Montgomery County sentinel. [volume], October 15, 1959, Image 1

About Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974

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REPORT OF MARCH 31. IMS
103rd Yor - No. 45 I fcM- T l IKVILLS. MARYLAND THURSDAY. OCTOBER 15. I*s* 4 SECTIONS—42 PAGES Ten Cent* a Copy
Small Lot Re zoning
Of 748-Acre Tract
Weighed By Council
A plea to rezone 746 acres
along Norbeek rd. just east
of Rockville from 20,000 to
9000 square foot lots is be
ing studied by the County
Council.
Seeking the zoning action is
J. B. Shapiro, owner of a 340-
acre tract on the south side of
Norbeek rd. just west of Manor
Club Estates and a 406-acre
tract which straddles Rock
Creek.
Shapiro at last week’s hear
ing before the County Council
pleaded for approval of his pe
tition on the grounds that
“We’re running out of land, and
people who live in $20,000
houses have a right to live
there.
“Zone it for the people who
need these houses,” he said.
Earlier in the hearing, Sha
piro’s attorney Lucien Hilmer
reminded the Council that sewer
lines have now reached the
Shapiro tract and in the past
sewers usually have set off re
zoning for intensive develop
ment. „
“Vou ran’t stop it," the Coun
cil was told. “It’s got to be —
If not this year, next year.”
The staff of the Montgomery
Planning Board has drafted a
plan for the Rock Creek Water
shed which includes the 406-
acre Shapiro tract and the plan
calls for lot sizes of 20,000
square feet. The other Shapiro
tract is located in land that is
Zoned for 20,000 feet.
The views of Shapiro and his
attorney clashed sharply with
those of David Macdonald zon
ing chairman of the Manor Club
Community Association, who
argued strongly against the zon
ing.
“We don’t want our neighbor
hood downgraded,” Macdonald
said.
Attorney Hilmer contended
that houses on 20,000 foot lots
cost from $35,000 up while
houses on 9000-foot tracts can
sell for $20,000.
“A man who wants to live in
a $20,000 house shouldn’t have
to suffer because other people
want to live in castles,” Shapiro
testified.
Rt. 28 Rezoning
Upset by Court
A county circuit court ruling
last week all but knocked out
plans for a high density devel
opment of a 100-acre tract on
the north side of the Norbeek
rd. between Norbeek and Manor
Club Estates.
The suit, apparently success
ful, was brought by Manor
Country Club which contended
that the preceding County Coun
cil erred when it rezoned the
land for Earl M. Mackintosh,
Jr., to permit lots of only 9000
square feet. Attorneys David
Macdonald and John Mclnerney
argued for Manor Club that the
action was “spot zoning” and
should be returned to 20,000-foot
status corresoonding to all the
land around it.
Judge James H. Pugh agreed
with their contention that there
had been no change in the
neighborhood or that any mis
take had been made in the
earlier zoning to justify the
9000-foot rezoning action.
Hunting and Fishing
Columns on Page C 5
We ha\e been asked from time to time why we don’t
carry hunting and fishing information in the Sentinel. Our
answer has been authors who know what they’re talking
about are few and far between.
Misinformation is frustrating to a sportsman and our
sportsmen friends tell us that plenty of it is dished out in
our area. We think we have come up with a couple of real
outdoorsmen and writers in Capt. Gene Hunt, who will handle
the bay fishing and Lefty Kreh on fresh water fishing and
area hunting.
Capt. Gene Hunt has fished the bay all his life. He oper
ates the charter boat “Gall D" out of Bod ft Reel Club. Ches
apeake Beach, Md., and we know his ability. You’ll like him.
Lefty Kreh has been an authority on hunting and fish
ing for many years. He is a nationally known author and
we’re lucky to get him for special Sentinel work in this very
specialized field. He’s a native Marylander and wants to an
swer your questions. Write him or Capt. Gene care of the
Sentinel P.O. Box 272, Rockville, Md.
A SeNlild
t> ln T . -r T of Service
NewPoliceStation
To Be Ready Soon
The new Wheaton-Glen
mont police station at
Georgia ave. and Glenmont-
Colesville rds. will be ready
for occupancy the middle of
next month, Col. James S.
