Muncie Post-Democrat, Muncie, Delaware County, 26 January 1940 — Page 2

THE POST-DEMOCRAT FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 1940.

CREDIT IS GIVEN MRS.ROOSEVELT FOR SLUM WORK

Way To Get Ice Off Windshield During Winter

Is Said to be Responsible For Better Housing Conditions Over Country A practical “look-see” method for studying housing needs in the cities and towns of America is suggested by Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt in an article in the January issue of “The Democratic Digest, published by the Women’s Division of the Democratic National Committee. The article, written by Bess and Lucile Furman, Washington newspaper women, then proceeds to relate how the First Lady has followed her plan in the national capital to the end that housing authorities give her much gf the credit for the vast reclamation of slum and alley areas—

many of them in the very shadow I ^ way to the windshield, where

Mild winters for the past few years, defrosting devices built into cars and defrosting fans has caused many Hoosier motorists to forget how to keep ice off the windshield, Todd Stoops, Sejcre-tary-Manager of the Hoosier Motor club said today. He continued: “Whenever everything else has failed to clear your windshield of clinging sleet, snow or ice and you have almost given the job up as a hopeless task, try this simple

idea.

“Raise the hood of your automobile and place a stick about an inch in thickness between the hood and the center point of the cowl. Rubber or rolled paper i: preferrable for this if it can be obtained in a like thickness. After having the wedge in place, lower hood and fasten securely. The space left open by the forced wedge is of sufficient size to allow plenty of heat from the motor to pass through the opening, force

of the capitol—which has taken place there in the last few years. Mrs. Roosevelt’s plan for studying housing conditions in any town or city in America is brief and

simple:

“To begin”, she says, “I would go to the City Hall or the Town Hall and ask the tenement house inspector, or other officials in charge of housing, which are the areas in the city he considered the worst. I would then visit those areas, having found out the approximate population per block. In the houses, I would find out about the water supply, what plumbing, if any. what state of repair, how many people slept in a room, how many beds, and whether used for double shifts or not, rent, average income of the people living in that vicinity, heating, garbage disposal,

prevalence of disease.”

“In rural areas,” she says further, “the same questions should T>e studied, but one would have to go

out and look for oneself.”

Mrs. Roosevelt has made the improvement of the Washington alleys a “personal crusade” from the time of her first visit to them within the first sixteen days after her husband’s inauguration, according to the writers of the article. Not only has she toured them often herself, but she has brought Cabinet wives and others to see them—both those close-in alleys in the heart of the big squares in the center of the city, and the |

the deflection of heat is evenly

distributed.

“This method has been employed quite successfully, for years, in the treatment of ice covered windshields and is a positive insurance of clear vision. Some cars, however, are built so that this form of ice removal can not be employed. In such cases the motorist will have to climb out of the car and use the time-honored method of melting ice off the windshield by the warmth of his bare hands. Not pleasant, but effective. “Sometimes ice will pebble on all glass in the car and some motorists carry a putty knife as a part of their standard winter car equipment. A putty knife, if used carefully, will scrape off ice without scratching the glass.

ASSAYS OF ORE BECAME SIMPLE

Tucson, Ariz.—The small miner an desert prospector who formerly had to pay as much as $100 a ton for analysis of ore samples now can obtain the same service for as little as $2.50 by use of spectroscopic equipment similar to that

slums on its outskirts' For the i installed at the Universty of Ari-

past four years an “Alley Christ- zona.

mas Tree Celebration” has been on her official program. Progress toward “turning the long sordid history of Washington alleys into one of housing progress” is told in these figures, released by John Ihlder, executive officer and secretary of the Alley Dwelling Authority in Washing-

ton.

