Evening Star Newspaper, September 24, 1932, Page 14

A—14 =¥ COURT FIGHT BEGUN BY PHONE COMPANY ON 10 PER CENT CUT Order Is Asked Restraining Utilities Body From Effec- tuating New Rates. RULING ON DEPRECIATION RESERVE ALSO ATTACKED Directors Assert Earnings Will Be Under 6 Per Cent—Hearing September 29. The Chesapeake & Potomac Tele- phone Co. today applied to District Su- preme Court for an order restraining the Public Utilities Commission frcm putting its 10 per cent telephone bill reduction into effect. ‘The company also asked the court to annul the commission’s order for it to credit 5 per cent on its depreciation reserve per annum, an order which would have the effect of making some $300,000 to $350,000 additional per an- num available for rate reductions. Attorneys Hoover and Van Orsdel, representing the telephone company, presented the petition to Chief Justice Alfred A. Wheat and he signed an order Tequiring the commission to show cause September 29 why the execution of the ‘should not be sus- 's bill claimed the pro- ceeding on which the order was based was really a valuation proceeding, but that no notice was issued for such a procecding and that the hearing was, therefore, illegal. It said the figures found by the commission for the value of land and rights of way are lower than those indicated by the evidence in the case. No finding. the bill stated, was made as to the amount allowed for “going value,” although the company introduc=d evidence to show that it was £4,000,000. Deduction Item Scored. ‘The deduction of $6,000,000 for de- preciation should have been not more than $2.600.000, the bill claimed. The return of 6 per cent, fixed by the com- mission, theuld have been not less than 7 per cent. As to the depreciation order, the com- pany said this matter is under control of the Interstate Commerce Commis- sion and the local commission has noth- ing to do with it, and, therefcre, its order is void. The board of directors of the com- pany at the same time icsued 3 state- xplaining its stand in the con- the cpinion of the board of s and officers of the company,” statement said, “that compliance _the recent orders of the Public es Commission relating to rates, | valuation, depr | damental questions would seriously handicap the company in furnishing | adequate and satisfactory service to the | eople of Washington. Recall Beom Times Policy. “The Chesapeake & Potomac Tele- | phone Co., with its 3,000 employes, de- sires to conduct its business in the in- terest of the public, not only for a tem- porary period, but year in and year out. | 1t has been operated and regulated to maintain reasonable charges and earn- | ings at all times. Tt did not _increase fts charges in boom times. On the contrary, it made reductions in its charges and extended and improved its service in order to give the public more service and better serv- ice for the same or less money. There- fore, as its charges did not rise in good times it does not seem reasonable to reduce them merely because times are | less prosperous. This is the position vhich is being taken by many public utility commissions. “Our earnings are not at this time, ner have they at any time been, exces- sive. During the past 12 years the ear! ings of the company have averaged ap- proximately 6!, per cent on the actual cost of the plant as shown by the com- pany’s books, which are kept in accord- ence with the system of accounts pre- scribed by the Interstate Commerce Commission. The earnings of the two- year period 1930-31 are practically the | same as the 12-year average. s “In common with most other busi- | nesses, cur revenues and earnings have been declining in recent months. Just how long or how far they will continue to decline we do not know. Based on the first eight months’ figures, the com- pany estimates that the earnings for 2 will be less than 6 per cent, with- 1t considering the rate reductions which have been ordered. “Additional taxes have recently been imposed on our business. Pending leg- islation will, if passed, still further in- crease our taxes. Taxes are an item of expense paid for indirectly by the | telephone user. { “When, in these circumstances, the commission orders a 10 per cent reduc- tion in rates, and with the implication that the price of telephone service is to £o up and down with the curves of busi- ness, it is making an innovation in regulation which, we believe, would be 25 unsatisfactory to the public as to the company. ““The company expects to_continue to furnish the people of Washington the | best possible telephone service and toi conduct its business in a manner con- sistent with the best interest of its customers, its employes and its stock- holders. Want Public Confidence. “We are glad at all times to explain the facts about our business and we fully realize that the stability of our business depends, upon public confi- dence. \ “The board of directors has followed closely the progress of this case. Mem- bers of the board have attended hear- ings before the commission. We have| carefully considered the contents of the | commission's orders. We have every de- sire to maintain harmonious relations with the commission, and it is with regret that we reach the decision that the terms of the orders are not in the best interest of the company or the public and that the company should submit its case to the courts.” POLICE BENEFIT GAME SCHEDULED FOR TODAY Base Ball Event to Ald ofllcers'l Widows and Orphans Twice Rained Out. Fwice balked by rain, the base ball game to be staged