The Minneapolis journal. [volume], December 19, 1905, Image 1

About The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
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CHICAGO BANKERS
TO BE PROSECUTED
Federal and State Authorities
About to Take Case to
Courts.
Promoter Whose Banks Are in
Trouble Feels Irony of
Fate.
-fc-
$
Journal Special Service.
WALSH MUST STAND AT
THE BAR OF JUSTICE
-$
THE QUALITY OF MERCY.
Chicago, Dec. 19.Edward S
Dreyer, imprisoned at Joliet since
1902, arrived in Chicago late last
night in company with his son. On
the day Dreyer arrived John K.
Walsh, whose opposition to the re
suscitation of the National Bank of
Illinois, nine years ago, was the
immediate cause of Dreyer's down
fall, was by a strange coincidence
the beneficiary of the mercy denied
to the bank of Illinois.
Probably the happier man of the
two was Edward S. Dreyer, who,
after the solitude of the prison and
the degradation of stripes, was em
braced by his wife and daughters
onhis return to his West Side home.
3
Chicago, Dec. 19.John R. "Walsh
aud the officers of his insolvent banks
the Chicago National, Home shav
ings and Equitablo Trustface certain
prosecution at the hands of the national
arid state authorities.
Rational Bank Examiner Bower, who
the irony of fate, is a discharged
employee of John K. Walsh, and whose
inside information as to the banker's
methods made the work of investiga
tion comparatively easy, has laid the
tacts in the case before United States
District Attorney Morrison. Mr. Mor
rison is expected to reach a decision
an to what action he will take within
less than forty-eight hours. new fed
eral grand jury is in session, begin
ning today.
Two state bank examiners already
have partly reported the results of
thHr investigation to State Auditor
McOullough and he will lay the case
btti'oie Attorney Geneial Stead.
Bared by Joint Action.
The federal and Illinois authorities
have been working hand in hand for
the last three days. It was only by
joint investigation that the bank
rupted of the banks was proved. This
investigation was made at tho urgent
request of the federal authorities.
Prior to this, when the federal au
thoiities made their investigation of ^_v ^J.^JS_ i^
Mi. Walsh's national bank, the secur- *?.d
ities of the Home Savings bank were'
juggled and made to appear as assets
of the national institution. "When the
Btate .sleuths examined the Home Sav
ings bank, somebodv hopped from one
side of the room to the other and re
turned with the stock and bonds be
longing to the federal bank.
The authorities, it is believed, will
have the widest latitude in prosecut
ing Mr. Walsh, as investigation shows
that nearly every law on the statute
books, placed there for the safe con
duet of banking business, has been vio
lated by him with reckless impunity.
Walsh Concerns Not Banks.
John R. Walsh's banks were not
VinkS. They were simply a huge cash
drawer for his side lines of railroads,
mines, stone quarries and other busi
ness investments. There was a hole
in the bottom of this drawer which led
anto the pay envelopes of graders, fire
men, locomotive engineers, stone quar
lvmen, coal miners and laboring men
of thirty different trades*
The depositors dumped their monev
into this ommverous cash box, and it
Mas used bv Mr. Walsh in a vain en
deavor to turn into a golden reality his
dream of railroad and allied commer
cial supremacy.
Out of the $26,000,000 deposited in
the halt-wav financial station main
tained bv Mr. Walsh, $15,000,000 was
loaned by Air. Walsh to companies pri
vately- controlled by himself.
Walsh's Loans to Walsh.
He had been lending money to his
various railroad and mining enterprises
on their bonds as security for a num
ber of vears, and had been repeatedly
ber of years anel hael been repeatedly
warned by both the controller of the
currency and the state auditor that ho
must change tins practice and dispose
of such bonds as securitv for loans.
But not until a short time ago was
it discovered iust how these loans were
being manipulated and their size.
Jmmediately
-But before the flurry could spread fur-'
ther than the sensitive speclative
world came the announcement that the
Chicago clearing house had rushed to
the rescue that depositors would be
paid in full that all interests would
be amply protected, aha that in Chi
cago, where the result would be most
felt, not a ripple had been created.
At once the markets in the east and
across the Atlantic became steady.
