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i • f - * j Washington News - ATTORNEY GENERAL MAY OPEN RECORDS TO POLICE PROBERS Investigators in Shelby-Kelly Case Ask to See Transcript in McPherson Case. EXPECT NO COMMENT FROM DEPARTMENT Agents Did Not Inquire Into Con dott of Police in Han dling Murder. In view of the claim that the public Interest and the proper administration of justice in a grave police problem of national concern are involved, it ap peared today that Attorney General Mitchell might act favorably tomorrow on the request of District officials for permission to examine records of the Department of Justice in the McPher son case, in connection with the Shelby- Kelly probe. If the request is granted, it will be with the understanding that in so doing the Government is taking no sides with regard to grand jury charges of ineffi ciency against Inspector William S. Shelby and Lieut. Edward J. Kelly, and that any information in the depart ment’s files of interest in the contro versy was obtained only incidental to the attempt to solve the mystery of Mrs. Virginia McPherson's death. It is known the Department of Justice is reluctant to be drawn into the local police tangle growing out of the McPherson case. The Attorney General, in agreeing to take over the investigation of the Park Lane death, warned the Bureau of Investigation to avoid all collateral controversies and to devote its. efforts solely toward solution of the strangling mystery. ' No Comment Expected. It is doubtful that Federal officials will express an opinion as to whether | their records contain data pertinent to the Shelby-Kelly Inquiry. In the event it is decided to permit Maj. Donald A. Davison and W. W. Bride, conducting the police inquiry, to examine the files, it is likely the bureau authorities mere ly will make thet ranscript of testimony available for inspection, without com ment. Officials have pointed out that in investigating the McPherson tragedy the admonition of the Attorney General with respect to “collateral controversies" was obeyed strictly, and that the record of the investigation therefore has to do only with circumstances attending the death of the nurse. District officials are said to believe, however, that the record may throw light on the charges of the July grand jury that valuable evidence was destroyed. In its scathing attack on the dis trict attorney’s office and the police the grand Jury charged that a guard placed at the door of the McPherson apart ment to prevent the death scene from being disturbed was removed by order of the district attorney's office and that permission was given by Lieut. Kelly, then in charge of the homicide squad, **for the removal or destruction of cer tain evidence before it was possible to have completed a thorough investiga tion." " May Show Distribution. The commissioners are understood to feel that if any evidence was destroy ed. the records of the Department of Justice may disclose it. The request for Federal assistance was made to Attorney General Mitchell in a letter from the Dictrict commis sioners, dispatched at the suggestion of the Bride-Davison committee. Pie viously members of the committee had failed in an informal effort to obtain information from the department. The preliminary move was a conference with J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Bureau of Investigation, and Thomas F. Cullen, inspector in charge of the McPherson probe. These officials are understood to have advised the local authorities of the attorney general's instructions against going into ex traneous phases of the McPherson case, and that any such request would have to be taken up direct with Mitchell. The attorney general had the letter of the commissioners on his desk yes terday, but did not have time to act on it. He is expected to refer it to morrow morning to Director Hoover for his recommendation. The latter is ready to act promptly and it te thought the commissioners will receive a reply sometime later in the day. NAVAL HOSPITAL TO GET ADDITIONAL FACILITIES Sick Officers’ Quarters Will Be Re modeled by Alterations Costing $4,170. The sick officers’ quarters at the Naval Hospital are to be remodeled by alterations costing $4,170, providing ad ditional facilities, the Navy Department made known yesterday in announcing recently awarded contracts totaling >182.852. The Martin Bros. Co. of Washington was awarded a contract which provides for new partitions, metal basins in the rooms and other alterations. No addi tions to the quarters are contemplated. An item of $95,817 for the purchase of Hammerhead cranes for the Mare island, Calif., Navy Yard was the larg est among contracts awarded. The San Diego, Calif., Air Station, with dredg- j ing v. to be done at a cost of $38,000, ! v-nd tile same station's seaplane runway, whlcn Is to be paved and extended at a ; cost of $23,411, also were listed among naval stations