Evening star. [volume], March 17, 1934, Page A-14, Image 14

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

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BRUTALITY WHICH
LED TO 2 SLAYINGS
IS LAID 10 LORTON
Shoemaker Submits Letter
Charging Guards Beat
Prisoner Unconscious.
TISCHOFF’S OUSTER
REPORT CONFIRMED
'robe Declines to Call Repre
sentative Again as He Refuses
to Reveal Accusers.
»
A lurid story of brutality and tor
ire at Lorton Reformatory and the
istrict Jail was related to the Board
f Public Welfare Investigating Com
littee today by Representative Fran
'S H. Shoemaker of Minnesota. At
te conclusion of his testimony. W. W.
Illlan. committee chairman, informed
im he would not be called again as
. witness.
Shoemaker charged that the ordeal
l the “post" at the jail changed a
risoner into a raving madman, who
iter killed two guards at the Leaven
orth Penitentiary in a maniacal rage.
* The District Jail and its officers
nd guards are responsible for the
lurder of those two men," Shoemaker
iiouted.
He read a letter, reputedly from
ne of the 100 Lorton convicts sent
o the Federal Penitentiary at At
inta after the reformatory riots last
Summer, telling of being chained
’.ude to the bars of a cell and beaten
inconscious by guards. Last Sum
ner's riots were attributed in the
°tter to the prisoners being deprived
f a meal because it was necessary
o clear the dining hall when a guard
.eat a colored prisoner there.
Bischoff to Quit.
^ Meanwhile, recent reports that J. E.
*3. Bischoff, business manager of Lor
on. would be asked to resign were
onflrmed today by authoritative
ources at the District Building.
The Lorton hearing brought out
hat Bischoff had received fees for
work done during off-duty hours
irom concerns having business rela
tions with the District.
When asked about the matter to
day, Commissioner George E. Allen
stated he “was unalterably opposed"
to the principle involved in such a
practice. When asked what this
meant as regards to Bischoff. Allen
said "use your own judgment."
Millan's statement that Shoemaker
would not be recalled followed repeat
ed refusals by the Minnesota Repre
sentative to furnish the names of
prisoners and guards, who. he said,
had given him information to back up
his sensational charges.
"I will not give the name of a
prisoner or guard until I receive writ
ten assurances from this committee
that these guards, some of them men
with families, won't be thrown out on
the street, and that the prisoners
won't be subject to the torture of the
punishment hole."
Claims Promise Given.
On a previous appearance before
the committee. Shoemaker had been
assured by Millan that any witnesses
that he might produce would be
granted complete immunity unless ac
tually involved themselves in wrong
doing. Millan took the position that j
this assurance, which has been made ;
part of the official record, is more !
binding than any letter could be.
In the midst of his stories of tor- i
ture Shoemaker paused to say:
"I believe there is more brutality
in the District Jail and at Lorton
than in any other penitentiary in
the United States. State or national.” j
He said the prisoner driven mad
at the jail was Carl Panzram. who
since has been executed for the mur- (
der of a Leavenworth guard.
‘‘Panzram was given the third de
gree and abused until he went mad
every time he saw a guard. He was i
hung up by the wrists to the torture
pole, night after night, for eight hours j
at a time. His wrists were manacled
to the pole so that he was forced 1
forward upon his toes, and when he I
could no longer endure that position
had to hang by his arms. Then he
was sent to Leavenworth. He should
have been sent to a psychopathic
ward when he was first placed in the
jail.”
Shoemaker said that while Panzrqm
was at Leavenworth he frequently
would imagine "Col. Peak and a
crowd from the District Jail w'ere after
him." Panzram was executed shortly !
before Shoemaker arrived at Leaven
worth to serve a year's prison sen
tence.
The Col. Peak referred to is Col.
William L. Peak, superintendent of
Lorton Reformatory and formerly
head of the District Jail.
.^aiurs .mania mtuiarr.
The letter from the Atlanta Peniten
tiary purported to bear the signature
of Erasmus Cecil Jenkins. It was
dated March 12 of this year. The
letter stated that Jenkins had been at
Norton less than a month when prison
guards beat him because he "could
not do the work of two stevedores in ■
the laundry.”
Jenkins named the following guards !
as those who beat him: Capt. Sanford, j
now dead: Paul F. Pegelow, who is j
now captain of the guards; William J.
Bevers, now steward; Lester E. Me- !
Memamin, now mail clerk, and Wil
liam Melnturf.
The letter stated he was taken to
No. 17 dormitory, which Shoemaker
said is known as the “punishment |
hole,” and there trussed to the bars
by his arms and neck and beaten into
insensibility. For two days Jenkins
was allowed to stay there without
food, Shoemaker charged, and then
for eight more days was given daily
only one piece of bread and a cup of
muddy water.
One of the guards who did the
beating was quoted as saying that .
