Evening Star Newspaper, September 21, 1930, Page 13

BUZZARDS POINT SURVEY CETS 0.K OFPLARNNG BODY Commission Authorizes Re- study of Area as Potential Industrial Site. LAND PURCHASES GIVEN LENGTHY CONSIDERATION Yollow Arts Commission in Ap- proving Standard 0il Build- ing Plans. Another survey of the Buzzards Point region, between the Washington | Navy Yard and the Army War Col- Jege, as & potential industrial develop- ment, in relation to a contemplated bridge across the Anacostia River at that point, was authorized late yester- day by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, as it concluded its two-day September meeting. Capt. E. N. Chisolm, jr., the com- mission’s engineer, who has been deeply interested in the development of that section of the city as an industrial area, explained that the commission directed its staff to restudy the whole problem. The planners desire to gaug¥ the relation of traffic to industry that locality and wish to have more information on the whole subject be- fore laying down any definite plan as ® desirable civic policy. The restudy will be undertaken im- medately and will be participated in by Licut. Col. U. 8. Grant, 3d, vice chair- man and executive officer of the com- mission: Charles W. Eliot, 2d. the com- mission's director of planning; Capt. Chisolm, W.-T. Partridge, consultant architect to the commission, and other experts in its employ. Discusses Land Purchases. The commission devoted a large share of the afternoon session to the all-im- portant question of land purchases for Park and playground purposes. In keep- ing with its customary policy, the loca- tion of prospective areas io be pur- chased was kept secret by the Commis- sion, which again discussed co-opera- tion” with Maryland and Virginia au- thorities in the co-operative purchasing of park land, particularly for the George ‘Washington Memorial Parkway, on both sides of the Potomac River southward from Great Falls to Mount Vernon, Va., and Fort Washington, Md. The commission follewed in the foot- steps of the Fine Arts Commission, in approving_the plans and location 'for thee new Stlndlrdton Co. building, to be erected on B street, between Second and Fhird streets, near the public build- ings development'in the Triangle. This building, which will house the cor- | ration’s offices for this region and ikewise contain filling-station quarters, 15 to be built in a monumental style, in harmony with the adjacent structures of the Federal Government. Grant to Convey Thanks. ‘The commission directed Lieut. Col. U. S. Grant, 3rd, its executive officer, to convey Its thanks to the Standard Oil officials in co-operating with the Gov- ernment in its desire to beautify the city. Col. Grant was complimented for his part in arranging conferences with Standard Oil officials to bring about this result. Without committing itself on its own preferences, the commission listened to | Louis A. Simon, head of the architec- tural division of the office of the super- | vising architect, Treasury Department, and Rear Admiral A. L. Parsons, chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks Navy Department, on the proposed lo cation of the new Army and Navy group of buildings to house these two depart- ments. their building constructed near the In- terior Department at Eighteenth and F streets. The War Department will have to have a permanent home when the State Department takes over the pres- ert State, War and Navy Building, at Stventeenth street and Pennsylvania avenue, which is to be remodeled shortly at_a cost of some $3,000,000. The Navy Department will have to shift from its present war-time home on the Mall when that semi-permanent striic- ture is torn down to make way for the program of development incident to construction of the approaches to the Washington terminus of the Arlington | Memorial Bridge and general improve- ment of that area for park purposes. The commission proposes to give the matter further study before making definite recommendations on just where the new War and Navy Departments ghould go. GEM THIEVES GET $3,138 STORE LOOT Show Window Door on Seventh Street Opened and Men Escape Unseen. Staging one of the cleverest jewelry robberies perpetrated here in 'recent months, thieves in broad daylight Pri- day opened an inside show window door and escaped unnoticed by employes with, jewelry valued at $3,138 at the Kay 'Jewelry Co.s store, 409 Seventh street. The robbery was discovered at clos- ing time Friday night by Sylvan Pow- dermaker, manager of the store. who reported the loss to police. Powder- maker told investigating headquarters' detectives that the last seen of the jewelry, which consisted of a diamond *tudded bracelet and a wrist watch set with 155 diamonds, was when it placed in the show window early Fri- day morning “The bracelet was valued at $2,000 and the watch at $1,138, Powdermaker told police. The jewelry store manager told head- aquarters’ detectives that he was unable 10 explain how any one could have pos- sibly opened the inside door of the showease without attracting the atten- tion of employes. He explained, how- ever, that the inside showcase door was not locked throughout the day. Headquarters' detectives said that in order to reach the jewelry the thieves would have been forced to open the door and lean half-way into the show window. Mrs. rsunh E. Myers Dies, STAUNTON, Va., September 20.— (Special).—Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Myers, aged 81, and a resident of Staunton for the past 57 years, died at her home here after a two weeks' iliness. She was the widow of the late Joseph W. Myers, for many years well known resi- dent of this city. Surviving are two sons, Joseph Tacy Myers of Staunton, ;fld Ernest Teaford Myers of Roanoke, ~ in | Music Position of Musicians in Secretary The following article, giving the views of union musicians in their controversy with Washington motion picture theater managers. wos prepared for The Star by John E. Birdsell, secretary of the Wash- inpton ~ Musicians' Union. While The Star iz glad to present the views of the musicians, publication this article does mol mean that The S to these views. A week o presented the views of the managers in an article written by A. Julian Brulaw- ki, ‘president of their association, under the same conditions. BY JOHN E. BIRDSELL. Is lving music unneeded and un- wanted in the theaters of Washingion? The corporations which control these theaters, men, have said that such is the case. The Musicians' Protective Union be- lieves otherwise. Which is correct? In a recent article, appearing under tive, these corporations so far forgot thefr position as. to admit that a theater orchestra is “pleasant and deco- rative, but not essential.” But this brief lapse was speedily atoned by the thun- derous pronunciamento that “the thea- ter owners insist on their American right to_employ those whom they, in i |time and for the proper scale.” | In other words, the “American right” of the theater corporations is to employ |what music they please, when they please, and for what they please. the article leaves no doubt in the mind | | | possibly be avoided. No “‘American {right” is accorded by th the public, which pays th® expenses and dividends of these corporations, to have any say in the matter whatver. No “American right” is accorded to the muscians, whose professional reputation and livelihood are at stake, to raise heir voice to negotiate conditions which affect them as directly as they do the theater corporations. We fear that these corporations are attempting to wave the American flag over a proposition of absolutism, un- dreamed of in the days of czarist Rus- sia. Are these corporate entities to dictate to the Washington public the type of entertainment for which it shall pay its money? Are their employes to have no say as to the conditions under which they shall work? Verily, there are many American rights of which these eorporations have, apparently, never heard. Not Merely Utilitarian. In his recent article, the corporate spokesman informs us that “In the days when all movies were silent, found that music Was a necessary con tures to fill the vold caused by the silent screen.” We may overlook the solecism of a screen, silent or other- | wise, causing a void. But we cannot overlok the _erroneous | music served merely a utilitarian pur- pose in filmic_ entertainment. The demand for the fine orchestras in the picture theaters was grounded !in the real love of beautiful music | which has always existed in the hearts of the people. Although the character i | the action on the screen, it was the | beauty of the music itself, and not the silence, which won for the orchestra its_place in the movie palace. Before the advent of these theaters, | the love of music, which the American | public has always ssed, could only be properly satisfied by the large sym- phony orchestras, operatic companies | and similar organizations. These, how- | cver, could not fill the musical wants | of the vast public, because in order to sustain themselves, it was necessary to charge a high rate of admission. This made it impossible for most of the peo- ple to attend such performances with any degree of frequency, and many could not go at all. The picture theaters, through their | each day, were able to provide the pub- i lic, not only with acceptable screen entertainment, but with excellent music |at a comparatively small admission. Naval officials prefer to have | The late Marcus Loew, in a speech de- | | livered at the opening of the Palace | Theater in this city, referred to music {and the cinema as the “twin arts. which_indeed they had come to be, | and, like twins, each was a separate entity, depending upon its individual | merit for success. The innate fond- Iness for music whieh the American public had always possessed, was quick- ened by the constant opportunity af- forded to hear the best in musical literature, Thelr artistic perception so developed that their exactions became greater with respect to the quality of the orchestra than to the | quality of the picture. The picture might be good at times, and at other times not so good. But no let-down was ever tolerated on the part of the orchestra. Offered No Real Substitute. The advent of the scund picture has offered nothing' which the public can accept as a substitute for the splendid orchestras which it is accustomed to hear. Not a single theatergoer is deluded by the thought that in listening to a phonographic recording of even the most famous orchestra that he Is listening to that orchestra itself. nor anything other than a mechanical and distorted reproduction of the work of that orchestra. In the home, such reproductions may be entertaining and instructive, but do they possess that merit which would justify any one paying admission to a theater to hear them? Feeling that their personal views on this subject might be biased by reason of their direct interest in the question, the theater musicians have submitted the matter to their real employers, the Washington public. which has been in progress for only one { i | | | | | | | week, has resulted in ove declaring that they did not care to at- tend theaters which do not provide liv- ing music. ‘This number represents | more than 95 per cent of those whom | our members have, thus far, had op- portunity to approach. It is quite evi- | dent that living music is not “unneeded | and unwanted” by Washington, We must emphasize the fact that these votes, the number of which is given to the public press each day, are on file in’ our office, and open to inspection by any properly accredited representative of the public, the press or the theaters sign these ballots based their refusal upon the false and misleading statement of the theater corporations that the musicians’ union “dictates the number of men which each house shall and must employ before music will be allowed to play in the theater.” It is | the theater owners and not the musi- i cians who insist upon being dictators | on this point. The owners insist that it is their “American right” to have their fudgment alone determine the matter. The musicians have never ployed, any more than they have dic- tated the wage