GOVERNMENT URGES CALIFOR
NIA FARMERS TO RAISE
BEANS AND FIXES PRICE
ACRE WILL YIELD ABOUT $70.
Seed Will be.Furnished At Cost to
Growers and Quotation of $3.50 Per
Bushel Can he Realized at Nearest
Loading Station.
SACRAMENTO, Calif.. Feb. 18.—
Inquiries received from farmers in
California regarding1 the cultivation
of castor beans urgently needed for
the extraction of castor oil used as
a lubricant in airplane engines, have
caused George H. Hecke, state com
missioner of horticulture, to conduct
an investigation to ascertain the mar
ket value and to learn the cost of pro
duction.
Thus far it has been established
that an average yield of castor beans
in California is about twenty bushels
lo the ace, which based on the an
nouncement of the chief signal offi
cer of the war department that the
government will pay $3.50 for a for
ty-six pound bushel, f. o. b., at the j
r rest railway, insures a gross re
turn of about $70 an acre. Growers
contracting with the government for
,u le of beans will be furnished
s. i at the cost, plus transportation
charges.
Little information is available con- !
I uing the cost of growing and har
vest mg a crop of castor beans. They
ripn slowly and irregularly and are
gathered by hand.
Efforts to encourage the planting of
: p;( roximately 5,000 acres to castor
beans in southern California have
Inx'Ti made by the war department, ac- ■
i e -ding to information furnished Com
r. - oner Hecke by the state council
of defense.
Castor beans have been grown com
n:< rcialiy in California but the indus
try was abandoned because a drop in
t» < ; i 'ce of castor oil made it unprof
it; c . Information received by Com
missioner Hecke shows that a consid
er..hie acreage was planted to castor
be.ri: in Orange county a number of
y ..rs ago and that the production in
ih* vicinity of Marysville, Yuba coun
ty, many years ago, resulted in the es
tu1. shment of a castor oil refinery
HAWAIIAN'S DIM FAT AMERI-j
CAN, PORTUGUESE, CHINESE, !
JAPANESE AM) KOREANS.
: ONOLULU, T. H., Feb. 16.—The ;
ti : ty-ono mile relay race held on the i
island of Hawaii in which a message
w..s carried from the rim of the crater!
of Kilauea volcano to the seacoast city j
of Milo, thirty-one miles away, was an!
int rnational in every sense of the!
wo:'!. Six teams competed made up of j
Ila.vaiians, Americans, Portuguese,
Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.
The fact that the team made up of I
native sons of the island carried off
the honors has been a big feather in
the cap of the Hawaiians. The lia
walian who ran the last la, of the race
crossed the finishing line one minute
and two seconds ahead of his nearest
competitor. The runners were well
bunched over the greater part of tin
distance. The course ran, for the most
part, through dense forests of giant
ferns and past fields of sugar cane.
The roads were lined with specta
tors who cheered the representatives
of their respective nations as they
went by.
LAVA RISES IN
HAWAIIAN CRATER
HONOLULU, T. H., Feb. 1C.—The
lava lake in Mount Kileauea has sud
denly risen to the highest level reach
ed within the crater since 1894.
BRITAIN PLANS
10 EFFECT BIG
SAVING IN COAL
PRESENT NEEDS OF 80,000,000
TONS YEARLY TO BE RE
DUCED 25,000,000.
WILL USE ELECTRIC POWER.
Sixteen Super Stations Are Proposed j
for Whole Country and Scheme j
Suggested Means Elimination of i
Great Waste.
LONDON, Feb. 18.—To effect a
saving in coal and its by-products of- j
ficially estimated at £100,000,000 a i
year, the British ministry of recon-;
struction has approved a scheme for j
supplying all the industries in Great
Britain with cheap electric power,
generated at big “super-power sta
tions,” not more than sixteen for the
whole country. The scheme is one ot |
the most ambitious that has yet been j
worked out to enable the country to!
recover from the economic losses of!
the war. Its details are given in a re- j
port from the coal conservation com-;
mittee of the ministry of reconstruc
tion.
The amount of coal used to produce!
industrial power in the United King- !
dom is about 80.000,000 tons yearly, j
The new project, it is claimed, would
enable the same amount of power to
be produced with an expenditure of;
only -5,000,000 tons, and the 55,000,-,
000 tons saved would represent no1
only economy in mining but also a gi- j
gantic economy in transport.
Increase in Horsepower.
The committee, howevei, does not j
believe that the change will mean the
mining of less coal, but rather that!
