Evening star. [volume], December 05, 1948, Image 1

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

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Weather Forecast
Mostly sunny but increasing cloudiness in
afternoon with highest about 58 today. To
morrow, cloudy, rain likely and colder by
night. (Pull report on page A-2.)
Noon_ 59 6 p.m. ... 55 11 p.m. .. 45
2 p.m. ... 60 8 p.m. ... 52 Midnight 43
4 p.m. ... 60 10 p.m. .. 49 1 am. .. 43
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WASHINGTON, D. C., DECEMBER 5, 1948—204 PAGES.
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New House Spy Inquiry Opens
Tuesday in Hunt for Red Agent
Who Gave Secrets to Chambers
- A .. - 1 ..
Identity May Be Bared
By Handwriting on
Stolen Documents
By Robert K. Walsh
The House Committee on Un
American Activities yesterday
ordered new hearings beginning
Tuesday on handwritten notes,
microfilm evidence and verbal
charges it believes will show who
• gave secret Government infor
mation to Whittaker Chambers.;
avowed former Soviet contact
agent here before the war.
Mr. Chambers, who declared at
committee hearings last August that
he renounced communism 10 years
ago after operating as an under-'
ground worker in Washington, will
be one of the first witnesses.
Along with his further expected
testimony about alleged dealings
with Communist spy rings or “in
filtration” groups in the Govern
ment, the committee plans to dis
close microfilm copies of State and
Navy Department documents'it says
were given to Mr. Chambers in 1938
by a “member of the Communist
underground” here.
Committee spokesmen said they
are “convinced” this and other evi
dence will disclose the identity of,
the person who turned over the ma
terial to Mr. Chambers. They;
promised proof also that the Gov-!
emment secrets were thus handed
along for eventual tranmission to
“Russian Communist agents.”
Films Hidden in Pumpkin.
The microfilms came to light
earlier yesterday after committee
investigators, armed with a sub
poena, visited the Westminster, Md.,!
farm of Mr. Chambers last Thurs
day. Mr. Chambers, committee
spokesman related, gave them the
films, in small cans. The films were
in a pumpkin where he had hidden
them two or three days previously
lor safekeeping in his yard.
Additional documentary evidence
•Iso has been obtained by the com-!
mittee. Chief Investigator Robert E. \
Stripling revealed. He indicated
some of it came from sources other
than Mr. Chambers. Included in!
it, according to Mr. Stripling, is;
handwriting material bearing di
rectly on earlier testimony in the
committee's investigation of spy
rings in the Government.
Mr. Stripling refused to say whose
handwriting he believed it yas. He
announced later that “handwriting
experts" will be among the six or
eight witnesses at the hearings this
week.
His* May Testify.
The committee, moreover, has ob
tained copies of some of the more
than 50 documents and statements
given by. Mr. Chambers in a pre
trial deposition session in Baltimore
two-weeks ago, Mr. Stripling saifl.
.—►This was received from Richard
Cleveland, attorney for Mr. Cham
bers, in a $75,000 damage suit
brought against Mr. Chambers by
Alger Hiss, former State Department
official.
Mr. Hiss, president of the Car
negie Endowment for International
Peace, may testify at the commit
tee hearings. Mr. Stripling refused
to comment on this, but remarked
that Mr. Hiss has "not yet” been
subpoenaed.
Meanwhile, largely, as a result of
documents produced by Mr. Cham
bers at the deposition session two
weeks ago, there were reports that
a special New York Federal grand
jury might reconvene to consider
new evidence in its investigation of
Communist activities.
Assistant United States Attorney
Irving Saypol said in New York last
night he did not know “the slightest f
thing” about the possibility of fur- \
ther jury sessions.
Investigator in New York.
Mr. Saypol. the Associated Press
reported, noted, however, that j
Thomas J. Donegan, a special as
sistant to the House committee, was
In New York yesterday.
The term of the grand jury ex
pires December 15, when the jurors1
will have been in session 18 months.
Earlier this year the jury returned
indictments against a dozen top
Communist leaders in the United
States.
