Evening Star Newspaper, October 4, 1925, Page 1

\ WEATHER. (U. &, Woather Bureau Forecast.) Mostly cleudy. probably showers fo day and tamorrow: not much change in temperature. Temperatures—Highest, 76, at 2 and : lowest, 63, at midnight and 2 Fwil report on page 4. 29,741, 0. SENATOR FLETCHER, JOKN R. BARTLEIT, HURT IN ELEVATOR W. R. Spillman, Post Office Official, Worst Injured of 12in Florida Hotel. HOUSE MEMBER BRUISED IN NINE-STORY CRASH, Assistant Postmaster General Suf- fers From Sprained Back, But Is on Way Home. Be tha Associated Press JACKSONVILLE, Fla., October 3.— Twelve prominent men. including 'nited States Senator Duncan U. Fletcher, First Assistant Postmaster General John R. Bartlett and William R Spillman, superintendent of the division of post office service, were in jured here this afternoon when a Mason Hotel elévator in which they were riding crashed nine stories to the ground. Mr. Spillman was the most serious I\ injured of the party,‘sustaining g fractured right leg above the knee »nd lacerations from fiying glass. He ix confined to hotel room. Mr. Bart- | lett. formerly Governor of New Hamp- | ~hire, suffered a sprained back. but was able to proceed by train to Wash- ington. He left here early tonight. Senator Confined to Room. Senator Fletcher is confined to his room suffering from severe bruises and strained muscles. The others of the party who sus. | tained @ severe injury was Richmond Marxs, local attorney, who suffered a broken kneecap. Representative R. E. | Green of Stark, Fla., was lacerated and bruised. Those Slightly Hurt. s, all of Jack Ing bruises Herbert E. Ros J. R. Stockton, financie George H. Baldwin, steamship oper- ato ssistant postmaster . Imson. city commissioner. Willlam P. Howard, jr. manufac turer. Alvin Register, meat packer. i Two women whose names could not | be learned were slightly injured. The party was proceeding from the hotel dining room on the roof when | the elevator, after passing the ninth | floor, got out of control. The cause | has not been determined. Senator Long Prominent. | Senator Fletcher, the senjor Senator from Florida and a leader in the Dem- | ocratic party, lives in Washington at 1458 Massachusetts avenue. His Flor- i wars of aggression. Entered as second class matter post office, Washington, D. C. }:RE By Cable to The Star. BERLIN, October 3.—It became ap- parent tenight from Warsaw and Mos- cow dispatches and from Foreign Min- ister Tchitcherin's guarded insinua- titons that the security pact confer- ence will resolve itself into a division |ententes. The Russian view is that if | the conference succeeds the entente lines will be plainly —if it s the line will remain as vague at present. Undoubtedly Lussia. without being 1 participant in the conference. forms ihe central key to all its deliberations. | Tehitcherin has done his utmost |dissuade Germany and entering the pact and {aligning _themselves in the net of bourgeois nations which under British domination are openly opposed to the |Soviet regime. His efforts have been successful only in that Germany and Poland now have something to bar- gain with—their proposed with Ru: of demarcation from openly Soviet Not Trusted. Both Great Britain and Fr ave 4 new Russian scare which may DS SEEK POLISH AND GERMAN AID TO KILL SECURITY TREATY [Move, Regardless of Other Effect, Offers Berlin Something to Bargain Wi ’ Proved Vital to World Peace. | matter, of Europe into Eastern and Western | mental nd rigldly diawn [ment I8 strong or w 1 Hin 2 position 10 offer her |in any emergency Russia will help the 1o | Poland from |govel ¥ |nomically even with her avowed ene-! .k"dq‘“p!\\'Ilhmltl. 1 nee now | 8 he WASHINGTON, D. th at Locarno—Russia lead them to grant wider concessions to Germany. But Tchitcherin's mis- sion has not been an unqualified suc- cess. Poland is still in terror of the Third Internationale and does not trust , the Soviet's friendship. Nor, for that does Germany. The funda- act remains that untll Russia has discarded International commun- ism, ¥rrespective of whether the move- is not | triendship to any nation. Itussia_cannot enter a tenuous al- liance with any ecapitulist nation, cause the capitalist nation fears that native communists to upset the local ment. onomic relations are another mat but Russia is willing to deal eco- | mies. Russia cannot enter the League of Nations on a basis acceptable to, other countries. She may get into the pact if .it allembracing merely be- cause she believes she can protect her self better from within than from | Tchitcherin's maneuver has demon ed a two facts—that without