THURSDAY, AUGUST 22 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 B3
The phone book is
fragile,
crumbling,
spotted with age.
I probably will be,
too, when I’m
75 years old. And
I’ll be just as
much of a relic of
a bygone age as
the 1944
Chesapeake and Potomac
Telephone Co. phone book
sitting on my desk.
Allyn “AJ” Johnson sent it to
me. He’s the local contractor
who created the cool movie-
poster mural that once graced
the Biograph Theatre in
Georgetown. AJ likes old things
and knows that I do, too, so he
sent the phone book, marking
the page that has the listing for
“Nixon RM Comdr USN.”
In 1944, the future disgraced
president lived at 3426 Gunston
Rd. in Alexandria, and his phone
number was TEmple-8438.
The book is from a time when
a phone was something not
everyone had — or knew how to
use. A handy primer includes the
instruction: “Always wait for the
dial tone. Do not attempt to dial
until you hear it.”
Scattered throughout the
nearly 600-page book are little
space-fillers with phone
etiquette: “Answer promptly.
Delay in answering may mean
that you miss an important call.
The person calling may decide
that no one is there and hang
up.”
Another ad counsels: “Hang
up gently. Thoughtless slamming
of the receiver may appear like
an act of discourtesy to the
person to whom you have been
talking. You don’t mean it, of
course, but it may leave the
wrong impression.”
Of course, I do mean it!
Slamming a telephone down was
to become one of the most
satisfying acts of
microaggression known to
humans, one we’ve sadly lost in
the cellphone age.
The phone book was
published in the middle of the
war, and there are reminders
throughout, including on the
cover: “Please do not make
telephone calls during an Air
Raid Alarm or for some time
after the All-Clear as it is
essential that the lines be kept
free for use by the DefenseAuthorities.”
What I find most captivating
about the book is the back half:
the Yellow Pages. The Shade
Shop at 830 13th St. NW is listed
under “Air Raid Protection
Equipment & Supplies.” It sold
blackout curtains and promised
“Positive blackout. Completely
concealed. Your present drapes,
shades or blinds not disturbed.”
Some businesses are still
around, including auction house
Adam A. Weschler & Son, though
it moved to Rockville. “Anything
to sell?” they asked in their ad.The approach of some
businesses really hasn’t changed
much in the past seven decades.
All of the display ads under
“Automobile Agencies & Dealers
— Used Cars” include some
combination of the phrases
“Used cars wanted! Cash! Cash
for your car! We pay more! Top
prices! Cash in five minutes!”
There is but a single company
listed under “Bags — Burlap.”
That would be Columbia Bag
and Burlap Co. at 442 N St. NW.
“One of the largest dealers in
Washington,” its ad proclaims. Ifthey’re the only one, I guess they
would be.
Certain businesses have really
changed in Washington. The
1944 phone book has a whole
page of “Bakeries” listed in tiny
type. The half page of “Baths”
includes the ladies-only Jennie
Schultz Salon on Connecticut
Avenue NW, home of the “Arnold
multi-treatment deluxe reclining
cabinet, the last word in cabinet
mineral baths.”
There are four pages of “Coal
— Retail” and four pages of
“Dancing Instruction.”There are ads for things we
wouldn’t even think of doing
now. “Gloves Repaired” lists two
businesses: the Glove & Shirt
Hospital at 620 12th St. NW and
Southern Stelos Co. Inc. at 613
12th St. NW.
They were across the street
from each other in what I like to
think of as Washington’s Glove
Repair District.
Today, we’d throw those
gloves out and buy new ones.
There probably wouldn’t be
much use for the businesses
listed under “Weaving &
Mending” either. Those ads all
have the same before-and-after
motif: tiny grids of fabric, one
damaged by a moth hole or
cigarette burn, the other
mended.
“When others say it can’t be
done, see us,” promised Lincoln
Textile Weaving Co. at
1484 Newton St. NW.
They liked a challenge at
Lincoln.
The “Schools” section is full of
educational institutions, from
preschools to language schools.
My eye was caught by Phyllis
Bell’s “Ideal” School, which
offered “self improvement”
courses in poise, posture,
carriage, body contouring and
proportioning, rhythmic
walking, makeup (street,
evening and glamour), care of
skin, suggested hair stylings,
color harmony, style sense,
wardrobe budgeting, daintiness
and grace.
I guess today any woman
hoping to improve her
daintiness or rhythmic walking
would just turn to YouTube for
help.
[email protected]
Twitter: @johnkelly For previous columns, visit
washingtonpost.com/john-kelly.When our fingers did the walking, a call to Nixon’s home was within reach
John
Kelly's
Washington
JOHN KELLY/THE WASHINGTON POST
CLOCKWISE: A 1944 Washington C&P Telephone book, sent to Post columnist John Kelly by reader Allyn “AJ” Johnson, lists telephone
numbers, ads and phone tips; the book is like a crumbling paper portal to the past; No-Wondor exterminator claims, “We kill, not feed.”Murder-suicide case
involved brothersTwo men found fatally shot in
a home in Clinton were brothers
who died in a murder-suicide,
police said.
