Evening star. [volume], January 28, 1937, Image 1

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

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(**SK5R—» m The only evening paper
Rain, with slowly rising temperature ^^^y ▲Jf in Washington Witfl the
tonight and tomorrow;’lowest tempera- ■ ^T^Br _ XT-__
ture tonight about 36 degrees; moderate I A I ■ Associated Press News
winds. Temperatures—Highest, 36. at 3 ■ ■ ■ and WirephotO Services,
p.m. yesterday; lowest, 31, at 6 am. to- r
day. Full report on page B-15. ^^y
Yesterday’s Circulation, 144,805
Closing New York Markets, Page 18 _ .,8omB return,_not_ ret rece.ved.) _
■ 85th year. No. 33,87s! post'orncV.WASHINGTON, D. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1937—FORTY-EIGHT PAGES.*****_<*> M.an. Associated Pr,,a. TWO CENTS.
'
GENERAL EVACUATION
OF AREA BELOW CAIRO
IS SEEN UNNECESSARY
■■ — 4
61-Foot Crest Is
Expected at
Padueali.
RAIN RESUMES
AT LOUISVILLE
Rehabilitation Cost
Estimates Run to
Billions.
Full page of flood pictures,
Page A-7.
By the Associated Press.
The flooded Ohio River,
struggling like a captive
serpent of fabulous strength,
sought escape against weak
ening levees today on its
cresting descent to the
Mississippi.
The known dead stood at
293, the homeless passed the
'million mark, an additional
500,000 were endangered and
property loss was estimated
at more than $400,000,000.
Along the 1,000-mile ghost
town trail, the slowly receding
waters lapped idly at empty
houses in the empty towns.
The cost of rehabilitation, now
becoming of Paramount interest
in Northern Ohio Valley com
munities where the worst appar
ently has passed, drew estimates
ranging into billions. Officials
said the average cost for clean
ing and drying out a single flood
ed home was $250.
Fresh dangers cropped up by
the dozens as the crest of the
flood swung South.
At Paducah, Ky„ the next point of
Crisis, Red Cross officials hurried to
evacuate thousands of reluctant in
habitants in advance of the oncoming
flood peak.
61 >Foot Crest Expected.
Col. C&at Rhodes, U. S. Army en
gineer, warned of a 61-foot crest with
in the next 48 hours.
Below, at Cairo, 111., only men re
mained in the Island city to boltser
the 60-foot seawall against an ex
pected 4-foot rise in the river. Eight
thousand—mostly women and chil
dren and the aged—had already fled.
At Mound City, 111., a back levee
collapsed, routing 650 men, 50 women
and 175 C. C. C. boys to higher ground.
On the Mississippi River itself, now
beginning to stir uneasily under the
vanguard lash of the Ohio’s flood load,
the Melwood Levee was threatened
with collapse, endangering two coun
ties.
Hard-hit Louisville, Ky., with the
highest death roll in the 1.000-mile
disaster area, had its hopes darkened
again today as rain began to fall.
In Tennessee, levee workers battled
desperately to save the dike above
Tiptonville.
High water that passed Cairo when
*" (See FLOOD, Page,A-2.)
PHILATELIST FINED
Charged With Attempt to Sell
Fraudulent Stamp.
PHILADELPHIA, January 28 (IF).—
Henry R. Jarrett of Bethlehem chose
to pay a $2,000 fine and give up deal
ing in stamps for five years rather
than go to jail for two years for offer
ing for sale a five-cent red Annapolis
postmaster's provisional stamp which
a Federal Jury held was r.ot genuine.
Jarrett was allowed the alterna
tive of the Jail sentence yesterday by
Judge Albert B. Maris, himself a
■tamp collector.
Mississippi Crest
5 Feet Under
Army Figure Seen
B7 the Associated Press.
MEMPHIS, Tenn., January
28.—Meteorologist F. W. Brist of
the Weather Bureau predicted
today a probable Mississippi River
crest stage for Memphis of 48 feet
by February 5 to 7, more than
5 feet below Army engineers’ esti
mates.
