Indianapolis Times, Volume 45, Number 268, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 March 1934 — Page 1

SCfUPPS-nOWAJtD 1

SPY RING WORKING AGAINST U. S. IS BARED BY LEADER Young: American Held in Paris Admits Complicity in Plot; France and Great Britain Also Targets. WIFE, VASSAR GIRL, ALSO IS HELD Espionage Agents Operated in Behalf of Germany and Russia. According to Confession of Switz. BY RALPH HEINZF.N rnltrd Pr>* Staff CorrfMnd*ot (Copyright, 1934, by United Press* PARIS, March 20.—Robert G. Switz, young New Yorker. was revealed by his own confession today as the Paris chief of an international spy gang which they operated on behalf of Soviet Russia and Germany to learn the military secrets of France, Great Britain and the L nited States. With Switz is held his wife, the former Marjorie Tilley, Yassar girl. After a merciless cross-examination lasting far into the night, Switz broke down and made admissions which led to five more arrests, in addition to some twenty already made. American and British secret agents were said to have co-operated in uncovering the ring.

Thp youthful Switz succeeded 1o leadership of the conspiracy a year ajjo, police said, after the original chiefs had been nearly trapped and fled from France. His confession disclosed that he met agents of the international spy syndicate in the United States, where he and his wife were hired for the comparatively minor fee of S2OO a month and were sent to France. There Switz directed activities, received documents and paid agents furnished by the paymaster of the organization, Benjamin Bercovits, a Romanian. Police still sought the secret model of an automatic rifle stolen last rear from Chatellerault, which Ingrid Bostrom arrested with a Finnish spy group, insisted she saw at the home of Lvdia Stahl, arrested last December with the Switzes. She is a Russian who has been in the United States. nig l T p Old Law Lawyers for the Switzes dug tip an old law today and may ask immunity for them under a provision granting freedom in exchange for the voluntary denunciation of persons guilty of espionage against the state. Switz, an aviator, and his wife, a Vassar graduate, held in separate prisons for three months, were taken last night before Magistrate Ernest Benon. who is in charge of the espionage investigation. They were questioned for nine hours, without food. Police said they involved themselves in contradiction after contradiction. Asa result, armed with names of persons never before suspected in the long inquiry Surete Generale agents raced through Paris in the early hours of today and gathered in five new persons to add to a score already under arrest or suspected. Five Under Arrest Those arrested today were: Colonel Du Moulin, also called Charras. a grand officer of the Legion of Honor by virtue of a distinguished army career and connected with the important military revenue "Armee et Democratic.” Vatroslas Reich, a native Rumanian naturalized as a Frenchman in order to obtain a position as assistant at the Biological institute, where he knew the most intimate secrets concerning poison gases being tested for army use. Aubry, an engineer attached to the army powder service. Mrs. Aubry. Mrs. Davidovich a Rumanian dentist, charged with centralizing the gang's mail service. Documents Are Seized Raids were conducted at homes of the five persons arrested. Tie secret service disclosed that members of the espionage wing gathered secret documents and photographs at the home of Mrs. Davidovici. The documents, it. was said, were taken to Switzerland, duplicated and sent on to Moscow and Berlin. Bools seized, it was asserted, purported to disclose that Colonel Du Moulin received 5.000 francs ts33o> a month from a foreign power in exchange for secret documents from the war college. Aubry, they said, received a like amount. for documents passing through his hands as an expert at national powder plants. Reich, they charged, received 3.000 francs <s2oo' a month for providing documents relating to gas production and research regarding gas masks and other anti-gas material. Bessarabian Woman Sought It was announced that acting on information obtained from Mrs. Switz, the secret service sought a Mrs. Anglard. a native of Bessarabia, who apparently escaped from France when eighteen persons charged with membership in the gang were arrested Dec 21. Information obtained from the young couple led police to announce that the espionage gang with great thoroughness concentrated on secret military information touching navies, airplanes, poison gas, artillery, powders and automatic weapon*.

