Evening Star Newspaper, June 9, 1925, Page 1

\ Partly cloudy tonight and tomor- row, probably local thundershowers; little change in temperature. Temperatures: Highest, 93, at 3:15 p.m. yesterday; lowest, 69, at 6 a.m. today. Full report on page 21. Closing N. Y. Stocks and Bonds, Page 22 29,624, Entered as second class matter post office, Washington, D. C. No. ch WASHINGTON, D. C, Killed in Paris " CENEVA EXPECTS BERLIN OBJECTION T0 SECURITY PACT Right of Alien Troops to Cross Soil Held Sure Stumbling-Block. ENGLAND ABANDONS POLICY OF A CENTURY Discards Aloofness in Interest of Peace of Europe—Action Is Surprise. ated Prees. June 9 that will result ched in Assc i The e sent the allied to Ger- se. BRIG. GEN. WM. CHAMBERL. curity note b many as agreement re of complete between ce and Great Brit vesterday will lay down certain pri the basis| for negotiation of the pact, but will} not propose a specific text These principles include the crea- tion of a Rhine pact of neutral guar- antees, which will be supplemented by arbitration treaties between France | and Germany and Belgium and Ger- —_— many; between Germany and Poland, | B Al and Germany and Czechoslovakia. The | Veteran of Philippines and country resorting to force and refus- | ing arbitration would be considered an | World War Killed on aggressor. Visit to Paris. ciples a nd in de: angements, | nce, then France would have | ‘s assistance This A likely con-| By the Associated Press. tingency and Germany has gone on! PARIS, June 9.—Brig. Gen. record pledged not to use force, but|liam Chamberlaine, U. S. A., of Wash- i acopt 'z‘fi:"f=”\f”?p ma'f::a “1{ '- | ington, former member of the general many to protect Poland, as an added pines and France to his credit, was guarantee for Germany's eastern | Killed here last night when a taxicab neighbor j }in which he was riding collided with a As Germany already has informed | street car. the League of Nations that one rea-| He had left his wife at their hotel son why she cannot sign the cove-|and some hours elapsed before his mant is her objection to having for-|identity was definitely eign troops cross her territo it is| Mrs. Chamberlaine is ling for the believed that this point is likely to| United States with the body tomor- arouse difficulties in the negotiation|row. The Chamberlaines had been of the security pact. | here 10 days visiting. ! In France he was chief of artillery 1t Germany attacked P fiance of the arbitration ar for i v ther BRITISH PRE ARTLED. | Belleau Wood. Proposed Plan Upsets Tradi(imxali Brig. Gen. William Chamberlaine p U organized and took to France in Au- i ek ok s gust, 1917, the 6th Provisional Regl. LONDON, Jure 9 (#).—The British {ment of Coast Artillery. He lived at government today gave official ac-| 1806 Wyoming avenue. He was made knowledzement of the Franco-British | chief of Artillery with the 2d Division agreement on the reply to Germany's | of the American Armies in 1918 and security pact proposal, announced at |Participated in the operation in the Geneva yesterday. The British goy- | capture of Belleau Wood. He com- errimefit fssued a statement eripha.|Manded the Railway Artillery during mizing that the proposed pact is one|the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne of mutual assistance. | operations. The statement said that Great| After the war he was detailed to the Pritain has guaranteed to protect | General Staff Corps. He was made an both sides of the Rhine and there- | officer in the Legion of Honor and fore to assist either Germany or|awarded the France against aggression of the|balm. He was born in Virginia, March, other. {1871, and was graduated from West This abandonment by Great Britain | Point in 1892 of her long-standing policy of isolation | Gen. Chamberlaine had made his from continental affairs is a conces- | home here since his retirement from | of | the Army about two vears ago. sailed for France, with his wife, about accep- | six weeks ago. 'She was before her it | marriage Miss Margaret Smith, daugh- | ter of the late Gen. Frank G. Smith. Gen. Chamberlaine was a_brother- in-law of Maj. Gen. F. W. Coe, chief of Coast Artillery, now stationed in the War Department. His wife's mother and_sister, Mrs. Frank G. Smith and Miss Frances Smith, re | spectively, live at 1306 Twenty'first | street. Gen. Chamberlaine was a_member ‘ of the Metropolitan, Chevy Chase and | Army and Navy clubs. | ERE SOe PO FALL OF MERCURY sion to the peace and He Europe, the statement The statement added that tance of the pact by the allies approval is given it by Germany, is| contingent upon Germany's entrance ! into the League of Nations. Before | the pact can function it will be neces- | sary for Germany to enter