davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1942-03-08
Co|ored Groups Song
Ban Plea Opposed
By Mrs. Roosevelt
She Coils Movement
Idea of Few Who Are
'Supersensitive'

A movement by some of Washing
tons colored educators to have the
Board of Education remove such
Well-known ballads as "Old Black
joe and Garry Me Back to Old
Virginny," because some pupils con-
slider them Objectionable brought
comment from Mrs. Roosevelt yes
terday that only a "supersensitive"
group would make such a request.
She told her press conference she
thought the objection of colored
groups to certain compositions OF
Stephen Foster and other musicians
very foolish thing. 1t is under
standable only in the light, she said,
that people not secure in them
selves are apt to be supersensitive"
and feel things too keenly.
White House Has Sugar Problem.
Il feel sure that the more secure
and educated colored would not feel
that" she said.
The request was made last week
by Mrs. Velma G.. Williams, mem
Der of the school board, who asked
that the board not place on the ap-
proved school list text books which
contained song lyrics claimed to be
offensive to the colored group.
Discussing the effect of the war on
the White House, Mrs. Roosevelt
said the White House staff is having
q hard time figuring out its sugar
ration. but persons there will get
only as much sugar as the rest Of
the Nation is entitled to. The num-
ber of persons who are guests at
the White House from time to time
is complicating rationing for the
Executive Mansion, she said.
Citizens Shift Discussed.
On the national front Mrs. Roose-
welt praised the thousands of Japa-
nese-Americans who are facing re-
moval from their homes near the
West Coast to a less strategic area.
She feels that transfer Of these citi-
zens Is the most painless solution of
the problem, but emphasized that
the Army will do as it thinks best
no matter what any private citizen
has to say.
Mrs. Roosevelt discussed in detail
the contribution Of experience
gained In the Arthurdale (W. Va
housing project to the Government's
plans for defense communities.
Although costly. she said, the ex-
pertinent was invaluable in the self
respect gained by the families in
volved as we'll as the training for
Government management. The
homes at the project are being sold
by the Government to the families
who have been paying rent on them
Evening star., 1942-03-08
Star Newsboys Sell Total
Of 478,OOO Defense Stamps
EmbIems Are Awarded to Best Workers;
Leaders in Campaign Announced

1909 Locust street NV. and is in
grade liza at Calvin Coolidge High
School.
The original plan for awards was
to give a bronze shield after the
sale Of 1877 stamps. a silver bar
after the sale of 562 and a gold
bar after total sales of 1872. How
ever. in practice it has been found
that boys earned so many bars that
they became unWieldy. Under a
new system, emblems will be given
after the third award when the
carrier resigns, the type of emblem
depending on his total sales.
Emblems Listed.
The emblems are to be awarded
for sales in addition to those for
the first three awards. The en-
blems and the additional sales re-
quired to earn them follow:
A star and a tank, $3.50 stamps;
two stars and plane, 1880: three
stars and a battleship. 1880; four
stars and a white victory "V."
1880, and five stars and a blue
victory "V," $4,000 1o-cent stamps.
Newsboys of The Star have earned
469 bronze shields, 230 silver bars
and 141 gold bars.
Evening star., 1942-03-08

Riggs National Bank of Washing
ton, D. c.
Rothstein Dental Laboratories.
H. L. Rust Co.
Safeway Stores, Inc.
E. C. Shafer e. Co.
Sears Roebuck & Co.
Second National Bank.
Southern Diaries, Inc.
Security Savings 6z Commercial
Bank.
Southern Railway System.
Tolman Laundry.
Union Trust Co.
United Clay Products Co.
United Service Life Insurance Co.
United States News Publishing
Corp.
Vitagraph. Inc.
Warner Bros.
Washington Gas Light Co.
Washington Hotel.
Washington Law Book Co.
Washington Loan e. Trust Co.
Washington Maid, Inc.
Washington Post.
Washington Terminal Co.
Western Union Telegraph Co.
Willard Hotel.
VOL Radio Station.
Young Mems Shop.
Cherner Motor Co.
Grosner.
Hahn & Co.
w. & j. Sloane.
Southern Wholesalers, Inc.
House of Stover.
Evening star., 1942-03-08

