Indianapolis Times, Volume 40, Number 162, Indianapolis, Marion County, 27 November 1928 — Page 9

Second Section

VESTRIS DOOM DUE TO SINGLE CAUSE-GREED Whole Answer to Tragedy Is Owners’ Desire to Fill Purses. QUIZ REVEALS TRUTHS Chief Officer of Vessel Tells Exactly Why Craft Sank. Charles Johnson Post, well - known marine expert, author and Investigator, continues with this issue his authoritative series of articles on the Vestris disaster. BY CHARLES JOHNSON POST (Copyright. 1828. by the New York Telegram Company) Well, the well has closed. A week ago I started to try to develop the real causes for the scandalous sinking of the Vestris. Every child on board was drowned and only eight women saved. I stated then that the true and fundamental cause of the disaster was in the sinking of the Vestris itself, and that the fouling of lifeboat gear, the leaky lifeboats, and all the rest of this utter demoralization of life-saving equipment was entirely secondary. And, in most dramatic form, all this was confirmed by the testimony of the chief officer of the Vestris himself, Frank W. Johnson. He was asked: “In your opinion, was the sea at any time such as to endanger a well-found vessel of the size of your vessel?” And he replied: “No!” , Whole Case in Nutshell This was the question asked by Captain E. P. Jessop, United States navy, retired. It is the whole case in a nutshell. You are going to hear a lot about “sensationalism” and “sensational" newspapers—but I ask you is Captain Jessop, United States navy, a sensationalist? Was the ,chief officer of the Vestris looking for a newspaper “sensation”? 'Why, every sea-faring mar. knows that Johnson’s job—like one of every other seaman—is depend- ; ent upon ship owners and the loyalty with which he can make a good impression upon them. That is what makes for all these shufflings and dodgings. Do not forget this crucial question put by Captain Jessop and its answer when the red herrings are being dragged across the trail and you are urged to remember human frailities or lifeboats that are “naturally” expected to leak—which wa what another Vestris officer swore to.

Shock to Ship Owners . What the United States is doing with regard to the Vestris is along lines that are causing the indignant flush of holy anger—and maybe a little fear—to rise to the surface of ship owners. For one thing we are hoping, as a tribute to the memory, of the drowned children and women of the Vestris—the only tribute that is really worthwhile—to find the fundamental cause of this outrageous disaster, instead of frittering away some trivial energies on the helpless officers and crew. But this is not according to custom; it is not according to those “traditions of the sea” that have been made by ship owners and upheld by them in the interest of their own pocketbooks. It is time that a certain conscienceless breed of ship owner be dragged out to stand forth in the true light of his own parsimonies. There are fine ship owners—let them come forward and help in tiiis delousing of the sea. What is the matter with the Lamport & Holt line presenting United States District Attorney Tuttle with some of these facts and reliable information, instead of shuffling anti evasive officers and a quibbling marine superintendent? Seek to Save Offers Why this contemptuous sneer of a federal investigaton of the United States? Or of the United States steamboat inspection service? Well, maybe I can suggest an answer. It is because the United States officials are creaking the traditions of the sea that would pile the blame on the officers and crew who have to work sinkable ships, that these crews have to take out or lose the only job they know. The senationalism of the press is because newspaper readers and the American public are refusing to accept those traditions of the sea which send women and children and husbands and fathers to their drowning (as on the Vestris), to preserve the pockets of that type of conscienceless shipowners who run sinkable ships in passenger trade. 4 ESCAPE CAR INJURIES Auto Crashes Into B. & O. Train; Driver Is Arrested. Four women escaped injury Monday night when the automobile in which they were riding crashed into tha side of a Baltimore & Ohio train at West Washington street and the Belt railroad. The car was damaged severely. Miss Vera Harris, 27, of 1139 North Meridian street, the driver, was arrested on charges of failing to obey a stop signal and allowing four persons to ride in her coupe. The other occupants of the machine were Miss Ruth Beatty, Pinex court: Mrs. S. L. Ross, 919 North Pennsylvania street, and Miss Evelyn McGaughey, 1139 North Meridian street. Miss McGaughey suffered slight scratches and bruises.

