Evening Star Newspaper, May 26, 1932, Page 17

Wash ington News §60,000 000 PROMISE LINKED IN SWINDLE, CHARGED T0 PAIR Dr. Frank L. Purdy and Wife Accused of Swindling Mrs. Florence M. Kay. CHEST OF GOLD LINKED IN PAYMENT OF $19,000 Couple Said to Have Collected Money to Pay for Shipping Huge Gift. Charged with obtaining more than $19,000 from Mrs. Florence Means Kay, of 1840 Mintwood place, on the repre- sentation that it was to defray the cost of bringing from abroad a chest con- taining a gift of $60,000,000, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Fields Purdy today was being sought by Federal agents. Her husband, Dr. Frank L. Purdy, was arrested on the same charge—false pretenses—in their elaborate suite in the Shoreham Hotel yesterday. Dr. Purdy, who is said to have been retired from practice for a number of years on account of ill heaith, denies any knowledge of the reputed trans- action. unable to say, he declared toda is believed to have left the city. Sued on Promissory Notes. Mrs. Purdy recently was sued on two promissory notes of $20.000 each by B N Wende of the Investment Building, who said he had aequired them from Mrs. Kay. Mrs. Kay, the widow of Edgar B. Kay, a consulting engineer, could not be reached for a statement, as to her charges, which were made yesterday when a Commissioner's warrant wes obtained for the Purdys According to Mrs. Kay's charges, the $19,128 was obtained from her in Jan- uary with the explanation that it was to bring over from England a great chest containing $60.000,000, which was being sent by “an old lady” as a gift to Mrs. Purdy. The chest was to arrive in New Yo and be taken to the Chase Nation: Bank, the warrant says, and the mon advanced by Mrs. Kay was to pay transportation charges. Enters Via Garbage Chute. Upon issuance of the warrant day She estes John J. Clarkson and Gus Cerimele, of billboards and the wire fence re- |releasing deeds of trust was carefull who sought the Purdys at the Shoreham and eventually succeeded in getting service after an opera-bouffe entry of the apartment through a garbage com- partment. Purdy, it was said, had been in- formed that the officers were at his door, but refused to answer their ring Hearing steps inside, the deputies said, they looked up to see Dr. Purdy watch- ing them through a ventilator. He ignored Clarkson’s request to open the |actually issued the permit for the erec- | door and had withdrawn, when Clark- son_discovered a small compartment leading from the kitchen and ostensibly used as a receptacle for a garbage container. Clarkson wriggled his way through| the outside trapdoor leading into the compartment and, once Inside, used a nail file to slip back the lock on another trapdoor leading into the kitchen. He was followed by Cerimele, who, however, is not built along the stream- lines of his companion and with diffi- culty managed to escape being wedged in the entry. Addresses Are Obtained. Dr. Purdy, who was at the telephone, was informed that he was under arrest, but Mrs. Purdy was not found. Dr. Purdy says he did not know her where- abouts, but the marshal's office today | came into possession of several out-of- town addresses furnished by a man who s2id he represented Mrs. Kay. Deputy Clarkson said these would be given to the Department of Justice and aid re- quested in finding the woman. Dr. Purdy was arraigned before United States Commissioner Needham C. Turnage, and bond for a hearing June 1 was fixed at $5,000 The case is being handled by As- sistant United States Attorney C. B. Murray. ‘The Wende suit says that on April 1 Mrs. Purdy made the two notes of $20,- 000 each, in favor of Mrs. Kay, and payable in 30 days, one at the Union Trust Co. and one at the District Na- tional Bank, and that the notes were in turn indorsed to him. Payment has been refused, he says. BALLSTON HIGH HOLDS ANNUAL “CADET DAY” Competitive Drill, Awarding of Commissions and Banquet Are Features. Bpecial Dispatch to The Star. BALLSTON, Va, May 26.—Competi- tive drill, presentation of commissions and warrants and the annual banquet of the Cadet Corps of the Washingto Lee High School featured “Cadet da; yesterday. ‘The special competitive drill between first platoons of Companies A and B was won by Company A, led by Cadet Capt. Tazewell Watson, who was later promoted to a cadet major. The Cadet Corps Band furnished the music under the direction of Warrant Officer L. S. Yassell, their instructor. The annual banquet was served in the cafeteria by the domestic science department, under the direc- tion of Miss Coralle Greenaway and Miss Catherine Firebaugh. S. P. Van- derslice. principal, was toastmaster. SEAS R S, SHERIFF’S SON FREED ON* CHARGE OF BRIBERY Bpecial Dispatch to The Star. ANNAPOLIS, May 26.