Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 35, Number 295, Decatur, Adams County, 15 December 1937 — Page 1

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1 WORKERS NO AMPLE RAL FUND onvention Asks Fight Against tiployment illy for its executive i foliate new wage i the steel Industry today by the steel izing committee conalso asked federal dial unemployment nession and technois asked to "immediate one billion dolspecial session" to f work employment ’.on also approved a SWOC officers sub■ss proposed leglslaish the 6 hour day eek for all industry commerce without in established wages a guaranteed minlo was asked to make urvey of unemploychnological advancese of machinery. a report of the officers’ reports, the e technical approval lendations of Philip 1 chairman, that the new wage agreeexpire Feb. 28 with s. be left to the :ers and the scale nt contracts, a $5 a pay for common la--40-hour work week steel firms, r relief work approconvention accused industrial leaders of trating their “comcy of any program” guarantee workers e leaders In conre blamed for refuss present emergency appropriations to i ample work relief.! e of the resolution legislation to estabr day and 30 hour t due to technologinrs which are con-j lin the next three ; per cent, or 25,000 j 1 workers, normally j sheet bar, heavy. ad black plate mills ; iposal for establishiON PAGE TWO) 1 COUNTY VE DIES _ Schwartz Dies Tu#flay Night At RichUrond Hospital I Schwartz, 49, of Adams retired harness maker, Bday afternoon at 4:30 t a hospital iu Richmond. iwartz was born in Adams he son of Mr. and Mrs. I Schwartz. He was ■■MM of the Emanuel I.utheran i... SPy ll g are a sister, Mrs. Ifn Buuck. of Adams county. 8 *Br"ther, C. F. Schwartz, of r fßpa ( services will be held •tiday afternoon at l:3u o'clock ” pwick funeral home. The: W. H. Werning, pastor of the Lutheran church, will < Sg?- Bur * al will be made in ‘“0 'Decatur cemetery. The body vi,iWe< l at the Zwick fullerr *«*« irom 7 o'clock this even-; ‘“s *Btu (he time of the funeral. mtv e ryb o djr Mr buys and uses £gfistrnq.s Seals. —* ft Shopping Pays Left 1 - —

