Evening Star Newspaper, December 5, 1929, Page 13

PROMIBITION GROUP 10 ASK SABBATH LAW IN DISTRICT Board to Seek Legislation Protecting Right of Wor- ship and Rest. SUNDAY “BLUE LAW” ORDINANCE NOT ASKED Resolution Provides Committee to Confer With Caraway, Invit- ing Investigation. The Board of Temperance, Prohibi- tion and Public Morals is to go be- fore Congress with & request for passage of legislation “protecting the sanctity of the Sabbath and the right of work- ing men and women to one day of rest in seven” Included in resolutions adopted today by the board is one that would set up the Sabbath in the Dis- trict of Columbia as a day of rest, un- | der specifications to be based upon the experience of the States and the sug- gestions of the churches of Washington. The resolution provided that the board shall petition the Congress for passage of such legislation as may be suitable in protecting the right of worship and the right of periodic Test. No mention is made of invoking Sunday “biue laws” or similar ordinances. Prepare for Investigation. At the same time the board indicated plainly that it will not stand idle in the face of a threatened investigation of its activities, and adopted another resolution that a committee be ap-! pointed to communicate with Senator | Caraway, chairman of the lobhy investi- gating committee, inviting an examina- tion of it and protesting against repre- sentations made to the Senate “which seem to be for propaganda purpose, under cover of allegations which cannot be_sustained.” ‘The resolution suggested that if the board is to be investigated, similar in- vestigations should be made of -all as- sociations or societies which appear be- fore committees of Congress, either for | or opposed to prohbiition. Adoption of the resolution came after Representa- tive Tinkham, Republican, of Massa- chusetts, had issued a statement sug- gesting that the lobby committee “un- mask the indefensible political activ- ities” of the Methodist board and of the Federal Council of Churches. - Approval was expressed of the pro- posal of Senator Harris, Democrai, Georgia, to introduce in the Senate a resolution for additional funds to be used in prohibition enforcement. Prohibition enforcement came to the fore at the meeting yesterday when the | Jones law was described in the annual | report of Deets Pickett, research secre- tary of the board, as a “popular and effective instrument of prohibition.” Refers te Criticism. Referring to a criticism of Repre- sentative Tinkham to Lh’ effect that the Methodist Board had’ violated the corrupt practices act, Mr. Pickett said: “It is manifestly impossible for an organization operating under such con- trol to transcend its commission or to| engaged in activities improper to a de- nominationl board.” “But this does not mean,” he added, “that we for one moment will consent to surrender our constitutional rights| of petition, free speech, free press and public assembly. “While we have not haunted the! halls of Congress,” Re continued, “we | have, on occasion, in public hearings and otherwise given information to Congress and to Congressmen and have | gemloned them and shall continue to o s0.” Holds Charges Are False. As to the campaign of 1928, he said, | “we did no stump speaking; we did no campaigning; we made no expenditures except in purely educational undertak- ings or in activity which would have been undertaken in any other year.” “We face the solemn fact,” he said, | “that Mr. Tinkham and others 0 | have voiced these false charges against the board of temperance are apparently inspired by the desire to appear to boor- ish_bigotry.” D. Stewart Patterscn made the state- ment to the board of managers of the board that the “wet forces are making definite attempts to capture the youth | of the country” and that on the college campus and around the high school it is the bootlegger who hunts the student and not the student who hunts the beotlegger. Another resolution protested “against the exploitation on billboards of women smoking or in display advertising in magazines,” the resolution stating that: “We recognize the fundamental differ- ence between the traffic in tobacco and in alcoholic liquors. Prehibition of the manufacture and sale of tobacco is not intended.” CAPPER WILL SPEAK AT EMPLOYES’ CIRCUS First Performance to Be Given To- night Under Sponsorship of Federal Workers. | | Senator Arthyr Capper, chairman of the Senate District committee, will de- liver an address of welcome tonight at 7 o'clock at the opening