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CmifuSnlttl A4 Mr. Breimyer's Attitude In a letter published Tuesday in The Sentinel, School Boa I'd President Harold F. Breimyer waxes sarcastic over the “poor, defenseless Park and Plan ning Commission.’’ His reference was to our cartoon showing a dag ger protruding from the Commission’s back as a re sult of the board’s insistence on placing a high school in the middle of a proposed street in the planning agency’s master plan for Kensington-Wheaton. According to Mr. Breimyer, the board had to build a school in the area to provide facilities for more than 1,000 students. It has been our experience that those with valid arguments rarely employ sarcasm to win a point. It does little to enlighten the reader or listener. As Thomas Carlyle once said: “Sarcasm, I now see to be. in general, the language of the devil.” While we would not go so far as to compare Mr. Breimyer with Lucifer, we believe it would have been far wiser, and certainly more dignified, for the presi dent of the Board of Education to avoid such an emo tional approach to this vitally important question of preserving master plans. The area purchased by the School Board last year comprises some 18 acres. The proposed street, con tained in the master plan adopted by the Commission two years ago, is in the extreme southern portion of this tract. Just why the school building had to be placed in the proposed street, instead of a few feet to the north so it would not interfere with the plan, has never been satisfactorily explained. The issue, therefore, is not whether there is need for a new high school in that 18-acre tract, but rather why it cannot be moved even slightly, so as not to de stroy an important segment of the master plan. Furthermore, if the School Board can take this unilateral action in this case, what is to prevent it from doing the same thing in other master plans? This is the question to which Mr. Breimyer should ad dress himself. On The Job Montgomery County police officers Demetrius G. Kaponin and Duane C. Van Dusen deserve great credit and praise for using high intelligence in getting their men—two suspected robbers. The smoothly executed robbery of a $7,800 pay roll at the new construction job at NIH in Bethesda ended for two suspects when they failed to stop at a stop sign. Then the Officers took over. With guns poking against both sides of him, Thomas M. Burford, fore man for the E. L. Thompson subcontracting firm on a project at the National Institutes of Health, told the officers when stopped that the truck’s registration card was at the NIH site. They went back. Then the bullets began to fly. Finally, Calhoun was shot in the l* and Calp surrendered after Kaponin fired four shots at him. The entire episode took calm wit and great courage on the part of the two officers. They prevent ed what could have been a tragic end to several men involved. Spring There is something fresh and wonderful about spring. Life jumps into the trees and the flowers come forth in all of their glory. Human beings are given new spark to do new' things and clean up the old. Montgomery County is blessed with some of the most beautiful residential areas in the country. And the rolling hills, thick forests and magnificient farms beckon visitors by the score. It’s too bad many of the business areas in our county seem to be the forgotten lands. Too many of the buildings never seem to get the thrill of a new face or new paint. And the planners and builders always seem to forget to put in a little green spot here and there. City officials have a habit of neglecting the busi ness sections. Dirt and rubbish accumulate. No one seems to mind except those who have to look at it day after day. It is unfortunate that there isn’t more attention paid to the appearance of our business areas. A dis mal impression is made on the visitors when they see such neglect. There have been feeble attempts made to beau tify many of these areas but the results haven’t been very commendable. This spring of 1961 w ould be a good time to start a beautification program for our downtowns. How does your city look? Congratulations Laurence Stem and John W. Anderson, both of The Washington Post staff, were honored by the American Political Science Association for excellence in reporting of public affairs. Both of these excellent reporters are known in Montgomery County. Larry Stem and his family live in Rockville. And John Anderson, until recently, covered the news beat in the county. Mr. Anderson received recognition for his stories on fiscal and planning problems. Larry Stem gained recognition for his most pene trating articles on the sad state of affairs at the Leg islature in Annapolis. His articles were particularly devastating to the future political ambitions of Gov - ernor J. Millard Tawes. Congratulations and keep up the good work. Thursday, May 4, 1961 ~ i * | ■ {i Montgomery By Peter Dawson The Montgomery County Bar Association had a won derful luncheon meeting last Monday in observance of Law Day. This organization is one of the finest In the county. And since lawyers are by