Evening star. [volume], January 17, 1947, Image 1

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

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Weather Forecast
Mostly cloudy this p.temoon, high in low 40s.
Cloudy tonight, low about 32. Tomorrow
occasional rain.
Temperatures today—High, 45, at 12:01 am.;
low, 37, at 7:50 a.m. Yesterday—High, 56,
at 9:15 pm.; low, 43, at 7:50 a.m.
(Pull Report on P*«e A-2.)
Late New York Markets. Page A-Z3._
■ — 11 ■ \ ‘
Guide for Readers
Page.
Amusements - A-19
Comics_B-22-23
Editorials.A-12
Editorial Articles A-13
Finance _A-23
Lost and Found. .A-3
Page.
Obituary .A-14
Radio .B-23 „
Society, Clubs -_B-3
Sports .A-20-21
Where to Go-B-4
Woman's Page-.A-18
An Associated Press Newspaper
95th YEAR. No. 57,512 Phone NA. 5000.
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WASHINGTON, D. C., FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1947—FORTY-EIGHT PAGES. ★★★
City Home Delivery. Daily and Sunday 5* pwvrrnQ
80e a Month. When S Sundays. SI .00 JUXa i. O
Arnall Sets Up
His 'Capitol' in
Office Building
Loses Desk Under
Rotunda to Aide
Of Talmadge
By the Associated Press
ATLANTA, Jan. 17.—Herman
Talmadge seized complete con
trol of Georgia’s Capitol today
and forced Ellis Arnall to move
to a downtown office building.
Arnall, who has been Governor
for the last four years and claims
he is still the State's legal executive
despite the Legislature’s naming of i
his rival, announced his intention
to establish the Arnall Capitol
downtown after a brief encounter
with a Talmadge lieutenant at the
State House.
The Talmadge lieutenant, State
Representative Jimmy Dykes, ear
’ lier had seized the desk in the Capi
tol rotunda which Mr. Arnall oc
cupied yesterday after being ex
cluded from the executive chambers.
Mr. Arnall walked jauntily up the
marble steps and entered the Capi
tol door at 10:16 a.m. and headed
directly for the Capitol rotunda.
Exchange of Bitter Words.
• He strode up to Representative
Dykes and said “Jimmie, I’m Gov
ernor.” «
Mr. Dykes interrupted to say
“Ellis Amall, you remind me of a
hog. You got your head in the
trough and you just can’t stop.”
Mr. Amall asked “Have you taken
my office?”
“I have” was the reply. “I’m re
fusing to let you sit here. You have
no more right to be Governor than
I have.”
Mr. Arnall retorted “Well, let’s
see.”
Then, turning to the press, and
speaking into a radio microphone,
he said “To the people of Georgia—
as Governor of Georgia, I have
been denied access to the State
Capitol Building ....’’
Mr. Dykes shouted, “That’s a lie.”
Mr. Arnall continued:
“* * * today, denied access to my
office in the rotunda of the Capitol.
In order not to discredit the people
of Georgia and to create disturbance,
I’m moving to 1407 Chandler Building
(in downtown Atlanta) there to
function as chief executive.
Interrupted by Cheers.
“I am sure the courts will uphold
me as legal Governor and not the
forces bent on violence.”
He was interrupted repeatedly by
cheers from the surrounding crowd.
Speaking again over the din, he
continued:
“Accordingly, I shall ask my sec
retarial staff to meet me at 1407
Candler Building to function until
the courts remove the pretender who
by force and storm troopers, a mili
tary coup d'etat, that is a disgrace
to Georgia and the people of
Georgia, has undertaken to seize
control of the State government.
Mr. Arnall went directly to the
office o? secretary of State, Ben
7ortson, jr., where he signed a
iocument and before presenting it
.d Mr. Fortson announced:
“Gentlemen, this is merely another
evidence of the fact that I have this
day continued to function as Gov
ernor of Georgia. I am leaving this
document with the secretary of State
as a written testimonial of that.”
Its contents were not disclosed
mmediately.
Leaves for Office.
He then shook hands with Mr.
Tortson,' and announced that he was
caving for his law offices downtown
.here “I will continue to'do business
:.s the Governor.”
