Evening Star Newspaper, January 25, 1931, Page 17

_[vasmcro ] @he Sundwy Skt SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY WASHINGTON, aC, GRAND JURY PROBE || Animal Traits in Childrén BEGINS TOMORROW, Four Men Held as Police, Ad- mittedly Baffled, Will Offer Evidence. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Out of the vast, dark forest of the pre-human past come children speak- ing strange tongues and sleeping, walk- ing, climbing and ing after the manner of their animal ancestors. One of the strangest chapters in the story of human evolution has just been written by Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, curator of physical anthropology at the Na- tional Museum, starting from chance observations of children walking on all fours in animal fashion. Following this clue with extensive inquiries all over the world, Dr. Hrdlicka came into a practically untouched scientific field— that of survivals of behavior extending to_many activities of the child life. There was evidence that frequently children come into the world with structural peculiarities which are like bridges over the long ages from man’s pre-human ancestry. reaching back in some cases to the far days when ver- tebrates were emerging from the ocean. Even independent of these structural inheritances, Dr. Hrdlicka shows, in the first year or two children may de- velop peculiar behaviors with quadru- ped-like character which represent an- cient pre-human habits and attitudes. Asks Childhood Records. The materia® has convinced ~Dr. Hrdlicka that he had tapped a field of infinite possibilities, and he is making an appeal to all persons who observe strange behavior in children or remem- ber it from thell; own ;;hudhoed to send Charged ‘with being ‘“accessories to|him exact records of it. murder” in eonnecuafi with the girl's! The first extensive chapter of this slaying, fotir. men are being held at)strange story has just been published the District jail. They are Robert F.|by Dr. Hrdlicka in a volume issued by on, policeman detailed to the |the McGraw-Hill Co. “beat” on which the girl's death occur- | Children with these animal-like behav- ved; Vernon Limerick, her brother;!iours, he finds, are not degenerates or Richard Reed, her sweetheart, and Wil- | inferiors, but normal and often supe- liam Paddy, a friend. rior children. It is probable, he holds, The girl was shot to death early on | that every human being has some trait ‘morning of December 31 in a house | Which may or may not have appeared at 18 Nineteenth street southeast. in his behavior, but what is of the At the coroner’s inquest into her | character of a survival. When observed death there was presented a mass of |Scientifically, he says, these are living contradictory evidence as to the phys- | Proofs of man's animal ancestry and of hisevolution. ical facts surrounding her death. Among the strangest ~phenomena Milkman Heard Shots. found h;" Dkrl.‘clgrdluka ::‘e Deme"ctféxte‘: As the inquest progressed her “best | of speech W appear to conns 1 friend,” Martha Bargfrede, and her pre-human pncflces.' ts:r;u cmldr;n , taken into custody. They | talk in a language of their own, ap= w‘::g‘nq%est:.nefl o released. Then | parently full of meaning to them, but the police took the sain girl's mother, | unintelligibls to anybodv else. Still Mrs. Dora-Limerick, and her sister, | others try to express their thoughts or | Mrs. Julia Bywaters, to the fifth pre- ; emotions in distinctlv animal sounds, cinct station housé for ~questioning. “BREAK” HELD NEEDED TO MAKE INDICTMENTS Presentation of Case Expected to Consume Week—Over 50 Wit- nesses to Testify. The District grand jury will be given tomorrcw its investigation of Beulah Limerick’s murder. The police, admittedly baffled, will turn over all their evidence pertaining to the girl's death to Assistant United States Attorney Julien I. Richards, who will present it to the grand jury. It is expected that his presentation will consume the entire week. Four Men Being Held. {and others will imitate and use the They were also released after grilling. | sound made by various animals. | After the inquest had -dlonmed| Develops Language of Own. ar Daniel Boyer, & milkman, came forward | mother reported: “My girl de- with a story of ha heard two shots ineteent house be- | veloped a language of her own of which e ey I understood only a few words. When L 'clock on the morn- - S ot ‘Desember. 31 He also.to1d of |1 asked her G0 repest she always re- having seen a blue car speed away from | Deated the same sounds. At 2': years the death house. Yesterday police inter- | she could put few words into sentences. viewed & woman, who said she heard | At 5 vears and 8 months she has a six shots fired in that vicinity between 'flfll’i,uhr{m!lnuc:‘l' . be{""fiw':"h ym;i 1. and ‘o'clock Another e at al er Six- Sang NS Nogs thes, mothus. teenth montli “started to jabber fast, Fifty Witnesses Expected. Jong stories with all the intonations of Assisant ‘United States Attorney | conversation yet mno intelligible word. | Richards said all of these witnesses, and | Shortly after she was 18 months old about 50 others, would be called before |she bigan to talk and her progress was the grand juty, 4 nothing short of remarkable.” A boy, It “was pointed<out;. however, ‘that | 15 months old, “says Words when he . ¢ of | wants to, but insi on making his T e o "tne- pulice | wants known by different kinds of | squealing.” Another, while shaking ob- | jects with a rbythmical motion, often | emits peculiar cries rather like a mon- key in a cage.” Unconscious and semi-conscious imi- without returning any indictments. - tation of animals by small children, Dr. Hrdlicka holds, is a still very imperfect, COMMITTEE TO DECIDE BORLAND LAW ACTION |3 setmed i fate Si"ofsason 1o the defendants, and uniess the police are lucky In securing a “break,” the grand jury may hear all this evidence be a dog and when she has played by pers S Sk SR % = 2 party. arks of five Chairman Capper Will Call Mem- | dogs perfe o ol lectly. Dogs to her were real bers Together on Tuesday wg of New York.