Evening Star Newspaper, March 21, 1929, Page 17

FUBITIVE WOUNDED AND COMPANION IS' Shooting of Colored Man by! Precinct Detective Lang- don Under Inquiry. CONDITION IN HOSPITAL | Liquor and Speeding Charge Placed Against Man Taken to Station. A colored man was shot by a police- man and seriously injured and his com- panion was placed under arrest when they tried to escape on foot from two fifth precinct detectives today after a wild automobile chase through South- east Washington. Capt. William E. Sanford of the fifth precinct and Police Inspector Albert J. | Headley started an investigation imme- diately on learning of the affair to de- termine whether the shooting was Jjustified. Louis Burton, 29. of the 900 block of E street southwest, is in Casualty Hospi- tal in a serious condition. A bullet from Precinct Detective Robert F. Lang- don’s pistol entered the left side of his back, just below the shoulder blade, ac- cording to Di. M. F. Ottman. | Hospital officials said the wounded ! man was brought there by a man who | drove away without identifying himself, | after he had placed the colored man on a porch in the rear of the hospital. Driven to Hospital. Langford said that he drove Burton to the hospital in a small roadster be- longing to the latter. He did not stop, he said, because he was in a hurry to_return to the scene of the shooting. ngdon, accompanied by Fifth Pre- , “Washington News The Foening Star WASHINGTON, 1 08 THURSDAY, Upper, left to right: James Leonard Butch of St. John's College, and Miss Nellie McCormick of St. Patrick’s High School. Lower: Miss Louise Waters of Holy Trinity High School.—Star Staff Photo. Lai cinet Detective F. L. Arrington, was riding in the latter’s automobile at New Jersey avenue and M street -about 9 o'clock this morning, the former said. ‘They saw a small roadster, occupied by two colored men, moving down the avenue at a high rate of speed. The officers gave chase, and after a thrilling it through alleys and side streets, g:rl‘l‘lly crowded the smaller vehicle to the curb at South Capitol street. The colored men jumped out and ran morth on South Capitol street. Two shots were fired by the officers as they took up the chase on foot. At I street the pursued men turned fired st Burton. an in his tracks and his compan- don was captured by n. The other colored man, Charles Feels, 25, of the 1200 block of First street south- s S transportation an ‘whis- ky. As yet no charges have been placed against Burton. Fired at His Feet. “When Burton turned the corner and treet,” Langdon aim’ and fired at ; struck the pavement just behind him and ricocheted into his body.” Langdon said he fired because he be- lieved Burton was trying to take a pis- tol from his pocket. ~ After Burton had been taken into custody, Langdon said, he found a .38-caliber pistol of Spanish make in his t. ARMY PLANE LINKS TEXAS WITH CAPITAL Craft Flies From Galveston to V{ashington in 13 Hours, 45. Minutes. Tor the second time in two weeks an Army pilot has made the trip to this city from Texas within a day. Lieut. John E. Upston of the Air Corps’ in- formation section, with Hans Adamson, secretary to F. Trubee Davison, As- sistant Secretary of War for Aerohau- tics, landed at Bolling Field at 10:15 o'clock last night after a 13-hour flight from Fort Crockett, Galveston, Tex., in an Army Curtiss Falcon observation lane. % Lieut. Upston took off from Galveston at 5:50 a.m. yesterday, stopping at Max- well Pield, Montgomery, Ala., and Augusta, Ga., for fuel. He landed at Montgomery at 11:50, and left at 1:05, landing at Augusta at 3:35, and leaving at 4 o'clock, central time. No advance preparations were made for the fiight and there was no attempt to make a record, Lieut. Upston said. in poeket. The officers said they found 88 quarts of corn whisky in the rear compartment of the roadster. A somewhat different account of the shots were claimed by the officers. About 50 em- ployes of his company and bystanders scattered and ran when the firing began, he‘“i‘:cn) colored man was about 30 feet in front of Langdon, and Tunning away,” Coyle sald. Langdon picked the colored man up after the shooting and tried to | make him walk, but when he could not, he said, he put him in an automobile and drove to South Capitol street. He | then put the colored man in his own | roadster and started to the hospital. i “I then walked up to the other col-| ored man, who was being held by Ar- rington, and asked him :why he had | been arrested.” According to Coyle. ! TFeels answered, “they thought we had liquor in the car, but we didn't have any this time.” 3 | FALSE ARREST SUIT ASKS $50,000 DAMAGE! Howe Totten, Aetorne.y. Brings Ac- tion