Evening Star Newspaper, December 12, 1926, Page 1

“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. WEATHER. (U. 8. Weather Bureau Forecast.) Fair and warmer today. Tomorrow rain and colder. Temperature—High- est, 45, at 2 p.m.; lowest, 33, at mid- night. Full report on pege 4. WITH DAILY EVENING EDITION 0 No. 30,175. HIPE OF SETTLIG SSUE OF GERMAN ARMANENTS RS League Council Adfourns, But Ministers Stay on Today to Seek Agreement. 1,134—No. STRESEMANN GIVES NEW ASSURANCES TO ALLIES Briand’s Position Uncertain, While Cabinet in Paris Debates Mili- tary Control Plan. By the Associated Press. GENEV A; Switzerland, December 11. ~—Though the Council of the League of Nations stood adjourned tonight without having reached an agreement on,‘interailied control over German) &ymaments, the foreign ministers will Teassemble tomorrow morning. The action of the French cabinet with respect to M. Briand's plan for the withdrawal of the military commission hag not been made known. 5 _“Gustav Stresemann, the German Toreign secretary, emerged from the council smiling, and said: “We will stick to Geneva until we settle every- thing, even if we have to stay until Christmas.” He hoped that the new German as- surances concerning fortresses and the exportation of armaments would sat- isty the ambassadors' council, but if they did not, he proposed arbitration of the question. The foreign ministers, including M. Briand, approved this plan, which will be submitted to Paris. February Date Favored. It was confidently hoped that prom- fses on the armament problem by Germany would convince the council of ambassadors at Paris and the al- led military experts and that the for- eign ministers could reach an accord to end the interallied control about February 1. The unsettled problems, such as the dismantling of fortifica- tions and the exporation of arms, would be left for settlement by a spe- cial tribunal of arbitration. A modified plan of league investiga- tion into German armaments was adopted by* the council before its ad- Journment. This plan authorizes the council to decide by a majority vote whether an investigation is necessary. Germany won what is regarded as an important point by a provision that no ial control exercised in the demilitarized Rhin¥ zone Uniess this is later agreed upon by France and Germany. o In connection with the ifew. nssi ances which Germany is expected to give in order to the turning over of supervisis of Germany’s armaments to thé league, Foreign Minister Stresepfann disavowed ex- planations given at yesterday's ses- sion of the council of ambassadors by Gen. Von Pauwels and said that the ! German -cabinet had fhstructed the | generalto make & fresh statement to | the ambassadors tonight. He charac- | terized the general's statement of yes- | terday as clumsy and unclear. } While repurts were circulated to-| night that Premier Poincare had re- | pudiated concessidns made by Foreign | Minister Briand, and that M. Briand | would resign if he were not supported by the Poincare cabinet, another re- port was that M. Briand and Foreign Secretary Chamberlain of Great | Britain, stirred by their receipt of the ' Noble peace prize, were felt to have | exceeded the limits of discretion in | favoring the cessation of interallied Entered as second class matte: post office, Washington, D. ) 30- Special Dispatch to The Star. CHICAGO. 1., December 11.—To most persons who knew him in Wash- ington, United States Senator William | Brown McKinley, who was buried yes- terday in his home town, Champaign, was a bachelor, or vaguely known as a widower. Mrs. William Brown Mec- inley is living, a semi-invalid, at Southern Pines, N. C. She did not at- tend the funeral services vesterday. {To some persons the fact is known that William B. McKinley was mar- Iried in 1881 to Kate Frisbie and that { they lived apart for 30 years. This is the story, told for the first time here today, one of the strangest, sweetest stories of marital relations that have ever become public. It is told here as Semator McKinley him- self told it and, now that he has passed on, it is told in justice to him land to Mrs. McKinley, for there have been rumors, whispered storfes, in- nuendoes, about them. Mot of these are lies, invented for no reason at all. To begin with, Senator McKinley himself was an unusual man. He developed one of the greatest public utility corporations in the State, the Tlinois Power -and Light Co., be- came several times a millionaire, gave away between $6,000,000 and $8,000,000 YEAR LOVE, THOUGH PARTED, BARED BY McKINLEY'S DEATH| Widow