—The trials of deputy sheriffs charged with demanding and receiving money payments from | is Legum and Harry Patterson Col- for not prosecuting or interfering fith their slot machines in the county will be again taken up by the local Circuit Court tomorrow. Four cases involving deputy sheriffs have been tried before Judge Robert Moss and a jury, three during the pres- ent term of court and on in February. In three cases the juries were dis- charged when they failed to agree on a verdict and in the fourth cace, that of Thomas Prout, son of Sherif R. Glenn Prout, the jury returned a ver- dict of not guilty after deliberating for 10 minutes. Whether his wife does, he is | Charges Swindle MRS. FLORENCE KAY. —Harris-Ewing Photo. CLEAN-UP BLOCKS BILLBOARD EXCUSE Unsightly Conditions Given as Reason for Poster Panels Removed. | Private wrecking crews have demon- strated the fallacy of the claim sup- Iporled by the District Commissioners in jbehalf of the billboard industry that a | new and taller billboard fence is needed |to screen unsightly conditions at New | York and Florida avenues northeast. | Within the last 24 hours the lessee of the square involved in the billboard !dispute has practically remedied condi- |tions complained of by the Commis- | sloners and used as an excuse by the billboard company to foster upon the Washington public its new type of poster panel. Sheds have been de- | molished, automobile dumps leveled, iand now only the existing billboards |themselves, for which the General Co. is respensible, remain on public parking space. | All the auto wrecking operations on | the square are now concealed behind a | neat whitewashed fence extending | cently erected to take the place of se |eral rotted boards. When the clean-up job is completed the operations behinc | this whitewashed fence on O street be- {tween First street and Florida avenue ‘will be invisible to pedestrians and | autosts. ! Past Policy Threatened. While the Commissioners have not yet tion of a new and now apparently un- necessary billboard fence, it is under- stood they are going ahead with that aim in mind. If they do so, it will go down on record as the first time in 10 years at least that any Board of Com- | missioners has capitulated to the bill- {board industry to the extent of author- izing the replacement of old boards | with new ones. For such a precedent Ithe billboard industry and the General | Outdoor Advertising Co. in particular | have battled for years. Heretofore their efforts have met with failure because of the firm stand taken by other Com- missioners. When civic interests reminded the Commissioners it was within their power to remove billboards from public parking space, and also to clean up conditions on the lot involved in the dispute, Capt. Hugh P. Oram, chief of | engineer inspection, began to investi- !gate. He instructed the police and Sign Inspector Thomas F. Roche to see what they could do to secure necessary co- operation. They found the manager of the com- pany who was responsible for the un- sightly heaps of wrecked cars not only willing but anxious to co-operate 100 per cent in such efforts. The manager, L. Glasser, who leases the ground from the Winslow estate, immediately put wrecking crews to work. The results showed that conditions do not now re- quire a 20-foot billboard fence to con- ceal them. Great Improvement Seen. An inspection of the site by a reporter | for The Star revealed earlier conditions vastly improved. On a previous visit last week the whitewashed fence which stands some 20 feet behind the few re- maining billboards was concealed from view by sheds and high dumps of auto- mobile wreckage. All this has been cleared away from the front of the fence. It is Mr. Glasser’s purpose to confine his wrecking operations in the lot behind the fence and to use the space between the fence and the edge of the public parking for the sale of used cars. This would mean that all the rubbish would be cleared away. These improvements, which will be | permanent, entirely knock out the argu- ment that a billboard barricade at that particular frontage on O street is neces- sary in the public_interest. In co- operating with the District authorities the wrecking company has gone much further than was expected of it. Even should the Commissioners grant the replacement permit to the billboard company, it was said today, the com- pany would be compelled to relinquish its use of public parking space. They have called for a surveyor's plat, how- ever, to determine the exact building line at the location. Signs Appear Unsafe. Mr. Glasser, the lessee of the lot, re- ceives no rental from the O street bill- boards which the company is so anxious to substitute with lifetime boards. The rentals, it was said, are paid to the owner. In the opinion of Inspector Roche, the existing signs are so near 50 per cent depreciated that in a comparatively short time they could be ordered down as unsafe. It is this intent of the sign regulations which the company seeks to evade with the consent of the Com- missioners. No effort has been made, apparently, to improve the old boards, even under the liberal allowances pro- ivided especially for the billboard com- i panies in the regulations. i Some of the leaders in the civic cam- paign that led to the enactment of the new sign law were of the opinion today