Evening Star Newspaper, March 31, 1935, Page 21

oo ] The Sundy Star WASHINGTON, D. ‘Garnett’s Office Establishes Record for Cases Prosecuted ALLEN PROPOSAL FOR D. C. HOSPITAL CENTER 1S HALED Doubt of Its Necessity Is Expressed, However, by Society Leader. AID OF P. W. A. SOUGHT FOR PRIVATE PROJECT Emergency Hospital Trustees’ Head Visions D. C. as Med- ical Capital. Reactions ranging from guarded interest to enthusiastic acceptance greeted announcement yesterday of Commissioner George E. Allen's plan for creation of a great medical center in Washington. In brief, the proposal embraces consolidation of all hospital and medical school - facilities in the District in a single unit, non-profit, non-sectarian and non-racial. A private corporation, made up of representatives of existing agencies, would build and administer the project with the help of P. W. A.| funds. It is estimated that from | $5,000,000 to $6,000.000 would be needed to put the plan into effect. ‘The buildings of existing institutions would be sold upon completion of the center. Visioning Washington as the medi- cal capital of the world, Karl Corby, | head of the Board of Trustees of | Emergency Hospital and of a special committee of about 30 leaders in the medical and community life of the District, looked forward with en- thusiasm to the first meeting of the committee on Wednesday morning. At that time the plan will be cussed in detail with Commisstoner Allen. Goes Beyond New York. “If this plan goes through,” Corby said, “it will bring to Washington something no city ever has boasted. ‘This proposal goes beyond the scope | of medical centers now operating in | New York and other cities, we con- | template its becoming the greatest medical center in the world. | “Within it we will bring the gradu- | ate and undergraduate schools of | medicine which now exist in several units within the District. Nome of these would lose their identity in the | new center, nor would the individual hospitals which would also be in- cluded lose theirs. Each of them, re- taining their corporate forms as at present, would have a section of the center as their own. “Research work would be carried on | in a single unit, all duplication elim- | inated and all benefitting by the accu- mulated findings of those participate ing. The world’s leaders in the medi- | cal profession undoubtedly would be attracted by the research opportuni- ties. Belter Service Foreseen. “The practical result would be bet- ter service to the whole community, to rich and poor, black and white, at lower costs or at no cost at all if the subjects are unable to pay. Dis- pensary outposts for out-patient treat- ment probably would be established in suburban sections of the District, per- haps as many as 12, but all hospital- ization would be concentrated in the center.” Dr. Earl Baldwin McKiniey, dean of the George Washington University School of Medicine, and a member of the committee. also hailed the pro- posal with favor. He said: “I have found great interest in this plan among those who have known of it for the past few weeks. We all know our present hospital and medical facilities will be unusable in 10 or 15 vears. They have been increasingly inadequate over the past few years. From a practical standpoint, this would be the best time to strike out for completely modern facilities.” “Medical centers now are operating in New York, Cleveland, Chicago and St. Louis and they've all been success- ful. The reduction of duplicating ex- penses and overhead alone is a most important fact. The whole thing is a most sensible idea. “The group hospitalization plan now operating would fit right in, with no change except that subscribers would be hospitalized at the center rather than in the individual institutions. Also, the obligations of the Com- munity Chest would be simplified. I see it, too, as a cementing influence In the growing community conscious- ness of the Capital City.” Dr. William Gerry Morgan, dean of the Georgetown University School of Medicine, advised a careful study of the workings of other medical centers before such a project be un- dertaken, to determine how far they fulfill their aims and in what way they are defective. Dr. Bennett Opposed. In the opinion of Dr. A. B. Ben- nett, president of the District Medical Bociety and also. a member of the committee, such an undertaking is unnecessary at the present time. ““We already have more hospital fa- cilities than we need,” he declared, “and they are as good here as any- ‘where in the country. Such a propo- sition undoubtedly has value where the need exists, but offthand I don't see such an emergency in the Dis- trict.” Although no accurate speculation may be made at this time on the chances of a P. W. A. loan for such a project, on any terms, it is a mat- ter of record that few allotments to private corporations were made out of the original P. W. A. fund. Rail- roads were the exception to this rule, the cafriers faring well. e FILM ATHLETE SUICIDE Verdict in Case of Carl Frey, Vic- tim of Bizarre Hanging. SAN