Evening Star Newspaper, January 13, 1929, Page 2

“FARM AID MOVE ~ (PENED BY BYRD iVirginia Governor Favors Study of All Conditions by Committees. P eI Lt TR, By the Associated Press. RICHMOND, Va., January 12.—Crea- | 2 tion of subcommittecs to study and) = suggest plans for improving the eco- bl *’ nomic conditions of farming in Virginia +, is suggested by Gov. Harry F. Byrd in *a statement to the newly created State + Agricultural Commission, made public = today. £ wise action and not more theories T and promiscs” are strongly advised by . the governor. = Subcommittees ' Byrd include: " A Federal relationship committes to suggested by Gov. = co-operate with the Federal Government in work toward farm relief. " A committee to suggest plans for im- $ proving * standards “of living on the + farms. A taxation committee, to consider further tax relief for farmers. A transportation committee, to con- sider the transporting of farm products, | and freight rates. A committee on marketing and busi- ness metnoas. A vommittee 'to work out vlans for rural electrification. A committee on regulation and in-| spection of farm products. A committee to plan further correla- tion of agricultural agencies. A conservation of timber committee. A committee to suggest means of making Virginia self-sustaining. Inception of Move. “In recognition of the vital importance of agriculture in the life of Virginia the General Assembly of 1928 created the commission to study the conditions of the farmers of Virginia of which you " The governor said in “The unselfish serviue on committees of citizens have don.. much in the past for Virginia's good. 1 predict that your commission repre- senting all branches of agriculture will make an enviable contribution for the welfare of Virginia in the submission of 8 definite program to improve the condi- tion of agriculture; one of the most pressing problems now confronting us. ‘The problems of the American farmer is world-wide. His impoverished situa- tion today has been brought about mainly by national and_international conditions: he purchases his necessities in a highly organized protected market: he sells his products, after meeting the hazards of the weather, in a free world- wide market. In a word. the depression today in agriculture is due to the fact, that prices paid to the farmers for their | products are very much too low and not in proportion to his cost of pro- duction and a reasonable profit thereon. He is not enjoying the same prosperity as exists in other branches of endeavor, and the result is in many.sections of Virginia abandoned farms and a gradual reduction of our farming population. Demand for Action. “Factors exist, many of which are beyond the power of Virginia to rem- edy, yet the difficulties presented do not excuse Virginia from exerting her- self to the utmost to relieve the pres- ent agricultural depression, because agriculture has been and will continue to be our most important single in- dustry. A farmer myself, I appreciate the need of improvement in agriculture; as Governor of Virginia, 1 recognize that our progress to be permanent must be balanced as between agriculture and industry. The continuing depression of agriculture today presents the only cloud in the sky of our unified and glorious _advancement. Volumes have been written to diagnose the ills of the | farmers. What the Yarmers now want | is wise action and not more theories and promises. “The work of tirely non-political. Lt SRR PR RPRPRS SRR S SIS SO of your commission is en- It is for :hc bencgt of all the farmers in Virginia, regard- Jess of their political faith. My first and most important suggestion is not to spend your time in the preparation of a report on the theoretical causes, for our present condition and dealing with generalities; such a report will be read by few and little good will be ac- complished. I am convinced that Vir- ginia may do a great work in concen- trating our thought and attention upon the many things we oursclves can do to improve agricultural conditions. I ould strongly oppose & back-to-the- land movement in Virginia, providing for the costly reclamation of idle or waste land. The farmers today suffer | from overproduction. I believe the basis of our efforts in Virginia should be the promotion of a stay-on-the-land cam- paign—that is, the adoption of State and local policies whereby farming may be made more attractive so that those on suitable lands will remain and the alarming farm abandonment now in pi in certain sections of Virginia may be checked. So as to simplify | your labors and organize your efforts, I suggest the appointment of the sub-} committees.” BLIND MAN ROBBED. Bandits Take Pension Payment of $20 After Threatening Death. ST. LOUIS, January 12 (#).— Albert Kendall, 75, was robbed today of his State pension for the blind. Two men, according to Kendall, came and the other had placed a rope around his neck, forced him to surrender the $20 he had just blind pension fun December Circulation Daily... 103,595 Sunday, 109,777 Dlilzrll{(l){nl“cnhizml'u S8 'Y W. HERRON. Advertising Manager of 'THE EVENING ana SUNDAY STAR. Goes solemnls swtat that the actual namber i ; 5 H | | [ . ! i : i f H : é i z s 1928, was as follows Dass. 1 3 Less adiustments . Total dai net circulation e dail ily net paid circulation.. 2117 average number of copies for - service, etc. .. ksl Daily average net circulation ...... 108,595 SUNDAY. Da a 18 Less adjustments . ... 518,890 circula- 109,160 @ Total Sunday net circulation Average net paid Sunday tion Average number of copies for serv- ete. . 