While the Arnall-Dykes exchange
was going cn in the rotunda, Mr.
Talmadge in the nearby executive
chambers met newsmen for his
ccond news conference of the day.
ieside him was his military com
mander, Adjt. Gen. Marvin Griffin.
The clashing cheers and boos of
Arnall and Talmadge followers out
side echoed into the conference.
Mr. Talmadge' announced that he
had been served with court papers
ordering him to show cause Febru
ary 7 why he should continue as
Governor, but did not know whether
he would answer it. The suit was
filed by attorney General Eugene
Cook at 3Kr. Amall’s direction.
Mr. Talmadge described the suit
as “an attempt to create more
confusion.” He closed the con
ference by assuring newsmen that
“everything is quiet.”
During the exchange with Mr.
Arnall, Mr. Dykes, a hefty former
high school football star, offered
to take off his coat and fight any
one in the house. There were no
takers.
Mr. Talmadge said he visited the
Executive Mansion which his State
troopers took over yesterday, but
did not sleep there last night.
The first exchange of the day be
(See:GEORGIA, Page A-3.)
Three Die as Fire Sweeps
Hotel in Watertown, N. Y.
By the Associated Press
WATERTOWN. N. Y„ Jan. 17.—
Three persons died today and two
others were injured when fire swept
the three-story Graystone Hotel
here.
Twenty-two other guests fled to
safety or 'Were rescued by firemen.
Two of the dead werb identified
at a funeral home as William Mul
len. 65. and Eugene E. Godfrey, 63,
both of this city.
Samuel Poole. 65, also of Water
town, died in Mercy Hospital, where
the condition of Joseph Kling, 74,
was listed as serious.
A filth person, Clarence Kendrew,
22, was treated at the House of Good
Samaritan, for shock.
Cause of the blaze, brought under
control after three hours, has not
been determined.
Twenty-seven guests occupied
rooms on the second and third floors
of the 37-room brick-and-wood
hotel, known for years as the City
Hotel, a landmark here.
t
U. S. Worker Is Indicted as Red;
Was in OSS, State Department
Falsely Stated He Was Not Communist,
Grand Jury Charges in First Result of Probe
By William A. Millen
The District grand jury today
indicted Carl Aldo Marzani, alias
Tony Whales, 35, a former State
Department employe here, on
charges of making false state
ments in denying his member
ship in the Communist Party.
The Justice Department said the
indictment is the result of an in
vestigation that has been under way
for some time. The Justice Depart
ment and other Federal agencies
have been inquiring into Govern
ment employes suspected of subver
sive affiliations, officials said.
This indictment is the first to re
sult from this investigation, officials
declared.
A State Department spokesman
indicated other similar prosecutions
may be forthcoming. He said Mar
zani was “one of those against whom
the department's evidence, after ex
haustive investigation, was deemed
sufficient to justify his dismissal and
a submission of the facts to the
Attorney General for criminal
prosecution.”
The Justice Department said,
Marzani is a native of Rome, Italy.
When his father became naturalized
in 1928, he attained American citi
zenship. The department gave his
address as 508 North Filmore street,
Arlington, Va.
The grand jury charged Marzani
in 11 counts with violations of sec
tion 80, Title 18 of the United States
Code. This law is commonly known
as the “fraud upon the Govern
ment” statute. It provide a $10,000
fine or 10 years’ imprisonment, or
both, for making false or fraudulent
statements in matters within the
jurisdiction of Federal, departments
or agencies. Each of the 11 counts
charges Marzani with a separate
offense.
Marzani is charged in the indict
ment with making false statements
(See MARZANI, Page A-2.)
New Sensations Sure
If War Probe Goes On,
Brewster Promises
Senator Wants Look
At Special Secret Funds,
Mobilization Report
BULLETIN
Senator Tydings, Democrat,
I of Maryland urged the Senate
today to turn over the work of
its special War Investigating
Committee to the standing
Committee on Executive Ex
penditures. This was regarded
as a new maneuver to block a
Republican effort to continue
the war investigating group
for a year.