nature a gregarious group, there is never a dull moment when they get together. The Bar Association invited County and Court officials and the newspaper represent atives to be its guests on this day set aside to honor the laws of our land and the spirit that makes our way of life possible. A member of the Associa tion introduced guests seated at his table. Bob Heeney had a table filled with department heads of the county govern ment. Then Jerry Korpeck got up to introduce the guests at his table. He said: “My table is loaded too!” That stopped the luncheon for a minute or two. And it might not have sounded so funny except for the fact that the first guest was Mrs. Stella Werner and everyone knows she wouldn’t have one sip let alone get loaded. And while everyone knew what was meant, nevertheless, it provid ed the best laugh of the day. The next one came when Glenn Goldburn, chairman of this affair, introduced Alger Y. Barbee by calling him Yale. It is not that Alger’s middle name should strike a funny note but it was the way Glenn said it. Toni Klnan, Attorney Gen eral of Maryland, made an excellent speech. He told of his experiences before the United States Supreme Court last week when he argued the State’s case In the Torasco case. You remember this Is the case where Boy Torasco refused to sign the oath when he went to get his Notary commission. E. Austin Carlin, president of the Bar Association, was an excellent host. • • • One of m.v favorites of all favorites is Maggie Diamond. And when she told me that she and friends had gone through Potomac I asked her to jot down some of her impressions sorta like Stan ley and Stanley’s brother do every now and then. Here are her notes: “Potomac House Tour on Saturday and Sunday again a must on our list. ••Starting down county we first visited Pat Munroe home. Peered Into antique doll houses and chatted with Carroll Diamond and sister, Virginia. The patio and kitchen too inviting in the Joseph Kreeger home. And, roaring nowhere up the hill of Beall Mountain to the home of Judge Curry, met some unsung volunteers to the affair men who once a year direct traffic for ex perienced and Inexperienced drivers. “Virginia Johnson tone of our favorite models and al ways looking terrifically! on door at Fort home <one of our favorite houses'. “Can you imagine the last minute Flossie Fort substitut ing her lovely home where many come to appreciate. The entrance hall is the beginning note to gracious living throughout. “Cissy .Morgan hostessing here and pointing out to Miss Mary Nicol and friend. Miss Alma Louthan. the wonderful natural wooded landscaping. “In Drew Pearson’s house is a dining room table of solid early bull upon which are caned the signatures of the many great personalities re gardless of what he wrote about them. What a view of the canal enjoyed with Mrs. •A. G. Watkins and Mrs. Thomas. “Montivldeo shouldn’t just be a private home. One should go more often than once here on flat level ground with view of Sugar Loaf but this house built in 1820 with expan sive ceilings and rooms is now charmingly done over by Austin Kiplingers. “ ’Sunrise’ on Deakens’ Lane is pink and brick but at the gate was (without beard' Jim Buchanan. Restored (not Jim) and snug, this home of James A. Finigan combined antiques and what a modem chair in bedroom by ole. ole bed. . And, so thanks to members of SL Montgomery County SENTINEL CY M. CAMPBELL, Publisher Byron Sedgwick, Editor Established ISSi o> Matthew Fields MEMBEH MARYLAND PRESS ASSOC AFFILIATE MEMBER NATIONAL EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION SENTINEL PUBLISHING CO., INC. Published Tuesdays and Thursdays at Ul3 East Montgomery Avenue, by the Seuuuel Publishing Co- Inc.. Cv M. Campbell, president. Entered as second class matter at tftd Post Office at Rockville. Maryland. un der Act of Congreaa March 3. 1879. SL BSCKIRi ION R ATE* Man in Maryland and tta District at Columbia Ons Year *4 00 Francis (delicious lunch serv ed both days ' Church in Poto mac and all the country side for giving us grand day.” Stuff From the Cuff H. W. Miles will not be checking the fishing possibili ties for awhile. He’s in the hospital getting over the dam age done by surgeon’s knife. . . Mrs. Dumlord of the School Board gets my vote for the sharpest looker and dresser in that administrative building. . Dorothy Waleski did a good job organizing the big school conference held last weekend. • * • Harry Goff over Ashton way Is one of the top interior restaurant and shop designers in the business. He just fin* ished doing over Mrs. Brew ster’s Olney Inn Barn for an Antique Shop. What a place. It has all of the charm of Wil liamsburg. Furthermore, the items for sale are in excellent taste. Another thing: For a long time Olney Inn missed Clara May Downey who start ed and built the place into a wonderful place. Now Mrs. Brew ster is getting the Olney Inn back on top famous list. What an evening you can spend there. Stop by the Cock tail room and have the diplomaed Bartender mix one of his specials. It’s special alright. . . Bill Payton in the Courthouse is now a lawyer with a Bar Exam OK. ♦ * * Katie Diggs passed her Maryland Bar Exam. She is not only smart but she has charm and looks. . . Mary Walters spent her birthday In New York. Had a wonderful time. .. Bob Bridges and Vince Peters and associates have an A-l Real Estate operation in Rockville. . . No wonder Mr. Hot Shoppe is proud of his Sirloin Inn in the Wheaton Plaza. It's tops. And we told Duncan Hines people about it and the Georgian Cellar. Also Olney Inn, Normandy Farms, Mrs. K’s and a couple of other places. I think it was Bish’s place in Bethesda. . . Mac Mc- Coy, the best in advertising had a selge irf Suburban Hos pital. • • • The Harry Marrows of Ash ton have already decided on a Christmas gift. . , Betty Mc- Devitt is doing an excellent job of running the publicity for Camp Echo Lake. And if you have a couple of extra dol lars there is no finer way to get rid of it than to send it to Betty for the Camp that does so much for kids. She lives on Dale Drive in Silver Spring. There isn’t much doubt that Dr. C. Taylor Whittier will be reappointed Superintendent of Schools. Wick Byron's Column It is perfectly understandable why Dr. Harold F. Breimyer has been striking fran tically in all directions at anyone and every one who criticizes the School Board or Dr. C. Taylor Whittier’s administration. Dr. Breimyer, president of the board, must realize that so many errors on the part of the board and the present administration have caused persons to lose confidence in them. Many individuals and organizations claim ed that the school budget for operation was full of “fat.” That is, much more money than needed was requested for certain items. It is a very difficult thing to discover some of this “fat” unless one has access to all information or one computes all of the figures. The County Council and its staff did compute the figures submitted and approved by the Superintendent and the School Board. Items were found that appeared to be wrong because concluding figures were based on round figures rather than on accurate figures. And the amount over - budgeted came to almost a million dollars. This type of thing is bound to make one wonder. And while we don’t say the figures submitted were meant to be misleading, it does explain why many persons have lost confidence in figures and information submit ted by the School Board and Superintendent. To give you an idea of what is meant we submit the following: A request was made for 1243 elemen tary classroom teachers, 135 kindergarten teachers, and 65 special education teachers —all at S6BOO per year. This information is to be found on page 304 of the green book “Supporting Date--1961-62 Operating Budget.” A request was made for 1300 classroom teachers for the department of secondary edu cation. There were other requests for addi tional teachers for the secondary depart ment. All were requested at S6BOO. Instead of using S6BOO as an average, the budget officer should have used $6703 which is the average amount of salary needed for teachers who will return next year. The School Board’s budget officer had worked out an average of a little more than this but in stead of using that figure someone decided to make it a round figure of S6BOO. Because a more realistic figure was not used in this case, the budget called for over $250,000 that was not needed on this one item alone. Another case in point is the one con cerning books needed to meet basic five li brary books per pupil in existing schools Welsh Rare Bit Don't Be 'Mediated' My birthday came and went as it general ly has done this past April. It would be false to say that I celebrated it. I have reached the period in life where, upon the an niversary of my birth, I slink around corners all day. cringing when some well meaning jackass accosts me with “Happy Birthday!’’, and hope the twenty-four hour period will pass without inflicting serious damage to me. After one passes forty, birthdays can be traumatic experiences. In addition to all of the aforegoing, my birth was of peculiar interest because I was born just between the time of the sinking of the Titanic and the birth of Hitler ithat is if those two major cataStrophies had oc cured during the same year' and furthermore I was born with a caul and, as the astrologors say, on a cusp. Perhaps you can figure out what day in April it was that the great event occured and so frightened my father that he sat upon a new bom baby in a hospital in Grand Junction. Colorado belonging to his best friend (the baby that is not the hospital). This untimely squelch resulted in nothing too seri ous, and the baby is a very fine surgeon and roentgenologist at Suburban Hospital. I use this time to say howdy to my crib-mate and ask him up to the house to talk about Letters to the Sentinel House Trailer Tax With the signing into law of the bill taxing trailer parks 1 now feel that I am being persecuted for attempting to improve my way of life. By living in a house trailer I attempt to provide a decent home for my wife and chil dren. regardless of where I might be forced to live by virtue of military orders. I am not living in Maryland or Montgomery County by choice, but