THE WEATHER
FAIR TO-NIGHT
AND TO MORROW
Oetfllcd Report. Pace 6
5^ A ?. L i"" Kn VOL. 76—XO. 149.
THE SOLVAY
PLANT NOW
RUINED HEAP
Works Near the Bruges
Ship Canal Destroyed
Under Fire of British
Warships
MUCH DAMAGE TO
ZEEBRUGGE CITY
Coast Guard Building and Public
Schools Destroyed—Military Traini
at Solvay Works Blown to Frag
ments During the Bombardment
By Associated Press.
Ixvndon, Nov. 25, 3.35 A. M.—"Ger
many's scheme to establish a naval
base at Zeerhrugge has been thwarted
by British warships," savs the "Dailj
Mail's" Rotterdam correspondent
"Zeebrugge is hurning, the Solvav
works near the Bruges ship canal are a
heap of ruins ami the sections of si'
submarine boats which had been
brought there are reduced to twisted
iron. A large quantity of stores also
were destroyed.
"The bombardment .lasted from 2
o'clock until o o'clock Monday after
noon. The coast guard building and
the public schools were destroyed. The
military trains at the Solvay works
were blown to fragments and a large
crane which was being used for put
ting the submarines together simply
disappeared.
"In desperation the Germans tried
to remove their stores, including the
apparatus for making hydrogen for
Ze;>pelins. to Bruges, but found a sec
tion of the railway had been blown
up.
"For several weeks Germanv had
been collecting stores at and fortifying
Zet'brugge in the hope of making it a
strong naval base. - '
The same interests that operated the
Solvay plant destroyed at Zeebrugge
also control the coke plant at Steelton,
which supplies gas in this city through
the Harrisburg Gas Company.
GERM ASS TO SISK KARLSRI'HE
KATHER TH AN GIVE UP VESSEL
New Orleans, Nov. 25.—Officers And
the crew of the German cruiser KarN
rulie have sworn to sink their vesse
rather than surrender if cornered by
hostile warships, according to Charles
T. Torraen, a chemist of Baton Rouge,
l*a., who was a passenger on the steam
er Van Dyck, which fell a prize to the
commerce destroyer October 26. Tor
raen, who reached here last night from
Para, Brazil, said he learned of tli<
Germans' purpose from members of the
crew.
Torraen said he was landed at Para
from the German steamer Asuncion
with passengers and crews of five ves
sels captured by the German warship
late in October.
LATE WAR NEWS SUMMARY
Reports from Russian sources dur
ing the last two days of an imposing
victory in the war with Austria and
Germany are at variance with an of
ficial statement to-day from Berlin.
While the German military authorities
stated previously that the advance to
ward Warsaw had been checked by the
arrival of Russian reinforcements,
there was no Indication in to-day'e
statement that any decisive results had
been attained by either of the oppos
ing forces.
The official statement speaks con
fidently of the German operations in
the east and says that a counter-offen
sive Russian movement between the
Vistula and Wartha rivers, the scene
of the main action, had failed. To the
north, in East Prussia, it is said, all
Russian attacks were repulsed while
similar results are reported to have at
tended the efforts of the enemy to the
south, in the movement against Cracow
and the Silesian frontier of Germany.
Later advices from Petrograd made
no departure from previous claims of
important successes, so that the situa
tion in the eaßt remained obscure. >
To-day's official communications!
from Paris, Berlin and London con
cerning the situation in Belgium and
France gave partial confirmation of
private reports that the Germans were
beginning another great effort to
smash through their way to the Eng
lish Channel. Both the British and
French statements mention fighting
along the line south of Ypres. Belgium.
The French war office states that
Continued on Mrrond Pace.
o* Star- Inkpenktit
„ N. Y. Herald.