During three months-December 5
to March 5-carriers of The Star
have sold 418.O00 10-cent Defense
stamps in the campaign of news
boys throughout the Nation to aid
the Treasury Department.
Leading Star carrier in the Dis
trict is 15-year- -olds Melvin Cohen
of 1887 Randolph street NV, who
has sold 1925 stamps. Melvin,
who is in the third semester at
Mckinley High School, has been a
carrier for one year and six months.
Among the Maryland carriers of
The Star, Bill Headley, IA, of Rock
vile, Md. is on top with a record
of 2.619 stamps sold to subscribers.
Out in the nearby counties of Vir-
ginia, the leader is Joe Goodwin,
IS, of Falls Church, who has sold
4,500 stamps.
Second and Third Place.
Holding second and third rank in
the District for Star carriers are
Bill Sutton, IA, OF 5405 Allan road,
Westgate, Md, a student at Leland
Junior High School. who has sold
1876 stamps, and Hollis Todd. who
has sold 1889. Hollis, Is, lives at
Evening star., 1942-03-08
More Sand Available
At ARLINGTON Schools

F. Freeland Chew, chief afraid
warden of Arlington County, Va,
announced yesterday that rs addi-
tional tons of sand will be available
tomorrow at Arlington County
schools, making total of $50 tons
supplied to date.
Each resident of the county may
get one bucket of sand by going to
the school nearest his home," Mr..
Chew said.
Evening star., 1942-03-08
First Negro Pilots
Get Commissions al
1uskegee Air Field
Gen. Dovis' Son Among
Those Graduated for
e9th Pursuit Squadron
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
TUSKEGEE, Ala, March T.
Americas original all-Negro aeria
fighting outf1t-the goth Pursuit
Squadron-took definite form today
as members of the first graduating
class of the advanced flying school
here received their commissions
and wings"
Gen. George E. Stratemeyer, COM
manding officer of the Southeast
Air Corps Training Center. well
coined the young Negroes into their
chosen branch Of the Nations COM
bat and defensive forces, and de-
clared:
"Our country Is engaged in a
hard fight for its security and free
dom; here today is opened a new
source of strength to wage that
fight"
Assignments Not Announced.
The number receiving commits
sions was not made public, and as
signments were not announced i'm
mediately. Gen, Stratemeyer en-
phasized to them, however. that
their places in the Nations war ef-
fort would be important.
ut appears more and more plain,
he said, that this war will be de-
cided by air power. BY choosing to
serve your country In its air forces
you have placed yourself in position
to help make the decision in this
war victory for our side"
He recalled that in past wars
American Negro soldiers had done
their duty with combat units Of the
ground forces, but that ''in this war,
the American Negro is destined to
take his place in defense OF his
country by performing combat duties
IN the air"
"You should feel that you are on
your mettle," he continued. "As you
are the first group Of Negro military
pilots. it is up to you to prove that
this school Is not just noble ex-
pertinent. but is a sound step for
ward in the Nations war effort"
Generals Son in Class.
Among those receiving commits
sions was Capt. Benjamin o. Davis,
ir., son of Brig. Gen. Davis of Fort
Riley, Kans. He is graduate Of
West Point. and his first assignment
was at Fort Benning. Ga.
After about a year at Benning,
Capt. Davis was transferred to Tus-
kegee Institute as professor of mill
tary science and tactics. In the
spring of 1941 he was sent to Fort
Riley as aide to Gen. Davis, but
returned here last summer to begin
pilot training.
Other graduates included Lemuel
Rodney Curtis, Hartford. Conn:
Charles Henry De Bow. Indianap-
oils, Ind: Mac Ross, Dayton, Ohio,
and George Spencer Roberts, Fair
mont, w. Va.
Evening star., 1942-03-08