5 Average Sunday net circulation LEROY W. HERRO! Advertising Manager and sworn 182 ELMER ¥ YOUNT Notary P yfubsciibed th 43y of Januery Seal) @ feeceeeesrtsestsmscsestesatatsasanisTerten st se i | desk before me be a telephone? | forested New World? | sense” and who was willing to fight | cult includes more than 1 per cent— to the rear door of his home, and, after | one had threatened him with a pistol | received from the | { ot copies of the paper named sold and dis- | tributed during the month of December, A.D. | Lo before me muj THE SUNDAY STAR. WASHINGTON, D. C, [SMALL PERCENTAGE IN YORK Responsible Citizens = By a Staff Correspondent of The Star. YORK. Pa. January 12.—Is this J.h:*‘ 12th of January in the year of Our Lord 19292 | Is this music which floats through | the air from a dance orchestra in the dining room of a modern hotel in the | center of the busy city of York, Pa.? Can this queer black instrument on the Can those lights which are chasing each other up and down the street below be the headlights and tail lights of auto- mobiles? Or is this January the 12th, 1729, with "'a half century to go bc(nrr“ the battle of Lexington and a century | before the whistle of the first locomo- | tive will break into the silence of this | Are not the | dance orchestra, the telephone and the automobile hallucinations of an imagi- nation under the spell of black magic? Time has played a strange prank in this southern Pennsylvania countryside. Here and there, in farmhouse and city tenement, it has deposited amid the | materfal surroundings of the Winter of 1929 strange, demon-haunted islands of 1729 where the Devil still bargains for the souls of men and women in return for dominion over their enemies. “All arourd there are schoolhouses, churche: | and public libraries. But witcheratt | and black magic still remain, to.a cer- | tain element of the population, real and terrible forces. Horrible, bodyless phantoms walk in the darkness. Men and women pine away and die because | of the curses of unknown enemies. | Queer Things in Evidence. | Witcheraft in 1929. Yes. a man was | sentenced to imprisonment for life at | for “killing a witch.” Barely 15 miles outside of York, just off the automo- bile highway between York and Balti- more, there is a lonely, wooded valley with two ancient farmhouses about two miles apart. In one a powerful, gray- | bearded old man lived alone. In the other lived his wife and her daughters. Husband and. wife visited each other once a week. Each cultivated a sep- arate farm. Rehmeyer's Valley has a bad reputation. Country people steer clear of it in the night time and queer things have been seen there. For old Nelson Rehmeyer long has had the reputation of possessing uncanny pow- | ers. He could lay spells on men and | women which would make them waste away and die. Or he could say a cabalistic mumble of words over sick babies and the evil spirits which had taken possession of their infant bodies would be forced back into hell. Old Nelson Rehmeyer was murdered on Thanksgiving eve.” Three boys club- bed him into unconsciousness with the leg of a chair, then poured coaloil over him and set him on fire. They killed him, they said, to save their own lives because he had bewitched them and they were dying by inches under the magic spells he had cast upon them. They wouldn’t have killed the recluse if he had submitted to them and al- lowed them to cut off a lock of his gray hair, the same to be buried 3 feet underground with suitable incantations. The murder brought York County's witcheraft into the unpleasant light of national publicity. York naturally re- sents this and its responsible citizens insist that the witcheraft superstition survives only among the ignorant and simple-minded. ‘There is, of course, a good deal of justice in the contention. -The majority of the people of York City and York County are just as free from super- stition as the citizens of similar com- munities anywhere else in the United States. and the survivals of black magic extend into Maryland, " West Virginia and Virginia. Certainly the business d professional men of York and their wives and families do not believe in witcheraft. Evidence of Something Queer. Yet the mere fact that one simple- mind=d boy was able to find six prac- ticing witch doctors, charging from $5 to $10 a consultation, in a few weeks’ time in the city of York itself, as he testified in court, is evidence that there 1s something queer under the surface. The other day two Washington news- paper correspondents took a ride into the country. Within a half hour of their arrival in a prosperous little mill village with three church steeples ris- ing conspicuously out of its slate roofs they were seated at a fireside of a man who “was damn sick and tired of all this talk about hexing being non- with his fists for the faith that was in him. He was a rather prominent citi- zen—a _factory foreman. The believers in witcheraft are mostly ignorant and child-minded folks. That much must be admitted. It is absurd to say, as was stated in a recent issue of one national magazine, that 60 per cent of the homes in York County keep a copy of the “Himmelsbrief, or Letter From Heaven,” with the Bible, on their parlor tables. Probably it would be an cxaggeration to say that the witchcraft which still ~would leave a very re- spectable number of individuals. The development of the cult and its survival to this day are subjects upon which there is much room for specula- tion. It was brought originally from Germany in the early eighteenth cen- tury, when there was a great Pietist in'l|- migration into Pennsylvania. Shortly before this time they were hanging witches in Massachusetts, The witch- | subsiding. Indian Admixture. The settlers brought with them many queer superstitions. In the New World various superstitions were adopted from the lore of the Indians and mixed incongruously with the folk lore of the Rhineland. The term “pow- | wowing.” used to describe the practices {of the witch doctors, is evidence of the Indian admixture just as the term “hexing” testifies to the German origin. In the normal course of time, as education advanced and communica- tions improved, the witchcraft belief | Jargely subsided. It went the way of the ghost lore in New Eigland. But it} never entirely disappeared. In the rural ! districts there remained islands of sim- | { ple-minded folks who clung lenlclous-[ Iy 1o the old beliefs. ! From such a conception of nature the | witch doctor and the witch are natural | results, The one was in clos~r contact than the average person with the good | forces. The other was in closer contact | with the bad forces. Persons suffering | from mild psychoneurosis—who acted | queer but who had crafty minds—were | thus identified by their neighbors. 