Evening Star Newspaper, September 10, 1928, Page 10

30 "= THE EVENING PERSONNEL BOARD WORK CATICZED Legion Committee to Seek Consolidation of Four U. S. Bureaus. icizing the Bureau of Efficiency, |OFFICER IS-AWARDED FOURTH ;DECORATION FOR WAR BRAVERY — , y | iLieut. George J. Forster Gets | Distinguished Service | Cross. | A Already Has Croix de Guerre‘ and Two Stars for Personnel Ciassification Board and Em- | Gallantry. ployes’ Compensation Commission, the | special committee of the American | Legion on veterans' preference laws has decided to work for their abolishment | and the transfer of their functions to | the Civil Service Commission ! The committee, created in an advisory capacity by President Ceolidge four | months ago. has asked a special Legion | committee from the local departmen® to| submit to it some concrete for improving the status of w in the classified serviee. The report of the 0 bitterly arragns the Efficiency Bureau Its abolition is recom ded on the fol- lowing grounds | “Because a_more conscientious ad- ministration of the act will result. v committee Charge Long Delay. “Because of the utter failure of the! Bureau of Efficiency to take the initial step to make th: 23, 1912, y of nine| rs, two months and one day. “Because the Bureau of Efiiciency is spending money appropriated to carry | out the functions of the act in numerous investigations without authority there- for and with authority for such in- vestigations specifically vested in the Bureau of Budget by the act of June 10, ! 1921. “Because the system of efficiency rat- | ings is so palpably defective that the shield of protection attempted to he crcated by the statute is turned into a sword of destruction. | “Because the Burean of Efficiency b\" fts delay, inefliciency and demonstrated Iack of sympathy is unfitted_to perform the duties required under the act of August 23, 1912, as amended as afore- said. ‘Because of the great economy that will result from this consolidation of two bureaus whose legal functions are solely and strictly of a personnel character. Favor Consolidation. | Greater efficiency in the handling of veterans' preference cases is seen in the consolidation of the classification board and the compensation commis- sion, the report says. In the event f maladministration, the committee be- lieves, the corrective measures could be applied more easily to one commis- sion than with several, as at the pre- sent time. In its report the special local com- mittee of the Legion urges strength- ening of the veterans’ preference law and its extension to cover workers out- side the Districk of Columbia. It also hits the “general average” clause in the various appropriation acts. Corrective legislation probabiy will be | based on these recommendations and be | submitted to the next Congress by Rep- resentative Fish, Republican of New York, who is chairman of the Presi- | dent’s advisory committee. Committee Personnel. { The President’s advisory committee | Includes, besides Fish, William C. Dem- Ing, Civil Service Commissioner; Brig. | T. Mines, director of the | : Col. William J. Dono- | van, Assistant Attorney General, and Col. John Thomas Taylor, legislative | Tepresentative of the American Legion. | The committee of local legionnaires | Includes, besides Comdr. Wood, Maj. Paul J. McGahan, Maj. Julius I. Pey ser, Capt. Thomas J. Frailey, Francis F. | Miller, Earl J. Brown, Helen McCarty and E. A. Costello. HANNA SAYS FARE RAISE MUST ALSO | APPLY TO W. R. & E. (Continued from First Page.) sult in an increase of five-sixths of cent in token fare. In asking for a higher fare, Mr Hanna stressed that directors of the company were prompted to do so by a desire to maintain the 7 per cent divi- | dend paid for the last 10 years on its | stock. “It is true that the public utili- | ties commission should give no consid- | eration to the question of stock at th: hearing,” Mr. Hanna admitted in ex-! plaining that the matter of stock divi- dends do not rightly belong in connec- tion with a return on valuations. “We would have no right to ask the commission to consider stock were it not for the fact that the company is | earning very far from a reasonable re- turn,” Hanna added. To pay the 7 per cent dividend last year, he admitted to Mr. Clayton, the company had taken $132,546 from its surplus. If the dividend had been 6 instead of 7 per cent on the outstand- ing $12,000,000 of stock, he admitted the deficit would have been only $12.