Evening star. [volume], June 24, 1928, Image 1

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
WEATHER.
(13 S. Weather Bureau Forecast.)
Partly cloudy, preceded by showers:
not quite so cool. Tomorrow partly
cloudy followed by showers.
Temperature: Highest, 68, at 6 p.m.;
lowest, 61, at 6 a.m.
Full report on page 7.
No. 1.214-No. 30,735.
FOES LACK UNITY
IN DRIVE TO STOP
SMITH AT HOUSTON
Only Hope Seen in Favorite
Son Candidates From
South and West.
PROHIBITION QUESTION
PROMISES FIREWORKS
New York and Illinois Delegations
May Propose Referendum
on Dry Law.
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.
SUB Correspondent of The Star.
HOUSTON. June 23.—Who can “stop"
A1 Smith of New York in his quest of
the Democratic nomination for Presi
dent at Houston this week? The an.
ewer appears to be at this stage of the
game, “No one.”
The opposition to the New York gov
ernor lacks cohesion It has centered
on no stogie candidate. Its only hope
lies in the favorite son candidates from
the South and the Middle West holding
on to their delegates to sufficient, num
ber until the Smith forces begin to
disintegrate. But this seems to be fen
idle hope.
The two big contests that loom in the
convention are those over the selection
>f the presidential candidate and over
.he prohibition plank, which is to be
vrttten into the national platform.
The first seem settled already, with
Smith a victor.
The second contains dynamite. It
might cause a real row on the conven
tion floor, and probably will anyway in
the resolutions committee. Much de
pends upon the attitude of the Smith
people from New York and Illinois,
to both those states referenda to 1926
resulted to a declaration by a majority
of the voters that the individual States
should have a determining voice In the
alcoholic content of beverages sold In
the State. There «re reports to the ef
fect that both the New York and the
llinios delegations will suggest planks
declaring for the enforcement of all
laws, including the dry laws, but also
suggesting a referendum on this matter
of alcoholic content.
Can Expect Fireworks.
If these delegations, or either of them,
put forward such a plank, there will
pe plenty of fireworks. There are dele
gations to the South and West which
may be willing to have Smith nom
inated, but they are net willing to have
the Democratic party nationally espouse
the anti-prohibition cause. Well in- <
formed Democrats, who belief* that (
Smith should be nominated, but who
hail from neither New York nor Illinois,
insist that no such effort will be made
by Gov. Smith to dampen the platform.
They point out that the Smith people
are here to nominate the governor for
President, ami that they have been con
ciliatory toward the dry Democrats.
They insist that Gov. Smith has not
*et said anything that may be consid
ered as a desire to have the national
jxrtj take up the wet cause. They say
further that it would be unlike the gov
ernor to hurl such a bomb into the
Democratic national convention at the
ast minute; that if he had been going
to take such a stand he would have
tone so some time ago.
George E. Brennan. Democratic na
kmal committeeman from Illinois, when
i? came to Houston yesterday, said:
"The candidate is our platform.”
This pretty well expresses the view of
*ll Smith lollowers. They are not in
terested so much in the details of the
>arty platform. It is possible, of course,
.hat a plank so dry might be written
-no tMe platform that it would be dif
ficult for Gov. Smith to stand upon it.
,»ut it is not expected. Smith opponents
vould dearly love to have this done. But
he resolutions committee is not ex
pected to bring forth any such plank
< hen it makes its report to the national
invention.
Ignorant of Proposal.
Mr Brennan, it is true, has discussed
he possibility of a law-enforcement
j’ank which would carry in it some
oenticn of a possible referendum, or
he right of the States to determine
or themselves the alcoholic content in
■>everages under the eighteenth amend
nent of the Constitution. But Norman
5. Mack, national committeeman of
lew York, said tonight he did not know
A any such proposal by the New York
telegation It is clear, however, that if
■few York outs forward a plank dealing
vith prohibition, it will be in accord
ance with the wishes of Gov. Smith,
tnd he is not here.
The candidates for the presidential
nomination and their open followers are
•n three camps. There is A1 Smith, who
occupies one camp all by himself.
There is Reed of Missouri, who has an
other camp to himself, and there are
‘lull of Tennessee. George of Georgia,
Voollen of Indiana. Pomerene of Ohio,
iitchcoek of Nebraska. Jones of Texas,
tnd Ayres of Kansas, who are more or j
es* grouped in a third camp.
Smith is a wet. a Tammany man
tnd a Catholic He is the leading
candidate for the nomination. In a
measure all the rest of the field is
•gainst him But Reed is also a wet,
‘.hough he has soft-pedaled prohibi
tion during the pre-convention cam
paign. The rest are drys, except
Pomerene and Hitchcock and even they j
jome from dry States.
Seek Dry Candidate.
The drys are honing to use Reed and !
?oro*rene and Hitchcock to stave off j
s he nomination of Gov. Smith. After !
