Evening star. [volume], December 10, 1951, Image 26

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

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FASHIONS—READERS' CLEARING HOUSE
SOCIETY—AMUSEMENTS
lining ifef
WASHINGTON NEWS-COMICS-RADIO
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1951
B
Arlington Gl
On Casualty
List for Area
Sergt. Christensen
Reported Missing
In Korea Action
Sergt. Val D. Christensen, 23.
who.left Arlington for Korea last
August 22 afuer three years’ serv
ice r.t Fort Myer, has been report-’
ed missing in action.
In Arlington, he lived with his
wife, Mrs. Dorothy L. Christen
sen, and 19-month-old son, Val
R-. at 1006 North Quincy street.
Sergt. Christensen is one of
eight soldiers from Maryland and
Virginia who are listed in the lat
est casualty reports.
His mother-in-law, Mrs. Robert
E. Smoak of 472 North Thomas
Sent. Christensen.
Pfc. Hater.
PtI. Clokey.
Corpl. Daly.
street, Arlington, said the ser- :
geant was serving with the 8th
Army in Korea. The War Depart
ment telegram saying he was
missing arrived on November 27, •
she said. It was forwarded to St.
Petersburg, Fla., where Mrs. 1
Christensen is staying with rela- 1
tives. i
Mrs. Smoak said she believed 1
the last letter her son-in-law sent '
from Korea was written about j
October 15. In it. the sergeant 1
said his brother, Don, also fight
ing with American forces in
Korea, was 15 miles behind him f
but that he hadn’t been able to see i
him. s
Was Squad Leader.
At Fort Myer, Sergt. Richard j
B. Petitt, who served with Sergt.
Christensen during his three j
years there, said the missing sol- ,
dier was an infantry squad leader ‘
while at the fort.
An Alexandria soldier. Pfc. Le- ■;
roy J. Hager, was listed as (
injured. j
His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ber- {
nard Hager of 1505 Washington
avenue, Huntington, said he was t
injured on October 26, but that ,
they have received no word from ,
him regarding his injuries.
Mr. Hager said his son, who is ■
23, was drafted a yeai ago this
month and has been in Korea
since last May with the 3d Bat- ,
talion of the 5th Cavalry Regi
ment. 1
Laurel Man Wounded.
A 22-year-old Laurel (Md.) man
who was drafted in March of
this year has been shot in the !
hip in Korea.
Pvt. Lloyd B. Clokey was {
wounded November 5, and op
erated on aboard the hospital !
ship Consolation. He wrote his
parents November 11, saying, in
part, “Joe Chinks are some bad
men and I mean it, but we have ]
plenty of guts and hope and !
faith.- J
Pvt. Clokey was educated at the ,
Oaten elementary and Elkridge <
High schools near Laurel, and j
was working with the Locke ]
Insulation Co. in Baltimore when
he was drafted. He trained at ]
Fort Belvoir, in both infantry and (
engineer schools, his family said, i
and was with the 1st Cavalryi]
division when wounded. i
Corpl. Richard A. Daley, 25, 1
colored, of 5417 Forty-first avenue,
Brentwood, Md., has been re- '
ported missing in action.
Was Recently Transferred.
A letter to his wife, Erma, re
ceived October 21, said he wasi
being transferred from the engi-i;
neers to the infantry, but hadn’t j
been assigned to any particular ,
outfit at that time. Two days ,
later the Defense Department
telegram announcing he was
missing arrived.
Educated at the Brentwood j
School, Corpl. Daley was drafted!
in September, 1949. He received J
engineer training at Fort Belvoir,!
and arrived in Japan Easter
Monday of this year and left for
Korea soon after. He was work
ing as a janitor in an apartment
development in Seat Pleasant
when he was drafted. The couple
has no children.
