Evening Star Newspaper, October 4, 1936, Page 23

AUTO ‘GRAVEYARD Commissioners Considerifig Reguest of Parks Su- perintendents. The District'’s “automobile grave- yard,” south of the Capitol, where confiscated and other cars are stored, will be shifted elsewhere, to make way for the new Randle Recreation Center if the District Commissioners accede to a request just made by C. Marshall Finnan, superintendent of the National Capital Parks. This was learned yesterday, when # developed that a number of agen- cies, interested in recreation, urged ac- tion on the part of the Government in improving this area, which is now under jurisdiction of the National Capital Parks. The area upon which the auto morgue is located belongs to the Federal Government, park au- thorities said yesterday, but the Dis- trict government has been using it by permission. Now the land is need- ed for the recreation expansion. The Recreational Plans Committee, of which Lewis R. Barrett, the Dis- trict's co-ordinator of recreation, is chairman, has recommended that the Randle Recreation Center be devel- oped immediately. The Joint Com- mittee on the Library transferred to the National Capital Parks the area known as the “Canal street reserva- tions,” and the National Capital Park and Planning Commission has worked out detailed plans for its improve- ment. Boundaries of Center. The Randle Recreation Center, for- merly known as the Cardozo, is bound- ed north by G street, east by South Capitol street, on the west by One- Half street and on the south by K street. It excludes private property at the southeast corner of G and One-Half streets, officials explained yesterday. The entire area is 350 feet wide and is 650 feet long on one side and 950 on the other, some 12 acres in all. John Nolen, jr., director of planning of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, explained that the area includes land originally in the Canal street reservations dedicated as streets, but never opened to traffic, plus ground purchased by the Plan- ning Commission. An acre and a| half had to be eliminated from the original plan, due to private improve- ments that took place in 1833 and 1934, officials pointed out. All the | Reeded land has now been acquired. A co-ordinated plan with the Randle Junior High School has been worked | out, Nolen declared. The Iacmnes‘ in the recreation center will be avail- able for a school program and certain facilities in the school will be open for a recreational program, he said. Swimming Pool Included. Improvements planned include: A swimming pool, tennis courts, play- ground equipment, courts for small games, horseshoe pitching, base ball, | foot ball, field hockey, volley ball and | basket ball. Nolen pointed out that the com- mission has plans for development of the other parts of the area. Between K and L streets, it is proposed to | grade a slope for the use of spectators, | overlooking a projected outdoor the- ater. Between L and M streets, east | ofthe Anthony Bowen School, it is planned to develop a children's play- ground, to be utilized in conjunction with the school playground. Between M and N streets a small park is plan- ned, with a bandstand in the center. Between N and O streets, the area is proposed as an addition to the Hoover Playground, that will more than dou- ble the capacity of that development, Nolen declared. g ZONING IS PROTESTED Xensington Women Indorse Stand of Town Counsel. Bpecial Dispatch to The Star. KENSINGTON, Md, October 8.— The Woman's Club of Kensington, meeting here yesterday, added its protest to that of other local groups against the present commercial zoning of the property at Lincoln and Howard avenues. Indorsing the stand of the town eouncil, which has asked for a hear- ing in an effort to have the land re- ®oned to its former residential status, the club urged all members and other interested individuals to attend the hearings set for October 30. Here’s where old automobiles street near G street southwest. of progress—the creation of the Randle Recreation Center. stand in the wa; b4 go when they “die” —into the morgue on South Capitol ut the park authomities and recreation ezperts sa D. C, OCTOBER they C. Marshall Fin- nan, superintendent 0}{ the National Capital parks, has written the District Commissioners, asking that the “junk” MGRADY HOPEFUL|Major Crimes Decrease, Survey By Justice Department Shows OF PEACE IN WEST Sees Chance for Settlement of Coast Maritime La- bor Dispute. By the Associated Press. Edward F. McGrady, Assistant Sec- retary of Labor, who directed negotia- tions that led to a truce in the Pacific Coast maritime labor dispute, returned to Washington yesterday hopeful the 15-day respite would bring a settle- ment. Expressing hope the truce would result either in new agreements be- tween the five unions involved and the shippers, or in a further extension of time for negotiations, McGrady said he probably would return to the coast this week. Whether he will return will depend partly on what the recently created Maritime Commission, which laid plans for the truce, proposes to do, he said. McGrady plans to confer with the | commission tomorrow. He will report the situation as he observed it and will discuss what future steps the Government may take. Meanwhile, he is keeping in close touch with the situation by telephone, conceding that the dispute remains serious. If permanent peace is achieved, five different unions must work out con- tracts with shippers in the next 12 days. If the agreements have not been completed by that time, a new stale- mate will threaten. Eployers granted a 15-day exten- sion of present contracts with no strings attached in order that nego- tiations for new agreements might be resumed. They stipulated that at the end of 15 days an additional 45 days would be granted if unions would agree to submit to arbitration all matters still in dispute at the end of the negotiation period. The unions have steadfastly resisted arbitration of certain differences, and if they maintain their -stand and employers decline to negotiate further without promise of arbitration, a labor tie-up will threaten. Higgins Renominated. EAST HAMPTON, Conn. October 3 (#)—Dr. William L. Higgins of Coventry, was renominated today by the Republicans of the second district as their candidate for Congress. He now is serving his second term. Framed in Dahlias LITTLE IVA MAE WALDEN, 4-year-old daughter of Mr. and_Mrs. F. H. Walden, 1838 Newton street northeast, obliges the photographer with a live picture at the opening of the first National Capital Dahlia Show yes- terday at the John Burroughs School, Eighteenth and Monroe streets northeast. The show is open today from 2 p.m. to 9 p.-m. - $he public is invited. The Woodridge Garden Club is e exhibit. a 4 g . —Star- Staff-Photo, 1 be moved elsewhere ~—Star Staff Photo. Statistics Reveal Robberies Have De- clined 27 Per Cent and Murders 14 Per Cent Since 1933. BY REX COLLIER, Crime is in the depths of a de- pression, but still has quite a way to 80 before it reaches bottom. Gone are the “boom” days of 1933, when kidnaping reached a peak, when bank-robbing gangs roamed the “Mid- western crime corridor” and when the underworld dared to perpetrate such an outrage as the Kansas City mas- sacre. ‘Today the “snatch racket” has lost its one-time popularity, and bank robbery has declined at such a rate that premiums on bank robbery in- surance recently were reduced 20 per cent. Statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation disclose that robbery has decreased 27 per cent since 1933, excluding automobile thefts, which declined 26 per cent. Murder has decreased 14 per cent, assault 9 per cent and burglary 8 per cent. Survey Shows Decrease. The survey, based on reports from police departments in 1,127 cities with a combined population of 44,000,000 people, shows a continuance of the downward trend in crime for the present year. ‘Three years ago, when gangs led by John Dillinger, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, Harvey Bailey, Alvin Karpis and other desperadoes were striking terror in law-abiding communities of the Mid- west, there was a daily average of 126 robberies for the country as a whole. In 1935, with these gangs effectively smashed and their leaders in prison, or otherwise out of circulation, the daily average of robberies had dropped to 93. There were 3,131 murders in 1933, as compared to 2,704 in 1935. In 1933 there were 167,573 burg- laries, while in 1935 the number was 153,430. Automobiles were stolen at the rate of 388 per day in 1933, whereas the daily average last year was 286. The study showed that the major part of the crime reduction occurred in cities having a population of 100,000 or more. 1933 Red Letter Year. A red letter year in crime, 1933 saw not only the Kansas City station mas- sacre of four peace officers and their prisoner—a crime that aroused Con- gress to enact a series of drastic Fed- eral anti-crime laws, but the kidnap- ings of Charles F. Urschel, William A. Hamm, jr.; Peggy McMath, Mary Mc- Elroy, John Factor, August Luer, John O’Connell, John C. Lyle, Claud Boyd, Fred de Filippl, Adhemar Hughes, Brooke Hart, Herbert Harris, jr., and several other persons. The next year came the kidnaping of Edward G. Bremer, June Robles, William F. Get- tle, James Costin, James Hackett and Mrs. Alice Speed Stoll. Last year there was but one notable kidnaping, that of little George Weyer- haeuser at Takoma, Wash. During these three years a total of 330 kidnapers and extortionists were imprisoned or slain while resisting arrest. Kidnaping as a major racket in the underworld has practically dis- appeared. With the capture during the same period of 152 bank robbers, the F. B. 1. is credited with reducing bank robbery 75 per cent. ‘The statistics, while incouraging to students of the crime problem, are not entirely satisfying, however. The F. B. 1. estimates that approxi- mately 1,500,000 serious crimes still are committed annually in the United States by an army qf 3,500,000 law- breakers. Of the latter, more than 700,000 are under 21 years. Civitan Boy Gardeners Take New Tract Near Benning Commencing its fourteenth season the Civitan Boys' Garden Club is preparing to move to a new 12-acre ‘The club’s original tract was on the eastern side of the Anacostia River near the Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge. ve years ago this land was con- verted by the Government, which had loaned it to the club, into a public golf course. The new site is being prepared be- use continued tenancy of the pres- ent one, on Benning road adjacent to the Anacostia River, is uncertain, due to 18, for whom the gardens are provided to give wholesome occupa- tion and keep the boys out of mis- chief and worse. Each