that if the Commissioners go through with this replacement program it would warrant efforts to amend the regula- tions so as to safeguard the National Capital against any further encroach- ment of billboards. Individual business firms and department stores, it was pointed out, have been compelled to adhere strictly to the regulations. To compromise with the General Co., it was ‘claimed. was a discrimination which leventually would intrench billboards so [ key. strongly in Washington as to defeat the p urpose of the law. he pening Star WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION WASHINGTON. D. C, THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1932 PATRICK APPROVED FOR UTILITIES POST BY SENATE GROUP Nomination for Another Term Is Approved Without Opposition. FIVE LOCAL MEASURES RECEIVE INDORSEMENT Blaine Bill to Regulate Method of Releasing Deeds of Trust Included. ‘The nomination of Gen. Mason M. Patrick for another term on the Public Utilities Commission was approved and five bills were ordered favorably re- ported by the Senate District Commit- tee, presided over by Chairman Capper, late yesterday. The bills the committee decided to recommend to the Senate were: The drafted by Corporation Counsel Bride after consultations with various local organizations; the King bill, to regu- late foreclosure of mortgages, amend- ed to allow three months of grace before issuance of a final decree; two bills designed to facilitate commercial development of the Buzzard Point area between the Navy Yard and the War land between the District and the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks in developing a site for the new Keene School, in the vicinity of First and Ingraham streets northeast. Nomination Unopposed. The Patrick nomination was indorsed without opposition. When a passing reference was made to the dispute which has arisen over the commission’s meter order for taxicabs, Senator Blaine, Republican, of Wisconsin said he neither agreed nor disagreed with the commission on that. adding that it was largely a legal problem in any event. Senator Copeland, Democrat, of New York said Gen. Patrick has made a good commissioner. islenator King, Democrat, of Utah, offered no objection to approval of Gen. Patiick's reappointment, but said he woul{ advocate legislation in the econ- omy bill to prevent any Government appoirtee from drawing both a salary and au Army retirement allowance This applies to a_number of officials as well us to Gen. Patrick. Blaine Discusses Bill. Senator Blaine told the committee | it was given to Deputy Marshals some 15 or 20 feet behind the old line | the bill to safeguard the procedure of 5 prepared by the corporation counsl, who conferred with representatives of | the Real Estate Board, trust companies iand other groups. The Senator said his | information is that the bill in its | present form has met with general ap- | proval locally. | thorizes the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad Co. to_extend a and the other authorizes closing of cer- tain streets at the site selected by the Potomac Electric Power Co. for a new | power plant in that section. ARLINGTON SHERIFF SEEKS RADIO CARS Appeals to Business Men of County to Use Influence to Aid Police Work. By & Staff Correspondent of The Star ARLINGTON COUNTY COURT HOUSE, Va., May 26.—Sheriff Howard B. Fields today issued an appeal to the business men of the county to use their influence in his behalf to u-cur: rlflm;‘ ui] police cars. A request for suc zirspp}f:u already been made of the County Board, but as yet no action has been taken. At the present time all of the police use their own cars, the county furnish- ing only gasoline and oil. Sheriff Flelds believes that the county should furnish at least enough cars equipped with radio for night patrol. The Wash- ington police broadcasting station is at the disposal of the local police in trans- mitting messages and would be of in- valuable assistance in crime prevention if the police could make use of it, he claims. ELM STHEET‘EXTENSION BIDS WILL BE SOUGHT Advertisements for Work in Be- thesda to Be Placed Within Two Weeks. By a Staff Correspondent of The Star. BETHESDA, Md., May 26.—Bids for the work of extending Elm avenue from iits present terminus to Wisconsin Ave- nue will be advertised for within two weeks, it was announced today by Com- missioner Robert D. Hagner. now being drawn by County Engineer Harry B. Shaw. A concrete roadway, curbs, gutters and sidewalks will be constructed to furnish residents of the Leland section direct access to the Bethesda business district, to furnish impro fire protection for that area and to open a direct route to the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. Commissioner Hegner also announced that county road forces are now repair- ing New Cut road, skirting the front of the Burning Tree Club property. Upon completion of that project the streets in Brookmont section will be repaired. Blaine measure to regulate the method | of releasing deeds of trust, which was | College, and