Evening Star Newspaper, December 13, 1934, Page 19

Washington News FIRED FATAL SHOTS IN DEFENSE, PLEA OF MRS. BUCCOLO Wife Testifies She Grabbed Revolver When Husband Threatened Her. “SOMETHING SNAPPED IN MIND,” SHE ASSERTS New G. U. Dean Describes Spouse’s Love Affairs With Actress and Candy Store Clerk. Mrs. Mary Irene Buccolo, on trial in District Supreme Court on a mur- der charge, today told the jury “something snapped in her mind"' after enduring years of brutality at the hands of a faithless husband. Speaking in fairly audible tones, she related the details of an unhappy married life, describing at length her husband’s affairs with other women and his mistreatment of her, until on September 8, 1933, she fired six shots into his body. She said she and her husband had quarreled that morning in the bed room of their home at 4104 Fifth street over his continued associations with enother woman. Describes Shooting. “Muttering an oath,” she said, “Ru- dolph sprang toward me shouting he would choke those words down my thioat. His right hand was in his hip 'pocket. I grabbed my revolver with both hands and pointed it. Then the gun went off and something snap- ped in my mind. I don’t know how many shots were fired.” Mrs. Buccolo said her purpose in asking her husband to come home the | morning of the shooting was to make & better effort to persuade him to | give up the “other girl” and come back | to her. Pleaded With Husband. “I pleaded with him to come back,” § she said, “but he became violently angry and accused me of going to that girls mother and telling a lot | of lies. “I was sick and nervous and got up from the bed where I had been sitting | and began walking back and forth. He remained seated. “He said he would kill me if I didn’t stop talking to her parents. I said I imtended to tell her father about an- other woman he had been associated with. In a rage, he said he would choke my lying tongue down my throat. He reached his hand toward | his -pocket and - started toward me. I didn't but what he had a gun. | “In a fi it seemed like I just | got hold of my pistol. He kept com- ing toward me and before I knew it the gun went off. I had never fired a gun before—it just seemed like I couldn't stop. He slumped down over the side of the bed and I put a cover over him. The next thing I remember was seeing my mother come into the room and take me downstairs. I didn’t know how many shots had been fired.” Mrs. Buccolo testified she was mar- ried March 15, 1922, after a two-year courtship. Questioned by Defense Attorney Rudolph Yeatman, she said their married life was happy until 1927, when she found a letter ad- | dressed to her husband from a New | Yark actress. | “1 asked my husband about this| girl,” she testified, “and he told me he would give her up, although he, was in love with her. Things went along smoothly then until 1930 when I found another note from a woman saying ‘I love you’ He told me this was from the same actress and that tfilulr affair had been going on all the me. “In 1932, he started asking me for | a divorce. I told him I didn't believe in divorce and didn’t see why he wanted one. He began to talk of suicide and of killing both of us. Indulged in Brutal Acts. “Then he began indulging in aets of brutality toward me. He would twist my head and wrench my arm behind me. Everything he could think of to hurt me, he did. One night he shut the windows in our bed room and turned on the gas, saying we would botb. die.” Mrs. Buccolo also said her busband would strike her about the face and body with his elbows as they lay in bed at night. She then told of discovering her husband was in love with a “red-haired girl” who worked in a candy store across from his place of employment. It was the affair with this girl, Miss Florence Virginia Galleher, 24, of 931 Virginia avenue southwest, which finally resulted in the shooting of Buccolo. In an effort to show Mrs. Buccolo had reason to fear her husband the defense called several witnesses late | yesterday to testitfy Buccolo often | had threatened to kill his wife. One of these, Arthur B. Cross, said that shortly before Buccolo was slain he told him he had threatened to kill Mrs. Buccolo if she didn’t “leave Flo- rence alone.” Cross was employed with Buccolo by the Swing Coffee Co. Two additional witnesses, Mr. and REV. JOHN E. GRATTAN. —Harris-Ewing Photo. REV. J.E GRATTAN NAMED G. U. DEAN Former Teacher at Univer- sity Here Returns to Head Arts College. Coming here direct from the Vati- can City, Rev, John E. Grattan, 8. J., 39-year-old American priest, who for- merly taught at Georgetown Univer- sity before he was ordained, has been made dean of its College of Arts and Sciences. For the past four years he had been attached in an official ca- pacity to the general headquarters of the Jesuit order in Rome. No announcement was made by Acting President Arthur A. O'Leary, S. J., until after Father Grattan had assumed his duties. His return here, after an