Evening Star Newspaper, February 21, 1932, Page 15

WASH SENATOR COPELAND] IN LETTER URGES HOSPITAL - REFORM Emergency Must Have More Beds or Divert Serious Cases He Declares. MERE AID STATION AS IT IS, HE THINKS Death of Newspaper Man, Which Caused Inquiry, Recalled Without Blame. A reform is needed in the hospital- {zation of emergency cases here, Sen- ator Copeland. Democrat, of New York said yesterday in a letter to George S. Wilson, director of public welfare. Senator Copeland’s communication was the outgrowth of the Senate Dis- trict Subcommittee hearing conducted last week into the handling at Emer- geney Hospital of the case of Joseph Sisk, Baltimore newspaper man, who was injure¢ in an automobile crash and died at Gallinger Hospital after his removal from Emergency Hospital, ‘where, it was said, facilities were lacl %}mphas\zflng his view that the probe which he conducted had cast no reflec- tion on the treatment received by the patient, Senator Copeland, himself a physician, said “Out of the hearing. however, has grown a conviction in my mind, a sug- gestion which I offered at the close of the hearing, that our ambulance and emergency treatment system is imper- perfect. One of two things must be done in my opinion. The Emergency Hospital must equip itself with suffi- cient beds to care for the immediate needs of all patients brought in as emergency cases, or, second, directions must be given to the police and the ambulance surgeons to deliver every person likely to be a bed patient directly to the Gallinger Hospital. Mere First-aid Station. “As I see it, the system in vogue at present makes the Emergency Hospital merely a first-aid station, a temporary stop on the way to Gallinger. The Emergency Hospital has not the beds, the X-ray facilities, and the general equipment necessary to handle an emergency ambulance service. This is no reflection upon the hospital, be- cause it doubtless lacks funds or space to give a satisfactory service to emergency patients. This does not re- flect in the slightest upon the profes- sional equipment or the general serv- ice given there, which personally I re- gard as excellent.” Digressing to say that the particular poin. he was raising had no_bearing on the Sisk case, Senator Copeland said that he could understand why Emergency Hospital would be reluctant to handle patients who were unhurt— only drunk or noi: but he added that “regardless of how uncomfortable it is to house such patients, that must be done or else orders should be given to the police and ambulance surgeons to take those patients immediately to Gal- linger.” “1 am wondering,” Dr. Copeland con- tinued. “why it would not be well for us to make an immediate study of the hospitals of the District, to find out how much overlapping of effort there s, how much waste in overhead, and what consolidations or affiliations might be effected to make the emergency service of the city more satisfactory. Possible Emergency Plan. “I am only using this as an example, but is not possible that the Columbia Hospital might be affiliated with Gal- linger and utilized jn some way for emergency work? There would be found space for maternity cases in Gal- linger or Emergency, while the run of emergency work could be done at Co- lumbia. Both Emergency and Cclum- bia could be used for pay or part pay patients and thus lessen the financial Burdens of both institutions. “Please do not take too seriously this particular suggestion. I am only using it as an example of what might pos- sibly be dene. I am not famliiar enough with the details regarding the hospitals of the city to speak with the slightest degree of authority. I am convinced, however, that there must be an imme- diate readjustment of our ambulance and first aid treatment if we are to serve humanely and scientifically the needs of the city.” The New York Senator asked that Mr. Wilson arrange to cofer with him on this matter when possible. and per- haps, bring together the heads of the Jocal hospitals to discuss it. SPIRITUALS TO AID MISSION FUND HERE Rodeheaver and Colored Quartet Plan “Evenin’ in Southland” March 4 at Willard. “An Evenin’ in the Southland.” featuring Homer Rodeheaver and his quartet of colored spiritual singers, will be presented the evening of March 4 at the Willard Hotel under the auspices of the Women's Guild of the Central Union Mission and the Children's Emergency Home On the same program with Rode- heaver