Evening star. [volume], March 22, 1938, Page B-1, Image 21

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Washington News*
Society and General
1 _
WASHINGTON, D. C., TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1938. **»
■ ... J.
PAGE B—1
i REVOLT IN HOUSE
SNAGS D. C. BILL
i _
S Supply Measure Is Tossed
: Back to Senate With
Elimination Plea.
\ THOMAS IS SKEPTICAL
‘ A^OUT 26 TO 17 VOTE
fc -
r Committee Chairman Is Reported
jj as Not Believing It Is
Representative Ballot.
r >, . '
J By JAMES E. CHINN’.
; Final legislative action on the 1939
' District appropriation bill awaited
Senate decision today on just one
question — whether parking meters
should be installed in Washington on
a limited and experimental basis.
The House revolted against the
* plan late yesterday and unexpectedly
returned the measure to the Senate
with a request that it eliminate the
parking meter amendment, which was
j inserted by its Subcommittee on Dis
i trict Appropriations.
? The parking meter proposal was
g turned down by a 26-17 vote. For
'that reason Chairman Thomas of the
i Senate Appropriations Committee
improbably will ask the Senate to re
iturn the bill to conference rather
''than agree to the demand of the
House. It is reported he does not
believe such a small vote actually
^.reflects the sentiment of the entire
■’House membership.
Can Speed Bill to President.
The Senate can eliminate the
parking meter amendment and send
the bill on its way to the White House
for the signature of President Roose
velt. But if the measure is returned
*to conference there may be a delay
of another week or more before it
leaves the Capitol.
L_ The parking meter plan was the
only one of 17 items in the bill in
dispute between the conferees which
the House failed to approve. The
’Others were given an O. K. in rapid
succession, including a provision j
which would delay completion of an ;
"investigation of the relief situation!
tmtil after adjournment of the present !
session of Congre.ss. A bitter fight
had been threatened over the relief
Item, but it failed to materialize.
Sidney R. Katz, secretary-treasurer
of the Maryland and District Indus
trial Union Council, had warned
Bouse members that unless the re
lief investigation is completed in time
fpr Congress to appropriate a de
ficiency in the $900,000 relief fund
.tie relief situation would become acute
«ter July 1. He also appealed for a
against the bill's B\2 per cent
limitation on administration of relief
fupds.
Since the House ignored his plea,
Mr. Katz said he proposed to carry
It directly to the President.
i Likened to Flea on Dog.
The House's rejection of the park
ing meter plan came as a climax to
§s consideration of the conference
{port on the supply bill. The park
g meter’provision happened to be
the last item in the report, a coinci
dence which Representative O'Malley, 1
democrat, of Wisconsin likened to "a
flea which jumps on a dog just as he
leaves the kennel.”
Chairman Collins of the House sub
committee in charge of District ap
propriations had sensed the impend
ing battle over the parking meter
provision and tried vainly to prevent
It with an explanation that the con
ferees realized there would be con
siderable opposition to it, but thought
the meters should be tried out on not
more than four blocks in the busi
ness section. The idea, he said, was
to experiment with the nine differ
ent types of parking meters on the
market.
Representative Dirksen. Republican,
•f Illinois, advocate of ‘'dime-a-day”
parking lots, municipally owned and
^perated. took the lead in the fight,
s ' The real problem in Washington '
If to get the cars off the street,” he
declared. "The parking meter theory
^ wrong.”
Mr. O'Malley joined in the battle.
Be described parking meters as "a |
8heap. chiseling piece of nickel
fnatching” and suggsted that an in
vestigation be made of the lobbying
tactics used by parking meter manu
facturers to get the devices in various
Cities.
Police Censured.
Mr. O’Malley also condemned the
Police Department for failing rigidly
io enforce the one-hour parking regu
lations and intimated that the only
time the police give out tickets is
A'hen a newspaperman tips them
, off that a member of Congress is the :
Violator.
