Evening Star Newspaper, May 27, 1931, Page 1

WEATHER. (U. 8. Weather Bureau Forecast.) Fair tonight and tomorrow; slightly warmer tomorrow. ‘Temperatures—Highest, 81, at 4:15 p.m. yesterday; lowest, 56, at 5:30 a.m. today. Full report on page 9. Closing N.Y. Markets, Pages13,14 & 15 he Foening Star. ' Entered as second class matte No., 31,802. post_office, Washington, D. ( v WASHINGTON, WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION D. C, WEDNESDAY, y MAY 1931—FORTY: “From Press The Star's car as fast as the pap to Home Within the Hour” rier system covers every city block and the regular edi- tion is delivered to Washington homes ers are printed. Yesterday’s Circulation, 116,560 SIX PAGES (®) Means Assoc d IBALLOONISTS DESCENDING IMPORT BARRIERS R | >ermans Hoped to Reach | 60,000 Feet in Search for Cosmic Rays. TAKE-OFF SCORED AT PARLEY ON FOREIGH TRAJE Speech by T. W. Lamont Held to Hit at Tariff as Being Artificial Bar. AFTER TRY FO G PERFECT Tiny Motor Turns Sphere to Heat or Cool It by Light of Sun. FARRELL URGES BOOST OF COMMODITY PRICES By the Associated Press AUGSBURG, Germany, May 27.- The Reidinger balloon works was ad- vised this evening that Prof. August Piccard's balloon had been sighted at about 7 p.m. between Garmisch and Mittenwald, descending slowly from an | altitude of about 13,000 feet. | The Reldinger officials professed mot | L."“' YORK, May 27—~Thomas W.!4o'be worried aboflt' the sclentist apd | mont of J. P. Morgan & Co., welcom- | Charles Kipfer, his companion on the | ing delegates of the National Foreign | spectacular voyage into the upper air. Trade Convéhtion today, urged that | ~There’s no cause for worry vet,” e e 1. | Qirector of the plant said. * attemp iscourage artl-| the balloon is in perfect order, and ficial barriers to foreign trade.” although Prof. Piccard intended to stay | Mr. Lamont did not mention the tariff | UP n?h]"t"i,"r 'h’,;‘ 1"th0‘"-:-h" L‘hbmb- | e that he could not get through cer- by name, but his statement brought ap- | {55, layers of the heated air and de- plause from the convention and several | cided te stay up longer. | delegates assumed that the tariff was‘“ “Ycr‘: must remember that for some one “artificial barrier” he had in mind, | HiMe he was at an altitude where he could “If we want foreign trade,” the banker | gr o OPeD the gondola and let in the | said, “we must make it as easy as possi- Latt sGDawa ble. Some people think the other fel- low always should buy. Farrell Asks Price Hike. ! “Unless there are complications in- side that we don't know anything about We are not going to worry yet.” Prof. Piccard carried enough oxygen His remarks preceded those of James | 835 to last 10 hours, but there was no A. Farrell, president of the United %ay of telling when he began to use States Steel Corporation, who urged | this supply. His balloon left the ground that American business should work | 3¢ 3:35 a.m. giligently io preserve and develop the | _ A message from Garminsch said that foreign market. < i ottt rons, { (Continued on Page 2. Column 3.) said that “other causes,” not the tariff, are the major factors “which have tended to disturb the balance between | GRIFFS WY, 1 Steel Head Eliminates Speech Text Referring to Customs Levy as Minor Slump Factor. By the Associated Press. production and consumption throughout | the worl But Mr. Farrell, in his remarks as de- livered, omitted all reference to the tariff. The tariff occupies formal place | on the agenda of the council for the | first time in its history. Peter Fletcher, president of the Na- tional Council of American Importers and Traders, Inc., advocated a special session of to effect a 25 per| cent horizonf tariff cut on all ad| valorem rates and a 50 per cent cut on_all specific rates. ‘The United States, he said, is bringing about a world-wide tariff war. Every important country has built retaliation tarift against this country, he declared. Farrington Gives Plan. “An essential requirement * Farrell sald in hus spoken address, “of the pres- ent economic situation is an advance in commodity prices. When prices fall, withdraw from the market. It is prices t:nndt stimulate buying and Myer’s Error to Overtake Nationals. BY JOHN B. KELLER. BOSTON, May 27.