Quite A Year!
1963 was quite a year for
Montgomery County! Be sure to
read the news highlights, as
reported in The Sentinel over
the past 12 months, in this
issue.
109th Year - No. 20>—Published Every 1 ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND - DECEMBER 31, 1963 Two Section. GArden 4-7700 |OO a Cop
Bulletin
An unexpectedly amicable
display of unanimity attended
this week's election of Dr. Tho
mas M. Wilson as the new pres
ident of the County Council.
Dr. Wilson was nominated by
Mrs. Mary A. Hepburn, who
had been strongly rumored to
fill the post. Mrs. Hepburn
was elected council president
pro tern, and Miss Kathryn E.
Diggs was elected secretary
of the council, succeeding Mrs.
Hepburn.
If precedent Is followed, this
will make Miss Diggs Council
president during the critical
election year of 1966.
Said Dr. Wilson after his
election: “The Montgomery
County Council closed ranks
this morning and I trust the
Republican party will also close
ranks."
Siegel Plea
For Zoning
Is Approved
The County Council Tuesday
approved by a 6-1 vote a plea
of Bernard N. Siegel for re
zonlngof 535 acres nearpooles
vllle to permit development
of a planned community.
The one “no” vote was cast
by Councilman John Henry His
er.
Both the Maryland-National
Capital Park and Planning Com
mission and Its planning staff
recommended disapproval of
the application on the grounds
that the area should be kept
In low density development.
Leaders of 10 civic groups
also blasted the proposal In a
Joint statement last week.
| Spectrum |
This column scored a clear
beat last week when it reported
David Hume is getting out of
the U. S. Senate race and will
throw his support to Joseph D.
Tydings.
Over last weekend, four days
after Spectrum told about the
development, Hume released a
290-word statement in which he
said that because of his health
and the danger of dividing up
Democratic strength In the May
19 primary “It Is my Intention
to support the candidacy of
Mr. Tydings with every ounce
of whatever strength I may
possess.”
So Tydings and State
Comptroller Louis L. Gold
stein will now square off against
each other for the seat held
by veteran legislator J. Glenn
Beall since 1952. Beall served
In the House of Representatives
for 10 years before that. He’ll
be 70 this coming June.
Local GOP State Central
Committee chairman Don
R. Kendall says the state of the
party here at year's end Is
“good very good,” and that
he has “every reason to be
optimistic” about the year
ahead.
His spirits boosted by a better
neighbor-to- neighbor •” GOP
fund-raising jobthan last year’s
an election year, at that
and a switch of three times
as many Democrats to Repub
lican ranks as vice-versa, he
also feels the year has failed
to produce “any sollddlvlsion"
such as has been persistently
reported among the GOP - dom
inated County Council.
“I didn’t get the Impression
there is factionalism,” he says,
“not permanent factions, at any
rate. Of course, this Council
has had divisions of opinion,
but I don’t think they have any
solid division."
Kendall thinks the Council as
a whole, despite “a few bumps
along the road they've had
an awful lot to learn in this
first year," has done Its best
In a difficult job. He notes
they lived up to their “major
promise to stop the tax spiral
of the past eight years" with
a reduction In the tax rate, and
that they authorized a thorough
review of long-standing assess
ment practices and policies.
He discounts reports of an
insurgency against current
party leadership or any split
In the party.
PLAY COINWORD/ IT’S FUN.' YOU MAY WIN $450 CASH'
abatnaicifiltiiita Sentinel
Year review
’63 Was Tumultuous
One For Montgomery
Discord, conflict and rebellion coursed In a cacophonous
strain through the year 1963 as they have in few post-election
years In county history.
Drastic decisions, drastic charges, drastic innovations
marked those 12 months as members of the old and new
regimes locked horns over the route along which the af
fairs of the county were to move for the next four years.
Few weeks went by without a headline-making controversy
In some area of public Interest, and The Sentinel chronicl
ed most of them.
The year also had plenty of less Jarring events centering
on the county’s people—a medal for a young heroine, a “Mrs.
Maryland” title for a local housewife, one of the driest
springs and summers on record, the births, marriages and
deaths of three generations, and a happy Christmas for 109
old and almost-forgotten Indigent nursinghome patients.
It’s all here, as the year 1963 passes In review:
January
j
An all-out assault on Mont- t
gomery County's outmoded 11- ]
quor laws looms as the Mary- ]
land General Assembly con
venes In Annapolis. ,
Circuit Court Judge Ralph
G. Shure rules that Henry '
Miller’s novel, “Tropic of Can- (
cer,” Is obscene by contem- (
porary standards here, sup- ,
ports decision of County Mana- .
ger Mason A. Butcher to order
book removed from county pub
lic library shelves.
County Council opposes pro
posal of Maryland - National 1
Capital Park and Planning Com- 1
mission to relieve the Council '
of authority to adopt subdlvl- J
sion regulations.
John F. Briggs, Municipal
Government professor at the
University of Maryland, Is hired
as full-time financial advisor to
the Council, at $25,000-a-year
contract making him highest
paid county employee.
