Wilkes-Barre Sunday Independent

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FLAG AND RELIGION CLASH ON WEST SIDE
A Paper For the Home
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
LEASED WIRE TELEGRAPH REPORT TO 3 A, M. SUNDAY
THE WEATHER
Eastern   Pennsylvania:     Fair   and
slightly warmer Sunday: Mnnday
generally    fair    nnd    wnrmer.
FIFTY-TWO PAGES
The   Only   Sunday   Newspaper
CorerlnK   the   W.Tomlng   Valley
WILKES-BARRE, PA., SUNDAY, MAY 31, 1936
Rntered   at   WIlVea-Barre.   Pa. Aa   Second   Claaa   .Mall   Mailer
PRICE TEN CENTS
HIGH SCHOOL BOY ELECTROCUTED HOLIDAY MISHAPS INJURE
STREET AND CEMETERY ECHO SOLEMN TRIBUTE TO SAVIORS OF A NATION
It
/// //(( lii.'it iHinil in iiorlrmjed thr vntifiiiard of tin- mnrchertt ivho yenterday liiiiii!;ht tn mfitrri(iti:<itii>n in thr Cit'/ nf ]Vilkrn-Brinr Ihr drvotinn nvrit nrrd jinid In thnnr vho rivdirnird in lifr mul drnlh thr hrritcir/r nf lilirrty and true Amrricnrtiifrn. The imiiiili   ia ki rx hrndiii;/ north nrrr .Smith .Main strrrt.
Thr rrritnhlr iirnfnvifirntinn nf Mrmnyiiil Ddij in thr cnitrnl figure nf fhe revtrr panel.   He is Lcnndrr Simmmon of Center street, Pitti'tnn, lant in the entire Greater
Pittston nrea of the survirnm of thr Grand Armji of the Republic in the Civil War, Mr. Sivioiifoti icns ninetji yriirx nid last Jannnnj twentii-fnnrth. He served vith Compnny F, Twn Hundred Third Infantry, Pevnnylvanin Vnlvntrer.i. At left nf renter panel is Arthur Fullaper, Veterans nf Foreign Wnrs, n Pnst Conimnndrr. At thr right is Ignatius Langan, another World iVar veteran and Marshal of yesterday's parade in I'ittston.
Guns to the skv in the panel at the right indicnte the iwprtUng faith of the. soldier in the gnnl tn irhich mu.it go the snuls nf thnse vho harr diril Ihnt nthers wight find the vinre ahundnnt life. Here is pictured the firing sqund nf Juninr O. V. A. .M. at Santienhe, in a, last salute tn former friends, cnnirndrs nnd frUnu'-tnwnsnirn. Thrs« pictures arc typical scenes enncled throughnut ihr Irngth and breadtii nf Wyoming Valley yesterday. Other pictures trill be found on Page A-S.
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REFUSAL TO SALUTE THE AMERICAN FLAG OUSTS LOCAL YOUTH
Student In Larksville High School Stands By The Bible And Offers Its Testimony To Prove He Is Right In Attitude Which Is Backed By Statement Of Family
PLEDGE LOYALTY TO COUNTRY
NEAILY TRICKED
Toicnsend And Long Forces Unite In Efforts To Defeat Roosevelt
t
Bannister On Wronri Ship As Star Of The Screen Escapes  With  Daughter
$100,000 BALM
Philip Yeager, IT-year-old Lark.i- ville boy, is away from clas:ics of Larksville High .School because ot his retu.sal to salute the Hag of the United States. According to school iiflicials. the student, a member of thc freshman class, quit voluntarily after teachers tried to m.ikc him salute. This is denied by hia par¬ ents, Mr. and Mrs, Philip Ycagcr of Barney street.
According to reports, Ihe young man, a victim of licart illness, ne¬ cessitating his being in bed for 22 months, recently returned to classes. When students were asked to pledge allegiance to the flag, he demurred 'I'll pledge allegiance to (Jod and to my country," the boy is reported willing to say, "but not to the flag alone."
