Wilkes-Barre Sunday Independent

              LABOR BOARD ASKED TO END SILK STRIKE HERE
A Paper For The Home
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
Weather
Sunday:   Fair and warmer. Monday: Partly clou4y.
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FORTY-EIGHT PAGES
WILKES-BARRE, PA., SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 1937
PRICE TEN CENTS
ARREST REPORTED IN BROSKE MURDER
Samantha MilVs Gift To Nanticoke—Her Home Town
MATTERN TO AID SEARCH OFRUSSIANS
Joins   Hunt   In   Arctic   For Soviet 'Lindbergh' Who Once Saved Him        I
RESCUE DRIVE OPENS
Hopes To Repay
WEST SIDE MAN OUT ON PAROLE I    BELIEVED HELD
Said To Be Member Of Gang Convicted Only
Year Ago; Police Neither Admit Nor
Deny .Arrest In Case Of Trooper
Shot Down Yesterday Morning
BROSKE ON DUTY WHEN KILLED
Joe Crosson, 'Mercy Flier' -ti.mmv mattkr.n
Of North, Finds Nothing On Frozen Wastes
Alway.s the largest .ind anony¬ mous-contributor to any worthy Nanticoke caufe ahd a woman who each year assured college educa¬ tion for more and more young people of Nanticoke - Samantha Mill, who died la.st Saturday, made certain her philanthropy would continue   after   death.
To  accomplish  her  purpose,  she
fulfilled the old wish of many | Nanticoke people. leaving #ier' splendid estate in Nanticoke, on which is located her family home, both sho\Ai above, to the city. She cared also for the expense which will be entailed in the construc¬ tion of the library building which will  be  needed.
The beautiful well kept ground.s of the estate, located opposite the new state armory on Main street. right below Nanticoke High School, extend over the area of four city blocks. It will be the effort of civic-minded Nanticoke people to preserve the beauty of tH* grounds and   the   fine   architecture   of   the
homestead,  built  in  the  middle  of the past century.
The first of the Mill family came to this country in 1740. A great¬ grandfather of the late Samantha Mill was a soldier in the Revolu¬ tion. At one time the Mill family owned most of the present site of Nanticoke.
China Threatens To Renew Air Raids
International Settlement Fearful; Fires Raging From First Bombs
FIGHTING HEAVY
"U.S. IS PREPARED I STREETS BLOODY iTOTMECITIZENSlAS
?
Japs  Trying  Attack  From Rear Of Defenders Be¬ hind Great Wall
By H. R. KklNS
fiiilwl   rreiH   Staff   f orrospondent Opyright.   1»»7.   By   1 nWeA   Prens
Shanghai Sunday Aug. IS i2.a.m.) (UPl -Chinest threatened today to renew their aerial attack on war¬ ships of the Japane:.e Third Battle fleet lying oft the water front.        i
The threat again threw the In- j ternational Settlement into confu- | ¦ion. I
Scores     of     fires    were     raging i throughout   the   city   in   the   wake of   yesterday's    thunderous    aerial bombardment  in which many for- : cigncrs. including three Americans were killed. |
Settlement  Feam  Attack
II appeared that huge Chinese armies surrounding the city were determined tn destroy the foreign areas unless the U. S.. British and ^ other officials of the International Settlement yield to China's demand that nil Japane.'ic armed forces and warships be withdrawn immedi- ately from the foreign controlled areas  ,nnd  their vicinity. I
The Chinese contend that if Jap- j ancfc nre permitted to use the In- j ternational Settlement as a basis j for military operations they must \ have, and will exercise, the same ! right. !
The   government   of  the   French concession   officially   notiticri   both j I Continued  on  Page   A-2i
Net   Responsible   If   They United Press Correspondent Remain; Suggest Removal i    Watches Death Fall On
Of   Treops   As   Well STAY OUT OF QUARREL
Frantic   Crowds
IN WRECKED HOTEL
•Washington. Aug. 14. (UPi-^Sec- retary of State Cordell Hull said tonight that the United States is prepared to evacuate its citizens from war-torn Shanghai.
He emphasized, however, that this government would not be drawn into the Sino-,Iapanese con¬ flict to protect nationals who choose to remain in the danger area despite warning. j
Hull, reflecting his grave concern j over the Shanghai outbreak, re¬ vealed that the United .States re¬ peatedly has urged both Japan and China to refrain from turning the port of Shanghai into a war area.    ]
Hull  was  in  constant  communi-i cation   with   President   Roosevell.. who was cruising Chesapeake Bay \ aboard     the     presidential     yacht Potomac.    The naval wireless  sta¬ tion   transmitted  latest  advices   to If-ontinued   on   Page   A-2i |
Government Spending Increasing; .  A Billion Expended Since July 1
Washington, Aug. 14 (UP)— Treasury ledgers disclosed tonight that despite economy pleas by President Roosevelt and a one- third cut In relief expenditures, the government has spent almost a bil¬ lion dollars since July 1.
