PRINCE PROVINCIAL "^LIBRARY VICTORIA,. B.C. IZ-EN VOL. 18, No. 1 PRINCE GEORGE. B. C. THURSDAY. JANUARY 2, 1936 Five Cent* Four Candidates are now in the Alderrnanic Race >JisW YEAR'S EV� DANC ! ROMISES TO PROVE BIG VENT OF HOLIDAYS As There are But 3 Vacancies the Vote of Electors Will Be Taken January 16 TWO NEW ASPIRANTS Interest Still Lags in Election of Members of the Board of School Trustees There are sufficient candidates already in the field to assure the taking of a poll in the municipal election which has been set for Thursday, January 16th. So far there is no talk of any opposition to Mayor Patterson, and the probabilities are he will be permitted to carry out his bat, and add the tenth consecutive year to his incumbency as the chief magistrate of the city. Mayor Patterson has established something in the day of a record for continuous ser vice in the mayor's chair. With falling municipal revenues and increasing demands in the way of uncontrollable expenditures throughout the whole nine years of his incumbency, Mayor Paterson'e job has been an unenviable one and in standing up to his guns in his policy of enforced economy the mayor has doubtless lost a number of former supporters, but in the losing of one he probably gained the support of some other elector who had previously opposed him, and thus the balance has been maintained. When the electors of a municipality return one of their number as their chief magistrate for nine years in succession it may be taken for granted the occupant of the office is by no means a square peg in a round hole. The electors, and for that matter the members of the various aldermanic boards, have by no means agreed with all the decisions Mayor Patterson has felt called upon to make from time to time. It is true that at times he has made a lot of people mad and here have been mutterings of revolt against the Pat- j terson rule. It is not expected, however, that any human will be found to be right all the time, but Mayor Patterson has been found to be right more often than he has been wrong, i and there as been a disposition on | the part o� the electors to let it go | at that. Major Patterson is not i going t~ be ma>.T of Prince George for all time. He will quit or get licked sometime, but neither of these things Is likely to happen this month, and his worship will probably \ e called up to worry <��'-,-r muivcipal finance* for another year at least. This year there are already four candidates in the field for the three vacancies created by the retirement of Alderman Taylor. Opie and Armstrong. Mr. Opie having loft the city will not be a candidate for reelection. Aldermen Taylor ard Armstrong are both offering for re-election, while as new material the services of William R. Munro and Frank Clark have been made available. Before nominations clo.se on Monday, January 13th there may bi1 others enter the race. It is regarded as a healthy sign to have citizens anxious to serve in the offices cf mayor and aldermen. It is an honor to be chosen by the electors to serve the city in either capacity, but when it comes without effort on the part of the candidate, and with no sign of interest on the part of the electors, the honor is likely to be regarded too lightly. It is also the privilege of every duly qualified elector to offer his ser- | vices, and aside from the odd crank j or freak who sometimes pons up ?�� j elections, the action of candidates in j prof erring their services is to be commended. No matter what job a person may be engaged with, an evidence of interest in it on the part of others becomes a form of encouragement, while an utter lack of general interest makes for poor per-iormance. If. as seems likely a poll is found necessary on Thursday. January 16th in connection with the election to fill vacancies on the city council or the board of school trustees, courtesy at least to the candidates demands the electors shall show sufficient interest to turn out and record their votes. With respect to the vacancies on the board of school trustees there is the intimation no contest will develop to fill the three places. This would be an unfortunate development. The duties devolving upon school trustees is no less important than these of members of the cUy council, and the measure of interest shown in the selection of school trustees determines to a marked degree the calibre of the school board. Matters arisiner out of the education of the youth of the city should touch the interest of citizen--? quite as much as those relate to rates and taxe<; which are the function of members of the city council. Alderman Armrtronc Alderman W. L. Armstrong, who is seeking re-elecfion after four ve^rs renH^e on th� aldermanic board has jii'?tifiration" for his reauo�t for another term. His interest in tho welfare of the Ht,v hn* been e\idenred not only in his service as a member of the city council and a member of the school trustees but in the time he has given to the advancement of the citys' interests through the medium of the locil" board of trade later as president of the Associated Boards of Trade, and in his consistent support of all movements seeking the public welfare. Alderman Armstrong breaks a new furrow in his election announcement with the expression of his conviction the time for the commencement of permanent sidewalk and street improvements will arrive this year with the retirement of heavy bond issues aggregating $64,500. Alderman Armstrong advocates the construction of such permanent improvements as can be financed out of current revenue, but the carrying out of such work on a comprehensive program. Alderman Taylor