and his plantation singers will be his sister. Ruth Rodeheaver Thomas, soprano, accompanied by Mary Aitkin- son Henson. Born and reared in the Tennessee - hills, Rodeheaver learned the spirituals from colored boys in his home town and along the railroads. He introduced many of them when he led the singing for the famous “Billy” Sunday pro- grams, long before the spirituals were popularized on the concert stage. Besides the spirituals, Mr. Rode- heaver and his sister will sing many of the favorite old ballads and nursery songs of the Southland. The concert is the second arranged by the Central Union Mission for the benefit of its welfare work. the Children's Emergency Home, Indiana avenue. Tickets are on sale at 624 TRUCK KILLS WOMAN Fatal injuries were suffered yesterday by Miss Mary Fisher, 70, of 1412 Euclid street, when struck by a truck at Four- teenth and Euclid streets, Placed in a taxicab by Wilson Judd, & clerk at 2550 Fourteenth street, who Wwitnessed the accident, Miss Fisher was Temoved to Emergency Hospital. She ‘was pronounced dead on arrival by Dr. M. Kajigis. The brakes of the truck, tested by Police, proved to be in good condition. William A. Allen, golored, the driver, will testify at a coroner's inquest to- ‘marvow. Plane Swept Into Hillside by Wind as Former Team- mate Waits. Army Pilot was Prominent Foot Ball Star at McKin- ley High and Maryland U. Lieut. Charles Pugh, Army Air Corps, stationed at Bolling Field, was killed vesterday afternoon when his plane crashed while he was stunting over the municipal airport at Hagerstown, Md. Lieut. Pugh, who was 27 years old, lived in Chevy Chase, Md. Witnesses said his Boeing pursuit plane was first seen over the fleld at an altitude of about 8,000 feet. He per- formed several stunts for the benefit of friends watching from the field, and then came down to about 75 feet in a slow roll. A sudden gust of wind caught the| plane and swept it full speed into & hillside. The ship was demolished, but did not catch fire. Lieut. Pugh was dead when on-lookers reached the | wreckage. i Pugh was well known in Washington, he and his brothers having participated | actively in high school and college sports here. The dead pilot was captain of McKinley High School’s champion- ship foot ball team in 1923, and was also a member of the track team there. Later he attended the University of Maryland, where he participated in foot ball and track. : He was commissioned in the Air | Corps after graduating from the Army | ‘F‘Iying School at Kelly Field, Tex., about a year ago. LIEUT. PUGH KILLED IN CRASH STUNTING OVER HAGERSTOWN (APPER PIGTURES NEW WASHINGTON AS CITY BEAUTIFUL LIEUT. CHARLES PUGH. Pugh was en route to Hagerstown to spend the week end with Edward M. Tenney, jr., son of the Hagerstown postmaster, and quarterback on the University of Maryland foot ball team on which Pugh played halfback sev- eral years ago. Pugh lived with his mother, Mrs. E. L. Pugh, at 6404 Georgia street. Chevy Chase, Md. Two of his older brothers, Edward, a fiyer in the Marine Corps, and James, also identified themselves prominently in Tech High and Uni- versity of Maryland athletics. All three starred in foot ball and track. There is a younger brother, Robert. ‘When nctified of the crash, Army au- thorities at Bolling Field said an officer | would be sent to Hagerstown to take charge of the body and investigate. ARHEARNG RGED FOR CTIZEN ROUPS {Simmons Says Committee | | | Should Consider Proposals on Their Merits. “The proposals of citizens groups in the District for important public im-“ provements, In which they may be | interested, should be heard and con- | sidered on their merits by the subcom- mittee in drafting the District ap- | propriation bill, whether or not the budget contained these items,” Repre- sentative Robert G. Simmons of Nebraska, former chairman of the sub- | committee, declared yesterday. | Representative Simmons pointed out | that the subcommittee has received | strict orders not to put into the Dis- | rict bill any items that are not found in_the Budget. Referring to a statement last week that the subcommittee probably would hear requests of citizens’ organizations for new items, although they had no intention of putting them in the bill, Representative Simmons declared. “If there is no intention of including any new items, why hear the District citizens at all, since their recommenda- tions are to receive no