performance of the three-day circus sponsored at the Masonic Auditorium by the District Federation of Federal Employes’ Unions. Two performances of the circus will be given tonight, tomorrow and Satur- day nights, one at 7 and the other at 9 o'clock. There will be a matinee tomorrow and Saturday afternoon. Coincident with completion of ar- rangements for the circus, officers of the federation presented plans for the crection of a modern headquarters for the employes’ union, which the circus is to_aid in financing. A preliminary sketch of the proposed building calls for cight floors, with a large auditorium and a gymnasium. a 60x25-foot swim- ming pool and other athletic equipment, library, office quarters and hotel accom- modations. Results of the “Miss Federal Employe” contest, sponsored by the Emploves’ Union, will be announced at the final performance of the circus. . Speaker to Discuss Politics. “A New Political Alignment” will be the subject of an address to be delivered Saturday night at the Cosmos Club by Howard Y. Williams, executive secretary of the recently organized League for Independent Political Action, at a din- ner meeting to be held under the aus- rieces of the local chapter of the League { 44 Industrial Democracy. | i 1 both of whom were injured seriously. Lower—Wheels and coal were scal 1 @he Foening Star Society and General ) WASHINGTON, D. C Upper—After collision with another car at Eleventh and T streets, this machine overturned, pinning two occupants, ttered over the Intersection of Connecticut avenue and R street early today when | this five-ton truck and automobile collided.. NEW BOILER LAW STUDY IS PLANNED Theories of Preventing Blasts to Be Considered by D. C. Officials. Following the decision of the coro- ner's jury yesterday that the explosion | two weeks ago at McCrory's 5 and 10 Cent Store was an accident resulting | from the bursting of a defective hot- | water storage tank, it was announced | at the District Building today that a | committee of local officials will meet | tomorrow at 10 o'clock to consider | means of guarding against any recur- | rence of such a disaster. | The meeting tomorrow will be at. tended by Col. John W. Ochmann, building inspector: P. M. Greenlaw, | boiler inspector, and A. R. McGonegal, | plumbing inspector. It is also expected | that Assistant Engineer Commissioner Donald A. Davison and Assistant Cor- poration Counsel Robert E. Lynch will take some part in the meeting. After this committee has met and considered possible _recommendations, | Maj. Davison will prepare and submit to Engineer Commissioner Willlam B. Ladue the report of the findings of an investigation of the explosion which the Commissioners last week instructed him to conduct. Mr. Lynch said that in all probability some changes in the District regulations would be made to minimize a possibility of such explosions occur- ring in the District. These new regu- lations presumably will have to do with | the sections relating to inspection of low-pressure boilers. After hearing evidence for three days | as to the death of Miss Elizabeth Daw- son, the first of the six explosion vic- tims to die, the coroner's jury returned its formal verdict. It attributed the blast to the exploding of a “defective” storage tank. Evidence had been intro- | duced that the bottom of this tank was | not properly welded to the body of the | container. TRAVELER FALLS DEAD IN WASHINGTON STATION | Abbott E. Lawrence, 72 years old of Bar Harbor, Me., a retired contractor | and builder, suffered a heart attack in | Union Station about 4:30 o'clock yes- terday afternoon and died before medi- cal aid could be obtained. Mr. Lawrence, accompanied by his wife, was on his way from Rochester, Y., to Savannah, Ga., and had stopped hera to change trains. ' His body was taken to Zurherst's undertak- ing establishment at Third and East Capitol streets. Coroner J. Ramsay Nevitt conducted and investigation and gave a certificate of death from heart disease. Mrs. Lawrence accompanied the body to Bar Harbor, leaving here on an early morning train. JAMES M. BECK. BECK TO DISCUSS JUDICIAL SYSTEM| Law Enforcement Officials Are | Invited to Meeting of Trade Board. Leading law enforcement officials have been invited to attend the next meeting of the Washington Board of Trade, De- cember 16, in the Willard Hotel to hear | James M. Beck, member of the House of | Representatives, discuss the judicial | system and the Constitution, on which he is an authority. A second speaker scheduled for the meeting