Against Charles | P | A damage suit for $50,000 on charge.s] of false arrest was filed in the District | Supreme Court yesterday by Howe Tot- ten, attorney and owner of the Le Para- dis Building, inst Charles K. Moser | of 4514 Connecticut avenue. Totten was driving an automobile which struck the defendant on August 30, 1928, at Sixteenth and M streets. As a result, Totten charges, he was ar- | rested on complaint of Moser and held two hours in a police station before bond of $500 was posted. In Police Court he was charged with driving while under the influence of liquor, the suit declared, and after hearing all facts in the case, Assistant Corporation Coun- sel Chester H. Gray entered a nolle prosse of the charge on October 23. According to Totten’s suit, Moser awore (o another comp] on October 16, charging reckless driv- ing. The case was tried and the charge dismissed on December 12, the suit declared. As a result of the humiliation caused him in these two trials, Totten asked damages of $25,000 each for the accusations that were dismissed against ‘him. The suit was filed through Attorney Levi David — TRUCK CAPSIZES. Machine Rolls Over Attempting to Avert Crash With Car. A freak accident delayed traffic at ©hio avenue and Thirteenth street ortly after noon today, when a light tragk rated by L. O. Gold of Mar- shall, "7: swerved suddenly to avoid a_ collision with a machine driven by Michael Fox, 1314 Twelfth street, and rolled over. The top of the truck was crushed down over the driver's seat and the windshield erumpled, but the glass held laint against him | The trip, during which 1,400 miles were flown in 13 hours and 45 minutes, is one of the fastest ever flown over distance with an obervation plane and glty flights in Aaoington. Jast monih io MAKe prepa Wi n last mont make prepa- rations for the flight of Capt. Ira C. Eaker from Brownsville, Tex., ‘o Pan: ma and return. They were in chi of the arrangements at Tampico and Minatitlan, ‘Mexico. The last one-day flight between Tex- as and this city was made about 10 days ago by Capt. Ross G. Hoyt in an Army pursuit plane. Capt. Hoyt made the trip from Washington to Kelly n one day and TWO ARMED YOUTHS $60 Overlooked When $87.27 Is| Taken From B. B. Weaver, Man- ager, at 1410 H Northeast. Two white youths, /waving guns, last night held up B, B. Weaver, manager of a filling station at 1410 H street northeast, and escaped in a touring car with -$87.27 in Standard Oil Co. receipts, but overlooked $60 of his own that Weaver had in another pocket. Weaver told Detectives E. E. Thomp- son and Thomas Nally that the youths made their appearance with drawn guns, took the wallet in his right hand pocket, some change from a hip pocket, and left without completing the Job. . Their automobile, a green touring car, was parked ‘two blocks from the scene, and several people in the vicinity saw them speed away in it. A general search for the car was ordered at head- quarters. | | Cardinal Galli Improves. VATICAN. CITY, March 21 (P)— Cardinal Galli, who was stricken by serious illness while visiting the convent of the Dorothean Sisters, had con- siderably improved in health this morn- ing. Doctors think he will soon be com- pleiely restored. 'S COMPETING ORATORS DRIVER IS CLEARED IN DEATH OF GIRL Child Struck and Killed While Running Across Six- teenth Street. A verdict of accidental death was| returned today at an inquest into the death yesterday afternoon of 12-year- old Mary Bertha Armstrong of 2503 Fourteenth street, shortly after she was struck while crossing Sixteenth street at Euclid street by an automobile driven by George D. Steadman of 110 Elm ave- nue, Takoma Park, Md. Steadman was arrested last night by eighth precinct police when they re- ceived word from Garfleld Hospital that the child had died. He was released in ! the custody of his attorney shortly afterward, and under order of the coroner to appear at the District morgue today for the inquest, which automatically exonerated him. The child had been playing in Meri,_ dian Park and was hit as she was running across Sixteenth street between Euclid street and Crescent place. The automobile was proceeding south. Steadman took her to the hospital in his car. Returning home earlier in the after- noon from the Henry D. Cooke School, which she attends, Mary found no one there, so she left a note informing her mother, Mrs. Virginia Armstrong, that she had gone out to play with another girl and would return at 5:30 o'clock. :‘e::d minutes before that time she was e Mary is survived by her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. G. Homer Arm- strong, and a younger sister, Louise. Five other persons were injured in