Evening Star Newspaper, April 30, 1931, Page 1

WEATHER. (U. 8. Wenther Bureau Forecas Fair and not =0 cool tonight; tomor- row fair and warmer. ‘Temperatures—Highest, 60, ‘p‘..m. yesterday; lowest, 36, at 5 a.m. to- ge 4. Closing N.Y. Markets, Pages13,14 & 15 . Full report on at 12:30 No. 31,775. post office, Entered as second class matte; Washington, C * ‘WASHINGTON, D. WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION D. C., THURSDAY, APRIL e Foening - service. * 30, 1931 —SIXTY-TWO PAGES. The only evening paper in Washington with the Associated Press news Yesterday’s Circulation, 118,912 400 GIE IN QUAKE ROCKING ARMENIA; 2000 ARE INJURED Property Damage in Mon- day’s Tremor Estimated at $1,000,000. HOMES LOST BY 20,000 IN KAFANCE DISTRICT Nine Gerusin Villages Leveled With 100 Deaths—Toll at Sisian Is Even Higher. By the Assoctated Press. ERIVAN, Armenia, April 30.—Nearly 400 persons were killed and 2,000 in- jured in the earthquake which rocked | Armenia on Monday, according to pre- liminary estimates, and property dam- | age probably will reach $1,000,000. The shocks were felt generally throughout Armenia, but were most gevere in the southwest near Nakhi-| chevan, where the longest shock lasted about a minute and was followed by terrifying subterranean rumbling. All Homes in Sisian Razed. The filmsy native huts collapsed in & dozen villages, and at the little town of Sisian every house was destroyed. The villages of Gerusin and Megrin also suffered heavily. The Ogpu (secret police) have seized | hundreds of tons of grain consigned to Baku and relief committees organized $n the neighboring Soviet Republics are sending money and supplies to the points where they are needed most. The government at Moscow has sent 2,000,- 000 rubles and some of the larger news- papers also have contributed large sums. 20,000 Lose Homes. Twenty thousand peasants are said to be ho:myleu in the Kafance district, Jiving in the open. A heavy rainfall is adding to their misery and food scarce. In the Gerusin district nine villages were wiped out with more than 100 killed, and at Sisian the death toll wu! ven higher. ¥ Al wli.i'e communications and electric | lighting systems were badly damaged. The epicenter of the quake seemed to be in the vicinity of Zangezure. SOVIET AIDING RELIEF. Appropriation of 2,000,000 Rubles Made by Government. ‘MOSCOW, April 30 (#).—Three hun- | dred and ninety-two persons are known to have perished in the earthquakes; which yesterday devastated three dis-| tricts of the Soviet Republic of Naki-| chevan in'Transcaucasia. Two hundred persons were killed and 208 injured in the Gerussy region. In the Sisiana reglon there were 192 known dead and 600 injured. Eighty per cent of the villages in the Zangezur district were dme& and great numbers of cattle throughout the quake | . The The government has appropriated 2 000,000 rubles (nominal value $1,000, 000) for relief of the area. STOCKS MAKE FIRST ADVANCES IN WEEKS | | Gains From $2 to $5 From Yes- terday’s Low Levels Recorded in Trading. By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, April 30.—The stock market had a breathing spell today, | after its protracted ordeal of selling, | and prices of many issues rebounded $2 | to more than $5 from the minlmuml Jevels of the bear market yesterday. A soothing influence was strong buy- | ing of the Standard Oil shares, which | brokerage circles felt had its origin | close to the Rockefeller interests. Wall Street recalled the spectacular bid for 1,000,000 shares of Standard of New Jersey which checked the decline in No- | vember, 1929. Standards of New Jersey and Cali- fornia rose about $2 a share on the stock exchange, and Standard of Indiana re- corded a similar gain on the curb market. The advance embraced prominent | issues in virtually all groups. Au- | burn was as usual the high flyer, shoot- | ing up more than $15, and getting once more above the $200 level The market turned rather dull on the advance and showed faltering tendencies for a time in ‘the afternoon, but not until extreme gains of $3 to more than $5 had been recorded by Unit=d States Steel, General Motors, | North American, Eastman, Johns Man- | ville, American & Foreign Power, Dupont, Baltimore & Ohlo, New York | Central, Atchison, Case and Allied Chemical CHICAGO HOME BOMBED Recently Resigned State Tax Com-, missioner Recalls Threate. CHICAGO. April 30 (#).