Evening Star Newspaper, December 14, 1930, Page 17

v FISGAL RELATIONS -~ HEARING WILL BE \ RESUMED TUESDAY Donovan and Richards Will Be Recalled for Testi- mony Next Week. BLANTON CHAMPIONS INCREASE IN D. C. TAXES @rifin Holds Budget Should Be Framed Before Levy Is Determined. The Special Committee of the House | studying the fiscal relationship between,| the Pederal and District Governments, will resume its public hearing Tuesday morning at 9:45 o'clock. Indications are that the hearing will eontinue throughout the week. After the civic - organization representatives are heard, Daniel J. Donovan, auditor and budget officer of the District, will be called. The committee also has in: dicated that it will recall William P. Richards, District tax assessor. Two members of Congress, Repre- sentative Thomas L. Blanton of Texas and Representative Anthony J. Griffin of New York testified yesterday, in ad- dition to L. A. Carruthers, chairman of the Fiscal Relations Committee of the Federation of Citizens’ Associations and chief of the Division of Financial Btatistics of States and Cities of the Census Bureau. Blanton Urges Tax Increase. Blanton appeared to champion in- ereased taxes for the District, and sug- that other sources of revenr\;ent:e pped to a larger extent to support the annual District budget. And while the Federal Government is under no obli- gation, he declared, it should “out of the goodness of jts heart” furnish a gratuity each year to help the District meet its bill. Specifically, - Blanton recommended that property be assessed at 75 per cent of its true value instead of the present 100 per cent as provided by law, and that the tax levy be fixed at $2 on 8100 of assessed valuation. He also urged that automobile license fees and the cost of vehicle drivers’ permits be raised to a “fair price.” Griffin Asks Budget Change. Mr. Griffin, who is a member of the House District Subcommittee on Ap- propriations, urged a change in budget- rocedure as one method of g fiscal relations problem. He said he believed the budget should be framed before the tax levy is deter- mined. The present system, Mr. Griffin said, mwxvy" and constitutes a “Congress,” he declared, rate must be 61.70, and sum. an arbitrary sum and then it says to the people of the District: ‘Here's your allowance,’ as we say to a child, ‘but don't spend it all in one store” We should first determine the expenses to be incurred for schools, water service, streets, social needs, etc., and from them fix the tax rate to raise the neces- sary funds. But we've never done that Rere in the District.” Mr. Carruthers appeared before the ecommittee to supplanemc u;le earlier testimony of Dr. George C. Havenner, g:uldnnt’ of the federation. He said believed the recent report on fiscal relations prepared by the Bureau of Efficiency constituted a comprehensive and complete picture of the situation. POLICE HACK SQUAD TESTING VEHICLES Annual Inspection Given Taxicabs, Busses and Delivery Trucks of City. Complying with an_ order by the District Commissioners last June, members of the hack squad of the Met- ducting their first annual inspection of taxicabs, busses and delivery trucks op- erating in the Capital. Each vehicle must undergo a thor- ough examination with regard to me- chanical condition, lights, brakes and neral appearance before the 1932 nse plates can be obtained. Nearly half of the work has been ac- eomplished by the squad and, while a number of taxicabs have been rejected for various defects, all but one have been passed by the police upon re-ex- amination. Applications for tags to operate in ‘Washington must bear the stamp of the back inspection squad’'s approval be- fore plates can be secured for next vear. ‘The squad is composed of Sergt. Thomas Mason, hack inspector, and | Pvts. William J. Liverman, Robert| Walker and William L. Pasour. | | A, POTOMAC PARK WALK NEARLY COMPLETED| Cherry Blossoms May Be Viewed From Seawall Promenade Next Spring. W nians and visitors will be @ble to view the cherry blossom display in Potomac Park next Spring by walk- ing around the newly completed Hains Point seawall promenade. Assistant Director of Public Build- ings and Public Parks F. B. Butler said esterday the finishing touches are now ‘dn( piaced on the $40,000 program. The walk is from the