Evening Star Newspaper, December 30, 1928, Page 5

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, DECEMBER 30. , 1928—PART au! OPEN A BUDGET ACCOUNT TEN WEEKS TO PAY No Interest or Extra Charge Lowest Cash Prices CLOSED TUESDAY JANUARY 1st OPEN TOMORROW To Continue Our Annual JANUARY CLEARANCE ALL’ FINE ~ SUITS and ' OVERCOATS Garments Purchased Tomorrow Delivered for New Year's if Desired Every ¥O'Coat in Both Stores HONESTLY REDUCED ‘ 67 675 675 *Beau Geste The $45 price on these garments never changes. Al1$33 & $40 OVERCOATS All* $45 & $50 OVERCOATS Al1 $35 & $60 OVERCOATS Overcoats excepted. Every* Suit in Both Stores HONESTLY REDUCED $23.75 $28.75 $33.75 336.75 $41.75 *Beau Geste Suits excepted. The $45 price on these super-value garments never changes. Silk-Lined Tuxedos A true $35 value. All $35 Suits (Extra Pants to match, $5) All $40 Suits ' (Extra Pants to match, $6) All* $45 Suits (Extra Pants to match, $7) All $50 Suits (Extra Pants to match, $8) All $55 Suits (Extra Paats to match, $9) BALTIMORE GIVEN BIG PLANE PLANT 1Glenn L. Martin Notifies City Company Will Relocate There. ‘ | By the Asspciated Press. | BALTIMORE, December 29.—An- { nouncement_that Glenn L. Martin will | | locate the largest airplane factory of its kind on the Atlantic seaboard here | was reccived by city officials here to- | day from the Glenn L. Martin Co. of Cleveland, Ohio. The announcement | said that the company will relocate its plant in Baltimore on January 1, 1929. | Mr. Martin's announcement that he has decided to locate his plant here permanently came as a surprise. After | | rejecting the city’s proposal to lease | him space on the proposed airport, the | manufacturer said that he would only | erect a temporary plant here until he | selected & permanent site elsewhere on | the Atlantic seaboard. Options Reported Secured. It was reported on authority in City Hall that Mr. Martin has been secur- ing options on tracts below the Turners Station section. This site offers facili- ties for seaplane landings in Bear Creek. The original proposition for locating here made by Mr. Martin, and tenta- tively approved by the city, called for | purchase of 100 acres of the proposed | 1,000-acre airport at a cost of $50,000 Criticism of the cost of the airport caused abandonment of the plan and | adoption of a modified plan on the | same site. Alternate Plan Rejected. An alternate proposal by the city to lease Mr. Martin 100 acres set back from the water front was rejected by him. Mr. Martin then indicated that he would not build a permanent plant in_Baltimore. The announcement received today by city officials read: “The Glenn L. Martin Co. of Cleve- land, Ohio, will relocate its entire busi- ness in Baltimore, Md., January 1, 1929. A new plant with all new equip- ment, the largest of its kind on the At- lantic seaboard, will be in operation in | the Spring of 1929 to take care of the | needed expansion of this company. You are invited to visit us in our new | home.” FLOOD OF WATER DELAYS BUILDERS Contractors Encounter Un- derground Lake in Driving | Piling at Commerce Site. Contractors are fighting what they believe to be a great underground lake, below sea level, in a gravel bed under the Department of Commerce Building site between Fourteenth and Fifteenth and B and E streets. Pressure from this underground water supply manifested itself when the first pile was driven, and water spurted up like a miniature geyser. Since then the Consolidated Engineering Co., con- tractors for the piling and foundations, has been resorting to pumps to check the underground water pressure. Gut- ters in Fourteenth street have been run- ning almest full of the water pumped from the excavation dug for a boiler room along the Fourteenth street side. Piling Is Weakened. Experience with underground water pressure in the Internal Revenue site, south of the Post Office Department Building, led Government inspectors to recommend lowering of the water level and pressure underground to facilitate pile driving. Underground water pene- trated the steel casings of the concrete piles to such an extent at the Internal Revenue site that many concrete piles were ruined by water forced through the casings from the bottom. Many piles had mud nstead of cement on top and had to be reinforced by addi- tional piles driven alongside. Now contractors on the Commerce site are approaching the northern half of the excavation with their pile-driving rigs, and a powerful pump has been set up at the well which a deep-sea diver dug to a depth of 55 feet below the street level, or about 30 feet below the floor of the excavation. The floor of the entire excavation is now about 10 feet below sea level, and water is constantly pressing upward, causing difficulty by forcing its way through the steel cas- ings for the concrete piles. Evidences of a stream that some time ran across the lot have been found, especially in the well dug by the diver He brought up stones and