a bill for an exchange of | One of the Buzzard Point bills au-| spur track into the Buzzard Point area | Plans are | Rotarian Head ‘ DR. ARTHUR C. CHRISTIE. ROTARIANS ELECT DR, A, C. CHRISTI Other Officers Are Chosen at Annual Meeting of Washington Club. | The Washington Rotary Club at its annual meeting in the Willard Hotel last night elected Dr. Arthur C. Chris- tie as its president. succeeding S. Percy Thompson. Dr. Christie is president of the local medical society, president of the Y. M. C. A. and chairman of the Board of Trustees of American Uni- | versity. Other officers chosen at the meeting included Dr. Harrison E. Howe, vice president: Dr. David E. Buckingham, Dr. Frank W. Ballou and A. F. E. Horn, directors. They will be inducted into office July 1 Mr. Thompson presided. while John Brewer was judge of elections. A box- ing exhibition was presented under the direction of Carlyn Guy, master of cere- monies. The following local boxers partici- pated in the sparring events: Hymie Gorden, Elmer Wallace, Curley White, Ralph Matera. Willie Feary, Harry Gevinson, Harry Thompson, Charles Knell, Mike Tardugno, Joe Tardugno, Steve Muti and Joe Katalines. G. W. STUDENTS HELD " ON LARCENY CHARGE | Two Jailed in Baltimore When | They Try to Pawn Microscopes | Reported Stolen. Five George Washington University | students, three boys and two girls, were taken into custody by Baltimore police yesterday, when two of the young men attempted to pawn four microscopes | said to have been stolen from a labo- ratory at the university. The students reported to have tried to pawn the microscopes, valued at $125 | each, are Albert H. Cobb, 19, of Fair-| fax, Va., and George F. Miles, 17, of | Vienna, Va According to Patrolman Frederick | Singer, who arrested them in a pawn- shop in the northwestern section of| Baltimore, they admitted having stolen the microscopes from George Washing- ton University. The policeman placed them under arrest, he explained, be- cause several microsopes have been stolen from various Baltimore high | schools recently. | In an automobile parked outside the | pawnshop, the officer reported. he found | Dean M. Hays, 19, of the 5100 block of | Conduit road, and the two girls. | _ All were taken to the Northwestern | Police Station, where Cobb and Miles were locked up on a larceny charge and Hays was held as a witness. The young | women were released a short time later. |~ Inspector Frank S. W. Burke, chief |of the Washington Detective Bureau, | ordered Sergts. Jerry Flaherty and N. S. Hodkinson to go to Baltimore today to bring the three youths back to the Capital. 'FORMER BALTIMORE SHERIFF SUCCUMBS “Singing Tom” McNulty Aided Many Candidates With Voice Since 1884. Special Dispatch to The Star. BALTIMORE, May 26.—Thomas F. McNulty, sheriff of Baltimore from 1913 to 1923 and well known in Washington, died yesterday at his home here. He was 73 and had been in failing health | for more than a year. | He was known to thousands through- out this section of the country as | “Singing Tom.” - In 1884, at the request of Senator A. P. Gorman, McNulty toured Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia on a singing | tour for Grover Cleveland and in 1887 | he helped sing Gov. Elihu E. Jackson into office, meetings a night. His voice also aided the aspirations of John Walter Smith, Edwin Warfield, Austin L. Crothers and other less successful candidates. The former sheriff was past exalted ruler and past grand trustee of the | Elks and was for many years a member of the Knights of Columbus. Daniel Cave of Radnor Heights and Raymond Gralton of Alexandria, being Virginians of similar tastes, had a mutual introduction last night to the efficiency of the police radio alarm. Neither Cave nor Gralton knew each other when they had a similar desire to buy wh at Eleventh street and Pennsylvan! avenue. They parked their cars, alike as two peas in a pod, near each other at the curb and made their purchases. Gralton emerged first and entered Cave's car, which responded to Gralton's ignition He drove serenely homeward, while Cave, finding his machine MANY EXPLANATIONS NECESSARY WHEN AUTOISTS EXCHANGE CARS | Some one, she said, had called out to |CHILDREN SWALLOW crooning at six political | 33 FIANGE KILLS SELF BY CRASHING AUTO! AFTER POISON DRINK Thomas W. Wright Believed Goaded to Deed by Love Taunts. DELAY IN HOSPITAL TREATMENT PROBED Former Maryland U. Basket Ball Star Runs Machine Into Van at 70-Mile Speed. Goaded by taunts over his attentions to a ycung divorcee, Thomas Wilbur ‘Wright, 24-year-old former Maryland University student, last night drank a deadly poison and then, to make sure of his death, drove an automobile at 70 miles an hour along Bladensburg road until he crashed into a large van. Trafic Bureau officlals today were investigating the circumstances which led Traffic Officer K. P. Greenlow, who witnessed the accident, to take Wright to the fifth precinct station instead of rushing him to a hospital, but were in- clined, on reports so far revealed, to attach no blame