Montgomery County sentinel. [volume], March 03, 1960, Image 1

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

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THIS ISSUE
14,500
11,905 Paid
AUnil KtKKAIi Of < IKI I I.ATIOXS
REPORT OF SEPTEMBER 30. 1959
104* Year ■ No. 13 *** riAND - THURSDAY. MARCH 3. 1940 2 SECTIONS - 24 PAGES GArd.s 4-770# Tea Cm. • Copy
Support
Swells
For Park
Ex-Mayor, Planner
Enlist in Fight
Against Blacktop
Dickran Y. Hovsepian,
former Rockville mayor, this
week joined the growing
number of supporters of a
move to make a park of the
Vinson estate on East Jeffer
son., Rockville. The county
plans to use the land for a
parking lot.
Hovsepian, also a power in
the Citizens for Good Govern
ment movement, dominant city
political faction, said that reser
vation of the half-acre tract for
a park “could become’’ a plat
form issue in the city's forth
coming elections.
At the same time, John D.
McElroy, chairman of the city’s
Planning Commission, issued a
statement calling on the county
to “hold any further action in
abeyance," until city residents
and officials have ample oppor
tunity to study effect of the
proposed parking lot on the cen
ter of the city.
“It would appear that (Coun
ty Manager) Reese has made up
his mind without giving that
opportunity. Personally, I see no
need for such hasty and ar
bitrary action on his part,” Mc-
Elroy declared.
Meanwhile, continuing sup
port from individuals has been
directed to the County Council,
which already has approved
spending a little more than
$87,000 for the wooded lot.
Cleared, the tract would pro
vide spaces for between 35 and
40 cars, Reese said last week.
The county is scheduled to
take possession of the- -land
April 12 6O days after the
death of Miss Nannie Vinson,
94. Reese reiterated his inten
tion last week to go ahead with
plans for a parking lot.
The Sentinel, in a front-page
editorial two weeks ago, was
the first to champion a Vinson
Park for the center of Rock
ville. The idea was not new,
however.
Four years ago, Hovsepian,
then mayor, and other city offi
cials tried to find a suitable
park near the center of the
city. They also hoped to ac
quire the old Vinson drugstore,
Rockville landmark, that was
demolished last year after the
death of Miss Nannie’s brother,
Robert William Vinson. Suffi
cient memorial contributions
were not pledged for either
venture, however.
“What Is happening now?” ex-
Mayor Hovsepian queried. “The
center of the city is turning into
an asphalt jungle,” he asserted.
“If anything is to be pre
served (for parkland), this
seems to be one of the last
remaining properties for a
green spot in the center of the
city. It’s a shame not to have
at least one place where old,
historical trees can be pre
served.”
Hovsepian said the park issue
might be taken up at a CGG
election convention March 11.
If delegates are willing, he said,
the issue could become a major
plank of the CGG platform.
“I know of at least one dele
gate who will raise the ques
tion,” he promised.
“It's a wonderful thing for
the Sentinel is doing to encour
age the city to work for estab
lishment of a park in the cen
ter of Rockville. And, I am
sure it would tie in very effec
tively with any urban renewal
program that takes place in
the center of our town,” Hov
sepian said.
(See Letters to the Editor
on this subject on Page 4.)
Bloodmobile Is Due
The bloodmobile will be at the
Rockville Christian Church, 101
West Jefferson st., from 3 to
7:45 p.m. March 14.
Another Sentinel First
This week. The Sentinel publishes a Food Section the
first ever carried in a Montgomery County newspaper.
The eight-page supplment gives readers up-to-date Informa
tion on recipes, meat cuts, special dishes for the Lenten season
and a wealth of other information for homemakers.
This is another Sentinel FIRST in its continuing effort
to keep it# readers informed of all phases of the news.
liMigimeii (fiißiti §wMid
■Nothing to Do'
Teenage Gang 1
A gang of 15 boys who told police they “had
nothing to do at home” have been arrested on charges
of shoplifting, destruction of private property and dis
orderly conduct. .
The youths, ranging in age from 13 to 16, live in
the Rockville and Wheaton areas. They were picked
up by police last week in connection with thefts and
vandalism at the Woodward & Lothrop store in
Wheaton during the Washington Birthday weekend.
Sgt. Eugene E. Brown, attached to Juvenile
Court, said the boys admitted stealing about SSO worth
of shoes, socks, women’s pocketbooks and binoculars
from the store. He said they also defaced restrooms
in the store and damaged phone booths on the street.
The police officer said several girls also are re
portedly involved.
