Evening Star Newspaper, January 26, 1933, Page 17

~ Washingto n Ne;ivs—] s POWER RATE CUT, EFFECTIVE FEB. 1, SEEN BY PATRICK Utlities Commisson Chairman Optimistic as Lawyers Seek Agreement. COMPROMISE TO END LITIGATION EXPECTED| Sessions Under Way to Change Phraseology Keech Opposed as Endangering Public's Case. ‘The Public Utilities Commission, Chairman Patrick announced tcday, hopes 10 make a substantial reduction in electric rates, effective February 1, regardless of the outcome of the re- WOMAN who has not walked since she was a little girl tcduy‘ was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal of the Cosmo- politan Club, as Washington's tanding citizen for the past year. | A outsf | There was a convenient incident in 11932 which made appropriate the con- | The Foening Star WITR SUNDAY MORNING EDITION WASHINGTON, D. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 1933. Invalid Gets Service Medal CLUB HONORS CHRIST CHILD SOCIETY FOUNDER. MISS MARY VIRGINIA MERRICK. proximately 200 guests were present at the ceremony. Miss Merrick has been a pioneer in child welfare work throughout the country, establishing small settlements in the poorer sections of cities, fresh air homes for undernourished children, free dental clinics and similar services. One newed negotiations for settlement of | ferring of the medal on Miss Mary Vir- |of the outstanding institutions of the the consent-decree litigation now in the Court of Appeals. As Chairman Patrick made his an: nouncement attorneys for the commis- sion and the company, in addition to People’s Counse] Keech, were in con- ference at the District Building, en- deavoring to reach an amicable agree- ment over the phraseology of a legal document designed to end the electric 1ate litigal These negotiations were abruptly halted last week because People’s Coun- sel Keech thought the phreseology of the document would forfeit the victory won by the commission in the decision of Justice Luhring which held that the commission was within its rights in abolishing the consent decree of 1924 by which electric ratss have since been regulated. Hopeful of Agreement. “The commission is very hopeful that an agreement can be reached by which the litigation can be terminatad.” said Gen, Patrick. “If present negotiations toward that end are unsuccessful, the commission has reason to hope it can make a substantial reduction in rates beginning February 1, although it is problematical whether the amount of the reduction will be as great as is pos- sible if the maiter is setiled out of court.” Gen. Patrick indicated that the re- duction would apply genera’lly to the various rate schedulss of the Poomac Electric Power Co. Would Protest Decision. S. R. Bowen, counsel for the power company, d several conferences with Gen. Patrick and Corporation Counsel ‘William W. Bride, prior to the meeting this morn'nz at which another effort was made toward reconciliation of dif- | ferences of oninion over phraseology of | the document for terminating the liti- | gation. The commission, it was learned, is | ing adamant in its position not Yy involved in Justice ing's decision. Therefore, any set-l tlement that might be made would nct leave the power company in a position | to question at some futvre time the | authority of the commission to make alterations in the sliding scale without ginia Merrick, founder and president of the Christ Child Society. This was the | |gift to the city of the Christ Child Settlement House at 608 Massachusetts avenue northeast, but the medal might | | have been given just as well at any time during the past 20 years. | Miss Merrick, whose home is at 2, | East Melrose street, Chevy Chase, Md. was crippled by a fall from a_ fence | when a small girl. Since then she has | |lived in a wheel chair. But instead of | giving way to invalidism, she has led | |2 life of constant activity and has built | up frcm her sickbed one of the most far-reaching national charitable and welfare organizations, with branches in 33 cities. She started with a group of schoolgirl friends making layettes for poor children and the Christ Child So- ciety is the result of that humble be ginning. | _The medal Rozier Biggs, politan Club, was presented by Dr. J. president_of the Cosmo- to Mrs. Charles P. Neill, national vice president of the Christ Child Society, who acted as proxy to | Miss Merrick at a luncheon at the Carleton Hotel. Afterward a delegation visited Miss Merrick at her home. Ap- | society is the fresh air farm and home for convalescent children at Rockville. The Washington Settlement House has an_enrollment of 1,000 children. Several years ago Miss Merrick re- ceived the Laetaire Medal of Notre Dame University, annually conferred on the person who has done extraordinary work in any field of uplift. The Christ Child Society is under Catholic auspices but operated on a non-sectarian basis. Previous awards of the Cosmopolitan Club medal have been made to Theo- dore W. Noyes, editor of The Evening Star; Martin A. Leese, owner of Station WMAL, and E. C. Graham, president of the Community