Evening Star Newspaper, November 4, 1935, Page 17

MANY PROBLENS FAGE D. C. JOBLESS INSURANCE: BOARD Size of Tips Is Only One of Perplexing Subjects at First Hearing. NO REPRESENTATIVES OF WORKERS PRESENT Adjournment Taken for 10 Days to Give Time for Filing Sug- gestions, Inquiries. A barrage of problems, ranging from how much a tip should be, to what ought to be done about unemplovec transients, greeted the District's Un- employment Insurance Board at its first public hearing today in the board room of the District Building. Many of the questions raised by a room full of interested citizens wers conceded by board members to be as | baffiing to officials as to employers | coming within the provisions of the new District of Columbia unemploy- ment compensation act, After about an hour and a half of round table discigsion, during which no representative of employes. as & class, took the floor, the board ad- journed with an announcement that 10 days will be allowed all interested parties in which to file suggestions. inquiries and specific problems for consideration by the board in drawiry up final regulations under the aci, which becomes effective January 1. Quinn Raises Tip Question. The tip question was raised by | Carey E. Quinn, attorney for the local | Beauty Shop Employers’ Association, representing shops having some 5,000 girls on pay rolls. Quinn pointed out that most of the permanent wavers, eyebrow pluckers and facial masseurs work on a 50-50 commission basis. Thus, if & girl receives $6 for a per- manent wave she puts $3 in the cash register and $3 in her own pocket, together with whatever tip she may get—often a dollar. E. Barrett Prettyman, member of the board. said the act compels the | board to take into consideration the girl's tip as well as commission in fixing her compensation for unem- plovment insurance. Prettyman de- clared the whole question of tips and how to obtain an accurate check on them to compute compensation rates | is one that is quite puzzling to the| board at the present time. Prettyman said the board probably will have to strike an average on tips for certain classes of workers, which | brings up the perplexing problem of the average tip for waiters, bell boys. barbers and others. Average Now Under 10 Pct. District Commissioner Melvin Hazen, also a member of the board, inquired | if it wasn't customary to pay a waiter 10 per cent of the total check. A rep- | resentative _of the hotel industry, whose name was not obtained, replied that the percentage plan had been used in past vears, but that the aver- age waiter's tip today is considerably under 10 per cent of the total bill rendered the customer. The question of unemployed trans- fents who come into the District of Columbia was one of several raised by Joseph A. Cantrell, representing Elisha H. Hanson, counsel of the American Newspaper Publishers’ As- sociation. “That is the biggest problem which confronts the board at the present time” Prettyman responded. “The | whole matter must be correlated with | the Federal Board. It's a question that | must be worked out somehow, but nobody seems to know just how it can be handled.” Regulations Tentative. Representatives of various classes of | employers received permission from the board to file memoranda or briefs concerning the tentative regulations prepared by the board as a basis for drawing up final rules and regulations. Engineer Commissioner Dan 1. Sultan, a member of the board, stressed that the present regulations are merely tentative and that today’s hearing was ‘informal and that statements made by board members in the hearing must be regarded as informal and ten- tative. Permission was given insurance or- Ranizations, merchants’ groups and other organizations of employers to Tile written suggestions with the board within 10 days. Other members of the board are John Marshall, present director of in- surance, who will become chairman of the board; Daniel J. Callahan, rep- Tesenting employers, and John Locher, representing employes. Asked why em- ployes had no representatives in to- day’s discussion Locher said that the Central Labor Union and all its affili- ated bodies were notified of the hear- ing and that apparently they are all ':lllisfled with the tentative regula- ons. Greatest Class In 5 Years Seeks Naturalization 14 Italians and Same Number of Britons in Group of 62. Maybe it's because of the war clouds hanging over Europe, or more likely it's just a coincidence, but anyway, the naturalizatign hearing in District Bupreme Court tomorrow will be the