Evening star. [volume], September 12, 1947, Image 30

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

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SOCIETY AND GENERAL NEWS ^ WASHINGTON NEWS D
WASHINGTON, D. C. V FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1947
Public Library
Registration Up
7,500 in Year
Report Shows Fewer
Books Were issued
Than During 1945-46
Washington’s Public Library com
pleted its second postwar fiscal year
with a total active registration of
162,218 adults and children, an in
crease of nearly 7,500 over the year
1945- 6.
This was disclosed today as the
Board of Library Trustees turned in
its annual report for the fiscal year
1946- 7 to the Commissioners.
Despite the rise in registered li
brary users, the total number of
books charged out for home use de
clined slightly to 2,567,612 from
2,589,565 the previous year, the re
port showed.
Only Free Lending Library.
The Public Library, the report
stressed, is the “only free institu
tion which lends its books and other
materials to all residents for home
use.” The Library of Congress and
other Federal libraries, it pointed
out, are intended for research and
are used primarily by scholars.
“The library serves not only the
grade school, high school and col
lege student. Its facilities are avail
able to those whose formal school
ing is over, and for those who have
never been to college it serves as
a ‘university of the ■ people,’ ” the
report emphasized.
The report noted that Miss Clara
Herbert, librarian since 1940 and a
member of the library staff since
1907, retired during the year and
that Harry N. Peterson took her
place.
Reference Work Performed.
* Not only did the library lend books
for home use during the year, the
report said, but also it performed a
large amount of reference work on
requests, made books available to
schools, colleges, hospitals, orphan
ages, camps and jails; sponsored dis
cussion groups using “linguaphone”
records and held 457 story hours
during the year which was attended
by 9,623 children.
School classes made 589 visits to
the library in which 15,774 children
took part. Parents and teachers
were provided 93 book lists, talks
were given by members of the li
brary staff and assistance was given
to “countless” parents, teachers, so
cial workers, church workers and
others, the report added.
A committee of trained staff
members worked to guide the read
ing habits of teen-agers during the
year, the report continued, adding
that the library’s young adult ac
tivities should be expanded as a
means of fighting juvenile delin
quency.
E. V. Brown School Mentioned.
The report noted that during the
year the E. V. Brown School was
procured for a recreation center and
branch library for the Chevy Chase
area. This joint venture, the re
port said, “should prove an interest
ing experiment. It will no doubt
be studied by other cities desiring
to further their recreational and
library programs.”
Plans have been drawn, the re
port said, for the proposed Pleasant
Plains and Anacostia branches.
The new main library, first unit of
which now stands at. Ppnnsvlvania
avenue and Sixth street N.W., will
be turned over to the board in the
"very near future,” the report indi
cated. It added, however, that
essential renovation will be needed
. before it can be used for library
purposes.
Second Unit Is Urged.
The report urged that an appro
priation be made to build the second
unit of the new library "to hasten
the day when all the library's serv
ices may be brought under one roof”
and the "hopelessly congested con
dition” of the old central library
relieved.
It took note of the fact the
library now has a $15,000 bequest
from the estate of the late Theodore
W. Noyes, editor of The Star, and
the man through whose efforts the
library was founded, and an addi
tional $18,303.10 in donations re
ceived during the year.
No. 1 Precinct Station
Moves Monday to Center
No. 1 precinct police station will
move Monday from its present loca
tion at New Jersey avenue near E
street N.W., to the Municipal Center,
police officials said yesterday.
The downtown precinct will be
quartered in the east section of the
second floor of Municipal Center
facing Indiana avenue N.W.
The communications system has
been set up in Municipal Center.
The new cell-block, which was the
cause of a dispute with the Central
Labor Union, got its final coat of
paint yesterday.
2 Workers Hurt Slightly
In Construction Accident
Two workers were slightly injured
today in a cave-in at the Belle View
apartment construction project,
New Alexandria, on the Mount Ver
non Memorial Highway.
ueieasea alter treatment at Alex
andria Hospital were Tom Alfano,
30, of Gibson’s Tourist Cabin, Palls
Church, a plumber, and his helper,
Jack Parks, 34, colored, of Route No.
