Republican farmer. [volume], February 08, 1918, Image 1

About Republican farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1810-1920

Image provided by: Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT

                
ALL THE NEWS
E ffifflPTOM
ALL THE NEWS
THAT'S WORTH'
THAT'
P R
PRINTING
ESTABLISHED A. D. 1790
IMWfoK fl Mi fl
Fred J. Thomas, a Mem
ber of 158th Aerial
Squadron, May
Be Lost
Relatives here are anxiously
awaiting news of Fred J. Thom
as, a Bridgeport soldier, attach
ed to the 158th aero squadron
which was aboard the troop
ship Tuscania, torpedoed yes
terday off the coast of Ireland.
His sister, Mrs. Fred E. Man
ning, has received no word of
Thomas' fate.
Eagerly scanning every scrap of
news that is made public by the war
department Mrs. Manning, residing at
2,754 Main etreet, is bravely bearing
up under the shock she has suffered
when she received the first news that
the giant steamer had been sent to
the bottom.
Fred Thomas has just passed Ms
twenty-third birthday when he joined
the aerial forces of Uncle Sam. Tip to
that time he always made his home
with his sister. He was employed by
the Remington Arms Co. up to No
vember 20 of last year when he en
listed. He was seA to Fort Slocum
and from there to the Aviation Train
ing Camp In Texas. Eowas then at
tached to the 158th Aerial Squadron
stationed In Louisiana from which
point he appears to have Ibeen under
ord-ns for the front.
Before entering the employ of the
Remington Arms Co. he was employ
ed by the Locomobile Co. He was a
prominent member of the Y. M. C. A.
Samuel Thomas, father of the young
airman, is a prominent resident of
Chelsea, Mass.
STATE SCHOOLS
MAY BE CLOSED
FOR ONE WEEK
Hartford, Feb. 7 As a result of the
desperate coal situation in Connecti
cut Thomas W. Russell, federal fuel
administrator for the state, issued to
day an appeal to the school authori
ties of cities and towns in Connecti
cut which have a population of more
than 8,000 according to the 1910 cen
sus to close the school houses in the-
communities all next week as a coal
conservation measure.
In making this appeal Mr. Russell
said" he was doing it in the hope that
the response would be such that
would not be necessary for him to is
sue $a formal order prohibiting the
use of fuel to heat schools in those
cities and towns from Feb. 11 to 16,
inclusive.
CLAIMED SCHOOL
COAL CONTAINED
HIGH EXPLOSIVE
Declaring the school children in
Bridgeport were in great danger from
a large quantity of high explosives
which German spies had placed in the
coal supplied the institutions, Albert
Taylor, a private from Fort Wright,
said he had been ordered by the mili
tary authorities to inspect the coal in
tha hinn. His actions were so oecu-
liar that he was placed under arrest
by the police.
Yesterday the faculty of Reed
High school, notified the Board of
Education of the man's movement
and me Otner bluuuis were uruereu
to be on the lookout for him if he
should call, and to immediately notify
the police. At noon today Captain
Cronan was notified by the head of
the Sheridan school, that a soldier in
uniform was there inspecting the
coal. Captain Cronan sent two men
in an auto to the school and Taylor
was brought to headquarters.
Taylor left the military post on a
four day pass and has been absent
from the fort for the past two weeki
At headquarters his actions gave rise
' to the belief that he is demented.
The British postmaster- general an
.. r.ounced that as soon aa. the military
situation permits & mail service by
, airplane will be Instituted in Europe.
VOL. CXXVI
Stricken Transport Remains Afloat Two Hours
- After Being Torpedoed Soldiers Cast Away
Clothing and Swim in Icy Water. Until
Rescued By Crews of Convoys.
LATE BULLETIN
LONDON, FEB. 7 THREE MEN FROM THE
TUSCANIA DIED FROM EXPOSURE IN ONE
BOAT.