absence of 10 years, was & surprise to colleagues on the faculty, although it had been known for some time by the rector that the new dean had been slated for appointment. Succeeds Father Gorman. Since the opening of the present academic year Rev. Lawrence C. Gor- man, S. J., had been acting dean of the college. He will now be able to devote his full time to his regular duties as director of the Department of Chemistry. It had not been generally expected at Georgetown that a new college dean would be named until after the return to Washington of Dr. Coleman Nevils, president of the in- stitution, who is now in Rome. The new college dean, a native of New York City, holds a unique scho- lastic record in the Jesuit order. He entered the order from the Fordham Preparatory School in 1912 at the age of 17 years. He first came to George- town from Woodstock College, Mary- land, as a Jesuit scholastic to teach | Latin, English and Greek for four years in the preparatory school, the freshman and sophomore college classes. Sent to Rome in 1930. In the Fall of 1923 Father Grattan continued his theological studies at Woodstock until he was ordained to the priesthood in the Summer of 1926. He remained there another year to pursue higher studies and then was made prefect of discipline at St. Pe- ter's College, Jersey City. From 1929 to 1930ehe continued his course of Jesuit studies in esthetical theology at St. Andrew's-on-the-Hudson. It was then that he was chosen to be sent to Rome after a brief period as subeditor on the staff of America. Father Grattan made a brief visit in Washington on last Founder’s day to represent the general of the order at the Georgetown exercises. LAW TO BE OUTLINED FOR JUVENILE COURT Miss Hanna of Children's Bureau to Address League of ‘Women Voters. A model law to govern functioning of the Juvenile Court and its opera- tion under the present system will be discussed tomorrow at 8 p.m. at a public meeting under auspices of the Child Welfare Committee of the Dis- trict League of Women Voters in the United States Chamber of Commerce Building. Miss Agnes Hanna, d.rector of the | Social Service Division of the Chil- dren’s Bureau, will outline provisicas | she feels should be contained in a model law for dealing with juvenile delinquents. Justin Miller, special as- sistant to the Attorney General, wil speak on a model law for handling delinquents from a legal point of view. Subsequently, a statement will be presented regarding a modei law proposed for the District. Members of the bar, citizens’ asso- ciations and educational organizations have been invited to attend, it is announced. The league's Child Welfare Com- Mrs. Emest J. Wiley, who lived across the street from the Buccolo | home, told the jury that on one ccca- | sion the husband had threatened to wreck his automobile in an effort to kill his wife. Wiley also testified that Buccolo, after being involved in an accident, told him he had twice tried to get rid of his wife by this| wethod and hoped to succeed the' third time. | The defense also called several character witnesses, most of whom | had worked with Mrs. Buccolo during Tuer long service as a clerk with the, Civil Service Commission. “Other Woman” Called. After Policeman Arthur G. Mihill had testified that Mrs. Buccolo ad- mitted firing the shots that killed her | husband, the prosecution called to the witness stand Miss Galleher, described as the “other woman” in the case. The young woman testified she is| employed by the Polly Trent Candy Co. and that she first met Buccolo in April, 1932. She admitted she| knew he was married at the time and said Mrs, Buccolo had been painted out to her as the wife when she came into the store to buy some candy. Miss Galleher said she “went out” mittee has made a study of the Juvenile Court as organized and ad- ministered in the District as well as principles underlying the most svc- cessful juvenile court procedure. Handicaps in handling Juvenile Court matters here are to be pointed ont at the meeting. with Buccolo two or three times a week and that he lavished gifts of flowers, candy and jewelry upon her. One of the gifts included a diamond bar pin as a Christmas present two years ago. Intended to Get Divorce. She said Buccolo told her he in- nded to divorce his wife and that she believed him, although Mrs. Buc- colo had warned her he would “treat you just as he has treated me.” She admitted the wife had a tempted to dissuade her from asso- ciating with Buccolo and, in an effort to accomplish this had complained to her parents. Mrs. Buccolo, she said, had told her she would not divorce her husband. Miss Galleher said she had never heard Buccolo threaien his wife, but that on one occasion Mrs. Buccolo had told him he wouid “pay for the way she had been hurj.” he w SCHOOL CROWDING HELD MORE ACUTE THAN LAST YEAR 168 Class Rooms Lacking in Elementary Grades, Ballou Says. HIGHER GRADES SHOW SIMILAR CONGESTIONS! | 56 Rooms Included in Four Build- ings