Chest. Among the guests at the ceremony today were Dr. Luther H. Reichelderfer and Maj. Gen. Herbert D. Crosby, Dis- trict Ccmmissioners; Thomas P. Littlc- page, president of the Chamber of Com- merce; Ben T. Webster, president of the Board of Trade: E. C. Graham, president of the Community Chest; Mgr. C. F. Thomas, pastor of St. Pat- rick’s Church; Elwood Street, director of tre Community Chest, and three of Miss Merrick’'s sisters, Miss Mildred C. Merrick, Mrs. M. M. Ramsay and Mrs. George E. Hamilton. NORTHEAST STORM | - DRENCHES CAPITAL COSHIG RAY HELD SPARK FROM ATOM COURT OF HONOR |CONTRACT LET AS PAY THREAT LODMS Union Instructs Carpenters to Demand $11 Per Day Un- der Bacon-Davis Law. SECTION FOR PRESIDENT TO COST TOTAL OF $13,067 Stands Planned in Front of White House to Seat 300 Guests of Roosevelt and 1,500 Visitors. With the awarding of the contract for { the erection of the court of honor, from which Franklin D. Roosevelt, as the new President, will review the inaug- |ural parade, there came rumblings to- day of labor trouble between the car- penters’ union and the contracting firm which won the contract for the erection of the stands. The union today announced that it has instructed its men to hold out for what they contend is the “prevailing wage” under the Bacon-Davis law, $11 a day. while Skinker & Garrett, con- tractors, who have both the Capitol and Pennsylvania avenue jobs, an- nounced they had been assured by sev- eral hundred union carpenters that they were willing to work on the inaug- ural stands for $8 a day. “We will use union labor, regard- less of the outcome of the situation,” it was stated today at the offices of "r &z Garrett. The contractors also contend that the Inaugural Committee work does not come under the jurisdiction of the Bacon-Davis law because the structures contemplated are not Government structures. Contract Let for $13,067. Just what action the union will take with regard to union carpenters who might agree to work for $8 a day was not disclosed by the union. The contract for the work was let by price of $13,067, and construction is ex- peflk;ed to begin the latter part of the week. It was stated at the inaugural head- quarters this morning that at the time the contract for the stands was dis- cussed, the committee adopted the broad principle that all work should be done by firms employing union labor. No de- parture from this principle has been made, it was stated. the Inaugural Committee today at a| Proposed New Bus Terminal GREYHOUND LINES ASKS APPROVAL OF NEW YORK AVENUE BUILDING. VE is al architect. architect’s drawing of the new bus terminal which Greyhound Lines, Inc., has asked permission of District authorities to build at 1407 New York avenue, diagonally opposite its present station. The application, filed in the name of Washington Terminal, Inc., stated the building will be built of brick and stone at an esti- mated cost of $48,000. Baer & Scholz are listed as the builders and George D. Brown, Charleston, W. Va., as -—Star Staff Photo. YOUTH, 20, S HELD UNDER MANN ACT Homer B. Shropshire Ordered Detained for Action of Grand Jury. Homer B. Shropshire, 20, was held for grand jury action by United States Commissioner Needham C. Turnage to- day on charges of violating the Mann act, after a 22-year-old woman testi- fled against him. The + young woman, Miss Dorothy L. Pollard, told the commissioner that Shropshire, whose bond was set $5,000, had beaten her several times since inducing her to accompany him here from her home in Roanoke, Va. last November. —The youth, whose hcl{le also is in Roanoke, pleaded not guilty. Shropshire, on the advice of his at- { torney, James K. Hughes, decided to 80 to the District Jail in default of the bond after it was indicated other charges of the same nature might be filed against him. Tells of Beatings. The second night after Shropshire brought her here, Miss Pollard testified, he ordered her on the street, giving her detailed instructions on “how to pick Wind of 49 Miles an Hour Abbe Le Maitre Explains His Does Slight Damage, but | Theory of Universe as Divi- The court of honor is by far the largest job in connection with prepara- tions for the inaugural. The plans call for a reproduction of old Federal Hall, | said. she was taken back to Roanoke the building in New York on the portico | by Shropshire. who left her there. The of which George Washington was sworn | - in as first President. up dates and bring them to our apart- ment.” night before she returned home, how- ever, she asserted, Shropshire beat he: | After about three weeks here, she Causes Traffic Accidents. sion of Primeval Unit. | W A northeasterly storm which at one| The mysterious cosmic ray is a spark from the explosion of the great pri- time reached a velocity of 49 miles an| o0, atom that 15 ‘respanatiile for the hour, drenched the city last night and | ypiverse, Abbe Georges Le Maitre, Bel- early today with 1.75 inches of rain gian priest-scientist, told an audience while the wind tore at trees, disabled | at Catholic University last night. consent of the