DIEGO, Calif., March 30 (#). Carl George Frey, 31, film athlete, who was the victim of a bizarre hanging that led pelice to believe he was slain, died of his own hand, a coroner’s jury decided at an inquest today. Frey once brooded over ‘‘a romance with & married woman in Hollywood,” Dr. H. F. Andrews, county psychia- trist, testified, and harbored a fear shat he was pursued by gangsters. L] Official records of the District Su- preme Court show the office of United States Attorney Leslie C. Garnett charged with laxity in prosecutions by witnesses testifying before the House Crime Committee, tried and convicted more criminals last year than in any corresponding period since 1931. Some of the witnesses before the committee stressed the supposed fail- ure of the prosecutor to proceed against gamblers—a field of crime in | which more offenders were convicted last year than in the entire preceding four-year perjod. The prosecutor’s office also estab- lished something of a record for this Jurisdiction last week in the prosecu- tion of murderers. Four men were | brought to trial in three cases on first- degree murder charges. Three of ithem were found guilty in the first | | degree, while the fourth, at one time | adjudged insane, was convicted of sec- | ond-degree murder. Presses 60 Gaming Cases. During the 14-month périod since | January 22, 1934, Garnett commenced prosecutions in 60 gambling cases involving more than 100 defendants charged with felonies. Twenty-six of these defendants have been con- victed, three were acquitted and seven | cases were nolle prossed. Of these seven, two have been reindicted and in the other five cases the court re- | fused to permit the introduction of | the evidence on the ground it was procured without a warrant. | |Court Documents Show More Criminals Tried and Convicted Last Year Than at Any Time Since 1931. The remaining defendants, many of them indicted recently, are await- ing trial. Included among these are Sam Beard and 13 associates, sched- uled for trial in April. During the entire preceding four- year period there were 22 gambling prosecutions started, resulting in 11 convictions, 10 nolle prosses and 1 verdict of not guilty. Garnett has also been responsible for the removal of 276 telephones used by gamblers and the refusal on the part of the telephone company to install 58 other phones where it was possible to show they would be used by gamblers. Cases Brought to Trial. Another criticism before the com- mittee was that law enforcement has broken down because of long delays in the prosecution of criminals. The records show that from last January | 1 to March 27 a total of 51 cases were | | brought to trial within two weeks after arraignment, 31 of these cases being tried within one week after the de-| fendants entered their pleas. During this period, representing 61 court days, a total of 151 trials were held in the two criminal courts, an | average of nearly three a day. Dur-| ing the same period 334 indictments were returned and 212 defendants pleaded guilty. On March 27 there were only 223 | cases pending in which indictments | have been returned but no action (Continued on Page 6, Column 1) BOUNDARY LI DISPUTE REVIVED '0il Company Seeks $197,- 000 Refund of Taxes From District. The District-Virginia boundary problem—already seriously involved in the Washington airport issue now before a House committee—is again definitely raised in a petition by the American Oil Co. for a refund of $197,000 in gasoline taxes paid in the rast three years. This was revealed yesterday when District Auditor Daniel J. Donovan placed before the Commissioners & I'reliminary report on the gasoline | company's request. The auditor’s rec- ommendation was not made public. Claims Illegal Payments, The oil company now claims the large tax payments of the past three years were improperly made to the District Government. The payments were made on gasoline sold by a unit of the company operating from a place along the Alexandria highway, some 2,000 feet beyond the Highway Bridge. The boundary question was revived | yesterday by People’s Counsel William A. Roberts. who asserted that at least a great majority of the property used as the "Washington Airport is now owned by the District Govern- ment, under the meaning of decisions by the United States Supreme Court that the old high water mark of the Potomac River is the line of demarka- tion of the District’s jurisdiction on the Virginia side of the river. Evidence Before Commission. He said evidence to this effect has been placed before the Boundary Com- | mission, established by an act of Con- gress to determine definitely the course of the boundary between the two juris- dictions. The matter is said to be involved in the debate over the selection of a municipal airport for the District, which has been under study by a com- mittee of the House headed by Repre- sentative Randolph of West Virginia. PICTURE IDENTIFIES HOLD-UP PRISONER South Washington Gas Station Attendant Says He Recognized Henry H. Taylor. | | Recognized