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Ls 1 <' T - " ~ SEARCHING FOR CLUES IN STRANGLING—Precient Detective Henry Perkoski stands at spot where the car carrying Miss Sarah Trachten berg’s body was parked in the 100 block of N street N.W. The fence bounds the Hahnemann Hospital grounds. 11-Block Area Scoured For Clues to Slaying Continued From First Page lted often with two other sis ters—Mrs. Rose Deßosky of 1336 Rittenhouse street N.W. and Mrs. Lillian Winston of 4120 Eighteenth street N.W.— each sister thought she was with another sister on Thurs day night. On Friday, however, when Mrs. Winston tried to feet in touch with her, her disappear ance came to light. Mrs. Win ston notified the Tenth Pre cinct, which issued a missing persons bulletin at 2 p.m. Fri day. Police questioned both rela tives and present and past em ployes yesterday in an effort to trace her movements and habits. Le Roy Chapman, 50, of 1537 Eighth street N.W., an employe of Miss Trachtenberg for 17 years, told police about her de parture. presumably for home, on Thursday. He was quoted as saying he saw her leave the store, walk across the street to a parking lot which she owned, get into her car and drive up Fifth street. He said he saw. her turn left at Fifth and K streets— the opposite direction from where her body was found. Mr. Chapman told police he had a delivery to make and drove behind her in his truck to the corner. Then, he said, he waved to her and drove on. Route Is Mystery Her usual route home, ac cording to relatives, was Fifth street to K, west to Sixth street north to Florida avenue, west on Florida to Georgia avenue, north to Upshur street, west [ to Fourteenth street, north to Webster and left one block to her home. But how far in that direction! she got on Thursday night is] the big mystery. At some ooint: along the line, police theorize,] either some one forced him- j self into her car at a traffic 1 stop or she picked somone up. There was also the possibility that the strangler concealed himself in the car while Miss Trachtenberg was out of the car collecting rents. Confronted by multiple pos sible motives for murder—rob bery, rape or something stem- Airline Offer Raises Hope A new wage offer yesterday brought hope for an early end to the 18-day-old mechanics strike at Capital Airlines. A settlement would presum ably establish a pattern for new wage pacts with Trans World and Eastern airlines, also threatened with machin ists’ strikes. Capital announced it had of fered the union an increase of 30 cents an hour now ar* 8 cents on October 1, 1953. This would be on the basis of a t... year contract. Since the old contract ex pired October 1, 1957, 15 cents of the 30-cent raise would be retroactive to the expiration of the old wage agreement. Capi tal officials said it would mean an average of (312 in retro active pay to 2,474 mainte nance workers. About 7,500 Capital employes have been furloughed as a result of the strike. At 9 pm last night, the meetings were recessed until noon today In an effort to break the deadlock which has grounded all Capital flights. Federal Me diator Francis A. O’Neill. Jr., yesterday met with company and union negotiator. The IAM postponed a strike which had been called against TWA for Friday night and no tified Eastern it would strike Monday Both Capital and the IAM have agreed to accept binding arbitration of the strike para lyzing the airline if further negotiations fail and if “an acceptable referee can be found." While there are other mat ters to be resolved In the ne gotiations, the principal issue is wages. Prior to the offer last night. Capital had offered the mechanics 26 cents an hour. The union demanded 42 cents an hour. The average wage of all Capital mechanics before the strike was (2 46 per hour, but most mechanics received (2 54 an hour. ming from her business affairs —police concentrated on try ing to find the location of the attack on her. One of the big puzzles was why her body lay unnoticed in the car while scores of children passed up and down the street on the way to and from Dunbar High School and a nearby play ground. To spot the body, how ever, a passerby would have had to get close to the car and peek in through dusty windows. Police have located witnesses who are sure the car was parked in the same spot from Friday morning on. The body was found when a man in work clothes and carrying a set of tools approached Mrs. Gladys Spriggs of 234 Ascot street N.E. as she started to enter Hahne mann Hospital where she works as a nurse. Saw “Sick Woman’* The man, who has not yet been identified, told Mrs. Spriggs that a sick woman was lying in the back of a car around the corner. Mrs. Spriggs went into the hospital to get the night nurse super visor, Mrs. Dorothy Bradtmuil ler of 6111 Westland drive, Hy