Evening star. [volume], September 18, 1930, Page PAGE B-1, Image 17

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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Washington News
' i
LORE OF SALISH
INDIANS SAVED
FROM OBLIVION
James A. Teit Collects Prim
itive Mythologies tor Smith
sonian Institution.
TALES CENTER ABOUT
COYOTE, CULTURAL HERO
Believed Heat and Cold Were
Brother*, and That Heat
Killed Cold.
BY THOMAS It. HENRY.
Remnants of one of the most Imag
inative primitive mythologies has been
saved from oblivion by the Bureau of '
American Ethnology of the Smithsonian
Institution.
This consists of the folklore, crea
tion stories and astronomical phantasies
of the Sallsh tribes of Indians of the
Northwest, collected by James A. Telt,
and just Issued as an annual report
by the bureau.
Much of the mythology centers about
a cultural hero, Coyote, who captured
the winds with snares and so made
the earth habitable for human beings.
He also killed the monsters which
roamed the earth.
The winds, varying from season to
season and bringing good and evil with
them, took a notable part In the In- I
terpretation of nature by the primi
tive mind, according to the report. A
belief was held that hot and cold winds,
or heat and cold themselves, were
brothers. The first was a handsome
fellow and the other ugly.
Heat Killed Cold.
Once when his brother was away
Cold got angry at the people and said
he would kill them. He made such cold
weather that everybody began to freeze
to death. Heat, hearing that the peo
ple were dying, hurried home to save
them. He made the weather so hot
that he killed hi* brother. Since then
heat can always kill cold. Ice. frost
and snow malt away and die at his
coming.
In the beginning, according to this
mythology, it was always dark. The
people chose the robin to liy up in the
sky and be the sun. But he made It so
hot that everybody was In danger of
burning up. so they deposed him and
put a one-eyed man in hta place. Since
then It never has been too hot.
When the cultural hero. Coyote, fin
ished his work on earth the people chose
him to go up in the sky and become
the moon. He was rather unsatisfac
tory because he always divulged what
he saw on earth.
Stars Considered Transformed.
Most of the stars are considered to
hsve been transformed people of the
mythic period. The Great Bear, for
instance, is explained as follows:
Once there were three brothers who
had a brother-ia-law, a grizzly bear.
The youngest brother loved the brother
in-law, but the two elders hated him.
They set out one day to kill him and
the youngest brother followed to warn
him. Ail three found him at the same
time. Just as they were about to shoot
they were changed into stars.
A group of stars forming a circle is
said to have been in the beginning a
group of women cooking. Skunk came
to destroy the cooking. To keep him
away the women formed a circle around
the oven and in this position were
changed into stars. Another group of
stars is called the Canoe. Five men
were making the canoe and another
directing the work when they were
transformed.
The people, according to the report,
believe in a race of red dwarfs which
live in the trees and carry their babies
upside down on board carriers. People
whom they approach lose their senses.
When they come out of their stupor
they find themselves leaning against a
tree upside down.
Another race of dwaifs are the size
of small boys, who dress in squirrel
skins, carry small bows and arrows and
live in cliffs in the mountains. The
people know they exist because one was
found dead as late as 1595.
"Tr«e Men” Mythical Groap.
Still another group of mythical be
ings are the “tree men,” who dress in
buffalo skins, have a strong odor and
have the power of transforming them
selves into trees and bushes. Thu* they
remain invisible to human beings, but
the Indians know they exist because
sometimes bushes mysteriously disap
pear or change places, they say.
Giants formerly were common. They
have a strong odor, like the smell of
burning horn. They dress in bear
skins and live in caves in the rocks.
Somewhat akin to the giants are the
“land and water mysteries” located in
waterfalls, lakes and mountain peaks.
A person who sees one of them dies j
shortly afterward. Some lakes, the
Indians say. have underground passages
leading from the bottom to holes in the
tops of high mountains, for the conven
ience of the “mysteries.”
