Wilkes-Barre Sunday Independent

              WPA TO DROP ALIENS, HIRE 200 CITIZENS HERE
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A Paper For The Home
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
Weather
Sunday:  Fair,  slightly warmer Monday: Partly cloudy,  followed by showers.
SIXTY-EIGHT PAGES
WILKES-BARRE, PA., SUNDAY, AUGUST 29, 1937
PRICE TEN CENTS
SOVIET-CHINESE TREAH IS REPORTED; JAPAN FEARS INTERVENTION OF RUSSIA
PROBING OF WORK USTS CONTINUES
Schuler Sees End Of Re¬ trenchment And Return To   Former  Status
tT
Air Giants* Defending Wings Over America
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MANY ARE REHIRED
Administrator   Expects   To
Fill All Vacancies In
Force This Week
A pick-up of Luzerne county's WPA program was foreseen last night with announcement from Supervisor Joseph G. Schuler that he had 'received authorization from Washington to increase the county working force by 200, For the past several weeks, the working list has iteadily decrea.sed. This was in line with the national retrench¬ ment program,
Schuler also announced the dis- ml.isal of approximately 230 aliens from the WPA roster. Investiga¬ tions into the cititenship of all worker* i« being made fay govern¬ ment agents, with the assistance of foremen on the various projects. One or more aliens was found on nearly every project in the dis¬ trict.
Replaced By Citizens
Some replacements have been made on projects where aliens were discovered and dismissed, with citizens being employed in keeping with the new governmental policy.
"No exceptions will be made," said Schuler last night. All vacan¬ cies are expected to be filled with¬ in the week.
Supervisor Schuler's announce¬ ment will be gladly received by former WPA laborers who were dropped bu;ause of project sus¬ pension and retrenchment. These will be recalled as quickly as possi¬ ble. Employment of 200 additional workers will be done as quickly as selections can be made, with pros- pct:ts for the hiring of many others.
"I am confident the working force will be returned to its former status," said the county supervisor, "although this may take a little time. 1 am getting co-operation from state and federal directors and increases in man labor are anticipated." He asserted that no further decreases in the county forces   are   probable.
Several Thousand Dropped
Several thousand aliens have been dropped In the state but in¬ vestigations are still being made. The record of every employee i.s being ascertained. Questionaires are being given in some instances and these are being checked thor¬ oughly. The probe will continue until the positive citizenship status of every worker is accounted for.
Non-citizen who are removed from WPA are eligible for direct relief, officials stated last night. Those dropped already and others who possibly will be dismissed dur¬ ing the next week or so can get their names on the relief roles simply  by applying  to  the  proper
rauthoriUe*. Under no circum¬ stances, however, can they return to WPA jobs.
County Prison Turns Out lApC' PAPT Woman Who Shot Mother ^^^^  '/l,'
WITH NAZIS
MAIN HOPE
Martha I'olvin, Her Health Shattered, Is Pardoned After Seven Years; Attempted Suicide Follow¬ ing? Murder In Hanover Township Home
Martha Dettncr Colvin's debt to society was marked "paid in full" yesterday afternoon.
At   2:30   oclock   she   walked   out of the Luzerne County Pri.son, free after    serving    more    than    seven years   of   a   sentence   imposed   in; 19.30 for killing her aged mother in j their Hanover Town.ship home. j
With her wa.s Attorney Edward I F. McGovern defen.se counsel at the time she pleaded guilty to murder and winner of a long fight before the State Board of Pardons. Health   Shattered
Now in her late forties, her health still .shattered from terrible injuries .suffered when she at¬ tempted to destroy herself after the murder. Martha carried with her the best wishes of Warden William  B. Healej'.
"She was a model prisoner duiw- ing her entire sentence," Warden Healey said. She was one of the prison's  'honor girls'."
Early on the morning of March 21, 1930, Martha Colvin killed her mother with a shotgun.