Washington, Feb. 7 Torpedoed and sunk by a Ger
man submarine, the Cunard Liner Tuscania, bearing 2,179
officers and men of the 32d National Guard Division, lies at
the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean today, and at
least 168 troopers probably
On the basis of figures reported to the War and State
Departments here the missing
the British Admiralty, as they
placed the missing American
There is every hope that the
be correct. British convoys near the torpedoed ship closed in
quickly and did heroic work, as the comparatively small num
ber of losses shows. The position
ern coast of Ireland, evidently
such that numbers of British patrol ships and other vessels
rushed to her side and in that way the losses were minimized.
A statement from the admiralty, made public shortly after
1 o'clock confirmed the earlier
Additional dispatches reached the war department today
saying some 600 survivors are in Lame, Ireland, and that 27
are in Islay, Scotland. The dispatches said the British authori
ties were doing everything to make the survivors as comfort
able as possible and were sending supplies to the places where
they landed. This does not materially change the number
saved.
Approximate figures of those saved given out at London
are:
Officers, 76; men, 1,935; officers of the crew, 16; men of the
crew, 125; passengers, 3; not specified, 32.
The Tuscania remained afloat for
two hours after being torpedoed.
The condition of some of the sur
vivors of the Tuscania was pitiable.
Many had cast aside all their clothing
and had been swiming about for two
hours before being rescued.
The war department issued the fol
lowing statement:
"British authorities have wired in
structions to their commands in
Scotland and Ireland to afford our
troops from Tuscania every possible
assistance and to furnish them with
clothing requirements. Officers have
been dispatched from Liverpool and
Glasgow and London to points in Ire
land, where survivors now are, and
they will wire names immediately.
American consul at Belfast reports
600 survivors in Larne. As soon as
they are outfitted properly they will
be brought to Winchester."
The following official communica
tion was given out early at London
this afternoon:
"The Anchor liner Tuscania, Capt.
J. L. Henderson, was torpedoed on
the night of the fifth of February oft
the Irish coast while carrying United
States troops.
"Following are the approximate
number saved:
"United States military officers,
76; men, 1.795.
"Crew: Officers, 16; men, 125.
"Passengers, 3.
"Not specified, 32.
"The total number aboard, 2,397.
Total saved, 2,187.
"The foregoing are approximate
figures, but as correct as can be given
at present"
Among those arriving in Fort Ellen,
Islay, Scotland, were:
Second Lieut. Prank L. Maker, en-
' finneers
,6 ' . f n siTti,
battalion, 20th engineers:
First Lieut. Schweissinger. Sergeant
Harry A. Kelly, Corporal Howard E.
R ,, k P-,r.i willitim A. Cherry.
Privates Alva Bowman, Dale, C. Has
lett, William A. Hickring. Charles H.
Ineck, Harry A. Keeler. Lloyd Ledbet
ter, James T. Moss, Walter Maczarek,
David Foe, Edward B. Peterson, J.
W. RedJ, L M. Roberts, Lee F. Ter
zia, Ralph Uphus, A. Van Den Dries-
sche, Coliman White, John S. Wil
liams, Edward L Anderson, Tom A.
Ashby, Frank S. BroJi, James Basye,
Alexander M. ush.
From the 107th supply train: Pri
vate H. Kleist; 158th aero squadron.
Privates John B. Fleming and Ed
ward F. Klingman.
The 20th engineers, (foresters) is
the largest regiment in the world, al
though only one battalion" was on the
Tuscania. The aggregate strength of
the regiment la 17.000 rffcera
BRIDGEPORT,
uk
more are missing.
would be 267; the figures of
stood early today, however,
troopers at 168.
lower number will prove to
of the Tuscania off the north
headed for England, also was
figures.
men. Some of the units are still in
training in a camp near here. Col. W.
A. Mitchell of .the regular army com
mands the regiment and Henry S.
Graves, chief forester of the United
States department of agriculture, is
lieutenant colonel. Neither however,
was with the battalion on the Tus
cania. The work of the 20th regiment,
which was raised with the active co
operation of the American forestry as
sociation, is to cut timber in the
French forests for military uses at the
fighting front; for hospitals, Y. M. C.