foot of Four- feenth street, on the Washington Chan- gel, around the rim of East Potomac Park to the Inlet Bridge. The prome- Dpade passes under the Highway Bridge, snd a stairway leads down to the sea- ‘wall level from the Inlet Bridge, near the polo field. It is protected by an fron railing. The bridle path in East Potomac Park is being reconstructed to meet drainage needs and giving it & new \ The flower beds of hollyhocks, peo- nies and other fouches of beauty in the park have been temporarily re- moved to make way for this construc- tion work. Horticultural division offi- cials are arranging to replant the riverside flower beds. Approximately 200 Japanese cherry trees have just been lanted in East Potomac Park, replac- siaing e eves "ot East. Fotomac Raising the levee of of *Park as part of thAEt settion’s flood prevention program has been completed. | 6600 block of Sixth street: George E. "WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY [wasmveron ] The Sunday Star DECEMBER 14, 1930. MORNING, ization. Left to right: Robert E., Miles and Harvey Clark of the Marine Band, rothers, who make merry music in the famous “Leatherneck” musical organ- —Photo by Underwood. HGHT B0YS SEZED N JOVRIDINGCASES Arrests Held to Account for Eight D. C. Cars Reported Missing. A youthful head, not sufficiently hid- den in a nearby Maryland haystack, last night furnished the clue to what thirteenth precinct police believe to be the reason why so many cars have been reported stolen in that precinct the past few weeks and resulted in the arrest of eight school boys in connection with the unlawful appropriation of eight District automobiles and an undeter- mined number of Maryland cars. The head was that of Thomas Casper Jeffers, 16, of the 6600 block of Sixth street. His arrest after being found in the haystack led to the arrest of the | seven other boys, ranging in age from | 13 to 16. Policeman A. H. Pool of the thir- teenth precinct had just reported at the call box at Fourth and Cedar streets, Takoma Park, Priday night and re- ceived a lookout for a Maryland car re- ported stolen, when the machine | passed by. Chases Car into Maryland. Hopping into his patrol car, he gave chase for about half a mile into Mary- land, finally forcing the driver of the pursued car to ditch it along Blair road. The two occupants of the car Jjumped out and fled, the officer giving chase on foot. Both disappeared in the ‘dark, but the officer, searching around in the nearby fields, found iv‘:flers' head poking out of a stack of y. Jeffers was taken to the station house and questioned. He is alleged by Pool have given the name of William epherd Brock of the 400 block of Cedar street as his companion. Police went to Brock's home, pulled him out of bed and took him to the station house for questioning with Jeffers. Last night the other six boys were arrested by Officers Pool and L. A. Crabbin. They ve their names as John Smalley, 13, 600 block of Whittier street; Irving G. Jackson, 15, 6700 block of Sixth street: Donald J. Raub, 16, McCann, 14, 600 block of Whittier street; Walter H. Glockler, 15, 6600 Piney Branch road, and w. Thomas, 15, 7200 block of Blair road. Booked on 22 Charges. The boys were booked on 22 charges of “joyriding” and released in the cus- tody of their parents for appearance tomorrow at Juvenile Court. ‘Thirteenth precinct police listed cars owned by the following as among those taken by the boys: Italo Fansoni, 730 Rittenhouse street; Elizabeth Colquist, Cordova Apartments, Twentieth street and Florida avenue; Albert B. Ground, 220 Aspen street; Warren S. Swann, 805 Rock Creek Church road; Oscar J. Randall, 4301 Kansas avenue; Benjamin Wilkinson, 7120 Piney Branch road, | and George W. Irving, 4911 W street. Police said the boys took .cars, drove about in them, put Maryland tags on| some of them and parked them in | Maryland overnight. All of the cars had been recovered be- fore the youths were arrested. The Maryland car alleged to have been | ditched last night by Jeffers and Brock was turned over to Maryland authori- es. WO00D FOR UNEMPLOYED TO BE DELIVERED FREE bt ' g i Charitable Organizations Notified | 50,000 Cords Donated From Marine Base at Quantico. Charitable organizations desiring to distribute wood to their beneficiaries were notified yesterday