Evening star. [volume], March 25, 1938, Page B-1, Image 17

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

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Washington News
■" - -- __
Society and General
WASHINGTON, D. C., FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 1938.
CHERRY BLOSSOMS
BRAVE COLD SNAP:
PEAK BEAUTY NEAR
Tonight Will Be Warmer
Than 37 Recorded
Last Night.
TRAFFIC PLAN MADE
FOR VISITORS’ INFLUX
Washingtonians Asked to Keep
Away From Area Tomorrow
and Sunday.
Escaping damage from cold and
wind, the Japanese cherry blossoms
are expected to be at their finest for
the week end display.
From a minimum of 37 degrees this
morning, the temperature began climb
ing gradually and tonight is expected
to be warmer, with a minimum of
about 46 degrees. Increasingly cloudy
weather is expected beginning tonight,
followed by showers and warmer
weather tomorrow.
Sunday is expected to bring another
• light drop in temperature.
Although most of the cherry blos
som sightseers are expected to con
centrate in the Tidal Basin-East Po
tomac Park area, there will be an al
most equally fine display at Kenwood.
Md„ not far from the District line,
where approximately 2.000 single
blossom trees of the Yoshino species
have been planted by the Kennedy
Chamberlin Development Co. of Ken
wood.
Out Wisconsin Avenue.
Annually the Kenwood trees attract
thousands of visitors and some con
sider the spectacle superior to that
presented in Potomac Park, although
the setting lacks a water background.
The best wav to reach the Kenwood
display, officials today explained, is
to drive out Wisconsin avenue into
Maryland, turn left on to Dorset ave
nue in Somerset, Md„ and continue
westward for some eight blocks to
reach the development. Another
route is out River road and turn right
on to Brookside drive, in the develop
ment.
Planned as an attraction for an
exclusive real estate development at
Kenwood, the cherry trees were planted
in 1928 and began to bloom the follow
ing year, officials said today. Each
year, additional trees have been planted
as new streets are opened up.
I'he trees at Kenwood, unlike those
in Potomac Park, did not come here
directly from Japan, but were raised
by American nurserymen from stock
originally imported from Nippon.
Traffic Plan Hlade.
Special traffic arrangements will
prevail tomorrow afternoon and Sun
day in West Potomac Park, it was an
nounced today by C. Marshall Finnan,
superintendent of the National Capi
tal Parks, after consultation with Lt.
Henry Heims, acting captain of the
United States Park Police.
The plan provides for clockwise
movement of traffic around the Tidal
Basin, with entrances by way of the
Lincoln Memorial, the Southern
Washington Monument Grounds and
lower Fourteenth street.
Seventeenth street will be one way i
north to provide an exit for those de- '
siring to leave the cherry blossom !
•merrv-go-round.” Mr. Finnan an
nounced the new plan will become ef
fective at 1 p.m. tomorrow, when Gov
ernment workers, leaving their offices,
will swell the thrones of visitors ex
pected
May Repeat on Monday.
On Sunday, the park chief declared,
the special traffic arrangements will
breome effective at. 10 a m. and con
tinue until late afternoon, as long as
conditions warrant. Should traffic be
-heavy on Monday, Mr. Finnan said,
the special plan will again be placed
In effect.
County Police Aid.
Meanwhile, plans for handling!
eherrv blossom sightseers along
Prince Georges County roads were
drawn up by Washington. Prince
Georges County and Maryland State
police.
All available men will be pressed
Into service by the county. State and
towns along roads leading into Wash
ington. Washington polite told Sergt.
Ralph Brown of the Hyattsville sub
station the stream of traffic will be
"dumped” into Rhode Island avenue.
To prevent a jam on the bottleneck
of Rhode Island avenue between the
Mount Rainier and Hyattsville city
limits. Mount Rainier police made
preparations to shunt the traffic onto
Eladensburg road via Cottage City.
Sergt. C. B. Durham, commandant
of the Laurel State police substation,
said he had called for 6 men in ad
dition to the 12 regularly stationed at
laurel in order to keep traffic moving.
