Heut Etrd D stily « Mem sty
VOLUME 20.
NUMBER 57
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1925
PRICE TEN CENTS
COLONEL ROBERT C. CLOWRY, CIVIL
WAR VETERAN AND PRESIDENT
WESTERN TELEGRAPH CO. DEAD
Stated With Company as Messenger Boy and j
Rapidly Climbed to Presidency of Greatest
System of Communication in World
Claimed to Be First Man Who Ever Employed “Wireless
Telegraph” in Delivery of Messages in Civil War
Sent Code Call by Whistles to Army Chief
NEW Y°RK, Feb. 27—Robert C. Clowry, presidentj
and general manager of the Western Union Telegraph!
Company, died suddenly last night in his private car as he!
was returning from Palm Beach, Florida. He was 87;
years of age.
Col. Robert C. dowry, alter climb-J
ing from messenger boy to the
presidency of the Western Union
Telegraph Company, answered the
question: “What are a young man’s
chances today as compared with
when you were a boy?” by saying.
“A young man’s opportunities are
as good now as they ever were. It
all depends on the young man. The
wealth of the country has increased
faster than the right kind of young
men have developed. Expansion of
business has unlimited opportunities.
Industry, perserverance, integrity
and intelligence are what is wanted.
All the great corporations keep in
touch with the capacity of their men.
Therefore, the young man who has
the stuff in him is bound to get
ahead.”
Bom on a farm in Will county, Il
linois, September 8, 1838, young dow
ry gained a common school educa
tion and, in 1852, became a messen
ger for the Illinois and Missouri Tel
egraph Company—later a Western
Union subsidary—at Joliet, 111. Fori
the first six months, although re- j
quired to work 12 to 1-t hours a day,1
he received no pay.
Away from home and ambitious to j
become a telegrapher, he did extra
work to maintain himself.
“Vet I was happy and prosperous,”
he said years later, “for I was in
dependent and was engaging in a
business I enjoyed and that fasci
nated me.”
At the end of the first year, al
though only 16. Clowry was made
manager of the company’s offices at
Lockport, and when 21, became sup
erintendent of the company.
Colonel Clowry gained his title in
the Civil war which he entered as a
captain in 1863. It is related of
him that, at that time, he was prob
ably the first man ever to employ
“wireless” telegraphy. He was in
command of a force at a certain rail
road point in Missouri. The night
was dark and rainy and he wras un
able to communicate with a larger
unit of Union troops across the river
because the enemy had cut the wires.
There was danger of his being trap
ped. Suddenly lie heard the toot
of a locomotive on the other side of
the river and an idea flashed into
his mind.
A short distance from his tent stood
a locomotive. He at once climbed
into the cab, seized the whistle cord
and began to jerk it in a manner
which caused a number ol' weird
blasts. The overawed engineer and
fireman were mystified. Again and
again Clowry repeated his series of
wild toots until, finally, his ear
caught from the other bank of the
river an answering signal. The op
erator at headquarters had heard the
whistle tooting his own code “call”
and found means at once to respond.
The result was the reinforcement of
Clowry and his men and their escape
from capture.
Mustered out of service in 1866 and
brevetted “for meritorious service and
devoted application to duty,” Colon
el Clowry wrent back to commercial
telegraphy and soon rose to be sup
erintendent of the Western Union
lines in the southwest. When he
JAKE SCHAEFER IS
CHAMPION IN BALK
LINE TOURNAMENT
BREAKS WORLD’S RECORD BY
RUNNING FOUR HUNDRED FROM
SCRATCH, GERMAN OPPONENT
NEVER GETTING TO USE CUE.
CHICAGO, Feb. 27 (AP)—Jake
Schaefer, former world’s balk line
billiard champion, broke the world’s
record last night, running 400 from
spot in a match with Erich Hagen
lacher, German champion, winning
th'e seventh international tournament
| without giving Hagenlacher a chance
| to use his cue.
Cochran held the world’s record of
| 384 made in 1921.
Senate Passes Postal
Pay Rate Increase Bill
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 27 (AP)
! The Senate by a vote of 69 to 12, ap
proved the postal pay rate increase
bill in a conference report, practically
substituting the House measure that
recently passed the Senate, and sent
the bill to President Coolidge for his
signature. The measure provides an
average increase in postal salaries of
S300 annually, effect last New Year’s,
and increased postal rates, effective
| April 15.
F. C. Donahue, arrested for speed
ing, told the judge at Yonkers, N. Y.
that he was hurrying to a high school
dance with 12 cases of liquor.
entered the business, telegraphy was
only eight years old and there was
only about 6,000 miles of wire in the
United States. At the end of the
Civil War the total had increased to
about 75,000 miles and when he be
came President and General Mana
ger of the Western Union in 1902,
the wire mileage had gone up to more
than one million miles.