by the Commis- sioners’ Committee on Unemployment that they could have the wood for the asking. The committee recently re- ceved a gift of 50,000 cords of wood | from the Marine base at Quantico, Va. Those organizations having the means of transporting the wood and desiring to. get it are asked to communicate with the committee at Room 507, Dis- trict Bullding, telephone National 6000, Branch 420. The wood is being hauled to the Salvation Army posts free by the Griffith Consumers’ Co., and the Jacobs ‘Transfer Co. WILL REVIEW GUARD of C. Committee Will Make Inspection Tuesday Night. The District National Guard will be reviewed by the Chamber of Commerce Committee on National Guard Affairs at the Guard's new tel nr{ quarters at the old Nation Hotel, Tuesday night at 8°¢’clock. 'Gen. An- ton Stephan, chairman of the commit- tee, has made arrangements for the review. ‘The committee on the District Na- tional Guard was created in Fel c. 40 Police Yawn; Dancers Shy at Rum Dealers’ Ball Orders for Pink Orange- ade Insufficient to Keep Bartender Busy. Orangeade—pink, pale pink orange- ad e. The three attendants at the orange- ade bar seemed lonely, very lonely. No jovial imbibers stamped up, no im- patient feet tapped the brass rail. The chief orangeade bartender ostentaciously polished a glass alrea shining, a glass innocent of fluid all evening. “When does the fireworks - start?” asked the bartender. But the blonde, the one at the soda pop counter, didn’t know. She shifted her gum and shrug- ged. Out front Klieg lights flooded the dance floor. Newsreel and newspaper photographers lounged about with re- porters, yawning. Ranged along the dance inclosure, like wall flowers, were 40 detectives and a Federal agent or “so, pulling long faces. It was midnight, last midnight at what was to have been “the liquor dealers ball.” But those who gathered in the Washington Auditorium, except for a score of paid admissions, came in free as TVers. A 10-piece orchestra held forthe An occasional couple drifted out on the wide floor, faltered, hesitated and with- drew from scrutiny. As for the “liquor dealers” them- selves, veteran rum squad members sald they could not spot a single familiar face in the assembly. B A GRADED SCHOOL Architect’s Office Rushing Work for 1931 Appro- priation Bill. All plans for graded schools carried in the 1931 appropriation bill will be complete and out of the architect’s of- fice by Wednesday of this week, Munici- pal Architect Albert L. Harris an- nounced yesterday. The plans have been rushed in line with the District’s policy of keeping employment up to the maximum possible during the Winter months. The plans for four junior high schools, the Gordon, Stewart, Powell and Brown Junior High Schools, will all have been completed by Febru- ary 15. Work is progressing satisfactorily on the model being built by the Riccl Studio, New York, of the new munici- pal center bulldings. Eric Menke, modelmaker of the municipal architect's office, is visiting the New York studios today and examining the models. He will report back to Mr. Harris to- morrow. Engineer Commissioner John C. Gotwals yesterday approved the final form of the $1,250,000 contract for the construction of the new Business High School. Although the contractor has already started work, the contract had not been drawn up in its final form. Ml bt DUCKS INVITED HERE Food to Be Provided for Powls at Tidal Basin. Wild ducks from the Canadian wastes again have been invited to spend part of the Winter on the Tidal Basin here. Public park officials yesterday made plans to provide food for the visitors. Center Market merchants will con- tribute celery and Government cafe- terias will give over their waste bread. Lieut. Col. U. §. Grant, 3d, director of Public Buildings and Public Parks, will supervise distribution of this food. Officials said that & few ducks are now coming to the Tidal Basin, but large numbers are expected when colder weather sets in. Th#& program, which was inaugurated last year, is Bart of the effort to preserve the wild life in the parks here, R A PUMPING JOB FINISHED Dredge to Begin Mount Vernon Road Work at Hunting Creek. ‘The work of pumping sand from the Anacostia River bed to immunize Boll- ing Field from floods by raising the level of the aviation fleld, has been