Indianapolis Times, Volume 39, Number 157, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 November 1927 — Page 6

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The Mayor’s First Duty - Few men have had so great an opportunity to put the stamp of sincerity upon their own words and lend confidence to a movement of which they were a part as now comes to Mayor L. Ert Slack. By a very prompt, vigorous and persistent crusade to secure a special session of the Legislature to put into effect the City Manager system of government, Mayor Slack will win for himself the praise of the thousands of citizens who have voted for this change. Someone had to be the political heir of the Duvall regime, which was in power only through the amendment to the City Manager law passed by the last Legislature, and it is fortunate that the heir is one who strtmgly advocated the change and is a believer in the City Manager system. That same amendment extended the tenure of office not only of Duvall, who goes out into oblivious thruogh the doors of the Criminal Court, but also of the city council. There is every factor present to make a crusade by Mayor Slack for a special session of the Legislature particularly effective. Neither Governor Jackson or the majority, of the Legislature can conceivably have any reason to desire to continue a representative of the Democratic party at the head of the largest city of the State. Mayor Slack, having received votes of three of the four indicted eouncilmen, can call attention of the Legislature and of the Governor to the conditions in Indianapolis which came from the present system and are traceable to it more effectively than could a mayor elected without their assistance. Most of all, an appeal to the Governor and an immediate canvass of the Legislature with reference to the calling of a special session, should Jackson hesitate, would be a conclusive answer to the charge that the City Manager management drew its support from disappointed and disgruntled office seekers who had failed to gain power. It would climax the magnificent effort to which Mayor Slack gave his aid and support by a show of sincerity that could do much to solidify the forces for an effective entrance of the new system. That the city of Indianapolis is entitled to the City Manager system at once as a matter of justice is admitted. It was pleaded as a reason for the special session by the City Manager committee. The demand for that special session was unanswerable, and is today unanswerable. The replacement of Duvall by a sympathizer with the movement does not change either the necessity or the urgency of righting the wrong done to Indianapolis by the Sims amendment. The election of Tuesday only emphasizes the wisdom of the change voted by the people and delayed only until the unrighteous amendment can be repealed. In Michigan City, cited in the campaign as an example of failure, the people again voted their confidence in the system. In Cleveland the people again successfully and overwhelmingly resisted an effort of the politicians to discard the system which proved so successful. Mayor Slack is to be envied for his chance to write his name permanently in the list of the city’s great by a very prompt, very persistent, demand for that special session. The New Mayor The entire city welcomes its new mayor with every wish for a most successful administration. In some respects his is an easy task. In other aspects it has its difficulties. To make a showing that would appear fine by contrast with that of the discredited Duvall should require little effort. Any one of the men for whom the council voted could have accomplished that. But the new mayor brings a certificate of office from sources that make it imperative that his acts discredit any of the suspicions that are inevitable. Three of his votes came from eouncilmen who are under indictment. Two of those votes came from an opposite political party. The sudden change will bring upon him the pressure of those leaders of the Democratic party who have long been kept away from the places of power and who think in terms of party organization and party machines for State power, just as Coffin and Dodson and Stephenson and the others in Republican ranks . thought of State control and National influence. The fact that Mayor Slack acted as an attorney for the Elan and that his two Republican votes came from that background will be an added incentive to very constant watchfulness against any act which would indicate that this hooded organization has any part in the political change that has occurred. This city has suffered too much from bigotry and fanaticism to permit these influences to be continued in any manner in power. .As against these unfortunate and perhaps embarrassing incidents, there is, the fact that

The Indianapolis Times (A SCBIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER) Owned and published dally (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Times Publishing Cos.. 214-230 W. Maryland Street. Indianapolis. Ind. Price in Marlon County. 2 cents —lO cents a week; elsewhere, 3 cents—l 2 cents a weik. BOYD GURLEY. ROY W. HOWARD. W. A. MAYBORN. Editor. President. Business Manager. PHONE—MAIN 3500 WEDNESDAY. NOV. 9. 1927. Member of United Press, Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance, Newspaper Enterprise Association Newspaper Information Service anjd Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”— Dante.

