davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1933-12-05
TAX OND. A. R. HALL
IS SOUGHT IN PLEA
W a shington Auditorium
Charges Building Is Being
Used for Profit.

A demand that Constitution Hall,
Oh the Daughters of the American
Revolution, be assessed for taxation be-
cause it is used "for business" purposes,
has been placed before the District
Commissioners by the Washington Audi
torium Corporation, owner of the large
han at Ninteenth street and New
York avenue.
Francis H. Stephens, assistant cor
poration counsel who has reviewed the
matter, believes the property is subject
10 taxation because admission is charged
for events at the D. A r. Building
A., An opinion was forwarded today to
the commissioners for action by COrpOr-
atl0l Counsel W. W. Bride. 1t was not
made public but the city heads may
rule on the matter soon
Exempt by Congress.
zSesa Pfeperts S's at s. geteneeensh ts sna
streets was exempt from taxation so
11ns 1ia a13 aa the R3roperty op was used for pub
complaint hled by wharton e. Lester @ ter
attorney for the Auditorium.
he quoted from an act of Congress. .
The property exempt from taxation
shall be the following, and no other
except as otherwise specifically pro-
vlded In this code). namely = q
buildings belonging to the Institutions
OF purely public charity, conducted
without charge to inmates. profit or
income but if any portion of any
such building, house or grounds !. &
Is USED 10 secure rent or income. or
Tor any business purpose, such portion
OF the same. or a. sum equal in value
to such portion, shall be taxed against
the owner OF said building or grounds. /"
Charges Hall Is Rented.
Congress specifically EXEMPTED the
lots on which Constitution Hall was
erected. but Lester claims the BUILDING
rs now and ever since its erection
has been used to secure a rent or in
come" and for business purposes.
Evening star., 1933-12-05

The trappers today were working in
Southwest Washington, along the water
front and in the vicinity of dumps in
the outlying districts. The District
Refuse Department is "spotting" rat
colonies and reporting them to the ex-
terminators. The public has been re-
quested to ask for this free service
whether the rodents are in Offices,
homes or sewers
Meanwhile. the starting offensive
launched last week by Clifford Lanham,
superintendent of trees and parking5
and new chairman of the Districts
Startling Nuisance Abatement Commit
tee, seemed assured of success, or at
least temporary success
The 100 civil works employees which
Mr.. Lanham posted in treetops along
Pennsylvania avenue for several nights
last week have been transferred to other
jobs. Shaking tin cans filled with stones,
they routed the birds from their IA
vorite perches and then followed them
to the F street facades.
For the time being, starting SWarmS
have abandoned the midtown section.
Whether they will return is another
matter. and there also was some doubt
if they had forsaken Washington or
merely scattered to the residential dis
tricts. Only about 10 tree trimmers in
the regular employ of Mr. Lanham's de-
partment will chase starlings tonight.
Meanwhile, the rat war was just get
ting organized for a much longer CAIN
paign.
Evening star., 1933-12-05
INJURED MAN OCCUPIED
TAXI IN CRASH SUNDAY
Edwin Anderson Erroneous1y Re
ported Passenger in Deans
Death Car.

An account published in The Star
yesterday of the accident on the Mount
Vernon Memorial Boulevard in which
three people were killed and seven in
jured early Sunday stated that Edwin
Anderson, 20, of the 1900 block Ingle-
side terrace, was an occupant of the
car driven by Woodrow Dean, 81, OF
the 200 block Kentucky avenue south
east.
Anderson was riding In a taxicab
operated by James Lyles. %, of the 1900
block Columbia road, in which Lyles,
his wife and two others were en- route
to North Carolina when the accident
occurred.
Dean, Mrs. Ethel Pierson, Is, 600
block Sixth street, and Miss Dorothy
Furr, 10, 100 block G street, all occu-
pants of Deans machine. were killed.
Miss Marie Furr, Is, sister Of Doro-
thy, was hurt. .r.
Anderson was recovering at Emer-
gency Hospital today from cuts about
The fecc end hccS.
Evening star., 1933-12-05
SLUM CLEARANCE
PROJECT PUSHED
Dupont Citizens Association
Told of Two Demonstfa-
tions Planned.

