Evening Star Newspaper, July 31, 1931, Page 17

The Foening Star SUNDAY MORNING EDITION FRIDAY, JULY 31, 1931 Spendifig the Night in Judiciary Square THE HEAT ALONE DOES NOT DRIVE THE SLEEPERS THERE. ud 5—1 WASHINGTON, D. C., ISHELLSHOCK HiT AS POPULAR FANCY PAG i D. C. TREE PLANTING GONFINED 70 NEW EXODUS OF ALIENS | THIS YEAR PASSES Testing Automobile Brakes TRAFFIC BUREAU HAS NEW SERVICE. - INFLUX BY 10,000 U. S. Report Follows Doak Drive on Ring Preying on Immigrants. 18,142 DEPORTED DURING 12 MONTHS 97,139 Admitted as 107,376 De- part—Most of Deportees Sent Over Mexican Border. Following closely on Labor Secretary Doak’s announcement that he was per- sonally supervising a Nation-wide drive to eliminate racketeering rings that prey on aliens unable to_enter this country legally, the Labor Department today made public figures showing that 10,000 more immigrant aliens left the United States than entered during the fiscal year ending June 30. The department said the tide began turning against immigration last No- vember with the result that there were 30,482 more departures than arrivals during the eight months. Immigrants admitted to the country during the year totaled 97,139 and departures were 107.376. It was pointed out that these figures do not include tourists or aliens ad- mitted on business. 18,142 Deportations. The report revealed that there were 18,142 deportations during the year, as compared with 16,631 in the year end- ing June 30, 1230. It was explained that almost half the deportations were to Mexico, 8,789 leaving via the South- ern border. A total of 5,016 were sent over the Canadian line and 2,437 left from New York by ships. Further commenting on the “return permit racket” uncovered in New York, the Secretary said today that this scheme is only one of several by which aliens in the country illegally or seek- ing to enter illegally are mulcted, often of large sums. Entrance Permits Sold. The arrests of Simon Rothbcrg, a clerk in the New York iminigration bu- | reau office, and Lino Pizzalc. alleged promoter of the scheme, on charges of having sold permits usuaily granted aliens to leave the country after enter- ing legally, to aliens unacic to enter at from $175 to $250 each, Doak said that he had personally uncovercd this scheme. He added that he expected more arrests to be made as he felt the clerk was only a tool for some one else and indicated that the ring migkt have international ramifications. Several hours later he amplified this statement by saying, “the people I wan’ to gét are the alien s.rugglers and those trading on the credulity of ignorant foreigners. These people are rotten to the core. The alien smuggler will col- lect several hundred dollars a head from a cargo of ali in Cuba or Mexico and If pursued wiil abandon them. They d;) not care for uae lives of those peo- ple.” 17,000 FAIL TO LIST INTANGIBLE PROPERTY| Yast Day for Escaping 20 Per Cent Penalty Finds Many Delinquent. ‘Today was the last day for filing re- turns on personal property in the Dis- trict in order to escape the 20 per cent penalty imposed for not making the Teturn on time, but very few taxpayers came down to make a last-minute re- turn. A reporter who called at the tay office at 11 o'clock this morning counted seven persons making returns. {There are still about 17,000 persons with & taxable status who have failed Ro file returns, according to Charles A, Russell, deputy assessor in charge of the personal tax division. Mr. Russell said that the 25,000 re- turns already filed indicate that owing to the decline in the market price of stocks, the item for intangible prop- erty will show a considerable shrinkage this year. - The assessment for in- tangible property, which includes, stocks, bonds and other evidences of | indebtedness. last year was about $50 000,000. This year it will be about one- | third less, he estimated. The tax rate nTN:nlanglee property is 50 cents per ‘The office will be open until 5 o’clock tonight for anybody who wishes to file & return. It is located at room 103 Pistrict Building. J. W. DARE HONORED AT FAREWELL BANQUET Retiring Engineer of District High- way Department Guest of 150 Friends. Joseph W. “Nubby" Dare, 77-year-old engineer in the District Highway De- partment, was tendered a farewell ban- quet by 150 of his friends at the Beaver Dam Country Club last night. Mr. Dare retires September 1 after more than 50 years' service in the city gov- srnment. Although long past the retire- ment ege, he has