Indianapolis Times, Volume 39, Number 248, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 February 1928 — Page 1

SENATE’S RIGHT TO ARREST ! STEWART UPHELD BY COURT; TRACE BONDS TO BLACKMER

Missing Denver Witness Gets $750,000 Out of Continental Deal. ATTORNEY FACES QUIZ Securities Are on Deposit in Mew York; Political Knowledge Denied. BY PAUL MALL OX United Press Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON. Feb. 23.—Henry !M. Blackmer, missing Denver oil man, got $750,000 of the Continental Trading Company bonds, his attorney, Karl C. Schuyler, told the Senate Teapot Dome Committee today. Schuyler said that Blackmer told him in Montreal in July, 1923, that he got that amount out of the mysterious deal of oil men in 1921. From the same bond profits, Harry Sinclair, oil man, gave $233,000 to former Secretary of Interior Fall and $75,000 to the Republican national committee. “I asked Blackmer if any of the profits of the Continental Trading j Company were used in a political tvay or in any way to help Sinclair get the Teapot Dome lease,” Schuyler said. “He said he absolutely had no knowledge that they were.” Feared Civil Suit Schuyler said he told Blackmer j he probably was liable to a civil suit from the Standard Oil Com- ! pany of Indiana for his part in the j deal. He said Blackmer also thought j he was liable and that, therefore, j he had fled to Europe when process j servers attempted to get him to testify at the Teapot Dome civil j suit. Blackmer agreed to let Schuyler have the bonds so that, legally, they would pass out of his possession, Schuyler said. At that time they were in a safety deposit box of a New York bank in the joint names of George E. Holmes, George Gordon Battle and Schuyler, the attorney added. Bends Arc in New York “Later, I took the bonds at Black- j mer’s request and deposited them at j the Equitable Trust Company and j they are there now.” he said. “There are $763,000 of the bonds i there. I hand you the serial num- I bers. I will let any member of the tommittee inspect them.” Schuyler said Blackmer, now in j Europe, had authorized him to tell I his story to the committee today. He ! said he advised Blackmer to let him make a statement, even though it was bound to result in much litigation over the bonds and, perhaps, great monetary loss. “I had nothing to do with the ; activities of the Ccntinetal Trading : Company and had no personal interest in It,” Schuyler said. Schuyler’s testimony brought the \ .traced total of Continental profits to $1,919,600 and left $1,160,400 yet to be traced. Andrew J. Leakin and Mrs. Myrle Norton of the Treasury Department, j were the next witnesses called.) They produced 162 coupons, each j cashed for a SI,OOO 3',i per cent Lib-1 erty bond, representing profits of! the Continental. Bankers as Witnesses Mrs. Norton was excused temporarily to check the coupon numbers further with the serial numbers of Continental bonds: and N. C. Len- j festey. cashier of the National City; Bank. New York, then was called. Lenfestey said the coupons that j passed through his bank were de- j posited by James E. O'Neil. He identified three-fourths of > them, showing O’Neil had collected j the interest on about $120,000 of j the Liberty bonds he took. John Mooney, assistant cashier of Blair & Cos.. New York, testified his company bought $3,513,000 in Liberty bonds in 1922 for the Hyva Corporation, and hi 1924 sold sl,000.000 of the bonds for the Hyva, which is the personal family holding company of Harry F. Sinclair. Walsh said it had been shown that “some” of these were Continental Liberty bonds. Recover Miners’ Bodies By United Press NEW KENSINGTON, Pa., Feb. 23. —The bodies of the ten miners killed in an explosion in the Kin3cch mine of the Valley Camp Coal Company at Parnassus Monday night were recovered today.

Read Mencken Henry L. Mencken, that caustic commentator, always has pertinent and impertinent answers on questions of life, both past and present. And now Philosopher Will Durant asks "Is Thirty the Love Deadline?” Can any man or woman more than thirty years of age fall in Jove? But versatile “Hank” Mencken has been quizzed by other experts, too. And he has a ready answer to the question. It is in today's Times. Just turn tq Page 2 and see what he has to say. P. S.—Mencken is more than thirty and unmarried.

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The Indianapolis Times Snow tonight followed by fair Friday; cold wave, lowest temperature tonight about 10.