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

First Dispatch As Relayed From Rescuing Vessel I (Editor's note: The following dispatch by Wei'don James, sent la cooperation with British, Italian ami Chinese S newspaper men aboard the United ; States gunboat Oahu, is the first ■by un American direct from the 1 scene of the Japanese airplane | attack on the United States gunboat Panay and three Standard Oil steamships. o James, of Greenville, S. ('., chief „ of the United Press bureau at Nan- . king, boarded the Panay with the j other civilians involved In the .! attack. The Panay left Nanking I to go tip river Saturday seeking , 1 safety from shell fire and airplane .! bombs, only to meet its death.) . | By Weldon James . (Copyright 1937 by United Pressl } i Aboard U. S. Navy Gunboat I ' Oahu. Yangtse River, Dec. 15 — ( <U.R) — Survivors of the Japanese , 1 airplane attack on the United . States gunboat Panay and three Standard Oil steamships are , aboard this warship and the Brit- , ish gunboat Bee today, and ready I j to leave for Shanghai ,j Fourteen wounded were taken | .: aboard the rescue ships, all Americans. All but one were of the , I crew of the Panay. Many of us .: have hurts insufficiently severe to . | be called wounds, and all are suf(CONTINUED ON PAGE FIVE) ! | 0 CENTRAL PUPILS CHANGE SCHOOLS Central Grade Students Are Moved To High School j Within the brief space of three hours, the Central building this , morning was transformed from a j ! live pulsating school building, to a \ hollow shell or cracked brick and , warped beams. Pupils who left the city’s oldest ] (school building this morning in the j , spirit of youth were unaware that j they were playing an important \ , pajt iu the eud of one of the city’s ] I best known landmarks. Some of the boys and girls were grandchild-1 1 ren of men and women who attendj ed school at Central in its 52 years j 1 of existence. More than a half century ago. it I was the only public school building ■ | in Decatur, replacing a frame school house, and was considered one of the most modern in the country. In I Central, Decatur’s first high school | j class was graduated. For many j | years it has housed the fift’l, sixth, (seventh and eighth grades. I Classes met as usual this mornjing. The classes then moved one |at a time, carrying their school i hooks and supplies to the high school building as a truck donated |by the Decatur Lumber company j ! brought their desks. No class lost ■ more than an hour of school time. | By 11 o’clock all but one of the | classes had moved, most of the | desks were gone and the school, j nearly deserted. The last class mov-, ed at 12:30 o’clock this afternoon. | High school boys helped carry over t the desks and some of the smaller equipment. The rest of the school supplies, i which can not he used in the high (CONTINUED ON PAGE FOUR) I URGES EARLY PLATE BUYING License Bureau Manager Cautions Against Late Rush t Manager Dee Fryback of the lo- j cal license bureau, today urged ail auto owners to secure thetr new j 11938 license tags at an early data ! t0 avoid the usual last mir.te rush. , I Application blanks have been . j mailed to all owners by the state ! departments and Mr. Fryback slat- , led that much time will be saved in issuing the new plates If the forme . are fully and properly filled out before the owner calls at the bureau. Two of the (busiest days in the < history of the bureau were exper- j ! ienced last week, during the open , in Bvgneral agreement, (purchasers of the new tags have been assured that they may use the new plates before January 1, wlthou. fear of Both state, county and city police authorities have indicated that they wPI not make arrests if the new plates are displayed. No extension of ,lme 18 10 , granted drivers after the first o. the year, other than the customary day or two, before arrests are made, I it is expected.

FAIR BALANCE j i DEMANDED BY FARM LEADERS; Farm Bureau Asks Fair Balance Be Restored For Agriculture Chicago, Dec,. 15—(UP)— The American farm bureau federation demanded today that a “fair balance" he restored among agriculture, industry, and labor “if pros- ‘ perity is to he assured and demur- ’ 1 racy preserved." After an hour's discussion on res[o'utions offered to the federation’s annual convention by the resolutions committee, the delegates a- ! greed that the chief objective or organized agriculture is to “restore iand maintain for American farmers their rightful position in the economic life of the nation.” | “To be posperous a nation must maintain a fair economic balance iietween agriculture, industiy, and labor," Hie first resolution adopted !stated. ! "Since the turn of the century, both American business and labor with the assistance of the government have secured an Increasing iportion of the national income with-; out regard to the relative position of the national income without regard to the relative position of agri- j culture.” The convention blamed federal laws, tariffs, and labor and business monopolies for the "ma'adj’istment among agriculture, industry, and laj bor." “If articlcial stimuli and controls are to continue for American business and labor, equivalent stimuli and controls must be accorded to agriculutre.” said federation vicepresident Karl Smith In reading the resolutions.” “If business and labor will relinquish the use of artificial . instrumentalities and permit restoration of free competition, organizled agriculture no longer will rej quest support of the federal govern- ; ment to restore balance among ' these groups.” Smith said the federation, however, "raised no flag of truce.” H* !said its drive against adverse forces ‘ will uol be Blackened until a balance with industry' and labor Is ob- : iained. G. E. CHRISTMAS PARTY PLANNED Annual Christmas Party To Be Held Saturday And Sunday Final arrangements are being made for the annual Christina* party for the employes of the local j j General Electric, to be held Saturday and Sunday, December 18 and 1 19. On Saturday night, starting at 9:30 o’clock, the annual free Christmas dance for all employes of the ( company will he held in the recreation building. Music will be furnished by Bob Rice and his orchestra. Admission to the dance will be made by presenting G. K. tickets. On Sunday afternoon, the Christmas party for the children of G. ! E. employes will be held at the building- A feature of the party will be the presentation of two j shows by the Lessell Marionettes. The first marionette show will be given at 1:15 o’clock Sunday afternoon. Children with tickets j marked No. 1 are asked to attend this performance. The second performance will be given at 3:15 o'clock. Children having tickets marked No. 2 are asked to attend this performance. Santa Claus will be present after each performance and distribute candy, gifts and Santa Claus balloons. Children of General Electric employes who are over 10 years of age and too old to receive gifts, but wish attend the marionette show may receive tickets from Mrs. Dora Miller, general chairman of the affair. o a ♦ Buys Health Bond ♦ —• —- ♦ The Historical Club of Deca-! tur has voted the purchase of a $5 health Christmas Sealsl ty tuberculos--18 aßsoclatlon ' TcrjfxrW '' W.Guyßrown, ; president, auWn day. P rocee(is i zw-ww-i of the sales Buy and Ute Them aid victims of the disease and to give milk to undernourished children of Decatur.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Wednesday, December 15,1937.

