Evening Star Newspaper, December 1, 1935, Page 27

PUMPING STATION T0BEMODERNIZED McMillan Plant Changesi to Remove Obsolete Conditions. A modernization program at the Mc- Millan Reservoir and Pumping Station, Pirst and Douglas streets, which fur- nishes water to half the population of ‘Washington, will be launched early in the new year to end the obsolete con- ditions which imperil the supply. Under the direction of Maj. Robert G. Guyer, War Department, District esgineer for the Washington area, electricity and automatic control will supplant steam and man power used for three decades. The United States engineers’ office | here announced yesterday the calling | for bids for this work, which will take | nearly all of 1936. The engineers promise there will be no interruption to water service, however, due to the shift over. The bids will be opened | January 8 at 3 pm. at the United | States engineers’ office, room 1068, | Navy Building. Coples of the plans | and specifications are now available in that office to prospective con- tractors. | Engineers in Charge. | First Lieut. W. J. Mattesbn, U. 8. A, | executive assistant to Maj. Guyer, has had general supervision of the preparation of plans of the work. E. A. Schmitt, senior engineer, has planned the job generally, and the electrical work, comprising about 70 per cent of the construction, was prepared directly H by D. M. Radcliffe, associate electrical | engineer. The structural work was | planned by P. O. Macqueen, civil engineer. { The reservoir modernization pro- gram, the engineers declare, will step the plant up from the current 55 per | cent to 80 per cent over-all efficiency. | Congress appropriated $150,000 for | the work in the deficieney bill that became a law on August 12. “Unless adequate and reliable pump- | ing machinery is available, the water supply to about half the population of the city could be interrupted and the supply jeopardized,” Schmitt said yesterday. Constant Electrical Service. “Rellable and constant electrical service will be provided to the station through the two high-tension under- | ground feeders from the Potomac Electric Power Co.'s system,” Rad- cliffe explained. “These cables come direct from the power company sub- station, served by three sources of prime power—Benning, the new Buz- zard Point development and the dydro- | power plant at Safe Harbor on the Susquehanna River.” H The work, Schmitt said, involves new vertical motor-driven pumping units, switching gear, switchboard, numerous auxiliary equipment and al- terations to the existing station to fit it for the improvements. The present steam pump equipment was partially altered about 15 years ago, in an at- tempt to modernize its steam opera- tion and increase its efficiency, he said. Today that equipment is con- sidered obsolete. The station is used to lift the raw water from McMillan Reservoir and pump it on to the filters, about 20 feet above the level of the reservoir, whence it flows through 29 acres of filter beds, into a storage reservoir, from which it is distributed, by gravity, to Wash- ington householders. The water for the reservoir flows through conduits from Great Falls for 9 miles and enters the Washington City water tunnel and flows 4 miles, well under the Na- tional Capital, into McMillan Reser- voir. Coal Operates Steam Units. ‘The conversion program includes in- stalling three 50,000.000 gallons per day vertical electric motor-driven pumps to replace the lower-powered steam units, capable of 45,000,000 gal- lons per day each. Coal is now being burned to operate the steam units. The auxiliary equipment involves electric motor-driven units for the sand-washing water supply, for prim- ing the main pumps, motor generator sets for supplying direct current field excitation of the alternating current ! pump motors, for air-compressor unit, for emergency water supply, for control | purposes and a ventilating fan and | switchboard for semi-automatic opera- tion, by the use of which station per- sonnel will be reduced 70 per cent. ‘The officials made it clear,-however, that there will be no loss of jobs in the new program. | ‘The building changes involve rais- ing the main floor of the station to‘ place it well above any level of water | in McMillan Reservoir. The old coal vaults are being rehabilitated to pro- | vide accommodations for conversion into various electrical equipment rooms, in one of which the switch gear will be housed. In another, high- tension transformers will be located. Equipment to Be Removed. | ‘The changes in the station require | the removal of the three obsolete | pumps and steam engine drive; aux- | iliary machinery, piping, etc., together with the four Babcock and Wilcox | boilers, each of 250 horsepower, as ' well as the Roney stokers, used for | burning coal in the furnaces. The | 150-foot yellow brick stack, adjacent to the station, is also to be removed. Schmitt said: “At least two of the | pumps will always be in service, dur- | ing the conversion period, which is! expected to take 300 days. The work | { or one steam and one electrical pump ‘will always be in service. Other fea- ‘tures of the work have been so sched- -uled that they will be properly fitted into the program.” COMER SUSPECTED IN TOURIST MYSTERY Outlaw Just Slain Declared to Resemble Man Sought in Couple’s Vanishing. By the Assoclated Press. . EL PASO, Tex., November 30.—Mr. ‘and Mrs. D. E. Williamson, hotel oper- ‘ators, told authorities today that pic- Rures of Chester Comer resembled those of & mah sought in the disap- rance of two vacationing Illinois ouples last Spring. | Comer, itinerant ofl field worker, was wounded fatally this week near Blanchard, Okla., by officers who ‘sought him for questioning in connet- tion with five missing Oklahomans, in- rluding his first and second wives. The Williamsons said they believed Comer was the “James Sullivan” who Tegistered at their hotel here last May. A ‘“James Sullivan” was sought in connection with: the disappearance of Mrs. George Lprius, East St. a Band Leader Retires Arthur S. Witcomb, second leader of the United States Marine Band, is shown receiving a watch and other tokens of esteem from members of the band as he retired yesterday after 30 years of service. Branson, leader of the band, made THE "SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. €, DECEMBER I, 1935—PART ONE. Lieut. Taylor the presentation. —Harris-Ewing Photo, ‘Petty Blackmail Rackets Take Place of Outlawed Balm Suits Broadwa y GoldDi ggersNetting Larger Incomes Than Before From Male Visitors to By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, November 30.—The halcyon days of “heart balm” suits are over, but Broadway “gold diggers,” through petty blackmail rackets, are netting larger incomes than before. So say private detectives Operations have become so wide- spread and complex that according to one of Manhattan's “confidential de- tectives,” the average male visitor to New York, no matter how circumspect, “is only lucky if he doesn't get clipped.” This, said Detective Edward Z. Holmes, is not because the 1935 siren couldn't trap local residents if she wished, but because an out-of-town man is more anxious to “pay off and forget it.” Pay-off Windows Closed. The petty blackmail racket. Holmes believes, has grown to its present pro- portions largely because reform legis- lation has closed the erstwhile pay-off windows marked “breach of promise and alienation of affections.” “The girls used to have to do noth- | ing more than lead a man into writing them a letter,” Holmes sald, “Then they had him. Nowadays they can't get any place that way, so they have worked up a mess of small-time traps that place a man in such an embar- | rassing position that he'd rather shell | out a 10 or 20 dollar bill than to call in the police. “For instance, one of the girls' fa- forite rackets is to stand on a corner and wave at a man driving an out-of- town car. The girl is well dressed and says thdt she is in a hurry and could the man give her a lift for a couple of blocks? “The minute the car stops for a traffic signal she just remarks that if he doesn’t give her $10 she'll break the car window and scream! Work? T'll say it works!” | Another, less worked but more vicious racket is the “Mann act act.” A girl strikes up a casual acquaintance with an out-of-town man. She men- tions that her mother lives in & town in an adjacent State, and if the man is driving up that way, it's only a short distance, could he drop her there? “Arrested” by Fake Officer. When the couple arrives in the town 8 fake “Government man"” arrests’ them for violation of the Mann act ‘The phony officer can be dissuaded from taking them to the jail house for $50 or so. The “night club entertained racket” | is worked on both sexes, Holmes said. “A man buys a drink for a strange girl in a night club, she drugs it and has a taxi driver take him to an apart- ent. She stays on in the night club 50 she can't be accused of anything, but the next morning the girl's ‘hus- band’ walks in on the man. “But every so often we get a confi- JORDAN TWO-TUB WASHER $ $1 A WEEK BUYS The two-tub washer and dryer is the safest, easiest and quickest way to wash and dry your clothes. | Bramlett Only a few dem onstrators at this attractive price. Come early. New York. DEADLINE SEES ENDTOU.S. DOLE 3,500,000 Put to Work, Government Says—F. E. R. A. Liquidated. By the Associated Press. Claiming success at placing the 3,- 500,000 able-bodied unemployed in jobs where they could earn their own way, the administration last night stood on the assertion that its “dole con- tributions” to the States were ended. With the arrival of the December 1 deadline for the end of direct relief also came the passing of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. The last big slice of its funds was split up Friday night among 22 final supple- mental allotments, intended to carry on direct relief where the employment quotas have not yet been filled. Although Harry L. Hopkins, dual chief of the expiring F. E. R. A. and the Works Progress Administration, did not disclose new figures as to the number now employed on works proj- ects, New Deal spokesmen had as- serted the goal of 3,500,000 jobs would be reached by last night. W. P. A. Takes Burden. ‘The last hours of F. E. R. A. saw the works progress organization s ing its machinery to take over as quickly as possible its share of the re- lief load. W. P. A.'s main effort was directed at speeding delivery of work- relief pay checks, coupled with a drive to get projects actually under way. Pending arrival of the relief pay checks, unexpended dole balances now in the hands of State administrators can be used to tide over the newly ¢m- ployed. Aubrey Willlams, assistant chief of F. E. R. A. and W. P. A, emphasized that State relief ad- ministrators will have a free hand in spending remaining money for this purpose or any other they believe necessary. But he added they had “received their last allotment of funds by F.E. R. A" Three Billion Spent. More than $3,000,000,000 went out in direct aid to the needy during F. E. R. A’s two and one-half years to catch the men because they can't let well enough alone and try to black- | mail the woman more than once.” Young people in college are far from immune, Holmes said. *“We get lots of cases from parents who want to know where their sons’ and daughters’ al- | lowances are going. We usually find that they have been taken in by one of these rackets. All the modern gold digger wants to know about a college boy is does he have an allowance?” Former British Agent. ! Holmes, a Hollander who formerly was an agent for the British govern- | ment in.the Far East, has been hand- ling confidential cases of this sort in New York for a quarter of a century. What is the safest way for a visitor to New York to keep out of trouble? “Never go any place after dark alone,” Holmes said, “and I'm not talking nonsense. Any policeman or detective, private or public, will tell you | the same “Why they even try to clip us—| detectives. Whenever we get d call to go to a private residence, apartment or night club, we always send two men.” FAKE G-MAN ARRESTS TWO IN WOMAN'S DEATH Tells Police Slaying, Has Pair Jailed, Then Disappears. By the Associated Pregs. HENDERSON, N. C., November 30. —Vance County officers today were investigating what Sherif J. G. said apparently was a strange hoax perpetrated by a man | who posed as a Federal agent, arrested He Is Investigating | | | Exquisitely designed and care- fully made—Solid mahogany $19.75 and solid walnut. Re- | movable glass serving tray - two men here and had local police | lock them up. The self-asserted Federal agent. who gave his name as J. E. Caddell, could not be located today, and his two pris- oners, itinerant showmen who were booked as Doc Cowan and J. E. Dun- nagan, were freed after being held overnight. Also missing was Mrs. Robert Watkins, wife of a farmer at whose home Caddell had lived for the last several weeks. | | | | Caddell took Dunnagan and CO'IH‘ into custody here yesterday and car- ried them to police headquarters, | where he informed officers he was a Federal agent and had arrested the men in connection with the fatal | shooting of Mrs. W. W. Mason, wife of a storekeeper at Pine View, Harnett County, early Thanksgiving day. He never returned. Hartnett officers are holding Mason pending an inquest tomorrow into his wife's death. 0ld Wharf Foun(i. A twelfth-century river whart has | has been so arranged that either tWo | dential case of a man using the same | been unearthed near Wexford, Irish | steam pumps or two electrical pumps, | racket on a visiting woman. It's easier | Free State. SPECIAL Cocktail Table The with ball 1 living room. Chippendale, | claw feet; | | struction .. Wing Chair artistic in effect, superior construction; and covered green or brown. Re- versible Cushion..... Furniture of Merit d-| At End of Mercy Flight to a plane. pilot. Lillian Lennehan, 15, of Ramsey, N. J, who swallowed an open safety pin while on the steamer Cambridge, en route from Providence to New York, shown on arrival there after being transferred from the boat Efforts at the hospital to remove the pin have failed so far. Left to right: Joe Lennchan, her father; Lillian, and Bill Cleveland, plane —Copyright, A. P. Wirephoto. (of existence. President Roosevelt re- | peatedly maintained that it was a stop-gap measure designed for quick relief and that it would be abolished | could be revised. It was with this argument—*“to end this business of relief"-—that he carried | to the last Congress his request for a ‘There is a place waiting for one of these utility pieces in every is $4,880,000.000 appropriation. Up to November 12 $830.865.050 of and painted glass top. Solid walnut con- 31250 One of those great big invitingly comfortable FPireside Chairs— in in durable Mohair Frieze—rust, $49.50 : = the appropriation had gone for “dole” purposes and later estimates indicated that even more than the $880,000,000 so earmarked had been expended for Building Boom. The value of buildings constructed in Melbourne, Australia, this year is the highest in six years. FAHNESTOCK FALL PROBE COMPLETED New York Police Unable to| Find Suicide Motive in Fatal Plunge. By the Associated Press. N YORK, November 30.