traffic accidents yesterday afternoon and last night. One, a boy, may be hurt seriously. He is Robert Damato, 5 years old, of 209 Pennsvivania - avenue. He was struck in i:ont of 106 Second street,q police say, by an automobile which was going backward trying to turn around. The driver was Edward Brown of 1511 Fourth street. Brown took the boy to Emergency Hospital, where he was treated by Dr. Emil Griebowsky of the staff for a fractured right wrist and injuries to his head. condition is undetermined. i ‘Those slightly injured include: Ralph W. Myers, 23 years old, of Cherrydale, Va.; Charles R. Ward, 48 years old, of 219 Twelfth street northeast; Mrs. Anita E. McKay, 63 years old, of 2135 K street, and Carrie Tyler, colored. 9 y"t" old, of 1219 Duncan street north- east. STICKPINS. RECOVERED FOR BAKER; TWO HELD Colored Man and 'Woman Facing Charges of Grand Larceny. ‘Three valuable stickpins stolen from the apartment of Raymond T. Baker, former director of the mint, in Ward- man Park Hotel last week, had been re- covered today following the arrest yes- terday of a colored man and woman on charges of grand larceny. The jewelry was valued at $5,000. Those ' under arrest are Charlotte and Julian Patterson. They were taken into custody by Headquarters Detec- tives Dennis Cullinane and Lawrence O'Dea. A gold cigarette case and a gold matchbox also stolen last week have not been located. The woman is said to have been employed as a maid in the hotel. One of the stickpins was recovered in a house where police say the woman lived and the other two from second- hand dealers. EARNED INCOME TAX REDUCTION IS URGED| Federal Bar Association Asks Cut ‘When Government Financial Condition Warrants, Reduction of the income tax on all earned incomes, such as salaries, fees or commissions for personal services, when the financial condition of the Govern- ment warrants such action, was urged in a'resolution adopted at the meeting of .the Federal Bar Association, com- posed of lawyers in the Government service, held in the Interior Depart- ment Bullding last night. The association also voted to stand behind the Hoover administration on enforcement of all laws, and deplored any action by groups of members of the bar who advise or assist the criminal classes in violating any laws or evading penalties. Glidex:s to Be Targets Motorless airplanes, to be launched from Regular Army airplanes, will be used for the first time as targets for Coast Artillery batteries during the Spring training of the 6lst and 62d Coast Artillery, anti-aircraft, at Fort Story, Cape Henry, Va., beginning April 1. The regiments will conduct their én- nual target practice by firing at tow- targets and the gliders. Both 3-inch anti-aircraft guns and machine guns will be used and searchlights will be employed for night operations. The 62d Coast Artillery is en route from Fort Totten. N. Y., to Fort Story by | road. more than 125 trucks forming the column. The glider targets which will be used and Gold escaped injury. are small motorless airplanes, equipped for Coast Artillery Anti-Aircraft Guns in Spring Training with special controls, which can be set so the glider will reproduce the move- ments of an airplane as they descend. They will be launched at heights of from 8,000 to 10,000 feet. Ordinarily the gliders’ will descend in circles of vary- ing diameters, their actual course de- pending upon the wind. Speed boats will be used to recover them after they fall in the water. During the concentration, joint train- ing with the Air Corps will be carried out. About May 1 part of the two anti- aircraft regiments will be sent to Lang- ley Field, Va., where they will engage in co-operation with the Air Corps in defense of the field. - They will be called upon to repel simulated attacks by air corps units, which will be based lin the vicinity. JUDGES T0 SELECT ORATORY FINALIST - INCONTEST TODAY Three School Representa- | tives Compete for Star Area Honors at Gaston Hall. | PHILODEMIC SOCIETY | MEMBERS MAKE CHOICE Winner Will Compete April 15 With Two Others for Dis- trict Championship. The third and final contender for | the championship of the private and parochial school district in The Star's | Sixth National Oratorical Contest area is being chosen at Gaston Hall, on the | Georgetown University campus, this afternoon, where three school repre- | sentatives are delivering their orations versity student. judges. St. John's College, was scheduled to speak first, with his oration on “The Constitution and the Individual” He was to be followed by Miss Nellie McCormick of 8St. Patrick’s High School, whose oration is on “The Citi- zen: His Privileges, His Duties Under the