Evening Star Newspaper, December 14, 1934, Page 4

WOMAN IN BELL CASE TELLS STORY Admits Receiving Gifts of Money From Fredericks- burg Man. (Continued From First Page.) about $50 worth of merchandise from his store and charged it to Bell Bros. furniture store of Fredericksburg, in which the defendant is a partner. The merchandise included several dresses and an apron and bedspread. Oliver Morrison, 26, offered the testimony that Bell approached him last Summer and tried to hire him for some “detective work.” Morrison said Bell wanted him to shadow a woman at Buckroe Beach, but de- clined to give the woman's name, saying he was to reccgnize her by a photograph. Morrison said he de- clined the job and never learned the woman's name or saw the photograph. Daughter Is T Judge Coleman announced this morning that he had received a tele- gram last night from the defendant's daughter, Miss Irma Bell, saying she was ill in New York, but expected to be in Fredericksburg by 10 a.m. Mon- day to testify. Miss Bell had been summoned by the prosecution. Bell's son, Edward C. Bell, jr., was expected to leave his classes at the University of Virginia long enough to be a witness. The principal exhibit introduced by the Commonwealth consists of a score of bottles containing medicine which Bell is accused of having contaminated with the intent of poisoning his wife. ‘Two Fredericksburg pharmacists, Dr. W. L. Bond and Dr. Charles H. Lewis, declared none of the various types of poison later found in the bottles was called for in the prescriptions. Only one bottle contained a small amount of prescribed medicinal poison, it was testified. Expert testimony has been given to show the medicines later con- tained at least four types of deadly poison Dr. Ralph R. Foray, a manufactur- ing chemist of Rahway, N. J., told the Jjury there were no poisons contained in the sedatives which his company had manufactured and which had been prescribed for Mrs. Bell. It was testified that these bottles had been tampered with and several of them contained poison. Wife Would Defend Husband. Defense Attorney C. O'Conor Gool- rick said this morning Mrs. Bell would be glad to testify in behalf of her husband. She still has every confi- dence in his innocence, Goolrick said, but the ordeal of coming into court might cost her life in .her present ‘weakened condition. ‘The colored maid said she saw Bell last Spring take a white powder from an envelope in his pocket and sprinkle it over several pieces of chicken which had been carved and placed on a plate for delivery to the invalid. At an- other time, she said, friends sent in a salad to the sick woman, and che saw Bell sprinkling this with the same type of powder. A grapefruit in- tended for Mrs. Bell and carried to her by an unsuspecting member of the family likewise had been tam- pered with, the maid declared. Unusual Domestic Situation. A domestic situation of almost in- credible contradiction was revealed late yesterday in the testimony of the two nurses in attendance upon the invalid Mrs. Bell. After Bell was arrested on informa- tion supplied by the nurses, he was released on bond and returned to his home, knowing the nurses whose sal- aries he continted to pay had taken information to authorities that he was trying to poison his wife, along with evidence in the form of at least score of medicine bottles alleged contain poison. According to Miss Ruth Hill, Bell showed not the least resentment to- ward her or the other nurse, Mrs. Viola Jones. Miss Hill testified Bell told her the day after his arrest: “I'm guilty—guilty as can be!” ‘The nurse said she was so impressed by this confession she scribbled it on a sheet of paper and held it tightly in her hand until she could find the other nurse and deliver it to her. Falls Into Nurses’ “Trap.” Another strange angle was the manner in which Bell is alleged to have fallen into the “trap” set by the nurses. Miss Hill told the court she frequently left a bottle contain- ing a clear sleeping potion in such a manner as to show when it had been moved. Time after time, Miss Hill declared, she found the bottles tam- pered with and containing a powder which had been precipitated to the | bottom of the bottle. Experts testi- fied there was enough poison in these bottles to have killed several persons. After Bell told her he was guilty, Miss Hill said, he added: “Please, can't you help me? Have you nurses taken all those bottles to the authorities? I don't understand why you didn't bring this matter to me in the first place.” Pays for Woman’s Auto. The sensation of yesterday after- noon’s session was testimony by a Richmond automobile dealer, W. F. Byrnum, that Bell had given a check for $705 on the payment of a sedan purchased in April