STATE RESTS
MURDER CASE
Suicide Drops Gun When
Bullet Enters Brain,
Criminologist Says
GATE8VILLE, Aug. 15 JP)—The
state rested Thursday in the murder
trial ot Mrs. Ethel Johnson of Dal
las after the examination of its 29th
witness.
George Lacy, a Houston crimin
ologist. was the last state witness
He testified that ordinarily when a
person shoots himself in the brain he
drops the gun free. Mrs. Bernice
Davenport Blankenship, Mrs. John
son's 19-year-old daughter-in-law
with whose slaying she is charged,
was found with her hand lightly cup
ped over a .38 calibre pistol, other
witnesses testified.
Mrs. Lois Anderson of Antelope,
wife of a foster grandson of George
Meddick, the defendant’s father,
testified she was at the Meddick
ranch ixvCoryell county the day Mrs
Blankenship and her husband, Joe
Dean Blankenship were killed. She
aald she went to the store with Mrs.
Johnson. Mrs. Meddick and Joe
Dean Blankenship.
She related that Mrs. Johnson and
Blankenship left them, and return
ed to the house. She said that it
was five or ten minutes later that
Mrs. Johnson was heard coming from
the house screaming. On cross-ex
amination. she said the defendant
was grief-stricken.
Mrs. Theo Jenson of Temple, ft
sister of the defendant's former
husband. JiJm Blankenship, testified
that Mr. and Mrs. Joe Dean Blank
enship visited In her home a short
time before the tragedy, and that
they appeared very affectionate and
as happy as any couple she had ever
seen.
Defense attorneys asked if her
brother, the defendant’s former hus
band, had not gone "all ever the
country" getting evidence against
Mrs. Johnson. She denied this. On
cross-examination, she said he made
several trips to Austin, flan Angelo
and Wichita Falls.
Ben Thompson said the gun found
in Mrs. Blankenship's hand was a I
.38 caliber pistol. Defense attor-,
neys produced a gun which the wit- J
ness said was not the one he exam
ined after the shooting.
Mrs. Johnson maintained her
usual calm during the closing part
of the state’s testimony.
SURVEY BEGINS
(Continued from Page One)
•hare of the cost for the survey,
which Is expected to amount to $2,
600. The remainder will be borne by
the department. It is understood that
Atascosa and McMullen Counties
have already financed and complet
ed an aerial survey of the proposed
highway route through those two
counties.
At the present time, Tilden is the
only county seat town of any South
Texas county which is not on a
paved state highway and McMullen
county is the only county in south
Texas which does not have a mile of
paved state highway within its boun
daries.
The proposed route of State High
way 97. already temporarily design
ated from Rio Orande City to Heb
bconville. thus far has not included
8an Diego, county seat of Duval
county, although a long stretch of
the highway will traverse western
Duval. San Diego is located in the
eastern section of the county and is
already linked with Laredo. Corpus
Christi and San Antonio by State
Highways 12. 128 and 88.
State Highway 97 is already paved
from San Antonio through Jourdan
ton to a point near the Atascosa*
McMullen counties line and Is tem
porarily designated, according to re
cent highway maps, through the
northwestern comer of McMullen
ocuntv to Fowlerton. near the La
Balle-McMullen counties line.
Work on the highway will be di
rected through the office of J. W.
Puckett of Pharr, chief engineer for j
Division 21 of the department. Ster
ling H. Diets will be in charge of
the reconnaisance survey to be start
ed Monday.
WPA OFFICIAL
(Continued From Page One)
to addition to receiving and
handling applications for WPA
funds. Williams wlU act as super- ■
rising engineer on any works proj
etts in the Valley which use funds
from this administration.
He explained the plan of proced
ure and the rules under which
loans will be made at a meeting at
the Brownsville Chamber of Com-I
merer building Friday morning. At
the meeting were County Judge
Oscar C Dancy. Manager C. L. j
Hunter of the E! Jardln Irrigation1
district. I* B- Maher of the Browns
ville school district. O. C. Richard-1
son of the chamber of commerce.!
and others.