of Illinois Senator, Semi-Invali&..B"-I- SAY PRES"]ENT Still Living in Southern Pines, N. C. Once Home-Town Belle. he VASHINGTON, D. and died with a fortune that is esti- mated to be well under $1,000,000. More than 5.000 students of the | University of Illinols have been helped through school by the student loan, fund which he established and fi nanced. Upward of 1,000 notes so taken were destroyed by the Senator when handled personally. He was elected seven terms to the National House of Representatives, and served one term, expiring March 3, next, in the United States Senate. | Yet he lived this extremely busy and productive life, boy and man, under one of the most intense inferioril complexes that any human being ever endured. And McKinley suffered. Every man | was higger in_ his estimation than | himself. He dreaded personal con- tact, vet he loved people, and his heart was warm within him. For the last 30 yvears he lived closely within himself. Kate Frisble in the early eighties was the belle of Champaign Count: Ward and relative of the Griggs and | Smith families, social leaders in those days when the Griggs House, a famous hotel in middle Illinols, was the center of every social activity, Kate Frisbie was the center of every- thing. Brilliant, intellectual, ambitious for (Continued on Page 11, Column 5.) GRIDIRON COMEDY ' SCORES PRESIDENT “Maw” Stearns and “Paw” Butler Get Generous Joshing at Club Dinner. The “Third-Term Baby”—a husky voungster in swaddling clothes, smok- ing a long black cigar-—was intro- duced to the National “Capital's best political circles last, fiight under the {auspices of the Gridiron Club. ‘William M. Bufler, chairman of the | Republican _nafional. committee, .and iFrank W. Stearns were presented as the “Pa” and “Ma"” of the prodigious infant, in a satirical adaptation of Eugefle- O'Nelll = entitled “Desire | Under the Elms of Vermont." __The primary concern of the New England parents of the Third-Térm Baby was to protect it against a group of farm hands whieh included Vice' President Dawes, Spéaker Nich- olas Longworth, Senator Borah, Sen- ator James E. Watson and Frank O, Lowdén, all of whom were accused of having desires which meant no good to the child. ¢ § Members of the famous hewspaper club, at their annual Winter dinner, were in a rollicking mood from the moment President Clifford Berryman, artist of The Star, Nashed the flaming gridiron until President Coolidge was presented as the guest of honor. Shafts Aimed at President, Their shafts were leveled chiefly at President Coolidge, his fishing exploits third-term chances, and who was defeated in_Massachusetts. President Berryman.did his best to restrain the roasting impulses of the club members, vet they ran riot with the more tender sensibilities of the leading figures in the Nation's public life, saying and -singing to the faces of the heads of the Government control. ! things they do not incorporate in | their Washington correspondence. Nobel Prizes Appreciated. Dr. Stresemann, M. Briand and Sir | Austen addressed the council in ap- preciation of their receipt of the Nobel prizes. Sir Austen especially referred to the contribution of Charles G. Dawes, Vice President of the United | States, his co-winner of the 1925 prize, | in_the reconstruction of Europe. He | declared that Locarno had led Europe | out of darkness into light, that the path was still long and beset by dif- | ficulties, but that he was convinced | that with courage and perseverance | the goal of permanent peace could be | reached. | Dr. Stresemann painted a new Ger. | many dedicated to co-operation for | peace, and expressed the belief that | Germany thereby would attain her | tullest and honorable development. HITCH ARISES IN PARIS. Cabinet Moves Cautiously in Support | of Briand Policy. PARIS, December 11 (#).—M. Briand’s peace and disarmament plan at Geneva has mct with obstacles. Hi. proposal to withdraw allied military control on February 1 and arbitrate ! the differences with Germany relative | to that country's disarmament, if di- rect negotiations fail, is believed to be disapproved in some measure by the French cabinet ministers, who, after & two-hour session this evening, sent | him new instructions. 1 The members of the cabinet showed the utmost secrecy, but rumors from Geneva that M. Hriand might resign | if the cabinet flatly rejected his plan indicated the seriousness of the situa- tion. Whether the cabinet did more than suggest a modification, however, is still a matter of speculation. The rumors that resign if the cabinet fafled to back | him came during the cabinet meeting, | but there was nothing tangible on | which to base the idea that anything | #0 serious was imminent, although| Briand's record has dramatic action. 