Evening Star Newspaper, February 14, 1930, Page 17

STEPFATHER SHOT BY SON IN DEFENSE OF BEATEN MOTHER Bank Messenger, 17, Ar- raigned After Confessing His Action. MOTHER SAYS HUSBAND HAD THREATENED LIFE Youth Declared to Have Seen Parent Abused Often on Previous Occasions. Harry Vincent Hazel, 17-year-old bank messenger, who started to work at the age of 14 to help support his mother, will be arraigned in Police Court on February 21 for shooting his stepfather. Periodical quarrels which the youth had with his stepfather, Harvey Spencer Lowe, 37 years old, in their apartment at the Rocksboro, 1717 R street, were climaxed last night when the boy said he returned from work to find Lowe bending over the prostrate form of his mother. His mother, Mrs. Leatha Marie Hazel Lowe said today that her husband had threatened to “finish her” after he attacked her during a dispute. Seizing her about the throat, he attempted to strangle her when interrupted by the arrival of Harry, she declared. Harry ran to the kitchen and seized & gun owned by his mother, which was kept in a trunk and without a word shot his step-father through the shoul- | Third precinet Policeman Earl Mc- Nale heard the shot and rushed into the | apartment to find Lowe clutching his shoulder and Harry still standing with the gun in his hand, he said. The boy han the gun to the policeman. Lowe was rushed to Emergency Hospital where his condition today was reported | as not serious. Mrs. Lowe was a visitor bedside today. i WAaS mkenyw the first precinct and reieased this morning under $1,000 bond. Trouble Aired Before. The domestic difficulties of the Lowe family have reached Police Court be- Zore.. Two weeks ago Mrs. Lowe sought the advice of Assistant District Attor- ney John R. Pitzpatrick. Her hus- band continually ill-treated her, she told the prosecutor, but she wished to take no criminal action against him. “Guns have played a major part in my life,” Mrs. Lowe declared. “When previously married and living in Mary- land I started home with my little girl. now 6 years old, but in a sudden thunderstorm I sought refuge in a road house. | “Several men were there, including Towe. In a dispute that followed Lowe ‘was shot three time and to prevent him from dying I took him in my car to the hospital. That is how I met him. “My first husband later committed suicide and I married Lowe. Since then he has repaid me for saving his life by being brutal to me. Harry shot to save me and I will do all I can to help him. Before this he has been forced to stand by and see his step- father beat me, unable to prevent him, but this time he took the matter into s own hands.” lI“‘l'he gun with which Harry is said to have shot Lowe was purchased by Mrs. Lowe after difficulties with her hus- band, she said. Lowe, she charged, de- serted her and her small child, an 18- month-old boy, and as she had other children who were separated from her. she did not wish the home dissolved. “I was going to get a divorce,” she sald, “but finally persuaded Lowe to| come home and try to keep our home | r. This is what happened.” 1 Youth Silent Today. The youth, although he confessed to | police last night that he shot his step- father, refused to discuss the affair to- day. He told police that he came home and found his stepfather attacking his mother and shot him. The mother is said to have told Jo- lice when they came to the apartment that she shot her husband. The attempt to protect her son failed, however, as the boy admitted that he fired the shot. Lowe declared it was an accident, police say. Harry supported his mother at times. police say. The youth has recently been | employed in the Morris Plan Bank. Lowe is an employe of the District | Grocery Stores, Inc. ! After hearing the mother’s story from Headquarters Detective Sergt. William Debuskey today, Prosecutor Fitzpatrick ! recommended bond of $200 because of | the mitigating circumstances. Judge McMahon refused to accept the recom- endation and informed Attorney F. J. ahue, the boy's attorney, that the | higher bond would be necessary. A pro- fessional bondsman secured the you!h'sl release. MEN'S CLUB RECEPTION PAYS HONOR TO RECTOR Program Marks Completion of Rev. George F. Dudley’s 37th Year in Parish. ‘The Men's Club of St. Stephen and | the Incarnation Church gave a recep- | tion last night in Dudley Hall, at the parish house, Sixteenth and Newton streets, in honor of Rev. George F. Dud- Jey, who is completing the thirty-sev- enth year of his rectorate in the parish, and Mrs. Dudley, together with the church vestry and their wives. The members of the congregation ‘were welcomed by Arthur C. Houghton, president of the Men's Club. Follow- ing the reception a dance was held be- tiween 10 and 12 o'clock, music for which was supplied by the church or- chestra. An entertainment program of songs. comedy skits and costume dances was presented. In the recelving line with Dr. and Mrs. Dudley were the other honor guests, Senior Warden J. C Wwilliams and Mrs. Willlams, Junior ‘Warden