No applications have been receiv- (
ed yet. Williams said, but some
were discussed at the meeting. Road
work in Cameron county is under
consideration.
A large number of projects, the
estimated total cost of which Is
n,me than a million dollars, are
listed already with the WPA
through the old PWA setup, and
fcspllcation on most of them are
Ejected to be filtd wttfc Mr. Wll
KLms bora.
Ir» the loans the federal
Nmment will requir* practically
_gams form of eecuitv as it did
in tbs PWA loons. However, the;
grant will bo much larger. For in-;
Canoe where a district or muni
atoality has $55,000 in bonds and
these bonds are accepted by the
WPA, that organization would ad- j
varoe 545.000 to the district as a
**One requirement is that a certain
percentage of the total, about 37 j
oer cent, must be spent on labor
Sr. Williams pointed out.
Any municipality In the Valley
desiring to apply for a loan is asked
to get in touch with Williams.
Auto Kill* Child
MOUNT PLEASANT. Aug. 15.— I
#sn.-Peggy Joe Huckeba, four, dledj
Thursday of injuries received late]
Wednesday when she was struck by j
an automobile as she tried to cross
the highway at her home in the;
Oookrllle community east of here.!
The ear was driven by a tourist j
Italian Troops Jeer African Foe
Their banners flaunting ridicule oi the emperor of Ethiopia, Black
•hlrt troopers of the February division, commanded by General Ter
ms!. are shown here massed beside troop trains In Rome, prepared
to board them for the trip to the seaport and then on to Africa. Despite
strenuous efforts by European statesmen to avert conflict between
Italy and Ethiopia, thousands of soldiers have been dispatched to
Eritrea, bordering Ethiopia, by Dictator Mussolini, and thousands
more are expected to follow in the next mouth.
Plane Plunges 50
Feet When Motor
Fails on Take-Off
(Continued from Page One)
The inspectors, however, lack jurisdiction to act, as the
accident did not occur on a regular airline, and the plane
was privately owned.
As soon as word of the death of the two men was re
ceived President Roosevelt, a good friend of Rogers’ and
Post, was informed by The Associated Press.
Rogers had been especially anxious to get to Barrow*,
the small settlement 11 miles from where Point Barrow
juts into the Arctic ocean, for he wanted to chat with
Charles Brow-er, known throughout Alaska as the “King
of the Arctic.”
Brower has lived 51 years within the Arctic circle. He
operates a trading post and whaling station at Barrow.
The plane in which the Oklahomans went to their
sudden death was a new- one, having been constructed at
Burbank, Calif., especially for the Alaska-Siberian flight.
It was of a distinctive model, of low-wing construction,
and resembled the plane used by Col. and Mrs. Charles
A. Lindbergh in their 1931 flight to Japan and their 1933
flights across the North and South Atlantic.
WAS BAD WEATHER EXPERT
The territory- south of Barrow in which the crash oc
curred is tundra land. It is generally devoid of bodies
of water large enough to accommodate the landing of a
plane.
Before Morgan’s last message was received Lew Par
menter, an aviation mechanic of Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada, expressed the opinion that Post must have ex
perienced motor trouble or some other mechanical dif
ficulty while flying through the fog-banked area.
‘•Post was an excellent bad weath
er flier,” Parmenter said. “That is,
bad weather couldn't stop him, and
he flew expertly in bad weather as
in good. For that reason I think he
probably got engine trouble or some
thing, and had to come down to a
landing, then found there was no
water on which to land.”
Mrs. Post, the fliers widow, was
told of the accident at Ponca City,
Okla.. to which city she went a day
or two ago to avoid publicity atten
dant upon her husband's flight. Also
at Ponoa City is L. E. Gray. Pest’s
brother-in-law, who said he believed
motor difficulties caused the acci
dent.
