' The Cordova Daily Times
VOLUME TWO. NUMBER 398. CORDOVA, ALASKA, SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 26, 1916. PRICE TEN CENTS.
i
BOTH BRITISH AND GERMAN SHIPS DESTROYED
Special by Associated Press.
LONDON, March 25. — One of the
most spectacular naval battles of the
war occurred in the North sea today
between the British armed merchant
man Alcantara and the German com
merce destroyer Grief. At the end of
the fight both vessels sank, the Al
cantara having the honor of sinking
the enemy ship before she herself suc
cumbed to the waves. The fight was
an even one, and was finished before
other British ships in the vicinity
could roach the scene of the conflict.
Five German officers and a hundred
and fifteen of the crew were cap
tured when the Grief went down. The
British casualties on the Alcantara
were 75 men. One hundred and eighty
of the crew of the Grief perished.
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LONDON, March 25. — The after
noon papers contain full stories of the
battle in the North sea today between
the Alcantara and the Grief. The
German raider was sunk hy gun fire
from the British merchantman, but
the British ship was torpedoed by the
Grief. The total British losses were
five officers and seventy-nine men.
The Alcantara was a big ship, being
a fifteen thousand ton Royal Mail
liner. When the German ship ap
proached it was not thought that she
was a German commerce destroyer,
as no guns could be seen, and she was
disguised as a Norwegian merchant
man. flying the Norwegian flag from
her masthead. The Norwegian flag
was also painted on the side of the
ship. During the whole fight the Grief
fired several torpedoes, only one of
which took effect, this one succeeding
In sinking the Alcantara. The Alcan
tara was serving duty as a warship,
being one of the British patrol ships
guarding the North sea from maraud
ing German warships. The Grief
never got beyond the line of the Brit
ish patrol, being spotted by the Al
cantara, who challenged her identity
at once. The Grief was a similar ship
to the Moewe, which caused so much
damage to British merchantmen be
fore she was captured and sunk.
'•BIG LINER
SUNK BY
GERMANS
WASHINGTON, March 25. — Later
advices concerning the sinking of the
Dominion liner Englishman, state that
eighteen persons are missing, includ
ing the four Americans. State depart
ment officials also consider that the
ease seriously complicates the already
strained relations between the United
States and Germany, as the officials
believe that the attack is a direct vio
lation of the earlier promises of Ger
many in regard to attacking merchant
vessels without warning. The Eng
lishman was sailing from Europe with
out carrying contraband, and the In
formation so far received shows no
1 reason for the attack, except that the
A vessel was a British ship. The gov
ernment announced that it would im
mediately undertake a full investiga
tion of the torpedoing of both the
Englishman and the Sussex.
WASHINGTON, March 25. — A re
port was received from American con
suls in Great Britain today, stating
tthat the Dominion liner Englishman,
was torpedoed and sunk by a German
submarine. The Englishman left
Boston, Mass., some time ago with a
cargo of horses, and her crew con
tained many American citizens. The
ship carried no passengers. The re
port places the scene of the attack
as close to the British Isles, without
specifying the locality. Four of the
Americans are missing, their names
being Peter McDonald, a horse fore
man, whose home is in Boston; Geo.
McDonald, of Lawrence, Mass.; P.
Buckley and M. A. Burke.
WILLARD GETS
DECISION IN
NEW YORK, March 25. — The ten
round bout between Jess Willard and
N Frank Moran, for the heavyweight
championship, took place in this city
tonight, and was witnessed by an im
1 mense throng of sports from all parts
* 'of the country. The event was
pulled off at 9:30 o'clock, and when
the contestants entered the ring each
was greeted with much applause. Both
men were in fine condition, and confi
dent of victory, although Willard was
the favorite in the betting. At the
end of the tenth round Willard was
awarded the decision, and thus re
A tains the championship. While Moran
stayed the given time and there was
’ no knockout, the fans regretted that
the fight did not last twenty rounds
in order to test out the merits of the
men
NEW YORK, March 25. — All the
seats for the big fight between Jese
Willard and Joe Moran, for the heavy
weight championship of the world
have been sold. The men will jurnt
into the ring in perfect condition to
night about 9:30 o'clock, at Madison
Square Garden. Both of the pugilists
issued statements to the public today
expressing the fullest confidence that
I each would win the go. No matter
! who the victor Is, Willard, the present
: holder of the title, will get the big
share of the purse. Win or lose, he
will draw down $47,500 for his few
minutes in the ring. .Moran's shure |
of the proceeds will be $24,000.
— -:o:
Rev. Schriver, the new pastor of the
Presbyterian church, will arrive from
' Montana in time to conduct services
on Sunday, April 2, which will be held
at the church on the bill.
ELUDED HIS PURSUERS
EL PASO. March 25. — General
Villa, at the head of hia outlaw band,!
was today reported as fleeing in a
westward direction in the San Miguel
country. He is said to have success
fully eluded the encircling ring of Car
ranza troops which was closing in on
him.
