THE WEATHER FAIR TONIGHT AND TO MORROW Detailed Report. Page 8 ——— itTAi.i<iHEn vni —r vn 10 DEr. . tsru. \ 'Mi. 1 1 .\v>. 1J 74 DEAD, 147 INJURED, TOLL OF RAID RY GERMANS ON ENGLISH COAST CITIES Scores of Houses in the Two Hartlepools Were Wrecked and Scarcely One of the Large Factories in Both Towns Es caped the Flying Shells- Many Ships in the Harbor Damaged London. Dec. IT. 11.43 A M.—The casualties at Hartlepool as a result of ♦he German naval raid, according to an ertiasl bureau statement to-day were r- persons killed and lir> wounded. Jnofiicta! reports have indicated that J 7 were killed and ; wounded at Scar borough as a result of the bombard ment here and that at Whitby two were killed and two were injured. a.> a result of the raid most of the coast towns of England aud many la ir ud towns are adopting the strictest trecaurions. Street lights have beeu re tiuced to the utmost and all along the coast a sharp lookout is maintained. Majority of Victims Civilians Miidlesuoro, Kng., Dec. IT, Via Lou don. 3.20 A. M. — Latest returns of the k ile I aud wounded as the resuit of tue tierman naval raid show that at Hart;e |>ooi 29 were killed and 50 injured,; wnile at West Hartlepool 19 were. ■ killed and SO injured. Of the wound e<t twenty are housed at the military i ; husp:tai n Masonic Hail and fifty in ■the Lanieton Hospital. The majority of the victims were civilians. About eight of the kiiied and >Z~ of the wounded were men engaged fin coast defense work but of the re i*i'tinder the bulk were civilians who were sno whiie at ork in the streets while in their own homos. Scores of houses in the two Hartie jpools have been wrecked and scarcely [one of the large factories in the two, 1 'towns escaped damage. The telephone '•#ervie? is completely disorganized. Gas Holders Out of Business The gas works were shelled with ex weptional severity and every gas holder •as put out of commission. Severa rhur.-hes and schools also suffered from Une enemy's fire. fc-ast Hartlepool stfffered the most in the bombardment bit there was also t> uch damage done in West Hartlepool. Man v ships in the harbor were dam sued including the steamer Diobola. le tained sue the outbreak of the war, which was completely pier.ed by a' shell. At iiarth. in the eng aeermg woris, two workmen were killed an f tnree other persons were killed in the, afreets. Smgle Shell Killed Nine Men In Dover street. West Hartlepool, ■which is right in the heart of the busi ness .-eater, a iiell carried away the enhance of a cottage and kiilej the <■• -u; ant, an o i woman, namej Mrs. Sloon. Sjuelis fell indiscriminately in a part* of imo town. Special con staoles were .ailed out anil ambulance men and doctors nere quickly on the ■" No: • moment was lc-; n .. lv . i''- aid to tile wounded. i ■ "rn._' is - na\e oeen ver\ .1 -u-ate. In owe .-s*.. , ,| ie |[ • !.ed nine nien and in another instance three men were kiilo i and eleven oun ed. Another shell killed a whole family aud there are manv instance* where severa! persons in a'house were. y- [ I together. Ihe populace is qu et and has ev|-' • • y been reassured v the proelama ut the mayor of We*: Hartlepool.. . l:or Fryer, requesting the civil population to keep their houses as far a* possible for the present. '< I'be nearest parallel to the visit of' yesterday is found in the activities of •"fin aul Jones, the terror of English.' i' 'ing. who menaced Knglisn . oa*t ' towns in 1779. A majority of the vnm, at Hartie- ' V"Oi were women and children. Fifteen ' school buys were killed by a single shell '• f>nl. one boy in a group escaping. Ten per-ona killed bv the collapse of a building in whi h they had taken shel tor. One shell damaged a building live riles from shore. liREAT BATTLE BKIN WAUED ■{ MILES WEST OF WARSAW I Warsaw, Dec. 17, Via Undon. 4.20 P. M.—A great battle is in progress at | f*oehsc7.ew, 30 miles west of Warsaw. ! The German wedge which is proceeding : in a southeasterly direction from Ilow I ha* managed after heavy fighting, in j which serious losses are reported to I have been inflicted, to establish itself > a quarter of a mile west of Soe4ia<-*<*•. The Polish campaign mw renters at that point. i ®t tStar- fnkpettktti AUSTRIANS INFLICT 6IC BZFEAT UPON RUSSIANS: TAKE 31 .COO PRISONERS Her.in. IV . 17. Bv Wireless to ville A ta:ement given out to-.ia> by the German official press bureau says: "The Austrian general staff reports that 31.000 Ku-sians hav e been taken; prisoners in West Galieia."' j Berlin. Do.