Pfc. Henry G. Pyne, 25, son of
Mr. and Mrs. James Pyne of War
renton, Va„ has been reported
missing in action since November
6. His parents said he has been
in the service since last May and
was assigned to the Korean area
about two months ago. Before
entering the Army he was em
ployed on the Cook Lewis farm
near Delaplane.
xne department aiso listed tnree
other Virginia men as casualties:
Sergt. 1/c Willie L. Moore,
missing in action, nephew of Mrs.
Carrie Jackson, Disputants; Pvt.
Cecil J. V. L. Stirum, wounded,
son of Mr. and Mrs. John Mulder,
507 West Court street, Wood
stock, and Corpl. James W. Frick,
nbjured, son of Mrs. Mary F.
Flick, Elkton.
Boy Killed Here
As U. S. Auto Toll
Nears Million
Fatality in District
Is 65th This Year;
Inquest Awaited
Death roamed rain-slick high
ways in Washington, Virginia and
Maryland over the weekend.
In Washington, a 6-year-old
boy was added to the Nation’s
traffic toll as it near the 1 mil
lion mark, Virginia’s death list
reached 926 for the year and
Maryland counted its 501st fa
tality.
(From Chicago, the Associated
Press quoted the National Safety
Council as anticipating the 1 mil
lionth traffic death in the Nation
about December 21. As of last
Thursday, the council’s figures
showed about 1.900 to go toward
the million figure.)
On the perilous Baltimore
Washington boulevard, new acci
dents boosted the totals to 44
dead, 400 injured in 11,000 crashes
this year.
The Washington victim was
Richard Hall McEntee, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Frances P. McEntee of
6 Halley place S.E., who was fa
tally injured at 1:30 p.m. yesterday
when* he ran into the path of an
auto in front of his home.
Death Is Year’s 65th Here.
The driver, Sergt. Robert E.
Shields. 22, of 3774 First street
S.E., a Bolling Air Force Base air
man, was released to military au
thorities pending a coroner’s in
quest. Police said the victim had
started across the street to join
his older brother, William. 13,
when he was struck. He was a
first-grade student at St. Peter’s
School. He also leaves a sister.
Jane, 15.
ni» ueaui was me com m
Washington this year, compared
to 66 for the same period last
pear.
A Prince Georges County crash
it 6:30 a.m. yesterday took the
ife of Lt. Col. Lewis J. Wright,
14, of the Airways and Communi
:ations Service at Andrews Air
F’orce Base. He lived at 4722
riomer avenue, Suitland Manor,
vld.
Col. Wright was pronounced
lead by Dr. James I. Boyd, Prince
Deorges County medical examiner,
ifter his car left the road, ran up
i telephone pole guy wire and
iverturned on Silver Hill road
lear the Military highway over
>ass.
Purcellville Youth Killed.
The victim was a veteran of the
'hina-Burma-India theater dur
ag World War II and had been
tationed at Andrews since Janu
ry, 1950. He leaves his mother,
Irs. Georgia Robson of Sanford,
’la.
At Purcellville, Va., Robert W.
’ayne, 17, was fatally injured in
. collision of the car in which he
vas riding and a milk truck on
toute 690 south of Purcellville.
"he driver was Roger Clayton, 19.
f Philomont, Va., who is in the
oudoun County hospital in fair
ondition.
Police said the driver of the
ruck, John Rosier Thompson, 36,
if Round Hill, Va., was not in
ured.
fwo-Car Crash Kills
l Men in Maryland
By th« Associated Press
RIDGEVILLE, Md., Dec. 10.— 1
rwo men died yesterday as a re
ult of the crash of two cars on
J. S. Route 40 near the Frederick
Jarroll County line.
Three others were injured, in
iluding a Fort Meade soldier and
wo men returning from a hunt
ng trip.
The dead were William T.
iones, 26, of East Rainelle, W. Va.,
md John M. Hahn of Woodlawn,
dd.
State police said the car that
rones was driving was reported
tolen by Washington authorities
December 5. They said the car
lore stolen Maryland auto tags.
A passenger of Jones’, Pvt. Wil
iam M. Connolly, 21, of the 113th
Drdnance Medium Maintenance
Company, Fort Meade, was in
•’rederick Memorial Hospital with
i possible skull fracture. He is
rom Cleveland.