1 Prestige Is at Stake. i The prestige of the French foreign | been one of, minister for the moment hangs on his | ce work with Germany, and this is | in the public eye because of the award ! to him of part of the Nobel peace prize. His negotlations jointly with Gustay Stresemann, the German for- elgn secretary, over withdrawal of al- lied control was evidence that he ex- M. Briand would | The President, the Vice President, the Speaker, the entire Cabinet, Sen- ators, Representatives, the bench and the bar, finance, business, professions | were present to laugh with and at themselvem and their associates. The Gridiron Club announced in an opening song it intended to emul President Coolidge by going fishing. With “Fun as our bait, you men of State, we'll promise to hook if you will wait.” To the tune, “On the Riviera,” the club sang: 1f you would be a sport Of ‘the real White House sort. Then_you must be an outdoor man like Calvin Coolid“o. © With_fishing rod in hand. And bait that's sure to land. Where trout—and votes—are waiting you must stand. Almost immediately there was a terrific clatter as a large alarm clock was carried to the stage, a gift which had just arrived for Vice President Dawes. The bearers were rebuked i for reviving an old joke about the Vice President having been asleep when he was needed to cast the de- ciding vote in the Warren case. “That isn’t the point,” said one. The Republican majority will be so slim in the next Senate, the Vice President may have to break a tie every few minutes and the sender of this clock wants the Vice President to stay awake’”’ He was asked who had sent it. He read the card: “Yours hopefully, Calvin Coolidge.” “Desire Under the Elms of Vermont.” Soon thereafter the sun began to set on the Vermont hills and the farm hands returned from the fields | —Dawes, Lowden, Longworth, Borah end Watson. ““Sun’s having a hard time shining hrough them clouds,” Borah said. “Yep, it’s bin cloudy ever since No- vember second,” Longworth agreed. “Jim" Watson thought the clouds had a “&pooky look.” Dawes volun- teered “they look to Jim Watson like JAIL'MOODY'S GIRL TYPIST AS BANDIT Police Hold Texas Governor- Elect’s Stenographer in Robbery of Bank. | By the Associated Prees. AUSTIN, Tex., December 11—/ Rebecca Bradley, stenographer in the | office of Attorney General Dan Moody, and graduate of Texas University, working on her master's degree, was taken into custody here tonight in connection with the robbery of the | Farmers Exchange Bank at Buda, Tex., today, Chief of Police J. N. Littlepage said charges of robbery would be filed against the girl. He sald that she has been identified by Cashier 8. A. Jami- son, and Bookkeeper Waymon Howe, whom she is alleged to have locked into the vault of the bank. Upon learning of the arrest, Mrs. G. E. Bradley, the girl's mother, in- stituted habeas corpus proceedings. The writ was granted by District Judge James R. Hamilton and later dismissed. Mrs. Bradley charged her daughter was being fllegally restrained. Yelled “Fire” in Bank. While this legal skirmishing was in progress Tom Nelson, president of the Farmers' State Bank at Round Rock, near here, revealed that a young woman, answering the deserip- tion of the Buda bank robber, had | “hung around” his bank for several days this week. She represented her- self to be a Waco, Tex., newspaper woman. Nelson said that yesterday noon she came into the bank and yell- ed “fire” several times, but that he and the bank employes paid little at- tention to it. A vacant house did burn in Round Rock yesterday after- noon. This morning she again came to the bank and was questioned ahgut 1?91 fire, but denied all knowledge of it. B | While in the bank the B'Dunl} woman asked customers about crop conditions and several times .ques- tioned' bank employes on what they did in case of fire, whether they “dashed out of the bank.” Smiles When Arrested. Miss Bradley merely smiled when | taken to the .police station, Chief Littlepage said. She was noncom- mittal. Police said they iefirned the girl was not at work today in Governor- elect’ Moody’s office. Her automobile is declared to correspond to that used in the robbery, which occurred at the noon hour. . The girl was taken from the county to evade service of the writ of habeas corpus. | The girl's mother is employed in the State insurance department. The girl's father is dead and the