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THIRTY-EIGHTH YEAR.
GERMAN NOTE TO U. S. IS VERY VAGUE
LONG DISCUSSIONS
TAKEN UP IN NOTE
FROM THE GERMANS
Wireless From
Berlin Tells Con
tents of Note
NOTHING COMES
FROM WASHINGTON
Fears That Note
Is Not Satisfac
tory to U. S.
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 5.
While the final decision as to the at
titude of the American government
on the submarine controversy awaits
receipt of the official text of the Ger
man note, some cabinet members in
dicated this afternoon that the Ger
man assurances probably will be ac
cepted, and diplomatic relations not
broken, unless the orders to submarine
commanders are violated and other
American lives endangered. Possibly
no action will be taken for a week yet,
as Secretary Lansing informed report
ers that no haste is to be exercised in
deciding the final issue.
Lansing Maintains Silence.
WASHINGTON, D. C„ May 5.
When today’s cabinet meeting was
over and members left the gathering.
Secretary Lansing stated to the As
soc’ated Press that he could not dis
cuss the note at this time. All the
other cabinet members made similar
statements, and it was made plain
that a decisive course of action will
be determined upon only after study
ing the official text later.
The latter portion of the note some
what overcomes, it is believed the fav
orable impression the first section has
created. The fact that new instruc
tions have been issued to submarine
commanders, is thought to carry only
a ray of hope that a break can be
averted.
Bernie Refuses to Talk.
NEW YORK, May 5. —The German
Ambassador, Count Von Bernstorff, left
New York at noon today for Washing
ton, after refusing to see all inter
viewers. It is known, however, that
the embassy regards the note from
Berlin as granting all of the United
States’ demands.
WASHINGTON, 1). C., May 5
The first portions of the long German
note were read today by administra
tion officials with undisguised disap
pointment, and it is stated the tone of
the communication is of such charac
ter some officials fear a break is clear
ly forecast.
The unofficial copy sent here by ca
lle this morning is being translated
and sent to the white house as rapid
!v as received, where President Wilson
remains. The president had no en
gagements for today, except the cabi
net meeting, which it is expected will
be devoted exclusively to a consider
ation of the German situation.
No action will be taken, however,
until the official text arrives in Wash
ington and has been studied closely by
< I'resident Wilson and Secretary Lans-
ing. The president, it is known, has
already discussed with his cabinet the
steps to be taken if the note proves un
satisfactory, and a course determined
upon. The text is not expected to be
delivered in Washington until Sun
day, May 7, exactly one year since
the sinking of the Lusitania instigated
the pending submarine controversy
with Germany.
It is generally expected, however,
that action will be taken Sunday, as
the president has already informed
congress of his intentions, and it is
believed he has definitely decided not
to go before congress again.
Summary of Note.
BERLIN, May s.—(Wireless)—The
German note to the United States does
not admit that a German submarine
torpedoed the Sussex, but says a ves
sel was torpedoed identical in design.
Regarding this the communication says
*<The German government begs to re
ceive a further communication on the
matter, until certain points are ascer
tained which are of decisive import
ance in establishing the facts in the
case.” The note says the United States
asserts the Sussex sinking is but one
“incident illustrating the deliberate
method employed in indiscriminately
destroying vessels of all sorts,” and
t :e note says “The German government
most emphatically repudiate the as
sertion.
Further down the note says “The
German government has made several
proposals to the government of the
(Continued on Page Five.)
iSnoTi
MISE IN BATES
HEARD > 23
The Americus Public Service Com
ipany gives notice in today’s issue of
the Times-Recorder by order of the
-ail road commission of Georgia that
they have petitioned for permission to
increase the rates on lighting and
rower electricity in Americus.
The petition asks for increase for
electric lighting from 9c per kilowatt
hour to 12c per kilowatt hour,
and that the minimum rate on
power be fixed at 2c per kilowatt hour,
instead of 112 c per kilowatt hour as
it now stands.
They further petition that they be
-allowed to increase the rate on gas to
$1.4 per thousand cubic feet, from the
present rate of $1.50 for lighting and
$1.25 for fuel purposes.
The petition will be heard before the
commission on Tuesday, May 23, in Its
office at the State capitol in Atlanta at
10 o’clock a. m.
The announcement is not unexpected
as the Times-Recorder carried the ex
clusive story to the effect that the com
mission had received the petition. This
is the first announcement of the date
| set for the hearing.
I It will be remembered that the city
I council w-ent on record by a vote
of 5 to 2, not to oppose the raise
in rates which have been .petitioned for.
It is not known what action the citi
zens will take om the matter, but the
final decision is awaited with inter
est.