of 1932 by Mrs. McMullin. Byrnum was on the stand less than five minutes and was not cross-ex- amined. He said his records showed Mrs. McMullin traded in a used car for $600 and Bell gave a check for the remainer of the purchase price, $1,305, Tells of Anatysis of Hair. Dr. Campbell C. Forbes of Rich- mond told how he received samples of hair and found them upon analysis to contain traces of arsenic. The lock of hair was taken from Mrs. Beil's head by a physician who was attending her at the time. Testifying with regard to Mrs. Bell's condition, Mrs. Jones said she ap- peared to be losing the use of her arms and legs. The invalid remains cheerful, however, Mrs. Jones said, and anxiously awaits the nightly telephone calls from her husband. Judge Coleman late yesterday in- structed bailiffs to keep the jury of 12 men together for the remainder of the trial. e WALES WEARS GLASSES Prince Appears With Rimmed Spectacles. LONDON, December 14 (#).—The Prince of Wales has taken to wearing horn-rimmed spectacles. The 40-year-old heir to the British throne appeared with them for the first time in public yesterday. He read the agenda at the annual meet- ing of the League of Mercy. The prince has been wearing glasses for several weeks for reading. They ve him a serious and somewhat staid ook. Although becoming, they make him look older. A Horn- 8 No. 1—Four jurors examine evl at Fredericksburg, Va. have contained poison which Bell administered to his wife. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, dence at the trial of Edward C. Bell The bottles, cans and packages are alleged to The jurors, left to right: G. F. Cooke, jr.; B. L. Lucas, Lafayette Biscoe and Brewer Beckwith. No. 2—Albert V. Bryan, youthful prosecutor, confers with two im- portant State witnesses before they take the stand. Left to right: Dr. J. C. Forbes, chemist from the Medical College of Virginia; Bryan and Dr. William B. Porter, professor at the college. No. 3—Bell and his attorneys in the court room. Left to right: W, Marshall King, Bell, W. W. Butzner and C. O'Coner Goolrick. No. 4—A new photo of Bell, taken late yesterday. No. 5—W. A. Bell, brother of Lewis Brown, Washington newspape the court room. LABOR TO INSIST A BE CONTINUED, IN VIRGINIA FATAL ’Washington Man Killed and Green Presents Unions’ Program for Recovery Act Revision. By the Associated Press. An insistence by labor that the new N. R. A. provide for continued govern- mental regulation and administration of industry was presented to Presi- dent Roosevelt today by William Green, president of the American Fed- eration of Labor. Green also presented labor's entire formula for a permanent national re- covery act to take the place of the existing N, R. A. which expires in June. The labor program asked for re- newal of the collective bargaining clause in the same language provided by section 7-A; continuation of pro- visions for maximum hours and mini- mum wages; the writing into law of the policy for abolition of child lebor; continued elimination of unfair trade practices, and equal representation by | labor with industry on all administra- tive boards. Industry Plea Opposed. Manufacturers have proposed that under the new N. R. A. industry be allowed to take over the administra- tive task, but Green emphasized that labor strongly opposed this. He also presented to the President a recommendation of the A. F. of L. contention for an investigation of the qualifications and the attitude of Clay Williams, North Carolina, the new head of the N. R. A. Green said it was particularly de- sired that the Williams inquiry con- sider his relations with the cigarette code. He has been in the tobacco business. Defends Board Acts. Discussing collective bargaining, Green said: “We feel the National Labor Re- lations Board is making correct in- terpretations of that clause. If we try to change it there is & danger of making the language worse. As it is it really provides for collective bar- gaining.” COMPROMISE SOUGHT TO PREVENT STRIKE Mediation Board Drafts Proposal to Avert Los Angeles Rail Tie-up. By the Associated Press. LOS ANGELES, December 14 —The National Mediation Board prepared today to draft a compromise proposal whereby it hoped to avert a walkout of 1,600 employes of the Pacific Elec- tric, as high officials of the Brother- hood of Railway Trainmen gathered here to act as a strategy board if the strike is called. Reports were current in official circles that the pending strike, twice postponed, might extend to organized trainmen on steam roads serving Los Angeles. The Pacific Electric carries daily an estimated 150,000 commuters be- tween Los Angeles and suburban areas on its interurban trains. It is not connected with the Los Angeles Rail- way Co., many