Evening Star Newspaper, December 8, 1928, Page 1

*From Press to Home Within the Hour» The Star’s carrier system covers every city block and the regular edi- tion 1s delivered to Washington homes as fast a< the papers are printed. WEATHER. (U. S. Weather Bureau Forecast.) Fair tonight and tomorrow; somewhat colder tonight: lowest temperature about 26 degrees: slowly rising temperature tomorrow. Temperature—Highest, 39, at 4 p.m. yesterday: lowest, 32 at 3:30 a.m. today. ~ Full report on page 9 ¢ Toening Star, ch WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1928—THIRTY-FOUR PAGES. CRASH N STOCKS ——1 FORCES LIST DOWN | T0 LOWER LEVELS 'Radio, With Drop of $72, Proves Feature of Fall- ing Market. Closing N. Y. Markets, Pages 24 and 25 Yesterday’s Circulation, 107,317 TWO Entered as second post office, Washington, S[NME BUDY ASKS | COL. GRANT IS APPOINTED INAUGURAL GROUP CHAIRMAN "~ WEST T0 APPEAR v e FR QUESTONI Machinery in Motion for Event. Public Lands Committee Plans Nomination Quiz Wednesday. CENTS. SEPARATE DRY LAW FOR DISTRICT T0 BE URGED INCONGRESS Legislation Would Be Com- parable to That in Various States. No. 30,902, hntter (#) Means Associated Press. | | HO . WANTS To SEE 4 Selection Comes as Surprise | | and Understood to Be at Hoover’s Wishes. |LOSSES ARE DISTRIBUTED AMONG RECENT LEADERS With the appoiniment of Lieut. Col U. S. Grant, 3d, U. §. A, Corps of SUBCOMMITTEE STUDIES DORAN'S ANNUAL REPORT SALT CREVEKrl)IL LEASE | INQUIRY WILL BE MAD | i ey | Experts Unwilling to Predict Ex- tent to Which Reaction Will Go. A e omeoaih 4 Dry Convictions Here Far Below Average for Nation, Document's Figures Reveal. Present for Data on Sinclair Contract Renewal. Five Physicians Summoned, Hoover as President on March 4 next, Be | Dlans for that great occasion will now = - | . i national committee | ST The first step taken by Col. Grant REVIE | identified with planning inaugural ce! EUNDI.”[]N |S HEI_”‘M crashing stock prices on the New cial House subcommittee that has been An inquiry into the Salt Creek royal- brations in the past. In the latter York Stock Exchange today. Radio | making an economic efficiency survey #v oil lease remewal to Harry F. Sin- Mr. West's predecessor, in the Coolidge cabinet, to appear before it on Thurs- sistant Secretary of Interior; Ernest O. Patterson, solicitor of the Interior De- protest of Mr. Kem against the renewal | of the Sinclair contract by Secretary of the lease to Sinclair, He also re- quested presence of the others who | The hearing promises to revive one of the issues of the campaign. Just Later Mr. Kem . protested the re- newal through Senator Capper. and on the contract renewal in connection with the Department of Justice inquiry. Senate oil committee, Chairman Nye made sure of a quorum today When presence of a committee quorum was a governing factor. Stewart successfully Engineers, officer in charge of public building and parks, as chairman of the committee to arrange for the celebra- tion of the inauguration of Herbert quickly take definite form. | | The selection of Col. Grant, whose | | distinguished grandfather had two of | the most colorful inaugural celebrations | | in history, was announced by Dr. Hubert | Work, chairman of the Republican | - S R AvOrL o Enactment of a separate prohibition NEW YORK, December 8.—A nose The Senate public lands. committee | jncigent to mapping out the inaugural el b St Gk S O Jaw for the District of Columbia com- #oday asked Secretary West to appear | committee work was to confer with J on stock of Radio Cor- | L N et et before it in open meeting nest Wednes- | Chairman Work in the latter’s office and | | poration of America of $72 from yester- |1 tecittato etk o day be questioned in connection| Meet five members of the Republican | day's closing price was the spectacular ke ety iy T State committee for the District, nea SEVEIBRRAEHL: of Lbe Rl ssceive e ; with his nomination as head of the In- | ly ail of whom have been prominentl; D rd successive day e s o s terior Department. roup were William T. Galliher, who | i | Was €halrman of the inaugural commit- | touched $296 a share. which is $124 un- < | of the National Capital. clair. which recently was declared void | tee four years ago: Edward F. Colla- | der it record high price established only g Y by the Department of Justice also was | d2y and Mrs. Virginia White Speel, the three days ago, but more than three | decided upon in connection with the! hearing of Mr. West. “The commmittee | has asked Hubert Work, chairman of | the Republican national committee, and | day : Others summoned for the Thursday meeting include William J. Donovan, assistant to the Attorney General, and