Rus- pact for peace is inadequate: (Continued on Page 25, Column | LAW CODFICATION PLAN INDORSED BY WORLD CONGRESS Disarmament to Be Discuss- ed Monday by Interparlia- mentary Union Delegates. The twenty-third conference of the Interparliamentary Union, in a reso- lution adopted last night, indorsed the efforts of the League of Nations and | the Pan-American Union to codify in- ternational laws, and called for a gen- ! eral and constructive plan for codifica- tion based on progress made in recent years. The conference also adopted a reso- Iution providing for “a declaration of rights and duties of nations” and an- other directing a study to prevent The resolutions were adopted after three days of full discussion of the sub- Jects and cleared the way for the con- ference to consider at its next session, tomorrow, the question of reduction of ida home is at Jacksonville, where| the accldent occurred yesterday. The ! Florida statesman, who was reported | 1o be suffering from severe bruises| and strains, is 66 years of age and has | long been a prominent figure in his| State. He has served in the Senate| since 1908, and was previously a mem. | ber of the State Legislature. : Mr. Bartlett, First Assistant Post.| master General. a former Governor of New Hampshire, and also a former | member of the Civil Service Commis- | sion, makes his home here at 2400 Sixteenth street. He is expected 1o rrive in Washington today. he | left Florida vesterday. Mr. Bartlett | in 6 years of age and was Governor of New Hampshire from 1919 to 19; He came to Washington as a mem.| " Der of the Civil Service Commission in | 1921 and was made First Assistant Postmaster General in 1922, a post he has filled since. Mr. Spilman, who is reported the most seriously hurt of the three Wash- | ington men in the accident, lives at 1645 Hobart street. He is superin- ! tendent of the division of post office | service, under the office of First As-| sistant Postmaster General. i COONTZ QUITS COMMAND E OF FLEET IN THE PACIFIC | Lowers Flag on the Seattle and| Starts for Capital—Admiral Robison Succeeds Him. | By the Associated Press { SAN PEDRO, Calif., October 3.— | Admiral Robert E. Coontz today | hauled down his flag from the trucks | of the cruiser Seattle and turned over the command of the United States feet to Admiral Samuel S. Robison. | Full naval ceremony marked the ! transfer. { As the last piece of prescribed etiquette was completed. Admiral | Coontz disappeared over the side of the ship. which has been his hom and headquarters for two years, piped by eight “side-boys.”” and was rus ashore in his barge to catch for Omaha. where he will addre: American Legion convention. F there he will go to \Washington teatify before the President’s Aircr Board. Admiral Robison leave for Washingtoh fu purpose omorrow Admiral Robison, who relinquishes command of the batlle fleet to become commander-in-chief, will be succeeded in the former post by Admiral Chs ¥. Hughes, who will arrive tomorrow. Admiral ' Coontz_will become com- mandant of the fifth naval district, with headquarters at Norfolk, Va. FASCIST LEADER IS SLAIN. | the same Florence Crowd Pursues and Shoots His Assassin. 1 FLORENCE, Italy. October 3 (#)— | Cavalier - Luperini. member of the Facist party directory of Florence, was assassinated here tonight. His | ilant, Giovanni Benciolis was pursued and seriously wounded. The | assassination caused great excite- ment. particularly in Fascist circles. Benciolini in his attempt to escape was chased by a great crowd, some of whom fired revolvers at him. He was captured suffering from wounds. All the theaters iIn heen closed. Glider Up 12 Hours 8 1-2 Minutes. MOSCOW, October 3 (#).—In :lider contest in Crimea today (ierman aviator Ferdinand Schulz re- mained aloft 12 hours S'. minut A This is belieyed to be & wyrld record, ' the | armaments, Root Draft Approved. The resolution on codification of in- ternational laws was drafted by Elihu Root, whose paper on the subject had been read earlier in the day by Repre- sentative Theodore Burton of Ohio. It expressed appreciation for the work of the League of Nations and Pan-Amer- fcan Union on codification, and urged ‘a general and constructive plan for such codification, based on the prog- ress made during recent years, with a view to defining the fundamental con- ditlons of the regime of peace to be in- stituted between the nations.” It also would provide a plan for the ridical settlement _of disputes which constitute a threat to that regime, and to the application, if nec- essary, of methods of execution and of sanction.” Seeks Sense