Speculators became reassured and the
bourses closed in a stronger position
than on Saturday.
Paid Out Millions.
The doors of the banks were opened
fhruontusualday
the time in the forenoon, and
the a steady stream of de
positors poured in and out of the mas-
__ sive building in Monroe street. De
posits estimated at $2,400,000 were paid
out by the Chicago National bank,
while the Home Savings bank surren
dered an amount estimated at $500,000.
Late in the day tentative plans were
discussed, it was reported and later de-
MOBS MASSACRE
RUSSIAN SOLDIERS
Every Man of Russ Force Put to
Death by Frenzied
Assailants.
Russia Is on the Eve of Its Great
est Catastrophe, a General
Strike.
Journal Special Service.
St. Petersburg, Dec. 19.The chief
controller of the imperial household
privy council in Feodrow has been dis
patched to London, where it is said he
will deposit several million pounds for
the czar in the Bank of England.
New York, Dec. 19.The cable com
panies received notice today that tele
graphic communications with St. Peters
burg have been severed again.
Tukuni, Courland,
Russia,Dec.
Dec. 17, via Stettin1,
Sunday,
Prussia 19.
A special staff correspondent of the As
sociated Press, who has just arrived
CATASTROPHE AT HAND
General Strike on Wednesday Likely to
Mean Bloodshed.
St. Petersburg, Dec. 19.(Delayed)
At the time ot this writing two highly
important meetings are being held, .one
at Tsarskoe-Selo
andt
miles out of town1.
gave
the other some
A the former Coun
Witte is fighting against revolution in
his cabinet. The final result seems to
make sure that repressive measures of a
most serious nature are going to be car
ried out whether Witte wishes it or not.
At the other meeting is the executive
of the revolutionary party, which im
mediately succeeded the one whose
members were arrested. It will make
final arrangements tonight for the gen
eral strike, which probably will go into
force Wednesday.
This will cut us off entirely from the
outer world. Th railroads, telegraphs
*n~ni.~A, Postof fice^ will be paralyzed
other words, they will bring about a
omplete stagnation of the entire life
of "the country.
This cannot fail to bring about a
terribue catastrophe with bloodshed.
The Government Gazette gives out plain
warning. It says:
"The revolutionaries are trying to
nullify the intentions of the czar's man
ifesto, and are inciting the people and
the army to political murder, robbery
anel complete terrorism.''
Workmen Defy Witte.
The workmen's council, under the
noses of the police, has succeeded in
priting 100,000 copies of its paper an
nouncing that the government has de
clared a civil war on the proletariat
and saving that the challenge must be
accepted.
In its appeal to the people, the coun
cil declares that this is the govern
ment 's last fight, that the throne of the
Romanoffs is tottering and that another
blow will cause it to fall. The coun
cil adds:
"While the government at St. Pe
tersburg is falling, its own regiments
are rising against it and at Riga a re
public has already been proclaimed. A
few regiments may still be faithful, but
the army as a whole is on our side. The
overnment wants to fight. It shall
it. The people are for us. If we
are defeated it will not be our last bat
tle. We can fight on. The government
is risking everythingits army and
its finances.
Struggle Is Inevitable.
Witte cannot play his hypocritical
game any longer. The government has
only made concessions to save itself
from ruin. Now, Beeing its fall is in
evitable, it is making a last despair
ing effort to recover its power. We
would have preferred delaying the de
cisive conflict until better prepared,
but reaction makes retreat impossible.
A revolutionary conflict cannot be
avoided.''
The paper also contains a direct ap-
The Home Savings bank has been a I peal to the army, wliich is signed
flagrant violator of good banking prac-' The Pan-Russian union of the army
tice in that, against the $4,000,000 de- and the navy." This appeal inveighs
posits which it had, there was actual against the tyranny of the government,
cash in its vaults less than one-halt
which,
of 1 per cent to pay depositors. Ac- against a foreign foe, but to shoot
cording to the state bank laws, had
-t
there been a run on the bank, the lat
ter could have availed itself of the
right to demand sixty days' notice. As
it had only savings, all of the deposits
would have remained intact for that
period.
Remarkable Story.