Shortly afterward, he was called into the office of Superintendent of Schools Thomns Fecney and .in effort was made b.v teachers lo have him give the pledge. Accord¬ ing to a brother. Corn ,'^liaffer, principal of the school for many years, asked him lo either give the pledge or leave school. He took the latter course.
The Sunday Independent inte.-- viewed members of the family last night lo gel their opinion of the matter. The boy's father, who ju.'it returned home after undergoing two weeks medical treatment at Mercy Hospital, gave his version of tho story.
No DlnrcNpecl "We have no disrespect for the tovernment or its flag," he told a reporter, "but according to the Bible, we are to pledge allegiance to God alone. The flag is a man- made thing nnd compulsory al¬ legiance to it Is contrary to Bible teachings,   I don't want mv bov to
I give up his education, but I thinK i he wn.s righl In failing to give thc j salutel"
I     The Ycagcr  family  does  not hc- I long   to   tho   sect   known   ns   ,Ieho- j vnh's Witnesses. Some months ago ! several cases were reported In vari- I ous   parls   of   the   countr.v.   where j students  were   suspended   for   fall¬ ing to salute the flag.    A case was I first   reported   in   a   New   FJngland schoolhouse where two young chil¬ dren   refused   to   give   the   sniute. Parents   of   the   youngsters   stated that saluting the flag was ngainst their religion.    The Larksvill" case ] differs somewhat.
Sticks To Bible '     "We   criticize   neither  tlie   coun¬ try   nor   any   religion,"   the   boy's ' father   went   on,   "nnd  neither   are we Communists.    We have nll the respect   in  the  world  for  tho  gov- I ernment  of Ihc  United States,  but i ns   I   said   before,   compulsory   al¬ legiance to an.vthing is contrary to the  teachings  of thc  Bible "
A brother of the boy quoted a passage from thc Bible, on whicii their belief is founded. This Is found in the 20tli Chapter of Exoiliis second to fifth versus. Tt reads: "I am the Lnrd Thy God. who broughl thee nut of the Land of Egypt, out nt Ihc hnu.se of bond¬ age. Thou shall not have strnnge gods bctoic Mc. Thou shall not make to thyself a graven I hing. nor the likeness of anything lliat is in heaven above, or in the cnrlh be¬ neath, nor of those things that arc in the waters under thc earth. THOU SHALT .NOT ADORE THEM OR SERVE THRM."
"What    harm    did    my    b;-olher Philip do by nnl saluting the flag?" William,   a  brnther,  is  i-enorlcd  to (Continued On Page A-2,)
By ANN HARDING
(opyriKliI, l!»3ti, By Inited Press Aboard Duchess ot Athol Al Sea, May 30. (UP)- I fear no charges or court hearings in Canada, the United Stales, or anywhere else in the world, a.s 1 have the full custody of my daughter, Jane Bannister, granted me by the Superior Court 111 California and a court order specifically   approving  this  trip.
My Canadian attorneys advised me thai Harry Bannister might wangle several weeks postponement of my trip lo England whiie the Canadian courts reviewed my docu¬ ments. There is no question as to the ultimate results, bul 1 could not ntTord to delay as my contract with an English film company re¬ quires that 1 report in London not later than June 8,
Therefore 1 merely availed my¬ self of thc earlier sailing aboard the Liner Duchess of Alhol insiead of the Empress of Australia, to comply wilh these contractual obligations.
Philadelphia, May 30. (UP)—Dr. Francis E. Townsend, leader of the old-age pension movement, and the Rev, Gerald L. K, Smith, head of the "Share-Our-Wcalth" group, announced tonight Ihcy have form¬ ed a "united front against the dic¬ tatorship  in  Washinglon."
Thc two men, stopping here en route from Baltimore to Allentown, Pa., where they will address a mass meeting tomorrow, said they definitely had decided to merge forces.
Dr.    Townsend    said    his    plan
would   be   passed   by  Congress   at
the   next   session   because   each   of
the   4,000,000   members   control   at
least    three    votes.   Smith    added
tnat his group would cast 6,000,000
votes,
i     "We    arc    presenting    a    united
j front   against   the   dict,itorship   in
I Washington," the elderly California
physician announced,
"Add to that Communism and Farleyism and you have our plat¬ form," the leader of the move¬ ment started by the late Senator Huey P, Long added.