Maj. Edwin F. Riggs and Mrs Riggs and Vestrymen Judge J. M Husted, George B. Selden, Dr. M. A. English, Willilam E. Richardson, Z. D. Blackistone, J. Elvans Mayfield, Harry P. White, Edward S. Dawson and their ‘wives. | | ——— Hurt _u Kerosene Explodes. Exploding_kerosene seriously burned the face and hands early today when he attempted to make a fire in the kitchen stove at his home, 1635 Rose- dale street northeast. Day was given Above: Harry Vincent Hazel, who i shot his stepfather. Below: Mrs. Leatha Marie Lowe, his mother, whom the boy said he was try- ing to save when he fired the shot. —Star Staff Photos. PROBE FINDING OF GUN'IN CELL Man Charged With lllegal Chest Solicitation “Tips” Guard to Plot. to trace the ownership of a loaded re- volver discovered yesterday in a Police Court cell after police iearned of a piot intended to result in the whole- sale release of prisoners. Sergt. O. J. Letterman, chief of the vice squad, led a group of court at- taches in a search of the quarters of the prisoners awaiting trial. The pistol was found hidden in a bathroom. The search was made after a guard received a “tip” from Joseph McCarthy, awaiting trial in connection with al- leged fraudulent solicitations for the Community Chest. McCarthy reported he had overheard several prisoners discussing plans to “drill” two deputy marshals” when they opened the cell 30?1“ to return the men to the District ail. McCarthy added it was planned to steal the cell keys from the men fired on and permit the escape of all pris- oners desiring to participate. As a re- sult, numerous persons were questioned by David A. Hart, assistant United States attorney. Investigators believed the pistol had been slipped by a visitor to one of three men awaiting arraignment on charges of robbery. Their cases were held in abeyance while authorities delved into the plot. Indications were the investigation would result in drastic changes in court regulations to prevent prisoners acies in the future. ATTACKED BY ROBBER. Drug Store Proprietor Calls Help After Being Struck on Head. A robber in the drug store at 1250 ‘Twenty-second street assaulted Dr. Co- lumbus Henry, the proprietor, early this morning, striking him on the head with a bottle. He was frightened away by Dr. Henry's calls for help. Dr. Henry told Headquarters De- tective Harry Cole that the colored man came into his store about 1 a.m. and asked for a bottle of lime water get the beverage, and the colored man struck him on the head with a bottle. Dr. Henry was removed to Emer- gency Hospital in an ambulance and treated for scalp lacerations. An investigation was instituted today | from participating in similar conspir- | The druggist bent over an ice box to| INADEQUATE PAY GIVEN AS REASON FOR QUITTING NAVY Poor Prospects of Promotion Also Cited in Analysis of Loss of Officers. NEGLIGIBLE NUMBER HAVE BEEN DISMISSED Bureau Announces 1,550 Enlist- ments Out of 10,606 Applicants in First Half of Year. | Inadequacy of pay and poor pros- ' pects of promotion beyond the grade | of lieutenant commander were given as the main reasons for the 292 line offi- | cers of the Navy resigning during the | past three years, the Bureau of Navi- | gation, Navy Department, announced {kxdly. in ap analysis of loss of officer Ipnnonnel 10 the service. The total Enflil‘er personnel is now about 8,900. The bureau pointed out that 84 per ‘cent of all line officers who have re- isigned have been in the two grades of | lieutenant (junior grade) and ensign. In the Staff Corps—the officers of which receive their technical training in civilian service—of the 130 officers who have resigned during the past three years, 85 haye been lieutenants (junior grade) in the Medical Corps. As an index of the negligible number separated from the naval service through dismissal, the bureau recalled that only fifteen-one-hundredths of 1 per cent are separated annually as a result of disciplinary action. “It is considered that these figures reflect very favorably on the state of discipline in the officer perwrgnel of the Navy” said the bureau’s an- nouncement. Turning to a consideration of en- listed personnel, the bureau explained that during the first six months of the current fiscal year, which will end on June 30, next, there were 7,363 first enlistments and 1,105 re-enlistments, making & total of 8,468. | Noting the process of selection of re- cruits now being pursued in the Navy, the bureau cited the fact that while | there were 10,608 applicants for en- listment last month, there were ac- tually but 1,281 first enlistments and 269 re-enlistments. On February 1 the number of re- cruits under instruction at the various training_stations was as follows: Great Lakes, Ill, 724; Hampton Roads, Va., 660; Newport, R. I, 746, and San | Diego, Calif., 1,235, making a total of | 3.365. 