The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 31

LOCAL NEWS EDITORIALS OPINIONS PA RT 2 VOL. LXX cc WEDNESDAY- MORNING, FEBRUARY 7, 1951 Times Office: 202 West First Street, Los Angeles 53, Calif. MAdison 2345 ugo Hou Wreckers Go to lfpiair iHiisifM liiiiiiiiiliiir Iffliiiiiiiiie ti mm wmnuiwjiir mil. iri.j. l.

ijj. tiimi inuupim Miming nr mii.iw fy'" i 5 4 1, i I i I Hllfllllp I- I 1 fx' i It- 7 I i II 1 I Jj- to AJ t-. i Iff i I and 18 Other Ancient 7 MY: 1 H' i i I if $4 5 1 im ill A 1 -p" I 4 Lugo House was begun in 1811. Once it was a magnificent dwelling, later it became the center of the pueblo's social life and now, after -years of disrepair, it will die despite efforts of historical societies to save it. END OF AN ERA This is the old Lugo House on Los Angeles facing the Plaza, mainstay of 19 buildings which will be torn down, beginning today, to clear the area between Union Station and the Plaza.

Some say the BY THE WAY. BILL HENRY Self-Service Gas Pump Ban Upheld by Court Municipal Judge Backs Legality of City Ordinance Against Operation of Stations Municipal Judge William Hunt, in an opinion yesterday, upheld the legality of a Los, Angeles city ordinance which DUSTY MEMORIES C. G. Byson, who will raze the Lugo House and the other creak old abodes, examines rope on 30-foot flagpole outside veranda of building's second floor. Relics Near Old Plaza Will.

Vanish BY RAY ZEMAN Bulldozers, cranes, steant shovels and explosives will begin tearing away 19 buildings today at Los Angeles front door between, the Un ion Station and the Plaza. It would take a week to through them. They cover only a small block bounded by Sun set Alanieda Ferguson Alley and Los Angeles St. But they're filled with dust, debris, discarded furniture, dangling pipes and wires. Dark Corridors It's an atmosphere that Edgar Allan Poe or Sax Rohmer would love.

Narrow stairways. Dark corridors. Winding runways. Buzzers and secret wires to signal the coming of police. Wood in most of the structures is creaky" with age.

Paint has chipped off everywhere and plaster is peeling from the walls. To sentimentalists, it is a shock. Here once were three of the finest Chinese cafes in the citythe Soochow on Los Angeles the Dragon's Den on Sunset and' the New Grand East on Alameda. On Ferguson- Alley are the ruins- of Jerry's Joynt, whose jade bar and dimly-lit interior lured film and society notables in its heyday. Proudest of All And facing the Plaza Is th proudest structure of all the historic Lugo House.

Since -the 1840s it has stood there, a stone's throw from the Avila Adobe on Olvera Street and across the Plaza from the city's oldest church, Our Lady Queen of the Angels. Some say the Lugo House is even older that it was begun in 1811 by Don Antonio Maria Lugo, who was born at Mission San Antonio de Padua in 1775. This account relies on passages in Thompson West's History of Los Angeles by Lugo's son-in-law, Stephen C. Foster. -J A Don Antonio was Alcalde or Mayor of Los Angeles in 1813.

His son-in-law was Mayor in 1854 and 1856. Famed Families The Lugos were among the first families to move to town from Spanish grant ranches so big that they couldn't be crossed in a day. The Avilas and the Pelanconis were others. They were families of such distinction that rumor says they talked only to themselves like New England's Cabots and Lodges. As the years went by House became a social center for the sleepy little pueblo.

It had been the scene of many a gay party by 1847, when Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny and Commodore Robert Stockton came nbrth from San Diego and captured the city. They were joined quickly by Lt. CoL John Fre mont, coming from the North. Famous names like these are nearly forgotten today by the wrecking crews as they prepar to rip down the block.

Last Business Houses On the main floor of the Lug House are signs of the last business houses the Canton Bazaar and Hong Fat. Another in this structure is the Ging Lung Co. -And up and down the street and around the block are others with the singsong Oriental names the Gee Ning Tong Herb F. See On the Fook Wo Lung Curio Sam Sing's Meat Market and Quong Wing Sang Co. What couldn't Sax Rohmer do with that last one Quong Wing Sang Fu Manchu would grope down the shadowy corridors, through incensed rooms dimly illuminated by gas lights.

The buildings are i 1 1 jammed together but here and there are open passageways-narrow slits of escape. Buddhist Temple Fu Manchu might pause in front of the one, built by the King Chow Co in 1891, just south of the Lugo House. It housed a Buddhist temple filled with Chinese inscriptions. MOTHER ASKS NEWS British Actor Flies Baby Here for 'Sun' WASHINGTON "You aid the old-timer up on Capitol Hill, "that your 'readers would like to have a clear, easily understandable explanation of what the Congress i3 doing right now? Well, son, draw up a chair and I'll see if I can put it in short easy words." CONGRESS "You must remember," he said, taking a deep breath, "that at the moment very -little of the vital legislation actually originates with the Congress itself. The legislation is suggested to the Congress by the aclministration.

