Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 30, Number 124, Decatur, Adams County, 24 May 1932 — Page 5

ICE LINKED N THEFT CASE 0(1 Bank Robbery Is ieved Solved With Six Arrests ra hi * May 24—(UP)-Six | eluding a Streator, 111., pa- | an ,l htx assistant chief of I wo re in i ail here loday 111 j Oll with the $52,000 robbery | National bank of Stre- , May 16. , anti! -lilies sought the four ' en of the gang of ten which (1 the cldiery, La Sailer officials said assistant chief e ( iai .-tn e (loss and patrolor;,. Kmetz of Streator and ler p- ; soners hid confessed ' ar t in the holdup. e sa i(| (less and Kmetz took i re part in the robbery, merejning near the hank as looklerit'f l-l. -I- Welter of I.a Sally and Pat Roche, of the fount- state's attorney's ofid they believed the two ofconfessi ns came more read ause they had been double hy their confederates in 5 the spoils. 1 members o fthe gang imd cashier Earl M Namara ome the Sunday night before bery. Early Uie next miniy took him to the bank and I him t open the vaults after I te locks .had been released, i the; bank employes were ' (j lie on the floor as fast as . Sported for duty. and Kmetz and the tenth - ir of the gang, authorities ' emained in nearby streets • the robbery, suspicion was ' retted at Goss because of the Nat he allegedly called his I Daniel Worrels, shortly beNe robbe y, and reported a I i accident outside of Strea- ( m minutes after the robbery said. G ss telephoned him etailed account of the .holdle and Sheriff Welter declar- ' t Goss Kmetz and two other I or esidents were to have re- ■ 120,000 as their share of the money. When they failed to ! > the :n; ney quarrels between 1 ind the Chicago members of ng ensued. its arrested gave their names i Rotskoff and Ike Katsowitz irrested in Chicago, Frank ; i and Joseph Casmano, alleg- i (renter- .<lwM-leggeu; ess wasn’t paying. ”

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Riddle of Curtis’ Heartless Hoax ' ♦♦*♦ * * . i It Craze for Spotlight; to Recoup Finances; Mental Aberration, or Was the I _____________ Confession” Inspired by Gang Vengeance?

jHrM '' *f • . ’Sb f cnV'-.Y* I < jm fc/h I > ■ 4 nlf 1 Mr Y rat X. 'Progress* to fttr-ss | ®HI -*' rr y? ~ , ~ === v--...’ ~i Mr::. Curtis and Chivdren cJomm H Curtxs ' To the layman who was horror-stricken by the confession of John Hugh Curtis, Norfolk, Va., shipbuilder, that his negotiations with the kidnapers of the Lindbergh baby existed only in his own imagination and constituted the most monumental hoax in history, the man’s behavior will seem incomprehensible. Only the psychologist can make an attempt to explain why a man of education, social position and apparent integrity • f character, should deliberately perpetrate such a cruel hoax upon the world and upon the distracted parents of the missing child. It may have been Curtis' mania for publicity; it is possible that he saw an oppqgtunity to recoup his depleted fortune; or the more charitable view that his mental machinery was thrown so completely out of gear that he experienced the hallucination that he was really in contact with the kidnapers. Psychologists will vouch for stranger mental aberrations than that. On the other hand, the theory that Curtis’ kidnap negotiations were on the level and the confession a hoax is also worthy of consideration. A threat of vengeance by the kidnapers against Curtis’ own family, coupled with his love for wife and children, might have been sufficient to induce the shipbuilder to cover himself with disgrace as a heartless faker in order to protect his loved ones. So one is inclined to the charitable belief of the man's own excuse for his remarkable behavior: ”1 became insane on the subject.”

! Trenton. N. J.. May 24.—T0 the) person not versed in psychology , the behavior of John Hugh Curtis, shipbuilder of Norfolk, Va., and •’negotiator" in the Lindbergh kid-| naping case, will seem well-nigh in- 1 comprehensible. What, asks the layman, could 1 I have induced a man of education, social position and apparent integrity of character to perpetrate what, I was undoubtedly the most heart-/ i less hoax in history? Was it that i Curtis was afflicted with the mania for publicity to which so many I people have fallen victims? Was it, as is supposed in some quarters, J -tea attempt to recoup his depleted • fortune? Or, could it he that the

man’s mental machinery was thrown ,’ sc completely out of gear by the 'lhorrible outrage that he really ex--1 perienced the hallucination that he was really helping to bring comfort to the distracted parents of the missing child? Whatever the reasons for his deception, Curtis takes his place among the greatest fakers of his- ) tory. In fact, it is doubtful if there ■is a parallel in history that maches Ibis pretended negotiations with the ! kidnapers, insofar as no hoax had i ever received the. wide publicity land general acceptance of Curtis 'activities as he traveled al>out by i land, sea and air for what he an- . nounced were contacts with representatives of the child s abductors. — - -