The Indianapolis Times Increasing cloudiness with showers tonight or tomorrow; warmer tonight with temperatures above freezing.

nr a; W Wt DO OUR PART

VOLUME 45—NUMBER 268*

•GOOD OLD DAYS’ First of a series of photos on the Good Old Days’ in Indianapolis and the state appears today on Page 3. The Times will pay $1 for each photo published which is presented by individuals. Look up the old tamily album or grandmother's trunk and see what you can find. Send these photos to The Times editorial department, with your name and address. If they are adjudged satisfactory they will be printed in the series.

SCAFFOLD BREAKS; TWO FALL 40 FEET One of Men May Lose Life: Other Severely Hurt. One man was injured perhaps fatally and another severely hurt this morning when a scaffold on a CWA paint job at Tomlinson hall broke and the two men were plunged forty feet to the sidewalk on the west side of the hall. The men are Markley Hooker, 48. of 520 North Jefferson street, fractured skull, and Levi Austin, 55, of 1208 Beecher street, broken leg. They were taken to the United States Veterans hospital on Cold Spring roads. Several passersby on North Delaware street narrowly escaped serious injury as the guard rail of the scaffold broke and the two men were hurled to the sidewalk below. The scaffold was swung from the top of the hall above the Delaware street sidewalk. Both men were painting at the time of the accident. SHOOTS WIFErCHILD. ENDS HIS OWN LIFE New Jersey Man, 26, Kills Mate, 17, and Girl, 3. By United Press SALEM. N. J.. March 20—George Beaston. 26, killed his wife, Mabel, 17, and his daughter. Ellen. 3, today and then committed suicide, police were informed. Beaston killed his wife and child by shooting, the police report said. Mrs. Beaston's mother lives in thp other side of the two-family house in which the shooting occurred. Approves Grain Exchange Code By T nited Press WASHINGTON. March 20. President Roosevelt has approved the grain exchange code and it will become effective March 31, Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace announced today. Times Index Page Berg Cartoon 12 Bridge 17 Broun .. 11 Classified 15. 16 Comics 17 Crossword Puzzle 17 Curious World 17 Editorial 12 Financial 13 Hickman—Theaters 11 Let's Go Fishing 18 Life of Our Lord 11 Lippmann 13 Pegler 11 Radio 18 Sports 14, 15 State News 9 Woman's Pages 6. 7

President May Be Forced to Act in Railroads ’ Wage Dispute, He Warns

By United Press WASHINGTON. March 20 President Roosevelt this afternoon warned railway managements and labor that unless they reach speedy agreement in their wage controversy. it may be necessary for him to act to protect the public interest. Mr. Roosevelt's position was set forth in letters to W. F. Thiehoff. chairman of the conference committee of managers, and A. F. Whit-

Violence Flares in City Truck War; Driver, Victim of Mistaken Identity, . May Lose Eye; Labor Board in Action