Paul Bachman of Baltimore,
Iriver of the other car, suffered
ractures of both legs, and one of
lis passengers, Gilbert Hardy,
ilso of Baltimore, suffered a pos
iible fractured pelvis. Mr. Hahn
lad been riding with Mr. Bach
nan.
According to State police, the
:ar Jones was driving swerved
iver the center line and hit the
Bachman car. Those in the Bach
nan car were returning from a
lunting trip.
Family Quarrel Ends
In Shooting, Slugging
A 59-year-old woman was shot
and her daughter slugged on the
head with a gun during a family
argument today at 2312 Second
street N.E., police reported.
Mrs. Lula Jefferson, 59, colored,
was under treatment at Freed
men’s Hospital for gunshot
wounds in the head and arm. Her
daughter, Mrs. Ellen Sealey, 27,
was treated at the hospital for
head cuts.
Police broadcast an alarm for
Mrs. Sealey’s husband Duncan, 31,
colored, for questioning about the
attack. Police were called when
Mrs. Jefferson ran to the home of
a neighbor, Mrs. Henry Borgerson,
2318 Second street N.E., seeking
aid.
Blair High to Give Play
The senior qlass of Montgomery
Blair High School will present
I‘Dark of the Moon” at 8:15 p.m.
Thursday and Friday in the school
m Silver Spring.
Berwyn Citizens Fight to Remove Barricade Between Neighbors
By Gene Goodwin
The people of Berwyn and Ber
wyn Heights are determined to
batter down the concrete curtain
which has been separating them
for nine years.
The two Prince Georges com
munities have been fighting to
reopen the Berwyn road grade
crossing over the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad tracks since it was
closed in 1942.
Their chief spokesman. County
Commissioner Edward J. “Ned”
Waters of 8507 Sixtieth avenue.
Berwyn Heights, said that if the
communities do not get some sat
isfaction soon, the people will re
build the roadbed themselves and
hammer down concrete barricades
which now split Berwyn road in
two.
Railroad Given Notice.
After giving the railroad a rea
sonable notice, Mr. Waters said,
the crossing will be opened to
automobile and pedestrian traffic
and, if necessary, the trains will
be stopped.
The State Roads Commission
closed the crossing when the
Greenbelt road overpass, about
1,000 yards north of Berwyn road,
was completed.
The B. & O., which like other
railroads across the county, has
been trying for years to close as
many grade crossings as possible,
requested that the Berwyn road
crossing be blocked for safety rea
sons.
The people claim the closing was
illegal because a public hearing
was never held. "I drove to work
over the crossing one morning,”!
Mr. Waters said, “and when I
came home that evening the cross
ing was closed.”
Berwyn road, in addition to
providing the only direct access
between the two communities, also
was a heavily traveled connection!
between the Baltimore boulevard
and Edmonston road. It was and
still is a State road.
One of the chief complaints
against the closing is that the
people of Berwyn and Berwyn
Heights have to travel from 1 to 3
miles to drive between the two
towns, which are actually but a
stone's throw apart.
Development Hindered.
This not only has hindered
commercial and residential de
velopment, Mr. Waters said, but
it has seriously hampered the
efficiency of the Berwyn Heights
*; ai BERWYHl
BERWYN HEIGHTS
mm
I Ijle/?rmer <fra^e crossing over the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad tracks which Berwyn area residents want reopened. This*
view, looking west, show's^the concrete barricades put up when the crossing was closed. _Star Staff Photo.
Volunteer Fire Department. The
department is located about 400
yards from the tracks—it was
put there to serve both communi
ties—and its trucks now have to
travel 2 miles or more over nar
row, winding roads to reach Ber
wyn.
As for the safety hazard, Mr.
Waters said that in the 40 years
the grade crossing was opened
there were only three accidents,
involving two deaths, at the cross
ing. Since 1942, “there have been
several accidents because of cars
crashing into the heavy barri
cades and three people have been
nlled.” the commissioner added.