bruary, 1914, with the late James F. Oyster, for- mer District_ Commissioner, its first chairman. Efforts of the committee during recent years have been centered 2 a R S finished, Maj. Joseph D. Arthur, jr., of the United States Engineer Office l&e‘:e announced yesterday. dy | the rich and PLANS SOON READY & He said|and poj dredge Welatka will start work on|reading public of the fifteenth centu armory in the | the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway may ha 'i WORLD SCADLARS ATTEND EXHIBIT OF lJ[I]_INBUNABUlA[ Gutenberg Bible Is Center of Attraction at Library of Congress. $1,000,000 VOLUME IN PERMANENT DISPLAY First Products of Printing Give Cross-Section of Dawn of Modern Thought. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. The life and thought of the Middle Ages were resurrected in the halls of the Library of Congress yesterday. Scholars from all -over the East at- tended the opening exhibition of 1,700 incunabula—books printed in the fif- teenth «century shortly after the inven- tion of movable type—selected by Li- brarian "Herbert Putnam out of the 3,000 purchased by Congress from Dr. Otto H.: F. Vollbehr of Berlin. The center of attraction was the Gutenberg Bible on vellum, the earliest book, which was purc by Dr. Vollbehr from the Benedictine Monastery of St. Paul, in Carinthia, and which is conservatively valued at more than $1,000,000. It is by long odds the most valuable book in the world. The three volumes, finely print- ed and with decorated pages, reposed in a special cabinet made for the Library of Congress and modeled after one de- signed by Michelangelo for a Floren- tine library. These volumes not only were the handicraft of the inventor of printing, but were closely associated with the sinister Johan Fust, or Faust, who peddled the output of Gutenberg’s press over Europe and passed into leg- end as the magician who sold his soul to the devil. ‘The exhibit contains 40 other early Bibles, all exquisitely printed and widely circulated in Europe in the latter half of the fifteenth century. Of interest among them is the first “poor man’s Bible,” an_octavo volume printed in 1491 by a friend of the reformer Eras- mus for general circulation. The larger Bibles had largely been restricted to to institutions. Dawn of Modern Thought. The rest of the collection represents a cross-section of the mind of Europe at the dawn of modern thought, when all the nations were breaking away from the traditions of medievalism and the imagination was stirred by the discovery of new worlds across the At- lagtic. = The entire range is covered, fi the culinary arts to philosophy and theology. Notable especially are the illustrations—wood engravings and the first copper plates—many of which are fantastic, but exquisitely beautiful. Prominent among the guests of the Library were Dr. and Mrs. Vollbehr. The German scholar has made the collection of these incunabula his Mfe work, traveling extensively over Europe and tracing down systematically the output of the first printing presses in each city. He had intended, he said, to turn the collection over to his native land, but financial stress brought on by the war forced him to turn to the United States. For years he has guarded the precious books as if they were children. Among the incunabula of greatest interest are those dealing with the dis- covery of America, the news of which spread rapidly through Europe. One book contains the letter of Columbus announcing, his discovery. He wrote two coples, one for the secretary of King Ferdinand and one for the treas- urer of the Kingdom of Aragon, and these were quickly seized upon by the TS, Announces His Exploit. now accomplished the undertaking on which I set out I know it will be able to you to be in- formed of all voyage. On the twenty-third day after I left Cadiz I reached the Indian Ocean, where I found many islands peopled by innumerable inhabitants, of all of which I took without re- sistance. These islands abound in the finest variety of trees so lofty they seem to reach the . The people are of timid disposition and uncom- simple, honest people, liberal in ‘what th = ey possess. of the incunabula printed in 1493, the Nuremberg Chronicle, con- tains a puzzling claim to the discovery of the New World in 1483, nine years before