Evening Star Newspaper, July 21, 1929, Page 11

CONGRESS FAGES - RAIL MERGER FIGHT Unification Plans Deieloplng Major Problem for Next Session. . Railroad consolidations, recently brought into sharp focus by the favor- able action of the Interstate Commerce Commission on unification plans of the New York Central, gave evidence yes- terday of becoming one of the major problems which will confront the next session of Congress. Deyvelopments in the situation, which has been a source of controversy al- most continuously since the passage of the interstate commerce act, are ex- pected during the coming months, both from Capitol Hill and from the Inter- state. Commerce Commission itself. Those who are familiar with the tem- per of Congress anticipate a bitter fight, especially in the Senate. Claude R. Porter, one of the mem- bers of the Interstate Commerce Com- mission whose docket embraces con- golidations, has already submitted a preliminary grouping of the railroads of the coumtry for study by the com- mission as a whole. His program was placed before the commissioners about two months ago, and, although it has ‘been the source of. some discussion among them, it is not considered prob- able that any final action will be taken until late in the Fall. His tentative alignment of roads, according to pres- ent indications, will undergo several changss. In the Senate and the House it is expected the battle will be fought during the regular session along much the same lines, Origin of Interest. ‘The current interest in railroad con- solidations, it was pointed out in Wash- ington, is not entirely a development of recent months. The problem which now is attracting the attention of rail- road executives, members of Congress and the Interstate Commerce Commis- sion was originally stated in the inter- state commerce act. Its provisions ine clude one which made it compulsory that the commission promulgate a plan for the final grouping of roads as a “measuring stick” for contemplat- ed mergers. The act, however, does not make it compulsory that the pro- lalm' of the commission be put into effect. i, In accordance with the mandate of the act, the Interstate Commerce Com- mission in 1921 .issued a tentative grouping which divided the raflroads of the country into seven trunk lines. Since that plan was esented no formal action’ has been taken by the commission, and its annual reports have always asked that it be relieved ! of the responsibility of making a per- manent grouping. ‘The commission’s appeals were taken into consideration in bills which were introduced in the last session by Sena- tor Simeon D. Fess, Republican, of ©Ohio, and Rev. James S. Parker, Re- publican, of New York. Both died on inaction March 4, but not before the Tess bill had been amended by Sena- tor Frederic M. Sackett, Republican, of Kentucky, 8o that the Interstate Com-) merce Commission still was imposed ‘with the necessity of making the con- solidation plan. The Fess bill has been reintroduced, with the amendment, in the extraordinary session now in Tecess. Although there have been gttacks on railroad consolidations in Congress from several sources, the most vigorous have come from those members who feel that protection against the | sequent increase in fixed charges might eliminate the benefits which unifica~ tions were expected to bring about. Thorough Study to Be Given. 1In view of the number of applications for _consolidations and ications which are now before the commission, it is expected that its permanent plan will report as rapidly as it is consistent with a thorough study of the problem. ‘The scope of the systems which have been recommended by Mr. Porter main a matter of mystery, but it is assumed that the plans will bring about ‘°r%’.i’“""°,:p‘in‘o; it 5 assul was explained, is borne out the action of the eom- mission in ] -gpm:mun of the New York Central to bring about a consoli- g‘l:rlon "'I‘Oh %%‘?&lnd the Pere quette. program, as approved by the commission was not erally considered a consolidution in usual sense because the New York Central largely controlled the sysiems it provosed to unify, thc commission by implication indicated that ’.s mem- bers had no disposition to interfere with established aystems. The New York Central, as a result of the appéovn of its plans, is regarded as occupying a somewhat strategic po- sition in whatever consolidation ppr:- gh.m is promulgated by the commission. is view is maintained on the th that the the approval to the )y be disinclined to nullity its action by :r’?go::ng a plan which would interfere HOUSE OF DAVID SECT | SPLIT BY DISSENSION By the Associated Press. BENTON HARBOR, Mich., July 20.