The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume], June 03, 1913, Image 1

About The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917

Image provided by: Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT

                
DO YOU
want a .furnished, room, or a
fiat, read The Farmer Clas
sified Ads. You'll find what
you want.
THE WEATHER
Generally fair tonight "and
tomorrow
VOL. 49 NO. 131
BRIDGEPORT, CONN., TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 1913
PRICE TWO CENTS
MEAT SHORTAGE
ANNOUNCED IN
U. S.JHJLLETIN
Demand for Beef Is
Far in Excess of
the Supply
Alarming Decrease incumber
of Animals Killed Under
Government Supervision
Washington. June 3. The demand
for beef far exceeds the supply and
high prices are" he result, says a
bulletin issue, today, by the depart
ment of agriculture. The shortage in
the supply of meat producing ani
mals, too, is steadily becoming great
er and the countryi is warned that it
is facing a period of short production
of meat.
In the past six years there has been
a decline of, more than 30 per cent,
in the number of beef cattle in the
United States, according' to " the de
partment, and already during the first
three months of 'this year there has
been an approximate decrease of 13
per cent, in the number of meat ani
mals killed under government super
vision, compared with the same three
months of 1912. Statistics of the de
partment give the number of beef
cattle In the United States on June 1,
1907. as 51,566,000 and at the begin
ning of. the present year as 36,030,000.
Prices paid for- cattle, sheep, lambs
and hogs, last year, were much high
er -than the preceding year..-
"The year 19i2," says the depart
ment, "was a year of high prices for
all classes of food animals." With
-the diminished production in the
home market, the . department de
clares, there is no longer a surplus
for export. . .
"The time has come," it says, "when
we must conserve our meat supply." -.
UNJUSTLY JAILED,
IS GIVEI1 VERDICT
L AGAINST JUDGE
Judge Scott f Hands Down
Several Decisions In Com
mon Pleas Court
because he was Illegally confined in
the county jail, George . E. Webb of
South Norwalk has been awarded
damages of $35 and costs by Judge
Scott of . the court of common pleas.
Webb brought the action against Justice-
George W. Sherer of Darien who
in March. 1S1L - fined 4 Webb J5 and
costs for non-support. When the fine
was not paid Webb served three. days
in ;the North avenue Jail in this city.
Ha wished -to appeal to the common
'pleas court but claimed the justice
wouldn'-t allow an appeal. Then he
was released upon a writ of habeas
corpus.
By reason of his confinement -Webb
says his reputation was injured and
that he had to pay $25 to a lawyer.
He sued for J 2.000 damages. In Ms
memorandum Judge Scott says the
mittimus on which Webb was sent to
jail was Illegal.
Another decision handed down by
. Judge Scott is in the suit of Horafee
H.- Jackson of this city against S. A
DeWaltoff of Savin Rock. The court
finds in favor of DeWaltof f. . Jack
son originally brought the suit for
fraud and had DeWaltoff arrested on
a body writ. Jackson obtained ' judg
ment for $31 in the justice court but
when an appeal was taken wanted to
amend the complaint by striking out
the charges of fraud and seeking to
recover on a t364 note alleged to be
Unpaid. The court ruled that the com
plaint could not be amended at that
late date.
In the suit of Smith elleck and oth
er of Darien against William' A.
Pratt of Stamford, administrator, the
court allows the plaintiffs damages
of $721. Pratt was administrator on
the estate of Hannan Jones and the
plaintiffs put in a claim for ,$1,160 for
board and lodging furnished to the
- Jones woman.
Judge Scott gave a decision- for the
defendant m the action of F. ZVL. Car
rvl of Washington against Julius Rif-
kln of Easton. Carryl claimed he was
Induced to purchase by fraudulent
representation, a farm in Easton. This
was supposed to contain 275 acres
where it contained only 100. Carryl
also said there were not 100 acres
of pasture land as represented by Rif
kin when the' sale was made. He
claimed 81,500 damages,
K. A. Mitchell of KTorwalk who sued
George Gregory of Trorwalk to recover
for furniture purchased, was awarded
127.25 by- the court. He sued for
$350.
' Birmingham Continues
to Show Improvement
Reports direct from the home of
Eupt. Eugene Birmingham indicate
that he is rapidly improving. While
he Is gaining both health and his
usual spirits it is said that he will be
forced to keep his bed under direc
tions of the . attending physicians, for
some few days.
