Montgomery County sentinel. [volume], February 21, 1963, Image 1

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

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108th Year - No. 35-- Published Every Thursday ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1963 TWO SECTIONS •Arden 4*7700 c °pf
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Wintertime On the Potomac
Ice floes sweep down the Potomac
River past White’s Ferry as winter con
tinues to hold the area in its grip. The
ferry, top center, which has been hard put
Views Differ Widely On Changing
The Way We Select School Heads
By William H. Smith
Sentinel Reporter
Despite the fact that Mont
gomery County’s nonpar
tisan system of electing its
school board has been classi
fied as purely nonpolitical,
the procedure has moved to
the center of the stage as a
public issue capturing the at
tention of top politicians
along with other civic lead
ers.
Amid reverberations result
ing from the upset election of
four board members who took
over control of the educational
program as a united majority
last November, the process of
electing the board has become
a mushrooming debate topic to
the extent that it has become
the basis of one of the major
local bills to be Introduced by
the county’s representatives at
the current session of the Gen
eral Assembly.
In response to their request
City Awards
Over $60,000
In Contracts
Over $60,000 in contracts was
awarded Monday night by the
Rockville Mayor and Council.
One, in the amount of $59,160,
went to W. F. Wilson & Sons,
Ellicott City, Md„ for water and
sewer lines, as well as storm
drainage pipe, in the west end
of Rockville.
The second, for $1361, went to
the Dryden Oil Co., of Baltimore
for the furnishing of lubrication
equipment to the city's new
Public Works Building.
At the same time, the Council
approved the request of Lloyd
W. Howes, 743 Owens St., for
prepayment of sewer and pav
ing assessments against 26 lots
in West End Park. The amount
involved is $10,575.
ATTENTION
ELECTRONIC
ENGINEERS!
For a real opportunity
See
SENTINEL
WANT-ADS
aw- m (fimiti Sr xtinrl
to operate at times as sub-freezing
temperatures prevailed is now able to make
Its regular runs carrying cars between
Maryland and Virginia.
for public proposals with re
spect to the existing school
board election law, the legisla
tors have found that two ma
jor factors are strongly fav
ored by county voters con
cerned with the process of the
educational program. They are
(1) a continued election of
school board members rather
than appointment by varied
public officials, and (2) a non
partisan election system.
From those points on, the
suggested school board selec
tion procedure varies widely,
with principal issues centering
on a proposed primary preced
Polinger Turns to WSSC,
County on His Land Deal
A legislative attempt to by-pass the City of Rockville
and secure water and sewer service from the Washington
Suburban Sanitary Commission for the controversial 400-
acre Anderson tract adjoining the County Seat was to be
introduced in the General Assembly today by the County’s
legislative delegation.
Delegation chairman James
R. Miller Jr. said the bill con
templates inclusion of the An
derson tract and other land as
far as Shady Grove Road into
the WSSC District. It is being
introduced at the request of
developer Milton Polinger.
The delegation, Miller said,
has set Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. as a
tentative hearing date on the
measure in Annapolis.
Word of the Polinger move
has been received with some
concern by Rockville city offi
cials and business interests.
With an extensive urban renew
al program for the midtown
area being readied for approval
by the Federal government
early this spring, city officials
see possible large commercial
zoning which the developer may
be able to obtain outside city
limits as a definite threat to
their plans for rehabilitation of
the old town.
Local businessmen, already
pressed by large new commer
cial development east of the city
on Rockville Pike, say Rock
ville business firms will be
caught in a squeeze between
this and any additional large
scale commercial development
on Rt. 355 between Rockville
and Gaithersburg.
Polinger and Rockville offi
cials first locked horns early
last year, when Polinger asked
for annexation by the city of
the 400-acre Anderson tract. At
the same time, he requested
zoning which contemplated con
struction of 1277 apartment
units; 395 single family dwell
ings, and 31 acres of commer
cial and light industrial zoning.