company or the court. | automobile ignition systems, and al- Adjustment of the controversy de- pends upon whether the company will acknowledge the right of the commis- sion to fix rates independently. Determined efforts are to be made to settle the controversy, but if they fail. the commission. it was declared, takes the positior: that electric consumers in the District should not suffer by losing a reduction in rates to which they are Jjustly entitled. For that reason, the commission is preparing to cut rates, and let the lawyers resume the fight in the courts. PARKS ASSISTANT TO GET NEW POST L'cut. Butler Will Be Transferred to Duty at West Point. First Lieut. F. B. Butler, assistant director of Public Buildings and Public Parks, is slated to leave Washington early in March to go to duty at the Military Academy, West Point, N. Y. This was learned today at the War Department, where it was said that orders will be issued shortly for this change. Lieut. Butler has been on duty in the National Capital since April 30, 1930. Mrs. Butler is one of the secre- | taries to Mrs. Herbert Hoover. | As executive assistant to Lieut. Col. | U. 8. Grant, 3d, Lieut. Butler has had charge of the maintenance of the White House. He also has had extensive ex- perience in directing activities in the parks of the city. He is an officer in | the Corps of Engineers of the Army and his new duties, service circles say, will be concerned with athletics at the academy and as aide to the com- mandant. Another of the Corps of Engineers of | the Army is scheduled to come on duty | in the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks about the time Lieut. Butler leaves. He is Capt. Ellis E.| Haring, who has been in Colorado and | is due to sail from San Francisco for the East Coast cn February 4. | most halted traffic at times. ‘With the passing of the disturbance, | forecast early yesterday by the Weather Bureau, the abnormal temperatures which have brought Spring weather to | the Capital for several days returned.| | Today will continue fair, with the mercury between 45 and 50, although | | another disturbance is due to bring| | more rain tomorrow afternoon or eve- ning. Damage was limited to a few broken |tree limbs, stalled autcmobiles and minor accidents, blamed on the driving rain. A plate-glass show window was| blown out at the Franklin Drug Store, Fourteenth and I streets. The center of the disturbance passed | between Washington and Richmond, | | after having traveled from Kentucky | and Tennessee during the day. Gales | developed along the coast as it passed | on out to sea. Accident victims include James Swaf- ford, 55, of 350 Eleventh street south- east. who broke his jaw when his auto- mobile colided with a fireplug in the 600 block of Pennsylvania avenue southeast as he swerved to avoid hit- ting another car; George W. Revere, 70, of Gregory's Boat House, Sixth and Water streets, who is at Emergency} Hospital suffering from a possible | fractured pelvis and other injuries, | after having been struck by an auto- | mobile at Ninth and E streets: Ralph | Donald, 54, of 1708 F street, who suf- | The nature of the cosmic ray, the most powerful radiation known to man which will go through a foot of lead as if it was so much air, has been a sub- ject of much dispute among the world's foremost scientists for the last few years. Some, led by Dr. Robert A. Millikan of the California Institute of Technology. hold that they result from the building up of atoms in the vast depths of space. Others insist that they are the result of vast forces at work in the interiors of the stars. Held Remnant of Blast. LeMaitre advanced the radically dif- ferent hypothesis that they are the lingering remnants of that great ex- | plosion approximately 10,000,000 years ago which marked the beginning of space and time. Originally, he holds, there was only a single great atom containing all the matter in the present universe but filling no “space,” in_any accepted definition of the word. This can be comprehended only by under- standing that an atom, as it exists today, although it is the ultimate particle of matter, consists chiefly of empty space which, if was filled solidly, would contain the solid substance of many billions of atoms. Yet many billions of atoms could rest essily on the head of a pin. There could be no space if there was no separation in the original mass and nothing outside it. There could be no time because nothing could happen. Abbe Le Maitre has just returned | Mrs. Ruby S. Stahl, 40, of 1940 Bilt- fered cuts when struck by a car at from California, where he conferred Fifteenth and Pennsylvania avenue, and | with Prof. Einstein and other relativists. He differs from Einstein chiefly in his more street, choir director of the First | hypothesis of a ‘“cosmical force"—the Congregational Church, who was| treated for minor injuries after being struck by an automobile near her home. ANNAPOLIS FEELS GALE. Communication Disrupted by Northeast | Storm. ANNAPOLIS, Md., January 26— Shutters were torn from houses, tele- phone wires severed and