Entered As Second-Class Matte: at Postoffice. Indianapolis.

Woof! Don’t Leggo!

‘ The girl with the million-dollar legs” is the introduction given to" Lucy Doraine, above, former German movie star who has come to Hollywood to appear in American films. She was engaged in "Adoration,” a picture in wKich Billie Dove was starred.

KLAN’S FOE ST*LL PROSECUTOR AFTER ELECTION RECOUNT

PLAN BUILDING PROGRAM City Health Board to Discuss New Hospital Structures. City health board will meet Wednesday at 8 p. m., to considir contracts for preliminary plans for the city hospital building program. Dr. Herman G. Morgan, secretary, said' today. A bond issue of $60,000. was sold some time ago to finance |he drawing of plans. \ NOVEL STUB STORM Peruvians Are Angry Over Pulitzer Prize Book. Bil Times Special NEW YORK, Nov. 27.—'Thornton Wilder, winner of the latest Pulitzer prize for novelists, seems to have kicked over a Peruvian hornet’s nest with his novel, “The Bridge of San Luis Rey.” Although few readers of the Wilder story appreciated the fact, the novel’s heroine, the Perichole, and her lover, The Viceroy, Don Andres, are real and cherished figures of Peruvian history. Now, according to an article appearing in the current Golden Book magazine, the Peruvian press hr<i raised such a clamor agains twhat it terms the “false local color” of Wilder’s novel that the national government and the city of Lima have Joined in producing a motion picture designed to retell the story and present social conditions of the Lima of that period in what is represented as a more accurate and fairer version than that of the Wilder story. Legion Plans Skating Ponds By United Press VALPARAISO, Ind„ Nov. Peace as in War, We Serve” is the motto of the Charles Pratt post of the American Legion. The latest of the many activities of the post in its effort to be of benefit to the community is a proposal to establish two ice skating ponds for boys and girls. The ponds are to located in the north and east sections of the city. Property owners have donated land and volunteers will assist in building dams.

WORKMAN JUSTIFIED IN GIVING THANKS, LOOKING BACK AT ‘OLD DAYS’

This is a second of a Thanksgiving week series by Bruce Catton, staff writer for The Times and NEA Service, contrasting liivng conditions of the past and the present and showing what the average workingman has to be thankful for this Thanksgiving day. BY BRUCE CATTON THE modern workman, pulling his chair up to the table on Thanksgiving and taking up the carving knife with eager anticipation, congratulates himself on the fact that his wages are a great deal higher than his grandfather would have dreamed of making. Despite that, however, the Thanksgiving season always brings regrets for those “good old days”—the fabulous era of the happy workman, when a little would buy much, when life was more peaceable and serene, when the toller *as more of an individual and less of a machine. All right; let’s see about it. Were the “good old days” all those nice things? 000 WE already have seen that the old-time worker, even after allowances are made for the dis-

The Indianapolis Times

Parke County Result May Mean Fourth Arson Trial. By Times special ROCKVILLE. Ind„ Nov. 27. Benjamin Stephenson, Ku-Klux Klan foe and prosecuting attorney of Parke county, has won his fight to remain in office. Results of a second recount of votes cast at the Nov. 6 election, just announced, shows Stephei on a Republican, winner by 65 over James Hanner, a Democrat, and his law partner. On the first recount Hanner apparently had von by four votes, but another check made Stephenson the victor. The greatest shift on the re-check was in Florida townships, where 53 votes were shifted from Hanner to Stephenson.- The towrship is strongly klan. The election was almost devoid of party division, the issue being klan and anti-klan. It is expected that Stephenson’s victory will mean a fourth trial for Samuel Withrow, former kligraph of the Parke county klan, charged with arson in the burning of a school house at Bridgeton during the 1924 election, which was a bitter klan and anti-klan contest. In three previous trials juries have disagreed. It is said in each case the final ballot was 11 to 1 for conviction. The last trial was in Vermillion circuit court at Newport, on a change of venue. Stephenson had announced that if he was re-elected there would be a fourth trial, and it is said he has already made arrangements for it to be held in Jnuary at Newport. U. S. ARMY IS REDUCED Report Shows Manpower Is Below 150,000 in Nation. By United Press WASHINGTON, Nov, 27.—The United States army has been reduced to fewer than 150,000 men, the annual report of Major General Lutz Wahl, adjutant general, showed today. On June 30, 1928, the actual strength of the army, including 699 army nurses and 878 West Point cadets, amounted to 136,115 individuals. Os these 12,112 were officers and 121,185 were enlisted men.

