Evening Star Newspaper, September 4, 1928, Page 1

“From Press to Home Within the Hour” The Star’s carrier system covefs every city block and the regular edi- tion is delivered to Washington homes as fast as the papers are printed. WEATHER. (U 8 Weather Bureau Forecast.) Fair tonight and tomorrow: cooler to- night; gentle northwest and north winds. Temperature—Highest, 84, at 4 pm vesterday: lowest, 66, at 7:45 a.m. today Full report on page 9. - NG EDITION Foening Star. Yesterday’s Circulation, 94,587 Pages 12 and 13 o 30807 Dnieredss __Clnfing N.Y. erkgh, WITH SUNDAY MORNI W .\7.\‘] 11 X;i'l‘( N, . TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1928 —F( IR'[‘Y PAGES. (/) Means Associated Press. TWO CENTS. AZORES FIRST OBJECTIVE, ] OFFICER OF PLANE SAYS| Two Service Men and Son of Hotel Man Making Flight in the Monoplane Canary Bird here at 4:40 pm toda Flying Le« | PARIS. September 4.—The Jean Assolant and R Pevre, with Armand Lotti, their backer, a5 a passenger, Who took off from Le t Pield this morning on a| oceanic flight, were sighted at 9:3 by & fishing boat in latitude 44.50 | t They were | g boat was in the Bay of 30 miles southwest of | Bordeaux. indicated is ap- | P matel from Le Bourget | Field, whence the start was made. ThE‘ ¢ first report of the plane since | e-off Believed on Way to U. S. report was taken as an indication rs were heading for the < with the intention of reaching the U d States. Their general course had been southwest from Le Bourget| Pield until they were clear of the coast | of Prance. after which, it was apparent, | ther had changed to a general westerly course. The fishing vess: which is named the Dauphne, sent the report concern- tng the plane by wireless to its owners &t Port Arcachon. The message added: “assolant headed west, making high spood, fiving high.” ter a succession of post false starts, due to the more or f her pfiu'sr. ponements | Al | ‘t.nd latile temperaments of { s volatile tem ?’1:‘.2‘1! Sergts. Assolant and Lefevre of ! the French Army, the bright yellow monoplane Canary Bird slipped out of | cege this morning and the mystery as to their destination began. { Comdr. Weiss, the airmen’s superior { officer, said they were going to the and if the weather was favorable they would head for Halifax. Chief Pilot Paillard of the Bernard| Co. which built the plane, announced | af the take-off that the fyers be- cause of adverse winds over the Atlantic ‘were going over a course of some 5,600 | miles to Rio Janeiro. They would go by way of Dakar, Senegal, and Pernam- buco. Brazil, in an att t to cnrryi off the prize offered for first non- stop fiight from Paris to Rio Janeiro. Commandant Weiss said if the wind was unfavorable at the Azores, the piane would probably go down to Dakar, pre- sumably for a jump across the Atlantic | from there, although that feat was rever in their plans before. Take-off at 7:04 AM. The Canary Bird toock off at 7:04 s m. It developed splendid speed, pi- lots of the military escort planes said when they returned to Paris. They had intended to follow the transatlantic fiyers to the sea, but turned back 30 miles from Le Bourget, because the eould not keep the pace of 115 miles ar hour the Canary Bird set In contrast with the preceding tl ther mornings when they wer to start, everything today like ciockwork from the succes ful smuggling aboard of their passen- ger and backer, Armand Lotti, to the take-off. The Canary Bird succeede in getting off the ground before it was hbl?'wfl? down the field. The plane cir- cied northward, disappeared in the mist and then returned to circle over the field, after which the fiyers turned southwest. Lotti, who is the son of a well known Paris hotel men, not wishing his par- is to know he intended to fly, had mpted to conceal his identity. Yes- terday moming, however, when an un- suceessful attempt was made to start, e was obliged to alight from the plane nd was recognized. | he has been afraid to go nd he siept all night in the| beside the plane climbed aboard the machine be- was wheeled out and remained der a heap of rags during the | 1 prior o the start! he was hidden under ped a pile of provi- | | | | 4 nt | mery street clothes 1e Bourget said th jbliged to land at Daka $e 1sst-minute change ; i’lan. Doing Favor for Friend. Charged With a Slaying He Did Not Commit| \za motor carried since 1 0 slow down ¥ asndwiches, roast beef, ¢ er of bananas ir Doitles of champagne ar cold coftee Aviators to Try Again Germany need that hed- | FRENCH FLYERS, OFF ON ATLANTIC HOP, LAND IN MOROCCO Left Le Bourget With New York or South America Likely Destination. SERGTS. ASSOLANT AND LE FEVRE. —P. and A. Phota FLYERSSEEK WY OF GETING HOME Hossel and Cramer May Have to Stay in Green- land Until Fall. By the Associated Press. EW YORK, September 4.