been granted four extensions on account of his extraor- dinary ability. It is said that Mr. Dare has the sharpest pair of eyes in the de- partment and can tell at a glanc whether a curb or piece of paving is half an inch out of line, where most engineers would have to use instruments to detect the error. Willlam W. Curtiss, one of Mr. Dare's colleagues, was in charge of the ar. rangements. Aloysius 8. Fennell, con- struction engineer for the department, was toastmaster. Traffic Director Wil- llam A. Van Duzer, Highway Engineer Herbert C. Whitehurst and others made speeches praising Dare, INJURED BY TRUCK Frank Bresnahan, 50, Treated at Emergency Hospital. Frank Bresnahan, 50, of 1520 Kear- ney street, suffered a slight concussion and cuts about the head this afternoon when he walked into a motor truck at Fourteenth street and Pennsylvania avenue. He was treated at Emergency Hospital. According to the police, the motor truck, owned by the Griffith-Consumers Coal Co. and driven by William L. Hebron, colored, of 940 Tw:nty-fifth street, had just been started when Bres- nahan stepped off the curb and walked into the overhanging rear end of the truck body, {lines up with the other companies, fear | l | | Policeman C. H. Schrayer of the Traffic Bureau, in charge of the bureau's brake-testing car, halts at Eleventh and F streets to test the brakes of & machine that crashed into the rear of the one ahead. The brakes were declared “O. =" but an excited woman driver may have failed to apply them in time, police said. —Star Staff Fhoto. TAXI RATE HEARING, Intervention in Cab War Put Off Because of Absence l of Commissioners. Intervention by the Public Utilities | Commission in the taxicab rate war| has been deferred until Tuesday, it was of the commission. { Plans originally had been made to discuss the rate war and issue an order | for a public hearing on taxi rates at the regular meceting Monday. In view of later developments. however, the commission postponed the session until Tuesday. | Two to Be Absent. | Ostensibly, the postponement is duc to an anticipated lack of a gquorum Monday. Maj. Gen. Mason M. Patrick, chairman of the commission, has planned to leave Washimgton tomorrow and will not return in time for the taxi discussion. Maj. Donald A. Davison, | acting engineer commissioner, another member, Teported he would be unable to attend a meeting Monday, leaving | Harleigh H. Hartman, vice chairman, | as_the commission’s lone member. | Maj, Davison will attend the meeting | Tuesday. He and Hartman will decide | the commission’s course of action with respect to the taxicabs, as Chairman Patrick is expected to be away for sev- | eral weeks. Await Diamond Co. The onc-day delay in the taxi dis- cussion also will give the commissien time to ascertailn the decision of the Diamond Cab Co. before it takes any action. The Diamond Co., operating a fleet of 750 cabs, has thus far declined to enter into an agreement to end the rate war at midnight tonight, and its decision is expected to have a far-reach- ing influence on the action of the com- mission. Harry C. Davis, manager of the Dia- mond Co., has indicated that the posi- tion of his concern will be definitely known Monday when the board of di- rectors meets to decide whether to con- tinue operation on the present 20-cent flat rate or to join thz other independ- ent companies in returning to a cent flat rate. Unless the Diamond Co. has been expressed that the rate war will be renewed. PRISONER HICCOUGHS FOR 17 DAYS STRAIGHT L. F. Pitcher, Ex-Police Informer, Weakens Rapidly as Body Is Racked by Spasm. Leslie Franklin Pitcher, 32 years old, a former police informer, was in a| critical condition at Gallinger Hospital today, his body racked by a siege of hiccoughs which have continued for 17 days. Physicians, who have called upon every known relief for the malady, reported that Pitcher was weakening rapidly. They based their hope of say- | ing the man on his statement that in| the past he has hiccoughed for as long | as 35 days without stopping. Pitcher is said to be unable to sleep and has taken little food. Doctors said they were open to suggestion for means of relieving him. The hiccoughing spell began several days after Pitcher had arrived at the District Jail to serve a term of 120 days on a charge of passing worthless checks. Previously he had been dismissed as an informer for the police vice squad after discrepancies were found in his testi- ‘mony at a Police Court liquor trial, SNEAK