Evening Star Newspaper, September 23, 1936, Page 21

VALUEQF TAXABLE REAL ESTATE 1§ REPORTED HIGHER Tax Assessor Estimates In- crease of $12,658,769 in Fiscal Year. U. S. RAISES EXEMPTED HOLDINGS $84,335,560 Data Will Be Submitted to Ex- pert Directing Study of Fiscal Relations. The assessed value of taxable real | estate in the District has been in-| creased $12,638,769 over the last fiscal | year during a period in which the | United States raised its tax-exempt | holdings by $84.335.560, according to | & report prepared today by Tax As- sessor Fred D. Allen for the use of J. L. Jacobs, Chicago efficiency engi- neer and tax expert. Jacobs was ap- pointed by President Roosevelt to di- rect a study of fiscal relations be- tween the Federal and District Gov- ernments. ‘Taxable real estate on which cur- rent tax bills are based, the report | shows, amounts to $1,144.457,153, asl compared with $1.131,798,384 in the last fiscal year. This increase means that property owners will be required | to pay $190,339 more than last year into the coffers of the District. Value Set at $657,081.505. Allen placed the latest value of tax exempt Federal property at $657,081,- 505. The value in the last fiscal year totaled $572,745,945. Previous com- pilations showed that Federal holdings | jumped nearly 62 per cent in the last six years during a period the Federal contribution to the expenses of the District was cut from $9,500,000 to $5.000,000. The increase in the value of Fed- ng Sfar WASHINGTON, D. C., WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1936. #%#% At the reviewing stand in jront of the White House, the climaz of today’s G. A. R. parade. Left to right: Senator King of Utah, Commissioner Hazen and Comdr. Oley Nelson of the G. A. R. APARTMENT DRIVE FOR FUNDS SOON Letters to Be Used in Red Cross Campaign, Says Mrs. Grayson. ° Plans for soliciting thousands of eral property in the last year is repre- | zented both in acquired land and new buildings. The valuation of the build- ings jumped $74,000,000 and the land | $10.000,000. The increased assessment on tax- able real estate, Allen said, is rep-| resented chiefly in new construction. Aside from the jump in the value of Government-owned property, the report disclosed that other tax-ex- empt property also increased in the last year. The valuation on churches, educational and charitable institu- tions, for instance, was raised from $98,137,645 last year to $99,415.545 this year. A larger rise is shown. however. in the valuation of property owned by the District government, which increased from $39,368,388 last | year to $60,796,809 this year. Donovan to Get Data. Allen's report, together with other statistical data being prepared by | various department heads of the Dis- trict government, will be submitted this week to Maj. Daniel J. Donovan, auditor and budget officer, who in turn will forward it to Jacobs. Other departments working on re- ports for Jacobs include the police, fire, water, sewer, highway and elec- trical. Dr. Frank W. Ballou, super- intendent of schools, also is preparing data showing the number of Govern- ment executives in the District apd | children of Government employes liv- | ing in Maryland and Virginia attend- ing the public schools without the | payment of tuition. GAS FIRMS’ MERGER HEARING ORDERED Vtilities Commission and S. E. C. to Receive Arguments Next Week. The hearings are scheduled next week—one before the District Public Utilities Commission and the other before the Securities and Exchange Commission—on the proposal by the ‘Washington Gas Light Co. to acquire the Alexandria Gas Co. and the Washington Suburban = Gas Co. Hyattsville. The Public Utilities Commission hearing is scheduled for Monday and the Securities and Ex- change Commission hearing for Wednesday. All three concerns are subsidiaries of Washington & Suburban Cos, a Massachusetts trust, which has moved to sell its control through invest- ment bankers. This will offer oppor- tunity for return of control of the companies to Washington. The Washington Gas offer for the Alexandria and Hyattsville plants, to which it sells gas for distribution, is $1,375,000, a figure appearing in ap- plications before both the regulatory commissions. DR. CALL WILL ADDRESS COLLEGE CONVOCATION Wilson Teachers’ Group to Meet Monday Afternoon—=Scholar- ship to Be Announced. Wilson Teachers’ College will have its first formal convocation of the year at 2:30 p.m. Monday, when Dr. Arthur E. Call, recently returned from Europe, will discuss “The United Btates and World Peace.” At the same time the Wilson Teach- ers’ Alumni Association will announce the winner of its annual scholarship, awarded after competitive examina- tion of Washington high school stu- dents. The test was held after the close of school last June. Activities at Wilson got under way yesterday with the opening event of the annual freshman week. Miss Bet- tina Craig was crowned freshman queen of the campus at the annual student picnic, held on the grounds of the Sixteenth Street Reservoir. About 250 students were present, and Miss Craig received & crown from Preston Newton, vice president of the college couneil, | tions, apartment house dwellers in Wash- ington during the Red Cross roll call, September 27 to October 16, were an- nounced today by Mrs. Cary T. Gray- son, chairman of the house-to-house membership drive. Mrs. Grayson said every apartment building for which a volunteer cam- paign chairman can be obtained will be included in the drive. District Red Cross Chapter has at- tempted this Residents in 46 apartment houses already have indicated willingness to supervise enrollment in their buildings, Mrs. Grayson reported. Named Unit Chairman. Miss Elizabeth Wightman was ap- pointed chairman of the unit that will carry the drive to apartment hcuses. She has been associated with the Red Cross as a volunteer for some time, her first work being with the Pitts- burgh Chapter during the World War. Miss Wightman urged today that all persons willing to volunteer for apartment house solicitation get in touch with her at Red Cross roll call headquarters, 1416 H street, telephone National 3605. Letters to Be Sent. Apartment house “captains” will not be asked to go from door to door, it was explained, but will distribute let- ters now being prepared at roll call headquarters to every apartment dweller. The letters will include a membership enrollment blank ad- dressed for return to the captain. Lloyd B. Wilson, chairman of the roll call, yesterday announced ap- pointment of Laurence E. Rubel of Underwood & Underwood as chair- man of campaign publicity. Assisting Rubel are Edwin H. Powers of the American Red Cross and representa- tives of local newspapers, radio sta- department stores and other concerns able to get the roll call mes- sage to the public. 'G0ODWIN MURDER QUIZ AT STANDSTILL Prisoners Stick to Story—Material Under Victim's Fingernails Being Analyzed. Although numerous “tips” from civilians still were being run down, the police investigation of the murder of Mrs. Florence Goodwin, 43-year-old Government worker, was virtually at a standstill today. ‘Two colored men, Carl D. Chase, 25, house boy at Mrs. Goodwin's fashionable boarding house at 1102 Sixteenth street, and John Williams, who formerly worked for her, were still being questioned, but police had not broken down their story that they know nothing of the case. A chemist’s report on his analysis of material removed from under Mrs. Goodwin's fingernails was still awaited. Assuming she scratched her attacker, police expect this analysis to disclose whether the assailant was white or colored. Mrs. Goodwin, who worked as a typist in the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department, was beaten to death in the Sixteenth street house Friday morning. This is the | first time, she explained, that the | form of solicitation. | @ Andrew Bligh. Three Union veterans salute their commander in the review- ing stand. Left to right: Col. Russell C. Martin and Samuel P. Town, past commanders of the G. A. R., and James C. Thomas, assistant adjutant general of the Illinois G. A. R < An Army officer escorts two veterans, H. E. Simmons and VAST ORGANIZING SOIL-WATERNEED Upsiream Engineering Con- ference Told Conservation Task Immense. Nothing short of a “far-flung, war- time-like” organization will be ad- equate to deal with soil and water conservation in this Nation, Morris L. Cooke, rural electrification adminis- trator, declared today at the Up- stream Engineering Conference in the Commerce Auditorium. A successful struggle against “the inroads of our agricultural well-being, now ina full cry,” demands the atten- tion of men competent in flelds of management and organization as weil as representatives of a wide variety of techniques and disciplines, he said. Cooke suggested “a democratically chosen ‘moderator’ for every water- shed”—an official without legal au- thority, but representative of the citizens of a watershed in all efforts for the conservation of soil and water. Co-ordinated Body Politic. “If we are to save our iands and make better use of our waters,” he said, “we must work out a national procedure which utilizes local auton- omy as part of a co-ordinated na- tional body politic.” Cooke mentioned State compacts, regional and State planning boards and authorities such as the T. V. A. as possible answers to the problem of co-ordination. “Our battle against dust storms, droughts, floods and especially soil erosion,” he continued, “is being re- tarded by the ‘disease of distance.’ * * * No section of the country can be allowed to be ravished beyond a certain point without the rest of the country suffering.” Plan for Greatest Flood. Sherman M. Woodward, chief water control planning engineer for the T. V. A, told the conference that in plan- ning flood control works, such as levees and detention reservoirs, ‘provision must be made for the greatest flood Franco Sale Hecklers to Be Outtalked, Says Auctioneer The Maj. Ramon Franco auction, which already has resulted in arrest of four persons, began its third session today, with Auctioneer Benjamin Bell prepared to outtalk any mew hecklers who may arise to plague him., Bell yesterday drowned out an eager questioner, who was hustled from the sales room at the Washington Gal- leries, 722 Thirteenth street, by De- tective J. O. Patton and charged at the first precinct station with disturbing the peace. He identified himself as John Peace Jackson, 68, of 1342 Co- lumbia road. Jackson rose to ask what he called Freshman week will - end Priday, when a tea dance in’honor of the new students will be held at the school. -~ > 8 “civil g n” about whether duty had been paid on the goeds belonging to Franco, brother of the rebel leader (] of the Spanish civil war. In a mo- ment the throng of spectators and prospective buyers joined in attempt- ing to hush him while he and Bell argued. “Listen to me,” Bell said sternly at length. “If you want to argue, you won't have a chance. I can talk a lot louder than you. I've been in this business 15 years—" After a sarcastic rejoinder from Jackson, the detective seized him. He struggled, and time out was called on the sale. Finally Jackson was taken to the police station, where he elected to forfelt $15 collateral. Earlier, three ‘women arrested for picketing the auc- tion the day before, were released on :: collateral each for & hearing PFri- + bring greater destruction than if no work had been done.” In recognition of the long-range as- | pects of soil and water conservation, | the conference organizers have ar- | ranged a meeting tomorrow for young men. Secretary of Agriculture Wallace will be the first speaker. There will be an address by Representative Mav- erick of Texas, reports by representa- tives of various young people's groups, a showing of the Resettlement Admin- istration movie, “The Plow That Broke the Plain,” and brief talks by Cooke, H. H. Bennett, chief of the Soil Con- servation Service, and Reed W. Bailey, director of the Inter-Mountain Forest and Grange Experiment Station. Government bureaus, the principal participants in the Government-spon- sored conference, were taken to task today by Robert E. Horton, consulting hydraulic engineer of Voorheesville, N. Y. “The practice now common in Gov- ernment bureaus of carrying out ex- tensive experimental researches and publishing only the investigators’ con- clusions, without the basic data, can- not be too strongly condemned and should forthwith be discontinued,” Horton said. “Such data may be and often are vastly more valuable for other purposes than for the purposes for which they are collected. See Science Handicapped. “The lavish expenditure of money in the collectior: of data, accompanied by a parsimonious policy in the mat- ter of publication of the data retards instead of advancing science.” George D. Clyde, dean of the School of Engineering, Utah State Agricul- tural College, termed control of small streams to permit more efficient use of water and to prevent erosion and flood damage an urgent need through- out the United States. The importance of the insignificant raindrop and the lowly blade of grass in soil conservation was stressed in discussion and papers presented at the conference yesterday. These units also determine the rate of water run- off and subsequent floods, it was as- serted. E INQUEST PLANNED IN WOMAN'S DEATH Jury to Determine Whether As- phyxiation Was Suicide or Accidental. An inquest was scheduled today in the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Zegowits, 67 and deaf, whose body was found Monday in the gas-filled kitchen of her home at 612 Q street. An autopsy, performed yesterday after relatives told Coroner A. Ma- gruder MacDonald the woman had been suffering from a heart ailment, revealed asphyxiation was the cause of death. Dr. MacDonald decided, however, to withhold issuance of a death cer- tificate and let a jury determine whether Mrs. Zegowitz, who was found sitting near three open stove jets with her head muffied in a dish cloth, took her own life or died accidentally. The woman’s body was found by two of her sons, John and William, She ‘has two other sons and' thres daughters, reasonably to be expected, otherwise | failure of the works themselves will | BYRD COMMITTEE LAUNCHES STUDY |Step Taken to Co-ordinate | Work of Experts on Gov- ernment Costs. BY WILL P. KENNEDY. Definite steps toward co-ordinating the studies and recommendations of sible to Congress and the other to the President—looking to simplification of the organization of the adminis- trative branch of the Government for econofny and efficiency were taken to- day at a conference called by Senator Byrd of Virginia, chairman of the special Senate committee. Conspicuous at the meeting were Louis D. Brownlow, director of the Public Administration Clearing House, Chicago, formerly a District Commis- sioner, and Luther H. Gulick, director of the Institute of Public Administra- tion, New York, who conducted the fact-finding study on which Byrd, while Governor of Virginia, reorgan- ized the State government. These two experts on public ad- ministration are