Evening star. [volume], July 20, 1936, Page B-1, Image 17

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

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Washington News m j Society and General |
WASHINGTON, D. C„ MONDAY, JULY 20, 1936. *»* PAGE B—1
Commissioners’ Study May Result in New Jail for District
__A _ __ _____■■ ___- A.
HAZEN AND SULTAN
THOROUGH SURVEY
To Determine Whether
Building Must Be Remod* [
eled or Replaced.
INSTITUTION BRANDED I
OBSOLETE IN REPORT
Corrections Body of Social Agen
cies Urged P. W. A. Loan
for Structure.
BY JAMES E. CHIW.
Commissioners Melvin C. Hazen and
Col. Dan I. Sultan plan to make a
personal study of conditions at the
District jail to determine whether it
should be replaced with a new build
ing or whether it can be remodeled
into a modem penal institution.
The decision of the Commissioners
followed receipt of a letter from the
Corrections Committee of the Council
of Social Agencies, branding the jail
a-s ' obsolete and outmoded” and urg
ing that a P. W. A. loan be sought
ioi cuijsu ucuuii oi a new uuuaing.
Commissioner Hazen pointed out
that the proposed study of jail needs
had been contemplated for some time
in view of the agitation during the
last session of Congress for a new
and modem building. He indicated
the study may be undertaken late
this week or early next week.
Plan Complete Survey.
“The Commissioners promised Con
gress some time ago to make a
thorough study of conditions at the
jail, but they have not had time to
get around to it." said Hazen. "How -
ever, Col. Sultan and I will visit the
jail at the first opportunity and make
a complete investigation of its needs '*
Commissioner Hazen explained that
he and his colleagues have not given
any thought thus far as to how to
finance construction of the new jail
or to make improvements needed to
modernize the present building. That
question will be decided, he said, after
the needs of the institution have been
determined.
The urgent need of a new and mod
ern jail has been stressed repeatedly
for the last five years. Col. William
L. Peak, superintendent of the Lorton
Reformatory, conducted a vigorous
campaign tor improvements when he
was superintendent of the jail, and
his successor. Thomas M. Rives, has
, been just as energetic in carrying on
: the movement. The jail, however, has
been allowed but few improvements in
that period.
Letter of Committee.
The Corrections' Committee of the
Council of Social Agencies pointed out
in its letter to the Commissioners that
the present jail was completed in 187S
and that the only real addition to
its facilities since that time was a
new wing built in 1927. Even this
addition failed to provide adequate
accommodations for the prisoners.
The committee also emphasized that
the present building in no way com
pares with the modern standards of
penal institutions—that it is utterly
impossible to heat, light and ventilate
it properly, and that it lacks an im
portant central-cell locking system.
Aside from additional facilities, jail
officials are particularly anxious to
establish an execution chamber that
would be used for that purpose only.
At present, it is necessary to conduct
executions in the mess hall between
meals. The procedure, the committee
told the Commissioners, "makes it
decidedly unpleasant for the prisoners
who have to clear up one meal in a
hurry to clear the hall and then eat
again soon afterward on the spot
where someone has just died.”
GROUP TO CONSIDER
AIRPORT SITE ISSUE
Senator King Sets Friday for
Meeting to Plan Proce
dure.
I
A program to be followed by the
District Airport Commission in select
ing a site for the long-proposed
municipal airport will be considered
by the commission at a meeting Fri
day at 10 a.m. in the office of Chair
t man King of the Senate District
I Committee.
As chairman of the Airport Com
mission. Senator King issued a call
for the meeting for the purpose of
considering a subcommittee report
which embodies the proposed program.
The report was completed more than
a month ago. but has not been made
public.
As soon as orocedure is approved
the commission expects to begin ac
tively Its search for a site. It is the
Senator's plan to have the commis
sion's report on its studies ready for
Congress in January.
FUND TO ADD TEACHERS
IN D. C. SCHOOLS HALED
Part of New Personnel to Go to
Anacostia High, BaJ
lou Says.
