Evening Star Newspaper, December 17, 1929, Page 17

Washington News MACHINIT CHARGE AGAINST ADAMSHIT MWEWW Union Accuses Secretary ofs Refusing to Reopen Navy | Yard Wage Parley. EXECUTIVE STATEMENT DENIES GIVING ORDER| Secretary of Central Labor Union Declares Protest Will Be Sent to Congress. Charges that Secretary of the Navy Adams has refused to abide by a re- Quest of President Hoover to open wage negotiations affecting the pay of em- loyes of the Washington Navy Yard, Flld today before the Céntral Labor Union, were countered today by a White House statement that the President has made no such request of the Navy De- partment head, and Lhat_(he situation at present is “being investigated.” The charges leveled at Secretary Adams came into the open last night at & meeting of the Central Labor Union at Musicians’ Hall, with a declaration by delegates from local No. 174 of the International Association of Machinists that Mr. Adams has absolutely declined | to reopen the hearings of the Navy Yard wage board. It was stated at the White House that, although the President talked with President Green of the American Federation of Labor and a! committee of officers of the Interns tional Association of Machinists se eral days ago, he made no promises in the matter. Request Not Made. At the same time it was sald 1 President has not made a reques! Secretary Adams to reopen the negotiations, but is having the matter looked into. Nor has the President had & conference with Mr. Adams on this subject. Local No. 174 is made up of machin- ists who are employed in the Washing- ton Navy Yard. At the time Mr. Green and the dele- gation of machinists’ representatives called on the President it was stated they reminded Mr. Hoover that the statzment that no new wage increases would be requested during the period of industrial stabilization was qualified by an understanding that the wage ad- Jjustments in conference at that time would not be affected by the agreement Tegarding new wage increases. “It was stated that President Hoover called into this conference Secretary Adams of the Navy Department,” Frank J. Coleman, secretary of the Central Labor Union, said today, “and requested him to open up again the deliberation of the Wage Adjustment Board of the Navy Yord in order to give these under- paid employes of the Government & slight increase in pay which had been recommended in all the navy yard wage boards throughout the United States. Plan to Protest. Out of this meeting, according to Mr. Coleman, grew the charge last night that Secretary Adams has refused to reopen the hearings of the Wage Board, { the White House statement that Mr. Hoover has not specifically requested Mr. Adams to do so and the statement that the matter is “being investigated.” The further charge was made by the labor delegates that Secretary Adams has been influenced in his alleged de- termination not to reopen the matter by a conference he is said to have had with certain steel magnates before his announcement that no increases in pay would be granted to navy yard workers during 1930. “The Machinists' Union will make a| protest to the members of Congress as regards the autocratic position taken by Secretary Adams as regards this question,” Mr. Coleman said. he to PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX LAW CLARIFIED All Holdings Except Autos Are As- sessed as of July 1 Under New Rules. In order to clarify the new laws re- lating to taxing personal property, in- cluding automobiles, for the taxpayers, the following statement has been issued by Tax Assessor Willlam P. Richards “A change has been made in the law ryespecting the time of assessment and payment of taxes on personal property which is of particular interest to the public. “Heretofore, the law has required assessment of all personal propesty, both | tangible and intangible, as held on the | 1st day of January. Under the new | Jaw, the assessment of all personal property, both tangible and intangible and including money, is made on the basis of such property as held on July 1, the report or return of the taxpayer to be made in the month of July and the tax thereon to be paid in two equal instalments in the following September and March. “The exception to the foregoing is in respect only to automobiles, which are to be assessed as of January 1, and personal tax thereon paid before an au- tomobile tag can be purchased.” | { sl s R THREE PERSONS INJURED AS RESULT OF FALLS ‘Woman Drops on Stairway, Man in Theater Mishap, Another Slips in Leaving Street Car. Three persons were injured yesterday as a result of accidentally falling, two on stairs and the third on the street. Mrs. Madeline Klatt, 47 years old, of 7121 Georgia avenue, received a lacerat- ed forehead when she fell on the stairs at her home. Her son took her to Wal- ter Reed Hospital, where she was given first ald. Ormond Wallace, 21 years old, 216 John Marshall place, appeared at Emer- gency Hospital last night and was given first aid for an injury to his right knee. He told physiclans he fell on the Na- tional Museum steps. John Scivener, 1440 Columbia road, fell to the pavement while alighting from a street car at Fourteenth and Clifton _streets and injured his left wrist. He was treated at Garfield Hos- pital. PARIS, December 17 (4).