Evening Star Newspaper, April 24, 1922, Page 1

WEATHER. Fair tonight and tomorrow; tonight. Temperature for twenty-four hours ended at 2 p.m. tod: Highest, 56, at * ~m. today; lowest, 36, at 5 a.m. to- frost day. Full report on page 7. 0. 28484, Closing New York Stocks, Page 21. Entered as second-class matte; poet ofice Washington, D, . D. C, MONDAY, APRIL ‘24, 1922_TWENTY-SIX PAGES. FORCE AT PATENT OFFIGE WILL LOSE BONUS BY MIX-UP Many Overpaid Up to April 15, Interior Department Records Reveal. $451,140 SALARY RAISE WITH EXTRA ALLOWANCE Discovery of Confusion Caused by Congress’ Generosity Falls as New Blow. Confusion at the patent office as to who should receive the $240 bonus since the permanent increase in pay granted by act of Congress approved by the President on February 18 has precipitated a situation that resulted in the deduction of the bonus from every employe of the office last pay day, it was learned today, and em- ployes are in a state of high excite: ment throughout the office as to what the final result will be. At the office of Secretary Fall it was revealed today that many em- loyes: had been overpaid the bonus up to the April 15 pay day, and that in order to straighten out the mat- ter it had been decided to deduct all the bonus on April 15, with subse- uent additions or subtractions from future pay checks. Several Raises Granted. Under the increase of pay granted the patent oflice by Congress, in which salaries were raised $451.140, several Ppersons received raises of more than $200. which upder a previous act of March 3. 1921, which extended the bonus for’ anqther fiscal year, would deprive them of the benefits of the temporary bonus unless ‘certified.” It has been interpreted that the granting by Congress of permanent increases to the patent office will in many cases take thé place of the temporary bonus now. Provision in the act of 1921 grant- ing the extension of the bonus stated that employes >ho ’recelved an in- s n. excess of $200 for 1921 or 1922 should “receive the bonus only upon the certification of the head of the department that the ability and qualffications of- the employe justify the increased compensation.” No employe of the patent office has récelved such certificagion since the raivé of salary effective February 18, it was stafed at the office of Secre- tary Fall today, €0 that no employe g;i;-h% luunt' :m:e‘ zEB’"’ received a more an would ~ titled to the bonus. e Bousa and Salary Pald. Yet the bonus had been paid by the old list regularly, in addition to the increased salary up to April 15, when, to the surprise of employes, the $10 which is due on each semi- monthly salary. from the bonus was lopped off. Furthermore, it was pointed out by a number of employes, there will be some persons who received a raise of more thun $200, who will actually recelve less money than they did be- fore the raise if the bonus is sub- tracted. . In putting into effect the provision in section 6 of the bonus act, the change will actually leave some persons who reccived a raise in| pay from Congress a less income than some ‘others who received no increase, and whose actual salary is below the former, but who receive the bonus. Bonus to Be Given. All who are entitled to the bonus will receive it on the May 1 pay roll, now being prepared, it was sald at the office of Secretary Fall. Some pegsons will receive an additional 310 which was deducted on April 15, while other will have staring them in the face deductions In order to pay back to the government. bonus to which they were not entitled and which they were overpald by mis- take. In gertain official quarters it was said that some clerks were unduly cited over the possible logs of their bonus, as somf§ Who are now fearful of losing it, will in all probability re- celve the bonus. The. “generous” increase granted the patent office by Congress was held by high officials to be a sub- stitute for the temporary bonus, and it was thought that when Congress _takes up the matter of elther. the reclassification bill or extension of the bonus the patent office would be_excluded. ‘The peculiar discrimination which will be effected through placing in effect section 6 will last only until July 1, it was belleved by officlals, as the $240 bonus would either expire or be taken up by Congress for re- newal, with the patent office excluded. 