Colonel dowry’s record of service
at this time had covered a period of
fifty years and during that time
there was not a grade through which
he had not passed and through the
west there was scarcely a telegraph
office he had not visited or in which
he had not worked a key.
Colonel dowry married in 1865,
Miss Caroline A. Estabrook, of Oma
ha, Neb. She died in April 1869.
On November 23, 1910, when he re
tired and was succeeded to the pres
idency of the Western Union by the
late Theodore* N. Vail, he had been
active for 58 years in the telegraph
ic field. He was one of the pro
moters of the Chicago World’s Fair
in 1893. He was also a director of
the Equitable Trust Company, New
York, a member of the Loyal Legion
of civil war veterans and of several
clubs. For some years, Colonel
dowv’s residence had been at Tar
ry to N. Y.
SIMS SAYS PLANES!
WILL HOLD KEY TO
POWER OF NATIONS
TESTS ON GERMAN BATTLESHIPS
AND AMERICAN VESSELS SHOW
BATTLESHIPS CAN BE SUNK BY;
RELATIVELY SMALL BOMBS
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 27 (AP). j
Admiral Sims read to the House Air- j
craft Committee an article he wrote
! three years ago, declaring “airplanes
will hold the key to the power of na
tions.” The article said that tests
j against the German battleship Ostfres
! land, showed relatively small bombs
could sink a vessel and no vessel long
exposed to an air attack could escape.
He said the Panama Canal could be de
fended if protected by an air force
I greater than that of an attacking air
; force and predicted an era of competi
| tive building of “mobile naval air
| forces.”
Would Omit Battleships
j Admiral Sims declared that he
| would omit battleships if he were
j making up the United States navy.
; He pronounced battleships obsolete,
i and said that aircraft carriers had re
placed battleships in importance. He
stated: “Our position on the Pacific
! is unfortunate. If we are to protect
the Philippines, we must have a base
in the Pacific.”
He remarked that the Washington
! treaty protected the United States in
respect to battleships and airplane
carriers, “but the armament race is
still going great. Britain has fifty
fast cruisers, and Japan thirty, with
83 thousand tons of submarines built
since the war.”
He asserted that high officials in the
Navy were unsympathetic with the
; Naval war on Coolidge. He said the
i men surrounding Daniels and Denby
! had never attended this war college.
Opposes Unified Air Service
j Admiral Sims vigorously opposed
| the creation of a unified air service,
as urged by Brigadier General Mitch
ell, but urged and indorsed the crea
tion of a powerful aviation branch of
the United States Navy.
AMATEURS NURSE GRIEVANCE
AGAINST OLD RADIO STATION
! _
LONDON, Feb. 27.—The wireless
“howler” which so seriously inter
fered with the reception from the
LTiited States during the recent wire
j less week, has been discovered. It
i is the old wireless station of North
| olt, Middlesex, constructed 15 years
ago, and described by up-to-date en
thusiasts as being hopelessly ineffi
cient and whose “howls, splutters,
and wheezes, as it sends out its
Morse messages, are ruining wireless
reception all over the country.”
House Sends to Senate
Deficiency Appropriation
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 27 (AP)
The House passed and sent to the
Senate last night the deficiency appro
priation bill, carrying 356,000,000. The
rider carrying an increase in the sal
ary of the president's secretary, was
eliminated at the request of the sec
retary.
CALIFORNIA OIL DECLINES
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 27.—The
production of oil in California during
the last year was 230,045,000 barrels,
33,683,895 barrels less than in the
previous year, according to a state
ment issued by the state mining bu
reau.
The heaviest decline was in the
southern California fields. This was
partly offset by increases in the San
Joaquin Valley and elsewhere, both
from new wells and from wells which
had been shut down or curtailed in
1923, owing to the temporary over
production.
Gateway want-ads bring results.
Coolidge Will Sign
New Postal Pay Bill
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 27 (AP)
Administration leaders expect Presi
dent Coolidge to sign the postal pay
rate bill which the Senate passed yes
terday.
DEMOCRATS WHO !
BOLTED RETURN
DAYTON, O., Feb. 27.—The four
teen Indiana Democratic senators who
bolted the legislature last week, going
to Dayton, Ohio, won their point and
have started their triumphant return
to Indianapolis. They were given to
understand that the bill which caused
them to bolt will not be passed.
Jury Acquitted President
And Owner of Giants
NE7W YORK, Feb. 27 (AP).—A
Federal jury acquitted Charles A.
Stoneham, president and chief owner
of the Giants and two others associat
ed in the affairs of Edward M. Fuller
& Company, bucket shop operators,
of conspiracy to use the mails to de
fraud stock market patrons.
Turkish Forces Defeat
Kurdish Revolutionists
CONSTANTINOPLE. Turkey, Feb.
