Evening star. [volume], May 19, 1936, Image 1

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

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8 S^r«?ror.cMt > The only evening paper
\ Pair and cooler tonight; tomorrow, fair in Washington with the
and continued cool; moderate northwest AsjtmpiatnH Prnaa Moure
winds. Temperatures - Highest, 88, at ^ j tIv. rFeSS INeWS
noon yesterday; lowest, 64, at 5 am. and WirephotO Services,
today. Pull report on page A-7.
Closing New York Markets, Page 18 (Some returns not yet received.)
“Tf qq fiOl Entered as second class matter WASHINGTON, D. C., TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1936 “FORTY-SIX PAGES. ¥¥* mo Mean. Associated Pr,„. TWO CENTS.
O. post office, Washington, D. C. . - ' 1 ' '
' ICE REGULATION
RUMORED BASIS
' OF NEW COAL BILL
Marketing Provisions Seen
Included in Measure to
Supplant Guffey’s.
WHITE HOUSE SILENT
ON COURT DECISION
Price War Is Seen—Lewis Hits
“Fattening Capital, Starv
ing Labor.”
Abstract of Supreme Court De
cision on the Guffey Act Ap
pears on Pages A-14-15.
» BACKGROUND—
For 50 years the bituminous coal
miners have been in the throes of
labor troubles, especially the miners
in the Pennsylvania and West Vir
ginia area, the locale of operation
of the infamous Molly Maguires.
To end the trouble, Senator Guffey
of Pennsylvania wrote legislation
calling for Federal control of the
bituminous industry through a
penalty tax. This was passed last
Summer after President Roosevelt
suggested immediate enactment and
let the problem of constitutionality
be settled later. It was settled yes
terday.
New legislation was being drafted
' today to replace the Guffey coal act,
thrown into the discard by the Su
- preme Court yesterday with A. A. A.
end N. B. A.
Highly authoritative sources re
vealed that representatives of the
National Bituminous Coal Commis
sion, the Justice Department, opera
tors who favored the Guffey act and
miners started last night on the task
of shaping new legislation for im
* mediate introduction in Congress.
It was not known whether White
' House approval would be given their
efforts.
Although the exact scope of the
new measure has not been determined.
It was understood price regulation and
marketing provisions would be its
basis.
This approach was taken because
the court’s opinion did not pass on
constitutionality of the price-fixing
provisions of the old act.
• C. E. Smith, a member of the Coal
Commission, said last night he be
lived the Government might have to
refund money collected under the ex
cise tax provision of the Guffey act.
At the same time, word came from
another informed quarter that New
Deal attorneys had reached an opinion
that the Coal Commission could con
tinue in existence, despite the court’s
decision.
The Treasury has collected about
1700,000 under the Guffey act.
Yesterday’s vital decision, which af
fects some 500,000 soft coal miners,
revived talk of a constitutional amend
ment to enlarge the powers of the
Federal Government, and drew from
Charles P. O’Neill, Central Pennsyl
vania operator, the prediction that
an intensified coal price war would
resun.
Lewis Strikes Back.
While President Roosevelt, who had
Urged Congress to pass the act, regard
less of doubts as to its constitutional
ity, remained silent, John L. Lewis,
* president of the United Mine Workers,
hit back at the court. In a sharply
worded statement, he said:
“It is a sad commentary upon our
form of government when every de
cision of the Supreme Court seems
designed to fatten capital and starve
and destroy labor.”
With reference to the decision, At
torney General Cummings said:
“A careful study of the majority
opinion and of the other two opinions
will have to be made before it can be
ascertained what course may still be
open to the Government in dealing
with the problems of the bituminous
coal-mining industry.
> “It should not be overlooked that
the opinion of the three dissenting
justices, and the separate opinion of
the Chief Justice, constitute the first
clear expression by members of the
Supreme Court upholding the con
stitutionality of price-fixing for com
modities moving in interstate com
merce. Important, also, is the state
ment in the opinion of Mr. Justice
Cardozo, ‘that the prevailing opinion
(See GUFFEY, Page A^L)
FAIR AND COOLER DUE
AS CLOUDS DISAPPEAR
Clouds, which threatened rain this
morning, were scheduled to disappear
before nightfall, as the forecaster pre
dicted fair weather with low tempera
tures.
