Hemard Dnily Gateumy
MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOLUME 21. NUMBER 28
SEWARD, ALASKA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1926
PRKF, TEN CENTS
WILLIAM M. WOOD
COMMITS SUICIDE
DAYTONABEACH
FORMER PRESIDENT AMERICAN
WOOLLEN COMPANY BLOWS
OUT SCRAMBLED BRAINS
ILL HEALTH GIVEN AS CAUSE
Had Been a Guest of Hotel Ormand
on the Beach for Past Month,
Accompanied by His Wife
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 2
William Madison Wood, 68, a million
aire and former president of the Amer
ican Woollen Company, of Andover,
Mass., who for the past month with
his wife had been a guest of the Ho
tel Ormand, committed suicide today
in a lonely spot, by placing a pistol
in his mouth and firing it. Ill health
is given as the cause.
The romance of the poor boy who
rose to wealth and commanding posi
tion was strikingly exemplified in the
life of William Madison Wood. The
son of humble immigrant parents, he
became, as presiden: of the American
Woolen Company, a dominating fig
ure in the woolen and worsted man
ufacturing industry of the country.
It was through his aptitude and am
bition shown as a boy in a mill of
fice and as a youth in various de
partments of mill work that he
won the opportunity to serve as su
perintendent of a large mill, and
eventually to head the largest woolen
manufacturing corporation in the
world.
Wood’s father, a native of Santa
Maria in the Azores, came to this
, country as a cook’s assistant on a
whaling vessel. His name was Jac
intho, but not along after his arriv
al he took the name of Wood. A
little later he married a young wo
man who had come from Flores, an
other island of the Azores group.
They established their home in Ed
gartown on the island of Martha’s
Vlnejard off the southern Massachu
- setts coast. There William M. Wood
was born April 5, 1858.
The father became steward of a
little steamer plying between Edgar
toYvn and New' Bedford, and the fam
ily soon moved to the latter place.
Wood attended the grammar school
and had entered high school w'hen
his father died. The mother and tw'o
sisters needed support, and Wood
got a job in the office of the Wam
sutta Mills in New Bedford. He show
ed such promise that Andrew^ G.
Pierce, head of the corporation, took
a personal interest in the boy. Af
ter three years in the office he spent
three years at the machines ar*.
then w'as advanced to the agent’s of
fice.
He had gone ahead rapidly when
he accepted a chance to enter a
banking house, but after a brief ex
• perience there he returned to mill
■work. Six years o«f increasingly im
portant duties in Fall River led to
his choice as superintendent of the
■\\ ashington Mills in Lawrence, which
had been taken over for debts by
Frederick Ayer of Lowell.
The poor iboy already had risen
‘ar. He was made welcome in Mr.
Ayer’s home and after a brief court
ship he was married to the manufac
turer’s daughter.
In 1900 a merger of many of the
woolen mills in the East was consum
mated and Mr. Ayer became president
of the resulting American Woolen
Company, while Wood was made
treasurer. Within a short time he
succeeded to the presidency. Other
mills were taken into the combination
from time to time until the company
had approximately 40,000 employes in
New England and New York.
Wood built in Lawrence, wrhere the
company had 15,000 workers, the
Wood Worsted Mill, the largest of
its kind in the world. Later he built
in the neighboring town of Andover
a settlement of model homes for
mill workers, known as Shawsheen
Village. Here he gave employes of
the corporation the opportunity to
purchase their own homes on a sys
tem of monthly payments and provid
ed a bowling green, soccer grounds
and other opportunities for recreation.
While emphasizing at all times his
desire for friendly relations with
the corporation’s employes, he could
not prevent the Lawrrence workers
from joining with those of other mills
in that city in the great strike of
1912 which resulted in much vio- j
lence and bloodshed. As an after- j
math of the strike Wood was indict- i
ed for conspiracy to “plant” sticks !
of dynamite which had been found i
in the homes of several mill work- j
ers, with the intention of imputing
criminal charges to these operatives.