200 Paid Over $2,740. More than 200 employes at the patent office receive over $2,740, which raises them above the benefits of the benus, but the remainder of ‘the employes in the big office, em- ploying about 1,000 persons, are con- cerned with the application of the bonus to their salaries, so that the disturbance resulting from the deduc- tion of the bonus last pay day and uncertainty relating to the future is|. ‘widespread. The- increase In salary granted by Congress ranged from $150 to $2,300, for various officiale. Unless “certifica- tion” 1s made in the future to help' those who receivéd more th 200 increase, honus, whether their net salary is helow what they received before or not. There was no disposition on the part of officials today to eertify any one;: it was emphasized that none had heen certified. ¢ Those who will actuaily receive a decrease in net salary instead of an ine jore the econtroller general of the Tnited States, .it was sald in some quarters this inorning. had me of such nature tha. it was certain to come to Secretary Fall upon his return from New Mexico, it was learned, and eventually get to the controller general. Officials were of one opinion, that “ongress had acted In a manner to (Ergcnly help the patent_office. and some_were eeply concerned over the surn that affairs had taken, f they will be minus 'lhel ase may talse their troubles be- | The matter ! FORMER SUBCHASERS AND U. S. NAVY UNIFORMS USED BY BOOTLEGGERS By the Associated Press. S NEW YORK, April 24.—A boot- legging scheme whereby liquor Wwag smuggled into this country from Bermuda and Cuba on former submarine: chasers, commanded by officers wearing the uniform:of the United States Navy, has been un- earthed, it was announced today at the customhouse. The_ former chaser, No, 101, re- named Fidus, has been seized with her commander and crew of seven, the announcement stated. Custom officials are said to haxe recelved from the the effect that pirates hel chaser yesterday afternoon twenty miles off Montaug Point. L. L boarded the craft with drawn re- volvers, bound the commander to the mast and seized the chaser's cargo of liquor. MILLIONS DAMAGE BY HEAVY FROSTS Peach Crop of Nearby States “Total Loss—Apples ™ Badly Damaged. Peach and apple crops in the fruit belts of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, have been seriously damag- ed and in some cases completely wiped out, as a result of the heavy frosts of the last four nights, ac- cording to reports reaching Wash- ington today from these sections. A frost predicted for tonight, the fruit growers claim, will make their crops a tota] loss. The entire peach crop and about! 40/ per cent of the apple crop in the region extending from Martinsburg to Romey, West Virginia, already {has been lost, reports show. Or- chard men in this section, which un- der normal conditions ylelds 2,000, 000 barrels a year, have lost $4.000, 000, it was said by A. V. Park, of Keyser, W. Va., head of the Park Orchard Company, and Gilbert P. Mil- ler, of Romey, W. Va., Apple Crop Suffers Heavily. Fifty per cent of the apple crop in Frederick county, Va. which pro- duces one-fourth of the apple’ crop of the state, has been destroyed, ac- cording to reports from Winchester, and the growers predicted that to- night's forecasted frost will wipe out the entire crop. In this section about 60 per cent of the crop of York Im- perials. has been saved, but the old- time Winesap, Grimes Goldep .and Stayman. have ‘been ' destroyed, The yield in this section in 1920 was 660.- 000 barrela-and last year it was cut down to 60,000 by the early April| frost. The crops In the Cumberland, Md district are a total loss, the reports stated. The temperature in some points in this section, it was said, reached as .low a8 25 degrees last o in_the Maryland, Fruit growers in the and, Virginia and West Virginia distriots pointed out that last yeal they equipped their orchards with extens sive equipment, costing thousands of dollars, and the freeze of the last several nights and the disastrous frost of last year has virtually bank- rupted them. Vegetable Gardens Hit, Berry bushes and early vegetable gardens over a wide area of these sections also have been damaged ex- | tensively, reports to the fruit and | vegetable division of crop estimates {of the Department of Agriculture | show. Leon M. Estabrook, chief of i the bureau of markets, expressed | deep concern over the probable ex- | tent of the damage to this perishable food supply. He said, however, that the reports thus far received are fragmentary and are net specific enough to warrant any.y/ecise estf- mate as to the extent of (he damage. He also pointed out that it will be im- possible for the farmers themselves to know for several years the extent of_their loss. Mr. Estabrook indicated that he is a little more bptimistic about the dam- ;age to the fruit crop than the orchard- imen are themselves. He emphasized i that any estimate of the damage at this { time would be premature and probably | exaggerated. Heavy Snowstorm. Mr. Estabrook had personal experi- | ence to guide him in knowing how | |severely the weather hit the truck | farmers. He has just returned tmmi his place near Braddock Helghts, west of Frederick.. Ke says that ome of the heaviest snowstorms he ever saw came | {last Friday, starting about 1:30 p.m. ,and continuing until about 4:30. That inight there was a half mch of ice. Fruit trees were caught in full bloom, —apple, pear, plum and peaches, also current and goosberry bushes. Mr. | Estabrook. saw -evidénces :of severe) damage and".some fruit. trees at showed they were hit badly. He xplains,” however, : that the atmos- (Continued on Page 15.) AS CONDUC BY MAYME OBER PEAK. As personal.conductor of the Ameri- can tour of his American wife, Lord Astor is a seven-day wonder, with no Saturday afternoons off. Standing between “Nan” and the world—which at present revolves round newspaper reporters, photog- raphers and the gaping but worship- ing public, is a job he is attending to very thoroughly, the while not let- ting Lady Nan miss a- trick nor a meal. When the writer boarded the 1:05 | Baltimore and Ohlo train Saturday. at Philadelphia for a prearranged In- terview with Lady Astor en r'p!ilai from New Yark to Baltimore the car: shared by the modest Astor suite i hummed with excitement. Telegraph | | boys buszed in and-out. Lady Aster’s pretty but harassed _secretary, Miss { Ruth Pennybgcker, daughter of the well known club woman, Mrs. Percy Pennybacker of Texas, clattered away on a little Corona parked on’ the top 0 Eng! their chairs, midway the car, holdl well stuffed briet bags and file cases. Hovering over the group was.an efiicient, ‘brisk youns lady.passenger- on the lower ground all browned up: o A MUST BE ACCURATE, HIGH COURT RULES Supreme . Court = Decision Backs Federal Trade Board in Hosiery Case. OPINION CONSIDERED IMPORTANT PRECEDENT Purchasing Public Entitled to Com- plete Descriptions of Prod- ucts Offered. Trade names and labels used by manufacturers must not convey to the purchasing public an Inaccurate description of the muaterials or in- gredlents of the manufactured prod- ucts, the Supreme Court decided to- day in a case brought by the Fed- eral Trade Commission -against the ‘Winsted Hoslery Company. Justice Brandeis, in delivering the opinion of the court, upheld the au- thority of the Trade Commission to issue an order to the company to desist from certain practices, typical of the trade, particularly its label “Merino,” as used in connection with knit goods, on grounds that they con- stituted unfair competition. Justice McReynolds dissented. Definite Ruling Desired. Manufacturers throughout the coun- try have been awaiting with keen interest the decision of the court in this case, hoping. a rule would be laid down definitely defining the ex- tent of the control the federal gov- ernment may exercise in designating the labels and brands to be ul_ed on produots offered for sale in inter- state commerce. The government also considered.the question of “paramount importance asking a decision which could be made a precedent in dhpolin? of “a 1arge number of cases now before gne deral Trade Commission lnv'?lvxns similar charges of misbrandi The isstie was precipitat Federal Trade Commission sought to restrain, as unfair methods of com- petition, labels and brands used by many knit goods manufacturers which i the government insisted conveyed to ic the idea that e B aE - markeq was com- posed wholly of wool. although the evidence. showed in most instances that cetton was also 4n ingredient. Taken ‘as Tyfleal Exnmple. The United States circuit court of PRI 3 giroult decided, owever, xgalnst the conténtions of the government, finding no fault with the labels and brands used by the Winsted Hosiery Company, which it declared were well known to and ac- curately understood by the trade. From that decision the government appealed to the Supreme Court, using the Winsted Hoslery Company, whose methods the Federal Trade Commis- sion selected as typical of the trade, as a test case. The government hoped to obtain from the Supreme Court a decision which would be a sufficlently broad construction of the Federal Trade Commiseion act to establish the com- mission’s jurisdictoin over labels and brands used by manufacturers in in- terstate commerce and enable the commission to regulate such trade practices whenever in_its judgment such practices might mislead the pur- | chasing- public as to either the fn- gredients composing a manufactured product or its quality. The government in arguing the cases contended it was not sufficient for manufacturers to use designations in marking their goods which are known to the trade, and insisted that the Federal Trade Commission -had properly found that such. practices as thcse followed in the knit goods trade to be unfair methods of compe. tition. The Winsted Hi Com pany’s labels of “merino,” “wool” and “worsted,” used in describing differ- ent grades of underwear was mis- leading, the government contended, because the company added no words to indicate to the public the percent- age of cotton or other material not wool - which had been used" in the manufacture of ‘the articles. Such practices, it declared, was an impo- sition upon the purchasing public. The knit goods manufactugers, the government _stated, recognized the soundness of its criticism and objec- tion and recommended in resolutions adopted at a nfeeting of their asso- ciations