When Two Champs Meet i *»

The gentleman at the right Is Jack Dempsey, former world heavy-' weight champion, while the gentleman at the left is Ralph Gentis of this city, champion salesman for the Schafer Company, who won u free j trip to New York and Bermuda recently in a paint brush salesmanship ( contest. The picture was taken in Mr. Dempsey's New York restaurant. We don't know what the men talked about, but no doubt Mr. Dempsey told Mr. Gentis about New York and Mr. Gentis sang the praises of Decatur to Mr. Dempsey.

PAY LESS FOR RELIEF GOSTS Taxpayers Pay Less In November Installment Than In 1936 Citizens of Adams county paid $6, 276.06 less for poor relief in the November installment of taxes in 1937 than in the same installment in 1936. according to a compilation of tax collections made by County Auditor John W. Tyndall. Checks for the distribution are being mailed township trustees. These collections of taxes are made for poor relief costs during the first six months of 1938 and i are expected to reduce possible deficits carried over from previous : years. The figures do not include all of the possible funds available next year, due to the fact that some persons pay November installments of taxes with their May j installments. A comparison of the collections ! made In November, 1937, and 1936 by the various townships is: Township 1937 1936 Blue Creek $ 318.49 $ 412.62 French 253.30 289.71 Hartford 101-83 433.97 Jefferson 405.20 392.46 Kirkland 468.75 470.29 Monroe .... 849.14 3,014.13, Preble . 81.34 163.66 Root 726.88 818.59 St. Mary's 1,293.44 1,925.5 1 | U nion 284.86 51 1 ■49 Wabash 890.24 2,200. < 6 Washington 8,025.71 9,346.00 Totals $13,699.18 $19,975.24 John Hesher Is Freed From Jail John Hesher was released from | jail last evening where he had been j confined since Oct. 25, laying out a S2OO fine and costs, the minimum fixed by law for conviction of possession of untaxed liquor. Part of his fine was paid and arrangement made for the balance.

Minutes Os First Meeting Os \ County Commissioners Found

The original minutes of the meeting of the Adams county board lof commissioners in May, 1836, j when they met to decide upon a i site for the county seat, was brought to light today. The minutes show that the commissioners decided upon "a part ! of the northeast quarter of section three, township twenty-seven, north of range fourteen east, and j thereupon proceeded to the aforesaid town site and marked a white oak tree about two feet, in diameter with blazes on four sides, on each of which the commissioners indi-| vidually subscribed their names, which tree is to be within said town site." The minutes were signed by Win, j Stewart, J. H. McMaken, William G. Johnson and R. Hood, as com-j missioners.

!r ’ —i LAST RINGING The Central school bell, for 52 years a “time signal" in | ( Decatur, wa9 rung for the last | time this morning shortly be- ! I fore 8 o'clock. Scores of 8 o'clock employes of business houses and factor- | | ies had come to regard the ringI j ing of the bell as a last minute ; | | warning of the time when they j | j were expected at their duties. Appropriate ceremonies mark- | j | ed the tolling of the bell's | j ' “death knell" this morning, j when it was started at three j j minutes before the hour and slowly tolled until 8 o’clock. — ♦ SCOUT BANQUET HERE ON FEB. 4 Annual Boy Scout Banquet Will Be In Decatur February 4 The annual Boy Scout banquet will be he'd in Decatur on Thursday, February 4, it v.as announced today. The banquet site has not been definitely settled. The date for the annual affair j was decided last night at a meeting ‘of the Adams county Scouters, held in the Berne case. At the banquet a court of honor j will also be held and presentation J of Scouting awards made to the | various Scouts who have success- j fully passed the tests. A large delegation of Scouts and ' (CONTINUI7D ON PAGE TIIP-EE) j o ; Mrs. Jennie Rainier Is Critically 11l — Mrs. Jennie Rainier is critically ill at her home, 615 Madison street where she suffered a heart attack Tuesday night at about 10:30 o’-j clock just as she was retiring. Mem-; bers of her family were railed to ! her bedside today as little hope was held for her recovery.

— The minutes are headed “proceedings of the locating commissioners of the county seat of the county of Adams,” and shows that it was filed May 18, 1836 by S. L. Rugg, county clerk. | The minutes also show that the center of the county, a site near Monroe, was also considered. Historians will recall that the site was decided unsuitable because of its swampy condition. 1 The minutes corroborate the story of French Quinn and other historians who tell of the selection of the county scat. I The “white oak tree." mentioned in the minutes, stood on the north side of what is now Monroe i street, near the east bridge. I The instrument was unearthed ' by a group of men working in the j court house attic on the WPA hisI torical survey.

Government Officials Not Satisfied With Jap Offer Os Indemnity And Apology

Witnesses Assert Panay Went Down Fighting Under Attacks By Jap Airplanes. HOPELESS FIGHT | (Copyright 1937 by United Pressl Shanghai. Dec. 15 (U.R) The United Slates navy gunboat Panay ! met a warrior's death in a Japan--1 ese airplane attack on her und three Standard Oil steamships. ! three survivors disclosed today oil : their arrival here in a Japanese ' rescue plane. Three Japanese planes swept down on the Utile Panay and ihe ! Standard Oil ships. The first | bomb struck the Panay — fatally. I Another struck the Meiping, one i of the Standard Oil ships. The Panay’s gun crew, as if in | drill, went to their stations ut ! those of the 10 machine guns that remained In action. 1 They opened up their blasts on the Japanese planes. Eleven times more the Japanese swept down—hardly 100 yards above the ships—and machine guns opened up from the shore. It was a hopeless fight. But the witnesses said, the Panay's guns stayed In action to the end. Lieut. Comdr. Janies J. Hughes, of Washington, D. C.. gave the order to abandon ship. The gun crew stayed to the end and went ashore only when, at 3:34 p. til., the little ship —an American warship that never saw its home land, for It was built on the Yangtse — went down. The three survivors who arrived here are Jim Marshall, Seattle, Collier’s writer, wounded in the neck and shoulder: John L. Hodge, j Siluria. Ala., machinist's mate second class, of the Panay, and (’. C. Vines, Roanoke, Va., employed by ! the British American Tobacco company. Both Hodge and Vines ! suffered slight wounds. As these three arrived, a little fleet of warships of three nations. United States. Great Britain and Japan, started down the winding Yangtse on a dangerous, dramatic race through a 200-mile war zone. Two of the ships bore the survivors of the Japanese attack, including 14 men wounded, and were believed to bear also the bodies of the three killed —Charles L. Eusminger, Ocean Beach. Calif., storekeeper of the Panay; Capt. C. H. (CONTINUED ON PAGE THREE) • o t ♦ Good Fellows Club ♦ -—♦ Previous total $223-84 j Eta Tau Sigma sorority 5.00 , A friend 1-00 i Good Fellow -95 I Lions club 9.45 Delta Theta Tau Alumnae. 5.00 Sub-Deb club 2.00 | American Legion 25.00 Totals $271.34 WORK OF BLIND j TOLD TO CLUB — Reginald Clifton Speaks To Lions Club Tuesday Night Reginald Clifton, young blind resj ident of Wren, Ohio, spoke to the ! members of the Decatur Lions, club !in the weekly meeting, held last night at the Rice hotel, j Mr. Clifton gave an interesting account of blind work and the me--1 (thods of educating the blind. He ((presented before the club a portion jof the Reader’s Digest magazine. Although the magazine is a monthly publication, the Braille copy of the magazine Is so large that it 13 divid- . ed into three sections, each section , many times larger than the entire i original publication. Mr. Clifton, who attended blind schools in both Indiana and Columbus, Ohio, is majoring in music. He 1 and the Swoveland Sisters, a musical trio, presented a series of musical numbers. The group has appeared on sev- ' eral radio stations in this section of the country. He also told of the I activities of the Lions club in its • work among the blind, telling of the : radios and band costumes furlnshed in blind schools by the club. The program was fn chatge of Harry Knapp, local service station proprietor. Next week the dub will entertain the boys of Decatur in |the annual Christmas party.

