Evening Star Newspaper, June 8, 1937, Page 21

Washington News BROWN ANSWERS - CRIMINAL JUSTICE REPORT ON CRIME Holds Discontinuance of Placing Multiple Charges Responsible for Picture. POLICE HEAD SUBMITS TABLE OF COMPARISON Hazen Says Figures Are Mislead- ing and District Does Not Deserve Black Eye. Replying to findings by the Wash- ington Criminal Justice Association that only one-tenth of the felony | charges here resulted in convictions, Police Supt. E. W. Brown reported to- day that a former practice of placing multiple charges against a defendant, later tried on only a few counts, was largely responsible for the picture. | On reading the report, Commis- | sioner Melvin C. Hazen declared he | was convinced the analysis showed the | association’s report “had given the District a black eye it did not deserve.” He added* “Washington's record is not as good | as we would like to see, and we are trying to make improvement. But I couldn’t believe it was as bad as indi- cated by the statement that 90 per cent of felony charges failed to result in convictions. Statistics are likely to | be misleading unless they are an-| alyzed.” Brown Submits Table. Maj. Brown, who compared his rP('-] ords with the findings of the associa- tion at the direction of the commis- &ion, submitted without comment a table comparing Washington Iclony‘ offenses with those in other “Trailer Laboratory” @he Foen W. Food and Drug Administration Uses Equipment to Inspect Crab Factories. Morris Ostrolenk, Agriculture Department bacteriologist, at work in the Food and Drug Administration’s “trailer laboratory.” embark from Washington on a A country. Rigged with test tubes, incubators, | sterilizers and other paraphernalia for | | bacteriological examination, the rolling | | research room was put into service by | the Food and Drug Administration in | { March and has already traveled 5,000 | miles. It will spend July and August in the Eastern Shore region checking up on the crab meat industry. The trailer gives the Government easy access to sources of supply of TRAILER laboratory soon will | mission of scientific sleuthing | in the Chesapeake Bay crab | —Star Staff Photo. Resting in the basement of the Ag- riculturé®Department’'s South Build- ing after three months of crab meat investigations from Florida to North | Carolina, the white trailer has an in- terior that resembles any compact laboratory. There are two electric fans, a gas heater and gas burner sup- | plied from tanks in a cabinet under | the sink, an ice box, an electric in- | cubator which can be operated on | storage batteries that are part of the equipment, sterilizers and glassware. | A hose connection projecting through | one wall makes possible a liberal | source of running water when the‘ “lab” is not on the go, although there | 04 WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION ASHINGTON, D. C, TUESDAY, JUNE 8, MELLON GALLERY WORK WILL BEGIN HERE TOMORROW Closing of Sixth Street at Constitution Signals Beginning. MATERIALS ARE MOVED TO SITE OF BUILDING Excavation to Start Within Few Days—Donor of Art Collec- tion Names Aides. Sixth street will be closed at Con- stitution avenue at 9:30 a.m. tomor- row to launch actual construction work on the $10,000,000 National Gal- lery of Art, gift of former Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon. Across the Constitution avenue en- trance to Sixth street will be erected & huge wooden gate to be swung on rollers, closing that traffic artery for- ever under an act of Congress. An- other gate is to be swung across Sixth street at the south side of mei gallery site, near Madison Drive, | which is the northernmost driveway | in the mall | These gates will close the street for | construction work on that part of the site where the main entrance to the gallery is to be located on the | exact line of the street. The build- ing is to rise between Fourth and Seventh streets, Constitution avenue and Madison Drive. Meanwhile the gallery site today | was a beehive of activity. Workmen were moving materials from District of Columbia W. P. A. activities on the site, and tearing down many old build- ings. The Bureau of the Census is to move from a large building on the Engineers Plan Water Front Improvements Upper: Lower: Yacht basin office ing, while right view is that of end elevation. signs. PLANS ARE REVISED ny Star 1937. FH¥ and waitin, < . Design for a small club house, executed under direction of Maj. W district engineer for the War Department for the Washington area. g room. Left view shows front elevation of the build- The Fine Arts Commission has approved these de- alter D. Luplow, ‘.'Two 10-Y ear-Olds i;edal Away Leave Searchers M yriad Clues; Society and General PAGE B—1 KNOTS DISAPPEAR FROMKEENE ROPE: POLICE LOSE CLUE Strange Discovery Is Made Regarding Piece About Murdered Man’s Neck. STRAND REDISCOVERED ON SMITH ISLAND Detective Marlin Brubaker Ex- pressed Disappointment—Plans to