- vee VV Sr9@1 19 0! iY Te Ly” rd red ttle uld l it Ter had 5 of his Irs. at will ars rial , is Dis- ter- THE MEYERSDALE COMMERCIAL "BRITISH WARSHIP MOLDAVIA SUNK Vessei Carrying American Troops Is Torpedoed With Warning by - German Submarine. ALL ON BOARD WERE COOL. Wo Panic Among Crew or Soldiers. All Lost Are Believed to Have Been Killed in Compartment by the Explosion. —t— London. — The British armed mer- <hant troop ship Moldavia, with Amer- dcan troops on board, has been torpe- <doed and sunk, according to an offi- lal bulletin issued by the admiralty, which says: “The armed mercantile cruiser Mol- <davia w=s torpedoed and sunk yester- «ay morning. “There were no casualties among the crew, but of the American troops on board 56 have not been accounted for. It is feared they were killed in one compartment by the explosion.” The Moldavia was torpedoed with- out warning. It was a moonlight night, and, although a good lookout was kept, the attacking submarine was not sighted before the torpedo struck. Most of the men aboard were in their hammocks when the “explosion occurred amidships. The seamen and soldiers alike showed no panic. They fell calmly into line and await- ed orders. When it was seen that the Moldavia was settling down all cn board were taken off by the escorting ships. The men lost all of their belongings, but were supplied with new clothing at the different naval ports where they were taken. 5 It is believed the American soldiers missing from the Moldavia were sieep- ing on the bottom deck and were over- taken by the great inrush of water after the explosion When they were trying to reach the main deck. It also is presumed that some of the ladders were destroyed. : The vessel was struck below the bridge. She steamed ahead for some time after being struck, and at first it was hoped that her water tight com- partments would enable her to reach port. The Moldavia was of 9,500 {ons gross and owned by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Com- pany. She was built at Greenock in 1003 and was 520 feet long. Loss on Moldavia Is Confirmed Here. Washington.—The war department authorized the following announce- ment: “Information has been received from London that the British armed mer- chant cruiser Moldavia has been sunk and that 56 of the American soldiers aboard are missing. The announce- ment was made by the British admiral- i od ; ¥ No other information regarding the sinking of the ship or the missing sol- diers was available. U. S. TROOPS FOR ITALY. Baker's Announcement Wildly Cheered. New York.—American troops will soon be on the Italian battlefront, lend- ing their aid-to the gallant troops who have entered upon their fourth year of war against the central powers. Secretary of War Baker, in his ad- dress at the Metropolitan Opera House here, made this assertion. He said: “The time undoubtedly is not far distant when American soldiers will take their places with British and French soldiers on the Italian front, thus making of the army on the Ital- tan front a composite unft evidencing the community of feeling and unity of effort which is characterizing the ac- tivities of the great civilized allied powers on the front in France.” NTA AASNS NS NSAI NS NPI NPIS INNIS NIIP SS Secretary WORLD’S NEW? IN CONDENSED FORM WASHINGTON.—The President has issued an appeal asking all Americans- to join with the foreign born residents of this country in a big loyalty demon- stration on July 4. EDINBURGH.—Lloyd George an- nounced at a luncheon in Edinburgh that there was no doubt there had been a conspiracy for a great rising in Ireland to take place when the Ger- mans were attempting their operations in France. NEW YORK.—The Board of School Superintendents adopted a resolution to eliminate German from the public schools, KANSAS CITY.—Mrs. Rose Pastor Stokes, a New York Socialist leader, was found guilty by a federal jury of violation of the espionage act on three counts. Mrs. Stokes may receive a maximum sentence of $10,000 and 20 years in prison. PARIS.—Allied shipping production soon will pass the rate of sinkings by more than 500,000 tons yearly, while U boat construction is below the losses. WASHINGTON.—Legislation offered by Secretary Baker, giving the Presi- dent sole power in deciding the size of the United States army, is unani- mously aporoved by both houses, KING OF ITALY His Country Has Been at War Three Years. Rome.—The anniversary of Italy's entrance into the war has never been sv solemnly and generally celebrated as it was this year, the chief reason being that the enemy pow treads Ital- ian soil, and therefore the people wish to demonstrate their dogged determi- nation never to lay down their arms until they have redeemed the captured towns of the mother country. MUST WORK OR FIGHT Every Draftman to Show He Is in Useful Industry. Women or Males Beyond Military Age Will Take Nonessential Posts. Washington.