The Minneapolis journal. [volume], December 17, 1906, Image 1

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

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16 PAGESHOME EDITION.
PRESIDENT ISSUES
CANAL MESSAGE
Special Communication to Con
gress Predicts Complete Suc
cess of Panama Venture.
CONDITIONS ARE GOOD
RAPID PROGRESS MADE
Contract Plan Urged
Change to One Commissioner
with Subordinates.
Also
Washington, Dec. 17.Three special
messagesa record heretofore never
equaled in a single daywere sent to
congress today By President Roosevelt
and, occupied the attention of the na
tion 's legislators thruout the afternoon.
The Panama canal was the subject of
the most important of the messages,
the president's recent tour of the canal
zone furnishing the material for this
document, which set a new record, in
that it was illustrated with views taken
during the president's visit. The other
messages dealt with the personnel of
the navy and public land laws.
Success Is Sure.
The president's message on Panama
canal declares that he is as well con
vinced of the success of the enterprise
|8 of any undertaking that is human,
tte says:
"It is a stupendous work upon whicb
our fellow-countrymen are engaged
down there on the Isthmus, and while
we should hold them to a strick ac
countability for the way in-which they
perform it, we should yet recognize,
with frank genPsousity, the epic na
ture of the task on which they are en
gaged and its world-wide importance.
They are doing something which will
redound immeasurably to the credit of
America, which will benefit all the
world, and which will last for ages to
come. Under Mr. Shonts and Mr.
Stevens and Dr. Gorgas this work -has
started with every omen of good for
tune.
Conditions Are Good.
Of the conditions in the isthmus, of
Ti'ch there has been much criticism,
the president says:
"From my own experience I am
able to say that more care had been
exercised in housing, feeding and gen
erally paying heed to the needs of the
skilled mechanics and ordinary laborers
in the work on this canal than is the
ease in the construction of new rail
roads or in any other similar private
or public work in the United Stataes
proper and it is the testimony of aH
people competent to speak that on no
other similar work anywhere in the
tropicsindeed, as far as I know, any
where elsehas there been such fore
thought and such success achieved in
providing for the needs of the men who
lo the work."
Rapid Progress Made.
The .message shows that the work is
making rapid progress. Of the great
Culebra cut he says:
"On the top notch of the Culebra cut
the prism is now as wide as it will be
al told, the canal bed at this point
has now been sunk about '200 feet below
what it originally was. I will have to
be sunk about 150 feet farther."
In August 242,000 cubic yards of dirt
was moved in September 291,000 yards,
and in October 325,000.
Doubting Thomases, the president
says, will continue to criticise, but he
adds that the whole atmosphere of the
Continued on 5th Page, 4th Column.
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krzitei
SHIFTS IN CABINET
MADE IN AN HOUR
Oscar Strauss Takes Office and
Other Changes Are Quickly
Arranged.
Utter Lack of Ceremony in Epoch
Making Change in Ad
ministration.
Washington, Dec. 17.With an utter
lack of ceremony and in less than an
hour, President Koosevelt's cabinet un
derwent a most sweeping change today,
when Oscar S. Strauss of New York
was inducted into office as secretary
of the department of commerce and la
bor, and the other changes necessitated
by the advent of the new member and
the president's appointments took place.
In each case the new incumbent o'
the office was first congratulated
his predecessor, and each, in reply, de
clared that he would be guided by the
conduct of the man who preceded him.
Mr. Strauss first took charge of his
new office. Mr. Metcalf, after con
gratulating his successor, went'to the
navy department, where he was in
ducted into the office of secretary Of
the navy. Mr. Bonaparte next took the
oath as attorney general.
Then came the only elaborate cere
mony of the daythe swearing of the
retiring attorney general as an associate
justice of the United States supreme
court, always a solemn event.
SPENT MILLION FOR TOGA
Simon Guggenheim About to Realize
His Costly Ambition.
Journal Special Service.