for the benefit of widows and orphans of three policemen killed recently, is scheduled for this afternoon at 3 o'clock in Griffith Sta- dium. The widows and orphans are to witness the game between the police team and that of the Columbia Heights Business Men’s Association. The game originally was scheduled for ‘Wednesday night, but it was rained out. Then last night was set for the contest, but_agaim rain interfered. The policemen killed were Milo J. Kennedy of the park police, slain by a Sol Bloom Takes Issue W THE EVENING‘\STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1932. Washington and His Teeth ith Dentist Who Said Paul Revere Made False Set for First President. AUL REVERE never made & set of false teeth for George Wash- ington and George Washington did not wear a set of false teeth when he made his historic cross- o ‘Rl:preséntltlve Sol Bloom of New York contradict the assertions of Dr. Walter J. Pryor, Cleveland dentist, made before the American Dental Association at its Buffalo con- vention September 14. Taking excep- tion to several of the conclusions reached by Dr. Pryor anent the artificial molars of the First President, Mr. Bloom issued a lengthy statement at Bicenten- nial Commission headquarters yester- day. Can Not Be Borne Out. “If the accounts of Dr. Pryor’s speech as carried in the Associated Press dis- patch and elsewhere are accurate, then he is guilty of making statements which “Our historical experts have searched the records pertaining to the life of George Washington for several years,” continued Representative Bloom, “and our error. “I wish to take exception to several statements made by Dr. Pryor as quoted in the newspapers: “1. That Paul Revere made a set false teeth for Gen. Washington. of g of teeth while crossing the Delaware. “3. That the teeth were set in & wTought gold_base. Mon Tt Washington's false teeth kept his ‘mouth agape’ and prevented him from closing it. “5. That Dr. Greenwood advised Washington to soak his teeth in port vine. "6, That Washington practiced den- tistry on his slaves. “Now let me straighten you out on these points,” said Bloom. Not False Before 1781, “There is absolutely no record or 1 of Paul Revere having made a set of false teeth for George Washington. Likewise, there is no record of Wash- ington having false teeth at the time of crossing the Delaware. “Washington's letters give no indica- tion of false teeth before 1781, though by that time he evidently had some, but not a full set. In a letter of that year cannot be proved by historical records. | dings show that Dr. Pryor is in | That Washington wore this set | to & Dr. Baker of Philadelphia, Wash- ington asks for ‘pinchers to fasten the wire of my teeth’ and a scraper to clean them. Writing from Newburgh, N. Y., to Maj. Billings at Poughkeepsie in 1783, he asks: ‘I pray you to send me -.‘ small file or two; one of which to be very thin, so much so as to pass be- tween the teeth if occasion should re- quire it In this same letter he also asks about coloring sealing wax. The gums of the false teeth were made of hippopotamus ivory and were tinted with wax., “Now, we know,” Representative Bloom went on, “that when Washing- ton came to New York in 1789, to as- sume the duties of the presidency, he consulted John Greenwood, a famous dentist of his day, who was located on the corner of William and Bleeker streets in New York City, about having a set of teeth made. These were made and the false teeth were fastened, as | Dr. Pryor stated, by a spring, but it ‘was a small-size gold-wire spring which could not possibly have had power enough to hold Washington's ‘mouth agape’ (as Dr. Pryor said) and to pre- vent him from closing it. Some Sets Survive. “Dr. Greenwood made several other sets later and was the proud possessor of Washington's last tooth, which evi- dently had been forced out of the gen- eral's jaw by the pressure of the false set around it, in 1795. One or more of the sets of teeth have survived and dis- prove the statement about the gold base, as does the correspondence. “As to advising the general to soak | his teeth in port wine, the dentist's ad- | vice in a letter of Deeember 28, 1798, was exactly to the contrary. He said that the false teeth were biack either because of soaking them in port wine or because of drinking port wine. and suggested as a remedy to place them in clear water and clean them with chalk. “As for practicing dentistry on his slaves,” Bloom continued, “that opera- tion would be assigned to the overseers. ‘Though Washington wrote voluminously and left diaries and record books, there is nothing in these to show that he was even an_amateur dentist. “Now I hope,” Bloom concluded, “that this statement will set at rest such fab- }'icau«ms and distortions of historical acts.” | BANDITS ROB TWO DURING RAINGTORM. $466 Taken From E. A. Kelly by Two—Woman Thwarts Laundry Hold-up. Apparently taking advantage of con- | fusion created in the streets during the storm, bandits yesterday afternoon held up and robbed two persons. Edward A. Kelly, 1900 block of K street, was robbed of $466, he told po- lice, by two men who forced him into his automobile at pistol point at Nine- teenth and K streets. One of the men, Kelly sald, then climbed behind the steering wheel and drove him to Twen- | tieth street and New Hampshire avenue while the other kept him covered with a gun. At the latter intersection the men, according to police, jumped out of the car and ran up Twentieth street. Mrs. Nora Oshorne, 1900 block of Eighteenth street, by