•-J /■ ■.-■..-v ----- • -^n>-•• ■ •: - --V " ' • • •• ' ' wrw r** t Germans Continue to Rush Troops and Supplies jlfc HARRISBURG ifSglii TELEGRAPH M ®!)t otar- 3n&cpcnscnt - LXXXVI— No. 298 28 PAGES GERMAN HOPES CENTERING ON WESTERN FRONT Generally Increased Confidence Is Based Upon Russian Armistice and Great Offensive Which Is Regarded as Certainly Impending; Bolsheviki Forces Apparently Have Been Successful in Clashes With Revolutionists London, Dec. 14. —A generally increased confidence in Ger many based on the Russian armistice and other obvious factors is shown in extracts from the latest German newspapers tele graphed from Holland. Travellers arriving in Holland from Gerfhany are quoted as saying that the German people are build ing great hopes on a great offensive in the west, which is regarded as certainly impending. The Koelnische Volkzeitung says the only battlefield remain ing is the western front, "toward which the hands of the clock of destiny rapidly are advancing." "Our enemies also recognize this," it adds, "and are crying out for American help. No matter. Justice is about to end the war." I Germans Rush Troops to Western Lines; Huge Attack Is Anticipated Artillery and local infantry fight ing has been in progress on the western front, to which the Germans ■r still rushing troops and supplies. The enemy has attempted no further massed attacks since Wednesday and there is still no outward sign of where his expecte 1 blow is to come. In the Cambrai area yesterday the British stormed a German post on the southern end of the sector, while on the northern end there was bomb lighting in which German prisoners were captured. German artillery has been especially active south of the Scarpe, in the Arras area, and north east of Ypres, In Flanders. Intermit tent artillery activity continues along the French front. The only infantry action has been near Juvincourt north of Rheims where a German at tack was repulsed. Mummers Abandon Plans For New Year's Celebration On account of the war, Harrisburg will be without its annual mummers parade this year. This was decided upon at a meeting of the Harris burg Mummers' Association, held last night in the Majestic theater. C. Floyd Hopkins, who presided at the meeting said that as the mer chants of this city have been con tributing very liberally to the Red Cross, Liberty Loans and other war funds, it would be imposing upon the populace of the city to go around soliciting funds for a New- Year's pageant. He further stated that as so many Harrisburgers have enlisted and been taken away to "war, the parade, should one be held, would probably be a failure and the association would go into debt. President Hopkins declared, how ever that should the war end be fore January 1. 1919. plan* wiU be made for a parade next year. SIOO,OOO FOR STARVING POLES By Associated Press Berne, Switzerland, Dec. 14.- On behalf of the American Red Cross the American legation has remitted to the Polish relief committee SIOO.- 000 for starving Polish children. EX-KMI*KROR'K p\rc.IITER IS SERIOUSLY ILL By Associated Press Petrograd, Thursday, Dec. 13. It Is reported from Tobolsk, Siberia, that Olga, eldest daughter of for mer Emperor Nicholas, is seriously ill. THE WEATHER] For Harrlshur* and vicinity! Fl r to-night anil Saturdays colder to-night, with lowest tempera ture about H degree*. For Eastern Pennsylvania! Fair to-night and Saturday | much colder to-nights fresh, possibly strong, northwest wind*. River •| lie Susfluehannn river nnd all It* branches will remain generally Ice-hound nnd nearly stationary. A Maise of about 4.2 feet In Indi cated for Ilarrlsburg Saturday morning. C-enernl Condition* The western Mtorm ha* moved rapidly northeastward to the New Knglnnd State* with ln cren*lnK Intensity. It was at tended by snow In the northern and central districts east of the Mississippi river, nnd strong winds anil gnles along the At lantic const from Hntternn northward. New York City re ports a maximum velocity of thirty-four miles nn hour from the northwest. l.lglit to mod erately heavy fnlls of snow oc curred In the Missouri and. Up per Mississippi valleys. Temperatures have fallen - to 20 degrees over most of the coun try east of the Mississippi river, except In the Middle Atlantic States, where It Is somewhat warmer. A general rise of 2 to •-•o degree* In temperature has occurred west of the Mississippi river. N Temperature! 8. in.. 20. Sunt Hlses, 7t-S a. m.