Evening Star Newspaper, February 16, 1930, Page 17

~ WASHINGTON WASHINGTON, D . BUNDAY The Sunty Staf MORNING, FEBRUARY 16, 1930 GENERAL NEWS * PAGE B-—1 REDUCED CAR FARE FOR SCHOOL PUPLS DECLARED FAVORED Representative McCleod Is| Told Utilities Group Would Welcome Law Change. MANDATORY REDUCTION HELD UNNECESSARY| General Statute, Including All Pub- | lic Cafriers, Is Not Desired by Commission. ‘The Public Utilities Commission, through a representative, yesterday wrote Representative McLeod, Repu lican, of Michigan that if Congress would write into the merger legislation a clause authorizing reduced fares school children, the commission “w promptly take advantage of the au- thority thus granted.” It would not be necessary, the letter stated, to make the reduced fares mandatory. Indced, if this were done, it might be necessary to order the reduced school child fares in_taxicab and other common carriers. The letter. which was in answer to a zcries of questions propounded by Me- | Leod, said in part: 5,000 Children Ride Daily. “Bearing in mind the fact that mar of the schools are within fairly easy walking distance of the ’ homes, and the better weather condi- tions during the early and the 1atV:r | Sonny had wa parts of the school year, it seems pro; able that the average number of chil- | dren using public transportation each | day of the school ycar may be taken bout 5,000. suming that they all now use the 3 cents tokens and ride twice each day, the decrease in revenue should be | about as follows, using round figures: | “Flat 5-cent fare. $30.000 or 1.2 per | cent; flat 3-cent fare, $65.000 or 2.6 pex | cent; if carried free, $118,000 or 4.7 per cent. “On the other hand, there is no way to know how many more such riders there would be if the fare is reduced. or if children are carried free. In the latter case, free rides, it is most prob- able that the number availing them- selves of such a privilege would at times | be very large. “Attention is also invited to the fact that at present most of the school children using public transportation Tide during the rush hours and if, with 1o change in school hours, there should | be a considerable increase in their number, due to lower fares or free rides, | the street car companies might have to put on more cars, which would add to their operating expenses and thus still further reduce net revenue. “The records of this office indicate | that a very careful study was made of this matter of granting reduced fares to school children. For your informa- tion I am inclosing herewith a copy of | an opinion rendered by the Corporation | Counsel, dated December 10, 1923, in| which the power of the commission was | most fully discussed. (The opinion held | that the commission did not have the power to order the lower fares). “As to the present commission. it has given the subject most careful thought | and not long ago discussed the advisa- bility of issuing an order putting into| effect such reduced fares. Higher Fares Already Demanded. “At that very time it was confronted by a demand of the street railway com- panies for higher fares based upon the contention that the present rates are confiscatory. There was every proo- ability that the commission’s declsxon]‘ 1o refuse to grant the higher rates of | fare would be appealed to the courts. Any decreased revenue, due to lower 1ares for school children, would be used | &s an additional argument to convince | .the court that the street railway com- panies should be given authority to exact | the higher fares for which they were| eppealing. “In the last paragraph of your letter you ask whether the commission would object to amending the clause in the pending merger legislation relating to reduced fares for school children so as to make this provision mandatory. At- tention is invited to the fact that as this clause now appears in the merger agreement authorizing the commission [0 _establish reduced rates of fare for #chool children it refers not only to street railways and bus companies, but to all other forms of public transporta- tion operating in the District of Co- Jumbia—for example, taxicabs, sight- #ceing busses, etc. If enacted into law 25 now written, the commission will be authorized to act as conditions at any time make necessary or advisable. If made mandatory it would apparently be necessary, at present, to limit the provision merely to street cars and bus lines Under such circumstances, while the commission has no rooted objection 10 changing this clause 5o as to make it mandatory, it believes such a change unnecessary and inadvisable. Further- mmore, if this legislation is passed in the pormissive form, then I have no doubt that the commission will promptly take advantage of the authority thus! igranted.” i Stockholder Favors Cut. . John J. Noonan, formerly one of the fargest stockholders of the Washington Railway & Electric Co, who has been fighting many years for free transpor- | tation for school children, istued a statement yesterday claiming that the Joss to all the street car and bus lines fof Washington would be less than i$9,000 if they carried school children ree. “ “The Public Utilities Commission gives the companics every benefit of Fthe count when it is stated that the jloss would be $118,000 if the school| {enildren were carried free” sald Noo- ‘nan. “I say the loss would be $8.260, .and that this loss would be distributed among all the car companies and bus lines. “A 3-cent fare, the, commission be- eves. would effect a'loss of $65000. Competent accountants have supplied me with figures showing that loss would actually be $4,550. Working Class Befriended. «Washington is the only city in America or in the world that has not ; some sort of reduced car fare for school children. In face of the fact that liv- ing costs have ingreased 500 per cent in my lifetime and the average wage of workers has increased only 25 per cent, it is time something were done to relieve conditions affecting the lives of working people.” Program for Dutch. NEW YORK, February 15 (P).