$ Representative O'Connor, Democrat, j
®f New York expressed the view park- |
lng meters might make parking space
Available in the business section. He
•greed with Mr. O'Malley that ex
isting regulations are not enforced
•nd declared if the Commissioners
r)WoUld look out of the District Build
ing they could see 5,000 violations
yd thin 10 blocks.
“There is no way to account for
this lack of enforcement,” he said.
Action of the House in returning
the bill to the Senate does not change
the total appropriation for the com
ing fiscal year, since no funds are pro
vided for parking meter installations,
Which would be made at no expense
io the District.
* - Mr. Collins told the House the bill
|n Its present status calls for $489,000
jess than the Budget Bureau esti
piates, $865,000 under the Senate-,
Approved figure and $682,000 below
Appropriations for the current fiscal
year.
HOOVER TO SPEAK
.; -
Former President Will Discuss
Impressions of Europe.
* ^Parmer President Hoover, it was
learned today, will discuss his impres
’ kions of Europe In a radio speech to
ISA broadcast over the N. B. C. network
on Thursday, March 31, 9 to 10 pm.
A
The Blossoms That Bloom in the Spring Tra La Brighten Capital Byways
VveaMmmmT.-Mmm'- ---- -"—-—-- 1 . -- -
Already with spring but one day old, the world drapes itself
in blossoms. Mrs. Dorothy Smith and Mrs. Marcelle Ferretti,
from New York, marvel at the blossoming pear trees along the
Memorial highway on Columbia island.
— ---*---—- &
I
FOR G. H. A. ASKED
U. S. Employes’ Union Seeks
Medical Association’s
Support of Plan.
G. H. A. Admits Error
In Doctor’s Name
The Group Health Association
today wrote to Dr. Thomas E.
Neill, president of the District
Medical Society, that it had
erred in listing Dr. Willard B.
Walters as among the five physi
cians which the association said
last week were engaged in work
similar to that of group health
doctors.
The letter said the physician re
ferred to is Dr. James C. Waters.
W. C. Kirkpatrick, president of
the G. H. A., said a copy of the
letter would be sent to Dr. Wal
ters. Dr. Waters is an advisory
physician for the employes of
Woodward & Lothrop.
The United Federal Workers of
America. C. I. O., Government em
ployes’ union, entered the controversy
raging over the Group Health Asso
ciation today with an appeal to the
American Medical Association that
the A. M. A. lend its support to Group
Health and similar excursions into the
field of co-operative medicine.
The publication of the Federal
Workers’ letter to the American Medi
cal Association closely follows the
complaint by W. C. Kirkpatrick, presi
dent of Group Health, that a heart
specialist belonging to the District
Medical Society refused a consultation
with a Group Health physician treat
ing a patient for coronary thrombosis.
The Medical Society, which is asso
ciated with the American Medical
Association, plans to answer Mr. Kirk
patrick on the coronary thrombosis
case late today or early tomorrow and
to outline its general policy with re
gard to the Group Health Association
in a comprehensive statement for
publication near the close of the week.
A delegation of Department of Agri
culture employes who hold Group
Health memberships went to Commu
nity Chest headquarters this morning
to present their side of the Group
Health picture.
Doing Splendid Work.
“The staff of the Group Health As
sociation is made up of zealous, con
scientious and capable men,” Jacob
Baker, president of the United Federal
Workers of America, wrote to the
American Medical Association. The G.
H. A. has 3,000 members, all Govern
ment employes, who receive medical
treatment for $2.20 a month or $3.30
if the member's dependents are bene
fltted. The letter continued:
"Naturally the doctors want the ap
proval of their fellows in the profes
sion. To be subject to attack by men
whom they have honored and respect
ed is very difficult for them. They are
carrying forward a splendid piece of
work.
“I very much hope that the Amer
ican Medical Association will recognize
there is a place for such organizations
as the Group Health Association, and
that when a staff is filling the place as
well as this staff is, that it should not
be subject to attack and obstruction.