-. 17. B> Wireless to Say ville —The fi st . -tual successes against the Russian* in the last few day* ap pear to have been achieved by ttv Au strians in West Galieia. Here the Rus sian*. according to advices receive i f:om the zone of hostilities, have been attacked simultaneously from two siocs; on the r r.'iit by au otfeus ve from the eastward of Cracow and ou their left front by a movement di ce: ed south. The report that the Au*tr ;in> are follow ng up the retiring Russian amy farther south show* in the opin.n of militarv observer*, that the Hu* an* are being forced northwards upon their; forces in Western Poland. Whether this retirement w ill exten i to the Rus sians massed to the north of Piotkrow will depend on the events of the next , few days. SHIPS SUNK BY MINES IN NORTH SEA I • j Four Steamers. One Be lieved to Be a Pas senger Vessel, Are Reported Wrecked 7 LIVES ON ONE BOAT ARE LOST Casualties on the Other Vessels Have Not Yet Been Ascertained—Prob ably Victims of Mines Left in Wake of German Fleet South Shield*. Eng.. Dec. 17, via Ixiajon 2.4 5 P. M.—Three steamers, one believed to be a passenger ship, were sunk by mines in t-he .North sea off Plamborough head lastNiiyht. Only one of these three vessels ha.* so far been identified. This is the steamer Klterwater. Twelve of her crew were saved but *even lost their lives. I Tne casualties on rhe other ships have not yet been determined, but it is re ported that the crew and passengers of the passenger vessel were seen taking to their boats. The Admiralty has announced that all traffic between Plamborough Head and New Castle nas been stopped indefi nitely. Plamborough Head is about twenty milee down the coast from Scarborough, one <jf the points bombarded yesterday by the German cruisers. Them hostile ships were reported to have left mines in Mieir wake as they steamed awv from the British cpast. The area from Plamborough Head (•■llliaH mm SUth Pas*. HARRISBURG. PA.. THURSDAY EVENING. DECEMBER 17. 1914 16 PAGES. LATE WAR NEWS SUMMARY One of the greatest victories of the war is claimed to-day by Germany. The German official statement contains these words: "The Russian offensive against Sil esia and Posen has completely broken dwon. In the whole of Poland the enemy was forced to retreat after fierce and stubborn frontal battles and is be ing pursued everywhere. A semi official statement from Ber lin speaks confidently of the situation in the east and says that the Austrians appear to have achieved their first actual successes against the Russians in the last few days in Western Gal icia. Petrograd admits that the Ger man flanking movements threaten the Russian lines of communication and that it has been necessary for the Rus sians to draw back their lines in cer tain seitious, but it gives no intimation of such reverses as are reported from Berlin. The gTeat battle in the west, which is being carried on most fiercely in Bel gium and Northwestern France, is the subject of conflicting claims. The Ger man war office announces that the al lies have made new attacks but that they have ben beaten back with heavy losses. The French statement s*ys that several German trenches in. Belgium have been captured by infantry as saults and that at other points to the south and east the artillery of the al lies has done effective work. Four steamers were sunk by mines CoaMaurd on riftrmth rase. IROCPcR SHOT: NRRESTS State Police Hope to Capture Five More of Party AUeged to Have Beat eu Two Members of Constabulary < a r-tain George F. Lumb, deputy su perintendent ot' State police, received a re,>ort tiii" morning of the alleged at t; ; .s made by een Italians upon two State policemen .11 Wyoming, lju*:eriie coi-ny*, yesterday. The two troo[,ers. Amman un Marshal;, called a: the house of an Italian to search for stoleu goids alleged to be secreted in the lie-use. The Italian, it is claimed, met them with smiles and told them to proceed with ;j, P search, and tliev went through the lower part of tile' house, finding nothing. They then went to the upper part of the house and while both were stooping over in the small room, lifting a mattress from a bed to look under it, they were suddenly at tacked from behind by seven men. Both Amman and Marshall are skill ful with their tists. and they succeeded in beating their assailant? for a time, but finally, it is alleged, tiie foreigners drew revolvers and began