Evening Star Newspaper, July 14, 1929, Page 17

TS Sv— [wasnvoron | @he Sy St COMPLETE BUDGET ASKS $48.200,000, HIGHEST FOR D. . Maj. Donovan to Send 45- Page Report to Bureau, Explaining Estimates. $3,000,000 FOR SITE OF MUNICIPAL CENTER $500,000 to Begin Conmstruction of Courts Building Also Provided For. The {entative financial budget of the District for the 1931 fiscal year, calling for a total of more than $48,200,000, the Jargest in history, was completed yes- terday by Maj. Daniel J. Donovan, au- ditor and budget officer. It will be transmitted to the Budget Bureau to- morrow, accompanied by a 45-page re- port containing a detailed list of the new items which have contributed largely to the unprecedented estimate of municipal expenditures, Maj. Donovan prepared the supple- mentary report to present to the Budget Bureau a more concise and impressive picture of contemplated public improve- | ments than can be visualized from the | voluminous but skeletonized Book of Es- | timates. An explanation of the justifi- cation for every improvement recom- | mended follows each of the new items, Two Outstanding Items. Outstanding among the improvements provided in the budget are items of $3,000,000 to complete the purchase of the site for the municipal center and $500,000 to begin the construction of the Courts Building, the first unit to be erected in the municipal group. The initial appropriation of $3,000,000 to ac- quire the land for the municipal center was provided at the special session of | Congress, and District officials are now | negotiating for property in the area. The court building, it is estimated, | ‘will cost approximately $5,000,000. It will accommodate the Police, Juvenile and Municipal Courts and the oftice of the Tecorder of deeds. Plans have been made to locate it in the northwest cor- ner of the four-square area at John Marshall place and Louisiana avenue, facing the present courthouse. In its final form the tentative budget 1= more than $200,000 in excess of the $48,000,000 total originally fixed by the Commissioners as the limit of expendi- tures for the next fiscal year, The in- crease, it was said, is the result of eleventh-hour requests of eertain de- partments for additional funds for im- | provements regarded as indispensable. The Commissioners recognized the ur- gency of these improvements and made ! provision for them, although they car- ried the budget beyond the previously fixed maximum, Support Assured Budget. ‘The District, however, according to fhe‘c:l}cuhum;s of Donovan, can sup- por e record-breaking budget on the current $1.70 tax rate by dlp'ptn[ gen- erously into the accumulated surplus Tevenues to its credit in the United States Treasury. In fact, the auditor advised the Commissioners at the outset of the budget-making activities that the limit could be fixed at $48,552,000, and there would still be left at the close of the 1931 fiscal year a free cash operat- ing fund of $2,521,000. He recommend- ed, however, that the $48,552,000 be not exceeded. One of the items represented in the Jast-minute increases which swelled the total budget above $48,000,000 is un- derstood to be the $27,000 requested several weeks ago by the new Public Utllities Commission to increase its ac- counting and engineering personnel. The added employes are wanted to permit a closer check on the accounts of the public utilities corporations. The largest single item in the budget is $13,000,000 for the public schools. ‘The Board of Education asked for $13,- 750,000. but in the general pruning of the estimates of all departments the Commissioners frimmed off $750.000. Proportionate reductions also were made in the estimates of other depart- ments, $53,056,505 Is Requested. The department, heads requested ap- propriations amounting to $53,056,505, an increase of $11,416,390 over the ap- propriations carried in the regular ap- propriation act for the current fiscal year. A budget of this size, according 1o Auditor Donovan, not only would ex- ceed the revenue to be available in 1931 by $1983,505, but also would ;v}p; out the District’s cash operating und. B Donovan estimated that the revenue to be avaflable in the next fiscal year will total $51,073,000, of which $22.