Evening Star Newspaper, December 16, 1936, Page 25

Washington News he Th . YOUNG HUSBAND INDICTED DESPITE HIS WIFE'S PLEAS Mrs. Carl King Refuses to Prosecute and Professes Love. TRUE BILLS RETURNED AGAINST 38 OTHERS Two Colored Men Charged With | First-Degree Murder—Five Cited for Manslaughter. Although his young wife was un- willing to prosecute him and professed her continuing love, Carl King, 23, who allegedly put her out of their | room and cut her hand Thanksgiving day, and then fired through the locked | door when police arrived, was indicted | today for assault with a dangerous | weapon and with intent to kill. But because of the reluctance of the wife, Mrs. Ruby King, to proceed against her husband, the two police officers who arrested King were named in the indictment as the complainants. ‘When the youth first was arraigned | n Police Court, Mrs. King pleaded | wth the judge tc free him, saying she still loved him and did not want him put in jail. He never had done such a thing before, she said. ‘The formal complainants in the case, Policemen Raymond E. Maust and Ralph F. Edwards of the first pre- cinct, reported that they were called to the house in the 200 block of L | street, where the Kings roomed, about | 1:30 p.m. Thanksgiving day. Mrs. King met them at the front door, say- ing her husband had cut her on the hand and put her out of their room, and she wanted him taken to the police | station to sober up. | Promised to Prosecute. | The officers exacted a promise that | his mother knew not where—returned | Apparently he was not worried over | she would prosecute before they would | home unexpectedly Monday night and | anything that had happened. act. found the door of the room locked. About that time, Maust thought he | broadcast telling of the police search | police about it when they came. heard a gun cocked. He thrust Mrs. King aside as two bullets crashed through the door, one passing but a few inches from the officer’s face. Edwards was dispatched for gas bombs and reinforcements while Maust stood guard. When Edwards returned, the policemen broke in a door panel with an ax and threatened King with gas. He surrendered, they said. were returned. Among them was a | true-bill charging 18-year-old Steve Michael Terry with extortion in con- nection with the receipt of two threat- ening letters by Samuel Einwohner, 441 Decatur street, who conducts a drug store at 1342 Seventh street. | Einwohner received the first missive | September 30. It was signed “4 groups,” and demanded $1,000 under threat that he and his family and his store would be destroyed by a bomb. “You are number three,” Einwohner was told. “The other two paid.” The druggist immediately reported the matter to police and, working under their direction, advertised in a newspaper according to the instruc- tions in the extortion note. On Oc- tober 10, he received another letter, telling him where to leave the $1.000. | A police trap was set and Terry was arrested October 19 in the City Post | Office. The police quoted him as say- ing that he was working at the direc- tion of some one else. | the house 30 minutes before police | Thirty-eight other indictments also | WASHINGTON, D. C., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1936. Mother Counsels Suspect Tells Son, Sought in Matthews Murder, to Surrender to Montgomery Police. Mrs. James Elmer Gingell, pictured here with the youngest of 12 children at her home in Kensington, Md., told her son Lawrence, 20, to surrender to police when he left home yester- day. The child in her arms is By & Staft Correspondent ot The Star. ENSINGTON, Md., December tle children, the youngest of a dozen, Mrs. James Elmer Gin- a hill overlooking the railroad tracks here, and told the story of her 20- questioning in connection with the slaying of Ellwood Matthews. 16.—Surrounded by three lit- gell sat in the parlor of her home, on year-old son Lawrence, wanted for Lawrence, gone for two months— | after his mother had heard a radio for William Reed, 25, and her son in | connection with the murder of El- | wood D. Matthews, 68, Four Corners | farmer. Mrs. Gingell told Lawrence to give himself up to police. She | gave him a hearty breakfast. He left | arrived. His mother has not seen | him since. ‘I feel terrible—it's a blow to me,” Mrs. Gingell, widowed since her hus- band's death almost two years ago, said. Lawrence is the only child who has ever given her any trouble. He | would answer no questions his mother | asked. They had lived at Colesville, near the Matthews farm, when Law- rence disappeared two months ago. | Mrs. Gingell moved here a month ago, | to be nearer Bethesda, where her 22- year-old