1 When the men and women of York | County today were children the belief | in witchcraft was much more general than is the case now. Many of them! admit, rather shamefacedly, that as: bables they were taken to some quecrl old women who mumbleéd strange words | over them. to keep them from crying | at night. This, however, was largely a | benevolent witchcraft. It was white, | not black, magic. The black magic re- | mained in the primitive islands—among | families such as that of dull, totl-worn | old Emmanuel Blymyer, father of the | man-child who was sentenced for mur- | der last week. i | Another Change. | Then came another change. The chil- | dren of the farm hands drifted into the town and got jobs in the factories. They brought their superstitions with them. | They spread their beliefs among .their ; fellow workers. Crafty fakers saw their the county courthouse here last week | burning furor in Germany was just|? | book, “The Long Lost Friend,™ jand did not find the book. BELIEVES IN SUPERSTITIONS 4| OHALLENGE OF BOX Insist Ignorant an Feeble-Minded Alone Take Stock in Witcheraft. to, appear. That is the situation today. Of course, the average family in York doesn’t believe in black magic. A con- siderable number of persons of average | intelligence have their secret doubts as to whether or not it is all buncombe They are ashamed to admit their doubts in the presence of scoffers, but when they are talking with a sympa- thetic listener they sometimes open up their hearts. I sat beside a well dressed, intelli- gent-appearing: York citizen in the courtroom. “Do vou think there is anything to this witchcrat stuff?” I asked. Of course it's all bunk. Don't you think 502" he asked appealingly. “I don't know.” I said. “Sometimes I think there might be something to it.” When he realized that he was not talking to a scoffer at sacred things he opened up his real doubts. “You know,” he said, “there’s some- thing funny up in my neighborhood. There's lots of folks sick with the flu and they say there's an old women up there responsible for it. She goes around peeping in windows and puckers up her mouth- so that she looks like a pig. When she looks in a window somebody in that house gets sick. Some of the folks know who she is and they may make it hot for her. “Now -I ‘don’t know. may just happen *=at wey. Or again, she ma be taking advantage of this witchcraft craze ana be playing a joke on folks. 1 wouldn't want to say.” Trick Played by Witches. The witches have played a dirty trick on York. They have pictured her It to the world as a sort of mediaeval city | surviving unchanged into the twentieth century. They have pictured her sub- urban farms and villages as populated by German peasants of two centuries £0. Yet York is no different from any other small American city. Lights flash from the fronts of its moving picture palaces. Boys and girls gather at drug store soda fountains. In front of the courthouse are three great brass plates containing the names of the York County men who died in the World War. Yet it is impossible to forget the child-like John Blymyer, gawky Clay- ton Hess trembling as the court de- manded that he say the word “witch,” old Mother Blymyer with a black scarf around her head, Milton Hess shiver- ing in the hot courtroom in his heavy overcoat. It is impossible to forget these little haunted islands of 1729 protruding so incongruously into 1929. Perhaps, after all, that musie is not from the jazz orchestra of the Hotel Yorktowne. It may be the witches playing on violins of fire. The unwelcome publicity will do York good if it spurs her to.get rid of her witch doctors—those queer-act- ing, crafty fanatics who are preying ;u:n‘: the ignorant element of her popu- lation. THIRD “WITCH” CASE. . DEFENDANT IS FOUND GUILTY BY YORK JURY (Continued From First Page.) which somebody had cast upon him. The sister with whom he had quarreled, Blymyer assured Milton Hess, had hired some powerful and malevolent magician to put this spell upon him. ‘With part of his fee in hand Blymyer, with his childlike craftiness, began making the rounds of more experienced witch doctors to learn the identity of the sorcerer. One of them revealed it to him by passing a dollar bill across his hand. When it was removed he saw in his palm a picture of Rehmeyer, to whom he had been taken to be pow- wowed when he was a child. Pair Are Frightened. Blymyer passed on the information to Hess. In order to break the spell it was necessary to get a lock of the sorcerer’s hair and bury it eight feet underground behind the Hess barn. The witch doc- tor enlisted the services of the 14-year- old walf, John Curry. They visited Rehmeyer and were scared. So they told Milton Hess that it would be necessary to get a third party to help them hold Rehmeyer while they cut off the hair. The older brother, Clayton Hess, who owns an automobile and had acted as a chauffer for the spell-breakers on their previous visit to Rehmeyer, refused to go. Mrs. Hess, the mother, felt that the oppor- tunity to put an end to their troubles could not be ignored and it was on her suggestion. according to the con- fession, that Wilbert