ETHIOPIA 7w. f? <? % The principal story today is a real live, red hot mystery, % The big question is: "Who bought that Ethiopian oil?" the world seems to be engaged today^busily denying it. Francis M, Rickett, the man who got the concession from Haile Selassie,says nets working with one hundred per cent American money. But everybody in the oil business in America steadfastly denies having anything to do with it. Indeed, all those Questioned have repudiated with considerable indignation the suggestion that they would even con­ template anything so embarrassing to the government of their own country. It wasn*t only in Uncle Sam'1 s ft— that denials were In order, John Bull just as eagerly and hastily disclaimed having anything to do with it. Indeed, His Majesty's Government has started a vigorous investigation into this Fifty million dollar deal at Addis Ababa. Downing Street professes to be just as inj embarrassed and surprised as anybody■else. Butfltaly the accusation is being freely made that this English disclaim is not strictly on the up and up.J^Thd suggestion current in Rome is that Francis M ETHIOPIA - 2 Rickett actually is a British agent. The idea is that the oil transaction is an attempt to bluff Mussolini out of his Ethiopian plans, a veiled threat that in a war of conquest he would have to reckon with not only John Bull but Uncle Sam. However, Mwsn Downing Street is .showing every reasonable symptom of sincerity in the matter. The British Government announces that no British subject will be permitted to negotiate such a transaction. To make it still more emphatic, the British authorities declare: 11 Any British subject who engages in commercial ventures in Ethiopia at this time will do so without the sanction or protectioh of His Majesty1s Government.n They can hardly put it stronger than that. The one man who is enjoying the situation is His Imperial Majestyythe King of Sings. Perceiving that this deal has put i everybody in an awkward spot, he is using it for all it $s worth. The deal stands, he says, and it'ts nobodyTs business but his own. It is a contract that concerns Ethiopia, it is strictly a domestic. Ethiopian matter, and he cordially invites the other Powers to keep out and not to mettle. Thatfs his reply to the formal protests ETHIOPIA 3 from not only the British but also the French and Italian diplomats. Halle Selassie also continues to maintain that the buyer of that concession is the Standard Oil Company, but protests vigorously. The individual who has caused.all this rumpus has hitherto been a man of mystery. He is described as the Basil Zaharoff of petroleum. Until the other day, he was unheard of so far as the general public was concerned. But diligent, inquiry has turned up the fact that he is known in the oil industry. % Few people in this country have met him, but they say he is one of the greatest oil promoters in the world today. sailing Englishman, about forty years old. ifood-natured, smart, and shrewd* He is married, has three children, and lives in a luxurious apartment in the Chelsea section of London. Hwyig But his family dasen't see much of him because he is always on the hop. That is literally true, because he travels everywhere by plane. Company not only denies the accusation Personally, Frances M. Rickett is a heavy-set, jovial. He flies to Egypt, to Ethiopia, to Arabia, and other parts of the world ETHIOPIA - 4 where John Bull owns territory. His journeys are always conducted A in a mysterious fashion. All this lends considerable color to the statement that Rickett actually is an important agent in the BriUsh Secret Service, and not an oil promoter or a private individual at all He is a fellow of inexhaustible energy. A good part of his time h is occupied in negotiating with the government and business interests of other nations. And people who have seen him in action say that his tact and diplomacy are jinfYi wl-i u in iji 1 n nTjl F B^tenac 1 ty. He never quits until he gets what he wants. Oil men in this country profess to know extremely little about the mysterious Rickett. Nevertheless, he has been in the United States frequently. But he has come in and out so inconspicu­ ously that no ship news reporter remembers ever having interviewed him. He is exceedingly cagey about his oil interests. Even his wife declares she knows hardly anything about his business. All these things help to build up the ruir.or that he is a British secret agent. You may recall that some months ago I told yea* about the 11 "I 4 “ -T vi ii-v f ___ _ thousand mile pipe line that was &&izz£. built^in the oil1 country of ETLICT-Ia, - 5 Iraq. Well, it turn? out now that Riekett was the man who negotiated that deal. That pi;>e line is the longest in the world. It brings oil -ill the way across the north Arabian Desert from , Me spot to