Evening star. [volume], March 31, 1935, Page B-1, Image 21

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

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* WASHINGTON, D. C., SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 31, 1935, »» — PAGE B—1
ALLEN PROPOSAL
FOR D. C. HOSPITAL
CENJERISHAILED
Doubt of Its Necessity Is
Expressed, However, by
Society Leader.
AID OF P. W. A. SOUGHT
FOR PRIVATE PROJECT
Emergency Hospital Trustees’
Head Visions D. C. as Med
ical Capital.
Reactions ranging from guarded
Interest to enthusiastic acceptance
greeted announcement yesterday of
Commissioner George E. Allen's plan
for creation of a great medical center
In Washington.
In brief, the proposal embraces
consolidation of all hospital and
medical school facilities in the
District in a single unit, non-profit,
non-sectarian and non-racial. A
private corporation, made up of
representatives of existing agencies,
would build and administer the
project with the help of P. W. A.
funds. It is estimated that from
$5,000,000 to $6,000,000 would be
needed to put the plan into effect.
The buildings of existing institutions
would be sold upon completion of
the center.
Visioning Washington as the medi
cal capital of the world, Karl Corby,
head of the Board of Trustees of
Emergency Hospital and of a special
committee of about 30 leaders in the
medical and community life of the
District, looked forward with en
thusiasm to the first meeting of the
committee on Wednesday morning.
At that time the plan will be dis
cussed in detail with Commiss'oner
Allen.
Goes Beyond New York.
“If this plan goes through,” Corby
*aid, "it will bring to Washington
something no city ever has boasted.
•This proposal goes beyond the scope
of medical centers now operating in
New York and other cities, we con
template its becoming the greatest
medical center In the world.
“Within it we will bring the gradu
ate and undergraduate schools of
medicine which now exist in several
units within the District. None of
these would lose their Identity in the
new center, nor would the individual
hospitals which would also be in
cluded lose theirs. Each of them, re
taining their corporate forms as at
present, w'ould have a section of the
center as their own.
"Research work would be carried on
In a single unit, all duplication elim
inated and all benefitting by the accu
mulated findings of those participat
ing. The world's leaders in the medi
cal profession undoubtedly would be
attracted by the research opportuni
ties.
Better Service Foreseen.
“The practical result would be bet
ter service to the whole community,
to rich and poor, black and white, at
lower costs or at no cost at all if the
subjects are unable to pay. Dis
pensary outposts for out-patient treat
ment probably would be established in
suburban sections of the District, per
haps as many as 12. but all hospital
ization would be concentrated In the
center.”
Dr. Earl Baldwin McKinley, dean
of the George Washington University
Bchool of Medicine, and a member of
the committee, also hailed the pro
posal with favor. He said:
"I have found great interest in this
plan among those who have known of
it for the past few weeks. We all
know our present hospital and medical
facilities will be unusable in 10 or 15
years. They have been increasingly
inadequate over the past few years.
From a practical standpoint, this
would be the best time to strike out
for completely modern facilities.”
"Medical centers now are operating
In New York. Cleveland, Chicago and
St. Louis and they’ve all been success
ful. The reduction of duplicating ex
penses and overhead alone is a most
important fact. The whole thing is
a most sensible idea.
“The group hospitalization plan now
operating would fit right in, with no
change except that subscribers would
be hospitalized at the center rather
than in the individual institutions.
Also, the obligations of the Com
munity Chest would be simplified. I
see it, too, as a cementing influence
In the growing community conscious
ness of the Capital City.”
Dr. William Gerry Morgan, dean
of the Georgetown University School
of Medicine, advised a careful study
of the workings of other medical
centers before such a project be un
dertaken, to determine how far they
fulfill their aims and in what way
they are defective.
Dr. Bennett Opposed.
In the opinion of Dr. A. B. Ben
nett. president of the District Medical
Society and also a member of the
committee, such an undertaking is
unnecessary at the present time.
"We already have more hospital fa
cilities than we need,” he declared,
“and they are as good here as any
where in the country. Such a propo
sition undoubtedly has value where
the need exists, but offhand I don't
see such an emergency in the Dis
trict.”
