Evening Star Newspaper, December 17, 1936, Page 21

————een DUKE SENTENCED . TOFOUR MONTHS AT CAMP LEE, VA, Found Guilty Yesterday of Attempt to Influence U. S. Grand Jury. GRANT OF BAIL AWAITS PERFECTION OF APPEAL Judge Way Overrules Motion for Suspended Term and ‘“‘Good, Stiff Reprimand.” By a Staff Correspondent o. The Star. ALEXANDRIA, Va., December 17.— Jesse C. Duke, 44, disbarred Wash- ington attorney, was sentenced today by Judge Luther B. Way to serve four months in the Federal Re- formatory at Camp Lee, Petersburg, Va., for attempting to influence the Federal grand jury here on Decem- ber 7. A jury had found Duke guilty of the charge yesterday. The court refused to admit Duke to bail pending an expected appeal to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals. It ruled he could not be admitted to bail until the appeal had been perfected. | A sentence of from three to six | months had been sought by Assistant | United States District Attorney H. H. | Holt, jr.; James J. Laughlin, attorney for Duke, had recommended a sus- pended sentence and “a good stiff rep- rimand” from the court. Refuses Suspended Sentence. Judge Way overruled the motion for | & suspended sentence and a previous | motion for a new trial before imposing | sentence. He termed Duke's act “a flagrant violation” of the statute and | remarked that the attorney’s man- ners “went from bad to worse” after his act. On the witness stand Duke ad- mitted handing Joseph L. Crupper, | foreman of the grand jury, a letter as | the jury was leaving the court room after being impaneled at the opening of court on December 7. He denied | that the communication was an at- tempt to influence the jury. In the letter he asked for permis- #ion to appear before the grand jury, presented arguments against the in-| dictment before the jury charging him with harboring and concealing Federal fugitives, and asked the jury not to | indict him “on mere hearsay evi- dence.” Jury OQut Less Than Five Minutes. Duke was brought into court yester- day on a criminal information filed by United States District Attorney Ster- ling Hutcheson. The jury deliberated less than five minutes before finding him guilty. At the lawyer's request, Representa- tive John H. Hoeppel of California and | his son, Charles J. Hoeppel, whom At- | torney Duke is alleged to have har-| bored at Richmond, were brought here from the District of Columbia Work- house at Occoquan, where they are under sentence of from 4 to 12 months, to testify in his behalf. Representative Hoeppel took the stand, but most of | his testimony was ruled out as being | irrelevant. | Judge Way issued writs of habeas corpus to bring Representative Hoeppel and his son to court. COST OF D. C. RELIEF $181.269 IN MONTH Elwood Street Reports Expendi- ture Is $55,025, or 23 Per Cent Less Than November, 1935. Expenditures of $181,269 during the last month for all types of relief pro- grams conducted by the District, other than the work projects, was reported today by Welfare Director Elwood Street. This is $55,025, or 23 per cent less than in November, 1935. Street said there were 5716 cases | benefited by the expenditures. He showed the sum had been allocated as | follows: For dependent children, 1,033 cases, $49,227; home cases numbering 261, $16,784; old age, 1,174 cases, $29,629; needy blind, 84 cases, $2,013, and direct relief, 3,164 cases, $83,616. Street's report showed there were 6,518 persons included in the direct relief case load last month, and this would indicate that the average pay- ment per case was $26.43 and $12.83 per month per person. WOMEN’S TRADE LEAGUE "WILL HEAR DR. CARROLL Dr. Molly Ray Carroll, research di- rector of the Workers’ Education Bu- reau of the American Federation of Labor, will speak on “Growth of Or- ganization in the Service Trades” at & meeting of the Women’s Trade Un- jon League of Washington at 8 p.m. tomorrow at the Y. W. C. A. Building. ‘The meeting will be held under aus- pices of the league's Organization Committee. Norman Barbour, busines agent for the Retail Clerks’ Union, will speak on “Organizing Retail Clerks,” and P. Werner, chairman of the Retail Clerks’ Organization Committee, will talk on “Effective Support From the Labor Movement.” BAND CONCERT. By the Soldiers’ Home Band in Btanley Hall at 5:30 p.m. today. John 8. M. Zimmermann, bandmas- ter; Anton Pointner, assistant. Program. March, “Military Days”..__ Overture, “Midsummer Night's Dream” ..___ P - Von Suppe EntrActe, (a) “Nocturne Op. 15, No. 2,” Chopin (b) “Pulcinello” .