Montgomery County sentinel. [volume], April 18, 1963, Image 1

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

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108th Year - No. 43 Published Every Thursday 1 ROCKVILLE. MARYLAND THURSDAY, APRIL 18. I*J TWO SECTIONS OArAM 4-7700 IQg a Copy
Fairchild
Eyes Site
In County
Fairchild Stratos Corp. is
considering a Montgomery
County site, believed to be
near Gaithersburg, for a
location of a new technical
center to service the big air
craft, missile and space firm,
it was learned this week.
A spokesman would neither
confirm nor deny a report that,
land is already being quietly
purchased by an agent acting
for the firm.
‘‘Fairchild Stratos is survey
ing areas for possible location
of a technical center which we
do not have today,” a firm
spokesman said in response to
a Sentinel reporter's query.
“Areas in Montgomery Coun
ty are among those being sur
veyed,” he said, adding: “There
Is no plan to build any new
facility in this (Montgomery
County) area within the next
two years and we are not plan
ning any move that will involve
any great number of people
during the next several years.”
The statement—and refusal
of the spokesman to deny that
land purchase has already be
gun in the county—was seen as
a strong indication that the big
firm may locate here.
Interest of a growing num
ber of research and develop
ment firms is beginning to cen
ter on the Gaithersburg area
as a result of the Bureau of
Standards, International Busi
ness Machines and others being
drawn to that area.
Ultimately a vast scientific
industrial complex is expected
to take shape in the area and
land values have soared accord
ingly.
Fairchild Stratos last year
did S7O million in business and
boasts facilities in various parts
of the country including St.
Augustine, Fla., California,
Long Island, Bladensburg, Md„
and Winston Salem, N. C.
There is apparently no
thought on the part of Fair
child-Stratos to relocate its
main production plant now
located in Hagerstown, Md„
where there are a number of
programs servicing the aircraft,
missile and space fields.
The firm employs about 4000
nationally. It designed and
produced the famed flying box
car used by paratroopers and is
currently specializing in the
F-27 executive plane which is
selling well with private busi
ness firms.
The firm has high hopes of
landing a big government con
tract for the manufacture of
F-27s and was backed by the
Air Force in this but the De
fense Department knocked such
an appropriation out of this
budget.
Boys Invited
To Meeting at
The Sentinel
Boys between 12 and 14 who
live in Rockville and are inter
ested in getting a newspaper
route near their home are in
vited to a meeting at the offices
of the Montgomery County
Sentinel on April 24 at 7:30 p.m.
All boys are welcome to at
tend and hear about this oppor
tunity to get a regular job and
to make some money. Parents
are invited to attend the meet
ing and refreshments will be
served. There will a door prize,
too!
The Sentinel offices are lo
cated at 215 E. Montgomery
Ave., Rockville. The meeting
will start promptly at 7:30 and
will be of short duration.
TREMENDOUS
RESPONSE
From our Sontintl Wnt Ads, tyt
Korns Distributing Co. of Washing
ton Grovo, Md.
CARPENTERS HELPERS
AND TRUCK DRIVERS
Apply in parton, Kern Distributing
Co. Oairmont Ave., Washington
Grovo, Md.
Major companies are finding quali
fied help from all over Montgomery
County thru Sentinel Want Ads.
SENTINEL WANT ADS
CAN HELP, TOO.
CALL TODAY!
Phone GA. 4-7744
9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
9 a.m.-l2 Sat.
Daadlina
Tuesday 4.00 P.M.
r*riieti §eiM
Solicitor Steals SIOOO
From 80-Year-Old Widow
An 80-year-old widow recently answered a knock on
her door which was to lead to her being duped out of SIOOO
of her rapidly dwindling life savings.
The victim, with failing eye
sight and shaky hands, was
greeted by an over-aggressive
magazine solicitor who had
little trouble gaining her confi
dence and winning her sym
pathy.
She promptly agreed to sub
scribe to $37.50 worth of mag
azines and after signing a check
allowed the solicitor to fill in
the date and the amount. The
solicitor obliged and did it in
such away that he could later
add S4OO to the amount. When
he had finished, the check was
for $437.50.
Following day, the solicitor
reappeared and pleaded that
he had erred by six dollars in
the earlier amount and he ask
ed her to give him another
check for only $6.
She complied, again signing
it with a shaky scrawl and al
lowing the solicitor to fill in the
$6 amount. After leaving her,
he changed the amount by S6OO.
