Evening Star Newspaper, August 8, 1937, Page 49

THE SUXD AY STAR, WASHINGTON D. C, AUGUST 8, 1937—PART FOU R. F—3 —i%\—\—fl CHIPS OFF AN OLD BLOCK Square Where Mellon Art Gallery Is Going Up Was Site of “Woodyard,” Scene of Many Human Episodes During Six Years as Relief Project. By Edmund G. Munk. MID the bustle of preliminary work on the future magnifi- cent Mellon art gallery on Constitution avenue, the “Woodyard"—for six years a mecca for Washington's depression victims— 15 fast becoming a memory. j The “Woodyard,” which mush- roomed into being on the site of the once-projected George Washington memorial between Sixth and Seventh, B and C streets, will occupy a human interest-fraught chapter in the Dis- trict’s sociological and other history. From the ginger)y-essayed origin as an unemployment relief measure by the Committee on Employment in 1931, the “Woodyard” just “growed” like that poor, overworked victim of newspaper writers, Topsy. From a wood lot—where a few hun- dred men chopped firewood for their daily bread—the “Woodyard” gradu- ally was transformed into the hub of & multi-phase enterprise of govern- mental work-relief which, during the peak of C. W. A. activity in 1934, em- ploved more than 15000 men and ‘women. At one period during its six-year life span the “Woodyard” embraced & score of industrial activities within its own acre. Radiating its influence over the entire District and even into nearby Virginia and Maryland, the “Woodyard” touched hundreds of municipal and. Federal Government activities. Here took place the hiring, pay- | off and firing episodes in the work- relief experience of many thousands of Washington folk and additional | thousands of transients. Throughout the “Woodyard's” ten- ure, however, its description as such | could never be challenged Myriads | of felled trees passed continuously | through its spacious gates to be con- verted into firewood of all types from #acks of kindlin' to sturdy back logs. Most of the logging operations to €upply the voracious appetite of the | *“Woodyard” came from clearing oper- | etions in Rock Creek Park, Arlington National Cemetery and the National | Training School for Boys. Clearing | of rights of way for new District thor- oughfares also contributed raw ma- terial for the “Woodyard.” | REPORT submitted to Commis- | sioner George A. Allen, who has been administrator of all New Deal work-relief activity in the District, estimated more than 25.000 cords of wood, ready for the emptr stoves of shivering and destitute Washington families, were produced at the “Wood- yard” under the E. W. A. program alone. This represented 362,416 man- hours of back-breaking toil, the report | asserted. As the firewood processing aspect of work-relief eventually became rele- | gated almost entirelv to transients ineligible for regular C. W. A, E. W. A.and W. P. A, jobs, the “Woodyard” hummed a major tune of industry | among the numerous other bus branches of work-relief administra- | tiom A super-modern print shop, with highly skilled workmen: a mattress factory in which a spread-the-work plan of hand manufacture went on: &ewing rooms in which untutored fingers became nimble instruments transforming surplus commodities into | useful garments and household ar- | ticles—these were some of the thinzs‘ that marked the “Woodyard” as a place apart in the sociological | chronicles of the District, | When the first employment agencies | outgrew quarters in the District Build- | ing, an unused portable school build- | ing was set up in the “Woodyard” to house the clerks who did the hectic Job of assigning and reassigning the | constant flow of work relief applicants. } Throughout C. W. A, E. W. A. and | into W. P. A. the small green building Wwas the drive-shaft of work relief. ‘The gears were shifted from the busy office of Administrator Allen and ' former Deputy Administrator William C. Cleary. but at the assignment office in the “Woodyard” was enacted the real drama of the District’s unem- ployment difficulties. From the assignment office thou- sands of cards were mailed or sent by hand to relief rollers who wanted to work. A few hours after the notices had been dispatched the “Woodyard" | would take on the aspect of the pro- verbial “pay day at the mine.” In literal droves the reliefers would swarm down Sixth street. At the gates they were sorted into orderly lines of various categories. Windows | would fly open in the green building and the lines would begin a steady movement past the clerks in each of the windows. 