Hammond Times, Volume 12, Number 142, Hammond, Lake County, 6 December 1917 — Page 1

MAKE IT A RED CROSS

THE

LAKE

TIMES

COLDER WEATHER CHRISTMAS VOL. XII., NO. 142. Delivered by TIMES carriers, 30c per month; on streets and at newsstands, 2c per copy; back numbers 3c per copy. HAMMOND, INDIANA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1917. ROUTE MUST BE FURNISHED TO LINCOLN HIGHWAY

AMMUNITION SHIP

BLOWN

UP,

HUNDREDS

KILLED

AVE. NEEDED FOR WAR

Paving of Important Thoroughfare to Take Care of War Traffic Is NeededCommissioners Ready to Act. (Special to The Times.) CEOWN POINT. IND. Dec 6. Within the next two weeks heavily laden motor trucks will commence to flow from the Mississippi River east to the Atlantic seaboard in initial tests and after January first a steady stream is to pass through Lake county over the Jackson Highway to Dyer to the Lincoln Highway and eastward. The traffic 'will be conducted by the war department to assist the railroads in the movement of supplies during the war. The co-operation of the Lake County commissioners in keeping in repair the roads over which the trucks must pass has been asked by the war department and received and as soon as the embargo on stone is lifted for the occasion, twenty-five cars of material will be ordered. Selection of the most direct route from Chicago to the Lincoln Highway has designated Indianapolis boulevard and Calumet avenue which are in excellent condition to Gostlin street in Hammond. The question of paving Calumet avenue through the center or Hammond to the southern corporation line has been under consideration for some time. In addition to the automobile freight service in war supplies the government will establish a post office truck route within a radius of fifty miles from Chicago. The trucks will carry the produce of the farmer to market, further relieving the railroads and the car shortage. The Lincoln Highway is not in condition for the heavy traffic. Owing to the embargo on stone it has been impossible for the county to keep it in repair and east of Dyer for two or three miles the road is out of repair and its condition is very bad from Sehererville to Merrillville. The situation depends entirely now on. the city of East Chicago which it is believed will see the necessity of paving the road in accordance with the report of the viewers. EIGHT KILLED AT PENNA, AETNA PLANT PITTSBURGH, PA., Dec. 6. - Eight men were killed, two are missing, and more than twenty-five were injured, many of them seriously, late yesterday by an explosion that wrecked the "T. N. T." plant of the Aetna Chemical company, the chemical branch of the Aetna Explosion company, at Heidelberg, a suburb. The explosion did damage estimated at $250,000 to the plant and shattered windows in factories and homes for a radius of nearly two miles. All of the lend and Injured are employes of the company. The cause of the explosion has not been determined. It occurred in the drying department in one of the eight 48,000 gallon tanks in which trinitrotoloul. a powerful explosive, was being boiled. Many of those injured owe their lives to prompt medical aid, which was summoned by Grace Lyons, a telephone operator, who stayed at her switchboard in the rear of the wrecked plant and telephoned hospitals and physicians. The bodies of five of the workmen killed have been identified. ROYAL WELCH SINGERS AT BAPTIST CHURCH Six members of the Royal Welch singers, who escaped from almost instant death when the Lusitania went down, will appear tonight in a concert at the Baptist church on Sibley street. Five of their party were drowned that eventful night when a German submarine sent the world's largest boat to the bottom of the ocean. This engagement is the second made this season to the Baptist church, the singers presenting the sacred concert at the church, a week ago last Sunday. No admission will be charged and the public is cordially invited to attend tonight's concert. WASHINGTON, Dec. 6. -- Representative Meyer London, socialist, of New York, today introduced a peace resolution in the house. London's resolution favors immediate establishment by congress of an international league to secure a durable peace.

