Evening Star Newspaper, September 24, 1931, Page 17

TELLS OF GAS FIRM FINANCING DEALS Books of SuburbanjCompanies Shown to Travel Frequently. RECORDS KEPT MOSTLY IN CHICAGO OFFICES htterv Suggesting Dividend In- crease Introduced Into Probe of Corporations Here. Pred S. Burroughs, a member of the firm of Harris, Forbes & Co. which arranged the deal whereby the Wash- lrmon Gas Light Co., was sold to out- side interests, was put through a long cross-examination this morning at public hearings on present ownership | of the company, most of it directed to showing the intimate association be- tween the Washington & Suburban Companies, owner of record of the local company, and the Central Public Serv- ice Corporation, which the commission believes is the real owner. Although the Washington & Subur-' ban Companies is a trust holding se- curities valued at upward of 20 mil- lons of dollars, Mr. Burroughs said that it“had no accounting staff of its own, and that its accounting was done in the offices of the Central Public Service Corporation in Chicago under the direction of R. A. Gallagher, con- troller of the C. P. 8. Books Travel Frequently. By reference to numerous letters which Mr. Burroughs was asked to identify, the books of the Washington & Suburban Cos. were shown to have made frequent journeys between New York, which is the headquarters for the Harris, Forbes & & Suburban Cos.,, and Chicago. Most of the time, they stayed in Chicago, being written up by accountants in the emp&y of the C. P. 8. Mr. Burroughs said that in his the Washington & Suburban Cos. ought to have a staff of accoun- tants of its own, but that it Has always been pressed for money and has mot Beri able to afford it. Urged Dividend Raise. A letter was introduced from Sher- man Damon, trustee of the Washing- ton & Suburban Cos., lie Service Corporation, in which | Damon suggested an increase in the | dividend rate of the Washington Gas Light Co. from $3.60 per share to $5, 50 that the income of the Was] & Surban Cos. might be increased to a point where it would exceed the amount to pay its fixed charges, con- of interest on its preferred stock gold bonds. . hs said that the banking represents had a dif- of opinion with the trustees ofer this matter and that finally the not increased. The he said, felt that the money in Washington to develop the properties here, rather than go to Boston and Chicago in the way of extra dividends, making it necessary for the ‘Washington to go into the money market for v: for expansion. said, however, that the incfeased d could have been paid without exhausting the corporate surplus of the ‘Washington Gas Light Co. . ‘He testified that the $6,500,000 bonds of the Washington & Suburban agreement between the Westfield Trust, Washington and; s he Foening S WITE SUNDAY MORNING EDITION WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1931 \ They Go ! Only a dog. That explanation, officlally anyhow, ended the police investigation of a bloody trall from the highway to the |sea wall at the east end of Pennsyl- vania Avenue Bridge, Some one noticed the blood yester- day af'einoon. For miore than-an hour harbor precinct officers dragged the Eastern Branch. Sergeants of the homicide squad. co-operating with United States rk police, made a thorough inquiry. The stains were analyzed by the Police De- partment’s chemist. STORY OF DOG RUN DOWN BY CAR CLEARS TRAIL OF BLOOD MYSTERY Officers Hope to Trace Machine Which Left Scene When Off Duty. Then, last night, Fulton D. Hutch- fnson vVolunteered an explanation. A hit-and-run _motorist, he said, had run down a bulldog. Two boys saw the accident and. moved with pity, tugged the victim to a shady spot and dispatche him with clubs, "After that they tossed the body | the river, e Any Tate, that ended the offcial part of the investigation. |™But one or two policemen hope to trace a certain tag number when they |go off duty. They would like to talk |to the motorist in their capacity as | private citizens. WINBLEY POLICY DEAL DESCRIBED {Insurance Agent Says He Changed Accused Man’s Mind on Type. ‘The $10,000 accident insurance policy which Harry Wm‘mle{ bought on the . life of his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Traylor | Wimbley, who was.drowned a week ago | teday with her baby daughter, was su; gested to him by an enterprising in- surance agent upon whom Wimbley j called in connection with another type of policy, it was Jearned this afternoon, | The agent, Michael Clachko, said to- day that Wimbley, a 32-year-old wound- ed World Wi veteran, who is being held with John Crowder, 24, on first- degree murder charges in connection | with the double drowning, came to his | ¢fice in -the District National Bank | Building in July originally to