Evening star. [volume], March 20, 1937, Page A-2, Image 2

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Kingman Reef, 1,100 Miles
South of Honolulu, Is
Next Base.
The pilot in charge of the Pan
American clipper now at Honolulu
■on an aerial trade survey flight
from the United States to New
Zealand, tells here of the succeeding
stages on the 7,000-mile flight.
BY EDWIN C. MUSICK.
By Radio to The Star.
HONOLULU. March 20 (N.A.N.A.),
—-The Pan-American clipper, having
completed the first leg of its 7,000
mile survey flight to New Zealand,
will be taken on a two-hour test flight
about Honolulu tomorrow, and if all
goes well, will depart early Monday
for the second base on our projected
trade route, Kingman Reef, 1,100
miles to the South.
With the longest crossing already
behind us, our remaining flight across
a heretofore unflown course is expect
ed to take some 34 hours, divided
into comparatively easy stages in or
der to devote all possible flight time
to route exploration. Flight orders
call for this exploratory work to be
completed, if possible, on the south
bound flight, hence we are planning
only an overnight stop at Kingman
Reef and Pago Pago. Then we will
proceed to Auckland, where we are
scheduled to remain four days for a
necessary survey of local flying con
ditions in the harbors and to test radio
communications in that area.
On the way back we will devote
out flying time to routine transport
practice, but will spend a day or more,
as necessary, at each base to ac
quaint ourselves fully with the ter
rain and the marine peculiarities of
the area.
North Wind Rides at Anchor.
Our second leg lies directly south of
Hawaii to Kingman Reef, where our
‘■floating airbase,’1 the Pan-American
supply steamer North Wind, is an
chored within a five-mile encircling
reef which incloses o deep-water
lagoon on three sides completely and,
op the fourth side, except for unusual
ly heavy seas from the southwest.
The landing there will require the
Trtost precise navigation, as the North
Wind is actually bigger in bulk than
the visible area of the island at high
water.
■From Kingman south we will explore
e wider area for a look at all shoals
and some islands which he within a
few hundred miles on a straight course.
Those already visited by Pan-American
marine engineers have been completely
rharted, but an aerial survey enables
us to cover a much broader area.
The weather over the area is gen
erally favorable for our flight. Daily
weather maps, made for the past 30
days at the Alameda base specifically
for this area, show the results of the
first upper air studies ever made of
weather in this South Pacific region.
Like Lower Caribbean.
The extreme southern area is par
ticularly interesting, since it resembles
tlie lower Caribbean area of our inter
American air routes, where seasonal
hurricanes are generated.
The Southern portion of our survey
area is a generating base not only for
typhoons but also hurricanes. Our
meteorologist for the New Zealand
area, a veteran of both Caribbean and
Pacific typhoons, was lately trans
ferred from the Manila station for this
particular study.
Due to the broken area over which
w e will be flying, we expect to experi
ment considerably with aerial naviga
tion by the use of our own direction
finder aboard the Pan-American clip
per, which, heretofore, has been only
a supplementary guard on our long
trans-Pacific flights to the Orient. It
will not let us go far afield, however,
since we will have the service of the
big long range of the Honolulu station,
and, of course, a duplicate station
aboard the North Wind at Kingman
Reef, which will blanket our course
as far as Samoa. From then on, due
to the hundreds of islands within easy
reach and the opportunity to check
our course constantly by visual land
marks. we will take our bearings from
coastwise steamers.
(Copyright, 1937, by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. Ine.)
Judiciary
(Continued From First Page.)
over 70 retire. Brant told the com
mittee:
"It is disastrous to leave the desti
nies of the United States in the hands
of five men who have usurped the
policy-making functions of Govern
ment while remaining totally ignorant
of the tremendous political forces
which enter into public policy. That
is not government; it is absolutism
without the military power which
makes absolutism work. I believe that
the conservative justices of the Su
preme Court are honest and sincere.
So was Marie Antoinette when she
said. 'If they don’t have bread, let
them eat cake’.”
Unless the court is curbed, he told
the committee, "the democratic gov
ernment we have known in the United
States will disappear before your eyes,
and it will not disappear in the nice
orderly dictatorship that some of the
admirers of Mussolini are thinking
about. You cannot train the Ameri
can people to violence, as we have
been doing for generations, without
paying the penalty in violence when
the economic order breaks down and
hope disappears.”
Brant will be followed by Judge
Ferdinand Pecora of the New York
Supreme Court, who attained national
prominence while conducting the Sen
ate stock market investigation early
in the New Deal.
"Potential Corrective.”
Senator Austin. Republican, of Ver
mont, asked Brant if he considered a
national catastrophe inevitable unless
the bill is passed.
“No,” replied the witness, "because
there is a potential corrective in the
1938 congressional elections.”