TO THE PEOPLE OF HAMMOND

You have purchased Liberty Bonds, contributed to the Red Cross and the Y. M. C. A., sent your son to war; but that is not all you should do. It is the patriotic duty of the people of the city who have money to invest to aid in the greatest boom their city has 'ever hid, with profit to themselves, and contributing- to the comfort and convenience of the thousands of men to be employed in the making of wur materials for the T'nited States government. Build a house. Rent or sell it. Hammond has not a vacant tenetable bouse. It will need a thousand the coming- year. If it has them its population will increase ten thousand. This is the greatest opportunity the city lias ever had. It may never have so great a one again. It is to your interest to give jour name to the Chamber of Commerce, phone CSS, as a prospective building and thus participate in the benefits of co-operation In building- which will save thousands of dollars. TIIKS ntREAV. AT ST tTH CAPITA I.. 1NDIAXAPOLI?. Dec. 6. if. E. Barnard, federal food administrator for Indiana, made some interesting rulings in a letter which he wrote Wednesday to A. II. Perfect & Co., wholesale grocers, nt I-'ort Wayne. The firm wrote Barnard asking two questions. One was whether, under the law, a farmer had the right to etnre wheat in a ni'II and then take ntit rioujrh flow tt lasti his family throughout the entire season, a rart at a time. The other question was whether a farmer had the right to pack down sufficient meat to meet the requirements of his family for tho entire season. In answer, Barnard said that the farmer had no r'ght to deposit wheat !n a mill and then take out from time to time flour to run his family through the season. He said the farmer must sell his wheat and then buy his four like other people. He said, also, that no farmer is allowed to have on hand at any one time more than one barrel of flour, and that city and town families are limited to one 25-pound sack at a time. On the meat question, Barnard held that a farmer Las the right, under the law, to butcher his own cattle or hogs and pack down sufficient meat for the use of his family for the season, but that he is not allowed to hoard more than will be required for this purpose. Barnard also sent a letter to William Binford. an eccentric farmer in Boone county. Binford owns 500 aerc3 of tho finest land In that county, but he refuses to farm it or to rent It for cultivation unless he can get an exorbitant rental for it. He has demanded as much as $10 an acre rental. It was also reported to Barnard that Binford was holding 5,000 bushels oi corn that was in danger of spoiling-. He wrote Binford that he must either cultivate hisTand or allow some one else to cultivate it, for he said "no land will be allowed to lie idle if It w.ll produce food crops." Ho also told Binford that if he was holding coin that was in dang-er of spoiling he was violating the law and was liable to a heavy punishment. . HE GOES OVER TOP FOR U. S. I HURRY DieUi i h Dick Fried riehs, West Hammond, an employe of the .Western Grain Products company, "talked too much." He was taken, before United States Commissioner Charles Surprise t day and promised to be for the Cnited States "first, last and all the time." Inasmuch as he had taken out a Liberty bond and had been naturalized seventeen years, the commissioner re- ! leased him. J Mike Madak, an Austrian, promised the commissioner he would stop talking and was released. Thomas Connoi s was released when he was found to have registered in Last Chicago, but now- police are after him for not appearing for examination, as was learned after his discharge. GOODRICH TO APPOINT JUDGE IN GARY CASES 'Special to The Times) CROWN POINT. Ind.. Dec. 6. Unable to agree on a judge to try the Gary election cass. the attorneys met today in Crown Point and agreed to have Governor Goodrich appoint a Judge to try them. Edgar C. Crurr.pae'ter. who "vas asked to act as special judge, having declined. . DEATH OF GIRL. Bertha Pluml, 33 years old. f33 Summer street, ded this morning at St. Margaret's hospital. The funeral will be held Saturday with burial at Oak Hill cemetery. -