—A program for the Netherlands, featuring | dress by Dr. Bernard C. J. Loder, ::u‘r‘:ufloml jurist and first chief children’s | { Home. {and Russell Kent, immediate past i { M. A. Rainey. couldn’t find his way back. Before his Little Sonny Bowman, who wandered away from his home near the Public | Library and found refuge in the snowstorm sterday with Park Policeman Sonny’s mother found him with the police after a frantic rearch. ndered only two blocks from home before he discovered that he mother had got in touch with the police Rainey had taken him to the first precinct, and later to the Boys' Receiving | Mount Vernon place. Sonny, who is 5 years old, is the son of ) Margaret Bowman of 813 —star Staff Photo. CLUB WILL AWARD MEDAL THURSDAY Cosmopolitan Group Will Re- ward District Resident for Outstanding Service. Award of the Cosmopolitan medal to the citizen of Washington who has performed the most outstanding civic service to the Capital in the past year will be made Thursday night at the Midwinter ladies’ night of the Cosmo- politan Club at the Carlton Hotel. The name of the person selected for this honor will not be disclosed till the award is made. Judges on the commit- tee of selection are E. J. Murphy, presi- dent of the Board of Trade; Maj. Gen. Anton Stephan, president of the Mer- chants and Manufacturers’ Association, presi- dent of the National Press Club. Fred Rade, chairman of the commit- tee in charge of arrangements, is as- sisted by W. Stokes Sammons, Harry Hoffman and Prank E. Ghiselli, assisted by Mrs. Willlam Callahan, Mrs. James E. Colliflower, Mrs, Fred J. Rice, Mrs. Michael Doyle, Mrs. Lewis A. Payne and Mrs. Paul Brandstedt. An entertainment will follow the din- n r hour, with dancing from 10 to 1 o'clock. MEDAL FOR CITIZEN PLANNED. Most Outstanding Public Service Recog- nition Aim of Merchants, A system of awards under which a the Merchants and Manufacturers’ As- soclation to the resident of Washington who is found to have performed the been authorized by the board of gover- nors of the organization, it was an- president. A committee has been named to ar- range details of the awards and to sug- gest the field of public activities here for which the recognition would be given. Members of the committee are Maj. Gen. Anton Stephan, Richard Lamb and Arthur J. Sundlun. A joint committee representing the Merchants and_Manufacturers’ Associ- ation and the Washington Real Estate Board has started formulation of a pro- gram seeking to encourage establish- ment here of new light industries of a character that would not blight the beauty of the National Capital. At meetings held thus far the need for expanding industrial activiteis here as a means of affording greater oppor- tunities for employment has been dis- cussed. The committee also points out that plans for the National Capital have taken cognizance of the possibility of a compaartively large industrial de- velopment in the southeast section near Buzzards Point and along the railroad tracks north of Union Station. As a first step in the program the committee urges the extension of New York avenue from its present terminus to Bladensburg road northeast, which would open up a large industrial area. Merchant members of the joint com- mittee are Gen. Stephan, Joseph A. Burkart and John H. Hanna. The Real Estate Board is represented by Carl G. Rosinski, R. Marbury Stamp and Karl Jarrell. medal would be presented annually by | most outstanding public service has| nounced last night by Mark Lansburgh, | WAR MOTHER AID ASKED N CONGRESS |Bloom Recalls Death of Son | Just Before Pension Be- | came Effective. f Congress was asked yesterday to ap- propriate $5,000 for a Washington war mother facing a penniless old age be- | cause one of the two sons she lost in the World War was_killed five days | before the war risk insurance act went | into effect. | Strictly speaking, the younger of her ‘two sons was not a World War cas- | ualty because he lost his life when his ship struck a mine or was torpedoed five days before this country formally | declared war on the central powers.| | However, he was serving at the time | as a_member of an armed guard of | | the United States Navy aboard the| merchantman S. S. Astec, and Repre- sentative Sol Bloom of New York, who introduced the bill yesterday, feels that the mother should receive at least a part of the compensation she would have been entitled to had her son lost his life in the same manner after the declaration of war. Was Boatswain's Mate. ‘The mother is Mrs. Annie M. Eopo- lucci, 649 I street southeast. John, her elder son and main support since the death of her husband, 16 years before, was already in the United Sfates Navy as boatswain’s mate, first class, of the crew of the U. S. S. Dolphin | when the war broke out. As war clouds cast their shadows, John Eopolucci, then 31 years old, was | transferred with 11 others to form an | armed guard on the Aztec, under Comdr. Gresham. Six days before the formal declaration of war the Auztec, steaming toward Brest, was either tor- pedoed or struck a mine and sank rapidly. On April 1, 1917, John