Evidently referring to the recent
speech of Justice McReynolds of the
Supreme Court, Brant added:
"You have been told that the Su
preme Court is an impartial, aloof
and independent umpire, as in a base
ball game, and that anybody who ob
jects to the decision of the umpire is a
poor sport, and the way to change the
decisions of the umpire is to change
the rules of the game.
"I might say in regard to that, that
If the Supreme Court is an umpire,
it makes the rules as it goes along,
and is steadily moving first and third
base nearer to second.”
Brant said he was opposed to the
bill In so far as it might increase the
size of the court permanently to 15.
“I see no reason why there should
be more than 11 Justices,” he declared.
Pointing out that a year ago, in his
Washington
Wayside
Tales
Random Observations
of Interesting Events
and Things.
HARMONY.
WITH our perspective on mu
sic just settling down to
normal again after a week
of swing harpists and
hotcha symphonies, what should we
get but a note from a gentleman who
says he saw a window cesser in a G
street department store sitting in the
window two hours before opening time
the other morning, playing a bass vio
lin and singing like crazy.
Day after tomorrow we go forth in
goggles and linen duster to investi
gate this report, and finding it true,
probably will return to a cave of the
winds in the Sixteenth street high
lands and drown our bemused sorrows
in a tub of Bach beer.
♦ * * *
WORSE.
If by any chance you fancy that
as a terrible pun, behold the re
mark of a Virginia politician who
says he is leading a flock of voters
on the trail of the "Byrd in the
Glass cage."
* * * *
PLEA.
^LMOST any parents with experi
ence will tell you that a boy or girl
starting off to college will invariably
put a cash interpretation on the term
“liberal education.” One father here,
whose daughter attends a small Ohio
college, was determined to break her
of the habit of regarding her monthly
alowance as a retaining fee, salary to
follow later. Not a hard-hearted but
truly a strong-principled gentleman,
he repeatedly refused to notice letters
and telegrams pleading for deficiency
appropriations.
At last the daughter, desperate in
her need of another hat, became in
spired with the will to conquer The
college has a voice-recording appara
tus for use in teaching modem lan
j guages and public speakii She went
| down and made a record that would
; have persuaded a gay ’90s villain to
| tear up the mortgage and throw in
a nickel for a cup of coffee in the deal.
The co-ed then mailed the disk to
1 poppa, who, overwhelmed by modern
| science, paid off.
♦ * * *
WISE GUY.
YVfHEN Mrs. George Phillips, whose
husband is with the Federal
j Communications Commission, went to
Florida recently her first few letters
were filled with descriptions of the
climate, the flowers, people and scenes
en route.
Mr. Phillips, a busy man. read about
four of these voluminous epistles and
then sent off a rather tart wire say
ing. “Never mind the descriptions.
Just say how you are and what you
want.”
He got his reply within an hour.
“Feel fine. Wire fifty.”
★ * * *
SUFFRAGE.
^N EX-WASHINGTONIAN, who
now lives in New York, came back
here the other day and described how
he went down to register for voting
last Fall, thinking gleefully that at
last he would have the opportunity
for something he never could have
done in the District.
At the registration center he was
asked if he had ever voted before. He
said no. The officials looked at him
sharply.
“Whatsa matter?” said one. "Crimi
nal or crazy?”
* * * *
NEWS.
Comes now the newsboy with the
prize sense (or nonsense) of news.
The noon after that horrible school
disaster down in Texas, we saw him
at the corner of Fourteenth and F
streets peddling his wares, scream
ing:
“Papah! All the latest news!
Royal Mail wins Irish Sweep
stakes!”
* * * ¥
PREOCCUPIED.
y^HILE it has become a policy with
this column to cut down on the
bright sayings of children, chiefly be
cause we seldom get any contribu
tions which we regard as half so
witty as the lispings of our own off
spring, it is now necessary to yield to
the superior logic tf one young man
about town. He is 5-year-old Mark
Gilbert Tennyson, son of Dr. and Mrs.
Irving Tennyson, of 2618 Thirty
eighth street.
Not long ago he hurt his finger on
a toy. The injury was more bother
some than mortal, but the lad put
in some lustly bawling over it.
After his mother had bandaged and
kissed the hand, she said, “There now,
come and help mother straighten up
the house.”
This was greeted with a fresh burst
of wails.
“You know I can't,” quoth Mark
Gilbert impatiently, "I’m too busy
crying.”
— — - !
book, Brant had opposed any Increase
in the size of the court on the ground
that it would make the court "a polit
ical chameleon, changing color with
every shift in party control of the Gov
ernment," Senator Burke, Democrat, of
Nebraska, asked: "Why do you favor
an increase now?"
The witness said he felt conditions
in the country had changed to such an
extent that he had altered his opinion.
After Brant had criticized the Amer
ican Bar Association for opposing the
plan, Chairman Ashurst interjected:
"I am surprised at this attack on the
Bar Association. Personally, I think
It is a great honor to belong to the
association, because it has the courage
of its retainers."