rock, well washed and rounded, as if by a running stream. Boulders and similar rocks have been brought up in other parts of the excavation. At one place along what may have been the bank of the stream was excavated recently the trunk of a big willow tree, many feet below the surface. The wood, in good condition, has been cut up into souvenirs. Veriation in the depth of water in; the holes of the excavation, particularly in the diver's well, have led to the conjecture on the part of some that the tide from the Potomac comes back underground. This, however, is a moot question, and others are inclined to believe the alternating work of the pumps has caused the variation in the height of the water. Underground Stream Found. J. H. Elgin, general superintendent of the Consolidated Engineering Co. be- lieves there is an underground lake of water in: the gravel strata under most of the site, and that the water flows undexground from thz northwest section of the city toward the river. While he was superintendent on the construc- tion of the Mayflower Hotel, Elgin said, workers struck solid rock for the foundations, and came upon an under- ground stream which flowed in volume several inches deep from north to south. Some of this water encountered in the Commerce site, he thinks, may be some of the diverted stream which he found flowing under the Mayflower Hotel site About 6,000 out of the total of 13,000 pi'es in the Commerce site have already been driven, and work is well along on pouring footings for the foundation. A huge ‘“concrete shooting tower” is in operation, capable of pouring about a yard a minute. SERVICES AT HOME. Hope Lodge to Hold Rites at Ma- sonic-Eastern Star Residence. Services at the Masonic and Eastern Star Home will be conducted at 3 o'clock this afternoon under the aus- pieces of Hope Lodge, No. 20, F. A. A. M. of which William R. Lamar is worshipful master. Rev. Homer J. Councilor, president of the Council of Religious Education for the District, will be the speaker. Libraries to Close. | _The central building of the Public | Library and all branches and sub- branches will close at 6 o'clock tomor- row night and, with the exception of the central building, which will be open from 2 to 6 o'clock on Tuesday, all will remain closed throughout New Year GEN. C. C. SNIFFEN, ALERT AT 85, LETS HOBBIES KEEP HIM YOUNG Amateur Photography and Collecting Autographs Are 0Id Soldier’s Pastime. Drives Own Automobile and Recalls Incidents of Abra- | ham Lincoln. Every New Year is a birthday for Brig. Gen. Culver Channing Sniffen, retired paymaster general of the Army, who will reach the eighty-fifth mile- | stone of life Tuesday. Gen. Sniffen was found at his home in the Ontario | Apartment looking forward to another | birthday because he hasn't learned the | meaning of growing old. This wide-awake man of 85 drives his own automobile through the heavi- est downtown traffic. He scorns the aid of eyeglasses when he sits behind the steering wheel. “Risky?” he echoed. 'Why, not at all if you just bear in mind that the other driver usually doesn’t know what he is doing.” Gen. Sniffen is quite frank in saying he has no prescribed formula for keep- ing young, but his two hobbies give him | al His hobbies are amateur photog- raphy and the collection of Amecrican autographs. For 50 years they have | crowded his leisure hours with zest and interest. If he has any secret about kecping young that i it. During a residence of 65 years in | Washington—Gen. Sniffen has had an | unusual opportunity to follow his pur- suit of these hobbie: As chief executive clerk and assistant secretary to Gen. Grant during his two adminis- trations, he met and obtained from the leading men of those times many historic letters and zutographs. Dating back to 1712, his &illection of auto- graphs is one of the rarest and most valuable to be found in Washington. Gen. Sniffen was somewhat discon- certed when a reporter for The Star sought him out in his home. He doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary in being youthful at 85. “But I haven't any formula,” he pro- tested mildly. “I sleep eight hours, smoke cigars whenever I wish, take an occasional walk for exercise and drive my automobile. That's all that keeps me well, except an interest in life. Why, young man, there are so many things to keep the mind busy and ac- tive, I don't have time to think even of getting along in yea Covering the walls of Gen. Sniffen’s apartment, are more than a hundred photographs of Presidents, statesmen, generals, scientists and other notables, many of which he took with his own camera. Despite his years, the gen- eral's eyes are alert in handling the camera. | Freak of Nature. One Winter scene of Rock Creek, showing breaks in the ice along the side of the bank, he takes more than usual personal pride in showing. ‘“Look closely and tell me what you sce in it,” he said. Sure enough, a figure began to form in the break of snow and ice. It was an