—The home in Park Ridge of William H. Malone, who resigned last January 7 as chair- man of the State Tax Commission, was bombed early today. No one was in- Jured. Malone sald he was at & ascribe a definite motive, but _told po- lice he had received many threats in the last few years, particularly since the Tax Commission ordered a reas- sessment of all real estate in Chicago. Park Ridge police suggested politics as a motive. The bomb, made of black powder, did but slight da s Gerald Stopp Was Connected With N. B. C. System. NEW_YORK, April 30 (#).—Gerald Stopp, 37, assistant production director of the National Broadcasting Co., died today. Among the features he has produced for air presentation is the ¥Moonshine and Honeysuckle” series, | women pilots to serve in relief capacities | able damage that would be done to th> is |today that the Justice Department, in | many secrets which affect the daily | HALF BLINDED BY RAW GAS, WOMAN LANDS SHIP SAFELY Mrs. Kunz Avoids Injury by Coolness and Mas- terly Piloting. BREAKS)| GAS LINE Risked Death Fearing| Unfavorable Publicity for Relief Corps. Fearing * that unfavorable publicity might endanger an aviation project she has fostered, Mrs. Opal Logan Kunz, | noted woman fiyer of New York City, | today risked being burned to death in a successful effort to avoid a serious | MRS. OPAL LOGAN KUNZ, broke while in the air over Anacostia. | Mrs. Kunz is the organizer of the | Betsy Reoss Corps, an organization of | coolness. “I was over Anacostia when the gas line broke” she said. “Through my mind flashed thoughts of the irrepar- in event of war-time emergencies, The | Relief Corps project if I should have a GratsLEatiari e aahs hold its | Serious crash now. I knew there was ol i d“:Ed b | danger of the ship catching fire, but T e e e | decided to try bringing it down safely The line in the plane broke after a |rather than have the corps ruined at trip from New York this morning and | the very outset Mrs. Kunz, blinded by the gasoline and | with her clothing saturated, landed her ship with relatively slight damage after ' PAY RASES HALTED BY JSTICE DT Announcement of Attorney General Follows Wilbur | Step Affecting 3,000. there was no chance to Jand there (Continued on Page 2. Column 6.) B0 ARCTIC DEPOTS T0STUDY WEATHER ST s ! Geophysical Union Reveals! Plan for Many Nations to Co-operate. So Attorney General Mitchell lnnounced[ The fog-blanketed Arctic, keeper of an effort to reduce the average $10,- | life of man, will be encircled with ap- 000,000-a-month increase of Govern- | proximately 60 observing stations next | ment expenditures, has determined |Summer in the research program for there shall be no further pay ralsesi the second international polar year, | for its employes. | it was announced at the annual meet- The announcement followed that yes- | ing of the meteorological section of the terday by Secretary Wilbur that more | 5 than” 3,000 empiases of the Interior | Americin Geophysical Union today. Department would be denied salary in- | At these statlons, experts from many | crmt’rhe Attorney Ge?enl ‘fios‘g?"d ! Nations will make intensive studies of oul current economic conditions . o ire ‘Buch that the present salarles of | MPcrature, magnetic phenomena, the Government employes represented an | UPPer atmosphere, wind circulation and | increzsed buying which which is equiva- | other phenomena which vitally effect' lent, at least in Part, to an ICrease | no world's weather. { K92 are planning to work out the| Plans of Russia for a far-flung serics | present policy of the Interfor Depart- | of stations across Northern Siberia were ment regarding increases in salary, | announced, and Dr. J. H. Patterson, with the neced of holding down the cost | director of the Canadian Meteorological | of government in mind—but in readi- | Service, told of plans to set up three| ness to consider individual cases to pre- | stations in the Far North. The United vent injustice cr unfairness,” Secretary States will occupy its two forner sta- | ‘Wilbur told The Star today in discuss- | tions at Point Barrow and Fort Conger, ing his decision. :‘]lrhll!l Great Britain will again occupy. | General Policy Indicated. | largely for sentimental reasons, Fort This apparently means the general Ra¢ from which so many British Arctic expeditions have set out. Other Euro- policy of the department s against sal: | pean nations will maintain stations In | ary increases, but the door is not closed | Greenland and in Northern Europe. against consideration of meritorious in- dividual cases, | Will Measure Aurora. Coming, as it did, on the heels of | Canada is planning two stations, Di- Secretary of Commerce Lamont's Warn- | rector Patterson said, to measure the ing to private business egainst wage- | height of the auroro. These will be cutting to ease their business problem, | placed as close as possible under the crash when a gasoline line in her plane | o masterly exhibition of flying skill and | “Below me were houses and I knew | merce convention in Atlantic City, the announcement that two other cabinet members had declared against salary increases as contemplated under the classification act. caused consternation throughout the entire Federal service. Cites Lower Living Cost. The condition of the Pederal Treas- ury, requiring extensive tightening up of expenditures, has led the Interior Department to adopt the new rule, it was explained Secretary Wilbur was quoted as sa ing that it was felt the drop in pric since the business depression had re- sulted in_reduction of the cost of liv- ing, in effect giving small increases to | the numerous empioyes of the depart- ment and making unnecessary the raises which heretofore have been au- thorized within the several Civil Serv- ice grades. Under the law, it is discretionary with the head of each executive depart- ment whether he will grant increases in salary. The Wood amendment which caused a bitter contest in the House and Senate and between the House and Senate when the appropria- tion bills for the fiscal year beginning July 1 next were under consideration, 1d have prohibited any increases in (Continued on Page 2, Column 6.) BROOKE LEE MAY GET MARYLAND ROADS JOB Democratic Leader Expected to Be Appointed to Commission by Gov. Ritchie. Special Ditpatch to The Star BALTIMORE, Md., April 30—E. Brooke Lee of Montgomery County, for- mer Bp-aker of the House of Delegates, and Robert Lacy, a Baltimore engineer, will be appointed members of the State Roads Commission by Gov. Albert C. Ritchie it is reliably reported here They will succeed Howard Bruce and John K. Shaw, who tendered thelr resig- | nations to Gov. Ritchie about six months ago. The appointments are expected to be announced early next week, Lee managed the last campaign for be due to variations in heat given off at the United States Chamber of Com- | path of maximum aurora! intensity. In | order to measure this height, it will be necessary to have two stations in com- munication with one another, about 50 miles apart. This probably will make it necessary, he said, to establish one on a boat sent into the Arctic waters by the Northwest Mounted Police. also is planned to measure, if possible, the amount of ozone in the upper at- mosphere at these stations. Only five stations now are projected | | death. but did not receive official con- on the rim of the Antarctic, to be maintained by France. Argentina, New Zealand and Australia, it was an- nounced by W. R. Gregg of the United States Weather Bureau, who was the American delegate to the meeting of the International Polar Year Commis- | sion at Madrid last year. In the whole | Southern Hemisphere, however, many stations will be set up, he announced, | including some in Madagascar, Prench equatorial Africa, New Guinea, and on | ships at sea. “Cold Spots” Sought. of the most valuable services the | - stations can render, said Dr. W. | phreys of the Weather Bureau, | will be to locate the ‘cold spots” on the earth’s surface which, being in close proximity to warmer air areas, vitally affect the weather of North America | It land $40,000 | Whether RAY SHORT $12.65 | INSTATEACGOUNT INURY REVEALS Maryland Auditor Refuses to Reveal Whether County Losses Were Found. WATERS, LATE REGISTER OF WILLS, SHY $2,400 Accounts of Montgomery Clerk Badly Kept, Says Report—Cash Books Not Located. By a Staff Correspondent of The Star. BALTIMORE, April 30.—A shortage of $12,865.77 in State funds alone in the account of the late Preston B. | Ray, clerk of the Circuit Court at Rock- | ville, who died of asphyxiation April 15, was disclosed in an official audit sub- mitted here today by State Controller William S. Gordy. State Auditor Edmund R. Stewart, 'under whom the investigation was made, said a portion of the shortage ex- tended as far back as 1914, when Mr. Ray was appointed clerk. The deficit accruing since that time consisted in fees for recording the sale of property | sold in default of taxes. According to the auditor, the remain- ing portion of the deficit probably oc- curred after the State audit ending Oc- tober 1, 1929. Willlam F. Prettyman, attorney for Mrs. Nancy Ray, widow of the late | clerk, said Mr. Ray's estate would be | applied toward making good the miss- ing funds. He said he did not know at present whether accounts and securi- ties left by Mr. Ray would be sufficient to make good the entire amcunt. The Pidelity Deposit Co. of Baltimore was | on Mr. Ray’s bond for $14,000, how- | ever, and the State will recover against that company the portion of the defi- cit not paid by Mrs. Ray, Controller Gordy declared Exact Places Not Shown. The audit did not show the exact| places where the defleit occurred, ex- cept in the case of the taxed property sale fees and a $1,500 revolving fund used for current expenses. Mr. Ray's accounts were badly kept, making the audit difficult, Mr. Stewart said. Cash books covering the period prior to October 1. 1930, with exception of thos> for 1925, could not be located, clined to place any interpretation on this fact. He said these books are merely memorandum, in which the daily receipts are entered. If they are discovered at a later date, he asserted, it is not expected they can throw any further light on the condition of the books or indicate an additional short- | age. Mr. Ray kept the State fund and his | personal drawing account in a single { account in the Montgomery County National Bank at Rockville. The audit indicated that there is $1,202.79 cred- ited to this account at present. In ad- dition, there are $334.81 in_cash and checks being held in the office of the clerk. The clerk's account failed to show any receipts of fees in tax sales turned over to his office by the Montgomery County commissioners. The commis- sicners’ books, however, show that funds received from this source since 1914 total $5406. The first deficit in tax fees occurred in 1914 and mounted to $67. This sum steadily increasey with each succeeding year, until in 1929 the shortage from this source was $1,092. Rumors Follow Death. Rumors of the shortage were cir- culated immediately after Mr. Ray's Rumors placed $6,000 firmation until today. the deficit anywhere between Mr. Stewart sald he was concerned only with the State fund in making his’ audit. He declined to answer a question as to whether any shortage in | county funds came to his notice in t course of his investigation. | Yesterday those connected with the ! Democratic county administration de- clared that the entire Ray shortage would total approximately $30,000. the difference between th: $12,865.77 discovered as due the State and the $30,000 allegedly due in full, is | the amount of the shortage due the | county, has not been revealed as yet. The deficit occurred in accounts of fees from all sources of which the office of the clerk derived revenue, Mr. Stew- and Europe These cold spots, he said, cannot be r the Arctic Ocean itself where there | storage of heat in the water under | the comparatively thin eet of ice and | x is practicallv_impossible for | temperature to go much under 40 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit, but are | - found in Northern Cenada and Exact location of these points, would be of great value o forecasters. May Predict Droughts. Closer study of sunspois and the of heat from the surface of the may lead to the establishment or cycles, by which droughts rs ahead, A. F. Gorton of the | Inst:tution of Oceanography . American Geophysical Union here_today Rainfall cycles, he said, may be related o changes in the amount of radiation from the sun, while major seasonal weather changes on the continents may from the ocean surfaces. There is in- | creasing evidence, it was pointed out, that sunspots and weather are related loss to | Gov. Ritchie. (Continued on Page 2, Colui 4. BEES RENTED TO ASSIST WIND IN POLLINATING ORCHARDS Apiarists Get Honey Besides $5 a Hive for Services as Millions of Workers Attack Blossoms. |to the fuzzy legs of the bee, as it ex- Py plores cne blossom for nectars to be TRENTON, N. J., April 30.—Bees in Tiade into honey, drop off: when the New Jersey this Spring have become | pee delves into the heart of another. the hired help of the fruit grower and | This pollen provides the fertilization bee-renting has developed Into a good | necessary to the germinating of sized business. | truit. Besides making honey, millions of | Scmetimes the beekeepers charge as bees have been employed to assist the| high $5 or $10 a hive for the bees’ wind and wild Insects in pollinating 1t's not n bad bargain for considering that he also fruit blossoms. specks of pollen which adhere ' g oner. By the Associated Press. ts the | art_declared. He sald that Mr. Ray knew that his| accounts had been found at fault Octo- | er 1 of last year when the regular State audit was made. The auditors again came to Rockville several days preceding Mr. Ray's death, Mr. Stewart declared, and completed their supple-} mental audit last Saturday. Mr. Stewart’s Statement. Mr. Stewart's report said, “The per- sonal bank account of Preston B. Ray is that through which not only per- sonal funds, but also State funds were handled. A balance is being held in the bank, subject to the order of the qualified representative of his estate. “The bank account to the credit of the Circuit Court of Montgomery County does not_contain State_funds, | (Continued on Page 2, Column 7.) | ALEXANDRIA COUNCIL INCREASE PROPOSED Mayor to Offer Suggestion to Governing Body This Afternoon. By a Staff Correspondent of The Star. ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 30.—Mayor Edmund F. Ticer will this afternoon propose to the City Council that the | rails several months in advance. size of the council be increased from five to nine members. 1f favorable action is taken on the proposal the change will require an act of the General Assembly, which con- venes in January, 1932. Coming at this time, it is believed that the move is intended to forestall the efforts of a certain group which has been circulating petitions dsking for a referendum on a return to the old form of city government, and which tition, it has been indicated, would Be fled with Circuit Court Monday. Radio Programs on Page D-5 . (#) Means Associated Press. TWO CENTS. SIAN'S KING GIVEN 6.0 HONORARY BRANCH BANKING UNDER U. 5. URGED Pole Tells C. of C. Plan Would Decrease Dif.'zul- ; ties of Depositors. | By the Associated Press. ; ATLANTIC CITY, N. J.. April 30—/ The beltef that branch banking under national sponsorship would do much to | decrease difficulties of the depositories | was advanced today by Controller of | the Currency Pole. | Addressing the Chamber of Commerce | of the United States, Pole said he be- | lieved there was strong public support for & program which would encourage a banking system to operate under | standards of the bigger institutions. | He said the great banks of the coun- the State auditor declared, but he de- | try successfully weathered the economic | with Mr. Hoover for 10 or 15 minutes depression while in rural communities | smaller banks had failed at the rate|— of 700 & year for the last 10 years “The chief difficulty in considering our banking system as a whole is politi- cal rather than economic,” he said. “We have, in fact, 50 systems of commercial banking in the United States, one for| each State, one for the District of | Columbia, and one for the Nation as| a whole.” Congress, he said, never has covered | the entire field, but has endeavored to | equalize opportunities to national banks | with those given by State Legislatures. | Urges Banking Change. Relaxation of restrictions which pre-’ vent country banks from combining and | from uniting with strong city banks | was advocated today by Edmund Platt, vice president of the Marine Midland Group, Inc, of New York. He spoke before the finance department round table. After pointing out that present laws permit big business and people of wealth to transact their banking business with the strong institutions of the largest cities but prevent small business and the smaller class of depositors from having any access to them, Mr. Plaut said: “The restrictions of the law have been so oppressive in some neighbor- hoods that group banking has been | devised as a means of accomplishing somewhat the same purpose of branch banking. * * ¢ It has not quite the ame responsibility and does not take care, generally speaking, of the smaller places.” Advisory Planning Urged. A tentative project for a national ad- visory planning board today lay before the United States chamber. “Something to bring about correlated planning has got to be done,” L. D. H. Weld, director of research of McCann Erickson Co. of New York, told the chamber last night. « “The problem of American business men is to develop some method of co-operation and co-ordination which makes rational planning possible and at the same time keep within the law. This might be accomplished by the vol- untary establishment of an advisory planning board or economic council within each industry, manned by the industrial leaders and outside experts. | “For example, if the steel industry | and the railroads had such planning boards, these two boards could work to- gether in parcelling out orders for new o8- sibly before long there might be a Gov- ernment commission to co-operate help- fully with business in its efforts to elim- inate the evils of cutthroat competition, and to give constructive advice as to what_can be undertaken without in- fringing on the (anti-trust) law.” Consider Stephenson Criticism. ‘The business men also were consider- ing the drastic criticisms by Rome C. Stephenson, president of the American Bankers' Association, of their part in bringing about the depression and also Mr. Stephenson’s statement that the (Continued on Page 2, Column 8. GRAF ZEPPELIN PLANS TRANSATLANTIC HOP Brazil to Be Goal of Crossing With Possible Stopover in Spain. By the Associated Press. FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany, April 30.—The Graf Zeppelin will make a second transatlantic crossing to Brazil late in August, Capt. Hans von Schiller sald today. Whether it will be a non-stop journey or with a stop-over in Spain depends on the nger list, Von Schiller said. “If there is mo need of calling for passengers at Seville,” he said, “we'll naturally fly straight to Pernambuco, for that saves time and expense. It is an easy hop, so there will be no reason for an intermediate landing except #f business warrants.” COURTAULD RESCUE 20 DEAD O HlT N BMAZL BLAST | Explosion Believed to Have Boy Hero Watches Hoover “Cabinet” Play Volley Ball Bryan Untiedt Also Break- fasts With President, ; Occurred in Torpedo Room of Naval Laboratory. Plays With Dogs. Bryan Untiedt, 13-year-old Colorado schoolboy hero, who is visiting the White Houst, today had the rare priv- ilege of watching his host, the Presi- dent of the United States, and MEM- | ¢ the 400 employes in the naval lab- bers of the so-called “medicine bulliommy at Nichtheroy were reported cabinet” play volley ball in the rear | v srounds) andtater- t: sttat, Breakiast | o0 oF! Injured: today whiery “an f€x with the President. [ presiitefeRiRE PiATH : .| As soon as they could get near the But the thrills of this country boy's | . second day as the President’s guest did |P1ce rescuers began removing the muti not end with il that. ‘After the momn- | !sted bodies of the dead and carrying out the injured. ing meal Bryan walked with the Presi- dent snd Peggy Ann and Deter, the| TS “Deigital at Michtheny wid Hoover grandehildren, from the White|SUickly filied aud many of the victims 0 Were brought_ here. House to the President’s office, and " then had the added pleasure of sitting | , The explosion which was believed o | have occurred in the torpedo-loading room wrecked that building and an ad- joining three-story structure. | Nichtheroy in just across the bay | from Rio de Janiero and the injured who cculd not be accommodated there were carried across in launches. The ministry of marine said it was impossible to estimate the number of dead and injured accurately, but it was virtually certain that at least 200 had been killed or badly hurt. FLYER BOARDS BOAT soosevecr 1o see Craft Carrying Plane Leaves; SMITH AND OTHERS Iceland—Weather Holds | Up Ahrenberg. | | By the Associated Press. RIO DE JANEIRO, April 30.—Hall in_the office. Later Bryan joined a sightseeing ex- (Continued on Page 2, Column 3.) i Governor Also Expected to Discuss 1932 Nomination With Tammany. | By the Associated Press. | | By the A iated P . REYKJAVIK. Iceland, April 30.—The | PSS B0 1 50— Before he {patrol boat Icelandic Odin headed | South for a vacation tomorrow, {north this morning with an alrplane qo, poocevelt will confer with Demo- lashed on her forward deck and an Ice- | o S0 |landic fiyer aboard. bound for Green- | ™pyy onne it is former Gov. Alfred land to look for Augustine Courtauld,|p “grion” (roce name has been placed e B e | in nomination at each of the last three | She is due to reach the ice barrier [ o L K tions by Mr. Roose- |about 60 miles from Angmagsalik on|yelt Tonight he expects to have con- Friday morning if the good weather | | nolds. Just before she sailed word came| from Bergen, Norway, that Capt. Almn‘; Ahrenberg, Swedish fiyer, who is also | joining in the search, had been advised | | ot to take off from there until the | | weather improved. The temperature was around zero |and there was danger of ice forming on_the wings of his plane. | Capt. Ahrenberg reached Bergen from Malmo last night in his single- | motored airmail plane, equipped with | both pontoons and skiis. Upon his arrival here the Danish cruiser Hvidbjorn will sail for Angmag- | salik in advance of the plane, sending | back weather reports at intervals for | Capt. Ahrenberg’s guidance as he con- | tinuestoward Greenland. | _Courtauld was left in Northern | Greenland to spend the Winter by the British Arctic air route expedition. Re- | lief squads seeking him have been un- able to locate his camp. NATIONALS ARE IDLE Game in Bo:on Called Off Due to Cold Weather. | | BOSTON, April 30 (#).—Cold weather | caused the postponement of the Ameri- can League game between the Boston Red Sox and the Washington club scheduled here today. The contest will be played in a double-header here on Saturday. | ferences with John F. Curry, leader of Tammany Hall, and John H. McCooey, Brooklyn Democratic leader. The New York Herald-Tribune said today: “These meetings, it is expected, may result in a somewhat more clear under- standing of the present nebulous rela- tionships of the Smith, Tammany and Roosevelt factions of the party with re- gard to the next presidential nomina- tion.” Gov. Roosevelt has been mentioned as a candidate for the Democratic nom- ination. Between his political conferences, the Governor will find time to talk with Commissioner Samuel Seabury, whom he appointed to inquire into the office of District Attorney Thomas C. T. Crain. The main charge against Mr. Crain is inaction, based on specifica- tions submitted to the Governor by the City Club. FLIGHT TESTS DO-X | Seaplane May Resuine South Axier- ica Trip in Few Weeks. LAS PALMAS, Canary Islands, April 30 (A).—The German seaplane DO-X today flew over the city and harbor in the first trial flight she nas essayed in several months. Repairs have been completed and if the weather consinues fair the big ship may resume her interrupted flight to South America within the next few weeks. " CLERK, WHO SERVED MRS. LINCOLN, HAS WORKED 70 YEARS IN STORE By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, April 30.—President Hoover, Ca'vin Coolidge and other notables today congratulated Willlam C. Creamer, who has been in the em- ploy of a New York department store for 70 years and who used to wait on Mrs. Abraham Lincoln. Seventy years ago today Mr. Creamer started to work in the Arnoid Con- stable & Co. store at the age of 10 as a cash boy. His salary was $1 a week, paid in gold. The president of the store gave a uncheon in his honor today and pre- sented him with a scoll paying trib- ute to his fidelity and integrity and signed by all the executives. It was while he was a junior salesman k. {Aged Man Returns to Counter After Receiving Honors ‘ From President Hoover and Other Notables. that Mr. Creamer used to sell silk to Mrs, Lincoln. He remembers her as “a small, plainly dressed woman, some- what finicky and far from extravagant.” He sold silks to Mrs. U. S. Grant, too, for 18 years, and he recalls often seeing Theodore Roosevelt, as a child, brought to the store by his mother. He also remembers Mark Twain as “a silent, glum person whom you'd never have guessed was a humorist.” At the luncheon today letters were from Hoover, Mr. Cool- it was over Mr. Crea 1 quietly back to his counter, LLD.AWID PRAGE Presentation at Pan-Ameri- can Union Marks Last Fub- lic Appearance Here. SEVEN UNIVERSITIES JOIN IN GREETINGS White House Banquet Climax of Busy Day Yesterday—Ail- ment Diagnosed. BALTIMORE, April 30 (#).—Dr. William Holland Wilmer, noted specfalist, today told the King of Siam that an operation on the cata- ract of his left eye was “absolutely necessary” to save the sight of that optic. King Prajadhipok of Siam today was honored for his labors in the interest of the education of his subjects, and in return voiced his appreciation for America’s contribution toward the ad- vancement of the people of Siam. The occasion was a ceremony this morning at the Pan-American Unibn, where he received the honorary degree of doctor of laws from George Wash- ington University, other educational agencies joining in the tribute, It was the last public appearance in the Capital of the Eastern monarch. Accompanied by the Queen, Rambai Barni, and surrounded by other mem- bers of the royal party, the King heard greetings from seven leading American educational institutions, from the Amer~ fcan Council of Educ: United States ofice of ‘education. i then the citation for the degree, which was read by Dr. Cloyd Heck Marvin, president of the university, and which was followed by the formal present tion of the diploma and the investi- ture with the academic hooa. Words Praise Monarch. The citation read: “Beloved ruler of an independent people, defender of a faith, gifted in rare taste and using singular endowments in the education of a people, as ancient Thai loyalties direct; magistrate whose poise of judg- ment has 'n tried and vindicated by national exigencies; statesman able to hold united the diverse forces of the Orient and of the Occident in a land where the ages meet, and mold them toward progressive and salutary action; exemplar to a people, happy and a tractive in temperament, of the virtues that build and conserve state and so- cicty—His Majesty, Kin il (G et o Keen Appreciation Feit. The King res) as follows: istion this d ciation degree from a universi which bears the name of one of hl:! tory’s noblest characters, I make grate- ful acknowledgment not only for this recognition of the services I have en- deavored to render to my people, but also of the earnest efforts and signal- achievements of my predecessors who first began the modernization of the kingdom through the process of edu- ‘| and resources have played a consider- able and significant part in the develop- ment and advancement of modern Siam and I am the more thankful, on that account, for this evidence of commenda- idon from an American university situ- ated here in the Capital City of the United States. “I appreciate also the presence here of the representatives of so many fi mous institutions of learning and their kind greetings. I wish to express my gratitude and that of my people for the friendly reception which has been ac- corded to Siamese students by the uni- versities and colleges of America.” Greeting at 10 AM. The King and his party arrived at the Pan-American Union at about 10 o'clock to be welcomed by sident Marvin and other officials of the uni- versity, and then at the head of the colorful academic procession proceeded to the Hall of the Americas where the ceremony was held. Dr. Marvin walked with the King, while the Queen was accompanied by Secretary of State Stimson. Then in order followed: Dr. John Bell Larner, chairman of the board of trustees of the university, with Prince Svasti; Right Rev. James E. Freeman, Bishop of Washington, with Princess Svasti; Dr. Willlam Allen Wilbur, provost of the university, with Prince Amoradat, the Siamese Minister; Dr. Charles Riborg Mann, director of the American Council on Education; Benjamin William Frazier, representing the United States Commissioner of Edu- cation, and finally representatives of participating educational institutions, in the order of their founding: Har- { vard University, represented by Court ney Crocker, formerly foreign adviser at the court of Siam; Yale University, Henry ‘Barrett Learned, president of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia; Princeton University, Wil- liam Kelly Prentice, professor of Greek in Princeton; Columbia _University, Marcus Benjamin of the Smithsonian Institution; the University of Virginia, Hugh Obear; Johns Hopkins Universit; William Waiter Cort. and the Univel " (Continued on Page 2, Column 5.) 15 RAILROADS IN SUIT T0 HALT GRAIN RATES Seek to Enjoin Commerce Com- mission From Setting Up Schedule. By the Associated Press CHICAGO, April 30.—Fifteen West- ern railroads filed suit in Federal Dis- trict Court today to enjoin the Inter- state Commerce Commission from put- ting new rgtes on grain and grain products into effect on June 1. The petition said the average loss to the carriers on the various classifica- tions would be 10 per cent. The Atchi- son, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway has estimated its probable annual loss at $3,000,000 under the new rates and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Rail- way at $2,000,000. ‘The largest reductions in rates are scheduled ior the Southwest and Far West,