where work has been provided for. DINNER GIVEN AT CHURCH FOR BAPTIST STUDENTS Addresses Are Made by Dr. George 8.. Baker and William Allen Wilbur. Baptist college students of the Dis trict and College Park, Md„ were guests of the District College Council of Bap tist Students at a dinner Tuesday night in the Sunday school hall of the Cal vary Baptist Church, Eighth and H etreets. Addresses w’ere de'ivered by Dr., George R. Baker, president of the Board of Education of the Northern 1 Baptist Convention, and Dr. William Allen Wilbur, dean of George Washing- ! ton University. Nicholas Janetzke was toastmaster. Dramatic and musical entertain- : ment was presented by two college dra- * matic groups, the “Troubadours” of George Washington and the "Pilgrims” i of Maryland University. Mrs. W G. 1 Waldo, chairman of the District Col- ; lege Council of Baptist Students, had i r,* ?i»Tpr>foment*. 1 RELIEF ORGANIZATION TO HELP FREED PRISONERS IS PLANNED Chance to Make Good Will Be Offered on Completion of Sentences by Them hy Group Formed m Capital. A group of men sat in the administration building of the District Work House at Occoquan, Va„ awaiting train time and a trip to Washington in com pany with Capt. John A. Francis, guard. There they were to be released after having served sentences ranging from 10 to 90 days. Capt. Francis knew most of them by name. “Why can't you keep away from here, Bill?” he asked a tall man. The prisoner, a man in his early forties, who had only one arm, grinned. “You know how it is, Cap'n,” he said. “If I stay overnight in Washington I get picked up In spite of all I can do. Sometimes I think the cops wait around Seventh street for me to get in. This time I’m going straight on to Virginia and home.” , Four days later Capt. Francis made his daily call at the District Jail for the group of short-term prisoners assigned to the workhouse. First among the dav’s toll of 16 men was “One-arm BUI.” “You didn't go on to Virginia, did you. Bill?” Capt. Francis remarked. Bill was discouraged. “No. Cap'n; I wanted to, but didn’t have the fare. I got 30 days this time. Then I'll go.” Bill and others among the group of from 15 to 45 men who are brought in to the Seventh street station from Oc coquan every day and released there after having served sentences at the workhouse will have a chance to make good their high resolves when the asso ciation of public-spirited citizens headed by Judge Mary O'Toole of the Municipal Court begins to function soon. Sponsored by the Council of Social ! Agencies and the Community Chest, Judge O'Toole and others are planning the formation of a non-sectarian organ ization for the relief of prisoners. It is planned to have the association incor porated before the first of the new year in order that it may participate In the Chest. Judge O’Toole said yesterday the budget for the first year would be be tween >15.000 and >25.000. The chief objects of the new asso ciation will be to prevent crime, and especially juvenUe delinquency, in the District and to protect society against crime. It is not the puroose of the group to urge the pampering of delinquents, but to see to it that‘former prisoners are put in the self-supporting class. “If I we may realize that prisoners are hu- < ! man beings and can profit by their mis- j GRAND VISITATION SERIES IS ENDED Official Calls of Ceremony Made on Harmony and Harding Lodges. The series of grand visitations to the 44 constituent lodges of the jurisdiction by the grand master of Masons in the District of Columbia, accompanied by the officers of the Grand Lodge, ended last night when official calls of cere mony were made on Harmony Lodge, No. 17, at 8:30 o’clock, and on Warren G. Harding Lodge, No. 39, at 8 o’clock. These two lodges hold their communi cations in Masonic Temple, Thirteenth street and New York avenue. The grand visitations of 1929 began October 9 and had been in progress almost nightly since that date. < Harmony Lodge Is one of the largest Masonic bodies in the District of Co lumbia numerically, having a present membership of more than 1,200. Guy F. Allen is the master. The lodge was chartered May 5, 1863. Harding Lodge has been in existence only six years, having been chartered by the Grand Lodge at its annual meeting December 19, 1923. It has at present 154 members. Frank Jones is the master. After extending felicitations to the two lodges visited, based on their rec ords for the Masonic year ended Sep tember 30 last, as disclosed by reports submitted to the grand secretary and the grand treasurer. Grand Master Wis dom D. Brown reviewed in detail sev eral matters of special interest to the fraternity, including the subjects he has . announced as his special program for his term of office. In accordance with a custom it has ! followed for many years, Harmony Lodge presented to the grand master a minature trowel of gold, suitably en graved. The address of presentation was made by Past Grand Master Roe Fulkerson, who Is a past master of Harmony Lodge. Grand Master Brown, in responding, expressed his gratitude. Announcement has been made of a \ special communication of the Grand j Lodge tomorrow evening at 7:30 o'clock at Masonic Temple, Thirteenth street and New York avenue, to consider and pass on an important report, with rec ommendations. of the committee on the proposed new Masonic Temple on Tem ple Heights. > The annual meeting of the Grand ■ Lodge is slated for December 18, and . the annual election December 27. BIG SALES INDICATE Carge circus crowds; Federation of IT. S. Employes to! Sponsor Three-Day Show. Advance ticket sales indicate large' crowds will attend the three-day dircus- j revue st.