Indianapolis Times, Volume 39, Number 202, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 December 1927 — Page 13

Second Section

Many Tragedies Are Marked Feature in News Review of 1927

Floods, Tornadoes and Fires Are Outstanding in Record of Year’s Principal Events

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TAXES CUT, FREE OF DEBT, STATE IN BEST CONDITION FOR 1928, GOVERNOR SAYS Jackson Answers Critics of Administration Without Specific Mention of Charges; Claims All Campaign Promises Are Fulfilled. Governor E<l Jackson today used a New Year statement to Indiana citizens as the vehicle for the first detailed reply to critics of his administration. Jle avoided specific reference or answer to any of the speed ; charges which have been made against him in the Criminal Court indictment, or otherwise. The statement: Citizens of Indiana may well pause at the close of the year 1927 and turn to a contemplation of the benefits that have accrued to them from a proper administration of State affairs, many of which have been overlooked in the first reaction to studied misrepresentations of designing individuals and selfish newspapers. Indiana is entering 1928 free of all indebtedness, with the

lowest tax levy it has enjoyed I for many years, with a healthy j general fund amply protected by a strong budget, with adequate annual investments bringing its several institutions to the front rank of those in any State. Our per capita cost of govern- j ment is considerably below the av- j erage of all the States; our annual j institutional betterments have a j value of at least $12,000,000, and it can not be denied that Indiana is today enjoying an administration in complete accord with the wishes of a great. majority of its citizens as expressed in the last State election. Hits at Accusers With these irrefutable markers of good government standing forth on the public records like beacon lights in the night, it is almost inconceivable that those without loyalty to the State should find an audience for their misrepresentations or a field in which to sow their rank seeds of discontent and suspicion. Yet it must be admitted that throughout the year 1927 conscienceless efforts to detract from the glories of Indiana have * been successful enough temporarily to deflect the attention of many citizens from the good that has been accomplished to tales of evil that have been irresponsibly told and never proved. Popular government has neverbeen more thorough of accomplishment in Indiana than it has in the last three years, during which the State administration has driven steadily to the fulfillment of its mandate from the people without regard to the thoughtless and perhaps intentional misrepresentations of misled men of prominence, voiced through newspapers of dubious responsibilities. indorsed at Elections Popular government is that government which demonstrates its proximity to the people by accomplishing those things which the people have commanded its administration to accomplish. In the campaign of 1924 the people of Indiana indorsed the present administration pledges. To pay the public debt; To reduce State taxes; To strengthen the budget law; To adopt and abide by tne pay-as-you-go method of improvement; To revise the financial policies of the State. In the campaign of 1926 the administration further pledged relief to the fanners of the State by reassessment of all real estate. The coming of the year 1928 finds all these pledges redeemed, a fact tmat should prove to the people of Indiana that popular government is not only possible but existent. At the beginning of this adminis-

Entered a* Second-class Matter at Postofflce. indlanaoo:.'.

Lindy Is First l\u Vnitnl Prist NEW YORK. Dec. 31.—One news event—the successful non-stop flight of Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh from New York to Paris—so far eclipsed all others in the interest of American newspaper readers that the year 1927 held no other item comparable to it in this respect. The record of news from last New Year’s day until this New Year's eve shows May 20 and 21, the dates of Lindbergh’s takeoff and his arrival in Paris as the high points in American interest in a news event. This conclusion is based on newspaper space allotted to the Lindbergh story, telephone calls to newspapers throughout the country while the flight was in progress and the size of crowds in leading cities following bulletins on the event.