McAuliffe, superintendent of
police said this week.
Fifty-three non-commissioned
police will staff the building,
along with six or eight civilian
clerks and several committing
magistrates, Col. McAuliffe said.
The superintendent's choice
of the station’s new captain has
already been made and submit
ted to County Manager Melvin
L. Reese for approval. Reese
rarely—if ever—disregards per
sonnel recommendations by de
partment heads.
Reese will forward his selec
tion to the county’s personnel
board for its final, perfunctory
review.
Meanwhile, speculation over
the choice of the new captain
arid his supporting officers is
rife in all three of the county’s
police stations. Officials are
silent on the question.
Presuming that none of the
three existing captains, at Rock
ville, Silver Spring and Bethes
da will be transferred—they
were just rotated two weeks
ago—a new captaincy from the
ranks of 11 eligible lieutenants
will be created.
The list of 11 lieutenants can
be narrowed to six by reason of
seniority and assignment. Lt.
John P. Leahy, detective chief
at Bethesda, is considered too
Near Clarksburg
Deluxe Trailer Camp
Planned for County
The fanciest trailer park
in Montgomery County will
be constructed near Clarks
burg if the County Board of
Appeals grants a petition for
a special zoning exception.
The board will set a hearing
date in the near future to hear
applicant Edward Costello, real
estate developer who built the
Colonial Manor Hotel on Rock
ville Pike.
C. Edward Nicholson, Cos
tello’s attorney, said his client
is contract-owner of 72 acres
of the old Monson farm front
ing on Shiloh Church rd., a
short distance west of U.S. 240.
Costello has plans for paved
streets, underground water and
and sewer services and recrea
tion fields to serve 346 trailer
spaces, according to Nicholson.
The latter prefers to call the
development a trailer coach
community, "the first to be
built under the county’s strict
trailer provisions in the zoning
code.” There are half a dozen
valuable a sleuth by many to
be assigned to administrative
duties. The same applies to Det.
Lt. Jesse B. Day, at Rockville
headquarters.
Lt. W. Kenneth Miller, of Be
thesda, functions as alternate
night relief for the station cap
tain and does not figure among
unofficial candidates likely to
get the new post.
Lt. Charles O. Seek for years
has been the police depart
ment's liaison officer with the
School Board, in charge of
school safety patrols and other
related activities. His valuable
background in this field is
thought to be too valuable to
lose behind a captain’s desk.
And Lt. George Bodmer, of
the Rockville station, was ele
vated to commission only a little
more than a month ago.
That leaves the “big five:”
Lt. Leslie B. Thompson, 47, with
18 years service, of the Rock
ville station: Lt. Kenneth Wat
kins, 36, with 13 years service,
of the Silver Spring station; Lt.
Paul O. Alexander, 48, with 19
years service, also at the Silver
Spring station; Lt. Joseph Haw
kins, 42, with 18 years service,
at the Rockville station; Lt. Wil
liam M. Whalen, 48, with 18
years service, just transferred
to Silver Spring from Bethesda;
and Lt. Robert L. Dutrow, 45,
with 15 years of experience, of
the Bethesda station.
These men all can be said to
fall in the “well qualified” cate
gory of personnel efficiency set
up by the county. One or more
may hold the coveted rating of
“outstanding." County officials
(Please Turn to Page A3)
older trailer parks built in the
county before the zoning regu
lations affecting them went
into effect.
In the first place, Nicholson
said, Costello will require ten
ants to sign two-year leases
for spaces. Secondly, he went
on. each trailer space will have
7000 square feet of space, three
times as much as is required
under county ordinance. This
compares favorably to the R-60,
or 6000 square feet category in
which considerable portions of
Silver Spring, Kensington and
Bethesda are zoned.
Altogether, the completed
trailer coach community would
represent an investment of
$300,000, Nichlson said. *
Plans are to house workers
at Potomac Electric Power Co.’s
Dickerson generation plant and
perhaps others who work at the
Atomic Energy Commission at
Germantown, and other federal
employes, Nicholson said.
Cost $270,0007
County P-TA Units Study
School Air Conditioning
P-TAs in Montgomery
County are being asked to
consider a resolution favor
ing air - conditioning for
school classrooms and ad
ministrative offices.