VOLUME 39—NUMBER 248

Defiant Oil King Serves Notice of Appeal on Liberty Ruling. BAIL IS SET AT $5,000 Reasons for Refusing to Testify Are Denounced as “Frivolous/ BY HERBERT LITTLE United Press Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Feb. 23.—Senate arrest of Col. Robert Stewart, oil king and defiant Teapot Dome witness, was upheld by the courts today. Justice Jennings Bailey of the District of Columbia Supreme Court discharged a writ of habeas corpus under which the chairman of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana obtained temporary freedom from Senate officials seeking to arrest him for further questioning and perhaps summary commitment to jail. Stewart's lawyers noted an appeal to the District Court of Appeals. The oil king was released on $5,000 bail. Sixty Days to Appeal Justice Bailey dismissed the writ and remanded Stewart to the custody of the Senate sergeant-at-arms in less than half a minute. Stewart has sixty days in which to perfect the appeal. Unless it is expedited the appeal probably will not be argued until next fall. Justice Bailey filed a short opinion in which he denounced as “frivolous” Stewart's reasons for refusing to testify fully concerning the deposition of the bonds. The opinion pointed that Stewart voluntarily testified in part, but refused to tell the whole truth and a part truth may be as misleading as a falsehood. It was Stewart's duty to answer fully all questions if they were pertinent and his refusal could have bee ntreated as an act of contempt of the Senate, the opinion pointed out. Senate Course Lenient “The Senate might thereupon have had him attached to be brought before the bar of the Senate to answer for his contempt as he has done in several cases, but Instead took a more lenient course in having him brought before the bar of the Senate to answer such perinent questions as might be asked him there.” Replying to Stewart’s contention that he had answered all questions of public interest put up by the committee and that the disputed questions sought to go Into private affairs, the opinion said: “It may be assumed that the Senate had in mind the possibility of the need of further legislation.” BREAKS DANCE RECORD Marathon Couple Sets World Mark of Sixty-One Hours. Hi: United Press PITTSBURGH. Feb. 23. The dancing team of Marianne Jaque and Albert Bonak were acclaimed long distance dancing champions of the world here today after they had been in motion for 61 hours and 54 minutes. BANDITS TAKE $7,000 Two Flee After Robbing Bank at South Bend in Daylight. By United l*reßs SOUTH BEND, Ind., Feb. 23. Two bandits held up the Fordor State bank here today and escaped in a motor car with $7,000. A cashier was the only person in the bank at the time. JIMMY WALKER IS ILL Bit United Peeks ATLANTA. Ga., Feb. 23.—A toothache and a fondness for sleep kept Mayor Janies J. Walker in his berth when his special car reached Atlanta today, en route home from the Mardi Gras at New Orleans. Members of the party said the mayor “might be up by noon.”

HOOVER IS AGAINST DRY LAW REPEAL

By United Press - WASHINGTON, Feb. 23.—Secretary of Commerce Hoover, candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, informed Senator Borah today he does not favor repeal of the Eighteenth amendment. The answer was in reply to Borah’s “dry” questionnaire, sent to Hoover and other presidential candidates. “Upon my return to Washington, I have taken up your letter,” Hoover wrote. “I feel that the discussion of public questions by reply to questionnaires is likely to be unsatisfactory and ofttimes leads to confusion rather than clarity. “Replies to the scores of such in - quiries on many questions are impossible. “Out of my regard for your known sincerity and your interest

Hot Skipper By United Press EVANSTON, HI., Feb. 23. Flagpole setting, ambassador of good willing and other heretofore distinguished feats of skill and daring were overshadowed today by the recordbreaking achievement of Chester Levere, who skipped the rope 15,000 times for anew world's record. Levere celebrated his fiftyeighth birthjiy by breaking his own record of 12,000 skips. His achievement was gained at great personal sacrifice—the sacrifice, to be exact, of thirteen pounds of person, according to the scales at the Evanston Hotel, where he skipped for three hours and 39 minutes. Levere averaged 68.49 skips per minute.