to the policeman for the injured man's failure to receive hospital treatment sconer. Declared to Have Brooded. According to Mrs. Mary V. Perry, 23, of 2611 Brentwood road northeast, Wright's flancee, at whose home the student was living, he was brooding last night over the taunts of fellow students over his engagement to her. him. “Go on home to your wife.” Shortly before 8 o'clock, she said, young Wright disappeared in Mrs. Perry’s automobile. A few minutes later, according to the police report, the machine, traveling at a speed estimated at 70 miles an hour, crashed into a large van driven by Ernest Allen, 31, of Asheville, N. C Bystanders had pulled Wright from the wreckage of the machine when Officer Greenlow, off duty at the time, arrived at the scene. He took Wright into custcdy and suggested that he go to a hospital. Wright, apparently not seriously injured, according to Green- low, refused hospital treatment and asked to be taken home. Collapses in Station House. Greenlow took Wright to the fifth precinct station, however, preparing to place charges against him. On arrival at the station house Wright collapsed and the Casualty Hospital ambulance was called. Dr. Willlam E. Bowman, who was with the ambulance, examined Wright, discovered that the man had poison and ordered him removed to the hospital. where he died at 9:45 o'clock Dr. Bowman said today Wright un- doubtedly would have survived the in- juries he received in the accident, but that whatever delay there was in get- ting the man to the hospital failed to have any effect upon Wright's condi- tion. He said he did not believe medi- cal treatment could have saved Wright from the effects of the poison if he haé been brought to the hospital sooner. Puneral arrangements for Wright have not been completed today. His mother in Charlottesville, Va., has been notified. ‘Wright was a star basket ball player at the University of Maryland, but was dropped from the team on account of his low scholastic standing. A month ago he left school when his scholastic standing failed to nieet the university's standards. POISONOUS LIQUIDS Alexandria Mothers Rush Sons to| Hospital in Time to Save Their Lives. Special Dispatch to The Star. ALEXANDRIA, Va, May 26.—Two children had narrow escapes from death here yesterday when one drank a small | bottle of antiseptic fluid and the other swallowed a quantity of turpentine at their homes. The children, Bobbie Thomas, 2-year- old son of Mr. and Mrs. James Thomas of 1207 Prince street. and Gene Evans, 3-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Evans of 1117 Prince street, were rushed | to the Alexandria Hospital by their mothers in time to have effects of the poisonous liquids counteracted. After treatment both were pronounced out of danger and allowed to leave the hospital. ‘ALICE IN WONDERLAND’ PLAY TO BE REPEATED Junior Dramatic Club of Bethesda- Chevy Chase High School to Perform Tomorrow Night. The second presentation of “Alice in Wonderland” by the Junior Dramatic Club of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School will be given at the school to- morrow night, with Laura Jeanne Maurice in the role of Alice. ‘The play was presented by the group last Priday night before a capacity ouse. Other characters include Donn Straus- baugh, who plays Lewis Carroll, creator of the fantastic story; Elizabeth Wheel- er, Jane Dunbar, John Dodge, Dorothy Easter! , Henry Clarke, Lester Brooks, Horace McCoy, Willlam Berry, Helen Gwinn, Jacqueline Scott, Rene Beard, Jean Burns, Iverson Hutton, Georgia Eastman, Patsy Royster, Mar- jorie Cassey, Ruth Richmond, Marjorie Erickson, Anne Hagner, Henry Bernard and Shelton Clemmer. Music will be furnished by the high school orchestra. Inadvertent Trade of Identical Machines Leads Both to Police Entanglements. notified police. Gralton was much as- tonished on reaching Alexandria to be stopped by a policeman, who informed him he was driving a stranger’s auta- ‘mobile. Returning to Washington, Gralton Jjoined Cave in a good laugh when they compared their automobiles. They shook hands and parted. The incident was not closed, how- ever, as far as Cave was concerned. The radio description of his automobile had set the police in Washington and Virginia on the alert. Cave was stopped five times, he said, and had to offer as many explana- tions, between Washington and Radnor Heights. HOSPITAL IN.ANNAPOLIS taken | BOY MISSING SINCE FATAL CAR CRASH TOOK TRIP TO FLORIDA Hyattsville Youth, 19, Gone Three Weeks, Tells of Disappearance. Alan Gruver Made Journey to Jacksonville and Back on 20 Cents. Special Dispatch to The Star. HYATTSVILLE, Md, May 26.