Evening star. [volume], May 19, 1946, Image 1

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

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Weather Forecast
FSir, less humid; highest temperature
in 70s. Tomorrow: Showers, continued
warm.
Yesterday: High, 78, at 12:56 p.m.;
low, 62, at 11:15 p.m.
United States Weather Bureau Report.
No. 2,146- No. 37,269.
-?
Home Delivery
The Evening and Sunday Star la
delivered by carrier in the city and
suburbs at 90c per month when 4
Sundays; $1.00 per month when 5
Sundays.
Telephone NA. 5000.
An Associated Press Newspaper
WASHINGTON, I). MAY 19, 1946-124 PAGES.
Washington
and Suburb*
TEN CENTS
is cronra
Elsewhere
Rail Strike Postponed for 5 Days
On'Truman's Last-Minute Appeal;
U.S. Faces Mine Seizure Problem
Union Reply Comes
As First Effects of
Walkout Are Felt
By Joseph A. Fox
A last-minute appeal by Pres
ident Truman late yesterday
brought a five-day trtfce in the
threatened strike of trainmen
and engineers, less than half an
hour before the schedueld start
of a Nation-wide railroad tie-up.
With the paralyzing effect of
what promised to be a total dis- ]
ruption of transportation already
beginning to be felt at various!
points along the country’s 227,000
mile rail system, the President
wrung an agreement from the heads
of the two unions to re-enter nego
tiations with the carriers, in the
hope of working out an adjust
ment on wages that will keep the
trains running.
Mr. Truman expressed confidence
in the ultimate outcome. The White
House announced that conferences
broken off here Thursday would be
resumed late today or tomorrow
morning. From Cleveland, it was
reported that A. F. Whitney and
Alvanley Johnston, respective heads
of the Brotherhoods of Railroad
Trainmen and Locomotive Engi
neers would arrive here this morn
ing. I
President Was Smiling.
The postponement of the strike
was announced with dramatic sud
denness by President Truman at a
hastily summoned press conference
at 3:55 p.m.—just five minut'es be
fore the strike was to get under
way in the East.
Only a few reporters were at the
White House when they were called
into the President's office, where
he had been for several hours with
Secretary of Labor Schwellenbach,
and John R. Steelman, labor ad
visor. .
Mr. Truman was smiling.
“You look like you have some
good news,” a reporter said.
'%e'll see how good it is," the |
President responded, then made
this terse statement, informally:
"The engineers and trainmen
have agreed to move the strike!
date from 4 p.m. ^Hay 18, to 4 p.m.
Thursday, May 23, 1946. This action
is in response to a request from
the President, who gave his assur
ance that he was confident further
progress could be made toward a
settlement if the negotiations with
the railroads were resumed.”
Gave Key Words for Unions.
Then Mr. Truman, admonishing
the reporters to note carefully, told
them "the trainmen's key word is
‘convention’; the engineers’ key'
word is ‘Johnston.’ ”
Asked what this meant, Mr. Tru
man said the unions would under
stand.
Obviously it was a code to notify
the workers that the strike was off ;
—a point that was cleared up later
in dispatches from union headquar
ters in Cleveland.
In a hurried colloquy, Mr. Tru-1
man said he had telephoned the j
deferment proposal to Mr. Whitney
and Mr. Johnston, Cleveland, at
3:30, and had received their acqui
escence at 3:34.
Did Not Consult Management.
“Did you consult management be
fore giving the unions the assur
ances?" a reporter asked.
The President said no, but re
affirmed his confidence that a
settlement would be effected.
Later, the White House authorized
direct quotation of his first state
ment.
When newsmen sought some wTord
on the President’s plan from the
Association of American Railroads,
John J. Pelley, the president, said
he had “no comment.” Soon there
~~ (See RAIL STRIKE, Page A-4.)
Argentine Police Seize 100
In Clash With Labor Group
By the Associated Press
BUENOS AIRES, May 18.— I
Several persons were injured and!
more than 100 were arrested early |
today during a clash between po
lice and Labor party demonstrators
in Cordoba.
The fighting started when police
sought to break up a meeting of
Laoor party members who had been
demonstrating against Argentino
Auchter. the new governor of Cor
doba Province. Auchter took the
oath of office yesterday before the
supreme court after Labor members
refused to attend a legislative ses
sion, making it imposible to hold
the customary inauguration cere
mony.