May Endanger Lines.
“The threat always exists that In
some unforeseen circumstance the an
tagonism of the profession may actu
ally endanger the lives of patients
through the withdrawal of facilities or
unique skills needed to be called upon
in emergencies.
“I know that the Washington Med
ical Society is made up of capable men
of high professional standing and fine
character. We feel that the society,
through its loyalty to the American
Medical Association, has been unduly
influenced by what they believe to be
your view's concerning such organiza
tions as the group Health Association.
“We feel convinced that if the Amer
ican Medical Association showed a
kindlier and more responsive attitude
to the forward-looking organizations
designed to provide more medical serv
ice for more people, in benefit of
patients, the general public, and the
profession itself, the Washington Med
ical Society would be inclined to ac
cept the views of association.”
k
I
20 SUBPOENAS OUT
IN WING CASE
—
Pine’s Staff Will Examine
Witnesses in Income Tax
Conspiracy Charge.
Subpoenas for about 20 witnesses
in the reported income tax conspiracy
fraud case against the three Warring
brothers, reputed big numbers game
operators, were issued today by the
United States attorney's office, it was
learned.
It is understood the witnesses will
be examined this week by members
of the staff of District Attorney David
A. Pine and the case probably will be
presented to the grand jury next week.
Those involved in the alleged con
spiracy case are Emmitt Robert, Leo
and Charles R. “Rags” Warring.
Evidence against the brothers as
sertedly was gathered .during a long
investigation by the Intelligence Unit
of the. Internal Revenue Bureau, re
ferred to the Department of Justice
and then sent to the United States
attorney’s office here for prosecution.
Emmitt Warring is described as
head of the numbers business, whose
profits allegedly are the basts of the
income tax charge. "Rags” Warring
is serving out a term of from 18
t months to two years in the Atlanta j
I Penitentiary for implication in a gang
! shooting.
—-— — •-- - - ■
18 WOMEN RELEASED
AFTER VAGRANCY QUIZ
Dismissal of Charges in Police
Court Retards Drive
Against Vice.
The police drive against prostitution
hit a legal snag in Police Court today
when vagrancy charges against 18
women were nolle prossed by Assistant
Corporation Counsel John OT)ea.
The women were arrested last week
in a series of raids prompted by com- j
plaints from the Federation of Busi- ■
! ness Men's Associations. Police re
! ceived other complaints that the1
i women had robbed men of their
! pocketbooks in hotel rooms.
The raiders, it was said, failed to
establish that the women arrested had
solicited prostitution or were living in
houses of ill repute.
PLOW PIT ORDER
•
Two of the five remaining open
plowpits on the tracks of the Capital
Transit Co. must be inclosed before
next December 1, under orders issued
today by the Joint Board of the District
Commissioners and the Public Utilities
Commission.
One of the two is located on Georgia
avenue at W street N.W., near Grif
fith Satdium, and the other on T street
N.E., between Third and Fourth
streets. The three others, to be in
closed at some future date, are at
Thirty-sixth and Prospect streets N.W.,
Benning road east of Fifteenth street
N.E. and North Capitol street north
of V street.
Mayor-Council
Plan for D. C.
Urged in Bill
Celler Measure Asks
Public Servants
Be Elected.
Abolition of the present commission
form of government in the District
and the substitution of a mayor and
25 city councllmen is proposed under
a new self-government plan con
tained in a bill introduced late yes
terday by Representative Celler, Demo
crat, of New York. The measure was
referred to the District Committee.
Elections would be held the first
Tuesday in March and run-offs the
fourth Tuesday in the same month
for candidates who failed to receive
a majority.
Candidates for office would be nom
inated by petition. Two thousand
names or over would be necessary to
nominate the mayorality candidate
and a minimum of 1,000 names for
city council aandidates.
a *
'l
The Potomac Park Japanese cherry blossoms, most famous
of them all, will be out this Saturday if the balmy weather stays.
