Evening star., 1942-09-29
Police Investigate
Reports Of Thefts
From Scrap Piles
Boys Hunting Toys Main
Offenders, but Lootine
By Adults Also Cited


was under way today into the re-
ported thefts of items from scrap
piles collected Sunday and dumped
at stations throughout the South
west and Northwest areas of the
Nations Capital.
Complaining that the hard-earned
scrap pile in the Kalorama area had
been robbed by small boys, as well
as adults, Carl Smith, Washing
to nattorney who helped collect the
81 truck loads in that area, reported
that 1t had been impossible to obtain
the services of auxiliary police Sun
day and, as a result, small boys and
others raked over the piles, taking
of items that appealed to them.
Capt. Charles j. P. Weber of the
18th police precinct, said this morn
ing that Mr.. Smith had appealed to
his precinct Sunday for the services
OF auxiliary police to guard the scrap
piles.
Police Kept Eye on Piles.
due to the weather and to the
football games Sunday" Capt.
Weber said, there were no auxiliary
police on hand, but the police scout
car and the men on the beats near
the scrap piles were ordered to in
spect the piles every Is minutes"
Capt. Weber, who praised the work
of the auxiliary police in the Dis
trict, said 1t would hardly be fair to
ask these volunteers to remain on
duty all day during the rain. He
said, however. that on Monday the
auxiliary police guarded the scrap
piles until small boys in the neigh
borhood had gone to bed. In addi-
ton, he added, scout cars checked
the scrap each Is minutes during
the day and night.
In other areas of the District came
reports of thefts from scrap piles,
mostly by small boys looking for
discarded toys.
Says Boys Stole Scrap.
Jimmy Lockhead, chairman of the
Southwest salvage area, who sold his
business in order to devote full time
to scrap collection, said this morn
ing that colored boys had removed
scrap from the pile at South Capitol
and streets in the face of junk
men loading trucks.
Mr.. Lockheed said the boys. who
were carrying scrap away in small
wagons and on bicycles, were stopped
only after he had appealed to 4th
precinct and had obtained the serv-
ices of two policemen to guard the
piles. The policemen were placed on
guard there at about pm. yester-
day, he said,
"If he hadn't gotten guards" Mr..
Lockheed said, there probably
wouldn't be any scrap there at all
today"
Stove, Sewing Machine Taken.
At Powell Junior High School,
Hiatt place and Lamont street NV,
small boys were reported to have
taken number of toys from the
pile, and a man was said to have
taken stove and a sewing machine
Principal L. T. Walter, who could
not confirm reports of actual thefts
from the pile, said he had noticed
boys in the neighborhood looking
over the scrap, but had not seen any
items taken.
In the Connecticut avenue area
Miss Blanche Weaver, chairman OF
the Salvage Committee, reported
boys took coat hangers from the
scrap piles, selling them and putting
the money into bonds and stamps.
Miss Weaver said her committee
had checked with scrap dealers and
had been informed that they had
no use for coat hangers and that
therefore the collection and resale
of these had been encouraged.
Spectators Inspect Piles.
j. L. Coen, chairman of the Sal
wage Committee in the Glover Park
area, said grown people as we'll as
small boys had taken a delight in
going over the estimated Is truck
loads collected there.
A number of German helmets
were taken from the piles, he said,
and added that he had noticed a
number of Army officers making a
careful survey of the scrap heaps
and commenting on some of the
discarded items.
Mr.. Coen, who Is member of the
auxiliary police, said the seventh
precinct had co-operated in guard
ing the piles of scrap in that area.
From the C,eorrefou,y, orea coo,.