Evening Star Newspaper, January 24, 1925, Page 2

9 CAR MERGER BIL S HELD INVALID Proposal Unconstitutional, Traction Officials Say at Hearing. Declaring the bill introduced in the Senate Sen- ator L. Heisler Rall Delawara to he unconstitutional, William F. Ham, presid of the Washinzion Rail way Electr Co.; George T Hamilton, president of the Canita on Co, and Leon Arnold, pr f the Washington Rapid Tran ppeared yesterday befor b-committee of the mmittee of the Houss and Distr mmittees, which is he hearings on the bill The witnesses telling the possible b pul ompu'sory merser were unanimous mittes that it wa to brinz about A voluntary le by au i no merge thoriza trom that the they law co ory mer Congress, but rocecdings, with rating both panies ily alternative, testified Mr. Hamilton said tha n the bill was divided into sarts, one | untary merger and the merger in his opin e op registe rst provides that holders 1a the other « he th three ex Majority Report. He of the majority objection te bill, which | of the stock- merger with | He said that least two-thirds the stock shouid native before creat- that fourths the & 12ht at ing a e He pointed out the stock could the terms of the b cent to merge, th force 51 per cent ol according 1o 1. the other 49 per Pointing out that the 4% per cent would have to be bought out if they oppose h action Mr. Hamilton expressed himself as nerally in favor of a merger if me equitable method was found te of the. minority stock ke holders. enator ought tha ndered if a are Bail asked if witness better service could be m took place. the re er Seex No Fare Cut. Mr. Hamilton answered that he dio | compantes to merge | the An Eclipse Fan pose of fixing fares had considered + single it had not When the two com he said are earnt 15 found imission the two .. perties transportation unit. and that been unfair to the publie. earning capacities of th anies were taken tosether it was found that they in 1914 Transfer I Mr. Ham told the committes that the Commission h tnred the issuance of transfers from one line to another, in some cnscs free, and in others with a charge of a ceni or two Senator Was that he believed a law should be pass- ed authorizing the street railway since they do not »w have that power under the law. Representative Keller said he would favor such a law, provided it ined & nroviso that if the roads had t voluntarily merged within wars, the Government would over and merge them “Perhaps the roads would not be m = money two years from now,” « Clted, Jones of ston said fake not see that the public would get £00d resulls as they had been led to expect through the many years dis- cussion of such action. He asserted that there would probably be no re- duction in fares, but that some econ- mies might be realized in the ma agement that he was not opposed tc erger If all stockholders were n care of and their stock bought, | wished to sell, at an ascer- ressing the fact that no merger | ould possibly be brought about by hand- ing over to the Public Utilities Commiz- | sion the direction and control of both companies, Mr. Hamilton said that it was clear that the only other alterna- | tive was condemnation proceedings | Senator Copeland of New York said that he thought i would be unfor- tunate if there no_competition in the street rallway and bus lines in Washington. Declares Propo Mr. Hamilton took tion to the word * of the bill Tilegal. | particular objec- irection” in the pro- | vision which directs that | after July 1 the two transportation com- | panies shall be operated as one system. | ¢You can’'t take the management | from a private corporation and put it | in the hands of any one,” as: | Hamilton. It is not power cannot be given. How can you | take the stock of a company we will | designate as A and turn it over to other management? The stockholders of A ma ted Mr. legal and the y be satisfled, but the stock- | holders ot B may not wish to transfer | % Representative Keller said that all | conditions here made for a low rate| of fare and charged that Washington | was higher in fares than other cities | throughout the country | John H. Hanna, vice president and general manager of the Capital Traction Co., answered that the rate here was fower than the average and that Wash- ington was the most difficult city in which to furnish street car service, be- cause of the fact that there was only one business, the United States Govern- ment. Mr. Keller said that he could not concede that that was the fact without figures to approve it Auto Hurta Business. Hanna said that the rush period was regular day after day and that a great volume of traffic had to be moved in a short time. He also pointed out that the private automobile was a big competition to the street car service Mr, Hamilton, on resuming his tes timony, said that it was the right of Congress to institute condemnation | proceedings and pay a fair value for the companies. He asserted, how- ever, thap at the present time the companies had no power to merge and that if this power