daughter has a job. She brought the rest of the children with | her. Lawrence, she said, probably found the new home by questioning neighbors at Colesville. Advised Surrender. | “I told Lawrence to go and give him- | self up,” said the mother. a woman of | middle age. “Then he wouldn't listen to me.” Mrs. Gingell —the name is pro- nounced “gin-jell"—held Betty Jane, | a healthy, pretty girl of 2 years, on her lap, while Ruth, 4 and Billy, 6, | home from his first term in school he- cause he had just been vaccinated, | Two Indicted for Murder. | ‘Two colored men were indicted on first-degree murder charges and five named in a manslaughter true bill. Will Kinard, 36. of the 200 block of Third street was held for the alleged murder of his wife, Laura, 27, Novem- ber 6. James Doughtridge, 23. was| charged with murdering Thomas Frisby. also colored. who was a fellow | employe in an apartment house at| 1507 M street. Those charged with manslaughter were James Bailey. 35; Solomon Speed. | 42; James Marsh, 19; Willie Williams, 28, and Herbert Sharpert Titus, 27. They were alleged to have beaten Harold Frye, colored, 40, of 1223 Fourth street with their fists and a gun butt July 19 at his home. Later ar- rested, they were charged with simple assault and Frye testified against them in Police Court. The next day he died and it was found, the Govern- ment claims, that his death was due to complications arising from injuries | suffered in the beating. Fred Housewert, 34, now serving time at the Florida State Prison Farm for armed robbery, was indicted in three cases of forgery and uttering. He was alleged to have obtained $50 from each of three banks here by | passing money order blanks stolen in a hold-up of the Railway Express sgency at Gastonia, N. C., December 6, 1934. Police believe they have cleared up nine recent cases of housebreaking with the indictment of James F. Mc- Dade, 30, who was arrested by a night watchman December 7 after he allegedly had broken into 1009 E street. All the alleged housebreakings were in the downtown section and were mostly at restaurants. Other Indictments. | Others indicted were: John Mobley and Paul O. Grimmel, non-support of minor children; Nor- man Dabney, C. D. Daniels and John Lee Smith, housebreaking and lar- ceny; Arthur Pearson and Murphy .. Bouchette, grand larceny; Oliver Og- den, Johnnie Langford and Jay C Langford, robbery; Marie Jackson and William P. Hughey, assault with a dangerous weapon; Clarence Surles rape; Willlam Wright, carnal know'- edge; Frances De Leon, Francis De Aeon, John S. Wilson, Albert Louis Edmondson, Alphonso Lee Edmond- son, James A. Churchman, Sandy Alexander Levi, Alice Levi, Joseph Duckett, Clifton R. Beane, Charles R. Beane, Charles Harrison, Thomas Newman and Roland Grayson, viola- tion of the gambling laws, and Wil- Ham Robert Sauerteig, grand larceny and larceny after trust. i | Glee Club to Meet. played in the parlor. One son, 18, is ina C.C.C.camp. Another, 15, hasa job. The other seven children are Betty Jane, 2. | small, all ranging upward in age from | Betty Jane. “Everything was going along smooth- ly until this terrible thing happened,” Mrs. Gingell declared. Returned Monday. “If they (the police) haven't got | Lawrence by now it isn't my fault. I | told him the best thing to do was to give himself up at the Bethesda pre- cinct. “Lawrence was here Monday night when I returned from Washington. Tues- Going to the third floor, they | was gone again yesterday morning | day morning I heard the radio call | I told the He left here about half past 9. I gave him a good breakfast. because I was afraid he wouldn't come back. He walked off down the railroad tracks.” His mother said Lawrence with the Reed boys all the time.” She knew “Mr. Matthews,” the | farmer who was slain the night of November 21 on the road near his home, only to speak to and as a neigh- bor. “He was a very nice man,” she said. Turning toward her children, the mother said: “I try to raise them well. I never had any trouble with any but Lawrence.” “Will Be Sad Christmas.” Almost with tears in her eyes, and hoping Lawrence will not face a mur- der charge, the mother concluded, “It will be a sad Christmas for me, and | we were planning such a nice one.” | Police were put on the trail of | Lawrence and William Reed, 25, when W. Joseph Kirby, wounded in a battle with West Virginia police last week while two accomplices in the abduction of a bank cashier escaped, refutedly implicated them in a confession made at Charleston to Detective Sergt. | Theodore Vollten, chief of the Bureau of Identification of Montgomery County police. Bullets fired from a gun supposedly belonging to Reed, the first one found in the Manor Club after a gun battle with police, the second in West Vir- ginia, the third one discovered in Matthews’ lower jaw, put Vollten on the track. between 8 and 9 o'clock “went | POLICE AGAINMISS SLAYING SUSPECT| Second Man Sought in Mat- thews Murder Visits Home Safely. By a Staft Correspondent ot The Star. ROCKVILLE, .Md., December 16.