Confer With Prosecutor. BACKGROUND— A week ago yesterday the weight= ed body of Charles F. Keene, sr., Washington real estate man, was found near Smith Island, Md., two weeks after he mysteriously disap- peared from the steamer District of Columbia. A Maryland coroner's jury de- clared the was murdered, but no substantial progress so jar has been made in solving the mystery. Another stumbling block was ene countered in the investigation of the strange death of Char F. Keene today when it was discovered the knots had been removed from a strand of marlin rope attached to the Washington real estate man's body when it was recovered Although the rope was sent yese terday to the Baltimore headquarters of the Maryland State Police, who had considered the knots a valuable clue, itywas learned at Crisfield, Md.. where the marlin was mailed, that it no longer was knotted The rope, of the thickness of a lead pencil, was reported as being large‘ cities. | perishable foods—crabs, oysters, lob- | This table showed Washington | B eI 1000 thnt’puie food and ranked sixth in population among the | drug laws are observed. Pulled by an nine citfes, fifth as to the number of | o f i Department automobile, | murder and non-negligent man-| 3 °¢ accompanied on its journeys by | slaughter offenses, third as to the | a'qnitary expert, a bacteriologist and | area, Clues galore—everything from foot- prints on a front-porch roof to a miss- ing $50 bill—were available to police | today in their efforts to help worried | Drawings for New Buildings | peretsilocmte) distance call to the farm, however,, ted with iniricate knots, probably failed to disclose a trace of the boys, | Dautical ones, when it was taken from John's father had collected some rent | Kecne's body a week ago yesterday at Sunday, and out of the money s 850 Smith Island, Md. bill was missing. The boy took along a | Marlin Strand Missing. are tanks to provide water when none can be piped from outside. Have No Parking Troubles. The trailer was equipped at the Ag- riculture Department shops from de- Offices Are Set Up. Carpenters were putting up an office for the goneral contractor, Marc Eid- | litz & Son, on the northwest corner of | the site, where other offices will be | two number of rape cases, second as to| robberies, first as to aggravated as- | sault, first as to housebreaking, first | as to grand larceny, second as 4o petty larceny and third as to auto! theft, The other cities were Baltimore Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Min- neapolis, New Orleans, St. Louis and Ban Francisco. “Relative to the discrepancy be- tween the number of charges and | convictions,” said Maj. Brown, “this| is the result of a policy that has been vears. several charges of criminal offenses | in which evidence is obtained as to| their guilt or admissions made of ali | offenses and, in keeping with this policy, only two or three cases were presented to the grand jury. As result, the defendant will b2 con- victed of only the two or thre: that were presented to the grand jury. Only Several Cases Filed. “In many instances 30 or 40 cases will be placed against a cingle indi- vidual, but only two or three cases filed in court. This has been cor- rected during the past year by ar- rangements with the United States at- torney and instructions to members of the police force. In all cases where there is sufficient evidence to warrant 8 charge witnesses and evidence will be presented 1o the district attorney's office for presentation to the grand | Jury. | “This will result in a disposition by | the court of all cases presented ! | | | an inspector. Looks Around Factories. The sanitary expert takes a good | folding canvas chair and a bridge If | table which are set up outside as office all looks clean and well-managed, he | furniture when thege is writing of re- gives the place his O. K. But if in- | sanitary conditions are noticed, he tells | be done. look around a crab meat factory. the inspector, who collects samples of the meat and brings them to the bac- | iologist teriologist. The samples are examined | parking troubles. State and Municipal | in the trailer laboratory. If the meat | Board of Health people are intrigued | is found to be bad, a telegram is dis- | with the laboratory and have been patched to the pure food and drug eager to accommodate it. in operation over a period of many |mMman at or near the destination of the | taken. At his command the tainted shipment is taken off the market. Individuals are arrested on | Shipment from which the sample was | explained Dr. Arthur C. Hunter, senior | signs and specifications by B. A. Lin- den, bacteriologist with the Food and Drug Administration. It carries a ports or other non-laboratory work to Morris Ostrolenk, trailering bacter- | . said he has yet to encounter | The advantage of the trailer lab, | bacteriologist, is that it obviates ship- | | ments of samples. AFGE FACTIONAL BREACH WIDENS Committee