Congressional appropriation for 55
new teachers and an increase in the
number retiring before the compulsory
retirement age of 70 years will con
tribute to improvement in the em
ployment situation for teachers ia
District public schools next Fall, ac
cording to Supt. Frank W. Ballou.
A greater percentage of graduates
of Wilson Teachers' College passed
June qualifying examinations this
year than last, he said. Part of the
new teaching personnel will be em
ployed at the new Anacostia Senior
High School, expected to be completed
in February. Higher salaries, the
superintendent stated, are contribut
ing to earlier retirements.
The School Board approved 20 re
tirements at its last meeting.
COOPER DEFEATED
IN SUIT TO GAIN
• CONTROL OF BANK
Action for End of United
States Savings Receiv
ership Denied.
r COURT FIGHT BEGUN
IN FALL OF 1933
Appeals Bench Finds No Evi
dence of Bad Faith by
Controller.
Col. Wade H. Cooper met defeat in
the United States Court of Appeals
today in his prolonged fight to gain
control of the closed United States
Savings Bank, of which he was presi
• dent and majority stockholder.
Asserting the bank was solvent,
Cooper had asked that the receivership
be terminated and the assets of the
institution be returned to the original
officers and stockholders.
The court held there was no evi
dence of bad faith on the part of the
controller of the currency which
would justify it in questioning his
Judgment that the bank was insolvent.
For almost three years Col. Cooper
has carried on a vigorous court battle
to force reopening the bank.
Active in 1933.
In September, 1933, he asked the
court to compel the controller to re
open the bank on a plan he tendered.
4 but which was refused because it
caused the depositors to waive a por
tion of their deposits. The trial court
denied his petition and its decision
f*“ was sustained on appeal.
XU lUlUbilVl OUlb, V/W*. I uuvvvtiu
fully staved off efforts by the con
troller to bring the United States Sav
ings Bank from the merger which re
I suited In the formation of the Ham
ilton National Bank.
The decision today was in Col.
Cooper’s third suit. Had the appellate
court faded to sustain the lower
court, which had dismissed the bill,
an unusual situation would have
arisen, since the receiver. Carter B.
Keene, already has disbursed $1,286.
554.91, representing 80 per cent of the
deposits cm hand when the bank mor
atorium was declared in March, 1933.
This payment to depositors was made
possible, officials explained, through a
Reconstruction Finance Corp. loan.
Tells of Asset Increase.
Col. Cooper contended that by
March 1, 1934, assets of the bank had
increased in value so that the insti
tution was wholly solvent. He ad
mitted that at the time the bank
was closed the salability of its assets
was so depressed that they might not
have realized sufficient cash to pay
all the indebtedness and capital stock.
The receiver was appointed in Feb
ruary, 1934.
Speaking for the court, Chief Jus
tice George E. Martin said:
“The controller determined that the
bank was yet insolvent, whereas the
president of the bank contends it
had regained its solvency. This mere
contradiction standing alone compels
the court to accept the official deter
mination of the controller.
“It has been held by a long array
of authorities that where the control
ler of the currency has held a bank
to be insolvent and has appointed a
receiver for it, the court will not sub
stitute its judgment for the judgment
of the controller unless it appears by
convincing proof that the controller’s
action is plainly arbitrary and was
made in bad faith.”
Finds Lack of Proof.
There was no evidence of bad faith
In the present case, the court declared,
adding that the mere declaration that
the controller acted in bad faith does
not constitute proof of that allegation.
Secretary of the Treasury Morgen
thau, Controller of Currency J. F. T.
O'Connor and Receiver Keene, who
were defendants in the suit, were rep- j
resented by George P. Barse, J. Bruce j
Kreamer, George B. Springston and
Herbert M. Bingham.
$3,320 IN JEWELRY j
STOLEN FROM HOME
Valuables Are Taken as Occupant
Visits Relatives—Widow of
Detective Also Robbed.