—Premier Andre 'Tardieu has calmed an opposi- ticn talk with these words-—“Don't | stantly early this morning when the car | B Boy, Who Building Tiny PI The eldest boy at 632 Quebec piace had hoped for an electric train this Christmas. Last year he was a bit too young to be intrusted with a toy so complex, Yet in the interval Benjamin Frank- lin’s tenth birthday came around. A 10-year-old boy, Benjamin told himself, is able to look after a fine train. Often of late he had paused to eye them as they trundled about their tracks in shop windows. Yes, Benjamin was sure he was old enough. He even mentioned the fact to his mother, quite casually. And meanwhile, Benjamin proved in several ways he had grown up. He built an airplane which flew six and one-half seconds, more than enough to win his wings. His manual training instructor at Park View School a nounced he would receive them the Fri- day after Christmas. Too, Benjamin had been elected registrar of Harriet Lothrop Chapter, Children of the American Revolution, and Saturday a week ago presided at his first meeting. The Foening Star Society and General WA ENJAMIN'S TRAIN IS AWAITING ENGINEER WHO WON'T BE BACK Proved His Right to Toy by ane, Was Slain in Hunting Accident. All this convinced Benjamin's father, Ben S. Franklin, Several days ago he bought young Benjamin's hoped-for train, a fine outfit with several coaches and a network of tracks. Then he stored it in the darkest closet until Christmas day. Benjamin, however, will never see his train. He was buried today in Rock Creek Cemetery, the victim of a hunting accident Saturday afternoon. Although the boy had never been a hunter—most of his hunting was for pets, once a young squirrel, again a liz- ard, or a frog—he stopped to watch while five older boys prepared to shoot a squirrel in a tree.- A moment later and a shot rang out from where two of the hunters were scuffling for possession of the gun. Ben- jamin had been hit in the head. Benjamin’s train is still in the closet, on an upper shelf. His father is uncer- tain what disposal will be made of it, because although Benjamin never saw it, the small engine and all the cars were undeniably Benjamin's qwn. TWO DIE AS CAR HITS PARKED TRUCK Woman Also Injured in Acci- dent on Washington Boule- vard, Near Elkridge. ‘Two persons were killed almost in- | in which they were riding crashed into a truck parked in the roadway near Elkridge, Md., on the Wash! n Boule- vard. Those dead are Caroline Thorn- ton, 36 years old, colored, of 100 block Randolph street, and Lewis Willis, 41 years old, of 3100 block Sherman ave- nue. Mary Willis, wife of Lewis Willis, was seriously injured in the accident. She is in a Baltimore hospital. 1t is said the car in which the party was riding toward Washington collided suddenly with the truck after rounding a curve. The automobile was demolished. ARMY MAKES 6 COLONELS. Six officers of the Army have just been promoted to the grade of colonel, according_to announcement made at the War Department. They are Lieut. Col. Gordon Johnston, military attache at Mexico City; Lieut. Col. Willlam A. Austin, at Omaha, Nebr., and Lieut. Col. Otto W. Rethorst at San Antonlo, Tex., all of the Cavalry; Lieut. Col. John E. Hemphlill, Signal Corps, at San Fran- cisco, and Lieut. Col. John E. Smyser, at Fort Bliss, Tex., and Lieut. Col. Rob- ert Sterrett, at Baltimore, both of the Quartermaster Corps. la:k Obliterates Home. Falling from a hillside at the Marvia Valley, in the South Island of New Zea- land, & rock weighing 10,000 tons feill on a homestead and completely obliterated it. Three persons in the house were killed. No trace of the home or home- stead has been found. AID IS PROMISED 10 MYSTERY GIRL Money for Return Home and; Reconciliation With Family Are in Prospect. The future loomed much brighter to- day for Mrs. Antoinette Brewster Rug- gles, youthful daughter of a Selma, Calif., minister, who took poison a week ago while despondent because of es- trangement from her tamily. Cared for by a nurse furnished by an unnamed Washington woman and on the road to recovery now after four days of semi- consciousness, Mrs. Ruggles today had promises of financial assistance from her new-found friend and the prospect of a reconciliation with her family. Capt. William G. Stott of the third precinct talked with the young woman late yesterday and was told that when her condition permitted money would be made available for her return to her father, Rev. George W. Brewster. Ef- forts were made today to communicate again with Mrs. Ruggles' mother, Mrs. Mabel Brewster, at Oakland, Calif. ‘The mystery girl disclosed last night that she swallowed poison while in the St. John's Church last Wednesday be- cause she was out of work and despond- ;nt because her family had “disowned er.” For four days she lay unconscious and seriously {ll, while several persons tried to identify her. The name Antionette Brewster found on a baggage check among her effects finally led to positive identification. When taken to Emergency Hospital, Mrs. Ruggles mumbled something about a dope ring and a murder. She dis- counted the statements in her talk with Capt. Scott last niggt and said there was “nothing to it.” The police have as- certained that she spent two nights at the Park Lane aparments in November and one night there this month and it was thought that reading of the Mc- Pherson case caused her unconsciously to comment about it in general terms. Many of New Plants Discov- | ered Remain to Be Classi- fied