Mayor Slack lias the hearty good will of those with whom he was associated in the City Manager movement for a government that takes party politics out of city affairs. The acts of no other mayor in the past have attracted the attention which will undoubtedly be given to the official utterances of the new mayor. And no other has had the same universal wish that those acts will merit and deserve public confidence. The Mississippi and Congress Flood control of the Mississippi is going to be one of-two things: It is going to be the greatest engineering achievement since the Panama canal, or— It is going to be the country’s costliest failure.Spending hundreds of millions of dollars to make the mighty Mississippi behave will be only gambling with high stakes unless this money is entrusted to capable hands. Already millions have been sunk in this vast river basin in an effort to curb its waters, but this year more land was inundated and more damage was done than ever before. Congress can profit by the mistakes that have been made, or it can go blindly ahead and throw more good money after bad. In the next few weeks at least twenty flood control bills will be presented to the Senate and House. Hearings begun this week will gather together a maze of conflicting notions and opinions about what ought to be done. Ideas will clash and out of this turmoil of preparation is expected to emerge a permanent restraint for floods. Much can be accomplished by brains plus a billion dollars but Congress must bear in mind that it is pitting the engineering skill of this country against a hitherto unbeatable enemy. This is not a time for politics, for personal aggrandizement or for heroics. Wastefulness, selfishness and political favor can not be expected to accomplish a great engineering feat. This is a national emergency in which all else must be laid aside to win a great and lasting victory. i What Will Judge Siddons Do? It will be interesting to see what Federal Judge Siddons, who was trying the case of Harry F. Sinclair and Albert B. Fall up to the time that outside interference stopped the trial/now does with William J. Burns and A- Mason Day. Burns, operator of the country's largest espionage agency, was called before the grand jury Monday. Leaving the jury room he told reporters that it was true that his agency ha* been engaged to spy on the jurors in the Fall-Sinclair case. The man who engaged his detectives, he said, was H. Mason Day, an official of the Sinclair Company. justified the proceeding by declaring that one of his men, trailing one of the jurors had seen a “Government agent” talk to this juror. This newspaper is not disposed to encourage the use of contempt of court proceedings. It feels that the tendency of some courts In recent years has been to go far beyond any constitutional or statutory authority in punishing citizens for alleged contempt. But here Is a plain case, the sort of case clearly contemplated by the law. The real test in any contempt case it whether the actions complained of tend to embarrass the court in the handling of the case then before the court. The action of the burns men embarrassed the court to the point that it was necessary to declare a mistrial. The expensive undertaking must be started anew. Burns says he did it. He says Day hired him to do it. What will the judge do about it? Louis Wolheim, ugly man of the movies, wants his face changed so he can play romantic, hero roles. Next think we’ll be hearing from Hollywood Is that Lon Chaney has been cast as Little Eva. No one knows who the next two parties will allow us to choose from, but the ordinary citizen has a great hankering for a fight for the presidency between Charlie Dawes and Jim Reed. DENTIST VICTIM OF MYSTERIOUS OFFICE SHOOTING, says a newspaper headline. Now, just where is the mystery in that? If all the engineers who hope to make money out of Mississippi River improvements designed for flood protection were successful, the people of the valley would have to help pay the bill for the next 650 years.' The King of Arabia has twenty-four wives. He recently bought an automobile. If he’s wise he’ll let one of ’em drive it. •’ The Oklahoma editor who inherited a quarter of a million dollars is only another example of what a field the newspaper offers young men. SHOOT WAITER, TAKE SIO,OOO, says.a newspaper headline. He must have had a good evening. An alarm clock s frightened a student that he wa,s killed in a fall from his bed. Those alarm clocks ought to be abolished.