an adviser of Herbert, Hoover in the re- cent campaign; E. C. Finney, an As- partment: Senator Capper of Kansas and James P. Kem of Kansas City, counsel for the White Eagle Oil Co. It was explained that Senator Capper was invited before the committee be- cause of his interest in presenting he | Work. Senator Walsh, Democrat, of Mon- tana, who led the Senate's inquiry into the Teapot Dome oil case, asked that West be called for questioning con- serning any connection with the renewad have been called for Thursday. Senator Glenn, Republican. of Illinois, a friend of Mr. West, urged that the hearing of the cabinet officer Wednes- day be public and no objection was raised. before election the Department of Jus- tice, acting on orders from Mr. Cool- idge, deciared void the renewal of the | Salt’ Creek contract to Sinclair. The | renewal was allowed earlier in the year by Secretary Work. Scpator Walsh said today he wanted to ask Mr. West what steps he had taken to determine the legality of the eontract after he took office last July. Chairman Nye explained that Mr. Ponovan was called to give his views Make Sure of Quorum. Mindful of the plea of Robert W. Btewart, chairman of the board of the Standard Oil of Indiana, that a quorum was not present when he was alleged 1o have perjured himself before the consideration of the nomination of Secretary West began. Stewart was acquitted of the Senate contempt charge here recently, and one of the points stressed in the court’s charge to the jury was that lack of held that too few Senators had been resent, and today Chairman Nye de- aved his committee meeting half an hour while messengers rounded up the Tequired number of members. COOLIDGE ASKED TO PUSH SWITCH LIGHTING UP TREE President Requested Custom of Illuminating Community Affair. to Follow President Coolidge today was asked & foliow the custom established by him several years ago of personally pressing the button illuminating the pommunity Christmas tree for Washing- ton, erected on the reservation to the year of the White House and south of the Treasury Department. This tree will be decorated as on former oc- Casions and will be formally illuminat- ed Christmas eve with appropriate cere- monies 7 The invitation to the President was extended todey in person by Proctor 1. Dougherty, president of the board of District Commissioners; E. C. Graham and Miss Sybil Baker of the Communi- ty Center. The President took the in- vitation under advisement. POISONED MEAT STOLEN. Peer Left as Bait for Wolves Miss- ing—Warning Issued. MINNEAPOLIS, December 8 ().—A poisoned deer carcass, left in the brush Tear Stevens Point, Wis., as wolf bait, has disappeared. Game wardens, be- Jieving it to have been stolen for food, padiocast warnings last night. Coolidge to Attend Dinner. President Coolidge tonight will attend the semi-annual dinner of the Gridiron Club, an organization of Washington Republican national committeeman and committeewoman for the District of Co lumbia: C. C. Glover, jr. vice chair man of the State committee, and T. Lincoln Townsend, secretary of the committee. man of the State committee. was unable to be present on account of illness. Cable Sent to Hoover. Immediately after this meeting, Dr. Work sent a message to Mr. Hoover asking his ideas as to what the program should be. The delegates assured Col. Grant and Dr. Work that the Republican State committee as an organization and they as individuals could be depended upon | to co-operate to the fullest extent in making the Hoover inaugural a com- plete success. Suggestions were made to Col. Grant in the matter of arrange- ments and individual views as to the scope of the celebration were offered. Col. Grant did not commit himself. One idea advanced during this discus- sion was to the effect that in the event that inaugural plans do not include an inaugural ball, it would be highly ap- propriate and popular to have a ball of a semi-official nature that could be held in the interests of charity, which | undoubtedly would serve to add to ihe pleasure of the many visitors who will be in the Capital at that time. Col. Grant intends to lose no time starting in motion the machinery to ar- range for the celebration. He said today, when questioned as to the possible scope of the inaugural celebration, that while he personally had any number of ideas he had not yet worked out any- thing of a definite nature. He stated that whatever is decided upon will con- form with the wishes of the President- elect so far as possible. He added in this connection that he understood ~Mr. Hoover preferred a more or less simple celebration, such as marked the in- augurals of both President Coolidge and President