tration the State s indebtedness was $3,240,000 and the balance in the general fund was only $556,879.95. On July 1. 1926. there was no State indebtedness and six months later | the balance in the general fund was $7,033,534.78. The tax levy fixed in 1924, which provided revenue for 1925, was 28 cents. The levy for 1925 was the : same, but the next year this administration reduced the levy to 23 cents, and that levy has again been j adopted. In the four years previous to this administration the average tax levy was 27 U cents and for the three j years of this administration it is j 24 2-3 cents. Progress Not Curtailed In the fulfillment of the pledges to pay the State debt and i educe taxes, this administration* did not resort to subterfuges such as curtailment of all improvements and rehabilitation of the State’s finances at the expense of progress. During the three years of the administration there has been added to the permanent property valuations of the State lands and structures for the twenty State institutions, the department of conservation and the Statehouse annex a capital investment of $5,521 001.11. To the highway system of the State there has been added property of the value of $35,085,612.27. Low Administrative Costs In diana, free of all indebtedness, owns property reasonably appraised at $232,000,000 and has in its various funds balances totaling approximately $16,500,000. Its per capita cost of administration, maintenance and interest is at least SI,BOO less than the average of (Turn to Page 15)

The Indianapolis Times

JANUARY 9—Fire in Laurier Palace Theater, Montreal, kills seventy-six children. 11— Anti-foreign trouble begins in China with riots in Foochow. 12— High Commissioner Landis exonerates twenty-one ball players accused of thrownig games. 15— Tennessee Supreme Court upholds famous “monkey law.” 16 — George Young wins Catalina Island channel marathon swim. FEBRUARY I—United States marine battalion ordered to China to protect American lives. 3 Revolution breaks out in Lisbon, Portugal, but is soon put down. 18— Chinese Nationalists capture Hangchow. 28— United States Supreme Court cancels Doheny’s Elk Hills lease as fraudulent. MARCH 4 Col. Thomas W. Miller, former alien property custodian, convicted of conspiracy to defraud the Government; Harry Daugherty is acquitted. 7—Earthquakes kill 55,000 near Osaka and Kobe, Japan. 16— Harry F. Sinclair found guilty of contempt of the Senate for refusing to answer questions about Teapot Dome. 21—Chinese Nationalists capture Shanghai. 24—United States and English warships rescue foreigners from attack of Chinese at Nanking, shelling the native quarter. 29 New auto speed record of 203 miles per hour set by Maj. H. O. D. Seagrave at Daytona Beach, Fla. APRIL 5 William Hale Thompson elected mayor of Chicago. 9—Nicolo Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti sentenced to death for alleged murder of paymaster and guard six years before. 12—Tornado at Rock Springs, Texas, destroys town and takes fifty-six lives. 14—Mississippi river reaches flood stage from St. Louis to Cairo, 111. 17— Levees break in Arkansas and 25,000 are made homeless. 19— Tornadoes kill forty-five in Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Conventions Drew 98,291 Guests in 1927

BY HENRY" T. DAVIS Convention Bureau Manager Chamber of Commerce A $5,400,000 “invisible industry” operated an overhead of less than $30,000 in 1927, and every cent of its income was disseminated through the channels of trade in Indianapolis, is the record of the Chamber of Commerce Convention Bureau. . There are many little stories be- j hind that accomplishment. Two hundred fifty-seven conventions did not come to the city by mere chance, nor were they left to shift for themselves when they arrived. 140 Signed for Next Year Always working in the future, the j bureau intensified its political man- j euverings—in a “concentional sense” —its salesmanship, its service, and Its work as a host in building for the next four year. One hundred and forty conventions already are slated for 1928. The exact attendance at 1927 conventions was 98.291, exclusive of wives and friends. One hundred ninety-two were State conventions with' an attendance of 71.425, fortythree were national and international with 22.415 delegates, and twenty-two were regional with 4,450. Conventions are slated for 1928, ’29. ’3O and ’32. Among those for 1928 are conventions which will bring from 1,000 to 10.000 delegates. As business in all lines was "whooped it up” and is demanding tactics of a higher pressure, so has the convention bureau attacked an increasingly complex problem to keep pace with cities which are just as ambitious as Indianapolis to get “a convention a day.” Throughout the United States large commercial centers and many of the smaller ones are becoming highly appreciative of the business value, the advertising, the good will