That's the way we do things. That's proved to be a good way to do things, too. It has its faults but it certainly has its virtues. Now, at the moment we, have two highly important pieces of legislation under consideration. One the draft law has to do with the government taking our citizens out of their homes and putting them in uniform.

The other the tax law has to do with taking the money out of the pockets of pur citizens. Now, believe me, it is, pretty hard to think up a couple of topics that come closer to being regarded as of the utmost importance by the maximum number of people than those two." VERY YITXLt There couldn't be very much argument on that Doint. So ne continued, -jnow Congress," he said, "represents. xne peopie ui ycuyic ius brass hats of the military, you must remember, are a group of specialists with a specific job the defense of -the country. That's their major, 'their only, responsibility.

As a matter of fact, they arent supposed to think of how much it costs, or who gets hurt, or how much people's normal lives are interfered just given the job of seeing that we don't get whipped. They are supposed to win and everything else is of minor importance. So military folks are just a little inclined to feel that they never have enough of anything they want more men, more ships, more planes, more AD MINISTRATION He stopped for breath. Then he went on. "Now, take the administration.

In an ideal so-, ciety they, being our duly elected government, are presumed to represent everybody. Let's face it, they don't They represent a political I'm not savins' that just about the Democrats who happen to be in gasoline stations. types of gasoline stations but ap plies to all such concerns. It means, he added, that if a station wishes to operate a large number of pumps additional help must be employed to operate them. The jurist noted that the or- dinance applies, in addition to automobile filling stations, ex pressly also to aircraft fueling posts.

"The fire hazards accompanying the dispensing of gasoline," Judge Hunt concluded, "are 'too well known to require any exten: sive discussion thereof in this memorandum opinion." Boy Scouts' 41st Year to Be Marked at Kiwanis Session The' 41st anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America will be celebrated by the Kiwanis Club tomorrow noon in the Music Room of the Biltmore HoteL Arnold V. Sorenson, Scout executive of the Los Angeles Area Council, the director of activities of 43,841 boys and their leaders in this area, will speak on "Another Year Has Gone By." Judge W. Turney Fox, presiding judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court and a long-time member of the Kiwanis Club, will preside. i I I Tj fr A BY HEDDA HOf PER A cablegram addressed to me preceded the arrival, yesterday in Hollywood of Robert New ton, British with his 3-month-old son Nicky, whom he said he brought here from London to get a little sunshine. The cablegram was signed by Mrs.

Natalie Newton, Bob's wife, whom he left hospitalized in England from the effects of Nicky's Caesarean-section birth. It was the message of a motner worried over her baby and asked my help. when Newton stepped from power. Same thing goes for the Republicans, when as has happened in the past and, honestly, might happen again they're in. To be brutally honest about it no administration ever entirely loses sight of the fact that it wants to stay in power after the next election and the next one and so on." EXAMINATION -That certainly seemed reasonable.

"With the Congress it's, different," he continued. "Neither the military nor the administration can actually vote anything Con-' gress has to vote it. So the job of the Congress i3 to scrutinize carefully. In the case of the military, they take it pretty much for granted, on the basis of past performance, that the military know their business, but they also know the weakness of the military for feeling that while 3,500,000 men would probably be enough, it wouldn't hurt to have 5,000,000. So you're going to have a long, careful study of manpower, and the Congress is pretty likely to insist that the military use up all the available men, including a lot of 4-Fs, in the 19-25 age pool before they dip into the 18-year group.

They'll wan to be sure that noncombat jobs are filled by the big pool of available non-combat people, like women who are extremely efficient men, who may not good "combat material but are per fectly capable of doing the non- combat jobs TAXES He paused to let that soak in. "Now in the case of taxes we're not fooling around with nickels and dimes," he said. "We're talking about money so big that nobody really knows too much about it, or what effect it will have on our whole national economy except that it is certain to have a very important effect. Now the Congress, in this case, isn't any too sure that the recommendations of the administration are based on the best available information and judgment. Why? Too much contrary testimony from business people who know a lot about For one thing the Congress doesn't like the idea of passing a tax bill now and anoth-er $6,000,000,000 tax bill in a few months sounds like they didn't know what they needed in the first place.

And this is not politics Rayburn and George and Doughton and Byrd are Democrats they want the facts and intend to get them!" Haar Bill HenryTMondcrr through Friday, KHI. 6:55 p.m. is now of the same brightness as Sirius, the brightest star, but Mars is considerably fainter. "It will be noticed that the moon en a direct line between Venus and Jupiter. The path of the moon takes it in front of these planets on Feb.

7. Such a hiding of a planet by the moon is called an- occultation. The occultation of Venus occurs in the afternoon. "Even though Venus can be seen in the daytime with the unaided eye, it would be much bet- prohibits operation of The constitutionality of the ordinance had been questioned in prosecution of two alleged violations. For purposes of the memorandum opinion, Judge Hunt consolidated the cases.