A. buildings and other purposes.
First news of the sinking came in a
report to the war department early
last night announcing that 1,100 sur
vivors had been landed in Buncrana
rnd Larne, two widely separated Irish
ports. This was made public about
10 o'clock and until the. arrival of
the state department dispatch two
hours later it was feared that more.
than 1,400, including the Cunarder's
crew, had perished. The state depart
ment message said 2,719 troops
were aboard the Tuscania.
No mention of the fate of the
crew was made in the state depart
ment advices, nor was the landing
points Of the rescued American troops
indicated, but the war department's
message saying "1,100 survivors" had
been put ashore at Buncrana and
Larne indicated the convoy vessels got
alongside the sinking transport quick
ly and relief ships made the scene of
the disaster within a few hours.
Buncrana is on Lough Swilly on the
north coast of Donegal, not far from
Londonderry, "while Larne is a North
channel port on the east coast of An
trim, near Belfast. The landing
points indicate the Tuscania was tak
ing the northern route around Ireland
to England and the distance between
Buncrana and Larne leads officials to
believe the number of rescue ships
searching the vicinity is large.
No mention of the time of the sink
ing was made in either' otr the offi
cial messages, but news was receiv
ed in London at 3 p. m. yesterday.
A coded list of survivors was com
ing into the war department early to
day. The oficial list was expected to
day as soon as it is decoded.
The troops aboard the Tuscania
were mainly former Michigan and
Wisconsin national guardsmen now
attached to the 32 nd division, trained
in Camp MacArthur, Tex. Several
aero squadrons and several companies
of the 20th engineers, a forestry regi
ment were aboard. The list of units
aa made public by the adjutant gen
eral's office last night is as follows:
107th engineer train. .
107th .military police. :
CONN, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1918
No. 100 aero squadron.
158th aero squadron.
213th aero squadron.
Replacement detachments
Nos. 1
and 2 of the 32 nd division.
Fifty one casual officers.
The, 107th military police was
made up from the Fourth and
Sixth Wisconsin infantry; and the i
107th supply train from the Fourth,
Fifth and Sixth Wisconsin infantry.
A headquarters company and Cos.
D, E and F of the 20th Engineers
were on board. These units com-1
prise the Sixth battalion of the 20th,
which is a forestry regiment, not at
tached to the 32nd division. It is
one of the forestry regiments speci
ally organized for work in France.
The aero squadrons probably were
constructed from forest sections and
t-he place they trained was not men
tioned by the war department.
President Wjlson, who was attend
ing the theatre when news of the sink
ing was received. Secretary Baker and
many other officials remained up late
for more details, but only the terse
war and state department messages
came through until the list of sur
vivors began to arrive from the Amer
ican army headquarters in London
early today.
The state department's dispatch
said Ambassador Page had sent two
army officers to Belfast and represen
tatives of the American Red Cross
and the Y. M. C. A. had gone with
full power to spend all the. money
needed in relief.
Although the American transport
Antilles was torpedoed and sunk in
the war zone while returning from
France and 14 soldiers and 156 others
were lost, the Tuscania is the first
ship carrying American troops to
Europe to be sunk by a submarine.
The Tuscania until last fall had
been in the transatlantic trade. She
carried a British crew and a British
armed naval guard and was convoyed
by British warships on the last trip.
New York, Feb. 7 According to
the records of the Anchor Line here,
the Tuscania carried a crew of 220
under command of Capt. Peter Mc
Lean, the majority of the crew being
subjects of Great Britain.
The loss of the Tuscania completes
the destruction by submarines of a
fleet of five passenger ships aggregat
ing 57,818 gross tons, owned by the
Anohor Line at the beginning of the
war. The other ships were the uaie-
donia, sunk in 1916; the Cameronia,
April 15, 1917; the Transylvania, May
4, 1917; the California, February.
1917.
The American Red Cross head
quarters here dispatched Capt. Edgar
H. Wells and Capt. Smith to Belfast
immediately that news of the tor
pedoing of the Tuscania was received.
