Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 37, Number 9, Decatur, Adams County, 11 January 1939 — Page 1

Ilwwii xine -

* HOPKINS ItlS RECORD ■ COMMITTEE Beliefs Ami l’»lSirs As Relief :■ He-d iW;;;"". ■nothin " r maibh ,al "'" s he mei barrage of si of (hem Hom Sen. H Vaii(b‘nlH‘ig. K. Mich - expies- '! '"met ll,al ~ „|, sp-e<h.-s |K,.. vlll u I'K adminis- ' "II I hail 'he them senale . eiitirnis me.' he wi || do SO knowing in ,hat 1 am d-Voled to the |||O president. I have! be loyal to him anti it easy b-ualise 1 believe 7*1,1. sloiv Anil when that moves. _ Josiah W Bailey. D.. ,.<| II- dnl not deny rll ,ht u, on the team ’ of pubI do deny t ight 1 speeches " ■'■ hi- t.-stimony |e tlitl not vei all having :/■ egist-l od as a member of st party but refused to -euorn.il denial that he er so registered ■ |. •on making the Kit ; amibuted to him by newscommentators that ' We'll an I s|>nd lax and lax and cleet lb- said he did with ih. philosophy of ■R 1 - <i— lo knew nothE-«| i;-»Spap>'l : eports I’resiasked him to heal ’be i.i-ach between j lain liK. ox page four) jB J SERVICE For Decatur To Take ™ Examination ■M 1 Ail sens.- examination for the Deca’ur By’’ appointment will he ■Batr i.ii.c. January M>-". Ji,, innior-sen-school building. Carrol applicants will assemble school building at 8:30 The exaimnai mu will heo'clock. Kipp.- I'ort Wayne, of the u. s board of will be TM (lf the examination. ' e »ts wiil be given the l nder the civil serapplicants will be grad,^B>, '''<ent on (he examination sSH O,I business experHW'loiamm. quaim, ations and for the office, are given a five in the written a wa, let.-ran-, their |Mor widows are given a 10 Applicants grantpreference need earn percentage of only 60 no be eligible and their Placed ahead of all HHon the register, according MM ‘nstructions issued hv the ■V ■ "»' kllow ” "hen the ap|K n ' will b " made. Mrs. Lola ""i™ «f Phil L. Mack“lf as ae, iiig postmastusband's torn-year term B L ‘ Februar y- She was of ,tie I iBL Lri I'l'iK F| VE> e-B" >ERATUR E Readings thermometer bB I 2 00 p.m. .. 38 WEATHER J Bdav C '° Ud "’ eSS toni o ht and ■' ■LiL P ° M ' bly rain <”• snow ißon-c Xtreme southwest tly COlder ,o "i9ht North Portion.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