—At the base of an ice cap in Greenland two | daring adventurers of the air today | were resting and thinking of how to re- turn to Rockford, IIL, as soon as pos- hle. The plane in which Bert Has- 1 and Parker Cramer had made a perilous non-stop flight of some 1.800 miles from Cochrane, Ontario, after starting from Rockford, Ill, was 100 miles away, abandoned on ice and per- haps smashed in weather typical of Greenland, “the cradle of storms.” The marve! of radio enabled news of their safety, after two weeks of arduous progress afoot, to reach the United States in two minutes. But static, a bane which science has yet to conquer, withheld details of their struggle of 100 miles by the most primitive method of movement in the Arctic when the most modern had failed them. Few Details Added. ‘The radio station of the New York ‘Times. which received news Sunday of the flyers' safety from the University of Michigan Greenland expedition at Mount Evans, could obtain but frag- mentary messages Monday. Hassell managed to get word through that his plane was about 100 miles from the camp of the expedition, which rescued the fiyers. The plane was undamaged when the fiyers started their trek to the camp, but heavy winds soon after- watd indicated to Hassell the possibility that the Greater Rockford might be smashed. He made inquiries about boat con- nections and sent a message to Mrs. Hassell expressing the hope that he would see her soon. Indications were, however, that for some days yet the flyers must remain at Mount Evans with the scientists, who virtually live the life of Eskimos in order to study storms. Anthony Fiala, once an Arctic explorer and now a erchant in New York, expects Prof. William H. Hobbs, head of the Mount Evans expedition, to return to this ntry in the Fall Fiala has fur- ed the expedition much of its equip- He suggests that the aviators y will return with Hobbs. possibility of the fiyers coming e sooner is a line of freight steam- which runs from Philadelphia to vigut, Iceland, some 400 miles from Mount Evans, to obtain mining cryo- lites used in the manufacture of soda d glass. The flyers would have to 1o Ivigut to catch the steamer. Region Is Desolate. ers shouid leave by the first allable, the task of salvaging the plane would be left to members of the Mount Evans expedition. The fiyers came down on the icy wastes of Point Sukkertoppen on August 19, and made their way through a wild and unexplored country, seeking safety. They were picked up by members of the University of Michigan Greenland expedition and brought in a motor boat 0 miles across a fjord to the expedi- ton’s base unharmed The flignt, despite the forced landing he airmen about 100 miles from t Evens, which had been prepared heir second base, was regarded to- as a notable feat leg from Cochrane they flew over the forbidding wilderness of Labrador, then across 800 miles of the Atlantic low the Arctic Circle before reaching Greenland hom e ighted flying over Fiske- 200 miles south of Point In their 1,800- | BOMBING PLANES LAND IN AUGUSTA Complete First Leg of Flight to Coast—Battle Heavy Weather All Way. | By the Associated Press AUGUSTA, Ga., September 4.— Eleven Army airplanes on a flight from Langley Field, Va., to the Pa- cific Coast for maneuvers were held here today because of unfavorable weather. The planes took off for Montgom- ery, Ala., the next scheduled stop, but returned after about an hour to await better weather conditions. After the delay here, officers of the flight said they did not believe the planes would reach Los Angeles by Friday, the day they are due there. BY FREDERICK R. NEELY. Stafl Correspondent of The Star. AUGUSTA, Ga., September 4.—The first and one of the most treacherous legs of the transcontinental war ma- neuver flight of a composite squadron of nine twin-engined Army Air Corps bombing planes from Langley Field, Va., was completed at 6 o'clock last night zens, the big formation settled to earth at the new municipal airport here In making the 410-mile flight from Langley, the Bombers.