Evening Star Newspaper, December 16, 1934, Page 27

JAFSIE HAS “NEWS™ FOR"MRS. CAPONE} Condon Bears “Good” Tid- Ings to Gang Leader’s Wife in Florida Home. (Copyright, 1934, by the Assoclated Press.) MIAMI, Fla, December 15—Dr. John F. Condon, “Jafsie” of the Lind- bergh kidnaping, today brought “good news” to the wife of the imprisoned former Chicago gang leader, Al Ca- one. 5 “Tell Mrs. Capone I have good news for her—unusually good news"—the retired New York educator and Lind- bergh intermediary told a servant who informed him Mrs. Capone was tempo- rarily away from her Palm Island home here. Arranges to Return. Dr. Condon, who came here by au- tomobile for a personal investigation of “several unrelated clues,” made a tentative appointment to return to see Mrs. Capone before he leaves Miami for New York next Wednesday. He declined to reveal the exact na- ture of the “good news” he had for Mrs. Capone, whose husband’s name for a time figured prominently in the Nation-wide efforts for return of the kidnaped chila. “It is based upon a letter,” said Condon, “that I received from a wom- an, whose identity I cannot make pub- lic at this time.” The man who handed over $50,000 of Col. Lindbergh's money to ransom the child refused to discuss New Jer- sey's case against Bruno Richard Hauptmann. Silence Requested. “At the request of New Jersey au- thorities, I have refrained from mak- ing any statement, that might be con- strued as an opinion of the guilt or innocence of the prisoner,” Dr. Con- don said. “However, I can say that Haupt- mann has sent for me on several oc- casions.” He revealed he has received more than 2500 letters since his part in the ransom payment became known and he was catapulted into prom- inence. “Many of these contained informa- tion, and I am checking some of these statements on this trip into Florida. I talked with one man at West Palm Beach yesterday, and will try to con- tact several in the Miami area. “I am here searching out evidence, for every link, I believe, will make the State case more evident, stronger.” “Jafsie’s” presence on the streets here brought scores of persons who sought his autograph, or shook his hand. He was the luncheon guest today of | Rev. Father Florence O'Sullivan in' the Catholic Church rectory, and re- mained closeted with him for two' hours afterward. HAUPTMANN GAINS WEIGHT. Puts on 3 Pounds in Two Weeks, Sher- ift Announces. FLEMINGTON, N. J,, December 15 (7). —Bruno Richard Hauptmann, Lindbergh kidnap-slaying suspect, has gained 3 pounds in the past two weeks, Sheriff John H. Curtiss said today. The prisoner is eating well, the sheriff asserted, and a minor internal disturbance has completely disap- peared now that the carpenter is in- ured to his surroundings in the Hun- terdon County Jail. His wife Anna and son Mannfried visited him today. At Trenton a high State official to- day characterized published reports that traces of human blood had been found in the trunk on back of Haupt- mann’s automobile as “a fairy tale.” Prosecution officials, on the other hand, declined to comment on the story from West Palm Beach, Fla., that Dr. John F. Condon, the “Jafsie” of the ransom negotiations, had ex- pressed the opinion Hauptmann will not be convicted of the murder charge on which he will be tried. DISMISSAL dF HOARDING CHARGE TO BE ASKED Treasury Instructs U. S. Attorney at Syracuse to Drop Action Against Jewelers. By the Associated Press. SYRACUSE, December 15.