Evening Star Newspaper, May 15, 1937, Page 16

A—16 w+ MYSTERY SHROUDS DISAPPEARANCE OF REAL ESTATE MAN Detectives Delve Into Affairs Seeking Motive for Mur- der or Suicide. C. F. KEENE MISSING FROM NORFOLK BOAT Bloodstains Are Found in State Room and on Handrail of Vessel. Detectives today delved into the af- fairs of Charles F. Keene in an effort to shed some light on the elderly real estate broker’s disappearance from his £abin on the steamer District of Co- lumbia early yesterday under circum- stances which indicated murder, with robbery as & motive. Investigators also were exploring the possibility of suicide, while ship’s of- ficers said it was possible Keene might have wandered ashore unnoticed and in a mental daze, at either Old Point Comfort or Norfolk, prior to the time he was missed. The boat docked at Norfolk early yesterday and returned here this morning. Unable to Locate Body. Meanwhile, Maryland authorities | had been unable to locate Keene's body in the mouth of the Potomac or in Chesapeake Bay near Smiths Point, where the passenger was believed to have gone overboard. Shifting tides n this area made the search difficult. Only a 5-cent piece was found n the disarrayed cabin, about which Keene's clothing was strewn. There were small amounts of blood on the | lower bunk, on the carpet and on the washbowl beside an open window which looked out directly on the water. XKeene occupied a cabin next to the ufterdeck. Blood on Handrail. Police at Norfolk found bloody fin- | gerprints on a handrail just outside Keene's window and on the afterdeck | rail, about 10 feet aft of the window. | ‘The handrail is set in the outer wall of | the cabins above a small ledge along | which a man can easily walk. Detectives said the flngerprint.si might have been made by Keene as ne | clung to the rail and worked his way aft for a few yards before plunging into the water, or they might have been made by a murderer returning along the ledge and over the deck | rail after throwing the body of his | victim through the window. Detectives at Norfolk took the finger- prints to check them with criminal files and wjth Keene's own prints should the body be recovered. Members of Keene's family said he | rarely discussed his personal affairs | and they hed no idea how much money he had with him when he left ‘Thursday night. Keene had explained e was going to Norfolk to close a real estate deal, but gave no details of the transaction. Son Aids Investigation. Keene's son, Charles Keene, jr., an Annapolis graduate who recently resigned from the Navy to go into business in New York, came to Wash- ington to assist with the investigation. ‘He met the District of Columbia when she returned here this morning and, with headquarters detectives, went over the case with ship’s officers. Keene’s ticket was taken up after the boat left Alexandria. No pas- sengers could be located who remem- | bered seeing him later in the evening. | At about 1 am. yesterday, when the boat was off Smiths Point, Watchman ‘William Bowden thought he heard a muffled explosion from the direction of Keene's cabin. Bowden could not be certain, how- ever. The boat was in motion, the water was somewhat rough at that | point, and the radiators sometimes | banged and popped when steam was turned off or on. Bowden heard no | further suspicious sounds and did not | try the doors of the cabins near where | he stood in the after salon. On the following morning, a woman | who occupied an adjoining cabin re- called hearing & muffled report during | the night, but she could not identify | 4t as a gun shot. Charles Osborne, in whose office in the Union Trust Building Keene rented space, said he did not believe Keene had much money or any val- uables on his person when he left Washington. Osborne and members of Keene's family said he was in ex- cellent spirits and had no reason for committing suicide. Keene's wrist watch and broken eye- glasses were found in the cabin. His suitcase had been opened and clothing was strewn about. The lower: berth was still made, but the top berth looked as if someone had slept in it. From the clothing found in the eabin, investigators were convinced that Keene was dressed only in trousers and underclothing when he went through the window. Police found his automobile driving license, a receipted bill from the Fairfax Hotel, where he lived here with his wife, and a business letier relating to an old Texas estate in Vice Presi- dent Garner’s family. Keene's bill- fold was missing. Keene, who was about 65, had been in the real estate business here for many years. Keene's wife is well known in social eircles here as a bridge expert. She was near prostration when notified of Keene's disappearance. Her husband had expected to