— Open warfare between opposing fac- tions of the House of David colony ap- pear imminent today following the an- nouncement of “Queen” Mary Purnell that she had been locked out of the eolony auditorium, where she had plan- ned to preach fomorrow afternoon. b "ngen" Mary, consort of the late ing” Benjamin Purnell, leader of the | cult, had planned to resume the B\ln,;! U. S. WAGES DESPERATE WAR UPON FLORIDA “FLY" HORDES | s, vast Army of 5000 Men Battles Agricultura—i Feverishly to Stem National Menace Observer Finds. Jolin Steven MeGroarty was sent to Florida to make a_first-hand investigation of the Mediterranean jruit fly situation, which has caused widsspreac damage to crops and has resulted in a number of bank Jail- ures. Mr. McGroarty was instructed to observe and re, to the jfruit and ed his findings in three articles, States. He has incorporate clally for The Star and associated paj paper Alliance. This is the first artic port the facts of vegetable indusi of W,IIM s of the North of the serics. BY JOHN STEVEN MeGROARTY. “This ‘writer has Just returned as s war including the entire mobllized forces of the National in desperats battle sgainst the Mediterranean an army of 5,000 men, Guard of the State, is engaged correspondent in Florida where fruit fly that has now, for the first time in history, invaded North Am Every country, save possibly New Zealand, which this dreaded enemy has attacked, it has conquered and remains there as a conqueror. 1t lays waste the areas upon which it hurls its sinister, elusive legions. The armies of the world, the combined navies of the seas, are as futile and as helpless against it as the pygmies of Africa would have been against the | ye army of Flanders, It successfully holds lodgment against all assault in Spain, Algeria, Italy, South Africa. Tasmania, Egypt, Argentina, Asiatic Turkey, the Holy Land, Greece, France, Brazil, !:!h:ndl Nl?:fll Hawali, Madagascar and other 5 Unless it be put to route, it will ulti- mately bring the world to the verge of starvation, and the more easily when in alliance, as it is, with innumerable other tribes of the insect world. now it is upon us here in North America. Confined to Plorida. At the present walting it is con- fined within the borders of the State of Florida where it made devastating headway within a period of 60 days from the first discovery of its presence in a grapefruit orchid at Orlando, last April. That its spread to all the Gulf States, to California, the Southwest, and even far North is a possibility not only to be feared but to be guarded against with all the strength that the Nation can command should meet with argument. Its ability to spread has been star- tlingly demonstrated everywhere it has appeared. From Honolulu it infested every part of the whole Hawallan A lago within & period of four years, during which time every possible effort to dislodge it has been in vain. It has destroyed the great fruit and vegetable industries of those islands, reducing them to the production of sugar cane. pineapples and bananas only, with the bananas under suspicion. all other countries it has invaded have s like story to tell. It it shall succeed now in leaping the bounderies of Floride to other States, the tabulation of its destruc- tion -in money figures will stagger the imagination. May Léap Present Bounds. 1t will not do for upper North America to sit snug in the fallacious belief that the Mediterranean fruit fly cannot at- tack North of the Mason and Dixon line. Dr. Marlatt, head of the Bureau of Entomology of the United States De- partment of Agriculture holds out only small comfort for the stahility of this tradition. He is an authority on the subject. In @ recent statement, Dr. Marlatt goes on record to say, in effect, that the fly can stand a good deal of cold. He $he” deparimeni o agtiouIbire of the . ent of 8 re of the Union of South Africa by which it was demonstrated that the fruit-fly larvae may live in €old storage at about 34 degrees Fahrenheit for a period of six weeks and still transform to adults when removed from coid storage. ‘The most heroic battle against the pest has been made in Hawall, the nearest infested region to our own doors And ;Mmdnnea prior to the present crisis in Florida. How hard the fight will be that we have now on our hands is best illustrated by the history of the struggle in Hawail, where the fly has been for the past 19 ars and where it is still intrenched, completely victorious. ‘The rut was discovered in Hawali June 21, 1910. have concluded that tne fiy reached the the | islands in ships that plied from Aus- tralia, to which continent it was car- ried from Mediterranean countries. Pest Thrived in Hawail, ‘The port of Ponolulu proved a para- dise for the fly. “Host” fruits grew in e S 5 T no po world where conditions were so favorable for the establishment of this as was that of Honoluly,” says