“Wiley never took chances with
defective mechanical parts.” he said.
“His past record and his care in mak
ing those stratosphere flights proves
that. I feel confident it was motor
trouble."
It was in the stratosphere flights
that P06t was most recently active
He had hoped, and made several at
tempts, to send his “Winnie Mae'
round the world plan from the Pa
cific to the Atlantic coast in new
record time by rising into the stratos
phere and flying the entire distance
at that great height. None of the
attempts succeeded.
More Details Sought
Further details of the accident
were being vigorously sought Fri
day, both by the Signal Corpus head
quarters here and by the world of;
friends both victims had.
The only source of information for
many hours was Sergeant Morgan.
Morgan. Dr. Greist, and an Ameri-!
can school teacher are practically
the only white people in the lonely
Barrow region. The others are E*qui
mos and Indians.
After stops at Point Barrow and
Nome. Post intended to continue
his flight to Siberia where he said
he was going to “hunt tigers.”
It was generally understood that
Rogers planned to go along, but be
fore they left Fairbanks Thursday
the humorist said he had not def
itely decided. Two days ago in An
chorage he remarked that he might
spend the winter in Alaska with
“sourdoughs denned up in their
cabins” along the Yukon and Mac
Kenzie rivers.
Once before Wiley Post “cracked
up” in Alaska. That was when his
red monoplane, the “Winnie Mae.”!
was damaged in a forced landing
near Flat, in central Alaska, on the
round-the-world flight which set the
record—a record still unbeaten.
Auto accidents are increasing
faster in rural districts than in ur
ban areas.
Utilities Compromise
Efforts Are Failure
WASHINGTON. Aug. 18. —
Compromise offers submitted by
house and senate conferees on the
public utility bill failed Friday in
another vain effort to get together
on the provision for compulsory
abolition of "unnecessary" holding
companies.
Senator Wheeler (D-Mont), insist
ing upon some form of dissolution
of surplus holding companies, as
serted. however, that prospects for
agreement were *‘a little brighter.”
The conferees spent two hours in
debate over compromise proposals
and broke up subject to a call for a
meeting Monday.
Bride Found Slain;
Husband Is Sought
LORAIN, O., Aug. 15.—•*£*>— A
warrant charging first degree mur
der was issued Thursday for Joseph
Mtluch. 26. whose 21 year old bride,
Dorothy, was found with her skull
crushed In her bedroom.
Meluch disappeared Wednesday
afternoon, several hours before rel
atives discovered the body.
Police Captain High Rilev said a
brother of the missing husband.
Paul, 13. discovered the body. His
sister. Margaret, had sent him to
call the bride of six weeks to supper.
Kingfish To Oppose
Robinson, Harrison
NEW YORK, Aug. is —Sena
tor Long of Louisiana Thursday
declared his Intention of opposing
Icr re-election Senator Joseph T.
Re Hinson, of Arkansas, democratic
leader of the senate, and Senator
Pat Harrison, of Mississippi.
•They've been there all their
lives,' 'and the people never got
anvthlng out of them,” he said In
an Interview.
"city briefs"
Flowers tor all occasions Los
Cbanos Greenhouse Company. Phone
1588. Adv.
Yellow Cab—Phone 1083 —Adv.
City Ordinance require* covered
garbage cans. Buy them at Garza
Hardware.—Adv.
New and used automatic and oth
er pistols.—Phillips Hardware, Ban
Benito, Texas.—Adv.
"
DIVIDENDS PAY
BEGINS AGAIN
$34,000,000 Paid Out To
Stockholders In Past
35 Business Days
NEW YORK. Aug. 15. (AV-Divi
dend payments representing s net
balance of more than I34.000.u00 have
been made to stockholders In 34
selected corporations in the last 35
business days.
The compilation, prepared by the
Associated Press statistical depart
ment. showed lavorable action on
the dividend rate by 32 organiza
tions and unfavorable action by two.