is Dr. Lent B. Upson, director of the Detroit Bureau of Munigcipal Re- search, who will tell of the problems of police administration in large cities and of the study and experiment in person- | nel of the Detroit police force now be- | ing conducted. He is also to contrast the change in the requirements of a modern police force with those of two decades ago. Invited to the meeting are the judi- ciary committee of the House and Sen- ate, the officials of the Department of Justice, the judges of the District courts, officers and past presidents of the Dis- trict Bar Association, the District Com- missioners and the superintendent of police. Mr. Beck, who formerly was solicitor general and is the author of “The Con- stitution of the United States,” widely quoted authority on that document, is to discuss the Constitution in the light of present-day conditions and tell of problems of the judiciary in handling the great burden of modern litigation and criminal cases. He is expected to make some refer- ence to President Hoover's remarks in his message to Congress, on the judicial system and its present effectiveness. While making ready early today for a | homeward voyage which would hlVEI put_him in Jacksonville, Fla., in time for his wedding on Christmas day, Wil- | liam Thornton, 32-year-old engineer of the barge Capt. L. McCullen Baxter, broke his back when he fell 15 feet into the hold of the vessel as she lay at the United States Engineer dock, near the foot of Fourteenth street southwest. Firemen of Rescue Squad No. 1 and police of the harbor precinct were called out to extricate the critically injured man from the hold, some 30 feet deep. Great care had to be exercised in holst- ing Thornton from the hold and over the fcy side of the barge, as it was feared the slightest jar might prove {atal. < Engineer Breaks Back as He Prepares ‘ For Journey With Wedding at End Dr. I. Rutkoski, who responded with the Emergency Hospital ambulance, ad- ministered first aid where the man lay at the bottom of the hold. Thornton then was wrapped in blankets, tied upon a stretcher and hoisted from the hold with ropes. Firemen carried him over ladders down,the side of the vessel to the dock and he was removed to Emergency Hospital. ‘Thornton was working inside the hold on a platform well above the bottom of the barge, when his foot slipped and he plunged downward, striking on his feet and wrenching his back as he fell, Capt. J. C. Roney, owner of the barge, SIX ARE INJURED IN AUTO CRASHES Three Are Hurt Seriously in Traffic Accidents Reported to Police. Six persons were injured, three of them seriously, in a series of traffic| accidents reported to police last night. Nine-year-old Stewart F. Kyttle of 1317 Rhode Island avenue suffered serious injuries last night when run down at Thirteenth street and Massa- chusetts avenue by a taxicab operated by Albert H. McDonald, 24 years old, of 1445 N street. The child was taken to George Wash- ington Unitersity Hospital and treated | for severe bruises to the left side of the head and a possible fractured left leg. He is_exp to recover. John V. Fry, 21 years old, and Flor- ence Stringfellow, 30, both colored and living at 1917 Temperance alley, are in a serious condition at Freedmen's Hospital from injuries suffered late ye terday when the machine in which they were riding and driven by Fry was collision at Eleventh and T streets with | an automobile operated by Howard Grinsley, 20 years old, of 3417 Dent place. | Machine Overturns. The man was treated for a broken | left arm and punctured left chest and | the woman for a possible fractured back and internal injurie: Fry's machine overturned after the collision, pinning both occupants under- neath. Three-year-old ' Terrell Green of 16| Fourth street northeast was treated at| Sibley Hospital for lacerations, to the forchead last night after the fnachine in which he was riding and operated by his_father, Jeff Green, was in collision at Lincoln road and R street northeast | with a machine whose driver did not | make his identity known. The operator of the latter car took the injured child to the hospital and left before police | learned his name, Woman, 64, Ts Struck. . Amelia Hemlock, 64 years old, of 1013 E street southwest, was treated at Gar- field Hospital for lacerations to the head sustained late yesterday when struck while attempting to cross the strect at Sherman avenue and Har- vard street by a machine driven by Jo- seph A. Willams of 509 Webster street. Dr. R. A. Daniel of 1661 Newton street was