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VOLUME XXXII. PACKING INDUSTRY > COVERS WIDE FIELD , Federal Trade Commission Inquiry Develops Testimony of Many Interests .? COTTON SEED Oil I 1 AND REAL ESTATE \ * Heney Announces Various Oth> , ^ er Activities Not Yet j Touched. I Washington.- -Cottonseed oil plants. Chicago real estate and cattle trade | papers appeared today in the records of the federal trade commission inii .j } unify into the packing industry a. suwmcs info which the control of tin jl Hg packers had extended. When the U inquiry adjoui nod over the holidays I I raneis J. Heney, special council, anJ iiouncefl that subsequent hearings jj would deal with the packers' alleged [i control of grain fertilizers, dairying, f dairy feed, butter substitutes, leather, I hides, poultry and canned vegetables, i none of which was touched on in th" [J first three days' testimony. II Having introduced evidence design* , ed to establish the control of the Chii en go Stock Yards Company of Maine, promoted and owned in large part by . J Ogden Armour of Chicago and Frederick H. Prince of Boston, Mr, Heney developed from witnesses today that Armour and Company are in* terested also in 11 other stock yards. (Central Meat Supply. Mr. Heney charged that by control- | ling the principal cattle markets of i the country the packers are in posi-1 tion to manipulate the nation's meat ] k supply as well as dictate prices to both producer and consumer. He saio th4* large profits of the stock yards and railway companies came chiefly t Horn the producers, who pay storage* L' and haulage charges. j Testimony was introduced to show other packers besides Armour are in t? - ested in the (Chicago yards. PerIL ons connected with the Swift and M>?rris interests appeared 011 the lists ??< directors of the Chicago Junction R Kaiway Company and the Chicago fi Stock Yards and Transit Company onR crating the terminal railways and the m sfx-k yards. These companies are R owned by the Chicago Junction Ra'lR ways and Union Stock Yards ComR | any of New Jersey, which firm is j R . ntrolled by tlu* Maine corporation,' R formed by Armour & P: ince. Fred- ' B ( rick W. Croll, treasurer 01' Armou. i R & Company, said he could not c\-1 V i. am wiiv me omer pacKcrs snouin B| .nave representation on the concerns. Oroll admitted that Armour B. Company had large interests in cot tonsiBi oil plants in Texas, Arkansas Hr and Tennessee and that Armour and Swift were interested in cattle trade papers in Fort Worth and Denver. BS Millions of dollars of Chicago real os \j Tate, known as th0 Central Manufae. .iB'turing district appeared in a list of assets of the Chicago Junction Railways and Union Stock Yards Cornet Oyvms Much Land. R fn attempting to market bonds, afR te? having gained control of the juncR tion railways company, the Chicago YjiivD Com mm v told invr#??forG ^H&ccorjl$ng to records introduced, that the'assets of the Junction Company amounted to $47,000,000 including- 800 acres of land in Chicago and 250 miles of belt and terminal railways. At^ iteniion was called to largo surplus ^Beamings from 1907 to 1911. ''It appears that one set of repre^Blsentations was made to get the stock ^Bftnd another to sell the bonds," com^B men ted Mr. Honey. ^B Manipulation of share warrants of j^B^e Chicago Stock Yards Company, |^B>aymont of dividends checks to dum^Bmies and alcgod arrangements of ^Beamings of a subsidiary company to ^^ vonceal excessive profits also were ^Btm.uhed upon today. ^B Discussion of profits attracted coi-u ^^Bsi<l r3Pt)le interest from the commisas to Armour's return on his in^^Iv.stment. Mr. Heney explained that ^^L\rmour put up $194,000 of the origi $1,000,000 used to promote the ^^fciicago Stock Yards Company and ^BLmin control of the Junction com^^ j^my's $47,000,000 assets. In a letter ^^Brrmce advised Armour to take advan m* c GERMANS REJECT RUSSIAN TERMS Petrograd Correspondent Reports to London Concernm x:_i: uurmriy iveyuualions. London.?It is reported unofficiali> that the Germans have rejected the Russian peace terms, the Petrograd correspondent of the Exchange Tele, graph Company wires under date of Thursday. Want "Strong Peace." I)r. Richard von Kuchlmann, the German foreign secretary with an in portant staff, left Berlin, yesterday for