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Atlanta Sri • ttk cKln So uinaT VOL. XXVII. NO. 34 200 ARE HOMELESS . ANO 5 DEAO AFTER FLDOO IN VIRGINIA Hospital and Homes of Town Nearby Filled With Disaster Survivors t 1 ABINGDON, Va., Dec. 25.—Five persons were known to be dead apd two hundred estimated homeless as i Christmas day dawned upon the workers scouring the Holston’ river valley below Parmatown, Va., for other victims of the flood which swept over the town last night. The hospital and private homes of | Saltville, Va., near the scene of the disaster, w’ere said to be filled with men, women and children who sur vived the jcy waters into which they were thrown when a muck dam \ across the north fork of the river is reported to have collapsed without warning at 10 o’clock last night, and b loosed a veritable wall of water upon 7 the town. The valley and town today were reported virtually ruined. For miles | below the town articles of furniture < and small outbuildings had been de posited by the waters along the banks of the river, while dozens of houses were reported to have been swept from their foundations and carried along by the swirling waters. Hundreds of people in Parmar » town were in the midst of pre- Christmas celebrations when, with out warning, the muck dam of the Mathieson Alkali works, a quarter of a mile above the town, is said to have given way under pressure of the water and sent it down into the val ley to trap the joymakers in their homes. Hedged in by the hills, the waters poured in upon the celebrators and S the men, women and children retn ing to await the coming oi Santa to" the little town along Uie river banks. Houses were sweptjWong by the waters, the icy chill of"tne river awakening sleeping children and hurling them from their beds. Those caught by the swiftly-mov ing current had no warning unti their homes were lifted, or the win dows crashed before the sudden ava . lanche of water, and the sur ?' ivo '® stumbled from the houses into the cold river to make their way to the banks in the best manner possible Hundreds of those trapped b> the waters escaped from their homes and made their wpy to the bank", where they later were picked up W rescuers or were able to make then way to other nearby towns lor aid. The addition of the water from the broken dam to that of the al- L ready swollen river caused the north • fork of the stream to rise rapidly, endangering scores of other homes .further down the Stream. In many places be+ow Parmartown the rivei early today was reported still to be out of its banks. Telephone operators at Abingdon and other places in this section were | kept busy notifying persons in the r danger zone and scores of people left their homes to avoid Ihe Hood. News of the flood spread quickly to other towns and dozens of rescue parties hurried to the scene, spend ing the night in searching along the river banks, for other survivors or the bodies of other flood victims. Five bodies were reported to have been found and carried to undertak ing establishments for identification, lieports reaching Abingdon early to » day were that one of the victims was | ' a Colonel Scott, a brother of ,1. I). Scott, of Saltville. Other victims hau not been identified early today. Rescue parties divided their at tention during the night between searching for -dead and caring for the injured, rushing survivors to nearby towns after administering first aid. The valley itself today was re ported virtually to have been swept 1 dean by the flood of the night. The homes of approximately 2(H) people ; who lived in Parmartown were said , either to have been made inhabi table by the waters, or swept from their foundations into 'he stream and carried d'own the river. No exact estimate of either loss of life, injuries to persons or damage to property' could ''■> obtaim 1 early today but it was expected the morn ing would see all injured cared for ' and estimates made. ‘ Virtually all residents of the town 1 were said to have been employes of I the alkali works and officials of the company spent the night in aiding in the direction of rescue work and as sisting in preparing an estimate of the damages. \ The muck dam was t’ vn ro-s ) the north fork of the river 'alt a i mile below the main dam of the alkali works’ plant and a quarter of a mile above the stricken town. With ; its collapse it loosed an immense amount of water accumulated from \ the recent heavy rains in the moim \ tains above th e town. The cause of l the break had not been determined early today. Slay er of Farmer In Swainsboro Row , Claims Self-Defense . SWAINSBORO, Ga., Dec. 21.