Against False Economy Gains Support of Labor Lodge. The factional breach in the Ameri- can Federation of Government Em- ployes appeared to be widening today as the Committee Against False Economy. which has split with na-| MRS. SCOTT'SBODY HUNTED IN RIVER !Motive Is Lacking for Ap- parent Suicide of Ports- mouth Matron, Relatives and investigators were against the defendant and will elimi- | tional headquarters, announced sup- | nate the large number of cases classed by the Criminal Justice Ass technical arrests.” { Maj. Brown said the large percent- age of housebreaking in Washington | is due to the fact that under the code | of laws the breaking into an outhouse would be listed as housebreaking here, | though no property be stolen, while in | other jurisdictions a certain amount of | property must be stolen to constitute such an offense. He added that Washington's grand | larceny record was found larger than | in some cities because in the past property valued at but $35 stolen here called for a grand larceny count m-} stead of petty larceny. The dividing line between grand and petty larceny | now has been raised to §50. PATENT LAWYERS’ CLUB TO MARK ANNIVERSARY | Final Dinner Meeting of Season ! Will Be Held Tonight. The Patent Lawyers’ Club will cele- | brate its second anniversary at its final dinner meeting of the season to- | night at the Parrott. The club is composed of several young patent lawyers of Washington. Those elected to active membership during the past season include Edward B. Beale, Edimund H. Parry, Ralph H. Hudson, Roberts B. Larson, Archibald R. McCallum, Edward Newton, George W. Gardes, Robert C. Riordon and Charles Shelton. William W. Fleming is president of the organization. CLUB TO TAKE TRIP A week-end trip to Colonial Beach for the Buchanan Recreational Club, functioning under the Community Center Department, has been ar- ranged by the club’'s Executive Com- mittee. About 25 members of the club will leave after the meeting Saturday and will return the following evening. Fishing, swimming, boating, hiking and a huge wienie roast are on the program. Chaperoning the group Will be Mrs. H. C. Olson, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Dimock and Mr. and Mrs. M. J. Shafl. BAND CONCERTS. By the Army Band in the formal garden at Walter Reed Hospital at 6:30 o'clock tonight. Capt. Thomas F. Darcy, leader; Karl Hubner, as- sistant, conducting. By the Soldiers’ Home Band at the ‘bandstand at 7 o’clock tonight. John 8. Zimmermann, bandmaster; Anton intner, assistant. the Society of Federal Translators, another unit, declared itself out of the federation. Concurrently, five lodges suspended by the federation last September moved for affiliation with the Com- mittee on Industrial Organization. Labor Relations Board Lodge, which has just been chartered by the A. F. G. E., “voted full support and indorse- ment” of the campaign launched by the Committee Against False Econ- omy, made up of seven lodges, now under suspension for their independ- ent drive against Government re- trenchment, a statement said. Plan Mass Meeting. These seven, which face a hearing by a subcommittee of the Executive Council Saturday, have arranged a mass meeting at the Willard Hotel Thursday night, at which speakers will be Senator McCarran, Democrat, of Nevada, and Representative Kelly, Democrat, of Pennsylvania. Paul Olsen of Library of Congress Lodge— which has not joined in the ‘“rebel” movement—will be chairman of the | meeting. The withdrawal of Translators’ Lodge from the federation came as a surprise. It was made known in this announcement sent to newspapers: “The Society of Federal Translators (Lodge No. 19), which was the first lodge to join the American Federation of Government Employes and whose membership is very conservative in character, passed a resolution at its meeting of June 7, 1937, terminating its affiliation with the federation on account of dissatisfaction with the present leadership of that organi- zation.” Charge Failure to Organise. The five lodges suspended t September made the move for C. I. O. affiliation through their Inter-Union Council, which functions in Farm Credit, Securities and Exchange, Social Security, Railroad Retirement and Public Assistance Division of the District of Columbia. They declared that the A. F. G. E., an affillate of the American Federa- tion of Labor, “has failed miserably to organize employes of the Federal Government for advancement of their interests,” and has expelled or refused to admit to membership, 7,000 em- ployes. The council called on the Committee Against False Economy, the newly- formed Congressional Secretaries’ Guild, the Rural Electrification Union, The Social Security Board Union of Baltimore and the Association of Fed- eral Mechanics to join with them. It was recently announced that the C. 1. O. is considering invading the eld of Government employes. Meanwhile, the Social Security | port from National Labor