cut about the face by flying glass last night when the taxicab in which he was a passenger and operated by Robert Dunham of 1361 Irving street skidded on the slippery street and collided with a perked automobile at Fourteenth street and Perry place. Dr. Daniel was treated by a nearby phy- sician, GOVERNORS NAMED BY CHEVY CHASE CLUB Four Are Re-Elected, With E. 0. ‘Wagenhorst Selected to Suc- ceed C. J. Bell. Four members were re-clected to the | board of gover:ors of the Chevy Chase {Club, and a fifth governor chosen to fill the place vacated by the death of Charles J. Bell, former treasurer of the club, at the annual meeting of the membership yesterday afternoon at the Willard Hotel. The new governor was E. O. Wagen- horst, while those re-elected for three- year terms were: H. Prescott Gatley, John W. Childress, Ashmead Fuller and Stanton C. Peelle. Two governors of the club were chosen and William Gibson of Cleveland, Ohio, an employe were working with Thorn- i.ton at the time a month ago to fill vacancies created by resignation—Dr. Loren Jackson and ! Capt, Frederick G. Pyne, THU o RSDAY, MAGRUDER SCHOOL FOR CRIPLES IS - CLOSED BY COLD Heating Plant Fails and Classes Are Sent Home by Official. TEMPERATURE IS 55 WITH- FURNACE IN FULL BLAST Educational Executives Amazed | by Complete Breakdown After Passing Inspection. DECEMBER One of the National Capital's two schools for crippled children was closed for an indefinite period yesterday be- cause of the cold. Thes building’s antiquated heating plant, which District inspectors passed as adequate and in good condition at the opening of school in September, simply quit working, and despite roaring fires in the grates of the furnace the maximum temperature which was re- corded in the “warmest” rooms was 55 degrees. And so, at practically the same hour that Congress was receiving the largest District budget in history, a definite part of which is calculated to eliminate some of the inadequate school facilities of Washington, the class of crippled boys and girls in the Magruder School, at Seventeenth and M streets, was sent home. ‘The sudden breakdown in the already late schedule of the crippled children’s schools, which came as a climax to a series of ill fortunes, was put before the Board of Education at its meeting yes- terday afternoon. With no alternative, the board approved the recommenda- tion of school officials to discontinue the classes in the Magruder building “until the rooms can be provided with sufficlent heat for the children.” Effort to Correct Trouble. ‘The Magruder School happens to be for colored children. Garnet C. Wil- kinson, first assistant superintendent in charge of colored schools, and Jere J. Crane, first assistant superintendent i charge of buildings and grounds, ex- hausted every means of correcting the inadequate heat problem which devel- oped there during the last three days. The low temperatures first inspired an investigation of the fireman’s work. Deep and efficlent fires were found dn the grates, however. Then the fires were tried with new coal to determine whether or not a poor lot of fuel had been encountered. But the results were the same when, after firing the fur- naces at full blast from 5 a.m. Monday until 4 p.m. that afternoon, the highest temperature reached was less than 50 degrees. Acting in the emergency, Mr. Wilkin- son yesterday morning ordered the little cripples sent back home rather than submit them to the danger of iliness from the school. The school board’s cqmmittee on buildings, grounds and equipment received detailed reports from the school officers yesterday afternoon, and that body’s recommendation to dis- L‘unt:inue classes was accepted by the board. Time Required Unknown. When asked by a board member the approximate length of time required to make the necessary adjustments to pro- vide necessary heat, Dr. Learned replied that “that is an unknown quantity.” He explained that the cause for the heat failure must first be determined, and the length of time required of necessity will depend upon the nature| of the trouble. Following the board meeting, Mr. Wilkinson explained to The Star that he hopes to have steam heat installed in the Magruder building to replace the old hot-air system now in use. He pointed out that a steam-heat boiler already has been installed in the Sum- ner building, adjoining the Magruder| School. with a view to supplying steam to both structures. Radiators never were placed in the Magruder building. however, and he is of the opinion that the only