A Lawrence undertaker who had
been convicted of actually placing
the dynamite in the homes had told
the authorities that Wood and others
had paid him a few hundred dollars
to do it. A mill builder named by
the undertaker as one of the con
spirators committed suicide after
being summoned to testify before
the grand jury. The trial resulted
in Wood’s acquittal.
His name appeared again in crimi
nal procedings in 1920 when he and
the American Woolen Company were
indicted by the federal grand jury
in New York for violating the Lever
Act by profiteering in the sale of
woolen cloth. Charles E. Hughes, re
tained as counsel, offered a demur
rer on the ground that a piece of
woolen cloth was not an article of
wearing apparel, and Judge Julian
Mack sustained the demurrer and
quashed the indictment.
After the indictment several thous
and employes of the company march
ed four miles from Lawrence to
Wood’s home in Andover and gave
a demonstration of their confidence
in him. On the night that word was
received of Judge Mack’s action the
company’s employes held public cele
brations in several mill villages and
gave Wood a big reception in Shaw
sheen Village.
It was Mr. Wood’s custom on the
occasion of wage increases or de
creases by the corporation to ad
dress long letters of explanation to
the employes. Frequently he enter
tained the Lawrence operatives at his
Andover home. In December, 1919,
he aroused the ire of Lawrence mer
chants and the gratitude of his em
ployes by charging that the merch
ants raised prices every time the
mills increased wages and declaring
that unless they desisted he would
build a company store to sell necessi
ties to operatives at cost.
In a letter to company employes
in response to a Christmas greeting
from them in 1919 he set forth some
of his principles as follows:
“In the new social and industrial
order on which we have entered there
is no room for the selfish employer
or for the selfish worker. It is my
firm conviction that there is no es
sential antagonism between capital
and labor. Differences of opinion
may arise but these can be adjusted
if both parties are pervaded with a
spirit of good will and justice.”
King Victor Emmanuel made Wood
a Vavalier of the Cross and Crown
of Italy in 1922. Wood never cared
for sports but had owned several
yachts and was a member of two
country clubs. In politics he was a
republican and in religion an Episco
palian. He maintained homes in An
dover, Boston, Prides Crosisng on the
North Shore and the island of Cut
tyhunk, no far from the place where
he was born.
HOPE ABANDONED
ENTOMBED MEN
IN HORNING MINE
PITTSBURGH, Pa., Feb. 4 (£>)—
Abandoning hope that any of the 16
miners missing after the explosion in
the Horning mine yesterday are alive,
workers sealed the entry where they
are entombed in order to smother the
fire which has been raging for hours.
Twenty-one men w'ere working two
miles back in the pit when the explo
sion occurred. Two escaped and three
bodies have been recovered. Those
entombed included Howard M. Ernst,
superintendent of the Pittsburgh Ter
minal Coal Company; George Travis,
manager of the Horning mines; and
the remainders miners on shift. The
explosion occurred shortly after the
day shift, about 700 men, had left the
mine. A string of mine cars stand
ing loaded on the track were blown
to pieces by the explosion.
Plans for a world middleweight
championship bout between Harry
Greb, the titleholder, and Dave Shade,
California welterweight and con
queror of Jimmy Slattery, fell thru
when Greb refused the terms.
DONOHOE SAYS
FRAMECHARGES
ARE NOT TREE
DR. W. W. COUNCIL DECLARES
BOOTLEGGING RING DOES
NOT EXIST IN CORDOVA
_ \
I
FOSTER DENIES PUT OUT HOTEL
Donohoe Says There Are No Words
in English Language to Defiine
Character of John Frame
CORDOVA, Feb. 4 (/P)—Answering
Sutherland’s charges, Thomas Scott,
manager of the Bank of Alaska, said:
“There is no truth in the coal charges
so far as the Bank of Alaska is con
cerned. The only time the bank had
an interest in the coal company
was when it held and cashed checks
by the bookkeeper at Katalla for men
working on the Alaska Anthracite
j Railroad. These checks were subse
quently paid.”