special advisers both to Senator Byrd's committee and to President Roosevelt. They will be in direct charge of co-ordinating the two district studies—by the executive and legislative branches of the Govern- ment. Members Are Present. The Senate Committee members present included Chairman Byrd, author of the resolution calling for the studies, and Senator Townsend of Delaware, chairman of the Republican Senatorial Committee. Others in- cluded William Tudor Gardiner, former Governor of Maine, and John D. Clark, professor of economics at the University of Nebraska, who are members of the Byrd Advisory Com- mittee of experts. Fred W. Powell, acting director of the Institute of Government Research, who is in charge of the fact-finding survey the Brookings Institution is making for the Senate committee, made a works progress statement, which emphasized some of the major problems before the reorganization groups. Powell promised that the Brookings report will be ready well in advance of the meeting of Congress in January. Senator Byrd said he is planning to hold public hearings in November and December. Look for Overlapping. Byrd announced that his committee, while studying the administrative or- ganization of all executive depart- ments, has been giving primary atten- tion to overlapping and duplication among so-called “New Deal” agencies, 54 of which were organized during the last three years and some 40 of which are still operating. Some of these units were set up by Congress, but the majority were established by executive order of the President. Some of these, such as the Social Security Board, the National Archives and the Tennessee Valley Authority, are perma- nent bodies. A proposal to make the National Resources Committee & permanent body was held up for further study, as-the last session of Congress closed. Y two expert committees—one respon- | —Star Staff Photos. Alimony Accepted, But Contested, Is Before Court| Man Asks Ruling as Wife Takes Cash, Then Objects. ‘The unusual question of whether a wife may accept alimony from her husband and at the same time con- | test the validity of the decree in which the alimony was awarded was placed before the United States Court of Appeals today. Through Attorneys Jean M. Board- man and S. Jay McCathran, David E. Harris of the Chastleton Hotel asked dismissal of the appeal of his wife, Mrs. Frances C. Harris, from an abso- lute decree he obtained last Fall on grounds of infidelity.’ Although the husband obtained the divorce, the trial court ordered him to pay $30 monthly to his wife. In his petition today he said Mrs. Harris demanded that he pay the monthly allowance and that he has remitted regularly during the pendency of the appeal. His attorneys argued that by de- manding and receiving the benefits of the divorce decree Mrs. Harris waived her right to appeal. Society and General ENROLLMENT LAG LAID TO HOLIDAY Total Reaches 88,571, Gain of 920 Over Second Day of 1935. ‘With a holiday today for the parade of the Grand Army of the Republic, | public school enrollments will be de- | layed until classes resume tomorrow. Yesterday the total reached 88.571, PAGE B—1 WOMAN WOUNDED HELD RECOVERING AS HUSBAND DIES J. H. Fling Fatally Shoots Self After Firing Bullet Into Wife’s Face. EX-POLICEMAN SOUGHT CUSTODY OF CHILD Mother Now Faces Problem of Caring for Two Small Boys. Recovering from a bullet wound in the face, inflicted by her estranged husband before he killed himself yes- | terday, Mrs. Ada Fling, 32, today faced the problem of caring for the two small childrgn whose welfare led | to the fatal quarrel with her husband. The father, James Harry Fling, 41, | & former policeman, died in George- town Hospital three hours after he shot his wife and then fired a bullet through his own temple. Meanwhile the children—Jimmie, 6, and Eugene, 12—are living with their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Fling at No. 2 Watkins avenue, Chevy Chase, Md. Taking the younger child with him, Fling went to see his wife yesterday at 1231 Thirtieth street, where she rented a room after leaving him sev- eral years ago. Urged Wife to Return. Complaining that the small boy was not receiving proper care, Fling urged his wife to return to him or permit him to place Jimmie in a home where | he could attend school. Mrs. Fling, police said, objected, and this resulted in a heated quarrel between the couple, who were seated on a bench in front of the wife’s rooming house. Suddenly Fling drew a pistol from his pocket and shot his wife in the jaw. As she fell he fired a bullet into his temple and toppled down a flight of steps into the base- a net gain for the day of 4,038 over | the opening day of school Monday. | The increase over the second day of last year was only 920, according to the statistical office at the Franklin Administration Building. Some delay in enrolling the large | number of pupils expected has been | attributed to today’s holiday, officials | expressing the opinion many parents would keep their children out of school until after the day's recess. Another delay, although smaller in proportion. was attributed to the Jewish holidays now being observed. The present total is 5413 more than the first day of school last year, but the increase has not yet reached the maximum anticipated for the first few weeks of school. 'HURRICANE RELIEF PROGRAM OUTLINED 350 Families in Need and Crop Damage Extensive in Some Sections. By the Associated Press. Reporting on surveys of the area | swept by last week's tropical hurri- | cane, the Red Cross and Agricuiture | Department said today 350 families | were in need of relief. and crop dam- age was extensive in some sections. The Agriculture Department added, | however, that crop damage was not | as great as had been expected. The Red Cross estimated $30.000 was needed for relief of the stricken families. Eighteen homes were reported North Carolina banks. Approximately 150 families in the Norfolk, Va., area were said to need relief. Agriculture Department reports for North Carolina indicated “only slight | storm damage to Fall beans in the | Elizabeth City section.” was “confined largely to a narrow strip about 25 miles wide along the coast,” said the department. Young Washington With the Summer vacation over, this trio is ready for an- other year’s work. Left to right: James Davis, 13, 205 P street; Ralph Davis, 9, 1305 Tenth street, and David Blakeman, 10, also of 1305 Tenth street, shown after receiving their instructions on how to register at the Immaculate Conception School. Tomor- row: B -1013 M street. ene Daly, 10, 1305 Tenth sireet, and Jean Elliott, 8, —Star Stafl Photo. \ destroyed and 35 damaged along the | In Virginia, storm damage to crops | | ment areaway. | Jimmie, a witness to the shooting, | turned and fled wildly down Thirtieth | street. | “My father has shot my mother. Now I haven't any father or mother,” he screamed. | The child ran to M street and then | turned back to the home of his grand- mother, Mrs. Drusilla Nichols, at 1660 Avon place. Unable to care for him, iMrs. Nichols put him on a bus and sent him to the home of the father's | parents in Chevy Chase, Md. Lookout Broadcast. The police, however, not knowing | where the boy had gone, and fearing | that he might be injured, broadcast | & general lookout for him. Several hours later it was learned that he had reached the home of his grandparents safely. His brother, Eugene, 12, had been living there for several months. Mrs. Fling moved to the Thirtieth street address after separating from her husband, who lived at 503 Sixth | street northeast. | Police said they found several letters from Fling to his wife, complaining that the boy, Jimmie, was not receiv- ing proper attention and urging her to return to him. They learned, how= | ever, that Mrs. Fling called a lawyer | yesterday morning and discussed the | possibility of instituting legal pro- | ceedings to secure custody of the children. It was not known whether Fling had learned of this when he shot her. | Quarrels Reported. Neighbors said Fling frequently quarreled with his wife and that on one occasion he cut her on the face with a knife. Fling was appointed to the police force in September, 1919, following | service overseas with the Air Corps | during the World War. In 1925 he | was burned on the face and overcome by smoke while rescuing a small col- ored girl from a burning building. The | District Commissioners commended him for his heroism. In April, 1930, he was dismissed from the police force for failing to pay a doctor’s bill. For about two months last year he and Mrs. Fling operated a restaurant at 2125 G street. ‘SOFTNESS’ CALLED STUDENTS’ ENEMY Dr. Gray of American University Sounds Warning at Open- ing Exercises. A warning against what he de- scribed as one of the “most deadly enemies” of modern college life— “softness”—was sounded today by Dr. iJmeph M. M. Gray, chancellor of | American University, at exercises | opening the school year at the institu- | tion. i ‘The opening convocation exercises, held in Metropolitan Memorial Church, adjacent to the college campus, were presided over by Dr. George B. Woods, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. Classes will begin tomorrow morning at the campus, but will start this eve- ning at the downtown center of the university, 1901-1907 F street, the Graduate School, and the School of Public Affairs. ‘The big event last night was & “Big Brother and Big Sister” party at the college gymnasium. COUSIN OF PRESIDENT TO BE “TORCH SINGER” A new addition to the ranks of pro- fessional entertainers in the Capital will be made a week from Friday, when Mrs. Alexander Cochrane Forbes, cousin of President Roosevelt and daughter of the late Minister to Can- ada, Warren Delano Robbins, makes her debut as a “torch singer” in the Mayflower lounge. Known as “Sunny” Robbins before her marriage to a member of one of Boston's most prominent families, Mrs. Forbes appeared a week ago on Maj. Bowes’ amateur hour. She since has had s number of offers to appear as a professional. Her engagement here will be her first.