Favorable decisions by directors
Included payments under the head-;
lngs of extra dividends, increases in
the regular rate, resumption of pay
ments after passing one or more
dates when dividend action was due,
and the payment of an Initial divi
dend.
The total Involved In favorable
actions, minus the funds affected by
unfavorable decisions, was $34,995,
110.
The two firms listed as making
unfavorable action omitted their
regular payment.
The leader in the list was Oeneral
Motors Corporation, which declared
an extra dividend of 25 cents a com
mon share and increased its regulate
rate from 25 to 50 cents quarterly
Stockholders received checks
amounting to $21,366,000.
The organizations in the survey
were selected from a 11>S of 152 cor
porations which have taken divi
dend action in the last 35 business
days. In the larger list, 129 actions
were favorable and 23 unfavorable. (
It has been pointed out by analy
sts. however, that the trend for ma
jor companies is not to be construed
as typical of American industry as a
whole.
MARKETS
NEW YORK STOCKS
NEW YORK. Aug. 16. ^>-The
stock market displayed no great
amount of vigor Friday, either In dips
or rallies, but a steady undertone was
apparent alter a rather nervous
opening.
Scattered issues were pushed up
moderately while others slipped back
a shade under renewed protit-taking.
The activities was not pronounced.'
Marketwise. the general run of news
was unimpressive.
Commodities, including wheat,
corn and cotton, showed no definite
trend. Bends Just about held their
own. Some of the gold currencies
reacted in foreign exchange trans
actions. Sterling was heavy.
Advances off r act ions to around
a point were recorded by shares of
N. Y. Central, Santa Fe, Union Pa
cific. U. S. Semtling. American
Smelting. Phelps Dodge, Kennecott,
Anaoanda. Budd MlV . Thatcher
Mfg , Fairbanks Morse. Hayes Body.'
Servel. Bethlehem. National Distill
ers. Consolidated Gas and American j
Water Works. Among loser of as
much were American Telephone,
American Can. U. S. Steel, Chrysler,
General Motors, Du Pont. Westing
house and Johns-Manville.
CHICAGO GRAIN
CHICAGO. Aug. 16. OPi—Higher
prices on wheat here formed the
rule early Friday, influenced by
upturns of quotations at Liverpool
Opening at $4-** gain, Dec 90-90*%.
the Chicago wheat market soon
(limbed further. Com started un
changed to \ higher. Dec 57*4-4,
r. id then held near to these limits.
NEW ORLEANS COTTON
NEW ORLEANS. Aug. 16. tAV
After opening from 1 to 6 points
lower cotton futures Friday rallied
a few points and were holding nar
rowly around previous closing prices
during the early trading.
Net gams averaging a dollar a
bale were marked up by active
months during the morning trading
as more confidence was shown by |
traders in the prediction that the
government would make a 12-cent
loan announcement before the
week ends.
October advanced tot 11 50 on the
movement while December at 11 33,
March at 11.18 and July at 10.98
made good sized gains.
Trading picked up momentum on
the advance and active dealings
characterised the first half of the
session.
Wire Flashes
MIDWAY ISLANDS (Bv Pan
.American Airways)—UP—Heading
for desolate Wake Island, 1191
Statute miles southwest of here
over mid-Pacific, the Pan Amer
ican Clipper seaplane took off
Friday at 11.21 a. m. (Central
Standard Time).
Wreck Injures Eight
SYRACUSE. N. Y„ Aug 16.—
—Eight persons were Injured, four
seriously, when two automobiles
collided west of Navarino on the
Cherry Valley tumDike Thursday
night. The injured were:
Mrs. Ora Ehrhart, 60. Rochester,
N. Y.. possible fracture of skull,
Mrs. Alda 8tlUman. Oil City. Pa.,
fractured knee: Col E. D. Crltes,
Fort Worth. Tex., severe head In
juries; Mrs. E. D. Crltes, Fort
Worth, bruised and head injuries;
Nedra Fish. Dick Harrell and Prank
Williams, all of Fort Worth, minor
injuries: Grace Davidson, Titusville,
Pa., head injuries, cut and bruised.
