Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

THE WEATHER Forecast: Rain tonight or Wed nesday. Temperatures: 8 a. m„ 43 degrees: 10 a. m., 43 degrees; 12 noon, 46 degrees: 2 p. m., 47 degrees. VOL. XL NO. 128. woodward; BACKS UP EXPERT’S IDEAS Mayor-Elect Will Insist on the! Adoption of Some of Sands’ Reform Suggestions. HEADS OF POLICE AND PARK BOARDS ANGERED I Beavers Defends His Depart ment-Report Supports The I Georgian’s Stand. ■ lajoi-elect James G. Woodward to ' declared that the Sands probe re el was full of excellent ideas for re ns.and that besides urging a care consideration of every item of it by general council, he would insist , .•>!! the adoption of a number of the ugestions. On the other hand, many of the offi .i s in the city hall bitterly resented e criticisms. The report absolutely backs up The : oigian’s charges of inefficiency on i part of the construction department ml points out that not only a more sinesslike administration is needed, ’mt that the head of the department should be appointed instead of elected bj the people, thereby removing the ' partment from so much political in iluence. Other Reforms Urged By Georgian Approved. Teo Georgian’s editorial suggestions -üb-Dolice stations and combining ic duties of regular, policemen and in jectors also tire concurred in. as well - the plans to abate the smoke nui -.mee and discontinue secret sessions ■ f the finance committee anti other of ficial boejies. Tlte time has come when we must mjt into effect many such reforms, as Exp t Sands recommends, or the peo i will vote commission government, , Iping out the whole present system,” tit! Mayor-elect Woodward. "The sys tem is inefficient, and everybody in V anta who stops to think knows it. There will be bitter opposition from tie' men affected by these changes, You ■in bank on that. Each is a little czat unto himself now. They can do as they ease, for there is no one to direct hem or see that they do their duty. His criticisms of the construction ■partment are very true. That de i tment has dotje poor work. There i- no common sense in having the chiet iected by the people; he ought to bt appointed by the mayor or council. Shows Mayor Is Without Authority. He shows that the mayor is without .inhority. Look at the police depart- • menu there’s proof of that statement. | The chief of police ought to be directly under the mayor. Police problems are iuade the issues in mayoralty cam paigns and when a man gets a majority of the votes for mayor he ought to have '•niv power over the department. With the police commission in con irol of it he virtually has hone. “I agree with him about the water department. Its organization is ridicu lous. "The council apropriales the funds to operate the department. But council • in'f where a single water main aull be laid, “Council elects a commission to run Mie department. The people then elect a general manager to run it. There •ire the mayor and council, the board and the general manager, differently selected, and, then fore, conflicting ” City Needs More Aid From the County. The mayor-elect said ho did not think the suggestion to consolidate the city and county governments hardly was practical, because so much of the coun ty lay outside the city. He did say that there was great need for more co-opera tion between the city and county gov ernments, and especially was there a general demand for more work by the county convicts inside the city. There are too many beautiful boule vards running around our city. We need more paved streets inside the city. In front of the property that pays the county taxes.” he said t'hairman Carlos H. Mason, of the police commission, is displeased with the comments of the expert on the po lice department. “It is only one man’' opinion, he said. “I might employ an expert who Continued On Paqe Two. RESOLVE===Thad You WIDD Save Tome and Money Iby Using GEORGIAN WANT ADS for Every Need in H9U The Atlanta Georgian Read For Profif-GEORGIAN WANT ADS-Use For Results FITE HENEWS MCI 01 mis cw Charges It Changed Recorded Opinion in Contempt Case and Calls Judge Falsifier. JURIST CHALLENGES HILL TO QUIT BENCH WITH HIM Declares He Is Within Constitu tional Rights in Terming the Tribunal Incompetent. Judge Augustus W. Fite, recently fined for contempt of court, today re newed his attack on the court es ap peals which convicted him. charging that it had changed in publication its recorded opinion, and declaring that Judge Benjamin Hill, who sat in his [case, had uttered an untruth. Judge Fite denounces Judge Hill so. his attack on the man who prosecuted the McCullough assault case which led to the contempt action and challenges the jurist to resign with him immedi ately and let the people decide "who has dragged the judicial robes through the mire of personal venom, injustice and