Harding. He said, however, that he had been given no instructions officially in this respect. Col. Grant's first undertaking will be to select the personnel of those who are to assist him in this work. It is his intention to submit a tentative plan to the President-elect for his approval before going ahead. Headquarters Plans. It is Col. Grant's expectation to ar- range for a centrally located headquar- ters for the committee. He said that the Willard Hotel probably would be de- cided upon as headquarters for the forthcoming inaugural. Col. Grant's selection is understood to have been made by Mr. Work in ac- cordance with the personal wishes of President-elect Hoover. His appoint- ment came as a distinct surprise. It has been very generally the custom in the past to appoint some civic or political leader of the District of Columbia as chairman of the presidential inaugural committee. Col. Grant also was taken wholly unawares when Dr. Work prof- fered him the post. He said today that the offer was not made until yesterday afternoon. Colorful Affair Seen. Appointment of Col. Grant has given rise to a feeling on the part of many in the city that a very colorful and in- teresting celebration may be looked for by the citizens of Washington. There are some among those who have been advocating what has been referred to as an old-fashioned_celebration of a gala nature, who, because the new chairman happens to be a military officer, are hopeful that the scope of the celebration arranged under his di- rection will be of the magnitude ac- cepted here in the sense of an old- fashioned affair. Speculation today in this respect ad- vanced the suggestion that probably President-elect Hoover had this in mind when he selected a man of the military for this work. There was no inaugural ball to fea- ture either the Coolidge or Harding cel- ebrations, and it is thought very un- likely there will be one in Mr. Hoover's honor. The latter is reported to have expressed himself very definitely in op- position to an ‘naugural ball. Whether or not there will be more reviewing stands erected alcng the line of march than was the case during the past two inaugurations is one of the matters to be_determined socn by Col. Grant Next to the appointment of a secre- tary and treasurer for the inaugural committee, Col. Grant's more important committee’ appointments will be the chairman and personnel of the com- mittee on finance. Col. Grant, because of his long resi- dence in Washington and the nature of his present military assignment, is especially well known to those of official. social and civic life in the Capital. A little more than three years ago Col. Grant was assigned to his present. office to succeed Col. C. O. Sherrill, who resigned to become city manager for Cincinnati, Ohio. Col. | newspaper correspondents. It has been Mr, Coolidge’s custom to be present at jpne of these functions each year during this term of office. Grant since being the officer in charge | of public buildings and public parks | has been identified with many activities projects in the Capital. iost Boy Refuses to Tell Officers His Name But Gives It to Sant $v the Associated Press. NEW YORK, December 8—Four- fear-old Tommy Brennan, found by a policeman_on the platform of the ele- wated at Battery Park, declined all in- formation about himself other than he was looking for Santa At a police station a sergeant induc- ed him to telephone. “agellow, Santy, is that you? [ 2 a Over Police Phone |is Tommy. and a_pupp! A jolly voice on the other end, which may have been Santa’s or a police- man’s, boomed out, “Who are you?” “Tommy Brennan. I live up by One | Hundred “and _Fifty-fifth street.” “All right, Tommy,” said the jolly voice. A contented Tommy was shortly re- I want an electric train This turned to his mother, Samuel J. Prescott, chair- | to Palace for Comprehen- | sive Study of Case. By the Associated Press | | LONDON, December 8.— All five| physicians who have been attending | | King George returned to the palace this [ afternoon and held a further consulta- | | tion on his majesty’s condition. ! It was understood that the object of | the consultation was to make a further | comprehensive review of the entire case, : Those who attended were Sir Stanley | Hewitt, Lord Dawson of Penn, Sir Hum- | phrey Rolleston, Sir E. Farquhar Buz- | zard and Dr. H. Graham Hodgson, X- ray specialis Dr. L. E. H. Whitby, a lung specialist, who conducted a bacte- riological examination recently, was not present. ! While it was thought that the phy- sicians might decide to issue & bulleun[ after their consultation, the indications | were that none would be given out until | the usual hour