Evening Star Newspaper, May 6, 1932, Page 2

A—2 xx» FRENCH PRESIDENT - SHOT BY ASSASSIN .Paul Doumer Near Death From 3 Gun Wounds—Rus- sian Doctor Held. (Continued From Pirst Page.) to sign a copy of a book by a con- temporary author. Then the President moved over to a table and stood talking with Farrere and Mme. Farrere. Suddenly a man sprang, seemingly out of nowhere, leveled a pistol at the President and fired five times. M. Doumer’s knees crumpled. He sank to the floor. : Farrere sprang forward. The assassin *raised his pistol and fired twice. Far- rere stopped with & bullet jn the arm, but lunged forward again ahd grappled with the man. Paul Guichard, director of the Paris police, ran forward, ‘The assassin fired again, The bullet struck Guichard in the arm. By this time a dozen police surround- ed the man and a crowd gathered about them. As the crowd grew it became an in- furiated mob. The police had the greatest difficulty protecting their prisoner. At last they got him away. “Die for the Fatherland.” ‘They had no idea of his motive, but someone heard him shout as he fired: “Die for the Fatherland.” Meanwhile, back in the exhibition room, Farrere and others bent over the president. He was already nearly unconscious, but he mumbled a few incoherent words as they lifted him, gmnlud him on a stretcher and carried to the Beau- jon Hospital. ‘The doctors there perfofmed an op- eration immediately and there was & blood transfusion. One of the surgeons, a Dr. Gosset, sald he had examined the President and had discovered that none of the bullets had penetrated the brain and that he expected M. Doumer to recover. One of those who were first to reach the President’s side said afterward he had heard M. Doumer whisper: “Pas possible.” In English, it would be: ““This seems impossible.” From police headquarters came word that when they searched the assassin they found in his pocket a notebook with the phr}:u printed in pencil in letters an inch high: “This day I killed the President of the French Republic.” Premier Tardieu Arriyes. Premier Andre Tardieu was the first man to reach the hospital after the news had gone about. Former Premier Caillaux came soon afterward, and then there was a stream of distinguished per- sonages. Mme. Doumer, who gave four sons to France in the war, was grief stricken ‘when she reached the bedside. As the evening wore on and & crowd ressed about the hospital bits of news kled out. The doctors disclosed that after the emergency operation the patient had rallied slightly. : ‘;’Cl ve,” he murmured, the doctors sald. That means “I'm all right” Paul Doumer became president of the republie last May. His closest competitor was the late Aristide Briand, but the “Man of had alienated enough of his contemporaries by his policy of rap- prochement to prevent his election. So Doumer, Father a Section Boss. He is a man of humble beginnings. His father was a section boss on a railroad. He died when the president was a boy, and it was a struggle to attain an edu- cation, for he had to leave grammar school, at 14, to help support his widowed mother. He laid the foundations for his polit- ical career in newspaper work. When he gravitated to politics he specialized in finance and became minister of finance in 1895. Subsequently, for seven strenuous , he was Governor General of do-China, and on his return from that far-away post was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies. Three years later he became president of the Lower House. He held that office when Fal- lieres, then president of the Senate, de- | feated him for the presidency of the | republic. Three Sons Killed in War. M. Doumer’s heaviest sorrow came in the war. Three of his five sons were| killed in battle and a fourth died of his wounds soon after the armistice. During the war M. Doumer was a| ‘busy man in several minor government posts although in 1917 he was minister without portfolio in the Painleve cabi- net which was overthrown by Clemen- ceau. 1In 1921 Aristide Briand, then premier, made him minister of finance. Six years later he became President of the| Benate. If Doumer should die of his wounds, the Senate and the Chamber of Depu- ties would meet immediately to elect his successor. Article VII of the Prench constitu- tiona] laws provides for this procedure in the event that the presidency should become vacant for any cause. In the interval between the vacancy and the election the cabinet is In- vested with executive power. ‘This procedure was followed in 1894 ‘when esident Carnot was assassi- nated at Lyons. In the present case the election ‘would be by the old Chamber of Depu- ties, although the terms of the mem- bers of that chamber have expired and Prance is in the process of electing a new chamber. It was said officlally this evening that the second baliot for the new chamber, scheduled for Sunday, would take place irrespective of what might | happen to President Doumer. REPUDIATED AT ROME. Declared Not Fascist. ROME, May 6 (£ —Information re- ceived here from Paris made it clear that Paul Gouguloff, who tried to kill President Doumer today, is not a Fascist in the Italian sense. Police said they had learned the man organized a group at Prague in 1930, calling it the National Russian party and announcing its purpose as combat- ing Bolshevism. Fascist party headquarters here said they knew nothing about that party or cut any group of Russian cists. ®hey never had heard of Gougulofl. NEW ROCKVILLE MAYOR TAKES OATH OF OFFICE Bpecial Dispatch to The Star. ROCKVILLE, Md, May 6.