Indianapolis Times, Volume 39, Number 194, Indianapolis, Marion County, 22 December 1927 — Page 11

Second Section

SUBS’CRITICS ANSWERED BY i HEAD OF NAVY Secretary Wilbur Defends Safety of Undersea War Craft. 'EVERYTHING IS DONE’ Military Purpose of Vessel Served; Safeguards Are Developed. BY THOMAS L. STOKES United Press Staff Correspondent (Copyright, 1927, by Ur.Ued Press) WASHINGTON, Dec. 22.—Answering criticisms directed at the Navy Department, Secretary of Navy Wilbur declared today he feels confident that naval officers in charge have developed all safety appliances for submarines, practical and consistent with the military uses of this type of vessel. “I do not mind the criticism of the department,” he said in an exclusive interview with the United Press setting forth his views on the controversy arising from sinking of the S-4, adding, however, he feels everything has been done that could be done, Wilbur said he could not discuss specific charges of alleged lack of precaution in the S-4 case, as these matters had not been determined, but would wait upon the report of the board of inquiry, “Proper” Action Promised If it develops there was negligence or failure to take necessary precautions, the department will take proper action, he said. Charges which have arisen since the disaster include those of failure to issue adequate warnings for vessels to keep away from the S-4’s testing area and failure to patrol the area properly. “People generally do not realize how submarines have increased in size and the problem which this causes,” Wilbur said. “We’ve tried to take all safety precautions consistent with the military purposes of the submarine and the training of the men. Experts in the department are investigating these matters all the time and have been for years. Piched Shallow Sea for Test “These ships are not built merely to be rescued. They are built for military purposes. If the S-4 had not been so severely injured, it would have come up. No vessel is built to operate after it has been completely waterlogged or wrecked.” The secretary explained tha’. the area where the ship went down is chosen for submarine tests, because of the shallowness of the water—as he puts it, graphically “where it is not far from the bottom to the top.” He pointed out that this precaution wa3 taken as it has been demonstrated in the past that if submarines get down too far there is a danger of their cracking. A Dutch submarine which went down too deep off Hawaii began to crack in the seams, he explained. It succeeded in getting up without tragic consequences. Everything Being Done As for the efforts to raise the submarine S-4, Wilbur said, everything possible is being done. “We have the best men in the world there,” he said. “We have ’'the best divers. We have the most jnodem equipment, i “We started in on this rescue job by mobilizing everything of any value whatsoever, whether it was thought that it would be effective or not.” DAMMEYER IS NAMED \ TO WORKS BOARD JOB Succeeds Orville R. Scott as Assessment Bureau Clerk. Oren S. Hack, works board president, today announced appointment cxf Theodore H. Dammeyer, 4460 Broadway, a Democrat, as chief clerk of the city Barrett law assessment bureau. The position pays $3,600 a year. * Dammeyer will succeed Orville R. Scott, close friend of former Mayor John L. Duvall, Jan. 1. He was a State employe in Governor Marshall’s administration. He has been in the real estate business since. Hack declared he would “straighten out” the assessment bureau. SHRINE TO HELP NEEDY Distribution of Christmas Baskets to Start Saturday. Shriners of Murat Temple will deliver hundreds of Christmas baskets to needy families starting at 1 p. m. Saturday from the Murat temple. Fred J. Brinkmeyer is in charge of packing and distributing. His assistants are Boyd Templeton, Frank V. Martin, John W. Stokes, Robert L. Elder, Clinton H. Givan, George A. Hllgemeier, William F. Hotz, Edgar O. Burgan and E. H. Burgan.

Don’t Duplicate Be sure the poor family you are aiding this Christmas is not being taken care of by someone else while another family Is forgotten. Clear your family through the Christmas Clearing House, 335 N. Pennsylvania St. Main 0382 or Main 0383. In other years 25 per cent duplication has been prevented. HERBERT S. KING. Chairman, Christmas Clearing House.

Entered as Becond-class Matter at Postoffice. Indianapolis.