Jewelry and silver valued at $3,320
> was reported stolen over the week end
from the home of Mrs. Leila S. Lin
coln, 3719 Morrison street. The
burglars, police were told, apparently
used a duplicate key to gain entrance
to the house.
The robbery was committed while
Mrs. Lincoln was visiting relatives at
Leesburg, Va.
The jewelry included diamond
brooches and a diamond and platinum
dinner ring. The valuables were kept
■ In a second-floor closet.
Another jewel theft was reported
yesterday by Mrs. Nettie L. Phillips,
1443 Belmont street, widow of Detec
tive Sergt. William Phillips. She told
police two diamond rings valued at
$250 were stolen from her bed room.
Miss Helen Virgil, 1318 Massachu
setts avenue, reported she was roughly
handled by a young white man who
robbed her of $9 while she was walk
ing through the Monument Grounds
last night.
25 CASES HANDLED
Seven Still Await Disposition in
Folioe Court.
Only seven jury cases out of the 32
handled In Police Court last week
failed of disposition, according to a re
port today by Assistant Corporation
Counsel George D. Neilson to Acting
Corporation Counsel Vernon E. West.
in the 25 cases disposed of, six ver
dicts of guilty were returned, one of
not guilty, 14 persons pleaded guilty
and four cases were nolle prossed.
v
Who's Who at the Zoo
Zoo’s Most Valuable Bird Has Demeanor
Befitting His High Estate.
The shoe-bill stork, most valuable bird at the Zoo.
—Star Staff Photo.
BY W. H. SH1PPEV, Jr.
SHOE-BILL, whale-head, boat
beak.
Whatever his name, this
stilted and somewhat eccentric
member of the stork family is the
most valuable bird in Washington.
He seems very well aware of the
fact that it would cost almost $2,000
to replace him. and conducts himself
in a manner befitting his high estate.
Perhaps the solicitude of his keepers
has contributed to a natural egotism.
At any rate, he is the political
orator of the bird house. His contri
butions to the world's noises are so
loud, solemn and hollow that he sel
dom lacks an audience. He creates
this effect by clapping an empty beak
open and shut.
As an after-dinner speaker his vocal
powers are only excelled by his jp
petite for fish. He devours trout with
such a single purpose that lus keepers
have put him oti a diet of five or six
; a day, in addition to what he can jiur
i loin from his neighbors.
| This shoe-bill is native to the White
Nile. He spears fish with the curved
j hook on the end of his beak, or uses
: the beak like a dredge to scoop min
j nows from .he bottom. His long legs
are admirably adapted to wading.
I They also can support him rotion
less for hours while waning for an j
unwary fish to swim within range of !
his hungry beak.
The shoe-bill was received at the !
Zoo eight years ago. He has become
one of the best-known residents at
the bird house because of his odd
appearance and habit of clapping his
beak for no good reason.
The shoe-bill keeps his slate grey
plumage in excellent condition He Is
rare in captivity, although members
of his family are represented in New’
York and Philadelphia Zoos.
Tomorrow: The lesser adjutant
storks which seem older than they
are because of their bald heads,
long beaks, solemn mien and habit
of kneeling as if in prayer.
I
INJUREDINCRASH
Emil Rossodwica Seriously
Hurt as Car and Truck
Collide Head-On.
Emil Rossodwica, 50, of 1042 Blad
ensburg road northeast, was injured
today when his automobile collided
head-on with a beer truck on the
Baltimore-Elkton road. He was taken
to the Harford Memorial Hospital at
Havre de Grace, where it was said his '
skull was fractured.
An autopsy was scheduled this aft
ernoon to determine the cause of the
death of Thomas A. Bruce. 62. of 931
I street, who died yesterday in Gal
linger Hospital. Bruce suffered in
juries to the face and head when
struck by a street car at Tenth street
and New York avenue November 22,
1935. He was readmitted to Gal
linger last week.