| sets, 4:.T0 p. m. Moon I First quarter, necember 21. 11l ver Stage I 4.2 feet above low water mark. Yesterday's Weather Highest temperature, 27. I.owest temperature, til. Menn temperature, 22. Normal temperature, :CI. < i Bolsheviki Claim Cossack Defeat in Encounter; Reports Are Incomplete By Associated Press Washing-ton, Dep. I I.—Tlio stniiflo for power In interior Russia is growing more bitter.. Advantages in the! civil warfare are claimed by both sides. The Bolsheviki assert success in the fighting with General Kaledines' Cossacks in the vicinity of liielgorod, some 350 miles south of Jfoscow while the Cossacks are reported victorious at Rostov-on the-Don, capturing {Tie city and forc ing the liolslicviki troops to retreat across the Bon. London, Dec. 14.— Bolsheviki troops have occupied Tamanovka and Kaluga, according to a Reuter dispatch from Petrograd. Tamanovka was occupied by troops from Petrograd, while Kaluga w.-;s captured without much lighting. Tiit counter revolutionary troops there were disarmed and arrested and Bolsheviki authorities restored. Commissioners with the Black Sea feet have telegraphed asking for the immediate dispatch by land and water of all Black Sea detachments new ashore. They also ask for a large number of machine guns. The commissioners report that military cadets are attacking Rostov with armored cars. Tamanovka is near Bielgorod, in Kursk province, about 350 miles south of Moscow. There is a rail road town, named Kaluga, in the province of the. same name, which lies about 100 miles southwest of Moscow. Petrograd, Thursday, Dec. 13. Civil offenders in the Petrograd prisons have been removed to jails ir the provinces to make, room for counter revolutionary suspects who are being arrested continually. ! Countess Panin, former vice min- I istei of public welfare, has been ar rested. She is charged with naving returned all the ministry funds to the state bank, leaving tne safes in the ministry empty when the Bolsheviki took control. The lodgings of Mine. Kerensky, wife of the former premier, were searched to-day by soldiers. She was told she had better notify Kerensky to come to the Smolny Institute vol untarily or he would be in great dan ger of lynching if found. The members of the constitutional democratic party now in prison will ne tried by revolutionary tribunals Bolsheviki leaders express the opin ion that the probable penalty will be exile abroad for one year or more. London, Dec. 14.—The Russian authorities have ordered the reie. se of all civilian German prisoners in exchange for 4,000 Kussian officers in German prisons, according to a (!ts):.tch from Haparanda printed in the liagena Nyheter, of Stockholm, prd forwarded by the correspondent of the Morning Post. It is reported reliably, the dis rf.trh adds, that Russian troops have been ordered to evacuate Finland, rhe-commander of the fortifications at Sveaborg is said to have acknowl edged officially the independence of Finland. Am sterdam, Dec. 14.—Official der ma • and Austrian statements sav that the Russian delegates arrived at lirest-Litovsk on Wednesday and thut the armistice negotiations were resumed yesterday. London. Dec. 14. —The Moscow Workmen's and Soldiers' Council has suppressed the newspaper Russkoe Slovo foi publishing a rumor that r Jns"-n Krylenko's seizure of general staff headquarters was instigated at German headquarters, according to a Heuter dispatch from Petiograd. The office of the newspaper is •>cc:i pied by soldiers and the nlant and the paper had been sequestrated, for tie needs of the workmen and sol diers. Distillers Refused Grain; Thousands Thrown Out of Employment in Holland Amsterdam, Dec. 14. —The 200 distilleries of Schiedam, which pro duce vast quantities of gin and other liquor have been notified by the government's grain bureau, the Tele- i graaf reports, that after this week no more grain will be supplied tor conversion Into alcoholic products. HARRISBURG, PA., FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 14, 1917. LIVE BY THE SWORD, DIE BY THE SWORD COLD WAVE IS TO FOLLOW IN WAKE HEAVY SNOWSTORM Thirteen Inches of Snoio Blankets City, Cutting Off Suburban Towns for Hours; Drifts Block Streets; West Winds Lower Temperature A real, old-fashioned winter. Is the prediction of oldtimers for the com ln t.iree mo-.tVi. when they sur veyed the blanket of snow cov eted H :rrisburg this morning. Only twice in the history of the city has there .xnn as heavy'a