1$20,000 DAMAGES ASKED IN AUTO: INJURY SUIT Morton J. Luchs Named Defendant in Action—Independent Taxi Association Sued. Morton J. Luchs, 2844 Connecticut | avenue, is named defendant in a suit to | recover $20,000 damages filed in the | District Supreme Court by Maureen | McCarthy, a minor, by her father, J. T. | McCarthy, 3765 Northampton street, for alleged personal injuries. The child is | alleged to have been injured April 16, 1928, when struck by an automobile be- |longing to the defendant at Garfield | street_and Connecticut avenue. Attor- | neys Robert E. Lynch and E. B. Sulli- | van appear for the plaintiff. Damages of $20,000 are aiso asked in | a suit filed by Virginia Stone, Colonial | Hotel, against the Independent Taxi | Owners’ Association for alleged per- | sonal injuries. She says she was a pas- | senger in a cab which bore the insignia | of the association November 23 last | when by the sudden stopping of the | vehicle she was thrown through a glass | window. Attorneys T. Morris Wampler | and Joseph C. Turco appear for the plaintiff. PROJECT BEFORE SENATE. Swanson’s Bill Authorizes Ap- proach to Arlington Bridge. A bill to provide for an approach to the Arlington Memorial Bridge from the Lee Boulevard has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Swanson, Demo- crat, of Virginia. It is similar to the bill sponsored in the House by Repre- sentative Moore of Virginia. The measure authorizes $200,000 to be added to the total of the bridge project to cover acquisition of neces- sary lands and for the preparation of plans and estimates for this approach. REGAINS HIS FREEDOM. Man Sentenced for Intoxication Serves Only Two Days. After completing but two days of a ten-day sentence for intoxication, | meted. out to him in Police Court by | Judge Gus A. Schuldt, William E. Hunter, 27 years old, of 3338 N street, | late vesterday escaped from _the grounds of Gallinger Municipal Hos- pital, where he had been working as |a “trusty.” Hunter had served two | previous jail sentences. | CHINESE ACTORS Branding as a gross caricature the { popular American conception of the Chinese drawn from pig-tefled effigies {of the race paraded on the stage and dramatic stars arrived here today on a practical mission of enlightenment. The plan_is_correct the erroneous impression of Chinese people and Chi- nese cuiture by engaging in a limited actual and typical Chinese plays. Heading the mission is Mei fe. The Minister of China and Mme. Wu first ald_treatment by the members of Pire Rescue Squad No. 1 and re- moved to Casualty Hospital at 10:15 o'clock. are the guests of the Chi during their brief stay in Was shington, screen, & group of China's foremost | stage tour with a repertory offering of Lan- Fang, China's most noted actor. He has brought with him a repertoire selected from 400 popular plays and declared | to present a true picture of Chinese | fTerry Day, 32 years old, colored, about | i have issued cards for a dramatic pres- entation to be given by Mei Lan-Fang at the Wardman Park Theater tonight ‘The visiting actors Minister ON TOUR GIVE AMERICANS NEW PICTURE OF RACE| Mission Arrives Here Branding Film and Stage Con- ception as Gross Caricature. ‘The troupe landed in Seattle last Saturday. The dramatic tour will open | Sunday in the Forty-ninth Street Thea- ter, in New York City, where a two- week engagement has been arranged. ‘China has been caricatured as a frightful figure with a queue hanging down the back,” the players point out. ““This misrepresentation has done much |to harm Chinese prestige, The plays | sometimes presented in the ‘China- |towns' of large American cities are de- | signed merely for the entertainment of Chinese-Americans and in no way rep- resent real Chinese art and culture.” ‘The committee which is sponsoring the American engagement is headed by Mrs, Woodrow Wilson and includes Mme. C. Wu, wife of the Chinese Ministe! Charles R. Crane, forme: | Minister to China; Prof. Paul Monroe head of the Chinese Institute; Prof John Dewey, Otto H, Kahn, Mr. anc |Mrs. Edgar Stillman Kelley, Prof. George Pierce Baker of the Yale School . of the Drama and Karl A. Bickel, n life before entering the | jthe payment of a lump sum of $7.450 ! Bureau will file a motion for a new FRIDAY, FEBRUARY Airport Meeting Put Off One Day By Commission The meeting of the Joint Con= gressional Airport Commission slated for.today, was postponed until tomorrow morning because of the lack of a quorum. After the meeting had been postponed, Senator Bingham, Re- publican, of Connecticut, cnair- man, said he believed members of the commission are losing in- terest in the local airport prob- lem because the Board of Trace opposed the recommendaticn of the commission to have Congress appropriate $500,000 for the pur= chase of option on proposed sites. The Board of Trade aviation committee took the position that the best available site is Gravelly Point, already owned by the Gov- ernment, FIVE PERSONS HURT INTRAFFIC MISHAPS Two Seriously [njured in; Street Accidents—Arrests Made for Reckless Driving. | | Traffic accidens on Washington | streets between 6 o'clock last evening and midnight resulted in injuries to five persons. Two of them, a man and a woman, were hurt