when his picture was published in The Star in connection with the attempted hold-up of a filling station at Fourteenth and D streets southwest last Thursday, Henry H. Taylor, 24, of Wilmington, N. C,, last night was identified as the man alleged to have held up a gasoline station in South Washington, Va., early this month. Leonard Frye, an attendant at the Virginia station pointed out Taylor in a police line-up as the man who rob- bed the station of $80. Frye said he first recognized Taylor, a Police Court probationer, when he saw his photo- graph. Tayuor had been placed on a year's probation when arraigned in Police Court March 13 for carrying a gun. He was captured when he attempted to rob the Washington filling station. WATER EMPLOYES ASK BACK WAGES City Heads to Let M’Carl Pass on $150,000 Wage Return Dispute. The City Commissioners soon will place before Controller General McCarl a petition for restoration of economy pay cuts of 900 employes of the Dis- | trict Water Department. Auditor Daniel J. Donovan estimated roughly | yesterday some $150,000 is involved. The Commisioners have not com- | mitted themselves on the matter, but agreed to forward to McCarl a peti- tion by Charles I. Stengle, represent- ing the American Federation of Fed- eral Employes. The matter was laid before District officials yesterday and Stengle will present his written peti- tion early next week. Stengle’s argument is that the econ- | omy act provisions which impose pay cuts beginning July 1, 1932, should | | not have been applied to employes of | | the Water Department since their | | pay does not come out of general | District revenues. but out of water revenues, which cannot be spent for other purposes than those of the Water Department. ‘There is a surplus this year and there will be another next year under the Water Department budget, and this money is left unspent unless ap- propriated. Some District officials are doubtful of the soundness of ghe argument that the pay cuts should not have been applied to Water Department | workers, but the Commissioners | agreed to put the question up to McCarl. NOTRE DAME HONORS CATHOLIC NOVELIST Frank Hamilton Spearman Wins ! Laetare Medal for “Whole- some Fiction” By the Associated Press. SOUTH BEND, Ind., March 30.— Frank Hamilton Spearman, California novelist and scenario writer, today was named winner of the Laetare Medal, which is bestowed annually by the University of Notre Dame upon an outstanding member of the Cath- olic laity. Spearman, whose home is in Holly- wood, spent several years as a jour- nalist before he began to write fic- tion. In announcing its decision, the Medal Committee said Spearman was selected “in recogntion of his dis- tinction as a Catholic layman and of his service to his country in the volumes of wholesome and interesting fiction he has provided through many years for a large reading public.” Recent recipients of the honor in- clude Mrs. Genevieve Garvan Brady, John McCormack, Alfred E. Smith, the late Edward N. Hurley, Dr. Stephen S. Maher and Dr. Albert F. Zahm. Among Spearman’s best known works are “Whispering Smith” and “Robert Kimberly,” the latter a de- fense of marriage sanctities. RS S K Woman Held Up by Pair. ‘Two men last night used a shotgun to hold up and rob Mrs, Gertrude Goldman in a grocery store at 331 V street northeast. The bandits ob- tained $80 and left in a taxicab. A collision between a taxicab and a bread truck last November 7 yes- terday sent Henry E. Clements, 28, the cab driver, to jail for 30 days, the maximum sentence under the reck- less driving law, while "the other driver lies hopelessly crippled at his home as a result of the accident. ‘The injured man is Matthew Hayde, 30, 500 Carroll avenue, Takoma Park. He is paralyzed from the waist down and is still so seriously ill that mem- bers of his family were afraid to tell him of the verdict because the mere mention aggravates his condition. Clements was convicted by a Police Court jury and sentenced by Judge Ralph Given, who emphasized ? Crash That Paralyzed Trucker Costs Cab Man 30 Days in Jail fact that 30 days is the maximum testified that a taxicab, operated by Clements, was proceeding east on New York avenue at 4:30 am., when it collided with.the truck, going south on New Jersey avenue. The truck, Davis said, was more | vision of this most popular means of C, D. C. PARKS OFFICE HOPES T0 BUILD 12 SWIMMING POOLS Finnan Would Get Funds From P. W. A. or Else- where, He Says. SUNDAY ICKES AND CAMMERER ARE PRESENTED PLAN | | Planning Committee of City-Wide [ Playground Council Opens Drive for Improvement. | The National Capital Parks office | hopes to construct a dozen new swim- | ming pools if it can get the funds | from the new Public Works set-up or elsewhere—four in the Northwest, three in Northeast, three in Southeast and two in the Southwest. These lp- cations were not made public. | This was made known yesterday by C. Marshall Finnan, superintendent of the local parks, who said this is part of the works program laid before Secretary Ickes and Arno