I : FARMERS

Chamber of Commerce Sets That as the Lowest Mark for Coming Year, Which Should Be Greatest in City's History. Nineteen hundred and eighteen will bring to Hammond ten years growth in one --IF. It is the BIG IF that confronts the city now. With 3,500 skilled workmen and 300 additional office men to be put to work this winter at one industry for the duration of the war, and a half dozen other plants daily increasing their working forces, the city of Hammond has the opportunity to raising its population more than in the past ten years. Hundreds of other families will come to Hammond as the industries of East Chi--cago and Indiana Harbor increase their forces if houses are provided for them. The members' council of the Chamber of Commerce at a luncheon this noon laid plans for a campaign of building setting the mark at 500 houses which at an average of seven persons to a house would accommodate 3,500 people. It can be conservatively estimated that 50 per cent of the families buying or renting these houses will have roomers and for that reason the average can be placed at seven persons to a house. A canvas of the city will show the average to be higher than that at present. Never Such a Demand. Practically every house in the city is occupied at present. The parishioners of the Pine street church on the north side have tried since April 1 to find a house for their pastor and his family to live in and so far has been unsuccessful. There are no vacant houses north of the river. Therefore, unless the plans of the Chamber of Commerce are carried out the 3,000 new employes of the Standard Steel Car Company must live out of Hammond. It is probable that the Lake Shore suburban system will run trains to and from Chicago over the Nickel Plate as formerly to accommodate the new employes if there is no place for them to live in Hammond. In that way Hammond would receive no benefit whatever. So it is up to the people of Hammond themselves whether they want to grow or stand still; whether their property shall greatly increase in value or remain as it is; whether the vacant lots shall (Continued on page two.) POPULAR HAMMOND BOY PASSES AWAY Kenneth L. Cross, President of the Rooster Club, Dies in South. In the training camps and with the American forces in France everywhere that the young men of the Hammond Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Rooster club and the high school have gone at their country's call as well as among their numbers at home, there will be sorrowing when it is learned that Kenneth L. Cross has passed away. Competent, energetic and a typical American young man, Cross was loved by hundreds of young men in Hammond and was prominent in their activities. In the Hammond high school, as president several terms of the Rooster club, which has sent twenty men into the service, and one of the organizers and the secretary of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, his acquaintance was extensive and his popularity great. Kenneth Cross died at the Royal League Sanitarium in the Black Mountains of North Carolina yesterday morning, and his remains will arrive in Hammond this evening. His father, F. W. Cross, was with him at the time of his death. The mother died four years ago. and the surviving members of the family are Harry, Roy, Lorene, Loys, Doris and his father. Kenneth was twenty-three years of age and had been ill for a year, going south several months ago. The funeral will be held Saturday, at an hour to be announced later. Enlist Now -- Soon 'Twill Be Too Late. Going! Going! Gone! don't be a slacker -- enlist. Time is short and December 15th recruiting offices will stop enlisting men between 21 and 31. Now any many can go -- married or unmarried: drafted or not. These declarations were being made today by Sergeant Welch, who is enlisting men by the scores as the result of new War Department orders.

This is Picture of U. S. Flyer Whose Mother Lives in Lowell. He Escaped from Germany

Lieutenant Patrick O'Brien, whose mother lives in Lowell, Lake county, an American member of the British Royal Flying Corps, who was brought down in a one-sided battle by the Germans, and who had been taken into Germany on his way to a prison camp, jumped from the train, which was going thirty miles an hour, and by many heroic and clever moves managed to get back into Holland safely, and then back to England. O'Brien was reported missing on Aug. 17, and his reappearance was a great surprise to his friends. On the morning of Aug. 17 the enemy gunners forced him to land but fortunately he got back to his own lines. Later in the day he was again flying over the enemy lines and he with five other machines was engaged by twenty German airplanes. O'Brien alone engaged four of them. He accounted for one of the machines before he was shot in the lip. He fell with is damaged plane 8,000 feet. He can not explain why he was not killed. When he regained consciousness he was in a German hospital. Later when he was being taken into Germany he jumped from the moving train and by walking at night, swimming rivers, and subsisting only on food that he could get from the fields be managed to reach Holland. He was a fugitive for seventy-wo days. He had a narrow escape when he was in sight SLOT MACHINE MEN Raids were made on slot machines in East Chicago last night and as a result there are a number of these devices in the office of Chief of Police Struss this morning. A squad of officers headed by Captain Sam Geisking visited the saloons in the west end and in Calumet and picked up machines in the following places: Jake Gavorchin. Chicago ave - nue and Private street; Martin Harubin. 4924 Melville avenue; John Tenkley, 4801 Alexander avenue; Sabo, 151st street, and the Club House, Alexander avenue; between 148th and 149th streets. Other machines that were in places on Chicago and Forsyth avenues had been taken out following the warning. Chief Struss understands that these machines were brought into the city by men purporting to come from Hammond and that they were placed the first of this week. "The first I heard of this matter." Latest Bulletins (By United Press.) WASHINGTON", Dec. 6. The railroads of the country will be operatingat a unit soon after the first of the year. Whether they will be operating under a dictatorship established by railroad men themselves or under govern-. ment control is yet to be determined. (By United Press Cablegram.) COPENHAGEN, Dec. 6. A large German auxiliary cruiser, probably the Russian steamer Bothnia, which was seized and armed by the Germans, was blown up in the sound, according to word received here today. (By United Press Cablegram.) AMSTERDAM, Dec. 6. August Phillips was named today as minister from Holland to the United States, succeeding Van Kappard. No announcement was made as to the reason for the change. PETROGRAD, Dec 6. - Germany made a formal effort to obtain peace last Au-