They’ll Hear Their Answer Soon

SON IDENTIFIES CHARRED BODY —No. S Head—See Puzzle Floyd Sink Testifies in Kimble Murder Trial. Bu Timet Bvecial DELPHI, Ind., Dec. 22.—When the trial of Lloyd Kimble, charged with the first degree murder of Daniel Sink, 74, entered upon its eighth day in Carroll Cicuit Court this morning, the charred cropse found in the ruins of Sink’s home near Woodville, Aug. 24, last, had been positively identified as that of the old man, by Floyd Sink, a son. So far testimony offered by the State has related to circumstances leading up to the fire. Chester Brown, Burrows, salesman-tank truck driver for an oil company, testified that shortly before the fire Sink had purchased five gallons of kerosene. The proescution contends kerosene was poured about the house by Kimble and set afire after he attacked Sink, rendering him unconscious. James Dillon, grandson of Sink, testified that from the ashes of the home part of a steel buggy spring had been taken. The State charges Kimble struck Sink with this piece of metal before the house was fired. A large crowd is on hand again today, hoping that Mrs. Jeanette Taylor, star prosecution witness, will take the stand. It was expected she would testify Wednesday, but the State used only preliminary witnesses. WHITE STOP LINES Yellow to Be Abandoned by City Officials. The city’s electric traffic signals will soon shed their black and yellow colors for black and white on orders of the board of safety. City employees will repaint the yellow to white with diagonal black lines. The “head” will be black to make the red and green lights more distinct. Black and white was used In the Shank administration, but the Duvall administration repainted the Signs black and yellow. “Railroad engineers have studied the safety question for years and agree that the white, with diagonal black lines is more efficient and satisfactory. What is good enough for railroad experts is good enough for us,” said Fred W. Connell, present board president. STREEPY IS SENTENCED Prison Term Given for Having Dynamite in Room. Refusing motion for a suspended sentence, Special Criminal Judge Frank Symmes sentenced William Streepy to from two to fourteen years in the Indiana Reformatory for depositing dynamite in his room at the Hoosier Inn, 440 Massachusetts Ave. Streepy \/as arrested when police found thirty-two sticks of dynamite, four revolvers and two rifles in his room shortly after the hold-up of the Forty-Second St. State Bank in August. They were unable to connect him with the hold-up.

The Indianapolis Times

Are Bath Snyder and Judd Gray (at top) actually to die in the electric chair for the murder of Albert Snyder, Ruth’s husband? Governor A1 Smith of tfew York (below) must decide soon. Ruth and Judd apparently have lost their last hope of interference by the courts. They are under sentence to die in Sing Sing prison the week of Jan. 9. BY HORTENSE SAUNDERS NBA Sendee Writer OSSINING, N. Y., Dec. 22. They’re giving Ruth Snyder and Judd Gray the “benefit of the doubt” at Sing Sing prison here. “We have made no plans for the execution,” said Warden Lewis E. Lawes. "We will not make any until Governor Smith acts. So long as there Is any doubt, we give the prisoner the benefit.” But there is small consolation in this for Ruth Snyder and Judd Gray. At Sing Sing, where executions are not uncommon, the making of preparations is a matter that is handled with dispatch. Governor Smith is expected to act by the end of the present month. The Snyder-Gray executions are set, under court order, lor the week of Jan. 9. That is time and a plenty for all preliminaries. Less than ten months will have intervened between the murder of Albert Snyder, art editor of Motor Boating magazine, and the forfeiting of the lives of his beautiful wife and her meek little corset salesman lover, Judd Gray, if the death edict is carried out on schedule. It was the morning of March 21 of this year that Albert Snyder’s body was found in his bed, his skull crushed by a window sashweight and his throat wrapped with picture wire. Albert Snyder was a stolid sort, and none too well off. Ruth Snyder wanted her fun. Judd Gray provided it. Judd Gray didn’t ask anything for himself at his trial. He merely wanted to get the whole story off his chest, he said. He did. Now Governor Smith is to say whether the grim finding of the jury Is to stand. FESS IS FOR .WILLIS Senator From Ohio Supported by Colleague; Hoover Second. J WASHINGTON, Dec. 22.—Senator Sifneon D. Fess of Ohio made known today he is for Senator Willis, Ohio’s favorite son, as first choice for president and for Secretary of Commerce Hoover as second choice. Fess, who to the last was hopeful President Coolidge would accept redeclared for Willis after consulting Ohio Republicans.