THE GUEST OF HONOR
SIOU EIACTS
DEATH OF BALZRC
Pleads With Angel for
Extension of Life,and
Then Falls Prostrate
on 'Platform
WIFE TO BURN
HUBBTS CARDS
Prior to Sermon, Revivalist Repeats As
sertion That Detectives Are Follow
ing Him, and Declares New Yoik
Gunman Means Murder
ID enacting the death of Balzac, the
great man of letters, at the end of his
sermon at the tafbernacle last night
Evangelist Stough put what was mani
festly his supreme effort in his perform
anee, and made as deep an impression
on his audience as he has yet made by
his avowedly sensational preaching i:i
this citv.
I The evangelist represented Balzac en
! treating with the Angel of Death to
! let him live a while longer. .Sitting in
his chair, pretending to be writing rap
■ idly, he first asked for three years
j longer to live, then, crouehing in liis
[ seat and trembling as with great feat,
he begged for three more months. Fall
i ing from the chair to his knees, he en
i treated for a postponement of three
weeks, and, following the imaginary
angel on his knees, as if clinging to the
angel's garments, he implored for three
; days, even three minutes. The suppli
| cations were of no avail and the flushed.
J perspiring man fell at full length oc
the platform in representation of Bal
j zae's corpse.
As the actor of the death scene rose
Continued on Klfventh I*AKC.
INDIAN TROOPS REPORTED
DEFEATEDJf THE TURKS
Berlin, Nov. 25 (By Wireless to Say
ville) —The British Indian troops along
the Suez canal have been defeated, ac
cording to a report from Milan, and the
Turks are advancing with heavy bat
, teries to destroy the constructive works
of the canal and bottle up the British]
warships now in the waterway.
Pardons as Thanksgiving Presents
B.y Associated Press,
Columbia, S. C., Nov. 25.—Governor|
Cole Blease, of South Carolina, an-!
noum-ed to-day that he would giv e 75
State convicts pardons or paroles as
Thanksgiving Day presents.
HARRIS BURG, PA., WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 25, 1914—12 PAGES.
TIIIKEYS SELL AS
HIGH AS 40 CENTS
Big Demand for Them
in the Markets—City
Dealers Sell Them
Cheaper
CRANBERRIES
DROP IN PRICE
Bring to Cents in Early Hours but De
cline to B—Football Game and
Church Services Will Be Important
Features of the Holiday
The turkey has been led to the
slaughter and will decorate thousands
ot Harrisburg tables to-morrow in a
wide observance of Thanksgiving Day.
A substitute for turkey in many in
stances will he used, because of the
high cost of the fowl; but thousands
of these birds have been purchased and
Harrisburg is sure to have an old-time
holidav.
Thousands of persons will give tip
business routine for a day of rest or
pleasure. The eitv will be dosed tight
in so far as commercial life *is con
cerned, but other things will occupy the
time of Harrisburgers. Union church
services will be held and there will be
a big meeting in the Stough tabernacle
during the afternoon.
Thursday fair with mild tempera
ture," is the way the local officials of
the Weather Bureau are forecasting
conditions for to-morrow. From indica
tions it will be a day long to be re
membered as a model of autumn
weather. It will .just be the kind of
day that will give everybody a change
to do what he pleases out doors. Of
ficials fix to-night's minimum tempera
ture at 40 degrees. This mark is ten
degrees above the lowest temperature
for last night.
An event of no mean importance will
be the annual football game between
the two local high school teams. The
greatest crowd of the vear is expected
to nee that game. The'kickoff is sched
uled for 2.30 o'clock. The students of
the rival schools are arranging as nev
er before a demonstration for their re
spective teams. Parades will feature
the early afternoon ending on Jslnn l
Park, the scene of the struggle. Bands
have been engaged by the students of
both the Tech and the Central schools
anil it will be a regular football game
with all the trimmings.
The teams have been carefully
groomed for the contest, coaches put
ting in final licks at practice to-day.
Continued on Seventh Pace
■■ \
NO PAPER TO-MORROW
Tomorrow being Thanksgiving
Day, a legal holiday, the Ktar-Inde
pendent will not be published, ac
cording to its usual custom.
i
WINNERS 111 THE
(Hill CONTEST
Opinions Still Differ as
to Which Advertisers
Are Making the Best
Offers
GOOD REASONS
FOR CHOICES
The Three Prizes This Week For Sub
mitting Best Letters Go to Albert
Senior, A. Gross and Homer Bals
baugh
Opinions still differ widely as to
which advertisers on the Star-Inde
pendent's bargain page each Wednes
day are offering the best bargains.