1, Alexandria. Mr. Alfano was
treated for a cut on the chin, a
wrenched shoulder and shock. Mr.
Parks’ right leg was bruised.
. The cave-inn occurred at an ex
cavation for an oil tank.
P-47 to Bfc Exhibited
On 13th Street S.W. in
Air Guard Program
A P-47 fighter plane will leave
National Airport at 2 a.m. to
morrow headed for Thirteenth
street and Jefferson drive S.W.
—but not by air.
The aircraft will be towed
by truck and placed on ex
hibition there in connection
W’ith an Air National Guard
recruiting program which
‘ opens tomorrow.
It will be on exhibition
through September 20. A re
cruiting booth will be nearby.
k
Mask Device Used to Record
Proceedings at Steel Hearing
Sam Friedman tries out a Reportograph at a hearing of the
Senate Small Business Subcommittee on Steel.
--Harris-Ewing Photo.
Spectators at Senate hearings on
the steel shortage were intrigued
today "by the presence at the com
mittee table of a young man hold
ing to his face a mask resembling
an old-fashioned equine feed-bag.
Reporters found it was a new de
vice for recording transcript of
proceedings. Called a Reporto
graph, the device is connected by
wire with a machine on which an
ordinary record disk revolves.
Horace I. Webb, designer of the
mask, explained that it contains a
microphone into which the operator
repeats the words of the witness
verbatim. It has a hole in the
bottom through which the operator
gets air while dictating. Although
seated only a few feet from the
witness and committee, he is able
to talk into the machine without
disturbing the proceedings.
Mr. Webb said one advantage of
the device is that the operator is
through with his work when the
hearings adjourn, instead of having
to transcribe after returning to his
office.
Although the machine is being
used experimentally at the steel
hearings, Mr. Webb said it has been
used officially before the Federal
Communications Commission.
Suit Seeks to Force
Couple From Home
In Restricted Area
A suit seeking to restrain Aaron
Tushin from occupying his home at
6918 Wilson lane, Bannockburn
Heights, Bethesda, contrary to a
subdivision covenant is pending in
Montgomery County Circuit at
Rockville.
The action was brought by James
M. Pugh, attorney for nine residents
of the area, who claim in the suit
that Mr. Tushin’s occupancy is
causing them "irreparable damage.”
Mr. Paugh said it is the first test
of a Jewish clause in a property
covenant ever to be taken in a
Montgomery County court. He added
he will seek a hearing this month.
Covenant Quoted.
According to the attorney, the
covenant, established by the Ban
nockburn Improvement Co. in 1936,
reads in part:
"Said property shall never be used
or occupied by * * * Negroes * * *,
Jews, Persians and Syrians, except
that this paragraph shall not be held
to exclude partial occupancy of the
premises by domestic servants of
any of the owners of said property.”
Declaring that Mr. Tushin, a Gov
ernment employe, who is married
and has three children, bought his
home more than a year ago, the suit
oilnoor o Vine foi 1 orl tn mnve
despite repeated demands and that
the “continued violation is injuri
ous.”
Defense to File Answer.
Also named as a defendant is Mrs.
Lucille Tushin, who, according to
Mr. Pugh, is not Jewish. The suit
seeks to restrain her from permitting
her husband to occupy the home.
Plaintiffs in the suit are Mr. and
Mrs. William M. Webb, 6709 Selkirk
drive; Mr. and Mrs. Paul B. Kern.
Elgin lane; Mr. and Mrs. John W.
Senour, 6700 Selkirk drive; Mr. and
Mrs. J. Otis Garber, Braeburn park
way, and Mrs. Mary I. Rawlings,
whose address could not be obtained.
Mr. and Mrs. Tushin are repre
sented by Alfred D. Noyes, who Is
expected to file an answer to the
suit in a few days. It was learned
that in his answer Mr. Noyes will
attack the constitutionality of the
covenant.
8,000 Apply for New
D. C. Business Licenses
Nearly 8,000 of an estimated 15,000
unincorporated businesses in the
District liable for the city’s new tax
on unincorporated businesses gross
ing more than $10,000 annually have
applied for licenses as the September
15 license deadline draws near.
