The Altus Weekly News. (Altus, Okla.), Vol. 16, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 24, 1915 Page: 2 of 10
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Oklahoma Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Gateway to Oklahoma History by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THE ALTUS NCWI
II TIE riiue EYE
t
UNITED STATES SUPREME COURTS HOLDS
OKLAHOMA ELECTION LAW VIOLATES
THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT
LITERACY TEST IS HELD ILLEGAL
Indictment of Blaine County Officials Upheld;
Governor Reticent, Others Favor an
Immediate Session of
the Legislature.
Washington — In probably one of the moat Important rare de-islons In
ltB history, the supreme court annulled a* unconstitutional the Oklanhma
constitutions! amendment and tin- Annapolla, Md.. voter* qualification law
restricting the suffrage rights of those who could not vote or whose ances-
tora could not vote to the ratification of the fifteenth amendment to the fed- '
eral conatltutlon.
Chief Justice White, a native of the aouth and a former confederate sol-
dier, announced the court * decision, which waa unanlmoua except that Jus-
tice Mclteynolds took no part In the case.
By holding that condition* that existed before the fifteenth amendment,
which provides that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, could not be brought
over to the present day In disregard of this self-exectlng amendment. It Is
generally believed that the court went a long way toward invalidating much
of the so-called "grandfather clause" l'glslatlon of southern states.
The Immediate effect of the court's
Leo M. Frank, the Atlanta Jew, con-
victed on the unsupported testimony of
a negrc, of the murder of Mary Phagsn,
and sentenced to hang June 22 has had
hia sentence communted to Imprison-
OAHCIAN CAPITOL CANNOT
ti IT ONSLAUGHT OF TEU-
TONIC roncct.
ANGELES DESERTS GENERAL VILLA
decision wa* to uphold the conviction
of two Oklahoma election official* who
denied negroea the right to vote In a
congressional election and to :.ward
three Maryland negroea damages from
election officials in Annapolis who re-
fused to register them. The court held
that these election officials could not
ignore the potency of the fifteenth
amendment in wiping out of state con-
stitutions the word "white" a* a quali-
fication for vcting. In the Maryland
case the court's decision establishes
the point that the fifteenth amendment
applies alike to municipal as well as
to federal elections.
Exceptiona Declared Illegal
Discussing the Oklahoma cases,
Chief Justice White said the suffrage
amendment to the state constitution
first fixed a literacy standard and then
followed it with fL provision creating
1 standard based upon the condition
existing on Jan. (L 1866, prior to the
adoption of the fifteenth amendment
and eliminated those coming under
that standard from the Inclusion In the
literacy test.
Indictmenta Are Upheld.
The constitution and statutes not
only guarantee the right to vote but
require the vote to be counted, the
supreme court also held in reversing
the federal district court of Oklahoma
which annulled indictments of two
Blaine county, Oklahoma, election offi-
cials charged with conspiracy to oml(
from congressional returns In 1912 the
vote in eleven precincts.
Judge Lamar dissented, saying that
"the conspiracy statutes" of the United
States could not be flsed to punish
itate election ofiictals, since the repeal
f the force law.
representatives, when caied over Ion.;
distance telephone at his home In Kin ;•
lint* said he favored an <eli a sess.on
of the legislature. If the lefecta In the
amendment can be cured by legislation
he favors that method, and If It is nec-
essary to amend the constitution, he
favors the submission of the amend-
ment
AND CARRANZA LOSES FOUR OF
HIS CABINET.
Indication® of a General Break-Up
Among the Leaders of Mexican
Factions.
FRANK'S SENTENCE ISCDMMUTEO
GEORGIA GOVERNOR WANTS NO
BLOOD ON HI8 HANDS.
Militia Called Out To Save Executive
From Mob Which Surrounda
Hia Home.
Atlanta, Ga—With a dozen of his
trusted friends armed with rifles sur
sounding him and four companies ol
state militia patrolling the grounds,
Gov. John M. Slaton spent bis last two
days as the governor of Georgia, fol-
lowing his commutation to life Im-
prisonment of the death sentence of
Leo Frank, accused of the murder of
Mary Phagan, a girl in his employ.
A mob numbering hundreds wore it-
self out cursing the governor, hurled
a few bricks at the troops and went
home.
