Evening Star Newspaper, July 30, 1937, Page 17

WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, JULY 30, 1937. Millions for Sewage Disposal Spent on This Anti-Pollution Plant at Blue Plains EX ) PAGE B—-1 PLANNING GROUP AGAINST DVERSION' OF FEDERAL LAND Opposes Policy Looking to Use for Other Than Pur- pose Acquired. JEFFERSON MEMORIAL TANGLE IS WEIGHED DENAND OF IS " SPURS FIGHT ON SLAVGHTER OUSE W. P. A. Administrator Calls ¥ for Protection of Sewage j Investment. WARNS OF NULLIFYING . NEW PLANT BENEFITS Letter to Hazen Orders Every Legal Step to Be Taken to Save $4,125,000 Expenditure. Commission Also Studies Merits of 50 Sites Submitted for Naval Hospital. BY NELSON M. SHEPARD. Secretary Ickes brought the public eontrovery over the nullifying effect that waste frpm the proposed Adolf Gobel slaughter house would have on successful operation of the District's The National Capital Park and Planning Commission went on record today as “strongly protesting” any policy looking to diversion of Govern- In the $4,000,000 plant at’Blue Plains, built to keep the Potomac River free of sewage pollution, Chemist Paul McNamee hands Supt. Ellwood Johnson the daily report in the sludge laboratory. Behind the George Suber skims off the floating matter in the sedimenta- tion tank. The sewage is put through a quadruple process, finally The giant 1,200-horsepower gas engine which drives the generator that supplies the power for the sewage plant. Allen B. Fay, chief engineer of the plant, stands beside the engine. This power plant operates 220 motors, pumps, vacuums and air compressors. Seven months from now, when the plant is in full operation, it is expected to treat 115,000,000 new sewage disposal plant to a sharp issue today in a 1,200-word warning to Commissioner Melvin C. Hazen. As administrator of the P. W. A. which financed the $4.125,000 primary sewage plant at Blue Plains to reduce pollution of the Potomac River, Ickes made a peremptory demand on the Commissioners to ‘“take all possible legal action” to protect the benefits of this sizable public expenditure. Other- wise, he reminded, he would consider the failure to improve conditions in | the river a “complete wastage” of the P. W. A. investment. He based his warning to the Dis- trict on a widely publicized report made by the Public Health Service after a careful study of the Gobel| Co.’s plans for a regional meat pack- ing plant at Benning. Surgeon Gen- eral Parran had suggested in this | report that additional pollution and | overloading of the sewage system might require early construction of secondary features for biological treat- ment. One Company’s Burden. “In this case, through the action | of this one company.” Ickes said, “the taxpayers of the City of Washington would have to bear the burden of a $3.000.000 or $4.000,000 secondary treatment plant or lose the benefit of the $4,125,000 already spent.” Commissioner Hazen received the Ickes letter as conferees at the Capitol | were _reaching a final agreement on the District’s new tax program de- signed to meet an expected deficit | of $7,000,000. In suggesting several possible ways out of the situation created by the determination of the Gobel Co. to go ahead with plans to “build and complete” the slaughter house be- fore October 1, the public works ad- mipistrator sought early information ay'to “what action the Commissioners will take.* One suggestion Ickes advanced was for the District to “shift the financial burden” of the additional sewage plant that will be required to “those whose action will necessitate its con- struction.” Would Tax Sewage Volume. By this, it is understood, he had in mind a tax that might be imposed on the Gobel Co. based on the actual volume of its sewage. Such a method recently was made effective in Chi- | cago, which charges excessive use of | the city's sewage disposal plant | against the large meat packers In his letter to Hazen. the admin- {strator reminded that P. W. A. has| a “direct concern” in the use to which | its funds are put and in addition the | Secretary of the Interior is charged | with the maintenance of the Capital's parks and the Memorial Highway, which, he claimed, would be affected by inadequate sewage treatment. Surg. Gen. Parran pointed out, he wrote, that the Blue Plains plant was deslgned to handle the sewage of approximately 650.000 people and that operation of the proposed Gobel| slaughter house would add sewage | equivalent to & population of 140.000. | After Teciting pollution dangers | cited by the surgeon general that| would affect