davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1950-08-15

And unfortunately. the answer
was the true one.
1t was agreed that the pro-
cedure about handling cases that
was instituted at the outbreak
of the disease should be con-
tinued. All suspected cases are
to be taken to the Moore Chit
wood clinic for the spinal test.
The clinic occupies few Offices
on a second floor above a store
on Main street next to the Enter
prise Office. 1t is conducted by
DR.. Chimer Moore.
The towns five active doctors,
not all of whom had had much
experience in polio, made Splen-
did record of diagnosing cases.
About SO per cent of the cases in
which the doctors reported a
positive" on the spinal test
turned out to be polio after OBJ
servation at the hospital. Some
of the negatives" returned home
for further observation turned
out to be polio cases later. 1t is
said that always happens in po-
lilo outbreaks. One Of them turned
out to be a bulbar case and died
after the child had been sent to
the hospital. The diagnostic
failure had nothing to do with
the death. Unfortunately no
treatment has been found to stay
the course Of the virus.
All except the colored cases
were taken to the Memorial and
Crippled Children's Hospital at
Roanoke, 80 miles away, to which
Wythe County citizens had just
contributed $4,000 in a wide
spread Embarrassing campaign.
Wythe County has only about S
per cent colored population, and
the incidence of the disease was
about proportionate. The colored
cases were taken to Richmond.
1t was brought home to Wythe
County citizens that there are
hardly any county owned hospi-
tails in all Southwest Virginia. A
new hospital at Pearisburg is
being erected with the help of
FEDERAL funds, and there is a hos
pital at Abingdon. 1t was not
known whether the latter was
prepared to handle contagious
Evening star., 1950-08-15

the scapegoat, Mr.. PoulSon
charged the administration had
attempted unsuccessfully to make
scapegoats out of officials of Gen.
trail Intelligence, and later 1.-THE
Republicans who had voted
against economic aid to Korea be-
cause they considered it folly
to send such help without suffi-
cient armed protection.
When the November elections
roll around. Mr.. Poulson chided,
"the Democrats are going to find
that the people who have been
made the real goats, will revert to
character and butt out of Office
the incumbent Democrats.
A brief, sharp answer came i'm
mediately from Representative
Huber, Democrat, of Ohio.
Speaking of goats and ami
mails" he said, "the only progress
sive members the Republican
Party has had in the last genera
ton were known as Sons OF the
Wild JackaSs.'
That phrase was coined years
ago, according to congressional
old-timers, by former Senator
Moses, Republican, of New Hamp-
shire, who was President pro tenn
of the Senate for years. He used
the term in referring to some
Western Republicans who called
themselves Progressives.
Two Bills Passed.
All this debate followed brief
action by the House in passing
two District bills, sending them
to the Senate.
One would amend the laws on
BARRIERS. 1t would require post
ing in a conspicuous place the
prices of all services, and would
increase the pay Of members of
the BARRIERS examining board.
The other would exempt from
A1oOI 1CU 1Cd4Iy LdACo OAiC 4OuAl6
Mems Christian Association build
ing here.
Chairman Mcmillan of the
House District Committee, who
handled the bills on the floor, said
he learned from the YMCA that
the District government had at
tempted this year for the first
time to levy taxes on the institu-
ton. The District Commissioners
opposed the measure, debate dis
closed.
Postponed by Mr.. Mcmillan,
Democrat, of South Carolina for
future action by the Hosue was a
controversial bill to limit taxicabs
here and measures to increase
the price of automobile dealers
Identification tags and regulate
goats. n
Evening star., 1950-08-15
Memorial Theater Bill
Hailed by Stage Group

Construction of a SIS million
Franklin D. Roosevelt National
Memorial Theater here is called
for in a bill introduced in the
House yesterday by Representa-
tive Klein, Democrat, of New
York.
The bill brought immediate and
favorable response from the thea
trical profession. In Atlantic
City the producers, permanent
acting company and the business
staff of the Atlantic City Play
house called upon the New Jersey
delegation in Congress to sup
port the measure.
Anti-Segregation provisions in
the bill which would forbid bar
ring any person from appearing
in the memorial theater's produc-
tlonS or from attending any of it's
presentations because of race,
creed, color, religion or national
origin. were Endorsed by the At
lantic City group.
The Klein bill would place the
theater under the ad-
of the Secretary Of
Interior. He would be authorized
to operate it or enter into a con-
tract for its operation.
Evening star., 1950-08-15
$4,000 in Gems Stolen
From Mrs. Robert Schenck