The Labor party supported
Auchter, a member of the dissident
Radical party, in the February elec- \
tion but later broke with him over;
the distribution of patronage. |
UNRRA Gives Hungary
Million Cans of Fish
By the Associated Press
BUDAPEST, May 18.—Distribu
tion of 1,000,000 cans of fish from
UNRRA to hospitals, other institu
tions and public kitchens was
scheduled for today. Stanley I.
Sommer of Washington, chief of
the UNRRA mission to Hungary,
announced. This is the first
UNRRA shipment to Hungary.
- I
MOSCOW, May 18 (JP).—UNRRA
supplies for China, "thanks to Chi
nese ofEc'als, reach a market where
they are sold at speculative prices”
instead of going to the hungry, the
periodical New Times charged to
day.
"The authorities do not even try
to curb speculators,” the article
said.
4
¥ ------
I _
Trains Leaving District Delayed
4 Hours in Contusion at Station
Crews Refuse to Believe Strike Postponement;
Potomac Yards Deserted Before Deadline
(Pictures on Page A-l5.)
Washington railroad facilities
went through all the confusion
of a strike plus the hubbub of
getting the trains rolling again
last night before trainmen would
believe the national walkout had
been postponed.
It was 8 p.m.—four hours after
the deadline postponement of the
strike—before trains began operat
ing at something akin to normal
at Union Station and the crowds
that had milled through the con
course during the afternoon
thinned to the Saturday night av
erage.
Delays up to nearly four hours
on departures of crack passenger
trains were recorded before all po
tential strikers were convinced the
walkout called by engineers and
trainmen had been postponed five
days.
In contrast to the confusion at
Union Station, the mammoth Po
tomac Yards at Alexandria were
like a graveyard. When the strik
ing hour of 4 p.m. arrived, the
normally teeming 110 miles of
Manhattan Rail Snarl
Is Worst Since '22;
Thousands Held Up
Unions Receive Word
2 Hours, 45 Minutes •
After Other Points
By tht Associated Press
NEW YORK, May 18.—The Na
tion’s great railroads slowly i
worked their way tonight out of
the worst transportation tieup
here since the strike in 1922 as
thousands of noisy, tired- peoffle i
clamored for places in the cars. |
Grand Central Terminal was
jammed with would-be travelers.
It was with some difficulty that
those holding reservations got to
their trains. Some didn't.
The same conditions prevailed in
Pennsylvania Station.
The traffic snarl was occasioned
when union leaders waited for I
official word that the strike set for
4 p.m. had been postponed for five
days.
Word Received Late.
That word was received two hours
and 45 minutes after the announce
ment was made in Cleveland and
Washington.
As crews were called to duty, once
the official word was received, the
untangling of the traffic situation |
began.
Thomas J. Harkins, Eastern rep
resentative of the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers, estimated it
would be at last eight hours—some
time after midnight—before normal
passenger service was restored.
The situation presented great
difficulties for suburban residents j
dependent on commuter trains toj
get home from Manhattan. Only!
a few of the trains which daily!
carry millions into Westchester!
County, out to Long Island, and into
New Jersey, and Connecticut were
running hours after the strike was;
postponed.
90 Trains Halted in N. Y. C.
An official of the New York Cen
tral Railroad estimated that 90
trains, incoming and outgoing here,
were brought to a stop during the
day and early evening. They
normally carry about 50,000 persons.
Delayed were such mainliners as
the "Broadway Limited,” ‘‘Spirit of
St. Louis,” "The Jeffersonian,” "The
Red Arrow.” “Twentieth Century
Limited,” "The Senator” and “The j
Cincinnati Limited."
Before the trains began to run
again, bus lines were deluged with
pleas for transportation. Hotels,
already crowded, were swamped with
requests for rooms.
Coupled with it was a cancella
tion of airplane flights because of
bad weather.
Some unusual events attended the
travel today.
The New York State Conservation
(See MANHATTAN. Page A-4.)
Massed Crowds in Essen
Looting Food Trains Daily
By the Associated Press
HERFORD, Germany, May 18.—
Wholesale looting of food trains by
massed crowds in the Essen area—
involving a number of clashes be
tween German police and civilians
—has taken place nearly every day
this month, uie British military
government disclosed today.
Crowds in some cases numbered
more than 500. More than 100
persons have been arrested in this
area since the beginning of the
month, it was announced.
