Evening Star Newspaper, August 27, 1937, Page 1

WEATHER. (U 8 Weather Byreau Porecast.) Fair tonight and tomorrow; slightly gentle west winds. ‘Temperatures today—Highest, 84, at 2 p-m.; lowest, 70, at 6 a.m. Full report on page A-15. Closing N.Y. Markets—Sales—Page 14 ———— 34,086. warmer tomorrow; 85th YEAR. No. L Serves Notice of| Responsibility for Damages. BLOCKADE PLAN IS CONFIRMED Diplomats Re port Foreign Ships | Exempt. By the Associated Press. Secretary Hull said today this Government had served notice upon Japan and China that it would de- mand respect of all of its rights and interests in the Far East. The Secretary added that the Gov- ernments of Japan and China were requested to observe these rights to | the extent that they would be respon- sible for damages to this Government, or its citizens, as a result of hostile operations. Although Hull did not directly con- nect this notice to the conflicting powers with a reported threat by Japan to blockade Chinese ports, Hull said American consular officials had confirmed an announcement that Japan intended to enforce a blockade. Blockade Plans Confirmed. The blockade plans announced by Japan through press dispatches yes- terday have been confirmed by Ameri- can diplomats in the Far East who said Japan intended to enforce “a peaceful blockade.” The Secretary declared his informa- tion from the Far East showed Japan did not intend to interfere with for- ' eign shipping. The Secretary added, in a press jconference discussion, that this Gov- ,ernment considers it is now in the position of having been officially in- | \formed of peaceful blockade inten- | tions. The Government, Hull said, is con- tinuing to assemble “full facts” as to the effects of the operation of such a blockade. Hull has no “definite conclusions” | on the matter, he announced. The official advice to Japan and China holding them responsible for injury to any American interest was considered in informed circles to mean | that this Government had no inten- tion of withdrawing from the Orient Conflict Regarded as Incident. Informed persons said they believed the United States was looking upon the Far Eastern crisis as an incident | Which it would not permit to change the long-range plans of this country | in international affairs. On the basis of this opinion it was assumed by observers that the United States believed withdrawal of its in- terests from the Far East would weaken its position as an advocate of world-wide peace. By maintaining its position in the Far East, these observers said, the United States could continue to urge its pleas for non-intervention in the internal affairs of other nations, ad- vocacy of peaceful negotiations in in- ternational disputes and other salient points of the American peace policy recently reasserted by Secretary Hull. Rooseveit Goes to Hyde Park. President Roosevelt left last night for his home at Hyde Park, but he | took the Sino-Japanese issue with him. Before leaving he went into the situa- tion first with Hull at a luncheon meeting and later with his full cabinet. The American League Against War and Fascism, which sponsored a brief picketing display yesterday at the Japanese Embassy, expressed resent- ment at Hull's request not to picket. “We urge that the State Depart- ment ceease its vacillating attitude at a period when the whole world is threatened by the brutal war mong- ers,” the league's statement said. Nanking Raided As Envoys Fete Nelson Johnson Japanese Bombs Had Killed 150 Earlier in Capital. By the Associated Press. NANKING, China, August 27.— Japanese airplanes killed nearly 150 civilians, most of them coolies, in a daylight air raid today and swooped down again on this Chinese capital tonight while the diplomatic corps was giving a banquet to Nelson T. Johnson, the American Ambassador. The screech of air defense sirens failed to stop the banquet, marking Johnson'’s thirtieth anniversary of en- trance into the diplomatic service. Earlier, Johnson and other foreign envoys had asked the Japanese to con- fine their raids to military objectives. (In Tokio the navy ministry re- ported Japanese naval planes car- ried out three raids on Nanking Thursday night and Friday morn- ing. An arsenal, gendarmerie headquarters and Chinese positions ‘Wwere bombed and the city thrown into a panic. The Japanese ad- mitted the loss of one plane.) French evacuations up the Yangtze, to Hankow or Kuling, Summer resort in Kiangsi Province, will reduce the American community by the end of the week to 34 men and 19 women, in- cluding the Embassy staff. Many American women and children were moved up the river soon after the Yangtze Valley