-accomplished a piece of cross-countsy work that should bring additional laurels to the famous 2d Bombardment Group, which was organized during the war, fought gal- lantly overseas and then came back to this country and sunk the battleships. It was a flight that probably nevergvould have received but passing notice from newspaper men of more or less air ex- perience along. Face Hugh Task. They saw the gigantic task ahead of Maj. Hugh J. Knerr and his bombard- ment pilots. The task s to move the composite squadron of the group from the Atlantic to Los Angeles and there merge with other American air units and offset an enemy attack for two days. The pilots impatiently “sat” on the ground at Langley Field and swore | at the weather and fate which pre- vented them from getting a start Sep- tember 1, as the war tactical order called for. If there were any on the ground who sneered at them for not flying in the face of fog, rain and general “tough” conditions, they should have been along yesterday. As far as the pilots are concerned, the trip from the pleasure standpoint was “not 50 hot” and they let it go | | at that. A few minutes before 6 tion of Augusta, which had been wait- |ing as patiently for the arrival of t Ib':mberx as the impatiently at Langley PField, heard a thunderous drone above their heads. It was the signal. A mad rush was made for automoblles. They sped out the highway at 50 and 60 miles per {hour to be at the airport in time for {the arrival ‘When the bombers | “dragged” the field once, they found | ropes holding the populace back. The | three “V” formations making the nine m fcally and 8 a). Knerr, pilot- in; leading ship of the leading flight, deployed into column and one by one they landed | Leads anes in Line. Turning around at the far end of the | ne1d, Maj. Knerr waited until the other when, amid the cheers of Augusta citi- | the outside world had not there been | the popula- | bombers had waited | LAYMEN PETITION MEXICAN SENATE. T RETURN EHURCH Ask Amendment of Laws to Estabiish Religious Liberty. | | { | EMPHASIZE CO‘M};LETE INDEPENDENCE OF STATE Plea Given to Committee for Re- port—School Instruction Made Vital Issue. 1 4 September 4 hy 140 prominent Catho- lic laymen asking amendment of th | religious laws to establish “complete re- | ligious liberty in Mexico and make the | | church and state independent” was | pefore a Senate committee today for consideration. The petition was read in the Senate last pight and turned over to the com- mittee on constitutional points for a report on it. The memorial was also | filed with the chamber, but that bod: was not in session yesterday. The peti { tion asks specificall “Pirst, that the legal existence and personality of all distinct denominations be recognized. “Second, that the separ: dependence between the state and dif- | | ferent religious denominations be recog- | nized and that conscquently the state | should not legislate in religious affairs | { | ation and in- Urges Co-operation, “Third, that this separation not be a | system of hostility but of friendly co-~ operation in order to benefit the com- | monwealth. Each in its own sphere | can be independent, the state in affairs | of the temporal order, the church in affairs of the spiritual order. They can and should contribute thus to make | Mexico a prosperous and enjoyable | country. This involves no question of | constituting one state with another stafe, but instead an independent | spiritual authority alongside and in| harmony with another independent | civil authority. This is beneficial and | customary in all civilized countries and | nowhere creates a conflict and nowhere | is considered as implanting a state within a state.” The petition said the Catholics only {ask “for what is indispensable to our life.” It then urged that the articles of the constitution be made to read as| follows: “Article 3: Teaching is free. That imparted in the State schools will be | subject to terms established by law which will not be antagonistic to re- ligion or those being educated by its practice. Said teaching to be gratui-| tous in the State primary schools. Asks Religious Teaching. “In private schools, religion can be ! taugit freely according to the dictates | of parents or in their name by those | supporting and directing said schools. | “In government schools, at the re- | quest of parents and tutors, classes in religious instruction can be opened un- der the care of persons considered to | be competent by the former, but at- | tendance is not obligatory unless the parents desire. “Article 5: The state cannot permit | any contract, pact or agreement to be | entered upon the object of which would | entail the diminution, loss or irrevo- cable sacrifice of one’s liberty for rea- | sons of labor or education motives. Article 24: Every one is free to pro- fess any religious creed he or she chooses (Continued on Page 2, Column . MRS, KNAPP GETS 30 DAYS IN JAIL Sentenced for Larceny of| New York State Cen- sus Funds. By the Assoclated Press ALBANY, N. Y., September 4 Florence E. S. Knapp, former secre of state of New York, convicted grand larceny, first de in connec- | tlon with her administration of State | census funds, today w