largest in more than five years. And, strangely enough, nationals of the two nations between whom war is most often discussed—Italy and Britain—lead the list of those to be naturalized, with 14 each. Sixty-two persons in all will ask Justice Peyton Gordon to ratify their applications for American citizenship. Besides the Italian and British, there Wwill be 8 Germans, 7 Russians, 4 Greeks, 3 Poles, 3 Danes, 2 French, 2 Spanish, 1 Turk, 1 Argentinian, 1 Lithuanian, 1 Czechoslovakian and 1 Norwegian. he WASHINGTON, D. C, | & telephone pole as he became blinded | 5 ERSONS ILED N NEARBY TRAFF OVER WEEK END Two Men Believed Victims of Hit-Run Drivers. Motorist Is Held. POLICE PLAN TO TAKE FENDER FINGERPRINTS Four Soldiers From Walter Reed Hospital Hurt as Car Strikes Cliff. Five persons were killed in week end traffic accidents in nearby Virginia and Maryland. A number of others, including three Walter Reed Hospital soldiers, were injured in accidents in the two States. Eight persons were hurt in the District in the 24-hour period ending at 8 a.m. today. Richard C. Porter, 21, of Westfield, N. J., was fatally injured last night on South Patrick street in Alexandria, Va., when his motor cycle crashed into by the lights from an automobile. He died soon afterward in Alexandria Hospital. ‘Thomas Bailes, 35, of Leesburg, Va., | milk truck driver, and Courtney H. | ‘White, 23, son of Mr., and Mrs. Oc- | tavius White of Berryville, Va., al passenger on the truck, were fatally | injured yesterday when the truck crashed on the Lee Highway near Mocks Corner. Va. White was killed | almost instantly and Bailes died in | the Loudoun County Hospital a few | hours afterward. The driver, accord- |Ing to police, said he had, gone to sleep while driving. Two Others Killed. The other dead are Thomas Woods, 67, of Clarendon, Va. struck by an alleged hit-and-run automobile on the | Mount Vernon Memorial Highway at Alexandria, Va, Saturday night, and |a colored man, James Magruder, 55, of Quince Orchard, Md., killed Sat- urday night on the Darnestown, Md., road by a hit-and-run driver. John Smith, 19, of Camp Springs, Md., was arrested on a speeding | charge near Roaches Run shortly | after Woods had been injured. Smith denied any knowledge of the acci- dent. but police said they would take fingerprints from the fender of his automobile in their investigation of | the death. The body of the dead colored man | | was found in the Darnestown road | by a passerby, apparently some time after Magruder had been injured. The Walter Reed soldiers, Alfred E. Smith, 30; Place E. Lee, 30, and H. C. Krepps, 22, were injured when their automobile crashed into a rock clifft near the end of a bridge over | AH, HE'S THROUGH, UNSCATHED. Red Polson of the National Capital Motor Club, photographed going . through a board wall of fire at 50 miles an hour. tempt at spectacular stunt, but he It was Red's first at- came through safely. Movies taken on the Marlowe Farm near Wheaton, Md., where hill-climbing meet was held yesterday. —Movie Photos by Elwood Baker, Star Staff. Violator Is Refused‘ Leniency By Judge, Citing Safety Drive Because of the wide publicity given to the necessity for checking traffic ®iolations by The Evening Star Safety Council there is no reason for anyone to violate the traffic laws, it was de- clared in Traffic Court today by Judge John P. McMahon. Judge McMahon, who assumed the Traffic Court bench for a 30-day period, refused to reduce a fine im- posed upon a speeder who offered pr- sonal misfortunes as a reason for leniency. Calling the defendant's at- tention to the drive by The Star and police Judge McMahon said it would be impossible for him to accept mis- fortunes in considering ceses. John Braschew, colored, was sen- tenced to serve a straight jail sentence of 45 days for operating without a permit and to pay a fine of $25 or serve an additionsl 25 days, for failing to give the right of ‘way #® another automobile. Sylvester Wall, also col- ored, who was charged with loaning his permit to the former, was sentenced | to pay a fine of $25 or serve 10 days. Charged with obtaining a permit by misrepreséntation, William Vaughan, 1607 Corcoran street. was fined $75, with an alternative of 45 days in jall. - 4 JUDGE JOHN P. McMAHON. Fines ranging from $5 to $25 were imposed upon numercus defendants | charged with first and second offense speeding and reckless-driving during | the period occupied by the heavy Monday dockeb ~ | the Shenandoah River, near Luray, | Va. They were taken to the Rock- | | ingham, Va., Memorial Hospital, where | Smith was said to be most serious !hurt. A fourth man, not identified | by county authorities, was supposed | to have been in the automobile, but | apparently was not sufficiently in- | jured to require hospitalization. | The soldiers were returning to Washington from Shenandoah. Three Baltimore women. one col- ored. and a milk truck driver are in | Casualty Hospital suffering from in- juries received early yesterday in a triple collision on the Baltimore pike. James Gilner, 22, the driver, was making early morning deliveries when his truck, parked on the edge of the Baltimore pike, was rammed by a ma- chine operated by Lowell Lawson, 26, colored, of Baltimore. Lowell's car | overturned and Pauline Everett, who was with him, was pinned under the car. As Gilner and Lawson were trying | to extricate the woman. a car, driven by J. Lewis Raat of Baltimore, ca- reened into the Lawson car, injuring | Mrs. Alto Raat, 43, and Mrs. Edith Sohn, 45, also of Baltimore. Mrs. Raat has a brain concussion and cuts on the right eye and scalp; Mrs. Sohn, possible fracture of the ribs and cuts; Pauline Everett, possi- bly a fracture of the skull, cuts and bruises, and Gilner, cuts and possi- bly a brain concussion. City Has 17 Accidents. A comparatively safe week end was enjoyed in Washington. A total of only 17 traffic accidents were recorded over Sunday. Early today Motorcycle Policeman Alfred D. Clarke, 26, of 1317 S street southeast, received deep cuts on his right leg and possibly a fracture today when his motor cycle collided with a United States Treasury Department truck at Third street and Independ- ence avenue southwest. He was treat- ed at Providence Hospital. The truck was driven by William Short, 41, col- ored, of the 1100 block of B street | southeast, Matthew R. Jones, 22, and James Ayers escaped with minor injuries early today when the truck in which they were riding collided with an au- tomobile on Bladensburg road north- east near Channing street. The driver of the automobile, Howard E. Aber- nathy, 28, of 914 Tenth street north- east, was charged at No. 12 precinct with reckless driving. Jones and Ayers, who said they worked at the Navy Yard, were treated at Casualty Hospital for cuts and bruises. Aber- nathy was uninjured. Boy, Seated on Curb, Hurt. Among those hurt yesterday was Durwood Klopp, 9, of 2324 Shannon Pplace southeast, who was struck by an alleged hit-and-run automobile while sitting on the curb at Nichols avenue and Talbert street southeast, but es- caped with minor injuries to the ankle. Wilfred Stearman, 40, of 304 F street, suffered head cuts and a collar- bone fracture when struck by an automobile at Fourth and H streets. She was taken to Emergency Hospital, where her condition was said to be not serious. The others injured es- benin WITH SUNDAY MORNING | the Chest this year are to fill impera- | | tive needs. We hope that Washington caped in most instances with cuts and bruises. Willilam Forbes, - 14-year-old school boy patrolman; possibly received » brain concussion when struck by a bakery truck while assisting classmates acrass the Defense Highway at Bla- densburg. The boy, & student in the Bladens- burg High School, was taken to his Cheverly, Md,, home by the Bladens- burg rescue squad and treated by a Physician, ~4 o Star MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1935. R s The interior of this apartment at 3002 Rodman street was demolished early yesterday in an explosion fol- lowing the suicide by gas of Leona Epstein. where the body was found. and points into the kitchen, CHESTUNITDRIVES FOR 20 PCT. BOOST Special Assignment Group | Seeks New Gifts by For- mer Donors. The special assignment unit of the Community Chest today made en- couraging progress in its drive to maintain & 20 per cent increase in special contributions. Meeting for a report luncheon at the Willard Hotel this afternoon. the unit made plans for seeking increased | gifts all along the line. and a restora- tion of giving on the part of former contributors to the Chest who were unable to give last vear. | Coleman Jennings, chairman of the | unit, urged greater efforts on the | part of the workers in view of the announcement by the Budget Com- mittee that the goal of $1,877.900 is the absolute minimum required | to alleviate human needs in Wash- ington. Repairs Postponed. In this connection Louis Ottenberg. head of the Budget Committee, today said: “As T study these budgets T am impressed with the fact that we have been postponing repairs to agency buildings when we knew that delay was both costly and dangerous. If a boiler in an institution for children lor old people is in bad condition | we have no right. to endanger those | children or aged by failing to tell the people of Washington that more money is needed this year thar was spent last year to keep that item of repair in the building in good shape. “We know perfectly well that food prices have increased and it will probably continue to cost more. There- fore, there is no sense in setting up a budget for an institution caring for children or old people or for a hos- | pital without taking that increased cost of food into consideration. Funds for Imperative Needs. “We of the Budget Committee know that the additional funds sought by will recognize this fact and give ac- cordingly.” Approximately 350 area chairmen. section chiefs and key men and wo- men of the Group Solicitation Unit are expected to attend a final get-to- gether dinner at the Raleigh Hotel to- night, according to John Poole. The | Group Solicitation Unit is charged | with the solicitation of all firms em- ploying 15 or more workers in the coming campaign. Dr. William McClellan, Chest cam- paign chairman, and Herbert L. Wil- lett, jr., director of the Chest, will be the principal speakers. Chairman Poole will also speak, his talk being in the nature of instructions to the vari- ous workers. HEART ATTACK FATAL TO RETIRED U. S. WORKER Moses Smith, Who Served 34 Years in Agriculture Departe ment, Buried Today. Moses Smith, a retired employe of the Department of Agriculture, died of a heart attack Friday evening at his home, 460 Massachusetts avenue. Funeral services were held at St. Augustine Church this morning at 10 o'clock. Burial was in Mount Olivet Cemetery. Mr. Smith had been employed for 34 years as an assistant i the library of the Department of Agriculture. He was retired five years ago. Unmarried, he is survived by a brother, William Shermont Smith, and two sisters, Rebecca and Dora Smith. A. F. G. E. Group to Give Dance. Internal Revenue Lodge, American Federation of Government Employes, will give a dance at the Washington Hotel November 16. Wglter R. Wilson is chairman of the committee. Christian Science Lecture. “Christian Science, the Law of God,” is the topic of a lecture to be given at 8 p.m. tomorrow in the First Church of Christ, Scientist, by Paul Stark Seeley of Portland, Oreg., mem- ber of the Board of Lectureship of the Mother Church, the First Church of Policeman W. N. Cooke of precinct No. 8 stands in the living room Bo F or;f.{ets Stab Wounds In Grief Over Loss of Pet Willie Decker Knifed by”, Two Lads Who Wanted Checl:erboard. Shep, Willie’s Pal, Was Killed Yesterday in Leap From Car. B yesterday opened the door of his home at 816 Seventh street and greeted his mother: “Don't be scared, Mom. I've just been stabbed.” In the boy's back were three knife wounds inflicted by two small colored boys who wanted Willie's checker board. | The wounds hurt when the boy | stumbled into his home, but he sobbed | over the death of his pet dog and not | over the pain in his back. Shep was Willie's pal. Early yes- terday Mr. Decker, Willle and Shep were driving in the Decker car while | the boy delivered his papers. Shep saw another dog. He barked and leaped from the automobile. A thud sickened Willlam’s heart as his pet crashed against a traffic sign and | slumped helpless to the street. The | animal had to be destroyed. | All day the child was disconsolate. His young neighborhood friends came to his rescue. George Roberts. 11, of | 814 Seventh street, suggested checkers to cheer him. “Great,” said William. George and young Decker were joined by two little girls. The four walked along Seventh | street, then into the 900 block of H | steet, Willlam with the board under | his arm. This morning from a bed in Casualty BUDGET HEARINGS | BEGIN AT BUREAU Smaller Agencies Called First—Discussion to Last Two Weeks. With smaller municipal agencies being called in first, the Budget Bu- reau today began hearings on the District budget for the fiscal year 1936-37. The hearings are expected to last two weeks. ‘The Commissioners submitted esti- mates amounting to $47.477,160 and urged that the Federal share toward this budget be fixed at $8,317,500, If these recommendations should be approved by the Budget Bureau and Congress, the District would have & balanced budget on the present tax rate of $1.50 per $100 of assessed value. The Federal lump sum payment ad- vocated by the Commissioners is the same amount urged last year and represents an average of the various