—Police tonight concluded their investigation into the death of the socially promi- nent Mrs. Helen Morgan Fahnestock, which followed a three-story plunge Thanksgiving night. They came to no definite conclusion. Detective Willlam Sonnett said Mrs. Fahnestock had been ll recently, but he found no motive for suicide. - Mrs. Pahnestock was divorced seven weeks ago from Col. Snowden Fehne- stock, banker and one of the heroes of L Batallion,” during the World as 5 New York Hospital Patient.. She had been a patient in New York Hospita}, for a nervous disorder but was permitted to go to the home of her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Spring Knapp, for Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner she left the table, os- tensibly to visit a cousin ll in bed. Shortly afterward, the 34-year-old matron was found in an areaway un- conscious from multiple fractures and internal injuries. No report was made | to the police. Col. Fahnestock won & divorce in/ Newport, October 7. SPREAD OF CARGD BOYCOTT PLEDGED Longshoremen’s President Demands 22 Lines Renew Port Agreements. By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, November 30.—Joseph P. Ryan, president of the Intere national Longshoreman’s Association, sald tonight that members will boycott cargoes of 22 shipping lines beginning at midnight December 2 unless the firms renew the expired Gulf ports working agreement. Ryan said the boycott would affect even coastwise shipments on the At- lantic and Pacific seaboards. Recognition of the Longshoreman’s Association is the nub of the strike, Ryan said, adding that wage rates are not involved. 8et for last Monday, the boycott was “only cailed off when the Presi- dent, through Secretary Perkins, set up mediation,” Ryan asserted. “We've been fooling around with this thing long enough.” In addition to renewal of agree- ments in Gulfport, Miss.; Lake Charles, La., and Orange, Beaumont, Galveston, Port Arthur, Houston, Corpus Christl and Texas City, Tex., Ryan said the association wished to obtain a Wagner act election for longshoremen in New Orleans, Pensacola, Fla.. and Mobile, Ala., so agreements could be effected in those ports as well. Long Battle for Children. The decree was preceded by a long | battle in District of Columbia Supreme Court over the custody of their two children, Clare, 7, and Mary Lee, 6. | Custody finally was given Col.| Fahnestock. | The Fahnestocks were in the lime- light here in January when they were | battling over the children in District | Supreme Court. On January 11 the | as soon as a longer-range program this purpose before the final dead line. | court entered a consent decree which did not settle the custody issue, but required the children to remain here where Col. Fahnestock had had them at the home of his mother, Mrs. Caro- lyn 8. Fahnestock, 2311 Massachusetts | avenue, Peru is trying to establish tea cultie vation, FUEL OIL and SERVICE WILLIAMS ,,,_,.‘! LOMA o BURNERS U | Ralph J. Moore Coal Co. 1401 N. Cap. St Pot. 0970 Afidisted wih COLONIAL FURL 01 €O e ——————————— ERRMANN As usual at holiday time we follow our traditional 50-year custom and bring you, not only a wide selection of furniture of “Furniture of Merit” quality—but in an as- sortment that will appeal for its combined beauty and utility—permanent gifts for vour own home—and for the pleasure of your friends in their homes. tables, hundreds of chairs, desks and secretaries, occasional pieces—a collection impossible to enumerate here and offered at prices which reflect the vast purchas- ing power of House & Herrmann and in which you benefit. early! Seventh and Eye Streets. Living Room Suite Moders and Beantifal You nate match at the price, its in- trinsic value. handsome mohair frieze, of contrasting colors. comfortable as it is Bed Room Suite That The illustration can only give you a mere hint of its attractiveness, and inspection will convince you of the exceptional value. Dresser, v Beautifully matched veneered' dignified classic design. A gift you can be proud to give—and the recipient will be proud to receive _ oo coocaeooaoo DUSE & HERRITIANIN Scores of Make your selections can't surpass its or- beauty; nor hope to Covered in As 119 impressive Is a Classic anity, chest and bed. fronts—presenting a 5110 Gifts That Please Avenue.