• We think the probable crest
stage, barring further heavy rains,
will be: Memphis, 48 feet by
February 5 to 7; Helena, Ark.. 57.5
to 58 feet, February 7 to 9,” Brist
said.
Army engineers had said they
expected a stage of from 53.6 to
55 feet at Memphis.
Mrs. Frank Reed and three of her children after she, her
husband, and five other children were taken to Columbus, Ohio.
She is holding a girl born two weeks ago. Mrs. Reed, bedfast
with the baby, was rescued Friday.
The station at Jeffersonville, Ind., across the river from
Louisville, shows how completely the town was inundated. Ex
treme cold added to the suffering.—A. P. and Wide World Photos.
PADUCAH PEOPLE
REFUSE TO LEAVE
Residents Remain in Homes,
Hoping for Best—Fire
Is Menace.
BACKGROUND—
Robert B. Phillips, jr., of The
Star staff uias the single passenger
on the first plane to reach be
leagued Paducah, Ky., yesterday
afternoon, Phillips, a native of
Paducah, and the pilot took a
chance and made a landing on a
tiny strip of concrete highway to
bring in Red Cross supplies. He
sends the following account of con
ditions in Paducah.
BV ROBERT B. PHILLIPS, JR.,
Staff Correspondent ol The Star.
PADUCAH, Ky., January 28.—At
2:20 o’clock yesterday afternoon a lean
young pilot named Tom Livermore
lifted his Waco monoplane from Mc
Connell Field in Nashville, Tenn.,
headed for the worst-hit town In the
Ohio Valley flood. I was his only pas
senger. The back end of the four
passenger ship was crammed to the
top with Red Cross supplies, every
thing from outboard motors to rub
ber boots and flashlights.
The load we did not regard as es
pecially significant. The point was
that Nashville authorities wanted to
know where it would be possible to
land an airship in Paducah. We
were to be the guinea pigs.
An hour and 10 minutes later we
began to get an idea of what the
laboratory pig feels like. We were
over Paducah Airport by that time,
after circling the floodbound city to
confirm our suspicions that the worst
(See PADUCAH, Page A-9.)
MASS EVACUATION
IS HELD UNLIKELY
Army Officers Believe Re
moval of Families Can Be
Confined to Small Areas.
By tLc Associated Press.
High Army officers today expressed
the belief removal of families from the
path of the rising Mississippi River
probably could be confined to small
areas.
Although the War Department
checked precautionary plans to evacu
ate thousands if levees break, MaJ.
Gen. Malin Craig termed the possi
bility of any widespread evacuation
remote.
Army egineers along the levees will
sound & warning before any removal
is ordered.
Families then will be carried to
safety only from localized danger spots
rather than from the entire 1,000-mile
stretch between Cairo, 111., and New
Orleans.
Generals of three Army corps areas
reported they were ready for any
(See EVACUATION, Page A-3.)
QUAKES IN JAPAN
Populace of Northern Kyushu Is
land Thrown Into Panic.
FUKUOKA, Japan, January 28
(/P).—Strong earthquakes threw the
populace of Northern Kyushu Island
into panic today in widely scattered
areas.
The epicenter of the tremors, first
felt at 9:44 a.m. today (7:44 pin.,
E. S. T., Wednesday), was reported
west of Mount Sao, an active volcano.
Residents of the vicinity, fearful of
a possible eruption, fled their homes.
There were no casualties.
■ » - 1
Star Will Receive Funds for
Red Cross Flood Relief
The District of Columbia has been assigned a quota of $120,000
(originally $24,000) for flood relief by the Amercan Red Cross.
The Evening Star will assist in raising the required amount by
receiving and acknowledging in its columns the contributions of
Washingtonians. Make checks payable to District Chapter, American
Red Cross, for flood relief. Bring or mail them to the cashier. The
Evening Star.
Those who desire to submit their contributions directly to the
American Red Cross may send or deliver cash or checks to the
District-Chapter, American Red Cross, 1730 E street.
GOVERNMENT ASKS
ADDITIONAL POWER
TO PROBE STRIKES
Secretary Perkins Seeks
Right to Subpoena Records
in Labor Disputes.