Walter C. Thompson, newly ap
pointed chief examiner in charge of
issuing the licenses and assessing the
tax, said today tne »,uuu applicants
have sent the required $10 license
fee along with their applications.
About 1,000 licenses actually have
been issued so far, he said.
Checks mailed up to midnight
Monday will be considered as getting
the applicant in under the wire
where a license is concerned, he said.
The actual tax is not due until
April 15.
Meanwhile, applicants for the new
licenses should file their applications
with the District assessor in the Dis
trict Building and not at the License
Bureau in the Muicipal Center, offi
cials pointed out.
Alexandria City Hall
Repair Work Under Way
Repair work on the city market at
Alexandria City Hall now is under
way. Acting City Manager Joseph
M. Pancoast said yesterday.
The work, being done under the
supervision of City Engineer C.
Luckett Watkins and Building In
spector A. R. Lash, is expected to
cost about $3,500. It involves re
moving shed roofs on either side
of the main building and construct
ing a new roof on the center struc
ture, Mr. Watkins said.
A movement to tear down the 50
year-old building was halted after
city residents and farmers using the
market protested to city council.
4
Probe by Grand Jury
Of Clegg Police Case
Enters Third Day
The grand Jury Investigation of
charges by Julius W. Clegg, 26, that
police mistreated him will go into
its third afternoon session today.
Eight witnesses testified yesterday,
including Roger Robb, Clegg’s at
torney, who filed a complaint with
Police Supt. Robert J. Barrett that
Clegg was held more than 30 hours
by police without charges being filed
ar.d that he was slapped by two
detectives.
Clegg was arrested August 2 in
the vicinity of Thirteenth and E
streets N.W. for “investigation”
and released the following day after
6 p.'m., according to the complaint.
Clegg, colored, is an employe of the
Washington Post.
Other witnesses before the grand
jury yesterday were Police Sergt.
John C. Daniels, precinct detective
at No. 10; Pvt. George Burkley of
the Police Missing Persons Bureau;
Charles E. Davis and Robert Brus
kin, reporters for the Washington
Post, and E. A. Clayton, colored, of
the 400 block of I street N.W., said
to have been a prisoner in a nearby
cell at the time Clegg was being
detained.
Also testifying were a physician,
whom Clegg is said to have visited
after his realease, and an unidenti
fied man.
The hearings are expected to end
with Monday afternoon’s session.
The two detectives accused by
Clegg have not been laentinea pub
licly. The District Commissioners
have ordered the facts in the case
turned over to the corporation
counsel’s office to determine wheth
er there is sufficient evidence to
bring the two detectives before the
Police Trial Board.
Parks Agency Offers lour
Of Civil War Defenses
Sightseers will revisit the scene of
Washington's Civil War defenses
this week end in an historical tour
conducted by the National Capital
Parks.
The group will gather at Mac
Arthur boulevard and Chain Bridge
road at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Special
buses will leave 1416 F street N.W.
at 9 a.m.
An automobile caravan to Patux
ent Research Refuge, Md„ also ar
ranged by the park agency, will
meet near Bowie, Md., at 10 a.m.
Sunday.
Other week end tours include a
camera stroll through Mount
Vernon, a bird walk in Dumbarton
Oaks Park and in Oxon Run Park
way, a fossil discussion tour in Fort
Totton Park and the usual mule
drawn barge excursion on the C. &
O. Canal.
Rush Holt Joins Staff
Of West Virginia Paper
Special Dispatch to The Star
CHARLES TOWN, W. Va., Sept.
12.—Rush D. Holt, former United
States Senator from West Virginia
and,at present member of the West
Virginia House of Delegates, has
been added to the staff of the Jef
ferson Republican, weekly news
paper, as a political columnist, R. J.
Funkhouser, publisher, announced.
The announcement said he would
put emphasis on the ‘‘cost of State
government.”
Rosh Hashonah
Services Start
Sunday Evening
Rites at Synagogues
Listed for Opening
Of Penitential Period
Jewish residents of the Washington
area will usher in the solemn high
holy days beginning the Jewish New
Year 5708 by attending Rosh
Hashonah services starting at sun
down Sunday in synagogues and
temples throughout the District.