- 338,000 will be produced by the tax on real estate and tangible personal prop- e left (inset), Frank Sali MODEL AIRCRAFT HANG UP RECORDS Diminutive Plane, Made by! Billy Street, Stays Up 3 1-2 Minutes. Two new model aircraft records were set yesterday at Chevy Chase, as the District of Columbia Model Aircraft League held its first of a series of four | preliminaries, leading up to the Model Aircraft tournament on September 3. | 4 and 6, for which several medals and cups will be awarded. Billy Street, one of the youngest in “A” class, sailed his 10-inch Baby Rog plane for 3 minutes 317, seconds to establish one record, while Frank Salisbury, in the same class, beat Her- bert Dorsey’s former record for Rog fuselage planes, by flying his big model for 3 minutes 10 second. Luther Schmidt, one of the younger boys, yesterday also | bettered, by 10 seconds, Dorsey's record, | which was 1:40. The meet was held in a field near Chevy Chase Circle. Another index of the interest of Washington youth in model aircraft was seen in the announcement that John | H. Williams’ class, held on Thursday afternoons, at Central Community Cen- ter, has become so overcrowded that a second class on another afternoon is to be formed immediately for instruction in aircraft building Second Meet Is Saturday. Next Saturday morning at 9:30 o'clock | at Macfarland Community . Center the second preliminary, a big indoor meet, will be held. This will include official tests of Baby Rof, helicopters, Rof fly- ing scale and Rog sclentific types. On July 23, at 7:30 p.m., a meeting of the District of Columbia Model Air- | eraft League will be held at Mlc(ll‘llnd| erty. The tax on intangibles, he figured, will yield $2,750,000. while the tax on public utilities, banks and loan asso- ciations will produce an additional $2.- 310,000. Other sums enf g into his calculations include the annual $9,000,- 000 lump sum contribution of the Federal Government, $3,000,000 in mis- cellaneous receipts, $1,600,000 from the tax on gasoline, $1,550,000 in water yevenues, $2,040,000 in special and trust funds and $350,000 as the release of cash reserve for unexpended balances. GRAIN ELEVATOR PROJECT DISCUSSED BY FARMERS | Propose to Operate Frederick Coun- | ty Lifts Under Auspices of the Farm Bureau. #pecial Dispatch to The Star. FREDERICK, Md., July 13—Farm- ers from Washington, Montgomery, ‘Carroll and Prederick Counties last eve- ning attended a mass meeting at the courthouse when Dr. F. B. Boml of the extension service of the Uni versity of Maryland and Gray Silver, erflnlhll?. . Va., discussed the agricultural marketing act, recently en- acted by Congress. Steps are being taken by farmers to revive a plan to take over all grain elevators in Frederick County and oper- « Ate them on a co-operative basis under the auspices of the Farm Bureau. Sev- eral years ago options were obtained on about 15 elevators in this county and city involving an investment of -bv‘:s ‘:ISN,MO. u‘:‘e:he“ capital re- =ult al g program. % ‘Bomberger discussed this program to some extent and intimated that Fred- erick ity farmers t obtain financial assistance under the farm relief act. Mary Pickford Re-elected. ‘HOLLYWOOD, Calif., July 13 (#).— star, was the center. Awards of pins for “aces,” talks | by aeronautical experts and exhibition flights then will be held under the di- rection of Lieut. Walter Hinton and a committee of league members. Other preliminary meets, in prepara- tion for the September teurnament, will be held on August 3 and 7 and all boys in the District, the metropolitan area of Maryland and Arlington County, Va., who have made planes capdble of flying 5 seconds, are eligible to participate, after a qualifying round. Candidates wishing to enter the tour- nament must register before August 18. «%“Aces” of: the League. ‘Members of the league who have been cited as “aces” by the advisory board, by meeting the requirement of a 5-minute outdoor flight for *land planes are: George Bell, Herbert Dorsey, Donald Bruce, Otho Williams, Douglas Bruce, Everett Meeks, John Sullivan and R. Towles. Instruction is offered in model air- craft building at Central High School charge is made the 1asses 8] students may purchase all materials for plane making at cost. Prominént viation ex- perts are taking a keen interest in the Model Aircraft League, and have bc- come sponsors of the league and tour- nament, among them being: Senator Hiram Bingham, president of National Aeronautic Association; ‘Trubee Davison, Assistant Secretary of War for Aeronautics; Maj. H. C. Davison, U. 8. A., commandant Bolling Fleld; W. Irving Glover, nt r General; David S. Ingalls, Assistant Some of the youngsters who participated yesterday in the first of four preliminaries leading up to the annual model aircraft tournament. Upper, left to right: Douglas and Donald Bruce, twins, who are rated as Lower center: Luther Schmidt: upper right (inset), Billy Street, and, lower ury, each of whom set new marks with their craft. boys{ { | P, Littlepage, Secretary 3 Admiral’ David W. Taylor, U. national ads committee who are