of Order. The second resolution, reported by Senator H. La Fontaine of the Bel- glan group, provided for “a declara- tion of rights and duties of nations” which would “prove a powerful factor in promoting among them the sense of order, of international justice and of | responsibility.” It requested the committee for the study of juridical questions ‘‘to pre- pare a draft declaration which could be submitted to an ensuing conference of nations” and which would take into account “economic conditions guaran- teeing the rights of nations to exist- ence.” V. V. Pella of the Rumanian group Introduced the third resolution, which would create a permanent subcommit- tes of the committee on juridical ques. titons “to undertake the study of all the social, political, economic and moral causes of wars of aggression and to tind practical tsolutions for the prevention of that crime” and to “draw up a preliminary draft of an interna- tional legal code.” Irish Protest Suppressed. While the conference was in session 11 group of Irish Republican sym- = threatened to storm the hall in protest to the exclusion from the meeting of Mary MacSwiney, an Irish lepublican advocate. The demonstrat however, were peacefully escorted police from the Capitol grounds under protest. Debaté on the subject of codific tion which occupied most of the day ession, was opened by Representa- ve Burton, with the reading of Mr. Roots paper, which indorsed the work of the league, the World Court, !The Hague tribunal, and argued for codification of laws as an aid in pro- moting peace and adjusting contro- versies between nations without re- sort to war. Mr. Root's paper and Mr. Burton’s NEW DRIVE T0 SEEK VOTE FOR DISTRT BEGUN BY CITIZENS Federation Names Commit- tee of Five to Push Move for Representation. | Steps to stimulate renewed interest in the movement to obtain representa- tion for the people of the District in ! Congress and In the electoral college | were taken by the Federation of Citl- | zens' Assoclations at its first Fall meeting in the boardroom of the District Building last night. The federation adopted a resolution | offered by Delegate George A. Ricker, | calling for appointment of a special | committee of flve members to inquire | into the status of the campaign for national representation and to recom- mend ways of giving greater impetus to the undertaking. The resolution, which was carried by a vote of 37 to 6, read as follows: Seek Systematic Campaign. “Whereas the Federgson of Citi- zens' Associations has for some years been actively aligned with the move- | ment for the adoption of an amend- ment to the Constitution of the United ! States empowering Congress to grant | the citizens of the District of Colum- | bia representation in Congress and the electoral college and the same rights | as citizens of the several States be. fore the Federal courts: and “Whereas many of our citizens feel that greater progress to this end | should be made through more con- | tinuous and systematic actlon than | at present; “Therefore be it resolved by the | Federation of Citizens' Associations, | in regular meeting assembled this 3d | day of October, 1925, that a special committee be appointed of not exceed- | ing five members, including the presi- | dent of this federation, to inquire into the present status of the natfonal rep- resentalon campaign and report back to the federation, accompanied by | recommendations 'as to enlarging, systematizing and speeding up the work of Americanizing the Wash- ingtonian.” Few Oppose Move. A few delegates expressed opposi- tion to the motion, but the vote was decisive. The federation has for a number of years been represented on the Citizens’ Joint Committee for Na- tional Representation. Willlam McK. Clayton, chairman of the committee on utilities, urged the delegates to keep their respective as- soclations interested in the subject of | a street car merger when Congress | reconvenes. Mr. Clayton recalled.the passage by the last Congress of a bill authorizing voluntary merger, the terms of which must be approved by Congress. Mr. Clavton indicated to the dele- gates that he was not optimistic over | the prospects of a voluntary merger that would be acceptable, and he pre- dicted that if such a consolidation is | not worked out the next Congress will | serlously consider additional legisla- | tion designed to bring the compafies together, | Delegate George Finch advocated | encouraging motor bus competition. | which, he sald, would act as an eco. nomic influence to induce the street raflway lines to merge. There was no action taken on the merger issue at last night's meeting. To Aid Park Development. Upon recommendation of Delegate George Wales as chairman of a com- mittee, the federation voted to com- municate with Col. C. O. Sherrill, ex- ecutive officer of the National Capital Park Commission, to offer him the co- (Continued on Page 19, Column 3. !Girl Sent to Asylum on Evidence Held Secret From Her and Counsel By Cablé to The Star. PARIS, October 3.