Evening Star Newspaper, March 25, 1937, Page 2

WOMAN S VT OF DEATHPLUNCE Chevy Chase Resident Was Recovering From Injuries in Stove Blast. By A Staft Correspondent of The Star. BETHESDA, Md., March 25.—While recovering from a gas explosion in her home Monday, Mrs. Rebecca Anna | Rea, 36, wife of Courts D. Rea, & | Bocial Security Board official, was | Washington Wayside Tales Random Observations of Interesting Events and Things. MIXED MOTORS. HE principal activity of our correspondents around town yesterday seems to have been fatally injured early today when she | tangling up motor cars. Not jumped from her attic window, ac- | in accidents or telephone wires. Just cording to police reports. tangling them. Dr. Benjamin C. Perry. who had| A certain reporter we know only been treating Mrs. Rea since she| = was critically injured by the explosion of the kitchen stove, told police that #he had leaped from a small window above the bed room of her home, at 4515 Ridge avenue, Chevy Chase, and evidently suffered a fractured skull. She was dead upon arrival at the Georgetown Hospital, where she was taken by the Bethesda fire depart- | ment resque squad. | [ Officer William Crawford of the | too well went out in the middle of the Montgomery County Police said that |afternoon to pick up a friend’s car Mrs. John Turner, sister of Mrs. Rea, (on a parking lot. After touring the Who lives at 815 Eighteenth street in | city in his borrowed machine, he Washington, spent the night at the | returned to the friend's apartment Rea home. She reported that neither |and left the keys. His walk home- h:g tsl:p:.‘sdurmgr\;he axght and lhfl;‘ward was interrupted by wild shouts about 4:45 am. Mrs. Rea got out of land a great sound as of a madman bed and paced the floor. She said she | gulumpgmg down the street. The afisred‘ hctxl- sl‘.:;('r ; scdallx;]e bé\t it | reporter turned. It was his friend. vas refuse Mrs. Turner then drop- “Hey, these are not my keys.” he p@ddng {fn 51?(‘}{: Bn(li [when‘shf ladwak- velled. Together they went batk'n:o ened half an hour later, she told po- | the car. It was the wrong one. e lice, her sister was no longer in the |reporter was frantic and wanted to I‘O!;l}l;l S iriar ; ol hide 1n a hole immediately, but finally She called her brother-in-law, who | was persuaded to return the car to was sleeping in a room across the hall, | the parking lot and bring back the and when they noticed that the trap | right one. door at the top of the ladder leading | Fortunately, the man whose auto- to the attic was open Rea went to the | mobile had been whiling away an hall window and saw his wife lying in | afternoon with a total stranger had ;ho driveway. Her m:;dy fell about 35 ] not called for his ma_cl_une_. He prob- eet. She apparently landed on the |ably wonders, however, who left all ba‘r-{k of her hvar; * : those cigarette butts on the floor. ea summoned Dr. Perry, who noti- N fied police. DITTO. Mrs. Rea was rescued from the To even up things, @ Mr. L. P. kiichen of her home Monday, after | cpittenden walked from his Euclid B ieneotun e B e eny oL E ] idge street, | cqr newly washed and polished. A saw flames in the rear of the house | pit yncertain of himself, he circled and notified police. The explosion had | ground it a couple of times and blown the door between the Kitchen| tpen got in. It was his all right. nnf*l dining room off its hinges, broken | That night, home from the office, geveral wmdo\\s_ and blown one of | e gsked his family who had done the kitchen window frames into the the noble deed. None of them had. yard next door | He still doesn’t know whether he ch!’:l:: f:flh:xa: f)r;\u:geh;‘xfnogc:;r:; has a m;u/acmr or an unpaid bill irs 1 | to expect. the kitchen stove, and a note, the| o contents of which Montgomery County | police refused to reveal, was found | nearby. Several of the gas jets were | open. Police explained that the gas probably was ignited by the stove's | pilot light. * % X % PROFIT. ERBERT THIELKE and J. M. Bromwell were held up one night recently and—believe it or not, Ripley—made 75 cents profit on t deal K Thielke and Bromwell were sitting around their home at 1708 M street, he Mr. | OLD-AGE PENSION | | there being not much else they could | THE _EVEN 2 TRAGIC DEATHS REVEALEDBY DIARY Young Men, Trapped Wilds, Write Story of Last Days. By the Canadian Press. HAVRE ST. PIERRE, Quebec, March 25.