DEATH DRIVER SENTTOPRISON Tipton Man to Serve Time for Fatal Crash. Death of Allen Campbell, 18, messenger boy, 852 W. New York St., beneath the wheels of a hit-and-run driver’s car, Oct. 29, 1927, was avenged today in Criminal Court. Glenn Kirkpatrick, 33, Tipton, #nd., poolroom proprietor, pleaded guilty to being the driver and was given a sentence of one to ten years in Indiana State Prison on an involuntary manslaughter charge. Deputy Prosecutor Judson L. Stark had been prepared to show in Kirkpatrick’s trial, scheduled for today, that Kirkpatrick, drunk, ran down the boy. who was riding a bicycle at Blackford nd W. Washington Sts., and sped on. Later in the night, still intoxicated, he accosted another uniformed messenger downtown and told him to get out of the way, that he just had run down “one of you boys.” This and other evidence led detectives to Tipton, where the second messenger identitfied Kirkpatrick. He was arrested four days after the boy was killed. A special venire of fifty men had been called for the trial. Pauper Attorney H. B. Pike entered the guilty plea of Kirkpatrick today. With good behavior, Kirkpatrick will be eligible for parole in ten months. He # was to be taken to prison immediately.

CRASH VICTIM DIES Miss Frances Spencer Hurt Jan. 29. Miss Frances Spencer, 53, of 3115 N. Meridian St., injured in an automobile collision at Meridian and Thirty-Eighth Sts. Jan. 29. died at St. Vincent’s Hospital early today. Miss Spencer, an organist, was one of four passengers riding with A. F. Bentley, 958 N. Pennsylvania St., when their automobile collided with one driven by G. H. Foss, 1504 N. Pennsylvania St. Miss Spencer had been organist at SS. Peter and aul Cathedral for twenty years. She had been a music instructor at Tudor Hall girls’ school for fifteen years.

CRASH ENDS FIRST VACATION IN YEARS

Daniel Engle, 78, has been a farmer all his life, accustomed to breathe deep of the winds as they sweep across the fields and meadows of his Randolph County farm near Carlos. He wasn’t used to being “pent up” in a city apartment. So he went for a walk today and a coal truck interrupted the pleasures of his first vacation from his farm in five years and sent him to city hospital in a serious condition with a fractured left leg and serious skull injuries. Engle has lived all his life on the farm. Seven of his eight children live with him and cn nearby farms. One, Mrs. Earl Morrison, lives at 4302 - E. New York St. There isn’t much to do on a farm in winter, so Engle came to visit his daughter here last Sunday.

in the liquor question, however, I will say again that I do not favor the repeal of the Eighteenth amendment. I stand, of course, for the efficient, vigorous and sincere enforcement of the laws enacted thereunder. Whoever is chosen President has under oath the solemn duty to pursue this course. “Our country deliberately has undertaken a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose. It must be worked out constructively.” Commenting on Hoover's reply, Senator Willis, his rival in the Ohio presidential primary, said: “All I w r ant is to have my letter placed beside Hoover’s and let the American people judge as to the clarity, completeness and responsiveness to the question.”

INDIANAPOLIS, THURSDAY, FEB. 23,1928

COLD WAVE, HEAVY SHOW WILL HIT CITY

Swift Temperature Drop Forecast for Tonight by Armington. LOW WILL BE NEAR 10 Blizzard Rages in West, Sweeping Eastward at Rapid Rate. Hourly Temperatures 6a. nu... 39 10 a. m.... 41 7 a. m.... 39 11 a m.... 40 Ba. m.... 40 12 (noon).. 40 9a. m.... 40 Ip. m.... 31 A cold wave and snow storm will descend on Indianapolis from the northwest tonight, according to J. H. Armington, United States Weather Bureau head. The temperature will start dropping this afternoon and by Friday morning will be down to 10 degrees above zero, Armington said. As heavy a snow storm as fell last Friday night is not unlikely, he said. The amount of the fall cannot be estimated in advance, but strong winds from the Northwest will cause heavy drifts if the fall is heavy enough, he declared. Snowfall began at 12:30 p. m. The temperature had dropped from 41 at 10 a. m. to 31 at 1 p. m. The cold wave is expected to continue at least over Friday, but Friday will be fair. The advance guard of the storm already has reached over the region immediately west of the Mississippi, Armington said. Temperature has dropped 20 to 35 degrees there this morning. Zero temperatures were recorded this morning in northwestern lowa. Blizzard Hits Southwest By United Press KANSAS CITY. Mo., Feb. 23.—A blizzard of severe intensity descended upon the Southwest today, causing a sharp drop in temperature. Considerable snow fell in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. The storm originated in the eastern Rocky Mountain region yesterday and is travelig east, the weather bureau reported. Sleet, which began falling at midnight. turned to snow. Drifting snow slowed up transportation in many sections. Storm Wrecks Havoc By United Press CHICAGO. Feb. 23.—Sleet and snow storms, accompanied by sudden temperature drops, left communication lines crippled in the Middle West, near Northwest and Southwest today. Nebraska, Kansas and Minnesota were hardest hit. Six deaths were attributed to cold and storms in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Sleet and snow fell over most of the State. An official temperature of 5 above zero was reported in Lincoln, Neb. A light snow fell in Chicago this morning, and the temperature was dropping.