Eopo- lucci was last seen. His comrades, whom he assisted into the lifeboats, were rescued, but John is believed to | have gone down with the ship. Brother Listed Dead. Months later from the Argonne came | the ‘message that the name of William Eopolucci, John's 29-year-old brother, had been added to the list of dead. | For the great sacrifice that she made the mother receives $57.50 a month from William's insurance, but that will cease before the lapse of many years. Mrs. Eopolucei will be then left with- out income unless Representative Bloom succeeds in having his bill for her relief adopted. WILL DISCUSS SCHOOL. Grade school and junior high school work of Takoma Park, D. C., will be discussed at a meeting of the Takoma, D. Citizens' Association tomorrow night. L. J. Cantrell, principal of the new Paul Junior High School, Miss Elizabeth O'Hara, principal of the Ta- koma Park, D. C, School and Miss Katherine R. Macqueen, former prin- cipal of the latter school, will be guests of honor at the meeting, which will be held in the new auditorium of the Ta- koma School. FOR PROPRIETOR Virginian Appeals in Vain t A coyote prowling about his cash | register yesterday was one reason Creed | Crumbaugh had some difficulty making change for his customers. “Wait,” Crumbaugh would tell motor- ists at his filling station on the Vir- ginia end of Chain Bridge, “while I go next door and get this bill broken."” ‘Then Crumbaugh would go to J. D. Mackey’s store while his customers sat and wondered at strange noises that issued from time to time from the of- fice of the Crumbaugh establishment. partners in the coyote. ownership, justice of the World Court, will be ‘zm-dwt Sunday over the National Broadcasting Co. chain. ‘The wm starts at 1 p.m., Eastern time. Stations WJZ, WEAF and WOR will be included in the network. down to your store for awhile?” “Oh, that's all right,” Mackey would nd besides, why didn’t you lock reply, | his_cage last pight?” Crumbaugh, though, was certain he Crumbaugh would get the change all right because he and Mackey were Neither of the proud proprietors, however, seemed inclined to assert their “The coyote’s half yours,” Crumbaugh would say, “so why don’t you take him ' COYOTE IN GAS STATION PUZZLE AND CUSTOMERS o Capital Police When Office ! Is Under Escaped Animal’s Dominance. locked the cage. Somehow, he said, the animal broke the catch last night and got loose within the office. Crumbaugh said that when he went to open for business he saw the coyote with his two paws on the sill eyeing him hungrily, and that he postponed opening the office for awhile. Crumbaugh and Mackey, as they ex- plained to newspaper men last week, caught the coyote in the basement of Mackey's home, where the beast had ventured in quest of fresh chicken meat. At first it was thought to be the famous panther, although a trifie short of stature to fill such a heroic role. Neither of the owners wanted to shoot the coyote, because Mackey ex- }:lllr}ed he had a “cash in hand” offer or_it. ‘The two men decided to call Wash- ington police and ask them to send a professional dog catcher to Virginia, but the police showed a disposition to matter. SITE ONB STREET BLOW THREATENS CONSDERED FO POSTAL BULDING Mall Plans Provide for Beau- tiful Structure Facing Plaza. |PATENT OFFICE MOVE REASSURANCE GIVEN Commerce Department Report Ends | Rumors That Old Location Will Be Maintained. The site bounded by B street and Pennsylvania avenue and Twelith and Thirteenth streets is one of the loca- tions known to be under consideration as_a possible site for the new. Post Office Department. This is directly west of the present building. This site is to be developed with a beautiful building facing what is known | as the grand plaza on the west and the great circle on the east, according to the plans for the great Mall-Pennsyl- vania avenue triangle. Plans for the building development generally have been approved, but the assignment of all buildings to the vari- ous departments and Government establishments has not as yet been finally completed. To Move Patent Office. Meantime, reassurances have come from the Department of Commerce that the Patent Office will be located in its new home between Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets south of Penn- sylvania avenue, where the new De- partment of Commerce building is now rapidly rising. Unfounded rumors had started to circulate that the Patent Office would remain in its old location. The principal reasons for moving the Patent Office into a new building out of | the old structure where it is now lo- cated were the inadequacy of the fa- cilities available and the lack of space to handle the great patent business of the country in an efficient manner. Of- ficials of the Patent Office for years have been asking for better facilities in order that the Government may keep pace with the enormously increased business. Applications for patents have been poul'lng into the Patent Office at such a speed that the Government has been struggling with increasing difficulty to keep up. The new quarters for the Patent Of- fice in the north end of the new De- partment of Commerce Building, it was explained yesterday by one who was closely associated in making the original plans for this part of the building, are especially designed for handling this growing and important branch of the United States Government. The old Post Office Department Building mechanical equipment, which is 30 years old, rapidly is falling into bad condition, according to a survey just made, and unless the department is provided with a