___.. ~--- Aletter Excerpts from the musical comedy, _Mfllel“ A love yarn, “A Tangled Skein,” Levy ‘Waltz Suite, “Southern Roses” ... (Rosen aus den Suden Strauss Finale, “Kahola Honolulu”_____Kaili < “The Star Spangled Banner.” PVT. WILLIAM P. DORAN. INAUGURAL ADES 10 BE SHECTED Grayson and Commission- ers to Name Group Today at Conference. Chairmen of subcommittees to make detailed arrangements for President | Roosevelt's second inauguration on | | January 20 are due to be chosen at a conference today between Rear Ad- miral Cary T. Grayson, inaugural chairman, and the District Commis- | sioners. ‘ The Commissioners, named vice chairmen of the main Inaugural Com- mittee at a meeting with Admiral Grayson yesterday, today designated the board room and an adjoining of- fice in the District Building as head- quarters of the committee. Admiral Grayson and his staff are expected to move into the new quar- ters tomorrow. Tickets to Go on Sale. Tickets other downtown it location, was | stated. Thirty-seven thousand seats will be | built, for inaugural spectators. Of this total some 25,000 will be under Government control and the re- mainder are to be erected by con- cessionnaires, Admiral Grayson said after meeting late yesterday with a group of civic and business leaders in the office of Commissioner Melvin C. Hazen. Previously, he had announced the inaugural parade would be restricted | to units of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, the West Point cadets and the Annapolis midshipmen and the Gov- | ernors of the 48 States. This was in keeping with the desire of the Presi- dent that the parade be only of & | military character. To Name Aides Soon. Admiral Grayson expects to name soon all the members of subcommittees who are to assist in the planning of the inaugural events. Vice chairmen of the committee, Admiral Grayson announced, are District Commis- sioners Hazen, George E. Allen and Dan 1. Sultan; Malcolm 8. McConihe, Democratic national committeeman for the District, and Mrs. J. Borden Harriman, Democratic national com- mitteewoman for the District. Gen. Malin Craig, chief of staff of the Army, has been selected to serve as grand marshal of the parade, which will pass along Pennsylvania avenue. To Enlist 1933 Aides. “In order to carry out President Roosevelt's wishes for a simple, but colorful celebration,” said Admiral Grayson, “I am going to ask many of the Washingtonians who served with me in 1933 to co-operate once more. I am going to ask this favor of them, not only because of the experience they gained at the time of President Roosevelt's first inaugu- ration, but because there is such a limited time in which to complete the plans.” Quizzed MAURICE N. ROBINSON. —Star Staff Photgs he Foening Star WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1936. PVT. ROBERT T. TALBERT. EDITORIS QUIZZED BY SCHOOL BOARD Challenge to Constitution in Banned Scholastic Cited by Members. An hour’s discussion of the merits of the editorial policy of Scholastic yesterday afternoon gave to the mem- bers of the Board of Education an opportunity to express their own patriotism and at the same time deny any allegiance to militarism or ex- treme pacifism. Maurice R. Robinson, editor of the publication, which two weeks ago was stricken from the approved list be- cause of its alleged pacifism, addressed the board. He read a manuscript that covered 22 closely typed pages, in which he asserted that the edi- | torial made a basis for the board's |action is three years old and is merely one in a series of editorials | of similar intent. Under questioning he refused to say that he would deny, either as an 1 dividual or as an editor, his opposi~ tion to war, and his purpose to cru- !sade, “if that is the word,” against war, E3 ’ THREE POLIGEMEN WILL GET AWARDS FOR HEROIC ACTS Gold Medal to Be Presented to Detective Baker, Hazen Says. WILL BE PRESENTED IN NEAR FUTURE Talbert to Get Silver Decoration and Doran Bronze Bar. For performing services involving “extreme personal risk,” Precinct De- tective Earl L. Baker of No. 1 police precinct and Pvts. Robert T. Talbert and William P. Doran of the sixth precinct have been selected for awards for meritorious acts during the past fiscal year, Commissioner Melvin C. Hazen announced today. The men were selected from the en- tire body of the Metropolitan Police Department by & committee consist- ing of Robert V. Fleming, acting chair- | man; Henry C. Stein, Police Supt. E. W. Brown and Fire Chief Charles E. Schrom. The committee considered five Fire Department cases for meritorious service but decided the incidents did not warrant any agards. Official presentation of the medals Wwill be made in the near future at some public gathering, it was stated | by Maj. Brown, Baker Gets Gold Medal. | ‘The gold medal goes to Detactive | Baker, who engaged in a battle with a bendit, armed with a sawed-off | | shotgun, on the night of October 13, 1935, at the Blue Bell lunch room, 2335 Bladensburg road northeast. He later apprehended the man, who was identified as Morris C. Beck. Baker was seated in the lunch room when a man entered, pointed a double- barrel shotgun at persons in the room | | and he attempted to open the cash irqflster by punching the keys. | | The detective arose and started walk- ing slowly toward the bandit, who was about 35 feet away, while maneu- vering to place himself between the | shotgun and the customers in the room, the report said. The bandit, | finding he could not open the register, for the parade revlewmxl | stands will be placed on sale in an- ! Challenge Seen. Robert A. Maurer led the attack of | the board in answering the editor.