URGES LENIENCY

n 4|-' *** *Si

Amelia Earhart

AVIATRIX URGES ‘SIMPLE’ RULES Amelia Earhart Appeals to Senate Not to Draft ‘Drastic’ Bill. Ry f nited Press WASHINGTON. March 20. Amelia Earhart Putnam, first woman to fly the Atlantic alone, appealed to a senate committee today not to “kill aviation with strict regulations before it has a chance to grow." Mrs. Putnam, fifth in a string of famous fliers who have testified on a proposed bill to return air mail contracts to commercial operators, asked the postoffice committee to "consider plans for the future.” “Aviation is a very young industry,” she said. “Any bill you have in mind should be very simple. I think it is urgent, however, to do something for aviation immediately.” . Wearing a brown tweed sports suit and brown hat. Mrs. Putnam arrived early and waited about ten minutes for Chairman Kenneth D. McKellar and other committeemen. She gave her name to a stenographer. and said she was vice-presi-dent of the National Airways. “I think the bill should entail competitive bidding, at least at the beginning.” she said. MARTIN INSULL MUST FACE U. S. CHARGES Chicago Utility Magnate to Be Turned Over by Canada. Bj / T inted Press TORONTO. Ontario. March 20. The warrant of committal and extradition order which will send Martin J. Insull, former Chicago utility magnate, back to the United States for trial, today needed only the formal signature of Sir William Mulock, chief justice of Ontario. Insull was charged formally with the theft of three specific sums of money, totaling more than half a million dollars. The order will be signed today. It then will be sent to Ottawa, where C. H. Cahan, secretary of state, will issue the waii-ant of surrender, following which Insull will be returned to Chicago. QUEEN MOTHER EMMA OF NETHERLANDS DEAD Widow of William 111 Succumbs of Bronchitis. By T ailed rress THE HAGUE. Holland. March 20. —Queen Mother Emma. 75, mother of Queen Wilhelmina and widow of King William 111. died at 7:45 a. m. today of bronchitis. Queen Emma had been gravely ill for days, and physicians had given up ho£e because of her age. During her illness her daughter, Queen Wilhelmina. and granddaughter, Princess Juliana, had been at her bedside, with Prince Federick of Waldeck and Pyrmont, her brother. SEEK SILVER HOARDERS Senator Arthur Robinson Offers Resolution Asking Names. By United Press WASHINGTON. March 20—The senate today adopted a resolution calling on the secretary of treasury to furnish a list of names of all known hoarders of silver. The resolution was offered by Senator Arthur R. Robinson (Rep. Ind.t. It stated that information was desired because of charges that j silver had been hoarded in anticipa-1 tion of legislation that would enhance its value.

ney. chairman of the Railway Labor Executives’ Association. Railroad labor has rejected the President's proposal for temporary continuance of the present 10 per cent wage cut. The railroads had agreed to this plan and withdrawn their plan for a further cut. Bur labor today countered with a demand for a 20 per cent increase and shortly thereafter the President dispatched the letters.

INDIANAPOLIS, TUESDAY', MARCH 20, 1934

Two Affidavits Are Sworn After Drivers Report Sabotage, Beatings; POLICE KEPT ON RUN Truckers Not Involved. Say Union Officials: Blame Sympathizers. Violence and troubles between i striking truck drivers and the Kibler Trucking Company, 1444 East Nineteenth street, were brought be- ; fore the regional labor board today as a fresh outbreak of sabotage seethed in the city. Harry Peats, business agent of | Teamsters, Chauffeurs union No. 133, declared that sympathizers of the union truckers and not the truqkers themselves were to blame for today's episodes of violence. Two affidavits were sworn to against alleged vandals who halted the trucks. Arrests have not been made. The affidavts charge malicious trespass. One man may lose an eye because of the guerilla warfare. Several men were beaten. Police were kept on the run throughout the early | morning hours as calls of “fight” came into police headquarters as the delivery trucks attempted to stock city groceries. Mistaken identity may cost Murle Weaver, 23, of 2303 Locust street. Terre Haute, his right eye. Early this morning Weaver and Chester Mclndoo of Terre Haute were en route to Terre Haute wHen a carload of men attempted to step them at State road 40 and Lynhurst drive. “They wanted us to show our bills of lading." Weaver and Mclndoo told police. Struck by Flying Glass Weaver pointed to a light in a filling station and told the men he was going to stop. He says someone in the car threw a brick breaking the glass of the truck. The flying glass cut Weaver’s eye. Weaver was treated at city hospital, where physicians say he may lose sight of the eye. Police believe that Weaver's truck was mistaken for a Kibler machine. It was loaded with tomato juice and is owned by Leo Baldwin, 328 North Twenty-first street. Terre Haute. Roy Lintsie, 1338 Hiatt street, Kibler company driver, was beaten by four men who drove up to his truck as it was delivering groceries. They pulled Lintsie from the truck and administered the whipping Lintsie told police that he recognized the men as former employes of the Kibler company. Pulled From Truck Lintsie said he would sign affi- | davits against his assailants. At Sixteenth street and College j avenue, a police squad car on a call I found Frank Sullivan, 1822 Marlow I avenue; Fred Mosbaugh. 2860 South J Delaware street, and Carl Jeffries, 348 East McCarty street. Sullivan said they had been pulled from their Kibler truck as they atI tempting to unload groceries at an Atlantic Sc Pacific store at Sixteenth | street and College avenue. He said as five or six men, who I ' were in a car, attempted to beat j j them, that he and his companions j ran. The alleged strikers gave up j the chase. Sullivan and his helpers returned to the truck. It had not been molested. With report of the trouble, other I drivers of the trucking company and • friends swarmed to the aid of i Sullivan. Police received a second call to the | corner on the report that a pitched battle between the strikers and the j truck company employes was in the offing. Another Attack Feared When police arrived, approximately fifteen men wpre standing in Sullivan's truck armed with banana stalks in defense of the truck. Thfey reported to police that j squads of cruising cars of strikers had been circling the block in western Indian fashion. Sullivan continued making deliveries. Police feared another attack on his truck. Yesterday afternoon, police arrested Orlando Catt, 3209 West •Tenth street, on a vagrancy charge in connection with the strike trou- j ble. Three half bricks were found in his car, police charge. They say Kibler drivers, William Demaree and Wilbur Roberts. ; recognized Catt as the driver of a ! car that approached their truck at Twentieth street and Martindale j avenue and fired slingshot missiles j into the cab of the truck, breaking glass. Peats declared that Catt was home in bed at the time of the pur- j ported vandalism. The business agent charged the trucking company worked men longer than the NRA code provides and had refused to comply with labor board attempts to arbitrate differences.