The remarkable manner in which the In spite of the fury of the revolution-
fluaneial world withstood the trouble ists, however, considerable confidence is
of these three institutions forms a story expressed in' government circles that the
that has never been equaled in the extreme elements in the present temper
world's history and monetary affairs, of the workmen will not dare to call a
after the announcement ot general strike, and that if they do the
the failures a flurry was precipitated chances are that it will be a failure,
in the great stock markets of New I
York and Boston. Even in London Government's Position,
there was a menacing decline in values, Th
Continued on 2d Page, 4th Column., Continued on 2d Page, 3d Column.
it says, employs the army not
down its own people. I summons the
soldiers and_ sailors to remember their
parents, their wives and their chil
dren, to take a share in the emancipa
tion of the nation, to organize secretly,
to take oath not to shoot down the
I people and to join in the general strike
when it shall have been proclaimed.
following statement of the gov
ernment position has been made an'd
may be accepted as authoritative
''The government sincerely desired to
introduce the new regime without hav
ing recourse to harsh measures, but it
received no support from the constitu
tionalists or other moderates, while the
proletariat organization, under the lead
ership of the socialists, continued their
mad campaign in favor of armed rebel
lion and openly incited the army and
the navy to mutiny. The climax of this
campaign was reached when efforts were
made to attack the credit of the country
in the midst of a considerable panic.
Had the government allowed such ef
forts to go unchallenged, it would have
precipitated complete financial and in
dustrial ruin.
"After all, self-preservation is the
first law of nature and besides, without
the restoration of a semblance of order,
it would be impossible to hold the elec
tions for the douma. The case was a
desperate one and it demanded a desper
ate remedy.
BOXER UPRISING
MENACE IN CHINA
Shanghai on Brink of Another
OutbreakYankee Marines
Land Today.
here learns that mobs of Esthuanians Shanghai is under maiti. aw and tU
and Esthonians yesterday attacked 100, foreigners have armed themselves for
Cossacks adn dragoons, the only srili-. Protection,
tary force stationed in Tukum. The I Advices regarding the number killed
mobs, after wild fighting, killed the sol
diers to the last man, cut off their arms
and legs an'd ripped up their bodies. The
streets were strewn with bodies and dis
membered parts.
Six hundred troops arrived here this
morning.
In all'340 soldiers and peasants were die rioting and antiforeign. movement
killed and many were wounded. Most
of the remaining population* have fled to
Riga, which now is the safest town in
this part of Russia.
Shanghai, Dec. 19.Armed guards
and patrols are maintained here to cope
with a possible renewal of the disturb
ances. The streets are filled with row
dies. The shops are open, but looting is
greatly feared.
The United States cruiser Baltimore
will land a force today and the British
cruiser Diadem is sending 500 men
ashore. Other warships are expected
and it is reported that German troops
are coming here from Kiaochau.
The Chinese newspaDers sav the row
dies proposed to take advantage of the
mixed court dispute to attack and loot
the foreign settlement.
The German gunboat Tiger has ar
rived here.
Boxer Outbreak Feared.
Washington, Dec. 19.Another Boxel
uprising in China is feared and the riot
ing at Shanghai and the demonstration
against the foreigners is considered tfl
be the premonitory symptoms of serious
and widespread trouble. Advices re
eeived at the department of state indi
cate that the difficulty at Shanghai is
exceedingly grave, that riot ana arson
prevail, and that the situation was so
serious yesterday that it was necessary
for the British warships to clear for ac
tion.
Marines have been Ian-5
the city of
and wounded are conflicting, but it is
believed that more than a score of Chi'
nese and several foreigners have been
killed. It is reported that the American
vice consul was injured in the rioting.
Consul General Eodger at Shanghai
has advisee1
the departmenst of state that
row out of a strike organized by the
Boxer leaders and of a conflict between
the international mixed court and the
municipal authorities of Shanghai.
It is believed the Baltimore has al
ready arrived at Shanghai anel is at the
disposal of Consul General Rodgers, to
the extent of affording a refuge for
Americans in case of need, and per
haps supplying a marine guard for the
consul general, but it is believed here
that there will be no real need there for
the ship now. The real danger is felt
to be in the possibility of the boycott
again stirring up the natives in the
interior where it would be very diffi
cult for the warships to send a guard.