B. Cam- merer, director of the National Park Service, recently. Additional pools will be provided to meet future re- quirements on sites being selected by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, said Finnan. “The lack of adequate facilities for public bathing in the National Capital has long been realized by National Capital Parks authorities,” said Fin- nan. “The intense heat of Midsum- mer in this locality makes fhe pro- relief and recreation a public respon- sibility. “In an effort to remedy the situa- tion, the National Capital Parks in- cluded the construction of the Banne- | ker and Takoma pools in its emer- gency works program and rushed work | on these pools to place them in op-| eration at the beginning of the 1934 bathing season. The parks’ office is also including requests for funds for the erection of several additional pools in its construction program for 1935. Four Pools Built. “The swimming pool building pro- gram in National Capital Parks will follow the recommendations of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, which in 1931 recom-| mended the construction of 16 pools in connection with the development of the proposed recreation system for the District of Columbia. Four pools, the Francis, Banneker, McKinley and Takoma pools, have already been built in connection with this program and 12 remain to be constructed. The remaining pools will be built in con- nection with the development of ma- jor recreation centers at locations to be selected by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Four of the pools will be constructed in Northwest locations, three in North- east, three in Southeast and two in the Southwest section of the city. “The eventual completion of this program will adequately provide for | the swimming pool requirements of the | District of Columbia, according to the | present outlook. Sites for additional pools will be provided by the National Capital Park and Planning Commis- | ston. however, to meet requirements of the future. “Swimming in approved sanitary pools, operated under the careful | observation of health authorities, is { | & healthy sport, brings necessary re- | lief from debilitating heat and is | worthy of every encouragement. There | are, however, several antiquated pools, | lacking in facilities for proper sani- tation still in operation in the Dis- trict of Columbia that should be re- placed immediately with modern pools providing facilities for proper sanita- tion and the safeguarding of health.” Playground Drive. | Meanwhile, the Central Planning | Committee of the newly organized city-wide playground council yesterday opened a drive for far-reaching im- provement in playground facilities used last year by 1,000,000 persons. Led by a cousin of the late Presi- dent Taft, this unofficial citizen group plans a campaign to arouse Congress to realize the play needs of the Na- tion's Capital, faced with the smallest appropriation for the recreation de- partment since 1928, Mrs. Carol Johnson, formerly Helen Taft, declared ‘“misdirected childish energy is the worst thing in the world” as she urged support of the $751,000 public works program for playground betterment now before the Commis- | sioners. At present the Playgicund Depart- ment controls 70 acres of property all over the city as recreation areas. There is money enough to hire 30 directors for these playgrounds {wo fewer than the number of gardeners m care for the White Fouse flower | The Budget Bureau estimated $190,- 800 as the Playgrounds Department's share of the 1936 regular approriation. ‘This represents low-water for the last eight years from the $171,965 of 1928, and is one more long down-hiil step from the all-time high appropriation of 1931, when Congress approved $228,060 for District recreation faci- lities. The Seventh and H streets south- west, playground is daily jammed with 600 children romping about its ope- acre area during the Spring, Summer ln_t‘i‘h Autumn months. e Department of Playgrounds can afford one full-time ml’n’: supervisor and one woman working half time. The playground has a small base ball fleld, two upright posts for basket ball and an empty clay bed wholly unde- veloped. With Hoover playground, this com- pletes the existing recreational facili- ties for white children in the south- west area. e CARD PARTY FOR POOR Sacred Heart Church Entertain- ment Tomorrow Night, A card party, with door gifts and prizes, will be given in the basement MORNING, MARCH 31, Dewey 1935, * Flagship May Be Brought Here House Group Inspects Olympia in Move to Preserve Her as Admiral Dewey's famous Olympia, which Representative Cochran of Missouri Memorial. (inset) is attempting to have brought to Washington to be anchored off Haines Point as a memorial to the Veterans of the Spanish- American War. BY WILL P. KENNEDY. FAVORABLE report on the Only the bowplate is missing from the historic craft. Mr. Cochran has aboard, so tha: the cost would be only the same as in its present loca- Sports—Pages 13 to 17 PAGE B—1 MOVE.TD IMPROVE