took part in the 1 expedition. Wilbert set out in fear and trembling, too nervous to ap- preciate what was happening. Recluse Lets Them In. ‘They knocked at Rehmeyer's door. The recluse appeared at a chamber window in his night clothes. He recog- nized Blymyer and let them in. He was a powerful man, with little reason to-fear the three anemic youths in a fair fight. Suddenly Blymyer is said to have jumped on his back and tripped him. He fell, struggled, and threw off his assailant. “Hit him, hit him,” Blymyer is said to ‘have yelled. “I hit him once,” Hess said. He in- sisted that Blymyer also had struck the old man with the leg of a chair, Rehmeyer fell and lay still. Then, ys Wilbert, he began to wake up. He wanted to run home. Blymyer, insisted that they search the house gor the wer- ful text book of black magic which the “sorcerer was reputed to have in his | colder” weather and clearing skies. The possession.” Fail to Find Book. They searched one room, Hess said, Blymyer found some money, about $3 in bureau drawer, and handed it to Wil- bert. The boy took it, he said, with- out realizing what he was doing. They went down stairs. Rehmeyer lay stark on the kitchen floor. Blymyer and Curry are said to have poured oil on the body and set it on fire. Then the three fled through the depths of the dark valley about 10 miles to Hess home. They aroused Clayton Hess and he drove Blymyer and Curry to York. Wilbert went to bed. He could not sleep. He went to his sister-in-law, Clayton's wife, and told her whathad happened. Then he told his mother. They did not tell the sick father, Wil- bert went to work the next day and within a few hours he was arrested and charged with the murder of Rehmeyer. His attorney, Harvey A. Gross, in- sisted on going over every line of the slfn(d confession obtained the morning after the murder by District Attorney Herrman and the boy denied this in several particulars. ‘The mother and Clayton Hess testi- fled to_the series of misfortunes which had afflicted the family after the quar- rel over the right-of-way and the cir- cumstances which led to Wilbert tak- ing part in the strange expedition. Question Mark Crew Rests. SAN DIEGO, Calif., January 12 (#)— The Army record-breaking endurance plane Question Mark probably will re- main at Rockwell Field here until Monday before taking off for Dallas, Tex., en route to Washingfon, accol ing to reports from the Army oper: tions office. While there is a poss! bility that it may leave tomorrow, the crew is sald to be desirous of ‘femain- | longed i, opportunity and witch doctors began |ing here over the week e?. pe { | Maryland and Virginia, where scattered o Elpathen Tagt, {to recent challenges of his party lead- | SVITH MAY ANSWER New Yorker to Speak Over, Radio for Half Hour on Wednesday Night. Democratic national leaders in Wash- ington, while they have not been taken | into Al Smith's confidence on the sub- | ject, believe he will utilize his half hour | on the radio Wednesday night to reply | ership. In particular, the lately van- quished presidential candidate is ex- pected to answer Representative John C. Box of Texas, new minority whip of the House, who wants to drive the “Smith wing” out of party control. Mr. Box recently addressed a letter on that score to Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt of NewYork, asking the latter's aid in un- doing he calamitous mistake” the Democrats made when they nominated | Al Smith as their national standard | bearer. | Mr. Smith spent last Sunday at Al- bany in conference with his guberna- torial successor. While New York State affairs figured conspicuously in their deliberations, Washington Democratic politicians are convinced that the Box- Smith affair received extensive consid- eration. At any rate, when Smith “takes the air” Wednesday evening he will be fresh from his heart-to-heart talks with the man to whom the get- rid - of - Smith - influences appeal was made. It was addressed to Gov. Roo: velt, apparently, because many Demo- crats, Jike Representative Box, are coming to 160k upon the New York gov- ernor as the logical successor to na- tional Democratic leadership. Roose- | velt's feat in carrying his own State | while Smith was losing it is the par- | ticular charm attaching to the former's name in this connection. Bayard Is Optimistic. If Gov. Smith broadcasts to the Dem- ocrats of the country a message of hope | and good cheer, he will be echoing a note which has been struck with in- creasing firmness during the present session of Congress. Senator Bayard of Delaware, one of the Democrats defeated for re-election in the Hoover landslide, reflects a widespread view, “There's not the slightest occasion for despair,” Senator Bayard said to this writer. “On November 6 we discovered in every section of the Union the exist- ence of thousands upon thousands of Democrats, hitherto unknown and un- suspected. It was from their ranks that the unprecedentedly heavy Democratic popular vote of 15,000,000 odd was rolled | up. We accomplished something more than bringing that enormus number of Democrats to the polls. We did So in consequence of the finest precinct-by- precinct organization the party has ever known. If we are wise, we shall| not fail to keep that organization to-| gether and take the field again with it. | A party which amassed nearly 45 per cent of the grand total of the popular vote has no right: to consider itsell either down or out.” Smith's after-election radio appeal to his party to get together on a& “pro- gram,” and try to enact it into law, fell practically flat. There is no reason to believe that a repetition of the sugges- tion now would meet with any more favorable response than its predecessor. Most national Democrats are of opinion that the party’s manifest strategy for the immediate future is to lay low and do