buy a | health and accident | weekly indemnities for Sold Different Policy. | “Because his wife was not employed | regularly, being & housewife,. I could | not sell Mr. Wimbley such policy,” | Clachko said. - “I therefcre convinced him the kind of policy he should buy was straight accident i ce. He agreed and I sold him a $10,000 policy paying double judemnities for deain re- sulting from certain kinds of accidents. Clachko said he was ignorant of the fact that Wimbley forged his wife's iname to the application for the policy, |88 he is said to have admitted to police. ‘The agent said Wimbley left his office with the application and returned it a day or two later, bearing Mrs. Wim ley's signature. The police investigation into the drowning of Mrs. Wimbley, who was celebrating her 26th birthday anniver- sary the day she died, and her dll'l.fin ter, Wilma Traylor, 3, marked today awaiting the return of Detective Sergt. Robert Barrett from Cassville, Mo., -where he went to question Wimb< ley’s third wife, the former Ida Maé Graves. Will Start Back Today. Barrett telephoned police headquar- ters here that he was returning today. He sald he was not bringing Mrs. Dick- erson, under which name Wimbley married the formeér E€ensus Bureau clerk, but that she had expressed a willingness to come here at any time police desired. Detective Sergt. James F. Spring- of the homicide squad handled the investigation, said a bad connection had made it impostible for Barrett to give much information over the - telephone, but that a detailed report would be filed by the detective upon his arrival. Bar- rett did report, however, Springmann said, that he had some information on: the Central Public Service Co. and the | OKIa. Harris Trust & Savings Bank, which are guarantéed by the Central Public Service Co., were made exchangable for class A stock of the Central Public Service Corporation, so that if the stock 08¢ above its then market valye of $25 per share, holders of these collateral notes could realize a profit. Instend, the Cehtral Public Service Corporation stock has declinied and is now quoted on the curb market at $5 per share. Other Letters Identified. Other letters introduced by Assistant Corporation Counsel William A. Rob- erts and identified by Mr. Burroughs showed that bills for professional serv- | ices to the Washington and Suburban com, were approved by officers of the Central Public Service Corporation before being paid. Bui testified that he and D. Woods, a vice president of Harris, Forbes & Co., were paid 360,000 for their part in arranging the pur- chase of the stock in the Washington Gas Ligt Co. for the foreign interests. A letter from Mr. Gallagher to Mr, Damon, dated August 28, 1931, was read in which Gallagher suggested that certain correspondence of the Wash- Evelyn Taylor. The statementof these | ington and Suburban companies be kept out.-of its regular files. This has not been explained. The status of ownership of the gas company, according to attorneys for Col. Peirce, as explained before the commission yesterday, follows: Of the capital stock of the Wash- ington Gas Light Co. 109,000 shares are owned by the Washington & Suburban Cos. (the common law trust). This ownership makes the trust owner of 88 per cent of the voting stock of the local company and gives it an iron- €lad control. All of the voting stock of the Wash- ington & Suburban Cos. is owned by | the Westfleld Trust, a second common Jaw trust. ficial interest in the Westfield Trust are owned by Col. Peirce personally. The Westfield Trust, which has a eapital of $10,000, has issued $6,000,000 worth of 6 per cent collateral notes, and these notes are guaranteed by the' Central Public Service Co. To secure them the Westfield Trust has pledged all of the voting stock of the Washing- ton & 3uburban Co.s, under a <col- iateral trust agreement, Junior to these collateral notes is a 10-year income note for $13,725,000, held by the Central Public Service Cor- poration. And finally, the Central Pub- lic Service Corporation holds the note of the Westfield Trust for $945,650. The difference between the Central Public Service Corporation and the Central Public Co. is that the latter. a Delaware corporation, owns all of the stock of the former, a Maryland cor- poration. Mr. Pelrce is president of INVITES PRESIDENT Head of “Wesleyan University Ex-| tends Invitation. Dr. James Lukens McConaughy. pres- ident of Wesleyan University, today ex- tended to President Hoover an invita- tion to attend a three-day progsam commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Middletown, Conn., institution. He sald the President had not been #ble to give a definite answer to his invitation, All of the shares of bene- | Springmann announced that the