—An adventurous story of his wanderings along the Atlantic seaboard from Vir- ginia to Florida was unfolded today by Alan Gruver, 19 years old, who re- turned last night to his West Hyatts- ville home, from which he has been missing since May 5. Exactly three weeks ago today an automobile driven by Alan skidded and overturned near Fairfax, Va., instantly killing his mother d injuring the youth and his father. Alan reappeared on the scene of the accident after being given first aid, but disappeared shortly afterward. Police, firemen, friends and relatives of the youth searched for him for days in vain. Lost 20 Pounds in 20 Days. Still suffering from injuries received in the accident and having lost 20 ing” Alan was seen by three school girl acquaintances yesterday afternoon and persuaded to return home. He told his family a motorist him a lift all the way to Roanoke, Va., the day of the accident. With only $2 in his pockets, he succeeded in hitch- hiking his way to Jacksonville, Fla., his “traveling expenses” for this trip being only 20 cents, which he spent for bread. according to members of his family. At Jacksonville Alan sought work at an automobile plant and was required to take a physical examination, dur- ing which it was found he had a broken wrist, two fractured ribs, a wrenched back and forehead lacera- tions. He was treated at the plant, but failed to get work. Members of the family said they would have the wrist X-rayed and his ;:;ger injuries treated by a physician ay. gave Week in Jacksonville. Alan spent more than a week in Jack- | sonville. He told his sister Evangeline | he obtained food on several occasions by doing odd jobs for bakeries. pounds in the 20 days he was “miss- | Society and General kKK ALAN GRUVER. He returned to Washington on a freight train, according to his sister, arriving last Friday. He rented a room in the 1200 block of K street, Washing- ton. Miss Gruver says Alan spent last Sunday at home, obtaining some money and clothes, but carefully concealing himself from members of the household. Yesterday afternoon Dorothy Ordwein, |a student at the University of Mary- land; Ruth Swingle, a Washington business college student, both of whom | were classmates of Alan’s at the Hyatts- | ville High School, and Lucile Black, | who attended the Sunday school of the ‘Hyalstllle Methodist Church with the youth, saw him near Thirteenth and G streets. H | Police Are Notified. | | Miss Black communicated with Police- man Bruce Black, statlon clerk at the ninth precinct, who notified police | headquarters. Detective Sergt. Eugene | Davis found Alan talking to the girls and brought him to headquarters. The family was immediately notified and | PAGE B—1 TWO ARE INDICTED FOR FIRST-DEGREE MURDER BY JURY Ervin McFadden and Willie Felder Accused of Cutting Victims to Death. EX-INSURANCE AGENT FACES FORGERY COUNTS Three Homicide Cases Involving Four Persons Are Ignored in Report of Group. Two charges of murder in the first ‘,dpgl'e€ headed the 20 indictments re- ‘Dort('d today by the District Grand | Jury to Justice James M. Proctor Three other homicide charges, involv- ing four persons, were ignored by the grand jurors. Ervin McFadden, colored, is accused | of first-degree murder in connection with the death of James C. Havenner, white, whom he is said to have slashed With a razor in the rear yard of 320 C street southwest May 17. McFad- den told the police that he had been drinking with the white man, who at- tempted to rob him. Murder in the first degree is also charged against Willie Pelder, colored. He is said to have cut Thomas Hill, also colored, with a pocket penknife s‘r;r;l 20 at 80 Defrees street. Hill died Three Cases Tgnored. sent for him. Even when greeted by his sister and | urged to go home, Alan said he did not | want to, apparently fearing he would | not be welcome. He finally yielded to | the entreaties of his sister and the | logic of Detective Davis | The entire neighborhood turned out | last night to welcome Alan home. It | was said he would remain at home, | helping to run the poultry farm which | his father, Ira K. Gruver, operates AUTHORITY LACKING FOR AIRPORT LEASE Col. Young Gives Views on Proposal to Turn Terminal Over to U. S. The proposal of owners of Washing- ton Hoover Airport to lease the local air transport terminal to the Pederal Government for operation by the De- partment of Commerce as a model mu- nicipal airport will require legislative action by Congress before the offer can be accepted, it was stated today by Clarence M. Young. Assistant Secre- tary of Commerce for Aeronautics. Col. Young said that the Department of Commerce is willing to assist in any way within its legal limitations to give No Opposition Planned. 