B. & P. Clubs Meet
(Special to The Herald)
WESLACO. Aug. 16— Represent
atives of six Valley business and
professional women’s clubs met here
In the regular quarterly gathering
Thursday night at the Cortes
hotel.
The next meeting will be held at
McXllen In November In -onJunc
tion with the state Business and
Professional Women’s club conven
tion. and Mission invited the group
to come to that dty for the Jan
uary quarterly meeting.
Bullets Kill Two
TAYLOR. Aug. 16.—(fft—Two men
were dead Friday as the result of
a gun fight Thursday over turkeys.
Pink Rolff was killed and Jones
Allen wounded fatally In the fight
cn the Allen farm near Beauklss In
the eastern portion of Williamson
county. Allen died Friday.
Hugh Allen, father of Jones, was
quoted by officers as saying that
Rolff had accused his son last week
ot stealing turkeys. Young Allen
denied the accusation.
Barrymore Acts Up on Shopping Tour With Elaine
(c) 1935, N. T. News
Whether the furniture is to he used a* ■ stage Betting or in an apartment couldn’t be learned, but hera
you see John Barrymore (right), resplendent in white linen, and hia young protege, Elaine Barrie, shop
ping in a swank Fifth Avenue store in New York. Spying the cameraman who caught up with them on
their shopping tour. Elnine turned her head and the salesman covered bis face. Then Barrymore tried
to wreck the camera and succeeded only breaking a fingernail.
Sally Shelves Fan and Bubble; She’s a Swan Now
Bubble and fan ^ the discard, Sallj Rand is **g1»lng them the bird’* in her latest dance creation,
•inhering, swaying, and posturing with inimitable grace in "Leda and the Swan.** her own inter
pretation of the famed mythological romance of Leda and the god Zeus, who took the form of
the noble bird. Here she is shown in one striking position, her left band apflnng in a perfect
representation of the swan's head.
How the Quins Grow! 40 Feet High—in Fireworks!
T
Isn't It amazing how tbosa amazing quintuplets hare grown! Forty feet high they appear htNbJa
the striking fireworks set piece that was an outstanding attraction of the Ciereland, O summer
festival, attended by thousands. Size of the display, showing the quins in conference, la shown
by the lofty framework, risible through the brightly gleaming outline* of the set piece. _
Germany’s New Navy Adopts Gas Masks
Now that Great Britain and Germany hava agreed on naval strength in the North Sea, German naval
authorities are permitting glimpses of the fleet secretly built Wore tha negotiation* sty ted. German
■n««ii aarkiiw with mi aada mans aiaOaeed dnainc rsennit mnnaweiB. fCealrml *
LABOR UNION
TO BE FORMED
L^iihoremen's Association^
Likely to Be Among
First Here
Steps for formation of a Federa
tion of Union Labor, assoctatsd with
the American Federation of Labor,
are being taken here following taro
organisation meetings held at tbs
■ Cameron county courthouse.
Rob Robertson, secretary of the
Valley's Central Labor Union. Is tak
ing the necessary steps for forma
; don of the group, and a temporary
organisation is expected to be set up
at a third meeting to be held Wed
j nesdsy night.
The Federation of Union Labor
will cover all classes of craftsmen,
and later Its members will be urg
ed to form local unions for their
i respective crafts. It Is likely that a
| local chapter of the International
; Longshoremen's Association will be
among the first formed.
Local workers began the move
| ment for unionisation about three
weeks ago when they felt that they
were not obtaining their share of
work in this section. They wanted to
organize In order to prevent union
workmen being Imported In the
Valley for Jobs which must be con
tracted to unions.
