Evening Star Newspaper, April 14, 1940, Page 18

Riverside Stadium Becoming a 'Big Top’ For Benefit Circus Frank Wirth Show Opens Tomorrow With ‘District Night’ Riverside Stadium was being turned into a “big top” today to make ready for the opening tomor- row night of the Frank Wirth three- ring circus appearing at the sta- dium for seven days for the bene- fit of Children’s Hospital. Tomorrow night’s performance, opening at 8 o'clock, will be District night, with a number of District officials planning to occupy box seats for the showing. One of the features of the show will be Capt. Roman Proske and his cage of royal Bengal tigers. Capt. Proske will put his charges through their tricks using only a blank pistol. Other performers in- clude bareback riders, high-wire artists, Capt. John Tiebor and his sea lions-and seals, the Five Eltons, aerial ballet specialists; Wirth's performing elephants, acrobats and trapeze artists. Afternoon performances will be held, beginning Tuesday, at 3 o'clock except Saturday and Sunday, when the shows will get under way at 2:15. There will be a special morn- ing show at 10 o'clock Saturday. All evening shows will open at 8 o'clock. Tuesday night has been desig- nated as gala night, when diplo- mats and members of Washington's social set will attend. Mrs. Frank- lin D. Roosevelt has accepted an invitation. Government employes’ night will take place Wednesday and the following night business and professional men’s organiza- tions will attend in bodies. Officials of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps will attend Friday night, des- ignated as gold braid night. Tickets for the circus perform- ances are on sale at the American Automobile Association, Keystone Automobile Club, A. G. Spaulding Bros. and at the stadium. Rear Admiral C. R. Train is chairman of the Hospital Circus Committee. Inquest (Continued From First Page.) due to inferior workmanship during alteration. 2. No inspection was made dur- ing this alteration of the chimney. 3. The principal factors contrib- uting to the rapid spread of the fire “resulted from failure of the builder remodeling the building in 1925 to comply with the code and with ap- proved plans, and from failure of the inspectors charged with inspect- ing this building to detect viola- tions.” Events Leading to Tragedy. From the two groups., the full| story of the events leading up to the four-alarm blaze developed along these lines. Plans were submitted in the sum- mer of 1925 by Snowden Ashford, former municipal architect and building inspector, for converting an old stable at the O ‘street address into an apartment of 41 units. The plans were rejected at first by Hugh Dollins, an engineer in the building inspector’s office. Mr. Dol- lins testified at the inquest that Mr. Ashford became very angry when the plans were rejected and said that he went over his head to get them approved. They were approved by another |' examiner, after a few small changes had been made, it is maintained. Mr. Dollins, handed the plans while on the witness stand yesterday, said he still would not have approved them, even in the corrected form. Construction work was begun, the Job being done by the Dupont Circle Housing Co. It was charged that the plans were not followed when the actual construction started. The result was that when the building was finished, there were a number of features which violated the building code and offered a fire hazard, the investigators held. The Fire Hazards. ‘The doors leading from the apart- ment units on to the corridor were made of wood, instead of being metal covered—this meaning that the cor- ridors were not fireproof. The inside stair wells were not covered or protected and Mr. Dollins said that he would not have ap- proved them. (It was testified that two persons were burned to death attempting to flee down the stairs.) The partitions between apart- ments and the ceilings were made of inflammable material, the ceil- ings being made of non-fireproof, unplastered fiberboard. ‘The cement walls which bordered the corridors did not extend from the third floor to the roof, leaving an open space between the third- floor ceilings and the roof. There were two building inspec- tors assigned to supervise the work. One of them—whose whereabouts was not at first known—was later brought to the inquest. But he ex- plained that his memory had failed THE SUNDAY S8TAR, ‘WASHINGTON, IL DUCE TESTS IRON EXTRACTOR—Premier Mussolini as he participated in a test recently of a new invention designed to extract iron ore from sea sand. The machine is fed sand and separates any iron-bearing particles by a system of magnets, The black sands which form the