;hey have been so used, if the drys have I
lieir way. they, too, will be cast off and
v dry candidate will be nominated. This !
program is likely to be difficult of ac- j
•omplishment, however. Senator Reed
‘iopss on the other hand to use the
irys to stop Smith, so that he may
pnaily be nominated.
The Smith people are in a vastly bet
ter situation than either of the other
jampr They have more than a ma
ority of the delegates already com
puted to Gov. Smith, some 662,
tnd they have some assurance that 161
«tber delegates may swing to Smith on
«r. early ballot. It takes 7333 1-3 votes
v> nominate under the two-thirds rule
Hie Smith people do not have to "stop”
inyone; all they have to do is to nom
inate their candidate.
Th* lack of bitterness on the part
»t the presidential candidates and their
Managers is extraordinary, consider
ng the views which separate them
Jo one is making personal attacks on
,mith. and he is making no personal
ittacks on tin* other* The bitterness
is found among the woman drys, who
have headquarters here and occupy in
Houston much the same position that
the farm organisers occupied in Kansas
City to their campaign of hat* against
Herbert Hoover.
HmII of Tennessee and George of
' t£oattoued on Page Column 2.)
Kntered a* second class matter
post office, Washington, 1> C.
CONVENTION FEVER AND HEAT
COMBINE TO DAZE DEMOCRATS
Houston Adopts Slogan of “Be Nice and
Genteel and Providence Will Reward."
Word “Coalition" Frowned On.
BY BEN McKELWAY,
Staff Correspqpdent of The Star.
HOUSTON, June 23.—Perspiring
hotel employes removing all furniture
from the lobby of the Rice Hotel today,
to prevent stumbling and casualties on
the part of dazed Democrats, and the
bell boy who strung up one final
American flag from the mezzanine
balcony and stood back on his step
ladder to survey his handiwork, were
like the stage hands who frantically
shift the last bit of scenery to complete
the set before the curtain goes up. The
'urtain on Houston’s convention week
goes up tomorrow morning promptly
at sun-up.
The efforts of the above-mentioned
individuals symbolized Houston’s final
preparations for the Democratic na
tional convention; preparations that
began months ago in Washington when
Jesse Jones, patriot, party leader and
owner of most of this part of Texas,
waved a blank check in the faces of
the awe-struck members of the Demo
cratic national committee and dared
them to go anywhere else but Houston.
And when the sun went down tonight—
one of the nicest things, by the way,
that the sun does down here—every
thing was all set.
The streets of the city, journalisti
cally speaking, are in gay attire. There
are lots of flags, there is much of that
OLD LEADERS OUT
OF HOUSTON SCENE
Smith Alone Remains of 19
Voted On at Madison
Square Garden.
By the Assoc!*ted Press.
HOUSTON, Tex., June 23.—Seeking
new leadership after eight years of tur
moil and two bverwhelmtog defeats,
the Democrats are mustering in this
Democratic city of the solid South, far
from the beaten track of national poli
tics. to sign and seal a party bid for a
return to power in 1928.
As the delegates came together in in
creasing numbers todsy and tonight to
talk it over before Tuesday’s opening
convention session, the name of Smith
of New York was more than ever the
magic word about which revolved every
conference on candidates, and prohibi
tion was the issue that overshadowed
all discussions of a party platform.
Even the oponents of the New York
Governor conceded that a heading ma
jority of the convention is pledged to
him for the presidency. His friends
said with a great appearance of quiet
confidence that they could give him the
two-thirds needed to nominate on any
ballot they chose, and that they ex
pected to heave it over with early In the
voting The group of candidates against
him. with Reed of Missouri standing
defiantly in their midst, refused to ac
cept this estimate, insisted that they
still might stop the New Yorker, and,
almost forgetting their own rivalries,
made an industrious attempt to organ
ize a bloc of delegates large enough to
exercise a veto.
Antl-Smithites Split.
Much of the talk about prohibition
also revolved around the candidacy
of Smith, but the division of opinion
on this issue found some of the anti-
Smith delegates to one camp, and
some in another. As the debate stood
tonight, the fighting point was a pro
posal to some of the drys to put into
the platform a plank indorsing, not
law enforcement merely, but the sound
ness and desirability of the prohibition
statutes themselves. This, neither the
Smith leaders, nor some of the leaders
against Smith, including Reed, can
accept, apparently the sponsors of the
movement have little hope that they
can command a majority, but they are
threatening to fight all along the way.
There is every indication that the
Smith managers are quite willing to
accept a plank specifically declaring
for Federal enforcement of prohibition,
now that it is a law, and will make no
serious attempt to lncflude in the plat
form any expression of Gov. Smith's
recently repeated opinion that the law
should be modified.