—Douglas M. Blandford, lumber dealer, newly elected mayor of Rockville, took the oath of office before the clerk of the Circuit Court here yesterday and last night administered it to the four mem- :n of the Town Council elected with m. A meeting of the new board followed and P. Bache Abert was re-elected town Assassin an Italian Fortescue and the two Navy enlisted | were anxious indicated that e Were seeking a pardon. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, MAY 6, 19 Elated by Hawaii News RELATIVES OF MRS. FORTESCUE whose sentence in the Honolulu L their arrival in New York from PHOTOGRAPHED IN NEW YORK. EFT to right: Mrs. Robert Bell, sister-in-law of Mrs. Grace Bell Fortescue, “honor” slaying was commuted to one hour; Maj. Granville Fortescue, husband of the freed woman, and Miss Helene Fortescue. daughter, as Helene greeted hér father and aunt on Chicago last night. They were happy over the news of the freeing of Mrs. Fortescue and the three other defendants. MASSIE MAY QUIT FIGHT FOR PARDON BEFORE GOV. JUDD (Continued From First Page.) men, B. J. Lord and Albert O. Jones, to be pardoned, he also they would be guided by what he said. To See Judd Saturday. ‘The veteran defender denied he had ever asked Gov. Judd for & pardon after | the local newspapers, attributing to Darrow a statement he had asked for a pardon, printed at the same time a| statement by. Gov. Judd the attorney had merely discussed the possibility of | one. “The Governor's statement is cor- | rect,” Darrow said. While saying he was inclined to per- mit the matter to drop, the Chicago criminal lawyer has made an ap- pointment with Gov. Judd for Satur- dey to-discuss the subject further. The Governor was emphatic yester- day in- saying he did all that was asked of him in granting the com- mutation and in denying Darrow's im- lication that commutation had been orced on the defendants when they | Depends Unon Local Laws. “Kk theSmatter now stands, Massie and his associates have lost their right | to vote and to hold office in Hawail. Their status outside the islands, Ter- ritorial Attorney General Farry R. Hewitt said, depends upon local laws. He said he had not considered the statutes of each State, but it was prob- able their rights would be lost in some states and not be affected in others. Should Gov. Judd decideon pardons, | he almost certainly will do so in the face of criticism from the native ele- | ment and a portion of the white pop- | ulation. | To the displeasure expressed by the natives to the commutation of sen- tence was added yesterday the protest of A. G. M. Robertson, former chief justice of the territorial Supreme Court. He asserted the commutation ren- dered the victory gained in convicting | the four a “holiow one” and declared that “a pardon would condone lynch | law and set a disastrous precedent.” The citizens' organization for good | | government, made up largely of white | women, has circulated petitions “de- | —A. P. Photo. COMMITTEE VOTES COMPROMISE BILL ON NEW TAX LEVIES (Continued From First Page.) tariff items, and these were still in the bill as the committee neared the end of its work. The committee knocked out the $1,000 exemption for corporations, but modified the bill to allow corporations to carry over for one year net losses. The Secretary emphasized that econ- omies in Government would have to be made for the measure to balance the budget next year, however. His estimates put the yleld from lhe! new income tax rates at $173,000,000. The following excise rates in the House revenue bill were eliminated in the compromise program: Fur, toilet articles, boats, refrigerators, sporting goods, firearms, cameras, matches, soft drinks, produce exchange and safe- | deposit boxes. Before the committee accepted the compromise measure, the sound of Secretary Mills' voice could be heard in the corridor outside the locked commit- tee room @s he put his views before the group in vigorous tones. ‘The Treasury head appeared before the committee after conferring with the Republican members in a closed meeting. When he had reached about the half-way mark in his exposition of the bill, word came from the secret ses- slon that he everything” in it. Mills was given the floor without in- terruption for his exposition. He em- phasized that the Treasury had no program, but he urged the committee | to “get together with us and let the Treasury put its blessing on the bill.” Boost Income Taxes. In a final desperate lunge yesterday to reach its goal of balancing the budget. the committee had written into the bill the stiffest income tax rates ever adopted. The new schedule is equal to the high taxes imposed after the war