Opponents of the measure will have
their day in court next week, and
Senator Burke, Democrat, of Ne
braska announced they would call
Senator Wheeler, Democrat, of Mon
tana on Monday and Raymond Moley,
former Roosevelt “brain truster,” on
Tuesday.
STEEL LABOR UNIT
HITS C. 1.0. TERMS
Employe Group Assails
Wage Contract as Threat
to Living Standards.
By the Associated Press.
PITTSBURGH, March 20.—Employe
representatives of the Camegie-Uli
nols Steel Corp. and the American
Federation of Labor launched fresh
attacks today at their common foe,
the Committee for Industrial Organi
zation.
The Employe Representatives’ De
fense Committee assailed the wage
and hour contract signed Wednesday
by the steel corporation and the
C. I. O. as "unsatisfactory” and a
threat to the steel workers’ standard
of living.
"The agreement,” a statement said,
"pegs wages at the present level for
the next year, despite a rapid rise in
the cost of living. • * * Employes
may find themselves in dire circum
stances when the co6t of living con
tinues to rise and wages under the
agreement remain at the present
level.”
The A. F. of L. obtained a tempo
rary court injunction restraining the
New Kensington Union of the Alumi
num Workers of America from re
linquishing its $27,000 fund to the
John L. Lewis organization. The local
withdrew from the federation several
days ago and announced it would
join the C. I. O.
Final arguments on the motion will
be held March 29 before Judge Elson
McVlcar. The order prevents meet
ings of the members, forbids further
collection of dues, and prohibits any
action of the officers in behalf of the
union.
Vote Favors A. F. of L.
CHICAGO, March 20 OP).—Repre
sentatives of 25,000 members of the
International Brotherhood of Pulp,
Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers voted
by acclamation last night to retain
their affiliation with the American
Federation of Labor.
The delegates urged the A. F. of L. to
make new efforts to heal the breach
between it and John L. Lewis’ Com
mittee for Industrial Organization.
Four resolutions urging that the in
ternational cast its lot with the C. I. O.
were Introduced at the session, but
were referred to a committee and con
densed into one resolution before a
vote was taken.
Before adjourning, the delegates ap
proved a resolution supporting Presi
dent Roosevelt's proposals for reor
ganization of the Supreme Court and
the Federal judiciary.
Earhart
< Continued From First Page )
I it rather rough, and I wish to avoid
j beating up my ship. The Coast Guard
I cutter Shoshone at Howland Island,
I am advised, says it is better not to
arrive there too early in the morning
; because of the early mist.
Favoring northeast winds are pre
dicted, which would help the Electra
on its course straight from Hawaii to
Howland. In those very favoring winds
lies a major problem. It is not often
that speed is a handicap, but this time
it is. For if I go too fast, I am likely
to arrive too soon at my destination.
The distance between Hawaii and
Hcwland is 1,900 land miles. I prefer
to leave in daylight, in the later after
noon. At 150 miles per hour, the trip
should take about 12 hours. Of
course, there are no night landing
facilities at Howland Island, so I must
arrive there in daylight. The prob
lem is how I can fly slowly enough
with my fast plane, plus tailwinds, to
accomplish both a daylight take-off
and a daylight arrival.
In consultation with our navigators,
Manning and Noonan, I have con
sidered the probability of a daylight
trip. That is starting at dawn. But
weather forecasts are not ideal for
that rather risky venture. While the
pilot might be suited as to visibility,
ceilings and tailwinds, the situation
is less satisfactory for the men who
have to find our tiny island objective.
To get observations during the day
they must see the sun when they
want to.
Reports Are Meager.
The reports from the section to be
covered are so meager, no one knows
definitely whether or not the plane
could top the cumulus clouds which
are reported as probably present dur
ing the day. Perhaps there would be
breaks in those clouds, perhaps not.
The small size of the target we are
aiming at eliminates dead reckoning
as the only means of locating it. One
must supplement dead reckoning
with celestial navigation and with
radio as aids in such a situation.
In addition to the weather problems,
there is the additional one of the wel
fare of both crew and ship. While
none of the four of us appeared tired
when we landed yesterday morning I
noticed that the eyes of all were
slightly bloodshot—the pilot’s probably
because they were constantly peering
into the hazy night and then back to
the lighted instrument panel. The
navigators, because of the close work
they had done in their none too well
lighted cabin.
After all, we had approximately 14
hours and 20 minutes of night flying.
It is much better not to let fatigue of
any kind creep into the early part of
an expedition of long duration, for
such fatigue cannot be eliminated
later. Twenty-four hours’ real rest
makes every one fit—six or eight hours
might not.