While not the oldest member of the city council in years of service Alderman Taylor probably occupies second place. He had been a member of the council for several years when he was returned as mayor in 1926. He was defeated by Mayor Patterson in 1927, but in most if not all of the following years he has continued as a member of the council. Prince George had reached the end of its spending powers with the end of 1923. During the campaign of 1924. which resulted in the election of R. W. Alward. there was even talk "of a receivership for the municipality, but the road to receiverships had not then been made so easy as in la^er years, and with the practice of rigid economy the municipality continued to be able to meet all financial obligations as they became due. Aside from Mayor Patterson there is probably no member of the city government who has been more impressed with the necessity for strict economy and the lopping off of all frills in civic administration. Alderman Taylor is offering for reelection again. William R. Munro \^William R. Munro. fresh from two year's service on the board of school trustees.^is one of two new aspirants for aldermanic honors. He wDl not be a candidate^for re-election to the school board. but-Js offering for one of the vacant placeVon the municipal council, Mr. Munro^has been a resident of the city for several years. Although a member of the^-school-board for two years he is doubtless best known by reason of the acMve" interest he has taken in the Boy Scout movement. The welfare of the boys of the city has not received the general support it. has deserved, and it lias been largely through the unflagging interest shown bv Mr. Munro and a few of his immediate friends, that the Boy Scout movement in Prince George has not faded out of the municipal picture. Mr. Munro is also well-known to the young people of the city as a sports promoter, in which boxing and wrestling have been given the encouragement they required to retain them as an entertainment of a public nature. These may be regarded as side issues in sizing up qualifications for membership on the municipal council, but on the score of public welfare they are not to be discarded lightly, and the man who gives freely of his time to their advancement lias a good claim for preferment when he is able to add the qualification of a man of sound business judgment. Frank Clark Frank Clark, locomotive foreman with the C.N\R., who announces his intention of contesting one of the vacancies on the municipal council can be regarded as a new man only for the reason he is lacking in municipal administrative experience. He has had lots of administrative experience along other lines. He needs no introduction to the electors cf Prince George as he has been before them for many years. One of his friends says of him he has been before the electors of Prince George since the city as smarted, chiefly in soliciting support for other candidates and that it is time he got out and solicited votes for himself. Widely known through his connection with fraternal and other organizations Mr. Clark will command the respect and confidence of a large element in the electorate of the municipality. He would bring to rhe city council services of no mean order and win or lose the city h advantaged by his willingness to become a candidate. The dance in the Princess ballroom on New Year's Eve, under the auspices of the local branch of the Canadian Legion promises to be a big social event during the holiday s?a-son. New Year's has ever been a popular night for a dance, and since the advent of the Henning Andersen orchestra many who quit the dance floor some years ago have returned to enjoy the rhythmic measures of the new orchestral combination. Another reason for & record-breaking attendance on Tuesday evening will be found in the circumstance that it will probably be the last opportunity, for some time at least, to dance to the music of the Henning Andersen orchestra, as its director has announced his intention of leaving Prince George for the coast at the end of the week. The Women's Auxiliary of the Legion will be in'charge of the refreshments and (he officers of the Legion believe they have overlooked nothing likely to contribute to the enjoyment of patrons of the dance. Better accomodation has been made in the cloak troomEj, and attendants will be in charge of same. -------------o------------- Peace Prospect in Ethiopia Has Much Improved Lack of Money May Force Italy to End Aggressive War Now Being Waged Ethiopians Pinching Off Italian Outposts with Persistent Guerilla Attacks Tlie officers and members of the Women's Hospital Auxiliary desire to express their thanks to those making donations to their hope chest, which is to be drawn for this evening at the Legion dance in the Princess Ballroom. The chest contains: Pair of sheets. Rebekah Lodge; pair of sheets Northern Hardware and Furniture Company; six dish cloths. Legion Auxiliary; tablecloth, Lutheran Ladies Aid; lunch cloth andi six napkins. Eastern Star Chapter; pair of pillow cases, Women's Institute; pair of pillowcases, B.P.O. Elks; pair of bath towels. Catholic Women's Lea-true: bath mat. Junior Women'? Institute: blanket and bedsir-ea*! nurses, doctors and members of hospital board. Tickets for the darwing are on sale at 25 cents. London. Dec. 30�There are signs of peace in the Italo-Ethiopian situation ,and a feeling of greater easiness over the prospect that Premier Mussolini is at last prepared to discuss terms for the settlement of his invasion of Emperor Haile Selassie's kingdom. One of these signs is the second announced visit of King