AMLRICUSTIMES-RKDRDER
MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
BROTHERHOODS’
OF RAILROADS
PRESENT CLAIM
CLEVELAND, 0., May s—Tlli rail
road brotherhoods are asking the rail
roads to better their conditions and
grant an eight-hour day.
The men claim that the revenues of
the companies have increased enor
mously on account of long, heavy
tonnage freight trains.
The men desire relief from the long
hours of arduous labor which have
increased greatly in recent years on
account of the heavier and longer
trains. Official reports show that here
has been an increase of 30% in the
tractive power of locomotives, an in
crease of 30% in the capacity of freight
cars, an increase of 29% in the num
ber of freight cars in a train, an in
crease of 23% in the number of loaded
cars in a train, an increase of 19%
in the tons carried in the loaded car,
and a total increase of 47% in the
tons carried by the average freight
train.
A statement issued by the executive
committee of the Association of West
ern Railways, April 23rd, 1916, de
clares that the railroads received in
the year 1890, $1.65 per freight train
per mile, and in 1914, the earnings per
freight train per mile were $3.31, or
an increase of 100% over 1890.
The freight train crews are produc
ing double the revenuue for the rail
roads according to this statement by
the roads themselves.
The freight train crews are produc
ing double the rveenue for the rail
roads according to this statement by
the roads themselves.
All this shows that the freight train
crew of the present time is moving a
far greater amount of traffic and pro
ducing a far greater revenue for the
roads than the crew of a few years
ago. A greater amount of tonnage
inovement is thus concentrated in each
of the working hours. It follows that
even with a shorter work-day of eight
' hours the freight train crew of today
| can move a greater amount of tonnage
than the same crew moved in 10 hours
I a decade ago.
By increasing the tonnage moved by
the train crew from year to year, the
railroads increase their revenues
enormously without increasing the ex
pense of moving trains.
In the testimony of Daniel Willard,
president of the B. & O. railroad, be
fcre the Interstate commerce commis
sion, April 19th, 1914, he makes a
statement that the increase in the
train load on the B. & O. from 1910 to
1913 resulted in a saving of $4,500,000
in train movement expenses.
If only one railroad can save $4,-
500,000 by increasing the work of their
train crews, the corresponding saving
to all the roads in the United States
would amount to a tremendous total.
And yet, the railway officials inform
their employees that the granting of
an eight-hour day would cost the rail
roads one hundred million dollars.
Aside from the fact that this estimate
is “a figure of the imagination,” ac
cording to officials of the railroad
brotherhoods, it is assumed without
any ocnsideration whatever of the
economics of train operation.
Railroads officials anticipate that
freight rains will continue to become
heavier and of greater tonnage, and
the brotherhoods urge that, part of the
‘ saving’’ to which President Willard
refers should go toward bettering the
condition of the train crews, whose
work makes the “saving.”
The employees claim that by all the
rules of right and justice they are en
titled to a shorter workday, as their
AMERICUS, GEORGIA, FRIDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 5, 1916
U.S. MARINES DUO
IN SANTO DOMINGO
SANTO DOMINGO, May s.—Marines
I have been landed here from the Ameri
can auxiliary <|ruiser Prairie for the
protection of Hie American legation
and foreign interests.
The situation growing out of an at
tempt by factional leaders to over
throw the administration Jiminez is
already critical, and a state of siege is
proclaimed.
MRS. EDMIH
J. ELDRIDGE IS
OEM AT LESLIE
Mrs. Elizabeth J. Eldridge, well
known, highly respected and loved by
many friends, died Friday morning at
the home of her nephew, Mr. Jarrett
J. Wilson, near Leslie. Mrs. Eldridge
was about 85 years of age, and her
death followed from natural causes,
although she suffered an accident
some time ago, when she fell at her
home.
Mrs. Eldridge was well known in
Americus, where she owned consider
able property, including the Barlow
block. She was a member of the
Methodist church and for a number of
years had assisted in the development
cf that service which has meant so
much to her and her people.
The deceased was the widow of the
late Dr. E. J. Eldridge, who was well
known and honored in Americus.
Countless friends bow in grief with
the relatives of the deceased and join
the Times-Recorder in extending their
sincerest sympathy.
Mrs. Eldridge is survived by one sis
ter, Mrs. L. E. Furlow, of Americus;
three half brothers, Walter Broadfield,
Jesse Boring, of Texas, and William
Poring, of Florida.
The funeral will be held in Ameri
cus Saturday afternoon and interment
will be at Oak Grove cemetery.
The funeral will be held from the
First Methodist church, Americus, Sat
urday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock. The
pallbearers will be the nephew's of'the
deceased, Doc and Griff Eldridge;
.Stewart Furlow', J. R. and W. A. Wilson
and Wilson Pryor.
NEGRO BUOY IS BORNEO
TO DEATH ON THORSbAY
Ed Black, a colored tenant living on
W. S. Bell’s plantation near Friendship,
lost his house and contents by fire
Thursday afternoon. A six months’
old infant that was left in the house
was totally cremated. The parents of
the child were working at some dis
tance in the field and had left the baby
aione in. the house. When the fire was
discovered the building was so far con
sumed as to render rescue of the in
fnnt impossible.
•’< OMPROMINE” TURNED
DOWN BY COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 5.--
Milton H. Smith, president of the
Louisville & Nashville railroad, was
a witness before the interstate com
merce commission’s investigation into
the road’s affairs. Offers providing
foi an immediate termination of the in
vestigation “through compromise”
were refused.
work becomes more and more arduous,
tr.xinv their strength and endurance to
the limit.
|l. A I. DOINGS IS
WE Os IBTEHEST
THROUGHOUT STATE
ATLANTA, Ga., May 5. —The recent
disclosures of wholesale distribution
of free passes by the Louisville &
Nashville railroad and its &übsi»iary,
the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis
railroad, and the use of an alleged
slush fund my the L. & N. in Alabama
politics, have aroused a great deal of
interest in Atlanta, by reason of the
fact that the state of Georgia is
now engaged in a struggle to prevent
the Louisville & Nashville from ob
taining control of the Western & At
lantic railroad, which runs from
Chattanooga to Atlanta and is owned
by the state and which is leased to the
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis.
The Western & Atlantic railroad is
the state of Georgia's most valuable
property. Its value gives Georgia
bonds a commanding position in the
financial market, and its revenue de
rived from the lease pays two-thirds
of the support of the common schools.
The present lease will expire in 1919.
In preparation for the expiration of
the lease the Louisville and Nashville
railroad has been engaged for a year
or more in an attempt to build a line
parrallelling the Western & Atlantic
from Chattanooga to Atlanta. The
Georgia legislature in 1915 passed an
act prohibiting the issuance of a
charter to any railroad to build such
a parallel. Shortly thereafter, agents
of the Louisville & Nashville applied
to the secretary of state for a char- j
ter, were denied a charter, and im- j
mediately instituted proceedings in |
Fulton superior court to compel the
issuance of the charter by a mandamus
of the secretary of the state. The writ
was denied, and the case was appealed
to the state supreme court.
Arguments on the appeal have been
presented to the supreme court and
the case is now before that tribunal
for decision. The state is represented
by Attorney General Clifford Walker
and Judge Horace N. Holden. The
Louisville & Nashville is represented
by King & Spalding and by Dorsey,
Brewster, Howell & Heyman, the
jiead of the latter firm being Hugh ’
M. Dorsey, Fulton county’s solicitor
who gained widespread notoriety in '
the Frank case and is now a prospec
tive candidate for governor.
The Interstate Commerce Commis
sion, sitting in Nashville, lias dis-'
closed the fact that the Louisville &
Nashville and the Nashville Chatta-'
nooga & St. Louis, during 1913, issued
22,800 free passes for a total mileage
of 800,000 miles representing a cash
value of $226,000. These passes were
distributed among legislators, judges, 1
court officials, jurors, witnesses, I
newspaper men and others in official 1
and quasi-official positions who were
pble to reciprocate with favors to the 1
road. It was also brought out through 1
the testimony of an Atlanta advertis
ing man that the L. & N. spent between
$30,000 and $50,000 in Alabama to de- :
feat Comer for governor and to crceate
sentiment favorable to the railroad.
Increasing apprehension is felt in
the Georgia capitol regarding the
outcome of the state’s titantic struggle '
to prevent the sale or parallelling of
the Western & Atlantic railroad. It is
regarded as a foregone conclusion '
toat the attorneys representing the '
Louisville & Nashville will take their
fight to the United States supreme :
court if they fail to secure a decision
in their favor from the suprem ecourt
of Georgia.
In addition to the attempt to parallel
the Western & Atlantic the propaganda '
in favor of the sale of the Western A
Atlantic, which is generally believed
BOMS BUSY
JT ROCHELLE
ROCHELLE, Ga., May 5. —Burglars
got busy here Thursday night and en
tered the City Drug Store, securing a
large amount of cigarettes, perfumes
and several kodaks, together with the
slot machine, with about $!5 in cash.
The intruders did not try the safe but
opened the cash register whicli con
tained no money. They entered by
breaking the glass in the rear door.
ATLANTA AWAITS
WORDS ON SLOSH
FOND OF E. A N.
ATLANTA, Ga., May s.—ls the In
terstate Commerce-Commission suc
ceeds in compelling Milton H. Smith,
president of the Louisville & Nashville
railroad, to tell how much Ms railroad
has spent for political purposes in
Georgia during the last several years,
it is generally believed in this city that
his disclosures will prove intensely in
teresting, not only to members of the
legislature and lawyers but to the
general public as well.
