text: A-24 Metro Area THE evening star _22—_____L* _ Washington, D. C., Saturday, March 11, 1961 W.... fl - KI W <IM I m RHw» i > Il r H '.l u| ■ 111 X <-?x wKmBhKHk -■ T' S BRsHBeBi rw > ■;' If I x < -X * \ IBIHIBI \W I* ■ II I. x x; wft WfffaMM 1 IHHB f< || I v f KHai IS \l■ I *■. J'. II I W \w AV • I I —'**^-—. bma \V‘ • ■ ' n/|| I 1 \1 nl '? wMii -■ -~.Skill \1 Hl ' JI ini JI f \B uW J. wl lM 1 g I'I-WM ---.) "JJ~" LjSk IK ’, \K I -'’ '" • W |,.. Kff— «*»■"' l w * ~ :.*■*» I '-< : -'- " -. »■ Mrs. Wilton W. Bradshaw of 3204 Alabama avenue S.E. looks out her living room window, ’ Home Blast Traced to Workshop Unit A gas-fueled work shop heating device caused a shattering explosion and fire which demolished a Southeast Washington house and seriously injured three persons, fire officials said today. Deputy Fire Marshal Warren C. Kelly said the apparatus, called a “plumber’s pot. Exploded late yesterday while being used in the basement of the two-story brick and frame dwelling at 3212 Alabama avenue S.E. Injured were Grant Davidson, 36; his father, Otho Davidson, 63, and the senior Mr. Davidson’s wife Irene, 63. The men, badly burned on the hands and face, are in serious condition at Casualty Hospital. Mrs. Davidson, with head burns and a leg injury, is in fair condition there. Two-Alarm Fire The tremendous blast, which houses on both sides, touched off a two-alarm fire which more than 50 firemen fought for 30 minutes before bringing it under control. The house is a total loss. Marshal Kelly said the plunder's pot was fueled by bottled gas. Both of the Davidson men were in the basement at the time. The bottled gas suddenly began escaping, and was touched off by the flame from the oil furnace, they said. An instant later the gas container blew up. Mrs. Davidson was on the first floor, and made it to the front porch, where she collapsed. A neighbor, Joseph DiToto of 320 Alabama avenue, helped her to the street. Mrs. Arlene Toth, whose rear yard adjoins the Davidson's, Utility Firms Study Loss in Price-Fixing Eighty electrical utility firms have joined in a legal effort to determine how much they suffered from price-fixing by equipment manufacturers. The investigation, headed by a committee of lawyers and college professors, could lead to court suits to recover lost money. George D. Gibson, general counsel for the Virginia Electric and Power Co., will head the committee. A spokesman for the Potomac Electric and Power Co. said his firm, which already has a similar study under way, has not decided whether to join the combined effort. Mr. Gibson told the Associated Press in Richmond yesterday that information uncovered in the investigation will be turned over to individual utilities to “take such action as then appears to be necessary.” sary to protect their interests. In Philadelphia last month, Judge J. Cullen Ganey fined 29 electrical firms and 44 executives $1,924,500 for price-fixing. He also sentenced seven top executives to jail. The equipment firms included General Electric and Westinghouse, the two giants of the industry. Stone and Webster Engineering Corp, has been engaged as consultant in the utilities investigation. The engineering firm will analyze the prices charged by the manufacturers. Other consultants include Dr. Jerome B. Cohen, professor of economics at City College of New York, and Dr. Willard L. Thorp, professor of economics at Amherst College. Flames Damage Kensington Home Fire caused an estimated $10,000 damage to a frame bungalow at 11,000 Gluck lane in Kensington yesterday. The fire, believed to have started in one of the bedrooms, occurred about 12:20 p.m. in the home of Frederick Truex. No one was home at the time. Firemen from the Kensington fire department said the flames destroyed a bedroom and an adjoining hallway and also burned up through the ceiling. GRANT DAVIDSON said she was sweeping her back porch when she heard a tremendous blast at 5:20 p.m. Porch Blew Off “The house burst into flames right after the explosion,” she said. “The roof began to cave in, and the whole back porch blew off.” She said there might have been two blasts, in rapid succession. She ran up to aid the elder Mr. Davidson, who was wandering around the back yard, near hysteria. Mrs. Wilton W. Bradshaw, who lives next door at 3204, said the blast shattered the windows on the side of her house nearest the Davidsons. “I heard our window panes breaking,” she said. “When I looked out the window I saw the whole house was ready to collapse. Then I called the police.” She said that after the elder Mr. Davidson got over the first shock, he jumped into his panel truck parked next to his house and drove it in the Bradshaw’s back yard. A late model car was buried in the sand. MEMO FROM THE EDITOR: Local Stage Patterns Examined in Sunday Star IS WASHINGTON A ONE-THEATER TOWN?