LAWENFORCEMENT SEEN N REPORT Crime Probers to Include List of 10 Recommenda- tions for District. “TIP OFF” INVESTIGATION REPORTED FRUITLESS Committee Is Undecided as to Proposed Decentralization of Traffic Bureau. BY JAMES E. CHINN. A score or more recommendations for improving the District'’s law en- forcement and prosecution machinery | are to be included in the report of the special committee of the House which has just completed a two months’ sweeping investigation into all ramifi- cations of crime and its control. Although the report will not be completed for at least 20 days, mem- bers of the committee have virtually reached tentative conclusions, at least, as to a number of the recommenda- tions. In the meantime, Inspector Thad- deus R. Bean, assistant superintendent of police, neared the end of his special inquiry into the reported “tip off” to | a gambling raid in the fifth precinct | without learning anything more than | the committtee uncovered during twe days of grilling of police officials and privates. The committee failed to de- | termine whether there actually had | been a “tip off,” and Inspector Bean is said to have come to the same con- Cochran bill to bring the |located that at the Washington Navy | tion, tied up o a wharf in the Phila- | Clusion after questioning every mem- Olympia, © Admiral George Dewey's famous flagship, to Washington as a memorial to Spanish-American War veterans is expected from the House Naval Affairs | Committee tomorrow following an in- spection of the veteran cruiser by | committee members at the Philadel- iphh Navy Yard yesterday. | It was aboard the Olympia that Admiral Dewey opened the Battle of Manila Bay with the historic order “you may fire when ready, Gridley.” [Victory followed without the loss of ! a single man. It is hoped that this measure, spon- |sored by Representative Cochran, Democrat, of Missouri, be passed be- fore May 1, the thirty-seventh anni- versary of the Battle of Manila Ba! Some years ago when the"Navy prc gram called for_scrapping the Olpmpia, Representative Cochran started his campaign to have the Olympia pre- served. His bill has been reported several times, but this time he feels confident that it will be passed. | Yard and wants it replaced. He has | made many pilgrimages to inspect the | | ship—on which the outlines of Admiral | | Dewey's shoes as he stood on the | bridge have been memorialized in | brass plates. | Representative Cochran wishes to . have the Olympic towed to Washing- |ton and to have a permanent berth | for it dredged at the tip of Hains ‘Pomu where it could be visited daily by tourists. He predicts it would be the most popular memorial in the | City of Memorials. Mr. Cochran wrote yesterday to Rear Admiral Taussig, acting chief of naval | operations. urging that the Navy De- partment support the Cochran bill | and protesting that the Navy's esti- | mated cost of bringing the Olympia here as a memorial is too high—a to* | tal of $65,000 and $20,000 annually | for maintenance of the relic, | Mr. Cochran argues that it could delphia yard. He points out that it need not be made sea-worthy or. re- conditioned. Practically every Spanish-American War organization in the United Suates has adopted resolutions favoring the passage of the Cochran bill. It was irom the bridge of the Olym- pia that Admiral George Dewey, com- mander of ‘he Pacific fleet, said to the commander of the flagship, Capt. G. V. Gridley—"“You may fire when you're ready, Gridley.” During the Boxer rebellion n 1900 the Olympia was on duty ready to protect the inierests of the country, | it necessary. After the World War the body of “The Unknown Soldier” was brought to this country aboard the Olympia. Completing this assignment the vessel was sent to Philadelphia and tied up at the navy yzrd, where it was i spected vesterday by the House Naval | ber of the fifth precinct. | Report Due in Few Days. A report on the results of his in- vestigation which the Commissioners ordered on recommendation of Police Superintendent Ernest W. Brown, is to be submitted within the next several days. Before framing the report, | Bean said he would await written statements from Inspector Albert J. Headley and Capt. Joseph C. Morgan of the fifth precinct, containing an | explanation of their failure to investi- | gate the reported “tip off.” The crime committee report, to be drawn up by John R. Fitzpatrick, its counsel, is expected to contain not {only a number of recommendations, {but a general summary of the perti~ nent observations of committee mem- bers, which they noted during the two months of hearings. ‘While Fitzpatrick has not yet had | be towed to Washington by a mine | Affairs Committee. and where it has | sufficient time to even prepare the layer, placed iu the Mayflower's old berth, and that only a couple of ordi- nary seamen would be required | attracted mucn attention from sight- seers and pilgrimages, especially school children. SENATE CONTROL BILL S APPROVED Budget Bureau Puts 0. K. on New Measure to Stem Nuisance. The Budget Bureau has