$50,000 REQUESTED
FOR INVESTIGATIONS
G. M. C. Negotiations Continue
Deadlocked—Union Organizer,
Reported Missing, Shows Up.
BULLETIN.
Secretary Perkins dispatched a
representative to Anderson, Ind.,
today to investigate charges by the
striking United Automobile Work
ers that the General Motors Corp.
had incited violence there.
B» the Associated Press
Demands of two Government
agencies for more power to investigate
strike conditions carried phases of the
General Motors deadlock today to
Capitol Hill.
Secretary Perkins asked quick au
thorization for the Labor Departmeut
to seek out and make public the cause
of the strikes, lockouts and other in
dustrial disputes, and to recommend
settlements.
Miss Perkins said the proposals,
which would give her power to take
testimony under oath and subpoena
records, was not aimed at the General
Motors impasse, but “this situation
brings it to mind.”
The financial position of employers
could be studied under her proposal,
making possible recommendations oa
wage Increases for employes.
Funds Sought for Probe.
Another appeal to Congress affect
ing the General Motors situation was
the La Follette Civil Liberties Com
mittee's request for an additional
$50,000 to investigate the strike. Witn
out the money, according to Senator
Thomas, Democrat, of Utah an ex
haustive inquiry would be impossible.
As part of its industrial espionage,
the committee dipped again today
into the General Motors situation.
Leon Scott, whom a union official
called an undercover operative for
the Corporations Auxiliary Co., was
called to testify, as were union repe
sentatives.
George Boysen, president of the
anti-strike Flint, Mich., Alliance, is
scheduled to appear February 8.
After conferring with John L.
Lewis, the auto union's adviser, and
other strike leaders, Miss Perkins
said yesterday a situation developed
“which will make a settlement quite
possible If the third party consents.”
Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., president of
General Motors, told his workers
what Lewis wanted was “that we
should turn you over, body and soul,
for exploitation.”
Employes Declared Discharged.
Lewis made public a letter to Miss
Perkins charging that employes of
G. M. C.’s Delco-Remy plant at An
derson. Ind., who refused to agree
not to take part in union affairs were
dismissed.
Speaker Bankhead said today he
had assured Secretary Perkins her
letter requesting expanded authority
in dealing with strikes would be “given
the consideration a communication of
that sort justifies.”
Miss Perkins asked Bankhead and
Senator Robinson of Arkansas, the
Democratic leader, for "utmost haste”
in enacting the legislation.
Bankhead said he had advised the
Secretary he could not assure her defi
nitely Congress would comply, because
(See STRIKE, Page A-6.)
RECEDJNGWATERS
200 Known Dead, With
Property Damage Esti
mated at $100,000,000.
By the Associated Press.
LOUISVILLE, Ky.. January 28 —
Wounded Just short ol the heart but
no longer frightened, Louisville knew
the worst today and faced a long,
sad convalescence after five days of
terror.
There were hundreds dead, perhaps
hundreds more in a great plain of
dwellings completely covered by water,
but that maniacal Ohio was going
down, and for the moment that was
all that mattered.
The greatest flood in the history
of the Ohio Valley now turn* its
force toward the mighty Mississippi,
leaving behind a record of 57.1 feet,
over 200 known dead, thousands
gravely ill of diseases attributable to
the raging waters and the possibility
that it will be weeks at least before
the full death toll is known, if it is
ever to be known.
Damage Is $100,000,000.
Property damage In all probability
will amount to $100,000,000, but no
one wants to talk of that right now,
any more than they want to think of
what may have happened to those
thousands of the poorer class of
Louisville working families who may
have been trapped in the miles of
frame and small brick dwellings com
pletely covered by flood waters in the
badlands of the West End water
front.
How great the loss of life could be
was indicated last night in a resume
of the situation given the Nation by
Mayor Neville Miller over a radio net
work. He said there were 200 dead
after Chief Health Officer Dr. Hugh
R. Leavall admitted that 130 dead had
been taken from homes along the
fringe of the West End section from
homes that were not submerged en
tirely.