return to Washington today. In addition to his wife and son, Power and speed of Uncle Sam’s ships can be predicted by means of tests with steel or wood models in the experi- mental basin, sketched above, to be built at Carderock, on Conduit road, near Cabin John, Md. The basin will be equipped with the latest de- vices for testing models of shigs, seaplanes and amphib- ians. It will replace the eristing model basin at the Navy Yard, which has long been considered obsolete. TRAFFIC DEATHS REACK 47 HERE Man Killed in Striking Pole When Hurled From Door of Auto. Thrown to the street when the door of an automobile in which he was riding flew open, Elmer L. Barham, 39, of 102 Ridge road southeast, was almost instantly killed late yesterday. It was the forty- seventh traffic fa- tality this year. Barham, police said, was a pas- senger in a ma- chine operated by Arthur Boan, 30, of 4002 D street southeast, when the accident oc- curred on Ana- costia road south- east, near Blaine street. When he fell from the car, Barham struck a telephone pole. He was dead on ar- rival at Galinger Hospital, where he was taken by a passing motorist. Less than five hours after he re- ceived severe head injuries in a fight, Ellis Styles, 28, colored, 200 G street northeast, was knocked down by an automobile. Styles was struck on the head with Elmer L. Barham. northeast, about 6 p.m., and was treated at Casualty Hospital. Police said he refused to stay at the hospital after treatment. Skull Fracture Feared. About 10:30 pm. he was injured about the head, when, according to police, he stepped into the path of an automobile beneath the H street via- duct. He was again taken to Casualty, where it was said his skull may oe fractured. Seven other persons were injured, two perhaps seriously, in accidents during the last 24 hours. Ellen Coleman, 34, colored, 1624 Eleventh street, was seriously injured when a truck ran over the sidewalk and struck her following a collision at Eleventh and R streets. The truck, operated, police said, by James Carrington, 21, colored, 2420 K street, was in collision with an auto- mobile driven by Chimes Sowers, 26, of the 1000 block of M street. Fannie Cuthberton, 44, colored, 1311 C street southeast, was taken to Casu- alty with head and spine injuries re- ceived when she was struck by a street car at Pennsylvania and North Caro- lina avenues southeast. Her condition also is considered serious. Youth’s Leg Fractured. Robert T. Surine, 18, of 1326 Kal- mia road, suffered a compound frac- ture of the leg when struck by an automobile on Cedar street, near Fifth. He was taken to Walter Reed Hospital. Marshall Jackson, 12, colored, 2321 Champlain street, received a broken leg when his coaster wagon struck a parked car on Florida avenue near California street. He was taken to Casualty. Other traffic victims and their in- Jjuries were Pauline Carroll, 40, colored, 1439 T street, internal injuries; Rob- ert C. Kent, 77, of 1627 D street northeast, cuts and bruises; Mrs. Ade- laide Jamison, 58, of 2633 Fifteenth street, back injuries, and Madeline Sutton, 38, colored, 424 First street, shoulder, leg and wrist injuries. At an inquest yesterday, Floyd Little, 35, of 24 M street northeast, a street car motorman, was exonerated in the death, May 4, of Henry J. Kit tinger, 71, of 911 PFirst street north- east. Kittinger was struck at Pirst and H streets by a street car oper- ated by Little. SPEAKERS CHOSEN HERE Keene is survived by a brother in California. U. S. PARKS IN WEST TOPIC OF ADDRESS Dorr Yeager, assistant chief of the Museum Division of the National Park Bervice, Interior Department, will speak on “The Popular Interpreta- tion of the Story of the National Parks in the West” at 8 p.m. Wednes- day in the auditorium of the new Interior Department, Eighteenth and C streets. The public is invited to phis free lecture, which will be il- tustrated. In conjunction with long-range museum planning, Yeager is in Wash- Ington for & few weeks, although he is regularly stationed at Berkeley, Calif., where he has charge of West- ern museum activities. He has been A ranger and park naturalist in Yel- lowstone, Yosemite and Rocky Moun- @ain National Parks. He has -—ritten b popular series of books. Bisgyer and Janus to Address Jewish Welfare Session. Maurice Bisgyer, executive secre- tary of the International B'na. Brith, and Shimon Q. Janus of the Depart- ment of Hebrew Education, both of this city, will be guest speakers at the thirty-eighth National Confer- ence of Jewish Social Welfare, to be held at Indianapolis, from Wednes- day through next Sunday. Local delegates who will attend the conference include, besides Bisgyer and Janus, Isadore Hershfield, Miss Myrtle Cohen, Miss Ruth Green, Mrs. Marguerite