THE WEATHER FAIR TO-NIGHT AND TO-MORROW OttalM Hcport, Pag« • Si™""™? 0 ® VOL. 77—NO. 113. TAFT IS DUE IN CITY THIS AFTERNOON Former 'President "William Howard Taft was due to arrive in Harrisburg at 2.35 o'clock this afternoon, the chief purpose of his visit being to lecture to night in tl.? Technical High school au ditorium under the auspices of the Har risburg Academy. Governor Brumbaugh planned to meet him at the station, and then it was pro posed to take 'Mr. Taft to the Acad emy for a brief address. From there he wa sto go to the Capitol to adress the lawmakers at 4 p. m. Mr. Taft did not arrive on the 2.35 train, as expected. It was Relieved at that time that he missed the traiu in New York, but that he would arrive here an hour later. A big crowd at the station at 2.35 was disappointed. Harrisburg entertained Mr. Taft for the second time to-day. the previous occasion having when he was President of the United States, His visit here in 1911, during his term as President, was a short one, —only long enough for him to make a speech. To day he is here in his capacity as Yale professor of law and as a lecturer. He will stay in Harrisburg over night as the guest of Governor Brumbaugh at the Executive Mansion. The Governor has practically arranged the details of Air. Taft's stay in Harrisburg. The chief purpose of the former President's visit is to give his lec ture, ''The Signs of the Times." in the Technical High school auditorium this evening, under the auspices of tie Harrisburg Academy. Two other public appearances were arranged for him, the first at 3 o'clock this afternoon to address the students of the Academy Assembly in the hall of the House of second at 4 o'clock to address the mem bers of both branches of the General Assembly in the hal of tie House of Representatives. In order to hear this address the Senate delayed meeting until Tuesday evening this week, so that it could remain in session until to-day without interrupting its legislative program. KNIFE FOR COLONEL'S WIFE iSti. Theodore Roosevelt Taken to Hos pital Last Night by Her Husband for Operation To-day New York, April 15.—Mrs. Theo dore Roosevelt, who was taken to Roosevelt hospital last night by her husband. Colonel Roosevelt, was oper ated on early to-day. Dr. Alexander Lambert, of rhe Cornell Medical School, was the surgeon in charge. While the nature of Mrs. Roosevelt s ailment was not disclosed it was stated that the operation was successful and that the condition of the patient was satisfac tory. Colonel Roosevelt appeared at the hospital with !Mrs. Roosevelt at 10 o'clock last night. He remained with her until she was taken to the operat ing room early to-day. During the oper ation he anxiously paced the private room in which Mrs. Roosevelt had spent 'the night. After the operation he was immediately notified of Mrs. Roose velt's condition and left the hospital with his son, Theodore. The Colonel de clined to discuss his wife's illness and referred inquirers to T>r. Lambert, but judging from the look on his face the operation and condition of Mrs. Roose felt apparently were satisfactory. STATE ACOUIRES SYNAGOGUE Capitol Park Extension Commission Pays !*22.000 for Congregation's Filbert Street Property The Capitol Park Extension Commis sion announced to-day an important purchase, being that of four properties ou Filbert street, among which is the Chisuk Eiuune Bnei Synagogue, on Fil bert above State street. The price paid for Synagogue alone was $22,000. This is a tine brick structure and has been in use by the congregation for about ten years." GRIP FATAL TO DAUPHIN MAN James Lewis Gross, 87, Succumbs to Attack of Disease (Special to the Star-Independent.) Dauphin, April 15.—.Tames Lewis Gross, one of the oldest residents of the bdrough. died from grip last even ing at the home of his son, William Beil Gross. The aged man was a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Gross, We»t Scituate, Mass., and was boru there April IS. IS2B. I He is survived by five sons. William Bell, Dauphin, with whom he resided; James H., Poughkeepsie, N. Y.; Clifford, Lewis and Clarion, New York, and two grtndchildren. Miss Gertrude Gross, New York, and James Lewis Gross, of Dauphin. Kuueral services will be held Satur day afternoon at 3.30 o'clock at his late home. The Rev. R. F. Stirling, las-tor of tne Presbyterian chureh, will 018-iate. Interment will be in the Dau phin cemetery. British Casaolties Total 140,;147 Ijundon. April 15, 3.05 P. M.—The total of British casualties in the war: from the beginning of hostilities up to April 11 is 139,347 men, accdrding to an announcement made in the Honse of Commons this afternoon by Harold J. Tenuant, Under Secretary of War. ®ie Star- MmL MbtMnimi FORMER PRESIDENT TAFt WHO ARRIVES HERE STUDENT BLARED FORKILLJGOFIS Novice at Rmining Trolley Car Respon sible For Terrible Ac cident in Detroit HIS INSTRUCTOR ALSO CENSURED < I Student Motorman Halts Car at Rail road Crossing, Misunderstanding Conductor's Signal and (Joes Ahead to Plunge Passengers Into Eternity By Associated Pre**. Detroit, Mich., April 15.