that the practices complained of be abandoned. "The Winsted Hosiery Company, a member of the association, had itself recognized the reasonableness of the government's -position, it was said, and had agreed to discontinue the use | Charges of al¥the labels and trade designations ‘which ‘'had 'been objected to by the Federal ' Trade Commission with the single exception of the word “meri- . ~The company insisted that the government was In.error in de that word to mean “wool,” an ferred to numerous standard diction- aries in support of its contention. T R T O T T T T e e s v LORD, ASTOR “SEVEN-DAY. WONDER"| TOR FOR “NAN’S” TOU agent, gent by the Baltimore and ORkig, . to smooth out wrinkles; en route. In the seat facing Lady Astors fnki &Il the way from New Terk © o0en Lord Astor Also Chr-h" o ‘Looming in" the doorypyi was:'a tall, slim male in;gray t¥eods, with gray cap shading a fing paiz of eyes, brown and shiny. White teeth flashed and a jolly smile played Jaround “his s e’ ‘Held " out Bengers et us see as{dé fron be- ‘oyr . Nancy;” ing America’s , best: front-paget at - the, present c;l-'dent.' ) claims of *his own. American bor 4nd Knglish bred, he is‘as l:lhrmlngb‘gng human and natural as his fourth of he famous harne sisters, F. F. Vs (properly interpreted, meaning free from er). He puts'on no more same < very ‘distinct “side” "t Lady Astor, the bling, irrepressil aaiae e Teomen s Y % o BELSONGOODS | BERGDOLL DENIED RIGHT T0 PROPERTY Court Holds $750,000 Is For- feited If He Is Proved Draft Evader. If the government can prove that Grover C. Bergdoll, the draft evader, has been convicted of desertion from the Army and that he is a fugitive from justice, the alien property cus- todian will not have to surrender property and securities valued™ at $750,000 belonging to Bergdoll, Jus- tice Bailey of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia so held to- day when he overruled a motion of counsel for Bergdoll to strike out por- tions of the amended answer of the . | | |suit brought in his name by his {mother, Emma C. Bergdoll of Phil- adelphia. i | The answer of the allen property; {custodian claimed that the judgment jof the court-martial which found Bergdoll a deserter and sentenced him to serve five years in the peniten- tiary deprived him of his American citizenship and prevented him from suing to recover property seized un- der the trading-with-the-enemy act. It was also claimed that Bergdoll, being a fugitive from justice, could not be heard in a court of equity be- cause he did not come into court with clean hands. Attorney J. S. Maxwell of Philadel- phia moved to strike the portions of the answer from the files as not set- ting up a good defense to the action brought on behalf of Bergdoll. The court tcok the opposite view of the | matter and Assistant United States, Attorney We: H and Attorney Dean | {Hill Stanley of the alien property| custodian’s office will submit proof to: { sustain the two claims of the govern- | { ment. = 1 MINERS MUST FACE TREASON CHARGE Nine Union Leaders and Members Defendants in “Charles Town Trial. _ | By the Associated Press. ! CHARLES TOWN, W. Va,, April 24— Charges of treason, growing out of-the Logan march last fall, were selected to- day by counsel fol the state as the first upon which nine union leaders and mem- bers are to be tried in the circult court | here. The defense announced its inten-, tion to enter a demurrer to the treasom: and to file 2 motion to quash that indictment. : The opening of the trials of 120 officers and members of the United Mine Work- ers of Americh was delayed.more than- half an hour while court attaches ar- ranged to seat the large gathering of defendants, counsel, witnesses and news- paper men. The little Jefferson county district courtroom _was crowded. to: capacity When tie defendants filed in, and there was no room for persons not directly % | allen property custodian-to Bergdolls}: !New Bill;Offers Continuing t from the exactions of putting lhroughl New Skin-Dyeing Fad Throngs Henna Bath With London Belle By the Associated Press. LONDON, April 24—A he: bnth cult is forming among Laon more ultra-soclety women who deem olive-colored skin something worth aeq ing. The eraze s ¥Fremch or Bu | | SHOTT EESEND F TARFF T henna dye are taken monthly and impart a delieate tint which Immersing is declared to be easier than treating eonly that considerable portion of the body exposed by modern evening sowns. i | % Adjustment Fair o Al . Nations, He Says. ! Provisions in the pending tariff bill which would authorize the President to fl!cmu or decrease rates and pro- claim American valuation were de- scribed today to the Senate by Sena- tor Reed Smoot. republican, Utah, as not only offering a‘solution of the particular tariff problem now before Congress, but also as “suggesting a practical basis for a ¢ontinuing sci- | entific adjustment of the tariff.” ! “Once they are understood. Sena-! tor Smoot =did, “T