Evening star. [volume], June 11, 1930, Image 1

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

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WEATHER.
(V. 8. Weather Bureau Forecast.)
Fair tonight; tomorrow increasing
cloudiness; not much change in temper
ature.
Temperatures—Highest. 75. at noon to
day: lowest, 54, at 5 am. today.
Full report on page 9.
Closing N.Y. Markets, Pages 11,12 & 13
Entered as second class matter
post office, Washington, D. C.
No. 31,452.
CANNON REAPPEARS
BUT STANDS FIRM IN
REFUSAL 10 REVEAL
ANTI-SMITH DATA
Methodist Bishop Walks In on
Senate Lobby Committee
as Group Meets to Consider
His Defiance Last Week.
ROBINSON PROTESTS
BLAINE’S QUESTIONING
Indianan Sides With Church Leader
After Walsh and Wisconsin Sen
ator Bring Up Questions About
Funds and Activities in the 1928
Campaign.
By the Associated Press.
Walking In on the Senate lobby
committee as abruptly as he
walked out on it last week, Bishop
James Cannon, jr., answered ques
tions today on activities of the
Southern Methodist Church, but
persisted in his refusal to undergo
examination of his 1928 anti-
Smith campaigning.
The churchman surprised the
committee meeting which had
been called to determine what to
do about his defiance. The in
vestigators decided to give him a
chance to testify and to consider
their future course only after
learning his attitude.
Senator Walsh, Democrat, Mon
tana, brought up the matter of
anti-Smith funds obtained by
Cannon from E. C. Jameson, New
York capitalist, but the witness
referred again and again to his
objections to answering questions
of his political work.
, “Do you care to say anything about
the $48,000 that was not reported,”
asked Walsh.
Senator Robinson. Republican, In
diana, sided with Cannon, saying he
wondered “what that has to do with
the lobbying investigation.”
Cites Huston Inquiry.
As Cannon refused to answer a ques
tion of Senator Blaine. Republican,
Wisconsin, about the 1928 Virginia
anti-Smith funds, Chairman Caraway
said the objection of the .bishop would
bs considered by the committee.
“In the Huston matter had Mr. Hus
ton made such answers we never would
have been able to go to the source of
this fund,” observed Blaine.
Claudius Huston, chairman of the
Republican national committee, was ex
amined by the lobby Investigators sev
eral months ago in connection with
money received by him for the Ten
nessee River Improvement Association.
“This has nothing to do with lobby
ing nor with the Huston case,” asserted
Robinson, protesting Blaine's question
ing.
At this point an elderly woman
walked to the committee table to say
“This is a Romanist hold-up of Protes
tant America and I protest.”
Chairman Caraway rapped sharply
for order and she returned to her seat.
Arrives Before Senators.
Btill supporting himself somewhat on
a crutch, the churchman arrived in the
committee room before the Senators.
The bishop took a seat at the end of
a press table.
“I am here of my own volition,” he
told a reporter. "I will not answer any
questions to you or to anybody else.”
Soon after the formal convening of
the group, Cannon was called to testify.
“I understand you want to make a
•tatement.” said Chairman Caraway.
Bishop Cannon read a prepared state
ment asserting he intended “no con
tempt of the Senate” in withdrawing
from the committee hearing last week.
“I intended no discourtesy,” he said.
•‘I certainly thought I had the right.
“I am here again today as a voluntary
witness concerning the activities of the
board of the M. E. Church South.”
However, as to questions on his own
political activities, the bishop asked the
committee to consider his objections to
answering.
Cannon told Senator Borah of Idaho
he did not consider himself within the
Jurisdiction of the committee after ap
pearing as a voluntary witness and being
sworn.
Answering a question by Blaine, the
churchman said he had Borah's word
for it “that as a voluntary witness I
am subject to the jurisdiction of the
committee.”
Respectful Toward Examiner*.
The bishop maintained a respectful
manner toward the examiners.
The questioning veered again to the
3 928 activities of the witness, Senator
(Continued on Page 3, Column 5.)