case would be presented to the October ses- {sion of the grand jury. ‘Wimbley snd Crowder meanwhile are preparing their defense in their cells at District Jail, where they were lodged after a coroner’s jury ordered { tribunal. CHARGE DISMISSED | Carroll Carter Was Not Indicted by | Fairfax Grand Jury. A story in The Star Tuesday, which stated by inadvertent error, that Car- | roll Carter was indicted for felonious assault by the Pairfax County grand jury, should have said that Carter i appeared in court upon & rant i charging felonious assault but was dis- | charged by Judge Waiter T. McCarthy | upon payment of costs. | is action was taken upon recom | mendation by Commonwealth Attor- ney Wiison M. Farr at request of { Chester L. Tayior, Allean Taylor and |three was signed and sworn to and | filed with the court and all proceed- | ings against Carted were expunged | from the record. | | | Seized Rum Jars -To Be Used to Can Foodl for Jobless Prohibition Officials Turn Over Confiscated Con- tainers to Committee. | { Jars, bottles and crocks which once uices: g High-ranking prohibition officials have Food Conservation Committee for use in preserving fruits and vegetables. In- jars, 23 cartons of bottles, 4 10-gallon crocks and a bag of corks. “The jar: a committee statement today reported. “will be used for pre- serving of fruits and vegetables, the bottles and corks will be used for bot- tling unfermented fruit juices and the crocks will be used for cooking purposes in the Food Committee kitchen.” ‘The confiscated property, worth about $70, will be turned over to the social workers immediately. volunteer workers to at for report and Pennsylvania avenue, If they wish to devote part of their leisure to pre- serving fruits and vegetables for the unemployed. Some Mis. Harvey W. Wiley, chairman. ‘Women from the Y. W. C. A. and the n Revolution Volunteers | will have Daughters of the Amer! |used the kitchen yester from the Sodality Ui charge today, licy carrying | ule wite, V"% them held for action of the higher | overflowed with hard liquor soon will| be filled with mere unfermented fruit | ordered a large quantity of seized prop- | erty turned over to the District Surplus | cluded will be 35 dozen 2-quart mason | The committee issued another call | Harvey's old restaurant, Eleventh street | 2,000 jars and cans | of farm products have been preserved | in eight days under the supervision of | HEAT WAVE BROKEN: C00L BREEZES DUE | Mercury Expected to Fall to| 60" Degrees Before Morning. Adding his verbal assurances to the cool breeze that ushersd in the first day cf the Fall season, Charles L. Mitchell, forecaster at the United States Weather Bureau, declared today that | “Washington's heat wave has definitely | broken.” s The break is due, not to yesterday's| electrical storm which lowered the ther- mometer 26 degrees, he explained, but to the advance of cool air from the Northwestern States which will be felt mcre perceptibly later in the day and this evening. “We will have very pleasant weather, | with no cause for complaints, for the remainder of the week,” Mr. Mitchell said. This Autumn, he beleves will be | comfortable and refreshing on the whole. Cool Air Due Tonight. Despite the storm that brought relief from excessive heat yesterday afterncon, | Mr. Mitchell said that the minimum | temperature during the early part of | the night, 71.4 degrees, was well above normal for this time of the yea It will be quite different tonight ,the forecaster assured. He said it would not be surprising to see a minimumy of | 60 degrzes tomorrow mcrning. The cout | 8ir in’ the Northwest,swhich is*advanc- ing toward Washington, brought freez | ing temperature to Minnesota and 50 degrees in the Chicago district. By to- | morrow, weather in Washington is ex- pected to return close to normal. At 8 o'clock this morning the official th:rmometer registered 71 degrees here and an hour later it had risen 9 points. ' By noon, Mr. Mitchell said, it would | gradually become caoler. © Heat Wave Broken. The electrical storm which broke Washington's latest heat wave yester- day afternoon, caused the official ther- mometer to fall from 93.to 67 degrees, the minimum for the day, at 4 pm. It remained comparatively cool during the night, the lowest recording since mid- night being 68 degrees at 7 o'clock this morning. ; Before the storm brought relief, hoW-* ever, the heat had compelled public school authorities to release all elemen- tary pupils at 1 o’cock and those in the Junior’ and senfor high schools at 2 o'clogk. ‘Government employes in some of the remaining temporary structures suffered £ during early Summer from the heat. Those in the Fedeal Trade Commission and the Women's Bureau consequently were dismissed at