Columbus, by Martin Behaim of Nuremberg and Di Cam, a Portu- guese, explorers in the service of King John II of Portugal. It records that “these two by the grace of God crossed the equin 1 line and sailed to an- other world where, facing east at noon, their shadows fell on their right hands and where they discovered new lands.” But the original Latin manuseript of the Nurgmberg Chronicle has been found and contains no such reference. It is evidently a later interpolation in the manuscrip used by the printers by some one who sought to rob Columbus of his credit. One of the earliest references is in the “Three Golden Books of Patience,” by Baptista Mantuanus, published in 1499, recording that “especially in our days through the activity of the King of Spain have been found islands in- habited by men and also much larger than ours to the point of having a cir- .cumference of 3,000 ‘miles and more. Of these neither Strabo nor Ptolemy nor Pliny nor any of the anclent writers makes, any mention, from which it is evident they were unknown until the present.” a very monly bestow! “Ship of Fools” Reference. There is another reference in the “Ship of Fools,” by Sebastian Brandt, publi in 1497, which records that “for nowe of late hath large londe and grounde ben founde by maryners and crafty gouernours, the which londes were neuer knowen nor founde before our time.” ‘There is also & copy of the “History of Persons, Placés and Things,” by Aeneas Sylvius, afterward Pope Pius II, which was Columbus’ encyclopedia. He took a copy with him on his fourth voyage and covered its margin with written notes on science and geography. Another favorite book of Columbus in this section of the exhibit is the “Hexameron"” of St. Ambrose, which the discoverer is supposed to have always kept at hand and from which he made long quotations in his reports. Even before Columbus there was some idea of unknown lands to the west, as is shown by an edition of Ptolemy pub- lished in 1482, containing a ohart of the universe. Here Greenland appears for the first time on any map. Other sections of the exhibit cover classical literature, philosophy and heology, secular and canon law, music, science, history, medicine, philology, books in other l-nau-feu than Greek and Latin, broadsides from which has developed periodical literature of today, literature, While the been small, it is pointed ¥ rangs of interesd, was wide, The: 1 have discovered in my | K At the left is Lavender Lochinvar, champion of all entries in the Capital Cat Show, the judges decided last night. The feline is a blue Persian and is being held by its owner, Mrs. A. E. Horne of Ridgefield, Conn. -winning black, owned by Mrs. Harry Peale, 1750 P street. Lower right: A. prize-winning white, owned by arry F. Helwig, 5321 Colorado avenue. CAT SHOW CLOSES THO-DAY STAND Lavender Lochinvar Selected as Best Entry of 200 Feline Aristocrats. With Lavender Lochinvar selected as the best entry of 200, the Capital Cat Show of the Columbian Cat Fanciers, Inc., closed last night in the Lee House. The feline aristocrats of Washington and other Eastern cities had attracted the attention of countless visitors for two days. The exhibit was held for the benefit of the Children's Emergency Home of the Central Union Mission. Mrs. Ger- trude E. Taylor of Detroit, president of the Cat Fanciers of America, announced the show had been awarded an official “four-point” rating. Mrs. Taylor, who judged the cats, announced the following awards: Best cat, Lavender Lochinvar; a blue male, owned by Arch E. Horne; best cat of opposite sex, Lady of the Moon, Chinchilla novice, owned by Miss Emma C. Payne; best novice'cat, Lavender Llewelyn, owned by Mrs. E. B. Doughty; best kitten, Dreamland Aladdin of Silver Gate, owned by Miss Lillian M. Good- win; best neuter cat, Zuzu, owned by Mrs. Harry F. Helwig; best short-hair cat, Prince Svasti, owned by Miss Payne; best short-hair of opposite sex, Rosedere Adoree, owned by Mrs. E. G. Davidson; best domestic cat, Happy, breed un- known, owned by Mrs. William Standen- mayer, and best champion in show, sul:trba'a Champion white Vagabond g. LEGION POST INSTALLS NEW CORPS OF OFFICERS James F. Kehoe Is Commander of Engraving Bureau Organiza- tion of Veterans. Installation of officers and a “ladies’ night” program featured