sentenced to serve 30 days in the Albany County jail. | Mrs. Knapp took her sentence with-| out moving from her chair and with no visible sign of emotion In declining to suspend sentenc preme Court Justice St overruled Attorney Ottinger asking for leniency Mrs Knapp. Patrick C. Dugan of defense ;umm'«-l made a similar plea after a| | technical motion for dismissal had been | denied : Sentencing Mrs, Mrs. « ree, | ghan a plea by General Knapp was post- Sukkerton, on the morning of August |cight had “sat down” and then slowly | poned at the conclusion of her second 2d to the south of their projected course. The forced landing was due to lack of gasol A smok tracted the attention of the y the fi expedi- n The base camp of the Mount Evans ca level on Kangerd- The country is a deso- ip by inac- lumn 1.) ed on Page 2 DEL RIO, Tex., September 4.-—John of Del Rio and Villa Acuna in & Mexican jall charged ng he did not commit an law which permits & mod- take the place of his t the bar of justice friend, Tom Whitehead, rancher, was arrested last a fight in Villa Acuna, Kastner of Sen An ] because | taxied up to the main | the alrport, followed closely by {other bombers in line. It was an in | spiring sight as the two fiaming, spit | ting Liberty engines in each plane tug entrance of the ged with the bombers as the tail skids | ynder the care of physicians at various| Lacking a full report {rom the police, | of cach sank into the soft sand and re- fused for moments to budge | the ( two_high-pressure gacoline pumps ntinued on Page 4, Column 5.) {tonio was was 8o serlously injured that he died | Whitehead was released when Crosby pledged his own liberty that his friend would appear for trial Whitehead did | not appear yesterday and Crosby was d and will be taken to Pledras Mexico, just across the Rio from Eagle Pass, Tex., for the charge filed against his | Grande {trial on triend. | Eftors 10 oktain pery | Kastner's body 1o the fon to return Btates was un- A i i --@_, In this time they waited their turn at trial last May when specialists te that she was on the verge of a n collapse. Her first trial ended in a dis- | greement During the Summer she has been times, | The attorney general based his rec ommendation for a suspended sentence on “the changes undergone by the de- beginning with the crime charged in the indictments, because of | their present continuance, her physteal | and mental suffering. her exposure, dis- | grace and complete ruin, and bec 1‘ of the State debt to Clara Blanche | Knapp (Mrs Knapp's stepdaughter and principal witness for the prosecu- | tion). Overruling the decsion, Justice | Callaghan said “I have considered carefully every aspect of her case and all that has been said In her favor and after mature thought and deliberation 1 am fully convineed that justice would not be ! served by a suspension of sentence.” Mis. Knupp was taken direct from | the courthouse to the jail, while her | attorneys fought for a certificate of reasonable doubt which would auto- matically act as a stay of sentence. Radio l'rugra;ms —Page 30 |Finds Limits of Plant, Fish| | tuel. | teenth and Sixteenth streets, came as | able to account for their failure to find WHY SHOULD e I ALLOW CURTIS To €3 2 <O . \ ! WA HESSE ORDERS SWEEPING INQUIRY INTO POLICE TRIALS Plans Detailed Scientific An- alysis of All Cases of Last Three Years. | SUPERINTENDENT URGED Fails to Discover Proof of Norsemen Ever Reaching Labrador. and Bird Life Farther North Than Supposed. By the Associated Press. | SYDNEY, N. S, September l-AThf'i end of Comdr. Donald B. Macmillan's eleventh venture into the Arctic and | Subarctic was drawing near today with one of the principal objects of the ex- ploration still undetermined-—proof that Norsemen ever reached Labrador. The expedition put in here yester-| day from Nain, Labrador, for fuel and | then prepared to continue to Wiscasset, | Me., whence it sailed in June, 1927. But, although the explorer brouxm‘ back no conclusive evidence to confirm Eskimo and’ other tradition of early Scandinavian settlers, his party did suc- ceed in fixing the boundaries of Arctic plan, fish and bird life at a line much farther north than had been previously supposed. Included among the 6,000 specimens aboard the schooner were | many varieties hitherto not thought to | exist in those regions. | The adventurers inquired eagerly for news of the Bremen flight and the finding of the Greater Rockford flyers, | for whom the Bowdoin was only pre-| vented assisting in search by lack of A story of how the wreck of the Hud- son Bay Co’s steamer Bay Rupert had proven the salvation of starving Es- | kimo settlements of Northern Labrador | and of a visit to