By J. A. O'Leary
New sensations in connection
with the cost of the war were
promised today by Chairman
Brewster of the Senate War In
vestigating Committee if the
committee is kept alive another
year.
As the Senate neared a vote on
the extension the Maine Republican
said that if given the go sign he
will call on the White Housegfor:
Detailed information on how the
late President Roosevelt and Presi
dent Truman spent about $648,000,
000 of special war funds that were
clothed with secrecy while the fight
ing was going on.
A secret mobilization report, pre
pared before this country entered
the war. Senator Brewster said Mr.
Truman tried without success to get
this report while he was chairman
of the Senate War Investigating
Committee.
Meanwhile, Senator Taylor, Dem
ocrat, of Idaho, declared after a
visit to the White House that Mr.
Truman favors discontinuance of
all special Senate committees.
Most of the 44 Democratic Sena
tors are taking the same view, con
tending that if any special com
mittee is continued it will start a
gradual weakening of the Con
gressional Reorganization Act, under
which the House and Senate are
trying to increase their efficiency.
The Republicans deny that ex
tension of one or two special com
mittees is contrary to the spirit of
the La Follette-Monroney Act.
They point out that the Senate re
fused to write into that act a spe
cific ba'n against special committees.
As the third day of debate be
gun, Republican leaders were con
fident they have a majority for con
tinuance of the Brewster Commit
tee for a year, and a special Small
Business Committee for eight
1 (See COMMITTEES. Page A-4.)
De Gasperi in Rome,
Fights Political Crisis
•y th« Associated Press
ROME, Jan. 17.—Premier Alcide
de Gasperi returned today from a
two-week trip to the United States
and immediately began negotiations
to save his six-month-old, four
party government from a collapse
threatened by a Socialist Party split.
The Christian Democratic leader
arrived from Paris in a United
States Army transport plane this
morning. He greeted a welcoming
party of about 300. kissed his wife
and. children and then hurried off
to his office for political conferences.
Mr. de Gasperi, who won a prom
ise of a $100,000,000 loan from the
United States, said: “I will report
| to the President, to the government
!and to the Assembly on the eco
jnomic and political results of the
trip.”
He called for serious effort to
“consolidate the democratic-repub
lican regime in liberty and in popu
lar discipline.”
Pietro Nenni, Socialist Foreign
Minister and acting Premier, head
ed a group of Mr. de Gasperi’s min
isters on hand to greet him. Mr.
Nenni last week postponed a pro
jected ‘ visit to Britain because of
political confusion produced by his
party’s split. Some political com
mentators have called for his res
ignation on the ground his advocacy
of co-operation with the Commu
nists divided the party.
----
Danish King Reported
'Considerably Better'
By the Associated Press
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, J«m.
17.—A bulletin from Amalienborg
Castle said today that the condition
j of King Christian X was "con
siderably better,” and added that
the ailing monarch’s lung infection
was “decreasing.” His temperature
was said to be 100.4 degrees.
The Copenhagen press reported
yesterday that the King was re
ceiving penicillin treatment for his
lung inflammation.
Socialist Nominated
For Premiership by
French President
Ramadier, Economist and
Lawyer, Named After
Herriot Rejects Offer
BULLETIN
PARIS yP).—President Vin
cent Auriol tonight nominated
Socialist Paul Ramadier, 59
year-old economist and lawyer,
as French premier.
By the Associated Press
PARIS, Jan. 17.—President
Vincent Auriol offered the pre
miership today to Edouard Her
riot, but Mr. Herriot felt he could
not form a cabinet and turned
down the job, a member of his
Radical Socialist Party reported.
Leon Blum, the resigned interim
Premier, was reluctant to resume the
premiership, associates said. Mr.
Blum’s hesitancy, because he is 74
and not in good health, led to specu
lation that Mr. Auriol’s choice might
be one of two other Socialists—Paul
Remadier, recent Justice Minister,
or Edouard Depreux, resigned In
terior Minister.
The new President scheduled con
ferences with two leaders of the
French Communist Party, Jacques
Duclos and Maurice Thorez, both
reported willing to enter a coalition
cabinet if they get certain posts.
Observers say the Communists will
seek the foreign ministry.
Blum Formally Resigns.