the league | as a full member, which is an entire change of the former policy under which it had been maintained that Germany should become a conditional member of the league before secur- ity could be discussed. League to Guard East. ecurity said subsidiary to | e statement he The security pact the League of Natiol clearly pointed ot agreements regarding the frontiers of Germany, whic closely allied to the security p: precedence over the pact, which will| he registered with the league as its guardian for fulfillmnt | In effect the pact is tween Buropean poiwe sor to the treaty of 1839 “serap of paper’ treaty supposed to guarantee th Relgium. The new pact on broader lines i The statement said the most im-| True to the predictions of Forecas portant_accomplishment of the pact | ACt | ter Mitchell several days ago, the would be the renunciation by Ger-| - n entente be- a succes. | the famous | which wa security of | however, is| Further Relief Pre- dicted Soon. By the Associated Press. SPOKANE, Wash.,, June 9.— Forty animals belonging to Nell Shipman, moving picture actress, are starving in their cages at the head of Priest Lake, Idaho, F. T. Carroll, assistant supervisor. of the Kaniksu National Forest, reported today. The animals, which include 25 dogs, 4 bears, 1 wild cat, ‘1 deer, two wolves, an a . have been living on half rations and did not get ol e o rorin 1o revenge nerself | Mereury continued to descend today pon her neighbors for the loss of Al- with slow but certain pace. ' Lorraine and other territories,| At noon the maximum reading of and an agreement of European pow-|the day was reached at 83 degrees, Prs that the status quo under the|while yesterday was several degrees Versailles treaty is the asis of the|warmer. The humidity, too, is drop- permanent boundaries of Europe. - | ping, reading only 56 today, whereas ment leaves no hat overn. | Thent of Great Britain believes the pro.| The prediction for today is partly hosed security pact can make effective | cloudy and local thunderstorms, with Phe treaty of Versailles, and that its | little change in the temperature.” It is tnecss now rests in the hands of the | expected, however, that tomorrow will erman government. | be just o’ trifie coclor than at present, Fhe statement said that unreserved|and that the latter part of the week satisfaction is felt in London at monm see Washington visited by some news from Geneva that a complete | much-needed rain. Agreement had been reached between| Although it is still uncomfortably Gieat Britain and France as a basis| warm, the weather bureau explained o Chich diseussion regarding the es- | that the existing temperature is not tablishment of a security pact can be | unseasonable for this time of the continued with Germany | vear. Since the heat wave reached Tn summing up the situation one|its peak the thermometer has dropped RBritish official said the pact should be|12 degrees and with the hunidity accepted as placing Europe in the same | even lower, today is actually cool as Tosition as in 1914, but with different | compared with the latter part of last houndaries to protect. | week. The satisfaction thus expressed by | = the British government is because of | 3 S the principle of the pact that Germany | 680,000 Francs Paid for Painting. will become a member of the League W Nations and therefore that the| PARIS, June 9 (®).—A price of league will be raised to the important | 680,000 francs was pald by a dealer position of being in reality the guar-|4t an auction yesterday for a small dian of the peace and security ofPainting by Fragonard entitled “Fan- Europe. chon La Veilleuz.” As the dealer is obliged to pay a tax of 1914 per cent, Must Be Mutual Affair. | the total amounts to more than 800, The statement emphasized that since | 000 francs, or $40,000 the security pact suggestion originat- | ed with Germany it is obvious that for | the pact to hecome a reality it must | be a strictly mutual affair. It said| the British commitment would be re- | stricted to a guarantee of the frontier between France, Belglum and Ger- many. Great Britain is not proposing to intervene in any possible conflict in which it has no real interest, the state- ment added, but said that by means of such a mutual understanding as the pact proposes, and by a clear state- ment of British obligations, all possi- bility of war wherein British interests might be involved on the Franco-Bel- gian-German frontler might be avolded. The statement said that all signa- tories to the pact would enjoy all the yights and obligations pertaining to ~" (Continued &n Fage =, Column established. | { for the 2d Division and helped capture | e | Chang Also Reported Favoring Oppo- croix de guerre with| CONTINUES SLOWLY Maximum Reached Is 88, With | GEN CHAMBERLAINE | | | | fired upon near Whampao. FOREIGN STEAMERS FIRED UPON DURING River Boats Crowded With Refugees Blocked by Cross-Firing. WATERFRONT BUILDINGS DAMAGED BY GUNBOATS Fighting After Receiving $100,- 000—Yunnanese Confident. | By the Associated Press. CANTON, June 9.