Services for Rosh Hashonah, the
Jewish New Year Day which also is
known as Yom Haddin or the Day
of Judgment, will be observed by
Orthodox Jews from sundown Sun
day to sundown Tuesday. Reformed
Jews will observe the high holy
day until sundown Monday. Rosh
Hashonah also is known as the Day
of Memorial or Yom Hazzikoron.
Rosh Hashonah opens a 10-day
penitential period by Jews, ending
with Yom Kippur or the Day of
Atonement. On Rosh Hashonah the
names of those who will live the
coming year are inscribed in the
Book of Life; those who will die
during that period in the Book of
Death, and those who are on proba
tion are held in abeyance. The last
may be saved by penitence during
the 10-day period.
Full Day of Fasting.
On Yom Kippur, which comes this
year at sundown September 23 and
continues to sundown September 24,
the book is closed'and sealed for the
year. Yom Kippur, or the Day of
Atonement, is on* of fasting for 24
hours, neither food nor drink being
taken by the worshipers during that
period.
opcvicti £uiaiigciiicui>& na v c
made by the National Jewish Wel
fare Board to hold services for
servicemen and women in hospitals,
veterans’ facilities and camps in
the Washington area, Joseph F.
Barr, chairman of the Jewish Wel
fare Board Army and Navy Com
mittee, announced today.
New Year services will be con
ducted by * Army Chaplain Henry
Tavel, assisted by Cantor Louis
Fenik, at 8:15 pjn. Sunday in the
Silver Spring (Md.) Armory, Wayne
avenue at Georgia avenue, Silver
Spring. Services also will be held
at 10 a.m. Monday and Tuesday and
Yom Kippur services, at 7:15 p.m.
September 23 and 10 a.m. September
24. Chaplain Tavel also will hold
services for patients and service
personnel at Walter Reed Hospital
at 8:15 p.m. Monday.
Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld, spir
itual leader of the Washington He
brew Congregation, will conduct
Rosh Hashonah services at 8 p.m.
Sunday and 10:30 a.m. Monday in
Constitution Hall for his congrega
tion.
Rabbi Solomon H. Metz, spiritual
leader of the Adas Israel Congre
gation, will officiate at the worship
in the synagogue, 600 I street N.W.,
at 7 p.m. Sunday, 9 a.m. Monday
and Tuesday and 7 p.m. Monday.
He will be assisted by Cantor Jacob
Barkin. An overflow service will be
held in the vestry room of the syna
gogue, with Joseph Mendelson and
Maj. Seymour H. Pomrenze in
charge. Rabbi Metz and Cantor
Barkin will participate in the over- ■
flow service. »
It also was announced that Rabbi
Metz and Cantor Barkin will take
part in a high holy day radio
broadcast at 5:35 p.m. Sunday over
Station WWDC.
Services will be held by the North
east Hebrew Congregation at 7 p.m.
Sunday and Monday and 8:30 a.m.
Monday and Tuesday in the Sher
wood Presbyterian Church’s social
hall, Twenty-second street and Jack
pnn etraot XT TP DQVofllf/W
Rosenberg of the Jewish Theological
Seminary, New York, will officiate.
He will be assisted by Howard L.
Hirsh, vice president of the congre
gation, who will serve as cantor.
Other Services.
The Agudath Achim Congregation
will hold services at 7 pun. Sunday
and Monday and at 8 a.m. Monday
and Tuesday at both 909 Quackenbos
street N.W., and 5832 Georgia ave
nue N.W., Rabbi Herman J. Wald
man, spiritual leader of the congre
gation, and Cantor Jacob Schneider
will officiate.
Rabbi Hirsch Zvi Glickman of
Washington will conduct New Year
services at 6:30 p.m. Sunday and
8:30 a.m. Monday in St. Elizabeth’s
Hospital.
Worship at Mount Alto Veterans’
Hospital will be conducted by Dr.
Karl D. Darmstadter of Washington.
Mr. Barr also announced there
will be seats for servicemen and
women at services in synagogues
in the District.