became & battlefield. L Entered as second ciass matter post office, Washington, D. C. Che Chinese Face Japanese Attack With Comrade’s Guns at Backs WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION Foening Star WASHINGTO.N, D. O, FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 1937—THIRTY PAGES. HULL WARNS JAPAN AND CHINA TO GUARD U. S. RIGHTS IN “WAR”; BRITAIN DEMANDS SATISFACTION > A4 ?Big Battle Rages at Lotien Near Shang- hai—W ounded Envoy of Britain Little Better. BACKGROUND— Armed clash of Chinese and Japanese forces July 7 at Marco® Polo Bridge near Peiping led to un- declared war which spread to Shanghai early th#s month after killing of Japanese naval officer and seaman at Hungjao airdrome. Four Americans have lost lives in aerial and artillery battles around Shanghai and yesterday the British Ambassador was critically wounded by machine gun bullets from Jap- anese airplane, creating grave com- plications in the international sit- uation, By the Associated Press. SHANGHAI, August 27.—Three di- visions of China’s finest rushed to- night to a smoking, thundering battle- ground northwest of Shanghai, where Chinese fought desperately to stem a Japanese charge against the back door to this city of undeclared war. Bombs, shells and machine gun fire turned Lotien, 12 miles northwest of Shanghai, into a smoking heap of | ashes. Near the town, waves of Japanese infantrymen met a sheet of machine gun fire in a bayonet charge through shimmering rice flelds. While the battle of Lotien raged to | wounded. ~ Another Japanese officer the northwest, Sir Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugessen, Britain's Am- bassador to China, wounded yesterday by Japanese machine gun bullets, rallied slightly after a blood trans- fusion fram a United States seaman. His life still was in danger, but physicians said his general condition was improved. Thousands Killed, Wounded. The tide of battle swung from side to side. Thousands were Kkilled or wounded. Japanese late today claimed occu- pation of Lotien, foothold for an ad- vance on Kiangwan, just northwest of Shanghai proper. But the town, as such, was no more. ‘The 30-hour battle of Lotien opened with heavy artillery bombardment. ‘Two Chinese divisions held a thin line. From positions in the rear, machine Zguns were trained on their backs to force them to stand fast. After continuous shelling, Japanese infantrymen fixed bayonets and went over the top. Storming through ma- chine gun and rifle fire they met Chinese forces hand-to-hand. A Jap- anese company commander, leading the charge, either was killed or was seriously wounded. The thunder of exploding shells and bombs echoed in Shanghai. Caravans (See CHINA, Page A-3.) CHINESE CHARGE GAS BOMBS' USE 345,000 Soldiers Engaged on Three Fronts in North China. By the Associated Press. PEIPING, August 27.—A Japan- ese army of 120,000 men was hammer- ing relentlessly today at 225,000 Chi- nese on three fronts strung across the strategic railroads that radiate from North China like the spokes of a huge wheel. Major battles were being fought on two fronts southwest and northwest of here and on the third, south of Tientsin, steady pressure was being applied by 70,000 Japanese against a Chinese Army of 100,000. (In Nanking the Chinese govern- ment in an official announcement today charged that the Japanese Army used gas bombs in attacking Nankow Pass yesterday. The Jap- anese have been trying to force their way through the pass, 30 miles from Peiping, for several weeks.) Breach in Wall Reported. Japanese Army headquarters an- nounced tonight that Japanese troops had broken through China's Great Wall and advanced northward into Mongolia. Foreign military observers believe Japan’s attempt to smash forward on all three fronts simultaneously de- pends on crushing the determined Chinese resistance at Lianghsiang, 25 miles southwest of Peiping, and at Nankow Pass, 30 miles northwest. The Chinese flanking movement southwest of here still presented a threat to the 150-mile Japanese front and was delaying the start of the major push. Some 100,000 Chinese troops were pivoting around the west- ern flank of 35,000 Japanese. Japanese reports here claiming de- cisive victories in the vicinity of Kal- gan were received skeptically by for- eign observers, despite the vivid de- scriptions of fleeing Chinese troops from the areas allegedly surrounded by the Japanese. Offensive is Prepared. | While the Japanese on the two fronts here attempted to get their armies into forward motion, full prep- arations were going ahead at Tientsin for the planned general offensive. Some 15,000 Japanese reinforcements are arriving every week to swell the 120,000 already in the field. Tientsin is piled high with thousands of tons of ammunition and supplies. Foreign experts are convinced by the avalanche of incoming Japanese supplies and mechanized units that the Japanese statement “we have come to settle the North China question permanently” is undeniably a true |P. H. Strong, Wealthy New | the Albany Airport. statement of their purpose. U. S. MISSION RAZED BY JAPANESE BOMBS All Americans Escape, However, Embassy in Peiping Is Informed. By Radio to The Star. PEIPING, China, August 27.