Evening Star Newspaper, January 6, 1931, Page 17

D. C. BUDGET BILL " 1 STARTS JOURNEY ON CAPITOL HILL Weights and Measures Items First to Be Taken Up by Simmons’ Subcommittee. ROBERTS SEEKS FUND FOR WESTERN MARKET Also Asks for Heavy Truck to Test Big Scales for Coal and Other Commodities. NOTE: This is the first of a series of stories_analyzing the District budget for the 1932 fiscal year, which is now under consideration by the House subcommittee on_ appropriations. BY JAMES E. CHINN, On the first lap of its legislative Journey through Congress, the District’s appropriation bill for the 1932 fiscal year is now under the microscopic scrutiny of the House subcommittee on appropriations, headed by Representa- tive Simmons of Nebraska. Officials of the municipal government are appear- ing before the committee to defend the items the bill contains—public improve- ments, salary increases and recurring expenses which, in their best judgment, constitute the actual needs of the Dis- trict in the coming fiscal year beginning July 1. The bill calls for appropriations to- taling $47,796,047. Though $60,385 less than the appropriation for the current fiscal year, the amount sought for 1932 actually reaches the unprecedented to- tal of $49,296,047, because of a provision reserving $1,500,000 for beginning con- struction of buildings in the Municipal Center area, if the plans can be com- pleted in time. Far Above 1922 Budget. Nearly $50,000,000 for the operation and maintenance of & municipality that only a decade ago was astounded and staggered when Congress approved a budget of $19,709,292! ‘Whence is coming this $50,000,0002 How much of it is to be raised by taxation? How much of it will rev- enues from other sources produce? And the unknown quantity, the Federal con- tribution, what will that be? Impertant, too, s what will this $50,- 000,000 budget provide? What are the improvements contemplated? How much is to be spent on streets and sidewalks, schools, police and fire' protection, health and sanitation and free libraries? These and numerous other pertinent questions will, as far as possible, be an- swered in this series. The budget as it now stands before the House subcom- mittee on appropriations will be ana- lyzed and the reasons for the various items outlined in detail. In other words, this series will be the story of the tax dollar and the work it is to per- form. Funds Asked for Market. ‘Taking the budget in its chronologi- cal order, as the House subcommittee does in its study, there is found among the first items a request of George M. Roberts, superintendent of weights, measures and markets, for $10,000 to complete the repairs to the Western Market and $6,000 for the purchase of a heavy motor truck and its equipment to test scales up to 10 tons. These are the most vital needs of this department, and both will be of immeasurable pub- lic service. Congress provided in the 1929 appro- priation act $35,000 for the partial re- habilitation of the Western Market, and Mr. berts is extremely anxious to complete the work, because he believes that so long as the municipal govern- ment continues to operate public mar- kets they should be maintained, at least to a reasonable degree, in accordance with well recognized requirements for institutions of the kind. A close estimate indicates that new plumbing and toilets for the Western Market will cost $5,000; new doors and window frames and the bricking up of certain useless doors, $3,500, and the Tepairing of walks in front of the build- ing, $1,500, Test Truck Necessary. The weight-testing truck is particu- larly need‘e‘: necoraing o Mr. Roverts, because of the lack of proper equip- ment in the past the department could not comply with the provisions of the law requiring it to check up on the weight of coal and other commodities and test scales of large capacity. The only equipment now used for such pur- pose is an old four-cylinder truck of 2,000 pounds capacity. Therefore, a test to the extent of only one ton can be made on large scales A survey has shown that there are 1n the District 199 establishments using 358 large scales, ranging from 2,000 to 40,000 pounds capacity. These scales are used in weighing a large varlety of merchandise, much of it of high value, nesicding coal, food, live stock, freight, wuliding materials and numerous other commodities customarily weighed by ihe load or in other large quantities. Million Tons of Coal Sold. More than one million tons of coal are sold annually to consumers in the District, and all of it is weighed at ihe time of sale on large scales. The total amount paid for this coal is placea at $12,000,000 a year. The value of other commodities weighed on these scales has not been determined, but Mr. Roberts believes it runs into millions of dollars annually. Mr. Roberts declares the equipment of his department is wholly insufficient 1o test the many scales of large ca- ity in daily use. As has been ed out, a