blackmer will PAY BIG FINE (CONTINUED FROM UAGEi CNF : I : through an announcement by Black . ' mer's chief counsel, George Gordon I ■ Battle, that the oil man sought an I end to his exile. i “Securities covering the amount I >f Mr. Blackmer's tine have been {turned over to the I nited States, imarshal ’.s office in Washington, jhc said. This was confirmed m J . i Washington. ”1 think this action will permit Mr. Blackmer to return to America freely. 1 can not discuss possible ' developments in other cases pendj ing against him in this country.” I Elackmer was one of the organizers of the Continental Trading Company, a group whose activities brought about another sensational corporation battle—the fight of the Rockefeller interests Io oust Colonel Robert Wright Stewart, former head of the Standard Oil Com--1 any of Indiana. Government evidence during the 'oil lease trial-, was intended to show that the trading company was .formed to buy oil from the men I who leased the Teapot Dome oil I field from the government and re--1 I sell to corporations which they rep- . i resented as individuals. The profit ' ot the trading company in the , ; middleman deal, the government ' claimed, was split, between the in- : dividuafs and a fund used for po- ’ litical influence,” i Some of this fund, it was claim- ' ed, indirectly found its way into ' the “little black bag” which helped i 'send Albert B. Ball to prison lor ' I accepting a bribe. He has just , I completed that prison term. E. H. > , Dolicny. the oil man accused 1 'bribing Fall, was acquitted. I Blackmor’s part in the trading ! ' deal was reported to have included ' session in a New fork ho el at- ' I tended by Sinclair. J. E. O Neil of Prairie Gas and Oil, Stewart, and

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT TUESDAY, MAY 24, 1932.

The fanciful story told by Curtis ranged from the night of March 9, i when he said he was approached I by a "man named Sam" who claim- I .ed to have knowledge of the kidnapers and asked Curtis to aid in arranging negotiations with Colonel 1 Lindbergh, to the receipt of word that the murdered body of the baby had been found. The story told of i nieetings between Curtis and the kidnapers at sea and in restaur- I [ants. Meetings which never occurred. It included what purported to be the kidnapers’ own story i and was hacked up by detailed de- ! . scriptions of boats ajid automobiles —even telephone numbers of sup-

i posed intermediaries. ,) All this welter of lies was eager- . ly swallowed by press and police i . 1 alike and if any doubt was felt as i . to the authenticity of the nego- ' i tiations, the suspicion was that Curtis was being imposed upon. J It is easy to see how the ship- • builder was forced to manufacture i - lie after lie in support of his first i *' statement and many times he must s have pondered the truth of the old i > couplet: “Oh what a tangled web 1 we weave, when first we practice ■ to deceive.” •I The final bursting of the bubble • \ which Curtis had created by his - gigantic, cruel hoax toppled the - shipbuilder from the heroic pedestal upon which he had been placed

[the late A. E. Humphries. Blackline r at the time was chairman of itlte board of Midwest Refining Company. The contract reported drawn up al ed for the trading company to I buy from the Humphries interests some 333,333,333 barrels ot oil at i $1.50 a barrel and to resell at $1.75. ' Sale to Standard Oil of Indiana, [ Sinclair Consolidated and others was planned. i The profit expected, some SB,-1 000,000, was cut to less than hail ( {that when the senate began its in-1 [ vestigation ot the oil leases, grants to private interests in naval oil re-- ’ serve land. Blackmer has spent a fortune [ 'fighting prosecution tor his failure- . to testify against Sinclair who also J [was convicted on a contempt] ; charge and forced to serve a short i [jail term. I And if his s6o,uou fine is marked 'off the books, Blackmer may then proceed to settle a federal court ' i indictment in Denver charging con ] •'spiracy to violate the income taxi [laws, and government penalties im- ( '[posed for alleged failure of his esII tare to make proper income tax re-1 > I turns. This latter may be coinpro [ i mised at $4,000,000. I His friends believe all charges; - will be compromised. They believe - his flight to France was the result ; of an attempt to shield some un- > known person, for they never i. doubted Blackmer’s personal in- • tegrity. They said he had* nothing to fear personally in the investigation. ■ They remember him as the liand- • some, hardworking lawyer who I came out ot Cripple. Creek when that camp was ruled by the law . of the gun and put a little money ■ in the Salt Creek oil field. Salt Creek won bint a fortune. He became a banker, a railroad ' owner, a mine operator —and roll mained as always a speudet. o 1 Get the Habit — Trade at Home