snow during the month of December as was le porfcu at the weather bureau office this morning by Weather Foresaster Deinain. The snow, which fell in tern'ttently all day yesterday, began to fall n earnest About 5..10 last night, and continued steadilv until after £ o'clock this morning. The storm was driven by a twentv-six mile vv nd. which made the sn >w as *>uu e the aspect of a blizzard. The covering on the ground this morn Miff is 1U.2 ruches. Kight inches of snow, sale Mr. Demain fell last night. •.Continued on Page 21) QUESTIONNAIRES ARE READY FOR REGISTERED MEN Men Liable to Service Have Seven Days to Make Detailed Report Nearly all of the questionnaires to bo mailed to-morrow to the 7,000 reg istered men in ilarrisburg to-day were prepared for the mails by the three draft boards in the city. Ap proximately the same number have been prepared by the three boards In the Dauphin county districts. While the boards have twenty days In which to get the questionnaires ready, it was said to-day by Sheriff Caldwell, F. Tt. Smith and John C. Orr, chairmen of the three city boards, that most of the men regis tered for army service would get the pamphlets by next week. It 1s mandatory that the registered man have all the questions answered and the questionnaire returned with in seven days after It has been mailed. Men who have moved or who fail to receive their questionnaires (Continued on Pi.ge 21) Steamer Kurland Is Sunk in Collision By Associated Press London, Dec. 13. —The steamer Kurland has been sunk in a col lision, according to announcement made by Lloyds. According to available shipping record* there Jire three steamers named Kurland, one Belgian and two Russian. The Belgian steamer K'irlund arrived In an American port on November 10. Railroads Virtually at Stand still as Result of Drifts; Freight Service A bandoned Until Trains Already Out Can Re Rrought In With the exception of the Phila delphia and Reading Railway, all railroad lines running into liarris hurg were almost put completely out of business. Snow drifts tied up both passenger and freight traffic between New York and Pittsburgh. No effo-f was made to-day to run trains on schedule time. Passenger trains running from four to eight hours late were kept moving once they started to move. Those who found it necessary to do any traveling to-day had no pleas ure as to any particular train, un less they desired to wait. If they were going east, west, north or south they went to the station and took the first train going in the direc tion desired. As to freight, no effort was made (Continued on Pago 21) MAYOR TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY OF POLICE WORK System of Conferences to Re lieve Police Chief of Much Extra Work A new system with which he hopes to thrash out difficult polieo prob lems and a system which he believes will be a betterment to tho entire department, wijl be inaugurated by Mayor Keister this evening, when h will call into a conference Police Chief Wetzel, Captain Thompson, Lieutenant Page, Secretary Hacken stoss and Clerk E. M. White. The Mayor's plan is to hold these con ferences at least once each month and at such other times as is neces sary. One of the chief reasons for hold ing these conferences is to relieve Police Chief Wetzel of much respon sibility. For year the Mayor said, Chief Wetzel has borne all the responsibility of the police depart ment and this he will not stand for any longer. The chief has perform ed his duties well and used very good (Continued on Page 21) Felix Calonder Elected President of Switzerland By Associated Press Berne, Switzerland, Thursday, Dec. 13—Felix Calonder, vice-president of the republic and head of the de partment of the Interior, to-day was elected president of Switzerland for 1918 Dr. Edouard Miller was elected vice president, defeating Uus tave Ador, president of the Interna tfonal lied Cross. DRIVE ON ITALY CHECKED WITH TERRIFIC LOSS Austro-German Troops in Hard Fighting Relieved by Reserves ENEMY'S THIRD ATTACK Downpour of Rain Fills the Piave River, Re-establish ing Water Rarrier Italian Headquarters in Northern Italy, Thursday, Dec. IS (by The As sociated Press). —After three days of fighting on the mountainfront be tween the Brenta and Piave rivers, the enemy is holding some trenches on Col Beretta and tli esuinmit of Monte Spinuccia, but all the rest of the Italian line is in its original posi tion. This is the enemy's third suc cessive attack