ARRESTED the day-1 RAFTER CHRISTMAS- J ference in price levels, actually lived In abject poverty, compared his present estate. Now let’s

INDIANAPOLIS, TUESDAY, NOV. 27, 1928

STORM HEWS PATH UFRUIN OVER EUROPE Death List Is Expected to Mount Far Beyond 100 Mark. TOLL AT SEA IS HEAVY Scores of Vessels Sound •S 0 S; Floods Add to Horror. By United Press LONDON, Nov. 27.—Havoc and death spread in the British Isles and Europe today as terrific gale;: hammered inland. Latest reports gave 129 known dead and it was possible that the list might be largely increased. Damage ran into millions. Holland reported twenty-five known dead. In England twentyfour lost their lives and fourteen were drowned when the steamer Cesarre went down off Algeria in the Mediterranean. Fear Many Lost at Sea Many more were feared lost in the long roll of wrecked and missing ships—among them thirty-eight men known to be on four missing vessels. The storm had abated in Great Britain and reports from Switzerland indicated that its force was being felt In central Europe. The disruption of mountain railroad traffic in the vicinity of Villars was reported from Switzerland because of uprooted trees and telegraph poles swept down for miles by the high winds. Shipping was hard hit. Scores of vessels had called for help during the height of the storm and many craft were wrecked. Mediterranean boats continued to feel the force of the storm. There was a large loss of life at sea. Dikes Are Shattered Broken dykes and overflowing rivers brought dangerous flood conditions in Scotland, Wales and the low European coastal areas. In Belgium, troops w T ere rushed to Calloo, near Antwerp, where dykes burst in the Mechlin region. Antwerp reported it was the worst storm in thirty years, with shipping and railway traffic tied up and power lines and communications badly damaged. Rivers in western Germany were rising dangerously as heavy rains swelled the streams. The upper Rhine had risen twenty-nine inches in twenty-fours at Cologne. Airplanes and lifeboats made dramatic but futile attempts to rescue the crew of the steamer Salento, stranded on the Dutch coast. One lifeboat capsized and a member of its crew crowned. Three bodies were washed ashore from the Salento, and it was feared that others apparently still alive in the captain’s cabin soon would perish. All shops were closed in Ostend as the gales blew sea water over the dyke toward the town. Flood and wind damage was severe throughout Belgium. HOOVER WRITES HOOSIER Wabash Man’s Vote Prediction Surprises President-Elect. By Times Special WABASH, Ind., Nov. 27.—Doc Craft, local real estate dealer, besides winning a $1 bet on an election has a letter from Herbert Hoover, President-elect, written at Stanford university, California, after Craft had written him about the wager. Craft said Smith would hot get 68 electoral votes, making a bet,to that effect with Charles Vincent. The Smith vote was 67. Hoover’s letter to Craft follows: “I have received your kind message of Nov. 10. I am glad for your expression of confidence and surprised at the accuracy of your prediction.” Killed in Son’s Auto By Times Special ATTICA, Ind., Nov. 27.—Walter Robbins, 50, Attica, is dead today as the result of the auto driven by his son, Estel, turning over three miles north of Newton late Monday afternoon. Although the car turned over three times, the son was unhurt. The dead man leaves his widow and seven children.

look into his working conditions. In 1824 the tailors of Buffalo, on Christmas Eve., had what . they '.ailed a “turnout” for better wages. They held a meeting, agreed on anew scale of wages and quit work when their requests were turned down. On the day after Christmas they were arrested for criminal conspiracy, convicted and fined $2 each. Until that year a labor union was in itself a criminal conspiracy, whether it made any demands for higher wages or not. 000 TO be sure, in 1842, a Massachusetts judge held that a peaceable strike was legal; but for many years his view was not adopted universally. The workingman, accordingly, was more or less up against it in the matter of improving his working conditions, hours of labor or pay schedule.