Relations | sociation as | Board Lodge of the federation, while | | | | still confronted today with lack of a| motive for the apparent suicide of | Mrs. Harriet Larkin Scott, 26, at-| tractive society matron of Ports- | mouth, Va., who leaped from the' Norfolk-Washington steamer North- land Sunday night with a farewell shout of “Here's where I stage an act.” | The Coast Guard, the Norfolk &| ‘Washington Steamship Co. and po- lice lacked further information as to whether fishing boats had been suc- cessful in efforts to locate her body near the mouth of the Potomac. | Her leap occurred not far from where | Charles F. Keene, sr., disappeared | from the steamer District of Columbia | the night of May 13. Although the Northland was put about and delayed for about an hour | while searchlights were played over | the water, the body was not recovered. Mrs. Scott’s mother, Mrs. J. W. Lar- kin, and sister, Mrs. L. A. Broughton, saw the plunge. Her 7-year-old son, Allen, also was on board. Witnesses sald Mrs. Scott had been sitting back in a deck chair with friends just before she got up and walked to the guard rail, threw her | purse in the air, gave her farewell | shout and clambered overboard. Mrs. Fannie Scott, her mother-in- law, said at Portsmouth, according to the Associated Press, that Mrs. Scott apparently had been in the best of health and spirits when she boarded the steamer late Sunday for the an- nual outing of the Matrons’ Sewing Circle, in which she had taken a prominent part for the last nine years. Relatives of the woman could ad- vance no reason today for her act, other than that conversation with pas- sengers on the boat with reference to Keene may have been an unconscious power of suggestion for her. References were made by passen- gers, it was said, to the fact that the boat was traveling near the place where Keene's body was found. A few minutes before her sister leaped from the vessel, a male passenger, refer- ring to Keene's disappearance, was heard to remark: “Well, I hope no- body gets drowned tonight.” Clinic Postponed. HYATTSV . Md., June 8 (Spe- cial) —The regular chest clinic, sched- uled for today in the Prince Georges County Clinic Building here, has been postponed until 10 a.m. tomorrow, ac- cording to an announcement by Mr. Hugh Welsh, who conducts the ses- sions. Board Union of Baltimore is having added trouble, it was reported today, with announcement that five more officials of the organization have been dismissed for union activity. This follows the dropping of four others, ‘whose cases now are before ftaelf. | at West Virginia av¢nue and Mount | monumental character, requiring great added later. Philip Healy, Inc. the firm which has completed most of the borings and test pits over the rest of the site, was preparing equipment to move into the | Sixth street area itself, where borings will be sunk down through the pave- | ment, to determine the character of the subsoil, for foundation purposes. Power shovels were being prepared by Potts & Callahan, excavation con- tractors, who expect to begin excava- tion within a few days. The first dig- ging probably will begin on the west sector, in that area from which the District of Columbia woodyard is now moving out. On this part of the gal- lery site are the huge reinforced con- crete foundations of the George Wash- ington Memorial, which have lain un- completed since shortly after the World War. They will offer a tough job for the excavator. Blasting may be resorted to in efforts to demolish | them. Power shovels will undermine the old foundations, which never were used for the purpose originally in- | tended. Agreement for their demoli- tion was reached with the owners long | before the proposal for the Mellon ! Gallery went to Congress for ap- | proval Mellon Aides Here. Arrangements have been completed | for the supervision and construction of the National Gallery of Art, which | Mellon specifically designated not to| carry his name. The Mellon Educa- tional and Charitable Trust, which is! the organization officially offering the | gift to the Nation, is represented here | by Donald B. Shepard and David Ed- | ward Finley, personal representatives ! of Mellon. A technical consultant| has been appointed representing the | trust. He is James L. Stuart of Pitts- burgh, who will have associated witi him his partner, Alexander R. Reed. John Russell Pope, architect, has| placed in charge of his interests here Irwin D. Matthew, resident archi- | tect, and the contractor, Marc Eid- litz & Son of New York, has sent Joseph Murray to be superintendent. on the job. Offices of the W. P. A. are being moved to the old Havenner Bakery building at 470 C street, which has been reconditioned for the job. The wood yard is being shifted to a site Olivet road northeast. W. P, A. officials said nothing had been decided as to a new site for the reproduction plant, which does a wide variety of printing. The sewing room has been moved