a ruse succeeded in preventing two armed bandits from obtaining more than $6 when they held up a Palace Laundry branch in the 1700 block of Connecticut avenue. Pointing a pistol at Mrs. Osborne, the men demanded money and she hastily handed over to them $6 and said that was all she had. The men then walked from the store. A much larger sum actually was on hand at the time, it is said. Descriptions of the men in the two hold-ups were furnished police, and it is thought both robberies may have been committed by the same pair. William Lee, 1200 block of New Jersey avenue southeast, reported to police he had been robbed of $3 by two colored men whom he had given a “lift” on a wagon. CHEST WILL COMBAT CRITICS OF ITS WORK “Advance Guard” to Reply to Those Misinformed of Relief Program and Agencies. The Community Chest will organize an “advance guard” of spokesmen this year to combat misinformation con- cerning its agencies and management usually prevalent at campaign time. Plans for the new good will unit were outlined to the council of Community Chest executives yesterday by HS Fitz, captain of the “advance guard. Stafls of various agencies allied under the Chest will be enlisted in the unit and are to inform themselves as fully as possible on Community Chest affairs in order to distribute first-hand infor- mation to the public. Others in the advance guard will be board members of agencies, trustees of the Community Chest, members of the Campaign Committee and prominent residents not associated with the or- tion. g.'Xll'lhz: advance guard members will wear special Community Chest buttons and pledge themselves to answer misin- formed critics of the organizations and tell the story of the Chest at every suitable opportunity. The new guard, in co-operation with the Community Chest Speakers’ Bu- reau, will arrange to furnish speakers to any group desiring more information of the Community Chest. | HOME BANK BARD POSSRESTRCTED Co’mmercial Bankers Not to| Be Given Places, Says Chairman Fort. | Commercial bankers are not to be| given places on the directorate of the | Federal Home Loan Bank Board, Chair- man Franklin W. Fort of the board said | today. | He declared this action had been taken not by eny specific ruling of the bcard, | but that the law provides that 9 of the | 11 directors of each regional bank be | selected from the fleld of home financing |and that their successors be officers or directors of institutions hclding stock in the bank. The two remaining directors n each case are to be representatives of the public interest. Fort Returns to Office. Chairman Fort returned to his office today from a trip to Swampscott, Mass., | and the bcard settled down to the task | of selecting a directorate from 10 of the | 12 banks. Two days ago directors from |the Cincinnati regional banks were | named. | Shortly after Mr. Fort's return the | board named the nine men who will | serve as directors but till January 1 in | the twelfth district, comprising’ Cali- | fornia, Nevada, Arizona and Hawali. The regional bank of this district is to be lacated at Los Angeles and will have a minimum capital stock of $10,000,000. The names of the two directors rep- | resenting the public interest were also ‘annaunced and while the statutes pro- | vide for the election of nine new di- rectors on January 1, no limitation is |made for the public interest directors | s to the time they shall hold office. Representatives of Public. | The two directors representing the | public interest in the twelfth district are | Adolph Schleicher of Los Angeles, pres- |ident of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and George O. Davis of San Francisco, president of the White House Department Store. The nine other directors are C. H.| Wayne, Los Angeles; H. B. Katcherside, | Long Beach; Robert Odell and R. M. ! Tobin, San Francisco; Edwin M. Ein- stein, Fresno; Perry T. Tompkin® Berkeley; Harry S. Wanzer, Sacra- mento; J. Lester Miller, San Jose; A. M. Pranklin, Tucson. Both members said they expected the other directorates to be named within | the coming week. It is understood the board if experiencing difficulty in pre- vailing upon competent men to accept appointments. This is said to be due to a number of causes, principally to the fact that the initial boards will |serve only until the first of the year, when the building and loan associations themselves are to make appointments as provided by law. AMICITIA CLUB ACTIVE Will Resume Fall Operation on October 4. The Amicitia Club will resume ac- tivities for the Fall season October 4, Gertrude M. Strong, president, an- nounced yesterday following a meeting held at her home earlier in the week. The club, of which social service work is the principal activity, will attend the Y. W. C. A. supper on - tober 4. A house party will be held at V:ls’cnnlon Lodge, Cherrydale, on Oc- tober 15. Outside Perched on a summit_on Santiago Peak, in the California Sierras, Percy (C. Everett, loneliest of the Forest Serv- jce lookout men, keeps in touch with the outside world only through Army airplane pilots he never has seen face to_face. Everett, must keep vigil against fires in the Cleveland National Forest, in an area which is closed even to hikers be- cause of the fire menace. No visitors ever reach the mountain summit where Everett keeps watch. Mail arrives not oftener than once a month, he has no radio and _telephone calls are held rigidly to official business as an econo- group of colored men in Logan Circle; George W. Shinault, shot by a colored