These, he said, were victims of heart
failure, pneumonia and exposure, suf
ferers who died just out of reach of
the waters, but beyond the helping
hands of a tremendous relief drive
in which all parts of the Nation joined
hands with funds and supplies. Cities
(See LOUISVILLE, Page A-4.)
Summary of Today’s Star
Page. Page.
Amusements B-l2 Puzzles-C-7
Army, Navy. C-12 Radio_A-16
Comics_C-7 Short Story - C-6
Editorial ... A-10 Society.B-3
Financial_A-17 Sports_C-l-3
Lost & Pound A-3 Woman’s Pg- C-4
Obituary ... A-12
FOREIGN.
New French Ambassador plans to
stabilize money. Page A-3
Spanish rebels defeated in surprise
attack. Page A-12
NATIONAL.
Government seeks new power W»
settle strikes.' Page A-l
Possibility of widespread flood evacua
tion remote. Page A-l
Louisville cheered as flood waters of
Ohio recede. Page A-l
WASHINGTON AND VICINITY.
Jacobs report committee meets to
map program. Page A-l
Robinson auditorium bill reported
favorably. Page A-l
Extradition papers prepared for Wil
liam B. Reed. Page A-Z
Five Maryland Legion legislative bills
introduced. Page A-2
Traffic toll for month rises to
12. Page A-3
Art and planning session to consider
new projects. Page B-l
MaJ. Brown gets Cosmopolitan Club
award for 1S36 service Page B-l
Miss Lind is named to high school
post. Page B-l
Movie stars again at top in supple
mental salary list. Page A-8
D. C. Appropriations Committee to
tour city. Page A-2
District Jail inmate "‘walks out” of
Gallinger ward. Page B-l
EDITORIAL AND COMMENT.
This and That. Page A-10
Answers to Questions. Page A-10
Stars, Men and Atoms. Page A-10
Political Mill. Page A-10
David Lawrence. Page A-ll
Paul Mallon. Page A-ll
Mark Sullivan. Page A-ll
Jay Franklin. Page A-ll
Headline Folk. Page A-ll
SPORTS.
Pastor’s pilot sure his protege will con
quer Louis. Page C-l
Perry says overplay brings waste of
U. S. tennis talent. Page C-l
Government workers aiming to revive
golf club here. Page C-2
MISCELLANY.
Washington Wayside. Page A«2
Vital Statistics. Page A-14
Young Washington. Page B-8
After Dark. Page B-10
Betsy Caswell. ~ Page C-4
Dorothy Dix. Page C-4
Nature’s Children. Page C-5
Bedtime Story. Page C-5
City News in Brief. Page C-8
Traffic Convictions. Page C-4
SPEAKING OF “SIT DOWN” STRIKES—_
Bank Investing
In U. S. Bonds to
Drop, Says Smith
Association Head Tells
Conference Effect of
Social Security.
ET the Associated Press.
PITTSBURGH. Pa., January 28.—
Tom K. Smith, president of the Amer
ican Bankers’ Association, told the
opening session of a regional bankers'
conference today the social security
act raised a "very major question”
in the future investment of bank
funds.
Declaring the “day is coming” when
Government bonds will be available
(See BONDS, Page A-2.)
CANNON LIBEL SUIT
TRIALJSJPENED
Bishop Seeks Damages From
Representative Tinkham
for Alleged Attack.
The long-deferred $500,000 libel
suit filed by Bishop James Cannon,
Jr., against Representative George
Holden Tinkham, Republican, of
Massachusetts, for an attack the latter
made subsequent to the 1928 presi
dential campaign, went to trial today
before a jury in Justice Jennings
Bailey’s court.
Bishop Cannon was absent as the
case got under way, with attorneys
for both sides outlining to the jury the
stand taken by their respective clients.
Representative Tinkham sat inside
the counsel rail as his attorney, Roger
J. Whiteford, declared in an opening
statement that the defendant will
show that charges to the effect that
Bishop Cannon violated the corrupt
practices act were true when his client
uttered them on and off the floor of
the House.
Cannon sued Tinkham after the
latter had, first in a speech on the
floor and later in a signed statement,
accused the Methodist Bishop of con
cealing money contributed for the
Herbert Hoover campaign by E. C.
