Evening Star Newspaper, May 16, 1935, Page 4

LUSK IS ACCUSED AT RENT HEARING Witness Is Charged With Twisting Facts in De- nial of Emergency. (Continued From First Page.) there exists an emergency in the hous- ing field depends on four points. 1. Whether there is & shortage of living accommodations. 2. Whether rents are unfair. 3. Whether owners have realized exhorbitant profits. 4. Whether creation of a rent com- mission will prove remedial in nature, Figures Attacked. The witness started with a chart desigued to ,show living accommoda- tions have expanded faster than the increase in population and the ac- curacy of his figures was immediately attacked bv Chairman Ellenbogen. Lusk said the increased population in Washington since 1932 is about 20,000, while the chairman said it was nearer 35,000, not including families of many workers. | Lusk replied it was unfair to com- pare housing accommodations with families not here, but Chairman El- lenbogen replied the families would be here if they could find places to live. I believe men and women working here are entitled to have their chil- dren with them,” the chairman de- clared. Lusk submitted the following points in his atatempt to convince the sub- committee there is no housing emer- gency in the District: 1. To have conditions today at all similar to those of 1919, when the Rent Commission started, would mean the population would be at least 630,000; no one has estimated present population at more than 525,000. 2. At least 2000 dwelling units for rent are now or will be available by June 1. 1,700 Units Under Way. 3. More than 1,700 houses and apartment units are now actually under construction in Washington and the metropolitan area: more than three times as many being built dur- ing first four months of 1935 than during the same period of 1934. From 500 to 1,000 more are planned. Con- struction at the present rate means that during 1935 housing will be pro- vided in Washington and vinicity for almost 18.000 persons. 4. An emergency such as the bill's | proponents say exists should boost | rents; between January, 1934, and Jan- | uary, 1935, rents in 11,000 apartment | units rose on the average one-fifth of 1 per cent. This is no hand-picked figure, but includes buildings that in- creased their rents as well as those which declined or remained stationary. 5. An alleged emergency shouid produce not only high rents, but ex- orbitant profits, Earnings on assessed | value averaged in 1934 less than 5 per cent during a year when buildings | were more than 95 per cent full, Comparison Offered. 6. In 1933, when the salary reduc- tions were in effect and rents were higher than today, Government em- | Pployes paid from 14 to 25 per cent of their income for rent. Wage earners in 20 of 58 cities where the Department of Commerce analyzed the figures pald as much or more than this amount. 7. Every advocate of rent control| urges more housing. The surest way to discourage building is to tell a builder that a board composed of those who, by the very terms of the Ellenbogen bill cannot be familiar with real estate, will control his property. ‘Toward the end of the Rent Com- mission residential building soared, in- creasing 50 per cent the first year| and 100 per cent the second after the commission ceased to function, Names Realty Group. The witness asserted rents now are lower on the average than two years | &8g0. At this point the committee ad- journed for 30 minutes to answer & Toll call in the House. Lusk said the members of the com- mittee he represents are: E. C. Baltz, William L. Beale, H. Clifford Bangs, Frank Bell, Morris Cafritz, T. D, Carson, Harry K. Boss, H. E. Doyle, William J. Flather, jr.; Robert V. Fleming, Maurice Griest, C. Clinton James, Morton J. Luchs, Lanier P. McLachlen, William C. Miller, James McD. Shea, Charles J. Rush, Arthur Harnett, August Gumpert, Roger Whiteford, counsel. Before Lusk took the stand, Cathryn Wood, representing the Tenants' Pro- tective League, indorsed the bill. She sajd rents here are worse than *highway robbery,” and explained her organization proposed to furnish ten- ants legal advice, STRANGER GETS $30 Colored Woman Victim of Ancient Pocketbook Trick. It cost Ola Dade, colored, $30 to Jearn about the ancient *“pocketbook trick” from a stranger at New York and New Jersey avenues last night. The stranger told Ola he had just picked up a pocketbook containing $500 and wo*i divide with her if she would he him make change. Ola handed dVer her $30 and waited for the stranger’s return. As many snother before, Ola waited In vain. | miles from the Alaskan coast.) | cruising. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. T, THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1935, Witnesses at Rent Bill Hearing Rufus Lusk of the Taxpayers' Protective League showing & chart to Representative Ellenbogen, author of the Pproposed rent control bill. JAPAN BELITTLES MANEUVERS TALK Nation’s Own War Games to Be Far From U. S., Says Naval Minister. By the Associated Press. TOKIO, May 16.