sotution to the present prob- lem will be to equip the closed school with the necessary facilities and pipe steam to it from the Sumner building plant, as originally proposed. This work, with an adequate force of men, he said, | could be completed within 10 days. -~ Cause of Amazement. The complete breakdown in the heat- ing plant of the Magruder Building ! was regarded with amazement in school circles in view of the annual system of inspection and repair to all school heat- ing plants. As soon as schools are | closed in the Spring, a force of District workmen visits each school building and takes down its furnace. The parts are inspected, replaced or repaired as nec- essary and reassembled before school | opening in September. The Magruder | plant tecelved this treatment during | the past Summer. Although scheduled to be opened for the first time ni mid-September both the Magruder and the Weightman Schools’ crippled children classes ac- tually began November 1. Even then much of the equipment which was ex- pected to be in place in the schools was not delivered. The shortage in- cluded such simple things as linen for | the cots provided for the youngsters' | rest. Most of the therapeutic equip- ment still is undelivered. Meanwhile the two schools have “worried along” on a hampered schedule, lacking vir- tually all of the treatment which was to be provided the pupils. UNIVERSAL WAR DRAFT _ PLAN TOLD OPTIMISTS, Col. John Thomas Taylor Explains | Project and History of Amer- ican Legion. The universal draft proposal, which | would mobilize for the.Government in case of war all the resources of the country and capital and labor, and climinate profiteering from warfare, was_explained by Col. John Thomas Taylor, chairman of the legislative committee of the American Legion in a talk before the Washington Optimist Club at its weekly luncheon meeting in the Hotel Hamilton yesterday afternoon. Col. Taylor traced the history of the American Legion_from its organization at a meeting in Paris on April 15, 1919, at the Cirque de Paris, and told of its vork since the war in getting through rehabilitation measures for veterans and in building up the child welfare work. It was announced by Herbert B, Nevius, president of the club, that the Optimists will not hold a weekly lunch- eon meeting next week, this meeting being replaced by a dinner, which will be held Tuesday evening at the Hamil- ton Hotel, at which time 18 new mem- bers will be initiated into the club, 9, 1929. INVESTIGATE WORK OF ROBBERS Harry Viner (left) LAUNDRY'S SAFE BALKS BANDITS Fail to Get $4,000—Take $400 From Cash Drawer. Tie Up Watchman. ‘The careful plans of four bandits to rob the safe of the Arcade-Sunshine Co.’s laundry, 700 block of Lamont street, after binding the night watch- man to a chair, were spoiled early this morning when the strong box, contain- ing approximately $4,000 in currency and checks, withstood more than an hour of hammering. Failing in their efforts to open the safe, the robbers pocketed approximately $400 from a cash drawer and escaped. ‘The robbery has all the appearance of being an “inside” job and officials of the laundry stated today that it is their belief that it was executed under the direction of some disgruntled former employe. Entrance was gained to the building with a duplicate key, accord- ing to police. Watchman Tells of Robbery. ‘The attempt to open the safe was so badly bungled that it required nearly an hour’s effort with an electric drill and other safe-cracking tools before the safe could be opened this morning to determine whether it had been robbed. James Russell, 66-year-old colored night watchman, in telling of the rob- bery this morning said that he was making his rounds of the plant about 2:30 o'clock when a masked man sud- denly jumped from behind a row of shelves in the service department, pushed a revolver into his face and commanded him to “throw up his hands.” “I reached for my gun, but a voice behind me commanded me to stop,” Russell said. “I looked behind me and another masked and armed man stood a few feet away, while two others were standing in the front of the room near the street entrance.” Russell, who lives at 3224 Prospect avenue and has been an employe of the laundry for the past three years, said that two of the men took him into a room opening off the service department and trussed him in the chair, while the other two men went to the engine room where they, obtained a pick, hatchet, hammer and chisel. Returning to the service department, they climbed