family is said to have been in financial straits. ~ Attorney General Moody was in San Antonio_tonight attending a meeting of the State American Legion. L. C. Button and W, C. Wheeler, as- sistant attorneys gefferal, waited at the sheriff’s office for the habeas cor- pus proceedings set for 11 p.m. John Cofér, jr., was retained by Mrs. Brad- | ley to represent her daughter. Laughs and Jokes, -~ Officers said the girl laughted :mdl joked as her name was entered on the docket at police “headquarters. No charges were filed against her here, but she was Tater formallly accused of robbery 1h Hays County. after- t | T(Continued on Page 6, Column 1.) “(Cofitinued on Page 4, Column 5.) Father Leaves Estate to 14 Children When He Hid Only 12, His Will Revealsi By the Associated Press. TOPEKA, Kans., December 11.—The “old woman who lived in @ shoe and pected a settlement, and the blunt re- fusal of the Ambassadors’ Council to give Germany a clean bill of health was a bombshell. The cabinet considered the whole matter this morning, and Premier Poincare telephoned to M. Briand an outline of the proceedings and inform- ed the foreign secretary that he was calling another meeting this evening. obviously because Berlin has author- ized Dr. Stresemann to revise his at- tityde. M. Briand is believed to have (Continued on Page 4, Column 6 had so many children she didn’t know what to do” was in much the same dilemma as Francis, Derousseau of Cloud County, Kans.. who failed to keep the number of his heirs straight and made a will which had to be car- ried to the Supreme Court for inter- pretation. Derousseau had only 12 children at that. Specific bequest was made to each of five of the childrengand instruc. tions given for the eq i | of the remainder of the estate among the “nine” remaining children. Two daughters, among the five ob- taining specific bequests, brough suit to share in that part of tfle estate not specifically devised. The District Court, in attempting to construe the will, eliminated the word “nine" and substituted “seven,” rendering judg- ment against the two daughters. The State Supreme Court today re- | versed and remanded the case, de- claring that “in construction of a will, excision is a_dangerous remedy and should only be used as a last resort when all efforts to reconcile the iInconsistency. of construction have falled.” - . . !be important aides to the ultimate | |1 believe all will agree that such iy Sta, C., FRIENDS OF MNARY HASLEFTDOOROPEN Not Price-Fixing Measure, as Opposed in Message, Proponents Claim. FARM RELIEF LOOMS AS BIG ISSUE IN 1928 -| Legislation Has Little Chance of Passage This Session, But Arguments Continue. BY G. GOULD LINCOLN Is the McNary farm relief bill, with its equalization fee, a price- fixing measure in the meaning of the President's annual message to Con- gress, when he banned price-fixing legislation as an aid to agriculture? Senator McNary of Oregon, chair- man of the Senate committee on agriculture; Representative Haugen of Iowa, chairman of the House com mittee and sponsor for legislation embodying the same principle, and Senator Capper of Kansas all stoutly insist that the legislation is not fixing."” “Stabilizing,” they say, proper’ term to apply to fit. Not only do they insist that the proposed legislation is mnot price fixing, but they say they believe that the President in his message to Con- gress did not close the door against this character of legislation. Question Up to President. President Coolidge algne can settle this question. He ca: after he has seen the.proposed farm relief measure. introduced at this session Senate or the House. The revised McNary bill, however, has been practically agreed upon by those particularly interested in the measure. It may be introduced dur- ing the present week. It differs slightly from the McNary bill of the last session, which in turn was dif- ferent from the Haugen bill as it was laid before- the House. Chairman Haugen of the House committee said yesterday that he be- lieved a -bill would be drafted and introduced in the House within a short time, & couple of weeks at the outside. It will be discussed not only. among the members of the House from the agricultural States, but also with representatives of farm ganizations expected here is the that it was his purpose to seek legis- lation at this session. Speech Hailed As Repudiation. The President’s d‘lm’usnlionthot the farm problem, particularly - the sur- plus cgop problem, has been hailed in many quarters, however, as a di- rect repudiation of the McNary and Haugen bills and of the