in the 1921, revenue bill. It begins at a normal rate of 4 per cent on the first $4.000 of income, with 8 per cent on all above that, plus surtax rates be- ginning at 1 per cent, on income be- tween $6,000 and $10.000 and grad- uating up to 55 per cent on income | above $1.000,000 Yesterday's income schedule was adopted after a hectic day of wrangling behind the closed doors of the com- | “is opposed to almost| TREATY NAVY BILL MEANS FRAUD GASE PISEORES iNye, Anticipating Senate Ap- proval, Calls It Program of National Suicide. By the Associatea Press. Passage of the Hale bill for building the Navy up to treaty limits was fore- |cast in the Senate today by Senator Nye, Republican, of North Dakota, as he vigorously opposed it as a waste of money and “a program of national suicide.” “Here we are,” he said, “about to shut our eyes and swallow this increased burden of taxation and continue the Government in the most wasteful enter- | prise known to man.” |~ The bill, he said, probably will pass “with an easy majority.” “Our greatest dangers are from within, not from without our borders,” he asserted. Assails “Propaganda.” “All the armies of Europe, Asia and Atrica combined, with a Bonaparte as a commander, could not by force take a i drink from the Ohio River or leave a track on the Blue Ridge in a thousand years." Assailing ‘“propaganda,” which he said has driven Congress into a “hys- teria” of effort to economize and bal- ance the budget, Nye protested against using money derived from cutting the salaries of low income Government em- pioys “to build battleships.” Nye said that instead of trying to keep up with other nations in arma- ments, the United States was actually “setting the pace.” Comparison of Strength. He said the figures presented to the League of Nations on naval strength in 1931 showed the United States had 1.- 251,000 tons, as compared with 1,250,000 for Great Britain; 850,000 for Japan, 628,000 for France and 403,000 for Italy. National expenditures for armaments increased in this country 197 per cent from 1913 to 1930, he said, as compared with 142 for Japan; 42 for Great Brit- ain, 30 for France and 30 for Russia Nye mentioned Merle Thorpe, editor of the Nation's Business, as the source of much of what he referred to as propaganda in favor of reducing Gov- |ernment expenditures and balancing | the budget 'TWO DRIVERS HELD IN KILLING OF MAN Pair Are Free on $2,000 Bond After Pedestrian’s Death Near Savage. | By & Staff Correspondent of The Star. LAUREL, Md., May 6—Two drivers l\\ho are alleged to have struck and killed a pedestrian at Savage, Md., last }mgh!— were under $2,000 bond each to- | day pending the outcome of an inquest Louis Henry Haslup, 52, was crossing | the Baltimore Boulevard about 7 p.m., when he was hit by a car driven, police say, by Frank E. Kauffman of Baltimore. ‘While laying in the road, Haslup was {Tun over by an automobile operated by Lawrence A. Haslbeck, also of Balti- more, according to Corp. J. T. Knight | of the State police force, who arrested | both drivers. The inquest will be held Monday | night by Justice of Peace Howard U. | Gosnell at Savage. KILLS GIRL AND SELF Former Alabama Foot Ball Star Also Wounds His Brother. PANOLA, Ala, May 6 (P).—Willlam 8. “Country” Oliver, 28, former Uni- versity of Alabama fcot ball star, shot and killed his sweetheart, Miss Lottie Simmons, 21; critically wounded his brother, Clate Oliver, 45, and killed himself here today. There were no witnesses and a mo- tive for the shooting was not immedi- ately determined. Oliver was a star halfback at Ala- bama in 1922, 1923 and 1924. He was employed as an automobile salesman in Birmingham until two weeks ago, when he returned to his home here. Oliver scored the first touchdown against Georgia's Tech's great team of manding” a pardon. Will Drop Attack Case. | mittee room. They are double the rates | voted by the House and compare with | existing 11, per cent on the first $4.000 | It became practically an accepted | fact today that the four men accused of attacking Mrs. Massie would not be| brought to trial again. With her hus-| band ordered transferred to another as- | signment, Mrs. Massie and her mother, | Mrs, Fortescue, have booked passage on | the Malolo, which sails Sunday. | With Mrs. Massie gone, the Territory | has no case, since she is the key wit-| ness. Public Prosecutor John C. Kelley | said he would not try to force Mrs. Massie to testify. However, Attorney | General Hewitt said the Territory was anxious to try the men again and in-| dicated an effort would be made to in-| duce Mrs. Massie to stay. | The first trial last November ended | in a jury disagreement. Kahahawai| also was one of the defendants then. Mrs. Massie is leaving on the advice of Darrow. He told her it perhaps would be futile to testify again, since retrials seldom ended in a verdict. Welsh Singers Persist. | Not even the collapse of the plat- form on which they were standing could deter a Welsh choir which was trying for a prize at the recent Eisteddfod at Nebo, Wales. During the | chief choral competition the stage gave way when