Mr. Hiss and Mr. Chambers who
Is senior editor of Time Magazine,
(See CHAMBERS’ Page A-6.> J
Plane Crashes
After 2-Hour Hop
Without a Pilot
•y th« Associated Pres*
PITMAN, N. J., Dec. 4.—A pilot
less plane flew for two hours across
New Jersey tonight traveling 45
miles before it crashed into a
cornfield near this South Jersey
town.
Mrs. Florence C. Hesarik, a house
wife of nearby Sewell, telephoned
State police at 6:45 p.m. that she
had heard a plane crash.
Police hurried to the scene. They
found two puzzled-looking men
-searching the wreckage of the de
molished 65-horsepower two-seater.
"There's nobody here,” one said.
"And there isn’t any blood.”
"That’s right,” replied a police of
ficer. “We had a report about this
plane.”
The report had come at 4:45 when
the small red and yellow plane took
off from Pennington airport, near
Princeton and headed south toward
Philadelphia, about 10 miles from
Pitman.
It had a two-and-one-half hour
supply of gas and flew without lights.
All airports were alerted and safety
measures were taken at fields in the
area.
Charles Peyton, deputy inspector
for the State Department of Avi
ation, said the plane roared away
from a ground crew man who spun
the propeller on the small plane
without knowing that the engine’s
accelerator had been left wide open.
Wrecking U. S. School System
Is Red Aim, New Report Says
Communists See Teachers as Easy Converts,
Third Thomas Committee Booklet Charges
Communists want to wreck the
school system of the United States
as a step towards overthrow of the
Government here, the House Com
mittee on Un-American Activities
charged last night.
The committee attacked the Red
“conspiracy" in a 19-page booklet,
third of a series on Communist in
fluence on religion, education, labor
and government.
High lights of the report describ
ing inroads of Communists into
the school system are statements
that:
1. Teacher groups are “the easiest
touch of all professional classes.” j
2. Girls and women s schools and
colleges "contain some of the most
j loyal disciples of Russia” because
teachers there “are often frustrated
females.”
3. Learned men are being at
tracted to communism because of
! frustration, greed, love of power or
misplaced idealism.
4. If Communists took over
schools, “real education would stop.
Only training would be allowed.”
5. “We teach children how to
think. They teach children what to
think.”
6. In too many textbooks success
of' the United States is played down.
Soviet Russia played up.
7. Several Communist schools,
many of which have gone out of
business, are listed.
8. A group of 800 American Com
munists, trained in the Lenin School
at Moscow, serve as high officers of
a secret army now being drilled here
to overthrow the Government.
9. Communism gained recruits
through the campaign of Henry
Wallace for President.
Text of Report.
A partial text of the report fol
lows :
This is to tell you what the master
minds of communism have planned
for your child in the name of "edu
cation." *
They mean to take him from the
nursery, put him in uniform with
the hammer and sickle flag in one
hand and a gun in the other, and
send him out to conquer the world.
] If they have their way, he will be
'guided from the kindergarten
straight through to college so that
he will have anything except a mind
of his own.
He will be trained but not edu
cated^ He w’in be taught to solve
Continued on Page~A-77Column7T.
Berlin Voting Today
Regarded as Test in
East-West Struggle
Communists Boycotting
Election, Turnout Will
Indicate Sentiment
EUROPE MAKING Gains Under
ERP, Committee Says. Page A-2
By the Associated Press
BERLIN, Dec. 4.—Nearly 2.000,-'
000 Germans, blockaded 100
miles, behind the iron curtain,
were urged tonight to vote for
freedom and against commu
nism’' in tomorrow’s city elec
tion.
What ordinarily would be a local
contest between rival political parties
has been magnified by the East
West struggle into a giant st--v
in the wind indicating which <
queror the Germans prefer.
Communists are boycotting the
election and are not on the ballot.
The result, therefore, will be judged
or. the relative size of the vote and
the stay-at-home element.