activit are: Byron S. Adams, Geo: o Frank N, Chase, G. Bowie F. Colladay. Joe R. Cook, Oscar Coslican, W. 8. Corby, Carl A. Droop, Estes, Joshua Evans, jr.; WASHINGTON, D. C, EMBRYO AIR EXPERTS PREPARE FOR TESTS | —Star Staff Photos. | Twin Model Plane Champions Made Camp Letts has gone air- minded, and all because Wash~ ington's only twin “aces” paid a visit there and took along sev- eral of their champlonship l model airplanes. As a result, the twins, Donald and Douglas Bruce, of Chevy Chase, have been commissioned by the Y. M. C. A. to begin to- | | morrow a course of instruction in model aircraft building, and to conduct a camp tournament when the tiny planes are completed. Approximately 70 Washington boys at the Rhode River camp | | have signified their intention of entering the tournament. The Washington Y. M. C. A., which conducts the camp, will award | prizes to the winners. The Bruce twins, just 16 years old, have attained national prom- inence in model plane meets, W. W. Everett, E. Clayton Fish, H. Wellen Fisher, Julius Garfinckel, Dr. M. G. Gibbs, E. C. Graham, Granville Gude. Willlam J. Harper, E. E. Herrell, | J. Phillip Herrmann, Frank R. Jeileff. | John B. Larner, Louis Levy, Thomas | Simon Lyon, William Montgomery, A. M. Nevius, Theodare ‘W. Noyes, John Poole, H. L. Rust, John Saul, Herbert T. Shannon, James Sharp, J. E. Smith, George L. Starkey, George O. Vass, L. Perrv West, Law- | renrcde E. Willlams and Donald Wood- | ward. COLORED LIQUOR | RUNNERS GUILTY | Johnson and Coates Sentencedi to 120 Days in Jail or i 1 $500 Fines. Robert, Johnson, colored, first block of Jessup street southeast, and James Coates, also colored, of the 1200 block | of C street, who were arrested a week 8go after police had chased their car several blocks on Kentucky avenue, were found guilty of possessing 18 gal- lons of liquor and sentenced to 120 days in jall with an alternate of $500 fines when the case was heard in Police Court yesterday. M. D. Palmer, 3500 block of Rock Creek Church road, arraigned on- a charge of possession, following his ar- rest yesterday, was found guilty and held in $500 bond for seritence on July 17. Palmer was taken near Fourteenth and T streets when police overhauled his automobile after a chase of several blocks. The case of Willilam Mackey, col- ored, 600 block of Gordon avenue, whose X lon cl vic pleaded guilty to second offense posses- ,slon and will be sentenced July 20. He was picked up by a pair of sixth precinct policemen who became sus- picious when Mackey emerged from his home with a carefully wrapped bundle that later disclosed a half gallon of whisky, the officers charge. They also found nine more gallons in Mlckey'l| room, the court was told. 1 Howard Ellsworth Mertz, 34, 1400 block of M street, and George Win- chester, 39, 1200 block of Thirteenth street, jointly charged with possession of 212 quarts of whisky, demanded a )uri'.fill and were held in $500 bond eacl The in a ga- r.lrmlnmd rage in the 1400 block of P street. $50,000 Memorial Library. N. C., 11 (P)— library will be I‘l . ry In memo: g rd's m.h;r. ‘William Henry aywood qu‘fl. former clerk Superior Court in Pitt County. of | bullding AGCUSED TELLER IS UNDISMAYED AS FATE LOOMS DARK George Bennett Stolidly Awaits Action of Law in Embezzlement Case. PRISONER AND FAMILY Youth, Charged With $104,000 Shortage, Is Held in Jail in Bond of $90,000. George Willard Bennett, a former head bank teller at 25, strode stolidly into his cell at the District Jail yester- day afternoon, apparently undismayed by the penalty he must expect as the confessed embezzler of over $100.000 from the Farmers & Mechanics’ Bank. { Bennett has maintained an attitude of singular reticence and composure since a legitimate mistake in his ac- counts late Thursday prompted an in vestigation that resulted in his arrest early Friday, and uncovered a series of defalcations covering four years. Bennett waived a preliminary hearing when arraigned in Police Court yester- SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 14, 1929—PART 1—SECTION 2. PAGE 17 CTY'SFIRE RECORD Members of the Fire Department are shown pouring streams of water on the Police Court Bullding at Sixth and D streets yesterday. “There is no fire,” curious ones were tol. “Just another Saturday bath.” —Star Staff Photo. day noon, contenting himself with an application for a reduction of the $100,000 bond asked Friday afternoon by John W. Fihelly, District attorney. He has retained Attorney Willlam E. Leahy, who represented him at the arralgnment. Both the defendant and his family, with whom he made his home in a walk-up flat at 3267 N street, refer all would-be questioners to Mr. Leahy. Judge Isaac R. Hitt granted a $10.