John Barrymore Again Chooses to Marry; Three Romances in Career

All Wives Celebrated as Beauties, All Connected With Stage. BY HORTENSE SAUNDERS NEA Service Writer NEW YORK. Nov. 27.—The romance of America’s great lover of the screen, John Barrymore, anid Dolores Costello, brings him for the third time before the public in the role of bridegroom and recalls certain points of similarity to his other adventures in matrimony. Dolores Costello is one of the most beautiful daughters of Hollywood today. But the second Mrs. Barrymore, a poet, actress and playwright as well as a society queen, had an international reputation as a beauty when he married her almost ten years ago. Paul Helleu, French artist, described her as the most beautiful woman in the United States. And his first wife, Katharine Harris, whom he married in 1910, was one of the most lovely debutantes of the season, related on her mother’s side to the Lydigs. Romances of Stage Each romance has had a background of the stage. The first Mrs. Barrymore, though a society girl, had theatrical ambitions and she played with Barrymore in “Believe Me, Xantippe ” and with Ethel Barrymore in “Declasse ” She played with John when he made his first motion picture. The second Mrs. Barrymore, known as a writer under the name of Michael Strange, has had a many-sided artistic career. As beautiful Blanche Oelrichs, she was the belle of Newport and New York. She divided her time between society and the arts as the wife -of Leonard Thomas, her first husband, rich New York society man. After her marriage to Barrymore, she became more interested in the stage and in writing, and less In society. Difficulties Overcome In spite of his reputation as a great lover, his secure position as the most popular leading man on the stage and screen, his extraordinary voice, and his profile second to none, Barrymore never has found his matrimonial conquests unattended by difficulties. He married the first Mrs. Barrymore over the strenuous objections of her father, who considered her too young to marry. His second wife is said to have divorced her husband that she might marry Barrymore. And the romance between him and the lovely Dolores is rumored to have caused so much friction between her parents that they were divorced. Though his first two wives have been society women, descended from old New York families, Dolores Costello is a daughter cf one of the first families of the films. Two decades ago Maurice Costello, her father, probably was the most adored man on the screen. Divorce Without Publicity Barrymore's devotion to the blonde Dolores has been known since they appeared in their first picture, “The Sea Beast.” But also every one knew that she was married to Michael Strange. The divorce was won in Paris by Mrs. Barrymore, without publicity, and came as a great surprise. There Is one daughter, Diana, by this second marriage. JAMES PEARSON RITES SET FOR WEDNESDAY Business Man Dies Monday Night After Short Illness. Funeral services for James M. Pearson. 46. of 4330 Park avenue, who died early Monday at the Methodist hospital after a short illness, will be held at the home at 2 p. m. Wednesday. Mr. Pearson was national sales supervisor of the C. Schmidt Manufacturing Company of Cincinnati. He formerly was a bond salesman for the J. F. Wild & Cos. here and Sunday editor and financial editor of the Indianapolis Star. Surviving are the widow, a daughter, Suzzane; a sister, Mrs. George Miller, Ft. Scott, Kan., his birthplace, and three brothers, E. *L. Pearson, El Paso, Tex.; J. W. Pearson, Evansville, and Charles Pearson, Denver, Colo. Mr. Pearson was a member of the Meridian Street M. E. church. Mystic Tie lodge, F. and A. M., and the Columbia club.