or Identified. Few of Some Species Have, Ever Been Removed From Original Habitats. BY THOMAS R, HENRY. Nearly 30,000 specimens of plants from the jungles at the headwaters of the Amazon and from Peruvian moun- taintops—including some of the most potent and mysterious narcotics and poisons known to man—have just been brought to Washington by a joint col- lecting party of the Smithsonian Insti- tution, the New York Botanic Gardens and the Pleld Museum of Chicago after more than six months in South Amer- ica. Thousands of the plants remain to be identified and studied. Among these are the ayahuasce vine, or caapi, from vhich is secured a drug used by the Indian medicine men to produce Pro- phetic visions and which is said to pro- duce Instantaneous and marvelous ef- fects on the human nervous system. Very few specimens of this vine have ever been brought out of South Amer- ijca and its identity is still obscure. When the exploring party, headed by Ellworth P. Killip of the Smithsonian Institution, arrived in one Indlan vil- lage they found all the people intensely excited because a girl under the influ- ence of ayahuasco had seen a_vision of an airplane wrecked in the jungle, and a few days later the crash occurred just as she had foreseen it. The action of ayahuasco, as desoribed by the few scientists who have pene- trated this region, is quite similar to the imaginary drug by which Dr. Jekyll, in Stevenson’s tale, was able to split the good and evil elements of his character. When the medicine man first gulps it down he turns deadly pale, trembles in every limb and the expression on his face is one of intense pain and horror. ‘This is followed in about a minute by a reckless fury, in which he seizes what- ever lies at hand and starts beating the trees and ground, screaming that they are his enemies. In about 10 minutes the excitement leaves him and he sinks to the ground exhausted. No scientific experiments with the drug are known, but various travelers claim to have tried it. All say that it is extremely bitter and hard w swallow. Immediately afterward come violent alternations of heat and cold, extieme exaltation and extreme horror. The actual surround- ines disappear and the man is plunged into hallucinations where everything beautiful he has ever read of ‘seems combined before his eyes. This soon | changes to a combination of all things horrible. “When I had first partaken,” wrote an old Spanish explorer, who is one of the few white men who have tested the drug, “I seemed to enter on an aerial voyage, wherein 1 thought I saw the most charming landscapes--great citles, lofty towers and beautiful gardens. ‘Then, all at once, found myself de- scended in a forest and attacked by shoot the piano plaver. He is doing tae best he can.” That is an American Argument. EXPEDITION FROM MUSEUMS FINDS MYSTERIOUS POISONS ELLSWORTH P. KILLIP. ‘The ayahuasco, says Killlp, is a woody vine, from which the drug is secured by pressing the juice from the stem. A tea is also brewed from the leaves, but the drug is much weaker in this form. lg is sometimes known as dead man's vine. The expedition also brought back specimens of the plants from which the natives make barbasco—a poison prepared by mashing the roots and mixing them with water. This results in a milky substance which is dumped in the river. It stuns all the fish within a considerable radius so that they can be speared or netted without difficulty. At the same time it does not make the fish poisonous to eat. It works such havoc that its use is strictly forbidden, and 1t is ‘“hootlegged” among the Indians. They also secured some curare, a deadly polson prepared from the strycnos bush, with which some of the jungle Indians cover the heads of their arrows. ‘The barest scratch from an arrow thus prepared means death to man or animal. ‘The expedition secured a large col- lection of Indlan medicinal plants. The native, says Mr. Killip, considers most plants purely from their values as medicines or poisons and has built up a great jungle pharmacopea. Many of these plants still are unidentified. ‘The expedition left Washington in March and proceeded by muleback and. canoe from Lima over the Andes to the headwaters of the Amazon Killip and Albert S. Smith of the New York Botanic Gardens, required 27 days to make this trip. Willlam J. Dennis of the University of Iowa, the third mem- ber of the party, remained for nearly & month at Lima and then flew over the mountains in two hours and a half to join them at Masisea, at the junc- tion of the Amazon and the Pichis. Part of the journey consisted of shooting rapids of the Pichis River m canoes. ‘The object was to obtain as complete as possible a collection of the moun- tain and jungle flora. Mr. Killip made extensive collections at 17,000 feet among the Andean glaciers. Much of the country had not been explored hitherto by botanists, of each plant were obtained, whic] beasts of prey, against whay I tried to defend myself.” i |give & complete collection to ea the three institutions. |and Lieut. Edward J. Kelly before a ‘Three specimens will of from Tenpesseg ardh was appointed to = Jay SHINGTON, D. SHELBY AND KELLY SLENT AS TRIAL PLANS ARE FINISHED Special Board Will Open Case Tomorrow in Sixth Precinct | Station House. DEFENSE FAILS TO ASK SUMMONS FOR WITNESSES Those Testifying for Prosecution Expected to Be Called to Stand for Accused. Final