In April last year, the Mayor
and Council approved annexa
tion of the tract, but cut back
Polinger’s zoning request to 750
single family dwellings and 350
apartment units. It omitted
commercial and light industrial.
ing the general election, sep
aration of the election dates
from the regularly- scheduled
political elections and the
breakdown of members chosen
at each election from the stand
point of permitting a majority
to be chosen in any one year.
According to Del. James
Miller Jr., head of the coun
ty’s legislative delegation, a
pending bill is based largely
on public responses which
have agreed in general with
the school hoard election
platform of the Republican
party during the recent elec
(Continued on Page A3)
It advised the developer to seek
professional planning for his
proposed development and re
turn for additional discussion.
Polinger countered by filing
a request for a referendum on
the annexation. Under the law,
such requests can be made
within 45 days after annexation,
and voting is limited to those
immediately concerned, in this
(Continued on Page, A3)
School Prayer
Rally Tonight
At R-CC High
A public rally In support of
the move to amend the United
States Constitution so that
prayers may be offered in pub
lic schools will be held tonight,
Thursday, Feb. 21 at 8 p.m. in
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High
School.
Speakers will be Rep. Henry
Carl Schadeberg, of Wisconsin,
and a member of the House
Un-American Activities Com
mittee, whose topic will be
‘This Is a Nation Under God.”
Col. Paul H. Griffith, past na
tional commander of the
American Legion, and former
assistant secretary of defense,
will speak on “The Prayer
Amendment.”
Co-chairmen of the commit
tee are Henry J. Noyes and
Thomas E. Foley. Sponsors
include: Mrs. Alvin Aubinoe,
Charles Bell, Joseph A. Can
trell, Tracy Coleman, John
Floyd, Mrs. Thomas Gearin,
Henry Hiser, Col. George
Ijams, Mrs. Lothrop Luttrell,
Leo Paulin, Lee Pennington,
and Charles A. Charry Jr.
It is being held under the
auspices of “Crusade for Sur
vival”—"Conscience of the Re
public.”
Where’s the City Manager?
Closed Again, Zen Den
Owner Storms City Hall
By Lila Thomson
Sentinel Reporter
What sounded like a full-scale attack on the sacrosanct
precincts of Rockville’s City Hall Monday night—and right
in the middle of a Council meeting—turned out to be no
more than the irate owner of the Zen Den out to protest
the city’s closing of his private club for teenagers.
It happened like this:
With the Mayor and Council
engaged in its usual Monday
night deliberations, came a loud
voice in the lobby of City Hall!
It rolled along the darkened cor
ridors; bounced off the walls,
and echoed in the Council cham
ber itself. It was noisy!
What the voice wanted to
know was “where the h
is that guy calling himself the
city manager?”
The City manager, however,
standing firm and unquailing
while explaining intricate statis
tics to the Rockville’s governing
body, was unable to answer the
strident call at the moment and
assistant city attorney George
W. Young, jr. rushed out to see
what was threatening to bring
the house down.
It appeared that David S.
De Riemer, one of the owners of
Zen Den, which operates on the
second floor of a building for
merly occupied by Worth’s De
partment store at East Mont
gomery Ave., and Fayette St.,
had arrived at his non alcoholic
place of business to open for the
younger set and found a city
notice on the door that he had
been closed ... officially.
The closing notice was based
on a number of electrical viola
tions which the city said had
not been remedied by the owner.
Attorney Young was able to
quiet the young man, at least to
the point where he departed
with the intimation he was on
the way back to Zen Den to
open whether or no.
This resulted in a fast call by
Young to Sgt. Walter Atwell of
the Rockville Police Department
who came barreling down to
City Hall with his thinning
blonde hair in slight disarray.
Whereupon, Atwell and Young
(wearing what appeared to be
a western piece of headgear)
took off for Zen Den where
they were able to persuade the
still irate owner to cease and
desist with opening plans and
to put the “closed” notice back
on the door.
In the meantime, De Riemer
who voiced strong opinions to
Young and Atwell on how city
government is run in Rockville)
recently applied for a license to
operate a pin ball room on the
first floor of Zen Den. He was
Big Sale
Looms In
Rockville
Midtown Rockville stores
and shops have gone all-out
to “whop” the high cost of
everything on Washington’s
birthday with some of the
fanciest price-chopping seen
at the county seat in many
a sale day.
As a matter of fact, the price
chopping spree has splintered
the regular prices of old cherry
trees, wearing apparel, fish
hooks, appliances, powder horns,
furniture, appliances, office
equipment, and children's wear
until the splinters have been
ground into sawdust.
Irwin Schwartz, president of
the Midtown Rockville Mer
chants Association, said the
local shops have departed from
a one-time practice of “sale-lng”
only left-oversand old merchan
dise chestnuts which have col
lected dust under the counters
for years.
“This Washington Birthday
Sale,” Schwartz said, “will have
its good old chestnuts for the
fun-of-it, but along with these is
good, new merchandise on
which prices have been slashed
to all-time lows.”
Schwartz said the bargains of
fered are expected to bring In
the largest store filling crowds
ever to move on Rockville on
Washington’s Birthday.
The way the Feb. 22 sale ads
read in this newspaper, prices
begin at 2-cents and go on from
there.
Established 1855
turned down and appealed. His
case will be considered by the
city’s Board of Zoning Appeals
on Saturday.
The run-in between Zen Den
(Continued on Page A3)
New School
Group Forms
In County
A group calling itself the
“Committee for the Public
Schools” has been formed
for “the improvement of
public education in Mont
gomery County.”
The group contends that the
county school system “can be
and should be a model for the
nation and for the world and
over the last decade and more
it has moved toward becoming
such a model.”
Members of the organizing
committee include: Raoul All
stetter, Mrs. G. Beale Bloomer,
P.P. Claxton, Jr., Robert Hack
er Pat M. Holt, Mrs. Herbert S.
Hyatt, Thomas S. Israel, Mich
ael S. March, Edmund H.
Robertson, Irving Schlossen
berg, Walter G. Schweitzer, Jr.,
Ralph Showalter, Harry L.
Simms, William F. Smith, and
Bruno O. Weinschel.
In a statement accompanying
its announcement, the group de
clared:
“Our purpose is to support
public school system of Mont
gomery County. We propose to
do so individually and collec
tively by fact finding, by the
dissemination of information
and by all appropriate action.
“We will do this not Just be
cause of our own immediate
personal interests as parents
and residents of this county.
We are also motivated by our
knowledge that the strength of
our public school system as
part of the public school system
of the nation is fundamental to
the strength and progress of
our country.”
The statement declared our
school system “has steadily im
proved in quality while meet
ing the demands of rapidly in
creasing enrollments. We have
provided school space for our
children. Teacher salary scales
have been made competitively
attractive. Class sizes have been
reduced—though far too many
are still too large.
“Our students at all levels
stand high in national tests.
Graduates of our high schools
are readily admitted to selective
colleges. People move to our
county because they have heard
of the reputation of our schools
and know that their children
will receive a superior education
in public schools which qualify
them for the college of their
choice.
“These people become an as
set to our county. They buy
homes, they patronize the
stares, make deposits in and
get mortgages from the banks.
These talented and highly
skilled people are in demand
everywhere. They are the sort
of people who are interested
in a first class public school
education for their children.
They will go where they can
get it. They will come here with
their talent and their capital
only if they have confidence
that this basic requirement will
be met—and will continue to be
met.
“We should keep under con
stant and close observation the
statements and actions of mem
bers of the school board, the
county council and our delega
tion at Annapolis delating to
our school system. We should
recommend those actions which
contribute to strengthening it
and oppose those which would
injure it. We should take all
our actions without political
partisanship.
“We should consider it within
our responsibility to put for
ward and to support candidates
in nonpartisan elections. We
should defer action on this un
til the need for it is apparent.”
Daylight, Yes;
But Saving, No!
The Montgomery County
Council approved a resolution
Tuesday putting the county
on Daylight Saving Time
beginning April 28 again
without the support of veteran
Councilman Grover Walker,
who has been a constant op
ponent of the time change in
past years.