KOCH'S APPEAL HEARD.
Vincent Koch's appeal from the
county commissioners was heard this
morning before Judge Greene in . the
superior court. The appeal was taken
from the commissioners decision In
allowing- Louis Balint to transfer a
liquor Hcens from 2 ,Lesko court to
48 5 Bostwick avenue. Koch and oth
er remonstrants claimed the latter lo
cation was unsuitable.
DR. FONES REFUSES TO
SERVE WITH DR. RYAN
ON DENTAL COMMITTEE
Apparently Doesn't Relish Idea of Education
Commissioner's Taking Charge of
Work Which He Planned
S&ya He Hopes Matter Can
Board of Education Up
pected Development In
That Dr. Alfred , C. Fonea, the well
known dentist 'of No. 10 Washington
avenue will refuse to serve on the den
tal clinic committee of the Board of
Education, if Dr. W. H. Ryan,' the den
tist member of the Board of Education
and the acknowledged ' chairman of
the dental clinic committee, remains
on this committee was brought to light
at the meeting of the Board of Edu
cation in the city hall last evening.
To say that tins ' action on Dr.
Fones' part has created quite a furore
among the mjembere of the dental pro
fession in Bridgeport as well as among
the members of the Soard of Edu
cation would be: putting it mildly.
Dr. Fones was the father of the den
tal clinic project in this city and It
was mainly through agitation from
his efforts- that the sum of 1 5,000 was
appropriated to establish an experi
mental dental clinic here. Dr. Fones
is not a. member of the Board of Ed
ucation but he has attended several
of the board meetings to speak in fa
vor of the establishment of the den
tal clinic.
Dr. Ryan, the other' dentist, is a
member of the board and it was
thought no more than courteous to hint
when a committee was appointed to
arrange for the spending of the $o,-
000 appropriation, that he be made
a member of the committee and Be
ing a member of the Board of Educa
tion, chairman, of It. ,
For some reason' .or another. Dr.
Fones apparently does not like the
Idea, of Dr. Ryan. ; being chairman of
11EAN NAMES CON
MEN ViHO VISITED
DISCUSS TARIFF
Washington, June The probe -for
the "lobby" began, today, with approx
imately one-flfth of the total number
of Senators disposed of. At such' a
rate of progress it would take four
riaira mnTe to finish the' investigation.
The Senate has allowed 10. Working
at morning, afternoon ana mgnt ses
sion members of the sub-committee
taking the testimony were confident,
today, they would finish tnis wees.
Senator Brady, of Idaho, one of the
rvow members had not finished his tes
timony when the Investigators stop
ped, last night, and ne was reaay 10
proceed, today.
Th rat rtav'a Induirv had not def
initely located - the "lobby" nor devel
oped the!. names or any roooyiBra
using improper methods in the opinion
of Senators to influence their action
on the tariff. ,
Senator McLean of Connecticut, was
called as the first witness. He gave
Wardrobe
Controversy
Is Settled
New High School Will Be
Equipped With One for
Bach Room
By a unanimous vote of the mem
bers of the Board of Education it was
decided at last night's meeting, to
rescind the action taken at the pre
vious meeting of the board when It
was decided to have the wardrobes
for the new school placed in the base
ment of the school, and place one
wardrobe in each classroom, following
out the architect's original plan of
having a separate wardrobe in each
room.
When asked why the members of
the board had decided to rescind their
action and vote to place the ward
robes in the classrooms the logical
place for them according to the latest
ideas in school architecture one of
the members of the board willingly
gave the reasons for this action.
"We were aware from the very
first," Ire said, "that the only place
for the wardrobes was where the ar
chitect had put them in his original
plans in a specially constructed com
partment at the rear of the room,
easily accessible to the room and only
separated from the room by a roll
ing door. But it was thought at first
that it would cost $25,000 more than
we cared to spend to put the ward
robes in each room. Accordingly we
voted to place them in the basement.
The architect later informed us that
by adding four feet to the length of
the touilding at very little additional
expense,- there would be room enough
to have a separate wardrobe for each
room.