Great Britain will enormously in
crease its amount of industrial horse-j
power, and the extent to which thi.
can be raised, it is explained, is one |
of the main conditions necessary fo- I
a general rise in national standards o:
life.
The committe's proposals rest o: 1
the assumption that electricity is the
most economical and convenient form j
in which to apply power to industry!
and that the only way to generate
it on a very large scale. The repor'
only anticipates what electrical spec
ialists have forseen for years as the
natural electrical development in :
country like Great Britain, which Is j
small in area, closely settled, and rid
in coal. In view of these conditions j
Great Britain is regarded as the coun
try in all the world best situated to
profit most from such a national
monopoly of power.
msagrce as i» uwnersnip.
The question in controversy is who j
is to ou n and manage the monoplv. j '
The committee recommends that the!
,, . , . . i
sixteen super-power stations siioum
be owned and managed by private j
companies with a national body of!
government commissioners controlling
them on behalf of the state, much aft
er the model of the present state-con
trol of the British railways. Several '
of the London newspapers take excep- i '
tion to this arrangement, declaring!
that the whole scheme must be run by!1
and for the state. The committee’s re
port says in part:
“The committee proposes to supply 1
all our industries with electrical power 1
generated at big super-power stations
Hid to eliminate or combine all small
er stations. The primary object is U
ecenomoize our coal supplies. The
saving in coal, together with the sav
ing of the by-products now wasted b\
the burning of coal in open grates aw!
boiler furnace, would mean £100,000,
000 a year.”
NEW AMBASSADOR
NAMED BY JAPAN
VISCOUNT ISI1II WILL SUCCEED
BARON SATO AT DIPLOMATIC
POST IN WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON, Feb. 18.—Viscount
Tshii has ben appointed Japanese am
bassador to the United States to suc
ceed Baron Sato. Viscount Ishii will
"ome to Washington immediately.
TO SjLDIERS
WAR CAMP COMMUNITY RE
CREATION SERVICE IS FACTOR
IN LIVES OF TROOPS.
APPRECIATION IS EXPRESSED.
Representatives of Nine Countries Al
lied with United States Recently
Were Entertained by Woman in
Hollywood, California.
LOS ANGELES, Cal., Feb. 18.—
War Camp Communication Recreation
service has become a recognized fac
tor in the lives of many commissioned
ind enlisted men on duty in this part
j the state, according to their own
expressions of appreciation.
A recent manifestaion of this type
rf work has been the popularity ac
corded the “Dugout,” Mrs. Merideth
Woodward’s own name for her Holly
,vood home, which she throws open to
:he soldiers every day. Mrs. YYood
,vard has organized a group of young
natrons and maids who assist her ev
ery week in entertaining all the men
n khaki or blue who come seeking re
creation. Music is provided for vol
mteers; the simplest of refreshments
ire at hand for those who want them;
tnd absence of formality and presence
>f cordial cheerfulness are the chief
dements that draw scores of men to
ler home weekly.
The plan has become so populai
hat the soldiers have re-christened
:he “Dugout.” They call it the “Young
soldier’s Home.”
On a recent Sunday, representatives
)f nine allies were in the various
groups that spent a portion of the day
it the “Dugout.” Members of the Brit
sh, Italian, French Belgian and Jap
xnese consulates called, a Poland re
■ruitng agent droped in, commissioner
jfficers of the Russian and Serbian
irmies, and an Americanized Chinese,
ilso on furlough from active service
,vere among the callers while scores o;
\mericans including types from New
England, the south and the far west
,vcre mingled with the allied soldiers.
The community service has aha
lone much work here in equipping the
Young Men’s Christian association
juarters at nearby forts and,canton
neats with amusements and musica1
levices, bocks and other needed mate
•ials that could not have been supplied
otherwise without much delay.
OVER ALL
GOVERNMENT WILL USE MER
CHANTMEN TO TRANSPORT
SOLDIERS AND SUPPLIES.
PARIS, France, Feb. 18. — An
nouncement was made today by tin:
'Tench government of its determina
,ion to requisition all French mer
chant ships. The vessels will be taker.
>ver March 10.
The determination of France to re
juisiton her merchant marine follows
he recent announcement of President
Wilson, of the United States, to li
■ense all American merchant ships in
mler to reduce commercial imports
md exports to a minimum and thus
release merchantmen for the trans
portation from the United States ci
soldier and military supplies to
Europe.
ALASKA NAVIGATOR
TO TEST NEW SHIP
CAPTAIN JOHN A. O’BRIEN WIL1
TAKE OUT WESTERLY ON
HER FIRST VOYAGE.