Hair-raising ghost stories were com
mon. A person might have one or two
ghosts, one of which remained near the
body. The other went away to a mys
terious land where all ghosts lived to
gether. The one that remained on
earth wandered about the places the
person had frequented in his lifetime,
but finally disappeared and nobody
knew where it went.
Ghosts of drowned people haunted
the water for a time. Ghosts of the
newly dead liked to visit their old
acquaintances. If repelled they gave
up their attempts and afterward ap
peared only in lonely places and near
grate*.
In ihe beginning, according to this
mythology, people did not die, but death
was finally brought Into the world by
a woman and since then everybody has
died.
WAR VETERAN COMMITS
SUICIDE IN HOSPITAL
Said to have been suffering from an
hallucination that he had been defraud
ed of $50,000 and that he was having
trouble over a supposed claim against
Porto Rico. Howard A. Stevens, 38 years
old, a patient at St, Elizabeth's Hos
pital, ended his life at that institution
last night by hanging himself with a
bed sheet tied to a window grating in
a private room.
His act was discovered when L. L.
Waters, an attendant, went to Btevens'
room early today. A certificate of sui
cide was issued by Coroner J. Ramsay
Nevltt.
Stevens, a World War veteran, was
first committed to the hospital June S,
1929, but escaped in September and
went to Columbus, Ohio, where he was
committed to the Columbus State Hos
pital for the Insane.
He was recommitted to St. Elizabeth's
on June 12 this year.
THE LATEST SENATORIAL BRIDE
f - ■
I Jit
MRS. ROBERT LA FOLLETTE, JR.,
I Who yesterday became the bride of the Senator from Wisconsin. Mrs. la Fol
lette was Miss Rachel Wilson Young, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ludwirk C.
Young of 1889 Mintwood place, this city. The ceremony took place at the Sen
ator’s Maple Bluff farm home, near Madison, Wis. The bride was Senator La Fol
lette’s secretary.
THEATER OPERATOR
STRIKE POSTPONED
Second Truce Averts Action
in Support of Local
Musicians.
Assurance that there will remain
“living music" and stage shows in the
Capital's downtown theaters for an
other week at least were given by
musicians and theater owners late yes
terday, following a conference between
the organizations Involved in the local
theater dispute In New York.
Sympathy Strike Averted.
The second “truce" effected between
the owners and musicians averts for
the second time a projected sympathy
strike by projection machine operators ■
here, and paves the way for longer ne
gotiations between the projection men’s
union and the local theater owners, it
was announced today.
Theater owners were expecting an
agent from the national headquarters
of the projectionists to confer with
them today on the projected sympathy
strike, but this afternoon, A. Julian
Brylawski, president of the Theater
Owners’ Association here, said no agent
of the projectionists has arrived, and
what conversations are being had are
with the local officials of the projec
tionists’ union.
The projectionists have been under
orders to leave the local picture houses
when the musicians go out, although
they have no fight with the theater
owners and hava just signed contracts
at higher pay.
Musicians Locked Out.
Musicians in independent houses not
affiliated with any of the chain theaters,
which comprise, for the most part, the
downtown theaters, were locked out of
the theaters Sunday night, but the pro
jection men are still working at these
houses.
Musicians had no further plans for
negotiations with the theater owners,
they stated today. The union here, ac
cording to John E. Birdsell, secretary of
the local union, has received ap
proximately 10,000 replies to the straw
vote submitted to Washington theater
goers to determine the number of Capi
tal residents who prefer “living” music
to the “canned" music in the theaters.
ACCIDENT IS VERDICT
IN DEATH OF CHILD
; Albert Jeffrie*, 4, Succumbs to
Injuries When Run Down
by Truck.
A coroner’s jury today returned a ver
dict of accidential death after investi
gating an accident yesterday in which
Albert Jeffries, 4 years old, of 3213
Volta place was killed.