was giv hat there was a possibility that such an act might be brought about He asserted that these two ways were the only ones he could see for the consummation of a merger. Mr. Ham on taking the stand agreed | with the precedi.., witness that two- thirds of the stock should be vuted | before a voluntary merger could be brought abcut -n cquity. He told the committee that he had not under- stood that the bill intended to put the management of the two companies in the hands of the Public Utilities Commission, but if that was the in- tent it was unconstitutional Under his understanding of the bill, he said, he thought ‘he word “direc- | tion” meant simply that a more uni- fled and co-ordinated system was to be operated. He asserted that if that Janguage was accepted there would not be a decided increase in the power of the commission, and that the act itself might not be uncon- stitutional, but acts of the commis- Sion might turn out to be. Cites Commission's President Ham told the committes that in his opinion the Public Ultli- jes Commigsion now has the power to order the cars of one of the rail- wav companies to be operated over the tracks of the other, provided there is just compensation for the | of the tracks and the butiness hat may be diverted from one pany to another. He sald, in to questions, that the commission the past has ordered that cars company be operated over the tracks of the other, and mentioned the us of cars on the Potomac Park route as a case in point Representative Keller criticized the commission for allowing the Capital Traction Co. to earn more than a falr return in order to permit the Wash- ington Raflway and Electric Co. to earn a sufclent amount to operate itx properties. He said he thought the commission was there “to protec: the public,” and not the street rail- ways, or any one of them Mr. Ham, replying to this sugges- | tion, declared that the Capital Trac- tion Co. today is not getting what the Commission says is & falr return and the Washington Rallway and Electric Co. is getting still less. He said that the Capital Traction Co. was making 6.69 per cent on the valuation of the company as made by the Commission In 1914, and Washington Railway and Electric Co was earning 4.1% per cent on similar findings. He sald that for the pur- Mr. here Power. reply £ one | the p | A | black | Washington, uggested Senator Jones, “and I would be unwilling to commit Congress to taking them over at that time when that might be the case. If at the end of two rs we find we desire pass a law to take over the roads, then we can do it at I think we an well give the roads a chance to see if they canmot get together in & merger." Charges Discrimination. Mr. Arnold testified that the Pul Utillties Commission was not giving the bus companies a square deal and there had heen discrimination ainst Washington Rapid Transit Co |in the matter of granting applications | last for particularly situation. Mr. Ham asked that he he allowed to reply, inasmuch as the Washington Railway & Electric Co. had the exclu- sive traction line on additional lines, the He mentioned Wisconsin avenue | nue. The bus company.” he sald, “wants to reap the benefit of years of plonser work of the traction company. Our company built up the suburbs of the Capital and now the busses want to g0 in with their short haul and take the cream of it. At the same the bus is able to promptly abandon lines that do not pay, which the | street railway companies are unable | to do. No one with a sense of justice will say that that is fair.” [TEN MILLIONS SEE ECLIPSE AT MINUTE OF TOTAL DARKNES! (Continued from First Page.) of my things. of the cosmos that are terious in many respects, despite ogress of science Striking the earth at Red Lake, Minn., the moon's shadow, about 100 miles wide, swent castward in 4 curve At the rate of 30 miles a minute to the antic Ocean. blackening such Dlaces as Toronto, Buffalo, Niagara Falls with its frozen cataract, Roches- ter, Y.: Scranton, Pa; Paterson ~ haif of New York City, New Haven, Hariford and New London Conn.; Newport, R. L; New Bedford and Nantucket, Mass. Across the Atlantic it moved to disappear into space at a point near the Shetland Islands after striking the earth for 3,000 miles. Time of Darkness. Two minutas was the longest time any one city was covered, yet to an observer in the far heavens Vision. strong enough, were such a thing possible, the drawing of the mark would last 1 hour and 43 minutes. Either side of the path of blackness was a twilight zone, some 4,500 milea wide, extending as far North as Labrador and as far South as the Amazon River. The untold millions living in the area had a vision of the phenomenon, depending upon their proximity to the path of darkness. There was about 95 per cent totality in Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Toledo, Ottawa and Montreal, but unless one was in the totality area he was deprived of an oppor- tunity to witness the greatest glories of the eclipse, the halo, beads of light and shadow