Jameson, wealthy New Yorker.
Challenge Issued.
The signed statement, which was
read to the jury, was issued by Tink
ham after Bishop Cannon had chal
lenged the Representative to divest
himself of congressional immunity and
repeat the charges made on the floor.
In the statement Tinkham said,
(See CANNON, Page A-2.)
REALTY TO ESCAPE
ADDITjONALTAXES
Burden Now Adequate, in
Opinion of House Sub
committees.
BY JAMES E. CHINN.
Real estate will be spared increased
taxation if it is found necessary to
raise additional revenue in the com
ing fiscal year to balance the munic
ipal budget, it was indicated today at
the initial meeting of one of the two
special subcommittees of the House
District Committee created to con
sider the Jacobs fiscal relation report.
The subcommittee, headed by Rep
resentative Kennedy, Democrat, of
Maryland, arranged to start public
hearings February 16. It will devote
its attention to proposals in the
Jacobs report for raising additional
revenue thtough an increase in the
gasoline tax, a weight tax on motor
vehicles, a revision of business taxes
and substitution of an income tax for
the present tax on Intangible personal
property.
Other Sources to he Tapped.
The consensus of members of the
subcommittee In an informal dis
cussion was that real estate is already
bearing its adequate burden of taxa
tion and that other potential sources
of revenue will have to be tapped if
It becomes necessary to provide ad
ditional revenue to finance the 1938
budget. This belief also is shared by
Chairman Collins of the subcommittee
on appropriations that will draft the
1938 District supply bill. Collins has
announced he will write a provision
into the 1938 bill forbidding the Com
missioners from raising the tax on
real estate and personal property.
New tax sources suggested by mem
bers of the subcommittee included a
sales tax, a gross income tax and a
weight tax on automobiles. Repre
sentative Schulte, Democrat, of In
diana, proposed a gross income tax
similar to that in effect in his State.
"I am opposed to an Increase in the
real estate tax,” he declared. “A gross
income tax like we have in Indiana
will not work a hardship on any one.
It will catch the fellow who has never
paid any taxes before or contributed
anything toward the upkeep of the
city.”
Representative Dirksen, Republican,
of Illinois, said he favored a sales tax
patterned after the one in effect In
his State. The Illinois tax is 3 per
cent, but Dirksen said it should not
be higher than 2 per cent in the Dis
trict. Such a tax here, he estimated,
would yield from $2,000,000 to $5,000,
000 a year.
Representative Sacks, Democrat, of
Pennsylvania agreed with Schulte and
(See REALTY, Page A-2.)
Canadian Jobless Insurance
And Wage Laws Ruled Void
By the Associated Press.
LONDON, January 28.—A mass of
legislation, through which the Cana
dian Parliament sought to establish
unemployment insurance, hours of
labor, minimum wages and regulation
of marketing, was ruled unconstitu
tional today.
The Judicial Committee of the
Privy Council, the empire's highest
Judicial body, held that the Dominion
Parliament, enacting the laws in 1934
and 1935, exceeded its authority.
The Judicial Committee upheld
legislation to regulate certain trade
practices and held valid the farmers’
creditors arrangement act, providing
relief to financially distressed farmers
without actual recourse to a bank
ruptcy court.
Only two of the disputed legislative
reforms have been placed in opera
tion—the farm relief measure and the
national products marketing act.
The trade practice legislatloa upheld
authorises establishment of a federal
commission with power to regulate
business provincially, interprovln
cially and in relation to the Domin
ion as a whole.
The following legislation was held
unconstitutional:
An employment and social insur
ance act providing for creation of a
contributory system of employment
insurance and setting up employment
Agencies.
Three acts, based on conventions
agreed to by the International Labor
Office and ratified by the Dominion
lawmakers under their treaty-making
power, for a weekly day of rest in
Industry, minimum wages and limita
tion of hours.
An act setting up marketing boards
for certain products and establishing
wide control by a majority of pro
ducer^
AUDITORIUM BILL
OF SENATE GROUI
Measure Creating Commit
sion to Study Project !r
Favorably Reported.