Officers were called to the
11700 block of Mordente Drive at
noon on Friday for a call to
check on those in the home.
They found Kelvin and Benjamin
Rascoe, who had been shot,
Prince George’s County police
said. They were pronounced
dead.
Kelvin Rascoe, 37, and
Benjamin Rascoe, 32, lived
together and had gotten into a
fight before the shooting,
according to police. The younger
Rascoe shot his brother before
shooting himself, police said.
— Lynh BuiJudge rejects suit over
natural gas pipelineA federal judge in Baltimore
on Wednesday dismissed a
lawsuit aimed at moving ahead
with a proposed natural gas
pipeline project in Western
Maryland.
U.S. District Court Judge
George Russell dismissed the
lawsuit filed by Columbia Gas.
The company was seeking
access to Maryland property
through eminent domain
proceedings. A board of high-
ranking state officials rejected
the proposed pipeline across
three miles of Western
Maryland, and the company
sued.
The pipeline would have run
under the Potomac River near
Hancock, Md., and extend from
Columbia Gas’s network in
Pennsylvania to Mountaineer
Gas’s distribution system in West
Virginia.
— Associated PressTHE DISTRICT
Cyclist sexually
assaults three women
The same assailant grabbed or
slapped three women in the
buttocks in three separate
incidents Monday as he rode
past them on a bicycle, D.C.
police said.
Police characterized the
incidents as misdemeanor sexual
abuse.
Two incidents occurred in the
Navy Yard area, and one on
Capitol Hill. All occurred during
daylight hours, according to
police. The first incident
occurred about 2:10 p.m. in the
1200 block of New Jersey Avenue
SE. The second incident,
according to police, occurred
about 5:30 p.m. in the 1100 block
of Pennsylvania Avenue SE, and
the third incident occurred
about 7 p.m. in the 1300 block of
First Street SE.
— Martin Weil
MARYLAND
Motorcyclist dies in
crash in Clarksburg
A Silver Spring man has died
after a motorcycle crash in
Montgomery County.
Montgomery County police
said Jeremy Cross, 22, died
Wednesday of injuries he
suffered in a motorcycle crash
Friday in Clarksburg.
The crash happened just
before 11 p.m. near Route 355
and Comus Road. An initial
investigation found that Cross,
who was driving a Kawasaki
Ninja 400 motorcycle, collided
with an Audi A4 sedan.
Police said the crash is under
investigation.
Cross was taken to a hospital
with life-threatening injuries.
The Audi driver, a Gaithersburg
resident, suffered minor injuries,
authorities said.
— Dana Hedgpeth
LOCAL DIGESTResults from Aug. 21
DISTRICT
Mid-Day Lucky Numbers: 7-1-0
Mid-Day DC-4: 3-9-0-3
Mid-Day DC-5: 6-6-6-8-0
Lucky Numbers (Tue.): 9-5-6
Lucky Numbers (Wed.): 1-1-9
DC-4 (Tue.): 0-5-2-5
DC-4 (Wed.): 1-6-6-3
DC-5 (Tue.): 4-8-8-3-1
DC-5 (Wed.): 4-2-0-7-3
MARYLAND
Mid-Day Pick 3: 9-8-7
Mid-Day Pick 4: 9-9-0-2
Night/Pick 3 (Tue.): 1-3-8
Pick 3 (Wed.): 1-5-5
Pick 4 (Tue.): 3-6-8-3
Pick 4 (Wed.): 8-9-2-8
Match 5 (Tue.): 2-22-32-36-38 1
Match 5 (Wed.): 11-15-16-26-33 20
5 Card Cash: 4H-4D-8C-AS-AD
VIRGINIA
Day/Pick-3: 6-9-2
Pick-4: 5-2-5-8
Cash-5: 1-14-17-18-24
Night/Pick-3 (Tue.): 3-7-8
Pick-3 (Wed.): 4-8-7
Pick-4 (Tue.): 4-3-7-7
Pick-4 (Wed.): 6-2-9-2
Cash-5 (Tue.): 20-25-27-29-34
Cash-5 (Wed.): 4-11-13-14-16
Bank a Million: 2-4-7-18-33-35 *14MULTI-STATE GAMES
Mega Millions: 8-14-25-51-63 **4
Megaplier: 3x
Powerball: 12-21-22-29-32 †21
Power Play: 2x*Bonus Ball **Mega Ball †PowerballFor late drawings and other results, check
washingtonpost.com/local/lotteryLOTTERIESBY DANA HEDGPETHHappy birthday to a giant
panda.
Bei Bei turns 4 years old
Thursday, and zoo officials said
he’ll get a “panda-friendly frozen
cake” to celebrate. It will be Bei
Bei’s final birthday celebration in
the nation’s capital before leav-
ing the country.
As part of the National Zoo’s
breeding agreement, giant pan-
das have to move to China when
they turn 4.
Zoo officials said they don’t
have an exact date for Bei Bei’s
move, but they warned that plans
are underway and that “it will
occur in the coming months.”