CHICAGO "D" LOOKS
TO OIL KING TODAY
Journal Special Service.
Chicago, Dec. 19.Students at Chi
cago university expect to hear the an
nouncement or a big donation from its
founder, John D. Rockefeller, at the
quarterly convocation at Mandel hail
late today. Ever sinee the* founding
of the university it has been the custom
of the Standard Oil king each year to
play Santa Claus and give sums ran
ging from $500,000 to $1,000,000, and
it is rumored about the campus that the
gifts this year will be big.
DEATH IN BOILER. EXPLOSION.
Reading, Pa., Dec. 19.The boiler of a freight
engine on the Wilmington & Northern blew up
today near Birdsboro, killing William B. Hesser,
the fireman, and fatally scaldiug H. W. Lein
baeh, the engineer, and William T. Alderman, a
brakeman.
TORPEDO BOATS COLLIDE.
Brest, France. Dec 10.Teroedo boats No.
294 and No 281 collided violently during the
iranenvers in the haibor todaj. Both vessels
were bidly damaged.
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PANAMA CHIEF
FOR MINN. JOB
Railroad Commission Wants John
F. Wallace tov
Appraise
Roads in State.
TOHW F. -WAIXACE,
Ixtb Chief Engineer of Panama dual,
WhA May Apprttfee Minnesota
Railroads.
fti::s:::c r:r. ..:!&':.::::
John F. Wallace, late chief engineer
of the Panama, has been asked by the
Minnesota railroad commission to take
charge of an important work about to
be inaugurated,
The commission -was instructed by
the last legislature to revise railway
freight rates within the state. Prelim
inary to this revision the commissioners
have been collecting information about
the present rates, earnings, etc., but the
most important information of all is
waiting for the man who is capable
of getting it. The commission pur
poses to get the report of an expert
railroad engineer on the railroad prop
erties of Minnesota, stating after an
examination what it,would cost to re
produce the present roadbeds, rolling
stock, buildings, etc. On the basis or
this valuation the commission will
figure out what is a reasonable income
on the investment, and how much of a
reduction rates will stand.
Michigan made sueh an appraisal of
the railroads. It took two years' time
and cost $40,000, but the valuation
reached has been used in railroad taxes
and in figuring rates.
The legislature added to the usual ap
propriation for the railroad commission
the sum of $12,500 a year for carrying
on this work. Most or it will be ex
pended on the work of appraisal,
which will take two years at least, it
is believed, and it is not likely that any
fiWal report can be made to the legisla
ture at the next i^sion.
The eommJSbipn h*ts~,a.ad hard work
finding a man "to tekB .charge of the- ap-
praisal. A former* fikreat Northern en
gineer, who had a hand in building con
siderable of the Minnesota mileage, was
first selected. It is reported, that he
had agreed to come at a salary of $5,000
a year, but was later offered a place
with the road in the coast country at
$15,000, an'd threw up the state *s office.
Since that the commission has been
scouring the country for a capable en
gineer. Nothinghas been said in pub
lip about it, and it has been a still hunt.
Negotiations are-now on with Mr. Wal
lace. When in charge of the work at
Panama, he received $25,000 a year, and
when he left it was reported that he
was to receive a higher salary with
some railroad. This report was evi
dently incorrect, for the state is not in
a position to pay such a salary.
FOUR Aim TWENTY BLACKBIRDS.
And when the pie is opened
And the birds begin to sing
Isn't that a dainty dish
To set before the king?
2,000 CELTS MOB
STAGE IRISHMEN
B/Utte Societies, Angered by Cari
catures, Prevent Burlesquers
from Giving Performance.
Special to The Journal.
Butte, Mont., Dec. 19.Two thou
sand angry Irish Americans collected
outside the Grand theater last night and
prevented a burlesque company that
came here from Duluth for a week's
engagement, from giving a perform
ance.
The demonstration was the result of
the posting of caricatures on the Irish
race, showing a baboon with the face
of an Irishman being led by a negro.