nothing. A new Republican admin- istration and Congress are taking power at Washington. They will be con- fronted with the usual number of pit- falls from which, in the light of ex- perience, the Democrats can reasonably hope to derive advantage in the course of time. From G. O. P. mistakes and disasters, in other words, both Demo- cratic leaders and issues may emerge. Democrats Divided. ‘The principal objection raised by fellow Democrats to Al Smith’s “pro- gram” proposal was, and is, that there's slender hope that party unity can be achieved at this time on any issue around which Democrats could rally. The two big questions now before the Senate are cases in point. Democrats are divided on both the Kellogg treaty and the cruiser bill. Farm relief and tariff revision, when they come up in the special session of Congress, will find the Democrats a house divided against itself, though, of course, as much can be said of the Republicans. The difference is that the Republicans are in and the Demo- crats are out. F.W.W WATSON ILL WITH COLD. By the Assoclated Press. Half a dozen Senators are ill or are recovering from influenza, grippe, colds and other ailments. Senator Watson of Indiana remained at home yesterday with a severe cold, which it was feared might develop into influenza, and Senator Howell of Ne- braska has been in Walter Reed Hos- pital suffering with an artery ailment ever since Congress convened, before | the holidays. Senator Hale of Maine, chariman of the naval affairs committee, has been obliged to stay at home with grippe, but is expected to return to the Senate tomorrow, while Senator Walsh of Mon- tana has been absent for several days with influenza, but is recovering. Senator Black of Alabama, who also had influenza, was detained at home after vhe holidays and was several days late in returning to the Capitol. Senator Larrazolo of New Mexico, another in- fluenza victim, returned yesterday. SNOW FORECAST TODAY. | Snow flurries are promised for the District this morning, followed during the afternoon and night by “much ‘Weather Bureau forcasts fair skies and continued low temperatures through- out Monday. Conditions much the same are pre- dicted for surrounding sections of snows are expected to usher in the Sabbath as the forerunner of another clear, cold snap. Banker Must 0. K. Own Fine. QUITO, Ecuador, January 12 (#).— Disagreement between the finance min- ister and Harry de la Vergne Tompkins of New York, superintendent of banks under the Kemmerer plan, apparently has reached an impasse. The minister has levied a fine on the banker, which the latter, because of his supervision of national accounts, must approve before it can be effective. The minister has accused Mr. Tompkins of usurping pow- ers of the ministry. INAUGURAL PARADE LEADERS T0 STUDY Comfort, Precision and Safe- ty Mottoes Guide Commit- tee Making Pians. Comfort, precision and safety are the guiding mottoes behind efforts of the inaugural committee at work on plans for Washington's civic greeting to President-elect Hoover when he rides down the Avenue toward the White House after his induction into office March 4. Instead of rows on Tows of people standing behind steel cables which will be strung the length of Pennsylvania avenue from the Capitol to the White House, the inaugural committee plans to provide comfortable seats for those who wish to pay the nominal price. Medical aid stations will be scattered over the part of the city to be covered | by the parade, ready to move at an | instant’s notice. No Time Can Be Lost. In view of the two-hour restriction placed upon the length of the pro- cession by the President-elect, it is plain to the parade committee and to mem- bers of the general inaugural commit- tee that the units expected must move into place with snap and mar¢h down Pennsylvania avenue without loss of ime. So Gen. Anton Stephan, chair- man of the parade committee, and his aides, taking a leaf from military usage, have decided on blackboard rehearsals for the parade executives to start a ortnight or so before the inaugural, 50 those who will have anything to do with the formation and movement of troops or disposition and movement of | units will be able to perform their tasks with machinelike precision. Gen. Ste- phan knows that to move a parade between 4 and 5 miles long at the slow pace marching units force on themselves, it must be handled like movements of an Army and timed to the minute. On the safety end, the inaugural committee is looking to the Washing- ton police force and its reinforcements from the police of Baltimore and Philadelphia and enlisted men from the Marine Corps to prevent disturb- ances and halt activities of pick- pockets. Men who have in mind the visages of crooks who have run afoul of the law will be scattered through the throngs. Special Traffic Arrangements. Special trafic arrangements are among the safety factors to be pro- vided by the committee, working with the police department. All streets running into Pensylvania avenue from the Peace Monument to Seventeenth street will be closed within a block of the Avenue as the hour for the passage of Mr. Hoover to the Capitol ap- proaches, and only those vehicles which can be shown to have urgent business across the street will ‘be allowed through the lines. For the two days prior to March 4 many semi-official gatherings and ob- servances will be held, On the after- noon of inauguration day E. F. Colla- day, chairman of the committee on re- ception to State governors, plans to hoid a reception for State executives, which the new President may attend, at one of the theaters in Washington. The Inaugural committee will not take offi- cial charge of the ceremonies until after Herbert Hoover has subscribed to the oath of office and has delivered his inaugural address at the Capitol, but it plans several