- 000. He declared the company in re cent years had been earning so far be- | low a reasonable return that the direc- | tors would no longer defer asking the ! commission for prompt relief on the ~oplication already three months old. Called Reasonable. | “Our point of view is largely to pre- gerve this 7 per cent dividend,” Hanna | declared. He added that the rate of | fare requested would not constitute | more than a reasonable return on any | valuation placed on the company's properties. Earnings of the company as of July | 31, 1928, were 3.8 per cent as compared with earnings of 3.36 per cent for 1927, | Mr. Hanna told the commission. In making application for a higher | fare at this time, Hanna pointed out it is not being tied to the merger, ex- cept to the extent that if the com- panies were not ultimately to merge, he | would be asking for a much higher fare ' than now. Replying to questions as to the effect the merger would have on any in- | crease at this time, Mr. Hanna declared that the increase, if granted, would automatically go out of existence and the present fare of 8 cents cash or six tokens for 40 cents would continue for | one year from the effective date of the | merger. 4 “The rate we are asking now would be effective omy until the merger takes | effect,” he insisted. i A straight 8-cent cash fare, Hanna explained, would result in an increase of $447.209 in net operating income after deducting $82.174 for taxes. A straight 10-cent cash fare, with the alternative of four token for 30 cents would bring about an increase of $386,506 in net operating income, de- ducting $71,005 for es. Scores Change-Making. giving preference for a 10-cent | Octol h Lieut. George J. Fors five officers of the 26th Infantry Regi- ment who survived the deadly barrage of German artillery, rifie and machine guns at Soissons, and now an aid to Maj. Gen. Charles P. Summerall, chief of staff, has had another decoration added to the several already conferred upon him for bravery This time it is his own count tinguished Service Cross, awarded for heroism in_ action near Verdun from T 4 10 13, 1918. He already holds Croix de Guerre for conduct at Soissons, a silver star for bravery at Cantigny and a second silver star for gallantry under fire at St. Mihiel. The Distinguished Service Cross was awarded the young officer on recom- mendation of “Theodore Roosevelt, jr.. who served in the same regiment with Lieut. Forster. According to the citation, Forster throughout the engagement “displayed exceptional coolness and bravery under artillery, machine gun and rifle fire, directing the fire of his guns, thereby rendering invaluable as- sistance to his battalion commander in establishing liaison and obtaining im- portant information.” Lieut. Forster took part in the five major_operations of the 26th Infantry. Ist’ Division. at Cantigny, Soissons Lieut. St. Mihiel, the Argonne and at the de- | He received the French | fense of Toule. decoration for his heroic actions at Soissons, the first outstanding American offensive. He emerged in command of his_battalion, by reason of the fact that his superior officers were killed in the battle. Out of 100 officers the 26th Regiment lost all but 5 in that en- gagement, while but 237 of 2,600 men survived. Lieut. Forster was born at Wausau, wis., April 24, 1891. He entered the milifary service from Missouri, after craduating from St, Mary's College, Kan. He entered the second officers’ training camp in Illinois and went to France immediately upon completing the course. He has been an, assistant to Gen. Summerall for eight years. Schumann-Heink for Smith. NEW YORK, September 10 (#).— Mme. Ernestine Schumann-Heink prom- ised the Democratic national committee here yesterday 14 votes for Gov. Smith. hey are all in her own family—her grandchildren and their hus- bands and wive: ter. one of the | his | s Dis- | LIEUT. GEORGE J. FORSTER. 