Mr. and Mrs. Chris Holmes are our
hosts here. Its Waikiki and Paradise
for trans-Paciflc airmen. Meals are
miraculously served wherever and
whenever one wakes up. Speaking
of meals, we had our first one im
mediately after our arrival at Col.
and Mrs. John McDonnell’s quarters
at Wheeler Field. How Mrs. Mc
Donnell managed to have scrambled
eggs and bacon ready to serve at the
crack of dawn I don't know, but I
do know they were the best scrambled
eggs any of u» had ever eaten.
Recognizes Army Aides.
As Maritz taxied the ship into the
hangar I noticed some of the same
Army men standing by who had done
such valiant work on my Lockheed
Vega when I was here in January,
1935. They are assigned to help me
again by the very understanding offi
cers in charge, who included Gen.
Barton K. Young, Col. John Mc
Donnell and MaJ. Samuel Grierson.
My mechanical needs are mostly a
service check. Hardly had our crew
moved out of the ship when its in
spection began. Engine cowls came
off and the constant speed propellers
were taken down for greasing.
Wilbur Thomas, Pratt and Whitney
representative in Hawaii, was on his
toes to get at the wasp engines. He
positively pleaded for permission to
check the valves. Intent on making
PITIFUL STORY
Destitute, She Borrows Coat
tc Wear to Radio Studio
for Broadcast.
A mother who has been unable to
find employment to support herself
and her 11-year-old daughter—so
destitute, in fact, that she was forced
to borrow an overcoat to wear to the
studio—told her tragic story last night
in another series of ‘“'help wanted”
broadcasts presented over Station
WJSV in co-operation with the Com
munity Chest and the Public Welfare
Board.
One of the many women among
the 3,000 employables in the District
who can’t get work or relief, the
mother, whose husband was killed in
a railroad wreck, told a pitiful story.
Although she had no experience that
would fit her for remunerative work,
she was able to obtain employment
as a file clerk with W. P. A. Then
she lost her job, sold what furniture
she had and moved to a smaller room.
By a meager existence, she was able
to make the money last several
months, but three weeks ago she was
forced to turn to the Salvation Army
for aid.
An unemployed man also was in
terviewed. With three children, the
eldest 8, and the youngest 1 month,
his rent is due and must be paid at
once or his family will be evicted. He
lost his Job four years ago, because
of illness, and since then has been
unable to find steady employment.
While the man was still on the air,
an anonymous telephone call we re
ceived from a person who offered to
contribute to the man’s support until
he could find work. Fifteen minutes
later, the man’s rent was paid by the
unknown caller.
Gilbert S. Decker, welfare officer of
the Salvation Army, presented the
story of his organization's work against
poverty.
The final two broadcasts in this
series will be heard over WJSV next
Monday and Wednesday at 7:15 p m.
New Planes in Use.
All scheduled flights on Pennsylva
nia - Central Airlines' Washington.
Pittsburgh, Akron, Cleveland, Detroit
route are now made with a new fleet
of 200-mile-an-hour Boeing 247-D
monoplanes, the company reports.
These ships are considerably faster
than the old-type Boeings originally in
service on this run and have been
thoroughly sound-proofed.
a more intensive inspection than I had
planned.
I told him he was one of the three
or four men in the world I would
let touch those engines, pets of mine
before the time rolled round for
their regular overhauling, many hours
away. Beautiful motors, you know
are sometimes best left alone when
they are functioning perfectly, and
they should be tinkered with by no
ordinary mechanic at any time. So,
may engines, under the best possible
hands, are having a mechanical rub
down and massage to keep them in
perfect condition.
In thinking over the reasons for
this delay, I have to Include one that
is incident to my new role as a writer.
Flying really comes easier than re
porting. It is simpler to tell all to
the reporters than to try to do the
recording myself. However, as I ex
plained to the interviewers yetserday,
I have joined their fraternity for
once, and I am saving them, partially
at least, the trouble of writing about
the flight by struggling to do so
myself. And may I sincerely hand
the group of journalists here a bou
quet for their good sportsmanship.
They w-ere sympathetic to my explana
tion of why I would rather not discuss
details of the flight.
I shall be sorry to drop the first of
the itinerant crew, Paul Mantz. He
has helped in every way to prepare
for the flight, and came along on its
first leg to watch developments. He
took no rest yesterday, staying at
Wheeler Field to superintend the
work. I hope he has a pleasant
journey homeward on the Malola.
Our time—15 hours and 47 minutes
from Oakland to Honolulu—seems to
have established a record for the
east-west crossing. That is an inter
esting commentary on the progress of
flying equipment, particularly as con
cerns speed. Actually we were going
about as slowly as possible. ,We
throttled back the engines. Most of
the way our craft was "under wraps.”
For once, tailwinds were almost an
embarrassment. As it was, averaging
slightly over 150 miles an hour, we
reached Wheeler Field as scheduled
just after dawn. My point is, that so
far as concerns speed, it would have
been easier to go faster. The Electra,
or similar landcraft, can comfortably
cut a couple of hours off the left
handed record we set up most any
time under favoring conditions. The
same problem of going slow—not fast
—faces me on the next hop, as I have
said. Again, the new puzzle is how
not to hurry.