Washington is to have two demon
stration projects of slum clearance
under the Public Works Administra-
tion's housing program, Robert D.
Kohn. chief of the P. w. A. housing
division. told the Dupont Circle Citi-
zens' Association yesterday afternoon
at its regular meeting in the Mayfiower
Hotel
Mr. Kohn outlined the entire Govern
ment program, explaining its double
purpose of relieving unemployment and
improving low-cost residential areas
throughout the country.
The plan for Washington, he said,
is tentative. pending a report today
from the District OF Columbia Com
mittee headed by Frederic A. Delano.
He added, however, that suggestions
so far considered include one project
in improving a congested area in the
colored residential section and a sec
ond in white residential area in
which some of the better houses may
be salvaged and the poorer ones re-
placed by modern living quarters.
The report of the committee will
include recommendations of the exact
areas to be improved.
Throughout the country. Mr.. Kohn
said, he has found an improved atti-
tude on the part of the public. When
the housing division began its work last
July, he said, the task appeared almost
hopeless Now. however. municipalities
are showing a more sympathetic atti-
tude and offers of cooperation are
coming from sources heretofore not
anticipated.
Private enterprise, Mr.. Kohn as
serted, has failed in efforts to eliminate
slums because such projects we're found
unsound from an economic and busl-
ness standpoint. He contended that
such an attitude is incorrect because
when the cost of public service is con-
sidered. congested slum areas are found
to be more expensive than the improved
residential sections.
"In one city," he said. eve found an
aNa housing from 500 to 600 families.
The total tax placed upon the property
not the amount collected but the
amount assessed y was s21 900 We
found also that that same area cost the
city in public service, sanitation, gar
bage collection. fire protection. water,
etc. more than 100000; Yet it is
replace them by safer and more Sanl.
tary quarters will not pay Of course
MI. NOM d00tTIl0 Hhf M govern
ment cannot undertake to replace all
the sluns in the country. What it
clearance is feasible and profitable and
can be done successfully.
Upon motion of Mrs. Richard VAIN
wright and Mrs. Archibald Hopkins, the
association voted to call upon the Board
of Education to permit the use Of the
public schools as clubs for girls, pat
partment for establishing boys clubs
throughout the city.
The association gave Mr.. Kohn a
rising vote of thanks for his address.
Evening star., 1933-12-05

TINE tare ground their only floor
a tent their only shelter and ar
automobile gasoline tank with
l. one end knocked out their only
stove, the family of s. H. Heaton
is striving to hang together" until Mr..
Heaton can get job CT some kind.
Up until about three weeks ago the
family hao been moving hither and yon
about the country. while Heaton sought
CmplOvmcnt-he hasn't worked steadily
since a year ago last June. when he was
on a gravel job at Northeast, Md.
Accompanying Heaton and his wife
ere five children, the Oldest 13 years old
and the youngest 16 months. Their tent
is pitched in the woods sbout two blocks
south of Bennings read at Forty-first
street northeast.
But three weeks ago. as he pulled into
the Capital in the delivery truck in
which the family has ridden these many
months, a ring gear and pinion broke.
and he Was stranded, The pyramid
tent he had acquired in his travels
and which was all right for dwelling
sci up. THE gasoline tank was con-
verted into a makeshift stove, which.
ticalIy the only furniture in the tent.
Heaton is seeking work as battery
man or rough carpenter-or anythins
else he can find. He says if he gets
his car fixed, he can use it to go into
the woods to gather berries and holly
for The holiday season and thus tide
the destitute family over for time.
Since the family came to Washington
one of the little girls, Willie Mae, aged
9, has been stricken with a malarial
fever which she caught when the FAM
lily was in Arkansas on its travels. She
is in Providence Hospital now, leaving
only six persons to sleep in the one
bed the tent boasts.
Heaton and his family are from Toe
coa, Ga. a small town near Atlanta.
He formerly worked as battery man
in an Athens, Ga, garage for four years,
but when work became scarce, took to
the road. He has since been back to
Georgia. but says he was unluckv
finding work in his native State as else
where, so started out again.
Despite their destitution, the chill
dren are kept clean. At little spring
a few hundred yards from the tent Mrs.
Evening star., 1933-12-05