ANNUAL FLOOD OF GIFTS POURS INTO WHITE HOUSE

Bn United Press WASHINGTON, Dec. 22Anxiety hangs over the Christmas preparations in the First Home of the Land. Christmas gifts are coming to the White House from all parts of the nation and Mrs. Coolidge, with her son, John, home from college, is busy with Yuletide preparations. But several times a day she is called to the telephone to receive reports from Northampton, Mass., where her aged mother, Mrs. Lemira Goodhue, is very ill. Except for this note of anxiety,

INDIANAPOLIS, THURSDAY, DEC. 22, life!7

So the Devil He Built the Submarine

Bn United Pre** WASHINGTON, Dec. 21.—A graphic poem, almost prophetic in tone, was written by Walter Bishop, radio nan aboard the S-4, submarine sunk last Saturday. Selected stanzas from the poem, as printed by the Washington Post today, follow: In the cankerous mind of the devil There festered a fiendish scheme; He called his cohorts around him And designed the “submarine.” The torpedo room Is a deadly spot. But we have small choice, you know; So some sleep there, next the overhead, With T. N. T. below. We know it’s a serious business, You never hear laugh or quip; Efficiency reigns supreme, Our lives are forfeit for a ship. Yes, daily we make a risky dive While Uncle Sam, with his brimming cup, Bets us a dollar, while we're alive, A dollar to nothing we don’t come up. We’re bottled up, just like a trap, With nothing in between The men and death but a metal cap, Like the lid of a soup tureen. Bartholomew Pioneer Dies EDINBURG, Ind., Dec. 22.—Isaac N. Foster, 84, civil war veteran, who had spent his entire life in Bartholomew County, is dead at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Jessie Munter, two miles east of here.

CITY WILL NOT BUY WHITE RIVER TRACT

City consideration of the purchase of 105 acres between Illinois St. and Washington Blvd., the canal and White River, appeared at an end today when the zoning appeals board acceded to the demands of the owner, Dr. H. L. Wheeler, for approval of a plat governing subdivision of the property. Action on the plat had been delayed while the park board considered the purchase. Gustav G. Schmidt, zoning appeals board president, urged this action. He argued it should be acquired to facilitate flood prevention and sanitation projects and was in the path of important north side real estate development.

Christmas for the President and his family will be like that of millions of other households throughout the land. All bundled up in his big coonskin coat, John Coolidge, the only living son, arrived home from Amherst College this week to spend the holidays with his mother and father. On previous Christmas visits John las invited the younger folks of officials Washington for an afternoon dance in the east room of the White House. He accepts only a few of the