trees and fences blown down early today by a 42-mile wind. Trees and poles were uprooted at a number of peints in Calvert and Anne Arundel Counties. The trunk line be- tween Annapolis, Washington, Prince | Frederick and West River was broken, | but was repaired. DEMOCRATIC INAUGURAL MAIL BEARS HOOVER-CURTIS CREST Grayson Committee’s Atte Rooseveltian Rear Admiral Cary T. Grayson, chatrman, and othcr members of the | Roosevelt Inaugural Committee, were wearing very red faces today. It was all on account of a little at- attempt at economy when Admiral Grayson's_committee was first formed, which called for the use of the same crest on the year's stationery as was used by the Hoover Inaugural Com- mittee four years ago. It was revealed today that some of that stationery went out in the mail of the Roosevelt Committee and the ban- ner held by the impressive-looking eagle in the crest bore not the names of the two Democratic stalwarts who will take office March 4, but the names of the two defeated candidates, Hoover and Curtis. The design, especially prepared for the Hoover inaugural, is of a wreath inclosing an eagle and the Capitol ard around the encircling wreath are the words, “Inaugural of President and Vice President.” ‘The names of Hoover and Curtis are barely discernable on the letterheads, mpt at Economy Makes Faces Red. but some sharp-eyed Democrats ferreted them out and, indignant, wrote to Ad- | miral Grayson. | Today, Admiral Grayson admitted ' the Rocsevelt Inaugural Committee had | “lifted” the die for the letterheads | from the Republicans as an economy | move, and had ordered the names of the two Republicans stricken from it. Somehow, on the first batch of sta- | tionery prepared for the committee, it was explained at inaugural headquarters, the die was not altered, and the letter- heads were . Later, when the blunder was discovered, the die was eltered, and the names of Hoover and Curtis appear no more on Roosevelt Insugural Committee stationery. ‘The ublicans are getting a big chuckle out of the situation of Admiral Grayson and his committee members, for. although there are plenty of Re- publicans cn the Inaugural Committee, the committee which had to do with the rinting is headed by a very active ocrat, John B. Colpoys, chairman of the Democratic State gentral Com- mittee. And he is in the ting busi- ness, force of the explosion—which acts to pull things apart, in opposition to the law of gravity, which acts to keep them * | together. Considers Theory Necessary. Einstein, he said, still holds that the opserved phenomena of an expanding uhiverse do not require cosmical force for their explanation. He himself, how- ever, considers it necessary at the be- ginning, although, he says, the expan- sion has gone so far now that it can continue of its own momentum. The expansion, he said, will go on in- definitely until every particle of matter in the universe is so small that it can divide no longer. This may require 100,000,000.000 years. What will happen then nobody can conjecture. Abbe Le Maitre holds that the evolu- tion of the universe is in the direction of breaking down, rather than building up. New atoms, he says, cannot be created spontaneously. The most com- plex was at the beginning. Continually everything is becoming simpler and more diffused. ROMNEY WILL SPEAK House Sergeant at Arms to Ad- dress Young Democrats’ Club. Kenneth Romney, sergeant at arms of the House, will be the guest speaker of the Young Democrats’ Club of Wash- ington at its next meeting in the Women's National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire avenue, Wednes- day at 8 p.m. Senator Russell of Georgia also will bs a guest. The second Winter ball of the Young Democrats’ Club will take place in the Carlton Hotel February 15. s JAMES ROOSEVELT HERE Son of President-elect Calls on Sev- eral Senators. James Roosevelt, son of the Presi- dent-?ect. visited half a dozen Sena- tors 4t the Capil return from Warm Springs, Ga., but said he merely was chatting with “old to the House Democrats, In this building President Roosevelt, shortly after the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol, will view the inaugural parade, and flanking the court of honor will be two large stands. which, with | the President’s stand, will seat a total of 1,800 persons. 24 Units to Seat 59,000. The President’s stands will seat about 300 persons, who will be the personal guests of Mr. Roosevelt, while the gis-| tinguished guests of the Inaugural (Committee will be in the flanking {stands. These stands will be covered, as will virtually all other stands erected | by the committee. In all, 24 units of | stands, seating approximately 59,000 {persons. will be erected. Mrs. Blair Banister, chairman of the Inaugural Committee on Housing and Hospitality, today announced that rail- roads entering Washington have agreed to co-operate to the utmost with her committee. The services of Mrs. Ban- ister's committee will be emphasized in all publicity used by the railroads in advance of the inaugural. Time tables cutlave between now and March 