man when he answered a police radio call, and Elmer A. Swanson, killed by a maniac who had barricaded himself in @ house, el lonely station in training operations, came to his relief by dropping newspapers, magazines PLANES DROP NEWS OF WORLD TO WATCHMAN ON LONELY PEAK Pilots Whom He Never Sees Face to Face Form His Only | him .Contact. other reading material at frequent in- tervals. This called.for keen judgment on the part of the pilots, since they had to place the pacl within the confines of a narrow tral to the top of the jagged peak. Several flights were necessary before the Army fiyers gained sufficient skill to bomb the mountain trail without losing the week’s news down the sides of the forest-covered slopes. Now, as the planes circle over, Everett always waves enthusiastic appreciation from the top of his steel tower. On rare occasions when supplies or mail are brought to him he sends back written thanks to friends he never has djt reports, with vociferous commendations and scal criticisms on_the suc- and | cesses and failures of their efforts. ' of Capitol Heights, Md., said to be the NEW CIVIL SERVICE CLASSIFYING BODY WILL BE CREATED Personnel Board to Cease as Independent Agency on October 1. COMMISSION TO ABSORB PRESENT ACTIVITIES System of Handling Ratings, Re- tirement, Transfers and Separa- tions Are Announced. A group to be known as the Division of Personnel Classification will be cre- ated in the Civil Service Commission to take over the function of the Personnel Classification Board, which goes out of existence as an independent agency on October 1, when it is absorbed by the commission, it was announced today. The moving of the board will st Monday into quarters which have al- ready been arranged. While the duties of the board will in great part be han- dled by the new division, some of its activities already are being merged with commission activities already in existence. In this connection the commission has arranged the following set-up: The duty of performing surveys and making recommendations in connection with the revision of the efficiency rat- ing system and research in connection with the theory and practice of classi- fication go to the Research Division. The service record and retirement division will pass upon reductions and separations connected with efficiency rating work. The board of appeals and review will hear and determine appeals on allocation matters. The transfer of the board will bring some dismissals of excess personnel, but the number has not yet been deter- mined, it was said today at the com- mission. The economy law by which the merger is taking place specifically provided that those employes who were not needed under the consolidation plan should be cut off from the service. On :ug\ast 31 there were 58 employes at the oard. FALL ASSERTS ITSELF AND DISPELLS HEAT| Wind and Rain Storm Accompanies Change of Season Doing Little Harm. Autumn, which officially arrived at | 1:16 a.m. yesterday, asserted its right to | displace a stubborn Summer yesterday afternoon, and the storm it brought | with it lashed into the city for more than an hour, sent the temperature down to more moderate levels, and left as suddenly as it came. The storm, accompanied by a wind of | about 30 miles an hour, did little serious damage. Several minor traffic acci- dents, a few broken trees and window glasses were attributed to it, but that was all. Traffic was tied up for some time by the downpour, which came just as Government workers were leaving their offices, bringing 1.54 inches of pre- cipitation. ‘The Weather Bureau said the mer- cury dropped from the day’s maximum, 86 degrees at 2:30 p.m., to 66 degrees at 4 pm. Last night's minimum was 58 degrees, and the rate of the mercury’s | climb today indicated temperatures | would be moderate. Fair weather is forecast for the week end. D. C. WOMAN WETS | GOING TO CONVENTION Two Officers of Local Council Will Attend Sessions Twin Cities. in Two officers of the local council will attend a convention of the Women's | Organization for National Prohibition Reform at Minneapolis and St. Paul Wednesday and Thursday to heip organize opposition to dry congres- | sional candidates in the Novembe: elections. Mrs. William Beverly Mason, chair- man of the District council, will leave | Washington tomorrow for the meeting, while Mrs. Henry Leonard, vice chair- man, plans to stop in the Twin Cities en route home from- Colorado. The drive will be based, Mrs. Mason said, on a poll of all candidates to determine their stand on prohibition. | The result of the poll will be announced | at the convention Wednesday. “The fight for repeal of the eighteenth ; amendment,” Mrs. Mason declared, “will be defermined in the Senate and House of Representatives, and our organization believes the voters are entitled to know how each candidate stands on the dry issue.” MAN, 70, BADLY HURT WHEN STRUCK BY AUTO Harry Kolodin Enocked Down in Northeast—Policeman Injured by Colored Driver. Harry Kolodin, 70, of the 1000 block of I street northeast, was seriously in- jured last night when knocked down by an automobile at Fifteenth and H streets northeast. Mike Biuccese, 17, driver of the car, was charged with reckless driving and released under $500 bond. Police are seeking a colored man as the hit-and-run driver whose automo- bile yesterday slightly injured Detec- tive Sergt. Thomas Bragg, 41, member of the headquarters check squad. Bragg was treated at Emergency Hospital for cuts on the leg. The detective reported he told the colored