s
LITE TELEGRAPHIC NEWS NOTES
A Record of the Principal Happenings of the World
EL CENTRO, Cal., June 23—A
severe earthquake visited the Imperial
valley last night, and a cluster of
little cities that dot the valley were
entirely destroyed. Houses were de
molished, resulting in the starting of
bad fires in several of the towns,
which completed the work of destruc
tion commenced by the earthquake.
From reports so far received, which
are far from complete, but five per
sons are dead as a result of the shock.
The property damage will easily reach
one million dollars. None of the
deaths so far reported occurred on
the American side of the boundary,
the five known deaths being of resi
dents of Mexicali, across the interna
tional line from Calexico.
The first shock was the most severe
occurring at 8 o’clock in the evening,
and it was shortly followed by two
lesser quakes.
The greatest confuson arose every
where in the valley, and although re
lief work has been under way nearly
all night, not much order has yet
been secured. Ranchers and city
residents, who ate their dinner last
night in their homes, find themselves
today without a roof over their heads
and compelled to sleep outdoors in the
open fields. The shock was felt as far
east as Yuma, Ariz. A slight shock
was also felt at San Diego, but the
beautiful buildings of the exposition
there suffered no damage.
EL CENTRO, Cal., June 23.—The
firemen are still fighting the fires in
several towns in the Imperial Valley
which were started by the earthquake
yesterday evening. The biggest fires
are burning in Calexico, Brawley,
Holtville and Zeley. Lesser conflagra
tions were started in nearly all the
other towns in the valley, and the fire
fighters have worked incessantly all
night trying to prevent the spread of
the flames. In practically every case
the fires are now under control. At
the time the first shock was felt, the
theaters were filled with pleasure seek
ers, and the crowds became panic
stricken, wild scrambles being made
to get outside before the buildings
collapsed.
Throughout the whole valley, the
number of buildings which have been
destroyed must be great, but no at
tempt has been made to get facts and
figures on the property damage, as
everyone has been busy rendering
what assistance was necessary to the
homeless people.
In the Mexican town of Mexicali,
the gambling houses were the scene
of much confusion. They were all
doing a good business when the earth
quake happened, and they scurried
like rabbits from the buildings leaving
their piles of gold on the tables behind
them. The great irrigation system
throughout the valley that has been
used to reclaim the land was not
harmed by the quake. .
CALEXICO, Cal., June 23.—Further
earthquake shocks throughout the
stricken Imperial Valley were felt
today. They occurred shortly after
midnight and several distinct tremors
were experienced. These were fol
lowed at 10 o’clock this morning by a
second very severe shock. The last
quake helped to complete the destruc
tion of such buildings that were only
partly demolished by the first shock
yesterday evening.
GALVESTON, June 24.—The Zapata
forces in Mexico City have prepared
to offer desperate resistance to the
advancing Constitutionalists under
General Gonzales. The troops are en
trenched, within the city limits, and
it seems certain that Gonzales will not
take the capital until much blood has
been shed on both sides. All non
combatants who can, are leaving the
city.
EL PASO, June 24.—The army of
General Carranza, under command of
Gonzales has reached the suburbs of
Mexico City. So far there have "been
no clashes with the Zapata forces who
are in possession o fthe capital, but
the battle between them will be com
menced without delay. Both sides are
well armed and supplied with ammuni
tion, and it is reported that they are
evenly matched in point of numbers.
The Zapata forces have the advantage,
as they will wait for Gonzales to take
the offensive, and are well intrenched.
EL CENTRO, Ca}., June 24.—An
other slight earthquake was felt
throughout the Imperial Valley at 8:30
this morning. In this city, the shock
that was experienced today helped to
complete the work of destruction that
was started when the first quake
came. Bricks fell from the Masonic
Temple this morning, and many other
houses toppled over, which were only
partially demolished before. The
work of bringing order out of the
chaos which followed the first shock
is going forward expeditiousjy. The
weather has been fine, and it has been
no real hardship to sleep out of doors.
Many merry camping parties are seen,
and the people are everywhere taking
the catastrophe philosophically.
CALEXICO, June 24.—The number
of persons killed by the earthquake
shock Tuesday night at Mexicali,
across the international boundary
from this city, has been definitely
fixed at six. Quite a number of
American women, mostly tourists
were injured by the quake but none
seriously.