—J. | | W. Sparks, slayer ofSt. .1. I’eeples, both well known at this place, sur rendered to local authorities shortly after th., killing fn a restaurant here last night. Beyond a statement that he killed Peeples -i self defense. Sparks has made no detailed explanation of the . slaying. Both men were sober at the time of the trouble, the sheriff’s of fice announces, in a denial of a report ! that the killing grew out of a drunk L en argument. Peeples and Sparks had been very I close friends for several months. For ’ I the past few weeks, some difference; ’ arose between them which culmi nated in yesterday’sMragedy. In a statement to f>' sheriff. I Sparks declared Peeples had knocked him down three times and that he could not get away from his assail ant. The fight occurred in a case. „ Peeples was well known in this » section, living on his farm five miles from here .Sparks moved to Swains-1 boro about a y ear ago. his family be ing well known in Washington county. He lives about four miles I out where he specializes in training bin! dogs. The dead man leaves a widow and I two children. The funeral will take I place tomorrow. A he ring for ■. ks is s h-dule-f ' A for Saturday. j Published Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday TOLD IN BRIEF WORLD NEWS LOUISVILLE.—C. T. Collings. 76. chairman of board of directors of Standard Oil company of Kentucky, dies. BELGRADE. —The occupation of Tirana, Albania, by Ahmed Zoga’s ; troops is officially confirmed by dis- I patches. STAMFORD, Tex.—Two children are burned to death when fire de stroyed the Stamford Inn and five residences. NEW YORK.—Rafael Sabatini is awarded a SIO,OOO prize for his novel “Scaramouche,” on which a motion picture, credited with being the best of the year, was based. PARIS. —Cologne area is not to be evacuated January 10 because, according to French government, Germany has not fulfilled conditions set forth by Versailles treaty. WASHlNGTON^—President Cool idge’s Christmas was marked with simplicity, with attendance at church and a long afternoon walk constituting the day’s program. NEW YORK.—Prince Sergio Rom anovsky, cousin ’of the late Czar Nicholas of Russia, criticizes Duke Cyril for his pretentions to the Rus sian throne as being without founda tion. SANTA ROSA, Cal. —Luther Bur- I bank, plant wizard, announces he ■ has perfected a new variety of sweet I corn which he believes will prove more productive and sweeter than any yet produced. CHRIST 1 ANA. —Name Christiana, borne by the Norwegian capital for 300 years, will be replaced January 1 by Oslo, the ancient title when'’ the city was founded 900 years ago. MOSCOW. —Gregory Zinicff, chair man of executive'committee of Third Internationale, admits communists have gone too far in their prop aganda against existing religious rituals and their efforts to establish atheism. COLUMBUSML—WiIIiam McClel lan Ritter, founder of the W. M. Rit ter lAirnber company, turns over company stock valued at between two and three million dollars under trust agreement to 124 persons, most of them employes, wicomcis FOR STATE NORWAY EQUIPMENT IS LET Contracts for furnishing the state highway department with more than $200,000 w'brth of machinery and equipment for 1925 were let at a meeting of the highway commission held at the East Point offices of the department Tuesday, according to an announcement made by Chairman John N. Holder. The awards announced were as follows: Contract for furnishing twenty Holt five-ton tractors, let to Yancey Brothers, on a bid of $63,680.40. Contract for thirty-one Holt two ton tractors, let to Yancey Brothers, bn a bid of $54,219. Contract for sixteen Best five-ton tractors, let to W. A. Neal & Son, on a bid of $55,480. Contract for one Monarch five ton tractor, let to Ed Alexander. | on a bid of $3,650. Contract for twelve Fordson tvyo ton tractors, let to local dealers at $14,920. Contract for six Cletrac two-ton tractors, let to G. B. Phillips, on a bid of $9,080.28. Other purchases by the depart ment were 50 one-ton Chevrolet trucks at $26,300; two one-ton In diana trucks at $2,996.50; two one ton White trucks at $1,225.20, and one International one-ton truck at $1,301.75. The graders purchased were two Acme 7-foot three-inch graders at $768.28; two Acme eight-foot graders at $96-1.32; one heavy Acme eight foot graders at $964.32; one heavy Acme eight-foot grader at $626.77; eight Winners. seven-foot, three inches, at $2,680; ten Royal eight foot graders at $5,030. and 37 mght foot Russell graders at $19,906. One hundred Adams three-blade ; drags were bought for $3,770 and 56 Russell three-blade drags at $2,002. Real Reindeer Draw Sleigh of Santa Claus In Nome, Alaska NOME. Alaska, Dee. 25.