Jenkins again would be beaten if he j
told of what had happened.
Blames Riots on Hunger.
Last Summer’s Lorton riots were
caused, it was stated in the letter,
only because “the men wanted some
thing to eat. They were tortured
like rats in a trap, and for the same
reason—because they wanted to eat.”
The trouble had almost died down,
the committee was informed, when
five days later police were summoned
from Washington to the reformatory.
“They went through the dormito
ries and seized 100 men and charged
them with inciting the riots,” Shoe
maker read from the letter. He
quoted Jenkins as saying “these men
were tortured and then sent to At
lanta.”
The letter ended with the state
ment: “I am constrained to have my
say even if it costs me my life.”
The remainder of this morning’s
bearing was devoted principally to
clashes between Shoemaker and Mil- |
Un concerning Shoemaker * refusal to
Old “Myth” of Irish Discovery
Of America Is Based on Fact
Mysterious “Island of Brazil” on Pre
Colurnbus Maps Indicates Explor
ers Had Made Trips Here.
BY THOMAS R. HENRY.
Did the Irish discover America?
Every St. Patrick's day is revived
the story of the half legendary St.
Brendan who, after an angelic revela
tion, sailed westward to the Islands of
the Blessed in a boat of stone. A
myth, it is argued, usually is an ac
cretion around a core of fact.
But actually the Irish can present
a very good circumstantial case for
having been in the mouth of the St.
Lawrence River at least 700 years be
fore Columbus sighted San Salvador,
and two centuries before the Norse
settlement in Vineland. The evidence
centers around the mysterious "Island
of Brazil," shown on old Irish maps
in about the position of Newfound
land. During the fifteenth century
this was included by Italian and
Spanish mapmakers in their depic
tions of the North Atlantic. Colum
bus probably possessed one of these
maps. John Cabot was looking for
'Brazil" when he discovered North
America.
Maps Are Accurate.
Some of these maps portray very
accurately the land surrounding the
Gulf of St. Lawrence. There was
nothing to prevent the old Irish map
makers putting any imaginary islands
they pleased in the Atlantic. But to
have presented the configurations of
the land and the islands so accurately
without first hand information would
have been a miracle almost compar
able to St. Brendan's stone boat.
As for the name Brazil—now pre
served in the name of the great South
American Republic—it might have
been the combination of two Norse
words meaning “beautiful spot,” or it
might have been derived from a com
mon old Irish family name appearing
variously as Brazil. Bersil, O'Brazil.
O'Brassil and O'Breasail. Perhaps
the real discoverer was a ship captain
named O'Brassil and the first name
of America was “O'Brassil’s Land.”
All the evidence was summed up
for the American Geographic Society
a few years ago by William H Bab
cock. who concluded: “Prom the evi
dence at hand it seems likely that
Newfoundland and the neighboring
shores were visited very early by
Irish-speaking people, who gave it the
commendatory name of Brazil.’ ” The
evidence, he says, is about as good as
that for the much later voyages of
the Cabots.
No Written Records.
Unfortunately, the Celtic navigators
left no written records. TJie only
verbal evidence is in some Norse ref
erences, 200 or 300 years later, to ;
"Vineland. Markland and Great Ire- |
land." all presumably close together
on the North Atlantic coast of the
New World.
Almost as strong as the positive is
the negative evidence for the dis
covery of North America by Irishmen.
It would have been stranger if they
had not. They were the nearest of
all Europeans to the New World.
They were skillful and daring navi
gators, who were forerunners of the
Norsemen in mastery of the Northern
seas. It Is an established fact that
they discovered and colonized Ice
land. The earliest Norse settlements
there were built over the ruins of
Irish churches. As was later the fate
of the Vikings, boats bound for the
Northern colony must occasionally
have been caught by adverse winds
and carried westward—to Greenland,
to Newfoundland, perhaps to Cape
Cod.
If the Irish left any settlements on
the North American coast they van
ished without any trace—yet there
would be a high probability that they
did so, for they were essentially a
missionary people in those days and
would have neglected no opportunity
to carry the cross to a people living
In darkness.
The claims of St. Brendan also are
dispased of in the American Geo
graphic Society report.
Asked Secret Land.
Tire fifteenth century book of Lis
more, recently discovered, but com
piled from much older sources, says,
"he desired to leave his land and coun
try, his parents and his fatherland,
and earnestly besought to Lord to give
him a land secret, hidden, secure, de
lightful, separated from men. Now
after he had slept on that night he
heard the voice of an angel from
Heaven, who said to him: ‘Arise, Oh
Brendan, for God hast given thee
what thou soughtest, even the land
ol promise.’ And he goes alone to
Sliab Daische, and he saw the mighty,
turbulent ocean on either side, and
then he beheld a beautiful, noble
island, with trains of angels rising
from it.”