A diamond pendant and a pear,
necklace valued at $4,000 were
reported stolen from the summer
home in Southampton, N. Y, Of
Mrs. Robert E. Schenck, 2310 Con-
necticut avenue NV.
Mrs. Schenck, wife of 1t. Comdr
Robert E. Schenck, is the former
Natalie Keeney. A popular mem.
ber of the younger set here, Mrs
Schenck has been a Washington
resident for most of her life.
She is the niece of the late Mrs
Natalie Campbell Pritchett, vel
known Washington society woman
who wrote for The Star under the
name of Beth Blaine. Mrs
Pritchett was killed in the Bryce
Canyon plane crash in 1887.
Mrs. Schenck is a great-niece ot
the late Mrs. Sydney A. Cloman
prominent here for many years.
New York State police said the
robbery occurred some time Sun
day night, according to Associated
Press dispatches. 1t was discov-
cred by Mrs. Schenck, who notified
police.
Evening star., 1950-08-15
D. {. Crime Probers
Study Bill 10 Tighten
Law Enforcement

Chairman Davis of the House
District subcommittee investigat-
ing crime said today his commit
tee has made good progress on &
detailed study of a proposed bill
making many changes in District
law.
The measure, Mr.. Davis said,
would affect several law enforce
ment agencies and is designed to
tighten present curbs on crime.
The subcommittee meeting, at
tended by Mr.. Davis, Representa-
tive Simpson, Republican, of Illi-
nois, and Representative Wads-
worth, Republican, of New York,
had before it a committee print
of the 25-page proposal.
Details of the bill will not be
disclosed until much later, Mr..
Davis said, observing that it will
take a long time to perfect the
legislation. There was no indica-
tion when the legislation will be
ready for introduction or when
public hearings can be scheduled.
Agencies affected by proposed
changes include the police, courts,
prosecutors and probation officer.
The document embodies sug-
gestions received from a spokes-
man for all agencies concerned,
Mr.. Davis said, in addition to sug-
gestions developed by the sub
committee.
Another executive session prob
ably will be held this week, but
the date has not been fixed.
Evening star., 1950-08-15
By Harold B. Rogers

Goats butted into a spicy politi-
cal tiff on the House floor yester-
day and, in turn, were used as
strong argument for Washington
home rule.
Strangely enough, the animals
were dragged into public discus
sion by House members. after a
bill to control goats in the Dis
trict, although scheduled, was not
even called up for action.
Biblical history, Korea, and the
epithet "Sons of the Wild Jackass"
got all mixed up in debate.
"The uper-duper goats" de-
clared Representative Granger,
Democrat, of Utah, "are the
100000 people who live in the
District of Columbia who are
being pushed around by this
Congress-"
This kind of talk got started
over a question House Minority
Leader Martin of Massachusetts,
recently asked House Majority
Leader Mccormack (also of Mas
sachusetts) about how many two
legged goats there were in this
city.
$50 Million Goats.
Mr.. Mccormack didn't answer
the question. He was trying Seri-
ously to announce that the bill to
give the District Commissioners
power to prevent goats from
roaming at large" was slated for
House action.
Selling on the subject, Mr..
Granger said that "goats in gen.
eraI" are the $50 million people
Of the country who pay the ex-
pense Of Congress for legislating
on such things as the capricious
creatures in the National Capital.
The cost is high, he told the
House. Counting up two District
days" in the House each month,
he said, it costs about 100000
each day to run Congress, $780,
900 a month or a total of about
So million a year to deliberate on
such pending bills. He didn't
count up the cost of running
House and Senate District Com
mittees, which handle a raft of
legislation for the city.
PraiSing a pending Senate
passed bill to give Washington
limited home rule, and relieve
Congress of some of its load, Mr..
Granger declared this sesquicen-
tennial year would be a good time
to give the District home rule"
Asks Release of Bill.
He said there are 204 sigma
lures on the petition to discharge
the House District Comnittee
Evening star., 1950-08-15

