of the
water, but he recovered' himself, and
in about five minutes he had trav
ersed the mile and a quarter from the
old suspension bridge to the entrance
of the whirlpool. Here he seemed for
a moment to be doing well. Then he
threw up his arms and disappeared.
Swimming Whirlpool Rapids.
In July, 1890, John Soules was more
fortunate than Captain Webb, for his
defeat came earlier. While he was in
the whirlpool rapids the breakers
dashed him against the rocks, and he
was washed ashore, badly bruised, be
fore reaching the whirlpool. Other
swimmers who have attempted the
passage have hesitated to trust their
unaided strength and skill. W. J.
Kendall, a Boston policeman, got
through in 1886, but he wore a cork
vest He reported at the end of his
Journey that he had found his swim
ming abilities useless. The current
took him into its main eddy and
sucked him down like a flash. When
lie reached the spot where Webb lost
his life the water went from under
him and a wave knocked him uncon
scious. He was seen to be shot out
from the pool 50 feet from the center.
On regaining consciousness he swam
ashore, thus avoiding being dashed
down the devil's hole rapids. On Sep
temper 7, 1889. Steven Brodie, who
some time before had jumped off Brook
lyn bridge, descended the falls them
selves clad in an India rubber suit
Burrotlnded with «teel bands and
thickly padded. About a week later
another adventurer, Walter Campbell,
wearing a cork jacket, equalled Ken
dall's feat, and even excelled it, tor
he made his way as far down as
Lewiston. ,

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