Dr. L. O. Foward, a high authority. the in Hawali 1911 by ‘The figl fly was begun with great vigor the Hawalian Board of Agriculture and was continued by our Federal Bureau of Entomology from October, 1912, to April, 1014, when the white flag of surrender was hoisted. The fly has had its own way ever since. This does not mean, however, and h:gepuy. that the same tale of defeat is to be told in Florida. The entomologists have learned a few new tricks 1914. The fly has not the same weak- kneed foeman to combat in Florida that i¢ met and ran out in Hawail. The fight was lost because Hawail weakened. It is not expected that Florida will weaken. The Board of Agriculture in Hawail organized, upon_the appearance of the fly, what is called a “clean-culture” campaign. It is whav 1s organized in Florida now. It means to complete cleaning up of every orchard, vegetable garden and berry patch commercially operated or privately maintained in the backyard of a home. A Surprise Entrance. Further, it includes the cleaning up of the forests and jungles of every man- ner of wild fruit, berry and blossom, so that nothing. remains as a host to the It seems s miracle that California and the Pacific Coast States have been able to keep the fly from entering from Hawall. Too much credit cannot be given the quarantine organizations. ‘Their watch has been sieepless and tireless. One man, alone, nodding at his post, might easily have let the gate open for the fly. No one ever dreamed that the ap- pearanee of the pest would ever be made by way of Florida. It was upon Hawaii that the watch was kept. Yet, here is the enemy now in Florida. How it came must remain a mystery. The one known fact is that it is there and that a good 100,000,000 of our inhabitants have a fight on. their hands, more to be of enemy vies. 1s descrjbed by the United States Bureau of Entomology as “an resembling in size and shape Official investigations | te: lack markings of distinguish it from other insects.” N ; It is the female fly that does the damage. ruining it completely, then the o nmmun:vp fly does not live long. His life is short, but eventful. Six months, at best, is his span, but he leaves millions of descendants to carry on. Any observer who goes to Florida in the role of a witness of conditions there as brought about by the invasion of the fruit fly, cannot fail, it seems to me, to be deeply impressed =with an uneasy sense of the vast threat the insect con- stitutes. Florida was digging itself beautifully out of the boom slump. It had cleared up all evidences of the ravishes of the tornado. But, the fly is another mat- T, A Fighting People. I have no doubt that Florids will come out of this trouble as it came out of other afflictions. They are & cour- ageous people down there—good, brave, fighting Americans. They are facing But, ‘they are hard hit and they must be_helped. Pullrgsalmng this and being well Mediterranean fruit fly in any one sec- tion of the country creates a menace to the country as a whole, the Federal Government has taken over control of Florida’s most vital and most important industry with an iron hand. With only a few exceptions, not & vegetable is permitted to grown this Summer in any but occasional sections | of the State. No ripe fruit of any de- scription is allowed to hang on any tree or to remain on the ground. The packing houses are clo: down. No canneries are being operated. The wild fruits of the swamps and forests are being cut and destroyed. The ruthless campal of “clean-culture” is being prosecul feverishly and _resistlessly. Now, all this has wrought frightful hardship on growers, and it has also wrought havoc with business and com- merce generally. The green fruit now on trees is.be~ ing allowed to hang, but when it ripens the appearance of a single fruit fiy will bring down the bars again. Large Sums Used. . ‘The Department of Agriculture, through it§ quarantine-control organi- spending a congressional aj ition of $4,250,000 to combat the fly. Florida is now asking from the Con- Bi5:800 to variiy Compensats the grow. 000,000 to partly compensa grow- ers for the losses they have sustained. The bill was introduced and referred for examination to the Secretary of Agriculture, who did not report upon it before Congress went into recess. It now must await until Congress reconvenes in August. . . Committees from Floride who waited on Secretary Hyde two days before Congress went into recess found him rather noncommittat. He expressed fear that the grant of the appropriation might set an awkward precedent. The President is reported favorable with the proviso that the State and the growers bear half the sum specified. If e_8pprop! n 5 ‘The State of Florida is mé“y embarrassed at the present time. It gave its last available $50,000 promptly to the State Plant Commission to start LANSBURGH & BRO 7th, 8th and E Sts.