the third choir had assem- bled on it preparatory to giving their number. They were hurled to the ground and, despite the shock and in- ir.mrs, the singers tried for the pnu; ater. AARRRAARIINRNAILIID and 3 per cent on the second $4,000 of income. Exempt from income is the | single man's first $1.000 and the mar- ried man's first $2,500 (except that if | the latter's taxable income is above $2,000, the exemption is only $2,000). Offers Sales Tax Again. Previously, Senator Reed, Republican, of Pennsylvania, had moved the adop- tion of a manufacturers’ sales tax in lieu of the multitudinous excise rates. He lost. Moves to boost the automobile and tobacco rates also were defeated. In offering the controversial sales tax, Reed modified the proposal re- jected by the House, proposing a flat manufactures levy of 1 per cent, with all food, clothing, medicine, farm im- plements and fertilizer exempted. 1,500 TO BE GIVEN WORK Railway Will Restore 1,100 Others to Full Time Employment. CHICAGO, May 6 (#) —The Iilinois Central Rallroad has announced it is recalling 1,500 men to full-time work and is restoring 1,100 others to full-time employment who have been working only part time. The entire 2,600 are| maintenance of way and track labor- ers. The railroad's allowance for track ‘maintenance work for My will be about | double that for last month, the an- nouncement stated. Drip, Drip, Drip from going to sleep? noying noise in the w Just little things the frequently neglected, h: ages to property in add Why not loak after t reasonable amount. Why not attend to it r than it clerk and treasurer. William P. Disney WAS Tes) ted baliff. Prederick Mel- linger will continue in charge of the pumping station. The board decided on a survey of Rockville Monday after- poon to determine urgent street im- » m‘:enu. ™) Has the drip, drip, drip of faucets kept you ? Has that peculiarly an- you open a faucet driven you to distraction? men ready to do these little jobs for some These men have families to support and every dollar earned helps. has been for some time. will help your own property and give some one a chance to earn a little money. “HELP YOURSELF BY HELPING OTHERS" P e bl t B T e SO | | on Into the Night | § | ater pipes every time se, easily mended, yet ave caused many dam- ition to annoyance. hem now? There are ight now? It's cheaper Thus you { planes . . sensational runs ever seen in Atlanta. ELMIRA COLI:EGE GREETS MRS. HOOVER AS GUEST First Lady to Plant Bicentennial Elm and Speak at Institution Which Granted Degree. By the Associated Press ELMIRA, N. Y, May 6.—Mrs. Herbert Hoover was a guest today at Elmira College, which awarded her an honorary degree of doctor of laws when it cele- brated its seventy fifth anniversary in 1930. The President’s wife planned to speak at the chapel exercises today and to plant a George Washington Bicen- tennial elm on the college campus. The trip to Elmira from Washington was by rail, but Mrs. Hoover and her party planned to return to the Capital by automobile. The party included Mrs. Dare Stark McMullen of California, & guest at the White House; Mrs. Fred- erick Butler, a secretary, and Secret Service men. Tl.ns afternoon Mrs. Hoover will go to New Canaan, Conn., where she will visit Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Richard, whose daughter Peggy, a frequent White House visitor, will be married tomorrow night. ensations of Death ‘IDescribed by Doctor After Suicide Potion | Begins Writing With Firm | Hand and Ends in Scrawl. By the Associated Press. HOLLYWOOD, May 6.—Dr. George T. Boyd, 49, died in the Hollywood Hospital yesterday, bequeathing to the curfous a written description of his sensations after he had taken a sui- cidal dose of narcotics. His message, starting in a firm hand and ending in a scrawl, written on a physician’s prescription pad, faid: “I am surprised how calmly I can do it. Begin to ache in the arms . heart s pounding . . sleep coming on, eyes grow heavy and now my heart aches just a little . . . I am trying to keep awake, but won't hold out much longer. Chest and eyes grow heavy d « . - heart . . . hear air- . pretty . . . light when I look around .D. 8 i \:nmul-'fu;‘gm:“;h?ur't Satd we! own Hol ctan, he planned suicide because of financial difficulties. 1923, getting away on one of the most | PROBED BY JURY Mrs. McLean, Her Attorney and Butler Are Only Witnesses Called. (Continued From First Page) doned by a thief or bootlegger. Keith had to go through considerable red tape to obtain the car this morning. Means Is Unperturbed. Adroitly turning aside questions that he didn't feel like answering with the stock rejoinder, “Now, that's confiden- tial,” Means, suave and unperturbed, stood on the runway before his cell at District Jail this morning and told what he did feel like about his connection with the charge that he had obtained $100.000 from Mrs. McLean. Summed up, the interview with Means produced three admissions: That he was engaged by Mrs. Mc- Lean at a retainer of $100 a day and expenses to bring about the recovery of the child. That she gave him $100,000 to turn over to