- 000 reduction in the bond when Mr. Leahy informed him his client had al- ready made restitution of some $15,000 of the defalcation, specifically placed at $104,780.24 in a warrant sworn to by George O. Vass, cashier of the Riggs National Bank, parent of the branch in which Bennett was em- ployed. Two Department of Justice agents grilled Bennett at length before he ap- peared in Police Court, but declined to reveal what was developed by the in- terview. One phase of the case over which off- | clals admit they are puzzled is how a young man of apparently frugal habits | could have made away with the six- | figure sum. i nnett says he mostly “dribbled” it | a admitting he played small amounts on games of chance and like- wise made lesser stock investments, but denying that he had been a heavy! plunger. ‘The little family, headed by Ben- nett’s mother,. with whom he makes his home, a few blocks from the Georgetown bank where he worked, live in moderate if comfortable circum- stances. Friends of the family say Bennett was a qulet young man and never appeared as a heavy spender. Bennett's method of defrauding the bank, according to officers, to whom he is alleged to have given a written confession, was to pocket deposits, which he covered with subsequent de- vosits, keeping a few days behind in entering credit to the various accounts, Bennett was en to police head- quarters yesterday morning for e daily “line-up” of prisoners, then re- turned to his cell at the first precinet, where he had been held since his ar- | rest. He was removed to the District Jail late yesterday afternoon. LISTS ARE COMPILED FOR PENSION REFORM Policemen and Firemen Must Ap- pear for Medical Exam- inations. i { The District Commissioners vester- | day ordered examination of the pension | lists of the Police and Fire Departments | for the periodic revision required by act of Congress. Lists have been drawn by Chiefs Henry G. Pratt and George 8. Watson of the Police and Fire Departments respectively of all the pensioners under 55 years of age who have served less than 25 years in their departments. The Police Department list- contains 39 names, and the Fire Department list. 24 names. . : ‘Those cited will be instructed to re- port to the board of surgeons for fur- ther medical examination. The re- ports of the board are expected to be accepted by the Commissioners as ‘o whether each case deserves continuance of the pension. Below the age of 55 pensions are only allowed for physi- cal disability. Should the disability | disappear, the pensioners would be no longer entitled to their pensions. MAUGANSVILLE BANK ROBBER IS CAPTURED Bandit, S;aught Since Maryland | Hold-up June 13, Caught I by Towa Officers. Special Dispatch to The Star. | HAGERSTOWN, Md., July 13.—Paul R. Hesson, sought since the hold-up of the Maugansville Bank, June 19, was today arrested at Iowa Oity, Iown, it was announced by States Attorney Harper Ballentine. Hesson was apore- hended when he mwfiae there to get a letter to him Hagerstown. He disappeared a few days after the robbery. He was staying in Iowa City under an assumed name and it was this name the police used in addressing the letter by which he was caught, Fred A. Stauffer, who confessed his rt in the hold-up of the bank cashier, | plicated ‘Hesson, naming him an accomplice. Stauffer, who is being held without bail here, said he had separated from Hesson an hour after the robbery after hiding most of the $865 taken from the bank. Stauffer went back the night of the robbery and took 'the remainder from the hiding place. Police took $756 from him after his errest. Local officers will go to Iowa City for Ashton Heights News. ASHTON HEIGHTS, Va, July 13.— The executive Committee of the Wom- an’s Club here will meet at the home of Mrs, Frank Kelley, 422 Hamilton ave- nue, Monday evening. ‘The Citizens’ Association will hold its business meeting in the Woman's Club ks ~ matters Important | who POLE RUM WAR QTS D. €. FLOW Pratt Cites Record Since May | 12, With Smoke Screen | Nearly Effaced. Rum running from Southern Mary- | land and the use of the felonious smoke screen by liquor runners has decreased materially since May, when the Police Department began a concerted drive to check the flow of liquor into Washing- | ton, it was announced yesterday by Supt. Henry G. Pratt. Records submitted to Maj. Pratt show that only two smoke screens have | been used in the District since May 12, s marked contrast with conditions for | several months prior, when it was com- | mon for the police to be “smoked u three and four times a night by speed- ing rum-laden cars in their effort to es- cape capture, Ma). Pratt, does not believe the police | have effectively plugged the bunghole of Washington's liquor supply, but he said he is convinced that the quantity coming In is not as large as in the past. | ‘The liquor-enforcement squads are just | s active a3 they were two months ago, | he declared, but. the rum runners have | either found an unguarded route into | the District, or'else some of them have | quit the “racket.” 