The barricades, which are over
1 feet high and 15 inches thick,
eave never been repainted since
:hey were put up, residents said
rhere are no reflectors or lights
in the barricades or even close
10 the crossing.
Mr. Waters said the safety
hazards have been increased 100
per cent since the crossing was
closed becau.se children and adults
still cross the tracks on foot.
Without the roadbed, the tracks
are about a foot above the ground,
making them hazardous to walk
across. Mr. Waters said.
Since his election to the Board
of County Commissioners a year
ago, Mr. Waters has been making
the crossing a county issue. He
has been responsible for a public
hearing on the matter and a series
of conferences between the com
missioners and officials from the
States Roads Commission, the
B. & O. and other interested
groups.
Attorney Hired.
Mr. Waters wrangled with
County Attorney Adrian Fisher
on the crossing issue last week
after Mr. Fisher delivered an
opinion that there is no legal
means by which the county can
reopen the crossing.
Mr. Waters, who wants to take
the issue to court, then succeeded
in getting the commissioners to
approve the hiring of a special
attorney the first of next year
to seek means of getting the cross
ing reopened.
Mr. Fisher said he refused to
file a “spurious and improper
court suit . . . when we haven't
a leg to stand on.”
Mr. Waters insists that the land
between the barricades reverted
to the county when the State
pbandoned it in 1942. Mr. Fisher
believes it makes no difference
who has title to that small piece
of land, since the railroad has
been using it for 100 years, and
has a legal right to continue
using it.
"Let's go to court: let's have
a showdown on this thing,” Mr.
Waters declared. He said he
challenged Mr. Fisher’s opinion,
“because I never take just one
man’s opinion on 6uch important
matters.”
Mr. Waters said he has been
supported in his fight to reopen
the crossing by the Prince Georges
County Rescue Squad, the
Branchville Rescue Squad, the
town commissioners of Berwyn
Heights, the Berwyn Heights Vol
unteer Fire Department, the Col
lege Park Businessmen’s Associa
tion and many individuals.
He expressed confidence that
“every man, woman and child”
in Berwyn and Berwyn Heights
is behind his campaign, as well as
individuals and groups from as far
away as Riverdale.
He said about 3.000 people are
directly inconvenienced by the
barricaded crossing.
Washington Woman
Killed, Husband Hurt
In Florida Accident
A District woman was killed
and her husband seriously injured
in a Florida accident yesterday
while returning from a vacation,
the Associated Press reported.
Mrs. Sylvia Baltinger Perlman,
38, of 1400 Somerset place N.W.,
was killed when the couple's car
turned over twice near Clermont,
Fla. Her husband, Jacob Perl
man, 45, an employe of the Naval
Research Laboratory, suffered a
broken shoulder and chest and
head injuries.
Visiting in Miami.
The couple had been away for
a week and a half for a winter
vacation in Miami, employes of
the laboratory said. Mr. Perlman
was employed in the Radio Di
vision, Navigation Branch of the
laboratory, where he worked on
classified material.
The Perlmans were married here
six years ago.
Mrs. Perlman was born and
reared in Olyphant, Pa. She was
a graduate of Scranton-Lacka
wanna College, Scranton, Pa.
Personnel Worker.
A Washington resident for
about 13 years, she was a secretary
and personnel worker with the
Federal Works Agency here.
She was a member of the Order
of the Eastern Star, the Hebrew
Home of the Aged, and B’Nai
B’rith Women’s Auxiliary.
Besides her husband she is sur
vived by her father, Philip Bal
dinger, of 317 Farragut street
N.W.; and three brothers, Milton
I. Baldinger, of 5160 Linnean N.W.,
an attorney here; Leonard Bal
dinger, of 6524 Luzon avenue
N.W., and Dr. Sheldon Z. Bal
dinger, of the Farragut street ad
dress, a dentist.
Funeral arrangements have not
been completed.
