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(U. S. Weather Bureau Forecast.) If ♦ I The only evening paper Fair, continued cold tonight; minimum ■ J ■ /_ J a, .a ▲ A . a . ▲ A . in Washinfifton with the temperature about 20 degrees; tomorrow £S* M V# g 40J.S?d1L XT fair; gentle to moderate west and north- £ I , t V jj ^B ^J^B Sj wf I ■ ■ ■! jj Associated PreSS NeWS T, S?VSr£5STSt.S . II AMY ") I I r J I I I I I and WirePhoto Services. a.m. today. Full report on page A-12. M 1^^ ^ ^ L___ “r—7 B C y WITH SUNDAY MORNING EDITION A Yeaterday’a Circulation, 143,016 Closing New York Markets, Page 16_V-x ^ V^ r (8ome rc:elTgd ) — 85th YEAR. No. 33,904. ?0X.WASHINGTON, D. C., FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1937—FORTY-SIX PAGES. ***» *>> M..n. A..oci.ted Pr..., TWO CENTS." STRIKERS EVICTED BY POLICE GAO IN WAU LAN FIGHT Chevrolet Assembly Plant in Wisconsin Closed in New Disputes. TOTAL IDLE IN NATION ESTIMATED AT 33,000 1,000 Quit Work in Factory Which Makes Parts for Ford, Chrysler. BACKGROUND— . Sit-doicn strike was popularized in America by United Automobile Workers of America, uho used, it against General Motors Corp.. be ginning last December. G. M. C. obtained court order to have strikers evicted, but never used it. Finally peaceful evacuation was arranged and both sides agreed to bargain. After that agreement many other workers in similar as well as dis similar industries began using sit down methods. Some operators, bolder than G. M. C., had the strikers evicted; in several places the uxirkers repulsed the officers who came to throw them out. Growing wave of strikes yesterday brought total idle in labor troubles to about 27,000 in more than SO firms. Es the Associated Press. The sit-down strike technique lost further ground today, tSut picket lines held fast at numerous points of in dustrial unrest across the Nation. Total strike idle ranged near 33.000. Law enforcement officials in a sur prise early morning move forcibly dis lodged 61 sit-downers with tear gas bombs frcm the plants of the Pansteel Metallurgical Co., in North Chicago, 111. The group had held the prop erty since February 17, despite a court order to evacuate. A sit-down strike of about l.OOC foundry workers hailed production si the Michigan Malleable Iron Co. plant Detroit, which makes automobile part; for the Ford Motor Co. and Chrvslei corporation. The strikers refused to work unit wage adjustments are agreed on be tween the management and the Unit ed Automobile Workers. At Janesville, Wis., a dispute over friction between union and non-uniou employes closed the Fisher Body fac tory and the Chevrolet automobile as sembly plant. Approximately 2,700 men were thrown out of work. Refusal of 60 men on the Fisher Body seat cushion line to go to work today until one of their number, Wil liam Bartel, was reinstated made it Impossible to continue production. Production stops. Production ceased at the Chevrolet plant soon after. The latter was de pendent upon the Fisher works for its automobile body supply. At Detroit Ed Hall, vice president ©f the United Automobile Workers of America, said today the allegations of discrimination were being discussed by General Motors and union conferees here, and that an adjustment in time for resumption of work tomorrow was hoped for. At Santa Monica. Calif., 341 em ployes of the Douglas Aircraft Co., who surrendered after a three-day sit down, awaited arraignment on grand Jury indictments charging illegal entry and trespassing. Strikers at the Northrop corpora tion, a Douglas subsidiary, scene of another sit-down, were warned that force would be turned against them unless they evacuated today. Governors Warn Labor. The Governors of Connecticut and New Jersey notified labor leaders sit down strikes would not be tolerated In those States. Conferences between union leaders *nd manufacturers in 10 New England shoe centers were resumed after agreements were reached in 28 other plants. In Detroit, General Motors officials and strike leaders were deadlocked (See STxiUvrio, rage a-z.) BRI' 1nT6 PROBE MINE HIT BY SHIP Inquiries Seek to Determine Which Faction Placed Ex plosive in Sea. St the Associated Press. LONDON, February 26.