employes of which have been on strike nearly three weeks. Beggar Too Busy to Eat. CHICAGO (#)—The beggar busi- ness appears to be good. So good, in fact, that George Novak was 5o busy he couldn’t stop to eat. ‘When he stopped at the home of W. C. Erickson he asked for money. But Erickson told him to go around to the back door and await a meal. “I'm too busy—can't stop to eat,” Novak said. Erickson called pdlice, and Novak was sent to jail to work out a fine of $50, the defendant, accused of attacking r photographer, dodges a camera in : —Star Staft Photos. TRUCK-CAR CRASH Woman Hurt—Second Driver Arrested. By & Staff Correspondent of The Star. FAIRFAX, Va, December 14— George P. Gauvreau, driver of the truck which yesterday collided with an automobile on Warrenton road just west of here, killing the driver and injuring the other occupant of | the car, is being held under bond of $5,000 pending his arraignment next week on a charge of manslaughter. ‘{ The dead man is Charles G. McKay, | 33, of 1343 Kenyon street, Washing- ton, who was driving from the Cap- | |ital to his farm, near Nokesville, in Prince William County. He was ac- companied by Miss Florence Mc- Chesney, about 25, a nurse at Episco- pal Hospital in Washington, who suf- fered concussion of the brain, possible skull fracture, severe lacerations w the face and scalp and other injuries. She is at Georgetown University Hos- pital in Washington, where her con- dition is described as serious. Coroner C. A. Ransom viewed the body of McKay last night, as weli as the scene of the accident, and ordered that Gauvreau be held. According to Sheriff E. P. Kirby, Gauvreau’s truck, which he operated for the Washington Tobacco Co., ran off the pavement and in swerving to get back on the concrete crashed into the on-coming McKay automobile, overturning both vehicles several times. Gauvreau lives in the 1000 block of Otis street northeast. McKay's brother Leo of Potomac Heights. Md., with whom he has op- erated the Nokesville farm for some time, came here last night to take the body of his brother to Front Royal, their mother's home, where funeral services and burial will be held. o MRS. HANNAH HART, 78, DIES AT HER HOME HERE Native of London Came to Capital in 1856—Rites Held This Morning. Mrs. Hannah O'Connor Hart, 78, died Tuesday at her home, 4117 Third street. Born in London, Mrs. O'Con- nor came here in 1856, living first on the site where now stands the office of the National Capital Parks. She had been very active in the work of Holy Trinity parish and was well known to the Sodalists of Washing- ton. She was a member of the An- cient Order of Hibernians. Of ner 14 children, four survive, Mrs. Harry Chinn, Mrs. Catherine Chamberlain, Miss Victoria Hart and Edward Hart. She also leaves two sisters, Mrs. Annie Crowley of Wash- ington and Sister Marie Terese of Dayton, Ohio. Funeral services were held this morning in St. Gabriel's Church, fol- lowed by burial in Mount Olivet Ceme- tery. —_— PLAY IS PRESENTED Students of Roosevelt High School presented the operetta, “The Belle of Baghdad,” last night at the school. There will be a second performance tonight. Margaret Ruckert took the leading role. The production was directed by Miss Emma Louise Thempson and Miss Esther Galbraith. The stage set- tings were painted under the direction of Miss Norma Rose, and the Oriental costumes were designed by Mrs. M. Hayhoe. ‘The cast included Nancy Hall, Flora Blumenthal, Betty Sando, Mildred Archer, Betty Smallman, Jean Hartig, Mabel Munday, Beal Bale, Harry Nichter, Richard Davis, Howard Bow- ers, Charles Moser and Charles Mac- Lendon. Order Is Placed For Equipment in D. C. Street Cars Westinghouse Gets $60,- 000 Contract for Elec- trical Appliances. By the Associated Press. PITTSBURGH, December 14.—The Westinghouse Electric & Manufac- turing Co. has received an order from the J. G. Brill Co. for electrical equipment to be installed on 10 street cars ordered by the Capital Transit Co. of Washington. The order ag- gregates $60,000. Westinghouse _engineers said a quadruple type 50-horsepower motor and variable automatic control fea- tures will make these cars’ per- formance excel anything now op- erating in regular service. ‘Weighing 33,000 pounds, the 44- foot cars will be able to average 14 miles an hour with eight stops of 6.5 seconds per mile. They are of the center-exit type and will be de- livered in approximately 10 weeks. — HELD TO GRAND JURY Robert, Carroll, colored, was held for grand jury action under $5,000 bond when arraigned before Judge Ralph Given in Police Court today on a charge of having shot Wesley O. Moger, 34, on November 17, Awakened by a flashlight shining in his eyes, Moger, who lies at 65 New York avenue, was shot in