scale. To the musician, these matters always have been, and still are, matters of negotiation. When negatintions have reached the point that there is a mutua’ ngreement, a contract is signed, which equally binds both parties thereto. Proper Subject of Negotiation. That the number of men who should constitute an orchestra js a proper sub- dect of negotiation is ‘a matter which through their local spokes- | the signature of their local representa- | their judgment, require, at the proper | And | of any one that their general attitude | is not to employ it at all, if such can | statement to | it was | comitant to the showing of these pic- | inference that | of the music played was dictated by | | necessity of eliminating an offensive | ability to play to many large audiences | 15,000 people | The few people who haye declined to | dictated the number of men to be em- | in the Theaters Present Controversy With Owners of Picture Houses Given by of Union . | has never heretofore been and cannot | logically now be denied. An inade- | quate orchestra is unpleasing to the public, unprofitable to the theater own- | er, and a source of mortification and humiliation to the musicians playing therein. Economically, the salary of | each member of an orchestra and the | number of men to be employed in an | orchestra bear a most intimate rela- tion, as will be readily seen when it is understood that an expenditure of | $1,000 per week will pay a fairly large { orchestra of 20 men, if the salary is | $50 per week per man, while this same $1,000 would only pay a small orchestra of 10 men if the salary is $100 per week per man. In the article referred to, the status of negotiations is inexcusably misrepre- sented. It is stated, “The best propo- sition that has been received from the musical union i a reduction of ap- proximately 5 per cent in the number of men employed, a form of relief which did not reach the smaller theaters and | meant little to the larger organiza- tions.” The facts are as follows: In the case of the Fox Theater, which employs 36 musicians at present (this number having been agreed to at the | time the last contract was written), our assoclation has offered to reduce the requirements by 10 men (about 30 per cent), and left the matter open to still further negotiation. In the case of the neighborhood houses, all of which by the requirements of the late contract employed a principal organist and a re- lief organist, we have offered to elimi- nate the reiief organist. | of every other theater, a concession of at least one man has been offered, anfl | all of this is admittedly open to further negotiation. In one of the two theaters whare the corporations have expressed a willing- | ness to tolerate orchestras while needed for stage presentations. minimum provided by the present con- tract is lower than the actual require- | ments admitted by the management | yet a still smaller orchestra is being de- | manded by the owning corporation in se of this theater. “Fine Symphony Concert.” Flsewhere in the article referred to, it is stated that “Several attempts have the ca: been made to give fine sympheny con- | certs In connection with pictures, with- |out extra charge. On the last attempt made in October, 1929, at the Earle Theater, the musicians on the stage outnumbered the audience.” The “fine symphony concert” on the occasion in question, was & group of jazz funes played by a local dance orchestra of 10 or 11 men. But the statement that they outnumbered the audience trans- scends the bounds of poetic license. The article fiatters us with the asser- tion that the prevailing rate for musi- cians playing for film rTecordings in actual rate is $10 per hour for single engagemenis, and about $6 per hour when the men are engaged by the week. But the wage scale in Hollywood is no | more in dispute than is the wage scale |in Washington, so why was | dragged in? No mention whatever was made in that article concerning the economic effect upon our city of the discharge, by the fiat of these New York interests. of a group of local men who spend their large aggregate earnings with local business people or deposit them in local banking institutions. Of course. | and unwanted.” they have no, right to | recetve this money. But if perchance | there is both need and want of this service, are we still to understand that it is the “American right” of these | corporations to contribute wantonly to | the present unemployment situation? | Or can it be that at a time when even the efforts of the President of the | United States are being addressed to | the alleviation of this outstanding na- tional economic disaster, that the cor- porations in question are permitting | their avarice to outweigh their pa- | triotism? Understanding Essential. We might continue at much greater length in our endeavor to dispel the clouds of fiction with which the article on behalf of the corporation is shrouded, and to inject the sunlight of true facts. which it Jacks. But it is more essential that the main issue in this controversy be thoroughly understood, and mot obscured with collateral matters, how- ever interesting they may be. The whole question Is. does Wash- ington need and want living music in its theaters? The theater owners say no. They would have done with it all We say yes. We believe it should be continued. If the Washington public does need and want living music in the theaters, then the stand of the Musicians' Pro- | tective Union is correct, and it cannot be assailed through the befogging of the jssue with misstatements or irrelevant theories. CUT IN COAL RATE GIVEN APPROVAL Chamber of Commerce Committee Favors Low Tariff From Pennsylvania. Approval of a mbvement for lower freight rates on anthracite coal ship- ping from Pennsylvania fields to Wash- | ington was expressed at a meeting of | the committee on transportation and This referendum, | fieight rates of the Washington Cham- | ber of Commerce yesterday. The com- | mittee ~was advised by Chairman Arthur C. Smith that the Baltimore Association of Commerce is preparing to bring this question to the attention of the