Harry O’Neill and James Galen
sailed for the States on the steamship
Victoria and no statement could be
obtained from them.
T. J. Donohoe, a prominent attorney
here and Democratic Territorial Com
I mifteeman said when told of Frame’s
charges that Judge Ritchie had called
him a deadbeat and blackmailer: “I
am at a loss as to what words in the
English language Judge Ritchie could
use that would libel John Frame. As i
to the statement by Frame that he is
no chronic deadbeat, I think it is per
fectly true. I have known Frame for
twenty years and have never known
him to be anything else. As to Flan
igan's letter to Sutherland regarding
District Attorney Frank Foster, re
garding Dr. W. W. Council and others j
as being members of a bootlegging
ring, it is unnecessary to deny the
charge, but I do deny the statement
as absolutely false. I believe I am
fairly well acquainted with what is
going on about Cordova. A bootleg
ging ring does not exist and never
has existed. It is rather unfortunate
that O’Neill and Galen are not here to
defend themselves but their good
name needs no defense in Cordova or
elsewhere these gentlemen are well
known.”
Dr. W. W. Council flatly denied the
charge made and said. “I am not a
member of any ring and never have
been.”
Friends of District Attorney Foster
said many affidavits had been secured
denying the charge that he was turned
out of a hotel in Valdez.
Officials Will Be Summoned
WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 4 (Jp)~
Chairman Cummins, of the Senate
Judiciary sub-committee announced
that he would summon Donovan, Mar
shall and other officials of the depart
ment concerning in the Alaska ap
pointments. The hearing was ad
journed subject to the call of the
chairman.
SNOW MOTOR HAS
SUCCESSFUL TRIAL
FAIRBANKS, Feb. 4 (^P)—Malcolm
Smith partly tried out one of the ex
pedition’s snow motors yesterday on
the Nenana river, which was an ap
parent success, although hurriedly
called off. The motor had no trouble
negotiating the grade over the bank
from the river to Nenana’s streets.
ALASKA GETS
LARGE SUM FOR
COMING YEAR
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 4 (JP)—
The Army appropriation bill reported
i to the House provides $906,167 for
Alaska which includes $751,000 for
the construction and extension for
the maintenance of roads and bridges
from the receipts of Alaska cable sys
tem which has been deposited in the
thousmand one hundred and sixty
| Treasury. One hundred and fifty-five
| one hundred and sixty three dollars
| was appropriated for extension and
j maintenance which is $4,267 over the
1 current appropriation.
OFFICIALS HELD
HIGH JINKS AT
OLMSTED HOME
UNITED STATES RADIO INSPEC
TOR FOUND WHEN RAID IS
PULLED OFF IN 1924
TWO HOURS SPENT IN SEARCH
Only Liquor Found During Raid Was
One Bottle Taken from Person
of Herbert Fletcher
SEATTLE, Feb. 4 (/P)—That govern
ment officials were entertained in the
Olmsted home when it was raided
September 17, 1924, was hinted in a
cross examination conducted today by
Prosecutor Finch, who asked Corwin,
one of the raiders, who was in the
house. Corwin named several, includ
ing a Mr. Foster.
“Who is this Foster?” Finch asked.
The court ruled that Corwin need
not answer unless he so desired.
“Why don’t you know? He is a Uni
ted States radio inspector,” Corwin -
said. The court held the same again
when Corwin said that seven or eight
prohibition agents spent two hours
searching the home of Olmsted.
Finch charged they were there eight
hours saying: “You did not leave the
premises till 2:30 o’clock in the morn
ing. You spent from 9 until 2:30 call
ing up bootleggers asking them to
bring liquor out there, didn’t you?”
The court made the same ruling in
this question.
Finch attempted to show by asking
further questions concerning each of
the sixteen persons arrested in the
raid that one by one the prohibition
agents called up saying “This is Roy
Olmsted talking,” and asking them to
bring out liquor. The court ruled
against him in each instance.
Corwin testified that the only liquor
found was one bottle taken from the
person of Herbert Fletcher.