the kidnap band That this money, intact, was handed over to the mysterious “No. 11" sup- posed to have been an agent for Mrs. McLean, after she had become con- vinced that Means' efforts to get the | baby were not to be productive, and had demanded the return of the money. ““There was no larceny,” he empha- sized. Parries Questions. All questions in any way relating to the possible whereabouts of the baby. the chances of recovering it. if it had been well cared for, whether his arrest would halt negotiations, or whether he felt that he had been duped by the kidnapers, brought circuituous answers that ended with the depre- catory “confidential.” Mrs. McLean had asked that the greatest confidence be accorded all negotiations in the case, he insisted, and recalling that he had always been known as one who respects confidences, Means insisted that that was what he proposed to do now, “and if other people want to viclate confidences, that’s up t® them.” While Means, in shirt sleeves, with collar opened, stood up against the bars, he could look directly across the rotunda of the jail, where friends of Alfred Scott Aldridge chanted cease- lessly before the cell of the colored slayer who was soon to start his march to the electric chair, but he was giving no thought to the impending execu- tion. Asked if there was singing last night to disturb him, Means said no, adding, “They won't let them sing after o'ciock and even if they did, it wouldn't bother me, for I'm a good o ale]flp:nm said that before the Lind- bergh case he had done investigative work for Mrs. McLean “in Palm Beach and other places” and declared she was “a very fine woman” and ‘“very motherly.” $100 a Day Hjs Regular Fee. “I didn't solicit her in this case” he said__“She came for me and even had trouble locating me, for my phone isn't listed in the book.” He explained then that he was to get $100 & day and expenses {rom her, “which is my regular fee for investiga- tion “You know,” Means continued, going into his past for illustration, “when people asked me during the war why I worked for the Germans, I said it was because they gave me $100 a day and the English would only give me $50. Like I tell my wife, when I go in for & soft drink, I don't ask who is going to serve it; what I ask about is the qual- ity yhl!ans said that when Mrs. McLean first approached him in reference to the Lindbergh case, he told her he would do nothing until permission had been obtained from Col. Lindbergh. His arrest was no surprise, he said, for he had been told on April 22 “if 1 didn't do this and that, I was to be indicted.” this reference being to the demand for return of the money, made through Mrs. McLean's counsel—Albert W. Fox, Prank J. Hogan and Nelson T. Hartson. Had he known the warrant was out for him, Means said, he would have surrendered. He said he did not know if he would be able to make the $100,000 bond fixed by United States Commissioner Need- ham C. Turnage, but this prospect did not appear to worry him. Says There Was No Larceny. Asked if he could recognize “No. 11,” to whom he reputedly turned over the $100,000 in Alexandria, Means said, “That is confidential.” Asked if it was the same money he received from Mrs. McLean, he thought & minute, then replied: “Not at any time was any money given to me by Mrs, McLean disturbed in any way." “That means that it was turned over intact?” he was asked. He answered in the affirmative, and then, referring to his plea of not guilty on arraignment yesterday, asserted: “There was no larceny. Attorney Unfolds Story. A lurid story of secret negotiations between Mrs. McLean and Means was unfoided yesterday afternoon by Albert W. Fox, personal attorney for the pub- lisher’s wife. It was disclosed that Mrs. McLean herself first brought Means into the case in her belief he might be able to establish contact with the kidnapers. She did not lose faith in him until re- peated promises to produce the baby were not fulfilled According to the account given by Fox, Mrs. McLean approached Means on or about March 4—three days after the kidnaping—and asked him if he thouht h2 could be of aid in searching for the missing child. Mrs. McLean was moti- vated by her friendship with the Lind- berghs and her natural sorrow over the abduction, it was explained. Means, it is charged, told Mrs. Mc- Lean he was sure he could get the baby back, because he felt certain he knew the identity of the kidnapers. Means is alleged to have explained that a for- mer cellmate at Atlanta had made him & proposition prior to the kidnaping to join in such an abduction plot, but he had refused indignantly. Means, it was said, later represented he had been in touch with this man and had found that he was one of the kidnapers. Mrs. McLean aliegedly was told Means could effect the return of the baby for $100,000 in old bills. Turned Over Currency. McLean went to the president MMIrleIdlng bank here and obtained the $100,000 in $100 and $50 bills, | which she claims to have turned over | to Means at her home at night in the presence of Father Hurney. Before taking definite steps, how- ever, Mrs. McLean