equalization fee principle contained. therein. He | said in his message: | “Discussions both in and éut of | Congress during the past few years; have given us a better understanding of the subject, and it is my hope that | out of the various proposals made the ! basis will be found for a sound and ef- | fective solution on which agreement | can be reached. In my opinion co-| operative marketing associations will solution problem. It may well - however, that additional measures will ; be needed to supplement their efforts. measures should not conflict,with the best interests. of the co-operatives, but rather assist and strengthen them. In working out this problem to any sound conclusion it is necessary to avoid putting the Government into | business of production or marketing or attempting to enact legislation for the purpose of fixing prices.” Fess Believes Door Closed. Senator Fess of Ohio, Republican, author of the Fess farm bill, which was regarded as an administration measure in the last session and which was beaten along with the McNary bill, is one of those who insist that the McNary bill, as long as it contains ~(Continued on Page 13, Column 4.) - WOMAN DIES AS CAR STRIKES GUARD RAIL Driver Held for Maryland Au- thorities After Crash Near Waldorf, Md. - Mrs. Florence V. Specht, a. widow of Ballston, Va., is dead, and Miss Alice Jones, 23 years old, 600 Mary- land avenue.northeast. is slightly in- jured, and -Charles Joseph Tennyson, 41 yeaps old, 80 I street, is held at the ninth “precinct for Maryland authorities, as the result of an auto- mobife accident about 10:30 o'clock | Tast night on the T:B road near Wal- dorf, Md., when he lost control of his car, while en route to Washington, striking a culvert guard rail Police stated that Tennyson de- clared that he was attempting to | avoid a culvert, but lost control of his machine and hit it with terriffic force. The car was not turned over, but the left side was shattered by the impact. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Disney, 600 Maryland avenue northeast, were fol- lowing in their car and took the in- jured victims to Casualty Hospital. Physicians stated that Mrs. Specht was probably killed instantly, as her head was_ crushed. Mr. and Mrs. Disney, police stated, corroborated the story told my Tenny- son, saying that he appeared to lose of his machine just as it neared the culvert. Although the ex- act manner in which Mrs. Specht was injured was not definitely ascertained, it is believed that the impact of the collision caused her head to strike against the framework of the closed car. Lieut. 8. J. Marks of the ninth pre- cinct informed Sheriff Fink of Prince Georges Coum;’r’ of the accident and requested Sheriff Fields of Ballston to locate relatives of yMrs. Specht, She was aboyt 59 l!‘ll’d:gld- APATI L control settle it only | So far none has been | in the| 1928 PRES AT 3 NOMINEE. . APPEARS =) ) 1) ) =) THE ONLY ) ENoreR 2| ONE WHo DX SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 12, 1926.—130 PAGES. d FEATURES OF THE FALL DINNER OF THE GRIDIRON CLUB. FALL AND DOHENY TOKNOW FATE SOON Case Likely to Go to Jury by anin o <-Middle of Week——Each or ih few days. ‘He made it clear, however, | Side to Get 6 Hours. - Albert B. Fall and Edward L. | Doheny, charged jointly with con- spiracy to defraud the Government in connection with the Elk Hills, Calif., naval oil reserves, may know their fate next Wednesday at the hands of the jury in Criminal Division 1 of the District Supreme Court. For the defendant Doheny an acquittal at this time probably will mean the end of thg, Government's prosecution of its criminal indict- ments against ¢he 70-year-old former prospector and muitimillionaire oil man. -With his son, Edward L. Doheny, jr., and Fall, the picturesque oil magnate is under an ‘indictment for alleged bribery, but it is not cer-} tain that the Government would press this case against the three defendants in the event the conspiracy charge collapses. For Fall, however. acquittal or con- viction in the conspiracy case means only ‘a temporary respite from crim- inal prosecution. Across the hallway { from Criminal Division 1, where the | former United States Senator and Secretary of the Interior has been on trial for the last three weeks, is Criminal Division 2, where Justice Jennings Bailey presides. Soon after New Year or béfore January 15 the defendant Fall must stand a second | trial on a conspiracy charge, this time with Harry F. Sinclair, to whom the Government leased the famous Tea- pot Dome reserves in Wyoming. ‘Will Soon Go to