—Concentration of the man power of the country that is of draft age upon industries and voca- tions deemed useful and essential to winning the war and the infusion of women workers into industries is the object of new and sweeping regula: tions issued by Provost Marshal Gen- eneral Crowder following their ap- proval by the President and Secretary Baker. : This step, one of the most important taken since the selective draft bill was passed, will change the present em- ployment of more than 500,000 men of draft age, it is estimated, and feed them into other fields of industry re- garded as essential either as war in- dustries or enterprises of recognized importance to the economic life and welfare of the nation. The places of these men will be taken by women or by men above the draft age. . : No rigid definition of useful occupa- tions is made in the order. The order does stipulate, however, that it will ap- ply to the following classes of persons in addition to loafers and those of the idle classes: Persons engaged in the serving of food and drink, or either, in public places, including hotels and hotel clubs. ' Passenger elevator operators and at- tendants, doormen, footmen and other attendants of clubs, hotels, stores, apartment houses, office buildings and bathhouses. Persons, including ushers and other attendants, engaged and occupied in connection with games, sports and amusements, except actual performers 1a legitimate concerts, operas or theat- rical performances. Persons employed in domestic serv- hG clerks and other clerks em- ployed in stores and other mercantile establishments. NO PRINT PAPER EMBARGO. War Trade Board Opposes Proposal by Publishers. Washington.—The War Trade Board disapproves the resolution passed by the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association calling for an embargo on the export of print paper. The War Trade Board declared that there are good reasons why the supply of news print paper to countries now depending .upon American manufac- turers for their paper should not be interrupted. PULLMAN CARS TAKEN OVER. Federal Government to Run Carrier Part of Business. Chicago.—The carrier business of the Pullman Company has been taken over by the government and will be operated as an integral part of the rail- road system. As in the case of the rail- roads, the government will pay the Pullman Company a rental for its car- rier industry based on the three-year average earnings. The manufacturing end of the company will not be inter- fered with, 2,078,222 NOW IN AMERICAN ARMY United States Can Raise 5,000,- 000 This Year Without Going Outside of Class 1. BRITISH EFFORT EXCELLED. Our Front and Force Abroad Bigger In Ten Months Than Was Ally’'s in Year—All Thoroughly Equipped. Washington.—Representative C. P. Caldwell of New York, Democratic member of the Committee on Military Affairs, placed before the house a com- prehensive outline of the war depart- ment’s military program and accom- plishments. Mr. Caldwell’s address resulted from an interchange of letters with Secre- tary Baker. The statements in it were approved by the war department and were regarded as a semiofficial pro- nouncement on its affairs. He said that in a year the American army would be 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 strong. He declared there were at present 2,078,223 officers and men under arms, ‘of whom more than 500,000 were in France, and 1,000,000 additional were amply trained to be sent to France as fast as shipping space could be pro- vided. The United States, said Mr. Cald- well, had raised and sent to the fight- ing lines in ten months an army larger than England Lad found herself able to provide In a year, despite the fact that 3,000 miles of submarine infested At- lantic separated America from France, as against 30 miles of the English channel. During the first ten days of May, the representative said,. the United States sent 90,000 men to Europe. Mr. Caldwell went into a detailed comparison of the man power strength of the central powers and the allied nations, estimating that the maximum total of men available to the enemy for service was 18,360,000, and the number for the allies was 68,879,500. He said that the United States itself could raise 5,000,000 men this year without going outside Class 1 of the draft. ; Representative Caldwell continued : “When war was declared in April, 1917, the standing army of the United States consisted of 136,000 officers and men, many of whom were in the for- eign service, and the National Guard consisted of 164,000 officers and men, many of whom were too old for active service and a large: part of them phys- ically unfit for the work for which they had volunteered. “Our experts told us it would take two years to raise an army of 1,000,- 000 men and five years to train the commissioned personnel. It has now been about one year since the first leg- islation was passed authorizing the in- crease of our army for war purposes. “The strength of our military forces is now as follows: Officers. Men. Regular army......... 10,205 504,677 Reserve Corps........ 