“Didn’t you take away from the
Olmsted residence that night two
cases of liquor. Was not the liquor
you took away brought there that
night by yourselves, with the excep
tion of the Fletcher bottle?”
The court ruled against the ques
tion.
Finch and Vanderveer charged Cor
win with receiving a Christmas pres
ent from Alfred Hubbard, a former
defendant, and that Corwin arranged
for dismissal of the charges against
Hubbard.
WOULD ABOLISH
INQUIRY INTO
FARM MARKETS
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 4 (£>)—
Directors of the National Board of
Farm Organizations unanimously re
solved urging the abolition of the Fed
eral Commission’s congressional in
quiry into the commission’s record,
charging unwarranted delay in dispos
ing of tariff questions affecting far
mers, and declared the commission
took secret testimony in the case aft
er it had informed interested parties
after the hearing was concluded.
In the case concerning a tariff on
butter it was learned that farmer lead
ers protested declaring that after the
public hearings butter closed weaker
in April. At the hearing an attach
of the Danish legation was secretly
questioned about butter production in
Denmark.
SENATE SLASHES
SURTAX TO 20
PCT. MINIMUM
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb. 4 (£>)—
The Senate voted reductions on in
come surtax rates including a 42 and
20 per cent slash in the maximum
rate in accepting the schedule wfitten
into the tax reduction bill by the Fi
nance committee. A total reduction
estimated at $122,000,000 was voted
by the committee for this year, the
committee having increased the total
over the House’s approval by $23,000,
000 by providing greater reductions
on incomes between $26,000 and $100,
000 where the maximum takes effect
Hale and Longacre Here \
from Anchorage Office
R. H. Hale, supt. of motive power
for the Alaska Railroad, accompanied
by John J. Longacre, head of the
electrical department of the rail
road, arrived in Seward last evening |
from the railroad headquarters at
Anchorage. The railroad men are
heje in connection with the arrival,
in a few days on the freighter La
touche, of the big hew Brill motor
car. Thye are registered at the :
Van Gilder.
Cordova Games Called
Off By Executive Com.,
Owing To Big Expense
Owing to the heavy financial bur
den which the S. A. C. is carrying
and in view of the fact the support
of local citizens will be called upon
probably twice more this winter,
when two more Anchorage basket
ball teams and perhaps the Fair
banks team will be brought over to
play a series with the locals, the
matter of attempting to arrange
games with the Cordova club has
temporarily been abandoned.
A letter was received last week
from Cordova in .which it was stat
ed games were desired with Sew
ard. The executive committee of the
S. A. C. met the other evening and
reached the above decision. With
reference to the Fairbanks team, it
is reported the Anchorage club is
bringing them to Cook Inlet next
month and if this is the case an ef
fort will be made locally to bring
them over here following the Inlet
series. At the present time the An
chorage team is in Fairbanks play
ing three games. The Inlet teams
coming to Seward are ladies and
men’s champ teams which thus far
have not appeared locally.
Stockholders Meeting
A. C. F., Inc., Seldovia
Notices have been forwarded to the
stockholders of the Alaska Consoli
| dated Fisheries, Inc., of Portlock, an
nouncing the annual meeting of the
company will be held at Seldovia,
February 10, 1926, at the hour of 1
p. m„ for the purpose of electing
a new board of directors. It is plan
ned by Joseph Kildall, president to
* elect, if posible, a board of direc
| tors consisting principally of Alas
I kan residents. It is also stated that
| the general office, which heretofore
I has been located at Chicago, will be
discontinued, and all business hereaf
■ ter be transacted thru the Portlock
| office.
| Mr. Kildall, who has been at Port
i lock since last fall, will make a bus
; iness trip to Seward from Seldovia
! following the company meeting.
Big Company On Canyon
Creek Making Headway
The largest operating placer mine
in the Sunrise district is that of the
Canyon Creek development Company,
owned by Philadelphia interests, and
of which N. O. Anderson, is the local
superintendent. Last season five to
six men were employed in the hy
draulicking camp and, it is expected,
at least the same number, if not
more, will be on the job next sum
mer. The work accomplished last
season wTas mostly confined to driv
ing a big channel thru a bank.