new building, it will be necessary to plan for a substantial re- construction of much of the equipment. The growth in postal business has been phenomenal since the department building was put up 30 years ago, postal revenues having jumped from $95,000,~ 000 in 1899 to $696,000,000 in the fiscal year 1929. The number of employes in the department has jumped from 657 in 1899 to more than 1,400 in 1930. Building Overcrowded. So crowded is the present building ! that six divisions are now housed in the | city post office, with consequent loss of efficiency that comes from widely sepa- rated parts of a Government depart- ment. In addition the department is using about 75,000 square feet of cor- ridor space. The Post Office Building is said to be one of the most wasteful in the city, as it has only one tier of offices built around the huge central “cortile,” which is all Inclosed, and must be heated. ‘The building has only about 250,000 square feet of available space, whereas the department is now in urgent need of at least 400,000 feet, and if a new building is provided, would need about 500,000 to provide for expansion. AMERICAN U. DEBATERS WIN OVER SWARTHMORE | | Girls' Team Scores Unanimous De- cision Victory, Making Sec- ond for Season. American University girls' debating team defeated Swarthmore College girls' team by unanimous decision of three judges in a contest last night at Hurst Hall. This brings the American Uni- versity string of victories in debate up to four for this year, with no defeats, the boys' team having won two and the girls' team two decisions. The local team, Jane Lytle, Ethelwyn Hine and Pauline Frederick, supported the affirmative of the question, “Re- solved, That the policy of providing a liberal arts education for all high school graduates who seek it is sound.” The Swarthmore team consisted of Amelia Emhardt, Helen West and Mary Betts. The judges were Miss Ruth Kentzler, George E. Strong and. Paul E. Shorb. Dr. Jessie M. Ferguson of American University presided. . EXPECT DEMONSTRATION. Swearing in of Granfield Awaited by “Wets” and “Drys.” A demonstration is expected in the House tomorrow afternoon when Wil- liam J. Granfield of East Longmeadow, Mass., recently elected by a landslide vote in a special election to succeed the late Representative Willlam Kirk Kay- nor, killed in an airplane crash at Boil- ing Field, is sworn in. Mr. Granfield will be escorted down the aisle in the House by Representative Connery, senior Democratic member from Massachusetts, and Representative Treadway, dean of the Massachusetts delegation. Mr. Granfield won by a very decisive vote in the district which was held for 32 years by Senator and former Speaker Gillett. Mr. Gillett’s successor in the House was Representative Henry I. Bowles of Springfield, who was a mem- ber of the House District committee. PLAN CHARITY FETE. PARIS, February 15 (#).—The largest Franco-American charity fete since the war will be held under auspices of American women in Paris on March 12. Under patronage of President Dou- mergue, it will be for the benefit of the poor children of the city. A leading feature will be Sacha Guitry in the role of Washington, re- producing with great fidelity and detail the reception given by Washington at Mount_Vernon in 1782 to La Fayette let Virginia authorities attend to the land other Frenchmen for the aid given the American Army. U.S.INRETIREMENT OF SAFETY EXPERT Only Special Legislation Can Save Loss of James E. Howard August 30. 1. C. C. POINTS TO NEED AND VALUED RESEARCH Dollar-a-Year Suggestion Vain Un- der Law—Others Similarly Affected. Unless checked by special legislation now pending, the inexorable course of the retirement law will remove from the Federal service in a few months the Government's foremost scientific au- thority on the cause and cure of rail- road accidents. ‘The prospective victim of this “offi- cial calamity,” as the operation of the law has been characterized in this case, is James E. Howard, veteran safety en- gineer of the Interstate Commerce Commission, who must retire next Au- gust despite protests of the commission that his services are indispensable. Howard's case, which is but one of a number affected by an inequity of the law governing retirement, has been made the subject of a special and urgent petition to the Civil Service Commission by George B. McGinty, secretary of the Interstate Commerce Commission, acting on behalf of the members of the commission. McGinty advised civil service officials that it will be “impossible to satisf: torily fill Howard's position,” as he is an “outstanding figure in this particu- lar field of engineering practice and | research,” and declared that the noted | scientist has offered to continue his services without salary. Dollar a Year Suggested. ‘The suggestion was made that some way be found to continue Howard on the rolls as a “dollar-a-year man,” if necessary, in order that the Govern- ment and the public may have the ben- efit of the expert's invaluable services in the movement to reduce rallway hazards. While the Civil Service Commission has not formulated its reply to the re- quest, it was indicated yesterday that the sacrifices patriotically offered by the 79-year-old physicist cannot be ac- cepted under the law, and that the let- ter of the I. C. C. officlals will meet with the usual brief official response expressing regret that nothing can be done about it because the retirement law is explicit and mandatory. The legal provision which will write “finis” on Howard's career as a safety expert, unless counteracted by an