The last, of France’s four post
was President-Premiers, Mr. Blum,
formally resigned last night, shortly
after returning from London, where
he had conferred with British
leauers on a future French-British
alliance.
Under the French constitution,
the President is required to nomi
nate a Premier after consulting
parliamentary leaders. The Premier
then drafts a program which he
submits to the National Assembly
—Parliament's lower house. .If the
Assembly approves the nominee’s
policies, he then sets about choosing
men for his cabinet posts.
Mr. Auriol spent lasj night in the
Assembly speaker’s quarters in the
Palais Bourbon—a post now vacant,
due to his elevation to the presi
dency. The presidential palace in
the Rue Faubourg St. Honore,
where he will spend the next seven
years, was not yet ready to receive
the new executive.
Herriot Due for Speakership.
Within the next few days the
Assembly will select Mr. Auriol's
successor for the speaker’s post.
(See FRANCE, Page A-4.)
Kansas City Star Misses
Edition in Carrier Strike
By the Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Jan. 17.—Con
tract carriers, members of the In
ternational Printing and Pressmen
and Assistants’ Union, AFL, pick
eted the Kansas City Star today,
demanding recognition as a bar
gaining agency and forced the news
paper to miss its first edition.
Union printers, stereotypers and
pressmen, reporting to work this
morning, refused to cross the picket
line and both the composing room
and pressroom of the newspaper
were idle.
Charles Bond of St. Louis, spocial
international representative of the
union, said the strike against the,
newspaper had been called because
the Star had refused to recognize
the contract carriers as employes
and the union as the bargaining
agency for them. He said pbout
208 carriers were involved.
Service Merger
Provides Single
Cabinet Officer
Subordinate Status
Planned for Heads
Of Three Units
(Texts on Page AS.)
By Joseph A. Fox
A single cabinet officer will
direct Army, Navy and air arms
under the new plan for unifying
the three services in a Depart
ment of National Defense, it was
announced at the White House
today. • ,
The individual secretaries for the
three units will have subcabinet
status.
The character of the machinery
to handle the new grouping was out
lined by Press Secretary Charles
G. Ross at a seminar for news
men this morning at which the
heads of the armed services pledged
their support to the program an
nounced last night and gave some
additional details as to its work
ings.
Co-operation Promised.
They also promised co-operation
and greater efficiency under the new
setup.
In the original White House an
nouncement last night that the
Army and Navy had agreed on a
unification plan, some confusion
arose over the explanation that the
Department of National Defense
would be headed by a secretary, as
would the Army, Navy and Air Force
Departments.
Mr. Ross told the seminar he had
checked on this point with the
President, who advised him that
“there will be one cabinet officer—
namely, the Secretary of National
Defense,” but that the other three
secretaries “may at any time be
called into cabinet meetings as
are other agency heads.”
Mr. Ross told other questioners
that the chief of the proposed new
setup—which must be approved by
Congress—would be a civilian, but
he said that did not preclude the
appointment of a man “who is now
wearing the uniform.”
Mr. Ross said also there had been
no dollar-and-cents estimate of the
savings that would be effected, but
Army and Navy officers expressed
the view that ultimately economies
would result through increased ef
ficiency in operation.
Those at Seminar.
Attending the seminar were Secre
tary of War Patterson, Secretary of
the Navy Forrestal, Gen. Eisen
hower, Army chief of staff; Admiral
Nimitz, chief of naval operations;
Admiral William D. Leahy, the
President’s personal chief of staff;
Maj. Gen. Lauris B. Norstad, War
Department planning chief, and
Vice Admiral F. P. Sherman, deputy
chief of naval operations. The
Army Air Forces was not directly
represented!
At the outset of the session,
Secretary Patterson, long an ad
vocate of unification, described the
proposed plan as “sound and work
able” and said the War Department
would give it wholehearted support.
“It provides the needed single
direction, but also retains local
autonomy for the three branches,”
Secretary Patterson said.
Secretary Forrestal, who has op
posed the merger, chimed in with a
jocular, “Me, too.”