—The American Embassy here was informed today that Japanese airplanes bombed and destroyed the American Method- ist Women’s Home at Nanchang, Kiangsi Province, on Wednesday. No American casualties resulted, it was stated. The bombing occurred while the Japanese were attempting to hit and destroy the newly built Kan River Bridge at Nanchang and follows closely upon the Japanese bombing of the American Mission Hospital at Nantungchow, in the Lower Yangtze Valley. (Coprright, 1037.) FOUR ARE KILLED INPLANE CRASH York Legislator, Owner of Craft, a Victim. BY the Associated Press. ALBANY, N. Y, August 27.—The bodies of State Assemblyman Pritchard H. Strong, wealthy Rochester aviation enthusiast, and three companions were found today in the twisted wreckage of Strong's airplane a mile south of The bodies were s0 badly mangled that positive indiviual identification was impossible immediately, but Joseph Fitzgerald, Albany Airport manager, said there was no doubt the victims were Strong and his party, who dis- appeared in flight from Saratoga Springs to Albany early today. In the party were believed to be Mrs. Strong and Charles- H. Judson, Rochester investment counsel. The pilt was Clarence Robinson of Rochester. Two bodies were buried so deeply in the wreckage that they could not be immediately extricated. The body of & woman was thrown clear and that of a man, believed to be the pilot, was partly outside the plane. Caught in rain and fog, the plane’s pilot radioed the airport shortly after 12:15 a.m.,, Eastern standard time; saying he was about to land, and ask- ing in a worried voice for further directions, Night Airport Manager Thomas Wink reported. The wreckage first was sighted by Fred Sandburg, Albany pilot, and Lee Yorke, his observer, who took off in heavy rain after they had been forced down in a previous attempt by poor visibility. Paralysis Death Toll 19. TORONTO, August 27 (Canadian Press).—Health duthorities today listed 19 deaths from the infantile paralysis epidemic in Ontario. At Toronto 2 deaths and 10 new cases ‘were reported. Summary of Page. Comics --B-12-13 Drama ..... A-6 Editorials ... A-8 Finance -A-13 Obituary _._A-10 Lost & Found B-7 WAR IN FAR EAST. . Bitter battle rages for Lotien, near Shanghai. Page A-1 Nanking raided as envoys fete Nelson Johnson. Page A-1 Hull warns Japan and China to re- spect U. 8. rights. Page A-1 Britain demands “full satisfaction” from Japan. Page A-1 FOREIGN. Franco launches assault on Aragon front. Page A-2 Hungary spurs hopes of U. 8. others will pay on debts, Page A-16 NATIONAL. Rivers and harbors measure signed by Roosevelt. Page A-1 Short Story-.A-15 Soclety - B-3 S8ports .. Woman'’s Pg. B-4¢ Floods wash away homes in Elmira, N. Y, area. Page A-1 Andrew Mellon dies from pneumonia at daughter’s home. Page A-1 New simpliified income tax return form Is approved. . Page A-2 WASHINGTON AND VICINITY. D. C. flood claims life of colored boy; wa ers receding. Page A-1 National Gallery of Art to be Andrew Mellon memorial. Page A-4 Colored errand boy proves nemesis of “repeating” bandit. Page B-1 Church and school groups protest Ros- siter liquor license. Page B-1 President vetoes resolution to change names of Mall drives, ?n B-1 Protest Made on Wounding of Ambassador. YOSHIDA VOICES TOKIG’S REGRET London Reported Weighing Cut in Relations. By the Associated Press. LONDON, August 27.—Authorita- tive quarters said the British govern- ment’s demand for “full satisfaction” for the wounding of its Ambassador to China was presented today to the Japanese Ambassador to London. The demand was understood to have been made by Foreign Secretary An- thony Eden to Shigeru Yoshida, the Japanese envoy, when the latter called at the foreign office to tender offi- cially Japan's regrets. Sir Hughe Montgomery Knatch- bull-Hugessen, Britain’s Ambassador, was gravely wounded Thursday when shot by Japanese airmen on the road between Nanking and Shanghai. With Eden Half Hour. Ambassador Yoshida spent half an hour with the foreign secretary. In- dicating the public interest in the ten- sion in Anglo-Japanese