amendment indorsed by the Civil Serv- ice Gommission, Budget Bureau, Efficl- ency Bureau and other agencles, states that “after August 20, 1930, no employe | pj, shall be continued in the civil service of the United States beyond the age of retirement for more than four years. Howard has had five extensions be- yond his retirement age, and no further period of grace is possible after Au- gust 20 next. The Star learned yester- day of a number of similar cases in- volving employes whose forced retire- ment will be a severe blow to the Gov- ernment. The proposed amendment would permit further extensions in cer- tain cases by agreement between the department concerned and the Civil Service Commission. Results of Researches. Howard's researches regarding the causes of failure of rails, wheels, axles and other railway materials have fea- tured the Government's intensive efforts to safeguard passengers and property from accident in the realm of railway transportation. He has taken a lead- ing part in the investigation of most of the major railroad catastrophes of the past decade, and his findings in the laboratory often have solved the mys- tery of crashes and pointed the way toward remedial safety measures. Interstate commerce officials say that the loss of Howard's services would be “unthinkable,” yet they admit that un- less some special loophole in the law is found, or an amendment is forthcoming, the Government will be deprived of his aid, even though he is willing to give his advice free. According to “Who's Who,” Howard was testing engineer for the Watertown Arsenal before entering the Govern- ment service in 1910. He was a physi- cist at the Bureau of Standards from 1910 to 1914, when he was transferred to the Bureau of Safety of the Inter- state Commerce Commission. He is a member of the American Society for Testing Materials and other scientific organizations, and has an honorary de- gree from Dartmouth College. Civil service officials are sympatheti- cally aware of the situation confronting Howard and a group of other valuable veterans of the Government service and are doing their utmost to have the law amended so as to except them. Others Include Bryan. Among others who probably would come under the scope of the amend- ment are Henry L. Bryan, editor of the Federal _statutes, State Department; Donald B. MacLeod, chief of the divi- sion of estimates of the Bureau of the Budget; Frank Bond, chairman of the United States Georgraphic Board; Dr. William Tyndall, information officer of the Disirtct government, and a few others, including, notably, certain sci- entists of the Smithsonian Institution, the Department of Agriculture and other Federal branches. Bryan's case was brought to the at- tention of Congress recently by Tyler Dennett, historical adviser to the State Department, who pointed out that B: an’s work was highly technical and tally necessary, and suggested an exe: utive order to allow him to remain in the service. He said that although Bryan is 77 years old, he is most active and “would come to work if you took away every penny of his salary.” MacLeod is 75 years old and has been continuously in the Federal service since 1884. As head of the division of esti- mates of the Budget Bureau, he is the editor of that most important Govern- ment “yearbook,” the Federal Budget. Chairman Bond of the geographic board is 74 years old. At one time chief clerk of the General Land Office, he was transferred to the board in 1903 and was elected chairman in 1925. A few days ago the secretary and chairman of the executive committee of the board wrote an urgent request to the Civil Service Commission that the retirement law be waived in Bond's case, as he is engaged in compiling and editing the sixth report of the board, a task scarcely to be undertaken by any one less fa- miliar with the board’s work. “Mr. Bond is hale and hearty, active in mind and movement, deeply inter- ested in the work of the board and fully capable of carrying on his important duties,” the commission was advised: but the reply was the same—the law prevented. In its last annual report the commis- sion devoted a considerable amount of space to this problem. ‘The provision (limiting extensions to four years beyond retirement)” it Reconstruction of Giant Lizard at Na- tional Museum Reveals Curious Anatomical Features. DIPLODOCOS, DINOSAUR OF UTAH. HAD BRAINS IN HIS TAIL, BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Poor old diplodocos He was about the biggest creature that ever lived on earth—and his brains were in his tail. One hundred and fifty million years ago, more or less, he wallowed with his 15-odd tons of flesh and bone in a semi- tropical swamp now covered by the mountains of Northeastern Utah. After six years of almost continuous labor of three men at the National Museum, his gigantic skeleton has been pieced together and in another year or so will be ready to be set up in the ex- hibition hall, Everything about diplodocos was big, and the job of rebuilding him has been big in proportion. His bones were first recovered at Dinosaur National Monu- ment, Utah, in 1923, by a Smithsonian party in charge of Dr. Charles W. Gil- more of the department of vertebrate paleontology. They were ‘inclosed in blocks of ~sandstone. Finally 50,000 pounds of material were taken out of the mountains and transported by wagons 150 miles to the nearest rail shipping point over a mountain 9,000 feet high. Bones Cut Qut of Stone. All the time since has been taken up in cutting the bones out of the hard standstone and fitting them together. The work