She turned the weapon on her¬ self, pulled the trigger and then, badly wounded   staggered to a sec¬
ond floor window and leaped. She struck a picket fence surrounding the home and suffered spinal in¬ juries which at flrst were believed fatal.
For several months she hovered between life and death at Mercy Hospital and Retreat Mental Hos¬ pital.
Finally, on December 8, 1930, she pleaded guilty to murder before ,Iu(lge Benjamin R. Jones who ad¬ judged her guilty of second degree and fixed her punishment at ten to twenty years' imprisonment. Sent to County .lail
Eastern Penitentiary was not in a position to handle female pris¬ oners and a technical transfer was arranged to the county prison here.
Attorney McGovern filed her plea of clemency before the State Pardon Board after a reasonable time had elapsed and pushed the case from then on. '
Recently the Pardon Board acted' favorably   and   granted   Martha's plea for release.
With the arrival of proper papers al the prison yesterday she waa released.
Believe   Threat   Of   Strike
From Rear By Germany
Will Hold Russians
CHINA SEEKING AID
Known   Making  Effort To
Bring  In  Huge Soviet
Army Now In Far East
'PURGE' CIPAIGN
Aviation has achieved vast prog¬ ress since the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, made their flrst | 120-foot flight in 12 seconds at Kitty] Hawk, N. C, back in 190,3, or j Colonel Lindbergh spanned the At¬ lantic in his "Spirit of St. Louis," j in 1927.    Here are some of the huge i
modern ships of the air ready for defense  for Uncle Sam.
Top left, special twin-motored, sealed-cabin plane de.signed for the Army, to be flown at an altitude of 30,000 feet. It is called the "stratosphere plane." Top right, two of the Army's "Flying Fort¬ resses,"  huge,   four-motored  bomb¬
ers. In center panel Is another view of them in flight and at right center they are shown squatting on March  Field,  California.
Left center, three of the Navy's giant flying boats, as they took off on the longest non-stop flight in naval history, San Diego to Coco Solo, Canal 2!one, 1),000 miles.
Bottom left, Army's newest bomb¬ er, twin-motored, which carries a crew of seven men. Lower right, first of a fleet of 54 scout-bombers for the Navy. Their performance is higher than that of most service types. This plane carries a 1,000- pound bomb as part of its modern equipment  for  defense.
Mellon's Huge Estate Goes To Charity And Education
Entire  Fortune For Special Trust Fund  Except
$180,000 For Personal Employees; Children
Alreadv Have Been Provided For
PitUburgh, Aug. 28. (UP)— Andrew W. Mellon's huge estate, variously estimated between $200,- 000,000 and $300,000,000, will be ex¬ pended in charitable and educa¬ tional activities, it was announced today after the 82-year-old indus¬ trialist's body was buried in an ivy- shrouded vault in Allegheny Ceme¬ tery.
Donald D. Shepard, Mellon's per¬ sonal attorney and executor of his will,   announced   that   the   former
Indignation Against Sex Crimes Brings Beating To Drunken Man
New York Aug, 28 (UP)—Public indignation against sex offenders reached a climax in a 14th street subway station today when a mob ot 1,000 men and women attempted to lynch a man accused of molest¬ ing a woman.
The crowd beat and kicked the man—John Ploshay, 51-year-old Queens laborer—almost uncons¬ cious before police rescued hira. He wag booked on a charge of dis¬ orderly conduct.
Joseph Carozza, 35, of Brooklyn, precipitated the outburst when, he ¦aid, he saw Ploshay slap tho hips of a woman carrying a baby.
The woman struck al Ploshay with one arm. Carozza screamed to others in the station:
"This man is a masher and a sex maniac."
Carozza grappled with Ploshay •nd the crowd surged forward.
Fists and feet lashed out and closna^ went down. _
hang him,"
him,'
someone
another   voice
"Let's shouted.
"Let's   kill echoed.
^'oman   Gashes  His   Cheek
A woman's long nails opened a gash in the semi-conscious man's left cheek. Feet smashed down on his chest. Blood welled through his shirt.
