Indianapolis Times, Volume 38, Number 331, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 April 1927 — Page 1

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VOLUME 37—NUMBER 331

ACHEY TELLS OF ARMITAGE OFFER

Hold Funeral Services for Albert J. Beveridge

Episcopal Burial Ritual Is Read at Private Rites in Family Home. FEW FRIENDS SEE BODY Public Service in FlowerBanked Meridian Church. The dignity, precision and poise 'hich characterized the life of forier United States Senator Albert J. Beveridge prevailed at the funeral services for Indiana’s distinguished citizen this afternoon. Thorough preparation for every task, which was apparent in the lifetime of the noted author and statesman. marked every move in the ceremony. Service Private A few intimate friends gathered at the Beveridge home, 4164 Washington Blvd., for the private service at Ip. m. Bishop Joseph M. Francis of All Saints Episcopal Church read prayers from the Episcopal burial ritual. Mrs. Beveridge and her two children, Albert J. Jr. and Miss Abby Spencer Beveridge, gathere with a few friends downstairs in rooms adjoining Mr. Beveridge’s study, for the brief ceremony. The casket was brought downstairs this morning from the death chamber, only a few close friends viewing the body. Over a mantel in the near by study hung a picture of Abraham Lincoln, beloved by Mr. Beveridge, and the subject of a literary work which friends believed hastened his death. Skies Overcast Following the brief ceremony the funeral cortage departed from the Beveridge mansion. Skies were cloudy as the funeral procession , Massed through the iron gates in the , Ppaceous lawn. Public services at Meridian Street \ Methodist Episcopal Church, St. Clair and Meridian Sts., were attended by many notables from a distance who were intimate associates of the late statesman. The casket was taken through the Meridian St. entrance and met by Dr. Virgil Rorer, the pastor, and Bishop Francis. The ministers ushered the eighteen honorary pailbearers and the active pallbearers to the front of the church. As the procession entered the church the audience sang ‘'O, God. Our Help in Ages Past.” Floral Tributes The bronze casket, covered with black broadcloth, was placed in front of the flower-banked altar. A wreath of sago palms, orchids and red roses, requested by Mrs. Beveridge, adorned the casket. Scores of flora! contributions were placed around the pulpit. Mrs. Beveridge and other relatives were seated in the center pews. Pallbearers were seated near by.. In the balcony were thirty members of the Mendelssohn choir which augmented the church singers. “Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand,” was the only other hymn sung. A soft beam of daylight filtered through the art glass windows as the pastor read the burial ritual. There was no eulogy. Senators at Rites ■ George Bramwell Baker, Boston banker, A classmate of Mr. Beveridge at De Pauw University in 1885, and Senators Arthur R. Robinson and James E. Watson and Governor Jackson were among the mourners. (Turn to Page 25) Paralyzed Youth Grim but Hopeful Jill Unlit A Print ROANOKE, Va., April 29.—Less cheerful but still hopeful, Walter L. Booth continued to tight gamely for his life today—the eighth day since collapse of his lungs started artificial respiratory efforts of scores of friends. Physicians pronounced his condition not so good today as yesterday, when a turn for the better occurred, but were unwilling to make any predictions in this case, which already has baffled medical science. Doctors were studying X-ray pictures of the dislocated vertebrae at the base of his brain to determine whether the condition can be relieved. St was an operation to adjust the vertebrae that paralyzed Booth a week ago Thursday. Chaplin Offered $75,000 Bv United Press LONDON. April 29. - Charlie Chaplin was offered $75,000 today for twenty weeks work in musical comedy. Harry Day, a member of who also produces Play, cabled Chaplin the offer to create the character, “Bunty” in “The Mountaineer,” to be produced Sept. 5. It was reported Chaplin already had planned a London visit in August. The O'Brien Girl, Purdue Show. Murat Theater, Monday night.—Adv.

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A Trial, Not a Roman Circus, Durant’s View Philosopher Is Impressed by Absence of the Hungry Crowd, Courtroom Barnacles, and by Rapid Reaction of News Writers.