MARINE FLYER
KILLED IN CRASH
Second Lieut. Guy DeWitt Chap
pell Die* in Wreck at Quan
tico Field.
Second Lieut. Guy DeWitt Chappell,
U. S. Marine Corps, was killed in an
airplane crash at the Marine Corps
Flying Field at Quantico, Va., at 8:55
o’clock this morning.
Lieut. Chappell was born at Hot
Springs, Ark., in 1904; was appointed
to the Marine Corps from the Naval
Academy in 1927 and served in Nica
ragua from January to November 1928.
An announcement by the Navy De
partment said that Lieut. Chappell was
practicing fighting tactics prior to the
time he met his death. On attempt
• ing to recover from a power dive, the
department said, it is believed that
structural failures occurred, rendering
the plane unmanageable, causing the
crash which resulted in Chappell's
death.
The lieutenant’s next of kin. his wife,
Mrs. Margaret Marie Chappell, resides
at Philadelphia and his mother, Mrs.
'.\jlla A. Chappell, resides in Hot
Springs.
Co^NCIDEnCE. I .
I was the
REPEATING HISTORY.
R. J. ALLEN RETAINS BREWSTER
COUNSEL; FINED FOR CONTEMPT
Baker Suspect Spurns Efforts of ex-Police
man to Take Part in His
Defense.
An attempt by former Policeman Robert J. Allen to intrude this morning
in the case of Pvt. Howard L. Brewster, held in the Arlington County Jail on a
charge of murdering Miss Mary Baker,, resulted in Brewster s refusal to accept
counsel retained by Allen, In a heated argument between the ex-pollceman and
Commonwealth's Attorney William C. Gloth, and finally in the assessment of a
$lO fine for contempt of court against Allen for having called the commonwealth’s
attorney a liar.
This morning’s session was probably the liveliest ever held in the Arlington
court house and was precipitated when Attorney Amos C. Crounse requested
Judge Bryan Gordon, associate Police Court justice, to set a date for a hearing
for Brewster.
Informed in advance of this move,
Gloth had Brewster in court and when
Crounse had made his request the
State’s attorney arose and said that he
desired to make a statement.
Gloth Addresses Court.
“First I want to say,” Gloth Informed
the court, “that I do not want any one
to Intimate that I am involving any one
but Allen. I assume that Mr. Crounse
did not know the facts before he ac
cepted this case.
“Allen came to me yesterday and
asked to talk to Brewster. I told him
that would be impossible and he then
informed me that he had been retained
to represent Brewster. He then showed
me a telegram from Mrs. Margaret Tin
ker of New Jewett, Conn., reputed to be
Brewster’s grandmother, authorizing
him to act in the latter's behalf. I told
REED WITHHOLDS -
TARIFF DECISION
i
Senior Pennsylvania Senator
Scheduled to Talk With
Hoover Today.
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.
Senator David A. Reed of Pennsylva
nia, supposed to hold the deciding vote
on the tariff bill conference report, to
day continued to decline to say how he
would vote on that report.
The senior Senator from Pennsylvania
was scheduled to speak in the Senate to
day and break his silence on the tariff
bill.
“I have almost decided how T will
vote, but not quite,” said Senator Reed.
In some quarters, it was Insisted today
that Reed would vote “aye” and that
Senator Grundy, his colleague, also
would support the conference report.
Reed was to talk with President
Hoover about the tariff bill later in the
day. The Pennsylvania Senator had a
long conference yesterday afternoon
with Secretary Mellon of the Treasury
and Senator Grundy on the tariff bill.
It has been reported that Mellon was
hostile to the bill, but he has made no
public statement to that effect.
Grundy Doesn't Like BUI.
Grundy frankly characterizes the bill
as the worst Republican tariff measure
since 1884. He, too, has not said finally
how he will vote. It is possible that
Senator Grundy may take the floor and
express his own views on the bill which
has been labeled by the Democrats the
"Grundy billion-dollar tariff bill.”
Yet, Grundy does not like the bill be
cause. he says, it does not go far
enough in the matter of protection for
Pennsylvania's industries. That being
the case, he does not relish having his
name attached to the measure.