Miss Attarah Morrison of Indianapolis poses by the magnolias
at the Capitol.
Funds Lacking and Time Short,
Blossom Fete May Be Canceled
Before nightfall Washington should
know definitely whether it will see a
Cherry Blossom Festival this spring,
for the park authorities declared today
that the famed Japanese cherry trees
around the Tidal Basin in West Po
tomac Park w ill make a good showing
around the week end, much earlier
than previously anticipated.
The final answer regarding the fes
tival was expected late today after a
meeting of the committee considering
the program at 4 o'clock in the office
of Commissioner Hazen. A prelimi
nary meeting was held yesterday
morning in the office of C. Melvin
Sharpe, general chairman, at the Po
tomac Electric Power Co.
Meanwhile C. Marshall Finnan, su
perintendent of the National Capital
parks, predicted that because of the
unduly high temperatures of late
March the buds of the Japanese cherry
trees are swelling momentarily. Ad
vised by the Weather Bureau the pres
ent warm weather Is slated to cx>n
tmue for several v days, Mr. Finnan
and his assistant, fcranlt T. Gartsjds*
and David Saunders, chief of the hor
ticultural division of his office, exam
ined the situation anew. They con
cluded the single-blossom variety of
trees will make a good showing this '
week end and will be in full glory the
middle of next week—predicated on
the continuance of the current warm
weather.
Originally the park authorities esti
mated the Japanese cherry trees would
be in full bloom during the first week
of April.
Already a pink haze is visible around
the Tidal Basin shore, indicating that
already the pink-tipped buds are
showing their colors. The influx of
visitors has already started, brought
out by the warming March sunshine.
Mr. Finnan said that for the first
time Washingtonians are likely to see
a triple display of major blooms in the
park system. He declared that the
time is ripe for forsythia, soulangeana
magnolia, which has pink blossoms,
and the Japanese cherry trees to pre
sent the unusual spectacle of blooming
simultaneously. In the regular order,
he explained, forsythia appears first,
then the pink magnolia and then the
Japanese cherry blossoms are seen, all
singly.
A particularly effective display of
magnolia* is seen tor the first time
in the ~ reconditioned Rawlins Park,
between the’ old and new Interior
Department Btiilding*, at E street be
tween Eighteenth and Nineteenth
street# N.W. At Twentieth street and
Pennsylvania avenue N.W. jonquils
and daffodils are bursting into bloom
and the yellow forsythia is showing in
various parks all over the city.
Need for Special Housing Units
Stressed in D. C. Penal Study
The need for an integrated penal
system which would permit modern
methods of prison classification by
providing different housing units for
different types of prisoners is stressed
in the Prison Industries Reorganiza
tion Administration's report on the
District's prison problem.
The second section of the exten
sive survey, released today by Dr.
Louis N. Robinson, chairman of the
Prison Industries Reorganization
Board, outlines an integrated penal
system for the District that would use
the jail as a detention center and re
ceiving clinic only; the workhouse at
Occoquan, Va.. as a division for petty
offenders, Lorton Reformatory as a
division for the housing and training
of sericus offenders who do not re
quire maximum security, and a new
walled unit at Lorton as a penitentiary
division for the most dangerous types.
Such a system, the report continues,
would assume that the District will
continue to be responsible for most of
the persons sentenced in its courts
and that relatively few felony prison
ers will be sent to Federal institutions
by the Attorney General, who has the
the power to designate the place of
imprisonment in such cases. Classifi
cation work would begin at the receiv
ing clinic with the careful study of
each prisoner by experts—physicians,
psychologists, social workers and
psychiatrists—to decide on the hous
ing and method of treatment deemed
best for the case.
Principal Problems Faced.
