Indianapolis Times, Volume 39, Number 186, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 December 1927 — Page 9

Second Section

$207,000 UNIT STANDING IDLE AT CFTY PLANT ✓ Final Step in Disposal of Sewage Is Held Up by Serious Problem. ENGINEERS IN QUANDARY Dehydration Section Useless, in Present Shape; May Never Be Utilized. This is the first of several articles •bout the situation at the Indianapolis sewage disposal plant. While sanitary board members have divided into factions and quibbled over policy and personnel, one whole unit of the Indianapolis sewage disposal plant, in which taxpayers have $207,000 invested, stands incomplete and unused at Sellers Farm, three miles southwest of the business district. The unit is the dehydration plant, the third and final step in sewage disposal. Engineers do not agree as to whether this plant, as it now stands, can be utilized. Work was stopped upon it when the other units were completed, and the city had spent a total of $2,659,819.31. Engineers said that further experiment was necessary. No experiment has been carried on since. Millions of gallons of raw sewage flow straight into the river. Sludge —the solids extracted from the millions of gallons treated in the first two units of the plant for two years has been carted into a corner of Sellers Farm, until today it covers approximately twenty acres, in some spots twenty feet deep. Profit Was Visioned The dehydration plant was intended to convert this sludge into fertilizer, which could be sold at a profit which would pay for operation of the plant. About the time America entered the World War, cities south of Indianapolis along White river were clamoring for the blood of Indianapolis- Raw sewage from Indianapolis was flowing down White river through the other cities, endangering public health. Several cities filed suits against Indianapolis. “We will build a plant which will treat this sewage so that the liquids will be turned into the river pure enough to drink, and the solids will be turned into fertilizer, so valuable that it will pay for operation of the plant,” Indianapolis replied. Special legislation was rushed through the General Assembly. Charles H. Hurd, Merchants Bank Bldg., was named consulting engineer to design and supervise construction of the plant. Bond issues were started and on April 5, 1918, plans were adopted. Given $15,000 Salary Hurd started drawing his salary of $15,000 a year in April, 1919, and continued to do so until October, 1923. From October, 1923, until 1927, he drew half pay, $7,500, because the designing practically was finished. After a leave of absence, he returned for a brief space in 1926, and received $1,200 in final payment, early In January of this year. Meanwhile, Hurd was drawing expenses, including salaries of a staff of assistants, which during the construction period totalled $153,581. While stories of the marvelous in- £ ovations at the disposal plant were roadcast, construction went on. It yiras announced, with much ceremony, that the plant was in operation May 23, 1925, more than two sears ago. Miss Indianapolis, declaring she laras pure at last, invited the folks down to see the new plant. Miss Indianapolis did not take the folks over to one of the beautiful new buildings. She keeps it under lock And key. Even a newspaper man fias to have “connections” to get inside that silent building—the dehydration unit* | Plant In Three Nutts ' The plant, as designed by Hurd, |ras in three units: 1. A building wherein part of the ißolids were removed from*the raw Sewage, delivered by the gigantic Interceptor sewer from all, sewers in the city, except those of the extreme porth section. 2. The activitated sludge plant, thereto* by injecting sludge into the sewage one s(ft of bacteria destroyed the harmful germs, and wherein by a settling process the solids finally were separated from the liquid. The liquid went into the river as pure water; the solid was to go to the third step. 3. The dehydration plant. Russell Mac Fall, sanitary board president, who was not a member of the board when the plant was designed and bond issues authorized, said that no engineer yet had shown him a way in which the dehydration plant could be utilized. Hope Voiced by Engineers Engineers identified with construction say that they believe that someone, sometime, will discover a means of treating sludge at a profit. They declare that Milwaukee successfully is drying sludge, but they suspect the process is so costly that it is a further drain upon taxpayers, Instead of helping pay for plant operation. Chicago is trying out a different ynethod. Meanwhile, the plant upon which $207,000 was spent before engineers and the sanitary board discovered that it might not be what was needed stands gloomily idle. Next—Why millions of gallons of raw sewage flow past the $2,<OO,OO disposal plant into the river.