If Reed and Grundy vote for the tar
iff conference report, it is expected to be
adopted, though by a narrow vote. If
they vote against it, the conference re
port may be defeated. There are vary
ing views as to whether a defeat of the
conference report would rdkult in finally
> killing tariff legislation at this time.
, George of Nebraska,
(Continued on Page 2, Column 1.)
i SOLID BANK OF CLOUDS
FRUSTRATES SOUCEK
s After running into a solid bank of
'■ clouds six miles above the earth Lieut.
■ Apollo Soucek, U. S. N., today was
- forced to abandon an attempt to better
his world record of more than eight
i miles, established here last Wednesday.
‘ Soucek landed after 1 hour and 12
5 minutes in the air.
Lieut. Soucek left orders that the
. landing wheels be removed from his
s plane tonight and pontoons substituted
i. in preparation for an attempt to lm
t prove his own world seaplane altitude
record.
fEhe ffoenina Sfef.
J WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION \^/
WASHINGTON, D. C., WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 1930—THIRTY-EIGHT PAGES. ***
him he was not a lawyer and could not
represent any one.
“Late yesterday afternoon Mr. Crounse
came to me and said that he had been
retained in the case. I then sent a
telegram to Mrs. Tinker to ask her
whether she had retained counsel, but
received an answer from the Western
Union stating that the new Jewett office
was closed for the night. I have not
yet received word from Mrs. Tinker, so
this morning I informed Brewster of
what was going on and asked him if
Allen represented him.
Brewster Rejected Allen.
“Brewster said that he did not want
to have anything to do with Allen and
that all Allen wanted was the assistance
of Brewster In substantiating charges
(Continued on Page 2, Column 3.)
137.1,1 URGED
FOR D.C. BUILDINGS
Second Deficiency Bill In
cludes Lump-Sum Fund
for U. S. Program.
A total of $37,350,000 is allotted for
Federal building projects in the Na
tional Capital under the second de
ficiency appropriation bill reported to
Congress today, which includes a lump
sum appropriation for continuing work
on the Federal building program.
For the District of Columbia there
is one item of $2,000,000 for acquiring
land for sites for public buildings. This
is a continuation of the acquisition of
properties in the triangle area and part
of it is to be applied toward acquire
ment of additional sites as authorized
in the public building act of March 31,
last, extending the area to the terri
tory bounded by Pennsylvania avenue
and New York avenue on the north,
Virginia avenue and Maryland avenue
on the south and Delaware avenue
southwest on the east, for which a limit
of cost of $15,000,000 is fixed.
Ten Projects Cost $35,550,000.
Ten building projects in the District
are included in a total of $35,550,000,
recommended by the committee to be
allocated to specific building projects in
the District. These include:
Extension and remodeling of the
power plant of the Department of Agri
culture Building, estimated cost, $85,000.
Authorization for the Secretary of the
Treasury in his discretion to construct
an archives building on the site now
occupied by Center Market, bounded by
B, Ninth and Seventh streets and Penn
sylvania avenue, already owned by the
Government, at a limit of cast not to
exceed $8,750,000. This project for the
(.Continued on Page 2, Column 87)
FRANCE CHARGES U. S.
SEIZED DISPLAY GOWNS
Embassy Here Inquires About
Complaint of Poiret That Cash
Also Is Being Held.
By the Associated Press.
PARIS, June 11.—Gowns have be
come the subject of solemn conversa
tions between the governments of France
and the United States.
France, through the embassy at
Washington, has inquired concerning
the complaint of the Poiret dressmak
ing establishment that gowns sent to
America for an exposition have been
seized and a cash deposit to guarantee
i customs also held.
It was alleged by the dressmakers’
, association in a complaint to the De
. partment of the Interior that Poiret
! complied with all the requirements, yet
the American customs authorities still
• withheld the gowns and money, caus
s ing the firm to miss a display of gown*.
I The complaint has been referred to
■ the ministry of foreign affairs, which
i is conducting diplomatic negotiations
with Washing ton.