THIEF TAKE $4,000 IN JEWELRY ‘Young Burglar Sought in Series of Depredations on Homes and Apartments. Police today were seeking a sneak thief whose recent activities have netted him several thousand dollars’ worth of Jjewelry, including about $4,000 worth stolen from an apartment in the| Shoreham | The robber, according to descriptions | in the hands of police, is about 29, i+ of medium_ height and has a da:: plexion. When seen by the occun of one of the homes which h: sacked he wore dark trousers, a bla belt with white stripes and a whiie shirt, " i | BULLETIN SLAYIG | SETFOR TUESDAY, SOUGHT BY POLE Lieut. Fowler Believes Slugs in Murder and Hold-up Link Two Crimes. The .45-caliber bullet which killed Mannie Solomon, 29-year-old taxicab driver, on Wednesday night was being announced today at the executive offices | sought by police today as the key to| the mysterious slaying. At the same time, police were: con- tinuing their search for three colored men who attempted to hold up a gro- cery at 1356 South Capitol street about two hours before Solomon was shot. A bullet fired by one of the bandits when Isadore Koblem, proprietor of the store, yelled for help, was of the same ealiber as the one which pierced the taxi driver'’s neck, according to Lieut. John H. Fowler, police ballistics ex- pert. Starts Search for Slug. Comparison of the slug found in the grocery and a discharged shell picked up near Solomon's wrecked cab re- vealed the same .45-caliber automatic apparently was used in both the mur- der and the attempted robbery, Lieut Fowler said. To verify this theory, however, the ballisties expert began a search for the missing bullct, which passed through Solomon’s neck. After an examination of the slain man’s taxi and a search at the scene of the shooting had fail>d to disclose any trace of the slug, Lieut. Fowler of- fered a $5 reward for its recovery. Police Get New Details. Two boys living in the neighborhood | in which the killing occurred, found two bullets and turned them over to Lieut. Fowler, but the ballistics expert decided neither of them was the one which caused Solomon’s death. The theory the taxi driver was shot by the South Capitol street bandits was strengthened. police said, when they es- tablished definitely that three men were involved in the slaying. They refused to divulge the source of this information. Previously police had been told by witnesses that two men were seen ru ning through a nearby alley immedi. ately after the shooting. Torn Shirt Hints Struggle. Lieut. Fowler's report, coupled with the new information about the number and color of the men seen near the murder scene, caused Inspector Frank S. W. Burke to adopt the theory robbery was the motive for the killing. The hold-up theory was strengthened by the fact the cab driver's shirt was torn and a small amount of money was scattered about on the floor of his au- tomobile. i The torn shirt, it was pointed out, indicated Solomon was struggling with some one at the time the shot was fired and caused his car to crash into a tree near Union and O streets southwest as his lifeless form slumped over the steer- ing wheel. Detailed descriptions of the bandits who attempted to rob the South Capi- tol street grocery, furnished by Kob- lem, and fingerprints found on a piece of glass from one of the windows of Solomon'’s machine were considered the most, important clues in the possession of police. Three Arrested in Case. Belief two colored men who held up Sam Wittenberg, proprietor of a tailor shop at 342 Eighth street northeast, yesterday afternoon may have been members of -the trio thought to have slain Solomon and attempted to rob Koblem also was expressed by police. ‘Two women and a man, all colored, were arrested in connection with the killing, but no charge has been placed sgainst any of them. Although a coroner’s jury was sworn in over the taxi driver's body yester- day, the inquest will not be held until police have made a more thorough in- vestigation of the murder. Solomon lived at 707 Quincy street. Deaths Reported. Kohen, ), 4 8th_st. )n(!:‘rdv‘c B:;‘nu% 85. 1529 Q‘ll Baird Strauss, 80, 2630 Aq’l’m Mill rd. A C. 8. Carpenter, 77, 17135 Church st. Chase, 76, Dillon. 55, Sibley l'lus;nl L che Trundie. 54, 3611 T wiftfam J. Mahoney. Walter. B, Robinson, 50. Yithe E. Waters. 38. 1211 3 icent’ Kohlbecker, 6, Georgelonn Hos- White. 1. Children's Ho ‘G0, Providence Hosnt Craven, 8. en route Casualty H ©_Claston. 8. 1700 T st. ‘miche rdsoo. T . 