| With Quadruped-Like Character, Representing Ancient Pre-Human Habits. frog.” Another child, when he played on the fioor, would sit on his heels and move about without rising.” Grasps Objects With Toes. Some children, parents report, use hands and feet almost in the same manner, like animals. One boy ‘“can grasp anything and walk with objects grasped between the toes.” Another catches hold of his bottle with both his hands and feet, but “the feet usually get it first.” A'little girl “uses hands and feet interchangeably. She will hold her bottle between her clenched toes in order to play with toys while drinking, or hold the bottle in her hand or pick up toys with her feet.” One mother reported that her child, climbing up the corner of his playpen, “instead of wrapping his arms around the rungs used to wrap his toes and feet.” She started using her toes and feet just like hands,” reports another, “and would pick up a talcum powder box or rubber doll with her two feet and place it in her hands.” A boy “could hang on anything he could get a toehold on before he could walk.” A girl “could pick up a safety pin or marble with the toes or one foot.” This, Dr. Hrdlicka says, “evidently represents one of the closest connec- tions of man with the pre-human past. Where such instances are spontaneous and pronounced they may safely be relegated to the realm of atavisms.” Another apparently atavistic behavior trait, he says, is the corrying of objects in the mouth by children who run on all fours, Here are some of the in- stances reported by parents: Girl Acts Like Chicken. A girl was like a chicken, very care- fully going over every inch of the floor searching for the tiniest particles to put in her mouth. A boy, running on all fours, picked up an apple with his teeth. Another would run about on all fours with a bone in his mouth. A little girl carried all her toys by hold- ing them with her teeth.” Still an- other “carried her sack doll in this manner, letting it dangle as a cat would its kitten.” He found lack of fear of height no- table among the children who walked on all fours, a trait characteristic of a tree-living ancestry. One such boy, 7 years old. walked on an 8-inch cement | guard rail, 100 fect long and about 60 feet from the street beloy. A little girl “has frequently electrified us by teeter- |ing on the edge of a chasm with no more concern than if she were on a street curb. Still more suggestive of something Inherited, Mr. Hrdlicka points out, are the remarkable climbing propensities of children. “Climbing,” he remarks, “is a complex, co-ordinated, objective ac- tion. ‘The human infant has no busi- ness to climb. He has no advantage in doing it, except so far as it is connected with the need and pleasure of muscu- lar activities, He falls again and again and suffers for it, even to breaking his bones. If he persists in climbing on everything climbable, long before the actions are directed by any reason, then the manifestation can only be an expression of something that was de- cidedly of use in earlier human or pro- human times. Bang Head to Express Anger. Several cases were reported of chil- dren eating soap and dirt. These, Dr. Hrdlicka says, presumably are not traits inherited from an animal an- cestry, but are due to some hidden pe- culiarity of the centrol nervous system. He is eager to secure more reports, with complete life histories of the children, of dirt and soap eating. Still another unexplained ~phenomenon, of which Dr. Hrdlicka wants to secure more in- stances, is that of banging the head to express anger, joy or tense excitement. One of the strangest cases of chil- dren woh walk on all fours was the One boy, 16 months old, “could bend at the waist and, keeping the| Afternoon. knees stiff, lick the contents of a dish on ihe floor.” His mother thought he | | was imitating the puppy, “as it was the | Members of the Senate District Com- | 908's dish.” A visitor wrote of a 4-year- | mittee will be called together by Chair- | 0ld man Capper Tuesday afternoon to de- termine what action they plan to take on the new plan of assessing propert; owners for street paving, asked for b; the Commissioners to overcome objec- tions which have led the courts to set aside the Borland law to & large de- Members of the committee have been ol ‘J noticed him lying in a | shallow mud hole beside a dog and a {pig. As he heard me he rouscd him- self, raised himself on hands and knees, nd to my consternation barked at me | in perfect imitation of the racket the dog was putting up; after which he grunted like the pig.” Animal Manifestation. furnished