Entered as Second-class Mat* ter at Postoffice, Indianapolis.

$207,000 Expense; Is It Folly?

i|>v' ■ •

Above, exterior of the $207,000 dehydration unit of the city sewage disposal plant, which has stood idle for two years while engineers and sanitary- board members debated whether it was of the type which should have been built. Below, interior, showing some of the gigantic machinery installed in the plant before the sanitary board decided that it would be a mistake to go farther.

MINE PARLEY OPEN DESPITE OPERATORS

Davis Says Public Opinion Can Force Owners to Early Peace. BY LEE GEBHART United Frees staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—Secretary of Labor Davis opened with a warning today his conference designed to create peace in the bituminous coal fields “by Christmas.” He told miners and operators that "if public opinon is aroused, the Government can compel action toward a settlement, however distasteful it may be to the arteries immediately affected.” The United Mine Workers, under President John L. Lewis had full representation from northern West Virginia, central and western Pennsylvania and Ohio. Operators Attend Among operators at the meeting were John H. Jones of the Bertha Consumers’ Company, Pennsylvania, and Harold Hughes of the W. H.‘ Hughes Company, Altoona, Pa. On opening the conference, Davis said: “I regret some operators have found it necessary to decline the invitation to discuss matters of importance at this meeting They tell me there, are no difficulties existing in their operation and that Everything is satisfactory in their business. “While I do not question the honesty of their statements, and have no reason to dispute their claims, I must record the fact that representatives of the mine workers do register contrary statements. I do not intend to be drawn into argument with etiher side. I represent the interests of the American people as a whole.” Investigation Hinted With such dominant coal operators as the Pittsburgh Coal Company, the Pittsburgh Terminal Company, and the Ohio Coal Operators’ Association rejecting Davis’ call, the conference had seemed to face failure, for without a representative group from the side the department’s efforts to conciliate probably would have been futile. •there have been reports from

SNYDER-GRAY

Bv XEA Service HOMER, La., Dec. 13.—When a Long Island housewife named Ruth Snyder plotted with her cor-set-salesman lover, Judd Gray, to club her hqgpand to death, the echoes of the affair were heard in the remote confines of the Louisiana town of Haynesville, La., near here. They put an idea in the heads of Elisha Swift, ne'er-do-well soft drink salesman, and Mrs. Effie Jowers, wife of a small-town storekeeper. Asa result, J. F. Jowers, the husband, is dead, and Mrs. Jowers and Swift have confessed to his murder. They were indicted for murder Monday, for a crime tha.t is almost the exact counterpart of

The Indianapolis Times

Stop —Go Watch Your Step, Police Chief Warns All Tired Yule Shoppers. Don’t be so eager in your search for Santa Claus that you risk your “life and limb,” warned Police Chief Claude M. Worley today. ' Worley cautioned pedestrians and motorists to exercise precautions at downtown street intersections, so as not to increase the traffic accident toll during the holidays. Pedestrians, worn out from buying Christmas presents, or loaded with bundles, are not so alert in hopping out of the path of automobiles, Worley declared. Additional traffic officers have been assigned downtown to aid in handling the Christmas shoppers.

union circles that the United Mine Workers would ask for a congressional Live6tlgation into the bituminous situation, if the majority of operators failed to be represented at the conference. BOARD APPROVES BONDS $540,000 Howard County Courthouse Issue Is Allowed. A $540,000 bond issue with which to erect anew Howard County courthouse in Kokomo has been approved by the State tax board. The original petition asked for $650,000, but the board, in preliminary order, authorized the letting of bids and delayed setting the amount until the bido had been submitted. Broadway Tired of Sex Plays Bu United Press NEW YORK, Dec. 13.—Broadway has become tired of sex plays, Miss Fay Goodfellow told a group of Chicago women. Murder dramas, she said, are the proper thing now.