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 24.—
The former Secretary of State William
Jennings Bryan, left here for New
York today. He will address a big
meeting at the Cooper Union on the
subject of “National Honor.” The
Nebraskan has determined to devote
the major part of his time for the rest
of his life to the promotion of the
cause of International peace, and dis
armament of nations. His speech to
night will be the second public utter
ance on the subject since his resigna
tion from the Wilson cabinet, and will
deal with real and imaginary assaults
on the honor of a nation. The sub
ject of the national honor will be
treated from a new and original point
of view.
Later in the week Bryan will go to
San Francisco to participate in the
Fourth of July celebration at the
Panama-Pacific exposition.
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 24.—
Robert Lansing took the oath of office
today as Secretary of State in the
Wilson cabinet. The proceedings were
informal, the oath being administered
by Chief Justice White of the Su
preme Court. The office of the new
secretary in the State Department was
filled with flowers from friends and
relatives, who showered him with con
gratulations over his promotion.
SAN FRANCISCO, Jnue 24.—Horror
of Leprosy is an inheritance from the
middle ages and is not justified by
the facts, said Dr. Douglas W. Mont
gomery of San Francisco, in a paper
presented this morning before the
Sixty-Sixth Annual session of the
American Medical Association. The
repulsive appearance of leprosy and
the fear of its extreme contagion d/e
to misunderstanding of the nature of
leprosy as mentioned in the Bible have
created a belief in the public mind that
leprosy is extremely contagious. This
belief, says Dr. Montgomery, is not
founded on fact. Leprosy is very
slightly contagious and Is a slowly
progressive disease, much less danger
ous to the community or to the indi
vidual than smallpox, tuberculosis and
many other diseases.
The growing economic and industrial
importance of public health work was
emphasized by several speakers.
Sickness insurance was advocated
by Dr. B. S. Warren of the United
States Health Service, as a means of
overcoming the handicap of poverty
among wage earners. Dr. Warren
showed that disease is more prevalent
among low paid workers than among
better paid and that fully one-half of
the wage-earning families of the
United States do not have an income
sufficient to maintain a healthy stand
ard of living. A governmental system
of sickness insurance for working peo
ple would increase their economic in
dependence as well as their physical
condition, he said.
NEW YORK, June 24.—President
Wilson arrived here today, enroute to
his summer home in the White Moun
tains of New Hampshire, at Cornish.
He stopped at Roslyn, N. Y., to spend
a day with his old personal friend,
Colonel House, of Texas. They spent
the time in discussing the impressions
the Colonel had received during his
recent travels in Europe, when he
visited the capitals of the three bel-<
ligerent countries, Germany, England
and France. House has been sup
posed to have gone to europe for the
posed to have gone to Europe for the
European situation, but has denied
that he did so. It is a fact, however,
that the president will give great
weight to whatever impressions his
friend received while at Berlin, Lon
don and Paris.
LONDON, June 24.—“Every fit man
ought t#do his bit,” is the reason the
Rev. Robert Ernest Skene, Vicar of
Raveningham, Norfolk, gave to his
parish for enlisting in the motor
transport service. The Rev. Skene
went through the Boer war as chap
lain to the forces and was for some
years rector of Corozal, Honduras. He
is now 44 years old. He will soon
leave for the front as the driver of a
motor truck.
LONDON, June 24.—The Prince of
Wales Fund has now reached $25,
650,000. This is only one of many
patriotic funds raised in Great Britain
but is the greatest apart from the Red
Cross. So far some $10,525,000 have
been distributed for the additional re
lief of families of soldiers and sailors
and in cases of civil distress, which
have been much less than at one time
feared. Widows and orphans have
come in for substantial aid as well as
maimed and blinded soldiers.
The administration or the fund has
so far cost a little over $30,000.
CHICAGO, 111., June 24—The Ed
ward Hines Lumber Company, the
largest in this city, announced today
that it would close its twenty yards
on Monday next. This concern alone
employs 10,000 men, and it is expected
that the other lumber companies will
take the same action at once.