“We intend to make every effort to apprehend all
who are responsible for these violations,” he declared.
“These boys come from good families with average in
comes. They complained they had nothing to do at
home, and then they go out and break the law.”
The youths, six of whom live in the Rockville area
and nine in Wheaton, have been released in custody of
their parents pending a hearing before Juvenile Court
Judge Alfred D. Noyes.
Dr. Sewell
Guilty Verdict
To Be Removed
By J. B. Zalman
Staff Reporter
In a dramatic appearance,
Dr. Webster Sewell this
morning will face Circuit
Court Judge Thomas M. An
derson in Rockville to have
the word “guilty” removed
from the record of his abor
tion trial.
Instead, the jurist will accept
the Norbeck physician’s plea of
nolo contendere or “no de
fense” to the charge for which
he was sentenced to one year
in the Maryland House of Cor
rection in January.
Hut the change will be. more
—much more than a mere
change of words. For Dr.
School Board
Names Beck
To Vacancy
j
An Atomic Energy Com
mission scientist was elected
to the School Board Monday
to fill the void created last
month when Board member
Willard G. McGraw resigned.
He is Dr. Clifford K. Beck,
46, of Boyds, who most recently
figured In the public eye as a
staunch opponent to establish
ment of a trailer park near his
home on Shiloh Church rd. The
park was dropped.
His election was unanimously
Dr. Clifford K. Beck
approved, but only after the
Board split 4-2 on candidate
Robert Myers, Rockville lawyer.
The latter’s candidacy was sup
ported only by boardmen Mor
row and Breimyer.
Before joining AEC as chief
of Reactor Hazards Evaluation
Staff, Dr. Beck was head of
the physics department at North
Carolina State University for
seven years. He also has ex
perience as a teacher of math,
science and athletics in high
schools in North Carolina.
Dr. Beck and his wife have
four children, one Jt Gaithers
burg High School and two at
Clarksburg elementary school.
He Is president of the Clarks
burg Community Association.
Sewell, it will mean a good
chance of resuming his profes
sion after completing his prison
term. And for defense attorney
Barnard T. Welsh, it will mean
an opportunity to renew his
plea that probation be substi
tuted for jail.
All of this will come about
because Judge Anderson at
tended a meeting of judges in
Baltimore a few days after he
sent Sewell to prison for com
mitting an abortion on a 27-
year-old Hyattsville barmaid.
During the session, Judge
Anderson brought up the ques
tion of having a verdict of
‘‘guilty" returned in a case in
volving a holo contendere
plea;
After some discussion, It was
the consensus that a person
technically could not be found
“guilty” when he had offered
a “no contest” plea and, in
effect, had thrown himself on
the mercy of the court.
When Judge Anderson re
turned to Rockville, he got in
touch with Welsh and inform
ed the attorney of his Inten
tion to correct the record.
Welsh in turn told the judge
that he would renew the pro
bation plea that he had malde
just prior to the sentencing
January 18.
The elimination of the word
“guilty” is expected to have
considerable influence on the
State Board of Medical Exam
iners’ decision whether to re
voke the 58-year-old physician’s
license, according to Welsh.
A hearing to determine
whether the license should be
revoked is scheduled for next
month, he added.
In previous cases Involving
physicians who served prison
terms for offenses to which
they pleaded nolo contendere,
they were permitted to continue
practicing after serving their
terms.
Charter
Revisions
Proposed
Several possible county
charter changes—including
broadened powers for the
president of the County
Council—were outlined this
week by an American Uni
versity professor of govern
ment.
Prof. Royce Hanson, speak
ing to the County League of
Women Voters in Chevy Chase,
proposed also the creation of a
special administrative agency
to conduct public hearings.
He said, however, that his
suggestions were offered not as
specific recommendations for
Montgomery County, but as a
means of stimulating construc
tive approaches to improving
the council-manager form of
government.
Under his proposal, the Coun
cil president would be “the ac
knowledged leader of his
party,” elected for the life of
the Council on a full or nearly
full-time basis.
The president, Hanson said,
should be “the spokesman of
the county . . politically respon
sible to the Council and to the
electorate.”
..onager
Gets Job
In Miami
Reese Tells Council
He’ll Leave Because
Of ‘Best Interests’
By Steed Evans
Staff Reporter
After five years of guid-!
ing the growth of exploding!
Montgomery County, Melvin
L. Reese is headed for the
post of city manager of
Miami, Fla., land of horse
racing, bolita and Metro.
The county manager’s resig
nation was accepted “with re
luctance” Tuesday by the Coun
ty Council. Reese will leave
March 18 or 31, depending on
the needs of his new bosses.
