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THE ROCK ISLAND ARGUS.

SIXTY-FIFTH YEAR. NO. n7.

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1916 FOURTEEN PAGES

PRICE TWO CENTS.

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CONGRESS IN

UPROAR OVER

POLICY MOVE

Demands of Wilson in the

Armed Ship Question

Causes Upheaval.

STIRRING TALKS MADE

Congressmen Rally to Sup

port of President and Bat

ter Down "Antis."

Washington, March 2. The armed

ship issue suddenly blazed up in the

senate today with the most sensational

debate of the session In which Senator

Gore, democrat, and author of a reso

lution to -warn Americans off bellig

erent vessels, repeated what he char

acterized as a report that President

Wilson had told certain congress lead

ers that war between the United States

and Germany "might not be ungrate

ful and might result In advancing civ

ilization by bringing about the end of

the European war by midsummer."

Chairman Stone of the foreign re

lations committee twice emphatically

denied that the president ever had

expressed any such sentiment in his

hearing, and Senator James, another

administration leader, demanded to

know why Senator Gore had not

sought to confirm the report from the

president himself.

Had Hoped Report Untrue.

Senator Gore responded that he had

hoped the report was untrue; that he

had repeated it only as a report sur

rounded by circumstances which gave

it credence in his opinion, but that he

was glad to hear it denied.

cThe storm broke in the senate when.

Senator Stone, announcing that he

was not in accord with the president's

demand for a defeat of the armed ship

resolutions, proposed a means to let

the Gore resolution come to a vote

and Senator James announced that

the administration forces had the votes

to defeat it.

Senator Williams of Mississippi

spoke in support of the president, as

did Senator Lodge, the ranking repub

lican of the foreign relations commit

tee. The debate ended without action

and the senate passed to other busi

ness with the prospect of taking up the

Gore resolution tomorrow.

Meanwhile the situation in the house

was unchanged, with the administra

tion leaders apparently making no

headway toward a vote there.

Stone's View of Situation.

"I deBire to state the international

situation as I understand it," said

Senator Stone.

"A sharp issue has been defined be

tween Germany and Great Britain as

to the Ftatus of armed merchantmen.

Germany contends that armed mer

chant vessels are the equivalent of

auxiliary war vessels and has an

nounced her policy to be, that after

March 1 armed merchantmen would be

regarded as warships and subject to

the rules of war.

"On the other hand Great Britain

contends that under international law

merchantmen have the right to be

armed for defensive purposes and that

armed merchantmen are entitled under

the law to the same immunity as un

armed ships, without regard to cargo.

She has announced her intention to

carry out that policy.

".Vow, where does the United States

come in? In this way. If both persist

in these courses, neither yielding to

each other, nor to the importunities of

neutral nations and if Germany at

tacks an armed merchantman and any

American citizen is injured, the ques

tion is presented to this government

what our attitude would be. If no

American citizens were on board we

would have no cause to interfere, un

less we proceeded on the altruistic

theory of obligations to humanity."

Should Wear Hearts on Sieves.

"This emergency is of high impor

tance. The president, senators and

representatives should speak with

each other and with the country, free

from political bias. We should wear

(Continued On Page Three.)

FOOD SHORTAGE IS

CAUSING STRIKES

Madrid, March 1. (Delayed.)

Strikes and disturbances have oc

curred in most of the provinces of

pain as a result of the Increased cost

food. A general strike was pro

claimed in Valencia, where serioul

Woting took place, one person being

killed and many injured, mere is a

general demand that the government

taka tn tn lnvnr the nrices of food

and to start public works, in order to

provide labor for the unemployed ana

thereby avoid serious crista

THE WAR

TODAY

After a lnll in Infantry opera

tions In the vicinity of Verdun

since the early part of the week

there has been a resumption of the

German offensive in the Woevre

region. A violent bombardment

was followed by a spirited attack

on the French at Fresnes, 10 miles

southeast of Verdun. Paris re

ports the driving ont of the Ger

mans from the few positions

vrhich they succeeded in penetrat

ing in their assault.

The new attack gives color to

what seems to be the prevailing

military opinion in Paris that the

German offensive at Terdun had

merely halted.

From Dutch sources come re

ports that the German drive is (o

be resumed from the northeast,

9(1,000 men having been concen

trated near Bnzy, behind Fort

Vans, which is said to have been

destroyed by the German heavy

mortars.

Estimates of the German losses

In the offensive are running high

In entente quarters, one from

Paris placing them at between

125,000 and 130,000. All accounts

from German sonrces, however,

have declared that the casualties

of the attacking armies were sur

prisingly small.

