Evening star. [volume], July 28, 1938, Page A-5, Image 5

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

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Steel Corp. Guard Informs
Committee How He
Procured Job.
BULLETIN.
Republic Steel Corp. police
shadowed all -Steel Workers Organ
izing Committee organizers, pick
eted their offices and hotel rooms
and even bribed neighbors to in
form on each other while the union
was attempting to organize Repub
lic employes in Youngstown, the
Senate Civil Liberties Committee
was told this afternoon.
By JOHN C. HENRY.
A Republic Steel Corp. guard with
four names and a lengthy police
record admitted before the Senate
Civil Liberties Committee today that
he had obtained a job as a proba
tionary organizer for the Steel Work
ers Organizing Committee through s
falsely notarized letter.
He had falsely signed namps of Re
public employes to S. W. O. C. ap
plication cards and had falsely ac
cused another organizer of turning
over union names to the company.
At the time he was thus engaged.
In 1936, Walter Jurgens, alias Ma
loney. alias Kenney, alias Ludwig,
W'as a company patrolman in Cleve
land, he testified.
Jurgens testified first that he had
undertaken the espionage work on his
own initiative.
"I was told there wpre some good
,1obs in the Police Department.” he
said. "That was what I was after.”
Tells of Accusations.
Ho then testified that he had falsely
accused Elmer Lnhman, former S. W.
O. C. volunteer organizer of turning
names of union members over to the
company. Lnhman denied at yester
days hearing that he was guilty of
this action.
"I thought it was a good way to get
myself in with other C. I. O. or
ganizers.” Jurgens explained, after
telling how Lnhman was under suspi
cion among other organizers.
At this point. Senator La Follette
read a notarized letter from Jurgens
to Van Bittner, a S. W. O. C. leader,
in which the officer told of being dis
charged by Republic for his union
activities.
were any ni these statements true?
6enator La Fnllette asked.
"Not, a one," he replied.
B. J. Damich. S. W. O. C. director
In Cleveland, then took the stand to
♦ell of engaging Jurgens as a proba
tionary organizer on the strength of
the notarized letter.
His subsequent exposure was related
by Alex Belint. S. W. O. C. member,
who told of being suspicious at the
list of names of Republic employes
which Jurgens w'as displaying, with
those belonging to the union carefully
Cheeked.
Among the names w-hich Jurgens
aigned to S. W. O. C. cards were those
of Joe Gilmore, a fellow Republic
patrolman, and Mike Wocjik, who
denied in an affidavit that he ever
had agreed to join the S. W. O. C. or
ever had met Jurgens.
As evidence of Jurgens' double
dealing eame to his attention. Damich
•aid he aaked the man either to ex
plain or sever any connection with
the S. W. O. C. Jurgens then left
his office and never returned, Damich
added.
Jurgens' police record, involving all
•f his four names, included charges
ef burglary and petty larceny. The
witness identified the record obtained
from the Cleveland police depart
ment and an attached picture of
himself.
The Jurgens affair was brought into
the hearing as the committee sought
♦n unravel a tangled web of alleged
•pying, double-rrossing and intimida
tion among employes of Republic with
the two dominant forces being the
determination of the Steel Workers'
Organizing Committee to enlist mem
bers of the union and of the corpora
tion to stop them.
The picture was drawn yesterday
afternoon as acknowledged strike
breakers and company spies sat shoul
der to shoulder with S. W. O. C. or
ganizers and members. Republic exec
utives and company police. Trading
accusations freely, the witnesses sup
plemented their testimony with half- i
audible asides to others on the stand.
On one occasion a husky Capitol
policeman moved close to the stand as
a strikebreaker threw "liar" at a union :
organizer. Frequently Chairman La
Follette was forced to bring the wit
nesses sharply to order.
Although Republic Vice President.
Lincoln
(Continued From First Page.)
than 600.000 votes and Davey tagged
along, although he won by only about
125.000.
Ohio, always regarded as a pivotal
State in political campaign*, would
cause the Roosevelt, New Dealers a
preat deal of grief if it went Republi
can next November.
Davey, they figure, would be the less
strong candidate in a contest with ;
Bricker, the Republican candidate.
Strength Survive* Scandal*.
To the layman in Ohio politics, it 1
Would seem that, enough Issues and
scandals had been raised against Gov.
Davey to sink him. His administra
tion has been accused of grafting in
purchases for tVie State from lead
pencils to cement, not to mention
liouor. A State Senate Committee
investigated and brought out a lot of
things. Even now a grand jurv has
been investigating charges that State
employes are being assessed 5 per cent !
of their salaries, and nearly a score of
indictments have been brought against
Davey followers in connection with
these charges. They will not come to
trial, however, until after August 9,
the date of the Ohio primary.