'EXPEDITION CHIEF DESCRIBES HARDSHIPS IN CANADIAN WILDS ___(Continued from_First Page) length from 200 yards to 11; miles long. .and run through a region which is thickly populated by sand flies, mos- quitoes and the terrible black flies of the North. These pests made life mis- erable for us from the time we left | Brackett until we returned. The Neultin drops over 1,000 feet in | its total of approximately 400 miles from its headwaters at Cashmur Lake, to where it empties into Hudson Bay at Driftwood Point. The Indians tola us that this river was very swift and full of tortuous rapids—and for once they did not exaggerate. K We were successful in running all of the rapids until we were within one day's travel of Neultin Lake. Then we hit a thriller that almost wrecked our expedition. Rapids Prove Dangerous. We have named these particular rapids the “Five Hundred Dollars | Rapids.” They are over a mile and a half long and only broken in the center by one short smooth stretch. All the rest of the way the river is full of huge boulders and the channel narrows from 100 yards to 10 yards after the second chute, causing the waves to jack-knife together with a bad backlash. Fuller and I were almost a mile ahead of Boddum and Kane when we reached this dangerous spot, so we decided to run it if possible and then walk back to take movies of our companions as STAR. - WASHINGTON, 0, O MOXDAY, SEPTEMBER 10. 1928." toward the foaming white water below. Our canoe glided down until it met the turbulent water and then we began to bob up and down like a cork. We shipped very little water until the bow nosed through a huge wave instead of bouncing over it. A sheet of water drenched me as I sat cocked in tront watching for rocks. The canoe, heavily loaded with sup- plies and equipment, became difficult to handle after the first drenching, and gradually took on more water. enough fo submerge the gunwales. We rode rightside up until a bad eddy caught the bow and turned the canoe clean over, throwing Fuller and I headlong into the icy river. We righted the canoe and hung onto the sides as the current carried us down to quiet water where we could swim to shore safely. Have Narrow Escape. Before we had time to warn Boddum and Kane, in the other canoe, not to | run the rapids, we saw them at the top of the first chute coming down at high speed. Up to my neck in_the frigid water, T watched them as they bobbed up and down, missing the rocks, and then down the second chute they sped to meet a fate similar to what we had experienced. Their canoe. tossed on the crests of |the big waves, seemed to be coming along finely until they were half way through the white water. But from then on, the nose seemed to be going down, | and with each succeeding wave the angle became more noticeable until the water seemed to rush in and envelop the canoe. It was a spectacular sight to see the cance vanish from sight and only two haeds reappear a few seconds later. They floated down to quiet water with only the upper part of their bodies visible After landing, we retrieved our sup- ply bags, but our kitchen, movie camera and 3,000 feet of unexposed film could not be accounted for. Thus the rapids received their name—‘the Five-Hun- dred-Dollar Rapids.” Corn Meal Ferments. Max Kane, who was acting as cook, resented doing his duties with only one kettle and one cup for utensils, so we whittled out four crude wooden spoons to complete our kitchen. A rain set in shortly afterward making the soaking of our supplies set out to dry a thor- | ough one, and it continued to do so for the next two days. The corn meal previously had been soaked and after this drenching it be- gan to ferment so we fed it to the “whisky Jacks” and the way they cleaned it up surely made them worthy of their name. The other supplies suf- fered to some extent, and we had twice. as much’ oatmeal after swamping—in quantity at least. The message which informed those at Brackett that we were lost and starving somewhere on Reindeer Lake was car- ried to that post by a ranger hydro- plane and was signed by Corp. Mallory of the Canadian Mounted Police, who is stationed at Pelican Narrows, half way between the pass at Manitoba and Brackett. You will readily understand how interested we were in that message. they shot down. We paddled to the! crest of the chute and awaited develop- ments as the swift current carried us Subsequently we read some clippings giving more information regarding us and we decided that the story originated with a man we had met at South End, an Indian settlement at the lower end of Reindeer Lake. We were bound north then and he evidently thought we would be lost in the wilderness. But we never were lost. On our way north we obtained passage on the Hud- son Bay Co.’s boat, Lac du Brackett, and had a safe journey up the long lake—a journey which was uneventful compared with the