Evening Star Newspaper, May 16, 1937, Page 8

SCIENTISTS READY 10 VIEW ECLIPSE Navy and Geographic So- ciety Expedition Shifts Observation Base. On a South Sea island shaped like | & holiow pork chop, the United States | Navy and National Geographic So-! clety astronomers will watch the! phenomenon of the moon's blotting ' out the sun in total eclipse June 8, the society announced yesterday. The star-gazing expeditionary force | was forced to move its base of opera- | tions to Canton Island, in the Phenix | group north by west of Samoa, whe-nl it was found it was le to| anchor off Enderbury Island, 35 miles ; away, es the scientists first had plan- | ned. Word came to Washington yester- day of the move in a message from the U. 8. S. Avocet, expedition ship now anchored 300 yards off the Can- ton Island reef, short-waved to Hono- Julu and then relayed to Point Reyes, Calif. Capt. J. F. Hellweg, superintendent of the United States Naval Observa- tory here, who is in charge of the navigational problems of the expedi- tion, made the decision to move to Canton Island, the message from the edge of the internationsl date line in the middle of the Pacific said. The island is 3.3 south latitude and 171.3 west longitude. It is 27 miles around, and the extensive lagoon of placid water inside {ts narrow rim of land gives its pork-chop appear- ance. Because of the island’s con- siderable size, there is good protec- tion from the sea on the lee, western side and good anchorage there in about 40 feet of water. A dock has been built to facili- tate unloading, and near the dock, Just off the beach and beside a small grove of coconut palms, a camp of tents has been set up. The great- est elevation of Canton Island is 20 feet. The situation chosen, said Dr. 8. A. Mitchell, scientific leader of the expedition, will permit the tele- scopes and other instruments to look out over the water and thus assure better observing conditions than if they were pointea over land. A broadcast from Canton Island will be heard in the United States to- day at 3 pm. from Station WEAF, New York, but not from a Washing- ton station. THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., Geographic Exgedition on Beach at Waikiki Hawaii's jamous Waikiki Beach, with Diamond Head in the background, furnished the setting for this picture of the members of the National Geographic Society and United States Navy solar eclipse expedition. Seated (left to right) are Dr. Samuel A Mitchell, director of the Leander McCormick Observatory of the University of Virginia, scientific leader of the expedition; Charles Bittinger, artist, of Washington, and John E. astronomer of the United States Naval Observatory here. Stand- ing are George Hicks, New York, announcer for the National Broadcasting Co., and a native Hawaiian woman, 1 ish tax system, but apparent loss of revenue and political repercussions probably will prevent such radical change in policy here. In other quarters there exists sup- port for the less drastic revision of applying a separate schedule of in- come tax rates to capital gains, such rates t0 be materially lower than those on normal income. In the case of capital losses they would be oar- ried forward to offset gains of some other year, the whole being a long- term proposition, but with neither loss nor gain from this source being com- puted as ordinary income. h Such a decrease in severity of this tax would tend to remove the artificial effect which the tax has upon “free Taxes (Continued Prom Pirst Page.) 271; brewers’ wort and malts, $1,010,- 113; firearm shells and cartridges, $2,« 655.202; electrical energy, $33,575,179; gasoline, $177,339,587; lubricating oil, $27,102,832; tires and inner tubes, $32,- 207,983; passenger automobiles and motor cycles, $48,200,855; automobile trucks, $7,000,281; automobile accesso- ries, $7,110,188. Acknowledged inequities exist in such a schedule as that applied to sporting goods and particular diffi- culties of administration are attendant. upon the excise on toilet preparations. It has not been proven, however, that collection costs are unreasonsble in any of these classiflcations with 6 per cent of return being about the highest found. In addition there are excise taxes on the importation of crude petroleum, coal, lumber and copper as well as some stamp taxes bringing in small | amounts of revenue. Review on Corporate Taxes. That the capital gains and undis- tributed corporation income taxes will be reviewed by next Winter is rea- sonably certain. In his message to Congress on April 20, President Roose- wvelt promised that the Treasury De- partment by November would have ready some material directed at a major overhauling of the tax struc- ture. Such studies are now under way under direction of Undersecretary of Treasury Roswell Magill. In the case of the capital gains tax, 1t was a levy resulting principally from the reaction to djsclosures that many big financiers had been using previous privileges with regard to capital gains | and losses as a device for avoiding income taxes. Beyond favoring some means of checking this practice, Pres- ident Roosevelt never has made the | present levy a “must” issue. What the administration attitude might be toward revising this tax is not clearly known, therefore. One obstacle, of course, to any revision is the fact that as now constituted the