to shoot, one bail ploughing a rida,. across the top of Amman's head, the blood blinding hi A,. Both men knew that it was death to remain longer, and they jumped f r om the window to a snow pile, escap ing further injury, although both were badly bruised and cut. They succeeded in arresting two of the men. but the others got away with two guns thev had taken from the troopers. The members of B -troop have been notified, and Captain Lumb says that all of the men who participated in the assault on Amman and Marshall will be arrested before the day is over, as thev are all known and it will be impossible for them to get away. Held on a Forgery Charge Elmer E. Hunter," 350 Ridge street, Steelton. charged with forging the names of two women to the backs of Christmas checks and then cashing them at a Harrisburg store. wa held under $>00 bail for court by Mayor ' Royal this afternoon. He was arrested yesterday bv City Detective Ibach. ' The ajnoun* of the checks was $76.6!* j and he had $33 left when apprehended ' and his arms full of purchases. $2,000,000 FIRE D POTTSVILLB BUSINESS BLOCK Blaze That Starts in Woolworth Five and Ten Cent Store Levels a Score of Buildings, Including the Pennsyl vania National Bank and the Academy of Music, One of the City's Leading Play houses— Worst Fire in the History of the Town—Masonic Lodge Made Homeless By Aasoiiated Press, PottsviHe, P.. l)et 17.—A 2.0))0, 000 fire wiped out one entire business block in the heart of the business dis trict of PottsviHe early this morning and at 8 o'clock it was burning fiercely after i-ommunicating to a second block, but it was believed that it had been controlled. The fire burned itself out about 9.C0 a. m. I 1 roro Centre to Second and from -Norwegian to Mahantongo is a mass of red embers and smoking ruins or with flames shooting skyward from the buildings yet unronsumed. Twenty store buildings, including the Pennsyl vania National bank and the Academy of Music, one of PottsviHe's leading playhouse*, are among the buildings de stroyed. The postoffice was afire, but was not badly damaged. The fire started in the rear of the Woolworth Five and Ten Cent store, ■ oromumcated on both sides to the Brit- Wu Hoffman furniture store and the DIVIDED Oil HAN TO n RATE City Commissioners May Split When It Comes to Balloting on Half Mill Reduction BOWMAN SAYS IT WILL CARRY Asserts There Are Votes Enough to Lovrer the Levy—Mayor Royal Be lieves a Decrease Now Would Mean an Increase in the Rate for IttlH With the lotal of the 1915 hudget i requests already reduced to a trifle less, than lofiO.OOO, the City Commissionersi went into extraordinary session begin ning at 3 o'clock this afternoon deter-' mined to finish their pruning work and! to have the measure prepared for print ing. so that it may be in shape for final | passage at the regular meeting next' Tuesday. There is now some doubt in the i minds ot city officials as to the pos- j sibility of reducing the tax rate from I niue and one-half to nine mills, al l though Commissioner 11. F. Bowman said this moruiug lie now is satisfied I there will be sufficient votes to pass the) tax levy ordinance providing for the decrease. v - Mayor Royal and other city officials,' however, declared that if a nine mill < nntlnued on Slith I'm*. MERCURY STILL HOVERINC AROUND 10-DEGREE MARK Cold Wave to Last For Two Days, Say , Weather Bureau Officials—Sunday's Snow Remains Frozen to the Pavements There was mj indication'no-day of i any let up in the cold wave, the Weath er Bureau officials here continuing to forecast extremely low temperatures, j fixing to-night's probable minimum at j 11' degrees, one degree higher than ; that of last nigbt. The Susquehanna ri\er under the I influence of the protracted cold spell had become generally icebound and it will remain so. Slight decreases in the river stage are forecasted for the next: twenty-four hours. The ice on the riv er at this point is five inches thick I where tests were made by Weather Bu reau officiais. It will likely average close to that point in thickness. The weather continues far below the normal temperature for this time of the' year and since the first big fall in, temperature the mercury has not been within twelve degrees of the freezing point, the maximum since the cold wave set in occurring yesterday afternoon: when the twenty-degree mark was reached. Coder the influence of this kind of weather there is no hope that ice-coat-j ed pavements will be cleared by the sun. The life of the present cold wave 1 is believed to be two days yet. A! storm of unusual strength has appeared off the coast of California causing: heavy rains. That may develop east, following the present cold wave. Generally fair weather will prevail! to-night and Friday east of the Mis sissippi except in the lower Mississippi I vallev where rain or snow will fall and in Florida where rains are predicted. Railroad Dividend Takes a Drop New York. Dec. 17.