At Marietta, twenty miles from here,
the former home of Mary Phagan,
Governor Slaton, was hanged in effigy.
An inscription on the dummy read:
"John Slaton, Georgia's traitor gov-
ernor."
Leo M. Frank has begun serving a
life sentence at the Georgia prison
farm for the murder of Mary Phagan,
the 14-year-old employe of the pencil
factory of which Frank was superin-
tendent. His hurried secret trip by
train and automobile from the Atlanta
jail to Milledgeville preceded by a few
hours the issuance of a long statement
Washington.—General Felipe Ang-
eles, artillery expert and right hand
man of General Francisco Villa, ha*
left his chief and is now In the United
Slates en route to boston, Mass., to
risk bis family.
Officials were were unable to throv
much light on the reasons for the de-
parture of Angeles at a time when his
services to Villa in the military cam-
paign would seem to be vitally need-
ed. One explanation advanced was
that Angeles was coming to the
United State* to confer with some
of the many promineut Mexicans who
have been living In exile, taking no
part In the revolutionary activity but
who lately have been planning to
form a coalition with some of the
forces in the field to enable them to
SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE SESSION
ia Favored, To Pass New Lawa Bar-
ring Negroes.
by Governor Slaton giving his reasons
Oklahoma City.—Receipt of the news I for commuting the death sentence
in state official circles of the decision
of the suijreme court of the United
States, declaring unconstitutional Ok-
lahoma's famous "grandfather clause"
of the constitution, occasioned consid-
erable comment, but no surprise. Such
a decision had been expected by those
who had made a close study of the
which was to have been executed June
22.
The governor went fully Into details
of why he commuted the sentence, his
statement containing 15,000 words. In
this announcement, the governor dic-
tated the following brief statement:
"Al! that I ask is that the people of
case. In contemplation of an adverse I Georgia read my statement of the
decision the question of supplanting I reasons why I commuted Leo M.
the famous section with statute en-1 Frank's death sentence to life im-
actment or constitutional provisions I prisonment before they pass judgment,
had frequently been discussed in the "Feeling as I do about this case. 1
councils of the democratic party for would be a murderer If I allowed this
more than two years. man to hang. It may mean that I must
In local official circles a unanimous I live in obscurity the rest of my days
aentiment favors the calling of an extra but I would rather be plowing in a
session of the legislature at the earliest
time convenient, to enact new leg-
islation, which will have the same
effect as the grandfather clause
of the constitution, or to refer an
amendment to the voters. Official
opinion indicates that a special session
will be held in the near future.
Governor Walliams would not give
a definite answer to the question of
whether he would call an extra session
field than to feel for the rest of my
life that I had that man's blood on my
hands."
At the prison Frank changed his de-
meanor, assuming the outward calm
that had marked his years' fight for
life. He again said that he had intu.
itively believed be would at least get
a commutation of sentence. He was
given No. 965, donned a stilt denoting
the lowest grade prisoner and began
British Houm o tanwM Veteg An
othsr War Apropnation of a Wi-
lton an® a Quarter Dollar*
To Ksep Up tna Fight.
London.—'The AuatroGarmao rul-
ing it, 'ialirla la on again Uoth Ber-
lin and Vienna officially lay ' lain. to.
progms along virtually the entlra
aoutheastern front and Lemberg
aoeuiR again to be in danger
Momika lo the east of Przmy l has
been captured by the Austro-'lermans
and according lo the German conten-
tion the Russians are falling back
aouth of the railroad connecting
Praeiuysl and Lemberg. All the Hua-
laan counter attacks have been re-
pulsed with gain* for the Teuton*
from a point north of Przemyal into
Beasarahia
General Von Mackenzen haa tele-
graphed the German emoeror that he
hope* to capture Lemberg, the capital
of Gallcla, before July 1.
Far off as the front 1* from England
and France It la being watched more
closely than the western front because
It would appear that these operations
are being pressed In an attempt to
clear Gallcla of the Itussians. prepara-
tory to a breathing spell in the east,
which Is likely to be followed by a
crushing blow aimed at Italy.
The fighting is growing harder
daily along the Austro-Italian frontier
and In view of past performance* It is
coi'Kidered reasonable to assume that
Germany will throw a great mais of
troops on this front and endeavor to
sweep into Italy and hold ground
there Just as she has done In Poland,
Belgium and France.