I Walks Thousands Os | Mlles To Head His Decatur Democrat j Charles Kings, of route two. long a subHcriber of the De.oal.tt Dally Democrat appreciatM his home town newspaper—and he Uas walk<d a long way to prove it. Through some freak placing of I the mailbox at the Kiess farm home he is forced to walk lit) rods across a field to gel his news, and be has been a subscriber for the Democrat since long before it became a daily. Tuesday when he called to renew his paper, he mentioned the fact that lie was still trying to get postal authorities to move the mail box ..nd eliminate the extra amount of walking it called for in its present nosiUon. in the last 381 years, Mr. Kiess has walked 110 rods to the mail box and 110 l»ack for a total daily walk of 220 rods six days per week, or a weekly total of 1.320 rods. In a year he walks 68.640 rods. In othetwords in the i«isl 26 years, Mr. Kiess walked 3,470.040 rods or about 75 20 miles. Just to read hia Home Paper! OFFICERS NAMED Bf FARM GROUP Farm Loan Association Names Officers At Annual Meeting Approximately 103 persons attended the annual meeting of the Adams County National Farm Loan association held in the K. of P. Hall Tuesday afternoon. At the business session, with President Jacob C Barkley presiding. Carl Koenemann was re-elect-ed association director for a threeyear term. Mr. Koenemann operates a 120-acre farm in Preble township. He has been a member of the national farm loan association and a director sine? its organization. Following the business meeting. Winfred L. Gerke. chairman of Adams county agricultural conservation association, explained the benefit of the soil conservation program. Etmer W. Baumgartner, cashier of the First State Bank of Bente, spoke on the relation of the farmer to his home bank. Col. Guy L. Pettit spoke on the increase of sale of farm products by an auctioneer. The Silver Star Hawaiians, composed of Berniece. Alice, and Evelyn Scheumann, Marjorie Chornister, Irene and Hilda BulteI meier. and Lorine Scheumann, en- ' tertained with a number of musical ; selections. Following the stockholders' meeting, the board of directors met and organized for the coming year. Director Jacob C. Barkley was chosen president; director Oswald A. Hoffman, vice-president and Henry H. Heller was elected to the position of secretary-treas-urer. with Rose M. Schurger as assistant in charge of the office. Severin H. Schurger was chosen as investigator for the loan committee. The Adams County National Farm Loan Association is a cooperative farm mortgage agency which has been operating in this community since December 1933. It has today 171 members with federal land bank loans outstanding to the amount of $514,000. The association also services 143 land (CONTINUED ON PAGE TWO) NOVEL PROGRAM IS PRESENTED Lombard Entertainers Give Program To High School Pupils A novel and entertaining program was presented to the students of the Decatur junior-senior high school this afternoon under the sponsorship of the high school glee club. The Lombard Entertainers, composed of Harry and Leia Lombard, widely known musical and novelty entertainers, gave an hour's program before the students and a number of visitors.. Mrs. Lombard entertained with monologues, whistling and piano solos. Mr. Lombard, formerly baritone with the English Opera company, sang presented several novelty acts and offered impersonations of opera characters. John McConnell, president of the glee club, introduced the program, which was under the direction ot Miss Helen Haubold, music supervisor, and W. Guy Brown, school principal.

ONLY DAILY NKWSPAPKR IN ADAMS COUNTY

ORDER PROBE OFEVICTION OF FAMILIES Agriculture Department I Threatens Reprisals On Owners . Washington, Jan. 11. - <U.R> The , agricultural department threalen- . ed reprisals today against land- . owners who evict their tenants or f reduce their status to day labor- . ers. it ordered an immediate Investigation at Sikeston, Mo., where ( it is alleged 1,700 families had been evicted. Confidential reports to the department showed that the pruci tice is nationwide. No exact tig.ures were available as to the number of tenants affected but estimates ranged from 500,000 to 1,000.000 families. 1 "All benefit payments will be withheld from any landlord shown to have evicted tenants or reduced their status to day laborers for the purpose of obtaining a larger share of agricultural adjustment .administration benefits," it was I announced officially. Claude A. Wickard. AAA north central division director, ordered an immediate investigation of farm tenant union charges that 1,700 families had been ordered to leave their lands or become day laborers at Sikeston. The farm security administration sent Virgil L. ' Bankson to Sikeston to investigate. “Southwest Missouri always has been a trouble spot in relations between landlords and tenants." Wickard said. "We are determined to clean it up even if strong action is necessary." The situation at Sikeston, where 300 families gathered in roadside tent camps as a protest against action by landlords, was said by farm security administration officials to be "somewhat typical" of many sections of the country. lacreused use of farm power (CONTINUF7D ON PAGE THREE) AUDITOR GIVES ANNUAL REPORT County Auditor Reports More Than SIOO,OOO Balance On Hand . County auditor Victor Eicher's annual report shows that ’he counI ; try treasury had a balance of $106,i 926.21 on hand January 1, 1939. The largest balance was in the general fund. $63.607.15. The county welfare fund had the next largest balance. $21,327.03. There was a i balance of $9,801.28 in the township road bond and Interest fund and balances of more than $4,000 each in the common and congressional school funds. The receipts in all funds during the year totaled $866,971.16, which includes special funds which the county auditor disburses among other taxing units. The report shows that $16,740.49 was received in the Finnig drain fund, known as the Wabash river dredge. A balance of only $116.05 remains in the fund. Three funds, namely tbo common school fund interest, the congressional and permanent endowment school funds interest, were overdrawn $11,555.56. Total expenditures for the year 1938 were $771,603.51. The gasoline tax received from the state amounted to $98,558.40, The balance in this fund at the i beginning of the year was $59.22. Tile annua ireport will be bublished in full in Friday's Daily Democrat. —————— Coster Diaries And Correspondence Found II New York, Jan. 11—(UP)— F. Donald Coster’s secret diaries and correspondence have been found by Federal agents who said today that the discovery would go far toward completing the story of former con- • vict Philip Musica's masquerade as president of the drug firm of McKesson and Robbins. Two diaries were found in old ledger books and, with the exception of two years covered Coster s activities from 1920 until his suicide late last year when investigators discovered his identity. The dairies name names,” agents said, although they refused to discuss reports persons other than those already in- ' volved my become tangled tn the maze of blackmail, hootlegging and attempted arms smuggling attribut- | ed to Coster-Musica. j