First, according to this account, he
set sail in a hide-covered boat. Fail
ing to make headway, he turned back
and soon set out again in a large,
wooden vessel with a crew of GO men.
He came to an island in the sea of
darkness, where he was greeted by a
strange figure—“all his body was full
of bright, white feathers, and It was
almost the speech of an angel that
he had.”
Now. it is concluded.*St. Brendan
had a genesis common to folk heroes
—he was the unification in one leg
endary figure of a great many early
Irish missionaries and navigators
who were seeking continually new
fields for the sowing of the gospel and
in the course of their voyages touched
upon mast of the East Atlantic archi
pelagas—the Azores, the Madieras. the
Canaries. There is little doubt that
they actually made settlements on
some of these Islands.
POLICEMAN WILL FACE
SECOND LIQUOR TRIAL
First Precinct Private Already
Suspended on First Intoxi
cation Charge.
Prvt. James P. Day, first precinct,
who was fined $25 by the Police Trial
Board earlier this week for intoxica
tion, again will face the tribunal on
a similar charge,
Thursday night Day was arrested
after he was alleged to have been 1
found under the influence of liquor !
while on duty in the 600 block of
North Capitol street. He deposited $10
collateral and forfeited the money
when he failed to appear in Police
Court yesterday. He has been sus
pended.
Last Sunday. Day, according to his
superior officers, was found intoxi
cated at his home. He was suspend
ed and tried by the trial board, with
the resultant fine.
produce witnesses to give further
facts.
Millan repeatedly asked the witness
if he had anything further to reveal.
“I've a great deal more informa
tion," Shoemaker replied, "but it will
be better to produce it before the
District Committee of the House or a
special investigating committee. If I ;
get no results there I will go to the
President of the United States.”
tviaence in iteserve.
At another time he said. ‘‘I have in
reserve—plenty. So that if this com
mittee comes in with an adverse re
port it may be able to whitewash
Barnard, but it won't make a monkey
out of Shoemaker.”
Shoemaker charged the committee
with neglecting to examine properly
the witnesses who have appeared be
fore it. He said this neglect was
probably due to ignorance of the
facts. The committee had refused a
previous written offer by Shoemaker
to act as its examiner.
“I want you to understand, Mr.
Shoemaker.” Millan said, "that this
committee has no intention of recall
ing you. If you have further infor
mation we want you to give it now.
The day is before us and this is the
time for you to say whatever you
have to say.”
Shoemaker produced two letters,
which he said were written by Bisch
off. in support of his charges of Ir
regularities at the District Reforma
tory. He also alleged that Charles
Sawyer, superintendent of the ship
yard at Occoquan work house, built
his home in Occoquan village with
bricks he had transported from the
work house at government expense.
Denies Knowing Rheem.
The first witness today was George
E. Muth, patent attorney, with offices
in the Press Building. Shoemaker
had informed the committee he was
given information that Muth said he
attended parties in Washington at
which Edmund D. Rheem, former
Washington broker now serving a
seven-year prison term, also was a
guest.
Muth denied he knew Rheem.
Two District officials were the only
witnesses yesterday. They were
Marion C. HargTove, District purchas
ing officer, and Charles H. Kidwell of
the District auditor’s office.
Practice Held Improper.
Hargrove said he would consider
improper the practice of purposely
breaking up requisitions for supplies
into $25 lots so as to avoid the legal
requirement for competitive bidding.
Bischoff had informed the committee
he did this as an emergency measure
in at least one instance.
Hargrove said any institution could
secure approval for a $100 emergency
order just as easily as for a $25 order.
Kidwell said former Superintendent
of Lorton A. C. Tawse collected more
than $150 In donations from Wash
ingtonians to support the reformatory
foot ball team and then did not ac
count properly for all the disburse
menU of this sum.
UTILITY HEAD ASKS
O.C. SUBWAY STUDY
Riley E. Eigen Suggests
Forming Engineer Commit
tee to Consider Plan.
Organization of a committee of en
gineers in Government service to
study the desirability and feasibility
of development of a subway system in
Washington wras suggested today by
Riley E. Eigen, acting chairman of the
Public Utilities Commission.
Eigen said he would discuss the
matter Monday with Maj. John C.
Gotwals. associate member of the
commission. Eigen said he was aware
of the difficulties involved in the
financing of a subway for street car
transportation, but thought the time
was ripe for a study of all phases of
the question.
He suggests that there be a com
mittee of engineers from the Utilities
Commission, the Engineer Depart
ment of the District government and
the National Capital Park and Plan
ning Commission. He proposed that
engineers of the Capital Transit Co.
be invited to consult with such a
joint group.
Commissioner George E. Allen re
cently suggested informallj^he thought
construction of a subway might be a
desirable project for employment of
hundreds of unemployed persons here,
if the financing can be arranged. Of
ficials are wondering if a grant might
be obtained from the Public Works
Administration for such a project.
