Evening Star Newspaper, April 28, 1940, Page 23

General News - SAFE BUT CHILLY, THANK YOU—Heading up Washington Channel at the start of the second dinghy race in the Tri- Collegiate Regatta yesterday, the 11-foot boat sailed by Arden Andreson (right) and Herbert Lindsay was swamped by a sea Maryland Gardens Attract Hundreds; Tour Confinues . Charles and St. Marys County Estates To Be Open Today Maryland’s seventh annual home and garden pilgrimage continued in Charles and St. Marys counties to- day after a successful opening in Prince Georges. Officials in charge of the tour in Prince Georges County said hun- dreds visited the historic homes and ehdrches which were open there Priday and yesterday. _Tomorow and Tuesday Annapolis snd Anne Arundel County estates will be open, while those in Calvert County will be open Tuesday only. The tour will continue in other sec- tions until May 6. The pilgrimage is sponsored by the Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland and the admission fees will be used to purchase and main- tain the Hammond-Harwood house in Annapolis. Rose Hill Open. Miss Louise Matthews of La Plata is chairman of the Charles: County tour and Mrs. Howard C. Davidson of 3238 R street N.W. is in charge of ‘the St. Marys tour. Both an- nounced that accomodations are available for a limited number of persons and requested that visitors apply in advance. Miss Matthews can be reached at La Plata 50-F-12 and Mrs. David- son at Michigan 0618. County tick- ets costing $2 admit to all places in each county. Single admissions in most instances are 50 cents. ‘The tour of Charles County, which ‘began yesterday, will include Rose Hill, built in 1730, with its “Wash- ington’s bedroom” which was kept for the first President’s use. The estate includes magnificient box- wood grown to huge proportions. It is owned by Capt. and Mrs. C. E. QGrevenberg. Another showplace to be inspected is Havre de Venture, built in 1742, now the home of Charles Stephen- son Smith. The home of Thomas Stone, one of the Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence, ‘who is buried there. the house is of great interest to architects. Other Estate on Display. Chapman's Landing is another estate to be visited. It is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Gorham Hubbard. A home built on a series of ter- races so that it dominates the coun- tryside is Araby. Owned now by Admiral and Mrs. Jack Fletcher, the house was built in-1720. A home which has great outside ehimneys characteristic of Charles County is La Grange, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Jamés N. Wills, Visitors will see in Mount Air the house. that has one of the most expansive - views on the Potomac River. On the grounds is.a box- wood maze. It is owned by Capt. and Mrs. G. C. Pegram. Featuring Mount Republic, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hanson, are the thick walls, large square rooms, massive walnut stairway and beautiful front and rear doors. Blackfriars Built in 1650. Blackfriars, now owned by Mrs. Nettie McReynolds, was built about 1650 by the Ford family. A.wing is “one.of the oldest in Southern Maryland. . The Charles County list also in- eludes West ‘Hatton, built in 1790 by Maj. Willlam Truman Stoddert and a home which has remained continuously in the family, Mr. and Mrs. Foster M. Reeder are the.pres- ent owners. Visitors of St. Marys County showplaces, which will be open to- (See GARDENS, Page B-3) Biological Society to Meet Soil conservation and birds will be discussion subjects at the 896th meeting of the Biological Society of ‘Washington at 8 p.m. Saturday in the assembly hall of the Cosmos Club. The regular council meeting will be held at 7:30 pm. Speakers will be Phoebe Knappen of the Bio- Jogical Survey and William R. Van Dersal, Soll Conservation Service, Former Austrian Legation Proves Jinx Also for Danes House ©wned by Germans Was Planned And Built by Prochnik By HENRY GEMMILL. The house at 2343 Massachusetts avenue N.W. is a jinx. With seeming inevitability the | men, women and children who have lived in it have on two occasions been turned into folk without a country—by sudden marching of Hitler's legions. These people have been the mem- bers of two diplomatic families. The first man {o.move in, 10 years ago, was Edgar L. G. Prochnik, first and | last Minister here from the Aus- trian Republic. His nation vanished in initial Nazi military movements, and he was commanded to run the swastika up on his legation’s flagpole. On April 25, 1938, he found himself on the outside of the house he had