Evening star. [volume], May 15, 1937, Page B-2, Image 18

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
REBIRTH GIVEN PHILLIPS ART
Stressing of Modern Art Is Feature of New Arrangement and
Has Effect of Developing Interest in Gallery—Needs of
Washington and Some Parts of Nation.
By Leila Mechlin.
THE Phillips Memorial Gallery
has been completely rehung
since the close of the loan ex
hibition of paintings and
sculpture owned in Washington, and
although only a few new pictures
are added, the eflect is strikingly dif
ferent from that created by other ar
rangements in the past. Primarily
it stressed that which is modern. In
the main upper gallery are featured
pointings by Cezanne, Matisse, Gau
guin, Picasso and others who have
more or less turned the world of
art upside down. In the small gal
lery at the foot of the steps, 11 paint
ings (water colors) by John Marin are
to be seen; while in the little library
on the first floor to the left of the
entrance, only works by Eilshemus
are at present on view, and above
stairs one small gallery is, likewise,
given over to abstractions by Braque.
Thus many facets of this contempo
raneous art may be seen and studied
comparatively.
At the end of the large upper gal
lery, where habitual visitors have
become accustomed to sec the master
piece by Renoir, “Luncheon of the
Boating Party,” there now hangs the
large, familiar canvas, "The Terrace,”
by Pierre Bonnard—a painting ap
proximately 6 by 8 feet in dimensions
—broadly and rather loosely painted,
but in such wise that at a distance
the illusion of outdoor light and air
Is most realistically presented. This
great canvas is flanked by two small
ones by the same artist, both figures'
within doors, but in identical man
ner and similar color schemes. Bon
nard's work is not meant to be looked
at close to, but at a distance, when
the several planes fall into place, and.
from the seemingly confused mass of
oolor, unity of eflect is attained.
Centering the wall to the right
Is “The Torso,” by Matisse, with be
side it the smaller still life by the
same painter, “Anemones and Mir
ror,” which lends a rich note of
oolor. Cezanne's "Self Portrait” and
his lovely landscape. “Mt. St. Vin
cent,’ perhaps the finest thing he
ever did, hang on this wall side by
side, and at the other end may be
Been a landscape featuring curving
river, painted by Marjorie Phillips,
which admirably holds its own in this
distinguished company.
On the opposite wall, facing “The
Torso,’ is the famous Van Gogh,
•'Garat Arles,’’ so very' characteristic
of this strange genius’ manner of i
whipping up his paint with swirling
strokes indicative of restless motion.
To the right of this is Picasso's “The
Blue Room,* well known through re
production, but pleasing neither in
color nor composition, and to the left
8 colorful and superb fruit piece by j
Maurice Sterne, whrse works must ]
either be liked or disliked heartily, j
never half way. Redon’s “Mystery”— j
Impossible of solution—hangs here
next to "Cabs for Hire,” by Eilshemus,
whose mental reactions are as trans
parent and simple as a child's. Like
wise Per Krohg’s "Blacksmith” and
a starkly painted tree trunk, “Old
Tree,” by A. H. Maurer, are mated.
In this gathering a full length por
trait study of "Sulking Bov,” by
George Luks, one of the first paintings
acquired by Mr. Phillips for the
gallery collection, appears again and
to excellent advantage. Here, too,
*'Mano, the Dancer,” by Derain, lends
distinction on an end wall, beautifully
complemented by two little still life
studies—“Lemons and Tangerines,” j
by Albert Andre, and “Fruit and i
Plate,” by D. Edzard, precisely right •
In color and style, to offset the more j
important composition. This place- j
ment is little less than a stroke of
genuis on the part of whosoever was :
responsible for the hanging.
JN THE large gallery below stairs,
are several old favorites, paintings
which can be seen again and again
With undiminished pleasure, such as
the Courbeis—"Rocks at Omans" and
•The Mediterranean Sea”—the land
scape with cottonwood trees or blos
soming fruit trees by Derain—the
'‘Repentent Peter” by Ed Greco, “The
Uprising” by Daumier; Chardin’s ex
quisite still life and our own George
Fuller's enchanting portrait study of
a young girl, which is to be num
bered among his most sensitive and
superior works. Attention is also
caught and held by a little painting
by Fantin Latour of "Manet in His !