arrangements for the trial to- morrow of Inspector William S. Shelby special trial board were today. The public will be admitted to the trial, which is to be held on the third floor ofthe sixth precinct station, on New Jersey avenue between D and E streets. It is expected, however, that only such as can find seats ir. the room will be allowed to enter. A special detail of policemen will be assigned as bailiffs to keep the proceedings orderly. completed Transferred From Posts. ‘The men are to be brought to trial on charges of conduct unbecoming officers, conduct prejudicial to the good order of the force and inefficiency supported by 11 and 13 specifications, respectively. The charges contain the substance of the complaints against the men made by the July grand jury for their hand- ling of the police investigation into the death’ of Mrs. Virginia McPherson at the Park Lane Apartments Septem- ber 14. The men were transfered from their | posts October 3, after the grand jury's special report had been received. Their attorneys had twice demanded a pub- lic trial on these charges, but this re- quest was granted only after the Sep- tember grand jury had returned an “ignoramous” report against Robert A. McPherson, jr., whom the July grand jury had indicted in connection with his wefe's death. Defense Calls No Witnesses. Neither of the men under charges had any statements to make today. No defense witnesses have yet been sub- poenaed. The defense will probably not resort to subpoenas in order to bring its witnesses to testify, it is understood. Some of the witnesses who have been subpoenaed to testify for the prosecu- tion also will be called to the stand as_defense witnesses, it was learned. ‘The special board appointed by the Commissioners to try the men consists of Assistant Engineer Commissioner Layson E. Atkins, chairman; Capt. Herbert C. Whitehurst, chief engineer of the District, and J. B Gordon, Dis- trict sanitary engineer. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant Corporation Counsels Robert E. Lynch and Walter L. Fowler. Shelby will be represented by Henry I. Quinn and George E. Strong. Kelly will be represented by James A. O'Shea. MRS. C. H. UMSTEAD SUES FOR LIMITED DIVORCE. ‘Wife of Civil Engineer in Treasury Department Charges Cruelty and Inadequate Support. Charles H. Umstead, & civil engineer in the Office of the Supervising Archi- tect of the Treasury Department and who is sald to own considerable real estate, was sued yesterday in the Dis- trict Supreme Court for a limited di- vorce by his wife, Mrs. Mary Reld Um- stead, 4120 Fourteenth street. Cruelty and inadequate support are charged in the wife's petition, in which she also asks the aourt to restrain her husband from writing her insulting letters such as, she says, he has been sending to her on post cards through the mails. She also requested that he be not al- lowed to leave the jurisdiction pending the hearing of her case. ‘They were married at Baltimore J: uary 1, 1920, and the wife declares tha although she had been used to the comforts, and even some of the luxuries, of life, her husband took her to a rooming house after the marriage, where she found the room littered with old newspapers and broken bottles. She asks alimony in the petition filea through Attorneys Robert H. McNeill and H. N. Beanstein. COLLAPSES AT WHEEL, DIES THREE DAYS LATER Joseph P. Kelly Expires Without Regaining Consciousness at Providence Hospital. Joseph P. Kelly, 34 years old, of 12 Q street northeast, who collapsed last Friday night at the wheel of his auto, died early yesterday at Providence Hos- pital without regaining consciousness. His death was attributed to a cerebral hemorrhage. Kelly, RM..\’l(‘l(en while driving his mother to church on North Capitol street between I and K streets, was able to bring his car to a stop before losing consciousness. Kelly had recently entered the plumb- ing business, being formerly employed at the Washington Navy Yard. Besides his mother, Mrs, Nora A. Kelly, he is survived by two brothers, Thomas E. and Francis X. Kelly. Funeral serv- ices will be held at the residence to- morrow morning, with celebration of high requiem mass in St. Aloysius Church at 9 o'clock. Burial will be in Holy Rood Cemetery. ARMY CHANGES ORDERED. War Department Reassigns Officers. One Retires, One Resigns. Col. Christopher C. Collins, Medical Corps, has been designated as assistant commandant, Army Medical Schools, | Walter Reed General Hospital, ~this | city; Col. Willlam M. Morrow, Infan- try, has been relleved from duty at the General Staff School, Fort Leaven- worth, Kans., and ordered to Brooklyn, N. Y. for duty at the Overseas Dis- charge and_Replacement Depot: Cap! Guy Hill, Signal Corps, has been re- lieved from duty with the Federal Ra- dio Commission, this city, and ordered to_the Philippines. Warrant Officer Louis T. Nathan, at- tached to the General Depot, this city, has been placed on the Army retired N ‘The President has accepted the resig- nation of Capt. Thomas F. Bridges, Army Medical Corps, recently stationed at Fort Totten, N. Y. Capt. Bridges is the Army in June, 1927, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, BEGK ASKS NATION T0 WP OUT LAWS ALLOVING THRAN Representative Scores “Un- just and Unwise” Statutes in Trade Board Speech. ODELL SMITH DEFENDS CAPITAL POLICE FORCE Dr. L. D. Upson of Detroit Ad- dresses Group on Municipal