— William Reed, 25, one of two youths sought by Montgomery County police in connection with the slaying of El- wood Matthews, has visited the home of his father near Four Corners within the last 48 hours, Montgomery County police learned today. This news followed the discovery yesterday that Lawrence Gingell, 20, who was implicated with Reed, had slept at the home of his mother at Kensington, Md., Monday night. Gingell, directed by his mother to surrender when she heard over the radio that police were seeking him, left home and has not been seen since. Body Found Sunday. Silver Spring police visited Reed's father today. The elder Reed said he “could not remember whether his son was at home Sunday or Monday Matthews’ body, with bullet holes in the head and chest, was found Sunday by two boys on a rock in Northwest Branch, near Four Corners. Mat- thews, wealthy 65-year-old farmer, had been missing since November 21. Gingell was last seen yesterday by | his mother at her home, in Kensing- ton, after she had directed him to give himself up to authorities when she heard a police radio broadcast. He walked off down the railroad tracks toward the center of the town and police visited the home 30 minutes later to find him gone. No Additional Werd. Police reported today no additional word as to their whereabouts. In addition to having been implicated in the Matthews murder by the con- fession of W. Joseph Kirby of Scran- ton, Pa., who was wounded in a gun battle with police last week near Charleston, W. Va., Reed and Gingell are wanted for questioning in a series of robberies in Montgomery County and more serious charges in West Virginia. 1,910-Foot Tunnel. _The Armstrong Alumni Glee Club “will meet in the Armstrong High School auditorium at 8 o'clock tonight. The Swannanoa Tunnel under the crest of the Blue Ridge at Ridgecrest, N. C, is 1910 feet long. A A.F. G. E. MAPS PLANS The customary observance of Civil Service week will be held by the American Federation of Government Employes January 10-16, it was an- nounced today. It will be the fifty-fourth anniversary of the passage of the Civil Service act and will be marked by radio broad- casts, meetings and other publicity designed to attract public attention. i EARLY RED RIDER AGTION UNLIKELY, SAYS BANKHEAD Legislation of Greater Im- portance Comes First, Speaker Reveals. MRS. NORTON’S PLAN MEETS OPPOSITION Making D. C. Committee Member Ex-Officio Member of Appro- priations Group Hit. BY JAMES E. CHINN. Prospects of early action by Con- gress on any legislation designed to repeal the so-called “red rider” to the 1936 District appropriation act were dimmed today by Speaker Bank- head. Congress will have legislation of greater importance to consider early in the forthcoming session than a bill to destroy the “red rider,” Bank- head told newspaper men at his first ‘Washington. Bankhead was informped that one of the first bills expected to be re- ported to the House by the District Committee would be one to restore academic freedom to the class rooms of the public schools. Importance Considered. “That is not of such paramount im- portance to get a preferred status on | the House calendar.” Bankhead re- | plied. “If the bill is reported. how- ever, it, of course, will be given con- sideration in regular order.” plan of Chairman Norton of the House | District Committee to have a mem- | ber of her group serve as an ex-officio | member of the Subcommittee on Ap- | propriations, which will draft the 1938 District supply bill. Advised that Mrs. Norton proposed te ask him to assign one member of her, committee to sit with the Appro- pridtions Subcommittee during hear- ings on the 1938 supply bill, Bankhead declared: “Right off the bat, T don't think 1 would approve the plan. I can see possible danger in the intermingling of the legislative and appropriations | committees.” Reason for Proposal. Mrs. Norton proposed the plan in view of the fact that the Subcommit- tee on Appropriations. in charge of the | 1938 District supply bill, will be made up almost entirely of new members unfamiliar with Washington and its municipal problems. She thought a member of her committee, if allowed to sit with the subcommittee, could be of valuable assistance to the new members. Bankhead also frowned on a plan of Representative