—Defeating the ;Bmton Red Sox, 11 15 3, in the first | second game, ‘The score was 1 to 1. FIRST INNING. WASHINGTON—Myer singled to right and took third when Webb fum- bled the ball. Sam Rice flied to Van Camp and Myer scored after the catch. Manush walked. So did Cronin. Rhyne threw out West, both runners advancing. Bluege fanned. One run. BOSTON—West made a good running catch of Rhyne's long fly. Rothrock singled to center. Van Camp drove into | a double play, Myer to Cronin to Kuhel. No runs, | SECOND INNING. | WASHINGTON—Kuhel doubled to right. Pickering threw out Spencer, | holding Kuhel to second. Rhyne threw | out Pischer, Kuhel going to third. | Rhyne went back for Myer's pop. No | runs. BOSTON—Webb doubled off the left field fence. Pickering scratched a sin- gle past Pischer, Webb holding second. Sweeney sacrificed. Bluege t7 Myer, cov- |ering . first b:(yern fumbled Oliver's | grounder, Webb scoring and Pickering D O aut ity 80N 0 third. Berry grounded t ev!nmtuhew‘m‘ ption of such sumfl;Clonln and a double play Iollnl'ed“ Y D e, o s | Cronin o Kubel. ~One nun. NATS WIN OPENER, 11-3. of “We have the quota law for all nations outside the Orient. yThere is every reason why our country p apply this law to the peoples of mcterized reluctance to buy as an “all consuming plague.” ‘WOOD LISTS TRADE ILLS. Joe Cronin, West and Boiton Provide —_— Hitting Punch. Chicage Exchange Head Blames All| BOSTON, May 27.—Cronin’s two dou- Nation for Depression. | bles and triples by West and Bolton CHICAGO, May 27 (%) —President R. | (Continued on Page 2. Column 4.) Arthur Wood of the Chicago Stock Ex- | change told delegates to the Illinois | Bankers' Association Convention today that “we all are to blame” for the pres- | ent depression and that it is time to “consider soberly our mistakes of the past and seek to avoid a repetition.” “Is there any thoughtful banker or student of economics who will asser. that the sccurities markets were the only medium for speculation? How about that other noble experiment of our national Government in stabilization of grain and cotton prices? Who told the wheat grower thet he should receive for his excess production a price abso- lutely unwarranted by any fantastic mental process of unsourd economic Teasoning? “I think that still other forms of speculation have grown up that, taken in their entirety, dwarfathe trade in securities, however large it has grown. How about the vast growth in the use of so-called consumer credit—more familiarly known as installment buying? “Instead of seeking to place the blame for our troubles to any one industry or line of endeavor, isn't it better to con- | Rbyne, ss.... fess frankly that we all are to blame?” | Rothrock, 2b.. CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHT s INJUNCTION IS DENIED Defense Boxing Contest Plea Wins Refusal of Judge to Block Schmeling-Stribling Go. Box Score (FIRST GAME) WASHINGTON. AB.R. H O. A L Bluege, b Kuhel, 1b. Bolton, e. | Brown, lue:uaa:au 2l ccsc00020s BOSTON. AB. R. H o | Plekerin, 3b. | Sweeney, 1b.. | Oliver, ef..... | Ruel, ¢ | Lisenbee, Kline, p. | Briliheart, o o #2712 B Miller batted for Lisenbes in third. Berry batted for Ruel in eighih. Reeves batted for Brillheart in minth. SCORE BY INNINGS. 12345618 +—Rr 103200500-11 00000003 0~ SUMMAR' Rune batted in—Cronin .. B R R T L » eoo~oene~200an’ csssmcmecccoon-" B the Associated Press. CLEVELAND., May 27-—Injunction to stop the Schmeling-Stribling heavy- weight championship bout at the Cleve- land Municipal Stadium July 3 was de- nied today by Common Pleas Judge ‘Thomas M. Kennedy The judge’s opinion was about 1,500 words in length. He fixed a $5,000 np-I Wash. peal bond. The suit was brought by Attorney Beston H. Mellen, in behalf of a Cleve- It was Mellen's con- the bout wculd be a prize illegal in Ohio. Assistant City Law Director Henry 8. | T = ebb (2), Brainard, in defense of the boul. CON- | yhree-base hits—West, Webb, Bolton. Stolen base—Myer. fended it would be a “boxing contest, b s e since both participants are to receive a > ses o ““:_‘_‘_‘:- o R ol stipulated sum regardless of the cut- % come. Struck out—By Brown. 1; by Lisenbee, 11 s by Kline, 15 by Brillbeart, & i Ticenbee, s in 3 Innings: off Kiine, Radio Programs on Page C-4 v | o @) i West. Biu Bolton b.:% innin, s inninss, | 3 ) | | L2ague who are esars. Owens, Ovmgby and Nolle. o ¢'ve it apnroval CHARLES KIPFER. 