belleve every mem- I ber of Congress will welcome legis- lation which will in part free us from | dealing with burdensome details, and | a general tarift revision in a single biL” Commenting upon the time neces- sary to bring out the present bill, Senator Smoot sald it must be expect- | ed that “every conscientious revision of the tariff will encroach to a greater extent upon the time of the legisla- tive branch.” Session Almost Continuous. “We are already on almost contin- uous session,” -he added, “and it be-! comes increasingly necessary for usi to delegate to executive and adminis- trative agencles the working out of detailed adjustments. Business inter- ests also will no doubt welcome meas- ures which will render less frequent and, less violent the upheavals inci- dent to tariff revision and which will accordingly contribute to commercial and-industrial stability. It is impossible to frame a law on the basis of conditions today which will:fit the conditions of a few years. hence, or even one year from now, as conditions are changing so rapidly. We "are, therefore, confronted either .with .the possibility of another gen- eral ‘revision of the tariff .law-in a short time or with the reduction.to Jé‘bllllluon of ti President’s” admi~ rable Calling attention that the finance committes had ‘stricken ~from . the ‘Hoyse blll provisions authorizing the | President to negotlate reclprocity /The | w! interested in the cases. i treaties with other countries and to ‘As son as the arrangements hiad been | {mpose ' ~“penalty = ' duties” against {made the charges of treason, murder, in- { products of countries which impose | | surrection, conspiracy. to commit mur-! what he might regard as unreason-; ider and inciting, aiding and abetting | able dutles ggainst similar products murder were read. . lof the United States, Senator Smoot Wives and other relatives of # number | ~— o vinved on Page 2, Column 2.) ARREST OF 300 ORDERED FOR-REVOLT ACTIVITIES .- They Mrs. C. F. Keeney, wife_of th | promsdent. of _District No. Yq.’fimsi Nicaraguan President Reported to Be Rounding Up Members of ‘Mine Workers, and their son Belmont; Mrs. Fred Mooney, wife.of the district . a Mrs. Willlam Blizzard, of an 3 i -"gn; Isaac Scott, wife of the act- ing sécretary of the district, and Mrs. Frank Snyder, whose husband edi- tor of a state labor paper was in- d on the treason and other beral Party. s, were, present. With Mra.| - u & Mooney was Mrs. Ed Chambers of {p i, Associated Press. , whose husband was killed X ~The-ar- | wide on the steps of the| MEXICO CITY, April 24—The"ar. Weélch courthouse more than a year|Test of morée than 300 members of ago as. he and Sid Hatfleld, also klll- | the Nicaraguan liberal party because LAt e e o harges eamnrton Of Tevolutionary activities has been Y lodustrial troubles in the Mingo | ordered by President Chamorro, ac- I mining region. - S cording to -private advices received { " Four defehdants who had been re-!yfere. ‘The liberals are reported to ieased on bonds Sfier the change of |have been unusually aggressive dur- county did Dot answer when thelr ; ing the last week and a coup against names were called, this number in-|the government was feared. cludmg two_whole cases the defense ~ claimed had not been ' transferred. Prosecution . counsel answered this with & certified copy of the Logan ‘bonds. S e following: h'&?’d}w‘ m“nennl“"u that thirty-four: llbm. a e X ~four:| et &1‘; ':,ml another ‘delay was m““‘ & been ith a’ e ean taronfar the. Tost) Ianehieaty o Meeaphimte. the Drosl: of the list a_l d_lhndlu.. -~ dent ,nfllamgr officiala, b A Managua dispatch. on. April ¢ sald martial law. had béen. prociaimed in Nicaragua ‘for of ‘a plot against the {these in authority that the situation | — U. 5. AND MEXIGAN RELATIONS BETTER Administration Holds Off Recognition Looking to a Permanent Settiement. BY DAVID LAWRENCE. Mexico and the United States are getting closer together. Out of the mass of misunderstand- ings which has characterized the re- lations between the two countries there will emerge soon an agreement gleater in its significance than mere- ly the extension of recognition by one government to another—a treaty of permanent friendship and good will. So much emphasis has been placed upon the points of controversy of the past that an understanding of | what the Harding administration has | been striving to achieve in the Mex- iean situation unfortunately has been impussible on either side of the inter- national boundary. problem can be best understood | hen it is explained that, so far as satisfying the requirements of recog- nition, few people will doubt that the Obregon government has brought order out of chaos and that substan- tial progress has been made toward a return of normalcy. If it were a mat- ter of according recognition to & re- gime which deserved it, President Obregon would be recognized in- stantly. There is the friendliest dis- position toward him