test of only one ton an be made at this time, because the department has facilities’ for hauling and handling cnly one ton of test weights on most of the large scales in use in the District for weighing com- modities by the truck or wagon load, or in other similarly large quantities. Obviously the test which the depart- ment can now make is of little or no practical value. It does not protect the quirements of any rational interpre- ;?HOII of the weights and measures aw Protects Public and Companies. The appropriation for the g:oposcd truck is urged chiefly upon the basis of the duty of the superintendent of weights and measures and his assistants to administer and enforce existing law for the protection of the public against fraud. The lack of equipment properly 1o comply with the law is a matter of public and does not meet the re-| C - @he Foening Staf WASHINGTON, D. C, ONFEDERATE VETERAN PAYS $7 TO REGAIN SWORD LOST IN 1861 Article in Luray Newspaper Leads to Recovery of 0ld Weapon. Blade Was Saved From Ruins of Barn Used as Hiding Place From Federals. Christmas day Capt. D. C. Grayson, 3755 Jocelyn street, 92-year-old Con- federate veteran, was the recipient of an unusual gift. He recovered a sword which he lost nearly 70 years ago, after the first battle of Manassas. Alert’and active, keenly interested in all that goes on around him, Capt. Grayson is an inveterate reader of news- papers, and it was by reading an article about Luray, Va., his old home, that he received the first clue as to the where- abouts of the sword lost in 1861. Bullet Struck Scabbard. “It was my first sword,” chuckled the venerable soldier, “and I knew when I read the description in the Luray paper that the sword described was the one I had sent home after the battle of Manassas. It had been given to me by one of my relatives who was a colo- nel of militia. I joined the Army of Northern Virginia as a third lieutenant of Infantry. During the first battle of Manassas, July 21, 1861, I was ad- vancing with my company and carry- ing my sword. After the battle I no- ticed that the scabbard had been hit by a bullet. The scabbard probably saved me from being wounded.” “Due to the injury to the scabbard,” he continued, I could no longer carry the sword in battle. So I sent it home to my father in Luray. He was afraid to keep it about the house for fear the enemy might find it, so sent it to a relative, who lived up in the moun- tains close by. This relative was also afraid to keep the sword in his house, so he hid it in his barn. Shortly after that, the enemy passed that way and | burned down the barn. CAPT. D. C. GRAYSON. “I suppose the sword must have been found in the ruins of the barn later. At any rate, it was carried to the home of some neighbors. There it lay in the attic for many years. Shortly before this Christmas, Mr. Howser, the son of the gentleman who lived in the house at the time the sword was car- ried there from the destroyed barn, found the sword in the attic. nothing about it, or how it had gotten there. Seeing it was an interesting old sword, he carried it to an antique dealer in Luray, who bought it immedi- ately. The editor of the Luray paper heard about the old sword and wrote an article in his paper describing it.” “I_wrote to a niece in Luray and she brought the sword to me Christ- mas day ard of course, I knew it was mine. But, added Capt. Grayson with a chuckle, “it cost me $7 to buy it back.” WORKMAN'S WIDOW LOSES IN PAY CASE First Compensation Case Heard by Appeals Court Here Won by Insurers. The first case under the workmen's compensation act to reach the District Court of Appeals has been decided against a widow and in favor of the insurance company, which had insured the employer of her husband. The court held that there was substantial evidence that the husband was not per- forming services “arising out of and in the course of” his employment when he was struck and killed by a street car, but was engaged in his personal business. James N. Bradley, an employe of the Royal Glue Co., had been employed there for 40 years. He reported for duty about 8 o'clock August 14, 1928, and about a half hour later announced that he was “going up the street on a little business and will be right back.” His immediate superior told him to “take his time in returning” as it was cus- tomary for him to go out “whenever he wanted on business.” Bradley went to the office of the National Savings & ‘Trust Co. at Fifteenth street and New York avenue, where he cashed a per- sonal check and was proceed east- ward and presumably attempting to cross Fourteenth street at New York avenue when struck and killed by a street car. He owed the Gasch insur- ance firm on New York avenue between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets a bill of $5.25 for insurance, which un- paid bill was found in his pocket. Surety Brings Suit. A hearing was held before Robert J. Hoage, deputy United States employes compensation