consideration? | “When we make the lump-sum l"‘ed-" eral contribution in the District bill we ought to give fair consideration to any proposal for improvements the people of the District present. We should con- sider the wishes of the people. We | have been for years saying that the | Committee on Appropriations was the one place where the people of the Dis- trict could have a voice in saying how | their tax money should be spent—what they are willing to pay for in the way of improvements | “If the rule of the Appropriations | Committee is to be followed, and no | item of appropriation is to be included beyond the budget, then there is no use having the citizens come before the | subcommittee. I believe they should be heard, and I want to hear them and to | consider the merits of their proposals, | but I haven't time to spend listening to| their testimony if it is going to mean nothing to them or to the subcommit- tee. It is a waste of their time as well | as ours if we know in advance that| they are going to be turned down.” s POLICE WITHOUT STABLE FOR WANDERING HORSE Washington police turned all their stables into garages some years ago, but an old-fashioned stall might have come in handy last night, when a horse wandered up to the third precinct sta- tion, apparently in quest of a night's lodging. The horse, attached to a bakery wagon, stood outside the station for more than an hour before he succeeded in making his wants known. Then a small colored boy who had noticed the horse standing in front of the station, informed Policeman Julius Moeler. A search of the wagon revealed it was empty, but a feed bag hanging on the back contained about a handful of oats, and Moeler fed the animal. While he was still pondering over what to do, Holmes Bakery Co. officials re- ported the horse had wandered away while its driver, John M. Lambert, was making a collection. Lambert later took the horse to the bakery’s stables. GLASSFORD ASKS CIVIL TRIAL BOARD D. C. Commissioners Request- ed to Name Group for Tt]nrd Degree Cases. A request for the designation of a civilian trial board to try five police- men on charges growing out of the recent third-degree investigation by the Department of Justice has been made to the Commissioners by Brig. Gen. Pelham D. Glassford, superintendent of police. o The police head is of the opinion that inasmuch as civilians preferred the charges against the policemen. civilians should have a voice in trying the of- ficers. Glassford said he has suggested to the Commissioners that if a complete civil trial board was not namied, that an alternative proposal was for a_tribunal | composed of a majority of civilians. Hearing of the charges against the five policemen has been set for next Wednesday. The cases grew out of the third-degree probe by Federal agnts last Fall. Fifty-six cass were cited to Cor- poration Counsel William W. Bride and Gen. Glassford after the district at- torney’s office had decided they did not warrant indictments. ATTORNEY FOR PITTS IS SENT TD GALLINGER Sidney Roche Accused of At- tempting to Wire Threats to Congress Members. Accused of attempting to send threat- ening telegrams to members of Con- gress, Sidney Roche, 60-year-old attor- ney, recently engaged as the eleventh lawyer, G. Bryan Pitts has had since his indictment for embezzlement conspir- acy, yesterday was sent to Gallinger Hospital for observation. Roche’s arrest was brought about by officials of a telegraph company, who notified police that contents of messages he filed were “unreasonable” and con- tained offensive language. Detectives declined to reveal the names of the Congressmen involved and would not divulge the contents of the telegrams. ‘The attorney several years ago was employed by the F. H. Smith Co., police said. He was recently engaged with a New York attorney to represent Pitts, who has abandoned his appeal from a 14- year sentence. | FRATERNITY CELEBRATES -— G. W. Chapter of Kappa Sigma Observes Anniversary. The fortieth anniversary of George ‘Washington University Chapter of Kap- pa Sigma Fraternity was celebrated at Senator, Over Radio, De- nounces Unsightly War- - Time Structures. HOPES THAT BUILDINGS SOON WILL DISAPPEAR Sees Future “Cosmopolitan Center of Which Every American May Well Be Proud.” In picturing to a radio audience last night the new Washington that is gradually taking shape through the public building and park