Mayer and Morris Klass, director of the Jewish Social Service Agency.. Ex-Judge in China to Speak. Charles S. Lobingier, former judge of the United States Court for China, will addres the Oriental Culture Group at 8:15 o'clock tonight at the home of Miss Ida Hoyt berlain, 2737 Cathedral avenue. a brick, near Second and G streets | iTHE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., SATURDAY, MAY 1 of ships, various aeronautical This is how the completed basin will look from the exterior. roblems and provisions for precision apparatus. anywhere without careful study of power requirements by testing. STATUS IN DOUBT Hazen Says He Personally Will Not Ask Million Above House Figure. Doubt prevailed at the District Building today as to whether the Com- missioners would make an aggressive fight for the provision of an extra millian dollars for direct relief here next fiscal year, when they appear before the Senate District Subcom- mittee on Appropriations next week on items in the 1938 budget. Commissioner Hazen made clear to- day that, so far as he personally is concerned, he would not campaign for an increase of so much as $1,000,000 above the figures of $1,411,000 for re- lief, approved by the House. He went further to insist that his recollection was that the Board of Commissioners never had voted for- mally to seek an increase of $1,000,- 000, which the Board of Public Wel- fare has recommended as a means of affording relief to some 3,000 families in which there are “employables” who now cannot get on the direct relief list. Commissioner Allen, who supervises relief operations, has said the Com- missioners were committed to request an additional $1,000,000. But he has indicated that relief officials will have to carry the burden of proving the need for the increase. About two weeks ago, Hazen an- nounced that the question of the size of the relief appropriation of the District, which should be approved for the next fiscal year, would be dis- cussed before the Senate Subcommit- tee headed by Senator Thomas of Oklahoma. He said that the conflict- ing views of several organized groups would be laid before Thomas' sub- committee. The Federation of Citizens’ Asso- ciations has gone on record opposing any increase in the relief item above the sum recommended by the Budget Bureau, or $1465000. Directors of the Board of Trade also opposed the $1,000,000 increase, but since then have been making a survey of the problem. The request for a million- dollar increase was supported by a civic committee, representing religious and social work groups. OIL PLANT DAMAGED Blaze Breaks Out in Refinery House Above Key Bridge. Fire breaking out in & Worthington Oil Refinery house on the Potomac River, a short distance above Key Bridge today, was limited to an ap- proximate $100 loss in machinery as companies from Cherrydale, Claren- don and Ballston fought in dense smoke to keep the fire from spreading to nearby tanks containing about 6,000 gallons of oil. Chief A. C. Scheffel of the Arling- ton County department, said damage was limited to filtering machinery. Cause of the fire was undetermined. Straw Hats Take Fashion Stage for Males of Capital Shop Window Sugges- tions Hard to Resist on Bright Day. Today is an annual milestone in fashions for men—it's the “red-letter day” of hats. Except for Easter, it is practically the only day when a men can put on something new and say, “See, I know what to do today, and I did it.”" Not that a man could help know- i what to do today. Store windows are full of suggestions—almost com- mands. To walk by & men’s shop with your chin held high in the air and a felt pulled low will take a lot more nerve than to ease inside the first store and get the whole matter off your mind once and for all. Today is May 15, a day of character molding. The oid felt will continue. to grace the thastches of our indi- vidualists. Seme will sidestep by going “bareheaded the rest of the Summer. Most of us will sport a bright, new straw hat. If the weather plays a part in your decision, today will be fair and con- tinued cool, according to the Weather Bureau. Rising temperature is foree cast for tomorrows, with no rain in eight. A 5, 1937, Architect’s Sketches of Navy’s New Basin for Testing Ship Models < The work here will include development in the design and speed D.CRELIEFFIGHT |Return of “Teacher’ Bankhead Ends House Scene of Confusion Members Debate Quitting for Day as Speaker and Rayburn Pay Visit to White House. By the Associated Press. Like schoolboys throwing spitballs when teacher steps out of the room, ‘House members cut up yesterday when BSpeaker Bankhead and Representa- tive Rayburn of Texas, the Demo- cratic leader, went to the White House to talk over the legislative