No parking will be allowed along the
Bladensburg road, Rhode Island
avenue and the Baltimore boulevard
between the District line and Laurel.
Mr. Finnan explained the local lay
out as follows:
Fifteenth street, two-way traffic to
the road north of the Propagating
Gardens. One-way traffic north from
Tidal Basin road to the road north of
the Propagating Gardens on Fifteenth
street.
Seventeenth street, one-way traffic
north from John Paul Jones Memorial
to Constitution avenue. Bacon drive,
two-way traffic. Twenty-third street,
two-way traffic. The Underpass road,
one-way northbound.
Two-Way on Overpass.
Overpass road, two-way traffic.
River drive, 'Ericsson Memorial to
Inlet Bridge, one-way traffic north
bound. French drive, Lincoln Me
morial to Cinder road to John Paul
Jones’ statue, one-way traffic east
bound.
Tidal Basin roadway, one-way clock
wise. River drive, two-way traffic,
Railroad Bridge to Inlet Bridge.
Fourteenth street, two-way traffic,
Outlet Bridge to Highway Bridge.
Constitution avenue, two-way traffic.
River drive to Capitol.
Traffic may join the cherry blossom
parade from Constitution avenue as
follows: South on Riverside drive,
south on Twenty-third stre>, south on
Bacon drive, south on Fifteenth street,
south on Fourteenth street.
Traffic may join the parade from
Ijpurteenth street as follows: West on
Quiz Goes On
JAMES L. LANDIS.
» ~
ARE ADDED 10 ZOO
Both Come From Liberia.
Cheetahs Also Are New
Acquisitions.
Two valuable young chimpanzees
arrived at the Zoo today, the gifts of
the Firestone rubber plantations in the
tiny Republic of Liberia. West Coast of
Africa.
The little apes, both females, arrived
in excellent condition, although a bit
wobbly on sea legs acquired during 25
days on the ocean aboard the freighter
Lashaway, which docked in New York
yesterday.
The chimps, between six and eight
months old, were sent to the Zoo by
George Siebold, manager of the rubber
plantations, and an old friend of Dr.
William M. Mann, Zoo director.
The young voyagers were placed
under the special care of the freighter
captain, along with a baby African
leopard, another gift. The freighter
was met in New York by Dr. Mann and
Headkeeper William H. Blackburn, who
wished als.o to visit the animal dealers
in the port with an eye for spring
bargains.
Mr. Blackburn picked up two young
cheetahs, the long-legged, dog-like
African cats which sometimes are
trained by natives to hunt antelopes
and other fleet game. The cheetah is
one of the fiercest and swiftest of all
animals.
The chimps were quartered In the
Zoo's new house for great apes and
small mammals.
They are the first which the Zoo has
owned since the death of old Soko,
known to thousands of visitors during
the last 20 years. A small female
chimp was placed on deposit here re
cently. but she may later be reclaimed
by her owner.
1 - ■- ■■■ ■ ■->
Mammoth to Be Moved.
Russia will preserve and move to
Masco w the prehistoric mammoth
found on Wrangel Island several
months ago.
Madison drive, west on Jefferson drive
and west acrass Outlet Bridge.
Traffic may leave the parade as fol
lows: East on Water street, north on
Fifteenth street, north on Seventeenth
street and north on River drive and
Underpass road.
Residents Asked to Stay Away.
An appeal to all Washington mo
torists to keep away from the cherry
blossom area tomorrow and Sunday so
that thousands of out-of-town sight
seers may have the privileges usually
accorded guests was made today by the
Washington Cherry Blossom Commit
tee on the suggestion of Maj. Ernest
Brown, chief of police.
It was pointed out that the blossoms
are expected to last for a week or 10
days and that there will be ample op
portunity for local residents to see
them during the week.