All of which indicates that the ele
ment of speed is far from uppermost
in such a flight as this. It can’t be
quite truly. I’m in no hurry. It was
disappointing yesterday that bad
weather prevented us carrying on
westward. But doubtless similar de
lays will occur later. My ambition is
no time mark. There is no “record”
to shoot at. That will come for
others later. We’ll see globe-girdling
flights whose brevity will take your
breath away. As for this present
venture, I just want to progress as
safely and sanely as day-to-day con
ditions make possible, give myself and
the Electra this experience of seeing
what we can of this very interesting
world at Its waist line, and, with good
fortune, get back with plane and pilot
all "in one piece.”
(Copyright, 1937.)
Disaster
(Continued From First Page.)
natural gas had seeped Into hollow
tiles in the school walls, converting
it into a veritable bomb.
Capt. Zachariah Coombs, judge ad
vocate of the military court, was quoted
by the Tyler Morning Telegraph as
saying he was in possession of pieces of
sewer pipe from the blast ruins which
oil workers told him showed traces of
nitro-glycerin. Capt. Coombs said he
would call as witnesses the men who
gave him the fragments, but that other
witnesses discounted the theory.
At Austin, Gov. James V. Allred
recommended that heating installa
tions in Texas school buildings simi
lar to those at the New London struc
Five Giants of the Sea at Rest
An imposing air view of five great trans-Atlantic passenger vessels assembled at their piers
in New York and steaming up for return trips. Seldom is there such a grouping of mammoth
liners on the Hudson piers. Left to right they are: Europa, Rex, Normandie, Georgic and
Berengaria. _____ —A. P. Photo.
ture not be used until after a thor
ough examination for safety.
He had been informed in a letter
from George H. Greenway of Dallas,
a heating engineer, that there were
several more schools in East Texas
with the same type of heating equip
ment that are liable to blow up any
minute, with ihe same results.
Day of Mourning.
The Governor set aside tomorrow
as a day of mourning in Texas and
ordered the flag on the State buildings
continued at half-staff and proposed
that a monument to the victims be
erected at the scene of the disaster.
"This terrible tragedy touched not
only the families and immediate
friends of these victims, but reached
and horrified every home throughout
the land,” his proclamation said.
"Let us reconsecrate ourselves to
the faith of our fathers and highly
resolve that no such disaster shall ever
again be visited upon any community
or any home.”
The casualty list showed 94 injured
and eight missing. The list, as relief
workers checked it. still was subject to
revision.
Capt. Coombs said he would call 30 !
or 25 witnesses. The first heard was
J. L. Downing of Henderson, who !
helped in original plans for the
building.
He said the original intention was to
heat the structure with a boiler and
steam. This plan was changed to gas
steam heating to cut the cost, he said.
Only three bodies—all young girls—
I lay unclaimed in a Henderson mor
! tuary.
Yesterday as many as 75 unidenti
fied had been laid In rows in impro
vised morgues at one time. The State
Department of Public Safety aided in
the difficult task of identification by !
sending a finger print expert here.
Vents from the radiators in the
building, used as independent units
"simply end in the walls." said Dr.
Schoch, discussing the probable cause
of the blast.
His contention, based on his re
ported finding of intact radiators
"without proper flues" in the ruins,
placed him in disagreement with an
i other called as a witness at the ln
! quiry.
Denies Radiator Connection.
“It is my opinion that the explosion
was caused by gas accumulating be
neath the building." asserted E. M.
' Roberts, electrician on construction of
| the building.
“I don't think there was any de
fect in connection with the gas radia
tors which would allow such an ex
plosion."
The radiators, one to a room, were
individually fired with gas, heat radia
tion being by means of a contrivance
I similar to the radiator of a central
| steam heating plant, but not supplied
| with steam from outside.
Dr. Schoch said there was no doubt
gas had been in the building and
that the blast came either from the
basement or from the walls. He
called the cells of tile “excellent gas
chambers.’’
“It’s simple,” he went on. “The
walls were filled with gas that had
no other exit.
“The condition of the bodies of
those children bears that out. They
were blown to death—not burned to
death ”
The blast left only half a dozen of
the 72 radiators in the building in
tact with their wall connections. Dr.
Schoch inspected each and said he
found only one with a satisfactory flue.
The scientist was sent here as offi
cial investigator for Gov. Allred.
U. S. Sends Experts.
To supplement the inquiry of the
university chemist, the Bureau of Oils
and Chemistry in Washington sent
David J. Price, another expert on ex
plosions, to the scene. D. J. Parker,
United States Bureau of Mines engi
neer. was dispatched from Salt Lake
City.
At Austin legislators traoed tenta
tive lines for an inquiry.