| He explained that “this board pri-| marily is just as much against war as you are,” but cited that the dec- larations of Scholastic form open | challenges to the Constitution in that they ask for delegation of power to the public that already is vested in Congress. Maurer is a teacher of con- | stitutional law at Georgetown Uni- versity, | Mrs. Henry Grattan Doyle asked | Robinson “if you now would encour- | | age children to oppose war unless it be declared by & majority vote of the people.” | _Robinson hedged by declaring that the paper is still against war but | that he would prefer that high-school | children make decisions for them- | selves, | The editorial in question, Ppublished | |in the issue of November 11, 1923, called upon high-school students “to | adopt a program on which students of good-will can unite. Here are four possible planks: “l. We will not fight in any war unless the mainland of the United States is invaded by a foreign foe, or unless by international agreement | against an aggressor state. “2. We will not fight in any war which has not been declared by ma- | jority vote in a Nation-wide referen- dum. “3. We will not accept conscription of our bodies for the Army or Navy without an equally complete conscrip~ tion of the capital and profits of in- dustry. “4, We will maintain to the end our right to determine our own con- duct by independent thinking.” Ballou Defeated on Substitutes. After the lengthy discussion, which was passed over for later action after Robinson promised to supply each member of the board with copies of Scholastic for the last 12 months, | Dr. Frank W. Ballou, superintendent, was defeated in an effort to force teachers to hire substitutes when they leave their classrooms to take exami- nations for promotion. Dr. Ballou explained that at pres- ent teachers may abandon their classes to take tests for advancement. His recommendation was that here- after they be required to pay s sub- stitute to serve in their absence. There was a sharp disagreement among the board members, two voting for the proposal, two voting against it, and two others declining to vote. To Press Kemp Appeal. The board also voted to continue the appeal of the Lois Kemp case in spite of the fact that Corporation Counsel Elwood H. Seal advised the members against such action. “We have had two official lawyers advise us on the question of non- resident pupils,” Mrs. Philip Sidney Smith commented. “They have dis- agreed. Now we have the oppor- tunity to have a definite court ruling. I think we should have it.” Mrs. Smith referred to an opinion from the late W. W. Bride, corpora- tion counsel, who held the non-resi- dent pupil law was “permissive” and not “mandatory” and gave the board the right to ban or enroll residents of nearby Virginia or Maryland as circumstances permitted; and the opinion of Seal, who held the law is mandatory and that the board has no discretion in the matter. The board recently was ordered by |ing. As he rushed up the steps to |him down the steps, disarming him, District Court to allow the enroll- ment of Lois Kemp, a resident of Arlington, Va. Several other students, whose parents are employed in the District, were affected. ‘Woman, 102, Has 66 Descendants. MONMOUTH, Oreg., December 17 () —Mrs. Angeline Carter, still able to do more of her housework, will cele- brate Ker 102d birthday anniversary Friday. She has 66 living descend- ants, including two children, 27 grand- children, 29 great grandchildren, 3 great-great grandchildren and 5 great- great-great grandchildren. ; decided to attempt to carry the ma- | chine away. “As soon as Detective Baker saw that the shotgun was not pointed toward | the people in the restaurant,” the citation continues, “he shot the man in the body, aiming at his right shoulder. The man dropped the cash register and the force of the bullet knocked him_almost to his knees. He then straightened up. again pointing the gun toward Detective Baker and others in the room. “Detective Baker, thinking the man would pull the trigger and kill sev- eral people, snapped a quick shot at him, finding later that this shot just grazed