Police reported the boy was crossing
the street near his home when he was
struck by a light truck operated by
Dewey Rinker of 1743 L street. The
truck driver said he had just passed
an automobile going in the opposite
direction when the chil<L stepped into
the path of the truck. Rimpr was driv
ing west on Volta place.
The truck Is owned by J. T. Becker,
plumber, of 1020 Eighteenth street.
Already bleeding from a severe cut
near the eye, Adolph Jeuneman. 14
years old. of the 200 block C street
northeast, received a possible fracture
of the skull and lacerations of the neck
yesterday afternoon when a machine
in which he was being taken to a hos
pital crashed into another car at Third
and East Capitol streets.
The youth was attempting to open a
pop bottle in the store of his father,
George A. Jeuneman, when the cap flew
off and hit him near the eye, opening a
deep gash.
He was being carried to the hospital
by his father and a friend. Mitchell
Phillips, 38, when the Jeuneman auto
mobile collided with a sedan driven by
Sergt. A. G. Bargagnl of the Fire De
partment and marshal of the annual
Labor day parade.
Adolph was hrown against the wind
shield of his father's auto when it over
turned and struck a parked car owned
bv William R. Lynch of Ballston, Va.
He was extricated from the wreck and
carried to Casualty Hospital for treat
i ment.
The boy’s father was taken to Provi
-1 dence Hospital and given flr/ u -ald treat
i ment for minor cuts, while Phillips re
ceived attention for similar injuries at
Casualty Hospital. Sergt, Bargagnl and
. three companions, all escaped
uninjured.
W)t pfatf
ASKS ANNULMENT
OF HER MARRIAGE
Washington Woman Charges
Defrauding of Property and
Matrimonial Trickery.
Alleging she was defrauded of her \
property and tricked into matrimony, j
I Mrs. Jenney Backenheimer, 629 Second
street, asked the District Supreme Court
j today to annul her marriage to Jules
Backenheimer, 600 Columbia road.
The plaintiff, through Attorney
George German, tells the court she met
Backenheimer in the latter part of the
year 1929. He came to'her home, she I
says, and asked her to insure the life
of her husband. After learning that
i she was a widow, Backenheimer, ascer- (
taining that she was inexperienced in
worldly matters, made love to her and
regularly borrowed small sums of money,
she alleges.
Asks for Real Estate.
When she refused to give him any
more money, she declares, he broached
the subject of marriage and, after
their engagement, insisted on borrow
ing $5,000 from her.
After unsuccessful attempts on her
part to raise the money, he came to her
a day or so before their marriage, she
alleges, and suggested that in order to
raise money to embark In the diamond
business she must convey to him her
real estate at 629 Second street, and
that this must be done before their mar
riage as it could not legally be donp
I afterward. Relying on his protestations
of love and believing that he was act
ing in good faith, she deeded the prop
erty to him, the plaintiff says.
New Home I* Bought.
Thereafter, she alleges, he refused to
| live with her and insisted that she buy I
another home at 406 Sheppard street.
She says that she did ,this and also
spent *1,200 on the new house, but that
i he still refused to share it with her as
man and wife. At hLs insistence, she
says, the title to the new property was
taken in his and her names as tenants
by the entirety.
She further alleges that the defendant
is a man of immoral and depraved 1
character, that he has threatened her I
on many occasions and injured her |
health by hLs acts. She asks the court
for return of her property and dissolu
tion of her marriage on the ground of
fraud.
CAPITOL CELEBRATES 137th BIRTHDAY
On September 18, 1793, George Washington laid the corner stone for the
irreat white stone building on Capitol Hill in whirh the Congress and the Supreme
j Court meet. Above is H. D. Houser, acting architect of the Capitol, examining
the bronse tablet which marks the location of the corner stons,
i —underwood Photo.
WASHINGTON, D. C., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1930. ***
LUNCHROOM PLANS
AT CENSUS BUILDING
REACH STANDSTILL
■
Controller General McCarl
Blocks Use of Appropriation
for Building Annex.
