The Cordova Daily Times
VOLUME TWO. NUMBER 403. CORDOVA, ALASKA, SATURDAY MORNING, APRIL 1, ion;. PRICE TEN CENTS.
AMERICAN TROOPS KILL 30 BANDITS
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SAN ANTONIO. March 31. — Gen
eral Pershing wired General Funston
today that the first clash between the
American troops in Mexico and the
Yillnistas had occurred on Wednes
day last. March 29. The Villa force
attacked was the detachment of five
hundred men which had defeated the
Carranza garrison at Guerrero. The
American troops were led by Colonel
Dodd, and consisted of cavalry de
tachments from the Seventh and
Tenth cavalry regiments, the Tenth
being composed exclusively of colored
troops.
Thirty of the Villa bandits were
killed outright, a number wounded
and several captured. The American
casualties totaled four wounded, none
of them seriously. Among the Villa
wounded was an officer named Nad
I.opez, who was captured when he
fell from his horse, a victim of an
American bullet. This man is sup
posed to he the leader of the Villa
band that held up a train at Santa
Isabelle, in Mexico, lined tip nineteen
American passengers along tile rail
road track and shot them down in
cold blood.
Front the prisoners taken is was
learned that Genera! Villa is suffer
ing front a broken leg. and that he
was not with the Mexican troops
which Dodd's cavalry defeated. The
story of the attack is a testimonial
to the energy and courage with which
Pershing and his soldiers are pursu
ing Villa. Colonel Dodd was fifty
miles north of Guerrero when he re
ceived the news that the Villaistas
were ther, and had defeated the gar
rison. He immediately assembled his
command and started south, covering
the fifty miles in seventeen hours.
Dodd arrived at Guerrero at 6 o'clock
in the afternoon and went Into action
without a stop. The troopers followed
their leader with enthusiasm, acting
as if they were fresh and untired in
stead of just having covered fifty
miles over a rough country by hard
riding.
When the Americans appeared at
Guerrero the Villaistas were in (he
midst of a celebration of their vie
tory over the garrison, earned 'lie day
before. The enemy were taken by
complete surprise when the dust cov
ered American troops rode into the
town, and they immediately broke for
cover. A running fight ensued, with
the cavalry picking off men here and
there and pursing small detachments
of the Mexicans. The pursuit was
kept up for ten miles, and at that
time the American horses, having
done all that horseflesh could endure,
and the Mexican having successfully
scattered, Colonel Dodd called the
chase to a halt and reassembled his
victorious men. who were elated at
the chance to get into real action.
Resides the captured Villaistas, the
Americans took two machine guns and
many saddles and rifles. They re
leased many Carranza soldiers, who
bad been captured by the Villaistas.
and were being held for execution.
The captured Mexicans said that the
whereabouts of Villa himself were
unknown, except that he was further
south. Pershing is rapidly moving
his forces in order to prevent a new
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concentration of fie Ylllaistas at the
j headwaters of the Santa Maria river.
WASHINGTON, March 31. — Inof
ficial advices received here by Senor
Arredonda, the Mexican ambassador,
say that in the battle between the
: Ylllaistas and the Carranza garrison
j at Guerrero, Villa captured and killed
j 173 men of the Carranzaistas. It is
also reported that a portion of the
garrison joined forces with the ban
dits. and marched southwards with the
rebels. The agreement concerning the
use of the Mexican & Northwestern
railroad for the transportation of
sqpplies to the American expedition
ary force, went into effect today, and
the army commenced shipping large
quantities of supplies at once to Gen
eral Pershing's command. The mili
tary situation everywhere in Mexico
is reported as satisfactory to Ameri
| can army officials, who feel that the
American troops are rapidly approach
ing their quarry, and that reports of
a conflict may be expected at any
time.
GERMANS SHELL
PARIS, March 31. — The war office
issued an official communique this
morning, stating thut last night the
Germans delivered a fierce attack on j
the village of Malancourt. the Teutons!
charging from three sides simultane
ously. Despite the efforts of the
French to hold back the ever increas
ing masses of the gray clad soldiers,
they were forced to retire, leaving the
village itself in the hands of the
enemy. The French, while abandon
ing the village itself, are holding their
trenches on the outskirts. The fight
ing at times was hand to hand, the
first attack being delivered shortly
after dark, and continuing all night
thereafter, the French retiring to the
outskirts at daybreak. The village is
in ruins, the huge shells from the Ger
man artillery completing the work of
devastation after the French had re
tired. In the Avoncourt wood similar
scenes were witnessed, the Teutons
again returning in numbers, and as
saulting the French positions, which j
they once had captured, but were j
forced to abandon earlier in the i
week. The fighting here has con
tinued every night, but the French
have so far successfully repulsed all
attacks.
