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Don’t Fail to Attend the Patriotic Celebration at the Court House at'_
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VOLUME XVII. NO. 304. NEWPORT, ARKANSAS, ^SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1918. PRICE FIVE CENTS.
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BIB RALLY HERE
' THIS AFTERNOON
r —
Continued Rain Makes It Impossible
to Carry Out Program As Origi
nally Planned.
Rain which fell all through last
night and during the greater part of
the morning placed the streets and
roads in such bad condition that the
executive committee decided it would
be an impossibility to carry out the
original plans made for the big pa
triotic rally in Jackson county today.
However, there will be speaking at
the court house this afternoon at 1:30
o’clock, at which time Eustace C.
Wbeeler of St. Louis will deliver an
address. Also the musical program
will be carried out.
Speakers will be sent to Tuckerman,
Swifton, Tupelo, Auvergne and Wel
don this afternoon, but road condi
tions caused the cancellation of all in
land dates.
Observe the half-holiday and be at
the court house at 1:30.
CUT THROATS OF
FOUR AMERICANS
Atrocity of Germans Is Described In
a Letter of Salvation Army
Worker In France.
Chicago, April 5.—A ghastly illus
tration of German hatred of Ameri
can soldiers is given in a Salvation
Army letter made public here today
by Adjt. Fletcher Agnew. It was
written in France by Adjt. R. C. Star
bard, who has charge of a Salvation
Army hut, to Commander Eva
I Booth, who turned it over to Adjt.
Agnew.
“I visited a base hospital recently,”
says the letter, “and had this story
from a sergeant who had passed
through one of the raids. The ser
geant was horribly wounded by a
grenade, and passed by the Germans
as dead. Before the sergeant lost
consciousness, however, he saw a
dozen Germans overpower three
American boys and cut their throats
from ear to ear, one of the Americans
being held by four Germans, who held
him while a fifth fairly severed his
head from his body.
“I have just learned,” continues the
letter, “that this same company of
Americans passed through here today,
with their bayonets sharpened like
razors, sworn to avenge this awful
r crime against their comrades.
“It is the work of the enemy bri
gades, known as the Butchers, that
makes our blood boil and makes us
forget to love our enemies,” Adjutant
Starbard says. “These are picked
brutes for raiding purposes with the
purpose of intimidating by frightful
ness.”
TO INDEPENDENT READERS.
Owing to the fact that the Inde
pendent went to press before noon in
observance of the Liberty holiday, no
Associated Press dispatches are con
tained in today’s issue.
. ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦♦♦
i i — ♦
MADALINE THEATER
: — t
X the retreat of the +
X GERMANS AT THE BAT- +
^ TLE OF ARRAS. +
^ Episode 4. ^
♦ - ♦
X PATHE WEEKLY NEWS +
X NO. 24; +
X PATHE. +
♦ - ♦
J “BLISS” +
X a good comedy with Harald +
^ Lloyd. ♦
♦ - ♦
▲ Admission 10 and 15 Cents. ^
i = i
♦m ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
DEMANDED SAFETY
OF EMPRESS.
Associated Press Dispatch.
Petrograd, Aril 6.—One of the first
requests put before the Russian dele
gates at Brest-Litovsk, according to
the Petrograd newspapers, was a de
mand fiom Emperor William for the
safe guarding of the former Russian
Empress Alexandria Alix. The fol
lowing account of this incident is tak
en from the Wogyn Courier:
At the first meeting, after the rep
resentatives of the Bolsheviki govern
ment and the delegates of the Rus
sian army had assembled in the large
room which had been devoted to the
meeting. General von Hoffmann
with his staff came in. The two par
ties bowed to one another and the
Russians sat down at the table.
General Hoffman remained stand
ing and addressed them. “I speak to
you,” he said in a stem voice, “not as
the representative of the German
army, nor of General Hindenburg. I
speak to you as the representative of
the four Central Powers. I request
you therefore to stand while you hear
what I have to say.”