Denver, Dec. 17.Eleven years of
patient work, coupled with the expen
diture of a sum not less than $1,000,000
and perhaps a great deal more, will re
sult in the gratification of the ambi
tion of multi-millionaire Simon Gug
genheim before the 10th of next month,
when the legislature will elect him.
United States senator to succeed-Thom
as M. Patterson.
His election is absolutely' assured,
notwithstanding the grumbling of some,
of the other candidates and the absence
of President Eoosevelt's indorsement
Guggenheim is 39 years old. He
came to Colorado in 1889. Eleven years
ago he began laying his wires for the
senate. GIRL SLEW NOTED FEUDIST
Fresh Outbreak of Kentucky Wax
Feared as Result of Crime.
Journal Special Services.
Pikeville, Ky., Dec. 17.The reopen
ing of another bloody feud, such as
made this section notorious, is feared
as the result of the shooting of Bud
McCoy near Tug river, this county, by
Eliza Daniels, 18 years old and rather
good looking.
The girl, who surrendered to Jailer
Burris here, is in the nail awaiting
trial, is a cousin of the wounded man.
She claims self-defense. Her story is
that McCoy, who, is a nephew of the
famous Bud McCoy, killed in the cele
brated Hatfield-McCoy feud of some
years back, had shot at her first with a
Winchester rifle. She returned the fire,
she says, and McCoy fell, probably
mortally wounded. I is understood
family differences are at the bottom
of it.'
WOMAN KILLED ON A CROSSING.
Special to The Journal.
Annandale, Minn., Dec. 17.Mrs. James
Hagen, a widow, was killed by a train on a
crossing on Sunday. Her horse was killed and
buggy demolished.
THE BURDEN OP WEALTH.
Some of our multi-millionaires claim to be saddled with the real old man of the sea.
Vr
The race is on between the railroads
and the cold. If the weather wins,
cutting down the efficiency of motive
pdwer and bringing on heavy blizzards,
there will be suffering and ioss of life.
But reports today indicate that the
railroads are rushing fuel into the dis
tricts where there is either an actual
want or stocks are low. The* Great
Northern is taking no full carloads west
of Grand Forks, other than fuel. The
Northern PaTSific has sent out 300 cars
of fuel for commercial use in the last
two days. At the storage docks at the
T.!^ MONDAY EVENII^'BECEMBp^.-I7,
i *&*> n All m#:" ^/h-.--'r':
-,JV' S B_B W rM-:*'.:*-?s*-*iift*-.-V^-i S BB H?f
RAILROADS RACE T8 AVERT
NORTHWEST COAL FAMINE
LEGISLATURES MAY ACT
Investigation of the present fuel famine erisig kg^e^g&thwest may
not stop with the investigation of the interstate commej^ce^ommission notf
on in Minneapolis. I is probable now that in*~ve*y affected, state^ bulb
notably Minnesota, North and South Dakota and Montana, the subject
will be made a matter for legislative investigation. Northwestern coal
dealers have indicated to the large shippers here that they plan to stir
up an official investigation in their states. Towns that are suffering now,
or have been held in the grip of winter and the famine, are laying-their
cases before their legislators and are asking that the subject be brought
up at the coming sessions of the state legislatures and action taken to pre-
vent a repetition.
1
.T?
head of the lakes* the dock companies
are ordered' to load as far as possible
for commercial use.
fThis Order, coming from the railroads
themselves, means that the yare willing
that their orders shall be held, so that
the commercial business may be given
the right.of way.
The Cold Wave.
Meanwhile, menace of tragedy may
be read in the grotesque tracing and
colorless statistics of the weather map
issued from the Minneapolis weather
observatory today. Every little minus
sign prefixing the figures from the
northwest, both American and Cana-:
dian, means suffering for manyper
haps death for some, unless coal be se
cured.