this evening. Despite the fact that the King's tem- perature was stated to be up this morn- ing, there were indications in the official bulletin on his condition that might be regarded as satisfactory. The physicians’ report indicated that the King had several hours of refresh- ing sleep after the disturbed day which he passed yesterday, and apparently he held ground which he had previously gained. Temperature Is Higher. ‘The bulletin, signed by Sir Stanley Hewett and Lord Dawson of Penn, read: “The King has had some hours of sleep. The temperature is still raised on account of the local lung condition. The general condition is the same.” ‘This morning was the coldest of the ‘Winter thus far, but the nip in the air seemed only to have the eflect of stimu- lating the gathering of one of the largest week-day crowds which have as yet assembled outside of Buckingham Palace to await the official bulletin. Among the spectators were many groups of former service men from vari- ous parts of the country who had come to London for the birthday flnmvfrslry| of “Toc H" a famous ex-servicemen's organization. Many Read Good News. A continuous stream of motor cars kept passing by, halting near enougn to the palace railings to enable the occu- pants to look over the heads of the crowd and read the big black letters of the bulletin which gave the encouraging news that the King had passed a rather restful night. It was nearly noon when Sir Stanley and Lord Dawson issued their bulletin. ‘They had gone to the palace fairly early in the morning and were about an hour and a half in consultation before giving out their report. Palace cifcles were said to regard the physicians’ statement that the King's generai condition remained the same as the most important feature about the bulletin. The King's temperature, it was understood, had not gone to a higher level, the doctors’ phrase in this connection being interpreted as indi- cating that it was still subject to con- siderable variation because of the local lung condition. ‘The issuance of today's bulletin fol- lowed an interesting routine in the palace for its dsitribution, just as on the occasion of the posting of previous re- ports. The first person to see the bulletin each day is the Queen, to whom it is sent immediately after its preparation. The contents are then made known by telephone to all of his majesty's rela- tivies livng in London, while it is tele- graphed to those abroad. The Duke of Connaught, the King's uncle, for in- “(Continued on Page 2, Column 6.) RARE FUR SEALS REACH 200 HOME IN CAPITAL Three Arviving Here After Two- Month Journey Are Only | Ones in Country. Three fur seals, the only ones now in captivity in the United States, arrived al the National Zoological Park this morning. They were obtained through Henry O'Malley, United States fish commis- sioner, in the Pribiloff Islands this Summer, and have been for nearly two months on the way to Washington. They were kept in San Francisco for a month to acclimatize them. They were accompanied from San Francisco by W. E. Allis of the Fish Commission. | The Bureau of Fisheries had a supply of live fish waiting for them when they arrived in Washngton this morning. The fur seals, which really are bears whose ancestors took to the water thousands of years ago, are so rigidly protected by law that it would be im- possible to obtain any of them except through the Bureau of Fisheries. Ambassador on Retired List. BUENOS AIRES, December 8 (#).— Dr. Manuel Malbram, Ambassador to the United States, was placed on the retired list yesterda: He will return to his post, however, within a month {from 1976 to 18.90, March | times the low prices of the year of $85.25. Price movements were irregular with some stock issues making gains of $2 to $25, but th violent reaction in tadio many traders who have courage- ously held their stocks through the drastic breaks of the past two days be- gan to dump their holdings on the market. Dupont, which had bounded up $25 at the opening, canceled most of its gain, and Wright Aero fell 25 points. ~ Kolster Radio, Commercial Solvents, Sears. Roebuck: Montgomery Ward, Loose Wiles and Advance Rume- ly feli from $4 to 8. Commission houses today refrained from predictions as to how far the re- action might go, and advised their cus- tomers to keep on the sidelines until the situation might clear up somewhat. It was sald that the heavy margin re- quirements demanded of late have pre- vented the reaction from causing the severe damage that such an unprec- cdented collapse would have caused in former times. Losses of more than $20 were com- mon among the handful of most vio- lent performers. Wright Aero fell $26, Montgomery Ward $24, Case Threshing $23 and A. M. Byers closed with a | net loss of $20, after having sold up $6_in the opening transactions. Stocks were dumped upon the market in tremendous volume, as many margin accounts which have withstood the test of the drastic reactions of the past two days were unable to weather today's storm. Total sales of approximately 3,744,900 shares were rolled up, a new high record for a Saturday session. The ticker was expected to run more than ®n hour after the close, The previous Saturday record, made on November 10, was 3,207,000 shares. Other Losses Recorded. Sears Roebuck, Greene Cananea, Packard Motor, Johns Manville and Chrysler were among issues losing from $6 to $10. Among favorite investment issues, General Motors lost $5, while Canadian Pacific, New York Central, Union Pacific, United States Steel and American Can lost about $1 to $3. Among the few issues to withstand the deluge of selling were General Elec- tric and Bethlehem Steel, which closed with gains of more than $1 each. Standard Oil of New Jersey and Texas Corporation each closed 25 cents higher. Federal Mining & Smelting, and National Tea, two of the more volatile issues, tumbled $50 and $54 respectively. ‘The Curb Market also encountered an avalanche of selling, which sent prices skidding, and piled up total sales of 1,464,000 shares. a new Saturday record on the market, in contrast to the previ- ous half-day record of 1.240,100 made November 17 COTTON BREAKS SHARPLY. Market Plunges Near! $4.50 a Bale After U. S. Report. NEW ORLEANS, December 8 (#).— The cotton market plunged down near- ly $4.50 a bale today when the Gov- ernment crop and ginnings estimates proved larger than the trade expected. The figures showing an indicated crop of 14,373,000 bales and 12,561,000 bales ginned prior to December 1 promoted heavy selling on the call on the resump- tion of trading after the report was is- sued. January contracts sold down 19.85 to 19.02 and May 19.75 to 19.03, or 72 to 86 points down. After the call the market rallied slightly. The ~demand, however, was sufficient only to check the decline and prices held at the lower levels. December contracts, which had sold at 20.40 cents a pound before the re- port was made public, broke to 19.89 cents, as compared with yesterday's final price of 20.26 cents. March, which had advanced to 20.36 cents in early trading, sold down to 19.84¢. March closed yesterday at 20.24 cents. The average of trade estimates had placed the yield at 14,100,000 bales, al- though in some quarters a report of 14,200,000 bales, and a break in prices were expected. The November 8 Gov- ernment estimate was 14,133,000 bales. BURGLARS KILL TWO. Doctor and Wife Slain by Bandits in Home. EASTON, Ohio, December 8 (#)— Mrs, Lora Silver, 58, was killed and her hushand, Dr. Horatio Silver, 55, promi- nent physician here, was wounded fa- tally by two burglars, who entered their home early today. Mrs. Silver was killed instantly, a bullet piercing her heart, while her husband, with a bullet wound in his abdomen, died in a Dayton hospital five hours later, following an operation per- formed in an effort to save his life, The Shopping Place The variety and character of the advertisements in The Star make them of the greatest value to its readers. The Star is the daily guide for thousands of shop- pers in over 100,000 homes. its columns free from all objectionable advertising. and will remain at the disposition of the jgovernment for 2 vears, when he auto- matically will retire, Any complaint will be PREDICTS ALL MAIL OF 1STCLASS BY AR Glover Foresees Accomplish- ment Within Next Five Years. By the Associated Prets. CHICAGO, December 8—All first- class mail will be carried by air in the United States within five years, accord- ing to W. Irving Glover, Second Assist~ ant Postmaster General in charge of air mail. “Just as the Post Office Department has been quick to utilize every means of transportation known to man in get- ting mail to the most remote parts of the country with the upmost of speed, so we have decided that the airplane must replace other means of transpor- tation for all first-class mail,” Glover told members of the American and for- eign delegations to the International Civil Aeronautics Conference, who were feted at a banquet last night. Pan-American Routes Near. Glover also announced that the re- cently expressed wishes of President- elect Hoover for regular air routes from the United States to countries through which he is now traveling will become a reality next year. “The Post Office Department has been working out the details of a route along the Pacific Coast of South America, from Colon, Panama, to Santiago, Chile, and will advertise within a few days for bids to carry mail over that route,” the Assistant Postmaster Gen- eral said. “Next month the mail of our 110.