When Mr. Smith was asked the dir
ect question yesterday in the course of
the Interstate Commerce Commission’s
sensational investigation in Washing
ton, he flatly declined to answer on the
j advice of his attorney. Immediately
I Ex-Governor Folk, of Missouri, who
is conducting the investigation as at
torney for the commission, announced
j bis intention of undertaking to secure
a court decree compelling Mr. Smith
to give the commission the desired in
formation.
The commission's probe into the pol- ,
ivical affairs of the Louisville & Nash
ville railroad is equally as interesting
to Georgians just at this juncture, as
to citizens of Tennessee and Kentucky, I
where the main lines of the Louisville
& Nashville operate. This is due to
the fact that the state of Georgia’s!
railroad, the Western & Atlantic, is
now leased to a subsidiary of the i
Louisville & Nashville, the lessee be-i
ir g the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. I
Louis railroad.
In 1919 the lease will the
Louisville & Nashville must either re
lease the road at a very much higher
r< ntal, or must buy the road outright,
or must build a parallel line from
Chattanooga into Atlanta.
For more than a year the Louisville &
Nashville, acting through its agents,
has been attempting to secure a char
ter to build a parallel line. The Geor
legislature last year shut off this
avenue and the Louisville & Nashville
is now engaged in a lawsuit intended
to overthrow the act, being represent- 1
ed by the law firm of King & Spalding
and Dorsey, Brewster, Howell & Hey
,man of Atlanta. in which Jack J.
Spalding, Albert Howell and Solicitor
Hugh M. Dorsey are the princcipai
figures for the Louisville & Nashville;
while the state's interests are repre
sented by Attorney General Clifford
Walker and Judge Horace M. Holden.
Ex-Governor Folk has specifically
stated that one of his purposes in ques
tioning President Milton H. Smith is to
ascertain, if possible, the extent to
which the Louisville & Nashville has
manipulated Georgia politics in con
nection with the Western & Atlantic
on Page 8.)
to have been launched by the Louis
ville & Nashville is assuming more
and more serious proportions.
CmmiY
EXECUTIONS IT
DUBLIN CONTINUE
FOUR ARE SHOT
DUBLIN, May s.—Four more rebel
prisoners were courtmartialed and
shot during Thursday. Their names
I
are:
JOSEPH PLUNKETT.
EDWARD DALY.
MICHAEL O’HARAHAN.
WILLIAM PEARSE.
Fifteen other leaders tried by court,
martial were sentenced to death, bet
'a special decree commuted their pun
ishment to imprisonment at hard la
ter lor ten years.
One other prisoner convicted of
treason and sentenced to be executed
lad his sentence commuted to eight
years penal servitude, and two other*
teceived sentences of ten years im
prisonment.
The action of the authorities in re
ducing the severity of sentences im
posed by courtmartials is taken as in
dicating that further executions need
ha.dly be anticipated.
LONDON, May 5.—A Zeppelin air
ship was destroyed during Thursday
by a British light cruiser squadroa
off the Schleswig coast, it is officially
announced.
LONDON, May 5. —It is announced
this afternoon that the British govern
ment has decided to acquiesce in the
United States' demand, and release the
thirty-eight Germans and Austrian*
taken from the American steamship
j China, in Asiatic waters.
BERLIN, May 5. —The capture of
several French trenches southeast of
Haucourt, on the Verdun front, u
am ounced by the war officec this af
ternoon.
Repeated French attacks west of
Dead Man’s Hill have broken.
COMMIT FEE FOR
NEW RAILROAD IS
TO BEGIN WORK
Work on securing the necessary
(imount of $40,000 to bring a new rail
road to Americus from Games on the
A., B. & A. railroad, will be begun at
once.
A campaign committee has been
named, composed of the following well
known Americus citizens: Carr S.
Glover, chairman; L. G. Council, John
Sheffield, Frank Lanier, W. M. Jone*,
John W. Shiver, Frank P. Harrold, S.
A. Moses, Crawford Wheatley, Sam R.
Heys, T. C. Tillman, Arthur Rylandee,
Albert Harris and E. H. Hyman, secre
tary.
The committee will meet at the
Chamber of Commerce Tuesday morn
ing at 10 o'clock and begin their cam
paign for subscriptions.
It goes without saying that Ameri
cus must have the new railroad, and it
is toward this end that these prom
inent Americus citizens will campaign
in the interest of the fund.
J. S. Morton, a representative of the
Georgia Lumber Company, who ia
building the railroad now, and who has
visited Americus on several occasion*,
was an interested visitor at the meet
ing of the citizens Friday morning at
the Chamber of Commerce.
The first steps have been taken to
vaids securing the new road for
Ai.te» icus.
NUMBER I*B