Gen. Eisenhower, paying a tribute
to the Navy, Marine Corps and Air
Forces, and expressing his admira
tion for the way in which it had
been possible for all forces to work
together during the war, said he
felt it was a matter for “regret”
that the unification plan ever be
came an issue of service disagree
ment.
Program Sound, Says Nimitz.
He added his conviction that “the
United States will be a great gainer
by enactment of some bill of this
general nature.”
Admiral Nimitz said the proposed
program was sound and that it rep
(See MERGER, Page A-4.J
Clapp Asked to Explain
Russian Trip of TVA Men
By th« Associated Press
Senator McKellar, Democrat, of
Tennesssee said last night he had
requested Gordon R. Clapp, nominee
for chairman of the Tennessee Val
ley Authority, to explain what right
TVA had to send three of its engi
neers to Russia to explain its pro
gram.
Senator McKellar. long a foe of
David E. Lillienthal, former TVA
chairman, gave reporters copies of a
letter he has sent to Mr. Clapp,
which also asked 20 other questions.
- Chairman Revercomb of the Sen
ate Public Works Committee, now
considering the Clapp nomination,
said Mr. Clapp would appear Tues
day at a public hearing.
Congress Finds It Must Violate
Or Change Reorganization Act
By the Associated Press
House leaders face the choice to
day of violating the jealously
guarded Congressional Reorganiza
tion Act or rewriting it.
Their decision may determine
whether Representative Marcan
tonio, American Laborite, of -New
York, only minor party representa
tive in Congress, will be rescued
from his “man without a committee”
plight.
i To their surprise, congressional
leaders have discovered belatedly
I that the Reorganization Act of 1946
—hailed as the final word in stream
lining Congress and a charter not
to be tampered with—requires every
House member to serve on a com
mittee.
However, four members have not
been assigned and three have had
no intention of doing committee
work. The three are Speaker Mar
tin, Majority Leader Halleck and
Minority Leader Rayburn.
Mr. Marcantonio was pointedly
ignored by both Democrats and Re
publicans when they parceled out
their committee posts.
And traditionally neither the
Speaker nor party floor leaders
serve on committees. In the past,
however, that tradition did not con
flict with any law such as this pro
vision of the Reorganization Act:
'‘Each member shall be elected
to serve on one standing commit
tee * *
Mr. Rayburn, Mr. Martin and Mr.
Halleck conceded that a strict in
terpretation would require them to
take a committee assignment and
also would give Mr. Marcantonio a
legal claim for an assignment.
There still are five committee
vacancies, two Democratic and three
Republican.
Democrats are holding a place for
the representative to be elected to
fill an Alabama vacancy. Repub
licans are doing likewise for a Wis
consin vacancy.
The People's Choice
Excise Tax'Freeze' Adopted
Unanimously by House Group
Measure to Continue Wartime Postal Rate
Wil! Be Drafted for Introduction Soon
Bv Robert K. Walsh
The House Ways and Means
Committee today unanimously
approved legislation to extend
indefinitely the excise taxes on
liquor, jewelry, furs and other
luxury levies which otherwise
would expire July 1.
Chirman Knutson,, announced
that the committed hopes to obtain
floor action in the House early next
week. The bill, introduced by Repre
sentative Grant, Republican, of In
diana, would bring the Government
approximately $1,130,000,000 in ex
cise tax revenues during the fiscal
year beginning July 1, the commit
tee estimated.
Under the proclamation issued
January 1 by President Truman
terminating war hostilities, the ex
cise taxes would automatically expire
July 1. Mr. Truman recommended
that they be continued after that
date.
Committee members explained
that the effect of the Grant bill not
only is to freeze these present ex
cise taxes for an indefinite period
but also leave the committee free
to adjust specific luxury taxes at
any future time.
The committee also made two
other important moves today. It
announced that a bill will be In
troduced in the House soon to con
tinue the wartime postal rate, which
raised the local mailing charge from
2 to 3 cents and boosted mailing
costs in some other categories. This
also was urged by Mr. Truman and
is expected to yield $65,000,000 a
year.
The committee also voted to re
port out a bill introduced by Repre
(See TAXES, Page A-4.)