The temperatures reported from the
northwest at 8 "a.mv today are full of
sinister significance. They read like
a deathroll. Here they are:
Devils Lake, 28 degrees Huron,
S. D., 6 degrees Moorhead, Minn.,
:16 degrees Bismarck, N. D., 20 de
grees Wiliston, Mont., 34 degrees
Havre, Mont., 14 degrees Pierre,
S. D., 2 degrees Battleford Sask.
22 degrees Calgary, Alb., 2 de
grees Medicine Hat, 12 degrees
Minnedosa, Man., 26 degrees Prince
Albert, 26 degrees Qu 'Applle, Sask.
16 degrees Winnipeg, Man., 28 de
greees.
Minneapolis is fairly cold. The gov
ernment thermometer registered 7 de
grees below zero at 8 a.m., and there
has been only a slight let-up thru the
day.* Tonight it promises to be colder
and the weather bureau officials expect
tomorrow's reading to be about 10 de
grees below -aero.
Fought Cold with Coal.
The coal situation in the northwest
appears to be lQoking up, at least from
the railway standpoint. The St. Louis
road reports as usual that no com
plaints are heard. The Eock Island re
port's conditions satisfactory, and the
Milwaukee road is having' no trouble
today on its west end, or the Hastings
and Dakota division.
Altho the Soo line "killed" three
engines Saturday taking a train into.
Harvey, N. D., it delivered the goods
and that station is again supplied with
soft coal. Harvey was the only sta
tion on the Soo line reporting a i coal
shortage, except Ambrose. The situa
tion there was relieved a month ago.
ELLIOTT EXPLAINS FOR ROADS
President of N. P. Addresses Telegram
to I. C. C. on Fuel Shortage.
By W. W. Jermane, Colorado Building,
Washington, D.
C.. 1 Washington Dec 17.The following,
telegram, relative to the car shortage
in the northwest, was received today
by the interstate commerce commission.
T"he telegram: was signed by Howard
Elliott, president of the Northern Pa
cific. railway, and addressed to Chairr
man Knapp:
t{ There is a scarcity of fuel in some
Sut
arts of the country served'by our line,
we do not know of any shortage
of other necessities of life. Our com
pany has done! and will continue to do
all that it cjm to prevent suffering.
"The company realized in June and
July last that the fuel supply was like
ly to be inadequate, and tnat the great
increase in general business would prob
ably produce a congestion in the. au
tumn. We, therefore, urged all dealers
,,i906.f %ft^ ^S$&RICiE,-i
S I
What will inevitably lead into one of
the biggest railroad reform movements
yet developed^ began to-day in Minne
apolis, when Messrs. Lane and Harlan
of the interstate commerce commission,
sitting in the federal building, began
their inquiry into the freight blockade
in the northwest.
It was a notable gathering, of rail
road, men that attended the opening
sesion of the hearing for. they were vi
tally, interested in the development of
facts bearing on th ton-mile plan of
operation.!
Questione asked by W
Bunn, for the Northern Pacific, indi
cated-plainly that the railroads would
attempt to convince the commissioners
of the physical inability to move this
year's crop any more promptly than
has been done.
With the presiedent and' congress
both ready to take a hand in the game,
the present situation offers the govern
ment an opportunity for a short cut to
federal control in some branches of
railroad operation. This, explains why
there was such an arrary of railroad
notables in attendance.
Railroad operation in the actual
working with a strong side ligjnt upon
conditions resulting, and an intimacy
of detail never before presented ap
peared at the first session of the hear-
ing.'
W. J, Hbwland of Jamestown, N. D.,
division train dispatcher of the North
ern Pacific, went on the stand. G. W.
Bunn, for the railroads, sat in close at
tention and hung upon the testimony,
while upon Mr. Howland were show
ered the pointed interrogatory shafts
of Mr. Marble, attorney for the com
mission, supplemented by pertinent
questions from Mf. Lane and Mr.'Har-
lan, representing the commission. Mr.
Howland was the star witness. His
testimony in its important bearing
upon conditions overshadowed in im
portance all that went before.
Commissioners in Earnest.
Several1
.Continued on 2d Page* th Column. I lar questions andeven returned' to them.1
Defective Page
things were evlxiem within a
short time after the Inquiry opened.