Moderate northwest winds will keep
the skies clear and the mercury low
through tomorrow, the Weather Bu
reau said.
Prom a high of 88 degrees at noon
yesterday, the temperature dropped
to 63 at 4 pm., during the thunder
showers. The mercury is expected to
hover around 65 and 70 degrees
through the night.
SMUGGLING RAMPANT
Chinese Sources Say Japanese
Goods Sold Duty Tree.
TIENTSIN, China, May 19 UP).—
Chinese sources said today Japanese
contraband goods continued to flood
North China in ever-increasing volume
despite Chinese anti-smuggling meas
ures.
The Nanking Nationalist govern
ment, these sources said, had lost dur
ing the last nine months nearly
(15,000,000 through smuggling of
sugar, rayon, gasoline, kerosene, rub
ber tires and cosmetics.
United States diplomats watched
the situation closely, keeping the
Washington .State .Department .in
formed.
>
Pole That Killed
Girl Also Broke
Up Radio Team
Valley Residents Not
to Hear “Betty and
Nancy” Again.
t . . '_...JMHB
betty lee roudabush.
A 42-foot tent pole broke up one
of radio’s youngest teams yesterday.
The childish trebles of “Betty and
Nancy” will no longer be heard by
the audiences of Station WSVA, Har
risonburg, Va.
The senior member of the ream,
Betty Lee Roudabush, 13, of Shen
andoah. Va., was fatally injured by
a falling pole at yesterday's after
noon performance of the Ringling
Bros., Barnum & Bailey Circus here.
Betty and her sister Nancy, 10, used
i to sing once a week to advertise their
father’s Shenandoah Milling Co.
It was their first big circus yester
: day. They had begged for weeks to
go. Finally their mother consented,
and with her, their grandfather, Gil
bert J. Strickler, former president of
(See GIRL, Page A-12.)
m ns
ASSURED BY R. A.
—
Jobs to Continue Despite
Court Ruling, Officials
Declare.
Twenty thousand workers were as
sured by Resettlement Administration
officials today that their jobs will con
tinue indefinitely, despite the Court
of Appeals decision.
The outlook was different, however,
for 150 employes of the National Bi
tuminous Coal Commission, whicli ad
ministers the Guffey act. Ninety per
cent of these are ‘'carry-overs” from
the N. R. A. Whereas they escaped
the first court blow at their jobs, their
status was said officially to be now in
doubt.
While officials indicated R. A. ac
tivities would proceed as usual, no
work will be done on the Bound Brook,
N. J„ low-rental housing project,
which the court specifically declared
unauthorized.
The group of R. A. employes to be
continued include 4,900 at “Tugwell
town.” the housing project at Berwyn
Heights.
The others—more than 15,000—are
administrative employes in Washing
ton and the field.
In addition to its low-cost housing
projects. Resettlement has under its
jurisdiction 33 subsistence homestead
projects taken over from the Interior
(See RESETTLEMENT, Page A-5.)
BRITISH CITE GAINS
IN SMALLER NAVIES
Lesser Powers Have Added Sub
marines Since 1930, London Says
in Invoking Escape Clause.
By the- Associated Press.
LONDON. May 19.—The lesser naval
powers, according to the British gov
ernment. have started construction on
more than 200 submarines since 1930.
This statement, it was disclosed to
day, was made in a note addressed by
Great Britain to Washington and
Tokio May 6. In the note the British
invoked the escape clause—permitting
naval increases under certain condi
tions—of the 1930 London naval treaty.
The lesser naval powers represent
navy-owning nations exclusive of Great
Britain, the United States and Japan.
Submarine building, coupled with
the failure of the 1936 Naval Confer
ence to agree upon quantitative limita
tions, were reasons advanced by Great
Britain in asking the right to retain
destroyers which otherwise would be
scrapped before the end of the year.