—F tween rival Chinese forces battling for possession of Canton continued today | with renewed intensity and consider able casualties. River steamers are crowded with refuge on account of cross-firing Chukiang River. The commander of the largest Chi nese gunboat left his ship after re ceiving $100,000 from the chief of the Yunnanese forces. The Yunnanese are confident of winning. A Chinese Chamber of Commerce committee, ac- companied by a delegation of Ameri- cans, called on the army chiefs today and requested that further fighting be carried on 10 miles outside the city The trouble will last for some time, according to indications. Additional foreign gunboats arrived here today. Foreign steamers were reported hting be. the over | Busi pro- The bund has been deserted ness inside the city is partially ceeding. Airplanes sent from Honan Prov- ince are circling above the city. Fighting continued throughout the night, but the usual scatter shot ran- dom firing of the Chinese soidiers pre- vailed. Chinese gunboats were active vesterday, damaging buildings along the river front by gunfire. The customs house has been closed and the staff has been removed to the foreign concession. The concession has not been damaged. FENG BACKS STUDENTS. sition to Foreigners. PEKING, June 9 (#).—The vernac- ular newspapers report that Gen. Feng Yu-hsiang, “Christian general,” has issued a circular porting the students agitation against foreigners and also that he has wired to Chang Tao-lin, Manchurian war lord, urging that the military lead. |ers co-operate with each other an with the nation to obtajn “the right of the Chinese people. Chang is reported to have replied, agreeing with these sentiments. It is believed that military chlefs are merely desirous of showing sympathy with the popular movement and that they do not intend to take any anti- foreign action. In fact, it is understood that Chang in a circular telegram has advised the students to refrain from violence. Strikers at Talyuanfu, in Shansi. are reported to have wrecked of the Asfatic Petroleum Co. BOYCOTT IS LIMITED. Strike Leaders Decide to Oppose Only British and Japanese. SHANGHALI, June 9.—A decision to limit the strike and boycott here to British and Japanese was reached at a meeting of strike leaders held yes- terday afternoon. Emplooyes of all | other nationalities were ordered to re- turn to work. employed on Yangtze (Continued on Page 3, Column 5 e STUDENTS PROBING SLAYING OF TEACHER One Youth at Louisiana State Is Watched Closely—Officers Get No Clues. By the Associated Press. BATON ROUGE, La., June 9.—Ef. forts by police and detectives having failed so far to solve the mysterious ax killing of Oscar B. Turner, in- structor in agronomy at Louisiana State University, students of the school of agriculture today began an investigation into the slaying on their own initiative. What methods the students would pursue in their attempts to unravel the puzzling circumstances surround- ing the crime were not revealed, al- though it was understood that among the hundreds of young men and wom- en attending the university one youth was under close surveillance by both authorities and classmates. The coroner’'s jury. which has held two sessions in ‘a prolonged inquest into the killing and has examined a number of students and other persons connected with the college without making recommendations, adjouraed last night, but will resume the in- quiry tonight. The slaying, marking the first day of the last week of the present scholastic term, has upset the entire institution, despite efforts of the faculty to continue classes and exam- inations. Movie Actress’ Menagerie Starving As Creditors Fail to Provide Feed anything to eat Friday and Satur- day, Mr. Carroll said. “They cannot be turned loose to forage for themselves, because they would drive all the game away from the lake and pillage tourists’ camps,” he said. “Nell Shipman is in the East. The menagerie was taken over by creditors, but they haven't taken care of the beasts.” Mr. Carroll said the Forest Serv- ice has no money to feed the ani- mals and he has appealed to the public for aid. Commander of One Ship Quits es unable to move | dispatch sup- | the offices | By Cable to The Star and Chicago Daily News. | The Seamen’s Union called out men | River and WITH SUNDAY MORNI TUESDAY, J — —~s ~ A Raviogrart i £CORD-PREANING LpEEAT WAVE N US <7 fig}no MANY) 17 BODIES FOUND AFTER MINE BLAST i Driller Believed to Have Broken Through Gas Pocket in Kentucky Shaft. | ! { By the Associated Press. | STURGIS, Ky., June 9.