Gtudio,” which is peculiarly engaging.
The master is seated at his easel, look
ing toward his model, a young boy
posed to his left, while standing be
hind him and peering over his shoul
der are three men, presumably col
leagues. This littie picture has the
.toneful quality of works by those of
the older school and would fit in with
the several paintings by Daumier dis
played in an upstairs gallery together
With Delacroix’s inimitable "Paganini.”
It is a gem—a mo6t enviable posses
sion
Among the latest acquisitions now
on view in the Phillips Memorial Gal
lery are two paintings by Eilshemus—
one a landscape entitled “Moonlight,”
the other a city picture, “Park
Avenue,” presumably, New York. Both
of these are hung with the other works
by the same painter in the little li- j
brary. They are larger canvases than
Mr. Eilshemus usually has painted
and are rather broad in rendering.
The one is dated 1917, the other 1918.
The scene of the former is a river bend
with bank covered by wild growth.
The figure of a man in a small boat
on the turbulent stream gives scale to
the composition, dark in tone and but
dimly lit by the round, pale moon in
the broad expanse of overtopping sky.
The picture of Park avenue pre
sents a view south at twilight. The
Btretch in the foreground is brown and
rather dreary, but beyond, and sharply
differentiated in color, rise the sky
scraper towers against the luminous
evening sky, the lights from their
myriad windows already twinkling.
fT'HERE are three other landscapes In
this one-man show by Eilshemus,
"Bridge for Fishing,” which hangs
over the mantel and unluckily loses
much of its subtlety by artificial
lighting; a “Samoan Scene,” an early
work, and “Twilight on the River,”
which shows a charming sky tinted
by afterglow. All three of these can
vases are sensistively rendered and
peculiarly characteristic. Less pleas
ing, but perhaps equally indicative of
individuality of genius, are two of the
three figure compositions which make
up the collective showing.
In connection with the rehanging
of the Phillips Memorial Gallery men
tion should also be made of the re
showing of the lovely abstract, paint
ings by Augustus Vincent Tack, orig
inally purposed for decorative panels
A
in the library, which may be interest
ingly contrasted with the abstractions
above stairs by Braque, who follows
Picasso and uses as vehicles wel} known
forms which he distorts. Hearty re
welcome may well be given to the
mastelv portrait of "Miss Van Buren,"
by Thomas Eakins which now hangs
in the front hallway. Within the past
10 years Eakins paintings have come
to be numbered with the foremost and
finest, collectors and museums vying
for their possession. The recent sale
of a portrait study by Eakins of a
"Young Woman in Pink Dress" to a
private collector has been prominently
noted in the leading daily newspapers
ns well as art journals. The Phillips
Memorial Gallery is fortunate indeed
in possessing one of the most im
portant works in portraiture by thus
American master.
Incidentally and as indicative of the
generosity of museums in this country,
one to another, it is interesting to
know that this gallery's renoir—"The
Lunch of the Canoeists”—is now on
loan to the Metropolitan Museum of
Art and included in a special exhibi
tion which opened therein this week.
More Galleries
Wanted.
ASHINGTON is fortunate in its
art galleries and in the fact that
they supplement one another. The
great, new National Gallery of Art
will contain chiefly Old World master
pieces; the Corcoran Gallery of Art
takes first rank because of its Ameri
can collection dating back to Colonial
days and bringing the record up to
the present; the Freer Gallery is
known the world over for its treasures
of Oriental art, in addition to its
works by Whistler; the Phillips Gal
lery is at present stressing modern
art, especially the French school, which
has proved so influential as measured
by great works of the past, and the
Textile Museum has a field of its own,
supplemented, obviously, but not du
plicated, by the Clark collection, of
which the Corcoran Gallery of Art is
custodian.