3 PROPOSED SIEN TIEBOSTON, 1701 REGULATION T Red Sox Bunch Hits With Correction of Repair Provi- sion Urged at Commission- ers’ Hearing Today. Views presented before District Com- | missioners’ hearing today on the pro- game of a double-header here today, the | Posed SIgn regulations revealed appar- Nationals were tied in the second in the | ently a unanimous opinion on the part | of public interest spokesmen that the | | sections affecting organized billboards, | as drafied, should be radically revised | 1f the ogtdoor advertising Industry 15 to { g oSl be adequately regulated in Washington, Criticism of the billboard section cen- tered on the failure of the regulations | to prohibit the repairing of so-called | | panel posters, thereby permitting, it was | chiatrist, was the wife of Donald Sned- | pointed out, a prolongation of their life that would defeat the aim to improve the appearance of the city. Termed “Back Step.” Frederic A. Delano, president of the Amerfcan Civic Assoclation, which started the campaign to restrict the use of billboard advertising in the National | Caplital, declared that the billooard sec- tion is “‘a backward step.” “We suggest that the adoption of the billboard regulation, with the provision for a $5 permit fee for the repair of each billboard, be postponed until the list of proposed locations is complete, in order that the locations may be studied, Mr. Delano suggested. Lists Not Ready. ‘This i<t of billbeard locations, being checked from a police survey, was not completed in time for the hearing. In any case,” Mr. Delano added, hope that no regulation will be adopted by the District Commissioners which will permit repair of existing biliboards, unless sirictly our Judgment this would be a reversal of the the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, under which Washington has ‘we | been reducing its billboards, and would harness on the city during the Bicen- tennial and afterward a collection of billboara: life.” Seeks Complete Ban. W. Eliot, 2d, director of the National Capital Park Commission, who made a billboard ~ situation in Charles planning fo and Planning study of the Washington repairs should be included in the regu- lations. ~ Purthermore, Mr. Ellot h: “erection” of bill- uld be strictly prohibited 17e 10 attach the approved list of billboards to the draft regula- tions.” he added, “naturally ralses grave doubts in the minds of those opposed to use of signs and billboards. are concerned over both the number and location of billboards which may be approved. It is understood the es- tablished list be large or 100 (Continued on Page 2,’ Column 8.) HARRIDGE, CHICAGO, HEADS AMERICANS League President to Succeed Late Ernest S. Barnard Chosen by Base Ball Club Owners. By the Associated Pross CLEVELAND, May 27.—william Har- ridge of Chicago, secretary of the Amer- ican League, today was elected its presi- dent, to succeed Ernest s Blmnrd‘.’“hfl died shortly before the start of the present base bail season e new president was chosen By elub owners of the league at. their seesion ;x‘eeu.l':,dnz umrha period of three years. chosen treas, conn:-n:ed as secretary, o S M Resblutions of sympathy in the deaths of Mr. Barnard and Byron Baneroft Johnson. whose death also was recent, were adoptd. Mr. Johnson was Mr. ls.mmu predecessor as head of the eague. The club owners also voted to allow the pitchers of the league to use resin on the ball, & practice whieh has been taboo in recent years. So many young hurlers were coming up to the American POssess > sin 2bit” that the owne :,{ilimfi.,’:cm limited in time, as in previous progressive policy of | with a new legal warrant of | isisted that the degree of | They | SEVEN ARE FEARED DEAD I BURNING OF SLOOP SEA FOX Bodies of Two Women and Two Preservers Found Indicaté Fate. PASSENGERS PROMINENT i IN EDUCATION CIRCLES | Eight Coast Guard Cutters, Plane and Police of Three Cities Serching Sound. { B the Associated Press | NORWALK. Conn, May 27—The | second body of & member of the party of seven on the auxiliary sloop yacht | Sea Fox, which has been missing since | Saturday night, was found in Long| i Island Sound off here this afternoon. “n was clothed in pink pajamas, bath- ing suit and a red jacket. ! Body Tdentified. | ‘The body was identified, it was stated | | by police, as that of Miss