This morning he went for a walk. His sight is not as good as it cnce was and his hearing is not perfect any more, according to Mrs. Morrison. He walked into the side of a coal truck, driven by Albert Summers, 33, Negro, 1612 Columbia Ave., at New York St. and Colorado Ave. WAR ON PARKED CARS WITHOUT TAIL-LIGHTS Eighty-Eight Motorist Arc Ordered to Appear in Court. Eighty-eight motorists were ordered to appear in Municipal Court today and explain why their cars were parked without tail-lights Wednesday night.

Police tagged cars without lights in the residential districts. Chief Claude M. Worley promised a ride in the patrol for those ignoring the tags. He declared today that war on parking in streets overnight will be continued. ADVERTISE FOR LOAN r City Controller Issues Order for Bids on $125,000. Advertising for bids for the $125,000 temporary loan for the city health department, to be received Feb. 28. was ordered today by City Controller Sterling Holt. The loan has been held up for some time by the contention of city council that Ira M. Holmes, whom Republican councilmen have declared mayor, should sign the authorizing ordinance. Holmes refused to sign on the ground he did not want to be a party to hampering the health department.

TORCH MURDERER RETURNS LOOT STOLEN IN WEIRD CRIME; WRITES POLICE HE IS FLEEING IN AUTO

LINDY LESS LUCKY IN LOVE

Girls Agree He Wouldn't Make Good Hubby

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Miss Dorothy Morris (left) and Miss Mildred Fisher, two of the Indianapolis girls who believe Lindy would not make an ideal husband.

Sweet, but Too Popular, Is Opinion of Most Women.

Indianapol.s women agree with Chicago women that Col. Charles A. Lindbergh would not make a good husband. Four of five Chicago women interviewed by a reporter there didn’t believe they would care to be married to the “Lone Eagle” because he's too popular. Five of seven Indianapolis women questioned stood with the Chicago majority and the other two would consider Lindy as a mate only under certain conditions. Too Kiddish, Says One Mrs. Gladys Beckner, 1124 Broadway, thought that Lindy would make an excellent husband for a “quiet little country girl who wants to be bossed. He has a mind of his own—that accounts for his success. He needs someone who won’t oppose him.” “I think he’d make a good husband if he'd stop flying,” said Miss Gertrude Curola, 3328 N. Capitol Ave., “I wouldn't want him otherwise. I’d be worried to death all the time.” Miss Frances Morrison of the William H. Block Company regards the Lone Eagle as “too kiddish.” and apt to be too spoiled to make a good husband. “I think he's sweet but I wouldn't want him,” she declared.