almost perfect silhouette of Gen. George Washington's head—only protruding from the mouth was some- thing that looked much like a cigar. “Friends have told me I should mark out the cigar,” he said, “but I prefer to let it remain as it was developed. It is a freak of nature and should be re- spected as such.” The Smithsonian Museum has taken an interest in another Winter scene in Washington which Gen. Sniffen took with a time exposure and the aid of moonlight and the glistening of the snow. Gen. Sniffen loves his collection of photographs because each has a pleas- ant or interesting reminder. In a con- spicuous position is a large picture of Col, Charles Lindbergh, which lacks an autograph, His autographed pictures of the Presidents include nearly all since Abraham Lincoln. Some he obtained himself, others were sent by them as a testimonial of their friendship. Gen. Sniffen bemoans the fact that the typewriter is making letters in the handwriting of modern Presidents and statesmen rarer and rarer. In the days before a President merely made his signature, most messages and practi- cally all letters were in the original handwriting. Among Most Valuable Documents. He regards as one of the most valu- able in his collection a document in the original handwriting of President Andrew Johnson. Originals in John- son’s hand are rare. That is because he did not learn the art of penmanship until taught by his wife. In later years an injury to his right arm caused him to write very few let{ers. Collectors of autographs must always keep on the alert for frauds, Gen. Sniffen explained, though he said it was very difficult to imitate the paper of early documents because of the water-marks. Although original letters and poems of Walt Whitman the poet are by no means rare, Gen. Sniffen prizes those he has as though they were the only ones in existence. “We were old cronies,” he explained. “As a boy of 14 or 15, I used to ride with him in the pilot house of the Fulton street ferry boat between New York and Brooklyn every Summer night and on top of the Fifth avenue coaches.” Gen. Sniffen missed seeing his old friend Whitman for a number of years. ‘Then they had a reunion under strange circumstances. “I had waited until the draft of 1863, and when it didn’t include me,” Gen. Sniffen said, “I ran away from home in New York with some other boys to meet in Washington. We never met, and one day, when I was strolling along Penn- sylvania avenue near The Star office, alone and homesick, I saw Walt Whit. man. He held out his arms to me and hugged me as though I were a long-lost son. 5 Gen. Sniffen picked out an occasional document from the three heavy vol- umes containing his collection and re- lated the history which they told about. Most of them are in a fine state of preservation. In the light of our pre ent-day Navy, a letter by Robert Ful- ton, invenfor of the steamboat, ad- dressed to President James Madison, in December, 1813, is of more than pass- ing interest, Fulton proposed to build for the United States Navy a man-of-war 120 | feet long, with a beam of 50 feet and a battery of 24 guns, firing 24-pound ! shot. “This, vessel,” he wrote, “by.the power of steam alone, without aid of wind or tide, to run at least 5 miles an hour.” . Such an engine of destruction, Ful- ton believed, “would be a sure and cheap means to drive the enemy for- ever from our harbors and coasts,” and would cost only $250,000. “I have named the new invention the Demologos—that is, the Argument of the People,” Fulton wrote. John Adams’ Letter. Another unusual document in the collection, a letter written by John Adams, December 5, 1812, in a trem- bling hand, addressed to a Col. Smith, proposed a new naval policy for the United States for 1813. References contained in the letter to certain public | officials indicate a keen sense of hum on the part of the generally auste: Adams. Among the early great Americans, Gen. Sniffen has collected original let- ters of Washington, Franklin, Aaron Burr, Jefferson, Jackson and Stephen S. Austin, the “father” of Texas, and Gen. Sam Houston. These latter he obtained during the years he spent on Army duty in San_Antonio. When Gen. Sniffen parted from his friend Walt Whitman that memorable day on Pennsylvania, avenue, he ob- 1 tained a clerkship position in the Gov- | Assistant Secretary to the BRIG. GEN. CULVER C. SNIFFEN. —Star Staff Photo. ernment service. His memories of Lincoln are interesting and still vivid. He has numerous collections of Lincoln papers. When Gen. Grant became President, Sniffen was made exccutive clerk of the White House, and in the second administration he was appointed President. In this way he s in close touch with | all_the post-bellum statesmen. One telegram which Grant sent dur- ing the Tilden-Hayes election dispute he prizes very much. He had asked Grant for a copy of it and the gen- cral took it out of his vest pocket and gave it to him. The message dealt with election troubles arising