Recommended for Abandonment. Overcrowding is considerably more acute in Washington public schools than last year, according to the an- nual survey on school house accom- modations presented to the Board of Education by Supt. of Schools Frank W. Ballou. The study revealed a shortage of 168 class rooms in elementary schools alone. Officials estimated that only 149 additional rooms were needed last year. Junior and senior high schools show comparable congestion. ©Of the total of elementary class rooms needed, 56 result from failure to abandon the Force, Jefferson. Lin- coln and Webster Schools, which were recommended for immediate aban- donment in 1908, but still are being used. Four additional class rooms are needed to eliminate a like number of portables, which are being used this year; 23 would eliminate unde- sirable rooms; 73 would reduce over- size classes, and 12 would eliminate part-time classes. More Portables in Use. More portables are being used in junior and senior high schools than at any time since 1920, the survey reveals. At present nine are oc- cupied. Last year only four of these makeshift buildings were in use, while in 1931 the high schools were able to do without them altogether. Elementary schools, on the other hand, evidenced a considerable gain in portable elimination, with only 4 in use as against 12 last year, 23 in 1932, and 73 in 1920. This year’s high school enrollment of 15,270 pupils is 2,010 in excess of the estimated capacity of the build-| ings. Most of this congestion exists m the white divisions, since the colored high schools have only 261 more pupils attending classes than they can care for properly. The white institutions have an enrollment of 11,449 and a capacity of 9,700, while the colored schools have an enrollment of 3,821 and a capacity of 3,560. Junior Highs Crowded. The junior high schools have en-! rolled a total of 17,813 pupils and| the facilities for accommo- dating but 16,190, an excess of 1,623.] | Here also the white schools are the most congested, with an enrollment of 12,061 and a capacity of 10,580. | as against an enrollment of 5,752 and a capacity of 5610 in the colored schools. In only two af the senior high schools is there no overcrowding. These are McKinley and Cardozo, both of which are below their capacity enroll- ment. The worst congestion exists at Eastern and Western, which are run- | ning staggered shifts. Eastern has an | enrollment of 2,779 and a capacity of | 2,000, while at Western 2,005 pupils occupy the class-room space designed | for 1,500, 'BALLOU UNDECIDED ON HEADING COLLEGE School Superintendent Inform Board of Inquiry by St. Lawrence U. Dr. Frank W. Ballou, superintendent of schools, officially informed the Board of Education yesterday he is considering becoming president of St. Lawrence University at Canton, N. Y., but said he has not yet made up his mind. | The announcement, which was pre- pared in advance, was accepted by the boayd without comment. The Star last week printed the in- formation that Dr. Ballou was con- sidering going to St. Lawrence Uni- versity, but the announcement yester- day was the first official information the board had received. “In view of the announcement car- ried in the press recently, I desire to! make the following statement to the Board of Education,” Dr. Ballou said. “The authorities of St. Lawrence Uni- versity have inquired whether I would consider becoming president of that institution. As a result of that in- quiry, I have the mater under con- | sideration. No offer of a position has been tendered me. Neither have I reached a conclusion as to whether or not I would accept the position if tendered.” “CASH AND CAN” SHOW AIDS TECH NEEDY FUND Third Annual Benefit Assembly Is Featured by Gifts of Money or Groceries. McKinley High School’s third an- (nual “Cash and Can” assembly was, | held this morning to raise funds and supplies for Christmas relief to needy families. As he passed into the auditorium each student paid “admission” either in cash or groceries. Baskets will be made up and distributed before Christ- mas to families of poor pupils. The assembly was sponsored by the Stu- dent Relief Committee. A program of entertainment was staged. Among the performers were the McKinley Orchestra, a dance or- chestra sponsored by the Philatelic Socfety, the Harmonica Club, Helen Pender, Margaret Scott, a Phil Hayden ' Studio dancer; an instrumental trio composed of Dorothy Cook, Betty Stevens and Frances Robinson; Patty Beatty and Georgia Taylor; Elizabeth Imus, Jeanne Weber, Mary Moncure, Miriam Childress and Thelma McDon- ald; Arnold Rosey and Alfred Weiss; Thomas Murphy and Walter Hughes, and Herman Alley, Fred Baxter and William Hart, (DR - SvR 8L /fi hering WITR SUNDAY MORNING EDITION -~/ X0/ 2 R e /5 000) b The Gravelly Point area, now being filled by Army engineeg dredges with material pumped from the Potomac chanpel, is shown inside the dotted lines. Retaining walls have been completed on the river