Kodlunarn Island, in | Frobisher Bay, the first attempted set- | tlement of white men in the Subarctic, (Continued on Page 4, Column 7.) PROBES SHOOTING OF MAN BY POLICE Inspector Headley Investi- gates Wounding of Lee After Being Chased. Tnspector Albert J. Headley today was investigating the circumstances sur- rounding the shooting of Matthew Owen Lee, colored, who was seriously wounded last night by Policeman Lester Parks of the second precinct when, according to the officer, the colored man fired twice at him and another policeman, J. L. Taylor of the second precinct Inspector Headley indicated he was | dissatistied with several phases of the | hooting, particularly of the failure of | the officers to find the gun which they | as used by Lee ! The shooting. which occurred in an | lley paralleling Q street between Fif- the climax to a sensational automobile chase through two miles of city streets shortly after last midnight. According to the officers, Lee, who is Children, was shot immediately after | he had fired twice at them in the alley Inspector Headley this morning was un- Lee's Weapon. Another Man Wounded. one of two victims of police ; puliets last night. Another colored man, George Hargrave, 26, 1241A Carrollberg street southwest, being shot in the right hip by Pvt. Lonnie O. Tompkins, Traf- fic Bureau, when, according to the of- ficer, the colored man attempted to hit him with & brick Pyts. Taylor and Parks reported they were on thelr way home after leaving their precinct last night when they saw an_automobile at Georgla avenue and Webster street, traveling at a high rate of speed They gave chase and overtook the machine, ordering the driver to- stop Instead of obeying the command, the officers said, he crowded their machine to the curb and turned east in Webster | street. With the officers at his heels, | Lee drove to Ninth street and Kansas avenue, out the avenue to Thirteenth (Continued on Page 4, Column 3. ce WA e e e Tl i A A COMDR. DONALD B. DFTENTION OUSE INUNGTION SHED W. K. Wimsatt Files Suit for Permanent Writ, Charging Zoning Violation. MACMILLAN. The first legal guns in the fight against the establishment of the House of Detention at 908 B street southwest were fired today by William K. Wimsatt, 910 B street, when shortly before noon suit was filed in the District Supreme | Court charging the District with viola- tion of the zoning regulations and ask- ing & permanent injunction against use of the premises at 908 B street south- west as a House of Detention. Meanwhile, Lieut. Mina C. Van Winkle, chief of the Woman's Bureau of the Police Department, was going ahead with the work of ripping up the interlor of the apartment house leased by the District for its Detention House. Wimsatt filed suit through his attor- ney, George E. Sullivan. Wimsatt expects the trial of his suit to be put forward on the court calen- dar. He bases his action on the provi- sion that to establish a jail under the zoning regulations, the District must have the consent of 75 per cent of the property owners within a radius of feet of the building. -He also claims that Mrs. Van Winkle's establishment next door to his home will greatly de- preciate its value and other property in the B street section. Named in Suit. ‘Wimsatt s naming the Board of Com- missioners of the District, Mrs. Van Winkle and the Wardman Construction Co. as defendants in his suit. Interven- ing suit also is planned by all the prop- | erty owners and taxpayers within a radius of 200 feet of 9508 B street Wimsatt was bitter today in his de- nunciation of the methods he charges were used by the Women's Bureau and the District to get into the present House of Detention site. “At the time the tenants of the apart- ment house were told they would have to vacate, the man who informed them said that the bullding was to be used for Department of Agriculture offices. Miss M. M. Carpenter, who still occuples an apartment on the first floor of the building and does not have to leave until her present lease expires, verified his statement when she was told the Agriculture of- fices were to be established there, she showed the man a copy of The Star in which appeared a story to the effect that the House of Detention was to oceupy the building. She said the man (Continued on Page 4, Column 2) 0| The old monarchist colors appeared She said that | D.C.YOUTH HELD IN ROAD HOLDAUP 1iSydney Prince, 19, and Com- panion From Baltimore Jailed in Wayneshoro. | | | Two youths, identified as Sydney | Prince, 19-year-old son of Sydney R.