This action followed an indignation
mass meeting of the United Irish so
cieties of Butte, at which it was de
termined to egg the male members of
the show out of the town, and tar and
feather them if necessary. A state
ment, signed by 4,500 men, announced
to the authorities that the signers
would drive the show from Butte and
would forcibly prevent any attempt to
give a performance.
The mayor and chief of police in
formed the theater management that
the city was powerless to cope with the
situation, and that to give a perform
ance would precipitate a riot and blood
shed.
Thespians Dodge Delegation.
The company arrived about 8 'clock.
A delegation from the Irish societies
was on hand at the station to induce
it to continue on its way. Manager
Frank Calder of the burlesquers, had
been apprised of the threatening situa
tion by local actors who boarded the
train several miles out of the city, and
be at once extinguished the lights in
the private car and, to avoid detection,
scattered the members of the company
thru the train. When the station was
reached, there was a rush for carriages
and the thespians reached the hotels
in safety.
As a means of averting bloodshed,
warrants have been sworne out for the
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DEATH"IN WREGK ON
SANTA FE IN KANSAS
Beading, Kan., Dec 19.Santa Fe
train No. 17 was wrecked at Badger
Creek bridge, about five miles west of
Reading, at'8 o'clock this morning. fm
The tender left the track, derailing the
baggage and express cars and the first
two coaches. One express car turned
over and caught fire, in which one of
the messengers was killed. His remains
were recovered. The engineer and two
other messengers were seriously in
jured, the latter fatally. No passen
gers were injured.
LADY CUEZON, QUEEN'S GTTEST.
London, Dec. 19. Lady Curzon was especiauy
invited to Buckingham palace yesterday after
noon by Queen Alexandra. She arrived early
and remained for a long time, having tea with
her hostess before departure.
200 DIG MADLY TO
SAYE 2 IN TUNNEL
Toilers in Peril, Sealed Below
River Bed by
Cave-in.
Fatal Explosion Caused by Blun
der in Shadow of Waldorf-
Astoria.
Tlie.y
vo
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creating a disturbance, and papers will
be served should an attempt be made
to give a performance. Manager Calder
declared the posters displayed are for
eign to the show and were used with
out his authority. He said they were
thrown in with the regular advertising
matter by a lithograph house and were
unwittingly displayed at Butte. lie will
hold a conference with a committee of
the societies today and offer to give a
trial performance. It is not believed
the offer will be accepted, for the so
cieties declare they have been bur
lesqued to such an extent that they pro
pose to make an example of this ag
gregation and drive it from Butte.
The situation is tense. Irish orators
at last night's gathering advised the
mob to gather again tonight, and if the
company attempts to give a perform
ance, storm tie theater and drive the
actors from the city.
WOULD ENLIST ALLIES
FOR THE SUNDAY BAR
-S
New York, Dec. 19.Two of the men
who had been buried in the East river
tunnel for nearly forty hours, were
taken out this afternoon. Eescuers pen
etrated the tunnel in a boat. Work
men are still attempting to force a hole
thru the cement roof of the tunnel, and
it is thought that still other men are
imprisoned in the tube.
New York, Dec. 19.Two men buried
forty feet deep in a tunnel, facing death
in three different forms, by starvation,
suffocation or drowning, and about 200
of their comrades a few feet above them
digging against time to save their lives,
was the situation today at the Pennsyl
vania railroad tunnel in Long Island
City.
i or more than thirty hours these two
workmen have been entombed in this
tunnel by the cave-in of its mouth, an'd
it is by no means certain that there are
only two men buried. The police of
Long Island City say there are six.
The tunnel is being built under the
East river to Manhattan island, butthe
the entombed not under the
riveir bed.
are sealed up
uou
?ii approacxh undermen Lonare Islan City and
it is reported that the water from the
river, which now fills the part of the
tunnel directly under the river bed is
kept back from them by force of the
compressed air continually pumped into
their prison chamber. The workers as
sert that the water must have flowed
into the part of the tunnel where their
comrades are buried, and that they
have saved themselves from its rise
by climbing upon a ledge of rock near
the roof of the tunnel.
Sinking a Shaft.