Anal.vsis of treasury figures showed that spending was approxi¬ mately 38 per cent greater than in last year's period. Income w:as 33 per cent greater.
Expenditures since July 1 aggre¬ gated $939,2:; 1,749. Receipts amount- *d to $889,617,415, leaving a deficit of approximately $280.000.(X)0. This was $90,000,000 higher than the de¬ ficit at the same date last year and more than one half the total deficit anticipated for the entire fiscal year.
The record breaking national debt mounted to a new all time peak August 12 at $,-!6,889.077.397. This was due largely to govern¬ ment borrowing at the rate of $.')0.- «>0,(KXI   s   week   to   maintain   the
treasury policy of keeping at least one billion dollars in its ready cash account.
8,1 IMillion IncreaA4>
Outlays for general government purposes amounted to $488,176,789, about $8.1.000,000 more than for the 1937  period.
One reason for this increase was transfer of Civilian Conservation Corps expenses from the relief classification to the regular govern¬ ment spending classification.
Other factors were sharp in¬ creases In expenditures for puljlic highways, for Social Security and for the Navy.
Recovery and relief totals re¬ flected elimination of such items as the CCC. expenditures since July 1 totalling only $269,145,434 compared to $406,632,529 last year.
Expenditures for trust funds such as the old-age reserve account, the railroad retirement account and the government employees' retire¬ ment funds ,aggregated $186,2,55.000 againtt only $80,000,000 laat y«»x.
Rhanghai, Aug. IA. (Sunday) (IP)—Henry Nathan of Scran¬ ton. Pa., orchestra leader at the Cathay Hotfl, today report4'd that he has escaped the bom¬ bardment which had damaged, killinK and maining some of its
gUCKt*.
Nathan  Kuid  that  during  the piitire    honibardment    he    had been safe inside his apartment in the heart of the French con-    j CPiwlon. j
Ry  .lOH   R.   .'VfORRIS
Inited Pross Stalt Correspondent  ¦. (Copyright 1»«7, By t'nited Preaa)   ,
Shanghai. Sunday. Aug. 15. (UP) |
Shanghai's  broken  and  bleeding! populace  crawled  oul   early  today' from  the  wreckage  of one  of the most  frightful holocausts  ever in¬ flicted on a civilized people.
I saw the carnage from some¬ thing closer than a ringside seat. For .10 minutes I stood in tho midst of screaming men and women and watched them die as black-winged Chinese bombing planes flew over tho heart of Shanghai, dumping de¬ struction and death on terror- stricken Chinese and Foreigners.
It was impossible early today to estimate the loss of life.
When the first bomb was dropped, I was standing in the lobby of the British-owned Palace Hotel, watch¬ ing thr anti-aircraft guns of the Japanese warship Idr.umn. out on the Whangpoo River, blaze away at an aerial target.
Crawl  In  Bloody .Street*
Out of a dark sky three bombing planes appeared, circling over the Whangpoo. I saw the first load of bombs drop toward the river.
Almost simultaneously came  the , roar  of  an   explosion,  but  it  was behind me. in the direction of the Nanking    Road,    where    the    big , Cathay    Hotel    stood,    across    the street from the Palace. j
I ran across the lobby, hurdling j chairs   and   tables   overturned   by j guests who dropped to the floor at the     instant     of    the     explosion. Through a shattered window I saw; (Continued on Page A-a)
HAVE 60,000 REGULARS
By F. M. FI.SHF.R I'nited Pretis Staff Correspondent
AVith Japanese Army at Nankow Pas.s. North China, Sunday, Aug. 1.5. (UP)- Mustard-colored columns of Japan's North China army early to¬ da.v clambered up the bon.v ridges flanking Nankow Pass and prepared to stamp out the stubborn Chinese defenses by pouring machine-gun and artillery fire into their en¬ trenchments from above and be¬ hind. 1 The sweeping flank movement of the Japanese threatened to trap the Chinese warriors of the 89th Di¬ vision, who dug in behind the craggy rece.sses of the Great Wall pass and hurled back the attackers , from the front.