programs, Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas voiced the hope that before long the last of the temporary war-time struc- tures will be done away with. Speak- ing from Station WMAL_ the Chair- mflé‘l of the Senate District Committee sa “Some of these temporary buildings are still with us. They are not only eyesores, but are positively dangerous to the persons employed therein, and to the Government records stored in these buildings. With the gradual development of the building program, these unsightly and hazardous fire- traps are being vacated. little by little. I hope that soon there will not be left a stick or stone to remind us of their presence.” Senator Capper said when Uncle Sam finishes the gigantic job of molding the city closer to his heart's desire “we will have a pretty good start toward a brand-new cosmopolitan center, of which every American may well be proud.” Says Washington Saw Future. George Washington and Maj. L’Enfant, the Senator said, stood on a wooded hill and looked over acres of forest and a few patches of cleared land. But what they saw in prophetic vision, the Senator added, “was a beau- tiful city, abounding in public parks and monumental public buildings, dedi- cated to the service of a young and lusty Nation.” The Kansan said that while Wash- ington and L'Enfant lived to see only a small part of their dream take shape, in the 132 years the Federal Govern- ment has been housed here “great and erful friends of the Nation's Capital ave done their bit toward building a Capital worthy of its name.” Coming down the steps that have been taken in recent years. Senator Capper said the creation of the National Capital Park and Planning Commis- sion in 1926 has made possible co- ordination of the activities of various Federal and District agencies in the improvement ~of Washington. The Senator said he was pround to be a member of the Park and Planning Commission. and praised the work of Lieut. Col. U. S. Grant. 3d, its execu- tive officer. The Senator declared Col Grant's grandfather, President Grant, “was one of the most devoted friends this city has ever had.” Efficiency and Economy. Declaring that city planning is con- cerned with economy, efficiency and comfort as well as beautification, the Senator said the building program is designed to house the Government's agencies with a maximum of efficiency and economy. When the building pro- gram was being planned, Senator Cap- per said, “Uncle Sam was paying a rent bill in the District of Columbia of close to $1,400,000 a year.” After referring to the temporary war structures, Sena- tor Capper added: “It is evident from what I have said about rented quarters and temporary buildings, that the Government was convinced of the necessity of proceed- ing with the big job of making a real home for its executive departments. The Public Buildings Commission estimated that the new buildings would liquidate their first cost and pay for themselves if occupied for 40 years. Government buildings, course, are constructed to have a muth longer useful life, so the building pregram certainly was justi- fied from an economic viewpoint.” GIRL, 5, IS BURNED LOOKING FOR TOYS Child Hurt Seriously When Match, * TUsed in Closet Search, Ignites Her Dress. Five-year-old Marcella Holliday was in a serious condition in Casualty Hospital last night with burns received when she ignited her clothing while searching for toys in a closet of her kome, 614 G street. ‘The child’s dress, according to her mother, Mrs. Eleanor Holliday, ap- a banquet in the Mayflower Hotel last night. Roy St. Lewis, newly appointed As- sistant Attorney General, was principal speaker. Representative William R. Eaton of Colorado was toastmaster. Other speakers were Dr. William Prince, dean of the University of Rich- mond; Thomas E. Lodge, local attorney, and Kenneth Ronney, sergeant-at-arms in the House. 