the nervous system come together.
If the virus attacks the nerves in
this area, 1t may paralyze the
heart or the lungs)
Five-year-old Arthur Sherman
Taylor died in the Roanoke Chill
dren's Hospital. Howard Ray Tay-
lor 10, is still in the hospital in an
iron lung. Eight-year-old Dannie
and 3-year- old Allen are at home
in the same bed being cared for
by their mother and visiting
nurses and physiotherapists.
The house with the most cases
was that Of Frank and Robert
Archer. The two brothers were
living in a two-story house con-
verted into two apartments. Frank
who lives downstairs, has five chill
dren. Robert, who lives above
him, has three children.
Five in One House.
When the epidemic started. the
cousins were told not to. play to-
gether. One family group played
in the front yard, the other in the
back. But three of the children
downstairs and two of the chill
dren upstairs were stricken-five
out Of the eight children in the
house.
Two of Frank Archer's children
Shirley. 7, and Billy, 6, were taken
to the hospital on July Is. and Mr..
Archer went along with the am
bulance. He stayed overnight in
Roanoke, and the next day joined
the parents waiting for word
about their children in the hos
pital corridor. While he was
there, another ambulance arrived.
His 9-year-old daughter. Betsy
Carroll, was in it.
Two daughters of the Robert
Archers upstairs were sent to the
hospital. Four-year-old Betsy
Ann is back home. but Mary. 9. is
still in a respirator.
rIdIlh "ySdl, WyIllcFLlS Cdlk-
ative letter carrier, came home for
lunch one day after making his
rounds and doing his best to cheer
up the families on his route where
polio had struck. His 8-year-o old
boy. Roger, said:
Father. I'm afraid I feel a
little sick"
The spinal test showed posi-
tive, and Roger was in an ambu-
lance rolling to Roanoke before
Evening star., 1950-08-15
Unclaimed Estate
Nets $79>076 for
d. c. Government

The District fell heir today to
one Of the largest escheated
estates filed in several years when
it was awarded the sum of
$19,016.14.
The estate belonged to the late
Adolf Lave. who died here on June
IL, 1948.
Born in Romania in 1869, Mr.
Lave went to New York at the age
of Is and lived there until 1910
He moved to the District six
months before his death. Author
tiles were unable to locate any
relatives, so the estate reverted to
the District. 81
Evening star., 1950-08-15

ing to pay for all this and were
assured again that the National
Foundation for Infantile Paral-
ysis was taking care of all the
bills.
The hospital set up a coffee and
sandwich counter for the parents
at the entrance to the isolated
section. One parent at a time
was allowed to look through the
door of a room full of children.
The nurses would wheel the COZ
or the crib around so they could
see one another.
Surrounded by Kindness.
One mother waited for her lit
tie son to go to sleep before she
peeked through the door at him.
She was afraid that seeing her
would disturb him; that he would
want to go home with her.
Mrs. Trudy Whitman of the
New York headquarters of the
National Foundation. who went
through the isolation section, in
cluding the room where five chill
dren in iron lungs are lying in 6
row, was struck by the heart
breaking kindness of the over
worked doctors and nurses to the
parents"
In the respirator room, 9-year-
old Mary Archer was holding 8
gladioluS spray in a little hand
sticking out of the iron lung. Her
face broke into a big smile when
Mrs. Whitman told her that she
had seen her little sister, Patsy
Ann, who had returned home
from the hospital. The nurses
were delighted about Tommy
Smith, another respiraGor pa
tient. He had been able to hold
piece of toast in his hand for
the first time that morning. He
felt so good about it that he ate
three pieces of toast.
Tomorrow: The plight of
child UictimS returned home.
Evening star., 1950-08-15
Detective Relieved
OF Duty in Inquiry
Into Fatal Shootinu