The principal problems faced by
District penal institutions, in addi
tion to overcrowding and the need for
more housing facilities, are listed in
the report as concerning the organi
zation of the penal system, classifi
cation work, cutting down the high
turnover among short-term prisoners,
provision of medical care, methods of
dealing with chronic alcoholism, find
ing more work for inmates, develop
ing a training program and raising
the standards for personnel.
“The establishment of the work
house and reformatory as unwalled
Institutions was an important step
forward in American prison adminis
tration * * * but it cannot be said
that the District has maintained the
standard of leadership set by its suc
cessful experiment in housing, for in
other ways its institutions have not
kept pace with the demands of an in
creasing population and a crime prob
lem which seems always to grow more
complex,” the report declared.
“Neither facilities nor personnel are
today adequate for the very difficult
job to be handled, and they compare
unfavorably with the equipment and
staff at the disposal of the Bureau
of Prisons,” it continued.
' Must Reduce Recurrence.
A system of reducing the high turn
over among misdemeanants would be
essential in a well-knit prison system,
according to the survey, which em
phasizes the difficulties caused by the
rapid flow of petty offenders through
the courts and the institutions and
points out that present costly methods
•
of handling misdemeanants are of
doubtfuf benefit to the community.
“It is completely futile,” the report
declared, “to let men and women go
through the endless process of arrest,
imprisonment, release, new offenses
and rearrest, for there is no. oppor
tunity to study the prisoners com
mitted or to learn the reasons for
their habitual la*-breaking. Yet
the community is relieved of their
presence for only a very short time.
If institutional treatment is to be
used at all for such persons, the
period of confinement must be longer
and the speed of turnover reduced.”
Turning to the medical treatment
phase of the penal problem, the re
port shows that blood tests reveal
that .one prisoner in every five ex
amined has active syphilis or gonor
rhea. These figures, according to the
survey, are particularly serious in
view of the fact the petty offenders
go back to the community within a
very short time and carry their dis
eases with them. Only about 20
per cent of the jail and workhouse
inmates can be considered in good
health, but medical facilities and
personnel are much too limited.
While Lorton has a good hospital
for general cases, the jail has only a
tiny infirmary with a few beds and
treatment rooms, and the workhouse
has nothing but a tumbledown wooden
shack for the accommodation of its
medical cases, the report asserted.
The need of psychiatric care for
all kinds of mental cases, so that in
sane prisoners mey be promptly
transferred to St. Elizabeth's Hospital
and the institutions may play their
part in a co-ordinated mental hygiene
program for the District as a whole,
also is stressed.
An aggressive training program is
described as fully important as up
to-date medical facilities. Opporunity
for suitable training should be avail
able to every prisoner who displays
the ability and desire to profit by it.
In the past the District’s institutions
have not made real use of their re
sources. A vigorous educational pro
gram is essential if the District wants
a first-class prison system.
A careful study of the State-use
market provided by industries and
agencies in the District government
shows that prison production—in
farm and construction work and
manufacture—could be expanded and
employment increased, the report
states. A large secondary market is
available in the purchases by the
procurement division and by depart
ments of the Federal Government of
commodities which cannot be supplied
by Federal prison shops.
Personnel standards at the institu
tions are low, with the pay scale
much lower than at Federal penal in
stitutions. the report said, adding:
‘‘Without good wages or security of
tenure to offer, it is difficult to find
the right kind of staff members and
even harder to keep them. Prison
work is becoming increasingly pro
fessionalized, and it is impossible to
carry on correctional work of high
caliber without Qualified personnel."
■ 1 —wn—B———WW————i
These cherry blossoms on the lawn of the Red Cross Building
at Eighteenth and E streets N.W. beat the gun. Myrtle Hinkle
and Eve Rogers, Interior Department workers, welcome the early
„ flowers. —Star Staff and A. P. Photos.
V 1 —■"■■■ —■-—— .
TOLD AT HEARING
House District Committee
' Informed of Sale
in Capital.