bands at the moment of obscuration of the sun Hegira to Spectacle. There was a great hegira to na- ture’s free show. New Yorkers did as they do for ball games—went north. The southern limit of totality was Central Park, but the Borough of the Bronx was in the totality area There were extra guards at the Bronx Zoo. Exira uptown suhway service was provided. Street lights north of the park were ordered on despite the protests of astronomers, who thought tne glare might teur observations of the opening of the Stocl postponed 45 minutes. From cities near the totality zone thousands entered the zone, with the railroads running special trains. Worcester, Mass,, sent §00 persons on one special to New London, Conn. In New London too, 500 Wellesley College girls were guests at the Con- necticut College for Women. Hotels how. change was | in Connecticut were crowded. Many Planes Used. Radio and aviation did much to im- prove the study of the eclipse of 1925. Hundreds of scientists have traveled far to study prived of good telescople views by clouds. Several dozen Army planes from Mitchel Field, Long Island, rose above today's clouds, some with cam- eras, some with radio equipment, to nd the details to thousands at home. | somewhere near the Island of Nantucket d above any possible obscuration, was the Navy's airship Lios Angeles, buoyed up Ly helium, & gas discovered in the sun by study of an eclipse of the past. Sclentists were aboard looking for new discov- erles today, and the skyship named for the angels was equipped to send word via the heavers of how the phe- nomenon appeared Never before were such prepara- tions made by scientists At Yale University, in the center of the moon's At sea, con- | twe | to | Wisconsin ave- | time | with | interfere with ama- | The | eclipses. only to be de-| THE EVENING 'MOON IS BATTERED Ry NEW RONY YORK, January milion neck SMALL, 24.—Straln and twice that ila seare for ushinz shadows, srona coronas, to say ng solar conta‘ts, umbra, numbros and the ath colorsd phenomena of a total e-lipse play e pr n Breadwa nstonished New oday dis a1 ihe moon i a rogged diskltke thing | v, as badly tered in apne: ‘ Lui Angel Firpo generally | ut the tenth round of any one | of hix nume ous battie Comets plunzed into the poor old moon { 7nd made enormovs dents in its ‘once | rair auwrfa me day, they say, & { comet will knank the sarth for a loop. 11». OB 4 S HOFSI1ite’ SxampTe 0T | | ey’ bheads, nas and 'S various t- in what may i ppen that. Hux Divappointing Fenture. York poointed to find moon has no atmosphece. That is v it ha 20 long absent from dway Her, one imply must atmosphere. Some seasons Russian or Cze ‘hoslovakian. e Franch or Batik, but moet he atm Now York's head hos been be- vi'dered these many days. It has (rying to absorh 1l the knowl- (e sclentists have gained from studies of eclipses during the dark centurics. And a little being a dangerous thing, | New York tried to look In all direc: ons at once. The metropolitan au- {dience was a mass of amateur astron- | omers, each one trying to count those | Bailey beads, every one apart; each |one tryin chase the furtive | shadows the nows, and all | bracing themselves involuntarily against the shadow wall which vas rushing in from the West at the | rate of GO miles a second | the Pr | e | | I i { hoen | theis aim {learning ross ! Moom Wins Applanse. | The York audie | @ menerous one. Today's big gather- ing was no exception. It cheered the moon as it finally oBliterated the sun. | 1t cheered that last one of the Bafley | heads which clung to the lowest point | of the sun as if for an interminable time and seemingly bent on spoiling {all the calculatlons of totality. That {bead hung like a dlamond drop in the | murky sky, while the filmy corona |spread its' ‘fanllke glory into what | they say was millions of miles of space. Rut the audience with Its cheering. It cheered the sun the good old sun, badly needed dur- ing this coldest snap of the Winter | as it gave the moon a thrust like that | of a subway guard trying to jam the senger aboard an already | overcrowded train. “Altogether it was calls perfect performance.” Of course, it can’t be said offhand that any one has proved or disproved the linstein theory that rays of light | from distant stars passing close to | the sun on their way to the earth | are bent by the gravitational attrac- tion of the sun, because the stars | photographed are distorted by pass- |ing through so much atmosphere. - Yet | the doubt as to the solution of this | problem did not seem to aftect the { man in the street a bit. He was very | £1ad, of course, that the sun had an elevation of 17 degrees. Sixteen and 2 half might have entirely spoiled the o ce always is was not through what New York just about right Bothered by Greem | What bothered the New York obe | servers a very great deal was that |green line in the coronm. They =av {5t 15 an unknown element on the sun. |New Yorkers know the green line { well. They follow every day in { the subway stations. They