had to be done carefully. Sometimes nearly a month was required to prepare a single vertebra, and there were about 50 in all. Each bone had to be put in its right place and casts made to fill missing parts. Diplodocos was approximately 80 feet long. The re- constructed skeleton, mounted on a wooden framework, still is lacking part of its tail. The big workshop on the ground floor of the National Museum is not big enough to hold him all. Diplo~ docos couldn't possibly have been squeezed nto it when he was alive. Reconstructing the skeleton of one of these giant lizards, Dr. Gilmore says, reveals some curious anatomical fea- tures which can no longer be found in vertebrate life. Chief of these is the brain in the tail. Diplodocos didn’t have much brains anyway. For all his enormous bulk he was about the have time to think about it. was called for. Now with his primitive nervous sys- Action have been too slow a process even for the extremely rapid nerve impulses to be transmitted to his head, warning him of his danger. So the brain es- tablished a branch office in the hind part of the animal and, since this had it. Under this theory, when diplodocos felt himself getting caught in the mud he was able to act correctly and im- mediately without any reference to his head at all. A weakness of this theory. Mr. Gilmore says, is that it doesn't apply to other great mud-wallowing creatures like the elephant or the hip- popotami, which are able to get along very well with just one brain. Some hold that the head-brain of diplodocos always remained in control of the tail- brain. May Learn From Snakes. Some light may be thrown on the subject, Dr. Austin H. Clark of the National Museum stafl. explained yes- tem and enormously long body it may | more business than the head office, in | the course of centuries greatly outgrew CRIPPLED CHILDREN ARE GIVEN MONEY AFTER STAR'S PLEA Several Contributors Re- spond to Magruder School Youngsters. VALENTINE SENT LASS WITH GIRL’S SAVINGS Anonymous Donor Orders Case of Milk Sent Daily for Under- nourished Pupils. Contributions of money and milk and offers of many kinds of aid have been received by the Magruder School for crippled children in response to The Star's revelation of the plight of many of the school's pupils, including the representative “Violet,” who, with five terday, by the behavior of some of diplodocos’ distant living relatives, the snakes. When a copperhead sinks its fangs into its prey, sald Dr. Clark, it looks like an intelligent response, di- rected from the head. But he had choped the heads off copperheads and immediately after grabbed them by the tails. The re- sponse, he says, is exactly the same as if the head-brain was present. The reptile strikes with terrific force and apparent accuracy, the bloody stump where the head had been striking the experimenter. Anatomically the copperhead does not have any especially large mass of nerve tissue anywhere in its vertebral column, yet it seems obvious that there is a very efficient reflex center there somewhere. The reaction is obtained much better if the decapitated snake is grabbed almost exactly at the end of the vertebral column, giving some indi- cation of the location of the center. It is possible, said Dr. Clark, that some remnant of the “tail-brain” character of old diplococos is common to reptiles dumbest creature that ever stood on four legs. He had enough brains to eat. fid sleep, and that was about all. But ‘he had two of them, one in his head and another, very much larger, at the opposite end of his spine. This ii]'t‘:;::wn clearly in the reconstructed eton. Was Smelling Creature. This, says Mr. Gilmore, is one of the unsolved mysteries of the evolution of the nervous system. Diplodocos, like other vertebrates, had a brain in his head, a tiny mass of nerve cells and their connections, weighing about ounces. The most prominent parts of it were the olefactory lobes which enable him to smell. He was largely a smelling creature. The indications from his brain cast are that he couldn’t see or hear very well. Probably the world was an indistinct blur around m. He had a cerebellum, or_division of the brain which controlled his sense of balance, but it was & very small one | ad considering the enormous body which he had to keep in equilibrium. Prob- ably, the brain cast indicates, he kept breathing and his heart kept beating from the little brain in his head. This also probably controlled his sense of di- rection, at least the direction of the front part of him. But at the end of the sacral verte- brae was a mass of nerve cells which, to the specles of ancient 3 from 5 to 20 times larger than the brain in his head. What use he made of it nobody knows. It is not known whether there was any di- rect connection between the two brains. Concerned With Hind Parts. One theory is, Mr. Gilmore says, that the “brain-in-the-tail” was merely the seat of reflex activities of the hind legs. Diplodocos’ interests in life were even more concerned with his hind parts then his foreparts. He was an enormously heavy animal and he lived mostly in muddy swamps, full of treacherous places. If his big hind legs became trapped in the ooze that was the end of him. He had to stay there and starve to death. When he felt his hind part sinking too much, something had to be done about it quickly, or dip- lodocos was a gone dinosaur. He didn’t 2 in general. Need Brains to Keep Stomach Filled. Diplodocos, says Mr. Gilmore, prob- ably was strictly a plant-eating animal and he needed about all the few brains he had in his head to direct him in gathering