14 PANHANDLERS {One Returns -to Salvation Right to At least one man still labored last night under Brig. Gen. Pelham D. Glassford's informal sentence of bath, lodging and toil, following a round-up of street beggars Friday. ‘The lone toiler, swabbing up the Salvation Army's Emergency Lodge, 479 C street, explained he “misunder- stood” when he was directed to the District wootiplle yesterday morning along with nine other involuntary guests of the Army. The misunderstanding® must have been general, fcr only 2 of 15 men| turned over to the S:lvation Army by the superint:ndan! of police early yes- terday sa wood Ior their ledging. \ Court Session Held. Gen. Glassford held “court” at head‘- quarters early yesterday, “sentencing” 15 men whom he regarded as amateur panhandlers to bath, lodging, breakfast and two hours on the woodpile. He had 3 offenders booked Yon routine vagraney ) DESERT JOBS AFTER SENTENCE BY GLASSFORD Army 'Emergency Lodge Explaining He Misunderstood and Claims Work. All 15 took the bath and all but two accepted the night's lodging, showing up for breakfast. Ten started for the ‘woodpile, but only two arrived. One man who failed to show up at the woodpile presented himself at the Army lodge last night wiht the expla- nation that he misunderstood the di- rections and was willing to work for his lodging. He was given a mop and pail of suds and allowed to prove it. Spend Another Night. ‘The other two who worked, having eady completed their two-hour stunt the woodpile, were entitled to an- other night as gucsts of the loige and watched while the third recruit did his bit. The drive against street beggars is over, for the present at any rate. How- ever, Gen. Glassford said a special file would be kept of the pandhandlers under informal sentence, and that “re- peaters” would be charged with va- grancy and turned over to the Police Court. al o parently caught fiyge when she leaned into the closet with a lighted match in her hand. She was discowwred with her clothes aflame. Unable to smother the blaze, Mrs. Holliday called for help and B. T. Harper, attached to No. 6 Engine Com- pany, who was passing the house, re- sponded. With the aid of blankets he extinguished the fire and took the child to the hospital. Physicians said Marcella was badly burned about the face, neck and legs. Mrs. Holliday is a widow. MANY PLAGUE DEATHS OUTSIDE HOSPITALS Many Said to Have Reached In- stitutions With Disease in Advanced Stages. More than one-third of the persons knowyn to have died of tuberculosis in ‘Washington during the past year were not in hospitals at the time of death, and a large proportion of the remain- ing fatal cases were hospitalized only after the disease had reached an ad- vanced stage, according to a statement issued yesterday by Dr. Viola Anderson, secretary of the Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis. Several cases where members of & family had become fatally infected by contact with a tubercular member were cited by Dr. Anderson. In one instance, five children in a family exposed to an open case of tuberculcsis were attacked by the disease and three of them died within two years, she asserted. These facts indicate the urgent need of more hdspital beds in Washington for the segregation of tubercular pa- tients and the necessity for speed in the construction of a torium for tuber- fim children,” Dr. Anderson pointed INGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 21, 1932. % Rush for Mt. Vernon Cancellations 500,000 PIECES OF MAIL ALREADY IN POST OFFICE. " 1 ORE than half a million pieces of mail bearing special Mount l Vernon, Va., cachets and can- celled with the date February 22 are expected to leave the city post office here tomorrow in the | greatest flood of “first-day covers” since | the special series of Bicentennial stamps was issued January 1. | For weeks, post office officials declare, | bundles of letters addressed to the post- | master at Mount Vernon have been | pouring into the little post office on the historic Virginia estate of George Wash- ington from all sections of the coun- try. They have come from philatelists anxious to obtain cancellations with the distinctive Mount Vernon cachet being used on February 22 only, and the volume of letters received is so great that additional employes are being as- | signed from the local post office to aid }in the handling of them. Approximate- ly $100,000 in stamps will be used on covers tomorrow, according to post of- | fice authorities. 