—The Atlantic Coast Line railroad to-day declared a semi annual dividend of 2J,., per cent, on its common stock. This "is the first time since 1912 that the stock has paid less tihan 7 per cent, annually. City department adore, owned by a New York-Cleveland syndicate, part of the second floor of which was occupied bv law offices. The other buildings de stroyed were: W. S. Coweu. druggist: C. \V. Morti mer. men's furnisher: E. A. lusher, jewelry; Harry Schaiblein, pool and bil liards: IH. I,arer & Company, millinery; K. J. Mills, automobile supplies; T. P. Brennan, residence: Mrs. E. K. Kabe nau. residence; f. Reif, tailor and residence: Guv W. Mortimer, resi dence; E. A. Gocdall, medical in stitute; G. T. Burd. fire insurance; George Wiederhold, shoe store, and five new brick store buildings just complet ed but not yet occupied. The Pennsylvania bank building was occupied by lawyers' and other offices on the second floor and on the third floor by the Masonic- lodge. The bank's vaiuable* were all locked up iu a fireproof vauit and are believed to be safe The Union Safe Deposit bank s FLAMES AGAIN ATTACK THE MASONIC TEMPLE, CAUSING A LOSS OF $15,000 HER WILL ONSCUP PAPER Miss J&ne L. Rohiuson Left More Thau • I.QOO to Her Cousin, Miss Catherine F. Blgler Notations made on two pieces of pa ; per, neither of which is larger than a postal card, make up the will of Jane' L. Robinson, formerly n school toa.'h er and nurse, late of 1013 North Front! street. Miss Robinson was more than 60 years old. She nave the hulk of hei i estate, which consists of bank deposits' | and a small tract of land, to Iter cousin. Miss Catherine R Bigler. with whom j she lived at the Front wtreet address. It does not appear on tihe "will "I just when it was written However, three Harrmmirgers. personal acquaint ances of the deceased, made affidavit! that the papers are in the handwriting! of Miss Robinson. The one reads as follows: "1 leave 150 deposited in the Com-j mercial bank, Kgg Haribor, to Kilty | Bigler."' | The other carries Bins provision: ''l leave my hank deposits, over. I sl,t>oo, to Kitty Hitler. In bank in j Atlantic avenue and Clinton i i streets.'' Miss Robinson, years ago, followed I | the profession of a nurse and for somel time had been employed in New York I City. f The two papers wfhich go to make upj . the will were found among other less valuable papers and letters shortly aft er Miss Robinson's death on March X, last. The will was not probated earlier because a search was being made to learn whether there was a later docu ment. Miss Robinson was a sister of An drew Robinson, formerly a bank clerk in this city, who is believed to have | been killed by bandits in Texas years ago. TO EAT MEAT ON (HRISTJIAS j Reman Catholics Will Fast Next Week on Thursday. Not Friday Roman Catholics will be permitted to eai meat on Friday of next week, ! i-A-'luibtmas day, according La the Uev. . M. M. iHassott. of St. Patrick '* catlhe dral. The Roman Catholic Church has a ruling that when a church festival ' | falls on a Friday a general dispensa I tion may be given in every diocese. The custom will next week be t'ol } ] lowed of observing the preceding day i ; as the fast day. Fasting always pre cedes the celebration of a church t'es 1 tival. and Thursday of next week will accordingly be fast day. This will nffect the meat and fi>h markers of the entire world. Fish will be on hand a day earlier than usual and meat will be furnished on Friday to Catholics as well as non-Catholics. I fi SONS ACT AS PALLBEARERS Obey the Deathbed Request of Mrs. Julian Dare Who is Buried To-day In obedience to their mother's dy ing request. James, Rk'hard. Jonas. Jo seph. William and John, the six sons of Mrs. Julian Dare, acted as pall bearers at t'lie funeral of t'lieir mother wihivh was held this afternoon at 1.30 o'clock J'rum the home of her daughter, Mrs. Annie Morris. 