Palestine, where it is loaded into British, American and French tankers. The line cost Fifty million dollars, but it is only now that we’ve learned who put the deal over. Mr. Man Eickett kept in the background and his name never appeared in any of the stories at the time. One circumstance which discredits the idea tSaat he is a secret agent is that he is x* exceedingly wealthy. Secret agents as a rule are not well paid. Riekett has a magnificent country estate in Bark shire. He is also Master of Fox Hounds of the famous Craven Hunt. You can’t be H.F.H, in England with­ out having plenty of guineas and Founds Sterling, Inc id en tal ly, a, member of the English peerage, Lord Kysi and , was convict ed -and sentenced to prison recently fo r fenagling the finances of the Royal Mail and Thite Star Steamship Companies, And f it was Riekett who bought Lord Eysiand * s castle EThlC I-; IA - 6 in Pe'fibroVesh 1 vt. when His Lordship went to the jug - or to Q,ua^ , as they call it in England. Well, this liaster of Fox Ho -ads just now ssems to be out-foxing the statesmen of Europe. And, the truth of the whole situation seems to be more elusive than any fox. And yet one London newspaper declines to take this affair seriously. The ’’Financial News”, which is comparable to our own “'.Vail Street Journal % says the deal between Rickett and the Emperor of Ethiopia is not particularly significant. Good news copy, says the ’’Financial Hews”, but it doesn*t amount to much in a business way. But that view doesn’t seem to be shared by any members of His Majesty’s government. ADD ETHIOPIA Meanwhile a cable from London A that hostilities have begun sooner than anybody expected. Rumor ' A. ©oa»#=^rai, Lohdon that the DuceVs men have already started their invasion of Ethiopia. According to that, a thousand Italian troops, reinforced by fifteen hundred native auxiliaries, crossed the fronter, driving the Ethiopians before them. The London story had it that Haile Selassie1s subjects were fleeing from all villages in the line of march. However, the rumor was promptly denied in Rome. No hostile movements have begun yet, says th e Italian war office. And there!s another fishy item in the story. It reports the invasion as taking place, not on the Italian border, but at a place on the border of French Somaliland. Eo theyarn was just made out of whole cloth ICKES The dreadful accident that killed Mx*s. Harold Ickes claimed anothervictim today Frank Alien of Gallup, the taxi WX41 driver who mm at the wheel when the car crashed, died in hospital /% A ‘ this morning. He never regained consciousness for a single instant since the smasb.e That made it difficult for the authorities to cot struct an explanation of the accident. The chauffeur obviously was the only one who knew exactly what happened. Those who recovered hadn't the faintest idea what had happened until they came to, lying in a ditch in the over turned car. This tragedy in the family of the Secretary of the Interior has cast a cloud of gloom over the official world in Washington. & Mr. Ickes himself is in Chicago preparing for his wifefs funeral. It was there that he learned of the death of Allen. Mrs. Ickes was quoted as having said that Allen was the best automobile driver in the world. All of which helps to make the affair a mystery as well as a shock LOI*G The results of Huey Long's filibuster are showing up sooner than expected. So say the critics of the King-Fish. Families on the relief rolls in New York City will be the first +o suffer from his tactics in talking the Deficiency Appropriation Bill to death. It was thought at first that his filibuster would mainly affect the beneficiaries of President Roosevelts Social Security measure. And in their case it(would mean only a four months delay. But the consequences are immediate. Mr, Hod son, Public Welfare Commissioner of New York, made an announc ement today. He says that all people who have been receiving relief checks of thirty-five dollars a month will have to take a cut. The checks will be reduced oy two dollars. This becomes necessary because funds are running low. The relief authorities needed the money that would have been made available by the Appropriation bill that the Kingfish killed. So Mr. Hod son is obliged to decrease the allowances of some twenty-four thousand aged people in New York City LQMG - 2 mL't&m A political future by his actions on the last day of Congress There have been rumors that l&z** hbn3 had damaged his A Ho?^ever, it may be observed that residents of Hew fori* City donft vote in Louisiana ^ - '3='---wag -k■ T» ■—SUNOCO.- SKP^Stft-BEfl- &B 1-9-5^-. 