HUSTON REVEALS
WHY HE REFUSED
TO RESION PLACE
Charges Brought by Foes
to Discredit Hoover and
G. 0. P., He Says.
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE.
"Why Claudius H. Huston, chairman
of the Republican national committee,
declines to resign from that office has
Just been disclosed by him in a con
fidential letter to the members of the
committee. It is dated May 29, 1930,
and has been in their possession for,
roundly, two weeks.
This writer has had access to its
contents and reproduces the letter
with Chairman Huston's permission.
He brands as “absolutely false” the
“chief charges” which were leveled at
him this Spring as a result of dis
closures before the Senate lobby in
vestigating committee—namely (1). that
before he became Republican national
chairman he was a congressional lob
byist, and (2) that he diverted funds
belonging to the Tennessee River Im
provement Association for speculative
purposes in New York.
Sees Campaign Aimed at G. O. P.
Mr. Huston contends that “a cam
paign to injure the Republican national
organization,” according to information
conveyed to him from a reliable quar
ter, was scheduled to set in soon after
he assumed the chairmanship. Its pur
pose was to discredit not only the com
mittee and its chairman, but the Hoo
ver administration. Realizing the “mo
tive of these attacks.” Mr. Huston in
forms members of the national com
mittee that he has declined to be
“stampeded.” His letter, which follows
textually, conveys no suggestion that
his resignation is in sight, either now
or later.
This is the form of letter the chair
man dispatched to members of the
national commitee:
“In view of the misleading publicity
directed against me in recent months
by political enemies, I wish to give to
the members of the Republican national
committee and others interested the
following facts:
Realised Motive for Attack.
“Within a few days after my election
as chairman of the Republican na
tional committee I was reliably ad
vised that a campaign would be set in
motion by partisan opponents in the
hope of injuring the Republican nation
al organization, the national adminis
tration and myself. Since then every
conceivable means has been employed
(Continued on Page 3, Column 3.)
City and Suburban
Growth
There arc many new
people living in Washing
ton and the suburbs, as
evidenced by the growth
of The Star’s circulation.
The Star’s total circula
tion increase in the city
and suburbs in the past
year has been 5,800, more
than 3,300 in the city and
more than 2,500 in the
suburbs. This is a growth
in the past year of over 5
per cent. In the past two
years the growth has been
nearly 10 per cent.
Yesterday's Advertising
(Local Display)
Lines.
The Evening Star.. 33,276
2nd Newspaper.... \ 2,065
[ 3rd Newspaper.... 7,100
» 4th Newspaper 3,509
I sth Newspaper.... 3,012
Total other four
Newspapers .... 25,686
i
The stores at this time
j are advertising most at
-1 tractive merchandise at
s very reasonable prices.
42 ARE. FEARED LOST IN BLAZING
SEA AS PASSENGER STEAMER RAMS
TANKER IN MASSACHUSETTS BAY
Witnesses Tell
of Heroism
on Liner.
WOMEN PRAISED
FOR CALM ACTS
Sailors and Marines
Also Lauded for
Rescue Work.
Br the Associ.ted Pres..
BOSTON, June 11.—The women,
“God bless ’em,” acted like majors,
A. E. Abbott of Quincy, bronzed
first sergeant of Marines, said in
describing a four-hour battle
against fire and deadly smoke as
flames blanketed the Fairfax al
most instantly after the collision.
“With a terrible death staring
them in the face,” he said, “they
assembled, gasping for breath, in
the stern of the boat while the ap
parently impossible task of saving
the ship was undertaken by all
aboard.
“Huddled in a group with un
conscious forms all about them,
they refused to become panic
stricken and thus allowed all the
men to work in putting out the
fire.”
Sergt. Abbott praised also the spirit
of the man passengers. After the first
shock of the blast, they set to work,
manned hoses and made no effort to
get to life boats until the Gloucester
was ready to make the transfer, he said.
Praises Service Men.
Taking no credit for himself, Sergt.