the face and hand by a colored man as he ap- proached him. Carroll was arrested several days later. Moger had been asleep in s room with his wife and sev- eral achildren at thé time of the shooting, D. C, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1934, TAXI METER RATES BEFORE COMMISSION Roberts Would Compel All Such Operators to Abide by Regulations. The Public Utilities Commission was urged today by People’'s Counsel Wil- liam A. Roberts to compel operators of metered taxicabs to comply with the metered rates fixed by the commission in January, 1932. These rates are 25 cents for the first 2 miles and 5 cents for each additional one-third mile. Only 8 or 10 or the 4,000-odd taxicabs in Washington are metered, the remainder employing the flat-rate-zone-fare system. The variety of rates used by the few metered cabs are higher than those fixed by the commission. The commission several years ago ordered installation of meters on all cabs, but this move was specifically blocked by Congress in a clause at- tached to the District appropriation bills. Roberts explains, however, that Congress has not enjoined the com- mission from fixing rates for those cabs which voluntarily use meters. He argued, further, that the recent decision by the District Court of Ap- peals sustained the right of the com- mission to fix rates charged by the metered cabs. PEOPLE’S LOBBY MEETS “Socialization or Chaos” will be the topic for discussion at a luncheon meeting of the People’s Lobby at the Cosmos Club tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. Prof. John Dewey will preside and the speakers will include Dr. Sidney E. Goldstein, Dr. Jesse H. Holmes, Dr. John A. Lapp and Bishop Francis J. McConnell, £ - ) Fredericksburg Jurors Examine Medicine Exhibits in Bell Poison Trial 'REBIRTH OF G. 0. P. ON ANTI-MONOPOLY BASIS ADVOCATED (Continued From First Page.) I have had word from clubs in some | It is my judgment that | 120 States. | after you organize in the States, you will have to have a national organ- ization.” Ready to Go Half Way. Senator Nye said that the Repub- licans of the West were willing to meet the Republicans half way in re- organization of the party. Pointing out that the Republicans of the West have gone along through thick and party, Nye said: “Today we ask for a reformed Re- publican party if we are longer to fol- {low. And if we can't have that, we can serve our needs and wishes in a new progressive party even though the election machinery affords frightful odds against immediate success for & new political party.” “The party needs to be reborn,” said Senator Nye. “It needs to accom- plish complete divorcement from its old loves, its old moorings. It needs to get back to where it found its real successes—where it found life. # It needs to turn its back upon that which has been its undoing, namely the private money bags of the country from which came that thing thought to be the one ingredient needed to succeed. “No matter how desperate may be the need for money in rebuilding the party, the greatest amounts of it will be to no avail if it must be paid back by favors to big business which fur- nishes it. Under the most favorable of circumstances a comeback for the Republican party is going to be diffi- cult. With a Wall Street ball and chain still attached to it, a comeback is not so much as to be dreamed of.” Power Will Come From Labor. “To talk about a conservative party in this country within the near fu- ture,” said Senator Borah, demanding liberalization of the G. O. P., “Is to shut our eyes to all the conditions about us. You will do marvelously well if you hold the politics of our country within the compass of liberal, constitutional lines. That we ought to strive for. To do less is to place ourselves in a position where we can do nothing. “The driving power in politics in this country for years to come, I ven- ture to believe, will come from labor, from the producer, from small busi- ess and from the millions who have through no fault of their own been stripped of their life’s savings and life’s opportunities. If out of all this is to come orderly and constitutional gov- ernment, there must also come a sys- tem and a body of laws insuring a wholly different distribution of the wealth of our country. “The depresison with which we are struggling is something more than a ‘mere business debacle, something more than ¢ temporary economijc disturb- ance, it is in the nature of a notice that the iniquities and the injustices of our economic structure call for re- adjustment. More than once in his. tory men have refused to listen to call of this nature and such experi- ences have not been fortunate for one. Must Alter Program. Senator Borah and Senator Nye indicated in