The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., October 11, 1918, Image 1

About The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924

Image provided by: Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT

                
The Weather Report
For Bridgeport and vi
cinity. Partly cloudy tonight
and Saturday.
BUY BbNDS THE
WAY OUR BOYS ARE
FIGHTING
and Evening Farmer
ttat fi V" 011 "P,ClrP 17fr Entered as second class matter at the post office
V U-Li. 04 JSKJ. 4i -EjOJ.. HifV) at Bridgeport. Conn., under the act of 1ST
BRIDGEPOET, CONN., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1918
Subscription rates by mall: Dally .00 per year. One 1 PT?TPTT1 TWO C"R!NTS
month. Dally 60 cents. 179 Fairfield Ave.. Bridgeport -T XVXVXJ J jJy J.kj
u
STEAMER LEINSTER TORPEDOED
600 LOST; 150 REPORTED SAVED
WOMEN AND CHILDREN ABOARD
Attacked By Submarine in Irish Sea Yesterday Twenty
Mail Clerks Killed Outright Two Missiles Struck
Craft Which Sank Within Fifteen Minutes
Passengers Saw Projectile.
THOUGHT NO AMERICANS WERE PASSENGERS
NO CHANCE AT ALL TO LAUNCH LIFEBOATS
Two Recent Sinkings Indicate Beginning of New Sub
marine Campaign Results of Which Were First
Noted Ten Days Ago Activity Notable Along
Routes of Boats Carrying Yankee Troops. ,
Dublin, Oct 11 It Is believed six hundred lives were lost
in the sinking of the mail steamer Leinster by a torpedo in the
Irish Sea yesterday, it was stated today at the office of her
owners. Only about 150 were saved, it was added. Two tor
pedoes were fired at the steamer. One struck near the bow.
The 6teamer sank wnnin imeen mmuies.
The passengers, including many women and some chil
dren, numbered 650 and the boat carried a crew of seventy.
An Incoming mail steamer reports that she passed through
the wreckage but was not permitted to stop to do any rescue
work, in accordance with the orders of the British admiral'.;-.
, Her passengers counted forty dead bodies floating in the
water.
Of the twenty-one mail clerks on board the Leinster, twen
ty were killed outright by the explosion and the twenty-first
vas blown through the side of the ship, being picked up at sea
' ate.
So far as reported there were no Americans on board the
mail steamer Leinster when she was torpedoed. Among the
missing is Lady Alexandra Phyllis Hamilton, daughter of the
Dowager Duchess of Abercorn.
A passenger on board the mail steamer Leinster saw the
fatal torpedo approaching the ship. He informed the captain,
but the torpedo was so near that escape was impossible. The
projectile struck the side of . the boat between the forecastle
and the compartment set aside for postal clerks. The weather
was fine, but the' sea was rough, following a recent storm.
After the Leinster had been struck by the first torpedo
and in her .disabled condition was an easy prey, the subma
rine fired a second torpedo. This missile struck the vessel
amidships, entered the engine room and caused an explosion of
the ship's boilers.
There was some confusion as the passengers tried to en
ter the boats and many persons were thrown into the sea. As
soon as information regarding the Leinster's plight reached
Kingstown fifteen tugs arid destroyers hastened to the place.
Survivors say the submarine fired the two torpedoes with
out warning from a range'of about 150 yards.
Details of the lost and saved have not yet been obtained.
Captain Birch, the Leinsters commander, was among those lost.
It is known that two stewardesses were drowned.
Fourth Engineer Jones said that if the second torpedo had
not struck the Leinster all on board except those who had been
directly killed by the first torpedo, probably would have been
saved as there was plenty of time to launch the boats. The ex
plosion of the second torpedo,
up like matchwood.