the Potomac and Piney | Run, & stream flowing through the Gobel site, Ickes wrote. “You will recall that the original | application of the District of Colum- bia for a sewage disposal plant pro- |~ vided for both primary and seconcary | treatment, the estimated cost of the | system being set at $8.000.000, for which an allotment was made. Later, after a thorough investigation, it was determined that primary treat- ment was all that was required. Cites Engineers' Report. *One of the considerations directing | this change was the finding in the report by the Board of Sanitary Enginecrs, appointed by the District Commissioners, that: “‘The District of Columbia sewage s more like that of a residential com- munity with, combined sewers than that of an industrial city.’” Ickes went on to say: “It now appears from the report of the surgeon general that the primary treatment of sewage in the new dis- posal plant will be insufficient ‘to pre- vent obnoxious conditions in the Poto- mae River’ if the proposed slaughter house is allowed to operate. “In other words, despite the ex- penditure of $4,125000 of public money advanced as a loan and grant from the Public Works Administration, eonditions in the Potomac River may’ be just as bad as, if not worse, than existed before this expenditure. This is tantamount to complete wastage of the public funds involved. “One alternative would be for the District to construct the secondary treatment facilities in the disposal plant. In this case, through the ac- tion of this one company, the tax- payers of the City of Washington would have to bear the burden of a $3,000,- 000 or $4,000,000 secondary treatment plant, or lose the benefit of the $4,- 125,000 already spent. Requires Return in Benefits. “The Public Works Administration has a direct concern in the use to which funds allotted by it are put. It has a legitimate interest in seeing to it that the benefits anticipated from a public project actually accrue to the community concerned. In addi- tion, the Secretary of the Interior is charged with responsibility for the | will carry the members to the picnic proper maintenance of the parks ad- jacent to the streams to be affected and of the Memorial Highway, which ~ men is a gasometer which analyzes sludge gases. becoming fertilizer. MCARRAN BACKS 1,200 PAY BiLL Calls Ramspeck Measure for U. S. Workers “Right Step.” Senator McCarran, Democrat, of Nevada, who six months ago launched a drive to establish $1,500 as a min. imum wage for full-time workers in | the Federal service, today welcomed the proposal of Chairman Ramspeck | of the House Civil Service Committee | to put through a $1,200 minimum pay measure. On learning of the Ramspeck bill, which is described as having admin- istration backing, McCarran an- nounced he would go along with that move instead of insisting on his own plan at this time, calling it a step in the right direction. Action on the Ramspeck bill at this session depends on whether Congress remains in session for several more weeks—long enough to get the measure through committee and on the floor. Speedy adjournment probably would necessitate postponement of action. Although Senator McCarran’s bill | went beyond the fixing of & minimum | wage by providing some increases in | brackets up to a salary of $3,600 a | year, with revision also of efficiency rating methods, the Nevadan said he would not press for those provisions if there' is a chance for enactment of the $1,200 minimum, because his main desire was to bring up the wage level of those in the lowest brackets. CLASSES IN TANGO Dancing Masters to Be Taught by Broadway Expert. For the first time in its 54 years of existence, the Dancing Masters of America will be taught the tango at its annual convention opening at the Mayflower Sunday. Fred le Quorne, one of Broadway's better-known routine creators for | leading ball room teams, will be the | pioneer instructor. He will demon- strate and teach new conceptions of the tango, offering both ball room and exhibition versions. Le Quorne declared Nordics and Americans as good tango dancers as Latins. Club to Have Outing. ‘The Pennsylvania State Colored Democratic Club of Washington will hold its annual outing and picnic at Sparrows Beach tomorrow. Members of the club include local college pro- fessors and students and Federal Gov- ernment workers, Buses leaving the Twelfth street Y. M. C. A. at 1 p.m. grounds. certainly would feel the direct effect of inadequate sewage treatment. “In view of the very definite con- clusions arrived at by the surgeon general