Beiter, Democrat, of New York, to have Congress erect an | apartment house in Washington ex- clusively for members and their secre=- taries. He said in his opinion Congress had more important matters to con- sider. “But.” continued Bankhead. “I don't want to throw any cold water on the plan, and at the same time I don't want to apply heat to it by approval.” FORT STEVENS POST PLANS DANCE SATURDAY Fete Will Be for Benefit of Chil- dren's Party and to Provide Food for Needy. A dance will be given by Fort Stevens Post, No. 32, American Legion, |at Indian Spring Country Club, on | Saturday night, December 19, for the benefit of a Christmas party for the | children, to be held at the post head- | quarters on Georgia avenue, and to | help defray expenses for the post's annual distribution of 100 baskets to be given to needy families in the ! city. Chairman Mike Lyons of the Dance Committee has asked that reserva- tions be made as soon as possible. Non-Paying Guests Forced Owner to Sell Mount A great-great grandniece of George | ‘Washington and last remaining mem- | ber of the family born at Mount Vernon, Mrs. Eleanor Washington Howard today described conditions that forced her father, John Augustine Washington III, to sell the famous old estate to the Mount Vernon Ladies Association for $200,000. “Yes,” she saild, “my father was actually eaten out of house and home. People came every day to look at the estate, ate our food, accepted our lodging, and then went off without as much as a ‘thank you.' The estate was never self-supporting, you know, and with our family large as it was, the_expenses just couldn’t be met.” This collateral descendent of the country’s leading hero went out of her way to purchase the first of the new series of stamps honoring Army heroes. She made the trip to the Post Office Department to get the postage sticker, which is a companion series to one honoring naval heroes. Born in 1856, one of seven children and the youngest of five daughters, Mrs. Howard was only 4 years old when the estate was sold, but still has & few vivid memories despite her 80 years of age. “I still remember how puzzled I was that though I went to bed every night in my mother’s bed, I always awoke in a trundle bed beside it.” she said. “My most vivid recollection, though, is running out of the house and meeting a strange man who gave me a copper penny. I can remember the clothes he had on, everything about him in fact. My mother saw me with the coin, though I was so young I didn’t know what it was, and, leading me down to the river, tossed it in with the admonition never to take money from strangers.” ‘Though the estate sold for $200,000, her father never saw a cent of it, Mrs. Howard said. When the Civil ‘War broke out he offered his services to his relative, Robert E. Lee, who attached him to his stafl, He was Vernon MRS. ELEANOR WASH- INGTON HOWARD. —Underwood Photo. West Virginia soon after investigat- ing what he thought was a flag of truce. Mrs. Howard's mother had died a year before. “After his death,” she went on, “we went to live with my uncle in Jef- ferson County. He had seven chil- dren of his own, and soon after we got there his home burned down. It was a natural fire, though. That's one thing we couldn't blame on the Yankees. As for the money, a Chi- cagoan who handled the transaction for my father ran off with the money and we recovered only a part of it after a suit.” Mrs. Howard, who is the aunt of Bishop Tucker of Virginia, spent many years in before coming here about three years ago. She is national vice president of the Chil- dren of the American Revolution and accompanies them each Spring on a shot down near the Elkins River in I3 trip to her birthplace, INDAY MORNING EDITION ning press conference since returning to | | Bankhead also virtually killed the | * Star FF¥ Society and General —— - Old Georgetown Road Imperils Lives GITIZENS STIRRED BYPERILS OF ROAD Mass Meeting Tonight to De- mand Improvement of Old Georgetown Route. By 2 Staff Correspondent oi The Star BETHESDA, Md., December 16— Scores of indignant citizens, stirred by three deaths and numerous acci- dents on Old Georgetown road. will | gather for a mass meeting here to- | night and insist upon immediate im- provement of the dangerous thorough- fare. Bethesda Women's Club, located at Sonoma and Old Georgetown roads, at 8 o'clock with county officials and local representatives in the State As- | sembly expected to attend to hear | the protests. Placards announcing the session, | | which is sponsored by the Old George- | Road Citizens’ Association, re- following two motorists’ deaths in a bus-auto wreck December 6, | have been posted in