—Three de partments of the British government started exhaustive inquiries today into the near-disaster of the British steam er Llandovery Castle, which struck a floating mine off the Spanish Mediter ranean coast yesterday. The 10,609-ton Union-Castle Mail Bteamship Co. liner, with 300 passen gers aboard, barely reached Port Vendres, France, after striking the mine off Capo De Creus. Tne anmiraity omce, uoara oi xxaue and foreign office investigated the in cident, particularly to learn whether the Spanish government or insurgents placed the explosive in the Glbraltar Maraeille shipping lane. TTie foreign office at the same time reminded the Spanish insurgents no answer had been received to official protests against what was believed an Insurgent attempt to bomb two Brit ish destroyers, the Havock and the Gypsy, in Mediterranean waters. (Insurgent sources had said the bomber, "apparently an insurgent plane” in reports to British officials, was a disguised government ship try ing to involve the insurgents in diffi culties with Great Britain.) The office received a message from Valencia expressing the Spanish gov ernment's “lively sympathy" for the bombing of the British battleship Royal Oak. A government anti-aircraft shell burst on its quarter deck, injuring several officers, Tuesday during a Spanish insurgent bombardment of Valencia. Harry M. Crandall Ends Life; Onme Theater Magnate Here ■ ' -I- «> Suicide by Gas Planned for Six Months, IVofe Reveals. Harry M. Crandall, whose pioneering venture into the motion picture the ater business here 30 years ago brought him fame, fortune and, finally, sorrow, ended his life by illuminating gas early today after penning a plea to the "newspaper boys" that they re frain from being "too hard" on him. The 60-year-old former builder and operator of a chain of more than a score of movie houses in Washington and vicinity now conducted by Warner Bros., was found slumped in a chair by police, who ignored a "Do not dis turb” sign on the door of a suite on the ninth floor of the Parkside Apart ments, Thirteenth and I streets. A postscript on the note to the newspaper men revealed he had rented the rooms six months ago for the purpose of committing suicide, but had failed to get up sufficient nerve to go through with it until his attempt today. The sole reason for his act, he said in one of two notes found with the body, was despondency over loss of his theaters. He had retired from the theater business in 1929. when War ner Bros, acquired the chain, which includes the Earle, Metropolitan and Tivoli theaters. HARRY M. CRANDALL. A tragedy which had a profound effect on his life was the collapse during a snowstorm of his Knicker bocker Theater at Eighteenth street and Columbia road, on January 28, 1922, with the loss of 98 lives. Although relieved of liability for the catastrophe by the courts. Crandall's friends said he always brooded over the disaster. Incidentally. Crandall (SetMCRANDALL, Page_A-3.)~~ ». WEEK ISSUE PUSHEDBYU. A. W. Minimum Hourly Wage Also Discussed in General Motors Parley. : B» the Associated Press. DETROIT, February 26.—A pro j posal to establish a national minimum I hourly wage in General Motors auto ; motive plants was carried into strike settlement conferences with corpora I tion officials today by representatives ! of the United Automobile Workers of America. The union also planned to insist on some further discussion of the 30-hour work-week, a demand which dead i locked the conference yesterday. Gen | eral Motors’ standard work-week is ! 