The second check then was for
$606.
Both checks were cashed by
Hearing Rules Relaxed;
Law’s Legality Unsure
90-Minute Plan
Is Thrown Out
By Councilmen
Supporters of the county
Public Accommodations Or
dinance won a major step
this week when the County
Council set April 26 as a con
tinuation date for the public
hearing on Councilman John
H. Hiser’s motion to repeal
the 14-month-old anti-dis
crimination statute.
The move, announced over
the weekend, and formally
adopted at Tuesday’s council
meeting, came in the face of
mounting protest over the
original ground rules for the
April 24 hearing which limited
testimony for each side to 90
minutes. If maintained, the
limitation would have held the
48 persons now scheduled to
speak In favor of the ordinance
to less than two minutes each.
Six persons are signed up to
speak for repeal.
Hiser was the only council
man to vote against the ex
panded hearing.
Silence joined the weapons
of protest Friday when a
group calling itself the Con
cerned Citizens trooped into
the auditorium of the County
Office Building, and sat for an
hour with their heads bowed in
silent prayer.
The group of 38—both white
and Negro—included the pres
ident of the local NAACP
chapter, a minister and a
school teacher. The loudest
sounds during their hour-long
“prayer vigil” were the click
ing of a television camera and
the questions of reporters.
Church backing of the ordin
ance grew stronger during the
week with the release of a let
ter sent by the Rt. Rev. Wil
liam F. Creighton, Episcopal
Bishop of Washington, to the 27
Episcopal ministers in Mont
gomery County.
“I trust that you and your peo
ple will do whatever is possible
to express our church's compas
sion for those of our people
against whom there may be pro
posed discriminatory otxlin
ances,” the letter read.
Outing Tragedy Fatal
To Rockville Girl, 9
Funeral services will be held
at the Pumphrey Funeral Home
in Rockville at 10:30 a.m. today
for nine-year-old Susan Lind
quist, who was fatally injured
in a tragic accident that shat
tered a gay outing with her fa
ther last Saturday.
Susan, the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Robert C. Lindquist,
of 804 Lyon Place, Rockville,
will be buried in Parklawn
Cemetery.
The tragedy occurred after
Susan accompanied her father
and two family friends from
nearby Virginia on a fishing
trip to Great Falls on the Mary
land side of the Potomac. She
was fishing when a large rock
dislodged for unknown reasons
the solicitor in a Prince Georges
County bank and he then hur
ried to National Airport and left
for Florida.
The victim, police say, will
probably not even receive the
$43.50 worth of magazines she
thought she was subscribing
to.
Police, needless to say, want
to talk to the man but itinerant
magazine salesmen usually
swooping down on an area and
lingering for only a short while
before moving on are hard to
catch up with.
Chief Judge John B. Dia
mond of Montgomery County
people's Court, warned that
the practices of some maga
zine solicition crews are “rep
rehensible” and he urged
homeowners to be on the
alert.
One youth from California ap
peared with a magazine solicit
ing crew recently and because
he was abusive to a woman in
(Continued on Page A-2)
More Stringent
County Statute
Raises Doubts
Bv H. Joost Polak
.Sentinel Reporter
The County Attorney’s of
fice may soon advise the
County’s Human Relations
Commission that at least
some of the county Public
Accommodations Ordinance
is in conflict with its newly
enacted state counterpart.
The news would bring strong
aid from an unexpected quarter
to opponents of the ordinance,
who have scheduled a hearing
on its repeal for April 24.
“We have kicked this thing
around, and the latest thinking
| tends toward knocking out our
law,” James M. Trimm, assis
tant county attorney said Mon
day. Trimm, the commission’s
liaison with the attorney’s of
fice, was asked last week to pre
pare an opinion on possible con
flicts between the two ordin
ances.
The opinion was expected to
be in line generally with State
Attorney General Thomas B.
! Finan's informal" opinion that
; the two ordinances are not in
flict.
The state law however is less
inclusive than the county's, ap
plying only to eating and sleep
ing places, while Montgomery's
forbids racial discrimination in
“all places of public assembly
of any kind.” Both ordinances
exempt places which are “dis
tinctly private,” or dispensing
; alcholic beverages “as a pri
mary part” of their business.
It Is in their overlapping pro
visions that the romitv ordi
nance, which has a different
machinery of enforcement,
would fail, Trimm said.
"It looks as if at least part
of our law is invalid,” Trimm
said. “We can't tell yet whether
:or not the other part will
| stand.” ,
He emphasized that no final
opinion has yet been prepared.
| One of the big problems the
county office is having in
drawing it up, he said, is its in
ability to get hold of a copy of
(Continued on Page A-3)
I j from an overhanging cliff
■ above her, plunged downward
’ and struck her head.
■ J Robert L. Lauriault, of Falls
I Church, who with his nine-year
• old son was fishing with Susan
■ and her father, said the roek
fell about 40 feet before strik
ing the girl and knocking her
into the river. She was rushed
'i to Suburban Hospital, where
’ she died of head injuries Mon
i .
day.
Susan was a pupil at Mary
' vale Elementary School in
I ■ Rockville. Her father, an insur-
I I ance representative in Wash
: ington, had made his home in
■ Rockville for about three years.
i! Besides her parents, she is
; j survived by a brother, Randall,
~ and a Bister, Betsy,
Tax Rate Cut By 10 Cents
Beck Says
Bell Failed
On Budget
School board member
Clifford K. Beck charged
Tuesday night that Board of
Education President Charles
W. Bell had “defaulted” his
obligations to the school
board by supporting County
Council cuts in the proposed
school budget.
Mrs. Ely Maurer and Mrs.
Samuel J. Keker, the board’s
other liberal members, joined
Dr. Beck in his criticism of Bell.
Reading from a prepared
statement at the board meet
ing Tuesday, Dr. Beck express
ed “shock and distress” at
Bell's “statements, actions, and
inactions" in the County Coun
cil’s cutting of 200 of 222 pro
posed new teachers from the
proposed budget.
He charged Bell “failed In
every way” in his obligation to
represent the board and sup
port its budget before the
council,
“I find myself questioning
whether he is performing even
his legal responsibilities, much
less providing the educational
leadership which the electorate
of Montgomery County lias the
right to expect,” Dr. Beck said.
“Our educational program is
in real jeopardy when we can
not look to the Board of Edu
cation for support of his own
formally adopted budget,” he
i said.
Bell, who was quoted in news-
I paper reports last weekend as
I saying the County Council’s
elimination of the 200 teachers
represented .“wisdom and cour
age,” defended his statements
| as "personal.”
He said the council's cuts
made "no change to any degree
to cause alarm. I don't see any
significant change in stand
ards.”
Council Kills
New Addition
At Einstein
A requested 24-room addi
tion to newly-opened Albert
Eiastein High School, Whea
ton, was axed by the County
Council Monday night.
The $667,000 project sched
uled for occupancy Septem
ber, 1965, was questioned by
| Councilman Thomas M. Wilson
as the county governing body
was in the throes of adopting
the 1963-64 budget and setting
| the tax rate.
“I can’t understand why the
School Board should be asking
for an addition to a school that
was opened only last Septem
ber,” the physician-councilman
declared. He then moved that
the $667,(KM) Item be deleted
from the budget.
Dr. Wilson was quickly
joined by his Republican col
league, Miss Kathryn Diggs.
“I’ve heard a lot of speeches
about enrollment projections
from school officials and a lot
of them are conflicting,” she
said. “I suggest somebody find
a projection enrollment formu
la and then stick with it.” She
indicated strong support Dr.
Wilson's motion.
Councilman John Henry
Hiser then seconded Dr. Wil
son’s motion.
Seated in the audience was
Dr. Homer O. Elseroad, as
sistant superintendent of
schools, who explained that the
600-student Einstein addition
was part of the original plan
j for the school that was design
ed as a “two-stage” project.
The council, however, with
out further discussion voted 5-2
to delete the budget item with
the Council’s Republican ma
jority voting affirmatively and
the two Democrats—Grover K.
| Walker and Jerry Williams—
voting “no.”
A suggestion that Einstein
be used for experimental civil
defense construction in schools
had been forwarded to the
:County Council by the School
I Board but the school heads did
not formally request an appro
priation for such work, leaving
jit up to the Council as to
whether such funds were
1 authonzed.
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Two Baseball Greats Reminisce
Sam Rice, Washington Senator star for 20
years who was elected this year to baseball’s
Hall of Fame, left, reminisces with Jack
Bentley, who was named to the Hall of
Fame in 1958. Both men are Montgomery
County residents living in the Sandy Spring
area about one ntlle apart. Bentley, a Giants’
pitcher, won about 125 games and was the
Teacher
Cuts Are
Protested
Strong protests arose this
week in the wake of last
Saturday’s surprise action by
the County Council in elim
inating 200 of the 22 new
teachers requested for the
1963-64 school year.