300,000 Cancellations Made. Preparing for the rush on George Washington's birthday, more than 300,- 000 cancellations already have been made in both the city post office here and at Mount Vernon, where a corps of clerks is working in temporary quar- ters in the new Concessions Building. The cancelled covers, however, will not be released for their destinations until tomorrow. To keep the Mount Vernon batch of mail from becoming confused with the regular mails, a temporary department has been set up in the Stamp Division of the City Post Office. where 170 workers are engaged in handling the first covers. Only letters posted at Mount _ Vernon, however, are being given the special cancellations. Small Staff on Duty. Post office authorities said vesterday that the dead-line for handh” pack- | ages of letters addressed to #fe post- master at Mount Vernon was February | 19, and no further letters received in this manner can be taken care of. However, mail placed in the box at Mount Vernon tomorrow will receive | the special cancellation mark. ~Postal | officials have asked that all mail posted at Mount Vernon have stamps already affixed, since the comparatively small staff at the post office will not be able | to handle large crowds applying nt} stamp windows. The Mount Vernon office will be open only from 9 am. until 5 pm. ARCHIVES BUILDING FOUNDATIONS BEGUN| Most of Excavation Completed (or; Sixth Federal Structure Going Up in Triangle. Preliminary work has started on the Archives Building foundations, contract | for which was let to Frederick L. Oran- | ford, Inc., of Brooklyn. The contract is for $342,594.50 and the time limit is 195 calendar days, for | completing the excavation and con- struction of foundations on piling. Most of the excavation has already been completed on the site of old Center | Market. This will be the sixth building in the Federal Triangle on which activities will get under way. The other struc- tures now going up are for the Depart- ment of Justice, Post Office Depart- ment, Interstate Commerce Commission, Government Auditorium and Depart- ment of Labor. From now on activities will proceed simultaneously on all of these buildings, and another is to be added soon, in the area between Sixth and Seventh streets, where old structuers are now being torn down. The building to go on this site will be known as the Apex Building, but no decision has yet been reached as to its occupants. It is likely, how- ever, to be the home of the Fine Arts Commission, Public Buildings Commis- sion and related bodies. PLAN MEMBE.RSHIP DRIVE Jewish Education Association Be- gins Campaign March 9. Plans for a forthcoming membership drive were discussed at a meeting yes- | zansky, president of the association. Metz, Dr. Mordecal Grossman, Rabbis organization. the camj Am the at Annual Election. terday of the Jewish Education Asso- ciation presided over by Bernard Dan- Participating in preparatory activities before the campaign will be Rabbi S. H. Volkman, Silverstone and Loeb, and members of the executive board of the A mass meeting on March 9, at the Jewish Community Center, will open proper. ong speakers on that occasion will be Rabbi Abram Simon of Washington and Rabbi Wolf Gold of New York. . HEADS AMITY CLUB Isidore Semsker Chosen President Isidore Semsker was elected presi- dent of the Amity Club at the annual elections meeting, held in the Hamilton Hotel Thursday. Other officers are Mac Mannes, first vice president: Robert I Rudolph, | second vice president; Carl Linker, re- cording secretary; Barney Robins, financial secretary: Benjamin Madden, treasurer, and Herbert Sauber, sergeant at arms. ” The program of events and activities for the year was outlined. The Amity Club has a membership of 176 business and professional men, Above: A scene in the special Mount Vernon division at the city Post Office, where clerks worked yesterday to catch special cachets for February 22. Mount up with the flood of letters mailed in Vernon, Va., postmarks. Left to right: Roland Hersh, Walter Beall. Milton Dix, Ora Thomas and James Gaffney. Below: The cancellation machine in operation. —Star Staff Photos. | Held Up MARGARET C. CONNOR. —Star Staff Photo. | THREATENED BY “SNIPER” 1 ‘Woman Answering Door Bell Finds | Penciled Note on Porch. When Mrs. Isadore Young, 5701 Six- | teenth street, answered her door bell about 11 o'clock last night she found no one on the front porch and, instead, discovered a crudely-penciled note which read: “You are doomed. Prepare to meet your fate at 11:57 p.m. “Signed, The Sniper.” Mrs. Young notified sixth precinct | palice. An officer was assigned to stand | watch in front of her home. He had | nothing to do but ward off newspaper Teporters. BANDITS THREATEN GIRL, ROB LAUNDRY Cash Register of Tolman Branch at Sixth and C Sts. Looted of $61. Three white men, one of them armed with a pistol, held up the Tolman laundry branch at Sixth