BERLIN, March 31. — The official
war office bulletin issued this morn ^
ing announced the capture by the Ger- (
mans of the village of Malancourt, ,
northwest of Verdun, which has been
the scene of a severe bombardment
for the past two weeks, and heavy
infantry fighting for the past three f
days. The Germans claim the cap
ture of 328 prisoners in Malancourt.
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\V. H. Seagrave, manager of the (
Bonanza and Jumbo mines, was an j
arrival from Kennecott on yesterday's ,
train. t
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W. E. Terrill, the Fairbanks freight s
pr, arrived in town on yesterday's {
train,
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Jt
J. W. Spaulding came over from j
Port Wells to spend a couple of days \
tere on business, ' 1
ENGLAND WANES
TARIFF LAW
LONDON. .March 81. — The recent
revolt of Manchester, the home of
t'otulen, against the cherished British
tradition of open markets for the
goods of all the world, was only the
start in a movement which has gone
steadily forward in the great industrial
centers of the country, Birmingham,
Sheffield. Edinburgh, Leeds and prac
tically all of the important trade cen
ters joining in the move for a straight
aut tariff law. It is not a political
movement, as tariff controversies in
the United States have been; this is
essentially an economic movement,
spontaneous in trade and agricultural
quarters, with the war and the feel
ing against German cofnpetition as the
chief incentive to a change.
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WASHINGTON. March 31. — Sen
dor W. J. Stone, and Representative'
L D. Flood, chairmen respectively of
he foreign affairs committee of the
Senate and the House, conferred with
Secretary of State Lansing today, and
idly discussed the latest develop
uents in the submarine negotiations
vith Germany. After the conference
t was officially stated that the sit—
lation with Germany was not par-1
Icularly critical, and that the danger
f a break in the diplomatic relations
ietween the two countries was not
imminent. The chairmen called on
he secretary for information, so that
he members of Congress could un
erstand the situation, aud prepare to
land by the administration In any
ventuality which might arise.
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Llttle Alberta Mosser was two
ears old yesterday, and the event
.as properly commemorated by her
arents.
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CANTON, <"liina. March 31. — Not
withstanding the reports of revolution
ary victories in Szechuen. which are
reaching Canton, this city is very
quiet and at present there is little to
indicate that Kwangtung province is
greatly Interested in the revolutionary
movement. General Lung Chi-kwang,
the military governor, has a tight grip
on affairs and is loyal to the Peking
government. As long as he remains
so. there seems to be little danger of
any extensive trouble in Canton. Half
of the troops commanded by General
Lung are Hunanese. He has kept
these separated from the troops which
make up the rest of his forces, and so
far the Hunanese have not made any
decided move to join the movement
against the Peking government insti
tuted by Yunnan province.
MS INSTRUCTED
LEWES. Delaware, March 31. —
Ernest Schiller, the German stowaway,
who held up and hound the captain
of the British steamer Matoopo. short -
ly after it had left New York with
a cargo of war munitions for Vladi
vostok. and terrorized the cretv of
fifty-six men, was questioned today
by the federal secret service agents
[is to his connection with the German
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cause. Schiller dented that he was
employed as a spy by the German
government, but declared that he had
received instructions from the Ger
man government to blow up the Ma
loopo. The ship, besides the war
munitions, carried a valuable cargo
if railroad supplies for Russia, de
igned to increas the efficiency of the
Siberian railroad, which has been
leavily taxed carrying the huge am
junt of freight from Japan to Am
;rica.
MORE MEN THAN
PARIS. March 31. — Official figures
just given out by the department of
labor inspection show a revival of in
dustry and a decrease in the number
of idle workmen in France. More
than half of the industrial and com
mercial establishments of the coun
try closed at the beginning of the
J war, when an average of twenty-four
per cent of the workmen were called
to the colors. Forty-two per cent
were thrown out of employment by the
closing of the establishments, leaving
only thirty-four per cent continuing
to earn their wages. In about 50,000
establishments inspected. 1,700,000
workmen were employed in time of
peace. The figures fell one-third of
that number in August, 1914. then in
creased progressively to 1.300,000 In
January of this year, which is seventy
seven per cent of the normal. Taking
into account the twenty-four per cent
mobilized, there are actually employed
in French industries one per cent
more of workmen than before the
war.
LONDON, March 31. — The war
office announced this afternoon that
the total British casualties for the
month of March were 1,100 officers
and 19,000 men. This Includes killed,
wounded and missing, the statement
not itemizing the particular casualties.