Constitution,” and Miss Louise Waters of Holy Trinity High School, with & speech on “The Constitution of the United States: Its Origin.” Music Augments Program. ‘The judges of this.afternoon's con- | test are members of Georgetown Uni- versity’s Philodemic Society, the oldese college debate organization in the United States, while the chairman of the meeting is Rev. John J. Toohey, 8. J., faculty adviser of the Philodemic Soclety. Students of Holy Trinity High School were augmenting the program of ora- tory with music, and the players in- cluded Robert Schorhbert, pianist: PFrank Warner, violinist; Catherine Gartland, pianist, and Elizabeth O'Con- ner, violinist. Father Toohe is to announce the win- ner of the contest following the com- pilation of the judges’ ballots by eon- test officials. He has presided at the Gaston Hall group meeting for the past two years and his remarks to the losers in the contests always have been in- spiring and conducive to further effort rather than to discouragement. Winner Competes April 15. ‘The winner of this afternoon’s com- petition will compete April 15 with Jerome J. Downey, Gonzaga High School boy, who won the group meeting at McMahon Hall of Catholic Univer- sity last Monday afternoon, and with Lawrence W. Gunther, Devitt Prepara- tory School student, who won the de- cision in the scheduled second group meet for the champlonship of the pri- vate and parochial school district and the accompanying .prize of $100. This contest meet will be held in St. Paul's Academy auditorium, V street between Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets. The private and parochial district champion will compete in The Star finals with the winners of the 10 other “district” finals.for the three-month South Ameri- ?230 tour and an additional award of IN CATOCTIN DEAL 1,500-Acre Purchase Does Not In- clude Residence Used by Mary- land’s First Governor. The 1500 acres purchased several days ago by Lawrence H. Ritchie, one of President Hoover's secretaries, in the Catoctin Manor tract, in Frederick County. Md., do not include the old manor house bullt by Henry Johnson, the first Governor of Maryland, which is now the property of Lancelot Jacques. The purchase made by Mr. Ritchie through the local real estate firm of Schwab, Valk & Canby, was intended solely for fishing purposes and in reality ‘was a purchase of Hunting Creek, which is recognized in that section as being one of the best trout streams in Eastern United States. Therefore, when President Hoover {goes to this fishing haven to indulge in his favorite sport he will not live in the manor house, but in a cabin which is to be built in a_picturesque spot along the stream. Mr. Hoover prefers “roughing it” and being away from the conventions of the White House when he goes for recreation. Mr. Hoover has been acquainted with the fis] possibilities in that section and the short motor ride required and it is expected that he will frequently take advantage of the opparlmty of- fered by the fishing on Mr. Ritchie's property. The President also expects to try the fishing in the headquarters of the Rapidan River in the Shennandoah Na- tional Park. TUBERCULOSIS GROUP DISCUSSES CAMPAIGN A general committee to conduct in April the second annual cam of education for the early diagn of tuberculosis, under auspices of the Washington Tuberculosis Association, was organized at a meeting of health agency representatives at the Y. W. C. A, yesterday. Dr. J. Winthrop, superintendent of the Tuberculosis Hospital, was elected chairman of the committee and Edwin 8. Potter, secretary. Dr. Winthrop was authorized to name a smaller executive committee, the names of which he said would be announced after consultation with members. Dr. George M. Kober, president of the Tuberculosis Association, spoke of the i good results of a similar campaign for early diagnosic which was carried on last year throughout the Nation under the direction of the National Tubercu- losis Association. Many children were found to be in- fected, and on this account Dr. Xober said that the association this year is laying special stress on the early diag- nosis of children and their care and treatment. Addresses were made also by Dr. Har- vey W. Wilev, vice president of the local ‘Tuberculosis Association; Dr. Edith Se- ville Coale; the director of public wel- fare, George S. Wilson; the assistant superintenden‘ of schools, Stephen E. Kramer: Mrs. Joseph Sanders of the Parent-Teachers' Assoclation and Dr. C. A. Tignor, f for the judgment of a board of uni- | James Leonard Butch, repreunfln:l 'MANOR HOUSE IS KEPT | Above: Derricks erected on the new Internal Revenue Building site, where the erection