FACILITIES FOR EATING
MAKE GRAVE PROBLEM
Ruling Declares That Building of
Lunch Room Is Not “Supplies”
or “Equipment.”
Efforts of the Census Bureau to build
a lunch room for its 6,000 temporary
I employes now engaged in census work’
j near Sixth street and Missouri avenue
were blocked today by Controller Gen
! eral McCarl.
While census officials refused flatly
; to discuss the matter, it was learned
i Indirectly that they were deeply dis
appointed at the controller generals
decision, which denies them the use of
$13,500 for a lunch room of funds al
ready appropriated for the Census
Bureau.
The luncheon situation at noontime
has been approaching serious propor
tions, causing congestion in the streets,
; and the lack of suitable luncheon fa
j cilitie? has been growing serious as the
] crowd of workers increases. Small
; lunch wagons line the streets at the
noon hour and all lunch rooms in the
immediate vicinity are overcrowded.
Uae of Funds Opposed.
Secretary' of Commerce Lamont put
the question up to Controller Genejal
i McCarl in t.he form of a ouerv as to
ivicv;ari in i.ne iorm oi a query as w
whether the Secretary could use fund*
already appropriated to put up an ad
dition or an extension to temporary
building D at Sixth and Missouri ave
nue to be used as a lunch room.
“It is proposed,'’ said the McCarl de
cision, “to construct the addition or
extension on the north side of the ex
isting building with connections thereto,
the total cost being estimated at $13,-
500. ' It is represented that existing
conditions at lunch time impede the
progress of the work incident to the
census and that proper lunch facilities
are essential to a completion of the
census work within the time allotted.”
The item in the appropriation which
the Department of Commerce thought
I could be used was appropriated by Con
i gress for 'the purchase of supplies and
equipment, including books of refer-
I ence,‘ periodicals, maps, manuscripts,
punch cards and materials and other
contingent expenses.’ ”
McCarl, in denying the request, de
clared that “manifestly the erection of
a building or of an extension or addi
tion to a building cannot be regarded
as ‘the purchase of supplies (or) and
equipment.' ’’
Furthermore McCarl declared, it had
been -held uniformly that provisions of
law "preclude the erection of any pub
lic buildings or public Improvements—
including an.. extension or addition to
a public building-—under an appropria
tion not specifically therefor. Clearly
an appropriation for purchase of sup
plies and equipment and other contin
gent expenses is not a specific appro
priation for the erection of a building
or of an extension or of an addition to
a building.”
Building Is Temporary.
In addition, McCarl pointed out that
the old Building D is classed as “tem
porary.” is designed for use by the Gov
ernment, and neither this building nor
any addition to it could reasonably be
classed as a "necessary instrumentality
in the administration and execution of
the appropriation act" for the Bureau of
the Census.
Meantime, it is understood that offi
cials of the Department of Commerce j
are making efforts to provide some kind 1
of lunch room facilities through other j
channels. How successful they will be
they do not know at this time. With
the approach of Fall and Winter, how
ever, it is felt that something urgent
must be done and the situation would
become practically impossible in the In
clement Winter weather with sleet and
snow holding employes to a nearby
area during their lunch period at noon.
G. 0. P. WOMEN TO MEET
•
Absentee voting by persons residing
in the District will be discussed at a
meetihg of the League of Republican
Women in the Washington Club Octo
ber 6.
Arrangements also were made yester
day at a meeting of the board of direc
tor to continue this season a series of
luncheons, dinners and teas held last
year. Mrs. E, A. Harriman, president,
presided.
CENSUS EMPLOYES FORCED INTO THE STREETS FOR LUNCH
ffi* .ft , > pjpssßj* ,
V§s^' r : jSJjfUK 1 * MJFjusg 'y.^
h" v ; * *
"' '■ -A
With Inadequate facilities available for thousands of Census Bureau employes. Controller General MeCarl today de
nied the Department of Commerce request to use Governmen t funds to build a cafeteria. Scene above shows throngs of
luncheon-seeking census workers at the noon day crowd today, while below are girls eating their lunch out of doors.