The President expressed regret to learn that no progress toward an agreement had been made at the conference and expressed the fear that the good of the country was being overlooked. He also warned that in stepping into the picture he might have to appoint a commission to examine thoroughly into the labor controversy “in order that the country may be advised of the merits,”

•FAIR-HAIRED BOY’

n •'•••j?' •• S <v ifll

Louis Ludlow

LUDLOW RATED ‘NO. 2 DRY PET’ Senator Arthur Robinsor Still Holds the No. 1 Post With League. BY DANIEL M. KIDNEY Times Staff Writer Senator Arthur R. Robinson stil is the white headed boy of the Indiana Anti-Saloon League, witk Congressman Louis Ludlow as "runner up.” Thus did Superintendent, L. E York sum up today the batting aveage of the home boys at Washington in an interview with The Times The league still sticks to its stand that if you are dry you can be a Republican or Democrat and its o. k with the brethren. So Mr. Yrk also has a good word to say about Congressman Arthur H. Greenwood of the Seventh district,. Hp and Congressman Ludlow stuck to the dry side in defeat, as did Senator Robinson. That gave the Indiana league two Democrats in the house and a Republican in the senate. Following Former Tactics Mr. York emphasises this bipartisanship in his speeches each Sunday. For the league is back in the field again with a record of 224 speeches in the churches, counting those scheduled for next Sunday. The speakers are outlining a legislative program and the league will follow? their former tactics of questioning all candidates, Mr. York said. The program calls for a local option law, a law making the liquor traffic pay indemnity in accidents wheie use of liquor was involved and another forbidding sale of intoxicants near schools and churches. In support, of the local option idea Mr. York cites the fact that thirtyseven of the ninety-two Indiana counties voted dry and six more went wet by less than 100 votes. Most of them w?ere rural. Under the accident indemnity plan, the league w?ants the state to set up a compensation board to determine awards, the entire setup to be fiaaced by tax on the beer and liquor traffic. All the Same to Him Mr. York preaches the doctrine that beer, wine and liquor are all intoxicants and one leads to another. He admitted. how?ever. that there has arisen in Indiana no situation comparable to the, old saloon days with the return of liquor to the state. “I think, how'ever, that is because many persons were weaned away from using liquor by prohibition," he explained and added: ' “Certainly it is not because of the way the matter is being handled under the present political control." Refusal of the state to authorize by-the-drink sales has nothing to do with the case in Mr. York’s opinion. “It doesn’t make any difference whether you drink liquor out of a glass, bottle orwashtub, it’s no good anyway,” he concluded. Recalls “Good Old Days” Tilting back in his somew?hat rickety chair. Mr. York recalled w?hat he considers “the good old days.” Those were the days of the late Wayne B. Wheeler and Dr. Edward F, Shumaker, when it was much easier to become a great man by the Anti-Saloon League route. Those were the days when the Indiana headquarters occupied a sumptuous suite of offices in the Roosevelt building. Mr. York is now holding the fort in rather bare offices in the building of The Peo* pies State bank. His co-workers are, like himself, veterans of the halcyon days of yore. They are Attorney A. F. Miles, J. Frank Jenner, educational secretary, and Leroy Huddleson, financial secretary. OFFICER FACES CHARGES Policeman Accused of Accepting Money and Pool Tickets. Charges that policeman William Gillespie accepted money, baseball pool tickets and cigarets from pool operators while on duty were brought before the safety board today. Charges also were made that Gillespie ordered food and beer for which he refused to pay,

