Evening Star Newspaper, October 2, 1936, Page 21

GAS OFFICIALS CONSIDERING NEW PURCHASE OFFER Petition Denied for Acquir- ing Alexandria and Hyatts- ville Concerns. $1,375,000 MERGER “NOT BEST FOR PUBLIC” Price Would Be Lowered if Pro- posal is Revived, in Opinion of People’s Counsel. Officials of the Washington Gas | Light Co. were debating today whether ! to submit a new offer for the purchase | from its own parent trust the proper- | ties of the Alexandria and Hyattsvilie gas companies. Their petition for per- mission to pay $1,375,000 in cdsh for the suburban properties was denied by the Public Utilities Commission yes- terday. The commission rejected the propo- sal, saying it found the consolidation at the stated price would not be in public interest. 1 People’s Counsel William A. Rob- erts, who'filed a brief with the com- . mission yesterday, urging approval of the petition, said he believed it likely the company would submit 2 new offer at a somewhat lower price. Officials of the Washington company studied the question last night, bu” were not prepared shortly after the | commission’s order was announced to say if a new petition would be filed. The Washington & Suburban Cos.,, the Massachusetts commom~ law trust, which controls the Washing- | ton company as well as the Alexandria | and Hyattsville concerns, will dictate the next move, it was expected, since | 1t would be the recipient of the price | 1o be paid. No Alternate Plan. ‘The commission did not give any in- dication of what price or what other e X WASHINGTON, D. C., FRIDAY, OCTOBER vening Star WITH SUNDAY NORFING EDSTION 9 ~y Completed Meridian Hill Park, depicting the erstwhile yellow hillsides with trees and walks supplanting mud. The cascades and the pool in the lower garden stand out in the center and in the background, beyond the wall, lies the upper garden, with its long strip of mall and quiet walks. c Marshall Finnan, superintendent of National Capital Parks, said today the Government has completed its w tain is in operation, niche to give it added color. 1936. Society and General §!alagt|tes from the Luray, Va., Caverns will be placed in the roof of the New lights have been mxlallcd as well as new walks and landscaping. The value of the land and improvements is placed by park authorities at $2,500,000. —Star S!afl Photo. AUTO DEATH CUT terms it might be ready to accept, but | it did not close the door against the proposed merger. It pointed to the price as the reason for its decision. One reason the petition was re-| Jected was that counsel for the Wash- | ington company, John Bruton, de- | clared at the end of the public hear- ing Tuesday that “the price of $1,375,- 000, and nothing else,” was before the commission. Rejection of the petition was pre- | dicted by those who followed the case. In support of the commission’s de- cision was testimony that the Alexan- | dria company had mnever paid divi- | dends, that it had not been able to| pay interest on the greater part of | an $800,000 debt. The Hyattsville company paid a quarterly dividend of | 50 cents per share in 1933 and 1935 and in 1936 of 25 cents. The trust has planned to sell all its | 109,000 shares of the common stock of the Washington company, or 84 per cent of the total. It has been calculated the trust would lose some $4,000,000 in bringing its control of the Washington company to an end, Jjudging from present quotations for the stock. Payment of $1,375,000 for the two suburban concerns would have cut its losses by that amount. Bank Loans Planned. The Washington company planned to obtain bank loans to get cash to, pay for the two suburban companies | and later to issue $3,000,000 of pre- ferred stock, to be sold to the public, to retire the bank loans and to pro- | vide funds needed for Washington | company improvements. Experts for the commission and the Washington company presented wide- ly different views on the value of the Hyattsville and Alexandria plants. People’s Counsel Roberts, while sug- gesting that the price of $1,375,000 was too high, urged the commission to accept it as the best price that could be agreed upon at this time, and raised the fear that rejection of the petition would open the door to entrance of the Associated Gas & Elec tric Co. to buy control in the Alex- andria company and perhaps also in the Washington company. The Washington company, Roberts said, must raise cash soon to retire a large amount of outstanding bonds, that if the trust found it necessary to sell its stock holdings in the Wash- ington company in large blocks, “for- eign” control might be shifted but Dot ended. STRONG ADDITION TOY. W. C. A. FILLED Transient Group Joins Permanent Guests in New Building. With the moving in of 68 transients today, the new Mrs. Henry Alva Strong addition to the Y. W. C. A. will be completely “settled,” it was announced by Miss Irene Dickson, bostess and director. The 135 permanent residents, 60 of whom were transferred from the now closed Elizabeth Somers addi- took over their rooms yester- A feature of the new huflding will be the “Strong family dinner.” On Sundays and holidays residents of the Strong addition will eat together instead of using the regular dining service in the administration build- ing. Mrs. Strong donated the funds for erection of the structure. She also recently gave funds for erection of & girls’ dormitory at George Washington University. Aviation Cadet Killed. Claire Dell Schaffer, aviation cadet, United States Naval Reserve, was killed yesterday in an airplane crash at the Naval Air Station, Pensacols, Fla., the Navy Department announced today. Schaffer's home address was Lancaster, Calif. Lewis to Speak. Representative David J. Lewis, founty, tomoiTow night, |Compulsory Car Examina- tion Saved 8 Lives Last Year, Parley Hears. | ] Compulsory examination of auto- mobiles was a big factor in reducing | the death rate in Memphis, Tenn., 25 | per cent last year as compared to | 1934, Clifford Davis, fire and police | commissioner of that city, told the | accident prevention conference session at the Commerce Department Building today. | At the same session Dr. L. B. Corbett, | director of public safety of Milwaukee, | noted for its low traffic accident and | | death rate, declared speeding would | never be ‘eliminated and could be | combated only by increasing the width of the roads and streeis and | education and strict examination of | drivers. | More than 50 representatives from all parts of the country are attending | the conference, which is promoting | uniform traffic regulations in all States in the interests of safety. Davis explained that Memphis was the first city in the State to adopt a law for compulsory examination of automobiles and that, as a result, in- surance rates are now the lowest in ‘Tennessee. Eight Lives Saved. The examinations were carried on | in garages owned by the city and by | city employes three times a year and | reduced the total number of acci- dents 17 per cent and fatalities 25 per cent, which meant a saving of eight lives, Davis said. The motorist is charged $1 for each examination. C. A. McShane, equipment engineer of the Pennsylvania Division of Safety, explained the system of compulsory examinations for automobiles in that State, where the examinations are made in private garages approved by the State. Accidents have bern re- duged substantially, he said. In a round itable discussion on speed, Dr. Corbett emphasized education and engineering tc combat speeding in preference to reliance on regulations. “We're always going to have speed, and in the future will have more, not less,” he asserted. “The trouble is we have 80-mile-an-hour cars, 40-mile- an-hour roads and 20-mile-an-hour drivers. Control Declared Remedy. “The remedy for this situation is not to prohibit speed, so much as to con- trol it. Despite all the charges brought against it, speed has its advantages in the proper place. Even if it didn't, you'd have to change human nature to prevent a driver from wanting to get some place in a hurry. “We can do’'a great deal by edu- cating the driver as to when and how speed should be used. We can enact laws to compel examination of drivers, to be sure they are mentally able and physically fit to drive a car. This is now done with bus and truck drivers, and there is no reason why it should not be done with those who operate private cars, “Another way to combat the effect of speed is by engineering. Much has been done along this line already, by building roads with fewer curves and grading those, so they're safe at high speeds. Now, to reduce congestion, we can widen our roads to make speed safer. As for eliminating it alto- gether, I don’t believe it can be done.” The conference, over which Repre- sentative O'Neal of Kentucky is pre- siding, will adjourn this afternoon. Representatives from most of the 11 States which do not have driver license laws reported their expectation that such laws would be placed on the stat- ute books next year. - EL GRECO DESTROYED lm.rpicee Disappears in Span- ish Fighting. LISBON, Portugal, October 2 (#)— A great masterpiece of the painter El Greco.was reported. today to have been destroyed in the fighting at ‘Toledo, Spain. Awrm'l‘ohdohlhuu- INMEMPHIS CTED in | New Pastor | | REV. HOWARD STONE ANDERSON. Boy Patrol Ca ptair; Gets Results When He Turns in Alarm But It Was All Just a Mis- take, He Explains Ruefully. ‘The newly-appointed captain of the boy patrol at Bancroft Public School in Mt. Pleasant, with his cross belt as white as snow and his badge polished and flashing in the bright morning sun, was giving his boys the once-over this morning, seeing that they were properly posted and watch- ing out for the kindergarteners. He stopped at the corner of Eighteenth and Newton streets, across the street from the school, and satis- fied himself that all was right with the world. He stood beside a bright, red fire alarm box, and as his eyes wandered over the crowd of school. bound children, his hand idly wand- ered over the clasp to the door of the box and began touching things here and there as the hands of small boys—even the hands of a captain of the boy patrol—are apt to do. And then it happened. Something slipped. And as the face of the cap- tain of the Boy Patrol gradually took on the color of his cross belt people began to arrive at the Bancroft School—all sorts of people in all sorts of snorting, shrieking vehicles. Fire engines, trucks, hose wagons, two po- lice scout cars and five newspaper reporters. There was brief but pointed questioning. But a captain of Boy Patrols cannot tell a lie. He did it, he said, but it was purely an acci- dent. And what was better still, the police and the firemen agreed with him. HEART ATTACK FATAL TO E. R. CROSTHWAIT Retired Agriculture Department Clerk Survived by Widow, 3 Sons and Daughter. Edwin R. Orosthwait, 71, retired clerk of the Agriculture Department, died yesterday of s heart attack at his home, 4612 Fourth street. TOGETD. C. PULPT REVH. S ANDERSON Appointed Pastor of First! Congregational Church. | Here October 18. After 10 months' deliberation, Rev. Howard Stone Anderson of Chicago has been named pastor of First Con- gregational Church, Tenth and G streets, it was announced today by | ‘Rev. Harvey W. Goddard, chairman | | of the Pulpit Supply Committee. The pulpit of -the church, which | the late President Coolidge attended | during his administration, has been filled by guest preachers since last | December, when Rev. Dr. Allen A.| Stockdale resigned. Several score Congregational ministers were con- sidered before the final choice was | made, Rev. Mr. Goddard said. Rev. Mr. Anderson, who is now pastor of Warren Avenue Congrega- tional Church, Chicago, will deliver the sermon at the regular Sunday service October 18. He filled the pul- pit on one occasion last May. The son of a Congregational min- ister, Mr. Anderson was graduated from the University of ha 1n 1925 and was ordained 0 _years later. He held a pastorate in Willis- ton, N. Dak., before going to the Chlcuo church. FEDERAL FORCES N D. . DECLINE Figure at End of August‘ 115,569—~Gain Over Nation Recorded. For the second month in succession, the Federal force dropped here in | August although it expanded in lhe‘ country as a whole, the Civil Service Commission today reported. | Locelly, the employment figure was | 115,569, as compared to 116022 on | the last day of July and 117,103 on\ | June 30. ° i Nationally, the increase was from | 714,600 in July to 718,697 in August. | The net growth—slightly in excess of 3,600 employes—was due principally to the customary seasonal pick-up in | the work of the Engineer and Quarter- | master Corps of the War Department. | The August pay roll was $127434.- | 417, and in addition there was an | expenditure of $1,327.678 for nearly 41,000 temporary workers in the Agriculture Department for an ag- gregate of $128,762,095. This was a decline from July, when the total was $131.560,896. The drop in District employment was accounted for in great part by reductions in temporary forces. There was & gain in permanent workers. Over the country, the commission pointed out, the principal reductions ‘were in agencies and parts of agencies paid from emergency funds. Freshman Co-Ed at Maryland Wins Place on University Band VIRGINIA By the Associated Press. OOLLEGE PARK, Md., Octoker 2.— For the first time in its history the University of Maryland Band has & co-ed member, Virginia Long, 18, of Shelbysville, Del.,, & freshman, today won the right to pisy with the band, but she had to overcome the objections of 50 male LONG, —Star Staff Photo. The male musicians voted 100 per cent against admitting her to mem- bership, They had heard of co-ed drum majors, they said, but a co-ed cornet tooter was something else again. They took their case to Maj. How- 1 Spanish Loyalists | Donate Objects of | Art for Auctmn | Fight Agmnsl Fascuts to Be Aided by ‘ D. C. Sale. | Art objects contributed by Span- iards living in Washington will be sold at-auction to aid the Spanish| Loyalists at a mass meeting at 8:15 pm. Sunday at the Typographical Temple, 423 G street. Announcement of the auction sale was made today by the Washington Committee in Support of Spanish De- mocracy, which was formed by sup- | porters of the Loyalist and which serves as & co-ordinating cen- ter of activities of similar commit- | tees in other cities. The announcement followed the sale | last week of the effects of Maj. Ramon Franco, brother of the Spanish rebel leader, at the Washington Art Galler- ies. Three women supporters of the | Loyalist cause were arrested for picketing the sale. Their cases were | dismissed in Police Court. In announcing the auction, the Loy- alist Committee said the mass meet- ing would be addressed by Jose Gib- ernau of the Spanish Embassy, Prof. Frank E. Manuel of Harvard Univer- sity and Prancis A. Henson, secretary of the American Committee to Aid Political Refugees, who has just re- turned from Barcelona, Spain. The comimttee said its intention is “4o support the duly elected Spanish government as indispensable to the preservation of democracy in the world.” SUMMER HOME FUND FOR BLIND PLANNED iss Moore After Stay as Hostess at “Happy Nook” on Bay Will Conduct Campaign. Miss Louise Moore, secretary of the Friends of the Moment Blind So- ciety for aiding the underprivileged blind, has returned from Fair Haven, Va., where she was hostess to a group of blind persons at the society’s va- cation cottage, Happy Nook, on Ches- apeake Bay. Miss Moore is now planning to conduct & campaign to raise funds for & permanent Summer vacation home for the blind. Miss Angela Frances Small, 1315 Euclid street, president of the so- clety, will entertain a musical group of blind members this month, the exact date to be set later. The society has issued another eall for volunteers to spend a few hours each month reading or visiting with blind members. - MRS. TYDINGS. VOTELESS ABERDEEN, Md., October 2 (#).— Mrs. Millard E. Tydings, wife of Maryland's senior Senator, will not be able to vote in the presidential elec- tion this Fall. She failed to register her intention of becoming a citizen of Maryland, as the law requires. She lived in Washington before her mar- | be trained as one-man operators. riage to Senator Tydings. 12CARS TOBEPUT ONONE-MANBASIS Streamluned Trolleys Will Be | Converted From Two-Man | Vehicles Sunday. | Twelve of the Capital Transit Co.'s new streamlined cars, heretofore op- | erated by two men, will be placed in service Sunday morning as one- man cars on the Wisconsin avenue- | Pennsylvania avenue line, it was an- nounced today. | ‘The remaining eight cars will con- | tinue as two-man vehicles on the | Rosslyn line until men in the George- | town division of the company can The change from two-man to cne- man operation was authorized by the | Public Utilities Commission last week i in an order that also gave the com- | pany the right to convert 20 ucond- hand cars to one-man operation. | ‘Sevafl of these already are in serv- ce. The 12 streamlined cars to be co verted Sunday will run from P‘riend- | ship Heights to Seventh and Penn- | sylvania avenue. The remaining eight of the same type will continue to op- erate between Seventeenth street and | Pennsylvania avenue southeast to| Rosslyn, Va. Two-man cars between Priendship Heights and Seventh and Pennsyl- vania will be used only during the | peak hours, morning and afternoon. The company said the change will offer the first opportunity it has had to test the new cars as one-man ve- hicles, although they were originally designed for that type of operation. People’s Counsel William A. Roberts, tomorrow night, will ask the Federa- tion of Citizens’ Associations to de- termine if a contest should be started against the order allowing conversion of the new streamlined cars to one- | man operation. The first step would be an appeal to the commission for rehearing. If the rehearing resulted in a repetition of the commission’s decision there then could be an appeal to the courts. Roberts has said he would be guided primarily by “public sentiment.” The federation was a party to the hearing. Its representative was Wil- liam McK. Clayton, chairman of its Utilities Committee. The federation many times has gone on record op- posing any increase in the number of one-man street cars. JOIN REZONING PLEA Special Dispatch to The Star. KENSINGTON, Md, October 2.— Recent action of the Town Council requesting a hearing on the zoning of property at Lincoln and Howard ave- nues was indorsed yesterday by the Kensington Parent-Teacher Associa- tion at a meeting in the school. A resolution was adopted urging the Montgomery County Commissioners to rezone the property to residential “A"” after the public hearing October 30 in the county building at Silver Spring. It was alleged that the present zoning created an additional hazard to school children by permitting “spot” com- mercial zoning in the town. Straps Lady, who has pulled s “Have & Heart” wagon through the streets oi ‘Washington for years, stood sadly in need of succor herself yesterday. ‘Without warning the pavement which had borne her plodding hoofs s0 long caved beneaith her and she plunged deep into sticky mud that held Around Her Stomach