When the resolution was
proposed by County Manager
Mason Butcher, all eyes turn
ed toward Walker a onetime
dairy farmer, and President
John A. Floyd suggested that
“someone” might want to dis
cuss the measure. “If you
took out the saving and just
left daylight, I’d go along,”
said Walker. Technically, he
did not oppose the resolution,
however, merely “passing”
when the vote came his way.
Job Is Vacant
Pittsburgh Eyes Whittier
For Its Top School Job
Dr. C. Taylor Whittier, county schools superintendent,
is under consideration for the job of Pittsburgh (Pa.) school
superintendent, it was learned this week.
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C. Taylor Whittier
Students
To Protest
Budget Cuts
A student’s group will lead
a “cavalcade” to the School
Board meeting Tuesday
night to protest recent budg
et cuts affecting foreign
languages in elementary
schools, driver training and
teacher workshops.
The group will also plead for
approval of the proposed Rock
ville campus of Montgomery
Junior College—which has been
put in jeopardy by the school
board’s new economy-minded
majority.
Chairman of the new group,
“Students for Education,” is
Siri Sopher, 1727 Evelyn Drive,
Rockville, a junior at Walter
Johnson High School.
It consists —so far—of about
20 active students from five Jun
ior and senior high schools. But
Siri says she expects every high
school In the county to be rep
resented by this weekend.
Tuesday’s “cavalcade,” the
student leader said, will include
a hearse and a wrecked 1962
convertible hauled by a tow
truck to demonstrate what can
happen when people are poor
drivers.
A petition now being cir
culated by the group states:
"We, the students of Montgom
ery County secondary schools,
do hereby petition the Montgom
ery County School Board to re
verse their policy of economy at
the expense of the education of
the youth of Montgomery
County.”
Their reasons for opposing
cuts in driver training, elimina
tion of the foreign language
program in elementary schools
and insufficient funds for teach
er workshops as well as sup
porting the new Montgomery
Junior College—are spelled out
in detail in the petition.
It concludes: "In short, we
students feel that the small
amount of money each taxpayer
will save does not warrant the
sacrifice of our education. If
this situation prevails, Mont
gomery County will no longer
be progressive but will remain
static or even retrogress.
"We, therefore, petition you,
the Montgomery County School
Board to reverse your policy.”
Potomac Area
Master Plan
To Be Drawn
Damascus Plan Is Shelved
To Give Potomac Priority
Preparation of a preliminary master plan for the Poto
mac area will be started in the coming fiscal year by the
Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.
Decision to go ahead with the
Potomac plan this year and
delay for at least another year
the long-anticipated plan for the
Damascus area—was based on
But officials there emphasized
Dr. Whittier has not applied for
the job although they said the
possibility of Ms taking the
Pittsburgh post has been dis
cussed with him.
Dr. Whittier, who now earns
$23,000 a year in the post he
has held since 1957, would be
paid mare than $30,000 annually
in the Pittsburgh job If it were
offered to him and if he chose
to accept it.
William H. Rea, president of
the Pittsburgh Board of Public
Education, said Dr. Whittier is
one of 120 school administrators
being considered to succeed Dr.
Calvin Gross who has already
been appointed superintendent
of New York City schools.
Dr. Gross accepted the New
York City job about three
months ago and will be leaving
Pittsburgh in about four to six
weeks.
The Pittsburgh school board,
however, spent 18 months
screening applicants before Dr.
Gross was hired and it Is
expected to follow the same
lengthy procedure before hiring
his successor.
"Dr Whittier is on our list
along with 119 others,” Rea told
a reporter. He stressed, how
ever, that Dr. Whittier had not
sought the job and that the
Pittsburgh school board had
heard of him and asked him if
he were interested in being con
sidered for the job there.
Rea also emphasized Whittier
did not enjoy favored status
among the many being consid
ered.
The Pittsburgh school budget
is about $33 million compared
to the total Montgomery County
budget of approximately S6O
million.
Dr. Whittier, 50, is considered
one of the top school adminis
trators in the country. The
(Continued on Page A3)
Korvett
Breaks
Ground
Ground was broken this
week for the big Korvett
shopping center near the
Intersection of Old George
town and Montrose Roads
on the Rockville Pike.