man to drive on when he was found to be blocking traffic and that the man deliberately drove straight at WILL ATTEND CARNIVAL Altrock, Judge and Kerr to Aid Church Benefit. ‘Three representatives of the Wash- Club, Nick Altrock, Joe Judge Kerr,t\m‘iln gwwnd the nflm] program of St. ’s carnival %fit Seventh and Monroe streets no to autograph base balls and greet the crowd. They. will leave Phila- Gelphia immediately after the game this afternoon in order to be present. Other closing-night features include the appearance of three professional clowns. CITY NEWS IN BRITF. TODAY. Sisters, 1012 Ninth street, 8:30 pm. Zoo Snake Dying After Swallowi China Nest Egg Reptile, After Raid on Hen House, Finds Meal Indigestible. The new chicken snake at the Zoo is slithering about the Reptile House, blissfully unaware that the last egg he swallowed is tbe last egg hell ever swallow. The newcomer arrived in a box this week from Biloxi, Miss., where he was captured whilef pilfering a henhouse. The egg was responsible also for his capture. It so distended his girth he couldn't use the knot hole he entered by as an exit. ‘The egg itself, a china substitute, intended to inspire more eggs by fooling chickens, fooled the chicken snake as weil. He gulped it. And today, despite the fact that Zoo officials have failed to make him dis- gorge it, and can only await the fatal result, the snake is still satisfied with the egg he swallowed and declines fur- ther nourishment. He appears as well fed and contented, Headkeeper W. H. Blackburn said, as if he had eaten a real egg instead of a china nester. - ARLINE OFFICES | 10 BE MOVED HERE Ludington Reorganizes Staff and Schedules and Cuts Off Four Pilots. Removal of Ludington Air to Washington, coupled with general reorganization of the headquarters staff, reorganization of flying_schedules be- twen Washington and New York and dismissal of four veteran pilots as an economy measure was =nnounced today. The new offices here will.be opened Monday in the Airport Pool Building at Washington-Hoover Field. James M. Eaton, president of the lines, already has taken up headquarters here. Appointment of W. Sanger Green as general traffic manager, succeeding J. Sheehan, and election of Harry S. Moyer as assistant secretary treasurer, succeeding N. Sangree, was an- nounced today. The resignation of Eugene B. Vidal, vice president and one of the organizers of the lines, has been accepted. The flying schedules between Wash- ington and New York have been re- ducea from 24 to 20 trips a day, with departures from both ends each hour on the hour from 8 am. to 5 pm.: On the flights leaving on the even hour only one stop will be made, at Balti- more, and the elapsed time between Washington and New York is scheduled at 85 minutes. On the other flights a stop also will be made at Philadelphia. The rate schedules have been changed. Uniform rates will be charged for both express and local service at $12.95 one way and $20 a round trip. The former one-way rates were $13.25 for the ex- press planes and $12.50 for the tri motors. Beginning today all pilots on_th line will be put tkrough rigid blind flying_courses to qualify them for the new Commerce Department air trans- port rating, which all transport pilots must obtamn after January 1 to fly in scheduled airline service. A single- motored cabin monoplane has been equipped as a blind-flight instruction plane. Pilot George Pomeroy will be the instructor in blind. Each pilot will he general offices of the e be required to spend 25 hours “under | the hood” and to pass the Pigid Com- merce Department flight tests under the hood before the end of the year. HIGH TAXES ON OIL TERMED MENACE Head of Sun Co. Says.Levies Will Drive Industry Into Hands of Racketeers. High taxes in the oil industry have “put a premium on fraud and a penalty on honesty” and will eventually drive the business into the hands of gangsters and racketeers, J. Howard Pew, presi- dent of the Sun Oil Co., warns in an article_appearing this month in Na- tion's Business Magazine. “Wholesale tax dodging, bootlegging of gasoline, corruption of officials, wreck of price structure and demor- alization” have resulted from the heavy |levies laid upon oil products and in- come, Mr. Pew says. He asserts the oil business is paying $909,000,000 in taxes this year—equal to the State gov- ernment costs of 40 States. If such tax burdens were imposed on any other industry they would be con- sidered confiscatory, Mr. Pew says. The recently proposed sales tax might have equalized the Federal tax load, he mai&- tains, but “a conspiracy of selfishness™ defeated that plan and “compelled the imposition of $200,000,000 Federal taxes on the oil industry on top of State taxes already amounting to $709,000,000.” Citing_statistics to show the country averaged a tax of 3.3 cents per gallon in 1931, Mr. Pew expresses fear this level will be raised to 5 cents, and the 1-cent Federal tax is added to that figure. On the basis of a 4-cent State average and a 1-cent Federal levy, the sales tax on gasoline in the United States is 125 per cent, he charges. Births Reported. sirl. William B. L ibelle I, Jenkins, boy. Francisco and Ma: William E. and M: John' D. a Charles W. and Et uis E. and Mary C. Willlam and Janie M. oys. Alfred 8. and Ada Trayers, Richard C. and_Alice Savoy, Curtis J. @ Feagal dy. boy. ‘Hollingsworth, twin boy. boy. bov. boy. aen, sirl. rl. Dorothy ‘rhornton, eirl. Arthur and Lillie Hammond. boy. John H. and Estelle Frazier, boy. Agnes V. Reese, boy. Leon P. and Mary Briscoe. boy. Jerry and Frances Diggs. boy. Alex and Ruth Height, girl. James and Anna Hill, ‘girl. ‘owell. girl. Edward and_Aletha T James and Dorothy Arrington. girl. Charles and Maggle Hall, girl. Deaths Reported. Annie Barr, 83. St. Elizabeth's Hospital. Daniel_Wolf, 78, 220 H st. n.e. Mary E. Pursel 109 Kentucky ave. s.e. Mary D. Shepp 175, 1435 Monroe Edward J. Leh 5 D st. n.