Austriana Advancing on Italians.
Twenty-five thousand Austro-Hun-
^arian troops left Trent and are now ;
advancing against the Italians on the
Kiva Hovertu front.
Near Gorz and Gradlsca heavy fight- |
lng occurred recently. The Austrian ,
casualties are reported to have j
amounted to 1,500 while the number |
of Italians killed or wounded totaled ;
nearly aa many. i
A new ammunition depot at Tol- |
mino has been destroyed by the Ital-
ians.
JTie Austro-Hungarian troops are
employing dynamite In the Alpine
paases, blowing up rocks and loosen-
ing avalanches on the advancing Ber-
zaglleri.
The fighting in France around Ar-
ras while bitter and marked by daily
attacks and counter attacks, has
reached the stage where the German
and French official communications
flatly contradict each other. On the
whole, it is believed here that the ad-
vantage has been with the French.
D«put/ (jraro ir« iin ;nr <i "« ———■ — •■■■ * . - • .l
Atlantic City. N. J and lucteec. lo tpoamon by virtu* o
.... . a .k. ti im • na r li rr •># r, r a
Fellow* bca.t of Dong the iirB< t Internal ©rtfer In tr* world.
and having organ<</.tion« in every c. iiued country on the earth. The "emt SS ■
ot the Sovereign Grand Lodge, wh.ch i. ?he euprerve QOverf- rg body Q« t crde*.
will be held at San Franc, co in ne.t September where J-age Rooetae- w P «
s.d«. The preient Grand Sire ha. long been p;--"""e«t the of the s^de -
having been Grand Matter ol Oklahoma and a Grand^epreeentatwe to the
Grand Lodge I or ten yeart There are more than K.OCO Odd Fel.owa in OK'ahema and
■'S.ooo Rebekaht or member* of the military branch of the order.
THE WEEK'S NEWS
MOTOR MAIL SERVICE EXPERI
MENT TO BE TRIED IN
OKLAHOMA.
General Felipe Angelea.
get the "active moral support" which
President Wilson announced in his re-
cent statement the United States
would soon give some group unless
the warring factions could agree
among themselves.
Until the exact effect of a break
between Angeles and Villa—if it de-
velops there actually nas been a break
—and the outcome of the differences
between Obregon and f'arranza are
known, officials do not think It will
be possible to forecast developments
In the situation. No rurtner Informa-
tion was received through official
channels from Vera Crux concerning
the resignations of the four cabinet
ministers whom General Obregon has
Insisted should be retained, nor was
any explanation obtainable for the
removal of Carranza to an Isolated
fortress In the harbor In Vera Cruz.
Negro Lynched Near Little Rock.
Texarkana, Ark.—Loy Haley, negro,
was taken from Sheriff Boyett of
Hempstead county. Ark., by a mob of
fifty men in automobiles and taken to
of the law making body Other high the routine of prison life. a point near Lewisville, strung up to
■ in state and legislative official circles | In his statement exhaustively ex- a limb of a tree and his body riddled
declared without hesitation that the plaining his reasons for commuting with bullets. The negro had shot In
legislature should be convened in ex- Frank's sentence. Governor Slaton re- j the back and killed Roy Lester, a
traordinary session to take whatever . viewed the circumstances surrounding young while planter, near Lewisville
action that might be deemed neces- the murder of Mary Phagan in the Na- | He surrendered and Sheriff Boyelt
aary to continue the effect of the tional Pencil factory here on April 21 I was trying tn take the negro to Little j extended its area. Great Brltalna fi-
trandfather clause 1913. the conviction of Frank and hit ! Ro<* when the mob overpowered him t.anclal obligatlona to the alllea would
Speaker A McCrory of the house of appeal for clemency. and bung bis prisoner. increase.
HENRY BEACH NEEDHAM KILLED
American Magazine Writer Falls In j
Military Aeroplane.
Paris.—Lieut. Reginald A. J. Warne- j
ford, who gained fame recently by
blowing to pieces a Zeppelin over Bel- j
gium, was killed by the fall of an
aeroplane at Buc, France. Lieutenant j
Warneford was piloting the machine ,
w hich had as a passenger Henry Beach
Needham, the American writer, who j
also was killed.
Lieutenant Warneford and Needham
fell from a height of 500 feet.