Guy Oden, Who Killed
Sweetheart, 15, Dies
Guy E. Oden, 29, convicted of
manslaughter here in 1942 in the
slaying of his 15-year-old sweet
heart, died last Thursday while
serving a six-to-20-year sentence
at the Federal penitentiary at
Leavenworth, Kans.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons
today said no cause was given for
Oden’s death.
Oden, then 19, shot pretty Ellen
Cannon four times in an apart
ment in the 100 block of O street
S.W., on July 19, 1941.
He was*found guilty of murder
on September 30, 1941, and sen
tenced to the electric chair, but
was given five to 15 years for
manslaughter after a new trial.
He later was convicted of robbery.
Young Oden was turned down
for parole in June, 1948. With
credit for good conduct he would
have gone free in 1955.
Funeral services will be at 10
a.m. tomorrow at the Deal funeral
home, 816 H street N.E. Burial
will be in Cedar Hill Cemetery.
Lansburgh Employes
Get Bonuses Friday
Christmas bonuses will go tc
employes of Lansburgh it Bro
department store next Friday
Ralph L. Goldsmith, presidenl
and general manager, announced
today.
\ Amount of the bonus will varj
with the length of employment.
Reports on Progress
In Minority Hiring
Asked of Agencies
Government agencies are being
I asked to report what progress
1 they have made in the employ
I ment of members of minority
groups.
The request was made by the
Fair Employment Board of the
Civil Service Commission.
The agencies were asked to list
.steps they have taken to insure
fair treatment and equal chance
at promotion for regular employes
among minority groups, and the
| practice in recruiting, rating and
j appointing new employes.
The request follows by a week
an executive order in which Pres
ident Truman created a fair em
ployment committee to ook into
.the hiring practices of defense
contractors.
Reports are due by December
31. Offlcias said this is the first
| such check in more than two
years.
New Orthodox Bishop
For District Ordained
I
The Rt. Rev. Archimandrite
Jonah, dean of Holy Trinity Ca
thedral of the Russian Orthodox
Church of North America in San
Francisco, was ordained a bishop
of the church today.
Bishop Jonah will serve as the
Vicarial Bishop of Washington,
the first time the church, estab
lished in 1789 in the United
States, has established that post.
The prelate is expected to come
to Washington the end of this
month.
A native of the Russian Grodno
area. Bishop Jonah came to the
United States in 1923. He served
during World War I in the Rus
sian army and was wounded in
1916.
He entered the church service
in 1941. Two years later he was
appointed to the faculty of the
Theological School of the Church
at South Canaan, Conn. In 1944
he w'as designated provost of St.:
Vladimir's Theological Seminary,
New York. He became dean of the
San Francisco Cathedral in 1949.
Student Council Elects
Thomas P. Melady, jr„ of Nor
wich, Conn., has been elected
president of the student council
of the nine graduate schools of
Catholic University. Elected to
serve with him were Frank E.
Seward, Elyria, Ohio, vice presi
dent; Miss Mary Grace Connell,
Omaha, Neb., secretary-treasurer,
and the Rev. James A. Magner,
university procurator, moderator.
$4J)00 Car Stolen
By Burglars to Haul
Safe Holding $500
Prince Georges County police
today were seeking burglars who
stole a small safe and a new auto
mobile to carry it in from Fasanko
Motors, 7125 Baltimore boulevard,
College Park, early Sunday.
Police said the safe contained
$500 in cash, $2,600 in checks and
valuable papers.
The burglars hoisted the safe
into the car, a four-door sedan
valued at $4,000, with a hydraulic
jack.
The break-in was discovered
about noon yesterday by Addbpn
L. Lewis of Beltsville, an employe.
Chambers Is Silent as Grave
In Effort to Bury His $100 Fine
W. W. Chambers was as silent
as the grave today.
Mr. Chambers, who has been
referred to as one of the world’s
largest undertakers, was in the
United States Court of Appeals.
He was asking—through his at
torney, Harry Taylor—the court
to dig up the record and deter
mine his right to appeal to the
Municipal Court of Appeals his
conviction for violation of the
District wage and hour law for
women.
