Evening Star Newspaper, April 21, 1935, Page 2

A2 BANK BILL SEEN ASINFLATION CURB Fletcher Says Bankers Now Have Power—G. 0. P. Cries Dictatorship. By the Associated Press. Demanding enactment of the om- nibus bank bill, Chairman Fletcher of the Senate Banking Committee last night issued & warning that “there now lies within the hands of bankers the potential makings for one of the most stupendous inflations this or any other nation ever has experi- enced.” His statement was given out short- 1y after House Banking Committee Republicans had- denounced the bill's provisions for centralizing control of the Nation's credit resources as the forerunner of dictatorship. All seven minority members of the committee joined in an indignantly worded mi- nority report terming the move to strengthen the Federal Reserve Board's powers “ill advised.” Fletcher, however, asserted that “bankers as a whole are not qualified to determine nor competent to ad- minister our monetary policy.” He contended it was necessary to place control over the Nation's monetary policy in the hands of the Federal Reserve system to prevent a finan- cial collapse comparable to that of 1929. Propaganda Charged. The veteran Florida Senator | charged “vicious propaganda and mis- | information” was being circulated against the proposed bill. “The proposed banking act of 1935 is, in all probability, the most im- portant piece of banking and mone- tary policy legislation with which this or any other Congress has dealt,” he said. Marriner S. Eccles, governor of the Federal Reserve Board, has urged en- actment of the bill. | Meanwhile, Republicans leaders | mustered their forces to fight the measure when it comes up in the House week after next. Also Chairman Glass of the Senate Banking Subcommittee . prepared questions through which he hopes to draw from witnesses state- ments that the centralization section was written by Eccles. | Glass opposes tampering with the present Federal Reserve set-up. Independence Challenged. ‘The minority report said the pro- posed legislation made the Reserve Board governor and vice governor re- movable at the President’s will and the governors of the reserve banks, in turn, accountable to the board. Such a plan, it added, was in conflict with the present system, intended to assure independence from Government con- trol. “This separation of the Reserve banks from governmental control is in accordance with central banking practice in most of the more highly- civilized countries under a democratic form of government,” it said. “Con- versely, countries under close dictator- ship, like Italy and Russia, have cen- tral banks entirely under government domination. “One of the first and essential steps in any dictatorship is to extend pow- er over the credit resources of the country.” Dictatorship Denied. Denying the bill* would create a “banking dictatorship,” Fletcher said the Federal Reserve Board's direc- tions to banks “are either permissive or prohibitive as to all purely banking ! operations. Within these two extremes | all actions with respect to purely banking matters are left to the dis- | cretion of Federal Reserve Banks and their member banks.” But the supervision of the monetary policy, he insisted, is another thing. “The administration of a monetary policy has to do with the contraction and expansion of the credit and cur- rency of the country and directly af- fects the purchasing power of money. ‘This function transcends those of banking, farming, manufacturing or that of any other business activity. | It literally controls the economic and | social welfare of the whole Nation.” AL M FRIENDS TO ATTEND | HANGED MAN’S RITES Sympathizers Invited to Funeral. Opinion on Guilt of Dead Man Divided. By the Associated Press. PADUCAH, Ky., April 20.—An invi- | tation for “friends and sympathizers” | to attend the funeral of William T. De Boe, who was hanged at Smithland | yesterday in the presence of the ‘woman he was convicted of assaulting, was issued tonight by De Boe's cousin, J. E. Carter. The funeral will be held here at 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon, in charge of Rev. J. W. Bailey, chaplain at Eddyville Penitentiary, who baptized De Boe while the black-haired youth was in the death house. Carter told the hundreds of visitors who came to his home to view the body that he believed De Boe was innocent of an assault on Mrs. Mar- Jorie Johnson, wife of a Livingston County storekeeper, the crime for which he was put to death. Carter recalled De Boe's dramatic tirade on the gallows yesterday, his charge of “cold-blooded murderer” | flung defiantly at Mrs. Johnson, who shrilled back an angry denial when the condemned man shouted to her that she would have dropped the charge for $500. Opinion was divided at Smithland as to the guilt or innocence of De Boe. Feeling in some sections of the county was reported almost bitter against De Boe's prosecutors. AIR PASSENGER KILLED Pilot Is Hurt in Plane Crash at ‘Wilson, N. C. WILSON, N. C., April 20 (#).—W. C. (Pat) Murphy of Wilson was instantly killed and Tommy Moore of Vineland, N. J., the pilot, was critically injured in an airplane crash at the local air- port about 8 o’clock this afternoon. Moore was about to set the plane down on the field after a 15-minute flight with Murphy, who had never been up before. Moore, who is about 32 years of age, had been at Wilson about a year, serving as flying instructor and work- ing at the airport. He has a wife and one child, who live in New Jersey. Murphy, 30 years of age, is sur- vived by his widow and one child. i | Crossing Crash Nips Finger. STERLING, 1., April 20 (4).