I feel constrained to inquire what action the District Commission- ers will take to prevent the overload- ing of the primary sewage disposal plant and the consequent pollution of the Potomac River, and to suggest that it is the duty of the District to take all possible legal action to pre- vent such a nullification, through the erection and operation of the pack- ing plant, of the benefits of the ex- penditure of $4,000,000 of funds of the Public Works Administration. “It is hardly necessary to point out in this connection that when the Public Works Administration approved the change in plans to confine the disposal system to primary treatment, it assumed that the District would s0 operate the sewer system that the primary treatment only would be adequate. . Several Courses Suggested. “It may be that stringent regula- tions designed to prevent the dis- charge of noisome sewage into the District'’s sewer system will be of value. It may be that the District can shift the financial burden of the additional sewage plant that will be required to those whose action will necessitate its construction. It may be that the only remedy is to prevent the operation of plants whose necessary effect must be the dis- charge of such sewage and consequent pollution of the waterways in and about the District of Columbia. In any case, I feel that it is dncumbent upon the District Commissioners to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to prevent the objectionable and dangerous consequences of which the Public Health Service warns. “In view of this situation, I will greatly appreciate being advised by the Commissioners what steps they propose to take to protect the public funds invested in the present disposal system and to prevent making the Potomac River an open sewer. “I Jook forward to the courtesy of an eary reply.” e SPEAKERS UPHOLD SUFFRAGE CAUSE Progressive Action Group Hears Representatives and Roberts. Suffrage in the District of Columbia, a question of equality with the Na- tion's citizens since disfranchisement early three-quarters of a century ago, was presented again to the public last night in talks at the Sylvan Theater by Representatives Wood of Missouri and Teigan of Minnesota and | Counsel William A. | former Peoples’ Roberts. ‘The mass meeting program was sponsored by the new and fast-grow= ing Citizens' Committee for Progres- sive Action, which has as its slogan “‘Progress Through Suffrage.” Speaking over the radio through Station WJSV, Roberts told the gathering that “some day the com- mittee which is conducting this meet- ing will make a real study of the District government and will expand the evidence of the Jacobs report that most of our facilities are unduly expensive. That our laws and ordi- nances are unequally applied to ou: population. That we wait for many years for improvements in’ sanitation, health and recreation which have long since been avgilable in most modern cities.” No Burden of Debt. “Their report will unquestionably express wonderment that nearly $50,- 000,000 is required to operate a city which is almost entirely free of debt, when cities of comparable size have very much smaller budgets and yet have the misfortune of severe debt burdens. i “Perhaps the committee will openly question the superiority of our school system, one of the most expensive in the United States, and will won- der how Cincinnati, New York and numerous other cities can give col- legiate education in public institutions whereas a high school education in double platoon classes of a size far too large for modern education re- quirements is the best we can afford our children. “Some group some time can, and will, set itself determinedly toward the task of securing Suffrage for the District of Columbia. When it’ gives evidence of its fixed purpose and permanence it will attract to its ranks the thousands of District residents Wwho despaired of ever obtaining com- petent leadership. I believe that time has come. That the mismanagement of our affairs has aroused even those whose primary concern is the meas- ure of taxes and that with the backing of a District conscious press and a self-sacrificing and porsevering a tude on the part of the members of this committee, the day when District will have the right to vote for its officers cannot be long dis- tant.” Nation's Problems First. Wood, a member of the House Dis- trict Committee, said he “knew of the lack of personal interest” of the group for the welfare of the District. “Busy Congressmen, serving on several com- mittees,” he said, “are not