—Santa | Claus was given a warm reception ; in this usually frigid town Wednes- I day when he appeared on the main I thoroughfare in a sleigh loaded with Christmas presents, drawn by real reindeer. The presents were dis tributed to whites and Eskimos alike. While the United States and Canada shivered from sub-zero weather, fur overcoats and heavy clothing was discarded here Wed ■ nesday when the mercury registered I 40 degrees above zero. Nearly an inch of rain, which fell ; Wednesday, melted the small amount lof snow on the ground. A tempera- I ture of 21 degrees above zero, re- I corded a week ago, stands as the ; coldest day of the winter. A local hospital was without patients today for the first time in many months. I ; ' The Weather I Forecast for Saturday: Virginia: Fair with rising tern I pcra ture. j Georgia. North and South Caro- I iina: Fair with slowly rising tern- I perature: moderate to fresh north , . and northeast winds. Florida: Probably fair with little | chance m tire. Moderate north and northwest winds. Extreme northwest Florida and I Alabama: Fair, rising temperature. Mississippi; Generally, fair: rising I temperature in north: moderate . noitheast shitting to . outheast winds. Tennessee and Kentucky: Fair . and warmer. j Louisiana: Generally fair, rising I temperature. Arkansas and Oklahoma: Fair, rising temperature. East Texas: Partly cloudy, rising temperature. West T- xas; Fair, warmer m cast j portion. HIGHT IND WOMAN SHOW NO EMOTION IT GOILTY VERDICT Two Jurymen Voted Death for Minister—Compromise on Mrs. Sweetin’s Penalty MOUNT VERNON, 111., Dec. 24. [ The jury trying Lawrence M. Hight I and Mrs. Elsie Sweetin for the poison murder of her husband, Wil ford Sweetin, early today returntu I a verdict of “guilty.” Hight was | given life imprisonment, while Mrs j Sweetin was given thirty-five years in the penitentiary. After deliberating all night the I jury reported at 8:30 o’clock this | morning that it had reached an agreement. Reports said the jury had been in disagreement over the degre of guilt. The jury had deliberated about ; eleven hours, retiring at 10 o'clock I last night. It considered case I almost continuously during the night I and this morning, except for a short time for breakfast. The jurors stated after the verdict that the jury had been unanimous for finding both de , fendants guilty from the first bal lot, but that there had been wide dif ference as to the punishment to ne inflicted on Mrs. Sweetin. The de cision as to her, the jurors said, rep resented a compromise. Only two of the jurors had favored infliction of the death penalty on Hight. None voted for the hanging of Mrs. Sweetin. The two defendants received the verdict with no outward display of emotion. Attorneys gave notice they would I ask for a new trial. Defendants' Comment i "1 still think 1 have been misun- I : derstood,’’ said Mrs. Sweetin calmly, after the verdict had been returned. “1. was led into a trap. That is why I am able to receive the verdict as 1 I do. I am innocent.” “I am not guilty .but I ain't mad I at nobody,” said Hight. “If I have I to go to the penitentiary, 1 have to j go, that’s all. I am not guilty. 1 wasn't afraid of death, the penitenti ary or anything else.” Judge J. G. Kern gave the defense attorneys until December 2.' to file j motions for a new trial, and said he : would hear arguments on the mo- ■ tions on January 3. "Well, they didn’t hang him,” was ; all the comment Attorney Layman, | for Hight, would make on the ver- I diet. Prosecutor’s Statement Prosecutor Frank Thompson said: | “The contention of the prosecution j has been from the first flat there; was equal guilt in this case, and i our last words to the jury were that j the woman was a guilty as the man. ! Unless the parole board usurps the , functions of the court, the sentences given the two are the same, as 35 | years is equivalent to life for per sons of this age. s “There is always a disposition to deal more leniently with a woman than a man in a criminal case, but we felt that if there was ever a case in which there was equal guilt, this was it. and we fought for equal pun ishment. I never question the jury in its decision in a criminal case in which 1 have appeared. It is the function of the attorney to present the ease and the function of the jury to decide. We must accept that de I cision.’’ State's Attorney Joe Frank Allen, in discussing the verdict, called atten tion to the fact that there had not been a hanging in Jefferson county in more than isxty years, the last one having been prior ot the civil war. No comment would be made by of ficers as to what action might be taken in the other case in which Hight and Mrs. Sweetin were joint ly indicted for the murder of his wife, Anna Hight, whoes death from poison occurred two months after that of Wilford Sweetin. This case is now on the calendar and might be tried by the state ,if it were decided I a further effort should be made to • send Hight to the gallows. While the jurors deliberated, > outside in the courthouse square the I'ghts on four gayly decorated Christ mas trees gleamed and grew dim. The jury received the case after ; seven hours of argument, in the > course of which the state asked for the death penalty for both. In delivering his charge to the; twelve men. nine of whom