commissioners, and & finding by him that Bradley had been temporarily away from the plant and in the course of his employment when struck and killed. The New Amsterdam Casualty Co., the surety of the employ- er, brought suit in the District Supreme Court for an injunction to prevent the enforcement of an award in favor of the widow and on its bill being dis- issed noted an appeal to the Court of Appeals. In reversing the action of the lower court, Justice Charles H. Robb points out that Bradley had cashed a personal check and had in his pocket a bill to the insurance company, which he was on gu way to pay when struck and illed. Robb Analyzes Evidence. “To_infer,” says Justice Robb, “that when he sought permission to go up the street on a little business he meant that he was going out to make an emergency purchase for the company; that he cashed the check for the purpose of ob- taining money to pay for that pyrchase; and when killed was on his way to make the purchase, is to indulge in pure con- jecture inconsistent with the established facts” An award based on conjecture inconsistent with established facts and circumstances is manifestly so arbitrary and unreasonable as to be “not in ac- cordance with law,” he concludes. ML WOMAN LOSES APPEAL FROM COURT VERDICT Mrs. Virginia E. Grimes Had Sued Apartment Rental Agent for Act of an Employe. Virginia E. Grimes, wife of a janitor in an apartment of which the B. F. Saul Co. was rental agent, today lost in the Court of Appeals her appeal from the action of the District Supreme Court denying her suit for damages against the rental agent for an assault com- mitted on her by a workman sent by the agent to the apartment to do some work. Both courts held that the al- leged attack was beyond the scope of the employment of the man and could not be laid to the rental agent. Chief Justice Martin, in his opinion, points out that while generally it is a m: ¢ for the jury to determine whether or not an action is within the scope of & person’s employment, yet “if great concern to Mr. Roberts. In ad- dition, however, one of the purposes of the departure from the employer’s busi- ness is of a marked and decided chai the weights and measures law which 15 | geter, the decision of the question may of much importance is the protection | pe within the province of the court.” of 1h?tnestly c&nduc(ed business against | The action of the lower court in sus- unfair competition. taining & demurrer For years, Mr. Roberts declares, some | was upheld. bR aciesiion of the better class of business men in the Disirict have complained that the weizhts and measures law, in so far | truck, as Mr. Roberts sees it, will re- as it affects them, has not been fairly | turn incalculable dividends to the pub- @dministered because his department [lic through protection against = the @oes not have the equipment necessary | shori-weight coal dealer and, for the performance of its {l-m duties. | same time, protection for Zhus, & $6,000 iny unscrupulous t honest in a motor dealer against titors. FARRAR DEATH HELD ACCIDENT Coroner’s Jury Returns Ver- dict Absolving Secretary at Spanish Embassy. A coroner’s jury today returned a ver- dict of accidental death in the case of Joseph W. Parrar, 65-year-old recluse, who was fatally injured Sunday night at Dupont Circle by the automobile of the first secretary of the Spanish em- bassy. One witness, Oliver G. Ricketson, tes- tified that the automobile driven by Don Jose Ricardo Gomes Acebo was traveling at what he regarded as “a high rate of speed” when it struck Farrar. The witness also sald, however, that the pedestrian was crossing the intersection against the traffic lights. Other witnesses testified that the brakes on the coupe driven by the em- bassy attache were in excellent condi- tion. Arthur R. Allen, 5311 Eighth street, testified that Acebo stopped his machine after the collision and helped place the injured man in the taxicab which removed him to Emergency Hos- pital. He said the diplomat did not come to the hospital during the 20 min- utes he rémained there. After the coroner’s inquest was over the identity of the victim, other than his name, was still a mystery. No one knew his address and appar- ently no effort was being made to deter- mine it. William E. Leahy, local attor- ney, said he had known Farrar for the past 20 vears, and that the man was in his office last Saturday. The attorney said the last address he knew for Farrar was “on Thirteenth street above Iowa Circle.” Leahy said that Farrar was a man of exceptional ability and a college gradu- ISCHOOL BUILDING | PROJECTED IN 1927 READY NEXT FALL Efforts of Ten Agencies Re- quired to Complete New Eliot Junior High. JURY’S SITE PRICE CUT $26,520 BY BARGAINING Redrawing of Plans Is Among Causes of Delays Before Con- tract Was Let Last May. BY CHARLES B. DEGGES. The efforts, responsibilities and au- thorities of 10 separate agencies, to- gether with a novel and interesting bit of “hard-boiled” bargaining by the municipal government, will have been required over a 4}5-year period to make the new Eliot Junior High School, Eighteenth and B streets northeast, ready for occupancy next September. Here was a procedure in which the District Commissioners, negotiating with a fund not limited by the legisla- tive provision forbidding the expendi- ture of more than 125 per cent of the property’s assessed value, were able to buy the site for $26,500 less than a condemnation court jury’s price. It was a procedure which embraced a delay necessitated by the redrawing of a section of the building’s plans in deference to a request by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission. ‘These facts were revealed in a review of the steps taken to secure the Eliot School which Dr. Frank W. Ballou, sohool superintendent, completed yes- terday and in a supplemental investi- gation by The Star. Dr. Ballou will present his findings to the House Sub- committee on Appropriations, of which Representative Robert G. Simmons of Nebraska is chairman, during the com- ing hearings om the school needs of 1932. Funds Asked in 1927. ‘The “case history” of the Eliot Junior High School shows that besides the School Board, the agencies which had to do with the acquisition of the school were the District Board of Commission- ers, the Federal Bureau of the Budget, Congress, office of the Engineer Com- missioner, the Condemnation Court, municipal architect, District of Co- lumbia fire chief, the National Capital Park and Planning Commission and finally the contractor. It shows further that while the School Board first re- quested funds for the building’s site in May, 1927, it failed two consecutive years to get the item past the Budget Bureau and finally requested its purchase out of an unspecified fund carried in the appropriation act of 1930, The story of the Eliot School is not unlike that of the Alice Deal Junior High School at its outset. In May, 1927, the School Board submitted an esti- mate of $100,000 to the Commissioners for the site. The Commissioners in turn forwarded the request to the Bureau of the Budget, which eliminated it from the 1920 fiscal year estimates. The School Board tried again in May, 1928, and again the item got as far as the Budget Bureau, where once more it was killed. Meanwhile, in the Summer of 1928, the Engineer Commissioner’s office un- dertook negotiations for the purchase of the land out of unassigned funds carried in the appropriation act for 1929, which became available that July. The initial overtures for the purchase were made orally with the owner of the property, and the first written rec- ord of the proceedings is dated August 17, 1928, when, after becoming con- vinced that the owner would not sell at anywhere near the assessed value, the Commissioners ordered condemna- tion proceedings. Price Set at $120,000. The condemnation jury returned its verdict late in February, 1929, setting the price at $120,000, a figure con- siderably above 125 per cent of the as- sessed value. Although the money which the Commissioners were plan- ning to spend for this property was ate. He said that he made his living by trading in stocks and real estate. e STOCKING REPAIR PATENT IS UPHELD Stelos Company Judgment in In- fringement Case Sustained by Court of Appeals. ‘The District Court of Appeals, in an opinion by Justice Charles H. Robb, has affirmed the action of the District Su- preme Court in holding valid a patent issued to the Stelos Co. for a process to repair the “runs” in women'’s hosiery. A similar apparatus used by the Finch Corporation was held to be an infringe- ment of the Stelos patent. ‘The Stelos method is to stretch the fabric over a cup and inserting the needle through it in an up-and-down reciprocating motion. The old method was to stretch the stocking over the finger-tip and was trying both to the eyes and patience of the operator, be- cause of the difficulty in inserting the hook beneath the thread. A young woman gave a demonstration of the use of the needle with the stock- ing spread over a cup during the hear- ing of the case before the court, and Justice Robb remarked that the sim- plicity causes wonderment that it had not been discovered before. ‘The cup and its method of use form the element that imparts novelty to the patent, and the ch Co. may not avoid infringement by the use of ele- ments slightly different from other ele- ments of the elaim, but which perform the same function in substantially the same way, the court holds. The inven- tor is not obliged, says the court, to describe all the many forms of an ap- paratus by which it may be practiced in order to secure to himself exclusive right to the method. ADDRESSES K. C. GROUP Rev. R. A. McGowan Discusses Un- employment and Social Topics. “Unemployment and Catholic Social | & Teaching” was discussed by Rev. Ray- mond A. McGowan, asisstant director of the Social Action Department of the National