enough herbage to keep his enormous stomach filled. He was by no means the largest of the dinosaurs, but he was so heavy that some authorities have questioned whether he ever lived on dry land at all, holding that he never could have supported the enor- mous weight of his body without the ald of mud and water. But, says Mr. Gilmore, the creatures must have come out on land to lay their eggs. Probably he made most of his contacts with the outside world with his tongue, which served him both as a smelling and tast- ing organ. Just now poor old diplodocos looks enormous ribs held in place by wooden scaffolding as one part after another is ded. Reconstructing him is, in fact, a rather complicated job of structural steel work. When he finally is set up in the exhibition hall he will be pro- vided with a cast iron backbone. ‘The casts are being made, section by section, at the navy yard, following the contour of his spine as shown by the reconstruction with wooden platforms. The sections will be welded together and the ribs arranged upon it so that the iron itself will be almost entirely concealed. No effort will be made to re- store the body. What this looked ilke is almost entirely a matter of con- Jecture anyway, aside from the shape as shown by the bones. But the skele- ton will be good for another few thou- sand years, added to the vast eons that it already has remained on earth since diplodocos emerged. a tiny animal, from an egg deposited in the mud of a Permian swamp and started immedi- ately to eat and grow. How long he lived nobody knows, nor how he came to his end in the gulping ooze millions of years before the first human being appeared on earth. And diplodocos probably didn't know either— for, judging from the size of both his brains, he could have had only a very vague consciousness that he was alive anyway. Fight Is Expected On Lehlbach Bill At Tuesday Hearing Arrangements are being made for a large attendance at the hearing scheduled for Tuesday on the new Lehlbach bill to revamp the civil service retirement law. ‘The large caucus room in the House Office Building will be used. A bitter fight is forecast because many of the organized employes feel there has been a persistent effort to delay final action on legislation to correct inequalities under the present retirement law. Some of the largest organiza- tions of the Federal workers are insistent that the Dale bill, which has already passed the Senate, should be enacted as a stop-gap measure before a gen- eral revision of the law to make it a model retirement system is undertaken. sald, “will force many separations with- in the next year, unless the law is modi- fled. * * * The commission, being satisfled from its experience with the admfhistration of the civil service act and the retirement act that manda- tory retirement would in some cases be detrimental to the service, sug- [ gested an amendment of the act to Senator Porter H. Dale, chairman of the Senate committee on civil service.” A few months ago the commission sent a questionnaire to the 45 heads of departments and independent estab- lishments asking their attitude toward such an amendment. Eight departments and 14 other es- tablishments replied. The Interior, Navy, Post Office, Agriculjure, Com- merce and Treasury Departments are adverse to the amendment; Justice and Labor favor it, and the Department of State and War did not reply. The General Accounting Office and Office of the Director of Public Buildings and Public Parks, are adverse; but the architect of the Capitol, Federal Power Commission, Interstate Commerce Com- mission, librarian of congress, lil District of Columbia Public Library, Panama Canal, recorder of deeds, Ship- ping Board and Tariff Commission favor the amendment. The Smithsonian In- stitution has already recommended to Congress the exemption of research workers from the 4-year limitation. EDITORS CALLED IN LANGDON TRIAL Benton and 0'Connell Will Be Asked to Testify as to Rum Delivery. Ralph Benton, managing editor, and Daniel O'Connell, city editor of the Washington Times, will be called to- morrow to testify as defense witifesses in the trial of Robert F. Langdon, sus- Dbended fifth precinct detective, accused of violation of the liquor laws, Harry T. Whelan, defense attorney, announced last night. According to testimony of prohibition agents, when trial opened Thursday O'Connell and Benton went to the office of rren A. Heddons, special prohibition agent for this district, and told of an eged telephone conversa- tion in which, they said, it was indi- cated that Langdon would deliver 10 gallons of whisky to a house in the 2800 block of Thirteenth street on the night of October 25. Agents stationed at the house arrested Langdon and seized the alleged whisky when he drove up in an automobile. The case was postponed Thursday when Whalan objected to the use of the confiscated whisky as evidence against Langdon on the theory that the arrest was ‘illegal because the prohibition agents making the arrest did not have reasonable grounds to be- lieve that a felony was to be committed. It is believed he will attempt to show tomorrew, through the testimony of O’Connell and Benton, that their com- plaint was based on hearsay evidence, which the prohibition authorities did not attempt to verify. NEW BERLIN .LIQUOR LOSS. German Measure in Committee Vote like the beginning of a skyscraper, his other pupils, goes to school almost daily without breakfast. Four contributions were sent to The Star. One man, who desires to remain unidentified, notified The Star that he would send $5 