The Washington Highlands Jewish
Center, 100 Atlantic street S.E., has
engaged Rabbi Morris Pickholz of
New York to officiate at the high
holy day service to be held at 7:30
p.m. Sunday and Monday and at
8 a.m. Monday and Tuesday. He
will be assisted by David Tanzman,
a member of the center, as cantor.
Rabbi Simon Bumstein, spiritual
leader of the Southeast Hebrew
Congregation, will officiate at the
high holy day services there at 7
p.m. Sunday and Monday and at
8 ajn. Monday and Tuesday. He
will be assisted by Cantor Abraham
Rubin of the center.
Post Holds Dance'Tomorrow
Fort Stevens Post No. 32, American
Legion, will give a “Lucky 13th”
dance at 10 p.m. tomorrow, the
proceeds to be applied toward a
building fund for a new quarters
for the post. The public is invited
to the dance in Stansbury Hall.
5830 Georgia avenue N.W. Alfred
McIntyre is chairman of the com
mittee on arrangements for the
dance.
Plan Made to Move Materials
Of Key House to New Location
Details were worked out today
for removing original materials in
the old Francis Scott Key home to
a new site across the Washington
end of Key Bridge, where the his
toric town house will be restored.
A. A. Alexander of Alexander &
Repass, the Iowa contractors for
construction of the K street ele
vated highway, told a meeting in
the office of Highway Director H.
C. Whitehurst his company would
save the original brick and founda
tion stone and remove It to the new
lOCailUIl WXXCX1 UCUlUUbiUli Ktv,
gins in a few days.
Spokesmen for the park service
said their employes will remove tne
original woodwork, including case
ment window and interior trim, for
storage pendiing the restoration on
a lot fronting on M street on the
downriver side of the bridge.
Delos H. Smith, an architect spe
cializing in Colonial homes, and a
member of the Columbia Historical
Society, volunteered his services as
a consultant to aid in the accurate
reproduction of the home.
I
CHURCH SERVES AS ‘‘ADDITION’* TO SILVER SPRING SCHOOI^Some of the 100 kinder
garten and first grade children at the Woodlin School, Silver Spring, enter Grace Episcopal
Church, where their classes are being held pending completion of a four-room addition to the
School. . —Star Stan Photo.
Confusing District Tax Setup
Causes Flood of Complaints
A fat woman brandished her um
brella like a sword at a cashier’s
window of the District Tax Office
and shrilled, “Money! Money!
Money! That's all you want! I
won’t pay it!’’
With that, she scattered a pile of
forms on the floor and waddled off
indignantly, muttering under her
breath.
An Army colonel, unable to reason
why his real estate property tax was
up when his neighbor’s was not, in
formed another District employe
that he would rather live in Austra
lia or Texas than in Washington,
where taxes are so inexplicable.
Where was the police protection
his neighborhood warranted for such
taxes, he wanted to know? Why,
a friend of his had gone out, and
while he was away, his house had
been looted and the friend had to
go to work in his tuxedo.
Grief for Pearson.
Two spinsters with considerable
property in Georgetown, came to
the District Building and refused
to pay their taxes to a cashier. Only
with Collector of Taxes Guy W.
Pearson himself would they settle.
Resignedly, the harassed official
handled the business himself.
That’s how it has been every day
this month with hundreds of irate
citizens jamming the corridors of
the tax office—and things will get
worse before the September 30 dead
line for payment of the personal
property and real estate taxes.
And all because, Mr. Pearson said,
not 10 per cent of the District’s
tax-paying population has more
than a vague notion of their liabili
ties under the 14 major tax items
in force here.
“It’s just human nature,” Mr.
Pearson said. “Nobody pays am' at
tention to new tax legislationmntil
they get their tax bills. Then the
stampede begins. We are being
swamped here with letters, phone
calls and people.”
Pays With Hoarded Gold.
One colored woman, who is well
past 90 but doesn’t really know how
old she is, shows up at the collec
tor’s office every year to pay her
taxes with hoarded gold certificates.
Every year, Mr. Pearson tells her
gently that gold certificates are not
supposed to be in circulation any
more.
“Oh my!” the woman croons,
“must I go back to the Treasury
again?”
She does that every year.