slander.” The judge declares that he was with in his constitutional rights in criticis ing the judges of the court of appeals as Incompetent. Judge Hill Not Roiled by Attack. Judge Hill, of the state court of ap- | peals, did not seem at all upset or dis turbed today’, after reading Judge Fite's latest attack on the court over which Judge Hill presides, and on the chief judge in particular. He declared that he would make no | answer to Judge Fite, or notice, public ly, in any way bis card. "The record in the contempt hearing ; has been published.” said Judge Hill.' “It may be found in full in the South | eastern Reporter of December 21. Ini that written record appears exactly what the court said and held—in it, i however, does not appear some things. Judge Fite says the court of appeals said and held. All .persons wjro are in terested in the truth of the record are invited to read the same. Perversions and willful misstatements of the record need not necessarily mislead, as the rec ord is there, in black and white, to speak for itself. I have nothing to add to it or take from it.” “How about the suggestion that you resign?” inquired a Georgian reporter. "Oh, well.” smiled ids honor, broadly. "I shall not discuss this last Fite out break in any way. in any way. You may saw, however, if you like, that 1 probably shall not resign!" Declares Opinion Has Been Changed. Judge Kite's communication is as fol lows: 'To the Editor of The Georgian: I have just read the opinion of the court of appeals in their con tempt case against me, published in The Southeastern Reporter, volume 76, No. 6, December, 1912. which is quite different from the one deliv ered on the trial. I would have let tin ease rest where it was when some-»pf the good people of the Cherokee circuit voluntarily paid the unjust line, if the court of appeals had let it alone, as they should have done. But, not satisfied with what they had already done, in the ease of their own making, the court of ap peals have since the trial so changed, taken from and added to the opinion then delivered and which had evidently been previous ly prepared, as to make it more a self-laudatory and political har angue and tirade of personal abuse than a judicial opinion, and I will not let it pass without a protest. Judge Hill Began Row. Says Fite. Judge Hill began this unseemly row by attacking me in the first reversal of the McCullough case, as set out in my answer to the rule, and more, which, at my instance, was stricken front the record of that case, and of which the people have not been informed, charging in substance that I sentenced the negro "instantly" and with intent to deprive him of the right of poll ing tile jury, which is untrue, libel ous and slanderous; and he is now trying to dodg' responsibility by Continued on Page Two. ATLANTA, GA.. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31. 1912. •••••••••••••••••••••••••a : TWO LOADS OF BRICK • : START PARCELS POST : • GARY, IND., Dee. 31.—Parcels • • post troubles began here today • • when a brick dealer dumped two • • wagon loads of bricks into the • • postoffice to be mailed out the first • • thing Wednesday. The bricks ar. • • samples. • ••••••••••••••••••see***** PLOTTED HUSBAND’S DEATH 4 '' i: - wPafe jlF ' v Jin " IBWh ■ i ~ ? '-A / 11 ~ 's*ii A It ■ ; if A ‘ - r'i wmF ilT|l'' ''iliilliili ■ li., ■ ' |iU|!" -W ; ... Jul ' iijWjl' v’ ■ r ' ‘ Mrs. Katherine King, who planned the death of her husband. U.S.RAILROADS BREAK BUSINESS RECORDS BY MILLIONS IN OCTOBER WASHINGTON, Dec. 31.—Railways <>f the United States did more business in October, 1912, than any other month in their history, according to a re port issued today by the bureau of rail way economics. Tile net operating revenue of 90 per cent of the steam railway' mileage in tiie United States —220.636 miles—as reported to ihe interstate commerce commission totaled $107,440,518. which is greater by $14,870,125 than for Octo ber. 1911. This represents an increase per mile of line for the month of 14.4 per cent. Heavy freight traffic, which always is greater in October, caused the increase. UNDERWOOD CONFERS WITH WILSON TODAY ON SPECIAL SESSION TRENTON, N. J., Det. 31.