features prior to inaugura- tion day. Both Mr. Hoover and the Vice Presi- dent-elect will be in the reviewing stand in front of the White House, the inau- gural committee. announced last night. With the fund-raising canipaign for the necessary finances well advanced, the budget committee met yesterday at the Willard Hotel and appropriated $50,000 for expenses incident to the celebration, alloting this amount in smaller totals to the various committees. The money came from the fund volun- tarily pledged. Those attending the budget meeting were: Lieut. Col. U. S. Grant, 3d, chairman of the inaugural committee; E. Irving Glover and James A. Councilor, the latter chairman of the budget committee; Durant W. Springer, vice chairman, and Robert V. Fleming, chairman of the finance committee. ARMY’S MUNITIONS ARE DECLARED LOW ;Gunl Are Obsolete, Gen. Ruggles Says in Urging Educa- tional Contracts. By the Associated Press. Declaring the Army’s supply of muni- tlons is low and its arms obsolete, Gen. C. L'H. Ruggles of the Army Ordnance Department yesterday asked the House | military committee to approve the Morin bill to permit the placing of educational munitions orders with com- mercial plants. Gen. Ruggles said that less than a four months’ supply of munitions was on hand and that every gun the War Department had was obsolete. “And,” he added, “what isn't in our storehouses at the beginning of a war must be done without for the first 15 months of the war.” Representative McSwain, Democrat, of South Carolina, inquired if the pur- pose of the bill was not designed to| eliminate the principle of advertising for competitive bids for munitions con- tracts. Gen. Ruggles replied that it was. adding that the War Department had found it must train commercial plants to manufacture munitions and rely upon them in time of war for its supply. He expressed the belief that the Govern- ment would own the dies and tools made under such educational orders for the manufacture of munitions. ‘The general said the only place in the country equipped to produce muni- tions in any quantity was the Govern- ment arsenal and that this would pro- duce only approximately 5 per cent of the war time needs of the country. Other witnesses who appeared to in- dorse the measure were H. C. Osborn of Cleveland, Ohio, president of the American Multigraph Co., and H. H. Pease of New Britain, Conn., president of the New Britain Machine Co. They told of their experiences during the World War and the time lost in learn- ing how to manufacture the materials they had contracted for, explaining that this time would be saved under the pro- posal to award educational contracts. Gray Veteran, 87, Dies After Ax Fight: Quarrel Started by Trivial Matter By the Associated Press. BEAUVOIR, Miss,, January 12—Two feeble Confederate veterans, roommates for years in the Jefferson Davis Soldiers’ Home here, wrangled over & trivial mat- ter until they came to blows with an ax and one of them died early today. 1. W. Hughes, 87 years old, who, fel- low veterans reported, was given a se- vere beating by his roommate, John McDonald, was the man who dled. Hughes was a semi-invalid. and McDon- ald is weak from age and on the sick list most of the time. The two frequently ed In pro- and ' heated isputes, but L5 o e it e home. told county officers he did not anticipate they would ever come to blows. McDonald declared Hughes was ad- vancing toward him with an ax and blows were passed in self-defense. Hughes' right ear was split and his head bruised, but Dr. B, Z. Welch, sur- geon at the home, declared death was due to arterio sclerosis- with the cut and bruises as contributaries. Hughes was a member of Company K, 16th Mississippi Infantry. He had been an inmate of.the home for 21 years. McDorald belonged ta Company E, 47th North Carolinh. Infantry, lhdyhld e W ANUARY 13, | ! Concerned over the legislative jam, | | were photographed leaving. Borah conferred with President Coolidge at the White House yesterday. | Vice President-elect Curtis and Senator They MORGAN TO SERVE WITH OWEN YOUNG ON WAR DEBT BODY (Continued from First Page.) Coolidge and Mr. Hoover have indicated | their determination not to permit the | | United States Government to be drawn officially into the reparations tangle or to allow the problem to be confused | with the question of the payment by foreign nations of their war debts to the United States. Commission Chose Trio. Technically the selection of Messrs. Young, Morgan and Perkins as the United States experts was made by the representatives of the six nations— France, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, | Japan and Germany—who compose the Reparations Commission. The names chosen will be forwarded by the com- missioners to their various governments for ratification and then, when ap- proved, presented to the State Depart- ment here. This action probably will be taken . by Sir Esme Howard, the British Ambassador, acting for the en- tire group of nations. The American representatives will be asspciated with 12 other financial ex- perts whose names were announced by the Reparations Commission in Paris last Thursday. They are: P‘l’nnce:gmfle Moreau, governor of the Bank of France; Jean Parmentier, metnber of’thé Dawes committee, in- ‘spectdr of finance and governor of the Credit Foncler. Great Britain: Sir Joseph Stamp. member of the Dawes committee and president of the London, Midland and Scottish Rdilway; Lord Revelstoke, di- rector of the Bank of England and member of{the banking firm of Baring Bros. and €ompany, Ltd. Italy: Alberto Pirelli, member of the Dawes committee and president of the International Chamber of Commerce; Prof. Fulv Suvilich, undersecretary of finance. Belgium:* Emile Francqui, member of the Dawes committee, minister of state, assistant chairman of the Societe Na- tionale de