Since good reasons are advanced for
the choice of best offers, in nearly all
cases, the contest each week is a live
ly one, and increases in interest with
each succeeding Wednesday.
The prize winners this week are,
first prize of $3, Albert Senior, 603
Dauphin street; second prize of $2, A.
Gross, 2015 North Sixth street, and
third prize, Homer Balsbaugh, 634
Oamp street.
The prize winning letters follow:
First Prize Winner
Bargain Editor.
I Dear Sir—An advertisement does
not become a bargain until some one
! has taken advantage of the offer.
The four per cent, inducement of
j the Commercial Bank, like all others,
; is just an offer, but different in results,
I because when the reader has taken ad
vantage of the advertisement it means
! the beginning of a career of thrift,
prosperity and success.
And since the advertisement offers,
and makes possible by its offer, the
highest awards on earth to humanity,
Cuntlnurd on Eighth I'■nr.
FALLS DEAD ON SIDEWALK
Railway Mail Clerk Succumbs to
Apoplexy This Morning
A man identified by a card in his
pocket as H. B. Stevens, 7 7 South
Hermitage avenue, Trenton, N. J., fell
over on the sidewalk in front of 19
North Fourth street, this morning and
died before he could be taken to the
Harrisburg hospital. Physicians diag
nosed his ailment as apoplexy.
George T. Cunkle and Arthur L.
Cunklc, who were working on the
building, noticed the man stagger and
fall. They called Policeman Murphy
who pressed into service a passing!
automobile in which the body was 1
taken to the hospital. Life was extinct
when they reached there. The body I
was turned over to Coroner Eckinger.
Stevens was in the railway mail serv
ice and is believed to be about 57
years old.
BOB!; OFFICE OF
THE PROSECDTOH
Thief Gets Away With
Coat While Stroup Is
BusyPlanningtoCon
vict Crooks
IT BELONGS TO
STENOGRAPHER
None of the District Attorney's Office
Force Pays Any Attention to Slick
Intruder—Police Make Arrest Two
Hours Afterward
Almost under the eves of Dauphin
county's District Attorney. Michael E.
■Stroup, and several of his oflice at
taches, a sneak thief went into the
prosecutor's office in the Russ build
ing, North (Market Square, at 9.30
o'clock last night, roamed about at will
and then walked out with a valuable
coat belonging to Miss Clara I. Miller,
stenographer. "
Kdward Welsh, a police character and
reputed panhandler, was arrested two
hours after the theft and it is said
he confessed his guilt to the police. He
now is in tho county jail awaiting court
trial, but Miss iM'iller yet is without
the coat. Welsh is said to have told
the police that he sold the garment to
a colored woman "over in the Kigivth
ward," although the purchaser thus fat
has not been found. What is more, the
police say, Welsh declared he sold that
■perfectly good coat for "four bits,"
half dollar.
Of course the District Attorney was
sorry that his stenographer felt a vic
tim to a thief, anil offered her his over
coat to wear on the way to her home,
14 40 Derry street. She, however,
didn't want to be seen wearing a man's
overcoat, so she went to her home in a
toxical).
The District Attorney could have
prevented the robbery if he had permit
ted himself to he interrupted while he
was dictating letters on legal subjects
to the stenographer, and while the rest
of the office force was industriously en
gaged preparing data for the prosecu
tion of sneak thieves and other crooks
to be tried in next week's session of
criminal court. As it was the intruder
just walked in, looked around, stole
the coat and walked out with no one
saying a word to hiin.
"If only I had gone to the outer
office when Jlitw ».\liller remarked aDout
the noise of the man entering," said
Mr. Stroup, who is a powerfully-ibuilt
former college football player, "1
could have caught the thief as he was
leaving the office with the coat under
bis arm."
The watchman in the Russ building
noted the appearance of the intruder
and aided the police in the apprehension
of Welsh.