Asked who the united group would support . for Presidenl, the two   men   replied:
"Anybody  bul  Ronsevelt,"
"I was driven to Dr. Townsend by a similarity of ideals," Rev. Smith said. "Our leader was as¬ sassinated and Dr. Townsend is heing persecuted by a despotic Congress.
"The time Is ripe for a middle class cohesion and we are the only instruments   in   this   movement."
"Thc last meeting I had with the Rev. Father Charles E. Cough¬ lin showed me he was favorable lo my plan." Dr. Townsend said, "We hope to gel together with him before   long."
PARTLY CHECKED BUTSTANDSIH
Motor Fatalities Numerous And Planes And Trains Add To Toll Of Tragedy
GIANT NEW LINER ARRESTED AGAIN
KINGSTON AND CITY WILL SPLIT $80,000
Projects entailing the expenditure of more than J80,000 In Federal funds will gel under way in Wilkes¬ Barre and Kingston about the middle of this week, 11 was an- iioiiMccd last nighl by Jo,sci)h G. Schuler, Luzerne County Works Progress Administralion Director.
One of thc projects calls for re¬ pair of srwcrs in King.s!on dam¬ aged by the March floodii and bas
been made possible by an appro¬ priation of approxiniPl'ily $20,000. The olhcr project is for street re¬ pairs in Wilkes-Barre City wilh about $85,0«0 in Fedeial funds available.
The city street repair project Is particularly advantageous at this lime because tiie city street depart¬ ment i.s already working at half- time because ol the depiction of maintenance funds.
(iet .Safely Awuy
Quebec, May 30, (UP) Ann Harding and her scvcn-ycar-old daughter, Jane Bannister, on board the S.S. Ducncss ot Athol, steam- ! ing out of at. Lawrence river to the open .sea, were in full flight lo England tonight while her divorced husband prepared for a court battle to bring them back.
Bewildered nnd angered by being outsmarted in a Iransconnnenlal race, Harry Bannister, the divorced husband who objected lo being known as "Mr. Ann Harding," s.voie oul a warrant for nrrest of the blonde film star,'charging sho was illegally depriving him ot his daugliter. ,
Miss Harding was enroute to England to make a picture.
Bannister chnrged she was going there to take n pcrniancnl residence so llial lie never again could .see their daughter, a privilege, he says, granted liim wlicn thc couple wa.s divorced. Mis;, Harding, denying his rirrlit to have custody ot the child two monlhs cach year, said .she paid Biiniiister $100,000 to re¬ nounce this righl: and, that al¬ though he accepted thc cash offer, he was trying to boost the ante.
"There is no vindictivcncss in my seeking lo have Miss Harding de¬ tained," Bannister said. "My only object is lo see my lovely daughter again and have hcr companion¬ ship,"
F
Queen Mary Displays Proof Of Ability To Capture Ribbon From Normandie
ALL WELL ABOARD
Will  Be  Arrested
New York, May 30. (UPi- Harry (Continued On Page A-2,J
Aboard .S. .S. Queen Mary. En Route to New York, May 31.— (Sunday) —(UPl The Queen Mary, Great Britain's newest leviathan, ran into a half gale and fog early this morning, bul expectations that the ship would capture the blue ribbon of North Atlantic speed supremacy, virtually without trying for il, were not abandoned.
In one day's run of 25 hours to noon Saturday the Queen Mary, steaming Ihrough moderate seas wilh the weather clear and a fresh northeast breeze blowing, covered 766 miles al an average speed of 30.64 knots.
This was thc longest dLstance any passenger vessel ever travelled in a aingle day's run on any of thc seven seas.
All indications pnint to probabil¬ ity that, despite the insistence ot Sir p:dgnr Britten, Master, that he is attempting only his schedule, his ship will reach New York Mon¬ day having wrested the westward North Atlantic speed record from the French liner Normandie.