If more than 80 per cent of the
eligible voters come out. the Western
power will hail it as a vindication
of’ their fight to stay and prevent
the Sovietization of Berlin.
Weather Favorable.
If voting is relatively light, the
Communists will claim German en
dorsement pf their efforts to drive
out the Western powers.
Clear weather favored a heavy
vote, and also the airlift which flew
in 4,754 tons of food and fuel today.;
“Anyone who stays at home to
morrow is giving a vote for com
munism against freedom,” declared
Ferdinand Friedensburg, deputy
mayor of the legally elected govern
ment which rules two-thirds of the
divided city.
The Americans and British punc
tured a last-minute scare campaign
of Communist rumors that the I
Western powers are getting ready!
to abandon the city in January or:
February'. The campaign was cal
culated to make timid Germans fear
to show their colons tomorrow.
Clay Assures People.
“The United States will not be
forced out of Berlin." said Gen.
Lucius D. Clay, American military
governor.
"The British are not going out
by their own will or by any other
means,” said a British Foreign Of
fice spokesman in London.
Backed by these assurances that
the Western Allies are not going to
desert them, West Berlin’s anti
communists wound up the stormy
campaign- with fighting words.
The three parties on the ballot,
Social Democrats, Christian Demo
crats (Conservatives) and Liberal
Democrats (Rightists), buried their
differences in a three-party rally
against Communism at the Titania
Palast theater tonight. Communist
rowdies who tried to break up a
series of rallies this week did not
put in an appearance.
“The Communists will never
smash our will, even if they resort
to the use of those cannons which
(See BERLIN, Page A-81
Mme. Chiang's Plea
Based on 3-Year,
3 Billion Aid Plan
4-Point Program Given
To Truman by Koo;
U. S. Pledge Sought
IMPENDING CLASH South of Su
chow May Be Showdown in China.
Page A-30
By John M. Hightower
Associated Prtss Staff Writff
Mme. Chiang Kai-shek is here
appealing for the United States
to rescue China from Commu
nism with a program which
would cost an estimated $3,000,
000,000 over the next three years.
This presentation of China's pro- j
"ram comes from top Chinese offl- 1
cials who would not permit direct,
quotation. American informants
say it is the basis on which the
Chinese have suggested negotiation
of an aid program.
The program covers four points.
It has been presented by Chinese
Ambassador Wellington Koo to
President Truman as well as used
by Mme. Chiang for her appeals
here.
Mme. Chiang has conferred twice
now with Secretary of State Mar
shall and will call on President and
Mrs. Truman early this week. Per
sons familiar with her approach to
her mission of obtaining American
aid report that she is stressing (1)
the need for greater understanding
here of China's plight, (21 the
Chinese belief that it is not yet too
late to save the situation, and <3>
the contention that the Chinese
government of her husband, Gen
eralissimo a Chiang Kai-shek, is
fighting not only for itself, but for
the United States and all other
antl-Communist nations.
4-Point Program Outlined.
While Mme. Chiang is represented
as not primarily concerned with
details of how the United States can
aid China, her purpose is to obtain,
if possible, American action along
the four lines of the Chinese pro
posed program. This program calls
for:
1. An immediate declaration of
American support for Chiang Kai
shek’s anti-Communist war. The
Chinese contend this would rein
spire their forces by providing as
surance of American backing with
the implicit promise of greater
American, aid.
2. A tremendous speed-up in the
delivery of military supplies before
action by Congress on any new pro
gram. State Department reports
that the $125,000,000 of the pres
ent military aid program is now al-;
most used up except for about $10,
000,000. Top Chinese offiials here
say that, while it is true this money*
has been committed for buying sup
plies, it is also true that only about
$25,000,000 of supplies actually have
been, drtivered to China under the
current program.
3. Sending to China a military
leader of great prominence to run
(See MADAME CHIANG, Page A-8.)
100 Clerics Must Tell Court
Why Weddings Weren't Listed
More than 100 Washington clergy
men will be called into Municipal
; Court starting this week, nine of
them on Tuesday, to explain re
ports they have failed to file notices
of 140 marriages they performed
between last March and September.