by not only his fellow townspeople of Norfolk but by the entire country. Curtis' signature to the confession that branded his “negotiations” as mere figments of his own imagination writes finis to his social and business career as drastically as if he himself were the instigator of the crime which shocked the world. That will be a hard punishment to hear, for Curtis was the recognized social arbiter in Norfolk. On bis word alone, the social fortunes and futures of the young buds of the Virginia city could be made or broken. Now that very same society will ostracize him as complete- !<■ no If Ivzx novor LiVtuOul

ly as if he never existed. However, his family still retains 1 its faith in him. Mrs. Curtis, while not professing to know the reason for his confession, is sure that his negotiations with tli e kidnapers were in good faith. There is still another angle to be considered and, in all fairness, de serves mention. Curtis may have received threats that if he persisted in aiding the investigation to bring the kidnap-murderers to justice his own family would be made the victims of gang vengeance. But the most charitable view that | can be taken of the whole affair is | acceptance of Curtis’ own statement: “i became insane on the subject.”

WASHINGTON OF FRENCH DESCENT Parisw-XU.R) —The announcement by Prof. Albert Bushnell Hart that * George Washington was of French descent through the old Huguenot Nicholas Martiau, has caused clamI oring among the Protestant famI ilies of that name in the region of 'Nantes, who wonder if they should [not inherit some of the properties iof the President, including Mount i Vernon. Upon the announcement by Pro lessor Hart that Washington’s only i European Continental ancestry had been traced to the Huguenot Mar-| tian, a search was made by inter- i ested Americans to trace that fam-1 • ily ' The name is uncommon in French [land none of the family Ilves among J the residents here. Unless the . iiiamo has been changed by later [generations, the only possible de[scendgnts of the Huguenot Mar- , tiaus are a dozen families living in | . Brittany. There is a baker at Nantes by ■ that name, several seamen, several farmers, and a very wealthy ship- • owner. Most ot them are Protestants. There is no trace in the. records of the town lra.ll of Nantes ot Nicholas Martiau. but that is not surprising, lor three fires have , destroyed many i The Huguenots, previously, could ■ claim blood kinship with four other Presidents, Roosevelt, Taft, Garfield, and Tyler. Nicholas Martiau, who was born in France in 1591, I migrated to Virginia in 1620; and [ I died in Yorktown in 1657. Through; his dauglfter Elizabeth, who mar-] tied Colonel George Reade, fie be-i came the earliest American ancestor of George Washington.

PRESBYTERIANS TO HEAR PLANS ON DIVORCE LAW General Assembly Dele-! gates Convene at Den- . ver Today — Denver. May 24 (U.R) Delegates to the General Assembly of th'! Presbyterian church in tin* United States convened here today for the 144th annual convention. A program of widely diversified subjects has been arranged. Speakers Include prominent clergymen. college president, and nationally known laymen who will address the meetings during the eight day conference. i Prominent on the list of speak era is Col. Ainos W. W. Woodcock, Director of the Bureau of Prohibition. Departnunt of Justice, who will occupy the. principal place on the Christian Education program, May 28. Many Subjects Among the many subjects to be, presented For discussion and ac-l lion is a proposed change in the | church laws on marriage and di-; vorce. A committee, of which Dr. I Henry Chapman Swearingen, St Paul. Minn., is chairman. wBSj selected at the 1931 convention to draw up a revised section on the ’ church marriage and divorce laws for submission to the General. Assembly this year. |. The report contains radical de-1 partures from the existing church regulations. Election of a church Moderator. | to succeed Dr. Lewis Seymour; Mudge. Philadelphia, will lie one of the principal business matters. | Suggested as possible successor o, Dr. Mudge are Rev. David D. Btrrell. D.D.. Williamsport, Pa.; Rev.' Charles W. Kerr. D.D.. Tulsa, i Okla.; Rev. Dirk Lay, D. !>.. Sa-, caton. Arizona; Rev. Harry C. Rogers, D.D., Kansas City; and. Rev. Leon D. Young. D.D.. Dallas. | Texas. Church Movies Visitor s not only will hear ofvarious church activities, hut they will Ire able to see many of them. Motion picture exhibits, with re-• produced sound, including inter-1 pretative music, will be shown daily except Sunday in connee-i tion with the. convention program Rev. Hugh Paul Janes, Philadelphia. who is in charge of the