the high railing around the cashier’s cage and went to work on the safe with the aid of a flashlight to guide their efforts. One Stands Guard. One of the men who tied the watch- man in the chair took up his post near the front window and stood guard, while the man who first covered Russell with the pistol engaged the watchman in a meaningless conversation. Two of the quartet were tall while the other two were of small stature, Russell told police. He said that one man wore a derby and was clad 'n a dark sweater and light trousers, while another wore brown trousers, a light¥ cap and light sweater. He could not furnish a description of the two who endeavored to open the safe. The two men in the cashier's cage worked on the strong box for a full hour without a let-up, according to Russell, but abandoned their efforts finally and walked out. They were joined by the bandit who maintained the watch at the street entrance and after a few mo- ments of low conversation with Rus- sell's guard, made their departure through a door leading into the garage at the rear of the room. Russell's guard stayed behind and did not join his companions untii after untying the watchman and cautioning him *“not to move for half an hour.” A door opening into the alley behind I the plant from the garage was found open by tenth precinct police, while fresh ofl spots were found on the ground It is presumed that the quartet escaped in a machine. Runs to Report Robbery. Russell said that he disregarded the warning of the burglar who cautioned him against moving and raced through another door as soon as the four had left the building and ran to the tenth precinct station, where he made a re- port of the robbery. Headquarters detectives investigating the case.found numerous fingerprints on the safe and the tools use@ in the fruitless attempt to open it. How long the men were at work in president of the Arcade-Sunshine Laundry, and Pre- cinet Detective W. S. Smoot of the tenth precinct, at the laundry safe, which successfully resisted the efforts of robbers this morning. —Star Staff Photo. ! i i | CHARLES T. KERSEY DIES AT AGE OF 80 Descendant of Thomas Reid, Dec-| laration of Independence Signer, Succumbs to Illness. Charles Thomas Kersey, 80 years old, assistant_engineer in the engine room of The Evening Star for 20 years and a direct descendant of Thomas Reid, a signer of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, died yesterday at a conva- lescent home, 2014 Kalorama road, after, a brief illness, His home was in Al- exandria, Va. Born in Dover, Del, 1849, the son of John Alexander and Annie Brereton Kersey, Mr. Kersey was related to the blood line of Thomas Reid through the Brereton family of his mother. For nearly a half century Mr. Kersey was known on the Washington waterfront as a marine engineér. Retiring to land duty 20 years ago, he became assistant engineer of The Evening Star. He is survived by one son, Fred W. Kersey; a daughter, Mrs. Paul Pearson, and a sister. Mrs. Hannah K. Jones of Wyncote, Pa. Funeral services will be conducted tomorrow _afternoon at Wheatley chapel in Alexandria,® with burial in Bethel Cemetery. Gets $25,320 for Injuries. By Cable to The Star. SANTIAGO, Chile, December 5—The Santiago Electric Traction Co.. has been ordered by a local court to pay 211,000 pesos ($25.320) to Senorita Ester Rios Varela, beth of whose legs were cut off in a street car accident. The traction company had previously appealed and offered to settle for 40,000 pesos ($4,000). The traction company is owned by the Electric Bond & Share Co., an Ameri- | can organization, and the damages awarded the woman represent the high- est 'sum ever assessed against a foreign concern under similar circumstances. the bullding before accosting Russell is | not known, but the wires of every tele- chone in that section of the vlant where the robbery was committed later were found to have been cut. No evidence of any locks having been tampered with or the forcing of any windows could be found. Harry Viner, president of the laun- dry, pointed out that the wires torn from several telephones were so well concealed that it would take any per- son unfamiliar with the laundry sev- eral days te find them, asserting that this fact bore out his thecry that the robbery was committed by some person famliar with the layout of tha plant. Viner also said that his drivers al- ways make their largest returns on | Wednesday afternoon and that the rob- bery evidence was planned by some one familiar with this fact. A locked