RIME SERVES AS ‘MODEL’ FOR SLAYING BY SMALL TOWN LOVERS

snores announced that he was the Snyder-Gray murder—except that it was, if possible, even more sordid and repellent. The two prisoners admit that the Snyder-Gray crime was their model. Mrs. Jowers, a thin, discour-aged-looking woman who looks even less like a principal in a flaming romance than Mrs. Snyder, says: “Swift and I read about the Snyder-Gray murder. Every detail of it. Swift thought he could improve on it by hiding the body so it could never be found. We thought that Gray and Ruth Snyder had made a mistake in leaving the body where it was." -• ■ . •

INDIANAPOLIS, DEC. 13,1927

SCHWAB ‘SPURS’ STUTZjjEALERS Busy Day Is Scheduled at Motor Convention. Fired with the enthusiasm that Charles M. Schwab, industrial leader, has the faculty of imparting, Stutz distributors and dealers reassembled at the* Stutz Motor Car Company plant today to learn more about Stutz 1928 line—“no two cars alike.” Schwab, chairman of the board of directors of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation and a director of the Stutz company, spoke at a banquet at the Claypool Hotel Monday night. He declared the coming year held great opportunities. Sidney Smith, creator of Andy Gump, entertained the banqueters by sketching antics of the Gump family. F. E. Muskovics, Stutz president, presided. Despite inclement weather, a number of races and speed tests were held on the Speedway Monday afternoon. Demonstrations also were made with the Pak-Age-Car, a light delivery vehicle, with low pressure two-cylinder engine, manufactured by the Package Car Corporation, Chicago. It will be sold by Stutz dealers and distributors. At this morning’s session, sales policies and advertising were outlined. Victor T. Noonan, Chicago Motor Club public safety director, Spoke. After luncheon, sales representatives heard discussions of Stutz business overseas and presentation of the Pak-Age-Car plan. A trip through the factory closed the afternoon session. Capt. E. V. Rickenbacker was to speak at dinner in the Lincoln Hotel tonight, E. S. Gorrell, Stutz vice president, presiding. The convention closes Wednesday afternoon. Kills Self With Shotgun BRAZIL, Ind., Dec. 13.—John Heiliger, 47, coal mine operator, is dead of a wound self-inflicted with a shotgun at the home- of his brother, William Heiliger, south of here. Worry over separation from his wife six weeks ago, is assigned by relatives as the cause of Heiliger’s act.

QWIFT and Mrs. Jowers had maintaining a romance for •, year—a romance that everyone in town knew about, but Jowerc Swift visited Mrs. Jowers every day; when Jowers would come home before he left, Swift would hide in the attic until Jowers had fallen asleep. This might have gone on indefinitely had not the Long Island murder givdh the lovers an idea. So, one night, Swift waited in the dark attic with more than his usual craft. His son, Paul, aged 16, was with him. 1 Jowers was a big man, and Swift, who had planned things better than Judd Gray had planned, was taking no chances. ' At last Jowers’ high-pitched