Only one group publicly an
nounced support of the funds
slash. Citizens United for Re
sponsible Education (CURE)
declared the teacher cut “was
fully justified.” And it added:
“In fact, there was over one
and one-half million dollars
, more that could have been
taken out of this budget with
-1 out impairing the quality of
i education in any way whatever.
“Such things as 12-month
status for employes who do not
! have duties, the employment of
380 janitors and custodians for
32 secondary schools, and a tre
mendous number of administra
tive personnel wilh obviously
overlapping duties are ex
amples of what could have been
cut to further reduce the un
necessary expenditure of pub
lic funds,” the group declared.
CURE, which played an ac
tive role in the last School
Board campaign, also protested
a 600-pupil addition to Einstein
High School, approval of
money for the merit pay plan,
and $151,000 for the 14th step
on the teachers' salary scale.
The Einstein addition was cut
from the budget at Monday
night’s meeting of the council.
“Only after the budget has
been stripped of all trimmings
and trapping piled into It like a
big. messy jtinkheap, will the
schools of Montgomery County
start doing what (hey were
intended to do: the Job of pro
viding an education for stu
dents. There Is a long, long way
to go before we get there, let
us get on with tile Job.” The
statement was signed by Mrs.
! T. W. Furlow.
Other groups, however,
strongly criticized the 200 teach
er slash proposed Saturday by
j the Republican councilmen’s
$24,000 a year fiscal consultant
I John F. Briggs,
The Committee on the Public
Schools declared: “A majority
; on the County Council has de
-1 livered a slap in the face to
thousands of Montgomery
{ (Continued on Page A-3)
losing hurler when Walter Johnson pitched
the Senators to their World Series triumph
in 1924. Rice chalked up a lifetime batting
average of .322. Rice holds a bat used by
Bentley In 1924 to hit a home run off John
son In tlie Polo Grounds.
Sentinel Photo By Ed lWfcrris
200 Teacher Posts Axed;
Whittier Blasted By Diggs
Teacher Load
Increase Urged
By Consultant
Funds for 200 new teach
ers requested by school au
thorities to meet demands
imposed by an estimated
increase of 6000 pupils this
September were axed Mon
day by the County Council.
Instead, the economy-minded
council majority approved hir
ing of only 22 new teachers for
the coming school year and,
thus, effected a savings of $1.2
million.
The full slash, supported by
School Board President Charles
W. Bell and deplored by School
Supt. C. Taylor Whittier, was
opposed by Councilman Thom
as M. Wilson.
“I agree that some adjust
ment lias to be made,” Dr. Wil
son told his eolleagues, “but I
don’t agree that It has to he
made this year. If the full $1.2
million cut Is made, I believe
the quality of education here
will suffer.”
Wilson proposed, Instead,
that only $700,000 be cut which
would leave sufficient funds
for hiring of 90 new teachers.
And during the coming year, he
urged, a study should be made
"school by school" to see where
further savings might be effect
ed. The full cut now, he said,
Is “too radical.’
The councilman’s Republican
colleagues who had already ap
proved on Saturday the $1.2
million cut that had been • pro
posed by fiscal consultant John
F.Briggs, voted against Wil
son’s motion. Wilson was join
ed In the 4-3 vote by Demo
cratic Councilmen Grover K.
Walker and Jerry Williams.
In coming up with the recom
mendaiton, Briggs claimed loop
ing off the $1.2 million would
make It possible to maintain the
following average ratios for the
number of students per teacher
despite the anticipated enroll
ment increase; kindergarten 30
to one; elementary, 30 to one,
and secondary, 25 to one.
At present, lie said, these
average ratios are 28.1 and 28.5
and 23.4 respectively.
Briggs said his recommenda
tion did not affect personnel for
special education, teacher-11-
‘ (Continued on Page A-3)
‘liiHubordinate’
Charge Is Fired
By Councilman
County Council member
Kathryn E. Diggs thinks
School Supt. C. Taylor
Whittier should be fired for
telling a newspaper reporter
he disapproved of County
Council action cutting out
200 of the 222 new teachers
he had requested for next
school year.