REPORT $1,000 GIFT
IN SYMPHONY DRIVE
Campaign Workers Beveal Total
as $31,000, With $60,000
as Goal.
A contribution of $1,000, bringing
the total thus far pledged to $31,000,
was reported yesterday at a meeting
of the five campaign teams seeking to
raise $60,000 to sustain the National
Symphony Orchestra through its con
certs of next season. The meeting
was held in the home of Mrs. James
Clement Dunn.
The largest amount taken in was
by the team of which Mrs. Carey H.
Brown is chairman. Other members
of the group include Mrs. Goring
Bliss, Mrs. William A. Borden, Mrs.
Franklin Ellis. Mrs. Walter Gawler,
Miss Valerie Padelford and Mrs. Ar
mistead Peter.
Mrs. Walter Bruce Howe, campaign
chairman, urged the workers to more
intensive efforts, since $29,000 remains
to be secured in two weeks.
Efforts are being made to enlist
the co-operation and support of or
ganizations, as well as individuals.
CIVITANS HOSTS TO BOYS
:<Garden Club” Members Hear
Talk by Beattie.
The Civitan Club last night en
tertained the “Boys Garden Club,"
in organization it sponsors to pro
mote interest in gardening and to
provide boys with a place to prepare
gardens.
Prof. W. R. Beattie, senior horticul
turist of the Department of Agricul
ture. addressed the 75 boys present
pn the most successful fashion of
preparing soil for gardening.
Several motion pictures were shown,
refreshments served and the boys
taken for a swim in the Y. M. C. A.
pool
9 HOSPITALS JOIN
MOVETOCUT FEES
TOWORKERSHERE
New Group Will Provide
Medical Care at Re
duced Prices.
PLAN MAY BENEFIT
MEMBERS’ DEPENDENTS
Employes Will Be Given Chance
to Enroll First—Idea Suc
cess Elsewhere.
Nine of Washington's largest hos
pitals have signed contracts with
Group Hospitalization, Inc., an or
ganization of prominent citizens set
up to provide medical and surgical
care for working persons at a nominal
rate, it was announced today.
The announcement was made by
Joseph G. Himes, chairman of the
board of the organization, who said
the executed contracts had been pre
sented at a meeting last night. An
office will be established in room 34.
1018 Vermont avenue. Monday, with
E. J. Henryson in charge. The busi
ness of getting the organization
started will be pushed between then
and Monday, April 2. when the plan
is scheduled to be presented to the
general public.
I ' u-upci auuj nmpuais.
The hospitals with which contracts
have been executed, according to Mr.
Himes, art Emergency, Garfield, Provi
dence, Georgetown, Sibley, Columbia.
Episcopal Eye, Ear and Throat;
George Washington and Homeopathic.
Casualty, Mr. Himes said, has indorsed
the plan, but will not be able to take
action on it until the next meeting of
its board.
The plan, which calls for 21 days'
hospitalization each year at a cost of
$9 for each subscriber, will be present
ed first to groups of employes, Mr.
Himes said. There also will be an
enrollment fee of $1.
"This is a non-profit organization,”
Mr. Himes declared. "If wre accumulate
any surplus, it will be used only to
reduce the cost to subscribers or to
provide them with hospitalization over
a longer period. There is a strong
possibility, too. that we may broaden
the scope of the plan to permit ex
tension of its benefits to dependent
members of the families of the sub
scribers. We won't know definitely
about this, however, until later on."
Start to Be Slow.
The organization plans "no whirl
wind start,” said Mr. Himes Instead,
he added, the plan will be pushed
along slowly, so that its success will be
“on a substantial basis, with a mini
mum of lapses.”
The plan was introduced here by
the Himes group several months ago.
Since then it has been tried out in
other cities and there are prospects its
growth will be almost Nation-wide. It
has the indorsement of both the Dis
trict Medical Society and the Amer
ican Hospital Association.
—-- .. —.
Irish in Power
As Roper Leaves
To Address Group
Commerce Department,
However, Slips Cog
on Green Paper.
Today being St. Patrick's day. Sec
retary of Commerce Roper, who
boasts of his Irish ancestry, is in Chi
cago to make an address before the
Irish Fellowship Club ol that city.
In his absence. P. J. Croghan. di
rector of the Division of Current In
formation. and A A. O'Leary, his as
sistant. are carrying on by acquaint
ing the public with what the Depart
ment of Commerce is doing.
It has been a practice for some time
for the two Irishmen in the informa
tion office to issue statements from
American consular agents on green
paper, covering economic subjects in
the countries of the world.
Today, however, the coincidence of
the green sheets, the Irish staS and
St. Patrick's day, slipped a cog.
The first release, dated March 17,
was entitled "Economic Conditions in
Irish Free State Depressed in 1933.”
LIQUOR BOARD MEMBER
MUST PAY ALIMONY
George A. Sacks of Bethesda Or
dered to Give Wife £75 a
Month in Divorce Fight.