While this work was under way
much gold was recovered. A big
dam has been under construction
for years. The ground yields a fair
average of gold and, according to
oldtimers, when the preliminary de
velopment work is completed, one
of the most likely placer properties
in the Territory will be producing.
During the last baseball season
Simmons, of the Philadelphia Ath
letics, made more hits than any other
major league player.
Major Louis Beard, former officer
of the United States army, has been
engaged by Harry Payne Whitney to
take charge of his stables in Ken
tucky.
Toronto yachtsmen include 400
owners of fourteen-foot dinghies.
*. •• .gm**** V . "' -
SUPPLIES MAY BE
TAKEN BARROW
BY AIRPLANE
3EN EIELSON NOT OPTIMISTIC
OVER SUCCESS OF SNOW
MOTORS, DECLARES
WILL NOT RESORT TO DOGS
Says Gold Bearing Strip Along the
Endicott Range Has Not Yet
Been Prospected
SEATTLE, Feb. 4 (/P)—Ben Eielson
he well known Alaskan aviator, who
will sail Saturday for Seward said:
‘I wdll be very much surprised if
AJex Smith gets through to the Arctic
with his snowmotors and sleds. Wq
Slave talked this thing pretty steadily
for the past two months and are pre
pared for the failure of the motors.
If they fail wre will not resort to dogs
but will freight our supplies in to
Point Barrow by planes. It will mean
at least four or five trips between
Fairbanks and Barrow. If we have
to depend upon the planes prolonga
tion of the freighting w^ork may post
pones the hop-off beyond the first of
May, beyond which date Arctic fogs
make flying extremely hazardous. The
flight over the Pole to Spitzbergen
should take about 20 hours.”
He said he hoped to hop-off soon
after March 21 carrying food for two
weeks, rifles, ammunition and other
squipment.
Eielson said he had formed a $250
300 corporation, backed by Col. Joseph
Hambleton, of New York, bidding on
a contract to supplant dogteams in
carrying the mails in Alaska. He said
his company proposed carrying the
mails the year round for $127,000, com
pared to $700,000 the government
spends annually giving mail service to
Alaska. He said he could carry the
mail from Fairbanks to Nome in two
days, compared to 56 days by dog
teams, and in addition to carrying the
mail, Eielson said his company would
carry prospectors and thousands of
pounds of supplies to any point in
Alaska free of charge, bringing the
prospectors out in the fall, providing
the company receives an interest in
any claims on which the passengers
had found gold.
Gold Abounds in Endicott Belt
Mr. Eielson said that gold abounds
in a belt 550 miles long contiguous to
the 67th parallel of latitude skirting
the Endicott mountains. He said the
belt is little prospected because it
takes a prospector the whole summer
to get in or out of the country, leav
ing no time for search.
EIGHT LIVES LOST
ATLANTIC COAST
ASBURY PARK, N. J., Feb. 4 (/P)—
Eight lives were reported lost and
three barges foundered on the north
Jersey coast tonight in a snowstorm
and sixty mile northeast gale which
overtook a multitude of small ship*
ping bound for New York.
Huge Pack of Herring
Seldovia Last Season
The total output of herring from
Seldovia and tributary towns for the
past season amounted to 49,336 bar
rels, according to figures received
by The Gateway from Dr. J. J. Jen
sen, well known resident of the
thriving Cook Inlet community. Dr.
Jensen writes' that every indication
points to this amount being exceeded
by next season’s operations.
YUKON PIONEER
DEAD IN SEATTLE
SEATTLE, Feb. 4 (/P)—Julius C.
Smith, pioneer, died Tuesday of apo
plexy. He was one of the first men
to mush into the Yukon searching for
gold, and was the reputed discoverer
of gold at Gold Run and operated
mines in Alaska and British Colum
bia.
American Bowding association was
organized at Jersey City in 1889.