The members of the Russian dele
gation looked at one another, there
was a little hesitation, and they stood
up.
General von Hoffmann coninued:
“Before proceeding to any negotia
tions respecting an armistice, i tnina
it necessary to make the following
statement. Within the area of Rus
sia, in circumstances threatening her
personal safety, is living a n.ost au
gust relative of my sovereign master,
the Emperor William, namely Prin
cess Alix, your Empiess Alexandria,
with all her family.
“I demand that most decided meas
ures be instantly taken for the safe
guarding of her person and for her
transfer to Germany under a reliable
guard. I request your immediate re
ply-” •
The members of the delegation did
not know how to reply, and asked
that they should be given time for
consideration, and for consultation
with Petrograd over their direct wire.
Scarcely had an interpreter trans
lated these words than General von
Hoffmann said, with a great show of
temper, “I demand an instant reply,”
and struck the table with his fist.
“This demand,” he continued, “is in
the nature of an ultimatum. In the
event of your not accepting it, the ne
gotiations will cease forthwith, and
hostilities will be at once recom
menced by us.”
There remained nothing for the
members of the Russian delegation
to do but to give their consent to the
demands made.
The Petrograd correspondent oft
the London Morning Post asserted in
a dispatch sent to London on Febru
ary 22 that “the former Empress
Alexandria, as the guardian of her
son, is the favorite German candidate
for the (Russian) throne.”
Unconfirmed reports that both the
former Empress and former Emperor
Nicholas were to be taken from To
bolsk, Siberia, to the Ural district
were recently received from Petro
grad.
NO WHITE BREAD
AFTER APRIL 13
New York, April 5.—Baking of
white bread and rolls will be discon
tinued throughout the United States
after April 13, according to an an
nouncement made today at the local
office of the Federal Food Board. The
order requiring bread and rolls after
that date to contain at least 25 per
cent of substitutes for flour has not
yet been issued from Washington, but
is expected any time.
The announcement was made after
a meeting of bakers for the purpose
of discussing plans for co-operation
with the Food Board in the conserva
tion of flour. The bakers pledged
themselves to do all in their power to
make it possible for all bakers to
meet the emergency by giving each
other the benefit of formulas for mak
jng bread, using a per centage of ce
| reals other than wheat and by prac
; tical demonstrations in their own
! shops or the shops of others.
It is the plan of the Food Adminis
tration to send competent bakers to
I the shops of the big and little bakers
| to show them in their own places how
the new bread can be made.
Another big German gun, similar
to those used in bombarding Paris, is
said to be in transit to the German
I lines.
DELEGATES F10M
JACKSON NAMED
Governor Brough Appoints Delegates
From Every County to Good
Roads Meeting.
Gov. Charles H. Brough yesterday
apointed 200 delegates to represent
the state of Arkansas at the meeting
of the United States Good Roads As
sociation which meets in Little Rock
April 15-19. /
Following are the delegates from
Jackson county:
Judge W. D. McLain, J. M. Stay ton,
Gustave Jones, Newport; L. D.
Smith, Tuckerman; C. G. Henry,
Newport; W. A. Harvey, Swifton;
Mike Denton, Grubbs; Newt Nance,
Eight Mile.
Miss Leah Jones arrived home yes
terday from a most delightful visit
of several weeks, with Mr. and Mrs.
Louis Stevens at Galveston, Texas.
Miss Blanche Hoyt, of Wisconsin
will arrive Sunday afternoon to be
the guest of Mrs. Adam Lockard and
Miss Leah Jones. Miss Hoyt is very
pleasantly remembered from a for
mer Newport visit.
Mr. and Mrs. James Keatts Thi
oault announce the engagement and
ipproaching marriage of their daugh
ter, Cecile, to Mr. Charles Edwards
Smith, of Tuckerman, Ark., the wed
ling to take place Saturday, April
rwentieth, at “Walnut Ridge,” their
:ountry home near Little Rock.