0001) IViMIM BVlISBOTg? Azmrnm&ssaasm warning was" issued today by William Green, President of the American Federation of Labor, He was making his annual Labor Day speech at Canton, Ohio, On this occasion, the big chief of organized labor in America evidently was in gloomy temper* He aayx sees no hope for the future unless the hours of the working man are reduced. In other words, the only solution of the problems facing us today are to spread the work systematically, Says Mr, Green: f,The army of unemployed we have with us today will be with us forever unless we shorten the working day,” A thirty-hour week and a higher minimum wage. That's the platform of the American Federation of Labor. If it*s not-adopted by the country at large. *!> the relief rolls will just go on and on to the end of time^ 'K a -idjL t- ■ Mr. Green has his entire Federation behind him in this attitude. ’'Labor makes its choice”, he declared. ”It wants to see men and women at work, not standing around idle as wards of the government.” LEAD - 2 He drew a picture of what has happened since the Supreme Court killed the Blue Eagle. "Since the N.R.A. was declared unconstitutional, "employers have cue the pay of more than Five million workers, reduced their wages and increased their working hours." He claims that code standards have broken down all over the country. The provisions of the N.R.A. are now being ignored in more than twenty thousand concerns, manufacturing, wholesale and retail. Mr, Green*s sentiments were echoed by Frank Morrison, Secretary of the A. F. of L. He also pleaded for a thirty-hour week, six hours a day for five days. For this, he said,workers should be paid enough to keep a family in reasonable comfort. Incidentally, the Labor chiefs indicated that Mr. Roosevelt will be able to count upon the support of the Federation next year. Secretary Morrison in particular spoke warm words of praj.se for the Administration. He said ±hK both Senator Guffeyfs Coal Bill and Senator Wagner*s measure regulating labor disputes, have won the gratitude of the union* RACE And Labor Day was featured by labor troubles;- Textile riot in South Carolina -- walk out of cotton pickers in the South West — strike of New York shipping clerks. A big sporting event came off today, the International Lif at Race in New York Harbor, It was instituted eight years s o. Though it has always been rowed in American waters, American competitors haven't had much luck until this year. Last year it was won by the Italian line, A crew from the Conte de Savoia came in first. And today a crew from the Rex put up a hard fight. But this proved to be America's year in the International Life Boat Race. American crews came in not only first, but also grabbed second and third place. The winners were a team from the good ship T1AGLE of the Standard Shipping Company. They came in thirty boat lengths ahead of their nearest rivals. The boat that came in second was from the United States liner WASHINGTON, And a crew from the United Fruit Liner TURKIGULA took third. RACE «p ^ , was By the way, the Thompson Trophy fiace just completed less than k ten minutes ago at Cleveland Air Races and was won by Harold Newman. He completed the 150 mile course in 40 minutes, 5£ and 38/100 seconds - an average speed of 2S0.194 miles per hour. Roscoe Turner, who was nearly nine miles ahead of the nearest competitor wras forced down during the ninth lap of this ten lap race by motor trouble and landed safely. There were no casualties in the race. Steve Whitman took second honors. CAMPBELL A party of motorists in Utah found themselves in a jam today. Their car had run off the highway and was stuck in the mud, mired so deep that they couldn’t move it. It looked as though it was stuck beyond all hope of salvation. They were none too tat well equipped with funds, and it would have taken them pretty nearly a day to walk to the nearest garage. While they were bemoaning their ill luck another car appeared around the bend in the road. The driver, a tall fellow with an English accent, stopped and asked if he could be of help. The stranded unfortunates replied, f,¥ou can’t do anything. It will take a derrick to get this bus back on the road.11 To which the stranger replied, "Let’s see about that; I’ve had considerable experience with this kind of work.” The stranded people were still skeptical, but the stranger climbed out, took off his coat,and in a short time had that mired car back on the highway. Douglas Williams of the London Daily Telegraph tells me that those people don’t yet know that the man who pulled them out of the mud was Sir Malcolm Campbell, on his way to make his first I CAMPBELL - 9 . speed test with his Bluebird on the flats near Bonneville, Utah, '— V vk SC^ j Z. "4!^}—CAA. "tlCft ------ Vvi-.i- l «- p &'}— ^ l/CLv^V sQ^Sljkr* _ <ncb Ti^dr fe. dL^L. <4- ^1 /vtrw^ lv^? ~fcLcwJ~>. -----—' a 4 ^? *^*1 -JUr^t^C "fci j J:,***-*^ -^§ry^ck~ — ^ ^.4 q v >^£^ —-* 3ot> >‘;- cg4-*re~-& ^zCC^j( da^ { / t / 2— vJtv-M* vwv^4-^ x WUj ^^-2- K-t-v^,