60,000 Jiipunese Troops Military headquarters of the Japanese arm.v indicated the pur¬ pose of expanding the attack was to avoid an enfilading movement which would cramp the Japanese advance through the pass.
The central government troops, led by black-uniformed officers of the scattered 29th Army who are at home in the rugged country in which the battle for Nankow Pass is being fought, retained their po¬ sitions, although intense artillery fire from the mouth of the pas.'i apparentl.v forced them deeper into the gorges.
However, the Japanese now oc¬ cupy the crest of the ridge, over which the Great Wall runs and were advancing over the hills to the pa.ss entrance with little re¬ sistance.
Additional Japanese troops, brought up from the rear to re¬ inforce the advance brigades of about 2,000 troops, created a power¬ ful attacking force, most of them seasoned veterans of the campaign through  Manchuria and Jehol.
The   North   China   expeditionary force   is   now   comparable   to   the army   of   crack   troops   which   in-! (Continued  on  Page  A-2> I
Glendale, Calif., Aug. 14 (UP) — James Mattern, famous American Globe circling flier, took off to¬ night for Oakland, Calif., from where he will depart late tonight or tomorrow on a non-stop flight to Fairbanks, Alaska, in search of the missing Soviet trans-polar fliers.
Mattern, once rescued from a Siberian bog by Sigismund Levan- evsky, leader of the missing Soviet aerial expedition, while the Ameri¬ can was on an around-the-world flight, said he expected to reach Fairbanks, weather permitting, withing 18 hours after taking off from Oakland.
At Oakland, Mattern will install de-icers on the wings of his $125,- 000 plane.
Mattern recently completed plans and obtained permission from fed¬ eral authorities to make a flight from California to Moscow via the north pole.
No  Trace   Found
Fairbanks, Alaaka, Aug. 14. (UP) — Joe CrosBon, Alaskan mercy pilot, returned here tonight after a day¬ long search without finding a trace of the missing Russian trans-Polar plane   in   the   Arctic   wastes.
A few minutes later a Fairchild plane piloted by Murray Stewart returned and reported no sign of the long-overdue craft, command¬ ed by Sigismund Levanevsky and apparently down in the bleak Arctic Circle.
Accompanied by Saava-Smirnov, Soviet agent here, he searched the wild Porcupine River area, where it had been rumored the plane was forced   down.
Crosson, in his big Lockheed Electra, spent the day scouting the rugged mountains and frozen bar- (Continued  on   Page  A-4)
SIGISiMl NU LEVANEVSKY
... so Mattern goes for him
Girl Takes Helm; Friend Is Drowned
Brie, Pa., Aug. 14. (UP)—A girl'.'? attempt to steer a small .¦.ailboat while on a "Joy cniisc" resulted today in the capsizing of the boat, drowning of a girl and a youth and rescue of the other six members of the party by Coast Guardsinen.
Nellie Smith, 19, and Herbert Bietkofer, 18, were drowned when a sudden gust of wind over turned the boat in Presquo Isle Bay. Bietkofer'a body has not  been   recovered.
Ellis Paterson, 25, a survivor, told police that one of the girls in the party tried to steer the boat and attempted a quick turn ns a light gust of wind swept .:ie   nay.
Intervention Of NLRB Sought To End Trouble
Hazleton Mine Leader Threatens Return To Work
Effort; New York Meeting Today; Crane
Employees Ask For Reopening Of Mill
Proposal From U. S. For Man Aged 132
Belgrade, Aug. 14. (UP) — Love—like hope—springs eternal in the breast of Batojar ^osan. a pea.sant of South Serbia. He announced today —hig 132nd birthday -that he had received a proposal of marriage from a Lincoln. Illinois, girl.
"Despite the more than a cen¬ tury of difference in our ages I am certain we can be happy," Kosan   declared.
National Labor Relations Board, created by Act of Congress to probe and settle labor difficulties, la.-t night was petitioned to offer a solu¬ tion for termination of the week- old textile workers strike in Luzerne county. More than 10.000 workers are affected by the strike, which brought considerable dis¬ order during the week. Attorneys for Duplan silk workers of Hazle¬ ton communicated with the board yesterday and will contact mem¬ bers in Washington tomorrow, it is  reported.
The    NLRB.    with    far-reaching: power and governmental approval. I is  believed   in   position   to  offer  a logical solution for amicable settle-; ment of the strike.    Employees  of, the Atwater Silk Company of Ply¬ mouth   also   are   reported   as   hav¬ ing solicited its assistance and ac¬ tion   is  expected   early   this  week.