and his admin- istration. On Broader Plane. But Président Harding and Secretary Hughes are endeavoring to place the | whole matter on a broader plane than i the settlement of affairs of the moment. | They want a settlement for all times— | an understanding which will be =0 im- | pressive to the whole world that Mexico | and the United States will be considered Jjust as intimately related as if they were bound by an alliance. Indeed the meaning of the treaty which is under consideration today Is one of friendship between the peoples first of all, execut- ed, of course, by their respective gov- ernments. Administrations change in the United States as they do in Mexico. Recogni- tion by a Tepublican regime under Mr. Harding might be withdrawn by a dem- ocratic administration of a later day or by another republican President, who might be swayed by future contingencies. Recognition is at best a temporary thing, dependent upon the development | o or bad retions and the accu- mulation of disputes. What the United | States government iy asking Mexico to | sign is a reciprocal treaty of friendship, | waich will cover all the fundamentals in | controversy today and make an enduriug | settlement—a_treaty which nobody on | either side of the Rio Grande can af-| ford to disregard. ‘Would Remove Bugaboo. The bugaboo of military interven- tion as well as political meddling on the part of Americans, in Mexico has kept relations between the two countries unsteady. It is sought to remove once and for all these fac- tors so that every Mexican admin- istrationwill be sure of equitable tréatment at Washington. There are, of/course, many persons in the United States who feel that Pregident Obregon's record is not of the best... They have been trying to. Dersuaie; the American govern- | ment that" recognition should bej withheld. And it is explained by is~ viewed' .on an 1mpersonal basis, | for' the agreement is to be between the peoples of the two countries and signed by whatever administration is in supreme authority at the time. Recognition was accorded the Car- ‘anza government in the past when it had much:less control of the situa- tion the Obregon government has today. J From the - American government’ viewpoint, the question of recognition is incidental. If Mexico and the United States shall sign the pending treaty of ll&lty and commerce, recog- nition automatically will go into ef- fect. The signing of the reciprocal treaty is.recognition and ambassadors will exehlnfied promptly even in advance of ratification by the Ameri-} can Benate. No difficulty may be an- ticipated on_that score, for the senti- ment in Congress here is such that it Mexico and the United States could sign a treaty of friendship it would be assured of ratification. Time has worked changes both in ‘Washington and Mexico City. -There i8 no disposition here to stand out for one form as against another. It is the substance which ‘is- sought. And in Mexico the fact that the United States goyernment - seeks no privilege by | treaty which it i{s not willing to give to - Mexico is being made -*rnm with every day of waiting. e air has been cléared by the lapse of time and the “two. governmenis are ap- proaching an understanding at, last. xo-msqg, w2y Member of the Associated’ Press The Associated Press is exclusively entitied to the use for repubiication of all tews' dlspatches eredited to it or not otherwise credited in this paper and siso the local pews publisbed berels. All rights of publication of special | west end of the concrete business ifew seconds he heard dispatches Saf t-dny’: herein are also. reserved, lon, 89,174 on, 92359 TWO CENTS. Net Circulati Net Circulati HALF HOLIDAY PLANNED FOR DEDICATION FETE FAVORED BY PRESIDENT Whether federal and District government employes will be granted a half holiday next Thurs- day to witness the dedication of the Grant Memorial in Botanlc Garden is left to the department heads, not to President Harding. This fact was made known at the White House today. The Presi- dent, when seen by a delegation representing those arranging for the celebration, indicated that he approved of such a holiday for the employes and intimated that he would make his approval known to the members of his cabinet and those in charge of the several in- dependent government agencles and to the District Commission- ers. Following this expression of approval on the part of the ex- ecutive the delegates left the White House feeling confident that the half holiduy would be granted. In the delegation were Bisho) Samuel Sallows of Chicago, presi- dent of the Army of the Tennes- see, and chairman of the Grant Memorial Commission; Brig. Gen. John Clem, U. 8. A., retired, and Col. John ' McElroy, District de- partment commander, G. A. R. 6 FAMILIES FLEE FOREST GLEN FIRE Block Containing Post Office and Store Practically Wrecked. Aroused from sleep shortly after midnight this morning by revolver shots, eight families living