1341 North street.' Further services were held a.t 2 o'clock in Pleasant View Church of God, the Rev. E. C. Herr officiating. ( BuriaJ was made in Paxtang cemetery. J Find Children Barefooted City Detectives White aud Murnane | yesterday afternoon found a family of Roumanian gypsies living in a room at j Williams and Sayford streets. There | were nearly a dozen little boys and j girls insufficiently clad aad having 110 shoes and stockings. The women of the party were trying to make ends meet bv telling fortunes. Chief of Po lice riutehison has ordered them to leave the city. new fireproof building on the corner was little uamaged and opened for busi ness while the fire raged around it. This bank building and a grocery store at another corner and a briek restau rant next to the bank were the only buildings left standing in the entire block. Inability to secure n sufficient water supply in' the early stages of the lire is given as a cause for the rapid spread of the conflagration. The electric pow er was shut off and the trolley lines, electric lights and electric power are all dead. AH but one of the buildings were of brick, the frame one being a small resi dence on Second street. The (ire is lo cated in ont of Pottsville's principal business blocks and the merchants all had big stocks of holiday goods, which adds greatly to their loss, as Wiis extra stock was not covered by insurance, n was the worft &Te in PotUviile's | history. 1 Fire Sweeps Parts of Three Floors of Handsome Building Damaged Less Than a Month Ago—Costly Uniforms Burn in Steel Lockers—Shivering Firemen Eat Ice Cream Left From Banquet Klames, for the second time in less than a month, this morning attacked the Masoni c Temple, al Third and (State streets, and for a while threat ened tin handsome stone building with destruction. Three of the upper floors were damaged by lire, and water caused losses ti other parts of the building. The damage was greater than that caused i>y the lire on November 21, and is estimated al $15,000. The flames started in the kitchen on the seventh floor, just off (lie hall where last evening Perseverance Lodge No. 21, of Masons, held a banquet, and were discovered shortly before (i 0 V lock. The kitchen, with the pantrv anil serving room in the seventh floor, are completely gutted. The tire ate its way to tiie sixth floor, did thousands of dol lars' worth of damage to the parapher nalia there of Pilgrim Commandery, Ki.ights Templar, and went 011 to the fifth floor, where part of the ceiling and one piece of furniture— a handsome high-backed chair, used in the lodge ceremonies—were burned. Much dam age was done by water in some of the lower floors of the building. The loss 011 the building is esti mated to-day at $5,000 and it may be gteater if the plaster throughout should be found to have been damaged li - the water. A detailed inventory of Ibe contents will have to be taken to determine the loss to furnishings nnd paraphernalia, as much property de stroyed by fire or damaged by smoke and water belonged to individuals. This may reach SIO,OOO. The various Masonic organizations carry insurance 011 the contents of their rooms and the loss 011 the building is covered by in surn nee. Staudpipe Helps Save Building Two linos of hose from the stand pipe 111 the building, one line from a steam lire engine, one chemical stream and many "pony" extmguisnors, car ried liv the central district tire compa nies, were used 111 fighting the fire. The firemen were in service for more than two hours. Two men on their wav to work be LOOTS TWO BANKS AND IS CAUGHT Auto Bandit Robs One Institution of SB,OOO and Escapes With the | Police in Pursuit VISITS ANOTHER i WITHIN 2 HOURS At Latter Place the Robber Shoots the Cashier and Escapes With Another Bundle of Money in Automobile But Afterward Is Arrested By Associated Press, Cincinnati, Dec. 17.—Late this aft ernoon the bandit was captured. He had rented a room yesterday in a West I Ninth street apartment house and the ! owner of the apartment, having read a description of the man, called the at tention of the police to a similarity. Three policemen called at his room and upon opening the door were received with a shower of shots. Policeman Knaul fell wounded and the bandit, jumping past the other two officers, fled to the street, re-entered his automobile, which was standing in the front of the house, and fled. / His flight proved unlucky for him, inasmuch as he crashed into a pole rounding the first corner i and wrecked the machine. He extricated himself from the wreckage and started to run. but the officers by that time were close to him and after an exchange of shots, the bandit fell. r olio wing an examination the phy- POSTSCRIPT PRICE ONE CENT fore ilnvUj>lit Hotbed ;i b:;ht |.;{ht n windows of tlio kitchen on the seventh floor of the M.villt' street side, or rear, of the lniiMiii; and sent in mi nlnrm from box No. -SI, State ami Nlyrtie streets. William I'.. Ma.hlin, superin tendent of the temple, who li\e> in the basement, wis soon aroused, and let, the lirenien into the building. \t Hist small extinguishers were ean-ied to the seventh floor by tiio tiie men who went u;> in the elevator. Kite t'liief Kiniller, who was with the tir-t men to m-akc the trip to the seven! Ii floor, saw that the bla/.e could not lie checked bv siunJl extinguishers, anit directed his men to Use the building s own hose lines from the standpipe which was through all floors of the structure. In addition a line of hose was run from Third ami state streets to the rear ot the building and thence np the fire escape whieh leads to the kitchet . Firemen were stationed on the fire es cape and, in the almost zero weather fought the bla e from there until they had conquered it sufficiently to be able to crawl inside. This was a line from the Hope steni Are engine and it was used for but five minutes. Then Chief Kindler saw that the building equip ment and one chemical stream would be enough to vanquish the flames and he ordered the engine stream discon nected. Difficulty Reaching Blaze Pile chemical line was run into the building on the St lite street aide, the hose beinij wound 'round ami 'round the elevator shaft and at first it proved too short to reach the blaze. A sec tion from a second chemical wagon wa-s then with it. The water pres sure in the building's stiuulpipe was good, considering how high up in the building the blaze was. I here was no fire left in the kitchen range, according to .Machliu. Members ot the Masonic organizations are at a loss to account for the origin of the blaze. The exact position of the place where the lire started cannot be deter- Co nll n uril on I'-IMI-I-IHII |'ng f . siclans at the hospital said probahlv both Policeman Knaul and the bandit would die. Both wer c shot four times. Cincinnati, ().. 11,;.-. IT,— ~ mobile bandit believed to be operating alo'iie, terrorized the west an.l business sections f Cincinnati to lay, r'o ,'bc I two banks within a radius of ten biocks of each other, shot and serious ly wounded the cashier of one ban';, 1 snot at the of the other and apparently elude.P the police by re ap ing in an automobile. It is known that he ribtaiuc.l Js.tiuo in the first bank, the West Knd ii anch of tiie Provident Savin., Hank tin I Trust Companv at Ki-h.h an I l-renmi avenues, and ttie olli.-i iis of the Liberty Hanking and Pavings Com, an* at Lib erty and Pieman avenues, the se oud bank robbed, believe that the amount % j obtained from them will ran into thou -amis when a check up is made. No fewer than twelve persons were in the banks a: the time the ro beric< were committed, but the premiscous use of the bandit's revolver held |hem in check although a minute description of the man and his automobile was ob tained. At 10.30 o'clock the bamlit drove up before the West Kn.l branch of the Provident in a small automobile. He scaled an eight-foot - -reen in the bank, fired at Cashier Ivdward Hugiies, grab bed SB,OOO, backed to the door and disappeared in his machine followed by a fusillade of sihots from Hughe's revolver. The police in their auto picked up his track which led through various streets in the Wee; Knd so ■- tion but had almost given up hope of locating him that way, when a bandit WM reported to have robbed the Lib erty bank. The same ta"ties which had proved successful at the I'Wivident bank were employed by the Ivandit at the Liberie bank, the only difference being that in the latter case he shot Cashier (Jeorge Winters, probably seriously wounding him. The police once more picked > Continued on Slufh WALL ST RE 1:1 CLOSING New York, Dec. IT.—The closing was heavy. Aside from a further down ward drift the market developed no new features. Steel was steadiest of the prominent shares. A duller and more contracted movement, in which the average price level went lower; marked the course of to-day's opera tions on the Stock Exchange.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers