Evening star., 1941-01-22
j. ). Laboratory
Is Planned on
Pembroke Site
Offices to Be Located
In Newly Acquired
House for Present
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Construction of a 100000 labora-
tory for testing materials to be pur.
chased by the Government, largely
IN connection with the national
defense program, on the 1212 acre
Pembroke Park estate at Van Ness
street and Reno road, long one OF
the most elaborate private estates
In Washington, is planned by the
Bureau of Standards.
Acquisition of the estate was an
nounced yesterday by Dr. Lyman j
Briggs, director of the Bureau OF
Standards. The purchase has been
contemplated for some time to meet
the rapidly expanding needs OF the
Bureau. These have greatly in
creased since the defense program
started.
The new laboratory has been ap-
proved by the Budget Bureau and
now awaits congressional authorize
ton. The estate, on which there is
now a 16-room gray stone house and
several other buildings, adjoins the
Bureau of Standards grounds. 1t
was purchased from Mrs. Alfred P
Thom, widow of the counsel OF the
American Railway Association.
Impressed Wilson.
The estate was considered as the
home of former President Woodrow
Wilson when he left the White
House in 1921. While Mrs. Wilson
was house hunting. she reveals in
her recently published autobiog-
raphy, the property was on the mar
ket and she was so struck with 1t
that she took her husband to see it.
At first he was delighted, but then
declared that he would not purchase
the property because it belonged
naturally to the Bureau of Stand
ards, which sooner or later would
be forced to purchase it. Mr. Wilson
did not want sentimental associa-
tions to be built around the place
which later might make it embar-
RAISING to use it for a Government
agency.
For the present the house will be
used for offices, DR.. Briggs said
TIL ebureau now is badly in need of
more office space.
The addition squares off" the
property OF the bureau. This is now
cut almost in two by Van Ness
street, one of the chief thorough
fares between the two major arteries
from the Chevy Chase section and
downtown Washington - Connecti-
cut avenue and Reno road. The
District Commissioners have been
requested to close this street.
Strong Fence Desired.
The Bureau, DR.. Briggs said, has
been authorized to fence its entire
property. Its laboratories have been
closed to the public since the de-
fense program started last July
partly because of the highly conf
dental nature of some of the ex-
periments in progress there. With
out good fence the ban has been
difficult and expensive to enforce
II Van Ness street remains open the
fencing will be much more difficult
DR.. Briggs said. Workers going from
one laboratory to another would be
forced to pass through guarded
gates.
The greatest expansion of the
bureau, which was established &C
years ago and is today one of the
largest scientific institutions in the
world, probably is still to come, its
officials believe At present there
is considerable difficulty in obtaining
competent physicists for some of the
delicate projects on which it is en-
gagged. 1t has the dual role of es-
tablishing standards for Govern
ment purchases of almost all types
of material and testing them to see
that they meet these standards, and
of conducting fundamental re-
searches in physics and chemistry.