ROOSEVELT MAY ACT TO AVERT STRIKE OF AUTO MEN, SET TOMORROW

MKKIfY SEEKS NEW TRIAL AS CURIE’S OPENS Jury Selection Under Way in Hearing for Third Terror Mobster. BY BASIL GALLAGHER. Timr.4 Staff Writer LIMA. 0.. March 20.—Decision to file a motion for anew? trial for Charles Makley was announced today by Miss Jessie Levy. Indianapolis. defense attorney, as selection of a jury to try Russell Clark, terror mob member, neared. Clark's trial w?as recessed at noon for one hour, with the defense, but not the state, having concluded its questioning. Peremptory challenges w?ere to be made this afternoon and it was expected the jury w?ould be seated late in the afternoon. Miss Levy said she had abondoned the pianos calling BrigadierGeneral Harold M. Busn as a defense witness to show prejudice, explaining she had found it w?as too late to do this after filing a motion for a change of venue. This motion and a plea in abatement were overruled today by Judge Emmit E. Everett. Dillinger Hideout Hunted Undercover men working under General Bush today made a concerted effort to discover the hiding place of John Dillinger in and around Lima, the general clinging to his theory the desperado is hiding somewhere near the jail. As the hunt for Dillinger intensely was carried along on the 180-mile front, from Lima to the Canadian border, defense attorneys for Clark, third member of the Dillinger gang to stand trial for the murder of Sheriff Jess Sarber, laid their plans. Clark’s trial began yesterday with the unique announcement by his attorneys that the prisoner “does not believe in capital punishment and therefore contends that the jury selected by the prosecution, believing in capital punishment, is not technically a jury of his peers.” Harry Pierpont, “trigger man” of the gang, and Charles Makley, Dillinger gangster, have been convicted of the murder of the sheriff. t Mother Greets Clark Clark was greeted in the courtroom by his mother, two sisters and two brothers-in-law. One of tne brothers-in-law, Jess Norton, Detroit, carried Clark's 14-months-old niece, Barbara Lee Norton, who presented quite a contrast to the otherwise grim atmosphere of the murder trial, w?ith its armed guardsmen. The child tugged at Clark’s collar and played with a small mirror Clark gave her. Photographers for newspapers took pictures of the child, and when a flash oulb cracked and made a noise Barbara said: “Bad boy.” During the questioning of talesmen, Clark's mother shuddered every time the word “murder” was mentioned. pierpont's Mother Attends In the rear of the courtroom was Lie mother of Harry Pierpont. who is to be called as a state witness. It was learned today that Pierpont and Makley. both facing death in the electric chair, received two pamphlets by mail yesterday, one entitled: “Life Adds to Death," and thti other. “Reincarnation.” They displayed little interest in reading the pamphlets. After receiving reports of threats to attack headquarters of tne guards, in the Norval hotel. General Bush, at midnight last night, ordered elevators in the hotel halted at the third floor, and stationed armed guards on the stairway leading from the first floor.