his chest.” The bandit then fled in an auto- mobile and the officer pursued in his | own car after taking additional shots | at the other car. He later found the man lying in the road, near the Dis- trict line. Beck died later at Casualty Hospital. Talbert Gets Silver Medal. Pvt. Talbert was awarded the silver medal for capturing Charles F. Hisey when answering a call August 20, 1935, at 414 Rittenhouse street. Hisey had killed Virgie Lyttle, a roomer at the place, the report said. When Tal- bert arrived, he was told of the shoot- the second floor Hisey fired two shots at the officer, one striking his right forearm. “At the risk of his own life, Pvt. Tal- bert grabbed his assailant, throwing and held him until assistance arrived,” the citation reads. “Had it not been for quick action on the part of Pvt, Talbert, several persons might have been wounded or killed.” Pvt. Doran was awarded the bronze ber for his capture of three men, two of them armed, whom he arrested on suspicion when he saw them carrying large boxes and a suit case, later found to contain property which had been stolen from the Sanitary Gro- cery Store, 6301 Georgia avenue, The officer placed them in his pri- vate car and had his woman compan- fon drive them to the station house. The officer watched the men from the front seat. Later it was found the men had debated shooting at the officer during the ride but did not because of a dispute as to whose “job” it was. TRAVELER 'i'O LECTURE “The Magic of Mexico,” contrasting the Mexico of today with that of 45 years ago, will be described by Burton Holmes, traveler, in an illustrated lecture tomorrow evening before the National Geographic Society at Con- stitution Hall. Snow-capped peaks that tower 3,000 feet higher than the Swiss Alps, the yawning crater of Popocatepetl, the famous shrine of Guadalupe to which | The examination failed to indicate the ¥ Society and General C(;ngestion on Old Georgetown Road PAGE B—1 CITIZEN-LABOR SUIT FILED IN COURT T0 CURB 1-MAN CARS Plaintiffs Cite Revenues to Be Realized on Dropping $1 Weekly Pass. PLEA SEEKS TO VACATE ORDER OF COMMISSION Consent to New Carriers Called “Unjust and Unreasonable,” With Service Crippled. Pending in District Court today was an appeal by the Federation of Citizens’ Associations and the Wash- ington Central Labor Union from the refusal by the Public Utilities | Commission to reconsider its authori- | zation to the Capital Transit Co. to operate 40 additional one-man street cars. The two plaintiffs, who told the One illustration of the heavy flow of traffic along Old Georgetown road, which Montgomery County citizens seek to have widened because of hazardous conditions, is shown in the above photograph of a heavy truclg passing a private machine and another commercial vehicle. JUDGE 1S UPHELD N RELEASE BAN McMahon Claims “Letter of Law” Disregarded in Some Cases. The judges of Police Court “have not always strictly lived up to the before the expiration of their sen- tences, Presiding Judge John P. Mc- Mahon testified in District Court late yesterday. He was defendant in a suit brought by Thomas O'Shea, 48-year-old World War veteran, now serving a 190-day sentence in the Occoquan Work House on an intoxication charge Justice Daniel W. O'Donoghue of District | Court dismissed the suit, holding that Judge McMahon properly withheld favorable action on a recommendation by Judge Robert E. Mattingly that the man be released. Release Expiration in Question. The legal question involved was whether a judge can release a man after the expiration of the term of court in which he was sentenced. Judge McMahon said that it has been the practice in Police Court for many years occasionally to commute sen- tences for ‘“humanitarian reasons,” without regard to the term of court. | Justice O'Donoghue held that this practice was entirely without authority of law. | O'Shea was sentenced on October 21 by Judge Mattingly, & Municip-l‘ Court judge who was substituting on | the Police Court bench. Later lhz; man’s attorneys represented to Judge | Mattingly that their client was suffer- | ing from tuberculosis and should be released so that he could go to a veterans’ hospital near Pittsburgh. | On November 4, two days after the end of the prior term of court, Judge Mattingly entered the following nota- tion on the official information: “Due to the fact of this man’s physical condition, I recommend his | immediate release.” Examination Made. ‘The recommendation came to the notice of Judge McMahon, who im- | mediately conferred with Judge Mat- tingly and suggested an examination of O'Shea before any action was taken. prisoner suffering from disease. O'Shea then brought & mandamus suit against Judge McMahon, charging it was the established Police Court | practice to honor