had consulted with Capt. Emory 5. Land, cousin of Col. Lindbergh, who saw the latter and ob- tained the consent of Lindbergh and Col. Henry Breckinridge, Lindbergh's “;‘;’;‘;.eacum waited while Means al- legedly “contacted” further with the kidnapers, and then was advised to go to Aiken, S. C., where she has a home, and the baby would be delivered to her there. Baby Reported in Mexico. Mrs. McLean went at once to Aiken. where she met Means and a rough- looking individual, armed with guns, who represented himself to be one of | the Lindbergh baby. the kidnap gang. Mrs. McLean wns told. it was declared, that it would be necessary for her to go to Texas, as the | baby was in Mexico. Mrs, McLean, it was ed, fol- lowed instructions and went to El Paso, where she again met Means, according Testifies Against Means RS. EVALYN WALSH MCcLEAN, M wife of the publisher of the Washington Post, as she appeared at the Court House with her attorneys today to testify against Gaston B. Means, $100,000 in an alleged fake scheme to recover the Lindbergh baby. Nelson T. Hartson, at left, charged with defraudiry her of one of Mrs. McLean's attorneys, also testified. Albert W. Fox, personal counsel to the society woman, was not called by the grand jury. —Star Staff Photo. informed there had been some sort of a hitch in the plans and it would be necessary to return to Washington and re-establish contact. This hitch, it is understood, was supposed to have been caused by the disclosure that Col. Lindbergh had paid $50,000 in recorded currency to the kid- 9 ' napers. Mrs. McLean is said to have been ad- vised the kidnapers now wanted $6,000 additional for expenses. This money, too, was allegedly turned over to Means. The negotiations were continued and Mrs. McLean then was advised the kid- napers had managed to pass $1,000 of the Lindbergh money, and would turn the baby over to Mrs. McLean if she would reimburse them to the extent of $35,000 additional to cover the $49,000 “loss” by reason of*Lindbergh's record- ing of the serial numbers of the ransom money. Offered to Pawn Gems. Mrs. McLean, it is related, was ready | to pawn some jewelry in order to raise the $35,000 additional when her attor- neys, who had learned of what she had been doing, checked this move. Then it was promptly demanded that Means refund to Mrs. McLean the $106,000 allegedly paid him, her law- yers, Fox, Prank J. Hogan and Nel- son T, Hartson, giving him until May 2 to effect the restitution. Means, it is alieged, said he had left the money at his former home in Con- cord, N. C, and would go there and obtain it. He returned to Mrs. McLean several days later and asked her if she had gotten the money, it is as- serted. She said she had not. where- upon Means is alleged to have ex- pressed surprise and declared he had given it to her “Agent No. 11" as he | got off the train at Alexandria. “No 11,” it was pointed out, was a codc number used to identify Mrs. McLean or her agents. Mrs. McLean protested she had no such agent and demanded Means re- cover the money without further de- lay. He is alleged to have asked that she give him until May 15 to look for the “agent” and find the money. She refused. Fox Issues Statement. The following statement on behalf of Mrs. McLean was issued through the office of Mr. Fox: “In offering my services early last March to join in the search for the Lindbergh baby, I requested that my name be not mentioned, and this was the understanding with Col. Lindbergh. “It Is, of course, not necessary for me to explain why I so deeply sympa- thized with Col. and Mrs. Lindbergh. I felt that I might make an effort to help, even though I realized the chances of success were necessarily very re- mote. Accordingly, conferred with Capt. Land and Father Hurney and later arranged to place the ransom money in the custody’ of an intermediary, whom T employed to make the ransom payment in case the Lindbergh baby were found. My plan was carried out without the knowledge of my closest friends and without the knowledge of my attorneys. When it became evi- dent that no clue of any value had been discovered, I realized the plan had failed. With respect to Gaston B. Means, who acted as intermediary, that | is a matter which is now in the hands of the authorities.” Mr. Fox also issued the following statement on behalf of Capt. Land: “After a conference with Mrs. Mc- Lean early in March, I visited Col. Lindbergh and Col. Breckenridge and explained to them that Mrs, McLean had offered to help in the search for Col. Lindbergh and Col. Breckenridge both gave their approval and authorized me to so in- form Mrs, McLean. This I promptly did early in March. I have naturally been in close touch with Mrs. McLean during any time when there appeared to be a faint chance of uncovering any information in value." FLEISHER CLUE OFFERED. Man Resembling Gangster Seen in EI Paso When Means Was There. EL PASO, Tex. May 6 (#)—A man El Paso authorities claim closely resem- bled Harry Fleisher, reputed Detroit Purple Gang leader, was registered at the same hotel here as Gaston B. Means when the latter was