City Airman With Byrd Is Missing in Antarctica

i B.t/ Unitrd Prest LITTLE AMERICA, BAY OF WHALES, Antarctica. March 20 : (via Mackay Radios. —Pilot William C. Bowlin of Indianapolis and operator Clay Bailey were missing today in v,he monoplane on which they took off for a food depot 100 miles out on the Ross ice barrier Saturday. Admiral Richard E. Byrd, commanding the Antarctic expedition, in whose behalf they are flying, believed they were not in danger. They carried full emergency equipment and a month’s food supply each. Bowlin and Bailey left camp here Saturday morning, dropped food at the 100-mile depot and took off again. In an hour, the plane sent word it was landing. Bowlin reported Sunday night that he was digging the plane in the snow because of high winds. He said the gasoline supply was nearly exhausted. He did not know his position as he was flying blind before he landed. Admiral Byrd was ready to fly to the plane's assistance as soon as weather conditions permitted, and a

Entered as Reonrd-Clas* Matter at Fostoffice, Indianapolis, Ind.

Entire Recovery Program Is Threatened bv Walkout Ordered by A. F. of L. for Motor Company Employes. HOPES OF COMPROMISE ON WANE Car Magnates Challenged by Labor Head;' 350,000 May Be Affected; Plants Speed Up Production. Bv United Pre* A final decision by America’s automobile loaders to make peace or fight tomorrow’s scheduled strike in the industry was anxiously awaited today as labor unrest spread in many widely-separated sections of the country. The crisis was described as a vital test of the administration’s recovery program and watched closely hv President Roosevelt, who may intervene. In Detroit, center of agitation for recognition of the American Federation of Labor, plans went ahead for a walkout at 9 a. m. tomorrow involving more than 100,000 men in a huge industry and threatening to involve more than 250,000 in allied industries.

PAY ROLLS RISE 12,6 PER CENT 345.000 Re-Employed From Jan. 15 to Feb. 15, Says Miss Perkins. By United Press WASHINGTON, March 20. Weekly industrial pay rolls increased $12,000,000 from Jan. 15 to Feb. 15 and 345,000 persons were reemployed. Labor Secretary Frances Perkins said today. Miss Perkins said figures of the bureau of labor statistics indicated a 6.1 per cent gain in factory employment and a 12.6 per cent increase in pay rolls during that period. She said industry now? was employing nearly 2.400,000 more persons than in March, 1933. Weekly pay rolls, she estimated, w?ere $67,000,000 greater than a year ago. To the gains in industry, Miss Perkins said, should be added 10.000 re-employed by railroads and gains in agricultural employment. DEMAND NEW AUTOPSY IN STAVISKY SCANDAL French Deputies Question Banker Died a Suicide. By United Press PARIS. March 20.—The first evidence that Alexandre Stavisky. banker, whose $30,000,000 schemes collapsed and led to one of the gravest scandals France has ever known, did not commit suicide, but was slain by secret police to close his lips, was offered today. Members of the parliamentary commission investigating the Stavisky scandal demanded anew? autopsy on his body after viewing films taken immediately after his death in a villa near Chamonix where he was trapped by police. Deputies in the audience failed to perceive powder burns w?hich w?ould inevitably be caused by a close-range suicide shot. PRESIDENT’S YOUNGEST SON MAKING PROGRESS John Roosevelt's Condition Said Good After Operation. Ry f nited Press WASHINGTON. March 20.—The condition of John Roosevelt, youngest, son of President and Mrs. Roosevelt, was reported as “satisfactory” today at the naval hospital.; He underwent an operation for appendicitis yesterday. In a bulletin issued by the hospital it w?as said j his temperature was normal and that he was making rapid grogress.