Heaton washes the few garments they
possess and keeps them clean
Today two women from the Georgia
Society called en- the family and started
wheels moving to allay to certain ex-
tent their poverty. One of them. Mrs.
Theodore Tiller, is going to call to-
gether a group of other GeorgianS to
see if some sort of aid can be worked
ont. The other Mrs. James w. Thurs
ton, said she would see if she can find
some sort of work for Heaton.
Meanwhile. the family is existing on
food given them by kind-hearted resi-
dents of the vicinity and other who
have learned of their PLIGHT. There
was kettle of beans boiling over an
open fire outside the tent. They have
virtually no utensils, so that cooking is
made more difficult
Because he is Georgian, Heaton is
ineligible to work on c. W. A. projects
in the District. and. possibly. if he
could get his automobile repaired would
be able to go to his native State 10 par
ticirate in its share of the civil works
distribution
In connection with cases Of this ma
ture a Nationwide effort to make the
transients unemployed stay put has
gency Relief Administration. Harry L..
Hopkins, administrator, has announced.
Hopkins said that the railroads will
make special efforts to discourage
itinerant unemployed from stealing
rides on trains and State relief officials
will hold drives to discourage motorists
from picking up hitch-hikers-
In the case of the rod and blind rid
erS" Hopkins said, the men will be
taken from trains and put in camps for
the transient camps. where they will be
provided with work relief.
Hopkins was emphatic. however. in
stating that the drive would not be di-
r"cted at the distinct class he regards
as ''hoboes" as distinguished from the
transient who is unemployed due to the
depression.
The hoboes, he holds, have always
been able to take care Of themselves,
even in depression times and they are
not 10 he herded into camps against
their Will.
Our relief people will be able to dis
tinguish between hoboes and the VIC
Tins OF the depression" Hopkins said,
Evening star., 1933-12-05
DR.. BUCHANAN DIES;
WAS IN MAIL SERVICE
Retired Federal Employe Succumbs
at SO After Appendicitis
Operation.

DR.. Robert Edward Buchanan. SO, re-
tired employe Of the Railway Mail Serv-
ice. died today at the National Homeo-
pathic Hospital after an operation for
appendicitis three weeks ago.
Dr.. Buchanan, who made his home
at 835 Allison street for the past 20
years. was graduated from a local school
Of dentistry in 1897 After practicing
dentistry for several years, he entered
the mail service
A native of Alexandria, Va, he had
been a resident of Washington for the
last Sc years and had retired from the
mail service last October. DR.. Bu-
ctanan's wife. Loretta Holmes Bu-
chanan. died three weeks ago after a
heart attack.
He is survived by three sons, Eldred
H., E. Allen and Charles A. Buchanan;
two daughters, Mrs D. B. Winter and
Miss Bessie Buchanan. and two sisters.
Mrs, Ella K, B. Jones and Mrs. Henry
Milbum.
Funeral services will be held at 2
Pm Thursday afternoon from the resi-
IINM
Evening star., 1933-12-05
CLAIMS GAS FIRMS
COST Sl9,35,594
S. r. Rosters TestifieS Lax
Accounting tmndiCapS
Estimate.