a meeting of Bureau of .Engraving.and Printing Post, No. 23, American Legion, in Red Men's Hall, 713 D street, last night. The officers, elected at a former meet- ing of the post, were installed by Dr. B. C. MacNeil, department commander of the American Legion. They are: James F. Kehoe, commander; Wil liam E. Dobbins, first vice commander; Buena V. Fagan, second vice command- er; Prancis F. Miller, Hugh B. Marsh and George S. Landis, members of the executive committee; Leonard H. John- son, adjutant; Thomas A. McDonough, finance officer; Nathan Williams, chap- lain, and William C. Paul, sergeant at arms. DU JURY CONVICTS MAN Verdict .of Manslaughter Returned Against Buster Buchanan. A verdict of manslaughter was re- turned yesterday by a jury in Criminal Division 1 before Justice Luhring in the case of Buster Buchanan, 35, colored, who was indicted for murder in the first degree in connection with the death of Perry Wilson, also colored. The tragedy followed a drunken brawl at 2226 Pomeroy court May 4 last. The prisoner was remanded for sentence. Attorney John D. Sadler defended Buchanan, while the prosecution was conducted by Assistant United States Attorney Irvin Goldstein. clogy arid philosophy were the favorite topics of the writers. There are nu- merous editions of St. Augustine’s “City of God,” the “Imitations of Christ” of St. Thomas a Kempis, and the works of Aristotle. While the beginnings of modern European literatures were in their beginning, the printers, interested in manufacturing only what they could sell, devoted especial attention to the Greek and Latin poets. Of especial interest is the section de- voted to science and medicine. These were still shaking magis, and writers. and physicians were trying to classify existing knowledge as o basis for €normous progress has loflowed.m'thzra are u;:ren{l :’;; tensive encyclopedias. Much of contents of these boks still is un- known, but cursory examination has re- vealed that the medieval mind was much more advanced than is generally !upmled by Historians. Wwhole 1,700 volumes will remain on exhibit for several months, Dr. said, and the choicer items, Gul Bible, will al- hall off the shackles of | regoy that | Poe Upper right: A Mrs, tar Staff Photos. Police Composure .Disturbed by Fire In Station Cellar Calloused policemen of the seventh precinct abandoned their sophisticated manner momentarily last night when their station house threatened to go up in flames. Telephone lines hummed, gongs clanged and four fire apparatus and police reserves from the third precinct were sum- moned. Investigation disclosed e pile of rubbish in the basement had burst into a blaze. Firemen ex- tinguished the fire in short order with hand extinguishers, HIT-RUN AUTOISTS ESGAPE N SMOKE Boy Is Critically Injured by Speeding Car Believed Loaded With Liquor. Opening a smoke screen to evade possible pursuers, two occupants of an automobile believed to have been loaded with liquor sped to safety last night after their machine had struck John Yendell, 15 years old, colored, while he was walking across the intersection of New Jersey avenue and G street. The boy’s condition was reported as critical. Yendell wis removed to Providence Hospital by Miss Regina Hunter, a nurse of the institution, who drove by Jjust after the accident. Police searched without success for the hit-and-run driver. Injuries received more than a month ago when an automobile in which he was overturned in Southern Maryland proved fatal yesterday to Clarence Martone, 22 years old, of 128 C street, at Emergency Hospital. The accident occurred on November 6 while Martone was riding with Wil- liam Shoemaker, 26, of 632 Park road. Shoemaker, who also was hurt, was discharged from the institution recently. Martone, a mechanic for the man Motor Co., was a former student of Business High School. His father, Valentine Martone; mother, Mrs. Anna Martone; two sisters, Dorothy, 21, and Jennie, 19, and a brother, Theodore, 18, survive, Funeral services will be held Tuesday morning at 11 o'clock. Burial will be in the Fort Lincoln Cemetery. SQUIRRELS HELPED Food Supply of Nuts to Be Pro- vided in Park. ‘Trees have been imported from the Orient to insure a food supply for the squirrels which gambol over the green- sward of Rock Creek Park, Department of Agriculture