But Most Observers Feel
Denial of Candidacy Fails
to Clarify Race.
ROLE IN CONVENTION
MAY BE STRENGTHENED
Greater Prominence Believed
Likely at Session, for
Former President.
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.
Politically minded Washington was
puzzling its head today over the eSect
former President Herbert Hoover's
announcement he is not a candidate
will have on the race for the Repub
lican presidential nomination.
Despite the fact that Mr. Hoover
will have warm personal friends
among the delegates attending the
1 Republican National Convention—
! friends who stand ready to vote for
1 his nomination—the opinion has been
| strong that he would not be the nom
1 lure.
i The question asked today, however,
' is whether Mr. Hoover had strength
ened his position by his announce
ment; whether he would have a
greater influence in the choice of the
| presidential candidate and in the
drafting of the platform. It was urged
! in some quarters that by removing
himself as a possible contender from
j the presidential race he had made it
easier for himself to take a prominent
part in the councils of the convention.
Chicago Statement.
In his Chicago statement to the
press, Mr. Hoover laid stress on the
fact that a great majority of the
delegates to the national convention
will be '‘uninstructed” for any of the
candidates. For months it has been
the contention of the former Presi
dent that the Republicans should pick
the finest type of delegates to the
convention and then let these dele
gates reach a decision as to the candi
dates for President and Vice Presi
i dent. It has. in a measure, been his
j fight. And this fight he has won.
I The demand for uninstructed dele
gations fitted in with the plans ol
some of the old guard Republican
leaders also
The Hoover statement denied the
former President was opposing any of
the candidates. Recently reports have
been published that Hoover would
join a coalition in the convention to
prevent the nomination of Gov. Alf M.
Landon of Kansas. His present state
| ment is understood to have been an
1 answer to these reports. This is not
the first time that Mr. Hoover has
I felt it incumbent upon him to deny
a statement that he was either for
j or against one of the presidential
"possibilities.” He denied some weeks
ago, for example, that his candidate
was Senator Vandenberg of Michigan.
uwi 10 Lanaon.
There are reasons to believe, how
ever, that Mr. Hoover has not been
Impressed with the Landon candidacy;
that he has not considered Gov. Lan
don has had a sufficiently wide experi
ence to grapple with the problems,
both national and international, which
confront the country.
The Landon people, however, are in
clined to derive some satisfaction from
the Hoover statement he is opposing
none of the candidates. They believe
' it may end the publication of reports
that Mr. Hoover is ready to join a
“Stop Landon" movement. They in
sist that if the convention is left to
itself, and no effort is made by a small
group of leaders to form an anti-Lan
don alliance, it will undoubtedly nom
inate the Kansas Governor for Presi
dent.
Although Mr. Hoover has made no
effort to have delegates elected favor
able to himself, a number of the dele
* (See HOOVER, Page A-3.)
MEXICO TO CONSTRUCT
SCHOOLS ALONG BORDER
By the Associated Press.
MEXICO CITY, May 19.—Mexico
intends to build enough schools along
the border, the education department
announced today, so that Mexican
children need not go to the United
States to study.
On orders from President Lazaro
Cardenas, engineers and architects
have left the capital for Laredo and
Matamoros to start the building pro
gram.
The department said lack of facil
ities at some border points made it
necessary for parents to send their
children to American schools, and the
government's view was that the youth
of the land should pursue studies at
home.
Local Philanthropies Left
Thousands by Miss Julia Strong
The Washington Home for Incur
ables and other local philanthropic
and religious organizations will re
ceive more than half of the $345,000
estate of Miss Julia D. Strong, daugh
ter of the late Associate Justice Wil
liam Strong of the United States
Supreme Court, according to her will,
which was filed for probate in Dis
trict Supreme Court today.
Socially prominent here for many
years, Miss Strong, who lived at 3
Dupont circle, died April 12 in
Charleston, S. C„ where she was
making a brief visit.