Although no accurate speculation
may be made at this time on the
chances of a P. W. A. loan for such
a project, on any terms, it is a mat
ter of record that few allotments to
private corporations were made out
of the original P. W. A. fund. Rail
roads were the exception to this rule,
the carriers faring well.
FILM ATHLETE SUICIDE
i .
Verdict in Case of Carl Frey, Vic
tim of Bizarre Hanging.
SAN DIEGO, Calif., March 30 (0).
Carl George Prey, 31, film athlete, who
was the victim of a bizarre hanging
that led police to believe he was slain,
died of his own hand, a coroner’s Jury
decided at an Inquest today.
Frey once brooded over "a romance
with a married woman in Hollywood,”
Dr. H. F. Andrews, county psychia
trist, testified, and harbored a fear
that he was pursued by gangsters.
* *
Garnett’s Office Establishes
Record for Cases Prosecuted
Court Documents Show More Criminals
Tried and Convicted Last Year Than
at Any Time Since 1931.
Official records of the District Su
preme Court show the office of United
States Attorney Leslie C. Garnett
charged with laxity in prosecutions by
witnesses testifying before the House
Crime Committee, tried and convicted
more criminals last year than in any
corresponding period since 1931.
Some of the witnesses before the
committee stressed the supposed fail
ure of the prosecutor to proceed
against gamblers—a held of crime in
which more offenders were convicted
last year than in the entire preceding
four-year perjod.
The prosecutor's office also estab
lished something of a record for this
jurisdiction last week in the prosecu
tion of murderers. Four men were
brought to trial in three cases on first
degree murder charges. Three of
them were found guilty in the first
degree, while the fourth, at one time
adjudged insane, was convicted of sec
ond-degree murder.
Presses 60 Gaming Cases.
During the 14-month period since
January 22, 1934, Garnett commenced
prosecutions in 60 gambling cases
involving more than 100 defendants
charged with felonies. Twenty-six
of these defendants have been con
victed, three were acquitted and seven
cases were nolle prossed. Of these
seven, two have been reindicted and
; in the other five cases the court re
fused to permit the introduction of
the evidence on the ground it was
procured without a warrant.
The remaining defendants, many
of them indicted recently, are await
ing trial. Included among these are
Sam Beard and 13 associates, sched
uled for trial in April.
During the entire preceding four
year period there were 22 gambling
prosecutions started, resulting in 11
convictions, 10 nolle prosses and 1
verdict of not guilty.
Garnett has also been responsible
for the removal of 276 telephones used
by gamblers and the refusal on the
part of the telephone company to
install 58 other phones where it was
possible to show they would be used
by gamblers.
Cases Brought to Trial.
Another criticism before the com
mittee was that law enforcement has
broken down because of long delays ;
in the prosecution of criminals. The
records show' that from last January
1 to March 27 a total of 51 cases were
brought to trial within two weeks after j
arraignment, 31 of these cases being '
tried within one week after the de- I
fendants entered their pleas.
During this period, representing 61
court days, a total of 151 trials were |
held in the two criminal courts, an I
average of nearly three a day. Dur
ing the same period 334 indictments j
were returned and 212 defendants
pleaded guilty.
On March 27 there were only 223
cases pending in which indictments
have been returned but no action
(Continued on Page 6, Column 1.)
BOUNDARY LINE
Oil Company Seeks $197,
OOO Refund of Taxes
From District.
The District-Virginia boundary
problem—already seriously involved
in the Washington airport issue now
before a House committee—is again
definitely raised in a petition by the
American Oil Co. for a refund of
$197,000 in gasoline taxes paid in the
past three years.
This was revealed yesterday when
District Auditor Daniel J. Donovan
placed before the Commissioners a
preliminary report on the gasoline
company's request. The auditor’s rec
ommendation was not made public.
Claims Illegal Payments.
The oil company now claims the
large tax payments of the past three
years were improperly made to the
District Government. The payments
were made on gasoline sold by a unit
of the company operating from a
place along the Alexandria highway,
some 2,000 feet beyond the Highway
Bridge.
The boundary question was revived
yesterday by People's Counsel William
A. Roberts, who asserted that at
least a great majority of the property
used as the Washington Airport is
now owned by the District Govern
ment. under the meaning of decisions
by the United States Supreme Court
that the old high water mark of the
Potomac River is the line of demarka
tion of the District’s jurisdiction on
the Virginia side of the river.
Evidence Before Commission.
He said evidence to this effect has
been placed before the Boundary Com
mission, established by an act of Con
gress to determine definitely the course
of the boundary between the two juris
dictions.
The matter is said to be involved in
the debate over the selection of a
municipal airport for the District,
which has been under study by a com
mittee of the House headed by Repre
sentative Randolph of West Virginia.
PICTURE IDENTIFIES
HOLD-UP PRISONER
South Washington Gas Station
Attendant Says He Recognized
Henry H. Taylor.
Recognized when his picture was
published in The Star in connection
with the attempted hold-up of a
filling station at Fourteenth and D
streets southwest last Thursday,
Henry H. Taylor. 24, of Wilmington,
N. C., last night was identified as the
man alleged to have held up a gasoline
station in South Washington, Va„
early this month.
Leonard Frye, an attendant at the
Virginia station pointed out Taylor in
a police line-up as the man who rob
bed the station of $80. Frye said he
first recognized Taylor, a Police Court
probationer, when he saw his photo
graph.
Tayuor had been placed on a year’s
probation when arraigned in Police
Court Maa-ch 13 for carrying a gun.
He Was captured when he attempted
to rob the Washington filling station.
WATER EMPLOYES
City Heads to Let M’Carl
Pass on $150,000 Wage
Return Dispute.
The City Commissioners soon will
place before Controller General McCarl
a petition for restoration of economy
pay cuts of 900 employes of the Dis
trict Water Department. Auditor j
Daniel J. Donovan estimated roughly 1
yesterday some $150,000 is involved.
The Commisioners have not com- i
mitted themselves on the matter, but
agreed to forward to McCarl a peti
tion by Charles I. Stengle. represent
ing the American Federation of Fed
eral Employes. The matter was laid
before District officials yesterday and
Stengle will present his written peti
tion early next week.
Stengle's argument is that the econ
omy act provisions which impose pay |
cuts beginning July 1, 1932, should I
not have been applied to employes of.
the Water Department since their
pay does not come out of general
District revenues, but out of water
revenues, which cannot be spent for
other purposes than those of the
Water Department.
There is a surplus this year and !
there will be another next year under i
the Water Department budget, and j
this money is left unspent unless ap- !
propriated.
Some District officials are doubtful
of the soundness of ^he argument
that the pay cuts should not have
been applied to Water Department i
workers, but the Commissioners j
agreed to put the question up to
McCarl.
.
NOTRE DAME HONORS
CATHOLIC NOVELIST
Frank Hamilton Spearman Wins
Laetare Medal for “Whole
some Fiction”
By the Associated Press.
SOUTH BEND, Ind., March 30 —
Frank Hamilton Spearman, California
novelist and scenario writer, today
was named winner of the Laetare
Medal, which is bestowed annually
by the University of Notre Dame upon
an outstanding member of the Cath
olic laity.
Spearman, whose home is in Holly
wood. spent several years as a jour
nalist before he began to write fic
tion. In announcing its decision, the
Medal Committee said Spearman was
selected “in recogntion of his dis
tinction as a Catholic layman and
of his service to his country in the
volumes of wholesome and interesting
fiction he has provided through many
years for a large reading public.”
Recent recipients of the honor in
clude Mrs. Genevieve Garvan Brady,
John McCormack, Alfred E. Smith, the
late Edward N. Hurley, Dr. Stephen S.
Maher and Dr. Albert F. Zahm.
Among Spearman’s best known
works are “Whispering Smith” and
"Robert Kimberly," the latter a de
fense of marriage sanctities.
-
Woman Held Up by Pair.
Two men last night used a shotgun
to hold up and rob Mrs. Gertrude
Goldman in a grocery store at 331 V
street northeast. The bandits ob
tained $80 and left in a taxicab.
Crash That Paralyzed Trucker
Costs Cab Man 30 Days in Jail
.