Safety Involved The ordinance, Judge Hunt observed, does not prohibit any gasoline station from doing business but it "does regulate its mettiod of doing business requiring, as an expressly declared safety measure, that the highly inflammable liquids be dispensed only by certain persons who are experienced in the handling of such dangerous products and over whom some measure of control can be exercised by the Fire Department." "It, simply Judge Hunt said, "that inexperienced, untrained and in some instances' careless customers must not be permitted to fill the gas tanks of their own cars. "The evidence in these cases shows good reasons for the en-J actment of such a statute, because of the danger of fire resulting from improper dispensing of the gasoline." Statute Supported The statute, he said, does rtot discriminate between different Courthouse Cost-Cutting Report Filed The Board of Supervisors yes terday received and filed a report from county engineers which set forth that $1,125,000 could be saved by removing ceramic decorations from the county's proposed Superior and Municipal Courthouses and substitut ing concrete. Architects' fees for revamping the drawings to accommodate the new designs would come to- $40,000, the report showed, By pigeonholing the report the Supervisors left the way open for a future decision on the sug gestions. The board nad request ed the engineering report. ter to have optical aid, such as binoculars, to observe this occultation.

Venus will disappear behind the moon at 1:53 p.m. and will reappear at 350 p.m. "The occultation of Mars and Jupiter will not be visible here, because they will occur after these planets have gone below our horizon. Even though we can not observe all these occul-tations here, it should be pointed out that the occultations of three planets in one day is quite -yf fM7J Times Cookery Classes Reopen on Wednesday The spring semester of the Times College of Cookery opens next Wednesday in the Times Mirror Auditorium, 1st and Spring according to Food Editor Marian Manners, who will personally conduct the classes. Fifteen classes have been scheduled, one each Wednesday through May 23.

Economical meals will be the keynote of next week's class, featuring three "penny-pinching" menus and demonstrating preparation of the i i a 1 dishes suggested. Selected for the program are a Birthday Din ner Menu, Wintertime Supper Menu and Shore Dinner at Home. As a special feature Miss Manners will demonstrate the "Recipe of the Week," an eco nomical meringue cake. There is no charge for tuition at the Times College of Cookery, but because of limited seating capacity admission is by ticket only. Tickets may be reserved in advance by calling MAdison 2345, Extension 201, between 9 a.m.

and 5 p.m. any weekday. Early reservations are urged to avoid disappointment. VISIBILITY RECORD; TODAY'S FORECAST Following are the forecast of visibility for Los Angeles Civic Center today and the range of visibility yesterday, as compiled by the U.S. Weather Bureau: Forecast Sunrise to 8 a.m.

8 a.m. to 2 p.m 2 p.m. to sundown Yesterday's Range 8 a.m 9 a.m. 10 a.m. 11 a.m.

Noon ,...3 miles ,...6 miles miles ,...3 miles ....6 miles (Haze and smoke) 1 and 2 p.m. ......10 miles 3 and 4 p.m. ..3 'miles (Haze and smoke) a TWA Constellation at Los Angeles International Airport he heatedly denied he had "kidnaped" the blue-eyed infant from his mother's bedside. The 45-year-old actor waved his walking stick impetuously. Here for Sunshine "Rubbish!" he exclaimed.

"I just brought the little tyke to California so he can get a little sunshine. That London pea soup fog has been' horrible for the little fellow." Newton brought along Ellen Daly, the child's nursemaid, and 25 cans of baby milk. They flew from London to New York Saturday. On the same plane from New York was Tallulah but her presence was just a coincidence. Despite Newton's assurances that he had his son's welfare at heart, his wife's cable to me was fraught with worry.

Mrs. Newton, I learned, is planning to file suit for divorce soon. "Can you possibly help me to get my baby back to England?" she cabled me. No Word to Mother "He is only three and a half months old and was taken from here by my husband without my consent or permission. I have had no word from the nursemaid or my husband since their arrival in New York and am naturally terribly worried and unhappy.

"I have been in a nursing home for two weeks and was hoping to go home to Nicholas, my son, next week. Please help me. I am sorry to worry you, but as I have had no direct information from the nursemaid or Bob since their arrival in America I am extremely worried." Newton was in Hollywood a couple of months ago. He is back to confer with RKO studios about a role in a film version of one of George Bernard Shaw's plays. I'm in a quandary, too, Bob.

What shall I cable your wife? Moon Has Ra re Date With piter, Venus and Mars All in One Evening There will be a beautiful grouping of three planets and the moon in the western sky this evening, according to Dr. H. Cleminshaw of Griffith Observatory. "The three planets involved are Venus, Mars and Jupiter," Dr. Cleminshaw said: 'The brightest of these is Venus, which will appear 1 degrees below the crescent moon.

About degrees above the moon will be Mars and Jupiter, about one-tl th of a degree apart. Jupiter But In plain English on a little blackboard is the sad message of a 'Tour Donations Will Help Keep "This Temple Open-Thank You." The message failed. The temple has been emptied, abandoned. The Lung Tong Tin Yee Association, the famous Four Fam- Torn to Page 2, Column Teachers to Confer The Associated Dancing Teachers of Southern California will hold a day-long conference Sun day in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt HoteL FLEES FOG Robert Newton, British actor, and his 3'2-month-old arrive ot International Airport after ffight from England, Jhe mother is in English hospital..