She was vice president of the Home
for incurables, which was bequeathed
the largest share of the estate. After
making specific bequests totaling $166,
000, Miss Strong directed that the
remainder of her estate be divided into
thirds, two parts to go to the Home
for Incurables as a permanent endow
ment and one to the Church of ^ie
Covenant in memory of her father and
mother.
Mrs. Caroline McCormick Slade ol
New York, a friend, and the Ameri
can Security 6c Trust Co. were named
in the will as executors. They wert
represented before the court by At
torney Stanley T. Holland. The will
was drawn November 14, 1935.
By far the greatest part of Miss
Strong's property consisted of stocks
and bonds. Other interests Included
her home, assessed at $35,081, which
she ordered sold, and $30,000 to which
she was entitled from a trust fund
created by her father.
A portrait of Justice Strong bj
Hinckley, the Jurist’s death mask and
his commission -as a member of the
Supreme Court bench were bequeathed
to that tribunal.
None of the specific bequests ex
ceeded $10,000. They included $5,00t
to the Church of the Covenant, $10.00C
to the Society of the Church of the
(See STRONOb Page A^S.) 1
/W isnY tmat A
TOUGH, BILL? \
PEDESTRIAN REGULATION
JUSTAS WEGETRtADY I
\To Do Some WALKING!/
—
! Busses Here to Stay Despite
Complaints, Reports Indicate
Utilities Commission Cites Reduction
in Trackage—Truth of State
ment Demonstrated.
This is the third of a series of
articles on the transportation prob
lem in Washington.
BY JOHN H. CLINE.
Bus transportation, however un
satisfactory it may be in spots, has
come to Washington to stay.
The truth of this statement is amply
demonstrated by the experience of
the Capital Transit Co. on Connecti
cut avenue, where bus service re
placed the street cars last September.
Mass transportation became a live '
issue in Chevy Chase while the Con- j
necticut avenue street car line was
nearing the end of its unhappy ca
| reer.
j Membership in the Chevy Chase
! Citizens’ Association, which was cam
paigning for better transportation
service, began to grow by leaps and
bounds. Meetings of the association
were packed to the doors by irate
citizens, who condemned the manage
ment of the Capital Transit Co. in
no uncertain terms.
Even when the proposal to substi
tute busses for the street cars was
announced, the association, the larg
est in the city, received it with open
skepticism. Officials of the company,
they said, previously had expressed
the belief bus service would not be
satisfactory, and they were afraid
something was being "put over" on
them.
As late as last December, when the
service was some three months old.
i See TRANSPORTATION. Page A-4.)
SPURNED MURDER
PLOT. CARLIN SAYS
I
State Informer Testifies He
Refused to Enter Lyd
dane “Plot.”
BY W. H. SHIPPEN, JR.
Staff Correspondent of The Star.
HAGERSTOWN. Md.. May 19—A
State witness against Mrs. Anne M. '
| Lyddane in her trial here on charges \
I of plotting the murder of her hus
band. told a jury today how he
turned down an offer to commit a
murder for a “rich Rockville woman
who had keys to a bank.”
The second informer against the
pretty blond Rockville matron was
William Carlin, alias Willie Brown,
ex-convict, ccnvicted of hijacking and
using a smoke screen during the pro
hibition era. He served time at
Lorton Reformatory and a Federal
prison in Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Lyddane Is charged with-plot
ting against the life of her husband,
Francis (Slom) Lyddane, with John
H. (Googy) Camell and John Martin
Boland.
Carlin told the jury Boland met
him in a Pennsylvania avenut lunch
room and said, “I got a Job to make
$1,000.” The witness explained
Boland said:
“All you gotta do is clip a man at
Rockville If you do that, then there’s
a woman to clip for another $1,000.”
The witness apparently was refer
ring to Mrs. Josephine Beall, wife of
Arthur Beall, Damestown garage
man. The defense has admitted Mrs.
(See LYDDANE, Page A-2.)
PICKTHALL DEAD .