Couldn't Be Home Enough Mrs. Pearl Frush of the Durand Hat Shop thinks that Lindy would make a splendid husband if he would make up his mind to settle down. “He isn't the type to be easily spoiled by women and their flattery, but he isn’t in a position at present to make the attentive husband demanded by the modern women. He would be devoted in thought, but he wouldn't have the time to spend w r ith his wife,” she said. “He's sweet, but too popular and too much in demand to make a good husband,’’ said Miss Mamie Wilkes, 4112 Boulevard PI. Wouldn't Trade for Herbie The most emphatic no. however, 1 came from Miss Dorothy Morris of the C. O. Warnock Company. “He might make a good husband but I wouldn’t trade him for my Herbie.” It's a fortunate young man indeed who can truthfully say, “She’d turn Lindbergh down for me!” Miss Mildred Fisher of the same company declares that she wouldn’t want the colonel. “I know someone much more interesting to me,” she said. From I the appearance of the third finger , of her left hand one was inclined | to believe her. VETERANS HERE AUG. 26 Twenty-Ninth Encampment of V. of F. W. to Be Held in City. Exact date for holding the twen-ty-ninth annual encampment of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Indianapolis was announced today as Aug. 26-31, according to a United Press dispatch from Kansas City. Kan., the national headquarters of the V. of F. W. Salon A. Enloe, Indianapolis. Spanish-American war veteran, is ! general chairman of the encampment executive committee.

Knterpq as Second-Class Matter at. Postofflce, Indianapolis

AUTO SPEED DEMON OUT AFTER RECORD

By United Press DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.. Feb. 23. —American attempts to wrest the motor car speed title from Great Britain have ended tot this yearthrough the untimely accident that sent Frank Lockhart and his Stutz Blackhawk catapulting into the sea—and chief interest today centered in Captain Malcolm Campbell’s attempt to break his own record. Captain Campbell sent his big Napier Bluebird over the Ormond Daytona course Sunday, at a speed cf almost 207 miles an hour, to break the record of H. O. D. Seagrave, also an Englishman. The British driver again will test the full power of his Napier today, in an attempt to obtain an average speed of 210 miles an hour. Lockhart's beautifully constructed little Stutz racer today was a wreck while the 23-year-old driver was in a hospital, recovering from injuries which doctors said would not prove serious. Whirling along the sun-baked course yesterday at a speed estimated well In excess of 200 miles an hour, Lockhart's machine suddenly plunged crazily sideways, overturned, and finally stopped 100 feet out at sea. Lockhart was pinned in the machine. Helpers ran to the stricken driver, held him above the water, and removed him from the wrecked machine. His hips had been crushed and he had other injuries. The young driver’s wife was in the stand and fainted when she saw her husband’s speed machine go zigzagging into the sea. Mechanics said they believed a “frozen” differential had caused the accident. The ether American entry, the

WATSON FILES FOR PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Petition of Senator James E. Watson asking that his name be put on the ballots for the Republican primary, May 8. as a presidential candidate, was filed with Secretary of State Frederick E. Schortemeier today. Petitions from each of the ninetytwo counties, bearing a total of approximately 15,000 names, were filed with the request, Five hundred signers are required. Assistant Attorney General James House filed the petitions after a conference with M. Bert Thurman, Watson's campaign manager. Delegations from a score of Indiana cities will swell attendance at tonight’s Watson-for-President dinner at the Columbia Club beyond the 700 mark. Thurman predicted. The senior Senator will not be present. Albert H. Vestal, representative in Congress from the Eighth District, will make the address formally launching Watson's campaign. Five-minute speeches will be made by other prominent Republicans.

Triplex, entered by J. M. White of Philadelphia, has been ruled out by the A. A. A. because it has six wheels instead of four. White said he might make a try at an ur official record today and was confident the machine w T ould develop a speed of 220 miles an hour. HEAR HOGUE'S CASE Mayor Suit Arguments Made in High Court. Arguments were made before the State Supreme Court today for Joseph L. Hogue, city controller under the late Mayor Lew Shank, who seeks the mayor's chair in the place of L. Ert Slack. Hogue's Circuit Court quo w'arranto suit against Slack is on appeal before the higher court. Solon J. Carter, representing Hogue, said the election of former Mayor John L. Duvall was void because of the acts of bribery committed by the candidate that were brought out in his conviction for violation of the corrupt practices act. AMEND RADIO BILL House Committeemen Favor Extending Federal Commission. By United Press WASHINGTON, Feb. 23.—The House Merchant Marine Committee reported favorably today, with vital amendments, the bill passed by the Senate extending the life of the Federal Radio Commission for another year.