Brest-Litovsk amid scenes of en thusiasm, the crowds singing the iuu lional anthem and raising shouts of "bring us a strong peace." It is ,said the peace negotiatiomwill be under the presidency of Ibrahim Hakki Pasha, the Turkish am bassudor to Berlin and dean ef ih' Berlin diplomatic corps. Th,? Bulga rian delegates include Minister ol Justice Popoff and M. Kosseff, chiei of the foreign office. While the pcae<. delegates are assembling, the activity at Petrograd * f a number of German and Austrian officers apparently is causing hear, burnings. Circulars have been spread ! alleging that the council of soldiers* and workmen's delegates is in negotiations with the officers. The Pravda the Bolsheviki organ, prints an un (.uanticd denial and makes a counter charge against the consitutional democrats, claiming that they ai> trying to undermine Trotzky and Lenine. The Pravda further appeals to the workmen to defeat the attempt of the constitutional democrats to place Russia under the control of German imperialism. REGISTRANTS KEEP VOLUNTEERS BUSY ?. ? * ' ' Beginning on December 15th, the local exemption board began mailing out the questionaires to all of the registered men in this county, at the rate of about 120 every day. The regulations only allow seven days for filing out the questions with answers and filing them back with the local hoard. The questionnaires is the result of . study of the men in charge of the draft to provide a belter means or j classifying the men who wore reg's . . tored for military duty on Jnne 5th 1017. The questionairo when properly filled out, gives a good idea of the 1 r< gistrain, his occupation, and ability in that occupation, whr ther he has people dependent upon him for support or not, and as to his physical c>*? dition. I The filling; out of the answer is a | big job to many of the boys. All over j the country not only lawyers but others have volunteered to aid in filling out the questionaires. At Conway tlu attorneys offered their services to the legal advisory board appointed by the Governor, and to these are added many laymen. The registrants did not begin to come to Conway for aid, to any great extent, before Wednesday and Thursday of last week; but from that time on they have kept the volunteers busy t ^ t\| % \ * 1 h<M\i H?||U / ^ d til m ijiillVs, UlClll w nil HIV 1|UV.1UUIW?. o Horry Counyt had a succchssful 1 fair this time in the face of all i ' draw-backs. I fa go of the reorganization proposition to exchange Junction Company stocks for bonds at a rate of two for one, < then sell the bonds, which would ne? him a profit of $117,000. Armour owned 0,500 shares of Junction. Late) it appeared from the records the pack j er's investment was cut to $77,000. Armour has been getting approximately $77,000 yearly in dividends and besides appears in the record a. having borrowed $200,000 of the origi nal million from the Main corporation. The interest charged was not shown. Prince appears as the other largo stockholder in the Chicago Stock i V ards Company and the original plan of the company, as introduced in evi donee, was to give $4,400,000 in stock I "to the packers" in place of rebates ' and bonuses paid them up to that I time. Efforts to prove that other. ! packers, particularly Swift and Moij ris, received such stock, have n t bee: successful and will be continued. M C * J * ONWAY, S. C., THURSDAY, D MEN ON ALL FRONTS VIRTUALLY INACTIVE ? ' f ' I ? Only in Northern Italy Does the Strife Continue in Force. Chrisimastide of 1017 finds the armies on all the major battle fronts virtually inactive except where the Teutonic allies are endeavoring- to overwhelm the Italians and force a passage through the hill country of Northern Italy on the plains of Venetia. As viewed from the war maps tin battle lines today are markedly changed from those of the vesterdayyear. Thc Russian front from the Baltic to the Black Sea, is virutally non-existent; the Italians under the intensive drive of the Teutonic allies today are standing miles from where they were a year ago along the Isonzo front; I rem Belgium to tin regi.m arounci veruun great salients have boon, driven into the Ciermun linos by both the British and French armies and in Asiatic Turkey the British have made notable gains both in Mesopotamia and Palestine. Noithward