Catholic Welfare Council, at the monthly meeting last night of the Washicgton General Assembly of the Fourth Degree, Knights of Columbus. Plans for the coming initiation of the Fourth Degrec to be held February 22 were outlined by James B. Flynn. J. Eugene Gallery will be in charge of the the | nitiation. A musical program and a buffet sup- per followed the meeting. not “limited” by the 125 per cent pro- vision, they determined to drive the best bargain they possibly could. The condemnation jury’s price, they de- cided, was entirely too high and they advised the property owner of their opinion. Going further, they told him they would abandon the purchase entirely rather than meet that price. Further negotiations resulted in a compromise in which the property changed hands at .a price of $93,480, still above the assessed value, but $26,520 less than the condemnation jury had set. Title was obtained to the property June 7, 1929. At the same time that the Board of Education initiated the request for the Eliot site—May, 1927—it asked also for $14,250 for the preparation of the plans. The Commisisoners, however, eliminated the item. The following' May, the School Board asked for $100,000 for the beginning of construction. Under the regular policy, the plans would be pre- pared out of this initial fund. The Commissioners forwarded the item to the Budget Bureau. Item Doubled by Bureau. The Bureau of the Budget doubled the item and sent it on to Congress, where it was defended by the school authorities and included by+the House and Senate in the appropriation act for 1930. In May, 1929, the school authorities submitted an estimate for the balance of the obligated total cost of the struc- ture and this $300,000 was approved by [ all the agencies through which it passed to be embraced in the appropriation act for 1931. On July 1, 1929, the first $200,000 be- came available and the following July the remaining $300,000 was placed at the disposal of the District. Sketches for the plans of the school were_begun by the municipal architect on October 15, 1929. These sketches were forwarded to the Board of Educa- tion two weeks later. On November 16 the School Board returncd the sketches to the municipal architect with criti- cisms and suggestions. They were re- vised on the basis of the school authori- tles’ suggestions, and returned to the Pranklin School Administration Building in 10 days. In another 8 days, the sketches were back at the District Build- ing with the School Board's approval. From this point, December 4, 1929, until January 3, 1930, the procedure was delayed while the municipal archi- made further changes in his plans in order to resituate the building on its site at the request of the Park and P’hnnl.n* Commission. On January 4 the final working drawings were begun and on January 23 the specifications ‘were launched. Approved by Fire Chief. Plans for the building were submit- ted to the District of Columbia fire chief February 13, 1930, and were returned by him with' his approval the following day. The specifica were completed February 15 and working drawings TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1931, PAGE B-—1 DESIGN FOR CHANGE A two-act operetta, “China Silk,” will be presented by the Langley Junior High School Girls' Glee Club in the Langley auditorium, First and T streets northeast, Thursday afternoon and Friday night. Emma Bowen, teacher. raine Gerardi and Irene Phelps. Chernikoss. The play is directed by Miss Left to right, front row: Doris Kaufman, Judith Greenwood, Ingrid Moe, Helen Mindling, Lor- Back row: Frances Etheredge, Kate Sunday, Lucy Rinaldi, Edna Herbert and Esther —Star Staff Photo. ALDRDGE PENALTY UPHELDBY COLR Policeman’s Slayer Must Die; Moffatt Loses Fraud Case Appeal. William Lee Moffatt, stock broker, convicted of false pretenses, and Alfred Scott Aldridge, colored murderer of Po- liceman Harry J. McDonald, must pay the penalties imposed by the lower courts, the District Court of Appeals has ruled. MofTatt must serve five years on each of two counts in connection with the sale of stock of the Bankers' Investment Trust Corporation, the terms to run concurrently. He has been in jail a year awaiting the result of the appeal. Aldridge faces the electric chair for the murder of the policeman July 6, 1929, at Seventeenth and Q streets. Basis of Appeal. The decision against the stock ‘broker was_handed down by Justice Charles H. Robb. Moffatt was said to have told investors that the Riggs National Bank was back of the investment concern in Which he was selling stock. The indictment failed to state that the Riggs National Bank is a corpora- tion, and counsel for the prisoner ob- jected when a vice president was per- mitted to correct the omission by his testimony, and the point was raised as error in the appellate court. Objection was also made to the refusal of the court to require the Government to elect at the conclusion of its case whether it would