seriously. Edward Flaherty, 58, of 2053 H street northeast was struck by a street car as he was walking on Benning road be- tween Nineteenth and Twentieth streets northeast a few minutes before 9 o'clock. A passing automobile took him to Casualty Hospital where he was treated by Dr. Louis Jimal of the staff for a fractured skull, a broken right leg, bruises to his face and shock. The car belonged to the Washington Railway & Electric Co. and was operated by M. G. Bowman of the car barns at Fifteenth and H streets northeast. Woman's Skull Fractured. ‘The automobile collision at Eleventh and M streets about 8:30 o'clock last night which seriously injured Elaine Adams, 26, of the London Hall apart- ments, Thirteenth and M streets, brought about the arrest on reckless driving charges of the operators of both machines. The injured woman was re- moved to Emergency Hospital and treated for a fractured skull. The car in which the woman was riding was driven by Christian L. Berge of Virginia Highlands, Va., and the other machine by John R.’Scharf of 3010 Sixteenth street northeast. Both were arrested and booked at the second precinct before being released on $300 bond each. Pinned beneath his automobile after it had careened off the roadway and rolled down a steep embankment at First street and Michigan avenue short- ly after 11 o'clock last night, Willlam T. Graham, 25 of Hyattsville, Md. escaped with minor cuts. He was ex- tricated from the closed car by residents of the neighborhood. The Fire Depart- ment rescue squad and reserves from the tenth precinct arrived a few minutes later. Graham was treated at Sibley Hospital. Two Treated in Hospital. James E. Branson, 26, of 108 Alabama avenue southeast was struck down by an_automobile while crossing Alabama avenue southeast near Fort Dupont about 6 o'clock last evening. Arthur G. Southworth, 42, of Anacostia, Md., the driver of the machine, took him to | Casualty Hospital, where he was treated | for a fractured left leg and shock. Mrs. Christine Ford, 55, of 1324 L street was knocked down by the bicycle of John W. Brown, colored, 19, a Post Office delivery boy, early last night as she was crossing at Tenth and G streets. She was treated at Emergency Hospital. where it was said she was suffering from a dislocated ankle FORMER SOLDIER WINS VERDICT AGAINST U. S. Arthur Marvin, Former Cook, Awarded 87,450 and Monthly Al- lowance for Fatal Disability. Arthur Marvin of Minneapolis, Minn., who served 10 months in the Army as a cook, was held totally and perma- nently disabled by a jury in Circuit Division 2 before Justice Bailey late yesterday afternoon and was awarded a verdict against the United States for and monthly compensation of $57.50 for life. Attorneys Annabel Hinterliter and Lawrence Lawlor for the Veterans’ trial. Marvin, it is explained, had already been.paid by the bureau $12,420 since his discharge May 5, 1919. At- torney Robert H. McNeill represented the veteran. Marvin enlisted July 12, 1918, and was discharged May 5, 1919, and claimed to be totally disabled. He traveled 1,400 miles to attend the trial of his case, which closed yesterday. {TREASURY EMPLOYES GET LEAVE FOR CEREMONIES Certain Groups Will Be Allowed to Attend Exercises Commemo- rating Sinking of the Maine. In order that they may attend the exercises in commemoration of the sinking of the battleship Maine certain employes of the Treasury Department have been given leave for tomorrow afternoon by Acting Secretary of the Treasury Mills, The order applies to all members of the Army and Navy Union, Grand Army of the Republic, Confederate Veterans, Spanish War Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, World War Veterans, all honorably discharged soldiers, sailors and marines in the Treasury in this city and such employes of the depart- ment in Washington as are relatives of -the sailors and marines who lost their lives when the Maine was sunk. The exercises are to be held at the Maine shaft in Arlington at 1:30 and also in the riding hall, Fort Myer, Va., at 2:15 ANNOUNCE ‘HALF HOLIDAY Store Owners to Bay Respect to ‘Washington's Birthday. Washington department stores affil- iiated with the Merchanis and Manu- | Iacturers’ Association will be closed a {half day on Saturday, February 22, in observance of the birthday anniversary 'of George Washington, it was an- nounced today by Edward D. Shaw, ex- ~utive secretary of the organization. | | | I INTOTUBERGULOSIS | “The half holiday was decided upon at a recent meeting of the department | store section of “fl merchants’ asso- ! ciation, CELL TISSUE STUDY GIVES NEW INSIGHT Scientists Also Make Impor- tant Steps for Better Under- derstanding of Cancer. EFFECT OF TUBERCULIN IS TESTED ON ANIMALS! Heat Is Found to Incapacitate Malignant Tumors for Fur- ther Growth. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. | Important steps toward a clearer un- | derstanding of both tuberculosis and | cancer have just been reported by the | Carnegie Institution of Washington. It is well known that some individuals are far more susceptible to tuberculosis than others, but the reason has not : been clear. It is due, as shown by the | work of Dr. A. R. Rich and Mrs. M. R | Lewis of the Carnegie embryological laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, | to some quality of the individual cells | which are attacked by the tubercuie bacillus. This, they report, is of the naturc of an exaggerated specific susceptibility such as is well known in medicine. The two investigators studied the behavior of individual cells in tissue cultures, a method that is being perfected at the Carnegie laboratory. The tissue is kept alive after removal from the animal, Fails to Aid Cure. Comparisons were made of the effect of tuberculin, the attenuated culture of the tubercule bacillus which is used in diagnosis of the disease in animals, on the cells from two guinea pigs, one of which had shown a high susceptibility to tuberculosis and the other normal re- sistance to the bacillus. Cultures were made of the spleen and white blood cells. Various amounts of tuberculin were placed in the cultures. The investigators found that cells of the susceptible animal were killed by amounts of tuberculin in which the cells of the other culture continued to grow and multiply normally. The plas- ma, or intercellular fluid in the blood, made no difference, the experimenters found. Plasma of the susceptible and ‘Tesistant animals was interchanged, and the tuberculin mixtures added, without changing the results, While the tuberculosis investigation merely adds to undrstanding without |giving any suggestion of new curative | measures, the cancer work of Dr. H. B. Friedgood of the same laboratory may be the pioneer step in a new therapy, although no claims are made for it. Studying isolated cells of malignant tumors of rats in tissue cultures, Dr. Friedgood determined the amount of heat exposure necessary to stop their growth, the danger of malignant tumors being their unrestrained cell multipli- cation at the expense of other body tissues. If some means could be found to stop this—to kill the cells without serfously injuring other body cells— 3\« cancer problem would be near solu- on., Heat Checks Growth, The particular malignant tumor studied consists of two kinds of cells. Dr. Friedgood placed the culture in sealed tubes and put these in heated water of various temperatures for from 15 to 30 minutes. Then the culture was taken out and “incubated” at the proper temperature for cell multiplica- tion. He found that exposures of 30| minutes in water heated to about 77| Fahrenheit incapacitates the cells for further growth. th types of cells were equally affected. The next step, it is explained in the Carnegie report of the experiment, is to determine the degrees of heat:which incapacitate for growth other tumor cells and normal body cells. If suf- ficient differentiation can be found the way may be opened for a new line of attack on cancer. At the same time Mrs. M. R. Lewls and Miss J. Lockwood, in the same lab- oratory, were studying tissue cultures of malignant tumor cells to determine the precise difference between the constitu- tion of the malignant “outlaw” cells and the innocent blood cells found in such a growth. They watched these through all the life steps of reproduction and rowth. The essential difference they ound was that the malignant cell at the stage of division or reproduction contained twice as many chromosomes as the innocent cell, chromosomes being the units of the cell nucleus which di- vides. Similar shaped cells from other parts of the bodies of rats were studied in comparison to the.“outlaw” cells and the same difference was found. The double number of chromosomes gives the new-born malignant cell a better chance in life than the innocent normal cell. The great problem now, the in- vestigators point out, is to find out how the malignant tumor cells acquire these extra chromosomes. Then somebody may devise means to stop the process. Malignant tumors are of different kinds, some probably due to submicro- seopic viruses and some to other causes. Another line of research followed by Mrs. Lewis attempted to determine the nature of the virus which is known to be responsible for one type of tumor in thickens. Similar viruses cause various human diseases. ‘They may, or may not, consist of living creatures, the report points out. If so, they are the smallest of all forms of life and can be secured only by their escape from the culture of a diseased tissue through a porcelain fil- ter—that is through the spaces be- tween porcelain molecules. Mrs. Lewis put this fliterable virus through various complicated chemical tests to determine whether the malig- nant principle in it was “alive” or mere- ly a chemical substance. Mrs. Lewis anc her co-worker, Dr. L. Michaelis, report that the virus, “at least in re- spect to its resistance to chemicals, shows a behavior very different from that of an animal cellor a protozoon. If it is a living organism it is com- parable to bacteria.” Studies