Majority employees of the  Dup¬ lan plant in Hazleton have reject¬ ed  offers  of  the  CIO  to  organize j them  and,  in a petition to Mayor! Charles B. Bittenbender, wtiich was, signed   by   1,137   of   1.425   workers, I assert   they    "want   to   return   to work     immediately."    A     petition, | signed   by   the   workers,   is   being forwarded to NLRB. 1
Action of the textile workers in j rejecting the CIO brought a storm ' of wrath from mine workers of' the Hazleton area. Hugh 'V. Brown, j president of District Seven, United | Mine Workers of America, last ] night issued a statement giving I the union's position in the matter.' V.   M.  W.  Leader  GIvea  Warning '
It   is  as   follows: j
"The United Mine 'Workers of this region will not permit faithful workers, independent organizations or Communism to enter the portals of the City of Hazleton, or any ter¬ ritory within the confines of Dis¬ trict Seven. The day has not arrived when the United Mine Workers, who fought .so hard to make this region what it is today, will permit a (ew hundred workers, compared
to the thousands of workers in this community, lo take matters into their own hands "
Brown made the position of his union clear.    He concluded;
"Any member of the United Mine Workers, who haa a wife, daughter, sister, brother or son, who is a signer of the petition, should, and will pay strict attention to this statement, for on it depends his membership in the United Mine Workers of America.
"This organization will not per¬ mit any nf its members to hold memberships if he allows any member of his family to scab in lln open shop. Let every mine worker beware, for he will not be allowed to enter any mine or col¬ liery if he permits any member of his family to return to work unless signed by a legitimate labor organ¬ ization."
A meeting of the General Mine Committee will be held at five oclock this evening in the Mine Workers' Building, in Hazleton. The strike situation will be discussed at that tim^.
Management of the Duplan con¬ cern will not open its mill tomor¬ row, although employees have sig¬ nified their willingness to return. Said officials last ni.trht: "The mfll will not be open until we have positive assurance that sufficient police protection will be afforded our workers. We do not believe in asking them to fight their way to the mill. With pickets using hat pins and other weapons, it would be  foolhardy."
TH'OC .Meeting In New York Regional    directors    and    other leaders of the TWOC will meet at nine oclock this morning with Sid¬ ney Hillman, TWOC chief, in New ¦york  City.    John J. Garis, who is in   charge   of   unionization   locally,! will be in attendance.    He will re¬ turn   late   tonight  to  give   his   re¬ port to local organizers. i The    New    York    conference    is b«ing staged for the purpose of re- (Continued On Page 18-A)        '
A   paroled   convict,   who   walked out  of  prison   gates  after  serving only a slim portion of his sentence for   a   series   of   liquor   store   rob¬ beries, was reported last night un¬ der  arrest  by  authorities  who  ac- * cuscd him of a part in the murder ! of Slate Policeman John J. Broskc. The suspect, a resident of Kings¬ ton,    disappeared    from    his   home yesterday a few hours after Broske was   mortally   wounded   during   a hold-up al the Boulevard Inn situ¬ ated   on   the   Easl   End  boulevard. [ five miles east of Wilkes-Barrc. [     Four   carloads   of   State   Police- 1 men.   county  detectives  and  other law agencies are declared to have driven up to the suspect's home in Kingston yesterday  morning at  10 oclock.   Whether they arrested the man al that lime or took him into custody  later,  could  not  be  deter¬ mined at Wyoming Barracks.
At 3 oclock this morning, more than twenty-four hours after Broske was shot, all police agencies in Luzerne county declared they were still following leads in the direction of the police officer's I slayer. At the barracks, officers ' in charge declined to admit that they wer* holding a suspect but, also refused to deny it.
Questioned  at  Barracks Arrest   of   the   Kingston   suspect was  .said  to have  been  the  resUK of an  all-day questioning of Mra. Grace Geick, owner of the  Boule¬ vard  Inn,  where  Broske was sfiot down  as  he  stood  talking  to  two cash   register   salesmen.    Immedi¬ ately    after    the    shooting,    Mrs. Geick was taken to Wyoming Bar¬ racks, where she spent hours look¬ ing over more than 200 photographs of known criminals.   Likewise, the two salesmen were also put to work scanning faces of possible suspects. Midway through the rogues' gal¬ lery. Mrs. Geick is declared to have singled out the photo of the Kings¬ ton suspect. This man just a year ago was placed under arrest when Slate  Police and  o,.hcr authorities swooped   down   on   an   address   in Kingston,  where   three   other  men were also found.   The quartet was accused  of a .series  of hold-ups  at State Liquor Stores during a short¬ lived reign of banditry.  Two of the men were sentenced to long terms in the penitentiary while the other two got off with lighter sentences after pleading not guilty.  In recent months,  the  man  taken  into cus¬ tody   won   the   confidence   of   the State   Pardon   Board   and   secured his freedom.