- 000,000 customers will be carried by air to all principal points in Latin and Central America, over the air trail blazed by Lindbergh as far as San Juan in the West Indies and Colon in Pan- ama. It would be safe to forecast that the route to Santiago, Chile, through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile will be in operation next July,” Glover said. The airplane as a dominant factor in a new era of diplomacy was visualized by William P. MacCracken, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics. “The diplomatic representatives of all nations will find their work easier through the aid of the airplane,” Secre- tery MacCracken said. “Nations which have had little in common because of the old barriers of distance will be brought together by air; better under- standing of world affairs is certain to result, and a new era of diplomacy bullt up.” ; F. Trubee Davison, Assistant Secre- tary of War for Aeronautics, and Ed- ward P. Warner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Aeronautics, pledged the continued support of the military estab- lishments to commercal aviation, which they pointed to as the peace-time mis- sion of the Army and Navy. The foreign delegates en route to the International Civil Aeronautics Confer- ence called by President Coolidge will leave Chicago in a fleet of tri-motored airplanes tomorrow for Dayton, where they are to participate in a civic cele- bration to honor Orville Wright, the first man to fly. Some of the delegates planned to go to Dayton today. They are due in Washington Wednesday for the opening of the conference. British General Speaks. ‘The Nation's efforts to link her air and rall facilities into one vast tran: portation network is viewed by Brij Gen. Lord Thompson, former Britis minister of air, as one of the greatest stimulants to aviation ever devised by a nation. ‘The harmonious co-operation of rail- roads with air transport companies marks a new era in business methods, in strict contrast with the jealousies existing for centuries between businesses already established and newcomers, Lord Thompson said last night. As head of the British delegation to the Civil Aeronautics Conference, Lord | Thompson addressed a large gathering | of American and foreign notables in aeronautics. “If the world should follow its usual methods in dealing with a new com-| petitor, such as aviation threatens to be for the railroads, we should expect the deeply entrenched rail lines to " (Continued on Page 2, Column 3. Rigid censorship keeps | street. JAMES A. PATTEN. FAMED WHEAT KING DS OF PNEUMONIA James A. Patten, 76, Loses Fight for Life—Held Interest to End. | By the Associated Press. CHICAGO, December 8.—James A, Patten, famed “wheat king” of the Chi- cago Board of Trade, died at his home here at 10:25 o'clock this morning. The 76-year-old millionaire had been ill only a short time with double pneumonia. Mr. Patten’s wife and his son, John L. Patten, were with him when he passed away quietly. He was only partly con- scious at the end. “He put up a splendid fight,” physi- cians said, “but his advanced age could not prevent the ravages of the lung infection.” A daughter, Mrs. Agne B. Wilder, |lives in Santa Barbara, Calif. Mr. Patten maintained an active in- terest in_ his business affairs up to the time he became ill. The serious nature of his ilness was not discovered until last night. A consultation of physicians was called immediately. The financier was last in the limelight when he was called to Washington to testify in connection with election cam- paign funds. He had long been a benefactor of Northwestern University of Evanston, donating several million dollars to the institution and building a gymnastum which was named for him. BRAND ACTION DEFERRED. Senate Committee Gets Nomination of Board Member for Study. The nomination of Col. Harrison Brand, jr. for another term on the Public Utilities Commission, which was sent to the Senate several days ago, has been referred to the Senate Dis- trict committee for report, but no date has yet been fixed for a meeting ,of the committee to consider the reap-! pointment. Chairman Capper pointed out that it is his usual rule to allow a short time to elapse between the receipt of a nomination and taking ac- tion upon it. The Senator said that | thus far nothing has come to his at- tention relating to the reappointment. PAPER-TAKERfi ”P7UNISHED.I Two Forfeit Bond of $10 for Fail- ing to Deposit Coins. Two more men arrested for failing to pay for newspapers