Interstate Commerce Commission and it was suggested that the Washing- ton Chamber of Commerce join hands with the Baltimore organization in pre- senting the case. | Following lengthy discussion of the | anthracite coal question, the committee voted that the board of directors be requested at its next meeting to approve participation by the chamber in the proceedings before the Interstate Com- merce Commission and that a special committee be appointed to have charge of the presentation Activities of the committee during the year, with emphasis on the importance of its efforts before the commission in advocacy of the new Chesapeake Beach ferry line to the Eastern Shore, which, if effected, will bring these respective sections into still closer business rela- | tionship, were reported by Mr. Smith. INJURED IN FALL Falling down several flights of stairs at his home, 1603 Minnesota avenue southeast, ast night, James W. Fultz, 82 years old, was seriously injured and taken to Casualty Hospital. Dr. Louls Jimal, of the hospital staff, said that Pultz received a skull fracture | and severe lacerations to the scalp. He id his condition is critical. Police sald Fultz, in a spell of dizzi- ness, lost his balance at the head of the stairs and toppled down them. In the case| the Summer | Hollywood 1s $45 per man per hour. The | this | if the service of these men is “unneeded | IVESTORS T SEEK WARDMAN RECORDS INMANDANUS SUT Preferred Stockholders Want| Investigation of Affairs of Corporation. RECOVERY OF $800,000 WILL BE UNDERTAKEN Committee Invites 500 to Join in Action Against Mortgage and Discount Firm. A group of preferred stockholders of the Wardman Mortgage and Discount Corporation will ask the District Su- preme Court this week to issue a writ of mandamus calling upon Harry Ward- man to make available to the stock- holders the books and records of the corporation, it was announced last night. The committee representing the stockholders last night issued the fol- lowing statement in connection with the proposed litigation: “The stockholders' committee of the Wardman Mortgage and Discount Cor- poration has sent out invitations to the 500 preferred stockholders of the corpo- ration to join with a group of the larger shareholders in an effort to force an investigation of the affairs of the com- pany. This letter was immediately fol- lowed by another invitation, sent out by Harry Wardman yesterday, request- ing stockholders to exchange their stock in the Wardman Mortgage and Discount Corporatlon for ‘5 per cent non-voting. | non-cumulative preferred stock of the Wardman Realty and Construction Co.’ Ten Days to Make Exchange. “Mr. JVardman announced in his let- ter thaf the Wardman Realty & Con- struction Co.s assets consisted of the ‘equities’ in the 10 large hotel apart- ment houses recently placed under a $16,000,000 mortgage through a New York and Chicago investment banking concern. According to Mr. Wardman, holders of preferred stock are given 10 days in which to make this ‘exchange.’ “Members of the Stockholders’ Pro- tective Committee claim that they al- ready have information to the effect that in addition to the $16,000,000 first mortgages, debentures, notes, etc., which would bring the total indebtedness above $22,000,000, and in addition to this the bonds run for 20 years. “Harry A. L. Barker, chairman of the Stockholders’ Committee and a promi- nent Washington attorney, says & sub- stantial sum has been raised by pre- ferred stockholders to defray expenses of the proj litigation and that he believes a fair chance of recovering the entire $800,000 invested in preferred stock can be anticipated. “In addition to Mr. Barker, Godfrey | L. Munter and Robert L. Smythe con- | stitute the committee. Oscar H. Brink- man has been retained as general counsel.” Arrangement Unsatisfactory. At a meeting of the common stock- holders of the Mortgage & Discount Corporation, it was decided to make it possible for the stockholders to ex- change their holdings for stock of the Wardman Realty & Construction Co. This arrangement, however, was not | satisfactory to the holders of the pre- | ferred stock, and at a meeting last week they decided to start litigation in an effort to recover the money they paid for their stock. The hotels in which the Realty and | Construction company has equities are | the Wardman Park and addition, Carl- | ton, Annapolis, Roosevelt, Boulevard, | Stoneleigh Courts, Highlands, 2700 Con- necticut avenue, Davenport Terrace, | the Alabama and the Department of | Justice Office Building. FOUR AUTOS STRUCK IN TWO-BLOCK DRIVE |Colored Man Held on Reckless and Hit and Run Charges by First Precinct Police. | walter Harris, colored, 32 years old. of 402 R street, whs arrested by first precinct police yesterday on charges of reckless driving and hit-and-ran after, police said, he struck four auto- mobiles in the course of two blocks near Fourteenth and B streets. Harris’ automobile first collided with a car driven by W. H. Boaze of 1335 | Jefferson street. A block further he | erashed into the automobile of Dr. Mark C. Buller, 1846 Sixteenth street. At Tweifth and B streets he collided with two parked cars. The parked au- tomobiles are owned by John Raffo | of 1703 B street and Mrs. Annle Vale jof 1104 M street. Harris was arrested by Park Police- man John H. Compton and turned over to first precinet police. FIDAC FLAGS LOST Police Seek Three Parade Banners Valued at $500 Each. Three of the flags shipped from New York City for parades of the Fidac Congress here last week, are being sought by the police. They. were re- | ported lost somewhere between Union | Station and the Carlton Hotel while | being earried to the rooms of Maj. E. L. White, who made the report to the police last night. Two of the flags were presented to the Congress by foreign countries, one by France and the other by Czecho- slovakia, while the third was a Fidac flag. Each was valued at $500 in the report made to the police. Maj. White explained that the flags probably were lost from a machine carrying them from the railway station 1o the hotel. They had been packed in | New York City together with a number of other flags and the boxes were not | opened until delivered in Washington HEAD STRIKES CURBING Man Hurt in Altercation May Have Skull Fractured. George F. Modlin, 45, of the 4900 block of Fessenden street, is in George- town University Hospital with a pos- sible fracture of the skull, said to have been sustained when his head struck a | curbstone in an altercation yesterday. TOMORROW WITH RECORD ROLLS SEEN Public Colleges Are One of Four Innovations for Edu- cational Year. BIG BUILDTNG PLANS WILL BE PUSHED Free Text Books for Both Junior and Senior High Schools Provided. Approximately* 73,000 Washington boys and girls will go back to their class rooms at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning when the District of Columbia public schools open their doors for the 1930-31 academic year. The 2,900 teachers who are to guide the educational quest of these students have been back at their desks since Fri- day when they met with supervisors and directors to plan for the inaugura- tion of what is expected to be a par- ticularly interesting school year. « Four Innovations. The 1930-31 season will be notable in at least. four respects. It will witness the maintenance for the first time here of public schools of college grade; it will record unusual school building ac- tivity, and, in the confident expectations of school officers, it is expected to be marked by a record peak enroliment of 76,000 students, and.by distribution of free textbooks in both senior and junior high schools. Plans for enrollment of Washington children were cowpleted weeks ago. Elementary school children who were in the schoels last Spring will report to their old class rooms. From there they will be transferred to new locations. This, school officers have pointed out, applies to children who have moved, and therefore seek transfer to other schools; they must apply for transfer cards at last year's class rooms. Elementary school children who are entering school for the first time to- morrow are to be taken to school build- ings nearest their homes. They must have with them a birth certificate or some other legal proof of age, and a vaccination certificate. High School Instructions. Old high school students will report to their former schools. Those who are to be transferred will get their change executed like elementary pupils will. New high school pupils who are enter- ing from elementary school will report directly to their new schosls in accord- ance with' the trainsfers issued them at the close of school last year. New high school - students entering from private schools or from’ out of the city will pre- sent themselves at buildings assigned them by the High Schogl Board of Ad- missions Wednesday and Thursday. With elimination of the underage kin- dergartens approved by the Board of Education two weeks ago, the youngest child in the public schools this year will be five years old by November, with the exception of the underage kinder- garten applicants for the Webster Americhnization School. which was ex- empt from the elimination order. Ele- mentary school applicants must be six vear, old by November 1. Offering previously three-year courses. the Wilson and the Minor Normal teacher colleges with academic degrees for graduating students. Courses for prospective teachers in these two in- | stitutions now are four years long. | However, while normal-school gradu- | ates always have been given teaching positions on strength of diplomas, teacher college students entering class tomorrow will be obliged to essay com- petitive examinations to obtain places in schools of the District following graduation. School Building Plans. ‘Thirteen school building projects will | be launched during the coming season to give more adequate accommodations for Washington pupils. The proposed structures include eight-room schools for Wesley Heights and for Chevy Chase at Northampton street and Broad Branch road: a four-room school for Tenth and Franklin streets northeast; eight-room additions for the Whittier and new A, J. Bowen Schools, and four- room additions to the Deanwood and Congress Heights Schools, in the ele- mentary school field. The junior high schools will receive a new 27-room building adjoining Eastern High Sehool; a 12-room addi- tion for the Gordon Junior High School; a 10-room addition to the Stuart Junior High School, and & third-floor addition to the Powell Junior High School. The new Theo- dore Roosevelt High School, to be be- gun shortly for completion by next September, is the only senior high school construction proposed and it will replace the old Business High School which begins its final year tomorrow. ‘This year high school students will not be obliged to seramble for text- books in bookshops. Textbooks and supplies will be provided under the free textbook law to every junior and senior high school pupil for the first time this year. Under the plan adopted for their | distribution, parents must agree to be | responsible for all volumes and sup- plies loaned by the schools to the chil- dren, a_provision never before legally made, although elementary puplls have had free books for many years. THREE COMPANIES FIGHT FIRE IN VACANT HOUSE Structure at 3448 Brown Street Damaged as Hundreds Watch Spectacular Flames. A stubborn fire in a vacant house at 3448 Brown street, which firemen from three engine companies fought for more than two hours before it could be ex- tinguished, attracted hundreds of per- sons Iast night. The blaze, which first attracted at- tention at 8 o'clock, swept the three- story frame building. The third and most of the second stories were des- troyed by the flames that shot many feet above the house. Firemen finally conquered the blaze at about 10:30 o'clock. AUTOIST IS HELD Taken With>Compninlo; After Col- liding With Policeman. Two occupants of an automobile which collided with the motor cycle of Policeman W. H. Bell of the Traffic Bureau at Eleventh and M streets southeast were taken into custody last James Fitzgerald, 41, of 4230 Wisconsin avenue, is being held at the fourteenth | precinct