Five Washingtonians, including three
women and a child, were injured last
night in a four-car smash-up on the
Southern Maryland Boulevard near
Sunderland, Md. The crash involved
a machine that was stranded in the
road by a break in a towing chain.
Those hurt were Mrs. Georgiana
Hall, 35, of 1535 Half street southwest,
broken leg and cuts; Elizabeth Hall,
4, dislocated shoulder; Roland Hall,
jr„ 16, broken leg; Mrs. Belle Macogey,
916 Eighth street southeast, cuts, and
Miss Ruth Burns, 1863 California
street, cuts. All were taken to Calvert
County Hospital.
Two Held by Police.
Miss Burns was riding in an auto
mobile with Joseph W. Carpenter, 26,
of 2034 G street, when the accident
occurred. The others, along with Mrs.
Macogey’s husband, Alex, and their
sons, Alex. jr„ and Eugene, were with
Mrs. Hall’s husband, Roland, In a
truck.
After the collision State police
placed reckless driving charges against
Carpenter and Hall. Bond was set
at $100 each pending a hearing next
Saturday.
Police said Hall’s truck piled into
the rear of Carpenter’s car, which in
turn collided with a machine which
Rector Steele of Sunderland was tow
ing to a garage. Just before the crash,
police said, the tow line had snapped
and the machine being towed had
stopped in the road. When the ma
chine behind struck it, the strande*
car was knocked against a roadster
Steele was using to do the towing.
Only one serious traffic accident
was reported here over the week end.
Isaiah Davis, 6, colored, 42 Mas
sachusetts avenue, suffered a broken
leg and injuries to his head and body
when struck in the first block of F
street. At Galllnger Hospital, where
he was taken following treatment at
Sibley Hospital, the boy’s condition
was termed serious.
i A
BEGINS AT F.B.I.
School, Under New Name,
Teaches Methods of
G-Men.
Making its debut under a new name,
the National Police Academy of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation today
opened its third session of training
for selected police officers from widely
scattered cities, counties and States.
The academy, heretofore known as
the F. B. I. Training School for Po
lice, was organized experimentally a
>-ear ago. It has proved so successful
that the Justice Department has
established it under the more dignified
name as a permanent institution.
Representatives of 34 police agencies
assembled in air-conditioned class
rooms of the department today for
:he Inauguration of a three-month
course in scientific crime detection and
criminal apprehension. J. Edgar
Hoover, director of the F. B. I., wel
comed the police students in a brief
address.
The graduates of the course will be
assigned to organize similar training
schools within their respective depart
ments. The P. B. I. will aid in organ
izing these Independent schools and In
supplying special lecturers, Hoover an
nounced.
The police will be given instruction
similar to that given special agents of
the F. B. I„ supplemented by special
subjects designed to meet the require
ments of local officers.
Asks Higher Milk
COLEMAN GORE.
—Star Staff Photo.
*
J
MILK MARKETING
PROPOSAL FLAYED
BY LEESBURG MAN
Gore Tells Maryland-Vir
ginia Group Plan Would
Work Havoc.
H. G. GERTEN DECLARES
HE HASN’T SOLVED IT
Montgomery Dairy Farmer Calls
Hearing on Price Fixing
a “Farce.”
BULLETIN.
A flat increase of 2.5 cents a gal
lon in the price of milk paid to
producers supplying the District of
Columbia area was demanded at
the milk marketing agreement
hearing at the Department of Agri
culture this afternoon by Coleman
Gore, Leesburg, Va., milk broker.
Such a move would automatically
be followed by an increase In I ha
consumer cost of milk.
BY BLAIR BOLLES.
Coleman Gore, full-voiced Leesburg.
Va., independent milk broker, today
drubbed the Maryland-Virginta Milk
Producers’ Association and it* pro
posed milk marketing agreement for
the District.
“It means absolute destruction for
250 to 300 shippers on this market,”
Gore told 500 suntanned dairy farm
ers in the Agriculture Department
Auditorium.