A collision between a taxicab and
a bread truck last November 7 yes
terday sent Henry E. Clements, 28,
the cab driver, to jail for 30 days, the
maximum sentence under the reck
less driving law, while the other
driver lies hopelessly crippled at his
home as a result of the accident.
The injured man is Matthew Hayde,
30, 500 Carroll avenue, Takoma Park.
He is paralysed from the waist down
and is still so seriously ill that mem
bers of his family were afraid to tell
him of the verdict because the mere
mention aggravates his condition.
Clements was convicted by a Police
Court jury and sentenced by Judge
Ralph Oiven, who emphasised the
fact that 30 days is the maximum
penalty for reckless driving.
The witnesses, headed by Policeman
D. A. Davis of the second precinct,
testified that a taxicab, operated by
Clements, was proceeding east on New
York avenue at 4:30 a.m„ when it
collided with. the truck, going south
on New Jersey avenue.
The truck, Davis said, was more
than half-way across the intersection
when it was struck by the taxicab,
turned completely around, capsized
and pinned Hayde beneath. Other
witnesses said the cab was proceeding
at between 35 and 40 miles an hour.
Hayde suffered a fracture of the
back and several rib6. His family and
police have been told he will probably
never walk again, according to the
testlmenr. ^
*• • *** *
D. C. PARKS OFFICE
ROPES 10 BUILD 12
SWIMMING POOLS
Finnan Would Get Funds
From P. W. A. or Else
where, He Says.
ICKES AND CAMMERER
ARE PRESENTED PLAN
Planning Committee of City-Wide
Playground Council Opens
Drive for Improvement.
The National Capital Parks office
hopes to construct a dozen new swim
ming pools if it can get the funds
from the new Public Works set-up or
elsewhere—four in the Northwest,
three in Northeast, three in Southeast
and two in the Southwest. These lo
cations were not made public.
This was made known yesterday by
C. Marshall Finnan, superintendent of
the local parks, who said this Is part
of the works program laid before
Secretary Ickes and Arno B. Cam
merer, director of the National Park
Service, recently. Additional pools
will be provided to meet future re
quirements on sites being selected
by the National Capital Park and
Planning Commission, said Finnan.
“The lack of adequate facilities fo>
public bathing in the National Capital
has long been realized by National
Capital Parks authorities.” said Fin
nan. “The intense heat of Midsum
mer in this locality makes $he pro
vision of this most popular means of
relief anti recreation a nublic resDOn
sibility.
"In an effort to remedy the situa
tion, the National Capital Parks in
cluded the construction of the Banne
ker and Takoma pools in its emer
gency works program and rushed work
on these pools to place them in op
eration at the beginning of the 1934
bathing season. The parks’ office is
also including requests for funds for
the erection of several additional
pools in its construction program for
1935.
Four Pools Built.
“The swimming pool building pro
gram in National Capital Parks will
follow the recommendations of the
National Capital Park and Planning
Commission, which in 1931 recom
mended the construction of 16 pools
in connection with the development
of the proposed recreation system for
the District of Columbia. Four pools,
the Francis, Banneker, McKinley and
Takoma pools, have already been built
in connection with this program and
12 remain to be constructed. The
remaining pools will be built in con
nection with the development of ma
jor recreation centers at locations to
be selected by the National Capital
Park and Planning Commission. Four
of the pools will be constructed in
Northwest locations, three in North
east, three in Southeast and two in
the Southwest section of the city.
"The eventual completion of this
program will adequately provide for
the swimming pool requirements of the
District of Columbia, according to the
present outlook. Sites for additional
pools will be provided by the National
Capital Park and Planning Commis
sion. however, to meet requirements
of the future.
"Swimming in approved sanitary
pools, operated under the careful
observation of health authorities, is
a healthy sport, brings necessary re
lief from debilitating heat and is
worthy of every encouragement. There
are. however, several antiquated pools,
lacking in facilities for proper sani
tation still in operation In the Dis
trict of Columbia that should be re
placed immediately with modern pools
providing facilities for proper sanita
tion and the safeguarding of health."
riayyround Drive.
Meanwhile, the Central Planning
Committee of the newly organized
city-wide playground council yesterday
opened a drive for far-reaching im
provement in playground facilities
used last year by 1,000.000 persons.
Led by a cousin of the late Presi
dent Taft, this unofficial citizen group
plans a campaign to arouse Congress
to realize the play needs of the Na
tion’s Capital, faced with the smallest
appropriation for the recreation de
partment since 1928.
Mrs. Carol Johnson, formerly Helen
Taft, declared “misdirected childish
energy is the w'orst thing in the world”
as she urged support of the $751,000
public works program for playground
betterment now before the Commis
sioners.
At present the Playground Depart
ment controls 70 acres of property all
over the city as recreation areas.
There is money enough to hire 30
directors for these playgrounds two
fewer than the number of gardeners
who care for the White House flower
beds.
The Budget Bureau estimated $190,
800 as the Playgrounds Department’s
share of the 1936 regular approriation.
This represents low-water for the last
eight years from the $171,965 of 1928,
and is one more long down-hill step
from the all-time high appropriation
of 1931, when Congress approved
$228,060 for District recreation faci
lities.
The Seventh and H streets south
west playground is daily jammed with
600 children romping about its one
acre area during the Spring, Summer
and Autumn months.
The Department of Playgrounds can
afford one full-time man supervisor
and one woman working half time.
The playground has & small base ball
field, two upright posts for basket ball
and an empty clay bed wholly unde
veloped.
With Hoover playground, this com
pletes the existing recreational facili
ties for white children in the south
west area.
..... •
CARD PARTY FOR POOR
Sacred Heart Church Entertain
ment Tomorrow Night.
A card party, with door gifts and
prizes, will be given in the basement
of the Sacred Heart Church, Six
teenth street and Park road, tomor
row at 8:45 p.m.
The proceeds will be turned over
to the scholarship fund of the Curley
Club for the poor, and will be pre
tented to Archbishop Michael J.
Curley at Us annual visit to the club
on May 28.
-
Dewey Flagship May Be Brought Here
—
House Group Inspects Olympia in Move to Preserve Her as
Memorial.
Admiral Dewey's famous Olympia, which Representative Cochran of Missouri < inset! is attempting to
have brought to Washington to be anchored off Haines Point as a memorial to the Veterans of the Spamsh
American War.
BY WILL P. KENNEDY.
A FAVORABLE report on the
Cochran bill to bring the
Olympia, Admiral George
Dewey's famous flagship, to
Washington as a memorial to
Spanish-American War veterans is
expected from the House Naval Affairs
Committee tomorrow following an in
spection of the veteran cruiser by
committee members at the Philadel
phia Navy Yard yesterday.
It was aboard the Olympia that
Admiral Dewey opened the Battle of
Manila Bay with the historic order
“you may fire when ready. Gridley.”
Victory followed without the loss of
a single man.
It is hoped that this measure, spon
sored by Representative Cochran,
Democrat, of Missouri, be passed be
fore May 1, the thirty-seventh anni
versary’ of the Battle of Manila Bay.
Some years ago when the Navy pro
gram called for scrapping the Olpmpia,
Representative Cochran started his
campaign to have the Olympia pre
served. His bill has been reported
several times, but this time he feels
confident that it will be passed.
Only the bowplate is missing from
the historic craft. Mr. Cochran has
located that at the Washington Navy
Yard and wants it replaced. He has
made many pilgrimages to inspect the
ship—on which the outlines of Admiral
Dewey's shoes as he stood on the
bridge have been memorialized in
brass plates.
Representative Cochran wishes to
have the Olympic towed to Washing
ton and to have a permanent berth
for it dredged at the tip of Hairs
Point, where it could be visited daily
by tourists. He predicts it would be
the most popular memorial in the
City of Memorials.
Mr. Cochran wrote yesterday to Rear 1
Admiral Taussig, acting chief of naval
operations, urging that the Navy De
partment support the Cochran bill
and protesting that the Navy's esti
mated cost of bringing the Olympia
here as a memorial is too high—a to1
tal of S65.000 and $20,000 annually
for maintenance of the relic,
Mr. Cochran argues that it could
be towed to Washington by a mine
layer, placed in the Mayflower’s old
berth, and that only a couple of ordi
nary seamen would be required
aboard, so tha: the cost would be
only the same as in its present loca
tion, tied up to a wharf in the Phila
delphia yard. He points out that it
need not be made sea-worthy or re
conditioned.
Practically every Spanish-American
War organizat-on in the United States
has adopted resolutions favoring the
passage of the Cochran bill.
It was from the bridge of the Olym
pia that Admiral George Dewey, com
mander of the Pacific fleet, said to
the commander of the flagship. Capt.
G. V. Gridley—“You may fire when
you’re ready, Gridley.”
During the Boxer rebellion m 1900
the Olympia was on duty ready to
protect the interests of the country,
if necessary.
After the World War the boay of
“The Unknown Soldier" was brought
to this country aboard the Olympia.
Completing this assignment the vessel
was sent to Philadelphia and tied up
at the navy yr:rd, where it was in
spected yesterday by the House Naval
Affairs Committee, and where it has
attracted much attention from sight
seers and pilgrimages, especially
school children.
SEN E CONTROL
Budget Bureau Puts 0. K.
on New Measure to Stem
Nuisance.
The Budget Bureau has approved
I the Commissioner's bill for a new law’
for the control of the smoke nuisance
in the District, according to word re
1 ceived yesterday by District officials.
The bill, which puts new “teeth”
into the supervision over boiler in
spection, as well as all types of fur
naces, will be sent to the House and
Senate District Committees tomorrow
by the Commissioners with a request
for favorable action.
The bill proposes expenditure of
about $25,000 annually for employ
ment of additional personnel to in
spect, regulate and control furnaces
and boilers so as to keep down the
smoke and ash nuisance, about which
there has been continued complaint.
$12,000 Recovery Expected.
The District expects to recover
about $12,000 of this sum annually
through fees charged for approval of
plans for the erection, repair or re
modeling of furnaces and boilers or
fines coming from violation of the
new regulations.
The new bill would apply to pri
vate residences and railroad and
marine engines, as well as furnaces of
commercial buildings, in contrast to
the present law, which affects only
commercial structures. Fines of $100
or a sentence of 90 days in Jail, or
both, could be Imposed for each vio
lation under the new law.
The bill, drafted after many months
of study by a committee of District
government engineers and represen
tatives of civic groups, calls for use
of scientific tests approved by the
United States Bureau of Mines in
determining excessive smoke.
New Bill Presented.
Another bill for smoke control,
drafted by People’s Counsel William
A. Roberts, already has been pre
sented to Congress.
The Commissioners, in letters to
Congress about their bill, ignored the
Roberts bill.
Both bills would take control of
smoke out of the District Health
Office, where it now rests. Health
Officer Ruhland is in favor of this.
SWISS ACCUSE REICH
Alleged Kidnaping of Anti-Nazi
Is Protested.
By the Associated Press.
BERN, Switzerland, March 30.—A
“grave violation of Swiss soverignty”
was charged to Germany today as the
Swiss government sent an energetic
protest to Berlin against the alleged
kidnaping of an anti-Nazi on Swiss
soli.
The protest, sent to the Swiss min
ister in Berlin, denied an official Ger
man statement that Berthold Jacob,
German refugee journalist, was ar
rested when he stepped on German
territory whore charges of treason
•waited him.
- .9
Dublin Lord Mayor
Stopped by Police
III
j Newspaper Man Driving
Good-Will Guest in Mary
land Posts $26.45.
In a distinctly unscheduled incident
in his good will tour of the United
States, Right Hon. Alderman Alfred
Byrne. T. D., lord mayor of Dublin,
was stopped in Hyattsville yesterday
and the driver of his car forced to post
collateral on a charge of speeding.
This unexpected demonstration of
American judicial operation was given
by Chief Magistrate Robert Joyce of
Hyattsville. who once was a mayor in
his own right, though not a lord
mayor.
It all happened when the lord
mayor was being driven back to Wash
ington from a scenic trip in Southern
Maryland by Drew Pearson, Wash
ington newspaper man. There was a
Washington engagement that was sud
denly remembered.
Pearson, who knows his Maryland
roads, stepped on the gas. but did not
give due consideration to possibilities
of meeting up with Maryland State
Policeman C. W. Cubbage. so the re
ports go.
Corpl. Cubbage also stepped on the
gas and won the race to the District
line. Pearson then was charged with
driving at a 45-mile-an-hour clip.
Pearson is scheduled to appear at
Hyattsville tomorrow night for trial.
He has posted $26.45 collateral.
DARING YOUNG MAN FALLS
LOS ANGELES. March 30 (/P).—The
snapping of a wire plunged Felipe
Escalante, member of the famous
family of circus aerialists, nearly 30
feet to the ground during a circus per
formance here today.
He was rushed to the circus hospital,
and after an examination, Dr. George
P. Boyd said he apparently was not
seriously injured.
Among those who saw the accident
were Charles Chaplin, famous movie
comedian, and his two sons.
PUBLIC HEALTH
SESSION PLANNED
—
Community Meeting Will Be
Held During Surgeons’
Convention.
A large community health meeting
will be held in Constitution Hall on
the evening of April 12 as one of the
high points in a two-day sectional
meeting of the American College of
Surgeons, to be held here April 11
and 12.
At the community meeting out
standing health authorities will make
brief, educational talks on the preven
tion of disease and the lengthening of
life.
Delegates to the sectional meeting
will be comprised of surgeons from the
District of Columbia, Maryland, Vir
ginia, West Virginia and Delaware.
Dr. Frederic A. Besley, professor of
surgery at Northwestern University
Medical School, will be chairman of
the board on industrial medicine and
traumatic surgery and will lead dis
cussions on these subjects.
In a pre-meeting statement. Dr.
! Besley declared the board has found,
| after a nine-year survey, that the care
I of the injured has not kept pace with
| the rapid surgical advancement of
other diseased conditions and it has,
I therefore, a created minimum stand -
I ard for the establishment and opera
! tion of well organized, competent
medical services that will assure the
right care of the injured.
He declared that organized labor,
industrial concerns and indemnity
companies have shown a great will
ingness to co-operate in maintaining
the approved standards. The stand
ard for improvements should reduce
the total annual economic loss from
10 to 25 per cent, or from $100,000,000
to $300,000,000 annually, he said.
Dr. Besley further asserted that ap
proximately 99,000 people were killed
accidentally in the United States last
year, as against 35,000 American sol
diers killed in action during the World
War.
Policemen Take 240 Race Bets
And Seize Man in C Street Place
Two hundred and forty horse race
players, hoping to pick winners in
yesterday's races in various sections
of the country, had the misfortune of
placing their wagers with two police
men bent upon stopping their gambling.
Unknown to many of the place's
patrons, police had raided a residence
in the 200 block of C street and found
an elaborate telephone switchboard
hook-up accepting bets from cigar
stores.
Unaware of the raid, patrons con
tinued to call the place. Policemen
Robert F. Egan and Roy E. Blick
hopped to the elaborate telephone
system and before the raid was over
took 240 calls, accepting bets that
totaled $1,400.
Estimated at the rate at which the
policemen took the calls, bettors were
in the habit of placing an average of
$2400 to $3,000 beta per hour.
A man Identified as lugene Sim-,
moos, 41, et the ^street address, eaid
to have been one of the telephone
operators, was arrested and charged
with setting up a gaming table. Police
believe at least three other men who
had been working at the board either
had left before their arrival or had
not begun their afternoon work when
they entered.
Some 18 telephones were used in the
hookup and bets were taken by the
operators on the reverse side of a bal
lot blank of a religious organization,
which bore the names of several
ministers In the ballot list, police said.
The beta averaged about <3 each and
the highest was $50, the raiding offi
cers said. Patrons of the switchboard
asked tot the various operators bv
nicknames and “placed their bets”
with the policemen apparently without
suspicion.
The switchboard and * telephones
ware in plafri view through a window
from a porch of the house on tha
first floor. ‘ m
MOVE JO IMPROVE
LAW EMC ENT
SEEN IN REPORT
Crime Probers to Include
List of 10 Recommenda
tions for District.
“TIP OFF” INVESTIGATION
REPORTED FRUITLESS
Committee Is Undecided as to
Proposed Decentralization of
Traffic Bureau.