Enforcement Methods. James M. Beck, member of the House | of Representatives from Philadelphia, | called on the people of the Nation to “wipe from the statute books the many unjust, unwise, unreasonable and op- pressive laws with which this country is burdened” at a meeting of the Wash- ington Board of Trade in the Willard Hotel last night. Only then, he said, will we get back to the old conditions of law obedience. He said the prevalenve of law break- ing ‘n this country today is caused by “tyrannical, ruthless and wholly im- practical laws.” As an example of one of these he gave the eighteenth amend- ment. The address of the Pennsylvania Representative was in the course of & meeting called specifically for the dis- cussion of crime and law enforcement. Dr. Lent D. Upson, director of the De- troit Bureau of Municipal Research, spoke on the various police methods employed in the large cities. Odell S. Smith, chairman of the Board of Trade committee on public order, made a spirited defense of the local police force and of Maj. Henry G. Pratt, its superintendent. He said there is no increase in crime in Wash- ington, except in offenses against the prohibition law and traffic ordinances. Not Too Many Laws. Representative Back, a noted author- ity on the judicial system and the Con- | stitution, began his address by deny- ing the often-made statement that the cause of crime in the United States is the tremendous yearly output of laws by Congress and the State Legislatures. Few governments, he declared, turn out | as little substantive law as does the United States. Most of our statutes, he asserted, are merly administrative measures. As a whole, he declared, the people of this country are “most patient in sub- mitting to unnecessary, oppressive and tyrannical laws.” He said: “There will never be any | real law enforcement until the State and Nation make laws which will har- | monize with the political philosophy of the American people. To enforce legis- lation it must be such that practically all the people can acquiesce in its right- ness and necessity. Law has authority only in its reasonableness, and if it is not reasonable it will always be chal- lenged. and I am not one of those who think that the mere questioning of a law is itself a crime. Unless law har- monizes with the genius of the people for which it is made it is futile.” Majority May Err. ! Laws, he declared, should be equal| and just, and they are not when a| majority attempts to dictate to a mi- nority what it shall do and not do. “Suppose, for instance,” he asserted, “the language of the eighteenth amend- ment had been reversed so as to make every man obliged to drink at least one glass of wine or beer every day. Why, immediately some of these people would be saying, ‘What right has the law to make me do a thing like that? I won't do it Employing the same reasoning, why should a majority have the right to say that the rest shall not take a drink.” Representative Beck said that all the commissions in the world will do no good in lessening crime, which end can be accomplished only by the repeal of many of the laws which he termed ‘tyrannical.” When making such laws, he declared, the law-making body should take into consideration the proud spirit of a race of individualists and allow for it. Sixty-three per cent of the 121,000 arrests in Washington last year were for violations of the prohibition or traffic laws, Odell Smith told the busi- ness men. With this in view, he de- ;:ll!.red. there is little increase in crime ere, Adopted by Board. His report for his committee, embody- ing approval of the police and fire pay increase bill and opposition to the movement for the abolition of capital punishment, was adopted by the board. Maj. L. E. Atkins, Assistant Engineer Commissioner of the District and de- partment commander of the American Legion, made a brief plea for member- ship in his organization. Jerome Barn- ard, chairman of the committee in charge of the Board of Trade's Mid- winter dinner on February 1, told of the preparations for that affair. Fred East, a_member, sang. The meeting was the largest of the year for the board, 920 persons being present. Among the invited guests, who were introduced by the president, E. J. Mur- phy, and Robert J. Cottrell, executive secretary, were: Guests Present. Senator Robinson of Indiana, Repre- sentatives La Guardia of New York, Kurtz of Pennsylvania, Richard Yates of TIllinois, Stobbs of Massachusetts, Montague of Virginia, C. A, Christo- pherson of South Dakota, Michener of Michigan, Hanoock of New York; C. A. Youngquist, Assistant Attorney Gen- eral; Kenneth McIntosh of the Hoover National Commission on Law Observ- ance and Enforcement, Commissioner Proctor L, Dougherty, Commissioner Sidney F. Taliaferro, L. McCormick- Goodhart of the British embassy, Lieut. Col. U. S. Grant, 3d, director of Public Buildings and Parks; Maj. Henry G. Pratt, superintendent, Metropolitan Po- lice; Dan J. Sutherland, Delegate from Alaska; Maj. Gen, Anton Stephan, pres- ident. Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association; Charles W. Darr, presi- dent, Washington Chamber of Com- merce: Julius I. Peyser, president, Bar Association of the District of Columbia; Maj. D. A. Davison, Assistant Engineer Commissioner; Maj. L. E. Atkins, As- sistant Engineer Commissioner; Capt. Hugh P. Oram, Assistant Engineer Commissioner; George S. Watson, chief, Fire Department; Jesse C. Adkins, past president of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia; W. W. Miller, past president of the Bar Association; George C. Shinn, second vice president of the Bar Association; Willlam W. Mil- lan, treasurer of the Bar Association; John E. Laskey, past president of the Bar Association: Sanford Bates, super- intendent of Feds nett, his assistant, loway, Assistant Attorney Gener: Goethe, his youth, startled Europe with his’ “Werther”; ‘invented, or, at any rate, popularized, & new kind ot folly; caused no one knows how many suicides and influenced the dress of a, continent. 1929, * WASHINGTON ADMINISTRATION CALLED NORMAL FOR BIG CITY Local Government Defended]; by Representative Hall of Indiana. Immunity to Newspaper Re-; porters Opposed by Legis- | lator in “Y”” Lecture. In Representative Albert R. Hall of Indiana, member of the House Dis- trict committee, Washington has an- other stanch friend ready to defend it against insinuations of corruption, in- efficiency of government and general misconduct. * Addressing an audience in the lobby of the Young Men’s Christian Associa- tion last night, Representative Hall de- | clared that “there has been too much talk about the National Capital for its | own good.” | “1 am one of those who don’t think Washington is such a bad place in which to live,” the Representative said. “I believe your local form of govern- ment is as good as can be gotten, and I am of the opinion that the municipal administration compares favorably with that of any of our large cities.” Representative Hall said he “would not deny there may be some room for improvement in Washington,” but he insisted he could see nothing seriously wrong here. The Indiana Representative also an- nounced his opposition to proposed legislation to give reporters the same right to protect confidential sources of information as that extended to phy- sicians, lawyers and clergymen. He argued that reporters are not licensed or otherwise subject to restraint in what they write, and declared that the press “can ruin or make a public official” and that sometimes unscrupulous re- porters have ruined men in office. The legislator made these statements in the course of the first of a series of lectures on current events he will give under auspices of the Y. M. C. A. on REPRESENTATIVE HALL. —Harris-Ewing Photo. Monday evenings. Last night he dis- cussed at some length the situation in Haiti, stressing the need for sympa- thetic supervision of the country by the United States. He asserted “no one can expect a stable government there under present conditions” and said edu- cation was a dire need there. ‘The Philippine situation is another problem, he stated. He said “special interests” involved in tariff controver- sies are desirous that the United States should grant the islands independence, so that they will be amenable to our tariff laws. There is a growing opin- ion, he said, that independence must come before very long. ‘The speaker was introduced by Leon- ard W. De Gast, generad secretary of the Y. M. C. A. A showing of The Eve- ning Star-Universal Newsreel completed the program. BOY HURT AS CYCLE CRASHES BUILDING Four Others Sustain Minor Injuries in Traffic Accidents. An 18-year-old colored youth was seri- ously injured and four others were slightly hurt in traffic accidents reported to police last night and early today. Raymond Wise, 18 years old, colored, of 2021 Sherman avenue, is reported to be in a serious condition at Freed- men's Hospital today from injuries sus- tained yesterday as the motor cycle he was riding along Seventh street near Q street crashed into the side of a build- ing when it got beyond the boy's con- trol. The boy's skull was fractured. He is believed to have been injured inter- nally also. Lavina Turner, 52 years old, colored, of 212 C street southeast, is in Casualty Hospital with a fractured right leg and body bruises, sustained when run down at Second street and Pennsylvania ave- nue by a machine driven by Jack R. Griffith, 19 years old, of 1213 G street southeast. Morris Alen, 28 years old, who gave an address in the Munsey Building, was treated at Emergency Hospital for lac- erations to the right hand which he saild were received yesterday afternoon when his machine was in collision at Eighteenth and F streets with an au- tomobile operated by Charles Dove, 28 years old, of 1345 Florida avenue. John M. Cavell, 57 years old, living at 944 L street, was slightly injured when run down at Thirteenth and K streets by a machine operated by Thomas Kinton of 1167 Nineteenth street. He was treated at Emergency Hospital. James Moffat, 36 years old, of 100 ‘Third street northeast received in- juries to his right foot when run down cycle ridden by Jack Ertter of 6131 Geor~ gia avenue and Military road by a bi- cycle ridden by Jack Erter of 6131 Geor- gia avenue, The injured man was treat- ed at Walter Reed General Hospital and later sent home. MEUNIER HELD TO FACE EMBEZZLEMENT CHARGE Gold's Store Credit Manager Under Bond to Answer for Al- leged $1,300 Shortage. Arrested yesterday in connection with an alleged $1,300 shortage in the ac- counts of Gold's, at 1214 F street, T. N. Meunier, 34 years old, 1300 block Park road, former credit manager of the store, was arraigned in Police Court today on a charge of embezzlement. ‘The defendant, through his attorney, James