pending the outcome of Mod- lin’s injuries. Modlin's_condition is said to be serious. Pitzger arrested by Policeman W, B. night. Bell escaped injury. The driver of the automobile, Stanley Turowski, 30 years old, of 2106 F street, was charged with failing to give the right of way. for his appearance in Traffic Court Monday morning. SCHOOLS 10 OPEN School tomorrow become in actual fact | He posted $25 collateral » home. TEACHER CHANG . Through the transfer of 12 kinder- tarten teachers to elementary grade va- cancies and the resignation or retire- ment of eight others, 20 class one teach- er salaries, ranging from $1,400 to $2,200 per annum, are being lost to the public school system and turned back to the United States Treasury. This was revealed at the Franklin Administration Building yesterday when school officers were completing the first definite steps in the reorganization of the kindergarten system as desired by the conferees of the Senate and House and reveals concretely the manner in which the reorganization will effect the public school system. The 12 transferred kindergarten | teachers, the first of approximately 74 to be similarly shifted, were taken from kindergartens over which two teachers tiad presided. Despite the fact that Congress, n the lasi session, made kin- dergarten teachers legally eligible to in- struct in the first four elementary grades, the initial 12 to be switched were assigned to second and third grade work. This was done, school officers declared, because they believed kinde |garten teachers lacked the training to teach in the important first grade, where the elements of study first are given to children and which instruction demands special training. Report of Simmons. In his report on the hearings on the current appropriation bill last Spring, Representative Robert G. Simmons of Nebraska, self-appointed critic of the District school system, specifically de- clared that since it was his conviction ‘Washington _elementary and kinder- | garten schools were overteachered, the transfer of kindergarten teachers to elementary grades should automatically result in the elimination of the ele- | mentary grade salary for the positions | they occupy. As kindergarten teach and teachers in the first four all are in salary class 1, the 12 trans- fers which will go into effect with the opening of school tomorrow, means the | reversion to the Treasury of between 1$16,800 and $26400, depending upon the period of service of the former in- cumbents in the positions they hold. The wide range is explained by the fact that the entrance salary of a class 1 teacher is $1.400 per annum, and that teachers in this class are entitled to automatic annual increases of $100 until thelr pay reaches the $2,200 maxi- mum. Just how many of the 12 dis- placed elementary teachers had reached the maximum could not be ascertained at_Pranklin_yesterday. Similarly Mr. Simmons made it plain | ES COST SCHOOLS $1400 TO $2200 A YEAR IN PAY, Reorganization of Kindergarten System. With 12 Transfers to Grade Places and 8 Leaving, Becomes Effective in his report that as kindergarten teachers resigmed or retired they were not to be replaced until the kinder- garten teaching staff reached the stand- ards he considered efficlent and ade- quate. ence the eight teachers who have left the service through either of these courses since the end of the last school year represerits the elimination of between $11,200 and $17,600, accord- ing to their respective periods of serv- ice. The standards which Mr. Simmons contended were efficient and adequate for Washington kindergartens embrace normal classes with an average attend- ance of 25 children and one teacher per class. When a kindergarten class reaches an average daily attendance of 50, the conferees have explained to Dr. Frank W. Ballou, perintendent, two teachers may be assigned to them. Un- der the policy adopted by the school officers every kindergarten which was in existence at the close of school in June will be reopened tomorrow to con- tinue until October 14. If by that date any class cannot show an average daily attendance of 25 puplls it is to be elim- jnated and its teacher transferred to elementary vacancies. If, however, the teacher of such a class in the opinion of her superior officers lack adequate trainthg for' elementary work she will be transferred to another kindergarten wi teacher “is qualified, and the setond teacher will be sent on to the grade. List Not Published. ‘The list of names of the 12 kinder- garten teachers to enter grade work to- morrow morning was not made public t the Pranklin Building yesterday. The list will be submitted to the Board of Education at is next meeting, prob- ably Wednesday, for approval. Meanwhile, the transfers are effec- tive under blanket authority given the superintendent by the board to set up and put into operation a kindergarten policy. As witnessed by this first attempt to reorganize kindergartens as the Con- gress conferees would have them set up. the public school system will lose in salaries when the reorganization is completed somewhere between $103,- 600 and $162,800. These figures are based on the assumption that the 74 teachers mentioned in the hearing on the appropriation bill will be trans- ferred. It is pointed out in school by opponents of the Simmons plan that these figures do not represent a ‘“sav- ing” to the public school systemx but constitute actually the loss in teachers’ lle:'vlce which the reorganization will set up. BULLETING GIVEN ON WOUNDED GR iLa Plata Victim of Jealous Wife Has Bare Chance of Recovery. By a Btaff Correspondent of The Star. LA PLATA, Md., September 20.