The German plan of campaign

has been primarily based on the

bombardment of sectors they de

sire to attain, according to unoffi

cial Information from Berlin and

it Is possible they are now bring

ing np their heavy grins to cap

tured positions with the object of

shelling points nearer Verdun.

To the east and southeast of

Verdun fighting Is still in progress

but on a smaller scale than for

several days.

The British front has been

stretched between thirty and forty

miles down to the region of

Amiens, In order to release French

troops for the defense of Verdun.

Progress of the new German

submarine campaign, which was

to have- begun yesterdays-hag JwSVftjrsga steam strips AppanTTin charge of a

jet been notably reflected in news

dispatches recording the sinking

of allied merchantmen. The loss

of one vessel, the Russian steamer

Alexander Mentzel of 2,838 tons, is

reported from London today, IS of

her crew having been drowned.

A German seaplane dropped

bombs on the southeast coast of

England last night and killed one

child. Xo serious property damage

resulted.

Emperor William has left the

Verdun front and returned to Ger

many, according to a Rotterdam

dispatch.

On the Rnssian, Italian and Cau

casus fronts no important changes

have been reported.

President "Wilson is determined

to force a vote in congress on the

resolutions warning Americans off

armed ships of belligerent nations

and refuses to continue negotia

tions with Germany until the atti

tude of congress is settled.

ITALY'S BOATS TO

CONTINUE ARMED

Ambassador at Washington Is Told

Guns Will Be Used Only for

Defensive Purposes.

Rome. March 1 (delayed.) The Ital-1

ian ambassador at Washington, Count

Macchi, has been Instructed to notify

the American government that, not

withstanding the German and Austrian

decrees regarding the sinking of arm

ed merchantmen, Italian merchantmen

will continue to carry armament. The

ambassador also has been instructed

to say that Italian merchantmen will

use their artillery only for defensive

purposes.

Boys Escape From w Jail.

Grinnell, la., March 2 Sheriff's of

ficers today returned to jail two boys

held here on a robbery charge who es

caped last night from the new $18,000

county jail at Montezuma. The boys

made a key from a pocket comb and

unlocked their cell door.

THE WEATHER

II

Forecast Till 7 P. M. Tomorrow, for

Bock Island, Davenport, Moline

and Vicinity.

Partly cloudy and colder tonight

with the lowest temperature about

5 to 10 degrees above zero. Friday

generally fair.

Temperature at 7 a. m. 17. Highest

yesterday 28. lowest last night 17.

Velocity of wind at 7 a. m. 6 miles

per hour.

Precipitation .09 inch.

Relative humidity at 7 p. m. 87, at 7

a. m. 90, at 1 p. m. today 70.

Stage of water 9.9, a fall of .4 In last

24 hours.

J. M. SHERIER. Local Forecaster.

TEUT RAIDER

IS REPORTED

AS CAPTURED

Famous German Auxiliary

Cruiser Moewe Taken by

British Warships.

IS CAPTOR OF APPAM

Vessel Said to Be Caught

Now Believed Same That

Overpowered Liner.

Buenos Aires, March 2. Press dis

patches from Montevideo say that a

steamer arriving from Europe inter

cepted near the coast of Brazil, a wire

less message stating that British

cruisers had captured the German

auxiliary cruiser Moewe.

The Moewe, it is said, was taken by

the British cruisers to the island of

Trinidad.

The American steamer Santa Bar

bara has arrived at Montevideo, her

captain making the announcement

that a French cruiser which put out

from Dakar, on the west coast of

Africa, encountered a German raid

er, name not given, and opened Are

on her. Under cover of darkness the

German ship got away. She was, how

ever, damaged on her upper works by

the French Are. There is some doubt,

however, as to the identity of the

German vessel reported to have been

captured. Another version of the ac

count is that the vessel in question is

the German cruiser Roon.

Has Gained Much Fame.

The Moewe first came into prom

inence with the arrival at Hampton

Roads several weeks ago of the Brit-

German prize crew. She brought word

of a mysterious German commerce

raider, the Moewe, which was roam

ing the seas and had captured and

sunk seven British merchantmen and

admiralty transports in addition to

capturing the Appam.

Dispatches from the Canary islands

late last month reported the arrival

of the British steamer Westburn with

a German prize crew on board, said

to be from the Moewe. According to

these reports the ! Moewe, continuing

her activities after capture of the Ap

pam, and the seven other British

vessels, betyeen Jan. 16 and Feb. 9

sank five British steamers off the

coast of Brazil.