—T0 the inexperience of a student motorman isj charged the death of 15 persons, 11 of them women, who were kilted last night in a collision between a street ear and a freight train on the tracks of the Detroit. Toledo aud Irouton railroad iu ; the western end of this eitv. According to the police, the unex plained inactivity of the student's in structor also contributed to the dis- I aster. Twenty-eight other persons were injured, four of them so seriously that j their death is believed certain. Early to-day only seven of the dead had been identified and it was said at the morgue sotuo of the bodies are so terribly mu tilated that their identication will be well nigh impossible. Misunderstood Signal With a heavy load of passengers,' homeward bound, the car, handle*! by, student motorman, J. C. Westever. I halted as it reached the railroad cross ing. The conductor ran ahead and 1 seeing a string of freight ears pushed i by a switch engine approaching-the in tersection, signalled the motorman to wait until it had passed. The novice misunderstood the signal and turned on the power. The car i started down the slight incline leading i to the railway tracks. When too late j. the motorman shut off the current and i applied the brakes, but the car slid ] along until it stopped directly in the; path of the oncoming train. The lead ing freight crashed into the street' car. striking it squarely in the middle.) Nearly 200 feet was traveled before the freight was brought to a stop, and! along this distance; terribly mangled! bodies of dead and injured were strewn. Others caught in the wreckage of the car were not extricated until several hours after the crash. The roof of the : street car remained practically intact, but the remainder of the car was re duced to a mass of splinters. Some of the bodies were torn to bits. One woman was hurled com- < pletely over the roof' of the railway station. A hand was found on the roof : of a freight car fortv feet away. Are Held for Manslaughter The crews of the car and of the i freight train were taken to police head- : quarters and after an investigation Westever and the regular motorman, Richard Vallade, were detained on a charge of manslaughter. j The identified dead are: Miss Cail Glady George, a school 1 teacher; Mrs. Zepak Wagnorgaa, Louis Kornich, Thomas W. Salmoni, John, Biel, Odella Bourgeois and Donak Kir dak. The majority of the other victims are foreigners, wHos? homes are in the River Rouge and Delrav suburbs of De troit. HARRISBURG, PA., THURSDAY EVENING, APRTL 15, 1915 12 PAGES. PLANS TO IE!ISE Mill Representative Stern Introduces a Bill Pro viding For Creation of a Commission A CONVENTION IS PROPOSED Measure Is Dropped by the Attorney General and Provides That Mem bers of Board Are to Meet Within 15 Days of Appointment A Commission on Constitutional Re tiatou is prj* ided for in a bill intro !duced in the House to-day by Repre sentative ytern, of Philadelphia. The Attorney General is made ex-ofticio chairman of the Commission which shall consist of six persons to be ap ! pointed by the Governor; two named I by the President Pro Tem. of the Sen ate and two by the Speaker of the j House. The bill provides that a constitu tional c.onvejnion be held before Janu ary 1, 1917. The Commission is to meet within lo days after its selection. The Commission is authorized to report to the constitutional convention if it is 1 held and otherwise to the next Legis lature. The Commission is empowered to make investigations and its report is to be aci ompunied by statistics and full information. An appropriation of $50,- 000 is provided for expenses and the members other than legislators, Attor ney General or any holding public of fices of profit, are to be paid $3,000 for their services. The bill was drafted by the Attor ney Genera' 's Department and was re ferred to the Judiciary General Com , mittee. Local Option a Special Order Upon motion of Representative Wil liams, of Tioga, the local option bill which passed first reading this morning was made a special order on second rea > "Martin Brumbaugh.'' The Senate for a moment did not catch the import of the communication, and for a while it was uncertain where it should be sent, but this was quickly determined by Leutenant Governor Me- Clain, who sent it to the Committee on Executive Nominations. No action will be taken on it for HUTCHISON IN A HOSPITAL Chief of Police Will Undergo Operation for Throat Trouble Chief of Poliee Joseph B. Hutchison left this morning for Ashland, Pa., •where he will be operated on in the Miner's Hospital for a throat affection toy Dr. Jonothan C. Biddle, superinten dent of the hospital. The operation will probably take place to-morrow. Dr. Biddle is a personal friend of Colonel Hutchison and is a surgeon ou the latter's military staff of the Eighth Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania. Oolonel Hutchison was accompanied to Ashland by Major J. Mark Peters, of Bteelton, also a sur geon on the staff. During the police chief's absence Captain Joseph P. Thompson will be in charge of the police department. 