—Bodies of the 14 missing miners, victims of an explosion in the West Kentucky Coal | Mining Co., here yesterds were ifound this morning and brought to the surface along with three others who had been found last night { The victims, seven white men and { 10 negroes, were found at the 400-foot |level, and more than a mile and a quarter back of the shaft mouth. Ten j of the men were in a heap, the others being ‘scattered about. 130 Escape Death. 130 other miners were in Nearly | the mine at the time of the explosion | but Mmanaged to reach safety before { deadly fumes and dust of the explo- | sion_overtook them. | Officials in charge of the work said { that a drill bit was found hetween the { charred knees of one of the dead men |and a hole had been bored into the | Bround under him. The officials ex | pressed the opinion that the drill had | et, and that the explosion when sufficient gas seeped to have been ignited by the miner's lamp he was wearing on his cap. | Delay was encountered by rescuers | when they were forced to erect brat- | tice and crib work to clear a passage- way for the removal of debris. Inspector’s Son Is Victim. James Merritt, a mine inspector, went through the underground work- ings of No. 9 between 6§ and 6:30 o'clock vesterday morning, found only slight traces of gas and pronounced the mine safe. Hardly two hours elapsed before the | explosion. Among the victims is Inspector Mer- ritt's 19-vear-old son, Liston. Liston Merritt became a miner only a few weeks ago. He intended to re turn to school in the Fall said, as he was captain of the Sturgis | High School foot ball team. 'LOST INDIAN HEIRESS occurred through | | | | | IS MARRIED IN IOWA | Girl, Aged 16, and Worth $1,200,- | | 000, Bride of Man Who Killed Fellow-Student. By the Associated Press. COUNCIL BLUFFS, Towa, June 9 | ®).—Maude Lee Mudd, 16-vear,old Oklahoma Indian, heiress to an estate | valued at $1,200,000, who disappeared |from her home in Miami, Oklahoma, May 21, was married here vesterday to Barl E. Gordon, 27, an automobile salesman of Miami. The marriage was performed in the presence of and with the consent of her mother, Mrs. Susanne Bomberry. The mother's consent makKes the marriage valld, William Simms of Vinita, Okla., guardian of the girl, said. Previously Sheriff E. E. Simpson of Ottawa County, Okla.. had said that Iowa authorities would be moti fied to hold the girl, giving his opinion that the marriage would have to be sanctioned by Simm Following the ceremony the couple. accompanied by Mrs. Bomberry and a friend of Gordon, departed in an automobile, supposedly for Oklahoma. When the Indian girl disappeared from Miami she was belleved to have been kidneped. Once Faced Murder Charge. MIAMI, Okla, June 9 (P).— Earl E. Gordon, who was married yesterday to Maude Lee Mudd, was the center of a sensational murder trial at Stillwater, Okla., three vears ago. Gordon, then a student at the Okla- homa Agricultural and Mechanical College, shot and Kkilled Beckham Cobb, another student, on a street ad- joining the college campus. Gordon pleaded self-defense, asserting Cobb had threatened him when he refused to apologize to Mrs. Cobb for a ficti- tious insult Nine Die, 40 Hurt in Crash. BRISBANE, Australia, June 9 (#).— Nine persons were killed and 40 in- jured today when a mail train from Brisbane to Rockhampton was wrecked at Gymple. Queensland. Radio Programs—Page 20. broken through the top of a gas pock- | his friends | NG EDITION ¢ Fpening Star. UNE 9, 1925 —-THIRTY-SIX PAGES. MAYBE. LOEB IS IMPROVED. | | Prison Doctor Expects Complete | Recovery From Breakdown. | CHICAGO, June (#).—Richard | Loeb, ne of the slavers of Bobby | Franks, who became subject to post infectious delirium following an at tack of measles, has improved greatly, according to his physicians at the prison hospital at Joiiet The doctors reported he had spells of rationality and that the stra which had held 1 to his bed were removed and he sat up and chatted with his guards | T look for his complete recovery, aid Dr. W. B. Martin. NATS THREATENED ~ WITH FORFEITURE. |Ban Johnson Wants Reason | for Failure to Play Chi- ! cago Today. | By the Associated Press. | PHILADELPHIA, dent Johnson of the American League |said today that, unless the Washing- |ton club can give a satisfactory rea-| son for not playing off today the post- | poned game of vesterday with Chi cago the game would be forfeited to the White Sox. Mr. Johnson came here to inspect the improvements at Shibe FParh Through his secretary he expressed | {surprise when informed