' J
Senate Report Urges
$1,500,000,000 Cut
In Military Budget
No Slashes at Cost
Of National Security
Planned, Bridges says
By the Associated Pres*
The Senate Appropriations
Committee received a report to
day showing Congress how to
whittle $1,500,000,000 off Presi
dent Truman’s budget estimates
for the Army and Navy.
Since the figures were prepared
even before the White House an
nouncement that the armed services
have agreed on a merger plan, they
gave economy advocates high hope
of making deep cuts in the $11,200,
000,000 Mr. Truman proposed for de
fense spending.
Congressional proponents of mer
ger have contended all along that
unifying the forces under a single
cabinet member would eliminate
many costly duplications.
Chairman Bridges of the Appro
priations Committee said no slashes
would be permitted at the cost of
national security. But he remarked
to a newsman that the report to the
committee was written by former
Army and Navy officers who know
their way around a budget.^
Bridges Gives No Details.
Their study indicated about $1,
000,000,000 could be lopped off the
War Department spending estimate
of more than $6,600,000,000, and half
as much off the Navy's allotment
of around $4,500,000,000. Senator
Bridges refused to give details.
Any such slash, cutting President,
Truman's figure for the armed
services to $9,700,000,000 would be
good news for legislators seeking to
balance the budget and trim taxes.
“As far as the Senate committee
is concerned,” Senator Bridges said.
“I think I can say that we are not
going in with a meat ax.
“We are going to see Jf we can’t
reduce the outlay by taking a little
away from here and a little away
from there, but I shall oppose any
cuts that can be shown to impair
national defense.”
The Army-Navy budget is likely
to be one of the main topics for
talk when 20 members of the Senate
(See DEFENSE, Page A-4.)
Chicago Apartment Fire
Kills Four, Hurts Two
By the Associated Press
CHICAGO, Jan. 17.—Four colored
children were killed and their
mother and their brother injured
last night in a fire in a four-story
apartment on the city’s Southwest
Side. More than 30 tenants were
routed by the blaze.
Mrs. Anna Hickman, 40, and two
of her sons, Willis, 20, and Leslie,
14, leaped from their attic apart
ment and Leslie was fatally injured.
Firemen found the bodies of the
other Hickman children, Alzana, 9;
Sylvester, 7, and Valvana, 3, near
a charred bed in the apartment
where the fire was believed to have
started. Their father,. Willis, was
at work.
Disunity Here Barred
Naming Jap1 Invasion
Chief, Patterson Says
Reveals No Commander
Was Chosen Due to Split
In Navy, Army Planning
By the Associated Press
CHICAGO, Jan. 17.—Secretary
of War Patterson disclosed to
day that wartime disunity of
command in Washington pre
vented agreement on a supreme
commander for the projected
invasion of Japan.
He added: “I trust that we shall
not face that condition again.”
In addressing the Council of State
Governments, Secretary Patterson
emphasized the value of the unified
command system used in the the
aters and commented on its lack in
the top planning levels in the capital.
His comment came only a day
after President Truman announced
"full and complete” agreement be
tween the Army and Navy on a plan
for unification of the Armed Forces.
Run by “Committee.”
Noting that Admiral Chester W.
Nimitz commanded all forces in the
Central Pacific and Gen. Douglas
MacArthur controlled Army, Navy
and air in the Southwest Pacific,
Secretary Patterson said:
“But in the planned invasion of
Japan no over-all commander ever
was selected. The reason for this
defect—and it might have been a
threat to success—was that here at
home there was no unified com
mand. The war was conducted by
two separate departments, the War
Department and the Navy Depart
ment, with the joint chiefs of staff
acting as a kind of committee.”
The Secretary, in discussing the
structure of the Nation’s present
military defenses, reiterated that the
day of "push-button war” has ar
rived as a result of scientific prog
ress.
Favors Disarmament.
For the first time. Secretary Pat
terson said, there are real prospects
of world organization for peace be
cause “the United Nations is a going
concern.”' He recalled that he is on
record as favoring disarmament
“across the board, from atomic
bombs to pistols.”
However, the fact remains “that
nations still talk and act in terms
of force.” Secretary Patterson said,
and the maintenance of an adequate
force by this country during the
period of transition is necessary.