¢ b s ke Vernie E. Jones, 50, George Washington Hospital. Williams, 50, 641 E st. s.e. oo 37, 401 Bth st se. William and Bulah Miles, . ital. 2 SRS SR - 1 "Gige Blericn 15 gass promect ave. John T, Brown, 50, Gfllnl ‘Hospital. Fanby belasey. & s Uhien 6 v, Frank Bean. 35, Emergen pital. Ha Russell, jr., 25, ‘Hos- Capitol st. n. Hospital. T Geineer 13, Gallinger Hospital, ines from Philadelphia IRESTAURANT L0SS OF $50,000 WILL BE PROBED AT CAPITOL Shannon Promises Action After Election—Favors Contract Plan. OPPOSES PRESENT USE OF TAXPAYERS’ MONEY | |House and Senate Concessions Should- Be Let Out to Expert Caterer, Committee Chief Holds. Investigation of the Senate and House ! restaurants, which are being operated in the Capitol at an annual loss of abot $50,000, was promised yester- day by the special House Committee in- vestigating Government competition with private business. The committee | ‘will not resume hearings until after the election. Chairman Shannon and Represent: tive Rich, Republicans, of Pennsylva- | nia, both stated their conviction that | ‘this leakage of taxpayers’ money should stop and that the concessions in the | Capitol should be let out under con- tract to some private business interest. The hearings are being held as a re- sult of protests, including those by the | United States Chamber of Commerce. When they are resumed here in Novem- ber, members of the House Committee | on 'Accounts and the Senate Rules Com- mittee will be called upon to testify re- | | garding the alleged deficit of $40,000 in I'the operation of the House restaurant and $10,000 in the Senate restaurant. Plan Thorough Probe. “We intend to go thoroughly into this | metter,” said Representative Rich. “This $50,000 loss incurred in feeding members of Congress comes out of the | taxpayers’ money and must be stopped { Instead of this deficit, the concession | should be left to some experienced ca- | terer, who could run these restaurants at a profit.” | Cafeterias in Government buildings | are needed for welfare of the Federal | employes, are put there at the request of the employes and entail no mainte- nance cost to the Government, John W. | Philip, Fourth Assistant Postmaster | General, told the Special Committee yesterday. | | | | i Search of Creek For Her Body Is Halted by Woman “Here I Am,” Fire Res- cue Squad Told at P Street Bridge. Dorothy Coles, 28, colored, of the 1300 block of Twenty-second street, ap- peared in person last night to stop members of the fire rescue squad from dragging for her body in Rock Creek near the P Street Bridge at Twenty- second street. ‘The rescue squad was at work with grappling hooks and had a searchlight played orf the creek when the woman drove up in a taxicab and informed a policeman, “Here I am.” After the woman had been repcrted drowned, her husband, Jefferson Coles, | hurried to the third precinct police sta- tion and asked aid in recovering the "TRAFFIG SURVEYED IN30-MILE AREA Federal, State, County and Municipal Joint Data to Aid Improvements. Survey of traffic at approximately 250 points on highways within a 30- mile radius of Washington has been completed after more than a year of observation, which began September 10. 1931, it was announced today. The study to determine the average density of vehicular traffic on high- ways in this area was conducted jointly | by the Bureau of Public Roads and State, county and municipal aythori- ties. < Following reports of exact figures compiled during the survey, the sta- tistics will be used to assist develop- ment of a comprehensive and connected system of main highways in the Wash- ington regional area. The program of construction and betterment may in- clude suitable belt lines, relief roads | or necessary relocations and extension of existing highways. Although most of the survey observa- tions were made between 6 am. and 10 pm., traffic movement at all hours vas recorded and more than 113.000 t cards were mailed in by motorists giving information required by the bureau. The local agencies which co-oper- ated with the Bureau of Publis Roads and defrayed half the field expenses include: The District of Columbia. Na- Cafeterias proposed in new Govern-| tional Capital Park and Planning Com- ment buildings, he added, were author- | mission, Maryland State Roads Com- ized specifically by Congress. He an-|mission, Virginia State Highway Com- nounced his own department would | mission, City of Alexandria, Va.; Mary- order a strict ban against use of the | land-National Capital Park and Plan- cafeterias by others than Government | ning Commission, Arlington County, employes. | Va.; Fairfax Sounty, Va. ince | Claims Pledge Ignored. | Georges County, Md., and Montgomery | | Chairman Shannon called attention | to the promise of the Baltimore post-| | master to ban outsiders from the cafe- | | teria in the new building in that city, | | but he said he had gone into the eating | place unmolested and without inquiry | | since that order. | Shannon also called Philip's attention | |to the complaint of Minnesota retail | | grocers against a grocery store in the Minneapolis post_office. | “I have heard nothing of such