member associated press
VOLUME XXVIII. NUMBER 73. SEWARD, ALASKA, TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 1932.
PRICE TEN CENTS
r
REV. H. DODSON PEACOCK VIS
ITED THE LINDBERGHS AT
HOPEWELL HOME
NORFOLK, Va., Mar. 29, —J. H.
Curtis, well known boat builder,
who is said to be in direct commu
nication with the kidnappers of
the Lindbergh baby, in an interview
given to representatives of the press
Monday answered in the negative
to a query as to whether he had
seen the Lindbergh child, either
^ ’ dead or alive. He refused to con
firm the rumor that he had se
cured either a photograph or a
part of the baby’s apparel to bring
back to the parents for idendifica
tion.
The Rev. H. Dodson-Peacock, on
Monday, flew in a navy plane from
'here to the Lindbergh home at
Hopewell. He said tha the did not
see Colonel Lindbergh himself.
The Norfolk angle of the kidnap
ping was declared by persons vho
are prominent in the case, to have
leaked out prematurely because of
a telephone conversation between
Norfolk and Hopewell. Curtis was
said to have been chosen as an in
termediary between the Lindburgh’s
and the abductors, or representa
tives, because he is known to rum
runners owing to his boat building
activities.
Colonel Schwarztkopp. of the New
Jersey State police, said that the
Norfolk clue is no more important
than the hundreds of others brot
to light in the intensive investiga
tion which is four weeks old today.
HERE SHE BE
DETROIT, Mar. 29. —It was an
nounced that the new Ford V-8
model will go on sale Thursday. A
new and lower priced car will be
presented lat-er.
* * * *
HOMEWARD BOUND
HAMBURG, Germany, March 29,
The Dirigible Graf Zeppelin, com
pleting a round-trip flight to Braz
il, was over Cape Creus, north of
Barcelona, at 8 a. m.
* * * *
STORMS SMOTE EAST
NEW YORK, Mar. 29, —Storms
continued in a number of East
ern states Monday and snow rais
ed havoc and damage. Power lines
are down in New England states.
* * * *
GOES TO DETROIT
CHICAGO, Mar. 29, —Jack Demp
sey, accompanied by his manager,
left here Monday for Detroit where
he will take a chance with “Babe
Hunt of Oklahoma, in an exhibi
tion battle, Saturday evening.
* * * *
FOUR FIREMEN INJURED
FRESNO, Calif., Mar. 29, —Four
members of the fire department
were injured when the truck col
lided with another auto. The driv
er of the auto was injured as well,
probably fatally.
* * * *
CONTRACT ABOUT READY
CHICAGO, Mar. 29, —Officials of
the Chicago stadium announced
they had virtually secured the sig
natures of King Levinsky and
Mickey Walker for a 10-round bout
in Chicago. Levinsky is the boy
who won a newspaper decision re
oently over Jack Dempsey.
SEATTLE FACES SUIT
SEATTLE, Mar. 29, —This city
is facing a $60,000 suit from Skagit
County on account of the recent
damage done that section by the
Cedar river water shed, the prop
erty of the City of Seattle.
* * * *
BE PLACED ON BALLOTS
SAN FRANCISCO, Mar. 29, —A
i petition asking for the repeal of
California’s prohibition laws will
% be filed here for certificaton. The
question will be put up to the peo
ple at the November election as
this proposal for repeal will be on
the ballots.
RETURNS TO WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON, D. C., Mar. 29, —
Norman H. Davis, one of the mem
bers of the American delegation to
the Geneva disarmament confer
ence, returned to the United States
Monday to confer with Secretary
of State Henry L. Stimson. He was
unable to confer with Mr. Stimson
yesterday because the State de
partment official is confined to
his home with a severe cold.
min in
SUNSHINE WHILE ERST
IS STORM STRICKEN
NEW YORK, March 2 9, (A*)—
Storms in Atlantic states took at
least 15 lives. Automobiles were
stalled in snow several feet high;
j communities isolated in New En
! gland, New York and Pennsylvania.
Schools were forced to close, tel
! ephone poles toppled and high
waves smashed upon the shores
of Maine.
At Harrisburg a murderer got
a two and one-half hour respite
when the electric current to the
“hot seat” failed
Four persons were drowned
when the driver of an auto, blinded
by sleet, plunged his car into a
lake at Bedford.
New York’s Governor, Franklin
Roosevelt, was snowbound at Hyde
Park.