—The At- torney General's office in Washington has advised Oliver D. Burden, United States attorney for the Northern New York district, to ask for dismissal of an indictment against Nathan, Philip and Otto Sonne, Utica jewelers, who were accused in December of hoarding coins in violation of the gold reserve act. In the same letter, Mr. Burden was informed that the Treasury Depart- ment has instructed the United States Mint to cancel the license issued to the three brothers to buy scrap gold. ‘The Sonne brothers were indicted after William Karp, a secret service | agent, seized several old coins on dis- play at their store. Nathan Sonne later wrote a letter to President Roosevelt asking him to order the agent to return the coins and to direct newspapers to retract stories of the case. — e Marriage Licenses. Frederick R. Reamy, 24, Alexandria, Va., d F. Fyllu, 19, 916 H st. ne; 226 16th st. and 5907 4th st Rev. W. 8. Leo Rubmowm, o Bmoklyn N. Y., and Ida “Chernikoff: 23, 518 dth st. ne: !lllfl y R. Railey. 21, and Catherine L. Suiifvan, 18, both or" Capltol Helghts, . B, Aust ‘H. ‘and Eunice C. ';, both of ‘Danville, Va.; e ., lnd Vloll A M!lltr. Pa; goldd: Bev, Pmchett Al\ln B Lem h, 21, both of Hanover, Hennig. hi Roberts, 21, 4601 Deane ave. n.e., ’ol?:dRPl\nxh;e!Eullunlm 620 55th st George Wflson, 28, 1428 11th st., and Olk: starl ke 1314% mh st.; Judge . jr., 27, and Ethel oot of BaRimere Rev. bert S Bar Jumes W “Edwards: 26, Fleeton, Va.. and Viginla W. Lipscomb, 24, Sandston, F. A Fnillips; 36, Little Falls, N. Y.. and Marguerife Prectman. Glen and Lela O. Green, th st.. Rev. Preston Fantroy. CUE Ciatlotte 1, Greshoncbenla 8824 Colorado ave.: '1?: ‘"\'z'sgl R River, Mass H. L Chamberiand, 4, and e'm;; ., Soann, '.:A. de‘I 13th st.; So Dakot: mn Evelin AA Rose. 10, 9513 . Ross mive: 5, ,_both of Prederl:ksbu}:“\llc oore. ) & Pagt . Peltz, 38, and L A Le B - DD of Detroit. Mich. Rev A Wllllln . Rindgo. 19, 1019 7th st. s and M; E. Toyer, 15, 1414 3rd st Rev. J. J. Albert 28, . and Mabel Connectiout v, Judge K. E. sly. Herbert A. Harrison, 27, 1816 1%th st, and C. V. Patrick; 21" 134 R st Rev! nor., 24, Highland Park, Aleosiac, ‘Mich.; rfgl L1 lllll:,:)e st Lynn M. Harriss, 27. ‘Los_An; lm! Gladys Br'hlker. 34, I-uny 'Illlhn A vaer. 9. Anderson, 8. C., id_He 25. Min) g an .'n!:v. ok neapolis, » A new picture of Phil Kennamer, 19, taken in the Tulsa, Okla., jail, where he said that he had agreed to take part in a plot to kidnap Vir- ginia Wilcoz, or extort money from her wealthy Jather, only so he might thwart the scheme. One of the plotters, he said, was John Gorrell, whom Kennamer says was wounded fatally when they argued about mo- lesting the Wlicoxes. —A. P. Photo. THE SUNDAY STAR, Self-Defense Writer, 97, Say And Clear Con William Harrison S Presidents, Suffers Failing Eyesight but Continues Looking back over a span of nearly a | century, William Harrison Smith is convinced that a clear conscience and | hard work are necessary for the best | life affords. Tomorrow at his home, 1418 Perry place, Mr. Smith will celebrate his 97th birthday. His years have been crowded in peace and in war. “The man who is idle is the man who dies early,” he philosophizes. “God takes care of the man who works.” Mr. Smith has lived in conformity | with this belief. “A veteran in the newspaper world, he wrote on Lincoln for a New York | paper as late as last February. Right now, handicapped by failing eyesight, | he is dictating an article to his wife. Coincidentally, Lincoln was the sub- ject of one of his earliest journalistic | efforts, for as a ‘“cub” reporter, he covered a campaign in which Lincoln | took part several years before his elec | tion to the presidency. Met Taylor First. Lincoln, incidentally, was one of 17 Presidents Mr. Smith has met. The | first was Zachary Taylor, who occu- pied the White House when Smith, as | a boy, visited the Capital with his father, Rev. William Smith, a Meth- odist circuit rider of the Middle West. A native of Indiana—he was born in Noblesville—Mr. Smith naturally s Hard Work science Aid Life mith, Who Knew 17 His Career. took to politics as well as writing. He was at one time an adviser to Presi- dent Benjamin Harrison. Long before | this, in 1875, he was secretary of the | State Legislature