And still there are wants which are
1 not filled. There is no national por
! trait gallery, although there are many
1 fine works in this field in Govem
| menl ownesrship, portraits in some in
i stances by distinguished painters
I hanging in the Capitol and in govern
mental departments, to say nothing
of the interesting collection of por
traits of men prominent in the World
War—the most distinguished men of
the allied nations—painted to order
and presented to the United States by
a self-organized committee, of which
Herbert Pratt was chairman. These
paintings, which include portraits of
Cardinal Mercier, Admiral Beatty and
Clemenceau by Cecilia Beaux, Lloyd
George by Bolk, Foch by Tarbell, and
Joffre by Johansen, to mention only a
few, now hang in the ill-lighted cor
ridor of the rotunda in the Natural
History Building of the National
Museum. Also there is no gallery for
the display of the National art col
lections of which the Smithsonian
Institution is custodian. But, strange
as it may seem, there is not in the
whole City of Washington a single art
dealer's establishment with a well
equipped gallery for transient exhi
bitions nor a single print-seller where
l he print lover and collector can ex
amine prints of quality and make
purchases. These last are almost
unaccountable wants. Much is said
in regard to Washington, the capital
of our Nation, becoming an art center,
but it should not be forgotten that no
city becomes an art center until it
has become an art market—the two
go hand in hand.
The Famous Bache Collection
To Become Public Possession.
'J'HE recent announcement of the
gift of the Jules S. Bache col
lection to the State of New York has
caused no little excitement in art
circles. This is a rich and valuable
collection comprising 60 paintings of
rare and superlative character. Accord
ing to the announcement, the terms of
gift include the Bache residence on
upper Fifth avenue and provision for
their permanent housing. Like the
Mellon gift, these works and funds
for the upkeep of the collection and
its housing are vested in a trust—the
Bache foundation—with the approval
of the Board of Regents of the State
of New York— and to be so controlled
and administered. Thus the collection
will be kept together indefinitely and
another little museum will be added
to New York.
Such gift is immeasurably generous.
It means a perpetual sharing with
the public, but it erects barriers and
creates limitations that may be worth
considering. What has been and is
the fate of such private museums
when made into public institutions?
The Wallace collection of London is
perhaps the outstanding success. In
this, interest has never waned. But
even there the attendance is certainly
not comparable with that of the Na
tional Gallery. The Gardner Museum
of Boston (Fenway Court), which is
on a very lavish scale and has a very
varied content, is admittedly very
dead and cold, as a public Institution
—static; and, after a trial of unsuc
cessful showing in the donor’s private
residence, the Johnson collection of
Philadelphia has been largely trans
ferred to the Pennsylvania Museum.
When the Frick collection was first
opened to the public a year or more
ago there were many who clamored
for admission—so many that appli
cation had to be made in advance
and tickets issued—but the attendance
today, without such formalities, is,
it is stated, only about 100 a day.
In other words, the art museum in a
converted residence, separate and
alone, appeals to and reaches a very
small public.
Also it is a question whether or not
the multiplication of small museums
is an unalloyed blessing. There can
even be "too much of a good thing”—
such as this. Obviously a collector
takes pride in keeping together the
collection he lias assembled—he wants
it to have his name—and today prac
tically all large museums will not
accept gifts under such conditions, be
cause of the conviction that they
break the sequence and lessen edu
cational values. But how much safer
and more permanent would such
placement be in, for example, the
new National Gallery or Art, which is
coming into existence through Mr.
Mellon’s munificence? Mr. Mellon
has specifically stated that he hopes
other collectors will make contribu
tion and join with him in upbuilding
a national collection of the utmost
value and artistic importance. As a
national gallery the anticipation is
that it will attract gifts from col
lectors in other cities. The Bache
collection, unassigned, has undoubtedly
given rise to speculation.
And why, after all. ^ui&t ao much
art be piled up in one city? Leaving
aside the National Gallery of Art,
which will be for all the people, why
should not some of the fine, smail
private collections go to cities in the
Nftest and South where no examples
of really great art are still to be seen?
The little museum has many advan
tages, but not, it would seem, in the
great city.