relations, a crowd gathered at the Downing street entrance to the foreign office to wit- ness the Japanese envoy's arrival and departure, Earlier irf the day Quo Tai-Chi, the Chinese Ambassador, had visited Mr. Eden. Informed sources said that in spite of high feeling in Britain over the at- tack on the ambassador, no further action on the part of the British gov- ernment was to be expected today. The British attitude was one of “‘ex- asperation and indignation,” these quarters said. Persons close to the government emphasized that the possibilities of obtaining “full satisfaction” were “very limited.” This strengthened a wide- spread belief that Britain might be compelled to withdraw its ambassador, Sir Robert L. Craigie, from Tokio., Cut in Relations Discussed. ‘The suggestion that the British gov- ernment would break off diplomatic relations with Japan unless it ob- tained satisfaction already had been widely discussed. Informed sources, however, said the Government wanted further informa- tion concerning the shooting before it decided what “appropriate action” to take in the matter. The foreign office yesterday an- nounced “appropriate action with the Japanese government” would be forth- coming. The length of Eden's conference with the Japanese envoy was taken to mean that the foreign secretary spent the better part of half an hour out- lining Britain's official stand in the matter. Delay Did Not Improve Feeling. The fact that the Japanese Ame bassador waited until today to make his official call did not improve public feeling toward Japan. Acting swiftly to maintain her dip- lomatic personel in China during the tension, Britain ordered R. G. Howe, former counsellor of the British Em- bassy at Nanking, from England to take charge. Howe was instructed to fly as far as possible over the war-disrupted com- mercial air lines in the Far East and then get into China as fast as he can. Informed sources emphasized this decision as evidence that Britain “will not be delayed” in taking action de- spite her request for further informa- tion. s Explanations from the Japanese government were awaited. Eden conferred earlier with his (S8ee LONDON, Page A-3.) Today’s Star . | Pire Department budget request is re- duced $20,316. Page B-1 Tax cut demand by slaughter house area suggested. Page B-1 EDITORIAL AND COMMENT. Editorials. Page This and That. Page A-8 Questions and Answers. Page A-8 Political Mill. Page A-8 Washington Observations. Page A-8 David Lawrence. Page A-9 H. R. Baukhage. Page A-9 Dorothy Thompson. Page A-9 Constantine Brown, Page A-9 Lemuel Parton, Page A-9 FINANCIAL. Federal bonds dull (table). Trade is uneven. Page A-13 Freight loadings gain. Page A-13 Transit and Pepco incomes up. Page A-14 Stocks ease after early rise (table). Page A-14 A3 Page A-13 SPORTS. Ward, “upstart,” steals show in ama- ture golf tourney. B-5 Dean of British referees holds Farr is far from set-up. Page B-5 Myer's fine play considerably brightens Nats’ outlook. Page B-7 MISCELLANY. Washington Wayside. Shipping News. Vital Statistics. Traffic_Convictions, Betsy Caswell. Dorothy Dix. Cross-Word Puzzle. Bedtime Stories. Letter-Out. Winning Contract. Nature’s Children. Page A-2 Page A-12 Page A-12 Page A-12 Page B-4 Page B-4 Page B-12 Page B-12 Page B-13 Page B-13 “l‘e B-14 ERA OF THE PICKET. MELLONDIESATE3 FROM PNEUMONIA Had Notable Career as Sec- retary of Treasury and Collector of Art. Obituary and pictures of Mr. Mellon on Pages A-4 and 5. By the Associatea Press. SOUTHAMPTON, N. Y. August 27.—Andrew W. Mellon, who built one of the world's greatest fortunes out of banking, oil and aluminum and who spent his iate years in the Nation's service as Secretary of the Treasury and as Ambassador to Great Britain, has passed from the American acene The shy, diffident, white-haired financier, whose 11 years of service under three Presidents was surpassed only by one of his predecessors as head of the Treasury Department, died peacefully last night in his 83d year. He died in the home of his daughter, Mrs. David K. E. Bruce, after a month’s illness from uremia and bronchial pneumonia. At his bedside as life ebbed away were his son-in-law and the financier’s two pals and play- mates, his son Paul and his daughter Ailsa, Mrs. Bruce. The death of Pittsburgh’s most powerful figure and one of the Na- tion’s unostentatious philanthropists was not unexpected. He had been under the physician's care for three weeks and steadily has grown weaker. “The end was perfectly peaceful,” said Bruce, who married Mellon’s only daughter in 1926. “He was very weak.” Mellon made no last statement or request as he passed away. Funeral Tomorrow. While