—A sodden diary told today the agonizing story of slow death from cold and starvation by two youthful brothers, lost in the wilderness of Northern Quebec since last August. Death, gripping them ever tighter in and his brother Edgar, 20, from com- pleting the scrawled record of priva- tion, hunger, illness and pain. Their bodies, aimost skeletons, were | found- by trappers in an old shack | where, apparently, they camped to | wait out a Summer storm. Willie, the | diary showed, cut his leg and was un- able to walk. Meanwhile, as their meager pro- | visions dwindled, new storms buried the bushlands and they were trapped by the heavy snow. Word of their death, apparently late | in January, finally reached here, and an official, sent to investigate, found the diary near their bodies. “My very dear parents” read a scribbled farewell by one of the brothers in the last days of their pain- ful starvation, “before I become too weak to write any more, I want to | tell you that the date that is not em- | tered in my book will show we could move no longer, neither one nor the other. Before losing consciousness, I will write more, for what else can we do? Our souls are in the hands of God.” A pathetic note from Edgar on | January 26 told how Willie died the night before: | “January 26—My very dear parents |and friends, it is Edgar whose said duty it is to tell you that the good | Blessed Virgin came from Heaven last night to take away my dear brother, Willie, about 11 o'clock. “Dear God, I don't know what to do with myself. I can't sleep now. I | | have eaten only once in three days. |1 can hardly cut wood because I'm just able to lift the ax. Oh, God, maybe in a few days the Blessed Virgin will come for me. too Do not fear for us, dear parents. We have gone through too much not to be | | saved. | “I wish you good night now. T no | | longer can see the date on the page. | Whatever date is missing from this | inowbook will be the day good Saint | Anne came for me. I'm saying my | Rosary. I cry and sight, and am trem- | bling with cold. Edgar.” That was the last he wrote. { On the floor beside his emaciated | body they found the book. Its first | entry was dated December 24 and Christmas, the next day, told of “heavy snowstorms, very cold.” Less than a week later Willie said: for days, prevented Willie Collin, 23, | § NG _STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, Sutherland, 75, Fourth of Court In Point of Age Jurist, Native of Eng- land, Appointed by Harding. BY the Associated Press. Justice George Sutherland today became the fourth member of the Su- preme Court to reach the age of 75. ‘The bearded jurist, a native of Eng- land, was the first member of the court since 1794 to be born on foreign soil. He was brought to this country at the age of 15 months A former Re- publican Senator from Utah, he was appointed an associate justice by President Harding in 1922. He would be one of six jus- tices affected by President Roosevelt's proposal to reorganize the Court by appointing an additional member - for each one who did not resign within six months after becoming 70. Sutherland is one of the justices who have voted most consistently against the New Deal. He has sided with the administration in 4 cases and against it in 13. Justices older than Sutherland are Brandeis, 80; Van Devanter, 77, and McReynolds, 75. ARGUMENTS BEGIN INDAVISON TRAL Wife of Alexandria Mayor Collapses on Stand, Tes- tifying in Defense. By ~ Staff Correspondent of The Star. ALEXANDRIA, Va, March 25— Sutherland. Arguments in the case of Emmett C. Davison, Mayor of Alexandria, on trial in Federal District Court here on charges of concealing assets in bankruptcy proceedings and making false statements, were begun shortly after court convened today, with Judge Luther B. Way on the bench. THURSDAY, FIRE RAZES HOME, KILLING 7 PERSONS Five Children Fatally Burned in Jersey City, N. J., Three- Alarm Blaze. By the Associated Press. JERSEY CITY, N. J., March 25.— Mrs. Rose Burkhardt, 54-year-old widow; her five youngest children and | a brother-in-law burned to death early | today in a three-alarm fire which razed a three-story frame dwelling. The other dead: John Gorman, about 69. | Philip, 12; Charles, 15; Florence, 17; Theresa, 10, and Veronica, 9. | Rose, 17, another daughter, was the only occupant of the building to es- cape. Awakened by smoke, she was carried to the street by a passerby. Three Families Roused. i All ‘available firemen and apparatus | in the city were called to battle the | fire. Police and firemen awakened members of three families sleeping in an adjacent three-story building and aided them in reaching the street. Piremen kept the flames from spread- ing to this building and to a garage | on the other side. Firemen said the Burkhardt family and Gorman were sleeping in their quarters on the second and top floors of the building. On the ground floor Gorman operated a junk shop, and firemen said they had to fight their way with axes through the piles of mattresses, furniture and other ar- ticles stored there to reach the stair- way to the upper floors. Two Children Suffocated. Dr. Alan Rose, Medical Center in- terne, said two of the children suffo- cated before fire reached them. Robert, 24, and John, 22, two other sons of Mrs. Burkhardt, did not spend | the night at home An older daughter, Mrs. Mary Lanese, 26, who lived elsewhere. col- lapsed when she reached the scene. 