Removed Heart. In the same laboratory Dr. W. H Lewis is studylng the beating of the heart outside the body. He has been able to keep alive and pulsating for several hours the heart removed from the embryo of a chicken and immersed in a certain solution. The hearf, muscles continue to con- tract 1l igh some quality in them- selves. Now he is trying to determine the things that change the rate of this pulsation—changes in the temperature of the solution, changes in the chemi- cal make-up ot the solution, changes in the surrounding atmosphere, and mechanical stimulation of the isolated organ, in an effort to throw more light on the nature of muscle contraction. He has found that when the glass dish eontaining the solution 1s cov- ered, the heart beat is from 20 to 100 per cent more rapid than when it is uncovered, due to the cooling of the solution by evaporation. | either having so much as performed a | marriage ceremony. i tic critics claim this is a dubious com- ;discovery was made by his wife shortly ! to retire, 14 | Fingerprints of William Moward Taft, i Valentines Put X Two Old “Shades” | On Love Griddle ; Stories of Bishop Being| Beheaded and Other Choking Recalled. The shades of good St. Valentine suffered their annual attack of shat- tered nerves today as love-smitten swains and sweethearts presumed anew to claim the pious and unromantic bishop as their patron saint. This is said to apply not only to the shades of the Bishop Valentine, who was beheaded for praying in jail dur- ing the reign of Claudius, but also to | those of the other bishop of the same name who choked to death on a fish Neither of these sainted clergymen evidenced during his lifetime any in. much occupied in the hectic affairs of the church in those days of Roman | persecution. There is no record of Yet, in some unknown manner, the | name of one or the other of them—it | lsn't clear which—has come down | through the centuries as that of the be- | novelent sponsor of the most sentimental | day in the calendar. Question of Authority. As defenseless against this unautho- | rized use of his name as he was against the executioner’s knife or the fishbone, St. Valentine must rely on students of history and tradition to testify to his innocence as instigator of the present- day valentine—comic or otherwise, While the younger generation pro- ceeds blithely and enthusiastically to celebrate the day, and no questions asked, serious-minded scholars have delved into ancient records and arrived at various and confusing theories re- garding the origin of the observance, One claim is that St. Valentine’s {name was appropriated because it sounded like the Norman word “galan- tin” meaning “lover.” Others say that early supporters of the Christian Church, wishing to transform a heath- renish “love feast” day into a religious holiday, chose St. Valentine's name for it because the bishop's birthday was observed about the same time as the pagan feast. Names Cast in Pot. It is significant that during this Ro- man feast the youths and maidens cast their names into a pot, and a lottery was held to determine partners tor the ensuing galety. This custom nnce featured St. Valentine's day parties in old England and Scotland. ‘The practice of exchanging amatory missives was a later development and | is credited to the progress of civiliza- | tion—although some modern, unroman- | pliment to civilization. At any rate, poor old St. Valentine has been forced to become the unwilling press agent of many phases of commer- clalism and his shades are so indignant they are thinking about appealing to the Federal Trade Commission, under the law against using a person’s name I'as a testimonial without permission. | BODY OF HUSBAND FOUND ON GAS STOVE | Robert Lee Tillett, Killed by Fumes, Victim of Accident, Is Belief of Wife. | | | i | Robert Lee Tillett, 58 years old, of 760 | Seventh street southeast, a carpenter, | was found dead in the kitchen of his| home early today, his fully-clothed body slumped over a range, from which gas was escaping through open jets. The after 5 am. According to Mrs. Tillett, the family | left Mr. Tillett at 10 o'clock last night He had been complaining of a toothache, she said. It was her belief | her husband's death was accidental. She knew of no reason why he should take | his life. She said when she left him he | had been complaining of being cold and had donned an overcoat. | Tillett is survived, in addition to his | wife, by two daughters and a son. . Auto Victim Asks $10,000. Mamie R. Dunlop, 1721 T street, has filed suit in the District Supreme Court to recover $10,000 damages from Robert T. Poare, 3527 T street northeast, for | M alleged personal injuries. She says she was crossing the intersection of Seventh street and Florida avenue September 27, 1927, when an automobile of the de- terest in affairs of the heart, being too [£7OPO! 7| which are prized in the collection of | . C. Bennett, who specializes on finger printing. —=Star Staff Photo. TAFT FINGERPRINT KEPT BY D. G, MAN |1f He Should Become Lost| C. C. Bennett Could Identify Him. ‘The one man in the world who could identify Willlam Howard Taft beyond peradventure of doubt resides in the environs of Washington. It 1s, of course, difficuit to imagine it ever becoming necessary to identify the former President and chief justice. He is known in every town and village in the land; his career and his per- sonality are familiar to all cultured peoples. By every token, not the least being the individuality of his physical rtions, it would be extremely diffi- cult not to place him. The man who could identify him be- yond any question, however, and the only man who could so identify him if the efficacy of the system is admitted, is C. C. Bennett, a civilian employe of the War Department, who lives in Rosmont Park, Alexandria, In Mr. Bennett’s possession is a record that gives to Mr. Taft himself a minor dis- tinction. Not only is Mr. Taft the only Ameri- can ever to serve as President and chief justice; he is the only American to attain to either office who permitted his fingerprints to be taken. It seems inevitable that the Taft fingerprints should become part of the recorded history of the Nation. Mr. Bennett obtained the prints in 1922 under cir- cumstances that revealed Mr. Taft's broad sympathies and the breadth and subtlety of his humor as well. Since 1904, the year the excursion steamer General Slocum burned in New York harbor with a loss of more than interested in fingerprints as a means of preserving the identity of persons most effectively. He transferred to the identification section of the War De- partment 13 years ago the better to study in that field. Through mutual acquaintances he arranged an inter- view with Mr. Taft in May, 1922, and subsequently called at the home of the chief justice at 2241 Wyoming avenue, Fingerprints as a means of identifi- cation interested Mr. Taft, and he listened at length while Mr. Bennett expressed the hope that some day the fingerprints of infants would be filed away with their birth certificates as permament records of identification. The Chief Justice graciously permitted Mr. Bennett to obtain a record of his own fingerprints. When he had pressed his_ink-stained fingers on the form Mr. Bennett provided, he oblig- Ingly wrote across the top, ‘W'm. H. Taft, May 11th, 1922.” Mr. Taft, thanking him for his courtesy in recelving him. Having given no thought to a reply, he was pleasurably surprised when he received a note from der date of May 15. One can picture the rotund Mr. Taft chuckling to himself as he reaches for a sheet of the stationary of the Supreme Court of the United States and indites this message: “My Dear Mr. Bennett: “I am glad to know that you have a means of identifying me if T am lost in any way and cannot be otherwise identified. "Sincerely yours, “WM. H. TAFT.” ‘To Mr. Bennett the Taft fingerprints months after they were obtained he had arranged a lecture on the subject of identification and prepared slides illustrating his thesis. ‘Taft ®ave him permission to use his finger- prints in that connection, and in Mr. | Bennett's lectures now the view of the Taft fingers is a feature, —— MRS. MARGARET CURTIS DIES AT AGE OF 77 Mother of Mrs. William H. White | and Widow of Clarke E. Curtis Had Been Ill Short Time. Mrs, Margaret B. Curtis, 77 years old, widow of Clarke E. Curtis, died at the 1'-':2',?,‘ o‘gvhl::r %gght;r.kMrs. William Y e, ark road, after a short illness bt Mrs. Curtis had been a resident of this city for a number of years. is survived by her daughter, ite died several years ago. Funeral services will be conducted at the residence, on Park road, Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock, Rev. Dr. Al- bert Joseph McCartney, pastor of the fendant struck and injured her. She lsi represented By Attorney Alvin L. New- myer. wil le Church of the Covenant, Presbyteran, 1 officiate. Interment will be reek Cemetery, i T e . a thousand lives, Mr. Bennett has been | The next day Mr. Bennett wrote to | Are an interesting memento. Several | lantern | PAGE B-1 DALE RETIREMENT BILL FAVORED OVER LEHLBACH SCHEME Federal Workers’ Represent- atives Urge House to Act on First Bill, SECOND PROPOSAL “soP,” ASSERTS LABOR LEADER Action on “Safe” Measure Included in Involved Proposal Declared Need of Employes. With a hearing scheduled for Tues- day before the House civil service com- mittee on the new Lehlbach bill, spon- | sored by the National Federation of Federal Employes, and said to have the support of President Hoover, effort continues by several organizations of Government employes to have the Dale bill, which has passed the Senate, acted upon in the House in preference lbomn(éjrzher delay by considering a -new proposal to I retérer{nem lAw.lm g ek riticism on the new measure from two quarters today. b | o, With the charge that Steward, president of the Federation of Federal 'fg(‘))ll.nx"i Government “sponsoring” the new bill, Mrs, Mar. garet Hopkins Worrell, president of the League of the American Civil