tax brings pretty close to a maximum of revenue possible and almost any | change would show a paper loss that | is likely to discourage the revenue- | Taisers. Sentiment for Repeal. For instance, some sentiment is known to exist for outright repeal of the capital gains levy, except where income through trading of as- sets constitutes the principal occupa- tion. Similar handling of capital fluc- tuations is embraced within the Brit- and normel security markets” through discouraging the taking of profits. While bringing in less direct revenue, perhaps, such a change would be in the direction of stabilization of tax return in that it would mean placing less dependence upon a tax which admittedly fluctuates greatly in re- turn during years of varying business conditions. As for modification of the undistmb- uted corporation surplus tax, it is ex- pected that eventually there will be a liberalizing of the allowance for re- serves to be devoted to liquidation of debt or plant expansion to meet ob- Jections that this tax actually hampers recovery. Chairman Harrison has in- dicated on numerous occasions that he, for one, would favor such modifi- cation. In addition, changes in rates are possible after returns are in for a full year and s real measure is a able on the revenue qualities of provision. 2 — GARDEN CLOSING FOUGHT BY KEYSTONE AUTO CLUB Children’s Traffic Accident Death Rate May Rise, Officials of Group Believe. Officials of the Keystone Automo- bile Club have protested against the proposed discontinuance of the Dis- trict's gardens for achool children this Summer on the ground that the closing will increese the traffic acci- dent death rate among children. George E. Keneipp, manager of the club, pointed out that seven chil- dren between the ages of 5 and 14 were killed during the vacation pe- riod last year, and that this fatality rate probably will be increased if the 13,000 children, who heretofore have spent much leisure time in the gar- dens, are turned onto the streets. “It seems incredible,” Keneipp said, “that Congress will allow such & trifling sum as $6,000 to stand in the way of the health and safety of ‘Washington children.” RUGS CLEANED THE “"VOGUE-WAY” 9x12 Domestic RUGS Shampesed & Glue-Sised $2.95 D.C. Tax Hunters Eye Meters| To Catch Parkers’ Stray Nickels Ourbstone parking at five cents an hour for & six-hour day, with special rates for night perking, was sug- gested by some members of the House District Committee’s special tax sub- committee yesterday as another way to help squeese six or seven million dollars out of District taxpayers. ‘With Representative Nichols of Oklahoma, a member of the subcom- mittee, fighting any increase in the gasoline tax, the adoption of parking meters—as used in some Middle West- e and Southern cities—apparently had its appeal as a substitute for the ga8 tax increase. Some members drew mental pic- tures of long lines of parking meters adorning the streets and avenues of the National Capital in the business section with little lights twinkling merrily every time a motorist's five cents worth of parking ran out and with policemen and parkers racing to see who could get to the parking meter first when the light went on. It was suggested that chimes, or bells, might be substituted for the lights s0 motorists could play tunes while paying taxes, and somebody said the all-day parker, after dropping six nickels in the slot, ought to get either & stick of gum or a amall bag of peanuts just to keep up his morale. Merchants Would Be Charged. In addition to the parking meters, however, merchants would be charged for the privilege of having “shipping | entrances” at the curb. It was said | that the parking meters might yield | from $600,000 to $700,000 a year. Nobody has yet suggested what color the parking meters should be painted, although it was said that a sickly green might harmonize nicely Wwith the faces of District taxpayers, —— SEE TOWSON Azaleas Now Blooming Join the thousands who each year see the exquisite European and Oriertal Azaleas in all the splendor of their ngs. magnificent color! Japanese Cherries and many other flowering trees and shrubs now in full bloom. One of the outstanding flower shows of the country. Special showings 'k Added features each week each weel end. Visitors welcome. Ample parking. TOWSON NURSERIES, Inc. Towson, Maryland York Road. opposite Maryland Btate Teachers' College, }a mile from Towson; 7 miles from Bal ore. VOGUE QUALITY CLEANING PN Willis, scene. island in mid-Pacific to the sun on June 8. Enderbury Island, which on May 13. In this picture, Bittinger is painting an Hawaiian Behind him are Hicks and Willis. expedition stopped in Hawaii en route to a lonely The foint observe the total eclipse of The party of 1% scientists and specialists sailed from Honolulu May 6 and reached will be the observation point, —National Geographic Society Photos. especially automobile owners, by the time a tax program for the District is finally worked out. For while the Commissioners and members of the District Subcommittee sre insistent that from the large number of taxes so far suggested only those necessary to raise the required amount to balance the local budget will be selected, the list of suggestions already covers most of the forms of taxation known to civilized man. Starting out as & substitute tax for the personal