“The Fine Arts and
Philanthropy,’’ a Guide Book
To Giving.
y^PROPOS of gifts of works of art
to the public, a little book has
been published by the Central Hanover
Bank & Trust Co. of New York en
titled “Tlie Fine Arts and Philan
thropy,” which, while primarily in
tended for prospective donors, is full
of enlightening facts. It is the re
sult of a survey made by this com
pany’s “Department of Philanthropic
Information,” the services of which
are open to any one interested in
wise public giving. After establishing
the importance and place of the fine
arts in life, a brief account is given
of vast sums donated in recent years
to art museums and institutions de
voted to education in the arts. In
six cities these donations, it states,
in 1935, amounted to over seven mil
lion dollars. William R. Nelson's gift
to the Art Museum in Kansas City
is estimated at $11,000,000—that of
Fiank Munsey's to the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, $10,000,000. But of
all, Mr. Mellon's to the National Gal
lery of Art is most princely.
These activities, it is shown, ex
tend over a wide field, and include
the Coolidge gift to music in the
Library of Congress; the Cranbrook
Foundation for teaching in Michigan,
endowed by George G. Booth, an
other newspaper man; besides the
activities and beneficences of the
several foundations. The public art
collections of this country are ap
praised as worth over $2,000,000,000,
and the museum buildings alone as
representing expenditures of upward
of $75,000,000. What is more—the
yearly attendance at the Metropolitan
Museum in New York and the Art
Institute of Chicago approximates
1,000,000—which evidences a grati
fying appreciation.
Excellent advice is given in con
clusion in regard to further giving,
especially with reference to stability
and service. The issuance of such
a book by a bank and trust company
is in itself significant.
I
A Washington Film Society
Formed as Branch o) Film
Library, New York.
pURTHER quickening of interest in
! art in Washington is evidenced
! by the formation of a film society
here, as announced at a meeting held
late last week at the Suigrave Club,
under the aegis of the Museum of
Modem Art, New York. At this
meeting John E. Abbott, director of
the Film Library of this museum, told
how it had been upbuilt and to what
uses it was being put; and Iris Barry,
i curator, gave interesting account of
j the founding of the first FMlm Library
in London with some of the leading
British artists and playwrights co
operating.
A book by Vachel Lindsay on "The
Moving Picture as an Art” lent im
petus to the establishment of the Film
Library in New York, funds for which
were supplied by the Rockefeller
Foundation. This library, it should be
understood, comprises not merely
books and articles about moving pic
tures, but the actual films, and the
collection now available through this
source goes back to the infancy of
the art and brings the^record up to
within two years of the present day.
These films are lent to affiliated
societies for educational use. which,
however, must not conflict with the
commercial.
In outlining the purposes and pro
posed activities of the Washington
Film Society, Mr. Robert Lincoln
O’Brien, chairman, especially stressed
the possibility of co-operation with
the diplomatic representatives of for
eign countries and of obtaining
through them films made in other
lands which would evidence original
development. Obviously the Intent
is to regard the moving pictures as
an art and to better realize its po
tentiality. But strangely enough when
the word art is applied to the cinema,
in almost) every instance, it refers to
the drama rather than pictorialization.
For some reason or other the composi
tion of these pictures, their design,
and visual merit, even as background
for specific action, has so far been
taken little into account as artistic
expression. Yet what other picture
maker calls the fundamentals of art
more constantly into use or creates
for so wide and particular an audi
ence? If the newly formed Film
Society will lead attention in this
direction and stress the duality of
this art it will be rendering valuable
service.
Architectural League of New
York Shows Notable Exhibition
And Especially Honors Charles
Moore, Chairman of the
Commission of Fine Arts.
A/fANY of the mural paintings pur
posed for placement in public
buildings and executed under Gov
ernment auspices have been shown
recently, full size or by scale designs,
in the Architectural League's annual
exhibition in the American Pine Arts
Building, New York, which closes to
day. In fact these, with works in
sculpture and handicrafts, dominated
the show. The Gold Medal of Honor
in architecture was awarded to the
architects of Rockefeller Center—three
groups, Reinhardt and Hofmeister;
Corbett, Harrison and MacMurray; and
Hood and Poulihoux. Otto Eggers won
the Long Memorial Prize for an archi
tectural rendering by a rendering of
the Archives Building, designed by his
partner, John Russell Pope. The Gold
Medal of Honor in decorative painting
went to Howard Cook, best known by
his lithographs, for paintings made
under a Government project for court
houses in Springfield, Mass., and
Pittsburgh, Pa. William Zorach, who
is producing a statue of Franklin for
the Post Office Department Building
here, was awarded one of the sculp
ture prizes—a first honorable men
tion—for a fountain group with horses.