Law and Justice By Dextei M. Keerei

A man was charged with having assaulted a woman whose first name was given as Clio. He was convicted, but appealed on the ground that if the assault took place as the prosecution alleged, the evidence showed that the first name of the assaulted party must have been Cleo. This mistake, it was claimed, made the convection invalidThe prosecution contended that the mistake was a trivial one, that there was no doubt of the identity of the party in question, and that the conviction should not be upset on account of such a slight error. HOW WOULD YOU DECIDE THIS CASE? The actual decision: The Court of Appeals of Alabama decided that the mistake in names was fatal to the conviction, whcih must be reversed. The court noted that Clio is the name of an ancient Greek goddess, which is pronounced in one way, and that Cleo is a contraction of Cleopatra, pronounced in another. This difference in sound, the court said, made use of the wrong name a mistake invalidating the conviction. „

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. TRACY j SAYS: “William J. Burns denies oivnership of as much as $1 worth of stock in the Burns agencyhe ought to sue—it never would have amounted to a row of pins * without his name."

F. V. Patterson, president of the National Cash Register Company, comes back from a five-months’ Air lean tour witn films to show, instead of hides to stuff. • He says that there is just as much pleasure and quite as many thrills in photographing big game as there are in killing it. Whether this is true for the sportsman, it certainly affords the public greater benefit. It is much more enjoyable and much more informing to get a glimpse of jungle life through the movie than to try to figure it out in a museum. * * * Leprosy for Enemies William Nash, of Portland, Ore., is said to have conceived the idea of importing leprosy germs from South Africa with which to infect no less than 200 imagined enemies. The only conclusion is that he was insane. _ * Some thoughts are simply too preposterous to be explained. The belief persists, and rightly so, perhaps, that no normal mind could harbor them. • * • Deny Easy Infection Meanwhile, it is doubtful if Nash’s scheme of infecting his enemies with leprosy, would have succeeded, as well as he seems to have expected. It is still a prevalent superstition that leprosy is easily transmitted and that the slightest contact with a leper represents real danger. A great Nowegian doctor, however, inoculated himself fourteen times without ill effect. Comparatively few of the wives and husbands who go with their leprous relatives to Molokai contract the disease. • * * Studious Dope Addicts Anew wrinkle has entered the dope game. A peddler and meet in the reading roomT>f a library. The peddler takes down a book, inserts some heroin or other drug between its pages passes it to the addict. The latter removes the dope, inserts the price and hands it back. While the transaction Is going on both appear deeply studious. It is easier to understand how such a scheme was conceived than hosv it was detected. • * • Detective Burns’ Ire Speaking of detectives, William J. Burns is very angry. He not only charges that government agents tampered with the Fall-Sinslair jury more flagrantly than his operatives, but shakes his fist in a reporter’s face and shouts, “You are the one who ought to be arrested.” Further than that, he denies ownership of as much as $1 worth of stock in the Burns agency. If this is so, he ought to sue the Burns agency, because It never would have amounted to a row of pins without his name. • * • Tax Cut Scramble The question of how much Federal taxes should be cut resolves itself into the more intimate question of whoVill be benefited.* The corporations have had an inning, the automobile men have had an inning and now the inheritance tax crowd is having an inning. Most of those favoring repeal of the Federal inheritance tax believe that the revenue derived from it is not worth the effort. Though Uncle Sam collects the tax, he only keep 20 per cent for himself, handing the rest over to the States. • • • Matter of Principle There are some, of course, who believe the Inheritance tax is wrong in principle and who want to see it abandoned not only by the Federal government but by the States as well. You find it hard to get their viewpoint, especially when they argue that of all classes of property, and all kinds of income, a legacy alone should be beyond the reach of the tax collector. If a man earns SIO,OOO a year, the Government takes a certain portion of it away from him. Why is it more qnjust for the Government to take-a certain porBon8 on of SIO,OOO that he inherits or inherited wealth more sacred than that which is earned?

Engineer Explains Firing of Furnace Tills is the third of a series of interviews with City Combustion Engineer Joseph C. Buchanan on how to avoid the smoke nuisance.