RICHARDCROIBR.7IJO WED
Former Tammany Hall Leader Will
Marry Miss Edmonson, Descendant
of Cherokee Indian Chieftain
R/L Associated PICSI,
New York, Nov. 25.—Interviewers
to-day sought to see Miss Beulah Ben
. ton Edmonson, descendant of a Chero
kee Indian chieftain, to ascertain from
her the truth of published reports that
I she was to become the bride to-morrow
of Richard Croker, former loader of
Tammany Hall. Miss Edmonson denied
herself to callers. At the Studio club,
i where she has made her home for the
last year, a woman who represented
herself a# Miss Edmonson's spokesman
i announced to callers that Miss Edmon
| son had nothing to say, "one way or
the other."
It was reported that Miss Edmon
| son, who has been studying here for a
! year, met Mr. Crokcr at the National
I Democratic convention in Kansas City,
I where her father was a delegate from
j Oklahoma. Miss Edmonson was one of
the leading figures in tfie suffrage pa
rade in this city in May, 1913, when
she appeared as a squaw, in buckskins
j and with her long, black braids bound
! with red ribbon, rode astride an Itnu.
I pony.
The wedding of Mr. Croker is to be
I solemnized to-morrow. He is 71 ami
a widower.
TEN THA.\KS(»JVIN(j WEDDINGS
Unusual Activity Shown To-day at the
Marriage License Bureau
I Ten marriage licenses were issued to
j day to coupies who plan to wed to-mor
row, Thanksgiving Day. Those who
I obtained license are:
Percy S. 'Nicholls, Swissvale, and
Jane 8. Ijea, city; Warren I. Schara
• i'i n and Ella V. Barnhart, city; Janko
Gajdeh and Anna Berdek, city; Th/oinas
H. Hynica and Nellie H. Cast, city;
.lames H. Albright and Virginia J. Par
sons, city; John F. Lenker and Beulah
L. Mounts?, city; Daniel P. Pasnacht,
Lititz, and Mabel E. Yorty, Hummels
town; Roman G. Eckenrode, Steelton,
and Alice Clark, city; Guy K. Thomas
an.i Eva B. Rice, Biglerville; Paul H.
Furman, city, and Catherine P. Weav
er, Steelton.
Change of Venu e for' Colonel
By Associated Press.
Albany, N. Y., Nov. 25.—The Ap
pellate Division to-day reversed the
ruling of Supreme Court Justic« Chester
which refused a change of venue for
the trial of the $50,000 libel suit
brought by William-Barnes against Col
onel Theodore Roosevelt. Colonel
Roosevelt bought the change.
IMPROVISED WATER TOWER
CHECKS DANGEROUS BLAZE
Rigged Up by Use of Extension Ladder
and a Line of Hose to Fight Fire in
D., P. & s. Warehouse—Loss Kept
Down to SI,OOO
A water tower improvised by Fire
Chief Kindler by use of tbe Mt. Yer
non honk and latter truck was put into
service last evening in fighting a fire
in a 3-story brick warehouse of Dives,
Pomeroy & Stewart 011 Ninth street,
north of Market. This enabled the tire
men to reach the blaze more effectively
than could have been done in any other
way and kept the amount of damage
down to $ 1,000.
Chief Kindler realized that more
than the district apparatus which had
responded to the box alarm was needed
to quickly conquer the blaze, and the
Mt. Verinn truck, together with the
Ciood Will and Hope companies, were
ordered to the fire in addition.
The Mt. Vernon truck was placed in
front of the burning building and an
extension ladder run up in a perpen
dicular position, not resting against tho
warehouse. A length of hose was at
tached to the ladder and a stream was
directed into the topmost window of
the building from this improvised wa
ter tower. This stream, coming in from
the top, did effective work. Other
streams could not be directed effective
ly on the blaze from the positions the
tiremen were compelled to take.
Beds, mattresses and other supplies
in the second floor of the building were
damaged and in the third floor some
store decorations were ruined.
