Evening star., 1920-03-23

| AZ &S0iIn8 against 0upt 4hui oSOhs a.
though he considered the superin-
tendent lacked courage to make
| commendation and stand by it."
| Have you made any recommenda-
tions for appointmentsr'
Dr. Johnson said. however. that he
had discussed the qualifications of ap-
plicants with both Supt. Thurston and
Asst. Supt. Bruce. He said that
| Il was his opinion that recommends
tions for appointments should be
made by the assistant superintendent
Of colored schools. and that he was
| backed up in this opinion by the
views Of the auditor for the District
In a decision made In 1915.
Have you ever recommended any
relative of yours for q place az a
teacher or matron?"
NO, I have not" replied DR.. John
son. Il think, perhaps, I had better
explain that in 1917, when matrons
were to be appointed. my sister made
application. knew nothing about
1t until she had filed the application
with Mr.. Thurston. went to see
MT, Thurston to ask that the appIi-
cation be withdrawn. He advised me
to let 1t stay on the files. and did
ing 1t. over I phoned to the superin-
tendent's ONCE and had the applica-
tion withdrawn
Questioned on Principal.
The witness was questioned about
tie appointment Of Miss Emmy
Wilson as principal Of the Randall
School. He said that he had opposed
the appointment because there were
other teachers Of longer experience
and higher grade who were availa-
ble- The superintendent recommend
cd Miss Wilson.
"E{nallv ~. or1,,
the board who voted against the ap-
pointment. though I think Mrs. Cook
would have voted with me had she
been present" said DIR. johnson. DR..
Van Schaick, he said, was out Of
the country at the time and Mr.. Ham
ilton was president of the board.
Senator Harrison asked about the
case OF man named Syphax. who
was suspended.
Wasn't he thinking of bringing suit
against the board. and didn't DR.. Van
Schaick ask you to 60 to him about
the matter?'
NO. Syphax came to see me, and /
told him that IL he reopened the case
there might be trial which would
go against him."
Attended Informal Conference.
In reply to questions by Senator
tended any informal conferences Of
the board of education. DR.. johnson
said that three years ago he had met
with other members of the board at
Or. van Schaick's home to discuss the
election of tho superintendent. and
that recently he had met there with
the board again. also to discuss the
superintendent- He said that since
DR.. Van Schaick returned from Eu-
rope last summer he had frequently
visited DR.. Van Schaick's house to
talk about school matters. DR.. John
son also said that he attended an in
FORMAL conference in Mr.. Kinds Of
nee In the Franklin School. where Mr.,
Thursto-'s case was discussed
I think Mrs. Rhodes told me after
FORMAL board meeting had adjourned
tnat some of US were going to meet"
said DR.. Johnson.
Il did not know what the meeting
was going to be about" he said. in
answer to another question.
The witness said that he thourht he
nad told Mrs. Cook the meeting was
to take place.
You were Just assuming that Mrs.
COOK was going to be in that crowd"
said Senator Harrison.
I assumed she would be at that
meeting" said the witness.
The Witness said the meeting was
ne!d In secret, because the members
did not want everybody to hear what
they were talking about.
ReapDointment Attitude.
Senator Harrison asked DR.. johnson
II II. ne e. had sought reappointment on
latter replied he had not made q per.
sonai campaign to that end, but had
authorised his friends to work for his
reappointment. He said he vas
moved to do that because the So
instisated by the Parents League
were pending, and he wanted 10 re-
main on the board until they should
De settled and the board vindicated.
DID you approve Of the recon-
%enaa''Gn of ths ba,rd msdH oy ~ = suhcommittes
Wood r asked Senator Harrison.
Il did not" said the witneas. "I
SION"
.,s %Yop on took /. very proper course"
After the District Supreme Court
had compelled the reinstatement of
Miss Wood. said the witness, he had
not voted to appeal the case because
ne objected to the attack made on
led the nght for the appeal.
In what way did Mr.. Larner attack
the president Of the board?' asked
Senator Harrison.
He said that DR.. Van Schaick did
rounding the case Of Miss Wood; that
he had not been here to bear the
brunt of the attack on the board;
that his information on the situation
was not gotten first hand. and that
he did not believe DR.. Van Schaick
board on the Wood case. It was not
30 much what he said as the way he
said II that ! objected to, and re-
fused to vote with him, though ia
vored appealing the case. as he did"
Question M to Evasion.
Senator Harrison asked DR.. Job1>
son If he did not think this was the
same sort of evasion Of which Supt.
Thurston had been accused. but the
witness said he did not think the
circumstances were parallel
You used to think the Parents
League was a good thing. did you
not?' Senator Harrison asked.
Yes. when 1t was first organized"
said DR.. Johnson.
When did you change your mind?
When the league changed its pur-
How was that?"
when 1t dropped the question of
the dismissal Of what were called the
.Moens teachers and went after Mr..
Bruce"
DR.. Johnson added that he did not
turn against the league until he found
he could not get 1t to define tho
charges on which 1t alleged Asst
ouPt. bruce SHOULD % dismissed.
"One man. George e. Smith, pre-
sented written charges against Mr..
Bruce. which were referred to the cor.
poration counsel by the board Of edu-
cation, and which that official said
were not strong enough to warrant
action" said DR.. johnson. But the
Parents League has never presented
any charges"
The witness said that he had talked
with Dr.Van Schaick after he had re-
turned from abroad. and had told the
board president of the, Parepts'