Speculation aboard is not wheiher there will bc a record, but how much belter than thc Normandie's it will be.
Since   steaming   past   llie   Cher¬ bourg breakwater Ihe Queen Mary has increased her speed consistent¬ ly- Must Do Better
The   Queen   Mary   has   not   yet echp.sed the Normandie's maximum (Continued Dn Page B-4,>
OF CRAZY ANTICS
Tossing Of Furniture Made Basis Of New Charges Against   Wild   Playboy
BRIDE ON LEAVE
BUILDING FALLS
Washington, May 30, (UP) Rep, Marion A. Zioncheck nf Washing¬ ton, naked to the waist nnd wilh hair louselcd, was arrested tonight and booked on charges of dis¬ orderly conduct.
He had on only a pair nt trousers when he was taken into custody at the fashionable Harvard Hall apartment.
He was unable to pa.v thc .$23 bond that thc police demanded be¬ fore Ihcy would let him go rnd got busy on the telephone in an effort lo raise the money.
He found his secretary, Marian Y'oung, and she taxied to the police slation with thc .$2j which Zion¬ check paid over and on the advice of his attorney decided to forfeit in lieu ot a court appearance and fine.
Then, dressed more conservntivcly in a shirt that a generous patrol¬ man iirovided, he slipped out the back door and into tho nighl.
Although Congress has been un¬ commonly busy wilh last-minute legislation, Zioncheck, a Democrat, has been engaged thc past month in such activilici* as gelling mar¬ ried, getting arrested twice for speeding and getting a large num¬ ber of peopic intoxicated on Zion¬ check Zippers of rye, mint and honey,
FaUc Fire Alarms
The   RcprcseiilHlive   was   taken into custody hy a liarried polire de- (Conlinued On Page A-2,)
By  UNITED  PRESS
Thirty-five persons were killed and hundreds were injured Satur¬ day as accidents, mostly involving automobiles, look their annual Memorial Day tnll, a partial sur¬ vey  by  the  United  Press  revealed.
Five persons were killed when a truck and an auto collided head- on   near  Richmond,  Va.
In Chicago a gay party of 20 young persons, riding on a hay¬ rack, ended fatally when an autn Iraveling ."iO miles an hour crashed into it frnm behind. All were thrown high in the air and one youlh killed when his back was broken as he thudded to the con¬ crete highway. Thirteen were in¬ jured. The driver ot the car wan arrested and admitted he had been drinking.
HURLED OFF TOWER BY HEA VY CURRENT HIKER MEETS DEATH
Honor Student Of G.A.R. Memorial High School Is Able To Direct Rescuers But His Hurts Prove Fatal.—Cars In Collision Ac¬ count For Others In Hospitals
CROSSING KILLS DRIVER
t Trainmen Kiilled '
Guthrie, Okla., May 30. (UP)- Two railway trainmen were kille.l lale today when a fa.st pa.sscnger train was wrecked and a baggage car ill wiiich tliey wero riding wa.^ thrown  into thc Cimarron  river.
Thc hody of Leonard F. Guiff, 38, Kan.-^as City, Mo., was removed tonight trom the smashed, partially submerged car after rescue partic.- cut Ihcir way through steel with blow torches.
Thc rescuers believed they soon would tind the body of Raymond McNulty, 3,^ Guthrie.
Fatal Plane CraNh
Boston, May 30. (UP) Testing an Army plane, a pilol-mcchanic was killed and another prt bably fatally injured when thc craft nosedived oul of control into thc main channel of Boston harbor lale  today.
The victim, authorities said, wn.s Private Robert Tanchcr, 24, whose address was not immediately avail¬ able,
Piivate William  E. Holloway, 24, | of   Charlottesville,   Va.,   iinsucccss- \ fully  attempted  a   parachute  leap, j He   cleared   the   plane   bul   struck the    water   before    his    parachute opened,    Tanchcr   was   trapped   in Ihc  wicckage.
Holloway was rescued by a speed | boal nnd laken ashore al Colum¬ bia Yh'ht Club landing. At Carney Ho.spilal it was found he had .suffered a broken jaw and prob¬ ably skull and rib fractures. Phy¬ sicians said his condition was "ex¬ tremely  critical."