—A spokesman for the Japanese naval office said today he believed naval circles in the United States and Japan were not alarmed over each other's maneuvers in the | Pacific Ocean. The spokesman, Adjt. to Admiral| Mineo Osumi, minister of the navy, explained that the Japanese Navy's war games this year wculd not come withir. 2,000 miles of the United | States’ Pacific Coast and probadly not within that distance of either Hawaii or_Alaska. His reference to “2,000 miles” was | prompted by the statement of Claude | A. Swanson, the United States Secre- tary of the Navy, that Americans | would feel no concern if the Japanese | fleet activities remained that distance away from American shores. Description Is Refused. While declining to describe the ex- act area in which the Javanese maneuvers will take place, the ad- Jutant said: “It can be said they will not ap- proach the 180th meridian (the in- ternational date line). Likewise, they contain nothing like the United States | Navy's Midway flight, because Japan has no islands suitable like Hawaii and Midway. Fogs in the Summer and Fall eliminate the possibility of such flights to the Kurile Isiands.” (The Kuriles are Japanese islands in the North Pacific, just south of Kamchatka, Siberia, and some 2,000 +The naval officer said the only time the Japanese Navy had been anxious concerning the Midway flight was when early reports hinted that some of the planes had failed to arrive on schedule. It was relieved, he said, to learn the fleet was safe. Worry Is Doubted. “I do not believe naval leaders in Japan and the United States are wor- | ried over each other’s maneuvers,” he continued. ““We realize the necessity | ot such training and also that the | increasing range of modern warships | is marrowing the oceans which sepa- rate us.” ‘The adjutant said the Japanese maneuvers will begin late in July with | preliminary training for reserves and | small units and conclude with a major | battle problem in October. The budget, he said, would preclude extended Vernacular papers interpreted Sec- retary Swanson’s reference to the 180th Meridian as the limit of the United States maneuvers as a sugges- tion that the international date line divide the American and Japanese spheres in the Pacific Ocean. The newspaper Tokio Asahi dis- played a cartoon picturing Uncle Sam | playing with warships behind a wire fence labeled “international date line.” Club to Present Play. The Franco-American young peo- ple’s group will meet in the parish hall of the New York Avenue Pres- byterian Church tomorrow at 8:15 pm. A French play entitled “Sepa- ration,” by Charasson, will be pre- sented by a company made up of members of the teaching staffs of Washington universities. Young peo- ple having a speaking knowledge of French are invited. March “Leader” Who Stirred V. F. W. Can’t Be Located Hopeful that their prompt and| wvigorous efforts of yesterday had fore- stalled another bonus march on ‘Washington, officials of the Veterans of Foreign Wars this morning let it be | known that they are ready to take| similar or even more drastic steps to nip any such future projects in the bud. So effective, however, seemed the ®sharply worded telegram” of Na- tional Comdr. James E. Van Zandt to one Louis R. Mathews of Portland, Oreg., warning him that the organi- gation is “opposed to any type of bonus march on Washington” that even Mr. Mathews himself has com- pletely disappeared. In Portland the circle of Mr. Ma- thews’' V. F. W. acquaintances was so limited that nobody could be found who even knew him. The city direc- tory had no Louis R. Mathews listed et 308 S. W. Twelfth avenue or at any other address. Portland Man Opposed. Mr. W. E. McGuffin, commander of | the V. F. W. in the county containing | Portland, declared he knew of no march on Washington from that are “There is nothing to be gained by i firmly to the Associated . Neither does Mr. McGuffin know & Mr. Mathews; in fact he goes #o far » as to say, “Mathews is not connected with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, or if he is has been very inactive.” Back in Washington, officials of the V. F. W. insist all they know was made public in a mimeographed press release yesterday. There was received, they explain, a letter signed by Louis | R. Mathews and containing the fol- lowing note: “The formation of the greatest move on Washington, of history has already begun here. Hell nor heavens can stop them. The West Coast is solid in its movement East for the bonus. My regards. Wish I could give you further details but I'll see you soon.” Swinging into immediate action, Mr., Van Zandt issued a press release baring the entire incident, includ- ing his telegram to Mr. Mathews of Portland. “I do not know Mr. Mathews or anything about the proposed bonus march, except what was stated in his letter,” Mr. Van Zandt announced by way of an official communique. “I sihcerely hope that my telegram may halt this march if it has started, as I believe it would be ill-advised. “This is not the first bonus marchf I have tried to head off. My efforts succeeded several months ago,” the commander continued, “when a Com- munistic group sought to promote s march oo Washingion.” ‘ \ Hits Maneuvers “LIKE A DRAWN SWORD,” JAPANESE ADMIRAL SAYS. At Shimonoseki, Japan, Japanese Admiral Kanji Kato characterized the United States Navy maneuvers in the Pacific as being “like draw- ing a sword before a neighbor's house.” Japan is remaining calm, however, he said, suggesting that American opinion would not show similar restraint if the situation were reversed. —A. P. Photo. | TAXICAB LIABILITY BOOST PROPOSED IN HOUSE HEARING (Continued From First Page.) J. Dalton of the Blue Light Cab Co.; Mrs. E. Morgan Price of the Whittier Parent-Teacher Association; Maj. O. | C. Luxford and Robert L. Porter. Roberts Favors Present Form. Rbberts testified he favored the bill exactly in its present form. Representatives Quinn, Democrat, of Pennsylvania, and Patman both ques- tioned Roberts about various features | of the measure, and he expressed the belief its enactment would result in in- creased safety on the streets. Roberts also explained there are 4,- 000 taxicabs in Washington, “the largest number per capita in the world.” Patman called attention to the $2,500 maximum liability provided | in the bill for any one judgment for bodily injuries and remarked that this amount would fall short of full pro- tection. Supported by Citizens. “Unless you diminish opposition to high amounts,” Roberts declared, “you could not get passage of the bill.” Roberts told the subcommittee that as far as he knew all the civic organi- zations in the District, including the Federation of Citizens' Associations, favor this type of legislation. Patman then suggested that motor busses be made to comply with pro- visions in the bill and Roberts said he would have no objection to their in- clusion. Patman likewise suggested that the amount for injuries be raised to $5,- 000 and to $10,000 for total permanent disability or death and to $1,000 for property damage. Not Against Higher Scale. Roberts explained he would not op- pose the increased scale if he could be assured the higher amounts would be supported. Quinn declared, however, that rais- ing the amount for property damage from $500, as provided in the bill, to $1,000, would contribute to “racketeer- ing.” He said he knew of cases in Pennsylvania, where a relative of a car owner would take the vehicle, | wreck it and then collect the insur- ance. ‘When Roberts completed his testi- mony the hearing was abruptly ad- Jjourned until 10 am. tomorrow. An early session of the House caused the adjournment. 8-Day MOUNTAIN EXCURSIONS Leave May 24 and 25 Round Trip. Clifton Forge, Va.. Hinton, W. Va.. Charleston, W. V; tes to intermediate If Fai Children Good on Certain Trains DECORATION DAY FARES REDUCED Consult Ticket Agent For Full Details. HESAPEAKE 1QHI0 Inset, upper right: Cathryn Wood, president of the Tenants' Protective League. —>S.ar Staff Photos. 1.5 FLEET SHFT AS BATILES NEA Under Way—Attackers Steam South. By the Assoclated Press. ABOARD BATTLESHIP PENNSYL- VANIA IN HAWAIIAN WATERS, May 16—All vessels of the United States Navy's “white fleet” moved seaward from Pearl Harbor today, the “black fleet” bore south from its base near the Aleutians—and the most spectacular part of the sixteenth an- nual naval maneuvers was under way. These 153 ships, with their hun- dreds of fast planes and hordes of auxiliaries, will move and counter- move on a tactical chessboard of 5,000,000 square miles, seeking to checkmate each other and putting to practical test the training and abilities of thousands of officers and men. Many Islands in Chain, ‘The Hawaiian Islands—not only those garden spots known as the “paradise of the Pacific” but the | extending to midway and almost to the international dateline—will be the scene of these dramatic ‘“games.” These are the stepping stones of the Pacific, and along this 1,400-mile line of dots on the map the “white fleet” patrolled today after having cut short its visit to Pearl Harbor and Hon- olulu. In this strange little frequented area about whieh many tales of ro- mance and shipwreck tragedy have been written, birdmen, seamen and undersea strategists will play a mil- itary game with unusual phases that set it apart from all previous Navy maneuvers. The area’s naval baptism will be given by a force with the greatest power, mobility and tactical breadth of any the United States ever sent to sea. Extensive landing parties, record- breaking aircraft flights, cruiser, sub- marine and battleship infiltration will be used by the Navy in measuring these “stepping stones” from Pearl Harbor all along the string of islands to the international date line. Expert Training to Result. For training purposes, navigation problems involved in maneuvering through this area will present condi- tions to tax the wits of the most ex- pert. In general strategy, Admiral Harris Laning and Vice Admiral Arthur J. Hepburn as opposing fleet com- manders will have real work to do. Laning commands the “white fleet,” main battle force of the Navy. Hep- burn is directing operations of the swift-striking “black fleet,” now mov- ing southward from somewhere near the Aleutian Islands. His exact whereabouts are shrouded in secrecy. Watching them as chief umpire is Admiral J. R. Reeves, commander in chief of the Navy. Indications are that the maneu- vers will develop rapidly, forcing tac- ticians and commanders to proceed not only carefully, but at top speed. The Trade Mark This NEW device CAN SAVE YOU TIME and MONEY Guaranteeing Satisfaction In both large and small business offices; this amazingly simple invention has been put to work to.save time-and money. A scale attached to each sheet of carbon paper now makes possible vertical measurements. (3 STOCKETT: =i “"E‘*'.‘.’."‘.io chain of rocks, atolls and outposts | COL. KELLER PAID HIGH ARMY HONOR Noted Surgeon Voted Full Pay for Life for Bril- liant Service. Col. William L. Keller, Army Med- ical Corps, for a number of years head surgeon at Walter Reed Hos- pital and considered one of the country’s outstanding surgeons, was signally honored today when President Roosevelt signed an act of Congress to give him full active pay for the rest of his life regardless of retirement. The bill creates a new office to be known &s consultant in surgery of the Army Medical Center, which is located at Walter Reed Hospital. Col. Keller is to be appointed to this post, but he may retire from all active duty at his own pleasure and continue to receive the full pay and allowances of & colonel. This honor is being paid Col. Keller because of the Army’s appreciation of his valuable service. Col. Keller sev- eral times has refused promotion to be surgeon general of the Army, as well as many offers to leave the service to enter upon private practice. Col. Keller, who is now 61, has three more years before being subject to automatic age retirement. How- ever, it is understood that because of his long service and many trying duties he is anxious to lessen official burdens. The only other retired officer now receiving full pay is Gen. John J. Pershing. | Col. Keller has been chief of the surgical service at Walter Reed for 16 years and in addition, for the past five years, has been commanding officer at that hospital. In this period, he supervised extensive and intricate treatment for a large number of vet- erans of the World War who were | | permanently crippled in addition to | the normal surgical work of the gen- | eral hospital. | Col. Keller was graduated from the | | Medical College of Virginia in 1899 | and served as active assistant surgeon | of the United States Public Health Service for one year, when he entered the military service as a contract sur- geon. He was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Medical Corps in 1902, and reached the rank of colonel in 1928. | SIX D. C. GIRL SCOUTS TO RECEIVE HIGH AWARD Golden Eaglet Will Be Bestowed Tomorrow at Pierce Hall Ceremony. Six Washington Girl Scouts will receive the highest award their or- ganization can give at Pierce Hall, Sixteenth and Harvard streets, at 4 p.m. tomorrow. Mrs. A. P. Stokes, commissioner of Girl Scouts in the District, will pre- | sent the golden eaglet to the follow- ing: Isabel Walter, Alice Leake, Mar- garet Osterwald, Joyce Geiger and Kitty Calder, all of troop 58, and Alice Joy Webster of troop 83. : Mrs. J. H. n, chairman of | the Badges &nd Awards Committee, | will be in charge of the ceremony. | Members of the crew of° the Girl Scout marine ship Constellation will | act as color bearers at the presenta- | tion. Ecquad, Supernatural Genuine PANAMAS .85 Super $0.75 84 » Spozialssa ! others as low as $3.38 RODT @be Foming FHta? B ol T to su door rates are charged. above sign. = 908 F STREET & 423 11th STREET — INC. % 733 14th STREET ADVERTISENENTS ( Receivep HERE Home Drug Co., 4th & H Sts. N.E. Is an Authorized Star Branch Office HE greater the hurry, the more pressing the need, the stronger the reason for de- pending upon a Star Classified Advertisement ply the want. It rings almost all the 1is in Washington at one time. body is bound to answer. Star Classified Advertisements DO Bring Results. Ccf)gy left ,at any authorized Star Branch Office will appear in the first available issue. No fee for Branch Office service; only regular Authorized Star Branch Offices display the Record-Breaking Flyers Copyright, A. P. Wirephoto. TOMLINSON SETS NEW AIR MARKS ON 5-LAP FLIGHT | | (Continued From First Page.) | | control recently authorized by the Federation Aeronautique Internation- ale. Tomlinson, now assistant to the president of Transcontinental and Western Air, is flying the high-speed | twin-engined transport airplane” in | which he recently -established a new transcontinental speed record of 11 | hours, 5 minutes and 45 seconds from Los Angeles to New York. For today's record flight the tri- angular 1,000-kilometer course was | laid out by the National Aeronautic | Association and checked by the Coast and Geodetic Survey. At the Bolling Field control point, | set up on top of the field operations | office, two theodolytes were set up and | a radio communications post installed. | Tomlinson, flying constantly at alti- | tudes of more than 10,000 feet, be- yond the range of the naked eye, maintained constant radio communi- cation with the stations at the cor- ners of the course. As he neared Bolling Field on his | first lap and succeeding laps, he no- tified Charles H. Helms, F. A. I| official observer at the local station, | of his location. A meteorological | sounding balloon was sent up and followed by theodolyte and the wind velocities at all levels to above 15,000 feet were read and communicated to Tomlinson. As he approched the turning point, the theodolytes were trained on his high-fiying ship and the angle of his course, his altitude, and his time were checked, the time being synchronized with a master watch held in New York by William R. Enyart of Washington, secretary of the Contest Committee of the National Aeronautic Associa- tion, in charge of official observation of the whole flight. On his first lap Tomlinson passed | over Bolling Field at 7:52:43 a.m., fiy- | ing at an altitude of 11,200 feet. He| reported on his second lap that his | average speed for the first lap had | been computed at about 191 miles per‘ hour. His time for the first two laps averaged about 190 miles per hour, subject to final official check. Some- Beacon onTower of FLOYD BENNETT AIRPO Ne HORNER TO PUSH RELIEF TAX AGAIN Another Effort Will Be Made to Pass Sales Levy to Raise Funds. By the Associated Press. SPRINGFIELD, Ill, May 16— Leaders of the State Democratic ad- ministration mustered their forces to« day for a new drive to win emergency passage of sales tax legislation to pro- vide relief funds despite four suc- cessive failures in the House of the Illinois Legislature. Still determined to put through on an emergency basis a bill to increase the sales tax from 2 to 3 per cent to raise $3,000,000 a month as the State's share of the costs of caring for 1,200,- 000 relief clients, Gov. Henry Horner early today announced the new at- tempt would be made next Tuesday. Leaders to Try Again, The decision was announced after a long conference with Patrick A. Nash, national Democratic commit- teeman; Mayor Edward J. Kelly of Chicago and other Democratic chief- tains, who came to the Governor to form a plan of action after yester- day's failure to win the 102 votes necessary to pass the tax bill with its emergency clause. Confronted by reports that the State’s relief clients are facing actual privation, the leaders decided to try again rather than pass the bill with- | out its emergency clause. Without this | clause the measure could not become effective until July 1. Meanwhile, with the unofficial count of but 90 votes registered in favor of the bill in yesterday’s roll eall, other developments came quickly. The | Ilinois Workers’ Alliance issued a eacon Southwes? ended \ €l.LC» P fl,o\‘ A NORFOLK W. D. Tomlinson (right) and his co-pilot, Joe Bartles, photographed today at New York before their take-of on & record-breaking triangular flight. Map shows the course, including New York, Nor- folk and Washington. LUTHERANS TO MEET Men of Church Will Unite to Aid | Unemployed. ° Organization of all Lutheran men in the District, with a view to aiding the poor and unemployed among other things, will be undertaken this evening at the meeting in Luther Place Me- morial Church, at Thomas Circle, at 8 o'clock. Presiding as chairman of the com- mittee named to plan for several meetings to be held in the Fall will be Martin A. McGrory. A report will be made to the Maryland Synod Con- vention to be held at Gettysburg, Pa., convening next Monday. McGrory is | call for a mass march of the un- employed on the State capital May | 21 for the announced purpose of de- fending the “bread and beans of our | people.” AR RS Delicious and Wholesome GOAT)| MILK PRODUCED AT '8 HICKORY HILL FARM HERNDON, VA, | Fresh Daily at Nichols’ Pharmacy @ Open Ali Night Every Night I- 1909 Pa. Ave. N.W, PHONE MEt. 6248 a member of the Atonement Lutheran | TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS REDUCTION IN PRICE Buy Now and Save J. EDW. CHAPMAN NOrth 3609 STNSLANW. WE SELL U.S. GOVERNMENT INSPECTED MEATS 311 7th St. N. 2 3146 M St. N.W. 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