-irting next Thursday in the ; Masonic Temple under the auspices of ‘ the District Federation of Federal Em- i ployes’ Unions. The program will include such time- j honored events of the “big top” as! trained animal acts, acrobatic stunts, J slack and tight wire walking. A genuine | circus tang will be added by a group of j clowns. Special band music also will be ( provided. NOVENA IS PLANNED AT DIAMOND JUBILEE j Celebration at St. Aloysius Church ; to Continue Until Day of Feast. A public novena, commemorating the diamond jubilee of the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Concep tion. will be held in St. Aloysius Church at North Capitol and I streets begin ning Saturday night at 7:30 and con tinuing daily until the feast of the Im maculate Conception, December 8. Features of the program arranged in observance of the binding article of faith made by Pope Pius IX in the pres ence of 200 cardinals and bishops will be a blessing with a relic of St. Ann. mother of the Virgin Mary, at the coa clusion of services each evening: a ser mon by Rev. John F. O'Hurley, S. J., ol Oonraga College, and splrffll prayers. W)e fattening JHaf takes, we shall be taking a forward step in the direction of cutting down crimes,” Judge O’Toole said. One of the first activities of the as sociation probably will be in connec tion with the men released from the District work house and It is expected that officers will confer with authorities of the jail and the Occoquan institu tion. Among the objects set forth in a ten tative application for incorporation, drawn up by Judge O’Toole for sub mission to a general committee, headed by Rudolph Jose, are the following: To protect those unjustly accused; to obtain parole and probation when suit* able; to improve prisons and prison dis cipline; to get employment and other assistance for discharged prisoners: to get necessary aid for prisoners’ families; to supervise those on probation and ; parole; to secure needed legislation; to obtain publicity for needed reforms in prisons; to conduct research and give advice. Judge O’Toole said it was not ex pected that the association would be able to engage in all aQtivities planned In the first year, but that a start would be made. Co-operation with existing so cieties for the aid of prisoners will be sought. Serving on a subcommittee with Judge O'Toole are: Dwight Burnham, accountant: R. L. McKeever, real estate broker; Allen Pope and Rabbi William L. Rosenblum. Mrs. W. A. Roberts, ex ecutive secretary of the Washington Council of Social Agencies, is co-operat ing with them. A meeting will be held next week, at which contents of the | papers of incorporation will be de’er mined and a name for the association I chosen. GALLINGER UNIT TO BE DEDICATED Open House to Be Held at Hospital Wednesday—Cope land to Make Address. The first of a group of five new buildings of Gallinger Municipal Hos pital, designed to Introduce new ideas In the handling of Washington's charity patients, will be dedicated next Wednes day. Senator Royal S. Copeland of New York will deliver the principal address at the dedicatory exercises, which will be presided over by District Commis sioner Sidney P. Taliaferro. Repre sentative. Robert G. Simmons of Ne braska will also speak. A formal reception will be held for the 200 or more invited guests from 4 to 6 o’clock in the afternoon, and Maj. Edgar A. Bocock, superintendent of the hospital, will be host to the general public when "open house" will be held from 4 until 9 o’clock in the evening. Members of the Senate and House Dis trict committees, as well as officials of the District government and the staffs of the various city hospitals, are ex pected to attend. Maj. Bocock has ar ranged to have his house or interne staff co-operate with several members of the institution’s visiting staff to be on hand during the afternoon and eve ning to escort visitors through the hos pital and explain the various types of equipment and answer any other queries. Building in Use Since July. Although the formal dedication is just now being held, the building has been in actual use since last July. At that time, because of the crowded con dition in the old