physically able to give the time they should to affairs of the District. Problems af- fecting the Nation as a whole must come first and too often there is no time left for proper consideration of the District.” “All members of the District Com- mittee,” he said, “have sympathy for the District and are interested in it, but the home State comes first, and it should. What this city needs is the regular city government by which all metropolises are governed. Strangers with their minds on other things can't do it properly.” ‘Wood promised the gathering he would spend “all the time he could spare” in preparing. bills designed to give the District the power of self- government. Sees Situation Unfortunate. Teigan declared “any person inter- ested in democracy can’t help but feel strongly about this unfortunate sit- uation” here. “It is.beyond my com- prehension how it exists,” he said. “In no other capital of any large na- tion I know of does the federal gov- ernment supplant the city govern- ment.” Teigan recommended that the citi- zens of the District unify on getting one thing—the right to vote. “The rest will take care of itself after that,” he said. Charles A. Franklin, vice chairman of the committee and delegate to the Federation of Citizens' Associations from the Conduit Road Association, announced the committee would meet August 10 to draw up legislative ma- terial for introduction to Congress re- garding the suffrage problem. Woman Healthy at 115. Burrounded by many of her 40 direct descendants, Yelena Pravutskaya re- cently celebrated her 115th birthday at her home, near Vinnitsa, Russia, and declared that her heslth was satistactory. the | In an effort to discourage a racket by which persons unable fo pass driv- ing tests are obtaining permits, Dis- trict automobile permits may be used along the line of passports—with a photograph of the holder affixed. This possibility was revealed today when Traffic Director Willlam Van Duzer intimated it appears to be the only way to check a practice that | already has resulted in several ar- | rests. |ing in the city—ready to obtain, for a cash payment, permits for persons unable to meet the driving require- ments. Due to the fact only a general de- A ring, believed to be controlled by | | one man, who has & staff of experi- | | enced drivers, apparently is flourish- | —Star Staff Photo. gallons of sewag eaday. Photographs on Auto Permits May Be Key to Check Racket scription is required on the present permits, Van Duzer explained, mem- bers of the ring are able to pass the tests and turn the permits over to novices who seek them. Van Duzer believes the racket could be halted by having the applicants photographed after they pass the test and having the picture of the driver printed or fastened securely on the permit. A With a lookout still being kept for members of the ring. six persons have been convicted within the past three days of obtaining permits through | misrepresentation. Three of them, James Snowden, Lewis J. Greasey and | Robert Woddy, pleaded guilty before | Traffic Judge John P. McMahon to- day and were sentenced to pay maxi- mum fines of $25 each. PAINTERS RETURN 10 FEDERAL J0BS ;Provmise of Labor Bureau ! Probe Resumes Work on All but Revenue Project. After two weeks' idleness, striking painters returned to work on Federal building construction jobs today with the assurance that the Labor De- partment would investigate their com- plaint that non-union painters on the Jjobs were paid less than the union scale. Bryce P. Holcombe, business agent of the Painters, Decorators and Paper- hangers’ Local, No. 268, ordered the painters to return to work, although a strike continues at the Internal Revenue Bureau Building, where union discrimination is the issue. | On other buildings. the union holds, | non-union men were paid $11 for an eight-hour day, while the local scale is $11 for a seven-hour day, with double time for the extra hour. Un- der the refereeship of Carl Schedler, attorney in the solicitor’s office of the Labor Department, the department will hold hearings next week on the question. The department decided to act after it received a letter from Admiral Christian J. Peoples, chief of the Treasury Department Procurement Di- vision, who let the contracts for the construction work. |FACES COURT ON EIGHT 'FALSE PRETENSE COUNTS Donald W. Goodman Accused on | | Check Charges Said to Involve Nearly $2,000. Donald W. Goodman, 2900 block of Benton street, was arraigned before Police Judge Isaac A. Hitt yesterday on eight charges of false pretenses, one