—Many persons in France are disturbed to-discover, just as in olden times before the revo- lution, when the king or any one else in power could send persons to the Bastille without either trial or expla- nation, that it is still possible to get ! 1id of a bothersome individual by hav- Florence have [ing him or her put into an asylum for the insane without evidence other | than secret documents, which neither ‘the victim nor the latter's lawvers e allowed to see. L'Oeuvre reveals the story of Mile. her, who was released from an lum only after three months' de- ientlon. She d had a love 2ir with an officer, who eventually tired b 2 1L operation of the federation in develop- (Continued on Page 2, Column 1.) H of her and refused her pleading for a final meeting. One day she received a summons to g0 to a district magis- trate's office in Paris. - There she was told_ that the prefecture wished to see her. Taken to police headquarters, the girl was immediately thrown into a cell and later taken to a provincial asylum, after being confronted with her lover. Mile. Larcher’s lawyer, one of the most eminent members of the Parls bar, declares she never annoyed or threatened the officer and never showed the least indication of insanity Experts reported her a dangerous madwoman on the strength of the secret police report, which the prefect | refuses to show to the magistrate or | her lawyer. { ish | States, has tendered his r { President Coolidge to become effective | clashes between the | the Gulf WITH DAILY EVENING EDITION R “From Press to Home Within the Hour” The Star is delivered every evening and Sunday morning to Washington homes at 60 cents per month. Telephone Main 5000 and service will start immediately. C., SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 4, 1925.—118 PAGE: THMPSON LEAVES | SHPPINGBOARD TO OPPOSE ABDLITION Must Be Free From Charge of Self-Interest in Stand, He Says. PRESIDENT ACCEPTS RESIGNATION AT ONCE Publisher, Five Years on Body, Sees Danger in Policy. Fought Palmer. i | i By the Associated Press. In protest against proposals to abol- | the Shipping Board, which he | feels would destroy regional repre sentation in the operation of the Gov- ernment’s merchant marine, Frederick 1. Thompson of Mobile, Ala. the commissioner representing the Gulf ignation to ovember 1 and it has been accepted He has been one of the opponents of President P'almer of the Fleet (o1 poration and was one of the four com missioners who voted Thursday to strip Mr. Palmer of much of his| OVERLOADED! UP) Means Associated Press. i 1 | FIVE CENTS. INTERNAL REVENUE MOSTLY HOUSED IN FLIMSY FIRE TRAPS Nearly 6,000 Men and Wom- en Exposed to Daily Peril in Tinder-Box Buildings. GOVERNMENT’S RECORDS IN CONSTANT DANGER Frequent Inspections Have Led to Appeals for Congress to Remedy Situation. This is the first of a series of ar- ticles on the need for new Govern- ment-owned buildings in the Dis- trict of Columbia to house impor- tant Government activities. The second article will be printed to- morrow. No. 1—Internal Revenue Bureau. BY WILL P. KENNEDY. More than 70 per cent of the space occupled by the Internal Revenue Bureau—which uses dafly valuable papers and records representing bil | lions of dollars and which has a force FEKS, IN CAPITAL, 5 Explains He Came to Clear Out Home Here, Which Was Recently Sold. powers, i Mr. Thompson, a large newspaper | publisher, serving a five-year te which would not expire until i was first appointed by President Wil-| son and reappointed by Presidents | Harding and Coolidge. | In his letter of resignation Mr. | Thompson frankly stated to the| President that he wished to retire so! that he might be free to join with | others in opposing the proposed change in the board’s management | and thus be relieved of any implica- tion that he was prompted by self in-| terest in wishing to retain his office. Scores Policy’s Effect. Mr. Thompson in his letter touched only by inference on the vecent; poard and the | R saving that delegation of | Secreta Weeks' return to Corpora- | ington yesterday from the long tion, which was done at the Presi.sence necessitated by ill health served dent’s wish and later revoked