Evening Star Newspaper, January 5, 1924, Page 1

WEATHER. ir toright and tomor: cold wave; temperature 10 degrees or lower by morning. four hours ended at 2 Highest, 37, at 3:30 p.m. . . row; severe will fall to ¢ tomorrow ‘Temperature for twenty- p.m. toda; yesterday lowest, 30, at 4:30 am. today. Full report on page 3. Closing N. Y. Stocks and Bonds, Page 10 No. 29,10¢ post_office Wa Entered ns second-class matter hington, D. C. HOUSE DEMOCRATS PLAN BITTER FIGHT ONMELLONTAXBILL Attack Prepared Despite Coolidge Opposition to Changes in Measure. MINORITY CHIEFS CENTER FIRE ON SURTAX RATES Count on Support of Progressive Bloc to Force Amendments Through. Democratic leaders of the House are preparing to launch a fight against a number of the important provisions of the Mellon tax bill, among them the proposed plan to reduce surtax rates to a maximum of 25 per cent on net incomes exceeding $100,000. Minority members of the ways means committee are understood to have agreed that the maximum sur- tax rate should be 44 per cent of in- comes In excess of $92,000. Existing " law fixes the maximum at 50 per cent of incomes exceeding $200,000. - The administration bill has been the subject of a series of conferences by the eleven democrats on the committee and Representative Garrett, the minor- ity leader. The group is sald to be united as to what changes should be made in the bill and is counting on 1 support of the insurgent republi- cans. Among other amendments favored Ly the democrats is said to be one providing for more sweeping repeal of Tuisance taxes. Coolidge Opposes Change. With President Coolidge known to ©oppose any alteration in the essential vrovisions of the Mellon tax reduc- tion bill or any compromise involving its principles, republican leaders in House today continued their ef- ris to put off actlon on a soldiers’ us measure untll the ways and ns.committee can decide not only on the administrative features of the tax bill, but also on the proposed rate changes. The President's attitude was made ! known at the White House yesterday, ¢+but it was sald he did not_plan to ing pressure in support of his views | on_ individual representatives was confident that Congress, in on the bill, would translate into law the will of the people. Ifforts to get some affirmative action on the whole revenue law re- vislon program prier to a show-down on the bonus appear to have made some progress in conference between steering committee leaders and re-| publican members of the House who | have been demanding a party confer- | ence to instruct the ways and means committee on the question. i Several of the representatives who'l Tiave been circulating petitions for the conference are sald to be willing 1o withhold them for a tima to give the committee a “reasonable” oppor- tunity to report a bonus bill. COOLIDGE STAND FIRM. President Gets Into Fight Early, Differs From Harding. BY DAVID L. President Coolldge has let it be known that he canno! ept the pro- posals of the curbstone fconomists in Congress who want (o revise the Mel- lon tax program. The President, of course, wants the ellon program adopted, but he is not rbitrary about it. He is for the recommendations made by his Secre- tary of the Treasury, because they teem to him to be practical. Any al- ternative program must stand the ecid test of practicality. There are plenty of men In Con- ess who think a revenue bill ecan | drawn to suit classes and grounds. | ady the suggestions of “compro- that have emanated from the | lements on Capitol Hill are| iticized on the ground that they seem to be almed at vote-getting in particular localities, withbut tak- | ing into consideration the effects on other Eroups of voters. Mr. Mellon's plan is built like af delicate piece of machinery. To tinker | with one part of the mechanism throws the whole works out of gear. Any plan that is offered in Congress in opposition to the Mellon scheme nust be a comprehensive proposition, with facts and figures proving con- clusively that it will get the revenue needed to carry on the government. Substitutes Are Weak. Thus far none of the proponents of the substitute measures have fur- nished a single plan which Is sure to give the Treasury all the funds 1o carry on the government's ex penses. The productivity of tax pro-| posals is, after all, the heart of the whole problem and the interesting thing about. the plan of the Secre- | ary of the Treasury is that it s based on careful estimates of the tatisticians, who have been making study of the i me from all sorts of businesscs, investments and sala- ries in the last ten years. Their es- timates have in the pastYproved trust- worthy and have been confirmed in almost every esentjal. When the administration, therefore, says it can reduce the present high