a| | complaint, replied Philp. “If the| | complaint had been sent here it would | | have been investigated and if there is a grocery store in the building it would ihave been closed.” | Representative Rich announced that |he and Representative Shannon had taken a pledge to use every influence to block any more appropriations for cafe- terias in new Federal buildings. Civic FEDERA.TION DEFERS| ACTION ON RESIGNATION Committee Named to Draft Proper Resolution Concerning Rich- ardson’s Retirement. The Pederation of Civic Associations. jat a meeting last night in the District Building, deferred action on the resig- | nation of its president, Dr. George Richardson. until the November meet- | ing. Dr. Richardson has been presi-| dent for 12 years. A committee was named {o draft an appropriate resolu- tion on Dr. Richardson's impending re- tirement from the presidency. Miss Fay Bentley, head of the school | attendance division, will be invited to| attend the October meeting to explain conditions in colored schools. ‘The same rules for the election of of- ficers as were in effect last year again were adopted. The election takes place in November. EMPLOYES. ORGANIZE Organization of the United States Em- ployes’ Compensation Commission Lodge of the American Federation of Govern- ment Employes has been completed. it was announced today, following a meet- 1ing yesterday at the commission’s offices. Election of Theodore King as presi- | dent was announced. Other officers are Royali Greene, vice president: Miss Viola Eggert, secretary; Mrs. Yeba Hall, treasurer; Manley Allen, sergeant at arms, and Daniel M. Goodacre, delegate to the District Department and the | national convention. S 01d Ironsides Lecture. Comdr. Louis J. Gulliver, U. 8. N, commanding officer of the frigate Con- stitution, will speak at the Rockville, Md., Presbyterian Church, tomorrow evening, delivering an illustrated lecture on “Old Ironsides.” { County, Md. ARMY ENGINéERS FACE TASK OF RAISING BARGE Wreck With Cargo of Cement Re- garded as Menace to Navigation in Mouth of York River. Maj. Joseph D. Arthur, jr. War De- partment engineer for the Washington district, and his associates are facing the problem of raising a steel barge filled with cement which is a menac= to navigation at York Spit at the mouth of the York River. E. J. Merrick, engineer in Maj. ! Arthur’s office, said the insurance com- pany and the owners, the Lone Star Cement Co. of Rosslyn, Va., have aban- doned the craft, which juts two or| ee feet out of water and is nearly upside down. Maj. Arthur's office is investigating methods of raising the steel barge, which sank about six weeks ago while on its way here from Norfolk with some 950 tons of cement. A contract for this work will be awarded shortly. BRIDE CLARIFIES LAW ON USED-CAR DEALERS; Commissioners’ Former Interpreta- tion Wrong, Corporation Counsel Rules. Automobile dealers who accept used cars in trade for new must take out second-hand dealers’ licenses, at a cost of $50 per annum, according to an opinion given to the District Commis- sioners yesterday by Corporation Coun- sel William W. Bride. The opinion interpreted a section of the license act of July 1, 1932, although | the language in the previous license | act was the same, save for a change |from $40 to $50 for the cost of the license. The Commissioners, however, since 1921 had instructed the superin- tendent of licenses that automobile dealers did not come within the scope of the term “second-hand dealer.” Mr. Bride's opinion held that the Commis- sioners’ former interpretation was | wrong. From now on the license fee will be collected. CHEST TALKS SUNDAY The series of radio talks by Elwood Street, Community Chest director, on “Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Services,” has been shifted on the pro- gram of WRC and will be presented at 5 pm. Sundays instead of 4:45 Satur- days. ';‘umurruw'l talk will deal with the Boy Scouts. BY THOMAS R. HENRY. Coffee increases markedly a person's ability to learn. This has been demonstrated by ex- periments with graduate students at the psychological laboratories of Cath- olic University. Over a period of five days the volun- teer subjects were given a set men task. Before them was displayed for a brief period & large placard divided into squares. In each square w three-letter syllable and a instruc LEARNING ABILITY OF STUDENTS QUICKENED BY COFFEE DRINKING Experiments at Catholic U. Disclose Effects of Stimulant on Nervous System. the test started. The tests were con- ducted by Miss Gertrude Reiman. The coffee was served precisely at the same time each afternoon and was so pre- pared that it was of lgproxlmuely the same strength each day—a cup con- taining about 3.5 grains of caffeine. The results showed that the subjects not only assoclated - Pl drinking to fill in the correct greater speed and accuracy. Other ex- nts conducted during the morn- m hours, Dr. Moore says, have much the same results and the element of fatigue. The explanation, Dr. Moore says, is that the caffeine acts as a stimulus tc the central nervous system, incluc out pro- | whatever elements of it are in forming associa CITY PLANNERS SEE - . SHENANDOAH PARK INIDEAL WEATHER Clouds Give Way to Sun as Visitors Inspect New Playground. THRILLED BY SCENERY -ALONG ‘SKYLAND DRIVE’ First Public Group to View Nat- ural Beauties Roams Through 185,000 Acres ¢* Tinberland. By a Staff Correspondent of The Star. SKYLAND, Va,, September 24.