The food trains concerned con-;
tained mainly potatoes. Normal ci-'
vilian consumers in the Essen area
have received no potato ration for
four months and the official state
ment said that, “Whatever counter
measures are employed by the po
lice, tile local population will seize
every opportunity to loot food
trains until the local food situation
becomes less acute and reverts to a
normal ration standard.”
track was almost deserted as 1,500
employes heeded the walkout order.
It was several hours before Martin
H. Miller, national legislative rep
resentative of the Brotherhood of
Railroad Trainmen, could assure
all of them there was no strike.
Most of the train-delaying trouble
at Union Station was caused by the
hasty departure of 100 yard and
maintenance men responsible for 21
switch engines which make up trains
at the terminal.
It was not until shortly after 4
p.m. that Bernard F. Tolson, ter
minal manager, heard of the strike
postponement. By 4:10 p.m., when
the new's wras broadcast over the
station loud speakers to hundreds of
persons caught in the jam, it was
not easy to persuade workmen to
return.
Normal by 10 P.M.
But with the help of Mr. Miller,
who was running from place to
place carrying the union’s back-to
work order, most of the terminal
employes were on hand at 8 p.m. i
and by 10 p.m. the station looked
perfectly normal to the casual ob- :
server.
Size of the crow'd at the adver
<See TRAINS, Page A-4.)
(District Bread Output
To Be 25% of Normal;
Bakers Plan Strike
Union Wants More Work;
Flour Shortage to Shut
One Dealer Entirely
As Washington housewives dis
covered it increasingly hard to
find bread in the stores, an
nouncement of the closing of one
District bakery next week, fur
ther curtailing of other bakeries1
because of the wheat shortage1
and the possibility of a bakers’
union strike last night formed
threats to the District bread
supply.
Melvin Ottenberg of Ottenberg’s!
Bakery said he had enough wheat*
for one week's production “and no
more in sight.” He said the bakery
will dose at the end of the week
after 75 years of uninterrupted pro-1
duction. Although the bakery spe
cializes in rye bread, some wheat
flour is necessary in its manufac-1
ture, he said.
Most District bakeries will be re
duced to approximately 25 per cent
of their normal production next
week according to estimates of
Lewis G. Graeves, president of the
Potomac States Bakers' Association
which represents more than 150
bakiers in the area.
“Strike to Get Work.”
Charles B. McClosky, business
agent of Local 118. Bakery and Con
fectionery Workers International of
America, said if the union’s execu
tive board and the union member
ship vote to strike next week "it
will be a strike for work.”
He explained that the curtailment
of production had reduced dras
tically the take-home pay of bakers
by eliminating overtime. Most bak
ers are engaged in making rolls and
other products which are being
dropped by the bakeries, he said.
fThis cut in take-home pay was
confirmed by Mr. Graeves. He esti- j
mated the bakers had been reduced
from 10 to 20 per cent in wages be
cause of the lesser production.
"Usually the bakers work a six
day week of which one day is at
overtime pay. In addition they
usually W'ork a number of hours
other than that. With less produc
tion we have no men working over
time,’' he stated.
Mr. Graeves explained that one
reason the local bakeries cannot get
enough flour is that for the past
three months flour mills have been
refusing to sign new contracts. “We
have to depend on spot shipments of
(See BAKERS, Page A-6.)
Truman Will Accept Changes
In Labor Laws, Capitol Hill Told
President Declared Opposed, However,
To Drastic Restrictions on Unions
By the Associated Press
President Truman was repre
sented on Capitol Hill yesterday
as being willing for Congress to
make some changes in labor dis
putes laws but opposing any
drastic restrictions on unions.
Legislators who have discussed the
matter recently with Mr. Truman
said he expressed the hope that any
action Congress takes will not be
such as to force him to veto the
resultant legislation.
Despite the difficulties the Presi-!
dent has had in attempting to bring!
about settlements in controversies'
between management and unions in
major industries, none of his Capitol
Hill friends thinks he has altered the
friendly attitude he maintained
toward organized labor while in the
Senate.
For that reason, they say they
have no doubt that the President
would veto any restrictions he felt
► --
Federal Control
Order Contingent
On Lewis' Stand
By James Y. Newton
The Government last night
faced the problem of seizing the
Nation’s soft coal mines as the
only apparent way of prevent
ing a new work stoppage when
John L. Lewis’ 15-day strike
truce expires Saturday.
But even that method of dealing
with the crisis depended on Mr.