Patrolman Michael Flynn enter¬ ed the station and fought toward the prostrate man. He was kicked twice. He grabbed Ploshay by his coat collar and dragged him toward the wash room, fighting the mob back with fist and elbow. Two radio cars arrived with reinforce¬ ments and Ploshay was hurried to the precinct station.
At the station Carozza said he saw Ploshay, said by police to be partially intoxicated, molest three young girls on a subway train, be¬ fore getting off at 14th street. He said Ploshay called them familiar j names, chucked thcin under the 1 Ghiiu «uid grftbbed their iiands.
Secretary of the Treasury and Ambassador to Great Britain, who died Thursday, had left virtually ali of his fortune to be administered by the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust Fund estab¬ lished in 1930.
No Bequests To Children
Shepard said Mellon made no be¬ quests to his children, who "had heen adequately provided for," but left $180,000 for a doxen personal employees "in appreciation of their loyalty and efficiency."
Aside from that sum, only the effects of his Pittsburgh residence were withheld from the charitable fund.
Soft strains of organ music, two old Presbyterian hymns, two brief prayers and a few lines of scripture comprised the service before the flower-banked dais in the Bast Liberty Presbyterian Church.
One large basket of flowers bore President Roosevelt's card.
Members of the immediate fam¬ ily, Mellon's son, Paul, and his daughter, Mrs. David K. E. Bruce, sat behind the dais.
At the cemetery, the financier's bod.v was placed close to that of his brother, Richard B. Mellon, who died in 1933.
Has Given $70,000,000
Shepard revealed that the report that Mellon had given over $70,000,- 000 to education and charitable uses during the past seven years was a "considerable underestimate."
He declined to attempt to esti¬ mate the total of Mr. Mellon's bene¬ factions during his lifetime except to say fhat it had been "huge."
In 1931, Mellon's secretary. How¬ ard   M   Johnson,  made  statements at  a  tax  hearing   in   Washington ^(Continued on Page A-8>.
Dog Attacks
Aged Mistress
Oakland, Cal., Aug. 28, (UP) —A large red chow dog VU shot to death by police today after it had almost gnawed off one of the arms of its aged and crippled mistress.
Responding to calls from neighbors who heard screams from the home of Mrs. Char¬ lotte Parker, 66, police broke down the door and found her helpless on the floor, the dog attacking  her.
Ofl!icer M. C, Wright struck at the animal with a chair. It lunged at him and Wright flred once,   killing   it.
At Alameda County Emer¬ gency Hospital, where Mrs. Parker was taken after the emergency treatment, she said she had leaned over from a cot on which she was lying to pet the dog. It snapped at her, she said, and drew blood. Then it attacked  her.
Mrs. Parker's condition was critical.
MLEY;2iRE
LITTLE GIRL SAVED
FROM ATTACK HERE
Attacked while in the vicinity of Columbus street yesterday after¬ noon, a four-year-old girl waa saved from further harm by the timely appearance of three young men. They drove oft the attacker with a rain of blows but were unable to catch him.
The incident occurred yesterday afternoon about 2:30 oclock. A tall, heavy-set Individual, apparently under the Influence of liquor, grabbed the tot and was reported to have attempted to pull her Into an alley.
Screams from the child brought three men to the scene and the assailant quickly fled. Police re- ceivd a report an hour later and were too late to do more tlian ob¬ tain a description. The man is re¬ ported to be a loiuiger of that sec- Uon.   	
All Escape Serious Injury;
Young Woman Hurt When
Cars  Collide  In  City
MANY MINOR ACCIDENTS
Horror-stricken pedestrians who saw a three-year-old Wyoming boy run head flrst into a trolley car yesterday afternoon were amazed when examination revealed he suf¬ fered only slight bruises.