GIFTS EASY TO FIND FOR GAY COM LAD Shopping Seems Hard .Task but Specialty Stores Solve Problem. PLENTY THERE FOR ‘HIM’ Jewelry, Books, Auto Robes, Canes They’!! All Intrigue Recipients. Puuled over your Chriitm** shopping? Wonder how you’re ever going to pick out all the Christmas presents on your list and don’t see any way out? Listen: The Times’ little shopping helper Is on the Job. Here Is the first helping hand. There’ll be another tomorrow. BY BETTY HEFFERNAN A problem in analytical geometry, or even in spherical “trig;” Einstein’s theory of relativity, or squaring the circle—they sound intricate, but they’re, child’s play compared with choosing the best young man’s Christmas gift So opined a perplexed young co-ed to me yesterday. She was right and she was wrong. Go at it the wrong way, and it is. Take the right way, and it isn’t. At first it does, seeem an unsolvable problem to find something different from the usual scarf or tie affair and at the same time to have the cost chime in with the “remains of the quarterly allowance,” as my college friend described it. Shops Offer Them The department stores and the specialty shops offer clever suggestions (which live up to these two qualifications) for gifts for the young university man and his sophisticated brother who has entered a business or a profession. Books, thoughtfully chosen, make delightful as well as Inexpensive gifts. Avery subtle holiday remembrance for your favorite Phi Beta Kappa who perhaps was your “Vagabond King” date is “The Romance of Villon,” by Francois Carco, illustrated in aquatone. For the bold, dashing young man who boasts of a pirate ancestor, “The Ship Sails On,” by Nordahl Grief, is appropriate. Something for the blase young clubman who thrills you, but at the same time rather frightens you with his fastidious taste is “Negro Drawings,” by Miguel Covarubias, composed of fiftyseven drawings, some of which appeared in Vanity Fair and caused a ripple of excitement in the smartest Eastern sets. Smoking Gifts Good Interesting gifts for the smoker can be found in several specialty shops. A clever arrangement of nested ash trays, nickel plated with brilliant colored glass linings, will be a welcome present for the gay young man who is keeping "bachelor’s hall” this winter. Pipes of all kinds, and tobacco pounches of smart striped silk with oiled silk linings, surely will find a happy haven in many Princeton, Yale, or Harvard club rooms. For clgaret smokers, the ostrich skn case for informal use, and the sterling silver case, handsomely engraved, for formal attire, are being shown. The "open and light in one gesture” clgaret lighter is the latest effort in that line. 9 Attractive Jewelry displays are enough to make any daughter storm the parental bank to gather up additional pennies to add to the allowance, which by this time is bound to be in a sad state. Cuff Links Intrigue For the man about town, there are fascinating cuff links and dress sets of diamonds, pearls, and diamond and onyx combinations. For the young fraternity man, crested jewelry, whether it be the Maltese cross, the sword and shield, or the dragon Wooglin, will be well received. Striped motor robes that Just seemed to belong to speedy touring cars with flashing tonneau windshileds, or to exhilarating little roadsters, are featured at ore shop. These robes may be had ir. almost any quality, with a wide of prices. N * Binoculars for the true sportsman, beverage cases and cocktail shakers, advertised "to concoct and mix to perfection”—well, whatever you have—and walking sticks for the young traveler who Just has returned from “Lunnon-town” and feels capable of keeping one under control, were the last gifts I saw on my tour to find the answer to my college friend’s problem. Tomorrow: Some more “Tips.” Anderson Gir> Killed Bu Times Svecial ANDERSON, Ind., Dec. 13. Marie Dewitt, 13, is dead of a fractured skull suffered Friday when she was struck by an automobile.

asleep. Mrs. Jowers called Swift He came into the bedroom. Mrs. Jowers held a light, and Swift swung a four-pound sledge hammer. Jl* too heavy for Swift to carry down to his auto. So Paul was pressed into unwilling service. Father and son loaded the body into the auto. Then they drove for miles to a bridge over a lonely bayou, where Swift tied heavy weights to the body and dumped it into the water. The next day Mrs. Jowers announced that he husband had left her. Her story was generally accepted; but Sheriff John Coleman, suspicious, went to her home to question her.

ALLEGED MURDERER BY FIRE ON TRIAL

Lloyd Kimble, and inset, Mrs. Jeanetta Taylor

TRUCK HIT BY FLIEMO HURT Three Cars of Train Leap Rails; Track Torn Up. Bu United Pres* ALLIANCE, Ohio, Dec. 13. Ten persons were injured, three cars were derailed and 500 feet of track torn up when a Pennsylvania road flier, Cleveland to Pittsburgh, struck a truck at a crossing near here last night. Witnesses declared the train was running at a speed of more than fifty miles an hour when the accident occurred. Matt Mertz, Canton, Ohio, driver of the truck, was thrown twenty-five feet and his truck was smashed to bits by the impact, but he miraculously escaped with cuts and bruises.-' Several of the injured sustained minor cuts and bruises and were treated at the scene of the wreck. Ambulances and physicians from Alliance rushed those who needed further medical attention to city hospital. Wrecking crews worked through the morning, getting the cars back on the rails and rebuilding the track. PLAN NURSERY EXHIBIT Riverside Side Project One of Largest Municipal Owned In U. S. Preliminary plans are being made for the nursery stock exhibit the second week in May at Riverside nursery, according to Parks Superintendent R. Walter Jarvis. The nursery, said to be valued at about $250,000, is one of the largest municipal nurseries in the country. Hoosier to Sing in Opera. Bu Times Soecial LEBANON, Ind., Dec. 13.—Relatives, here have been advised that Miss Eleanor Honan of this city is to make her debut in grand opera in Italy next spring. She is now a student of Mme. Holtzman in her Paris stuido.