Lewis’ acceptance of plans for Gov
ernment negotiation of a work con
tract now going forward.
Government labor officials said a
final attempt to settle the wide dif
ferences between the mine workers
and the coal operators probably
would be made before issuance of
a last-ditch seizure order. It is
planned to call both sides into an
other conference which may be
held quietly at the White House.
Believe Talks Will be Futile. |
The mine operators expressed the
belief that another meeting with
Mr. Lewis would be futile and are
more or less resigned to Govern
ment seizure and negotiation of a
contract, at least for the period of
Federal operation just as was done
to end the 1943 strikes. Several
operators expressed the opinion that
the Government could make a bet
ter deal with Mr. Lewis than they
could.
Operators received widespread re
ports from the coal fields that Mr.
Lewis had summoned his 250-man
policy committee to a meeting here
this week. A union spokesman said
such a move was considered al
though he denied the summons had
been issued.
Action by the Policy Committee
w’ould not be necessary for a re
newal of the costly mine strike. Its
presence here could only mean there
is possibility of extending the truce
or settling the whole contract con
troversy.
U. S. Officials Reluctant.
Mr. Lewis believes a contract could
be worked out with the Govern
ment within a short time. But Fed-!
eral officials are reluctant to deal
with the more controversial Lewis (
demands for union-directed health
and welfare fund and unionization
of mine supervisory and clerical em
ployes.
Meanwhile Senator Connally,
Democrat, of Texas, just back from;
the Paris foreign ministers’ meeting.!
told a news conference he doesn't!
see why seizure of the coal mines
wouldn’t work.
“The miners went back to work a
year ago when the Government took
over the mines,” he said. "I think
they would remain on the job now
if the Government took over.”
Senator Connally is co - author •
with ReDresentative Smith, Demo
crat of Virginia, of War Emergency
Legislation which permits the Gov
ernment to take over struck proper
ties and provides penalties for those
who advocate strikes in the face of
such action.
Truman Leaving Today
To Receive College Degree
President Truman is flying back'
to Missouri this afternoon to see his
93-year-old mother and tomorrow
will accept an honorary degree in a
campus ceremony at William Jewell
College, Liberty, Mo., and then re
turn to the Capital.
The President is due to take off
from Bolling Field at 1:30 p.m. in the'
'‘Sacred Cow,” and will land at Fair
fax Airport, in Kansas City. Kans.
The flight requires about 4 hours. j
He is to go perhaps immediately to|
the Truman home at Grandview, to.
greet his mother, Mrs. Martha Tru-i
man, who was confined to bed wtih a
cold when he phoned fcer a week ago,
on Mother’s Day. Mr. Truman will
spend the night in Kansas City and
motor tomorrow to nearby Liberty.
The college exercises are scheduled
about 1 p.m.
Both Mr. Truman’s plane and an I
accompanying press plane are taking j
off from Bolling Field to avoid the!
congestion at National Airport.
would lay too heavy a hand on the
activities of unions. But they add
that thus far Mr. Truman has not
said which of pending Senate pro
posals he likes or which he dislikes.
The matter reportedly was dis
cussed at some length at last week’s
meeting of legislative leaders at the
White House. Mr. Truman was rep
resented as having listened atten
tively while Majority Leader Bark
ley explained what is before the
Senate, but as having offered no
suggestions of his own.
Remarks by Secretary of Labor
Schwellenbach at an Atlantic Crt!y
meeting of the CIO steelworkers
Friday were taken generally on
Capitol Hill as a clear-cut indi
cation that the administration is
not weakening the political ties
it has maintained with labor unions.
Mr. Schwellenbach urged the CIO
group to expand its already con
siderable political activities, declar
(See STRIKE CONTROL, P. A-4.)
k
€
j
I CANT UNDERSTAND k
WHY SOME PEOPLE ARE*
WORRYING ABOUT THE <
7ATOMIC BOMB, m
Commissioners Ready to Yield
In Fight for Welfare Control
Reported Willing to Give Up Jurisdiction
Except Over D. C. Penal Institutions
COL. CURTIS REID named to suc
ceed Botkin as resident superin
tendent of jail. Page A-2
By John W. Thompson, Jr.
The Commissioners were re
liably reported last night ready
to give up their four-year battle
to take over welfare administra
tion in the District from the
Board of Public Welfare.
They were said to be ready to
support a Board of Public Welfare
bill for an autonomous welfare
board by the Commissioners to ad
minister the entire welfare program
now in effect except for the penal
institutions. The board now is only
semiautonomous.