side of the area to form a catch basin into which the dredgings are being pumped. St ASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1934, Proposed Gravelly Point Airport Area Shown Society and General PAGE B-—-1 GRAVELLY AIRPORT P.W.A ALLOTMENT SEEN COMING SOON U, S. Engineer Office Mem- bers Estimate Project to Cost $2,300,000. IMMEDIATE WORK HELD POSSIBLE ON LEVEES Site Favored by Roosevelt, Ickes - The photograph, one of the few ever made which shows the entire District of Columbia in one exposure, was taken from an altitude of 23,000 feet above Alexandria, Va. —Army Air Corps Photo. ' EDUGATORS FAVOR BAN ON POLITICS Divorce From Self-Seeking Organizations Also Sought at Conference. Divorce of education from the in- fluence of partisan politics and self- seeking organizations was urged to- day at a nation-wide conference called by the Joint Commission on the Emer- gency in Education. Speakers pointed out the danger of allowing representatives of special interests to dictate the policies of long-term educational planning com- missions. Entangling Alliances Hit. “I am against entangling alliances between edulation and outside organi- zations,” said Dr. A. J. Stoddard, superintendent of schools in Provi- dence, R. I, who was one of the dis- cussion leaders. their say in shaping educational policy. Too often education has allied itself | with particular organications, classes or groups, and have regretted it. Some day I hope we shall be able to say that the public schools of America be- long to the people of America, and not to any particular class. “Don't select the president of the Chamber of Commerce for a place on your planning board just because he is the head of that organization. If he is the best man for the job. give it to him, but be sure he holds the position | as a private citizen, rather than as a representative of his organization.” Stoddard admitted such a policy might result in a loss of temporary |School Board Quietly | sed silence. | “All the people have a right to have f"’" o Scorn Scotches Teachers’ Drinking or Smoking 'TANK COMPLETED, Mrs. Leslie B. Wright’s| Ridicule Smothers Proposal. Buries Suggestion in Its Files. The recent proposal of the District of Columbia Public School Associa- tion that teachers be prohibited from smoking and drinking was smothered under a deluge of ridicule at a Board of Education meeting yesterday and then quietly buried in the board’s files. The School Association was alter- natively abused and “kidded” by Mrs. Leslie Boudinot Wright, who is promi- nent in Parent-Teacher Association activities, while the board, which had granted her permission to appear be- When she had finished the sole| question the board considered was | how best to drop the matter without hurting any one’s feelings. Finally it was unanimously decided to file the association’s letter without “further” camment. Heaps Scorn on Association. Mrs. Wright said the Public School Association is a “small-town sewing circle that doesn’t even produce a pair of socks for the heathen.” She told political support for desired legisiation, | but said that education would benefit in the long run. This discussion was precipitated by a report on a program of State educa- tional planning, submitted by a special committee from its spokesman, Bert- ram E. Packard, State commissioner of education for Maine. Laymen Positions Urged. Laymen should be given important positions on planning commissions, and be made equaly responsible with re- sponsible educators for the develop- ment of policy, he reported. Other recommendations by the group included the following points: Planning commissions should be set up for a definite period rather than allowed to function without any time limit. Such commissions should avoid de- voting their sole attention to financial matters and should place more em- phasis on the purposes of public edu- cation and methods of achieving them. - Reporting for the Committee for Essential Finance Legislation, Alfred D. Simpson, assistant New York com- missioner of education, said a definite program of State need for local schools was the most important financial element in school develop- ment. State ald should be propor- tioned on a basis of equalization of educational opportunity for all chil- dren in the State, he asserted. A. L. Threlkeld, superintendent of schools at Denever, also reported on educational planning, and advocated a central agency for each State which would certify fitness of instructors. LOOT GOES UNCLAIMED Police Seek Owners in .Case Against “Toothpick Burglar.” Several thousand dollars’ worth of jewelry, clothing and other articles, part of the loot recovered in connec- tion with the arrest of Lonnie Still- well, colored, confessed “toothpick burglar,” still is unclaimed at police headquarters. Police are anxious to get the prop- erty identified before Stillwell is ar- raigned in Police Court. | go a little further.” | the board she had persuaded both the Forest Hills