with the object ot j breaking through to the plains. The backward season continues to ibe an important factor. A downpour in the last two days has tilled the Piave. which had nearly run dry, ob literating the water barrier with the enemy trenches only a few hundred yards away. The water in the inun dated section along the lower Piave also had fallen from fiv,e feet to a foot. The rains again mad* the river a fairly deep barrier and the inundat ed section again effectively flooded. Taking advantage of th e low water the Austrians "occupied a villa near the lagoon of Venice, in the vicinity of Boro Cavilllno. The Italian de stroyer Sauro managed to work into the lagoon and landed a party ot sailors, who destroyed the villa, to gether with the telephone and ma chine guns which had been installed. Austrians Claim Many Prisoners in Piave Drive London, Thursday, Dec. 18. —An of ficial Austrian statement reviewing the recent attack on the northern Italian front says that in the four days of lighting in the Meletta re gion 693 Italian officers and more than 16,000 men were made prisoner. The capture also is reported of 293 guus. 233 machine guns, four quick firers, elghty-ona mine throwers and a quantity of other materials., Harrisburg Musicians to Sing at Army and Navy Training Cantonments Mrs. Roy U. Cox. soprano soloist, and Miss Sara Lemer,' violinist, have contributed their services to the Y. M. C. A. War Work Council and will sing before the sailors in th e naval training camps at Camps Sewell and Wissablckon. New Jersey. Mrs. Ray mond Carle, a well-known pianist of Philadelphia, will accompany the party. The musicians will leave Harrisburg next week and will apear before the sailors at Camp Wlssahlckon Monday evening. Tuesday evening the will sing before the Camp Sewell sailors. These are the first Harrlsburgers to appear before the men under the auspices of the National Y. M. C. A. War Work Council. Both are widely known In this city as musicians. HICKOK TRIES TO GET SHIPMENT OF COAL HERE Steps Arc Taken to Aid Suf fering Among Poor Families KEISTER TO ASSIST Retail Dealers to Meet With Fuel Administrator and the Mayor Following; a visit by representatives of the Gates and Dare Coal Com panies, Mayor Daniel Keister said to day that he would endeavor to have Fuel Administrator Hiekolc meet the retail coal dealers of the city in the very near future in order that some understanding might be reached. The retailers represented that their yards are bare, that people are clam oring for coal, that since the ap pointment of a fuel adminfstrator lit tle coal has reached Harrisburg, and that they did not believe the admin istrator fully understands the seri ousness of the situation. * Mayor Keister replied t"hat as he was new to the office and had been occupied in getting acquainted with routine he was not familiar with the fuel situation In the city and did not realize that the supply was so short. He said he would see what he could do to procure more coal and made an appointment with Mr. Hickok this afternoon. He said he hoped to ar range for a meeting between the re tailers and the administrator so that a full discusjion of the situation from both points of view might be had. | This may be arranged for to-mor row, it is said. When Mr. Hickok was seen this morning in regard to the effort local coal dealers made yesterday to re quest the Mayor to force the hand ot the coal commission, for the purpose of supplying the coal needs of the city, lie stated emphatically that he cannot order operators to ship any coal to any dealer or any consumer. Mr. Hickok said that the only thing he can do is advlso the Philadelphia commission to request the operator to furnish the coal. Mr. Hickok says liis commission has no executive pow ers whatever, but is only an informa tive body. The coal administrator says he wired all day yestercfey in an effort to get shipments of coal to the city, and is doing all in his power to relieve the situation here. He says the coal situation in Harrisburg is bad, but insists it is better than nearly every other city in the state, owing to the supply of river coal. The industries are nearly all well supplied, but some of the dealers are not, he said. lie said there has been no coal in Marysville for three weeks. "A record of the coal used by every district is kept a*. Philadelphia," Mr. Hickok said. "And I have been in formed that Harrisburg has received more than her share. When