Abbott told of the heroic efforts of four
other Marines and six Navy officers,
who, he said, “really saved the ship. But
for the efforts of these men the Fairfax
would have been lost and all aboard her
burned to death or drowned.”
The battle against the flames, he
said, lasted for four hours. The whole
port side was enveloped in an Instant.
All the passengers on that side of the
boat rushed to starboard to escape the
fire and smoke. The service men
segregated the women and children and
directed the work of fighting the fire.
The tescue efforts of the Gloucester
crew, Sergt. Abbott said, were efficiently,
promptly and thoroughly carried out.
First thought was given to the burned
and injured. Stretchers were taken or
passed to the Fairfax and the more
unfortunate of the passengers trans
ferred to the Gloucester, where they
were given emergency treatment.
After the Gloucester had arrived here
and its weary cargo had gone to hotels,
Sergt. Abbott went in search of his
fellow Marines to be sure they were
made comfortable.
Didn't Have a Chance.
Arthur P. Saulnier, a Marine, of
Brockton, Mass., said that passengers
on the bow of the ship and in state
rooms near the bow, were badly burned
by the burning oil hurled by the ex
plosion.
“They didn’t have a chance.” he said.
Saulnier was in the smoking rooms
at the time of the collision, he said.
Rushing out a sheet of flame covered
the front of the ship.
"Men, women and children went
wild,” he declared.
The tanker was hit on the port side,
he said. A large hole was also stove
in the bow' of the Fairfax.
Among the missing, he said, he be
lieved there was a man by the name of
Walker. He thought about 10 were
missing after the crash. A roll call was
held on the Fairfax later, he said.
Other passengers told of seeing per- i
sons wrapped in flames leaping from
the ship only to land in burning oil
on the surface of the water about the
two ships.
C. D. Farrell of the U. S. S. Lexing
ton. a passenger, said flames enveloped
the forepart of the Fairfax.
Radio Burned Away.
Harry Jam of Quincy, Mass., a sailor,
who was going to the U. S. S. Chaumont
at Norfolk, Va., said the whole top deck
of the Fairfax from bow to stern, was
enveloped with flaming oil after the
explosion.
Jam, who said he was in the smoking
room with Saulnier and five other men
at the crash, rushed with them to the
deck. They took orders from officers
and first lowered lifeboats.
With other men they smashed in
doors and windows of staterooms to get
out people who had been overcome by
fumes from the burning oil, he said.
The radio antennae was burned away
by the flames, Jam said. The chief
radio man on the U. S. S. Charles aided
the radio men on the Fairfax in re
pairing apparatus to send out the dis
tress calls.
The nurses aboard the Fairfax were
highly praised by Jam for their courage
in aiding those burned and wounded.
They continued their work aboard the
Gloucester, he said.
EXPLOSION IS AVERTED
BY CHICAGO FIREMEN
By the Associated Fret*.
CHICAGO, June 11.—Some one saw
smoke curling up beside a filling sta
tion at 1213 Roosevelt road last night
and called the fire department.
Firemen found several oil-soaked rags
that had been set afire. Chemicals ex
tinguished the fire.
Inside the rags were four sticks of
dynamite, enough to have wrecked the
place and endangered nearby property.
SEVERE SHOCK RECORDED
An earthquake lasting more than two
hours was disclosed today on George
town University Seismological Observa
tory instruments. It began at 8:50
o’clock last night.
Rev. Frederick W. Sohon, director of
the observatory, said he could not defi
nitely place the center of the disturb
ance, although it was thought to have
been west of Washington. The quake
was severe.
■ •
Radio Programs on Page B-l 1
I
D. C. Girls in Wreck
MISS SARAH POYNTON.
MISS IONA BROWN.
Both reported safe.
Victims of Disaster
The following list of passengers of
the S. S. Fairfax, not accounted for
after a check of all sources, was issued
by Vice President D. R. McNeil of the
Merchants & Miners Transportation
Co.:
S. M. Rose, Cincinnati.
A. S. Nulvanity, wife and child,
Nashua. N. H.
Miss Georgette Crotton. Boston.