BANKS BAIN AT STAMPING O. K. ONSLAGK Ignoring of Call for Bids on Sewer Bonds Shows Doubt of Standing. SHEEHAN GETS AWARD Once Before Rejected Because of Mayor Duvall’s Signature. Indianapolis banks again today refused to recognize L. Ert Slack as the unquestioned mayor. No bank submitted a bid upon the $23,000 Jackson St. interceptor sewer bond issue, which once before was rejected because banks questioned the signature of John L. Duvall during the mayoralty tangle. Politicians and financiers had watched the bidding with unusual interest. No bank having bid, Eugene han, who holds the contract for construction of the sewer, was awarded the issue on his bid of par and accrued interest. The issue bears 4.25 per cent interest and matures serially by 1952. Tangle Over Duvall The bend issue failed of sale In November because of the tangle growing out of the fall of the John L. Duvall administration. Attorneys advised banks that none of the numerous successors and claimants to Duvall’s seat when he resigned held the office without a cloud and hence any bond issue bearing any of the signatures would not be entirely safe. Since that time Slack has won one legal step in the fight to establish himself as the uncontested occupant of the mayor’s chair. The sanitary board felt certain the bonds would be disposed of because Eugene Sheehan, who holds the contract for construction of the sewer for $19,000 has agreed to buy the issue, if banks do not bid. Faced By Two Suits Two suits still stand between Slack and a clear track as mayor. The quo warranto proceedings which Joseph L. Hogue lost in Circuit Court are in Supreme Court upon appeal. Supreme Court also has the appeal of Ira L. Holmes from the Superior Court injunction which prohibited interference with Claude E. Negley during the brief interim when Negley was mayor pre-tem. If Holmes could get a favorable ruling he would have color for his argument that he was mayor when Negley was serving as mayor protem and backing for his contention that he still is mayor. LULL INSTATE WAR Oklahoma Governor Sends Troops Home. P. United Pm* OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla., Dec. 22.—A lull during the Christmas holidays was expected in Oklahoma’s political turmoil as a result of two court orders restraining further meetings of the insurgent Legislature, which last week, voted impeachment charges against Governor Henry S. Johnston and two State officials. The District Court yesterday made permanent the temporary injunction Johnston obtained to prevent the legislators from meeting and issued a second order restraining their pay and legislative funds. Governor Johnston yesterday demobilized troops guarding the State capitol ahd locked the chamber doors. He evidently believes the malcontents will not risk arrest and contempt charges by violating the District Court injunction. The Senate will reconvene Dec. 28 to consider the impeachment charges.

Mrs. Lydia Taylor, plan commisrian member, criticised the park board’s failure to buy the land, asserting it had bought other property less desirable from the city's standpoint. Oren S. Hack, recently appointed works board president, asked Wheeler what his proposition was to the park board. Wheeler said "any plan” to finance the purchase was “all right.” He suggested the price should be determined by competent appraisers and that he would sell the land to the city at this figure, allowing the city ten years for payment. Wheeler was given authority to subdivide the land into lots of any size.

dozens of invitations extended by ambitious society leadrs here. During the last few days the mail at the White House has contained a curious assortment of useful—and useless—articles and edibles for the Christmas dinner—gifts from all parts of the country. A twenty-five-pound turkey gobbler, first of the annual batch, has arrived and is being fattened up. Idaho has contributed a sack of potatoes and Michigan has sent red beets. So President Coolidge may be A

Mourning Girl Follows Maniac’s Victim to Grave

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‘Youth Who Was Too Good to Other People’ Will Be Buried Saturday. The youth vho was "just too good to other people,” and died because of it will be buried in Crown Hill Cemetery Saturday, following funeral services at Michigan St. M. E. church, at 2 p. m. A grief-stricken girl will follow the coffin to the grave. The youth was James Louis Bernhardt, 1226 N. Holmes Ave., killed Tuesday night at Tenth St. and Warman Ave., by Frederck Matelic. 61, of 2902 Is W. Tenth St. Matelic confessed he was in a drunken rage because he thought his wife, from whom he had been separated eight months, was receiving visits from a younger man. Bernhardt, it developed, did not even know Mrs. Matelic. Girl Close Friend The girl who will follow the body to the grave is Miss Junie Williams, 21, of 1126 Gross St., who was with Bernhardt just before the shooting. She and the victim had been friends for more than a year. Matelic was held to the county grand jury today by Municipal Judge Paul C. Wetter today. Matelic appeared without a lawyer. He stood silent when Deputy Prosecutor Carl Vandiver informed him he could have a preliminary hearing in municipal court or waive hearing and be bound to the grand jury. He also remained mute when Judge Wetter asked him what he pleaded to the first degree murder charge and the judge entered a not guilty plea. Admits the Shooting When Wetter asked. “Did you shoot him?” Matelic replied briefy, “Yes.” Crazed by jealousy and six drinks oof white mule, Matelic shot Bernhardt, a stranger to him, when the youth essayed the role of good Samaritan and helped him across the street. Matelic was obsessed with the idea that his wife, from whom he has been separated for eight months, was keeping company with some younger man, police learned. NURSEMAID IS BEATEN Youth Confesses to Attack on Woman With Hammer. Bj / United Pres* NEW YORK, Dec. 2.—After confessing that he beat Miss Helen Hyesen, 44, nursemaid, into insensibility with a hammer, Edward Gerke, 21, today faced charges of assault and attempted Jobbery. • Miss Hyesen was attacked by Gerke while protecting the 3-year-old daughter of her employer, John de Groot, restaurant proprietor of Brooklyn. She was qlone with the child when the intruder entered. Only the entrance of de Groot’s 12-year-old son, John Jr., in the room, frightening the man away, saved her life, police believed.