Dorix Dewey, | 131, 'a psychologist. at Bellevue Hospital, who was on the Sea Fox { The body of Mrs. Marcia Snedden, | wife of Donald Snedden of New York | University. was recovered last. night. | A partly burned life preserver, pos- {sibly from the Sea Fox, was found off | | Tokeneke today. about half a mile from | the spol where the body of Mrs. Donald | | Snedden was discovered yesterday. ! Coat Also Found. A woman's black coat of an expensive cloth was found near the burned pre- i server. The coat had not been long in | the water. | The discovery led to the theory that | the sloop, for which a seaplane, eight Coast Guard cutterg, a score of smaller craft, and the police of three cities and | towns are searching, was burned. | Although the preserver had no mark- | {ings on it. it was identical in appear- | | ance to the preserver on the body of | { Mrs. Snedden and t another found off | Pratt's Island. | Prof. Robert W. Spear, an intimate | friend of the family, examined the | coat and said it cid not hlong to Mrs. | Snedden, but that it might vossibly have been worn by Mrs. Florence Mendenhall. MISSING SINCE SATURDAY. | Engine Working Poorly and s0-Mile | Gale Blowing at Departure. NEW YORK, May 27 (#).—Eight Coast | | Guard cutters searched Long Island Sound today for bodies of the victims of the Sea Fox, a pleasure sloop, which | apparently foundered Saturday night | or Sunday morning, with the loss of | | Members of the party were widely known in New York educational and | | medical circles. Mrs, Marcia Sneddon, 25, & psy- | den, New York University instructor | | and owner of the Sea Fox, who is one |of the missing. Members of the Sned- | den family chartered an airplane at Bridgeport, Conn, to assist in the | | search. | | ""One of those believed to have been | | aboard the 36-foot cabin sloop_ when | | the parly set out frem City Island, New York, Saturday, was Robert John- ston, 30, night club’ entertainer, Whose wife, Muriel, his former singing partner. has sued Miss Adele Ryzn for $600,000 for alienation of affections. Snedden Former Athlete. Other members of the party are be- | lieved to have been Donald Snedden, | 28, husband of Mrs. Snedden, an in- | structcr at New York University, for- { mer Stanford University athlete and | Pacific Coast diving champion; former | instructor at Harvard; the son of Prof | David 8. Snedden of Columbia Uni- | versity, who was formerly commi | sioner ‘of education in Massachusetts. | Mark Coyne, 28. of New York, an in- | structor_at Riverdale Country School. Mrs. Florence Mendenhall, 28, a for- | { mer actress. Robert Mendenhall, 29, her husband, | | a statisticlan at Columbia University, | | brother of Mrs. Snedden. i | Robert Johnston, 30, a night club | | entertainer, whose wife Muriel has sued | |Miss Adele Ryan, granddaughter of Thomas Fortune Ryan, for $500,000 for alienation of affectfons Miss Doris Dewey, 31, & psychologist | at Bellevue Hospital Most of the party were students at | Stanford University at one time. The Sea Fox was owned by Snedden. | who, filends said, was an excellent yachtsman. Body Wore Life Belt. Mrs. Snedden’s body, in yachting at- tire and a life belt, was found floating | in the sound one mile off Collenders Point, Darien, by William P. Allen, a | Stamford fisherman. Mrs. David S. Snedden identified~the body of her daughter-in-law. The life preserver raised doubts that | there had been any survivors. Nothing | found on Mrs. Snedden’s body gave a clue as to what befell the yacht. New York police airplanes searched the sound as far as Block Island, R. I..| and New London Conn. Const Guard ( headquarters at New London dispatched | boats. | First news that the sloop was missing came from anxious iriends, who notified | |the New York Police Department Miss- ing Persons Bureau. They said the | yacht's motor was not working well | when the cruise started and a 40-mile | gale was blowing at the time. It was| the party’s intention to return Sunday| eyening. SNEDDEN STANFORD GRADUATE. | 4 { Was Varsity Swimmer and Held Coast | Diving Title. STANFORD UNIVERSITY, Calif., May 27 (#).—Donald Snedden, believed to have drowned with six other persons in the sloop Sea Fox, which i3 thought t heve foundered in Long Island Sound, was graduated from Stanford University in 1922 and went to New York to take post-graduate work at Co- lumbia University. ‘While at Stanford Snedden was a (Continued on Page 2, Column 3.) e b5 G Petain Chosen Envoy. PARIS, May 27 ().