Thus far, in all of these discussions,
both sides have expressed an underlying
hope for a harmonious convention and
a horror of any approach to the dis
astrous three weeks that was written
into party history at the last conven
tion in Madison Square Garden. So
universal seems the desire to avoid an
open breach that some leaders even
hope to settle all disagreements behind
the doors of committee and confer
ence rooms, and everybody expects that
the convention will be over by Friday
night/
Unusual Convention.
In many respects this meeting of the
Democratic hosts will be unlike any
that lias gone before. The convention
is the party’s first in the solid South
I since it emerged from the Civil War.
It meets in a State and section where
1 opposition to the leading candidate has
I been militant and persistent.
Texas probably will lead the platform
! fight for a dry plank directly at odds
I with the opinions of the New York
| Governor. Most of the oilier States
i of the South are sending delegation.
| who oppose Smith for various reasons—
some on account of ht* prohibition
views, some because of his Tammany
connections. and_some,_hke the Heflin
(Continued on Page 4, Column T)
Heflin Promises to Keep Silent in Case
A1 Smith Wins Presidential Nomination
" ■ ■ "sr 1
By the Assort* ted Pre**
81/X)MBBURO, Pa., June 23. ~
Senator J, Thomas Heflin predicted
liere today that If Gov. Smith of New
York wins the Democratic nomination
for President there would be a
reorganization of the patty in the
South
His prediction was made to news
paper men following an address at a
Ku Klux Klan gathering
"If Smith is nominated, you won’t
hear a word from me during the cam
paign," Senator Heflin aald. "I will
decide tomorrow or Monday whether
I will go to the convention In Houston
If Smith is going m he j
©he iuttfa ptaf.
v WITH DAILY EVENING EDITION
WASHINGTON, D. C., SUNDAY MORNING, .TUNE 24. 1928-102 PAGES. *
material conveniently referred to as
bunting, and there are plenty of eagles
and donkeys and slogans. The scene,
journalistically speaking once more, is
a colorful one. When shining the sun
is bright. Most of the men are wear
ing white suits. Most of the ladies are
wearing red hats, in addition to other
gay attire assumed by ladies who strive
to look sweet and cool. A handy breeze
blows and makes the decorations ripple
prettily. The few delegates who are
here are wearing large buttons, bearing
the faces either of Senator Jim Reed
or of Gov. A1 Smith, and streamers
and ribbons to argue that both of them
are “the people’s choice” and that both
of them will win.
As for the people, they are becoming
seized with that fever that raged so
hotly at Kansas City a fortnight back,
and are giving every evidence that the
convention is about to start. Jim Pres
ton. superintendent of the Senate press
gallery, has lost his voice and cannot
speak above a whisper, the loss being
due to his telling newspaper men where
they will sit at the convention, where
they may eat, where they can get a
drink of water and when to go to bed.
Many of the newspaper men and con
vention spectators are limping about,
the limp being caused by a malady
known in medical circles as “conven
tion feet” and derived from a fear on
the part of the owners of the feet that
if they sit down they will miss a rumor.
The rumors have already started fly
tog back and forth. simllar_in_more
(Continued on Page 4, Column 2.)
MS AND FARRELL
IN PLAY-OFF TODAY
Golf Finalists, Tied at 294,
Held Luckiest in Er
ratic Field.
BY WALTER R. McCALLUM.
Staff Correspondent of The Star. *
OLYMPIC FIELDS COUNTRY CLUB.
CHICAGO, June 23.—Robert Tyre
Jones, Jr. of Atlanta, king of the ama
teur realm and twice open champion,
and John Farrell, professional at the
Quaker Ridge Club of New York, tied
at 294 today for the thirty-second na
tional open golf championship of the
United States over this course.
They will play 38 holes tomorrow for
the title, which toppled late yesterday
from the brow of Thomai D. Armour
of the Congressional Country Club of
Washington. Armour finished at 301 to
take fifteenth place.
Jones and Farrell are both lucky lads
to be even eligible for a play-off for
the championship tomorrow, for a com
parative unknown—Roland Hancock of
Wilmington, N. C—a familiar figure
to Southern golf and leader to the sec
tional qualifying rounds at Richmond,
two weeks ago. had the championship
literally in his hands with but two holes
to play this afternoon.
Throws Title Away.
Then, by a display of the poorest
possible Judgment and a case of ex
treme nervousness he threw the title
away. He had Jones, Hagen, Farrell
and the rest of the stars holding the
ropes, groggy and beaten, up to the
seventeenth hole. Needing to play the
last two holes in one over par, a com
paratively simple matter for the long
hitter from Carolina, he blew higher
than a straw hat to October to finish
with two sixes and even miss a tie for
the championship. We don’t mean that
the others didn’t blow, too, for had a
single one of the five men bunched at
220 or better at noon continued on his
normal way, he would have won the
championship with strokes to spare.
Hancock, with the title well in his
bronzed hands, literally blasted it away
by the xwrest finish under pressure
that has been seen in the title chase
to many years.