'A S THE lines of men sweated in the | hot sun or shivered in icy winds | from the Potomac, an atmosphere often approaching levity would de- | velop. Good-natured jibes would vol- | ley back and forth. Squabbles over | Places in line broke out, sometimes fol- | lowed by fist fights. These episodes generally were greeted with glee by | the waiting standees and often served to break the taut feelings of the job- less throng. The unquenchable Yankee instinct for a business opportunity was not missing in the jobless throngs. Often & man would be seen to leave the lines s if in impatience. The next day he would return with a basket of sand- wiches or an urn of coffee to ply a brisk trade among thase of his former | mates in lire who had a nickel or two | in their pockets. Others returned to hawk peanuts, cigarettes, razor blades, pop, and sev- eral youths picked up pocket change running errands for the hungry and thirsty clerks in the assignment office, who often worked 12 to 14 hours with- out leaving their posts. Pay day was always a minor epic in the life of the “Woodyard.” Usu_ally occurring on Saturday, preparsiions for the “screaming of the eagle” began at dawn. Clerks manned a score of tiny booths. Letters designating the various projects were affixed to the windows. Railed aisles were set up. Trooping down Sixth street, with | used to be & bank teller. a somewhat more gala milen than when they came to receive work as- signments, the work reliefers jostled into the spacious confines of the “Woodyard"—Mecca of work and pay. Miraculously they spread out into or- derly groups, supervised by their job foremen. The foremen had been sup- plied in advance with & numbered ticket for each man. There would be a sudden rattling of windows in the pay booths. Clerks would enter with capacious valises, crammed with checks. A great shout echoed through the waiting crowds | and the “ghost began to walk.” Five, six, sometimes seven thousand men passed in steady, rapid procession past the windows—marching to the heart- ening tempo of the “Pay Day Hop.” In an hour they had gone, laugh- ing, shouting, some with worried eye calculating the size of the grocery basket they could take home, others gleefully contemplating a week end with money in their pockets, but all adding to the echoes of human hope, happiness and misery that so often re- | verberated on the way to and from the “Woodyard.” ALL OF the stories of hope and dis- appointment, of gratitude nndi ingratitude, would fill a book. As-| signment clerks listened to hundreds | of pleas for work, of tales of hunger | and cold, of children and kinfolk il | a-bed. One clerk related how a neat- | ly-dressed white man walked up with an assignment to work | He was told there were only jobs | involving the use of pick and shovel “I don't care. Just so I work. I I haven't had & job for two years.” | “All right,” said the clerk, “re- | port to —— High School tomorrow, ready to work. You will work on the resurfacing of the grounds in front of the school.” The man's face fell “Can't you put me some place else? T don't care if I have to dig & hundred feet underground, but please don't send me there.” The clerk, at first thinking the man Wwas attempting to “soldier.” curiously asked why the particular project was objected to. “Well.” said the man, “I'll tell you. My daughter, my little girl, graduates from that school tomorrow and I don't want her to see her daddy working with pick and shovel while she is so happv.” The man was given an assignment him the job at the “Woodyard.” There he finally discarded some of his bit- terness and eked out a living for his wife and himself. His industry be- came a by-word. At crack of dawn he would appear at the “Woodyard" and begin his duties. In the Springtime he secured per- mission to use a small plot of land. There, before his janitorial tasks and afterward, he dug, raked and weeded amid the labyrinthiap tiers of fire- wood. Amidst the clatter and bustle of the “Woodyard,” a tiny but exceed- ingly productive garden took form. To- matoes, beans, radishes, onions, even & gleaming row of sweet corn, grew as the old man recreated a part of his life a5 a German farm boy. We didn't see him, but we can see in our fancy the old boy watching the bone and sinew of the “Woodyard" become the foundation of the great art gallery, and saying, perhaps for | many others who found succor there, “Aufwiederseh'n.” W. P. A. Woodyard which ress for the Mellon Art Gallery. CHECKING RACKETS ‘Community Efforts to Rout Chiselers Made‘ Possible by Careful Probe of Schemes for Charity. By Joseph Marion. | O GUARD against the inroads made upon real charity in | city. | personalities or other distinguishing | aspects, Washington by the impostors and with a view to having the Among the thousands who visited Stream of charity funds directed to its the “Woodyard” for work assignments | legitimate channels. the writer has and pay checks and among the many | endeavored to clas the various who worked in the supervision of the | Tackets under their proper heads and work relief activities there were char- | has set nothing down but what are acters outstanding for their unusual |actual facts, all of which have more | or less come under his personal obser- to a project on the other side of thci | ing on the Pacific Coast. | ing trip to Alaska brought him a small, | HROUGHOUT the “Woodyard's” history a sturdy. elderly man of | German birth occupied a sort of jani- | torial position. He became affection- | ately known to all of those who worked | there. His story was a real one. It seems the old fellow was born | in Germany, but at an early age | abandoned his terraced hillside farm | home. He went to many lands, farm- ing in the Australian bush. stevedor- A prospect- tidy fortune. With his wife, the man came to Washington and purchased a small | home. They planned to live a happy, | comfortable and safe existence. But | an investment firm they had en-| trusted with their savings hit the | skids. Practically all of the man's means were wiped out. his hopes for a pleasant old age gone. | Bitter, he painted a pair of signs | proclaiming his misfortune and casti- gating those whom he believed re- | sponsible for his plight. He paraded, | wearing the signs sandwich fashion | before the offices of the defunct in- | vestment concern. A relief worker talked with him | and, upon hearing his story, secured | ‘hn\'e written cannot be placed in the | vation. | If our series has so far had the ef- fect of inducing the givers of charity to yield less to impulse, and be a little : more cautious when making a dona- | tion, then a real blow has been struck | at the activities of the charity chiseler. | If proper action were taken against | fake charities and other schemes be- | ing operated here by crooked pro- | moters and chiseling solicitors, & spe= | cial police court would have to be cre- | ated to handle all the cases. It would serve to break up a vicious ring of petty thieves and it would | assist our worthy welfare agencies to extend their work of charity, as an increase in funds would certainly be forthcoming from the general public. Can we truly say that this chiseling and swindling situation in Washing- | ton, with the odious burden it places | upon society, and with its moral con- | sequences, Teceiving the attention | it deserves? True, these schemers of whom we category of the gangster, but they are engaged in a mean, sordid and ugly game, which is their first step toward | becoming overlords in major crime- land, and their illegal propositions | should be “nipped in the bud” without further delay. EDITOR'S NOTE—This is the sixteenth of a series of articles exposing vicious rackets being practiced in the name of charity on in- nocent victims in Washing- ton. The way in which these crooks operate and the schemes and devices they employ are explained in these articles, which reveal in de- tail actual cases of charity racketeering here. WE ARE well aware that many of the *smart monev” boyvs have folded up, some actually taking up legitimate work, while others just left the city. | We also know that many former | “taps” have “taken the veil” and that | their names have been removed from | the solicitor’s private “sucker list.” Earning his relief money by splitling wood at the woodyard. Text Book Would Be HIRTY -ONE Summers of motor touring since the turn ' of the century may not have banished the boiling