—This little town, where the Sunday base ball game and the weekly movie are the principal events of the week, tonight was, to & man, anxiously awaiting the bulletins that come every hour on the condition of Mrs. Elsle May Davis, 22, who is gamely fighting death, in a Washington _ hospital, from a bullet fired into her head early yesterday morning by Mrs. Lulu May Gamble, mother of 10 children, when she found her husband in an automobile with Mrs. Davis. An enterprising druggist in the center of the town, has established a service of bulletins on Mrs. Davis' condition, by which the residents of La Plata are apprised every hour of the shooting victim's condition, based on telephone calls to Providence Hospital in Wash- ington. Hour after hour, today and tonight, the buffetins have been issued, and the populace for miles around is on hand to read them, buy soda pop and discuss the most sensational case that has oc- | curred in La Plata in many a year. Home Duties As Usual. | Meanwhile, a muititude of duties in | her large household claiming her, Mrs. Gamble goes about her housewifery as always, her two sons, Billy and Chester, helping her out with most of the work, and with her husband, Joe Gamble, bout whom all the row was raised, off attending to business elsewhere, An irritating situation removed from her dally routine of things. Mrs. Gamble was represented by other members of her family as ready to bury the hatchet with Joe, take him back in the house- hold and go on about the business of raising bees, tending farm and raising children. Mrs. Gamble's affairs at present are in the hands of her attorney, State Senator Walter H. Mitchell. She went to Senator Mitchell yesterday after- noon, just after she had been released from custody on an assault charge in| $500 bond, to lay her case before the | legislator-attorney, and, while he has not made a final decision as to whether he will handle the case, Senator Mitch- fll is handling her present affairs at aw. Meanwhile, Charles Tounty State's Attorney Edward J. Edelen stands ready to order Mrs. Gamble rearrested if Mrs, Davis’ wound proves fatal. Vietim Has Bare Chance. Doctors at Providence Hospital have been working vallantly to save the life of Mrs. Davis. She has just a bare chance, La Plata was told last night. The Gambles live down across the railroad tracks, on the outskirts of town, most of the large family in the shabby little farmhouse surrounded by its orderly array of 300 beehives which form the basis of the family income. People of La Plata say that Joe Gamble, 40 years old, is an industrious and thrifty man, willing to work and putting his extra money in land. In recent years he has acquired several parcels of land which he works, and, in addition, the farmers hereabout say he has been as busy as any in the wheat threshing, helping out the other farmers as well as keeping his own holdings in shape. Mrs. Gamble is a short, stout woman of about 45. She has gray-streaked bobbed hair. Life, she told Justice Walter H. Gray at her hearing on the assault charge yesterday, has been hard for her, She has paid, she said, for the pleasure she has gotten out of life, and now this thing comes along to complicate 1. at- ters. She told the justice and State's At- torney Edelen that her first husband went off and left her with six children. Two of the children, twins, she said, she hasn't seen for years. taken, she said, shortly after her fi husband left her and put in an orpha; Fine twins they were, she de- clared. CHANGE SOUGHT " FOR LEFT TURNS Ask Study of Night Park- ing Problem. Substitution of the standard left | turn for the rotary left turn in vogue | here for many years will be ‘sought of the District Commissioners by the Traffic Advisory Committee, Capt. H. C. Iwhluhunt. chief engineer of the Dis- trict and chairman of the committee, disclosed yesterday. Capt. Whitehurst revealed another of the more important recommendations to be made soon by the committee would be that the Commissioners give special study to the night parking problem. He | said the body had formulated no plans | to suggest an immediate prohibition of night parking. An officlal census of ga- rage space available in all sections of the city was deemed advisable. The engineer declared the committee would fail to recommend any substan- tial changes in the set-up of the traffic director’s office or its relation to the Police Department. He added there was no suggestion under consideration | for return of the office of traffic director to the Police Department. It was pointed out that none of the nine subcommittees have perfected their final reports, although they have decided: what action they will take on the situation with which they have been dealing. After the chairmen of the subcommittees have completed their reports October 4, a meeting of the committee &r-oper will be held October 10 for the fting of recommendations to be submitted to the Commissioners. The only suggestion planned which will involve hurst said, will be some sort of a new limit for trucks of more than two tons a?ulpped with selid tires. There is no discrimination . between trucks with pneumatic and solid tires in the pres- ent regulations. Capt. Whitehurst predicted no radi- cal changes would be sought in the present system of traffic lights. Eighty Aerial Permits Issued. LYNCHBURG, Va, September 2 (Special).—Since ldoptionpo( a eng ordinance requiring permits for installa- tion of radios with outside aerials, 80 such permits have been issued by the clx electrical department. The ordi- nahce has been effective since August 1. aged to keep together, and the boys and girls have grown up, all except the four she had by Joe Gamble. They are Chester and Billy, 10 and 12, and Betty and Jane, 8 and 6, who are living in the house with Mrs. Gamble and her mother. Shuns Public Interest. ‘The Gambles were conspicuous by their absence in the town today. At her home Mrs. Gamble would see no one, and shortly before noon she went out visiting, but left no word where, Joe Gamble is under bond of $300, being held for the Charles County grand jury on a charge of beating Mrs. Gamble September 15. Mrs. Gamble preferred the charge shortly after she ‘was arrested yesterday morning on the charge of assaulting Mrs. Davis, and the preliminary hearing of this case was heard before Justice Gray imme- diately after Mrs. Gamble was held for the grand jury on the assault charge. ‘The mystery of the missing pistol has not been solved. Both Mrs. Gamble and her husband deny seeing the gun after Mrs. Davis was shot. Mrs. Gamble