"On learning this we decided to
adoct tha original plan of having a
Be Amicably Arranged;
In the Air Over TJnex-
Proposed Dental Clinic
the committee for when the matter of
the dental' clinic came up at the board
meeting last evening it was announc
ed that Dr. Fones did. not care to serve
on the committee a long as Dr. Ryan
was a member of. it. .
Immediately- the discussion of the
matter waxed warm, some of the mem
bers siding with Dr. Fones and seme
with Dr. Ryan. The general opinion
of the members of the board however
seemed to b,e that if Dr. Fones felt
that he could not serve on the same
committee with the other dentist, he
might be allowed to gracefully resign
from the committee.
The more cool headed members of
the board, appreciating the fact that
Dr.N Fones was the father of the den
tal clinic proposition -were against
taking any action which would lead
him to resign from the committee, and
it was finally decided to let the mat
ter . remain as . it . now stands in the
hope that the members of the com
mittee can get together and amicably
settle their differences.
When asked this afternoon' Just why
it was that he did not care to servo
on the same committee with Dr. Ryan,
Dr. Fbnes declared that he did not
care to discuss the matter.
"I'd rather not say anything about
it at this., time," said Dr. Fones. - "The
matter very probably will be amica
bly settled."
' Dr. Ryan- was in New Tork all day
today and was not expected to arrive
home before- g o'clock this evening e
no statement ooulfi be ' obtained f ipra
him in regard to the affair..
nlfl TO
SCHEDULES
a list of 'various callers who discussed
the : tariff with him but he considered
none of them lobbyists. ; . .
Among Senator McLean's callers
were Marcus L. Floyd of Hartford,
and .Fred Griff en " of Tariffv.ille; Hor
ona V -"v, onov sirtntb .'Mn.ncheater:
George L. Cheney, Deep River r I- D.
Russell, New Britain ;-coi. w. w. skiq
dy, " Stamford ; Frederick E. ". . Kip,
Bridgeport; H. M. Greist and a Mr.
Ensign. ' '
The audience at today's inquiry thin
ned down to four , within the first
khour.
Senator Dillingham testified he had
no -financial' interests in any business
affected by the tariff or other legisla
tion and represented no one who " had.
He could not remember the names Of
persons who had talked -with him," ex
cept a Mr. Ullman, of New York, who
urged that no duty be put on green
fure. He knew of no lobby or ' the
use of money to affect the legislation.
separate wardrobe for every room and
the architect has been instructed to
change his -plans accordingly and be
present with perfected blue prints at
the regular meeting of the board next
Monday evening." ' . . '
Dr. Deane Is . in New "York ' today
going over the plans for the new
school with Architect Rogers.
MANY INJURED
III CAR ON FIRE
IN TRAIN WRECK
Lawrence, Mass, June 3 A passen
ger train on the Southern Division
of the Boston & Maine railroad bound
north from . Boston, ran into a shut
tle train which operates between the
nortB and south stations in this city,
toil ay. . -
Three were so seriously Injured that
it was necessary to remove them to a
hospital. The . others - were treated by
physicians at the station and later
went to their homes. .
The accident occurred- at the south
station into which the shuttle train.
composed of a locomotive, combination
smoker, and baggage car and a day
ooach, was backing. The Boston train
from the opposite direction should
have been stopped in the station but
overran and the engine ploughed half
way through the passenger coach at
the rear of the shuttle train.
The wrecked coach caught Are , and
was destroyed. All of the injured
were in this car.
No one on the Boston train was
harmed. -
ARSON SQUAD FIRES
OXFORD BOAT HOUSE
Oxford, Eng., June 3. Militant suf
fragettes are blamed for a fire which.
today, destroyed the biggest boat
house on the river Isis, together with
4 0 or 50 boats belonging to students
of Oxford University. .Cards bearing
the words votes For Women were
found near the scene of the fire.
ENGINEER DYING,
BLAMED FOR WRECK
Funeral Train on Berkshire Said
to Have Run Past Siding
New Haven, June 3 The head-on
collision between a special- and a milk
train at North Kent, on the Berk
shire Division of the New York, New
Haven & Hartford railroad, last night,
in which W. H. Rigby, of Harrison, N.
Y., engineer of the special, was prob
ably fatally injuredand his fireman,
Thomas Waldon, of Stamford, killed,
was due to failure of the ' special 'to
obey orders, according to a statement,
today, from the offices of the com
pany here.