But today Mr. Chambers didn’t
undertake his own defense.
The short, rotund man sat buried
in thought on the bench in front
of the court railing. He was
slumped and silent.
In his first appearance in his
own defense in Municipal Court,
Mr. Chambers tried to take over
from his own lawyer in pleading
the unconstitutionally of the ac
tion against him.
Today he was before the dis
tinguished jurists on the bench
They were Judge Wilbur K. Miller
presiding; Judge Charles Fahey
and Judge George Washington
Mr. Chambers didn’t say a word
He was fined $100 in Municipal
Court for the excess hours his
"night hostesses" spent on duty
in four of his undertaking estab
lishments. The $100 was a com
bination of four $25 fines.
The Municipal Court of Appeals
does not have to hear appeals
from petty convictions in which
the fine is less than $50. The
point of law argued today was
whether four $25 fines are a fine
of more than $50 in the matter of
obtaining an appeal.
Fisher Will Not Change Mind
On Prince Georges Resignation
Adrian P. Fisher said today he
has decided not to withdraw his
resignation as Prince Georges
County attorney.
Mr. Fisher submitted his letter
of resignation last week, but it was
declined by the county commis
sioners Friday. The commission
ers also gave Mr. Fisher a rising
vote of confidence and the attor
ney said he would reconsider over
the weekend.
Today, however, he said he had
thought the matter through and
that his resignation would stand.
Mr. Fisher resigned after tang
ling with Commissioner Edward J
“Ned” Waters on the Berwyn road
grade crossing issue. Mr. Waters
declined to accept Mr. Fisher’s
opinion that the crossing, closed
in 1942, could not be legally re
opened by the county.
Mr. Fisher would not com
ment, but it was known that he
was not happy with another ac
tion the commissioners took Fri
day, that of approving appoint
ment of a special counsel to seek
reopening of the crossing. Thai
action was taken on a motion by
Mr. Waters.
In his letter of resignation, Mr
Fisher said, he had agreed tc
accept the county attorney post a
year ago only on an interim basis
until the new commissioners had
oriented themselves with their
duties.
The county attorney’s job is set
up as a part-time post and pays
$7,200 a year. Board President
Thomas E. Latimer has said, how
ever, that Mr. Fisher has devoted
much more time to the job than
he should be required to, and that
his private practice has suffered
greatly as a result.
Brentwood Youth, 16, Stricken
By Polio, Put in Iron Lung
A 16-year-old Brentwood youtl
is in the iron lung at Princ
Georges General Hospital with
critical case of bulbar-type polic
He is George Philip Burnes, jr
of 4307 Fortieth street, a junio
at Bladensburg High School.
Hospital doctors said youn
Burnes is the first patient to b
put in the iron lung since it wa
turned over to the hospital i
year and a half ago by the count;
chapter of the National Poll
Foundation. The lung was donatei
to the chapter by the county Elk
Club.
i! The youth was taken to the
s hospital Thursday night, but* his
i illness was not immediately diag
. nosed as polio. He was placed in
, the iron lung early yesterday,
r Ordinarily, Prince Georges Hos
pital transfers its polio patients to
l either Children’s or Gallinger Hos
; pitals in Washington, but doctors
5 said young Burnes was too sick
i to be moved.
r Mrs. Burnes said her son has
> always been in good health and
1 participated in many sports,
s The youth is the 38th polio vic
tim in the county this year.
Unidentified Pedestrian
Killed by Soldier's Car
By the Associated Press
ODENTON, Md., Dec. 10.—An
unidentified pedestrian was killed
near here today when hit by a car
driven by Pfc. John P. Brincko,
22, of Youngstown, Ohio, Anne
Arundel County police reported.
Pfc. Brincko, who is stationed
at Port Meade, told police the
pedestrian stepped in front of his
car from behind another on Tele
graph road.