The lieutenant had been spending a 1
few days in Paris where he came after j
hia Zeppelin exploit to receive his j
decoration of the Legion of Honor . |
N'eedham's body was taken to the j
Kngiish hospital In Trianon palaa* ;
Versailles. He had been In Europe '
about four months, acting a corres- j
pondent of magazines and a New York
paper. He had received permission j
from the military authorities to make j
a flight in order to get material for a |
story.
COMMONS VOTES BIG WAR CREIIT
Billion Dollars Added, Making Total of ,
Four Billions In Year.
London —The house of commons j
voted another credit of $1.250,000.0<i0 J
making with previous sums, a total
of $3,310,000,000 already allowed foi j
war purposes
In Introducing the measure Premier
Asquith remarked that from April 1 to
June 12 the expenditure had been at
the rate of $13,300,000 daily.
He estimated that the total daily et-
penditure during the currency of the
new credit would be not less than IIS.-
000.000. for the reason that as the war
ENORMOUS WAR LOAN IS AUTHORIZED
London - The house of commons
passed a bill providing the chancellor
of the exchequer with a blank check
which may amount, at a maximum,
to 1.000,000 000 pounds 115,000,000,
000 |
The vote of credit for SSO.OOO.OOO
pounds i awed last week by the house
eimply authorised the government to
ppend that much for war purpoeea.
few! did not provide for the manner la
which this sum should be raised. The
rntm enactment was la Iks tom wf a
resolution which empowers the gov-
ernment to raise not only the 25O.000,-
000 pounds deemed necessary to pay
the cost of the war at the rats of 3.000 •
000 pounds sterling dally for a limited
period, but aa much more as may be
The chancellor made a long explana-
tion of the proposed loan and In clos-
ing said that oa the techalcal question
as to the limit of the loan it would be
daagerowa to disclose the necessit<
far aat tsJac nay Matte sun.
Frauds In Oleomargarine.
Washington —How vlolationa of the
oleamargarine law have defrauded the
federal government out of at least 127.-
000.000 due in stamp and special taxea
was revealed by Secretary McAdoo la
a statement based upon a preliminary
report on a sweeping investigation con-
ducted by CoKmissioner Osbora of the
Internal revenue bureau. Frauds com-
mitted aa loag ago aa 1M>2 Immediately
after the enactment of the law hate
beea uncovered by the reveaaa com
OTHER IIIWS OF M HEW STATE
Little Incltfents and Accldenta That
Go To Make Up a Week's
History of a Great
Commonwealth.
Washington, D. C.-Oklahoma Is the j
"dog" upon which the postofflce de-
partment will try out rural mail motor-
delivery service, the department hav-
ing announced the establishment of
several such routes In Oklahoma to be-
gin August 2 as follows:
Cache, Comanche county—(Route A,
established for 10 months)—Length i>4
miles; families to benefit, 1"*; pay of
carrier, $1,704.
Faxon. Comanche county—(Route
A, 11 months)—Length. 57.50 miles;
families, 185; pay. $1,704.
Fletcher, Comanche county—(Route
A, 10 months)—Length, 50.50 mllee;
families. 1&8; pay, $*.704.
Indiahoma, Comanche county—*
(Routes A and B, respectively, estab-
lished for 11 months)—Length of
routes 55>l-8 and 54.50 miles respec
tivelv; families. 132 and 124. and pay
$1,704 and $1,608 respectively.
Lawton, Comanche county—(Routes
A, B. and C. esUblished for 10 months i
—Length of routes, 61.50. 59 and 60 25
miles respectively; families to bene-
fit. 187. 200 and 193. Pay of carrier oa
Indian Homestead Exempt
Oklahoma City.—Application for r*
hearing was made to the supreme
court by some 400 plaintiffs in Se-
quoyah county in which taxea on In-
dian land is Involved The plaintiffs
thought they should not be liable for
taxes on Indian homestead and surplus
lands. In an opinion by Commission
er Watts last week tne high court held
that the homestead should be exempt-
ed from taxation, but the surplus lands
were not exempt.
all three routes $1.800.
Boys Killed By Ligntnlng.