rurtaxes to about 25 per cent and sus- tain only & slight loss, but can show that the effect of the reduction in other classes of income is actually to increase the revenues, the critics 1ind themselves with the burden of proof on thelir side. { Coolidge Gets Into Fight. ‘The President is adopting a kind of strategy which ifs predecessor, Mr. Harding, and Is snore like that of Mr. Wilson or Mr. TRoosevelt. Instead of waliting for a ineasure o Ko through Congress be- fore indicating his disapproval and exercisifi _the veto power, Mr. Cool- jdge is getting into the fight at the very moment when the tax bill has not even been fully considered by the House ways and means committee. This is because Mr. Coolldge knows the value of public opinion, and just at this moment he feels the country # behind him and that he will be sustained if he lets Congress know that it will be wasting time if consid- eration is given to impractical meas- wres. Amendments and changes in the Mellon plan there will surely be. No *ax bill ever came from the executive branch of the government without being altered in many respects in Congress. Amendments that help larity or improve the measure will be accepted by the administration, oven though these changes are sug- gested by the democrats. But the test will be whether a change is constructive or destructive. Mr. Cool idge is ready to veto any bill that imposes further burdens on the coun- \ry oF falls to give the American peo- ple the full benefit'of the $300,000,000 surplus g WRENCE. i is unlike that of | iMasked Men Burn \Florida Road House And Flog 2 Owners By the Associated Press. TAMPA, Fla, January 5.—A band of masked men numbering about thirty last night descend- ©d upon the Green Lantern, a road house about six miles from Tampa. burned the structure to the ground and took the proprietor, Bert Molville Banker, and an as- soclate In business, Emile H. Ole- son, into tne wood and flogged them severely with straps. The structure, valued at about $35,000 was burned to the ground, the fire belng started in several places on the second floor of the house. Valuable furnishings were also destroyed. Carter Also May See Re- mains of Tut-ankh-Amen by Use of Roentgen Rays. By the Associated Press. LUXOR, Egypt, Janvary 5.—For the present at least, and probably for some time to come, 1t will be impossible to got & comprehensive view of the gigan- tic granite sarcophagus of Pharaoh Tut-ankh-Amen, surrounded as it is by the nest of shrines, There {s abundaut evidence, how- ever, to show that it fully bears out the surmise of the archeologists that the sarcophagus of Tut-ankh-Amen the Magnificent in everywise worthy of the great era of art in which that pharaoh reigned. The coffin of Harmahib, his successor, which now lies In the depths of Harmahib's ruined tomb not 400 yards from the resting place of Tut-ankh-Amen, is also of pink- ish stone, and is of a purity of design and delicacy of workmanship that rep- i { | at its best, notably the protective god- desses at the four corners, covering with outspread wings, as it were, the body of the dead king. 1t is considered probable that the excavators will arrange for a view of the sarcophagus In its shrines for the offictal world within the or so. As Mr. Carter is sanguine of being able to radiograph the contents of the coffin through the stone, there is some speculation as to whether, now that the sarcophagus has been found, he may not alter his previously announced | decision not to employ Roentgen rays on the tamb' tals, season. THIRD BIG THRILL OF PROJECT Fourth and Xsst to Come When Royal Sarcophagus Is Opened. (By cable to The Btar and the New York ‘Times, through especial arrangement with the Carnaivon eatate. Copyright, 1924, by tbe New York Times.) LUXOR, Egypt, wonderful blue shrines disclosed In the sepulchral chamber of Tut-ankh-Amen last Febru- ary has now given up the secret con- aled in its Inner recesses 3,200 years go. We now know that Pharaoh Tut-ankh-Amen ‘has lain within, un- plundered and undisturbed through- out that period. About 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon all descended Into the tomb. That was & momefit that will not soon be forgotten. There were two such mo- ments in the course of the last years work, one when the tomb was opened originally and the first view obtained of the crowded wonders of the ante- chamber, and the second when the sealed door was broken through and the great gilt and blue falence shrine behind It was revealed. Now the shrine Itself i{s about to yield up the secret which has been.so .jealously guarded through all these centurles. One More Such Moment. One more such moment awaits us when we shall be able to ralse the sarcophagus lid and all the majesty of death within. For this last experiegce, assuredly