Ogden W. Fields, president of
the Montgomery Blair High
School P-TA, presented a resolu
tion at the September meeting
of the Montgomery County
Council of P-TAs which would
urge the Board of Education to
install air conditioning in exist
ig administration offices and
classrooms during the summer,
and to provide for its installa
tion in future construction.
P-TA units throughout the
BMI
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|JJ| IP . Mm p§| fy
James Buchanan
Buchanan
Files for
Congress
James A. Buchanan IV has
announced his intention to run
for the congressional seat now
held by Democrat John R.
Foley.
In order to run for Foley’s
seat, Buchanan will first have
to win the Republican primary
next May. He is the first Re
publican in the sixth congres
sional district to file for the
1960 nomination.
Buchanan, who has been rais
ing beards off and on for some
years, has decided to keep his
present beard as a mark of dis
tinction recognizable to voters.
Buchanan, 42, has been active
in Republican political circles
since 1954. He is a building con
tractor, and lives with his wife
and five children in Potomac.
8-Man Squad
To Check on
Juveniles
A specially-trained eight
man police squad to serve
Montgomery County Juve
nile Court should be ready
to swing into action early
next year, according to
Police Superintendent James
S. McAuliffe.
Up to now, only two police
men have been assigned to the
juvenile department —a ser
geant and a corporal. Officials
say there has not been a signi
ficant increase in the juvenile
crime rate but assignment of
additional policemen to the
court has been long overdue be
cause of the rapidly Increasing
population.
Col. McAuliffe said this week
that he has a pool of about 25
police applicants for the new
squad. Meanwhile, two officers
are attending one-day-a week
classes In juvenile crime classes
at Maryland. They are Detec
tive Private John A. Betchel
and Det. Pvt. John Shaw.
In addition, another officer
attended a special two-weeks
course at the University of Wis
consin this year. He is Det. Sgt.
Albert Harris, who will be used
to help set up the new squad.
County Manager Melvin L.
Reese said the county is con
templating educating its future
juvenile squad men at a school
in California.
“The new squad will be doing
very important work,” he said.
county are now considering this
resolution, and will vote at the
next regular meeting October
27 on whether to approve or re
ject it. The meeting will be held
at Montgomery Blair High.
The resolution, if approved,
will then be offered to the
Board of Education for guid
ance.
Fields pointed out that there
is a trend in the direction of
more summer sessions, and
gave as his opinion that greater
efficiency would result in teach
ing, learning and administra
tion, if there were air condi
tioning in the summertime.
From s study of his own,
Fields estimated that the total
If Time Allows!
Pupils to Run Home
In ‘CD’ Emergency
Students will be sent home
instead of kept in schools, if
sufficient warning of enemy
attack is available, accord
ing to a new Civil Defense
plan.
“Dispersal to Homes,” repre
sents a major policy change in
CD thinking in Montgomery
County. The policy is outlined
in a recently issued report.
The plan carries the signa
tures of Dr. C. Taylor Whittier,
superintendent of schools, and
County Manager Melvin L.
Reese.
Reason children should be
sent home Is because they have
a better chance of survival
there, the plan states. And the
reason they have a better chance
at home is because county
schools do not have basements
whereas most homes do.
Schools with no basements
to hide in and thousands of
square feet of deadly window
panes are considered a bad sur
vival risk by CD officials.
Heretofore, CD plans called
either for evacuation of stu
dents to dispersal points up
Savings Cited
Ednor Post Office
Is Ordered Closed
The post office depart
ment wants to close the tiny
Ednor (Md.) post office lo
cated in a country store on
the Coiesville rd. one and one
half miles south of Ashton.
Last year the post office run
by Miss Etta Tucker took in
$2271. The post office depart
ment says the facility cost the
UGF Seeks
$140,200
In County
A quota of $140,200 has been
set for Montgomery County in
the United Givers Fund’s fourth
annual campaign.
As of noon yesterday, after a
full week’s campaigning, total
amount collected in Montgom
ery County was $8246, according
to Mrs. Percy W. Phillips, coun
ty chairman.