—FAMOUS FOR QUALITY SINCE 1860—National 9800 Standard Radios Priced to Clear Hurriedly 1929 Atwater Kent 46 In Cabinet With Electro Dynamic Speaker Originally $124.50, Now $89.50 Complete With Tubes Ready to Operate The new 1929 Atwater Kent model 46 that so quickly became the Nation's favorite! A handsome radio indeed—in a 5-ply walnut-veneered highboy console cabinet with solid walnut panels and imported Peruvian * maple overlay trim. 8 Cunningham tubes and the modern F-2-C Electro- Dynamic speaker, powerful, yet capable of being toned down to a mere whisper without sacrificing tone - or clarity of reproduction. j cone Dynamic Speaker. Originally $99.50——Spe¢ial, The remainder payable in 12 monthly payments—plus $10 DO With 100-A Built-In Speaker Originally $142.50, Now $89.50 One of the most successful-selling models invented! It operates directly from the lighting circuit—no batteries —no eliminators—just turn the dial and the music of the air is at your command! Its beautiful console cabinet is walnut veneer throughout with marqueterie inlay. Crosley 7-Tube Gem Box in Graceful Console With Dyna: Radio Salon—Fourth Fisor T e .50 a nominal carrying charge. zation of the Bureau of Entol L 18, =% | Anxiety Spreads . In England Over - Drought Condition Man Fined for Washing Motor Lorry Against Ban to Prevent Saffering. By the Associated Press. LONDON, July 20.—England is still anxiously awaifing rain, and while she is waiting she is getting drier and drier. Garden hose, ou taps and sprin- klers have all prohibited. A man who washed his motor m in the northern England lake today was fined $5. Farmers in Buckinghamshire say they need s fortnight's continuous rain to restore crops to normal. Milis Near Closing. Many textile mills in Yorkshire are scarcely able to kug ;otnc for lack of water. In Bradford 3,000 persons al- ready have been thrown out of work; 10,000 more, employed in a great dye :ooxu. are threatened with a shut- W, Barnsley is getting its water from Sheffleld, ’15 miles away. ~Ossett, in ‘West, Yorluhl:-':l.1 is supplying Bartley a dis- this latest catastrophe with courage.|q pail aware thfit the establishment of the | CUS! People-are fleeing to the seaside. for the week end and roads are blocked with motor traffie. American tourists, finally comfortably warm in England, smiled broadly. R NEGOTIATE FOR PLANT. NEW YORK, July 20 (#.—The Acoustic Products Co. today announced it was negotiating for the purchase of the Federal Radio & Telegraph Co. of Buffalo, N. Y. ‘The Buffalo plant would be used un- der the Acoustic Products plan for the manufacture of radios to supple- ment the output of its Sa; W, L, factory. tails of the were ex- pected to be completed in a few days, the Acoustic Co. reported. war on the fly. It is just now unable toNdo mon".h e o or can the growers be expected contribute their share of the war chest that must be had to fight the fly. Many wers cannot even pay their taxes is year. ‘There is only one way out, and that way is for Congress to make the appro- pmtlm;‘ and to make it without strings or cont 3 T (Mr. McGroarty's second article on the Mediterranean fruit fly situation in Florida will appear tomorrow.). (Copyright, 1929. by North American News- paper Alliance.) “ST. LOUIS ROBIN” CONTINUES STRONG Flyers Expect No Difficulty in | ins, Setting Record—Sister Plane- Still in Air. By the Associated Press. ST. LOUIS, -July. 20—The Louls Robin” endurance pline, passed its 180th hour in the air at 7:17 pm. (Central standard time) tonight, and had eclipsed all previous records for sustained flight except that of the Angeleno, which was flown 246 hours, 43 minutes and 32 seconds by Loven Mendell and Roland Reinhardt at Culver City, Calif. A sister endurance plane, the “Mis- souri Robin” had bden up nearly 81 hours. Both planes continued to circle “8t. CENTRAL HIGH GRADUATE WINS. WOLFE AWARD Othneil A. Pendleton Wins $500 Annuity for Four-Year Course at Union College. Award of the Wolfe & $500 ©. A. Pendleton, Jr. ‘The Wi boy plans to enter Union College in the ML’ At present he is working for the Government here, 5 | POLICE CALL COSTS $10 IN FAMILY DISPUTE Maj. Williams Fined Because He Used Burglar Plea to Get Brother-in-law Away. It seems reasonable to state that the O'Brine | next time Maj. Willlams wants to be Mrs. e has the dietician of the flight. HOUSTON PLANE REFUELS Billion Dollar City Completes Seventy- seventh Hour in Air. HOUSTON, Tex., July 20 (#).—Just prior to rounding out its seventy- seventh hour in the air, the Houston endurance plane Billion Dollar City suc- cessfully completed its seventh mid-air fueling, taking on 125 gallons of gaso- line, five gallons of oil, two of water and 12 cowling screws. While the fiiers had crequested the latter, they mentioned no definite trouble with the motor covering. EWEH UP 80 HOURS. Aviators Report Motor Working Smooth- Iy as at Start. SHREVEPORT, la., July 20 (®.