REGISTRATION NEAR END
A week from Tuesday the munici
pal election will be held, the registrtt
;ion books for which close on Satur
day evening next at t! o'clock. There
lias been considerable apathy in re
gistering. due to the fact that but one
icket will be in the field, but in order
to make a good showir.g at the polls
every votqr should consider it ills auiy
to register, thus showing the proper
patriottc kpirit.
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No word has been received from
Juneau as to the steamer Alaska’s de
parture from there, although she is
expected in Cordova on Monday.
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The steamer Admiral Watson is due
from the westward at 2 o’clock this
afternoon, and will remain in port
about three hours.
LONDON, March 25. — The Hoss
steamer Sussex was torpedoed when
near the French coast early today. The
Sussex is one of the fleet of boats
which ply in the English Channel, be
tween Dover and Calais, and is a pas
senger boat. An examination of the
passenger list at Dover showed that
there were twenty-five American oiti
zens on board the vessel. Full details
have not yet been received as yet, but
it is thought that the loss of life was
small. Among the injured passengers
is a Miss Baldwin, a daughter of a
prominent American resident of Paris.
The young lady is seriously hurt, in
curring, among other wounds, a
1 broken leg. Her father and mother
| were also on board the Sussex, return
I ing home from a visit to friends in
• England. Other Americans on the
, ship were Miss Alice Ruiz, of Colo
-.
rndo; Wilded <!. I’enfleld, one of tliej
Rhodes scholarship students at Ox
ford University; Edward Huxley, pre
sident of the United States Rubber
Export Company, and Francis E.
Drake, of the European Manufactur
ing Company. The Americans named
are known to be among the rescued.
The chief engineer of the Sussex was
killed by the explosion.
LONDON, .March 25. — The sunken
channel steamer Sussex had 38G pas
sengers when she was torpedoed to
day, in addition to her crew of 5rt men.
From the meagre details so far re
ceived. it is learned that all of the pas
sengers and crew has been accounted
for but 75. Many of the survivors
have arrived at Boulogne, and it is
thought that all of the American pas
sengers have been accounted for. One
of the lifeboats carrying forty persons
whs overturned when being launched,
and thirty of them were drowned be
fore help could reach them. A num
ber of the passengers became panic
stricken and jumped overboard, re
fusing to wait for the small boats to
be launched, and at least one-half of
these were drowned. A trawler and
a British torpedo boat destroyer were
close by at the time of the catastrophe,
and took off the survivors before the
ship sank.
PARIS, March 25. — Samuel Bemis.
an American from Bedford, Massa
chusetts, was on the deck of the Sus
sex when the explosion occurred which
sank the ship. He arrived here to
night, and reported the story of the
occurrence to the American ambassa
dor. Bemis says that he plainly saw
the wake of the torpedo which sank
the ship, and asserts that the accident
was not caused by a mine. The wea
ther at the time was clear and beau
tiful. and Bemis says he could not
possibly have mistaken the wake of
the torpedo. He saw the wake reach
the side of the ship, and the moment
it did so a terrific explosion occurred.
LONDON, March 25. — It has not
yet been certainly ascertained whether
any Americans were among those who
perished on the Sussex or not. Thte
officials are endeavoring to compile
an exact list of the survivors, and it is
unofficially stated that all of the Am
ericans were saved. From the state
ments made by the survivors it is al
ready learned that the preponderance
of the testimony favors the theory
that the Sussex was sunk by a tor
pedo from a submarine.
INSIDE POLITICAL DOPE
The Republican political situation
in Alaska is rather a unique one, and
some mighty interesting developments
are expected at the Seward convention
on April 19. While it is practically
conceded that Delegate Wickersham
will seek the regular party nomina
tion for re-election, his followers do
not credit the story sent out from
Juneau that Wickersham has made a
combination with Shackleford to se- i
cure the coveted prize. In fact, he |
has wired a local supporter that he j
has not, and will not, make any alli
ance with Shackleford. The denial,
however, has not deterred the Juneau- j
ite from going ahead and electing j
delegates from the First division on a
[ Wickersham Shackleford ticket. It is '
! now claimed that this was a clever
| move on the part of Shack to secure
representation at the convention, in
the hope that he might be able to
| force Wick into some sort of a deal, i
The breach between the delegate!
and former national committeeman
can never be healed, and it is freely
predicted that Shack is not sincere.
| and intends to double-cross Wick, if
j the latter is willing to be a party to
| any such deal, which his friends say
j he is not. If the reported compact
should materialize, Wickersham would
have the hardest fight of his life to
be re-elected, for the simple reason
that the voters will not sand for any
candidate who has u Shackleford
string to him. This was very forcibly
demonstrated in the defeat of the last
two Republican nominees for the of
fice. Shack “butted in” to the Orr
campaign, when he promised to absent
himself in the States. He forced Gil
more’s candidacy at the Cordova con
vention, and in both instances Wicker
sham had a walk-over.