urge the larceny-after- trust or the false-pretense counts of the indictment. In holding neither point a reversible error, Justice Robb points out that the name of the Riggs National Bank was brought collaterally into the indictment to show the false pretenses, and it was not necessary to describe it with the minute detall that would have been necessary had it been named as the owner of the stock or other subject- matter of the indictment. Since the trial justice required the prosecution at the close of all the evi- dence to make an election, the court held the prisoner was not prejudiced. Death Penalties Upheld. The decision against the colored man was_rendered today by Justice Josiah A. Van Orsdel. ‘The court overruled the contention of counsel for the prisoner that it was el'l’m’l for l{lne lower‘court wtll\;:"fi:ro'l“; permit an inquiry of prospect if they entertained racial prejudice in a case where the defendant was colored and the victim a white man and that a_mistrial should have been granted when the wife of the victim fainted at sight of the bullet supposed to have passed through his body and lodged in the 2ttomobiie in which he was riding. Because the counsel waited until after the trial had commenced before making a point that he had been served with the copy of a previous indictment instead of the one under which the case was proceeding, the Appellate Court held he waived the point. There was no difference between the two indict- ments except as to number and date, the court pointed out. Aldridge and his brother had been surprised in an attempt to rob a drug store in the vicinity of Seventeenth and Q streets and McDonald had placed them under arrest and had taken them to his automobile to convey them to a patrol box. On the way the prisoner shot the officer and escaped, but his brother was killed by McDonald. Later Aldridge was apprehanded and declared he was “ready to take his medicine.” MEDICINAL WINE STOLEN Jimmy Thieves Take Cash and Cigarettes From Drug Store. Fifteen quarts of cholce wines and whiskys, kept for medicinal purposes, and an undetermined amount of cash and cigarettes were stolen last night by jimmy_ thieves at the drug store of Samuel F. Higger, 5017 Connecticut avenue. The robbery was discovered early to- day by Higger, who lives at 4817 Thirty- sixth street, when he opened the store. — e were finished March 1, 1930. The final tracings, from which blue prints are made, were finished and sent to the School Board March 19 and were re- turned the same day. They were sent to the Commissioners the next day and were returned by them to the muncl- pal architect March 25. ‘The plans and specifications were ad- vertised for bids March 28 and the re- turned bids were opened April 22. The contract was awarded May 13 by the Commissioners and it was executed May 27. The building is scheduled for com- pletion next July 27, a month after the close of the current academic vear. The building will be furnished and completely fitted during the next Sum- mer and will receive its first classes at the opening of the school next Sep- tember 21, ‘The Elict Junior High School will af- ford needed relief to the Eastern High School, which it adjoins. present enrollment is 2.119, while lte maximum capacity is 1,800, Eastern’s | 1 Gets Militia Post LIEUT. COL. JOHN S. UPHAM. COL. UPHAM GIVEN 0. MLTA POST Transferred From San Juan for Duty as Adjutant General. Lieut. Col. John 8. Upham, now serv- ing with the 65th Infantry at San Juan, Porto Rico, has been ordered to this city for duty as adjutant general of the Militia of the District of Columbia. He will leave Sar. Juan January 24 and on arrival at New York will be given a short leave of absence before reporting for his new duties in this city. Lieut. Col. Frederic H. Smith, Coast Artillery, recently relieved from duty as adjutant general of the Militia of the District of Columbia, has been assigned to the 69th Coast Artillery at Fort McClellan, Ala. Col. Upham is from the State of Washington and was awarded the Dis- tinguished Service Medal for services as a lieutenant colonel of Infantry in the National Army during the World War. He was graduated from the West Point Military Academy in June, 1903; from the General Staff School in 1922 and from the Army War College in 1923. He served in the Adjutant Gen- eral’s Department of the Army from February, 1923, to August, 1927, when he was transferred to the Infantry arm. His son, Second Lieut. John S. Upham, jr, 2d U. S. Infantry, was born in the Philippines, when his parents weze living there, and was graduated from the Western High School, this city, in 1924 and from the West Point Military Academy in June, 1928. EDITH NOURSE ROGERS TO BE GIVEN RECEPTION A reception for Representative Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts will be held by the Edith Nourse Rogers Chap- ter, No. 4, of the Disabled American Veterans of the World War, tomorrow night at the United States