This milhap, one of a number of unusual accidents reported last night and yesterday by hospitals and police agencies, befell Robert McCloskey, three, son of Mr, and Mrs, John McCloskey of rear 1138 Wyoming avenue,  Wyoming,
The youngster wandered away from his home yesterday afternoon and, at a point near the Wyoming borough building, suddenly dashed across the busy avenue. He ran into West Pittaton car No. 728 in charge of Motorman Peter Cotter of West Eighth street. West Wyo¬ ming.
The impact hurled the youngster backward instead of under the wheels. Cotter brought the trolley to a stop and, with the aid of pedestrians, summoned Dr. E. W. Kelly of Exeter. Examination re¬ vealed the youngster suffered scalp injuries and bruises but was other¬ wise unhurt. He was removed to his home.
Others Run Into Autos
A machine operated by Harry Sauerwine, of 111 Jones street, Wilkes-Barre, struck Monsir Peters age  7   of  66  Loomis   street,   city,
IContluued on Page A-19).
Sen.  Burke Says Trip   Through
Planned West
Shows Intentions
WELCOMES OPPOSITION
Washington, Aug. 28. (UP)—Sen. Edward R. Burke, D., Neb., to¬ night warned President Roosevelt that a personal tour of western states to muster sentiment against Democratic rebels ^in Congress would be "ruinous" to the adminis¬ tration.
The stocky Nebraska senator, one of the leading foes of the President's defeated judiciary pro¬ gram, said that persistent sugges¬ tions that Mr. Roosevelt was plan¬ ning a swing through the West "clearly indicates" intention to at¬ tempt a purge of the party.
"It would be the final clear in¬ dication of a party purge directed against all who are unwilling to line up with the statement of Democratic National Chairman James A. Farley that the Presi¬ dent should have anything he wants," Burke said.
Although Farley has emphasized that there would be no reprisals against Democratic rebels except those which the voters might see fit to inflict, the insurgents gen¬ erally viewed reports of a presi¬ dential trip as a move against them.
Route Outlined
The reported plans would call for a swing through Missouri, where Sen. Bennet Clark is up for re¬ election in 1938; Nevada, where Sen. Pat McCarran must face an¬ other campaign; Nebraska, where Burke dared the administration campaigners to go to work; Wyo¬ ming, home .state of Sen. Joseph C. O'Mahoney; and Montana, where Sen. Burton K. Wheeler Is now making a series of speeches to his constituents. All five senators fought the court bill.
The bloc of Democratic senators (Continued on Page A-4)
SIOP THEIR SHIP
Effective   Blockade   Along
Chinese   Coast   Halts
Load Of Refugees
FOOD SUPPLY HELD UP
London, Aug. 28. (UP)—The halt¬ ing  of  a  British   refugee   ship   by
Tokyo, Aug. 28 (UP)—The Domel News Agency reported from Shang¬ hai today that China has signed a non-aggression treaty with Soviet Russia.
The information could not be confirmed here but it was known that the imperial government haa reason to believe that China has been making desperate efforts to obtain Soviet military assistance.
Russia has a huge far eastern army based on Habarovsk and Blagovestchensk, to the north of the Japanese-controlled state ol Manchukuo, which could throw out of gear the whole plan of the Jap¬ anese army to seize the North China provinces of Hopei, Chahar, Sniyuan, Shansi and Shantung, if It were put in action.
Japanese have lived In constant fear of Soviet military interven¬ tion ever since the present Chinese- Japanese war started outside Pei¬ ping the night of .luly 7.
Generals Confident
The general staff, however, con¬ tinues confident that the Russians will not strike because of serious Internal dissention jn that country caused by Dictator Josef Stalin's blood purge, which has resulted In the execution of many high officers of the Red army.