In Virginia a tornado struck and
killed one.
I
With the Aleutian Islands rock- •
ing like ships, residents remained
sleepless while Mount Shishaldin
was shooting blue-white flames
2,000 feet high, is the report brot
to Seward by passengers on the
SS Starr.
! This condition prevailed Friday
when all western Alaska was rock
ed'by earthquakes which contin
ued intermitteniy for a few days
‘ after.
It is the belief of volcanologists
that the peculiar color and con
tinuity of the flames, accompanied
by the lava, is the result of tap
ping underground r e s e r v o irs of
natural gas.
| It was said that residents on Un
imak Island, which rocked contin
! uously for many hours, were ap
prehensive and even the natives
were awed by the stupendous sight
and earth movement and that a
number had fled to the Alaska
peninsula.
TROOPS CLASH
HARBIN, Manchuria, March 29,
Chinese soldiers became active on
Monday after a few weeks rest and
engaged in battle with Japanese.
It is reported a number of severe
clashes took place. At Shanghai the
peace commission has made little
progress but are at peace among
themselves
YES INDEED! NORMAN
CEMUf MUST HI
BEEN SURPRISED, OTEZ
j _ __
CHICAGO, Mar. 29. —Two ban
J dits, carrying potted Easter lilies
j in their arms, rode the elevator to
I the pent-house of N. E. Bensinger,
| millionaire billiard and bowling
j promoter, Sunday and rode down
again with $29,000 worth of Mrs.
Bensinger’s jewels.
“Won’t Norman be surprised
when he sees these flowers?” ex
claimed one on the ride up. They
got off at the roof of the Common
wealth Hotel, strolled into the Ben
singer home and there presented
Mrs. Bensinger with the flowers.
Thereupon they pulled out guns,
herded the Bensingers and three
servants into a bedroom and forced
Mrs. Bensinger to hand over her
jewelry. They locked their victims
in a closet, rode down the elevator
and said, so that the operator
could hear: “Norman certainly did
appreciate our lilies.”
I
CONGRESS AND PROHIBITION
Judged by the returns of the Literary Digest’s fifth *
poll of the nation on the question of prohibition with a '
total of 1,946,242 in favor of repeal and 630,217 for con
tinuance of the great national farce, Congress appears in ]
the role of China, awaiting the arrival of an armada, the 1
showering of Shanghai with bombs from the air and shells
from the sea before she was convinced that war is on.
With the change in American political formulas
whereby desires of the masses were ignored to the advan
tage of the classes, it has called for something more than
a murmur from the patient people to wring anything in
the way of justice and fair dealing.
There is no mistaking the purport of the Digest’s
poll. It carries the same force and effect of a national
election. Therefore it can no longer be ignored by any
political party hoping to secure the franchise of the
voters.
But politics having degenerated to such a noxious
system as to resemble a poker game With marked cards,
one may look for an adroit move on the part of the pres
ent Congress to yield to the mandate o fthe people while
at the same time provide a first-class alibi for future
safeguard.
Having scrapped the entire revenue program, every
one is watching with keen interest what substitute will
be offered. One of the best lies in taking advantage of
the powers accorded Congress in the Eighteenth Amend
ment to license the manufacture and sale of beer with a
sufficient alcoholic content to satisfy those who desire a
mildly intoxicating beverage.
Such a measure would bring in a half billion dollars
in revenue, and would be a splendid substitute for the
sales tax, estimated to promise $595,000,000. Added to j
this is the proposal to tax malt syrup 35 cents a ^ gallon i
and grape concentrate 40 per cent ad valorem, estimated
to promise $50,000,000.
This would leave the schedules as now composed, as
follows:
Beer and grape concentrates .
Increase in individual income taxes .
Corporations .........-.
Estate tax increases and new gift tax
Amusement tax ...
Stock transfer and “short” stock borrowing ...
Lubricating oils .
Telegraph, radio, telephones ...
Imported gasoline, crude and fuel oil .
Administration changes in tax law .
Congressional reductions in budget estimates
Postoffice savings .
Saved by dropping prohibition enforcement .
Retrenchment in superfluous bureaus .
$550,000,000
. 112,000,000
. 21,000,000
. 35,000,000
. 90,000,000
. 28.000.000
. 25,000,000
. 35,000,000
. 5,000,000
. 100,000,000
. 125,000.000
. 25,000.000
. 50,000,000
. 25,000,000
Total .;.$1,301,000,000
Necessary to balance budget . 1,241,000,000
Surplus ..$ 60,000,000
Thus the entire question of national finance as well
as crime, loss of faith in government and kindred evils
hover in the wake of the prohibition law.