Jones saved himself by jumping. He was in the water one
hour and was clinging to a raft
The Leinster was the fifth channel boat sunk by German
submarines. The rescuing ships picked up scores of persons
from the water where they were clinging to upturned boats,
rafts and broken timbers. The survivors were brought to
Kingstown. All were in a desperate state as a result of their
hour's exposure in the rough sea. A number of dead bodies
also were landed. i
A member of the crew says the explosion of the second tor
pedo blew the funnels to pieces. , Some of the wreckage fell
on the deck and killed several persons. A majority of the pas
sengers on the forward deck were thrown into the sea according
to the same witnesses, who said some of the boats were smash
ed in being launched and that others capsize'd. Francis Os
borne, judge of the High Court of the Sudan, one -of the pas
eengers. said he saw the first torpedo approaching. When it
ttruck the ship the vessel began to settle by the head. He
(Continued
however, he said, blew the ship
when rescued by a destroyer.
on page 9)
WI11H
"TRAGIC DAMAGE,"
WARNING BY WILSON
TO IX)AN IDLERS
Washington, Oct. 11 Presi
dent Wilson yesterday issued
this statement on the Fourth
Liberty Loan campaign:
Recent events have enhanced.
not lessened, the importance of
this loan, and I hope that my
fellow countrymen will let me
say this to them very frankly.
The best thing that could hap-
pen would be that the loan
should not only be fully sub-
scribed but very greatly over-
subscribed. We are In the midst
of the greatest exercise of the
power of this country that has
ever been witnessed or forecast,
and a single day of relaxation in
that effort would be of tragical
damage alike to ourselves and to
the rest of the world. Nothing
has happened which makes it
safe or possible to do anything
but push our effort to the ut
most. The time is. critical, and
the response must be complete.
WOODROW WILSON.
TELEPHONE GO.
HAS 25 PER CENT.
SICK OPERATORS
New Haven Operators Have
List of 31 Per Cent.
. 111.
EXPERIENCED PEOPLE
ASKED TO VOLUNTEER
In Some Small Offices the
Entire Force Taken With
Spanish Influenza.
The epidemic of Spanish influenza
has made serious inroads on the op
erating forces of the Southern New
England Telephone Co. throughout
the state.
In some of the small offices the en
tire forces have been taken down
with this ailment. In other offices
anywhere from 10 per cent, to 75 per
cent, of the operators are ill and off
duty and the operating staffs in the
larger offices have been considerably
reduced by sickness and by the ne
cessity of withdrawing operators from
their work in the cities and sending
them to the nearby small towns to
take the places of girls who are 111.
Figures gathered by traffic officials
of the company clearly show what
they are encountering as a result of
the spread of this disease. In Hare
ford 25 per cent, of the force Is liid
up.' In New Haven 31 operacors
were reported 111. New London has
25 per cent of its operators ou the
sick list, Norfolk 75 per cent., Wall
ingford 25 per cent., Jleriden 35 per
cent., Winsted 25 per cent.. New Brit
ain 35 per cent., Middletown 35 per
cent., Bristol 25 per cent., Norwich
30 per cent, Willimantic 25 per cent.,
Putnam 30 per cent., and in many, if
not all, of the other exchanges, the
percentage is as high as the, average
in those mentioned.
The conditions which bring about
the present troubles in the telephone
service, it is apparent, are not such
as the company can control. But tho
company is doing Its utmost to meet
the situation as best it can by earnest
ly soliciting the services of experienc
ed telephone operators who have left
the service but are not now engaged
in other than their duties as house
wives. A canvass of former opera
tors, not employed outside of their
homes, is being made in some cities
and some of these have patriotically
consented to return to the switch
board till the trouble has passed.
Sixty-four dollars for eight hours'
work was the record established by a
riveter at the South Chicnim Shir.
hounding Tard.
GERMAN HATRED FElXS
GREAT HOUTHTTLST FOREST
Paris, Oct. 10, (Thursday)
"When the Belgian troops broke
through the formidable enemy
defenses and occupied the fam-
ous forest of Houthulst which
V dates his territory from the
ninth century, they found that
the great wooden area had been
destroyed. It extended from
Dlxmude to Tpres and covered
200 square miles.
.
EMERGENCY PLAN
FORMULATED Fl
INFLUENZA CASES
Red Cross, Nurses' Associa
tion and Charities Dept.
Aid Health Bureau.
RECORD INCREASE IN
24 HOURS REPORTED
Sufferers in City Now Num
ber 795 Two Deaths
Last Night.
Spanish influenza again took Bridge
port by storm, when 147 new cases
were reported to, the health authori
ties for the 24 hours -ending at 9 a.
m. this morning. This brings the
total number of cases in this city to
795, and the day's report is the high
est since the epidemic first gained a
foothold here. In addition to the
record number of cases, two more
deaths were reported last night,
bringing the total fatalities up to 15.