There was. too. the "hot mix”
•eandal. "Hot mix” is a preparation
bought for highway construction. It
was* developed that counties were
buying the stuff for one-half what
the State was paying for the same
material. Reports have it that all
kinds of Government, contracts for
materials and for trucking have paid
their toll to the State administration.
Gov. Dave.vs reply to all these
charges is: "They say all these things
about me, yet I'm not in jail.” To
him that appears a complete answer—
and It gets across to a lot of the
people. Furthermore, he made himself
solid with many business people and
Industrialists when he sent the Na
tional Guard to put down rioting last
year during the steel strikes.
C. I. O. Is Mixed Blessing.
The C. I. O. is out to get Gov.
Davey * scalp if it can because of his
■ action during the steel strikes. It has
Indorsed Mr Sawyer, that help* *tr.
Sawyer In Cleveland. Akron and otter
Star Carriers and Aides on Annual Outin»
_____________ & -
Here are some of the 2.000 Star carrier hoys avid their help
ers on their annual outing to Glen Echo Amusement Park last
night as guests of The Star. The lads were given long strips of
tickets to the various events, which included a swim
I —---:
Charles M. White and its police super
! intendent, J. L. Williams, previously
had testified that the corporation had
no established practice of labor es
pionage and that no written spy re
ports were in their files, the commit
j tee produced both witnesses and
documents to prove an anti-union
policy.
In fact, just before the close of the
day s session, Supt. Williams told the
committee that he had paid Lohman
$300 in an effort to dissuade him from
signing up new members.
The organizer denied ever getting
i the $300, but said Mr. Williams, whom
he knew oniy as a "Mr. Hollis" of the
American Iron and Steel Institute,
had offered him $400 and an interest
in a chicken ranch in California.
Admit Accusations.
Two other undercover agents of the
I company were on the stand during the
afternoop, both admitting freely to a
j career of strike-breaking and espionage
in the service of various agencies and
industrial concerns.
One of these. Harold F. Vargo, alias
Ira Alberts, alias Richard Brooks, was
active in building up the Republic
l local of the S. W. O. C. in Youngs
, town and became financial secretary
of the union. His resignation and ex
pulsion were forced after other union
officers became convinced he had been
turning over the names of union mem
i bers to the company.
Vargo countered yesterday's dis
closures by accusing John Steuben,
former S. W. O. C. organizer, with
being a Communist and using the
aliases of Stevens and Stevenson. Steu
ben said the shadowing by company
guards forced him into use of the false
names.
The olher strikebreaker and under
cover man on the stand w-as Joseph
Vamos, close friend of Vargo,
GROUND TO BE BROKEN
FOR CHURCH IN AUGUST
Ground will be broken early in
August for construction of a new Mc
Kendree Methodist Episcopal Church
and Sunday School, under terms of
a construction contract awarded to
Morrison Brothers of Bethesda, Md.,
it was annoimred today by the Rev.
Samuel E. Rose, pastor.
To be built at South Dakota avenue
and Twenty-fourth street, at Rhode
Island avenue N.E., the new stone
church will house congregations of !
both the Langdon and McKendree j
churches, which merged June fi. A ;
parsonage at the same location will
be remodeled. The work is to be
completed in about 10 months. 1
industrial centers where the C. I. O.
has some strength, but it is poison for
Sawyer in the rural sections, where
farmers do not like the C, I. O. or any
of its works. Also the C. I. O. in
dorsement has relped Davey with the
American Federation of Labor. Thom
as J. Donnelly, secretary-treasurer of
the State Federation of Labor, issued a
statement not long ago listing the Fed
eration's attitude toward the various
candidates in the primary campaign.
His statement declared Davey's record
on labor legislation "100 per cent fa
vorable"—and it placed Davey at the
head of the list. It listed Sawyer's
record as "good" and that of Bricker,
the Republican candidate for Gov
ernor, as "favorable to labor."
Sawyer is a former Lieutenant Gov
ernor. an office to which he was elected
in 1932. He was beaten In a three
cornered race for the gubernatorial
nomination in 1934 by Gov. Davey.
Two years later he was chosen Demo
cratic national committeeman, an of
fice he now holds. He is a successful
lawyer and business man. He is a
high-class gentleman—but he is not a
"hot" candidate. Gov. Davey, on the
other hand, is a whirlwind campaign
er. Over the radio he is declared to be
especially appealing. He accuses Saw
yer of being a "Communist," since he
is hooked up with the C. I. O., and
then again he charges that Sawyer is
a "silk stocking." since he has amassed
a sizable fortune.
Denies “Silk Stocking” Charge.
Mr. Sawyer replies to the. latter
charge: "I did not wear any silk stock
ings when I was working my way
through Oberlin College, nor did I
wear any silk stockings in 1917 (he
was overseas with the A. E. F. in the
World War). And moat of the time I
don't wear them now.”