fl*g|aiSTHlsA..J SEALS * *•**

It was Sunday, and she was varnishing her living room floor. This made the sheriff more suspicious; so, a few days later, when she was away, he entered and examined the floor. As he suspected, the varnish was being used to cover bloodstains. # n m MRS. JOWERS and Swift were arrested. After a brief questioning they confessed. Implicating the boy, PauL Deputies found Paul at a movie and brought him to the jail. The boy seemed relieved at being arrested. “I’m glad you’ve got me,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep ever since that night Lots of times I was going to tell about it, but Pop wouldn’t let me.”

Second Section

Full Leased Wire Bervlce of the United Press Association.

Lloyd Kimble Faces First Degree Count at Delphi. BY CHARLES C. STONE SUU Editor, The Time* DELPHI, Ind., Dec. 13.—Lloyd Kimble, 47, father of six children, is on trial today for his life in Carroll Circuit Court here charged with the fire murder of Daniel Sink, 74-year-old recluse, whose charred body was found in the ruins of his farm home near Burrows, Carroll County, last August.* A quarrel following a drinking party coupled with a desire to rob the old man are declared by the prosecution to have led up to the alleged slaying. Mrs. Jeannetta Taylor, 24, childless wife of a farm hand, and companion of Kimble in drinking at Sink’s home the night of the tragedy, faces Kimble as accuser today. Six weeks ago she was arrested to explain about a ring In her possession which had belonged to Sink. It was then she told Carroll County authorities that Kimble beat the old man with a buggy spring and then fired the house. Although it is fairly well established in the minds of authorities that Kimble and Mrs. Taylor were principals in a love affair, her husband, Jesse Taylor, apparently has forgiven her. He has visited her but once since she was placed in jail here a month and a half ago as a witness against Kimble, but at that time both wept and parted with fervid declarations of love for each other. Kimble’s lawyers have lost one round in their fight to save him from death in the electric chair or life imprisonment. Their motion made Monday to obtain a copy of the statement of Mrs. T&ylor was overruled. A special jury venire of fifty has been drawn, twenty of them having been ordered to report today. CLUBS ENTER BUS FIGHT Civic Groups Pick Attorneys For State Hearing Dee. 20. Edward O. Snethen, Othniel Hitch and Vem C. Chapman, attorneys, will represent the Federation of Civic Clubs at the public service commission bus hearing Dec. 20 in city council chamber. Corporation Counsel John W. Holtzman will confer with the federation attorneys relative to the petition to unify the bus lines. 16 POUNDS AT BIRTH Two-Day-Old City Girl Holds Record, State Board Says. Two-day-old Mildred Lucille Fish Is candidate for the honor of being the "biggest baby ever bom in Indiana.” Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Fish, 1042 Reisner St., she weighed sixteen and one-half quarter pounds upon arrival Sunday. Check-up of State public health records, shows that this is the record. State Health Board Secretary William F. King congratulated the parents.

Then the boy revealed a strange, shadowy drama—the drama of the semi-illiterate soft drink salesman forcing his son to help with a murder, stifling the boy’s protests wiuh blows and threats and compelling him to take part in a tragedy that robbed the lad of sleep for days afterward. Mrs. Jowers and Swift offered to plead guilty and accept life sentences. But the prosecutor refused, announcing that he would put them on trial and demand the death penalty. The trial will begin soon. And in the courtyard of the jail where they are confined, right under Swift’s window, carpenters are building a scaffold. The sheriff believes in being prepared.