Decatur, Indiana, Wednesday, January 11, 1939.

La Guardia Seeks More Funds u BO > fa W 41 ® B ® A- / F' ■■ / Qg' Representative Taylor and Mayor La Guardia Seeking to boost even the president's $875,000,000 emergency relief fund suggestion to carry on WPA until July. Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia of New York, left, representing the United States conference of mayors, talks with house leaders in Washington, including Representative Edward Taylor of •Colorado, left, chairmai of the house appropriations sub-committee. Lu Guardia sought $915,000,000.

K. OF P. PLAN CELEBRATION Local Lodge To Observe Diamond Jubilee Os Order The first in a series of celebrations in observance of the diamond jubilee of the national organization will be held at the local Knights of Pythias lodge Thursday night, starting at 8 p. tn. A group of lodge officials |o be known as “the diamond jubilee officers" will be installed during the meeting with John R Parrish acting as installing officer. The "diamond jubilee officers” are: George Stultz, chancellorcommander; James Cowan, vicechancellor; Robert Ashbaucher, prelate; Robert Heller and W. F. , Beery, masters of work; Joseph A. Hunter, keeper of records and seals; Dan Chisten, master of finance; J. Fred Fruchte, master of exchequer; Gerald Vizard, master at arms: W. Guy Brown. A. D. Suttles, and Charles Knapp, trus- . tees, and Dick Burrell, house man. I-ater in the month the lodge also plans to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of James Bain as a member of the local order. Ledge 64 Years Old The local order of Knights of Pythias is 64 years old. It was organized in 1875 with the following charter members: W. W. Barnett, R. A. Carnes. D. F. Thomas. S. E. West, John P. Quinn. W. N. Waters. L. D. Phillip’s, D. P. Dorwin. Fred Schafer, George Marquit. Elmore Worden. Merlin Bunts. M. G. Sincoke. J. Eley. W. S. Congelton, Godfrey Christeu. Ansel Blossom, John D. Chubb, Henry Crownover, S. M. Thomas. Martin (CONTINUED ON PAGE TWO) AUCTIONEER IS CLUB SPEAKER Col. Guy Pettit Speaks To Decatur Lions Club Tuesday Col. Guy Pettit, of Bloomfield, lowa, an instructor at the Reppert Auction School, addressed the members of the Decatur Lions club in the weekly meeting at the Rice hotel last night. Clyde Butler, local garage owner, was in charge of last night's program. “Selling yourself to the public ; from an auctioneer’s angle,” was the topic of Col. Pettit’s talk to the members. No meeting of the Lions ciub will be held next week. The members will attend the annual Chamber of Commerce banquet Thursday night January 19. at the .Wasonic home. The members of the local club also received an invitation to attend a meeting at Hoagland Wednesday night. Dr. E. P. Fields was appointed the Lions representative in the “March of Dimes” movement to| raise funds for the combatting of infantile paralysis in connection i with the Resident's Birthday Ball, j