Warren R. Austin told the Coun
cil last night that use of the veto
power in the United Nations Securi
ty Council to protect an aggressor
nation would nullify the U. N. Char
ter and that “there is only one
certain answer to nullification—
war in support of the law and of
the union.”
Mr. Austin, United States repre
sentative to the U. N. said use of
the veto “to protect the aggressor
from the consequences of his crime
would, in itself, be a violation of
the Charter.’*
Ok
At Least Seven Killed
As Train in California
Jumps Broken Rail
Hospital Reports 75
Or More Hurt in Wreck
Near Bakersfield
By the Associated Press
BAKERSFIELD, Calif., Jan.
17.—Seven persons were known
to have been killed, Coroner Nor
man Houze said today, and many
others were injured when the
Owl, Southern Pacific passenger
train, struck a broken rail 12
miles northwest of here early to
day. One or two more might
have died in the wreck, he added.
Deputy Coroner John Werts, also
at the wreck scene, said three of the
known dead are women. Some of the
bodies removed from the wreckage
were mangled, making determina-]
tion of the exact number killed
difficult.
Kern County General Hospital,
where most of the injured were
being treated, estimated them at
75 to 100, including those less seri
ously hurt.
The dead included these, tenta
tively identified:
James Leroy Hall, Kansas City,
Mo.; Bessie Diles and Pvt. Joseph
Bernavich. both of Richmond. Calif.
Hurled Through Windows.
Sheriff’s Deputy Jack Kiethley, the
first officer to return from the scene,
said an uncounted number of pas
sengers were hurled through train
vtfndows and crushed beneath the
weight of four coaches and a tour
ist sleeper, which were derailed and
overturned when the train south
bound from San Francisco to Los
Angeles hit a broken rail.
The deputy reported that the
wreckage was a ghastly scene and
that legs and arms were tom from
some of the victims.
“The halls are full of injured and
we are working on them desper
ately,” said an attendant at the
Kern County Hospital. One of the
injured was a youngster whose leg
was severed.
Ambulance crews, sheriff’s dep
uties and others worked feverishly
to' extricate the injured and rush
them to hospitals.
Six Ambulances Sent.
A Southern Pacific dispatcher
said the train, which left San Fran
cisco at 6:30 o’clock last night and
was due in Los Angeles at 8:25 this
morning, usually traveled at 60
miles an hour along the stretch
where the wreck occurred.
Sergt. L. E. Pryor of the sheriff’s
office at Bakersfield said six ambu
lances had been sent to the scene
at Lerdo, a small railway station
near Minter Field, wartime training
field for aviation cadets.
The engineer, H. P. Lawrence, and
the conductor, George Cochrane of
Los Angeles, were unhurt as the
locomotive and three baggage cars
behind it were not derailed. Seven
passenger cars of the 15-car train
remained upright.
Southern Pacific officials said the
train carried approximately 200
passengers.
State Highway Patrolman Jack
Bordeau said two soldiers on the
train, Marvin Stansberry- of Moul
ton, Iowa, and Orvis Humphrey of
Kidder, Mo., rescued many persons
from overturned cars by stamping
out windows and lifting out the in-1
jured.
tar icons into roiaio rieia.
Lester Ford, porter on one of the
overturned coaches, said most of the
injured were in one of the coaches
which left its truck and hurtled into
a potato field.
“X heard a roaring and grinding
as the car I was in started rolling
up track in front of it,” he added.
The car rolled about 300 feet into
the potato field before it turned
over, he said. The passengers
seemed dazed, the porter added, as
they wandered about the scene.
There was little panic, but he heard
screams of some of the injured.
A reporter who visited the wreck
said the rails "looked like spaghet
ti” where they had been rolled up,
and shoes of passengers were strewn
along the road bed.
Man Killed in Crash
STRASBURG, Va., Jan. 17 OP).—
William Bradfleld, 56, of Star Tan
nery, 14 miles west of here, was
injured fatally when a station
wagon in which he was riding went
out of control and crashed in a
ditch on the John Marshall high
way yesterday.
%
Capital Transit
Asks $1.50 Pass,
End of Tokens
10-Cent Cash Fare
Sought; Company
Cites Income Drop
By John W. Thompson, Jr.