'WINDSOR MAY GO TO FRANCE TO WED/ Duke and Mrs. Simpson Will | Honeymoon in Carinthia, Says | Vienna Rumor. BY the Asc-~1ated Press, VIENNA, March 25.—Belief that the Duke of Windsor and Wallis War- | field Simpson would wed in France MARCH 25, 1647. Flag on His Grave Prote ted CITENEEDOFHELP FOR EMPLOYABLES Suggestions for Aiding 3,000 Jobless in District Given on Radio. Concrete suggestions as to what Washingtonians can do to help the 3,000 jobless employables in the Dis- | trict were made by three prominent welfare leaders last night in the last of the “help wanted” broadcast: rranged by the Community Chest and | the Public Welfare Board in co-opera- tion with Station WJSV. The speakers were Herbert L. Wil- | lett, jr., director of the Chest: Dr | Frederick W. Perkins, chairman of the | Public Assistance Division of the Wel- fare Board, and Coleman Jennings outstanding welfare leader. | In answer to a question by Hugh | Conover, WJSV announcer, Jenning said he had persona estigate the problems faced by many of th- 3,000 and had found ‘“definite destitu- | tion in this community Could Find No Food. The first family he visited consiste of an unemployed man, his wife anc 10 children. He said he looked 11 “every nook and cranny” where fooc Rags, the hero dog of the 1st Division. The name of the ser- geant, his one-time custodian, could not be learned. (Story on Page A-1.) Battle Strips Girls Defying Strike Pickets Attempt to Penetrate Line Leads to Street Fight. BY the Associated Press. MEMPHIS, Tenn, March 25— half dozen workers today in strike disorders at the Nona-Lee Dress Co. plants A battalion of workers attempted William E. Leahy, chief of defense 'anq honeymoon in Carinthia spread | (o march through a picket line main- counsel, and District Attorney Sterlin; Hutcheson were to open for their respective sides. Davison has been on trial since Monday morning and spent nearly four hours on the stand yesterday, | today on the report, which was not | | confirmed, that the former King had | obtained a permit to take his pet | terrier, “Slippers,” to France. | | Windsor was tendered a farewell dinner last night at the British Le- | tained by nearly 100 members of the Ladies' International Garment Work- ers' Union, an affiliate of John L. Lewis' Committee for Industrial Or- ganization. About 40 girls broke through the | | power of the United States is vested in one Supreme Court. The court, he said, is no usurper of power. If it becomes necessary, the power of impeachment can be used against justices of the court, pointed out “Days of Marshall” Cited. “In the days of Marshall, the court was censured on the ground that it arrogated too much power to the Fed- eral Government,” Brenckman said | “Today it is being denounced with |even greater fury and intensity be- cause it does not go far enough in that | direction.” The witness contended that if there | Clothing was ripped from at least a is to be any change in the Constitu- tion it must be made by the people, through amendment, not by inter- pretation by new members of the court. “The Supreme Court has no right to change the Constitution through strain or unwarranted interpreta- tions,” he said. “That is what some people are demanding of it.” Before Brenckman took the stand Senator Burke, Democrat, of Ne- braska, told the committee the Grange he | might be stored and could find none | Dr. Perkins pointed out that mans | persons have the idea “that thr appropriation we get from Congtes is a Federal grant, but it isn't. It i a municipal grant from our City | Council—and it isn't enough to do the job our cities are expected to do.” Comparing Washington with other | cities in this connection, he said { Buffalo was granted $537,000 for gen- eral relief during December, and Cin- cinnati, during the same period, $323,- 000. At the same time, this city, slightly larger than either of the other two, received only $85.000. and this was limited to the relief of un- employables only, leaving nothing for the employables. Funds Required Elsewhere. | Willett said $325,000 is budgeted by the Chest for the relief of employables but that no more than that amount could be expended for direct relief, since it would drain the funds neces- sary for hospitals, orphanages and other similar institutions He explained the Chest, represent- ing private agencies. is supposed to support the charitable institutions. while the money of the Welfare Board is for public relief. In summing up the problem. Jen- nings said civic-minded