Soldiers’ Home, The speakers will include Represent- atives Rogers, Knutson of Minnesota, Connery of Massachusetts, Rankin of Mississippi, Patmon of Texas and Mary T. Norton of New Jersey and Maj. E. T. Hitch, Dr. W. L. Kline, Ralph Cham- bers, Capt. Fred Kochlie and Ben F. Motley. President Hoover’s expression of ap- preciation for the services rendered by veterans to the country will be read at the meeting. Installation of officers will follow the speeches, and the United States Marine Band will play. POISON DEATH DUE TOTRAFI CRAS Aubrey F. Covington, 19, Had Been Twice Injured in High- way Accident. Aubrey F. Covington, 19 years old, of R. F. D. 2, Fairfax, Va., died early today at the Georgetown University Hospital from poisoning, which set in following his injury in a recent traffic accident in Virginia. Covington was brought to the local hospital on December 28 upon suffer- ing a fractured leg in an accident a mile east of Fairfax. Police said today, however, that a similar injury received in an auto mishap 12 days previous caused the youth's death. Coroner J. Ramsay Nevitt issued a certificate of death and later signed re- moval papers releasing the body to a Virginia undertaking establishment. Fairfax County, Va. authorities are investigating the case. Two Pedestrians Badly Hurt. Two pedestrians were seriously hurt in accidents reported to police of the sixth precinct this morning. John B. Parker, 70, of 3063 M street, was taken to Casualty Hospital with a possible fracture of the skull, lacerations of the scalp and bruises of both legs and knees after being run down by an auto- mobile at Peace Monument. He was taken to the hospital by Rob- ert D. Truman, 31, of 918 ith street southeast, driver of the automo- bijle which struck him. n was not held. Archie Hill, colored, 42, of 1609 Sixth street, was hit at Sixth street and Mas- sachusetts avenue by a said to have been driven by Earl C. Griffith, 32, of 2304 Pennsylvania avenue. Griffith took Hill to Casualty Hospital, where the colored man was admit! for treatment for concussion of the brain, a possible fracture of the skull and lacerations. Eight Hurt in Mishaps. Eight persons were injured in a num- ber of “accidents reported to police throughout the city late yesterday, the | majority of which were caused by rainy | weather and slippery streets. Miss Willle Lucille Holloway, 20, and Miss Beatrice Hinds, 29, both of 1809 K street, were struck down at Jefferson place and Connecticut avenue by an automobile driven by Felix C. Peckham of 640 Princeton place, police declare. Miss Holloway was treated at George- town Hospital for a broken right knee- cap, while Miss Hinds was taken to Emergency and found to be suffering from a fractured pelvis. Lacerations of the scalp were re- ceived by Mrs. Fanny Brooke, 78, of 1712 Seventeenth street, when an auto- mobile operated by Wilmot Olff, 200 block of T street, felled her at Tenth and H streets yesterday afternoon. A taxicab driver removed Mrs. Brooks to Emergency Hospital for first aid. Her condition is not serious. Others hurt in traffic mishaps were: William Lloyd, 55, 1847 California street; Edward Saunders, colored, 32, 1202 Columbia road; Warren Norcott, colored, 27, 1719 New Jersey avenue; Lena Warner, colored, 25, 1606 Fif- teenth street; Rob Warner, colored, 26, 1606 Fifteenth street. They were said by hospital officials to have suffered only slight injuries. BOND OF $50 REQUIRED Requisite for Air Group Before Making Solo Flights. Members of the District of Columbia | Air Legion, local private flying club, will have to post $50 bond in the future be- fore they can fly alone in a Legion plane it was decided at a meeting last night. The Legion, one of the country’s pio- neer flying clubs and one of the most successful of its type, has created a “crash board,” which will decide whether the student’s bond is to be for- feited in case of damage to the ship V\'}}{}fi he llsbit the controls. e club last night began raisin, funds to buy a new plane. o . PEPCO WORKER, BURIED BENEATH POLES, ESCAPES SERIOUS INJURY Charles E. Soper, Jr., Freed IN STATE BUILDING TENTATIVELY 0.K.D Fine Arts Body Sees Model of Proposed Architectural Improvements. CHARLES MOORE HEADS COMMISSION 5TH TERM Group Considers Placing of Sculp- tural Pieces at Arlington and Lincoln Memorial Bridges. Architectural conformity of the two large Government buildings which flank the White House drew a step nearer completion today as the Com- mission of Fine Arts viewed and tenta- tively approved a design or remodeling the old State, War and Navy Building, west of the Executive Mansions. The Commission was to consult later in the day with Secretary Mellon on the plans for complete rearrangement of the exterior of the old State, War and Navy Biulding to bring it into architectural agreement with the clas- sic outlines of the Treasury Department Building east of the White House. ‘The Commission, holding its initial 1931 meeting, viewed