in El Paso in con- nection with the Lindbergh kidnaping case. Fleisher has been sought by New Jersey authorities for investigation in connection with the kidnaping. Capt. Allan Falby of the Texas highway po- lice sald he 'received information Fleisher was at the hotel, but the man was gone when he reached the hotel to_question him. Mrs. McLean was in El Paso in con- nection with her efforts to effect the return of the Lindbergh baby. FIVE STUDENTS INJURED Cut by Glass When Large Test Tubg Explodes. MILLVILLE, N. J.. May 6 () —Five Juniors in the Millville High were cut by glass when a large test tube ex- ploded during a chemistry demonstra- tion before thie school assembly today. T-notl.lummhluolglnlm- moved from their eyes, but physicians U. S. STEEL REDUCES " WAGES 15 PER CENT Second Cut by Corporation During Depression, First Amounting to 10 Per Cent. By the Associated Press. NEW YORK. May 6—The United States Steel Corporation today an- | nounced that its employes' wages and salaries would be cut approximately 15 per_cent, effective May 15. This is the second wage reduction by the company during the present de- pression. The first, amounting to 10 | per cent, was made on October 1, last. Reports that this means of further reducing costs was being considered had been heard in financial circles for some time, gaining strength after the corporation’s directors last week omit- ted dividends on the common stock and reporting an operating deficit of more than $13,000,000 for the first ‘quaner of 1932, | :‘1 statement issued by the corporation said: | *“Errective May 15, the United States | Steel Corporation and subsidiary com- | per cent all wages and salary rates at | all departments in the more important steel districts and in other locations to rates reflecting equitabie differentials. | “The company made three separate wage reductions during the 1921 busi- ness_depression. “Stocks of the Steel Corporation, | which had been advancing with the general market, moved vigorously up- | ward when the news came out. The common shares climbed more than $3 above Thursday’s close, while the pre- | ferred issue jumped about 10. | . “The big steel marker's pay roll for 1931 totaled $266,871,413, so that a 15 per cent reduction, on that basis, would effect an annual saving of approxi- mately $40,000,000. As a result of part- time operations, however, the total pay roll is understood to be substantially under the levels of a year ago. | _The total pay roll for 1931, further- | more, was roughly $124,000,000 under that of 1930. 'TWO CHILDREN BURN ' TO DEATH IN HOME | | Okonoko, W. Va., Parents Are Ab- sent as Fire Destroys Dwelling. Special Dispatch to The Star. ROMNEY, W. VA, May 6—The two chilaren of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Day, both boys, aged 18 months and 3 years, Were burned to death in a fire that ‘destrvyed their home near Okonoko. Reports of the tragedy were delayed | because of the lack of telephone con- | nections. The bodies were found in the ruins | of the home. The father, who owns a fruit farm, was at work out of sight of the home and the mother had gone to the store when the fire started. | panies will reduce by approximately 15| MEANS A STORMY PETREL FOR YEARS Broke Into Print in 1917, When Tried in Slaying ar Wealthy Matron. By the Associated Press. Gaston Bullock Means, who has pop- ped into big print again, once told & Senate committee, with -a smile, that his business consisted of “being indicted.” A hectic jumble of suits, trials, ad- venture and misadventure made him a headline star for years. He has been & sleuth, German agent before the World War, investigator for the Depart- ment of Justice, star witness of a Sen- ate committee investigating Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty's official conduct, juicy raconteyr and inmate of Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. ‘The whole country first heard of him 15 years ago, after Mrs- Maude A. King, young and wealthy North Carolina matron, for whom he had been e gaged as protector, suffered a fatal pis- tol wound. Acquitted in Slaying. Employed to guard Mrs, King against an alleged fortune-hunter, he had been Teceiving money from her to invest. One day, at Blackwelder's Spring, near Concord, N. , Means' birthplace, Means and Mrs. King. according to his story later on the witness stand, went out to get some pistol practice. . Means said they left the pistol in the crotch of a tree and went to a Spring to drink. Returning, Mrs. King touched the pistol in some manner and it dis- charged, inflicting a fatal wound back of the left ear. The result was a murder charge against Means, but after a long trial he was acquitted. He sued a Chicago bank for a million dollars, charging & plot to hang him and get control of the $3,000,000 King estate. He also found a second will of the late husband of Mrs. King, but hand- writing experts called it a forgery. Afterward William J. Burns, head of the Bureau of Investigation of the De- partment of Justice, gave him a job and he soon was Indicted for con- spiring to violate the Volstead act and