ThU is the second article which Dr. Will Durant hks written for The Time* and other Senppa-Howard newspapers upon the Snyder-Cn-ay murder trial. By Dr. Will Durant Author of “The Story of Philosophy." This trial is different. As you enter the courtroom you are impressed by the absence of the hungry crowd, those murder mongers and courtroom barnacles who. j like our bleacher athletes and moving picture devotees, commit all their crimes, take all their exercise, and achieve all their romance by proxy. You sympathize with them—for here is enough to sharpen the dullest curiosity and perhaps (as our conscience whispers) our own motives are not immaculately different from theirs. But once you are safely in you rejoice that the crowd is outside, and that it is to be not a Roman circus but an English trial. And yet there is a crowd—a crowd of newspaper representatives; reporters of all sexes and “trained seals" who must wyite special articles on the esoteric aspects of thje case, and explain the relation of Ruth Snyder to Aristotle. As soon as you sit down among these clever men and women you realize that you are in the company of minds habituated to rapid thinking; nowhere else in the world, probably, is there so minute a reaction—time as among these journalists—so brief an interval between stimulus and response, between perception and judgment; between problem and solution. They are as sophisticated as Tammany and as undeceivable as a chorus girl. Taking Romance Out The publicity which they combine to give to this incredible crime is all in all an admirable thing. For they will take the romance out of this story of love and death: they will make murder almost as repulsive in print as it is in deed and blood; they will expose the dullness in adultery, the stealth ami cowardice that cannot understand that love is not love When it hides and steals in tie dark. Perhaps even as we read of this case till we sicken with it, we shall stop short in our descent to promiscuity, and learn to honor loyalty once more. Doubtless this crime is not peculiar to our age and place, and men have been killed before for love or gold. But there is an insensate and calculating ruthlessness here which recalls the poison experts of the renaissance, and in some measure reflects the changing morals of our time. For the old theological basis of our moral code is crumbling; and our generation, liberated from all fear and scornful of every virtue hut courage, is tempted to think with Raskolnikov that all things (except dectection) are permitted now that grim Jove no linger thunders in the skies. Marriage Does Not Hold Us And marriage, which once absorbed us in a beneficent routine, has lost its power to give our abounding energies stability and calnu, the modern mind, under the compulsion of a million mechanisms, has become too powerful and flexible and perhaps too flighty, to bear such stern restraints congenially any more. Men marry late, and cherish felicity a great while; desire, fretting in the bonds of an unnatural delay, breaks through a code created for days when men and women married earlier and less frequently; slowly our changing customs of premarital behavior change the moral standards of our epoch; and things once shunned lose, with familiarity, their horror and offense. It is not an immoral, but unmoral age; a time not of essential disintegration, but of profound and painful transformations. In our great cities anew civilization arises, based on science and industry, careless of traditions and irreverent of creeds, fated to alter every custom, every institution, every moral and social form. For a long time we shall not know peace; for the old order is dying, and the new is yet unborn. Meanwhile We Have the Trial Meanwhile, here is the trial, a drama as darlf as Oedipus, staged on a somber scene, and witnessed by a chosen audience whose every sense is alert and every emotion strained. On every side bustle attendants, grimly silent, and more judicial than the judge. Here and there are the relentless detectives who tracked the murderers down; their skill in this case would amaze even Conan Doyle, once creator of silent sleuths and now an aged hound of Heaven. And here is the murderer. As we look at him we forget for a moment the grewsome circumstances of his crime, and a wave of sympathy overwhelms us. Assuredly he must suffer from some subtle disease, corrupting and weakening the mind as well as the body; how else could he have done this brutally premeditated thing. Bolder With Every Deed Look into his eyes. They are dull and stupid (we say it not unkindly) as of a man emerging from intoxication. A brain soaked with, the poisoned alcohol which w 6 are now compelled by law to drink could conceivably pass from one folly to a greater one, under the domination of a mind clearer and more merciless than his own. A man addicted to adultery becomes bolder with every deed; he forgets the caution of his discovery. And given a woman bolder still, folly slips easily into crime. "She influenced me," he says weakly now; and presumably his defense will be based upon Ruth Snyder’s hypnotic power. How it illuminates the revived matriarchate or our day—control of man by woman in the home and In the street—that this gladiator of the cabarets, this corset corsair, should be led by the nose from madness to murder under the artistry of a woman’s eyes and the electric touch of her fingers on his flesh.