could not {reach the corona, however. The eerls atmosphere that sur- Irounded the eclipse, the crowded | housetops of the city, and finally the cheer which greeted the spectacle at |its height, all were reminiscent of a | Zeppelin niaht in London, when one |of the big marauding gas bags was |shot down in flames. A spontaneous |cheer went up that night in a heart- |felt thanksglving. Today the cheer | was that of an audience vast and de- | lighted | One of the heat vantage points from which the eclipse was viewed was at |the Washington Bridge, spanning the Harlem River at One-hundred-and- eighty-first street. At the Manhattan end of the bridge is a park, and there, fiying in the early-morning breeze, [was a beautiful new American flag. When the stars came out and at one stride came the dark, many #Yes turn- ed from the sun to the fluttering sym- bol. and hats reverently were lifted. When the brilliant Balley beads ap- peared again, heralding the end of the show, the flag “was still there,” spar- kling in its new-found glory. Darkness of Pale S: it et It there was one disappointment to | the eclipse it was in the depth of the darkness attotality. New York evi- dently expected a Stygian blackness |despite the warnings that the light would be unlike any other in the world. The street lights in the upper city were atf ull glow, but the dark- ness was only that of a pale sunset. In every other respect the per- formance was up to highast expec- tations and certainly no event in the history of the world ever had sc much press-agenting as this. What all the mathematical analyses event- ually will show no one can at the moment tell. Some one may have accurately measured the steaming flames which flowed about the black bulk of the moon as it hid the sun from view. But it really makes no difference If these flames were 200,- 000 or 220,000 miles in height. It is all beyond the average human coh- ception. The layman is glad only that the astronomers know enough to predict the eclipses and that their descriptions are not overdone. Weather Ix Question. According to the naked eye, the weather on the sun was more or less normal. It may be shown, however, that an awful storm was brewing and that agitated atoms were doing a wild dervish dance. Spectroscopic studies were made by the thousands. The ecllpse upset New York com- pletely. It reversed traffic. The rush {hour was all up town. But New | York, after all, is qulck In readju ments. Secure in the knowledge that there would not be another total solar spectacle over Manhattan for another 300 years, New York riding down town in the subway, went contentedly back to its crossword puzzlei |shadow, were a dozen astronomical expeditions. There were visitors from less fortunately situated institutions |also at Weslevan, Vaasar and Cornell. A party of Cleveland scientists went to Buffalo. There were observations at Iron Mountain, Mich., and Wil- liams Bay, Wis. Radio flashed th time of the shadow's trip across New York State. In all, 13 fixed observa- tion stations’ trained telescopes, studying such things as the exact course and diameter of the moon, the Einstein theory, the materials com- posing the corona, and seeking new comets and new elements in the sun, STAR, WASHINGTO day for him, but seventeen appeared| | Turning from their instruments {everything | tality was near at hand D. C, SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 1925. CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND FIRST LADY WATCH PROGRESS OF ECLIPSE % Bie' 5% 4 L /r'v rexident and Mr; olldge shown at the White K ay watching the eclipse of the Sun, the former looking through a blackemed window pane and (he latter a developed photographic plate. NOTABLES WATCH COMING OF WEIRD ECLIPSE TWILIGHT (Continued from First Page.) before any one except the astronomers knew it. If some one had pushed a dark pur- ple piece of cardboard, with round corners, over the end of the telescope the effect was almost the same. One or two of the observers saw the object | crawl Into view and began feverishly | working the mysterfous Instrument controls, thinking they had somehow | thrown it out of focus. They forgot | that they were seeing the moon as it | i, & cold, lightless, dead planet, when deprived of the light of the sun Comes at Snall Pace, At snall pace the darker object| overcame the light one in the big| telescopes, while feat began to freeze and nosee turned blue in the face of the stinging temperatures nature hurled at the observers, for all the world though she would drive them from the scene of the complete | humiliation of her greatest master- | piece known to man—the sun. But the watchers were adamant and suf- fered in consequence. When, at about 8:30 o'clock, the | sun began to show like a quarter of | an orange Prof. Hall's pilots began | to sk when it would start to gd{ dark. There was no perceptible change in the degree of light prevail- ing. It was not until perhaps 15 min- utes before the 95 per cent of totality had been reached, however, that