Sought By British,

i A vigorous search for the Moewe

was begun by the British admiralty.

The Moewe was reported to be a

tramp steamship fitted with guns for

preying on commerce of the entente

allies.

The German cruiser Roon was said

to have escorted the Moewe when the

latter captured the Appam. A report

that the Roon had been captured by

the British cruiser Drake off Ber

muda was published last month, but

subsequently was denied.

The Island of Trinidad Is one of

the British West Indies, lying off the

coast of Venezuela.

Admit Moewe is Disguised.

Amsterdam, (via London, March 2,

6:24 a. m.) Captain Persius, naval

expert of the Berliner Tageblatt, dis

cussing in that newspaper the new

German campaign against merchant

shipping, makes the assertion that it

will be carried out, not so much

through the medium of submarines

whose activities are hampered by dip

lomatic difficulties, as through dis

guised commerce raiders like the

Moewe, which has already sunk a

number of vessels of the allies and

which sent the Appam to Newport

News with a prize crew.

REFUSES USE OF HIS

NAME IN ILLINOIS

New York, March 2. Theodore

Roosevelt's determination not to al

low the use of his name as a candidate

for the presidential nomination in the

spring primary elections was empha

sized today by the announcement that

his secretary, John W. McGrath, has

directed the withdrawal of Mr. Roose

velt's name from the Illinois primaries,

Springfield, 111., March 2. Secre

tary of State Lewis G. Stevenson said

today he had not received a reply to

his letter to Colonel Theodore Roose

velt in which he asked if it was the

intention of the colonel to permit the

use of his name as a presidential

candidate In the spring primary. "I

hardly expect a reply before tomor

row," said Mr. Stevenson.

Eighteen Vets Die in Month.

Springfield, HI., March 2. Eighteen

veterans of the Civil war died at the

Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' home at

Qulncy, 111., during the month of Feb

ruary, according to a report made pub

lic here today.

IS CONFIDENT OF

FRENCH FORCES

President of Chamber of Commerce of

Verdun Feels Safe from Teu

tons' A (tal k.

Paris, Feb. 29. (Delayed.) M. Cou

ten, president cf the Chamber of Com

merce of Verdun, who has arrived in

Paris, says that when the civilian pop

ulation was ordered to leave the city

last Friday they were satisfied that

the enemy's offensive was already

checked.

"I had been able to see all the de

fensive precautions which were tak

en," added M. Couten, "and was aware

of the strength of the forces accum

ulated in the' Verdun sector and my

confidence is consequently absolute in

the complete early success of our

arms. The importance of the German

gain should not be exaggerated. I

know all the points where the first

phases of the battle occurred and can

say that the exact advance of the Ger

mans north of Verdun does not exceed

four kilometres."

Other refugees who have been in

terviewed agree in stating that, despite

the terrific noise of the artillery fire

and the lurid illumination of the sky

during Friday night and Saturday

morning when they left, all were su

premely confident in the superiority

of their own army. They say that the

only civilian left in Verdun on Satur

day was an employe of the city hall.

The last refugees were escorted by

city firemen who, with admirable de

votion, aided the tired mothers to

carry their children. The only sign of

worry or exasperation shown by the

retreating residents of Verdun was

when the customs employes inquired

regarding the contents of their pack

ages.

The refugees were greatly touched

by the reception accorded to them or

their arrival at the railroad station in

Paris when a number of persons, in

cluding society women, offered to

carry their baggage and help them to

places of shelter. The general optim

ism was reflected by the remark of one

young man, who, when asked about the

occurrences in the fortress city, re

plied: "They have broken our win

dows but we shall return there soon

with glaziers."

STARTERS OF ROUGH

HOUSE ARE SOUGHT

Chicago, March 2 Police are today

seeking the causes and persons re

sponsible for the outbreak which took

place in a south side hall last night

when a former Roman Catholic priest

Dr. Joseph Slattery of Boston, and his

wife, an alleged former nun,

attempted to speak on "Civic

and Religious Liberty at a

meeting under the auspices of the

Guardians of Liberty. No one was

seriously hurt. Slattery and his wife

were escorted from the hall by police.

Investigation also is being made of

the attack by a number of rioters on

the home of Rev. R. K. Ryan, who con

ducts Sunday services in the hall in

which the trouble started, but who

was said to be out of the city last

night.

MILITARY STRENGTH

OF ILLINOIS GREAT

Chicago, March 2. Illinois has

enough men available for military ser

vice to make up 35 army corps, ac

cording to figures announced today by

Colonel Milton J. Foreman of the First

Illinois cavalry. Colonel Foreman's

figures indicated that there are 1,391.