-CENTRAL PTA I ■ MEETING HELD j Sylvester Everhart, Rev. Walton Speak At Final Meeting ’ ] “Approximately 2.000 more peo-| pie were killed In accidents In the! I home lust year than on the high- 1 • | ways of our country," Sylester ; 1 Eerhart, local teacher, told the j ’.members of the Central PTA in] ! the final meeting of the j tlon, held ut the school building j '! yesterday. Speaking on “safety In the] 'home," Mr. Everhart stated that, '! 38,500 were killed in home acci- j ] dents. "Os this number 39 per-; 1 ; cent of the accidents occur from I falls in the bedroom, 29 percent in j the living room and 15 percent on ; the stalrwuys. Highly polished 1 floors In the home are extremely 1 hazardous.” the speaker stated. Speaking on “Forgiveness and 1 Appreciation.” the Rev. George O. j 1 Walton, pastor TirTiie First Pres-| byterlan church, stated that "in ‘ teaching appreciation, we must ' first teach children some of things that are worth appreciation.! It may be that we spend too much ' time In pleasures and not enough 1 ' in things worthwhile; not that; pleasures are not worthwhile, but ’ that our time must be properly apportioned. “The wise men realized some-j thing worthwhile in that for which they sought. We should be just, 1 as persistent as they in our search j • of things worthwhile.” ‘ Mtb- George Buckley, presided ■ over the session, and the scrctary. ' Miss Glennys Elzey, read the min-, •jutes of the last session. The following program was presented: 1 Piano duet — Norma Baker and! ! Marilyn Carroll. Electric guitar solo —Ruth Yost.: ’ Accordion hoIo —Ronald Stueky. Dramatization of “Thrift" —RonI aid Stueky and Jimmy King. : Round table discussion—Lowell ■ Smith. XMAS CHARITY BALL DEG. 25 Annual Christmas Dance At Country Club Christmas Night > ■ [ The annual Christmas charity ball, sponsored by the Psi lota XI I and Delta Theta Tau sororities of ; this city, will be held at the Deca- ; tur Country club Christmas night, i December 25. i Homer Schafer and his eight ] I piece “swing” band will provide I . music for the dance. The large i ballroom of the club will be ar- j ranged In cabaret style. The club is reported in excellent ] condition, having undergone thoi-j ough renovation and remodeling in the past few weeks, with a new heating system installed. Admission to the dance will be I $1.50 per couple, and tickets may be obtained from members of 1 either organization. ' Committees in charge of the dance are headed by the following women: Delta Theta Tau chairmen: decorations. Miss Mary K. Leonard; orchestra, Miss Pat Fullenkamp; tickets, Miss Mildred Niblick. Psi lota Xi chairmen: 1 decorations, Mrs. Floyd Grandstaff; orchestra. Miss Eleanor Pumphrey; tickets, Miss Dora Shosenberg. Flasher Signal Box Catches Fire Today • | I The local fire department made a ! run to the Mercer avenue crossing of the Erie railroad at 11:20 o’clock 1 , this morning when a flasher signal |box caught fire. Little damage was l done. o TEMPERATURE READINGS DEMOCRAT THERMOMETER 8:00 a. tn 26 i 10:00 a. m. 28 i Noon 32 i 2:00 p. m. 34 i 3:00 p. m. 36 WEATHER Rain tonight and pocsibly i Thursday morning; «!lghtly warmer tonight extreme east and extreme south portions and Thursday except extreme oouth.