with copies of the hearings held recently. The meeting Tuesday is not being called as a hearing, it was explained day, but will be for the “Here” Dr. Hrdlicka says, “we have approached phenomena which, though more or less accidentally and realized through imitation, scem to have purpose of committee deliberations on | deeper. far-away foundation. Strong the bill. Senator Kean of New Jersey vester- day afternoon filed in the Senate the Teport, of the District Committee on the new trafic bill which means this measure may have its first chance for consideration when the Senate holds a special session Monday night on un- objected bills. Any bill to which an objection is raised Monday night would have to be postponed. SCOUTS TO DRAMATIZE LIFE OF WASHINGTON Pageant Will Be Part of Anniver- sary Week—Directed by Commo- dore Longfellow. rdlicka says, with animal behavior, particularly such as found in the apes.” A girl in her second year bunches all coverings over her head, tucks bright colored rags under her chin and keeps them there, and has a passion for hoarding stones, making a cache of them. An- other in her ninth month delighted to drag torn papers, cushions and shawls into a little cage formed by a gate-leg table. She “scratches gently on her pillow as she is going to sleep. If she wakes up in the night I hear this gentle scratching until she goes to sleep again.” A boy was so quick at jumping that he could catch birds that way. Another had a tendency, when | playing with any object, to get up on all fours and circle around it, moving his hands hardly at all bat making the circle entirely with his feet. Most of the important events in the life of Washington will be dramatized in the Anniversary week pageant to be staged oy Boy Scouts in the District and nearby Maryland and Virginia on February 7, at McKinley Technical High School auditorfum. More than 1,000 Scouts are expected to take part in the event, which will celebrate the twenty-first anniversary of Scouting in America. “Scouting With Washington,” which the pageant has been named, is given as the inter-trcop activity by District Boy Scouts, and is to be directed by Commodore' W. E. Longfellow, assisted by scoutmasters of the various troops. Fourteen Scouts and Scout leaders | cpijdrey will impersonaie Washington in the i hov different scenes in the pageant, which | hear cub.” ens with the celebrating of his first | witn his' thday anniversary. continues through | mother his lifc, and cioces with the scene | mORiCh howing him victorious at Yorktown. Perhaps thie strangest of ‘all ‘is’ the - development by some infants of swim PUBLIC PRINTER BETTER ming motions which phenomenon, if AFTER SUDDEN ILLNESS it is a throwback, may go back to very George H. Carter Still in Bed as ancient days of life. In general, Dr. Hrdlicka says, the natural swimming Result of Indigestion Attack at Meeting. motion has been lost in man. But one George H. Carter, public printer, was baby, a few weeks old, “if placed on his stomach in the bath tub moved arms recovering at his home last night from an attack of acute indigestion with and legs in perfectly swimming m: and enjoyed it so much that he which he was stricken Priday after- noon at an_ executive meeting of the screamed when taken out. The neigh- bors used to come in and watch him.” Another “has been flopping along on her tummy since the age of five months. Her first crawling motion was Employing Bookbinders of America at the Carlton Hotel. Mr. Carter’s sudd:n illness, following an address he delivered to the bool binders, brought the meeting to an ab- flat on her stomach and she pulled rupt end. In a state of collapse, he herself forward on her arms as if she was swimming.” Still another “never was removed to his home, 1661 Hobart street, in the automobile of his family physicia; crept as most children ¢». but b gan moving about by wriggling on her n. S i e spent a restful day and was * although still confine juntil he was 14 years old. Another liked to curl his legs around supports when sitting. Another used to throw bimself out of chairs with hands out- stretched, like a cat. Another “was seen repeatedly raising himself up from the floor, unaided by any support, much as I have seen bears do, looking about, swaying, and then dropping back on all fours to travel again, Swimming Motions. commonly compared such with bears, dogs or monkeys. rolls back to sit up just lik> a Another “kicks like a dog cet” And many are to the my little doggie, my little Parents stomach, moving her arm like one ming position with much arm move- ment.” Squatting, Dr. ?uenuy accompan! fours and spontaneously. “much_better. primitive swimming.” The first movements of another little boy were “in a flat swim- to his bed. She said there had complications. ed } is common among been o mans. A mother descr! boy as “sitting on his contributing causes of such imitation ! manifestations of children, | ““connect plainly | Another | | always smelled of any object given him | following, of which there is no plausi- bie_expianation: “Every night about 12 o'clock she | woke and laughed, peal after peal of | laughter, until about 2 o'clock. when | she grew fretful and hungry, was fed | and went to sleep again.’ This be- havior started about the tenth month, lasted for two months, and later re- | appeared in a modified fashion. Some persons, Dr. Hrdlicka found, who never actually have walked on all fours, do 50 in dreams, and this opens up the possibility of studying the ves- tiges of the prehuman past through the gate of dream life. A prominent Washington scientist re- ported that in occasional dreams, when he finds himself fleeing In terror from some pursuer, and is in danger of being caught, dropped on all fours, and, run- ning thus and vaulting, just as the apes do. he gets away from his enemy. The sleep habits of children, Dr. Hrdlicka found, present also some strange phenomena which can hardly be interpreted otherwise than as throw- backs to animal behavior. Four-footed mammals sleep seldom on their backs, but usually on their stomachs with the feet drawn up under them. This would presumably be a most uncomfortable position for a_human being, but babies often sleep, and insist on sleeping, in this posture. $1,000 FUND PROPOSED FOR DOG HERO’S PORTRAIT Representative Would Have Stubby’s Picture Kept by Connery War Department. Further honors for his old pal “Stubby,” the famous war dog Who served with the Yankee division so valorously in four major offensives that he was decorated as a national hero by Gen. Pershing, are proposed by Repre- sentative William P. Connery of Mas- sachusetts. Connery was geant and “Stubb; imental color ser- Hrdlicka found, fre- all It hu- | civilized tribes, with headquarters at mnlkl:ue Muskogee, 15 considered one of the most L WAS mascot, 5o they big fights together went through the big ‘Stubby™ has been | overseas. Since then feted and veterans' reunions. In the House yesterday Representa- tive Connery introduced a_bill provid- | ing that the Secretary of War procure itly uncovered portrait of and to provide a suitable | place to display this painting among | other trophies of the World War now in_custody of the War Department. The portrait of “Stubby” was painted by the late Charles Ayers Whipple. An appropriation of $1,000 for its acquisi~ tion would be authorized under the Connery bill. GIVEN INDIAN POST New York Man Named Superin- tendent of Five Civilized Tribes. Adrian M. Landman of New York yesterday was appointed superintendent of the five civilized tribes of Oklahoma by Secretary Wilbur. | tended last toasted at all World War TWO YOUTHS HELD ON CHARGE OF SALE AND THEFT OF DOG Anti - Vivisectionists Attend Hearing in Falls Church Justice’s Court. $200 BOND ORDERED FOR EACH DEFENDANT Boys Accused of Taking Pet to University Laboratories for Experiments While Alive. Brownie, the 4-year-old nondescript collie pet of Miss Mary Slade of Mason- ville, Va., is destined to greater promi- nence in death than he ever dreamed of during his carefree rabbit-hunting existence on a Fairfax County farm. Brownie gave up his life in the cause of science if you hold that vivi-section is a necessary aid to the increase of medical knowledge or he was cruelly and needlessly tortured to death if you hold the convictions of the anti-vivi- sectionists. Justice of the Peace J. T. Moling of Falls Church last night held two col- ored boys, Stanley Robinson and Hubert Sutton. for action of a grand jury on a charge of grand larceny involving the death on December 3 of a dog owned by the family of C. F. Slade. Both boys were released on $200 bond for their appearance in Circuit Court March 16. Robinson was represented by At- torney Harry Shockey of Falls Church, who refused to allow the boys to testify. Sutton pleaded not guilty. Court Room Crowded. ‘The little country court room was crowded to the doors. The case was brought to the attention of the Anti- Vivisection League several weeks ago and a large delegation of prominent members were in attendance. This is the first case to come up since the league offered $100 reward for evidence that will convict persons selling stolen dogs for vivisection purposes in the District of Columbia. The league is working for the pass- age of a bill sponsored by Representa- tive Zihiman of Maryland and now pending in Congress, prohibiting ex- periments on living dogs in the District and providing a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 or imprison- ment for not less than three months or more than one year or both. As the bill has a hearing in Con- gress tomorrow, many of the national leaders of the anti-vivisection movi ment are now in Washington and a night's hearing. James McNeal of Washington. attornev for the Vivisection Investigation League, acted as attorney for Mrs. Slade. Other members among the 15 or 20 attending were Charles E. Russell. a member of the board of directors of the Anti-Vivi- section League; Mrs. C. T. Alt, secretary of the Anti-Vivisection League; Mis3 Mabel Orgelman, the league’s legis- lative secretary, and others. Searched for Dog. Miss Slade and her witnesses, Douglas McFarland and Julius Slade, testified that Sutton had come to her home in Robinson Park Wednesday morning, December 3, and that Sutton was later seen to leave the Slade barn with Brownie following at his heels. When the dog failed to return after several days, Douglas McFarland hunted upj Robinson at a colored settlement and asked about the dog. He testified Rob- | inson accused Sutton of taking the dog in Robinson's car to the Georgetown niversity Laboratcries on Reservoir road. McFarland stated he gave Rob- inson until 6 p.m. the following