• Douglas.—Claude Barnes. 17. was
Instantly killed by lightning and his
brother James. 19 years old, waa seri-
ously Injured The youths came from 1
' Oklahoma City to work on the farm of I
their uncle. And.*y Reed, three miles i
northwest of here. They were In thej
fields when struck during an electrical'
i storm The father. J J Barnes of Ok-
, lahoma City and the mother were Im-
1 mediately notified and are expected to
arrive soon.
IM 0.1. STI1EITS6ET DIPLOMAS
Or. John M. Coulter Delivers State
University Commencement Addresn.
1 Normsn.—Vital problems of the
| young person In every wt!k of life
i regardless of college education, in fit
'ting fclmsef for an effective p'ace in
| the new generation were strikingly
' outlined In a masterly address by L r.
! John Merle Coulter, professor and
head of the department of botany of
the University of Chlca*") and presi-
dent of the American Botanical so-
ciety, delivered here aa one of the
closing features of the most success-
ful school year in the history of the
University of Oklahoma anl a we *
of brilliant commencement events.
The address was delivered amon;
the stately trees on the beautiful cam-
pus of the university, before a crjwd
of 2.500 students, alumni, townspc-n-le
and out-of-town vlsi'ors Just previous
to the awarding by Dr. Stratton D.
Brooks, president of the university, of
164 degrees to members of the graduat-
ing class. That number of dejre^s sets
a new mark far above the number of
sheepskins ever before issued in one
year.
Short address** by Governor Robert
L. Williams and R. H Wilson, state
superintendent of pnblic instruction,
followed the awardLig of the de^rets.
both stste officials paying splendid
tribute to the progress and efficiencv
of the center of Oklahoma's grtat
educationay system, and the governor
taking occasion to pay deep triVj'.e
to the courage and diplomacy with
which President Wilson is handling
the internaticnal situation.
SCHEME FOI MAIKETIR6 PEACIES
Effort Being Made to Dispose of Fruit
Profitably.
Oklahoma City —Recommending the
handling of the entire Oklanoma peach
crop through agents in practical ev
ery market In the Vnited States by
the car diversion method. J M Con
dit, Oklahoma City fruit handler, has
issued a statement guaranteeing to
peach growers throughout the state
that he will be able t Increase their
profits from 5 to 10 rents on every
msrket. which will means a saving to
thV growers of from $45 to $50 on each
car of peaches of the Oklahoma crop
for this year.
According to Condtt's plans he wtlt
have agents In every part of the coun-
try who will be In touch at all times
with the top market prices in their
locality, and the loaded cars, on a
day s notice, can be diverted to the
place where the best price is to be
had Daily telegraph communieati. n
in bulletins t. growers wiU be avail-
able, according to Coadtt.
Denmark Pledged To Neutral Policy.
London —A Reuter dispatch from
Copenhagen sava the Danish folkthlng
or lower house of parliament unani-
mously resolved to support the minis-
try In Its policy of absolute neutrality.
A dispatch from Copenhagen said that
aa a result of attacks by the conserva-
tive newspapers oa the radical csb-
inet's policy of weutralitv In the war.
the government purpoeed to ask f r a
vote of coaBdeace tn Its poller and
that If this were not gives it would r
Lightning Strikes Three Bokoshe Soys
Bo koshe—Robert Brsun. 16 year-old
•on of K. P. llraun. was struck by
lightning snd instantly killed; Arthur
BraUn. his t2 yearold brother is dyiag
and Raphael Jenkins. 11 year-old son of
O O. Jenkins. Is seriously iajure4.
The three boys had beea picking ber-
ries snd durtag a thander shower
sought shelter beaesth a large tree
The bolt of lightaiag that aim. k the
keys did not strike the tree, aa far aa
its appearance laikaUi, when help
Exonerates Deputy.
Okmulgee - Thomas J Boaguea. a
deputy sheriff of Coaltoa. was exon-
erated en a rharge of having shot sad
killed Joe Aspech. tn hts preliminary
hearing. The evideace showed thai
Boagues had been given s wsrraat tn
serve oa Aspech. aad that whew As-
peeh saw the officer coming he opened
Bre inside hts house Boagues then
drew his revolver snd fired The shot
went through a window etrwh As.
perh he low tha heart aad caaseJ in-
*
i
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View three places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Orr, J. P. The Altus Weekly News. (Altus, Okla.), Vol. 16, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 24, 1915, newspaper, June 24, 1915; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc276652/m1/2/?q=led+zeppelin: accessed June 5, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.