individuals “who have come to realize how critical the situation is" can help by supple- menting the funds that have come into the Community Chest, and by “letting the authorities know that they are not satisfied to live in a community where people are suffer- ing as they are today.” do. since Bromvwell had only §2 in | [ denving all allegations made in AN | gatjon. He plans to leave by auto- | picket line into the plant. FACTIONS CONFER R | Attempt to Unite to Push Com- | promise Develops at Meeting of Steering Committee. "By the Associated Press. An attempt to unite supporters of all cld-age pension measures to seek early action on compromise legislation has developed from a meeting of the Steering Committee for the revised ‘“Townsend plan bill Representatives Crosby, Democrat, of Pennsylvania and Brewster, Re-| publican, of Maine said a meeting | probably would be called in the next | few days. The main point of conten- | tion preventing an agreement, Crosby | eaid, is a provision in his Townsend bill for compulsory spending of pen- sion money. Some members of the Townsend Steering Committee indicated that provision might be dropped. “There is every indication of a conciliatory attitude,” Brewster said. | Crosby said at least 100 members | were behind the Townsend bill alone. It would finance pensions of up to $200 a month by a 2 per cent trans- action tax. The measure is sponsored | by Dr. F. E. Townsend and his pension | organization. JOHN W. BYNG, 56, FOUND DEAD HERE Body of Victim of Infantile Paralysis Discovered Hang- ing From Door. ‘With a sheet looped around his neck and tied to a hook over a door, the body of John Weston Byng, 56, & na- tive of this city, was found hanging in his room today at the John Dickson Home, Byng, an infantile paralysis victim, had lived at the home for about five years. Prior to that he resided at the Home for Incurables. Horace Lane, an orderly, found the body when he entered the room this morning. Byng was pronounced dead by a private physician. He is survived by a brother, George T. Byng, and four sisters, Mrs. O. G. Hall, Mrs. Mary Shilling, Mrs. Marion Duvall and Mrs. Helen D. Jones. Funera] arrangements have not been completed. Transit (Continued From First Page.) for approval of its petition for an in- crease in street car fares, now before the Public Utilities Commission. Company officials have insisted for many months they would have to have more revenue because of increased oosts of operation, incident to the street car rerouting program, purchase of additional equipment and the wage increase which went into effect iwo years ago Last Summer the company asked the commission to grant an increase in the token fare from the present rate of four for 30 cents to three for 25 cents. The commission decided it would determine the present value of the transit company before it actec on the ‘ requested fare increase. | Public hearings on the value of ocompany properties are scheduled to start April 12. The hearings on the | proposed increase in token fares will be held after a value has been fixed. The commission recently approved @ request by the company to buy 8720,000 worth of new rolling stock. This is to include 45 new street ears of modern type. The commission als0 has approved plans of the com- | pany to buy 46 new busses as a part of the company's 1837 program for provision of 71 new busses at & cost of $509,000. | took off. his pockets and Thielke a single penny. Enter two robbers, with de- mands for cash. After searching | their victims' pockets, the bandits | said to Thielke, “We won't take your last penny,” and to Bromwell, “As for you, here’s 30 cents to buy your- self some breakfast.” | This was all very gay and charming, | up a poker and, to speed the parting guests, slcughed one of them on the head. During the ensuing upscuttle, | Thielke ran from the room and re- | leased his police dog from the cellar. | The robbers fled. Within a short distance, the dog hag caught both men, but one of them hit him with the poker snatched from | Bromwell. Thielke. who had grabbed | up another poker someplace, retali- | ated by slinging it at the thug. Thereupon both thieves shouted, | “Leave us alone, you guys, we'll give | you your money back.” threw & hand- i ful of change on the sidewalk and | | | When the two “victims” counted | up the proceeds, they were 75 cents ahead. * x % x QUINTS. A HAUSFRAU out in Georgetown | heard a cat mewing around the | back door the other morning and thought she recognized it as a neigh- bor's pet, strayed several blocks from home. She hauled out a bowl of milk and presented it to the cat. In reciprocation, the cat slipped down the cellar steps a bit later, quite unnoticed, went into the furnace room and presented the lady of the house with five lusty kittens. * x ok x POLICY. Representative Frank L. Kloeb of Ohio treasures in his desk a letter he regards as the most ezplicit ever written to him by a constituent. The fellow simply wrote: “I am against it.” It was before the Supreme Court argument started, too. * NOW is the time for some good man to come to the aid ofgthe drama department of this paper, which (or who, if you want to be nice about it) spent half an hour yesterday argu- ing over the spelling of the third word in “Eenie meenie meinie mo,” and we—they—still don't know. * % ok x PROGRESS. 