Jersey City. N. J., March 6, (P)—
Climbing through cold blue skies
more than five and one-half miles
over Jersey and Manhattan, today,
Miss Ruth Nichols, Rye, N. Y., flier,
set an unofficial altitude record for
women,

The altimeter on her Lockheed-
Vegamonoplane showed nearly 30,-
054 feet. The sealed barograph
placed in the plane was immediately
shipped to Washington for examina-
tion. If it shows over 28,074 feet,
Miss Nichols will have passed the
record now held by Elinor Smith,
young Long Island flier.

To attain recognition as the record
holder, Miss Nichols must beat Miss
Smith’s mark of 27,418 feet by more
than 600 feet.

She took off from Jersey City air-
port at 12:33 p. m., and was aloft
90 minutes.

“Everything went fine,” ehe sald,
“the engine worked perfectly. I did
not suffer any discomfort.”

She wore a flying suit Hned with
reindeer skin, the cockpit of het
plane was heated from the motor
exhaust, and, she used oxygen ap-
paratus in- breathing Yn the thit.
cold air at high altitudes. The tem-
perature at the top of her climb was
estimatéd at 50 degrees below zero
by Clarence Chamberlain, who
eaached her forthe attempt.
 
et RT EOE eS

LOS ANGELES, AUE. 28,—Kdw ard
L. Doheny and directors of the Pan
American Petroleum and Transport
Company, today faced a bill of core-
plaint demanding an accounting of
$10,000,000 stockholders allege they
lost in the fraudulent lease of the
Elks Hills naval oil reserve.

The complaint, fied in behalf of
Frank H. Kinkel, Cincinnati, and
other stockholders, declares the
loss resulted from the cancollation
of the lease by a decision of the
United States supreme court after
the ‘company had spent several mil-
lion dollars in the development of
the field..

The $100,000 deliveted to Fall by
E. L. Dohney, jr., in the much dis-
cussed “Little black satchel” was
declared in the suit to have been
given by the stockholders and used
as:‘a bribe.

Kinkel ip the complaint describes
Dohney’s conduct of the deal as a
“fraud not only-against the United
States but also against the Pan
American company and its stock-
h@iders.”

The complaint further declares
that Dohney has disposed of his
controlling interest in the cowgpany
to the Pan American Eastern Pe-
troleum Company which is alleged
to be controlled now by the Stand-
ard Of] Company of Indian2.

_ The suit demands that ‘Dohney

personally be compelled to reim-
burse. the stockholders for the at-
leged losses.
_ Dohney refused to comment on
the complaint, declaring he woule
Submit it to his attorrfeys before
making. any announcement.
 