midday. The storm reached itc height when thousands of Government workers were let out at 4:30 o'clock to find traffic tied up at several points. The Capital ‘Traction Co. suffered a tie-up on upper Fourteenth street that lasted 1 hour | and 52 minutes. The trouble was caused by water on a conducting rail at Four- teenth and Kenyon streets, which caused a short circuit. Cars began running at 6:08 o'clock. Clarendon House Struck. One house in Clarendon was struck by lightning and scores of heavy branches of trees were scattered about the city. Suburban districts were par- ticulsrly hard hit in this respect. Traf- | fic was temporarily blocked behind a huge limb that barricaded one side of Pennsylvania avenue near Madison | street. Samuel E. Cohen was in her 1 i 1 i | mrs, | house at 119 Maple street, Clarendon, { when it was struck by lightning, but she escaped injury. It set fire to the house and wrecked one of the top-floor rooms, causing about $500 damage. - With the Summer officially ended | yesterday, J. B. Kincer, agricultural | meteorologist of the Weather Bureau, sald that hand-to-mouth rains during | the season"were all that pulled the crops through this year. |, The Summer of 1931 brought the fourth year of severe drought in the | Northwest, he said, visited the Moun-| |tain States with a drought severe enough to injure pasture and small grains and gave even the drought re- glon of 1930 less rain than normal. | Only the Atlantic seaboard and the | Mississippi and Ohlo Valleys received ' .-n‘dthe rains they needed, Mr. Kincer | | sald. | Hopes for Cold Winter. A cold Winter this year will be best | from the farmer's standpoint, in the | opinion of the Weather Bureau, for cold weather brings more precipitation. Win- {ter rains and snows are not used by plants and are not evaporated s0 | readily by the sun, but soak into the ground, where the subsofl absorbs them | for future use. ’ The Summer just ended was several| | degrees warmer ‘than normal, Weather | Bureau reports indicate. East and West allke were sthicken by a series of hot waves, The hot weather postponed the early Autumn frosts, usually expected in North Central and Northwestern States, by extending itself right up to the last day of Summer. The hottest September since 1927 pushed corn to the ripening point far ahead of its usual schedule. While other .areas, principally Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Utah. South Da kota, Kansas and Nebraska, had oniy 41 to 75 per cent of normal rainfall, the East fared much better. Over the Atlantic seaboard as a whole the rain- fall was 110 to 125 per cent of normal. T Cub;m 'omm Transferred. Capt. Jose F. de Cordova y Gomez of the Cuban Army,now attached to the 26th United States Infantry at Plattsburg Barracks, N. Y., by spe- cial authority of the Secretary cf War, has been transferred to the United States 20th Infantry at Fort Benning, Ga., for duty until September 1, 1932. Depot Nuisances Protested. ALLSTON, Va., ber 24 (Spe- cian e Ballstn_ Gitizens' Associa- | ‘com] rotesting nui- ymmp" the rail- electric fatlwa, e and recommended that sances road ! sides be | Commerce Commission at the opening TASKS OVERWHELM MEMBERS OF I.C. C. ASSERTS BRAINERD Chairman Tells Practitioners, at Annual Meeting, of Vain Legislative Pleas. COMMISSION LACKS TIME FOR REFLECTION Aitchison Describes Regulatory System in England—Honored for Service. Members of the Interstate Commerce | Commission are so burdened with work | as to produce a situation “not at all | conduclve to the proper administration | of justice,” Ezra Brainerd, jr., chairman | of the commission, told the Alsoctation | of Practitioners before the Interstate | of-the organization’s annual meeting to- day at the Mayflower Hotel. | Another member of the commission, | Clyde B. Altchison, described the regu- | atory system under which British rafl- | ways operate, 3 “No member under existing condi- tions can long continue to do the work that his official duties require of him,” Chairman Brainerd said. “It is physi- | ly impossible. “While the commission is not, tech- nically speaking, ‘& judicial body, its members are required to vote upon | every controversy that comes sbefore them for determination. To do this one must have a clear understanding of | what the facts are, and what legal standards are applicable thereto. This cannot be done without adequate time for study and reflection. With the great amount of important, complicated mat- ters with which the commissjon is eon- stantly called upon to deal, I submit that is not now possible.” Legislation Recently Asked. Chairman Brainerd recalléd that in the commission’s annual report to Con- gress in 1929 legislation was recom- mended which would allow it to dele- gate to