able to preserve some of tin many artie r about himself, a little girl from the Middlewest sent an attractive scrap book. From a New England grandmother came a pair of warm woolen wristlets with an attached card, reading: "These are to keep you warm when you come back to Vermont.” The entitre presidential family will gather outside on the White House lawn Christmas eve to listen to carol singing by the singers of the Interstate Commerce Commission Choral society.

Pull Leased Wire Service of the United Press Association.

Miss Junie Williams

JURY MAY NOT HEAR WATSDN No. 3 Head—Sec Puzzle Senator to Be Busy Until Probe Is Finished. The present Marion County grand jury may not get to question United States Senator James E. Watson about some matters opened up by its political corruption inquiry of the last six months. This was idicated today by a Washington dispatch quoting Watsor: as sayin-r that he would be glad to appear beiore the grand jury and then setting out Watson’s plans which apparently would keep him elsewhere until after Jan. 1. Anew grand jury come in Jan. 1. Grand jurors and prosecutors have refused to discuss reports that they intend to subpoena Watson if he gets within serving distance. Watson plans to go to Chicago after the Christmas holiday, interview northen Indiana Republican leaders, then go to Evansville to consult southern Indiana politicians. After that he plans to visit Frank C. Ball of Muncie, who is boomed for Republican nomination for Governor. Then he might come to Indianapolis. • The jury will make a final report to Criminal Judge James A. Collins Dec. 30. A partial report will be made Friday. This, however, is not expected to have any bearing on the political probe report. Raymond Donahew, former business associate of D. C. Stephenson, who called on the former dragon at Indiana State prison last week, was before the jury t^day. 2 TALKEDFOR JOBS Howe and Rinehart May Get Park Board Posts. Thomas C. Howe, Republican, former Butler University president, and Mark V. Rinehart, attorney, young Democratic leader, today were mentioned as possible appointees on the park board to fill vacancies Jan. 1. Mayor L. Ert Slack announced he has asked Mrs. Mary Hoss, Republican, and Adolph Emhardt, Democrat, to resign Jan. 1. Slack has not indicated who he will name. Emsley W. Johnson, special prosecutor in the political probe and former park board member under the Shank administration, virtually is certain of receiving appointment as successor to John E. Milnor, president, whose term expires Dec. 31. Michael E. Foley, Democrat, probably will remain on the board and may be president if he will accept. SHRINERS HEAR SLACK Caravan Luncheon Club Entertained With Christmas Program. Caravan Luncheon Club of the Murat Temple heard Mayor L. Ert Slack today. Slack is a member of Murat Shrine. Edgar Hart and Joel Ryde arranged a Christmas program. Shrine firms gave members souvenirs. Too Much Religion; No Auto NEWARK, N. J., Dec. 22.—William Lee, Negro, refused to sign an application for an automobile license because “the Lord appeared to him' and told him not to sign anything.” The license was refused.