tho greatest and most impressive of all, we must wait a little longer as pa- tlently 85 we can, and we should in- deed be greedy of sensation if the thrill of Thursday afternoon’s event did not suffice to hold our curfosity in check. As we moved down the passage through the dntechamber to the im- provised steps descending into the sepulchral hall our sensations were those of suppreased emotion, for {f our expectations were going to be realized we were about to witness a spectacle such as no other men in our time have been privileged to witness. As if by commen accord, we scarcely spoke, and ‘even then It w in a hushed whisper. There before us as ‘we stood, either’'in the narrow pas- January |sageway in the sepulchral hall or at the edge of the antechamber, towered above us the great gilt shrine with its beautiful decoration of sacred em- blems and bright blue falence. It may be remembered that when the sepulchral hall was first entered (Continued on Page Ship’s Crew Hist, mate! They're a-spinning strange yarns in the dim fo'c’s’le of the good ship Crisfleld—tales of treasure trove, tons and tons of it, direct from the silent Valley of the Kings. - And as a result sctentists at the National Museum iare scratching' their ' heads today, wondering whether a cargo of price- lens relics from the biér of King Tut 1s to be dumpet here, or'whether they are the victims of some‘lonely-sallor's tancy. . From Montreal today came the word by telegraph to The Star that the Crisfleld, laden with eighty tons of treasure and relics from the tomb of ‘Tut-ankh-Amen, consigned to the Na- tional Museum, had docked there to take on fuel befors setting her course down the Atlantio to llll% to Tinded for ransport 15 Wechington lor The Crisfleld's crew, from m Mm 7 31“‘052 yams. m Fon route from Calcutts, said the Blperiis SeRMIE, ) VIEW OF PHARAOH'S COFFINSOONHINTED would be | resents the great sculpture of Egypt! next weelk | ee the king in! Riches From Luxor Coming National Mu:eumth-ofea.:a Ignorance of Mysterious Cargo on Crisfield, But Hopes Against Hope ! It Just Forgot in Christmas Rush. he Fpeni WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION ng Sfar. eve: WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, JANUARY 5, 1924—-TWENTY-EIGHT PAGES. CAPTURED LETTER | LINKS DIPLOMATS TONEW RUM CASE Raid on Apartment of J. J. Lynch Reopens Bootleg Scandal in High Life. LIST OF NAMES FOUND; CHOICE LIQUORS TAKEN Asher Conducts Coup—More Ar- rests Expected From Evidence Obtained. Another liquor scandal, involving forelgn diplomatio names, which may be vet linked to the Christmas con- spiracy cases, developed today when ipolice and prohibition agents started to follow developments from the ar- rest of John J. Lynch of 1723 G street {and Frank Ceccarellf of Boston last night. The arrest was made In the apart- | | ment of J. L. Asher, prohibition agent, iwho worked up the case In associa- {tion with Lieut. Davis and Sergt. Mc- Quade of the vice squad. ! It s known that Lynch's name was | handed to the vice squad to start an | investigation several months ago, out |of which grew the eleven arrests just {before Christmas that caused a scan- dal iu the National Capital. | Letter to Diplomar. " Among the items selzed last night | in Lynch's apartment, according to { Asher, was a letter to a diplomat of | | the Honduran legation relating to the | release of a large quantity of liquor | from a bonded warehouse. A lisy of |names also was found. as well as| about $4,000 worth of the finest fm-| ported liquor. | Asher said today that the Lynch case | was not yet completed, and that other | arrests might be expected. He left | Washington hurriedly this afternoon, | and is belleved to. be In a nearby city | working on another angle of the case. | Although the. police have not yet called Into collaboration on this case the special intelligence agents of the | Treasury Department, it is known | that the vice squad regards this ar- rest as the keystone of the cases started when the eleven arrests on | { consptracy’ charges were made on | | ber 21 | Clatms Admission. According to Asher, Lynch admitted | o ot i _knew his identity | thit hb Was obtaining his stuff from the dlleged Schrborough-Morria-Lam- son”combination. An attempt is also being made to et & line-up on persons believed to | financtally interested in the opera- tions of the latest person arrestes Police expect to report additional ar- | rests before the middle of next week. | Lieut. Davis and Sergt. McQuade could not be located today. M Quade took a prominent part in the rald last night. Plans had been laid carefully. McQuade placed himself | in an apartment adjoining the one| occupled by Lynch. Then the tele- | phone call for supplies was made. | As soon as the purchase was