In one speech Mr. Sawyer said that
as a boy he learned something about
bees, for his father kept bees. He
added: “About three years ago a
swarm of bees descended on the
Statehouse in Columbus. A lot of peo
ple got stung. I propose to clean out
that swarm of bees, including all the
drones—and the queen bee, too.” Here
Mr. Sawyer was referring to Davey’s
executive secretary. Mrs. Myma §mith,
whose appointment enraged a nwnber
of people.
Tells of Spying
JAMES L. WILLIAMS.
Superintendent of police for
Republic Steel, who has been
telling Senate Civil Liberties
Committee of undercover op
erations. —A. P. Photo.
FORT KNOX WAR GAMES
TO TRAIN 500 OFFICERS
Maneuvers Are Part of Extensive
Peace-Time Program Involving
400,000 Officers and Men.
Some 500 officers will be trained in
war games at Port Knox, Ky.. for
commands they would fill in actual
combat, the War Department an
nounced today.
Regular and National Guard officers
and about 2.000 men of the skeleton
ized 2d Army will take part in defense
against a simulated northward inva
sion through Tennessee September
4 to 25.
These maneuvers are part of the
most extensive summer peace-time
training in the Army's history, in
volving throughout the country more
than 400,000 officers and men. Con
gress made a special appropriation
of nearly $700,000 for the purpose.
Next month 80.000 men of the 3d
Army will mobilize in the South and
Southwest for the most extensive mass
maneuvers yet undertaken.
Civilians will be enlisted in war
games at Port Bragg, N. C., in Sep
tember.
The opponents of Davey are count
ing on support from the Works Prog
ress Administration workers—of whom
there are about 260.000 in Ohio now—
with the number going up. Polls have
shown that the great majority of them
are against the Governor and for Saw
yer.
Summed up, Davey appears to have
the “organization,” which Sawyer
lacks. He has, however, the dislike
of a great many of the laboring people,
even outside the C. X. O. He has against
him the tacit opposition of the New
Deal in Washington and the W. P. A.
in Ohio. On the other hand he is j
believed to have a huge fund to use ;
in the last few days of the campaign i
and to be ready to use it. He has the
rural vote in large part and the sup
port of a good many voters on the
“law and order" issue.
The Scripps-Howard newspaper, the
Columbus Citizen, has conducted an
across-t.he-State poll, which gives Saw- j
yer a decided edge. The vote stood
yesterday 7,319 for Sawyer to 4,233 for
Davey. On a percentage basis, the
poll would give Sawyer a victory by
about 90,000. But despite this poll,
the Sawyer people are still nervous!
Most observers here say that the race
will be close, though they believe
Sawyer will win. On the other hand
a minority of the observers, not con
nected with either camp, predicts a
victory for Gov. Davey.
The outing was directed by Galt Burns, circulation manager
of The Star. The 250 colored carriers were given a similar out
ing at Suburban Gardens. —Star Staff Photo.
G.H.A.
_< Continued FYom FYrst Page.)
move of the co-operative for a site
in Chevy Chase, Md„ was blocked
by the Montgomery County commis
sioners, who denied application for a
permit to operate a hospital there.
Enlargement of the membership of
G. H. A. appeared easy, if derided on
as a policy, because of the flood of new
applications for membership pouring
in since the court decision, officials
said. Not only individuals have asked
to join, but one new Federal agency
officially applied this morning. A dele
gation from the Federal Trade Com
mission railed in person on President
Kirkpatrick to ask that many em
ployes of this agency be admitted to
G. H. A. membership.
Tlie legal victory here has proved
encouraging already to many similar
group medicine organizations through
out the country, Mr. Kirkpatrick said.
Depends on Profession.
Whether Dr. Selders will succeed
in the G. H. A. efforts to get him
admitted to the courtesy privileges of
the hospitals apparently depends more
on the attitude of the medical pro
fession than on the laymen who com
prise most of the boards of directors.
Officially, the hospital managements
of the city for the most part have
taken no sides in the dispute between
G. H. A. and the Medical Society. But
sinre admissions to their courtesy
staffs are made on the basis of recom
mendations by their medical staffs,
who are members of the District Med
ical Society, it is pointed out the so
ciety virtually controls the courtesy
privileges in the hospitals.
At Garfield Hospital, for intance.
Clarence S. Aspinwall. president of
the board, emphasized that the board
officially had been "entirely neutral"
in the current controversy.
"We are running a hospital for the
benefit of the community." he ex
plained. “This situation has left the
hospital in an embarrassing situation.
I could not predict what influence, if
any, the court’s decision will have
on Garfield Hospital."