officials announced yes- terday. The blight-resistant chestnuts were added to the park’s wooded sections be- cause most of the trees of this species have died in recent years. Black wal- nut, butternut and hazel nut trees also will be planted under the replacement BANDITS HOLD- UP GARAGE AND TAXI Cab Driver Abandoned Tied|iomes to Tree; Second Robbery Nets $80.90. A cab driver and an automobile ga- rage manager were victims of hold-up men last night. by Edwin J. McKeown of 1627 R street, in fromt of a motion picture house, near Tenth and Fistreets, and told him to drive them to Kensington, Md. ‘Tied Up With Neckties. of the men poked a pistol against McKeown's back and commanded him: “Keep mum and drive into the woods.” McKeown shortly afterwards was forced from the cab. Using their own neckties the three men then bound him to a tree, after having searched him ’alnd found nothing, McKeown told po- ce. Leaving him tied, the men made a hasty get-away. McKeown said he freed himself after about 15 minutes. Cash Register Is Looted. Late last night, after covering the night manager with a revolver and forc- ing him to surrender the contents of the cash register, one bandit robbed the Milestone System Garage at 325 I'hl.neped enth _street of $80.90 and es- caped. The garage man, Thomas E. Rook of 411 Second street southeast, was shoved into a room and ordered to remain there !o;‘gl:e %mutu. T G. R. Bowyer, manager of the Ayreshire Stables at U le, Va., and Mrs. Bowyer found still in the room. Mr. and Mrs. Bowyer told detectives they saw two men, one answering the description of the robber, drive away from the curb in a car as they walked ug to the garage to obtain their ma- SENATE TO CONSIDER FOOD PRICE INQUIRY District Committee Will Also Take Up Amended Law on Acquisition of Property. The Senate District Committee will meet at 2:30 o'clock Wednesday to con- an inquiry into food prices in Wash- ington and a bill uubm?lwd by the At- torney General's office to amend the law under which the Federal Government scguires property in the District. ongress a year passed & new Federal condemnlun;'fi.w, under which the United States may obtain immedi- ate possession of land needed for pub- lic p by paying the estimated fair value at the beginning of a con- demnation proceeding, any additional amount found by the jury to be made up at the close of the . The amendment recommended by At- torney General would make the new program. law apply to cases that were under way before the passage of the new law. HOMELESS YOUTH TAKES POISON AFTER FUTILE TRAMP FOR WORK gt jeteiay” Aovteemenis" i Fire Rescue Squad Saves Boy After He Is Found o Church Steps. Broken fn spirit and footsore from tramping _the ts in search of a job, Johnny Cobb, a homeless 19-year-old boy of quiet manner, swallow n yesterday on the footsteps the Church of thenm:sg B A e 's pros- summoned the fire of Doctors to bring him around, but he was unable to eat last night as a result of his nce, although his stomach was fairly crying for nourish- ment. only two jobs since I left home. O ghnppinl logs, lasted only a couple of ays. “I walked into this very hospital yes- terday and asked for a job. Lnld they couldn’t give me,anything do, but they put some medicine in one of m; teeth. Then they sent me bureau closed today. walked outside and looked around. tooth was ac} head Johnny, & native of Providence, R. I, | from said he left there some six months ago when his father, out of work, was forced to break up housekeeping. He lained ‘wande: he had red ever since PAGE B-—1 SMITH CO. DEFENSE ALLEGES RIGHT 10 FUNDSIN QUESTION G. Bryan Pitts Expected to Take Stand and Explain Financing Details. END OF TENSE TRIAL EXPECTED NEXT WEEK Positive Testimony Promised to Show How Defendant Advanced Money and Received Notes. With G. Bryan Pitts, principal de- fendant, scheduled to take the stand tomorrow morning, the F. H. Smith Co. conspiracy trial, now under way in District Supreme Court, is expected to 80_to the jury Wednesday or Thursday. Pitts has been on trial with C. Elbert Anadale and John H. Edwards, jr., all former Smith company officials, for an alleged conspiracy to embezzle funds of the company and destroy its records. The defense is banking heavily ox Pitts’ testimony. Wilton J. Lambert, one of his