So we say Jones and Farrell are
lucky lads even to tie for the champion
ship. Hancock should have won by
at least one stroke and had he not
known he had a chance to win, and
continued on in his normal scoring j
vein, he probably would have won with
two strokes to spare.
As the matter now stands, the king
of America’s amateurs, and the de
bonair lad from Quaker Ridge will
start at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning
over the 36-hole trek for the champion
ship.
Bobby Jones is favored by the dis
tance, and on this account is almost
universally picked to win, but our own
opinion is that Farrell will be the ncv. !
open champion, for Jones cannot
always hope for the lucky breaks that j
put him in a tie. Furthermore, the j
usually impeccable Bobby has been far
from himself In this tournament. Any
one else but Bobby Jones would have
finished outside the money, but the
Atlantan has the gift of saving strokes
and so has another chance to win.
Farrell far outplayed Bobby yesterday,
scoring 71 and 72 for the final 30 holes,
where Jones needed 73 and 77.
Tommy Armour, fighting a streak of
the worst putting he ever lias experi
enced in a championship, made a gal
lant stand in defense of his title to
finish seven shots back of the leaders,
Just where he stood back of Jones at
the end of the 36th hole last night.
Tommy took 80 putts for the double
circuit today. 41 on the first round and
39 on the last round. He had six three
putt greens on the third round of the
championship. Fred McLeod, in a tic
for tenth place at the conclusion of the
(Continued on Page 6, Column 2 j
don't want anything to do with it and
I do not want to be there. There
certainly will be a reorganisation of
the party in the South if he is nom
inated, and I doubt that he will be
nominated."
Several thousand persons heard the
Senator speak. He said that he might
be a candidate himself for the presi
dency, and remarked that “in 1032
things should be about right." He
emphasized that he wanted Catholics
to have their own religion, but said
"meddling in politics by the church"
was the subject of hla criticism, Mexi
can and Nicaraguan affairs and cam
paign fund investigations were discussed
iin details
MYSTERY SHROUDS
HUGE MAIL THEFT
ABOARD LEVIATHAN
Looting Held Greatest in His
tory of Transatlantic
Service.
SCOTLAND YARD PUTS
BLAf" NEW YORK
Minute Che: s Even Inner
Seals Intact —Sacks to Many
Points Affected.
3y Cable to The Star and the New York
World.
LONDON, June 23.—The greatest
mall robbery in the history of trans
atlantic mail service was discovered here
this morning when the mail bags from
the liner Leviathan were opened in
London and the major part of the
contents of the registered mail bags
found to be missing.
The robbery, from all appearances,
seems to have occurred before the liner
left New York. An estimate of the
loss as $500,000, published in one of
the afternoon newspapers, w T as declared
by Chief Inspector Cooper of Scot
land Yard, as nothing but wild guess
work.
“The Leviathan robbery is unique—
that mltch is clear,” Cooper says.
“There's no possible way of estimating
the value of the cash, jewelry and se»
curities taken from the more :han 100
mail bags which were rifled. There's
never bwn anything like it—and there
you are.”
Continent Mall Off.
These facts are known to the British
Investigators: .
The Leviathan earned 3.253 tags of
letters and parcels which were landed
at Southampton at 9:30 last night. Tire
Cherbourg mail for the Continent was
put off late yesterday afternoon. Re
ports as to whether this was also tam
pered with have not been received.
As always, the mails were placed
aboard a special train, with armed
guards at Southampton and brought to
London, arriving here at 1:30 a.m.
Other bags, for Birmingham, Edin
burgh. Bristol. Belfast, Glasgow and
Dublin were sent on in normal routine,
unopened. Telegrams to Scotland Yard
already received reveal that some of
these bags had been looted.
Just before 2.00 am. this morning
the Red Royal Mail vans, horse drawn,
delivered the mall to the chief sorting
office of the Northern Postal district
of London in Islington. There the
robbery was discovered.
The mails were contained in stout
canvas baas, treble-stitched, and sealed
with small lead seals of the United
States Post Office. Neither the bags
nor the seals were tampered with.
Inner Seals Intact.
When the seals were broken on the
outer bags, the smaller bags containing
the registered mails were found Inside,
both seals and bags being Intact.
Inside these inner mall bags were
thousands of registered letters and
parcels most carefully slit open. Only
currency and negotiable securities were
missing—nothing else was touched.
The alarm was given at once. Scot
land Yard men were rushed to Isling
ton. Meanwhile similar reports came
from three other London sorting offices
where registered mail bags were opened.
By breakfast time word had been re
ceived from Bristol that two bags of
mail for that city had been looted. It
soon became apparent that a large
majority of all the Leviathan's mail
had been robbed, with every indica
tion of thoroughness and lack of haste.