"Washingtonians who must see them
on Saturday or Sunday will view them
in the best of all ways if they will
walk to them from the foot of Four
teenth or Seventeenth streets N.W.,”
tjie committee said. "The hospitality
of Washington is proverbial. Wash
ingtonians will walk to the cherry
blossoms on Saturday and Sunday in
order that the visitor within the gates
may ride. It is the manner of the
good host.”
Special police orders were issued
today canceling all days off for police
men on Sunday and withholding all
leave except in case of emergency.
Additional policemen will be detailed
to the first, third and fourth precincts.
Twenty-two of these extrfl men will be
students from the Police School and
there also will be men detailed from
administrative headquarters. Some
policemen on night duty may be called
for additional day duty during the
hours of greatest traffic congestion.
Other precincts will be in charge of
handling traffic on the main arterial
highways.
Parking Is Prohibited.
Parking will be prohibited on the
following streets after 6 a.m. Sunday:
Both sides of Fourteenth street
N.W., from Water street to Rhode
Island avenue: both sides of Consti
tution avenue N.W., from Third to
Fifteenth streets; east side of Twenty
second street N.W., from Massa
chusetts avenue to Constitution ave
nue: berth sides of Seventeenth street
N.W.. from Constitution avenue to
K street; south side of Rhode Island
avenge, from Fourth street N.E. to
Connecticut avenue N.W.; both sides
of M street N.W., from Twenty
eighth street to Key Bridge; west side
of Sixth street N.W., from Constitu
tion avenue to New York avenue;
south side of Maryland avenue NJE,
from Second street to Fifteenth
street: both sides of B street N.E..
from First street to Second street;
both sides of Wisconsin avenue N.W.,
from Massachusetts avenue to Wood
ley road: both sides of Water street
S.W.. from Fourteenth street to C
street; both sides of Twelfth street
•3.W., from Water street to Constitu
tion avenue: south side of New York
avenue from Florida avenue N.E. to
Fourteenth street N.W.; west side of
Wisconsin avenue N.W., from M street
to Thirty-seventh street, and south
side of Rhode Island avenue N.E.,
from Seventeenth street to Eastern
^ venue. t
LANDIS ON GRILL,
POLICE CALL IN AID
OE SCIENCE IN QUIZ
Blood Test Made on Hands
of Suspect After Wife
Is Found Attacked.
PRISONER IS ADAMANT
IN DENIAL OF BEATING
Police Say He Admits Improvising
Sandbag as Precaution
Against Hold-ups.
BULLETIN.
•James L. Landis this afternoon
was formally charged with assault
with intent to kill in connection
with the beating of his estranged
wife, aftei his attorneys had peti
tioned Justice Jennings Bailey to
order him freed because he alleged
ly w'as being held illegally.
With the aid of science, investigators ;
today sought to break down the story !
of James L. Landis, 23-year-old
■ rookie" fireman, that his estranged
wife. Mrs. Blanche Gertrude Landis, i
22. was injured in a leap from his
automobile shortly before she was
found beaten almost to death early
yesterday on a lonely section of
I Twenty-fourth street N.E.
Pvt. Landis' admission that he
slipped away from his firehouse to take
his wife for an early morning ride was
followed up late yesterday by a state- i
ment from Mrs. Landis, which indi
cated her husband had attacked her. 1
Detective Sergt. John Wise, who
waited at the hospital in the hope the s
wife might regain consciousness long '
enough to name her assailant, re
ported Mrs. Landis became lucid long
enough to say:
Bring Jimmie in here and let him
see what he's done to me!”
Meanwhile. Landis was to be re
questioned today. He was taken to the
scene of the attack late yesterday after
detectives spent hours in a futile ef
fort to shake his denial of having
beaten his wife with the two bloody
stones and a broken sand bag. which
were found on the blood-spattered
pavement.
The prisoner pointed out to detec
tives the spot where he said his wife
fell to the pavement after leaping
from his car. Landis declared the young ,
woman's head hit the rear fender,
and he went back and bent over her,
getting blood on his hands and shirt.
Drove Away Then. He Says.