The closing of the lumber yards is
caused by the big carpenters strike
which has ti%l up the lumber Indus
try, and effectually stopped all build
ing operations for the last two months.
When the lumber yards all shut down,
it is figured that close to 200,000 men
will be idle because of the strike.
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 24.—
The hope among the government offi
cials here that the warring, Mexican
factions would settle their differences
and arrange for peace, waned today,
and now it is felt that the possibility
of intervention by the United States
has been much increased. Carranza
has definitely announced that he
would not agree to a truce with Gen
eral Villa for the purpose of arrang
ing terms of peace. The next move
of our government in the Mexican
muddle will be awaited with a great
deal of interest by the public.
PETROGRAD, June 24.—During the
recent fighting between Przasnish and
the German frontier, the Russian at
tackers had the greatest difficulty in
several instances in getting through
the barb-wire entanglements protect
ing the German lines. After many at
tempts had been made with various
types of wire-cutters, it was discovered
that the enemy was employing a new
kind of wire, made of steel.
SEATTLE, Wash., June 25.—The
steamer Northwestern sailed last
night from this port with a capacity
passenger list, including a large num
ber of tourists. The passengers for
Cordova are Miss L. McKenzie, J. F.
Randall, D.C. Hoyt, N. A. Clasen and
four steerage.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., June 25.—
President Wilson’s special Jr^in
passed through this city today on its
way to the summer home of the Wil
son’s at Cornish, New Hampshire. The
train was met at the railroad station
by a big crowd of people, who cheered
the chief executive lustily, as he came
out on the platform of the obesrvation
car, smiling and waving his hand at
the throng.
Many people took advantage of the
short wait of the train to visit the
president in his private car, shaking
hands and chatting shortly with him.
A delegation representing the railroad
employes called on him, and the
spokesman said, “Keep us out of war
Mr. President.” The president replied
earnestly, and said that he would
neglect no opportunity, or honorable
means to prevent the nation from
entering on the horrors of war. “I
have done all that was humanly pos
sible to preserve an honorable peace,”
declared Wilson, “and the people of
the United States can rest assured
that in the future my actions will be
along the same lines, as to keeping
these United States out of war, I can
promise you that I will if I can."
The mayor of the city, and Governor
Walsh, of Massachusetts met the
president, and regretted that he could
not make a long stay within the bor
lers of the Bay State, and hoped that
he would find it convenient to meet
and speak to the people on his return
to Washington.
CORNISH, N. H., June 25.—The
president’s special pulled into this
town today, and the whole village
turned out to welcome its dis
tinguished guests. Wilson warmly
greeted the many residents of the
town with whom he became
acquainted last year, and expressed
his pleasure at being once more with
them. The president will remain with
his family here for about two weeks,
returning to Washington on July’ 6th.
A big celebration is planned here for
the Fourth of July, which will take
on added interest because of the
presence of th'C president.
PiSTROGRAD, June 25.—Dispatches
received here from Kazan,'a city 400
miles east of Moscow, state that over
a hundred lives were lost when a river
pier at a pleasure garden collapsed.
Most of the dead are women and chil
dren, and the bodies have all been
recovered. Too many people had
crowded onto the pier to watch the
festivities in the river, and the sud
den collapse of the structure threw
them all into the water.
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 25.—
The battle between the Zapata forces
defending Mexico City, and the Consti
tutionalist troops under General Gon
zales, is now on, and the fate of the
capital hangs in the balance. Zapata
did not wait, but started hostitlities
himself by opening a heavy artillery
fire upon the enemy. The artillery of
Gonzales, behind the advance guard
of his army, which has reached the
suburbs of the city, is replying to the
fire of Zapata. The artillery battle
will act as a delay to the final clash
between the opposing forces.
CALEXICO, June 25.—Five severe
earthquakes occurred last night,
through the quake zone in the Im
perial valley. No severe damage was
caused by the shocks, none of which
approached the proportions of the first
one felt on Tuesday night. Some
walls which had been weakened by
the previous quakes collapsed as the
result of the last shocks.
NEW LONDON, June 25.—The an
nual rowing regatta between the uni
versities of Harvard and Yale com
menced on the Thames today. Four
races are held, the first being between
the second varsity eight oar crews.