The special -which was returning
from Stoclcbridge, Mass., with -the
crew, after conveying to that place
Dr. C. H. McBurney, a prominent New
York physician, and a funeral party
for the burial of his wife, had or
ders to take a siding' at North Kent
to pass the milk train waiting there.
Instead, the engineer ran by the sid
ing and met the milk train head-on.
As the! latter was standing still and"
all of - the crew, including the engi
neer and fireman, -.ere on the ground,
ho one on that train was injured.
Waldon, was crushed under the wreck
age and when his body was removed
it was found to be terribly burned.
Rlgbv was taken from his wrecked
cab suffering from injury to his spine.
He -was removed to the Dan bury hos
pital. '
The wreckage was sufficiently clear
ed" up by morning to permit resump
tion of traffic over the, siding, out the
main line had not been fully cleared.
Danbury, June 3 Vt. H. Rigby, engi
tiMi t ho arvemal who was brouent
here to the Danbury hostoltal from the
North Kent wreck, -was reported, to
day, to - be in a critical condition and
it was said that there was little hope
for- is rMAVtrv. He is sufferine from
a serious injury to the spine. His
wife arrived at the nosp-itai, tins
morning, from Harrison.
MOTHER IMPOSES
SENTENCE ON SON
COURT APPROVES
Chicago, June 8.- A mother was
called upon to pass sentence upon her
13 rear old son in .the juvenile court,
yesterday, after the boy had been
found guilty of snatching a pocket
book from a woman on the street. ,
- Judge Finokney asked Mrs. Anna
Bureck, who had heard the testimony
against her son Joseph, to determine
his punishment.
"You must earn the money to pay
for what you stele," said the mother.
"You must promise to be in bed every
night by 9 o'clock . or I'll ask , the
judge to send you away until your
hair grows gray," was her ruling.
The court considered the decision
good and approved the, sentence..
BISHOP BRENT
HAS PRAISE FOR
JAP IMMIGRANTS
J ' ' .."-.
" Washington, . June 3. With the
declaration that the .Japanese are in
finitely preferable to the immigrants
of southern Europe, the Right Rev.
Charles Henry Brent, Episcopal Bish
op of the Philippines, expects, today,
to visit the state department and dis
cuss the Oriental problem with Secre
tary Bryan.
Because of his intimate knowledge
of affairs in the Philippines it is be
lieved that Bishop Brent will be cross
examined by officials of the war de
partment as well as by those of the
state department. .- It is recognized
that his long years of service in the
islands have given him a keen in
sight into the situation there.
826 THEATRES
IN WINDY CITY
Chicago, June 3. There are 75
theatres in Chicago and 76 others in
course of construction, according to
figures made public, .today, ' by the
building commissioner. One half of
the amusement houses afe used ex
clusively for the display; of moving
pictures and have a seating capacity
of 300 or less but the average capa
city is 400 or. a total of 300,000. There
will be an added seating capacity, of
300,000 when the new theatres are
completed in the fall.' It, is estimated
that the daily attendance is 900,000. -.
DE NATOT STTL HELD.
Almost at the moment of his re
lease from Lakevlew Home yesterday
ta great disappointment was crowded
into the life of Fred DeNault as noti
fication was received from the State
Comptroller's office ' that he was to
be held under arrest for the Federal
Immigration authorities until the
State department had definitely - set
tled the1 matter of his deportation
with the Canadian authorities. It is
believed that he will be deported
from the country within a few weeks.
Weather Indications
Nerw Haven, June 3 Forecast: Fair
tonight, Wednesday increasing cloud
iness probably followed by local show
ers. - . -. - - r
For Connecticut: Generally fair to
night and Wednesday, light south and
southwest winds.
Local showers have occurred dur
ing the last 24 hours In the northern
portion of the lake region and from
Nebraska southeastward to . Georgia.
Pleasant weather has prevailed in oth
er sections" east of the Rocky Moun
tains. - ' ,
ANDERSON IS
POLICEMAN FOR
40 YEARS TODAY
Veteran Captain Talks
Interestingly of
Changing Methods
Sergeant Hall and Doorman
Taylor Went on Force .
