Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 40, Number 166, 25 June 1915 — Page 1

MIC

MOM)

FAIXABIUM

VOL. XL.. NO. 166 . ESX-""" RICHMOND, INDv FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 25. 1915. SINGLE COPY. 2 CENTS WW mi

Y 17 AM

n3

u ic, fir UlLU II U HMjl MilM Serb Soldiers Dash Into "Jaws of Death"

ALLEGED BIG "PROFITS" OF PLANT DUE TO POOR SYSTEM OF BOOKKEETO Chairman Duncan Says Kleinknecht's System "Boldly and Brazenly Defies Law' and : City Officials Expose Themselves to Fines and Imprisonment

sty

One of the most remarkable pictures f the war. It shows a brave company Df Serbian Comitagea charging a trench just evacuated by the Austrians. The shell shown bursting twenty yards ahead afforded them cover to make the final charge. The meet occurred April 28, between Doberitsch and Petka on the Danube. Owing to the inundated condition of the first line trenches, the Serbs were forced to lose the position, and with WATTS PLACES PLANT VALUE AT $333,311 Estimates Cost of Reproducing City Light Plant at $424,523 in Hearing Be- ' fore State Board. EXPLAINS ESTIMATES Says Condition of Building Not in Good Shape and Considerable Fire Risk is Present. INDIANAPOLIS, June 25. E. E. Watts, an electrical engineer, employed by the city of Richmond to make an inventory of the municipal plant, was the principal witness for the city in the electric rate-making hearing befor the state commission today. He stated that on January 29, 1915, he established a present value of $323,829 for the city plant, but has added to that valuation $5,000 for operating capital and $4,882 for book costs and additional construction and additions, giving a present value of the plant on June 15 $333,311, or $21,689 less than the present valuation established for the plant by the commission engineer last spring. Watts estimated the cost of reproducing the city plant at $424,523. Explains Estimate. Watts placed no going concern value on the city plant. On cross-examina :ion he stated that there probably was a time when the plant had a considerable amount invested for the development of business, but declared this iad been wiped out by surplus earnings. With the present value of the city plant plus an additional investment of between $50,000 and $60,000, he believ3d the plant can handle not only its wn business but also the business of :he competing plant. Under cross-examination Watts said that between $50,000 and $60,000 .addi tional equipment would be provided in the event it took over the Light, Heat and Power company's plant, and that such an amount was not to be considered a part of any purchase price. Watts testified that he had considered certain fixed charges in preparing his inventory, which had been ignored by the management of the plant in Its bookkeeping system, such as depreciation, insurance, taxation and so forth, but he declared the joss the plant' sustained for a period of four years by the failure of the city to pay for its street lighting, about $50,000, more than offset the fixed charges the officials have failed to charge for. Attorney Beasley secured an admission from Watts that he regarded the depreciation on the building and equipment of the city plant at 2r per cent. In the event of the merger of the two plants, he stated there would be little difficulty in re-arranging the distribution system, as between 90 and 95 per cent of the wires were strung on poles owned jointly. He said 50 per cent of the wire would have to be junked. Watts did not describe the condirContinued On Page Eight.

(J the receding of the waters, forced to retake them. The trenches are ahead in the clump of trees. The photographer had been living with the outfit for four days when the order came to advance. The Serbs shelled the Austrians out, and then, under a hellish Austrian fire, retook their former positions. Meanwhile, by a concentrated artillery fire, the Austrians were silenced. GERMANS ON REPULSED PETROGRAD, June 25. A Russian victory on the Dneister river in Galicia is announced in an official statement issued here at midnight, tl says that the forces of the enemy which crossed to the north bank of the river Wednesday morning were driven back. The German losses are declared to have been enormous. Austrian forces which reached the left bank of the Dniester at another point were flung back. The official statement says that the Germans now have been forced to assume the defensive under difficult conditions. Parts of their forces are crowded upon islands in the Dneister. ADMIT DEFEAT. BERLIN, June 25. German troops northwest of Halcz, Galicia, under the command of General Von Linsingen, have met with a reverse on the Dniester river and have withdrawn to the south bank of that stream, it is admitted today in the official report from the general staff. The report TEETOR MOTOR GO. ADDS $12,970 TO OWN ASSESSMENT The $12,970 Increase in the assessment of the Teetor-Hartley Motor Car company of Hagerstown was not ordered by the board of review, as stated yesterday, but was given in by the company itself. The 'ioard of review accepted the return of the company. A prosperous business season brought about additions to the plant in Hagerstown and other changes which enhanced the value of the concern, and the members of the company indicated this growth in the returns for taxation which they of their own accord handed in. BOARD OF REVIEW FIXES CORPORATION TAX ASSESSMENTS Several Richmond corporations were assessed yesterday by the board of review which is in annual session in the auditor's office. The names and amounts assessed are given below. Most of the session yesterday was devoted to the hearing of protests against assessments against real estate in this city. In the majority of instances the assessments were allowed to stand. Following are the corporations assessed: Arcade Amusement Co., $800. Arlington Hotel Co.. $5,000. John F. Ackerman & Co., $4,000. G. O. Ballinger Co., $5,940. Adam H. Bartel & Co., in Richmond, $93,780. . Adam H. Bartel & Co., in Cambridge City, $2,100. ' Brown, Darnell & Co., $850. Beebe Glove. Co., $7,530.