His leaving will throw open
the floodgates for applications
of candidates seeking to nail
down one of the nation’s top
jobs in the field of county man
agership.
Either Mason A. Butcher, di
rector of public works, or Alex
K. Hancock, finance director,
M. L. Reese
is expected to be named acting
manager until a new man is
chosen.
First inkling that Reese might
leave came in the Miami press
a week ago. Never a man to
show his cards in advance,
Reese remained tight-lipped on
the development.
Even when he submitted a
tersely written letter of resig
nation, Reese said only that he
was resigning “in the best In
terests of all parties concerned.”
There was no hint of health
reasons, dissatisfaction, or other
elements sometimes attached to
such sudden leave taking.
Before he made his intent to
resign public, Reese closeted
himself with councilmen for
more than a half-hour. It could
not be learned whether the
council offered Reese induce
ments to stay, but a salary in
crease would seem unlikely in
asmuch as Reese—among the
top paid public officials in Mary
land got a pay raise from
SIB,OOO to $25,000 In July, 1958.
Although no Miami salary has
been announced, newspapermen
from that resort city are betting
Reese will get $22,500 plus- a
tax-free $2,500 a year for ex
penses. Reese had no comments
on his salary or on other ques
tions put to him by reporters
after his resignation.
Reese will step into an en
vironment vastly different from
white - collared Montgomery
County and Its thousands of
Government and other office
workers. Miami’s similarity to
Montgomery just about stop*
with its comparative population
of 350,000. Montgomery has
about 365,000.
Whereas Montgomery County
has a very high percentage of
young adults, with a medium in
come of $9,400 a year. Miami is
a resort city, dependent to a
large extent on tourists’ dollars
and with a citizenry consider
ably older. It also has a large
population of Cubans and
Puerto Ricans who contribute
heavily toward one of the city’s
major headaches: Illegal
“bolita,” a Cuban lottery.
Reese will leave behind him a
remarkable record of staying
one Jump ahead of the suburban
exodus into Montgomery Coun
ty. When he took office Ash
Wednesday, 1955 (his resigna
tion was submitted Shrove Tues
day), he faced a school popula
tion of 47,789 (now 75,000); a
total population of 255,000 (now
365,000); an overall budget of
$44.8 million (now about SBO
million); and an assessable tax
base of $656 million (now an
astronomical sl.l billion).
A Lentury ot service
IL . ■ h V
GLOBE-TROTTING EDITOR Roger B. Farquhar ol the Sen
tinel pauses (right) to test his French on a “Keep Off the
Grass” sign in front of the Eiffel Tower. Farquhar and Sen
tinel Photographer Hugh Gillespie made a five-hour stopover
in Paris en route to Pinneberg, Germany, where they will
meet city officials and residents of Rockville's “sister city.”
In the picture above, Photographer Gillespie has snapped a
pretty mademoiselle (with the latest wind-swept hairdo) as
she and her boy friend buy a national lottery ticket at a booth
on a Paris street.
'Sister City' Mission
Editor 4 Jets 9 Over Atlantic
By Roger B. Farquhar
Sentinel Editor
EN ROUTE TO PINNE
BERG, February 25 (By Air
Mail)—l am standing in the
nose of a giant jet airliner
37,000 feet above the cold
Atlantic hurtling toward Eu
rope at 535 miles per hour.
This 130-ton sky monster
carrying 120 passengers
roared away from Idlewild
Airport three and one-half
hours ago. We will land in
France in three hours.
Rockville Is going to seem a
long way off as we breakfast
soon in a Paris restaurant. And
before the sun seta tomorrow
we will be visiting in Pinne
berg, Germany—the. purpose of
our trip.
Three years ago, Rockville
selected Pinneberg as Its “sis
ter city.” The Sentinel is
sending me and Staff Photog
rapher Hugh Gillespie there
to help cement this “People
to-People" experiment and to
try to make the program
work even better.
But more about that later:
I am standing just outside
the flight deck of this big,
Boeing 707 where two Air
France pilots, two navigators
and a flight engineer are
C. S. Butler Is 2d
In Reader Contest
While The Sentinel arrives in
his mailbox every Thursday
morning at about 10 o’clock
these days, It wasn’t always so
prompt, Charles S. Butler re
called the other day.
When he was a boy on his
parents’ farm near Edwards
Ferry, close to Poolesville, the
Sentinel and all the Butlers mail
was delivered by horseback.
But that was 92 years ago.