Bethesda, Alta Vista, Battery Park, Huntington Ter- race, Sonoma, Oak Place, Luxmanor and other communities bordering the road. town vived Interest Aroused. i Interest has been aroused to a fever pitch by the widespread cam- paign for widening and resurfacing | the road and a capacity attendance |is expected by Lendall A. Conner, president of the host organization, and Ford Young. sr., chairman of the special Road Improvement Com- | mittee of the association. In addition to private citizens, of the Bethesda Chamber of merce, Rockville Pike Citizens' ciation and representatives of the Alta Vista Parent-Teacher Associa- tion, American Automobile Associa- | tion, Keystore Motor Club and other bodies will be present. The District of Columbia division of the American Automobile Association launched a survey of the road yester- day to determine the density of traf- fic along the thoroughfare and the | hazardous points on the route, which | is one of the main traffic arteries in | the metropolitan area of Montgomery County. | The survey was ordered by a spe- cial committee appointed by the Ad- visry Board of the Washington |branch of the A. A. A. G. Adams Howard is chairman of the commit- | tee, while Washington I. Cleveland of Kensington, well-known county civic leader, is a member. A resolution urging the road im- provement work be carried out was introduced in the Montgomery County Civic Federation last night by the Old Georgetown Road Citizens’ Associa- tion and was referred to the Roads, Streets and Bridges Committee for study. Proponent of Road. The measure, presented through John A. Dickinson, charged the in- creased traffic due to installation of bus service, the opening of a new elementary school at Alta Vista and the rapid growth of the communities | along the road warranted the work that is advocated. An attempt was made to have the resolution passed as an emergency measure, but the resolution finally was | referred to committee and will be acted upon at some meeting in the near | future. | The federation, however, was one of the original proponents of the road improvement when it was first sug- gested a year ago and the resolution last night was aimed merely at re- affirming the group’s previous stand. e EDGAR W. PHARR RITES SET FOR TOMORROW Body of Power Commission Ex- aminer Taken to North Caro- lina for Burial. Funeral services for Edgar W. Pherr, 48, an examiner for the Federal Power Commission, who died yesterday in Sibley Hospital, will be held at 11 am. tomorrow in the Associate Re- formed Presbyterian Tabernacle in Charlotte, N. C., his former home. The body was taken to Charlotte last night, accompanied by members of the family and Frank R. McNinch, chair- men of the Federal Power Commis- sicn, a friend and fellow townsman of Mr. Pharr, who came to Washing- ton in February, 1935, lived here at 2901 Sixteenth street. Formerly he was speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, in which he had served several terms. His death came unexpectedly when he suffered » relapse while apparently recovering from an appendicitis operation. . heads Com- The meeting is to be held at the | Left to right, The treacherous conditions along Old Georgetown road which have aroused Montgomery County citizens can be seen in the above photograph, illustrating the narrow width of the high- way, which serves one of the county’s most thickly settled residential areas. —Star Staff Photo. suigid | Harold E. Doyle, Washington I. Cleveland, ! Richard M. Ham and G. Adams Howard, chairman, of the Special Committee of the Advisory Board of the American tween Alta Vista and Bethesda, Automobile Association, who met yesterday in The Star Build- ing to begin the study of conditions eristing on the road be- Md. Realizing the importance of the study, the committee agreed to meet again Thursday at 5 o'clock at the A. A. A. headquarters. traffic count will be taken and In the meantime, a a personal survey made. EDITOR TO APPEAR INSCHOLASTIBAN chhool Board to Hear Pro- test—Routine Matters | | i Also Up Today. | Maurice R. Robinson, editor of Scholastic, weekly newspaper that was | Washington public schools two weeks ago, planned today to defend the publication before the Board of Edu- cation. | Robinson, who twice .declined invi- | tations to appear before the board | | when his publication was under at- tack, demanded a hearing before the | board finally dropped the publication. | Originally Scholastic was charged with being pro-Communistic, but a “clean i bill of health” on that score was given by a committee of teachers and school | officials. Accused of Pacifism. ! Later, it was approved for use in the English classes of the