com- {pleted, Lieut. Davis and Asher ob- tained a,warrant and went back t the apartment at which McQuade was still standing sentry post. Then the rald took place. Quietly and systematically Asher went over the apartment, finally stopping at a clothes closet. A number of hangers were acrewed into a false ceiling of the closet and when onc of them was turned three times by Asher, the cache was revealed. ‘We regard the arrest as one which will probably do more to stop flow of good liguor to a supposcdly highly- respected class of hingtonians _than any in the past,” Asher sald to day. Lynch was arrested-about a year ago, when he told thesrresting offi- { cers that he was obtaining his liquor trom the Cuban legation, This started | a mild scandal that has been almost forgotten since. CHEER DEATH VERDICT. Arkansas Trial of Negro Assailant Ends Dramatically. VAN BUREN, Ark, January 6— Spurgeon Ruck, one of two negroes charged with the murder and crim- inal assault in connection with the slaying last week of Mrs, Effie Mitch- | ell Latimer in her home in the Catcher | farming settlement, was convicted of murder in the first degree by a jury | here yesterday. The verdict, reported by the jury after ten minutes’ deliberation, fixed | his punishment at “death.” i Several spectators in the crowded | courtroom shouted their approval of | the verdict, but tha demonstration | waa cut short by Judge James Coch- Here? Whispers of Them| i been ordered to stop and take on| eighty-four tons of treasure from the | grave of dead Egypt. Eveéry parcel was untnl‘l‘y crated and mysterious- ly sealed, defying even the prying eyes Of the salty sallors who tried to_get & pe Oneé object alone, ‘tis ulr welg] and there are quite a few . weighl - sald nvoryl eled for the Na- ‘via_Philadelphia,” none of the sclentists connected with that institution knew anything about an expected cargo from the orfent. Dr. W. DeC. Ravenel, director of the National Mussum, said the mysterious cargo. was “news” to him and in- quiry ‘at the Smithsonian Institution elicited & similar reply. “The Crisfield, & Shipping Board ves- 1s now somewhere off the Atlantic and 1 docks in Phil- epe thrss oF four dave of her teco was cl tional Museum, | “the m: nr:—wfilnt nal e LR WATERS OF OID |from Cincinnati. vacated the "’"";murasn jand this, weather bureau officials be- | twenty-eight feet, { continued to rise slowly early today. ! pected to reach flood s W.fi-%&m“ nugg“ [P R GONTINUE TO RISE Dwellers in Bottoms, Near Cincinnati and Louisville, i Move to Uplands. i i i | By the Associated Press. CINCINNATI, Ohio, January & Continuing its steady rise of one tenth of a foot an hour, the Ohle river at Cincinnati” early today had reached a stage. of approximately fifty-four feet, two feet higher than the so-called flood stage. Weather| bureau officials expected the rise. to continue until late tonight or’ to- morrow, but at a diminishing rate. owing to the spreading of the waters over s wider scope of territafyi . - Many families living In the ex- treme low-lying portions of Newport | and Covington, Ky., across the river floors of thelr homes last night a: the water from the Ohio and Licking rivers backed up through sewers and into basements. No serious property damage has been reported, however. Raliroad traffic in and out of the downtown stations had not been 1 terfered with early today, but offi- clals had completed arrangements to | abandon these terminals on short no- | tice should the necessity arise. i Indications are for continued cold weather for the next several days ilfeve, make It certaln that the river will come to a stand at not to ex- ceed a fifty-five-foot stage. RISING AT LOUISVILLE. i |Dwellers in Bottoms Forced to! | i 5—4 | i 1 Move to Higher Ground- By the Assoclated Press. LOUISVILLE, Ky. January survey today of high water and flood conditions at various points in Ken- tucky disclosed property damage at- tended by inconvenience to dwellers in near-river lowlands. So far, chses | of actual or pending hardship or dan- | ger IDDIIGII(‘( were lacking. 1 The Ohlo river passed flood stage, | ere last night and | A crest at thirty feet’ was forecast for tomorrow or Monday. A number of families {n Shippingport. river- front district, quit_ their homes, but others preferred to await actual fiood conditions before retreating. Reports from Owensboro were that the Ohlo was elllnbll* its bank steadily there. Dade Park, racing racing_ plant fort; miles below Owensboro, was said: to have been flooded. Farmers in the Indiana bot- torhs across from Owensboro were moving to higher ground, having had ample warning to move live stock. At Paducah the Ohio was not ex- e of 43 feet. The Cumberland and Tennesses riv- ers were running full tide, from Paducah said, but serious flood danger was not anticipated. Ferry service was suspended at Boonesboro, on the Kentucky river, due to high water. Frankfort re ported last night the crest reached there on the Kentucky river with a stage of 36.4 feet, the highest in ten Years. Familles forced from thelr homes were quartered in a Baptist mission and supplied with hot cof- fee and food. Two miles of the Jackson highway. between New Haven and Atherton- ville was under water from _the Rolling- Fork _river, and _tourists (Continued on Page 4, Column 4.) COOLIDGE INDORSED BY DISTRICT €. 