Special Dispatch to The Star.
ROCKVILLE, Md„ March 17.—
Judge Charles W. Woodward has
signed an order in Circuit Court here
directing George A. Sacks of Bethesda
to pay his wife, Mary Lee Sacks. $75
a month alimony during determina- ;
tion of divorce proceedings pending
between the pair.
Sacks, who is a member of the
Liquor Control Board of the county
and manager of the Bethesda dis
pensary, recently sued his wife for a
limited divorce on the ground of de
sertion and Mrs. Sacks filed a cross
bill asking that she be granted a lim
ited divorce, charging that she was
the one deserted.
The order, signed by Judge Wood
ward. also directs the husband to pay
his wife $75 counsel fee.
ASSAIL HOSPITALS
FOR MUSIS
CASES IN DISTRICT
Medical Society Also Re
ports Health Department
Lacks Proper Equipment.
DECLARE OFFICIALS *
ARE ALL OVERWORKED
Abolition of Upshur Street Unit
Urged on Grounds It Is
Inadequate.
The District Medical Society indict
ed hospital facilities here for the care
of consumptive cases in a report sub
mitted today to the House District
Committee. The District has the
fourth highest tuberculosis rate among
46 large cities, which is nearly twice
as high as that of either Chicago or
New York, according to this report.
The tuberculosis death rate here In
1932 was 120 out of each 1,000 in
population, the report states.
The medical society also charged
that the District Health Department
is not properly equipped to control
the tuberculosis situation and that
the health officers are overworked and
none of them is able to devote full
time to the work.
More than a dozen major changes
in the public health system are urged
In the report. One of these pro
poses a full-time health officer to
specialize in tuberculosis work.
Other changes recommended in
clude the creation of a paid advisory
board of reputable physicians, con
struction of a tuberculosis unit at
Gallinger Hospital for care of pa
tients In the late stages of the dis
ease, and erection of an adult sani
tarium on Defense Highway adjacent
to the present Children's Tuberculosis
Sanitarium.
The report also seeks to have the
present Tuberculosis Hospital, at Thir
teenth and Upshur streets, abolished
on the grounds that it is tot&lly in
adequate. Investigation there disclosed
that there are no recreation rooms for
convalescents and that nearly all the
patients there are in the late stages
of the disease. The physicians making
the study found that the kitchen,
dining room, store room and pantries
were, poorly ventilated and are located
in the basement of the building.
The physicians also learned that
bodies cf those dying from tuberculosis
were wheeled along a 100-foot open
pathway in full view of the patients.
The report concludes with the charge
that the District Welfare Board has
charge of 50 per cent of the tuber
culosis beds in all local hospitals and
there is only one physician who is a
board member.
CHEST’S EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE NAMED
Dodge Announces Personnel of
Group and Predicts In
creased Efficiency.
Clarence Phelps Dodge, recently
elected president of the Community
Chest, yesterday announced the mem
bership of the Chest Executive Com
mittee for the ensuing year.
The new committee, in addition to
Dodge, includes Dr. Charles Stanley
White. John B. Colpoys. Mrs. Wilson
Compton. William J. Flather, jr.; Mrs.
Charles A. Goldsmith. E. C. Graham,
Arthur Hellen. Dr. Kelley Miller. New
bold Noyes, Mrs. John Jay O’Connor.
Mrs. W. A. Roberts. Corcoran Thom.
Lloyd B. Wilson, J. Bernard Wyckoff
and James G. Yaden.
“I feel that in the acceptance of
these members of the Executive Com
mittee we have one of the best com
mittees in the history of the Chest,”
Dodge said. "Their varied positions
and their known Interest in the work
make each and every one a power for
good in the community and we trust
this will lead to increased efficiency
and wider interest in the affairs of
the Community Chest during the
coming year.”
U. S. BRINGSSUIT
TO SEIZE WHISKY
Condemnation of 22% Cases
Sought on Ground It Is
Misbranded.
Condemnation of 22 si cases of al
legedly misbranded whisky was sought
in District Supreme Court yesterday—
the first such proceedings brought
since repeal.
Suit was begun by Assistant Unit
ed ftates Attorney William A. Galla
gher against the Washington Wine
Co. to seize the liquor, described as
bearing the label of “Glenshire Scotch
Whisky.” on the ground it does not
comply with the pure food and drugs
act.
The Government claims American
type whisky has been substituted for
Scotch.
According to the suit, the whisky
was shipped here March 4 by the Her
cules Products & Distilling Corpora
tion of Brooklyn. Deputy marshals
are holding the whisky pending out
come of the suit.
CAPITOL BIRIh HUNTING ENDS
AS STARLINGS BECOME GUN-SHY
South Trimble, clerk of the House,
who popularized the starling pie
among congressional Democratic
chieftains, said today that his future
contemplated bird hunting expedi
tions in the Capitol grounds are off.