men who had been associated Wwith Mellon in his many and varied activities paid him tribute, plans were made for funeral services in Pitts- burgh, where he was born and spent his life with the exception of his years in Washington and London. The funeral will be be held tomorrow afternoon at the East Liberty Presby- terian Church. The body will be taken to Pittsburgh late today. Mellon was fabulously wealthy, but the extent of his personal fortune was in the realm of speculation when he died. The only official estimate made public was $205,000,000, given by Mellon’s secretary during hearing of the banker's income tax appeal in 1931. Friends said, however, they be- lieved the combined fortune of the financier and his two children would amount to approximately $500,000,000. Like John D. Rockefeller, sr., and other contemporaries, Mellon's per- sonal fortune had been partly dis- sipated by the lavishness of his philanthropies. Vast World Holdings. Mellon's vast enterprises reached around the earth and gave employ- ment to thousands. Banking, oil and aluminum were his principal interests and their corporate names were the Mellon National Bank of Pittsburgh, one of the Nation’s largest; the Gulf Oil Co. and the Aluminum Co. of America. Only a few weeks before his last fliness he visited President Roosevelt and made final arrangements for his last great public benefaction—estab- (See MELLON, Page A-4.) -— C.1. 0. WIN SELECTION Goodrich Workers Poll Votes Against 834. AKRON, Ohio, August 27 (% Tabulation of votes in the employes’ election at the B. F. Goodrich Co. plant today showed 8,212 in favor of the United Rubber Workers of Amer- ica, C. L O. affiliate, as sole collec- tive bargaining agency for the gom- ployes and 834 voting against the U. R. W. A The election was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. TREASURY LOWERS FLAG Banners at Half Staff Until After x Mellon’s Funeral. Wayne C. Taylor, Acting Treasury Secretary, today ordered that flags on all Treasury buildings flown at half- staff and Coast Guard vessels at half- mast until after the funeral of Andrew 8,213 ‘Prohibition Party’ Killer of Girl Freed From Jail on Parole By the Associated Press. PENDLETON, Ind., August 27. —Virgil Kirkland of Gary, who has served more than six years at the Indiana Reformatory in connection with the death of pretty Arlene Draves following a “prohibition era” party, was re- leased today on parole. Kirkland, former Gary High School foot ball star, was freed after the State Welfare Depart- ment in Indianapolis announced approval of the parole. He had served more than five years over the minimum sentence imposed for the slaying. ROOSEVELT SIGNS HARBORS MEASURE Related Flood Control Bill to Receive Approval Shortly. By the Associated Press. HYDE PARK, N. Y, August 27.— President Roosevelt today started his three-weeks stay at the Summer White House by signing the rivers and har- bors bill as officials announced a re- lated flood control measure would receive his approval shortly. ‘The rivers and harbors bill author- izes approximately $54,000,000 for construction, repair, preservation and surveys of rivers and harbors. The flood control bill, expected to be returned here shortly from the War Department, authorizes an additional $34,177,000 of new projects, mostly in the Ohio Valley. Provision Criticized. The President, in a separate state- ment on the rivers and harbors meas- ure, criticized a provision for a pol- lution survey of the Ohio River by the War Department, saying this was a Public Health Service matter. He said he was asking the War and Treasury Departments to appoint a committee of three to conduct the survey—an Army engineer, a health service representative and a non- Government expert on pollution prob- lems. The flood control measure was 1 of 80 bills the President brought here from Washington for further study before acting on them. It authorizes $24,877,000 for “emerg- ency” flood wall protection of popula- tion centers in the Ohio Valley, $9,- 000,000 for works along Wolf River and Nonconnah Creek at Memphis (in addition to $2,324,000 for property rights) and $300,000 for stream clear- ance and channel improvements. A long list of “examinations and surveys” by Army engineers also is authorized. “In signing H. R. 7051, the so-called rivers and harbors bill,” the President said, “I note that in section 5 thereof provision is made for a pollution sur- vey of the Ohio River by the War De- partment. “Obviously a survey of this nature falls properly under the jurisdiction of the Public Health Service. “I am, however, asking the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the ‘Treasury to join in the appointment of a committee of three to conduct this survey—an Army engineer, a repre-"| sentative of the Public Health Service and a non-Government expert on pollution problems.” EX-PRINCE NICHOLAS RETURNS TO RUMANIA By the Associated Press. BUCHAREST, Rumanis, August 27. —The official Rumanis Press Buresu declined to comment today on the un- expected homecoming of former Prince Nicholas, brother of King Carol. ‘The one-time prince, now known as plain Mr. Nicholas Brans, left Ru- mania last April, understood to have promised not to return within a year. He had been shorn of his tities and royal rights because he refused to give up his blond commoner wife, the former Helen Dumitriscu. But he came back to Bucharest by air last night, presumably from Italy, nd went directly r his estate, The_only in Yesterday’s (P) Means Associated Press. o, BOY, 12, DROWNED IN CAPITAL FLOOD Orlando Reed Loses Life in Swollen Creek—High Waters Receding. (Pictures on Page B-1) Flood waters of Watts Run, which overflowed its banks last night and inundated a score of homes in Dean- wood, today claimed the life of a 12- year-old colored boy. Orlando Reed, 600 block of Forty- ninth street northeast, drowned in the swollen creek at Forty-ninth street and Deane avenue northeast when the swift curernt swept him off his feet while he was wading with several playmates. ‘The ordinarily placid creek was transformed into a raging torrent by the downpour last night and poured water 8 feet deep into nearby streets. Approximately 200 persons fled from their homes and Coast Guardsmen from Baltimore raced here with life- saving equipment. The creek had receded into its banks today, but was several feet higher than usual when the Reed boy drowned. His body was recovered by John Woodson, 4918 Fitch place northeast. Firemen Aid Families. Firemen with lifelines tied around their waists waded into the flood waters last night and helped approx- imately 30 families to safety. An ap- peal for aid was sent to the Coast Guard headquarters at midnight and a life-saving crew with two surf boats was sent from Curtis Bay station near Baltimore. The flood waters began to recede before the Coast Guardsmen arrived at 3 a.m, however, and they returned without unloading their boats. With fair weather and rising tem- perature predicted for today and to- morrow, flood dangers appear to have passed, Army Engineers said. The Weather Bureau reported that the Potomac River is well below the flood stage, although high water at Chain Bridge carried away a 6-inch temporary water main supplying Ar- lington County this morning. Army engineers quickly replaced the main and said the Arlington County water supply was not affected. The river went over the seawall at the Naval Air Station this morning, but officers there said no damage was caused. Several inches of water covered the landing field. Anacostia Overflows Banks. The Anacostia River overflowed its banks at Bladensburg, and Maryland State policemen closed the Washing- ton-Baltimore Boulevard and the De- fense Highway. The Southern Mary- land Boulevard was closed at the District line because of high water. The highway leading to the Marlboro Fair grounds, where 150 motorists were marooned for hours late yester- day, remained closed. The Weather Bureau said 1.53 inches of rain fell yesterday and last night. Firemen reported rescuing families from flooded houses in Dix street northeast between the 4500 and the 5800 blocks; from the 4500 block of Gault place northeast; the 5000 block of Central avenue southeast; the 4300 block of Hayes street northeast; the 700 block of Forty-ninth street north- east, and the 4800 block of Nash street southeast. Firemen of No. 27 Engine Company returned from rescue duty to find 8 inches of water in their station house at Minnesota avenue and Hunt street northeast. Rock Creek was running over its banks this morning and Rock Creek Parkway, from P street to Massa- chusetts avenue, and several other park roads were closed. Wi from (8ee FLOO] Page A-3) SEE s RACES CALLED OFF Flood Waters Cover Road at Marlboro. Special Dispateh to The Star. MARLBORO, Md., August 27.—With flood waters covering the only road leading into this track to a depth of 4 and 5 feet this morning, General Manager Joseph B. Boyle of the South- ern Maryland Agricultural Fair Asso- ciation called off today’s scheduled program. State highway engineers promise to have the road ready for trafic to- morrow, therefore racing will be re- sumed lt!