in Indiana. A me- | | mento of this service is & gold-headed | cane, the gift of associates After the Civil War, in which he fought with the 11th Indiana Infantry }and rose to a captaincy, Smith came here as a bailiff in the United States | Supreme Court. At a later date he held another Federal post, this time | as chief clerk in the Foreign Mails | Section, Post Office Department. Prolific Historian, Mr. Smith has been a prolific writer | and has turned out several volumes, including “History of Indiana,” “His- tory of Cabinets from Washington to | McKinley,” “The Political Life of Charles W. Fairbanks” and “Speakers of the House.” Mr. Smith comes of a long-lived family. His mother was 98 when she died. He was married twice, his first wife dying many years ago. The pres- ent Mrs. Smith was the daughter of Col. W. W. Frybarger, a Union cav- alry officer. William Wolff Smith, lo- cal attorney, is a son. Mr. Smith’s only hobby has been to |be a “good newspaperman,” and, of | course, he's firmly convinced that the reports of the present have things a lot easier than they did in his early days. Artful Starlings Take Over $10,000,000 4 The “disappearance” of the star- lings from downtown Washington, re- ported by Clifford Lanham and his balloon-waving, can-shaking aids, has turned out to be only a snare and a delusion. In fact, the starlings are still very much in evidence, as J. A. Walsh, construction engineer in charge of the new $100,000,000 Archives Building will testify whole-héartedly. Stated plainly, the pestilential horde, driven from the battlements in the Fourteenth and F sector, has sought quiet haven in the once chaste new $10,000,000 Archives Building, which is consequently fast taking on the aspect of a heavily populated rookery. Yesterday, surveying the scene sadly, Walsh recalled that when the Lanham battalion stacked arms a few days ago, the commander defied any one to find a “hundred” starlings in the business district. “Another such victory and I am | undone—that is, if I am not already undone,” retorts Walsh, as his hand sweeps the scene with expressive gesture. Once stately columns are streaked from top to bottom in a manner that can best be appreciated by any auto- mobile owner who has been unfortu- DYNAMITE IN SUBWAY Six Sticks Found in 'New York Independent Station. NEW YORK, December 15 (#).— Six sticks of dynamite were found to- | night in a subway station of the new independent system at Fort Wash- ington avenue and One Hundred and Seventy-fifth street. | An employe of the subway system, which is city-owned, discovered the explosive in the north end of the M. | station. Detectives and a bomb expert began an investigation. CITY NEWS IN BRIEF. ‘TODAY. Dance, Phi Lambda Nu Fraternity, Hamilton Hotel, 10 p.m. Tea, Phi Sigma Alpha Hamilton Hotel, 4:30 p.m. Lecture, H. H. Balkin, Willard Hotel, 7:45 pm. Annual donation party of the Cur- ley Club, benefit the Little Sisters of the Poor, club house, 2 to 4 p.m. Outing, Red Triangle Outing Club, meet Seventeenth street and New York avenue, 8 am. TOMORROW. Dinner, the 500 Club, Hamilton Ho- tel, 6 p.m. Dirmer, Washington Medical Sur- geons Society, Hamilton Hotel, 6 p.m. Lecture, Miss Janet Richards, Wil- lard Hotel, 11 am. > Sorority, rchives Building | nate enough to leave a highly polished car parked beneath the trees on Pennsylvania avenue where the birds 50 long held forth. Moving toward completion of the building, these massive pillars only recently had been cleaned at a cost of several thousand dollars, but the starlings took no cognizance of the economics of the situation, and the work will have to be done over again—when and if the squatters can, be dispossessed. But that is only part of it. Freshly laid flooring also has of- | fered a target, 2nd in consequence future generations, in search of an archive or so, will tread on concrete | of futuristic Easter-egg design. Meantime, while wondering who is going to foot the bill for the unwel- come visitation, Walsh and his asso- ciates and representatives of John | Russell Pope, the architect, are con- WASHINGTON, CAPONE REVOLTED, CONVICT DECLARES Recaptured Alcatraz Pris- oner Tells Other Alleged Secrets of Island. By the Associated Press. SAN FRANCISCO, December 15.