Miss M. V. Craven, Boston.
B. F. Constantine, Boston.
W. J. Meagher and wife. Milton,
Mass.
J. B. Walker. Kittery, Me.
Miss Elizabeth Gardener, 26, Winston-
Salem, N. C.
List of Injured.
Twenty-six passengers from the liner
Fairfax, who suffered burns or other in
juries or shock, were taken for treat
ment to the Carney Hospital and the
Hotel Essex. Five of those at the Car
ney Hospital were in a critical condi
tion from burns. The names of Louis
Felton, 24. Jacksonville, Fla.; Mrs.
Ida Berkowitz, 22, of Boston; Robert
Berkowitz. 14 months; Mrs. Catherine
Marsh, 25, Annapolis. Md., and Miss
Beatrice Anderson, 21, Jamestown, R. 1.,
were on the danger list.
Others at the hospital were:
George H. Brown, 51, Newton.
Mrs. Julian Means, 19, Greensboro,
N. H.
Mrs. Lillian Batson. 32, Salem.
All the above burned.
Mrs. Bridget Brooks, 60, Boston, in
halation.
At the Hotel Essex:
Miss Ruth Brown, Newcastle. Pa.
Joseph Armstrong, Jr., Somerville.
Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Abbott, Quincy.
I Herbert Costain, Washington, D. C.
Frederick Cole, Virginia.
Mrs. Neil A. Dayton, Waltham.
Frederick Eirnert. Somerville.
Mrs. Anna Fisley, Washington, D. C.
Mrs. T. I. Gilbert, Winthrop.
Mary W. Handiey, Norfolk, Va.
Clement H. Hamblet, Lowell.
Miss Mary Hermanson, Baltimore,
Md.
Frederick H. Jam, Quincy, sailor.
Joseph P. Ivaska. Somerville.
J. W. Norwood, jr.. South Carolina.
Arthur P. Saulnier, Brockton, Marine
stationed at Norfolk, Va
Samuel Waldman. Lynn.
Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Winter, Washing
ton. D. C.
All those at the hotel were suffering
from slight injuries or shock.
BROOKHARTOBJECTS
TO HANFORD M’NIDER
Nomination Is Sent to Senate
Without Recommendation
by Committee.
By the Associated Press.
The nomination of Hanford Mac-
Nider of lowa as Minister to Canada
was reported to the Senate “without
recommendation” today by the Senate
foreign relations committee, after Sen
ator Brookhart. Republican, of lowa,
objected to the nomination as "per
sonally offensive” to him.
Such an objection by a Senator from
the State of a nominee usually goes a
long way in the Senate, and just what
will result from' Brookhart’s complaint
against MacNider was problematical.
Some Senators believed it would at
least block action at this session.
Brookhart and MacNider are both
Republicans, but bitter political foes.
Each supported President Hoover in the
1928 campaign.
Brookhart confined his remarks to
day to saying the nomination was "per
sonally offensive.”
“I will have plenty to say when the
nomination is considered." he added.
“I think there are other objections.”
MOTHERS QUIT PARIS
PARIS, June 11 (fP).—' Today was the
first day since the American Gold Star
Mothers began arriving in France to
view the graves of their war dead that
there have been none of them in Paris,
and it probably will be the only day
this Summer when that is the case.
The only evening paper
in Washington with the
Associated Press news
service.
Yesterday’s Circulation, 113,064
UP) Means Associated Press.
Flames Envelop Decks of Fair
fax Before Chance to Warn
Those on Board.
ENTIRE CREW OF SMALLER CRAFT
RELIEVED DROWNED OR BURNED
Several on Boat Bound for Norfolk Seen
to Jump Overboard, Only to Perish.
Six From Capital on Ship.
By the Associated Press.
BOSTON, June 11.—Flaming oil, spurting from the depths of a
stricken oil tanker, believed to have been the Pinthis of Fall River,
today was thought to have claimed the lives of more than 40 persons
aboard that ship and the passenger liner Fairfax, outbound from
Boston, when they collided in Massachusetts Bay last night.