radiator, but they have brought many a mo- torist closer to a knowledge of how | to avoid hot-weather car worries, This Summer more drivers are cool- ing their engines by going on down the other side of the hill, instead of stopping at the top. Not so many | are making the mistake of using too heavy oll. There are fewer cases of over-tightened fan belts, accord- | ing to Frederick C. Russell, automo- tive expert. We have learned that keeping cool | under the hood starts with the simple fob of adding water to the radiator. Most owners raise the level too high. | s0 #hat when the water in the system expands, too much of it goes out the overflow pipe. In the case of the, pumpless, thermo-syphon system, | however. the trick is to keep the | water level high enough to maintain | COOL DRIVING GOAL Required to Explain Whole Subject of Overheating, But Some Things Must Be Watched. the hose connections, and see that the motor thermostat is open. This Summer there is overheating through failure of owners of high compression engines to use anti- knock gas. Failure to use the right type of spark plug is another modern #hortcoming. It 18 not generally known that too far advanced spark Will cause overheating, though not 50 readily as a retarded spark. FTEN efforts to make the driver comfortable aid the engine in run= ning cool. Many cars, for instance, now have hood “doors” which, if opened, aid engine cooling and keep much heat from working through the floorboards. Usually the speed that is most comfortable for the driver is easiest for the engine. When he saves himself braking effort by going downe hill in conventional high or a lower | radiator top may be necessary. | and lift the hood | & tight brake if the engine overheats | An unususlly hot brake drum will | indicate such tightness. g | gear he also cools the engine mor a “water circuit.” Adding water to, &° he engin e | the radiator en route is an effective | ®TECtVely than if he free-wheels. way to avoid overheating at speed or| Keeping the feet off the pedals will on hills with this particular system.|add to personal comfort. since much The water pump is a bad actor if | heat 18 conducted through the metal. S e e DD ; This will also help prevent overheat- It leaks. It isn't s0 much the water | [TS Will alio help prevent overheat- that works out around the packing N tha - 18 the. air that i drawn i At | clutch pedal. A clean muffier will not 2 | send so much heat to the floorboards forced into the water causes foaming, | = = and excess expansion. Too muer And will also help the engine through water is then lost through the over- 1”;;‘;2‘:\?:‘:5‘\7‘;:?}:: et : 1at e foweha e he Tie plate in e the S adjusied. it 1s well to | check spark timing. This is a simple | operation that may mean much to along the road because of overheating the success of the trip. When spark should remember that it is both | is late, the charges of gas burn later SAlgerousy and hatmiUl S0P he T8 | o5 diviorelelowly o helcylinderss this diaiongtofremaye. fhejlcant anduwndlcon it e oyllnder atace which cold water. Put the car in the shade | PPooy 8 0TS exinder space which If the fan belt|, "'y (hsorbed the more likely the is broken it is possible to drive along | cooling system is to overheat, to the nearest garage, provided the | B | Valves play an important role in engine is allowed to cool off periodi- [ TAMS PlaY an b / : and calm. They cally. Try turning the fan to make | <¢PNE D.e may, for instance, need grinding. i "“l""”"‘ 18 notidry S CHecks theis ey 45/t evilleak comprasiion. 4t wil ofl level. be necessary to open the throttle wider 4 5 to obtain desired power and speed from INCE it is the wise custom to hlve"h’ engine. This will encourage over- brakes adjusted before starting heating on long grades. and whenever a tour, it would be well to check for Irving to make time on the open road. Similar results are had when the valves stick, are warped. or do not have cor- Tect tappet clearances Motorists who are forced to stop If the car-| la = | bon has been removed, and the over- STEAM pockets cause considerabla | heating seems a mystery, there is a | possibility cooling trouble because they block the water and retard its circulation, They may be the result of some pre= that an internal cvlinder | head gasket leak has developed. Hot exhaust