difficulties and dangers we subsequently encountered. Before we left Brackett, however, we gathered a great deal of information regarding the country we were entering from Father Egenolf, who has spent 26 years in that region: Jack Hogarth, once a husky trader, and a few other “old timers.” They were much interested in our venture and assisted us greatly in making ready for our “take-off” into the unmapped territory. At Brackett we added a fish net and A 44-40 carbine to our supplies. With flour selling at $40 a hundred pounds, sugar a dollar a pound and the prices of other things in keeping, we did as little buying as possible. But we clung to our short wave re- ceiver, for it had previously proven its worth. On Wednesday evening we used it to pick up WGY for our special world, though that world didn't hear from us. Coming back over the same route was easier than going up. because after reaching the Cochrane River we traveled down stream to Brackett. In our haste to return, however, we ran a series of treacherous rapids which the Indians have never run before—so they told us when we met some creek Indians just below the rapids. Father | Egenolf at Brackett describes those | rapids as “man eaters,” and said we | must have had several guardian angels | watching over us. | _The following day we arrived in | Brackett and heard the first news that {we had been reported as lost on Reindeer Lake without food or sufficient clothing. We picked up a cache of food left there on our way out, and de- | parted for South End, a distance of 150 miles down Reindeer Lake. Food Runs Short. We selected a poor time to cross Rein- deer, as high winds and rain hindered and prevented our traversing the lake. Our food cache was sufficient for eight days’ travel, but we were windbound on two different islands for a total of six days out of the }1 it took to cross the lake. The last three days we ate nothing but ptarmigan, mess berries and a lit- tle oatmeal. The fowls we got were bagged with a .38-caliber revolver. We never expected to use this sidearm, and we had only five loaded shells available for use. Thus it became necessary to reload the shells by means of an old Indian reloading outfit which we had luckily picked up in the North. Our supply of shot was very limited, so we resortet: to small pebbles, which the ptarmigan apparently thought was a huge joke. We suffered no discomforts and on the eleventh day we stopped at the Revillou post, situated on Waupas River. Mr. Sweter, the man in charge, invited us to dine with him and remain there until the weather was more favor- able for traveling. Five long days brought us down to Pelican Narrows. where we sold our equipment and re- turned to civiliaztion. (Copyright. 1928. by North American News- paper Alliance.) broadcast and heard from the outside | | in the contest ORATORY WINNERS LAND INNEW YORK, Wasfiington Youth Describes Perilous Bus Ride Over Mountain Pass. Special Dispatch to The Star. NEW YORK, September 10.—A four- hour motor bus ride over Simplon Pass from Switzerland to Italy will be re- membered for the rest of their iives by | the seven Americans and one Mexican winners ot the high school division, Na- tional Oratorical Contest, who returned yesterday aboard the Red Star lincr Lapland from a two-month tour of Europe. i ) The party included Benjamin E. Hin- den of Washington, who was sponsored by The Evening Star: James R. Moore of Somerset, Ky.. spon- sored by the Louisville Courier-Journai: National Champion Joe E. West of Omaha, sponsored by the Bee=News: Ralph Zabludofsky, Brooklyn, sponsored by the New York Times; Elliot Norquist of Kansas City, sponsored by the Kal sas City Star: Charles J. Olson, Wor- cester, Mass.. sponsored by the Gazette Frederic R. Johnson of Chicago, spon- | sored by the Daily News; Efrain Brito Rosado of Mexico City, Mexican na- tional champion, and Prof. George B. Dillard of the University of Virginia, | who conducted the tour of Europe. The party sailed from New York June 30. The itinerary included tours of England, France, Belgium, Holland for the Olympic games, up the Rhine, Switzerland, northern Italy. back to anris for five days and return Septem- er 1. The outstanding event of the tour, | according to the unanimous verdict of was the week at the Olympic ut the big three was the ride over Simplon Pass. “The road practically all of the way through the pass was carved out of the