0. P. i i I | Exeontive Committee Lauds Ad- ministration and Pledges Sup- President Coolidge-was unanimous- 1y indoreed to succeed himselt by the executive committee of the republican state committee for. the District of Columbla at a meeting in. the office of Commissioner Rudolph yesterday afternoon: \ Every member of the committes pgesent lauded the Pr t for m-f record since taking office before the ! resolution to indorse him was put to | of other, .m‘gll"hn T. Gnllfi.:r resigned ohsirman of the committes and O thonen vice chairman and Trod: 'SUSPECT IN MINT CRIME. Man Arrested Accused in Fatal l!laothi" and oqoo,ooo Robbery. PORTLAND. Oregon, January E areented hore By { ‘police on char robbing & ‘Ink‘ messenger. iy, “Ind., of | 00 and laf 35, : fod als Rfmfiy‘b"" T '.h(.cl 2 gm wul 18, -.)‘h!l. zg:l police inspect: vi- ! statement regarding the. $100,000 he BIG BROTHER. MOROCKER IS HELD ON MURDER CHARGE Testimony of Father-in-Law of | Daniel Kenney, Slain, Declared Conflicting. i | | Special Dispatch to The 81 FALLS CHURCH. Va., January 5.— Thomas Morocker, father-in-law of | Daniel Kenney, whose mutilated body was found near here last Monday, has | been held for the grand jury on a charge of murder. Confifcting testimony at the inquest Is belleved to have resulted in Mo-| rocker's arrest. Morocker, who had ! just_recently completed a sixty-day sentence for an attack on Kenney several months ago, in which Kenney was, stabbed, had ‘testitfied that he HAd ‘not ‘earrled a gun for the past year. On the other hand, Deputy | Sherift J. D. Dowden announced that he Jear hat Morocker had been | seen -«E ‘nEgs the place where the body” was-fousd. * The deputy sheriff declared further that Morocker has been unable to| give an urate account of his whereabouts on the morning of the DETALSOFLOAN ASKED OF LEAN | Senators Seek Statement ! About $100,000 Advanced | ** to Secretary Fall. = i After considerable argument the Senate publio lands committee voted today to ask Edward B. McLean, the ‘Washington publisher, for a sworn loaned .to Albert B. Fall, tormer‘ Secretery of the Interior, whose financial affairs have come under re- view in the course of the Senate Tea- pot Dome Investigation. Recently Mr. McLean's attorney, A. | Mitohell Palmer, made a statement regarding the loan, but Eenator ‘Walsh, democrat, Montana, insisted to- day that the pubiisher be called for per- ‘sonal examination. A physiclan’s cer- tificate was filed saying Mr. McLen health demapded that he remain Palm Beach, Fla. E. R. Tinker, president of the Chase | Security Company; was questioned by the committee today about his trans- actions as a member of t grou; formed to syndicate the stock of the Mammoth gl Company, organized to operate Téipot Dome. He sald the group performed a function exactly similer to that of the committees which distributed - the lberty loan 1 and that his company’s role was exclusively that of “financing & company.” U. S. SHIP CREW RESCUE BY RUSSIANS REPORTED Men of Conejos, Baid to. Be Lost in )lgcl.ha, Safe—Vessel Hit Floating Mine. By the Asvoclated Prew, LIVERPO®L, January 5.—The Con- stantinople correspondent of the Post, cabling under yesterday's date, says that the captain of the American steamer Widona, which has just ar- rived at the Turkish city, reports that two Russian boats rescued the crew of the United States Shipping Board steamer Conejos, which has been ‘reported lost in the Black wses. o message adds that the Conejos struck a float! mine 180 miles oft & port on the Russian coast of the 'k sea Friday ‘of last week. i slon here: Hardsore he was {) hema the Den mm% J known. here as n, and wlso as the New York 'ré‘ §107837 IN ADDED [June 30, 1924, $75,682.09. i new book stacks In the Congreseional | Library 1s a letter from David Lynn, p sequently instituted. | FUNDS REQUESTED President Asks $28,000 for| Harding Funeral and $120,- 968 B. & 0. Rent. Supplemental estimates, totaling | $707,637, were sent to Congress to- | day by President Coolidge, transmit- | ting recommendations of the director | of the bureau of the budget, as fol- | lows: To defray expenses incurred on ac- | count of the sickness and death of Presigent Harding, $28,000. For an initlal appropriation for the construction of new