Despite the increase, the number of
cases in Bridgeport is far below the
reports from other cities in the east,
and Dr. Walter H. Brown, with the
aid of the Bridgeport chapter of the
American Red Cross, have formulated
plans, whereby they hope to imme
diately check a serious increase in
the number of sufferers in this city.
In addition to the assistance being
rendered by the Eed Cross, the De
partment of Charities, Visiting Nurses'
Association and the Bridgeport War
Bureau have all joined hands in oue-
lining a comprehensive plan for the
emergency. .
Mrs. Walter B. Lashar will head
the committee on administration and
in order to correlate all activities and
emergency. Red Cross station has
been established at the United church.
This office will receive all calls for
assistance, and these calls will be dis
tributed to the particular agency that
is in a position to furnish the aid
needed. Through this department
all. emergency supplies, will be fur
nished as needed.
The nursing service will be under
the supervision of Mrs. A. L. Riker.
and the Red Cross in charge of Mrs.
George A. Bramann, will co-operate
in furnishing outside service for those
cases of influenza, which cannot be
taken to the hospital. This will in
clude the service of the visiting
nurses in the home and calls can be
made on this service through the
physician or by application to the
Red Cross office.
-' In a nurrber of cases it .has bee a
found necessary to provide food for
the ill who cannot be taken to the
hospital, and for this contingency the
Red Cross will tomorrow establish a
canteen service at the United church.
This service will furnish and deliver
nourishment for the sick, which will
be prepared at a central kitchen and
delivered by the Red Cross service
wagon to the place needed. Physicians
will be furnished slips on which to
place their orders for the delivery of
these materials.
The Department of Health in co
operation with the Department of
Charities has now thoroughly organ
ized hospital facilities and provision
for outside cases not able to have their
own physician. Provisions have been
made at the hospital at Hillside for
expansion if it becomes necessary. In
view of the large number of cases that
are liable to need attention, it will
only be possible to care for the pneu
monia cases at the hospital.
LIBERTY DAY MAIL.
Liberty Day, tomorrow, letter car
riers will make only one delivery.
Morning window services will- continue
until 11 a. m.; night window ser
vices will commence at 6 and close
at 10 p. m. Arrangements have been
made to give full time off for as many
clerks as possible.
Ten New Tork State banks and
trust companies joined the Federal
Reserve system in September.
SfflY
AMERICANS BREAK. KREIMBILDE
SIDES ARGONNE WITH FRENCH
HOW NOT TO GET IT.
Get fresh air and sunshine.
Avoid crowded places, espec-
ially cars.
Keep away from sneezers and
coughers.
Don't visit people 111 with
colds.
Keep your mouth and teeth
clean.
Protect the body by proper
clothing.
Avoid exposure to sudden
changes.
Avoid worry, fear and fatigue.
HOW NOT TO GIVE IT.
Stay at home on the first Indi
cation of a cold.
Don't receive visitors while,
sick or recovering.
Don't leave or home untill un
til all symptoms have gone.
Don't leave home until all
symptoms have gone. , . .
Don't hesitate to complain
against careless coughers and
spltters.
WHO AIDED KAISER
WHEN HE FORMED
PROJECTILE CO.?
Authorities Expected to
Add Other Chapters to
Plot Exposure.
NET RESULT IS NEW
INDUSTRY FOR CITY
Like All Properties Built to
Help Germany; Aids
America.
The announcement of A. Mitchell
Palmer, alien property custodian, that
the government through his depart
ment, has taken over the property of
the Bridgeport Projectile Co., is a
statement of a long expected fact.
Before America entered the war,
many columns of facts were printed
In The World, New York, and-in The
Times-Farmer, showing in detail how
German money had been expended..
The new part of he Story -has not
yet- been made public. It relates to
the methods by which Germans re
ceived American aid in perfecting. It
is said that government may later re
lease the missing chapters.
All the familiar German names,
known to patrons of the movie thea
tres, appear in the story. The net re
sult of millions of Prussian expendi
ture is a new industry for Bridge
port and one more addition to Federal
war power.