Credit a I'Industrie, director of the Bank Belge pour I'Etranger and chairman of Lloyd Royal Belge; M. Gutt, former member of the repara- tions commission. Japan: Kengo Mori, former financial | agent of the Japanese government at London, Paris and Washington; Ta- kashi Acki, subgovernor of the Bank of Japan. . Germany: Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, president of the Reichsbank; Dr. Al- bert Voegler, director, of the United Steel Works. Mr. Morgan's appointment is expect- ed to meet with the sincere approval of the nationals of the allied countries and of Germany. As the chief finan- { cial agent of the allies during the war he participated in and directed vast transactions of paramount importance to the successful outcome of the strug- gle, while to the Germans his presence at the reparations conference is an as- surance not only of American interest in European problems, but that the highest technical skill of this country is available to aid in their solution. Mr. Young is widely known in Europe as a member of the original Dawes committee and a co-author of the Dawes plan. He was for a time agent | general for reparation payments, and is considered an outstanding authority on the subject. Mr. Perkins is & member of the law firm of Ropes, Gray, Borden & Perkins of Boston, and was United States citi- | mission from 1914 to 1926. (Copyright. 1929.) YOUNG TO BE PRESIDENT. Le Temps Says There Is No Question of His Appointment. PARIS, January 12.—The semi-offi- cial newspaper Le Temps says to- day, regarding the probability that Owen D. Young will be one of the American representatives among the experts who are to study the question of a final settlement of the reparations problem: “It is no mystery that in case he ac- | vesterday praised the Community Chest cepts this mission the presidency of the committee of experts will be offered to Mr. Young.” This newspaper statement crystalizes a subject which has been under private discussion almost since it was first known that Americans would partic- ipate in the experts’ work. While no | official opinion has been expressed, it is evident that from the French point of view Mr. Young appears to be the logical choice. French interest in the reaction of American financiers to the floating of reparations bonds at the moment is not intense. In yesterday's speech to the Chamber of Deputies Premier Poin- care spoke of the salutary effects of “mobilization and commercialization” of the reparations debt. Practically in the same breath, however, he pointed out that in case that did not prove feasible, France was always prepared to take refuge in the Dawes plan and Insist that Germany continue to pay as she is now doing. ‘The premier's victory in the Cham- ber,” while it gave him a majority of only 74 votes, is hailed as considerably clarifying the atmosphere for the com- ing reparations work. Only the desire to carry on.that task could have per- uaded, the fatigued premier to cling to his-post in’ the face of such & slender, - majority, DELANO SEES AID TOCHEST INESSAYS Head of Campaign Declares It Will Encourage Many Helpful Suggestions. Frederic A. Delano, president of the Washington Community Chest, essay contest being conducted by The Star, declaring that it will do much to encourage Washingtonians “to offer concrete suggestions” for meeting the welfare problem with which the chest has to deal. The contest will aid Washington’s plan for co-operation in the support of its charities,” declared Mr. Delano. By stimulating the interest of young and old in our city in studying the problem which is before us, and by encouraging them to offer concrete suggestions for meeting it. much will be accomplished. “I am glad to express my very hearty appreciation of this assistance,” he con- cluded. In the contest, which was described in detail in The Star Friday, prizes totaling $175 are to be awarded for the best essays by Washingtonians on the advantages of the Community Chest in the National Capital. The prizes are to consist of $100, $50 and $25, respec- tively, to be awarded those submitting the first, second and third best essays. The essays are to be judged by a board of editors and must be submitted to the Community Chest Essays Contest Editor of The Star before Wednesday, January 23. BORAH WILL RENEW REQUEST TO LIMIT DEBATE ON TREATY (Continued from First Page.) 1y entered into, this world-embracing ‘treaty will be sacredly observed by na- tions great and small, so that future generations enjoying the manifold ben- efits of peace will rise up and call us blessed. And shall we not be blessed? Hath not divine lips said ‘Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be call- ed the children of God?’ “And if. as we fondly hope, this nobly conceived treaty, this condem- nation of war for the solution of inter- pational controversies—this renuncia- tion of war as an instrument of nation- al policy—shall be sacredly observed, AMERIGA'SILONGEST TUNNEL 15 OPENED President - Elect Hoover Praises Builders in Radio Address. © 3 .. By the Associated Press. SEATTLE, Wash., January 12.—With the ceremony broadcast throughout the Nation by & radio hookup, the Great Northern Railway's new eight-mile tun« nel through the Cascade Mountains was opened to traffic tonight. The bore, the longest in America and the fifth longest in the world, burrowing under the mountain from Scenic, Wash,, to Berne, Wash., cuts two hours from East and West railroad schedules. Tonight's ceremony began at 6 o'clock at Berne, the east portal, where spe- cial trains bearing delegations from both sides of the State met. There Ralph Budd, president of the Great Northern, was introduced by Graham McNamee, radio announcer. After a brief program at Berne, which included the opening of a gate and addresses, the trains consolidated and passed through the tunmel to Scenic, the west portal. Cloth “Barrier” Pierced. At ‘Scenic the special train crashed through a cloth over the exit to the tun- nel, marking the official passage of a locomotive through the concrete-lined bore. At the banquet at Scenic, Judge L. C. Gilman, vice president of the Great Northern, was toastmaster, The following were the speakers: Gov. Roland H. Hartley, John Dower, president of the Spokane Chambe: of Commerce; E. A. Hatch, president. Seat= tle Chamber of Commerce; J. C. Baxter, vice president of A.