of them involving a check for $1,290, which he is alleged to have given an automobile dealer for a car, which he drove away after the transaction. On seven of the charges jury trials were demanded and a bond of $100 was set in each case. In the other case, in which the charge is felony because of the size of the check, bond of $500 was set for a preliminary hear- ing August 5. Police said total checks -issued would amount to nearly $2,000. MILITARY MASS SUNDAY To Be Held at Fort George Meade for C. M. T. C. Military mass will be celebrated at 8 am. Sunday at the Fort George G. Meade Citizens’ Military Training Camp. Brig. Gen. Lorenzo D. Gasser, commanding officer, will attend the services, to be held on the base ball field at the camp. Chaplains Ignatius J. Fealy, Re- serve Corps, of St. Agnes Church, Woodlawn, Md.; Stanislaus J. Ryczek of the Regular Army and Prancis J. Bailey, Reserve Corps, St. Lawrence Church, Pittsburgh, will officiate at the mass. The C. M. T. C. Band will furnish the music. The clgrgy of Baltimore and Wash- ington, relatives and friends of the students and the general public are invited to attend. THREE FALSE ALARMS Somebody with a jaded sense of humor was sought by police today for turning in three false fire alarms within two hours last night in the same neighborhood. Fire apparatus was summoned to Thirty-ninth street and Military road, to Nevada and Quesada streets and to Twenty-ninth street and Military road between 10 o’clock and midnight. There was no clue to the identity of the person who pulled the fire bozes. WORKERS 70 HEAR WAGE LAW FACTS Mass Meeting for Women ! and Employers to Be Wednesday Night. The District Minimum Wage Board staging an ‘“educational” mass meeting in the Labor Department Auditorium next Wednesday at 8 p.m. for as many of the 20,000 women and | girl retail store employes affected by the newly revised law and their 4,000 employes as can squeeze into the hall. Since the auditorium has a seating capacity of only 1700, it is poasible a second meeting will be arranged at a later date Mrs. William Kittle, chairman of the Minimum Wage Board, will pre- side. She and the other members, John H. Hanna and Arthur L. Schoen- thal, will conduct a “school” to ex- ! plain the new law and instruct. both employers and employes alike in their | rights and privileges. The Wednesday session will be the first move toward selection by the women employes of their three rep- | resentatives to sit on the District Wage | | Conference Board. | Mrs. Kittle issued a statement to- | day urging women workers to attend | the meeting. | “It is their opportunity to name their own representatives,” she said, “and it can be done only through an election. Their election will be held at a later meeting. “The question has been asked why the board selected the retail stoce workers for the first meeting. This | was not because of conditions in the retail stores, but because more girls are affected. There are more than 4.000 retail employers and between 15,000 and 20.000 women retail work- ers in the District. Wage conditions 1 in the stores are as good, if not better, | than other lines.” | The public will be represented on | the Conference Board by three mem- | bers, to be named by the Minimum | Wage Board, and the employers by | three witom they will select from a list | of nine nominees. The employers are | to submit the names of their nominees | to the board by August 15. The conference of nine members will begin taking testimony about September 15, Mrs. Kittle said. Wit- nesses will testify &s to living con- ditions and their relation to workers' wages. Is HOISTER IS CONVICTED FOR LACKING LICENSE Man Who Operates Lifing Device on Building Project Fined $10 in Court. For the first time in the memory of Police Court officials & man was convicted today on a charge of oper- ating a gasoline hoisting engine with- out a license. The defendant was Willlam Brawner, 23, colored, 712 G street. Policeman R. T. Conklin said the case had been reported by a man who, having such a license, felt that he was being discriminated against. Judge Isaac R. Hitt fined Brawner $10. - Brawner testified he had been operating the same machine for four years. He was employed in the con- struction of an apartment house in the 100 block of Ingraham street. His arrest yesterday afternoon neces- sitated cessation of all work on the project because there was no oper- ator to furnish materials to workmen on the upper floors. —_—— Poison Fatal, Walter L. Garrett, 58, colored, 1607 Seventh street, died at Gallinger