AMERICAN ITEMS.

Hokitika Guardian, 7 April 1924, Page 2

AMERICAN ITEMS.

AUSTRALIAN AND N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION. THE ABSCONDING PAYMASTER. WIFE RETURNS SOME OF THE MONEY. SAN FRANCISCO, April 3. Airs Ervine Brown, wife of the naval paymaster who allegedly absconded with 120,000 dollars, to-day returned 70,000 dollars thereof to the naval authorities. -.irs Brown explained that she met her husband on Tuesday in Los Angeles whither he came after deserting ~im his ship which had been participating in the Carribean manoeuvres.

Airs Brown declared that she pleaded with her husband to surrender biraslef ami when he refused she secretly tcok the satchel containing the moiey, bringing it per motor. . The authorities believlc the hus'c >d spent the balance of the money and a world-wide net has been spread :a apprehend him. HEROIN AND ITS BAD EFFECTS. WASHINGTON, April o Prominent physicians testifying ue fore a committee which is considering a measure to prohibit the importa .ion ol crude opium info the United Stats? a i. the manufacture of heroin advocate tic: suppression of the use of tbe lattei drug in the practice of medicine. They state that heroin is a most vicious habit forming narcotic and the cause for the increase of crime in the l nited States. An attending physician at the largest prison in the United States declared that many men commit larccncy and murder to obtain money to purchase the drug. A measure would effectively suppress its manulacturc since pharmaceutical companys alone arc able to make it and they could easily be controlled. One witness affirmed that heroin was the most vital menace to the public health and morals of the l nited States.

OPIUM IN GAOLS

WASHINGTON, April 4

A sensational revelation regarding the opium traffic within the federal pententiaries was made betorc the Senate Committee by Air J. Dycli, a former Warden of tbe Atlanta Penitentiary, who declared that be had attempted to eradicate these conditions, but lie encountered opposition from H. 11, Yotaw, the Snpintend'-nt ol federal Prisons, and the brother-in-law of President Harding. Dycli said that Votaw told him that tbe publicity which would result Irom his' (Dvch’s) activities would be distasteful to President Harding and Air Dougherty, and would disrupt- prison discipline. Air Dougherty had agreed with this view. Nevertheless, Dyeli’s efforts resulted in the. conviction of two dealers, whereas hundreds of others continued to sell drugs unmolested, causing many convicts to become addicted' to their use. Dycli oxplainc 1 that the drug was smuggle!, into the prison via the mails, the food, and tbe holiday gift packages. Dyeh added that bis activities caused bis transfer from the \i anlership to prohibition work. William Burns, the. Chief of the Department of Justice Bureau of Investigation. appearing eel ore the Senate Committee continued in detail Dycli s testimony, and declared that Votaw ordered him to stop the investigation ot the illicit drug traffic in the prisons. Burns muled that he had appealed m vain to his superiors in the Department of Justice and said that if an inquiry bad been permitted, lie wouid have apprehended the chief trallickei and stopped the traffic, which was stii. proceeding as a phase of the activities of a nation-wide illicit drug syndicate.

SIR GEO. FENWICK IN U.S.A. KEY.' YORK, April I Sir George Fenwick, tho New Zealand publisher who lias been making a toil i of Ibe U.S.A. for the past three weeks addressed business bodies in tbe major cities and lecturing on New Zealand’s resources and bird life, has devoted considerable attention to public questions, upon which he is writing a series or articles tor publication in New Zealand. Kir George sails for England with Lady Fenwick to-morrow, returning to No’-' Zealand in November. AMERICAN SHIPPING ACT WASHINGTON, lAprij I. The Congressional hearing of the matter regarding the enforcement of Section 28 of the Jones Shipping Ad. whereby exporters employing American bottoms "ill receive prclorential railway rales for getting Hie commodities to ports, has disclosed interesting shipping facts. Shipping men testified '{flint the American export 1 rado won Id he seriously handicapped because there wore not : sufficient American vessels available. One prominent shipper declared that the Australian and New Zealand trade would be most heavily hit, since the Shipping Board avowedly has few nr no vessels to take tile place of the English ships now plying between America and Australia. Trade officials of the Shipping Board declared that every efiort would be made to prepare sufficient vessels end unless American boats v'ccuml this aid Hie .Shipping Board would be compelled to ask for a congressional appropriation to absorb deficits.

KUAN TERRORISTS. NEW YORK, April 1. The Ku Klux Klan, whose activities recently began to diminish, especially in the eastern states, have again intensified i heir anli-raoiul campaign, particularly in the metropolitan area of New York. Myriads of flaming crosses are erected each night and robed Khmsmon are holding meetings in secluded spots. One .suburban community is torn by (litter dissension, the Klan having requested the resignation of a Priest there who is a member of the Board of directors of a hank, and the Klan otherwise threaten ta disrupt the emnnumitv.

The KI an’s activities have been extended even to Columbia University America’s largest collegiate institution, where Southern students have signed a

protest requesting ousting of a negro j resident in one of the dormitories. The authorities decided that the negro was within his rights. I The .Klan meantime invaded the college campus, and elected a flaming cross, and then bombarded the negro with threatening letters. j

The student body is now divided Many of the members are defending the negro, while a squad of detectives are guarding the dormitarv against possible violence. The incident has aroused popular interest, and excitement reigns.