INDIANAPOLIS, SATURDAY, DEO. 31, 1927

30—Poydras levee, Louisiana, dynamited to save New Orleans; 75,000 now homeless, 150 dead in Mississippi flood. MAY s—Nicaraguan liberals accept terms of Henry L. Stimson, President Coolidge’s special representative, and lay down \heir arms. 7—Poplar Bluff, Mo., and several Texas towns hit by tornado; 200 dead. 13— Louisiana “sugar bowl” district flooded; Secretary Hoover announces flood refugees now total 500,000. 18—Maniac bombs school at Bath, Mich.; fortyfour children killed. 20—Prohibition bureau shakeup sees Seymour Lowman and Dr. James Doran succeed Gen. Lincoln C. Andrews and Maj. Roy Haynes. JUNE 1— Governor Alvan T. Fuller of Massachusetts names special committee to review SaccoVanzetti case. I— Ontario’s dry law comes to an end after eleven years. 14— Soviet Russia executes 100 after scare over foreign spies. 20—President Coolidge's naval disarmament conference opens in Geneva. JULY 7—Henry Ford retracts hi santi-Jewish campaign statements. ll One thousand people killed by earthquakes in Palestine. 16 —Socialist mob seizes Vienna; seventy killed, 1,500 hurt in street rioting. 20—ICmg Ferdinand of Rumonia dies. 28—Earthquakes in Kansu province, China, cause huge loss of life. 30—D. C. Stephenson begins his expose of political corruption before an Indianapolis grand jury. AUGUST 2 President Coolidge announces he does not, choose to run for President in 1928. 3 Governor Fuller of Massachusetts declines to intervene in Sacco-Vanzetti case. 4 naval conference ends In a deadlock. 7—Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood, governor general of the Philippines, dies.

and the culture to be obtained by entertaining visitors from all sections of the continent. Much Preliminary Work It was not always so. Where a letter from the mayor and a personal invitation from the local organization represented ail the work involved in getting a convention, there is now a long series of steps to be taken skilfully and at the psychological moment if results are to be entertained. The bureau takes pride in its achievement in offsetting derogatory advertising by bringing 100.000 delegates to Indianapolis, together with their wives and friends, to learn that the Hoosier capital is symbolic

New Industries Brought Here by C. of C. Group

BY CLIFFORD L. HARROD General Manager of the Chamber of Commerce Industrial Commission Remarkable results have been achieved by the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce industrial commission. headed by A. Kiefer Mayer, chairman, during the eight months of its existence. Among the most important activities of the commission has been its efforts in obtaining for Indianapolis a branch office of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Congress now has before it recommendations for establishment of several new branches, Indianapolis heading the list. This new branch, to be opened probably July 1. is expected to bring thousands of dollars in additional business each year for Indianapolis manufacturers. In addition to assisting the United States shipping board in attempting

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of this State’s hospitality, culture and friendliness. The bureau likes to reflect that it has helped erase provincialism. It holds proudly in retrospect various victories tnat came omy after the staging of campaigns which would give our most astute politicians some pointers. Many Benefits Accrue Permanent benefits have been i given the city in the course of | bringing conventions to Indianapolis. There was the case of the dumping grounds where a beautiful section should have existed. It took a convention of 250 high-grade professional men to select Indianapolis before the city officials’ civic pride could be stimulated into action,

• to secure a branch office here, and making a comprehensive survey of local industry, the commission has been directly responsible for bringing several factories to Indianapolis and has been • instrumental in location and financing of others. Among the most important of thirteen factory propositions satisfactorily closed are the Baker Ice Cream Machine Company, Omaha, Neb.; Deubener Shopping Bag Company. St. Paul. Minn; Hoover Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, Minn.; Ward-Stilson Company, Anderson, Ind.; Beach & Arthur, Inc., Marion, Ind. Several hundred persons will be employed by these plants within a short time. The commission Has been instrumental in aisistlng in securing of finances for four additional new industries, chief among which is the Alloys Refining Company, # 518 Guaranty BLdg. ’