Hos- pital last night of poison which he was reported to have swallowed a few hours before. Goroner A, Magruder MacDonald is investigating. RETIREMENT LAW CHANGES T0 WAIT Summary of Proposals Is Prepared for Convention and Public Hearings. BY WILL P. KENNEDY. Action on changes in the Govern- ment employes’ retirement law rec- ommended to the House at the in- stance of the Civil Service Commis- sion will await another session of | Congress, Chairman Ramspect of the | House Civil Service Committee indi- cated today. Public hearings will be held before the measure is reported. | In order that the various groups of | Government workers may have an | opportunity to study the proposed | changes and register their wishes, both | at the twentieth jubilee convention of the National Federation of Federal | Employes, which opens in Spring- | field, Ill, September 6, and at the hearings before the Civil Service Com- mittees of House and Senate, a sum- mary of the new bill introduced yes- | terday by Ramspeck has been drafted | The bill does not reflect the wishes | of the Joint Committee on Civil | Service Retirement, which put through the present retirement law. The bill carries provisions for both compulsory and optional retirement— and alternative proposals on each. Compulsory (superannuation) retire- ment would be at the age of 70, after 15 or more years of service. Optional retirement is provided for, both at the initiative of the Government and of the employe. Optional retirement by the employe is provided for at 65, after 15 or more years of service. Optional retirement by the Gov- ernment with the employe's consent is provided for in cases where those who have 30 or more years of service | and who have attained 55 years of age and who for reasons not within | their control and not caused by their | own misconduct or delinquency shall | become disqualified to perform their | duties. Optional Retirement at 60. Optional retirement on the part | of the employe is provided for after | attaining the age of 60 and rendering 30 or more years of service, on a reduced annuity similar to the annuity provided on involuntary separation. Alternative proposals are: For op- tional retirement at the age of 62, after 15 years of service, the option to be exercised either by the employe or the Government, with a right of appeal by the employe. Retention of optional retirement on the part of the employe at 60, after 30 years of service for employes in the 62-year- age group is also proposed. Attention is called that the present retirement act provides three com- pulsory retirement age groups—at 62. 65 and 70 years, after completion of 15 or more years of service. It per- mits optional retirement two years prior to attaining the compulsory retirement age, after 30 years of service. There is an additional minimum provision that the Government's por- tion of the annuity shall not be less than 1 per cent of the total compen- sation received by the employe during service not exceeding 30 years next preceding retirement. The new Ramspeck-Bulow bill, which is really a Civil Service Commission bill, provides for an election by the employe of a joint and supervisory annuity similar to that proposed by Chairman Ramspeck in his bill intro- duced on June 17. Annuity Benefit Increases. Increased annuity benefits to those retiring for disability, having less than 15 years of service, are provided—the annuity to be not less than $300 plus $20 & year for each year of service, The new bill also would continue recovered disability annuitants on full annuity until re-employed in the Fed- eral service, but not exceeding one year from the date of examination showing recovery. If not re-employed in the Federal service at the expira- tion of the year period annuity would be granted provided the employe has completed 15. years of service at the date of retirement or disability. It would make all disability annuity benefits permanent on attainment of the age of 60 while receiving such benefits. Annuity factors in involuntary sepa- ration cases are based on an age of 60 years. Failure to purchase credit for past service will not prevent payment of the Government’s portion of the an- nuity for all servite rendered prior to the date on which the employe first becomes subject to the terms of ‘the retirement act. One of the most important pro- visions of the new bill is increasing the employe’s rate of contribution from 3!2 to 5 per cent. Reduction of the interest paid on refunds in cases of voluptary repara- FIDELITY DEADLOCK AGAIN 15 ATTACKED