—Marshal Petain was selected by the cabinet today to represent France at the sesquicenten- nial (of the battle of Yorktown to be observed at Yorktown, Va. October 16 “to 19. A tablet to the memory of French soldiers who fought in the American revnlm,n is to be unveiled. employes will return to work tomorrow. | following three months temporary cards | { ville Circuit Court. { man Prescott and Corp. Roy | dangling WIFE SLAINASFIVE CHLDREN LODK ON | IShooting Occurs in Scuffle Over Revolver in Home at Burdette, Md. Special Dispateh to The Star. ROCKVILLE. Md.. May 27.—As her five young. children watched, Mrs. Beu- lah F. Reffit, 35 years old. of Burdette, Md., was shot through the heart last evening in attempting to wrest from | her husband’s hand a revolver with { which he was about to shoot himself, according to police. Her oldest son, Lioyd, 16 years old, thrice prevented his father, John F. Reffit, 50 years old, taking his life | after the bullet ended Mrs. Reffit's life. | Reffit is being held in the Rockville Jail, pending a complete investigation, but authorities say they think the shoot- ing was accidental. Both father and son tell the same story, Chief of Police Alvie A. Moxley stated. | Acting on instructions from State's’ Attorney Prescott, Chief Moxley this morning swore out a warrant charging | Reffit with murder. He cxplained that | while there have been no developments | damaging to Reffit the State's attorney | thought it would be best to have the matter thoroughly investigated at a pre- liminary hearing before Judge Charles W. Woodward in the Police Court at Rockville. The date for the hearing had nct been set. In the meantime Reffit will remain in jail. ‘The couple were having marital dif- ficulties. A suit by Mr. Reffit against Delaney F. Brown, huckster, of Pardum, Md., for $50,000, charging alienation of affection is now pending in Rock- | Last February Ref- fit filed suit for absolute divorce from his wife, naming Brown as co-respond- ent, but this action was withdrawn by the plaintiff March 3. Friends said that Mr. and Mrs. Reffit effected a reconciliation at that time. Suicide Attempts Foiled. Chief Moxley, State’s Attorney Sted- Bodmer reconstructed the following account of he_shooting from the storles told by effit and his son. | Mrs, Reffit and her five children, Lloyd, John, 14 vears old: Margaret. 12 vears old; Harold, 11 years old. and Paul. 7 years old. were in the kitchen | of their home about 7:30 o'clock last evening, when Reffit entered with a gun in his hand “I'll end all this,” he exclaimed and placed the gun to his temple as if to | shoot himself. Mrs. Refit grappled with her hus- band and during the struggle for pos- session of the gun it was discharged ! Mrs. Reffit was dead when medical aid arrived. As his wife fell to the floor Reffit | stood as if dazed with the revolver from his hand. then slowly raised it again to his head, and w about to pull the trigger when Llovd seized and gained possession of the weapon. Reffit turned toward the stairs to get a shotgun on the second floor. he told police. Again his son_forestalled him and reached the gun first. Later he attempted to plunge a knife into his chest, but again was saved from self-destruction by Lloyd. Husband Taken to Jail. Neighbors summoned police. Chief Moxley and Corpl. Bodmer responded. | Reffit was taken to thejail in Rockville and the body of his wife sent to Ernest Gartner, Gaithersburg undertaker. When' police arrived Margaret was kneeling beside her mother's body, her hand pressed against the wound to stop the flow of blood. The child did not realize the mother was dead. Friends living nearby took care of the children during the night. Chief | Moxley said that he would go to Bur- | dette today to question them. Lloyd went to Rockville this morning and | told authorities what he knew of the tragedy. | Reflit, a_huckster, is Republican offi- cer of Tegistration for the Clarksburg | district. Before her marriage Mrs. Ref- | it was a Miss Hawkins of the Damas- cus district. There is a sixth child, a daughter, | Mary, 17 years old, who is said by neighbors to be working in Washington. PERU ENDS MARTIAL LAwi‘ Decree Cites Need Over as Plans for Elections Move Forward. LIMA Peru, May 27 (#).