Bei Bei won’t be the first giant
panda to leave Washington for
China. Bao Bao moved in 2017,and her older brother, Tai Shan,
moved in 2010. Like most giant
pandas around the world, they
also were on loan from China.
The National Zoo has had giant
pandas since the 1970s.
Bei Bei was born Aug. 22, 2015,
and is one of three surviving cubs
of his mother, Mei Xiang. His
father is Tian Tian.
Earlier this month, zoo offi-
cials said Mei Xiang, who is 21,
was showing changes in her
behavior that could indicate she
might be pregnant. She was arti-
ficially inseminated in March
with semen from Tian Tian.
The zoo has closed off the
Panda House to give her a quiet
space. Female pandas are in
estrus for only 24 to 72 hours
each year and also can have false
pregnancies.Zoo officials said actions such
as licking her paws, cradling toys
and building a small nest of
shredded bamboo in her den
indicate she could be pregnant.
Zookeepers have been perform-
ing regular ultrasounds on MeiXiang, who is on the older side
for giving birth, and are watch-
ing her closely.
But officials won’t know for
sure if she’s pregnant until later
this month.
[email protected]THE DISTRICTIt’s Bei Bei’s birthday.
Soon, it’s bye-bye, U.S.
SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL ZOO
Bei Bei during his third birthday, in 2018. The panda, who turns 4
Thursday, will soon move to China as part of a breeding agreement.BY KATHERINE SHAVERMaryland’s largest water utili-
ty said Wednesday that it won’t
spend $350,000 on building signs
with the utility’s new name, after
public pushback over what had
been publicized as an $850,000
“rebranding” effort.
The Washington Suburban
Sanitary Commission, which
serves Montgomery and Prince
George’s counties, will spend
$141,400 this fiscal year to add
“Water” to its name on employee
IDs, business cards, vehicle de-
cals, hard hats and safety vests.
The money also will be used to
change WSSC’s motto from
“Where water matters” to “Deliv-
ering the essential” and to change
its logo from a water drop to a
“W.”
WSSC already spent $360,000
on consultants who led market-
ing focus groups, bringing the
total amount spent or budgeted
to $501,000.
However, utility officials ap-
pear to have backed off plans to
spend an additional $350,000 on
signage after The Washington
Post reported last month that
WSSC’s board had approved what
would become an $850,000 re-
branding effort to boost the utili-
ty’s “visual identity.” Critics said a
public utility with a monopoly
should not have to spend money
on marketing, particularly as it,
like other utilities, continues to
raise customers’ rates to replace
its aging pipes, pumps and other
decaying infrastructure.
At a monthly board meeting
Wednesday, WSSC officials said
that, as a “clarification,” they nev-
er intended to spend $350,000 toinstall new building signs. In-
stead, they said, they will replace
signs with the new name and logo
only as they wear out.
Carla A. Reid, the utility’s gen-
eral manager, said new signs have
always been the “least important”
part of the utility’s rebranding
plan. She said stationery, uni-
forms and other items will be
replaced only as needed.
“Everything is when we run
out,” Reid said. “It’s not buying
anything new.”
Board member Howard A.
Denis, who represents Montgom-
ery, said he heard criticism from
council members in both coun-ties after the July 17 vote to
approve the new name and logo.
Denis, who was among the four
commissioners present who
unanimously approved the re-
branding plan, said he also found
it “very troubling” to read in the
Post report that some WSSC em-
ployees questioned the spending
amid the need to replace failing
infrastructure.
“I think it’s important we take a
substantial look at this,” Denis
said, “and do what we can to
reconsider.”
State Del. Marc A. Korman
(D-Montgomery), who had writ-ten to WSSC to object to the
rebranding plan, said he finds it
“a little silly” that WSSC officials
now say they never planned to
install all new signs, after they
sought approval for that money
last month.
“I welcome the fact that they’re
not going to spend any unneces-
sary money on a useless change,”
Korman said. “I just hope they’ve
learned they should focus on
things their ratepayers care
about, which is reliable service,
regular billing and non-leaky in-
frastructure.”
[email protected]MARYLANDWSSC won’t spend $350,000 on new logo signs
WSSC
The new Washington Suburban
Sanitary Commission logo and
slogan. The previous slogan was
“Where water matters.”“I think it’s important
we take a substantial
look at this and do what
we can to reconsider.”
Howard A. Denis,
WSSC board member, who voted to
approve the rebranding effortDONATE YOUR CAR
Wheels For Wishes
%HQHÀWLQJMake-A-Wish®
Mid-Atlantic* 10 0% Ta x Deduc t ible
* Fre e Ve h ic le P ic k up A N Y W H E R E
* W e A c c e p t M o s t V e h i c l e s R u n n i n g o r N o t
* We Also Accept Boats, Motorcycles & RVsWheelsForWishes.orgCall:(202)644-8277
* Car Donation Foundation d/b/a Wheels For Wishes. To learn more about our programs or
¿nanFial inIormation Fall or Yisit ZZZ.ZheelsIorZishes.org.Stay one step ahead of the weather with the
Capital Weather Gang
washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang • @capitalweathersnow day or school day?
S0141 2x1