An Italian woman steps up to
the cashier with her thoroughly
American daughter, age 14. An ani
mated conversation between girl
and cashier ensues, upon which the
girl's face lights up.
“See, Ma? You have to . ..
Ana so n goes.
People react swiftly and strange
ly to a large tax bill they cannot
understand, but the fault is not all
that of the people, Mr. Pearson said
The District has a more complicated
tax structure than the Federal Gov
ernment or any of the States, he
declared.
Major District Taxes.
The District’s major taxes in
clude:
Real estate, personal property
individual and corporation income
taxes, estate taxes, public utility
inheritance, insurance, motor ve
hicle, beer, business privilege (no
longer in effect but there are left
over violators to handle), alcoholic
beverage and business franchise
taxes.
A Washington resident may be
subject to four or five or these
taxes or, in some cases, all of them.
The chances are he understands
few, if any, of them.
The income tax is 'pretty gen
erally understood, Mr. Pearson said
but the confusion on personal prop
erty tax bilis and the real estate
tax, Dasea on tne new leases,
has been terrific.
The tax collectors 34 clerks, who
this month are doing a daily busi
ness of nearly $1,000,000, spend half
their time explaining the two taxes
to the hordes who jam the cash
ier’s windows.
The assessor's clerks are equally
busy handling the sometimes furi
ous, sometimes wondering queries
of property owners who think the
new assessments are too high. Many
have never even heard of the in
crease of from $1.75 to $2 per $100
of assessed valuation on real prop
erty.
“Why Is my tax increased when
my neighbor’s isn’t?”
“Why didn’t I get a bill?”
“But I haven’t improved my
property!”
The tax collector's and the asses
sor's offices are a babel of questions
which have all been answered in
the daily papers many times.
It is not at all uncommon for
Mr. Pearson's office to receive letters
and checks saying, in substance:
“I've just received my tax bill. It’s
too much. I’m sure you’ve made a
mistake, so I’m just inclosing a
check for the amount I paid last
year.”
It also is not unknown for in-:
dividuals to storm into the office:
and dare the cashiers—or Mr. Pear
son—to come out and fight.
“We can see some difficulties com
ing,” Mr. Pearson said, “and we try
to prepare for them.”
Bills Held Up Until Ready.
For instance, he said, District au
thorities were well aware that a
storm of protest would greet them;
wiipn nrnnprtv owners began receiv-:
ing bills based on the increased real j
estate tax. Knowing that the first
receipents of the bills would jam
the office as fast as they got their
bills—thus impeding preparation of
the remaining bills—officials held
up the bills until all were ready.
Then they were sent out en masse
within two or three days.
"The first day we were open after
the bills were mailed was the Tues
day after Labor Day,” Mr. Pearson
chuckled. “You should have seen the
madhouse this place was that day.”
Despite the fact that his duties
involve such turmoil, Mr. Pearson is
a cheerful man. “We operate on the
theory that people are acting in
good faith,” he said. “I wish we
could educate them more thoroughly
on the tax setup but-” He
wagged his head helplessly. ;
Thirty years in the service of the
District government, Mr. Pearson is
not stumped by people who try to
pay huge bils in pennies; individuals
who try to haggle with his clerks;
citizens who dump mountains of
paper work before busy clerks and
say, “Figure that out for me”;
people who just complain on general
principles.
Collections, year after year, have
averaged nearly 100 per cent under
Mr. Pearson’s supervision.
“Because these are good times and
people have money,” Mr. Pearson
explained,” but we do take some
credit.”
Because scores of persons are
showing up at the District Building
every day demanding to be told why
their real estate taxes have surged
to a new high, practically every
employe of the Assessor’s Office has
had to pitch in to answer questions.
Sixty taxpayers, asked how they
were treated by the tax and assess
ment clerks, agreed that they were
handled with courtesy and dispatch.
But one man exemplified the at
titude of all.
“How did they treat me?” he re
plied. “The tone was polite but
the message was painful. As far as
I’m concerned, nobody can tell me
my taxes have gone up and make
me like it.’*
i
Montgomery Schools
Called Best in Area
Despite Overflow
By J. B. Zalman
Although approximately 200 Mont
gomery County children are being
forced to attend classes in churches
because their schools are over
crowded, Assistant Supt. Edgar M.