27 (AP).—The Anatolian agency wir
ed today that Turkish government
forces had repulsed Kurdish rebel
troops and recaptured Kharput and
El Aziz, with considerable loss on
both sides.
La Victoria Mine in
Mexico Burning Fiercely
MEXICO CITY, Mexico, Feb. , 27
(AP)—A rich mine called the Victo
ria, in San Andreas Bela Sierra, state
of Durango, is burning fiercely, killing
many miners. The dispatches said
the authorities are sending food to the
destitute families of the men.
Poor Little Rich Girl
Will Marry Attorney
NEW YORK, Feb. 27 (AP)—It is
announced that Abby Rockefeller,
daughter of John Rockefeller, Jr., and
David M. Milton, jr., a lawyer, will
live in a modest apartment after
their marriage next month and will
confine themselves to their income.
The young couple will not have a car,
although Miss Rockefeller has been ar
rested in many parts of the world for
speeding, and her cars have been
the last wrord in luxury.
DENEEN ftlU. ACT
! ILLINOIS SENATOR
—
CHICAGO, Feb. 27 (AP)—Senator
Elect Charles Deneen, former gov
ernor of Illinois, recently elected
Senator, has been appointed to fill
the vacancy caused by the death of
Medill McCormick, until Tuesday,
March 4, when Deneen will automati
cally take his place.
Hydroelectric Units Be
Built on Speel River
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 27 (AP)
Thebo, Starr & Anderton, of San
Francisco has applied to the Federal
waterpower commission for a permit
to construct a series of hydroelectric
units on Speel river and tributary
creeks, 30 miles southeast of Juneau.
Noah W. Beck, 90, and Mrs. Hu:
Ann Hester, 70, were recently mar
ried at Cleveland, O.
PROSECUTION WILL
BE STARTED FIND
WHEREFUNDSGONE
FORMER JUDGE ACCUSED OF EM
BEZZLING 839,000 FROM PINTA
BAY MINING COMPANY, A S. E
ALASKAN MINING CONCERN
TACOMA, Wn„ Feb. 27 (AP)—
Judge Chapman yesterday ordered
Prosecutor Selden to show cause why
he should not proscute Fremont
Campbell, sr., former Tacoma judge
of the Superior court, on a charge of
embezzling $39,000 from the Pinta
Bay Mining Company of Alaska, for
which concern he was attorney as well
as secretary-treasurer. The petition
alleged that in four years, ending with
1921, Campbell failed to account for
$15,000 in handling $124,000, and from
1922 until the present time he had
failed to account for SIS,000, and had
sold $5,900 worth of treasury stock,
the money not being turned over to
the company's account.
Prosecuting Attorney Selden said
that Pinta Bay Mining Company offi
cials had repeatedly asked him to
prosecute Campbell, but had furnished
no evidence. Campbell’s son, Fre
mont, Jr., is auditor of Pierce county.
Billy Delaney Hangs
Crepe on Joe Flowers
NEW YORK, Feb. 27.—Billy De
laney kayoed Joe Flowers in the
fourth round of a twelve round bout.
Betting was all on Delaney. Flowers
is a negro, and has made some of tils
best of them lay down.
:
DENIES HE TRIED
TO POISON HIS
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 27.—
Richard M. Hotaling requested he
be allowed to appear before the
Grand Jury Monday night in ans
wer to the charges that he con
spired to have the wife of his
brother Fred, killed.
King, the former Honolulu po
liceman, said Richard engaged
him, and further stated that he,
Richard, didn’t want anybody but
Mrs. Hotaling harmed. Richard
declared Mrs. Hotaling had set
ruffians on his trail to castigate
him for an imagined offense.
Richard is a prominent clubman.
Shakespearean actor, and landowner
of this city. His father, Anson P.
Hotaling left an estate of four and
one-half million twenty years ago. in
cluding a wholesale liquor business,
lands in San Francisco, Santa Cruz.
Napa and Lake counties.
The estate was evenly given be
tween Richard and Frederic, the two
living sons, Mrs. Lavina, widow of
Anson, Sr., and Mrs. Anna, widow of
Anson, Jr. Disputes over the prop
erty began six years ago and several
suits were dragged through the fed
eral courts.
King. Makes Damaging Statement
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 27.—King
today said he met the missing million
aire, Richard Hotaling, nine months
ago at an Hawaiian party at Lake
Port, and five months ago the mil
lionaire proposed to him to get rid of
Mrs. Hotaling.
King admitted he agreed to do so
for consideration and gave Lou and
a man named “Al” $3300 to do the
job. Lou, in his statement declared
they never intended to perform the
agreement.
EBERT RECOVERING
BERLIN, Feb. 27 (AP)— President
Ebert has passed the crises and has a
| fair chance for recovery, his physi
I cians reported today.