Price Two Cents.

President Roosevelt And Secretary Hull Await Satisfactory Replies From Japanese. FORMAL PROTEST Washington, Dec. 15. —ttU.R) —The United States government waited 1 today for Japan to make another and better attempt to settle the ! international Incident caused by sinking of the American gunboat Panay by Japanese airplanes. Frankly dissatisfied with the ! apologies and offers of indemnity ] contained In a note received from I the Japanese foreign office through American Ambassador Joseph C. Grew Iti Tokyo yesterday. President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull awaited a direct and categorical reply to their demands for "satisfaction." The note received from foreign Minister Koki Kirota was prepared and handed to Grew before the l president's demands, which he requested be brought to the personal ; attention of Emperor Hlrohlto, and the stiffly worded note from Hull had been filed with the foreign office. It was not considered a reply, but a communication hastily ! dispatched in anticipation of the American demands. Hull indicated something more than the assurances contained in Hirota's note would be required to satisfy this government. Officials professing to know something of what was in Mr- Roosevelt s mind when he pointed him demands di- ; rectly at Emperor Hirohito, said i the president would be satisfied I with nothing less than an apology 1 or its equivalent from the emperj or, and assurances from a higher authority than those received here--1 tofore that there would be no i repeition of a similar attack by Japanese forces on American natI ionals or their property in China. Questioned at his press conference concerning his intentions in 1 this regard, the president said his memorandum to Hull, which was given to the Japanese Ambassador Hirosi Saito, spoke for itselT. Hull followed this with a stiffly worded, formal protest, reciting at length the facts of the Panay bombing and the futility of previous Japanese assurances against interference with or injury to American nationals and their property In China. In both the president’s and Hull s protests was seen the determination of this government to resist the efforts of Japan to settle the Panay bombing on the basis only of the attack on the American gunboat and its convoy of Standard Oil ships. Officials said the protests rested upon a broader base than merely the Panay incident. They rest upon the principle o( j the “open door" policy in China ! and the illegality of Japanese in- | terference with American life, rtghts or property there, they said. Additional Names For Degree Team — The names of two additional members of the team which will give third rank work at the Knights of Pytlilas lodge Thursday night at 7:30 o'clock were announced today. They are John Parrish and Marion Hoagland. A large crowd is expected at the meeting. MASONS ELECT ! HOMER D. LOWER Lower Elected Worship ful Master Os Decatur Blue Lodge Homer D. Lower of this city was elected worshipful master of the Blue Lodge, in the annual election of the lodge, held Tuesday night in the Masonic temple on North Third street. Mr. Lower will succeed Robert Kriek, who served during the past year. Arthur D. Suttles was elected senior warden: Chester McIntosh, junior warden; Floyd Acker, treasurer, and Dan Sprang, trustee for a three-year term. Earl B. Adams, Decatur attorney. was re-elected secretary. Last night’s election marked the 36th consecutive year Mr. Adams has been elected us secretary of tha Blue lodge Following the election of officers, an oyster supper was served to all the members present.