and C streets yesterday afternoon and escaped with $61.24. Miss Margaret C. Connor of 618 Eighth street northeast, attendant in charge of the establishment, was alone at the time the bandits entered, she told police. One of the men forced Miss Connor | to sit on a chair behind the counter while another stood guard at the door. | The third man meanwhile rifled the cash register. The men, according to the young woman, escaped on foot in the direction of Pennsylvania avenue. While the men were still in sight, fleeing down Sixth street, Miss Con- nor picked up a telephone and screamed a message to the telephone operator at | the main office of the laundry com- pany. The latter, in turn, notified the police. Detectives from police headquarters, Jjust around the corner from the scene of the hold-up, took Miss Connor in a headquarters car in search of the sus- pects, but efforts to trace the bandits were unavailing. According to de- tectives, the bandits threatened to tie | their victim to a chair, but she pleaded with them not to harm her. Sh G e Licensed to Marry. _FAIRFAX, Va. February 20 (Spe- cial).—A marriage license has been is- sued at Fairfax to Anthony Kirwan, 27, | a member of the Maryland State Police, stationed at Conowingo, Md., and Helen Joachims, 21, of Hutton ave, Windsor place, Baltimore, Md. TROLLEY-TRUCK CRASH TIES UP RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC 45 MINUTES Car Leaves Track and Truck Turns Over in Street, But Occupants Escape Injury. ‘Fraflic at Seventh and Q streets was tied up for 46 minutes during the 5 o'clock” rush hour yesterday afternoon when a southbound Capital Traction Co. car ran off the tracks and a seven- ton truck of the Dome Oil Co. over- turned in the middle of the street as a result of a collision. gh no one was injured, the truék driver, C. S. Wendell and his as- sistant, Lawrence Hartman, both of Ta- koma Park, had a narrow escape when the side of the truck hit a northbound street car that was taking on passengers at the corner. They were in an in-| closed seat when the big truck toppled over on its side and had to be helped out. Streams of orange-colored fluid poured into the street and several col- ored merr ran for buckets and hurriedly filled them from the flowing pipe line. Mistaking fuel f gasoline, m&hh‘lwfiue—n e T emmoction. they have experienced engine trouble it is because automobile carburetors were not made for fuel oil. The truck’s tank was about emptied into the street. A ‘The machine itself was only slightly lamaged. The southbound street car, which was said by police to have struck the truck as it passed eastward on Q street over the tracks, was manned by Green, motorman. The front glass was smashed. but the car was put onto the tracks again in about 15 minutes and couthbound traffic cleared. It required fully 45 minutes, however, for a wreck- ing crew to get the truck out of the way of the northbound street car and the line was blocked for many squares. Jesse L. Thompson was motorman of the northbound car. Wendell, the truck driver, said he thought both street cars were on crossed the tracks at PAGE B—1 PROPERTY DECLINE RUNS VALUES HER NEAR ASSESSENT Sales Prices Cited by Rich- ards to Show Thorough- ness Mere. OTHER CITHES BELOW RATIO OF CAPITAL $12,000,000 1933 Increase Predict- ed Over This Year's $1,226- 601,948 Total. Declining property values in the District since the depression have had the effect of raising the ratio of assessed to full value here, 1t was disclosed yes- terday by Tax Assessor William P. Richards. Property in the business area has suffered the great shrinkage, Mr. Rich- ards said, although there are isolated cases in some residential sections where values have declined to a point nearer the assessment figures: An analysis of real estate transac- tions in the business area in the last several years, Mr. Richards pointed out, showed that sale prices averaged ap- proximately 97 per cent of the assessed value. In 30 specific cases studied, he said, the sale prices totaled $2,265,012, while the assessment on the property in 1932 amounted to $2,199,081. Periods Are Contrasted. Mr. Richards also studied 3,100 sales in 13 subdivisions during the high price period of 1925, 1926 and 1927, and found that these properties have suf- fered a shrinkage in value of about 20 per cent. The sales in the three-year high-price period, he declared, totaled $65,000,000, but their value