safe in which laundry tickets are stored, lo- cated near the safe, was untouched. Mrs. Margaret Rheily, a clerk, told reporters that she had seen four men loitering on the block nearby the laun- dry entrance on two occasions within the past week. Ignorant of the descrip- tion furnished police by Russell she gave an identical description of the four the night watchman said committed the theft. Police were probing also two hold- ups and another burglary today. Marvin Dulin, 221 F street, driver of a delivery vehicle of Page Laundry ! Co., 620 E street, reported to police of the sixth precinct an experience he had with two colored bandits near First and I streets northeast, about 3:45 o'clock yesterday afternoon. Dulin’ was driving along First street, | he explained to the police, when the colored men called him to the curb | as if to make an inquiry of him, and | suddenly one of them displayed a pistol | and made a demand for his money The bandits took between $40 and | $60 Dulin had collected for his em- | ployers and disappearsd. Police were furnished descriptions of the bandits. Indicating a preference for their par- ticular brand of cigarette, thieves broke into the wholesale fobacco store of Wil- liam Deiches & Co.. at 410 H street northeast, this morning and made away | with 40,000 cigarettes, valued at $250. Entrance was gained after bars had been sawed from a rear window on the second floor of the three~story building Two bandits, brandishing pistols, | walked quietly into the Sanitary Gro- cery Co. store at:Fifteenth and Swan streets yesterday ~afternoon, ordered Manager Alvin Stephenson of 646 Mor- ris place northeast to “stick ’em up” and escaped with $20 from the cash| register. This was the second time in three weeks that the store has been held up, On the former occasion the store was robbed by & man who answered the description of one of the pair who held up the store yesterday. Word, Y, as in Yes, Wins Spelling Test. And Mrs. Duli The District spelling championship, decided last night at Mount Pleasant Library, hinged upon a simple one-let- ter word. Forty-three contenders had been spelled down. But two remained, both women and well matched. It looked as though the contest would go indefinitely. Then the word “y” was propounded. J. B. Lee, 92, has resigned after 44 years of continuous service.as district Clerk of Walker County, Tex. “Why?" querled Miss Sarah C. Wa- terman, 214 Fourth street southeast. “Oh, te.” n Becomes Champion | “No, not ‘tie’ The word is ‘y,’ like | any pipe or any v track.” | _“Oh,” exclaimed Miss Waterman, but |she had to pass the word on to her | rival, Miss Elizabeth Dulin of the All States Hotel. - Miss Dulin spelled “y,” and thereby won the champlonship and first prize, | The spelling bee, a free-for-all affair sponsored by the Capital Spelling Club, was presided over by Elmer C. Helm, president. The words were put by O. | department of PAGE 13 REUGED ELEETRG RATES FORECAST BY UTLITESBODY Cut Based on $1,242,336.76 Excess Earnings of Poto- “mac Electric Co. CONSUMERS BENEFIT THROUGH AGREEMENT Believe Charge Will Be Lowered From 5.2 Cents to 5 Cents a Kilowatt Hour. A substantial reduction in electric current rates, effective January 1, was forecast at the Public Utilities Commis- sion today on the basis of calculations which show that the Potomac Electric Power Co. will earn approximately $1,242,336.76 this year in excess of & % per cent return on its valuation, Under a compromise agreement be- tween the company and the commission in 1924, in settlement of the company's apepal from the valuatioh of its prop= erty by the commission, the company each year is required to reduce rates if the net earnings in the preceding year exceed 7'; per cent on the valuation. The earnings in excess of this percent- age are divided equally, the company taking one-half and the consumers the other in the form of reduced rates. Based on 10-Month Period. The excess of $1,242,336.76 1s based on the .company’s report for the first 10 months of this year and an estimate of its earnings for the last two months. By virtue of the compromise agreement, one-half of this amount, or $621,168.38, will be applied to the rate reduction. ‘As the power company has nof yet submitted its proposed new rate sched- ule to the commission, it is not known how it plans to distribute the reduc- tion, and attaches of the commission are unable to calculate the probable cuts to the various classes of con- sumers. It is believed, however, that the domestic rate, which affects the