It is believed the fire was of in
cendiary origin, ( harles Schriver was
| going into the building when he saw
j tho flames. He called to a man outside
jto send in an alarm. The man refused
and Schriver himself was compelled to
turn it in, later going back to the
warehouse, from which he removed
several delivery autos which are kept
in the first floor.
HOUTZ WINS KUMKBL PRIZE
t Eight Orators, Girls' Glee Club, Choir
and Orchestra Take Part
In ProgTam
The prizes of $25, |ls and $lO in
the Samuel Kunkel oratorical contest at
Central High school this afternoon were
awarded, respectively, to Harold Houtz,
Harold Eckert, and Horace Nuneniachev.
The subjects of the orations given
by the eight contestants were: "Our
American Flag," Harold Houtz; "Our
Responsibility in the World War
Crisis," Homer Kreider; "The Ameri
can War,'' Robert Michael; ''Tous
saint L'Ouverture," Horace Nune
macher; "What to the American Slave
is the Fourth of July," Alan Carter;
"The Necessity of Force in CuUi,"
George Kenig; "The Naval Holiday,"
Harold Amos, and "The Affairs in
Mexico," Harold Eckert.
At the opening of the program, the
Rev. Harry Nelson Basslor, pastor of
Second Reformed church, led in prayer.
Instrumental music was furnished by
the High School orchestra and vocal
music by the Junior Girls' Glee club
and by the school choir.
The judges were T. Kittera Van
Dyke, the Rev. Harry Nelson Bassler
,and Harry A. Boyer. Mr. Van Dyke
presented the prizes.
The prizes in the contest are award
| ed each year through the generosity
! of Samuel Kunkel.
THREATENED WITH DEATH
U. S. Calls for Report Concerning
Memphis Man in Mexico
By Associated Press,
Washington, Nov. 25.—The State
| Department has called for a report
i from Consul Hostetter at Hermosillo,
! Mexico, on private advices that T. W.
| Carraway, of Memphis, is threatened
i with execution there. Carraway, with
J. C. Wilson and J. R. Melnery, was
, arrested more than a month ago,
| charged with complicity in dynamiting
bridges in Sonora.
When the Americans were arrested
the State Department took the matter
| up with General Villa, who instructed
! the authorities at Hermosillo to release
; them if they were innocent of the
j charges, which was the report made by
; the American consul at Nogales, who
1 investigated the case.
GIRL STUDENTS FLEE FIRE
Stonewall Jackson Institute Burned
With a Loss of SIOO,OOO
Abingdon, Va., Nov. 25.—Fire here
early to-day destroyed one girl's school,
threatened another and at one time en
dangered the entire town. One hundred
students at the Stonewall Jackson In
stitute escaped when that school burned j
and students at Martha Washington
College, nearby, were hurried from the!
dormitories wheu it appeared that this|
institution, too, would burn.
The fire was controlled with an esti
mated loss of SIOO,OOO.
Attorney and Daughter Murdered
By Associated Press,
Miami, Fla., Nov. 25. —A. A. Hoggs,
a prominent Florida attorney, and his
daughter, Marjorie, 18 years old, were
found murdered early to-day in the
charred ruins of their country home
near here.
Former G. A. R. Commander Dies
By Associated Press.
Philadelphia, Nov. 25. —Colonel
Robert 11. Beath. past commander-in
chief of the (irarid Army of the lie
public, died at his home here xo-day. He
was 75 vears old.
POSTSCRIPT
PRICE, ONE CENT.
BfIFF IS FINALLY
II IB VICTIM
Lured to Market Place
and Rilled by Thugs
Who Escape in an
Auto
WAS A TARGET
IN MANY CRIMES
Had Been Threatened Many Times With
Death Since His Testimony Sent
Numbers of New York City's
Poultry Trust to Prison
Rtl Associated Press.