195 men between the ages ot 18 and

45 in the state, an approximate aver

age increase of 12,000 men annually

since the compilation in 1910 of the

last United States census.

L (jWt6

Losses Show

Activities of

SeaWarfare

Loudon, March 2. The sinking of

four more vessels was reported today.

The crews of three British shacks

landed at Lowestoft. Their vessels are

said to have been sunk in the North

sea.

The Italian ship Eliza also is re

ported to have been sunk.

The Russian steamship Alexander

Wentzel has been sunk. Eighteen of

the crew were drowned and 11 res

cued. The Alexander-. Wentzel was re

ported in last available shipping rec

ords as having arrived at Cardiff on

Jan. 23. The steamer was of 2,838

gross tons, was 320 feet long and 45

feet beam. She was built at West

Hartlepool In 1899 and was owned by

the Northern Steamship company of

Petrograd.

Lloyds' agent at Blyth reports that

the British steamship Thornaby was

sunk by a mine on Monday last.

Stockholm, March 2. It has been

learned that the Swedish steamer

Knippla was sunk about eight hun

dred yards inside the limit of Swedish

waters.

On Feb. 29 it was announced that

the Knippla, a vessel of 531 tons, had

struck a mine and sunk south of Fal

sterbo, Sweden, and that the crew had

been rescued. On the same day a dis

patch from Copenhagen reported that,

according to a local newspaper, a

large German flotilla was engaged in

laying mines south of Falsterbo.

IS LAST DAY FOR

FILINGPETITIONS

Candidates for Delegates and Alter

nates Must Place Papers Be

fore Midnight.

Springfield, 111., March 2. Under the

provisions of the primary election law

this is the last day petitions may be

filed by candidates for national dele

gates and alternates, candidates for

president under the preferential pri

mary law and candidates for state com

mittees of the various political parties.

Secretary of State Stevenson an

nounced that his office would be kept

open until midnight in order to give

wavering candidates all the time to

which they are entitled.

ADOPTS SIX BOYS AS

SOCIAL EXPERIMENT

Chicago, March 2. Six homeless

boys, less than 6 years of age and of

different nationalities, are to be adopt

ed by Mrs. Bessie Fuller, wife of a

mining engineer, of South Brucpine,

Ontario, Canada, as a sociological ex

periment, she said.

Mrs. Fuller, who is visiting in Chi

cago, said that, having no children of

her own, she plans to rear the six, re

gardless of color, race or creed, in

the Canadian backwoods, her theory

being that their association will be in

the "melting pot" in which they will

fuse.

Sew Sounders Being Tested.

Springfield, 111.. March 2 New tele

graph sounders, invented by engineers

of the Western Union Telegraph com

pany are being tested out on the Wa

bash railroad at Illlopolis and Ed-

wardsville. Xo local batteries are re

quired for the sounder, which is oper

ated by the main line battery.

HERO OF MONITOR

TO GETHIS WISH

Veteran of Little Craft That Sank

Merrimac to Be Granted Favor

Offered by Lincoln.

Washington, D. C, March 2. Presi

dent Lincoln's promise made more

than a half century ago to John Dris

coll of Hampton, Va., said to be the

oldest living survivor of the battle be

tween the Monitor and the Merrimac

during the Civil war, is about to be

carried out by the navy department.

After the naval engagement Presi

dent Lincoln summoned the crew of

the Monitor of which Driscoll was a

niember, to Washington. He thanked

them for their valor and said if any

of them ever wanted a favor it would

only be necessary to ask it.

It was not until recently, however,

that Driscoll decided to ask the favor.

He requested to be taken aboard the

battleship going through the Panama

canal which, he said, he longed to see

before he died. Arrangements for the

trip have just been completed and the

next warship that passes through the

great waterway will carry the aged

veteran as a passenger.

ACCIDENT FATAL TO

WHOLESALE GROCER

Sioux City, Iowa, March 2. Daniel

B. Fuller, president of the Hycks-Ful-ler-Pierson

Wholesale Dry Goods com

pany, died in a chair at his home here

at 2 o'clock this morning. He had

fallen and dislocated his shoulder

Monday. The accident was followed

by an attack of angina pectoris. Death

was unexpected. Burial will be in St.

Joseph, Mo., where for years he was

engaged in business.