attorneys, announced in court yesterday that the testimony ex- pected from him would be of a “posi- | tive” nature. Right to Money Alleged. “We mean,” he explained, “that, in our opinion, the charge that Pitts em- bezzled money which did not belong to him has already been successfully re futed. Under that heading, the Gov- ernment placed between $300,000 and $400,000 of alleged peculations. We now propose to show that the remainine $600,000 or $700,000 allegedly embezzlec was taken, but that Pitts was rightfully entitled to. it.” ' The direct and cross-examination of Pitts is expected to occupy the entire session tomorrow and may run into Tuesday. Defense Attorneys Lamber! and Frank G. Raichle have indicate that the other two defendants probab! will not be called to the witness stan Three armed men hired a cab driven | erick, Final Moves Shortened. Assistant United States Attornc Neil Burkinshaw, who has been worl ing on the prosecution with Nuger . special assistant to the At torney General, sald the Government rebuttal would be short, and might nc require more than an hour. After the rebuttal testimony s i e will remain only the argument by counsel and the charge of Justi- Willlam Hitz before the case is give to the jury of 10 men apd 2 women. Shor before court adjourned ye terday, the defense had marked f identification about 20 notes broug' into court by Em L. Coblentz, pre dent of the Central Trust Co. of Fre b Defense Attorney Raic' sald these notes, at their face val' aggregated approximately $300,000. Finance Details Bared. “They will be used, when broug into e:?denu“' he said, “to show ti Pltts wus entitled to this sum from t Beverly Building ration, whi. financed the construction of the Lo and Finance Building of Pittsburgh.” ‘The defense will contend that whe the first mortgage funds fell short « being enough to finance the construc tion of the building, Pitts, princips stockholder, was called upon for cas advances. ‘They will attempt to shov that he did make various cash ad vances, and i(hat he was similarly re paid, accounting in this manner fo various bank deposits by Pitts whic: the Government has contended repre- sented embezzlements by him. Coblentz, on cross-examination br Mr. Dodds, admitted that his ban" once held $414,000 in notes of twc stenographers and a clerk of thr Smith Co. He sald, however, that these notes were later pald up by a “syndicate.” The indictment under which the de- fendants are being tfried is drawn in four counts, the first charging a con- spiracy to embezzle and the other three alleging specific offenses of record de- for the 0| "irne gineers. The study is part of a Nad Georgetown U. struction or concealment. The jur may find the defendants innocent on all counts or guilty of one or more. DISTRICT TAX RECEIPTS EXCEED NOVEMBER, 1929 Gain of $300,000 Offsets Decline of Same Amount in October This Year. Tax receipts in the District in No- vember exceeded the returns for No- vember, 1929, by more than $300,000, according to the monthly report of Tax Collector Chatham M. Towers, made public yesterday. This increase offset a decline of the same amount in the Oc- tober tax receipts as compared with October, 1929, g the past month the receipis were $1,663,209.28, as against 342.94 in November, 1929. Real est taxes were responsible for the collec- tion of $828,690.08; tangible personalty, $140,859.47; intangible personalty, $15,- 778.77; business licenses, $55,596.65; gascline tax, $122,589.67, and water rents, $170,818.59. POTOMAC POWER DRAFT COMPLETED YESTERDAY Month Will Be Required to, Type Report Which Will Be Sent to Gen. Brown. Drafting of the report on the devel- opment of navigation, irrigation, flood control and hydro-electric power in the in typing the report, which will be in nine volumes, said Maj. Jo- seph D. Arthur, jr, District enginger Washington area. will be submitted to Maj. Brown, chief of Army En- re) wide survey called for by Congress. The survey was completed by Maj. Brehon One, | Somervell, the former District neer, and Maj. Arthur, who relieved the former in September. GERMAN CLUB BANQUETS Foreign Bervice School Holds Annual Affair. | Club of the 1| town University School of Foreign Safv- wn - held its ; Profs. Jaeger, 8ol nhoftd and De Contino, all town University; n and Count Harden= “was +