Jury. When counsel for Fall and Doheny. rested yesterday, after one of the most dramatic weeks of cripinal court history'in the District, it was the consensus on both sides”that the case would be ready for-the jury next Wednesday, if not Pfiesday evening. In the latter event, it is the under- standing that” Justice Adolph A. Hoehling would prefer to give the 12 jurors the benefit of a night's rest and fleep before finally intrusting thé case to their judgment. So Wednesday at the latest is the day the case is expected to go to the jury. For the 12 jurors, also, the end of the trial will come as a great relief. Since it opened, November 22, three \veeks ago, they have been kept under lock and key in temporary quarters above the courtroom. During this ! time they have not been permitted to ! communicate with the outside nor directly with their families. 'At the conclusion of yesterday's brief session, after counsel for Fall and Doheny had rested their cases and the Government had ended its | rebuttal, Justice Hoehling announced |that court stood adjourned until to- morrow: morning at 9:30 o’clock. Be- fore doing so he consulted with c.vun- igel for both sides relative to the time that would be required for the presen- tation of their prayers and the general summing up of testimony. Each Gets Six Hours. 1t was announced that each side would be given six hours, or prac- tically a whole court day, in which to sum up or review. Under this ar- rangement it is hardly probable that the case will get to the jury until shortly before noon-on Wednesday. Attorney Owen J. Roberts, who .has borne the brunt for the prosecution, as Frank J. Hogan has done for the de. fense, will open for the Government tomorrow morning. He will not con- sume all of the six hours allotted to the Government, reserving time for former. Senator Atlee B. Pomerene, his associate, in rebuttal. After Mr. Roberts has concluded tomorrow, Mark B. Thompson of New Mexico and Wilton J. Lambert, coun- sel for Fall, will sum up for the for- mer cabinet officer. They will be followed by Frederick Kellogg of New (Continued on Page 4 Cglumn 2 l TODAY’S STAR PART ONE—60 PAGES. General News—Local, National and Foreign. News of the Clubs—Pages 34 and 35. Around the City—Page 37. Veterans of Great War—Page 38. Clubwomen of the Nation—Page 39. D. A. R. Activities—Page 40. Boy Scouts—Page 41. Army and ‘Navy . News—Page Parent-Teacher Activities—Page 50. W. C U. Néws—Page 50. Serial, “The Girl in the Second Cabin”—Pagé B1. Radio News—Pages 55, 66 and 57. Fraternities—Pagés 58 and 59. Community Centers—Page 60. PART TWO0—16 PAGES. Editorials and Editorial Features. Washington and Other Society. Notes of Art—Page 4. Book Reviews—Page 4. Tales of Well Known Folk—Page 12. Y. W. C. A. News—Page 13. PART THREE—10- PAGES. Amusements—Theaters and Photo- plays. Music—Page 5. Automobile Section—Pages 6, 7 and 9| District National Guard—Page §. Civilian Army News—Page Spanish War \'E!erlns—Py‘ PART FOUR—4PAGES. Pink Sports Section? PART FIVE—8 PAGES. Magazine Section—Fiction and Fea- tures. The Rambler—Page 3. PART SIX—I? PAGES. Classified Advertising. Financial News—Pages 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. GRAPHIC SECTION—16" PAGES. World Events in Pictdires. COLOR SECTION—4 PAGES. Mutt and Jeff: Reg'lar Fellers; Mr. and l\i'r—g_,i_ igh Lights of History. IECINOIS SEAT IN DOUBT. Governor Holds Mcklnl_ey Succes- sor Not Yet Selected. KANKAKEE, IIl, December 11 (4) —In spite of reports that Col. Frank L. Smith of Dwight, Il., Senator-elect from Tilinols, would be appointed to fill out the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Willlam B. McKin- ley, Gov. Len Small said today that he was not ready to announce whom he would appoint. “I am not ready to say just when I can make an announcement,” said the governor, ¢ Col. Smith at his home in Dwight, has {atrzlned from making any state- ment. Cheatum Admits Robbery. PRATT, Kans., December 11 (f).— There may be something in a name. Charles Cheatum pleaded guilty here today to robbing the Byers, Kan State Bank on August 4, and was sentenced to serve from 10 to 50 y in the state prison. i * () Means Associated Pres ASKS NAVY BE KEPT ATFULL STRENGTH Secretary Wilbur, in Report to President, Urges Person- * el Allowed by Law. By the Assoclated Press. A plea for a loosening of the Gov-! ernment’s purse strings so that the Navy may maintain the full strength | provided by law was made by Secre- tary Wilbur in his annual repért to | President Coolidge, made public last | 1 night. & The question of” officer personnel had developed ‘into a ‘dilemma, the Secre! 