the difference w noticeable. Lizhe Failx Slowly. Then the light slowly began to fail watchers at the Observatory looked | from their high perch down Washington. Long shadows were | Quickly gathering on the tops of the | distant buildings and a peculiar, welrd light instantly began to seize | in sight. The minute of | ngton's closest avproach to to | Among those who witnessed eclipse through telescopes on roof of ‘the Naval Observato THOUSANDS TURN ‘ FACES TOWARD | btoarng ! n EASTERN HEAVENS | ;i upon at tha Co the poriod erca Department during 95 per cent totality. s Stokes. an a-sistant to Hoover, noticed unusual re- 1¢’on the wall of the room, and g u saw a number of small s reflected in shadow on the wall, caused, apparently by re- flected rays of the sun. In many of the Government build- ngs employes left thelr desks for several minutes watching the gradual progress of the moon across the path of the sun, while othert went tn the roof of the high buildings oceupled by the Government The roof of the Atlantic Bullding. on F street near Ninth, was lined with emploves of the Forest Service watching the eclipse. Wash 1t might came with the same effect one notice by slow dimming an electric light. Just as the dusk reach- ed the point where it was expected to suddenly turn into true night, the cenes were shifted again, = the | the fac the | shadows began to retreat, the houses | daylight of | of distant Washington were slowly |the Potomac E re- assuming their more natural hues— | ported an increased peak consumption the eclipse was passing, the moon's | durink the approximately half hour victory was brie?, and In a few min- | of semi-darkness of about 6000 Kilo- utes the sun would once more be | watts. the nverage tor & master of the earth cloudy morning. Yesterday, at § a.m., ANl Avé Silént, the peak of consumption was 45,000 | For o Whatever disapointment might have | KIloWatts, he sald, while today at ‘the | Scores of the Government workers resulted from Washington's nability | *ame time the peak was 54,000 kilo- | took &n hours 1ekve of ahtende to to see the sun's corona because of | WAtS. It would be imposeible S g DS SaneERIE Hom e 1os Beogranhe posttion” wes ute oof | timate from these figures the cost of | Dt the greater number observed the its sograpnic posttion wasaimast | (oadit, (O NS ENTT e < ””‘)llnunuul.rnu acle from the windows ana a half when one aid met knowm | DIStrict, he said, because of varying | 9§ the Government offices. 1In every IS department great Interas . whether to hope it would get darker | F2!® e L L or lighter The Impressiveness of the ' Phenomenon In the heavens silepced every voice at the observatory, and | eyes were Kept fixed on the scene far, far_above, The dimness did not become more acute than the semi-darkness that preceacs & scvere ihunderstorm in the Summer time. The light, how- uver, was so pecullar that It drew ex- clamations from nearly every one on the observatory roof. With the eclipse past its peak and the sun rapldly emerging from behind the moon, the visitors lost no time In getting back to earth and left the astronomers to complete their own important work Wait (Continued from First Page.) sun and dimmed ral Supt. Sinclair ctric Power Co increase Many Autos Stop. coitha tiowatoal b ALESSANDRTDECIDES T0 sm FROM CHILE lighted automobile headlights parking lamps. Many drivers pulled | President, Learning of Overthrow of Military Junta, Believes Re- their cars up to the curb during the period of darkening and joined the turn at Present Inadvisabl army of moon-struck sun gazers. No accidents tere reported as resulting| from drivers shifting their glances | from the street to the sky, but numer- | ous collislons between pedestrians were noted while interest was at its| height ! President and Mrs. Coolidge did not | take advantage of the scientific facil- ities at the command of the Govern- ment here for viewing the eclipse, preferring the more popular methods. The President was content with a large place of glass, smoked at one side, closely resembling in size the| window panes on the upper floors of | the White House. A survey of thel windows disclosed that no panes were | missing, however. Mrs. Coolidge had | a much smaller piece of glass, also amoked. There was no more interested spec- tator of the phenomenon At the White House than Paul Pry, the Presidnet's airedale. Paul and Rob Roy, the White House white collle, insisted on accompanying their m ter and mistress to the sast grounds, | and Paul, true to his last name, mani- | fested great curiosity in the expedi-| tion. His interest won for him a special view of the eclipse through a shaded glass held In no less distin- guished a hand than that of the wife| of the President of the United| tates. B ea. Coolidge, much amused, 1ifted Paul to his hind legs and held the | glass over his éves with some dif-| culty, due to the canine’s all-consum- | ing curlosity as to what it was alll about. By considerable coaxing and | pulling, however, Paul Pry got a| glimpse. Although many thousands of Gov- ernment employes viewed the eclipse from the offices of the Government buildings in which they work, the temporary shading of the rays of the sun just after reporting time in the Government départments this morn ing caused no serious disruption in the ordinary routine of Government work. Chief clerks reported no number of tardy employes, a few of the departments, notably the Commerce and Labor Depart- ments, many of the employes report- ed for work early, armed with smoked glasses, and viewed the eclipse from the points of vantage offered by the high-placed windows in the Government buildings facing eant. An By the Associated Press MILAN. Italy, January 24.