a dealer orders coal, I inform the state ad ministrator of that fact, and if the need is great, ask him to recommend to the operator to supply it. Even the state administrator cannot force the operator to ship coal. The deal ers here do not seem to realize that every city in the state is situated as badly or worse than Harrisburg. "I think the njanufacturing plants, and the people with money, are well supplied with coal. It is the people in the poor sections whom I fear for. and if I lind any danger of freezing among them, on my own responsi bility I will take steps to supply them. X am going to And out the ac tual situation among the poor, and take immediate steps to relieve them. "Another thing I want to empha size is that I have absolutely no juris diction over matters arising between dealers and consumers. Frequently physicians and charitable organiza tions send me their patrons with slips certifying that they are in danger of hardship because of lack of coal. In such a case I can do absolutely noth ing, and they know they are simply 'passing the buck'. I wish to em phasize this fact." Harrisburg Man Helps Government Save Big Sum Commander K. C. Kalbfus, of the I United States Navy, a son of Dr. Joseph Kalfbus. secretary of the I State Game Commission, is one ot I the members of the board of naval officers which has s)ived the Govern ment millions. He is a graduate of the Harrisburg High School and An napolis, but served on the Oregon at Santiago before he was commis sioned. A Washington dispatch says: "The Navy Department has saved millions of dollars in the process of purchas ing private vessals for patrol serv ice. according to Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt in an inter view to-day. "The lesson learned from the Span ish-American War scandal, in which ships for auxiliary war service were bought up haphazard at enormous prices, has schooled naval officials against a repetition of the blunder in the present struggle. , "Upon the declaration of a state of war with Germany a board of ap praisers was appointed . for the pur pose of passing on the ships surveyed and the prices their owners asked for them. The board consisted of three civilian constructors and three naval officers, one a naval construct or. one an engineer and the last a line officer. The vessels surveyed were pur chased only after a careful appraisal of their value had been made. Many owners attempted to obtain prices for their yachts far in excess of their value. In one instance the owner of a gasoline yacht twenty years old asked the Government |1,000,000 for his vessel. 'The board of appraisal finally commandeered the ship and paid the owner 1350,000. It was made so that the decision of the board could not possibly be Influenced by the good outward appearance of a ship," Single Copy, 2 Cents HOME EDITION MARY RUSSELL'S HEART IS RIGHT; SHE GAVE DOLLAR Postal Messenger Girl Con tributes Her Entire Profits on Thirty-three Trips LOYALTY COMES FIRST TO TIIOSK WHO STAY AT HOME Harrisburg this week has seen hundreds of lioys from this city and vicinity off to Uw war. I' rom Ilarrisburg alone perhaps 3,000 young men are either in r ®}. nco ?■' i' l the training camps. They have made the highest sac rifice. There are in Dauphin county luO.OOO men, women and children who are not going to war. These 150,000 men. women and children are back of th e boys who have offered their lives. You, personally, are back of the Dauphin boys. But have you proved it, other than by saying so? Membership in the Red Cross makes you a bona lide backer. iou need only a dollar— A dollar, plus a heart! Have a heart! You have the dollar! President Wilson and former Presi dents Roosevelt and Taft to-day is sued statements calling upon the American people to join the Red Cross. Governor Martin G.' Brum baugh issued a statement addressed particularly to Pennsylvanians. Hut all of these statements, in the opin ion of local enthusiasts, fell short of the deed of Mary Russell, the Postal Telegraph girl, who, from her meager earnings, has bought a Red Cross membership. Mary Russell lives in Binglestown. To-day, for example, she came through all the snow between Har risburg and Binglestown, to tind that rContinucd on Page 10.] DESCENDS ON VIIjLAGE By Associated l J ress London, Dec. 14. —Several news dispatches from Holland agree that the aircraft which descended :n a Dutch village .yesterday was not an airship, hut a British balloon, which