Three of the four Fletcher Brothers own two gold mines in the lovely, salubrious Pis-Pis region of Nicaragua. The fourth Fletcher Brother, who has no interest in the mines, is the U. S. Ambassador to Italy, suave Henry Prather Fletcher. Last week President James Gilmore Fletcher of the mining corporations and his co-owning brothers, G. Fred & D. Watson Fletcher, all of Manhattan, were irate. President Fletcher dashed to Washington to inform Secretary of State Frank Billings Kellogg that much was amiss in the valley of the purling Pis-Pis River. The Fletcher mines had been seized, he declared, by the forces of General Augusto Calderon Sandino, whom. U. S. Marines have been hunting vainly up and down Nicaragua for many a month (TIME, Aug. i et seq.).
To correspondents President Fletcher said bitterly: "The Marines have been driving Sandino's forces directly into the rich mining districts, instead of coming from the mining districts themselves and barring Sandino from entering such valuable territory. . . . My brothers and I are not in politics down there, and we have nothing to do with Wall Street. . . . From the meagre information I have the losses from looting our movable property may run to $100,000; but if the pipe line and mill plant have been destroyed the loss might run to $3,000,000 . . . and the owners would face ruin. ... I guess this is what comes of investing one's money in foreign countries."
When further details trickled in it was learned the Sandino forces had seized George B. Marshall of Manhattan, an assistant superintendent of one of the Fletcher mines and were threatening to shoot him, "as an example to these Yankee Pirates." At Washington the Navy Department & Marine Corps could only bleat that for the past six weeks their scout planes have not been able to so much as ascertain the whereabouts of shrewd Guerilla Augusto Calderon Sandino.
Sympathizers with" the plight of the Fletcher Brothers recalled other famed & prospering U. S. brothers who need no sympathy:
THE FOUR MARX BROTHERS—Zeppo, Chico, Groucho, Harpo (comedians).
THE FOUR TAFT BROTHERS—William Howard, Henry Waters (lawyer), Horace Button (educator), Charles Phelps (editor).
THE FOUR FISHER BROTHERS—Fred J., Charles T., William A., Lawrence P. (automobiles & bodies).
THE THREE MELLON BROTHERS—Andrew W., James R., Richard B. (bankers).
THE THREE BYRD BROTHERS—Richard Evelyn (aviator), Harry Flood (Governor of Virginia), Thomas Boiling (orchardist).
THE THREE GRAHAM BROTHERS—Ray A., Joseph B., Robert C. (automobiles & trucks).
THE FOUR DAWES BROTHERS—Charles Gates, Rufus Cutler (public utilities), Beman Gates (ex-Congressman from Ohio), Henry May (ex-Comptroller of the Currency).
THE FIVE GUGGENHEIM BROTHERS—Daniel, Murry, William (capitalists); Solomon (mining), Simon (ex-Senator from Colorado).
Some foreign brothers:
THE FOUR WINDSOR BROTHERS—Edward (Prince of Wales), Albert (Duke of York), Prince Henry, Prince George.
THE Two MUSSOLINI BROTHERS—Benito and Arnaldo (editor).
THE Two CHAMBERLAIN BROTHERS—Sir Austen (British Foreign Secretary) and Neville (Minister of Health).
THE Two HARMSWORTH BROTHERS—Viscount Rothermere and the late Viscount Northcliffe (newspapers).