such recommenda- tions and that Judge McMahon had no right to interfere with the orders of another judge. Even had O'Shea been at the point of death, no judge legally could have released him after the end of the term of court in which he was sen- tenced, Justice O'Donoghue declared. Assistant United States Attorney John W. Fihelly appeared for Judge McMahon. MEETING TOMORROW “The Plight of the Consumer” ‘Will Be Forum Subject. “The Plight of the Consumer” will be the topic discussed at the Capital City Forum tomorrow at 8:15 p.m. at 1502 Fourteenth street. Among the speakers will be Wallace Campbell, assistant secretary of the Co-operative League of America, and Dr. Le Roy Hplbert, former director of emergency relief for the District and new director of education of the ‘Washington Consumers’ Club. was the | pious Mexicans have brought rich gifts, and Mexico City itself will be among the features described by Holmes. Questions and discussion from the floor will follow the addresses. Dr. D. N. Shoemaker of the Consumers’ Club will act as chairman. Milk Bottle Lasts 35 Trips, Against 22 in Former Years| By the Associated Press. Despite this age of hazardous living the milk bottle is enjoying & longer life than its ancestors. C. E Clement of the Bureau of Dairy Industry proclaimed this fact today after a study of 100 dairies the 1936 bottle to 35 trips, ~to-con- two “Wanton destruction,” Clement said, “isn’t the main factor in milk-bottle mortality—it's indifference.” People who toss bottles at trees or punt them off front steps for the fun of it aren't nearly so much of a men? ace as those who allow them to con- gregate in the kitchen. “Onoe empty botties havy lain about the house,” Clement explained, “it's & safe bet they'll end up in the cellar or a dump heap.” ‘The study also showed that quart bottles live longer than their younger brothers, the pints. One reason is the cook’s preference for the smaller container to house one thing or an- other. The jaunty little pints are the real travelers, 8 way to such places as skyscrapers under construc- tion, coast-to-coast automobile trail- ers, fishing boats and airplanes. Clement did not find any cénte- narians among the bottles, but he did discover a few that endured 82 round trips. Prohibitioh had little effect on milk bottles. . “I never heard of one being in & bootlegger's employ,” said Clement. Values Gift PENCIL WAS USED BY MAN NOW KING. | letter of the law” in releasing prisoners | CARY T. GRAYSON, JR. | The 17-year-old son of the chairman of the American | Red Cross proudly erhibits a pencil used by King George VI during a Red Cross con- Jerence in London. The Kina. then the Duke of York, gave the pencil to Aamiral Gray- son, who was sitting next to him at the parley. Young Cary, a student at St. Albans School, has been carrying the treas- ured article with him to ex- hibit to kis classmates. The pencil is an ordinary wooden one of a bright orange color. —Star Staff Photo. FUTURE BUILDING PROGRAM STUDIED Park and Planning Board Meets Tomorrow—School Expansion Problem. Future Federal building in Wash- ington and the question of keeping land purchased for neighborhood play- grounds and recreation centers from encroachment by school buildings will be discussed by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission dur- ing its two-day meeting, which starts | here tomorrow. John Nolen, jr., director of planning, said that if the coming Congress de- cides to authorize future Government buildings a plan will be ready to tie in with the commission's program for the central area of Washington. Nolen made it clear he was not saying buildings were going in that location but revealed that the southwest area is receiving special attention. The Keyes-Elliott land purchase act author- ized ground in the southwest for future expansion. For the past several years a special co-ordination group, representative of the supervising architect’s office of the Treasury Department, the Di- vision of Government Space Control of the National Park Service and the commission, has been at work .co- ordinating plans. Nolen said the same procedure will be followed as in the northwest rectangle where the new Interior Department Building is near- ing completion and the new War and Navy Departments will be built when money becomes available. The new five-year school program brings up the problem of the use of land in public ownership and especially the use of ground bought for recreation centers and neighborhood playgrounds. The 'plan has been proposed under which some of these sites would be utilized for new schools and the eom- mission in the past has insisted these recreational areas be maintained as such. The commission, Nolen said, is inter- ested in seeing that the school and