'HE residential real estate boom in the suburbs of Washington may be & joy to salesmen and contractors and even home lovers, but it is a pain in "the neck to certain public servants. A tax assessor out in Arlington County, for example, confided to & friend of ours that he had just com- pleted the assessment of a vacant fleld about two months ago. Drove by there the other day and discovered there were now 20 houses on it! —_— QUEEN’S DOUBLE DIES British Woman Often Mistaken for Mary by Sentries. LONDON, March 25 (#).—Mrs. Helen Mary Lex, who frequently was mistaken for Queen Mother Mary, died Wednesday at the age of 74. Sentries often saluted Mrs. Lex as she walked from her home at Windsor and scores of visitors photographed her in the belief she was Queen Mary. One day at Windsor Castle a young officer even turned out the guard and commanded a “present arms” for Mrs. ’ “I ended this unlucky year by cutting indictment returned by a grand jury mobile Monday for St. Wolfgang, & my foot.” | here last June. Another indictment, Food then became scarce so, despite | charging perjury in the same pro- still raging storms, they decided on | ceedings, is also pending against him a desperate effort to get home. But ¢ | Wife Collapses on Stand. two days later: “We weren't able to leave * * * it| The high light of the trial came is hard to move about * * * Willie | yesterday, when Mrs. Laura L. Davi- has sore legs and I am sick to mY|gon wife of the defendant, collapsed itan't eat any more * * * it is hard |to cut wood.” Almost a week later: “* * * stiil snowing * * * we are getting weaker every day * * * oh, God, how miser- | able life is to us * * * we can't tell on paper all our miseries and trouble | L for two days now we have! eaten only (flour and water) cakes * ¢ * how long and lonely the days | are * * * we are very weak * ¢ " Another week: “We couldn't even drag ourselves out to get wood today. * We are despairing day by da | * If only help would come. * * January 18: “Another day and no | one came to our rescue. * * * | ‘My dear brother can't lift himself | he is very weak. We grow weaker | every day and have hardly any flesh | on our bones. * * * We think only of | death. * * * At night we almost perish from cold. * * * I can see with only oneleye:asisRs January 25: “I don’t think Willie will live through the night. * * * " January 26: “¢ * * Willie is dead * * * Oh, God, maybe in a few days the Blessed Virgin will come for me, t00.” COUPLE’S DEATH IS HELD SUICIDE AND HOMICIDE “Baby” in Wife's Dying Note Said to Refer to Husband, Asphixiated While Sleeping. The gas deaths of Norris Shelton and his wife, Virginia, were recorded | in the coroner’s office today as “sui- cide and homicide.” Investigation led Coroner A. Ma- | gruder MacDonald to decide that Mrs. Shelton, 25, opened the jets of a gas stove in their room at 1345 L street Tuesday morning while her husband, 30, a cab driver, slept. Relatives claimed the bodies from | the morgue yesterday. The couple were married last May and werei childless. A “baby” referred to in Mrs. Shelton’s last notes was her husband, it was decided. . Belfast Bans “Green Pastures.” BELFAST, Northern Ireland, March 25 (#)—The film version of ‘“‘Green Pastures” was banned today by the Belfast Municipal Council on the grounds it was irreligious. Congress in Brief TODAY. Senate: May debate $100,000,000 crop in- surance bill. Judiciary Committee hearings on President's court bill. House: Resumes debate on four-department appropriation bill. Interstate Commerce Committee continues hearings on natural gas reg- ulation. Agriculture Committee continues hearings on farm tenancy aids. TOMORROW. continues | Senate: Will not be in session. Interstate Commerce Subcommit- tee meets at 10:30 a.m. on bills re- lating to track and bridge inspec- tion.. Judiciary Committee probably will continue hearings on President’s court bill. House: Will not be in session. Subcommittees of the appropriations Committee in charge of the War and Agriculture Department and deficiency supply bills resums hearings 10 sm. but Bromwell was bored. He picked | stomach * * * the way it is nOW We o the witness stand while defending her husband. Mrs. Davison