1f the proposal to lease the airport to the Government is the only way out of the difficulties now facing the air- port operators, he indicated, the de- partment would not oppose the plan. Col. Young said that the offer of the owners of Washington Airport had been discussed with him by S. J. Solomon, legal representative of National Avia- tion Corporation, who publicly an- nounced the plan yesterday. Solomon was informed that congressional action would be required and indicated that he would take steps to obtain the nec- essary legislation. Col. Young indicated that the present airport facilities are not entirely satis- factory in the eyes of the Department of Commerce Aeronautics Branch. Air- port experts of the department believe that the roadway between Washington Alrport and Hoover Field should be closed and the entire area made avail- able as a single landing field. Improvement Blocked. He said the department appreciated the efforts which have been made by the operators of the airport to enlarge the landing area by filling in marshes to the sout® of the field, but expressed the belief that still further enlarge- ment must be made before the field is suitable for large-scale air transport operations. Such improvement of the field has been blocked by efforts of the Federal Government to claim title to 46 acres of the landing area through action now pending in the Department of Justice. Unable to make the improvements re- quired by the Department of Commerce because of the pending legal action, of- ficials of the airport decided that the only solution of the problem was to turn the entire airport over to the Govern- ment. e HELD IN SHOOTING Several Lakeland Colcred Persons Jailed in Wounding of Girl. By a Staff Correspondent of The Star. LAKELAND, Md., May 26—Several colored men and women were locked up at Hyattsville early today by County Po- liceman Reese and Constable Gasch after Rozier Bradford, colored, 15, was shot and seriously wounded. the Capital proper airport facilities. | | | ( ACTION POSTPONED AGAINST GAS FIRW Utilities Commission Sets Aside Case Pending New Developments. | | | | | | | The Public Utilities Commission, upon ! the advice of William A. Roberts, its general counsel, again today postponed | consideration of proposed action against | the Washington Gas Light Co. for al- leged technical violations of a recent | order forbidding voting on the majority | stock while held by the present owners. | The gas case was touched only briefly | at the semi-weekly meeting of the com mission. and set aside pending further | developments. The commission, it was | said. is awaiting a report from Arthur Dean before making another move. ! Dean, a member of the firm of Sulli- van & Cromwell of New York. legal | representatives of interests controlling | the gas company, last week promised | the commission a report which, he said, would show that the present owners | of the majority stock would dispose of it in a legal way and in a way which| would meet the commission’s approval. | No intimation was given, however, as| to the details of the negotiations. Two meetings of the board of direc- tors following issuance of the order | forbidding voting of the majority stock are said to constitute the technical vio- lations the commission is holding | against the company. George A. G.| | Wood, former president of the com- | pany, was ousted at one of these meet- | ings, and at the other Robert D. Weav- | er, president of the Georgetown Gas | Light Co.. was elected acting president | Three new members also were added to | the board of directors at the latter session. COLORED BOY INDICTED ON ATTEMPTED ASSAULT’ 'Page County Grand Jury Also| | Finds True Bill Against Man | on Perjury Charge. Special Dispatch to The Star. LURAY, Va., May 26.—Page County grand jury yesterday returned an in- |dictment against Leon Pry, colored, for attempted assault and one charging perjury against Charlie Tutwiler, 76, serving a term for a prohibition viola- tion. i J. FRED IMIRIE STRICKEN By a Staff Correspondent of The Star. BETHESDA, Md., May 26.—J. Fred Imirie, county building inspector for Bethesda district, chief of the Be- | thesda Volunteer Fire Department and | president of the Montgomery County Volunteer Firemen's Association, was recovering in Georgetown Hospital at Washington today from an emergency operation for appendicitis. Imirie was stricken while at work in the County Building yester: His condition was said by staff physicians tgdny to be not serious. GRADUATES 8 TONIGHT Exercises Will Be Held at St Anne’s Parish House for Emergency Class. Special Dispatch to The Star. ANNAPOLIS, May 26.—The largest class to graduate from the Emergency Hospital Training School for Nurses will receive their diplomas at the St. Anne’s Parish House tonight. ‘The graduates are Mary Ann Hodges, | Riva; Louise Davidsonville; Mar- %“l.l’fi Schilasky, Washington; Ethel icker, Edgewater; Susie Rawlings, Eastport; Mrs. Margaret Ruckle, Balti- more, and Sarah Hallock and Dorothy Myers of Annapolis. Dr. Charles Reid Edwards of the University of Maryland Hospital and Chaplain Frank A. Lash of the Naval Academy will speak. GARNER STILL DENIES INTENTION OF HEADING PARTY’S TICKET Speaker in Letters to Leib Declares Hat Will Remain Out of Presidential Ring. By the Associated Press. Speaker Garner still has no intention of throwing his hat into the presidential ring and 1s on record as hoping for a Democratic national convention “har- In three brief letters to Joseph H. Leib of South Bend, Ind., all written 1 | Since the Garner victory in the Cali- fornia primary, Mr. Garner has re- peated his previous declarations, but has added no further statement re- specting his candidacy. As given to the Assoclated Press by Mr. Leib, these letters say: On