The Capital Transit Co. today
asked the Public Utilities Com
mission for an increase in bus
and streetcar fares.
The company filed a plan to wipe
out the present tokens now sold
three for a quarter and to increase
the cost of tne $1.25 weekly pass to
$1.50. A date for a public hearing
on the case was asked.
Elimination of the tokens would
leave adult riders the choice of
paying the straight cash fare of 10
cents per ride or buying the weekly
pass. Nqt affected is the 3-cent
fare now paid by school children on
school days.
Drop in Net Income Reported.
The petition for the boost has
been expected since the wage strike
of the bus and streetcar operators
a year ago last fall. E. D. Merrill,
company president, told the com
mission, however, the application
was made “reluctantly” and only
after careful study. There has been
no transit fare adjustment since
1937, he said.
Mr. Merrill gave as the reason for
the application the declining net in
come of the company under present
operating conditions. The down
ward trend in net income, he said, if
allowed to continue, would wreck
the company credit and hurt transit
service.
The new rates, if approved, are
expected to yield an additional net
income of from $1,000,000 to $1,300,
000 a year, it was said.
6 Vi-Cent Ride on Pass.
To those who buy the weekly pass,
the new rate would mean an in
crease estimated by the company at
1-cent per ride. Officials said an
average of 31 rides per week are
made on each pass. Taking from
this the average number of transfer
rides, the company said, the net
rides per week per pass is $4. This
means, it was added, the rides now
cost 5 Vi cents each and would cost
6 Vi cents under the new schedule.
“The proposed rate structure will
continue to favor the pass riders,”
Mr. Merrill declared. “It will retain
for them a local transit bargain at
an average fare per ride as low as
almost anywhere in the United
States.”
Pass riders are purposely favored,
the company said, because they con
stitute the "bulk of the transit cus
tomers.
Suburban Areas Affected.
All classes of weekly passes issued
by the company, including those for
communities beyond the District
line, would be affected by the pro
posed 25-cent boost.
A company official saia tms results
from the fact that the rates imposed
by the Maryland and Virginia com
missions are superimposed on the
District rate to arrive at the total
rate for the communities in those
States. For example, he said, a
weekly pass to Garrett Park, now
costs $2.25, of which $1.25 is the Dis
trict rate and $1.00 the Maryland
fare. If the new rate is approved
for the District, the Garrett Park
fare will cost $1.50 plus $1.00 or a
total of $2.50.
The company has no immediate
plans for asking the Maryland and
Virginia commission for increases in
their rate zones, he added.
The 22,000 school child fares now
collected by the company each school
day will continue to be what the
utility said is “about the lowest
school rate in the country.” Ctyher
jurisdictions in most cases charge a
nickel for school children, it was
said.
Wants Fair Dividends.
While maintenance of service and
credit are given as two reasons for
the increase asked, the company
(See TRANSIT PARES, Page A-4.)
Late News
Bulletin
Butter Below OP A Ceiling
NEW YORK m—-The retail
price of top-grade butter to
day dropped below the 67
cents-a-pound O P A ceiling
established late last June.
Following a new decline in the
wholesale market, Grand
Union Co., a chain concern,
announced a price of 65 cents,
a cut of 4 cents. In the mer
cantile exchange the whole
sale price slumped 2</2*fcents.
Top grades were quoted at
6214 to 63 cents.
m (Earlier Story on Page A-2.)
Sunday Reading
Retiring Secretary of State
Byrnes performed so well in
so many of the Nation’s top
jobs that he became known in
some circles as “Mr. Efficiency.”
A going-away accolade to this
tired statesman is presented
by Gould Lincoln in this week’s
Editorial Section of The Sun
day Star.
In the same section. W. H.
Shippen, jr., The Star’s avia
tion editor, takes a long look
at America's air transport in
dustry and draws the conclu
sion that things are somewhat
muddled because everybody is
"trying to crash the act.”
A color cover of the interior
garden at the National Gallery
of Art leads the Rotogravure
Section, while the usual inter
esting coverage of books, the
theater, music and other spe
cial subjects will be found in
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