But of the utmost local interest was
the award this year of the Frledsam
Fellowship Gold Medal to Mr. Charles
Moore of this city, chairman of the
National Commission of Pine Arts.
This medal is awarded “to an in
dividual who has contributed in the
greatest degree to the development of
art and industry.” At the time of the
presentation emphasis was placed
upon the service Mr. Moore has ren
dered officially in connection with the
flommlHftm wad tad^ddnsUy ttunugh
"Adoration of the Child,” by Piero di Cosimo, fifteenth century Italian painter, lately ac
quired by the Toledo Museum of Art as a gift from its founder, Henry Drummond Libbey.
“Leaping Ahead,” an etching by George Edward Soderberg, on vieiv in the Smithsonian Build
ing, current exhibition oJ prints.
his writings and in support of that
which is finest and best in architecture
and the allied arts. A high and well
merited honor.
C. Poxcell Minnigerode Elected
President of the Association
Of Museum Directors.
J-JONOR has come to another Wash
ingtonian in the art field, Mr.
C. Powell Minnigerode, director of the
Corcoran Gallery of Art. who. at the
annual meeting of the Association of
Museum Directors held here last week,
was elected president. This associa
tion is made up of the directors of
art museums throughout the coun
try, and the election of Mr. Min
nigerode is tribute to his standing as
a museum executive and the esteem
in which he is held by his co-workers.
The meetings of this association are
not open to the public, no addresses
are made, no papers read. The mem
bers gather around a table and in
formally discuss museum problems to
their mutual edification; the pros and
cons of new policies are discussed
and news of general interest handed
on. It is essentally a working organi
zation.
Washington Photographic
Society Makes Good Showing.
'T'HERE are some fine prints in the
current exhibition of pictorial
photographs by members of the
Washington Photographic Society,
which opened in the Arts and In
dustries Building of the National Mu
seum the first of May to continue to
the end of the month. Unfortunately
for the reviewer, some of the prints
were not signed, and on some the
signatures were difficult to decipher,
but among the outstahding con
tributors were V. R. Napier, Marion
H. Briggs. Paul Fitzpatrick. Lloyd C
Mathers, Harriss, C. A. Briggs and
M. T. Moor. The works include land
scapes, architectural themes, figures
and portrait studies; many are excel
lent in composition, well handled as
to light and truly interpretive. These
are not merely picturesque themes
well rendered, but subjects which have
lent themselves to the interpretation
of beauty with strength and vitality.
In such Instances the camera has
been rightly used as a medium cf
artistic expression and quite as truly
so as brush or pencil.
Painting by Eliot O’Hara
Purchased by Western Museum.
pLIOT O'HARA returned to Wash
ington this week after a consider
able absence In New England, the
greater portion of which was spent
conducting classes in water-color
painting at Yale. Mr. O’Hara is rep
resented in the notable water-color
exhibition lately assembled and set
forth by the Brooklyn Museum. One of
his Western water colors has recently
been acquired by the Fine Arts Mu
seum of San Diego, Calif.
Members’ Summer Exhibition
Opening at the Arts Club.
rpHE exhibition at the Arts Club
A changes tomorrow when the mem
bers’ Summer show opens. This will
consist of paintings, drawings and
prints as well as small works In sculp
ture. It is the concluding exhibition
Bulletin of Exhibitions
CORCORAN GALLERY OF ART—Biennial exhibition of contemporary
American paintings closes May 9. (Open 2 to 6 p.m.) Special exhi
bition color prints of Oriental subjects, by Elisabeth Keith.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, United States National Museum
Permanent collections—Evans, Gellatly, Ralph Cross, Johnson, Har
riet Lane Johnson and Herbert Ward African sculptures. Stained
glass windows by John La Farge and William Willet, paintings and
etchings by Thomas Moran. Annual exhibition Association of Federal
Architects, foyer of National Museum.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, DIVISION OF GRAPHIC ARTS—
Exhibition of etchings by various well-known American etchers.
NATIONAL MUSEUM, ARTS AND INDUSTRIES BUILDING—
Exhibition of pictorial photographs by members of the Washington
Photographic Society.