to the old Metropoli- tan Memorial Church building on John Marshall place. Although the gallery is to be of care in construction, it probably will be finished within three years, accord- ing to Matthews. No specific date has been fixed for the contract completion, he said. Raw materials and their fabrication have not yet been ordered, pending completion of detailed work- ing plans. —e D. C. Youth Graduates in Ohio. Cuvier Metzler, jr., of 4310 Eight- eenth street will be graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University at the ninety-third annual exercises there Monday morning. He will receive a bachelor of arts degree. | the waterfront | during the period of construction the | Are Made Public by | Maj. Luplow. | Revised plans for new buildings to be constructed along Water street as part of the Washington Channel waterfront development, already ap- proved by Congress, were made public today by Maj. Walter D. Luplow, War Department district engineer for the Washington area. The plans were redrawn in accordance with the wishes of the Fine Arts Commission, and the structures will be in the Colonial type of architecture. Working drawings will be ready soon and Maj. Luplow expects in about three weeks to ask Maj. Gen. Edward M. Markham, chief of Army Engineers, for an allocation of funds with which to start the project. As now planned | improvement, which wili include construction of modern yacht basins and commercial piers, | will be extended over eight years and cost $1,650,000. The District of Co- | lumbia is to contribute $389,000 toward | the program. | For the work planned in the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1, Maj. Luplow will ask $285.000, which he says can be profitably expended under | the first year's program. The Army | engineers are planning to construct first the yacht basin office and waiting room and a club house on Water | street between Seventh and Eleventh | streets southwest. During the second | year the commercial piers will be im- | proved. Funds for this long-sought improve- | ment are expected to be obtained from | the rivers and harbors measure. It is\ understood Congress is making a lump | sum available to Secretary Woodring | and the chief of Army engineers for | allocation to meritorious projects throughout the country which Con- gress has already indorsed. E. A. Schmitt, senior engineer in | Maj. Luplow’s office, said today that development will be in the hands of | the United States Engineer office here. ‘When completed, it will be turned | over to the District authorities for | operation. The Army Engineers ex- ' pect to let the work out on bids to private contractors. The Engineers expect a leace will be executed with a bona fide club to operate the clubhouse, although this is a detail to be worked out later with District authorities. The waiting room is expected to be let out as a concession. HEARINGS DELAYED Work on Judges' Retirement Bill to Start Friday. Hearing on a bill providing for re- tirement of judges of the Police, Juvenile and Municipal Courts, sched- uled to start today before a subcom- mittee of the House District Commit- tee, were postponed until Friday at 10:30 a.m. Representative Quinn, Democrat, of Pennsylvania, chairman of the sub- committee, arranged the postpone- ment to avoid conflict with'a hearing scheduled by another subcommittee on a bill to limit the number of taxi- cabs in Washington. Protest Brings Ban on Fees From Skyline Drive Tourists Complaints that sightseeing parties of school children had been. turned back from Skyline Drive at Panaroma, Va., because they couldn’t pay a fee resulted today in an order forbidding the assessment of money from ve- hicles carrying school, church, Boy Scout or other non-commercial groups through the Shenandoah National Park. N The order was contained in a tele- gram sent by Arno B. Cammerer, di- rector of the National Park Service, to James R. Lassiter, superintendent of Shenandoah National Park, and came after Cammerer had consulted with George A. Moskey, assistant director, in charge of land acquisition and regulation branch, the park service’s legal expert. About & week ago, with ocoming of the park travel season at Shenan- doah, the service again instituted a $5 fee for busses. Two bus loads of school children registered complaints Sunday at Luray, Va., Lassiter's head- quarters, after they were turned back at Panorama and refused permission to travel over Skyline Drive because they did not have money to pay the fee and did not know of the charge. Park officials at Luray said they had written the commercial lines likely to use the drive regularly about the charge, but naturally could not notify every bus that might make the trip. Cammerer said he learned for the first time today of the school chil- drens’ complaint. The director of the National Park Service said there has been no change in admitting private plgasure cars ‘without payment of a fee. 10-year-old boys, believed to be pedaling to- ward either Pitts- burgh or mantown, Pa., on their bicycles. The boys, miss- ing since last night, are John Hardell, jr, son of the treasurer of a building sup- ply firm, and Stanley Lister, 2848 Twenty- Stanley Lister. seventh street, Ger- | suit case containing six shirts and as | many pairs of socks. i Across the roof of the front porch, | his father discovered today., were| John's footprints. The boy had ob- tained a piece of string from the | | housekeeper yesterday morning, and | he is believed to have used it to| lower his suit case to the ground.