SLOT MACHINE MEN

ARE

MOST

of his goal. To circumvent charged wires. O'Brien built a bridge in a nearby wood and threw it across the wires. It broke under his weight and O'Brien says that he can still feel the shock. He dug a tunnel with his hands under the wires and he was free. A brief telegram was received by his mother Mrs. Margaret O'Brien, saying that he had escaped from Germany, and that he would soon be home. O'Brien will try to change to the American Aviation Corps. The photo shows O'Brien standing in front of his machine. said the chief, "was Monday. At that time-I notified Captain Geisking to tell the saloonmen that these machines could not be used in the city. Since then, word has come that in several places the machines were in and were being operated. I suppose they thought that the warning was bluff and would not be followed up: that in the closing weeks of this administration we could be easily worked. But depend upon it just as long as I am chief, right up to the last minute of my term, I shall see to it that all gambling devices and gamblers are. is possible, put out and kept out of business." With Captain Geisking in the raids last night were Officers Nauracy, Specter and G.Sild. Tho chief plans to open the slot machines this afternoon and to turn over the contents to the local Bed Cross fund. The Harbor and other parts of tho city are bcrg watched and other machines will be picked up should they be brought forth. grnst through Spain, according- to revelations in the latest chapter of "secret diplomatic archives" made public today by Bolshevik! minister Trotzky. The evidence consisted of a telegram from tho Russian charge de affairs at Ion. don dated August, 1917, and notifying Russia that British Foreign Minister Balfour had called a special meeting of France, Italy, -United States and Japan to this assembly he said he had received information that a high personag-ee in Berlin had lnfortned the Spanish am. baesador that Germany wished to negotiate. WAbjii?,uTu.i, ec. 6 The resolu- i tion callinff for a state of war against! Austria was favorably rt3ortii honsa by th9 fcreig-n relations commit-.-ee today. The state of war between "air foDr AZT said tho report, "auX very little readjnstment oi anairs cetwoen the conn. tries will therefore be involved." IiOlTDOlT, Dec 6. Twenty-five enemy air planea made five simultaneous bflmbiuff attacks on Kent and London early today, I.ord French announced. Ttto cf .

3

and bombarded the central city were Telegraph wires failed imrnediforced to land and their crew, were ately aftef the brief report of the taken alive. The planes also flew ever, J c sent, dropping bombs. disaster had been flashed.