gases then directly heat the | water Most cases of overheating prove to be nothing more than need for a good flushing. A couple of teacup- fuls of soda dissolved in hot water make a good flushing solution. To drain off all the sediment, it is neces- sary to let the engine get well heated up with retarded spark and vious overheating or may be due to | air getting into the water pump. The quickest and most effective war tn remedy assuming the original causes are prevented from recurring, is to drain off all the water when the engine is cold and refill with cold water. Special attention should be paid ta this | bottom of the radiator. - J | District the selection of oil. This should be based upon the wayv the car is to be used. Frequentlr too heavy an oil will cause overheating at normal road speeds on a moderately warm dav, Where this same oil may be just right if the car is driven fast and the ther- | mometer is running into the higher ranges, then remove the lower water hose Don't expect sediment and scale to pass through the small drain at the| A good time to drain and flush is when forced to stop at a wayside | garage on tour. The scale is more in suspension when the engine is bolling. Also check the inside of (Copyright. 1927 Summer will soon be on the wane, | be considered & “hot” spot for the various affairs having been *smash- and when the cold days of Winter arrive, the crafty solicitor will be on the scene with a new and well- | thought-out plan of campaign to “alleviate the suffering among the poor, sick and unemployed” of our | city. We well know that wherever the | charitably disposed are present, there, as a natural sequence, must the chis- eler be also. ' A good old, big-hearted. generous | Washington public may again fall vic- tim to the wiles of these shnrpShool-’ ers, with their suave appearance and | convincing speech. If they were once apprised by the District authorities that they were not wanted and that if they attemped to foist any kind of a racket upon our people they would be punished ac- cordingly, you could wager a hundred " dollars to a yen that this town would | etc., thy charity racketeer, as are Philadeiphia and New York We would then see a general exodus of swindlers, cadgers. crooked solici- tors and promoters from within our | borders. < But. mavk you well, just so long as they know they wiil be urmolested and no official action will be taken against them. you can look for them to car: on through next Fall, Winter and Spring. Remember the old saying. “Tricks and treachery are the prac- tice of fools who have not the wit to be horest.” AGRF;AT majority of them are| now enjoying the cooling breezes | at the seashore on the money col-| lected here for their different *‘char; ties,” “grand balls,” ‘“conventions.” | e checks being issued for these ! | Blank, ed” in a “clearing house.” Now this is one thing which has! had us greatly puzzled. Why will a bank accept for deposit. a check in the amount of $100 from Henry small delicatessen owner, made payable to such-and-such an association and indorsed by one Archibald Hasselman, treasurer. | We could appreciate the fact that one of these checks might occasion- | ally slip through, but when the! storekeeper deposits five to ten every | day during the racket season, madc: payable to all sorts of associations | | Riggs National Bank, who promptly association or treasurer, for even $5.| Yet, he had one “smashed” for $500, | and it was deposited in a small storekeeper's account, and there was no “flareback” from the maker. Seeking the solution to this puzzle, we called to see Mr. George O. Vass, vice presicent and treasurer of the ANOTHER bit of good news for our readers A committee is now being formed ! which will be unofficial. and whoge function it will be to investigate all charities not members of the Com- munity Chest or council agencies, and make a report according to findings. A list will then be pub- lished of those deemed worthy of public support, and when an out-of- town organization desires to collect funds in Washington. it will be com- ‘pelled to lay plans and purposes be- fore this Indorsing Committee be- fore being placed upon the list of worthy charities, advised us that his bank would not | accept such checks unless directly | deposited in the association's or treasurer's