Successful Novelist for 30 Years
Succumbs in Cornwall.
ST. IVES. Cornwall, England, May
19 (IP).—Marmaduke William Pick
thall, 61, a successful novelist for more
than 30 years, died today.
Among Pickthall’s better known
novels are "Pot-Au-Feu.” “With the
Turk in War Time,” "The House of
War,” "As Others See Us” and “The
Meaning of the Glorious Koran.”
Readers’ Guide
Page.
Amusements. C-10
Answers to Questions-A-10
Comics__I-C-5
Cross-word Puzzle_C-5
Death Notices-A-12
Editorial .A-10
Finance .A-17-18-19
Lost and Found ..A-3
News Comment Features A-11
Radio . C-6
Serial: "Woman in Love”_.B-9
Serial: "Rainbow Over
Broadway” _B-14
Society_B-3-4
Sports....C-l-2-3
Washington Wayside-A-2
Women's Features ..._C-4
*
APPROVAL GIVEN
RED RIDER REPEAL
Education Body to Confer
With King Before Making
Formal Report.
BY J. A. O’LEARY.
Repeal of the “red rider.’* forbid
ding the teaching or advocating of
Communism in local public schools,
was approved today by the Senate Ed
ucation and Labor Committee, but the
formal report to the Senate will be
held up pending a conference with
Chairman King of the Senate District
Committee.
Senator Walsh, Democrat, of Massa
chusetts, head of the education and
labor group, will confer with King
later today. Since Senator King is
known to be a supporter of the ban, it
appeared that the chances for Senate
action on the repeal bill this near the
end of the session will depend on
whether the District Committee chair
man vigorously opposes it.
A similar bill to remove the contro
versial provision from the statute book
has been reported favorably by the
House Committee and is due to come
on the floor in the House at an early
date. When he introduced the repeal
bill in the Senate several weeks ago.
Senator Wheeler, Democrat, of Mon
tana, took the view that the red rider
was unnecessary and also declared that
if it is to remain it should be clarified
to define what is meant by the term
"Communism.’’
The Walsh committee voted favor
able reports on the following other
measures: The House bill to allow
blind persons to operate vending stands
in public buildings and to lend other
Federal assistance to enable blind per
sons to find employment in industry;
the Wheeler bill to require contractors
on Government buildings to provide
workmen’s compensation insurance for
their employes; the La Follette reso
lution for an investigation of charges
of Interference with the right of labor
organizations, and the Murray resolu
tion to Investigate silicosis in the metal
mining industries.
The Wagner housing bill, calling for
loans and grants to States and cities
for slum-clearance and low-cost hous
ing projects was not taken up today,
because several amendments are being
drafted.
The bill relating to the blind was
amended to meet the Budget Bureau’s
objections to requiring the Govern
ment to pay for installing the vending
stands.
JEW IS SHOT TO DEATH
AS DISORDER CONTINUES
By tbe Associated Press.
JERUSALEM, May 19.—A Jew was
found shot to death today In the old
city of Jerusalem—the fifth person to
die since the renewal last Saturday
of Arab sinti-Jewish disorders.
The government tightened its re
strictions in an effort to put an end
to the Holy City violence, ordering the
curfew to start at 7 pm.. Instead of 8
p.m., clearing the streets each night.
Troops and police patrolled the road
from Jerusalem to the port of Haifa,
permitting traffic over that route only
if accompanied by troops both at tbe
Edward Gordon Critically
Hurt in Five-Floor Plunge.
f
Pens Own Epitaph.
Penning his own epitaph after clas
sifying himself as a “failure in life,"
Edward A. Gordon, 17, of Brookline,
Mass., today leaped from a fifth-floor
window of the Houston Hotel and was
critically injured.
The youth was rushed to Emergency
Hospital in a taxicab after he landed
on the sidewalk on his head and shoul
der. His skull is believed to have been
fractured.
In a note addressed to his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob B. Gordon of
.Brookline, the youth explained he was
despondent over failure to find a job.