Frightened, and afraid he would be
caught "A W. O. L.” from the sta
tion at the District fireboat dock, Lan
dis was quoted as saying, he re-entered '
his car and drove away, leaving his
wife lying on the pavement about 2
o'clock in the morning.
Investigators brought out yesterday
that the young wife had charged in
a petition for separate maintenance
i last August, that Landis and his
! mother forced her to take "medicines" j
, to prevent her from becoming a
mother. The District Court petition
was answered by the husband, who de
nied the charges and alleged he mar
ried his wife because she was with
child.
Mrs. Landis remained near death at
the hospital today from a compound
skull fracture and deep cuts about the i
face and body. Physicians saw little
hope for her recovery, but ordered a
blood transfusion today in a desperate
effort to save her life. Last rites of
the Catholic Church were administered
yesterday.
Sandbag Statement Claimed.
Landis was quoted by police as ad
mitting he improvised a sandbag with
an old sock. He said he took the
■ weapon in his car as a precaution
against "hold-ups," and could give no
explanation of how it happened to be
found broken in two and lying beside
his wife's unconscious body.
The fireman was arrested yesterday
after police noticed he had a scratch
under his ear and bloodstains on his
shirt.
At first he insisted he was on duty
in the firehouse, then admitted he
slipped away after 1:30 a.m„ drove to
his wife’s rooming house at 2014 Mon
roe street N.E., blew his horn and
waited until she came and entered his
car and then took her for a ride. After
the accident, he said, he went back
to the firehouse and re-entered un
observed.
Deputy Coroner Christopher Murphy
yesterday made a benzidine test on
Landis’ hands to determine if they
had been stained with blood recently.
The test was positive, Dr. Murphy
reported—that is, the fireman's hands
were stained blue, indicating there
had been blood on them.
Sand taken from a box in the fire
house was found to be of the same
type as that in the broken sandbag.
Landis’ shoes were taken for compari
son of dirt particles on them with the
soil in the vicinity of the attack.
The blood on Landis’ shirt and on
the two stones was to be compared
with the type of Mrs. Landis’ blood,
and hairs on the rocks are to be
matched with the woman’s.
Landis was said by police to have
admitted burning one of his socks and
his shirt sleeves in the stove at the
firehouse.
Ashes were removed from the stove
to determine what materials were
burned there.
YOUTH PROGRAM SET
Bnai Israel Services to Be
Dedicated to Young Judea.
The season’s last Friday night serv
ices of the Bnai Israel Congregation,
Fourteenth and Emerson streets N.W.,
are to be dedicated to young Judea in
celebration of young Judea month.
Following tonight’s services, starting
at 8:15, there will be a forum and so
cial hour, which Miss Bernice Tucker
and Miss Elain Deskin will lead.
Last night the first session of the
leaders’ Training Institute, sponsored
Jointly by Young Judea and the Youth
Activities Committee of the Washing
ton Zionist district, was held at the
Washington Hebrew Congregation,
with , Morris Klass, director of the
Washington Jewish Social Service
Agency, as speaker. The next session
i will be April «. 4
‘You Can’t Take It (or Them) With You’
This lad. Ernest B. Milligan, has the same idea lots of per
sons have when the cherry blossoms bloom—"I'll take a branch
for a souvenir.” In addition to the damage it does to the trees.
7t’s a crime in the erjes of the law. Caught "red-handed.” Ernest
is in somethi7ig of a predicament when Park Policeman E. S.
Mast comes along—he would be, that is, if this photograph hadn’t
been prearranged. But Ernest didn't actually tear off a branch
for the sake of a picture. He is holding some artificial blossoms.
If you don’t want to pay a fine, be satisfied to admire the cherry
blossoms and leave them where you find them.—Star Staff Photos.
I
f
s
A map showing how traffic \
wilt be rerouted tomorrow aft
ernoon and Sunday to facili- 1
tate handling of the thou
sands of cars expected to drive
around Potomac Park to see
* the Japanese cherry blossoms.