May “I am, of course, aware of the movement that has been inaugu- rated by my friends in Texas and else- where, but I have no connection theres with. The duties and responsibilities of the Speakership require all my time and thought, and I would be doing an injustice to the country and myself if I permitted anything to distract my at- tention from these duties."” On May 12: “I am taking no part in any préconvention campaigns and, like yourself, I am very hopeful that the convention will be harmonious in every respect.” On May 17: “T have no intention of throwing my hat into the ring” fol- lowed by a reiteration that he is giving his entire time and thought to the du- ties of the Speakership.” The grand jurors exonerated Joseph Garner, colored, who shot Harry Driver, also colored. April 5, at 1224 First street southwest. Garner died April 9. He was said to have been the aggressor. They ignored a charge of homicide against Columbus McCau- ley, who had been held by a coroner's jury as responsible for the death of Donald McLean in an auto collision May 11 at Fourteenth and V streets. The homicide charge against James R. Carter and James H. Nichen, both colored, also wes ignored. They had | been held for the death of Dorothy L. Clark May lision at street Arthur Atamian, former agent of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., is charged with two cases of forgery. He is accused of obtaining possession of a policy of insurance belonging to Alfred R. Wilkerson on pretense of getting a dividend credit and to have forged the name of the policvholder to an application to the company for cash surrender. A check came from the New York office for $69.12 to Wil- kerson's order and the charge is made that Atamian forged the indorsement and cashed the check in January. March 9, it is charged, Atamian ob- tained possession of a policy belonging to George and Elsie Hoffman, sur- rendered it to the company and received a check for $178.79, which he is said to have forged. He is said to have fied the jurisdiction. Accused of Assault. Assault with a dangerous weapon is alleged against Anthony Finelli, man- ager of the Valet Shop at Tenth and P streets, who is said to have shot Ed- ward Green, colored, an employe. May 13, following an argument over tips. The grand jurors also refused to in- dict Nelson A. Ashby. false pretenses; Tony Branca and Leroy Adams, rob- bery; Frank Robinson, assault with & dangerous weapon; John Alexander and James C. Thomas, larceny: Alfred D. Norman, James Thompson and Eddie Patterson, joy-riding. Others indicted and the charges against them include: Asia Harris, Allen Robinson and Henry A. Nathaniel, joy-riding: Edward Miller, grand lar- ceny; Vernon B. Johnson, housebreak- ing and larcen: James R. Sheehan, Charles C. Murray, Clifford F. Ward and Robert P. Davis (two cases). house- breaking and larceny: Willie Smith and Sammie Lee Sanders, assault with in- tent to commit robbery: Lloyd Wilson (two eases), robbery; Willlam Kinnard, Robert Davis and Homer Berkley (two cases), assault with dangerous weapons; Albert J. Gleason and Dennis A. Ma- honey, violation Harrison narcotic act. — = POLICE AID IS ASKED IN TREE DESTRUCTION Silver Spring Citizen's Are Aroused by Uprooting of 10 Silver Maples. 711 in an automobile col- New Jersey avenue and H Special Dispatch to The Star. SILVER SPRING, Md, May 26— Officials of the Blair Citizens’ Associa- tion, incensed by the destruction last night of 10 silver maple trees planted on Faulkland drive as part of the association’s beautification program, to- day appealed to Montgomery County police to conduct an inquiry. The assoclation planted 17 trees on Faulkland drive Monday in connection with the program it recently adopted for the beautification of Silver Spring's streets and 10 of the trees were found uprooted and broken off when residents of the street arose today. It is the second time trees planted by the association have been torn up by vandals, police were told. A number set out last year also were destroyed. POLICE OFFICER DIES Rites for John F. Dankmeyer to Be Held Saturday. = John P. Dankmeyer, 37 years old, of No. 2 police command, died at Walter Reed Hospital this morning. He served in the Army during the World War, taking leave of absence from the de- partment for this purpose. He was unmarried and lived with his mother at 2201 Monroe street northeast. Funeral services will be conducted at St. Francis de Sales Church, 2021 Rhode Island avenue northeast, at 9 o'clock Saturday morning. He was born in Washington January 1, 1895, and was appointed a member of the Metropolitan Police Force Au- gust 16, 1917. GUILD HOLDS BANQUET East Riverdale Lutheran Church Group Elects Officers. Special Dispatch to The Star. RIVERDALE, Md., May 26.—The an- nual banquet of the Guild of St. John's Lutheran Church of East Riverdale was held last night. Miss Mary Glading was elected president; Mrs. Katherine Frazier, vice president; Mrs. Charlotte Glading, treasurer; Mrs. Dorothy Gard- ner, secretary, and Mzs. Edith O'Don- nell, chaplain,