It is a remarkable incident that throughout the en
tire question of national depression, governmental deficit
and millions of hungry, all that the proponents of prohi
bition have been prone to offer were tracts instead of
bread.
PEJICE PARLEY FRICTION
Bin ON THE CHINESE
SHANGHAI, Mar. 29, (/P)—A new
rupture in the Sino-Japanese ne
gotiations was threatened last nite
with the issuance of the statement
that the Japanese consulate as
cribing the repeated delays “to the
I fact the Chinese delegate seemed
to be in the position, or willing, to
assume responsibility.”
; He accused the Chinese delegate
with attempting to break up the
! parleys which action has been
blamed on Japan.
SHANGHAI, Mar. 29, —Several
clashes between Japanese and Chi
nese forces resulted here Monday
ir. the Yangtze river area between
Kiangwan and Liaho. The Japan
ese charged that the Chinese start
ed the fight.
Meanwhile, peace negotiations
continued and the only results
achieved was the appointing of a
commission to supervise the with
drawal of Japanese troops. Noth
i ing resulted which indicated that
jan early settlement of fhe dipute
was at hand.
I Negotiations will be continued.
$17,000 FUR SHIPMENT
Seventeen thousand dollars in
furs were brought to Seward on
the SS Starr from the Westward;
$7,000 from Umnak and $10,000
jfrom Unalaska. It is said that 700
Jred fox were taken off Umnak Is
jland the past winter.
JERRY CONFESSES
LOS ANGELES, Mar. 29, —Jerry j
Down, former coast baseball man
ager, is said to have confessed to
being one of the three men who
j recently participated in the $75,000
| local jewel robbery. He said he was
| out of work and needed money. He
j is said to be near the point of total
j collapse.
iHTIIl CMMEiE BE
HELD WITKJJNDY SOON
HOPEWELL, N. J., Mar. 29, (JP)—
Hope that the Lindbergh baby will
be home before the month’s end
has ebbed, is the thought today.
Rev. Dobson-Peacock risked his
life Monday by a flight in a snow
storm to confer with the Lind
bergh’s whom he talked with for
an hour, returning the same day
to Norfolk.
He expected to conferr with the
.Lindbergh’s again in a few days
but insisted he and the two other
intermediaries, Admiral Burrage
and John H. Curtis were optimistic
for an early return of the child.
SEEKS BRITISH ACCORD
PARIS, aMr. 29, —Premier An
irieu Tardieu of France will leave
;oon for London where he goes to
>ecure British accord on the Fran
:o-Anglo problems. The meeting
between official representatives of
die British and French govern
nents is said to be but preliminary
>efore proceeding with a four-pow
ir conference at a later date.
BRITISH PUNNING TO
STRENGTHEN IU1
USE IT SING1P0RE
LONDON, Mar. 29, —Despite the
apposition offered by several mem
bers of the Labor party the House
of Commoms Monday decided in
favor of an appropriation calling
for the expansion of the British
naval base at Singapore in the im
mediate future. Action on this bill
had been delayed for some time
pending an outcome of the Far
East clash.
Supporters of the measures said
that this base was necessary to the
British so that they could give New
Zealand and Australia the protect
ion necessary. Work at the base in
cludes construction of a large and
modern drydock, airplane facilities,
and other needs necessary for the
quartering of machines of modem
warfare.
CHANG CHUN, Manchuria, Mar.
29, —This new capital of the vast
Manchurian domain is now facing
threat of an advance by a large
Chinese “rebel” army, which for
many days has been collecting and
preparing for a general onslaught
on the pro-Japanese of this city.
The new rebel Chinese army has
not met with any real opposition
from the Japanese forces so far
but it is stated that they are being
given plenty of resistance in the
vicinity of Chang Chun. Here they
are again faced with Jap planes
dropping death-dealing bombs in
an effort to break up the Chinese
ranks and halt their march upon
the city.
.... RELIEF BILL UP
WASHINGTON, D. C., Mar. 29, —
Legislatidn seeking to turn over
$5,000,000 for relief in the states
stricken by the recent devastating
tornado in the South, was intro
duced into Congress Monday by an
Alabama legislator. The money
would be secured from the Federal
Reconstruction Finance Corpora
tion.