Summonses for the first nine were
issued by the corporation counsel's
office, according to Prosecutor Clark
King. They require the clergymen!
to appear for a preliminary hearing
to determine the facts in each case.
Mr. King said the following would
be called to court Tuesday:
The Revs. Andrew R. Bird, Church
of the Pilgrims, Twenty-second and
P streets N.W.; E. L. Harrison, Shi
loh Baptist .Church, 1223 Irving
street N.E.; Charles W. Wood, St.
Paul’s Episcopal Church, Rock Creek
Church road N.W.; James H. Miers,
Fourth Presbyterian Church, 2715
I Thirteenth atreet N.W.; William L.
Turley, Mount Gilead Baptist
Church, 1625 Thirteenth street!
N.W.; John J. Queally, Church of
the Transfiguration, 1419 Gallatin'
street N.W.; Harry V. Porter, 817 C
street S.W.; Smallwood E. Williams,
1328 Montello avenue N.E., and Ed
ward H. Pruden, 3029 Ordway street
iN.W., pastor of the First Baptist
Church, Sixteenth and O streets
N.W., which President Truman at
tends.
Last May more than 200 clergy
men were named in similar com
plaints by the cleric of District Court
which keeps the marriage records
here. The clerk complained that
a sizeable portion of Washington
clergy were not filing reports within
10 days, as the law provides, on
marriages they performed.
Many ministers of all denomina
(See CLERGY, Page A-4J
Rolling Quake
Hits Wide Area
Of California
Shock Is Felt From
Santa Barbara South
To San Diego
By the Associated Press
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 4.—A roll
ing quake, centering in isolated
hills 100 miles east of here and
covering a wide area of Southern
California, damaged windows
and sent hundreds of persons
rushing into the streets today.
There were no reports of death
or serious injuries.
In the San Bernardino Mountains
north of Banning, the quake, timed
at 4 43 p.m., caused landslides and
broke chunks of pavement on a
road leading to the Morongo Indian
reservation.
In the winter resort town of Palm
Springs, about 20 miles to the south,
__
i
Irish Tie Trojans,
14-14, in Last 30
Seconds of Game
Notre Dame's mighty Irish
all but fell off the pedestal in
Los Angeles yesterday.
The South Benders ran into
a red hot Trojan eleven from
the University of Southern
California and were fortunate
to fscape with a 14-14 tie—a
deadlock gained in the last 30
seconds of play. The stale
mate ended Notre Dame's win
ning streak at 21 consecutive
games, but extended its string
of games without defeat to 28
in a row.
The earthquake hit the huge
Memorial Coliseum as the
crowd filed out.
(Details of the game in sports -|
section.)
police said the rear end of a fur
niture store collapsed, plate glass
windows were broken, and slate slid
off a roof.
Prisoners Turned Into Yard.
Other cities in the general area—
Twenty-Nine Palms and Indio,
among them, reported severe shocks
and much consternation. In Indio,
the police desk sergeant released his
prisoners into the jailyard, a liquor
store reported heavy damage as
.stocks tumbled to the floor and mer
chandise bounced off shelves In
markets. A bank vault was sprung j
in Twenty-Nine Palms. Pavements
showed cracks.
Seismologists reported the quake
about equal in severity to one in
April, 1947. which also centered*
in a remote desert area northeast
of here. Only the isolated nature
of the country, said the experts,
prevented serious damage and pos
sible loss of life.
The tremor was felt in a band
extending from Santa Barbara and |
Fresno on the north to S'an Diego
and El Centro on the south, and
east to the Colorado River.
Windows Are Broken.
There were reports of plaster
cracks, broken dishes and stopped
clocks in Los Angeles. In Arlington,
windows were broken and a paint
store messed up when stock fell to
the floor. Windows were broken
in the building of the Ontario Daily
Report. A telephone operator
fainted in Los Angeles and a shopper
fainted in a Riverside department
store. Brief power line failure
occurred in Victorville.