planned | and built. It was German property. | Danish Minister Moved In. In 1939 a new Minister from Den- mark arrived here, Henrik de Kauff- mann, bringing wife and two young daughters. They were so struck by the spaciousness of 2343 Massachu- setts avenue that the Minister opened negotiations with the Ger- mans, and, late in September, moved | in. This month their country fell to the Germans. When and whether the Germany Embassy here can take the house over again—by some sort of legal blitzkrieg—remains in question. If the Germans gain title, the house. presumably will be on the market again for another small | country to adopt as a Legation, since its extensive office space, the chancery, hardly permits it to be a private home. What nation will have courage to move in? One thing is certain: The United States Government, though pressed for office space, won't brave the Hitler jinx by placing any agency in the building. No Legal Restriction. “There would be no legal restric- tion in our doing that,” it was ex- plained by Melvin C. Russell, who is in charge of renting Government office space here, “but we have de- cided not to place our workers in residential districts.” The four-storied, dormered struc- ture was planned by Mr. Prochnik after eight years of thought on just what a legation in America should be. Space for office, official entertaining and family life were integrated, yet kept separate so the functions would not interfere. Be- cause of high wages paid to serv- ants, the building was designed to to take only half as many as Euro- pean diplomatic quarters would re- quire. The limestone and brick exterior is of no particular architectural style, but certain interior rooms are carried out in exquisite detail. The reception hall, stretching across the entire front of the second floor, is Louis XV; the library is old Eng- lish and the dining room is Maria Theresa. The Minister's study and chancery are on the first floor, the quarters of Minister and wife on the third and children’s rooms on the fourth. Dining Room om Second Floor. The dining room, on the second floor, opens out into a terrace gar- den and green window boxes hang from rear windows. g The jinx house is less preten- tious than the Legation of Iran, to the south across Decatur place, with its ornate Greek figures carved in relief upon the walls. It is dwarfed also by the building next door, to the north. This is the Cgecho- Slovak Legation, where diplomacy also is executed for a vanished country. Austrian Minister Prochnik moved out to take a professorship at Georgetown University, but it ap- pears that Danish Minister de Kauffmanr will make a fight to stay in. He rents the Legation from the German government, it was learned, but is entirely confident a contract in his possession will serve as a sort of non-agression treaty to keep him living there. The mystery of -diplomacy; hangs ) | long as possible. \One in $200 Holdup in the choppy waters and capsi: the side as the boat went over. WASHINGTON, D. C., APRIL 28, 1940, * zed. The youths toppled over Here they are shown clinging to the craft while waiting for the Harbor Police boat, which patroled the course, to pick them up. over this “secret treaty.” Neither the Danish Legation nor the Ger- man Embassy will reveal its terms. The Danish Legation reports that so far it has not heard a hint from its landlord of any desire for ejec- tion. At the German Embassy, First Secretary Herribert von Strem- pel insists that the Danes will be left in the Legation because they will continue to obey orders of their home government, now under Nazi domination. Certain orders issued by the Danish™ officials here, particularly in regard to ships at sea, indicate on the contrary that members of the Legation staff will go an inde- pendent way, clashing with Naz wishes, doing the best they can as | Police Seek Two Ifildits, Police last night were seeking two bandits, one wanted for robbing a cab driver and the other for the $200 holdup of a former policeman carrying money room the ° Alice Deal Jun- jor High School to a bank. The cab dri- ver, Charles B. Shiner of 1632 Lincoln road NE, told police a colored pass- enger pressed what he be- lieved to be a gun against his back as they A& were riding in Mr. sham. the 4900 block of Benning road S.E. Friday night. The man obtained $2.80 and made his escape in the cab, which was recovered later. Former Policeman James Bing- ham, 66, was the victim of & young bandit as he left the school after lunch Friday. He was,carrying the money in a pail when the bandit came up behind him. The man carried a pistol and threatened to kil Mr. Bingham unless he handed over the money. The former policeman gave him the pail and then grappled ‘with the robber, who broke and fled. Two women reported Friday night that their purses had been seized. They were Zoa Beall .of Silver Spring, Md., who lost her pocketbook containing $19.50 near Ninth street and Mount Vernon place N.W., and Helen Walsh of 126 Adams street N.W. whose purse was snatched as she walked through an alley in the rear. of the 2200 block of First street N.W. Woman Held in Killing Arthur Johnson, 54, colored, of 1321 Ninth street N.W., was stabbed to death during a fight yesterday in the 1300 block of Wylie court N.E. Police held a 30-year-old colored woman with whom Johnson had been quarreling. In Short, the The sky above Washington was darkened for a time yesterday as " a flock of air-conditioned, eight- lettdr words arrived in town in custody of a panting advance agent for the advance agent for the circus. Those who witnessed the phe- nomenon recognized a number of familiar friends, such as daz- zingly beautiful, mightiest, gor- geously, fantastic, sensational, peerless, stupendous, unsur- passed, etc. These words have been under contract with the circus press agent for many years, as were their fathers and grand- fathers before them. The weatherman took note of the n and drew. a. ring Skipper Andreson and his crew of one managed to right his boat before the police craft got to them. . While several hundred visitors lined Hains Point, they were towed to the sea wall. The spill occurred soon after 'thc race had started from the Naval Alr Station. Young Lindsay, the crew, is commodore of the George Washington University 8ailing Club. The other two schools competing were Georgetown University and the United States Naval Academy. (Story on Page B-2.) —Star Staft Photos. District Income Tax May Top $3,200,000, Assessor Believes Collections, Especially For Personal Returns, Far Exceed Estimates The District'’s revenue outlook brightened yesterday when Tax As- sessor Edward A. Dent expressed a belief that collections from the individual and corporation net in- come taxes would exceed the esti- mated total receipts of $3,200,000. Mr. Dent based his prediction on the- fact that, although some 700 corporations have not yet paid their taxes, the District is assured of re- ceipts of $2975680 from the re- turns filed before the deadline April 15. Not all of this has been re- ceived yet, of course, because the taxpayer is permitted to pay his tax in two installments, the second being due in September. Returns from the personal income levy totaled $1,643,883, a figure far exceeding even the highest hopes of municipal tax officials, who had anticipated that collections from this levy would total about $1,000,~ 000. Mr. Dent saidq 101,084 indi- vidual returns had been filed, but 24,301 of these owed no tax. Up to yesterday, 2,851 corpora- tions subject to the 5 per cent net income tax had filed returns and paid in a total of $1,331,797, bring- ing the total receipts to $2975,680 However, Mr. Dent pointed out that there are some 500 corporations which have not yet reported because their business is on a fiscal year basis. He estimated the District would receive approximately $170,- 000 from these firms. In addition, the assessor ex- plained, there are 210 corporations which have been granted extensions. From these he expects enough reve- nue to push the final figure over the original estimated return of $3,200,000. A World's Fair Sought For District in 1943 Plans for an all-American expo- sition in Washington during 1943 in celebration of the laying of the cornerstone of the Capitol were dis- cussed yesterday by a group inter- ested in bringing a world’s fair to the city. Thomas S. Settle, secretary of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, pointed out that at this time there is no facility large enough to handle a national gath- ering as is contemplated. Mr. Settle said the best place available was in the area now be- ing developed along the Eastern Branch. However, he stated it would take considerable development to provide a place large enough to accommodate any considerable crowd. Willlam V. Mahoney, who acted as chairman of the organizing group, pointed out that 1943 would be the sesquicentennial of the lay- ing of the cornerstone of the Capitol and that it would be fitting to hold a fair in this city. around the date on his calendar. The advent of the advance agent for the advance agent indicates that there will be no more 4-foot. snows this year. In about 10 days, the advance agent himself will appear and the weatherman will proclaim spring. = Story No. 1 from the advanced . advance agent indicates that this is the most perfect, the most ex- citing, the most amazing show ever n in this or any other world all the long history of mankind, war or no war, to say the least. 1t leaves nothing to be desired, the agent swore on a stack of , except . possibly free | Special House Action Sought on Jobless Tax Revision Bill May Be Brought Up Before District Day, Randolph Says Legislation designed to liberal- ize the local unemployment com- pensation law may be given special consideration in the House the latter part of this week, it was in- dicated last night by Chairman Randolph of the District Commit- | tee. ‘The revised unemploynient com- pensation bill, calling for a reduc- tion in the employers’ pay roll tax from 3 to 2.7 per cent and increased benefits to the jobless, is expected to be approved by the full House | District Committee at its meeting tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. In anticipation of indorsement of the new unemployment com- pensation plan by the full commit- tee, Chairman Randolph has ar- ranged to have it called up in the House before the next District day, May 13, Representative Randolph and Representative McGehee, Democrat, of Mississippi, chairman of the ju- diciary - subcommittee in charge of the legislation, have received prom- ises from Majority Leader Rayburn the House would grant special time for consideration of the bill. “I think the legislation is impor- tant and should_be acted on with- out delay,” said Chairman Ran- dolph. “In view of the circumstances I don’t believe it will be necessary to wait until the next District day in the House to have the bill con- sidered.” The full committee tomorrow also will consider a highly controversial bill to amend the child labor law to permit children over 14 years of age to take part in professional con- certs and theatrical productions for pay. The proposed change in the Child Labor Act has been under consid- eration for several weeks by the ju- diciary subcommittee, which ac- cording to Representative Ran- dolph, is prepared to recommend its revision. Commissioner Young, Two Weeks in Office, Gets Name on Tablet The District Government wastes no time. Two weeks ago, J. Russell Young took office as Commis- sioner. One month hence, the name of the new Commissioner will be inscribed on a corner- stone. Officials said yesterday Mr. Young’s. name will be graven in a tablet to be affixed to the cornerstone of the new fire alarm headquarters in McMil- lan Park. 8 The names of the Commis- sioners who were in office when the building was started and completed alsowill appear on the plaque. They are Com- missioners Hazen, McCoach and Allen. Circus Is Cc;ming to Town Before Long boa constrictors for the kiddies, Lucky ‘Washington, he said, will have three days in which to see ‘the Ringling Bros.’ Great- est -Show_on Earth—May 16, 17 and 18. Performances twice daily, at 2:15 and 8:15 pm., on the circus grounds at Twenty- first and C streets NE. The show # now in New York, where thousands are bat- tling daily to gain admission, to witness, among other things, the new opening spectacle, “The Return of Marco Polo,” designed by Max Weldy. The advance agent offers the following de- soription: “It. is almost beyond descrip- tion, this dagslingly besutiful t Colliflower Heads Trade Board;| Adopts Predecessors’ Policies Inclusion of Scott C In 1941 Budget Approved by Directors (Picture on Page A-7.) James Edward Colliflower, presi- dent of James E. Collificwer & Co., fuel merchants, became president of the Washington Board of Trade yesterday. 25 years after he first joined the organization. He was elected by the directors and suc- ceeds Lawrence Williams. He was first vice president of the board during the last year. Mr. Collifiower, who once ‘was basket ball coach at the United States Navhl Academy in Annapo- Ais, said aftep his election’that he intends to “follow in the footsteps of his predecessors.”” He is a na- tive of Washington, born -August 7, 1884, and lives with his wife and two daughters at 8050 ®ark- side lane N.W. One daughter, Rose Dolores, graduate of George- town Visitation Convent, was queen of the 1940 Cherry Blossom Fes- tival. The other, Grace Mary, grad- uate of Trinity College, won sec- ond plaee in the National Oratorical Contest in 1933. Other Officers. The directors elected at the same time these other officers: Fred A. Smith, first vice presi- dent; Lanier