—The gov- ernment issued a decree today stating that martial lJaw was ended in view of | the fact that the reasons for its enact- ment had disappeared. The press published a new election law which was taken as an indication that general elections will be held soon. Dispatches from Talara said that quiet prevailed in the oil fields, where a serious clash occurred Sunday be- tween troops and work:rs, and that Medics Make Third Attempt to Remove Whistle From Lung By the Associated Press PITTSBURGH, May 27. — Johnny Ginkel is a game little fellow, the doctors told him to- day, and Johnny tried hard to smile while the medical men prepared to try for a third time to remove a “whistle” from his left lung. Johnny, just turned 7. used the small metal end of a lipstick con- tainer for a whistle the other day. He bumped his elbow and swallowed the container. His home is in Fryburg, Clarion County. Sunday evening the doctors tried to remove the metal: they tried again Mondzy. Today they will make a third attempt. CHICAGOAN SOUGHT INUNION SHOOTING “Suspicious Stranger” 0b-| ject of Search in Attempt to Kill Officials. Headquarters detectives are looking for a “suspicious stranger” from Chica- g0 in connection with the gun attack a week ago today.on three international ‘omcers of the Union of Operating En- rs. Meanwhile the grand jury will begin tomorrow an investigation of the union's financial troubles. 4 Arthur M. Huddell, president, and John Possehl, general secretary of the —s TWO CENTS. Press. ~ UPTO RAILROADS I. C. C. Will Not Institute Probe of Carriers’ Revenues. | _Responsibility for definite proposals | ‘oward increased freight rates rests once | more with the railroads. | . This interpretation was attached by s/ Interstate Commerce Commission offi | clals to that agency's official announce- | ment yesterday that it does not plan | to investigate. 6n its own initiative, the | financial condition of railroads. | _The announcement was made after | Daniel Willard, president of the Balti- more & Ohio Rallroad. had conferred | informally with commission officials, | discussing the carriers’ concern over the | sharp decline in earnings. He is one of | the committee of raflroad presidents | designated at a meeting of Eastern ex- | ecutives in New York last Thursday to dy rate increases and the financial ituation. Commission Makes Statement. commission’s statement sald: Interstate Commerce sion today in response to procedural questions informally genwmd to it by Daniel Willard, in behalf of Eastern railroad executives, informed him that the commission will not at this time | institute a general investigation into | the general railroad situation on fits | own_motion.” | 'When Eastern railroads presented a | generalized petition last November ask- {ing a study of the effect of the de- | pression on railroads' earning power, | the commission made a similar decision. Commissioner McManamy, then chair- man, held that since the petition made no suggestions deemed by the appli- cants “to be feasible to relieve the revenue, situation of Western railroads or legally necessary in the premises,” the commission could not act. 1 | | \ | | ‘The | “The international union, were inquiring in- | to an alleged embezziement of benefit funds of the organization when they and a companion, Frank Langdon, un- icn magazine editor, were fired upon by an unidentified gunman in a lunch room across from union headquarters, | Tenth and K streets. Huddell Collapses. Huddell, under intense nervous strain since the shooting, collapsed in his office at Tenth and K streets yester- day afternoon and was taken to Sibley Memorial Hospital suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage. Huddell's condi- tion today was reported as favorable. Huddell narrowly escaped death at the hands of the would-be assassin last Wednesday when one of the bullets from the gunman’s weapon buried itself in a bound note book in a pocket over his heart. Until yesterday, however, he had noted no il effects from the impact of the bullet. Whether the labor union head’s col- lapse yesterday was due to the effect of the bullet could not be determined by his physicians today. Ex-Officer fn Chicago. The alleged peculations involve a for- mer officer of the union, now residing in Chicago. Police have satisfied them- (Continued on Page 2, Column 7.) UNCONSCIOUS 280 HOURS Boy Battles Death After Being Hit by Auto—Operation Needed. PITTSBURGH, May 27 (#).