The difficulties of finding out how
much it really costs to buy and set up
the properties of the Washington and
Georgetown Gas Light Cos were out
lined at length today to the Public Utili-
ties Commission by S. F. Rosters
Mr. Rosters, who is employed to tes-
tify for the companies in their valua-
tion case. said that previous to 1915 the
state of the companies accounting was
very irregular.
Labor cost, he said. was not allo-
Gated to the various construction JOBS
as they we're done. Neither was it
allocated as between maintenance and
capital accounts, he said. At the end
cf each year the chief engineer would
make these ALLEGATIONS from recollec-
ton, he explained.
Estimate of S19,365,594
Materials kept in stores were charged
to the stores and later disappeared with
out ever being charged out. Since the
companies started business in l848 he
found it quite difficult to arrive at true
costs of the various items of property.
In spite of all this, by the use of esti-
mates where necessary, he finally ar
rived at a figure of Sl9,365 ,594 as the
original costs of the properties existing
on June 80, 1882.
Another witness previously had testi-
fed that it would have cost S22, 1858. 1886
to rebuild the same properties on that
date. Either of these figures includes
the companies land, on which they
place q value of So .289, 900.
The fight against the private confer
enceS between witnesses for the two
sides. which were authorized by the
commission before the public hearings
began, broke out afreSh yesterday after
noon when Mr.. Rosters put his figures
in. The company offered the report of
the conferees on original cost along with
Mr.. Rosters calculations. William NICK.
Clayton of the Federation Of Citizens
Associations once more objected to the
proceedings, as he had when testimony
on land was offered early in the case
and again when testimony came In on
the reprOductiOn cost.
Evening star., 1933-12-05
CIVIC GROUPS NAMING
LIQUOR BOARD URGED

The Forest Hills Citizens Association
last night directed its !iouor-control
consideration to the District Liquor
Control Board, At previous meeting
it opposed the sale of hard liquor in the
Forest Hills section In order to re-
move the LIQUOR Control Board as far
the ssseeiatioIa adopted team OF reIeintio5i P4litio5;
lAvOtlNs APPOINTMENT Of the boards
civic bodses- The plan approved BY the he
association entails the nomination by
each OF eight civic agencies of one
member OF nominating committee" :"
This nominating committee, in turn.
would name the three members Of the
board. who would then be formally ap-
pointed by the District Commissioners
ona me e civic agencies which would name
committee include the Parent. Teacher
AAssociatlons Asses the Federation Of Citizens
tne Board OF Trade. the Chamber of
commerce. organized labor and the
Catholic bishop Of the diocese in which
Washington is located.
The association complied a LIST of
proJects Wnlcn IL Will submit for devel-
opment under the Civil Works Admins
IraIi4n. hsJHn Ihese include improvement of
Audooon terrace In two separate prof.
ects-No: j, Audobon terrace from
AIbemarle street to Linnean avenue,
ana, NO. z, Audobon terrace from Lin
mean avenue to Broad Branch road:
improvement of the intersections of
Grant and Ridge roads, and Daniels
road and Bingham drive in Rock Greek
Park so that safer turns for traffic
could be executed. and improvement of
motorists line of vision at the inter-
section Of Broad Branch road and
Brandywine street by cutting away CT
cn embankment.
Evening star., 1933-12-05
DEPOSIT RELEASE
DUE THIS WEEK
Franklin National Bank Pre-
pairing Statement to Be
Mailed.

Depositors of the Franklin National
Bank probably will learn this week tbs
percentage of their deposits to be made
available when the bank reopens as a
branch of the new Mechanics Franklin
Savings Bank.
AS soon as this is decided letter will
be mailed to all depositors asking for a
waiver of the remaining sum to be
placed in the hands of trustees. The
amount to be released probably will be
between 65 and IS per cent, it has been
indicated.
Fixing OF this figure also will mark
the beginning of the Franklin Banks
campaign to sell stock in the new
merger. The Franklin will increase the
capital structure of the Mechanics
Franklin SAVINGS Eank bv 100000 in
stock at $40 par value and $40 surplus,
to be sold at $40.
ofncza1s of the bank the Reconstrue-
ZION llnVnCQ CQDQll[lOn 1nQ INC
Treasury Department today were en-
gagged in ironing out details
Park Pays Cash.
Meantime. at the insolvent Park Saw
ings Bank depositors again crowded into
the lobby today to file their claims and
to receive in cash the per cent cash
distribution. in case they had not pre-
viously withdrawn it just prior to the
President's bank holiday
hnQtheT mSQIVent bank the Inter
national Exchange Bank, is paying out
dividend of per cent. 1t previously
had paid 1623 per cent.
Another development in the Park
Savings Bank case took place in District
Supreme Court where further action was
taken by defendants in the equity case
fled by the Depositors Committee in an
attempt to have court receiver ap-
pointed and to collect as much as pos
sible from directors and stockholders.
Evening star., 1933-12-05
CITY NEWS IN BRIEF.