greatest number of consumers, will be lowered from 5.2 cents a kilowatt hour to 5 cents or less. The domestic rate for 1929 was re- duced from 5.9 to 5.2 cents. A similar reduction could be made in the 1930 schedule, it was pointed out, since the profits in excess of 715 per cent com- pare with those in 1928, which amount- ed to $1250,000, one-half of which was returned to the consumers in the form of lower rates. The company, however, is reported to be considering a more general distribution™of the reductions over all classes of consumers, commer- cial as well as domestic, which may not permit such a large reduction as last year in the domestic rate. Otherwise, it was said, the domestic rate could be cut to about 41% cents a kilowatt hour. Conference to Decide Rate. The estimated net earnings of the company for the current year in excess of 7l> per cent on its valuation are figured at $1,227,339.50. To this is added $14,997.26, which represents one- twentieth of the unrefunded impound- ed fund which reverted to the company under the court decree in final ad- Jjudication of the valuation case. The new rates are expected to be definitely determined within the next two wecks at conferences between mem- bers of the commission and officials of the power company. In accordance with past custom, the reductions would be effective on bills rendered as of January 1, regardless whether the cur- rent was consumed wholly,or in part in December. If the reduction is spread over all classes = of consumers, approximately 135,000 would be affected, 17,000 of whom are in nearby Maryland. When the compromise agreement first became effective, domestic cur- rent rates were 10 cents a kilowatt hour. Annual reductions brought the rates down to the present 52 cents a kilowatt hour .and they are now destined to drop'to 5 cents or less next year. EXPANSION PLANNED. Pepco Head Announces Proposed Ex- penditures of $5,900,000 in 1930, ‘The Potomac Electric Power Co. will undergo unprecedented expansion in 1930, the board of directors having au thorized extensions and improvements involving an expenditure of $5,900,000, it was announced today by William F. Ham, president. The largest project involves an addi- tion to the Benning power plant, esti- mated to cost $2,500,000. The plans for the addition, however, have not yet been approved by the directors. ‘The program also provides for the erection of a new office building for the company at Tenth and E streets to re- place the present building at Fourteenth and C streets, which must be vacated to make way for the Federal Govern- ment's building program; improvements and extensions to the electrical dis- tribution system, and the erection of a new building at Eleventh streest and Florida avenue on the site of an old car barn which will house the operating the company, These two buildings alone, it was said, will represent an investment of $2,685,000, exclusive gf mechanical equipment and miscellancous expenses, which will add $46,000 to this figure. Plan New Substation, Another project In the program Is the erection of a noiseless type substation in the northwest section in the vicinity of Champlain street, which, Mr. Ham said, would embody the architectural features which distinguish the sub- station now nearing completion on I street betwesn Ninth and Tenth streets Mr. Ham emphasized that the build- ing program, although the largest in the history of the power company, would not exceed actual’'needs for an exten- sion of the electrical consumers in the District and adjacent Maryland and that the board of directors believed the company would set a healthy example by going forward with the expansion program and thus insure stabilization of wage levels and a continulty of em- ployment in Washington. Mr. Ham also declared that an earnest study of all the facts and data concerning Washington and its busi- ness future point clearly to a continu- ation of a healthy growth consistent with the faith and money being put into the Federal Government's building program, and that his company's pro- gram of expansion is in line with Pres- ident Hoover's program for the accel- eration of the wheels of industry throughout the United States. Two Receive Commissions. Eugene B. Brownell, 1843 S street, has been commissioned by the War De- partment a second lieutenant in the Air Corps, and Robert W. Pritchar 4520 Georgia avenue, a second liev tenant in the Military Intelligence D B. Bowman of the Governinent Ac- counting Office. vision, both in the Reserve Ct the Army. 4