attsville, Md. Another nurse, Mrs. Margaret Harper of 1441 Twenty - second street S.E., Joined them as they went to look in the car. The doors of the dark blue sedan were all unlocked. They opened one of them and saw Miss Trachtenberg's body. Deputy Coroner Christopher J. Murphy performed an auto sy and reported that death was due to manual strangulation. Miss Trachtenberg's eyes were blacked. Her face was bruised and the marks of the strangler were on her neck. Dr. Murphy said an attempt had been made to criminally assault her. She had been dead more than 24 hours. It was believed that death occurred either Thurs day night or very early Fri day morning. Born and educated in Balti more. she had long considered Washington her home. Her only son. Bernard Trach tenberg, who assumed his mother’s maiden name, said she was trained as a nurse at Baltimore’s Mercy Hospital and took graduate work in nursing at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She came to Washington in 1906. Mr. Trachtenberg said his mother was married in 1907 to Ellis Greenstein, who died In 1915 and was Bernard Trach tenberg's father. During World War I, he said, his mother served as a nurse and was mar ried to Charles Rosenfeld, whom she divorced in 1929. She went into business at 444 Rhode Island avenue N.W. as the Service Tire and Brake Co. But. in 1933, she was in volved in a serious automobile rc’dent. Between Illness and th , » depression she lost every thing. Her *>n figured her losses at that time amounted to half a million dollars. Later in the 23305, however, she started again with a little money and some used furni ture. She opened the Square Deal Furniture Co. The real es tate interests followed Her son estimated that her holdings now amounted to more than (200,000. In addition to her son. who is in the real estate business in Florida, and her three sisters, she is survived by one brother, Jacob Traten, who owns the Walter Reed Antique Shop, and four grandsons. 'SILENT' POPCORN EXCITES THEATER MANAGERS HERE A new "silent” popcorn was hailed by movie theater managers today. The new popcorn, discovered by Department of Agri culture scientists, has had little commercial appeal be cause it requires twice as much of it as the ordinary product. But theater operators were happy over the possi bilities. “If it adds to the comfort of our patrons, more power to it.” said Ronald Sterling, assistant manaaer of Loew s Capitol Theater, 1326 F street N.W Jerry Baker manager of RKO Keith’s, 619 Fifteenth street N W„ was really fractured by the news. "We’re all for it if it adds one iota to our customers' enjoyment.” he said between laughs. “But do you think people will enjoy popcorn as much if they can't hear it?” The new popcorn, which makes little or'no noise in chewing, is actually soißhum rather than corn. The dif ficulty is that it expands only about 17 time* on popping compared to 3( times for the newly developed hybrid popcorns. Kenneth Valdes, manager of the Dupont Theater. 1332 Connecticut avenue N W.. has no plan* to introduce popcorn (silent or otherwise* to his patrons. "It's a wonderful achievement.” he said, "but we won't serve it till they figure away of getting it to our customers without having it in a box. It's too messy.” jAr* /s * J ’Wk jfel JPjpS It fWi ■ .■■ % IHk A ’ ,1: _ Wm wa|pr hMhmhM * 9 MISS SARAH TRACHTENBERG Victim of strangling LAUDED FOR 'HEART OF GOLD' 'Miss Sarah' Recalled For Her Kindnesses Around Fifth and I streets N.W., everyone knew “Miss Sarah.” She was the woman who worked long hours—the woman her neighbors could always go to for a few dollars at the end of the month—the woman who “lived poor” as far as the Fifth street residents knew. So it was with a sense of bewilderment that the neighbors : clustered around the door of Sarah Trachtenberg’s Square Deal Furniture Store yesterday. | “Oh lordy,” cried a woman with a market bag clutched in her arms, “why would anyone ]do a thing like that to Miss Sarah?” “That” was murder. As policemen and reporters con verged on Miss Trachtenberg’s I store, the word spread quickly j through the neighborhood that Miss Trachtenberg's body had been found 11 blocks away. ; “She was the kindest thing,": said a withered little woman who occasionally helped Miss Trachtenberg clean shop. “Never a mean word, and when you needed a dollar to help tide you over, she'd give it to you and never a word about when she would get it back.” Miss Trachtenberg lived with her sister in a comfortable home on Webster street ,but the center of her life was the real estate business and furniture store she had labored 23 years to make prosperous. Indefatigable Worker Ludwig Krafthofer, owner of the corner grocery store across Fifth street from the furniture store, has operated his store nearly as long as Miss Trach tenberg. He was perhaps ffs close to her as anyone. “She never stopped working,” he said. "I'd see her lots of times stay late at night working over the accounts.” 