are farm ers, Judge J. C Kern instructed in six possible verdicts. He informed the jurors they could find one de fendant guilty and the- other not guilty or find both guilty. In the case of guilt, he instructed the jury that it could impose penal ties of death, life imprisonment or , sentence of not less than fourteen years. “If you find the defendant Hight insane at the time the alleged crime ; was committed, then he must be ac quitted,” Judge Kern said. While Prosecuting Attorney Frank G. Thompson lashed the defendants in his closing arguments. Hight and Mrs. Sweetin retained their coin ' posure. remaining calm when the jury left the courtroom. “They stand there two murderers equally guilty under, the law,’’ Thompson declared. “Under your oaths anti before your God. do your duty.” Death Penalty Urged “Hight said that - they wanted mercy, not justice.” sai<\ Thompson, “but in Illinois we still have the ! ■ old Mosaic law of ’Sn eye for an ' I eye. A life has been taken in Jef ferson county and death should or iqiltosed.” Thompson characterized Huh,'- insanity plea as an “artful dodge.”' •’Nothing ever was heard man being insane until after h< was arrested and charged with this crime,” he said. “This insanity dodge is a man of straw. The fact that a man is sub-normal does not exeust the commission of a crime." Thompson declared that after his arrest Hight said. “Elsie Sweetin is in this with me." and that 1. • canic hanging on her skirts. “Now he seeks to abuse the m.m oi.\ of his dea l father by spying he wag abused as a boy. Maybe 1 I Falling Chimney Kills Infant Boy At Christmas Party SHREVEPORT, La., Dec. 25. ; Death struck in the midst of a merry | I Christmas party here Wednesday I | when a chimney collapsed at the i home of M. T. Horton, and, breaking | through a kitchen wall, crushed out I the life of ?Torman Horton, his one- ; year-old son. Mrs. Horton, struck by the falling ; bricks, is in a hospital with a broken j leg, a crushed hip and internal in- j juries. Physicians believe she will [ recover. i The father of the child, an oil I worker at Norphlet, Ark., was noti- | fied. j PHESIDENT SENDS ’ CHRISTMASCHEER TO DISABLED VETS WASHINGTON, Dec. 24.—Among : the first Christmas greetings to go ' out from official Washington to- | day were those sent by President ■ Coolidge “to the men whose dis- ' abilities tell most eloquently of their ; service and sacrifices in the armed forces of the nation.” The president sent his message through the Disabled American Vet erans, and it amplified greetings broadcast to the army and navy by Secretaries Weeks and Wilbur. “Their valor, which aroused the world’s admiration during hostili ties,” President Coolidge said of the disabled veterans, “has since en gaged our continuing respect, be cause of their courageous fight to heal the wounds of war. I know that their splendid efforts in this di rection will receive encouragement from their fellow citizens, who are I determined that every assistance will j be forthcoming to overcome their , honorable handicaps.” With all government activities ! ceasing at noon Wednesday for the i Christmas holiday, Christmas merry- i making in the capital started earlier | than usual. High officials and of- ! ficers of the war and navy depart- I ments were guests of the telephone ; i operators of the two big depart- i ments. A Christmas tree was in- I stalled in the central telephone ex- . change, through which the thou- i sands of phones in the two depart- 1 j ments and also those of the shipping ; board and the emergency fleet cor- I i poration are routed. T’he celebration was an all -day as- ; : fair and Secretary Wilbur, Admiral ! I Eberle, chief of naval operations; I Rear Admiral Jones, president of the navy general board; Admiral Pal- j mer, president of the emergency : fleet corporation, were all early visi- ; I tors to wish the girls from the tele- j j rhone boards Merry Christmas. 1 ’ Sprigs of mistletoe, suspended on ■ long red ribbons, swung from the j ceiling in several places, but the [ j officials seemed a little shy of them, ; and carefully avoided standing tin j deineath. $ 100,000,000 Suit Involving Lord Curzon ! Is Partially Settled I CHICAGO, Dec. 25.—Approximate- i ly three-fourths of the matters at. issug i n the litigation over the SIOO.