It was pointed out that if a non- aggression treaty has been signed, that In itself would not be of great     signiiflcance      since      such
Japanese warships at the mouth of i treaties usually provide merely that the   Whangpoo   River   tonight   ag-; the   sinatories    pledge   themselves gravated Great Britain's anger over ' not  to  attack  each  other, the   machine-gunning   of   her   am-!    What   Japan   fears   is   that   any bassador to China, | Chinese-Russian   agreement  would
be   reinforced   by   secret   annexes which   would   provide   for  mutual
The refugee vessel, the 3,000-ton freighter Shengking, is under char¬ ter to British naval authorities to aid in removing refugees from Shanghai to Hong Kong and" to provide supplies for British army and naval forces in the war zone.
The halting of the Shengking off Wooaung was the first instance of Japanese interference with foreign shipping under the new naval blockade of 800 miles of China's coasts, from Swatow in the south to the mouth of the Yangtse in the north.
The commander-in-hief of Brit¬ ain's naval forces in the Far East was reported to have for\varded an immediate protest to the Japan¬ ese authorities and to have de¬ manded an explanation.
Ships Not Molest^'d
Shanghai    dispatches    said    the Shengking  was   "questioned   as   to identity" by the Japanese warship but    was    not    molested    in (Continued on Page A-4)
military assistance.
The Japanese generally count on their own management with Ger¬ many to prevent any dra.stjc Soviet move. This agreement is believed to have secret annexes which would provide for a German attack on Russia's European front if the So\Tet moves agajn.st Japan in tho Par East.
Japan Faces Major War
Washington, Aug. 28. (UP)—Ad¬ ministration officials watching de¬ velopments in the Far East be¬ lieved tonight that Japan "haa a bear by the tail" in her military and naval adventure in the Shanf* hai area.
This applied, they asserted, not only to the immediate military situation ashore, where It appears Japan is so thoroughly committed that she is now compelled to wage any | a major war for the complete mlll- (Continued on Page A-4)
Head of the House
was Nancy Wayne, with the responsibilities of renting her old New England cottage to summer visitors and providing enough money from the rentals to send her elder brother through college. But she was feminine enough to long for some one to care for her after her duties were over. Her search for ro¬ mance makes the theme of the new  two-week  serial:
Nancy Wayne
By IDA T. LEIMONT
BeginninK today on page A-22 ot
INDEPENDENT
Four Members Of Legislature Under Indictment For Bribery
Denver, Colo., Aug. 28. (UP)— Four members of the .state legisla¬ ture and a lobbyist today were in¬ dicted by a special grand jury on charges of bribery.
Four other persons were charged with being common nuisances, a misdemeanor. The bribery charges are classified as felonies.
Those indicted for bribery:
and member American Bar Asso« cialion grievance committee who has been suspended from law prac« tice by the Colorado Supreme Courd for being the admitted leader in the conspiracy.
Walden E. Sweet, reporter for the Denver Post, who leased « telephone wire that connected mi« crophones   with   recording   equip*
Senator William B.  Preston, Re- i ">«"' '" » P"-'^'*^^ detective's apart. publican,  Adena,  Colo.,  member of   "^ent
the   Senate   banking   and   finance and other  committees.
Rep. Truman C. Hall, Democrat, Denver, member of corporations, temperance, elections and appoint¬ ments and other committees.
Rep. Marion E. Strain, Repub¬ lican, Lamar, member rules and corporations committees.
Rep. William J. Jennings. Dem¬ ocrat, Denver, chairman corpora¬ tions committee.
Don Clifford, Denver lawyer and head of the liquor lobby at the last general  assembly.
Prominent Lawyer
Those indicted for common nuis¬ ance: £rl H, £Uui. ptoxaiatnt hyv^tt
Jack Gilmore, private detectiva, in whose apartment the recording equipment was  installed.
Waller Lear formerly secertarj] of U. S. Senator Edwin C. Johnson, when the latter was governor o| Colorado.
Many Wilnes;ses, including dozen* of state officials and Governof Teller Ammons, testified before th4 grand jury.
The indictments came almost seven months after microphone! were discovered in the executiva offices of the governor and in th« apartment of Fred E. Dickerr who was charged on the floo the House of Representatives being the leader of a "super- loXluencmg legUlalton ia lb
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