4 will make krown the desire of Mrs. Banister's committee to assist visitors in finding accommodations, and the Pennsylvania Railroad has placed at the disposal of the committee its facil- u‘mf at the Union Station for routing vicitars ‘The House today passed two resolu- tions in connection with the inaugural, one giving Lieut. Col. U. S. Grant, 3d, director of the Office of Public Build- ings and Public Parks, authority to alot space in public buildings under his jurisdiction for the housing of troops taking part in the ineugural ceremeny, and the other giving District authorities the right to permit the erec- qgn :é stands and other structures con- sidered necessary by the Ing Committee. i A The following have been named mem- bers of the Committee on Co-operation of Civic Bodies in connection with the inaugural by Curtis A. Hodges, chair- m: Granville Gude, Wallace B. Robinson, Mark Lansburgh, ~Archie Shipe, Chester Warrington and Arthur Harnett. The following members of the Inaugural Finance Committee have been appointed by Lloyd B. ‘Wilson, chairman: FPrancis G. Addison, Jjr., C. A. Aspinwall, Harry Blake, Y. E. Booker, Edwin C. Brandenburg, Henry N. Brawner, ir., Col. Wrisley Brown, William J. Brown, Rolfe Bolling, Morris Cafritz. A C. Case, J. Bowle Chipman, Dr. Arthur C. Christie, E. F. Colladay, J. E. Colliflower, Oscar Coolican, Kari Corby, John H. Davis, H. Rozier Dulany, jr, W. W. Everett, W. J. Eynon, Robert V. Fleming, Dr. Harry Fowler, George Garrett, Frank E. Ghisselli, Dr. M. J. Gibhs, C. C. Glover, jr., Eugene C. Gott, Randall H. Hagner, William F. Ham, John H. Hanna, Arthur Harnett, George W. Harris, Christian Heurich, jr, C. P. 'Hfll, Frank R. Jelleff, Edmund F. Jewell, L. 8. Jullie. David B. Karrick, Joseph D. Kaufman, Carter B. Keene, George Keneipp, J. C. Koons, Maj. E. Brooke Lee, Ralph W. Lee, Martin A. Leese, David R. Lehman, Louis Levay, T. P. Littlepage, Arthur Marks, George Mar- simll, Arthur J. May, Edward D. Mer- rill, W. C. Miller, William Montgomery, Edgar Morris, E. J. Murphy, Fleming Newbold, Clarence F. Norment, jr., Bert L. Olmsted, C. H. Pope, B. H. Roberts, Dr. Sterling Ruffin, John Saul, J. N. Saunders, Carl Schedler, George C. Shaffer, Marcy L. Sperry, Arthur J. Suvndlun, Mrs Sidney Taliaferro, S. Percy Thompson, Charles H. Tompkins, Leon S. Ulman, L. H. Vandoren, Ben T. Webster, James G. Yaden, E. G. Yonker, Ford E. Young, Dr. Charles 8. | White. i Prohibition Broadcast Due. Jennie Esmond Wright, radio chair- man of the Women’s Tem- perance Union, will speak on ‘“Prohi- bition” over Station WMAL at 11 a.m. tomorrow. The speech will be a part of the “Among Women” of gehmnnct Federation of Women's jubs. Naval Laboratory Robbed. tol yesterday on hisl tin and Police today who stole $21 scrap brass o of the Naval o the " Wenary were seeking the persons | Mon! “because I hadn't made any money.” She came back to Washington by bus ion Christmas eve, she testified, and rented an apartment in the 1200 block 1ot Tenth street. Shropshire discovered her about a week later, she said, and induced her to take an apartment with him in the 1200 block of M street. Miss Pollard accused Shropshire of beating her “three or four times.” She testified she was about to be- come a mother. The last beating. she declared, oc- curred Monday night. It was then, she explained, that she complained to Policeman James E. Bennett, Traffic Bureau, who with Policeman L. R. Le- Foe, also of the Traffic Bureau and Agent John B. Little to the Department of Justice, arrested Shropshire. Two Others Arrested. “He beat me,” she said, “because I asked him not to make any noise in the apartment. it because I was nervous and upset.” Previously, Bennett had testified Miss Pollard approached him on the street and complained of Shropshire’s treatment. She was crying, the police- man said, and she told him the youth had forced her to turn the bulk of her money over to him. “She said she had given him about $200,” Bennett testified. Miss Pollard, in her testimony, said she had given Shropshire “about $66." Following Shropshire’s arrest, police reported, they discovered several other young women who claimed to have had similar experiences with the youth. In co-operation with the Justice Depart- ment, they began an investigation im- mediately. Another man and a woman—James H. Melcher, 27, and his sister, Miss Olive V. Melcher, 25, were arrested in connection with the case. They did not appear at the hearing, however. SIX MEN ARRESTED IN SERIES OF RAIDS Held on Gambling and Rum Charges—12 Gallons of Al- leged Liquor Seized. A series of gambling and liquor raids Lieut. George M. Little’s special squad resulted in the arrest of six men yesterday. . Twelve gallons of alleged liquor were seized. Milton A. Bradley, 31, of East Thorn- apple street, Chevy Chase, Md, and Carl Taylor Updyke, 20, of the 1700 block of West Virginia avenue north- east, were charged with violating the gambling law. They were taken in a Taid in the 1200 block of E street where race bets were accepted, police said. Sale and possession of liguor and gambling