In quake-conscious Long, Beach,
where Southern California’s last I
quake of disaster status occurred
(See QUAKE, Page A-4.)
Explosives Truck Bias!
Kills Two Men in Texas
•y th« Associated Press
THROCKMORTON, Tex., Dec. 4.
—A truck hauling explosives was,
blown to bits 4 miles south of here
today, killing the driver andj
another man.
Still another truck driver was in
jured in the blast:
The truck ran into a ditch and
disintegrated with a great, rumbling
roar that was plainly heard 15 miles
away. The shock rattled windows
in this city, 65 miles northeast of
Abilene.
The driver of the explosive truck
was blown to pieces. Marion Gibson,
manager of the Du Pont plant at
Stanton, Tex., said the driver was
Roger Towery, an employe of the
company. He said the truck was
en route from Stanton to Bartles
ville, Okla.
Willis Buchanan, Throckmorton
rancher, who was driving nearby in
his pickup truck also was killed. A
big trailer truck, also in the vicinity,
w-as thrown off the highway. Its
driver. Jack King of Wichita Palls,
Tex., suffered a badly mangled arm.
The W. H. Bird home, 200 yards
away, was badly damaged. Electric
service in Throckmorton was
knocked out for a few minutes.
U. S. C-54 Airlift Plane
Crashes, Killing Three
ly th« Associated Press
BERLIN, Sunday, Dec. 5.—United
States Air Force headquarters an
nounced today an American C-54
airlift plane crashed at Fassberg in
the British zone of Germany, kill
ing all three crewmen.
The four - engine Skymaster
crashed two miles from the airfield
at Fassberg shortly after taking off.
The cause of the crash was not
immediately established. An inves
tigation has been ordered, Air Force
headquarters said. ‘
The names of the victims were
withheld pending notification of
next of kin.
The accident brought to 16 the
number of Americans killed in the
giant British-American airlift op
eration which is supplying the west
ern sector of Russian-blockaded
Berlin.
The toll of British lives stands at
six
That Fish Turns Up in the Strangest Places.
Federation Picks R. W. Donnelly
To Get Evening Star Trophy
Credentials Chairman!
Selected for Work to
Exclude Subversives
Ralph W. Donnelly, 35-year
old insurance man and a com
parative newcomer among the
city’s civic leaders, last night was
chosen by the Federation of
Citizens’ Associations to receive
this year’s award of The Evening
Star Trophy for outstanding
public service.
Mr. Donnelly won the award by
a 39-37 vote over a three-member
Federation committee which com
peted with him for the annual
prize. The vote then was recorded
officially as unanimous.
The young civic leader was cited
for his work as chairman of the
Federation’* Membership and Cre
dential’* Committee in drafting a
constitutional amendment designed
to exclude from Federation member
ship any delegates belnoging to
subversive organizations.
His selection for the honor was a
special victory for Mr. Donnelly,
because twice in little more than a
RALPH W. DONNELLY.
~Star Staff Photo.
year he had been defeated in con
tests for the presidency of the Fed
eration. His rival. John H. Con
naughton, who won by a small
margin in both elections was a
• See FEDERATION, Page A-5.)
__!__
Truman Blasts Report
'Mighty Mo' Will
Join Inactive Fleet
Ship to Stay in Service,
He Stresses at Silver
Service Presentation
By Joseph A. Fox
Star Staff Correspondent
NORFOLK, Va.. December 4.—
The 45,000-ton Missouri, last of
the big battleships to stay on
active duty, will' continue to
occupy that role—perhaps as
long as the White House tenancy
remains unchanged.
Any idea that tlft “Mighty Mo,”
scene Of the Japanese surrender,
would join her sisters, the Iowa and
New Jersey and lesser craft, in the
“mothball fleet-’ was dissipated ef
fectually today by President Truman
—a Missourian—who stood on the
historic “surrender deck” of the
Missouri and told reporters:
“Some smart aleck who poses
as a spokesman for the Navy has
stated that the Missouri is to be
put out of commission. The Mis
souri is not to be put out of com
mission. I want to make that as
emphatic as possible. I am speak
ing as President of the United
States.”