approved the Commissioner’s bill for a new law for the control of the smoke nuisance in the District, according to word re- ceived yesterday by District officials. The bill, which puts new “teeth” into the supervision over boiler in- spection, as well as all types of fur- naces, will be sent to the House and Senate District Committees tomorrow by the Commissioners with a request for favorable action. The bill proposes expenditure of about $25,000 annually for employ- ment of additional personnel to in- spect, regulate and control furnaces and boilers so as to keep down the smoke and ash nuisance, about which there has been continued complaint. $12,000 Recovery Expected. The District expects to recover about $12,000 of this sum annually through fees charged for approval of | plans for the erection, repair or re- modeling of furnaces and boilers or fines coming from violation of the new regulations. ‘The new bill would apply to pri- vate residences and railroad and | marine engines, as well as furnaces of commercial buildings, in contrast to the present law, which affects only commercial structures. Fines of $100 or a sentence of 90 days in jail, or | both, could be imposed for each vio- lation under the new law. The bill, drafted after many months of study by a committee of District government engineers and represen- tatives of civic groups, calls for use of scientific tests approved by the United States Bureau of Mines in determining excessive smoke. New Bill Presented. Another bill for smoke control, drafted by People’s Counsel William A. Roberts, already has been pre- sented to Congress. The Commissioners, in letters to Congress about their bill, ignored the Roberts bill. Both bills would take control. of smoke out of the District Health Office, where it now rests. Health Officer Ruhland is in favor of this. SWISS ACCUSE REICH Alleged Kidnaping of Anti-Nazi Is Protested. By the Associated Press. BERN, Switzerland, March 30.—A “grave violation of Swiss soverignty” was charged to Germany today as the Swiss government sent an energetic to Berlin against the alleged kidnaping of an anti-Nazi on Swiss soll. The protest, sent to the Swiss min- ister in Berlin, denied an official Ger- man statement that Berthold Jacob, German refugee journalist, was ar- rested when he stepped on where charges of German: treason him, : Dublin Lord Mayor Stopped by Police In Speed Charge 1 | Newspaper Man Driving | | Good-Will Guestin Mary-| land Posts $26.45. In a distinctly unscheduled incident in his good will tour of the United States, Right Hon. Alderman Alfred Byrne, T. D., lord mayor of Dublin, | was stopped in Hyattsville yesterday and the driver of his car forced to post | collateral on a charge of speeding. This unexpected demonstration of American judicial operation was given by Chief Magistrate Robert Joyce of Hyattsville, who once was a mayor in his own right, though not a lord mayor. It all happened when the lord mayor was being driven back to Wash- ington from a scenic trip in Southern Maryland by Drew Pearson, Wash- ington newspaper man. There was a ‘Washington engagement that was sud- denly remembered. Pearson, who knows his Maryland roads, stepped on the gas, but did not give due consideration to possibilities of meeting up with Maryland State Policeman C. W. Cubbage, so the re- ports go. Corpl. Cubbage also stepped on the gas and won the race to the District line. Pearson then was charged with driving at a 45-mile-an-hour clip. Pearson is scheduled to appear at| Hyattsville tomorrow night for trial.| He has posted $26.45 collateral. {DARING YOUNG MAN FALLS LOS ANGELES, March 30 (#).—The snapping of a wire plunged Felipe Escalante, member of the famous family of circus aerialists, nearly 30 feet to the ground during a circus per- formance here today. He was rushed to the circus hospital, and after an examination, Dr. George F. Boyd said he apparently was not seriously injured. Among those who saw the accident were Charles Chaplin, famous movie And Seize Man i Two hundred and forty horse race players, hoping to pick winners in yesterday’s races in various sections of the country, had the misfortune of placing their wagers with two police- men bent upon stopping their gambling. Unknown to many of the place’s patrons, police had raided a residence in the 200 block of C street and found an elaborate telephone switchboard hook-up accepting bets from cigar stores. Unaware of the raid, patrons con- tinued to call the place. Policemen PUBLIC HEALTH SESSION PLANNED Community Meeting Wili Be Held During Surgeons’ Convention. A large community health meeting will be held in Constitution Hall on the evening of April 12 as one of the high points in a two-day sectional meeting of the American College of Surgeons, to be held here April 11 and 12. At the community meeting out- standing health authorities will make brief, educational talks on the preven- tion of disease and the lengthening of life. Delegates to the sectional meeting will be comprised of surgeons from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Vir- ginia, West