individual commissioners and commission employes the power to per- form specified duties, and to determine specified matters and subjects subject to the general supervision and control of the commission. Legislation along this line was in- troduced at the last Congress by Chair- man_Parker of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, M. Brainerd said, but no action was take on it, adding that the bill passed was viewed as inadequate. The chairman urged that members of the association, which includes lawyers and other traffic expérts who 1} 1 | appear before the commission, aid in finding ja solution for the problem. ‘Commissioner Aftchison, who recently conducted an éxtensive study in Eng- land of . the transportation situation, touched on two topics paramount in discussion of this industry in this coun- try today—consolidation and co-ordina- tion of rail and motor transport. Referring to the consolidation into four systems of the 120 railroads in England, which was effected about eight years ago, Mr. Altchison said the results have “in general been dis- ll)?l}olnl,ln[, yet no one would undo it it were possible.” Highway Carriers’ Development. Discussing the status of highway car- riers, Mr. Atchison said their develop- ment has n _enormous, but the com- petition with 1ail carriers does not give impression of being more severe than in this country. ‘The association honored Mr. Atchison for his work in directing a comprehen- sive annotation .of the Interstate Com- merce Commission statutes, presenting him with a silver tea set and an em- | bossed scroll. The presentation was made by R. C. Fulbright. ‘The annual dinner of the association, to be followed by a dance, will be held at the Mayflower at 7:30 o'clock tonight. Joseph B. Eastman, another member of the Interstate Commerce Commission, will be the principal speaker. At noon tomorrow the 150 delegates will be received by President Hoover. The association is headed by John J. Esch, a former member of the Inter- state Commission and a former member 'FACES O0’HEIRNE CLUB Vermont Avenue Flace Declared Nuisance Under Federal Prohibition Law. A temporary “padlock” injunction was issued yesterday by District Supreme Court Justice Adkins against the prem- ises at 815-819 Vermont avenue, known as the Club Continental. The application for an injunction presented by the district attorney’s of- | fice, alleged the place was a nuisance within the meaning of the national pro- hibition law. The place was visited by a police raiding squad Monday, but no liquor was found. The padlock affects the second and third floors of the building, which is lovlned by the John R. McLean estate. Those named as defendants in the ac- tion were Jack O’Heirne, Johan Von. KIiff, Joseph H. Hall, Lester 8. Sim- John S. Peyton and Harry W. INCREASE IS URGED IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS Representatives-Elect of Oklahoma and Texas Confer With Presi- dent on Pay-Cut Situation. Representatives-elect Swank of Okla- homa and Dies of Texas, both Demo- crats, called on President Hoover at the White House today and urged the calling of a special session of Con- gress to deal with the unemployment problem. These callers denounced wage cutting on the part of certain industries, de- claring reduced pay will greatly ag- gravate the present economic situation They contended that the purchasing power of the people will be materially decrt as a result of wage cutting and that commodity surpluses will nec- essarily plle up. y said they could not see how the mounting surpluses could be disposed of if there is a les- tion instructed its secretary to write the “sening in the purchasing power of the| the crowd people. They recommended, among ;thmti':' k,mfl& the plan «'o'u..'""m:'fl' i g pre o improve the unemployment lnm. T HE upper photograph shows the P-12 pursuit plane wrecked in the storm yesterday afternoon. Wililam B. Clements, Army Al who was killed instantly. Below son, Douglas D. Day, both of Dickerson, faf Society and General BRE partially-burned wreckage of an- Army a crash at Dickerson, Md., just beforc In the inset is shown the pliot, Lieut. Corps Reserve, Selfridge Field, Mich., are shown Pliny D. Day (left) and his who pulled the body from the wreckage. —Star Staff Photos. ATTORNEY'S WIFE INURED N CRASH iMrs. ). I. Peyser and Com-| | panion Treated at Emer- | gency After Collision. i L Mrs, Miriam I. Peyser, 45, wife Maj. | Julius I. Peyser, lawyer, and Mrs. Bertha Litchman, 35, both of the Shore- | ham Hotel, were injured late yesterday | afternoon when the automobile in which they were riding and an auto- mobile o) ted by Reid Fawell, 19.! 