All evidence, the given facts indicate,
points to New York as the scene of
the crime, which, it is must
have taken place In the post office be
fore the seals were affixed by the postal
authorities and the mail taken to the
Leviathan. That is Scotland Yard's
view tonight after a careful examina
tion of the New York post office sea
post staff on the Leviathan and of the
officials responsible for the transfer
of the bags to the special mall train
from the liner to London.
No Time In Britain.
That the robbery could have been
committed between the time the togs
were taken from the boat and the time
of their receipt in London is pro
| nounced impossible, not only because
there was no time for it—only three
and one-half hours to be accounted for
before the sorting clerks here received
the bags—but because both the outer
(Continued on Page 2, Column 2.)
TODAY’S STAR
PART ONE—36 PAGES.
General News— Local, National and
Foreign.
Schools and Colleges—Page 13.
Radio News—Pages 31. 22 and 23.
Political Survey of the United States—
Pages 24. 25, 26 and 27.
Financial News—Pages 32. 33 and 34.
Around the City—Page 35.
Y. W. C. A. Activities—Page 35.
PART TWO—S PAGES.
Editorial Section—Editorials and Edi
torial Features.
Review of New Books—Page 4.
Cross-word Purale—Page 6.
PART THREE—I 2 PAGES.
Society.
D. A. R. Activities— Page 6.
News of the Clubs-Pages 7 and 8
i Clubwomen of the Nation—Page 9.
i Spanish War Veteran*—Page 9.
i PART FOUR—I« PAGES.
Amusement Section —Theater, Screen
and Music. „
News of the Motor World-Pages a, 0.
7 and 9.
Fraternal New*—Pages 10 and 11.
Army and Navy New*—Page 12.
Marine Corps New*—Page 12.
Serial Story—" The Oreene Murder
Case” —Page 12.
Veteran* of the Oreat War—Page 13
Civilian Army News—Page 13.
District National Ouard—Page 14.
District Naval Reserve—Page 14.
PART FIVE—4 PAGES.
Pink Spovts Section.
PART SlX—* PAGES.
Classified Advertising
Parent-Teacher ACtivltie*—Paga i
W. C. T. U. Activities—Page 8.
PART SEVEN—# PAGES.
Magasine Section—Fiction and Humor
GRAPHIC SECTION—« PAGES.
World Event* in Picture*.
COLOR SECTION—4 PAGES.
Mutt and Jeff: Reg'iar Feller*; Mr. and
Mr*.; High Lights of History.
AS THE HOUSTON" CONVENTION DRAWS NEAR.
KANSAS CITY THEFT
SUSPECT ARRESTED
Alleged Bank Robber Denies
Connection With Crime.
Wife Freed.
By the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, June 23.—Acting on in*
formation from Kansas City, detectives
tonight arrested Leo Gordon, 27, on
suspicion of being one of the seven men
who held up the Home Trust Co., in
Kansas City, on June 14, during the
Republican convention and escaped with
more than $25,000.
A traffic officer was killed, a witness
died of heart failure and four other
persons were wounded by the robbers,
who timed fheir holdup to coincide with
the opening of the morning session of
the Republican national convention, six
blocks away.
Woman Is Released.
Gordon was found at the Hotel Hard
ing. in West Fifty-fourth street, with
a young woman, who, he said, was his
wife. Both were taken to police head
quarters, where the woman was released
after questioning. Gordon was held as
a fugitive from justice.
Oordon, police say, is also known as
Anthony Bonello. Information received
from Ray B. Ely, chief of police of
Kansas City, accompanied by a de
scription and Anger prints, was that
Gordon, or Bonello. could be found in a
house. 226 West Sixty-seventh street.
Detectives went to that address and
broke into a room where Gordon and
the woman had lived for a few days,
but found It unoccupied. Information
obtained in the house, however, led
them to the Hotel Harding, where the
two were found.
Gordon, police said, admitted having
been in Kansas City a' the time of the
robbery, but denied he was involved lit
it. After leaving Kansas City, he told
the police, he went to St. Louis before
coming to New York.
To Search House.
Gordon had sis 6in his possession
when arrested, the detectives said.
They also found in his pocket a
receipt for a deposit on gas and elec
tricity for a house in Long Island City.
Detectives went to search the house for
possible evidence.
In the hotel room the detectives
found two trunks filled with the
womans clothing, but none of the
man's baggage.
ARMED MEN CONFESS
AGREEMENT TO KILL
Charge Step-Son of Intended Vic
tim, Manufacturer, Sought
Financial Gain.
By the Associated Press.
CHICAGO, June 24.—The life of
Adolph Schwartz, wealthy soap manu
facturer and an official of a fur com
pany, was saved here this morning
when police seized four armed men who
later confessed a plot to kill him so his
step-son would benefit from an estate
estimated from $70,000 to SIOO,OOO.
The would-be slayers were to receive
$31.25 each for their work, the total
of $125 to be paid by Harry Cornfield,
the step-son, their confession to police
said.