First, the recognition by the commis
sion, as indicated by tlie. opening ad
dress of Mr. Lane, that transportation
conditions northwest, as reported to
the commissison, amounted" almost to
calamity. Mr. Lane used the word son
servatively, but, evidently, from the
tenor of the whole address advisedly.
Next was the brushing aside of all idea
that crop production, or the posisbility
of a deficient yield, entered into the
count. Testimony of L. T.. Jamme, sec
retary of the Minneapolis Chamber of
Commerce, and of H. B. Moore, secre
tary of the Duluth Board of Trade,
brushed this aside and precluded the
possibility of any later question as to,
enormous tonnage offered.and the fail
ure of the roads to move it. Another
was the evidence direct that the roads
were acquainted with conditions ex
istnig,. and had received urgent letetrs
asking relief. Finally came the admis
sion of Mr. Howland that there are
forty-three empty cars now in the yards
at Jamestown,.. that they have been
there less than a week," and" the fair
assumption following that this effort
to
furnishy
a larger number of
directl due to the publicityempties given
the matter and the demand of the coun
try for better service.
is
1
Fuel Famine Brought Up.
That the commission would be unable
to differentiate between the primary
cause of the inquiry, the economic con
sideration of the failure of the roads
to move the crops, and the later and
more humanitarian consideration of the
fuel famine, was clear after C. G. Ma
jor of Hope, N. D., took the stand, fir
in his testimony conditions affecting
the movement of grain, live stock, wood.
and.cOal, came out in varying prder,
thus mixing all issues into the general
inquiry as to service rendered, the coun
try and the "causes thereof.
The testimony of George Spencer*
president of the Duluth board of trade,
and the letters introduced from Mc
Kindley & Nich*ols of Duluth, the Min
nesota Grain company, William Dairy
mule company, Randall Gee & Mitchell,
H. Poehler company, Atwood, Larson &
Co., the Miller firm, of which John
Miller, former. governor of North Da
kota is the head, Arhegast & Ball and
other grain firms* giving long lists of
cars in transis from points 300 miles
away, from periods ranging from thirty
to fifty-eight days^ was sufficient to dis
pose of the matter of general results at
terminals. Losses of $3,000 to one firm
that had grain sold for November de
livery at Duluth and could not get ifr
hauled in, made illustration of the' ef
fect in the big markets, while the testi
mony of O. G. Major that conditions at'
congested country points made- a differ-,
ence of 2 to 3 cents a bushel in (the
price paid to the farmers for wheat,
wa san illustration of the country end
of it.
Where Competition Helped.
Next appeared some evidence, inter
esting tho not conclusive, showing that
competitive points had the better of
ity and the little, one-road stations suf
fered, the case' of the Robinson elevator,
at Minot, where there has been no
trouble in shipping out, and. where the
Soo.line and Great Northern meeet, be
ing cited. Thus with some.preliminary
matters disposed of that- might have
taken much tjime to bring put had not
the commission prepared itself before
handj it was possible, "even s0 early in
the ..mguiry, to pass over, except as
something new appeared, tne effect' of
thjHfwhole, and proceed at once to dig
in ror the cause.'v
Howland was 'remarkably circum
spect in his testimony. He has been
with the Northern Pacific for thirteen
years and has been one year in charge
of the Jamestown office. He gave his
testimony freely, but was guarded in
statements anr qualified his naswers re
peatedly. Mr. Bunn came to his as
sistance. Mr. Harlan urged him as a
railroad expert 'to give the commission
assistance in a fair search for fact. M.r
Marble dwelt repeatedly upon .particu
|,'l
^^P^S^^S^SI^P
I nil *lflf I 1 'I Kw 1 I I
Questions Put to Witnesses by Railroad Attorneys in Interstate
Commerce Commission Hearing Indicate that They Will A
Try to Prove They Couldn't Have Done Better.