'ft nours. John Brophy, director of the Com j mittee for Industrial Organization. ' who is one of the union conferees, said : all remaining issues have been dis ! cussed and tentative agreements ! reached on most of them. He said the 1 negotiators should conclude their work i by Tuesday. Wyndham Mortimer. U. A. W. A. i vice president, said before today's ! meeting started: "There is a necessity for establish ing a minimum hourly rate in Gen eral Motors as well as a minimum annual wage. In some General Mo ; tors plants—A-C spark plug in Flint, Mich., for example—hourly rates are as low as 40 cents an hour for a large , number of workers. At this rate an ; employe could not make more than $900 a year if he worked full time. Cited Other Companies. "Such hourly rates hardly compare with the 75-cent minimum already | established by the U. A. W. A. in many smaller and less profitable com panies." The U. A. W. A. awaited a reply from ! the Murray Corp. of America to its | request for a conference and pre ! pared for negotiations with the Chrys ! ler Corp. while its representatives and I those of General Motors sought agree ment on the length of the work week The monthly report of the seventh district Federal Reserve Bank re corded declines in automobile produc tion, industrial employment and pay rolls in January due to the General Motors strike, settled February 11. At the conclusion of the conferees' sixteenth session yesterday C. E. Wil son, vice president of General Mo tors, told newsmen that “as far as I am concerned" they had finished discus sion of the 30-hour week. Will Discuss It Again. "As far as I am concerned,” in terjected Mortimer, “we’ll take it up again tomorrow morning (today)." "Five years from now we may take it up again,” Wilson replied. Earlier he had said: “I don’t think the country is ready for it yet. Nor is the industry ready for it, and I don’t think any one who really thinks about it is in favor of it right now.” The conferees still have to consider alleged cases of discrimination against union workers and the union’s demand for minimum wages “commensurate with an American standard of liv ing.” They have disposed tentatively of machinery fo: handling grievances, seniority rights, methods of pay and speed of production. The conference with Chrysler will open at 10 am. Wednesday in the corporation’s office building in sub urban Highland Park. I AFTER GUN FIGHT Detective Who Helped Slay Escaped Convicts Loses Battle to Live. By the Associated Press. ST. LOUIS. February 26.—Detective Sergt. John Thomas Sullivan died to day of bullet wounds suffered in a gun battle in which two escaped Michigan convicts were killed yesterday. Sullivan, shot five times, was para | lyzed by a bullet which lodged in his j spine and had he lived would never I have been able to walk. He was 45 years old and had been a policeman for nearly 18 years. The dead bandits, linked with a series of hold-ups here Tuesday and Wednesday nights, were identified by fingerprints as Ray Rusch. 19, and Alvin Mott. 19, who with Joe Scoflc, escaped from the Michigan State Prisou at Jackson last Friday. Rusch was killed in a hotel room, where Sullivan and Detective Ray mond Roessler cornered the men. Mott escaped, after bullets had felled the police officer, and was fatally wounded a few blocks away, as he fled in a commandeered automobile, owned by Warren Scott, a salesman. Mott died last night. Uiven Blood Transfusion. Sullivan was shot in the abdomen, arm and chest. He was given a blood transfusion last night. A bullet grazed Roessler's hand and another pierced the shoulder of his overcoat. A detective s nuncr. was credited as the principal lead in the discovery of the bandits and the subsequent gun battle. Cruising in a scout car near the 1 point where a car. used in a hold-up Wednesday night was abandoned, the detectives decided to check hotels in ; the vicinity for possible suspects. At one of the midtown hotels (Leonard) they obtained information that two young men had registered from Detroit on Tuesday. Miss Marl lou Holley, clerk, led the officers to the second-floor room occupied by the young men. With drawn revolvers the detectives waited as a man opened the door. ‘‘I Just had a chance to see he was in an undershirt and plants and had a gun in his hand before he began firing,” Roessler related. "We both fired back and he went down * * *. Then a second man Jumped out from behind the door and backed toward a window, firing. We fired back. Sulli van fell. The man got to the window, threw it open and Jumped.” Returned to Hotel. The fleeing bandit returned to the hotel from the one-story extension, on which he had landed, and ran out of the building and down the street, where he forced Scott from his parked automobile. Three detectives, rushing to the scene in response to the clerk’s sum mons, picked up Scott and set out in pursuit of the gunman. Overtaken in a short distance, Mott ignored the command to halt, made a move apparently to draw a gun, and was shot by Detective Louis Shoul ders. Evangelist Slayer Executed. MONTGOMERY, Ala., February 26 OP).