79,038 78,560 National Guard....... 16,906 411,952 National army...... .. 33,804 510,963 ess. 273,742 Total ..............148,328 1,929,804 Grand total..............~. 2,078,222 “So we have today,” continued Mr. Caldwell, “an army of more than 2,000,000, of which more than 500,000 have already been shipped to France, and 1,000,000 more have the necessary training to fit them for foreign serv- ice. They are now waiting for the ships to carry them over. “Our critics now complain that we have not done more, yet we have done In one year twice as much as they thought we could do in two years.” PANS NS NI NS NI NI NI NSS ISS P ISPS PPPS PITH OF THE WAR NEWS Military officials in Washington ex- pressed the opinion that the coming German drive would result in the defeat of the enemy and the offen- sive power of Germany would be finally broken, One million Russian prisoners to be exchanged by Germans are reported to be total invalids. x British air raids on every city of west- ern and central Germany are pre- dicted by the London Daily Mail, which says the series of raids car- ried out by the British aviators in recent weeks show that the air serv- ice is best in the offensive. Uncertainty still exists when and where the Germans will renew their offensive in the west, but surprise has been eliminated, and the allies are well prepared for whatever hap- pens, a dispatch from the French front says. British aviators destroy sixteen Ger- man airplanes and two balloons, down two other airplanes and drop tons of bombs on enemy positions, causing three fires in Mannheim, German prisoners, taken in raids, ad- mitted that their commanders had told them the great offensive would Special and technical duty cL a. sess" 8705 vies] Drafted in April...... ..... 150,000 Drafted in May....... & DANIEL WILLARD Relieved of His Duties as Presi- dent of the Baltimore and Ohio. Daniel Willard, president of the Bal. timore and Ohio railroad, has been de- posed of any connection with the op- eration of the line under the govern- ment. Charles H. Markham, newly ap- pointed director of the Allegheny re- glon, embracing this district, assumes control about June 1. SINS AINSI NIN NS NSAP SPS IS PSPS SSP PSS HUNS RAID HOSPITALS Nurses Die Bravely Tending to Wounded Charges. British Wards Filled With Helpless Wounded Ruthlessly Bombed by German Airmen. With the British Army in France.— German airmen again have bombed heavily British hospitals in the area behind the lines, and this time have killed and wounded some hundreds ‘among the personnel and patients of many different hospitals in the group. Recorded in the casualty list are the names of several sisters, who, with other women nurses, stood brave- ly by their posts throughout a terrific deluge of explosives. There is in the neighborhood one large American hospital and another in which there are American workers, ‘but neither of these appears to have ‘suffered. Last summer a number of American doctors and nurses were killed and wounded when these same hospitals were raided by the Germans. This latest horror was perpetrated apparently by four squadrons of en- emy airplanes, which appear to have comprised more than a score of ma- chines. A great number of bombs were dropped, about thirty of them being huge affairs which dug vast craters in the hospital grounds, and the rest high explosive shrapnel, which sent their death dealing bullets tear- ing in every direction through the crowded hospital tents and buildings. In one building which was damaged most seriously all the patients were suffering from compound fractures, which made necessary their limbs be- ing strapped in the air. U BOAT PERIL IS PASSING. Foe Straining to Beat United States to Victory Goal. Edinburgh.—Germany is straining every nerve to strike a decisive blow before the American armies can be brought into the fleld, David Lloyd George, the British prime minister, said in an address on the occasion of the freedom of the city of Edinburgh being tendered to him. The allied commanders, who knew best what the prospects were, he added, felt most confident about the result. The premier was most optimistic as regards the submarine campaign of Germany. He said while the menace of the underwater boat had not been entirely removed, the allied nations now were building ships faster than they could be sunk and that the un- restricted submarine warfare might be disregarded as a vital danger by the entente nations. UTAH EXECUTION BY SHOOTING. De Weese Asked Firing Squad to Make Sure of Aim. Salt Lake City, Utah.—Howard H. De Weese, who was convicted of the murder of his wife, Fanny Fisher De Weese, was executed in the state prison yard here at 6:55 o'clock in the morning. De Weese walked calmly to the chair, insisting that the marksmen comprising the firing squad make cer- tain of their aim. Death was almost instantaneous. . VOTES TO END BEER MAKING. House Adopts Amendments to Food Bill Barring Use of Grains, Washington.