June 31893
i
The anniversary of three notable
appointments to the police force Is
being celebrated today. The recipi
ents of congratulations are Ca.pt. Wil
liam Anderson, Detective . Sergeant
Peter H. Hall, and Doorman William
H." Taylor. The last two have served
a score of years in service while the
well1 known captain " celebrates his
40 th anniversary. ,
Captain William Anderson who 're
sides at 193 Sherwood avenue was ap
pointed to the force, of men when but
2 4 years of age, June 3, 1873, when
Bridgeport was but a small city. There
were but sixteen members then em
ployed in preserving order and but
two older appointees in point of ser
vice survive, Capt. George Arnold and
Superintendent Eugene Birmingham,
who preceded Capt. Anderson but fa
few months.
Recalling the Incidents 'of . his be
ginning, as a policeman Capt. Ander
son today said that police duty differ
ed somewhat from that of today. -In
old "Tigertown" where he was first
put on patrol, an arrest "was a serious
matter and meant not only legal but
physical supremacy. There ,was no
alarm system and after capturing his
man' of times one had to drag the cap
tive to the station with one hand
while fighting off his -companions
with the other. Today law prevails
to a greater extent and' the shield has
more significance than the man.
Anderson was appointed "under the
administration of ' Zalmon Goodsell.
The chief was William E. Marsh, now
dead and of the four police commis
sioners, John Knowles, John. Pond,
Henry Shelton and Henry Parrott, but
the last named survives. His forty
years of service will now enable
Capt. Anderson to wear the eight
gold . stripes ; upon his sleeves; Ap
pointed in73 he was raised to a
sergeancy December 1, 1888, made a
lieutenant, February 17 1894, and
promoted to the captaincy June 30,
1909. .
Detective Sergeant Peter H. Hall
was appointed "to. the police depart
ment June 3, 1893. He was elevated
to his position on July 15, 1910. Al
ways alert and quick his patrol duty
soon caught the eye of superior of
ficers and his promotion was sure .
During his . service among a body of
men which is looked upon far and
wide as efficient and progressive.
Sergeant Hall has had many exciting
episodes' from which he has escaped
practically unscathed.. .As a detective
he has travelled extensively about the
continent to return criminals and has
had ' a" hand in many notable convic
tions and captures. He is today one
of the members of the department
whose judgment is accepted by his
superiors as final upon mounted points.
Doorman William H.' Taylor, ap
pointed as an officer upon -the same
day, and but recently raised to the
rank he now holds, is likewise an of
ficer who has seen extensive duty in
old and new Bridgeport. He has
fought" the battles of the police
against criminals and has been where
ever duty demanded personal sacri
fice. -Probably few on. the. force have
a better general knowledge of condi
tions in the city and though long on
the traffic squad his availability at
police headquarters is attribute to his
long- an3 efficient service outside.
The three , are today receiving ex
tended congratulations from their
many friends and well-wishers.
JUDGE WALSH HOT
READY TO NAME
HIS PROSECUTOR
Judge John J. Walsh of - Norwalk
whose appointment as judge of the
criminal court of common pleas was
confirmed yesterday stated to a repre
sentative of the Farmer today thai
ne naa not yet appointed a prose
cutor for his court.
"I have been engaged in court work
and have not given, the matter of "the
prosecutor any attention yet",' declar
ed Judge Walsh.
"Do you expect to make the ap
pointment soon?" he scoa asked.
"I shall probably have an an
nouncement to .make next week," was
judge wajsn s repiy. i
The present prosecutor In the com
mon pleas court Is Judge Elmore S.
Banks, Of Fairfield. ' .
CARRIED BULLET IN
BACK; DIDN'T KNOW IT
Another victim of the shooting af
fray which occurred late Saturday
night near the Peichert saloon on
North Washington avenue which re
sulted in Fred Gordon being taken to
St. "Vincent's hospital and Dominic
Caruso being held under . $10,000
bonds to await the result of injuries
to Gordon,, came to light yesterday. .
He is Jerry Devaney, of Trumbull
road, who walked around and testified
in court yesterday without a knowl
edge that he was shot. ' Yesterday he
felt slight pain and upon visiting a
physician it was found fhat a. bullet
was lodged in his back. ,
An X-ray examination today show
ed necessity for observation in a hos
pital ward for a few. days but the
patient refused to be admitted and
will take chances at his home.
iimon Lase isiames
Company Tn
lussian
Says Feeling Prevails That America
Has Unduly Interfered With
Russian-Jewish Situation
SUBMARINE INVENTOR TELLS HIS STORY
Claims involved Reach Well Past The Mil-'
lion Dollar Mark, One on JInpaid Bal
ance, Another on Alleged -Breach
A of Contract
Simon Lake, inventor of the Lake
type of submarine and head of the
Lake Torpedo Boat .Company of this
city, blames the American sympathy
for Russian Jews for the business
troubles into which his concern, with
other American enterprises in Rus
sia, has recently ' fallen.