—Jim Franklin, Tuscaloosa County farmer, was executed at Kilby Prison early today for the murder of John Pate, aged country evangelist. Steel Foreman Who Escaped Prison Backed hy Employers B7 the Associated Press. COLUMBUS, Ohio, February 26 — An official of a large Pittsburgh steel concern came here today to plead for a trusted 38-year-old foreman who escaped an Ohio prison farm more than 15 years ago. W. T. Mossman, public relations di rector of the Jones & Laughlin Steel Co., arranged an audience with Gov. Martin L. Davey in behalf of Tor rance J. Cannon, father of two girls. A quarrel with his wife, Mathilda, brought Cannon before a Pittsburgh court on a morals charge a month ago. His wife’s tearful pleas resulted in his freedom after he was sentenced. But his fingerprints, placed on file, matched those of a man who walked away from the London, Ohio, honor camp of Ohio Penitentiary after serv ing three years of a l-to-15-year term A as* for holding up an Akron, Ohio, pedes trian while with two other.men. No immediate request was made for his return by Ohio prison officials, who said they had not received formal notification of the arrest Wednesday night His wife said she would join the steel company executive in the plea today before Gov. Davey. Mossman said the company decided to back Cannon because of his good record. He became a foreman at the Pitts burgh steel mill in 1935 after serving as a member of the suburban Swiss vale Police Department and as a spe cial patrolman in the exclusive Briar Cliff road residential district. When arrested, said Detective In spector Walter Monaghan, he com mented: “I’m glad It’s over. X was always hunted" A FARNSWORTH GETS 4-TO-12-YEAR TERM IN ESPIONAGE CASE Denounced by Judge as Per petrator of Crime ‘Abhor rent to Good Citizens.’ WITHDRAWS MOTION TO DEFER SENTENCE Ex-Naval Officer, Back in Jail, Likely to Be Sent to Lorton Reformatory. BY WILLIAM S. TARVER. Denounced by the court as the per | petrator of a crime "abhorrent to every good citizen,” John S. Farns worth, former Navy lieutenant com mander. was sentenced today to serve from 4 to 12 years in prison as pun ishment for an alleged espionage con spiracy. The indictment, to which he had pleaded nolo contendere, charged that he conspired with two erstwhile assist ant naval attaches of Japan to com municate defense secrets to that na tion. The maximum sentence was 20 years. At the last minute, after the court refused to allow Farnsworth to change his plea to not guilty. Richard L. Ted row, attorney for the accused officer, announced withdrawal of a motion in arrested judgment, filed yesterday. The basis of the motion was the con tention that a nolo contendere plea, which has the same legal effect as an admission of guilt, may be accepted by the court only in a misdemeanor case. Tedrow said he- probably will raise the point again in a habeas corpus petition. Meanwhile. Farnsworth was re | turned to the District Jail, whence i he will be transferred to the District Reformatory at Lorton, Va., unless the Justice Department makes other arrangements for his incarcera tion. Court Is Crowded. Farnsworth was brought into the ! crowded District Court chamber I shortly after 10 a m. His face bore a I worried frown. He uttered no word j while in the court room, appearing i content to leave the matter in the I hands of his youthful attorney, em ployed only yesterday. After being | informed of the withdrawal of the i motion in arrested Judgment, Justice James M. Proctor addressed the de fendant. "Farnsworth, it is a very unpleas ant duty to sentence any one,” the jurist began, "and it is unusually dis agreeable to impose sentence on a ! man of your background, which in cludes a long period of honorable service to your country, unfortunately terminated by dishonorable discharge. "You have conspired with two foreign emissaries to obtain informa tion vital to your country, and you conveyed to them, with reason to be lieve such information would be used (See F~ARNSWORTH7 Page A-3.) 