PLAN OF THE HEARING
More Power for the I. CO. May Result
from Inquiry.
Further powers for the' interstate
commerce commission in the control of
railroads may result from the investi
gation into the car shortage and the
coal: situation, which began at 10 a.m.
today in the federal building. Commis
sioner. Franklin K. Lane said, before
the hearing opened, that what powers
the commission had tp issue a blanket
order covering the present situation he
did not know, but that the hearing
would bring out what the needs were.
Before going to the government
building today Commissioner Lane said:
"The first thing we are going to
take up is the coal famine, with a view
to meeting the immediate needs of the
people who are in distress. We under
stand that the railroads themselves are
in great need of coal, and we want
them to show us that all that is possi
ble is being done to relieve. the situa
tion. In a spirit of utmost friendliness
we wish to see what the roads'are, do
ing, and get their' situation and see
what they volunteer.
'.I am very appreciative of the "en-
terprise of Journal in securing
the, facts, of the situation'- th'niout the
northwest, and presenting them to the
world in a clear .and graphic manner.
Whether" the commission,', upon com
plaint in a specific case, can make a
ATTY. BO-JTIT, IT."?..
%^'^v if^i
'kmp CENT IN MINNEAPOLIS*
-SI 4 Bw
That They'll Defend 1
ile Plan of Operating
ac did Mr. Lane in one instance, in the
hope of clarifying matters ,and finally
Mr. Lane, addressing the witness made
a lang and eearnest speech which was
a plea for information.
Witness Appeared To
Mr. Lane pointed out that the com
mission was here with an open mind
with^no purpose other than to find out that is the power under which we
the factsf Mr. Howland, as a railroad
expert, was a valuable witness. Mr.
Lane urged him to pass up considera
tion of his position as a railroad man
to conceive of himself only as a citizen
and to give the commission the benefit
of any suggestions that as a railroad
expert might occur to him relative to
ways pr means of affording relief for
conditions. Mr. Lane pointed out that
the commissioners are not expert rail
road operatives and that upon such a
man as Mr. Howland they must depend
for suggestions, and he urged any state
ment or any suggestions that might
help in giving the people better service.
Mr. Howland insisted that he knew
of no way to remedy conditions, and
confined himself to answering ques
tions asked.
It is ninety-five miles from James
town to Fargo and Mr. Howland was of
the opinion that trains were moving
over this line as fast as they ordinarily
did, altho instances cited by him ear
lier, did not entirely bear this out. I
ought to take about twelve hours for a
freight train to cover the distance.
This was the splitting point. The
commissioners wanted to know whether
the 1,800 and 2,Q00-ton trains that Mr.
Howland admitted were run out did
not take longer in transit, and the com
parative mileage per day raised a perti
nent question. Mr. Howland main
tained and insisted upon it that the
number of trains, and the meeting
points,, and delays at meeting points,
caused the delay. This did not satisfy
the commission. Mr. Laue wanted to
know if the trains could not make fast
time if they were not loaded as
heavily and the witness, under Mr.
Marble's crossexaminatiou,. admitted
that trains were loaded to. capacity of
locomotives to haul them and that no
more weight was put on. because if more
were added they would break. This
raised, the hot question as to whether it
was hot then true that trains were
loaded to the capacity of the couplings
to stand, the strain and, Mr. Howland,
haying by his own admission suggested
this, was up against a hard question.
Railroad Notables There.
As brilliant an array of railroad and
legal talent as ever gathered in a court
room was present when the marshal
called the inquiry to order. There was
C. W. Bunn, general counsel of the
Northern Pacific, and.Henry J. Horn,
general manager Frank E. Ward, gen
eral manager of the Great Northen W.
R. Begg, assistant solicitor, and G. T.
Slade, .general superintendent. The
Great Western road sent over S. C.
Stickney, and Edmund Pennington,
general manager anft'*A. H. Bright, so
licitor, came over from the Soo Line of
fices.
The Rock Island road had R. G.