James H. Lanier, of Paragould, was
found dead yestei'day in a Helena
tiotel. He had been shot, and is be
lieved to have been the victim of foul
play.
MAP MAKERS IN
FRENCH ARMY DO
A SPLENLID WORK '
French Front, April 5.— Corres-!
pondence of The Associated Press—
Accuracy and efficiency have been (
made possible for the French artil
lery by the invention of an instru
ment that enables French map-mak-1
ers to locate almost exactly an ob- [
ject within the enemy lines, which!
has been photographed from an air
plane. In transferring to a map the
photographed object, such say, as an
enemy battery or munition dump, the j
margin or error is limited to less ;
than five yards.
This permits the French artillery
to pour its shells with almost certain .
aim on to German gun emplacements, j
trench positions, cross-roads, canton-j
ments, railroad lines, aviation camps
and otljer enemy organizations. It is |
unnecessary for the gunner to have ',
even a distant view of the object he is
fifing at. |,
To take a photograph of thfe enemy
lines from a French airplane is an (
easy matter but to transfer the ob
jects photographed to their exact lo- ,
cation on a map was for a time ex- i
tremely difficult. This was due to
the varying heights and angles from j
which the airplane observers made
their photographs. By the invention
of one of the officers attached to the
Geographical section this difficulty <
has been almost eliminated.
Not only the aerial observation :
service but other methods of spotting <
German positions—more especially I
cannon and machine-gun emplace-11
ments—are utilized as aids to the j:
work of the military map maker. The 11
flashes of guns as they are fired;
from the German side form one val- ; I
uable adjunct to his work but the i
most important of all is the calcula-]
tion of the speed of the sound of the 11
firing charge of the German shells, i 1
This has been brought to a basis of i
such perfection that the guns can '
now be located with almost absolute
accuracy. In fact in recent opera
tions it has proved that the system
af observation by sound has given
successful results in over 80 per cent
)f instances.
In every army there is a branch
>f the Georgraphical section and each
s furnished with a complete litho
graphic and zinographic printing
riant and skilled workers, photog
raphers and mathematicians. In a
tery few hours after the receipt of
she day’s observations from all the
various sources, dozens of copies of
she corrected maps are ready for is
sue to all the staffs of corps, divisions
ind brigades comprised within the
irmy concerned.
Nothing is omitted from the maps
—every dhurch, house, chimney, mill,
jridge, road, railroad, group of trees
s marked well as every turn and
swist of an enemy trench or system of
>arbed wire entanglements, every
stream, ditch, bridge, ford, every path
ised by supply parties, every point
>f resistance, organized shell crater,
ook-out post is shown on the maps.
Maps on a very large scale are given
when an attack is about to be carried
>ut, so that each officer and man par
iicipating may know exactly what is
n front of him and what he may ex
>ect to encounter during his advance.
The Mothers’ Club had an inter
esting meeting with Mrs. George M.
Sink Friday afternoon. The attend
mce was large, but unfortunately the
>nes on the program were unable to
>e present. Mrs. Ed Rucks read a
splendid selection on the subject of
study, and general discussions fol
owed. Mrs. Charles P. Bandy r|id
Miss Eleanor Sink contributed most
lappily in song and piano selections
;o the pleasure of the members.
Mayor A. T. Hubly had been invited
>y the club members to make a talk
,o them on Liberty Bonds, which he
lid, the time given them from his
vork being greatly appreciated.
Announcing
The First Complete Showing of
. Clapp, Reynolds, Regal
Oxfords and Shoes for Spring
You will surely be pleased with the handsome new
Spring Oxfords and Shoes we are now showing.
Our stock is complete in all its details as to styles,
quality and the newest in English lasts,
including the new shades of dark tan.
