UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OFFICIAL STUDENT PAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
VOLUME XXXVII
NUMBER 95.
Z-229
LAWRENCE, KANSAS, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1940
PHI DELT CONFESSES
He Set Phi Delt Fires---
John Claflin, c'40, who confessed at 5 o'clock this morning to a series of fires which have baffled state authorities for the past four months. Claflin admitted setting the fires which swept the Phi Delta Theta house since October 24, causing $6,100 in damage.
Commentator To Discuss Foreign Wars
H. R. Knickerbocker, a man whose hand has been on the pulse of affairs during the trying times preceding and following the outbreak of the Second World War, will attempt to diagnose and suggest a remedy for international aches and pains in his lecture at 8:20 tonight in Hoch auditorium.
Until early this fall, the roving reporter was following the Allied armies and sending back daily dispatches from the trenches. Then, he hurried off to America in time to begin a nationwide lecture tour.
(Continued on page eight)
To Make Movie About K.U. Life
The University may be a second Hollywood. Life at K. U. will be the subject of the University's first project in the motion picture field. Plans for the film were announced today by Allen Crafton, head of the department of speech and dramatic arts, who is in charge of the scenario and direction.
Jail and Fine For Mrs. Palmer
Mrs. Wilma Palmer, wife of Robert N. Palmer, gr, was found guilty of possession of liquor and given a 30-day, $100 fine sentence in a district court hearing under Judge Hugh Means this morning. The case against Robert Palmer was dropped because of insufficient evidence.
Mrs. Palmer, who was arrested Feb. 1 when police raided the Palm-
(Continued on page eight)
John Claflin Set 4 Fires 'As a Prank'
By George Sitterly, c'41, and Roscoe Born, c'41
Saying that he did it "as a prank to cause some excitement," John M. Claflin, c'40, a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, confessed at 5 o'clock this morning that he set all but one of the series of fires which damaged his fraternity to the extent of $6,100 and kept state investigators at work on the case for nearly four months.
Claflin, age 21, was questioned all last night in a room in Eldridge hotel by John Spaulding, special investigator from Wichita. He confessed there early this morning in the presence of Spaulding and other officers. Claflin said that he was not forced in any way to make the confession.
Just a Prank, He says—
"Well, I set the fires as a prank to cause some excitement among the boys, that's all," Claflin concluded his statement. "I had no desire to destroy the building or do anybody or any person injury." He said that no one helped him set the fires and implicated no one else.
County Attorney Milton P. Beach said at noon today that no charges had been preferred as yet and that Claflin was not being held. Bond will be posted Friday when formal charges will be made, Beach said.
Beach indicated that Claflin would be charged with first degree arson, which carries an indeterminate sentence of from two to 20 years.
Claflin's home is at 327 North Seventeenth street, Kansas City, Kan. The youth's father, a prominent Kansas City lawyer and a member of the board of education in that city, is in Lawrence today.
Claflin, in his confession, said he knew nothing of the first fraternity fire on Oct. 17, when a pack of matches was found in a blazing trunk room. The fire was unreported. Set First Fire. Oct.24
At 7:54 p.m. on Oct.24, Claflin related that he set a small fire in a third floor bathroom and returned to his own room to wait for the blaze to be discovered. Warren Newcomer, ed'43, made the discovery fifteen minutes later, and the fire department was called. Firemen had no trouble in extinguishing this blaze.
Third fire of the series was at 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 30. Claflin said that he set this fire just as he did the previous one. After starting the blaze, Claflin told officers, he went to bed for about half an hour and he believed he slept during that time. He was aroused later when the fire was discovered. Fraternity members were able to extinguish the blaze without the assistance of the fire department.
Most damaging fire of the series occurred later i nthe eve- (Continued on page eight)
Smoke Trial Brings Out Petitions
With the test case trial of three student smoke-law violators opening at 3:30 o'clock this afternoon, first organized protest against the anti-smoking laws was said to have appeared on the campus this morning in the form of referendum petitions seeking to put the matter to direct vote of the student body.
For the petitions to be effective, they must be signed by at least 10 per cent of the men students. This would put the Men's Student Council's part in the passage of the bill up to male students to accept or refuse. It was believed that the petitions did not as yet affect the women's council.
M. S.C. President C. H. Mullen, l'42, said at noon today that he had heard nothing of the petitions.
Jim McClure, c'40, Pat Maloney, e'42, and Emmy-Jane Harbin, c'41, went on trial today before the Student Court on charges of smoking in restricted areas. In the first prosecution under the no-smoking laws, clerk of court Bob McKay, b'40, said he doubted that the maximum penalty, expulsion would be inflicted.
W.S.G.A. Officers Sit in on Court
Matters of state, ranging from the Student Court through "Gone With the Wind" and down to teas, kept the W.S.G.A. members busy last night at their meeting in the Pine room of the Memorial Union building.
The W.S.G.A. will be represented by Velma Wilson, c'40; president; Ruth Olive Brown, c'40; and Betty Jane Boddington, c'40, on the Student Court which meets this afternoon at 3:30 to review the smoking offenses.
Clark Gable being a big factor in every girl's life. Wilson announced that closing hours for women during the run of "Gone With the Wind" would be 11:30 p.m. It's a "cultural picture" explained the president.