24, Emergency seri Thomee & Children’s H Edwar Ine BY WORLD DOCTORS Frequent Ailment in War Not Result of Artillery, It Is Decided. ARMY TACTICS BLAMED FOR MENTAL DISORDERS Overemphasized Fears and Separa- tion of Friends Seen as Cause of Low Morale in A, E. F. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. There was no such thing as “shell- shock.” ‘The final word on one of the most widespread of the popular fall2cles of war-time has been spoken by the In-| ternational Congress of Military Medi- cine and Pharmacy, in which all the allied nations were represented, which has just concluded its meeting at The Hague. Full reports of the session have been received by the Public Health Service, whose delegates attended. The physicians decided that there was no dition directly attributable to the effects of artillery fire. The fight against further acceptance of the pop- ular term was led by American Army and reserve doctors. For a long time it has been in bad repute among psychiatrists. The word itself, the Congress was told by Col. W. F. Lorenz, professor of psy- chiatry at the University of Wisconsin, who saw active service with troops dur- ing the war, was largely responsible for the development of some of the cases of neurosis which were classified as “shellshock.” Cites Exaggerations. “The term,” he said, “carried with it the inference of having been under fire, of having faced danger and full- filled a military duty. The severe character of modern artillery fire was common knowledge and was broadcast through the land by sometimes ex- aggerated statements in the press. This created an expectancy and helped formulate the generally held belief that mere proximity to an exploding shell would damage and wound a soldier in some manner. hellshock” ~ was promptly accepted as a proper casualty of war and it served as an honorable and acceptable wound. The euphony of the term was attractive. The sub- sequent effort to offset the psychology created by the term came too late to be effective. Had this been anticipated it is very probable that a large number of casualties from this cause would have been prevented. “A very poor training technique was exemplified in the preparation of American military forces. Many lec- tures were given to the tfoops regard- ing gas and training in the use of the gas mask was very much emphasized The soldier was deeply impressed with the potency of this weapon. Horrors were deliberately created which now we all know were entirely unjustifie Such training planted in the soldier’s mind certain fears which far out- weighed its usefulness. It made the troops mentally less able to meet the conditions of modern warfare, Blames Hysteria. “Easily 50 per cent of the psycho- neuroses which developed near or at the front might be termed ‘gas hysteria’ At the sounding of a gas alarm fearful anxiety would develop acutely. If one now adds to this situ- ation a mind in which the belief has been planted by training that one could be d serjously and yet not be im- tely aware of such injury, and the final factor that injury would serve as an honorable and acceptable escape from this intolerable situation, one has a typical state of mind for the develop- ment of psycho-neurosis. A state of mind is being prepared at present which will bear fruit in psycho-neuroses if we find ourselves in another wi I refer to the frequently mentioned ‘death ray.’ This fantastic, mysterious and powerful agency, it is claimed, will annihilate thousands by an instrumentality miles and miles away. Such news is fruitful for the psycho-neuroses of the future. The neuroses of the last war were mental reactions to situation of stress and modern warfare is much more prone to bring out or cause such casualties be- cause of the mechanical agencies and tremendous destructiveness. One might justify the prophecy that future wars will find more nervous casualties among the combatants than pure physical agencies.” Just Needed Rest. In front lines, Dr. Lorenz said, many cases of pure physical exhaustion were labeled “shellshock” and evacuated. All they needed was a short rest. In his own division, he said, the first ac- tive engagement produced more than 10 times the number of “shellshocks” as did far heavier fighting later, because those with weakened nervous systems quickly eliminated themselves. The American Army, he said, was more subject to the mental and nervous condition which was called “skell shock” because the soldiers were so far from home. “A wide and angry