Citizens' Association and the Ben W. Murch Home and School Association to join the Public School Association and was “heartily sorry” | for having done so. “If you are going to corsider this resolution seriously you might as well | she said. “T| want to propose some emendments. | 1 think you should also forbid lip- stick, and then perhaps we might forbid teachers owning playing cards for fear they might play casino. And | I don't think they should drink tea or coffee. You know the caffein might be bad for them. Then you might go a little further and say that all teachers will have to be in bed by 9 o'clock every night, and that they shouldn’t eat candy be- cause it will hurt their digestion. If we are going back to the days of the Puritans, let us tell the teachers that they must wear spectacles and their hair in knots on the backs of their heads. “This may sound very foolish, but it is no more foolish than this at- tempt to regulate teachers’ private lives.” Defends Personal Rights, Mrs. Wright said the resolution was an attempt to interfere with the personal rights of teachers. “We don't want & bunch of spine- less milksops teaching our children,” | she said. “When we see teachers | staggering ercund with bottles in| hand, that will be time to do some- | thing.” Long before she had finished her | defense of teachers, whom she said need no defense, the board members were smiling broadly. Only Henry Gilligan, a member of the school board, replied to her: “What would you think of the teacher who came to school with the odor of tobacco or liquor on her breath?” he inquired. “I don’t know what I would say,” answered Mrs. Wright. “Maybe I might think the teacher didn't feel so good that morning and needed something to help her.” Pay Cuts Scheduled. Specifying that he was expressing only his personal attitude, Gilligan said: “It is my wish that teachers never come to classes with the smell of tobacco er liquor on their breaths. Motor Club Raps Congress For Ten-Year Traffic Toll Charging that the traffic accident situation in the Capital has “gone from bad to worse,” the District of Columbia Motor Club of the Amer- jcan Automobile Association this morning issued statistics on traffic for the past 10 years and scored Con- | gress for not enacting “safety legis- lation.” There have been 898 fatal motor accidents here in the last 10 years, and 32,664 men, women and children have been injured out of & total of 73,147 accidents reported during that eclared. | period, the report d The trafic accident increase in Washington is not to be “laid at the door of any single agency. It is due in part to the failure of Congress to enact safety legislation and give at- tention to the recommendations of District authorities. It is due in part to the lack of sufficient personnel in our police department. “It is due in part to temporizing with constructive proposals * * * and it is due in part to inadequate plan- ning for the increasing flow of traffic on our streets,” Ernest N. Smith, executive vice president of the asso- ciation, stated. {Miss A. L. Gnodwin as general sec- Plan t.o. Ban | MRS. LESLIE B. WRIGHT. What they do after school hours is their own business.” Teachers engaged in emergency | educational activities will have their pay cut from about $100 a month to $15 or less a week, Dr. Frank W. Ballou, superintendent of schools, in- formed the board. He presented cor- respondence with Federal emergency relief officials, who pointed out lhll' the rate here is in excess of that in most other cities. The reduction is due to be effective January 1. Exceptions will be made in cases | where an individual's economic status | warrants higher pay. Miss Alice Hill | director of District emergency relief, | now is conducting a survey to accer- | tain the economic status of ail emer- gency relief teachers. New Rate S1 an Hour. The new rate will b> at approxi- mately $1 an hour, with the teachers working only 15 hours a week. | Ballou reported that public | school employes oversubscribed their Community Chest quota this year by 3 per cent, contributing a total of $35,654.45. Their goal had been set at $35500. Cgptributions were re- ceived from 3,865 persons. The District of Columbia Teachers’ Union will be given a hearing on “the policy of rating and promotions” at a special meeting January 2, the board decided. The regular meeting | scheduled for that date will be post- poned one week. A complaint by Local No. 102 of the International Union of Operat- ing Engineers against certain work- ing conditions in the schools will be heard by the board as soon as the union specifies on what particular | point it wishes to be heard. To Pay Teachers December 21. Teachers were assured they will have money over the Christmas holidays when the board passed an order which 1 will permit them to receive their pay checks December 21, their last work- | ing day of 1934. The probationary appointment of retary of the Community Center De- partm:nt was made