Acacia MUTUAL Lie insurance Co.
American Potash Institute.
American Radiator & Standard
Sanitary Corp.
American Security & Trust Co.
Anacostia Bank.
Association of American Rail-
roads.
Bank Of Commerce and Savings.
Barber & Ross Co.
Best g. Co.
Breyer Ice Cream Co.
Bond Clothing Co.
Cafritz Co.
Call Carl. Inc.
Capital Transit Co.
Garry Ice Cream Co.
Carnegie Institute.
Chamber of Commerce Of the
U. S. A.
Chesapeake g. Potomac Telephone
Co.
Chestnut Farms Chevy Chase
Dairy.
Cheverly Hills Development Co.
The City Bank.
Civic Education Service.
Coca-Cola Bottling co.
Columbia Broadcasting Co., Sta
tion WJSV.
Columbia National Bank.
Conserco, Inc.
Continental Baking Co.
Diamond Construction Co.
Dome Oil Co.
Dy-Dee Wash.
East Washington Savings Bank
Elite Laundry Co.
Embassy Fairfax Dairy, Inc.
Employers Liability Assurance
Corp.
Evening Star Newspaper Co.
Federal Reserve Board.
Fries. Beall & Sharp Co.
Julius Garflnckel & Co., Inc.
General Electric Supply Corp.
The Goldenberg Co.
Guthrie Lithograph Co.
Hamilton National Bank.
The Hecht Co.
Chr. Heurich Brewing Co.
Hill & Tibbitts, Inc.
Hot Shoppes. Inc.
Frank Jelleff.
Judd e. Detweiler.
S. Kann & Sons.
Harry kaufman, Inc.
Lansburgh & Bro.
Liberty National Bank.
Joseph Light Construction Co.
Lincoln National Bank.
Lord Baltimore Filling Stations,
Inc.
Mazo-Lerch Co.
G. B. Macke Corp.
McLachlen Banking Corp.
Melvern Diaries, Inc.
Morris Plan Bank.
Munsey Trust Co.
Mutual Insurance Agency, Inc.
w. c. & A. N. Miller.
National Bank of Washington.
National Capital Bank.
National Geographic Society.
National Laundry Co, Inc.
National Lumber Manufacturers
Association
National Metropolitan Bank.
National Savings & Trust Co.
George F. Muth & Co., Inc.
Palais Royal.
M. Philipsborn & Co., Inc.
Potomac Electric Power Co.
Railway Express Agency, Inc.
B. Rich & Son.
Evening star., 1942-03-08
Grain Lost in Fire

LARK, Utah Pl-Carl Bastian
has about decided he'll build that
silo after all. An overheated fur
mace set fire to 5000 bushels of grain
stored in his basement. Firemen
and neighbors had to shovel out
1000 bushels before they could get
at the s25 worth which was burned.
Evening star., 1942-03-08
D. &. Student Honored

Miss Carolyn Langston, daughter
Of Mr.. and Mrs. John D. Langs-
ton, 1872 K street NV, a junior
at Brenau College, Gainesville. Ga,
has been appointed handbook edi-
tor for the year 1923, it was an
nouSced there yesterday. Miss
Lshgston is member of Zeta Tau
Alpha Sorority.
Evening star., 1942-03-08
As First Army Job,
Soldier PeeIs Same
Potatoes He Grew