—Impor tant announcements concerning the ex tra session of congress are expected as a result of today's conference between President-elect Wilson and Representa tive Underwood, the majority leader in the house. The meeting took place at 2:30 o'clock, the morning being devoted by Mr. Wilson to state business. John Maynard Harlan, of Chicago, son of the late Justice Harlan, of tin United States supreme court, visited the governor today. He is an old friend. CITY TREASURER 38 YEARS ENDS LIFE; BOOKS BURNED R. R. CHIEFS CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER FOR DEATHS IN WRECK BRIDGEPORT. CONN.. Dee. 31. Bench warrants were issued by Judge Case in the criminal superior court to day at the instance of the state’s at torney. Stiles Judson, for Henry J. Horn, of Boston, vice president: Ben jamin R. Pollock, general manager, and Charles N Woodward, general super intendent of the New Raven, officials of the New Yolk. New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company. Tile men are charged witii man slaughter in causing the death of pas sengers who lost their lives in the wreck of the Springfield-New York ex press on the New Haven road, which was derailed and wrecked while taking tile short cross over at Westport bridge, October 3 last. More Officials Indicted. INDIANAPOLIS, IND. Dec. 31. - Sweeping indictments of all the “men higher up" in the C. H. and D. Railroad Company were returned by the Marion county grand jury today. The indict ments were returned with a view to bringing legal punishment upon the of ficials for tolerating such conditions as brought about the recent C., H. and D wreck at Irvington, in which 16 lives were sacrificed. in addition to the officials, Engineer Willis York and Brakeman t'arl Gross were indicted. It is understood the in dictments charge involuntarj man slaughter, JUDGE C. J. WELBORN RESIGNS. The go’ ernor has received tile resig nation of Judge i' J. Welborn, of the county- court of Jeff Davis, to take ef fect immediately. BANK CLEARINGS OF YEAR SHOW HEALTHY INCREASE OVER 1911 Increase in the volume of Atlanta’s business for 1912 over that of 1911 may be measured by the comparative clear ing house figures, which for 1912 show an increase of .$38,810,833.85 over 1911’» total. The increase is approximately 6 per cent. (Tearings for the period of twelve months whU.li ended at noon today amounted to $691,941,254.29, at which figure the records of the Atlanta Clear ing House association for tlte year were ■ closed. For the twelve months of 1911, tlte figures were $653,130,420.35. The figures reveal that during the last two months of the year clearings were less than in the final months of 1911, the shortage in December amount ing to nearly $3,000,000. However, in every .other season of the year, except the late fall, the 1912 figures are far and away above those of the preceding year. BUILDING PERMITS ONLY $13,166 SHORT OF $10,000,000 MARK Bj the hour the city hall closes today Atlanta may be in the $10,000,000 building class. At I o’clock the books at the of fice of Building Inspector Ed K. Hays showedt hat $9,986,834 in building had been done in 1912. This was short of the $10,000,000 figure by $13,166, and the building inspector hoped to issue $13,- 166 worth of permits by 5 o’clock, when the office closes. Ben R. Padgett. Jr., was a “Good Samaritan’’ toriaj when lie appeared on the horizon with applications for three dwellings to cost $11,500 The figures at that time were $24,666 short and the of ficials in the offict were pulling hard Thomas Nall, Griffin Official. Just Re elected, Sends Bullet Through Head a Few Hours After New Mayor De manded Investigation of All Records. Atlanta Auditors Reconstructing Financial Sys tem From Few Remaining Papers—-Suicide Loved by Thousands and Friends Declare Re sentment. Not Dishonesty, Led to Tragedy. By Staff Correspondent 11 It I FT'I \. G A.. Dee. 31.—Expert auditors from Atlanta today are making a searching investigation behind closed doors in the city hall here of what little remains of Griffin’s municipal records, and are es tablishing a complete new city system, while Griffin itself discusses in whispers Ihe most mysterious tragedy in the history of Spalding county. The disclosure that the city’s important, tax books and other records for the past thirteen years were missing came like a. bolt on December 14. the day following the funeral of Thomas Nall. 74 years of age. ami for 38 years city clerk and treasurer of the city of Griffin. .Xall was found dead on the morning of December 11 in his beau tiful colonial home in Hill street, but a few hours after he had been sworn in for a new term of two years by Captain -I. Henry Smith. Griffin’s new mayor. Apoplexy was assigned as the cause of death, and the Griffin daily paper and Atlanta papers carried stories to this ■ OF STRIKERS ATTACKS POLICE Officers Forced to Battle for Their Lives 100.000 Gar ment Workers Out. • NEU YORK, Dee. 31.—Thirty per sons, many of them women, were in jured today in the first serious rioting of the garment workers strike. About 600 persons wore engaged in the rioting which took place in Williamsburg at the plant of Smith. Gray & Co. A mob of men and women surround ed the building and were hurling stories and othe: missiles when a detachment of police arrived and tried to disperse the crowd. The strikers turned upon the police, attacking them with unex pected fury. The officers bad to tight for their lives, and many of them nearly’ had theii uniforms torn off. After half an hour’s fighting the strikers were so ex hausted that, the police were able to clear the streets. WIRELESS STRETCHES ACROSS OCEAN FROM PARIS TO WASHINGTON WASHINGTON, Dec. 31.