ocean,” he said, separated them from their loved ones. A furlough was not pos- sible and they were robbed of the prog- pect of seeing relatives and friends oc- casionally at least. They experienced none of the support that comes from the hero worship of those left behind. Nostalgia (or homesickness) was pres- ent in all, even though it was not frankly expressed. Furthermore, the absence of & simple and easily grasped reason for war operated to the disad- vantage of the American soldiers. He did not know what it was all apout. He did not have some simple and personal Teason to hate the enemy. He was not being attacked and could not by any process of reasoning within his scope of knowledge regard his presence in Europe as defending his home and fire- side. The fear enjoined by his situa- tion had no outlet in anger or hate. Anger serves so well to sublimate a fear and this unconscious means of meeting an emotional conflict was more or less denied him.” Hits Army Policy. Dr. lorenz also protested against the policy followed in building up the American Army during the World War by which -regiments were made up of individuals from different parts of the country. The basis of this policy, he explained, probably was to keep up the morale at home. If a unit fered exce] ally heavy casualties the loss would be so spread out that it would cause no wide-spread reaction. No single village would get news that half its boys had been killed in action. But, he declared, “an individual wil rve his morale much better if he ‘associated with others that come specific mental or nervous con- 11 14 BY W. H. SHIPPEN. PALPABLE discontent, possibly the discontent of men accus- tomed to a roof over thelrf heads, stirred the shadowy | figures which had settled by | the score under the elms cf Judiciary | Square for another night in the open. ’ Dissatisfaction was evident in their conversation, which was the desultory talk of strangers brought together by some trick of circumstance. “Yeah, they laid me off last month’ * it seemed, had conspired with L the politicians; “They” were reducing | wages, “They” were installing labor- | saving machinery, to beat honest men | out of & living. | ‘The men, almost without exception. | vere in vague revolt against the still vaguer group represented by “They.” | Theirs was a rather impersonal re. sentment against a machine or a sys- tem. | The discontent of the scattered hun- | dreds in the square—mostly floaters of | the transient labor type, with a sprink- | ling of hoboes, bums. and the ordinary riety of tramp—was apparent even in | sleep. | ‘Then men sprawled on newspapers spread on the grass, with a sheltering arm over their- heads, grumbling and | shifting uneasily as they slept. “How long,” I wondered, “would it take the average man, any man with a home, a job and a reasonable amount cf security, to think as these men do— once forced to join them in the parks, on the street corners” “Some crowd, eh?” broke in a com- Ipanion on the park bench. “Hope it don’t rain tonight.” “If it did,” I said these men would h: to?” ‘The other shook his clipped head— clipped much as they clip heads in prison. “About 15 per cent, I'd say. Some people from the boarding houses come out here because of the heat, but they're in the minority. “It's not especlally hot tonight, but you see how many are here, don't vou? If they had homes, they'd go to them when it rains. It Tained the other night antl it Jooked to me like the whole bunch scrambled for shelter in the doorways and under the ledges of those buildings over there.’ The man grinned. “If we had any place to go, do you think we'd sleep three deep on a concrete ledge?” “No,” 1 agreed, and the conversation turned to labor matters. The man was a veritable sage who had worked on timber jobs in the Northwest, in rolling mills, coal mines, wheat fields, automo- bile plants the country over, and he showed a surprising knowledge of things | in Europe and Soviet Russia. 