hmra-niiai miiin i n a him im in mutm mum nmiiimnL.i Ji'wm mm i mu miMn nr rr-iinin n nmiii,umniiiiiiiMiiii 1

' Luck and an unusual amount of nerve enabled Mr. Varges to obtain this remarkable picture. When the order to advance was given, he joined the troops. On seeing the scattered formation across the open, he thought he would make a moving picture of the soldiers, and at the same time worked the still camera which was attached to the tripod. Shells were bursting on all sides, but as he ex DNEISTER BY RUSSIANS also admits that the village of Kopaczysk on the Omulew river in RuesionPoland has also been evacuated by the Germans. FRENCH ADMIT LOSS. PARIS, June 25. German troops are now using asphyxiating gas on the Meuse front in an affert to gain the mastery over the French troops. The official statement issued at the war office this afternoon stated that the kaiser's troops gained a temporary advantage in two attacks on the Calonne trench In which they used gas, but they were later driven back. The Germans gained the second line trenches but were taken by a cross fire from the heavy French artillery. TURKS REPULSE ATTACK. CONSTANTINOPLE, June 25 General Liman Von Sanders, commander of the Turkish troops on the Gallopoll peninsula, reported today that the Anglo-French troops had suffered great losses in the assault of June 21, and that their attack had been repulsed. WILL CITY CHANGE ACCOUNT SYSTEMS TO PLEASE STATE? What result the scoring given the municipal electric light plant for its system of bookkeeping by the Public Utilities commission will have remains to be seen. Chairman Duncan yesterday afternoon censured Superintendent Kleinknecht of the municipal plant for using the Pratt system instead of the more complicated method recommended and required by the commission. This is not the first time that some question has been raised about the use of the Pratt system in municipal accounts. The system was installed under former Superintendent N. H. Johnson, according to city officials, and complete payment was held up until such time as the state public service board should endorse the system. The state board of accounts audited the books onceand said nothing but upon second audit raised the question of the utility commission's endorsement of the system. Thus far the commission has not given its approval to the system although city officials believed permission of its use was an indication that it would be approved. '.IRS. NEWMAN DIES MILTON, Ind., June 25. Word of the death of Mrs. R. H. Newman of Chicag6, has been received by Miss Florence Newman. The body will be brought to Milton for burial in the West Side cemetery. , The body will arrive at 8:30 o'clock and services will be held later in the morning.

plained it himself, there is little danger unless within a few yards of the explosion. Mr. Varges says: "I had just started to grind my movie camera when I heard a 'screaching wing come over the troops. Never thinking the shell would burst in front of the detachment of soldiers, I continued making film. To tell the surprise I had then is impossible, for at the same time I pressed my still camera CALLS VENIRE OF 20 FOR DANNER'S TRIAL To hear the case of Iva Danner against the Terr Haute, Indianapolis and Eastenr-lnterurtoan compaHy;-ln which the plaintiff is suing for $5,000 in damages, a special venire of jurymen has been summoned by the cheriff for duty at 10 o'clock Monday morning. The venire contains the following names: George H. Miller, William Jarrett and William S. Hale, Abington township; Francis E. McMinn, Benjamin F. Crook and Omer Crow, Center township; Charles H. Knoll, Franklin township; Ora Pitts, Howard Pickett and Gilbert Wright, Green township; Jesse M. Hormel, Harrison township; Alfred Bertsch, Jackson township; Alfred Bertsch, Jackson township; Elmer Townsend, New Garden township; Byram R. Pierce, Perry township; Lewis Semler, Wallace Warren, Frank Connely, Robert J. Connell of Washington township and Emmett Crowe, Wayne township. Judge Fox will hear the case. BOOMS BOLLMEYER FOR FRAT LEADER Richmond fraternity men attending the Phi Delta Kappa convention at Dayton will lend their support to the candidacy of J. Fred Bollmeyer, formerly of this city, in case Mr. Bollmeyer's name is presented for the presidency of the organization as has been hinted. Mr. Bollmeyer has served as vice president of the grand council and as editor of the Red and Black the official fraternity organ. He is at present employed on a Cleveland newspaper, but is not attending . the convention. His boom, it is understood, j is being launched by he retiring pres- j ident, John F. Gauchat. Gerald Fitzgibbons of this city is j secretary and treasurer while George j Brenelzer also or this city is serving as a member of the credentials committee. OLD TRAILERS MEET The Wayne township association of the Old Trails' Road organization will hold a luncheon at the Y. M. C. A. this evening at 6 o'clock. As arrangements for the Fourth of July celebration are to be discussed, a large attendance is desired. GROVE GETS RELEASE . Claude E. Grove, charged with passing a fraudulent, check -for. $54.39 i at the Second National bank on March 2, who has been in jail since he was arrested three months ago, was released this morning by Judge Fox of the Circuit court upon his own recognizance. Grove was not arranged. Judge Fox in passing upon the case, "warned the prisoner that he would be upon his good behavior and the charge would stand against him and be prosecuted in the event that he had future trouble.