FREER GALLERY OF ART—Permanent collection, paintings, drawings
and etchings by Whistler. The peacock room, Oriental paintings,
bronzes, pottery, minatures, etc.
PHILLIPS MEMORIAL GALLERY—Permanent collection, paintings by
old and modern masters; also works in sculpture. Special exhibition
of drawings, etchings and water colors by Reynolds Beal.
STUDIO HOUSE—Exhibition of work by students of Studio House during
current year. . „
TEXTILE MUSEUM OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA—Permanent
collection, rugs, tapestries and other textiles of the Near and Far
East. Open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 2 to 5 p.m. Admis
sion by card, obtainable at office of George Hewitt Hyers, 730 Fif
teenth street.
ARTS CLUB OP WASHINGTON—Members’^ Summer exhibition. Paint
ings, prints and sculpture.
LIBRARY OP CONGRESS, DIVISION OP PINE ARTS—Exhibition of
etchings and other prints by contemporary printmakers; Pennell
lithographs; drawings by American illustrators. Special exhibition
of illustrations by Frederic Dorr Steele.
PUBLIC LIBRARY, MAIN BUILDING—Exhibition of works by pupils
of Eugen Welsz.
WOMEN’S CITY CLUB—Paintings by Hattie E. Burdette.
DUMBARTON HOUSE—Historical art exhibit, furniture, articles of
utility and pictures.
INTIMATE BOOKSHOP, LITTLE GALLERY—Exhibition of water colors
by Mitchell Jamieson of Virgin Islands.
GALLERY OP MODERN MASTERS, 1367 Connecticut avenue—Water
colors of New England and the West by Howard Giles.
HOWARD UNIVERSITY GALLERY OP ART—Exhibition of children’s
work of New York and Washington P, W. A.
of the current season and will con
tinue until September or longer. Miss
Eleanor Parke Custis, chairman of
the Exhibition Committee of the Arts
Club, left, nearly a fortnight ago, for
Boston, where an exhibition of her
water colors opened in the Vose Gal
leries the first of this month, continu
ing until today. This comprised some
of the paintings she made during the
Spring on her trip to Guatemala.
Prom Boston Miss Custis goes to
■ Gloucester, where she will reopen, for
j the Summer, her studio on Rocky
j Neck.
I Miss Keith’s Prints on Exhibition
' In'the Corcoran Gallery
Find Favor.
rPHE exhibition of color wood-block
prints by Miss Elizabeth Keith
of London, which opened in the Cor
coran Gallery of Art last week is at
tracting wide and favorable atten
tion. Especially notable in the col
— ■
Post Office
(Continued From Page B-l.)
mails after cancellation, the postal
inspection service Is brought into such
fraud. Sometimes this transaction is
completed without any belt being de
livered. At other times a belt is de
livered, like the “health" belts sold by
fakers for $3.50. It consists of noth
ing but red sateen, straps and metal
weights.
'T'HIS organization was Nation-wide
and was started about 20 years
ago by an old Russian, Simon Mohr.
In one instance a total of $26,000 was
taken from a widow 86 years old in
Aiken, S. C. One swindler alone
netted $350,000 before some one com
plained about him.
Investigations of this racket were
initiated less than a year and a half
ago when a careless pair of "glimmer”
men failed to deliver to an elderly
woman a "radium” belt for which a
$2,000 deposit had been put up. Her
nephew was a prosecuting attorney in
a nearby city and she complained to
him. He called in the postal inspec
tion service at once. With only the
meagerest descriptions of the con
fidence men, the inspectors went to
work. A circular letter containing
these descriptions was forwarded to
every postmaster and rural carrier in
the United States. Police depart
ments all over the country were asked
for photographs of men arrested in
similar operations. Bankers were
called by postmasters and asked to
keep an eye out for men of that de
scription and oversized checks from
persons of modest means and known
habits.