Green Waters Northern Indiana’s / / Finest Artificial / / Look! Bathing Pod J , OpBHS Swimmers! \ / t .... \ / Thursday ferent swimming con- J/ tests regulated accord- A '[ Get in the swim! Splash in cool. NL. ! fresh, spring fed water in a swiminff ♦<• <*KC- i min' hole that is clean and comfort- / ) J ah,e - A number of improvements Opening is Thursday, / ■ have been made this season and we 'viz know you will enjoy every minute but prizes given you spend with us. away Sunday. / Sand covered bottom w ith shallow . / ..Jjr pace for children and beginners—deeper water for the expert swirnmcr. A capab'e attendant in charge of bathers. Rules and Regulations All bathers must have health cer- - Season Tickets - tificates which may be obtained at All children up to 8 yearssl.so the pool free of charge. 8 to 14 yeai ss--->0 All bathers must take a shower bo11 years and up ........ M. th(j , Family tickets, man and wife... $7.00 (Children up to 8 years free) Parents must accompany children Coupon book, 20 admissionss2.oo U p years of age. sin £ le Admissions - p ()o] open at ga m an( j rema j n Sing e at mission •>’ open all day and evening as long as Single admission with bathers care to stay. cotton suitloc additional Single admission with No intoxicating drinks a’lowed on wool suit2oc additional premises. Enjoy a Real Swim in a Real Swimming Hole

End of Amelia’s First Ocean Flight W' This picture, made at Burry Port, Wales, oh June 18, 1928, shows i Amelia Earhart signing her autograph while Being taken ashore on I completion of her first flight across the Atlantic. Flying as ‘baggage'' I with Wilmer Si.ultz and Lou Gordon. Miss Earhart then won fame as 1 the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air. Iler solo flight from Newfoundland to Ireland gives her the distinction of not only being the first woman to fly the ocean alone but also being the first person to fly it twice.

!• church’s department of visual i aids, declared the church had; utilized the development of moIlion pictures witli sound acconi-l , paniinent “to enric h the church [ ! without substituting the screen' 1 for the spoken word." In connection with the assent- , bly meetings in Denver, the Theological Seminary will hold a one day meeting in Estes Park, Colo., iat Dr. John Timothy Stone's , cabin. o New Rate Is Sought - Indianapolis, May 24. —<U.R) —A revised rate system which, according to a petition of the Northern Indiana Public Service Cotnp ny, would ! save l ake county consumers $40.- ] (Hill annually, was sought by tile utility from the Public Service i Commission. Hammond. East Chicago, Whiting. Munster and Highland are the territories which would be affected

i by the proposed change. The petition asked that rhtes be revised so that gas of 1,000 British • | The mal units could be furnisher! J consumers. For flic new type of i gas, tlie monthly rates would lie: 1 61 l cents tor the first 400 cubic feet, J $1.30 for the next 2.600 feet. $1 for tlie next 17,000 feet. 90 cents for , the next 30,000 feet, and 75 cents I for the next 50.000 feet. The inini[lmum monthly rate would be 60 I cents. For Highland and Munster, a serI vice charge of sl2 per yard is proi posed. o Interior Dvcorxtiot. The I'eirtemdnl li. Ptaliidelphbi ft brought an swHkcning to the I possibilities of he-uty tn tbs home rhrmfgh hai tnoiiiona < onib’nntlmi of artistic draperies and FurnltiK* ' Hollies ot tlie I'tdonlni period and earl? American Imuses were a-’ls rlcallc furnished beesr.se 'lie for ' ultnre In thc.se days was well de 1 and 'veil nindp

PAGE FIVE

CAREFUL DIETS AND TEMPERS London. -<U.R>— Settlement of the Irish problem could bo effected more harmoniously if J. 11. Thomas and Eaamon de Valer i met over i’ j»<>t of Irish stew, said Dr. Josiah Oldfield in a speech here recently. Dr. Oldtleld believes that the stomach controls the temper. 'lf you have a discontented and sharptempered husband, don't nag or lecture him. Put him on a diet. Everybody knows the liverish disposition, the spleenish outlook on .life, all caused by overfeeding wltli animal matter.” “'if he .is not too far gone, a j week's fast and a month on a diet [of herbs and milk will make a new !nian out of him,” declared the I doctor. "Nebuchadnezzar.” lie said, "sufI t’ered from a complex of cruelty land megalomania as the result of j congested liver, but seven years on 1 a diet of salads and garden pro- | duce gave him humility and wis- ! dom." I Nagging wjves also were criticiz !ed by Dr. Oldfield: "When you have a nagging wife, don't regard ; it as a sign of vixenish disposition, ! but tell her she is suffering from a ; lack of vitamin >B, and give her a [cup of [trail tea every day, with I milk anti cream in it." “Old ladies." iie said, “can he the happiest of dear old ladies by ‘cutting off their teg supplies and i all their animal protein. Put upon a convent dietary of perpetual Len- | ten abstinence from flesh food, and i given cream and milk in place of tea. their evil tempers would be ’ replaced by angelic beatitude.” ! "moosT Cm I at the Moose Home and ask Jake I Grim about the easy way you can pay your ; dues. I It’s sure easy!