bulb with the other hand, the explosion occurred. I was lucky to have escaped. I only suffered a deafening of the ears from the concussion of the exploding shell, and my assistant was only affected the same way, only a little more seriously, as he was bleeding from the ears. We soon recovered, however, after returning to the second trenches in the rear."

BERLIN YIELDS TO PRESIDENT'S HUMANITY PLEA BERLIN, June 25. Germany will modify her submarine warfare to meet the demand of the United States providing it is given assurance that merchant ships will not attempt to sink the underwater craft which hail them. It was learned that this is one of the chief points in the preliminary draft of the reply to the second American note, which is now being drawn up by Foreign Secretary Von Jagow. The assurances that the Lusitania was not carrying ammunition for the allies are accepted by Germany as having been made in good faith and it may recede from its position that the liner was in reality a cruiser, expressing its regret for the "deplorable tragedy." Only part of the preliminary draft has been drawn up but it is expected that work on the final text may soon be begun. Dr. Bernhard Dernberg will be called into consultation by Von Jagow before the final draft is started. Dr. Dernberg is expected here Saturday. HEITBRINK COLLECTS $144 FOR RED CROSS WORK IN FATHERLAND Gerhard H. Heitbrink, collecting for the Stettin Red Cross society, in a few days obtained $144 for the relief of wounded soldiers and sailors in Germany. The money has been forwarded to the relief organization in the father land. The following contributed for this purpose: Oscar Tauer, Sr., $10; G. H. Heitbring, $10; Caroline Heitbrink, $10; George H. Knollenberg Co., $10; J. H. Klute, $5; W. D. Loehr, $5; G. A. Rehsteiner, $1; Wuenker family, $2; H. Metzderff. $3; Toney Stever, $1; Fred G. Mayer, $5; Frank Sauer, $1; Thomas Selig, $1; Matt Von Pein, $2; A. L. Pfeiffer, $2; George Trumann. $10; Wuenker Bros., $1; H. Tieman, $5; Mr. and Mrs. Adam Bartel, $10; Ida Bartel, $2; J. F. Ackerman Co., $2; CHuber, $5; A. Hartman, $1; William Hartman, $5; H. Helmich, $2; D. G. Burkhardt, $5; E. H. Kettelforder, $1; Cash, $2; W. H. Bachmeyer, $5; A. Bachmeyer, $5; Fred Heitbrink, $5; John Bruening, $1; Mrs. Klute, 75c; H. Niewoehner, $2; Fred Niewoehner, $1; Walter Diining, $2; George Cutter, $1; Henry Cutter, $1; Louis Knopf, $1; J. H. Schroeder, 50c; M. Bantle, $1; W. Kloecker, $1; H. F. Miller, $1; A. E. Wellbaum, 50 cents; Cash, 25 cents. REBUILD HOUSES IN QUAKE DISTRICT EL CENTRO, Cal., June 25. Rebuilding of the damaged business district of El Centro was started today, little more than 24 hours after the disastrous earthquake, which levelled one entire city block of business buildings. Official reports today placed the number of dead . at' five, all of them killed at Calexico, and fixed the total property loss at $400,000.

SMILES AT SUPERINTENDENT'S INCOMPETENCY City Makes Poor Showing at Initial Hearing Before the State Commission at Indianapolis on Petition for Redaction o( Electric Light and Power Rates

BY W. R. POUNOSTONE INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., June 25 It was a Waterloo for the city of Richmond yesterday afternoon at the initial hearing before the state utilities commission of the city's petition for a reduction of the electric lighting and power rates in Richmond. The city made a satisfactory start with Howard Gluys, chief engineer of the municipal plant, on the witness stand, but when Clarence Kleinknecht, superintendent of the plant, took the stand, he entered into an ordeal much more distressing to him and discomfiting to City Attorney Bond than 'when he testified in the forenoon in the Light, Heat & Power electric plant valuation case.