Although Mr. Butler, who re
eelved $lO as prize winner of
the Sentinel’s “longest reader
contest” preferred the home
spun Sentinel of those days, he
admits he “gets a heck of a lot
more news” from today’s vastly
larger newspaper.
Mr. Butler’s failing sight re
quires that his son, George R.
Butler, of Poolesville, or his
daughter-in-law read the Sen
tinel to him aloud. A farmer
all his life, Mr. Butler cares
most about agricultural news.
The thing that looms largest
in his memories of the Sentinel
of the past was the newspaper’s
coverage of the old Rockville
Fair that was held annually on
the grounds now occupied In
part by Richard Montgomery
High School.
Those were the days when the
Fair was highlighted by flat
horse racing and when scores
of families came to the county
seat in wagons and buggies
loaded with hams and preserved
vegetables to be consumed dur
ing a stay of several days.
Mr. Butler figures that he has
been reading The Sentinel for
84 years. Mlsa Mary Waters,
94, of Rockville, who has read
the newspaper more than 85
years, received first prize.
Third-prize winner is Mary Mul
llnix, 89, of Damascus, whose
story will he told in these pages
next week.
crowded Into an area not much
bigger than a large hall closet.
(Normally there are only a
captain, a pilot, a navigator
and a flight engineer but Air
France is undergoing a major
training and expansion pro
gram. )
Capt. Andre Chatel, 48-year
old Paris resident and skipper
of this $5.5 million aircraft, is
telling me about this airplane
that is such a triumph of en
gineering skill.
Capt. Chatel, a quiet man
with a strong face, has crossed
the Atlantic more than 700
times since he started flying
in 1941 with the Royal Air
Force and later as a commer
cial pilot.
He explains that we are tak
ing a southerly course to avoid
-a low pres-ture area along the
northern route. This takes us
120 miles off course but we
save 15 minutes. There is a
tailwind of 130 knots an hour,
he says.
Capt. Chatel, assistant chief
pilot, Atlantic Division, Air
France, last week inaugurated
Air France’s jet service to
Tokyo, This flight, he tells us,
will cover 3900 miles.
“Defense de Fumer” (No
Hmoking), the sign above our
seat warned as it flashed on
after we had checked our
haggage at Idlewild, shown
Charles S. Butler
County Fires Kill 9,
Cost $1 Million
Fires killed nine persons and
accounted for more than $1 mil
lion damage In Montgomery
County last year, according to
figures from the Division of
Fire Protection.
Of the total 3,115 fires report
ed, almost 1,100 were in build
ings—and close to 40 per cent
of all fires were caused by elec
trical faults, according to Fire
Marshall Charles H. Howe, Jr.
Biggest fire was the Colonial
Bakery In Silver Spring blaze,
March 17, where firemen as
sessed losses at 3225,430 or
about 20 per cent of the year’s
total losses.
Second most costly was the
Kelley Building fire in Rock
ville, December 30. Howe esti
mated damages to the building
and its contents at $77,000 or
approximately 70 per cent of
Rockville's losses for the whole
year.
Like the rest of the county,
Rockville's largest number of
fires was caused by electrical
wiring or appliance faults.
Weather Outlook
Three to seven degrees be
low normal highs, low* of 50
and 33 through Monday with
snow or rain today, Monday.
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our passport and boarded the
plane. “Attaches votre cen
ture” (Fasten Your Safety
Belt), It also said.
At the exact scheduled take
off time, we heard a soft hiss
outside, gradually becoming
more shrill. It was the four Jet
motors starting. As the noise,
resembling a high wind outside
one’s house, intensified, an at
tractive Air France hostess
(Miss Sophie Magnac), a Paris
ienne who spoke fluent English,
passed out sr. all pieces of hard
candy to passengers. A steward
came by with complimentary
copies of French, British and
German newspapers just in
from Europe on another flight.
One story featured in France
Soir had this headline: “In the
Village of Trjjvalllon, VauchUse.
Of ail the young girls only
Manque did not come to the
funeral of Elie who had killed
himself for her in an auto
mobile.”
The loud hiss outside has now
developed into a hurricane-like
roar. We have to raise our
voices to converse. The runway
lights are going by faster and
faster and faster as we take
off. The airplane lunges for
ward, like a Juggernaut, with
almost unbelievable surges of
forward power. Now the lights
are flashing by. We are taking
off at about 200 miles ai\ hour.
We are airborne.
I was to learn later from
Capt. Chatel that we climbed
Into the black Atlantic skies
at 3000 feet per minute. The
floor of the plane was tilted
upward at 12 degrees. We
craned our necks to look
backward at the lights of
New York but in two min
utes they disappeared.
