Evening Star Newspaper, January 1, 1937, Page 8

A8 UTILITIES CHANGES RESULT OF STUDIES Activity of Commission Is Responsible for Settle- ment of Problems. Tn one of the busiest vears of its eareer, the Public Utilities Commis- | sion in 1936 tackled many vital prob- | lems affecting transportation, gas, | power and telephone services, and | significant new policies flowed from | its studies. Final street car re-routing was or- dered, the Washington Rapid Transit Co. was merged with the Capital Transit Co. gas, electric and tele- 'Two Depa THE EVENING rtments Under Ickes Permanently Benefited District New Interior Building and Improve- ments in Mall Among Accomplish- ments—Hou ng BY NELSON M. SHEPARD. The year 1936 added a new record of permanent benefits to the District through efforts of Secretary Ickes in his dyal capacity as head of the In- terior Department and public workl‘ administrator. Projects Begun. authority in providing permanent and rented office quarters for the ever- expanding agencies of the New Deal. In this latter connection, the com- pletion of the Interior Building brings Ickes face to face with new prob- lems of Federal office space during Outstanding among a score of such |the coming year. The Interior projects were: Bullding provides for 700,000 square Completion of the new Interior De- ‘ feet of usable office space, partment Building at & cost of $12.- | Approximately 2.000,000 square feet 000,000, first major Federal structure Of quarters now being rented by va- sponsored in Washington by the New |rious Government agencies. leaving | STAR, Congress in 1937 will call for & huge appropriation to provide additional permanent Federal offices in Wash- ington. The growth of the New Deal has undone every effort Ickes has made in the last four years to solve this vexing problem. Unless the Gov- ernment launches upon a progressive building program, he visualises a greater rent bill each succeeding year, In matters of national policy, the past year was outstanding for both the Interior Department and Public Works Administration. Sentiment gained ground in Con- gress for changing the name of the Interior Department to that of the Department of Conservation, a recom- mendation reiterated) by Ickes in his annual report as “more expressive of its fundamental purpose and nature.” | President Roosevelt is reported as | sympathetic but has done nothing | about it. | Reclamation Work. _ Outstanding in 1936 was the ad- | WASHINGTON, D. C. FRIDAY, waters of the arid West through a $52,000,000 construction program which far outdistanced that recorded in any previous year. The fiscal year 1936, by its actual results, gave a new demonstration of the benefits to the West and to the Nation of Ickes' national reclamation policy. Notable also was the progress made in the public works program as an aid to industrial recovery and the com- pletion of socially useful projects. The Public Works Administration enters 1937 with its first and largest program virtually completed, the second P. W. A. program at its peak and the third, or current program, well launched. With the benefit of earlier experience, 1t 1s proceeding at s faster clip than either of the two preceding programs. As the year ended Ickes had only $200,000,000 remaining in his P. W. A. chest. clipped to & great extent this year. He received only $300,000,000 in new JANUARY 1, His spending powers were | 1937. the mat for him. this sum has been expended. While it is extremely doubtful that & new appropriation for the P. W. A. will be proposed in the budget, bud- getary officers are expected to recom- mend suthorization for Ickes to use the remaining $200,000,0000 to round out and complete limited additional projects. Permanent P. W. A, Sought. There will be strong advocacy in Congress for a continuation of the good work the P. W. A, is doing .thmuahout the coumtry and while it 1s only possible to speculate about the future, sentiment is growing on be- half of a permanent P. W. A. pro- gram, small, to be sure, but sufficient |to bolster industry and employment | in times of economic distress. | Ickes holds the same view with respect to housing. successful Federal demonstration housing has accomplished its first objective and that the time has come when municipalities should take ‘ovtr the burden of this