through the latter region General Allenby's forces have made great progress against the Ottomans and Christmas of J J) 17 finds the Christians once more in control of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ, and of Jerusalem and the holy sepulcher o VICTORY RESERVE NOW MAKES READY Washington. Germany's newest peace propaganda, viewed as a forerunner to an offensive in the West unless a German-made peace is accepted by the allies and the United States "should not for a moment induce us to slacken our preparations /or war," says Secretary Bakef today in his weekly review of the military situation. "The Germans realize," continue the statement, "that within a short time our armies will form the principal body of fresh strategic reserves remaining available on the battle.'i' his of .Lurope. "Our armies constitute the reserves of victory." The revoiew points out that the fighting morale of Italy may he relied upon no matter how intensive the tierman peace campaign becomes and ays: "The Italian theater once again the scene <> ' important military activity. "The enemy, impatient of the decays which have occurred in bringing about the successful penetration ?>; the Italian plain and the overthrow ? r the Italian armies, has dispatched further forces to the Italian front, with a view to achieving a decisive result. o SCHEDULES IRREGULAR MAILS ARRIVE LATE The situation in regard to prompt delivery of both mail and freight ii this section of the State, which i? usually somewhat delayed in delivery at this season owing to the rush ot the holidays; has evidently been made worse this year by reason of the war For some time there has been ;u regular hour for the arrival of traim at Conway, the passenger trains be. ing late both on the day and the nig!v. schedules. On several days lately tfk newspapers published in Columbia Charleston and Wilmington did nn< arrive here until two or three da., late. Last Sunday the mid-day trair brought no letter^, and no newspaper? from either Columbia or Charleston On Sunday night the train came h about f> o'cloek Monday morning, on! \ a few minutes before time ?or th< early train of Monday morning to g< ' out. ' This condition of affairs which sr far as we know will continue indefi niterly is caused mainly by the cor. gejsted condition on all the railroai lines in their efforts to answer tin demands of the war conditions. Tin further trouble caused by holida. travel is added to the matter just a this time. . ... EOEMBER 27, 1917. ' DRIVE ON ITALIANS RENEWED BY GERMANS > \ \ i Kaiser Throws Masses of Troops Against Defend> ers of Plains. News of Friday says the Austro(Sori)ians have renewed in great strength their effort to pierce the i Italian line and debouch upon the I 'plains of Venetia in the region of Hassano. In fierce fighting around' Monte Asolone in which the enemy i again suffered losses and several ; times was ropulsed, reinforcements in largo numbers were brought itp and the Italians were compelled to give ground. The fighting lasted throughout Tuesday and, according ;? the German war office, more thai* 2,000 Italians were madr prisoner. i : 1 i 1 I idKcwisi1 aiong mo southern reach-' es of the Piave River,. the invaders' end the Italians arc engaged in heavy! fighting. A crossing- of the old Piavo on pontoon bridge was suceessfulK j carried out by one enemy detachment, ^ but later the latlians drove them back j to the water's calico. i GERMANS CAN'T SMASH WESTERN FRONT LINE Washington.?Germany and the allies arc at present playing- a game of wits, preliminary to the muchheralded German offensive in the view of some recently returned American army officers tonight Germany they declared, is trying tcv find where the weak spots lie "i the allied lines, while at the same time the allies are very busy bringing up strategic reserves to strengthen both the weak and strong points. This This hide and seek shifting is the answer to the recent West front lull. As a result Germany is likely to ,ftrUl an irpn defense which she can not pierce. if f, CHRISTMAS j$ gr i Jt Add to your Gift List f L X5] the daily saving of R j. ? WHEAT F* | I MEAT S { M FATS j? J^L_. SUGAR _ JC^ |p~# rti'ivu itiAiri. vc?m nt??wjinmi\w YOUNG AMERICANS ARE EAGER TO MAN SHIPS | 1 j Washington. ? The government's '{rail for young- Americans