If any more starlings are killed,
Trimble said, somebody else will have
to kill them.
The announcement definitely ends
the plan of the House clerk to give
Capitol newspaper men the benefit of
his starling pie. but the reporters
said they are not sorry. The news
paper boys in the riouse press gal
lery declare they would rather eat
chicken or squab pie any day.
Trimble said the sudden cancella
tion of his hunting plans is not due
to any conflict with the law or the
fact that it is becoming increasingly
difficult to kill enough starlings to
Audobon Society, but simply to the
make another pie.
"There are still plenty of starlings
around the Capitol," said Trimble,
! "but it would take a crack marksman
to kill them. When I started out the
other day I didn’t have much trouble.
The birds were tame and did not fly
away at the sight of a gun. But so
many people have been shooting at
them, apparently, they are gun-shy.
Those birds are smart. I’m afraid
now I couldn’t kill enough to make
a pie."
Trimble said another reason is that
he has heard so much criticism from
members of the House who were not
invited to the first starling pie party
that he might have to spend several
days in the Capitol Grounds to kill
enough birds to make pie for all those
who want to sample the newly dis
covered delicacy.
Only House leaders were guests at
the original starling pie party. These
included Speaker Rainey, Majority
Leader Byrns and Chairman Buchan
an of the Appropriations Committee
and Sumners of the Judiciary Com
mittee.
Flowers (Given to Cogswell
EMPLOYES HAPPY OVER DECISION OF PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT.
I
CAPT. THEODORE COGSWELL, whom President Roosevelt has decided
to retain as District register of wills, is shown being presented with
a good-will tribute from employes of the office this morning. An
expression of satisfaction that Capt. Cogsrwell will remain in his post
was made. Left to right; Mrs. Eleanor Hohbein, a cleric at the office,
and Capt. Cogswell. —Star Staff Photo.
I
Banquets and Dances to
Follow Religious Ob
servance.
Shamrocks bloomed on many a
lapel today as the faithful paid hom
1 age to Ireland's patron saint at
solemn mass and at gay banquets and
dances.
"St. Patrick's day in the morning"
| dawned bright and fair in Washing
1 ton, with just enough Spring in the
air to lend zest to the activities.
Solemn high mass was sung at St.
i Patrick's Church, beginning at 10:30
, o'clock. His excellency, Most Rev.
Amleto Giovanni Cieognani. apostolic
delegate to the United States, pre
sided. Rev. Dr. Lawrence J. Sheehan,
assistant pastor of St. Patrick's, was
the celebrant, and the sermon was
delivered by Dr. W. Joyce Russell.
! assistant pastor of the Church of St.
Thomas the Apostle.
Dinner at Mayflower. •
The gaities of the occasion were to
be observed later today by Irish or
ganizations and Irish sympathizers
of the city. The Ancient Order of
the Hibernians will have a dinner at
the Mayflower Hotel.
Senator Pat Harrison of Mississippi
and Representative James W. Wads
worth of New York were to address
the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick at
their sixth annual banquet at the
Mayflower tonight.
At least 200 dinner guests are ex
pected and the banquet hall has been
decorated with reproductions of the
Lakes of Killarney and other scenes
native to the old country. An elabo
rate entertainment program has been
arranged for the guests.
The Newman Club of George Wash
ington University planned a "Sham
, rock" dance, and the annual St. Pat
rick's day supper dance will draw
many celebrators to the National
l Press Club, on the occasion of- the
' first large party after repeal.
Johnny Slaughter's orchestra will
provide music from 10 to 2 a m.
Charles O. Gridley of the Denver
Post is in charge of arrangements for
the affair.
aiotners iiub rarty.
The Mothers' Club of St. James’
Catholic Church also is planning a
party. A solemn high mass was cele
brated at the Church of the Immacu
late Conception by Rev. Dorist
Moreau, and the musical program was
given under the direction of Prof.
Harry Wheaton Howard.
The second annual St. Patrick’s
dance of Rho Chapter, Beta Chi
National Sorority, will be held tonight
at the Indian Spring Country Club.
Meanwhile, private celebrations
were being planned throughout the
city wherever two Irishmen got to
gether, or wherever one Irishman
could surround himself with friends
of other Nations.
Dealers in alcoholic beverages re
ported a brisk demand for bottles
bearing well known and ancient Irish
labels.
AMERICAN U. DEBATERS
DEFEAT RUTGERS TEAM
Victors. Central High School
Graduates, Get Unanimous
Vote of Judges.
American University, with a de
bating team of three graduates of
Central High School, defeated the
Rutgers University team at Hurst Hall
on the campus last night, by unani
mous vote of the judges.
The victors, who supported the af
firmative of the question: “Resolved,
That the N. R. A. should be contin
ued as a permanent policy,” were Ed
ward Hopper. Frank Hoadley and Earl
Kemahan. The visitors were George
A. Kraemer, Bertram Atwood and
Frank G. Sisco.