{ Prince, general solicitor of the Southern | | Raflway here, and a companion, Alexan- | | der Knapp, son of Charles Knapp, Bal- | timore attorney, were captured by a posse in the Blue Ridge Mountains this morning a short while after they are accused of having attempted to hold up Harry M. Rowk. a Waynesboro, Pa., | merchant, who was driving between | Waynesboro and Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. They were lodged in jail in Waynes- boro, charged with assault with intent to rob and impersonating an officer. Ac- cording to Waynesboro authorities, the youths, who are students at Yale, con- fessed that they Lmhlguppedmgo;e’; truck, planning a hi-jac contained , ahd then, finding it did not, e a demand on Rowe and his companion, Harold Hill, also of Waynesboro, for money. The hold-up occurred on the out- skirts of Waynesboro, and Hill, who saved Rowe's money by leaping from the truck with it, raced over the hills to a nearby garage and called for as- sistance, while the pair fled. The posse was hastily organized and the capture followed shortly afterward. on Chevy Chase Circle, today that the family was in Pennsylvania and it is understood they were passing the mer at Monterey. The two youths are said to have been on their way to Washington at the time. They stopped the truck by hail- ing it. Neither was armed, according to_authorities. Rowe said the two first declared they were officers and demanded to see if he was carrying whisky. Then fol- lowed the demand for money, which was saved by Hill's quick-wittedness. At the offices of the elder Prince it/ was said he had left for Pennsylvania this morning. HINDENBURG CHEERED IN BAVARIAN CAPITAL President Pleads for German Unity as He Dedicates New Library at Munich. By the Assoclated Press. MUNICH, Germany, September 4.— Pleading for German unity, President | von Hindenburg today dedicated the | library of the Germanic Museum here, the occasion being marked by the fly- ing of the republican flag from the Munich city hall for the frst time. | alongside of it Hitherto the city | fathers have sidestepped the question by fiying only the Bavarian and city It was said at the Prince home, | colors on festive occasions. In his ded- icatory address President von Hinden- burg said: “May this building serve German labor, German reconstruction and the entire future of Germany. May all who strive here be guided by the 1l ought Everytlilng for the father- jland.’ The nopulace was |and wherever t imself he W | thuslastic applause MRS. BACH.E ROBBED. Biarritz Police Believe Chloroform | Was Used by Thief. i BIARRITZ, France, September 4 (#) | -Mrs. Florence Bache. divorced wife of | Jules S. Bache, New York banker, was | robbed Saturday night while asieep in | her hotel room | | “Police today were searching for a maid to question her. They believe that | chloroforis fumes enabled a thief or thieves to commit the robbery. Pifty-four hundred dollars in cash two fur coats valued at $8.000 each and jewelry valued at a considerable amount was taken. A holiday mood dent showed | recipient of en- | Watchman, Once Act And Saves $20.000 in Theater Hold-up!* By the Associated Press NEW YORK, September 4.--An old vaudeville actor, now a night watch- man in a Brooklyn theater, feigned death today and saved the theater's week end receipt from four gunmen. Peter McCleane, 70 years old, was making his rounds when the men leaped upon him as he passed through the orchestra pit, or, Feigns Death Into McCleane's mind flashed a long- forgotten role. Years ugo a part had called for his feigning death He dropped to the floor in so realisti manner that one of the robbers said “I think you croaked him." The four hurried away, while A Cleane ran to a window and shouted for help. ‘The safe. holding between and $20,000, was not touched. el ever continued 1 $10,000 | clothe TO ACTION BY CRITICISM Enforcement of Rules Promised—Patrolmen Will Have to Be Neater. Stricter A detalled ier analysis of all cases heard by the Police Trial Board in the three-year period beginning July 1, 1925, and ending June 30 iast was ordered today & aj. Edwin B. Hesse, superintendent of police, as the first definite move to find out what is wrong with the® police force. Maj. Hesse admittedly is disturbed by the recurring reports that misconduct, lawlessness and inefficiency are rampant in the department. The picture is flashed before him now nearly every time a policeman gets into trouble. The far-reaching study of the Trial Board cases, which Inspector William S. Shelby, personne! officer, has been directed to make, Maj. Hesse belleves. will show at its col on, whether the Washingion police force m general is as bad as it has been pictured by some, or whether it is being discredited by a small group of policemen who are being retained in the service despite repeated violations