situation. Before they had completed their conference with President Roosevelt a telephone call brought them hus- tling back to the Capitol to restore order. They stepped into a scene of con- fusion. ‘The $115,971265 Interior Depart- ment appropriation bill had been under consideration and a battle over reclamation and irrigation projects had threatened to delay action on the measure until long past dinner time, Decide to Quit. Some members decided it was time to knock off for the day, and, amid & din of chatter, hooting and ap- plause, there were half a dozen mo- tions designed to end .ne session. Finally, when Representative Mc- Reynolds, Democrat, of Tennessee re- marked that the House was “in no condition to do business with all this fuss and disorder,” the chamber voted, 116 to 21, to stop work on the Inte- Tior bill. Representative O'Connor, Democrat, of New York took over as Acting Speaker. There were more motions to ad- Jjourn. Representative Boland, Democrat, of Pennsylvania, the Democratic whip, dashed in. “I just got through talking with the Speaker at the White House,” he said breathlessly. “I told him of the situ- ation. I'd like to see the Houss not adjourn until he gets here.” Michener Gets in Dig. Representative Michener, Republi- can, of Michigan couldn't resist a chance to get a dig about the two leaders wanting to “return and tell us what the President wants us to do.” O'Connor stood up on the Speaker's dais, looked around, spotted Repre- sentative Maverick, Democrat, of Texas. “Does the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Maverick, desire recognition for 10 minutes?” he asked. Maverick grinned, walked down into the well and started stalling for time. He talked about anything that popped into his head—'"‘wasting time,” “heart- to-heart talks,” Secretary Wallace's “running for President,” putting the Democrats’ having a “few caucuses and getting together and finding out why we're here.” Speaker and Rayburn Return. Smiling, Bankhead and Rayburn walked in. The Speaker took the chair. Maverick immediately demanded and received permission to ‘“revise, extend and eliminate certain portions of my remarks.” There was a burst of laughter. Bankhead banged down his gavel. Members who had been standing and shouting and jostling a few moments before sank into seats. “It appears,” Rayburn observed, “that we are not in as good humor as we usually are. I wonder if it would be satisfactory to adjourn to Monday and meet at 11 o’clock?” The House thought it would. C.1.0. ENTERS SMALL INDUSTRIAL FIELDS Scores of Local Unions Being Nationalized, Committee Announces. By the Associated Press. The Committee for Industrial Or- ganization said today it is enterting many small industrial fields to nation- alize scores of local unions. Some 40 charters have been granted local groups, the C. I. O. said, to give them C. I. O. standing until the in- dustrial workers they represent can be organized on a national basis. Asked if the plan was designed to “combat the American Federation of Labor,” officials said this was not the intention and it was merely a way to give the local units, upon thier request, membership in the C. I. O. Officials said the small groups char= tered were in such industrial units as cork, distillery, highway, cereal, brick and clay, furniture and other industries where the number of work- men is small compared with the “heavy” industries. G. F. GEPHART RITES IN BALTIMORE TODAY Funeral services for George Frederick Gephart, 43, mechanical engineer with the Chesapeake & Potomac . Telephone Co., who died Thurs- day at his home, 1811 Thirty- seventh street, are being held this' afternoon in ! Baltimore. The services are scheduled to be held at the home of his sister, Mrs. Eugene Hayden, 5720 Cross County boulevard, Mount Washington, with MR GEPHART. o o s Moore of Mount Washington Presbyterian Church officiating. Burial will be in Greenmount Cemetery. A veteran of more than 20 years' service with the telephone Company, Mr. Gephart recently was elected a member of the Alexander Graham Bell Chapter, Telephone Pioneers of Ameri- ca, made up of employes with more than 20 years' service. A native of Baltimore, he was a graduate of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and of Cornel] Xniversity. HAILS SCHOOL STUDY Classes Trip as Valuable to Pro- mote “Occupational Education.” Back in his office after & two-week studying vocational education and job placement, Dr. Frank W. Ballou, su- perintendent of District schools, today classed the trip as “an outstanding educational experiment to promote oc- cupational education.” Although he admitted several tech- niques had been revealed in the study that might be applied in the Distritt schools, he was unwilling to