told authorities her husband grabbed the gun from her hand after the shoot- ing and brandished it at her. amble he temembers something hitting him in the face after the shooting. He did not know whether it was the ejected cartridge from the pistol or the pistol itself. He does not remember seeing the gun, anyhow. ‘The pistol, Gamble says, is an old rusty one that has been lying about his house for years. He told Justice Gray The pest of her family she has man- yesterday morning he hadn't believed it would shoot, }Traffic Committee Will Also| d laws, Capt. White- | EXTENSIVE PLANS LAID FOR HIGHWAY BETTERMENT HERE 5 to 9 Years Covered by Program of Resurfacing, Widening and Bridging. CAPT. WHITEHURST PUTS URGENT PROJECTS FIRST System of Major Boulevards Pro- posed by Chief Engineer of District. A comprehensive highway improves ment program, involving the resurfac- ing of major highways, widening of streets, elimination of grade crossings and replacement or reconstruction bf bridges was completed yesterday by | Capt. H. C. Whitehurst, chief engineer of the District. The program is designed to cover & period ranging from five to nine years, at the end of which Capt. Whitehurst pictures Washington with an unex- celled system of highways, broad and | smooth surfaced, radiating in all direc- tions from the business section. The traffic bottle necks would be removed by widening the narrow sections of the main boulevards, building bridges to meet modern trafic needs, and the gradual elimination of other conditions that hark back to the horse and car- riage era. In Order of Urgency. Capt. Whitehurst has framed the program in the order of the urgency of the projects and the sequence im which he believes they should be car- ried out to provide a co-ordinated plan of development. Each year he pro- poses systematically to add @ projects started in the preceding year. It is Capt. Whitehurst's idea to first provide a system of major boulevards free of all obstructions that would tend to restrict the expeditious movement of traffic. Such a plan would necessitate the widening of several streets in the downtown section, and the reconstruc- tion of bridges over which some of these boulevards pass. Capt. Whitehurst alse would give these major thorcughfares a sn;.ooth surface from one end to the other. Boulevard Feeders Next. Streets which feed the boulevards would next be improved, and then would come the so-called minor streets, so that eventually by the time the el tire program is completed, Washing- ton's highway system would be a model for the Nation. The program does not contemplate an expenditure much greater than the regular annual appropriations for the Highway Department. The work, if carried out systematically, in Capt. Whitehurst's opinion, can be financed with several hundred thousand dollars more each year than the current ap: propriation for the Highway Depart- ment, which amounts t> $4.268,000. All the bridges in Washington with the exception of two or three, would be entirely replaced or reconstructed under the program. Klingle Bridge, it | was pointed out, is to be reconstructed | first,” the initial appropriation for this | work being already available. The bridge improvement part of the program would take nine years to carry out. In this time it is planned to re- place Chain Bridge with a new and modern structure entering the District at Potomac avenue on a_much higher level than the present District abut- ment and reconstruct the Calvert Street Bridge, and the P Street Bridge, both of which cross Rock Creek. Appropriations Considered. Capt. Whitehurst purposely extended the bridge reconstruction program over a period of nine years in order to keep the appropriations for this item under $1,000,000 a year. In nearly all in- stances each of the bridge construc- tion projects would be carried out in a period of two or more years. The improvement program will be submitted to Engineer Commissioner Gotwals. Capt. Whitehurst, is confi- dent that it will serve, not only as & guide to the highway department for & systematic development of the highways of the District, but that it will be in- valuable to public utility corporations in planning their underground con- struction work so that it can be care ried out in advance of street paving and thus avoid any interference with the highway work when it is undertaken. A definite program of this kind, Capt. Whitehurst also believes, will result in the saving of thousands of dollars to the District. MOTORIST FACES THREE TRAFFIC ACCUSATIONS Charged With Speeding Twice and Running Past Red Signal Light. ‘W. Carroll Landman, 34 vears old, of 33290 Brothers place southeast, was booked on two charges of speeding and g‘sfllnx a red light last night, when e is said to have attempted to escape from a motor cycle policeman who had just arrested him for driving at an excessive rate of speed. Policeman William R. Greenfield of the Trafic Bureau arrested Landman on Virginia avenue on a charge of driv- ing 35 miles an hour and ordered him to proceed to the fourth precinct sta- tion to be formally booked. The officer was trailing the machine on his motor cycle en route to No. & station when Landman, Greenfleld said, sped away. The driver is alleged to have ignored a red traffic light. Green= fieid gave chase and rearrested Land- man. Landman was taken to No. 11 sta= tion and charged with two counts of speeding at 35 and 45 miles an hour and passing a red light. He obtained on $60 collateral for his ap- ce in Police Court Monday. BAND CONCERT. By the Overseas Military Band this afternoon at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital; 4 o'clock. Arthur Harper, leader; Al« vin Lorig, assistant. March, “Battleship Connecticut,” J. M. . M. Fult Overture, “Poet and Peasant,” 4 Pr. v. Suppe March, “Semper Fideli .Sousa Characteristic Intermezzo, Monas- tery Garden .Albert W. Ketelbey Coronation March from “The Prophet,” G. Meyerbegt March, “Thunderer,”. . Popular War Songs, “Keep the Home Pires Burning” Pack Up Your Troubles” “Over There” March, “Lights Out” Tone Poem, “After Sunset,” Arthur Pryor J. lvlnovlm