dog sled team was ready to take off. Byrd believed the plane to be within eight to fifteen miles of camp. Aunt Is Confident Worried over the plight of her nephew, Pilot William M. Bowlin, Mrs. Mae Shannon, 1612 Central avenue, said today she placed her confidence for his safety in the care w?hich Admiral Byrd takes of his men. “Os course, I w?a.s dreadfully w'orried last night whan I first learned that William is missing.” Mrs. Shannon said. “But when I think of how careful Admiral Byrd is of his men. I feel some reassurance that he will be all right.” Pilot Bowling, who was reared at the home of Mrs. Shannon's mother in Roachdale after his parents died, visited Mrs. Shannon here last summer shortly before the Byrd expedition left for the Antarctic. Two other aunts of the missing flier are Mrs. Raymond Green Franklin, and Mrs. Ernest Orr, Richmond.

HOME EDITION PRICE TWO CENTS Outside Marlon County, 3 Cents

I Manufacturers meanwhile i speeded up delivery of automobiles and awaited outcome |of the conference, of industry ! leaders and General Hugh S, Johnson in New York. The | industry said it never would recognize the A. F. of L. Many other strikes were in progress or threatened. In San Francisco, a strike of dock workers was called for Friday over the "closed shop” issue. In Pittsburgh, heart of the steel industry, observers foresaw one of the most determined battles in history between capital and labor over collective bargaining rights under the NRA. At Detroit, about 7SO workers of the Bower Rolling Bearing Company struck, virtually tying up production. In the Cleveland area, employes of the largest clothing manufacturer voted to be represented by a labor union as opposed to a company union and thousands of workers in plants allied with the auto industry were ready to strike unless their unions are recognized. In New York state, a series of CWA strikes was in progress and in New England, neeotiations were unsuccessful for settlement of a shoe strike involving 6,000. Roosevelt May Act Ru I iiiteri. Press WASHINGTON. March 20. President Roosevelt stood by today ready to act if necessary to avert an automobile strike that, might prove the major industrial disorder of his administration and threaten his entire recovery program. He also eyed with apprehension a dispute of equally serious implications which was developing between railroad labor and management. The automobile crisis had reached the zero hour and his chief attention was devoted to it. A strike has been ordered in the industry by the American Federation of Labor for tomorrow if settlement is not reached by then. President Is Ready Despite the shortness of time, hope .still ran strong that an actual outbreak could be prevented, at least temporarily. Through recovery administrator Hugh S. Johnson, who was in New York trying to conciliate auto representatives through the National Automobile Association of Commerce and labor as represented by the A. F. of L„ the President had available a play-by-play report of the situation. Should all othpr means fail, the President was believed ready to exert the strongest personal influence to avert a major labor crisis and its accompanying derangement of the fast-reviving auto industry and the potential danger to the entire recovery program. The President conferred with At-torney-General Homer S. Cummings and Secretary of Commerce Daniel Roper. Both conferences were thought to concern the automobile situation. Thousands Are Affected By L nited Press DETROIT. March 20.—The automobile strike, called by the American Federation of Labor, will start at 9 a. m. tomorrow in the Hudson plant at Detroit, unless the national administration or auto manufacturers make acceptable offers by tonight, it was announced at federation offices today. The Hudson plant, employing nearly 14,000 workers, is the focal point of the federations efforts. From that plant the strike is expected to spread immediately, under federation direction, into Flint, Lansing and Pontiac. “We have the support of 9,00# workers in the Hudson plant.” William Collins. Michigan organizer of the federation, told the United Press. Union officials from five plants where strikes have been voted are scheduled to meet at 5 p. m. today in Pontiac to act on an offer from Washington or from New York, where directors of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce are conferring today on the federation's demands for higher wages, shorter hours and greeter freedom in organization.