Virginia and Delaware. Dr. Frederic A. Besley, professor of surgery at Northwestern University Medical School, will be chairman of the board on industrial medicine and traumatic surgery and will lead dis- cussions on these subjects. In a pre-meeting statement, Dr. Besley declared the board has found, | after & nine-year survey, that the care | of the injured has not kept pace with the rapid surgical advancement of other diseased conditions and it has, therefore, a created minimum stand- | ard for the establishment and opera- tion of well organized, competent medical services that will assure the right care of the injured. He declared that organized labor, industrial concerns and indemnity companies have shown a great will- ingness to co-operate in maintaining the approved standards. The stand- ard for improvements should reduce the total annual economic loss from 10 to 25 per cent, or from $100,000,000 to $300,000,000 annually, he said. Dr. Besley further asserted that ap- proximately 99,000 people were killed accidentally in the United States last year, as against 35,000 American sol- «;lrers killed in action during the World ar. Policemen Take 240 Race Bets n C Street Place to have been one of the telephone operators, was arrested and charged with setting up a gaming table. Police believe at least three other men who had been working at the board either had left before their- arrival or had not begun their afternoon work when they entered. Some 18 telephones were used in the hookup and bets were taken by the operators on the reverse side of a bal- lot blank of a religious organization, which bore the names of several ministers in the ballot list, police said. The bets averaged about $3 each and the highest was $50, the raiding offi- cers said. Patrons of the switchboard asked for' the various operators by nicknames' and ‘“placed their bets” with the policemen apparently without suspicion. The swiichboard and * telephones were in Poten"of e "house on o on Hoor, outline of the report since conclusion jof the formal hearings Friday, de- velopments during the inquiry indi- cate rather conclusively the committee will include the following recommen- dations in its report: 1. Consolidation of the Metropolitan and Park Police forces. 2. An increase in the police force !and additional equipment, such as ;scout cars and better housing facili- | ties for the detective bureau and | administrative officials. Seek Stronger Gambling Laws. 3. Strengthening of the gambling laws to give police a more potent weapon to deal with bookmakers and numbers game operators. 4. Changes in procedure at the Dis- trict Supreme Court as well as Po- lice Court to prevent undue delays in trials, especially in criminal cases. | 5. Improved physical fhcilities for | Police Court through erection of the | proposed new courts building. 6. Repeal of the indeterminate sentence law and substitution of the present Federal law requiring a orisoner to serve one third of a sen- tence before becoming eligible for parole. 7. Improvement in the parole sys- tem through the creation of a full time, paid board and an adequate staff of parole investigators. 8. An increased penalty prostitution. 9. Changes in the police depart- ment’s efficiency rating system on | which promotions are based so that | more credit will be given for satis- factory service and less consideration to the intelligent quotient of an officer. 10. A change in police trial board | procedure with reduced penalties for (Continued on Page 6, Column 3. 'TRANSIT FIRM MAKES 'FINAL MERGER MOVE | Motion Asking Dismissal of Util- ities Suit Upholds $843,000 Proposal. for ‘The Capital Transit Co., in a motion filed yesterday in District Supreme Court, upheld its proposal to pay $843,~ 000 for the stock of the Washington Rapid Transit Co., in a final move for merger of the city’s mass transporta- tion facilities. The Public Utilities Commission has | denied the plan, holding the price does not represent the “fair value” of the bus company and the case went to court on a petition by the transit company for an order overriding the com: : ‘The transit company, in its motion for rejection of the commission’s plea for dismissal of the suit, argued the commission had refused to consider evidence supporting the company’s agreement. v The company insisted that Congress, in passing the joint resolution per- mitting the merger, did not limit the matter to a determination of the price at which the stock or property of the bus company could be sold to others. Congress, the company contended, took into consideration increased revenues and business which would result to the two companies through joint operation and improved service. “It should be noted that what is being bought end what *the joint resolution says may be bought, is stock, not Dhyllfi:t ptr:apeny.’i the street car company stated. “In purchasing stock, one is not buying merely physical property but physical property and a going business, together with business any possf may have for profit.