— What is the state of the drama in the Nation’s Capital? Drama Critic Jay Carmody looks over the local scene and brings you his views in SUNDAY, The Star Magazine. In the same magazine, The Star’s story of Civil War times offers a glimpse of how the Federal Government and the Confederacy were building their leadership in the dark days before Fort Sumter. 66 DAYS UNDER THE SEA— In This Week Magazine, you’re given an exclusive account of the first peace patrol of the Polaris submarine; and, the American Medical Association’s Director of Health Education supplies the answers to the 10 health questions asked most by Americans. FOR THE FANS— The Magazine, which brings you more program listings and more pages of color pictures, this Sunday features Joanne Dru and a special presentation on the “Men of Disney.” LEISURE SPORTS PAGE RESUMES— With the spring boating season near and fishing, hiking, and other leisure activities getting under way, The Star will resume its Sunday Leisure Sports Pages this week. See Outdoor Editor Charles Covell’s tips on how to make your own. Lures to catch herring, hickory jacks and shad. Read “Tare Line” by Hank Bowman, who will discuss pros and cons of paint for boats. RADIO ACTIVE RESORT— In the Travel Pages, Travel Editor Jack Jonas, just back from Italy, se ports on the famed Mernaerhof, hotel of royalty and European high society, which is falling to the wreckers and will be replaced by a new bathing establishment fed by radioactive waters. In the same pages, learn what you have to do to enter The Star’s "Travel Contest." Phone Lincoln 3-5000 for Home Delivery shattered by the explosion in the house nearby at 3212 Alabama avenue.—Star Staff Photo. OTHO DAVIDSON —Star Staff Photos under rubble in the basement garage. Clifford Compton, whose house at 3214 is just a few feet from the Davidsons’, said the explosion also smashed his windows. “I heard the explosion, and my kitchen windows blew out,” he said. "I ran out and saw ' SURVIVOR Continued From First Page the basement to look for Dad. I couldn’t find him, but then I heard him outside, so I went out, too. "I came around to the front of the house and helped him push my car out to the street. Then Dad moved the panel truck to a neighbor’s yard. “A policeman came around the house and took me by the arm. He led me to the ambulance. All three of us came in the same ambulance. “Oh, if only we had had that tank outside,” he said. He said the tank probably was filled with propane gas, but that he wasn’t sure. The smoke and flames. After a while, I saw Mrs. Davidson, and then I saw the son out! I didn’t get to talk to them—they took them right away.” Wood Charred In addition to shattering his glass, the blast and flames charred the wood around his windows, Mr. Compton said. The elder Mr. Davidson, superintendent of maintenance for the Judd & Detweiler printing firm, received first, second, and third degree burns on his face and hands. His son, an electrician, has similar injuries. Mrs. Davidson has first-degree face burns, in addition to a leg injury. The house, which neighbors guessed might be valued at $20,000, was reduced to a pile of rubble. It was still smoldering early today, and at one point firemen turned a garden hose on part of the wreckage. Oddly, an oil tank in the basement, just filled yesterday, was not touched off by the blast and fire. Driver Plan. Catches Up On Juveniles A move to reduce the number of dangerous juvenile drivers in the District has been proposed by a group of city officials. The recommendation, by the Traffic Co-ordinating Committee, is aimed at solving a safety problem created by the case of backlog at Juvenile Court. It is this: Under the present system, the most serious driving of senses by 16 and 17 year olds, totaling more than 400 cases a year, are referred to Juvenile Court by the Police Department’s Youth Aid Division. This police division disposes of the remaining traffic offenses, about 800 each year, and notices the Department of Motor Vehicles of the action. For the category of more serious offenses, the Department of Motor Vehicles levies traffic penalty points the basis for permit suspension or revocation—after notification of the court’s decisions. The overloaded docket, therefore, has meant that only a small percentage of these hazardous juvenile drivers have their permits lifted each year. The Traffic Co-ordinating Committee yesterday recommended that this system be changed, and that the motor vehicle agency not wait for the court case notifications. Instead, the agency would hold suspension or revocation hearings when, on the basis of notifications by the Youth Aid Division, they would be held in the discretion of the court. were warranted! Eight penalty points mean suspension and 12 revocation of permits. Serious Crime Rises 8.7% Over February, 1960 Serious crimes in the District last month rose 8.7 percent over the February 1960 total, according to a report by police officials. The number of so-called Part 1 offenses reported in the city last month totaled 1,679 —an increase of 135, or nearly 9 percent, over the comparable month last year. With a single exception, there has been a crime rise each month over the comparable figure the previous year for the past two years. The exception was last July when the total number of offenses pipped by less than 1 percent under the July 1959 figure. Last month, the crime increases were in the categories of robbery, housebreaking, grand larceny, petty larceny, and auto theft. Decreases were reported for criminal homicide, rape, and aggravated assault. 