beach along the coast near Rome are said to contain large percentages of iron ore. The inventor, Giovanni Liguori, says he expects the machine will ex- tract more than a ton of magnetite in an hour. —Wide World Photo. _—nnmm him and that he could not even remember visiting the building. He is 82 years old and retired some years ago. The second building inspector for the job is dead. “The Human Factor.” There were visits to the building from time to time in the years after its completion, Chief Building In- spector John W. Oehmann said, but the inspectors failed to notice the violations of the code. This he blamed on “the human factor.” In 1937, the smoke inspector’s of- fice filed a complaint against the rental agents for the building, the H. G. Smithy Co.,, charging them with creating a smoke nuisance. It was indicated that they would have to install new heating equipment. So in August, 1937, the Smithy Co. ordered contractors to install a new boiler and a new stoker. The smoke inspector, H. K. Kugel, then informed them they would have to enlarge the chimney in the building. An official of the company took out a permit to remodel the chim- ney, after explaining to the build- ing inspector’s office what was to be done. He hired a colored brick- layer to do the job and put him under the supervision of the con- tractor who was installing part of the “heating equipment. This“con- tractor is also dead. Faults in Chimney. Then there was another failure in the building inspector’s office, it is held. The inspector in whose dis- trict the work was being done says he was not notified that the work was being done. And so he never inspected it. The bricklayer enlarged the chim- ney by tearing out one wall and adding a new section. He did it in such a manner as to leave a crack in the brick work, extending from the first floor to the roof. The flue lining, made of two tile sections mortared together, had a corresponding crack. Fire marshals, inspecting the place after the fire, decided that the blaze started near the chimney on the first floor. A brick was out of the chimney at this place and there was no flue lining there. ‘The report to the Comissioners said “that the fire spread almost instantaneously over the whole building as the result of hot gases filling an existing open space under the roof extending over the entire — FALSE TEETH REPAIRED WHILE YOU WAIT ROBT B. SCOTT DENTAL TECR 605 14th st F. Bms. 961, VU2 MEt 1833 Private Waiting Eooms CALL NATIONAL 5000, ASK - FOITI STAR CIRCULATION DEPT. Presto! begins instantly . . Washingtonians can enjoy the convenience of Home Delivery Service—and save money, simply by making a telephone call. Call NA- tional 5000, give your name and address and the service you desire. Consult the rates and services to the right. Home Delivery of The Star ‘The Evening and Sunday Star ‘The Evening Star 45¢ per month Night Final Sunday Star. Night Final Star 60c per month i . and saves money! MONTHLY RATES CITY AND SUBURBS Effective Jansary 1, 1940 75¢ per month and -.* 85¢ per month building and becoming simultane- ously ignited. Since the ceilings under this open space were con= structed of unplastered, non-fire- proof fiber board, the fire broke read- ily through into the building.” Owner and Builder Exonerated. Residents of the place testified that within a few minutes after the fire had been discovered—about 2:30 a.m.—the place was filled with smoke and flame. The back stairs were choked with fire, and the only way out was down the front stairs. One of the victims, Michael Jones, died in a fall from his third-floor apartment in the rear. The other two, Carrie Dunahue and Dorothy Haislip, were found burned to death near the front stair wells. The report to the Commissioners exonerated from blame Henry Brawner, owner of the building when it was remodeled, and Mr. Ashford. It stated: “The use by the builder of non- fireproof, unplastered fiber board ceilings violated both the code and the approved plans. Both of these variations from the plans should have been detected by the building [inspectors, who made 12 recorded visits, ¢ ® »» The inquest began on Tuesday, with sessions every day . except ~Ehusday. -1t was one of'the most thorough inquiries conducted in re- cent years, according to Coroner A. Magruder MacDonald, who pre- sided. Coroner MacDonald, in delivering his instructions to the jury, told them that they had a great oppor- tunity to render service to the com- munity by reporting on the causes of the fire and making recommen- dations. Increase in Federal Housing o Create Thousands of Jobs Peak of Employment To Be Reached in June, D. C, APRIL 14, 1940—PART ONE. Woman, Answering Census