_:i, Washington wit| Associated Press News and Wirephoto Services. evening paper the Circulation, 136,448 (8Bome returns not yet received.) TWG CENTS. “MAJOR SCANDAL" IN HOUSE VOTING 1S BENG PROBED Leader Reveals Names of Absent Members Were Re- corded in Six Cases. PENALTY IS EXPULSION OF ABSENTEE AND ALLY Another, Holding a Key Post in Chamber, Says Two Asked Him to Vote for Them. By the Associated Press. A member of the House high eome mand disclosed today an investigation is under way of reported recording of votes on House roll calls of Repre- sentatives known to have been out of town. He was unwilling to be quoted by name, but said there was “evidence of a major scandal.” Legislators who were in other parts of the United States or in Europe, he said, have been listed as voting. He added that House leaders were determined to learn how extensive the practice has been and to fix the re- sponsibility. Preliminary checks, he said, have disclosed perhaps half a dozen in- stances of illegitimate absentee voting. Another individual holding & key House post said two members had asked him at different times to have their votes cast on major bills while they were not in Washington, but he had refused. Expulsion Is Penalty. While declining to mention names or let their own be used until the in- quiry is finished, these leaders said it was ‘“extremely dangerous” for a member to have his vote cast by an- other and could result in expulsion of both from Congress. As part of the investigation, tally clerks have been asked to check their records with lists of members who were away from Washington during the last session. It may be a long process, since 102 members were not recorded on the last roll call and at one time during the closing weeks of the session a3 many as 136 were not present. Even after the check, the leaders said, it will be difficult to determine whether there have been wiliful at- tempts at absentee voting since there is opportunity for innocent errors. Chances for Error. Tally clerks, in the midst ef the hubbub of conversation which is customary during roll calls, easily might believe they heard a vote cast when none was. Many members have names that are identical or sound like those of others. They might respond at the wrong time. Not infrequently, also, members who have not paid attention to the roll call jump up and try to record their . vote after the clerks have gone two or three names beyond theirs on the list. But in cases where absentees have been recorded as voting on more than one roll call, the leaders said, there would be ground for believing the bal- loting was deliberate. VOTERS TO BE CALLED IN ELECTION PROBE Congressional Committee Threat ens to Use Subpoena Powers at Newton, Mass. By the Associated Press. NEWTON, N. H, August 27. congressional committee investigatin; the loss of 34 ballots in last Novem- ber’s disputed election for Representa- tive in the first district threatened to- day to subpoena citizens unless the: appeared voluntarily to say whether they voted. On the committee’s decision depend: whether Arthur B. Jenks, Republican of Manchester holds his Congress sea: or yields to Alphonse Roy, Democrat, also of Manchester. Newton’s check list showed 458 per- sons cast ballots, but only 424 ballot were found. Jenks claimed the missing ballots would clinch his claim to the seat, although a first recount ended in a tie and a second gave Roy the elec- tion by 17 votes. Upon a rehearing of his claim by the State Ballot Law Commission Jenks was awarded the seat, but Roy's renewed protest brought a House resolution for a direct canvass of Newton voters. Only 54 appeared at yesterday's four-hour session, though the commit- tee had provided conveyances to and from Town Hall. The thin attendance brought from Representative James W. Wadsworth, Republican, of New York a threat to use the committee’s subpoena powers. Citizens who appeared would then be paid a 75-cent witness fee, he said. JUMPER’S "CHUTE FAILS Stunt Show Visitors Watch Him Plummet 2,000 Feet to Death. BUFFALO, N. Y., August 27 (#).— Visitors to an aviation stunt show watched the body of Ernest (Peewee) Coakley, Kansas City parachute jumper, plummet 2,000 feet to the ground last night when his two parse chutes failed to open. Witnesses to the fall raced to a nearby dump where they found Coakley buried 2 feet deep in a heap of tin cans and refuse. They said his first chute started to open, then jammed and flapped lazily behind as {he fell. The second chute becams entangled with the first and failed to check his fall. ’ sl Straves Ill BERLIN, August 27 (#).—Richard Strauss, the 73-year-old composer, was compelled today to cancel an early September appearance in Paris be- cause of & bronchitis attack. His condition, however, was not betioved m