200 Citizens Stage Fight Over Saks St. Ave. Zoning A TROUBADOURS FORECAST Short Life Seen for Jazz By MYRA MacPHERSON Star Star Star Writer Troubadour Richard Dyer-Bennet, who goes back to the 16th century hit parade for his repertoire, says jazz is here to go. He says today’s popular music will not live through the ages because "a lot of the material is not particularly great, it’s the handling of it and interpretation of it by the performer that makes it good." Individualists like Bessie Smith, Billie Holliday, and Charlie Parker are noted for their interpretation—but not necessarily. Actually, the song, he says, "No one will be humming "My Fair Lady" 400 years from now, either, says the moustache, who will perform at Lisner auditorium at 8:30 o'clock tonight." “The musical comedy style of any age doesn’t endure. Where are the Lerner and Loewe counterparts of Mozart’s time? They were there, but nobody remembers them.” This lack of lyrical longevity doesn’t disturb Mr. Dyer-Bennet. “I’m not saying everything man does has to be permanent,” he said, adding that a lot of things written and composed for the present should be enjoyed for just that. Anything which passes from century to century he said, "deals simply and honestly with a theme which continues to be Juveniles. Escape in Alexandria Three teen-age youths overpowered a supervisor at the new Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center in Alexandria today and escaped with his master key. Police searched the surrounding area with the help of K-9 dogs but failed to find the boys, who were clad in white; T-shirts and blue dungarees. Officials at the center, who declined to name the 27-year-old supervisor, said he was overpowered in a hallway and forced into a bedroom, where his keys were taken. They said the supervisor was not injured. The youths, 15, 16 and 17, then went to a basement boiler room, opened a door and fled. The 15-year-old was awaiting trial on a charge of auto theft in Fairfax County. The 16-year-old had been committed to the Department of Welfare and Institutions from Arlington on a charge of stealing hubcaps and the 17-year-old was committed from Arlington on a charge of unauthorized. Use of a motor vehicle. Alexandria police said they would broadcast a 13-State alarm for the three youths. One boy came from the Baltimore area, while the other two live in Arlington. Another supervisor—a woman—was on duty in the office and was not involved in the incident. Students Honor Mr. Chips Smith More than 700 former students and friends honored Hugh S. Smith, the “Mr. Chips” of Jefferson Junior High, at his 60th birthday party last night. They packed the auditorium of the school, 8th and H Street NW, to pay tribute to Mr. Smith, who began teaching at Jefferson in 1925, became principal in 1932 and retired last summer. “I’m like Mr. Chips.” said bachelor Mr. Smith of 5318 Broad Branch Road, NW. “I had thousands of children and none of them my own. It was wonderful to see them all again.” Marlene Harris, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Maryland, last night was chosen “Miss Maryland” at a university prom at the Indian Spring Country Club. Miss Harris, one of five finalists, lives at 8602 Barron Street, Takotna Park, Md. RICHARD DYER-BENNET —Star Staff Photo Important to human beings. One of the great themes is classic tragedy.” The folk song dealing with the "losing struggle of an individual against impossible odds” is the stirring and lasting one, he believes. British-born Mr. Dyer-Bennet is a robust 47 and looks as if he should be running around soccer fields, which he says he would be doing if he’d. Played better. Mr. Dyer-Bennett was one of the conflict of interests. Bill is under study by Paul Hope. Star Staff Writer, Annapolis, Mar. 11. A move for conflict-of-interest legislation may be made at the current session of the General Assembly. It was learned today that a bill is being drafted which would define conflict of interests for legislators and State employees. Its prospective sponsors said, however, that they are having trouble drafting the provisions and may not get it finished in time to beat the deadline next Tuesday for introducing legislation. The drafters have two major aims: To prevent lawmakers, salaried employees, and appointed