by the|to strengthen the impression that he board itself, had “destroved regional | will retire from the cabinet in the voice and authority,” adversely affect- ' near future, although no information ed American flagship operation, and |, 1o his plans was available cither weakened the country's influence N from Mr. Weeks himself or in any world trade. g Lo ctes Pointing out that the official statis- ORex diarter, tics of the Department of Commerce e War Secretary was a lunche President b: wider powers to the Fleet show that 38 per cent of the exports ' Suest at the White House. He did not | last vear originated in Sogthern and | visit his office, across the street at the Southwestern States natullilly tribu-| War Department, however, and he put | tary' to Southern ports, Commisioner | aside inquiries as to whether he ex- Thompson reiterated that if regional | pected to resume his duties there. He representation in the management of | was compelled to give up active man- the overnment’s shipping were ', ental affai s abandoned in the plans to abolish the | 288Ment of departmental affairs earls - i 1in April, when he suffered an attac Shipping Board as an independent | I Whell e sunered anatack administrative office of the Govern.|diagnosed as thrombosis. and has ment similar to the Interstate Com.been at his office since that time. merce Commission, and join it to some | Still Lacks Strength. executive branch of the Government, | 2 g his section of the country and its| Mr. Weeks explained the immediate i people would be deprived of a voice burpose of his trip to Washington as of was in_a subject vital to them. having to do with the necessity The White House announcement ! clearing out his home here, whick said merely that the resignation had | sola during his absence, but whioh | been tendered and accepted. {still contains paintings and other Commissioner Thompson's letter of | S Kich i hi i resignation to the President, dated yes. | ©ffects which will be shipped to his terday, was as follows: jresidence in New Hampshire. He ap- “In November 1 shall have served ! peared to have improved in health five years as the commissioner of the | since his visit to the President some United States Shipping Board from | weeks ago at Swampscott, but indicat- States under the appolnt-: o4 that he is still lacking in strength. Tents of resident \llson. President; " piscyssion as to Mr. Weeks' prob "1t now appears ceitain that effort | able swccessor in the cabinet was re- will be made to change the present | Vived by his visit, and 1t included (he shipping law. abolish the regional rep- of Acting Secretary Davis. Sec. resentation provided therein and make ' {{80Y HOVE T 2 g it an executive branch instead of, as ) O'K and others. now, an independent administrative of- Intentions Are Secret. fice of Government similar to the In. | A B terstate Commerce Commission. I wish | Mr. Weeks' intentions have been a 1o retire to be free to join with others | closely guarded secret ever since he in opposing such change without hav- | Was stricken. Due to his vears and ing it construed that such opposition ; the nature of the attack me‘rs w: was prompted by selfinterest in | &eneral feeling in Army circles at the wishing to retain the office. This ! time that he would not return to his would neutralize what { desk, and there have been indications T acannq "patever influence | that members of his family have urged newspapers published by me. | him to abandon his position. Whether “The experience gained by my five | he still is uncertain as to his ability Ave | Dhysically to take up his duties or (Continued on Page 10, Column 5.) | whether he has deferred presenting = e his resignation until President Cool- jidge could shape his plans for the | cabinet changes it would entail was | Officials at the War Department | were anxious to tender some tribute to their chief when they learned that Ihe was back in the Capital. Precau- |t|lms to keep the Secretary free from e . | was staying checkmated their efforts. | They were forced to await his Ir‘nmlm! H e de before lans to Others Rescued, While West, 0.4 Fowers conia e carvied out. " Virginia Accident Covers | = s ok S {BULLARD OPPOSES PLAN rea. : i TO UNITE AIR SERVICES visitors or other excitement by with- holding information as to where he — i Bs the Associated Press. BLUEFIELD, W. Va., October | All but two men have been accounted ! for in the No. 2 mine of the Lake ! Superior Coal.Co., Superior, McDowell County, where an explosion occucred | at 7:30 o'clock tonight, according to an officlal statement made at 10 o'clock