The Wilmington morning star., 1940-04-29
WASH|NGTON
DAYBOOK
BY JACK STINNETT

WASf1lNIlON, April GOV llISu. IA TleQ
Piper.
The nations capital is having rat trouble. i.
not the kind that spawned during prohibition
and in the rackets, either just old-fashion-
ed gray rats that grow big and fat raiding the
hen houses and the garbage cans. 4
Some unprofessional estimates run as high
as 200, 900 for Washington's rat population,
but the scientific fellows pooh-poohed that fig
ure, guess that there are not more than 1O0,-
900 to 200, 900.
No matter what the number, the capital has
declared a blitzkrieg on the rodents. Platoons
of rat-hunters are being organized in several
sections of the city and, under guidance of
men who know their rat poison, starting a
lightning war of determination that should by
early summer make the city completely rat
less.
Reason for rise of the rats is simply that
Washington is an old city. Scattered between
the islands of new housing developments and
new buildings are thousands of old houses
that date back 40 to 70 years.
Found: Leg in a Taxi
Memo to the Screwy News Editor: If you
haven't already seen it, here's Washingto1's
bid for the screwiest news of the week.
James E. Martin, a cab driver, appeared at
police headquarters the other day carrying Il
gray-trousered, White-and-broWn shOd artlt-
ciaI leg. He said he had dropped a passenger
dl L dlVN Ia AAO1 w "NN 'eS
cruising about when he glanced back and saw
the leg stretching comfortably from the rear
seat. No., he didn't recall that his passenger
hoped off after paying him. The leg is kick
ing around police headquarters.
No-Depression Town
WASHINGTON recently was referred to as a
boom town. and it's more or less true . =.
more or less, because word boom generally
is associated with a town that mushrooms and
then goes bust.
Persons who Know their Bret Harte and
Jack London and orr those who have followed
oil discoveries from Spindletop to Berger Will
understand it that way, at least.
AS a matter of fact, Washington has been
booming since 1900 and about the only things
that have gone bust here in all that time are
some pieces of sculpture and those 18th cen
fury politicians who played real estate on the
wrong side of the capitol.
What is more correct is that Washington is
a no-depression town. A t least, it's the closest
thing to it that this country ever has seen.
The reason is that Uncle Sam always meets
his payroll and those of his 127,771 nepheWs
and nieces who work here can alWays-and
often do-pay their bills.
They Heard About 1t
Folks here knew about THE depression, of
course, but if it hadn't been for banking trou-
bles and the drain from relatives living else
where, it probably would have been no more
than hearsay. Even the major business re-
cessions are not reflected in Washington.
The only real depression Washington had in
the memory of the present generation, was
after the World war. when the government
started whiting down the 1T, 100 civil en-
ployes working here. The number was almost
halved before they were through. Washington
business and real estate men still recall those
days as a financial nightmare.
Oddly enough, though, in spite of a reason
ably permanent condition of good business,
Washington does have its unemployment and
problems. Hundreds and thousands of
job-seekers drift in here seeking and finding
And the more unemployed out over the
land, the more drift to the capital.