Requesting that his funeral be small,
but that all of his friends be allowed
to come, he said he would li'te this
simple inscription on his tombstone:
"Edward A. Gordon.
"February 5. 1919-May 1*. 1936
"He faced death with
"A smile knowing that
"God was waiting for him
"With outstretched arms.”
Hoped for Quick Death.
The youth said ne nopea aeam
would be ‘short and painless” and
that should he succeed only in crip
pling himself, he did not wish any
of his family to visit him during his
recuperation, explaining “it would be
too hard for all of us.”
The Gordon boy also left two other
notes, one headed "Life and Happi
ness" and the other "Wanderings of
One's Mind.”
James Fyfe, 411’4 G street, who
was selling newspapers on the corner
of Ninth and E streets, said he saw
the youth lift the screen and climb
out the window.
Plunges Head First.
Balancing himself on his knees fac
ing the street, Fyfe said Gordon hes
itated a moment and then plunged
head first to the sidewalk. The youth
made no effort to break his fall, but
kept his arms at his side, Fyfe said.
The youth did not wear shoes or
coat when he leaped. A magazine lay
on a mussed bed in his room, indicat
ing the youth had lain reading before
he decided to end his life.
Employment Blank in Room.
With the note was a filled-out blank
from an employment agency, evidence
that the youth had been seeking a Joo
here. It was stated on the employment
form that Gordon s father is a Jeweler
It was not known how long the youth
had been in Washington. He registered
at the hotel yesterday, however.
Dan Carroll. 23, 4224 Sixteenth
street, was walking along E street near
the hotel when Gordon plunged to the
.sidewalk.
Carroll, employed in the Advertising
Department of The Star, said he was
about 30 feet away when Gordon struck
the pavement in front of him. Carroll
had been walking with his head bowed
to shelter his face from the rain and
did not see the youth’s plunge.
Badoglio Honors U. S. Writer.
ADDIS ABABA, May 19 (/P).—Vice
roy Pietro Badoglio today decorated
Herbert L. Matthews, correspondent
of the New York Times, with the war
cross for military merit.
SABOTAGE IN PM
IS HINTED BY ICKES
AT COURT BEARING
Secretary Sees Probable
Reason for Delay in Power
Project Allotments.
DIVISION TO EXPEDITE
LOANS IS ORGANIZED
Testifies in Defense of Constitu
tionality of Program Chal
lenged by Utilities.
By tbe Associated Press.
Secretary Ickes hinted in District
Supreme Court today that "clever
sabotage” in the Public Works Ad
ministration may have been respon
sible for delaying power project allot
ments.
As a result of this delay, Ickes told
the court, he set up a power division
to expedite consideration of loans and
grants for municipal electric plants.
He testified in defense of the con
stitutionality of the *200.000.000 P. W.
A. power program, which has been
challenged by four utility firms.
Does Not See Even Break.
“Whether or not there had been
some clever sabotaging in my own
organization,” Ickes said. "I felt that
the power applications had not beer,
getting an even break. They had j
been retarded in one way or an- '
I other.”
on July 1, 1935. to handle all appli
cations for municipal electric proj
ects. It replaced the Electric Power
Board of Review, Ickes said, which he
had abolished because he believed it
was assuming unjustified powers.
He denied the contention of four
utility companies that P. W. A. was
seeking to seize illegal control of in
trastate power production.
Injunction Sought.
The private power companies are
asking an injunction to block P. W. A.
allotments for 10 municipal power
I projects, scattered through Alabama.
Texas, Oklahoma and Iowa. They
contend that P. W. A. is unconstitu
tional, and that it has no authority
to finance local electrical plants.
Plaintiffs are the Alabama Power
Co , the Texas Utilities Co., the Okla- i
homa Utilities Co., and the Iowa Light |
& Power Co.
Ickes told the court he exercised
i the sole power in regard to P. W. A. J
| policies.
He defined the purpose of P. W. A. •
as follows:
“Fundamentally to put as many j
men to work as possible: secondarily,
to stimulate the demand for goods
of all sorts, and to aid in the eco- j
nomic recovery of the Nation.”