With a “tear” in his voice, Gore
kept up a running fire of sarcastic
comment on the 11,000 members of
the association and refused to answer j
the questions of association members.
When the Agricultural Adjustment j
Administration officials on the audl- i
torium piatiorm suggesiea irau ne nuu ]
a better proposal. Gore permitted H. i
J. Gerten to rise in the audience and I
remark:
"I stayed up lots until midnight and !
my brother stayed up with me until '
midnight trying to figure out what this
proposition Is going to do to me. I
can't answer the proposal until I
know that and I haven't figured it out
yet.”
Gore's diatribe was delivered after
Alden W. Potter, a six-cow dairy
farmer from Montgomery County,
lashed as a "farce” the hearing on the
proposal to fix the price to be given
to producers supplying Washington
with its milk and to fix the amount j
of milk each producer can sell in
that market.
At one point, Potter said:
•'This meeting and this plan per
petrate essentially & fraud. The lit
tle fellow has about as much chance
of getting any real consideration here
as a snowflake In the dust bowl.”
Almost at once came the first of a
series of angry Interruptions, most of
which set the countrymen in titters.
He's Allowed to Talk, However,
"I want to know something about
time,” said J. B. Nichols, PurcellvUle,
Va. “If this representative of half a
dozen cows Is going to take an hour
or two to talk about them. I’d like to
know it now. We got to get home to
our own cows.”
Potter snapped back: ‘‘It doesn't
take more than one cow to make an
economic fact.”
Under interruptions which came one
a minute, Potter insisted on reading
his paper until E. O. Mather, the pre
siding officer, calmed the assembly by
telling Potter he could talk for Just
10 more minutes.
Potter was the first of a long line
of witnesses for and against the agree
ment, which was explained by P. L.
Miller, principal agricultural econ
omist of the dairy section of the Agri
cultural Adjustment Administration,
as “more of a general program for the
betterment of farm prices.”
The hearing was called at the sug
gestion of the Maryland-Virgtnia
Milk Producers’ Association. This or
ganization includes most of the dairy
farmers in the Washington milk shed,
which reaches as far south as Albe
marle County, Va., west to Rocking
ham County, Va„ north to the Penn
sylvania border, and east to Queen
Anne county, on tne Eastern Shore
of Maryland.
The agreement's purpose is to fix
the price of milk paid to producers,
but It does not fix or mention the re
tail price or the resale price, or the
price the consumer pays.
The agreement would establish the
producer price for class 1 milk at
$3.08 per 100 pounds, the price at
present paid by all handlers to mem
bers of the association.
Others outside the sssociation, how
ever, now have no assurance they will
receive this price, a fact which sup
plies one of the reasons for the pro
posal to extend price control to all
producers in the milk shed.
Sales Amounts Limited.
Reason No. 2 arises from the fact
that association members are limited
in the amount of basic milk for class
1 milk they can sell at 13.08. This
Is done in order to equalise marketing
opportunity fcr all producers and make
It possible for them all to get a return
on their dairy investment.
Hie non-association producers, how
ever, are under no such obligations.
The association contends that this
situation makes possible oversupply or
vicious competition, to the detriment
of all producers and all consumers.
The agreement under consideration
calls for the appointment of a market
administrator by Secretary Wallace to
enforce the agreement and set the
price for surplus milk (milk in excess
of the basic amount allotted each pro
ducer). He also would set the base for
each producer, and make sure that the
handlers paid the producers properly.
Upon the acceptance of the agree
ment by two-thirds of the numerical
producers or by the producers of two
thirds of the volume of milk sold to
Washington handlers, the Secretary
of Agriculture would Issue an order
setting forth the provisions of the
agreement snd calling for Its enforce
ment.
PIN BALL GAMES
DEBAIED BEFORE
Injunction Against Seizure
Urged by Attorneys for
Distributors.
GAMBLING QUESTION
TO BE DETERMINED
35 Affidaviti Submitted in Sup
port of Claim Games Are
Tests of Skill.