of steel was started this morning. Below: Workman putting the first upright into place. T. W. McKnew, vice president James Baird Co.; Dennis Southern, structural iron worker, and Neal A. Melick, engineer of the super- vising architect’s office, Treasury De- partment. —Star Staff Photo. ROADHOUSE FIGHT CLUES ARE LACKING Probei's Agree First Explana- tion of Shooting Is False. | Sullen silence was encountered at | almost every turn by Washington and | Maryland police investigating today the shooting early yesterday morning ia Green Gables, a nearby Maryland road- house, of Wesley Charles Poutra and | Joe Houser, still in & critical condition in Emergency Hospital. . Hampered by the. stubborn ,refusal to talk or apparent evasion of all those | intimately connected with the shooting, investigators are no nearer a solution of the mystery of what Hes behind the shooting than they were when it oc- | curred. | Out of a maze of conflicting details, | but one thing is agreed upon by every one working on the case and that :s that the first explanation offered i false either wholly or in part. Visit Wounded Men. | Mrs. Louis F. Behrens, wife of the principal witness, and Mrs. Poutra vis- ited tg. wounded men at the hospital today. Ruth Bradley, whose driving permit was found in the roadhouse, has not been located by the police. Mrs, Behrens said she was not at Green Gables and knew nothing of { what_took place there as her husband had been too ill to talk to her. She \was Miss Belle Calhoun before her mar- | riage to Behrens, she declared. County Policeman F. T. Prince said | this morning he will interview some time | today the proprietor of a Ninth street cafe, thought to have been present at the roadhouse. The man could not be | located this morning. According to the theory held the Maryland author- ities, the cafe proprietor and the man who did the shooting came to Green Gables together. They had one or more women with them, police think. The shooting occurred about. 3:30 o'clock yesterday morning. Poutra and Houser were wounded during a general fight. Behrens, who with John Law- rence Brenner of the 1200 block of ‘Twenty-first street, was arrested at Emergency Haspital by Headquarters Detectives R. H. Mansfleld and Curtis ‘Trammell, was struck on the head with 8 blunt weapon and his scalp split. n stitches were taken. Brenner brought Houser to the hospital. Both men were held under bond yesterday as material witnesses. Behrens’ Story to Official. In his statement to States Attorney J. Frank Parraris, Behrens said he and Poutra, a 'friend, were riding along { Ninth street between midnight and 1 o'clock, when Poutra recognized s gir;: at the corner of E street. They atopped. her companion was introduced as “Joe” and they were invited to accompany a party to Green Gables. “We were kind of lonesome and look- ing for excitement, so we drove along behind them,” Behrens stated. After he had danced with girls, Behrends declared, he was sum- moned outside to the porch by “Joe” ing to steal his girl.” The matter was amicably settled and they all- went in- side and sat down together at s table. A few minutes later the man got up and slapped Behrens in the mouth. During the scuffie which ensued Beh- rens was struck on the head and the shots were fired, how many is not known. ‘The man who fired the shots was said by witnesses to have left the scene in a car bearing Pennsylvenia tags. Police were told he is a Philadelphian. They ‘were also given his name, but he has not been lgpr'hgmud. At the hospital today both victims of the shooting were reported to be con- siderably improved, although Poutra is not conceded more than an even chance to recover. WOMAN: CALLED SUICIDE. | Gallaudet College Waitress Case Decided by Coroner. A _certificate of suicide in_the death of Miss Hazel Shifflette, 21-year-old waitress at llaudet College, who died last night Sibley Hm:lul. a day after she took poison in her room at the _college, was issued this morning by J. Ramsay Nevitt, District coroner. A brother-in-law of Miss Shifflette, F. J. Fagan, 36 Sixteenth street north- !::zt. could ascribe no motive for her MARCH 21, 1929, o o oy COMES UP ‘Board to Report Decision to First Steel Column Is Raised. Commissioners Monday or Tuesday. The application of Maj. Edwin B. of the Police Department on account of physical disability will be taken up by the Police and Firemen's Retiring and Relief Board at its meeting, this after- noon. docket ahead of Maj. Hesse's, and it is not expected that his care will be reached until late, 2 pm. Dr. James J. Kilroy of the Board of Police and Fire Surgeons will testify that Maj. Hesse has suffered a complete physical