charges were placed against Dallas Webster, 21, of the 800 block of Tenth street northeast, who was ar- rested in the 800 block of Twelfth street. Others_arrested were John E. Carter, colored, 35, of the 400 block of Dela- ware nvenfi n':fl"““xfe charged h;let: possession or when apprehende at West Virginia avenue and Mount Olivet Toad northeast: Jesse Parish, 36, of the 1300 block of E street northeast, charged with possession of liquor when arrested in the 600 block of Massachu- setts avenue northeast, and Ezra Wil- liam Soules, 31, first block of H street northeast, arrested in the 800 block of Bladensburg road northeast on a charge of having accepted a bet on the races. Arraigned in Police Court today, Soules admitted g & bet from Policeman C. R. . Judge Gus A. Schuldt continued the case until February 3 for sentence. STUDY BOOSTER PLAN By a Staff Correspondent of The Star. A, Md., January 26.—The advisibility of issuing a second bovklet tonight I told the officer about | con- to be held [ Mrs. Capper Has Close Call as He Rushes To Radio Studio‘: Arrives Half Minute Be-| fore Broadcast of Re- | lief Appeal. | | | | Senator Capper, Republican, of | Kansas, & veteran broadcaster, had the | closest call of his radic career last | | evening when he rushed into the WRC | studio half a minute before he was due to go on the air with an appeal for old shoes for needy chilcren. | | The Senator had promised to speak | | In suoport of the campaign of “The | | Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe,” | lgmhw do so he had to make a rapid | as| | 0 ;rshe Senator was due on the air at TURNING OF EARTH HELD INACCURATE Prof. E. W. Brown of Yale De- | clares Speed of Movements Is Slowing. The earth is an inaccurate clock, Prof E. W. Brown of Yale UNVEISR)'} lecture, delivered under the auspices| of the Smithsonian Institution, | Prof. Brown, regarded as the world’s‘ the solar system, has devoted approxi- PAGE B—1 REALTORS ATTACK TAX BURDENS AND HOUSING PROJECTS Urge Economy and Barrier to New Competition Backed by R. F. C. WILBUR DEPLORES LOAD FORCED ON HOME OWNERS Secretary Sees Threat to Entire Nation in Hardships—Favors Using Income as Basis. Outspoken demands for reduction of the tax burden now borne by owners of real estate and a declaration against Government loans for tax-exempt hous~ ing projects were voiced by leaders of the National Association of Real Estate Boards at the first general session of the realtor convention here this morning at the Willard Hotel. The statements, representative of ac- tions previously taken by the national directors of the organization, came from L. T. Stevenson, president of the body, and Leonard P. Reaume, a past presis dent, in their reports on programs of action proposed to organized real estate interests. The session was marked also by an address by Secretary of Interior Wilbur, who stressed the importance of pro=- tecting individual home ownership to the welfare of the United States and voiced a warning against burdening the |said last night in the annual Arthur | home owner with too great a burden of taxation. The morning discussions were a prelude to consideration this afternoon of a proposed national tax relief pro- from a night session of the Sen- | foremost authority con gravity within A 8ram, drafted by association officials || ate to the downtown studio. after an intensive study of three years, which will call for drastic limitation of He was all reacy to leave the Mately 30 years to the preparation of | the amount of taxation to be placed on Capitol at 6:25, when the quorum bell | tables by which the movements of the | real estate. rang in the Senate, denoting an im- | pending vote. Senator Capper waited | while the quorum was obtained and the | voting began. As soon as he had voted, he- hurried out to his automobile with {only 10 minutes left. As he emerged | | from an elevator at the National Press Building, with less than a minute re- maining, he saw studio announcers | | looking anxiously down the hall for | him. ‘ ACCUSES COMPANION | ' OF SIMMS MURDER Baltimore Colored Man Tells Coro- ner’s Jury of Night Watch- | | man’s Slaying. | ‘The murder early Suriday of William | Simms, 65. of 1640 Kramer street north- | east, colored night watchman at Dickey Bros. Feed Store on Kenilworth avenue and Benning road northeast, was described to a coroner’s jury today | by George McKinley Pitmond, colored. 