Same Hard Glint What sort of a woman is it that could do this? Here she sits haggard with fear and suffering, but still steeled with some of the cold insensivity that comes with a narrow schooling and a wide and unscrupulous experience. Do you think that tlie ordeal of tlie trial has .softened her? A little; but there is a hard glint in her eyes; and the same

cruel resoluteness in the desperate effort to save herself. It is difficult to feel sympathy in our hearts for her, even in these days of torture (Turn to Page 27) Hourly Temperatures 6 a. m...... 51 10 a. ill 54 7 a. m 51 11 a. m 55 8 a. m 53 12 (noon) .... 56 9 a. m... ... 55 1 p. m..... . 57

INDIANAPOLIS, FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 1927

Levee Blasting Fails to Drive More Than 300 From Homes

All Preparations Made for Dramatic Effort to Aid New Orleans. 320 LISTED AS DEAD Homeless Exceed 200,000 —Disease Threatens. Copnri'jht. 1V27. 1 niled Press ABOARD ' UNITED {STATES CUTTER 302 (by Tropical Radio), POYDRAS, La., April 29.—More than 300 persons remained in St. Bernard parish today, determined to ’brave flood waters which will be turned loose today by blasting the Mississippi River levee fourteen miles south of New Orleans. Those remaining in the parish told military authorities they were not afraid of the floods and would stay with their homes rather than join the parade to New Orleans. Boats were held in readiness to rescue the obdurate iu case the waters rise too high for safety in the upper stories of their homes. Plant Faces Demolition At the spot where the waters are to be released is the plant of the Orange Grove Refining Company, one of the largest producers of industrial alcohol in the South. Yesterday it was belching smoke. Today the smoke stack was clear. The plant will undoubtedly be torn to bits when the flood waters are released. All night long trucks have been bringing people and household goods from the doomed area. Many trappers, who at first were openly defiant of the order to evacuate their homes, became panic stricken at the last minute as State officials, backed by the guns of guardsmen, went quietly on with their preparations to blast the levees. Trappers who a *short ago were making threats to “fight it out” with the troops were among the number starting an eleventh hour stampede for places of safety. New Flood Chapter Never before in flood history has j such a communty as St. Bernard | parish been sacrificed to save a city | like New Orleans. But city, State j and Federal authorities agreed that | such a drastic step was absolutely j necessary to save the mcropolis of j the South. Full payment of damages has been guaranteed by the city and State, hut that does not relieve the | (Turn to Page 27)

FAVORS FULL PENALTY FOR WOMEN WHO SLAY Mrs. Maud Wood Park, Past National President of Voters’ League, Declares Sex Should Make No Difference.

Bn f nitni Press WASHINGTON, April 29.-—Con-demning discrimination by American juries in favor of women, Mrs. Maud Wood Park, nationally prominent leader in women’s; affairs, declared today offenders of her sex should have the same punishment as men, guilty of similar crimes, even if it be the electric chair. She laid down this principle for all

BUST DISABLES PLANE CARRIER None Injured by Accident to the Langley. Bn United Press WASHINGTON, April 29—The United States aircraft carrier Langley was disabled by an explosion at 7 a. m. today a half mile off Ambrose light while entering New York harbor with the American fleet, according to a radio to the Navy Department from Admiral Charles F. Hughes, fleet commander. None was injured. The motor of the 200-kilowatt generator of the Langley, exploded, tearing away the main injection lines and paralyzing all electrical machinery, according to Hughes, who is aboard the fleet flagship Seattle. The Langley is being towed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for repairs. RUNS STOP SIGN: HELD Policeman Finds Liquor in Traffic Violator’s Car, Charge. Howard Payne, 40, of 2104 English Ave., failed to stop his car before entering Pleasant Run Blvd., at Madison Ave. Motorcycle Officer Schoen saw him—and it may prove much more costly than the minor traffic law violation. When Schoen searched Payne’s ear he found a half pint of liquor, he reported, and Payne was charged with “transporting.” Louis Baupre, 49, of 705% Stevens St., Payne's companion, was charged with drunkenness.