Reilly, obtained a continuance until January 7 and was released on $1,500 bond. Meunier denied the charges. that were placed against him, but refused to comment further on his arrest. According to Headquarters Detectives E. E. Thompson and Thomas Nally, the former credit manager of the store is charged with collecting money on bills from customers of the firm and converting the proceeds to his own use without making note of receipt of the money on the company’s books. Thompson says that $400 was missed from the cash register of the store on the day the defendant left on a trip to New Orleans, November 13. At this time a wide police search was insti- tuted for him by his wife, who was in- formed by her husband that he was only going to church. Police say the shortage in the store’s accounts Was not known until Meunier returned from the South, about November 20. ‘The warrant for the man’'s arrest was sworn out by Willlam I. Burdick, manager of the store. AIR STATION PLANS INVOLVE §600,000 Project for Washington Air- port 'Terminal Described by Sutherland. Development at an approximate cost of $600,000 of the air terminal now in progress at Washington Airport, at the south end of Highway Bridge, was de- scribed at a luncheon meeting given by former Senator Howard Sutherland, head of the development project, at the Metropolitan Club yesterday. The field, on which a modern ai port terminal and a large hangar now to be developed exclusively as a passen- ger and mail terminal, with Mile also owned by the company, to be de- veloped later for more general flying and servicing facilities. The airport will be fitted into the Office of Public_Buildings and Pubhe Parks and the Fine Arts Commission, it was announced by officials of the development company. ‘The fleld itself is to cover 98 acres, of which all but 30 acres have been filled and prepared for flying, ana there will be an east-and-west runway, in the direction of the prevailing winds, 2,600 feet long, and two other run- ways of 2,100 and 2,200 feet. Among those attending_the meeting were Senator Sutherland, District Com- missioner Proctor L. Dougherty, Rep- resentative R. Walton Moore of Vir- ginia, Dr. Charles Moore, chairman of the Fine Arts Commission; Lieut. Col. U. S. Grant, 3d, director of Public Buildings and Public Parks; Lieut. Wal- ter Hinton, chairman, and Creed W. Fulton, vice chairman, of the aviation committee of the Washington Chamber of Commerce; Dorsey W. Hyde, secre- tary of the chamber; Lawrence E. Wil- liams, chairman of the aviation com- mittee of the Washington Board of Trade, and John J. Esch, former inter- state commerce commissioner and member of that committee; Robert J. Cottrell, assistant secretary of the Board of Trade; James O. Watson of Hambleton & Co., Col. M. C. Cooper, chairman of the board of the Federal Aviation Corporation, developers of the field; Albert G. Ober, jr., executive vice president of the corporation; T. How- ard Duckett, member of the board of directors, and Capt. Thomas Carroll, former chief test pilot for the national advisory committee for aeronautics and now technical adviser to the corpo- ration. Capt. Carroll predicted that the N tional Capital is destined to become one of the great aviation centers and said that it would be necessary to develop a chain of airports here to handle future traffic. The present Washington airport program need not interfere in any way with the proposed municipal airport project, he said. . MRS. TRAMMELL DEAD. TS | Fairfax County Native Expires at Daughter’s Home. Mrs. Elizabeth Trammell, 79 years old, native of Fairfax County, Va., died yesterday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Annie Thompson, East Falls Church. Her husband, Phillip Tram- mell, died 17 years ago. Mrs. Trammell is survived by three sons and three daughters. The daugh- ters, in addition to Mrs. Thompson, are Mrs. Loubert Kearns of Seat Pleasant, Md., and Mrs. Hattie Hurley. The sons are Detective Curtis H. Trammell, Frank and Maurice Trammell. Funeral services will be conducted at Mrs. Thompson's home at 2 o'clock to- morrow afternoon. Interment will be in Oakwood Cemetery. Woman “War Veteran” Held Not Entitled To Claim She Filed for Hospitalization The law which authorizes the Vet- erans’ Bureau to hospitalize and care for veterans of any war, military occu- pation or military expedition, without regard to the nature or origin of their disabilities, cannot be applied in order to pay the expenses of a woman dur- ing “confinement” in a private hospital, it was decided today by Controller Gen- eral McCarl. Ruling on a specific case, the Controller General denled a pay- ment of $75 In favor of the Strong Me- morial Hospital, Rochester, N. Y., for the use of its facilities from November 26 to December 9, 1928, during confine- ment of Mrs. Ruth Thomas Healy, & World Wt Tan. ‘The recol the case show that the | woman was sent to the hospital by au- thority of the regional manager of the Veterans' Bureau in that district; his action was questioned by the Veterans' Bureau on the basis that her cause for hospitalization “cannot be considered to lie within the same category as the ordinary disabilities to which the ex- service person is liable.” If the Government undertook to care for all ex-service women in confinement cases, the bureau told its regional man- ager In an earlier letter on the matter, “it would then be