- I 000,000 estate of the late Levi Z. Leiter, pioneer merchant, involving : Lord Curzon, former foreign secre tary of Great /Britain, whose first ; wife was '• Leiter, t daughter of the financier, was settled by agree- . merit t .erday. Joseph Leiter, a ; son, and one of the trustees of the estate, turned over $4,PQ0,000 in se curities for complete control of the i Zeigler Coal company. The contro- ; | versy over ownership and control of the coal company was the principal I matter at issue. There remain to be heard the charges of Lady Marguerit Hide, duchess of Norfolk, and Berks. Eng land, that her brother, Joseph, has i isi aged the e.tate. Lord Curzon joined Ladv Hide ,in the litigation because of the inter ests of his daughters in the mother s share of her father’s estate. father did whip him too hard. He' was a boy then and had not ye; stalled to give people poison. He also fell out of a tree when ; a boy. If every man who fell out of ’a tree when he was a boy is I crazy, then the world is full of I lunatics." Reviews Evidence of Crime ; The prosecutor reviewed in detail ; the evidence of the crime, telling I how Mrs. Sweetin had admitted giv- > ing poison to her husband. ! “Hight confessed this crime to his i fellow ministers—confessed not once, but several times, and of his guilt there can be no doubt." Thompson Attorney Nelson Layman, defense counsel for Hight, in his argument, described his client as a "poor little country preacher, who always has had the worst of life and has not had a square deal in this case." ~ “Now they are trying to push this jvhole thing onto him,” the lawyer added. “Wouldn't it be a terrible thing to send tin insane man to the gal lows?" Attorney Layman asked. “How would you feel if you had a brother on trial, and he was of j weak mind, and the jury said. ’Oh. it doesn't make any difference. We'll hang him anyway.' ” “Think of a big powerful father ; knocking down a fonrteen-\ear-old boy with a big neck xoke. Don't you ■ think that would have some effect ' on his brain?" Says Hight Had Visions "What caused Hight to ifavo \ls l ions? You never have had such . is ions. For twenty odd years this nan has been hav-ag visions and wh n : he got into a protracted meeting he [ was like a raving maniac." "As he grows older, although we hate to think of it. bis mind will l>e- I’onte worse. He will become more demented until finally he will die an ' insane man." . Previously, testimony had been presented by the state to show that Hight hae. given Mrs. Sweetin poison under cover of passing her gifts ot apples and in an alleged confession to her father-in-law. Columbus Sweetin. Mrs. Sweetin was said to have admi’ted administering it to her husband in ton ato soup, catmeal and in candy. Later in the trial Mrs. Sweetin de- I nied that the confession was true, saving Hight had intimidated tier with a ~s; ry of a mob forming to ■ i lynch them unless she confessed. i I I ! HOP-OFF FOR PARIS FDR CHRISTMAS IS ENDED BY TRAGEDY Machine Hardly Above Ground When Gust of Wind Causes Nose Dive -- CROYDON, England, Dec. 24. (By the Associated Press.) —A Christ ; mas-tide tragedy occurred this morn ing at the airdrome here when the seven passengers and the pilot of the big Imperial Aiiwvays air ex press, DII-34. were killed when the airplane banked and crashed soon after it had taken off. j The passengers, who were on their I way to Paris for Christmas, were [ hardly aware they were w’ell in the ! air when the machine suddenly (banked over Purlev Down, in a gust ' of wind, went into a nose dive and i burst into flames through the ex- I plosion of the gasoline tank. All eight in the machine were burned to death and the machine was de stroyed. There were two women among the passengers, five men passengers, in cluding Dr. Borbosa Lima, a Bra zilian, and Cedric Turdgett, repre sentative of the Chilean Review, and the pilot. An eyewitness said the plane, fly ing low,, suddenly banked, cleared a nearby house, and then staggered in the air. Almost immediately a gust I of wind caught the machine, its tail i shot up, it went into a nose dive. I and fell like a stone. Immediately the machine touclied the ground, it ! burst into flames. i “I ran to the spot,” said the wit ; ness, “but by the time I got there ( the whole machine had burned i away. The only things I could see I unconsumed were the two wheels of i the undercarriage. In the wreckage : I could see tiie charred remains of j bodies. j “All the passengers must have I died instantaneously. Their clothes I were gone, and their bodies were black.” Fire brigades from Purify and I Croydon hurried to the spot, but I were unable to arrive in time to be of any assistance. The charred bod ies were removed to the police mor ; tuary. On May 14, 1923, a passenger air plane in the Paris-London route I crashed near the village of Monsuers, ' France. Six persons, including two i i Americans, were killed. it was supposed that the machine caught lire while traveling. A crash on the Manchester-London air mad route September 11, 1923, j cost the live s o f fi ve persons. This was the first fatal accident to a British ’plane in commercial service since September. 1920, when sou persons were killed in a crash at ; Golders’ Green, a suburb of London. I In August of last year, a French passenger airplane crashed near j Maidstone, England, and one pas- ; scr.ger was killed. Three Americans were injured. Russian Soviet Church Loses Court Fight to Control Orthodox Body NEW YORK,. Dec. 24.