The judges were Dr. William C. Van
Vleck of George Washington Univer
sity Law School. Randolph Shaw and
Jean M. Boardman.
WILLIAM A. CULBERTSON
HEADS LAW FRATERNITY
The following officers were elected
Thursday night at a meeting of the
Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity, held
at the Racquet Club:
William S. Culbertson, justice:
Afoultrie Hitt, vice justice: Chapin
Bauman, secretary, and Rufus King,
treasurer.
The fraternity plans to hold a
banquet next month in honor of its
alumni, including Justice Sutherland,
Attorney General Cummings, Sena
tors Borah, Tydings. Fletcher and
Walsh of Massachusetts: Representa
tive John Y. Brown, Controller of the
Currency J. F. T. O'Connor, Commis
sioner of Internal Revenue Guy T.
Helvering, Justices Adkins and O’Don
oghue of the District Supreme Court
and many other*.
RULING DUE TODAY
Green Expected to Hand
Down Decision in Tile
Work Controversy.
A decision was expected today from
William Green, president of the
American Federation of Labor, in the
jurisdictional dispute between three
trades over certain work in the new
Labor Department and Interstate
Commerce Commission Buildings, but
whether the about 200 men on strike
there would return to work Monday
remained in doubt.
President Green, an arbiter, heard
arguments from the carpenters, who
have been laying the disputed mastic
tile flooring; from the cement fin
ishers, who went on strike with actu
ated trades because they claim the
job, and from the tile-setters, who
later also laid claim to the floors.
Decision Due Today.
Despite the rush of business involv
ing Mr. Green, as head of the A. F.
of L. in the midst of the automobile
labor controversy, it was learned he
expects to hand down his decision
today. At the A. F. of L. it was
hoped the men would return to work
Monday.
John Locher, secretary of the
Washington Building Trades Council,
which pulled its affiliated crafts off
the job on strike in protest against
the award of the floor job to carpen
ters, said that when President Green's
decision is received, he will handle it
in regular order of business. Prospects
are that certain other questions pend
ing on the same buildings will have to
be considered by the council at a
meeting before the strikers will be or
dered back to work.
One of the disputed matters, Mr
Locher said, was the disputed radia
tor covers, installation of which was
claimed by iron workers. Carpenters
had been doing this work and there
had been an agreement. Locher said,
to hold this work in abeyance until a
final settlement of the jurisdictional
dispute could be reached. Instead.
Locher said, business agents report
now the radiator covers have all been
installed in the meantime, and there
is no more of this work to do.
Agreed to Split Work.
The carpenters, who have been
laying the mastic tile floors in the
building, and have completed most of
this work, are not members either of
the Washington Building Trades
Council, nor of the Building Trades
Department of the A. F. of L., but
they’ are members of the A. F. of L.
itself. This complicates the question
of adjudication of disputes—with
trades such as the cement finishers,
which are members of the local coun
cil and the building trades depart
ment.
The carpenters and the tile setters,
prior to the conference with Presi
dent Green, had agreed to a 50-50
split of the work between them. But
the claim of the cement finishers is
for all of the work.
The next regular meeting of the
local Building Trades Council Is
scheduled for Tuesday night. It had
not been decided early today whether
the matters still pending would be
left for that meeting, or whether an
earlier special session would be called.
COLD DELAYS WORK
ON SKYLINE DRIVE
Scenic Highway May Not Be
Opened to Public Until
August.
Because inclement weather has
delayed road construction on Skyline
Drive, Shenandoah National Park, in
nearby Virginia, probably will remain
closed to the public until August.
This was made known today by
Arno B. Cammerer, director of the
National Park Service, who said pros
pects are that the highway construc
tion will not be completed for sev
eral months. At this time only the
area between Panorama and Swift
Run Gap is being improved for
motorists
Several weeks hence, Mr. Cammerer
anticipates the State of Virginia,
which is now acquiring the last
parcels for inclusion in the park area,
will turn the total acreage over to the
Federal Government for dedication
as a national park.
After the Old Dominion presents
the park area to the United States
the attorney general here will go into
the land titles, to make sure that
they are clear and that the national
Government will have unincumbered
ownership. Skyline Drive is being
constructed along the ridge of the
mountains in the park area so that
a sweeping view of the valleys on
either hand is available. Hard sur
facing of the road is now in prog
ress to eliminate the dust nuisance
that visitors to the park last Fall
experienced. Cattle guards are being
erected.
LIQUOR LICENSE
FIGHT OF SCHOOLS
Four Are Opposed at Hear
ing, While Two Find No
Objection.
BALLOU FILES PROTEST
UPHOLDING PARENTS
Further Study Will Be Given to
Complaints Before Final
Baling:.