due to military orders to this area. If I am to be taxed as a transient, there are other numerous persons whom I feel should also be taxed such as hotel, motel, and apart ment house residents. If I am to be taxed as a which are now below this ratio. On page 307 of the supporting data docu ment is this item: 31,367 books at $3—591,101. Again the council was curious. The head of county libraries was asked to get the aver age cost of these books. This was $1.76 a book instead of $3. And since the board said that it costs 25 cents to handle the books, the council changed the $3 figure to $2.01. In other words this item had been padded by $28,000. Another item that officials of the County Council pointed out was the matter of salaries for secretaries in the schools. The school budget called for 111 grade 6 secretaries at $4490. Since these secretaries work and are paid for 10 months, the base figure should have been $3742. This reflects a difference of about $83,028 and it is enough to show some of the “fat” that various individuals and organizations were talking about There are many more examples. All of this is brought out because it pro vides some of the reasons why many indi viduals and organizations have lost degrees of confidence in the present School Board and the administration of Dr. C. Taylor Whittier. Two things loom as the real cause of the so-called million dollar error on the part of the School Board and the administration: 1. The difference in amount of money needed for existing teachers returning next year. 2. The amount of money the School Board and Dr. Whittier estimated it would have at the end of this current year, and which, of course, would be available next year. The County Council and its staff deserve great credit for being so thorough in the analysis of the budget approved and submit ted to it for action by the School Board. The Board of Education should be able to accept the figures of a well-paid staff without spending its time delving into each detail. This is one of the things that makes a Board member’s job an intolerable one. And this is one of the prime weaknesses of the Whittier administration. As has been said time and again, the peo ple of this county do not object to paying taxes if they can be sure that the monies requested are based on accurate figures and need and that the administration spends the appropriations wisely. There is no need for exaggerations on the part of the School Board and Dr. Whit tier. The people of Montgomery County have always paid what has been proven to be necessary. How'ever, the days of issuing blank checks without scrutiny have come to an end. one tiling or another and take the “Big white car” out for some exercise. Now it occured to me that after having so many birthdays that there should be some sort of comment I could make to those who have not had as many birthdays as I. There ought to be something more help ful for me to say than “taxes are sort of high,” or “it has been a cold spring,” or “they don't make them like that no more”; but the truth of the matter is I am suffer ing from “mediation”. This is a disease that has been spreading in Rockville for the past couple of years. It is getting so nobody in this city can have a fuss anymore in private. If two taxi cab drivers cuss at each other on Washington st. in front of that Hall where in sits The League of Mediators, they will be called in to be ’ "mediated”. I thought I knew who it was that I voted for in the city elections. You can imagine my difficulty in reconciling my knowl edge of who it is on the City Council with the images of Metternick. Tallyrand, Dorothy Dix and Daddy Grace who they pretend to be. But the word is getting around: if you have got the price of a sack of Bull Durham and can speak English, don’t be “mediated” by our social philosophers. And that is the best advice I can give on my birthday. permanent resident, again how about hotel, apartment houses, and other persons who rent. Even though the tax is im posed against the property owners, the tenants will be the persons who pay. Considering the number of trailers in Montgomery Coun ty. the cost of collection will far out weigh the returns. I feel that this law is un constitutional since I am being discriminated against because I live in a house trailer. P. K. Searcy Is Laos Worth It? Mr. Scull says that to deal wisely and w’ell with the people it is necessary to be on the ground of the country con- ' \ *<• TfOKj: . .. Si Barnard T. Walsh cerned. We have been in Laos for six years and spent $3lO million there. Most of this money went to organize, equip and pay the salaries of a 29.000-man army. In Janu ary we read of a Communist supplied army of 300 para troopers under Captain Kong Le which in effect stood off that 29.000-man army that we trained. The present drive of the Communist forces, which started before the present administration took office, threatens to take all of Laos. All reports seem to indicate that the Laotian army does not have the motivation neces sary to prevent the Commu nists from taking over their country. In the 1958 Laos country (Continued on Page A6)