The rescuers are sinking a forty-foot
deep shaft straight toward the roof of
the tunnel as near to the place where
the workmen are supposed to be, as is
possible to estimate. If this shaft is not
very close to these men there is danger
when it at last pierces the cement roof
that all the work will have been in vain,
that the compressed air will be released
and allow the water to engulf the men
before their comrades can take them
out
The lifeshaft was thirty feet deep
today, but there was still about tea
feet of wlid concrete forming the .*ool
of the tunnel to be pierced. This was
the work of several hours, involving
the use of dynamite to expedite it if
at any tim the of the
^became jEainsignals and indicatedburied that
XV"Jr something had gone wrong in tun
nel chamber. They signaled incessantly
by rapping on the iron pipes thru which
air is being pumped to them.
Wife Watches Diggers.
Watching every move of the diggers
from the mouth of the lifeshaft last
night was Mrs. Frank Cale, the wife of
one of the men believed to be in the
tunnel. Today she was joined by her
four children to watch the final piercing
of the tunnel.
What will be done at the moment
when the tunnel roof is opened has
caused the workers much worry. It has
been planned to have divers ready to
enter the hole if the water rises too
high, and at least to be prepared to
drop a boat thru the opening in case
the men are not near enough to be
reached by any other means.
DEATH IN TOII^RMTBLUNEfelt
Three Men Killed, Seven Hurt "by Dyn
amite Explosion.
New York, Dec. 19.Three men were
blown to piecest seven others were
more or less seriously hurt and the
occupants of fashionable hotels and
residences in the vicinity of Fifth ave
nue and Thirty-fourth street were'
startled today by an explosion of dyna
mite in an excavation for the new Alt
man building.
The explosion was caused by a work
man unintentionally striking a heavy
charge of dynamite which had been
placed in a drillhole in a ledge of rock
several days ago, and which defied at
tempts to explode it at that time.
Today the workmen started to drill
the hole with no thought of the deadly
charge which it concealed. There were
eighty men in the excavation at the
time, but only a few of them were near
the loaded hole when the steel drill
plunged into sticks of dynamite.
The sound of the explosion brought
guests hurrying from the Waldorf-As
toria hotel, almost directly across the
street from the scene of the disaster,
and from many similar places in the
vicinity. For a time there was wild
excitement in the neighborhood.
Jacob Metzger, superintendent for
Post & McCord, contractors, and Frank
Anderson, superintendent for the
O'Rourke Construction eompany, were
arrested soon after the accident on a
charge of criminal negligence.
ARMENIANS BURN
MOSLEMS AUYE
Scores of Tiflis Mussulmans Per
ish in Homes Fired by An
cient Enemies.
Constantinople, Dec. 19.The latest
dispatch received from Tiflis, Caucasia,
today, says that 300 houses in the Mus
sulman quarter were set on fire by
armed Armenians, who prevented the
inmates from leaving and fired on the
firemen who attempted to extinguish
the flames. The total number of Mus
sulmans killed is not yet ascertained,
but fifty-seven Turkish subjects are
known to have perished.
The fighting was continued Dee. 17,
when the telegram was forwarded, and
the Turkish consulate was overcrowded
with refugees.
A telegram of the same date from
Batoum, Caucasia, reports continu
ance of the disorders there.
Great fears of a massacre prevaifed
in the Mussulman community. The gov
ernment transport Lamir has left Con
stantinople for Batoum to take off the
APPEAL IS MADE
TO THE RETAILER
No Definite Action Taken
Retailers at the Meeting
Today.
W **^t
Hotel and Restaurant Men Oper
ating Bars Would Resume
Sunday Sales.
The first move of the recently-organ
ized Hotel & Kestaurant Keepers' as
sociation was made today, when repre
sentatives of that organization ap
Seared before a special meeting of tho
[inneapolis Retailers' association to
request that body to go to the front
for it in the hope of securing a mbdifi
cation of the present Sunday-closmc
policy. The hotel and restaurant men,
thru thea organization, are behind a
movement to allow restaurants running
bars to open at 1 p.m. Sundays for the
accommodation of those who wish to
dine downtown. All the restaurants
represented in the new organization
are in this class.