Decatur Camera Club Holds Regular Meeting The.members of the Camera club met last night at the club rooms above Dr. Palmer Eicher's office. The club was entertained with an ' interesting talk by Julius Baker, of New York City who spoke on "Types of Cameras and their Uses.” , The next meeting will be held in two weeks. A print contest will be held at this time and all members are asked to submit their entries to Cyril Heiman at the Peoples Restaurant the day liefore the meeting. JUNIOR CLASS TO GIVE PLAY Catholic High School Juniors To Present Play Sunday The cast of characters for the junior class play of the Decatur Catholic high school to be given at the school auditorium Sunday night January 15. at 8 p. m was announced today. "How's Your Hokumbedo” is the name of the play, a farce in three acts. Admission is 25 cents The cast follows: John Jacob Smith—A Henpecked Father—Vincent Tanvas Mrs. Smith —His Wise —Josephine Daniels. Harriet —His Ambitious Daughter Ruth Borns Dorothy — His Daughter and Pal —Lucile Baker. Joe —A Knight of the Road — James Bogan. t Chandiet— A Motor Patrolman — Robert Schulte Ferguson — A Butler — John Terveer. 1 Mrs. Richfield — The Town’s Richest Widow — Bernadine Hackman. Mr. Mann —A Reporter — Paul Wolpert Anthony Dupaine — The Author of the Hour — Paul Bruntcn. Helpful Guests Miss Cacky — Mary Alice Girard Miss Mobbs—Ethel Miller. ( Miss Brown —Geraldine Heimann i Mr. Mill —James Miller. O’Public Meeting At Moose Friday Night The Mooseheart committee of the Women of the Moose will be in charge of the public meeting to be ; held at the Moose Home Friday , ' evening beginning at 8 o’clock. The public is invited to attend. _o— , Vernon C. Ramseyer Killed In Accident i i Vernon C. Ramseyer, 42, son inlaw of Mrs. F. J. Lehman, of Berne, i was instantly killed last night in an : auto accident in Oskaloosa, lowa, according to word received here. < Details of the accident were not < learned. Mrs. Lehman and a daugh- 1 ter, Mrs. M. M. Baumgartner, left I for lowa immediately. ’ Ramseyer was married to Flori ence Lehman at Berne in 1920 The t father and mother, the widow and i two children survive. Funeral ser- ! vices will be held in lowa Friday.

Chamberlain And Mussolini In Conference In Rome To Discuss Italy’s Mediterranean Claims