CAPITAL ‘R’ ENDS LONG WHITTIER SCHOOL TEST

■ l. •- - || S; WiL Mm *

Above: Blanche Schoneker, the winner. Center: Bugale Mcßougale, the runner-up. Below: lairna Übell.

cases, including the Snyder-Gray murd r case, in an interview today with the United Press, in which she deplored the sentimental appeal on behal of a woman defendant made by lawyers in the famous Long Island case and others like it. Mrs. Park, who is from Portland, Me., is attending the meeting of the National Council of the National League of Women Voters hero, as counsellor for legislation and law enforcement. She is a past president of the league. Urges 50-50 Juries She advocates 50-50 juries—six men and six women for such cases as the Snyder-Gray trial other trials. “The presence of women on juries in such cases would tend to remove discrimination,” she said. “Women guilty of crime should get the same penalty as men—whatever the law provides for their crime. There should lie no laxity on account of personality or good looks. Lawyers play on the sentiment of juries with personal characteristics of their clients, especially in the case of women. Juries should disregard such appeals.” Personality Counted Mrs. Parks says that the discrimination as regards women works both ways, however. In connection with her work in Boston with girls some years ago, she said she observed in the municipal court that girls who did not have pleasing personalities were aften penalized too heavily, as some who were personally attractive were let off too lightly.

Arms of Dead Boy Hold Dog’s Body Bn United Press AURORA, 111., April 29. Nine-year-old Norman Anderson dove into water in an aban-* doned stone quarry near here to rescue a mongrel pug wlfich had fallen into tlie pit. An hour later the bodies of the boy and tlie dog were recovered from the quarry, the dog firmly clasped in the boy's arms.

Outside of Marion County 12 Cents Per Week. Single Copies

Girl and Boy Spell Two Hours in Oral Match for Building Title.

“When Whittier pupils spell, they spell!" That’s what the boys and girls of school No. 33 Sterling and Twelfth Sts., are singing today, just as the bards of the ancient Celtic days sang praises to heroes for the deeds they had done. And. when you’ve read the story of what happened out at Whittier school Tuesday, you’ll understand why pupils of that building sing their stuff with such an abundance of confidence and an air of superiority. For they've set a record for every other grammar school to shoot at. Which explains why Whittier considers itself supreme in the gift of spelling. A Two Hours’ Fat tie Here’s what is's all about— It required more than two hours of oral spelling, after a written bee, and all the words that could be pronounced in rapid-fire order, to determine the best speller in the school, the building champion. So it is that Blanche Schoneker, eighth grade girl, is preparing today to enter the City Zone Spelling Bee next Thursday in the next round of (Turn to Page 15) Biggest Fleet Enters New York’s Harbor llu United Press NEW YORK, April 29.—New York today stood by unresisting in tire face of its greatest naval invasion. A fleet of 122 warships, made up of the majority of the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, appeared out of the early morning fog and sailed in a long gray line up the Hudson and East Rivers, where the men o’ war anchored. A few of the vessels were dispatched to the Brooklyn navy yard. It was the largest assembly of battle craft ever to appear in the waters surrounding Manhattan Island. The ships brought 29,737 enlisted men of the navy and marine corps and 2,277 officers. The fleet is fresh from winter maneuvers in the Guantanamo Bay area. The ships will remain here until May 15, when the fleet will sail to Narraganset Bay for summer battle practice. STRIKE OR LOCK-OUT? That Is Knotty Problem Before Commission in Street Car Hearing. Was the Indianapolis Street Railway labor fight last fall a. strike or lock-out? That was one of the knotty problems put up to the public service commission during oral argument today on the arbitration case brought by James Green against the company, seeking increased wages, a six-day week and reinstatement of employes Frank Baker. Green’s attorney, contended the so-called strike was a lock-out while Attorney D. E. Watson for the company declared it a strike. STEAMER TOWS PLANE De Barros Aided by Ship After Forced Landing at Sea. Bn United Press RIO DE JANEIRO, April 29 Comamnder Joas De Barros, en route from Genoa to Santos, Brazil, was safely in South American waters today, but he had to call on a steamship for aid. A broken propeller forced landing at sea eighty miles north of the island of Fernando Noronha, off the Brazilian coast. The Italian steamer Angelo Toso went to the aid of the plane and took it in tow, heading for Fernando. De Barros left Porto Praia. Cape Verde Islands, yesterday morning. BABE DRINKS KEROSENE 16-Montlis-Old Boy Is Recovering at City Hospital. Edward Pennington, 16-months-old son of John and lailu Pennington, 1226% E. Georgia- St., is at the city hospital because he drank the contents of a glass he saw within his reach. The glass contained kerosene. Hospital attaches do not regard the babe’s condition serious. Red Cross Wants More Local Red Cross officials today renewed appeal for funds for relief work in Mississippi River flood regions. Total subscribed here thus far is $19,008. Telegrams from Washington today indicated that the $5,000,060 national quota would be increased. Local funds are collected at Red Cross headquarters. War Memorial Bldg., 777 N. Meridian St,