permanent. The board approved the recom- mendation of Mrs. Philip Sidney Smith, of its special committee on naming school buildings, that the new senior- junior high school te be erected in Anacostia he named for Calvin Coolidge. When there are separate senior and junior high schools in the section, the senior school will be called the Calvin Coolidge, and the other the Anacostia Junior High School. The use of Roosevelt High School was granted for production of a play for the benefit of the Weightman School for cripplec pupils. The bene- fit will be staged by the Weightman Perent-Teacher Association in co-op- eration with thc Community Center Department. F STREET WIDENING PROJECT IS STARTED Surveyors at Work on Prelim- inaries to Rermodeling of Steps of Old Patent Office. Surveyors of the National Park Service were at work today obtaining preliminary information on the tear- ing down of the south steps of the old Patent Office Building, F street, between Seventh and Ninth streets. This is made possible by $100,000 of Public Works Administration funds, allocated by Secretary Ickes to elimi- nate the traffic bottle neck at that point.g The widening of P street will be done under jurisdiction of H. ‘Whitehurst, in charge of the District’s 4 | bighways. HUGE GAS STORAGE Holder in Prince Georges County Has 10,000,000 Cubic Feet Capacity. The Washington Gas Light Co. hlS“ | completed construction of its new 10.- | 000,000-cubic feet holder on Chillum | | road. near Queen's Chapel road, in| Prince Georges County, Md. | The new holder, which is used only | for storage purposes. is tied in with the | District gas distributing system at First place and Kennedy street, through 13,000 feet of 24-inch main. With the new holder in service, the storage capacity of the gas company ul now 26,894,534 cubic feet, carried ini nine storage holders and three reuer] holders. Gas engineers estimate that it is| necessary to have a storage capacity of | 50 to 100 per cent of the maximum | day's sendout of gas in order to avoid | interruptions of the service. This/ year's maximum day was Fcbruary 9.| during a sp2ll of record-breaking cold weather. On that day the sendout was 44,075,000 cubic feet. On such| days, gas is sent out faster than it is manufactured, and it is necessary to use gas from storage tanks to pre- vent service interruptions. Construction of the new tank was started a year ago by the Bartlett Hayward Co. of Baltimore. Below the tank proper there is a concrete shell, extending 38 feet 11 inches be- low ground level. Into this is built the steel tank in three telescoping sec- tions, or “lifts.” The tank is 303 feet in diameter. More than 500,000 cubic | feet of carth were excavated for the| construct: . The system with which the tank is| connected serves Washington, George- town, Rosslyn and Montgomery County. Hyattsville is not tied in, as the Washington Suburban Gas Co. of Hyattsville manufactures its own gas. COLDER WEATHER IS DUE TOMORROW Rising Mercury Here Expected”to Yield This Week End to More Snow. The mercury was expected to ap- proach the 45-degree mark today to give the Capital its warmest weather in a week. Tanight will be fair, with a mini- mum of about 28, the Weather Bureau predicted, while tomorrow will be slightly colder. - The maximum to- i morrow will be about 35. | The “freeze” was broken yesterday ; for the figst time in three days, the | thermometer registering 33 at 3:30 p.m. From 24 at 7 am. today, the temperature rose steadily and reached 36 at 10 am. More snow might blow in from the | West by Saturday or Sunday, but whether the precipitation will turn to rain depends upon the tempera- tures here, the bureau said. Faced with an acute bird food shortage during the cold weather here, the Washington Humane So- clety has issued a plea for contribu- tions of cash or bird seed. The society has its offices at 1231 New York avenue. During the last Winter the organization purchased and distributed 700 pounds of food for the birds. MOTORIST EXONERATED IN PARKING DISPUTE Alleged to Have Run Against Woman While She Was Trying to Claim Space. William J. Ellis, jr., who was charged with striking Mrs. Elizabeth Sherman, wife of a Twelfth street merchant, with his automobile during a dispute over a parking space, was exonerated yesterday by a jury in Police Court. Ellis was tried several weeks ago on the same charge, but the jury failed to agree. Ellis was alleged to have run his automobile against Mrs. Sherman three times as she stood in the middle of a parking space awaiting for her husband to return from rounding the bleck and enter the space. Attorney Milford Schwartz repre- sented Ellis. and Karl Kindleberger, C. | assistant district attorney in charge of Police Court prosecution, represent- ed the Government. " and Other Government Officials for Development. With President Roosevelt and Sec- retary Ickes, as well as other Govern- ment officials, favoring development of Washington's air terminal at