of the law and the code of othies lald down in the police manual ‘Will Have Full Data. Every conceivable bit of data bearin® on the conduct. character and education of the officers who have been before the trial board in the three-year period will be gathered for Inspector Shelby's study. Cards went to the print shop oday for.the recording of this infor- mation. Blank spaces have been re- erved for the policeman’s name. offense ommitted, age at the time of appoint- ment, number of years in the service. | the precinct to which he was attached when placed under charges, the length of residence in the District prior to appointment. educational qualifications finding and sentence and remarks that may be added. With this information, Maj. Hesse firmly believes, he will have an excel- lent insight into the character of the ' men whose indiscretions and defiance of laws, rules and regulations have brought on the criticism of the depart- ment and at the same time provide a basis for planning & remedy for the conditions. Available records show that more than 450 cases were before the trial! board in the Mst 12 monthe. The tota! for the three-year period to be studied is expected to exceed 1.000. A number of them. however, are cases of “repeat- ers”—policemen who have been before the board more than once. There ar now about 1.350 men on the force, ¢ - the percentage of those who have ap- peared before the board, it is pointed out, is large, even excluding the ‘re- peaters.” “Moral Fiber” Lacking. Maj. Hesse and his administrative as- Sum- | sistants have drawn some hasty con- clusions of their own as to the cau: | of the condition, arrived at after a cur- sory examination of the trial board rec- ords for the last vear. The major con- tributing factor. it was said, is the lack of “moral fiber.” particularly among the new recruits—young men, many of them country born and reared, who yield easily to the tem@tations of city Mfe. Under the new civil service regulations applicants for appointment as pelice- men do not have to be residents of Washington. Another is said to be the dizzy pace at which some of the - er policemen are living. Police o’ml explain that a great many of the trial board cases they have examined are those of policemen who have gone heavily in debt and have been unable to meet their bills. One explanation offered by Maj. Hesse as to the large number of cases handled b?’l the Tfl!;‘lndflolrg‘ s h; own disel- plinary methods. Every officer reported to him for an infraction of the police manual. no matter how trivial, he sald, has been ordered before the Trial Board. - In past years, he e most of the trivial cases were of by the commanding -officers by reprimand. Now, Maj. Hesse declared, the commanding officers will not take the responsibility of dl;dpllmnt a g~ lceman for failing to report at & box or some other minor violation and refer the case to his office. In turn. the po- lice superintendent said. he “passes the buck” along to the Trial Board. Per- haps, if the commanding officers adopt- od stronger disciplinary tactics, Maj Hesse intimated. there would be less work for the Trial Board. Plans Sterner Rule. Another move Maj. Hesse has in con- emplation for reducing the pumber of cases for Trial Board hearing and d at the same time fmproving of the department. is an he probationary tenure of A probationer may be sum- emoved without trial. The nary period at present is one n marily probatic ar. A year or two vears' extension, Maj. Hesse believes, might bring about a change in conditions “The resl solution of the problem, how- Maj. Hesse declared, lies in the adoption by the Commissioners of his recommendations of last Spring for more drastic punishment of palicenen convicted by the trial board. These ommendations would provide for im- diate dismissal from the force of all cers convicted of untruthful reports. intoxication on of duty and In many such escape with a recy ibordination tinued neglect fev ul i ty, o cases the offl now small fine Will Have to Spruce Up. There 1s going to be a real tighten- ng up all along the line from now on, ardless of what the analysis of the {al board cases shows,” declared Ma) Hesse. “I have added two night in- spectors to the force to see that the n are on the streets and on their toes. he general appearsnce of the men has got to improve and they have got to De courteous to the public. * There s absolutely no excuse for complaints ning to my office about a discourteous 1+ untidy policeman. I'he Government provides the men with uniforms and they should keep \f i shape. It is up to the com- nding officers to sce that thelr clean and . neatly pressed \Continued on Page 4, Colump 32 3