In an Arkansas town, soon after
such a conference, swindlers got $125
from an elderly woman after banking
hours. They had asked her to write
to her banker a letter they dictated
to facilitate cashing the check. In
stead, she went personally to the bank,
asking that they be kind enough to
cash her check. The banker asked
her a few questions and said, "Go see
the postmaster at oncel”
Since that time 33 "glimmer” men
have been convicted, all the way from
Los Angeles to Philadelphia, and are
serving time in prison. One operated
in Anacostia, D. C. The most horrible
case was at Barnards town, Mass.,
where an elderly farmer with a blind,
crippled daughter was defrauded of
$500 to restore her sight. The parents
of a mayor of Remington, Va., were
among the people yUtJmlaod. In two
“Portrait of Miss Van Buren.” by Thomas Eakins, one of the
notable works owned by the Phillips Memorial Gallery, and now on
view. —Photo by J. H. Schaefter & Son.
lection is a number of prints of fa
mous actors in Noh Theater in Japan.
Her prints have been acquired by
museums and native collectors in
the Orient, which is perhaps the high
est tribute to their merit and dis
cerning veracity that could be paid
them. They bring the mysterious
charm of the Orient to our very door,
while retaining its richness of color
and elusive quality. This exhibition
will continue for another week.
Three Washington
| Artists Exhibit in the
1 Brooke Farm Tea House.
A DRIENNE LOUISE LOW, Mary
Margaret Hudgins and Catherine
Werneke (Mrs. Wheeler) are holding
an exhibition of their paintings in tha
Brooke Farm Tea House. Chevy Chase.
Mrs. Hudgins and Miss Low maintain
studios on K street and at DuponS
Circle, respectively, and all three mem
bers of the trio have exhibited for the
past five years with the Washington
Water Color Club and other local
groups. There have been several of
these suburban exhibitions this season
since the opening of Spring, and they
seem to have proved very acceptable
by way of innovation. Art, as a rule,
is produced in the country and
brought to the city for display. Here
this order seems to be reversed—and
wisely.
instances after '‘glimmer” men re-:
ceived cash secreted in houses they
went back at night and robbed the
place with sawed-off shotguns, tying
up the owners and searching until they
found the hiding place. One of these
forays netted $23,000 in Liberty Bonds, !
fortunately registered and not nego
tiable.
In stampeding the "glimmer”
racketeers, the postal inspection serv
ice sent *.000 news stories to news
papers, large and small, hoping to1
warn every one of the danger to their
pocketbooks, although ordinarily they
frown upon any publicity connected
with methods of investigation.
QNCE Lady Luck worked hand in
hand with the Post Office when
$10,000 in cash in a registered package
disappeared in Florida in 1910, It
developed that a railway postal clerk
had stolen it. gone out into the woods
at night and concealed it in a tree
stump. Next morning an elderly
cracker went out with his dog to
; cut some fire wood lor breakfast. His
land was near a railroad track, on'
which a camp car i railroad repair
j men go about on these) was stopped,
with only the colored cook aboard.
The dog was acting excited about a
j certain stump, so his owner and the
j cook decided the hound had a rabbit
and went over to get him out for
j breakfast. The rabbit turned out to
{ be the $10,000 in currency, which they
i split.
A postal inspector was at work on
the case. He heard that a 14-year- |
old lad had purchased a pony in a
small town, paying for it with a $100
bill. A few days later the same boy
bought a bowling alley with another
$100 bill. Both bills were from the
lost package. When the boy was
asked about the source of his cur
rency supply he admitted stealing
from his father, who had, he de
clared, lots of money buried in his
back yard.
Although all the steps in this in
vestigation are not disclosed, the
colored cook was found, even though
his empoyers did not know his name, 1
and he had long since disappeared. A
woman's name and address was found
in his efTects, and he was found there,;
married to her and living high on
his $5,000.
In August, 1935. postal inspection
men were so well informed that they
arrived at the scene of a post office
burglary before the burglars. This
was in Dendron, Va. A gun battle
resulted in two robbers being killed
and the other three being sent to
the penitentiary7. One had been
stepped by being shot in both ankles,
neat gunnery for any officer of the
law.
• A Nation-wide drive is now- in prog
ress against so-called ‘‘correspondence ;
club6," of which there are one each
in Houston, Chicago and Philadelphia
and two in New York, which violate
laws against sending obscene matter j
through the mails. Nine thousand
persons, some with high standing in j
their communities, are members of
these clubs.