GROSS INCOME TAX REVISION LOOMS LIKELY Seventh Bill Is Introduced; Terms Book Purchase “Racket” Indianapolis, Jan. 11 (U.P.) Revision of (he Indiana gross in--1 come law by the 1939 session of I the legislature appears certain with the introduction in the house ' today of Hie seventh bill Io change Lie law's provisions The senate, meanwhile received five resolutions, four of them for constitutional amendments, and the fifth calling for a bi-partlsan investigation of the purchase of ' state textbooks Which was passed unani nously after Lieut. Gov. Henry Schrlcker called the textbook purchase a "racket.” Bills also were introduced in Doth trie house and senate restoring tlie state’s law against nepo- : t ism which was repealed by the 1337 legislature to allow Gov. M. Clifford Townsend to give his son. Max. a job in the state agricultural department. Botli houses adjourned until tomorrow after brief sessions in which the senate received five resolutions and nine new hills and the house 14 new hills. Reps. J. Ralph Thompson, Seymour Democrat, and Howard Hiestand. Kentland Republican, introduced the income tax revision measures. Thompson’s bill would reduce the gross income tax rate for retailers to one-half of one per i cent but also would reduce their ■ exemption from $3,000 to SI,OOO I annually. Hiestand's proposal: would provide a SI,OOO exemption I for money which is inherited from i estates and funds received from I court sales of real estate. Most important bill filed today , in the senate was one by Sen. William D. Hardy. Evansville i Democat, which would give the state alcoholic beverages commission authority to deal with discrimination by other states against Hoosier beer and liquor. The commission would be empowered to decide when discrimination exists, take retaliatory steps such as imposition of higher fees and even a ban on imports from other states, and also to conclude reciprocity agreements with other states. Three of the four senate constitutional amendments were filed by Sen. I. Floyd Garrott, Battle Ground Republican. They would eliminate the double liability clause for stockholders of banks in the event of a bank's failure: include banks with other corporations 'it that stockholders’ liability be determined by law and courts, and repeal the 20 year limit on charters of state banks to permit them ’o operate indefinitely. The fourth amendment, by Senator Ferris, would provide for legislative reapportionment in (CONTINUED ON PAGE FIVE) DAMAGESUITS ON FILE HERE Suits For $40,000 Damages Filed In Adams Circuit Court Damage suits, totalling almost $40,000 were filed this morning in : Adams circuit court against the] Mcshberger Bros. Stone company, i as result of an auto accident last August, which took one life and injured several others. Clark Ross, of Ohio, filed suit asking for SIO,OOO as adminis- j trator ot the estate of his wife, the late Mabie Ross, who died of injur-1 ies sustained in the crash. Ross, in another suit, asked for j $14,995.45 for injuries he sustained in the accident, which occurred' when his car and a. stout truck, driven by Elroy Stauffer of Linn Grove and owned by Meshberger Bros., collided at the intersection of the Piqua and Bobo roads, five miles east of .the city. James R. Everett, a passenger in' the car,' asks $15,000 in his suit for > injuries sustained. All of the three suits charge (CONTINUED ON PAGE THREE) i

ANNOUNCE CAST OF CLASS PLAY Decatur Senior Class To Present Play On February 2 The cast of characters for the Senior class play of the Decatur junior-senior high school to be given at the new auditorium Thursday. February 2 at 8 p. m.. was announced today by Miss Mildred Worthnian, class sponsor and play directress. Miss Worthman will be assisted in the direction of the play, "Growing Up," by Flora Marie I.ankenau and Florence McConnell as student directresses. The cast follows: Penny, somewhat of a tomboy —Harriet Gilson. Pop, her father—Ralph Scott. Eileen, her older sister —Eileen Odle. Mrs. Johnson, Penny's mother— Kathryn Yager. Mrs. Rose, a flibbertigibbet — Ethel Wortlunan. Mrs. Stevens, the banker’s wife —Betty Hunter. Bobby, her darling son — Bill Hunter. Fred, an older son —Jack Tricker. Mr. Stevens, the banker — Darwin Leitz. O'Malley, an officer of the law —Paul Neidigh. Radio announcer —Jim Christen. Bill Spahr is business manager and Bob Schnitz is stage manager for the play. Rehearsals are being held daily. 0 C. C. TICKETS ON SALE TODAY Tickets For Annual Banquet To Be Held .January 19 Sale of tickets for the annual banquet of the Decatur Chamber of Commerce was officially opened today. she annual banquet will be held at thf l Masonic hall Thursday evening. January 19, with the dinner to be served at 6:30 o’clock. Tickets are priced at 75 cents per nlate. The ladies of the Eastern Star will serve a chicken dinner. In addition to the banquet, three new directors will be elected, each to serve for three years. One of the most interesting features of this year's annual meeting will be an open discussion of the annual free street fair and agricultural show, sponsored for the past four years by the Chamber of Commerce. The meeting will be thrown open for a limited time, to pro and con discussion of the event and following this discussion, a vote will be taken regarding the fair. Attendance at the banquet will not be limited to Chamber of Commerce members only, and all I persons interested, both men and i women, are invited to attend. Nominees from whom ths three j directors will be chosen are: Clarence Beavers, G. Remy Bierly, William S. Bowers, Bryce Butler, Dr. Harold DeVor. Robert Helm, James L. Kocher. Jr., Paul j Kuhn, T. J. Metzler. James Mur- ! (CONT’VT’ED nv PACE TTTREE) — o SPEED MEASURE Washington, Jan. 11.—I U.R'J — The house agreed unanimously today to give the curtailed $725,000,000 relief bill right of way tomorrow and end general debate at 2 p. m. Friday. This made final action likely late Friday. o Three Bluffton Men Injured In Explosion Bluffton, Ind., Jan. 11 —(Special)' Henry Koenig, Steven Durkett and Howard Buell received burns about their hands and faces about 11 o'clock today when an acetyI lene tank blew up in the Koenig 1 blacksmith shop here. The explosion was caused from sparks | from w anvil which ignited the 1 generator of the acetylene storage , tank. The building was badly | damaged.