1 He talked of the controversy in De- | troit between Ford and the municipal | authorities, of the Soviet's capitulation to capitalistic principles, of the five- year plan, of England’s doles, of the practices of contractors on jobs for our Government, of the plight of the Amer- ican farmer, but mostly he talked of the mechanicalization of industry in the United States. Bitterly he related how the introduc- tion of nmew machinery had cost him jobs on roadwork, in mills, on the docks, in the flelds—everywhere, in fact, where machines have been put to work in the name of progr “There’s many a man sleeping here tonight.” he sald, with a nod toward ithe still forms under the trees, “‘with no roof over his head and no food in his stomach because machinery is do- ing his work. “The working man.” he said, “is be- ginning to wonder what it's all coming to. He's beginning to talk things over, he's learning, and. what's more, he’ beginning to think! Our talk, low as it has been, was dis- turbing the sleepers nearby. Some with- “They put too many machines on that road job 54 “They won't I until . e “The; un’ that mill down there i f Forces because of the unfortunate “casual"—the soldier or officer Who‘ was sent up as a replacement and found | himself among strangers and troops that came from States far away from his own. I believe fl;:’r. eveln md?ou‘ catastrophe as a sudden large striking a single community is better borne when the sorrow is suffered by many. When one family alone suffers a loss and has no solace tbe feeling of rebellion at the condition of war is more likely to develop. Acute per- sonal sorrow is more readily borne if the same misfortunte is suffered by neiehbors and friends. “From a peychiatric standpoint it is advocated that military organizations be identified with localities and that re- placements come from the same source and thus preserve all the advantages that arise from herd instinct. It is the instinct of belonging to something, be- ing a part of something bigger and more powerful than oneself.” Deplores Drab Picture. The World War soldier, 1y the American, it was stressed Col. Lorenz, was rendered more liable to neuroses by the drabness of the whole picture. He stressed the value of “yniforms, music and all the trappings ‘martial setting.” that go into & X “The drab, unattractive, ill-fitting uniform,” he continued, “may be hig! effective to hide from the enemy, bu{‘llyt ped de “corps. might make tactical disadvantage would be more mo( lggur. by the soldier’s better frame mind.” Admitting that those urechny sub- ject to nervous and mental breakdowns under war conditions should be elimi- nated as soldiers as soon as they can be detected, Dr. Lorenz warned that his process is sacrificing much of the uture welfare of the people. “We advocate skimming off the cream and leaving the scum behind,” he said. “This need only be repeated a few times in the course of one or two generations, and the in defective heri- jers. imagination.” Above: Some of the hundreds w] parks last night. This scene is from park benches. A policeman forces tw drew under the trees, their bare feet gleaming in the dim light from the lamps that rimmed the square. My ccmpanion yawned, picked up his newspaper and, selecting a spot at random, threw himself down to sleep. His example seemed good enough, but, being less accustomed to the pro- cedure, I made a careful circuit of the park, looking for lush grass, high ground and a reasonable removal from those sleepers who were snoring lustily. A space near the base of the central statue seemed to suit my purpose and I stretched upon my newspaper for a brief interval of reflection before drop- | ping off to sleep. The lights from the four sides of the square shone dimly under the spreading trees and the foliage swayed in & cool breeze. An occasional trolley rode out an intersection, with a dis- tant rumble of wheels, and once a locomotive hooted, like & liner far at sea. But & profound quiet had descended upon ‘the sleepers. Their motionless forms scattered over the square and their grotesque attitudes were strongly 2u¢%csti\'e of a battlefield littered with ead. - So my thoughts ran, and the next instant, it seemed, I was sharply aware that the bcttoms of my feet were tingling, much as if they had gone to_slee] D. I sat up, quickly. “All right there, buddie: all right!” said a glant policeman, standing over me. “Move on! Move on!” - ‘ho sought relief from the heat in the Judiciary Park. Below: No sleeping on 0 bench-warmers to take to the lawn. —-Star Staff Photos. ’ ‘The policeman, I noticed, was tuck- ing his night stick under his arm— { my feet had not gone to sleep after all. |~ The square was already astir in_the first morning light—about 5:30 o'clock. | The sun was not up. but a ruddy glow had spread over the buildings to the east and sparrows were fluttering in the elms. Nearby, three sun-tanned, rumpled youths were stretching and rubbing the sleep from their eyes. “What d’ ya say?” asked one. “Is it Bhltimore