Next week has been proclaim
ed as "United Givers Fund
Week” by Gov. J. Millard Tawes
in Baltimore. Tawes empha
sized that UGF agencies are not
only concerned with curing, but
also with preventing measures.
He said he is convinced that
UGF represents one of the best
ways of raising money to sup
port public service agencies.
County agencies and the UGF
funds they are scheduled to re
ceive are: Red Cross, $127,115;
Boy Scouts. $61,845; Camp Fire
Girls, $12,442; Christ Child Hos
pital, $36,655; Community Psy
chiatric Clinic, $19,816; Family
Service, $55,820; Girl Scouts,
$43,689; Health Fund, $33,683;
Help for Retarded Children,
$17,305; Mental Health Society,
$9451; United Cerebral Palsy,
$18,902; Bethesda-Chevy Chase
YMCA, $8855; Silver Spring
YMCA, $8421; YWCA of Mont
gomery County, $16,954.
cost of installing air condi
tioning units in existing admin
istrative offices and summer
session classrooms would be
$270,000. This would Include 120
office units at S3OO each, and
156 classroom units at SISOO.
He said this was a conservative
figure, and that mass purchas
ing and contract bidding would
very probably result in a sub
stantially lower cost.
Fields said that there are
now approximately 40 air con
ditioning units which have been
installed in school administra
tion offices as gifts of P-TAs.
No Board of Education funds
were used in the purchase of
these units.
county, or shelter In local
schools.
The new "dispersal to homes”
plan, however, is in line with a
controversial report made last
year by the county’s Civil De
fense Advisory Committee. The
committee’s report said evacua
tion of thousands of Montgom
ery County residents was all but
unthinkable and that an ade
quate shelter plan represented
the only hope for survival.
The report clashed with State
and .Federal CD plans which
leaned first on evacuation. A
gradual change has crept into
Federal Civil Defense philoso
phy since that time, however,
as is demonstrated in the
Reese - Whittier statement In
their latest report:
“This (the dlspersal-to-homes
plan) Is in conformance with
recent State and Federal plans
which place Increased emphasis
on the use of shelter while re
taining evacuation as a tactic
99
•a • •
This latest plan appears to be
applicable more to schools In
the suburban portions of the
county than those in rural
areas. Inasmuch as experts pre
dict warning time if any
(Please Turn to Page A3)
government $5232 during the
same period.
An “emergency” meeting of
the Ednor Civic Association will
be held Friday at the Sandy
Spring Public Library at 8:30
p.m. to discuss the devplopment.
But unless Influential commu
nity or political pressure devel
ops, the poet office department
has its mind made up to dose
the facility on October SI.
Only 32 families receive their
mail through general delivery
at the post office, officials said.
An average of 52 pieces of mail
leave Ednor each day and about
three money orders per day are
written.
What the postal experts want
to do is extend route delivery
service to Ednor area residents
and create a so-called contract
station at Red Door Country
store and a rural post office at
Cloverly, about two miles south
of Ednor on Rt. 29.
The new plan would cost only
$3676 to administer which would
produce an annual savings of
$1557 annually.
If the plan is executed, more
mail for Ednor area residents
would be processed through the
Silver Spring post office.
Trojans to March
The 55-piece, uniformed Gai
thersburg High School band will
march from the Board of Edu
cation building in Rockville to
the football stadium at about
1 p.m. Saturday. Occasion will
be the big game between the
Richard Montgomery Rockets
and the Gaithersburg Trojans.
WKKKk fm
jtaPa w j
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* *s!l" • 19
PRETTY LINDA O’DANIEL last summer spat out a seed near
her Twinbrook doorstep while eating a chilled watermelon
on a hot day and this was the result: the seeds took root
and vines are now 12 feet long with (his succulent fruit
which has lots more seeds. Linda. 15. live* at 1210 Brooke
dr. She is the daughter of Mrs. Esther O’Daiuel.
I Staff Photo.
*' *
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j,' - ;
WILLIAM G. PYLES, county
school personnel director, died
Thursday in his sleep in a
Baltimore Hotel while attend
ing a principal’s conference.
He was 46. A memorial fund
is being set up in his name
but final details have not been
completed.