comment specifically until the report to the Na- tional Occupational Conference, which sponsored the tour by the 13 super- intendents, is completed—probably about June 1. He did call atten- tion to the fact that, due to the non- industrial nature of the Capital, many techniques contained in the report would be inapplicable here. single achool system meeting all the occupational adjustment requirements necessary for a complete and ideal program,” he said, “but we studied the operation of many features new to us to enable us to outline an all- around program toward which each city can aim for best results in aiding culties.” He will report to the board on the matter as soon as possible. _— Police Benefit Tickets on Sale. Tickets for the boxing contest to be held June 2 for benefit of the Metro- politan Police Relief Association were placed on sale today at all station said officers off duty could sell tickets in uniform, providing their badges are not exposed. Stock Purchase Approved. An Interstate Commerce Commis- sion board recommended yesterday that the Richmond (Va.) Greyhound Lines, Inc., be authorized to acquire control of the Peninsula Transit Corp. by purchase of capital stock for $32,000. Beer Glasses Found Unclean. CULVER CITY, Calif. (#).—Healtn authorities said lipstick imprints of women found on glasses indicated they had not been washed properly. Com- plaints were filed against the owners of 30 bars and. beer pariors. ’ D through the Roosevelt court bill and | DR. BALLOU RETURNS, | educational tour through eight cities | “We all agreed that we found no youth to overcome occupational diffi- | houses. Police Supt. Ernest W. Brown | Few ships of importance are ever undertaken 1,200 ON OUTING FOR SHAD BAKE Trade Board Party Includes Congress Members and Officials. Bome 1200 Washington business men and their guests from Congress, the Federal and District Governments and the judiciary left the city this morning to attend the forty-third an- nual shad bake of the Board of Trade at Bay Ridge, Md. Boxing matches, base ball, swim- ming and a floor show were scheduled on the all-day program. Among those attending the func- tion were: Senators William H. King. J. Ham- ilton Lewis, Elmer Thomas, Gerald P. Nye, F. Ryan Duffy, Theodore F. Green, Henry F. Ashurst and Guy M. Gillette;, Representatives Paul W. Shafer. Ralph O. Brewster, Everett M. Dirksen, W. Sterling Cole, Leon Sacks, Laurence F. Arnold, Ross A. Collins, R. P. Hill, Norman R. Hamilton and Allard H. Gasque. Col. Daniel I Sultan, Engineer Commissioner; Capt. H. S. Bishop, jr., assistant engineer commissioner; Capt. Patrick H. Tansey, assistant engineer commissioner; Capt. Don G. Shingler, assistant engineer commissioner; Chief Justice Alfred A. Wheat of Dis- trict Court, Arthur H Kent, James G. Strong, assistant treasurer, Home Owners’ Loan Corp.; Frank Bell, com- missioner, United States Bureau of Fisheries; Charles E. Jackson, deputy, United States Bureau of Fisheries; William N. Rehlander, assistant di- rector, Procurement Division, Treas- ury, and Paulo G. Hasslocher, Bra- zilian Embassy. John S. .Bleecker, jr., president, Junior Board of Commerce; Fred B. Linton, executive secretary, Junior Board of Commerce; Robert B. Swope, president, Rotary Club; David A. Skinner, secretary, United States Chamber of Commerce; Willard M. Kochenderfer, secretary, Hotel Men's Association; Maj. Ernest W. Brown, superintendent of police; William A. Van Duzer, director of vehicles and traffic; C. Marshall Finnan, superin- tendent, National Capital Parks; Ken- nedy Rea, clerk, Senate Committee on Appropriations; Ross Haworth, sec- retary to the Commissioner; Emil Press, assistant to director of sani- tary engineering; George C. Shinn, John F. Victory, W. W. Wheeler, Frederick P. H. Siddons, Granville Gude, C. Hayward Marshall, Ray- mond M. Flomance, James C. Wilkes, Odell S. Smith, George E. Keneipp, John J. Esch, John A. Remon, George V. Graham, Col. L. C. Crawford, Harry King, Harry Blake, Col. Leroy W. Herron, W. L. Beale and guests, Fred East, William F. Raymond, George H. O'Connor and H. M. Brundage, jr. “Bad Medicine” POISON MISTAKEN FOR COUGH SIRUP. DWAYNE MANUEL, Seven-year-old son of William 1. Manuel, 923 Fourteenth street southeast, who had a close call late yesterday when his father inadvertently gave him a dose of poison, which he mistook for cough sirup. Gal- linger Hospital physicians said the boy was not seriously af- fected. Dwayne, shown with his pet dog, Barr, agreed that it was “bad medicine.” —Star Staff Photo. - A close-up sketch of the main building for the $3,500,- 000 project. An option already has been secured on 100 acres at Carderock for the model basin development and the construction will take about two