Service, announced that she would call a meet- ing of her organization for next week m!uge] til:hfl’us;g% ]by the House of ale- ach bill, al by the Senate. i Employes’ Indorsement Presented. C. Edgar Reed, secretary of the joint retirement committee of the empi‘oye: of the Naval Gun Factory, represent- ing 4,500 employes of the Washington Navy Yard, laid before Chairman Lehl- bach and other members of the ecivil service committee an appeal which these employes authorized in reaffirm- ing their indorsement of the Dale bill at their monthly meeting. Reed said: ““They believe that the new bill Just introduced in the House by Chairman Lehlbach has dangerous forfeiture fea- tures that will need extensive consider- ation and the institution of safeguards. The novelty of the scheme will requirc extensive and probably long-drawn-out actuarial studies before it can be ex- pected to pass the Congress. “The new bill provides that the fea- tures of the Dale bill be included, therefore the navy yard committee be- | lieves that the Dale bill should be re- | ported to the House and passed im- mediately in the same form as that in which 1t passed in the Senate. | "The new bill will serve as the basis | for future studies, but it should not i delay immediate action on the Dale bill in order to give needed benefits to | those already retired and those now retiring. Mrs. Worrell charged that some of the apparently desirable features of the new bill are “sops” to induce employes to back the bill and “pepper tgmwn into their eyes to blind them to the other parts not so desirable.” | “Let us have legislation clearly ex- | pressed in plain, unadulterated English, |so that no misunderstanding or misin- terpretation is possible,” she said. “Pass Dale Bill Now.” “The League of the American Civil Service, ~therefore, calls upon every member ot the civil service committee of the House to report out the Dale- Lehlbach bill, change 68 optional to 60, strike out’ the word ‘bonuses d let it be passed at once. Afterward this new bill can be thoroughly analyzed and digested and employes can be ad- vised exactly what its provisions mean and can either accept or reject it.” | “One particularly undesirable pro- j vision,” sald Mrs. Worrell, “of the new bill is that in which the amount of the | annuity which an employe will be able | to purchase with the 314 per cent de- ductions from his salary (less the $12 per year for each year of service) is to be determined from annuity tables which the board of actuaries are to prepare, based upon the condition of the retirement fund. “In accordance with that provision, it would be impossible for anybody to know ‘the condition of the retirement fund’ nor what kind of ‘annuity tables' the board of actuaries might prepare. In any event, the sum which employes in middle salary grades would bz able to purchase with the sum they would have left would be infinitestimal. Death Ends Annuity. | “The bill also provides that upon the | death of an annuitant his annuity is { terminated and there is no refund to | his heirs of anything he has paid into | the fund unless at the time he retires he agrees to take a much lessened annuity | than he would otherwise receive. | _“It is true that the bill contains a | provision for multiplying the annual | basic salary not to exceed $1,600 dur- Luther C. e National Employes, is employes by | i 1 | the Chief Justice several days later un- | N8 8ny five years of allowable service, | by the number of years of service not to exceed 30 and that the result is to be divided by 40, which, on its face, | would apparently be of greater benefit | than the Dale-Lehlbach bill with 1h:e | same provisions (excepting that the an- | nuity is limited in the old bill to $1,200) | but ‘we surmise that this is only a sop to induce employes to back the bill, “There is no provision for optional retirement after 30 years' service at 60 years of age, which is one of the most important amendments desired by em- ployes.” Mrs. Worrel said the Lehlbach bil makes no provision for the return of who die before reaching the age of re- tirement, WORKER IS BADLY HURT AS HE FALLS 40 FEET Plunges From Ladder Atop Street Car While Repairing Wire Near Fairview, Va. Caney Testerman, 53 years old, o! Park Lane, Va, was seriously injured shortly after 10 o'clock this” morning when he fell from a ladder atop a linc car of the Washington & Old Dominion Electric Rallroad while re) ing a trolley wire near Fairview, Va. Testerman was rushed to the Emer- gency Hospital, where he is said to be suffering from possible fractures of the back, ribs and spine and severe con- tusions. He is being attended by Dr. A. R. Shands, jr., bone specialist. ‘Testerman was working in company with a group of other linesmen of the electric railway when a_ladder he was standing on suddenly collapsed beneath his weight and hurled him nearly 40 feet to the ground. He was rushed into the Rosslyn terminal of the railroad on the line car and transferred to an auto- “;::l"e' which carried him to the hos- P