Ickes denied contentions of the
power company that he had dele
gated his authority to subordinates,
and had used P. W. A. funds to J
dominate local power rates.
HERRIOT SEES DEBT
AID IN TRADE PACT
! _ j
Settlement Might Get U. S. to
Line Up Against Reich,
He Says.
By tht Associated Press.
PARIS, May 19.—Former Premier
Eduoard Herriot declared today that
"the way is open” to the settlement
of the war debt "misunderstanding”
between the United States and France
through the new trade treaty. Writ
ing in Information, he applauded the
recent speech of Premier-Designate
Leon Blum before the America rf
Club.
Blum stil is endeavoring to gee
Herriot into his cabinet as foreign
minister, although Herriot’s journal,
l’Ere Nouvelle, said he was not lik'.ly
to accept.
Herriot indicated in his article that
the settlement of the war debt con
troversy was desired to gain the aid
of the United States in the troubled
situation with Germany.
“Will Leon Blum make the misun
derstanding disappear?” asked Herriot.
"To succeed, he ‘counts on an eco
nomic transformation, the lowering
of customs barriers and the recovery
of trade. He will find the work pre
pared and the way opened by the
commercial accord.”
Declaring President Roosevelt had
shown himself "so conciliatory" on
the debt question in 1932, Herriot said
France’s failure to listen to Mr. Roose
velt’s “fraternal appeal" was “a ter
rible failure for the peace of the
world.”
“How thoughtless we have been in
this affair?” he asked.
TOWNSEND TO GET
‘NEEDED MILLIONS’
HE TELLS PROBERS
“We Still Have Country by
Tail With Downhill Pull ”
He Says.
LETTERS FROM DOCTOR
TO PROMOTER READ
Collection of “Hatsful of Money
From Old Fossils" Fre
quent Subject.
BACKGROUND—
The beneficent plan of Dr. Fran
cis E. Townsend to pay to every
man and woman over 65 a monthly
pension of $200 has for two years
been a hair-shirt to members of
Congress, who have been uncertain
which way to jump on the problem.
Turning the tables, Representative
Bell of Missouri last Winter gained
House of Representatives sanction
for an investigation of the Town
send organization. At once the out
fit underwent a reorganization.
BY JOHN C. HENRY.
Defying the Roosevelt administra
tion, both major political parties and
his questioners on the Bell committee,
Dr. Francis E. Townsend this fhoming
informed the House probers that “we
need millions in this movement and
we propose to get them.”
As for the job of getting the funds,
he added, "I still think we have the
country by the tail with a downhill
pull.”
The doctor's defiance was mixed
with savage relentlessness on the part
of committee members as they pulled
apart evidence introduced by Commit
tee Counsel James R. Sullivan, most of
it in the form of letters from the doc
tor to R. E. Clements, co-promoter,
and in testimony before a subcommit
tee by one Pierre Tomlinson, lifelong
acquaintance of the doctor and for
merly associated with the movement
in a promotional capacity.
“Hats Full of Money.”
Throughout the evidence it wai
made apparent that the collection ol
"hats full of money” from the old
age pension scheme with “old fossils'
doing most of the contributing, wai
a frequent subject of written or spo
ken conversation by the doctor.
As the morning session closed, how
ever. he claimed that he had only
about $300 left from $16,557 received
in salary and expenses from the O. A
R. P. since January 1, 1934. plus soma
$32,500 in dividends received from th»
Townsend Weekly.
The hearing drew the largest crowd
thus far with the big caucus room be
ing nearly filled.
Before the actual questioning be
gan, it was announced that Dr. Clinton
Wunder, member of the Board oi
Directors of O. A. R. P., has beec
subpoenaed. He is requested to ap
pear next Tuesday.
Establishing Dr. Townsend's one
time residence in South Dakota. Sulli
van asked if he knew one Pierre
Tomlinson.
"Since he was a baby in arms," the
doctor answered.