3200 block of Klingle road, collided at the intersection of Reno road and Fes- | senden street. Both women were removed to Emer- gency Hospital, where it was reported | Mrs, Peyser had a broken collarbone, | | Iacerations of the scaip and was suffer- | | Ing from shock. Mrs. Litchman received | cuts and bruises, Thomas Onley, col- ored, chauffeur, of the 1400 block of T street, driver of the car in which the two women were riding, was charged { with driving without an operator’s per- | mit. Others Hurt in Accidents, A number of other person were in- | jured in accidents late yesterday and last night. Evelyn Davis,, 6, 2502. Twenty-eighth street northeast, and Audrey Garner, 7, 2833 Franklin street northeast, sus- | talned minor injuries when knocked down by a truck at South Dakota ave- nue and Vista street northeast. They were treated at their homes by private physicians. John Jones, colored, of the first block of N street southeast, was the driver of the automobile which ! struck the children. Cyphian Colbert, 8, colored, 1621 | Thirteenth street, sustained a broken | leg and cuts when knocked down by an automobile- operated by A. V. Dent, | 20, of the 800 block of Eighteenth street, | near the boy’s hone late yesterday. He | was treated at Children's Hospital. | Knocked down by an automobile after | alighting from a street car on North Capitol street near T street, Andrew | Reed, 21, 703 Quincy street, was treated | at Sibley Hospital last night for lacera- tions on the scalp and shoulder. / The | automobile which struck him was - erated by Adolph J. Dant, 19, of the { first block of New York avenue, police reported. Treated For Lacerations. Henry Hughes, 62. 116 C street north- | east, was treated ot Emergency Hospi- tal for lacerations on the head and body, received when hit by an_automo- bile operated by Clifford L. Yeatman, 600 block of M street southwest, at the intersection of Seventh street and Pennsylvania avenue, Mrs. Willlam H. Williams, 29, wife of a policeman attached to police head- Quarters, and Prantz X. Winkelbauer, 28, of the 5000 block of Yirst streef were injured last night when the auts mobiles in which they were riding col- lided at Scuth Dakota ard Rhode Island avenues northeast. The car in which Mrs. Willlams was riding was operated by her husband, and police say that ‘Winkelbauer was the driver ¢f the other car. Winkelbauer was treated at Sibley Hospital for injuries {0 his back, while Mrs. Willlams was treated at her home, Riverdale, Md., for_an injury to the | leg. A BLAST DRAWS CROWD' { Explosion, _xlll'lln‘ Oft Manhole Cover, Laid to Short Tircuit. An explosion which blasted a heavy iron manhole cover high into the air and plunged in darkness the Stanton Park district, near Fifth and ‘C streets northeast, 1ast night, attracted. mately & thousand persons to the scene. Firemen summoned when flames were seen to 'hno:naut of the .‘:nlnhole kept o ile kmen from the Potomac 'u‘h Pow“):r Co. ROPER IS RECEIVER FORCOLORED GROUP Appointed by Judge Wheat to Take Over National Bene- fit Life Assets. Daniel C. Roper, member of the Board of Education and former commissioner of internal revenue, was selected today by Chief Justice Alfred A. Wheat of receiver of the National Benefit Life Insurance Co. of the District of Co- lumbia, said to be the largest financial organization of colored men in thes world. The bond of the receiver was fixed at $50,000. Mr. Roper is directed to take charge of the assets of the corpoiation and to continue the business. He is requested to report as soon, as possible to the court if the company can be reorganized. The application for the receivers] was made some days ago by John Pinkett, second vice president of the company and former director of agen- cies, in which he called the attention of the court to alleged mismanage- ment of the company’s affairs by former officials, and declared it would take $1,000,000 to rehabilitate the organi- zation. He was represented by Attor- neys Alexander H, Bell and O'Brien & O'Brien. Attorney W. Gwynn Gardiner, ap- pearing for the company, asked the ap- pointment of Herbert L, Davis, Dis- trict insurance commissioner, as re- ceiver and said he was willing to serve without compensation. District Commissioners at first consented to the serving of Davis, but later decided that it would be better not to have a Dis- trict official serving in that capacity, SON FINDS MOTHER DEAD OF GAS IN APARTMENT Mrs. Katherine Heany, 42, committed suicide by inhaling illuminating gas iate yesterday in the hath room of her apartment, at 701 Maryland avenue nor‘tcheut. according to ninth precinct police. Mrs. Heany, the police reported, was found lying on t] floor of the bath room by her son, William, when he re- | turned home from work. He summoned Dr. W. B. Walters, occupant of another apartment in the same building, and Mrs. Heany