Mon- day, threatening to prosecute him if he did not return the dog by that time. Later Miss Slade and McFarland went to the laboratories and saw the dog was still alive. McFarland testified that the man in charge took him into the lab- oratories where a dog was then on the operation table and later into a room where about 20 dogs were confined. This man told McFarland that he had bought 17 dogs from Robinson and Sutton at $2 each with the understand- ing that they belonged to the boys and their friends and were not pets. The assistant at the hospital told them, they testified, that a dog answering Brownie's description had been used for exper mental purposes several days previously. Miss Slade's brother said that Sutton and Robinson later came to his home and told him they had taken the wrorg dog and wanted to apologize. Asks Substantial Bond. McNeal made an appeal to the judge to hold both boys under a substantial bond for their appearance during the March term. “We contend that this is a ‘dog racket’ ‘that dogs are being carried off by wholesale regardless of their character, traits or pedigree,” he said. Miss Slade refused to put a value on her pet. She said she would not have sold Brownie for $50. Attorney for the defendants said the warrant should | have charged petit larceny, a_misde- | meanor, and could have been tried in a justice's court as he argued no evidence had been produced to show the dog had other than a sentimental value. |BILL COLLECTOR TREATED AT HOSPITAL FOR HURTS Brother of Woman From Whom He Attempted to Make Col- lection Arrested by Police. Alfred Lewis, 44 years old, of 2144 L street, a_department store collector, was admitted to Georgetown Hospital after a brother of a woman from whom he attempted to coliect a bill last night { became angry and struck him, accord- ing to police. Lewis was belleved to have sustained a fractured rib and internal injuries. X-rays were ordered taken to determine the extent to which he was hurt. He was treated at the hospital by Dr. B. Golden. John Lee McDonough, 21 years old. of 1517 Wisconsin avenue, where Lewis had gone to collect the bill, was ar- rested by police of No. 7 precinct last night in connection with the assault and held for investigation, pending Lewis’ condition. McDonough, accord: ing to police, followed Lewis from the building. They say McDonough ad- mits the assault. | $50,000 DAMAGES ASKED Nettie L. Cockrell, 1002 M street. Landman, a native of Boston, for- merly was connected with the Indian Service for 12 years. He later became assistant head of accounts for the fuel administration and budget advisor for the mayor of Syracuse, N. Y. ‘The superintendency of the five important in the Indian Service, has filed suit in the District Supreme Court to recover $50,000 damages from S. Kann Sons Co. for alleged personal injuries. She says she purchased a pressure cooker from the firm, which exploded January 26 while she was using it caused her to be burned severely. She is represen Attorneys Fred B. Rhodes and ( "&m 122, 1930. The almost completed ornamental lobby of the new black marble finishings, the spacious entrance space and the structural detail. 25, 1931. =* Department of Commerce Building, showing the luxurious —Star Staft Photo. RADICAL TAAING CHANGE PROPOSED Brookhart Introduces Bill to Apportion Burden on In- staliment Realty. A radical change in _the method of taxing real estate in Washington was proposed late yesterday by Sena Brookhart, Republican, of Iowa, who introduced a bill to provide that when property is being bought on the install- ment plan, the tax assessment would be apportioned netween the purchaser and the holcer of the mortgage. ‘The percentage of the assessed value charged against the purchaser would be in_proportion to the amount he had paid on the property at the time of the assessment, and the remainder of the asscssment would be levied on the holder of the mortgage or deed of trust. ‘The bill would amend the assessment laws by adding the following new section: “Beginning with the taxable year 1932 in the case of real property pur- chased on an installment basis, where the obligation of the purchaser to pay is secured by mortgage or deed of trust, the percentage of the total assessed value of such property assessed for any taxable year against the purchaser thereof shall be ‘equal to the pcrcentage of the total purchase price paid and payable up 0 the commencement of such taxable year for such property, and the remainder of the total assessed value of such property shall be as- sessed agains. the mortgagee, or the trustee named in the trustee deed.” Explaininz his proposal, Senator Brookhart said he felt that the rule of charging tne proj y_owner taxes on the full value when half or two- thirds of it is covered by mortgage is unjust. He said a similar proposal is being advocated in his State. The bill was referred to the District Committee. e MILD INFLUENZA HITS CONGRESS MEMBERS Longworth Scouts Report Some Cases of Pneumonia Are Under Treatment. By the Associated Press. Additional members of Congress were stricken yesterday by a mild type of influenza. Speaker Longworth said no one was seriously sick and scouted a report that some cases of prieumonia are under treatment. Representatives Andersen and Knut- son of Minnesota and Niedringhaus of Missouri were added today to a sick