8aid, and with limited funds | at d it had been necessary to con-| trate on repairs rather than on| alterations required to keep first line | ships up to essential military stand- | ards for fleet service. In 1925, Mr. Wilbur said, the Navy | | 8ot along with an undersized person- nel, 5,160 line officers being on the| rolls when the report was compiled. The authorized strength 1is 5,499. Lack of funds also made impossible the maintenance of the ' “required” 86,000 enlisted strength, the average | for the year being nearly 4,000 under that figure. The Secretary gave it as his view that reduction of the Naval Academy enroliment had brought the Navy to face a serious question as to how it could function with an insufficient number of officers. He urged that appointments to Annapolis again be made on the basis of five for each member of Congress instead of the three necessitated by recent cuts in the budget. Limit on Appointments Cited. “The present limit of appointments to three for each member will not provide sufficient commissioned per- sonnel for maintaining the strength of the line of the Navy on a proper basis,” the report said, “‘even if no ap- pointments are made to the various staff corps from graduates of the Naval Academy.” Destroyer Squadron No. 2 was men- tioned as one in which improvements had been deferred because of the cost. Economy also was exercised by strik- ing from the list small craft and wooden vessels acquired in 1918 and 1919 which “required extensive re- pairs.” Except for the fact that fl‘ proper enlisted strength could not be afforded “the enlisted personnel situation dur- ing the vear has been uniformly ex- men whose enlistments expired re. enlisting or extending their enlist- ments, the report continued, shortage of manpower in the fleet was mitigated somewhat by delay in the completion of the aircraft carriers Saratoga _and Lexington. On their (Continued on Page 4, Column 3.) Test Tank Built to Duplicate Conditions Found by Aviators Some of the sensations of an air- plane ascent to 30,000 feet or more now can be experienced without leav- ing the ground. In the aircraft instrument section of the Bureau of Stan a low- pressure tank has just been con- structed, the interior of which is de. signed to duplicate conditions in the upper atmosphere, such as would be experienced by the pilot. The chamber is a steel cell to which is attached an air pump. But there is also a vent in the roof, which can be regulated with considerable exactness by the operator inside. The pump is set going when the operator. en and closes the door, but thef air vent is left fully open. Then th§ man i slowly closes the vent, Je@ing in less and less air, and ~The tank is conshruc cloter 12 & Viuuan 'men 3t at 30,000 Feet in Air as would be the case of the pilot of an ascending airplane or balloon. This “ascent” should be taken by an operator familiar with the subject. If it is too rapid—that is, if the air pressure in the tank is reduced too quickly—the operator {s likely to suf- fer the ill-effects that come with great heights—such as dizziness and | temporary deafness. This low-pressure tank is expected to prove valuable in tests of all sorts lor aeronautical instruments and of pilot balloons, such as are used by the Weather Bureau. It will serve to show just how the instruments ac- tually will vary from normal at greas heights and allow the pilot to make the necessary corrections in his obser- vations. | vetoed by | posal that a more businesslike wa: cellent,” with three out of every four | The | | i 1 | i | 1 1 in the Republican member of the President's tax plan. FIVE CENTS. TAX RELIEF PLANS DEFINITELY VETOED BY GROUP IN HOUSE Ways and Means Committee Votes to Table All Bills on Rebates and Reductions. MELLON PLAN TO APPLY SURPLUS TO DEBT WINS Option Offered in President’s Mes- sage Made Use of by Repub- lican Majority. Prospects for tax reduction at this sesslon went glimmering late yester- day afternoon, when all proposals for tax relief, including President Cool- idge's suggestion of a tax credit, were the House Ways and Means committee. In adopting a resolution by Repre- sentative Hawley of Oregon, ranking Republican member, to table all tax bills, the Republican majority in the | committee voted as a unit, and stood by the President’s alternative pro- of disposing of the surplus for this fiscal year would be to apply it to the pub- lic_debt. The committee, had before it not only the President’s two-way surplus plan of debt reduction, or tax credit, but- the Democratic tax plan of o $350,000,000 out-and-out slash, with changes in the 1926 act. Vote Forecast by Tilson. Action of the committee followed vain atempts of Representative Gar- ner, Democrat, of Texas, ranking Democrat on the committee, to have the committee consider his bill em- bodying the combined suggestions of Democratic leaders. The committee vote was forecast earlier in the day by Representative Tilson of Connecti- cut, Republican floor leader, who made a statement against any new tax legislation at this time. The Treasury surplus at the end of this fiscal year, ending June 30, 192 which according to President Cool idge's latest estimate, will be $383.