The greater percentage of the losses
were suffered in France, a small num
ber in Greece and the balance divided
between the naval losses and the
forces In Mesopotamia.
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The registration books close at 6
o’clock tonight. A little over two
hundred voters had registered up to
last night.
SEATTLE, March 31. — The steam
er Alameda sailed for southwestern
Alaska last night with a big passen
ger list and a full cargo of freight.
Sixty-three were booked for Cordova,
as follows: .1. Gins. Mrs. O'Neil. Mrs.
Erickson, W. Roe, H. Crowell and wife,
Frank Kroger, W. Edwards, John Ed
wards, Mrs. Deppman, J. Lynch and
wife, Mrs. John Lapp!, Thomas Hyde,
H. H. Willson and wife, E. Hanley,
Mrs. Tapper. Mrs. Carlsten, J. Woods,
U. Hearing, W. Stewart, George Holtz -
er, George Most, J. Reach (senior and
junior). Mrs. J. Wellingham, Mable
Marland, W. Cornavan. O. Dresser.
* Miss M. Brown. Mrs. C. Miller, Hilda
Berlin. Anna Lundgren, Captain De
puy, L. Anderson, li. Anderson. Frank
O’Brien. Schulz, A. Woln, W. Woln,
James Farr, and twenty-one steerage.
MANY SUSPECTS:
WASHINGTON, March 31. — The
department of justice announced of
ficially this afternoon that two other
conspirators, who are alleged to have
V been concenter with Captain Hans
Tauseher in the plot to blow up the
Welland canal, were arrested in New
York city today. Thirty other sus
pects are under surveillance, and can
not leave their homes without being
subject to immediate arrest. The spe
cial agents are rapidly unearthing the
details of the conspiracy, and addi
tional arrests may be expected short
ly. The statement states that a fourth
conspirator has been located in New
England, and the officers are on the
way to take him into custody.
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AMSTKROAM, March 31. — "One
who was in it" contributes to the Ber
lin Morgen-Post an article describing
the achievements of the German sub
marines in the first year of the war.
Referring to one incident to illustrate
4 the magnitude of these achievements,
he says:
‘‘One single U-boat accomplished
the record feat of sinking no fewer
than t59 enemy merchant ships, with
an aggregate displacement of 132,170
tons. This boat, which obviously was
especially favored by war luck, suc
ceeded in tiie course of one expedition
in sinking 27 enemy ships with an ag
gregate of 74,204 tons—a tonnage
which exceeds that sunk by the Km
den in the course of several -months."
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H. W. Sheridan and wife came down
from McCarthy yesterday, on their
way to the States, whore they will
make their future home.
LACK HIE
WASHINGTON. March 31. — After
the cabinet meeting, held yesterday,
to consider what action this govern
ment should take with regard to the
catastrophes which recently befell
three British ships, carrying American
citizens, under circumstances tending
to support the theory that the vessels
were torpedoed without warning by
German submarines, it was officially
announced that conclusive evidence to
support the submarine theory was
lacking in all three cases. No action
in the premises will be taken by the
administration until all the facts have
been received. Further reports front
the American ambassador at Berlin
are being waited for, and ttie legation
at 1'aris has also been instructed to
secure additional affidavits from the
American survivprs of the channel
liner Sussex.
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PARIS, March 31. — Finance Min
ister Ribot addressed the French Sen
ate today, and in a notable speech, an
nounced that the allies were con
fident of winning the war, and that
they were in better shape now to
conduct hostilities than at any time
since the war broke out in August.
1914. He discussed the recent con
ference of the allies, held In Paris,
stating that details had now’ been per
fected for closer action in a military
i sense, and that the present summer
j would see the allies taking the offen
. sive on a large scale. He said, in
.part: "At the conference of the al
lies, but lately held in this city, the
fullest confidence was expressed by
the representatives of all the nations
present that our ultimate victory is
certain. We shall, in time, arrive at
peace, which will be lasting, and which
will restore right and justice to their
proper places on this continent, and
deliver the world from the nightmare
now burdening it.”
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DENTIST GUILTY
WIFE'S FATHER
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NEW YORK, March 31 — Arthur
Warren Waite, a dentist in this city,
was indicted today for murder in the
first degree. The accused man is
charged with fhe deliberate and pre
meditated killing of his father-in-law,
John F. Peck, a millionaire manufac
turer, of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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George W. Fawcett expects to leave
for Valdez on the steamer Northwest
ern, where he will resume his old po
sition with S. Blum & Co.