Evening star., 1943-01-19
Boards Weigh Penalty
10 Force Appearance
OF Pleasure Drivers
Of First l8 Summoned,
II Fail TO Show Up;
5 Excused, Z Penolized

Washington ration boards to-
day faced the necessity of levy
ing drastic penalties to compel
attendance of alleged automobile
pleasure drivers at hearings,
after the failure of more than
half the first 18 motorists sum-
moned before local boards to ap-
pear last night to show cause
why their gas rations should not
be revoked.
Penalties were assessed in only
two cases as Ration Boards No. 40.
40 and II became the first in the
District to hear cases of alleged
vioiators of the pleasure driving ban.
Five motorists were judged to have
acceptable excuses. The remaining
II drivers, for varying and in some
instances unexplained reason
failed to present their cases to the
boards.
District OPA said today that the
II motorists who failed to appear
yesterday for hearings would be sent
a second notice asking them to show
good cause why they did not attend
hearings. If they then fail to ap-
pear, their ration books will be cam
celed, OPA stressed
Hearings Slated Today.
uaoripoc ~, q total of 90 o1looaJ
violations will be held this after
noon and night at four boards
They are:
Board 10, 1850 Pennsylvania ave-
nue. NV, 8 pm; Board 80, Bright
wood School. BIS pm; Board 49,
Brookland School, 2:30 pm, and
Board AZ, Langdon School. 7 pm.
Meanwhile, OPA inspectors re-
ported they had cited 81 motorists
overnight for alleged pleasure driv-
ing, while the metropolitan police
reported four cases.
The two motorists who appeared
to tell their stories yesterday and
were penaliZed for pleasure driving
both of them in Board No. AZ, at
Twentieth and Evarts streets NE
were Nick Vlahos, restaurant en-
ploye, of 1885 Eighteenth place NE.
and Adolph Brawand, insulating
company worker, of 1912 Owen place
NE.
Coupons Ordered Removed.
Mr.. Vlahos will lose three No. 4
and three No. 5 gas coupons, Chair
man George Xidon said. Mr.. Bra
wand's case will be investigated fur
ther, but some coupons will be re-
moved from his "A" book, which was
impounded.
Mr.. Vlahos, possessor of an "A"
book, was cited by an OPA inSpec-
tor while parked in front of
theater in Silver Spring, Md, at
$50 pm. January g. He admitted
TO the board that he was inside
watching a movie. but explained he
had been to the Indian Spring
Club to repair pin ball machine"
he owned and had merely stopped
at the theater on the direct route
home.
He said the restaurant where he
worked regularly was about four
miles from his home and that he
used his car ION most days" to go
to work The board chairman fixed
Mr.. Vlahos penalty by estimating
the amount of gasoline he would
need to carry him to and from work
-
clipping the remaining No. 4 and
No. coupons.
The license number of the other
penalized motorist was taken by an
OPA inspector at the White Horse
Inn, Brentwood, Md, at $50 pm.
January 8. According to the board
chairman, Mr. BraWand said he
stopped at the inn to get a sand
wich and glass of beer" while on
his way home from installing in
sulation in a house in Hyattsville,
Md.
Speedometer Checks Ordered.
Both men who lost gas coupons
for alleged pleasure driving were
asked by the board to report the
mileage shown by their speedometer
and to make another mileage report
when the board notified them to
return for their impounded ration
books. This precaution was to be
taken in all cases, Mr. Xidon said,
to make sure penalized drivers did
not continue to operate their cars
by obtaining other coupons or gas
elsewhere.
With no detailed rules for pro-
cedure having been laid down by
(See DRIVING, Page A-12)