book stacks in sno Congressional Library building. | 348,000, s | For rent of ground owned by the | Baltimore and Ohio Rallroad Com- pany, which Is occupled by the gov-| ernment hotel for government workers, | $120,968. For tha American battle monu- | ments' commission, $95,750. | For the federal board of vocational | education for the flscal vear, ending For laying water mains_and the erection of fire hydrants in the Smith- sontan Institution grounds, 38,500, For the federal power commission | for printing.and binding, $1,000. | Jor contingent expenses of tae! House of Representatives, including | 35,600 expenses for the. funeral of President Harding, $23,232.02. For the payment of & clalm of the ury Dove Company, $9,505.08. $400,000 for Book Stacks. Accompanying the estimates for architect of the Capitol, which says that the balance necessary to com- plote the stacks would be approxi- mately $400,000, to be appropriated a. year ljence, when material and labor may be lower. In explanation of the proposed ap- propriation of $120,968, for rent to the -Baltimore and Ohlo rallroad on land occupled by the government | hotels, of which sum $48,653 is for| the fiscal year ending June 30, 1922, | and $74,315 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1924, a letter to the director of the bureau of the budget from Secretary Davis of the Labor Depart- ment accompanies the estimate. Secretary Davis explains that the| land was acquired by the raflroad | company many years ago and was| formerly used for passenger and | freight facilities. About the time the ! Union wtatlon was completed the| company sought to dispose of the property. ! By act of Congress it was declared | to be the intention of Congress to acquire this property for the purpose of enlarging the Capitol grounds, and condemnation prooeedings were sub- | ‘Hhe condemnation commission made | sertain awards on_this land which amounted to $1,020.762, but the same | was not approved by the Department | of Justice, and by joint resolution of Congress the President was author- ized to appoint a commission to com- ete the acquisition of necessary land for the enlargement of the Capitol grounds. By an agreement of July .9, 1918, be- tween the government and tl road company the land was leased to the government for the period of the ‘war_and_twelve months_aSter fimal (Continued on Page 2, Column 2.) DECKER AWARD CUT | T0 $6,000 BY COURT| | Verdict Against Bethesda Coal| Merchant Reduced and New Trial Refused. ! Sgacial Diepatch to The Star. ! ROCKVILLE, Md., January 5.—El- mer G. Dsoker, in his sult against Charles F. Miller, Bethesda coal dealer, for damages on charges made ‘by his daughter, Jeanette Frances Deoker,_ this morning agreed to ac- cept & settlement of $6,000 following an opinion filed by Judge Worthing- | ton upon ‘application of the defendant | for a new trlal. Judge Worthington decided that the $10,000 verdict of the jury cessive and that it tfu 4 would uaxt 2 $4,000 reduction a new trisl would be refused. The court further held that the minds of the Tejudiced because ‘of the versealous and overhested” usu- of Jt A Garrett, counsel for the g méfl‘y & oy ‘g Moiesy Autoists Warned 1923 Auto Tags Expire Tonight It you falled to get your 1924 automobile tags today leave your car in the garage tomorrow. The week of grace allowed by the Commissioners n which to ob- taln number plates expires at mid- night, And if you venture forth tomorrow with the old brown tag of 1922 you may fall into the hands of a trafc oficer, who will be entirely unsympathetic to the alibis of the tagless ones. Approximately 50,000 tags have been sold, but it is belleved at the District building that there are still quite a number of car owners who have failed to come forward. RECORD COLD WAVE DUE HERE TONIGHT Mercury to Drop to 10 Above or Lower—Middle West in Grip of Bitter Blast. A severe cold wave, which today | had the west and middle west in its grasp and even penetrated the balmy | south, {s heading toward Washington, and by tomorrow morning, the weather tureau said today, the thermometors here will read 10 degrees above zero or lower. This forecast for the cold- est weather of the winter for Wash- Ington s to continue through Mon- day, after which it will become warmer. ' It will be cold tonight and Tair, although there 1s the slight pos- | sibility of enow flurries later in the day. Tomorrow also will be fair and clear. The coldest place in the United States today was Moorehead, Minn., with 34 degrees below zero. White River, Ontario, continues to hold its own with 42 degrees below, this be- ing the coldest weather reported to the bureau. “Severe” Seldom Uned. The term “severe cold wave,” usea in forecast today, 18 seldom employed by the bureau. It is explained as indicating a radical and rapid drop in temperature, and in the present case is expected to mean a reading of less than 10 degrees above zero at points | well below: the Mason-Dixon line. For the most part the weather will be fair over the east, but there is snow in prospect for New England, ew York, New Jersey and eastern Pennsaylvanla. There already have been snow flurrles in the lake region and at some middle western points further south. There will be somes relief from the cold after a day or two, but throughout the coming weei | tgmperatures. are to remain Dormal over the Wholé country. 