The evils of habit-forming nar
cotics, especially marihuana cigarette,
were described to the Judiciary Sub
committee of the House District Com
mittee today at a hearing on a bill
designed to tighten the existing nar
cotic control law.
Mrs. Lloyd W. Biddle, president of
the District Federation of Women’s
Clubs, branded the marihuana cigar
ette as “the most deadly thing, for
women and girls in particular, and
youth in general, that has ever been
introduced In this country.”
The Rev. Charles H. Butler of the
District Federation of Churches and
the International Reform Federation
said the marihuana cigarette “is a
terrible foe to everything good in body
and life."
Report Sales in D. C.
One of the most serious dangers of
the so-called “reefer.” William V.
Mahoney of the Allied Organizations
of Washington told the subcommittee,
is that it “makes a person think
wrong is right.” He cited the case
of a girl in New Jersey who later
committed suicide to hide her shame
Mr. Mahoney said the marihuana
cigarette evil had invaded Washing
ton “to a certain extent” and ex
plained that police are powerless to
prevent their sale under existing law.
He was supported by W. J. Tucker,
representing the District Public School
Association, who said the ’’reefers” are
peddled to school children, and urged
a speedy approval of the bill.
Detective Sergt. Daniel H. Jones of
the police narcotics squad, however,
said investigation of complaints and
newspaper stories of the sale of mari
huana cigarettes to school children
failed to produce any evidence.
Ruhland Backs Measure.
The bill also was indorsed by Dr.
George C. Ruhland, District health
officer, and Dr. Augustus C. Taylor,
president ot the District Board of
Pharmacy.
Dr. Taylor testified that since enact
ment of the new Federal anti-narcotip
law Washington druggists “gladly
and willingly” destroyed thousands of
dollars’ worth of drugs containing even
a small quantity of canabis. In his
53 years’ experience as a druggist,
however, he said he could not recall
an incident where paregoric was taken
for its narcotic effect. The bill would
forbid the sale of this drug without a
physician’s prescription.
Dr. Taylor was questioned by Chair
man McGehee relative to the effects
of the use of aspirin, or the citrate of
caffein in a popular nut-brown soft
drink which some Washington college
students are reported to be using for
an exhilirating effect. He said he had
heard “a lot of fairy tales” about
these concoctions, but pointed out that
citrate of caffein would produce the
effect of a double cup of coffee.
Dr. Taylor, however, suggested that
the sale of barbituates be controlled by
law as well as narcotics.
COMMUNITY HEALTH ,
PROGRAMS EMPHASIZED"
Dr. Zeigler Delivers Third Lecture
in Series at Central
School.
Community health problems should
be met by community health pro
grams, Dr. Mark V. Zeigler, senior
surgeon of the United States Public
Health Service, said last night in the
third of a series of lectures on com
munity relationships sponsored by the
public night schools, the Public Li
brary and various other local groups
at Central High School.
Dr. Zeigler said the modem health
problem was pricipally affected by the
industrial activities which bring to
gether large numbers of workers, the
breaking down of isolationism and
easier spread of disease through de
velopments in communications, and
the competitive economy which de
mands increased efficiency and so
puts a premium on physical fitness.
A well organized health department
is the basis for any good public health
program, he said.
Other lectures included in the
series will cover recreation and educa
tion.
BO
CRIME DETERRENT
J. Edgar Hoover Appeals for
Support of $75,000
Drive.
Declaring that America is “seriously
menaced by the monster of youthful
lawlessness,” J. Edgar Hoover, director
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
and honorary general chairman of the
1938 campaign of the Boys’ Club of
Metropolitan Police to raise $75,000,
today called for public support of such
youth movements as a curb to crime.
“Crime in our Nation is growing.”
Mr. Hoover said. “The records of the
F. B. I. for the year 1937 indicate a
6.2 per cent increase in major crimes
committed in the United States, and
the tragic aspect of our problem is the
fact that 18 per^ cent' of our arrests
were of persons under 21 years of age.
an incr»se of .6 per cent over the year
1936.
