Evening Star Newspaper, October 18, 1936, Page 19

'WHITE SLAVE NET SNARES TWO MEN One Suspect Confederate of Pair G-Men Took Here Recently. BY REX COLLIER. A dragnet thrown over a wide front by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in a move to block the annual migra- tion of white slave traffickers to Win- ter resorts in the South yesterday had caught two alleged “big-shot” rack- eteers—one of them a confederate of two men recently captured by G-men in the Washington area. “ All four prisoners have been arrested in the past in Miami, Fla., where, it is alleged, they made their headquar- ters during the Winter season. J. Edgar Hoover, director of the F. B. I, has called for the assistance of “public-spirited citizens” in co-operat- ing with the bureau in its efforts “to stamp out the interstate traffic-in women.” Vigilance of his agents for violators of the Federal Mann act has been increased all along the line. Both Are Ex-Convicts. In custody of F. B. I agents in widely separated parts of the country vesterday were Dave Marcus, alias Marks, and Paul Nahas, both ex-con- victs with police records dating back several years. The latter is reputed head of the so-called “Nahas gang” in Michigan City, Ind. Marcus, arrested early yesterday in Miami, Fla., and Nahas, arrested Fri- day in South Bend, Ind., are charged with transportation of women from Indiana to Florida for immoral pur- poses. » Nahas, according to Hoover, has been “closely associated” with James Nel- son Ostrander, alias “Million Dollar Jimmy,” and Dan Cassetta, convicted drug peddler, who were arrested dur- ing an F. B. I raid on an inn at North Beach, Md., September 11 last. Ostrander and Cassetta are under indictment in the District of Columbia for transporting two women from the Maryland resort to local apart- ment houses, in violation of the Mann act. Both have served sent Miami and Ostrander is li B. I records “Nahas gang.” Operates Night Clubs. THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, OCTOBER 18, By ‘Checking Federal prison inspectors, just re- | turned from a tour of county jails with grim evidence of frustrated “break” plots at several points, have ended possibility of nocturnal round- trip excursions from a Kentucky jail by a convict facing execution for mur= Included in a deadly array of im- | provised dirks, blackjacks and keys inspectors is an expertly fashioned Nahas, Hoover said, long has been | aluminum key which, its owner de- “an operator of night clubs in Michigan | clared, had enabled him to visit friends City. a house of ill fame in Jackson, Mich., in 1927. He served a 30-day vagrancy in Miami in 1934. He is 37. He was convicted of operaling | on the outside on several occasions. The key was found to work perfect- term for |y in the lock to the prisoner’s cell, but jail officials discredit the man's | piece of steel window stripping, bent Marcus, 36, is well known in anmii story of trips outside the jail. They cannot believe that a man confronted | side with cloth. as a booker of prostitutes, Hoover said. He and Nahas have been in- | with the death penalty would return dicted by a Federal grand jury at Orlando for white slavery in connec- tion with the transportation of two | | to his cell, once he had gained lib- erty. ‘ The name of the jail and identity women from South Bend to Miami|of the prisoner are being withheld ~1in 1933. Marcus served a year at the Fort Yeavenworth Disciplinary Barracks in 1919 for larceny. Coincident with the arrest here of Ostrander and Cassetta, special agents of the F. B. I. rounded up a number‘w of members of an extensive white slave ring in Connecticut, bringing | to 23 the number of prisoners held in | that State on Mann act charges. Among those taken were Alexander | De Nicola, Joseph Ferrara and Joseph | ~ (“Bethany Joe") Saledonis, accused | of being ringleaders of a gang im- porting women into Connecticut from New York, New Jersey and other | States. During the fiscal year which ended | July 1, the F. B. I. secured 298 con- victions of Mann act prisoners. Sen- tences totaled 835 years and fines ag- | gregated $42,830. During June of this | year there were more white slave | convictions than in any month +dur- | ing the last three years. elgium (Continued From First Page.) | by the Federal Prisons Bureau. The Federal inspectors made the discover- ies during a routine tour of inspec- Up’ in Counties Partly completed keys found in other jails were made from spoons and knives stolen from the mess hall. One convict had filed saw teeth in a table knife in the obviously forlorn hope of sawing through the bars of his cell. Among weapons found were: Stilet- tos and dirks made from scissors | blades, table knives ground to a fine brought back to Washington by the | point, forks and pieces of steel win- dow casement. Blackjacks made from weighted pieces of bed springs, iron pipe and boot-shop leather sewed into club shape and filled with plaster. Steel “knuckles” fashioned from a into a loop and wrapped on the grip There was also a sling-shot, made from bent wire and long rubber bands. Its owner confessed he had been shoot- ing notes out the window to confeder- ates on the street. Apparently most of the key notches were cut with safety razor blades, fitted with improvised wooden handles. | tion of county jails in which certain | Such a blade was found in the cell Federal prisoners are being “boarded,” due to lack of Federal facilities. Sanford Bates, Federal director of of a prisoner who had beer at work on a key. Some of the articles represented prisons, said the weapons and keys | long hours of tedious work by pris- were found “with the co-operation of local jail officials.” The articles were found in jails in West