this evening by Dr. 8. A. Daniels Welch, chief surgeon for the |during the Worid War, today declared coal company. . i himself opposed to the suggestion Willlam Smith and Dick sam,"s.'ma‘: dme various air services be machine runners, are the only men |“"feC . > Returning from a_visit to the Eu- who have not been located. They are | yopean batclefields, he said Col. Wil- supposed to be in the south section |jjam Mitchell was performing a much of the mine, about a mile and one- needed service in stirring discussion fourth back, where the explosion oc-)of the inadequacy of the national air curred. defense. . “But there can be no separate air East Section Survivors. service in war,” the general added. All other men €ho were in the mines were at work in the east sec- | | “The commander must have control of everything.” tion and were brought to the surface shortly after the explosion. None of = them were injured. Early reports ‘:tTtedhthatl a fu2| crew was at worl In the mines ane 14 had been entombed. - Final check- (|| Ambassador Page’s up showed that only six machine run. ners were at work—two crews in the || east section and one crew in the south. ||| No Estimate of Damage. 1 TO The explosion was confined to only | a small portion of the mines and the ‘Woodrow Wilson amount of damage has not yet been| estimated. | " Start Today in Rescue crews from the United ' The Editorial Section States Coal and Coke Co., are at work. A United States Bureau of | | Mines car, which was at Gary, Is also ) at the scene. - — S Declares Mitchell Is Performing Much Needed Service in Stir- ring Discussion. By the Ascociated Press. NEW YORK, October 3.—Maj. Gen. Robert Lee Bullard, one of the three American Army Corps commanders War-Time Letters SILENT ONPLANS TODAY'S STAR. General News—Local, National and Foreign. Schools and Colleges—Pages 24 and 25. News of the Clubs—Page 40. Serial, “The Night of the Weddin Page 41. s and Programs—Pages 34 News—Pages 36, 35 PART TWO0—20 PAGES. and Editorial Features. nd Other Society Reviews of New Books-—Page Tales of Well Known Folks Avound the Citv—Page 19. Y. W. C. A, News—Page 20. PART THREE—16 PAGES. Amusements—Theaters and the Pho- toplay. Music in Washington—Page 5. Motors _and Motoring—Pages-7, §, 9 and 10. Veterans of the Great War—Page 11. | Civilian Army News—Page 12. Army and Navy News—Page 12. | Fraternal News—Page 14. PART FOUR—$ PAGES. Pink Sports Section. PART FIVE—8 PAGES. Magazine Section—Fiction and Fea- tures. . The Rambler—Page 3. PART SIX—10 PAGES. Classified Advertising. D. A. R. Activities—Page 10. Boy Scouts—Page 10. Girl Scouts—Page 10. At Community Centers—Page 10. GRAPHIC SECTION—S8 PAGES. World Events in Pictures. coMIC CTION—1 PAGES. Bet Reg’lar Fellers; Mr. and Mrs.: Mutt and Jeff. | EPIDEMIC QUELLED Physicians From Navy Base Go by Plane to Lonely Village Ravaged by Diphtheria. Special Dispatch to The Star. ORFOLK, Va., October 3.—An- swering a call of distress from Hat- teras Village, situated on the most isolated spot on the North Carolina coast. two Navy planes contalning doctors from the naval base flew to that place last night and today and probably saved the lives of a score of children. of an epidemic of a throat complaint village to go by, doctors at the naval base diagnosed the casesas diphtheria. Hastened by Plane. Dr. R. L. Vance was hurried to the place in a F-5-L machine, piloted by Lieut. ¢. F. Simard. He carried .000 units of anti-toxin with _him. When he arrived at Hatter diphtheria cases in 22 homes. There were as many as three cases in some | of the houses. lle used all of the anti-toxin and sent a radio. to Norfolk for a second supply. A second ma- | chine, manned by Lieut. F. A. Davis, | was dispatched to the place with a second doctor who carried 100,000 units of the anti-toxin. More than 50 people were given an injection of the fluid. Mary Johnson, five years old, died soon after the doctors arrived. She had been il five days with what was thought to be tonsilitis. Assistance has been asked for from the mainland, which s 30 miles away from the little village. There is no_doctor at the place where the diphtheria epidemic is raging, but Dr. Vance says he does not anticipate more than three more deaths from the malady. | .He says the anti-toxin was admin- { istered just in time to save the lives | of many’ children. Hatteras Village has a population of 600, composed principally of fishermen, coast guardsmen and their families. Bottles Found Under Limit. A shipment of pint milk bottles, inspected upon arriving in the Di: trict, was ordered destroyed vesterda. | by George M. Roberts, superintendent | of weights and measures. Mr. Rob- erts said the bottles were found to | be slightly under the tolerance allowed BY FLYING DOGTORS With only the meager descriptions | among the younger inhabitants of the | he found ! OFFICERS DEFEND COMDRLANSDOWNE Col. Hall and Lieut. Anderson Refute Testimony of Capt. Heinen. i By the Associated Press i LAKEHURST, N. J., October 3.