The bill was drafted by tpe board
as its proposed substitute' for the
measure sponsored by Commission
er John Russell Young in 1942 to
Foreign Military Men
Land on Puerto Rico
Carrier Planes Support
Operation Simulating
Pacific Conquests
By Norman A. Kohl
Star Staff Correspondent
MEDIO MUNDO, Puerto Rico,
May 18.—Nearly two score naval
and military attaches, repre
senting virtually all of the!
United Nations, stood today on
the deck of the American de
stroyer Ozbourn, about three
miles offshore, to watch the
Marines demonstrate the tactics
that helped win the Pacific war.
The foreign dignitaries saw about
5,000 Leathernecks storm this palm
fringed beach on the coast of Puerto
Rico in a simulated operation which
veterans said resembled some of the
toughest island campaigns of the
Pacific.
There was just one big difference,
there wasn't any shooting. The
Marines carried full equipment, in
cluding rifles, bazookas and mortars
but they weren’t using them. And
there wasn’t anyone but an army of'
cameramen to shoot at them when!
they waded ashore from their land
ing craft.
Planes Support Assault.
The “invaders” were put ashore
by Task Force 100, which has been
maneuvering in the Caribbean area
for the past 10 days. Their beach
assault was supported by carrier
planes launched from the Franklin
D. Roosevetflflpdway and Princeton
—nucleus of Admiral Marc A
Mitscher’s 8th Fleet, which is also
carrying on war games in this area.
The foreign observers were
brought from San Juan aboard the
Ozbourn just before the make-be
lieve invasion began, in revival of
an old American custom of letting
the rest of the world watch and
assess military power during prac
tice. They remained on the de
stroyer throughout the landings,
which lasted about an hour, and
followed the operations throqgh
binoculars.
The Marines' campaign will not
be over until they have advanced
nearly 4,000 yards of terrain against
imaginary opposition. To seize the
airstrip of this all but deserted
naval base. At the same time, the
attacking forces are expanding the
beachhead tflksecure docks and other
shore installations for the landing of
(See MARINES, Page A-2.) .
Premier and Cabinet
Of Lebanon Resign
By th» Associated Press
BEYROUTH, May 18.—Premier
Sami Solh of Lebanon submitted
his resignation and that of his
cabinet today following the with
drawal of two of his ministers.
The Lebanese republic faces a
further crisis Monday in a general
strike called by the Federation of
Trade Unions in an effort to force
passage of legislation favoring
labor. ,
k
strip the welfare board of all ad
ministrative power and make it
advisory to a welfare department
under the Commissioners.
House to Get Plan.
Under the substitute plan, ex
pected to be disclosed formally at
a House District Subcommittee
hearing tomorrow, the Commission- j
ers would be stripped of their pres
ent powers of hiring and firing wel- j
fare employes and retain only finan- ;
cial control similar to that they ex-'
ercise over the Board of Education.
Commissioner Guy Mason said he
favors making up the nine-member
board of three members^ from the
Federation of Citizens’ Associations,
three from the Council of Social
Agencies, and three from the public
i See'WELFARE BOARD, Page A-2.1
2 D. C. Area Officers
Die in Army Plane
Crash in Michigan
Col. Rueben C. Moffat
Of Falls Church and
Capt. E. D. Scott Victims
Col. Rueben C. Moffatt, 49. of
510 East Broad street, Falls
Church, Va.. and Capt. Ernest D.
Scott, jr., 26, formerly of 3549
Springland lane N.W., were
among five men killed in the
crash of an Army C-45 transport
plane on a training flight in;
Michigan yesterday, it was an
nounced at Bolling Field here
last night.
Tech. Sergt. Harry L. Widek, 31,
whose wife lives at Coraopolis. Pa.,
was the only other victim whose
identity was made public immedi
ately. Bolling Field officials, with-'
held the names of two sailors killed j
in the crash until their next of|
kin can be notified.
The plane took off from Selfridge
Field at 11:47 a.m. for Bolling Field
and crashed a few minutes later
near Memphis, Mich., 25 miles north
of Selfridge Field.
The Associated Press reported
that observers saw the plane hurtle
through an overcast and apparently
explode either in the air or as it
struck the ground. It did not catch
fire.
Brig. Gen. B. M. Hovey, jr„ com
(SeiTCRASH, Page A-16.)