New orU, \ov. 25.—The assassina
tion of Barnet Baff, characterized by
Coroner Feinberg as the culmination of
the greatest conspiracy since the murder
of Herman Rosenthal, placed a read
murder mystery in the Central detect
ive office to-day for solution. Clues
pointed many ways. The authorities de
clared that the mystery had so inaiiv
ramifications that it took on the as
| pects of a Chinese puzzle,
j I lie victim, a well-to-do independent
! poultry dealer, was lured to his death
i by a decoy message given him at fi
; o clock last night by a young man who
j entered his place of business in Wash-
I ington market. Two shots, fired in the
street, killed him. Two men darted
away to an automobile, waiting witli
thrumming engine nearby, who made
off. The car had not been located, nor
the men identified this forenoon.
Relentlessly Pursued by Enemies
Going over Raff's past life in a
quest of (dues, detectives learned that
jhe had been threatened many times
j with violent death since he had testified
j for tile State in a trial that sent num
bers of New York City's poultry trust
to prison several years ago. In the re-
I leirtiess campaign waged by his enemies,
j fires had been lighted, bonwis exploded,
j his horses poisoned, his sou attacked
; and his chain of stoics robbed. One
, of his neighbors was-killed by a gun
man, in mistake, it was believed, for
Baff. Baff himself ha I been scarred
} for life by an assault made on him by
. a thug armed with a bottle.
The police worked on the theory
I that Baff had four sets of active ene
■ mies. One of these consisted of those
j he made while warring against the
poultry trust; another of members of
j the gang that robbed his Harlem
market, five of whom were sent to
! s 'ng Sing; a third grew out of his dif
j ferences with certain wholesale deal
| ers, who charged Ball' had tricked tshem
by selling poultry at wholesale and then
I underselling tliein to retailers.
Parallels Rosenthal Case
The fourth was ot' more recent origin.
Not long ago a number of fowls shipped
Jro New ork for other dcalors \ - ern
seized and condemned becnuse it was
j charged their crops had been filled with
gravel to add to their weight. As a
result of this a number of men were
thrown out of work. They are said to
j have blamed BaflT.
Inspector Faurot announced today
! that detectives were working on the
| theory tliat gunmen had been hired to
murder Baff, as in the Rosenthal case.
District Attorney Whitman's oflice as
j signed detectives to the case. Mr.
| Whitman declared lie considered the
I crime as much an attack on the law as
! on Baff.
A revolver was found near the spot,
' where B„ff was shot. Detectives sought
to trace the murder by this weapon.
TO REOPEN U. S. HOTEL
Welsh Brothers, Circus Men, Lease It
for Ten Years—Will Refurnish and
Run It Without a Bar
The old t'nited states Hotel, at the
corner of Market, and Cowdeu streets,
which has been closed since lasl spring,
will be reopened by January 1 as a
hotel to be conducted on the"European
plan, having been leased b v the \Welsh
Brothers, the widely known eircusXpro
prietors, who have been in the hotel
, business in Philadelphia for some tim'C.
The hotel, which is owned by Cluster
'iV Kay, has been closed since last
j Spring, when the proprietor, Angelio A.
j Boschelli, was arrested for selling liq
uor illegally and his license revoked.
Boschelli disappeared, alleged to have
forfeited his bail, and although efforts
have been made to bring him back here
for trial they have been unsuccessful.
The Welsh Brothers, according to Mr.
Kay, one of I lie owners, will complete
| ly remodel the hotel and refurnish six
ty-five rooms for sleeping purposes with
every accommodation. The lower floor
will be used for bowling and pool rooms,
but there will bo no bar in the build
ing. A restaurant will be installed.
The Welsh Brothers obtained a leaso
on the hotel property for ten years. It.
is understood that none of the tenants
in the store rooms iu the building will
bo disturbed for the present.
Actor Leaves Hospital
Alfred Bilford, of Berlin, Germany,
trick cyclist, who fell from a twelve
foot ladder on the stage at the Orpheum
on the evening of November 16, suffer
ing a concussion of the brain, was dis
charged cured from the H&rrisburg hos
pital this afternoon.
Kennedy a Candidate
(ieorge W. Kennedy, member of the
Harrisburg Board of School Directors,
whose terms expires in December, t.ext,
year, ha.s announced his candidacy for
re-election.