Leopold of Belgium, who is closely related to the Italian .royal house. It is believed his mission was an informal discussion of the Ethiopian situation, v. Another factor is the unfavorable turn given to the Italian military ac-tivities^in Ethiopia. There are two rainy seasons to contend with in Ethiopia, and the lesser of the two is now approaching^ The Ethiopians have so far refusefiha ma.ior eng-ncement with the invaders of their country, but they have increased their guerilla activities, and havcL been ha vine marked success in pinchlne off Italian advanced posts. As a result-it is claimed the advance of the Italians in the region of Makale has bpen definitely halted, and lhat th� Italians have be*;n setting barbed wire around the points they continue to hold to prevent" surprise fHacks. While there have been very contradictory reports of military movements in Ethiopia, It is significant that lately Rome has been entering no denials to the reports of recent Ethiopian successes and in some instances has admitted them in a qualified manner. The financial strain of carrying on the war in Ethiopia is also beginnir �� j to be felt in Italy, The cost of the] campaign is said to have mounted to j $1,000,000 per day. Italy will shortly be forced to try to float a loan, and with all the money markets of the world closed the outlook is very disturbing. There is. however, at least one fly in the ointment of the peace negotiators. Since Mussolini rejected the terms of the Hoare-Laval proposal when first announced and before it was submitted to the League of Nations, there is some misgiving as to what his terms may be. If he I was not content with approximately j one-half of Ethiopia at that time. | how much less will he be prepared I to take now. and what will be the j attitude of Emperor Haile Sela^ssie toj the ceding of anv substantial part of his kingdom to the Italian invaders-1 Hauptmann Asks Permission to Present Appeal Board of Pardons is Expected to Decide on Monday Question of Personal Plea STATE CASE IS STRONG THIEVES FORCE ENTRY INTO REID STORE, STEAL TOBACCO AND FOOD Thieves entered the grocery premises of C. C. Reid late on Friday night, or early on Saturday morning, and carried off a quantity of tobacco, bacon, butter and lard. The merchandise was missed when the store was opened on Saturday morning. Entrance into the store was gained through the forcing of the door into the warehouse. Once in the warehouse the thieves secured entrance into the store by prying a connecting- door off ifs hinges. The cash register in the store was opened and a few copper coins taken. The business office of the store gave no signs of having been rntered. The office safe had ibeen l^.kfKl -when Mr. Reid aa?id member& of his staff .quitted the premi'ies shortly after 9 on Friday night, and did not appear to have been tampered with. Evidence Supports Contention of Prosecution Kidnapper had no Active Accomplice Trenton. N". J., Dec. 26�Governor Harold G. Hoffman's press representative announced today the governor had authorized him to say "at the present time" he did not contemplate a reprieve for Bruno Richard Hauptmann should the Court of Pardons refuse clemency. Trenton, N. J., Dec. 28�It is expected the Board of Pardons will decide on Monday whether on his appeal for clemency Bruno Richard Hauptmann will be permitted to appear before it in person and make his appeal for his life. Whether the �appeal is made by Hauptmann or through his attorney it is regarded as a slender hope for the saving of the condemned man from the electric chair. In the death house of the New Jersey state prison at Trenton, Bruno Richard Hauptmann is facing the last move in his fight to escape the electric chair. Within the next few days the court of Pardons, for him the court of last resort, will listen to his petition for commutation of the death sentence. The German carpenter, convicted and sentenced last February for the murder of �Charles-A. Lindbergh Jr.. must answer in effect thi-i question: "Is there any reason why this sentence should not now be executed upon you?" He has already given his answer. It is: "I am innocent." But he must do more than simply make this claimS He must bring forward new evidence to prove to the court of pardons there is good reason to doubt his guilt or that there is reasonable doubt of the truth of the evidence upon which he was convicted. What is some of the evidence which weighed so heavily against Hauptmann in the minds of the prosecution, the jury that convicted him and the higher court which sustained the verdict? In the first place, it was established that $14,600 in Lindbergh ransom money was found hidden in Haupt-mann's garage. This money, the prisoner told the jury, was left in his hands by Isadore Fisch�a man who could not speak in his own defense -.because he died before Hauptmann's arrest. Then^there is the question of what happenecKJo the rest of the $50,000 ransom. Trlat, matter, the state believes, was disposed of bj? the testimony of agents Frank and Wilson of the department of^ internal revenue, who spenf. months going over Hauptmann's accounts. They testified that his accounts showed he had possessed' only $203.90 on April 2, 1932. the day the Lindbergh ransom was paid, but that be- j tween that date and the time of his j arrest in September, 1934. he hadi handled large sums and had not worked at his carpenter trade. Dining that period, they asserted, he deposited about $17,000 in brokerage accounts. $9,000 in savings accounts ami bought a mortgage amounting to $3,750. These sums, added to the $14..600 of Lindbergh bills in his garage and $120 