—Billie Armitage's father and mother and the surgeons watched a little closer at his white cot in a hospital today, as Billie passed his 280th hour of unconscious- ness since he was run down by an au- tomobile. There was a slight improvement in his condition, doctors said, and, if he rallies a little more, an operation can be performed and the §-year-old lad will have a fighting chance for life, they agreed. RUSSIANS D NEW SYSTE Requests to Be Considered. In his letter to rallroad executives, he added that “should such requests be | presented they will be given earnest and prompt consideration.” Just now the commission is engaged in a revision of freight rates under the Hoch-Smith resolution. It has not (Continued on Page 2, Column 1.) . CONFLICT HIDES FATE ' OF SHIP AFIRE AT SEA Portuguese Vessel's Crew Saved, | Says One Message, Later | Contradicted. | By the Associaied Press. LONDON, May 27—The fate of the Portuguese steamer Corretora Primeiro, which caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean | about 100 mil:s off the Northern Coast of Spain, was the subject of concern today in shipping circles. | Lloyd's Lands End radio station re- ceived a message from the British | Steamship Dunkwa saying that the Por- | tuguese vessel was blazing from end | to end and had sustained several explo- | | sions. The Dunkwa was alongside and | had lowersd a boat in which to take off the crew. Later the German ship Ubena wire- | lessed that the Dunkwa reported she | had taken the crew aboard, which | Ubena’s master described mpossible as the ship is all flames.” She added: that the stricken ship carried a cargo of | gasoline, | The fact that the relayed messages | were conflicting, and possibly garbled | in” transmission, cast great uncertainty | over the extent of the disastcr. The Corretora Primeiro is of 872 gross tons | and has a leingth of 181.5 feet. She was | built in Oslo in 1907 and her port of registry is Ponta Delgardo, Azores. | ISTURBED BY SOVIET’S M OF RATIONING BREAD Plan Seen in Some Quarters as Move to Give Factories More Control Over Workers. By the Associated Press. MOSCOW, May 27.—Millions of Rus- sians were wondering today what an official announcement that a system of bread raticning would be in- augurated throughout tne U. 8. S. R. October 1 would mean for the family larder. The announcement left it un- certain whether bread, which is still ra- tioned strictly, would be mgplled more plentifully or whether further restric- tions would be instituted. ‘The cards cn which bread is now is- sued will expirs July 1, and for the new | ,-;e to be issued, prgh-bly mn;m :3 | those now in use, which are obtain | through house ccmmittees. | " In some quarters the opinion was ex- pressed that the new sysiem would in- volve distribution of cards by factories and other industrial plants, 5o as to give managements mcre control over ir tion of all holders urpose #ntitled to recelve rati revigs assignments ories, each of which r ly allowances of bread. SHOOTING REPORT RESULTS IN RAID ON ALLEGED RESORT Detectives Break Two Doors to Enter Establishment on Thirteenth Street. {OFFICIALS STUDY LAW ON WARRANTLESS DRIVE Rover Declines to Comment as Capt. Burke Reports “About 100" Places in Precinct. While police were awaiting the out- come of a conference in the district attorney’s office to determine whether five gambling and liquor resorts raided without warrants yesterday would be prosecuted, they staged a spectacular impromptu raid early this afternoon at 525 Thirteenth street. In making the rald, police, in radio patrol cars and on motor cycles with { sirens shrieking, swept through the | downtown section of the city, halting all trafic. The radio call reporting the shooting drew half a dozen radio pa- trol cars from different sections of the city. | The raid followed a mysterious and | anonymous report to golice headquar- ters that a man had been shot at the address, Police denied they were using a new method of staging “warrantless raids” f{on downtown umhun& and liquor re- | sorts. Lieut. C. J. P. Weber of the De- tective Bureau said the raid had mot been