Cornfield, later arrested, hired tin.
four men, John Buffin, Ray Knight.
George Worden and Robert Barr last
Monday. Worden's confession as an
nounced by the police, says.
The four planned to shoot the manu
facturer from ambush, then tie his
body in a tarpaulin which was pur
chased by Cornfield. They planned
then to weight the body and dispose
of it in Lake Michigan.
The confession, police said, explained
that Schwartz some years ago married
Cornfield's mother, a sister of the
former wife of the manufacturer. Seven
years ago June 30. Cornlfleld's mother
left Schwartz through an arrangement
which provided that if Schwarts died
before June 30 this year Cornfield's
mother would Inherit Schwartz's for
tune.
Two meetings since they were hired
were had with Cornfield, Worden's con
fession related, and each time they
were "to do the Job," and each time
they failed to waylay Schwartz. ,
Last night was to be the final at
tempt. l*olice interfered No expiana- i
turn of how word reached authorities <
wfti tnidt public tirly tJUs ntcNttiUlf*
{/?) Means Associated Press.
Voice Fails Star
After 4,000-Mile
Journey to Sing
By the Associated Press.
CHICAGO. June 23.—After trav
eling more than 4,000 miles ,to sing
the lead in the Inauguration tonight
of the outdoor opera season. Mme.
Elisabeth Rethberg's voice failed
her.
No understudy was available, and
the management* of “Ravinia Park,
the woodland theater on Chicago’s
north shore, hurriedly substituted
Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana
for Verdi’s masked ball, in which
Mme. Rethberg was to have ap
peared.
The event attracted almost as
many society leaders and music
lovers as are present at the open
ing of the regular opera season,
despite the chill of the evening.
Otto H. Kahn, chairman of the
board of directors of the Metro
politan. came from New York as
a first night guest.
SURiITELLS
OF PLANE CRASH
Corpl. Nichols Describes Fall
Which Killed Maj. Lutz
and Two Others.
By the AssocUted Press.
SPARTA. Va., June 23.—Propped up
in bed at the home of Edmund M. An
drews near here late this afternoon,
Corpl. Reeder Nichols of Florence. Ala.,
radio operator and sole survivor of the
crash of the big tri-motored Marine
airplane, in Caroline County early to
day, gave a description of the tragedy.
He knew nothing of the cause of the
wreck, which cost the lives of Maj. Lutz,
Lieut. Busby and Corpl. D. E. Mc-
Cliesney, as he was in the radio com
partment of the plane when it crashed.
*T don’t know how it all happened.”
he said, ‘‘it came so sudden I couldn’t
realize anything until I had a fear of
suffocation and tried to crawl out of
the wreckage."
"The first Indication I had that any
thing was other than exactly right was
when I was suddenly thrown to the
floor of the cabin by centrifugal force, j
as the big machine either went into a
dive or a sharp circle. It was impos
sible for me to get back to the radio. |
I tried, but the force kept me pinned
to the floor. It was just shortly after
that we crashed;.
Tried to Crawl Out.
“I don’t know whether we hit once
or a score of times. It was impossible |
for me to tell. The first thing I re-!
member was that I smelled gases from
the engine’s exhaust and was afraid j
I would be overcome and maybe burn
ed to death, I tried to crawl out and j
remember flgflting. but I think I was
semi-conscious and trying the wrong j
way for freedom. Then all of a sud
den everything went black.” j
"When I came to I saw poor ‘Red ;
(Corp, D. C. McChesney, mechanic).
He was there alongside the plane and |
was all bloody. I thought I must hare ,
got out all right, and I yelled at him. j
but he didn't answer. I didn’t see
Maj. Lutz or Lieut. Busby, and I fig
ured they had gone for help. Then I;
passed out again and Mr. Andrews j
got me. after some colored men had j
pulled me from the wreckage. Andrews |
carried me to his home and here I am ;
a lucky stiff.
"I ato stiff and burned pretty well
all over my body, but when thev turn j
me loose from the Marine Hospital at
Quantlco 111 be ready for another j
flight to Nicaragua or any place else
This is my first smash, and I’ve been
In the service five and a half years.
This was the fourth big plane I’ve j
(Continued on Page 2. Column 4.) I
Chill Sway of Ocean Winds to End
With Return Soon of Summer Heat
By the Associated Press.
The unusually cold and unsettled
weather conditions prevailing in North
Atlantic Seaboard States have been
caused by winds oft the ocean, but
seem likely to be replaced soon by the
warm, dry weather, seasonal In this sec«
tlon. the Weather Bureau announced
yesterday.