| Investigation also revealed he bought | Boy Scout equipment at a downtown | department store yesterday. Both he | and Stanley planned to join the Boy" Scouts when they are 12 John might have had a trip in | | mind Sunday when he asked his father son of J. H. Lister of the Parm Credit | Administration. their classes at Oyster School, Calvert and Twenty-ninth streets, where they are in the fifth grade. Pittsburgh or Germantown were in- dicated as possible destinations, be- cause John, at the breakfast table yesterday. asked his father how to spell Pittsburgh. and the elder Hardell owns | a farm at Germantown. His last long | his “good days and ba % Both stand high in | s 72 i s to check his horoscope and tell him His mother died some years ago. to deliver packages. He took no clothing, however, and had no money, | his parents said. The boys are in the same class at Calvary Baptist Church Sunday school. Multiple Protection For Cash Box Fails Laundry Operator John K. Jones, street, proprietor of a laundry at 418 New Jersey avenue, changed his mind today about the hiding place he had been using for valuables at his place of business. Until yesterday he thought it was a pretty good spot. When Jones opened his shop after the week end, missing was a cash box, which was in a brief case, which was hidden in a clothes hamper, which was se- creted in a closet—which was on the second floor. The box had contained $150 in cash and $20 in checks. PARKING METERS INDORSED FOR D. C. Keystone Automobile Club Asks Devices Be Tested, at Least in Limited Area. Declaring Washington's parking problems are as critical as those of any city in the United States, the Keystone Automobile Club today in- dorsed the proposal to install parking meters here. The motor club through its man- ager, George E. Keneipp, said it had conducted a Nation-wide study of cities where parking meters are now used and decided they “are worth a test, at least within a limited area.” ‘The primary function of the meters, the club said, is to ease the acute parking situation; to make it possible for more motorists to find a place to park and transast business. “For that reason,” the club stated, “it is regrettable that locally the park- ing meter is being put forward as revenue measure. The revenue to be derived from parking meters is defl- nitely incidental and is applied toward purchase of the machines and various traffic uses.” e ——— RICE HOOE FIGHTS AGAINET “RESIGNATION” Rice Hooe, assistant corporation counsel in charge of the staff at Police Court, today appeared before the Commissioners to fight against his “resignation.” The Commissioners announced soon after the hearing that they had taken the matter “under advisement,” but did not state how soon they might reach a decision. Hooe had with him at the hear- ing as counsel W. Gwynn Gardiner, former District Commissioner. Cor- poration Counsel Elwood H. Seal, who asked for Hooe's resignation, also was present, and both sides to the contro- versy left before decision to delay 6119 Fifth “TRAFFIC FIXING” EXHIBITS IN ISSUE {Admissibility of Over 50! | the case a suicide Pieces of Evidence Hit in Case Against Officer. The admissibility of more than 50 | exhibits reputed to bear on the “ticket- | fixing” charge against Pvt. Welford | Winfield, former traffic officer, today was in issue before the Police Trial | Board sitting on the case. The board | is holding no session today, but will resume tomorrow. Received only for purposes of identi- | fication yesterday at a protracted | session at the fourth precinct, the items include a large batch of warrants for traffic violations that had gone un- served, approximately 20 envelopes— now empty—addressed to Winfield and several books containing carbon copies of traffic tickets made at the time of their issuance and reserved by the complaining officer. Came From Officer’s Wife. This material, described as having come fsom Winfield's estranged wife— now dead—was brought in by Assistant Corporation Counsel E. M. Welliver, the prosecutor, as he placed on the stand Charles H. Linkins, a member of the local bar, who is counsel for Teunis F. Collier, 3001 Dent place, the Georgetown builder whosef warfare with the Traffic Department got wide publicity several months ago. Collier has pending & mandamus suit against the District Commissioners and ranking