Next Monday four Representatives
and four Senators will meet in Hen
derson to start an Investigation or
dered by the Legislature. Start of
actual work of digging into the causes
of the tragic blast probably win be de
layed a few days.
Oil field workers ended their search
through the ruins for additional
bodies and Col C. E. Parker, National
Guard commander, said it had been
estimated "about 425” bodies had
been removed.
London school officials, visibly
shaken by the tragedy that wiped
out half their student body, said no
definite plans had been made to re
build the “world’s wealthiest rural
school," located in one of the heaviest
taxed school districts.
Supt. W. C. Shaw, who lost his son,
was assured by Supt. C. O. Pollard
of Henderson, 18 miles distant, that
all New London pupils between the
fifth and ele'.enth grades “would be
welcome to attend the Henderson
school without charge.”
School officials indicated normal
routine in the lower grades would be
resumed Monday.
Maj. Howard said martial law, de
clared soon after the blast, would not
be lifted until the court of inquiry
completed Its findings. Military rule
Is needed to retain authority of the
court.
Bodies Sent Elsewhere.
Most of the families preferred to
bury their own dead, although a mass
funeral had been planned originally
for an undetermined number. A con
siderable number already had been
sent to various parts of the country.
Comparatively few of the victims
were children of families with long
time ties here. The oil boom of 1930
31 which developed this community
and the school plant as well, called
them here from all parts of the
Nation.
Grieving kin prepared burial places
near the derrlcked slopes of the world’s
largest oil belt for many of the pupils
and teachers. Henderson ordered free
burial plots to families of victims who
needed them. Permanent care of the
graves without charge also was prom
ised.
Many oil companies assured they
were "taking care of employes.’’ Those
same companies threw all their trucks,
cranes and men into the vast rescue
work, virtually ended yesterday.
Merele Gruver, Chamber of Com
merce official at Henderson, said oil
wealthy Rusk County ..eeded no money
to treat the injured «r>d bury the dead,
but e-ch donation will go to a worthy
cause.
"It will be given,’’ he said, "to the ;
sorrowing parents to help them pro
vide educational opportunities for their
other children—those who have chil
dren left.”
Identifying Work Slow
The anguish-filled task of identify
ing and counting the dead proceeded ;
at such a slow pace that indications
were more than a week must elapse ;
before it is completed thoroughly
Most bodies were mangled badly and 1
may never be identified.
One of the pathetic figures at the
Overton Amrican Legion Hall, a
temporary morgue, was a father who
was shown piece by piece the torn j
‘ clothing of a boy victim. Finally he
was handed a pair of worn shoes.
•'That's my boy,” he gasped. "I soled
the shoes myself."
The powerful force of the blast was
indicated by the experience of Mrs.
Tom Parmley, playground supervisor,
who said it appeared to last two
minutes.
“I was about 20 yards in front of the
school building when it started,” she
j said.
: "When it was over, I was under the
back seat of an automobile and there
some bricks on the top of the seat. It
was just one big, It lg boom and then
the downfall.”
Mrs. O. W. Williams, an officer of
the American Legion Auxiliary at
Henderson, found it difficult to bear
out the role of "Sunshine,” the name
by which intimate friends know her.
It was her duty to lead parents down
rows of covered bodies at a morgue
there and lift the sheets in an effort
to identify the dead.
Teacher Saved 95 Pupils.
Mrs. Odell Garry, the dark-haired
heroine who saved 95 pupils by quick
thinking, was reticent in talking about
it today.
She would say only:
“When the walls and oeiling began
to fall in, I told the pupils to get under
their desks and I got under mine.
Some of them got under my desk with
me. There were about 95 in the room.”
News of the tragedy brought consol
ing word from all over the world—
messages of sympathy from France,
Egypt, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Venez
uela, Haiti, Cuba and England. Every
State in the Union offered condolances.
Such Government officials as Harold
L. Ickes, Interior Secretary, offered
every aid within their power.
Admiral Cary T. Grayson, chairman
of the American Red Cross, placed
the full resources of that organization
at the call of Gov. Allred.
“Taking Her Home.”
Burial of the dead inserted many
a tragic note.
A decrepit truck limped slowly along
Dallas streets, a rough pine box pro
truding from the rear. At the front,
almcet obliterating the license tag.
was a crude sign which read:
“Funeral.”
The word was misspelled, but De
tectives Lary Knight and Ed Preston
suspected what it meant.
“Where to?” the officers asked.
“West Texas.”
“Was it . . . the explosion?”
•Yeah.”
“And . . .?”
“I’m taking her home.”
“I was In France in the Argonne,"
Detective Knight said later. “But
this—well, this is different.”
Two thousand human beavers dug
away more than 4,000,000 pounds of
rock and steel in less than 24 hours
in the search for the victims.
“It was one of the fastest, most
marvelous clearing Jot* I've ever
seen,” said Ross Maddox, general con
tractor for the building when it was
erected four years ago.