—The house went on record in favor of prohibition on a spe- cial roll call taken at the instance of Representative Moore of Pennsylvania, It approved the Randall amendment to the food control act, which provides that the President prohibit the use of grains, feeds or foodstuffs for the man- ufacture of intoxicants. heain the first week In June, The vate was 177 to 133. = THERE ARE MANY SPECIAL POLICE Adjutant General's Department Is Making Important Compi- lation From Reports SENDING OUT COMMISSIONS Short Items of Interest Gathered at the Various State Departments Touching Affairs of the People of the Commonwealth. Harrisburg, Pa.—Compilation of the strength of the police forces, special policemen, home defense units and committees of safety, county, muni- cipal and local, is now being made at the Adjutant general's Depart- ment from reports filed with that officer by mayors and burgesses and secretary of public safety commit- tees. It is expected that when the list is finished that it will show thou- sands of men in police service and thousands more men in the defense organizations. It is believed that there are committees of safety in every county which are in touch with men willing to respond to calls. Commissions are being sent out to scores of additional volunteer state policemen who are being commis- sioned for the period of the war. There are now between 7,000 and 8,000 of such policemen it is be- lieved. Many of them are men of military experience. Goes After Watered Milk. Over 250 arrests have been ordered by State Dairy and Food Commission- er James Foust as the result of the spring sampling of milk and cream and ice cream sold in the state. This is an annual inspection and it has cov- ered every county in Pennsylvania. The twenty agents of the commission- er have been taking an average of 200 samples each and the chemists have been working on them night and day. It is expected additional arrests will be ordered. To Advance Oakdale Claims. The plan adopted a year ago when the Eddystone munitions disaster oc- curred wi be followed by the State Workmen's Compensation Board in the Oakdale disaster. Chairman Mackey arranged to have all claim petitions filed with Referee L. E. Christley at Pittsburgh, and Harry Myers was assigned as investigator to expedite settlements. Well Causes Typhoid. Reports from a sanitary engineer of the State Health Department investi- gating typhoid fever in Petersburg, Huntingdon county, state that there Is a total of sixteen cases, nine living In Petersburg and seven in the adja- cent districts. The source of infec- tion has been discovered to be pol- luted well water and principally from one well. Expect Appointment Soon. An early appointment of Alexander Simpson, Jr., as a justice of the State Supreme Court is expected to be made by Governor Brumbaugh. State Wants More Tractors. Efforts to increase the number of tractors at work in the fields of the state under direction of the State De- partment of Agriculture will be made next week, the plans for buying more machines having been interfered with by the difficulty of obtaining deliveries. The demand for tractors has jumped enormously, state officials have been told. Counties Will Pay. Primary elections held May 21 throughout Pennsylvania will be paid for by the counties instead of the state, the act of 1915 having relieved the state of the payment of the cost which was imposed by the uniform primary act of 1906. Some .of the bills for primary elections held prior to 1915 are still in litigation. Militia Orders Are Issued. General orders were issued from Re- serve Militia headquarters that the camp of instruction for officers would be held at Mt. Gretna on June 3 to 7 and that the camp of the brigade at Mt. Gretna would be held July 13 to 20, inclusive. Information has also been given that not less than 72 hours of drill will be required during the year in addition to camp, but week- end marches or bivouacs may be count- ed in the total hours, provided they do not exceed twenty per cent of the time. Assurance has been given at Wash. ington that any further drafting of men connected with the state police would be “seriously considered” by the army authorities. The state has suffered loss of many valuable men. Vacancies in State Police. State police headquarters announc- ed that there were twenty vacancies on the state force and that eight men had been taken from the four troops through operation of the draft. Un- der the latest order, men in the force on May 18 will be given deferred classification. The police will enlist men within the draft age if they are in deferred classes and able to pass the physical examination, but for the twenty vacaucies there are wanted men between thirty and thirty-five or up to forty if active enough. PENNSYLVANIA STATE ITEMS Wilkes-Barre.