in the business block of the Forest Glen Trading Company at Forest Glen, Md., owned by Harry Wardman, barely escaped with their lives from a fire which nearly destroyed the property, causing $65,000 damage. A revolver in the post office in the | block was set off by the heat. Ap- parently the fire started between the grocery run by Israel Linhart and the post office. C. M. Miles is the Forest Glen postmaster. The explosion woke up the families, all of whom were in the block, and they fled to the street in_their night clothes. Five hundred gallons of kerosene, stored behind the store, explode: throwing up a gigantic fiame. This occured just before 2 o'clock this morning and was foilowed by the ex- plosion of gasoline stored in an un- derground tank owned by b Hopst. Jopst lost all his personai; belongings. The heat of the flames cut through the main telegraph wires between Washington and = Cumber- land and Pittsburgh, interrupting telegraph communication with those points for sevefsl hours,.. Linemen wero at work today repaifing the! break, aithough service was resumed | early this morning by rerouting mes- | sages through Baltimore. { Origin in Basement. The fire is believed to have started from an overheated furnace in the basement ‘beneath the grocery andi post office. The location on the west | end of the ruined structure today is & smoldering mass of twisted concrete and steel, with little left to mark the place where several families lived. Four children, ranging in age from one year to twelve years, all ill, one seriously with measles, were res- | cued from the burning building by | their parents. Mrs. Lavinia Davls, eighty-four years of age, who lived alone on the ground floor of the building, was rescued with difficulty by Postmaster Miles. She pleuded to remain, but was taken from th‘ building by force. At the office of Harry Wardman today it_was said the building was insured for $25,000. The structure is | mated to have been worth about $35,000. None of the families, who lost most | of their personal belongings, had in- surance, it was stated. They are: H _H. Bopst, wife and child; C. M Miles, Forest Glen postmaster, wl(el and child; Mrs. Lavinia Davis, Al- bert Kramer, wife and child, and two visiting families, with three sick children; 1sreal Linhart, wife and two children, and E. A. Sherman and wife. Mr. Sherman is assoclate.for- ester of the forest service of the De- partment of Agriculture. Seientific Instruments Loat. Mr. Bopst, whose chemical research laboratory, containing a callection of valuable scientific instruments, is a total loss, said he -was reading a| newspaper in his rooms on the second | floor on the west end of the building when he became aware of a wave of heat from the floor. Within & the shots. Arousing his wife and child, he léd them down the stairs, and aroused as many other slceping residents as he could. Mr. Linhart and his fam- ily, who were on the ground floor behind the grocery ,got out with lit- tle_trouble, while the Kramer family and their visitors and the Miles fam- ily had to fight their way through biinding smoke. To the fact that the building was substantially constructed of stone and concrete and was but two stories high several of the persons undoubt- edly owe their lives. They were able | to reach the ground with comparative | ease, althqugh smoke filled the hall- ways and landings. The post office today is functioning in the Forest Glen station of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, which, Tuns within a-few feet of. the burn- ed building, directly past the point where the flames reached their great- est intensity. Mr. Miles said all the stamps and government property is FRENCH THREATEN T0QUIT AT GENOA IF PLANS DIGRESS Premier Poincare Warns Parley Must Continue Un- der Agreed Conditions. SAYS COUNTRY IS READY T0 ENFORCE PACT ALONE Will Undertake to Carry Out Ver- sailles Treaty if Germans De- fault on Reparations. By the Associated Press. LONDON, April 24—A Central News dispatch from Gemea to- day says: “It is learmed umoficlally that the reds (soviet Russiam rep- resentatives) are megotiating a secret treaty with Hungary giv- ing mutual support against Re- manta and the litthe entente.” BAR-LE-DUC, April 24.