boy is provided with & garden 30 by 50 feet and can keep all that his plot produces. Planting and cul- tivation are directed by W. R. Beattle, senior horticulturist of the Agricul- ture and s member of Civitan. Garden -work begins in March and continves until the latter part of Sep- COME tember. Crops include a wide va- riety of vegetables. The club’s members are enter- tained bi-monthly with wiener roasts and watermelon and ice cream feasts. For meritorious performance 10 boys are sent annually to Camp Letts, the Y. M. C. A. camp on Rhodes River, for a week's vacation, all expenses paid. Likewise, an annual all-day outing is held at Camp Letts for the entire membership and prizes are awarded. PFrom October to March, monthly meetings are held in the Y. M. C. A. assembly hall, the programs consist- ing of lectures of gardening, movies and brief talks by Civitan members. Each Christmas the boys are pre. sented with sacks of gifts. During the last year Civitan com- pleted the filming of a motion picture {llustrating the activities of the gar- den club. The film depicts various - | stages of crop progress. = Democrats to Banquet. The New York State Democratic Club of Washington, formed last Sum- mer, will hold its first annual banquet in the main ball room of the May- flower Hotel on October 17. James F. Neville, chairman of the Arrange- ments Committee, said speakers will include many prominent New Dealers as well as distinguished New Yorkers. The :mb'l headquarters is at 1110 F stree TO GEORGE’S AND SAVE! FIVE ARE INJURED IND.C. ANDNEARBY Motor Cycle Strikes Gibson Hicks, 24, and Hurts Girl Rider. : Five persons were injured, two of them seriously, in automobile acci- dents in the District and on nearby Maryland roads last night. One of the victims, Gibson Hicks, 24, of 502 B street southeast, suf- fered severe head injuries when struck by & motor cycle at Bowen road and the District line. He was taken to Gasualty Hospital. Alice Dunn, 16, of 824 B street cycle, which pelice said was operated by James Parker, 18 Seventh street southeast, also was treated at Casualty for head injuries. Parker did not re- quire hospital treatment, police said. Lamar Robertson, 4, 193 Md,, received a skull fracture in & crash on the Olney-Laytonsville road. He was removed to the Montgomery County General Hospital. Joseph Devilviss, Clarksburg, Md., suffered a broken leg when a machine in which he was riding overturned when sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver on the Frederick Pike near Clarksburg. He also was taken to the Montgomery County General Hospital. Struck by a taxicab near his home, Charles Jackson, 13, colored, 1125 Third street, was taken to Freedmen's Hospital with s broken leg. FARM DEBTS CUT THROUGH U. S. AID Resettlement Agency Claims Sav- ing to 38,000 Farmers Tops $30,000,000. By the Associated Press. Voluntary reduction of $30,446,610 in the debts of 38,728 farmers during the year ended September 1 was re- ported yesterday by the Resettlement Administration. . The agency said this scaling down of principal and interest, and exten. PHONOGRAPH COMBINATION All Wave, World-Wide Radio Reception Guar- MAGIC BRAIN MAGIC EYE MAGIC._VOICE METAL TUBES American and Foreign Reception Guaranteed— Phonograph Connection— Metal Tubes A Great RCA Victor Value 49 A Store Near Your Home 814-816 F St. N.W. 3107-3109 M St. N.W. 2015 14th St. N.W. 1111 HSt. N.E. All stores open till 9 P.M. District 1900 accom| through the farm debt adjustment program by “getting debtors and creditors together and as- sisting them in working out adjust- ments.” After adjustments averaging $786 per case, resettlement officials said the farmers concerned owed a total of $88,493,800, or 75 per cent of the orig- inal debts. ‘The average debt after adjustment was said to be $2,285, with the settle- ments resulting in payment of $2.- 181,867 in Jelinquent taxes to State and local governments. Total admin- istration costs for this work were re- ported at $892,000. e Herndon P.-T. A. Elects. HERNDON, Va., October 3 (Spe- cial).—The Parent-Teacher Associa- tion of the Herndon High School has elected the following officers to serve for one year: W. Frank Hume, presi- dent; John H. Rice, vice president; Mrs.. Harry Middleton, second vice president; Prank Hammond, third vice president; Mrs. Ruth Keyes, fourth vice president; Mrs. A. E. Steele, fifth vice president; Mrs. Raymond N. ‘Wren, secretary, and Miss Sadie Det- sion of payment provisions, had been plished New CITIZENS WARNED ;) NOT TO SPECULAT Federal Alechol Administrator Advises Against Purchase of Whisky Certificates. By the Associated Press. W. B. Alexander, Federal a!cohol administrator, warned private citizens yesterday against buying bonded whisky warehouse receipts in the hope of making large profits. Saying the opportunity for private individuals to profit from the pure chase of warehouse receipts covering bonded distilled spirits, was “extremely slight,” the administrator asserted: “Numerous representations have been made to the administration that such receipts are being peddled by unscrupulous salesmen to unsuspecte ing persons under the false and mis« leading representation that the pure chaser would make heavy and quick profits by the resale of such ware- house receipts.” Germany’s wholesale prices are highest since 1930. 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