prearranged. Find Door Locked. “That sort of thing,” he said, “hap- Lem frequently. We gei a flash of some w violation, only to find a gambling otlx;llquo‘:.rmn running. Then we make e raid.” 4 The raid was made by a squad of de- tectives from headquarters and by police- men from the first precinct, respond- ing to a telephone message that “a man has been shot.” At the Thirteenth street address the policemen found a door at the foot of the stairway leading to the second floor was locked. Smashing a glass panel in the door, the raiders swarmed up the steps only to find another locked door at the top. This, 'too, they battered open, but the al gambling place, which occupied the entire floor, was deserted except for one man. He identified himself as Richard Locksman, 51, of .1314 P street north- east. Police said he would be charged with set! 2!&:4 o setting :wnuu-hool Place Reported Filled. Employes of business establishments in the neighborhood said the place was “jammed with customers” a few minutes before police arrived. They ex- pressed surprise when told only one arrest had been made. The man arrested, they said, was not the proprietor of the resort, however. The owner, they added, was standing in front of the establishment when the first group of policemen arrived. Obviously alarmed, he ran “into a nearby store and darted into a tele- phone booth. When he came out a few minutes later, he mingled with the throng and disappeared. In a small office in the front part of the building tke raldets found two “paying tellers’ windows,” an adding machine, two telephotes, a radio over which, they said, racing results were received; a quantity of scratch pads, betting sheets and other alleged book- making paraphernalia. The parapher~ nalia was seized. The floor, which was divided into sevs !eral rooms, also contalned a pool table | and alleged “betting tables.” The walls were decorated with photographs of race horses and scenes nt various tracks. Officials of the Polic: \Jepartment ad= mitted some doubt as to whether the five warrantless 11ids made yeiterday would “take.” |, If it develops that such raids are | legal, however, there are “about a hun- dred” other drinking and gaNJling re- sorts in the first precinct which could be raided immediately, according to | Capt. Frank S. W. Burke, precinct | commander. In the past, Capt. Burke pointed cut, United States Attorney Leo A. Rover always has insisted that police raid drinking and gambling places only when they have warrants. Rover Delays Action. Mr. Rover declined to comment on | the legality of the raids, but directed | his assistants at Police Court to make |no mcve toward taking the cases into ! court until they have conferred with jhiz. He ordered a thorough investiga- | tion of the charges against the nine ymen held. If 1t develops that the raids were | legal, Capt. Burke declared, he will | | open’ a drive in his preeinct. Only a few Lieut.” Frank Varney of his precinct made a raid under much the same circumstances as yesterday's. The case not only was “‘thrown out,” Capt. Burke added, but Lieut. Varney was given “an official reprimand” by Rover. Commenting on the raids, in which 93 men were arrested, Inspector Wil- lHam S. Shelby, chief of detectives, pointed out they were made after four keadquarters detectives, who gained en- trance to the places by expla they were seeking suspects in the recent liquor robbery at the legation of El Salvador, summoned the vice squad. The detectives — Sergts. _Lawrence O'Dea, Arthur Fihelly, O. W. Mans- field and Howard Ogle—notified the squad, Inspector Shelby continued, be- cause they “saw evidence that the law was being violated.” This procedure, the inspector said, is not unusual. On the contrary, he said, members of the Police Department are required to call the vice squad when- ever they stumble upon violations of the liquor or gambling laws. ‘While warrantless raids have been declared 1illegal in the past, the in- spector went on, yesterday's raids were “a little different” because of the cir- cu.]ldmhncel under which they were made. Obtaining sufficient evidence to con- ict_in the average raid, for which & (Continued Page 2, Column 7) Strike Closes Mine. MORGANTOWN, W. Va., May 27 (@), Fuel O -comploying. 200 men, el ., em] today a5 a Tesult of & strike %o officials vi