was pronounced dead. Gag was flowing from an open jet on the wall, and Dr. Walters said Mrs. Heany apparently had been dead sev- eral hours. Deputy Coroner A. Magru- der MacDonald issued a certificate of suicide. Mrs. Heany, who is survived by her husband, James, and another son, Al- bert, 8, is sald to have been in poor health for some time. the District Supreme Court to serve as | ba ARMY FLYER DIES ASPLANE CRASES | Death Near Dickerson Being Probed by Official Board Here. The crash of an Army pursuit plane PAGE B—1 SCHOOL FURNITURE DELAY IS LAID T0 DISTRICT OFFICIALS Six Weeks Was Required to Award Contract, Controller General’s Office Says. PRODUCTION 'SUSPENDED FOR CHECK ON PROTEST Commissioners’ Failure to Explain Rejection of Low Bid in Record Is Cited. While the delayed class room furni- ture for three of the District's new pub- lic school buildings was being installed this morning following its arrival at the freight yards, the controller gen- { eral’s office today pointed out that the | real Teason for the delay in the manu- facture of the furniture rested with the District Building authorities, who re- quired six weeks to determine which bidding manufacturer should be the contract {or the job. e controller general's office that ths $87,000 contract which the Commission- ers had awarded to the Derby Co. of Gardner, Mase., was not held up volun- tarily by the Federal office, but was | checked there only after a lower bid- (&n{ hoonm “hng. filed formal pro- . in which it ¢ !!I’IM - rged discrimination Production Halted. At Mr. McCarl's office it was furth explained that the Derby ulnu(wtu;{ ing Co. had ceased production 16 days As a result of their competitor's pro- test and the resulting check by the controller. The concern had actually begun manufacture of the equipment :-lndlfl'flll as ‘2.}. u}ntn;: Wwas awarded on Wi ‘"{: mwldg, ot ly n‘ the protests laying blame for the dela; doorstep ‘:;e the District bulld.l.uy n:gfi thorities, controller s % cited the fact that the Depariment of |at Dickerson, Md., which cost the life | Comm: 'of Lieut. Willam B. Clements, Army Air Corps Reserves, on duty at Self- ridge Pield, Mich., just before the vio- Iont electrical storm yesterday after- ncon, is under Investigation today by |a board of four Alr Corps officers ap- | pointed at Bolling Field by Maj. How- |ard C. Davidson, commandant. | Lieut. Clements was instantly killed | when his plane crashed in a clearing |on the outskirts of Dickerson as he s attempting a forced-landing after Hrow as] ai 5 beipg held here pending receipt of word from his father, Robert S. Clem- rrangements. Was Engaged in Maneuvers. For nearly a week Lieut. Clements had been engaged in anti-aircraft manéuvers now in at Fort Humphreys, Va., with temporary tion at ling Field. He was on his way from Bolling Fleld to the Air Corps depot at Middletown, Pa., when motor trouble developed and the crash occurred. i _The board of inquiry, appointed at | Bolling Fileld this morning, is com- posed of Maj. Louls M. Field, Bolling Field flight surgeon, and Lieuts, Ho- rt R. Yeager, Malcolm S. Lawton and Louis M. Merrick, Preliminary reports indicated that the electrical storm had mothing to do | with the crash, but that Lieut. Clements, then off his course, was seeking a land- ing place when his motor failed, prob- ably because of a faulty oil line. | The plane circled once over Dicker- |son at low aititude, when the motor failed entirely and Lieut, Clements dove steeply for the little clearing. He passed within a few feet of the. store- house of Lloyd Jones, proprietor of a feed stere at Dickerson, and p! into the field beyond. He was dead when Jones, Richard Cromwell, Pliny P. Day and Day’s son, Douglas, reached the plane, freed him | from the wreckage and dragged the body out. The body was placed beside the plane and police offic! of Fred- erick, Md., were notified. Some time after the crash fire broke out 1n the wreckage, ked with gaso- line from the shattered tanks. The Days, father and - son, dragged the pilot’s body away from the fire, the father burning his hands in the at- tempt. The fire is believed by Air Corps officers to have been caused by someone tossing a cigarette into the wreckage, as Lieut. Clements had cut his ignition before the crash and the motor had plenty of time to cool off before the fire started, 15 to 25 minutes | after the crash. Had Engine Trouble. Records. found on the body of Lieut. Clements show that he had been having engine and lubrication trouble since September 20. He was on his way to Middletown for a motor overhaul prior to returning to Selfridge Field with the five other planes of the flight, which came here to participate in the anti-air- craft tests. These tests are to be con- cluded