1915 LAW ALREADY IN FORCE Prothonotary Holler Provides New Blanks in Order to Comply With It Among the bills recently signed by Governor Brumbaugh and which al ready have become operative is one providing that all judgment notes en tered of record be accompanied by cer tificates showing the precise addresses of the judgment creditors. As a. con venience to persons entering judgment notes, Prothonotary Menry F. Holler, of Dauphin county, has had prepared a large supply of blank certificates on which judgment creditors may certify as to their residences. These certificates have gummed edges so they • tl DROWNED AS GtRMAK SUBMARINE SINKS VESSEL Londou, Aipril 15, 3.46 P. M.—The British steamship Ptarmigan has been torpedoed and sunk by a German sub marine near the North Hinder light ship, in the North sea. Eleven sailors of the Ptarmigan's crew of twenty two men were «4ved. The Ptarmigan had a tonnage of 475 net and V#s built at Dundee in 1891. The vessel was 218 feet long, 30 feet beam and 16 feet deep. She was owned by the General Steam Naviga tion Company. POSTSCRIPT PRICE, ONE CENT. FOIL RUSSIA IN INVASION OF HUNGARY German War Office Reports Setback For Czar's Forces In Re cent Engagement LATTER CHECKED AT MANY POINTS Attacking Strength of the Russians la Visibly Lessened as Their Assault! on the Dual Monarchy's Soldiers Are Apparently Unsuccessful Berlin, Apiil 15, by Wireloss to Say ville.—The German War Office to-day gave out n report on the situation in tile Carpathians, dated Monday, April 12, which reads: "The Russian attempt with the army that was before Permysl to force the invasion of Hungary lias resulted in failure. The endeavors to get through the Lupkow and east Dukla Passes were not successful and the Hussian attacks at So/.tropko and Felsorzeberz have definitely come to an end. The Rus sians consequently are attacking fur tlier to the east, but here also they ' were repulsed near with heavy losses. The attacking strength of the Russians lias visibly lessened." German Report on West Front Berlin, April.lS, by Wireless to Say ville.—The German War Office gave out a report dated April 14, which reads: "Between the Mouse and the Mo selle there was yesterday 'nothing more than isolated engagements. "French attacks near Marcheville, in and around the forest of Le Protre, northeast of ManonviUer and south of Hartmans-Weilerkopf, resulted in fail ure. " Italy Neutrality Causing Trouble Milan, April 14, 8.25 P. M., Via Paris, April 15, 3.30 A. M.— An im mense crowd, composed both of those favorable to a continuance of Italian neutrality and those who seek the na tion's intervention in the war, attend ed the funeral to-dav of the workman who died from wounfls lie received Sun day when the police dispersed a war mass meeting which he was holding. The entire garrison of the city wan posted at strategic points to prevent disorders and mounted caribiners charged the crowds after oxeitement had been caused by speeches delivered by radicals while the funeral ser* icos * were in progress. Socialist Deputies and members of all the workingmen's organizations in the city took part iu the procession. And Rumania Ready for the Fray? Koine, April 15.—A dispatch to the "Tribune" from Saloniki says the in tervention of Rumania iu the war seems imminent. The army, splendidly j equipped, is ready for instant action. j AUSTIN COBBINS (iUANDSON KILLEfcfl THE FRENCH AHMV Netj, J Ym-li, April 15.—Friends of Andr4 0. Chaaipolliou, of this city, grandson of the late Austin Ooroin, | prWdeut of the Long Island railroad, ; learned to-duv that he had boen kill ed while serving in the French army-, at Bois Le Pretre, March 23. Mr. Champollion, though an Ameri can, went from New York at the,be ginning of the war to enlist in the French service. He was a grandson of Jean Francois (Jhampollion, the dis tinguished Egyptologist and trans lator of the Rosetta Stone. He was 34 years old. NO NAVAL BASE ON MEXICAN COAST, SAYS THE JAPANESE Washington, April 15.—An official statement authorized by the Japanese embassy to-'lay characterized as "pre posterous" reports that a naval bate ; had been Established at Turtle bay, 1 Ijower California, and declared "there never has been any intention on tie i part of the Japanese government to lo cate a naval base or occupy any ter ritory on the west coast of Mexico." •WE WAR NEWS SUMMARY . Failure of the Russian attempt to in- Hungary was announced to-day by the German War Office. The state ment Is made that the effort of the Russian Army from Persmysl to force the Lupkow and East Dulka passes was not successful and that Us attacks at several points along this front resulted In defeat with heavy losses. In conse quence, It Is said, the attacking power of the Russians has lessened visibly. Although official reports from Petro grad concede no such reverses thuy in dicate the Russian advance has been brought virtually to a halt, tins Rub si an War Office says ' 'slight progress" was made nor Uesck pass and a cen ter attack at Kosiowa by the Auttr*- CMtliurf Kleveatki Pas*.