"Although America is seriously men
aced by the monster of youthful law
lessness, I feel that the ravages of
crime among our youth have been
mllitantly challenged by Boys' Clubs
and similar organizations throughout
the country. They are providing the
much needed training and the outlets
for youthful exuberance so important
in leading our youngsters from the
horror of a criminal career.
Seek to Surpass Goal.
“Law enforcement officers every
where firmly believe in youth work,
standing solidly behind the Boys’ Club,
and we of the law enforcement profes
sion believe that every upstanding
American citizen has a duty to en
thusiastically support the youth move
ment in this community as an integral
part in our campaign to rid America of
this pestilence.”
Seeking to surpass their goal in the
$75,000 local campaign, teams cf
Washington business men resumed
their drive today in the downtown seo
tion.
The 100 team captains and workers
were to hold a report luncheon at
| the Willard Hotel at 12:30 p.m. today
with Representative Cochran of Mis
| souri as the main speaker.
I The campaign opened officially
Sunday and will continue until
April 9. Aided by an already wide
spread public appreciation of work
done by the Police Boys’ Clubs now
organized in five. Washington pre
cincts, the campaigners are armed
with statistics showing a drop in
juvenile felony arrests from 353 in
1933 to only 89 last year. There
were 309 such arrests in 1934, the
first year the club program was in
full swing, 215 in 1935 and 166 in
1936.
$20,519 for Expansion.
This year’s *75,000 budget allows
$20,519.50 for expansion—new clubs,
more boys and greater benefits.
Club officials and workers are seeking,
however, to surpass this goal and
achieve even greater expansion of the
program during 1938.
The appropriations requested for
1938. are divided as follows: Admin
istrative expenses, $6,040; Club No. 2,
$10,068; Club No. 4. $5,885; Club
No. 5, *4,755; Club No. 10, $2,925;
Club No. 11, $2,380; medical and
dental clinics, $1,545; Boys’ Club
1 Band, $3,640; for Camp* Ernest W.
Brown at Scotland. Md., $7,475, and
for the camp farm, where the boy
summer campers will be raising vege
tables for their own use, $3,810.
There is an allowance of $1,458.50
for contingencies and *4,500 for ex
pansion of Camp Brown facilities in
general.
Club leaders contend, however,
“the need is really more nearly
$100,000, and it is earnestly desired
that this goal may be far over
subscribed.”
Club membership now totals almost
10,000, with 5,010 boys in Club No. 2,
661 in Club No. 4, 3,104 in Club No. 5,
500 in Club No. 10 and 267 in Club
No. 14.
CONFIRMATION RITE SET
:
Bishop James E. Freeman will con
firirf a class of about 50 persons in
the -Nativity and Resurrection Parish,
Massachusetts avenue and A street
S.E., tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. The class
will be presented by the Rev. Enoch
M. Thompjson, who has been in charge
for nearly 35 years.
>jjss Bertie Mae Pote, organist, will
be in charge of the music, assisted by
a quartet and the choir.
A
D. C. HEALTH STUDY
REPRINTSSOUGHT
AS AID TO GOALS
Agencies’ Committee Hears
Dr. Olesen Summarize
Principal Decisions.
CENTRALIZING OF WORK
IN BUILDING IS URGED
Additional Beds for Hospitals and
Use of Upshur Street Base
' Stressed as Necessary.
Members of the Health Committee
of the Council of Social Agencies were
"exerting every effort” today toward
having copies of the District health
survey of the United States Public
Health Service printed for public con
sumption.
A resolution to this effect was
adopted at yesterday’s luncheon meet
ing of the committee, at which Dr.
Robert Olesen, assistant surgeon gen
eral of the health service, delivered a
plain, outspoken and often quite
pointed resume of the survey.