.Miss Margaret Eugenia Blue was
wedded to John Sebastian Sirlin
in Fairbanks, reports the News
Miner, tytr. Sirlin is with the F. E
Co.
FINGERPRINT EXPERT
SAYS SUICIDE IS NOT
THAT OF TALLMA1
LAS VEGAS, Nev., Mar. 28, —
The three year search for the
“brick-bat” murderer in San Fran
cisco, is believed to have come tc
an end in this city with the find
ing of a body of a suicide, L. Cald
well, in a cabin near this city. A
number of scars on the body is the
principle means of identification
but finfer-prints will also be check
but finger-prints will also be check
ed. The man had been living un
der many alias and seemed tc
have no friends.
Later, Lewis Horde, a fingerprint
expert, who conducted an examina
tion into the case, said he hac
found that the fingerprints of the
laborer dd not correspond witt
those supposedly to be Tallman’s
His finding will be reviewed bj
higher police officials.
Tallman is thought to have beer
the slayer of Mrs. Virginia Pattj
and it is in this connection that a
world-wide search is beng made foi
him.
ENGINEER BRAYFORD
WAS NOT SERIOUSLY
Additional information on the
train mishap which occurred Sun
day morning about two miles south
of Talkeetna were made known to
day. When the locomotive, pulling
passengers coaches, struck a snow
slide, the engine jumped the track,
turned over down the embankment
coming to rest on its side.
The locomotive’s occupants, R.
Lewis, fireman, and Fred Bray
ford, engineer, both were alive
when taken from the engine but
Bob Lewis died a short while after
wards. His death was said to have
been due to suffocation as he sus
tained no apparent bodily injury.
Engineer Brayford was dazed when
taken from the engine and had a
leg considerably bruised. He was
also scalded on the wrist by live
steam.
Robert Lewis was 36 years of age;
his body is now at the Anchorage
Funeral Parlors pending funeral
arrangements. He was a member
of the Anchorage Post of the Amer
ican Legion and the Anchorage
Elks’ Lodge.
Immediately after the mishap,
Dr. Frank Fellows, of the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, who was a pas
senger on the train, attended the
injured men. He was unable to
save the life of Lewis, but admin
istered first aid to Brayford.
The passenger train, carrying the
; body of the dead trainman and in
jured engineer, was taken to Curry
! within a short while after the ac
j cident.
As soon as word of the mishap
! was learned at Anchorage, Col. Ot
to F. Ohlson, general manager, ac
j companied by Dr. Walkowski, of the
; Alaska Railroad base hospital at
Anchorage, left for Curry. From
there the occupants of the engine
I were rushed to Anchorage.
Engineer Brayford is apparantly
in no danger, it is said.
I
* * * *
AT IT AGAIN
1 ... NICARAGUA, Mar. 29, —Nation
al forces and rebels, led by San
dino, engaged in a battle Monday.
Casualties were counted on both
sides.
* * * *
GAVE CONSENT
WASHINGTON, D. C., Mar .29,—
The Interstate Commerce Commis
sion gave its consent to abandon,
seven and one-half miles of track
at Boulder Dam.
* * * *
WHEAT FOR IMPLEMENTS
CHICAGO, aMr. 29, —A large
implement manufacturing concern
here has made an announcemet
they will trade implements for
farm wheat. The farmers will be
given 25 per cent above the pre
sent market prices in the exchange.
LEGION CONVENTION
PORTLAND, Ore., Mar. 29, The
annual convention of the Ameri
can Legion will be held in this city
from September 12 to the 15th. A
[ Legion plane will endeavor, at that
time, to set a new world’s endur
ance flight.
* * * #
WILLING TO HELP
NEW YORK, Mar. 29, —Rosa
! Bonselle, the famous young singer,
j expressed her willingness to take
I a cut in salary in order to help
j lower the overhead of the Metro
j politan Opera House which may be
dark next season.
* * * *
TACOMA BANK REOPENS
TACOMA, Mar. 29, —Mayor M.
C. Kenyon announced Monday that
the Central Bank of Washington
is reopening after being closed for
60 days and that many new ac
counts are noted.
* * * *
DIG UP ELEPHANT IN ITALY
CASSINO, Italy, Mar. 28, (A*)—A
fossilized armpit weighing approx
imately 220 pounds and believed to
; be part of a pre-historic elephant,
was dug up here. The entire skel
. eton of a similar beast was found
six years ago.