Brown present, D. C. Noonan represent
ed the Minneapolis & St .Louis and
Iowa-Central lines, and J. G. Conley of
the Milwaukee was also present.
I
$
:'s
blanket order to correct evils, I don't
know. This investigation will stir up
the situation and so develop it that, if
needed -power is evident, we shall be
able to tell what that power may be.
I have a notion that the roads could
settle the trouble if they would. The
commission has the power to investi
gate fche^ management of all roads, and
are
working.''
yx*.
The Opening Session. r^v
The opening session tod'ay was given
over to the hearing of road men who
handled traffic gathered irom all parts
of the northwest.
James J. Hill will testify at tbirf
hearing a subpena has been issued
for his appearance, and it is announced
he will be at the hearing tomorrow,
With Commissioners K. Lane and
James S. Harlan on the bench the hear
ing of the interstate commerce commis*
sion began at 10 a.m. Attorney- John
H. Marble conducted the investigation.
In opening the hearing Mr, Lane
said:
"Th is investigation into the general
subject of car shortage is undertaken
upon the initiative of the interstate
commerce commission itself, under the
general power vested in that body by
section 12 of the act to regulate inter
state commerce and rebated sections of
eaid act.
"The inquiry here begun will be
prosecuted" in other portions of the
country, but it is appropriate that it
should open here,' because it was
prompted by the facts which developed
at the hearing recently had in this city
concerning the relations of the grain
elevators and the railroads, wherein it
appeared that a large number of line
elevators were at that time filled with
grain and had been closed, that the
grain buyers had in some cases posted
notice upon the-elevators stating that
they could ho longer buy grain because
the railroads had failed to move the
grain already on hand, and that as- a
result, many of the farmers of the
northwest, being"unable to market their
crops, were without funds to meet their
obligations or provide against the de
mands of the oncoming weather,
Controversy Arose.
A controversy arose at that hear
ing as to the responsibility for the de
plorable conditions then prevailing. On
the part of the railroads, James J. Hill
presented the assertion. that the termi
nal elevators were not of sufficient ca
pacity for the needs of the crop. This
view was controverted by Mr. HeffeK
finger, representing the grain eleva-
tors,^ who 'cited -figures showing that
terminal elevators were almost empty
and had been so thruout the grain re
ceiving season.
"It is the purpose of the comntissiott
at this time to enter fully into the*
conditions and practices respecting the
movement of freight which obtain in
the northwest and to search for the*'"
reasons of causes which tend to justify
or condemn the same. We wish to
know whether the shipper or the con- "C\.
signee is in whole or part, to blame, Z^'
either in his method of delivering
or-l:v
receiving freight whether the fault
lies with the carriers because of their A"
indifference to public interest, their .V,
laek of foresight in providing neces- ,J
sary equipment and terminal facilities,
or their too great regard for interests i
not wholly compatible with the most W|
efficient transportation service. ~i&
We wish to know how far whatever i
delinquencies are apparent may be ex- v|g
cused because of an unparalleled and
unexpected crop and whether^ all rea
sonable effort was made to meet the'-2||
ever-growing demands of this Section 'm
of the country. ,-M
"We wish to learn also how present
conditions may be promptly improved ild
and what steps have been taken to-^g
wards effecting such improvement, and iJf
it is the further design of the commis-irll
sion to discover whether conditions, if.g
resulting from railroad methods, are
such as can be remedied by the carriers
themselves, and whether "such is their
determination, as evidenced by poli
cies already adopted, or immedi
ately contemplated, or if it shalL be
necessary to advise legislation by the
congress which will insure, as well as
may be, against the recurrence of such
public calamity as arises from so-called
car shortage.
Trained Investigators.
"To these ends the commission KaV
had a corps of trained investigators in
this field for the past two weeks and
more who have reported not only on
inability on the part of" the shipping
firms and' country dealers to secure the
prompt movement of their freight
pound eastward to the markets, but
possibly a still more serious misfor
tune in the inability of the generaf
2tt
ATTY.-A
of
the JO*