recreation programs be co-ordinately developed. The commission will receive reports from its Co-ordinating Committee and its Recreation Committee on this sub- Ject. The commission tomorrow will con- sider studies made by the District Commissioners, Subdivision and Zon- ing Committee, on which the planners are represented. Nolen explained that these new regulati & better control over the density of the popula- tion here. The Fine Arts Commission proposal to extend the area of the Shipstead- Luce act, for giving the Federal Gov- ernment control over the types of buildings to be erected in the vicinity of public buil and parks, will also be ENCEE —Star Staff Photo. DING DANGER OF ROAD REVEALED Mass Meeting Urges Action at Once on 0ld George- town Route. | By 2 Staff Correspondent ot The Star. BETHESDA, Md., December 17.—A survey recently completed by .ngineers of the Keystone Motor Club has re- vealed Old Georgetown road to be both “exceedingly dangerous” and one |of the most heavilystraveled high- ways in suburban Maryl#nd. The disclosure was nfide last night before a mass meeting at which resi- dents of the communities along the | thoroughfare unanimously adopted a resolution urging State Roads officials to widen and resurface the route im- mediately. Support was forthcoming from offi- cial sources for the first time and two Montgomery County commission- |ers and two delegates to the State | Legislature indorsed the plan. Aid of ‘other executives who could not at- |tend last night and the asistance of | the Maryland congressional delega- ‘rnun they represent 170 civic and | labor groups, asked that the order | be vacated and the P. U. C. directed | to conduct a rehearing in the mat- | ter, taking into account the increased revenues which are expected to re- sult from discontinuance of the $1i | weekly street car pass. | It was because of the alleged ne- "cessuy for curtailment of expenses that the commission permitted the | use of more one-man cars, the suit | stated. Inferior Service Feared, The commission’s order was at- tacked as “unjust and unreasonable" and as imposing a “distinctly in- ferior class of operation of street cars in the District.” It is “capricious and inconsistent,” said the complainants, because it finds that the traction company may use an “obsolete type” of car for re- placements, contradicting a prior stand that additional one-man cars could not be safely operated here unless | the cars were of the modern “Presie dent’s Conference type.” With the commission’s permission, 20 of the “President’s Conference type” cars were purchased in 1935, the suit asserted, and last Spring the Capital Transit Co. applied for permission to purchase 30 additional (one-man cars which had been retired from use in Providence, R. 1. These | were to be renovated and 10 used to replace old one-man cars already in use, and the remaining 20 used as additional conveyances. Pursuant to this application, the . U. C. allowed the company to purchase one of the Providence cars |and try it out. Then, on April 11, it approved the purchase of the 29 tion will be sought. other cars, according to the suit. Average 3,150 Cars. This was done, it was charged, withe A crowd which braved a driving | ©ut public notice or hearing and over | rainfall to voice its protests against CIVIC protest and in “defiance” of hazardous conditions that have led to several deaths and serious accidents | was told by Maj. F. McKenzie Davi- son, member of the Keystone Motor | Club’s Advisory Board, the survey | showed Old Georgetown road should be converted into “at least a :hree- | lane highway.” 2 He said a traffic count made on the road following the tragedy in which two motorists died on December 6 has revealed 4,450 machines used the road during a six-hour period last Sunday, while an average of 3,150 cars travel the highway on week days. The Sunday traffic peak was reached between 4 and 5 p.m., when 800 cars passed the checking station, while the peak load on week days is between 5 and 6 pm., when the count was 550 cars, Traffic Load Too Great. Maj. Davison declared the density of the traffic load is too great for the road to bear safely in its present con- dition and the thoroughfare should be widened as a protection against sub- sequent traffic fatalities. The speaker stated that 12 curves in the 6-mile stretch add to the perils caused by the narrow paving. Three are “exceedingly dangerous,” one being a reverse and blind curve on a “very 2ad grade,” he said. “My club is vitally interested in this problem of yours and recognizes from our engineers’ report a distinct hazard in Old Georgetown pike,” he con- cluded. Aid Is Pledged. County Commissioner Robert D. Hagner and Miss Ruth E. Shoemaker and Joseph A. Cantrel, members of the county delegation in the State Legislature, said they recognized the need for improvement work and would lend their support. ‘A letter from County Commissioner 'Richard H. Lansdale pledging his aid was read. Commissioner Hagner explained the County Board is powerless to carry out any improvements on the road because it is a State arterial highway, but he assured his listeners he would advocate indorsement of the project by his colleagues on the Board of Montgomery County Commissioners to strengthen the improvement request. Cantrel told the residents to “ham- mer, hammer, hammer at the State Roads Commission and you can win this fight” He said he would per- sonally sponsor a legislative resolution requiring the Highway Department to survey the road for possible improve- ment, if such a step is required. Legislation Planned. The speaker told the road improve- ment advocates the “State Roads Com- mission members are the ones who have their fingers on the purse strings, not your county commissioners. Keep after the roads body and you'll get your improvements.” Miss Shoemaker said the failure of the State Roads Commission to ap- portion a ‘“reasonable amount” of highway improvement funds to Mont- gomery County during the past two years possibly will lead to her intro- duction of a bill during the next ses- sion of the Legislature to revise the a tion system. Psph;l"l?:lu she has not definitely de- termined what form the bill will take, but said there is a “great deal of sentiment” for such tep. Others who spoke ‘T favor of the road improvement werewMrs. Louis A. Gravelle of the Bethesda Elementary School Parent-Teacher Association, John A. Dickinson, president of the Bethesda Pire Board; B. W. Parker, ‘William !ucklz&nnd Samuel E. Stone- o braker, all of Bethesda Chamber the commission’s own existing orders. Hearing Began July 23. Subsequently, on May 28, the com= mission formally began its one-man street car investigation, and held a hearing beginning July 23. Yet, when the hearing started, the suit | alleged, the commission, by its pre= vious action, already had approved the rebuilt Providence type of cars. October 19 the P. U. C. refused to rehear the matter and the appeal ! to the District Court was from the order entered in that ruling. Since that time, the court was told, the Capital Transit Co. gave notice that it would discontinue its $1 weekly pass but continue the $1.25 pass. This, it was said, will decrease | the number of passengers and con- | sequently the operating expenses, but will result in a consideraktle increase in revenue. It is this new situation that the plaintiffs desire to present at another hearing. The suit charged that the order | was not based on a complete finding |of fact, was arbitrary and ignored ;tne weight of evidence. It also was | alleged , that it was predicated upon an erroneous finding concerning the financial condition of the Capital Transit Co. 'BONUSES ARE GRANTED BY 2 MORE COMPANIES ‘The Washington, Marlboro & An- napolis Motor Lines and the District, Lawyers, and Washington Title Insur- ance Cos. today joined the local firms which are paying Christmas bonuses to their employes. L. L. Altmann, president and gen- eral manager of the motor company, announced officers of the company voted the bonus “in appreciation of the loyal service of the employes.” Maximum bonuses of $100 will be given employes with 14 years or more service, and others will receive from §5 to $30, depending on length of service. The title insurance companies will pay half a month’s salary to all per- sons in their employ for a year or more, with appropriate gifts for em- ployes of lesser service. One hundred persons are affected. A special dividend also was declared. of Commerce, and J. H. Stephens, vice president of the Capital Transit Co. Fears Major Tragedy. Mrs. Gravelle told her audience that two school busses carrying more than 50 children travel over the road twice daily and declared that narrow condi- tions on the highway may led to a major tragedy unless improvements are made. Dickinson said voluhteer members of the Bethesda Fire Department risk their lives for the county every time they answer an alarm along the road and said it is a “miracle that we have never had a crash with our apparatus.” He said the department covers an area of 47 square miles and must necessarily make high speed in re- sponding on fire or ambulance calls. Many of the runs made by his com- pany, which averages 200 calls yearly, are along Old Georgetown road, he declared. Ford Young, sr., who introduced the improvement resolution, opened the meeting as chairman of the OlJ Georgetown Road Citizens' Assoc tion’s Special Road Improvement Col mittee and then turned the sessiof fover to Lendell A. Conner, president of that organfation, who presided.