—Prési- dent Arturo Alessandri of Chile, to- a reccived from the Associated Press the first news of the overthrow yesterday of the Chilean military junta government. He said that he 4id not believe 1t advisable to return | home now. Persons conversant with Chilean politics are of the opinion that Ales- sandri’s return s not yet feasible be- cause the military party, which over- threw him, might again take over POwar which they are sald to have relinquished yesterday. It is not ba- lieved that another change in the government would take place with- out bloodshed.” Politloal observers recall that the military groups in Chile have been inapired by the old German army methods and traditions. for Results. Whet scientific benefits might have been derived from the eclipse will not be known for hours, at least, and perhaps révaral days. The corona of the sun, visible only in the area of complets totality, s expected to furnish &ny new revelations that might have been possible, and these will not come to light until the thou- sands of photographs that were made | are daveloped. | Searcely had the eclipse passed its maximum here before the observa- tory began receiving telegraphic mes- sages from the statlons lylng within the shadow of totality. The first of these was from the dirigible Los An- fle still 9,000 feet in the | ing observations with mem- bers of the observatory staff. The message announced that the observa- tions had been completed and that ideal atmospheric conditions had pre- vailed. Although conditions here were ex- cellent for observation, It was not until the last phases that the Naval Observatory experts were able to ob- taln photographs. The sun was so low that their instruments which had to be mounted close to the groynd, wers obstructed by trees and shrub- bery.. Messages from northern sta- tions reported excellent conditions, however, and sclentists are waiting anxlously for the results £3,000,000 LOAN SEEN. Rumanian Minister Negounm;] With London Bankers. | BUCHAREST, January 24.—Private advices received by financial houses here indicate that Finance Minister Bratiano's present negotiations with London bankers are likely to result in & £3,000,000 loan for the betterment of Rumania’s raflroads. The proceeds of the loan would be used to purchase equipment In England. Sharp Quake in Tokio. By the Associated Pre TOKIO, January 24.—aA sharp earth- quake of 10 seconds duration was felt here at §5:20 p.m. today. Apparently laboring under an hallucination that the eclipse of the sun marked the end of the world, E. C. Washington, a négro barber employed in the Senate wing of the Capitol, ran amuck early today with a razor, and be- fore he was captured, after an ex- ¢iting chase by Capitol police, he siashed one of the officials of the building on the face. The barber, who is commonly known ak “Wash,” met Richard H. (ay, superintendent of Capitol en- gineers, on the steps leading iInto the shop, with the assertion, “No I've’ got yvou where I want you. Mr. Gay, attempting to pacity the man, replied, “I haven't done any- thing to you,” at the same time trying to back away., Washington i alieged te have grabbed Gay unusual while_in unusual phenomenon took place First Daytime Radiol Reception From U.S.| Reported in London By the Associated Press. PHILADELFPHIA, January 24— Radio station WIP, Philadelphia, announced receipt of a cablegram from station 210, Lomdon, Eng- land, as follows: “Report reception of WIP 8:12 am.” The message, tion ofeials at ceipt of the broadeast in tributed it eclipse. SHORT RADIO WAVE TRAVELS WITH SUN Signals Come at Dawn, Fade During Eclipse, Strengthen as Light Returns. according to sta- WIP, meant re- first transatlant daylight, They at- to the effect of the By the Associated Pre NEW YORK, January 24 tests made of the hehavior of the ethar of the air during the total eclipse today, officials of the Radlo Corporation of America deducted that a short wave length follows the sun: that static is not entirely a local con- dition, because it was affected by general conditions, and that a long wave, irregular before the eclipse, became noticeably regular during totality. Short waves of From 75 meters and long waves ot 350 meters, sent out from WGY at Schenectady, were picked up at the Bronx laboratory. Dr. A. N Goldsmith, chief broadcast engineer in