at the pres- ent time is approximately $52,000,000. The 1923 assessment amounts to $51,- 064,000. Since 1923, the law has required a full value assessment in the District, but the actual ratio, as compared with actual sales, has been about 90 per cent of full value. Despite the decline in property values, the 1933 assessment, yet incomplete, Mr. Richards predicted, would total about $12,000,000 in excess of the 1932 as- sessment of $1.226,691948. The in- crease, the smallest since 1923 when the District went on a full value assess- ment, will be due chiefly, according to the assessor, to improvements and new construction in subdivisions. Points of Reductions. As a Tesult of the reduced values on business property. Mr. Richards said he has lowered the assessment on prop- erty in the business area. The princi- pal reductions were made in the section between Ninth and Sixteenth and H streets and Pennsylvania avenue. Some reductions also were made along Six- teenth street as far north as Florida avenue, and in isolated cases in resi- dential sections. Mr. Richards’ views are considered as possibly having an important ef- fect on the Senate District Committee when it begins its study of comparative tax rates for this reason: In 1922 the Census Bureau. in its decennial report of wealth, debt and taxation in the United States, compared the thoroughness of assessments in the District with the thoroughness of ase sessments in the States. It found that the District's relation of assessed to full value was 90.8 per cent. This was the highest on the list. But that figure was a relative and not an absolute figure. It merely meant that considering 100 per cent as the ideal, whidh is never attained, the District of Columbia was more thoroughly assessed and came nearest approaching that ideal than any other section of the United States. The figure of 90 per cent subsequently has been used in the “ab- solute” sense by the Mapes Committee and such agencies as the Detroit Bu- reau of Municipal Research in their rcomparisons of ratios of assessed to full value represented by a city’s assessment, Ratios Accepted by Agencies. At the same time these agencies have accepted 90 and even 100 per cent as the ratios of assessed to full value in other cities. Thus, while Washington was shown by the thorough investiga- tion of the Census Bureau to be the most thoroughly assessed of the areas examined, it is sometimes shown by other comparisons that the relative fig- ure of 90.8 is a lower ratio than the theoretically absolute ratios reported by sther cities. e Mapes Committee found that Washington's assessed valuation between 1920 and 1930 showed the greatest per- centage of increase of any of the cities compared (Washington, 161.36; aver- age for other cities, 50.13). If Washington's increase of assessed valuation has been more than three times the average increase of assessed valuation of other cities since 1920. amd if in 1922, Washington was shown to lead the country in thoroughness of as- sessment, and if the decline in property values since the depression has, as Mr. Richards said, made higher here the ratio of assessed to full value, Wasshing- ton’s assessment probably is nearer 100 per cent than ever before. ‘The ratio of 90 per cent, set down as an absolute figure, is probably much lower than it should be, es) when v:o}rlnpcred with reported ratfos else- where, FIXTURES ORDERED FOR HOUSE OFFICES Contracts Awarded for New Bailde ing Call for Total Expendi- ture of About $75,000. Contracts approximately $75,000 for m‘m:‘ol lighting fix- tures in the new House Office Building have been awarded, it was announced yesterday at the office of the Architect of the Capitol. This is about $25,000 less than had been set aside originally for this purpose, it was stated. In calling for bids, the work was di- vided into two classes: First, fixtures for commitfee rooms and other special B.|features; second, for the office rooms. Under the first heading, 14 bids were received and seven contracts were awarded, as follows: Ferro-Bronze Stu- dios, Inc.. $4,084.79; Sterling Bronze Co,, Inc., $3.010: Edward F. Caldwell & Co., Inc., $13,576.50; Cox, Nostrand & Gul Co., $719.50; Robert Phillips Co., 50; Victor S. Pearlman & Co., $800; Horn & Brannen Manufacturing Co., Inc., $3.487. These total approxi- mately $34,000. Undéj the second heading, thegcon- tract was awarded to Shapiro &fm- aan, 108, ML157.52,