—The Shenandoah National Park, veiled in a sulky shroud of clouds and rain last night as the Bicentennial Conference on Planning, Parks and Government ar- rived, unfolded in all its glory under a benevolent sun today as park executives from every section of the United States inspected the newest and first Eastern unit of the national park system. Within three hours’ drive over hard- surface roads of the National Capital, and described by Horace M. Aibright, director of the National Park Service, as a link of the Capital's own park system, opening a practically virgin forest, pro- tected from the depredations of vandals, the park road along the highest ridgs of the Blue Ridge Mountains was opencd to a pubiic group for the first time today The scenic highway built along 34 miles of mountain top is appropriately named “Skyland Drive.” the park ex-— ecutives found yesterday as they took their cars up into the clouds and to get to this mountain resort, Opened for Delegates. The road was opened especially for the conference this afternoon, and from Panorama to Swift Run Gap it pre- sented a series of startling views of the great and fertile Shenandoah Valley on the one hand and the folded contours of the oldest geologic formation in the United States, the Blue Ridge Moun- tains, on the other. Afoot, on horseback and in automo- biles, conference delegates roamed in most accessible portions of the 185,000 acres of land that will be a garden spot for Washingtonians to disport them- selves when the park is formally taken over by the Federal Government. ‘The park, it was explained at the session of the conference held in the Tecreation hall last night, by Arno B Cammerer. the associate director of the National Park Service, who has been in charge of development of Eastern national park areas, will be closed to the motoring public until the park is formally accepted by the Federal Gov- ernment, but its trails, long favored retreats of hikers and horseback riders. and its mountainside will be opened for_camping. * The road, which was inspeeted this afternoon, is a place close to the heart of the mountain folk, who helped build it, and who in years to come undoubi- edly will derive their livelihood from it and begin to live like other folk, with schools and other advantages of modern day life that have been denied them by years of isolation and inaccessibility from the urban centers. Tells of Careful Study. Mr. Albright, in explaining the estab- lishment of this park and the construc- tion of the scenic highway last night told of the careful study that led to this area’s selection as an Eastern na- tional park and of the plans for its de- velopment as a playground. He said that because ‘of its accessibility by the new road to cities of the entire coun- try below the Mason-Dixon line, it un- doubtedly is destined to become an un- equaled playground for rich and poor alike and promised that it would be provided with facilities for equal en- joyment of all classes when opened to the public. It will, he said, be allowed to revert to the care of Mother Nature with every effort being bent to help Nature reclai; and repopulate the region as she s fit. Cabin establishments, tried in so; national parks, will not be allowed the Shenandoah area, but ample facili- ties and conveniences will be provided for those who wish to pitch their tents in its forest fastnesses. Its trails will be kept open and resort accommodations will be encouraged, but there will be no encouragement of private interests settling in the park. He said it is planned eventually to push the scenic highway along the mountain ridge 90 miles from the pres- ent opening at Panorama, through to Front Royal, Va. The conference is staying here over- night. Before the road inspection there was a chicken barbeque out in the open and tonight there will be a bonfire with entertainment by the mountain folk Tomorrow the delegates will make a further inspection of the park. — MORE FEDERAL GROUPS PLAN CREDIT UNIONS Navy Yard and War Department Join Move in Interest of Emergency Needs. The move to organize credit unicns here, under the new law providing for such establishments, advanced last night when groups from the Navy Yard and War Department decided to embark on this venture. Action was taken following a meeting of representatives of all the Washington locals cf the National Federation of Fed- eral Employes at headquarters, 710 Fourteenth street, where the workings of credit unions were explained by Roy F. Bergengren, secretary of the Credit Union National Extension Bureau. The unions are designed to allow members to get money for emergency needs at low rates of interest. One share is the least any member may own and under the District law 200 is the maximum. They are paid for under the instaliment plan. The agministraticn of the unions will be undef the commissioner of Insurance of the District and they &re subject to the jurisdiction of the Controller of the Currency. e THIEVES MISS BIG LOOT Take $8.91 From Chemical Firm's Safe, but Overlook $320. ‘Thieves who entered the establish- ment of McCambridge & McCambridge Co., manufacturing chemists, in the 1200 block of Eleverith street southeast, broke open the safe and took $8.91, but overlooked $20 in cash and a diamond mi valued at $300, it was reported nzyt.'nnct =5 gained by breaking a iven | Jock on & rear door. POLICE SEEK GUNMAN Man Sought for Wounding Two Colored Youths. Police are seeking a man, believed to .| be colored, who early today shot and wounded two colored youths while they were on the stairway of their home, in the 1700 blockofsevmgelt;m.