—Mrs. EDGAR B. SMITH, Retired stock broker, who was fatally injured yesterday when struck by a taxicab at Eleventh street and New York avenue. (Story on Page 1.) DEMOCRATS PUSH SIX MAIOR BILLS Leaders Trim “Must” List in Effort to Adjourn by August. By the Associated Press. Narrowing their “must” legislative list to six bills, Democratic congres- sional leaders yesterday planned a drive for speed which they hoped would let them end the session before August. The “must” bills were social secur- ity, N. R. A. extension, utilities hold- ing company legislation, banking, taxes and an increase in the fund | available for the Home Owners’ Loan | Corp. Of those measures, only one—the H. 0. L. C. fund increase—has been passed by both House and Senate. It is 1n conference for an adjustment of differences over minor amendments | inserted by the Senate. All the other | “must” bills are still locked in Senate or House committees. although the security program has been passed by the House. In arriving at the six-bill program |leaders had to sHunt aside, at least temporarily, legislation dealing with | transportation, ship subsidies and | amendments to the farm adjustment | land the food and drug acts. Night Sessions Considered. It was their understanding, one said | speaking privately, that “the Presi- dent will be willing for Congress to| adjourn without acting on those bills.” } | Indicative of the desire for speed | was the fact that Senator Harrison, THE SUNDAY STAR, Accident Vietim || ING GUIDESLAST |ADEQUATE WHEAT (B WASHINGTON, BILLTOLAWBOOKS| SUPPLY FORECAST Legislator Asks Ickes’ Aid|Federal Officials and Red in Plan to Violate Relief Fund Bill. By the Assoclated Pre BATON ROUGE, La., April 20— Huey P. Long tonight pulled the last string that forced his dictated laws through the special session of the State Legislature and turned his thoughts toward Washington, where he said he planned to put a “blast” under certain administrationists in & speech in the United States Senate. “I will answer them when I get there,” said Senator Long as he sat in the House and watched his last bill pass by a substantial majority. One of the new laws placed con- trol of all Federal relief funds under a State board that would be dominated by the Long machine. It passed in the face of threats from Washington to stop the flow of millions of dollars in Federal relief funds to Louisiana if a Long board controlled the ex- penditures. The bill even added a jail penalty for any one handling the funds except the State board. Long charged that the Roosevelt administration was attempting to send $170,000.000 into Louisiana in the form of relief funds to wreck the Long political machine. Secretary Ickes replied that the money would not be permitted to be used to build up the Long political machine. Representative Rupert Peyton, news- paper man and critic of Long’s policies, today invited Secretary Ickes to join him in a court test of Long's relief control bill. In spite of the six months’ jail penalty, Peyton said he intended “to violate this law the moment it be- comes effective.” “Will you authorize a Federal re- presentative to co-operate with me in this proposed violation?"” asked the Representative. In addition to the bill controlling Federal funds, the Legislature also passed & new election I which anti-Long spokesmen charged placed the election machinery of the State under the absolute control of Senator Long TALMADGE GLAD FOR CASH. Says Federal Aid Will Put Schools in “Fine Shape.” madge, critic of President Rooseveit's relief policies, today monetary ald would place Georgia's schools in “fine shape” financially. Deal administration, he questioned the President’s motives ir. signing the $4.880,000,000 work-relief bill. he interposed. Gov. Talmadge said he was “very cause Georgia is receiving her pro- portionate share of the work-relief money, as I knew she would do.” He had reference to the statement made by President Roosevelt that political Democrat, of Mississippi was consider- ing night sessions of his Finance before it. Tomorrow and Tuesday his com- mittee will hear witnesses on the “compromise” bonus bill; Wednesday | it will hold an executive session on | the bill, with Harrison hoping for prompt approval. After & bonus bill is reported to the | Senate, Harrison's committee will | take up the N. R. A. and the social security bills. It was forecast the first | would take 10 days to 2 weeks An’ committee, and the latter probably | an equally long time. Farm Aid Up Tomorrow. i On the Senate floor, meanwhile, the | question of sending back to committee the bill setting up a billion dollar cor- { poration to aid farmers will be consid- | ered tomorrow. That will be followed by the anti-lynching bill, on which a filibuster is promised. And Senator | Long, Democrat, of Louisiana will be ! back in town tomorrow to answer Sec- | retary Ickes' assertion that the Lou- isianan suffers from “halitosis of the intellect.” i ‘The hearings on the highly contro- versial omnibus banking bill, ap- proved Friday by the House Banking by the Senate Banking Committee. | In the House, most of the admin- | istration’s bills are a little farther | along. Tuesday the $480,000,000 naval | appropriation bill—next to last of the nine annual supply measures—will be | considered. | banking bill will be debated and, Democratic chiefs predict, gl Their hope is that the utilities nom-} ing company bill will be approved next | and brought to the floor. N. R. A. Bill May Be Delayed. | Meanwhile, the House Ways and | Means Committee—which just finished | putting the social security bill through —will get to work on N. R. A, exten- | sion and the renewal of “nuisance” taxes which expire June 30. Chairman Doughton said there was & possibility that his committee’s ac- tion on N. R. A. might be delayed if the Sengte showed signs of a vote.