Query, Adds ‘I Dye My Hair' BY the Associated Press. SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 13—The census enumerator who called on one Santa Rosa woman got more than hs ex- pected. To her census sheet the woman appended the following information: ects, Administrator Nathan Straus under construction will maintain an clearance program has stimulated Straus Reports The United States Housing Au- thority program will be giving em- ployment soon to more than 90,000 mechanics and laborers at. the sites of approximately 260 housing proj- estimated yesterday. Their weekly pay roll was estimated at $3,000,000. April employment at 176 projects average of around 51,000 weekly in 107 communities. Weekly wages are approximately $1,650,000. By June the number of cities and towns in which projects are under construc- tion will increase to 132. The low-rent housing and slum the hard-hit building trades. Work on the program is increasing to about 90 per cent over the -winter months, when weekly employment averaged 27,000 men, it was esti- mated. ‘The current program will enter its peals during June, when a total of about 105,000 low-rent homes will be under construction, out of a pro- Jected total of 160,000, which is the estimated number that can be financed under the original $800,~ 000,000 U. S. H. A. loan fund pro- vided two years ago. Mr. Straus estimated that ap- proximately 512,000 building trades Jobs will have been provided in com- pleting the program. This would ac- count for about $225,000,000 in wages at building sites. “I have a. dectomy scar. “I dye my hair and wear padding. two-inch appen- “Once, before I came of age, I shortchanged a store clerk and later suffered from repentance. “Before I was married I oc- casionally ‘necked’—with pru- dence, of course, “During my schooling I was guilty of keeping a library book overdue. “I own & dachshund and have not purchased a dog license, “My lingerie is pink! “I abhor census takers.” Man Is Burned Fatally In Rooming House Fire Alvin Steward, 27, colored, was burned fatally yesterday when a fire swept several rooms on the sec- ond floor of a rooming house at 701 8 street NW. Steward was found lying half ‘out of his bed, apparently having tried to make his escape. He was pro- nounced dead by a Casualty Hos- pital ambulance physician. Fire- men said the blaze appeared to have been caused by the explosion of a small oil burner located outside the victim’s bedroom: Under “no-stop-work” agreements negotiated by the U. 8. H. A, with building trades unions, the admin- istrator sald, there has not been a single serious labor dispute to ham- per construction. A check made yesterday revealed.these agreements have been made with 1,508 local unions in 151 cities. For the past 28 years the name “Shah” has been associated with the optical profession in Washington. This signifies that our aim to satisfy is well faunded. NVISIB Kl‘yptOk 'BIFOCAL Yes, genuine Kryptok in- visible bifocal lenses.. One pair to see far and ne: Complete with high-grade frame. Eyes examined by registered optometrist., Pontiac owners frequently mention this car’s supe- riority for long distance travel. They’re the same miles but they seem shorter and they’re more de- lightful, in a Pontiac, Ancror Fences BERRALL-JA 615 Colo Phone N LE SPER COMPANY rado Building Ational 7677 it Glasses 30 12.00 Two D. C. Artists to Show Work at,Expositions ‘Two Washington artists will have paintings exhibited in the Gallery of Science and Art at the New York World's Fair and the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco this year, The srtists and their paintings are Marjorie Phillips, “Pansies in Alabaster Vase,” and Nan Watson, “Modern Puritan.” The paintings will appear among those collected from the 48 States and the Terri- tories of the United States by the International Business Machines Corporation. : Senator Lee to Speak At Norris Pig Dinner Senator Led of Oklahoma will be graduate chapters of the fraternity at Gettysburg College, Johns Hop- kins University, Washington and Lee University and the University of Virginia will attend the dinner, e ——— the principal speaker at the annual Norris Pig Dinner of the Washing- ton Graduate Chapter of the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity Priday at the Congressional Country Club, The dinner, named in honor of its originator, Prank Norris, the novelist, also will be attended by Representatives Ferguson of Okla- homa, Satterfleld and Darden of Virginia, Ludlow of Ipdiana and Monroney of Oklahoma, and Walter Harrison, managing editor of the Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City. 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