Dispatches from Russia - announce
that the Lake Company has brought
big suits against the Russian gov
ernment for unpaid claims also for
breach of contract. A The amount in
volved in the alleged unpaid claim is
818,927 roubles, and for breach of con
tract two million roubles is demand
ed. A rouble is worth about y7
cents. . -' i
Mr. Lake Issued a, comprehensive
statement of the dealings of his com
pany , with the Russian government
which The Farmer publishes herewith:
"Regarding the . item appearing in
the morning- papers re the differences
between the Russian government .and
the Lake Torpedo Boat Company.
"From 'Jul vices from our representa
tive; ftr;5t., Petersburg:. - it is evident
that -the cable was in error- as to the
facts. " I Understand ' from a lable
from our representative -that he has
made, a demand on the Ruian gov
ernment for 818,927 roubles, and 2,
000,000 roubles damages for breach of
contract and failure to pay- orders on
the admiralty, given by our St. Peters
burg agents and fnr which the Rus
sian aamiralty had the funds, in hand
and by agreement were bound to pay.
"?Our relations with the Russian gov
ernment were always friendly up -ta
the, time of the abrogation' of the
treaty of 1832, . and we have built a
number of vessels for them. On our
last contract, however, we were oblig
ed to build the hulls of Russian ma
terial and in a Russian yard, and at
the government s request we made a
subcontract for the hulls with a St.
Petersburg firm of shipbuilders; who
were to complete the hulls In nitie
months. This" company failed to de
liver the hulls ion time and - as we
were subject to penalty frorn the gov
ernment, and the subcontractors were
subject to a penalty to us, we refused
to pay them the final payment of
about 73,000 roubles, as we had a con
tract claim against them of 246,000
roubles due to their delay of about
two years on delivery of the hulls and
failure to carry out . the -provisions'
of their contract with us. The ad
miralty at that time recognized the
Justice of our claims, and finally took
the boats away from" the subcontrac
tors and moved them to the New Ad
miralty. Works together with all ma
chinery and tools belonging to the ves
sels, and gave us a place in the Ad
miralty Works to enable us to com
plete the vessels. Here, a serious "ac
cident, in the nature of an explosion,
occurred, due to the carelessness- and
ignorance of some of the Russian
workmen.
"From an investigation which I held
at that time, it appears that one of
the officers wished a change in the
lead of the gasoline piping in the boat,
and - without notifying our engineer
in charge, instructed one of the work
men to discontinue the pipe for' the
purpose of having a branch Installed
for another lead to another tank
which was normally ' used for ballast.
"One of our American engineers was
in charge, of the boat at . the time,
tuning up the engines, and had or
dered a supply of gasoline for the
boat. He could not speak Russian
and the engineer who usually ,had
charge of the Russian workmen was
sick in the hospital with cholera, but
I had previously given orders that
when gasoline was being put on board,
all men were to leave . the boat except
one man who was to check up the fill
ing of the tanks, and see that, the
proper vents and valves were .opened
or closed.
"Now, It appears from the festi-m-pny
of the workmen at an investiga
tion which L instituted the day , fol
lowing the explosion, that the gaso
line arrived while the engines were
running down below and the boss
of the laborers on the dock with
out notifying anyone down below,
started to pour the gasoline into the
gasoline tanks on board the vessel
as he suposed; but as a section of
the filling pipe had been removed by
order of the Russian officer, the fuel
instead of going down into the tanks
ran down into the electrical depart
ment, and right in front of the switch
board. About a' half barrel had been
run into the boat before it was dis
covered, and then one of the BRIGHT
Russian workmen discovered it and
cried out in Russian to ''run for your
lives' and then in his fright and rat
tled condition, pulled one of 1 the
switches which was the only thing
needed to give a spark which caused
the explosion.
