Evening Star Newspaper, January 4, 1929, Page 5

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D G, FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1929. U.S. OPENS RAI VALUE ARGUMENT Defense of 1. C. C. Ruling Is Started in Supreme Court in O’Fallon Suit. the Associated Press overnment brought rorward its | attery of big legal guns today to repel | attack made by the St. Louis &! allon Railroad of the methods of | Interstate Commerce Commission | n valuing railroad properties. George W. Wickersham, former At-| torney General, and Walter L. Fisher, form Secretary of the Interior, both | in the Taft cabinet, were called upon | in_the Supreme Court to defend the | luation e ilroads in the United States, h as the valuation finally accepted guide the commission in making | : | Would Increase Valuation. er's brief held that should win it would mean that of $18.000,000,000, which on had estimated for all . must be increased a cent, or over $11,- 000,000,000, with an & cent increase in rates. The Government insists that the com- mission has proceeded in precise con- formity with the direction of Congres! \d has given proper_consideration to 1 elemente which Congress had in- i should enter into valuation for Tiiis contention ham said the inas- | proximate 60 per | placed upon the nine-mile | The decision may affect all of the | | | id down by the Supreme | fon of public util- e the exclusive ¢ clements and had not abused its au- thority. He insisted it had properly re- jecied the contention that the spot cost of reproduction should be considered as of valuation. The rail- road, he said, had failed to sustain its contention that the valuation of its property for regulatory purposes must d solely on the cost of repro- s prevailing at the time the commission took any action based on valuation. Validity of Methods Hit. i ‘The railroad appeared before the high i tribunal to argue that the methods used by the Interstate Commerce Com- | mission in the valuation of railroad property for rate making and other regulatory purposes were invalid, and its case was presented through counsel, Daniel N. Kirby of St. Louis and Fred- erick H. Wood of New York City. The two attorneys late yesterday re- served a few minutes to close tomorrow after counsel for the Government, George W. Wickersham, a former At-| torney General, and Walter L. Fisher, a ;armer Secretary of Interior, have been heard. The session vesterday was closed by Donald R. Richberg, general counsel for | the National Conference on Valuation of American Railroads. Justice Butler voluntarily withdrew when the argument began, and will not participate, it was stated, in the deci- sion of the case. It was explained that before going on the bench he had acted as counsel for a conference of railroad presidents in valuation matters. Hoid Increase Ignored. ‘The attack on the valuation work of the commission was made by Wood, | who contended sufficient consideration had not been given by the commission in making its valuation to the material increase in the cost of reproduction between 1914, the year selected by the commission for its valuation work, and subsequent years when it applied its valuation for rate-making purposes and for the Tecapture of excess earnings from railroads found to be receiving in- comes above 6 per cent. He explained the commission used | index figures designed to bring the valuation down to date, but insisted that its formula was defeciive, and that its work had resulted ir. confiscation. Kirby directed most of his effort to the contention that. the commission was wrong when it refused to treat the St. Louis & O'Fallan Railroad and the manufacturers’ railroads, in which most of the stock is owned by estate of Adolph Busch, as one property. He asserted that had the commission done so there would have been no excess earnings had the values of the two properties been considered together. Richberg was permitted by the court to file a brief ana participate in the oral argument at the request of the Senate, and during the brief time he spoke yesterday, found several members of the court in disagreement with him on some of the highly technical valua- tion theories he advanced. Declares Valuation Sound. Te told the court he was of the opin- don that the commission’s valuation was sound and should be sustained, insist- ing it had wide discretion in the mat- 1er of determining valuations. Wood, counsel for the raflroad, insist- ed, however, that instead of making its valuation in accordance with law, the mission had based its findings on a athematical formula, “the primary urpose of which was to determine the approximate investment in the property and are materially less than its true value as disclosed by the commission’s ©wn evidence.” “Our first ground, therefore,” he con- tinued, “is that the commission did not determine the value in accordance with the law, but on the basis of its concep- tion as to what the law ought to be. Our sccond ground is that even under e prudent investment theory its find- of value were wholly without evi- dentiary support.” . He asserted that had the commission, instead of valuing the major portion of the property at its approximate cost at obsolete pre-war prices, given consider- ion to the present enhanced costs of construction, the value of the structural clements of the property would have been not less than 50 per cent higher. | only