With an elaborate pin ball machine
just outside the court room door ready
to be brought in if needed, attorneys
for the Government and for the de
vices’ distributors engaged In heated
argument before District Court Justice
Oscr-r R. Luhring today on whether
they are gambling machines.
The Pioneer Novelty Distributing
Corp. is asking for a preliminary in
junction to prevent police seizing its
2,500 pin ball games located through
out the city
United States Attorney Leslie C.
Garnett agreed to a test of the legality
of the machines in Equity Court rather
than through criminal prosecution.
35 Affidavits Offered.
Attorney William R. Lichtenberg.
who represents the distributor, argued
ihat a preliminary injunction should
be granted even if the court is not
sure that the machine is a game of
skill, because the distributor will suffer
irreparable injury unless the restraint
is granted.
He proffered 35 affidavits to support
his claims that pin ball Is a game of
skill, while Assistant United States
Attorney John J. Wilson submitted op
posing affidavits to prove it is a game
of chance. Meanwhile nobody sug
gested that the machine in the. hall,
which was brought to the court house
by the Government, be brought Into
the court room.
Wilson argued that it was not nec
essary for him to show that chance
predominated, but merely that there
was a substantial element of chance.
Even though an expert might be
able to put the ball into the hole
of his choosing, the average player
cannot do so and this brands the ma
chine as a gambling device, Wilson de
clared.
Proof of Skill Desired.
When Wilson said the injunction
asked would stay the hands of police
and district attorney In respect to
every pin ball machine In the city.
Justice Luhring remarked that he
hesitated to enjoin the district attor
ney without some proof that the
machines actually were a game of
skill.
’’Any one." he said, "could come
into court and by merely saying a
machine was not a gambling machine,
enjoin the district attorney against
its seizure.’’ he pointed out.
Garnett has instructed police to im
pound all pin ball machines which
pay oil In any manner. Last Thurs
day, however, Justice Luhring signed
a temporary restraining order, pre
venting police going forward with the
seizures before the hearing today.
Lichtenberg told the court that there
are 150 different types of pin ball ma
chines and it would take several days
to show that each was a game of skill.
Wilson produced an affidavit by Po
liceman Roy Blick, member of the vice
squad, which stated that changes and
adjustments can be made in any par
ticular machine which would destroy
any skill which a player might ac
quire. In addition, Blick swore, the
locations of the individual machines
are changed frequently. He stated
that the legs are adjustable and often
are changed, altering the tilt of the
playing board; that the spring in the
plunger frequently Is removed and a
new one substituted, and that the
pins themselves may be bent.
Lichtenberg stated in his suit that
his concern has more than $50,000
invested and employs about 50 persons.
Gambling Machines?
Stephen P. Haycock of the United States district attorney's
office shown at District Court today with two pin-ball machines.
The court will decide whether the contraptions are gambling
devices. —Star Staff Photo.
HOTEL LEASE CASE
IS LOST BY SMITH
Former Lafayette Propri
etor Loses Appeal—Held
Liable for Back Rent.
The United States Court of Appeals
today refused the request of Walter
F. Smith, former proprietor of the
Hotel La Fayette, for specific per
formance of an alleged 10-year lease
of the property.
In a companion decision, the court
also held that Smith must pay $7,875
In back rent for July. August and
September. 1932. Smith contended
that when he was unable to meet the
$2,625 monthly rental and meet pay
ments on notes secured by the fur
nishings of the hotel. Thomas S. Pick
ford, lessor, agreed to give him new
terms, including a monthly rental of
$2,500 and a 10-year lease.
The trial court, however, found that
Pickford never assented to the pro
posed contract and the Court of Ap
peals said it would regard its findings
as conclusive.
It also refused to set aside a fore
closure sale of the lease and the hotel
furnishings to Pickford for $10,000.
The court said it was testified the
lease was without value.
Smith's defense in the rent suit,
brought by Pickford. was that a Mary
land corporation. Hotel Lafayette, had
assumed the lease and all responsibil
ity for the hotel's operation before the
beginning of the three months for
which the rent was owing.