in Florida and Lousiana and after cautioning officers against permitting fraud, Grant wired “No man worthy of the office of Presi- dent would be willing to hold it if ‘counted in’ or placed there by any fraud.” While Gen. Sniffen has never gone in for foreign autographs, he has some original letters of Charles Dickens, and Baron Humboldt, the German scientis! Lincoln Signed Letter. His Lincoln documents include an original message to the House of Repre sentatives in 1863, which was never actually sent. It was rewritten and copied by White House clerks and Lincoln merely signed it. Between Gen. Sniffen and Chief Jus-' tice William Howard Taft a long and sincere friendship has existed. It was during Taft's term as Secretary of War under President Roosevelt, that Snif- fen was Paymaster General of the Army and for a period before then he had served as assistant. Gen. Sniffen was born in New York City January 1, 1844. As he describes it, he “cut his eye teeth on Wall street.” He entered the Army under appoint- ment by Gen. Grant as a major in the Paymaster Corps on March 3, 1877. After duty in the Spanish-American War, when he was chicf paymaster of the 5th Army Corps at Santiago, Cuba, he was promoted to brigadier general on September 11, 1906. Two years later on his birthday he was retired. During his 20 years of retirement, being perhaps the third or fourth old- est retired officer of the Army, Gen. Sniffen has made his home in Washing- ton in the scenes through which he has passed so many interesting years. He and Mrs. Sniffen take life easily and comfortably. In his studies of political and Civil War history, in which he takes special delight, she has been of much assistance to him. Gen. Sniffen is a Mason and is also a charter assoclate member of the Na- tional Press Club. RAILROAD LISTS VALUATION ITEMS Southern Pacific Brief Tells How Carrier and I. C. C. Figures Differ. By the Associated Press. An illustration of the huge differences which have arisen between Government figures for the valuation of railroads and the figures evolved by railroad cor- porations for the same properties was given yesterday in a brief filed by the Southern Pacific Co. with the Inter- state Commerce Commission. ‘The commission, proceeding under its view of valuation, had tentatively as- signed a value of $613,000,000 to the Southern Pacific system, but the railroad itself claimed in the aggregate a valua- tion figure today of $1,375,000,000, an amount $762,000,000 greater than the commission has been willing to allow. “A substantial portion of this differ- ence is occasioned by the application of different principles and methods by the commission than those for which the carriers contend,” the Southern Pa- cific brief explained. “The major items in the $762,000,000 are: Claims relating to going concern value exceeding $85,- 000,000; claims for additional elements of value attaching to land exceeding $202,000,000; claims for erroneous de- duction for depreciation exceeding $146,- 000,000; claims for deferred construc- tion costs exceeding $11,000,000; claims appreximating $18,000,000 representing land erroneously classified as non-car- rier. These specified claims exceed $462,000,000. The remaining differ- ence, amounting to $300,000,000, between the values claimed by the Southern Pa- cific and the values allowed is included in claims involving questions of fact as well as the application of correct prin- ciples.” The first important test of the issue will be staged before the Supreme Court next week, where the St. Louis and O'Fallon Railroad, with the sup- I port of practically all carriers in the United States, is contesting the valu- ation attributed to its property. Under the law, after the commission has determnied the valuation of rail- roads, rates are to be made to enable !a 6 per cent earning upon the ag- gregate figure, and any railroad earn- ing more than 6 per cent is liable to pay one-half of such excess to the Government as excess earnings. Chinese Native Drug Shops. China is another conservative coun- try, and the Chinese are slow to turn from old customs and uses to the newer and better ones of the Occident, says the Pathfinder Magazine. There are modern American drug stores in the large cities and an American medical school with hospitals in Peking, but the Chinese cling as a rule, to their own native drug stores and traditional rem- | edies. One of the most popular and one in which they have great confidence is ginseng. Before each drug store is the traditional sign—three diamond-shaped slabs of wood in gold and red. B Institute Keeps Strange Languages PARIS (#)—Strange tongues spoken by the Central African natives have been recorded by the Institute of Phonetics. French army recruits from that region have added these samples of unwritten languages to the archives of this Sorbonne department, which is a museum of the spoken word. D. C. POOL PROGRAM FACES OBSTACLES Appropriation Bill as Sent to House Subcommittee