today?"” Yeah,” agreed another. “It's noth- we might as well keep mov- g. ‘We oughta have a cup of Java first,” cut in the third, jerking at the tongue of his leather belt. “Yeah, we would,” jeered his com- panion, “if we had 15 cents.” “They're hard on panhandlers in this town,” he went on, glancing after the policeman, “so hatd we don't eat.” “Yes,” I agreed, and the remark was so0 spontaneous it never occurred to me until afterward that it answered & question I had asked myself on the previous evening—*“they're hard on us, all right!” Still pondering my instinctive use of that word “us,” I wandered to the street to hail a taxi. The first one passed me up as an unpromising-look- ing fare; so did the second. “Yes,” I repeated, trudging for a street PILOT LANDS PLANE WITH WHEEL OFF Marine Aviator Brings Four Companions Down Safely at Anacostia. With one wheel of his twin-motored Marine Corps transport plane dangling uselessly, Lieut. H. D. Boyden, U. 8. M. C, made a successful emergency landing at the Anacostia Naval Air Sta- tion yesterday afternoon, escaping with- out injury to himself or four Marine passengers and with trivial damage to the plane. Boyden had taken off from the local | station bound for Quantico, Va. A few minutes after the take-off one of the four Marine mechanics flying as pas- sengers discovered that a steel pin con- necting the landing gear and the land- m’v‘““ struts on one side had broken, leaving the wheel dangling in the air. Lieut. Boyden turned and flew back to Anacostia, circling the station for several minutes while he figured out a plan for handling the difficult problem of landing on the one good wheel. The station ambulance and emergency crew were out waiting when he finally came in for his I Side-slipping the plane in so as to kill the, speed and take up the shock ‘wheel, the T bent. The wing tip did not touch the ground, and except for the broken pin, the bent propeller and scrubbing of the under side of the nacelle or the ground, the plane was undamaged. A new pin and propeller would have enabled Lieut Boyden to start again for Quantico yesterday afternoon, but officers at the station decided to hold the for & more thorough in- MREYNOLDS WINS - SUIT AGAINST BANK ! Successor in Merger Liable on $75,000 in Realty Deal, Justice Luhring Holds. | baker distributor, of 5600 Connecticut |avenue, today won his suit to compel |an accounting sagainst the Federal- | American National Bank & Trust Co., {as successor to the merged Merchants’ | Bank & Trust Co., growing out of an lexv:hmg'e of the McReynolds Apart- ments, at Eighteenth and G streets, for certain property. alleged to be owned | by the District of Columbia Realty Co., including two notes, one for $100,000 and the other for $25000, which were represented to McReynolds to have been made by a responsible person. Justice Oscar R. Luhring, who heard the case, reached the conclusion that the Merchants' Bank & Trust Co. had concealed material facts from McRey- nolds in connection with the notes, on the security of which the bank had ad- vanced him $50,000. The court holds that the successor bank, by reason of 1ts merger, becomes liable to McRey- for the sum of $125,000, repre- by the two notes, less a credit of oloaned to him. the exchange of propertes. ‘Through Attorneys George A. zvy and Joseph J. Maloy, McReynol g his bill filed last October, charged had relied on information given him by the then president of the Merchants’ Bank & Trust Co. that the maker of the $125,000 notes accepted as part consideration for the sale of the Mc- Reynolds Apartments was solvent when by the court in trary, as def its opinion, Joseph McReynolds, former Stude- | the bank had information to the con- | M. termined STREETS THIS YEAR Department Beautifying Bar- ren Thoroughfares Rather Than Replace 0ld Vacancies. MUCH ATTENTION ALSO IS GIVEN TO TRIMMING Appropriation of $122,500 Made for Upkeep and Fresh Growth in District. ‘The Trees and Parkings Department is devoting its planting energies this year to getting new streets lined with trees and no work will be done in replacing vacancies in the existing lines where trees have died from the drought, old age or other causes. Abcut 3500 young trees are set out in the Spring planting season, and probably the same number will be put out when the Fall season comes around, but all of them will be on new streets which have never before had any shade trees. The reason for the preference this year, according to Supt. Clifford Lan- ham, is