tomorrow night. t Lieut. Clements, a native of Durand, Ga., was graduated from the Air Corps Advanced Flying School, Kelly Pleld, Tex., in June, 1930, and was commis- sioned a second lieutenant in the Air Corps Reserve. He had since been on active duty, first at Maxwell Pleld, Montgomery, Ala,, and, since April 19, at_Selfridge Field. Lieut. Clements participated, as a pilot of ‘the 1st Pursuit Group, in the | sta- last May, in which 640 planes were as- s:mbled, and in the National Air Races, ending on Labor day at Cleveland, Ohio. The burglar who took all he could carry from a clothier's at 729 Seventh street last night knew more about break- ing and entering than he did of the sea- onal demand for ladies’ ready-to-wear. *With professional skill, the intruder thy garage, jimmied a second floor window, descend- ed a rear stairway and cut his wa) the store through a partition e the office safe. However, once inside, he looted the bargain counter—taking 90 suits of made necessary repairs. It was be- lieved the explosion gesulted from short tircutt, s . Summer underwear and 8 or 10 light dresses, litt] ‘which was suitable for Autumm. BURGLAR KNOWS HIS JIMMY, BUT IS POOR JUDGE OF CLOTHES Makes Business-Like Entry Into Store, Then Takes Out- of-Season Goods From Bargain Ceunter. t it was, the ‘burglary—discovered when the store was opened this morning —resulted in a loss of some $500, most of which was in costume jewelry. ‘The proprietor explained if the bur- glar had chosen the stock on now, the loss would oe about ible o w’ through way, a rear burglar took & $100 fur coat belongng to the wife of the store manager. The coat, it was explained, was half length and.somewhat out of date. A number of others, worth twice as much, were hanging on a rack nearby. Tracks on the stairway showed burglar was barefooted. ts of =, 3 bidder’ ents of Durand, Ga, as to funeral | bidde: mass maneuvers of the Army Air Corps | . firm which had submitted a bid of $71,000 presented its protést to the controller general, snd it was on the basis of this action that Mr. McCarl's office held up the con- tract which, the C cuted. had exe- Five days later the the request of the controller submitted the record of the contract to the office, hut failed at that time to explain in detall that the low s re] 1ple July 17, that the B L the controller general to y his opinion until representatives of the Derby could be present to offer their the case. This meeting was for July 23, and four days la troller general issued a new he approved the award of to the Derby Co. Furniture Falls to Arrive, * Since that time the Co. accelerated work on the mm-dn, and last week, when the school authorities were wotified that three carloads of the equipment should reach Washington Saturday or Sunday, Jere J. Crane, m:flufimm.mu .nlguol, readiness throughout n- day to install the furniture in the . empty buildings. The cars did not ar- rive, however, and the new of any kind, so that several hundred pupils were obliged to sit on the fioor. Monday afternoon, Mr. Crane had makeshift chairs installed, and they have been in use until foday, when most of the regular furniture arrived and was immediately set up in the new buildings. The schools which new chairs and desks School, in Wesley Heights; Noyes School, in Brookland, and the Lafayette School, in Chevy Chase, . MRS. J. W. POWELL’S FUNERAL SATURDAY Widow of Former Disbursing Of- ficer of Signal Corps to Be Buried at Arlington. con in which contract TFuneral services for Mrs. James W. Powell, widow of Col. Powell, U. 8. A., who died at San Francisco last Sunday. will be held at Arlington Cemetery at 30 Saturday morning. Rev. Charles . Warner of St. Alban’s Church will officiate. Mrs. Powell lived in Washin for a number of years, when her husband was stationed here as disbursing officer of the Signal Corps, under Gen. W. B. Hazen, with whom he had served in the Indian oampaigns in the Far West in the €0s and 70s. After the death of Col. Powell in 1907, Mre. Powell lived here until 1914, when she moved to San Francisco. Maj. ‘Theodore F. Powell, Pinance Depart- ment, a son, died here several years Powell, Washington af ghter, Mildred Applewhite, wi‘~ Col. Hugh La F. white, U. 8. A, now living in San Antonio, Tex., and & sister, Mrs. Dorsey Claggett, whose Lug-nd was formerly register of wills A wits of TARIFF SEEN DRIVING FACTORIES TO CANADA ‘The opinion that because of retalia- tarift day through the Democratic National Committee. 4 The Indiana Democrat said that American plants in Canada had in- creased from 467 with a value of $500,- 000,000 at the end of 1929 to 1,071 with an investment value of $1,189,590,000 a 'IQ' days ago 4 other eountries have imposed ‘c- taliatig} to the Hawley-Smoot