A homicide squad detective was
ordered relieved of his duties to-
day pending an inquest into the
death of a man believed shot by
the policeman Saturday night.
He is Detective Sergt. Lloyd B
Furr, one of a score of policemen
who quelled a fracas aboard the
Potomac excursion steamer Rob-
ert E. Lee as it pulled into the dock
at Maine avenue and o street S.W
In the melee, two men were shot
and several stabbed.
Capt. jeremiah Flaherty, head
of the homicide squad, said he
had relieved Sergt. Furr ano
placed him in his custody pending
the coroner'S inquest. The shoot
ing victim, at whom Sergt. Furr
fired twice. had leaped or fallen
into the water. He was believed to
have shot the two other victims.
The body Of Leroy R. Davis, 81,
colored, Of no known address, was
found yesterday afternoon float
ing in the Washington Channel.
Deputy Coroner Christopher J..
Murphy said, after an autopsy,
death was due to bullet in his
head.
FBI ballistic tests indicated the
bullet had been fired from Sergt.
Furr's gun.
Capt. Flaherty said Sergt. Furr
and Detective Sergt. Theodore
Haage were on the dock with
other policemen when they were
told that Davis, the suspect in
the shootings aboard the steamer,
had jumped overheard, and that
he had a gun.
Capt. Flaherty said Sergt. Furr
saw the man swimming in the
water, ordered him to stop, and
when he did not, fired two shots
at him. Police and firemen from
the f1reboat William T. Belt
dragged the surrounding waters
that night, but did not turn up
the body.
Davis was identified by his for
mer common-law wife, Mildred L.
Hall, colored, Of the 1900 block of
Six and One-Half street NV. Po-
lice said the body was found near
the docks by Capt. j. j. Garcia of
the Robert E. Lee.
Evening star., 1950-08-15
Fighting on Unseen Enemy
Polio Epidemic Strikes Some Wyeve Families Second Time Six
By George Kennedy
Stor Staff Correspondent

WYTHEVILLE, Va, Aug. Is
In the middle of July, the polio
outbreak in Wytheville seemed to
have run its course.
No new cases were reported on
Wednesday, July IL; none showed
up on Thursday. There were none
on Friday up to press time, and
the Enterprise. Wytheville's semi
weekly newspaper, h he a lin d
Polio apparently on decline"
Then the disease really struck.
not only in scattered pattern
about the town but in remote
places in the county. Over the
week end and up to Tuesday morn
ing, there were 16 new cases. The
incidence of the disease had more
than doubled. The number OF
cases had increased from Is to 81.
There were three deaths. The cpl
demic still is spreading hereabouts.
AS of today, there have been
152 cases and 16 deaths in Wythe
County. since July /, according to
the State Health Department.
Wytheville had 81 cases and the
county 10 and the deaths were
evenly divided. The total for the
State now stands at 404 cases,
compared with 235 at the same
time in 1914, the previous high.
The county had Is cases in 1914
1t apparently started on June
80, when 18-month-old Johnny
Seccafico, son of the second base
man of Wytheville's professional
baseball team, was found to have
the disease. The Seccaf1coS had
come to Wytheville from Jersey
City, N. j.. in April. Whether he
caught the disease in Wytheville
or the family brought it with them
will always be a mystery.
The disease struck the same
families again and again. On
the 18th, Patsy Lucille Kincer.
a baby of IA months who had
been taken from her home near
Crockett in the county, died in the
Memorial and Crippled Children's
Hospital in Roanoke. Ten days
later her father, Cecil Newman
Kincer, 20, who had helped care
for the infant in her initial i'll
ness, died at the same hospital.
He left a wife and a little boy.
Polio had visited the Taylor
family in West Main street,
Wytheville. in 1914. The TaylorS
were in more comfortable cir
cumstances compared to the many
families in the county who exist
through a combination of sub
sistence gardening and occasional
work. Howard G. Taylor, the
father, was employed by the
Wytheville laundry. The Taylors
live in a white clapboard cottage.
Five Children Stricken.
The Taylors had four children
at the time of the 1914 epidemic.
the eldest, was then
seven. Bonnie, the second child.
was five. Their two little brothers
were named Howard Ray and
Dannie.
This year, when the polio re-
turned, the Taylors had six chill
dren. The 1850 epidemic struck the
two children who were not living
at the time Of the previous out
break, and two of the older chill
dren. Bonnie, the child stricken
in 1914, and Jo-Ann were the only
ones to escape the disease this
year. OF the six children, Jo-Ann
is the only one who has not had
polio.
And the disease struck the Tay-
lor children hard. Two of the
cases we're of the bulbar type.
(Bulbar poliomyelitis is caused by
the same virus as other types of
the disease. The bulbar is the
soft part of the spinal column
within the skull where the lines of
Evening star., 1950-08-15