to man the j new ships of the merchant fleet is ! meeting with gratifying response, according to reports reaching the shipping board from Henry Howard, of i Boston, director of recruiting. Mr. Howard says applications for i places as sailors, firemen, oilera, ' cooks and stewards are being- received at his office at ttio rate of 200 a l day. Many applications are from college men who prefer to serve their 1 country at sea rather than in the ; army. The Philadelphia office of the recruiting service also reported that it was swamped with applications. Ponn sylvania has produced the greatest ' i number of recruits for the new serv; irt thus far, shipping board figures show. I WINTER UNIFORMS FOR ALL SOLDIERS \ Washington.?Woolen uniforms foi ?jall troops have boon provided and are . either at the camps and cantonments i r? cn route there, Secretary Baker : said today, explaining steps th(? war 4 department has taken to meet the un> -atisfactory health conditions at the training posts pictured in reports of > the surgeon general, made public ?yes terday. The secretary announced that all except one of the lveommen; dations of the medical department r had been complied with immediately 41 and p< intcd out that the reports upon r I which action was tak?n were rece ived 11 "or the rr. st part two weeks or move I ago. mtri. | AMERICANS LIKE DANGEROUS WORK _____ 1 I No Lack of Volunteer Airplane Observers Work With Big Guns. i With the American Army in Fran *e Dec. 20. There is no scarcity of volunteers for the dangerous work of air plane observers among the young : officers >f the army. When a call wa ' issued at the heavy artillery training t grounds, three times th0 number ask cu for responded. Some of these were sent to train with American pilots and others with French, the latter are doing the observation work for th heavy artillery, which the American^ who had been walking with guns from approximately 150 to 100 inilimete'' calibers arr now ready to fire. The American artillery today watch <\1 the French handling the giganth'100 milimeter gun, which huris a projectile weighing more than a ton at such a great range thai it was neeesI Mil'V to haul the wonnnn ?vii !? ?.. - "r %*x T 4M i?i?i v . outside tho training grounds, whien are probably (h,> largest in the world, so that tho shells would fall on open ground at thr targets. After a certain period the American gunners will be* gin firing with the 400 milimelor pieces, so that by tho time they get into action they will be as familiar with the gun as their comrades now are with the 7F)s. Among the heavy gons with which the Americans have begun working are big Howitzers of a certain caliber which are declared to be among the most power weapons the war produced. o REGISTRANTS MAY YET VOLUNTEER Because registrants who have no. yet been drafted can not voluntarily enlist in the military service, except in special divisions, provisions have now been made so that these regis! trants do not nocessarilv have to wait until they are called but can volunteer to their local exemption boards and may enlist in a sOcalled process of "voluntary drafting*," which the government officially terms voluntary induction. It is explained upon authority tint men who have been drafted have won rapid promotions at the cantonments to non-commissioned officers because of the attitude with which they answered the call of the draft J and the cheerful way in which they i entered the National Army. Men who not simply care to be drafted along I with hundreds of others now have the | opportunity of displaying to the N;u j tional Army their earnest intention *, to enter the service and can now inui- J rectly enlist at their local boards in-j stoa<(. REFEREE'S COURT j HOLOS HEARING Clerk of Coin! W. L. Bryan, as Special Kefeioe appointed by the j court, held a hearing at the court house last Thursday in the case of '... II Ballon, Plaintiff vs. J. K. Nicholas, a case which has been pending in the court of Common Pleas ior sonv time. The controversy is concerning the amount due between the parties, Bal- ] ten having obtained cash and other! credit from Mr. Nicholas sever;;! i years ago, and having executed to ] ham a deed for the small tract of land i that h(? owns across the lake from the j town. Ballon has never repaid thej