the United States Steel Corporation, dies. 15—Elbert H. Gary, chairman of the board of 22—Sacco and Vanzetti executed at Charlestown prison, Massachusetts. SEPTEMBER s—Wayne B. Wheeler, general counsel for the Anti-Saloon League, dies. 9—Governor Ed Jackson of Indiana and Mayor John Duvall of Indianapolis indicted on charges of attempted bribery. 19—American Legion convention opens in Paris. 22—Gene Tunney beats Jack Dempsey at Chicago and retains his title. 29—Ninety die in St. Louis tornado; 250 homes destroyed. OCTOBER 3 Gens. Amulfo Gomez anU Francisco Serrano, presidnetial candidates in Mexico,revolt. 4 Mexican revolt crushed; General Serrano executed. B—New York Yankees win fourth straight game from Pittsburgh Pirates and take world baseball championship. 10 —United States Supreme Court cancels Harry F. Sinclair’s lease of Teapot Dome oil reserve. 26—Italian liner Principessa Mafalda sinks off Brazilian coast; more than 300 drown. NOVEMBER 1— Trial of Harry F. Sinclair and Albert B. Fall halted by charges of jury tampering. 2 More than 100 lives lost in New England floods. 5 Last flame of Mexican revolt put, out by execution of General Gomez. 14—Big gas tank in Pittsburgh explodes; twen-ty-six lose lives. DECEMBER 12— Storm wrecks several Great Lakes steamers. 13— Oklahoma Legislature evades militia, votes to impeach Governor Johnston. 14— Lindbergh completes non-stop flight from Washington to Mexico City. 15— Senate investigates Hearst documents alleging Mexican attempts to bribe United States Senators. 17—Submarine S-4 goes down at Provincetown, Mass., with forty men, after being rammed by coast guard destroyer.

erasing that scar to give way for beautification. Several high grade and highly beneficial organizations have sprung into being in Indianapolis in the last year because the convention bureau wished to bring the national conventions here and needed a local organization as a nucleus. When a handsome coliseum’s gables loom in the sky in the near future, the convention bureau will revisualize the aid it gave serious minded business men of Indianapolis in paving the way for that valuable civic structure. Several years of effort lead up to this achievement, but it was in the last twelve months that the campaign was solidified, made a force which was irresistible. Conventions as an advertising medium are specifically demonstrated by the International Typographical Union which printed stories of its convention here in its trade journal going to 70,000 members. City Gets Favorable Publicity The Disciples of Christ had 40,000 persons on its mailing list to receive reports of the convention here. The National Federation of Postoffice Clerks sent huge postcards which were reproduced with feature stories in more than fifty metopolitan dailies. More “front page stuff” of a favorable nature comes out of conventions than any other source. Asa host the bureau has performed thousands of unseen tasks. Its hostess has made the visits of women delegates a constant round of pleasure. Throughout the nation the bureau’s representatives have traveled, giving addresses, lobbying, distributing circulars and buttons, all shouting the name of Indianapolis and its virtues. “A look is worth a thousand words,” an old Japanese proverb said, and 100,000 visitors have come und seen. They have carried their messages back home.

Second Section

Full Leased Wire Serrtce of the United Press Association

BUSINESS WAS GOOD IN 1927 BUT IT WILL IMPROVE NEXT YEAR, SAY CITY’S REALTORS Gain of $1,000,000 Shown in Building Permits in Last Twelve Months Over 1926; Point Out Hoosier Capital Never Has Had Decline. Business was good in 1927, but indications are it will improve in 1928. That is the prediction of Indianapolis realtors in summing up the closing year. They point to $22,688,295.57 worth of building permits issued for the first eleven months of this year and the first three weeks of December as compared to $21,722,701.41 for the entire year of 1926. Up to Dec. 1 of this year permits were issued for 1,532 residences to cost $7,071,009 compared to 1,645 homes valued at $8,089,035 erected during the same period in 1926. Building! experts say the total this year probably will come close to thaJ of next year.