TODAY.
Meeting, Ladies section, Concord
Club. Hamilton Hotel, 8 pm
Meeting. zeta Chapter, Beta Gamma
Phi Sorority, Hamilton Hotel, 8 pm.
Meeting, I. c. c. Lodge, No. So, A
F. G. E., Hamilton Hotel, 8 pm
Card party, Theta Chapter. Iota
Gamma Phi Sorority, Hamilton Hotel
8 pm.
Dance, Social Club, Ohev Sholon
Congregation. Aimas Temple, $50 pm
Banquet, Washington Locksmith',
Association, Scholls Cafe, 1919 G
street, pm.
Meeting, Welsh Society, Powell Jun
ior High School, 8 pm.
Turkey dinner and bazaar, Metro
politan Presbyterian Church, Fourth
and B streets southeast, to 7 pm.
Dinner, super-six Group, Hamline
M. E. Church, $50 to 7 pm.
Card party. Bell Club, benefit St
James Catholic Church. auditorium
Thirty-seventh street and Rhode Is.
land avenue northeast. 8 pm.
Dinner meeting, Washington Alumnat
Chapter. Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority
1884 I street, $50 pm.
Dinner, Society of Colonial Wars
Mayfower Hotel, 730 pm.
Dinner. Protected Home Circle, Will
lard Hotel, $50 pm.
Meeting. Washington Chapter. Cath
olic Daughters of America, Willard
Hotel, 7:30 pm.
Rehearsal. Rubenstein Club. Willard
Meeting. WomenS National Pres
Club, willard Hotel. pm.
Meeting washington Wholesale Bev'
erage Dispensers. Willard Hotel, 8 pm
Meeting. order of Christian n1ystics
Willard Hotel. ! pm.
Dance Virginia state Society, Will
Meeting. Federal Club. University
Club, pm.
Benefit card party. St. Thomas
Apostle Church, Shcreham Hotel, pm
Play, DAY and Night" Leban On
Players. Western Presbyterian Church
H street between Nineteenth and TWen'
tieth streets, pm
TOMORROW.
Luncheon, Rotary Club, Willard Ho-
tel, 1880 pm.
Luncheon. D. C. Bankers Association
Willard Hotel, 12:4s pm.
Luncheon. Soroptimist Club, willard
Hotel, pm.
Luncheon. Lions Club, Mayfower
Hotel, 1890 pm.
Meeting, Women's Board, George
Washington University Hospital, May
flower Hotel, 1890 am.
Luncheon, University of Missouri
AIumnia, University Club, 1880 pm.
Luncheon, Democratic Club, Univer-
sity Club, 1890 pm.
Luncheon. Veterans Administration
Univcraity Cub, 1880 pr.
Evening star., 1933-12-05
Earthquake Recorded.

A moderate earthquake, centered
about $500 miles from Washington in a
northwesterly direction. was reported
today by Georgetown University Seis-
mological Observatory.
The shocks began at 2:46:04 pm.
yesterday, reached maximum intensity
at 2:56 pm. and ended at $40 pm.
Evening star., 1933-12-05
HAZEN, ALLEN H0N0RED.