Committee Chairman and Controller’s Office Men to Talk. Further attempts were under way today to break the deadlock which has tied up the funds of more than 16.000 shareholders in the closed Fidelity Building & Loan Association Mrs. Mark C. Bullis, chairman of a special committee representing share- holders, was scheduled to discuss the | problem this afternoon with officials of the office of the controller of the cur- rency. Mrs. Bullis, who has been active in attempting to gain release of funds for stockholders, said this | morning she believed the best solution | it the moment would be for the pro- posed First Federal Savings & Loan Association to take over the Fidelity and make available 85 cents on the dollar. The situation, however, remained a puzzle because of the fact that the oresident of the First Federal, Harry | P. Somerville, manager of the Willard | Hotel. still was.on record as withdraw- ing the First Federal from the ‘“pic- ture.” Officially, therefore, the First Federal has no proposal before either the controller of the currency, who is in charge of the closed institution, or the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, which sponsored the organization of the First Federal and issued it a charter, Door Held Ajar. Informal indications, however, have come from certain parties associated with the First Federal that if the con- troller of the currency would issue a flat approval of the First Federal the door would be opened to negotiation, and the First Federal might return to the picture. At the Treasury it was indicated plainly today that the door is open there for further consideration. This was evidenced by the conference sched- | uled for Mrs. Bullis with several ex- perts of the controller's office. It was indicated that the Treasury has under consideration a communica- tion to be sent directly to all 16,000 situation as it now stands. Such a letter is believed to be in preparation, and unless there is a practical change in the situation late today it was con- sidered likely this letter would be fin- ished and mailed. Conference Declared Empty. Negotiations from another quarter took place yesterday afternoon at the Treasury Department, it was learned today, when representatives of the “depositors committee” conferred with experts of the controller's office. In this conference the Depositors’ Com- mittee was represented by Vincent Sheehy, attorney, and former Senator C. C. Dill of Washington. According to George A. Sullivan, contractor, who is chairman of the Depositors’ Com- mittee, nothing new developed at the conference. The Federal Home Loan Bank Board has been exercising a policy of “standing by.” It is understood offi- cials of this group still are willing to be helpful, but the matter is not now in their hands. It was taken from them by the action of the First Fed- eral itself, in withdrawing. BALL CLUB ROBBED Safe-Crackers Get $260 From Eynon's Office. Forcing an entry into the office of Edward Eynon, secretary of the Wash- ington Base Ball Club, at Griffith Sta- dium last night, safe cracksmen jim- mied open the club’s strong box and made off with $240 cash and about $20 in money orders. Eynon discovered the burglary when he came to work this morning and notified police, who sent fingerprint experts to the scene. Family Reunion Planned. Mr. and Mrs. Harry C. Grove returned yesterday from Lancaster, Pa., where they attended & meeting of the Groff, Grove, Graff and Graefl Family Association. The annual rtunion will be held August 19 next. ment accounting system in the Civil Service Commission is proposed. Insurance benefits payable to named beneficiaries of employes who die be- fore retirement equal to one-fifth of the salary earned during each year of service not exceeding five imme- diately preceding death, is provided, with the total sum not to exceed $3,000 —or, the amount of deductions with interest at 4 per cent yearly, which- ever is the greater. o ‘The new bill would permit employes at their option to contribute additional amounts up to 10 per cent of their salaries to purchase additional an- nuity. The total cost of these proposed ment-owned land in the District to uses other than those for which ace quired. Thomas Settle, commission secre- tary, said the matter came up in con- nection with a bill introduced by Chairman Palmisano of the Houss District Committee, transferring a re= cently-purchased tract of park land in Anacostia for use as an automobils testing ground. He explained the commission rege istered its protest on the ground diversion of lands