9 ■■ — BACKWATERS SPREAD OVER NEW LOWLANDS Mississippi Crest Rolls On Toward New Orleans, With No Change in Reading. Br the Associated Press. NEW ORLEANS, February 26 Backwaters crept over new lowland areas in eight Louisiana parishes to day as the Mississippi River's flood crest rolled slowly toward New Orleans and the Gulf. There was no rise in the flood stage at any point during the 24 hours end ing last night and a 2-10th of a foot drop was recorded at Vicksburg. The gauge remained stationary at Natchez, Baton Rouge, Donaldsonville and New Orleans. Approximately 17,000 backwater vic tims were being cared for by the Red Cross and other relief agencies in Mississippi and Louisiana. “JUST ONE BIG, HAPPY FAMILY!” IS FATALTO10 Driver Dies at Hospital Sev eral Hours After His Com panion Expires. (Picture on Page B-l.) James T. Corbin, 46. Internal Rev enue Bureau auditor, died in Casualty Hospital today, the second victim of j an automobile-train crash shortly ! after midnight at the Bates road northeast grade crossing, in which a companion, also an auditor at the bu reau, was killed. Charles C. Shipton, about 45, of 5330 | Colorado avenue, was dead on arrival at the hospital. Corbin's injuries proved fatal several hours later. The crash occurred when the car in which the pair was riding was struck by a fast freight train at the crossing, located near th* Catholic Sisters' Col lege in Brookland. An investigation was launched this morning. The fireman on the train, Joseph J. Pessagno of No. 2 Seventeenth street southeast, is in Emergency Hospital j with cuts about the face and head, received when he was struck by pieces of the shattered automobile. Corbin, who lived at 810 Bonifant street. Silver Spring. Md.. was driving Shipton home from a friend's house, ; where they had been visiting and playing cards. Auto Thrown 150 Feet. Corbin's car. a new sedan, was knocked approximately 150 feet and the engine torn loose and hurled 30 feet into a field by the impact. Corbin was removed from the | WTecked automobile without much j difficulty by rescuers, but acetylene l torches were needed to extricate Ship ton who was pinned in the wreckage for more than an hour. The speed of neither the train, a Baltimore & Ohio freight, coming into Washington, nor the automobile ha-, been determined by police. It was not learned either whether | TSee ACCIDENT, Page A^j Slayer of Two Hangs. HULL, Quebec, February 26 (Cana dian Press).—Omer Girard, lumber jack-evangelist. was hanged today for the murder of two men at Namur last April 7. Girard was convicted of slaying Leon Leclair, 84-year-old goatherd, and his friend. Alfred Dudevoir. 72. Their charred bodies were found in the smol dering ruins of Leclair's home. They had been robbed of $650. # Summary of Today’s Star Page. Amusements B-7 Comics _B-19 Editorial A-8 Financial „ A-15 Lo6t& Found A-3 Obituary —A-10 Page. Radio _C-3 Short Story.B-16 Society _B-3 Sports .C-I-S Woman’s Pg. B-18 foreign. Rebels report Madrid counter-offensive has collapsed. Page A-S Conservatives open offensive on Blum regime. Page A-4 Soviet envoy defends trial of alleged Trotskyists. Page A-12 NATIONAL. Autopsy strengthens police belief Pear son death accidental. Page A-l Police gas bombs rout strikers at Waukegan plant. Page A-l Senate passes Supreme Court retire ment bill, 76 to 4. Page A-l Reciprocal trade treaty bill awaits Roosevelt signature. Page A-2 Argentine kidnap suspects escape after gun battle with police. Page A-4 Federal worker* urged to seek “appeals court." Page A-13 WASHINGTON AND VICINITY. Farnsworth sentenced to 4 to 12 years in spy case. Page A-l Second victim of auto-train crash dies at hospital. Page A-l Policeman accused of practicing law on side. Page A-6 Two Montgomery County bills intro duced after study. Page A-l* Collins considers metropolitan and park