Tanchcr and Holloway had hern
working nn thc plane in which an I
Army    nihcer    arrived    yesterday j
from    Langley   Field.   They   were i
(Continued On Page B-4.) '
Death struck inlo a group ot aix high srhool students out for a holi¬ day hike yesterday afternoon when Joscph    .Stilp,    17,    ot   174    Loomis I street, city, was electrocuted after climbing an  electric  lower on  the j Ashley mountain.    As his five com- j panions watched, Stilp'a  bod.v was i thrown   fifty   feci   lo   the   ground when    he    touched    high    tension wires   of   Pennsylvania   Power   .t Light Company, He died two hours laler  in  Merry  hospital.
Nearly   a    score    other    persons were   injured   during   the   day   as accidents   overtook   Memorial   Day celebrators.   Auto crashes were re¬ sponsible     for    the     majority    of casualties with  holiday traffic  un- I usually  heavy.   Four  members   of j a  Wilkes-Barre   family  were  hurt j in   a   crash   on   the   Bear   Creek boulevard.
John Molusis. .'50, Edwardsville ! businessman, died at 1 :.30 oclock ' this morning in Nesbitt Memorial I Hospital from injuries received ! several hours earlier when his automobile was wrecked by a D. L. & W. train al Swoyerville.
Officers of Slate Highway Patrol announced the arrest of a dozen other drivers for reckless operation of their machines on the crowded highways.
Honor Student Killed Stilp. son ot Mr. nnd Mrs. George snip and an honor student at Wilkcs-Barre G. A. R. High School, who was lo graduate within two weeits, lett home hefore noon for a  mountain   hike  with  five  of his
classmates. In the grnup were Gene Andes, Hnrry Walker, Mary Dougherty, Gene O'Donnell and Regina Mushaway.
Two miles north of Nuangola they were passing an abandoned tunnel of Wilkes-Barre & Hazle« ton Railroad when Stilp and twd other boys derided to gel a highef view of the mountain. They de< cided to climb one of the P. P. & L. steel towers supporting wirei carrying power from Harwood ta Wilkcs-Barre. Stilp climbed highef than his companions, according to witnesses, and reached a point about fifty feet in thc nir when his hands touched one of the high ten^ sion lines.
There was enough power to kill him instantly hut, instead, the youth was tossed into the air. He landed on the ground near his hor* rifled companions. Either th« power or the fall itself waa suf< ficienl to cause death but young Stilp waa still alive. Gene Andes, nt 289 East South street, one nf the group, flagsed a hand-car operated by a crew of Lehigh Valley raIN road employes and on this trucll thc victim was brought to the Par* rish street crossing in this city. Picks Own Hospital
His rescuers planned to lake him to nearby Homeopathic hospital but Stilp, still conscious, said he wanted lo he laken to Mercy hos* pital. He got lo the hospital about 3:30 oclock and died at ,% oclock. Deputy Coroner Emmet Brislin, after viewing thc body, permitte4 (Continued On Page A-2,)
FA VOR BY PRESIDENT OPENS WA Y TO G. 0. P.
Wa,shinglnn, May 30, (UP) - President Rooscvell has personally intervened lo insure clear broad¬ casting channels tor the proceed¬ ing of the Republican Nalional Convention nt Cleveland, il was learned tonight. The unusual step was laken because Mr. Roo.sevelt will bc engaged in a speech-making tour in thc Southwest during thc ctinveiition.
The President's action consti¬ tuted, ill effect, an answer to critics who suggested lie was de¬ liberately seeking to shift national interest away from the Republican
gathering hy launching his crosM country trip during the convention period.
It was made jiialn that under no circumstances will the two broad* casting companies. National and Columbia, be a.sked to awitch frottl the proceedings ot the G, O. P. conclave to the speeches the Cliief Executive will be making at tha same time.
Word to this effect was sent t» Hairy Butcher, vice-president ot Columbia, nnd Frank Russell, vice- president of National, from Stephe* T, Early, White House secretajr^,