breakdown. Dr. Kilroy's testi- mony will be supported by a report of five of the six members of the Board of Surgeons, who recently examined Maj. Hesse. The board's decision will be re< ported to the Board of Commissioners Monday or Tuesday. It is expected that the report will favor granting Maj. Hesse's request. Assistant Corporation Counsel Prancis H. Stephens is chairman of the res tiring board. Other members are Bat- talion Chief C. E. Schrom of the Fire Department and Inspector E. W. Brown of the Police Department. Candidates Listed, The retiring board's report will serve to bring officially before the Com- missioners at their semi-weekly meet- ing Tuesday a problem which has been occupying them this month, that of selecting Maj. Hesse's successor. The names of 20 candidates for the job have been placed before them. Of these 10 are members of the Police Department. The candidates are: (nspectors Henry G. Pratt, William §. Shelby, Albert J. Headley and W. H. Harrison, Capts. Robert E. Doyle, C. L. Clemmons, William G. Stott, Fred Cornwell and W. E. Sanford, Detective Sergt. Lawrence A. O'Dea. Candidates not members of the de) and another man, accusing him of “try- | Ge: n. Mark L. and Walker G. L Service, Henry E. Solomon of the Coast Guard, Gen. Smedley D. Butler, Maj. Bruce R. Campbell, W. E. Sellers, H. H. Hayden,” Merritt Chance and Michael acho. Many Believed Eliminated. The list above includes all whose names have been brought before the commission by members of Congress, citizens' associations and other inter- ested parties, but it is believed that the list under consideration is considerably smaller, as several of the men .men- tioned would not be likely to accept the job if offered. The morning mail today brought in | Byjl half a dozen letters of recommendation for several of the candidates from Rep- resentatives and Senators. Some of the letters had been addressed to President Hoover and were forwarded to the Com- missioners by the White House staff. Women to Sign for Hoover. Executive orders just issued desig- nate Mrs. Viola B. Pugh, and in case of her absence Mrs. Helen V. McLeod of the General Land Office, Interior Department, to sign the name of Presi- dent Hoover to land pa issued. Mrs. Pugh was appointed by the Secretary of the Interior in Au- gust, 1921, “to the position of clerk to sign land patents,” and has signed the name of the President to such docu- menl’ since that date. There are several cases on the | The board meets at | Society and HESSE RETREMENT REVENUE BULDING £ TODAY SKELETONISBEGUN Work to Be Rushed to Completion. General PAGE 17 ARRIVAL OF SPRING 15 COMPLEX EVENT 10 ASTRONOMERS Naval Observatory Experts Seek to Redetermine Vernal Equinox. PLANT LIFE DIF-F-ERS WITH STELLAR TIME Flowering of Shrubs Taken in E;:- rope as Chart to. Guide Agricilturists. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Winter 1s’ over and gone. Crocus-tressed Spring reached Wash- n officially at 9:35 last evening. At least, within a few hundredths of a sec- Squinox. thcording s o cormuhinas , cal of the Naval O] . g Spring’s annual return to the North- ern Hemisphere is really quite a com- plicated procedure . as the astronomers look" at it, even if it is the simplest thing for flowers and lovers. The earth makes its annual journey around the sun in a great circle known { as the elliptic. For the purpose of pic- turing the event, it is just as well to as- sume that the earth is stationary and that it really is the sun which is mov- ing around the earth in this great cirs cle, just as it appears to an observer ‘n‘: :.xg.tuh Theje‘url:m also is turning on every ours, mov! in the plane of the Equator. e Now these.two paths do not coincide. 1t they did there would he no seasons. The path of the earth around the sun varies approximately 23 degrees fram the Equator. Twice a year the two cir-~ cles intersect, once when the earth js swinging northward on its annual jour~ ney and once when it is speeding south- ward.® At those instants the sun is di- rectly over the Equator. Night and day are of equal length. The instant the sun has gone north of the.Equator cfr- cle it.is Spring and the instant it has gone south it is Autumn. Exact Instant Undetermined. Naval Observatory astronomers are not quite sure of the exact instant when arrives and now are engaged in & long series of observations, one of the ebjectll of ‘:hicl;"t‘s’ '?n rcldetermlne the vernal equinox. This involves triangula- {tlon of the exact position of the sun with the Equator and various planets llnfl fixed stars. ! “The coming of Spring. Naval Ob~ | servatory astronomers point out, has nothing to do with the distance of the sun from the earth. It