15 BELOW IN CHICAGO. below Middle West in Grip of Bitterest| Cold of Winter. v G.—Severa cold | overspread virtually all of the United | ac States today for the first time this winter, with the most extreme weather of the season reported in the north- west, central weat, southwest and the south, and spreading toward the At- lantic’ seaboard, where a cold wave is predicted by this afternoon or tomo row morning. At Chicago the temperature fell to 15 degrees below zero before dawn, and the forecaster that the coldest weather fn mors than ten years would be felt to a predic- tion that the mercury would descend nearly to 20 below. Minneapolls early today had & reading of below, Omaha 20 below and Kansas Cit Mo., 10 below, with the frigid tem- perature exterding on into Oklahoma and Texas, with somewhat higher readings. In the old south freezing tempera- tures ure forecast in many sectio toda; Atlanta early today reported an even 82 degrees above zero, with 46 the thermometer's highest in twenty-four hours, - Early Reliet Predicted. Beliind the bitter weather, ho ever, fs following the inevitable re: pite. Warmer weather is forecast for the Rocky mountain district, and al- ready temperatures have begun to rise in western Canada, and the south- ern Pacific coast, for several days in the grasp of cold which threatened the fruit industry, reports rising tem- peratures. In Chicago an unidentified man was frozen to death early today, and St. Paul reported a park policeman frozen to_death on duty. Chicago early today was about the center of ‘the highest pressure area recorded by barometers In many montha, thet being held accountable for the cold. Extreme suffering by thousands of unfortunates was reported to munici- pal authorities and welfare organiz: tions. Applications for coal are five times greater than last year, charity organizations report, and capacities of shelters and welfare houses are over- taxed. Mayor Dever ordered municipal lodging house opened for the first time in eight years, and po- lico stations also Fave beon thown open as sleepigg quarters for unem- ploved men.” ¥ o . 130 Fires Reported. Firea caused by overheating resulted in 120 alarms here last night. On_early morning incoming subur- (Continued on Page 4, Column 5.) 1 BALL BILL PROPOSES NEW D. C. PARK AREAS, {Senator Will Introduce Measure Monday Providing for Pur- chase of Tracts. The extension of the park system of the District by adding to it @ portion of the Patterson tract in the northeast section of the city and increasing the size of the Piney Piney Branch and Klingle Road Val- ley parks is.proposed in a bill which Senator Ball, chairman of the Dis- trict committee, is expected to intro- duce Monday. The bill authorizes the expenditure of t proposes that eleven amcres of land east of 16th street be purchased at a cost not exceeding $155,000, and nineteen acres at a cost not exceed- $107,000, for the Piney Branch 'Pll‘k':'n‘:nd lhl‘t an hldl; fon of e on one-ha Sares’ b made to. the Ritngie Road park at a cost not to exceed . For the purchase of a part ‘s 00, b1 $300,00 of the Patterson tract, auithoriged, “From Pres the | to Home Within the Hour” The Star's carrier system covers city block and the regular edi- tion is deliv as fast.as the papers are printed. Yesterday’s Circulation, 97,768 ered to Washington homes TWO CENTS. WORK TURKS DO COALDEALERSPLEA TOCLOSE L. YARD Holds Margin Cited in Offer Will Not Cover Costs of , Handling Fuel. DOOR IS LEFT OPEN FOR FUTURE DEALING Interior Secretary Fears Losses Would Be Added to Price to Private User. Potition of seven Washington co dealers, submitted three weeks ago through the National Retail Coal Ae- sociation, for abolishment of. the gov- ernment fuel yard and taking over of all the federal and District govern- ment coal business by the dealers was refused by Secretary of the In- terior Work today. Two other at- tempts had been made by local deal- ers seeking abolishment of the yard {which met with the same dacision |previous Secretarics of the Interior | Sccretary Work, however, left a {loophole in his decision today for lfln(vlh-r attempt by dealers to secure the government business, suggesting that they may in the future propose