Asked if he could be quoted di
rectly—a departure from custom—
Mr. Truman responded: “Yes, you
can make it as strong as you want
to.”
The President did not identify his
target, but his statement obviously
was prompted by a story in a Wash
ington morning paper yesterday that
the Missouri was due for retirement.
The President’s denunciation of
the Missouri story added an unex
pected touch of color to the event,
which brought Mr. Truman to Nor
folk—the presentation of a $10,000,
281-piece silver service to the battle
ship by the State of Missouri.
Everything had gone strictly ac
cording to protocol. Gov. Phil M.
Donnelly, of Missouri, made the
presentation: Gapt. James H. Thach,
jr., accepted the gift for the Mis
souri, and the President honored the
amenities with a little spe?ch in;
which he paid tribute to Gov. Don- |
nelly’s efforts to have the State
make the gift, and expressed regrets
that he himself had never been
Governor of Missouri.
Then Mr. Truman walked over
where reporters were standing, and
said he wanted to make a state
ment that he had overlooked in his
speech to the Missouri’s company.
He did.
Secretary of the Navy Sullivan,
who was at his elbow, hastened to
assure the President that he and
Admiral Louis E. Denfeld, chief of
naval operations, already had issued
a statement denying the decommis
sioning report, but he added he had
not seen it in print yet.
After the presentation ceremony,
which Mr. Truman climaxed by in
(See TRUMAN, Page A-3J
Radio Programs, Page C-8
Complete Index, Page A-2
Five Men Surrender
In Ambush Slaying
Of Georgia Negro
State Investigator Says
All Are Detained Under
'Suspicion of Murder'
By the Associated Press
LYONS, Ga., Dec. 4.—Five men
surrendered to county officers to
day and were held under sus
picion of murder in the Novem
ber 20 ambush slaying of Robert
Mallard, colored.
All denied any connection with
the killing, which Mr. Mallards’
widow, Amy James Mallard, blamed
on a band of robed but unmasked
white men.
They were detained without war
rants. T. Ross Sharp, attorney for
two of the men. said all five ap
peared voluntarily at the Lyons
County courthouse today. They ap
peared at the office of Toombs Coun
ty Sheriff R. E. Gray, he said,
after “rumors had been circulated
that Mallard's widow had named
some of them as the killers.’*
Sheriff Refuses Confirmation.
Capt. Delmar Jones of the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation, reported
they were being held “under sus
picion of murder.” Sheriff Gray
refused to confirm the GBI report,
declaring, “We are still investi
gating.
Asked if Mr. Mallard’s widow
would be brought to Lyons to swear
out warrants, Sheriff Gray said
“Yes, probably Monday.”
The rumors were circulated after
an Ohio business man produced a
statement from Mr. Mallard’s widow
naming two men as the killers. This
statement was forwarded to Su
perior Court ‘Judge Robert H.
Humphrey by Gov. Herman Tal
rr.adge. The judge then called a
special session o£ the Toombs,
(See AMBUSH,"Page A-4.) I
McCormack Appeals
For Delay in Deporting
84 Estonian Refugees
Plans Bill to Permit
Group That Fled Soviet
Rule to Stay in U. S.
Representative McCormack,
Democrat, of Massachusetts, yes
terday appealed to immigration
authorities to .hold up deporta
tion proceedings against 84 Es
tonian refugees from Soviet rule
who crossed the Atlantic in two
small boats seeking haven in the
United States.
Mr. McCormack said he planned
to introduce in the new Congress a
bill permitting the Estonians to
remain in this country.
He acted after learning that the
i State Department officially hgs
asked Sweden to take them back
and to take measures to halt similar
voyages by other refugees from
Baltic countries taken over by Rus
sia who hope to enter the United
States without waiting to be ac
cepted in immigration quotas.
The Estonians, now detained at
Ellis Island, New York, sailed from
Sweden after fleeing to that country.