Korean Red Publisher
Closed by Americans
By the Associated Press
SEOUL. May 18.—The American
Military Government, champion of
a free press in Korea, cracked
down on a Communist publishing
plant today. It was printing coun
terfeit money, AMG officials said.
Officers closed the Chikazawa
Press on which the Communist
party organ for South Korea, Hai I
Bang Ilbo, is printed. Some 9,000,000
yen in counterfeit notes already
had been turned out there, mili
tary government officials said.
Excellent Visibility Is Promised
For Jet Planes' Arrival Today
The Army Air Forces’ own
weatherman last night predicted
excellent visibility for the AAF’s
open house at National Airport this
afternoon featuring 25 jet-propelled
Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars and
five Fairchild C-82 Packets.
Capt. Cleve Stauffer, Bolling Field
forecaster, saw rough weather for
the mass flight from Smyrna, Tenn.,
before it appears over Washington
at 11:45 a.m., but a partially cloud
ed sky should be good for the 50,000
or more spectators expected at the
airport when the show opens at 2
p.m.
Washington thus will get more
than a glimpse of the first mass
flight of jet aircraft, accompanied
by new, fast and large capacity
transport planes.
After a brief talk by Maj. Gen.
Elwood R. Quesada, commanding
Health Report Urges
Eugenic Sterilization
Of D. C. Mentally III
Legal Machinery
For Commitments
Called Obsolete
By Harold B. Rogers
Calling for a “clean sweep of
the inhumane and obstructive”
legal machinery for admitting
mental patients to District hos
pitals, the metropolitan health
and hospital survey charged last
night that the present system
not only makes it difficult for
mental patients to get treat
ment, but is “offensive to both
common sense and common de
cency.”
For control of mental defectives,
chapter VIII of the survey report
proposed that eugenic sterilization
be permitted for inherited forms
of defects.
The portion of the survey devoted
to ‘‘mental hygiene" found the Dis
trict suffered from the lack of any
general policy or community facil
ities for mental defectives. Listed
as minimum requirements for an
effective community program of
control over mental defectives
were:
1. Eugenic sterilization permissive
for inherited forms of defects.
2. Compulsory reporting and reg
istration of all mentally defective
individuals in the District as iden
tified by physicians, social agencies,
schools or other sources of recog
nition.
3. Investigation of the homes for
reasonable insurance against mental
defectives becoming delinquent or a
menace to themselves or others.
4. Placement in foster homes or
institutes where necessary.
5. Expansion of present public
school facilities for ungraded in
struction or other special training
and making such education com
pulsory instead of optional “as it
appears to be at present.”
6. Continued supervision of men
tal defectives in their jobs and in
society generally.
Facilities Found Lacking.
While the survey leveled the worst
indictment against the system of
admitting mental patiente to public
hospitals, it found the District
lacking in sufficient hospital and
clinic facilities for the treatment
of the mentally ill, unsatisfactory in
its institutions for juvenile delin
quents. and in need of a city-wide
preventive hygiene program.
The outstanding institutional
needs for which the District has
made no provision, the survey said,
were suitable facilities for the care
of defective delinquents, ^facilities
for the commitment and treatment
of inebriates or chronic alcoholics
without mental disease, and a prison
ward at Gallinger to safeguard pris
oners under observation before trial
or commitment.
On the score of commitment, the
survey commented that adequate
provision for treatment of mental
illness presupposes ready access to
treatment facilities by all in need of
them, but this “does not exist in the
District today.”
The fault, said the survey, lies in
the “obstructive legalities” involved
in admitting mentally ill District
residents to the psychopathic divi
(See HEALTH, Page A-5.>
general of the Tactical Air Com
mand, to explain the purpose of
the flight, the Shooting Stars and
huge transports will take to the air
for a 45-minute demonstration over
the city.
Following the hour and twenty
minute program including the in
troduction of Lt. Gen. Ira C. Eaker,
deputy AAF commander, and music
by the AAF band, the spectators
will be given a close-range look at
the planes while crews stand by to
answer questions.
Capable of 660 miles an hour, the
jet planes are completing a trans
continental flight begun at March
Field, Calif., May 15. The flight
is testing feasibility of long-distance
movements accompanied by main
tenance crews.
Shooting Stars recently flgufed in
~(See JET PLANES, Page A-6.)