officials from doing business with the State and to set up bounds for lawmakers’ participation in legislation which bears on their private interests. Case Pointed Up Many of the legislators, lawyers, and insurance men, do business for or with the State. The possibilities of conflict of interest in legislation has been pointed up strongly this session in the controversy over a bill to restrict operations of a savings and loan deposit insurance company operated by three members of the House of Delegates. The insurance company involved is Security Financial Insurance Corp., which lists among its officers and directors A. Gordon Boone, Democratic majority floor leader of the House, and Delegates Charles F. Culver and Roy N. Staten, all of Baltimore County. The three delegates did not vote on the legislation but Mr. Nation-Wide Bogus Bill Hunt Nets Ex-Area Man A former Mount Rainier (Md.) man who has been hunted since a rash of counterfeit $20 bills turned up at several large stores in the Langley Park Shopping Center during the Christmas season, was arrested yesterday in Houston, Tex. Fred Woodward Roberts, 26, was taken into custody by Secret Service agents and Houston detectives on a Federal warrant issued in Baltimore. Charging possession of counterfeit money. Lane Bertram, head of the Secret Service in Houston, said the investigation involved the passing of $500,000 in bogus bills in Atlantic Coast and Southern States. Roberts had $6,000 in bogus bills in his possession at the time of his arrest in an apartment he had occupied with his wife and infant daughter, agents said. Four others were arrested in Houston in yesterday’s crack down, bringing to about 65 the number of persons involved. Roberts, according to the Secret Service here, was one of two men who had passed counterfeit $20 bills at the Langley Park Shopping Center and at Seven Corners Shopping Center at Falls Church, Va. The Secret Service arrested Morris E. (Sonny) Anglin, jr., 30, of Hyattsville, Md., at a nearby Virginia motel on January 10 on a charge of passing counterfeit $20 bills. They said Anglin was with Roberts in the Langley Park episode. Anglin was indicted February 14 for conspiracy in distributing counterfeit money. Guitar-plucking college boy who made good. He moved to the States at an early age and attended college in California, where he played for fun until someone prompted him to make a career of singing and playing. He and Burl Ives, Josh White, and Leadbelly were on the ground floor of the folk-singing craze in the late '03. He says this interest in folk singing is an “urban manifestation... it came from the country and was kept alive in. The cities, especially New York.” Today there are hundreds of guitar strumming hopefuls, which is all rather sad, according to Mr. Dyer-Bennett. “They think all they need to know is three chords on a guitar and a few tunes. There was a time when this could have been—when the material was fresh. That is no longer true.” And will there be any new material? No, says Mr. Dyer-Bennett. The songs were created in pre-gramophone, TV, radio, and high-throated days when if you were to have music "you had to make it up yourself." Now that we mass produce music as we mass produce shoes, the creating of traditional music has become a thing of the past. Culver led an unsuccessful fight to kill the bill in the House Banking and Insurance Committee, of which he is vice chairman. The bill was approved by the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee yesterday and is expected to go to the Senate floor for action next week. It has passed the House. Long Need Cited Possible conflicts of interests also were pointed up in the fight over legislation to regulate the operation of savings and loan associations. Many legislators have interests in or are attorneys for savings and loan firms. The drafters of the conflict bill said their proposal was not prompted by the fight over Security Financial or the savings and loan regulatory bill, but by a long-standing need for such legislation. They said they were having trouble, however, defining what should constitute conflict of interest. Since lawmaking is a part-time job and each member of the Legislature has private business, the sponsors do not want to go too far in saying what a lawmaker should or should not vote on. On the other hand, if the law were vaguely worded, it would be useless. The sponsors said that if they can come up with a "good, workable" bill before Tuesday, they will introduce it. They are examining Federal conflict laws and those of other States as possible guides. In legislative action yesterday, the savings and loan association regulatory bill was enacted and sent to the Governor for signature. In yesterday’s arrests in Houston, police also took into custody a 51-foot yacht and two automobiles which were used in distributing the counterfeit bills, the agents said. Others arrested were identified as the yacht’s skipper, Allen P. Hackenberg, 33, a former Hungarian freedom fighter; William W. Canada, 136, Lewis F. Canada, 32, and Wilburn D. Martin, 26. 