The Public Order Committee of the
Washington Board of Trade will honor
Commissioners Melvin C. Hazen and
George E. Allen at a special luncheon
meeting in the Raleigh Hotel Monday,
Chairman Odell Smith announced to-
day.
Commissioner Hazen has been a
member Of this committee for several
wears.
Evening star., 1933-12-05
One Complete Record.
The conferees on land value kept
stenograp paic records of their confer
.u,., VNG VllTOdIIOtlOD cont VltnGOlfN

enCes. Inc leplUuuCllUll lU1v WiVnVM"
did not do so. but kept minutes OF i'm
portant matters The two confersss on
but drew up a report. Mr.. Clayton
claimed that the commission was bound
by this report. no matter how wrong
| it might be. and renewed Vigorously
all of his objections to any PROCEEDINGS
except at the public hearings required
by the public utilities act.
Again Assistant Corporation Counsel
william A. Roberts ana the company
LAWYERS argued that the conferences
had taken place, and that there was
no reason to shut out their conference
report. The witnesses, they said, would
be examined, touching every point mace
in the report.
Mr.. Clayton's reply was that in that
case no time would have been saved
by the conference method, and the
time-saving argument was the only one
he had heard of in its favor.
A general wrangle, lasting two hours,
and all of it "off the record" followed,
but finally the commission allowed the
report to be marked for Identification.
It will be offered as evidence later.
Evening star., 1933-12-05
INJURED IN FALL

Electrician Suffers Possible Frac-
ture of Skull.
Charles Benckert, 80, an electrician,
was seriously injured today when he fell
from a ladder on which he was working
in Union Station.
Benckert, who lives at SIG Frazier
avenue, Virginia Highlands, Va, was
taken to Emergency Hospital. Physi-
clans said his skull may be fractured.
Evening star., 1933-12-05
TORCH BLAST FIRES HOME
Mrs. Laura Mclaughlin Hurt in
Leap From Window During Fire.

Mrs. Laura Mclaughlin, "a, Of 2918
Nichols avenue southeast, was severely
injured yesterday when she jumped
from a second-story window of her
home after the explosion Of gasoline
torch set fire to the place Mrs. Nc
Lauglin, a St. Elizabeth Hospital nurse,
was treated at Casualty Hospital for
fracture of both legs and one arm.
Wilbur Redman, IS, resident of the
same address, received burns on his
left arm in rendering assistance to Mrs.
Mclaughlin. He was treated at St.
EIizabe.h's Hosritcl.
Evening star., 1933-12-05
Alumni Hears Copeland.

Senator Royal S. Copeland and Mrs.
Mary Conner Myers were speakers at a
meeting of the Phi Delta Delta Alumni
Association at the home OF DR.. and
Mrs. Everett M. Ellison yesterday eve
nir~.
Evening star., 1933-12-05

TODAY
Meeting, Ladies section, Concord
Club. Hamilton Hotel, pm
Evening star., 1933-12-05

Meeting, Women's Board, George
Washington University Hospital, May
flower Hotel, 1890 am.
Evening star., 1933-12-05

Luncheon, Democratic Club, Univer-
sity Club, 1890 pm.
Evening star., 1933-12-05

Luncheon. Veterans Administrator,
University Cub, 1880 pr.
Evening star., 1933-10-20

Although the mission actually does
not get possession until January l.,
under the deed, Supt. Bennett al
ready is taking out small groups
of men each day to help put it in
order. They have entered wholeheart-
edly into the spirit of the work, with a
result that 20 acres Of land are now
being plowed for wheat A young grad
uate of an agricultural college, formerly
out of a job, has been installed to
supervise the work.
The other night in chapel serv-
ice,' Supt. Bennett said. Il asked
how many of the 225 men present
would like to get weeks work on
the farm. Fully 90 per cent Of them
said yes and there was no mistake IN
their willingness
On a modest scale. what Bennett has
in mind for the men is what the
Civilian Conservation Corps is doing
in forest camps to build up morale and
bodies of large army of the unem-
ployed. "As the farm is developed, we
hope to install dairy to supply fresh
milk for the mission and work each
week for large groups of men," he said.
"We intend to grow all our own vege-
tables for the mission kitchen and add
to the live stock already there"
There is another aspect Ito the farm
as a future investment. Located on
the edge of the triangle for the new
municipal center, the mission directors
are in fear some day of being COM
PEELED to move from their present site.
The acquisition of farm Of consider
able acreage relieves that anxiety and
gives the mission a self-sustaining
home close to the city if the necessity
| for moving arises.