serior high | schools but at the insistence of George | M. Whitwell, board member, the pub- | lication’s “pacifistic” policies were con- | sidered and the paper was banned be- | cause of its stated policy published some three years ago. Frederick J. Libbey, executive sec- retary of the National Council for the Prevention of War, has joined Rob- inson in defense of the paper. Lapse of Time Cited. In a letter to Mrs. Henry Grattan Doyle, president of the board, Lib- | bey called it “stretching a point” to |ban a publication for an editorial written three years ago, “especially since there is no evidence that since | that time pupils in our high schools have been harmed by it.” The editorial in question urged stu- dents to refuse conscription unless a Nation-wide referendum declared war, and to refuse to serve unless equal conscription was given industry and capital. | The board expected today to com- | plete its last pre-holiday meeting with | only routine matters after hearing Robinson. POLICE RAIDER UPHELD IN PROPERTY SEIZURE Hammel’s $16,000 Damage Suit Following Acquittal Fails in Court of Appeals. ‘The Court of Appeals decided late yesterday that Lieut. George M. Little of the Police Department, cannot be held accountable for property seized in a prohibition raid on Hammel's Restaurant, on Tenth street between D and E streets, August 30, 1932. Hammel and several others were charged, as a result of the raid, with unlawful possession of liquor. and subsequently were acquitted by a jury. Three days later all seized property was returned to Hammel. Neverthe- less, Hammel sued for trespass, claim- ing $16,000 damages. Speaking for the Court of Appeals Associate Justice D. Lawrence Groner said that Hammel’s acquittal on the criminal charge was not conclusive that the seizure was illegal; that the return of the property by the United States without condemnation pro- ceedings s not conclusive that the seizure was tortious. DOOMED INDEATH OF MRS, GOODWIN Colored Ex-Janitor Found‘ Guilty in Bludgeon Murder Case. Norman W. Robinson. was in a “death row" 27 colored gree murder in the brutal slaying September 18 of Mrs. Florence Good- win, 41-year-old proprietor of a room- ing house at 1102 Sixteenth street Alarmed by the defengant’s threats that he might “make break,” 17 deputy marshals stood in the District Court room late yesterday as the foreman of a jury of nine men and three women pronounced the verdict: “Guilty as indicted.” Robinson glanced hastily about him as if searching for an avenue of escape. Eight deputy marshals stood within a few feet of him and others were in the background. He quietly submitted to being led away. Deliberate 3 Hours. Justice Peyton Gordon had given a charge to the jury which would have permitted verdicts of not guilty. guilty of murder in the first degree, or guilty | The 10 of murder in the second degree. Jjurors deliberated 3 hours and minutes. The verdict carries the death pen= alty.» Mrs. Goodwin was beaten to death with a heavye iron furnace shaker early in the morning before her room- ers were astir. The next day Robin- son was arrested and six days later signed a confession and then re- enacted the slaying. Charges Third Degree Beatings. Yesterday on the witness stand he repudiated the confession, asserting he had been forced to sign it, and testi- fied that when he re-enacted the crime he was in a daze from beatings he had received at the hands of police. His testimony was not corroborated. Two police officers and a deputy coro- ner denied he had been beaten, say- ing he freely confessed. Robinson was temporarily employed as a janitor in Mrs. Goodwin’s room- ing house last Summer. His confes- sion indicated that he entered the rear door with a pass key, bent on robbery, and crushed Mrs. Goodwin's skull with repeated blows because of fear of detection. ——— BAND CONCERT. By the United States Marine Band Symphony Orchestra, today, at 8 p.m., Marine Barracks auditorium. Capt. Taylor Branson, leader; William F. Santelmann, second leader, ducting. eon- Program. “The Flying Dutch- ‘Wagner Lune” “Bergamasque,” Debussy . Excerpts from “Jewels of the Madonna” Wolf-Ferari . “Song of the Bayou' -~ Bloom . “Siegfried Idyl” from “Sieg- fried” Wagne: . Valse de concert, “Artist’s Life,” Strauss . Symphonic paraphrase, “The Yplsa Boatmen” Stoessel . “Dance of the Hours” from “La Gioconda”™ . “Polacca” from Suite No. 3, Opus 58 Tschaikowsky “The Star-Spangled Banner.” 