frame buildings then used for hospital purposes and the ever increasing number of patients being cared for at the Maj. Bo cock said he reason for not admitting patients to the new building for care and treatment, even though the official opening and formal dedi catory exercises had been scheduled for the Fall. The building, seven stories in height and having a capacity of 300 beds for the care of patients requiring medical, surgical and maternity treatment, is of red brick and stone construction. It is simple in design, but is planned along modern lines, and offers every facility necessary to render the best treatment and provides for the maximum comfort of the patient. (Equipment Cost $60,000. Equipment in the hospital, the most modern and up-to-date science has so i far been able to produce, was purchased i at a total cost of $60,000, and is said ! by scientific experts who have inspected | it to be equal to that used in any pri ! vate or municipal Institution through j out the country. I One of the many features of the new I building Includes accommodations for I single patients in private rooms on I every floor, in addition to wards con ; taining 15 beds, compartments suffl ! cient In size for five patients and wards ! containing 2 beds. These various ; types of accommodations are available i lor the use of patients whose physical I condition requires special care and ; treatment. The new hospital accommo | dates only free -patients. s OFFERS SPELLING^LIST. Contest Chairman Will Give In formation to Entrants. In answer to numerous requests being ; made for lists of the first 300 words to I be used in the free-for-all spelling con ! test to be held at the Mount Pleasant i Library December 4 at 7:30 o'clock E. IC. Helm, contest chairman, of 4311 : Wells avenue, Brentwood, Md„ has an nounced that the lists may be obtained iby writing him. The contest is to be | held to determine the District spelling ! champion. | PROBUS CLUB MEETS. j Community Cheat Worker Ad - j dresses Gathering. ' The Probus Club held its weekly meeting yesterday at the Ambassador Hotel. Lewis Y. Buckingham, president of he club, presided at the meeting and Harry Hites of the Community Cheat delivered an address on ‘ , Publleity. , * WASHINGTON, D. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1929. Forum Speaker A ( A. BERTRAND RUSSELL, Distinguished philosopher, who will be hoard In the national forum of the Jewish Community Center Sunday evening at 8:15 o’clock. Mr. Russell delivers the Tamer lectures at Trinity College, England. The public la in vited to attend. FUND $2,000 HIGHER IN RED CROSS DRIVE Contributions in Annual Roll Call Pass Mark Attained Here Last Year. The annual roll call of the American Red Cross was concluded last night. Receipts for the campaign totaled more than $34,000. or $2,000 more than the the total returns made for the same period in last year’s drive, it was an nounced at the headquarters of the Dis trict of Columbia Chapter, 1342 G street, by Mrs. Harry C. Barnes, di rector. However, although the campaign is over, the roll call headquarters will re main open to contributions until after January 1, 1930. Many departments of the Government and several large business houses, which annually have yielded generous donations, have yet to be heard from, and when the returns from these groups are made, the grand total for the drive is expected to reach a new high level. Little Girls Workers. Last among the active solicitors In the campaign were little Misses Peggy Dow and Constance Wirt of the Misses Eastman’s School, who yesterday jointly turned over to the Red Cross sll9 as a result of their solicitations through the school. Twenty-three other pupils of the school also were mads members. The Treasury Department, with 3,700 members enrolled, continues to occupy first place among the departments of the Government heard from to date. The Government Printing Office is sec ond with 1,527 enrolled and the War Department third with 1,353. These figures, however, do not represent the total expected from these departments. The contributions of other Govern ment branches to date follow: Department of Commerce $1,032 Veterans’ Bureau 460 District Building. 333 Naval Air Station 239 Department of Justice 311 Library of Congress.... 