recently underwent a major operation and came to testify, against the advice of her physician, Dr. O. A. Snyder. She entered the court room supported by Dr. Snyder and a nurse. When she collapsed, she was revived by Dr. Snyder in the witness room. Mrs. Davison corroborated the story given the fury earlier by her husband. She said during their 39 years of mar- ried life Davison had always given her his money and that she had managed the household and the finances. She denied that Davison knew any- thing about the transfer of a savings account from the names of herself and husband to that of herself and daugh- ter, Mrs. Laura M. Heflin, until after the transfer was made. She denied this money was held for her husband to evade the bankruptcy law. Davison Describes Finances. Earlier Davison had described his finances over a period of three years prior to the filling of the bankruptcy petition November 18, 1935. The charges are based on a savings account in the Citizens’ National Bank of Alex- andria in the names of Mrs. Davison and her daughter and a check drawn by Davison from the International As- sociation of Machinists, of which he is general secretary-treasurer. Davison declared the check from the association represented an overdraft on his account and that he had told the truth when he told the referee in bankruptcy he had no money on hand and that no wages were due him at the time. It is around this check and the savings account that the charges were found by the grand jury. Just before the noon recess yester- day the dapper little mayor told of wire tapping during an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investiga- tion. Asked if he intended to insin- uate that the wire tapping had been done by the F. B. I. agents, Davison declared: “I don’t intend to insinuate any- thing—I am merely making a state- ment of fact.” ‘The case was expected to go to the jury shortly after ndon. Oppose Court Plan Louis J. Taber, master of President Harold W. Dodds of characteristic ciary Committee yesterda; Supreme Court reorganizat oses as they appeare, in_oppo: plan. health resort in the Austrian Tyrol. YOUNG DRIVER FINED | $47 ON SIX CHARGES Faces Alternative of 107 Days in | Jail—Police Claim Attempts L to Escape. | Traffic Judge John P. McMahon vesterday sentenced Robert May, colored, 21, of the 1700 block of Wii- lard street, to pay fines of $47 or serve a total of 107 days in jail on six traffic charges brought last Fall.| The defendant was described by the court &s “a menace to the com- munity.” Two policemen, C. E. Rabbitt and W. B. Hopkins, testified against the youth. Hopkins said the defendant was caught for speeding and operat- ing on an expired permit, and then | violated the speed limit again when | | he went the other way after being | ordered to the station house. | Rabbitt said he arrested the youth | for parking abreast last August, and | when he failed to produce his permit | was taken to the station house. | While Rabbitt was searching the de- | fendant's record, he said, May walked | out and was not apprehended unm;’ Tuesday of this week. May told Judge McMahon all the policemen and detectives seemed to | be going out, and, since no one said anything to him, he left also. | | | | €. C. C. CAMPS REDUCED BY TWO IN MARYLAND BY the Associated Press. Robert Fechner, director of emer- | gency conservation work, announced | today the number of Civilian Con- | servation Corps camps in Maryland | would be reduced by two on April 1. One camp will be established at Doncaster in Charles County, Fech- ner said, and a new camp located at North East in Cecil County. Four camps will be closed on com- pletion of their work projects. They are a camp at the Fort Frederick State Monument in Washington County and three State forest camps, at Townsend, Prince Georges Coun- ty; Western Port, Garrett County, and one in Allegany County near the West Virginia State line. the National Grange, left, and Princeton University shown in d before the Senate Judi- sition to the President’s —Harris & Fwing Photo. § Eight members of the union were arrested on charges of threatened breach of the peace. One worker was arrested. Fifteen policemen, including motor cycle patrolmen and special guards, found the 150-girl battle difficult to handle. The pickets surrounded the plant at 6:30 am. At 8 a.m, a single work- er, intent on entering, was dissauded at the front door. She tried the back and was nearly stripped. A half hour later two groups of women moved on each other like armies. Girls rolled on the pavement among hats, blouses, skirts and un- dergarments while an occasional par- ticipant called for a coat. Judiciary (Continued From First Page.) it would establish no definite policy regarding the justices in the future. 