His figures showed 6 tons of rein
forcement steel, 9 tons of structural
steel and 1,300 yards of concrete—
figuring 3,600 pounds to the yard—
were used in the building.
Oil field workers—hastily recruited
from derricks all over the vast East
Texas area—thus carried away about
200,000 pounds an hour, working in
shifts of approximately 1,000 men.
They worked until completely ex
hausted.
Sit-Downers
(Continued From First Page )
with another of his celebrated at
tacks on monopoly.
Warning that business “must come
back to live under law or else It will
plant seeds of widespread lawless
ness.” he ins-jted his proposed amend
ment to strengthen State powers was
the best method of attack.
8uch strikes have no warrant in
law, he declared, but result largely
from “the fact that vast corporate
interests are living in violation of the
law.”
“We should realize,” rejoined Sen
ator Black, "that there is a deep con
| vlction among the people who have
, been sitting down that laws enacted
i for their benefit will be held uncon
' stitutional."
j He contended Supreme Court de
i cisions had created “insuperable ob
! stacles" to establishment of remedies
either by Federal or State law.
Illegal Tree pa** Condemned.
Senator V&ndenberg, Republican, of
Michigan pleaded for respect of all
law. saying "Illegal trespass cannot be
condoned ”
Referring to the situation in their
State, his Democratic colleague—
Brown—urged patience.
"I am not yet willing," he said, "to
shoot down men in the Chrysler
plants to drive them out to uphold
the majesty of the law.”
A number of Senators primarily in
terested in the issue missed the debate
because of the court hearings. They
said they would speak on the question
later.
Meanwhile, on the House side, a
Michigan Republican. Representative
Hoffman, declared: "We have a state j
! of armed rebellion.”
“The President is the boss of Con
; gress, all right,” he said. "But who
! does he get his orders on labor from?
He gets them from Lewis."
A dozen other legislators plunged
into the debate while both houses,
: their galleries packed, sat late into
the afternoon.
Senator Ellender, Democrat, of
Louisiana—Huey Long’s successor—
had touched off the controversy by de
nouncing sit-down tactics as un
American and "nothing short of a
hold-up."
-- - •—
1Continued From First Page.)
show she was not hurt, and shouted to
Army officers. Only her blanched
face revealed her feelings.
"No one was hurt. Only our spirits
are bruised,” she said to Army officers
who hurried to her side.
She was attempting a daylight take
off for Howland Island after receiving
reports there was cloudy weather as
far as 200 miles south of here and
favorable weather thence to Howland.
The plane, valued at *80.000, was
loaded with between 800 and 900 gal
lons of gasoline.
Ground Soaked With Gas.
Paul Mantz, Miss Earhart's tech
nical adviser, remained at the field to
survey the damage. He had accom
panied her on the record-breaking hop
from Oakland, but had left the plane
here.
Mantz found that in addition to the
smashed undercarriage and twisted
propellers and wing, both the motor
mount and stabilizer were bent.
The ground around the plane was
covered with gasoline. Army officers
took precautions against fire.
Mantz estimated repairs would take
about two weeks at the factory, but
four months if done here.
The plane was nearly out of sight of
spectators when it crashed. Miss Ear
hart had taxied it to the far end of
the runway in the dim morning light
and then started to speed back for the
take-off when the tire burst.
Means Postponement.
Miss Earhart said, "This means
postponement of my world trip, but not
cancellation.” She announced the
plane probably would be sent back to
the factory for repairs.
"We were going about 50 miles an
hour when the right tire blew out.
I cut the switches.”
She smiled tremulously, but was
calm. A bright yellow lei. which
adorned her neck at the start of the
run, had disappeared when she climbed
from the plane, but she was otherwise
unruffled.
Noonan and Manning returned to
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Chris
Holmes.
Role Like “Guinea Pig.”
The pioneer woman flyer, before
taking off for the Pacific Coast last
month to begin her globe-girdling
flight, laughingly described her role on
the trip as that of "a human guinea
pig.”
"It’s something I want to do more
than anything else in the world,” she
said, explaining she wanted to “find
out more about the reactions of hu
man beings to flight.”
Her narrow escape from serious in
jury marked the fifth time she had
cheated death in her air exploits.
“My luck held” was the way she
characterised forced landings and
smash-ups when she came through al
most unscathed
Wife Recently Asked D. C.
Court for Enforcement
of Financial Pact.
Senator Bilbo has filed suit in Miss
issippi for divorce from Mrs. Lina
Gaddis Bilbo, according to an Asso
ciated Press dispatch today from Pop
larville.
Mrs. Bilbo petitioned District Court
on March 13 for an order to enforce a
financial agreement between herself
and her husband which was executed,
she said, in May, 1935.
Under terms of the agreement, it
was said, the Senator agreed to pay
his wife $100 a month and $25 a
month on a house in Jackson, Miss.,
pending a settlement. An alternative
agreement, it was stated, was a $20,000
settlement, payable in cash and notes.