175 War Department 1060 The Navy Department has not yet been heard from. i Membership Drive. The drive for memberships this year also has met with the whole-hearted support of the business houses of Wash ington. The city was canvassed for 16 days by 600 volunteer workers. Last minute contributions received yesterday were given out at head quarters as follows: Pan American Union; $32.00. Sidwell Friends School, $101.35. Church of Our Father, $30.00 (addi tional). Federal Trade Commission, SIBO.OO. Calvary Baptist Church, SIO.OO (addi tional). Eastern Presbyterian Church, $29.00. Judd and Detweiler, Inc., $300.00. Columbia Typographical Union, No. 101, SIOO.OO. Fifth division public schools. $160.25. National Headquarters, $636.75. Miss Maderla’s School, $217.27. National Cathedral School for Girls, $235.00. Garnet-Patterson Junior High School, $30.00. Mayflower Hotel, $16.00. Alien Property Custodian, $35.00. EDUCATION DEPARTMENT PROVIDED IN NEW BILL j Measure Is Being Drafted by Chair man Reed of House Committee. Chairman Reed of the House com mittee on education is drafting a new bill providing for creation of a depart ment of Education with a new cabinet officer at its head, to aid the States in educational matters. He emphasized that this new department will be set up primarily for research purposes, and that the bill he Introduces will not au thorize the proposed department to in terfere with the States, but to co-oper ate with them and co-ordinate their efforts. The educational activities of the In terior Department and the Federal Board for Vocational Education would be transferred to the new department under Reed's proposal. A Federal con ference of .education composed of rep resentatives from different Government departments would be set up for ad visory purposes as to means of improv ing educational methods. “There is a general sentiment throughout the country for a Depart ment of Education,’’ Reed said. “The problems of education have grown to such extent research is needed to bring about Improvement and economy in educational methods.” Broadcaster Says Census Insults Housekeepers Listed No Occupation" A call to the housewives of the country to rise from their mops and palls, pots and pans and protest against being classified as of "no occupation” in the next census was broadcast last night by Mrs. Florence Bayard Hilles of Wilmington, Del. Speaking over a Nation-wide radio hook-up, the national vice chairman of the Woman’s Party said that the ruling of the Census Bureau that women who, were housekeepers should be listed as; without occupation was an “indignity to which women who value themselves . and their work should not submit," j i MW APPROVES CAFETERIAS IN NEW BUILDINGS IN MALL N Has No Objection to Eating Place in Commerce Struc ture During Construction. PROBLEM IS EXPLAINED BY SECRETARY MELLON Says luncheon Service Will Be | Increasingly Difficult as Pro gram Goes Forwfrd. Cafeterias in the new public build ing being constructed in the Pennsyl vania avenue-Mall triangle have the approval of Controller General McCarl. McCarl told Secretary of the Treas ury Mellon yesterday that he would not object to funds appropriated for con-! struction purposes being used to build! a cafeteria in the Department of Com-, merce Building while the structure is ( being erected. It was algo learned that a cafeteria has been provided in the Internal Reve- | nue Building, which will be the first triangle building completed and ready for occupancy next July 1. The cafeteria in the Department of Commerce Building is to be in the basement, while the one in the Internal Revenue Building Is on the seventh floor. Real Problem Presented. A real problem was presented in the matter of providing eating places for the large number of employes to be housed in the triangle, Secretary Mellon explained. “It has long been established." the Secretary said in his letter to McCarl, ! "that rest rooms, cafeterias, emergency j medical attention, and so forth, are | necessary adjuncts to the proper func -1 tioning of the various executive offices ; and bureaus where large numbers of employes are housed in a single baild ing. The question of the proper ac commodation of the Government em ployes who will be housed in the ‘tri angle' area for luncheon service will be increasingly difficult as the building program goes forward, with a conse quent reaction on employes’ efficiency in the event that suitable provision is not made near or in the new buildings. Situation -Recognized. "This situation was recognized by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Sec retary of Commerce in the develop ment of the plans for the building of the Department of Commerce, which will eventually house between 8.000 and 9.000 employes, and provision was made in the drawings and specifications for the assignment of space for and the equipment of* a cafeteria of suitable size, it having been determined as an administrative question that the cafe teria was a necessity.” It was explained that the contractor, the Consolidated Engineering Co., had placed its bid on the complete cafeteria and was planning to go ahead with the necessary work of “roughing in” for w'ater, steam, gas and electric outlets. OF POLICE PRAISED | Davison in Letter to Pratt Lauds Type of Officers on Metro politan Force. The individual appearance and mili tary bearing of the members of Wash ington’s police force were highly com mended by Maj. D. A. Davison, Assist ant Engineer Commissioner, in a letter addressed to Maj. Henry G. Pratt, su perintendent of