police merger. Page B-l Hunter to appeal 20-year sentence in wife slaying. Page B-l Allen orders probe of trailer travel problem. Page B-l it Hearings on Federal pay bill de layed. Page B-l Engineers reach bedrock for Jeffer son Memorial. Page B-l SPORTS. Track records expected to be smashed in A. A. U. title meet. Page C-l Mount Rainier to risk clean slate in Star tournament. Page C-l Sande picks Rosemont in $100,000 race at Santa Anita tomorrow. Page C-2 Maryland's chances in ring tourna ment are hit by illness. Page C-3 FINANCIAL. Corporate bonds narrow (table). Page A-15 Freight loadings jump. Page A-15 Stocks irregular (table). Page A-16 Pepco earnings gain. Page A-16 Curb list higher (table). PageA-17 Trade rise continues. Page A-17 EDITORIAL AND COMMENT. Editorials. Page A-8 This and That. Page A-8 Answers to Questions. Page A-8 Washington Observations. Page A-8 David Lawrence. Page A-9 Paul Mallon. Page A-9 Constantine Brown. Page A-9 Dorothy Thompson. Page A-9 Lemuel Parton. Page A-9 MISCELLANY. Washington Wayside. Page A-2 City News in Brief. Page A-13 Young Washington. Page C-8 Vital Statistics. Page A-16 Nature’s Children. PageB-11 Betsy Caswell. Page B-18 Dorothy Dix. Page B-18 Bedtime Story. Page B-12 Crossword Puzzle. Page B-19 Letter-Out. Page C-4 Traffic Convictions. Page C-4 Service Orders. Page C-4 Winning Contract. Page B-12 r “Suicide99 Strike Of Miners Ends In Bitter Rote 250 Quit Shafts Half Dazed From Hunger After Ttro Days. BT the Associated Press. PECS. Hungary. February 26.—A "suicide'' strike of 250 miners collapsed today, and the men, half-dazed from hunger and many bleeding from wounds suffered in an underground fight, staggered out of the shaft. Sobbing wives and relatives greeted them. Some of the grimy-faced work ers. too weak to walk, were carried on the shoulders of their comrades. One miner said they had eaten the last sack of oats intended for ponies used for underground hauling during the two days they remained defiantly in their stronghold. Each striker, he said, received a handful of the grain twice a day. The 16 ponies which were with them when they declared the hunger strike (SeeMlNERsTPage A-4.) REICH RENEWS Von Ribbentrop Calls Un expectedly on Eden to Insist on Empire. B» the Associated Press. LONDON. February 26.—Joachim von Ribbentrop. German Ambassador to Great Britain, called unexpectedly today on British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden to renew Germany’s demands for return of her war-lost colonies. The Nazi envoy remained in a long conversation with Eden, in which they talked over the general European sit uation and the prospects of reaching an agreement on a prospective pact to secure the peace of Western Europe. Diplomatic sources said Eden reiter ated Great Britain’s stand that noth ing can be done to restore the Reich's colonies or surrender of British-held League of Nations mandates until the security of Europe is established by a general accord. Von Ribbentrop had laid the Ger man demands before the British on a visit to Viscount Halifax, lord privy seal and leader of the House of Lords, February 11 while Eden was abroad on a vacation. The British government recently in formed the House of Commons it was not contemplating the surrender of any of its war-won territory. One important subject of today’s discussion, it was learned, was Bel gium’s recent reply to a British note regarding a new Locarno security pact for Western Europe. At that time Brussels stated that, although Belgium wants her security guaranteed by the powers, she is unwilling to enter into an agreement guaranteeing theirs. There have been frequent discus sions between British and Belgian diplomats on this point in recent days. Today Adolf Hitler’s recent offer to guarantee security to Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland figured in the Ribbentrop-Eden talk. Bullet Fired From Gun Held Close to Writer’s Chest, Autopsy Shows. By the Associated Press. PALM SPRINGS. Calif., February 26.