—Star Staff Photos.
GOLF COURSE WORK
TO START MONDAY
Citizens Advised to Remove
Crops From Anacostia
Park Area.
Washingtonians who have done their
gardening on the public domain in the
region northeast of the Pennsylvania
Avenue Bridge at Anacostia Park and
still have crops standing there were ad
vised today by F. W. Hoover, general
manager of the Welfare and Recrea
tional Association of Public Buildings
and Grounds, Inc., lo take away any
thing deemed of value immediately.
The reason for this, he explained, is
that a start will be made on construc
tion of the $30,000 nine-hole golf course
in Anacostia Park on Monday morning
and the ground must be cleared by
then.
The contract for completion of the
golf course had been awarded to O. B.
Fitts of Clarendon, Va.. supervisor of
the course and greens of the Columbia
j Country Club. Plowing of the erstwhile
| public gardens will start on Monday
i morning and the greens will be seeded
this Fall. Seeding of the fairways is
contingent upon the weather, but Mr.
Hoover and his associates in the asso
ciation hope to have the completed
course turned over to their jurisdiction
by the contractor about May 1 next.
The affected area is some 2,400 feet
northeast of the Pennsylvania Avenue
Bridge in Anacostia Park and extends
some 800 feet easterly from the Ana
costia River and embraces some 50
acres of land.
Under this program, the whole area
( given over to the public gardens will
not be affected at this time, as only
those who took the gardens this year
with the understanding that only early
crops would be planted, fall within the
ruling of Mr. Hooves. He said today
that these people were given notice
that they would have to vacate by
September 1, so that now they have
had more than two weeks beyond this
time.
The public gardens adjacent to the
Benning Bridge at Anacostia Park will
not be involved in the forthcoming con
struction work, as it will be some time
before that area will be actively im
proved as park land by the office of
Public Buildings and Public Parks.
ARLINGTON BRIDGE
GRADE BIDS STUDIED
Local Firm’s Offer of $27,132 Ex
pected to Win Contract for Vir
ginia Slope Work.
The Arlington Memorial Bridge Com
mission, of which President Hoover is
the chairman, had before it today for
study bids of a dozen engineering firms,
seeking to obtain the contract for grad
ing the parkway to the memorial
entrance to Arlington National Ceme
tery. in the program of carrying west
ward the Arlington Memorial Bridge
project on the Virginia side of the Po
tomac River.
While the bids are now being digested,
indications are that Warren F. Brenizer
Co., a local firm which offered to do
the work for $27,132. and was the low
est bidder, will likely be awarded the
contract. Washington, Baltimore, Nor
folk, Dayton. Ohio, and Mechanicsville,
Md„ firms offer to do the work. The
contracting figures ran all the way up
to $57,810.
The work calls for excavation of the
Virginia slope leading up to Arlington
National Cemetery from the Boundary
Channel Bridge of the Arlington Memo
rial Bridge project so that the new
parkway will have an easy grade to the
cemetery.
Suicide May Be Buried Today.
The body of the unidentified man
who committed suicide by hanging
himself in the old Coast Guard Build
ing, at Fourteenth and E streets, some
time Monday night, was to be buried in
Potter's Field this afternoon unless his
Identity i> established in the meantime,
attendants at the District Morgue said
today.
Admr. Pratt Keeps
Informed of Races
In Major Leagues
By th« Associated Press.
Admiral William V. Pratt, who
has just become chief of naval
operations, is a base ball fan.
Starting his new assignment,
he asked newspaper men today to
keep him informed of the prog
ress of major league games.
Brooklyn is his choice to win
the National League pennant,
while his aide, Lieut. “Jimmy”
Campbell, favored St. Louis. For
two days in a row the admiral
has watched the Robins lose
games to the Cards and has
taken a considerable joshing from
Campbell.