Rescue Lady—She’s a Horse, ‘The rescuers borrowed heavy timbers her out of the mud with a block and fall. After & bath she was able to resume Hcott street by a lady who telephoned | tivities as soon captured by the offi- mmm. He had 1 his tether. PAGE B—1 RED CROSS ROLLS 1PASS 700 AR INMORNING SPURT 2,307 Become Members Be- fore Noon—Government Unit Is Far Ahead. BUSINESS CAMPAIGNERS TIED WITH FINANCIAL EEnch Team Has Score of 452, Saul Will Speak to His Associates. Enrollment in the Red Cross’ an- | nual membership drive passad the | 7,000 mark today, spurring came pnmem to new efforts to reach the | 65,000 goal by October 16. | In six hours yesterday volunteer | workers had signed up almost as many | members as were enrolled during the \ first three days of the roll call. The | rate of campaign progress was shown | by the fact that at 6 p.m. yesterday total membership was reported at 4860, while at the corresponding hour Wednesday the total was 2.559. Continuing at this pace, the cam- paign had enlisted an additional 2.307 members before noon today, boosting | total enrollment to 7,167. Government Unit Ahead. The Government solicitaion unit, under Maj. Gen. Fred W. Boschen, chief of Army finance, maintained its | huge lead, reporting 5314 member- ships, or nearly three times the total | from all other units combined. The financial unit, under Robert | V. Pleming, and the general business | group, commanded by John Saul, were J tied for second honors with 452 mem- | bers each. Enroliment in Saul's group | was divided between 317 members in )lrge busmesses and 135 in small ln lhe miscellaneous classification —membersships received by mail and at campaign headquarters, 1416 H screeb—wl.al enrollment was 381. Resi- dmlnl campaigners had signed up 95 partment house dwellers, while the mumeq solicitors, under David A. kinner, reported 245 memberships lnd the professional unit, under Dr. A. C. Christie, 228. Roll call officials expected that within the ngxt 10 days enrollment will have gone beyond the 43,000 mark achieved during the 1935 drive. Volunteers in the general business solicitation unit were to meet at the Washington Board of Trade offices in The Star Building at 4 pm. today to hear a talk by John Saul, chairman | of this unit. Miss Boardman to Explain, Miss Mabel Boardman, chairman of volunteers, cxplained Red Cross ac- in a radio interview over Statlon WMAL from 10:45 to 11:15 {am. She toured the District Chap- ter house, 1730 E street, with Ted Klmb‘ll of the National Broadcasting CLOSING OF ROAD IN PARK DUE SOON Calvert Street Bridge to P Street Route Will Be Im- proved. Rock Creek Valley will be closed o traffic from the Calvert Street Bridge to P street for four months beginning Monday to enable workmen to build a road over a landslide near the Q Street Bridge. C. Marshall Finnan, superintendent of National Capital Parks, said there would be no interruption of traffic on the parkway from P to K street. PFinnan said a new highway will be laid across the top of the landslide, the job costing $81,000. *A retaining wall, he added, is expected to elimi- | nate the danger of future slides. Finnan also said plans are being made for the new bridge across Rock Creek near the Shoreham Hotel. The present girder bridge will be split and the new bridge erected between the halves so there will be no interfer- ence with traffic. BLANTON RESTATES AIM TO BECOME D. C. CITIZEN Love for Washington Again Af- firmed by Defeated Texas Representative. Representative Blanton, defeated by Texas Democrats in a run-off pri- mary election, issued a brief state- ment today reiterating his intention of becoming a resident of the District. “In leaving office to become a citi- zen and lawyer of the District,” he said, “I feel that I have suffered no Joss. My unpleasant duty as legis- lator will then no longer conflict with my love of the City of Washington.” Blanton came to Washington sev- eral days ago from his home in Abilene, Tex., to wind up his official affairs us a member of Congress. When Blanton first announced his plans to live in Washington, several citizens’ associations sent him an ap- plication for membership. He did not indicate, however, whether he would take an active part in Washington's civic life. JOHN WALDRON HEADS CADETS OF ST. JOHN'S John Waldron has been designated as colonel and commanding officer of the cadet corps of St. John's Col- lege, it was announced yesterday. Commanding the corps’ two battal- jons, with the rank of major, will be Roland Pester and Benjamin Fish- burne. On the regimental staff will be Hunter Ross, lieutenant colonel, and Sidney Lawrence, captain and adju- tant. The company commanders, with the rank of captain, will be Clarence , Bernard McGinnis, William Dimsey, James Ward, William Brane nan, Stephen Ackerman, John Too- Puglist.