—An autopsy showed today the bul let that killed Humphrey Pearson, movie scenario writer, was fired from a gun held close to his chest. Under I sheriff Steve Lynch of Riverside Coun j ty reported. i "We are of the opinion it was an ac ! cidental shooting,” he said, adding. "I don't think we will be able to get anything from the paraffin tests.” He referred to paraffin tests made of the hands of Pearson and of his wife, after the writer was found dead in the bed of his desert cottage Wed nesday night. Investigators previously hinted that the paraffin impressions failed to show powder marks, which indicate either Mr. or Mrs. Pearson had fired a pistol Doubts Theory of Outsider. “I am well satisfied that it was not done by an outsider,” said Lynch. “I think she was trying to take the gun away from him whe: the shooting occurred. We found out from several witnesses that when he got liquored up he used to get a gun, and that she had taken a gun away from him be fore under such circumstances." Mrs. Pearson has not yet been able to make a coherent statement, said Lynch, who hopes to take a statement from her today or tomorrow. Lynch said a deouty sheriff is waching Mrs. Pearson in her room in a Riverside hospital “for her own protection.” “She might attempt to injure her self,” he said. Lynch took over the investigation because of the llness of Sheriff Carl Rayburn, stricken with influenza. The work here is being done by Police Chief J. L. Boiler. Shooting Occurred After Party. Th«* shooting occurred after a gay party in a restaurant at the luxurious desert resort. Friends said that Pear son was in the habit of working almost night and day on his film assignments and then relaxing as whole-heartedly as he had labored, drinking consider ably. “I am still of the opinion it was an accident—that they were fighting for the gun,” said Lynch. The undersheriff said two shots were fired, one piercing the author's left chest and the other lodging in the ceiling of the trim bungalow the couple occupied. A .38-caliber revolver was found, from which two shots had been fired recently, he said. Investigators previ ously pointed out that the fact the (See PEARSON, Page A-4.) CRASH ENDS FLIGHT French Plane Headed for Tokio Falls in Indo-China. HONG KONG, February 26 (JP).— Gilbert Denis and Georges Libert, French flyers, who left Paris Tuesday in an attempt to fly to Tokio in 100 hours, crashed today near Tahek, Indo-China. One of the flyers (the advices did not say which one) was injured and the plane was wrecked. It was the third Paris-Tokio flight to come to grief in recent months. I Andre Japy crashed into a mountain side near Nagasaki when almost at his goal, and Marcel Doret and Franccis Michelleti quit in the face of unfa vorable Indo-China weather. “Public Rat No. I” Is Indicted In Less Than Half an Hour By the Associates Press. WHITE PLAINS. N. Y., February 26.—The Westchester County grand Jury today indicted Merle Vandenbush, 29, so-called “public rat No. 1," and his two companions in the $17,626 hold-up of a bank at Katonah, N. Y„ for robbery in the first degree. The special grand jury acted speed ily, hearing only two witnesses and re turning the indictment 29 minutes after beginning its session. As the grand Jury was acting the three prisoners, handcuffed together and surrounded by guards, were rushed from the Westchester County Jail at East View to the court at County Judge Gerald Nolan. I Their arraignment was completed with such dispatch that none of the prisoners removed his overcoat. They were informed of the indictment, which was not read, and all three en tered pleas of innocent. Then they asked that counsel be assigned to de fend them, stating they had no funds. Judge Nolau told them this request would be granted and they were rushed back to Jail. No date was set for their trial. The two witnesses heard by the grand Jury were Stanley Shafer, as sistant cashier of the Northern West chester Bank at Katonah, and Po llceman William O. Hendricks, ons of (See INDICTED, Page A-8J COURT RETIREMENT MEASURE PASSED BY SENATE, 76 TO 4, AFTER ROT DEBATE Action Comes Shortly After President Announces He Will Make Nation-Wide Radio Address March 9. MESSAGE IS EXPECTED TO TOUCH ON JUDICIARY Day Selected for First of Fireside Chats Since