34, of Baltimore, who said the injuries which resulted in the watchman's death were inflicted by Joe Goodman, colored. also of Baltimore, with whom Pitmond said he planned the robbery of the | feed store. ‘The jury held Pitmond for the action of the grand jury and directed that Goodman, alias Joe Smith, be appre- hended. ' Baltimore and Washington police are co-operating in seeking the man. Pitmond took the stand after Acting Coroner A. Magruder MacDonald had told him he would not be obliged to make a statement. The prisoner, who was arrested for investigation several hours before it was found that Simms | had been murdered, said he wished to | make a statement. He said he and Goodman had planned to rob another place in the vicinity, but later decided to go to Dickey Bros. He said Goodman asked the watchman for a drink of water and when the latter turned to get it, Good- man beat his head with a piece of scrap iron. VETERANS CALL MEETING W. L. Stone to Be Installed as Head of Progressive League. W. L. Stone will be installed as pres- ident of the recently founded Ex-Ser: icemen’s National Progressive Demo- cratic League, in a meeting tonight at the Sign of the Lion, 1328 Massachu- setts avenue. Judge Robert E. Mattingly of the Municipal Court will administer e oath of office. mW. L. Connor will be inducted into the office of vice president. Plans for the new organization call for national expansion to aid the veterans. Gov. Albert C. Ritchie is expected to attend and address the meeting. PAINTINGS TO BE SHOWN Work of Late Mrs. Alice Barney Placed in Studio House. The paintings of the late Mrs. Alice Barney will be exhibited to the public at her studio house, 2306 Massachusetts avenue, tomorrow, Saturday and Sun- day. The pictures will be on view from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. After the exhibit they are to be sent to various museums and art galleries in the United States. CITY NEWS IN BRIEF. ‘TODAY. Meeting. James E. Walker Post, No. 26, American Legion, Y. M. C. A, 1816 Twelfth street, 8 p.m. Dance and card party, Loyalty Chap- ter, O. E. S., Almas Temple, 9 p.m. Meeting, Keane Council, K. of C., 918 Tenth street, 8 p.m. Bingo party, True Blue Council, Sons and Daughters of Liberty, Phoenix Hall, 7 Fourth street northeast, 9 p.m. Meeting, Board of Governors of the University Club, 7:30 p.m. Benefit card and bingo party, ern Dairjes Auditorium, 60 M northeast, pm. street ‘TOMORROW. Luncheon, Phi Delta Phi Fraternity, University Club, 1 p.m. Luncheon, Round Table, University Club, 12:30 p.m. Meeting, National Rifle Asosciation, Mayflower Hotel, 2 p.m. Luncheon, D. C. Chapter American ‘War Mothers, Hamill moon can be determined. He is satis- | fled that the slight inaccuracies which | appear at every eclipse are due to the ' erratic behavior of the earth itself. He compared the eart and the moon to two watches, both of which should be keeping perfect time. but do not. In the first place. he said, the earth's speed of revolution is slowing down. This is due chiefly to the dragging effect of tides along the bottoms of | shallow seas. Constant Rate of Slowing. Limitations Sought. The proposed tax program, on which the realtor delegates, representing scat- tered sections of the United States, are to take action Saturday morning calls for adoption by the States of tax meth- ods which would place a definite limit on the amount of taxes which could be assessed against individual propers ties; the vesting of authority in State agencies to control any local govern= ment expenditures and bond issues; proposes the assumption by States of & portion of the cost of public school sys= Bering Sea, off the ccast of Alaska, | tems, to be met. in part at least, by he pointed out, is responsible for nearly | adoption of a Federal sales tax, and two-thirds of this drag and might even | the adoption of a new and “more equita- be regarded as a fatal wound on the ble” system of property assessments earth’s surface. The rate of slowing | for taxation. 7 G down, he said, has been approximately | In voicing the realtors’ opposition to | be due to something taking place in and Mrs. dent, will be | constant for the last 5,000 years and, if it ccntinues indefinitely, the world will come to a stop. , Then. like the moon and probably like Venus and Mercury, | it will turn only one face to the sun | and presumably become a dead world. | But, Prof. Brown said, such a pes-| simistic prediction cannot be made be- changes greatly through the ages and' to believe that the, present shallow seas will continue in | existence forever. This friction effect, | he said, can be calculated accurately and allowance made for it in reading time by the earth-clock. A far greater source of error, he said, rests in the mysterious “oscillations of the earth,” the reason for which re- mains a mystery to astronomers. The speed of the globe has a tendency to increase and decline suddenly. One such change took place in 1897 and another in 1917. The difference is only | about one part in 30,000,000, he said, there is no reason but this is sufficient to throw off as-| tronomical calculations. Offset Each Other. By a process of elimination, he said, it can be shown these oscillations must | the interior of the earth. They cannot be due to anything outside the globe or on its crust. Through a century, he believes, the increases or decreases in the time of the earth's revolution prob- ably offset each other, At present, Prof. Brown said, approxi- mately 1,000 observations are being taken of the moon every year in an effort to check up on the mystery of the oscillations. An oscillation, he said, acts as if it reduced or increased the radius of the earth from 5 inches to 12 feet, depending on where the effect is