COURT BUILDING
" I
New $1,500,000 Structure
to Be Open This Afternoon
for First Time.
The first public showing of the new i
$1,500,000 Police Court Building,
scheduled today from 3 to 6 p.m., will
find two of the District Commissioners
and the four Police Court judges pres
ent to receive the many persons ex
pected.
Both Commissioners Sultan and Al
len will be on hand, but Commissioner
Hazen is out of the city. Judge John P.
McMahon said he and his associates
would be there and would probably re
ceive in their chambers, which are the
last word in convenience and beauty.
The other judges are Edward M. Cur
ran. Walter J. Casey and Hobart New
man.’
At this time, it is expected the
bailiffs will appear in their new uni
forms. These have been held up, but
efforts were being made to have them
delivered in time for the reception.
Others to assist them in showing vis
itors throughout the building are
members of the District Architect's
office and 20 uniformed policemen
who have been ordered on duty there
by Maj. Ernest W. Brown, superin
tendent of police.
Removal of old records, the library
and other articles which can be spared
from the old court, has been going on
during the week. There will be little
in the way^of furnishings moved in the
new building, but all remaining rec
ords together with certain apparatus
which will be used there will be moved
over the week end in time for open
ing of the court Monday morning.
■ ■■ ■■ - •-— - '
D. C. Engineers to Meet.
The District of Columbia Society
of Professional Engineers will meet
at 8 p.m. Monday at 2400 Sixteenth
street N.W. The showing of a sound
motion picture. “Approved by the
Underwriters.” will be followed by a
business meeting, the secretary, Wil
liam L. Bach, announced yesterday.
Trials Held in Church.
During alterations of the court
house ir\ Harrogate. England, trials
are being held in the United Methodist
Church, '*1
CANON RUDD DIES
BEFORE SERVICE
Rockville Rector Stricken
After Addressing Choir
„ in Church.
Special Dispatch to The Star.
ROCKVILLE. Md.. March 25 —
Stricken with a heart attack as he
prepared to lead a special Lenten
service, Canon Arthur Belding Rudd,
68, rector of Christ Episcopal Church,
Rockville, died in the sacristry of the
church last night.
The Rev. Mr. Rudd had just finished
addressing the choir and stepped into
the sacristry when stricken. A phy
sician was hastily summoned, but he
died almost Instantly.
The Right Rev. James E. Freeman,
Bishop of Washington, will officiate
at funeral services in Christ Church
tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. Burial will
be in the family burial plot at Pough
keepsie, N. Y.
In addition to having charge of
the local church, Canon Rudd also
was rector of Ascension Chapel at
Gaithersburg during the last six years.
He came to the local charge after
serving several years at the Washing
ton Cathedral.
A native of Poughkeepsie, N. Y„
the Rev. Mr. Rudd was a graduate
of Williams College in Massachusetts
and the General Theological Sem
inary, New York City. His first charge
was at Elmira, N. Y., where he served
14 years, and was instrumental in
erecting Grace Church there.
He served as a special assistant to
the American Ambassador at Petro
grad in 1916 and 1917, entering the
Army Chaplain Service when the
United States declared war.
After the armistice he returned
to America from France and during
succeeding years was called to churches
in Ambler, Pa.; St. Albans, Vt., and
Newport, R. I. He came to the Wash
ington Cathedral from Newport.
Surviving the Rev. Mr. Rudd are
his widow, formerly Miss Lillian
Pierce of Natick, Mass., and a son,
Charles Adriance Rudd, of Rockville.
The body was taken to a funeral
home here last night.
Alumnae Club to Meet.
The H. Sophie Newcomb College
Alumnae Club will meet at the home
of the Misses Roberta and Josephine
White, 2955 Newark
morrow at 4 p.m.
Clubwomen's
Dean Travels
To D. C. at 102
While New York wondered where
she was. Mrs. Amorette Fraser, dean
of American clubwomen, celebrated
her 102d birthday anniversary yes
terday with a little sightseeing in
Washington.
