Evening star., 1947-11-01

day. He has re-
signed from his
former position Mr.. Mailer.
of assistant United States attorney
in charge of civil litigation and will
go to work at the District Building
November 10.
Handles Special Investigations.
Mr.. Maher, who thus becomes the
No. man in the city's law depart
ment, will be charged with the con-
duct of special Investigations as
signed to that office.
Since early summer, the corpora
tion counsePs Office has been inves-
tigating charges made by Fire Capt.
Joseph w. Conroy last June IS be-
fore a House District Subcommittee
that for 16 months Fire Chief Gle
ment Murphy had contributed
nothing to the department but COM
plete generalization"
Questioned by the Commissioners,
Capt. Conroy subsequently detailed
this charge, supplying the names of
% persons who, he said, had given
him the information on which the
charge was based. The Commits
sioners then asked Corporation
Counsel Vernon E. West to investi-
gate the allegations and check the
stories of the witnesses named.
Three Assigned to Work.
Mr.. West first assigned the mat
ter to his chief assistant, Chester
Gray. In August, he turned it over
to three other assistants, who have,
been working on the investigation
ever since. They are Oliver Gasch,
Milton D. Norman, jr., and John L.
Donnelly, jr.
Martin F. oDonoghue, Chief
Murphy's lawyer, complained re-
Gently in a letter to the Commis-
sioners that the investigation of
Capt. Conroy's specific charges had
gone far afleld, and had been con-
Quoted as persecution. Since
then, although the investigation was
to have been virtually
complete, the sending of report
to the Commissioners apparently has
been delayed from day to day.
The speculative buzz in the Dis
trict Building is over whether. Mr..
Maher's appointment means the in
vestigation of the Conroy charges
is to be taken out of the hands of
Mr.. Gasch and his colleagues and
turned over to Mr.. Maher.
Point Remains Unclarified.
While no definite Qualification on
this point came from the city heads
today, it was understood report
on their findings in the Murphy
Conroy case probably will go to the
Commissioners from the three cor
poration counsel assistants before
Mr.. Maher assumes his duties IN
the Office.
But the commissioners, 1t was be-
lieved, are almost certain to hand
the report over to Mr.. Maher for a
thorough going over" before they
act on it.
Mr.. Mahers new post will carry
a P-7 civil service rating and
salary of $8,179 year. This places
him ON the same technical footing
as Mr.. Gray, who will continue to
serve as Acting Corporation Coun-
sci when Mr.. West is absent from
the Office.
The need for top-level bolstering
of the Corporatlon's Counsel's Office
in the investigating field long has
been apparent. In addition to the
Murphy -Conroy case, the office has
been backlogged for more than a
year with such problems as finding
time to approve proposed changes
in the Police and Fire Department
manuals.
Fay Expresses Regret.
Mr.. Maher's resignation from his
former post was passed along late
yesterday to Attorney General Clark
by United States Attorney George
Morris Fay In a letter to the At
torney General, Mr.. Fay praised Mr..
Maher for his valuable services"
and expressed regret at seeing
him go.
Mr.. Maher, Al, a native of Harri-
son, N. j., was. active in the 1945
prosecution of Joseph D. Medley for
the murder of Nancy Boyer Medley
was executed last year.
Mr.. Maher came to Washington
in 1929 and worked for six years as
a reporter for the Washington Post.
He graduated in 1885 from the
Columbus Law School. After prac-
ticing law in association with, Neil
Burkinshaw and Dennis Collins, he
became an assistant United States
attorney in 1943.
In that position, he successfully
defended the United States and its
officials in District Court suits in
volving millions of dollars.
Mr.. Maher and his wife Helen live
at 1925 Pennsylvania avenue Sc.
They have two children, Martha, 8,
and Daniel Patrick, 7.