jaXllPA OCCURS AT HALIFAX I. HALIFAX

(By United Press.) TORONTO. Dec. 6. "Halifax city is on fire," said a message received here this afternoon. "The fire is spreading," the dispatch declared. "We are sending special trains out of Moncton and every city with fire apparatus is also being used. We are also picking up fire apparatus between Moncton and Sidney and rushing it to Halifax. Situatoin [Situation] bad." Another message received, said: "Every building north of the Queen's hotel is totally wrecked. North street station is in ruins as well as our plants at Willow Park and there is one mass of fire wreckage and dead bodies in the north end of the city. Special trains from Sidney with doctors, nurses and hospital supplies are on their way. Am also arranging for food supplies and to send coaches to Halifax to take people away." (BULLETIN.) (By United Press.) MONCTON, Dec, 6. Four hospital trains with nurses, surgeons and supplies are being rushed to Halifax and another is enroute there carrying fire fighting equipment, an official of the Canadian government railway declared this afternoon. (By United Press.) AMHERST, Dec. 6. Communication with Halifax is very irregular. For a time all wires into the city were lost. Efforts are now being made to get more information. One of the last messages to come through declared the loss of life was appalling. Richmond, near where the collision occurred, is directly across the bay from Halifax. Reports here said the American munition vessel was rammed broadside by the ship. SUMMARY OF SHIP EXPLOSION Hundreds of persons are reported killed and more than a thousand injured in the explosion that followed the collision between an American ammunition ship and a British vessel in Rockingham bay, Halifax harbor, Novia Scotia, today. The city is cut off from telegraphic or telephonic communication. Railways have rushed spe - cial trains bearing fire apparatus, nurses, physicians, medical supplies and food. Communication is possible only by messenger. One report said the bodies of 25 railroad men had been picked up between Deepwater and Richmond. Richmond is directly across the narrow arm of water on which Halifax fronts. At Truro, the most successful point of communication with the stricken city, it was said the death list would total 300. Immediately after the collision the ammunition ship caught fire, one report said. Efforts of the crew to extinguish the flames and save the ship were futile. She blew up with a report that shook cities 100 miles away. Blazing ammunition shot into the air and sprinkled terminals and houses nearby. Docks were shattered.

Scores Dead and Portion of City is Destroyed by Force of Explosion. (BULLETIN.) (By United Press.) MONCTON, N. B., Dec. 6. Latest reports reaching here say that death toll of the terrific explosion at Halifax will probably reach more than 400 at least. A messenger reaching a small town between

Halifax and Moncton brought only a disjointed account of the blast. (BULLETIN.) (By United Press.) NEW YORK, Dec, 6. A private message received here from G. T. Bell of the Grand Trunk in Montreal says two hundred bodies have been located in the North street station, Halifax. (BULLETIN.) (By United Press.) AMHERST, NOVlA SCOTIA, Dec. 6. Scores are dead in Halifax, hundreds of buildings are destroyed and sections of the city are in flames as the result of a collision between an American munition steamer an another ship in the narrows near the suburb of Richmond today. Crews of both vessels were killed instantly, according to reports received here. Warehouses along the water front, were demolished. Firemen were called from Amherst. Reports received here could give no definite estimate of the number killed and injured. (By United Press.) MONTREAL, QUEBEC, Dec. 6. An unconfirmed report received here from Halifax today states that a fully loaded munition ship blew up in the harbor of Rockingham, a suburb of that city, completely destroying the harbor front and killing persons. Telephone and telegraph wires are down. Many buildings were reported blown to bits. The explosion was heard 100 miles away. Reports from the scene vary. At the Western Union office at Halifax people were injured by flying debris and the office was reported wrecked. Halifax is twenty miles away. The city within the Rockingham is said to be in flames and fire fighting apparatus from surrounding points has been called to assist in fighting the fire. (By United Press.) NEW YORK HEARS REPORT. NEW YORK, Dec. 6 The explosion at Rockingham, near Halifax, Nova Scotia, in which many persons were reported dead was caused by the collision of two loaded munition transports in the harbor of Rockingham, according to word received by cable officials here today. All communication with Halifax bv both land and sea failed at 10:10 a. m. officials said. add Amherst Nova Scotia The force of the explosion blew freight cars off the tracks, partly destroyed all the buildings from the Queen hotel on Hollis street to the North Street station, smashed the station roof and is believed to have buried scores in the blazing debris. The report of the blast was heard in Truro. A few minutes later a wire was received asking that nurses, doctors, firemen and food be immediately rushed, to the stricken city. Police Get 92 Slackers. Chief Forbis of the Gary police stated that of the 374 prisoners arrested by the police during November 92 were government prisoners.