— Some of the alleged secrets of Alcajraz Island, including an asserted hunger strike by Al Capone and other prison- ers, were disclosed today by John Sta- dig, young counterfeiter, before officials clapped him back into the Govern- ment’s carefully guarded prison for arch criminals. “I'd rather die than go back to Al- catraz. That’s a hell hole,” Stadig told Constable John Ott immediately after being captured near Martinez, Calif., yesterday. The 26-year-old counterfeiter escaped recently while being returned to the prison from Portland, where he had been taken to appear in court. “I got a 15-year sentence at Port- land through a frame-up,” Stadig said. “The warden, Attorney General and Portland court framed me be- cause I had written a letter to the At- torney General criticizing the prison. “Threw Us in Dungeon.” “My pal and I had asked the war- den to allow us some newspapers and motion pictures in the prison once a month. He shackled us and threw us in the dungeon for this, and if we got two slices of bread a day we were lucky. “Al Capone and other prisoners went on a strike and refused to eat or come out of their cells, and in three days we were released from the dungeon. It was after that I wrote to the At- torney General.” After a night's sleep in the Marti- nez jail, Stadig told a less harsh story of his experience during four months in the island prison. “Capone, ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly and Harvey Bailey are confined to sep- arate cells like the rest of us,” he said. “Their routine life was much the same as mine. Each man is locked in his solitary cell at 4:30 pm. and stays locked up until 6:30 a.m. Guards “Plenty Strict.” “We wear gray uniforms during the week and change to blue ones on Sunday. The guards are plenty strict, but the treatment in the main isn't s0 bad. We don't get much exercise, only six hours a week, spread over seven days. “There are 253 convicts in the prison and despite the elaborate pre- | cautions to segregate them, there are a number of informers. Roy Gardner, & train robber and escape artist, is the dean of these. But even with this internal problem there haven't been any rows between convicts. No one has been sent to the dungeon for flghung “Another thing in contrast to many other prisons is that there are abso- lutely no narcotics on the island. There is not much diversion for us, but there is a good library and plemy | of books to read.” Federal officers declined to com- ment on Stadig's story. MRS. L. A. BORAH DIES IN GAS-FILLED ROOM Wife of National Geographic As- sistant Takes Own Life at Home Here. Leaving a note in which she said she could “not go on,” Mrs. Juanita Borah, 32, wife of Leo A. Borah, an editorial assistant of the National Geographic Magazine, was found dead in the gas-filled kitchen of her home at 1415 Whittier street Friday eve- ning by her husband and son. A cer- tificate of suicide was issued by Coro- ner A. Magruder MacDonald. Mr. Borah and his son returned from downtown about 8 o'clock and found Mrs. Borah unconscious in a chair in the kitchen. Efforts of Fire Rescue Squad officers and Emergency ;;mspnal attendants failed to revive er. Dr. Howard H. Howlett, family phy- sician said that Mrs. Borah had been under his personal care for some time suffering from a nervous disorder. A graduate of the University of Washington, Mrs. Borah was a-native of Spokane, and had been a professor of classical languages in that uni- versity prior to her marriage. — = BRITAIN SEES UPTURN Cabinet Secretary, on Tour, Says Business Recovering. SAN FRANCISCO, December 15 (P), —An optimistic view of world busi- ness was brought to San Francisco today by Sir Maurice Hankey, secre- tary to the British cabinet, who has just completed a tour of the empire. “Down in Australia people are talk- | ing about the depression in the past tense,” he declared on his arrival here with his wife from Australia. “It sidering various ways and means sug- gested for routing the guests. NEW STYLE BAGUETTE | 14-kt. White | Gold. | Jeweled | Movement Guaranteed 25 Years Upstairs® 20% TO et Bt MALNSE ¢y IM value ’s Elgin lunzlh Wrlst $28.00 sorb Jjars ss 15 Babe Watches for men and boys; guaranteed to ab- Wateh, 553 Ri nd jolts Many Other Gifts of Watches and seems to me that business is on the mend throughout the worl WRIST WATCH SALE West Field by BULOVA Save 40% White Gold Filled Guaranteed 25 Years 49% OFF Sterling Silver ll-" and Pendant Sets. $5 v: old itech Wind Hlll Clocks. Wrist Watches for $2.75 $1.95 $4.75 mond Rings. $19.50 value. . 53-75 Jewelry at Equally Reduced Prices PHILIP FRANKS 812 F St. N.W. A complete stock of Hamilton an birthstone rings, 20 BUY FROM THE UPSTAIRS » ONE FLIGHT UP d El l '-lelu. Iim-ls rings, to 40 per cent of JEWELRY STORE “‘D SAVE D. C, DECEMBER 16, 1934—PART ON Drivers Who Served 100 Years On Capital Streets Retired Pair Will Not Spend Time Going for Ride, They Say. Experience Ranged From Horse to Elec- fact. tric Cars. If there was any truth in the story, Benjamin Solari and Jacob ‘Watson, who have just hung up their gloves after serving more than 100 years between them as horse-car driv- ers, cable-car gripmen and electric- car motormen, would certainly know something about it. These two veterans—Solari is 75 and Watson is 67—will have plenty of opportunity to take a ride now that they have been retired by the Capital Transit Co., but neither intends to. Solari would rather walk than ride the street cars, and besides it makes him nervous when somebody else is doing the driying. Watson knows every uneven rail in town, every bump in the track, and doesn’t care to go over them again. Started on Horse Car. It was in 1882 that Solari took up the reins and started down Pennsyl- vania avenue to take fares at 3 cents a head for the old Washington & Georgetown line. He would trot his team up to Capitol Hill, draw up on a turntable, and swing back for the home trip. ‘Working sometimes 18 hours a day on an open platform with rain and snow whipping into his face wasn't much fun, Solari recalls, but it was easy compared with the hardships he went through a few years before when He went to Wyoming with the 5th United States Cavalry, under Gen. Phil Sheridan. Sleeping didn't come easy out there when the Indians hung around wait- ing to lift your hair, Solari recalls, and he was quite pleased when he re- turned to his home in Philadelphia shortly after he helped bury the re- mains of Custer’s last men. Guarded Assassin. Unable to find work in the Quaker City, Solari came to the Capital and HAT tale about the motorman going for a ride on Lis day off is based on fancy rather than re-enlisted in the Army. He was sta- | tioned at the barracks here when President Garfield was assassinated and he was one of the detail that did sentry duty at the jail where the assabsin was imprisoned. A member of the guard became dis- gruntled about having to stand in the cold and rain night after night at the Upper: Benjamin Solari. Lower: Jacob Watson. —Star Staff Photo. jail and determined to put an end to the cause. One night, as they left the barracks, says Solari, the soldier confided his plan to him, which was something like this: Guiteau, the assassin, had a cell, gripping the bars and looking out | when the guard was changed. That | night he would be shot through the head and there