Evening star., 1948-03-02

neighborhood said they heard shot
fired.f
Body Found by Janitor.
The body of the murdered grocer
was found by Henry Crouch, colored,
So, Of 1897 First street NV, a
janitor at Dunbar High School.
Mr.. Crouch said he had been work.
ing in the school boiler room and
was on the way to his home nearby
when he noticed O. light In the
grocery.
As he walked across the street to
the store, he said, he noticed no
one on the street. Nor did he see
anybody when he entered the un-
locked store.
Recalling the grocer sometimes
changed his clothes or took a bite
to eat in the rear of the store, MIR.
Crouch sat on large roll OF paper
to await his return.
Discovered Blood ON Floor.
While he waited, he said, an
other customer came into the store
and asked for "Mr. Meyer"-as the
grocer was called by his neighbor-
hood customers.
It was then, Mr.. Crouch said, that
he happened to glance toward the
counter and saw red stains on the
floor. The two customers went be-
hind the counter and found the
grocer, crumpled over, face down.
Mrs. Betty Taishoff, sister OF the
dead man, said she was sure he was
murdered by a stranger to the neigh
borhood. She said he was too well
liked by both his white and colored
customers for any Of them to do him
harm.
To Mrs. Taishoff was left the duty
of telling Mr.. Meyrovitch's three
motherless children Of their fathers
death. The father and his daugn-
ters lived with Mrs. Taishof1 and
her husband, Sol Taishoff, at 43S
Ingraham street NV.
Keeping News From Children.
The girls, Clara Kay and Louisa
Ray, 10-year-old twins, and Lor-
raine,l 7, all 60 to Truesdel School.
Today, in order to keep them home
without telling them the news, Mrs.
Taishoff said school was closed
because something had happened
to the furnace.
According to Mrs. Taishoh, her
brother never had been held up In
his IS years ownership Of the store.
but two weeks ago some one broke
into the store and stole some bacon
and other food. She said neighbofs
believed a gang Of boys were respon-
sible, but they were never caught.
Mrs. Taishoff said 1t was her
brothers practice to carry the days
receipts home with him, lock them
up overnight and bank them In
the morning.
Born in the Russian Ukraine, Mr..
Meyrovitch came to this country
with his sister when he was years
old and came to Washington where
his father, who had arrived earlier,
had a store. He was o Mason ana
a longtime member OF the Ohev
Sholom Synagogue.
Gave Credit to Needy Customers.
His wife died soon after the birth
of Lorraine and since then the
widower and his children had lived
with the Taishoffs. .
Regular customers, who gathered
weeping outside the store, said Mr.
Meyrovitch often gave credit when
there was no cash. One Of the Gus
toners estimated that the neighbor-
hood owed him $4,000 to 5000 IN
food bills.
As all police efforts were turned
toward solving the three murders,
q morning police lineup was dis
rupted when 1t. E. E. Scott, head
of the special homicide unit, broke
In to report a call from a man who
said he worked for the telephone
company and had seen q wounded
cab driver riding in cab IN the
vicinity of the $500 block Of Z
street Sc.
Road Blocks Ordered.
AL detectives rushed out on the
call as road blocks were ordered on
exits from the city In that vicinity.
They could find nothing. Nor could
they trace the caller by a check
| Of records at the telephone company
Capt. Robert Bryant, acting chief
Of detectives, said he thought II
was possible the call was q true re-
port. He pointed out that the caller
had said the cab was moving.
Police were ordered to resume
their normal posts and road blocks
were called off.
Police, meanwhile, still were con-
sidering the possibility that a cab
driver shooting in Baltimore Sunday
ADVERTISEMENT.