Douglass today insisted that “we
are in better shape than any other
school system in the Washington
area.”
He stuck to his statement even
after admitting that part of the
kindergarten class at the East Sil
ver Spring Elementary School may
be transferred to a nearby church
and that double shifts are being
considered for about 90 pupils at the
Colesville School.
Reporting to church for their stu
dies are 100 kindergarten and first
grade pupils at the Woodlin School, j
Silver Spring, who go to Grace Epis
copal Church five blocks away; 35
fifth and sixth graders at the Sandy
Spring School, whogo to the Ashton
Friends Meeting House, about 100
feet from the school, and approxi
mately 75 kindergarten children at
the Kensington School, who have
been shifted to the Kensington
Presbyterian Church, five blocks
away.
Nominal Cost Involved.
In arranging for the transfers, the j
Board of Education agreed to pay a
nominal sum to the churches to
cover the cost of light, heat and jan- j
itor service, Mr. Douglas said.
He added that those shifted from
the Woodlin School will return in
about two months when construc
tion of a four-room addition is
completed.
Classes for the other two groups
of children will continue to be held
in the Kensington and Sandy
Spring churches until September,
1948. At that time an eight-room |
addition to the Kensington School
and a three-room addition to the
Sandy Spring School are expected
to be ready for occupancy.
In explaining his optimistic view,
Mr. Douglass pointed out that while
enrollment has raached an all-time
high of about 17,000 pupils, an in
crease of nearly 800 over last year’s
figure, a total of 717 teachers—an
other all-time high for the county
—have signed contracts. The num- i
ber of teachers represents an in-,
crease of 70 over the previous school
year.
Six Schools Being Built.
“No school in the county has
been forced to hold classes in cor
ridors nor have any double shifts
been ordered,’’ he asserted. ’’The
shifts of pupils at the Kensington,
Woodlin and Sandy Spring Schools
were put into effect to avoid such
conditions.’’ /
In addition, according to Mr.
Douglass, six school construction
projects, estimated to cost $1,250,
000 are under way. One—the Wood
lin addition—will be completed in
two months and the other five will
be ready for occupancy no later
than next January. When all have
been finished, they will meet the
county’s most urgent school needs,
he declared.
Besides the addition to the Wood
lin School, the projects include:
Pour-room additions to the Pine
prcct naithprshiirir and T.vnnbrook
Elementary Schools, a 12-room ad
dition to the Montgomery Hills
Junior High School and a new Ken
sington-Wheaton School which will
accommodate about 175 children.
Takoma Park School Planned.
Pressure on the East Silver Spring
: Elementary School will be relieved
when a new school in the Flower
avenue area of Takoma Park is
built, Mr. Douglass asserted. Bids
will be sought within the next 30
days and construction probably will
be completed by September, 1948,
he said.
According to Mr. Douglass, the
average number of pupils per teacher
last year was 20 in high schools and
35 in elementary schools.
While he termed that pretty
good,” Mr. Douglass said school offi
cials hope to reduce the elementary
school figure to 30 pupils per teacher
this year.
Meanwhile, officials at the Ken
sington, Woodlin and Sandy Spring
Schools said parents of the children
ft
i
Board to Study
Judge Raedy's
Driving Status
Traffic Case Closed
With Forfeiture of
$200 in Collateral
The question of revocation of
Municipal Judge Ellen K. Raedy-*
automobile driver’s permit prob
ably will be considered by th*
District Board of Revocations
and Restorations early next
week.
Judge Raedy yesterday forfeited
$200 cash collateral in a case in
which she was charged with leaving
after colliding. A police report of
the case, along with the record of
the court action, will be forwarded
to the board within two or three
days, police said today.
Under normal procedure, the
board then will review the case and
determine whether the permit
should be revoked. Revocation is
automatic only in cases involving
personal injury.
The case, which grew out of a hit
and-run accident with a parked car
August 19 near the intersection of
First and K streets N.W., came to
a sudden close before a crowded
courtroom.