This race was run off this afternoon,
and was won by the Yale crew by a
third of a length. The time of the
winning eight for the two-mile course
was ten minutes and forty seconds.
The Harvard crew made the distance
in 10 minutes 43 seconds.
Immediately after this racd1 the
freshman eights were scheduled to
meet, but a sudden wind made the
>
water too choppy for the crews to
start out, and it was postponed until
after the varsity fours had been raced
later this afternoon. The regatta will
end with the big event, the varsity
eights. Yale won htis race last year.
NEW LONDON, June 25.—The race
between the varsity eights of Yale and
Harvard, has been postponed until
late this evening, when it is expected
the wind will die down, and the river
will lose some of its roughness. The
observation trains are all sold out, and
the biggest crowd in years is here to
see the race. The crews are said to
be evenly matched and a close race is
looked for.
NEW LONDON, June 25.—The
varsity eight race over the four-mile
course on the Thames was won by
the Yale crew from Harvard by five
lengths. The Yale boat got away in
the lead and was never headed. The
unofficial time is 21. minutes and 2
seconds.
PARIS, June 25.—France is in ex
cellent "health. None of the epidem
ics dreaded with the coming of hot
weather have developed. There were
839 deaths in Paris last week as
against 919 the preceding week and
942 the average for this season of the
year. ^Typhoid fever, the most dread
ed of all diseases made only three vic
tims. Reports from points where
soldiers are concenti'ated and where
there were a great many cases during
the winter show that the epidemic is
abating.
SEATTLE, June 25.—The steam
ship Victoria, Captain Johnny O’Brien,
returned yesterday to this port, from
her first trip to Nome this year. The
Victoria brought back from the Seward
Peninsula placer mines $575,000 in
gold dust, being the first shipment of
gold to the Seattle assay office re
ceived this year.
BERLIN, June 25—An official re
port on labor conditions in Germany
during the year 1914 has Just been
issued. It shows that the total num
ber of strikes which occurred in 1914
after the outbreak of the war was 24,
involving only 1,100 workpeople. They
were all settled promptly and not a
single strike was under way at the
end of the year.
In consequence of the practical ees,
sation of strikes after the beginning j
of the war, the total'number of work
men involved in labor disputes during;
the year was 59,000, as against an
average of 226,000 for the five years i
proceedings '
LONDON’, June 25.—Patriotism is
not uncoupled with profit in the case
of the Anti-German League, which
states that its object is “Everything
German taboo" and also the raising
of a million members at a shilling a
head. This would give the organizer
control of $250,000 at the least, since
he asks for larger contributions if
possible.
Members of the Anti-German
League are pledged:
Not to purchase, consume or use
German or Austrian goods.
Not to employ Germans.
Not to place contracts with Ger
mans.
To boycott traders who stock enemy
goods.
To hold no intercourse with Ger
mans, and to ostracise every British
born woman who marries a German.
These efforts are not taken seri
ously except by the sensational press
and Truth brands the whole thing as
futile, while pointing out the motives
of private gain that may be behind
the movement. . ( (
PITTSBURG, June 25—Seven per
sons were badly burned today, and
probably fatally injured, as the result
of an explosion at the plant in this
city where the government is experi
menting with a new process of gasoline
manufacture. The interior of the
plant was wrecked by the terrific ex
explosion, which was caused by tne
inadvertent mixture of two powerful
chemicals. The building caught fire,
but the fire department extinguished
the flames without great difficulty.
PARIS, June —The success with
which women have contended with the
difficulties of farming is indicated by
a report from the department of
Meurthe and Moselle. Of the six
hundred communes comprising this
department, 316 were taken by the
Germans and 171 of them are still oc
cupied or are so close to the fighting
line that the inhabitants have been
unable to return. In the balance of
the department women replacing men
have succeeded in sowing the full
acreage of oats and wheat in the com
munes that were not affected and 70
per cent of the acreage of the com
munes that were devastated and have
since been liberated. There was not
only a lack of male help in this work
but it was seriously compromised by
lack of horses. To facilitate the work
the government advanced the sums
necessary for the seed and agricul
tural implements on anticipated in
demnities.