— endur: it rts from the aviators were to the ef- fect that the plane motor was working as smoothly as at the take-off Wednes- day morning at 10:30 o’clock. ‘The plane is using more gasoline than had been expected. Refuelin are being made three or four times daily with about 80 gallons of gasoline aeln‘ suppligd the endurance ship each e. ime. Danger of the flight ending was feit for a time last night when it was learned that Leary was ill from air sickness, but this morning he had fuily recovered. g contacts |. rid of his brother-in-law he won't call the police. ‘The telephone at the eighth precinct station gave out the alarming infor- mation that Willlams was holding & burglar in his house, in the 1800 block of Kalorama road, and needed assist- ance forthwith. ‘The policemen who dashed to his aid saw nothing funny in Williams® scheme to get even with his brother-in-law. ‘The brother-in-law was getting the better of a warm discussion. The brother-in-law was not molested, but Williams got a ride to the precinct station and paid $10 in Judge Ralph Given’s court this morning on a charge of meking a false report. Army Officers Transferred. Gen. Benjamin D. Foulois, chief Brig. of the Material Division at Wright been been transferred to the Panama Canal Zone; Capt. Lester J. Whitlock, Pield Artillery, from Madison Barracks, N. Y., to New York City for duty with the Néw York National Guard; Capt. Leon E. Savage, Fleld Artillery, from Madison Barracks to Pittsburgh for duty with the Pennsylvania National Guard: Capt. Carroll L. Ellis, Infantry, from Hawaii to Fort Howard, Md.; Capt. Sawyer A. Grover, Veterinary Corps, from Fort Howard, Md., to the Panama Canal and First Lieut. Edward F. 8th Infantry, from Fort Moul- trie, 8. C., to the West Virginia Uni- versity at Morgantown. SUNDAY LAWS HELD CAUSE OF DISRESPECT Association Against Statntes Asks Wickersham for His and Commission’s Opinion. Sunday blue laws as causes of dis- respect for all law, have been called to the attention of George W. Wickersham, chairman of the President’s Law En- forcement Commission by Prof. Henry Flury, president of the National As- sociation Opposed to Blue Lawa The letter, written after the interview of leaders of the Lord’s Day Alliance with President Hoover to urge Sunday clos- ing in the District of Columbia, was made public yesterday. ‘The ophla;, of the Law Enforcement inion of , was asked in Flury's letter. “The point that I wish to raise,” he wrote, “is that in my opinion a reten- tion of obsolete or obsolescent statutes is one of the factors creating disre- spect for law. In Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other States, blue laws are capriclously enforced, thus adding to the tendency all thoughtful people de- plore.” — HOLY NAME TO MEET. Quarterly Session of Washington Societies to Hear J. F. McCarron. The July quarterly meeting of the Washington section, Holy Name So- cleties, will held at St. Mary's Chllfih‘:mkvflle, at 8 o'clock tomor= Tow. The Washington section comprises branches of the soclety from 46 Catho- lic Churches in Washington and vicini- ty. John F. McCarron, newly elected ;lrchdmn. president, will address the De Moll’s . "Radio Sale of Traded-in Sets Battery Operated $25.00 All-Electric Sets $75.00 Terms to suit. Most of these sets we have taken in trade on the New Victor Radio. Each set is guaranteed to give perfect satisfaction. 0. J. De Moll & Co. 12th and G Sts. LANSBURGH & BRO 7th, 8th and E Sts.—FAMOUS FOR QUALITY SINCE 1860—National 9800 BASEMENT STORE 'Special Purchase Brings 600 New Washable Frocks $ 5.90 Added to 400 From Our Regular Stocks at This Extremely Low Price Tomorrow The two biggest things in Washington right now are the sleeveless sports frocks—in white or pastels in contrast to sun-tanned arms and legs—and dots .in every size! Both these fashions are abundantly represented in this outstanding group—sports dresses, street dresses, travel and vacation dresses —even well made jacket en- sembles for $5.90. to 20 and 36 to 50. Sizes 14 Sketched Right! Cape -colllr frock, blue and white, $5.90 Tailored frock of pink wash crepe ....$5.90 Navy and white semble en- .90 Special Purchase of 1,000 'Cool Cotton Dresses In Chic Sleeveless and Elbow-Length Sleeves . In 9 Cool Unusual Cotton frocks so smart they scorn the title u’ll see them on the street, “house . frocks”! Yo Values at $]1.59 mrkefing, afternoons on * ; porch, at the beach—for they are cool, ! nicely made and right in style! Sizes 16 to 46—in styles becoming to all ages. Come early and take your choice.