BY JAMES E. CHINN.
A score or more recommendations
for improving the District's law en
forcement and prosecution machinery
are to be included in the report of the
special committee of the House which
has just completed a two months’
sweeping investigation into all ramifi
cations of crime and its control.
Although the report will not be
completed for at least 20 days, mem- *
bers of the committee have virtually
reached tentative conclusions, at least,
as to a number of the recommenda
tions.
In the meantime. Inspector Thad
deus R. Bean, assistant superintendent
of police, neared the end of his special
inquiry into the reported "tip off” to
a gambling raid in the fifth precinct
without learning anything more than
the committtee uncovered during tw«
days of grilling of police officials and
privates. The committee failed to de
termine whether there actually had
been a "tip off,” and Inspector Bean
is said to have come to the same con
clusion after questioning every mem
ber of the fifth precinct.
Report Due in Few Days.
A report on the results of his in
vestigation which the Commissioners
ordered on recommendation of Police
Superintendent Ernest W. Brown, is to
be submitted within the next several
days. Before framing the report,
Bean said he would await written
statements from Inspector Albert J.
Headley and Capt. Joseph C. Morgan
of the fifth precinct, containing an
explanation of their failure to investi
gate the reported "tip off.”
The crime committee report, to be
drawn up by John R. Fitzpatrick, its
counsel, is expected to contain not
only a number of recommendations,
but a general summary of the perti
nent observations of committee mem
bers, which they noted during the
two months of hearings.
While Fitzpatrick has not yet had
sufficient time to even prepare the
outline of the report since conclusion
of the formal hearings Friday, de
velopments during the inquiry indi
cate rather conclusively the committee
will include the following recommen
dations in its report:
1. Consolidation of the Metropolitan
and Park Police forces.
2. An increase in the police force
and additional equipment, such as
scout cars and better housing facili
ties for the detective bureau and
administrative officials.
Seek Stronger Gambling Laws.
3. Strengthening of the gambling
laws to give police a more potent
weapon to deal with bookmakers and
numbers game operators.
4. Changes in procedure at the Dis
trict Supreme Court as well as Po
lice Court to prevent undue delays
in trials, especially in criminal cases.
5. Improved physical Acuities for
Police Court through erection of the
proposed new courts building.
6. Repeal of the indeterminate
sentence law and substitution of the
present Federal law requiring a
orisoner to serve one third at a sen
tence before becoming eligible for
parole.
7. Improvement in the parole sys
tem through the creation of a full
time, paid board and an adequate
staff of parole investigators.
8. An increased penalty for
prostitution.
9. Changes in the police depart
ment's efficiency rating system on
which promotions are based so that
more credit will be given for satis
factory service and less consideration
to the intelligent quotient of an
officer.
10. A change in police trial board
procedure with reduced penalties for
(Continued on Page 6, Column" jT)
TRANSIT FIRMMAKES
FINAL MERGER MOVE
Motion Asking Dismissal of Util
ities Suit Upholds $843,000
Proposal.
The Capital Transit Co., in a motion
filed yesterday In District Supreme
Courf, upheld its proposal to pay $843,
000 for the stock of the Washington
Rapid Transit Co., in a final move for
merger of the city’s mass transporta
tion facilities.
The Public Utilities Commission has
denied the plan, holding the price
does not represent the "fair value”
of the bus company and the case went
to court on a petition by the transit
company for an order overriding the
commission.
The transit company, in Its motion
for rejection of the commission’s plea
for dismissal of the suit, argued the
commission had refused to consider
evidence supporting the company’s
agreement.
The company insisted that Congress,
in passing the Joint resolution per
mitting the merger, did not limit the
matter to a determination of the price
at which the stock or property of the
bus company could be sold to others.
Congress, the company contended, took •
into consideration increased revenues
and business which would result to the
two companies through joint operation
and improved service.
"It should be noted that what is
being bought and what * the joint
resolution says may be bought, is stock,
not physical property,” the street car
company stated. "In purchasing
stock, one is not buying merely
physical property but physical property
and a going business, together with
any good will associated with that
business and any peuiMlittee It may
have tor profit,"