“In 1930 there were 250 blocks of inhabited alleys, containing 2,400 alley houses, with a population of 11,000. Now there are but 158 blocks of inhabited alleys, containing 1,709 dwellings with 5,540 inhabitants,” he says. Mr. Ihlder declares, “I definitely "■ give Mrs. Roosevelt credit for the great accomplishments of the past .t fe wyears—to her and to the Presit dent, who is just as interested as she is.” Though a number of unbuccessful attempts have been made to pass alley clearance legislation in the past, “not a wheel turned until the Roosevelts went into the White House,” according to the writers of the article. The Alley Dwelling Authority is now operating under two different plans—their own reclamation plan passed in 1934, and tT?? United States Housing Authority plan. Their capital is a loan they pay 3 per cent interest. All from the U. S. Treasury on which ' operating costs, taxes, interest and •'•repayments on principal are paid through proceeds from its better use. Fourteen squares have thus been reclaimed and are paying their own way.

Legal Notice

NOTICE OF AWARD TO: Ray 1*. Johnson,, .Margaret ColdWater, Winifred Stetter, Suzanne J. Hudson, Wart ha Johnson White, (iraee J. Davis: Notice is hereby given that the Board of Public Works and Safety of the City .of Muncie, Indiana, has prepared a list or'roll of the owners or holders of property, and interests therein taken or injuriously affected, for the construction, maintenance and operation of certain Flood Protective Works along the White River, pursuant to Improvement Resolution No. 819—1939; andthat an award has been made to you in the amount of $400.00 as damages sustained. Notice is further given that at the hour of two o’clock P. M. on Wednesday, the 14th day of February, 1940, said Board will, at its office in the City Building, receive or hear remonstrances from you with regard to the amount of said award. Board of Public. Works and Safety By WILBUR A. FULL Clerk Jan. 19-26, Feb. 2 o Legal Notice NOTICE OF AWARD

TO: Vana B. Cork well and Charles 1*. Corkwell: Notice is hereby given that the Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Muncie, Indiana, has prepared a list or roll of the owners or holders of property, and interests therein taken or injuriously affected, for the construction, maintenance and operation of certain Flood Protective Works along the White River, pursuant to Improvement Resolution No. 819—-1939; and that an award has been made to you in the amount of $814.bs as damages sustained. Notice is further given thht at the hour of two o’clock P. M. on Wednesday, the 14th day of February, 1940, said Board will, at its office in the City Building; receive or hear remonstrances from you with regard to the amount of said award. Board of Public Works and Safety By WILBUR A. FULL. Jan. 19-26, Feb. 2

Although the newer method costs but a fraction of the former outlay, the results are just as accurate, never varying more than 5 per cent as to quanity content. University engineers said that some elements, hard to isolate by chemical processes, can be identified easily by the use of a spectro-

scope.

Light Rays Tell Story The basic pirnciple of the spectroscope is that each chemical element, when burned, has a characteristic color, dependent on the frequency of the light emanated. This light is concentrated on a prism of glass. As the light strikes the pyramidal-shaped glass, it is bent and separated into its various colors, each color representing a specific element. By comparing the colors with a prepared chart, the nature of the ore content can be learned. This spectroscopic method replete, whereas the older chemical system necessitated as long as several weeks to assay ore. Gold may be identified with a spectroscope only if the ore runs about three ounces to a ton. .Platinum metals, such as iridium, osmium, paladium, platinum, rhodium and refhenium, must be run about two and a half ounces before they can be recognized. Common Metals Show Up Presence of numerous commoner and more economically important minerals can be determined easily by the spectroscopic method. These metals include: Aluminum, antimony, beryllium, bismuth, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, columbium, copper, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, tantalum, tin, titanium, tungsten, radium, silver, vanadium and zinc. 100-BED WING STUDIED FOR ANDERSON HOSPITAL Anderson, Ind., Jan. 26.—Plans for financing a 100-bed addition to St. John’s Hospital are under consideration by directors of the Anderson Chamber of Commerc as a means of relieving overcrowded conditions at the institution. W. H. Free, head of a hospital committee, reported to the civic body that there now are 135 patients in the hospital, designed to accommodate 100. The institution is operated by the Sisters of Providence. r

HOLC DEBTORS GUT PRINCIPAL BY ONE-FIFTH Agency Reveals Equity in Homes Doubled Since 1933. % Washington, Jan. 26.—The average borrower of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation started the new year with double the equity in his home that he possessed when the government refinanced him nearly six years ago. In a year-end analysis of the corporation’s activities since its origination in 1933, Charles A. Jones, general manager, said that the average borrower had crossed $675 of this original $3,000 principal debt off the books. In addition, he said, 65,000 other borrowers have paid in more than $150,000,000 to cancel their debts in full. The analysis cited that from the average borrower’s point of view, he had originally been more than tw r o years delinquent in both principal and interest, and between two and three years on taxes before he was refinanced. On Jan. 1, 1940, 85 per cent of HOLC accounts were in good shape and borrowers had paid back more than 21 per cent ($700,000,000) of their total principal indebtedness. Sales Exceed Foreclosures From the corporation’s point of view, the analysis showed the following review: 1— Sales of repossessed properties exceeded foreclosures by 177 per cent in September, by 460 per cent in October, with a like trend noticed for the last month of 1939. 2— Properties held by the corporation decreased from 90,000 In March to about 81,000 on Nov 1, 1939. 3— The corporation’s expenditures, which amounted to $36,000,000 in 1935, were reduced to $22,000,0000 in 1939. 4— Corporation personnel dropped from 22,000 persons in 1934, to 10,500 at the end of 1939. 5— Corporation sale forces disposed of more than 4,000 properties monthly in the largest real estate transaction the United States has ever seen. Year’s Work Formulated Corporation duties in 1940 are already laid out. Thousands of original borrowers have to work out their problems and the reconditioning department must handle thousands of repair and improvement jobs each month to make properties attractive for rental •and sale. U. S. PROTECTS MORE SAVINGS

Washington — Officials of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation estimate that the savings of nearly 2,340,000 persons in long term thrift and similar financing institutions throughout the country were protected by the corporation during 1939. Private savings put in the care of the institutions now amount to $1,748,000,000 as compared with $1,398,000,000 saved by 2,044,000 persons in 1938, the report states More than 2,000 institutions are now insuring their savers’ accounts up to $5,000, and increase of 104 during the year. Meantime, the report continues, the corporation assets on Nov. 30, were $121,914,000 with reserves of $20,695,000 representing a year’s increase of $5,499,000 and $5,310,000 respectively. Its premium income since its establishment to Nov. 30, was $7,766,000 and $14,233,000 was derived from invested revenue. Premium income, however, it is pointed out, during the first 11 months of 1939, was $2,282,000 and invested funds revenue $3,119,000 or $309,000 and $84,000 greater than in 1938. Operating expenses during the same period were $208,000, a slight increase. With some 2,189 insured institutions in 1939, there have been only seven cases in which it was necessary to give assistance, the report states. Losses which have been settled or are pending aggregate $1,250,000 and represent nine states from all sections of the country. o MINOR NOT ALWAYS MINOR

Sydney, N. S. W.—A youth under 21 is considered to he of age in New South Wales if he is cited as a co-respondent in a divorce case. That is the effect of a new divorce regulation which has just come into force in the state.

They Know the Answers to Good Laundering That’s W.hat Muncie Housewives Are Finding Out When They Send Their Laundry to EVERS*. JOIN THE PARADE TO Evers’ Soft Water Laundry, Inc. —PHONE 3731—

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“The most certain sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness.” Think that over. * * * * Color blindness is ten times more common among men than women. * * * * Since January first foods, drugs and cosmetics sold in the United States must bear labels listing all ingredients or be subject to seizure by federal officials. # * # * * Five of the nine present U. S. Supreme Court members have been appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt. * * # * Statistics show that, day by day, for each Englishman killed in the present war with Germany, five Americans are killed by automobiles. * * * * In 1924 Edward Osterman purchased a brand new Dodge car for $1,600. He drove the car home (4 1-2 miles) and parked it in his garage where he. jacked it up and let it sit on jacks until recently when he sold the car for $40. Osterman lives at Deerfield, Illinois. * * * * The Army has a new bomber capable of flying 325 miles per hour. It is of 5,000 horsepower and has a non-stop range of more than 3,000 miles. $ * $ $ Paul Whiteman and his orchestra are off the air this season. Whiteman is devoting his time to personal appearances in some of the larger cities. * * * * Gene Autrey, age 32, singing cowboy, makes about $160,000 per year. * * *!< * Finland has been sowing leaflets over the Russian lines offering airplane pilots $1,000 American dollars and a free ticket to any place in the world for any undamaged Russian airplane. * 4^ ♦ ♦ Birger Vasenius, world champion skater, was recently killed when leading a skiing patrol in the Finnish army. The champion corn producer in Illinois is Richard Robinson of Tazewell county who had an average this year of 155.41 bushels on a ten-acre plot. This was the third year for corn on the same field. The average yield for the three years the yield on this field has averaged 141.5’ bushels per acre. Miami’s ‘fifth annual World series of water is now on and will last until Mid-April (99) days. It will take 200 or so boats to accommodate the 200,000 anglers expected to take part in the event and contest for the $10,000.00 offered in trophies and prizes. Following is the order of the popularity of the game fish found in the Florida seas: sailfish, Allison tuna, white and blue marlin, mako, bonefish, tarpon, wahoo dolphin and black bass. "Whether in love or in politics a third party always makes trouble.” i{j sjj ij: In order to raise goldfish, we are informed, a fish bowl should hold at least six gallons of water. if? . jj* 'I' “I live to hail that season, By gift minds foretold, When men shall rule by reason. And not alone by gold; When man to man united. And every wrong thing righted The whole world shall be lighted As Eden was of old.”

Crescent City Told It Faces Cave-in Peril New Orleans—New Orleans, a city built on wood pilings, may cave in on itself while trying to keep cool, according to Charles Evan Fowler, a widely known building expert and consulting engineer. Shallow wells in the business district are constantly pumped for air-cooling purposes, Fowler said. He added that this eventually will lower the water table under the city’s area and cause wood pilings, which serve as support for some of the largest buildings, to rot. Already one large building has had to be underpinned because of sinking. Fowler, author of some 30 books on engineering, made a survey across Lake Pontchartrain for a proposed 24-mile causeway. He issued designs for reinforced concrete pilings of four, eight and twelve vanes, the last having an increased geometrical ratio of frictional power over the first. Increased frictional power, Fowler explained, means increased supporting power. He added: “The study recently made for a new 10-story building in New Orleans where 3,500 wood piles were to be used indicated that cracks might developd when the building was erected and that the same length vaned concrete piles would carry twice as much load and guarantee the integrity of the building.” Mayor Robert S. Maestri recently ordered destruction of hackberry trees in many sections of the city in the belief that these trees take up surface moisture from the earth.

River Street Loses Drinkwater Albion, Mich. — Everything’s damp but his enthusiasm. So Reuben Drinkwater, who lived on River street here, has moved to Coldwater to start a milk route.

ELECTRIC POWER CUTS DAIRY GOST

Rochester, N. Y. — Nelson R. Peet, farmer, has written the latest chapter In the story of rural electrification, concluding a year-long operation of an electric dairy proving farm on which hired helpers not only paid their own way but made a profit. The long-term “down-to-earth” experiment was undertaken in the autumn of 1938 on the Peet farm, 18 miles from Rochester, with the cooperation of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing company, Rochester Gas and Electric Company, and 16 manufacturers of farm equipment. A year-end report on the 12 months’ operation of some three dozen electric appliances and motors, and a modern wiring system which includes 80 lamp outlets and 69 convenience outlets, revealed a saving of $272.52. This is the profit picture after allowing for depreciation, upkeep and interest on the purchase price of the new equipment. Figures covering household and daily management for the year 1937-38, before the farm was fully electrified were: electric current used, $84.20; ice bill, $50.35; oil for cooking and lamps, $96.40; one hired man’s labor and keep, $480; one hired girl at half time, $120— a total of $830.92 for the year. While the labor figures are not complete for the entire farm’s operation, they represent the labor directly affected by the arrival of electricity. During the 12 months with electricity on the payroll, the operations picture changed to this: Total of 15,684 kilowat hours of electric power at the low average rate of 2.33 cent per kilowatt hour made possible by large power consumption, $365.42; estimated cost of upkeep of wiring and equipment, $25 (although the first year’s maintenance cost was only $6.50); interest on the investment, $168. The change constituted a saving of $272.52—enough to amortize the cost of all equipment in 10 years and some to spare. o Spokane, Wash.—Bert Garland, 29, rode for two blocks in his automobile before he was aware he was sitting on top of a fire.. The blaze finally became so intense he stopped the car to investigate. As he pulled the seat from his coupe, flames and smoke rolled out.

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ATOMIC POWER CALLED LIKELY

Dr. Compton Foresees America “Cornering” New Energy Berkley, Cal.—Operation of battleships by atomic energy was intimated as a future possibility by Dr. Arthur H. Compton of the University of Chicago, 1927 Nobel Prize winner, during a visit here with Dr. E. O. Lawrence, last year’s Nobel Prize winner and inventor of the atom-smashing cyclotron. “The progress being made in the smashing of atoms by the cyclotron, and which thereby releases the energy in them, is of mere importance to the world today than the war in Europe,” Dr. Compton declared. “The energy in the atoms is that used in the sun and stars. It is hundreds and millions of times greater than all the rest of the fuel now available in the world. Great Strides Made “Already the science of releasing this atomic energy has advanced to such a state that one of the greatest worries of scientists at present is what to do with it, once it finally becomes available.” Dr. Compton pointed out that one of the greatest elements to be considered in the release of atomic energy is that there can never be any corn on atoms, such as can be brought about on coal and oil, but that there can be a corner on the understanding necessary to use their power. On this point, he declared, the United States has the greatest chance of obtaining such a corner, for the work necessary to arrive at this knowledge is now being accomplished in this country. It also is here that the progress is greatest. “In 1919,” he said, “we were able to liberate atomic energy only once in 100,000 times. “Now they do it once in 10 times. “If and when scientists can get it down to a point where they can release atomic energy once every time, then we will have atomic power. “The war has helped America to ‘corner’ the understanding necessary to utilize this power. DEVICE INVENTED TO SEE THROUGH HEAVY FOGS Boston. —A device for “seeing” through fog promises to end one of the chief dangers to sailors and airplane pilots. William H. Priess, president of the International Television Radio Corporation of Jersey City, described his “invisible light” machine on a visit to Boston. It consists of special photoelectric cells that will pick up the invisible infra red rays which can penetrate the thickest of fog banks. The rays then will be changed into a continuous moving picture of the landmarks and dangers lying ahead.

Film Scarlett Turns ‘Busker” In New Movie New York—The screen’s Scarlett O’Hara, Vivien Leigh, already has acquired a new audience name— Libby—and her newest leading man is Charles Laughton. The title of her latest picture which will reach American theaters late in February is “Sidewalks of London.” The picture was produced thousands or miies away from Hollywood in an English studio, and the title may be taken literally, since Miss Leigh has no intonation of the deep South. There is an English twang as she recites her dialogue, occording to executives of Paramount, the company that will release the picture in the United States. As Scarlett was ahead of her time, so is Miss Leigh’s Libby, say film men who have seen early prints of “Sidewalks of London,” As one of London’s street performers, known as buskers, she prognosticates the end of busking, even as a meager means of livelihood. A transition enables Libby to shed the tattered garments of a nearpauper and indulge in costly wardrobes which come with her success in the theater. According to veteran American showmen, few newly-made Hollywood or Broadway stars have had show follows as close as “Sidewalks of London” comes after “Gone With the Wind.” Usually a period of months elapses between vehicles, but in Miss Leigh’s case it is only a matter of weeks when her Libby will follow her Scarlett.

MORE NUTRITION IN FOOD SOUGHT

Ithaca, N. Y.—With the second unit of the new Federal nutritions laboratory at Cornell University now under construction, one of the most comprehensive research projects desftiied to step up the nutritional values of foodstuffs and improve well-being will be started this summer. An appropriation from the Bank-head-Jones funds has been made available for three laboratories and greenhouses on the Cornell campus. In these experimental buildings the U. S. Department of Agriculture will center investigations extending throughout the nation. Prof. L. A. Maynard, head of the department of animal nutrition at Cornell and long recognized as one of the outstanding authorities in the res’earch fields, has been appointed director of the laboratory. He will work in conjunction with Dr. E. C. Auchter, chief of the Federal bureau of plant industry. The research program will attempt to inject a new note into the production of foodstuffs for animals and man. One of the early steps will be a survey of mineral resources in the soils of the United States-—not the minerals that are used as precious metals or industrial materials—but the vital elements that human beings must get from foods, which ir turn' obtain them from the soil.

BUFFALO HUNT OF TODAY JOKE TO OLD TIMERS

Arizona Permits Will go to 50 Sportsmen to Thin Herd.

Phoenix, Ariz., Jan. 22.—Modern sportsmen may get a big kick out of it, but Buffalo Bill Cody and other old-time plainsmen would be amused if they could watch the way in which buffalo are “hunted” today. In Arizona, as in other parts of the Great Plains region, the thousands of buffalo which once roamed the flatlands have been reduced to a few hundreds. Because of this the Arizona state game depart^ ment each year selects a certain pumber of the animals—usually about 20—that may be killed. Buffalo selected for the “hunt” are old, ill-tempered bulls, barren or aged cows and pintos, the result of cross-breeding between buffalo and Hereford cattle which graze on the plains. Herd Larger This Year This year, because of an increase in the herd to about 250, fifty hunter:: vill be allowed to “hunt” for the Luge 2,000 pound animals. When the time for the “hunt” is at hand, cowboys separate the bison marked for death and the hunters then bang away at 25 yards until a vital spot is hit. The mode of the hunting may have changed radically since the days when Buffalo Bill chased the speeding animals and shot from horsebtack—but so many sportsmen want to take part in the supervised kill that the state has to conduct a lottery to determine who will get the privilege. Old Timers Scornful A few old timers who remember buffalo hunts of the “good old days” sneer at the new method and say it’s about the same as shooting a roped cow in the pasture in back of the barn. The state allows the sportsmen to keep the head, hide and one quarter of the* meat from the kill. The remaining portions are sold and the proceeds used to maintain the herd. The hunt this year will be conducted in two parts—one group of 25 hunters leaving the latter part of January while the remaining group hunts from Feburary 16 to 19. Nucleus of Arizona’s herd, \yhich roams the_j.infenced tract of land north of the Grand Canyou of the Colorado to the Utah state border, was purchased in 1926 from James Owen for $10,000. o BOILER THIEVES OBLIGE. Boston—Thieves stole a 500pound boiler but the owner is glad of it. He told ^police the uoller was worth $2 in^junk and he was wondering how to get rid of it anyway. The boiler had to be lifted over a high fence and then dragged through two vacant lots where it probably was loaded on a truck.

UjOiJ [S@(2®!S® 0000 Facts That Concern You

No. 14 of a Series

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