consideration given to such | shanced prices, he declared, “was to | ect them altogether as an irrelevant VICE PRESIDENTIAL MANSION QUESTION AGAIN IS BROUGHT UP| __(Continued From First Page.) est lives, their home atop Sixteenth Street Heights is adequate for large- scale entertaining, especially of the out- door type. Curtis Has Salary. Vice President-clect Curtis _enters pon his duties in the second highest place in the Republic with not much more than his $15,000 salary. It carries no kind of entertainment allowance with it. A few years ago Senator Cur- tis bought an unpretentious house for himself in one of the remoter residen- tial ons of Washington, which he still owns. In recent years the Vice President-elect has made his home, as a widower, with his rother-in-law and ster, Mr. and Mrs. Edward E. Gann. sann be Mr. Curtis’ official society understands, s one of his two married daughters moves to Washington to over that In modern times it has become the tom for the Vice President of the ited States and th> Second Lady of Land to do most of the official din- ing out for the administration. stpm, Upper, left to right: Lower, left to right: Merritt REGIONAL CHEST CHAIRMEN ArthurMay and H. L. Rust, Jr. 0. Chance and Simon Lyon. HEADS OF REGIONS " FORCHEST NANED | Division Chairmen Selected.| They Will Choose Captains and, Team Members. Definite progress toward the organiza- | tion of volunteer workers to solicit funds in the Washingion Community Chest campaign, January 28 to February 6, was effected yesterday with the naming by W. W. Spaid, chairman of the metropolitan unit for solicitation pur- poses, of four vice chairmen, each to have charge of a specific “region” in the metropolitan area. The Vice Chairmen Are: Arthur May, to be chairman of region A, covering in general the eastern part of the city; H. L. Rust, jr.,, to be chair- man of region B, covering in general the north central section of the city; Merritt O, Chance, region C, or the downtown section, and Simon Lyon, region D, which includes the western part of the city. Announcement of their acceptance of the vice chairmanships, to serve as chairmen of the regions, was made by Mr. Spaid last night at a dinner in the Willard Hotel, where about 20 men prominent in the business and profes- sional life of Washington were his guests. Divisional Heads Named. ‘The regional chairmen named a num- ber of divisional chairmen. The divi- sional chairmen, in turn, are to name team captains and the latter will choose team members. Next Thursday night the regional chairmen, divisional chairmen and team captains will hold a joint meeting. ‘The special gifts committee, headed by Robert V. Fleming, is scheduled to name his vice chairmen today, and the group solicitations committee, headed by Frank R. Jelleff, will name his vice chairmen next week. In all the list of volunteer workers is expected to number about 3,000 per- sons. The campaign will be for between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000 to finance the work of the 57 charitable and soclal member agencies in the chest. Division Chairmen Listed. Division chairmen as named by the four “regional” chairmen at last night's meeting are as follows: Named by Mr. May—Chairman of region A. Dr. G. C. Havenner, Ana- costia; Ernest H. Daniel, president Carry Ice Cream Co., Southeastern di- vision; Dr. Percival Hall, president Gal- laudet College, Trinidad division; Ma- rion M. McLean, Brookland division; Arthur S. Cudmore, Far Northeastern division; G. F. Hoover, vice president Northeast Savings Bank, Stanton Square division. . By Mr. Rust—Chairman of region “B,” 8. H. Kauflmann of The Evening Star, Kalorama-Lanier division; Henry Gilligan, North Capitol division; J. G. Yaden, chief clerk Civil Service Com- mission, Brightwood-Chillum Heights division; Edson W. Briggs, Takoma, Manor Park and Sixteenth Street Heights division; F. A. Bergfeld, chief clerk U. S. Treasury, Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant division; E. S. Brashears, Piney Branch division. !~ By Mr. Chance—Chairman of region * J. B. Evans, Mid-City -division; Jehn M. Cherry, West End division; Arthur C. Smith, Dupont Circle division, and Edward Murphy. By Mr. Lyon—Chairman of region “D,” F. G. Ahddison, Georgetown division; Joshua Evans, jr., Rock Creek Park division; W. J. Flather, jr., American University division; Dion S. Birney, Cenduit-Foxhall _division; Edward H. Jones, Chevy Chase division, and C. Melvin Sharpe, chairman of the Bur- leith-Cathedral Heights idvision. — e the vice presidential pair is not ex- pjected to do very much reciprocal en- tertaining, outside of the annual din- ners to the President, the Supreme Court and members of the cabinet which usually are given. Students of the Hoover psychology are rather in- clined to think that the President-elect would be glad to have the Vice Presi- !dent take off the Chief Executive’s nands some of the important social ob- ligations now devolving exclusively upon the White House. Hoovers Unpretentious. Mr. and Mrs. Hoover lean in the di- rection of unpretentious. hospitality, limited as far as possible to their own immediate circle, rather than to the sort of entertaining which calls for large numbers. It is obvious that if the Vice Presi- dent were expected to be a Government host on any extensive scale, a man of Senator Curtis’ humble financial equip- ment would have to be