Evening star., 1907-10-24
BY IT'S COMMITTEE
SCHOOL BOARD TO INVESTI-
GATE CHARGES OF BARTER.

A special committee Of the board of
education. composed of all the male mem
bers who are In the city. namely. Capt.
James F. Oyster. president; W. " Cox.
w. D. Hoover, r. R. Horner and John F.
Cook. is to meet this afternoon in the
Franklin building and give hearing to
w. Calvin Chase. the colored attorney
who was mentioned by Assistant Superin-
tendent Bruce of the schools as being in
volved in the bartering of school positions,
and who has in turn brought charges of
Willfully miSrepresenting the facts in the
case against Mr. Bruce.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at
3 30 o clock in the board room. and at this
time 1t is not known whether it will be
public 1t is rumored that Mr.. Chase Is
prepared to make sensational charges
against certain school officials. and also
intends to try to read some documents
that will make interesting reading-
But One Case Scheduled.
Capt. Oyster, however. has stated that
he is determined, if possible. to confine
the hearing to the one case in hand. that
of Mrs Mary Syphax Gibson, who was
said by Mfr. Bruce to have admitted the
paying of $50 to the colored attorney for
a position in the schools.
Assistant United States Attorney Nc
Namara, special counsel for the board,
"
board legally, if the occasion arises.
At the direction of President Oyster.
Secretary Hine of the board OF education
recently addressed q letter to Mr.. Chase,
requesting him to be present at $3.50 today
at the Franklin and be prepared to sub
stantiate before committee the charges
he has made against Mr.. Bruce of will
fully misrepresenting the facts In the
case.
Files His Reply.
To this letter Mr.. Chase has replied,
signifying his willingness to be present
and asking that the board summon as
witnesses DR.. Chancellor, DR.. w. Bruce
Evans. principal of the Armstrong Man.
ual Training School, and DR.. w. s. Mont
gomery. supervising principal. He also
asks that in the interest of fair play the
public, and especially newspaper men, be
admitted to the hearing. He declares he
has nothing to hide, and wants the full
rays of the calcium light to be turned
on
Arrangements are being made by the
school authorities to open a new kinder
garten in Chevy Chase. and for this pur-
pose rooms in a business building within
the District limits will be rented, At
torney Stuart Mcnamara having given 1t
as his opinion that the board has no
authority to rent quarters outside of the
District. 1t is expected that the new
SCHOOL Will Opcu ANOSCltlDSA l. 1HIS VII
necessitate the appointment Of two new
kindergarten assistants.
Il will probably spend two or three
weeks more investigating secret societies
in the high schools before reporting to
the board my final conclusions and be-
fore making any recommendations. said
Dr. Chancellor to a Star reporter this
morning. When the report is ready
it will. think. cover the ground fully.
L shall make certain recommendations
with regard to debating and other So
cieties of that nature in the schools.
An Incorrect Statement.
The statement that 1 have found
many secret societies of an injurious ma
ture in the local high schools Is not
true. 1 have found some that 1 cannot
approve, but l have not found many
1 expect to recommend that certain or
ganizations of a secret character be al
lowed to continue their existence under
certain conditions. l will say that I
have found many secret bodies that are
either entirely harmless or beneficial
ton as to the results of Investigations
of these societies in other cities through
out the country. l want to learn whether
or not the sensational reports about them
are true. The mails are slow and 1t may
be several weeks before l have this data
in hand. All the facts 1 CLEAN in this
way l shall embody in my report to the
board