1 Pratt Sees Improvement. ‘The reduction in the arrest of rum runners, coupled with the decrease in the number of pursuits engaged in by the police and the almost complete disappearance of the smoke screen, Ma). Pratt points out, is indicative of the improvement in the liquor-running situation. The liquor reports record 409 arrests for transportation since January 1, a| decrease of 32 in the corresponding period of last year. A vast majority | of the arrests this year. however, it was pointed out, were made before the police concentrated on the rum cars | coming in the District over Southern | Maryland roads. | Maj. Pratt does mnot attribute in- | creased police activity alone to the ap- parent reduction in rum running, but declared that the action of the court seve ‘weeks ago in convicting two liquor runners who were caught with smoke screens obviously had a tre- mendous influence in aiding the situa- tion. These bmtleg:rs. however, he sald, have not yet n sentenced. . Despite the decrease in the number of arrests for transporting this year, the amount of liquor seized has been greater than in the first six months of 1928. According to reports to head- quarters 14,275 gallons have been seized since January 1, compared with 13,958 llons in the same period last year. capture of & moving van loaded with liquor a month ago, it was said, is responsible largely for the increase. Smoke Screen Cases. One of the two smoke screen cases since May 12 was reported July 2. The other is recorded June 15. In the for- mer, however, the machine equipped with the smoke screen laid down a bar- e for no apparent reason, since the officer who saw it speed across the tersection at Fourteenth and Q streets reported no one was in pursuit. Police, however, pursued the other car and were given a urng, of smoke, but it was captured at urth street and Rhode Island avenue northeast when it had a collision and was wrecked. The driver escaped, but another occu- pant of the car was arrested and charged with transporting and using a smoke screen. - Al h Maj. Pratt reports the liquor supply is dwindling, patrons of ‘Was! rs and “speak- e it SerSe et 0 has been no advance in price. In fact, several bootleggers are reported to have established a credit business in an ef- fort to increase sales. — TWO DEPUTIES VANISH AFTER SLAYING CONVICT By the Associated Pross. N, .. July -13.—Vard No- o aared b vlclt'. was slain early DANIEL R. NEALL. —Star Staff Photo. DEMAND FOR NEW MONEY DIES DOWN Companies Seek Old Currency | for Pay Rolls—Banks Are Praised for Aid. The big demand for new small sized paper money, which characterized its first day of issue last Wednesday, has fallen off decidedly. much to the satis- faction of the Treasury Department. ‘The “curiosity demand” on the first day turned out to be of about the vol- ume that had been expected, Assistant | Secretary Bond said last night, but it now has slowed up. So many concerns are now asking | for the old money, especially in the preparation of pay rolls, that Mr. Bond says the Treasury now anticipates no difMculty in putting into effect its pre- viously announced policy of gradually retiring the large size money, as the new size is produced in sufficient quantities. “We are much ple: at the way the banks have co-operated,” said Mr. Bond. “They have shown a splendid spirit’ in helping the Treasury at this important period of transition in the currency of the Nation.” ‘With the big peak of production of new money over at the Bureau of En- graving and Printing, the plant is re suming its normal production of money, of about 2,700,000 notes per day. This, however, is being accomplished with much more ease than under the sys- tem of production of old large size notes, for the reason that 12 small notes mow take the same amount of paper and ink as eight of the old no and thus cut down the work per note. Swingi: into its new fAscal year npenmn:,‘ the bureau, under Director Alvin W. Hall, now en-xrwyu about 4,700 persons. Director Hall expects to make no further changes in personnel. GERMAN’S WAR STORY By the Associated Press. CHICAGO, July 13.