Throughout the country, the month
of June has been a peculiar one, and
no area has reported normal conditions
Practically all States east of the Rocky
Mountains have had too much rain, and
while this situation has brought floods
in Missouri and Arkansas, the bureau
said prospects tor Spring wheat gtdw*
era invite Central Sates had improved
T J
“From Prest to Home
Within the Hour ”
The Btar is delivered every evening and
Sunday morning to Washington hornet by
The Star's exclusive carrier service. Phone
Main 5000 to start immediate delivery
FIVE CENTS j
IN WASHINGTON AND SUBURBS I
SEEK INCENDIARY I
IN N STREET EIRE
!
Police Told Blaze Followed
Warnings to Several
Citizens.
I
Following warnings in mysterious
letters received three weeks ago by resi
dents in the block, that fires would
break out in houses on the street, a fire
believed to be of incendiary origin last
night swept through the three upper
floors of the four-story brick and stone
residence at 1410 N street, causing sev
eral thousand dollars damage.
All occupants of the house, owned by j
Mrs. Carmel Galotta, were absent when
I smoke was discovered pouring from the
place shortly before 10 o’clock, and no
one was injured, though neighbors were
forced out by smoke.
Miss Sarah M. Ford, living next door,
was assisted from her smoke-filled home
I by Lieut. Holmes and Mr. Galotta. She
was found stumbling about her home in
the dark in search of her family Bible,
which she was endeavoring to save from ;
j the fire.
Firemen quickly subdued the flames,
but only after furnishings, floors and !
ceilings had been badly damaged.
Suspicion that the fire was of in
cendiary origin arose at once when
I Virgil Galotta. son of the owner, who
had returned from an errand on Four
teenth street, just as the fire was dis
covered. noted that all lights in th
place had been extinguished and that
the key to the front door, always left
hanging on a hook in the entrance,
was missing. The lights had been
turned off at each socket. Chief C. w.
Gill of the central battalion and Lieut
N O. Holmes of the second police pre
cinct believe the Are started in drap
eries hanging in the doorway in the
living room on the first floor-
Three weeks ago. young Galotta said.
: a letter signed "Birdie" was delivered
at his residence, warning the occupants
j that « fire would break out there and J
; advising them to take out fire insurance.)
I naming a certain company. Galotta j
said his father took out an additional;
! si.ooo policy.
| Capt Guy E Burlingame of ‘be sec
ond precinct said complaints had been
made by several residents of the block
j that they had received tetters threaten- j
ing fires.
SCHOONER IS SUNK
WITH ENTIRE CREW
Steamer's Master Reports Collision
to New York—Search
of Water Fails.
i By the Associated Press,
i NEW YORK. June 24 tSunday*.—
The radio operator at police headquar
! ters reported early today receipt of a
; radio message from the new Tex Line
j ship Lake Ellethorpe saying that while
passing Bamegat Light she collided ;
i with an unidentified schooner. The
i schooner sank with all hands aboard, j
Th® commander of the Lake Eue
i thorpe said he steamed back and j
searched the vicinity, but could find no
I trace of the schooner or any members i
! of the crew.
PLANE CRASH KILLS TWO.j
i DEL MONTE. Calif.. June 23 J
I clarence Cook of Honolulu and Ken- j
I neth Mclntosh of San Francisco, busi
ness men. were killed, and Frank Fuller. >
; San Francisco Pamt Co. executive, was;
i injured when an airplane in which they
I were riding fell near here today. The
three men were on their way to San
Francisco m Fuller’s plane when it went,
! into a tail spin and crashed.
Fuller, wno was piloting, saved his
j life by Jumping with a parachute j
Northern States of the Pacific Slope,
which normally experience rainfall,
have had little or no rain recently.
North Atlantic States, which have had)
rain on an average of 11 day* lit June,
j nave had showers on all but six day*
i this month. . ....
Nearly all the Eastern and Mid
western States have experienced an
unusual amount of unsettled weather.
S Although total rainfall has not been
record-breaking, the Weather Bureau,
said, thundershower* luite been more
frequent this year then usual.
Temperatures have been fairly aea
sonal In the cotton bait, but In many
area* too much rain has interfered with
cultivation. H was said. Thejbdeaftoe
has been particularly slow in MWeiaalppi
. J '
•TEN CENTS
I ELSEWHERE
AMUNDSEN RESCUE
PLANE COMBS ICE
IN VAIN EOR CREW
Italian Flies Half Way to
Norway on 500-Mile
Reconnaissance.
RADIO MESSAGES
. NOW HELD FALSE
Nobile Rescue Delayed for Time at
Many Nations Rush Aid
to Lost Rescuers.
I
| By the Associated Press.
KINGS BAY, Spitzbergen, June 23.
Waters and coasts of the archipelago
! were combed by aviators today m
I search for Roald Amundsen and th#
five men with him in the French sea
plane, but without success. The party
who started in search of missing mem
bers of the Nobile expedition seeme4
I to have disappeared more completely
than those they sought to rescue.