side of steep cliffs, with a sheer drcp of a couple of thousand feet on on~ side,” said Hinden. “The scenery was; wonderful, but soon after we started we met an automobile, coming down grade from the opposite direction, thar flashed past, just missing the baggage trailer behind the bus although the bus driver had crowded over as far as po: sible toward the outside of the narro road. If the automobile had struck the bus it seems certain that we would hav- been toppled into the canyon below. “We had hardly begun to teel easy again when a second automobile loomed up ahead, following the first one. Again the bus driver hugged the edge of th: cliff and again we hung on to our seats conscious of the drop of 2000 feet. Again we crept back into the road and | again there came thundering down the mountain another automobile driven by some one apparently indifferent to dan- ger and death. This car was stripped and we learned then that we were wit- LOUIS DEL VECCHIO, MARKET MERCHANT, DIES | Services for Convention Hall Deal- er Will Be Held Tomorrow at Holy Rosary: Louis Del Vecchio, for 30 years a | merchant at the Convention Hall market, died Saturday at his residence, 1417 Meridian place. Born in Italy 55 years ago, Mr. Del Vecchio came to America as a young man. He had re- sided in this cit for 32 years. K COOLIDGE'S FISHING ISHALTED BY RAIN President and Wife Leave This Afternoon for Wash- ington. BY J. RUSSELL YOUNG. was a_member of the Unicne Fra- tellanza Italiano. Funeral services will be held tomor- row motning 9:30 o'clock in the Holy Rosary Church, 601 Third street, Interment will be in St Mary’s Cemetery. Mr. Del Vecchio is survived by his four sons, Savino, Leonard. Louis, jr., and Ernest: two daught, Mrs. Anthony San Fataro and Miss Hl‘ll‘n_ Del = Vecchio: three brothers, Guerino. John and Anthony: three sic- ters, Mrs. Prospero Stellabotte, Mrs Frank Frazzano and Mrs. Michael Agriesti, and his mother, Mrs. Mary Grace Del Vecchio, g —_— nessing an automobile race over the pass, headed in the opposite direction.” For two hours, Hinden said, the b hugged the side of the road as it crept slowly toward the summit and during this time a score or more of racins cars dashed by. Twice the cars side- swiped the trailer, but doing no appre- ciable damage. Each time. it seemed. they missed the bus by inches. In London they met Dudley Barker and in Paris they met Rene Ponthieu, who are the oratorical champions in England and France and will arrive for the International Oratorical Contest to be held in Washington in October. Hin- den stated that he met half a dozen groups of Washingtonians in Europe. The party disbanded when the Lap- land docked. Hinden was met at the pier by his parents. Rosado stated he expects to remain in New York and Washington until the international con- test, in which he is to represent Mexico. Mr. Del Vecchio. widow, Accompanied by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Hinden, apartment 125, 3500 Fourteenth street, Benjamin ar- rived in Washington last night. He spent the evening recounting his | experiences abroad and lunched at the Mexican emb: today with Rosada. Pershing Returns to Capital. Gen, Bluemont, Va.. and is re-established in | his regular apartments at the Metro- politan Club and has resumed his du- ties at the War Department as head of the American Battle Monuments Commission. at | John J. Pershing has returned | to this city from his Summer home. at | Steff Correspondent of The Star. | CEDAR ISLAND LODGE. BRULE |RIVER, Wis, September 10.—The President today braved a cold, heavy rain. and a north wind to get in his last day of fishing before leaving for Washington. | The temperature fell about 45 overnight. and a- there was no indica- tions of a let-up in the downpour of rain the President did not remain very long at fishing. He has refused to let his fishing paraphernalia be packed, and it is likely he will indulge in his favorite sport later in the day, if the rain stops | This morninz Mrs. Coolidge was | busily engaged seeing that everything | was put in readiness for their leave tak- ing late this afternoon. The baggage is taken in Army trucks to the President’s special train at Superior. | . The President and Mrs. Coolidge will | leave their island retreat shortly after 14:30 this afterncon. They will motor | to Superior. where thousands are ex- | pected to be sembled to bid them | farewell. It is understood