Mt. Rainier PTA to Meet
The Mount Rainier Junior High
School Parent-Teacher Associa
tion will meet for a Christmas en
tertainment at 8 o’clock tonigVit
in the school auditorium,
Driver Has Narrow Escape
As Locomotive Rips Auto
James G. Johnston of 5804 Quin
tana street. East Riverdale, nar
rowly escaped injury today in a
brush with a freight train in Bla
densburg.
Bladensburg police said the en
gine of the Baltimore & Ohio
freight train barely caught the
front end of Mr. Johnston’s car
and ripped it off, but otherwise
the car and its driver were un
harmed.
The collison occurred about 6:40
a.m. at the Mill Race siding at
Forty-seventh and Upshur streets.
Police said both the train and the
automobile were moving at a slow
speed.
Printed Invitations
To Dice Game Attract
Police; Two Arrested
An invitation to a dice game
. brought some unwelcome guests
in the form of police undercover
men who dropped a little money
but picked up two men as the
operators.
Police raided the game early
yesterday in the 3600 block of
Thirteenth street N.W. and ar
rested the two among the esti
mated 40 present.
Joseph Frances Jones, 32. of
the 2000 block of L street N.W.,
was accused of setting up a gam
ing table, and Thomas P. Hudson.
33, of the Thirteenth street ad
dress, was charged with permitting
gaming. Jones was freed on $2,000
bond and Hudson on $500 bond.
Printed Cards Sent Out.
A new policy appeared to be in
stituted as an aftermath of the
raid. None of the others there
were charged. The practice before
Inspector Clarence H. Lutz took
over the gambling and liquor
squad had been to charge partici
pants in such games with disor
derly conduct—a practice long
questioned in legal circles.
Police said invitations to the
dice game had been printed on
small cards circulated in the Pen
tagon and the LaSalle Building.
The cards read: "Joe and Dar
nel invite you to a party. Poker,
tonk and dice.”
One of the undercover police
officers told his superiors that he
had been in the dice game 10 min
utes and had lost $25 in $1 bets.
The house, police said, was taking
a 5 per cent cut.
Held on Numbers Charge.
Members of the gambling and
liquor squad also arrested Morris
Gold, 43, on charges of taking
numbers bets in his delicatessen
in the 1400 block of Kenilworth
avenue N.E. Gold was released
under $1,000 bond.
George Jackson, 32, of the
3900 block of Fifth street N.W.,
also a delicatessen operator, was
accused of selling and keeping
whisky without a license at his
store in the 500 block of Twenty
Fifth place N.E. He was freed
under $500 bond.
All of the accused were sched
uled to appear for preliminary
hearings today.
Christmas Music Sung
By 5,000 Methodists
Christmas music was sung by
more than 5,000 Methodists last
night at the annual carol and
hymn sing sponsored by the
Methodist Union of Washington
at Constitution Hall.
R. Deane Shure, Dr. Robert
Harmon and Ivan D. Genuchi,
carol directors, led the singers,
including 80 church choirs in the
audience and 100 soldiers from
Fort Belvoir. The Arlington Civic
Symphony Orchestra provided ac
companiment.
Speakers on the program were
Walter E. Fowler, District budget
officer and a past president of the
Methodiit Union, and the Rev. E.
Pearce Hayes, missionary.
Mr. Hayes, who was forced outi
of Communist China, said greater
sacrifices will have to be made to
aid the world’s starving peoples.
Mr. Fowler, speaking on the
work of the Methodist Union, said
one-quarter of all the churches in
the two Methodist districts which
include Maryland, Virginia and
the District, had received financial
and other help from the uiSon in
the last three and a half years.
No Car Shortage
Expected During
First Half of '52
Scarce Metals Cause
Rough Sledding for
Automobile Industry
By James Y. Newton
Automobile manufacturers, like
the makers of other civilian goods
using scarce metals, are encoun
tering rough sledding, and things
for them will get worse before
they are better.
The expanding re-armament
program is requiring ever increas
ing quantities of the Nation’s sup
plies of steel, copper and alumi
num, taking larger and larger
bites of the supplies that nor
mally would go into manufacture
of new cars, refrigerators, con
struction, etc.