She disappeared from her Brooklyn
home two weeks ago for a Southern
trip to avoid the excitement with
which her friends and the curious
helped her greet her 101st birthday
anniversary a year ago.
With her is traveling her daughter.
Miss Anna Fraser. They plan to be
back in Brooklyn at the beginning of
next month.
Mrs. Fraser was born near Chau
tauqua. N. Y„ in 1836, and when a
little girl she liked to listen to the
tales told by men who had fought
against the British in the armies of
George Washington.
She still likes to speak before wom
en's clubs, but as a "person, not a
curiosity.” She made an address as
recently as January 22, at the 65th
annual convention of the Long Island
Convention of Women's Clubs.
HELD TO GRAND JURY
* __
Man Is Accused of Taking Pistol
and Jewelry From House.
Joseph H. Davidson, 27, of 4411
Forty-second street N.W., was in jail
today in default of $2,000 bond after
having been held for the grand jury
by Police Court Judge John P. Mc
Mahon yesterday on charges of taking
a pistol and jewelry valued at $315
from the home of Charles Fisher. In
ternal Revenue Bureau attorney, at
3768 McKinley street N.W.
Davidson, a furniture repair man,
pleaded not guilty. Mrs. Fisher testi
fied he had fixed a desk in her home
last week and noticed after the job
was finished that a house key was
missing.
' •.... •
REPORT HELD UP
Education Committee Delays
Consideration of Data.
The House Committee on Education,
which met today to consider the report
submitted last month by the Presi
dent’s Commission on Education, de
cided to postpone consideration of the
report for 10 days, Chairman Larrabee,
Democrat, of Indiana announced fol
lowing an executive Tisslon.
MRS. IRVINE DIES;
FOUNDER’S WIDOW
Was Well Known by Many
Alumni of Mercersburg
Academy.
Mrs. Camille Hart Irvine. 67. widow
of Dr. William Mann Irvine, founder
and former headmaster of Mercers
burg (Pa.) Academy, died yesterday
of a cerebral hemorrhage at the home
of her daughter, Mrs. Clarke W. Slade,
1690 Old Georgetown road, Bethesda,
Md.
Mrs. Irvine, whose home was at 36
Quincy street, Chevy Chase, Md., was
a former president of the Chevy Chase
Garden Club, in which she long had
been active, ana
was a member of
All Saints Episco
pal Church,
Chevy Chase
Circle.
Mrs. Irvine had
been living in or
near Washington
since shortly after
the death of her
husband in 1928.
She was beloved
by former stu- |
dents of Mercers- j
burg Academy
whom she had
known when Dr.
Mrs. Irvine.
Irvine was headmaster. The sons of
former President Coolidge and those of
many other prominent persons have
attended the academy.
A native of Kentucky, Mrs. Irvine
was the daughter of the late MaJ.
Camillus Hart of the Confederate
Army. For several years, she lived
In Winchester, Va„ and then spent
her girlhood in Washington. She
moved to Mercersburg as a bride and
helped to establish the academy.
Besides her daughter, Mrs. Slade,
who is the wife of the head of the
Slade School, Mrs. Irvine leaves an
other daughter, Mrs. John D. West,
Winchester, Mass.; a sister, Mrs. J.
Earlston Thropp, Chevy Chase, and
six grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 3
p.m. tomorrow in the Mercersburg
Chapel at Mercersburg. Burial will
be in the Wood lawn Cemetery there.
Infra-red waves enable photographs
to be taken through fog, and can be
between different
PENAL INSTITUTION
REVAMPING PLAN
GIVEN APPROVAL
Social Agencies Committee
to Meet Soon to Chart
Action.
PLEDGE CO-OPERATION
TO PRISON INDUSTRIES
Roosevelt, in Letter, Praises Work
of Survey Made in
District Jails.
Unanimous approval of the Prison
Industries Reorganization Administra
tion's survey and recommendations for
revamping the District's penal system
was voiced yesterday by the Correc
tions Committee of the Council of
Social Agencies.