Bethesda housewife and
county newspaper columnist
Caroline Freeland becomes
first woman appointed to Mont
gomery County Planning Board,
this county’s arm of the Mary
land-National Capital Park and
Planning Commission.
County chapter of Maryland
Municipal League goes on rec
ord against planning commis
sion legislative proposal that
would deprive six Independent
municipalities here of their
right to plan and zone In newly
annexed areas.
Business leaders forsee year
of active trade and sales to out
do 1962. County Manager pre
dicts increased research role
for county.
Two-man Democratic ml
| norlty on County Council blasts
John Briggs for making fls
' cal recommendations directly
i to Council rather than channel
ing through County Manager.
Also rebukes Republican ma
jority for secret “closed ses
sions."
Eleven - year -old school
crossing guard, Linda LaFond,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Char
les D. LaFond of Silver Spring,
Is cited for heroic rescue of'
a kindergarten student In re- j
celvlng American Automobile :
Association’s meritorious
service medal.
New School Board president ?
Charles W. Bell says he favors
appointment rather than elec-;
tlon of board members because i
“politics should play no part Inj
education.”
Postponement of Immediate
construction start on Rockville,
campus of the Montgomery Jun- :
lor College voted by new four-'
man school board majority,
pending re-evaluatlon of future 1
; needs.
Display of Leonardo da-
Vincl’s famed “Mona Lisa” at
National Gallery of Art In Wash- :
lngton prompts widespread dls- j
play of life-size copies and'
student versions In county
| schools.
Longtime Democratic liberal,
leader Ray V. Murphy dies at :
145 of heart ailment. He was
' In his second term as a mem
ber of the Democratic State
Central Committee, which he
had also served as treasurer.
Rockville’s ambitious mid
city urban renewal plan wins
plaudits from National Capital
Regional Planning Council and
high federal urban renewal of
ficials.
City Council of Rockville hits
School Board plan to delay con
struction of second junior col
ege campus on site within city
limits.
Republican County Council
nembers, considering with-
Irawal of area-wide Metropol
tan Washington Council of
jovernments, sharply question
-OG representatives asto value
to be received from county’s
123,400 membership contribu
tion.
Negro physician Clive Jack
son takes Issue with county
grand jury’s dismissal of
:harges of police brutality
igainst county Negroes, says
police force here Is “terror
organization” to non-whites.
Future of county’s public ac
commodations ordinance; be
comes unclear as County Coun
cilman John Henry Hlser pre
pares to move for repeal, Hum
an Relations Commission call
for deletion of the provision ex
empting public places deriving
more than half their revenues
(Continued to Page B-3)
$380,000 Granted
To MC Schools
Rep. Carlton R. Sickles, (D-
Md.), has announced that the
Office of Education, under the
Federally Impacted Areas Pro
gram has granted $380,000 to
the Montgomery County Board
of Education. Sickles noted
that the money will be used to
secure school furniture equip
ment and library books for the
schools.
|
j
Mr k
Oh, Woe Is Me!
Four-year-old Philip Waters of Rockville hangs his head in prospect of a series of rabies
shots which might be necessary unless County officials can locate the dog that bit him or his
doctor decides otherwise. Philip, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack V. Waters, was bitten on the
back while playing in the front yard of his home at 12095 Larkin Place in the Wheaton Woods
subdivision. Neighbors described the animal as a small, short-haired, mixed brown and block
terrier without a collar. Anyone having information concerning the dog if asked to contact
County police.--Sentinel Photo by Ed Mervis.
Possible Vote Switch
Perils Aubinoe Zoning
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An Abstract Study In Snow?
Premier Khrushchev upon viewing a modern art exhibition in
Moscow told those assembled, including the artists, that it
looked as if an ass had painted the pictures with its tail. He’d
probably say the same about the above and he’d be almost
right, except a herd of cows were the artists and they per
Suspect Is Held
Recluse Shot In Brain By Bandit
By Ellie Bradley
Sentinel Reporter
It had been snowing heavily
all morning. The world outside
was white, but Inside Snyder’s
General Store on the corner
there at Quince Orchard Road
and Rte. 28 It was as dark
and cluttered as ever, at about
noon on Monday.
EsWSktd 1855
The proprietor came out of
the back room to ask the fellow
who’d just driven up - through
all that snowl what he want
ed.
Donald Leon Snyder at 67
was a unique oldtlmer. He’d
seen a lot of folks come Into his
place for things as different as
a loaf of bread and a load of an
tiques.
formed the masterpiece with their hoofs. Their reward? A water
hole in the lower right hand corner of the picture. If you wont tv
see the original it’s on exhibit on Rte. 688 between Derwood
and Redland.
Sentinel Photo By Ed Mervis
They drove up miles from the
city and down miles from the
next state to haggle over his
historic wares, and he dicker
ed with them cheerily but vigor
ously every time, regardless of
who they were.
But this “customer,"lnfrom
the blinding snow outside, was
on another mission. By the time
he’d accomplished it, the old
man lay sprawled on the floor
near the cash register, a criti
cal bullet wound In his head,
money clutched In his hand and
more lying scattered about him.