All of this raises questions like
how many automobiles will the
industry be able to produce in
1952 and the year after? Will
new cars become scarce and hard
to get as was the case a few years
ago? In view of Government re
strictions on use of new machine
tools and metals, what w'ill the
new cars look and be like?
Substitutes May Be in Line.
In the current quarter-year
(three months) the Government
allotted to manufacturers enough
steel, copper and aluminum to
produce about 1.1 million autos.
This compares to a pre-Korea
average production of about 1.6
million a quarter.
For the first three months of
1952, the National Production
Authority has allocated sufficient
of the three metals for manufac
ture of about 930,000 new care.
NPA said the industry would be
allowed to produce up to 1,006,000
cars in the quarter if it could do
so by “squeezing” metal supplies,
using substitutes for scarcer ma
terials and scraps of inventory.
The industry believed it could
produce the maximum.
More recently, after metals al
locations were announced for the
first three months of 1952, there
developed a serious shortage of
steel plate, that goes into the
frames and bodies of care. The
industry was told it would have
to get along with 40 per cent less
Steel plate than the amount orig
inally allocated for producing the
930,000 cars.
Extra Cost Involved.
Then. Manly Fleischmann, de
fense production administrator,
said the manufacturers could use
so-called “conversion steel” in
place of the finished plate that
was to be taken away. Some com
panies were producing more raw
or ingot steel than they could
finish. Mr. Fleischmann’s ruling
meant the auto producers were
free to purchase this excess in
got steel and then have it fin
ished in their own mills or wher
ever they could. This involves
considerably higher cost, but the
manufacturers have agreed to it.
The Government has not said
what quantities of scarce metals
the auto industry will be allowed
to use beyond the first three
months of next year. The best
guess is that production will be
permitted in the rest of the year
at about the million-and-a-quar
ter or a slightly reduced rate.
There are individual bottle
necks to car production besides
the over-all shortage of plate
steel, copper and aluminum.
Special items like copper wiring,
chrome stainless and nickel steel,
are in very short supply.
New Market Is “Soft.”
On the question of whether
there will be enough cars to meet
demand, it is pointed out that
the new car market has been
"soft” recently. That is, public
buying has slowed down and there
are not enough buyers for some
of the autos now on the market.
The industry, however, does not
expect this situation to continue
very long, especially in the face
of reduced production. The best
guess, once more, is that at least
shortages will not develop in the
first half of 1952.
Toward the end of next year.
Government production officials
hope they will be able to allocate
larger quantities of scarce metals
for civilian uses. Facilities to
produce steel and aluminum are
being expanded rapidly and new
plants will start to produce in
volume late in 1952. That could
mean more new' cars.
As to appearance, it is probable
that cars made up to at least the
middle of 1952 will be just like the
new models now appearing in
dealers’ windows. Later, short
ages of chrome, stainless steel and
other materials may force manu
facturers to leave off some of the
“bright” trimmings.
New Tooling Banned.
The National Production Au
thority as of next February 15 has
banned the use of new machine
tools in auto making. The order
does not affect 1952 models, but
will have the effect of prohibiting
any major model changes after
the effective date.
Because manufacture drains oft
supplies of some of the scarcer
materials, NPA also has limited
the use of automatic transmissions
or drives in new cars. Manufac
turers may install automatic drives
in a maximum of 35 per .cent of
their cars selling for $1,800 or less,
and 65 per cent of those in the
$1,800 to $2,500 range. Both are
factory delivery prices. Automatic
drives may be installed in all cars
selling at the factory for over
$2,500.
General Motors’ Chevrolet di
vision has claimed the order
works a hardship in their case
since about half of the Chevrolets
were being equipped with the
‘power glide.” They declared that
neither Ford nor Plymouth had
-eached anywhere near that point
n putting automatic drives in
■heir cars. But the Goveriynent
burned down the Chevrolet ap
peal.