the heavy demand for trees on the new streets ‘and the impossibility of doing both types of work simul- taneously on the appropriations now available. “We have #:w 5,000 vacancies in our lines of trof.. These could be filled in two plantitfg seasons, and some time in the near future I will devote a planting season entirely to veplacements. But, after all, the streets which have not a single tree should receive our first con- sideration, and there are miles of them. The Highway Department keeps open- ing them up much faster than we can plant them,” Mr. Lanham said. 112,500 Trees on Streets. “Planting trees is only a small part of our job anyway, one of the biggest parts is keeping the trees healthy dur- ing the years they live after they are planted. We have about 112,500 street trees in Washington. To spray these trees costs approximately 6 cents per jtree, so that to spray each tree once a year you can see that we spend more than $6,000. The trees are sprayed with arsenate of lead solution, and I hope the people of Washington are noticing that we have kept the bugs a from the trees successfully this year. There used to be some Summers when the bugs would strip some trees clean. “Next is the matter of tree surgery and trimming. We are going to do a great deal of trimming this vear, so as to get the trees looking the best for the Bicentennial celebration next year. We have very little tree surgery done, as we cannot afford it, but we could save a lot of fine trees if we had the money. Much of the work we have to do would be unnecessary if the street trees had been laid out better in the first place. Some of them are 18, 24 fand 30 feet apart. Our planting sys- tem now allows a minimum distance of 45 feet between the smallest trees, and some American elms we planted on Bladensburg road recently were 100 feet apart. Some Too Close Together. “Plantings such as those on New Hampshire avenue, said to be the most beautiful street in the city, are really not well done. The trees are too close together, their limbs interlock, and there is too much shade for the under parts of the trees, which tend to wither and die. The avenue would be twice as beautiful with greater intervals between the trees. “Then again, in their desire to get quick results, those who laid out the city planted fast-growing trees. We have {about 16,000 old silver maples on the streets as & result of this. At least 10,000 of these are rotten and should be cut down and replaced with other es. The appropriation for his department for the current fiscal year is $122.500, which is just enough to allow him to maintain the trees he has properly, without putting out any additions, ac- cording to Mr. Lanham. Even so, the District fares much better in the matter of trees than it used to. When Mr. Lan- ham entered the department in 1892 the appropriation for the whole department, for all purposes, was $15,000. In the 1931 fiscal year it had risen to $115,000. COMMISSION'S GAS BUREAU WILL MOVE Inspection Laboratory to Vacate Office for New Quarters in Woodward Building. Orders for the removal of the gas inspection bureau of the Public Utilities Commission from its present quarters in | the main office of the Weshington Gas Light Co. to the Woodward Building at Fifteenth and H streets, were issued to- day by the commission. ‘The relocation of the gas inspection bureau was requested by the gas com- pany because its expansion program has made additional space at its main of- fice urgent. The bureau will move as soon as the new quarters are equipped. The gas inspection bureau is one of the important units of the utilities com- mission. Elmer G. Runyon, a gas en- gineer, is the director. The bureau is made up of two de- partments—a testing laboratory and a meter division. In the laboratory engi- neers and chemists keep a close watch on all gas distributed in the District, to determine its quality. The meter di- vision tests all gas meters. The bureau played an important part in the pressure investigation of the com- mission last Winter. EXCURSION PLANNED Hebrew Sisters Aid Circle Sponsors Trip to Marshall Hall. under the sponsors! of Hebrew Sisters Aid Circle will be held Sklar Committee, and tickets may be obtained from her or from the president, Mrs. H. Ehrlich, 721 Princeton place. Two Get Commissions. William J. Quentin, 763 Twenty-sec- ond street, has been commissioned by the War Department a major in the Bureau and Earl t of Engineers, both in the of the Army. L] tenan! Corps