More than 30,000 Estonians alone
are reported to have taken refuge
in Sweden since Russia absorbed
the Baltic countries of Estonia, Lat
via and Lithuania.
“Can’t Go Back,” Leader Says. j
In all, 236 men. women and chil
dren refugees—Estonians, Latvians,
Finns and Russians—have made the
[hazardous Atlantic crossing in 11
separate voyages in small boats
‘since the end of the war. Their
longing for homes in the United!
States was summed up by 63-year
old Capt. John Rosenberg, who
headed one expedition, when he
said:
"We want to live in freedom. If
we can’t land in the United States,
we will have to try Canada. We
can’t go back.”
Representative McCormack said
1 the refugees who braved the rigors
of an Atlantic crossing in small
boats to find homes in the United
States pose “a broader question"
than one of immigration quotas.
Sends Message to Miller.
He told The Star from his office
in Boston that he feels such
refugees "should be permitted to
stay.” Once before, he had in
terested himself in a similar prob
lem, and as a result of that interest
by himself and Representative
Kennedy, Democrat, of Massachu
setts, a bill was introduced in Con
gress to permit a group of Latvian
vovageurs to remain in the United
i States.
In connection with the present
Estonian case, Mr. McCormack sent
the following telegram to Com
missioner of Immigration Watson
Miller:
“I am very much interested in
the plight of the 80-odd brave per
sons from Estonia who fled from
Soviet rule to Sweden and from
there to the United States, arriv
ing at Wilmington, N. C., several
months ago.
"It is my intention to introduce
a bill in the next Congress in their
behalf. I understand the State
Department has asked Sweden if
that country will take them back.
I am frank in stating that I do not
think they should be compelled to
(See REFUGEES, Page A-4.)
Autopsy Shows Merchant Died
Of Skull Fracture, Not Illness
Homicide squad detectives today
were investigating the strange case!
of a merchant believed to have died
of natural causes until an autopsy!
disclosed yesterday afternoon that
he had suffered a severe fracture,
in the upper part of the skull.
The coroner’s jury will be sworn
in tomorrow in the case of Charles
Scheer. 48, of 1413 Saratoga ave
nue N.E., owner of a men's clothing
store at 1100 North. Capitol street,
where he was found in a semicon
scious condition last Monday night.
Mr. Scheer died in George Wash
ington University Hospital early
yesterday. Coroner A. Magruder
MacDonald said the autopsy dis
closed a skull fracture which scarce
ly could have resulted from a fall
to the floor. Death was due to a
broken skull and lacerations of the
brain, the coroner reported.
Dectives said Mr. Scheer, who
had been under treatment for a
stomach ailment for the last 15'
years, became ill in his store. They
said a friend of Mr. Scheer’s, John
Griffin. 51, of the first block of
New York avenue N.W., was with
him at the time.
Mr. Griffin telephoned to Mr.
Scheer's wife, Edith, who sum
moned her husband's nephew, Dr.
Manuel Laudman, of 437 Seventh
street N.W. and hurried to the store.
Meanwhile, an ambulance had
been summoned.
Police said Dr. Laudman decided
to drive Mr. Scheer to the hospital
in his automobile. They added
there was no evidence of robbery,
and Mr. Scheer complained only
of being ill and did not mention
a head injury.
Queried by telephone, Mrs. Scheer
would not state an opinion, but a
man who identified himself as Mr.
Scheer's brother said he believed
the dead man had been murdered.
He would not elaborate.
Water Rate Rise
Or Loan Needed,
Gen. Young Says
New Revenue Vital
To Expansion Plans,
Engineer Asserts
The possibility of another In
crease in the District’s water
rates was raised yesterday by
Engineer Commissioner Gordon
R. Young.
Gen. Young said he would present
to the Board of Commissioners with
in 10 days a report on the study
made by David V. Auld, superintend
ent of the water division, of the
first "leg” of a 20-year, $70,000,000
expansion of the city’s water system.
This first phase of the long-range
program calls for between $15,000,000
and $20,000,000 to be spent in the
next five years, Gen. Young said.