No action was taken on the petition
of the association today by the Retail
ers association. The reason given was
the small attendance of retailers, only
eleven of the total membership beuiff
present. Following a presentation of
cerning the probable future action o
the retailers' association.
FRENCMENEZDELAN
INCIDENT IS CLOSED
4
v*
their case by the hotel and restaurant
interests, the retailers present held a
short discussion with the result that
the petition was carried over until me
next meeting, which will be held the
second Tuesday in January.
Fifteen in Delegation.
There were fifteen in the delegation
from the Hotel and RestauraWt associa
tion. Different members explained the
situation by asserting that tno rigid en
forcement of the Sunday closing rul I
was forcing them to stand a considera
ble lobs. It was asserted that the Sun- *j
day closing has affected the business of
the entire week to such an' extent that
some relief was imperative. To indi- '5
cate the community of interests that ex
ists, members of the delegation ex
plained that they had been obliged to
cancel orders for supplies placed with
members of the retail association, be
cause of the falling off in business. The
retailers were requested to assist the
hotel and restaurant interests in secur
ing permission* from the mayor to sell
liquor at least a part of the day.
Members of the Retailers' assoeia
tion, after leaving the executive session
following the appearance of the deiega
tion, refused to express any opinion con-
Paris, Dec. 19.The French govern
ment is officially advised of President
Castro's favorable action in withdraw
ing the offensive note to M. Taigny,
the French charge at Caracas, and Pre
mier Rouvier today communicated to
the council of ministers that Venezuela,
having withdrawn the note on which
the protest of France was based, the
incident is considered to have been reg
nlared according to the desire or
Franc*
4
Labor Assembly Stood Fat.
While the meeting today was not-^
promoted by the Liquor Dealers' asso
ciation, it is a part of the general plan
of the liquor interests of the city to
secure concessions on the Sunday clos
ing rule. Other business association*
are being appealed to for assistance.
At tho meeting of the Trades and
Labor assembly lately, a set of resolu
tions opposing Sunday closing was in
formally turned down. The question
was brought up among the delegates
before the meeting and discussed. Af
ter feeling the ground over by putting
the question up to individual delegates,
the promoters of the resolution decided
to make no mention of it in the for
mal meeting, fearing that it would not
go thru. In explaining this today, a
prominent labor man said:
The Trades and Labor assembly has
other matters and problems of its own
to consider that are of greater impor
tance than the resolution that was sug
gested but never proposed in open meet
ing. The proposition was diseussed be
fore and after the meeting and th
majority favored a hands-off policy."
Club Flan Proposed.
How to kill two birds with one stone,
or how to sell liquor without paying
$3,000 license and do it on Sunday also,
is said to be a new secret formulated by
a number of everyday thirst satisflers
who feel that their liberties have been
curtailed by the Sunday closing ruling
of the mayor. The answer is, Have a
club."
It is reported that the dry ones have
about decided that they are up against
a stone wall and that not being able to
go thru or around it the best way is to
go over it. Bv incorporating a benev
olent club, liauor may be retailed to
members without a city license, the fed- T
eral license being sufficient. The plan
is, according to reports, to organize sev
eral clubs under careful management
and give demonstrations of how to
evade the law.
Membership need not necessarily be
confined to a small number nor will it be
necessary to charge dues that will be
burdensome. Just have a club with a
few hundred members^ confine sales to
members only, turn the" saloon into a
clubhouse, avoid paying $1,000 a year
to the city, and there it is.
Once the club plan gets started, it it
maintained that there will be a rush to
carry out the idea and that a number
of downtown saloons that are feeling the
strong right arm of the law will hasten
to become clubs. In order to get the
Sunday business via the elub route rfr
will be necessarv to keep on the same
track thruout the week. There is no
law tho, that will not allow the club to
take into its fold all the regular cus
tomers of the place and as many more
as may wish to join.
A trial will test the practicability of--
the scheme and time will demonstrate
its success or failure. Those evolving
the scheme have every confidence in it?
and sav that it will put Sunday closings'
to the" bad as soon as tried. Saloons!
that do not become clubs will be upi
against it and will start a revolution, so
they say. The clubs would have to be*
conducted on strict lines for members
only. _ i
3