By the Associated Press
VIC HITA FALLS, Tex,
March Pvt. Humphrey L.
Jones Of Sheppard Field raised
a crop of potatoes on $50 North
Dakota acres just before he
Joined the Army.
He dug them, sorted them,
sacked them in burlap bags for
shipment. Then came a frost,
and he had to resort the whole
crop. He hoped he had seen
the last of those potatoes.
One of Pvt. Jones's first as
signments in the Army was
kitchen police. They gave him
a knife and showed him many,
many sacks of potatoes.
They were the same spuds.
Evening star., 1942-03-08
Texan Figures Way
To Pay Income Toxes
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
HOUSTON. Tex. - State Rep
resentative Jim Hef1ing has figured
how to pay his income taxes.
He'll go without beer. liquor or
wine. tailor made cigarettes, radios,
an automobile, barber shop shaves,
shoe shines. electricity, soft drinks,
long-distance phone calls, jewelry
and candy.
He'll abstain from contributing to
political campaign funds, read one
magazine a week and smoke a corn
cob pipe. This, the legislator figures,
should let him break about even.
Evening star., 1942-03-08
Apple Pie Rates First
As Dessert in Army

By the Associated Press.
BOSTON. - The Quartermaster
Corps, whose Job it is to feed the
Army, reports that although ice
cream Is popularly supposed to be
the soldiers favorite dessert, ac-
tually apple pie comes first.
Evening star., 1942-03-08
Defense Bond Honor Roll
Over 100 Business Firms Offer
PuyroIl Deduction Plan

than Washington establishments employing
more than 10000 offering employees the opportu
nifty to purchase national Defense bonds through the payroll
deduction an announced yesterday by the District De-
Tense Savings Committee
twenty-five establishments added to the list of
those offering the plan during the
The local honor roll now includes the following:
Evening star., 1942-03-08
CIoy PIT. A. to Meet

The Henry Clay PIT. A. will meet
Thursday night in the school. BOIL
Seventh street north, Arlington. Va.
American Recreation and Travel
will be discussed and movies Illus
trating the subject will be shown.
Detroit evening times., 1942-06-14

which the coroner, DR.. H. Beecher Jackson,
called attention. In the Duff home, as well
as in the Sidney home there was side
door, usually unlocked until late at night,
affording access to any prowler, and leading
to the pantry where food and drinking glasses
were kept.
Mrs. Noakes deposed that while on her
way from the kitchen to serve the deadly soup
to Miss Sidney she had placed the bowl on
the sideboard near the pantry door, while she
went to answer the telephone. The person
calling on the wire muttered unintelligibly
and rang off. In the interim, a prowlcr
through the side door could have dropped
poison into the soup. The telephone call was
verified. In had come from pay station.
Detective Inspector Hedges studied al
these facts and reasoned that arsenic might
accidentally have found its way into the soup
BY stretch of the imagination it might have
been placed by mistake in Mrs. Sdney's medi-
cine. But it illogical to suppose that this
same poison had found a way months before
into Mr.. Duff's beer in way that was not
deliberate and malicious.
murderer kills only for revenge, hatred
or greed. There was no evidence Of hatred
Indeed, everything was quite the contrary
There had been no injustice calling for vim
dictiveness Therefore, Hedges and his detec-
tive associates concluded, the crimes must
have been for gain.
But when the Yard went into the financial
background of the Duffs and the Sidneys a
remarkable discovery was made-nobody
could possibly profit by any of the deaths
In fact, the survivors were worse off finan-
cially than they were with the victims alive
And Scotland Yards more than 1900
exhaustive reports of detective Investigations
transcriptions of testimony; dgests Of find
ings by technicians in psychology, chemistry
and medicine; statements by banks and GER
titled public accountants and opinions by the
board of strategy Of Scotland Yard added up
only to big question mark.
The possible exception lay sealed in the
bulky envelope marked ITS" to which have
referred. The initials stood for Investigation
Temporarily Suspended"
why suspended" 1 asked Superintendent
Thomas.
Because temporarily we have failed" he
admitted frankly.
Then what is in that envelope"
He put IL away in great gray steA safe.
when say we failed" he said Il mean
that we have not enough evidence--tempor-
arily--to convict anyone in court"
You mean that some day the envelope
may be reopened?" persisted.
Superintendent Thomas smiled politely
and changed the subject.
Detroit evening times., 1942-06-14