The city’s water system now is
overloaded severely, he declared,
adding that in a short time it will
reach the danger point.
Expansion Funds Necessary.
Although self-supporting at pres
ent, the water system can “just get
through the fiscal year 1950,” Gen.
Young said. Then money must be
found not only to carry on the op
eration, but for expansion that has
become a necessity.
Obviously, the necessary funds
must be raised by another increase
in water rates (rates went up 25
per cent last year) by borrowing or
by a combination of both, Gen.
Young said.
The engineer commissioner said
he had not decided yet just which
way of financing the water expan
sion program he would recommend
to the commissioners. He also said
he would not release the details of
the study made by Mr. Auld until
after the commissioners had worked
on it.
“We cannot do it with the pres
ent rates,” he declared. He pointed
out that the present rates gave
only a small margin over operating
expenses which could be used for
construction. By fiscal 1951 there
will not be enough margin left to
carry out the work, he added.
Favors Federal Payment.
“We must add to the water reve
nue,” he said.
He said he was in favor of the
Federal Government paying for the
water it actually used. Until last
year the Federal Government, which
uses one-sixth of all water in the
District, paid nothing to the Dis
trict. Last year Congress authorized
payment of $1,000,000 to the District
water fund.
Gen. Young said this was about
the amount of water used by the
Federal Government since the Dis
trict used roughly $6,000,000 worth
of water now.
He said he felt it was omy jusi,
and also practicable, for the Federal
Government to pay for what water
it uses just as it pays for telephone
and dight service. With a lump sum
appropriation, there is no flexibility
for the occasion when the Federal
consumption of water goes up.
The expansion plan recommended
by Mr. Auld is based on an estimate
that the Capital’s population will
reach 1,090,000 by 1970. At present
it is under 900.000. Two years ago,
the Army Chief of Engineers and
the District Engineering Depart
ment estimated that Washington s
water consumption would rise to 64,
000,000 gallons daily by 1955.
Peak Reached Ahead of Time.
This level was reached early tnis
vear, six and one-half years before
it should have been, Mr. Auld said.
The increasing population, but
more important, the use of “gad
gets,” has driven the water con
sumption up in the city, Gen. Young
said.
More and more air conditioning
units, washing machines and trash
disposal units are being installed
each day, he pointed out. These
increase water consumption tre
mendously. In turn, it place a
strain on the sewage system and
the disposal plants which have to
handle all these added gallons, he
added.
Gen. Young only would say that
the recommended $15,000,000 to $20,
300,000 worth of improvements meant
expansion of the filtration, storage
and distribution systems.
The Potomac River will be able
to furnish enough water to the
District indefinitely, Gen. Young
said. It is only a question of getting
it to the users.
Deputies Vote Contidence
In De Gasperi Cabinet
By Associated Press
ROME, Dec. 4—Italy's Chamber
of Deputies voted confidence in
Premier Alcide de Gasperi's govern
ment tonight by a 162-vote majority.
Of the 448 deputies present, only
140 voted in favor of a Socialist and
Communist sponsored no-confidence
motion on foreign policy. Three
hundred and two voted against it
and six abstained.
The vote followed a week-long
debate on foreign policy.
Mr. De Gasperi wound up the
debate with an hour-long speech in
which he dealt with Italy’s No. 1
question—the return of her prewar
colonies.
Turning to the Communist
benches, the premier said:
"Italy, while keeping clear from
hostility toward the East, will seek
friendship from North and South
America, first of all from the United
States, to which we owe so much of
our economic recovery, and with tha
Latin American countries * *
2,045 War Dead Due
In New York Tomorrow
By the Associated Press
NEW YORK. Dec. 4.—The Army
transport Lt. James E. Robinson will
arrive here Monday with the bodies
of 2,045 American war dead.
Shipside memorial services will be
held at the Brooklyn Army Base
where the vessel will dock. The re
turning dead include service per
sonnel originally buried in military
cemeteries in England, Waies and
France.