Dark Smudge On Floor A reporter for the Sunday Inde¬ pendent last night visited Boule¬ vard Inn to determine if Mrs. Geick had identified the Kingston man's picture as one of the killers. The roadhouse was found doing busi¬ ness as usual. The barroom was open and four of five men were standing at the bar. Two young women were serving the patrons. One of these declared that Mrs. Geick was resting after having re¬ turned from spending the day at the barracks.
There was nothing about the place to indicate the recent murder except a dark smudge on some rubber matting on the floor.    One
of the men in the barroom a<l« mitted that it was there Broske fell when the shotgun charga struck him.
Mrs.  Geick  Silent
A/ter waiting more than an hour the reporter finally saw Mr». Geick but she refused to discuM the case.
"I have no statemeht to make," she declared when asked ir she had picked out the photo or one of the suspects.   Earlier an attache of the
**''''^>l
7^^^JjB^H|{
JOHN J. BROSKE
Victim of Gunmen
place quoted her as saying that she had never seen the killers be¬ fore they entered the place, but that she would recognize them anywhere as a result of the early morning encounter.
Mrs. Geick was also asked if Broske had indicated that he recog- nized either one of llie slayers. She repeated that she had "no state¬ ment to make except lo the State Police." Earlier, according to re¬ ports, it was reported in other sources that the gunmen had shot Broske because they had recog¬ nized in him one of their captors at the time of the round-up of liquor store thieves.
At Wyoming Barracks last night Lieutenant Charles Cook of the Pennsylvania Motor Police and Chief County Detective Richard Powell were receiving constant re¬ ports from details in the field. Aside from announcing that Broske would be buried 'Wednesday morn¬ ing, they declared the day's inves¬ tigation had developed little. They denied any suspects were under arrest although several had been questioned during the day. Broeke On Duty
Pressed for a reason for Broske'i presence in the Boulevard Inn at 2 oclock In the morning, authorities advanced two explanations. They declared that Broske was still working on the shooting of Stephen Bashar. who was killed a week ago while Lehigh Valley railroad police were watching for freight (Continued  on  Page  A-8)
Sinking Of Dakota Farm Explained; Lava-Formed Caves Are Collapsing
Editor's Note: Frank Sawjer, Boise City, Idaho, physicist and geologist, wrote the following scientific explanation of the cause of the phenomenon of Farmer Robertson's farm which Is sinking so rapidly that thr recession  can he seen.
Buhl. Idaho. Aug. 14. <UPi A huge netwoi-k of underground! caverns, carved by the flow of i molten lava a million or more] years ago, is with little doubt the | cause of the phenomenon where I a new canyon is being formed by the earth sinking so rapidly that; the  eye  can  see   the  movement.
This sinking already has destroy¬ ed a considerable portion of Harley Robertson's 180-acre farm and threatens to encompass more ot the   countryside.
Area Once Lava  Mass
The entire area of south central Idaho once was covered by a seeth¬ ing ma.ss of lava, flowing over the prehistoric landscape and leveling out the contours of tbe country to! make the prerent plains.
As the upper crust of lava hard¬ ened, the mass remained liquid be¬ neath   the   surface   of   the   newly
formed plain and continued to flow, scooping out caverns beneath what is now the  Buhl  region.
At Robertsons farm the final re¬ sult of the prehistoric lava flow is being enacted as the upper crust of the earth is sinking, tearing a gaping hole in Robertson's com- fleld.
The primordial roof over the lava-covered cave that underhes the ranch undoubtedly ig crumbling under the effect of centuries of decay  and  erosion.
Sink To Tremendous Depttie
Over a period of years the land may sink to tremendous depths. In some sections of south central Idaho there are believed to be air spaces at least 1.000 feel in height under the lava arch that formed the surface of the earth.
Today, a strip of earth six by thirty yards crashed into the can¬ yon where Robert<!on'g planted acres once lay. Ti.e depression In the earth is at least 300 feet deep and gaping Assures run off from It into other sections of Robert¬ son's farm. prefacing further crumblings  of the earth's eruet.
Robertson's home and barns are now a mere third of a mile from the  rtm  of  the  gaptng hol^