The creaking, lumbering two-wheel
ed carts loaded with carrots, turnips,
cabbage, onions and other vegetables,
driven by men in capes resembling the
Alpine Chasseur's “beret,” that were
were to be encountered in the streets
of Paris before the war, are now
driven by women. It is due almost
entirely to them that Paris is not de
prived of the famous cauliflower
from Chambourcy, the celebrated
white turnips of Croissy-sur-Seine, the
carrots of Monteson and the delicious
green peas of Clamart, as well as the
luxurious asparagus of Argenteuil.
ATHENS, June 25.—A great propor
tion of officer losses to the French
and English forces in the Dardanelles
are due to the activity of the Turkish
snipers, who have special instructions
to pick out the officers. A corres
pondent with the French force writes:
“The danger to officers in this part
of the peninsula from snipers is very
great. Parties of ten or twenty Turk
ish sharpshooters crawl past our lines
at night and either hide in a tree or
get into an abandoned trencn or
shell hole. There they lie concealed
from view, waiting for an opportunity
to snipe at some isolated officer pass
ing within range of their rifle. They
are instructed to disregard firing upon
private i|)ldiers If it involves any dan
ger to themselves, but to miss no
chance to bring down an officer.
“In many cases the sniper’s eager
nes for this duty is assisted by stories
of the huge loot to be obtained from
the pockets of the officers. Some of
the snipers who have been caught
were found with large sums of British
and French monpy, as well as other
property belonging to officers.”
Dr. W. H. Chase, has been notified
that a throat disease has become epi
demic among the natives at lower Ton
sina, about 30 miles from Chitina.
From what slight information the doc
tor has received he believes the
trouble to be diphtheria. Dr. Chase
has wired to Mr. Miller, a government
teacher at Copper Center, to visit the
scene of the trouble, and expects to
hear from him today, and unless he
wires that it is unnecessary, the doc
tor will leave on the train tomorrow
for Tonsina. He has been attempt
ing to secure diphtheria anti-toxin
from the various settlements around
the sound, and from Juneau, and has
managed to receive a small amount
from Fort Liscum. One death has ac
curred so far among the natives, and
four or five in another family are al
ready sick. .
:o:
1
SCHOOL' SMI
MUST CO ON
BERLIN, June 26—The Prussian
Ministry of Education has issued an
administrative order to the local
school authorities enjoining them to
spare no effort to maintain the con
tinuity of school work, notwithstand
ing the difficulties caused by the de
parture of large numbers of teachers
for the front.
Apart from the ordinary features of
instruction, the local authorities are
directed to make sure that patriotic
feeling among the boys and girls is
carefully cultivated and encouraged.
“The boys,” said the Minister of Edu
cation, "must be trained to regard
themselves as the future soldiers Of
the Fatherland, while the girls must
learn the necessity for self-sacrifice
on the part of all wives and mothers.
All of them should be influenced so
that they will be eager to suffer any
hardships on behalf of the Father
land.”
The local authorities are ordered to
send reports' on their efforts in this
direction to the Ministry of Education.
fjithehW derTol
COMES BUCK NORTH
Father Van der Pol returned from
the south yesterday after an absence
of several months. He has been stay
ing at Pendleton, Ore., for his health,
and while not fully recovered, he looks
to be in fine health, and Is feeling
much better. He says that he is now
with us to stay. Father Van der Pol
continued on the Alameda to Anchor
age and after a stay there of a few
days will go to Seward. He will re
turn to Cordova around August 1.
-: o:
The practice of growing cow peas on
sugar lands between crops to increase
the soil fertility is being successfully
introduced in the Philippines.
Before the war there were 5,000
German waiters and barbers in Lon
don.
—:o:~
In all stations of the Pennsylvania
railroad east of Pittsburgh, bulletins
have been posted entitled “The
Greatest Asset of the Pennsylvania
Railroad,” and containing statements
about the loyalty of its 250,000
employees.
—:o:—
When the townsite at Anchorage is
thrown open, plans will be prepared to
incorporate the town, for the people
there prefer to govern themselves
rather than to be under the dominion
of the Railroad Commission.
—:o:—
Two weeks vacation with full pay
each year for every man employed is
one of the provisions of the new wage
scale and working agreement recently
negotiated with employers by the Milk
Wagon Drivers’ Union of Chicago.