Price Two Cents.

1 British Prime Minister Seeking Advancement Os Peace; Hitler Backs Italian Claims. GIVEN WELCOME Rome, Jan. 11 — (UP) —Primo Minister Neville Chamberlain came to Rome today for another ‘ Munich conference" ut which he • will learn the extent of Premier B'liito Mussolini's Mediterranean demands and advance farther along the road to appeasement in Europe. Chamberlain and Mussolini met at Venice palace at 6 p. m. and began theii formal political convetsat'on The special train carrying Chamberlain. Lord Halifax and others of the official British party arrived at 4:18 p m. Premier Mussolini and Count. Galeazzo Ciano greeted the visitors at the station. Tho city was gaily decorated with British and Italian flags and great crowds turned out to welcome Chamberlain. As Chamberlain came here, both Italian and German sources insisted that Musolini will not use the threat of the full backing of Fuehrer Adolf Hitler to wring concessions from Chamberlain. They det ied Hitler had made any such commitment. (In Berlin, the foreign office organ diplomatic political information, published a statement indorsing tne claims of Italy In the Mediterranean.) Chamberlain wore a doublebreasted overcoat and top hat and carried his familiar tightly-rolled umbre'la, which had not been in evidence since he left Paris. As he stepped from the train, Mussolini shook his hand warmly I and Ccunt Ciona likewise greeted Lord Halifax. Mussolini wore the I Fascist uniform under a heavy black overcoat with high still col- ! lar. The bind played "God Save the King” and the Fascist anthem, "Giovtnezza.” Mussolini and Chamberlain then reviewed an honor guard of grenadiers. The party passed through the front enclosure of the station, where nearly 1.000 British residents were gathered, shouting: "Long live Chamberlain! Long live Mussolini." Endorse Claims Berlin. Jan. 11—<U.R>—The foreign office organ, diplomatic political information, today endorsed (he claims of Italy in the Mediterranean. The diplomatic political • information is a subsidiary pf the foreign office mouthpiece, diplomatic political correspondence, and usually reflects th& viewpoint of the Nazi foreign office. The declaration was considered of special interest in view of reports—denied by both Nazis and Fascists —that Fuehrer Adolf Hitler had promised full military backing to Italian Premier Benito Mussolini. The newspaper expressed hope that British Plime Minister Naville Chamberlain’s visit to Rome would "result in satisfying the (CONTINUED ON PAGE FIVE) o POLICE KEEP UP TRAFFIC DRIVE Local Authorities Continue Drive On Parking Violators The campaign of the Decatur city police force to curb violations of the traffic parking laws continued today, following an intensive drive Tuesday—first day ot the campaign. Approximately 14 "red" tickets were issued by members of the city police force yesterday to violators. Police Chief James Borders stated this morning. Offenders receiving the tickets are required to pay a $1 fine at I the city clerk-treasurer's office. Failure to pay the fine calls for a second ticket requiring the payment of a $2 fine; Under the ordinance, as set up by the council effective the first day of 1938. disregarding the second ticket, upon conviction calls for a fine of sll or more. The majority of the offenders were given tickets for overtime parking in zones with a one-hour limit.