Before Election Is Same as That Chosen for Open ings of Hearings Before Judi ciary Committee. BY G. GOL'LD LINCOLN. By a vote of 76 to 4, the Senate to day passed without amendment the House bill authorizing voluntary re tirement of justices of the Supreme Court when they have reached the age of 70 on full pay. The bill now goes to the President for his approval, which is confidently expected. The measure passed the Senate after less than an hour’s de bate. The four Senators voting against the bill were Bridges of New Hamp shire, Johnson of California, Republic ans, and Bulow of South Dakota and Moore of New Jersey, Democrats. The Senate’s action came only a short while after President Roosevelt announced at his press conference that he would make a Nation-wide radio address at 10:30 p.m. March 9. It is expected by White House officials to include a discussion of his court pro posals. The President's address will be the first of his “fireside chats” since Sep tember 6, before his re-election. The day selected by the President. March 9. is the same on which hearings on his court bill are slated to begin be fore the Senate Judiciary Committee. Bitterness Is Manifest. During the brief Senate debate on the justices’ retirement bill the ex treme bitterness which the Supreme Court issue has developed came to the fore. An amendment offered by Senator Bridges would have postponed the operation of the retirement bill for four years, or until the end of Presi dent Roosevelt's present term of of fice. The amendment was shouted down and no record vote was taken on it. During the brief debate some Sena tors said they would not respect court members who might retire under pres ent circumstances. This view was expressed by Senators Johnson. Republican, of California and Burke. Democrat, of Nebraska, both opponents of President Roose velt’s court-reorganization plan. Some administration leaders—in cluding Senator Robinson of Arkansas, the Democratic floor chieftain—have expressed the view that passage of the Sumners bill might lead to the retire ment of one or two justices now on the court. After Johnson spoke, Robinson de manded: "At what time would the Senator (See JUDICIARY, Page A-2.) DISTRICT FORECAST IS FAIR AND COLD Minimum of 20 Degrees of Last Night Is Due to Be Reached Again. Pair and continued cold weather Is forecast for the District tonight and tomorrow. The forecaster, studying what he described as “an uninteresting map of weather conditions," predicted a minimum temperature tonight of 30 degrees—the low recorded early today. The mercury dropped to the 20 degree mark—the fourth lowest of the season—at 2:30 a.m. It began rising immediately, however, and at 10 a.m. had reached 28. The temperature climbed to 35 at 11 a.m. yesterday, but shortly after ward dropped to below the freezing point. On December 1, the Winter’s lowest temperature—14—was recorded. On November 19 there was a temperature of 19 and on February 11 a mark of 20. Forecasters foresaw a possible change to slightly warmer weather by Sunday. TRANSIT FIRM REPORTS $4,073 JANUARY PROFIT Deficit of $11,796 was Shown in Same Month Last Tear Bad Weather Factor. Net earnings of the Capital Transit Co. in January amounted to $4,073.73 as contrasted to a deficit of $11,796.75 in January. 1936, an improvement of $15,870.48, according to the monthly report filed with the Public Utilities Commission this afternoon. Bad weather had much more to do with the net results than the change in the cost of weekly passes from $1 to $1^5. While there was a falling off in the number of weekly tickets sold, this was practically offset by the increase in the number of tokens taken by patrons. January operating revenues totaled *895,484.77, a gain of 7.4 per cent over January, last year. Total operating expenses, taxes and depreciation amounted to $838,635.16, an increase of 5.4 per cent and leaving an oper ating income of $56,849.61. Non-op erating income was lower than last year. Revenue passengers carried on Cap ital Transit street cars and busses in January numbered 13,630,455 against 13,383.840 a year ago, an increase of 1337,60$ or lJ per cent.