Above him a century-old oil
lamp swung lazily as the front
door closed behind his assail
ant. It had been there since the
shop was a crossroad post of
fice over a hundred years ago.
Nearby, water boiled In an old
kettle he liked to keep bubbling
on the pot-bellied coal stove
that had warmed the room since
people could remember.
Snyder’s store, for all Its
hopeless disorder and jumble
of collector’s Items, maybe not
Teachers ’ Unit
Buys Building
The Montgomery County
Education Association, which
represents 3925 county teach
ers, acquired new headquarters
this week with the purchase of
the Rockville Christian Church
at 101 West Jefferson SL
The MCEA, whose offices
have been housed In a five
room suite In the nearby Jef
ferson Building for three years,
said the church quarters will
provide twice as much space as
their present overcrowded of
fices. The organization has
five full-time staff members.
Renovation of the two-story
building Is expected to delay
MCEA’s move for several
months. Although the building
contains meeting rooms, offl.
clals stressed total MCEA
membership meetings will con
too much different from hun
dreds of other antique shops’
off the beaten path by those who
seek them out.
But Snyder, who died at Sub
urban Hospital Monday seven
days after he was shot In the
brain, was unusual even for an
antique dealer.
Descended from a landed
county family, whose War home
still stands near Long Draft
Road, he and a brother today
own land In undeveloped areas
here estimated to be worth $1
million.
These Include a 120-acre
farm between Rockville and
Gaithersburg, another 65 acres
adjoining the luxurious Motel
Washingtonian and Shady Grove
Country Club, two more large
farms at Buck Lodge at which he
held his well-attended semi-an
nual antique sales, and the 10
acres at the corner of Quince
Orchard Road and Rte. 28 on
which his ramshackle store and
living quarters stand.
(Continued to Page A-3)
tlnue to be held In county public
schools.
Sale of the facility was con
summated through settlement
with members of the church
board of trustees. Through a
lease arrangement, the church
will continue to conduct regular
services lri the sanctuary until
construction of a new facility
on a 10-acre site at Route 28
and U S Route 240 next fall.
In a joint statement, S. Fred
Steppe, board chairman, and
Dr. William G. Hall, chairman
of the church trustees, express
ed regret at leaving a loca
tion “that has provided a re
ligious service to this commun
ity for 147 years and now stands
as one of the oldest churches
In the area."
Groundbreaking for the new
church Is planned In March.
Coin word!
Have you tried your word
skill at Ceirwrord yet? You’ll
find that it’s fun. The cash
prise waiting for you this week
Is $450.
Earlier 4-3
Decision Is
Doubtful
At least one, and possibly
two County Council members
were reported ready to change
their votes this week In the cru
cial final vote on a request of
Alvin L. and Dorothy N. Au
binoe for high-rise zoning of
23 acres they own In the Wild
wood Manor section of North
Bethesda.
A rumor had been mounting
for two weeks that Councilman
John Henry Hlser, who repre
sents the Bethesda election dis
trict In which homeowners pro
testing the rezoning live, was
giving serious thought to re
versing his Initial approval of
the application.
Observers note Hlser may
now consider his vote In the
case as a matter of political
survival. His switch could
swing the Council’s Initial 4-3
favoring vote of two weeks ago
to a position of denial.
Asked to comment on the
recurring rumor he may sub
mit to political expediency, Hls
er said, “I’m thinking It over -
thinking It over a lot.” He de
clined, however, to elaborate.
A second critical vote, fall
ing Riser’s, was considered
that of Councilwoman Mary A.
Hepburn, who was not avail
able as the Sentinel went to
press Monday to comment on
how well-founded were reports
that she might reconsider her
Initial approval.
The Council’s close vote of
Dec. 17 issuing Instructions to
the County Attorney to draft a
resolution approving the Au
binoe request brought a storm
of protest from hundreds of
area property owners who had
created a standing-room-only
audience at the Council’s pub
lic hearing on the case this fall.
Having filled the official
hearing record with their let
ters of opposition, citizens rep
resented by nine area civic
associates proceeded to flood
the Council, GOP officials and
county newspapers with more
salvos.
Both the technical staff and
Montgomery County Planning
Board of the Maryland-National
Capital Park and Planning Com
mission recommended Council
denial of the request on the
grounds that granting It would
conflict with the adopted mas
(Contlnued to Page A-2)
Coyle to Head
Suburban Trust
PR Operations
William E. Co vie of Silver
Spring, investment counselor
and new president of the Mont
gomery County Board of Educa
tion, has accepted a position
as director of public relations
and business development for
the Suburban Trust Co.
Coyle, who Is a member of
the economic development com
mittee of the Metropolitan
Washington Board of Trade and
chairman of Its federal esta
blishments subcommittee, also
belongs to the ex-presldents
councll of the Metropolitan
Washington Advertising Club.
Formerly a radio-TV news
and sports commentator, Coyle
has been promotion director of
the Washington Star and
director of sales, promotion
and public relations for NBC’s
; Washington TV station.
He lives with his wife and
r six children at 10605 Meadow
hill Rd., Silver Spring.