As an undergraduate at Annap
j oils. Admiral Pratt played on the
base ball team.
CAMPBELL RELEASE
j ACTION IS DELAYED
Hearing Saturday on Merits
of District Indictment to Be
Basis of Developments.
The effort to obtain the release of
Herbert M. Campbell, Alexandria, Va.,
i real estale man, who is under Indict
ment for the murder of Mary Baker,
was held in abeyance today and indica
tions were that further developments
will hinge upon the result of a hearing
| to be held Saturday in Alexandria, when
j Federal Judge D. Lawrence Groner will
jbe asked to rule on the question of
j whether Campbell shall be removed to
j Washington to face trial.
Charles Henry Smith of Alexandria,
chief of counsel for Campbell, said to
day he was considering attacking the
! indictment under which the man is
I held as being invalid, but had not ar
| rived at a decision.
Wants Early Trial.
Smith said his principal interest was
j to obtain an early trial for his client..
“Should Mr. Campbell be ordered re-
I moved to the District, we probably
would seek an immediate arraignment
in order that a plea might be entered.
Then we would ask for his release
under bond. Should a trial sometime
during the month of October seem
likely, it is improbable that further
I consideration would be given at this
| time to the indictment.
"We are anxious that there be no
! further delay because we w’ish to prove
once and for all that Mr. Campbell is
innocent. We have an abundant
amount of evidence and will have no
difficulty whatsoever In clearing his
name.”
..Cites Three Reasons.
Mr. Smith cited three reasons which
he said convinced him the indictment
returned more than a month ago by a
District of Columbia grand jury is
worthless on its face. They are:
1. That the case was investigated by
a “Summer grand jury,” or an inquisi
torial body which the defense contends
had not been provided for legally.
2. That the indictment was returned
by the grand jury to Chief Justice A.
A. Wheat, instead of to Associate
Justice William Hitz, both of the Dis
trict Supreme Court. •
3. That the law provides for selec
tion of grand juries by the jury com
mission, while as a matter of fact “the
present grand jury was not chosen in
this method.”
HEART DISEASE FATAL
Veterans’ Bureau Clerk Dies Alone
at Washington Apartment.
Miss Betty Lewis, 35-year-old Veter
ans’ Bureau clerk, died yesterday after
noon in her apartment at the Roose
velt Hotel. She had been suffering from
heart trouble for a number of years.
Dr. Joseph Graham of 2750 Four
teenth street attributed the cause of
death to heart trouble and a certificate
to that effect was issued by Coroner
J. Ramsay Nevltt.
Miss Lewis came to Washington four
years ago from Grundy Center, lowa,
where her'parent* now reside.
General News
SCHOOL LOCATION
PROTEST IS FILED
Architect and Citizens Differ
; ,
on Construction of School
in Chevy Chase.
Protests against the proposed location
of the eight-room school building to be
erected at Northampton street and
j Broad Branch road, In Chevy Chase,
has been filed with school authorities,
and petition has been made for an op
portunity to press objections at the next
meeting of the Board of Education by
I representative civic organizations of
that community.
As planned by Albert L. Harris, mu
nicipal architect, the new school will
face directly south on Northampton
i-street. The Chevy Chase civic group,
which was largely responsible for ob
taining the 11-acre tract, contends the
school should be faced on Broad Branch
road and are determined to press their
support for the change.
In a written statement to the Board
of Education the change was suggested
for reasons that by facing the building
on Broad Branch road the school would
have large grounds; opportunity for
elaborate landscaping would be afford
ed; all but the north rooms w-ould re
ceive Midwinter light; more ground
would be available for play space; only
one parcel is not in public ownership,
whereas, on the east of the proposed
site much of the required property is
j improved residential.