Two liquor license applications from
establishments In the vicinity of
schools went unobjected to and four
others were vigorously opposed at a
hearing before the Alcoholic Beverags
Control Board at the District Building
this morning.
The places to which the Board of
Education made no objection and
against which no other protest was
made were the Market Pharmacy. 1430
Seventh street, which sought a class
A license to sell bottled liquors, and
the establishment of Harry S. Gilden
hom, 4400 Georgia avenue, which
seeks a class B license to sell bottled
wines and beer.
UDjcnions tuisea.
The places objected to by the Board
of Education and the type of license
each is seeking were the store of C. E.
Rector, 5105 Conduit road, class B,
for bottled wines and beer; the store
of Early B Rector, 5441 Conduit road,
class B license; the restaurant operated
by John R. Quinn, 3128 Nichols avenue
southeast, class C, on sale license, and
Lewis’ drug store, operated by Nathan
Kaminsky, 1633 North Capitol street,
class A license.
The applications to which no objec
tion was made today will be studied
further by the board to determine
whether the establishments comply
with all other legal requirements, and
if they do their licenses will be issued.
In the cases of the four applications
opposed by the School Board and
other protestants today, however, the
A. B. C. Board will make its ruling
later.
Declared Within Limit.
The license application of C. E.
Rector for his novelty store at 5105
1 Conduit road was opposed by the
principal of the nearby Francis Scott
Key School, Miss Clara Hickman;
Henry I. Quinn, member of the Board
of Education; spokesmen for the
Conduit Road Citizens' Association,
and individual citizens. In arguing
for his license, Rector testified that
he already had a 3.2 beer license, and
that a D. G. S. grocery store, located
directly across the street from him,
was granted a liquor license under
the new law. He testified further
that while his store entrance actually
is more than 600 feet from the school
entrance, the comer of his property
is within the 400-foot restriction
limit of the school’s grounds. He
contended that denial of his license
while the license was granted to a
competitor just across the street
would be unfair.
This same contention was admitted
by Frank P. Shaw, spokesman for the
Conduit Road Citizens' Association.
However, Shaw said, the granting of
| a license to the grocery store was "a
surprise" to the community and said
that he believed that license should
I be revoked.
Objects to influence.
Miss Hickman objected to the Rec
tor license on the ground that it would
make difficult the school teachers’
task of instructing children against
the use of alcoholic beverages by sub
jecting them to a virtual refutation
of the teachings just outside the
school.
•'We can't teach them one thing in
school.” Miss Hickman said, "and ex
pose them to another thing outside.
We feel very strongly against the
issuance of this license.”
Quinn read a statement from Dr.
Ballou opposing not only the Rector
license, but the grocery stSre license
across the street. Mrs. M. O. Hayes,
president of the Key School P.-T. A.,
opposed the license on the ground
that children patronize Rector's store,
both for themselves and for the needs
of their parents, who frequently send
to Rector's for needles and thread and
other noveltis.
The chief objection to the Early B.
Rector application, at 5441 Conduit
road, also a holder of the 3.2 beer
license, was voiced by Rev. O. J.
Randall, organizer and former pastor
of the Potomac Heights Community
Church. He argued that the sale of
alcoholic beverages would be “deroga
tory to the best Interests of the
church.”
Few Children Patrons.
In arguing for his on-sale liquor
license. Quinn, proprietor of the res
taurant at 2138 Nichols avenue south
east. said that his place was 250 feet
from the nearby school grounds, 400
feet from the school building and 560
feet from the entrance to the school.
He said that the patronage he re
ceived from the school children would
not exceed six to eight children a day.
Two of these, he said, were sent to
his place by a school teacher for ft
box of Ice cream for her lunch. He
presented eight witnesses, all residents
of the neighborhood, who testified in
his behalf as to the character of his
establishment.
Henry Quinn, the school board mem
ber, brought out under cross-examina
tion that the restaaurant did seU ft
few ice cream cones to children.
Ballou Files Protest.
Harry O. Hine. secretary to the
Board of Education, yesterday filed
with the A. B. C. Board a protest
against granting a license to Sol Ar
no£T, 1835 Benning road northeast,
because the Blow School Is located
close to the place.
Dr. Frank W. Ballou, superinten
dent of schools, objected to the grant
ing of ft license to John R. Quinn
for a bakery and delicatessen at 3128
Nichols avenue southeast, declaring
that parents of children attending
the Congress Heights School were
opposed.
Dr. Ballou also notified the board
of his appreciation for the adoption
of the policy against granting li
censes near schools. He said he be
lieved the policy would meet with
uniform commendation of parents of
school children.
Protests against the granting of six
applications for beverage licenses
were registered yesterday with the
Alcoholic Beverage Control Board
when a new list of requested permits
were called off at a public hearing.
Ninety-six others passed without
challenge at the time. This was th«
latest list which had been given legal
notice over a period of two week*.