| He added that there was at least a “possibility” that this session “might get by without imposing any additional taxes.” Summarizing the general situation today, Speaker Byrns told newspaper men: “The House, in all probability, wil | be ready to adjourn by June 15, If there's any delay beyond that, it won’t be our fault.” In the Senate, however, lengthy de- bate of all the “must” bills yet to be passed promised that leaders there would have difficulty getting ready to adjourn by June 15. The forecasts were that it would take an unusual burst of speed for the Senate to get through before August 1. GOLD MESH BAG FOUND IN 1906 BURDENS WIDOW Court Tells Woman to Keep it After 20 Years of Vain Hunt for Owner. By the Associated Press. PALO ALTO, Calif, April 20.—- ‘Twenty-nine years ago Willlam Hay retrieved a costly gold mesh purse from San Francisco’s earthquake ruins. Intermittently, he advertised for the owner, When he died several years ago his widow Anna carried on the quest, but to no avail, ‘Today Mrs. Hay, bowed with years and in failing health, sought the ad- vice of Police Judge John E. Springer. “But I haven't the money to adver- tise for three weeks,” she replied’ to Judge Springer’s explanation of the law’s demands. “Then keep the bag—and forget Esther Covell lost a finger of her right hand today when a fast train demol- ished her automobile. about it,” he told her. - ” forget about it?— differences between the State and | National governments would not in- Committee to expedite three bills now | terfere with distribution of the $4,-| | | Liberty to confer with health au- ! 880,000,000 fund. | Talmadge made little mention of | the $90,000,000 this State hopes to 'get in general work-relief grants ex- | cept to reiterate he never felt uneasy about it. | e TOSCHEFF UNABLE TO FORM CABINET Bulgarian Premier-Designate Con- fers With Military Leaders in Cris By the Assoclated Press. SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 20.—Bul- garia still had no cabinet tonight. though Premier-Designate Andrea Toscheff had been conferring almost continuously with military leaders dur- ing the last 36 hours. Most of his time Toscheff, called from retirement and botanigal re- search to help solve Bulgaria’s govern- | mental crisis, spent with leaders of Committee, will be resumed tomorrow sthe Military League, which is the | dominant factor in Bulgarian politics. | Although the league yesterday con- sented to have the new government consist of civilians, it apparently ' feared return to the old system of | political parties and declined to re- | linquish control of governmental af- The following week, the omnibus | fairs until it was certain what form | the new government would take. Another obstacle in Toschefl's way was the many demands from civilians slated for cabinet posts for the release of former Premiers Kimon Gueorguieff and Alexander Zankoff, whose arrest and internment Thursday brought the fall of the Zlateff government. 'NEWS MEN FREED OF JURORS’ CHARGE No Criminal Libel in Report of | Their Disagreement, Court Finds. By the Associated Press. MIAMI, Fla., April 20.—Two Miami | Beach Tribune men, Paul G. Jeans, ! | goes aloft at 7 am,, said they hope to editor, and Shannon Cormack, report- er, were acquitted by a Crimes Court jury today of criminal libel charges brought by four members of another | Jury. ‘The jurors, through County sollcl?or Fred W. Pine, charged the Tribune’s account of the jury disagreement which ended the first trial of E. C. Collins, former Dade judge, for al- leged bribe-taking, libeled them. Closing for the defense, James M. Carson told the six jurors “criminal libel has been used throughout his- tory by those in power to squelch freedom of expression and of writing. It is an off-shoot of the ‘divine right of kings’ and, when abused, is dan- gerous and un-American.” Stafford Caldwell, special prosecu- tor, ended summation for the State with the statement “the issue at stake is the principle of the jury system” as provided for in State and national constitutions. Carson reviewed the evidence, em- phasizing the testimony of several witnesses which, he claimed, tended to ghow members of the Collins jury had been approached, Cuban Killed in Skirmish. SANTA CLARA, Cuba, April 20 (P). —A soldier was killed in a skirmish between soldiers and bandits at the Manaquita farm, near the town of Sancti Spiritus today. Late reports L Continuing his attack on the New { the American Red Cross, while soll Cross Move to Aid Duststorm Area. By the Associated Press. Government and private agencles moved to supply relief to dust-plagued farmers in the dry West yesterday as the Agriculture Department foresaw— with favorable conditions—a Spring wheat crop ample for domestic needs, Immediate relief steps in the dust area were announced by the Agricul- tural Adjustment Administration and erosion service officials sald an ex- panded program was planned for the “wind erosion” territory. The Agriculture Department said moisture in the Spring wheat area was “better than normal,” and that if present conditions continued, the 1935 crop should be sufficient to meet domestic needs. Winter wheat aban- donment, the department said, was less than last year, reaching & total of 28 per cent April 1, Freight Rates Cut. The A. A. A. announced completion of arrangements for reduced freight rates for the benefit of drought and dust-storm victims. The reductions cover shipment of cattle to pasture in non-drought areas, extension of time for the return of stock shipped | last Fall and Winter and reduction of rates on incoming shipments of feed. A branch office of the Federal Live- | stock Feed Agency of Kansas City is being established at Amarillo, Tex., to assist the farmers in moving stock. ‘The reduced rail rates, to become effective on outbound shipments of livestock from the drought areas of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colo- rado and Kansas as soon as the tariffs are published, were said to authorize: A charge of 85 per cent of the normal outbound rate on live stock | moved for feeding to non-drought areas, and 15 per cent of the normal inbound rate on the return of such stock later. A privilege of returning such cattle to and including June 30, 1936. Old Concession Extended. An extension to June 30, 1936, of | the permission for farmers who shipped cattle last Fall and Winter to return the stock at 15 per cent of the normal rate. The reduced rates may be obtained on certificates issued by county agents ATLANTA, April 20 (#).—Gov. Tal- | or drought relief directors. Rear Admiral Cary T. Grayson. said Pederal | chairman.of the Red Cross, announced inauguration of a welfare program in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mex- | ico and Colorado. Albert Evans of | the national disaster relief staff has | established headquarters at Liberty, | Kans, and Red Cross nurses have | “Did he do it for political purposes?” | been assigned to counties where seri- | ous health conditions exist. Evans reported to Grayson yestex- | pleased” with the outlook *“first be-|day that the dust situation was “un- abated. with no relief in sight, and sickness increasing.” Lung trouble was said to be growing rapidly and pneumonia was developing from “a considerable number of ‘red’ measles” cases. Dr. Willlam Dekleine, medical ad- | visor of the Red Cross, is en route to thorities. As Secretary Ickes issued a state- ment calling attention to conservation week, officials of the Agriculture De- partment were asking an allotment for soil erosion work not to exceed | $80,000.000. | Proceeding_with plans to turn the | Soil Erosion Service into a permanent | agency, & high official said $50.000,000 would be sufficient for two years and | that he did not want the $150.000,- | | 000 urged for the work by some mem- | bers of Congress. PLANE CRASH FIRE IS FATAL TO TRIO Youths on First Flight Killed .With Pilot in Plunge Into Marsh. By the Assoclated Press. NEW YORK, April 20.—A pilot and two 17-year-old boys. on their first airplane flight, were burned to death late today when the ship crashed near Springfield, Queens, and burst into flames. The victims were Charles A. Hoell, 25, the pilot; Lawrence Lagassee, 17, | and Joseph Chappie, 17, all of Queens. The ship, a biplane, took off from | Jamaica Sea airport, rose 150 feet, then abruptly nose-dived into the marsh land at Jamaica Creek, near Bay ave- | nue, at 154th road. The gasoline tank exploded as the ship hit the ground and it immediately burst into flames. Several spectators rushed to the rescue, but were driven back by the fire. BALLOON TEST TODAY Army Men Plan 25,000-Foot Ascension in Illinois. BELLEVILLE, I, April 20 (®.— Army men today started inflation of an 80,000-cubic-foot balloon that will be used tomorrow in a substratosphere test flight at Scott Field here. Capt. R. P. Willlams and Capt. Or- vil A. Anderson, who will occupy the open basket of the balloon when it attain a height of 25,000 feet. Pur- pose of the flight is to test instru- ments that will be used later in the year n an Army stratosphere flight at Rapid City, S. Dak. D. C, A As Greatest Planes Made Possible Broad Exploratic- Over Barrier. (Continued From First Page.) was spresd fanwise over the most in- teresting part of the unknown terri- tory. His obvious attack this time was to the east and south, and the area covered is & complete sector, running from the nearest approach to the land possible by sea and air as far as the Queen Maud Mountains and the polar plateau. Admiral Byrd was not able to take | part in most of the field work because of ill health, but June explained that | the work was carried out as it had been arranged before the admiral iso- | lated himself in his advanced base. | Field Work Begun Early. | The fleld work was started two | months before the usual time for getting under way in the Antarctic, some of the early sledging and tractor | Jjourneys being in temperatures of 60 | degrees below zero. Although the tractors fell into crevasses time after time and were extricated only with great danger and difficulty, they proved that this means of transporta- | tion can be used successfully when | a better type of machine for the work is invented. But the most astonishing method of | determining the geographical outlines | of the country was by using airplanes to measure surface altitudes. Jun® a former Navy pilot, obtained the contour lines showing the gradual rise of the plateau to the east between the coast and the Queen Maud Moun- | tains by touchinhg the skis of his plane to the ground every 20 miles and re- cording the surface height each time by means of his altimeter. This simple and yet roughly effec- tive method of outlining the surface of a territory has never been at-| tempted before. It is dangerous, but | June proved its effectiveness on sev- | eral flights. He also proved that it was possible to fly blind in the Antarctic, flying at | times high above the clouds, or through them for distances of 200 miles or more, and finding a hole near Little American through which he could come down. He made landings when the surface of the barrier was in- distinguishable because of overcast skies, catching a bare glimpse of the edge of the barrier and then stalling in for a landing. 14 Landings Made. This dangerous but unavoidable procedure made possible much flying whick:, because of bad weather, could not otherwise have been carried on. And 14 landings were made away from camp to assist surface parties. or to make seismic soundings. ‘This part of the work, which is also new in the Antarctic. was done under poor weather conditions, but it has had the result of proving the position of the western shore-line of Marie Byrd Land, which runs south under the Ross shelf ice. The sound- ings also proved the accuracy of Amundsen’s deduction that land south of the Bay of Whales and on | the eastern side preserves for long periods of time the same relative shape of the bay.- The island that Amundsen sus- pected was just south of the Bay of Whales was found to rise more than 500 feet above sea level, the remain- ing 700 feet consisting of shelf ice anchored on it. Even the outlines of this island were traced, and Amund- sen’s uncanny judgment was shown by the fact that he pitched his camp directly north of it, so that he was protected from the advancing ice from the south. Land also rises above sea level and anchors the barrier ice between Amundsen’s camp and Little America, and the cape that runs north of Little America out into the bay and serves as protection is also resting on land. Tce Masses Piled Up, “The eastern side of the bay we found to be very much the same as it was when we were there before,” said June, “although pressure on the bay had piled up such a mass of ice that it was impossible to get into Little America by the old route. “The western side of the bay, how- ever. is moving north at the rate of about five feet a day in the Summer- | time. It is probably slower in Winter. But this steady movement, and the land under the barrier which forms the eastern side of the bay, explain many of the great upheavals and ice canyons to the south which puzzied us so much before. “There is no doubt, either, that the basin in which Little America lies is | between two anchored parts of the barrier and is supported only by water. The accumulated weight of snow and our stores made it break loose at the end of our first Summer, so that its up-and-down movement could be definitely seen. But the cape to the north prevented it from moving out to sea, and when Winter came it quickly froze fast again to the sides of the barrier which sur- round it.” The original plan of campaign called for a flying field near Mount Grace McKinley, the southern end of the Edsel Ford Range. From this field it was Admiral Byrd's intention to make flights to the east and south- east, 50 that the shore line might be extended far to the east. Tractor Trip Thrilling. Bad weather prevented use of the fleld, but the tractor trip out there to take supplies was one of June's most exciting journeys. The trip was made early in the season, when the temperature was often 60° degrees be- low and the weather abominable. “It blew so hard at times that it nearly tipped the tractor over,” said June, “and it did bend the stick of the trail flags flat ‘with the surface. Often Byrd Forum Speaker New Deal finances and agricultural planning will be the topics of an ad- dress by Senator Harry Flood Byrd of Virginia in the National Radio Forum Monday, April 22, st 10:30 pm., East- ern standard time. The National Radio Forum is arranged by The ‘Washington Star and broadcast over the network of the National Broad- casting Co. Senator Byrd, s Democrat, has questioned the large-scale: spending policy of the administration. Also, he has been opposed to many features of the A. A. A. and its control of ag- riculture. - Legislation extending the powers of the A."A. A. has been pro- posed and is awaiting action by Con- | Hails Discovery CHIEF PILOT HAROLD JUNE. we could not see more than a few feet ahead because of fog or drift. “We stopped once because the sur- face made us suspect crevasses, and, | when it cleared sufficiently so we | could look ahead, we found ourselves facing one of the most tumbled sur- faces I have ever seen. In a few Linutes more of traveling we would have been right in the middle of a huge field of crevasses, and I doubt if we would have come out safely. But we found our way around them and, by luck, struck the only pos- sible path through them to the plateau beyond. Later from the plane I saw this pass and marveled at our good fortune. “It is exciting work riding a tractor in the Antarctic. Often the crevasses are entirely hidden and the short, heavy tractors could easily disappear in one. We all fell into them and | were lucky not to kill anybody. | Tractor Takes Plunge. | “Once I drcpped nearly 30 feet, or 80 it seemed, and the tractor stuck, tail down. We had to cut away a big ramp and pile snow in the crevasses below the tractor so we could drive it out. Another time we were traveling parallel to a crevasse without knowing it, when one tread went in and the machine tipped over until the top of it hooked itself to the other edge. | Knowing what was around us, it made our hair stand on end sometimes when the entire barrier surface would drop with a terrific rumble, as it sometimes | does. | “I think, however, that a 40-foot tractor, made of duraluminum and powered by a different type of motor, would permit such safe surface travel that the entire Antarctic could be ex- plored quickly. | “Our engine never froze up, because | we drained them every time we stopped, but we frequently ran short of anti-freeze solution, and once we ran two tractors the last part of the trip with nothing bui water in the radiators and the thermometer around minus 65. We covered those engines up like babies in their perambulators. And when fuel ran short we mixed gasoline with kerosene, anti-freeze and anything else we could get. Once we used transmission grease in the engine because we ran short of ofl. | 2,000-Foot Cliff. “And I won't forget 1n a long time the experience of making a new gas- ket for the crankcase because the oil was leaking. I froze a finger on that trip so that I could see the bone where the flesh cracked. But we drove that tractor to within a few hundred feet of McKinley Mountain, and, on the sea side, that mountain drops 2,000 feet sheer into the sea. | “We nearly lost one of our men on that trip—at least, we went off with- out him. tractor at a certain point to head for | home after passing the crevasses. He | was on the rear sledge, reading a com- pass and telling me by lights on the dashboard which way to bear to keep on the trail. | | ““The contact points of the electrical | switches froze, and I didn't get the signal. He tried to run up ahead and tell me, and almost made the tractor through the soft snow when he be- | came tired and fell down. About 8 | miles further I stopped and the radio | man came running up from another | sledge, yelling that I had left our | companion 'way back on the trail. He | was the weariest looking human being ;l ever saw when ve got back to him. | “One of our other exciting experi- |ences was when we were flying over | the Edsel Ford range on our way back | to Little America. We found that, | beyond the range, there was an area | of scattered mountain peaks looking very much like the cones of extinct volcanoes sticking above the snow. There were so many of them that it was as if they had been tossed in t.h;:x by some ice god in a playful “Far at the edge of the sea coast I had arranged to turn the | PRIL 21, 1935—PART ONE. . yrd’s Discoveries in Antarctic Are Hailed in Century Since R 0ss’ Search Dangers on Every Hand, _ Expedition’s Chicf Pilot Reveals. we could see three widely separated extinct volcanoes lifting 3,000 or 4,000 feet above the plateau, which was about 4,000 feet high. They were enormous mountains and so straight | they gave the illusion of being square | blocks. “All the way in, we had found the | surface rising, but, beyond the Edsel Ford range it seemed to run flat at 4,000 feet as far as we could see, where we turned around. That was probably about 400 miles out, perhaps & little more. “The weather began to get bad and before we had gone far we were flying at 17,000 feet through clouds. Under us were mountains, which we could sometimes see through a small opening in the clouds. And then both motors cut out because of ice in the venturi tubes of the carburetor. “The usual way to get that out is to lean the mixture so the motors will backfire, but at our altitude I couldn't |do it. We began to come down, | slowly but surely, and those mountains below became more numerous and | much closer. Finally, in desperation, | I thought of turning off the gas to | make the motors backfire. That did it, and as I turned it on again they ;blckflred again, and we picked up | speed and altitude. But it was a bad | few minutes. We were 280 miles from | home, and every mile would have ’been doubled because of the contour |of the ground. Byrd Too Weak to Fly. “This flight and the long one to the southeast, on which we saw the Queen Maud mountains get lower . and finally seem to blend into the plateau, were planned after Admiral Byrd made his first triangular flight to look over the ground in that direction. The flights were the | carrying out of his ideas, and it was only because he was so weak as the result of his isolation during the | Winter that he did not make them. | ““But from what we saw on those two flights and two or three others, and the observations made by Black- burn in the Queen Maud range and Siple in the Edsel Ford range, there | is no longer any possibility that the Antarctic is divided by a frozen | strait. Both these ranges apparently | blend into the plategsu, and the | Queen Maud range far to the east ! seemed to be completely covered by ! lice flowing down from the Polar plateau. I think myself that the Queen Maud range comes out again in Graham Land and the western shore of the Weddell Sea and is a continuation of the Andean chain. “The Edsel Ford range, the Rocke- | feller mountains and the Scott Nunataks are all part of the same mountain chain that outlines the ‘nor'hem coast line of the Antarctic | | in this sector. “The coast line runs just west of the Rockefeller mountains, turns | south and runs in a gentle curve to | the Queen Maud range. There is one break in it to the southeast, where ‘thm are apparently a number of | islands above sea level which cause | the break in the ice that is con- tinued far to the west in a tremen- | dous chain of crevasses. We have all our positions well marked, for we took literally hundreds of celestial observations. I think our present ! maps show nearly all the mountain ranges and other landmarks within a mile of their true position. | Sounding Work Valuable. “One of the most interesting jobs we had in aviation was fiying the party that took seismic observations. Landing away from base has been looked upon as hazardous, but we | made about 14 or 15 landings and never had any trouble. | “This sounding work was of tre- mendous value, for it established the coast line under the barrier and en- abled us to explain what goes on in the Bay of Whales. We even landed once on the peninsula north of Dis- covery Inlet and found that that long tongue of ice is also anchored to land. “We could have done much more if the weather had not been so bad, much worse than on the former ex- pedition. It was a hard year. Land- ’lng was a terrible job. much worse than we had anticipated, and aviation ‘plnyed @ part in it. There was little | relaxation during the year because it | {took so long to get settled and we had to get busy so early in the Spring. | “But we are well satisfied with the | result and would be happy about the whole trip if it had not been for Ad- | miral Byrd's illness. He is not at all | well, although he is naturally grati- | | fied at the results of his plan.” | Admiral Byrd's two ships may ar- | ’rlve in this country the latter part of May, although the time will depend | upon when they reach Panama after their long trip across the Pacific, and | the length of the interval there for | refueling and repairs. (Copyright, 1935, by N_A. N. | New York Times - Ine- and Sticking his tongue in his cheek, Corporation Counsel Prettyman ruled vesterday, formally and officially, the Commissioners can, if they wish, ap- point a staff of admirals and sub- admirals as their personal aides—but without duties, except as friendly con- sultants. Whether they will or won't remains to be seen, for the Commissioners ap- pear to be a bit dubious, but Commis- sioner Allen opined that Government | business was getting “too serious for any use.” “The Governor of Kentucky has his can’t we have our admirals?” The point was debated recently and Prettyman decided, in a curbstone opinion, that it could not be done; but he has changed his mind. He found, on examination, that the Dis- trict has a “navy,” although it may consist of a group of tugboats, fire- boats, and rowboats, and that “navy” officers necessarily may ‘not give any urvdlee and therefore no salary need be The matter may be brought up for formal decision by the Commissioners this week. Prettyman’s opinion states: “I have examined the iaw from Magna Charta to the N. R. A. in an effort to discover whether an ad- miral must have a navy. Surely, not all ‘colonels’ have an army, nor all ‘judges’ a court, nor all ‘doctors’ & practice,’ nor all ‘lawyers’ a client. I have definitely ascertained that not every man who answers to the salu- tation of ‘chief’ is an Indian. “The term ‘admiral,’ therefore, is a title—not a job. Its use has been largely pre-empted by nations having battleships, cruisers and submarines, but this pre-emption is a custom, not s law. “In my opinion an admiral need not have a navy, nor even £ Towbibt; ot why worry about' this iNaming of Admirals_Ruicd Within Commissioners’ Power colonels, hasn’t he?” sald Allen. “Why | | anyway, because it is a fact that the District of Columbia has its navy. Every sovereign citizen of the District feels great pride in Washington's fleet, to wit: “The ‘Firefighter,’ the tug ‘William Tyndall,’ the tug ‘Virginia.’ the tug ‘Louise,” police motor boats Nos. 1. 2,3, 4 and 5, five rowboats and one unnamed launch. “Furthermore, I understand these admirals weuld have no duties: there- fore, how could they render any | services? “A certain amount of pomp and circumstance, panoply and parade is an inherent necessity to the people’s ruler. Why should the Commission- ers arrive at a rational function or & neighborhood carnival without fan- fare, fuss or flunkies? It has always seemed to me to be out of place for a great multitude to wait on the qui vive for the appearance of their Com- missioners and then have & car drive up, one lone gentleman in a business suit get out, and some one say, ‘Who the heck is that?” Rather there should be a flag, a fluttering bevy of attendance. a gold-braided escort. Then, too, this staff could advise the Commissioners on matters of prece- dents and social amenity; not as binding pronouncement of statutory authority, but as friendly views freely given. “If you want to appoint a 1 admiral with appurtenances th:‘r::o attached, it cannot be done; but if you want to appoint some without duties, status or salary, except as unofficial consultants pro bono publico, it is proper, and can be done.” Shop Displays Early. Fashionable shops of chilly Glas- Scotland, were featuring Sum- ’ bathing suits n February. P CHAIN BRIDGE PLAN 1S GOAL OF PARLEY Conference Tuesday to Try to Settle Differences of Opinion. Efforts to work out a program fof replacement of Chain Bridge, which will meet with unanimous approval of interested District and Virginia groups, will be made at a conference in the office of Engineer Commissioner Sul« tan at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. The conference was decided upon as | & result of a meeting Friday in the of- fice of Representative Howard W. Smith of Virginia, at which consider- able difference of opinion upon the merits of the high and low level bridge proposals arose. There also were dif- ferences of opinion over routes to the bridge and the means of financing the project. 