LONERGAN PRESENTS
ALTERNATE PROPOSAL
Submits Plan for Combined Meet
ing Hall and Athletic Stadium
Seating 150,000.
BY J. A. O'LEARY.
The Robinson bill, setting up a cor
mission to plan a suitable auditoriu:.
for the Capital, was ordered favorabl
reported by the Senate Public Build
ings and Grounds Committee today
following a public hearing.
The idea of planning the assembly
hall as a memorial to Thomas Jeffer
son was favored by Secretary of the
Interior Ickes during the hearing.
Before the hearing got under way,
Senator Lonergan, Democrat, of Con
necticut put forward a new and sep
arate plan for a combined auditorium
and athletic stadium capable of ac
commodating 150,000, and announced
he was asking the District Commis
sioners for their views on such a
project.
If the city heads indicate their ap
proval, he plans to discuss the sub
ject further with members of Congress
who have auditorium bills in mind.
Senator Lonergan is a member of tha
Thomas Jeflerson Memorial Commis
sion, but made known several days
ago he believes the proposed audi
torium and the Jeflerson Memorial
should be separate projects. Senator
Lonergan suggested the structure ba
named the Roosevelt Building In honor
of the President.
Others Stress Need.
In addition to Ickes, those who Join
ed in stressing the need lor a larga
public gathering place at the hearing
were Majority Leader Robinson, au
thor of the pending bill to set up a
commission to prepare plans and esti
mates of cost; Representative Lanhara
of Texas, chairman of the House Pub
lic Buildings and Grounds Committee;
Representative Bloom of New York,
who outlined plans he had drawn
several years ago for an auditorium
here, and Charles Moore, chairman of
the Fine Arts Commission.
Ickes. who was the first to bring the
auditorium project into the limelight
again after rain had drenched the out
door inaugural ceremonies last week,
told the committee the Federal Gov
ernment should own and control the
auditorium, but that the Government
might accept contributions from local
business interests toward meeting the
cost.
"It would not be inappropriate to
give the business interests of the city
an opportunity to contribute to the
cost, because a good auditorium would
bring a great deal of business to tha
city," said the Secretary.
The Secretary declared it ought to
be a beautifu monumentall building,
and expressed hope “it would be dedi
cated to honest-to-God free speech.”
Later he explained he meant free
speech as Jefferson regarded it.
Opposes Sports Events.
Previously the Secretary had said ha
agreed with those who do not thlnle
prize fights or six-day bicycle races
should be held in the proposed audi
torium. When Senator Green, Demo
crat, of Rhode Island asked the rea
son for excluding sports, Ickes said:
•'Personally, I would like to see it
made the Jefferson Memorial, and
I cannot envisage Jefferson Interested
in prize fights or wrestling.” As the dis
cussion continued, however, between
Ickes, Chairman Connally and Senator
Green, it was generally agreed that a
line could be drawn to permit certain
kinds of athletic events, but not all.
Chairman Connally announced that
In approving the Robinson bill tho
committee made only a slight change
by authorizing the proposed commis
sion to report on how the auditorium
should be financed, as well as to rec
ommend its cost and a suitable loca
tion. Connally will place the measure
on the Senate calendar tomorrow.
After Chairman Lanham of tho
House committee had made known he
is in sympathy with the auditorium
proposal, Senator Chavez, Democrat,
of New Mexico asked whether there
should be a local contribution to tho
cost.
Not for City Alone.
Lanham said that is a difficult ques
tion to answer until the commission
begins its study. He said it should
be borne in mind, however, that this
would not be an auditorium for Wash
ington, but for the whole country. In
a strict sense, he said, it would not be
a municipal auditorium, but one for
the National Capital. He also pointed
out that, in order to preserve the re
strictions Congress would want to place
around use of the structure, it would
be better to have it a Government
project.
Representative Bloom, who said he
could qualify as an expert on the
subject, recounted the steps he took
to have plans drawn for an auditorium
here following Roosevelt's first inau
gural in 1933. He said the structure
he had in mind would cost about
$4,000,000 and be so designed that
the National Guard could be drilling
on one floor, while some great musi
cian was giving a concert In another
£See AUDITORIUM, Page A-3.)
A