“These new schools will re
quire a staff of 110 teachers,”
the school official said. And he
predicted that the increased
teacher-pupil ratio will “make
Montgomery County loss attrac
tive” to high caliber teachers it
likes to recruit.
Miss Diggs said on Monday
: night she had head Dr. Whit-
J tier’s remarks in a newspaper
: account and she believed Whit
j tier “owes a complete explana
tion and clarification to me and
j other members of the council.”
She said the remarks by
Whittier are of the type that it
“ill behooves a public official to
make,” and added: “we have
here what almost amounts to
Insubordination that would al
most eailse us to ask that his
contract be revoked.”
Miss Diggs madp her state
ment at the end of Monday’*
council session in which the
1963-64 budget was adopted arid
the tax rate was set. After ad
journment, Council President
John A. Floyd told reporters
Miss Diggs spoke only for her
self- not the entire council.
Spray Warning
Given Farmers
The State Veterinary Merlical
Association has urged farmer*
not to pasture livestock too
soon after spraying grass crops
against aphids and spittle bugs.
The spraying will not hurt
livestock after 10 days or wash
i Ing by rain, the association
said, but serious troubles can
arise if pasturing occurs soon
after the spraying. Symptoms
of this type of poisoning in
clude going off feed, inco
ordinate gait, muscular twitch
ing, eye blinking and frothing
at th mouth, the association
said.
Budget Cuts
For a long listing of budget
cuts made by the School Board
and the County Council, and a
Sentinel editorial on that sub
ject, turn to Page A4 of this
Issue.
$95 Million
Budget OK
By Council
A 10-cent cut in the
county tax rate providing the
average homeowner with a
reduction in his tax bill of
about $lO or sls was ap
proved Monday by the Coun
ty Council.
The action climaxed months
of dissension, often acrimoni
ous, over the extent to which
county real estate taxes should
be reduced and marked the ful
fillment of a campaign pledge
by Republicans victorious in
last fall's election that they
would lower governmental
costs.
At their Monday meeting
held only hours before budget
adoption deadline, councilmen
agreed on a basic tax rate of
6 Fewer Teaching
Positions for *64
There will he six fewer
persons assigned to the teach
ers’ salary schedule next
school year than there were
for the current school year,
tentative estimates showed
yesterday.
School Board members
were given the tentative esti
mate at a closed session on
Tuesday night. There will be
a 6000 pupil Increase in the
school enrollment this fall.
$2.80 for each SIOO worth of
property and appropriated a
$95.8 budget for the coming
fiscal year.
Hie amount was sll.B million
under this year’s record spend
ing figure and was $2.6 million
under the total amount that
had been requested by school
and county officials.
The tax rate reduction waa
made passible, principally, by a
$1.5 million “windfall” surplus
discovered about three months
ago when revenue estimates for
next year shot up by that
amount as a result of conserva
tive guesses made last year
prior to adoption of the 1962-83
budget.
Monday’s session was marked
by an unsuccessful attempt by
Councilman Thomas M. Wilson
to restore $500,000 of a $1,2 mil
lion cut made Saturday when
the council accepted fiscal con
sultant John F. Briggs’ recom
mendation to eliminate 200 of
the requested 222 new teachers
for county schools starting this
September.
Dr. Wilson was joined by ths
council’s two Democrats but
the trio was voted down by the
other four Republican council
members.
Also at the Monday meeting,
Councilman Kathryn Diggs
blasted School Supt. C. Taylor
Whittier for a published report
in which the school official said
elimination of thp 200 teachers
would have a “deleterious ef
fect” on the school program.
Miss Diggs said she believed
Whittier owed her and the
council a full explanation of his
statement which she said "al
most amounts to Insubordina
tion and could almost cause the
council to ask that Whittier’s
contract be revoked.”
Dr. Whittier on Tuesday de
clined to comment on Mis*
Diggs’ blast.
Also at Monday’s meeting
the council In another surprise
action deleted $667,000 for a re
quested addition at Albert Ein
stein High School.
2 Shelters
Okayed In
Rockville
Contracts totaling $'50,250 for
construction of two recreation
area shelters were awarded by
the Rockville Mayor and Coun
cil this week.
I/>w bidder was Fafco Con
tractors, Inc., of Rockville.
Under the contracts, Twin
brook recreation area will re
ceive a $15,440 shelter and the
Montrose area one costing $14,-
810. The Twinbrook shelter is
expected to be completed by the
last of June and Montrose
i about June 15.