property tax on sauto- mobiles, the proposed weight tax is now being considered as an additional tax. Cold on Local Income Tax. Blowing hot on a local income tax 85 a substitute tax for the tax on in- tangible personal property and then | blowing hotter on the income tax as | & tax in addition to the intangibles tax, the Commissioners’ Tax Com- mittee has suddenly blown cold on the local income tax as probably im- possible of administration in the Dis- trict. Considered first in the form of & “corporation privilege tax,” a new sort of tax proposed by the Commis- sioners’ committee took the form of & so0-called business tax and privilege tax, only to dwindle mysteriously out of the picture long enough to emerge again in the form of a gen- eral sales tax, with some members of the District Committee proposing that it cover everything and with the Commissioners proposing to exempt food and clothing from its provisions. The rates proposed would run from 1 to 15 per cent. The Commissioners will oconaider the proposed sales tax tomorrow, when they have another meeting with their Tax Committee. Chatrman Kennedy plans to have his commit- tee meet with the Commissioners’ subcommittee on Tuesday to see if anything new has turned up in the way of tax proposals. OLD GOLD] AND SILVER will bring you : F3EHNG YOU'RE PAYING ron » STEEL BOILER «o«why not have one? If you're burning oil in an old- cast iron boiler, yow're using P —— fashioned up to 45% more oil than would be required with the modern FITZGIBBONS Ily advertised cast Complete plant for 6-room house. OIL-EIGHTY AUTOMATIC RESIDENCE STEEL BOILER ON DISPLAY IN Our Show Rooms Your Camel bu; is rner en- tirely econcealed behind this panel. — NO MONEY DOWN irst Payment Sept. lst Without Additional Interest See Us Abeut Your Heating Problems. FREE ESTIMATES— Al Werk Guaranteed 5 Years AUTHORIZED FITZGIBBON ECONOMY Oth St. HEATING_COMPANY MEt. 2132 MAY 16, 1837—PART ONE. - HISTORICAL GROU IN FINAL SE3S10 Story of Maj. John Adium to Be Told Tomorrow as Season Ends. ‘The story of Maj. John Adlum of season in the Mayflower Hotel tomor- row evening. Mrs. Bessie Wilmarth Gahn, author of a book on the early patentees to lands in the District of Columbia prior to 1700, will describe the Colonial background of Ma). Adlum. He was & major in the Provisionsl Army during the administration of John Adams and s brigadier general in the Pennsyl- vanis Militia. In private life he was s farmer and a recognised authority on grapes and wine making. A pictorial tour of the beautiful 712 13th St. N.W. gardens of Virginia will be presented by Mark Lansburgh, past president of the Kiwanis Club, who is well known for the artistry of his amateur motion picture films. ‘““The Telephone Quartet,” composed apeake & Potomac Telephone Co. ag- gregate 70 years, will present 8 vocal program to close the meeting. Fred A. Emery, vice president, will preside at the closing meeting of the soclety, because of the recent iline:g of men whose services with the Ches- | of Allan C. Clark, president. Plan with our experts and make your selec- tions early if you would equip your house with satisfoctory awnings at moderate prices. Our stock includes a wide choice of patterns and designs in durable waterproof color-fast fobrics plus the newest in mechanical de- vices for added convenience and protection. Consult us today! An inquiry does not obli- \ gate you. hone P Us TodaY AND H St NLE, COLUMBIA AWNING SHADE CO. ATlantic 1430 Day and Night As MUCH as you want WHEN you want it! A continuous, dependable sup- ply of sparkling, piping hot water . . . at the turn of the faucet . . . day and night . . . that’'s what a Pittsburg Au- tomatic Gas gives you Water Heater .+ . at a cost 50 low that you shouldn’t go through the summer without this great home necessity. Pittsburg Automatic GAS WATER HEATERS DISTRIBUTORS Small Down Payment Convenient Terms SEE YOUR GAS COMPANY, YOUR PLUMBER, OR EDGAR MORRIS SALES Co. NAtional 1031 THE OPENING OF WASHINGTON'S NEWEST PIANO STORE, BY ONE OF AMERICA’'S OLDEST PIANO FIRMS /l{ono{q, /lfdy/7z% at 1231 G STREET N.W. RETAILERS OF FINE PIANOS SINCE 1870 As one of the oldest and largest piano firms in America, we take pleasure in announcing to the residents of Washington and vicinity, the opening of our new store. The palicies of fair deal- ing and direct merchandising, that have characterized this house for the past 67 years, have set a new standard in fine piano values. Our efforts in the past have been rewarded by increasing public accept- ance and in the future, we pledge ourselves to offer only the finest in pianos, consis- tent with present day prices. Called for—and Delivered Phone Atlantic 1415 “As Goed as the Best —But Cost You Less” Save the Difference in the Barreled Sunlight family are: Barreled Sunlight Flae Well THBRB’Snommd«themtodo & finer outside peint job than to use Barreled Sunlight. The Outside Under- cost will penetrate and seal the surface <+« give & hard-dried, elastic foundation that takes the finishing coat with the Jesst amount of labor and peint. 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MAKE IT A POINT TO VISIT WASHINGTON'S NEWEST PIANO STORE Free Parking at Capitol Garage for Our Customers HUGH REILLY CO. GLASS 1234 New York Ave. NAtional 1703 PAINT > . G o and Now Forv Ave W 'ashingten, D. C. NA. 4235 K. Pho OPEN EVENINGS