list that brought Dr. George W. Calver more than a score of calls. Senator Ransdell of Louisiana is re- covering from a light attack of in- fluenza. Senator Robinson of Indiana has been kept away several days by illness in his family. Speaker Longworth said the out- cropping among Representatives was sudden. The Public Health Service, pursuing a national precaution cam- paign, posted elevators and halls with | sponsored warnings. Representative Pear] Peden Oldfield is expected back at her office tomor- row. So are Representatives Moore of Ohio, McMilian of South Carolina, Garrett of Texas, Tarver of Georgia, McKeown of Oklahoma, and Bacon of New York, al' of whom have colds or influenza. Representatives Chiperfield of Tilinois, Johnson of Washington, Palmisano of Maryland and Lee of California also are suffering from the ailment. GIVEN 30-YEAR TERM Colored Man Sentenced for As- sault in April Last Year. Dellie Clark, colored, was sentenced vesterday by Justice Peyton Gordon, in Criminal Division 1, to serve 30 years in the penitentiary for a criminal as- sault on a 19-year-old white girl, April Assistant United States At- torney Walter M. Shea had asked the jury 2t the trial for a death sentence, but it found the defendant guilty, with out adding the words “with the death sentence.” maximum sentence under the verdict. Some one in the audience whistled when the sentence was imposed. The court declared that if the marshal could locate the offender he would give him a chance to get rid of some of his enthusiasm in jail. The girl was employed by the Western Union Telegraph Co., and was return- ing home after midnight when the man ttacked her Illinois avenue and - | Taylor street after she had left the street car. DYER HEADS SOCIETY Representative L. C. of Mis- souri was elected president of the Mis- souri Soclely at a meeting in the Wash- ington Hotel last night. Other officers elected were Represen- tative W. L. Nelson, Mrs. Bessie Parker Brueggeman and John B, Gordon, vice presidents; Otis J. Rogers, secretary, and W. W. ley, treasurer. The election was preceded by an l=l-_ dress by Mrs, who chairman of the Compensation r | dead. Justice Gordon imposed the | MOTHER FINDS INFANT SUFFOCATED IN CRIB Fire Rescue Squad Tries Hour to Restore Baby of Mr. and Mrs. F. Warlick. ‘The 7-weeks-old infant of Mr. and Mrs. F. Warlick of the Alban Towers Apartments, 3700 Massachusetts ave- nue, was suffocated late yesterday while it lay in its crib. Dr. J. Ramsay Nevitt, District coroner, issued a cer- tificate of accidental death, and stated that the child died by suffocation. ‘The Fire Department rescue squad worked over the infant for more than an hour. Dr. Robert Bier, 1354 Co- lumbia road, pronounced the child Mrs. Warlick told police she left the child in the bed room and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. She added that when she returned she discovered the child's condition. She summon the rescue squad and the physician. According to Dr. Nevitt, 15 similar cases kave occurred over a period of approximately 10 years. BILLS FOR DISTRICT ENCOUNTER DELAY ;Measures Now Expected to | Come Up February 9—Bor- | land Changes One. Several District measures which Cor- poration Counsel Bride is endeavoring to get rushed through the House will not come up for consideration on Mon- day, which it was expected would be the first District day in the present ses- viously is- sioners that he would find the time when these measures, if reported from the House District Committee, would be allowed to come up for consider- ation in the House, after a confer- | ence with Chairman Zihlman and Rep- resentative McLeod of the | Committee, decided to postpone con- sideration until the first District day in February, which will be Monday, Feb- ruary 9. Among the measures most urgently recommended for passage is one advo- cated by the Attorney General to ex- pedite the Government's taking posses- sion of certain properties under con- demnation as sites for new Federal buildings. Corporation Counsel Bride is particu- larly anxious to get House action on the substitute measure for the old Borland law, which has been made in- tricate by a series of court decisions. ‘The corporation counsel also is insistent upon early action on the repeatedly | half dozen other District measures awaiting action on the House calendar, and conspicuous among these is the bill to regulate billboards and exterior advertising in the District. A particularly strong effort will be made to get action on this measure by the House on February 9. There is more unanimous agreement on this measure than on any other pending legislation for the District. The bill is by the District Commission- ers. It is indorsed by the important billboard and other advertising inter- ests, as well as by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the American Civic Association and other agencies especially interested in the| beautification of the District of Co- lumbia. |MRS. JAMES M. BAKER DIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA Wife of Former Secretary of Sen- ate Will Be Buried There Privately. Mrs, James M. Baker, wife of the former secretary of the United States Senate, died at the old Baker home- st Lowndesville, S. C. yesterday after illness, according to word received here. Her husband, James M. Baker, and | | three