provided with the wherewithal, both as to a house and its furnishings. He is himself the most unostentatious man in American public life, but he has a high mpl’eclunon of the dignity and res[in litles of the office he greuntly will fill, and is rep- resented by his men::f be ready live up to them if he : L PR ENDURANCE PLANE, IN AIR FOR 3 DAYS, SETS TWO RECORDS (Continued From First Page.) the port and circled about the valley, its crew resting easier in the knowl- edge that enough fuel was aboard to keep aloft at least until daylight facili- tates supply cperations. Refuels at 70-Mile Speed. Majority of the first 15 contacts made | were at a speed of 70 miles an huur,; and only minor trouble was experienced | in the operations. It was estimated that the ship now has flown nearly 5,000 miles, which if in a straight line would | have carried it to another record for non-stop distance flying. The three 225-horsepower Wright Whirlwind motors of the Fokker, any- | one of which can keep it going, have thus far functioned perfect] only trouble experienced came Wednes- day night when suddenly-rising fog off San Diego nearly caused a crisis. As the shades of night fell with only a little more than two hours’ gasoline supply aboard, Maj. Spatz brought the plane over this airport and dropped a note ordering refueling plane No. 1 up at once with a new supply. His first note could not be found on the big, dark field, and another was sent down. That note was found and shortly after- ward Lieut, Odas Moon took off and delivered 170 gallons of gasoline. | At midnight the ship, returned to the field, asking more gasoline. Lieut. Moon failed to establish contact in his first} ascent and upon more dropped orders went up a second time to deliver 100 gallons of fuel. Bumpy air and a dead storage battery which plunged the ship. into darkness caused a hectic night aboard, Maj. Spatz reported in a note dropped yes- terday which said all his crew were well. ‘The battery was replaced during the day, and the ship headed into the San Fernando Valley to escape rough sir. It was forced to change its course frequently to avoid adverse aerial con- ditions. Six Tons of Gasoline Taken. Army reports showed that the plane had consumed close to six tons of gaso- line and half ton of oil; refueling air contacts had required a total of 110 minutes. H. J. Adamson, represeniing the War Department, said the three Wright Whirlwind motors “sounded great” s the ship roared over Imperial Airport. The crew of refueling plane No. 1, which made the sixteenth contact, re- ported that Maj. Carl Spatz, was “smil- ing and looked very happy.” Capt. Ira C. Eaker, chief pilot, and Lieut. Harry Halverson, relief pilot of the Question Mark, both stood in the cockpit and waved, “grinning from ear to ear,” the report added. r The weather in the valley was de- scribed as calm and clear. CREW GETS CONGRATULATIONS. Secretary Davis and Gen. Summerall Send Telegrams to Question Mark. By the Associated Press. The achievement of the Army Air Corps pilots in California in setting a new record for sustained flight was ac- claimed today by officials of the War Department from Secretary Davis and Maj. Gen. Fechet, chief of the Air Corps, down through the ranks. The performance of the plane Ques- tion Mark and its pilots has fully met the expectations of the officials direct- ly interested in the flight, and they feel that before the machine lands it will have established a record which will stand for some time. Secretary Dav's and other officials of the departmeni are sending tele- grams of congratulations to its com- mander and crew. These will be passed down to them from one of the refilling planes during the day, and it is exc pected acknowledgments will be writ- ten aboard the Question Mark and for- wasrde-:ltv.o “gshtngtun, ecretary Davis in his message to Maj. Carl Spatz, commandin, - tion Mark, said: R “The smoothness of accomplishment of every phase of your remarkable and record flight has been a deserved reward for excellent plans, careful preparation and expert execution. To you, to your crew and to the Air Corps I extend per- sonal and offical congratulations.” Assistant Secretary Davison, supervises Army air activities, said: “Heartiest congratulations to you and your crew on breaking world’s endur- ance record. You are doing a magnifi- cent piece of work of real value to mili- tary and commercial aviation and re- ports here indicate your flight is just beginning. Mocre power to you.” ‘The chief of staff of the Army, Maj. Gen. Charles P. Summerall, sent this message: “To you and the crew of the record- breaking, record-making Question Mark I extend hearty congratulations and best wishes. The skill demonstrated in the frequent refueling of your ship brings great credit to the participants and to the personnel, training and equipment of the entire Air Corps.” $200,000 Fire in Ohio. PORTSMOUTH, Ohio, January 4 (#). _Fire today destroyed the building housing the Kresge 5 and 10 cent store and the Atlas Co., dealers in wo- ‘who | tant on the ship, for if one of ! Lindbergh, in which the first trans- Sergt. Roy G. Hooe’s Task Is| to Repair Engines of | Record Plane. Three of Pilots Are on Duty‘| Here and Fourth Recent- | ly Was Transferred. While all the five members of the crew of the great Army transport plane Question Mark are carefully chosen men and aviators known throughout | the Air