they had taken from street racks forfeited $10 in Po- lice Court yesterday. They were George Charles Willlams, 47, of the 4400 block of Georgia avenue, and Ralph Banks, colored, 24, of the 2200 block of Sixth Williams was arrested by Policeman R. F. Harper of the Tenth precinct who said he took a paper at Georgia avenue and Webster street, while Banks was taken into custody at Fifteenth and K streets by Policeman H. H. Hodge of the second precinct. immediately investigated, CHIGAGO, STUNNED NOW FIGHTS BACK City, Bled by Grafting Lead- ers, Scores Heavily in Two Vote Offensives. The_follow series of ing _article is the first of a v five stories written sz~ clusively for The Star and the North American Newspaper Alliance. in which will de shown the reasoms for the up- rising of thz law-abiding citizens and the measures adopted to drive the gang- sters and racketeers from Chicago. The next story will appear Monday. BY CLEM LANE. Special Dispatch to The Star. CHICAGO, December 8—Chicago's citizens today are winning in an uphill fight against crime. The city's underworld for the first |time in many months is under—some |think permanently—and the decent citizenry on top. \ ‘The fight is not yet won, but two major offensives are, and the indica- tions are that decent Chicago is organ- ized to prevent a return of the gang- sters and the racketeers to power. The first battle was won at the pri- mary last April, when the people rose and defeated the most powerful—or cer- tainly the most corrupt—machine the city and State had ever seen. That up- rising, cominy’ at & time when the man in the street seemed indifferent to t'e cause of clean government, gave heart to a handful of honest and courageous men, and the fight was on against crime and those politicians who protected it. Law and Order Slate Wins. The second offensive was won at the November election, when the people de- feated a half dozen machine candidates who had escaped the primary deluge and elected officials pledged to a return of law and order. This was the situation in Chicago in April, 1928: William Hale Thompson, elected in 1927, was mayor. In 1923 Thompson, after eight years in that office, gave it up and did not face the people at the polls in his unpopularity. ‘Thompson's successor in that year | was Willlam E. Dever, honest and ca- pable, but as a politician short-sighted. He tried to stop the beer war murders by closing the breweries. Drinking Chi- cago, deprived of its beer, vowed ven- geance. Dever sought a solution of the trac- tion question, a political foot ball for nearly 40 years. The demagogues gath- ered, Thompson among them, and the shout went up that the people were being sold into bondage. Mayor Dever's traction plan was defeated in a refer- endum. Dever curtailed municipal expendi- tures, trying to bring order into finances demoralized during Thompson's eight years. There was a squeal from those who were feeding at the public trough. ‘Thompson, modestly describing him- |self as “Big Bill the Builder,” d | back into the pictures. s Thompson Promises Beer. He promised the people boulevards, “building” and beer. Policemen would chase criminals, he said, and would not molest_home brewers. Mistakes of his eight years were forgotten in the hue and cry of a mock battle he staged against King George, in which the King failed to participate, over public school text books. These books, Thompson shrieked, were tainted with British propaganda. “Down with King George and Dever, his supporter!” was Thomp- son’s cry. So Thompson was elected, to the| amazement, of the more thoughtful citi- zen; not so, however, against the will of the’ man who wanted his beer, who | an executive session attended by Chair- man Gibson, the ranking minority | member; Representative Gilbert of | Kentucky and Representative Bowman | of West Virginia. Dr. James M, Doran, | the prohibition commissioner, was the only witness before the subcommittee, This development was colncidental | with the publication of Dr. Doran's {annual report, which showed that con- | victions in the courts of the District in | the fiscal year 1928 for violations of the prohibition law were far below the average for the Federal courts of the country, and that the number of arrests Jumped to 1,261 in 1928, compared with 879 in 1927. Mr. Gibson explained that after the meeting that he had been called be- cause the subcommittee wanted to find out, how prohibition is enforced in the District of Columbia. The hearing was | principally on the question of co-opera- tion between the Federal enforcement officers and the metropolitan police force of the District. The testimony coincided to a large extent with that previously