WM&A Drivers
Stage Walkout
In Pay Dispute
Bus Union Action
To Affect 25,000
Workers in District
(Picture on Page A.-6.)
Employes of the Washington,
Marlboro & Annapolis Motor
Lines, Inc., which brings into
Washington daily about 25,000
persons from 15 Maryland com
munities between the District
line and Chesapeake Beach,
walked out at midnight last
night over a 4-cent wage dispute.
James M. Halcombe. president of
Local 1365, Amalgamated Associa
tion of Electric Railway and Motor
Coach Employes, AFL, declared that
more than two-thirds of the union's
130 members yesterday voted against
the company's proposal of $1.06 an
hour for operators, insisting on
$1.10.
He explained that ‘‘this is not a
strike,” but that the union members
simply would not work without a
contract. The contract under which
they had been operating expired at
midnight.
Meeting Scheduled Today.
A meeting between Government
| conciliators and union and com
pany officials, at which the issue
will be discussed, is scheduled to be
j held today, it was learned last night
from Raymond Johns, secretary of
■.he local.
The conciliation meeting was be
ing arranged by Richard Goedrick
of the United States Conciliation
Service.
One of those who will attend the
meeting, Mr. Johns said, will be
Clayton Perry, president of the
union’s Local 1300, in Baltimore,
who has been called to represent
the union.
Union members reported to the
home of their president, Mr. Hal
combe. last night between 9:30 and
midnight, as they completed their
runs.
Terminal Picketing Planned.
•As they reported to the union
president’s home at 2109 Fairlawn
avenue S.E., they were assigned
to set up 24-hour picketing, without
signs, at the bus terminal, 403
Eleventh street N.W.. and the office
and garage, 1510 Southern avenue
S.E.
Leslie L. Altmann, president of
the lines, said in a prepared state*
| ment, thatNfthe company “has no
.further proposition ttf'make to the
I union and there is now no arbitra
j ble issue."
; He added that the company’s pay
| roll would be increased by $40,000
; under the contract his company
l proposed, and that to accept the
; union’s demands would add another
j $10,000.
Mr. Altmann said the new cdK^ract,
! which already has been approved
by a committee representing the
union in all respects except wages,
calls for a 19-cent hourly increase
for bus operators and an increase
of from 13 to 18 cents an hour for
shop and garage employes.
19-Cent Offer Made.
The 19-cent figure. Mr. Altmann
explained, includes a 6-cent an hour
increase given to the operators last
January under the expiring con
tract. At present, according to Mr.
Altmann, the operators receive 93
cents an hour.
The new contract also provides
for a union shop and an extra week’s
vacation after four years’ service,
the company president said. Em
ploye? now get one week’s vacation
after four years.
The union has refused arbitration,
Mr. Altmann said.
Passenger points served by the
line include Andrews Field, the Navy
Hydrographic Office and Census
Bureau at Suitland.
Among the communities that are
served are Capitol Heights, Seat
Pleasant, Suitland, Temple Hills,
Silver Hill, Forestville, Ardmore,
Carmody Hills, Oaklawn, District
Heights. Marlboro, Chesapeake
Beach. North Beach, Bradbury
Heights, and intermediate points.
Field to Increase Service.
The Andrews Field public rela
tions office announced last night
it would increase its regular bus
(See WM&A, Page A-67) '
Two Texas Tornadoes
Kill Two, Injure Five
By the Associated Press
DENTON, Tex., May 18—Two
persons were killed in North Texas
tonight by two tornadoes and at
least five were injured. Incomplete
reports showed at least nine homes,
a Masonic hall, church, general
store and part of a school gym
nasium were demolished.
Joyce Hammond, 11, was killed
instantly when a tornado hit at
Sanger, Tex., 12 miles from Denton,
and J. L. Howard, 82. was killed
when his home was demolished at
Stoneburg, Montague County.
Three other persons, including
Mrs. Charlie Hammond, mother of
Joyce, were injured at Sanger and
five houses were leveled.
lightning Kills Two
Maryland Farmers
By th« Associated Press
EASTON, Md„ May 18.—Louis
Denny, 47, and Frederick R. Ham
mond, 30, farmers, were killed this
afternoon by a bolt of' lightning
as they walked beneath a clothes
line in the yard of their home near
Newcomb.
Members of the St. Michael’s
Fire Department, called to admin
ister artificial respiration, worked
unsuccessfully for more than an
hour.
Radio Programs, Pg. C-8
Complete Index, Pg. A-2