—A $30,000 damage suit has been started against Wilkes- Barre city by Earl Hons, a resident of this place. The plaintiff was seriously injured when he was dumped on his' head from his wagon, as his outfit: bounced over a hole in the pavement on Pennsylvania avenue. Reading.—Berks county paid the Pennsylvania railroad $5233.99 proper- ty damages, arising out of the erection of Penn street viaduct, ending litiga- tion started five years ago. Oil City.—Sergeant Fred A. Tess- ler and William Ward, both of this tity, have arrived in France with the American troops, according to word received here. Oil City.—Charles B. Banbury, a rail- way mail clerk, has enlisted with the Canadian army. His only son, Ralph, died about a year ago as the result of wounds received while fighting with the British forces on the western front. The father served in the Buffs, a British regiment, during the Boer war, and also in the armies of Yuca- tan and Guatemala. Connellsville. — The Connellsville 0oard of education has decided to sliminate the German language begin- ning with the next term. The French language was substituted. Herndon.—Mistaking young laurel for tea leaves, Henry Anderson, aged seven years, of Red Cross, near here, ate heartily of the tender shoots. A short time later he was taken violently ill and died in convulsions caused by the poisoning. : Allentown —Mrs. John E. Thomas, a clerk in the Allentown courthouse, has received a telegram announcing that her husband, who was a member of the United States ambulance corps, in France, enlisting last summer, at Camp Crane, has been brought back to this country, and is now at the base hospital at Waynesville, N, C., re- tion. Lancaster—Four Lancaster high school boys were formally expelled They were the ringleaders in an egg: throwing incident some time ago and later were concerned in the absence from school of the entire senior class. Several of the boys were enlisted in the boys’ working reserve, but their pranks have interferred with this. Johnstown.—County Superintendent of Schools M. S. Bentz has written t¢ the teachers of Cambria county, re questing them to omit the study of German unless pupils who are abou to go to college need two years’ of modern language and have already taken one year. Johnstown.—That school teachers are not entitled to pay for the month or more of school lost on account of the state infantile paralysis quaran- tine, is the opinion of Judge Moser, of Northumberland county, who heard the test case of Thomasine Holter vs. the Patton school district. Altoona.—Finding a shotgun shel), Lester Clark, aged sixteen, tossed it into a bonfire at the rear of his home and retreated. He did not run fast enough, however, for the shell explod- ed and the full charge struck him in the left leg, inflicting a wound that may lame him for life. Shamokin.—Fourteen drafted men left here for Columbus barracks, Co- lumbus, O. They were given a rousing send-off by a band and hundreds of citibens. A committee of patriotic organizations presented each man with tobacco, cigarettes and cigars, while the Red Cross provided each with a comfort kit and luncheon. Wilkes-Barre.—Although reported to be worth more than $15,000, Matt Zur- konis, a blind man of Luzerne, was arrested on a charge of taking a small boy to New York, where the youngster sold pencils, turning the money over to Zurkonis. The blind man came home and left the boy stranded in New York. Hazleton.—John M. Lewis, fifty-five years old, former mine inspector of the Hazleton district, and for some years mining engineer for Coxe Broth- ers & Co. and A. Pardee & Co., drop- ped dead from heart failure on the street while on his way to the plant of the Jeanesville Iron works, where he was employed as a munitions ex- pert. Sharon.—Lured to a lonely spot near the Petroleum Iron works, Jo- seph Scere, aged forty, a macaroni merchant, of Meadville, was murder- ed, presumably as the result of a Black Hand feud. His body was dis« covered on a bridge over Yankee Run. There were two bullet wounds in his abdomen and he had been stabbed three times with a stilletto. The man had been dead several hours when found. . Reading.—Jennie M. Goldsborough, of Mount Penn, was recommended a divorce from her husband, Lloyd B. Goldsborough, of Cumru township. Be- fore the master the wife alleged that she was compelled to ride horses for hours on their farm and that she was stoned by the husband. She also ac. cused her husband of making chicken coops in the parlor on Sundays. New Castle.—The board of educa- tion has voted to eliminate the study of German in the high school at the close of the present school term. Scranton.—Enforcing Mayor Alex T. Conneil’s edict against loafers, the police turned over eleven men arrest- ed as vagrants to Director Robert W. Allen, of the department of publig works. : covering from wounds received in ac« - TRAN
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers