Muncie Post-Democrat, Muncie, Delaware County, 6 January 1933 — Page 1
THE POST-DEMOCRAT
TRUTHFUL
“HEW TO THE BLOCK; LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MIGHT.’
tm. m
VOLUME 12—NUMBER
MUNCIE, INDIANA, FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 1933.
PRICE: TWO CENTS
2T
Don’t judge people by the clothes that they wear, because as the old colored preacher said, “Many a patched pair o’ britches covers a kind and honest heart.”
COUK W BLUSE MKUI80 eWO IN I ILIWE MIIITIBFM OlltflS SKIER
Old timers, especially in these days of defunct banks, say “Don’t put all . . ggs in one basket,” but Andie,,' Carnegie said: “Put all your eggs in one basket and watch the basket.”
Our government is still pa/ing widows’ pensions as the result of the War of 1812—120 years ago.
A chimpanzee likes a white man, we read, but a Japanese, Negro, or even a dark Mexican cannot pass a chimpanzee’s cage without his growling.
An epitaph on a tombstone at Middlebury, Vermont, reads as follows: “Faithful husband, thou art at rest—Until we meet again.”
The Mississippi river drains more water into the sea than all the rivers of Europe combined and can truly be called “The Father of Waters.”
Interesting Statistics Given by CONTROLLER L. E. HOLLOWAY
NEW CAPTAIN AT THE HELM
A child is not influenced by what its mother sees or thinks before it is born, according to Drs. Chid well and Ludon in recent addresses before the American . Association for the Advancement of Science, at Atlantic City, and neither are birthmarks caused by what a mother sees or touches tefore the child is born.
n erhaps the camphor tree is the movt valuable of all trees. An old
As stated several weeks ago by City Controller Letter E. Holloway, the total balances in all funds on January 1, 1933, credited to the account of the civil city of Muncie is only about one-half the actual amount available and due the city because the fall settlement of taxes always made in December each year has not been received from the county. Increased auditing and adjustments due to legislation parsed last summer by the special session of the Indiana General Assembly has caused delay in the final settlement and such receipts due the various taxing units will not be made until sometime this mont_h
by the county auditor, A Healthy Balance
The total balance in all funds of the civil city of Muncie as shown by the controller’s report are $71,720.33. This amount is comprised of the general fund balance at $34,127.53, the park fund, $10,893.45, the' city planning fund, $10,601.86, the sinking fund, $12,853.88, the aviation fund, $3,186.36, and the gasoline tax fund, $57.25. An estimated additional $30,000 would have been included with the general fund balance providing the December settlement had been made totaling this fund balance on Jan. 1, at approximately $64,000. Ah estimated $11,000 would have been added to the park fund allowing this balance to exceed $21,000 on Jan. 1st. The city planning and aviation funds
Nahonal Geographic Magazine .will not—any of—the
sfeteL' 'hat an average camphor' tree produces about $5,000 worth
of camphor.
We detest sleeping in an upper Pullman berth. It is contrary to our retiring habits—this having to get up to go to bed a>nd get down to get up.
There are four people in the United States who paid income tax on incomes exceeding $5,000,000 in 1931.
may
“The house needs paint The wife needs clothes, The children shoes. Among these needs, you suppose It’s hard to choose. No man could be in a worse strait Between two fires— I guess all else will have to wait; The car needs tires.”
Work Cheaper Than Vaunted Charity
Better Times Will Never Come Until Money Flows Through Business Arteries iof Country
This is addressed to the millions of Americans who have jobs and incomes and money to spend. Perhaps they haven’t as much income as they did a few years ago—but the chances are that drops in the cost of living have compensated for their salary cuts and lowered
dividends.
These millions owe an obligation to those other millions who are unemployed, and are facing a winter of distress and poverty. That obligation can be partiallybut only partially—met by contributions to charity. Of greater moment, is the obligation to give their less fortunate fellows jobs. All over the country there are homes in need of repair. People have been holding back and refusing to spend—waiting for better times. And yet it’s as obvious as the multiplication table that bet ter times will never come until money again flows through the business arteries, and into the channels of trade. Today we can do some needed re-roofing, repair l he bathroom, build a new room repaint the home, fix the heating plaint and a bunded other neces sary improvements for a fraction of what they cost in the past—and a fraction of what they will cost in the future when better times actually do appear By doing those things now, wer are putting money into our own pockets—as well as into pockets that are empty. Increased purchasing power the ivtal need) of the hour. More payrolls—more employed workers more busy industries. Look around
your property, see what improve-jAccidental, ments you need—and act, it’s 19.
cheaper and better than charity. • Two Male
distribution because no tax rates have been made for these funds for the past two years due to a very healthy balance on hands
and no expenditures. $146,000 in all Funds
The sinking fund will receive an
additional $15,000' from the settlement boosting this balance of available funds to more than $27,000. Also past due this fund is a little more than $3,000 from the cemetery board for retirement of bonds and interest against Beech Grove cemetery . This amount would swell the sinking fund balance on Jan. 1, to more than $30,000. The gasoline tax fund will receive $19,523 yet this week from the state which will total the balance in this fund at $19,585.-JO. The estimated amounts due the city in ail the above mentioned funds which will be received in the delayed tax settlement yet this month will approximate an additional $75,000 not shown in the controller’s report as actual balances on January 1. This amount wil Itotal the balances in all available funds to an estimated
$146,000 at the end of 1932.
Expenditures Itemized
The total disbursements for 1932 amounted to $539,745.96 which is comprised of General fund-expenditures for the year at $396,160.45, money spent for the operations and maintenance of the city parks, a total of $31,741.43, the retirement of city bonded indebtedness from the sinking fund to the extent of $70,-
593.28, and the use of $41,250.80 from the gasoline tax fund for repairing and improving many streets within the city limits. The general fund disbursements are made up of the total money spent by the various departments of the civil city and consists of $3,245.99 used by the mayor which includes hissalary at $3,000, the city controller’s office expending a total of $8,834.80 for 1932, and the city clerk’s , office costing $3,289.67
during the past year.
G\her department costs which are a part of the total general fund disbursements are as follows: the city attorney . or law department used $3,731.63, the city judge, $3,924.43, the common council, $4,144.70, the board of works, which directs the expenditures for the street department, a total of $143,574.59, the city engineer, $8,894.98, the building commissioenrs office, $4,687.29, the board of safety, $5,621.00, the police department, $89,193.81, the fire department, $105,117.76, the board of health, $7,947.28, the City treasurer, $3,327.52, the auditor, $500.00, and the sinking fund commissioner’s salary and premium on bonds, a total of $125.00.
Interesting Comparisons
The rapid decrease in the costs of government by the Dale administration is well exemplified by comparative expenditures made from the General fund for the past four years. During 1929, the last year of the Hampton aflministration, the total disbursements JJ—freirr tlitOgeneral fund were $645,396.06. In 1930, the first year of the present, administration, the amount of money used was $503,155.52, in 1931, the total disbursements from this fund were $448,615.37, and in 1932, the amount dropped to i$396,160.45. The total amount of the budget to be used from this fund during 1933 is $310,000 which shows a reduction in costs by the Dale administra-
tion of nearly 53 per cent.
Bonded Indebtedness Lowered The total amount of money spent from all funds during 1932 was $539,745.96 while the total amount, used during 1929, the last year of the former administration, \Vas $854,201.73. Besides spending the enormous sum of $645,396.06 from the general fund during 1929, the Hampton^ regime used $45,525.23 for the parks, $74,240.74 to redeem bonds and interest from the sinking fund, $28,813.11 from the gasoline tax fund, '$1,939.04 from the city planning fund, and $58287.55 for street improvement intersections which they paid in
the form ' of certificates of
debtedness.
The total balances in all funds reached the peak of the civil city’s history "at the end of 1931 with available funds of $199,200. The total balances at the end of 1932 were lowered because the tax yates have been lowered to bring in less funds than was necessary to maintain costs of all departments .and the surplus expenditures were made from the previous surplus balances.
Dr. John M. Williams Makes Annual Report Following is the annual report .Communicable Diseases of Dr. John M. Williams city! Chickenpox, 103; Diphtheria,
health commissioner, as made to
83; Whoping Cough, 133; Smallpox, 2; Typhoid” 4; Measles, 14;
the mayor and common council: |Scarlet Fever, 46; Tuberculosis, Department of Public Health |17; Cerebro Spinal Meningitis, 2.
and Charities sanitaTy report..
Muncie, Ind., Jan. 4, 1933.
To the Honorable Mayor and Com-
mon Council, Gentlemen:
I respectfully submit the following report for the year of 1932: Births, 929.—Male, White, 470 1 ; Female, White, 416: Total, White,
886.
Male, Colored, 21; Female, CollOred, 22; Total, Colored, 43. V Illegitimate, White, 15; Illegitimate, Colored, 4; Total, Illegiti-
mate, 19.
Deaths, 590.—Male White, 293; ^Female, White, 250; Total, White,
543.
Male, Colored, 25; Female, Colls ored, 22; Total, Colored, 47. Male, Suicides, 7; Female, Sui-
cides, 2; Total, Suicides, 9.
Male, Accidental, 13; Female,
6; Total, Accidental,
homocides.
L Miscellaneous
Sanitary Inspection, 2,762; Disinfection, Houses, 186; Disinfections, Miscellaneous, 30; Health Certificates Issued, 7; Diseases Investigated, 254; Disinfections,
Rooms, 980.
J. H. WILLIAMS, M. D., Health Officer. Secretary Board of Health. Hazel Roberts, Registrar. W. T. Greenwalt, Sanitary Officer.
«
Of course Europe must pay, hut isn’t it dumb to gollect installments from a farmer by taking his plows? And we once thought France needed help to save the frog skin.
How cruel to ask a nation to pay 2 cents of each tax dollar on its
CLIFFORD TOWNSEND
• O
Looking Southward to Latin America Today American industries of all kinds are looking southward— to Latin America. Here is the world’s
greatest storehouse of raw mater-
ials that enter daily into our lives. Here, too, is a "buying” population of 104,000,000 people, spread through eighteen countries. Here is a vast land whose pro
ducts we must have, and to whose people we must sell our goods;; it is a land in which 200,000 of our
citizens in all walks of life have invested some $1,700,000,000. tAt the moment, depreciated
valuese are the bugbear of Latin America and a barrier to mutually profitable trading between our country and its southern neighbors. But values will come back and Latin America will perhaps be the greatest single outlet for our goods and the indirect source of liveli-
Former Recorder, Mrs. Bessie Ross, Attempts Suicide by Slashing Wrist, When Discovery Was Made That She Had Borrowed $4,3(10 of Money in Her Custody.
DENIAL MADE BY LOCAL MAN i NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS DIFFER
I tried to keep Bob from rr ning for council in the first place. But hewouldn’ listen. I have always given him good advice but he takes Gubbins’s word for it instead of the word of a good dog. I told him to keep out of that president squabble and now look what he went and done. I told him that the gavel was good for a half dozen votes, and now he knows it. But I’m afraid he will never learn.
President Shroyer—f'lGood eve-* ning, President Tumelson.” President Tumelson — “G o o d evening, President Shroyer.” president Shroyer—-'(Have you got your gavel with you?” President Tumelson—“No, hut got a croquet mallet.’ President Shroyer—“So have T. Let’s get busy”. President Tumelson—“Wait till I get a ball bat.” President Shroyer—“I move we adjourn.” President Tumelson—'“I second the motion. Come on Rex.’ President Shroyer—“Good night, President Tumelson.” President Tumelson—“Go to hell, President Shroyer.”
President Shroyer—“Yeah! I believe it would be best if we both went. Everybody would be tickled pink.”
“You’re just a bunch of dubs. I’m doing just what my boss told me. to do.” And then, after trying to tear up the cement sidewalk by scratching with all four feet, he
hood for hundreds of thousands of P rocee ^ et ' on way r e j°icing.
our workers. It is a land worth) watching and understanding. Closer inter-American relations will help mold the destinies, not only of the Western Hemisphere, but of
the entire world.
The average high school graduate imagines that Atlas was about P 18 when he first, took to carrying
Chicago Herald Examiner, Wednesday Carried (Comprehensive Story of the Matter—Former Official Expected to Make Up Shortage After Election. Since Councilman Blease has been so very, very busy for some months imploring the state board of accounts to look for flies in the ointment of the executive branch of the city administration, he ought to go to Lake County at once and assist the two field examiners who were sent there Thursday to audit the accounts of his sister, Mrs. Bessie Ross, former Recorder of Lake County. An Associated Press dispatch appearing Wednesday morning in the Muncie Star stated that Mrs. Bessie Ross had attempted suicide by slashing her wrists and was found unconscious by relatives. It added that she admitted in a letter that she had “borrowed” $4,300 from the funds in her custody and that her son discovered in an envelope on a table in the room in which she was found, which contained the sum of $1,380, and that the letter instructed her son to pay it on her shortage and that the balance could be paid out of a $35,000 life insur-
ance policy.
Denial Made By Blease. An immediate denial by Blease that his sister had attempted suicide and that she was short in her accounts was blazoned in both the local dailies. Other relatives of Mrs. Ross are also quoted as entermg a general denial. In order to discover the true status of the case, from the angle of those in terested in an inquiry of the case in Lake county, the Post-Democrat interviewed Robert G. Estill Lake county prosecutor. The prosecutor stated that the shortage was announced by the son of Mrs. Ross when he appeared in the treasurer’s office to pay over the money he found in the envelope, and that the son announced that his mother had attempted suicide. Large Campaign Contributions. Mr. Estill said that Mrs. Ross retired from office last Saturday to turn the office over to her Democratic successor, who defeated her in the recent election. It was stated in the Star Associated Press dispatch that the woman had been compelled to pay large campaign contributions to the Republican or-
ganization.
Prosecutor Estill also informed the Post-Dem-ocrat that the shortage was verified, and that unless the county was reimbursed by next Tuesday, he would issue a warrant for embezzlement. The Chicago Herald-Examiner, Wednesday, carried the story under an eight-column “scare head,” whi^h announced “Mrs. Bessie Ross Tries tc Die.” The sub-heads announced: “Defeated County Recorder’s Books Found $4,300 Short.” Writes Note To Her Son. “Note Tells Son to Pay With Her Insurance: Seriously 111; Takes Potion and Slashes Wrist in
Gary Home.”
The Herald-Examiner in its Thursday issue, in a dispatch from Crown Point, the county seat oi Lake County, added the ensuing follow-up story of
its Wednesday dispatch:
Crown Point, Jan. 4.—Mrs. Bes- "
Saturday, was .recovering at the home of relatives in Muncie.
Property Transferred.
THE MANIKINS MUST BE DRESSED. When we consider the vast sums of money expended each year in the purchase of useless articles of various kinds, we some;imes pause and wonder whether jr not those who complain of the unequal distribution of wealth are not justified in their conclusions. As an illustration of what is meant we have before us a letter from New York, which says, ’Tailored lounging robes for men, tuxedo cut and of various colors are the latest in fashions for men, and the prices of these robes range from twelve dollars to two nundred dollars each. The average snappy fashionest has at least a dozen, to say nothing of the sundry variation in house suits and bath robes.” W|e have been caught never to question the wisdom of an all wise Providence, nevertheless we cannot help but. feel, that in the ^creation of these parasites a great mistake has oeen made, one which cannot be .ectified on account of the law • hich forbids their removal from his mundane sphere by forceful
methods.
Most of these parasites are no doubt imitators of the rich and are trying to “keep up with the Joneses,” but at that someone must pay them a salary, otherwise they jould not exist much less to purchase innumerable lounging robes at from twelve to two hundred dollars each, and all this going on .vhile hundreds of thousands of people are searching for work and are struggling to find food for themselves and their families, and at the same time have not sufficient clothing to hide their aakedness. Do we believe that ;here is an unequal distribution of vealth? In cases of this kind, yes.
Women of the Seventh Ward, comprising the Nineteenth and
sie B. Ross, of Gary, former Lake county recorder, who attempted suicide Saturday because of a shortage in her accounts, today faced a charge of embezzlement. '“While examiners for the state board of accounts prepared to begin an audit in the recorder’s office tomorrow, County Prosecutor Robert G. Estill announced embezzlement charges would be filed
the world on his back
Twentieth precincts, are asked to'unless restitution Is made to the
meet in Cabin No. 2, Heekin Park, I county by Tuesday.
Wednesday evening, January 11. Al '“While county and state author-
Whenever we think of Paul Re-’cordial invitation is extended all itie w r ere investigating a shortage debts when it is spending only 30|vere’s ride we always feel thank- Democrat and independent women*of approximately $3,000 in Mrs. cents of each tax dollar on arma- ful he didn’t have to crank a Model voters of the Ward to attend this Ross’ accounts, the former record'ment. T Ford and follow a lot of detours, meeting. er, who vacated the public office]
; “Although friends of Mrs. Ross today denied she attempted to take her life, Estill revealed that her last act as county recorder was the filing Saturday morning of several deeds transferring three ■pieces of property to her two chil-
dren.
(’‘These record^ disclosed Mrs Ross deeded her home at 600 Van Buren St., Gary, to a son, Ralph, Jr., and a daughter, Mrs. Florence Parkinson of Chicago. In addtiion two pieces of beach property lo(Continued to Page Two.)
‘WHEN THE MOON COMES OVER THE MOUNTAIN.’ Those Democratic members of he Common Council, who have men so highly praised and patted jn the back during the past three /ears, and encouraged in every vay possible to keep up a senseess fight against the Mayor and )ther administration officials, by .he Republican press of Muncie, vith the sole object of creating liscord in the Democratic ranks, nay find much solace in some of :he editorials now being published md which editorials are a reflecion on their intelligence. No poliician ever made a success in an office who turned traitor to the jarty who elected him and enleavored to cater to the opposiuon, and the Democratic members jf the Council who seem to have mrsued this course are no excepion to the rule. This is not meant to imply, that in official must stick to the policy jf a party whether right or wrong, >ut in all political organizations ;ertain promises are made to the /oter through the medium of a fiat form and it is the duty of oficials to endeavor to cany out. hese promises so far as possible md at the same time to forget all mrsonal animosities, and above ill that the other fellow didn’t /ote for the successful candidate, md endeavor to conduct the afairs of the office to which he has men elected, so that the greatest, jood will result to the community. vVhen, however, the successful official keeps his ear to the ground n order to hear the whisperings jf a disgruntled opposition, and endeavors to embarrass his party jy trying to comply with this whispering propaganda, then he mases to be an asset to his party ind becomes a liability instead.
T WONT BE LONG NOW. President Hoover appears to be worked up to a high pitch of excitement because of the attitude ofCongress and the Senate in failing to agree with him in his plan to consolidate several departments of government. The great trouble with Mr. HooveV- is that, although he has been president for over hree years, and during that time fias been frequently advised as to these same conditions, both as to red tape and duplications In the various departments, yet he has never made any attempt to rectify the matter until Just a few months prior to his retirement from office.. Under these Circumstances it is but little wonder he is meeting with opposition.
It is said the average dream lasts less than 5 seconds, all of which we dispute. Just look at al! the people who have dreamed of getting rich without working; the number of young people engaged to be married an 1 who didn’t realize they were dreaming until after the knot was tied