They were instructed to spend all
money needed for supplies for the
survivors. A telegram also was sent
to the American consulate in Belfast,
asking that money and supplies for
immediate needs be provided.
The British Red Cross, which has
depots in Ireland, immediately placed
all its resources at the disposal of the
Americans and instructed its repre
sentatives to do everything possible
to help. The American ambassador
Walter H. Page,, received from the
lord mayor of Belfast a telegram ex
pressing his condolences.
TUSCANIA MATE
TELLS STORY OF
AN EYE WITNESS
The first survivors were landed at
4:30 o'clock Wednesday morning.
From then until 7 a. m. many patrol
boats arrived, each bringing a full
complement of survivors, the number
of whom by that time had reached
550, including 40 member of the crew.
All the medical men in Larne, where
some of the survivors were landed, i
were requisitioned.
" Woman volunteer nurses in Larne
attended to slightly injured men
Wards were improvised in hotels
Thirty seriously injured men were dis
patched to local hospitals, where they
are receiving careful treatment. The
resources of Larne were taxed to the
utmost to provide food and clothing
for the survivors.
Thomas Smith of Glasgow, a boat
swain's mate on the Tuscania, said
the steamer was proceeding to an
English port under convoy.
"At 5:45 o'clock Tuesday evening."
he continued, "I was ln No- 1 room,
talking with a fellow boatswain,
when I heard a terrific explosion and
felt the vessel heeling over. I said
to my mate: 'They've got her now.'
"We commenced lowering boats on
the starboard side. The soldiers were
lined up on deck, waiting for the
boats. Unfortunately many jumped
overboard.
"I found the boat at No. 3 station
i
FRESH CHALLENGE
FOR CIVILIZATION
DECLARES BAKER
Washington, Feb. 7 Secretary
of Wa( Baker Issued the follow
ing statement today on the sink
ing of the Tuscania and the loss
of the lives of American soldiers:
"The sinking of the Tuscania
brings us face to face with the
losses of war in its most relentless
form. It is a fresh challenge to
the civilized world by an adver
sary who has refined but made
more deadly the stealth of the sav
age In warfare. We must win
this war and we will win this war.
Losses like this unite the country
in sympathy with the families of
those who have suffered loss;
they also unite us to make more
determined our purpose to press
I on,"
Judge Scott
Passes Away
At Danbury
Native of Bridgeport, Long
HI, Dies At Age of 67
Years.
Danbury, Feb. 7. Howard B. Scott,
former judge of the Common Pleas
Court, died here today. He was 67
years old and had been in failing
health for two years. He retired
iium me mencn several montns ago
arter he had been stricken with par
alysis. Much sorrow was expressed among
the members of the legal profession
at the county court house today at
the news of the death of Judge Scott.
Judge Scott retired last September,
having been named a state referee.
Judge Scott was born in Bridgeport,
August 25, 1851, but lived in Ridge-
field for a number of years. He was
graduated from Amherst College in
1874, and, took up the study of law in
the offices of Brewster & Tweeedy in
Danbury, being admitted to the bar in
1878. For a period of 12 years pre
vious to 1907 he was judge of the City
Court of Danbury. He never mar
ried. In 1907, at the promotion of Judge
Howard J. Curtis to the Superior Court
bench Judge Scott was named as
judge of the Common Pleas Court,
civil side, and retained that position
until last year, when failing health
compelled him to relinquish his du
ties. At the last session of the Gen
eral Assembly the civil and criminal
Common Pleas Courts were combined,
Judge John R. Booth and Judge John
J. Walsh being named as judges, and
Judge Scott was appointed a referee.
Appropriate action upon the death
of Judge Scott will toe taken by the
Fairfield County Bar Association.
WALKS 30 MILES
IN HEAVY GALE
TO TAKE EXAMS
Toledo, O., Feb. 6. 'Mrs. Archie Ste
vens of Taft, in order to be present
at the teachers' examination held at
Toledo recently, left her home on
(Monday in company of her husband.
also a teacher, and walked to New
port, a distance of 30 miles, in 16 hours,
arriving in time for the opening hour
of the examination.