sons were with her when she died. | The sons are James Marion Baker, jr., | of Lowndesville; Lawrence Adams | Baker of this city and Mac Latimer | Baker of Utica, N. Y. Mr. Baker was spending the Winter at the homestead. Mrs. Baker was prominently identified with several charitable institutions of this city. Among these was the Aid Association for the Blind, which she had served for a number of years as a member of its board of managers. ‘The funeral services will be private. Burial will be in the family plot in Smyrna Cemetery, near Lowndesville, FARM LOAN DATA ASKED Senate Adopts Fletcher Resolution Concerning Federal Board. ‘The Senate yesterday adopted a reso- lution by Senator Fletcher, Democrat, Florida, requesting the Federal Farm Loan Board to submit the number and amount of loans outstanding and other information connected with operation of the Federal land banks. ‘The number of borrowers failing to meet their payments is sought, as well as what disposition is m: of lands foreclosed District | | lege holds the secret as to whether Fed- CHILDREN'S FARE HEARING IS CALLED Public Utilities Group to Con- sider Various Proposals Pending in Congress. Although no legislation requiring re- duced fares for school children has yet been passed, the Public Utilities Com- mission will hold & public hearing on the subject beginning at 10 o'clock to- morrow morning in room 104 of the | the District Building. There is more or less conflict in the provisions of the measures in various | stages of completion in the legislative | mill, and no certainty that any of them will be enacted into law. The House District Committee favors a 2-cent fare | and the Senate Committee would simply leave the exact reduction to the Pul Utilitles Commission. There is considerable variation in language re- ifiec: those who are to benefit from e public school children alone, or for all school children, or for all children. There is also doubt whether the half- fare provision ref€rs to the token fare, of 7%2 cents, or the cash fare, of 10 cents, although Commissioner Harleigh the token rate is intended. Should no legislation be passed, the some bill pass, will be in a position to enforce for the passage of the bill before or- dering the hearing. BUILDING | SITE STILL UNSETTLED|* WAR-NAVY War College Desk Room Holds Secret Whether Balloons Will Aid Officials. A dark room at the Army War Col- order that the fare be reduced and eral officials can derive assistance from photographs taken yesterday of bal loons moored at the_ tentative site of the new Army and Navy Building, in the southwest, to ascertain if a height of 90 feet or 120 feet would mar the view of the Capitol dome, when seen from the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway. The photographs, secured yesterday afternoon by Army Signal Corps officials, may show up the bal- loons, simulating the height of the much-mooted - Army-Navy Building group, but the negatives will not be de: veloped until tomorrow. Officials in charge of the photo- graphic party that snapped views of the rewritten new traffic law. There are a | Capitol dome and the balloons from the Virginia shore of the Potomac River said that it is debatable if the meteorological balloons were caught by the cameras. It was with difficulty that the Capitol dome itself could be seen with the naked eye, the officers asserted, to say nothing of the bal- loons, but the negatives must be devel- oped to tell the real story. SECRETARY 6F COMMERCE TALKS TO STATE GROUP Makes Principal Address at Meet- ing of Illinois Residents—Bou- quet Given Mrs. Williams. Secretary of Commerce Lamont de- livered the principal address at_the firs mecting of the Illinois State Society which was held Friday night at the Willard Hotel. At the close of the program, Victor Martin of the War Department pre- sented a bouquet in behalf of the society to Mrs. Williams, wife of Judge Thomas S. Williams, president of the society. Several hundred people enjoyed dancing and cards. Senator Deneen made a brief ad- dress and several groups of songs weré sung by Frank Sanderson, accompanied by Mrs. Sanderson. Another meeting of the society will be held in Februar; Among prominent Illinoisans atten ng the meeting were Representatives Charles Adkin: Carl Chindblom, Claude Parsons and Kent Keller and the former Assistant Secretary of Commerce, William P. MacCracken. DOCTORS ACT TO CHECK PROPAGANDA SPREAD District Medical Society Names Group to Prepare Information for Use in Newspapers. The District Medical Society has taken steps to prevent the spread of “unre- liable” medical news and propaganda, it was revealed last night. A committee on public information has been appointed by the society to co-operate with the newspapers in the preparation of authoritative information for publication. This committee also will prepare for the press abstracts of nterest di at society. is chair- members g T farm loan iblic also ition, whether it shall be for H. Hartman said yesterday .he supposed | hearing would be of no value, but should then the commission its | provision sooner than if it had waited BULDING TO TAP SUBSURFACEFLOW Cooling System Designed for Secretary’s Offices With 0ld Tiber Creek Waters. $82,000 CONTRACT LET AND PLANS UNDER WAY Plant Will Be Similar to Those at White House and in Senate and House. The cool waters of old