pm. Letter Carrier Wygal COM
pleted his round in the afternoon.
When he came home again. his
other child, 15-year-old Donald,
was sick. Donald was on his way
to Roanoke before supper. Both
are home again. Donald is ap-
parently all right. Roger has an
ominous stiffness in his right leg
Experts Step Into Picture.
The Wytheville date line began
to appear in the press across the
Nation. Radio commentators be-
gan telling the story of the in
tense epidemic here. Gov. Battle
and Representative Stanley.
Democrat, of Virginia 5th District,
"Wytheville's adopted son." sent
letters offering to do anything they
could. DR.. j. L. Roper, Virginia S
Health Commissioner, came to
Wytheville with DR.. j. C. Neale,
State director of local health serv-
ices. DR.. Albert McCown, head OF
the State Health Departments
bureau of communicable diseases
preceded them.
The National Foundation for
Infantile Paralysis sent a repre-
sentative from New York TO re-
port on the situation and arranged
for DR.. Alex Steigman of Louis
vile. KY, one of the foremost
students Of the disease. to come to
Wytheville and start an epidem-
illogical study.
DR.. B. A. Wagner, a retired
dentist. who is Wythe County
chairman of the National Foun-
dation for Infantile Paralysis, is
sued the following statement:
Il have been authorized by the
National Foundation representa-
tive to assure the families of all
polio patients who desire and
need assistance that the founda-
ton will guarantee payment of all
polio treatment expense"
The County Health Board met
for the first time in years. When
one of the worried county officials
asked a physician-member about
possible control measures the
physician answered:
Answer is True.
"We have known about polio
for 100 years, but we do not know
any more about controlling it
than we did then"
Evening star., 1950-08-15
63 Sufferers Remain
In Roanoke Hospital

ROANOKE, Va, Aug. is (P.-
Roanoke's Memorial and Crippled
Children's hospital, flooded with
polio cases over the weekend, to-
day transferred four patients tt
the Medical College of Virgins
hospital in Richmond for treat
ment.
Sixty-three polio patients re-
main in the hospital here with
five on the critical list.
Five cases were admitted here
YESTERDAY.
Evening star., 1950-08-15

cases. The Seventh-day Adven-
lists had purchased one Of Wythe-
ville's largest homes and con-
verted it into a hospital; but it
has no contagious ward, and to
move polio cases in would be un-
fair to the patients already there.
AS soon as the suspected cases
showed positive in the spinal test
at the clinic, they were taken to
the hospital in Roanoke in am
balances. John Minnick, one OF
the towns undertakers, who is
chairman of the towns annual
Mile of Dimes campaign for the
National Foundation for Infantile
Paralysis, headed the ambulance
service. The long hilly runs to
Roanoke were made at high speed
without mishap.
Iron Lungs Mobilized.
The Wythe County life saving
crew modified iron lungs for the
victims who needed them. 1t was
found that, while the counties OF
the Southwestern part of the
State do not have hospitals, al
most every county seat had a life
saving crew that had purchased
an iron lung. Once when the hos
pltal at Roanoke gave them a
hurry call for a respirator, they
made the winding, up and down
80 miles in something close to 80
minutes.
The Memorial and Crippled
Children's Hospital at Roanoke
filled up with polio cases. At one
time they had 10 cases from
Wythe and neighboring counties,
with four or five cribs crowded
into a hospital room. One-half
of one floor was made into an iso-
lation section.
The parents began to descend
upon the hospital, many of them
poor people from the back roads,
awed by their surroundings. Some
Of them asked how they were 60
Evening star., 1950-08-15
Mrs. Murdoch to Speak
To Montgomery Society

Mrs. Myrtle Cheney Murdock
wife of Representative Murdock
Democrat, of Arizona, will address
a meeting of the Montgomery
County Historical Society at 8 pm
Friday at the home of Mrs. j. Her.
bert Brown in Poolesville.
Mrs. Murdock will discuss her
Forthcoming book, Constantine
Brumidi, Michelaneglo of the
United States Capitol" The book
is being published under the spon-
sorship of the National League OF
American Pen Women.