19 Programs Offered Symphony Subscribers to next season's National Symphony Orchestra concert series will be treated to 19 programs, instead of 18 as in this season, at no increase in cost. The Philadelphia Orchestra will return for two pairs of concerts, and the Boston Symphony for one pair on the Tuesday and Wednesday series. Among the visiting artists will be the Metropolitan Opera’s latest sensation, Birgit Nilsson, soprano. There will be many old favorites returning, such as Isaac Stern and Yehudi Menuin, violinists, and Artur Rubinstein, Rudolf Serkin, Byron Janis, pianists, together with the Russian Emil Gileis and the German Hans Richter-Haaser. The venerable Pierre Monteux will appear as guest conductor. Another visitor on the staff of Secretary Joins Contest Against Store Nearly 200 residents of Chevy Chase Village, including the Secretary of the Air Force, turned out last night at a turbulent meeting to discuss a proposed Saks Fifth Avenue store. The meeting was a preliminary to an advisory referendum being held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today at Chevy Chase Village Community Center by the village board of managers. Residents will vote for or against the controversial commercial re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re- Board of managers last month unanimously approved the application, after several hearings. Residents said last night the hearings were not generally publicized and they had not been consulted or polled. Boos and Applause The homeowners alternately clapped, booed and commented as representatives of the Chevy Chase Land Co., the chairman of the village board of managers and other homeowners discussed the rezoning of the proposed store site adjoining the village. Air Force Secretary Eugene M. Zuckert, one of the spokesmen of the Committee for the Preservation of Chevy Chase Village, called the proposed zoning change a “revolution,” which would change the character of the area. Later in the meeting, Chairman of the Board of Managers Arthur Lambert repeatedly rapped for order, when Mr. Zuckert walked to the front of the room “because they are talking about me and I can’t head.” A land company official was reading a covenant he said was contained in Mr. Zuckert’s and other members of the preservation committee’s deeds. The covenant stipulates that the landowner will not protest a rezoning of the Saks Fifth Avenue site. Robert M. Booth, jr., a Washington attorney, presenting the committee’s viewpoint, called the store “a small cancer that will grow and grow and eventually destroy the community.” The board of managers “was tossing us over” when they voted to approve the land company’s rezoning request. The 70-year-old land company which developed the village plans to lease the site on the east side of Wisconsin avenue south of Oliver street to Saks. Mr. Lambert explained that the managers approved the Application when the land company agreed to annexation by the village after rezoning. He said the village could regulate traffic, noise, screening, and other objectionable features. The residents protested a ruling by Mr. Lambert that only registered Maryland voters who have resided in the village six months could vote in today’s advisory referendum. William C. Austin, town manager, estimated that 1300 to 1400 of the village’s 2300 residents were eligible to vote. The decision of the majority of the voters will be forwarded to the Montgomery County Council. The council will hold a public zoning hearing on March 20 in the County Office Building, Rockville. Virginia Fire Leaves 10 Persons Homeless Pocahontas, Va., Mar. 11 (AP).—Ten persons were left homeless yesterday by a fire that destroyed five houses and damaged a sixth here. There were no injuries. Residents of the houses saved few of their personal belongings. Authorities said the fire apparently broke out around a flue in the second story of one of the dwellings. Four other houses in the area were endangered but were not damaged. The program will be the Russian composer, Aram Khachaturian, appearing with a fellow countryman, Daniel Shafran, cellist. There will be two choral performances with the orchestra. One will feature the Howard University Choir in Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” in which the group excelled five years ago. Berlioz’s “Romeo and Juliet” dramatic symphony, introduced a few years ago by the Boston orchestra will be sung by soloists and the Georgetown University and Mary Washington College Choirs. The first opportunity to subscribe to these series will come at Constitution Hall the evenings of March 28 and 29. Each subscriber will receive a red Colorado carn. In the Colorado Flower Growers Association. 