problem with He belleves the ! in | Only a portion o!'openmm ‘This view Ickes voiced repeatédly during 1936 a# his own first Nation-wide low-rent housing program in some 36 cities pushed steadlly toward completion. Seal Attacks Boat. [ Fishermen had to defend themselves | with their oars when a seal attacked their boai near Lerwick, Shetland Islands, and, instead of showing the | usual timidity of such mammals, it returned time and again to its attack. | 06000004000008000600000 A Fappy amd Prosperous New YPear Te Friends and Patrons >4 - Von Mackensen Now 87. Field Marshal von Mackensen, the™ German war leader, recently cele- brated his 87th birthday anniversary, © ESTABLISHED 1865 o GREETINGS A Hoppy New Year! This 72 - yeor extends to Washington its t wishes e in your each end every home. I Closed Teday and Tomorrow I 3 JGE0. M. BARKER’ e COMPANY o/ UMBER 649-651 N. Y. Ave. N.W. 1523 Tth St. N.W. ERNEST BURK Ezxpert Watchmaker Jewelry of 307 K » o 5 G St. N.W. vancement made by the Reclamation | funds for P. W. A. and then only phone rates were reduced and plans | Deal. President Roosevelt laid its cor- | were proposed for the long-sought | dissolution of the foreign control of the Washington Gas Light Co. | The new year opens with prospects | of real battles over street car fares, | extension of the use of one-man street cars, decision on a valuation of the transit properties for rate-making | purposes. The company has peti- | tioned an increase in the street car ' token fare from four for 30 cents to | three for 25 cents, and has announced | it will abandon sale of the $1 weekly street car pass January 3 | Replacement Plan Urged. | Late in the year Riley E. Elgen, chairman of the commission, called | on the transit company to adopt a svstematic program for annual re- | placement of the oldest street cars. On December 24 the company asked permission to buy 45 new type street | cars, which would be operated as one- | man cars, and to purchase 71 addi- | tional busses and make other improve- | ments estimated to cost, in fil].f $2.700.000. A battle over one-man CArs Was taken to court by the Federation of | Citizens’ Associations and the Central Labor Union in an appeal from the | commission’s action in allowing the | company to convert the 20 President's conference type of cars to one-man | operation and permitting the pur- ' chase of 30 second-hand cars to re- place worn out one-man Cars. Substitution of bus services for one of the two street car lines serving Takoma was proposed late in the year by the company and the commission will approve the change. Thousands of dollars will be saved the District under a decision by the United States District Court placing the cost of removal of abandoned street car rails and the repaving of the car track areas on the transit company. The case was won for the commission by Hinman D. Folsom, 1is special counsel. Gas Rates Reduced. | The first test of the sliding scale | plan for annual adjustment of gas rates came last July, when the com- mission ordered a further cut in the ‘ consumer charges. The decision was accepted by the Washington 3as Light Co. The Washington and Suburban Cos., the Massachusetts common-law trus which holds control over the Wasl ington Gas Light Co., filed a state- ment with the Securities and Ex- change Commission proposing the sale of all its stock in the Washington Co., | 84 per cent of the total. Later the Washington Co. proposed to buy the | Alexandria and Hyattsville gas com- panies, also controlled by the trust, | but the commission rejected the plan ' on the ground the price was too high. | Later, the bankers in the trust de-! cided to retire $6.000,000 of bonds in the Washington Co. and to allow the latter to issue a large amount of ad- ditional stock. | The basic return allowed the Poto- mac Electric Power Co. was reduced from 7 to 6.5 per cent and this gave the public an additional rate cut of $350.000. Following principles contained in & decision of the United States District Court, the commission obtained a re- duction of some schedules of telephone rates which affected a saving to the public of $251,000. POLICE NOT FOOLED CHICAGO (#).—Advised by tele- phone that a man had leaped from a third-story window, policemen of the Shakespeare Avenue Station dashed to the address given and found Edward Thomas, 25, on the lawn. Edward admitted he had quarreled with his wife, threatened to jump out the window ahd walked downstairs when she wasn't looking. The police locked him up on a disorderly conduct charge. PAY DAY ON FINE FOODS—SHOP KIDWELL’S FANCY MEATS AT SAVINGS FANCY TURKEYS LOIN AND RIB LAMB CHOPS FANCY LEG LAMB _ FULL CUT SMOKED SHOULDERS,,II:. 18¢ SHOULDER LAMB ROAST BREAST LAMB SLICED BACON __ SMOKED SAUSAGE _ PORK LOIN ROAST _ LEAN HAMBURGER LEAN, FRESH SHOULDERS_ ROLL’ TABLE BUTTER _ BEAN PORK (Fat Back)_ FRESH PIG HAMS (Half or Whole) _ lb. TENDER CHUCK ROAST_ FANCY SPARERIBS SHOULDER SPARERIBS __1b, 9¢, 3 Ibs. 25¢ FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FANCY TANGERINES dox. 10¢, 3 doz. BULK SAUERKRAUT Ib. FRESH SPINACH _ Faney Steaks ROUND or SIRLOIN w. 21c COLLARDS _ | 000 development, ing regulations. { [922 N. Y. Ave. ner stone April 16, 1936, and 3.000 em- | ployes will move in January 16, to :el. a new building record. Federal construction advanced again in recent weeks, when bids were in- vited for the new Apex Building, in the Pennsylvania avenue triangle, to house the Federal Trade Commission. Its construction is possible through a P. W. A. allotment of more than $3,- 000.000. Work was started finally at Langs- ton, P. W. A.'s first low-rent housing project for Washington. This $1,600.- on Benning road northeast, will provide modern, sani- tary living accommodations within a | year for nearly 300 colored families of low income. Improvements in the Mall. Through the use of P. W. A. funds the year saw great progress in carrying | out the long projected improvements in the Mall, in accordance with the original plan laid out 150 years ago by Maj. Pierre I'Enfant. Union Square was completed, the Botanic Gardens ! relocated and the new parkway was virtually completely. except for re- moval of one temporary office struc- | ture. The year also saw the largest park improvement program in the District | approach completion. Under a $1,000,- 1000 P. W. A, allotment, Lafayette and | Franklin Squares were done over and | nearly & hundred of the smaller cil\' parks and reservations are undergoing resurfacing and landscaping. By various transfers of jurisdiction to the Secretary of the Interior, each of the four preceding years has given evidence of Ickes' growing influence in matters relating to Federal activ- ities in and on behalf of the District. Under previous administrations, practically the only local concern of the Interior Department was confined to supervision over Howard Univer- | sity, Freedmen's and St. Elizabeth's Hospitals. Now it is different. No other cabinet officer approaches the authority that Ickes now exercises over the development of the National Capital. His power spreads over all | the Federal parks in the city and through direct representation he has a voice in all matters of District zon- Space Control Director. | He 1s custodian of nearly every Fed- eral building with the exception of those under congressional supervision, his own control extending even to the grounds of the White House. He is the director, also, of Federal space control. which gives him the voice of Devoe’s Paints are o Standard Brond. N 1 8610 TO MY FRIENDS AND CLIENTS | extend heartiest wishes for @ happy ond prosperous New Yeor ond for the eppreciation ond opportunities they have accorded me. Spe in oll lines of Reel Estate. SIMON BELOFF Real Estate Loons and Insurance 1003 N. Y. Ave. N.W. Ne. 8187 SPECIALS _Ib. 22¢ ,lb. 18¢c b. 14c Extra Speelal ancy RABBITS 30c «a. Fresh-Killed CHICKENS an, -Ib. 14¢ BUCKS Ib. 17¢ One of Ickes' recommendations to | Bureau in the conservation of the | after supporters in Congress went to | the aid of Federal grants and co- An Event that means Savings. Regular Pri ICEBERG LETTUCE _ Extra Large FLORIDA ORANGES Special 23C dox. NEW GREEN CABBAGE LARGE CARROTS _ FANCY CRISP CELERY__bunch 8¢ and NEW CHESTNUTS LGE., FANCY GRAPEFRUIT__S¢c, 6 for e Ib. 12Y3e SUGAR, Big Snap NEW NO. 1 5WEET POTATOES 3 lb-. NEW GREEN KALE Ne. 1_N POTATOES 10 ws. 29¢ PECANS N.E. MKT,, 12th & HNE. SOUR PICKLES, 2153 Pa. Ave NW. ce $40 and $45 REGULARLY PRICED AT 37.50 Society Brand SUITS Overcoats $ Topcoats 33 (Men's Furnishings, Second Fleor, The Hecht Co.) h“."’.'.”.’. L] ~‘000‘0000 00000 NA. 1348 “The Lumber Number""