John K. Ruckelshaus, local attorney, will preside. The speaking program will be broadcast over WFBM, starting at 8 p. m. The banquet is at 6 p. m. Resolutions indorsing Watson’s candidacy were to come before the State committee, meeting at 2:30 p. m. at the Severin. Kitselman let committeemen know he would not permit any preference by the central committe for any candidates for committemen or any offices in the State, asserting their selection was wholly up to the voters. Voicing his personal indorsement of Watson, the State chairman told committeemen that the senior Senator might have made some mistakes in his long public career, but that his decisions, he believed, were based on honest convictions. The resolution indorsing Watson's candidacy carried praise for his services to beneficial legislation and his devotion to sound principles of > government.

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Murderer Expresses His Remorse for Crime, Mailing Confession. READY TO KILL SELF Struck Woman on Head Set Her on Fire, Says Crime Letter. By United Press SOMERVILLE. N. J., Feb. 23. —The man who murdered Miss 'Margaret Brown by fire confessed today in an anonymous letter to the police. He encloed $2,500 of the securities he ha dstolen from his victim and told in short, dramatic sentences how he had made love to her in an automobile on a New Jersey road, beaten her insensible when she repulsed him, and then committed one of the strangest murders in eastern criminal history. “I took gasoline from my car and poured it over her, lit it, and then drove away,” he wrote. The letter was anonymous and was postmarked Newark. It was received by Police Chief Charles Kavanaugh of Bernardsville. The securities consisted of two SI,OOO bonds of the Cities Service Corporation and one SSOO gold certificate. Tire writer expressed deep remorse and said he had something with him “to end it all" if he were caught.

Check Bonds New lYork authorities were notified and detectives were sent to the two banks where Miss Brown had deposits. The list of her securities was to be checked to see if they corresponded to those inclosed in the letter. The letter said: “I am writing you this letter and sending you the bonds of Miss Brown, knowing you will take care of them before anyone else gets them. I am very remorse. I-have been drinking. I met Miss Brown in Buffalo and then again in Newark. two years ago. “I left Newark 4:15 on Monday and reached New’ York at 7:15 and met Miss Brown. I had two bottles of wine and we both drank some. I drove out to Lover’s Lane, w'here there was a large car parked. I drove around until the car had gone and then I pulled up there. Struck 'Woman on Head “I tried to take advantage of her. but she refused. I hit her on the head and she fell. Thinking I had killed her. I took gasoline from my car and poured over her, lighting it and then drove away. “I drove through Bernardsville. w’here I threw the rest of the stuff 7n the river. This was all the money she had. I drove around and slept in the car the rest of the night. I drove to Newark, where I am hiding, the next morning. I have a good car and good tires and I am starting out, God know’s where, to hell I suppose, and by the time you get this letter I shall have a good start on you. “I am going until my money gives out and when I am caught I have something with me to end It all before they can do anything. “Au revoir.” Believed Genuine Confession Because of the securities inclosed, police dropped their first belief that the letter was the work of a crank and proceeded on the theory that they had a confession from the actual murderer. The writer seemed to be a man of intelligence. The language of his letter and its slight incoherence were attributed to his excitement and perhaps to liquor. The handwritting w’as neat and that of an educated person. Miss Brow'n, a comely woman of 40, employed as a tutor by James Park Gillespie, well-to-do New Yorker, was found by motorists Monday night, still alive, but being cremated m blazing gasoline. Man Known as “Doctor” The weird crime had been committed back of a hot dog stand near Morristown. The only clew available there was that an automobile had been .seen parked near the spot, deserted at this time ot year. It was a dark blue sedan. The search centered in New York. From servants of the Gillespies, detectives learned that Miss Brown had been friendly with a man. They had heard him addressed as “Doctor.” He was cautious in his friendship with her and never entered the Gillespie home. On Monday, Miss Brown quit her job. She told Mrs. Gillespie she was going to California to visit relatives. To make the story plausible, her trunks were checked to California. At noon she met her niece, Miss Mary Brown of Ft. Lee. Sho said nothing about leaving the Gillespies, but explained she was going with them on a trip to Florida. If she had been acting on the instructions of the man who was deceiving her, she hardly could have devised a plan better calculated to lull suspicion and prevent inquiries about her absence.