—| | Disputing the theory of Capt. Anton Heinen, veteran airship pilot, that the | primary cause of the Shenandoah dis. | aster was a failure of Comdr. Zachary | Lansdowne and the other officers to heed obvious danger signals, two sur- vivors testified today before the naval | court of inquiry here that no im-} mediate danger signals were manifest | until just before the huge craft broke | in midair. These survivors were Col. C. G. Hall, Army Air Service observer on board, and Lieut. Joseph B. Ander- son, the ship's aerologist. Anderson said that Heinen's whole theory was| ! based upon inadequate and erroneous | information, while Col. Hall said em- | | phatically that he had been in com- | mand of the Shenandoah he would | | have taken no course of action differ- ent from that which Comdr. Lans-| downe followed. Drift Testimony Contested. Capt. Heinen's declaration that the !drift of the ship to the right con- | stituted a danger signal that should | have been heeded immediately was | contested by both witnesses. Ander- son said the drift was a natural one, onsidering that the vessel was fly- | ing westward in a southwesterly wind, | | while Col. Hall said at no time did he notice a drift that was different { from what he would have expected { under the prevailing conditions. Both Hall and Anderson asserted there was nothing to indicate that the Shenandoah was being drawn into the vortex of a storm even up to the time of the first rise, and the Army observer told the court that it was not until 10 or 15 seconds before the | ship actually broke that he observed any signs that she was being drawn | info danger. Lieut. Anderson was examined at great length as to conditions from 3:20 am., the time he got to the con- trol car, until the smash-up occurred. | He expressed the opinion that the ascending current which took the Shenendoah up on two uncontrolled vises was a purely local one, caused by the meeting of upper layers of | cold air from the north and a lower layer of warm air from the south. Air Not Bumpy. Both this witness and Col. Hall said | there was no bumpiness in the air| such as would indicate the immediate proximity of a thunder squall. An- derson said at no time did he ob- serve any immediate danger before the ascending current was reached, | and that when some time before he advised a course to the south it was because of his fear of a then remote | danger. { Before this phase of the inquiry | was reopened., Capt. Hienen was called for a verification of his testi- mony, and at its conclusion the court, | upon his request, struck from the record as irrelevant the statement | made yesterday by James Work, chief { draftsman at the alr station, i had told his wife Heinen wa; i and he knew he a “liar accused the Bureau of Aeronauties | of the Navy Department of sending the Shenandoah men to their death, Heinen Protests Epithet. Capt. Heinen told the court that he had made no such accusation against the bureau; that Work could | not support the statement that he had made and requested that Work | apologize. He said he had not want. | ed to make any personal issues, but | that if such {ssues were to be made | he would fight and would show Work | that he had the ability to do so. Except for a single session Mon- ! day morning to be devoted to the! plecing together of a few loose ends | the first phase of the inquiry is closed | and the remaining two phases will be ! taken up in Washington about the | {middle of next week. i |CZECH MINISTER ARRIVES. | | | Dr. Fielinger Declares His Coun- try Needs Financing. Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, October 3.