CsngrzQc 'Called toGve U. : S.' Ar*rt ~& Forces HARRISBURG tsfsS& TELEGRAPH <2Thr Star- Unfctpm&mt LXXXVI No. 69 24 PAGES PRESIDENT CALLS CONGRESS; DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST GERMANY EXPECTED APRIL 2 AMERICA TO PREPARE FOR HOSTILITIES Armed Forces to Proceed Against Germany If Imperial Government Insists on Attacking American Vessels; President Plans to Outline Outrages Against American Lives and Property on the High Seas Washington, D. C., March 21.—President Wilson, rec ognizing that Germany practically is making war on the United States on the seas, to-day called Congress to as semble in extraordinary session on April 2 to deal with the situation. The purpose of the session, now called two weeks earlier than the date first set, as announced in the Presi dent's proclamation, is to receive a proclamation from the Chief Executive on grave questions of national policy. The President in his address to Congress will detail how Germany practically has been making war on the United States by the ruthless destruction of American lives and ships on the high seas in contravention of all the laws of nations and humanity. Congress then is expected to pass a resolution declar ing that a state of war has existed between the United States and Germany for some time. Such a resolution in itself will not be a declaration of war in a technical sense, although practically it will amount to the same thing. To Protect Vessels As a consequence the United States will take further steps to protect its interests on the high seas and elsewhere against the war like acts of Germany and whether an actual state of war will come to exist in its full sense will depend on the future acts of the Imperial German government. Since last Sunday when three American ships were sunk off the P.ritish Isles in quick succession, with loss of American lives—bring ing the total number of Americans lost through German submarine operations to more than 200—the President and all his advisers have •recognized that a state of war existed. From all parts of the coun try have come calls for the immediate summoning of Congress in extra session. Although the President by the provisions of the Constitution, must leave it to Congress to make the practical declaration of war, such advices as have come to the White House from members of Congress, governors of states, public officials and many hundreds of citizens have contained statements of support of such a policy in its fullest sense. Cabinet United The Cabinet, which urged the move upon the President at yesterday's ses sion, is described by its members as having been more thoroughly united than it has been on any other question that has come before, it. ' The nation now actually comes to the point which all the" history of centuries indicated most necessarily foilow the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany February S-. When the President on that day THE WEATHER lor Harrlsburg nnil vicinity: It.-iln till* afternoon nnil to-night; Thursday fiiirs not much change In temperature. lowest to-night about 40 degree*. For Kastern Pennsylvania: Rnln to nights Thursday partly cloudy; little change in temperatures gentle to moderate abiding winds. River The Susquehanna river and all it* tributaries will probably full slowly or remuin nearly station ary to-night. Some of tlie branches may rise somewhat Thursday. A stage of about (1.0 feet Is Indieated for Harrlsburg Thursday morning. General Conditions Weather conditions are unsettled generally this morning east of the WiMMlxslppi river and in the Northwest. A slight barometric depression, central over the I p- I per Ohio Valley, has caused light to moderately heavy rains in the south and east of the Ohio river, except Klorida, and In the Mid dle Mississippi and l.ouer Mis souri valleys. A disturbance, central over Western Canada, has caused rnln and snow In Oreison, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Idnho mill Nevada. It Is 2 to 12 degrees colder In the Luke Re gion nnd thence westward along the northern boundnry to the Paclllcj over nearly ally the re mainder of the country there has been a general rise of 2 to 20 de grees In temperature. Temperature! 8 a. m., 42 degreea above aero. Sam Rises, H:l7 a. m. Moon I New moon. March 22. River Stages 0..1 feet above low water mark. Yesterday's Weather YTlfftieat temperature, AM. Lowest temperature. 