1 The folks would see quite a lot of her, Mr. Krafthofer said. Although she would seem a little hard to approach on the sur face. he added, they knew she would help them out if they ! really needed it. . j THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., NOVEMBER 2, 1958 m if M DEATH CAR—Sergt. Robert Sandberg of the Police Identification Bureau works on the Trachtenberg car. On car top is red blanket used as seat cover.—Star Staff Photos. “She would help anyone worthy of help,” he said. “She was nice to people who deserved it.” And she must have felt many did deserve it. For, Mr. Krafthofer said, “I’d sure like to have the money she's lost giving it away.” Charity Drsrribed He said she “dressed poor and ate poor.” Whenever she'd take time out for lunch, she would go across the street to ; Mr. Krafthofer’s and buy a 'I little bologna and bread. [! “I’d tell her, ’Miss Sarah, why don’t you stop this and go have a steak dinner once in a while,’ ” he said. "But she’d al ] ways say she was too busy and didn’t want to anywa*.” “But,” he reflected, "she sure had a heart of gold.” Apartment Shortages Hit Washington Area An unprecedented peacetime demand for apartment* In the Washington area was disclosed yest“rday in Government and private vacancy surveys. The District office of the Federal Housing Administration said a survey of 48,000 rental dwelling units showed a vacancy rate of 1.11 per cent, compared to 2.28 last March. This survey, completed only last week, included garden and elevator apartments In Washington and nearby Vir ginia and Maryland. Most of these units, built with FHA insured mortgages but pri vately owned, are in the mod erate rental range. An FHA official said the 1.11 per cent vacancy rate—slightly more than one apartment out of a hundred temporarily un occupied—U “about as low as it can get.” Other surveys, however, show even fewer rental units A recent check by tly Proj ect Management Association indicated less than 1 per cent vacancy in 20.000 dwelling units "This survey covered all sec tions of the area," said Joseph C. Murray, manager of the property management depart ment of Shannon 4c Luchs Co. “I have never seen the rental market so strong." he added. "This condition is amazing, particularly since rents are rising.” Demand for Luxary Spots Mr. Murray said the only soft spot was in run-down and poorly maintained rental prop erty. Property managers also noted an increase in the de mand for higher priced Rnd luxury apartments Shannon ft Luchs soon will announce the firm has been retained to manage the 402- unlt Capitol Park Apartment in Southwest Washington. This luxury apartment, the first to White House Seen Getting Bridge Row Engineer Commissioner A. C.| Welling indicated last night j that some higher authority—] possibly the White House—will be relied upon to break any future stalemates between the District and the Interior De partment on Constitution ave nue bridge problems. This implication developed from Gen. Welling’s answers to questions about the bridge controversy on the WWDC radio program, "Report to the People.” Gen. Welling expressed strong i confidence that no further con struction delays would occur in i the bridge project, despite ques tions raised by the Interior De partment about certain ap proach road proposals. Can Resolve Disputes “If we thing one element is necessary and Interior is op posed, I believe we can resolve our differences by taking the problem to someone else for a decision,” Gen. Welling said. Asked by reporters if "some one else” meant either the Pres ident or the Congress, the gen eral said he was not talking about anyone in particular. But he twice repeated this method of resolving any pos jsible future conflicts. Last week, Interior Secretary Seaton expressed his depart ment’s "complete approval" of approach - road preliminary plans submitted by the District, but said that further study is needed between the two agen cies in three specific areas near the Lincoln Memorial. Gen Welling vigorously de nied last night that this fur ther indicated an ‘‘impasse’’ which might hold up construc tion schedules. He said In terior had indicate only that it wanted more opportunity for join consideration of the prob lem areas. At the same time, he made it clear he does not feel the Dis trict will yield on its proposals, particularly one which calls for an overpass to carry Twenty third street traffic over Con stitution avenue N. W. In terior officials in the past have urged that this structure be eliminated. Gen. Welling said he Is con fident traffic will be using the Constitution avenue bridge (or the Theodore Roosevelt Me morial Bridge, as it is now called), by 1962. Construction , is expected to begin next year. rise in an area under re development, won’t be ready for occupancy until April, 1959 Yet. Mr. Murray reported "sub stantial interest and many in quiries” in the apartments. The Albemarle House, a 230- unit "super luxury" apartment house at 4501 Connecticut ave nue N.W., was 50 per cent rented when it opened two weeks ago.’ Charles E. Smith Management, the rental agent, reports it is about 80 per cent rented today. Requests Mounting "We have about 2,000 units in the luxury class.” said an official of the firm, "and we are having no trouble keeping them rented Our vacancy rate runs from zero to one-half of one per cent." The lowest vacancy rate was turned up in a survey of 16 garden-type apartments with a total of 4.161 units. The Build ing Owners St Managers Asso ciation survey showed that in one month there were only 10 vacant apartments. Rental agents said the great demands for rental units has been building up for about a year. "A tremendous number of new apartments came onto the market a couple of years ago and there seemed to be a sur plus for a while." said Mr. Mur ray. "But these were soon oc cupied and its looks like the market will stay strong." Planning Board Prepares Inner-Loop Express Plan By JAMES O. DEANE ■tar Staff Writer The District has handed the National Capital Planning Com mission a new plan for the Foggy Bottom stretch of the inner-loop expressway. The major feature of the plan, it is understood, is a switch in the position of a north-bound roadway between Virginia avenue and M street N.W. Planners favor moving it west from Twenty-fifth street, closed to the south bound road. The revamped layout, In formed sources indicated yes terday, would be cheaper and have less impact on private property than previous express way plans. Willing Orders Start It wouldn’t endanger George Washington University or Poto mac Plaza expansion plans, they j added. Action on the Foggy Bottom! project was triggered late last week by Interior Department] approval of plans for the Theo dore Roosevelt bridge. The loop roads are to connect with the i bridge, as well as with the projected Potomac freeway to be built soon upriver from the bridge are at K street. Brig. Gen. Alvin C, Welling,! District engineer commissioner, ordered a start Friday on de tailed plans for both the bridge and the freeway. Highway of ficials, late Friday, sent the: loop plans to the planning commission. Harland Bartholomew, com mission chairman, said yester day he had only a brief look at the Foggy Bottom drawing. He said he plans to take up the! proposals tomorrow, however. The commission meets this week, but is not expected to act on the expressway before de tailed study. Oppose Property Seizures City officials indicated no immediate plans for making details of their proposals pub lic. This question is to be ] taken up with the planning commission, they said. The Foggy Bottom revamp ing stems partly from a request from the planning body. The commission last year asked to have the north-south roadways brought closer together. Commission members felt earlier plans required taking too much property, Mr. Bartholo mew recalled. The commission In 1956 ap proved a plan putting the ex pressway between JPwenty-third and Twenty-fourth streets and ; '■ \ 2 Boys Smother In Refrigerator DETROIT, Nov. 1 <AP).— * Two half-brothers suffocated when they were trapped in a refrigerator in the basement of their grandparents’ home to day. They were Jackie Curtis, 7, and Kenneth Curtis, 3. Police found the bodies hud dled inside the refrigerator 5 after the boys had been re > ported missing. Their mother, Mrs. Eileen Curtis, 25. a waitress, was at work when the accident oc ] curred. The refrigerator belonged to Mrs. Curtis and her husband from whom she has been sep arated about four weeks. W: • » W r M ' ' JL fIHHHMHk^ /’tnil wkT^fmMM‘ V' ** IF jb jy^^BL * apß PALS AT F/RST S/GHT Alfred (Rusty) Chester, 6-year-old son of Mrs. Shirley Hinkston. of 55 Allison street N.E., gets a loving kiss from the black and white mongrel puppy he found at the District Dog Pound —Star Staff Photo by Ranny Routt. "’4 " • ' under Washington circle. But; this was dropped after protests < from George Washington Uni- i versity and other affected prop- 1 erty owners. I Last year a plan drafted by ' Harold L. Altken. now planning ; chief of the highway depart- ] ment, proposed splitting the expressway, with the south ] roadway running between : Twenty-sixth and Twenty- 1 seventh streets and the north 1 roadway on Twenty-fifth street. It is this plan which city offi cials have now modified. Relocated Roads Planned ] 1 Besides the relocation of the ! northbound road, it is under stood the new plan includes changes in connections with the new river parkway, which ] is to link with Route 240 in Maryland. Below Virginia avenue and i above N street N.W. the north \ and south expressway roads would be joined. • *1 Southerners to Retain D. C. Committee Grip k By GRACE BASSETT * Star Staff Writer Next Tuesday’s elections arc bound to alter drastically Republican membership on the House District Committee. But control of the local lawmaking unit will be left entrenched with conservative Southern Democrats, 10 of whom are running unopposed. Three of the nine Senate District committeemen are fight- ing to retain their seats. Pollsters see Democrat Prox- \ mire of Wisconsin as a winner; r Republican Beall of Maryland j in a tossup race with Demo- ! j crat Thomas D’Alesandro. and t Republican Proxmire of West t Virginia edged out by Demo- i crat Jennings Randolph. Should challengers D’Alesan- "■ dro and Randolph unseat in- 1 cumbents, they would be likely t prospects for District Commit- 1 | tee service. Both Mr. D’Alesan dro, mayor of Baltimore, and Mr. Randolph, former Wash ington public relations man, 1 used to belong to the House 1 District Committee during pre- t vious terms in Congress. ]\ Leadership in Doubt Republican leadership on the 1 House Committee is left un- ‘ certain by the absence of the ' late Representative Simpson ( of Illinois and Representative 1 O’Hara of Minnesota. < These political war horses were among the staunchest , friends of the District in Con gress. They championed added Fed eral aid to the city and home rule for years. They steered the (305 million municipal public works program through a skeptical House in 1954. Mr. 1 , Simpson, who headed (he House Committee in the 83rd Con igress, died unexpectedly Satur jday, October 25. He was his ■ party’s nominee. Republican chairmen promptly nominated his widow, Edna Oakes Simp son. to carry his campaign], against Democrat Henry W. ] Pollock. Minnesota Race Mr. O’Hara retired after this i last 85th Congress. Minnesota, a swing State this year, could follow either Republican Sena- i tor Thye or Democratic con tender Eugene McCarthy in the overshadowed House contests. • j With the Simpson and i O’Hara chairs empty, the Re publican roster on the District Committee totals nine, all] seeking re-election. They are i Representatives Broyhlll, of 11 A-15 The inner loop is intend** eventually to encircle the core of Washington. The Foggy Bottom stretch is to link to the south with the Southwest- Southeast freeway, now under construction. To the north the loofl will follow S street and Florida avenue to another north-south link at Eleventh street N.E. Also projected is a center north-south leg Just west of the Capitol. Design money for the west leg—the Foggy Bottom portion is tentatively budgeted for next year. The highway depart ment. hopes to complete the loop road from the new bridge to K street and the new river freeway by 1963. The west leg stretch is ex pected to cost about $23 mil lion. The bridge and the river freeway as far as Foxhall road ;N.W. are tagged at about $24 million apiece. The city hopes to finish the bridge by late 1961 and the freeway stretch Iby 1963. Virginia; Hyde, of Maryland; Talle, of Iowa; Miller, of Nebraska; Auchincloss, of New Jersey: Allen, of California; Kearns, of Pennsylvania; Pat terson, of Connecticut, and Holt, of California. If re-elected. Representative Talle can become the ranking Republican on the House Dis trict Committee, Mr. Talle has long served on the committee. Talle Backs Renewal Mr. Talle favors eliminating Washington’s Federal office buildings that are eyesores in the parks and elsewhere. He wants the slums removed, par ticularly from the Capitol Hill area, and generally urges that Washington be made a model city, befitting its world rank. He has worked to improve the city’s criminal code, for public works and for unemployment compensation. Democrats in the last Con gress took 14 district seats. Unopposed with no worries are House Committee Chairman McMillan of South C’.vol'”'\ Harris of Arkansas, Abernethy and Williams of Mississip ~ Smith of Virginia. Teague of Texas, Davis of Georgia, Mor rison of Louisiana’. Matthews of Florida and Mitchell of Georgia. Also expected to win handily is Southern Democrat Dowdy, whose campaign is one of the three contested House races in Texas. Facing opposition are North ern Democratic Committeemen Dawson of Illinois, Wier of Min nesota and Multer of New York. The upcoming 86th Congrefeb will organize its committees anew in January. With a Dem ocratic leadership, the House can be expected to keep the current count of 14 Democrats and 11 Republicans at work on local affairs. 1 A Republican House would shift the Party majority. But Democrats are bound to keep ion the committee the hard core of Southerners, who tra ditionally have guided House 1 District policies.