THREE CENTS

MRS. SNYDER UNFLINCHING AS WITNESS Admits Intimacy With Gray, Co-Defendant in Murder Case. Bn United Press LONG ISLAND CITY’, N. Y., April 29. —Ruth Brown Snyder, charged with Henry Judd Gray with the murder of her husband, Albert Snyder, began testimony in her own defense this afternoon. She was called to the stand before a courtroom jammed with a thousand persons, who packed the aisles so closely at tendants could hardly move about. Only a few wisps of blond hair showed beneath her black hat to relieve her severity. She walked with steady steps within three feet of Gray without noticing him, took the oath solemnly and seated herself carefully. Mushes Under Stares Mrs. Snyder, dressed all in black, sat straight and composed in the witness chair. She flushed slightly under the concentrated stare of hundreds of pairs of eyes, but was unflinching. When Mrs. Snyder was called the courtroom doors were locked and newspaper men were not permitted to enter or leave the courtroom. The hall outside was jammed with close to 500 persons. Lower floors were also packed and a vast throng had gathered outside the courthouse. “You are to understand.” Justice Scudder told Mrs. Snyder as she took the stand, “that you are not compelled to testify, since you m-e a defendant.” “On advice of counsel.” her attorney broke in, “this witness will testify in her own behalf.” “How long did you know your husband before you married him?” asked Hazleton. “About three or four months.” Ignored by Gray Mrs. Snyder held her head forward and a little to one side. Gray, sitting twelve feet in front of her, did not look at the witness. “Did you ever know a Jessie Deshart?” “No, but I’ve heard of her.” Quietly Mrs. Snyder explained that Miss Deshart was a former sweetheart of her husband and that Albert had loved her so much he continued to speak of her even after her death. He named a boat “Jessie D.” Mrs. Snyder said, and had pictures of etui the home. When Lorraine, her daughter, was born nine years ago, the witness said, she was forced to undergo an operation. Arrival of the child did not serve to stop family bickerings that had developed. Sobs on Stand “More and more often,” nodded the witness. Mrs. Snyder hesitated j at the mention of her daughter and then suddenly bowed her head, cov-1 ered her face with her hands and ! began sobbing. In a moment, how- | ever, she regained her composure and continued. She was forced to do all the household work. i “You were unfaithful to your marriage vows after you met Henry Judd Gray?” “I was,” said Mrs. Snyder. Mrs. Snyder then went over her first meeting with Gray and recited that he had given her a corselet. She said that she and Gray had | gone to night clubs together as well as restaurants and hotels. Once, she recalled, she had taken a tenday automobile trip with Gray through New York State. Counsel for Mrs. Snyder in opening statements preceding defense testimony offered directly opposed theories. Her attorney placed all the blame for the murder on Gray, declaring he intended to share With the widow in insurance Snyder carried. Gray waas declared the actual killer. Gray’s counsel declared the woman “a human serpent” who completely dominated Gray; asserted he was drunk at the time of the slaying and not responsible for his acts. Mrs. Josephine Brown, mother of Mrs. Snyder, was called. The throng saw a little faded woman, dressed completely in black, thread her way to the witness stand. She seemed scarcely aware of the sensation she creating. She looked confidingly at Justice Scudder and gave her daughter a glance just before beginning her testimony. Mrs. Brown answered questions rapidly. She told of two operations for appendicitis her daughter had undergone. Gray she said, first cable to her house to sell her a corsette. After two other calls Mrs. Brown warned Mrs. Snyder not to permit Gray to call again. On cross-examination she denied (Turn to Page 3)