The Senator filed suit for divorce in
Pearl River County Chancery Court.
Chancery Clerk M. K. Rouse, a rela
tive of the Senator, said the suit was
filed "several days ago'' The case
was scheduled for hearing the third
Monday in May.
Rouse said the Senator would be
represented at the hearing by "the
entire bar of Pearl River County.'’
Bilbo, meanwhile, was said to be en
route to Washington from the Pacific
Coast.
In her petition here, Mrs. Bilbo
gave her residence as Jackson. She
said she ar>d her husband separated
"some years ago.’’ They were mar
ried in 1903.
Mrs. Bilbo several years ago filed
suit for divorce in the Hinds County
(Miss ) Chancery Court, but with
drew the complaint before the case
came to trial.
Strike
(Continued Prom Pirst Page )
ond time in attempts to conciliate a
major automobile strike. Their efforts
led to settlement of General Motors
strikes a month ago.
Only small groups of pickets hud
dled about snow-covered gates at the
huge Chrysler factories this morning.
There was no unusual activity. Some
gates were barricaded, others were
merely chained.
The chairman of Chrysler Strike
Committees today issued a statement,
addressed to Gov. Murphy, declaring:
‘‘You can do one of two things You
can use your influence to see that our
grievances are adjusted, or you can
use the State's troops to try to force
us out.
Alternative! Cited.
"The first way will lead to indus
trial peace and the elimination of the
causes for strikes. The second w'ay
will lead to bloodshed and violence
and more strikes. We are resolved
to protect our rights to our jobs with
our lives The choice is flatly up to
you."
Restating the union contention that
the Chrysler Corp, had violated the
national labor relations act by its re
fusal to recognize the U. A W A as
sole bargaining agency for 67.000 em
ployes, the strike leaders said:
"Our employers have refused to rec
ognize the principles of collective bar
gaining. so we have resorted to the
only weapon we have to make them
abide by the law.”
The situation today, as Dewey and
Gov. Murphy engaged in conferences
seeking a way for peaceful evacuation
of the Chrysler plants, appeared to be
deadlocked as tightly as it has been
since the strikers halted plant opera
tions 13 da vs ago.
Homer Martin, union president,
said: "Our proposals lor an amicau,e
and swift settlement of this con
I troversy were spumed by the corpora
S tion."
One report was that the union was
willing to evacuate the sit-down
strikers in return for a written pledge
from Walter P. Chrysler, chairman
of the corporation's board, that no
attempt to reopen the plants, or to
remove dies and machinery would be
made, and that the corporation's exec
utives would ‘‘get down to bed-rock”
negotiating with uinon representatives.
Meeting Blocked.
In this connection, one report said,
efforts to bring about a meeting be
tween Chrysler and John L. Lewis,
chairman of the Committee for In
dustrial Organization supporting the
U. A. W. A. strikes, have been blocked
by the manufacturer’s refusal to meet
with any union official until the plants
have been cleared.
Dewey, arriving in Detroit by train
this morning, declined to state his
plans, but said "we will probably ar
range several conferences.”
The union strikers' statement to
Murphy today, signed by “sit-down
strikers in the Chrysler plants,” as
serted that:
“What we have to say is supported
by more than 50,000 other Chrysler
workers, more than 100,000 automobile
workers in Detroit, 200,000 in Michi
gan and 300.000 in the United States ”
The letter rejected the mediation
boards proposed in a conference
called by the Governor this week with
the statement. "They don’t wrork."
Claim Wages Inadequate.
The strikers contended that inade
quate wages, speed of the production
line, discriminatory discharges and in
timidation by the agents of a labor
spy organization led to their strike
action.
“Then, when we had built our union
in spite of these obstacles,” the letter
continued, “the Chrysler Corp. re
fused to recognize us.”
Dewey came to Detroit at the direc
tion of Secretary Perkins to Join Gov.
Murphy, who has been conferring
with Chrysler Corp. executives and
officials of the U. A. W. A
Remains in New York.
Secretary Perkins decided to remain
in New York overnight after conversing
by telephone with Chrysler and Gov.
Murphy. Lewis and Chrysler were in
New York, but Miss Perkins would
not say whether she had communi
cated with the labor leader.
“I think that if Mr. Chrysler and
Mr. Lewis could get together it would
clear up some things,” the Labor Sec
retary said. She said she had not
tried to arrange such a meeting, but
that she understood such an endeavor
had been made.
Her main objective, she explained,
was to get negotiations between the
corporation and the union started.
Then she added:
"Every one has been too mad to
talk things over; what with court
orders and so on, both sides have been
mad.”
The two sides had opened negotia
tions over union demands when the
strike was called, but they have re
ported no progress. Much of their
discussions have centered on the re
jected request of the U. A. W. A. for
recognition as the sole bargaining
agency of Chrysler employee.