to point out suspicious circumstances 1t Is
their job to suspect almost any death certifi-
cate, no matter how reputable the doctor who
issued IL. This is not because doctors are apt
10 be criminals. but because they are human
and liable to error. Also the most competent
medical specialist Is likely TO be child in
a contest of wits with a specialist in crime.
stolid looking. pipe smoking "browser"
going through the death certificates in the
Croydon files, remarked quietly to a colleague:
Il say, the Duffs and the Sidneys seem
to have run into a damnable streak of luck
lately Three deaths inside of year What
say"
Il say let the Yard take shot at it."
The picture got of what followed is based
on my interviews with Frederick Thomas SUI
perintendent of the Central Office of Scotland
Yard, and Detective Inspector John Hedges,
who was in active charge of the investigation
into the Duff-Sidney deaths.
also had access to the documents in the
case-all except a bulky portfolio marked
ITS" and sealed with tapes and the stamp
of the Metropolitan Police on hard red wax.
Inspector Hedges first steps were stealthy.
quiet questionings of people by the score. then
by the hundreds covering in minute detail
what had happened over a period Of years.
And IL all had TO be done with such discretion
that no one might suspect Scotland Yard
was actively interested.
In this way a more detailed picture
emerged of what happened the evening Ed
mond Duff returned from his fishing trip.
At dinner. it appeared. he asked for
bottle Of beer. He the only one in the
household who drank beer. which was kept
for him not on ice, as is done in this country,
but in the moderate coolness Of the cellar.
AS the wine cellar was under lock and key
1t was Mrs Duff who went down for the beer.
When Duff opened it the expected pop
sounded showing that 1t had not been opened
Detroit evening times., 1942-06-14

household who ever ate soup. She complained
of its bitterness. Mrs. Noakes tasted it and
also found it bitter.
II don't know what could have got into
it." she said. TITS fit only for the cat"
She did give the rest of the soup to the
cat. and before the housekeeper's eyes the
animal began to roll in agony and died. Mrs.
Noakes herself then began to feel i'll and did
not recover until the following day.
Here too the household received a clean
bill of health.
Investigating Mrs. Sdney's death Scotland
Yard found a bottle containing tonic she
had taken up to the time of her death. To
within the last days of her life the tonic could
not have done her any harm, for arsenic works
fairly fast.
But after her daughters death Mrs Sidney
remarked to Mrs. Noakes, This tonic has
become bitter to take"
In the last bottle Mrs. Sidney had used
Scotland Yard found a strong solution of
arsenic, and enough of the poison to have
killed several people was revealed when her
body was exhumed.
At once several strange and related
Detroit evening times., 1942-06-14
BY JOSEPH GOLLOMB