Second Section

MOTHER IS AT TAMPICO; TO LINDYTODAY Hops Off This Afternoon for Mexico City; Son to Meet Her in Plane. FLYING WEATHER POOR Entire Town Turns Out to Honor Kin of Air Hero on Her Arrival. Eu United Press TAMPICO, Mexico, Dec. 22. Mrs. Evangeline Lindbergh landed here at 11 a. m. today in the threemotored Ford airplane that is taking her to spend Christmas with her son, Col. Charles Lindbergh, at Mexico City. She left this morning from Brownsville, Texas. Flying weather was so bad that it was feared Mrs. Lindbergh might be forced to remain here until Thursday morning. The weather was misty, and there was a light rain. The road to the aviation field was blocked with traffic of all sorts, that seemed to indicate the entire town had turned out to greet the mother of the distinguished American. Mrs. Lindbergh was to be entertained at a luncheon in her honor by city and Federal authorities at the Casino Tampiqueno. She has become already the honored guest of the nation, os she will be at Mexico City. Capital’s Greeting Ready P,u United Press MEXICO CITY, Dec. 22.—The Mexican Telephone Company advised the American embassy today that Mrs. Evangeline Lindbergh planned to take off in her Ford airplane from Tampico between 1 and 1:30 p. m. on the final stage of her flight here to spend Christmas with her son. Col. Charles Lindbergh. Heavy fog that had persisted since dawn hung over the capital began to lift at 10 a. m. and the sun came out, giving hope of a clear day later. The American embassy was Informed from Tampico that a heavy fog was rolling in from the Gulf of Mexico. It was said the fog might force Mrs. Lindbergh to take off again almost as soon as she arrives at Tampico if she meant to leat the fog here. Lindy to Meet Mother The extraordinary arrangements made for Mrs. Lindbergh's flight were apparent when the American embassy received from two sources —the Mexican Telephone Company and the Western Union Telegraph Company—almost instantaneously the news that Mrs. Lindbergh’s plane was flying over Tampico. News followed within a minute or two that the plane had landed. Colonel Lindbergh was awaiting eagerly news of his mother’s progress, so he could start in his Spirit of St. Louis airplane to meet her half-way between the capital and Tampico and escort her to Valbue.ta flying field here .where Prc-.ident Calles was to await her. Lindy Guest of Obregon Colonel Lindbergh was a guest at luncheon of General Obregon, former president, at his suburban estate. The American embassy planned, as soon as it learned Mrs. Lindbergh’s plane had left Tampico, to send an airplane to fly over the estate. That was to be the signal for Lindbergh to hurry to Va.buena flying field to take out his plane to greet her. CHRISTIAN MINISTERS MEET HERE MONDAY 200 From Throughout State Expected for Four-Day Session. More than 200 of the 700 members of the Indiana Christian Ministerial Association are expected to attend the annual mid-winter retreat at the Third Christian Church, Seventeenth St. and Broadway, starting Monday and continuing through Wednesday. The Rev. J. Newton Jessup, Lafayette, Is president, and the Rev. J. A. Long, pastor of the North Park Christian Church here, is vice president. Election of officers is held at the spring meeting. It is likely that a successor will be chosen next week to the late Rev. W. E. Hackleman, Indianapolis, secretary and treasurer, who was killed in an automobile accident some weeks ago. Following the Monday afternoon session a banquet will be held at the church. Tuesday night veterans of the aassociation will be given a dinner in their honor. DELAY NAVAL BUILDING England Has No Plan to Increase Program, Says King. Bj/ United Pres* LONDON, Dec. 22.—Great Britain has no intention of increasing her naval building program despite “temporary failure” of the Coolidge cruiser limitation conference. King George declared today In a speech proproguing parliament. Fights Tragedy Suit ANDERSON, Ind., Dec. 22.—A motion to strike out the petition of Othniel Hitch, Indianapolis, asking permission to sue the Union Traction Company In a Marion County court as a sequel to the recent crossing tragedy fatal to a number of Sahara Grotto members and their families, has been filed here by A. W. Brady, receiver for the traction company.