Dr. Olesen expressed regret at the
lack of funds with which to print the
survey report, in which there has
been widespread public interest. The
survey, he said, was requested by Com
missioner George E. Allen last Decem
ber 3 and was delivered to Commis
sioner Melvin C. Hazen March 3.
Recommendations Reviewed.
Declaring the survey's findings were
based on fact and need, regardless of
who liked or disliked the findings. Dr.
Olesen reiterated the following recom
mendations:
A new building for a District health
division to be known as the Depart
ment of Health and Hospitals, under
an official known as the director,
rather than the present names, Health
Department and health officer.
Five hundred additional beds in
Gallinger Hospital, in collaboration
with the District Medical Society, and
with additional nurses, physicians and
equipment as needed.
Reopening of the Upshur Street Hos
pital for temporary care of tubercu
losis patients.
One hundred and fifty additional
beds, for tuberculosis patients, at
Freedmen s Hospital.
Erection of three health centers to
decentralize the health problem.
A permanent public health advisory
council composed of no more than
three doctors and a dentist, a nurse,
a lawyer and a social worker, two of
them to be women.
Improved laboratory* facilities and
divisions for cancer, tuberculosis,
pneumonia, venereal diseases and men
tal hygiene.
More attention and action toward
alleviating distressing health condi
tions among the colored people.
Co-ordination of ambulance serv
ices.
Extension of public health service
to parochial schools.
A modern and efficient system for
commitment of the mentally ill, citing
the District and the State of Missis
sippi as the only governmental divi
sions in this country having "an
antiquated mental commitments law
of trial by judge and jury in a court
room.”
Lack of Franchise Is Handicap.
To these recommendations, Dr. Ole
sen added a number of observations,
among them: Treatment of mental
patients first and determining later
whether they can afford to pay;
"some of us don’t realize yet that
Washington is a large city—14th
among those of 500.000 population
and over”; "Washington is a fine
place in which to live and has a fine
food supply”; lack of the franchise
is always a handicap to securing
proper public health facilities; Wash
ington's general health rate is favor
able, its typhoid and scarlet fever
and diphtheria death rates, especially
among Negroes, unfavorable.
Dr. Olesen told of the formation
of a club of cancer sufferers, com
posed of those who have lived for
five years since the first diagnosis
showed they had cancer. He declared
several Health Department bureaus
"need no additional help if they will
get together and do the obvious
things.”
Willard C. Smith, chairman of the
Health Committee, presided over the
meeting, held at the Y. W. C. A.
OPTIMISTIC THIEF
STEALS BEACH GARB
Forecast of Colder Weather on
Thursday Will Cool Ardor
for Swim in This Area.
Some optimist who was either head
ing South or for the old swimmin’
hole took 60 ladies’ bathing suits and
beach overalls of assorted colors and
sizes last night from an automobile
belonging to Herman Waltzer. a sales
man, of Brooklyn, N. Y. If the thief
was counting on local temperatures
to stay up near the tail end of the
calendar, however, he is due for an
immediate disappointment.
The Weather Bureau said this morn
ing that tonight will be fair and con
tinued warm, but that it will rain to
morrow and the temperature will drop
considerably by Thursday.
The first day of spring yesterday
also was the warmest of 1938 so far.
the mercury reaching a peak of 77
at 3 p.m. This was warmer than any
March day in two years, but under the
80 recorded on March 21, 1935, and
far below the hot 93 of March 23, 1907.
At 10 a.m. today the thermometer
registered 65 degrees, the readings
having bounced up rapidly from a
"low’’ of 50 at 6:30 a.m.
BAND CONCERTS.
By the Soldiers’ Home Band Orches
tra at 5:30 p.m. today in Stanley Hall.
John S. M. Zimmermann, bandmaster;
Anton Pointner, assistant.
—
By the Navy Band Symphony Or
chestra at 8:30 p.m. today in the Sail
Loft, Navy Yard. Lt. Charles Benter,
conductor; Alexander Morris, assistant
1 conductor.
a