a scale of margins on coal sold to the government “that will permit the government to turn over to the mer- chants the handling of all its.coal business in the District in place of {he part only as to which proposals Clalmed Saving to U. S. Dealers submitted, national retail organization, on De-’ ‘ck‘nib\'l‘ 13 a proposal, accompanied by ecertifications from bonding com- panies, by which they would take over the government business for five years at an agreed margin of ¢ cents per gross ton. They claimed, |on the basis of el y : [SE 3178 Jar groms ton tie ool | margin bid would_effect a saving to the government of &6 cents per ton, or upward of a million dollars in the fiv vear period. The following companies joined in the bid and bond- ed themselves to carry out the con- J. Maury Dova Company, L. Coal Company, John ' B. Tnc.. James B. Coli Consumers’ Co., Inc., and J. Edward through their Agnew & flowsr & Secretary Work found, on investigs- { tion by Interior Department officials Ithat the claimed margin of §L18, { the so-called “real cost” to the fuel | yard of doing business over a thre: ear period ended June 30, 1921, w: -rroneous.” In a memorandum su {mitted to him, made public today, it {is pointed out that on the basis of | given to the United States Coal Commission by five of the dealers the proposal, they would In handling the govern- ment business, from $1.03 to $3.22 pe* on Seex Losnes Instend. Secretary Work was aiso informed that “even with allowance for econo- mies {ncident to large volume of business, no such amounts could or would be absorbed, and the inevitable result of acceptance by the govern- ment of the proposal made would be not only increased cost to the tax- payer, but higher prices to the local consumer. Analysis of the proposals and figures taken from records of the fuel yard makes it appear that acceptance of the proposals of the local dealers would result in a net loss to the tax payer of from 37 6-10 cents to 4915 cents per ton instead of & sav- ing, Secretary Work declared In u letter to Roderick Stephens, chairman of the governmental relations com- | mittee of the National Retail Coal | Merchants® Association. “The proposals also fail to give any satisfactory guarantee,” he added, | “that losses incurred by the mer- chants in handling the government's business would not be made up br additional charges against private consumers in the District as would | seem to be necessary.” The Interior Secretary placed the total cost to the taxpayer if the gov- ernment fuel operates as at present at $1.284 per tom, while the cost | to the taxpayer if the coal busines of the government wers taken over by dealers and the fuel yard plant be retained in a “standby” condition was placed at $1.860. In other words, he placed the nct loss of abandonment of the vard at 4315 cents per ton and retention of the vard in “standby’ | condition at 37 6-10 cents. Declares General Folicy. Four wenths ago, when the matter was first brought to the attention of (Secretary Work, he declared the “government fuel yard ehould either g0 out of business or open its fa cilities to all government employes,” | declaring his general policy to be one of non-government Interference with private business. “Taking over of the unloading rucking and delivery of coal to the Suro a8 proposed, would not relfeve the government of the cost of pur- chasing coal, making payments to mines and railways, collection from the departments, auditing acoounts, weighing and inspecting coal as re- quired by statute, arranging for and “uflyecun‘ demurrage and loss, If |any, between.mine weights and de- liveries, interest on capital used in performing these functions _and amortization of tha Investment in the | present plant (less salvage) or cost of holding the yard in standby con dition for the future’ the Secre tary's letter said. “All these items have been urged by vou, I belleve, as entering into the true cost of han- | dling the coal, as indeed they do.” ‘Would Not Be Justified. “On examining the figures it seems clear that I would not-be-justified in recommending to Congress the pas- sage of legislation necessary’ to ac- ceptance of the proposals you have made. May I, however, invite your attention again agalin to question five of my letter of September 13, as to ‘at what margin per ton, abov. 3 cost and freight, are the merchants prepared to sell coal of the grades in this district? Tt is po that on restudy of the matter may be able to propose a scale of margins, that will permit the govern- ment to turn over to the merchants the handilng of all its coal business in_the District in place of the part only as to which proposals have been made. “In making this suggestion I am as- suming that you did not intend that the fizure you submitted. namely $32 |