that the | Waschington club would not play the | postponed game, which was stonned | by rain at the end of the third in-| ning with the score 6 to 0 in favor of the Sox. The league president knew nothin: of a protest having been wired him | by Manager Collins of Chicago, and id if he had sent one it probably was forwarded to the American League offices in Chicago. Under the rules of the league, Mr. Johnson said, a postponed game | | should be played on the first visit of | a team to a league city if there an open date. Double-headers are not | permitted on the first trip. Today was an open date in the Washington {and Chicago schedule. Lou Barbour, business manager of Ithe Chicago club. who a ed here |today. said that Manager Collins ha:l | protested the failure of the Washing-| ton club to play off the game today. | Griffith to Fight. When informed of Ban Johnson's statement concerning the possible for- feiture of a game to Chicago by Wash ington Clark Griffith, president of the local base ball club, said that if such a forfeit was declared it would be con- tested by him. Griflith insisted he had made no promise to Eddie Collins, manager of the White Sox, or to any other Chicago club official that any postponement occurring in the seres here beginning last Friday would be played off today, an open date for both teams. “After rain stopped yesterday's game in the fourth inning Collins asked me to play, it off today. I told him we would play the game off when Chicago gets here next month,” Griffith said. “Collins asked why I would not play the game today and I told him I did not want the club to do so. “No game was regularly scheduled today and no league rule that I know of compels the Washingotn club to play. The playing off of postponed games is optional with the home club, and I believe I was within my rights when 1 refused to grant Collins’ re- quest.” ldren in For Chi The installation of 17 sprinklers near playgrounds in various sec- tions of the city, where children will get a cooling shower during the hot weather, was authorized by the District Commissioners in board session today. Col. Bell authorized Supt. Gar- land of the Water Department to prepare the sprinkler. Fire Chief ‘Watson was authorized to detail firemen to supervise the operation of the showers and Acting Supt. of Police Evans was directed to close off the necessary space on the streets, where the sprinklers are to be set up. The Commissioners decided that the sprinklers could be operated be- ~tween 3 and 5 o'clock each after- noon, probably commencing in three or four days. The 17 loca- tions recommended by Mrs. Susie Root Rhode: “srvisor of play- greunds, . | way system in the Dis | bia, including the projects of both the | | municipal | and also the development of the ad-| PARK AND HGHWAY PLANNERS CHOSEN Col. Sherrill Announces Committee to Guide Devel- opment in Capital. Development of the park and high- rict of Colum- and Federal governments, jacent territory in Maryland and Vir- ginia, is to be planned by an agency the membership of which was an- nounced today by Lieut. Col. C. O. | Sherrill, executive secretary of the| Natlonal Capital Park Commission, under which office the committee will carry on its work. This committee is to be headed by Maj. Carey H Brown, United States | Army Engineer Corps, who has been ! ordered to Washington as assistant director of the office of Public Build- ings and Public Parks. Maj. Brown was for several years Assistant Engl-| neer Commissioner of the District of June 9.—Presi-| Columbia and had much to do with | the preparation of the first regulations. zoning Other Members of Group. The other members are: Frederick A. Delano, chairman of the commit- tee of 100 of the American Civic Asso- ciation on Development of Washing- ton; A. B. Cammerer, assistant direc- tor of the National Park Service; Maj. Raymond A. Wheeler, assistant En- gineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia: James G. Langdon, land- scape architect of the National Capi- tal Park Commission; Melville C. Hazen, surveyor of the District of Co- lumbia; Irving W. Payne, landscape architect of the office of public buildings and parks; George E. Clark, chief of the curveying and mapping section of the office of public build- ings and parks. Col. Sherrill in making the an- nouncement said that not only was there the demand for a co-ordinated plan of the National Capital, there had grown up a strong demand in Maryland and Virginia for the preparation of a co-ordinated regional plan covering the entire metropolitan area surrounding Washington, with- gut reference to State or jurisdictional mit. The authorities in Virginia, under the direction of Gov. Trinkle, he said, have taken