SEATTLE, Feb. 18.—Captain John
A. O’Brien, master of the steamship
Victoria, veteran Alaska navigator,
will command the Westerly, the new
United States shipping board’s vessel,
when she leaves here soon on her
maiden trip.
Captain O’Brien will return to thf
Victoria as her master June 1.
INDUSTRIAL TROUBLES N O W
AFFECT FIRMS IN BALTIMORE
AND NEW YORK CITY.
DEMAND FOR HIGHER WAGES.
Direct Appeal Is Made to President
Wilson to Intervene in Behalf of
L^nion Workers in Effort to Brine
About Peace.
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feh. 16.
Industrial strikes in shipyards in Bal
timore and New York have serioush
hampered the federal government’s
shipbuilding work and threaten tc
spread to other yards on the Atlantic
coast.
Operations at the shipbuilding plant
of the Bethelehem Steel company at
| Sparrow Point and of the Baltimore
j Drydock and Shipbuilding company.
| both near Baltimore, are badly cur
l tailed by the walkout of 200 carpen
| ters and joiners, who have demanded
higher wages.
t The strikers as well as the officials
I of the companies refuse to make am
i statements for publication.
According to union workers, ap
j proximutely 50 per cent of the ship
I yard employes in the New York dis
i trict are on strike. Union officials
: say the strike will spread quickly t(
other Atlantic coast cities unless tlu
demands of the New York workers fo:
higher wages and representation or i
the federal wage adjustment boar
are granted.
The federal government has refuse!
to place a representative of the unioi
ship workers on the wage adjustment
board. The workers demand that the\ 1
be given a representative who shai
have the right to vote on all issue.
; and who shall exercise the same powe; ;
as any of the government represeu- |
tatives.
i President Wilson today received ;
I
! direct appeal from the national offi
cials of the United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners, whose officers
, are in New York, to intervene in the
I shipyard strikes with a view to set- i
| tling the trouble involving not onh
their craft but practically all the othe.
! shipyard trades.
I GRAND JURY AC TS IX SOUTH.
j Federal Government Is Believed to
; Be Starting Campaign Against ;
Merchants Who Without Cause j
Raise Prices to Consumers.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Feb! 16.— j
Forty-seven alleged “war hogs” com- j
prised of coal operators, coal brokers |
and coal dealers in East Tennessee, j
were indicted today by a federal grand
jury sitting in Knoxville on the
charge of having violated the federal
fuel control law.
The indictments against the retail
dealers, are believed to be the first re
turned in the Llnited States against
.hat class of merchants. Federal offi
cials in Tennessee believe this action
of the government in Knoxville evi
dences the beginning of a movement
on the part of the federal authorities
;o bring to justice retail “war hogs”
who without cause have arised prices
to consumers.
PUBLISHER GOES EAST.
Charles E. Herron, publisher of the
Anchorage Daily Times who has been
in Seattle for several weeks in the
interests of his mining and fishing in
dustries left Seattle February 7 for
the east.
1
LOSES LIFE IN
TEXAS FLIGHT
FAMOUS DANCER, WHO WAS
ONE OF AERIAL HEROES OF
WAR, KILLED BY ACCIDENT.
FATALITY NEAR FORT WORTH.
Member of English Royal Aviation
Corps Fails to Right Himself Afte;
Trying to Avoid Collision with
Cadet’s Airplane.
FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 16.—
Captain Vernon Castle, of the Englisl
Royal Flying Corps, was killed late
yesterday while flying fifteen miles
east of Fort Worth. Captain Castle:
who recently left the European war
front to instruct military aviation
students in Canada and who had come
to Fort Worth to teach aerial war
methods to Anrreican fliers, had made
mor e than 100 flights over the German ;
lines in Europe and was the hero of |
many exploits in the war zone.
His fatal accident happened when j
in trying to avoid a cadet in another j
machine, his own machine swerved be-1
vond his control and fell. He was un- j
able to right himself.
The cadet landed without injury.
Captain Castle and his wife were
famous as dancers.
-0
Mrs. Castle Prostrated.
NEW YORK, Feb. 16.—Mrs. Ver- j
non Castle, who is now a motion
picture star, is prostrated over the 1
death of her husband, Captain Castle. :
i
Captain Castle was 31 years old •
While he was a member of the Eng-;
lish Royal Flying Corps, he never'
made his nationality public.
After having attained fame as
dancers on the stage, the Castles op
ened in New York city, a fashionable
dancing school, which was named
Castle House. It is still in business.