Associate Justice Harold M. Stephens
found, however, that Smith owned all
but two shares of the corporation's
stock and also that the transfer to
the rorporatlon was not accepted until
September 22, 1932. which was subse
quent to the date the rent had ac
crued.
Pickford was represented by Attor
neys William C. Sullivan and Bates
Warren.
Young Washington
An example of the dances being taught at the Blake School
Playground on New York avenue. The dancers are Clara Crum
rine, 7, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Crumrine, 102 K street,
and Bill Papas, 7, son of Mr. and Mrs. Leon Papas, 1050 North
Capitol street. Tomorrow: Edwin Cherry, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Fred Cherry, and Thomas Futch, son of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Futch,
at the Hyde and Curtis School playground.—Star Staff Photo.
Type Is Safer and Preferred,
Company Employes Tell
Commission.
Enthusiastic declarations in favor of
1 one-man street cars were made to the
: Public Utilities Commission today by
five men who operate that type of
j equipment for the Capital Transit
Co., as the fight over the move of the
company to place 40 additional single
operator cars into service was resumed,
j A company official asked the men
! to appear, it was developed, although
! the first of the group, A. C. Ray, pro
tested at the outset that "No one
asked me to come." During cross
examination by People’s Counsel Wil
! liam A. Roberts he agreed his appear
i ance had been discussed by a super
I intendent of transportation.
All five insisted one-man ca>- were
safer than two-man cars, that they
preferred to operate cars having no
second man. and declared the extra
work of being both motorman and
conductor had done no damage to
[ their health or nerves.
At the outset of today's session the
opposition of the Columbia Typo
graphical Union to any increase in
single-operator cars was registered by
Prank S. Lerch. He said he spoke
also for the allied printing trades.
Denounced by Union.
A resolution adopted yesterday by
the Columbia Typographical Union
denounced one-man operation as slow
and "dangerous'' and as having a
"nerve-wracking” eflect on the single
operators.
‘'Furthermore,” said Lerch. ‘‘exten
: sion of the one-man car system will
close avenues of employment because
it makes one man do the work which
has been performed by two.”
The union advocated adoption of a
5-cent street car fare for a trial of at
least three months. Lerch declared
that recently when tariffs of the
steam railroads were lowered at the
order of the Interstate Commerce
Commission additional cars had to be
added to take care of increased
patronage.
The company has filed a petition
for an increase in street car fares, a
public hearing on which is to be held
later In the Summer. The company
seeks to raise the token fare from 7 >2
to 8Vb cents and the weekly street car
pass from (1 to $1.25, to make it cost
the same as the bus passes.
Sager to Appear Again.
Later in the day Commissioner
Chief Engineer Fred A. Sager, who
Friday reported he had found one
man cars to be safer but somewhat
slower than two-man cars, was to be
called for cross-examination by
Roberts.
Ray, who has been employed by
the Capital Transit Co. more than 20
years and has operated one-man cars
for the last 15, declared he had found
the second-hand one-man cars the
company has obtained from Provi
dence, R. I., to be "the best cars I
have ever operated.”
Positive declaration that his long
career as a one-man operator had in
no wise hurt his health came from
Ray, under questioning by S. R.
Bowen, company chief counsel.
Another company employe, J H.
Hennage, said his work had not hurt
his eating or sleeping.
The other trainmen who testified
were William Brunner, T. R. Welch
and L. Bolleger, who have operated
one-man cars for 15. 10 and 1 year,
respectively.
Opposition to one-man car operation
was voiced last week by five other
trainmen.
BOY HUNTED HERE
Washington police were searching
today for Fred Benka, 16, missing
from his home in Syracuse. N. Y., since
last February.
The hunt was begun here last night
after the boy used a telephone at a
Seventeenth street and Pennsylvania
avenue pay station to call his uncle
at Syracuse and ask for money. His
family notified Washington police.
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