police officials headed by Superintendent Ernest W. Brown to require enforcement of laws against traffic violators. Charles E. Ford, defense counsel, objected vigorously to the introduction of the purported evidence, contending the fact that it came from a person now dead precluded admission. Inspec- tor Edward J. Kelly ruled, however, that it might be received on the basis of supporting testimony from others the witness said were present when it was received last January. Among | these was Collier, who, with the| others, is to appear at the hearing. Theater Passes Cited. Harry E. Lohmeyer, district manager for Warner Bros. theaters, told the trial board yesterday that while he | was manager at the Earle, and in/| continuation of a precedent already | established, approximately 200 passes were sent each week to members of the Police Department as a matter of courtesy, and that Superintendent Brown and other officials had season passes. He said that on occasion tickets that had been given for traffic breaches accompanied these passes to ‘Winfield and other officers. Winfleld is now attached to the second precinct. Sitting on the case with Inspector Kelly are Capt. J. C. Morgan of the fifth precinct m? pt. Lloyd E. Kelly of the eighth. When detectives went to the island to collect evidence. including a weighted brief case, which was secured to Keene's neck by a smaller cotton rope, the marlin strand could not be found. When located on the island beach vesterday. where it apparently was thrown by some one, the rope cone tained no knots, according to Ferry= boat Capt. John Whitelock. who took the evidence to the mainland Reached at Darlington, Md., where he was instructing a police school today, Detective Marlin Brubaker, who has been investigating the case along with Washington police. expressed dis- appointment at the “inding. Keene. This fact had supported the theory of those who believe Keene was murs dered and his body thrown from the steamer District of Columbia more than three weeks ago. While Washington police continued with their part in the investigation, Brubaker indicated the Maryland au- thorities had virtually exhausted every clue thus far found. “Unless something else turns up— and I don't see anything now,” Bru= baker said, “I intend to hold a con- ference on the status of the case late this week with State's Attorney Mad- drix.” Brubaker denied he had already compiled a report definitely labeling He said. however, he was “satisfied personally” about several apparently baffling clues State's Attorney F. Kirke Maddrix of Somerset Ccunty reiterated that it is still a murder as far as the State is concerned. Regardless of the ulti~ mate determination of police, the case will go down on the records as murder, a Maryland coroner’s jury having returned a verdict to that effect. One of the strongest links in the | theory that Keene was murdered—the knots tied in the smaller rope attached to the body—weakened when Wash- ington police expressed doubt that the rope was knotted by a seaman. It has been the contention of fisher- men that the knots were intricate ones. Detective Chief Bernard W. Thomp= son, who has been collaborating with Maryland authorities in an attempt to solve the case, revealed, however, that one of his detectives familiar with nautical knots disagrees. The rope, brought here by Marys land detectives, was submitted for ex amination to Detective Sergt. Guy Rone, a former member of the Army Engineer Corps. Declared Simply Tied. ‘The knots were not scientifically tied, Thompson quoted Rone as ine forming him, and could have “been made by any one.” Thompson said he had offered to take the rope to the navy yard here for further examination and expert opinion, but the Maryland investi~ gators had to leave town before this was done. Despite this development and other doubts that Keene met with foul play, the possibility that the real estate man was murdered continues to hold the attention of investigators. Having questioned two women who claimed knowledge of the case yes- terday, Homicide Squad Detectives Jeremiah Flaherty and Charles Carver today were making a systematic can= vas of the city in an effort to trace an automobile jack used to weight the body. It had been thought at first that tif) jack belonged to Keene, but this proved wrong when his car was located with the tool case intact One of the women questioned yes- terday, described as “one close to the family,” told police she was satisfled Keene had taken his own life. She said the real estate man's sister, Florence Robins Keene, head of the music department at McKin- ley High School, who died about two years ago, had worried because her brother intimated several times he intended to kill himself. The woman also told police she was certain the brief case, which the Keene family has maintained did not belong to Keene, was left to the real estata man by his sister, along with all her other personal $roperty.