This protest was signed by J. Francis
| Moore, chairman, New Schools Com
! mit tee, Citizens’ Association of Chevy
| Chase; Arthur Adelman, president of
j the Chevy Chase Citizens’ Association;
| William A. Jump, president, Broad
I Branch Section, Home and School Asso
| elation, and Pyke Johnson, president,
Home and School Association of Chevy
Chase. D. C. Representatives of these
organizations will present further ob
jections to the Southampton street
fronting of the proposed school at the
next meeting of the Board of Education
which is now awaiting presence of a
quorum. It is possible a sufficient
number of members will be in the city
!by tomorrow afternoon. The building
! under diicussion is the initial 8-room
| unit of a proposed 16-room and audi
i torium building of the general type
i now being erected all over the city.
SHEA TO FACE KELUHER
CHARGES TOMORROW
Charges of manslaughter and driving
while drunk, specified in a warrant
sworn out in Alexandria against Wil
liam Shea, will be heard in the Alex
andria Police Court tomorrow morning
by Judge William S. Snow.
Shea was arrested here following the
j death September 7 of Maurice ’'Mickey’’
Kelliher, well known base ball player,
; in an automobile accident near Four-
Mile Run. He returned here voluntar
ily and posted SI,OOO bond following
steps made to extradite him to this
jurisdiction.
Earl Garrison of 302 Tenth street
southeast is under SSOO bond to appear
as a witness in the case against Shea,
who is said to have been driving the
death car. It is not known whether
William McKeever, 603 Farragut street,
other occupant of the car, will appear
at the hearing. Two occupants of the
other car in the collision will also be
cited to appear.
BOY SERIOUSLY INJURED
WHEN STRUCK BY AUTO
Declared to have darted from between
two parked automobiles at Fifth and E
streets into the path of a machine
driven by George R. Mason, 31, colored,
of 2100 Seventeenth street, Carroll Wil
son, 4 years old, of 515 F street, was
run down and injured at noon today.
At the hospital, the condition of the
boy was reported as undetermined
with a possible fracture of the skull.
According to witnesses, the accident
was unavoidable.
Mason is being held at the sixth pre
cinct, pending a test of the brakes on
his car.
The child's identity remained in
doubt until his mother appeared at
the hospital nearly an hour after the i
accident.
PAGE B-1
NEW GAS RATES
WOULD BE HU
FOR APARTMENTS
Those Whose Bills Are More
Than 52.10 Monthly Would
Get Cut, Company Says.
BILLS AND PHOTOS
SHOWN AT HEARING
Expert on Statistics Says Only
Three Cities Have More Apart
ments Than D. C.
The Washington Gas Light Co. at
today’s public hearing before the Pub
lic Utilities Commission on its proposed
new rate schedule sought to show that
the increased bills which would result
would fall principally on the apart*,
ment dwellers, who use gas merely as
a convenience and can well afford to
pay the extra charge demanded of
them. All of these who now have bills
of $2.10 per month or less will have
their bills increased under the proposed
schedules. Those whose bills are higher
will have them reduced.
The first witness today was John L.
Schick, assistant controller of the com
pany, who brought with him elaborate
exhibits showing analyses of the bills of
customers living in their own homee
and those living in apartments. The
general conclusion was that those who
lived in homes used enough gas to war
rant a reduction, whether the homes
are of the poorer class or not, but that
the dwellers in apartments, even of the
most elite description, will have their
bills raised.
Photographs Are Shown.
The exhibits were replete with photo
graphs of the homes of the consumers,
statements as to the average rent per
room, and expert testimony was forth
coming later as to the financial classi
fications of the persons living in apart
ments and homes.
Typical gas bills of dwellers in apart
ments which rent from SIOO to S3OO
a month per unit were 700, 800 and
1,200 cubic feet, at $1 per 1,000 cubic
feet per month, Mr. Shick said. Under
the new rates these monthly bills would
be increased 22 cents, 20 cents and It
cents, respectively.