BIT EDWIN V. O’NEEL “Bituminous or soft coal must be burned from the top down rather than from the bottom up," declared City Combustion Engineer Joseph C. Buchanan. Buchanan explained that tars are burned as they pass through the fire and by the air admitted over the fire. Heat generated by burning tars is available for absorbtion in the dome and upper sides of the furnace or stove and is not dissipated in the ash pit and the bowl of the furnace. “Bituminous or soft coal contains from 30 to 40 per cent volatile matter or tars. These tars are very higlx in heat value. When the coal is nested these tars are driven off in the form of hydrocarbon gases

(Muncie Pres*) Legally, of course.' a defendant in any criminal action has the right to take any technical advantage of the law that may aid him to escape the but not always does the moral right Public- In- exi Q overnor Ed Jackson. George V. terested in Coffin and Robert T. Marsh, under thp Truth indictment at Indianapolis on the me 1 1 u in charge of conS pi ra cy to bribe former Governor Warren T. McCray with SIO,OOO to appoint James E. McDonald prosecuting attorney of Marion County, are quoted as saying that the statute of hniitations operates against the validity of the indictments and that they purpose to “fight to the last ditch” to escape going to trial. Now' either these men are guilty or they are not guilty and there is said to be considerable evidence on the matter both ways. If they are innocent they deserve vindication through the medium of the court and if they are guilty they deserve punishment in the same way. If the Governor and his friends avoid going to trial by pleading the statute of limitations, it leaves their records with* a stain upon them—perhaps a stain that it not deserved—but it will be their own fault. It Is conceded that in case of a trial, the evidence of McCray would be powerful. If the attempt were made to bribe him, as alleged, he must know all about it, but even so his testimony probably would need corroboration before the jury would find with him. There is not much likelihood of anybody’s being “railroaded” in this case. The theory of those who say that the limitations statute does not apply Is that the alleged conspiracy has been kept alive by the accused men through their pohey of silence. Whether that is good law is for the lawyers to say, but what the public is interested in knowing is what the truth may be about this unsavory affair.

You can get an answer to any question of Jact or information by writing to The Indianapolis Times Washington Bureau, 1322 New York Ave., Washington. D. C., Inclosing 2 cents In 'stamps for reply. Medical, legal and marital advice cannot be given nor can extended research be undertaken. A'l other questions will receive a personal reply. Unsigned requests cannot be answered. All letters are confidential.—Editor. What is the total number of Protestants and Catholics in the world? ... Protestants, 170,900,000: Roman Catholics, 272,500,000; Greek Orthodox Catholics, 121,801,000. When was Mohammed born? According to tradition, Mohammed was born about 570 A. D. % Why does fertilizer or manure make plants grow? Because it supplies to the soil chemical elements which plants need for food. Why does a person rise to the surface of the water after diving? Because our bodies have less specific gravity than water. What is the purpose of Arbor Day and who first suggested it? It is a day set apart each year by the legislatures of most of the States and territories for the people to plant trees, more especially school children. B. G. Northrup, while secretary of the Connecticut board of education in 1865 seems to have been the first to suggest the annual planting of trees under the direction

or smoke. By applying air at the proper place, in the proper amount, and at the proper time, these tars give up as much heat as the remaining coke in the coal”, he said. “Move all of the hot coke to the back of the fire bowl. Be careful in doing this, not to mix up an s small clinkers or ashes with the coke. Having the furnace in this condition, add the fresh coal by permitting the coal to slide off the shovel just inside the fire door. The heat from the live fire starts by driving the tars from the fresh coal and they are thus burned as they pass over the hot part of the ffre.” 4 Tomorrow: An article on “how to hold a lire through the day,”

Stewing His Own Juice

What Other Editors Think

Questions and Answers

of the State government. J. Sterling Morton was probably the first, however, to propose setting apart a certain day for the purpose and in 1872, largely through his efforts, the custom was inaugurated in Nebraska. At present Arbor day is observed in nearly every State, in