Nv EHEN Scotland Yard did not get it's
W man, as happened in the strange do
w ings at Croydon II years ago, II
more than made news. In that instance
which IL was my privilege TO examine at close
range through the courtesy of Scotland Yard
officials, the failure made detective story
almost as impressive as any Scotland Yard
triumph
On April 27. 1928, Edmond Creighton Duff
formerly Great Britain's High Commissioner
in Nigeria, returned from short fishing holi-
day in Hampshire to his pleasant Georgian
mansion, Birdhurst Rise, in Croydon near the
great English airport. Duff was a hale man
Of fifty-nine, six feet one. strongly built. with
fresh color suffusing his broad boned kindly
face. He seemed fatigued and slightly inds-
posed from the rigors Of his holiday
Mrs. Duff was waiting with dinner and the
family spent the evening talking of the fish
ing trip. pleasantly, until suddenly the healthy
color ebbed out Of Duffs face and he fell ill.,
a doctor. hurriedly called, diagnosed it as
ptomaine poisoning. brought about presum-
ably by some spoiled food.
Two and half hours later Duff died.
The death certificate followed the Doctors
diagnosis; and aside from the loss to the
family the death had no notable repercussion
at that time.
Then almost year later on February II,
1929. the widows sister. Miss Vera Sidney,
athletic young woman Of thirty-two, who
lived with her mother near the Duffs. was
taken suddenly i'll. A doctor diagnosed il as
influenza and closely supervised the care of
the patient But three days later she too was
dead.
The doctor who had treated her saw no
reason to change his diagnosis when he made
out the death certificate.
Her mother, Mrs Violet Emelia Sidney. an
erect patrician figure with unruly gray hair.
did not look her fifty-five years. She man.
aged life much as she did spirited horses.
with firm hand and cool head. But from
the day her daughter died she began TO all.
The doctor was worried. 1t looked If
she had not only caught her daughters in
fluenza but was also taking her death too
hard. Sure enough, eighteen days after the
daughter died. the mother went too
The doctor would have liked to put grief
as one cause of her death, but medical re-
ports have no room for such intangibles. so
the death certificate read simply: Influenza"
Again there was the shock of loss among
the survivors of the Duff and Sidney families
and their friends; but one read anything
more into these happenings than the grim
vagaries of life.
These particular "vagaries" did not go un-
noticed, however
There are fifteen to twenty officers who
operate "out of Scotland Yard" footloose
members of the famous crime hunting force,
specialists whose leisurely task is to browse
among the death certificates on file anywhere
in Great Britain
These "browscrs' don't wait for someone
june II, 1912
Detroit evening times., 1942-06-14

the poison at Duff. We also analysed the
contents of the remainder Of the beer bottles
in the Duff cellar. Not a trace of poison
in the lot"
Who then introduced arsenic into the
bottle that undoubtedly killed Duff?
A sound state of relation was found by
Scotland Yard between every member of the
Duff and the Sidney families and toward the
dead man. The Yard then dug back into
Duffs past as High Commissioner in Nigeria
They found that both natives and whites there
remembered him as a humorous, kindly ad-
ministrator with whom it impossible to
quarrel.
The same painstakng many-sided effort
went into the investigation of Vera Sidney's
death. AS reconstructed by Scotland Yard it
showed that so far from having enemies Miss
Sidney was one Of those human beings who
can hand out charity without making the
recipient realize it,
Present in the house when she fell i'll were
her mother, Mrs Violet Emelia Sidney; the
housekeeper, Mrs. Kathleen Noakes who had
been with the family since Vera was a child;
and Thomas Sidney brother of Vera, together
Detroit evening times., 1942-06-14

since the beer was
pumped into IL. Duff
tasted II and COM
planned IL was Bit
ter. Mrs. Duff asked
him not to drink
any more Of it and
offered to bring an
other bottle. He did
not drink any more
from any bottle, for
soon after he died.
Detective Inspec-
tor Hedges thus an
alyzed the obvious
aspects Of the case:
I'VE had the body
exhumed. Our lab
oratory analyzed the
conte nts of the
stomach. We found
strong traces s of
deadly poison there,
arsenic. Nobody else
drank beer in the
family. So that it
was easy to direct
Detroit evening times., 1942-06-14

features attracted
Scotland Yard s
crime analysts. All
three victims died
from the same poi
son. In each case,
the victim was suf-
fering from a slight
illness at the time
the pois on was
taken. Each victim
was the only men,
Der of the household
who suffered from
poisoning at tn e
time with the ex-
ception of Mrs.
N o ak s and the
cat). And all COM
planned of the bitter
taste of the medium
in which 1t was OBJ
viously a DIN inis-
tered.
Still another-pos-
sibly significant -
feature was that to
Detroit evening times., 1942-06-14

with his wife.
Vera Sidney
began to feel i'll
soon after she
had finished a
plate Of soup
cooked specially
for her by Mrs.
Noakes. Miss
Sidney was the
only one In the
Detroit evening times., 1942-06-14

Nv EHEN Scotland Yard did not get II
w man, as happened in the strange dc
w ings at Croydon IL years ago.