—United States customs agents here were instructed i e f % purgal n of e on the Western Front.” by Remarque. At the same time Customs Collector Czarnecki announced that 30 copies of the edition have been seized from a steamer that docked in the Chicago River. £ said the Government has Teceived several complaints that the ettty e aatdthe. pibianers of P ul an th American zpdmon of the novel asked the Government to stop the sale of the English books. | A. Birg! | tion, on behalf of Mr. Neall's friends ASSOCIATES HONOR DANIEL R. NEALL ;Head of Treasury Cabinet Shop Is Retired After 40 Years’ Service. Daniel R. Neall, who helped replace the old wooden benches in the Senate galleries with “orchestra chairs” many years ago, who helped construct the inauguration stand for President Cleve- land’s second inauguration, and whose clever hands have fashioned many fleces of special furniture for Secre- iries of the Treasury, was retired from Government service yesterday as head | of the Treasury Department cabinet shop. Mr. Neall was presented with a traveling bag and silk umbrella, and in addition a purse for Mrs. Neall, at cere- monies in the office of Chief Clerk F. feld, who made the presenta- associates. Birgfeld in_his presentation praised Mr. Neall and declared had “highly respected and loved by everybody.” In Service 40 Years. In a letter presented also by Mr. Birgfeld to the retiring head of the cabinet shop, Undersecretary of the Treasury Ogden L. Mills referred to Mr. Neall's continuous service of 40 years, and congratulated him “on completing 50 successful a period of service as yours has been. “You came to the Treasury Depart- ment in 1899 from the Capitol,” wrote Mr. Mills, “in the capacity of a carpenter’s helper and from that be- ginning worked through the various steps to be finally in charge of the Treasury cabinet shop. In this capacity you rendered most faithful and efficient service over a long of years. Working oftentimes with poor equip- ment and limited funds, you succeeded in building up an effective and efficient repair service in the Treasury Depart- ment, and in this connection, saved the Government many hundreds of dollars annually. “I trust on this occasion you find satisfaction in the realization that your work in the department has been ap- preciated, and I take this opportunity to convey to you every good wish for { your future health and happiness.” Leaving Is Hardest Job, Asked what was the hardest job he ever had to perform in his service with the Govemt‘l;l‘l’m, he replied, “Leaving my associates. Mr. Neall is 76 years old, and resides ::dfle Hancock avenue, Takoma Park, He was well known in every part of the big Treasury Department. which occupies many buildings, with its many | thousands of employes. His successor | i8 M. J. Gartland. |EPWORTH LEAGUE SESSIONS NEAR END | Pittsburgh Conference to Close Meeting at Mountain Lake Park Monday. Special Dispatch to The Star. MOUNTAIN LAKE PARK, Md., July 13.—The Pittsburgh Conference Epworth League, Methodist Episcopal Church, will cldse its twenty-second annual session here on Monday after a week's program. The conference opened with 375 registered, the number increasing to over 400 during the week. Immediately upon the adjournment of the Pittsburgh Epworth League Con- ference, the week’s convention of the re Conference Epworth League will n to continue until July 22, The attendance at this conference is made up largely of Baltimore and Washington people, although Western Marylan contributes many delegates and visitors. It will have been the fourteenth year of Baltimore evenings. The Interdenominational Summer School of Home and Foreign Missions will be held at Mountain Lake Park, beginn! the evening of July 31 and closing sday night, August 6, with a pageant on the lake. Sister's First Aid Efforts Bring Help For Boy. 4. Suffering Foot Infection of the 4-year-old 0k Breed *biu\:urht her brother re- e yeste! after. Carroll. and Smith, who ys | today caused the death Miss Gertrude Widner his pour water on d | Charles W. Darr, RAIED BY CHANCE * FALLOF SEAPLANE Burning Aircraft Affects Chief Watson’s Report on Year’s Efficiency. MARYLAND JUST ELUDES $200,000 GIESBORO LOSS Total for District in 1929 Fiscal Year Shows Reduction From Previous Mark. A difference of 100 yards at the Maryland and District line added $200,000 to Washington's fire loss record for the 1929 fiscal year ended June 30, last, it was disclosed yesterday, when Fire Chief George S.” Watson began the preparation of his annual report for the Commissioners. The $200,000 represents the value of a naval seaplane destroyed by fire last November near Giesboro Point, fust far enough from the Maryland boundary to cause Fire Chief Watson to denounce