1. Ovérture, . Intermezzo, from Suite r cell at the Dis- | Asso- | barred from the approved list of the | trict jail today. convicted of first de- PAGE B—1 PARK ON ISLAND OPENS IN SPRING FINNAN ASSERTS Work on Tract Named for Theodore Roosevelt Sped byC. C. C. FUNDS ARE REQUESTED FOR FURTHER WORK Explorations of Foundations of 0ld Weir to Be Made, Officials Say. Theodore Roosevelt Island. on whica the Civilian Conservation Corps has been working for some time, will bs thrown open as Washington's newest recreational area in the Spring, C, | Marshall Finnan, superintendent of | the National Capital parks, announced today. Prior to this the park authorities are | seeking funds from Congress to con duct explorations of the foundations of the old weir, at the north end of the | island, connecting with the Virginia | mainland, with a view to strengthen= ing it for public use. | When money becames available, the United States Engineer Office will be called upon to conduct the explora- | tion to determine the exact condition | of the foundations of the old cut stone causeway, in which holes have been left to permit the passage of flood waters. Finnan explained today that even- tually he hopes to have a ferry rune ning for public use between Columbia Island and Theodore Roosevelt Island, but says that this will not be ready for this Spring. The Civilian Con=- | servation Corps had a wooden bridge from the Virginia shore to the island named for the famous President, but this structure was washed away last Spring in the flood. Since then the corps has used a small ferry Finnan's plan proposes to build a concrete top on the existing weir, so that it will be well above water at average tide, permitting the public to walk across it. Holes will be left in the new struc- ture to prevent stagnation of water | upstream and to lessen the danger | during floods. Finnan believes the foundations of | the weir may be weakened, as the | rush of water through the years has caused it to be pushed out of line downstream. After the Army En- | gineers have conducted their undere water exploration and obtained neces= sary data, Finnan says that an esti- mate of the cost of improvement then can be prepared. \“FIREBUG” SOUGHT IN THREE BLAZES Damage Reported Slight in Neigh- borhood of Fourth Street and New York Avenue. A “firebug” was being sought today in connection with a series of fires in the vicinity of Fourth street and New York avenue that damaged several frame sheds before dawn this morning. The first blaze was discovered about |1 o'clock in sheds in rear of 424 and | 426 New York avenue. | About an hour later another shed was in flames in the rear of 433 L street. Near 4 o'clock a third alarm sent firemen to the rear of 426 M street, where another shed and a wagon load of trash were found burning. Two of the alarms were turned in from Fourth street and New York ave- nue. while the third box was pulled at Sixth street and New York avenue. In another fire. not of incendiary origin, in the Southeast section early today, Capt. H. A. Chapman, No. 18 + Engine Company. was badly cut on the hand by falling glass Chapman required medical atten= tion after the accident, which occurred | while he was helping extinguish a blaze in the home of Mrs. W. H. | Thornton, 344 Twelfth street south- | east. 3 HURT AS BRICKS SHOWER TAXICABS | Baltimore Police Arrest 20 While Striking Cabmen Fight in Streets. B\ the Associated Press. | BALTIMORE, December 16—Taxi- | cabs were showered with paving bricks, disabled and overturned, 20 men arrested and three injured today as striking Diamond Cab drivers fought to perfect their tie-up of Christmas business. £ The arrests and injuries resulted from a dozen skirmishes between pickets and drivers of cabs sent out by the Diamond Cab Co. The com- pany’s regular drivers went out on strike after four of their number were discharged. From the cab headquarters uptown the fights spread to the shopping dis- trict. Police drew their pistols to sub- due the more unruly strike pickets. At least eight men, described as strik- ing drivers, were arrested by State police after a cab driver was attacked in front of the motor vehicle com- missioner’s office here. ‘Witnesses said the driver of the cab and his passengers locked the cab doors from the inside. Strikers hemmed in the machine, rocked it, broke the windows with bricks and hauled the driver to the street. Early today, a parade of 20 cabs, behind a steel-bodied truck., came to grips with a convoy of strikers. Chauf- feurs were dragged from their seats in the general midstreet melee, en- gine hoods torn off, gas lines ripped out and engines smashed. 1 | | 15 Children, No Doctor. WILLOW SPRINGS, Mo. (#).—Al- though the stork has visited the farm home of Mr. and Mrs. R. N. Lee, near here, 15 times, they have never em- ployed a doctor, even to officiate at the births, Lee is 53 and his wife 42.