—The long arm of the wireless has reached from the Eiffel tower. Paris, to the giant government wireless station at Arling ton, a distance of 4,000 miles, according to a report of Commander C. H. Bul lard to Secretary of the Navy Moyer today. Naval officers consider this the most important accomplishment wire less since Its invention. The commu nication between Washington and' Par. is was established in the quiet hours of early morning, when the Arlington op erator received the time signal sent out from the Eiffer tower every fifteen min utes. At midnight tonight every bit of power In the navy station wit* In turned on in an endeavor to dash the official birth of the New Year east to Paris, south to Colon and west to San Francisco. WILSONS ARE INVITED TO CHICAGO ARABIAN NIGHTS CHARITY BALL CHICAGO, tier. 81. President-elect Woodrow Wilson, Mrs. Wilson ami Miss Wilsou have been Invited to attend the Arabian Nights charity ball, to be held in Chicago January 10. The president-elect is scheduled to speak in Chicago January 11. and those In charge of the bah extended an invi tation in the hope that It might lie pos slble to change bis plans and arrive a day earlier. A special box has been or dered decorated and reserved, pending the answer from the New Jersey governor. RAIN IS FORECAST. . The new year will have a baptism of rain. The weather map portends nothing else but showers uli the first day of I‘Jl3, and the promise of rain tonight and probably Wednesday has been posted. HOME IJPITION 2 CENTS EVERYWHERE effect. Today it made public, for the first time, the startling fact that it was a pistol ball through the brain, directed by his own hand, and not apoplexy, that ended the life of the aged official. “Uncle Tom” Nail, as hr was famil iarly known to thousands of warm per sonal friends and supporters, had been accorded flic distinction of being the shrewdest and most popular politician In Spalding county, and the series of sensations brought on by his tragic death has stirred the whole county. This Is the second time Griffin’s city records have been destroyed. Thirteen years ago all of the records were lost in a fire that destroyed a cotton ware house In which Treasurer Nall had his office. Griffin had no city hall then, and Nall kept the books and papers in his private office. At a recent meeting of the city coun cil,' E. P. Bridges, an insurance man. was elected to succeed Treasurer Nall, but will not take charge of the office until the auditors make their report and establish the now system rendered nec essary by the destruction of the old records. Will Never Know How Accounts Stand. Owing to the disappearance of the important tax books’and license books, city officials say they have little hope of an audit and are satisfied it will never be known Just how the city stands —whether it has lost anything at all through the mystery of the books oi ■ just how much has been lost. The i missing records represent thousands of dollars in taxes and licenses. Their de struction removes all trace of back and ; unpaid taxes prior to the year 1911 The most important book for 1911—the ■ tax digest book—is also missing, but tlu auditors have been able to make a : partial cheek and approximate balance • for that year. Evidence has been obtained by’ the . city council finance committee showing f that at least some of the books and . records were burned by tile aged clerk L and treasurer the day before he blew . ottl his brains. But why he did Illis is t the puzzle that city officials and the auditors are trying in vain to solve. There are two answers to tills ques , tion. they say—a possible shortage that i the aged man wished to carry with him las a sei ret to his grave or else a re fs'mmetit at having his books examined land a new system inaugurated after he I had conducted the .affairs of his offici- I honestly and successfully all of these years. ’ Many of the officials hold to the lat ( let theory, believing his strange deter , initiation was superinduced by an ab normal mental eorfdition. They say they ar satisfied there was no shortage in hi- accounts', and that the only possible 1 loss to the city will come from unpaid taxes of past years, w hich were record ed on ti< missing records. Call for Audit Followed by Suicide. In doing so, he. asked for an audit of all city departments, that the new ad ministration might know the exaet i status of city affairs. , Following his address, the new may or swore in the other city officers. i among them aged Thomas Nall. But , a few weeks before Nall had been chosen by his townspeople without op-