in cold coin found in his homo, total $44,500 without including his living expenses for two years, the cost of trips to Florida. California and Canada, the expense of sending j his wife to Europe twice. Doubt has been cast on the ladder testimony. In May. 1932. long before Hauptmann's arrest, Arthur Koehler, wood technologist of the United States forestry .service, went to Hope-well. He studied the ladder under a microscope. Then he started out to hunt down its history. Koehler traced sections of the wood u�ed in *he ladder through the greatest lumber-producing country In the world from the Lindbergh home at Hopewell to the mill where the wood j was dresspd, back to the forest where i it was cut and then no through the j mill again over the mile? of railroad j to a lumber yard in the Bronx, almost . to the door of flip carpenter who, the ' st.afe charged, built it into a ladder j to kidnap the Lindbergh baby. He I did all this, his testimony indicated. ' months before any one connected | with the investigation knew of; Kauptmann's existence. | Koehler told the iury that after Hauntmann'c arrest he traced a rail of tills ladder straight from the pttic of Hauptmann** home. He said that plane marks on it. had been made by a plane which Hauptmann acknowledged was his, and he showed the jury chisel marks which, he said were made by a chisel of fhe sanr0 ! dimensions as the one found beneath j Continued on poge five Laval Sustained by Slender Vote in the Chamber Feeling is Growing that Fall of His Ministry Will Come Within pew Days. Laval's Opponents Preferred to Have him Defeated at Geneva Rather than in Chamber Paris, Dec. 28�By a very narrow majority of twenty votes, in a crowd- . ed chamber of deputies. Premier Laval secured the passage of a vote of confidence in connection with his handling of the peace proposals in conjuction with Sir Samuel Hoare. In an impassiond speech the premier defended his action on the peace proposals which were later rejected by the British government in deference to an enraged public. Premier Laval contended, despite the unfavorable reception of his proposals in England, that his action had followed closely the traditional French foreign policy. Throughout all the negotiations there had been a definite understanding that in the event of failure of the peace negotiations, and of any attack being made by Italy on Great Britain, that France should give full support to Great Britain in all military and naval measures deemed necessary. Just how long Premier Laval will be able to continue as head of the government is very uncertain. In many quarters in Paris it is con tend-- ed the peace plan which he and Sir Samuel Hoare evolved was in effect the personal plan of the French premier, and that in its contemplated surrender of the greater part of Ethiopia it did not conform to the general French foreign policy. There is a belief that Premier Laval will not be able to capitalize the slender confidence vote he secured in the chamber, and that he will shortly be succeeded by Edouard Herriot, who until he resigned was a member of the Laval cabinet without portfolio. The chamber is said to be against Laval on his handling of the peace negotiations despite the narrow vote of confidence, which it is explained came about as the result of the feeling it would be better to have Laval's plan defeated by the League of Nations and by hostile public feeling in Great Britain than in thechamber which would make it appear he had been the victim of party politics in the chamber. ----------�o------------- CHRISTMAS HAMPERS OF ELKS CHEERED MANY FAMILIES THIS SEASON Support Given by Citizens Made it Possible to Increase the Distribution John D. Gillis and J. C. McKenzle. assisted by a crew of willing helpers, got the Elks Christmas hampers-moving early this season. Hampers were sent east as far as Aleza Lake, south to Woodpecker and north to Chief Lake. Deliveries within the city and its"--environs were started out early on Tuesday morning. There were more hampers this Chirstmas. and they were more generously filled. This came as the result of the better response to the appeal of the Elks for public co-operation. The officers and members of the local Elks lodge desire to express their thanks for the following special donations to their hamper fund: Eastern Star chapter. $25;. Women's Auxiliary of Canadian Legion. $32.50; Hon. H. G. Perry. $10: W. L. Hornsby. $10: C. C. Reid, $10; Karl Anderson, $10; Mary and Allan Armstrong, $1; the Girl Guides. .75; Mi's. J. Travis and Mi's. W. G. Eraser for the proceeds of their charity concert: the Boy Scouts for their donation of toys; and numerous citizens for donations of used clothing. These with the proceeds from the chari'y ball given under the auspices of the Elks lodge for which the use of the ballroom was donated by the Prince George Community Hall Association officers, made it possible for the Elks to widen the sphere �of their operations and make many more families happy than was possible last year. PRESIDENT ROOSERVELT GRANTED PARDON TO ROY OLMSTEAD Seattle. Dec. 26�President Roosevelt gave Roy Olmstead. convicted 'big shot" of northest liquor runners, a Christmas present. The present was an unconditional pardon restoring Olmstead his rights as a citizen and remitting his fine of $8000 mid costs of 52287.90. assessed against him March 28. 1926. Olmstend was convicted by a United States District Court jury and sentenced to federal prison for four years. Ninety i>ersons were indicted with him and twenty-eve were convicted after a spectacular trial. OJmstesd has secured employment with a local credit bureau.