P. McLachlen, pres- ident McLachlen Banking Corp., second vice president; Granville Gude, assistant treasurer of Gude ) Bros., secretayy; George Plitt, sr., treasurer; F. P. H. Siddons, as- sistant treasurer; E. F. Colladay, lawyer, general counsel; Harrison Brand, executive secretarv; William H. Press, assistant executive sec- retary. Mr. Gude, Mr. Colladay, Mr. | Brand and Mr. Press were re- | elected. The election meeting afforded the directors an apportunity to register their opinion on many traffic mat- ters now of concern to Washing- ton. They approved inclusion in the 1941 District budget of plans for a Scott Circle undeipass. They opposed repaving Massachusetts avenue from Rock Creek to Wiscon- sin avenue N.W. until after it is widened. Backs Traffic Light Fund Boost. ‘They approved an increase of¢ $9.000 for the purchase of traffic signs and $25,000 for traffic lights in the fiscal year 1941. The new Board of Trade presi- dent has offices at 1121 Vermont avenue NW. At the same time he is president and general manager of the Mount Vernon Floral‘ Co., Inc., in Alexandria. His gospel is work. For recreation he enjoys watching athletes pursue the hard grind which once he took pleasure in himself. . Mr. Collifiower was educated at Gonzaga High School and George- town University, where he was a basket ball, baseball and track star. He got his A, B. degree from George- town in 1906 and his LL. M. in 1911. On July 14, 1914, He married Grace Dolores Lynch, a native of ‘Washington. Mr. Colliflower’s vigorous interest in athletics when he was a youth has given him a particular interest in the welfare of boys. He was a ploneer supporter and later presi- dent of the Metropolitan Police Boys’ Club. There are times, he says, when he wishes that time and pageant, and it is Weldy’s mightiest effort in color effects, in gorgeously fantastic garb and trappings. Nothing like it has ever been seen in America.” The greatest feature the big show has imported in all its history, the agent goes on to de- clare, is Alfred Court of France, the world’s foremost wild animal trainer, who mixes polar bears, tigers, lions, leopards, panthers and a dash of bitters in his act. The circus.has 1,600 people, 50 elephants, 1,000 menagerie ani- mals and hun of horses, no one of which can‘be dismissed with less than two adjectives. So brace yourseives, people, the 10- , letter words are yet to come. . A ircle Underpass his age would permit him once again to coach the basketball team, as once he did, at Central High School. He is interested, too, in the wel- fare of underprivileged children, and he is a director of the Catholic Charities. Activities Varied. Although he has a law degree, Mr. Colliflower never practiced law. He engaged first in the insurance business and then switched to the | toal and wood business. His activi- ties as a member of the Washing- ton business community cover.a wide fleld. He is a director of the Acacia Mutual Life Insurance Co., director and executive committee member af the Bank of Commerce and Savings, director of the Na- tional Permanent Building Associa- tion, a former president of the Cos- mopolitan Club, past exalted ruler of the Elks and past president of the Merchants and Manufacturers Association. He is also past grand knight of the Washington Council, Knights of Columbus, director of the University Club and a member of the Columbia Country Club. 15 Customers in Store As 2 Bandits Take $100 Two bandits cowed 15 customers in a Sanitary Grocery store at 2931 Twelfth street N.E. last night while they robbed the store’s till of more than $100. The two entered the store and took up their positiohs by the turn- stiles at the front. Three customors waiting there to' pay for their groceries were forced to lie on the floor. Ausbert M. Houff of 3005 Seventh street N.E. handed over the cash. He told police he -did not know exactly how much the two men had obtained, but estimated that-it was “more than $100.” The men fled in a light delivery truck. Marion Jeffres, colored, of 1432 R street N.W. reported to police last night that someone had entered her room, choked her unconscious and | stolen her purse containing $8. Four Persons Injured In Traffic Accidents Robert B. Poole, 33, of the 1300| block of Maryland avenue N.E. was treated at Emergency Hospital last night for injuries received when his automobile struck a dirt bank and overturned in the 4900 block of Canal road N.W. Albert Mabry, 31, colored, of Alex- andria, Va., was treated at Emer- gency Hospital yesterday for in- Juries received when he was struck by an automobile in the 900 block of Twenty-sixth street NNW. He was transferred later to Freed- men’s Hospital. Mrs. Anna C. Thomas, 39 and Anna M. Meredith, 68, both of Mount Rainier, were treated at Emergency and later transferred to the Washington Sanitarium after being injured in an accident near McLean, Va. King Is Opposed To Building Traffic Underpasses Here Senator Urges More Funds for School and Health Facilities By J. A. O'LEARY. Senator King of Utah last night urged ‘the Senate to provide more funds for school and health facili- ties in the pending District appro- priation bill, but deplored extension of the traffic underpass system as out of harmony with the develop- ment of the Capital. §ithe first week of heatings on “measure ended, Chairman n of the subcommittee in charge of the bill avoided any pre- diction of what may be added to the House figures. He is known, however, to be anxious to make & start on the plan he originated last year to replace some of the oldest school buildings with larger mod- ern units. In a brief session yesterday the subcommittee - heard another group of citizens present arguments for specific changes in-the House bill, dealing ' principally with - schools, health and unemployment relef. After two or three ‘more days of hearings the subcommittee will re- port the bill to the Senate Appro- priations Committee, probably by the end of this week. ¥ Dislikes Underpass. “I don’t like to see these. under- passes built in Washington,” said Senator King, commenting on the proposal for one, at Scott Circle to | tle in with the original Thomas Circle project. “I like to see the Capital preserved along the lines of the L'Enfant plan. If it is merely a question of utility, they are all right. I know they have them in New York and other -places, but Washington was never intended to be a commercial city.” The Utah Senator, who heads the District Legislative Committee and is a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee, said he expected to be classed as “old-fashioned” for his attitude toward the under- passes. He did not indicate whether he would press his opposition to the Scott Circle project. Senator King did not suggest any specific amounts to be added to the school and health budgets, but said he hoped the subcommittee would g0 as far as it can. Increases Opposed. Senator Overton made known sev- eral days ago he is considering rec- ommending - approximately $300,000 additional to acquire sites this year and prepare plans for three new buildings, even though construction money would have to wait a year. Meanwhile the subcommittee was urged yesterday by J. Nelson Ander- son, general cousel for the Federa- tion of Business Men’s Associations, to stay as near as possible to current appropriations and to avoid making an increase in the property tax rate necessary. Similar testimony was presented earlier in the hearings by L. A. Carruthers of the Taxation and Fiscal Relations Committee of the Federation of Citizens’ Associa- tions. It has been estimated that as the bill: came from the House carrying $48276,717, the city may be about $800,000 short of its general fund requirements at the end of the fiscal Father and Son Banquet To Have ‘Rodeo’ Theme “Wild West Rodeo” will be thé theme of the father and son ban- quet of the Washington Hebréw) Congregation Brothethood, to be held May 12 at the Mayflower Hotel. Among guests who have invitations are Chairman Sol Bloom of the House Poreign Affairs Com- mittee, . President Clark Grifith of the Washington baseball team, and Coach Ray Flaherty of the Wash- ington Redskins. St. Cecilia’s Dance The 8St. Cecilia’s Mothers’ Club will sponsor a leap year dance for the girls of St. Cecilia’s Academy on Wednesday evening from -9 to 12 o'clock in the achool auditorium, year in June, 1941, largeley as a result of dividing income tax pay- ments, which will throw the second installment next year into the.1943 fiscal year. . ‘When Congress authorizeed semi- annyal payments & month ago, how- i | ever, it also extended until 1942 the authority of the Treasury to make temporary advances of funds to. the District Govémment' if it becomes necessary- from. now until 1942, - - In discussing“the need for-addi- tional policemen, Mr. Anderson sug- gested that a special squad ‘be or- ganized and paid out .of Federal funds to patrol embassies and fill other deuut of a Federal nature which now take Metropolitan police from: regular city patralling. Grady P. Oakley-of the Conduit Road Citizens’ ‘Association -testified in support of a new branch-public (See Y- -Page-B-1.) |