charge, sald “The short wave could not be heard until just before sunrise when it came faintly. As the sun appeared the waves grew stronger. As the short wave lengths Increased the static increased. During totality the short wave was blotted out, and con- ditions were exactly the same as be- fore the sun rose. When the eclipse ceased the short waves and static re- turned as the sun appeared “The long 380-meter waves were ir- regular before the eclipse, but became noticeably regular during totality. As the sun began to shine again the trregularity increased and the static returned.” Electrical conditions were more even than at night because they were con- trolled by one focal point—the sun in eclipse—rather than by all points of the horizon, Dr. Golasmith added. He described them as generally favor- able, “half way between the best day |and the worst night.” The tests were registered with 2 device known as a “fading recorder,” which automatically noted the chang- ing conditions on paper DIRECTION IS UPSET. BERCDOLLSADE, BROKEN, GIVES Chauffeur’s Action Seen Feeler on Draft Evader’s Behalf. By the Associated Prees. PHILADELPHIA. January 2 Tired of being a feguitive, ha said Eugene Stecher, companion and chauffeur of Grover Cleveland Berg doll, notorious draft evader, yesterday surrendered to the Federal district attorney here. Today he was M ng prison, in defanit 310,000 bail, charged with aiding and abetting the desertion of a member of the American military forces and with harboring and concealing such a fugitive. The maximum penalty fo the offense is 10 years' imprisonment or $10,000 fine, or both. No date has been set for his hearing. On the verge of a nervous bre Aown and with his hair turning from worry, he said. Stecher w into the ofice of district attorney, accompanied by « lawyer, and gave himself up. He 821 that he had returned from Ger- many 10 davs ago and that he had seen Bergdoil at Eberbach a faw davs before salling for this country. He declared that he had repeatedly urged the millionaire fugitive to return the United States and “face the music,” and that a dispute over the subject had caused them to separate two and a half years ago. Since then, he sald, he had lived with his wife, Who came to Germany, and tha he had earned his own living. Mrs Setcher did not accompany him bac to America xed the United States Relates Flight Story. After relating the detalls of h flight at the wheel of Bergdoll's rac- Ing automoblle, which started here May, 1920, and took the two men ha WAy across the continent and into Canada, where they salled from Qu bec for England, Stecher told Assisi- ant United Stataes Attorney Deininger {that he was glad it was all over “From the beginning,” he sald, “I've been wanting to come back and get it over, but I didn’t know just how | g0 about 1t Despite Stecher's denial, some F eral officlals expressed the belief that his return was “in the nature of teeler” for Bergdoll, who was sald | to have wanted to surrender for som time. Mrs. Emma C. Bergdoll, mother of the fugitive, said that he had prom- ised to come back “before the last election” but now said he did not know when he would return, if ever Mrs. Bergdo!l added that Grover was living in Eberbach; that she had re- celved a letier from him a few davs ago, but that he had not mentioned anything about returning to America or of Stecher's plans to surrender She declined to stats whether { would assist Stecher in his legal fight sha Radio Waver Vary as Much as Eight Degrees During Test. By the Ascociated Prei WATERBURY, Conn The Bristol Co. tests conducted here this morning during the eclipse by Prof. W. H Bristol and David Grimés, proved con- January oY= as the tality and that the direction of the waves varied as much as § degrees to the West from normal, Mr. Grimes stated that the reception trom station WDAR, broadcast éspe- clally for this test by Henry R. Neely Instead of being amplified by the eclipse, was diminished very mate- rially, This proves, he sald, that, con- trary to their previous opinlon, the sclipse Al not affect conditlons simi- Jar to nighttime as to the amplifica- tion, but, however, that it effected conditions similar to dawn and twi- light as to direction as {ndicated by the loop. All conditions and results have been | recorded, and after the same have een plotted it is expected that some very Important announcements will {be made of interest to rad!e engineers all over the world. The Bristol Co.| experiment was made as one of four which Dr. G. W. Picard, well known radio engineer of Boston, directed during the eclipse. NOTE VIOLENT ACTION. nitely Experts Find Change in Direction Starting Just Before Eclipse. By the Agsoc'dted Prose. PHILADELPHIA, January 24.