Forecast Showers tonight. Saturday generally fair. Not much change in temperature.

county TWO CENTS

Grand Juror, First Witness on Stand at ContemptBribery Trial Before Judge Collins. REPEATS ALL CHARGES Inman Attempts Coup on Cross-Examination of Accuser. How .James E. Armitage, politician, offered him a bribe was bared in detail in Criminal j court today by Claude A. Achey, county grand juror. | Armitage is charged with ! contempt, of Judge James A. Collins’ court. His trial began this morning. Achey charges that Armitage offered him $2,600 and a job if he i would refuse to vote for indictment of Mayor John L. Duvall. Repeating under oath as a witness the allegations contained in his sworn affidavit which resulted in \ Armitage's citation for contempt, Achey related a story of frequent alleged conversations with Armitage. terms of the alleged bribery offer and how Armitage "seemed to know what was going on in til© grand jury room.” When Eph Irfman, attorney for Armitage. who is the brother of William H. Armitage, former Republi- ! can city hall boss, started crossi examination, he tried to show that : Achey had gone up and down Indii ana Ave„ relating that the grand * jury had heard evidence against | Duvall and that Achey had sought ; bribes. j His question framing the presumpi tion that Achey had revealed that | such evidence had been presented, : was not permitted by the court. Inman Makes Charge Seeking to break down the story that Achey had told, Inman shouted: “Did you say to various people !on Indiana Ave. that tlie grand Jury had evidence against John L. Duvall, the mayor, hut that he would not be indicted if your price was paid?” Immediate objection by Prosecutor illiain H. Remy and Deputy Prosecutor John W. Holtzman and Enislcy IV. Johnson brought, Inman to In's feet and lie charged Dial Achey had talked to Armitage, hut that instead of Armitage offering Achey a bribe, the grand juror had “solicited bribes, had tipped off (lie names of witnesses and was frying to get ?5, "a fln,” apiece out of it. "Attack on Court” Remy attacked the relevancy of Inman’s imputation. Inman, however. claimed that the credibility of the witness was important, and that. Achey had represented himself as being the virtual head of the grand Jury. Hoitznian claimed that Inman’s remarks were an attack upon the ; dignity of the court. Collins sustained the objection and i relieved Achey from answering Inntan Admits Talks Cross-examination of Achey continued with Inman admitting that Armitage had had conversations with Achey and asked Achey if it was true that he had pulled a list of names from his pocket and shown it to Armitage; that Armitage had told him to tear it up or “you will get yourself in the penitentiary,” and that Achey did tear the list up. Another spirited objection was made by the prosecution which was sustained by the court. Recess was taken at 11:30 a. m. until 1:30 p. m. There was no court from 2 until 2:30 in deference to the funeral of Albert J. Beveridge. Inman opened his client’s fight against the charges by objecting to the hearing of witnesses on the ground that the court has no jurisdiction in the case; that the defendant, by his verified answer of denial, purged himself of the charges, and that no issue of law or fact is involved. Judge James A. Collins promptly overruled the objection and Inman entered an exception. Questioned by Remy Called to the stand, Achey was questioned by Prosecutor William H. Remy. Deputy Prosecutor Holtzman's motion at the opening of the trial that the witnesses lie separated, when upheld by the court, caused the exodus of seventy-live, among them Herman F. Rikhoff, former police chief, John J. O’Brien, former fire chief, Joseph L. Hogue, former city controller, and Martin J. Hyland, former street commissioner. Opening questions brought the information that Armitage's accuser is 35, lives at 641 E. Thirty-Third St., served with the A. E. F., fought, in tlie battles of the Argonne and St. Mihiel, and was honorably dis charged. Inman entered a second exception before allowing Achey to take the stand. Remy asked Achey if he had been approached by anyone in connection with the probe being conducted by the grand jury. “James Armitage approached (Turn (o I’age 15) Walk-Over End Month Sale. Fri., Sat., 2 big selling events. Shop early. 28 N. Penn. St.—Adv.