- Guthrie & Co, builders, and J. J. Donovan of the Wash= ington State Chamber of Commerce. The tunnel, built in the record time of three years, cost $14,000,000, and 18 part, of a $25,000.000 development project of the Great Northern Railway in the Cascade Mountains. Hoover Speech Broadcast. A coast-to-coast radio hook-up car=- ried the voice of President-elect Herbert Hoover, speaking in his home at Wash- ington, to 37 stations for broadcasting. Mr. Hoover described the tunnel as again demonstrating the “progressive character of American industry.” It was the first time the next President had been heard over the radio since his election. Also on the Washington program was Johnstown B. Camp of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Gen. W. W. Atterbury. president of the Pennsyl- vania_Railroad, spoke at Philadelphia and Mme. Ernestine Schuman-Heink sang from San Francisco. with New York broadcasting musical numbers. Speaking into a microphone placed in the study of his home on S street the voice of the President-elect described the tunnel. The text of his address follows: “To President Budd, friends in the Cascade Mountains and of the radio audience: Great Engineering Feat. “I am glad to participate in a small way in recognition of a great engineer- ing accomplishment—the completion of the greatest tunnel upon our continent. Perhaps only engineers can appreciate the technical skill, the labor, the courage required for such ‘an under- taking. But the opening of a great transportation tunnel is more than an engineering accomplishment. It is a contribution for all time to quickened and cheapened transportation. Through these savings it adds something to the productivity and prosperity of far-flung communities which it serves. In the end it means a mite of contribution to better living o1 many hundreds of thousands of people. “Never have we witnessed a more perfect co-ordination of the forces of American industry than in this great job. The miners who have operated the drills, who cleared the rock and built the new tracks during these three years have established a record in con- struction for their skill. Every one of them needs no recommendation in the future other than that they were on the staff of the Cascade Tunnel. “Monument to Skill.” “President Budd and his fellow engi~ neers who have designed this tunnel and carried it to successful completion have left an enduring monument to their skill and abilities. The great transportation organization which has made it possible by its courage and foresight has demonstrated again the progressive character of American industry. “This accomplishment is of more moment than the improvement of the Great Northern Railway. It gives every American the satisfaction of confidence in the vitality of our civilization. “I congratulate you, Mr. Budd, your associates, and our country.” TWO MORE F then for a second time the morning stars shall sing together and all the | sons of God shout for joy.” | ‘The petition, which was being clrcu-§ iated up to the hour of adjournment over today, embodies a sentence that | unless the foreign relations committee makes some form of interpretative re- | port, the petitioners will feel required | to vote for an interpretative resolution. | However, some of the signers have ex- | empted themselves from the provlaion[ of this last stipulation. | Senator Bingham. Republican, Con-| necticut, who' has declared for a com mittee report on the treaty or an in- | terpretative resolution, was called to President Coolidge for a discussion of | the pact. FLU’ DEATHS. Toll Capital for Mounts to 28. Two more deaths from influenza were reported late yesterday, bringing the total for January to 28." There were 100 new cases of the disease reported yes- terday, making a total of 1,106 cases re- ported since January 1. Assistant Health Officer E, J. Schwartz, who is-in charge of the Health Department during the illness of Dr. William C. Fowler, said yesterday he was confident that the peak of the in- fluenza wave here had passed, and that in January zen member of the reparations com-!the White House late yesterday by | from now until the end of Winter, a diminishing number of cases and deaths may be expected. Prizes of $175 cAre Offered for Community Chest Essays Washington’s Community Chest drive is near. Through it the city’s giving to charitable projects will ke co-ordinated. Greater good is expected to be achieved with organized effort. Citizens everywhere are uni effort. ting for the great fund-raising These funds are to be distributed to 57 organized charities of the District during the course of the coming year. To further interest in the coming campaign The Evening Star today is offering prizes totaling $175 for the best essays to be written by Washingtonians on the advantages of the Community Chest in the National Capital. These essays must be under three hundred words in length. All persons in Washington, except employes of The Star, are eligible to awards. Manuscripts must be submitted to the Community Chest Essays Contest Editor of The Star before Wednesday, Jaa- uary 23. Their merits will be judged Star. by a board of editors of The That essay deemed best will be awarded a prize of $100. Second best, $50, and third best, $25. Be sure and enter your essay early. ‘Do not delay.