A notable effort was made by Maj,
Penzo in the big hydroairplane which
!he flew here from Italy. The major
I flew nearly 500 miles today, going as
; far as Bear Island, almost halfway to
j the coast of Norway. He saw nothing
: of the missing plane.
Weather Clear.
Maj. Penzo flew most of the way at
an altitude of 2,300 meters (about
j 7,000 feet). The weather was fine and
; clear, and at that height he had op
portunity to sweep wide stretches of ice
and water. He covered practically all
of the open sea in which the Amund
sen plane may have come down.
The negative result of this flight,
coupled with failure of other planes *•
j find trace of Amundsen, has about am
{ vfuced experts here that famt radio
j signal* heard last night by at least two
i vessels did not come from the missing
i plane. They pointed out that the ex
plorations had gone far beyond th*
boundaries of the space in which th*
machine's radio might have penetrated.
Turn to Coast.
There is a theory now that the rescu*
expedition may have been.forced down
on the ice in some ford or other deep
indentation of the coast. This tt
coupled with a belief that his radis
has been damaged so that he is unable
■ to communicate with his agent, Capt.
i Wisting, at Kings Bay.
The radio signals which had spurred
searchers were heard by the coaling
steamer Marita which came into port
today. She said she picked up a faint
SOS at 11 o'clock last night. Amund
sen's plane was equipped with wireless*
but the apparatus could be heard only
60 mites if the machine were at **t
on the water. The Marita saw noth
ing of the missing men.
Another gleam of hope aroee from a
report that the icebreaker Mafisin also
j heard indistinct signals. However, ah*
* was not at all sure that these came from
I the Amundsen plane. It requested fur
ther information on the subject.
Amundsen Is G«aL
Definite plans toward searching the
coast of the archipelago were put into
operation today by aviators who turned
their attention toward Amundsen and
away from Gen. Umberto Nobile. Th*
latter now is in a situation that only
requires patient waiting.
The Swedish plane Upland, big tri
motored Junker, under the pilotage of
Capt. Torn berg, explored the west coast
of Spitzbergen. but found no trace of
the Amundsen party. Maj. Penao,
flying an Italian Domier-Wal hydro
airplane. covered nearly 500 miles today
from Kings Bay. going almost halfway
to the coast of Norway and flying in
I the vicinity of South Cape and up along
j the east shore of this island.
Capt. Riiser-Larsen and Lieut. Lutwv
! Holm, countrymen of Amundsen, asked
l that they be released from further work
j on the Nobile rescue in order to devote
I their time to a search for the missing
flying boat. They made their reque*
to Capt. R&xnagno of the Cltta Dl
Milano, base ship of the Nobile expedi
tion. Their plan called for the use of
the ice-breaker Braganaa on their new
mission. A dog team already has left
to attempt to reach Nobile.
Drift Aids Party.
Gen. Nobile's party now is only S
miles from Foyn Island, the Ice having
drifted him rather rapidly toward that
piece of land. Some of the expert*
here suggested that he might try mak
!mg his way to the island. They rec-
I ognize that the party would be handi
capped because of the broken leg of
one of the men and the fact that No
bile himself is stiU suffering from in
juries Incurred when the Italia wji
wrecked.
One of the arguments advanced in
‘ favor of this course was that Nobil*
! could exist for months on land with
i the supplies he now possesses. He also
| is fullv equipped for such a journey.
! even though it be slow and painful.
In fact, he probably has more equip
ment and supplies than his little group
I could possibly transport. There were
i "30 pounds in the first batch of goods
dropped to him by Haj. Maddalena and
he has had additional provisions, arms.
! rubbers boats and radio batteries sine*
! then.
Finnish Wane an Way.
The Marita carried Ueut. Sarko and
’ a Finnish plane. Ueut. Sarko plans to
start tor Virgo Bay tomorrow and
; thence to fly to Nobile's party, which
he is convinced he can rescue because
tus plane needs only about 200 yarda
to land and 30 yards to take off, much
less than any of tire planes now here.
! The plane carries a radio and has *
10-hour crutsmg radius.
iCowriah*. IW3.*
RELIEF I’LANE DOWN.
Oil Leak Halts Italian Craft to Sehtea
wig-Holstein.
WKSTSRLAND, Island of Sylt, Qer
rnany. June 33 An Italian sea
plane en route to Spitsbergen with flv*
occupants made a forced land it vg near
here today, an oil pip* having broken.
QUEBEC HEARS NOBILE IS O. K.
But Two Marconi Opera tors Fall t*
Get Mes»»gea Since.
MONTREAL. June 23 (#>■- Two
Marconi wireless operator*
up a message front an unidentified
reporting that Oen l'mbcrto
Nobile and his party ware safe aboard
a rescu? boat. Receptor was poor
and all efforts to ascertain t Identity
of the sender were uuavaUtng
Th* message was picked up at 3.W
*No confirmation of this report that
Noted* had been picked up
caired from points hrtrer the AreUa.
« v,.