3. Adoption of the proposal, in the present circumstances. would threaten the independence of the Supreme Court and might permanently impair the confidence of the people in that court. ‘4. The proposal is designed to bring about fundamental changes in the Pederal system without submitting the question to the people.” The witness disagreed with the interpretation of the general welfare clause of the Constitution made by President Roosevelt in recent ad- dresses. He contended this clause re- lated to the power to levy taxes and that it did not relate to other powers which were not delegated to the United States. “The interpretation of the general welfare clause by the President is not new,” Smith said. “It has been re- peatedly advanced and tenaciously held by some. But it has never gained approval by the court and in the opinion of most statesmen, lawyers and legal scholars who have written | upon the subject, it is untenabl In his testimony, Brenckman had suggested an amendment to the Con- stitution fixing definitely the number of justices comprising the Supreme Court. “No other amendmenit to the Con- stitution is so urgently needed,” Brenckman sald. “Nine judges are enough. Adoption of such an amend- ment would forestall any future at- tempt to pack the Supreme Court to influence its decisions.” After stating that whereas the Supreme Court has declared 77 laws unconstitutional, Presidents have vetoed 1,167 acts of Congress, the farm leader said: “Why should the Supreme Court be accused of nullifying the action of the representatives of the people when it declares & law unconstitutional, while comparatively little is said about a presidential veto, which is usually soon forgotten.” Brenckman said that from the foundation of the Government down to the present time Congress has en- acted approximately 25,000 public laws. He said only about a dozen of the acts invalidated by the Supreme Court are considered of any great importance. “It should be kept in mind that when the Supreme Court voids a legis- lative act it is only done at the trial in open court and after full con- sideration on the part of nine jus- tices,” Brenckman said. “But when the President disapproves an act of Congress he may do it arbitrarily and without consulting any one. In the case of a pocket veto he does not even give a reason.” The witness told the committee the | President’s plan to curb the Supreme Court “has stirred the Nation from center to circumference as it has never been stirred - before in the time of profound peace.” Defending the court, he stated that under the Con- stitution, the Supreme Court is fully empowered to declare acts of Con- gress unconstitutional since the Con- stitution declares that the judicial g representative was not a constitu- tional expert, but added authorities on the subject would be called later by the opponents of the bill. “I am sorry,” Burke said, “that we who are opposed to the measure have been unable to submit a complete list | of our witnesses. But we have not had the services of the Department of Justice and the Public Information | Service, which seems to be an adjunct | of the Democratic National Committee, | as did the supporters of this bill.” Asked if G. 0. P. Aid Sought. Senator Neely, Democrat, of West Virginia, then asked Burke if he had made any effort to enlist the aid of ‘tha Republican National Committee. | Burke said it had not been necessary. The Nebraska legislator then an- nounced tomorrow's witnesses will in- | clude Dr. Erwin N. Griswold, professor | of constitutional law at Harvard Uni- | versity; Walter F. Dodd, Chicago law- ver, and Dorothy Thompson, news- paper columnist and wife of Sinclair Lewis, the novelist. Miss Thompson will be the first woman to testify since the hearing opened. Brenckman s to be followed by Dr. Norman J. G. Wickes of Washington, executive secretary of the Lutheran Board of Education, and Dr. Young B. Smith, dean of Columbia University Law School. Louis J. Taber, master of the grange, told the committee yesterday that this enlargement of the court, if | enacted into law, might set a prece- dent which eventually would endanger fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. McGill Questions Taber. Senator McGill, Democrat, of Kan- sas, who has not committed himself on the bill, asked: | "Suppose this present court should | resign. Is it your view that the Presi- | dent would appoint and the Senate | confirm a court which would sustain in,s constitutional legislation depriving the people of religious liberties?” |in a voice that rang through the | crowded chamber. He added, however, that “the pre- cedent established could be used in the future by a reactionary President or prejudice to do something evil.” ‘William Hirth, publisher of the Mis- souri Farmer and head of a large Mis- souri farm co-operative organization, also voiced unqualified opposition to the bill. Supported President. “At the request of Jim Farley,” he told the committee, “I took the stump for Mr. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936, but I would never have done so had I known he intended to propose any |such legislation as this. Farley now | says opposition to the bill is treason to the Democratic party. I say that iX will cheerfully assume that ig- nominy.” Dr. Theodore Graebner, professor of theology at Concordia College, St. Louis, testified late yesterday that while the Roosevelt bill had no re- sequences affecting religion.” “If it is permissible to 1gnore the provisions made for adoption of con- is struggle between certain economic forces,” he said, “it is permissible in matters church and state.” M'NINCH HITS COURT Power Commission Head Dissatis- fled With Its Decisions. Frank R. McNinch, chairman of the Federal Power Commission, said last night the Supreme Court had laid down formulas for utility rate-making “so elaborate, inconsistent, imprac- ticable” as to thwart regulation of rates. McNinch said in a radio speech that the court based its rulings on a “formula of mixed fact and conjecture, of expert and judicial opinion. of theory, hypothesis, sssumption snd uess.” “That’s unthinkable.” Taber replied | a Congress moved by passion and | ligious implication, it could have “con- | stitutional amendments because there | involving the relations of | WElTrope (Continued From Pirst Page ) of the Italian units which participate in the unsuccessful insurgent drit toward Madrid It was not known where the Italian had withdrawn. The government has | contended at least 30.000 of them | fought the losing battle for the in- | surgents in the Guadalajara sector in the last few weeks From Geneva came news an ex- traordinary session of the League of Nations Assembly was convoked for | May 26—with the possibility that the Spanish problem might be The Assembly will be primar: the purpose of electing Egypt to the League, but the Spanish matter was not debarred. Want to Keep Committee. London sources stressed that Britain was anxious primarily to keep the Spanish question within the Non- intervention Committee Action outside the committee, it was feared, might endanger what successes the neutrality body had gained in the long months of its wrangling. Italian officials in Rome kept silence on the entire matter, pointing out | they were resting on their own pro- posal to ban volunteers, made long ag0. Some sources deplored any new unilateral action designed to achieve | the same end | British diplomats working to smooth a threatened break with Mussolini | were encouraged by reports in some | quarters that the British cabinet had received Rome's assurances Italy did not intend to abandon the non-inter- vention program. Diplomats Near Clash. It was said the ministers would re- member only those assurances and forget everything else, including a near fist fight between Ambassador Dino Grandi of Italy and the Soviet envoy, Ivan Maisky, over the latter’s charge of “ever-increasing” Italian interven= tion Maisky charged 60,000 Italians went to the Spanish war about the middle of February, many of them from the regular army, and termed it “one of the most flagrant cases of foreign intervention ever known to history.” Grandi has refused even to discuss | removal of Italian soldiers from Spain. | The Italian attitude also has been represented as an insistence that Italian soldiers remain in Spain for the duration of the conflict. Angered words by Joachim von Ribbenthrop, the German Ambas- | sador, who accused the Russians of “hypocrisy,” and by the Portuguese delegate followed the Grandi-Maisky clash before quiet was restored and the Soviet charges referred to & subcommittee. GRAVE CRISIS SEEN. PARIS, March 25 (#).—France ral- | lied her European allies today to erect a naval blockade against the possibil- ity of Italy’s waging an undeclared war against the Republican govern- ment in Spain Diplomatic circles considered France's stern attitude against any break in the international neutrality line-up had raised the gravest crisis in troubled Europe since Germany gave assurances of her peaceful in- tentions in the fac of a similar French warning to keep out of Span- ish Morocco. In the present situation, Germany promised an early reply to France's twofold proposal to bolster the London agreement by— [ 1. Withdrawal of all foreign troops | from Spain 2. Prevention of fusther influx by force. Ou Tuesday Great Britain was told by Italy after urgent representations that the only Italian landings in Spain since the international ban on volunteers went into effect was & medical detachment March 8. b