that the | President will take this opportunity to | express his gratitude and appreciation. | He probably will not speak more tham 2 or 3 minutes. The special train will consist of eight steel cars. The journey from Superior to Chicago will be over the tracks of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad and from Chicago to Washington it will travel on the Baltimore & Ohio | Railroad. | James J. Davis. Secretary of Labor, who is in Pennsylvania, where he has | been speaking. will board the special train tomorrow night at some point in Pennsylvania. According to the sched= ule the train will arrive in Washington Wednesday morning early enough to permit the President to be at his desk at_the customary hour. President and Mrs. Coolidge yesters day went to the Congregational Church at Brule. They were thanked for the Christian example of the past three months by unfailing attendance at church. They have heard 12 evangei= to | ical sermons by John Taylor, a blind lay preacher, who has divided his life between seiling dry goods on week days it\)ndhprelchlng the Gospel on the Sabe ath. S Refreigerator cars for milk transpor tation are being advocated by Dr. Ange] Mada, chief of milk distribution of Cuba. WooDpwARD & l.oTHROP 10™ 11™ F aND G STREETS P » RUGS, 'BEDROOM NEEDS—Last Week at Semi-Annual Selling Savings 9x12 Size $225 to $375 8x10 Size $215 to $250 629 Size $165 Colonial Type Poster Beds, 247 These are all greatly reduced from regular stock, to be included in this great economy event. Deferred Payments OrientAL Rues, Firre FrOOR. [ . ferent styles, in combination mahogany, at $24.75. Poster Beds Several dif- Single Size $2 High Grade Chinese Rugs—Special All these rugs are “contract quality”—up to the high standards we specified when we purchased them. After this week they will be far more. It will be both pleasurable and profitable to take advantage of the greatsavings. New patterns and colors for Fall. Upholstered Box Springs Only the best materials and the most skilled work- manship are used in these fine springs. They are cov- ered with strong woven striped ticking. New Goose-Feather 4x7 Size $85 2.6x5 Size $42.50 3x6 Size $55 2x4 Size $22.50 2x3 Size $22. 50 Layer Felt Mattresses Single Size $17.75 $ Dvuble Size 19.75 These soft, durable mattresses are upholstered in the same fine-quality tic An “easy-to-turn” type. Boudoir Chairs Reduced $ 3 9’50 This number has solid mahogany posts with pineapple tops—a style note of especial importance for Early American decorative schemes. The double size at $39.50. BeorooM FURNITURE, S1xTH FLOOR. Bedroom Dressers Pillows, $3-75 It is truly unusual to find such pillows as these at this low price. Offered only during the Semi-Annual Selling, so be sure to choose this week. In the wanted 21x27 size. Coil Springs ing that covers the box springs. Free Shipment Semi-Annual Selling Price $ 60 th tokens, Mr. Hanna explained | that the difficulties in making change | for an 8-cent fare would be so great || s to make this inadvisable. Convenient terms of pay- We will pack, crate and Special $ 16’75 ment may be arranged if While the records show that mor: income would be deyived from an 8-cent | cash fare without tokens, he said it would | be more equitable to the public to pay the alternative fare, since most of the | car riders use tokens. | About 85 per cent of the business, | Hanna believes, would be on the| TY-cent rate i J. E. Heberle, assistant to President | Hanna, followed him on the stand. He | produced figures showing the operations | and income of the company through a | period of vears and brought up to date | es based on the previous valuation by | the Court of Apveals in 1925 H foir value as of Decemba 31,1 statcd as $26,024,090, vou wish to vantage of this Homefurnishings Selling. Special $ I 1'50 Either single or double sizes at this very special Semi-Annual Selling price. Exceptionally well made and worthy of your immediate attention. Finely constructed of walnut and gumwood. These, in regular stock, were far more. Dressing Tables to match, $45 Bedroom Chairs to match, $12.50 take ad- Comfortable chairs of pleasing de- Special sign and covered in attractive cre- tonnes are offered at this Semi-An- nual Selling price, $16.75. Matching Leg Rest, $10.50 <3 Beoroom Furnitore, Smra Froon. ship, free of charge, any purchase you may make to any railroad station in the continental United States.