Part of the trip was made along the
beach and around dangerous points,
made doubly so by heavy incoming
weather. .
The remainder of the distance was
over wind-swept headlands and sticky
trails and swollen streams. During
the whole time the wind blew at a
velocity of at least 50 miles an hour.
COAL BARGES STRANDED.
Old Saybrook, Feb. 5 Four coal
lArges are stranded on a sand bar off
Fenwick outer light today. All are
laden and were bound eastward. Ap
parently the barges were crowded on
the bar by the ice.
to which I proceeded,' had been
blown to pieces. I then helped to get
boats 9A, SB and 9C away, with full
complements, and the second officer
got boats 1 to 7 safe'iy away.
"After seeing these launched I
proceeded to the other deck, where I
launched a raft. I picked up 14 sol
diers and two of the ship's company
who were swimming about'. We had
no oars, and had to paddle along with
our hands. We were picke-i up at 0
o'clock in the evening and landed
Wednesday morning."
HARTFORD AIRMAN SAVED
Hartford, Feb. 7. From a cable
message received today it became
known that Leroy P. Bennett of this
city, formerly of Woodmont, a mem
ber of an aviation command, was saved
from the Tuscania Prior to enlisting
in December Bennett, whose age is
28, was an adjuster for the Connecti
cut Mutual Fire Insurance Co.
IXWtf SERIES VOL. CXXVI NO. 5598
ra .
151
Iniiliinin
n
Defy Watchman and
Barbed Wire, Making
Big Haul at East
Side Coal Yards.
Thursday, Feb. 7
An eight-foot fence, topped
with several rows of barbed
wire, and a watchman at the
Wheeler & Howe coal yards on
Crescent avenue meant nothing
to six East Side schoolboys,
who stole two tons of hard coal
from a carload standing in the
yards yesterday afternoon. 0
These lads were fully equipped for
the coal party. N They drew their
sleds and carried, one or two hemp
bags. Their mothers had told them
to go out and get some coal. The
dumps were frozen over and none
was being distributed at the several
coal yards they visited. They were
on their way home when they spied
a whole carload in the Wheeler
Howies yards.
They peered through the pickets
and saw the watchman. One sug
gested climbing over the. top, but an
other spied the barbed wire. The
smallest lad in the group suggested
crawling under the fence. His sug
gestion was no sooner offered than
they were all at work digging a tun
nel under the fence.
They burrowed a hole large
enough to allow two of them, drag
ging their bags behind them to enter.
They climbed into the car, filled their
bags and pushed them back throbgh
the hole under the fence. The other
boys' bags were filled and they all re
turned for more. They had got a
second helping before being detected.
They were in the act of filling the
last Dag, when the watchman saw
them scooping coal into their bags
with their bare hands. There was a
wild scramble. The boys were spry
and when they emerged into Noble
avenue the half-filled bag was with
them. i
Each of the boys had filled their
Ibags twice. The watchman started in
pursuit, but the boys had disappeared
when their pursuer had reached the
spot. They were last seen running as
fast as their legs could carry them
with their sleds trailing behind. The
boys had eluded the watchman by
ducking into Burroughs street. When
the carload was weighed up it was
discovered that the boys had taken
nearly two tons.
NEAR DEATH AS
RESULT OF GAS
ASPHYXIATION
Cornelius Duggan, 50 years old, of
2,803 Fairfield avenue, lies at the point
of death in St. Vincent's hospital as
a result, of being overcome by gas
while he slept. Early this morning
gas fumes were discovered by the in
mates of the house to be issuing fro-n
the apartment occupied by Duggan.
The door of his room was broken
open. Gas was found to be flowing
from a gas heater and the man un
conscious. A call was immediately turned in to
the Emergency Hospital and Dr.
Aranki, arriving with the ambulance,
rushed Duggan to the hospital where
he now wavers 'between life and
death.