Corps as men of sound judg- | ment, lengthy air experience and sound | physical specimens, it falls to the lot | of one man to keep the mechanical | equipment of the great plane maintain- | ing the steady drone that spells new records from hour to hour and seems | destined to accomplish what the Air) Corps set out to do—find out the ab- | solute limit of endurance oi men and | motors. man is Sergt. Roy G. Hooe, | shief aviation mechanic at Bolling Field, whose job it is to maintain the monoto- | nous beat of the Wiight whirlwind en- | gines. Pilots are necessary and important parts of the endurance flight personnel, but only to a man throughly grounded | in the technique of repairing and main- taining the great engines of the Fokker | will the engines unfold the secrets that maintain their steady beat. Sergt. Hooe's job is probably the most impor- | the 400- | horsepower engines—one located in | front of the cockpit and one on either side of the fuselage—falters and skip: his task is to repair it. I” the forward engine starts skipping he must breast 2 90-mile breeze and climb out on the nose of the fuselage to repair it, while if one of the wing engines falters he must climb out on the wing struts to force it-back into action. The engine has only two common faults, well known One of them is the possi- | 3 roken valve spring, and the other a fouled or mis-firing spark plug. | Both are common to high speed engines of any type. But so far none of the engines has skipped a beat. Praised by Lindbergh. Sergt. Hooe is known throughout the Army Air Service as an expert in aviation engines and particularly in handling the power plant with which the Fokker is equipped. His skill won for him a coveted letter from ' Col. atlantic solo flyer speaks in glowing terms of the skill of Sergt. Hooe. The | latter was in charge of tuning up Lind- bergh’s Ryan plane prior to his Mex- ico City flight. Two of the pilots, Maj. Carl Spatz, chief of the crew, and Capt. Ira C. Eaker, are renowned flyers, while an- other, Lieut. Elwood R. Quesada, is a Washington boy and a graduate of Mc- Kinley Manual Training High School. Spats, Eaker and Quesada are all on duty in Washington, while the fourth pilot, Lieut. Halversen, has only re- cently been transferred from a tour of duty in the office of the Chief of Air Corps to March Field at San Fran- cisco, Spatz. who lives here at 2901 Connecticut avenue, is a pursuit pilot of long and varied experience and one of the Army’s pioneer airmen. He is at present chief of the operations section of the office of the Chief of Air Corps, and has been in Washington since 1924. Capt. Ira C. Eaker lives in Washing- | ton at the Concordia Apartment. His wife watched the take-off on the morn- ing of December 18. During the last year he is said to have had more hours in the air than any other Army flyer. He is on duty at Bolling Field. When the German plane Bremen Hello, Folks: Here “we” are remind you that Rare Bargains. You “ : can get 1n on All $35 Suits (extra All $40 Suits (extra All $45 Suits (extra All $50 Suits (extra the downtown men’'s wearing apparel, in the heart of . dELrM Damage to the | coast of Labrador, last Spring, inot have record breaking as its goal | Gen. Fechet. chief of the Army Air| | possibility of extensive refucling botk | |by day and night; the endurance of and Suit Sale is “going great guns:” Youw'll have to hurry. "o 5= " this Annual Clearance Sale of all O’coats and Suits—on the Budget Charge Acct. Plan—10 weeks to pay—no interest—Lowest Cash Prices. All 35 & %40 O'Coats %2678 ALl %45 & 550 O'Coats 33675 All355 & %60 O’ Coats *46:75 Beau Geste Suits and O'Coats excepted—they are never reduced MECHANIC AT BOLLING FIELD KEEPS QUESTION MARK FIT dropped on Greenly Island, off the Capt. Eaker piloted a German mechanic from Long Island to the lonely spot off the Atlantic Coast where the Bremen was forced down. Unable to make a land- ing on the ice and rocks of Greenly Island, the mecbanic was dropped by parachute to the Bremen, where the Gerrian ship later cracked up on an attempt to rise, Although the crew of the Question Mark has succeeded in breaking all heavier than air records by remaining aleft far beyond the 65-hour mark set by the German aviators Ri: z and Zimmerman, the Army primarily did when it sent the three-engined Fokker aloft early on the morning of New Year day. The test was undertaken in the first instance, according to Maj. Corps, to settle questions as to the | personnel in the cramped quarters of a heavier than air ship; and the length | of time aviation engines may run before being completely “washed out,” or unfit for further flying. Gen. Fechet, whose scheme it was originally to send the big plane aloft, has declared repeatedly that record breaking is not the main business of the flight, although necessarily if the plane remained aloft more than 67 it would break the world’s sus- | flight record in heavier than air For the first time in the history of | Oxford University, a collection of plate representing every phase of English silver from the fourteenth century on- ward was recently assembled from the treasures of all the colleges and ex- hibites at the Ashmolean Museum. A silver mounted drinking horn is dated 1340. Make an Extra Room Out of Your Back Porch We have eversthing necessars| for the job. We can save you! money. 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