for swindling men who paid to get whisky out of bonded warehouses. He got a two-year sentence and a $10,000 fine. Repudiated Testimony. Meanwhile he became a harbinger of the storm that broke about the Harding administration. Carting trunkioads of documents before a Senate Committee, he made the senatorial eyes grow round by stories of big-scale bribe money. But later, it developed that his diaries in which he had recorded “every minute and second of my life” had been stolen. Still later he denounced his testimony as a “tissue of lies” put into his mouth. In July of 1925 he was convicted of conspiring to obstruct justice, a charge that grew out of his assurances to offi- cers of the Glass Casket Co. of Altoona, Pa., that he could get an indictment against them quashed and assure them continued prosperity in a stock-selling plan. He was convicted and drew an- other 2-year sentence and $10,000 fine. He was sued by the Government for $267,614 back taxes, but the suit was never pushed. When his two terms were up, Means failed to scrape up the $20,- 000 fines. He pleaded that he was & pauper, got out and became co-author of “The Strange Death of President Harding.” YOUTH STILL MISSING AFTER FATAL CRASH Hyattsville Boy, 16, Seen but Once. Mother Was Killed Yesterday in Fairfax. Special Dispatch to Fhe Star. FAIRFAX, Vi May 6.—No trace had been found late last night of Allan Gruver, 16, son of Mrs. Elizabeth Gruver of Hyattsville, Md, who was killed yesterday morning in an accl- dent on the Little River pike several miles above Fairfax, Ses parties were organized yesterday afternoon ta look for him when it became evideny that he had been overcome either grief at his mother’s death or fear possible consequences to himself. Young Gruver was dflfl:& the when the accident occurr *® said. Allan, with his sister Marjorie #nd Miss Elizabeth Cage of Brentwood, Md., were given first aid at a nearby home after the accident, but Allan disap< peared before the party was taken to Alexandria Hospital by Officers A. W. Mills and Carl McIntosh. He was seen only once since, at 3 o'clock, when he returned to the scene of the accident for a few minutes, being frightened away again by an approaching car. Special Dispatch to The Star. HYATTSVILLE, Md, May 6—PFu- neral services for Mrs. Elizabeth Gru- ver, who was killed in an automobile accident yesterday near Fairfax, Va, will be conducted tomorrow at 2 p.m. at her late home, in West Hyattsville, by Rev. C. I Flory, pastor of the Hy= attsville Southern Methodist Church. Burial will be in Washington Memorial Cemetery. Death Ends Mystery. Efforts of the police of Glasgow, Scotland, to solve the mystery of the armed hold-up of a Glasgow store- keeper last December, have been stop- ped following the confession of a m: He was Stephen Hastings, 23, of Perth- shire, who was arrested some time ago, but was found to be in such an ad- vanced state of tuberculosis that he could not stand trial. \POLICEMAN’S SLAYER DIES IN ELECTRIC CHAIR Alfred Scott Aldridge Goes Death for Murder of Harry J. McDonald. Alfred Scott Aldridge, 28, colored, was electrocuted today at the District Jail for the slaying of Harry J. McDon- M;;dz.gl policeman, in a robbery in July, to | Aldridge was pronounced dead by Dr ‘A. Magruder MacDonald, deputv cor- | oner, after the electric current had | | fic:ursed through his body for three min- | es. | . The execution marked the end of a | long legal fight to save Aldridge's life. His attorney, James F. Reilly, took his | case to the U. 8. Supreme Court twice, | once obtaining a reversal of the lower He was tried three times. | PATRICK REAPPOINTED FOR THREE-YEAR TERM Maj. Gen. Mason M. Patrick, whose term as member of the Public Utilities Commission will expire June 30, was reappointed today by President Hoover for another term of three years. The President sent Gen. Patrick’s nomina- tion to the Senate this morning. Announcement to this effect at the White House today put at rest rumors | that have recently been prevalent to the effect that Gen. Patrick, who has | been serving as chairman of the Utili- ties Commission, would retire to private e. Gen. Patrick was appointed to the on President Hoover in 1929 to succeed John W, Childress. At the time of his retirement as a major general in the Army. Gen. Patrick was to the allegations. Fm McLean was said they would not lose their sight. | chief of l‘ Air Service. April Circulation Daily...122,638 Sunday, 128,693 District of Columbia, ss MIN¢ 'BOLD, Business Manager { THE EVENING AND SUNDAY STAR, does solemnly swear tiat the actual number of copies of the paver named sold and dis- tributed during the month of April. A.D. 1932, was as follows DAILY. Days. Coples. 19 1 1 1 i 1 124,964 Less adjustments ..... Total net datly circulation:.. e daily net paid 2verage oum etc..... Avera, treu Dat service, Daily average net circulation. SUNDAY. Coples. Days. 130181 17 129978 24 . Less adiustments Total Sunday net circulation...,. Average net paid Sunda Average ice, cliculation 12848 Bubscribed and sworn_ts this on dey st DB el Seters me (8eal) P. YOUNT, Notary Publie.