Duggan came to Bridgeport about
two weeks ago from Hartford to work
as a moulder in Bullard's shop. He
has a wife and four children in Hart
ford with which the hospital author
ities are trying to get into communi
cation. Dr. Aranki said that the man has a
slim chance for life as he had been
breathing the fumes from the gas
stove for a long time before he was
discovered.
EMPLOYE OF STATE
HOSPITAL IS HELD
Hartford, Feb. 6. (Mrs. Jeanette Cur
ley, an attendant at the Connecticut
hospital for the insane in Middletown,
was today held for the superior court
on, the charge of false pretense. It is
alleged that the woman obtained
goods at a department store here and
had them charged to another person.
She is the second woman bound over
from the Hartford police court on this
charge in the last 10 days. ,
BOYS STEAL
110 TOMS
i
IN PRICES
OF
Fuel Administration Allows
Increase on Plea of Mine
Operators.
Washington, Feb. 7 Two more
increases of 40 cents a ton in the
price of bituminous coal at the
mine have been authorised by the
Fuel Administration on showing
of operators that they were
working at a loss.
One increase is for all mines in
the npper Potomac field which
includes Maryland and the coun-
ties of Mineral, Grant, Tucker and
the eastern and southeastern part
of Preston county, West Virginia.
It is effective as of Feb. J.
The other affects Mingo comity
and parts of Wayne, and Mc
Dowell counties, West Virginia,
and Buchanan county, in Vir
ginia. It became effective today. ,
CUNARD LINER
TORPEDOED ON
WAY OVER HERE
New York, Feb. 7 The
Cunard liner Aurania, 13,-
400 tons, was torpetfbir.
a German submarined ,ivjj
.j. -
bound for the Unit
States, it was learned from .
officials of the Cunard line
today.
Although badly damaged
by the explosion, the ship ''
was not sunk, and is believ- -
-wl . . . i : I,
cu iu uxj iiiciituiuj iici way
back to port with the as- -sistance
of government
vessels.
n, i,..t i:
nic .-miiji ciuTiru uui lit
tle cargo.
BRITISH CHANNEL
SHIP TORPEDOED
Ottawa, Ont., Feb. 7 A dispatch to
Reuter's from London, dated Feb. 6,
says announcement oi tne sinKing Dy
the Germans of a channel passenger
ship bound for a French port wa3
made in the house of commons by
H. J. MacNamara, under secretary of
the admiralty, who said that of a crew
of 20 military and 25 naval passen
gers aboard the vessel, 14 and 18, re
spectively, were lost.
The under secretary also said thi
captain was the only survivor of 25
persons aboard a steamer from Ire
land for Liverpool which also car
ried 400 head of tattle and 200 sheep.
AMERICAN BARK
REPORTED LOST
Buenos Aires, Feb. 7. In shipping
'circles here it is believed that Uw
American bark Normandy has been
lost while on a voyage from the
United States. She left an 1 merican
port last August with coal for Buenos
Aires, but has not been reported since.
Captains of vessels' recently arrived
here say they did not see the Nor
mandy. There is an American bark Nor
mandy, of 543 tons, owsed in Bangor,
M.e. A British bark Normandy, of
1,028 tons, formerly owned in New
York, left a gulf port on August 30 fol
Buenos, Aires.
BRITISH LOSE 15
VESSELS IN WEEK
London, Feb. 7 The official sum
mary from the admiralty reporting
the loss of 15 British merchantmen
sunk by mine or submarine in tp.e last
week follows: '
Arrivals, 2,339; sailings, 2,373.
British merchantmen of more than
1,600 tons sunk by mine or subma
rine, 10.
British merchantmen of less than
1,600 tons sunk by mine or submarine,
5.
Fishing vessels sunk, 4.
, , i . ,, ,., , , i t
ed, 13.
Washington, Feb. 7. Judge Samuel'
Alschuler of Chicago was appointed
arbitrator of the differences on wages
and hours between the five big pack
ing companies and their union em
ployes. '
, .
ft
NEW RAISE