a week to the Magru- der School for colored crippled children and another $5 a week to the Weight- man School for white crippled children to be used as a lunch fund for the pupils who come to school either with- out food or without funds with which to buy it. Another person, designating himself merely as “A Reader,” sent The Star a $10 bill with instructions that it be passed on to “Little Violet.” Girl Sends Valentine. ‘The third contribution came from little Jane Martin of 1627 Lamont street. Jane's gift was a valentine, designated especially for “Violet's” milk ration and with the valentine there was this little note: “To The Star: “In the inclosed ‘envelope there is a quarter, which I am sending to Violet for milk. Perhaps I will be able to send her a quarter from my allowance every two wi Will you please see that it is delivered to her? “Yours sincererly, “JANE MARTIN.” The reporter who wrote the story about “Violet” and her classmates took the envelope containing Jane's valen- tine directly to the Magruder School, where he gave it to Miss K. U. Alex~ ander, principal of the Sumner-Magru- der Schools. She in turn placed it in the hands of the little crippled girl. ‘The fourth contribution received by The Star was anonymous and was a crisp dollar bill. After recelving the advice of the school officials, plans were instituted to have the contributions received by The 'Star turned over to the Parent- ‘Teacher Associations of the two schools for crippled children. The money will be administered by the officers of the two groups wuhlq the schools them- selves, so that chiidren arriving in the morning without breakfast will find hot meals awaiting them. In this man- ner the foods served the children will be prepared by the dietitian in con- formity with their individual needs. Attention is directed again to the fact that the children who do leave their homes in the mornings without break- fast are pupils of the Magruder School. The only needy cases at the Weightman School are some six youngsters who are unable to buy the soup and milk, which is provided through the Parent- Teacher Association there, and these are given the foods without charge. Besides the gifts received by The Star the Magruder School itself re- ceived a check for $5 and a contribu- tion of $1 from the president of the school’s ~ Parent-Teacher Association. Likewise, Thompson’s Dairy has de- livered a case of milk daily since the article telling of the conditions in the school avfunred in The Star. The dairy’s only explanation to the school was that the milk was to be delivered every school day and that no payment was to be accepted. The dairy ex- plained that a donor who wishes to remain anonymous had ordered the milk for the school. The Weightman School's Parent- Teacher Association also has visited the Magruder School, offering any assistant- ance it may be able to afford. Appreciation Expressed. Miss Alexander and the teachers of the school for colored cripples have |asked The Star to express their sin- | cere appreciation to the people who | have given assistance to the poor chil- jdren of the school. They and the Parent-Teacher Association, of which Mrs. Gertrude Johnson is president, are determined to do everything in their power to help those children and to see that the gifts which have come to them will be administered so that the children themselves will receive the fullest benefit. Frank Reid of 1734 S street is treasurer of the -asseciation and B. F. Harrington of 1734 Oregon avenue is vice president. The officers of the Weightman Par- ent-Teacher ~Association, ~which ad- ministers the lunch fund of that school, are Mrs. Samuel Gross of 2128 Pennsyl~ vania avenue, president, and Mrs. M. Joseph Hanley, the Landmore Apart- ments, .vice president and leader of the work with the crippled children. WIFE WINS DIVORCE FROM D. C. LAWYER By the Associated Press. RENO, Nev,, February 15.—Mrs, Mad- elyn Folsom-Jones was granted a di- vorce here today from Otto R. Folsom- Jones, attorney of Washington, D. C. They married at Montgomery, Ala., January 19, 1918, and have a young son, custody of which was given to the mother. The complaint charged deser- tion dating from 1925. Mrs. Madelyn Folsom-Jones is listed in the telephone directory as living at 1907 Fifteenth street, but her telephone, according to the company, bee: “disconnected.” Efforts to reach Mr. Folsom-Jones were unsuccessful. His law office is at 815 Fifteenth street. INJURIES ARE FATAL. Workman Who Fell 40 Feet From Reduces Hours of Sale. BERLIN, February 15 (#).—A cam- paign to limit the number of licenses for places selling alcoholic liquors ad- vanced another step today, with adop- of a resolution by the Reichstag's economic committee, that local authori- ties be empowered to forbid or restrict the sale of hard liquor at certain hours. The resolution was adopted by a 14- fi-lfl vote, after an animated discus- lon. The restriction hours would be in the forenoon and also on pay days and election days, but no more than two days weekly. Ladder, Dies. Injuries sustained Friday morning when he fell from a ladder atop a line car of the Washington & Old Dominion Electric Railroad _while repairing a trolley wire, near Fairview, Va., caused the death in Emergency Hospital late yesterday of Caney Testerman, 53, of Park Lane, Va. ‘The man was sald to have sustained fractures of the spine and ribs and severe contusions. He was working in eommy of several other linemen when the ladder on which he was standing is Velght”and huried R neary 40 feo wel and hurl nearly 40 feet to the ground. s