"It has been charged by Tomlinson,
in sworn testimony before a subcom
mittee, that you started this movement
for cold cash. Is that true?"
“It is absolutely false,” Townsend
answered.
Sullivan next quoted Tomlinson as
saying that Townsend had referred to
followers as “old fossils” and to a sub
scriber as “an old sister who has done
her part.”
Objects to Questioning.
Representative Tolan, Democrat, of
California objected to the questioning
on the grounds he had not seen the
subcommittee testimony. Chairman
Bell ruled it could be accepted and a
roll call was taken at Tolan's request.
The chair was sustained on a count
of 4 to 2. Tolan and Hoffman of
Michigan voted against the chair, with
Lucas of Illinois, Gavagan of New
York and Collins of California sus
taining.
Sullivan then read a transcript of
Tomlinson's testimony on the coast.
Included in it was a reported discus
sion of building a national magazine
as large as the Saturday Evening Post.
There would be a “hatful of money"
in this, Tomlinson said Townsend told
him. Tomlinson joined the Towsend
organization in a promotional capacity.
One of the objectives was to set Dr,
Townsend “up on a pedestal.” Tom
(See TOWNSEND, Page A-2)
Boy Accused of Stabbing Girl
In Theater Blames Film Scene
Excitement induced by a moving
picture scene of men fighting alliga
tors prompted John T. Trassare, 17
year-old messenger, to plunge a knife
into the neck of Ann Blunt, 16, as she
sat in front of him in the balcony of
a downtown theater yesterday, accord
ing to a statement he made to the
police today.
The slash narrowly missed the girl's
Jugular vein, opening a wound that re
quired hospital treatment and con
fined her to her home at 1520 First
street southwest today.
The youth was taken into custody
last night when Fifth Precinct Police
men H. W. Whitlow and W. T. Hayden
found him sitting on a bench on
Pennsylvania avenue southeast. They
learned of the subbing from Trassare
himself after they recognised him from
a lookout of a missing boy.
A pocket knife with a bloody blade
and a kitchen knife were Uken from
| him, the police jjjparted, after he told
them he had stabbed a girl he said he
had never seen before. The officers ar
rested the boy after checking his story.
Questioned by Lieut. Benjamin
Keuhling at police headquarters,
Trazzare, a red-headed youth, was
quoted as saying, "Something came
over me that caused me to want to
stab the girl." He could give no other
reason except to point out that the
picture showed men flghing alligators
on their way across a river. Detective
Sergt. Henry W. Jett said the youth
told him he had sat clutching the
opened pocket knife as he watched
the show.
The Trazzare boy left his home at
320 Fifth street southeast Sunday
after an argument with his father,
police said he told them. He said he
had been sleeping in Meridian Hill
Park.
A charge of assault with a danger
ous weapon was placed against him
(Bee STAGING. Page A-4)
BLUM’S PAPER HITS
ACTION OF VATICAN
Charges “Interference” in Finan
cial Scandal—Sees Danger
of Split.
By the Associated Press.
PARIS, May 19.—Le Populaire,
Leftist organ of Leon Blum, who will
be France's next premier, today de
nounced "Vatican Interference in
French affairs” in the Rouen Diocese
financial scandal.
It asked: “Will the Vatican’s intru
sion lead to a rupture of diplomatic
relations?”
The case. Involving charges of finan.
cial irregularities against Msgr. Bertln,
coadjutor and vicar general of the
diocese, led to an order for the dis
missal of Archbishop Andre Duboia
de la Villerabel because he carried th«
charges into a French, not a canonical,
court.
Archbishop de la Villerabel defied
the Vatican order and appealed per
sonally to Pope Pius.
Georgia Cleric Found Slain.
BRUNSWICK, Ga., May 15 C4>) —
Rev. Thomas W. Simpson, 49, pastor
of the First Presbyterian Church ol
Brunswick, was found shot to deatb
in the attic of his home here yester
day, a shotgun and a knife at hlf
side. It looks ilke suicide,” said
Police Chief X. Register.