—The at- j tempt of the soviet church of Rus sia to take over control of the Rus sian orthodox chu,rch and its prop erties here failed today when state Supreme Court Justice Ford upheld the claim of the Metropolitan Pla ton Rojte.svensky to the leadership <» the Russian Greek Catholic church in North America and the Aleutian ! islands. flight, it was stated, there was no danger, but realizing fully the dan gers that confronted them in land ing a radiqji message was sent by the crew asking that launches be i made ready to render immediate a» ' sistance. This was done, but before I the boats could reach the plane it ! began to sink. Keyser. Manwaring ' and Gavin, it was stated, were kill- i ed by being struck by the machine's ' propellor while the.v were trying to get Williams out of the cockpit, ('•win. Uriah R. Williams, father of the patient and a former naval man, I and two other naval men were pick- ■ ed up by launches. Gavin's skull waa. fractured by I the propeller; Manwaring was bad- ' ly ( tit by the whirring blades, and ' in Keyser's chest was found a large splinter. Two Kentucky Girls, Blind From Birth, See This Christmas LOUISVILLE, Ky.. Dec. 25.—Two Kentucky girls, both blind from j birth, have received their sight as | a Christmas gift as a result of sue- ' cessful operations, it is announced by officials of the Kentucky School! for the Blind. Lillie Bryant, thir- ; teen, of Decker. Butler county, and Elsie Day. fourteen. of Cranks. | Harlan county, for the first time I will be able to participate fully in the Yuletide celebrations. When the girls enrolled in the school last fall they were given the: customary examination to determine ' the nature and cause of their blind ness. Lillie was a victim of tra-j choma. An operation was perform ed at the government trachoma hos pital in Pikeville by Dr. W. L. Davis, on October 21. She returned to the school December 21, but remained only one night, going to hei' home < where she will enter public school. ■ Elsie's trouble was found to be a double cataract. Her father was I j persuaded to consent, and Dr. Claude i ■ Wolf operated. She will he fitted ; with glasses within a few weeks. • Atlanta, Ga., Saturday, December 27, 1924 “KING OF RUM RUNNERS” WEDS PRETTY GIRL DETECTIVE WHO WAS HIRED TO RUN HIM DOWN «••••., ■gl j ’■■■■ ■■ ’ . •?. ■ .... ' i ; -6'W' g My "AUNT VIVIEN” BROADCASTING B'CLINTO FRIEND WILL INSIST UPON CM JURY QUIZ CHICAGO, Dec. 25.—(8y the Asso ciated Press.) —Four pathologists, who examined the exhumed body of William Nelson McClintock, the i ‘/milionaire orphan,” prepared opin ions Thursday as to whether typhoid ; fever caused the death three weeks I ago of the heir to the ill-fated Me i Clintock fortune. Their findings will be reported Fri day to Coroner Oscar Wolff prelimi nary to a complete analysis before a coroner's jury on January 20. Regardless of the result of the post mortem examination, a grand jury I investigation will be demanded by i Harry Olson, chief justice of the j municipal court, a friend of the Me i Clintock family, who instigated the ] inquiry. ' According to the death certificate, j McClintock died of hemorrhagic ty i phoid at the home of Mr. and Mrs. William D. Shepherd, fiis foster par ents since he was four years old. His will, signed at the time he became of age last April, left his entire -estate to Mr. Shepherd, husband of his co guardian with A. F. Deichmann, an attorney, and provided for an SB,OOO annuity for Miss Isabelle Pope, who; futilely waited at his deathbed with la marriage license to wed him when Ihe recovered consciousness. The pathologists, who began their examination within an hour after the body was exhumed Wednesday will make analyses to seek possible poison traces, by order of Coroner Wolff. The experts represent re spectively the coroner, state's attor ney and the Shepherds, with a dep uty coroner in charge. Shepherds Face Grilling Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd, who have been visiting in Albuquerque, N. M., since the death of McClintock, will be questioned on their return here, state's attc rneys said. Through • their attorney, Robert H. Stoll, j Shepherd s law partner, they told : prosecutors not only they, but any ; witness under their control would be i submitted to examination at the state's attorney's request. The story of the romance that be gan in school days and ended at Mc- Clintock's deathbed was told to prosecutors by Miss Pope. She said her fiance had told her ■ he had drawn up a will making pro ! vision for her in case anything hap pened to him but that it would be ' void after their intended marriage_ i and he wotild draw up a new instru j ment and possibly create a trust fund i for the Shepherds. I She said h"r visits to McClintock <luring his illness were discouraged: by the Shepherds because they were I ! “disrupting” the order of the house-1 | hoUJ - that she later learned Mr. Shep i i herd ‘‘had told physicians attending] - Billy to instruct me and my parents not to visit him so often on the i ground that it might interfere with I ! Billy's recovery.” Shepherds Discouraged Union Although they had planned to be j married sometime next year when the sick youth insisted on an imine diate ceremony she consented, she : said. Shepherd, she told prosecutors. ' : told her she could not obtain a li cense unless both contracting par tie-- m de the application in person. I “I also noticed that after I had; I gone to the marriage license bureau iltd got a license in spite of what Mr. Shepherd told me. Airs. Shepherd i seemed io have turned rather cold' toward me,” Miss Pope said. “By that I mean she did not seem as ■orthal and friendly as before. Later I heard that she had expressed her displeaure over my action.” She said she entertained no sus picions. Judge Ol on said the exhumation was "merely a formality to make more solid certain evidence” which ' 1 he said he hud d-veioped in his inves tigations before the matter was I I I".odght to the state's attorney's at-' i tention. “Why, I Can't Testify Against Him; I'm His | Wife,” She Calmly Tells Agents Who Call for Report SEATTLE, Dec. 26.—Federal pro ; hibition agents, after repeated iin ] successful attempts to nab Roy Ohn ; sted, known hereabouts as the | "king” of rum runners of the west coast, finally decided to employ a girl detective to “shadow” him. So they hired Elsie Caroline Par she, an English girl, who had come down from Montreal and opened a beauty parlor under the name of Vivien Potter, to do their “under ( cover” work. Elsie applied for a position as Olm sted's bookkeeper—and landed it. And after a time the agents came to her ty obtain the information she had gathered on the job. But Elsie had none to impart. “Why, I cannot testify against him,” she calmly announced. “I am I his wife.” And that is why “Aunt .Vivien's” I Peter Rabbit, Bre'r Fox and wicked ■ Mr. Wolf stories from radio station : KFQX were briefer than usual one ' night. ' For “Aunt Vivien.” teller of bed i time stories, was Elsie Parshc, the girl detective who married Roy Olm sted. “king” of rum' runners. The federal men broke into the home of Olmsted, former police lieu tenant, while "Aunt Vivien” was in the midst of her nightly broadcast ing. And the thrilling adventures of Peter Rabbit were “continued un til tomorrow” while “Aunt Vivien” Olmsted and sixteen others were at tempting to arrange bail. But the children in Seattle and ' for miles around never knew. “Aunt Vivien” was back on the job next night. And she continues to broadcast on schedule. But the grand jury is listening in now, too, only to a different kind of a’ story. President and Wife Join Christmas Eve Carols at Capital WASHINGTON, Dec. 25.—The angelus sung at Bethlehem was i carolled last night from the White I House to a nation at peace with : the world and with good will to i ward all men. The chief executive of the nation ■ and the first lady of the land joined with a white vested choir, and with thousands who thronged the White House grounds in observance of the recurrence of another Christmas eve. Previously the President Mrs. Coolidge, following another custom they inaugurated at their,first Christmas in the White Hodse a - year ago, had visited one of the public parks near the executive man sion, anj with another large group witnessed the lighting of a ria j tional community Christmas tree, i Mr. Coolidge, himself, pressed the I button that flooded the tree, a 40- I foot spruce transplanted from the ; Adirondack mountains of New York, lighted with hundreds of varicolored globes-. Having thus taken the lead in the I ! two ceremonies that marked the 1 public celebration of Christmas eve in Washington, the president and his wife returned to their own fire side to spend Christmas day with the simplicity that has always at tended observance of the holiday by those living in the rural regions of Vermont. Senator Underwood Is 111 With Grippe WASHINGTON, Dec. 24. —Senator Oscar W. Underwood, of Alabama, is ill at his home here suffering from an attack of grippe. His con I dition is said not to be serious. Senator Underwood was taken ill several days ago and unable to take par tin the debate on his bill for dis- | position of Muscle Shoals. It was ; said at his home, however, that there , was no reason to believe that the senator would not be out in a very • short time and take up his duties wh«m the senate recons nes after th*' , holiday. i CEN i s A COPX, SI A YEAR. 32 PERISH WHEN CHRISTMAS TREE SETS SCHOOL AFIRE Windows, Covered by Heavy Wire Netting, Cost Lives of Scores HOBART, Okla., Dei;. 25.—(8y the Associated Press.)