is said to have drifted across the North Sea from England. tl TROLLEY LINES ALL OPEN 4 Harrisburg—Shortly after 2 o'clock this afternoon *5- President Frank B. Musser announced that all of the ; >" lines of the Harrisburg Railways in the city and suburbs were in operation with the exception of the far end of 4 Linglestown and the upper part of the Rockville line, T j~W where the drifts were very high, and these he hoped to 'T 14* have in operation by 4.30 this afternoon. IS . MR. HICKOK ASKS POLICE AID 4- j jj, Harrisburg—Ross A. Hickok, fuel administrator, j called upon the mayor to-day in an effort to enlist'the *r i ■ aid of the police to obtain an accurate idea of the city's V coal needs. The mayor has called a meeting of coal "T dealers, Chamber of Commerce and fuel commission for V 3 o'clock to-morrow afternoon. 4> DECLARES DIVIDEND IN LIBERTY BONDS tg. 4* New York, Dec. 14.—The Delaware, Lackawanna 4 and Western Coal Company controlled chiefly by stock -4* holders of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western *>*- 4* railroad, to-day declared a special dividend of S2O a share, V --in bonds of Great Britain and in Liberty Bonds. 4* 4* SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT DELAYED J [§ Washington, Dec. 14.—Majority Leader Kitchin X sought unanimous consent of the House to-day to vote J. |4 January 7on the constitutional suffrage amendment, but v? . 14* Representative Walsh of Massachusetts, objected and £ j4* that ended it for the time being. & RUSSIAN DELEGATES POSSESS POWERS London, Dec. 14.—Leon Trotzky, the Bolsheviki foreign minister, according to a Reuter dispatch from T |X Petrograd, announces that if an armistice for the eastern front is signed at Brest-Litovsk, the Russian delegates are empowered to enter into peace negotiations. NOVEMBER COTTON CONSUMPTION i Washington, Dec. 14.—Cotton consumption during *1" November was 590,763 running bales, the Census f r IT Bureau announced. I? • BRITISH IMPROVE CONDITIONS !-/ Londoh, Dec. 14.—Our troops improved their posi -fc tion slightly east of Bullecourt as a result of the bomb H ,4* fighting in that locality reported in last night's com- *£ !4 munique," says to-day's official statement. The enemy 4 raided one of our posts last night south of Pronville. A [4* few of our men are missing. On the remainder of the *f 4 front there was nothing of special interest during the 4 4* night." TO INVESTIGATE CONDUCT OF WAR X 4 Washington, Dec. 14.—A House sub-committee to • thoroughly investigate the conduct of the war by the 4 Nav y was created by the Naval Committee to-day in *1 4t executive session. Hearings will be arranged soon. Sec- It retary Daniels, bureau chiefs and officers who have been 4 o nduty abroad will be called. X X EXPLAINS MEANS' BUSINESS DEALINGS ; Concord, N. C., Dec. 14.—John T. Dooling, assistant £ district attorney of New York to-day took the jury fa V the trial of Gaston B. Means along the pathway of the % defendant's career as business manager for Mrs. Baude X A. King, with whose murder he is charged and pointed Jl 4 ° ut and explained link by link the chain of evidence X which the state contends establishes the motive for the alleged crime. 4> . ; $• MARRIAGE LICENSES § John K. I.owl), I*hlludl|>htn, nnri Mnc I:, (•rlffltli, IlnrrUburK. ji|) CITY IS FREE OF DRAFT FOR SECOND ARMY Lieutenant Lesher Believes Volunteers Sufficient to Again Save Harrisburg GREAT WORK WAS DONE Records Shows Capital City District Is First Among Those of Nation The campaign lias brought the city district forward until it baa taken its stand as being one oi the foremost in the country. Five thousand recruits have been sent to the great training can tonments, Lieutenant Lesher's records show. "I think I can safely say that there will be no men taken from [ the city to fill a quota in the I second draft," Lieutenant R. W. Lesher, recruiting officer for the Harisburg district, said to-day at (Continued on Pago 21) Robbers Attack Bank During Snow Storm; Escape With $47,000 By Associated Press Chicago, Dec. 14.—Two hundred pounds of money, totalling $4 7,000, was carried off by the live men who yesterday robbed the BaOrange State Rank at BaGrange, a western suburb, it became known to-day after an in demnity insurance company checkgd up the bank's cash. The robbery took place at noon, but a heavy snowstorm obscured the rob bers at work in the bank from peo ple on the street, and they escaped in an automobile.