given by District officials. First of Conferences. Mr. Gibson said that this was the - of a series of conferences with key men | regarding varfous phases of suggested | remedial legislation for the District. He emphasized that the subcommittee is not prosecuting a police inquisition and that it is interested more in measures than in men. Another session is to be held ear) next week to get ;::fnrmluon. Mr. Gib- Sald. .on which to base measures io better conditions in the National Capital. Dr. Doran’s report showed the Dis- trict below the average in the percent- age of convictions in cases tried, in the handing out of jail sentences on conviction and in average penalties. The result of prosecutions for the fiscal year 1927 in the local courts was as follows: Total terminations, 1,593: dismissals, 58: nolle prosed, 416: acquittals, 43; verdicts guilty, 62; plead gullty, 1.014; total convictions, 1,076, The percentage of jail sentences in the courts here stood at 9.4, as com- pared to a national average of 28.5 per cent, National convictions in cases brought to trial averaged 75.5 per cent and the District 54.2 per cent. The average jail sentence in the District was only 6.2 days, as compared to the na- :lonltl nv;rl:g‘eant 34.4 days in Federal ourts and 34.8 days coxIxrts. in State and local n the District also the average fine was $91.57, as compared f tional average of $120. L . . A big increase was shown, however, :Zuflelldenll prombltlon agents in their es of making a; ] of illicit liquor. s "n':‘he“i}x:crenfl in the District w: with more activity throughout t Nation, where the total arresis Tor the ?g:’:zrsy‘ :;S" shown to have risen also 3 to 75, i e E 307 during the same Police of the District. in_line also with State officials in showing a dec number of prohibition ar; same period. di officers | | | as in however, fell enforcement, rease in the Tests for the uring which the Federal showed an increase. Arrests Fali Off. Washington police arrests for viola- tion of the liquor laws fell off m‘::n :g'l'ain the fiscal year 1927 to 755 in The value of property seized and destroved in the District by Federal prohibition officers rose from $684 in 1927 to $5.869 in the fiscal year 1928, according to the report. The amount of property seized but not destroyed by prohibition agents fell off from $214,006 in 1927 to $127,335 in 1928. The amount of proceeds from the sale of seized property rose amaz- ingly during the same period from $874.56 to $3477.50, while the expense incidental to the sale and turning over of such proceeds to the collector of internal revenue rose only from $814.80 to $835.25. Two agents were injured in 1927, only one in 1928. The report shows that 104 arrests Wwere made by local police in 1927, from information furnished by Federal agents, but the same column in the 1928 report is blank. While the number of automobiles seized for violation of the law rose from 477 to 543 in the vear, their total value fell off from $211,300 to $209,880. A few items of seizures of illicit liquor and its manufacturing paraphernalia show decreases in 1928 as compared to “(Continued on Page 2, Column 1.) (Continued on Page 2, Column 8.) The plea of a policeman, who, while sitting in court, recognized the defend- ant as a comrade in the 27th Division in France, today won the release on his personal bond of William A. Calla- han, one-armed World War veteran, charged with intoxication. Callahan was discharged from the Naval Hospital Thursday and that night returned to the institution. Hospital attendants said he was intoxicated and put him to bed. The next morning a police patrol was called and Callahan transferred to the third precinct. Sta- tion Clerk John Penkert testified the Radio 7P}(;fir;ms—‘f’age‘ 34 1 man was intoxicated when brought to No. 3. Callahan pleaded - guilty, explaining Policeman’s Plea for Man Recognized As War Buddy Wins Latter Freedom he had been in the hospital so long he thought a little celebration was in order when released At this point, Policeman R. J. Allen, who had been awaiting another case and recognized Callahan as a “buddy” of 10 years ago, asked permission to ad- dress the court. “Callahan is a man whose courage and manhood I envied when he was serving in France,” Allen said. “I know | nothing of the merits of this case, but 1 know he served his country well, lost his arm in action, and deserves another chance. I would particularly appreciate any leniency the court could show, es~ pecially in view of the approaching holiday season.” Saying he was “touched” to have a policeman intercede and make such a statement, Judge. Isaac R. Hitt thank- ed Allen and accepted Callahan’s per- bog sonal