produced. Because of this phenomenon the earth may be as much as a second ahead or behind a perfect clock. MISS MARGARET M’INTYRE IS DEAD IN DENVER Daughter of Maj. Gen. and Mrs. " Frank M'Intyre Had Been in Hospital for Year. Miss Margaret McIntyre, daughter of Maj. Gen. Frank McIntyre, former chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department, died yesterday at a Denver hospital where she had been a patient for a year. Gen. and Mrs. McIntyre, who live at 2540 Massachusetts avenue, were ex- pected to arrive in Denver today. They left Washington Monday when their daughter became critically {ll. Besides her parents, Miss McIntyre is survived by two sisters, Marie and Nora Mclntyre. both of Washington, and two brothers, Edward, of New York, and Capt. James D. McIntyre, U. S. A, Washington. Funeral services have not been com- pleted. | loans by the Reconmstruction Finance Corporation for new city housing pro; ects, President Stevenson declared wide= scale adoption of such proposals would be a “tremendous calamity.” “We have found it necessary to take a position definitely discouraging Gov= ernment loans to limited-dividend, tax- |cause the surface of the earth itself | €Xempt. State-supervised, multi-family housing corporations,” he declared. “The emergency act, passed hurriedly without public hearings in the clos- ing hours of the last Congress, gave the Reccnstruction Pinance Corporation authority to make such loans for low= cost housing and slum clearance. How- ever worthy the object. such loans mean, if they mean anything, Govern=- ment subsidized projects ccming into the present real estate situation in direct competition with private in- terests.” Fear for Others. ‘The National Realtor Association has | taken the position also that such Gov- ernment loans for tax-exempt projects | would mean an increase in the burden of taxation borne by private owners of real estate. Announcing the proposed realtor tax program Mr. Stevenson also reported plans for the holding of a national tax conference here on February 3, in which each State would be represented. The realtors will place their program before that conference. Mr. Stevenson also declared that the Federal Home Loan Bank System, as it gets into full operation, “not only should give necessary relief to home mortgages, but will be a definite factor in reduction of interest on home mort~ He reported general reductions in in- terest rates are being made throughout the country and that through this must come stablization of values of real property. Mr. Reaume, during an extended dis- cussion of property management prob- lems, declared the current high rates of taxation is amounting to virtual “con- fiscation” of private property. Stresses Stability. Secretary Wilbur placed great em- phasis on the importance of individual home ownership, declaring that while a loose and unattached population would be dangerous, “no nation of responsible parents would permit itself to be de- stroyed by malign forces of economie fantasies.” home owner, Secretary Wil said, “has had to find his way lhrm?:k: a gradually increasing maze of finance, taxes and relationships to public utili- ties and to transportation. We have become conscious of the weaknesses of a hit-and-miss policy which has been found to be one of peril in times of economic hardship.” Technological developments which may affect home building methods of the future will be outlined to the realtors st the closing session of the convention Saturday morning, by H. L, Whittemore, secretary to the Techno- logical Developments Committee of the President’s Conference on Home Build- ing and Home Ownership. COUPLE SOUGHT FOR WEDDING AT FOOD STORES EXPOSITION Everything From License to Honeymoon Trip Offered as Inducement With everything from the marriage license to a hcneymoon trip as induce- ment, the sponsors of the second annual exposition of the United Food Stores are seeking a matrimonally-inclined couple willing to go through a wedding ceremony at the Washington Auditorium one night during the show week, which begins Fel 1 bruary 11. ‘The 150 merchants comprising the food stores group are in previding the wedding ring, minister, ;'fl“" outfit, &nwm,‘de;g‘nun‘r’:i and transporta L. e ding cake, big enough to be distributed among ladies present on the night of the wedding, also 'mu:e furnished. additony e vart, by Grocers. ous exhibitors at the exposition are expected to come forward with gifts for the couple. If more than one couple applies for the honor, the sponsors of the show announced they would resort to a draw=- ing to determine the eligible pair. The sole requirement is that they agree to permit the ceremony to take place in public at the Auditorium on the night of either February 16 or 17. The couple will be selected before the show opens and will be given a reception on the evening of St. Valentine's day. This feature of the week-long pro- gram of the food show is in charge of Alfred L. Stern, managing director of the . who is recels the” Dnited. Food Wbces, cations' Twelfth and Water streets southwest,