a model of the proposed changes on the south side of the building which is to be occupied in the future exclusively by the State Department. Charles Moore Renamed Chairman. Charles Moore of Detroit, who came to Washington early in the present cen- tury with the late Senator McMillan of Michigan and who was one of the orig~ inal members of the commission, was today re-elected for a fifth consecutive term as chairman of the Fine Arts body. Mr. Moore has been one of the foremost. in the development of Washington along the lines laid down by L'Enfant and later modified by the McMillan of 1901, and is regarded as an authority on the devel- menmh:vmu Capital. . Morris was named vice L . final in development of the Aruflwnml?emoflflm Bridge and the Lincoln Memorial Plaza, the commission considered the question of placing sculptural groups at the \bridge and the plaza and the entrance ::du:;e question of design 1« Bkl n of for columns on the Columbia Island Plaza. Farmers May Get Shelters. Farmers who disp! and sell their wares on or along sidewalks near the market centers of Wasl may be provided with shelters, if the commis- slon approves their erection. The com- mission today conferred with Repre- sentatives R. Walton Moore Stephen W. Gambill, George W. Rob- erts, District superintendent of weights and measures, and A. L. Harrls, mu- nicipal architect, of temporary shelters for the of farmers at the market centers of Wash- ington. It is proposed to build these shelters between the sidewalk and the curb at the more lmvmmn X The commission will visit the proposed sites before giving its final approval. A model for a building 90 feet in l[zlel‘a‘l:a, proposed as the n! Masonic Temple Heights Devel- opment, was submitted by Harvey Wiley Corbett, New York architect. The commission announced that it will con- sider the for this structure connection with the suggestion th’al: g;tfld:! :::n lrebent Connecticut and enues tained park development. £ a5 Entrance Marker Skeiches Submitted. Sketches of the proposed markers for entrances to the District of Columbia, in which the Garden Club of America also is interested, were submitted by Charles W. Eliot, 3d, director of plan- L. consul , and W, , 8{1 the National Park architect Plani of M U. 8, Grant, 3d, and Horace W. . Grant also submitted a dedmm!o?n]i ‘warehouse, to be located at the intersection of Virginia and Maryland LOW BID OF $53,025 MADE TO WIDEN BRIDGE Baltimore Firm Produces Best Of- fer for Work on Monroe Street Project. F. Carozza & Son of Baltimore were the low bidders for the job of widening the Monroe Street Bridge over the Bal- timore & Ohio tracks between Eighth and Ninth streets. They put in a bid of $53,025, which was the lowest of the three bids received. The work is designed to increase the present 30-foot roadway to 50 feet. Of the bid, $2,000 is for the work of re- moving part of the structure and $51,- 025 for the task of putting up the new bridge. The contract is expected to be signed within the next week. — NURSE CORPS AS HOST Navy Unit to Honor President of American Association. The Nurse Corps of the United States Navy will be the host to Miss Elnora E. Thomson, president of the Ameri- Miss Thomson, and health education and professor of applied sociology at the University of Oregon, is coming to Washington to attend the annual meeting of the Na- tional Committee on Red Nursing Service on Monday. She will make her headquarters at the nurses’ quarters at the Naval Hospital, Twenty-fourth and E streets. POLICE ACT SWIFTLY by Companions and Returns to Job After Examination at Hospital. Charles E. Soper, jr., 25 years old, of 1231 H street northeast, a tractor operator at the Benning warehouse of the Potomac Electric Power Co., escaj serious injury when pinned beneath approximately 12 electric light poles while unloading a flat car ncar the warehouse today. Soper was released by workmen around the warehouse, who lifted them from him one at a time. e was taken t> Sibley Hospital, where, after being examined. he was released. He 1cturned shortly afterwdrd to the warehouse, [ where he said he felt but little worse for his experience, except for some soreness through the chest and shoul- ders. The full weight of the poles was prevented from resting on Soper by Ppieces g timber on ground at the time. He was released re the fire rescue squad arrived on the e Soper explained that th happened when a wooden staic the flat car br oif while § atigmpting to unicad ghe car W ad of sucther man, _ ne. accident d_on was, the Two Stolen Automobiles Recovered ‘Within 12 Hours. ‘Two stolen automobiles covered within 12 hours b States park police, its today. J. W. Cain found the ferday. “parked on Beach ‘Drive. A on Kilingle road, in Rock omkm ficer A"‘ L. unnlldbflhl;:hlln & car traveling at third and B streets. mw the speeding were _able make a getaway. Inquiry revealed that the czr had been stolen from F, lfllh‘ol 2018 Eighteenth were re- the United