-Will Mil l—llll

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(Boaton Herald) Even if it didn’t catch forward passes well Or hold the Harvard eleven, the gentlemen from Indiana who came to Boston caught the eye, held the ear and won the enthusiasm of 40,000 people at the Gentlemen Stadium. The memory of that spectaclfrof Saturday will persist long after r rom the crowd forgets the scores of vicIndiana tors and vanquished. Not since the Hollis structure arose on the salt-flats of the Charles has there b£en so picturesque a game there. That band! In the expressive language of the scoolboy. Wow! How that band did play! How It sang! How it marched! How it played its way into the affections of the throng! What roars of applause came from the hanging gardens of colorful humanity! As the hundred bandsmen marched from the dark openings of the south section into the lengthening shadows and out into the sun, high lights on the polishd puttees, crimson capes glowing and flowing, instruments flashing, khaki legs pumping with a West Point precision, a majestic drum-major cakewalking and twirling a flaming baton, pistol shots fending the men Into new formations, of course ever;/ partisan in the great stadium became a good sport and a child again. Booth Tarkington’s Gentlemen from Indiana must have been there in spirit. Will not those omnipotent men in Cambridge who maxe the football schedules ask Indiana to come again and bring the band? Players of football and of the instruments were here for a good time, and probably had it, but the thousands who watched the t spectacle had the best time of all. Mr. Tarkington's Monsieur Beaucaire could not have wished for more mannerly and thoughtful youngsters than those from the banks of the Wabash far away. Harvard won the game easily enough, but Indiana won the crowd. It was thought that perhaps 20,000 would attend, but double that number attended, and we have no doubt that there might be a capacity crowd next year. To be sure, Indiana has now lost twice, but let the university remember that the late Rory O’More said something about luck in odd numbers.

some as a legal* holiday, in others as a school holiday. The exact date is not uniform throughout the country, but usually falls late in April or early In May in the northern States, while in the southern States it occurs in December, January or February.

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NOV. 0, 10 '2T

Times Readers Voice Views

The name and address of the author must accompany every contribution, but oi- request will not 6e published. Lett"- not exceeding 200 words will recelvs preference. To the Editor: I cannot see any use in all this tom foolery In regard to getting a location for a baseball park. It seems to be the custom for certain neighborhoods to object to it. There is an ideal place which has never been mentioned, so far as I have seen. Thia piece of ground lies south of Thirtieth St. off of Keystone Ave. It is only a fifteen-min-ute ride from the Circle. All the roads leading to H am paved, and can be reached by three car liner with extensions. This ground is not worth very much. There are no public parks to contend with and no zoning regulations. I am sure this neighborhood would be glad to have something like a ball park. A READER.

Mr. Fixit Hard Seats on Broad Rippie Line Are Temporary,

’L ,t *n The T,me * representative at city hall present your troualea to city officials. Write Mr. Flxlt at Tha Times. Names and addresses which must be glfen, will not be published. Temporary removal of cross seat street cars from the College Ave. line was protested today in a letter to Mr. Fixit. Dear Mr. Fixit: Tins complaint may be out of your line, but if you can render any assistance, even by giving publicity, It will certainly be appreciated. For some unknown and mysterious reason the Indianapolis Street Railway Company has seen fit, to remove all cross-seat cars from the College Ave. line to Forty-Sixth St. and Broad Ripple and replace them with cars hav.ng lengthwise seats, which, with few exceptions, are not upholstered and very uncomfortable for a long ride. Why the company should Insist on punishing the patrons of the longest and probably best-paying line in the city is incomprehensible, and one often .hears complaints about the hard seats. As one solution of this long and “hard” problem it has been suggested that passengers provide themselves with pillows or cushions when riding the cars on this line, and that In a short time, due to their forgetfulness, the poor and indifferent car company would have a sufficient number of the cushions on hand to pad the hard seats. Perhaps you can ascertain the cause Ol this utter disregard for public comfort and prevail on the street car company to furnish more comfortable service on this long line. C. E. P. Joseph Rice, supervisor of schedules, advised Mr. Fixit the condition which you complain of is only temporary while the College Ave. bHdge is closed. The bridge is expected to be open about Jan. 1 when the old schedule of regular cars will be effective again. At present the College and Central lines and combined with cars from both lines alternating on the route.

Old Masters

Life? and worth living? Yes, with each part of us— Hurt of us, help of us, hope of us, heart of us, Life is worth living. Ah! with the whole of us. Will of us, brain of us, senses and soul of us. Is life worth living? 4 Aye, with the best of us. 'fwi Heights of us, depths of us—• llw' Life is the test of us! —Corlnne Roosevelt Robinson: Life, A Question.