Territorial Chairman Herron incited
the displeasure of the Juneau boss in
refusing to allow him to manage the
recent territorial committee meeting
to his owp personal gain. Be It said
to the credit of Mr. Herron that he
stend pet for an open primary, and a
fair representation at the convention,
the time and place of which he in
sisted should be settled by the com
mittee, and not one individual. As
soon us these facts became known to
Shackleford, he enlisted the support
of some wealthy and influential poli
ticians in Seattle, and attempted to
force his plans through. At a confer
ence of these outsiders, held at the
New Washington hotel in Seattle, sev
eral weeks ago, a slate was arranged,
w hich Alaskans were supposed to ac
cept in toto. and thus gain the good
graces of the Juneauite and his hench
men. On the slate was found the name
of Cornelius L). Murane, a former
Alaskan, who lives and is practising
law in Seattle, for national committee
man. For delegates to the national
convention Mr. Shackleford selected
himself and William A. Gllmoure, of
Nome, who is now in the States.
When this program was laid before
the party men of the territory it was
received with anything but the enthu
siasm that it was expected to arouse.
Some were even so bold as to demur
on the ground that Shackleford was
“hogging” the whole game, while in
reality he was a dead cock in the pit.
and entitled to no consideration.
Shack, however, declared that he was
going to support Wickershara. provid
ing he could control the Alaska pat
ronage; also that after Murane's elec
tion as national committeeman, he
would land him a judgeship, and his
resignation follow; that then the local
committee could select its own nation
al committeeman. Very generous on
the part of Mr. Shackleford, as he
hoped that under a Republican admin
istration, and the patronage under the
control of a henchman, that he could
force his own election as committee
man.
This is the inside history of the
present political mixup in Alaska, and
was quietly passed out as a feeler to
a few of the party workers. The
fratne-up was not popular with any
one but Shackleford henchmen, and
many regular Republicans openly de
clared that they were opposed to Shack
and all of his methods, and w’ould
rather support Wickersham than to
again allow the Juneauite to control
the politics of the territory.
In order to bolster up a lost cause,
press dope was furnished from Ju
neau, to the effect that Shackleford
controlled practically all the delegates
from the First, Second ad Fourth di
visions, while those of the Third were
so divided that they didn't enter into
his calculations. The facts are that
the First division delegation is com
posed oi both Shackleford and Wicker
sham men. and when the latter learn
that Wick’s nomination can be se
cured without any support from Shack
they will be for the delegate first, last
and all the time. In the Second di
vision there is a decided split, while
in this division fifty out of sixty of
the delegates are anti-Shackleford.
The Fourth division is composed prin
cipally of straight Republicans, and
Shack never did stand very high in
the TanaSia valley.
*
WILSON IS
TIRED
CRITICISM
WASHINGTON, March 25. — Pre
sident Wilson is preparing a statement
which is expected to be issued this
afternoon, denouncing the alarmists
who have been circulating untrue re
ports in certain American newspapers
concerning the conditions on the Mexi
can border. The president is greatly
incensed at the lack of patriotism
which the authors of these false re
ports are showing, as he believes they
are striving to embroil this country
in a war with Mexico for the purpose,
of aiding their own selfish ends. The
president has been making a quiet in •
vestigation of the matter, and he has
much information about the untrue
rumors, and after discussing the mat
ter with the cabinet, and coming to
the conclusion that an effort was be
ing made by this propaganda to force
a general intervention in Mexico, it
has been decided to lay the facts be
fore the public.
WASHINGTON, March 25. — It was
announced late today that the presi
dent's statement, denouncing those
who were responsible for the alarmist •
reports about the Mexican situation,
would be given out for publica
tion at once. It is said that the, pre
sident names the people who are be
hind the movement, and declares that
they, are bending their efforts for
the sole purpose of bringing about
intervention of the United States in
Mexico.
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GERMAN SHELLS
Ij
H
BERLIN. March 25. — The war of
fice officially announced today that
the city of Verdun was in flames, and
was being destroyed by a great fire,
caused by incendiary German shells.
PARIS. March 25. — The official
communique issued this morning, re
ported that no particular activity
among the combatants disturbed the
comparative quiet of the firing line
north and northwest of Verdun last
night. On the plains of the Woevre
the artillery duels seem to be gaining
in intensity, but the infantry are tak
ing no part in the warfare. The op
posing forces have practically the
same positions as they occupied when
the last severe, drive of the Teutons
was made, except the French huve re
taken some trenches.
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Word was recently received that a
boy was born to Mrs. A K. Goldman,
of Seattle, sister of Mrs. Jack Sapiro
and Mrs. H. I. Lewis.
-:o:
The steamer Admiral Evans is due
from Seattle at noon today, and has
a good list of passengers l'or Cordova.
—*-:o:
There was an impromptu dance
given at the Windsor hotel dining
room last night, which was well at
tended by the young people.
j