20. Mean temperature, 42. Normal temperature, 30 handed to Count Von Bernstorff his , passports and notified Congress that I lie had severed diplomatic relations altogether with the Imperial German government the United States was t placed in a position where all the pre j cedent of centuries was pressing it : toward war. All official Washington openly ac i knowiedged that nothing less than Germany's abandonment of her newly announced campaign of submarine ; rathlessnew could prevent it, and no . one here supposed that Germany i would change her determination. Soon at War All the allied nations openly gave ] indications of their belief that the j United States soon would be involved i in the war and that possibly was rec ! ognized in Germany before the new I submarine campaign was announced : when Foreign Minister Zimmermann, j working through Count Von Berns torff and the German minister in llex ! ico. attempted to unite Japan and , Mexico in an alliance to make war oft | the United States. i All the resources of the United 1 States are speedily being mobilized to I place the nation in the fullest state of readiness for any eventuality. For the present the responsibility rests with the navy, which is arming American merchant ships, placing rush orders for submarine chasers, spending <115,000,000 by special authority of j Congress to hurry the naval construc \ tlon already under way, advancing the graduation of classes at Annapolis, protecting American harbors against invasion by German submarines and marshaling the industrial resources I necessary to stand behind the fleet. Plans for the urmy arc not so fully matured. It is believed, however, that President Wilson will recognise the ponlMUtf of the army's participation in war when he addresses Congress by discussing the need of universal mili ; tary training. In a tentative way plans for mar | shaling the full strength of the regular ; army, the national guard and the rals i ing of a voluntary army of 500,000 men have been working out in the army war college. The volunteer army I of 500,000 Is planned as a nucleus of i what eventually would be an army of 3,000,000 and would be assembled in training camps. The mobilization of Industrial re sources has gone much farther. Hun | dreds of great corporations, through the efforts of the Council of National | Defense, have prepared themselves to {Continued on Page 10] HARRISBURG, PA., WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 21, 1917. PRESIDENT WILSON'S CALL FOR CONGRESS The President's proclamation: "Whereas public interests require that the Congress of the United States should be convened in extra session at 12 o'clock noon, on the second day of April, 1917, to receive a communi cation concerning grave matters of National Policy which should be taken immediately under consideration; "Now, therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson. President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim and declare that an extraordinary occasion requires the Congress of the United States to convene in extra session at the Capitol in the City of \\ ashington on the second day of April, 1917, at 12 o'clock noon, of which all persons who shall at that time be entitled to act as members thereof arc hereby required to take notice. "Given under my hand and seal of the United States of America, the 21st day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and seventeen and of the independence of the United States the 1415t." PLEAD GUILTY TO SENDING GERMAN SPIES TO ENGLAND Conspirators Will Be Sen tenced in U. S. Court For Breaking Neutrality By Associated Press New York, March 21.—Albert O. Sander and Charles N. Wunnenberg, indicted as members of the Central Powers War Film Exchange on the charge of engaging In a military en terprise and sending spies to England to get information for the German [Continued on Page 17] Sewage Disposal Plant Action Expected Soon Definite action probably will be taken shortly on the question of erect ing a sewage disposal plant which Dr. Samuel G. Dixon. State Health Com missioner, ordered for the citv. Dr. Dixon's communication to Council fol lowing the typhoid epidemics last year, brought no action from the com missioners, with the result that the State Health Department asked the At torney General regarding the next step which the State can take. City Solicitor John E. Fox recently conferred with the Attorney General's Department, and it is understood an of. ficial communication in connection with the question is to be sent to the City NEW THIRD CITY GOVERNMENT BILL INTRODUCED Beidlcman Measure Provides For Unpaid Small Council; Gives Mayor Veto Power Senator Beidleman, author of the municipal home rule amendment which the present session of the Legis lature most probably will pass, to-day introduced a bill for the government of third class cities in the interim be tween the present and the adoption of the amendment to the State con stitution by the people. The bill dif fers radically from the Clark commis sion form act now in force, in that it provides for one councilman from (Continued on Page 18) HER FAMILY TREE BRANCHES BACK TO COLUMBUS AND CHECK FOR $60,0 A woman who gave her name as ] Mrs. Catherine Heikes drifted Into i the Commonwealth Trust Company i and nonchalantly started to write a : check for $60,000,000,000,000. When she presented check she was told < that it really couldn't be cashed at once. i She immediately returned to the < desk and started to write a few more < but for minor amounts. She was quite sure she could have the checks cashed. Cuptaln Joseph Thompson happened MANAGER COCKILL TO HAVE WINNER; PROSPECTS GOOD Local Leader Advance Guard For Big Meeting Tonight; Is Enthusiastic Every manager on the New York State League circuit is going to have a pennant winner this season. They say so, but somebody must go wrong. Manager George Cockill says he is not making any mistake in his state ment. He realizes that only one team [Continued on Page 17] Action of House Removes Immediate Possibilty of Special City Election Action of the House yesterday in passing on first reading the bill giving councils in third class cities the power to lill vacancies bv appointment re moved the possibility of immediate action by Harrisburg's commissioners to call a special election to till the office held by the late Commissioner Harry F. Bowman. As the bill had been in committee for weeks, Council decided to act within a week and probably call a special election. If there is any more unnecessary delay, the Commissioners said to-day, the election will be called. CRAZED BY DRUG, NEGRO KILLS BOY AND POLICE CHIEF Holds Squad at Bay Two Hours With Shotgun and Pistol By Associated Press Vancouver, B. C., March 21. —Three persons are dead to-day as the result of a shotgun and revolver fight last night between the police and a man they sought to arrest. The dead: Chief of Police Malcolm 13. Mac- Lennan. George Rolph, 9 years old. Itobert Tait, negro. Tait, said to have been a drug ad dict, opened fire from a window on Chief MacLennan and a police squad as they approached a lodging house [Continued on Page 17] In when she was just at the height of her multtbilllonaire joyrlde. When he questioned her she assured him that it was perfectly wonderful to have all the money one could want. The last check was more considerate—only $50,000,000,000,000. Captain Thomp son Insisted that the bank couldn't cash a check for such an amount be cause banks did not carry that much In their vaults. Mrs. Heikes, however, declated that [Continued on l'agc 17J t s TIME HAS COME FOR AMERICA TO ACT SAYS ROOT Nation Must Rally to Defend Itself From Ruthless Barbarity GERMANS MAKING WAR Attacks Made on Country In volve Integrity of the United States New York, March 21. Eliliu Hoot, Charles E. Hughes and Joseph li. J Choate, in stirring speeches at the j ; Union League Club last night, de- I elared this nation is now at war with j tj Germany and the people must rally to defend themselves. Not since Civil War days has there been such a night at the Union League Club. Cheers greeted the remarks of: the speakers and the reading by Rob ert Bacon of the report of a special committee of the club on the need for immediate defense and national ser vice. "I have a deep conviction that we, none of us, not one of us," said Mr. [Continued on Page 10] Plan Separate Roll of Aliens in County When Making Military List In addition to making a more com plete list of fcll men in Dauphin coun ty available for military service, coun ■l ty commissioners to-day considered 'j plans to have all aliens in the county 'S separately enrolled next September by | the tax assessors. i j Occupation, residence, nationality, : previous military service and physical I condition of all aliens will be taken. 1 j The commissioners believe there are at least 5,000 in the county. By including all men ranging in age from 18 to 4 5 years this year, in stead of from 21 to 4 5 years—as was done last year—the list is expected to total more than 30,000. In addition j to the names, previous military train | ing, if any, and physical condition j will be included in the enrollment, i which will probably be one of the J most complete ever made. Peace Federation Helps Bring on War, Sec. Redfield Wires By Associated Press Washington, March 21. Secretary Redfield to-day wired the Emergency 1 Peace Federation in New York that i its organization and doctrine were di rectly promoting a tax on American citizens and property. "To accept your policy," he said, "would in my judgment, mean more j ruthless slaughter. You are those | who are doing more than any one else j to bring about war." | The secretary's message was in re i ply to one from the federation, asking | him to approve settlement of the rela | tlons between Germany and the I j United States through a commission. Spring Not Very Far Away, Although Day Is Bleak As November March 21, the first day of spring but the lowering clouds this morning seemed more like a black November day than the bright, cheery day that Old Mother Nature is acustomed to use. A bad start, according to tradition is always a fine finish, and Forecaster Demain promises brighter things to morrow. Disciples of old Isaac Walton are ! pondering just how much change can i be deducted from the weekly envelope ] without diminishing its slender girth enough to make it noticeable. Of course Easter had to c6me before the opening of trout season this year and when 'wifey" needs a new hat the chances of a new bamboo are almost as slender as the trusty five ounce. Altogether spring cannot be very i far away. Bids For Submarine Chasers Opened By Navy Department By Associated Press Washington, March 21. Bids for I the first lot of 110 foot Wooden hull ] submarine chasers and coast patrol boats were received at the Navy De partment to-day from private builders I along the Atlantic coast. Proposals from private yards in other parts of the country will be received a week from to-day and it was thought prob able that to-day's proposals would not be made public until all officers are I in, although contracts will be award 'ed confidentially. Orders for sixty-four boats already i have been placed with the New | York and New Orleans navy yards nt I ' 530.000 for boats without engines. i Single Copy, 2 Cents HOME EDITION GERMAN RETREAT IS UNCHECKED BEFORE NEW FRENCH DRIVES Entente Army Within Sight of Headquarters Used by Teuton Commanders Since the Battle of the Marne; British Near Great Coal and Iron Fields Held by Kaiser Troops From Start of the War By Associated Press Paris, March 21.—Rapid progress is being made by the French in pursuit of the retreating Germans, the war office announces. Important gains were made on both sides of the Laon road, ten villages being captured. After a severe fight in which heavy losses were sustained the French carried Savriennois Castle and the village of Jussy, about nine miles south of St. Quentin. A German surprise attack in the Champagne was repulsed. St. Quentin, reputed headquarters of the German emperor and his general staff for the two years following the battle of the Marne and scene of a great French defeat in the war of 1870, is to-day within sight of the French infantry who are following fast on the heels of the retreating German army. Twelve miles to the south French troops are also looking down upon La Fere and are within reach of the German heavy guns if the invaders have really elected to hold the famous Hindenburg line, running from Lille to Laon. So far there is no evidence that the German retreat has halted, such facts as are known indicating the contrary. La Fere is sup posed to be one of the cornerstones of the Hindenburg line yet Gen eral Nivelle has been able to occupy Tergnier, less than two miles from La Fere, apparently without encountering serious resistance. JTergnier is an important railroad junction from which three roads branch, one north to La Fere, a second southwest to Noyon and a third northwest to St. Quentin. Even more significant is the fact that the British, advancing on the north against Cambrai, another vital point on the Hindenburg line, have seen incendiary fires blazing in the rear of that town. Tlie only fact to offset these evi- which swept over the blackened wil dences that the Germans are still re- derness in which the opposing armies tiring- is that the advance of hotli are maneuvering. The British, whosa British and French materially slack- advance has been constantly slower ened yesterday. This is officially ex- plained as duo to an equinoctial gale [Continued on Pago 17] I 1 4 HEARING ON C c ed at the opening % ■Vn ?,■ Option Bill this j J ■ • I 1 !td for t 1 'NATE ADJOURNS UNTIL MONDAY , • ned this <j}i mo n m , til M r • I M' I SST PASTORATES j e than 12: C K h Philadelphia Confe f c ■ K superintendent of the Northwest m £ 1 llows: Berrysburg diva K ' Hummel stow n, to be supplied; Tower City, W. J. Lindsay; m I Wic 1 Middlet fames Cunningham; Steelton. W. H. Shaw; I ' Daup .in I rancis J Morrow ' I EMOCRATS TO CAUCUS MARCH 30 1 J W&shington, March 21.—Word was received here to ff day from' Majority Leader Kitchen, that a Democratic i' J ucu to consider organization of the Housff of Rcprcscn- 1 J tatives \vfil be held March JO ! 1 I MARRIAGE LICENSES C % Edmrd Frnaklln Work and UalNy Kilna Meredltli, Harrlaburg. 9 M Franela M. 101.v. Sr., and I -1 In H. Diiuliermaa, Lyluna. % m Honard K. (ionhou aad Marlon Kocher Batra, Ilarrlaburg. f
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers