Evening Star Newspaper, November 1, 1936, Page 21

Keith, Noted G-Man, Quits - Bureau to Take $10,000' Job 41-Year-Old Texan Arrested Means 'in Lindbergh “Ransom” Hoax Case. Hoover Praises W ork. John M. Keith, veteran G-man who is credited with sending to prison many notorious criminals—ineluding Gaston B. Means of the Lindbergh “ransom” hoax—resigned yesterday as head of the Washington field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to accept a $10,000 job with a large Eastern corporation. Keith will become chief of the cor- poration’s investigative organization, he disclosed in ... his letter of res- * ignation to J. Edgar Hoover, director of the | F.E L Hoover, who regarded the 41- year - old Texan as one of his “ace” investigators, ac- cepted with “sin- cere regret” the resignation, ef- ¥ fective December 1. Keith will m : on leave until that date. In & John M. Keith. letter to Keith the director said: “You may feel justly proud in having con- tributed a large part to the success of the efforts of the F. B. I, particularly during the last few years, when we have been faced with so many mo- mentous problems in handling the crime situation.” A pioneer in the field of scientific crime detection, Keith organized and was first “dean” of the F. B. I. Train- ing School for special agents. He has been under fire on the gangland front on numerous occasions and has super- vised or played a leading part in the capture of such men as Means, Nor- man (“The Fox”) Whitaker, and Mar- tin Durkin, first outlaw to kill an F. B. 1. agent. Solved Bond Robberies. More recent exploits included solu- tion of the $2,000,000 U. S. Trust-Bank of Manhattan bond robberies in New York City, for which he has sent three man (“The Fox”) Whitaker and Mar- more for conspiracy; and of the §245,~ 000 Miami-Biltmore hotel jewel rob- bery, in connection with which Noel C. Scaffa, famous private detective of New York, was jailed for perjury. Keith’s new work, his letter to Hoover advised, has “nothing to do with crime or criminals,” but he did not explain further. He did not give the name of the corporation. The salary will equal Hoover's. It| represents a substantial increase over | Keith's salary in the bureau. | “You will also realize,” Keith wrot “that the opportunities for any fina cial security against old age and in- firmity in the Government service are, to say the least, meager.” He added: “The most productive years of my life have already been | devoted to the bureau and I know the position which I have accepted would not have been offered me had it not been for the training received under you. You may rest assured that al- though not a member of the official family, I shall always be at heart a special agent of the F. B. I.” Native of Texas. A native of Texas, Keith was edu- cated there, graduating from Texas | Christian University in 1916. He en- | tered the service of the bureau on January 1, 1917, and was assigned to World War espionage work. He was one of the real veterans of the F. B. I, having served under Directors A. Bruce Bielaski, William J. Flynn, William J. Burns and Hoover. He had been spe- | cial agent in charge of the field office at Phpenix, Ariz.; El Paso, Tex.; Chi- cago and Washington, D. C., and also | has served as inspector. His first major gun battle with gangsters was in 1921 at Fort Worth, ‘Tex., when he led a Federal squad which shot to death two bandits and captured a third as they were at- tempting to rob the Texas-Pacific Express of $200,000. Keith, learning of plans for the hold-up, planted agents on the express car and at the de of the railroad track where the robbery was to have taken place, trap- ping the outlaws in the act of throw- ing mail bags off the train. “ Four years later he obtained in- formation which led to the dramatic capture near St. Louis, Mo., of “Mar- iy” Durkin, so-called “sheik” bandit and slayer of several law officers. in Texas, Keith telephoned agents in St. Louis that Durkin was en route to their city on a certain train. The express was halted outside St. Louis and Durkin was surprised in his compartment. He is serving the re- mainder of his life .in Joliet Prison. Arrested Gaston Means. Early phases of the Lindbergh baby kidnaping investigation occupied much of Keith's time in 1932, climaxed by his arrest of Means and Whitaker for perpetrating a $100,000 “ransom” fraud on Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean. Keith identified the pair by tracing telephone calls in North Carolina. He captured Means after an automo- bile chase from Chevy Chase to down= town Washington and later took Whit- aker at a house in Brooklyn, N. Y. In the New York bond theft investi- gation, which he supervised, he trav- eled to Nassau, in the Bahamas, and to Paris and London to collect evi- dence. He and his men recovered more than $1,000,000 of the stolen se- curities. Keith is married and resides in Ar- lington County, Va. He has a 12- year-old daughter, Katherine, e COAST GUARD RECRUITS Station Is Established at 1300 E Street. ‘The United States Coast Guard has established a recruiting station at 1300 E street, room 109, and is now accepting applications from young men between the ages of 18 and 25 years. Vacancies now exist in the rating of apprentice seaman. Applicants are required to be of good physique and be able to furnish character ref- erences. —_— OFFICE SPACE TAKEN Part of Social Security Board Work Goes to F Street. A small section of the Social Se- curity Board was moved yesterday from 1712 G street to 1724 F street, officials of the Division of Government Space Control announced. The vacated space will be utilized lfi expanding activities of the board, officials explained. GLASSES COMPLETE Lowts & raane 6.45 Here is an optical value almost too good to be true. Think of it! Complete g vision lenses you may require accurately ground to your own individual needs and beautifully engraved white gold-filled frames price. By all means plan to take advantage of this unusudl value at once. Use Your Charge ‘Account OPTICAL DEPT—STREET FLOOR Lansburehs SEVENTH, EIGHTH sed E STREETS Tracing Durkin to a railroad station A New De Luxe A THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, NOVEMBER 1, 1936—PART O MAGY RITES HERE AT 3 TOMORROW Ashes of Helen Keller’s Tu- tor to Be Committed in Cathedral Crypt. Commitfal services for Mrs. Anne Sullivan Macy, teacher and life-long companion of Miss Helen Keller, will be held in the CHMapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea in the crypt of Wash- ington Cathedral at 3 pm. tomor- row. The services will be open to the public. Several rows of chairs at the front of the chapel will be reserved for the deaf mutes, who are requested to identify themselves to the Cathedral ushers. Right Rev. James E. Freeman, Bishop of Washington, will officiate. Robert G. Barrow, Cathedral choir- master, will be at the organ and Ross Farrar, tenor soloist in the Ca- thedral choir, will sing “Lead Kindly Light.” The ashes of Mrs. Macy are to be placed in the columbarium adjoin- ing the chapel, in a niche where space will be reserved for Miss Keller. ‘The granting of the right of sepul- ture in the Cathedral to Mrs. Macy, by the bishop and chapter, is the first time the honor has been specifically assigned to a woman exclusively on her own account, Cathedral officials explained. Formal funeral services for Mrs. Macy were held October 22 at the Park Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City following her death ;{t‘t:er late residence in Forest Hills, Johannesburg, South Africa, plans | to ban horses from the business cen- | ser. LOCAL or L,(‘)NG DISTANCE Estimates on_Moving, Storage or Packing Gladly Furnished. SMITH’S TRANSFER AND STORAGE CO. 1313 You St. NW. North 3343 lasses! Any white, single- or mountings at this low Diswiet 7578 Viclo® Autohatic Combination Lansburghs SEVENTH, EIGHTH and E STREETS * Dlsiet 7575 s Sale! 13.95 to 16.95 3-Plece Coat Sets 12.95 Many are expensive samples! Many with fur! Or mannishly. tailored! Coat, leggings and hat—snugly lined, with concealed zipper fastenings on leggings. Sizes3to6. The quantity isn’t immense, Don’t dawdle on your way here! Warm, Wool Snow Suits ! 6.95 See the fine wool—crush it in your hand and it seems to radiate heat! One-piece models with zipper fronts, solid color or checked' tops. Two- piece plaids or solid colors with knit pullover caps, wrists, anklets. Sizes 3 to 8 get these bargains. LANSBURGH'S —FOURTH FLOOR— CHILDREN'S WEAR. THIS WEEK Ask Miss Burroughs, the New York Stylist, about Vogue Kno-Belt FOUNDATIONS $ In case you're hazy about why a - Kno-Belt is so much less bulky, come in and let Miss Burroughs explain. She'll show you the com- fortable adjustment that front lacing gives you, the slenderizing effect of these all-in-one founda- tions. Other Vogue models, $5 and 7.50 LANSBURGH'S—THIRD FLOOR You don’t n to You’ll Keep Cozy in iron these knit OMETHING really new in design and performance! The radio has all the latest fea- tures—all wave (5 bands), metdl tubes, magic eye, magic voice, magic brain and many other features. The phono- graph is automatic and changes 10 or 12 inch records. The cabinet is handsomely designed with full record space. An un- usual set in that it has the ap- pearance and equipment of much more expénsive combina- tions. 300 CONVENIENT TERMS KITT'S 1330 G Street GOWNS or PAJAMAS 1.95 Why shiver your timbers these Arctic nights? Sleep in the new panel-weave Tuckstitch, or the napper or shaggy balbriggans. Long sleeves on both gowns and pajamas. Such nice colors! MAIL AND PHONE ORDERS Dlstrict 7575 LANSBURGH'S—THIRD FLOOR ‘Wool Flannel House Coats .93 (left) Corduroy does smart things on the but- ton-up neckline of this flannel beauty. Sizes 12 to 20 in tHe some colors os above. (right) Buttons gallop all the way down this gored-skirt house coat. Sizes 12 to 20 in French blue, royal, raspberry, maroon, aqua. MAIL AND PHONE .ORDERS Dlstrict 7575 LANSBURGH'S—ROBE ‘SHOP -THIRD FLOOR. We_Stock_a_Complete Selection of RCA-Victor Sets From $29.95 to $600 Sotter Homes end Garden Exposition Starts Temorrow—Hear Mrs. Christine Holbrook, Home Furnishing Director of Better Homes and Garden Mogazine, Monday, 2:30 P.M., in Our Drapery Section—Fourth Fleor ¢ ., : y P ¢