police, made public yes terday. Maj. Davison participated with Maj. Pratt in the recent inspection of the personnel, equipment and station houses. “I was particularly impressed with the high type of police officers compris ing the Metropolitan police force,” Maj. Davison stated. "The individual ap pearance and military bearing of the members of the force are excellent." Maj. Pratt said he regarded the com ments of Maj. Davison particularly sig nificant, in view of the latter's years of experience as an Army officer. EXPENSE FOR RECOVERING BODY REFUSED &Y U. S.' Father # Denied Refund of Money Bpent After Civilian Employ® of Army Drowned. Expenses incurred by his father, Den nis A. Sheedy, in recovering the body of Leo H. Sheedy, civilian employe of the Engineer Department of the Army, ac cidentally were denied yester day by Controller General McCarl. The boy was drowned on April 18, 1928. while employed as a deck hand on the steamer Nauvoo at Keokuk, lowa, and it was some time later that the body was recovered. Among the expenses which were de nied payment were services of five dif ferent men for dragging the river; of a man for distributing handbills offer ing rewards; of another for rowing the father around islands looking for the body; for the rental of a "trammel” net, and a SIOO reward for recovery of the body. The claim of $221.®0 sub mitted by the father through the United States Employes’ Compensation Com mission was denied by McCarl because, the controller general said, it could not be considered as a legal expenditure either for the payment of funeral or burial expenses. The Government did allow, however, the actual burial ex penses and the cost of transporting the body. “The average working time of the farm woman is 63 hours a week, and ihe woman is the most important factor on the farm," Mrs. Hilles said. “In the face of these facts, the classification given to these women in the census as being without occupation is an insult." “I call upon every housewife of this country not to submit to being listed I without occupation in the census soon to be taken, but to write down without ! fear or hindrance her position as home maker, one of the most Important of j all occupations.** GLEE CLUB TO PRESENT PLAY Hlne Junior High School students who will present the one-act operetta, ‘‘Pfffy and the Pirate,” in the school auditorium December 5 and 8. The mem bers of the cast shown above are, left to right: Lulu Tierney, Lois Loeffler, Mary Ellen Kettler, Elsie May, Sockrider, Zilda Weightman, Louise Abner, Marion Lee and Elizabeth Fletcher. —star Staff Photo. STUDENTS AT HINE TO GIVE OPERETTA “Peggy and the Pirate” Will Be Offered at School December 5 and 6. Boys and girls and teachers of Hine Junior High School, Seventh and C streets southeast, are engaged in pre paring for the presentation of a one-act operetta, “Peggy and the Pirate,” at the school auditorium at 8 o’clock on the evenings of December 5 and 6. The op eretta will be given by the Boys’ and Girls’ Glee Clubs of the school and'will be the most elaborate production of its kind ever given by the students of Hine. Rehearsals are progressing and cos tumes have been made for the players who will add to the picturesqueness of the scenes on the stage. Among the boy# and girls who will take leading parse are: Harry Fonoroff, Melvin Eicher. Mary Ellen Ketler, Zelda Wrightman, William Bell, Majery League, Mary Folmer, William Martin, Charles Green and Daniel Gevinson. In addition to the principals in the operetta there will be a large chorus, in which many other boys and girls of the school will sing. The operetta is the work of Geoffrey F. Morgan, who wrote the libretto, and Geoffrey O’Hara, who composed the music. It will be given under the direc tion of Miss Helen W. Merriam and Miss Marie Walcott, members of the Hine faculty. NEW YORK-MIAMI AIR LINE PLAN RENEWED Konte of Pitcairn Passenger Serv ices to Include Stop at Washington. Renewal of plans for the inauguration of an air passenger service between New York and Miami, passing through this city, by Pitcairn Aviation, Inc., op erators of the coastal air mail line, have been announced here bv Col. Paul Hen derson of the Curtlss-Wright Co., own ers of the Pitcairn line. Plans for the service were announced by Pitcairn officials nearly a year ago, but were abandoned temporarily prior to the purchase of the Pitcairn line by the Curtiss-Wright group earlier this year. Col. Henderson, who also is a vice president of Transcontinental Air Transport and of National Air Trans port, said that no date has been set for the inauguration of the passenger service. SENATE COMMERCE BODY WILL RESUME HEARINGS Couzens Discusses Legislative Pro gram Including Railroad Con solidation With Hoover. The Senate interstate commerce com mittee will resume it* hearings on the Federal communications bill early next month. Chairman Couzens of the committee, after a call upon President