steps looking to the prep: ration of such a plan in Virginia ad- | jolning the National Capital, and the Suburban Sanitary Commission of Maryland, acting with the approval of Gov. Ritchie, is looking forward to a greater plan in the territory of Mary- land adjacent to Washington. Seek Co-ordination. These agencies of Maryland and Vir- ginia have approached the National Capital Park Commission through their proper representatives with the view of perfect co-ordination in pian- ning both inside and outside the Dis- trict of Columbia. Col. Sherrill said that it is hoped by the Park Commis- sion that a_regional plan will result from the efforts now being made by authorities in Virginia and Maryland, looking to the creation of a sound plan the carrying out of which would be left to the authorities in each juris- diction. The appointment of Maj. Brown as chairman, Col. Sherrill said, was made largely on the recommendation of Harlan Bartholomew and other emi- nent city planners and in view of his extensive experience in city adminis. tration and city planning, particular- (Continued on Page 2, Column 6 Cooling Sprays Ordered Turned On City’s Hot Streets Bryant street, between First and Second; Livingston street, Thirt: ninth and Forty-first streets; Co- lumbia road, Georgia avenue and Sherman avenue; Kalorama road, Champlain street and Eighteenth street; N street, First and Second; Iowa avenue, Varnum and Web- ster streets; Twenty-third street, S street and Bancroft place; Third street, New York avenue and N street; Otis street, Warder street and Georgia avenue, Longfellow street, Eighth and Ninth streets; E street northeast, First and Second, Taylor street, Thirteenth and Fourteenth; Third street south- east, L and M streets; I street southwesi, First and Second; G street northeast, Third and Fourth; C street southeast, Fifteenth and Sixteenth, and O strect, Twenty- sixth and b, but | The every city b tion is delive: as fast as th Star’s “From Press to Home Within t:ie Hour” carrier system covers lock and the regular edi- red to Washington homes e papers are printed. Yesterday’s Circulation, 96,288. (#) Means Associated Press. 11 MEN DROP 50 FEET. Several Injured When Mine Hoist- ing Engine Becomes Disabled. SHAMOKIN, Pa., June 9 Eleven men fell 50 feet in a mine in the Scott colliery of the Susque- day. All were injured, several of them seriously. The men were being ered into the mine when something went wrong with the shaft engine CAPITAL TRACTION FARE WILL STAND Hanna Says $10,500,000 Valuation Increase Will Not Mean Boost. Justice Hoehling of the District Su- preme Court decided late yesterday { titled to add approximately $10,500,000 ! to the yaluation placed on its property | by the Public Utilities Commission. While the court does not give the fig- ures, it holds that the company is en { titled 1o have the cost of labor and material as of 1919, in addition to $5.- {150,000 omitted by the commission { from the actual cost of the purchase of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Co and $3,062,008, represent- ing additions to capital from July 1, 1814, to December 31, 1924. This, the court says, would bring the valuation v up to date. Car fare will not be affected by the decision, John H. Hanna, vice presi dent and general manager of the com- | pany, stated today. Mr. Hanna said that while increas- | ing the value of the property will tend | to make the company’s rate of return | much lower at the present fare, the company has no plans for seeking a change. Two Factors Enter. The value of the Capital Traction property as figured by the Utilities Commission, prior to this decision, was approximately $17,000,000. There are {two elements entering into the | crease in this value under the new de- cision, namely, allowance of the com pany’s claim of the $5.150,000 for fran- | chise and other intangible rights and an increase in the value of the phys cal property that must be made to take care of increased price levels. It was explained today that the court, in its decision, has laid down the principles to be followed in ap- plying this upward adjustment in price leveis to the old valuation, but that some mathematical calculating is still nece before the final total of the new valuation will be known. Those familiar with the case said to- day that the final figure will be some- where between $28,000,000 and $30, 000,000. The court directs counsel on both sides to prepare schedules in accord- ance with the principles laid down in the opinfon and to prepare a decree which he will sign. Court Reviews Dispute. | In an opinion of 14 typewritten pages the court reviews the questions in dispute between the company and the Public Utitities Commission and | narrows them down to two points One that the commission instead of fixing a valuation as of July 1, 1919, fixed its valuation as of July 1, 1914 To that the commission failed properly to consider, as an element of the fair value of the property, the purchase price paid by the Rock Creek Railway Co. (now the Capital Traction Co.), for the franchises and other intangible property of the W. & G. R. R. Co., as a going concern, the purchase having been made under express authority of Congress. Following the opinion of the Court of Appeals in the Potomac Electric Power Co. case, the court held th: the valuation must be made as of the time of making and not at a prior date. “The uncontradicted evidence [in the case,” says Justice Hoehling, “not only discloses, but it is a matter of universal knowledge. that during the five years from 1914 to 1919 there had been a sharp rise in_prices and values; and it is an equally well- known and recognized fact that, i | large part at least, the rise in prices |is permanent in character, so iar at least as concerns the matter of any | reasonable probability of a return to { pre-war prices.” ! Based on Actual Price: | Continuing, the court s n fix- {ing the fair value of the physical properties of the plaintiffs as of July 1, 1919, the plaintiff entitled to the then fair and reasonable value of its property, based upon the present current prices of material and labor; excluding from the computa- |tion, as a basis for the valuation, either the index figures of the De- partment of Labor, showing increase in commodities generally over pre- war costs, or the ‘prudent investment’ theory as contended for by counsel for the commission. In other words, the actual prices current in 1919 should be used in computing the re- production values of 1919.” The court then takes up the his- tory of the purchase of the Wasn ington and Georgetown Railroad Co. by the Capital Traction Co., for which $10,750,000 was paid. of which Public Utilities Commission in its val- uation had disallowed $5,150,000 in its determination of the historical value of the property of the company. Jus- tice Hoehling points out that Con- gress had directed the purchase and that the commission, while not ques- tioning the integrity of the transac tion, saw fit to exclude $5.150.000 from its valuation. The court finds tha no good reason appears why a port | | i bitrarily rejected as an element and {tem of valuation. No Fight on Transaction. Referring to the purchase, Justice Hoehling says: “As matter of fact, Congress expressly granted authority and permission for the transaction, and it safeguarded the interests of the stockholders by requiring the written consent of .two-thirds thereof, and it safeguarded the interest of the public by requiring the written consent of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. It is hardly conceivable, therefore, that a transaction thus safeguarded could have been effected unless entirely legal and proper. Furthermore, 'the street railway cor- poration thus newly organized then was, and ever since has been. subject to the supervisory control of Congress, and if the transaction was properly subject to eriticism or attack upon the ground that an unfair or excessive price had been paid in the purchase, that matter doubtless long , sifice would have been investigated and, if justified, corrected. On the contrary, however, no suggestion of impropriety, j illegality or criticism of the amount i paid has beén made. nor i it even now made by G egmmission.” hanna Collieries Co., at Kulpmont, to-| low- | that the Capital Traction Co. is en-| in- | then | the | of the purchase price should be ar-| * TWO CENTS. CITY HEADS WANT TIDAL BASIN BEACH REOPENED AT ONGE { See Need for Action if Legal- ity of Move Will Be Un- questioned. SHERRILL OFFERS PLAN TO PROVIDE FACILITIES Could Open 01d Site for White Per- sons and Establish Place | for Colored. | 1 being i |as in favor of the immediate vised bathing for the neople of the Ithe chair n, suggested two beaches could be equipped and Argue Against Reopening. either white or colored beaches, but Ysema»» District and _appropriation The District Commissioners, at a. |board session today, went on record j{opening of the Tidal Basin Bathing i h, provided Lieut. Col. C. O. Sher- |rill, in chargze of public buildings and grounds, finds it can be done legally. Since the recent heat wave the city heads have been keenly interested im the possibility of providing super- District in order to avoid the danger of drowning while swimming in out of-the-way places. The solution for the bathing beach | problem was offerea 1 Visory Council today in a letter to Jesse {bathing beach site on the Tidal Basin |could be