Associate Judge Brice Clagett of
the Municipal Court of Appeals, es
pecially appointed to hear the case,
accepted Judge Raedy’s collateral.
Then Assistant Corporation Coun
sel Clark King said that, "in con
coionoo ” Vie pniilrl HomonH
appearance in court.
Mr. King pointed out that no
estimate of the damage to the other
car, which belonged to Mrs. Eliza
beth Wimbish, 910 First street N.W.,
had exceeded $27.50.
Judge Raedy to Pay Bill.
“Having in mind past experience
in traffic cases and in view of the
damage, I cannot in conscience ask
for an attachment” (court appear
ance), Mr. King told the court.
Judge Clagett, saying that he
could not act as “prosecutor and
judge,” closed the proceedings with
the statement that “I am not in
clined on my own motion to order
attachment.”
Mr. Ford later told The Star that
repair of Mrs. Wimbish’s car would
cost $9 and that Judge Raedy would
pay the bill. He and his client will
have no further statements to make,
he added. •
The collateral was paid, after Mr.
Ford’s request for it, under the new
schedule of collaterals agreed to
by the Municipal Court judges in
July and placed into effect by the
District Commissions August 15.
Under the schedule a defendant
may “not elect” to forfeit. The pre
siding judge, however, may accept •
forfeiture, and that is what Judge
Claggett did in Judge Raedy’s case
when she did not appear in court.
Judge Raedy did not appear at her
arraignment on August 29 when Mr,
Ford, under a Municipal Court rule,
presented a written authorization
to represent her. The authorization,
however, did not say anything about
the actual trial, and Mr. Ford did
not renew the authorization yester
day.
Denied Driving Car.
After her automobile struck Mrs.
Wimbish's parked car. the judge
denied she jvas the driver. She said
she had not left her apartment all
evening, aiiu a t^jni^c****v/** wiiwwu
rated her story.
The assistant corporation coun
sel’s only witness to the accident,
however, said she was driving.
200 Washington Rofarians
Attend Outing in Maryland
Special Dispatch to The Star
MOUNT VICTORIA, Md., Sept.
11.—Nearly 200 members of the
Washington Rotary Club yesterday
left the city’s humid heat for an all
day outing at West Hatton, near
here.
Mr. and Mrs. Foster Reeder, own
ers of the 600-acre estate on the
Wicomico River, were the hosts.
The day’s program included horse
shoe pitching, archery, softbaUl,
badminton, billiards, croquet, fish
ing and a clay pigeon shoot.
About 125 guests stayed for supper.
Members of a committee who
helped Mr. Reeder plan the Ro
tarians’ fourth outing at West Hat
ton included Emory Hutchison,
Thomas L. Egan, George McCann,
Leo May, Roy Turke, Marvin Clark,
Dwight R. Cooke, Walter Cady and
Frederick Pace.
Wender Mails West Ruling
As Opening Playgrounds
Harry S. Wender, chairman of the
District Recreation Board, regards
a recent ruling by Corporation
Counsel Vernon F. West on the lia
bility of property owners as opening
the way for substantially more play
ground space than the city now has.
The corporation counsel has ruled
that owners of land lent to tne Rec
reation Department for play use or
leased by the board are not liable
for injuries that may be received
when the land is used for play.
He also has ruled that the board
itself is not liable for injuries re
ceived on playgrounds left open over
week ends without supervision.
This removes, Mr. Wender ex
plained today, one of the chief rea
sons for week-end closing of play
space and the reluctance of property
owners to turn unused land over for
playground use._
Gov. Lane Will Attend
Frederick County Fair
By the Associated Press
FREDERICK, Md.. Sept. 12 —The
1 Frederick County Fair will include
a "Governor’s Day” this year for
'the first time in several years, of
! flcials of the County Agricultural
Society announced.
Gov.. Lane has accepted the so
ciety’s invitation to be present on
October 1, second day of the four
day exposition.
involved in the shifts have expressed
approval of the move.
The fifth and sixth grade children
involved in the Sandy Spring shift
took the transfer as a “challenge,”
according to Miss A. C. Hutton, prin
cipal. She said they “joined whole
heartedly” in planning to redeo««t«
their new room.
I