Approximately 200 workers attend
ed the second meeting which waa
j held at the courthouse Wednesday
| night.
OFFICERS ARE
(Continued From Pag® One)
the river near Las Prletaa, Deputy
Sheriff Bob Smith asked Customs
Inspectors Roy Collins and Earl
Weather to assist him. While wait
ing on the road. Epigmenlo Garcia,
a ho lives about eight miles north*
we*f of Brownsville came along.
The officers suspected him of
• piloting" the load and made him
stop nearby. Shortly afterwards
two men came up the road allegedly
with two sacks of liquor. The of
ficers commanded them to hajk.
but. according to Investigating If
thorlties. the men opened fire Wn
the officers and then ran. The of
ficers returned the fire as the men
fled Into the brush to the north.
The officers searched the brush
for a 100 yards In the direction
which the men fled, but found no
trace of them or of blood, the In
vestigation reveals.
Believing that thev had missed
the fleeing men and that they had
escaped, the officer* left to- Port
I«abel to work on a horse stealing
case.
Btaggers to House
Meanwhile. Landeros staggered to
a nearby house and officers here
were notified of the shooting. Dep
uty Sheriff Oeorge Miller and
N.ght Lieutenant of Police Jake
Ccillnt made the call Landeroe
was rushed to the Mercy hospital,
arc! De Leon's Vxly was taken to
the Morris mortuary.
Smith. Weather and Collins did
not know that they hit the fleeing
men until they returned from Port
Isabel, the Investigation reveals. De
Leon's body was located about 40
yards In the brush further than
the officers first searched.
Assistant U. S Attorney James
Abney Investigated the gun battle
Filday morning and staled: "Th»
investigation thus tar reveals that
the dead and wounded men have
previous records, and that the of*
liters were fired upon after they
had announced their identity and
called upon the offender* to halt*
A complaint charging Landeroe
and Garcia with receiving, conceal
ing and transporting smuggled li
quor was filed with U. 8. Commis
sioner Carlos G. Watson Friday
morning. No hearing will be held
pending outcome of Landeroe*
wounds.
According to Investigating officer*,
De Leon and Landeros were carry
ing two sacks of liquor which they
dropped when they ran. The sacks
are said to have contained 43 pints
of mescal. .
Both De Leon and Landerce *'ji
merly lived on the American side ag
the river, officers state, but have
been living at the Las Ruslaa ranch
for some time.
Statements Filed
Formal statements concerning the
gun bsttle have been filed with fed
eral authorities and with the sher
iff's department.
Justice of the Peace Antonio
Barreda. Jr., cf Brownsville was call
ed to the scene of the gun fight about
1 a. m. Friday tnd he made a pre
liminary Investigation for holding
the Inquest.
De Leon was shot twice, once In
the right side with a charge from a
shotgun, causing a gaping wound
almost certain to cau*e death. The
charge also shattered his right arm.
BODY FOUND
(Continued from Pag* One)
to the foreign office to start diplo
matic negotiations for Jones- re
lease shortly after his capture.
Jones’ father, Major Edgar Jones*
educator of Bury, Wales, and his
mother and two sisters were *d
rised of his death Priday.
The Evening News quoted Lloyd
Oeorge: "Many powers are Inter
ested in Mongolia and Jones was
very keen on finding out things.
1 have no doubt he had in his pos
session notes which would ha vs
been of great Interest to one or an
other of these powers.*
Oareth Jones, correspondent for
the M fr hester Ouardian. was
seised on July 19 with Herbert
Mueller. German Journalist, end
held for 140.000 ransom, arms and
ammunition
Mueller was released August 1 to
negotiate for the ransom of Jones.
On his arrival in Peiping he aa
oressed the belief that Jones would
be release through negotiations
between the bandit* and Chang
province authorities. ^
When Mueller was released ha
was warned that, unless the ran
som for Jones was paid, the British
Journalist would be killed. The
amount had been reduced to 130,
000.
A fly can travel M