would be nobody w swnd guard over. eadache saved Guiteau. When the soldier fired through the window, Guiteau was lying on his cot with a throbbing head, and the bullet flat- BUY AN AMERICAN BOSCH RADIO XMAS NO MONEY DOWN LIBERAL TRADE ALLOWANCE LONG TIME habit of standing at the window of his | tened against the wall. It is said that some enterprising young man obtained the bullet, which he claimed fashioned itself into a profile of the assassin, and made a modest fortune selling repro- ductions of it. Native of District. ‘Watson is a native of the Capital and started with the transient com- as a helper to the veterinarian at the Southwest barn. He, too, drove a horre car. He was operating one of these contraptions when the Johnsiown flood inundated the city. Water was up tc the horses’ flanks when Watson, sitting atop his car, drove from the Smithsonian up to Pennsylvania avenue. Watson’s route was from Seventh and P streets southwest to Seventh and Florida avenue. He made good time in those days, he said, despite the fact that the car stopped at the passengers’ front door to let them off and take them on. ‘Watson, who lives at 1366 G street southeast, was with the company more than 51 years, not quite as long as Solari, whose home is at 4733 Ninth street. DIPLOMATS SUPPORTING CHRISTMAS SEAL SALE Purchases Here Impress Fact Stamps Are Distributed in 40 Different Countries. Checks from the Ambassadors and Ministers of many foreign countries have been coming into headquarters of the Tuberculosis Association here in the past week, drawing attention to the world-wide use of tuberculosis Christmas seals. Although the fact is known to few, Christmas seals or stamps sold wholly | or in part for sustaining tuberculosis work are in circulation in more than | 40 different countries besides the United States. Monday and Tuesday Sa.ve 25% to 50% *+ B-3 PARK COMMISSION APPOINTS BROWN Named as Assistant Land Pur- chasing Officer With Mor- sell “Loaned.” Norman C. Brown, local real estate man, yesterday was chosen assistant land-purchasing officer of the Na- tional Capital Park and Planning Commission. Thomas S. Settle, the commission’s secretary, explained that inasmuch as T. Tudor Morsell, the organization's regular land-purchasing officer had | been “loaned” to the Public Works Administration to assist with low- cost housing developments, work will now be pushed to acquire areas for park and playground projects here. The Bureau of the Budget recently released the commission’s impounded funds, enabling the land-purchasing activity to get under way once more. Brown will have his office at room 1621 in the Navy Building, Eighteenth street and Constitution avenue, at the commission’s headquarters. —— s CONDITION IS CRITICAL Admiral Coontz’s Life Despaired of by Physicians. 'BREMERTON, Wash., December 15 (P —Victim of two heart attacks, Admiral Robert E. Coontz, U. 8. N, retired, was in a critical condition at the Navy Yard Hospital here tonight. Physicians despaired of saving the life of the 70-year-old one-time chief of naval operations and former com- mandant of the Puget Sound Navy Yard. He is a past commander of the Veterans of Foreigns Wars. Admiral Coontz established his home here after his retirement in 1928. On the Cost of Your Glasses Reading ~ mnue- Toric Lenses—Hirh Bridge m-e--lenln.;rlu. s12 Special for MONDAY and TUE! DAY ONLY, Kryptok Invisible Bifocal (Lenses Only)—Regular Price. $15 Special Highest standard quality of optieal slas: for MONDAY and TUESDAY ONLY, $7.50 used. Twenty years’ practice assures the proper eye examination Ph. ME. 0218 Registered Optometrist 305-307 McGill Bldg. 908-914 G St. N.W. DR. W. F. Eyesight Specialist 9 AM. to 6 P.M. FINN Ph.ME. 0218 Located 20 Years in McGill Building TAKE ELEVATOR TO 3rd FLOOR MUSIC Dealers in This City tor Over Twenty- five Years We Know Radio! We Know Tone!