Grav- elly Point, and the possibility that funds may be forthcoming immedi- ately from the Public Works Admine istration for its construction, engi= neers of the United States Engineer Office looked up their latest estimates and found such & project would cost $2,300,000. Maj. Robert W. Crawford, district engineer for the War Department for the Washington area, and his asso- ciates pointed to these preliminary es- timates for work at Gravelly Point: For land purchase, $100,000, al- though they said that the purchase of the Norton tract at Hunters Point by the Government and the fact that part of the Smoot property has been dredged away, this figure would be materially reduced at the present time, Fill and Grading Costs. For fill and grading, $723,000, mak- ing the cost of the bare field little over $800,000; for runways, etc., $880,000; for buildings and equip- ment, $597,000. This would give 266 acres, with minimum length of run- ways 4,000 feet. The engineers esti- mated an additional acreage of 340 would be available for expansion, although they said that moving down toward Alexandria, Va., the airport could be built up from the river bote tom to an almost unlimited exient E. A. Schmitt, scnior engineer in Maj. Crawford’s office, said today the average elevation above m22n low water of the Potomac River would be from 11 to 12 feet. This area, he explained, is more than a mile and & half below Highway Bridge and that, due to the flood slope of the river, the waters would ke 2'; feet lower at Gravelly Point because of drainage conditions. Complete drainage of the Gravelly Point Airport is provided under the United States Engineer Of- fice’s plans. The estimates of the engineers were prepared after consultation with the aercnautics branch of the Depariment of Commerce, end would provide a complcte, modern airport for the Na- tional Capital, said Mr. Scamitt. Immediate Work Possible. Irmediate work cculd be started on levees in preparatian for the dredging operation at Gravelly Point, said Mr. Schmitt, and in about 45 days con- tracts could be let for dredging and the purchase of property initiated, after the funds became available. Hangars, aprons and service facilities would be an elevation of 12 feet above average of low water on the Potomac River. Mr. Schmitt explained that the 1889 freshet height was well below that elevation. At the precent tim: levees have al- ready been thrown up to bound the river cdge of the fulure Graveliy Point eirport. M2j. Crawford rcq ed the Army Air Corps to take paologiapas of these levees a few days ago, and this was done, materially assisting the en- gineers in their plans. The levees will inclose deposits secured from dredged material, said Mr. Schmitt, and it is anticipated that within the next nine months work should begin to place over 1,000,000 cubic yards of material on the futuresite of theairport. This will come from the Virginia channel, upstream of the Highway Bridge up to Easbys Point, near the Titanic Memorial. What will result at this basin at Gravelly Point can readily be visual- ized, said Mr. Schmitt, by looking at Columbia Island, which, like the Gravelly Point airport site, had two or three feet of water over it a few years ago. There is a 20-foot average elevation at Columbia Island. Remaining Area Submerged. At the present time Gravelly Point consists of a strip four or five hundred feet in width of permanent land along the Mount Vernon Memorial High- way. The remaining area, said the senior engineer, is now submerged by two or three feet of water. “The estimated minimum time of getting some service was three years,” said Mr. Schmitt. “Possibly it might run as much as five years until every feature of the airport is completely developed.” Thomas S. Settle, secretary of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, observed today that if East Potomac Park was suitable as an airport, then also Gravelly Point must be, Both, he explained, would be brought into existence the same way, for East Potomac Park was created by the United States Army engineers by pumping up material from the bed of the Potomac River. WELFARE UNITS TO TALK OUTLINE FOR CONGRESS 75 Officials to Meet Wednesday to Harmonize Views of All Agencies. Representatives of numerous Wash- ington civic and professional groups will meet next Wednesday afternoon with officials of the Board of Public ‘Welfare to discuss social seeurity leg- islation to be sought at the coming session of Congress. Invitations have been sent to 75 officials of business, civic, educational and welfare groups by Frederick W. McReynolds, chairman of the welfare board. The session will be held in the béard room of the District Building at 4 pm. Among proposed measures are the old age pension bill and one or more forms of unemployment insurance. One objective of the joint meeting is to map a unified program favored by all groups. McReynolds said there is no set pro~ gram outlined for attention at the meeting next week.