Evening star., 1953-08-15
Montgomery Manager Sees County as a Business
By chorIes |. Hoffmon

Montgomery County's new top
official is q businessman first,
then q county manager.
"And why shouldn't I be?"
asks Edward T. Beall. who win
take over the county managers
post here September /.
His philosophy is simple.
Operating a government is
not different from operating a
public utility. Actually all you
are doing is operating q group
Of utilities" he explains.
Mr.. Beall arrived here at 4
am. yesterday after q 4S0-mile
trip from Portsmouth, NOhio,
marked and delayed by an al
most endless amount of car
trouble in the West Virginia
mountains.
Nevertheless, he was on time
for luncheon engagement at
1880 PM, then he began q long
round Of interviews, conferences,
picture-taking and house hunt
ing.
Want Home in Rockville.
1t was the house hunting that
really brought him and his at
tractive wife Agatha to the
county yesterday. They want q
home, preferably near Rockville,
with a little ground where Mrs.
Beall can do some gardening.
The Bealls-and Mr.. Beall
knows of no relationship to
Maryland's Senator j. Glenn
Beall-will return to Portsmouth
tomorrow. There he will have
two more council meetings and
will present his councilmen with
a recommended budget of $6.5
million. The present budget is
$4.2 million.
Mr.. BeaIl looks the part of a
busineSSman-the rugged indi-
vidualist type. Forty-flve years
old, slightly balding and square
chinned, he stands 5 feet 8
inches and weighs about 179,
which, he says, is IS pounds too
much.
Is Years in Phone Firm.
For Is years he was with the
Chesapeake & Potomac Tele-
phone Co. in Maryland and was
the western district manager
when he quit. Then he spent
five years with the Celanese
Corp. of America, first. in Cum
berland, then in New Jersey, as
assistant superintendent and
superintendent of personnel.
Portsmouth is far different
from Montgomery County. A
river town, Portsmouth is an in
duStrial center known for its
steel and nail mills. and shoe
factories.
A static community for many
yearS-as a matter of fact its
population decreased during the
194Os-it has suddenly come to
life with the construction Of a
81 billion atomic energy plant.
When the project gets fully un-
der way it will employ some
10000 persons.
The result is that industrial
Portsmouth and rural and sub
urban Montgomery County have
only one thing in common
problems.
Trafic congestion, mushroom
ing housing developments, sani-
tary facilities, increasing gov
ernmental costs, and schools
overcrowding, teacher shortages
and an endless increase in en-
rollments-are just a few.
Yesterday Mr.. Beall got a
f1rst-hand report on Montgom-
ery's school problems from
H. Stanley Stine, School Board
president, who dined with him
and County Council President
George F. .NeSbitt.
There's no one cure for these
ailments that fit all patients
alike" Mr.. Beall explained. Then,
donning the doctors robe, he
added he would spend his first
few months in the county dag
nosing the case before Offering
a prescription.
Looking Forward to Job.
A native Marylander-"You
can't take Maryland out of me, ?"
he exclaimed-he is eagerly
looking forward to his new job.
So is his wife.
Mrs. Beall is a gay, charming
woman with q contagious smile
and a hobby-violetS.
A registered pharmacist who
maintains a small laboratory in
her home, she has spent Is years
studying the fower-the Ameri-
can type, not the fancy African
variety.
She has a huge card index on
facts about the flower. She will
tell you that in Pennsylvania
they prepare a rattlesnake bite
antidote with the leaves. that
she was born in February, the
violet month, and she's from
New Jersey, whose. State flower
is the violet. ...-.
Furthermore violet stems
cooked like any other greens
are delicious and are better for
you than spinach.
Is Once-a-Week Golfer.
Mr.. Beall also has a hobby.
He's a golfer-a once-a-week
golfer. And after 20 years, he
confesSes, he still is trying to
crack 80.
Of the record, he has another
hobby. That's eating the violet
stems and other strange dishes
his wife whips up in her studies.