"Seventeen men went , to the hos
oiiDie to
Disoleasure
M.
pital, but fortunately none died, but
under the Russian laws, we were lia-
ble, and paid large amounts to the in
Jured men, without .any suits- beln
brought by a sfngle one of them; ir
other words satisfied them, althoughv
primarily the government officer was
responsible for the accident. The In-'-terlor
of the vessel was burned.
"Two other accidents occurred wh-lie,
the 1oat8 were in' charge of Russian
officers and crew, for both of which
the Russians themselves were respon
sible, y .
"The first was to the Crocodile.' The j
government wished to do Boroe work 1
on one of the torpedo tubes and in- -stead
of 'putting, the boat In docic. .
started to hoist the stern up out of ;
,the water, at the ame time admitting '
water into th.j' forward part of the
vessel and sViperstructu-re. One of
the deck ventilators was o-pen and
the line parted, and of course the.deck
went under water and the vessel fill
ed through the ventilator and the
sank. The vessel was in the hands of
the Russian officers and crew, none of
our men' were booxd; he had been
i preliminarily accepted, and was in
commission; but had not been finally .
accepted, due to the crankshafts which
had been furnished by the subcontrac
tors who supplied the engines, being
found too small to carry the full pow
er of the engines satisfactorily, and
she had been t.urned over to the gov
ernment with the understanding that
they, would themselves furnish new
crankshafts and, deduct the cost of
same from our final payment which,
was 1,000,000 roubles and we also had a
claim of over, 100,000 roubles for ex
tras. "Another boat the Kalnvan was run
Into by the Minister of Marines yacht. .
the Neva at Kronstadt. Thus boat was
also in the hands of the Russian of
ficers and crew. It appears that the
Minister's yacht appeared and in ac
cordance with Russian naval custom,
other vessels usualiy slow down and
the sailors are lined up on the deck
at alute. A cruirter on the port slda
of the Minister's yacht was nndero-
ing her stability tests and the com
mander and other officers and passen
gers walked, out on that cide, as tbey
were passing the cruiser, presumably
to see what was causing the cruiser to
heel. The Minister's yacht Is a side
wheerer and the steersman steers from:
a pilot house in the center and could1
.not see the Kaiman which was low
down in the water, and. as- there wa
no officer on the starboard side to -warn
him, the yacht ran her paddle wheel'
up oh to the deck of the submarine'
and smashed the superstructure In.
killing one sailor Instantly, and throw-;
ing a number into the water.
"These acidents caused cornsi-lrable '
delay in the final acceptance of the !
boats, but we finally received word'l
nearly two years ago that they were--ready
-To make a final settlement with 3
us, and we sent Mr., Whitney overi
with power of attorney to settje. Ha '
had been advised that their accountant,'
had unofficially stated there . was
about 600,000 Roubles due us although,
we believed if shoula be much larger, i
"Our agent there had made purchases '
and given orders to tire Admiralty for
somehting over 100,000 Roubles, but we
believed we would net at least th.
600,000 Roubles; but before Mr. Whit-,
ney had arrived, trie agitation arimi
here on the admission of Jews on
American passports, and our Commer
cial treaty of JS32 with Russia was
abrogated, and Mr. Whltrrpy on his
arrival found that the sentiment to-,
wards Americans had chanaged, the
Russians being highly Indignant at,
this government interfering as they,
consideued it, -with their private af-;
fairs, and some of them did not hesi-'
tate to say, -now you will get noth
ing,' and he found that they had rec
ognized the Crlchton claim of 75,f
Roubles against us, while refusing to
consider our claim of 246,000 Roublfs
against them, and had also charged up
the cost of work not authorized on any
part of the contract, and had ateJ
charged us with the cost of .repairs
and maintenance during repairs of ac-''
cldents for . which they hai t hem
selves, only to blame.
"Mr. Whitney expresses it. 'you,t ,
among many other Americans in Eui
sla, are being made to pay for th.
abrogation of a treaty on the demand;
of a class of people that Russia wl!lj
never give In to as she claims thej
right to administer her own intemali
affairs without outside interference.'
"I am advised of another larre
American manufacturing concern that j
is abandoning Russia with a Ions of '
over t2, 000.000 caused by the feeltntr'
against America in trying to lnsiit
that undesirable Russian Jews shall
have the right to re-enter Russia anl
trade under the right of an American .
passport."