years. Inset: Rear Ad- miral David W. Taylor, chief constructor during the World War and eminent naval archi- tect, in whose honor Presi- dent Roosevelt has sanctioned naming the basin the “David W. Taylor Model Basin.” DETECTIVES UNDER PARTNER SYSTEN Reorganization Effective To- day, With Increase in Plain Clothes Men. Reorganization of the Police De- partment's detective force, increasing the personnel of plain clothes men in the precincts and combining their op- erations under a so-called “partner” system, became effective at 8 am. today. The changes, which involve transfer of eight detectives, were announced vesterday by Inspector Bernard W. Thompson, chief of detectives. Under the “partner” system, detec- tives of the fourth, fifth and eleventh precincts will be held responsible Jointly for clearing up cases in their areas. In cases of felonies they will be equally responsible with the head- quarters robbery squad. Heretofore, | they have not been responsible unless specifically assigned. Similar Combinations. The same arrangement became ef- fective for combinations of the sixth and tenth precincts, the seventh and eighth and the ninth and twelfth. It calls for an interchange of assign- ments within the respective precinct divisions. For example, detectives in | the fourth and fifth precincts will re- ceive copies of assignments made to | those in the twelfth. “The change” said Thompeson, “is hoped to prove a means of securing better results. Working men as partners allows them to keep familiar with all assignments. There is no reflection on any of the men changed. Purpose of Changes. “The transfers were made in the in- terest of the department to step up the work. The increase in personnel was made in districts in which a weakness had been disclosed.” The following detective sergeants are transferred under the reorganiza- tion: R. 8. Bryant, robbery squad; W. S. Beck, homicide squad, and Earl Baker, ninth precinct, all to the second pre- cinct; W. V. Christian, robbery squad, and M. J. Mahaney, second precinct, both to the third precinct; V. D. Hughes, twelfth to ninth precinct; R. J. Barrett, robbery squad to twelfth precinct; T. E. Ambrose, pick-up squad to robbery squad. PRINCETON CLUB HEARS PROF. POOLE AT BANQUET Faculty Member Urges That More Graduates Go in for Public Affairs. More Princeton graduates should g0 into public affairs, Prof. DeWitt Clinton Poole, chairman of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, told alumni last night at the annual banquet of the Princeton Club of Washington, held at the Chevy Chase Club. Approximately 80 persons attended the banquet, at which F. Moran Mc- Conihe, newly elected president of the alumni group, presided. Rod Davison of the current senior class, make-up editor of the Daily Princetonian and debater, outlined the relationship of undergraduate | life to that after receiving a degree. | He also traced the accomplishments | of his class, 1937. McConihe introduced the two oldest Princeton graduates in Washington, | Victor Kauffmann and Charles Henry Butler. Charles Titman of the Gridiron | Club quartet ana a Princeton gradu- ate, entertained those present with several vocal selections following | dinner. HENRY ALVIN BINGMAN EXPIRES IN HOSPITAL Retired Treasury Department Em- ploye Had Lived in' Capital 30 Years. Henry Alvin Bingman, 78, of 1801 K street, retired Treasury Depart- ment employe, died late yesterday in Emergency Hospital after an illness of several months. A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Bing- man had been a Washington resi- dent about 30 years. He was a mem- ber of Harmony Lodge of Masons. Surviving are a daughter, Mrs. John R. Hogan, this city; three sons, Dr. Harry Bingman, dentist, and G. Steuart Bingman, both of this city, and Dr. Carroll E. Bingman, physician in the Coast Guard Service at Point Barrow, Alaska, who formerly practiced here, and three grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 8 o'clock tonight in Gawler's temporary Inspector | RETAIL SALES TAX MAY BE ENACTED, HAZEN INDICATES Support Likely to Follow Dropping Income Levy Plan, He Says. PROPOSAL ATTACKED BY THREE SPEAKERS Representative Warns Capital City Forum Congress Prob- ably Would Approve. Bupport for a retail sales tax in the District was indicated today by Com- missioner Melvin C. Hazen in the wake of condemnation of such a levy by three speakers appearing before the Capital City Forum last night. . The Commissioner’s expression on the sales levy was based, he explained, on the anticipation that proposals for a local income tax will be abandoned and the necessity will remain for rais- ing about $3,000,000 in revenue, The attack on the sales levy, made during a scheduled discussion of “Taxation Without