GRANT REHEARING

OF RAILROAD CASE

Washington, March 2. Rehearing of

the proposal of eastern railroads to es

tablish slightly increased rates on

grain and grain products from points

in the middle west and Wisconsin,

Iowa, Missouri and Kentucky to the

Atlantic coast ports for export was

granted today by the interstate com

merce commission. The proposed in

creases were disapproved last Decem

ber. Latest Bulletins

Douglas, Ariz March 2.

Charles It. Ausburn, an Amer

ican mining man, who was re

ported to have been executed by

Villa soldiers more than two

months ago at the Mulatos mine

in sontheastern Sonora, is alive,

it was learned today.

London, March 2. A dispatch

to the Central Sews from Amster

dam says that SO persons have

been killed and many injured by

avalanches in the southern TjroL

London, March 2 Major (Jen

era! George Frederick Gorringe is

mentioned in a casualty list just

made public here as having been

wounded in the fighting In Meso

potamia. EI Paso, Tex., March 2-Gener-al

Argnmedo, leader of the opposi

tion to the de facto government in

Durango and the Laguna districts

was executed after court martial

at Durango City yesterday at

noon, according to a dispatch re

ceived today from General Mur

guja, military commander of Du

rango state, by the Mexican con.

bulate here.

BERLIN SAYS

FOE SUFFERS

IN COUNTERS

Tells of Great Sacrifice of

Men in Futile Attempt

to Regain Fort.,

FRENCH ARE SILENT

No Mention of Return At

tack Upon Verdun Out

post in Statement.

Berlin, March 2, (via London, 3:15

p. m.) The official German state

ment of today says the French sacri

ficed men unsuccessfully in a counter

attack on Fort Douaumont, one of th

outlying defenses of Verdun, which;

was captured by the Germans.

The situation on the Franco-Belgium

front, the communication says,

is unchanged.

Paris, March 2, (2:41 p. m.) The.

war office announcement of this af

ternoon says that there was Intermit

tent bombardment of the Verdun and,

Woevre front during the night but

that there were no developments ot

importance.

The text of the war office's announ

cement reads: "In the Artols district

to the east of the road running from

Neuville to La Folie we caused the ex

plosion of a mine located under an

old crater which was occupied by

the enemy. We took possession ot the

new crater.

"In the region of Verdun the en

emy bombarded violently last night

Le Morthomme(tne" dead man) at the

Cote De L'Oie, between Malancourt

and Forges as well as the principal

crossing of the river Meuse. There

was little activity on the part of the

artillery to the east of the Meuse.

Germans Driven Back.

"In the Woevre district, after an

intense retaliatory fire from the artil

lery, the enemy yesterday .evening

delivered a spirited attack on our po

sitions at Fresnes. They were at once

driven back by our counter attacks

from the few positions which they

had succeeded in penetrating.

"In the Lorraine district a bom

bardment of several hours duration

against the Sainte Marie farm to the

west of Besange was followed by an

attack on the part of the enemy which

resulted in complete failure.

"In Alsace certain tentative move

ments undertaken by strong German

patrols against our outposts in the

valley of the Lauch were repulsed by

the use of hand grenades."

BRANDEIS GIVEN

ARDENT SUPPORT

Advocates of Nominee for Supremo

Bench Sow Having Their Inning

Before Investigators.

Washington, March 2. Advocates

of the confirmation of the nomination,

of Louis D. Brandeis as a justice of

the supreme court had an inning to

day before the senate committee in

vestigating charges against Mr. Bran

deis. Edward F. McClennan, law partner

of Mr. Brandeis, was ready to con

tinue his cross explanation of the

various incidents for which Mr.

Brandeis has been criticized. Newton

D. Baker, former mayor of Cleveland

and president of the National Consum

ers' league, had petition for con

firmation from a group of New York

manufacturers, labor leaders, public

ists and social workers.

Among the signers are Oscar

Strauss, chairman of the New York

public service commission; Hamilton

Holt, editor of The Independent; John

Mitchell, chairman ot the New York

state industrial commission; Charles

F. McFarland, secretary of the fed

eral council of churches of Christ in

America, Henry R. Seager, president

of the American Acsociatlon for labor

legislation; Rabbi Stephen S. Wise,

New York; Charles R. Crane, Chicago;

Mrs. Florence Kelley, secretary Na

tional Consumers' League.

Iowa Teachers In Session.

Fort Dodge, la., March 2. Six hun

dred teachers were in attendance when

the annual convention of the North

western Iowa Teachers' association

opened here today. The delegates

spent the morning visiting Fort Dodg

schools.

General sessions of the convention

i will begin tomorrow

-3k.