a general way what the platform of the reborn Republican party should be. Nye said that it was not necessary to make it a party of radicalism embracing the impossible. But he said: “The Republican party must decid- edly alter what has been its program respecting monopoly. If it dares to seriously challenge the present ad- ministration on this issue, it will have at once a vast army of followers.” ‘He continued that it must pledge it~ self to giving the farmer and the laborer a larger share of the profit and wealth created by labor. Mr. Nye, chairman of the Senate Committee which has been investigating the operations of munitions makers, dubbed the munitions makers “inter- x ~# REYNOLDS ESTATE ATTACK RENEWED Mrs. Cannon Asks Court to Check Validity of Reno Divorce Decree. By the Associated Press. WINSTON-SALEM, N. C., Decem- ber 14—Mrs. Annie L. Cannon of Concord, mother of Anne Cannon Rey- nolds Smith and co-guardian of her grandchild, Anne Cannon Reynolds, 2d, today asked the Forsyth Superior Court to decline the attempted settle- ment of the Smith Reynolds trust for- tune and to appoint a master to take testimony and report on the validity of the Reno divorce between Smith Reynolds and her daughter. Her petition indicts her brother-ine law, C. A. Cannon, president of the Cabarrus Bank, as an “unfriendly guardian,” and says that for 10 years a state of “armed neutrality” has ex- isted between the two branches of the powerful towel manufacturing family. Mrs. Cannon’s petition is & direct answer to the proposal of the Rey- nolds heirs for a settlement of the estate litigation and contains a spe- cific request for the court to pass upon the bearing of the divorce on the legitimacy of little Christopher Smith Reynolds, son of Libby Holman, as an heir to the $25,000,000 tobacco fortune. The petition also asks the court to pass finally upon the validity of the New York will of Smith Reynolds, which she says was made while he was still a minor and a resident in fact of North Carolina. This will left the bulk of the money to Smith Reynolds’ brother and sisters. DERN TO SPEAK War Secretary to Address Young Democrats Next Friday. Secretary of War Dern will address the District division of the Young Democratic Clubs of America at its next regular meeting at the Willard Hotel next Priday night, it was an- nounced today. Next Wednesday a public affairs forum, sponsored by the young Demo- crats, will be held at the Willard. The speakers are to be Thomas Ken- nedy, lieutenant governor elect of Pennsylvania; Thomas H. Eliot, gen- eral counsel of the President’s Com- mittee on Economic Security, and Robert Fechner, director of the Civil- ian Conservation Corps. Shop Early | who is going to carry them out. thin in the past in support of the | national racketeers,” and said that the Republican party should pledge itself to curb their activities. Must Have Liberal Leaders. Senator Borah expressed the opinion that after all it was more important to have liberal-minded leaders in control at this juncture than to write & liberal platform for the party. He said: “Since the proposal for reorganiza- tion the cry of those opposed to re- organization is: Write us a plat- form. Give us a platform. Platforms amount to nothing unless you know If liberals are in con! of the party, if you have a libera®administration, you will have a liberal policy re- gardless of the platform. If you have conservatives in control, you will have |a conservative administration and a ‘comervltlve party policy regardless of the platform.” RIFLE GROUP TO MEET National Convention Opens at Mayflower Tonight. The National Rifle Association, which numbers more than 250,000 members, will hold its sixty-third annual meeting tonight at 8 o'clock at the Mayflower Hotel. Maj. L. W. T. Walker, jr., of Phila- delphia, the second vice president, will preside in the absence of Presi- dent Karl T. Frederick. Other officers are Maj. Gen. M. A. Reckord of Bal- timore, executive vice president, and C. B. Lister of this city, secretary- treasurer. Open Till 9 P.M. Beginning Saturday, December 15th Interwoven HOSE These famous socks are & buy-word for quality ‘l:d value...they range price from 35C to $I Originé!ou of the BUDGCET PLAN in Washington HMake up your Christmas Bud- get now and do your shopping Early Losn $120 $180 $240 $300 $360 $540 $1,200 $100.00 $6,000 $500.00 It is not necessary to have had an_Ac- count at this Bank to Borrow. THE MORRIS PLAN BANK Under Supervision U. S, Treasury 1408 H STREET, N. W. MEN’S Gift HEADQUARTERS TROJAN TIES $1 to $2.50 MANHATTAN SHIRTS $1.95 to $3.50 INTERWOVEN HOSE 35¢ to $1 McGREGOR SWEATERS $3.50 to $5 FAULTLESS PAJAMAS $1.95 to $8 SILK AND WOOL ROBES $5 to $11.75 SILK AND WOOL MUFFLERS $1.35 to $3.50