So suddenly did the tragedy occur that not a single person on
the tanker was believed to have escaped the fog enshrouded inferno
which followed the impact.
At least a score of the Fairfax's passengers and crew were un
accounted for, while the Pinthis carried a crew of 19.
Included in the passengers of the ill-fated steamer were six
residents of Washington. Their names were given as Miss Sarah
Poynton, 2722 Twelfth street southeast; Miss lona Brown, 925 In
graham street; Herbert Costain, 1324 Eighteenth street; Mr. and Mrs.
J. F. Winter and Mrs. Anna Fisley, for whom no street addresses were
given. All of them were reported rescued.
Aboard the big passenger liner scenes of wildest confusion suc
ceeded the shock of the crash. Men and women, believing the ship
doomed, hurled themselves into the sea only to perish amidst the
raging oil which poured from the tanker in all directions. Others
were burned in their berths by the white heat of the fire which
seared the port side of the ship.
The flames which swept both craft melted their radio antennae
and temporarily ended possibility of summoning aid. The tanker,
afire from stem to stern, settled slowly into the water, plunging from
sight 20 minutes after the crash.
140 Persons Aboard.
The Fairfax was bound for Norfolk, Va., and had aboard 140 per
sons, almost evenly divided between passengers and crew. The
Pinthis left Fall River early yesterday for Chelsea and Portland, Me.,
laden with 12,000 barrels of gasoline. The spot where the disaster
occurred, off Scituate, was where the Shell Eastern Petroleum Cor
poration, which had the Pinthis under charter, calculated she should
have been at approximately the time of the collision.
Officials of the corporation said this forenoon that they had
tried unsuccessfully throughout the night and morning to reach the
ship by radio.
The first and for hours the only news
to reach the outside world of what had
occurred in the fog came in a terse
message from Capt. Archibald Brooks,
commander of the Fairfax, who asked
that ambulances and medical aid be
held in readiness here for the arrival
of the first survivors.
Later it became, know'n that 10
passengers had either perished or were
unaccounted for and that 15 members
of the crew were missing. Os the
latter, a majority was reported to have
been colored stewards, who leaped to
death in the flaming, oil-coated water
in the first moments after the impact.
Five other passengers are expected to
die.
It was 7:05 p.m.. Eastern standard
time, when the crash occurred, barely
two hours after the Fairfax had left
her pier and crept down the harbor.
The steamship Gloucester of the
same line followed her out three hours
later and was the first to receive word
of the accident. Racing through the
fog she drew alongside the Fairfax and
the passengers of the wrecked ship were
transferred to her. Shortly after day
light they landed at the pier in Boston.
Not until the arrival of the passengers
did the full hoiTor of the disaster be
come known.
Stories of the disaster, as told by
passengers and crew upon their arrival
in Boston, pictured the scene that fol
lowed the crash.
The Fairfax, they said, had been
poking slowly through the fog, moving
at barely half its normal speed of 12
knots. Almost without warning, there
was a crash as it plowed into the tanker.
Blazing oil flowed out over the sur
face of the sea and surrounded the
ship. It showered her sides and dropped
on the deck, splashing upon the passen
gers and sailors who w'ere outside at the
time.
The explosion, according to the pas
sengers, tore the tanker to pieces and
within a few minutes the last piece
had sunk from sight leaving a flam
ing sheet of oil on the surface of the
sea.
Victims Jump in Sea.
Apparently in panic and crazed by
their burns, several persons leaped into
the blazing sea. Among the seven pas
sengers who were missing were four
women. Eleven members of the crew
disappeared.
There was no opportunity to render
aid either to those who jumped over
board or to those aboard the wreck
ed tanker. The flames and the fog
swept them from sight.
Passengers aboard the Fairfax were
in confusion, but order was restored
within a short time and, according to
officers of the ship, all further danger
had passed within 30 minutes of the
collision.
Confusing reports as to the identity
of the tanker arose as soon as news of
the disaster reached Boston. A wire
less message picked up by the Coast
Guard reported it as the Grecian and
later reports gave it as the Pinthis,
operating out of Fall River. Neither
report could be immediately confirmed
or disproved.