Promising 100 per cent co-operation
in efforts to put the long list of pro
posals into effect, the committee im
mediately made plans for a meeting
in the near future of ail those who
helped to make the survey, District
penal and welfare officials and civic
leaders. Vincent Saccardi, chairman
of the committee, was empowered to
designate the timr for thp gathering.
Thp P I. R As recommendations
were made public at% luncheon of the
committee at the Y. W. C. A. by Dr.
Louis N. Robinson, chairman of the
Prison Industries Reorganization
Board.
Roosevelt Letter Revealed.
At the same time. Dr. Robinson
made public a letter from President
Roosevelt regarding the P. I. R. As
survey of local penal institutions. The
letter said:
"I am glad to have the report of
your board on the prison problem in
the District of Columbia, which makes
available for the first time a consid
erable volume of highly interesting
data on our local penal institutions
and their treatment of convicted per
sons. My views as to the importance
of finding better ways of protecting
society from crime have been often
stated.
I am glad that your board has been
able, with the co-operation of the
District Commissioners and the Board
of Welfare to make this study, and I
am sure that your findings and recom
mendations will receive the thoughtful
consideration of those upon whom
rests the responsibility for legislation
and for the administration of the Dis
trict government.'’
Others Approve Plan.
Approval of the plan also was voiced
by Dr. W. L. Darby, executive secre
tary of the Washington Federation cf
Churches, and John Victory, chairman
of the Charities and Corrections Com
mittee of the Board of Trade.
Answering a query by Mr. Victory
as to who would bear the cost of put
ting the P. I R. a.’s proposals into
effect. Dr. Robinson said the report
did not specify whether the Federal
or District government should foot
the bill. He expressed the opinion,
however, that the District should not
be asked to bear the whole load.
In offering the report. Dr. Robinson
said the District's penal and correc
tional system "have grown like Topsy
without systematic efforts to insure
either an orderly or a thorough devel
opment.”
" --- —
BUILDING OFFICIALS
NAME CLOUSING HEAD
Col. John W. Oehmann of D. C.
Elected Vice President at
Conference Here.
Louis C. Clousing, inspector of
buildings in Minneapolis. Minn., today
was elected president, and Col. John
W. Oehmann, inspector of buildings
for the District, was elected first vice
president for the coming year of the
Building Officials' Conference of
America. The election closed the 23d
annual five-day convention of the
conference at the Willard Hotel.
Mr. dousing, formerly first vice
president, succeeds Frank C. Keller of
New York City. Col. Oehmann was
second vice president and now is in
line to become president a year from
today. Walker S. Lee. building com
missioner for Rochester. N. Y., be
comes second vice president, and
Arthur N. Rutherford, chief building
inspector of New Britain. Conn., was
re-elected secretary and treasurer.
--«
F. H. A. BUSINESS GAINS
New Peak Reached for Third
Successive Week.
Gross business of the Federal
Housing Administration reached a
new peak for the third successive
week. Administrator Stewart Mc
Donald announced yesterday.
In the week ending March 19, mort
gages selected for appraisal totaled
*21,293,061, compared with *20,386,711
the previous week and *16,879,710 in
the corresponding week a year ago.
r ■ " ■— 1 ■■ . ■■ I
Defendant Gives
Clerk of Court
For Reference
Judge Edward M. Curran's clerk in
Police Court was ready to chalk up
another in his list of "most embarrass
ing moments" today when a defendant
in a drunk and vagrancy charge re
ferred the court to him for character
recommendations.
The clerk, Charles Driscoll, turned
as red as the proverbial beet when
William H. Stivers, the defendant, told
Judge Curran that "Mr. Driscoll knows
me.”
"What about that, Charlie?” the
court inquired.
"It’s true, sir. I do know him.”
"Thirty days on the intoxication
charge and $300 bond on the vagrancy
charge," the court told the defendant.
To keep the-record straight, it should
be mentioned that Mr. Driscoll ex
plained the defendant had solicited
alms from him <»y a few days ago.