—Premier Poincare announced in a speech here today that if the French delegation at Genoa could not go ahead with its work' under the agreed conditions France would regretfully have to cease participation in the conference. France will, If necessary, undertake alone to see that the treaty of Ver- saflles is executed if the Germans default in their reparations payments, Premier Poincare intimated, in a speech before the general council of the department of the Meuse today. The 315t of May, when the Germans must either accept the conditions laid down by the reparations commission or default in their payment, is an important date for France, sald the premier. It is France's duty, he add- ed, “in full independence,” to assume the duty of maintaining the integrity of the treaty. Insists on Treaty Terms. “All we have ever asked and all we ask today Is the execution of the treaty,” said M. Polncare, “and that Wwe must have and shall have. The peace of Europe depends upon it Our future and our national pros- perity depend upon it. “It is not by precipitate actlon or by decisions without reflection that we will obtain it. It is by persevering and ‘méthodical action. But it must be_done.” The premicr declared he ardently hoped for the co-operation of the al- lles in case Germany defauited, “but acecording to the terms of the treaty,” he. added. “each may In case of need take, respectively, such measures as are deemec mecessary, and we shall | not suffer it that one unfortunate country succumb under the burden of reparations alongside of a Germany that does not consent to make the necessary effort to discharge her debts. . X “We shall defend, in full indepen- dence, the French cause, and we shall not abandon any arms the treaty gives ue” Anawers Imperialism Charge. Referring to the charges of mili- tarism and imperialism made against France, M. Poincare said: “The imperialism of France is a current theme in some countries, in which We are charged with ulterior motives of conquest. I do not know of @ single French public man who has ever dreamed of territorial an- nexation. But who does not under- stand today after the Rapallo accord (the Russo-German . treaty) the im- prudence there would be in our dis- arming too rapidly. “That accord brings out into the full ]ight the sympathies which had developed in the darkness between the bolsheviki and the Germans. How many persons wrested from their con- fidence of yesterday will not now ad- mit that the cabinet was right in de- siring to insist for the moment on eightecn months’ military service?” Sees Armed Danger: M. Poincare referred to the eries of stocks of arms and mu in Silésia, the formation of ‘police or- ganisations in Germany composed of former non-commissioned officers, which he said were so easily trans- formed into a framework of military force. He Instanced these things, as well as the pan-German agitation, to justify the precautions of France. “Things are going in Germany” hs said, “as if the pan-Germans were watching for an opportunity to fo- ment trouble, sooner or later, on their epstern frontier, with a view to get- ting back by force the. Polish regions taken from Germany by the treaty of Versailles. “Whgt is going on at Genoa,” con- tinued’ the premier, “singularly con. firms all we knew of the state of mind of too great & portion of the empire. How long back. had Germany pri pared the treaty with the soviet go ernment?” Grimly Set to Weork. Once more today the gyrating Ge- noa conference, whieh has been al- ternating between fears and hopes, and punctuated with political cris which threatened-to destroy it alt locked in the safe and can be re- clatmed unless the safe is ruined. Ald Frem Silver Spring. Survivors today declared the great- est credit is due the Silver Spring volunteer fire department, which was at the scene of the fire within ten minutes after a telephone call had been put in, although most of the firemen had reétired for the might. There are no hydrants at Forest Glen and the members of the Silvér Spring, department pymped . water from a stream which runs back of the rufned building and succeeded in saving from total destruction the entire west end of the block, although water dam- aged the interior to some’extent. The Rockville apparatus answered a call later and pum water from an abandoned quarry. No. 22 engine of the Washington fire department answered a call for help, but was unable to find water to pump on the flames and returnsd to the city. DEATH CLAIMS BISHOP. NAS! Rt to ‘Tennessee, church in -the state at his home here ‘:l o tions with Russia w 4 gx‘{hfi‘ufl protection they are to gether, set itself grimly to the tas] of readjusting :the economical life of Europe. The announcement. by the German delegates last night that.they would. not reply_to the second note, because they did not: wish to endan- ger. the syccess. of the conference, was recelved everywhere with frank- 1y uttered words of relief, for almost everybody was begiuning to des secretly that the ‘conference, would end in economic achievement.. In all quarters today were heard words of praise for the patient efforts of the Italjan leaders to re-establish har- mony so that the conference might concentrate upon the constructive problems for which it was organized. Russia to Be Discussed. Six subcommissions were scheduled to hold meetings today, and the com- mittee of experts on the Russian question made plans to take up seri- atim the report on the reconstruction of Russia prepared by the allied ex- perts who met in London. This re- Port copcerns not only. the question of the handling of Russia’s debts, but | also “matters vitsl® to forelgners