money, nor paid up the other securi- j ties and also book account that lie' contracted with tho defendant. Ca t j year Ballon brought this sun to \ e- j deem from the land deed alleging that : ! it is a mortgage* i Only Ballon himself was sworn on | the side of the Plaintiff. Several witnesses were sw orn for the defer. | ant: A. B. Elliott, Mrs. F, U Nieli olas, huh4 Nicholas, and \V l\, Page. 1 The attorneys ore to file written arguments with the rofere., between this time and February 1st. and the rr' ^roe will then render hi* divisio 1 or the b.w raid ta. '"acts. I NO. 30. ITALIANS CONTINUE | VIGOROUS EFFORTS I Considerable Progress Made I Toward Restoring Original I Position in North I FURTHER ADVANCES I REPORTED BY ROME I Germans Accounts Concede for H Moment Defenders Have | Turned. I Not only are the Italian linos hold- H ing in tho Monte Asolone region on, H the Northern front, where a threaten- M ing1 salient was driven in them early I last wi'i'L- Kia 1u 1 ...n i.in;r pi wgrcss i ;i % boon maue toward restoring the I criginal position. This process, begun I by the Italians on Thursday, was con- H tinned on Friday, the Rome war office I n porting the recapture of further I ground in ihe hotiy disputed area. I Th0 Austro-German command evi- I dently had in mind the expansion of I the Asolone wedge in a way further I t( imperil the entii" Monte Grappa po I sition to the oast, the Italian bulwark I against the intended drive into the I plains, and this possibility still re- I mains. The Italians however have clc- I stroyed much of the enemy advantage I and even the German accounts of the I fighting concedes that for the present I the aggressiveness is on the Italian I side of the Asolone heights, the objective of repeated attacks. Thorn has been no fighting of consequence in any of the other war areas. Even the artillery engagements along the French front appear to hav?v lessened in intensity and there has been no indication of a revival of th^ infantry activity in upper Alsace, where a German demonstration on Friday gave the enemy a temporary advantage which was quickly wiped out by the aggressive French reaction. Russian Chaos Grows. In Russia the strife for control is> assuming broader aspects. The apparent solidification of the Ukraine-Cos.. sack movement in Southern Russia seems to be giving' the opposition to the Bolsheviki a firmer hold on that territory. The Petrograd commission, ors themselves are considerably worried by the spread of the separatist movement which prospectively is cutting huge slices off Russian territory, not only in the direction of the Uknnine and the Don region but in varit us other quarters. Kvidence of thia appears in their sending emissaries to the numerous affected districts in an effort to line them up again in support of the Bolshevik regime at lVtr<? grad. The status of the Russian peace aogotiations continues uncertain. Reiter ated reports are coming out of Petro| grad that the negotiation were lm>ken off because of the objectional nature of the German terms and that the Russian representatives have left Brest Litovsk. Up to a late hour | there had been neither a confirmation ! nor denial from official sources. Trotzky Maker Threat, i Sonne hint that the Teutonic offers ' were not of the acceptable nature tho | Rolsheviki had indicated they were | e\ pecting*. may be found in a declaration by I.eon Trotzky. the Bolshevik [ fereiun minister, that the Russians weuld fight rather than submit to objectionable terms. This was coupled, however, with what appeared to be 1 an admission of Russia's present Military impotence and the assertion that if the Russians were thus compelled temporarily to submit they would join with the German people in rising against German militarism?the familiar Bolsheviki prediction of a German revolution being* thus echoed. The British admiralty announces the loss of the British armed steamer, Stephen Rurness, of 1,71 '2 tons, which , was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine with :i lr?<? <iv ami 95 men. A fii> the great Krupp munitions I plant at Kssen, Germany, appears io have been less serious than the early reports indicated. Apparently the 1 dam a lie was confined to the electric I power station, where an explosion ccJ 1 currod due to a short circuit