Lacks | Provision for Work. ; Washington’s swimming pool program | {is in danger of being scrapped, as the District appropriation bill as sent -to the House appropriations subcommittee lacks provision for carrying forward the | proposal of constructing two swimming pools a year in diffcrent parts of the city. “Hearings on the District supply | bill for 1930 are scheduled to start early in the new year. The National Capital Park and Flan- | ning Commission and the Fine Arts Commission decided to recommend es- | | tablishment of a series of smaller pools | over the city to take care of the people who had limited time and opportunity {for this form of recreation. Accord- | ingly, a tentative program was drawn | up under which two pools a year would | be constructed and 12 locations were se- | lected as_suitable for construction of [thesc pools. Inasmuch as the Budget | Bureau has failed to provide for contin- | uation of the program, the Summer of 11930 is likely to find a sweltering Cap- |ital lacking in proper facilities to keep |cool at a neighborhood swimming pool. As matters stand, the Francis swi ming pools for colored people, at Twen- Ity-filth and N streets. have had a su | cessful season for 1928 and will be avail | able next Summer. This plant includes two swimming pools, a bath house, a {pump and filter house, a sand box, a flower bed and a brick paved area, all urrounded by a fence. The large pool is 60 by 150 feet, while the small pool is 25 by 75 feet. The pools were open daily, with a few exceptions, from July 14 to September 15, inclusive. The swimming pool now being con- | structed at the southwest corner of the | | grounds of the McKinley High School | {at Second and T streets northeast is| 0 per cent completed, the G. G. Loeh- | ler Co, Inc., the confracting firm, has | advised the Government. ‘This pool is | | scheduled to be completed early in May. | | The plant will consist of a bath house, | | a large pool and a small pool for begin- | | ners. | “Modern sanitary facilities, with | equipment for recirculating the water | and for chlorination, will be installed. The large pool will be 75 nv 150 feet | and the small pool will be 50 by 75 feet in area. Establishment of the McKinley swim- ming pool was not accomplished with- out a great deal of difficulty. Originally $150,000 was appropriated for two pools of smaller size, after difficulty had been met in locating two pools, for which Congress authorized $343,000. A deci- sion of the controller general that ad- ditional authority was needed to place the pools near McKinley High School further delayed the project, but this | additional authority was secured from | Congress, and $170,000 was actually ap- propriated for these two pools. With the use of the $170,000 appro- priation, only half of the $343,000 orig- inally authorized has been spent, but there is a legal question as to the avail- ability of the remainder without fur- ther action by Congress. prises. | | | | | | | | | | | | For Impaired Vision —Consult an Eye P hySiCian These men special- ize on this subject, and we fill their pre- scriptions exactly as ordered. EDMONDS == O PTI CIAN—= 915 Fifteenth Street WASHINGTON Makers of Eye Glasses and Spectacles Exclusively since 1899 For a Bright Q/Ok) 5 New Year For three hundred and sixty-five days of cheerful environ- ment, apply “Murco” paint preducts . .. wherever needed. “Murco” Lifelong Paints are noted for their beauty and ease of application. There is a specific “Murco” product for every job and you'll get best results it you consult our experts bafore you paint. E. J. Murphy Co., Inc. 710 12th Street, N. W. Main 2477 N =] $2.50—0dd Dining ™ =0 AT THE WRIGHT CO.====0===—=—=0 “Left Behind” At Rear of 625 G St. N.W. After We Moved to Our New Warehouse We have moved to our new Warehouse, and, naturally as when moving in a new home, there is much that cannot be taken there, so with us there are many pieces that we will not “‘move’’ and must be sold regardless of former prices—of course you cannot expect these to be in the “pink of condition,’’ they’re more or less marred or scratched, but at any rate you’ll receive more than one hundred cents’ worth for your dollar. To quote comparative prices would sound ridicu- lous, so come prepared for many sur- Our only object is to clear our old warehouse TOMORROW. For example, we offer Ten-piece Dining Room Suite for $65 — Mohair Living Room Suite. for $59—Dining Chairs, $2.50; Odd Chairs, $1.00—Upholstered Chairs, $9.00—Bed or Springs, $2.00— End or Console Tables, $1.00—Porcelain Kitchen Tables, Tables, $5—Dressers, Chifforobes, Van- ities, together with many other items, all of which will be sold tomorrow at our old Warehouse, rear of 625 G Street N.W. All Sales Final—Sold for CASH Only and None Delivered. REMEMBER—This Sale Will Be Held at Our Old Warehouse, rear of 625 G Street Northwest. The WRIGHT Co. 905-907 7th St. N.W. “WHERE UNUSUAL VALUES ARE USUAL” ==l e ——lnle——lale——] | |