his fates. Proud of Low Record. Now it must be explained that the fire chief is proud of Washington's low fire loss record. And he is constantly striving to lower it. So when a $200,000 seaplane burns in the District when it might just as well have gone 100 yards further into Maryland to_its destruction, then Chief Watson has cause to wail. If the plane had burned across the line, Chief Watson said he would have been a little prouder of the 1929 record, for Maryland fire records would have been charged with the $200,000 loss and the Washington record would have been materially lower. Anyhow, Watson figured that the total fire loss for the District in the 1929 fiscal year decreased $12,355 under the preceding 12-month period, despite the destruction of the plane and & large increase in the number of con- flagrations. The total damage caused by all fires amounted to $1,088,809. In the 1928 fiscal year the total loss was $1.101,164. The department answered 4.185 alarms in the 12 months, compared with 3,704 in the preceding year. In only three months—November, January and February—did the damage exceed $28,175. The losses in these months amounted to $892,992, or more than 82 per cent of the .total for the year. Disastrous Store Blaze. The disastrous fire in Dulin & Mar- tin's former store on F street con- tributed to the major portion of the 1srge fire loss in January, which totaled $455,611. The fire marshal's estimate of the damage to this establishment was placed at $361,332. The large loss in February was caused primarily by two serious conflagrations. one in St. Dominick’s Church. which did damage estimated at $95,758, and the other in the Hub Furniture Co. ware- house at 19-21 M street northeast. the damage having been placed at $78,300. There were 282 fires in this month. The total damage from all of them was estimated at $219,103. Damage caused by fires in the other months were as follows: July, $17.673: August, $20.477; September, $10.345: October, $16.395: November, $224.278: December, $35912; March, $27.908: April. $28,175; May, $17,443, and June, $15,489. Reflects Efficienc: Fire Chief Watson said he was elated over the reduction in the fire loss for the year, siniemlt zmwud the efficiency of the department “The increase in the number of alarms, coupled with the new build- ings which have been erected with the growth of the city,” he declared, “shows quite impressively that the department has been prompt in responding to alarms and qufte as effective in putting jout a fire. Otherwise, the fire Joss would have been greater.” | "It is the aim of Fire Chief Watson to bring Washington's annual fire Joss under $500,000. He has been striving toward this goal ever since he took the helm of the department in 1920. At that time the per capita loss from fire was $2.05, and in the 1928 calendar year it was $1.30. Fire Chief Watson explained that the $1,088.809 loss in the last fiscal year may be further reduced by the Board of Pire Underwriters, since it makes a deduction for all salvaged materials. The salvage at a number of fires, how- ever, never will be known, he sald— | since some property owners fail to carry i fire insurance. |CRACK TRAIN TO START ON PENNSYLVANIA TODAY { Limited, to Run Between Capital and Boston in 9 1-2 Hours, to Be Christened by Girl. A bottle of Potomac River water crashing over the pilot of the engine today will start on its first yuj the “Senator,” the Pennsylvania Railroad’s newest crack limited, which will op- erate between Washington and Boston on a 9%-hour schedule, the fastest time ever attempted between these two points. Little 10-year-old Lillian Jane Eaton of 1110 Seventh street southeast. whose father, John S. Eaton, will be at the throttle for the initial trip, will christen the train at ceremonies at the Union Station at 11 o'clock and at 12:30 the “Senator” will get under way. Attending the ceremony will be Sen- ator David 1. Walsh of Massachusetts, president of the Washington Chamber of Commerce> Commissioner Proctor L. 5 representatives of the Colonial Dames and the Massachusetts Society of the Capital and officials of the The “Senator,” an extra-fare train, will leave the Capital at 12:30 o’clock daily, arriving at Boston at 10 o'clock. TWO PERSONS DROWN IN MOTORBOAT CRASH Miss Gertrude Widner and Prinee- ton Student Lose Lives at Alexandria Bay, N. Y. By the Associated Press. ALEXANDRIA BAY, N. Y., July 13— Collision of motor boets near here by drowning of of New York official of the two the Canadian entrance to the g'l‘tgmlflml rift in the St. Lawrence ver. Two other occupants of the boat swam ashore, although suffering severe cuts and bruises.