LAUNDRY UNION WAGES WAR ON UNFAIR SHOP President of International to Affect Settlement With Richmond Union Laundry Managers. HOLDS HOT MEETING Owners Decline to Recognize Organized Labor and to Sign 1914 Wage Scale Contract. Unrelenting warfare will be waged I by the members of the Laundry Work ers' Union against the . Richmond Union Laundry, as a result of the refusal of the management to consent to any arbitration or means of affecting a settlement of the difficulties involved. The three managers of the company, who heard proposals by James F. Brock, president of the International Laundry Workers' Union and a committee representing the strikers at a conference held last night in the office of the laundry on South Sixth street, declined to sign any contract or agree to employ the strikers are representatives of organized labor. The conference became spirited at one time last night during a discussion of the matters pertaining to the strike and it was thought likely that a fight between one of the managers and a committeeman would occur. When the managers reiterated their determination not to sign the contract involving an increase in the wage scale and a change of working conditions Mr. Brock proposed that all the men and girls who are on strike be restored to their former positions with an increase of fity cents to each girl. This suggestion did not appeal to the managers and the International president aske them to sign the 1914 contract under which the members of the union worked until last December. The managers saw fit to decline this proposal, too. The laundry management declares that they will only employ the strikers if they apply as individuals .for positions and accept the wages and hours offered them. They will continue to refuse to recognize the union and will work under the arrangement made during the last three weeks. The managers said today that they would have consented to sign the old contract had the committee of the union waited upon them immediately after the strika was called. They recalled at the conference last night that they had offered to let the union employes work at the laundry under, protest while the signing of the contract was being debated. The union, as a result of the failure of efforts to have the members restored to their places at the laundry, intend to wage a campaign to interest the public in . their fight, hoping by this means to successfully bring about their desires. Literature containing date and information pertaining to the matters of the strike will be distributed in the city, pickets will be stationed at places near the laundry and other means will be taken. One committeeman said to-, day that "it would be a good, clean, fight along legitimate lines." I Definite plans other than these have not been formulated. Mr. Brock's stay in Richmond is Indefinite. He will probably work here until a settlement of some kind is effected or all hope is abandoned. .

Kleinknecht Disappoints. Instead of establishing his contention that the present valuation fixed by the commission engineers on the city plant, $355,000, was excessive. Bond with Kleinknecht as his witness, brought out some evidence substantiating the-valuation estimate ot the state engineers; instead of indicating, through Kleinknecht's evidence, that the plant was efficiently managed, the testimony elicited emphasized the impractical methods which have been pursued in the conduct of its affairs, to such an extent that Attorney Beasley, of the company's staff of counsel, sarcastically asked Kleinknecht if it were a fact that the city plant had a bookkeeping cystem. Richmond people for some time have heard much o: the large profits their plant has been enjoying. It has been, in fact, a pet argument advanced by administration officials to convince the public of the desirability of having the city take over the electric plant of the Light, Heat & Power company. But when Supt. Kleinknecht, confused and distressed, told of the system used In figuring out the "big profits" the first real insight into the affairs of the utility was revealed, a view which made the attorneys and engineers of the Light. Heat & Power company beam with pleasure. Reprimands Kleinknecht. As a climax to the afternoon's proceedings Chairman Duncan of the commission publicly and vehemently reprimanded Kleinknecht, Bond and Mayor Robbins because the system of bookkeeping provided by the commission for all public utilities had not been installed at the Richmond municipal plant. Thoroughly agitated Kleinknecht sought to appease the irrate chairman by informing him that the commissContinued On Page Two.

BOND INVESTIGATES REID'S ELIGIBILITY The questions of whether Pettis A. Reid can hold a position as a member of the Richmond school board and his position on the state board of education at the same time was referred to City Attorney Bond today. Bond has been in Indianapolis several days attending hearing before the public service commission. Bond stated It was a question he would have to investigate, but he said it would appear that Mr. Reid was qualified to hold both posts pointing out that Dr. T. Henry Davis for years served on the state board of health and as a member of the city board of health. He also pointed out that Dr. S. G. Smelser city health officer, was also a member of the state board of medical examination. A. M. Gardner of Richmond, while in Indianapolis expressed an opinion that under the law Mr. 'Reid by accepting a positions on the Richmond board would sever automatically his connection with the state board. Weather Forecast For Indiana Fair tonight and Saturday. Temperature. Noon 77 Yesterday. Maximum 77 Minimum .' 43 For Richmond Fair tonight and probably Saturday. GENERAL COXDITNOXS The storm that crossed the lakes last evening lost energy and is dissipated causing light showers over eastern Indiana last evening and heavy rains In Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. W. E. MOORE, Weather Forecaster.