^^DEPREDATION involving a co
lossal amount of labor by postal
inspectors was the theft of a sack of
registered mail dispatched on the
liner Leviathan in 1933, valued at
$131,000 in Italian bonds. The in
vestigation extended to Great Britain
and Prance and resulted in seven [
convictions, among them Morris Ren- j
kofi, for 15 years regarded as an in
ternational receiver of stolen prop
erty.
The theft of letters from apart
ment house mail receptacles 1s ap
parently a serious problem in large
cities. In addition to obtaining
money from letters so stolen, the
thieves forge and negotiate thousands
of veterans’, relief and dividend
checks.
One man convicted in Washington
admitted operating this scheme in all
cities of more than 50,000 population
In more than 41 States, obtaining
$38,000 in less than three years.
Expert knowledge of financial and
corporation matters is sometimes re
quired of postal inspectors. For ex
ample, Wallace G. Garland, Arnold C.
Mason and associates promoted some
30 corporations, selling stock to the
public to the extent of $10,000,000. An
investigation lasting approximately
eight months resulted in the indict
ment of more than 50 persons and 20
corporations.
Persons on relief in Floyd County,
Ky„ were the victims of a fraud that
makes holding up a man at the point
ol mu Iqgfc like * Brant Orden
in favor of relief clients were with
held by unscrupulous relief officials,
forged and turned over direct to mer
chants. Upon presentation of these
orders to the State relief administra
tor, the merchants received the checks,
the proceeds of which were divided be
tween the merchants, the relief of
ficials and other conspirators. This
scheme realized $265,000 for the par
ticipants before 22 persons were con
victed, including the county judge and
the Mayor of the county seat.
J^ON'T try to use a canceled stamp,
however dim the markings mav
be. You may go to jail for it. Postal
authorities are always on the lookout
for strange-looking stamps and coun
terfeit stamps. Antedating a post
mark is also a Federal offense.
How are the men asked to accom
plish these gigantic tasks trained?
There is no inspection service except
the school of experience. Entrance
into the service is a promotion open
only to those classified postal em
i P'yes who evidence greatest fitness
for this class of work. At the outset
the neophyte inspector is assigned
to accompany an experienced inspec
! tor. who acts as instructor. Very
early he is required to handle per
sonally some parts of the investiga
tion and eventually entire investiga
tions, selected with reference to his
stage of development.
Maritime
—
| (’Continued From Page B-1.1
purpose of this convention is to in
sure greater safety of life on vessels
by international agreement on cer
tain technical features which affect
safety. Design and construction fea
tures that will further insure the
safety of ocean travel will become a
part of the program.
^NOTHER possibility in the devel
opment of our merchant marina
under the new commission is the es
tablishment of some system whereby
men may be trained in any of those
various services performed by those
who follow the sea for a livelihood.
The interdepartmental committee
suggested some kind of maritime
academy w'here young men could be
trained in "the creative side of marine
engineering, naval architecture, busi
ness management and trade." The
curriculum would also take care of
training shipyard workers and estab
lish an officers’ training course where
properly qualified young men could
learn to become officers aboard ships
of the merchant marme. It is sug
gested that steamship operators should
be given an opportunity to propose
names of young men in their emplov
who Impress them as suitable ma
terial for marine service. The acad
emy would develop along lines simi
lar to those of the United States
Naval Academy at Annapolis or the
United States Coast Guard Academy
in New London.
"Witnesses have unanimously
agreed," stated one report of recom
mendations. “that the outstanding
need of American operators is greater
patronage by domestic exporters and
importers and by the traveling pub
lic. American operators feel that
the general public, on its own Initia
tive or under governmental urging,
should patronize American ships more
generously as a patriotic duty." in
the last analysts it is national pride
that can put us back tr.umphant on
the high seas. And, in the words of
the President, "The time has come
to square the traditional ideal of the
American Merchant Marme with ef
fective performance."
ASIAN ARTS
Ideal graduation gilts; Chines*
jewelry of semi-precio«s stones;
raw silk embroidered ascots; Sum
mer handbags.
1143 Conn. Ave. NA. 4535
Abbott Art School
SUMMER CLASSES
Commercial Art—Life and Fin© Arts
Fashion Illustration—Children’s Classes
Interior Decoration
1143 Conn. Ave. NA. 8054