Before achieving success as dancers,
the Castles were theatrical performers
on the legitimate stage.
GAS SHELLS FIRED
AT AMERICANS
FIGHTING BECOMES MORE AC
TIVE ALONG LINE OF UNIT
ED STATES TROOPS.
LONDON, Feb. 18.—The American
positions in the war zone were sub
jected today to a two hours’ bombard-,
ment by enemy gas shells. The fumes
remained over the American positions
three hours . There were no casual
ties.
American gunners reported at
tempted enemy air invasion of Ameri
can positions.
Fighting is increasing along the
American line.
SHIP CARPENTERS IN
EAST END STRIKE
THOUSANDS OF WORKERS IN j
ATLANTIC COAST YARDS
WILL RETURN TO JOBS.
NEW YORK, Feb. 18.—The strike
of ship carpenters in all Atlantic coast
ship yards, which started in sympathy
with the strike of the United Broth
hood of Carpenters and Joiners in
New York was ended today by orders
of union officials.
Thousands of the men are expected
to return to work tomorrow.
TURKEY WANTS TO
BRIDGE BOSPHORUS
CONTRACT IS LET TO BUDAPEST
FIRM AND WdRK WILL
BEGIN IN APRIL.
AMSTERDAM, Feb. 18.—The Turk
ish parliament has given a Budapest
firm a contract to build a tunnel and
a bridge across the straits of Bos
phorus. The work will begin in April.
The distance across the straits is 1800
feet.
f
ATTACK RESULTS IN FEWER
THAN TWELVE CASUALTIES
AND SLIGHT DAMAGE.
i
EIGHT BRITISH CRAFT SUNK.
Swiss Engineer Says Berlin Officials
Are Keeping Secret Submarine Los
ses Because of Difficulty of Muster
ing Crews.
LONDON, Feb. 16.—Dover, Eng
land, was bombarded early today by
a German submarine that fired thirty
shots, causing fewer than twelve cas
ualties and only slight property dam
to the fire of the submarine and forced
it to put to sea.
Eight British craft, while hunting
German submarines yesterday were
engaged and sunk by a raiding flotil
la of German destroyers.
Airplane Sinks Submarine.
Reports from Paris are to the ef
fect that yesterday two French hydro
airplanes fought a German subma
rine in the English channel. The hy
dro-airplanes’ bombs sank the sub
rtrarinc.
A dispatch from Stockholm, Swe
den, says that according to advices
from Goteborg, on the Cattegat sea
on the west coast of Sweden, residents
there believe a naval engagement re
cently took place in the North sea.
Goteborg reports the washing ashore
of a large number of bodies of Ger
man sailors, presumably from Ger
man warships.
Losses Are Kept Secret.
Messages from Geneva, Switzer
land, quote a Swiss engineer, recent
ly returned from Kiel, Germany, as
saying that every effort is being made
by the German admiralty to cancel
the submarine losses because of the
increased difficulty in mustering
crews for the underwater boats. The
Swiss engineer says the Germans lost
thirty of their submarines while he
was at Kiel. He declares the depth
bombs are effective against the U
boats. He states there were two seri
ous mutinies among sailors of the
German navy at Kiel in 1917.
PUPILS INVESTIGATE
DISTRICT SCHOOLS IN MONTANA
WILL REPORT ON CONDI
TIONS IN THEIR VICINITY.
BOZEMAN, Mont., Feb. 18.—Dis
trict schools of Montana will adjourn
for two days in February* to permit
the pupils to assist in making a sur
vey of farm labor requirements for
the coming crop season, under plans
announced here by the state college
extension department, the state de
partment of public instruction and the
state and federal departments of ag
riculture.
Each school in the state will pre
pare a list of farms in its vicinity, and
these will be visited by the pupils,
who will obtain information regard- f
ing labor to be required. A summary
of the needs of the district will be
sent tc the county superintendent of
schools, and in turn forwa> deu to the
state college, where the state sum
mary will be prepared.
WARSAWAROUSED ,
AGAINST TEUTONS
HOSTILE FEELING IS MANIFEST
ED TO GERMANS AND STREET
GUARDS ARE UNEASY.
LONDON, Feb. 16.—The corre
spondent at Warsaw of the London
Exchange Telegraph reports that
there is much feeling against the cen
tral powers in Warsaw and that great
excitement prevails among the Ger
man soldiers patrolling the streets.
A lazy iqutt is Oswald Pill,
He’ll never make a hit;
He never starts to work until
He knows it’s time to quit.