THE WEATHER
FAIR TO-WIOHT
AND TO MORROW
n«»«H Report. !>■(• «
ABOUT TO SWING AROUND TUB LOOP WITH THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
BUSINESS
MEN BEGIN
2-DAY TOUR
Chamber of Commerce
Trade Excursion
to Take in Central
Pennsylvania Cities
LOOP THE LOOP
IN SPECIAL CARS
Big Commercial Advantages Expected
to Result From Annual Trip to
Mart the Representatives of Many
Easiness Organizations
BY EOEEBT R. FREE
Sunbury, Pa., Feb. 17.—Seventy-five
Harrisburg businftss men, members of
the Chamber of Commerce, having
thrown dull care away for two days to
spread the message of "Buy in Harris
tnirg through Central Pennsylvania,
arrived here at noon to-day happy and
contented, with two stops and as many
royal receptions behind them.
Before night the whole Susquehanna
alley will know that Harrisburg is
on the commercial map. The eities not
lneky enough to have the Harrisburg
men stop learn of the passage of the
business men when the special of two
oars passes through. Both ears are 1
elaborately tagged with "Harrisburg."!
The men also are tagged. Each is
wearing a badge, heart-shaped, bearing
the Chamber of Commerce slogan,!
"Harrismirg, the Heart of Distribu
tion.',' Across the face of each tag is
a space for the name and the business
of the member and there is none so
modest that he is not advertising him
self among his friends.
Five committees are already formed.
Richard M. 11. Wharton neads the i
vigilai*oo. He had examined the ba£-
Jfape of the various members and no I
contraband has been taken. Howard
"""• - v ***'}* the cheering section and !
sees to it that no town goes bv with
out a proper salutation. A. E. Bilchanan
personally looks after the train to see I
that no one steals it.
Musser Leads the "Choir"
John S. Musser assumed the leader-!
ship of the choir, and song sheets pre-!
pared by tht Chamber of Commerce!
are a great help to him.
The souvenirs appeared soon after
the party embarked in the special.'
there being books in which to keep
"score," with pencils, openers for poo'
bottles, eourt plasters for use in case
of injury and matches to light cigars.
J. Win Bowman is the boss of the ci-'
gar concession.
A bit of factory discipline was
shown to the visitors in Millersburg
the first stop on the trade expansion
trip The employes of the Johnson-
Bauee shoe factory marched in fire drill 1
as the visitors looked on.
W. H. Bowman, president of the
Millersburg Chamber of Commerce,
welcomed the visitors, speaking from
the bandstand in Market squared Oth
ers on the reception committee were:
J Hay Bowman, W. L. Brubaker, A. I
Dowden, Ned Thornton, A. J. Polk.
L. B. Bowman, 11. M. Pairchilds, Frank 1
L. Payne, Frank Campbell. Howard E.'
Fredericks and T. F. Braidenbaugh.
representing practically every manu ,
facturing plant in that busy town.
Short Stop at Herndon
A short stop was made at Herndon. I
but the party could not leave the sta- '
tion. There Gus M. Steinmetz made a i
short address.
The officers of the Merchants' and,
Business Men's Association met the.
wayfarers at Sunbury and conducted
the party to the City hotel, where
luncheon was ready. *F. L. Wright, a
Harrisburg insurance man, spoke dur
ing the luncheon.
Stops will be made this afternoon
C«lUm4 m Seteath Pace.
8k Star- Ink^enknl
POWELL WITHHOLD? PAY
ON BIG ROAD CONTRACTS
Auditor General Unwilling to Kecognize
Charges Alleged to be in Excess of
Contract Prices Unless Compelled to
T>o So by Legislature
Auditor General Powell is viewing
with a good ieal of complacency the
I clause to compel him to par bills ''as
D<w bill rendered," which was insert
ed in the deficiency appropriation
i measure to apply to payment for adver
tising the Constitutional amendment
and lost in that bill, but which has
been revived in another measure relat
! to payment of other state bills.
is alleged to be a feeler and fore
' runner of some very large bills that
| are in excess of the contract prices for
: paving, in which certain material ivi<
iused. and which the Audit'r General
Ha.* so far declined to pay.
The story on Capitol Hill to-day was
,to the effect that bids were made for
i the construction of certain reads in
the state, one of the component parts
of which whs Warrenite. The parties
who obtained the contracts were un
able t-o use Warrenite, it being a pat
ented paving material, unless they paid
a royalty to the owner of the patent,
and in order to meet the demand (or
the royalty it is said they submitted
bills above the contract price and aro
now demanding their pay '-as per bill
rendered."
Auditor General Powell says he has
thus far declined to be a putfv to anv
such transaction because he Joes not
think it is fair to the State, and he
will not pay until compelled to do so.
If the bill providing that the Auditor
General shall pav bills "as per bill ren
dered" goes through, then, it is appre
hended, the bijj road bills with their in
crease because of the jwyment of royal
ties to the owners of Warrenite will be
submitted, and the Auditor General
may, like conditions being presented,
have to pay out the money "as per
bills rendered.''
HEACY AND CIB6 ARE HELD
Men Accused Here of Robbing Ex-
Sheriff of Potter County Are Put
Under Bail To-day
Albert Heagy and John E. Gibb, Jr.,
Steelton men. this morning were heard
before Alderman C. E. Murray, in this
city, on a charge of attacking and rob
bing J. F. Higgins, former Sheriff of
Potter county, and each was held for
court under $1,500 bail. Tom Xellev.
proprietor of the Half-Wav house, a
Steelton hotel, went Gibb - s security
anl Heagy was released on a bond fur
nished by his father, who is a mute.
Higgins was on hand and positively
identified Heagy and Gibb as the men
who, he said, struck him and then took
ail his valuables—jewelry and cash—
totaling more than SSOO. The crime
was committed in the White House lane
below Highspire, on the evening of
January 19, while Hoggins was a vis
itor in this city to attend the inaugura
tion of Governor Brumbaugh.
Higgins said he accompanied the
men on a trolley trip to the lane upon
their representation that he would be
entertained at an Elks club house. He
said Gibb made the first attack and
ordered him to throw up his hands.
Heagy then finished the job while Giblg
riffled his pockets, the former Sheriff
said.
lliggine denied that his unconscious
body had been rolled onto the trolley
track and left there with the idea he
would be run over by a car. However
he said he hail been beaten into uncon
sciousness and was in a dazed condition
when picked up by a trolley crow.
SARAH BERNHART TO LOSE LEG
Famous Actress Awaits Knife That
Will Deprive Her of Limb
By Associated Press,
Bordeaux, Paris, Feb. 17, 5.40 A. M.
—Sarah Bernhardt, who is in a hospital
here awaiting the amputation of her lefc,
necessitated by an injury to her knee,
continues to maintain her strength and
spirits.
Tn answer to one at hundreds of in
quiries, regarding her condition, the
telegraphed that her leg would be am
putated next Monday and after that
she should be quite-happy.
IIARRISBURG, PA., WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 17, 1915—12 PAGES.
NUTE BIVES
FRESH CLUE
TU MURDER
Anonymous Letter
Causes Authorities
toStart Entirely New
Line of Investigation
BRINGS ANOTHER
GIRL INTO CASE
Information Secretly Given to District
Attorney May Lead to Identiflca
i tion of Bones round in Cellar—Still
Hunt for Bessie Guyer
y\
An anonymous letter received this
morning by District Attorney M. E.
Stroup gave the authorities an entirely
new lead in their investigation to de
termine the identity of the murdered
girl whose bones last Friday were
found buried in the cellar of the house
at 133 South Fourteenth street.
The authorities regard the note,
which is written on a piece of scrap
j paper, as well worthy of their atten
j tion and, although the investigators
i have not entirely abandoned the theory
that the victim may have been Bessie
Guyer, the Mechanicsburg nurse girl
i who was employed by Dr. Charles E.
Avers, a dentist, while he occupied the
Fourteenth street home, the new clue
, points to tiie probability that it was
another girl who was murdered.
The detectives' efforts to locate the!
Guyer girl have thus far been in vain,:
but they propose to continue the search '
for her, but at the same time to fol
j low up tihe new clue which points in an
entirely different direction
The writer of an unsigned note was
particularly careful to conceal his or
her identity, notwithstanding the fact
that some intimltion is made that the
writer's name will be given to the
proper authorities sooner or later.
The District Attorney, for the pres
ent, declines to publish the contents:
of the note, which, it is understood, >
contains the name of a girl other than
Bessie Guyer, and additional specific
information which the sleuths on the
case regard as of sufficient importance
at least to warrant full inquiry.
There is some evidence that the per
son sending the note attempted to dis
guise the penmanship. The brief note i
is written on a piece of scrap paper not
more than three inches square. It hail
been folded in a large piece of heavy
brown paper and carefully sealed, pre
sumably to prevent its contents being j
read by any one holding it to the light !
before it reached the District Attor
ney. The brown paper was fastened
together with a gummed paper seal.
County Detective James T. Walters,
who has been detailed on the case, to
day had detectives in other cities and
towns working on a clue which, it is
believed, will unearth certain missing
details of the case and -he now is await
ing developments from those sources.
Villages Disappear Under Snowfall
Rome, Fe-b. 17.—JMany villages in
the Friuli region of the Italian Alps
have disappeared from sight under a
snow fall of almost unprecedented ex
tent for fhat locality.
| LUTE WARJOfS SUMMARY
The German war office announced to-
I day that in the recent defeat of the
Russians in the Mazurian lakes region
of East Prussia, more than 30,000 pris
oners were taken. The invaders, it is
said, were '' utterly defeated at most
points,'' only remnants of the Russian!
army escaping after a battle of nine :
days. An earlier official German state
ment said that 20,000 Russians had >
been captured.
The Russian army at the other end |
of the eastern front also is in danger,
: according to the correspondent of a
Berlin newspaper who states that the
force which penetrated Buckowina has
been enveloped by Austro-Hungarian
troops. Another battle is believed to be
pending near Czernowit*.
Germany's reply to the American
note concerning the rights of American
vessels in the war zone which the Ber
lin government announced will be estab-
Contlmirrt on Muth P»*f.
MURDEREII STILL AT LARGE
i Whereabout* of Accused Italian Slayer
Continue to Baffle Police
| HarrUtburg police authorities are
still seeking for Carlo Conte, the Ital
ian who is accused of the nrurder off
John Poluux'h wring a tight Monday
! night at 22S Cherry street.
A mail who answered to the
! tion of Conte, with the exception of a
missing finger, was arrestee yesterday 1
in York. Word was received at the Jo ;
cal station of his arrest, but Detective
White later learned from Mrs. Laudi
! that Conte was not minus any fingers# l
The foreigner told the York police
he came from Philadelphia and that he
left Harrisburg Friday night. He was
later release.!.
jSBSSs;
Raiser's Submarine
Torpedoes Dulwich
and Latter Vessel
Goes Down Quickly
NEARLY ALL OF
j CREW ARE SAVED
——_
Twenty-two Members of the Crew of j'
Thirty-one Are Picked Up By a 1
French Destroyer and Taken to
Havre
i
I
Havre, via Paris, Feb. 17, 1.45 A.
; M.—The British steam collier Dulwich, (
fvound from Hull to Bouen, wan torpe- i >
doed by a German submarine twenty j'
miles northfast of Cape De La Heve 1
at 6 o'clock last night. The torpedo J
struck the middle starboard side. As the j •
! crew took to the boats the submarine ! 1
which torpedoed the ship was seen f '
I speeding, awaiy. The Dulwich sank in;'
twenty minutes. Twenty-two members;'
of the crew of thirty-one men were (
picked up by the French destroyer 1
Arqucbuse and brought to Havre. Sev- '
en others rowed to Facamp. The fate of '
the other two is unknown.
The weather was clear but a heavy <
sea was running when the Dulwich was 1
blown up. The torpedo struck under the '
water line and the explosion which fol- ,
lowed was terrific. While pulling to- \
ward the French coast seeking a ship <
which might rescue them, the crew of '
the Dulwich saw the submarine rise to j
the surface several times as if watch
ing them and then disappear again.
A dispatch from London last night 4
stated that Lloyds had received infor- j
mation from Focajiip, France, that the (
Dulwich had been blown up. This in- i
formation was brought ashore by seven >
men of the crew who rowed to land. '
The Dulwich was a vessel of 3,289 tons '
owned by the British Steamship Com- ,
pany. ]
BRITISH ISLE
BLOCKADE IS
PROCLAIMED
Waters Surrounding
Coajstof United King
dom Under Ban of
Germans at Midnight
NO PROSPECT OF
TRUCE IN SIGHT
Apparently Great Britain Has Made Up
Her Mind Not to Deviate Prom Pro
posed Plan to Shut Off Germany's
Foodstuffs
London, Feb. 17, 12.47 P. M.—At
' the stroke oi midnight the waters sur
rounding the coasts of the United King
| dom will become, so far as lies within
the power of Gerauinv to make tbern, a
war zone which all vessels, neutral or
otherwise, will penetrate at their peril.
Some of the services across the chan
nel probably will be curtailed but a ma
jority of the neutral shipping lines will
accept the risk and continue their sail
ings. The names and nationality of tho
vessels and the flags of their nations
will be painted on their sites in the
hope that German submarines will not
sink them by mistake.
Will Not Accept Germany's Proposal
England's announcement of the de
tails of her proposed retaliatory policy,
by which she plans to shut off the Ger
man food supply from the outside, is
expected momentarily and apparently
there is not the slightest prospect that
this country will accept the German
proposal to call off the blockade if Eng- j
land will retain naval pressure on ship- :
ping. . I
It is not expected that there will be
any immediate and widespread activity
by" the German submarines but the de-j
velopments regarding neutral ship*'
should bring to a head one of the m ct |
interesting and threatening situations
of the war.
England was noticeably cheered by
the second big air raid upon the German
bases ou the Belgian coast but, as was I
the case at the time of the previous
raid, the official report does not indicate
the extent of the damage.
Rejoicing Over Hindenburg
Berlin is again celebrating the suc
cess of Field Marshal Von Hindenburg,
as further details of tlve East Prussian
operations are received. It is officially
claimed in Berlin that 50,000 Russian
prisoners were taken while all dis
patches agree that the Russians are
still being pressed further eastward,
fighting a rear guard action in an en
deavor to prevent the Germans from
surrounding their wings. In the Car
pathians the fighting is yet to reach a
decision. The western end and the
center of the Russian line is holding out
notwithstanding repeated amd violent
attacks, but in Bukowina the Austri
ans have pressed on to within 12 miles
of Czernowitz.
It is believed that a recurrence of
the general German offensive in the
western theatre depends largely upon
the outcome of the present eastern sit
uation. Opinion here is divided wheth
er the Germans are planning a great in
vasion of Russians or whether their
chief desire is simply to free Austrian
territory of hostile forces and make se
cure their lines in central and northern
Poland.
910.900 Paid on City Contract
The Stucker Brothers Construction
Company to-day was paid sl6,9<H> as
an installment on the contract price for
building the intercepting sewer protec
tive wall along the river. This pay
ment is made in accordance with the
agreement entered into yesterday be
tween the city and the contractors un
der which the contractors waive the
right to aippeal from the decisions of
the engineers on the question of paying
for extras on the wail job.
BRUBAKER IS ELECTED
HEAD OF THRESHERMN
Eohrerstown Man Honored To-day by
the Convention in Chestnut Street
Hall—J. A. Hose, of Harrisburg, Is
Ohosen as Secretary-Treasurer
Officers for the ensuing year, elected
unanimously this morning by the Penn
sylvania Threshermen's and Farmers'
Protective Association in convention at
the Chestnut street hall, are as follows:
President, A. 11. Brubaker, Rohrers
town; vice president, \Y. B. Crawford,
Saltsburg; secretary-treasurer, J. A.
Rose, this city, and executive com
mittee, Frank George, Indiana; George
F. Sellers, Gap; P. M. Spangler, Cum
berland; George A. Dechant, this city;
W. F. Hoover, this city, and Ira M.
Hart, Mechanicsburg. Mr. Hart is the
retiring president.
The roll call at the opening of the
morning meeting showed delegates pres
ent from practically all counties in the
State, one to six from each. Almost
four hundred farmers and threshermen
were present. The treasurer reported
the finances of tho organization in good
condition. A rising vote of thanks was
given to tho retiring officers.
Following the installation of the new
Officers the closing meeting this after
noon, insurance questions wore taken
up, including a discussion of tho sub
ject-, "Shall We Have a 'Mutual Insur
ance Company to Insure Threshing Ma-
By the time last night's session of
the convention was called to order
there were 300 threshermen in the
. hall, half of whom were delegates from
I various locals of the association
1 throughout tihe State. Mayor Royal
i made an address of welcome, to which
i George A. Dechant, of the Case Manu-
I factoring Company, responded.
"Farmer" William T. Creasy, for
! mer master of the State Grange* advo-
Continued on Mnth I'nice.
ALLEGED SCHEMERSON RON
Wheat Dealers Disappear When Probe
Into High Cost of Wheat and
Bread Is Resumed
By Associated Press.
Xew York, Feb. 17. —Upon the re
| sumption to-day of the State Investiga
tion into the increase in the cost of
wheat and bread it was announced that
j two of the Chicago wheat dealers who
luait expressed a willingness to appear
|at the hearing had disappeared from
Chicago, and that the direction in which
| they were traveling was not eastward.
An attache o<f the Attorney General's
| offico said that .Tames A. Paten was not
t one of the men. Among the Chicago
grain dealers expected to appear at tho
hearin gare J. Ogden Armour, Georgo
Marcy, president of the Armour Grain
Company, and C. H. Canlby, president of
the Chicago Board of Traidie.
The first witness to-day was Henry
Heinzer, chief statistician of tho New
York Produce Exchange. W'heu tho
hearing began several of the witnesses
called- for to-day were aibsent and
process servers were sent after them.
Big Fall in Price of Wheat
Chicago, Feb. 17.—Increasing appre
hension as to vessel risks in the war
zone largely brought about a serious
fall to-day in the value of wheat. As
much as five cents a bushel was cut
from the price of the July delivery, in
which tradiiig chiefly centered. That
month dropped to 131% as against
136% and 136% last night.
ONE YEAR FOR HARDSCRABBLE
Front Street Settlement Will Be Per
mitted to Stand at Least 1£ Months
Formal court action, incident to th®
opening of North Front street, between
Herr and Carter streets, and the abol
ition otf the " Hardscraibble" district,
will be taken on next Monday morning
when City Solicitor D. S. Seitz will ask
the Judges to appoint a board of three
viewers to assess damages and benefits
incident to the razing of the buildings.
With the court rests the power of
appointing these viewers who must be
selected from the standing board of
nine Dauphin county viewers.
The viewers, it is predicted, will not
be able to complete their work for five
or six months, and the tenants in the
" Hards'rabtile" homes will not be re
quired to vacate for at least a year.
Beading Declares Usual Dividend
By Associated Press.
Philadelphia,. Feb. 17.—The directors
of the Reading Company to-day declar
ed the regular quarterly dividend of 1
per cent, on the second preferred stock.
POSTSCRIPT
PRICE, ONE CENT
A RUSSIAN
ARMY CUT
TD PIECES
Berlin Reports Com
plete Rout of Enemy
After 9-Day Battle
in East Prussia
50.000 TAKEN
AS PRISONERS
Emperor William Present Curing the
Decisive Fighting—Much of the
Credit for Victory in Lake District
Is Given to Young Troops
Berlin, by Wireless to London, Feb.
17, 9.10 A. M.—Fifty thousand pris-
I Oners, besides many cannon and ma
chine guns, were captured by the tier
mans when the Russian Tenth army
was defeated in the Mazurian lake dis
trict, East Prussia, according to a state
ment issued at general headquarters
here to-day. The text of the communi
cation follows:
"In a nine days' battle in the
Mazurian lake district, the Russian
Tenth army, consisting of at least
eleven infantry and several cavalry di
visions, not only was driven out of
strongly entrenched positions east of
the Mazurian lake plateau but was
forced back across the frontier.
Only Remnants of Army Escape
"Utterly defeated at almost every
point only the remnants of the army
managed to reacth the woods east of
Suwalki and Augustowe, where they
are being pursued. The number of pris
oners taken has not been ascertained
but certainly exceeded 50,000. More
than fifty cannon and sixty machine
guns besides an unknown quantity of
war material were captured.
"Emperor William was present dur
ing the decisive fighting in the centir
of our line. The victory was won by
veteran East Prussian troops, assisted
by other troops who were young for
such work but proved their worth.
"The achievements of these troops
under fearful weakness, inarching by
day and night and fighting against such
a stubborn enemy are beyond all
praise."
Russian Army In Tight Quarters
Berlin, via London, Fob. 17, 10.30
A. M —The Russian army in Bukowina
has been enveloped by the Austrian-
Hungarians between tho Pruth and
Sereth rivers, a correspondent of the
"Tageblatt" says in a dispatch from
Bistritz.
One Austrian army pushing the Rus
sians from the south now has reached
Storozhinetz, while another Austrian
force having advanced eastward from
Marames against Wisnicz, now stand in
bhe vicinity of Czernowitz.
A general l>attle may be expected,
therefore, south and east of Czerno
witz. The Russian army has halted
twelve miles from that point, the
"Tageblatt" is informed, having met
reinforcements.
WALL STREET CLOSING
New York, Feb. 17.—Final opera
tions again reflected pressure upon lead
ing stocks, some of which went to low
est quotations of the day. The closing
was heavy. Heaviness prevailed for the
greater part of to-day's stock market
session. Foreign conditions were
against an adverse factor.