account. He further | stated that to do so was against all | banking ethics, and he would take | and treasurers, it is hardly likely| that the receiving teller would not suspect irregularities. A solicitor advised us that it was impossible to have a check cashed | at any bank, made payable to an! up this question with his banking colleagues from the District at their next noonday meeting. Action on their part will be good news to us and mighty bad news to the crooked solicitor. THOSE WERE THE HAPPY DAYS! i e i £ 4 \GTCHE! Kioe G ASOLINE, —— B F 7 SIE M SOME , SMARTY REMEMBER THIS 16 YOUR 90% To- MORROW AWRIGHT SAVE YOO TH’ CORE OF MY~ APOLE , 7 OUMPLIN'W) € \)MMEK AND L ONE 2 W \\/%Lé ") my B YARD, PEMEMBER DURING SUMMER EMEMBER Sf —HISONES | HALL 2 WATROUS, | | STONE QUARKIES, 505-"THSTNMW.E JT.HHALL Anp B WL, WATROOS. AOW WE OSED To SET ‘THE TABLE FOoR ‘THE FAMILY AND “S1S* USED YO SHOO ELIES WHILE THE REST OF US DINED | ANO THE NEXT DAY T, WAS Yoor YORN, ET’C & ~ A E SOME OF DOMPLINS OVER / © “The Old Back Yar Lo e ) (DONT /OO THINK N4 'D BETTER HAND MRS, TEACHOM " TWouLONT BE A BAD D THE(E M WORK ,WHATZA LY 012 “TWO, F'Tze\/ GOTTA ",\EgAY _ AT / {CEMEMBERS WHEN TANGLE- OOR FOOT WAS FAVORIY FLY-CATtH ER — . P TR =22 <vas - = £ SHE AANDED YO0 OVER SOME s PUD- d.” —By Dick Mansfield TAPAINT N Ty AFENCe ’ ' ,’A’r&&s;mgey' 7 ety = | = ALMOST ‘ioizao‘r‘re/q Costom ~_ wHIT’E WASHING THE HIGH BAck YARD FENCE, MANY Focws HAO THE(R 5, \:J*OSMES WHITE = ASKED (N AND OOT 21D > Rememper T EA OCH LIKE s e EEME@ THIS IS 50 SUPPEN COME. Y /ELLA DEAR WEZL GETON MY BICYCLE FOR \ AND S MPoeRCTo I\ ROCKNILLE 4 HE S EW OLD BARREL STAVE AAMMOCKE SHAT HELD MANY A u \ 14 ik EMORY TEST® | rW_:m' 9:_5:7?0 RememceR [ | ANSWER 7O LAST WEEKY' \ QUESTION AAT FAMOUS MUSEOM B S100D AT 1320 NEW YORK] AVE. NoWo —— CONSWER, [ X He HaLLS OF THE Z/YJ ANCIENTS. | WHERE WAS JOHN FHiL o/ ', | is worth contributing to, | We have before us a letter quoting | the commissioner of public welfars | of the City of New York, William | Hodson: “Let us consider a vastly important aspect of your problem, which is the necessity for putting an end to | charity racketeering by educating the | public to refuse to respond to so- licitations made over the telephone by unidentified persons in the in- terests of unidentified organizations. | I would call upon all good citizens 1o | Tefuse to have their names on the board or committees of any organiza- | ton concerning which they are not fully .informed. A man’s name and Teputation axe the most valuable possessions he has. Other people are moved to make contributions tn organizations which have honorable names on their letterheads. To the extent that we can make charity racketeering unprofitable and thus put fake charities out of business, we | will conserve valuable funds for the real charitable organizations that are entitled to the confidence and sup- port of the public. No contribution should he made to any organization unless you know what it does, how it is run, and who runs it. No agency if it is not, worth the time it takes to find out | that fact.” Automotive Briefs J. V. Curley, who for a number of years has been Washington manager for the Sun Oil Co,, is being promoted to the home office of the company in Philadelphia in an executive capacity. Under Curley's management the Sun Oil Co. has increased outlets and re- tail business in this territory to a great extent. H. Lee Beckwith, for- | merly manager in Richmond, Va., has been promoted to the Washington office to take charge of Sun Oil op- erations in this territory. The Packard Motor Co. announces the appointment of H. L. Beecroft as assistant sales manager for the Eastern district, which -includes Washington, D. C, and surrounding territory. Bee- croft has been associated with the automobile business in this section for many years in various executive ca- pacities. Louis Simmons, president of the Standard Motor Sales, distributors in this territory for Fiat automobiles, announces the appointment of J. W. Foster as wholesale representative, Foster has been associated with the automotive business in this vicinity for a number of years and is well known to the public and trade. Stand- ard Motor Sales maintains a sales and show room for the display of this line of cars at 1605 Fourteenth strest northwest,