Tiber Creek, long since turned into a subterranean stream, will be used in a new air-cool- ing system to be installed in the private offices of the Secretary of Commerce, and his immediate assistants, This water, which seeps under the gi- gantic new Department of Commerce building, has been found to be much cooler than the water in the city mains, especially during the terrific heat of a Washington Summer, and will be the principal source of supply for the new air_conditioning system. A contract has been let to the Car- rier Air Conditioning Co., in the sum of about $82,000 to install a plant simi- lar to the ones used at the White House executive offices, and in the Senate and House. Plans are being drawn and the new cooling system will be installed as the building is under completion. The air conditidning system was not in original plans for the new Depart- ment of Commerce Building. Who was instrumental in having it installed has not been disclosed, but it was learned that the success which has attended the installation of the cooling system in the White House led indirectly to the installation of a similar system in the new Department of Commerce. Building Without System. ‘The new Department cf Agriculture Administrative Building, which was the first new departmental building com- tleted in_the Government's building program here does not include any sucn cooling system for the executive offices of the Secretary of Agriculture. Neither does the private office of the commissioner of internal revenue, in the new Internal Revenue Buil recently completed, have any cooling system. The introduction of the device in the new Department of Commerce led to conjecture as to whether this is the first step in a program to cool the private offices of all members of the President’s cabinet. The members of the cabinet are familiar now with the relief afforded by the cooling system at the White House. The cabinet meets twice weekly with the President in the cabinet room in the executive offices, where the tem- peraturs in the Summer is cut down far below the street heat. The in- creased efficiency of a cooled office as well as the more pleasant atmosphere which it affords has been a source of discussion among many visitors to the executive offices and was believed to ic] partly in the ly in the attic to cool the secretary’s whole suite of rooms on the fifth floor. These rooms are located on the Pifteenth street front of the building overlooking the Ellipse. The cooling system chills water by refrig- eration then sprays it through a space through which air is forced to wash agid chill the air before delivery to the offices. Temperatures Compared. ‘Temperature readings conducted last Suimmer showed that while the tem- perature of the water in the city mains stood at 80 degrees, the temperature of the water of the underground stream, formerly known as old Tiber Creek, was 64. This underground water proved one of the interesting problems in con- structing the Department of Commerce, t was necessary to place the whole building on a- series of concrete piles. In driving these piles, it was discovered that the water pressure from under- ground was so great that a deep sea diver was brought in in order to re- lieve it. A huge hole was dug in the ground, many feet below the street level, the diver in helmet and inflated rubber suit, descended below the water level and dug down this hole still deeper, until it was more than 20 feet below the level of the deep excaxation for the subbasement of the building. A powerful electric pump was then set to work to suck water out of this hole. ‘This reduced the water pressure on the new concrete piles. It is near the spot where this deep sea diver was working that the con- tractors Jillsn to tap the source of sup- ply of the subterranean stream. The water still is flowing toward the Poto- mac, according to engineers, in much the same general direction that in years long ago, old Tiber Creek flowed to- ward the river, draining a large area. ' Rapidly Taking Shape. ‘The new Department of Commerce building: is rapidly taking shape under the joint efforts of the Treasury De- partment, York & Sawyer, architects, and the Consolidated Engineering Co. of Baltimore, general contractors. The building is now about 80 per cent com- plete, according to an estimate by Fred M. Kramer of York & Sawyer. One of the most conspicuous interior features is the large lobby on the Fourteenth street side of the building, which has just been cleared of the large amount of scaffolding used in finish- ing the marble and interior decorative Several columns of dark, colored e lend distinction to this im- pressive entrance to the Government's largest office building. ‘The lobby will look out over what will be the Grand Plaza, an open space of ornamental landscape architecture, stretching from Fourteenth street al- most to Twelfth street. i G DR. A. B. HART TO SPEAK TO DISTRICT EDUCATORS Harvard Professor Emeritus Is Head of Research Branch of Bicentennial Commission. An address will be delivered by Dr. Albert Bushnell Hart of Harvard Uni- versity, head of the research branch of Wi n Bicentennial at a meeting of the Education Assoclation of the District next Saturday night at 8:30 o'clock in_the Wilson Teachers’ Col 3 Music will be provided by the Intra- City orchestra, com| ! > school musica