- 079,095, and which provoked the whole array of tax refund, tax credit and revenue law revision proposals, will now, in all probability, revert to the business of reducing the public debt. The interest on this debt is the larg- est single item of Federal expense. In his budget message to Congress President Coolidge warned —against tampering with the revenue act now, held up the great advantages of apply- ing thé surplus to the public debt and said that a tax credit next March and June would be one way to reduce the surplus. But he put it up to Con- gress to choose between his two sur- plus proposals. The ways and means committee chose the President’s first suggestion. It turned down his second. Emphasized Debt !::nlthm. Secretary of the T ury Mellon in his annual report to Congress said substantially the same " thing as President Coolidge. He emphasized still more strongly, however, the de- irability of application of reduction of the public debt as sound public policy, and the advisability of main- taining the Government on current revenues. Much of the income during the present and past few years, he pointed out, had come from, prior in- vestments of the Government in rail- roads, War Finance Corporation, and bonds of the Federal Land Banks. Heavy back taxes now being collected would not bring in so much revenue mlme future, the Secretary pointed out. Both the President and Secretary Mellon definitely proposed to Congress {the tax credit plan, but it was re- ported last night from sources unde- niably close to the Treasury and ige White House that the action of tue Republican majority of the House committee in rejecting the Mellon- Coolidge proposal was received at the other end of the Avenue with far more rejoicing than sorrow. Prior to the November election both Secretary Mellon and President Cool- idge had insistently and regularly r sted any suggestions of tax reliet and had clung to the idea that the proper and businesslike way to dis- pose of whatever surplus may accrue this fiscal vear was to apply it to the reduction of the debt. The 1926 revenue law, they contended, then had run less than six months, and there ‘were too many factors of undetermin- able character ahead to attempt any tax cuts now. The proposal for tax credit was developed by the Pr dent and Secretary Mellon following the election, but they never abandoned their opposition to any fundamental change in the 1926 act. Aids All Classes. After the meeting of the House committee, Chairman Green issued a statement asserting that Republican committee memoers felt the surplus best could be used to reduce the na- tional debt rather than for a tax credit to the people direct. “They recognize that there is much to be said in favor of this proposal,” he said, “but of necessity the benefit of this reduction would be limited to income taxpayeis, whereas a reduction of the national debt insures to the benefit of all taxpayers. “Pending the time when the next general tax revision can be under- taken with safety, they reached the {conclusion that the existing surplus for the present fiscal year should be applied to the reduction of the na- tional debt in accordance with the sound plan followed by President Coolidge and Secretary Mellon during the last two years.” Mr. Green recalled that President Coolidge in his message had put it up to Congress to decide whether credits should be extended or the surplus ap- plied to debt reduction, and added that the Republican committee mem- bers deemed the latter course would “best serve the public interest.” Holds Democrats United. Garner asserted that the action showed there was not a_single vote hip in favor Declaring. that .the. Democrats are “united in support of their bill,” he added: “We have been and now are ready to go along with the Republicans in an effort to get a tax reduction,bill ted to hold two l at this session. They, howeveryare (Continued op Page & Coxumna’J