Representation” before the forum, came from a mem- ber of the House, an economist and an educator. The House member, Representative Bigelow, Democrat, of Ohio, gualified his eriticism with a ‘warni that the Congress probably will pass the sales tax if requested to do so. “We haven't decided anything defi~ » nitely yet,” said Hazen. “The whols picture is somewhat confused, becaise opposition has developed from var Ous groups over points involved in the variety of tax revenue programs which have been considered. May Be Necessary. “However, it may be that we will have to have a sales tax, with ex- emptions for food, clothing and cer- tain other necessities, and it may be that we also will have a business privilege tax, under which physicians, lawyers, jobbers, agents and others would be bmought within levies. I do not know as yet what the details of such plans would be.” His statement followed a similaw expression of views by Chairman | ton of the House District Com a5 to the possibilities of adoption of & sales tax. Mrs. Norton said she regarded & sales tax as the most painless form of taxation. Any sales tax plan is destined to meet some opposition in the Special Tax Subcommittee of the House Dis- trict Committee. Two members, Rep- resentatives McGehee, Democrat of Mississippi, and Dirksen, Republican of Tllinois, are opposed to such a plan. When a sales tax was discussed at the last meeting of the subcommitice Dirksen announced his intention to oppose such a plan. At that time he said he preferred an income tax to a sales tax because the latter would “hit” the poor man and the rich man equally. He argued that such a proposal would be inequitable, Suggested by Seal. : Buggestion of a sales tax was of« fered by Corporation Counsel Elwood H. Seal last Tuesday during an ape pearance before the Tax Subcommite tee of the House District Committee, which is preparing to formulate a new tax program for the District. His suggestion came after he had ques= tioned the constitutionality of a Dise trict income tax because it would ape ply to Federal employes. He explained that the Supreme Court has held that Congress acts in the capacity of & State legislature when it enacts laws, for the District, and, he added, the | States are barred from taxing the incomes of Federal employes “If you don't get a sales tax.” Repe= resentative Bigelow said, “it will be because Congress can't think of any- thing more foolish.” “You can’'t put a tax on anything labor produces,” the Representative® continued, “without raising prices.” Suggests Land Value Tax. “But you can put taxer on land values without raising the price of land,” he said, stating that he had proposed to Congress a bill embody- ing the principles of exclusive land value taxation as a means of raising revenue. ‘“‘Take taxes off everything man makes and sock them on land values,” he reiterated. He stated further that it is not necessary to change the social and economic order of this country to solve its problems. g “The more I see of government with its futile efforts and follies, the more I distrust saving the world by letting the Government do everything," he remarked. John H. Gray, former president of the American Economics Association, declared the sales tax is “the most vicious of taxes” The financial problems of the coun= try cannot be solved through taxa= tion, Gray said, “until we break the rule of Wall Street.” “We can't stabilize prices and in- dustry,” he continued, “as long as we have speculation.” “The sales tax will produce a peasan- try,” declared Dr. Charles M. Thomas, head of the social science department of the Armstrong High School, in dis- cussing the effect such a levy would have on the colored population. Commenting that such taxation “would increase the downward pres- sure” on the colored race, Dr. Thomas also expressed confidence that Con- gress would pass the sales tax. “We are now getting to the climax of a system of exploitation that has been here since the country began,” he said. ARCHIVES DANCE SET Association to Meet at Broadmoor Next Friday. The National Archives Associatien will hold a dance the Broadmoor| Apartments next Friday night. Pland| are in charge of the Social Commit- tee, including Emmett T. Leahy, Miss| Nadene Russell, William C. Keegan and Mrs. Nellie M. Spink. Sponsors for the event are Mr. and| Mrs. Thad Page and Mr. and Mrs.| Dorsey W. Hyde, jr., and the officers| of the association: Nelson M. Blake,) president; Blanche M. Hyde, vice president; Suzanne Waters, secretary,| and Raemey A. Burton, treasurer. Bridge to Be Rebuilt. Famous Menai Suspension Bridge, opened in 1826 at Anglesey, Scotland,) is to be reconstructed at s cost o chapel, 1906 H street. Burisl will st Laurelton, Py, Monday. $1,140,000.