opened for white people and |that adequate and sfactory bath }H v' facilities could be provided for | colored people’ at Jones Point, on the | Anacostia River east of the Army War College. Col. Sherrill sald these operated without chlorination of the water by using funds from the Joint Welfare __The opinion was given following an | inspection of prospective bathing sites erday by Col. Sherrill and medical officers from his office r, that it would take r the season to operate these beaches with proper chlorination. He recommended that in view of the con. gressional action in requiring the clos. ing of the bathing beach on the Tidal Basin that no effort be made to open that the matter be pi 3 y Congress when it r‘ryn\vn‘:ie‘j e | At the same time, he said, if the council, after considering all the facts, deems it advisable to open these two beaches, that it communicate directly with the chairman of the House and committees and get their views. Demolition Is Deferred, Col. Sherrill said that the wor! abolishing the bath houses ulk!}?: former white bathing beach at tho Tidal Basin would not be carried on as planned Representative Blanton of Texas has been in conference with Col. Sherrill and asked him not to take this step until Congress convened and again had an opportunity to go over the whole matter. As the law permits this demolition to be de- fered for a couple of vears, Col Sherrill consented to withdraw the order to await further action on the part of Congress. “In accordance with vour informal request yesterda; said Col. Sherrill in his letter to the advisory council “the following information is furnisk ed, in reference to the bathing beaches | Status Is Outlined. | “Congress at its last session after ve heated discussion, withdrew the fund previously appropriated for the Lathing beach for white people on the | east side of the Tidal Basin. It also | withdrew the fund previously appro. priated for the construction and main tenance of a bathing establishment for the colored people on the west ;Sldp of the Tidal Basin. There was | also included in the second deficiency | bill, approved March 4, 1925, an ap- | propriation of £10,000 for the removal | of the bath house and bathing beach {on the east side of the basin and the work that had been done on the west i side of the basin. | “These acts of Congress indicate to me their desire that no bathing es. | tablishment should be maintained on | the Tidal Basin at all this year, but, in | view of the recommendation made by Representative Blanton and concurred in by Mr. Zihlman, I am contemplat- ing suspending all work looking |toward the demolition of the bath. house on the east side of the Tidal | Basin until after Congress shall have |had an opportunity to express itself | by legislative action on this matter this Winter. Operation Ts Possible. “In reference to the proposal made by Mr. Blanton that the Tidal Basin bathing beach be opened at once and that considerable improvised bathing facilities be provided for the colored | people at Jones Point or some other | location, T beg to advise that to equip and operate these two beaches with |out chlorination of the water and without essential changes in the two | beaches could be accomplished by this | office using weltare funds and making the two beaches self-supporting. To construct the necessary temporary ac commodations for the colored people and to put the white bathhouse in | order and to operate the two with | proper chlorination would cost in the neighborhood of §25,000 for the season “In view of the action of Congress |and the expense involved in operating |these beaches satisfactorily, my sug- | gestion is that no effort be made to open either one of these beaches this Summer, but rather that the matter Ibe fully presented to Congress next |Winter with the view to once and |for all settle this question of bathing | beaches. v« Ask for Views. “As an aid to this office in carrying out instructions of the Senate appro- priation committee to prepare esti- mates for bathing establishments, 1 |would be glad if vour council would canvass the public sentiment as to the proper location for at least two large permanent beaches, one for the white and one for the colored, and advise me of your conclusions. My thought is that the best place for the white beach is either where it is, or at the Virginia end of the Georgetown Bridge, and the best place for the colored beach is undoubtedly at Jones Point, where a considerable tract of land could be acquired at low figures and an ideal park could be created not only for bathing, but for various other recreational activities for the colored people.”’ *'Tn sddition to the two matn beache: .. (Continued on Page 2, Column |