—Dr. Zdenick Fielinger, new Minister to t | United States from Czechoslovakia, | arrived today on the Holland-Ameri | can liner Nieuw Amsterdam. He de- | clined to talk of his country’s affairs, | projects.” | convenience { the of more than 6,000 employes—is in temporary, firetrap buildings, “out- lawed” by age, with the piles on which they were erected in a war emergency rotting from under them and main- | tained only at excessive cost. There are approximately 6,000 hu man beings in this one Government agency alone exposed dally by the Government they serve to the danger of fire in flimsy, tinder-box structures, where they swelter and suffocate in Summer and shiver with cold in the Winter. See Great Saving. Officials of the bureau estimate— | and this is officlal, made in a repori to Congress by the Public Buildings ‘ommission—that a saving of 25 to 30 per cent of the cost of collection of the taxes which all the people of the country pay could be effected should the work be concentrated in one building instead of being scat- tered in 10 buildings, some of which are more than a mile apart. Nine of these are Government buildings—such as they are—and one is a rented building at 462 Louisiana avenue, which is the old District Building, since occupied by the Army Medical School. The rent is $11.500 a year and 57,000 square feet of floor space is occupied. Warning to Congress. Congress has been warned by its official agent, the Public Buildings Commission, of which Senator Reed Smoot of Utah is chairman, that “the destruction of one or more of these buildings by fire could easily cost the Government several times the amount required for financing the entire pub lic building program.” The commis- sion further warned that ‘“‘taking risks of this sort certainly cannot be classed as ‘economy’ " and emphasized that “the need for remedying the housing situation of the Internal Revenue Bureau is by far the most urgent of any of the &bullding D. H. Blair, commissioner of In- ternal Revenue, has advised the Pres- ident and Congress that a very im- portant increase in collection of taxes with a corresponding decrease in cost per hundred dollars for making col- Jections could be effected in a single bullding properly adapted for use of the bureau. Puts Papers in Peril. Not only does this condition affect this vital work of the Government and endanger the lives of thousands of emploves and put irreplaceable pa- pers in peril, but it causes untold in- to many thousands of taxpavers who come to Washington to transact business with the Internal Revenue Bureau. There is no camouflaging of the fire peril, generally throughout the Gov- ernment service and specifically in the Internal Revenue Bureau. Nearly three vears ago this was fully explained to the responsible officials of the Govern- ment and to the proper committees of Congress, when attention was particu- larly directed to the duty of relieving Internal Revenue Bureau from this menace and of removing the tem- porary war buildings. It was then stated by the Public Buildings Com- mission that: Danger of Fire. “The fire hazard at the present time in the buildings of the Government establishments in Washington is ab- | solutely appalling and so threaten- ingly iminent as to subject the respon- sible Government authorities to abso- lute condemnation of the public at large for failure to provide adequate remedies for these conditions. As a typical illustration and representing many other establishments, it is desir- ed to cite the conditions found at the present time in the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The Internal Revenue oc- cuples space in buildings of tempo- rary frame construction, and of the most highly inflammable character possible to imagine. “These buildings are veritable tinder boxes, and only a merciful Divine Providence has so far spared our Gov- ernment the most tremendous catas- trophy that could be imagined in the destruction of these buildings. One- half of the entire personnel of the Income Tax Bureau, consisting of over 5,000 employes, are crowded into these inflammable buildings with an utterly inadequate floor space, as demanded by modern, sanitary fire regulations. The overflow of income tax returns have been piled into a bullding of flimsy, wooden construc- tion, Annex No. 2 of Bullding C, in which the fire hazard is unspeakably great, and the congestion of -these records is so great as to rénder oper- ating efficiency almost impessible. Tax Unit Files. “The files of the Income Tax Unit, including over 15,000,000 confidential returns of income, 30,000,000 related letters and hundreds of thousands of valuable maps and special reports, are packed and jammed into Annex No. 1. Several hundred thousand re- turns and related papers, in course of audit, are temporarily held in Annex No. 2, a fragile wooden tinder box erected during the war, in which the risk of fire is constantly imminent, and which, if it occurs, would quickly destroy Irreplaceable papers répresent- | by his department in the measure of | except to say it was in need of financ. | in& hundreds of millions of dollars of | such bottles, 1 ine. (Coatiuued oa Pase 4, Column 3