to other uses might interfere seriously with plans for dee velopment of parks and plavgrounds. Weigh Memorial Tangle. During a lengthy morning confere ence, the commission considered the tangled problems connected with the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the | merits of about 50 sites submitted for the proposed Naval Hospital. No ace tion was taken. The commission also reiterated its determination to insist on passage of legislation to protect the Capital from encroachment of so-cailed “nuisance” industries, Settle was chairman of a recent conference called as a result of the failure of the King-Norton bills, which mapped a possible course of action to block operation of the proposed Adolf Gobel slaughter house in the Benning area John Russell Pope, architect for the Jefferson Memorial Commission, sent & communication to the Planning Commission, stating he was “willing to g0 along” with the commission’s recommendation for a modification of the Jeflerson Memorial plans so as to protect the cherry, trees along the Tidal Basin. He reported, in fact, that he was already engaged in & restudy of the plans. Action Is Delayed. The committee considered all angles of the plans for the proposed Jefferson Memorial, but in view of the fact President Roosevelt has banned ex- penditures at this session for further Federal construction, there was no need for any action, The House Library Committee op- posed use of the Tidal Basin area for the Jefferson Memorial, and the commission appointed by Congress to arrange for its erection recently indorsed the changes proposed by the Park and Planning Commission. These changes, briefly, would set back the memorial so as to retain the existinz contour of the Tidal Basin and the cherry trees planted thereon. A bill appropriating $4.800.000 for & new Naval Hospital has passed the House and is now on the Senate calen- | dar. A sum not to exceed 15 per cent Fidelity shareholders, explaining the. of the appropriation would be allowed | for purchase of a site. Present Site Not Considered. Since the bill directs the Na consult with the Park and Planning Commission, Rear Admiral P. S. Ros- siter, surgeon general, has submitted about 50 possible sites for considera- tion. The commission did not di- vulge any of these. The present site of the Naval Hos- pital, at the west end of Constitution avenue, it was understood, is not being | considered. Landscaping Up. Landscape plans for the new Police Court Building in Judiciary Square were to be presented to the comm: sion today by Nathan C. Wyeth, Wasn- ington architect. Also on the agenda was a report by J. A. Ryder of the commission staff on the status of areas in the District de- . veloped in the last 10 years and those likely to be developed in the near fi- ture with an eye to their effect on the commission's land purchase program, Approve Arlington Board. The commission yesterday registered definite approval of the recently-con- stituted Arlington County Planning Board. Co-operation with the board, Settle said yesterday, would be in- valuable in carrying out the commis= sion’s plans in northern Virginia within a 25-mile radius of Washington. Mat- ters of current interest to both the county board and the commisison are improvements at Four Mile Run and Roaches Run, and zoning of land boardering the new Lee Boulevard ex tension from Fort Myer to the Arling= ton Memorial Bridge. Most of the land is zoned as resi= dential B, Settle said yesterday, but there are three commercial and three industrial lots included. The plan at present indorsed by the commission, he said, is to raise all the land to resi~ dential B and then advertise it as residential A at some future time. An inspection tour of the boulevard extension, which is now being graded, was made by the commisison late yese terday afternoon. BAND CONCERT. By the Army Band at the Capitol at ° 7:30 o'clock tonight. Capt. Thomas F, Darcy, leader; Karl Hubner, assistant, PROGRAM. March, “U. S. Field Artillery”__Sousa Grand selection from “La Traviata” Fox trot, “Sylvia” Cornet trio, “Three Kings" Symphonic poem, “Danse Macabre” ____ Saint-Saens Novelty, “Turkey in the Straw,” Guion Nocturne III, “Dreams of Love"”__Liszt Xylophone solo, “Splittin’ Kindling Wood” ____ Hacker Charles Hershey, soloist. tions and separations for cause run from 4 to 3 per cent. Establishment of a eentral retire- changes in the retirement law is esti- mated by the Government actuary wl not exceed $7,300,000, Belection, “Hawaiian Melodies”________Arranged by Lake “The Star Spangled Banner.”