He indicated that Dr. Selders’ ap
plication for courtesy privileges would
be referred first to a committee of the
medical staff, then to the whole j
medical staff for recommendation to i
the board. As, a general matter of
Policy, he explained, the board usually
follows the recommendation of its
medical staff.
Not Society Member.
Dr. Selders does not belong to
the District Medical Society. He
has been under charges from his
own Harris County (Tex.) Medical
Society, in connection with his con
tract here with Group Health. His
case was referred to the judicial
council of the American Medical As
sociation. No physician can be a
member of two medical societies at
once, so technically, it is understood.
Dr. Selders cannot yet join the local
medical society.
Justice Bailey's decision held that
G. H. A. was within its legal rights '
in operating as it now is. He held 5
it is not engaged in the practice I
of medicine as a corporation, and
not engaged in the insurance busi
ness.
No decision has been rearhed by.
the defendants in the ca.se as to
whether they would appeal. United
States Attorney David A. Pine said he
would take the case under advisement;
and would report soon to Solicitor!
General Robert H. Jackson. For the!
other defendant. J. Balch Moor, Dis
trict superintendent of insurance, the |
corporation counsel's office had no
comment on a possible appeal. These
two were made defendants in the case i
brought by G. H. A. after G H. A.
had been threatened by them with
court action for dissolution.
Officials anc legal counsel of the
District Medical Society were making'
a careful study of the court decision,1
but reserved comment today. It was
the medical society which had stirred
up the District officials against G.
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All steamers egalpped with modern ante*
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ROADSOFFUIURE
Routes Such as Proposed
D. C.-Baltimore One May
Cover Country.
Parkways and freeways, or limited
motorways, of the type proposed for
construction between Washington and
Baltimore will form a national sys
tem for recreational travel in the
future, in the opinion of officials of
the National Park Service.
Such construction is becoming of
increasing importance as a means of
separating commercial and non-com
mercial highway traffic, it is pointed
out. The Mount Vernon boulevard,
the Blue Ridge parkway and the
George Washington Memorial park
way, now under construction, are cited
as examples of the type of construc
tion of the future.
"With the tremendous increase in
motor traffic overcrowding the high
ways,” it is stated in a yearbook on
park and recreation progress Just is
sued by the Park Service, “the park
way has offered an avenue of escape
free of commercial vehicles and clut
tered roadsides.
Important Arteries.
“Today in certain sections of the
country parkways function as im
portant arteries of travel for pleasure
vehicles. They provide safe, fast
routes through metropolitan districts
and between important recreational
centers. Tomorrow parkways and free
ways or limited motorways will form
a national system for motor trans
portation."
The Anacostia Park development,
forming the District link in the pro
posed Washington-Baltimore park
way, now is nearing the point of
readiness for roadway construction.
A total of $300,000 has been appro
priated for the purchase of land in
the Anacostia Valley in Prince Georges
County, Md., for the first Maryland
unit of the parkway. Construction
of a double, separated roadway free i
from grade crossings and roadside
construction is planned.
Careful Study Urged.
The National Park Service advised
that in all levels of planning—na
tional, regional, State, county and j
city—“parkways should be carefully
studied because of their direct rela
tion to the problems of transporta
tion, recreation, conservation of nat
ural resources, land use and Bon
ing.” It was explained that State
and regional planning agencies are
beginning to emphasize the importance
of parkways. The yearbook gives a
description of parkway plans and de
velopments throughout the country.
"Parkways,” it was stated, “are well;
established as part of city and metro- j
politan park systems. State parkways
are comparatively new. Legislation I
is needed in many States to give
proper authority for the planning,
acquisition, development and main
tenance of parkways as part of the
State park and recreational system.
Nine States now definitely mention
parkways in their laws relating to
State parks and recreation.” I
Mother, 12, Sees
No Neivs in Her
Being Married
Bt the Aftxocltited Pres*.
PICKLE STREET. W Va„ July 2*.—
Rosy-cheeked Mrs. WilHam Benning
ton. 12-year-old mother of a 5-month
old baby, declared yesterday she didn't
see "any news” about her being mar
ried. but admitted she had Just paid
♦0 cents to see a vaudeville-touring
Tennessee child bride but a year
younger.
“I'm an old married woman and
proud of it.” said Mrs. Bennington,
nee Clara Parmer. "I don't see any
news about getting married. Most
everybody does get married.”
The girl wife said she was Just 10
years old when she left her fourth
grade schoolbooks In this hamlet, about
35 miles southwest of Clarksburg, for
pots and pans and life as the wife of
W. P A. Worker Bill Bennington. Ha
was 23.
Mr*. Bennington does all her own
housework and takes care of the baity.
She does it so well her father-in-law
has moved in to stay with her and hi*
grandson.
Aids in Reducing
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