is the nearest during the Whiter. months in the North- ern Hemizphere, and now_the is moving feriher away. The differ- ence in distance. however, is so slight, comparatively, that the effect is not noticeable. Brilliant Sieltar Parade. { . Astronomically, “Spring comes = this ! year attended by a brilliant stellar . procession. Venus, appropriate har- r of the season of lovers, is at her | bing gn! glant star Aldebarton, at one end of the | Hyades. ! _This year, it is pointed out at the | Weather Bureau, tical { The first steel column of the Internal | w! Louisiana avenue. It marked -the -rearing: of the first beginning of a period of intense activity on the site bounded by B and C, Tenth and Twelfth streets. = With 37 oarloads of steel already here and more arriving at the rate of 7 carloads a day, the erection of the steel skeleton of the building will be rushed 3«“ lco;nplevlon and is to be finished by y 1. There are now 160 men at work on the job for the James Baird Co., Inc., which has the contract for completion of the buil . While the steel skele- ton is to be done by July 1, the eon- tractors have until January 1, 1931, to finish the entire building. The first column, set in place under supervision of officials and the Government's construct en- Rineer, Neal A. Melick, weighs about a ton and a half and-is 20 feet high. There are 575 bases on the foundation, upon which ‘ will be raised an equal number-of columns for the great build- ing. All the columns .are in the city and are being trucked to the site. Six steel derricks are in the big hole in the ground and the place hums with activ- ity as one of the speediest parfs of the entire construction job gets under full of the company tion swing. mflp;'mmln: the contractors when the t column was put in place were T. W. McKnew, vice .president of the const n manager, ose] Bowling, jr., superintendent of con- struction. Altogether there will be 8,500 tons of steel structure in the building. RSS2 INTERIOR EMPLOYES ELECT GEORGE WARREN Member of Secretary’'s Force Presi- dent and Albert M. Reising Secretary-Treasurer. ‘Warren of the Secretary’s Of- George fice was yesterday elected president of the Interior Department Branch of the annual meef in the Union Bank lding, For nth: near G atreel. Albert M. Reising, also of the Secre- tary'’s Office, was elected secretary- treasurer. superstrueture of the tuilding and the | Pederal Employes Union No. 2, at the | banks wil | Hesse for retirement as superintendent | Revenue Building was raised today on | announcer than th | foundations facing Tenth street near Brossoming Date Discussed. | “Spring,” as the meteorologists look ‘at it, is the time when vegetation | springs into renewed life after the | dormant ;oe;:,un ezruar time of m‘:m-c varies. ot and the time of * : ong Eu n students of the sub- in this group. Several Buropean eountries have lished elaborate charts showing the ndr- mal date of the of in this sense, the variations due to latitude, , distance from the iEbie Fuides i sericuiaral perations relisble [ 0} lons. Little: scientific has_been gi the problem in the United States. culture,’ can scientists to have studied the prob- |1em. it. was early by the white | settiers in'the East that it was the time 4; plant corn when the white oak or maple leaves were the size of squirrels’ feet or, when dogwood began to shaw e hwm { the robin, blyebird, of , A snuq&.dmund and othe indiead un:t‘u e . o e aoivly 1 e e it e m- perate Nufi“l:m is at the general average rate of four ‘days to each 1 of latitude; 5 degrees of ‘len- gitude and 400 feet of -altitude, later northward, eastward and upward in the Spring and the reverse in Autumn.” American uhntman-&e‘w;b lnovu;_ have agreed upon any logics event whose. occurrence in a certain place should - denote the coming _of Spring. Following two weeks of balmy weather, the, astronomical advent of Spring tHis year finds the actual Spring well under way here. with crocuses blossoming on thern exposures all over blossoms of mlfi hias being equal, “the ‘The following were elected as repre- sentatives to Local, No.2: U. J. Biller, R. E. Lo . Uppercue and s Bureau of Pensions; Walter B. Fry and Indian Office; Paris, from the Radio Commissios Fast Day at the Zoo. All carniverous animals kept in cap- tivity, such as lions and t:fen mus | fast one day out of seven they are ( to remain in good health. | ey FILIPINO TO BE PILOT. L. Laconico Seeks First License 6f _ His Race in Islands. Determined to be the first member, of in commercial flying Hoover Field. ) He is to take a course of ground in- "‘“"?‘5,;, flyui,m Lrunl;u and sufficient fiying time to qualify for a commercial pilot’s license.