—Ra- io station WDAR, Philadelphia, an- nounced a marked departure from the direction of their tone wave had been observed by radio scientists at Water- bury, Conn., Immediately before and during the Arst stages of the eclipse. The statement, dated Waterbury, Conn., given out by the station, read in part as follows: “A violent Agitation in the direc- tion of the fone wave belng recelved here from WDAR by Dr. Willlam . Bristol and David Grimes, radio scientists, was observed at 7:48 am.,, 10 minutes prior to the eclipse. The directional changes of the wave coming into the receiving in- strument tvere so rapid in thair changes at this time that it was im- possible to follow or measute them. In the next 15 minutes the agita- tion decreased, leaving a fixed de- parture of three degrees from the original course of the wave.™ Offi;ials I;t jured By Bomb in Hands Of Girl Anarchist By the Associ LONDON, January 24.—A dis- patch to the Evening News from Kuala Lumpur, Straits Settlements, says two Furopean officials were fnjured today when a Chinese girl, believed to bé an anarchist, ex- ploded a bomb. The girl, who was seriously hurt, admitted she had d Press. dogged the governor, bus, ithout success. & Eclipse Starts Capitol Barber On Mad Career With Razor and made a pass at him with & razor, {inflictink a slight fiesh wound on the 8ids of his face. The seuffe continued until the barber felled his opponsnt with a blow to the face and started away, Announcing he had an enemy on the House sids of tha Capliol, the barber started through thé corri- dor to “get him.” A call had besn sent in to the sixth precinct and Washington was captured on the House aide of the Capitol. He is lodged in the mixth precinct sta- tion for observation, but it ia uns derstood that Mr. Gay will prefer charges of assault with a danger- ous weapon against him. ‘Washington has been around the Capitol for many years and nothing pecul!ar has been noticed about his action untll the eclipse began thix morning. 2 radio-wave direction | clusively that signals faded out ded. | eclipse approached to-| U. S. OFFICIALS GRATIFIED. Arrest of Bergdoll Chauffeur Good ! | | News Here. { Department of Justice officials #x | pressed gratification today over surrender at Philadelphia yesterda |{of Eugene Stecher, chauffeur &and companien of Grover Cleveland Berg- | doll, the draft evader, in his escape from military authorities to Germany Altliough no Federa! warrant has been issued for Stecher, Department of Justice agents were instructed several vears ago to detain him If he whould return to this countrs, in the hope that Information could he btainea from him about Derzdells activities, As to Stecher's action yvestepd Assistant Attorney General Donovan #2‘d the ca-e probably would be han- | @led entirely in Philadelphia AVIATORS “TAKE” CRESCENT OF SUN 16,000 Feet Up, They Obtain Negative of 100-Mile Moon Shadow. By the Ansociated Press MITCHELL FIELD, N, Y., January 24—An airplane directed from tha ground by Dr. David Todd, professor emeritus of astronomy at Amberst College, landed today with twelve ex- posures of the racing shadow of the moon taken during the eclipse from an altitude of 18,000 feet. The fivers, an Army aviator and a civilian ocameraman, rcported they also had obtained a perfect photo- graph of the erescent of the sun in partial eclipse as it was reflected on the tranquil waters of Long Isiand Sound. Dr. Todd sald these pictures of the moon’s shadow and the sun's crescent were the first éver to be taken. Shadow 100 Milew Wide, The fivers said all the photographs should develop perfectly, and show a shadew of the moon, a perfact circle ot darkness 100 miles in diameter with a rim of flashing scariet, snapped as it slid toward the Atlantic at a speed of nearly onp mile a second Thé exposures were made when the airplane was above Pouhkeepsie, approximately 50 miles from Long Island Sound, from which point the aviators said they had a circle of vision 200 miles in diameter, which included the city of Philadelphi A temperature of two degrees abova zero and a 75-mile wind from the North was encountered as this plane took off, When it reahced its “ceil- ing" of Might, 16,000 feet, over Pough- Kkeeapsie, the airship's thermometer re- cordsd 18 degrees above zero. Meércury Drops 38 Degrees. During the period of totality, the fiyers reported, when the moon's re- flacted circle of darkness was rushing along beneath them, surrounded by ordinary daylight, the mercury drop- ped to 20 degrees below %ero. Lieut. Gerald C. McDonald piloted this flight. D. W. Goddard, olvilian scientiat, was his observer and pho- tographer. “Awful, inspiring, tremendous, grand, beautiful,” were some of the adjec- tives thay used in describing their experience. Prof. Todd, who is 70 years old and bas traveled over the earth to greet eclipses, sald conditions today were the best he had ever seen, and he hailed with boyish gles the arrival of thé airplans with what he later called “These first authentic records of the moon's shadow—a highly im- portant addition te our selentific knowledge of eclipses.” Sky Clear at Cornell. ITHACA, N. Y., Jahuary 24—The eclipse of the sun observed by scientists at Cornell University here today under conditlons they described as {deal. The eclipes was fotal here from $:08:40 until 9:10:%0,