Virginia, Georgia and Kentucky, he said. Many of the devices attest the craftsmanship and ingenuity of con- victs intent on making a break for liberty. Only the timely discovery of the keys and weapons forestalled prob- able disorders of serious nature at several of the jails, authorities here believe. In one prisoner's cell was found & remarkable wooden key, with exten- sion arms designed to operate it around a corner. This key, too, was tried by the prison inspector and found to be effective. The prisoner had not used it because his plans for escaping were not complete. In his cell were found more than a dozen wooden patterns which he had whit- tled as models for the completed key. | * from the pact, France would have only Britain and Italy among big powers to look to for future plans concerning the collective security of Europe. France has a mutual - assistance ~pact with Russia, but the Kremlin was gravely concerned last night, express- | ing belief the Belgian deflections | would cause France to build an en- | tirely new fortification system for her northern frontiers. If Belgium, as was predicied au- thoritatively, curtails her support ori other League nations, France would be further isolated internationally. Great Britain and Russia would be | the only other European first-rank | powers left backing League decisions.l Germany is no longer a member. | Italy did not participate in the last | Assembly because the League mem- (bers shifted the Ethiopian question | into the next session. { Italy Spurns League. Mussolini has made plain Italians would not sit in League meetings until | Italian annexation of Ethiopia is| recognized officially. Present indications are that full-| hearted Italian suppori of the League is at best a problem for the future. France is not alone in being gravely worried over the ultimate results of little Belgium'’s course. Great Britain, seeking to weld the increasingly divergent political camps of Europe into a semblance of unity, opes to devise ways and means of ’b,"!suring the collective security treaty network. In the past she has pinned most of her faith on the League and the Lo- carno pact. Russia, likewise, is deeply concerned with developments. Russia’'s potential military enemies are Japan, Germany and Italy—espe- cially Germany, where Chancellor Hit- %ler and his highest subalterns have delivered unceasing anti-Bolshevist tirades. Russians fear also that Spanish Fascists might emerge victorious soon in the civil war. Should the Fascists win the civil war, the Russians fear a government would be set up in Spain that would be pro-German and pro-Italian. Thus France, Russia’s ally, would » have on two sides Rightist dictator- ruled states bitterly opposed to the Soviet regime in Russia and Socialist government in France. FEAR ALLY LOST FOREVER. French Pin Only Hope on Needs for Colonies. PARIS, October 17 (#).—French government spokesmen tonight ex- pressed fears that Belgium was lost to France forever as a military ally, despite Belgian assurances that for the present she considers all treaty ®bligations in effect. The French Ambassador to Brus- sels, Jules la Roche, reported tonight that the Socialist Belgian foreign minister, P. Henry Spaak, informed an Belgium would seek to terminate oners. For example, one convict had cut grooves in a piece of iron, to make it fit into the intricate zig-zag key- hole of his cell door. This must have required weeks, probably months of patient labor in odd moments. Bates said only contant surveillance of jails and prisons can prevent ate tempted escapes. for long terms, are always thinking up plans for getting out,” he said. “That is why we have regular in. spections, and usually we find evi- dence of plotting.” When conditions at a county jail are found to be such that Federal prisoners should not be confined there, Department of Justice list. Many local jails throughout the he said. “Some convicts, especially those in | he said, the jail is crossed off the| country are considered too insecure | for confinement of Federal prisoners, | Evidence of Jail Breaks That Failed Inspectors of the Federal Bureau of Prisons with assoriment of improvised weapons and keys discovered on a recent tour of county jails in several States. U.S. Foils Jail-Break Plots —Star Staff Photo. PLAY TOURNAMENT TO END THIS WEEK | Final Competition in One-Act Drama Set for Saturday Night. The District one-act play tourna- ment will end this week with the presentations of six additional groups Tuesday and Thursday nights and the final competition Saturday night in | Roosevelt High School auditorium. Appearing Tuesday evening at the | auditorium will be the Theater Group |of the Federal Bureau of Investiga- | tion, Buchanan Parent-Teacher Dra- | matic Club and the Little Theater of Takoma Park. Thursday plays will be presented by the Jewish Community Center Theater, the Eckington Players |of McKinley-Langley Community Center and the players of the Ameri- can Association of University Women. Their plays are entered in competi- tion for cash prizes offered by The Evening Star, the Washington Post and the Washington Daily News. ‘The four outstanding plays in the entire list of entrants will be an- nounced after Thursday night's pro- | gram by the chairman of the prelimi- nary judges, Denis E. Connell. These ! four plays will be given at the Roose- | velt, Saturday at 8 pm. when drama | critics of the five daily newspapers in Washington will determine the winner | of the tournament and the runner-up this year. The first award of the Maud Howell Smith medal to the player achieving the finest individual performance in the preliminaries will be announced by the preliminary judges Saturday night. Tickets for the two remaining pre- liminary contests, Tuesday and Thurs- day, are available at the Community Center Department and on the eve- | ings of the plays at Roosevelt audi- | torium. - 4-H CLUBS REORGANIZE Two at Fairmont Heights to Con- ¥ duct Poultry Projects. Br a Staff Correspondent of The Star. FAIRMONT HEIGHTS, Md, Oc- tober 17.—James F. Armstrong an- neutrality accords at any future Lo- carno conference. Officials declared that therefore France was assured Belgium military aid only during the period before any new Locarno conference should meet | —unless a “miracle” should change Belgium'’s internal policy from one of pre-war neutrality. French foreign office officials pinned most of their hopes for a Belgian al- liance in the event of war on Bel- gium’s colonjal and geographical situ- ations, rather than on an altered po- litical trend within the nation itself. “The time may come,” a spokes- man said, “when Belgium may have to think about protecting her colonies from aggression. She would need strong allies to do it, and a position of neutrality would be incompatible in these days with the world’s third larg- est colonial empire.” Said a high diplomat: Belgium would be exposed because of her geographical location (contigu- ous to Germany and France) if war should come. It wouldn't be long before the warring nations would find it necessary to use Belgium’s airfields and ports at almost any price.” S DEMOCRATS WILL OPEN CAMPAIGN IN CLARKE Former Governdbr Trinkle Will Speak at Berryville High October 28. Epecial Dispatch to The Star. BERRYVILLE, Va., October 17.— The Clarke County Democratic Com- mittee will open the campaign in the county for the re-election of President Roosevelt next week follow- ing the completion of plans to se- cure Dave Satterfield of Richmond as a speaker, October 22, at Boyce. The following week former Gov. E. Lee Trinkle will address a mass meeting at the Berryville High School, October 28. The committee completed the list of precinct workers with the appoint- ment of 50 men and women in the four county districts. SURPLUS FOR RELIEF 2,500,000,000 Pounds of Farm Produce Bought in Three Years. The Agriculture Department re- ported yesterday approximately 2,500,- 000,000 pounds of surplus farm prod- ucts had been purchased since 1933 for relief distribution. Between October 1, 1935, and Sep- tember 19, 1936, the department said, the cost of goods acquired by the Federal Surplus Commodities Corp. was $13,900,000. Expenditures were largely for fruits and vegetables. < Wonderful Swimming Pool. A rustic indoor swimming pool is now in Yellowstone Park, filled with water from a geyser which spouts every 12 minutes. The overflow is | trapped in a catch basin and piped | three-quarters of a mile down the slope to the pool. The hot water is gradually air cooled 2s it runs over gravel beds. Another benefit to the swimmer's health are the ultra-violet rays of the sun, which penetrate through the special glass roof of the pool. located bank. % & MEMBER FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION nounced today that two 4-H Club groups at the Fairmont Heights School have been reorganized with the election of the following officers: Group 1—Danuel Belt, president; William Fisher, vice president; Arthur Nichols secretary, and Carroll Clark, chaplain. Group 2—John Cooper president; Edward Green, vice president; Fred- erick Jackson, secretary; William Bol= ling, treasurer, and Robert R. Gray, 4-H Club leader. The two groups will conduct poultry projects. %dam conveniences are due largely to the harnessing of electricity, for the production of which, the first dynamo was built by an Englishman, Michael Faraday, in 1831. Another form of modern convenience is a checking account at this bank. It en- ables you to pay bills and transmit money by check. A personal check adds prestige and is an indication of responsible bank- ing connections, providing you at the same time with a legal receipt. - For your convenience, open a checking account today at this friendly, centrally MORRIS PLAN BANK OF WASHINGTON - The bk for the Sudividual! 1408 H STREET, N. W. C0-OP COMMISSION HARMONY FORECAST Hood Says Former Report of Divergent Opinion Was “Unfounded.” By the Associated Press. After a conference yesterday with Secretary Wallace, Robin Hood, a mem- ber of President Roosevelt’s commis- sion to study European co-operatives, forecast a complete agreement on “all fundamental facts and recommenda- tions” in the report to the Chief Ex- ecutive. Hood, secretary-treasurer of the Na- 1936—PART ON. tional Co-operative Council, had been quoted as saying in an interview Fri- day that “a sharp disagreement be- tween members of the commission makes unanimous action almost im- possible.” After his conference with Wallace and Paul H. Appleby, assistant to Wal- lace, Hood issued a statement through the Agriculture Department saying this was “unfounded.” He added: “I anticipate that the members of the commission will find themselves in agreement upon all fundamental facts and recommendations when the final form of the report is considered.” e In 1911, Harvard graduated a class of 620 young men. Half were in the war, six killed, ISSUE OF PROHIBITION SUPREME, COLVIN SAYS But Party Has “Progressive” Pro- gram on Other Questions, Leader Asserts. Bv the Associated Press. CHICAGO, October 17—Dr. D. Leigh Colvin of New York, presi- dential candidate of the Prohibition party, said tonight that prohibition was the “supreme political issue of 1236” and asserted his group. was “by no means a single-issue party.” “The Prohibition party,” Dr. Colvin said, in an address prepared for de- livery at rally in a West Side HECHINGER CO. 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