YEAR SUCCESS AT POSTOFFICE ■ No. 3 Head—See Puzzle Service Extended, Receipts Increased in 1927. The Indianapolis postoffice has kept pace with the growth of the city in 1927. The outstanding feature was the establishment, Dec. 17, of direct air mail service which means great saving of time for Indianapolis business men mailing to distant points. During the year delivery service was extended to 1,441 new families on outskirts of the city and city delivery service was extended to Speedway City. Anew classifi"’, station wa-i established at 2943 Clifton St., in North Indianapolis, with two clerks, nine city carriers and one rural carrier. Seven additional carriers were assigned to the territory from E. Michigan St. station, and contracts have been let for several hundred additional square feet of space at this station. Negotiations are pending for additional space at Haughville Station. 534 N. Belle Vieu PI. Five additional carriers were allowed to handle the heavy growth in the north and northeastern part of the city. Gross postal receipts for the year reached $4,730,000. A total ol 3,039,834 money orders were issued for $21,450,129. A Christmas business in excess of that of last year was handled with a minimum of confusion and delay. Postmaster Robert H. Bryson was reappointed for four more years a few days ago. more than two years after expiration of his previous appointment. AID LABOR WITH LAWS Important Legislation for Workers Passed In Last Year. /?' T ■'. - 9 Kr^-ninl NEW YORK, Dec. 31.—New laws to protect the safety, health and efficiency of labor, which were enacted in 1927 by the forty-four States that held legislative sessions and by Congress, include an important extension of workmen’s accident compensation to workers in all States in employments hitherto unprotected. [ and notably increased benefits under existing acts, together with advances in old age pensions, coal mine safety, maternity protection and vocational rehabilitation of crippled workers, Ao an annual survey just covMsi wby the American Legislation.

It was pointed out that mo® houses were erected outside WM the city limits this year than inside. This, realtors said, was because of the built-up condition and because some people object to paying higlu taxes and will not build. ■ In the county, outside of the citj® limits, 2,189 houses were erected. NcP figures of those built last year anq|jj the valuation of the residences are available. New Business Properties Increase in improvements and new business properties and apartments was noted. Twenty-six storerooms were erected until Dec. 1 this year at a cost of $1,405,400; eighteen apartment buildings to house 405 families were erected or started at a cost of $975,000; twenty ditterent business firms- in the city erected either additions to their present plants or new buildings at a cost of $531,000 and permits were obtained from fo"r new churc h es to cost $171,400. Erection of storerooms and apartments is an accurate gauge to the city’s steady growth, it was explained. In addition to this there is the classification of “special construction” which will be an asset to the city’s future. Among these is the Scottish Rite Cathedral, the War Memorial Plaza; the contemplated cost of the Memorial, the other buildings nave a valuation of $2,800.\ 000. Washington and Attacks schools were completed this year and Shorcridge was started as was the Memorial and the Scottish Rite Cathedral. City Always Prosperous The War Memorial, when finished, will be valued at more than $2,000,000. Donald Rider, elected executive secretary of the Indianapolis Real Estate Board, who collected the business and real estate data, along with ether realtors, joined in the “good business” prediction for 1928. “That the city tax rate was not increased for 1928 will be one of the causes for increased local business and expansion next year,” he said. “Indianapolis business and real estate mm. however, are of the opinion that 1927 was successful. “Indianapolis citizens and taxpayers must remember that the citjß has never showed a decline in busii ness and prosperity from one yea* to the next —it has always enjoy® improvement. n “There will be more employm ■ and more homes built. This y H the cost of building a house H creased about S3OO over 1926. Th H ; is expected to be a demand for b I i ter homes. "A .-eccnt survey of a special coH rnittee of realtors showed farm prices have reached their low maj®*§ and that there will be a better 1 mand in 1928.”