Federzl payments Congress has made during the last 10 years. The Senate at the lest session of Congress approved this amount as ths Federal share for the current appro- priation act, but the House opposed any increase and succeeded in hold- ing the Federal payment to $5,700,000. ‘While the budget hearings are go- ing on there may be a n.eeting later in the week of the Special Committee of District officials appointed to make a long-range study of the city’s tax system and revenue needs for a num- ber of years to come. Up to this time the committee has merely been col- lecting information. It probably will be Wednesday be- fore the Commissioners begin to take part in' the budget hearings. There has been no indication yet as to how much of the District estimate the budget officials will approve, or what, they will recommend regarding the Federal payment. —— KIWANIANS TO DANCE Special Dispatch to The Star. LANDOVER, Md.,, November 4.— The Kiwenis Club of Prince Georges County will hold an Armistice day dance next Saturday evening at the Beaver Dam Country Club here from 10 o'clock until 2. S. C. Helfer heads the Arrangements Committee, which also comprises William T. Jennings, Dr, William 8. Moore, Capt. Richard John Carroll and Dr. LOOD-SMEARED and sore of heart, little Willie Decker late { | Christ Scientist, Boston. . L2 H. Mansfield, Charles L. Mackert. WILLIAM DECKER. —Star Staff Photo. Hospital the child told the story of how two colored boys appeared and demanded the board. William gripped it tightly under his arm. One of the attackers whipped out a knife. Three times it entered William's back. George too came to the defense of the checker board. the symbol of forget- fulness for Willie, but the knife in- | timidated him. Willie's back burned and his heart ached again for Shep. He ran home to his mother, and his father, John Decker, took him to Casualty. DEPOSITORS ASKED T0 ASSG ASSETS R. F. C. Indorsement Re- quired by Some Closed Banks to Support Loans. Depositors in some closed banks are being required to assign their claims against assets of the banks to the R. F. C., where the banks owe money 10 the R. F. C,, before a dividend can be paid. ‘This became known today when de- positors in the United States Savings Bank, Fourteenth and U streets, re- ceived checks carrying the following indorsement “The payee by indorsement hereof acknowledges that he is a direct beneficiary of a loan made to the re- ceiver of the United States Savings Bank, Washington, D. C,, by Recon- struction Finance Corp. secured by pledge of assets of the receivership estate, and to protect said corporation in the event said loan is not other- wise repaid does by this indorsement assign, transfer and set over unto said Reconstruction Pinance Corp. his claim against and interest in the as- sets of said bank until said corpora- tion shall have received reimburse- ment of the amount hereby received.” At the office of the bank's receiver it was explained that the indorsement was required by the controller of the currency. The controller’s office said the indorsement is used only in the case of banks where a suit has been brought that might involve the as- sets, and also in cases of State banks where there might be some doubt as 1o the right of the controller to liqui- date them. The assignment was said not to ob- ligate the depositors to make any re- payments should the assets fail to pay off R. F. C. loans, but merely to make it possible for ¢he R. F. C. to realize on the security for its loans. —— Five Couples Obtain Licenses. FAIRFAX, Va., November 4 (Spe- clal).—Marriage licenses have been issued in the office of the clerk of the Circuit Court to the following: Edward T. Colley, 24, and Susan Schroll, 26, both of Fort Meade, Md.; George Gel- var, 22, and Selma Siskind, 21, both of Baltimore, Md.; Thomas Henry ‘Whiteroft, 37, Upper Darby, Pa., and Eleanor Grace Harvey, 30, Washing- ton, D. C.; John Wrenn Pearce, 24, and Grace Victoria Gorby, 24, both of ‘Washington, D. C., and DeWitt Carl- ton Bailey, 36, and Elisabeth Reigel, 29, both of Dundalk, Md. Y Society and General PAGE B—1 D. C. BROKER HELD KILLS SELF BY GAS Blast Wrecks Apartment. Motive for Suicide Is Mystery. POLICE GIVEN LETTER ON BUSINESS DEALS Woman Found on Kitchen Floor With Stove Jets Open After Explosion. Police today were holding Irving Lowengrub, 32, Washington broker, for questioning in connection with the suicide yesterday of Leona Epstein, 28-year-old divorcee, found dead after a gas explosion knocked two walls out of her apartment at 3002 Rodman street and jarred the neighborhood for blocks around. Mystery still obscured details of the motive for suicide this morning, but police detectives revealed they have in their possession a note which the woman had penned late Saturday night and an eight-page letter which she had previously written to ths United States district attorney con- | cerning transactions of the Lowen- grub Investment Co., of which Irving Lowengrub is president. Lowengrub is one of two men who | had been living in the apartment with the woman for the last month. He was arrested at police headquarters | late last night, where he presented himself after returning from a week end trip to Newark, N. J. Where- abouts of the other man, also known by the name of Lowengrub, were not disclosed, although it is believed he had also gone to Newark. Found Dead in Kitchen. After the blast early yesterday which destroyed the interior of the apart- | ment, wrecked the dining room of an adjoining apartment and broke dozens of window panes in nearby buildings, Mrs. Epstein was found stretched dead on the kitchen floor, clad only in a nightgown. Her body was only slightly bruised and singed by the ex- plosion. The gas which filled the room -is believed to have been ignited by a spark from the electric refrigerator after the woman was dead. All four burners on the stove had been left wide open. Coroner A. Magruder Mc- Donald issued a certificate of suicide today. So terrific was the blast that W. J. Evans, colored janitor who lives in the adjoining apartment, and mem- bers of his family were thrown fromy their beds. Debris from the aparte ment was hurled more than 50 feet | and glass from broken windows lit- | tered the street. | The apartment and its furnishings ! burst into flames, but the blaze was quickly extinguished by firemen wha 4 responded to an alarm turned in by a newsboy walking near tne aparts ment. Damage was estimated at $2,000. Despondent Over Job. Although police refused to make the suicide note public. it was indie cated the young woman was desponde ent because of failure to obtain a joh for which she is believed to have come to Washington from her parents’ home in Passaic, N. J., about a month ago, The dea. woman's brother, Bena jamin Aranow, came to Washingtony fr 1 Passaic by plane last nighty identified the bodr and today was are ranging to have it sent to the home of his parents. He was questioned by officers of the homicide squad, who arq | investigating the case. Although a telegram received from Newark police last night stated that | the woman's husband died three years ago and the woman had told neigh- bors here that he was killed in an explosion, police learned today thag after divorcing his first wife, Leony, Epstein had remarried and now lives in New York. 'BOARD APPROVES EQUESTRIAN ART | Fine Arts Commission Indorses Models for Arlington Bridge Development. The Pine Arts Commission has just approved half-size models for the equestrian statues to be placed neap the Lincoln Memorial as part of the Arlington Memorial Bridge develope ment, but at the present time ths National Park Service of the Interior Department lacks funds to proceed to their execution here, it was learned today. H. P. Caemmerer, executive secres tary of the commission, disclosed & report has been forwarded to the National Park Service approving the designs in the larger form. Previously smaller scale models received the com= mission’s indorsement. John L. Nagle, assistant engineer of the National Park Service, who was for years as< sociated with the now defunct Are lington Memorial Bridge Commission, said today the models also have re« ceived the approval of she architecty of the bridge, McKim, Meade & White cf New York City. The two statuary groups to be placed at the Rock Creek and Po- tomac Parkway approach, just north- west of the Lincoln Memoral, wil} represent peace and the arts of peace. ‘This work, featuring the winged horse, has been executed by the New York sculptor, James E. Fraser. The two statuary groups to be placed on the ‘Washington end of the Arlington Me- morial Bridge proper will be symbolia of war, showing the warrior and horse, with his wife and child bidding him farewell. This group is the design of the New York sculptor, Leo Frieds lander, The National Park Service has not yet officially accepted the half-size models, Nagle revealed, but their in- dorsement was forecast. Pedestals 15 feet in height, on which the grouos will be placed, have long been in place. The equestrian figures them- ! selves will be 16 feet high®