8 The group which will confer with Col. Sultan is a fact-finding commit- tee appointed by the representatives attending Friday's conference with Judge Smith. The committee was re- quested to obtain information as to all phases of the bridge problem and to study all official recommendations which have been made. Personnel of Committee. ‘The committee is composed of George C. Shinn, Clyde B. Bailey/ Capt. Ellis R. King, Dr. Llewellyn Jor- dan, Representative Smith and Jesse C. Suter. Capt. H. C. Whitehurst will' co-operate as the representative of the | District Commissioners. | The meeting in Judge Smith’s office | Friday was informal and opened with | & statement by Capt. Whitehurst, in | which he explained that the District | Commissioners favored rebuilding of the superstructure of the present | Chain Bridge, including repairs to the existing piers and improvement of the approach from Canal road. This | construction, he said, would cost about $350,000 and could be carried in the District’s annual appropriation bill. The Commissioners believe, White< hurst said, that this reconstruction project would serve every purpose in- sofar as the District is concerned. The Commissioners, he said. can see no Justification, from a District stand- point, for the building of a costly high-level bridge at or near the Chain Bridge location. Virginia Wants Replacement, Virginia representatives at the meet- ing also agreed as to the need for the earliest possible replacement of the present bridge, holding that the proposed high-level bridge is a proj- ect to be considered for the future. They held out no hope that Arling- ton and Fairfax Counties would share in the cost of the bridge and ex- pressed doubt that the State of Vir- ginia would contribute. A delegation from the Conduit Road Citizens' Association strongly urged the high-level bridge program advo- cated by the Nationa] Capital Park and Planning Commission. They voiced the opinion that any money spent for replacement of the bridge on the present piers would be wasted and would serve to delay the neces- sary construction of a high-lev: bridge. The Conduit road delegation also pointed out the value of a high-level bridge as a means of by-passing through traffic around Washington. In this connection, Capt. Whitehurst said that a bridge serving as such & by-pass link should be in an entirely different location because of the tor- tuous grades in the route to the Chain Bridge site. Truck Traffic Seen. He voiced the opinion that traffic over such a by-pass route would con- sist largely of heavy freight trucks, objectionable to the residential sec- tions through which they would pass from the Chain Bridge area. He said any such by-pass should be located at least 10 miles beyond the District. ‘The position of the Federation of Citizens® Associations, as stated by Suter, was one of approving the high< level bridge project as a Federal un- dertaking and without any cost to the District of Columbia, even for a survey and plans. He stated that he was aware of no official action of the federation regarding the mere re- placement of the bridge at its present location and on existing piers. Shinn, chairman of the Committee on Bridges of the Board of Trade, stated that the Board of Trade has long advocated a new Chain Bridge. They are not particular as to whether the bridge be merely a replacement or the more pretentious structure pro- posed for the high-level location. —_— - Former efficials Accused of Maiming Two Colored Convicts. By the Associated Press. CHARLOTTE, N. €., April 20.—In- dictments charging five former State prison camp officials with torturing, maiming and assauiting two colored convicts with intent to kill were re- turned today by the Mecklenburg County grand jury after an investiga- tion of alleged brutality to prisoners. The indictments were based on the cases of Woodrow Shropshire and Rob- ert Barnes, 19-year-old Charlotte col- ored prisoners, whose feet became gangrenous and were amputated while they were serving short terms. Those indicted were H. C. Little, former superintendent of the camp: Dr. C. S. McLaughlin, former county and camp physician, and J. W. Eudy, R. C. Rape and T. M. Gordon, guards. All five were indicted jointly on the torturing, assault and maiming charges. Separate indictments charged neglect in performance of their duties. Maiming is a common law felony. The defendants had been held for grand jury action under $1,000 bonds after a hearing before Superior Court Judge Don Phillips, sitting as a com- mitting magistrate. The bonds were continued and the cases docketed for the Superior Court term, beginning May 11. At the hearing, Shropshire charged the loss of his feet was caused by their freezing while hé was chained in a “dark cell,” where unruly prisoners are placed as punishment. QUAKE KILLS 130 Southwest Section of Formosa Is Shaken Heavily. TOKIO, April 21 (Synday) (M.— An estimated 130 persons were killed when a severe earthquake rocked the southwest section of the Island of