Hoover, said yesterday he had discussed with him the legislative program before his com mittee during the approaching session, including the bill for railroad consoli dation. However, he did not disclose the reactions of Mr. Hoover on this leg islation. Hearings on the communications bill, relating principally to conditions in the radio world, probably will be undertaken during the second week of the session. A railroad consolidation bill was re ported by the committee last session and probably will be taken up again by the committee early next month. Senator Fess, Republican, Ohio, is sponsor of that bill. FIRE ROUTS RESIDENTS OF CATHEDRAL MANSIONS Little Damage Is Done by Blaze in Hall Closet Put Out by Hand Extinguishers. Fire last night at Cathedral Mansions, 3000 Connecticut avenue, for the second i time within three months brought j hundreds of residents from their apart ments and filled the long corridors with smoke. The blaze originated in a small hall storage closet. It Ls thought, from spontaneous combustion, and caused little damage. ’ For 15 minutes traffic on Connecticut avenue was blocked by the firemen, working under the direction of Fifth Battalion Chief H. B. Barker, Three engine and three truck companies re sponded to the alarm. The fire was put out with hand extinguishers. Society and General STORES ARE READY FOR YULE SHOPPING Christmas Buying Expected to Be in Full Swing by Saturday. The Christmas shopping season will be in full swing by Saturday, if experi ences of the past several years in Wash ington are followed this year, it was stated today by MaJ. Gen. Anton Stephan, president of the Merchants and Manufacturers’ Association. In anticipation of the increased throngs expected in the downtown sec tion, local merchants have placed on display full stocks of Christmas offer ings,' ordered months ago in keeping with the shop-early mail-early move ment which is designed to minimize the last minute rush of shopping and mail ing in the last few days before the Christmas holidays. Thanksgiving day, in the modem system of merchandising, brought about by customer demands, Gen. Stephen said, marks the ‘’kick-off" in the Christmas shopping season. Tomorrow most of the department stores and shops will be decked out in Christmas dress and many of the show windows will be gay with Christmas colors. Records of local street car companies show, Gen. Stephan points out, that there is a definite upward curve of pas senger travel Immediately following Thanksgiving day. as a result of the trend of early shopping for the Yuletide holiday. WIFE INSERTION LAW TO BE UPHELD Supreme Court Decision in Favor of Seizure of Husband's Deposits Indicated. The Supreme Court is expected to uphold the New York law enabling de serted wives to attach their husband's bank deposits. Hearing arguments against the law on behalf of the Corn Exchange Bank, the justices almost all disagreed yes terday with the position taken by Spot tlswood D. Bowers. Subsequently Chief Justice Taft halted argument by J. Joseph Lilly in support of the law, saying the court was with him. In the usual course, this meant that the court would soon af firm the decision of the lower courts and uphold the law. Attack on the law was based on pro ceedings to seize the deposit of Raf faele de Stefano in the bank. In an affidavit, his wife maintained de Stefano had deserted her and Bird S. Coler. commissioner of public works, obtain ed the requisite orders from two city magistrates to seize Stefano’s deposits. Demand was made upon the bank for the money, but it refused to pay, contending the law was invalid be cause it did not provide notice to the depositor and give him opportunity to be heard. Suit was brought against the bank and the law was sustained bv the lower courts, which required it to pay over the money. + AUDITS ARE SPEEDED Experts From Three Departments to Assist Account* ants. Expert accountants from the War, Interior and Agricultural Departments will aid the Federal Power Commission to establish principles to govern the audit of power company capitalizations running into billions of dollars. The chief accountant of the. commission was ?iven a free hand yesterday to select rom the accounting personnel of these departments men capable of aiding him in the completion of pending cases, and the departments have agreed to make the men available for this pur pose. Due to the inadequacy of its own ac counting force, the commission found itself, nine years after its creation, with about 1,000 unsettled applications await ing decision and without a guiding set of principles by which to determine what items might be included legiti mately in their capitalization by power companies. The few cases involving disputed capitalization which have been passed upon by the accountants have been tied up by legal questions. The power commission for years has asked Congress for an increase in its accounting