It’s true economy to invest in good shoes, for one
good pair are worth two cheap pairs.
Regal Shoes are 5.00 to 9.50
Reynolds Shoes are 9.00 to 10.00
Clapp Shoes are 11.50
Star Clothing Company
ADAM LOCKARD, Manager. “THE APPAREL STORE FOR MEN"
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FITE OF KELLY
imEOIOl
Murderer of Herman Harmon Will
Be Executed Unleea Governor
Brough Interferes.
i
Associated Press Dispatch.
Little Rock, April 6.—Governor C;
H. Brough yesterday received from
the clerk of the supreme court a cer
tified copy of the mandate of the
court in the case of Chess Kelley of
Jackson county, convicted of first de
gree murder, and sentenced to death.
Kelley was convicted in the Jackson
circuit court for the killing of H. A.
Harmon at Newport on the night of 1
June 9, 1917. The killing occurred in
the segregated district of that city*.
According to the testimony Kelley
went to the house with a friend and
found Harmon with a woman with
whom he was infatuated. He borrow
ed a revolver from his friend and shet
Harmon four times. The case was ap
pealed to the supreme court, which
affirmed the judgment of the lower
court March 18. The verdict in the
Jackson circuit court was “guilty of
murder in the first degree, as charged
in the indictment,” and the court im
posed the death penalty. The 1915
legislature passed an act by which
life imprisonment for first degred
murder instead of the death penalty.
Kelley contended that the act is
mandatory and requires the jury to ;
fix the punishment, but the supremo
court held that the act only extend
ed the privilege to the jury to make
this election of punishment and that
if the jury does not impose a penalty
of life imprisonment the punishment
fixed hy law follows the verdict. * f 0
Kelley’s fate now rests with the
governor. He may fix the date for
his electrocution or teduce his pun
ishment to life imprisonment.
-* iHn
RED CROSS CARE FOR VICTIMS.
Tientsin, Feb. 20.—Correspondence
of The Associated Press.)—Five
thousand Chinese victims of last au
tumn’s floods are being cared for by
the American Red Cross Flood Relief
committee, under the chairmanship of
the American minister, Dr. Paul S.
Reinsch, aided by the American
troops stationed here, in an improvia- ''
ed camp in the edge of the German
concession. Protests by certain resi
dents of Tientsin against the dump
ing of these refugees here have been
rendered pointless hy the efficient ad
ministration of the camp by Colonel
W. P. Wilder which has prevented ita
becoming a menace to the* health of
the community.
Within a tract perhaps five acres
in extent, hundreds of huts have been >'■
constructed out of reeds and mud for .
the housing of the unfortunates. B.
Allen White, civil engineer from
Iowa, designed the huts, using only
material at hand or which could be
gathered without cost. They are ar
ranged in regular series all facing
south, spaces between constituting
the streets of a miniature village.
One Chinese man, head of a family,
is designated in each street as a sort g
of olice to look after the residents in
1. • Z_nnd ko lfl
mo jui —-- —-. --.7^t
to army officers who inspect the
quarters each morning. A cook-house,
school room, bath-house, hospital,
workshop and latrines, all sanitarily
constructed out of rough lumber and
kept scrupulously clean, complete the
refugee village. A careful census is
kept and families are rationed from
the cook-house per capita with plain,
nourishing food.
In the school room The Assciated
Press correspondent counted 110 boys
from six to ten years of age, ranged
along lank counters answering the
purpose of desks, poring over Chinese
primers. The teacher was a young
Chinese man of perhaps twenty-five.
Crude and primitive as it all is, on
ly a normal number of cases of ill
ness have occurred in the six months*
life of the camp and the refugees ap
pear extremely contented with their
lot.
The daily insection is quite an
event in the “village” and all the in
habitants gather ire the “streets” and
watch proceedings with evident in
terest. Babies, scarcely able to walk,
stand at attention and salute the offi
cers in imitation of their elders.