necessary to set aside separate wards, operating rooms, and in many instances, private rooms, be- ment in all of our general hospitals. are being built at a cost of $100,000. is | Square Airport, at Hybla Valley, Va., | water front development plan of the! PAGE 17 RUM SQUAD TAKES 5 AND GONFISCATES CHRISTMAS LIQUOR Four Colored Men Arrested After Long Vigil in R Street Garage. CAR WITH SMOKESCREEN EQUIPMENT IS BAGGED Two of Trio Escape After Chase on Marlboro Pike, Near District Line. Sergt. George M. Little and his liquor squad bagged a car equipped with a smoke-screen, five alleged bootleggers, and withdrew a considerable amount of liquor from the Christmas trade in a St'?l‘:]es of arrests during their night's vigil. With Pvt. Manning and Baum of the eighth precinct, they waited in an R street garage from midnight to 4 o'clock this momlx‘:‘q before the suspect- ed car reported equipped with a smoke- screen, made its appearance. Joseph Edwards, allas “Hippy Lee,” colored, 30 years old, of the 400 block of P street, and James Jackson, colored, 1400 block of Eleventh street, occupied the car. Held on Possession Charge. Both men were held on charges of illegal possession of a smoke-screen equipage and Edwards on an additional charge of driving without a permit. In- abllity to get his driver's permit re- stored, he told the police, made him return to the bootlegging business. Search of their car, however, revealed no_liquor. It had been reported that a smaller car had been accompanying Edwards’ machine, and sure enough, this put in an appearance. Alfonso Baylor, 30 years old, 500 block of Florida avenue, and John H. Johnson, 1400 block of Swann street, both colored, were ar- rested on charges of illegal possession and transportation of intoxicants. Seize Liquors at Home. Sergt. Little then led his men to the home of Edwards, where, it was re- ported, they found 13 cases containing 156 quarts of corn liquor. An addi- tional charge of illegal possession was lodged against Edwards. Earlier in the evening the liquor squad gave chase to an automobile on the Marlboro pike near the District line. At Alabama avenue and Sixth street the speeding car stopped and its three occupants leaped from it. In the darkness two of the colored men escaped, but Walter Brady Ward, 19, of the 900 block of Forty-fifth street northeast, was caught. He was held on a charge of possession and trans- porting. | THREATENS SWEETHEART, GETS 90-DAY JAIL TERM | Walter Johnson Sentenced for An- ! noying Former Fiancee, Who Had Broken Their Engagement. Walter Johnson, 30 years old, was sentenced to 90 days in jail by Judge Ralph Given in Police Court today when arraigned on a charge of threats against his former sweetheart, Mary Myers, 1400 block of Newton street. Miss Myers told the court she had broken her engagement to Johnson and that he had persisted in annoying her. Yesterday she called. Policeman A. Mansfield and when the defendant a costed her in the presence of the officer, he was arrested. “He threatened to drag my reputa- tion into the dirt,” she told Judge Given. “I'm afraid for my life, your honor.” Johnson begged the court for leniency, promising to leave the city immediately it released. Judge Given refused, say- ing he was afraid Johnson might harm his former flancee. 'SHOP LIFTING CURBED, ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES Merchants Maintain Watch and Offenders Will Be Vigorously Prosecuted. Indications are that the annual losses of local retail stores from the opera- .tions of shoplifters will be less this year than last, the Merchants and Manufac- turers’ Association announced today on the basis of a survey of conditions in downtown shops. Local retailers, however, will maintain strict watch for the shoplifter, and those caught stealing merchandise from coun- ters will be prosecuted vigorously, it is stated by Edward D. Shaw, secretary of the association. Merchants this year also are keeping a sharp watch for bad check artists, especially since the recent disclosure of a wave of activities in this line. Caution is being exercised in appre- hension of shoplifters, Mr. Shaw said, | so that honest persons may not be em- | barrassed. SENATE CONFIRMS LIST OF U. S. ENVOYS ABROAD Eleven Named as Ministers in For- eign Countries Are Given Formal Approval. ‘The Senate late yesterday confirmed 11 nominees to be American Ministers to foreign countries. They are Evan E. Young to Bolivia, Nelson T. Johnson to China, H. P. Arthur Schoenfeld to Costa Rico, Charles B. Curtis to the Dominican Republic, Sheldon White- house to Guatemala, Julius G. Lay to Honduras, Matthew E. Hanna to Nica- ragua, Roy T. Davis to Panama. Post | Wheeler to Paraguay. John Glover South to Portugal and Arthur H. Geiss- ler to Siam. “BETHLEHEM TABLEAU.” Student Nurses and Children to Of- fer Presentation Tonight. Student nurses of the Episcopal Hos- pital and children of the Sunday School of the Church of the Epiphany, will present “The Bethlehem Tableau,” to- night at 8:15 o'clock at St. Paul's parish hall, Rock Creek Parish, Web- ster street and Rock Creek Church road. ‘The presentation will be given under the auspices of the Department of Re- ligious Education of the Diocese of ‘Washington. Mrs. Mary C. D. Johnson is chairman of the commiitee on ar- rangements. Deaconesses MacDonald | sides additional personnel and equip- | and ne will have charge of the childre: