Evening Star Newspaper, May 3, 1931, Page 14

A—-14 BUSINESS BETTER, SAYSLABORSURVEY ‘Federation Warns Against Wage Reductions, However, in Monthly Issue. usiness is showing more resistance $o depression forces and fundamental ghanges have been made for the better, fhe American Federation of Labor states in its current issue of its monthly gurvey of business. At the same time, fowever, it again issues a flat warning #gainst wage reductions. ! The federation finds cheerful indica- #lons in the trends of business and em- ployment, but assails employers who cut wages at this time, declaring “they would add a discouraging element just when conditions are beginning to stabilize.” ? Referring to general conditions, the gurvey bulletin finds that the Spring geason even brought a slight advance and that for the first time since the ecline began in July, 1929, indices of usiness activity have risen for two months in succession. “The gains are too small to signal fhe start of revival,” the bulletin adds, “but they at least show that the de- ¢line has been checked for another month.” : Season for Decline. ! The months from May to July are ysually months of slight decline,” the Jabor federation states. “The best we can expect is a smaller decline than sual, If the present gains can be held. e chances are for a clear road ahead ih the Fall. ? “To look first at the retarding influ- @nces: The building industry is not Yeady to start forward; demand for Jouses and apartments in the most im- Yortant, cities is still lacking owing to iyeduced buying power. The steel in- ! dustry already sees orders declining be- | cause its best customers—construction, ! automobiles, railroads—are mnot taking lies. Prices are still going ; the stock market is declining. ! Purchasing power of farmers and wage earners is low and wage cuts threaten. = “These are serious rocks.in the road mpward, but constructive factors are rong. ‘t--'rge textile industry already has rted up. Demand for automobiles Bas increased and the industry is slow- Yy in.ceasing production. Factories and ines are producing less than the pub- consumes, so that supplies must €éventually be used up and production must increase before long. Business Bas abandoned some of its speculative Wndertakings and unsound practices and should be in good condition to go ghead. These are fundamental changes for the better.” - Unemployment figures of the feder- Wtion for the first half of April show @vout the same gain as reported last wyear, but less than in 1928 or 1929. iThis, the survey shows, leaves 17.7 per ‘dent’ still out of work, or on lay-off, smounting to probably between 5,500, 1900 and 6,000,000 wage earners. ‘Wage Cuts Significant. Gol at length into the matter of mlgllell. the federation states: ‘While there have been recurring stions of wage cuts, it is signif- t that they come chiefly from bank- ln'erm!knl;l: defending the high d are defending - ‘way principle. These industrialists take e same position that the federation long taken—wage cuts curtail buy- 4ng, which is essential to business re- idovery. % “Employers feel the pressure of pro- mnnd depression and are doubtful of e future. But wage reductions now would be most dangerous. They would #dd a disorganizing element just ‘when conditions are beginning to stabilize. Those who make wage cuts find it nec- essary to conceal the cut or apologize. ¥ is ‘evident that the principle of high ages has rooted itself deeply in busi- ness thinking in the past eight years. Widespread wage cuts would undoubt- edly postpone recovery.” * The federation lists the following as *dangers of wage cuts”: «“1, Workers’ good will is essential in sy industrial undertaking. Wage cuts cause discord and strife. With the 1921 wage reductions there were 2,400 strikes. Good will is more important to employers than the little they might ehve by wage cute. Industrial discord | mow would be a sure way downward to deeper_depression. 2. Savings from wage cuts are much ss than is commonly believed. Wages jpre only 40 per cent of costs in build- §pg, 23 per cent in.manufacturing, 39 er cent on railroads. A wage reduction of even 10 per cent,’ when the decrease in efficiency is counted, makes a very small change in costs. Greater savings oen be effected by introducing produc- tion improvements, more careful buy- more efficient sales policies, etc. 3. The decline in cost of living has t made up for workers’ income losses rough_part-time work and unemploy- ent. Real incomes of all workers in manufacturing (at present-day prices) ere 29 per cent below the 1929 level January, including losses from un- ployment. Even those who kept their Pobs had 66 per cent lower real in- omes because of part-time work and Srage reductions. . “4. Industry has suffered from wage sses. Production in 1930 was below 20 by 21 per cent in shoes. 19 per Fent in hostery, 23 per cent in men's [dothing, 39 per cent in passenger au- mobiles. Meat consumption dropped 4,000.000 pounds, electric railroads pst 722,000,000 passengers. These loss- were largely due to failure of work- " buying. 5. Wage cuts will limit workers’ buy- for years to come. In 1929, eight rs after the reductions of 1921, wage 1s had not yet entirely recovered. 6. Severe wage reductions in the st h been mccompanied by far ore drastic price declines than the esent. 1In 1930 prices declined only 5 per cent below 1929, but with the age cuts of 1921 the price decline was 7 per cent, and in 1873-79 prices fell per cent, while wages éropped only #2 per cent. There have been many in- ganrm of price declines while wages se. as in 1926 and 1865-71. + “7. Wage cuts are not like price re- setions. Workers are human beings d wage cuts mean deterforation in heir scale of living; often permanent dss of opportunity and mental or physi- 1 decline.” Hard Starting Slow >Pick-up Loss of Power Loss of Speed CHANGE YOUR SPARK PLUGS executives of larger THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, B G- MAY .3, / 1931—PART ONE. FIRES AND LOW PRICE MAR RACE| FOR FORTUNE IN NFW OIL FIELDISEB[]NI] MAN DlES East Texas Scene of Many Tragedies and Few Joys as Days of Peace Yield to Struggle and Bad Feeling. Special Dispajch to The Star. LONGV! Tex, May 32—The Northeast Texas oil field has become an empire, and with it have come joys and sorrows, wealth and disaster. The race for riches in this wild scramble is leaving in its path wrecked homes and charred bodies. Fortunes of which many dream may never be made, and today the seasoned oil operator is content to take a fair margin of profit and go back to the older flelds, where peace and order prevail. East Texas was the home of & peace- loving group of farmers and small busi- ness men, but crop and business fail- ures had sapped their optimism. When it was proved that a great oil field was in the making the scramble started. The gossips of Longview can tell you of brother turned against brother, and son who deserted father; the gossips in Hen- derson, Tyler, Kilgore and other cities can tell similar tales. Safety Item Overlooked. In their haste to develop a big oil production, experienced engineers over- looked the item of safety, and within the last two weeks 17 men have lost their lives in fires and explosions; hun- dreds have been injured in the com- monest type of accidents. This week the Sinclair Ofl & Gas Co's. No. 1 Cole well, 2 miles south of Gladewater and the same distance from the nearest telephone, was a roaring, flaming geyser, with the ashes of eight men somewhere in the debris. The body of a ninth victim was in a Longview morgue. flowing its wealth of oil and gas into the alr, when on Tuesday night two pleces of machinery clanked together and caused a tiny spark. Glen Harroun, superintendent for Sinclair, saw his brother and seven other men swallowed up by the flames. It was the third fatal fire of the.ne!d, but the first well to burn. Derricks are built of pine in this great field. So speedy has been the development that oil well supply and equipment houses have been able to bring it only the necessary equipment for drilling wells, building tanks and pipe lines. Safety equipment was left behind in the older fields. In the proven arsa. natural gas and oil-ladened fumes fill the air, and since the rainy season is on, these death-bearing and fire-inviting fumes have mnot been wafted away but frequently settle in ravines and along the roads, Field Known as Empire. Less than four months old, the fleld has come to be known as an empire or the “greater East Texas area,” be- cause of the several pools which have been developed. Three distinct pools have been proven, the Longview, the Kilgore or Bateman and the Henderson or Joiner. The combined production has exceeded 300,000 barrels daily; the recovery has passed the 1,000,000-barrel mark—records which have not been touched by other flelds. More than 300 wells are drilling or ring to drill at this time. The flelds have not been defined, although a marker been found along the west side of the Bateman pool, where salt water drowned out the ofl in several wells. Engin nr $12.50 Shoes Are Now Permanently Reduced Suits and Topcoats Cleaned and Pressed .. 75¢ TIES 10c—12 FOR $1 Ladies’ and Gents’ Felt Hats Cleaned and Blocked 814 14th St. N.W. 5602 Conn. Ave. 1631 17th St. N.W. 1416 Park Road N.W. 3402 18th St. N.E. 1731 Columbia Road 3500 Georgia Ave. N.W. 420 H St. N.E. 1122 Vermont Ave, 622 7th St. S.W. 914 Rhode Island Ave. N. “When a Friend” time sunshine! 5 a Pure. many years . .. select 171:34 10,000 MILES vice always available. ‘The well was running wild, | DIyt Degsiible Shogs Shabby and gone to seed after winter, the unpainted home looks as neglected and friendless as it really is, under May- “Murco” Lifelong Paint friend indeed A friend of homes in ALL weather, because it protects and beautifies. . . a friend of the owner’s pocketbook, because “Murco” is 100% Settle your painting problem for a good belleve that salt water will slow down the play. Under normal conditions such a de- velopment would spell millions for many of the operations, but in this instance the fleld as a whole is still “in the red” This is because many of the operators- disregarded the posted price of crude oll and contracted to sell their oil as low as 15 and 20 cents a barrel, while the same grade of crude in other midcontinent fields was bringing 67 cents. This low price of crude has brought down the prices of leases and royalties; only the cost of meals and lodging remains at boom-time prices. Riff-Raff in Plight, Even the riff-raff element, hangers- on in booms of all sorts, are faring sadly. Texas rangers and local peace officers will give them no rest; their nests and dives are closed as speedily as the birds come home to roost. The local moonshiners find their regular customers hard to deal with. The drug peddlers have steered clear. ‘The honky-tonks have no bright lights. In this, the East Texas oil field is different from any yet developed. From an economic standpoint, the East Texas district will prove rich to the old-line oil companies and operators. They are supporting the proration move- ment which became effective May 1. They are holding their crude for the market price and are bullding pipe lines and loading racks, refineries and gasoline plants, figuring on making their “killings” when the hurrah and boom-boom 1is over. The district today is nearly 40 miles long, north and south, and from 3 miles to 12 miles across, the widest area being on the north end in Gregg and Smith Counties, where there is a thick oil sand, and gushers of from 6,000 to 12,000 barrels a day, with sufficient gas volume and rock pressure to make the well flow natural. The ofl averages 40 degrees gravity, which places it with the best in the mid-continent; it has a high gasoline content, with lubricat- ing oil base. Proximity to the Gulf Coast, which means cheap transportation to Atlantic seaboard refining and marketing centers, permits the integrating com:- panies to compete with all other fields in the United St2tes and with the cheap Venezuelan crude, which has caused so much concern to the Hoover administra- tion and the independent oil operators. (Copyright, 1931.) WATCH REPAIRING BY EXPERTS The repair of your watch does mot complete the trans- action between us, but estab- lishes our obligation to fulfill our guarantee of scrvice, An sed in Our Repalr Department are Greaulue Material BURNSTINE’S 927 G St. N.W. DIAMONDS WATCHES and Hesiery Street NEW FEMININE FOOTWEAR Has Never Been More Alluring You Will Like the New Designs and We Believe YOU WILL APPROVE THE NEW LOW PRICES $10.50 to All Other Grades Proportionately Exquisite Gordon Hosiery, $1.35 and $1.65 33 Other Cities. Stick to the Goose That Laid the Golden Egg. * 22 STORES TO SERVE YOU 3317 Conn. Ave. 1749 Penn. Ave. N.W. 2515 14th St. N.W. 2002 Georgia Ave. N.W, 5119 Georgia Ave. N.W. 2014 Nichols Ave., Anacostia 4302 Georgia Ave. N.W. 905 G St. N.W. 1500 Wisconsin Ave. N.W, 522 King St., Alex., Va. Plant, 1343 South Capitol St. a Home Needs “Murco.” Expert ad- JUVVVVVVVVVVVVVVY VYV VYV S TED NAtional 2477« - INRUTHY SLAYING Ex-Convict Faces New! Charge of Killing in Chicago Traffic Rush. By the Assoclated Press. CHICAGO, May 2.—Another slaying | was charged to Carl Carlson, alias | Frank Jordan, bank robber, tonight when Patrick’ Durkin, traffic officer, died of wounds inflicted at the time Policeman Anthony Ruthy was slain Thursday during the home rush of shoppers and store employes at Michi- gan avenue and Randolph street. Jordan confessed, according to police, he shot down both South Park police- men when they, with two private detec- tives, attempted to arrest him for a bank robbery in Illinois. He fired four other shots as he scught to escape but was brought to earth in the crowded street, after his pistol was empty, by a former member of the Swiss Guards who made a flying tackle. Indicted in Ruthy Slaying. Jordan was indicted for the slaying of Ruthy less than 19 hours after the | shooting, and his arraignment was set | for May 5. Jordan's wife refused to talk of her | husband today, while she continued | her fight to get out of jail. She | was arrested in her rcom soon after Jordan was captured. There were found several weapons, much ammu- nition and hacksaw blades sewn inside vest linings. May Grill Wife. Mrs. Jordan, formerly a nurse and member of a respected family at Ke- wanee, Il., refused to answer ques- | tions as to the conviction of her hus- | band in Indiana and his spectacular | escape from a train in a Chicago suburb while on the way to Leaven- worth prison in charge of two officers. He leaped from the wash room window | while the train was running at high speed. She also remained mute when | asked about various rcbberles in which | her husband is said to have been prin- | sald he wanted to question the woman further. “Jordan has confessed to several bank robberies down Stat. ' he said, “and we want to find out »_ ¢ part, if any, she took in them. She denies knowing anything about them, but & woman was seen driving a ban- dit car in one cf them.” 153 BOOTLEGGERS FOUND GUILTY BY POLICE COURT One hundred and fifty-three bootleg- gers were convicted during April ini Police Court, Assistant United States | Attorney David A. Hart announced yes- terday. Twenty persons were sentenced yesterday for dry law violations, Ind’ only 23 cases are now pending. The District last month received $4,- 428.17 in fines collected from the con- victed, although Hart said more than 100 persons, unable to pay their fines, were committed to jail. - Of the score receiving sentences trom Judges Gus A. Schuldt and Isaac R. Hitt_yesterday, about 15 entered pleas of gulity after previously requesting jury trial. The others were found guilty by jurles. Hart entered mnolle prosses in 31 cases where either police or arresting officers had used illegal methods in making arrests, or there was not suffi- clent evidence to warrant trying. W. M. Baker of Boston, Mass., Our RUP SPECIALIST Is_now at our Washington offl Massachuseits ave., for const POWERS & JOHNSON Rupture Speclalists Since 1860. Bee full statement on Page B-5. PIANOS REFINISHED | | MODERN PACTORY PROCESS Up-to-date lacquer or varnish fin- ish. All work fully gusranteed. 'y reasonable Ver. rices. ~ For _esti- mate el Nat, 3685, “No obilgation. W. W. KIMBALL CO. | I | 721 11th St. N.W. cipal. Chief of Detectives John Norton ! LANSBURGH'S 7th, 8th and E Sts.—NAtional 9800 Factory Branch ‘ You'll Wa This is Nemo Week—an makers are offering this for one week only! It's mesh, in two lengths. This wonderfully com- fortable Nemo-flex gar- ment comes sizes 34 teo 84, creating slim lines for the heavier figure! CORSETS—THIRD FLOOR. No Connection With Any Other Washington Sto_r: Several At This lntroductory Price price on their Nemo-flex Won- derlift Inner Belt Combination for Summer coolness, of Breex- tex, porous batiste, elastic and LANSBURGH'S 7th, 8th and E Sts.—NAtional 9800 nt to Buy. 3 d the low made P No Connection With Any Complete and all! Cobalt is a deep, or table. GLASSWARE—STXTH FLOOR. To Meet the Great Demand —We Again Offer Cobalt Blue The Happiness Vase No room is complete without a touch of Cobalt blue! And so we bought 500 more of these graceful Happiness vases, filled them with crisp, fresh-rooted English Ivy, and are offering them again at 35c, ivy Other Washington Store rich royal blue that never wearies—a pair will add rare beauty to your mantel Mail and ’phone orders filled by Jane Stuart, NAtional 9800 NEWSRACK THIEF JAILED |t s sentence by Jutgs Raion| Given in Police Court yesterday. | Price was apprehended following & Man Gets 90 Days for Destroying | complaint by Clarence Richmond, sont block of Indiana avenue.: Police re-| ported finding in the accused man’s | & newspaper honor system rack, Berke- | with which Lock on Newspaper Device. Arrested for destroying the lock on Two_Rooms, Kitchen and Bath Electrical Refrigeration THE ARGONNE 16th and Columbia Road fon & Reasonable Rentals a:lr of pliers and a wrench, is said to have broken ley E. Price, colored, was given a 90- | the lock. | LANSBURGH'S 7th, 8th and E Sts.—NAtional 9800 No Connection With Any Other Washington Store The Stately Grandfather Electric Clock Houses a Fine Radio A New Creation by Story and Clark That Is Priced Within the Reach of All $99.50 Complete with Seven Tubes There is no piece of furniture with more charm clock. boasts of one. than a grandfather Every truly beautiful home Designers now go one step further and combine the beauty and usefulness of an electric grandfather clock, 5% feet tall, with the enjoyment of a Story Clark radio—a radio of the most modern improvements: r Tone Control Illuminated Dial 2. 3 S. 6. —The Balance in Twelvs $10 Down—p T et ments Phos a Small Carrying Charge. RADIO SALON—FOURTH FLOOR. 3 Screen Grid Tubes Four Gang Condenser Magnavox Dynamic Speake Grandfather Electric Clock and Radio, complete with seven tubes, $99.50. LANSBURGH'S 7th, 8th and E Sts.—NAtional 9800 No Connection With Any Other Washington Store What a Wonderful Opp ortunity—but There Are Only 3 More Days to Buy 100% Pure Pennsylvania Please send me Heavy Name Address ....... Motor Oil In Convenient Easy to Handle 5-Gal.Steel Drums At This Exceptionally Low Price For Medium Grade - We haven't gone into the filling station business, but you would have thought so, had you seen the enthusiastic people buying this oil! Just take an old envelope out of your pocket and fig- ure the saving! Guaranteed by the refinery for 1,000 miles without changing. Usual free delivery on regular routes in nearby Virginia and Mary- land—on others, carrier charges will be added. SIXTHOAND STREET FLOORS