On the other hand typical homes had
bills of $3.80, $2.90 and $4.10, which
would merit reductions, under the new
schedule, of 25 cents, 11 cents and 29
cents, respectively.
Expert an Proportion.
Rufus 8. Lusk, president of a sta
tistics corporation, testified as an expert
to the effect that Washington has pro
portionately more apartment dwellers
than any city in the country save only
Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.
The percentage is larger, he said, than
in those sections of New York outside
of Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn.
There was a general laugh at this, head
ed by Charles I. Stengel, former Rep
l resentative from the Brooklyn district,
, who remarked that it was the first time
; he had heard that Brooklyn was in NeW
1 York.
The section west of Fourteenth street
, between the Mall and Park road housed
j 57 per cent of the apartment units of
the entire District, Mr. Lusk said, and
had the largest proportion of one-room,
kitchenette and bath apartments. These
are occupied either by single persons or
two persons living together. The aver
age Income per apartment is high, con
siderably higher than that of the head
of a family in most of the residence
districts.
Many Would Pay More.
Mr. Henry had not been on the
stand long yesterday before it became
apparent that to many of the com
pany's consumers the effect of the new
schedule would be to raise their monthly
bills. Some would get raised bills in
some months and reduced bills la
others. Some would get raised bill#
every month. One or more monthly
bill would show an increase in ths
case of 45 per cent of the present
customers of the Washington Gas
Light Co., he testified. Os these, about
16,000 would get a larger bill every
month in the year, and 25,000 would
get larger bills some months and
smaller bills others. Os the last 25.000
the increases in some monthy bills
would more than offset the decreases
in other bills, the average net increase
being fl cents per month. Os the bills
decreased, the average decrease would
be 51 cents per month. Multiplying
the number of losses and increases by
the number of customers in the re
spective brackets he arrived at the con
clusion that the net result to the com
pany in the domestic schedule would
be a loss of $250,000 in annual reve
nue.
In justifying the company’s proposed
monthly minimum bill of 75 cents, for
which the consumer would be allowed
500 cubic feet of gas, he pointed out
that- the customer cost to the company
of each customer was 99 cents per
month. Os this 78.59 cents was made
up of "general costs” and 20.45 centg
was the cost of gas.
Table Shows Increases.
He submitted the following table Os
increased bills:
Percent- Percent
_ ■ age of ase of „
Average Number total num- inerean-
Increase of con- ber of con- ed con
per month. sumers. sumers. sumers.
1001 2.271 2.3 8.12
0.02 2.SOS 2.53 I.M
0.03 2.707 2.73 8.68
0 04 2.848 2.88 8 «T
0 05 2.683 2.71 9 6
0.05-10.15 5.512 5.58 18.7
0.16- 020 3,640 3.58 12.65
0.21- 0.15 1,683 1.7 6.02
0 26- 030 1.102 1.11 1.84
0 31- 0.35 792 .81 2.83
more than 0.35 2,546 2.58 9.1
It also became clear during the testi
mony that the change in the discount
period from 15 days as at present to 10
days was put in as a trading point, and
is not taken very seriously by the com
pany President Wood, questioned about
it, said that he would not insist on it,
and that he left it tp the Judgment of
the commission whether the provision
stayed in or not.
DRIVER ORDERED HELD
IN BRIDGE FATALITY
James Clatterbuck to Answer for
Crash Into Abutment, Killing: *
Wenttang.
A coroner’s jury conducting an in
quest into the death of Raymond C.
Wenttang, 57 years old, of 80 dSeaton
place northeast, ordered James Vernon
Clatterbuck, 38, of the first block of
Franklin street northeast, held for the,
grand jury under $1,500 bond'yesterday
afternoon at the District Morgue. „„
Clatterbuck was the driver of an
automobile which crashed into an abut
ment on the K street bridge August 24,
killing Wenttang and injuring five,
others. The driver was placed unde*
arrest at Emergency Hospital when a
bottle, which contained liquor, police
say, was found in his machine a short
time alter the mishap.