There is no vibration In this
flight and you soon forget
about the rising and falling
roar of the four jet engines.
Conversation Is carried on in
normal tones. We are traveling
“Economique” class, which is
in the rear of the plane. It is
even quieter in the first class
part of the plane up forward.
After champagne and dinner,
we settled in our seats. "Mon
siuer,” the steward says, “The
capitaine is ready.” It is then
that we go forward for our
talk with Chatel over the mid-
Atlantic.
Returning to our seats, we
settle for a nap. The first sun's
rays are visible at 7:15 a.m.
(Paris time). “We land in Paris
in 35 minutes,” the hostess tells
us over the public address sys
tem in both French and Eng
lish.
I was not prepared for the
sight of the red tile roofs of
Paria—stretching as far as the
eye can see—that greeted us as
we descended to touch down
lightly at sprawling Orly Air
port.
Our first; impressions in Paris
were many and varied. But
they do not play a role in this
“Talc of Two Cities,” so we will
not enlarge upon them. During
a five-hour layover in Paris,
we breakfasted (where I
learned about "cafe au lait”—
terrible coffee with hot milk)
at a little restaurant at 29 Rue
Surcouf called "Aux Cinq Pains
D’orge.” Hig light of our brief
visit to Paris was a ride up the
Eiffel Tower elevator where, of
course, we saw the Seine, Notre
Dame, Arc de Triomphe and
Sacre Coeur.
This is a most wonderful
trip!
I (Next week: On to Pinneberg)
Seneca
Money
Okayed
Would Become
One of Largest
Maryland Parks
Development of a 1250-
acre State park at Seneca,
Montgomery County, was
all but clinched last week
when Gov. J. Millard Tawes
approved $150,000 for the
park in * his supplemental
capital improvements budg
et.
Joseph F. Kaylor, director
of the Department of Forest
and Parks, expressed confi
dence the budget item would
not be cut by the General As
sembly.
His conviction was reinforced
by the fact that State Sen. Ed
ward S. Northrop, of Montgom
ery County, is chairman of the
Influential Senate Finance Com
mittee, and fellow countlan
Blair Lee 111 Is a ranking mem
ber of the House Ways and
Means Committee.
Should the Department of
Forests and Parks succeed in
its plans for the Seneca park.
It would be among the State’s
largest and certainly among
the biggest In Western Mary
land.
Kaylor said his agency wants
to buy 1000 acres with the
$150,000. This breaks down to
an average of $l5O an acre of
forest land, compared to the
$4500 an acre being paid for
some land in the growing
Wheaton Regional Park.
The State agency already
owns 255 acres at Seneca and
hopes to construct an entrance
road, have electricity and water
in this portion pf the park in
time for recreational use this
summer, Kaylor said.
Newly - acquired land will
round out the existing acreage
south from Germantown down
to Long Branch Draft. Among
its many uses, including picnic
sites and camping grounds for
families and individuals, the
park will have facilities for
supervised group recreation.
Among those groups, Kaylor
said, will be children under the
Jurisdictions of the Juvenile
Court and other welfare agen
cies In the county. Kaylor
called group recreation sites
“preventoriums,” or places
where underprivileged children
could use time otherwise un
occupied ldle time during
which some children could get
Into trouble on city streets, hs
said.
If the land money emerges
unscathed from the legislature,
Kaylor could put It to work
starting in July, he said.
“We could expect to acquire
all the land this money could
buy up by the end of this year,”
he said.
Inclusion of the funds in ’he
Governor’s budget came after
th( County Council strongly en
dorsed new land for Seneca
State Park. Council endorse
ment followed an appearance
by a parks and recreation com
mittee, headed by Frank Bliss,
that gave top priority to an en
larged Seneca park.
Centennial Year
Slogan Content
A contest for an official slo
gan for the Rockville Centennial
Year has been launched, Donald
Burke, executive director of the
Rockville Chamber of Com
merce announced this week.
. Entries should be received
either by The Sentinel or the
Chamber on or before the com
ing Tuesday, Burke said. The
prize-winner will be awarded
a $25 bond.
The slogan should contain 10
words or less and should stress
Rockville’s 100 years of incor
poration and its history as a
county seat.
Vin Hon Khtatc
1h $300,000
Miss Nancy Stoddard Vinson,
who died February 12. left a
personal estate probated last
week at $300,000, records dis
closed.
The estate provided bequests
of cash as well as Items of an
tique furniture, paintings, china
and jewelry to member* of the
family and others.