— Fire, stalking the tracks of Santa Glaus, turned a country schoolhouse into an inferno at Babb's Switch, 7 miles from here, Wednesday night and snuffed out the lives of at least 32 persons, many of them children, .who had gathered for a Christmas Eve cele bration. A tiny candle on a Christmas tree 1 ignited a ball of cotton. revellers gripped their sacks candy and stood spell-bound Iwe 1 their elders at first tried to put out the fire and then, as the flames licked up the cedar boughs and spread to the dry wood of the flim sy structure, broke for the single exit at the rear, a mad scrambling mob, fleeing from the leaping terror at their heels. Every window in the one-room building was covered by a heavy woven wire netting, bolted solidly to the casement, placed there to keep out prowlers. Frantically the trapped men and women beat at the obstructions. Glass shattered from each window and the "Wind whistled in, creating a heavy draft and fanning the greedy flames. Many fell in the crush at the door and were trampled underfoot. Lying where they fell, unable to crawl away, their bodies w4re burned. None of Bodies Identified None of 32 bodies that had been taken from the smoking ruins early | Thursday had been identified. A I previous report that several had I been found to be incorrect. Nonfc ; was recognizable at a cursory in spection and identification must await the discovery by relatives of ineffacable murks. More than 40 persons were In jured, some of them seriously. Lo cal hospitals and residences today housed 37 and an unknown number was taken to the homes <*f residents of the Babb's Switch district. About 200 persons were packed In the small school room when the Christmas tree burst into flames. Men near the front of the building tried to .smother the fire and in their baste knocked the tree over, aiding the progress of the blaze and scattering burning branches over the floor. The dry floor caught like tinder and it was at once apparent that, with no means at hand to fight the fire, the building was doomed. Snow and ice which coated the roof and walls did little to check the flames. Those who succeeded in getting out turned rescuers to those who were injured in the scramble, and several were used to bring the first of the injured here. A telephone yall from a farm house mobilized in a few minutes a motor caravan that labored slowly over the icy roads to the secluded little dis trict. As the injured were brought in, women of the city organized a volunteer nursing staff and first aid treatment was given each victim. Doctors of the city swung into ac< tion and in a brief interval the in jured were being given medical at tention. With the injured removed, the grim task of recovering the dead was undertaken by Sheriff T. P, Shaddock and a force of deputies. No water was available and it was impossible to cool the embers and for some time after the building had been reduced to ashes, little progress could be made in taking out the bodies. Many Children Perish • As the embers cooled in the IQ degree temperature the sheriff’s force penetrated farther into the ruins, bringing out body after body, many of them pitifully small. The loss of life among the children was l heavy because they were grouped l around the Christmas tree in the : front of the building and were far- I thest from the door. i Soon rows of bodies reposed oh the hard crust of snow that covered the countryside. A hearse and a truck arrived from Hobart and, amid the confusion attending the efforts of frantic persons to find missing members of their families, the first of the bodies were taken to a Hobart mortuary. Because of the condition of the. bodies, it was’decided that a canvass for missing persons would be needed to identify them, and in the darkness of the Christinas Eve a party of men started a house-to-house check, mak ing note of the gaps in each family circle. , Early Thursday the undertaking establishment was thrown open to the public and scores of persons I filed past the long rows of still ! figures, looking for some familiar mark that would identify a missing loved one. Mrs. Florence Hill, teacher at ths school, was among the dead. She was torn from the arms of her hus band as he fought to get her to th« ■ doorway after he had forcibly dragged her from the front of the room where she was attempting to aid the escape of her little pupils. Mr. Hill escaped. Champagne and Whisky W orth $500,000 Taken By Coast Guard Force NEW YORK, Dec. 25.—While na urc was failing in to produce i “white Christmas" for the Atlantic seaboard in the vicinity of New York, coast guard forces did their best to make it a “dry Christmas” by cap turing five vessels, 25 prisoners and $500,000 worth of holiday liquor off . Sandy Hook. Check up of t’-~ haul at the barge >ffice today : bowed the Britisn schooner Patara, four motor boats and 6.000 cases of champagne and whisky in the t-Rs. The Patara Is an old-timer on rum row, credited •• h be ing landed $5,000,000 worth ’ t II- in its day. 1 z