TAFT IS SUED FOR $500,000 BY REMUS AID Action Against Prosecutor Grows Out of Indictment on Perjury Charge. CALLS ‘LEGAL LIGHTS’ Nation’s Leading Attorneys to Press Fight, Millionaire Promoter Says. Bu United Press CINCINNATI, Dec. 13.—John S. Berger, Los Angeles promoter and boyhood friend of George Remus, today instituted a damage action for $500,000 against Charles P. Taft 11. The suit which was filed in the Hamilton County court of common .pleas grew out of an indictment charging Berger with perjury resulting from his testimony on behalf of Remus, who is on trial accused of wife murder. The action was divided into two parts. One alleged that Taft “falsely and maliciously and without reasonable and probable cause procured Plaintiff John S. Berger to be indicted by the grand jury for the crime of perjury.” Because news of the indictment was published in the press Berger believes he was injured in his credit and reputation to the extent of $250,000. Summons Legal Lights The second part alleged that Taft “intending it should be published in the newspapers informed certain news gathering representatives, Berger was convicted of a felony in Minnesota.” Berger filed the suit on his own behalf, but he visited the pressroom and announced he would summon “six of the outstanding legal lights of the country” to fight the case for him. When informed of the suit Taft smiled. “I am going to be very busy in the conduct of this case,” he said, "and in the meantime I don’t intend to be bothered by flea bites.” The State still was undecided today whether to call Franklin L. Dodge, Jr., former Department of Justice Investigator, as a rebuttal witness. Dodge once was named as a co-respondent by Remus, and was accused of conspiring with Mrs. Remus to rob her husband of the fortune built in bootlegging. Although Dodge could add little but denials to the records of the trial the State is inclined to feel that his testimony would have a certain psychological effect upon the jury, especially since Remus did not testify in his own behalf. If Dodge is not summoned, the major rebuttal witnesses will be Miss Ruth Remus, 20-year-old daughter of the slain woman, and Harry F. Bown, of Ford, Ont., the slain woman’s brother. PLAN CHURCH HOSPITAL Presbyterians Develop Plans for Institution Here in Future. Indianapolis will have a Presbyterian hospital within the next fifteen years, according to plans made Monday at a meeting of the presbytery at the Second Presbyterian Church, The Rev. Henry T Graham, moderator and pastor of Westminster Church, was appointed to name a committee to develop hospital plans. Home Presbyterian Church, 960 W. Thirty-First St., was selected for the spring presbytery meeting. Dr. George L. Mackintosh, presi-dent-emeritus of Wabash College, spoke. The Rev. John S. Martin, Greenwood Presbyterian Church pastor, was placed on the honorary retired list, due to illness. TALK SCHOOL MANAGER Boud Will Meet Tonight to Select Frazer Successor. Indianapolis school commissioners will meet tonight to select a successor to Ure M. Frazer, who recently resigned as business manager of the schools. Announcement of Fred T. Gladden, assistant State superintendent of public instruction, that he is not a candidate for the post, strengthens chances for appointment of Wayne G. Emmelman, board of works secretary and Lieutenant of Marion County Republican Chairman George V. Coffin. Emmelman appeared at an informal conference of the board Monday. George R. Keiser, former purchasing agent of the school board, and Clyde C Rlckes, present purchasing agent, have also been mentioned as candidates. DELAY BLUE SKY CASE Arguments on Vandagrlfft Motion to Be Heard Monday. Arguments on a motion to quash charges of violating the Indiana securities act against Virgil Vandagrifft, former works board member, will be heard by Special Criminal Judge Alonzo Blair at 2 p. m. Monday. Arguments were postponed yesterday. Vandagrlfft is alleged to have operated an oil well rejuvenator company that was not Incorporated in Indiana. Apologize to Health Director Bu United Press NEW YORK, Dec. 13.—A leading dairy products company apologized to Dr. Louis Harris, health inspector, because one of its and roctors ' bet cigars with milk inspec ors that Dr.