staff and last year received ’ a small additional appropriation for the purpose. »1 PAGE 13 CAPPER SEES TWO SCHOOL QUESTIONS PRESSING CONGRESS Forthcoming Session Should Act on Free Text Books and Portables, He Says. COMMITTEE MEETS AT EARL? DATE Building Question Likely to Come Up in New Appropriations Discussion. Chairman Capper of the Senate Dis trict committee believes the session of Congress beginning next week should take action on two questions of vital in terest to the local public school system, the free text-book bill and the problem of getting rid of portable school struc tures more rapidly. The Senator expects the first meeting of his committee to be held scon after the session gets under way, and has in dicated the text-book bill will be among the first presented to his associates for action. The question of speeding up the building program in order to do away with the need for portables is likely to come up in connection with the fixing of appropriations for the new fiscal year. In this connection there is pend ing In both branches of Congregs a bill to authorize an expansion of the orig inal school building program. FIVE MOToRISTSHURT . IN AUTO ACCIDENTS Man and Wife Are Injured When Car Skids on Rock ville Pike. Five persons were injured, none seri ously. in three automobile accidents re ported to police last night and this morning. Mr. and Mrs. William Cole of 1825 New Hampshire avenue, narrowly es caped serious injury last midnight when the machine in which they were riding with Dr. V. Pearson of 1514 Seventeenth street, skidded on the wet highway and partially overturned on the Rockville pike, near Bethesda, Md. They were treated at Emergency Hospital for lacerations -to the head and body bruises, ar.d Dr. Pearson was 'taken to Georgetown University Hospi tal and treated for lacerations to the forehead. Victor Bauman, 30, of 175 V street, was slightly injured yesterday when run down at North Capitol street and Rhode Island avenue northeast by an automobile operated by Lottie Houser, whose address police did not learn. The woman took the injured man to the nearby office of Dr. L. A. Cornett at 1927 North Capitol street for treatment. Richard J. Burlesque of Clarendon, Va., suffered painful injuries to the face and head last night when his machine was sideswiped by another car near Hughesville, Md. He was treated at Casualty Hospital and later went home. FREDERICK aThOLTON EXPIRES AT AGE OF 70 Was Formerly Scientific Expert With Washington Firm of Patent Attorneys. Frederick Arthur Holton, 70 years old, formerly associated as a scientific expert with the firm of Mauro. Cameron & Lewis, patent lawyers, and for many years a resident of this city, died in Garfield Hospital today after a long illness. Mr. Holton’s wife, by whom he is sur vived. founded the Holton-Arms School, 2125 S street, in 1901. During the early years of the school Mr. Holtoh contributed very largely to its success. - Memorial services, which will take the place of funeral services, will be conducted in All Souls’ Unitarian Church, Monday morning at 11 o’clock. The services will be attended by the faculty and students of the Holton- Arms School. A native of Galesburg, 111., Mr. Hol ton came to this city at an early age. As a boy he attended Emerson Insti tute and was graduated from Cornell University in 1883. Subsequently he w r as an instructor at Cornell. • Later, returning to this citv, he was employed in the United States Patent Office for a number of years and at the same time taught chemistrv in the Washington College of Pharmacy. Fol lowing this he became connected with the law firm of Mauro, Cameron and Lewis. He retired about 10 years ago. In 1891, he married Miss Jessie Moon of Newport, N. Y. -■ ■■■ . STEAMSHIP EXECUTIVE DIES IN SAN FRANCISCO Clarence P. Stone, Widely Known Here, Stricken in Office Monday. Clarence P. Stone, 53 years old, sec retary of the W. R. Grace Co. Steam ship Line, formerly connected with the United States Shipping Board and wide ly known in this city, died in San Fran cisco, Monday after being stricken in the offices of the steamship company, according to word received here. Funeral services were to be held in San Francisco. Mr. Stone was a mem ber of the Washington Golf and Coun try Club in this city. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Stone, and a son, Gordon Stone. PENNSYLVANIA SALESMAN ARRESTED AS FUGITIVE Walter Albert Clark, 45-year-old salesman from Allentown, Pa., was art rested by Headquarters Detective L. m! Wilson yesterday and held at the fifth precinct police station as a fugitive from Justice pending arrival of authori ties from Allentown, where he was said to be wanted in connection with a 83,500 embezzlement. Police said that a warrant sent here by the Pennsylvania authorities charges that Clark embezzled the money from the American Cemetery Association, in corporated. of Allentown, while he waa in employ.