GREES TO
EMOVE BURDEN
POLAND
Amsterdam, Thursday, Oct.. 10
Prince Max. the German Imperial
chancellor, has telegraphed to the
Polish Regency council now meeting
at Warsaw, assurance that he "is
firmly resolved to shape the relations
between the German empire and the
newly arisen kingdom of Poland in a
spirit of justice and understanding of
the vital interests on both sides."
"I will exert myself," he continues,
"for the speediest removal of the
burdens of occupation that still exist,
and will give orders for the realiza
tion of this without delay."
ALL BANKS OPEN
SATURDAY 10 TO 2 FOR
LIBERTY BOND SUBSCRIBERS
-
But Little Resistance Offered Allied Annies East of
Cambrai Germans Seem in Full Flight French
Marching Virtually Unimpeded Toward
Guise Armies Move Eastward.
ALMOST CERTAIN GERMANS WILL EVACUATE
ST. GOBAIN FOREST AND CHEMIN DES DAMES
No Signs That Germans Intend Making Determined Stand i
Allies Go Forward So Fast, Hard for Rear Or
ganizations to Keep Up Troops Strike
in Direction of BazueL
(By The Associated Press) ,
From Douai to Verdun, the
bing. A general retreat of the Teutonic forces over this far
flung line apparently began yesterday.
In the Champagne and Argonne sectors, the Kriemhilde
line, built to be the ultimate defense of the region, is broken
and the'Americans and French are storming through it on each ;
side of the Argonne forest.
Kaiser Wilhelm took a step today that is unique in the his
tory orthe German Empire. He summoned the heads of all the
Federal states of Berlin for a conference on President Wilson's ;
note.
Today's advices from the battle front indicate it is virtually
certain the Germans will have to evacuate the St. Gobain for
est almost immediately.
The Germans are evacuating the. Chemin des Dames under
the pressure of the converging attacks west and south of it. t
The Hunding line behind Laon, between the rivers Serre
and Sissonne, has been turned making the German situation
in the Laon area most difficult. In the Champagne the French ;
and Americans, joining hands north of the Argonne in the
Grand Pre gap, have occupied the Grand Pre station while pa
trols are said to have entered that town itself.
On the river Meuse, northwest of Verdun, the Americans:
have cleared out a little pocket in the direction of Sivry, which
has held them up a long time.
The grip of the Germans on northern Franca has been loos-!
ened and the process of herding them back to jbeir borders is '
proceeding at an increasingly rapid pace underline Allied lash.
Already since the beginning of the July offensive, which initi
ated the loosening process, the Allies have pushed the enemy!
back a maximum of 45 miles, from the Ancre near Albert, to
the tip of the present Anglo-American wedge at Le Cateau. !
A scant 25 miles more will bring. them on this line to the
Belgian frontier south of Maubeuge. But long before that point
is reached the pressure on all sides, if continued at the present
rate will have resulted in the clearing of the enemy from vir
tually all French territory and a great part of Belgian soil.
The Germans already are carrying out a general retreat, and
have withdrawn to a shorter line where they could reorganize
his forces. But the steady, unrelenting pressure which Mar
shal Fpch has applied all along the front has made it impossi
ble for them to detach themselves for such an operation. !
They cannot break contact with their adversaries, and con
sequently are obliged to fall back slowly, fighting hard and los
ing heavily in his backward course.
Last night's developments and those of today along the
wide battle front only served to accentuate the extent of the
German retreat, and the acceleration of its pace. The official
reports reveal the British and the Americans co-operating with
them still widening the great wedge in the .German line south
east of Cambrai, a process in which the French to the south
are aiding notably. General Petain's troops have pushed to
the river Oise to a point almost as far north as Guise where
they join with the British and Americans who are rapidly near
ing the important railway junction of Wassigny, 'south and
east of LeCateau.
This sensational .drive in the center is matched in efficien
cy however, by the terrific pressure of the French armies south
of Laon and along the line north of the Aisne and in the Cham
pagne. This movement, in conjunction-with the drive to the
north, is, according to today's advices, making it inevitable
that the Germans retire from Laon and the great St.-Gobain
massif. The withdrawal, indeed, appears to be under way
here as elsewhere.
The Americans are with the French in applying the pres.
(Continued oh Page Ten) -
BBBkS 6 -
tide of German invasion is erK
r
I
l J