A New York spokesman
for the merchandising firm
said a "growth area” of
230,000 square feet Is
planned for a complex of
stores that will Include a
department store, a food su
permarket, a furniture and
carpet center, a tire center
and auxiliary sales and
service units all operating
under the Korvett name.
Builder of the facilities
that will he leased to Kor
vett was Identified as Phil
Levin Associates of Plain
field, N. J.
The store, located across
from the new Super Giant
Discount Center, Is expect
ed hi attract customers
from a wide area In view of
Its highly competitive
price*.
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Hettrt Sunday
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Sundky-suTiave a heart and give
to this worthwhile cause. Help
lick one of our biggest national
problems!
seriousness of sanitation prob
lems in Potomac, M-NCPPC
spokesmen said.
Switching of the priority or
der for the two area plans is
revealed in the commission’s
proposed 1963-64 budget of $9.1
million which was made public
Friday by M-NCPPC Executive
Secretary Jesse F. Nicholson.
A public furor arose last sum
mer when some wells In the
Potomac area were discovered
to be contaminated by human
and other waste.
In making the disclosure,
Nicholson said that as a result
of last summer’s controversy
there Is increased possibility of
water and sewer lines being ex
tended to the Potomac area.
This will spur development
there, he said, and makes it de
sirable to substitute the Poto
mac study for the long-awaited
one of the Damascus area.
Proposed in the Nicholson
budget—not yet adopted by the
M-NCPPC—is purchase of 1500
acres of parkland In Montgom
ery County during the coming
fiscal year.
Nicholson expressed concern,
however, over the commission’s
ability to undertake major ex
pansion of its park and “open
spaces” program unless a M
NCPPC plan to raise the man
datory park tax from seven to
10 cents Is approved by the Gen
eeral Assembly.
Bonds already issued for
parks require the full amount
of revenue that will be raised
by the existing seven-cent levy,
he explained, and no new park
bond issues can be sold unless
the limitation Is raised.
Already acquired in Mont
gomery County are 7300 acres
of parkland. The Commission
hopes it will have 18,301 acres
of parkland in Montgomery
County by 1980.
A public hearing will he held
on the budget at the M-NCPPC
offices In Silver Spring on
March 21. After that the Com
mission will adopt the budget
and then, Nicholson hopes, the
County Council will fix the re
quested tax levy to support the
budget.
The overall budget in Mont
gomery County would be re
duced by one-half cent per SIOO
valuation, the official said. “We
took note of the voters’ desire
for economy,” he added.
The budget will make possi
ble, Nicholson said, adoption
during the coming fiscal year
of the General Plan, a master
plan of highways, preparation
of a master plan for health cen
ters, a master plan of Four Cor
ners and vacinity, and a Bethes
da-Chevy Chase area plan.
Also, he said, the commission
will be devoting time to a com
prehensive survey of renewal
needs, transportation studies
aiding, in large part, the Na
tional Capital Transportation
Agency, and preparation of the
preliminary plan for the Poto
mac area.
Proposed parkland expendi
tures for the coming year in the
budget include:
Falrland, a new project, SBO,-
000; Upper Rock Creek, $360,-
000; North Branch, $374,000; an
area adjacent to Rock Creek
Unit No. 6 (Coplen tract), $31,-
000; Cabin John Creek 2, $54,-
000; Cabin John Creek 3, $216,-
000; Cabin John Creek 7, $87,-
000; Northwest Branch 4, $282,-
000; Northwest Branch 6, $696,-
000; Paint Branch 4, $195,000;
Hawlings River, $50,000; Rocky
Gorge Tributaries, $25,000.
Also: regional parks—Dicker
son, $10,000; Damascus, $8000;
Dawsonville, $6000; Goshen,
$7350; Piney Grove, $5000; Fair
land, $5000; Olney, $5000; Tra
viiah, $5000; Little Bennett,
$176,650; Little Seneca, $7500.
New projects are Falrland,
Olney, Travilah and Little Sen
eca.