The Fairfax was stopped immediately
and then anchored until the extent of
the damage could be determined. It
w r as found that a large hole had been
ripped in her side by the impact with
the tanker, but that she was in no dan
Six Capital Residents Were Aboard
Fairfax; One Suffers Slight Injury
One of the six Washingtonians
aboard the stricken Fairfax, Miss
Sarah Poynton, 20 years old, of 2722
Twelfth street southeast, was injured
slightly. She telephoned her mother,
Mrs. H. L. Poynton, by long distance
trom Boston that one of her arms had
been hurt, but she was "all right.”
The other Washington passengers
were Miss Poynton's companion, Miss
lona Brown, 20 years gld, of 925
TWO CENTS.
ger of sinking. She remained there un
til after daylight and then started
slowly for her pier in Boston.
Relatives Visit Pier.
Soon after radio news broadcasts had
spread the report of the disaster rel
atives of passengers began to gather at
the company’s pier here. Details of
the accident were meager, and it was
not known who had been injured
or lost. As the Gloucester slowly picked
her way through the fog to the dock
the relatives searched the faces of the
survivors lining the rail of the rescue
ship.
Doctors, nurses and ambulances were
at the pier awaiting the Gloucester.
The arrival of the rescue ship with
its cargo of injured and stunned wit
nesses to the tragedy was vastly dif
ferent from the return of most ships
carrying vacationers. Nurses, their hair
disheveled and their faces showing the
strain of their work, stood beside their
patients. They had worked hard on
board the Fairfax tending the injured.
The injured were carried or led down
the gangplank to waiting ambulances
and were taken to the Carney Hospital.
Then the uninjured came to join friends
and relatives or to seek telephone and
telegram stations to wire news of their
safety home.
The body of a woman, who died
aboard the Gloucester while the latter
was coming up the harbor, was taken
to the Northern mortuary. She was
said to have declared she came from
Maynard and to have mentioned the
names of Elsworth and either Dearborn
or Osborne. No such names, however,
appear o.n the passenger list.
Attempt Checking List.
A check-up of the passenger list was
started by the company officials as soon
as the passengers had been landed in an
effort to determine who was missing.
Mrs. M. Brooks, who had been re
ported by her son as missing when
he did not see her come off the Glou
cester, later was found at the Carney
Hospital. Her daughter Mary was not
at the hospital and was believed among
the missing.
D. R. McNeil of Baltimore, vice presi
dent of the Merchants & Miners’ Trans
portation Co., issued an informal state
ment soon after the rescue ship Glou
cester docked.
He said the Fairfax was proceeding
in a dense fog and that an explosion
immediately followed the collision. As
far as he knew all members of the
tanker’s crew were lost.
“I am afraid some members of the
crew of the Fairfax were lost,” he said.
”1 believe they were all colored mem
bers of the steward's department. The
Fairfax had a 10-foot hole in her side.”
McNeil said that two roll calls were
taken on the Gloucester while it was
proceeding here, but that both were
(Continued on Page 3, Column 27)
m., ,
Diet of Fish to Se Studied.
LINCOLN, Nebr.. June 11 (/P).—A spe
cial course in dietetics has been planned
by the Nebraska Fish and Game Com
mission for the particular purpose of de
termining what manner of vegetation is
most likely to appease the appetite of
the wary bass and perch. A zoologist
and a botanist have been assigned to a
Summer study of the Cherry County
lake district.
Ingraham street; Herbert Costain, 25,
of 1324 Eighteenth street, a clerk em
ployed by the Washington Times; Mr.
and Mrs. J. F. Winter, and Mrs. Anna
Fisley, for whom no street addresses
were given.
Miss Brown’s father, Sergt. Maj. C.
H. Brown of the Marine Corps, declared
today that he had a "hunch” several
days ago that his daughter's ship would
figure in a disaster.
Miss Poynton and Miss Brown, close
friends, are employed by the Acacia
Life Insurance Co.