Schifter
Selection
Deplored
Appointment of a Bethes
da attorney, Richard Schift
er, to the State Board of
Education was “deplored”
this week by the county’s
Council for Better Educa
tion.
The group, organized to try
to "improve the quality of edu
cation” in the county, pointed
out that Schifter had been a
Democratic precinct official
and “active I" politic* in Mont
gomery County.”
"His principal sponsor for the
position was Sen. Edward S.
Northrop,” the Council’s “Bulle
tin” declared, adding: “The
Council deplores the practice of
granting such appointments as
rewards for political favors,
especially to such an Important
policy-making body as the State
Board of Education.”
Informed of the development,
Schifter declined to comment.
In the October issue of its
"Bulletin,” the Council also
claimed It had received an ac
knowledgement from the coun
ty Board of Education that only
79 teacher applications had
been received through the
efforts last summer of the
Montgomery County Education
Association instead of the 7000
that had been claimed by a
MCEA official In newspaper
Interviews.
Arthur D. Simonds. executive
secretary of the MCEA, said
last summer he based the esti
mate of 7000 on a large num
ber of applications he received
in his office as a result of the
MCEA teacher recruitment cam
paign. They were not counted
before being forwarded to the
school board, he said. The 7000
estimate, he said, was based on
an estimate given him by a
(Please Turn to Page A3)
Weather Outlook
Cool weather will prevail with
temperatures three to six de
grees below normals of 67 and
48. Showers are forecast for
the weekend.
Two Quit
Council
In G’burg
Two Gaithersburg town
councilmen have quit and
two other members of the
six-man governing body may
follow suit, it was learned
this week.
Councilman Rodney M.
Thompson resigned “for busi
ness reasons” September 21. E.
Russell Gloyd has submitted his
resignation, effective October
31, for similar reasons.
Councilman Milton M. Walker,
In response to reports he, too,
may resign said yesterday:
“There is a slight consideration,
nothing definite now.”
That leaves only Council vice
president John W. Griffith and
Councilman John R. Thomas
free from speculation at this
time.
Still unresolved is the enigma
of Mayor Merton F. Duvall’s
position. A member of his Coun
cil—Griffith—steadfastly main
tains that Duvall has been
asked if he will consider re
signing to make way for some
one with more time for city af
fairs.
Mayor Duvall as steadfastly
denies he has been asked to re
sign, or that he will.
Gaithersburg's government
has been beset by a aeries of
woes in recent months. Legal
arguments involving self-pay
ment by town heads, in return
for small services rendered, and
an apparently illegal "emergen
cy” 10-cent tax hike have been
lost by town heads.
Top Posts
Won hy 2
AtWSSC
Dr. Alfred Machis and
John M. Jester, both of
Montgomery County, have
been promoted to top post*
in the Washington Suburban
Sanitary Commission.
Dr. Machis, who until now
was assistant to the chief en
gineer, has been appointed
deputy chief engineer, filling
the spot vacated when Robert
J. McLeod became chief en
gineer September 1, Jester
was named assistant to the
chief engineer.
His duties in the new post
will be mainly planning for
future development. Salary
will be about $13,000.
Dr. Machis, 38, lives at 2404
Homestead dr. in Silver Spring,
and is a graduate of Johns Hop
kins University. He has been
with the Sanitary Commission
since 1952.
$592,192
Water Line
Link OK’d
The Verona Construction Co.,
New Jersey, has been awarded
a $592,192 contract for building
a portion of the Washington
Suburban Sanitary Commis
sion's Potomac-Wheaton water
line.
This Is a 10'a-mile-long water
pipe, 48 Inches in diameter, run
ning from the new filtration
plant in Potomac to the Whea
ton distribution center.
Verona was the lowest of 12
bidders, with a price of $592,192
for the 14,540-feet portion.
This is the second part of the
line on which a construction
contract has been awarded. The
first part was a 15,000-feet por
tion, costing about $548,000.
These two parts represent about
60 per cent of the entire line,
which is expected to cost a total
of $2.8 million, including costa
of construction and rights of
way.
Potomac Beer Permit
A beer and wine license was
granted Louis J. Courenbis. for
the Potomac Drugs in Potomac,
after a hearing before the li
censing commissioners in Rock
! villc yesterday. There was no
opposition.