Nor was that his only difficulty. In these “good old days” It was a rare employer who did not put some kind of swindle over on his hirelings. One of the favorite methods with factories and mines was to pay by script—that is, by orders on the company store. Under this system the worker was very lucky to break even, and if he didn’t watch out he would find himself in debt to his employer for the simple necessities of life. Another stunt popular with lumber companies was to pay by checks, dated 30, 60 and 90 days ahead. These could be cashed only at a ruinous discount. ana THERE is a very revealing item in Mary Beard’s “History of the American Labor Movement.” Discussing labor’s attitude toward the slavery question in the decade preceding the Civil war, she says: “Some labor leaders refused to grow excited about slavery. More

All celebrated beauties and all actresses, these three women whom John Barrymore, upper left, chose to wed. Katharine Harris, his first wife, is shown in upper right; below are Michael Strange, left, and Dolores Costello.

ASKS COLLEGE AID, CITING DANCE BAN; ADMITS ‘NOT EVIL’

Evansville Educator Says He’s Changed Mind on Card Playing. A plea for support of Evansville college, because dancing is banned there, was lief ore the Indianapolis Methodist Ministerial Association today. Dr. Earl E. Harper made the plea at the weekly meeting of the association Monday, at the Roberts Park Methodist Episcopal church. Dr. Harper personally doesn’t believe dancing and card playing are “evil,” he made clear, however. Reared In the strict Methodist doctrine that card playing, theater going and dancing are all wrong, he has had a change of heart, Dr. Harper explained. Against National Frats "T don’t know whether social conditions are all that they are supposed to be or not, but I do know that I attended a social function of one of the literary clubs the other night where they did not dance and every one had a splendid time. The program was full and every one was busy every minute. These kinds of entertainments arc more inspiring, beneficial and healthful than dancing, even leaving out the moral issue. “This attitude of mine on dancing is upheld by every member of the faculty, but I will not make a promise or pledge that there never will be dancing, because the board is my superior. The school is governed by this board and the church.” Assurance Given Pastors Besides assuring the local Methodist pastors that social diversions at Evansville college will be in accord with the strict Methodist principles, Dr. Harper discussed the fraternity problem and athletics. The college needs fraternities, but he is opposed to national fraternities and favors local organizations, he said. He declared he favors intercollegiate athletic contests.

PAY ms -— g L- MISEPABLY LOW-^J

than one of them said that the Negro slave was better off than the starving wage workers.

Second Section

Full Leased Wire Service of the United Press Association

JURORS GIVE JUDGE FLOWERS FOR SERVING Talesmen Express Appreciation for Working With Judge Chamberlin. Judge Harry O. Chamberlin, of the circuit court, today was the possessor of both verbal and floral bouquets presented by the November jury that completed its term' in his court Monday afternoon. After Chamberlin thanked the jurors for their service to the county and his court, the talesmen held a conference in one of the court anterooms and returned with roses, carnations and chrysanthemums. “We found jury service under you a pleasure and a source of education for each of us,” Jurer Roy E. Quin, 831 Cottage avenue, told Chabcrlin. “It is true that some of us tried to avoid service, but we now are glad you did not excuse us because we believe we have gained something valuable.” MAPS STONE AREAS Buiiding Material Deposits in State Surveyed. Indiana oolitic stone deposits have been completely mapped by Dr. W. N. Logan, state geologist, according to an announcement made today by the state conservation department. The stone Is among the most widely used building materials. Its area of production is in the Bedford district. * Two maps have been prepared by Dr. Logan, one comprising the stone area in Lawrence county and the northern portion of Washington. The other in Monroe and Owen counties. They are 37x41 inches and serviceable as wall maps, Dr. Logan says. The maps are being sold by the department at cost of production.

“In that they did but echo the view of southern slave owners, who held that masters provided good food and clothing for their slaves and took care of them in sickness and old age; while under the factory system workers were paid just enough to live on, and turned out to starve In hard times and in their old age.” Imagine, if you can, what the workingman’s lot must have been like when responsible, xntelligen l ' men, with a first-hand knowledge of conditions, could actually argue that a slave was really bet'.er off’ The plain fact of the matter is that the workingman, in those “good old days,” had a tough time of It. His pay was miserably low, he was hamstrung in his efforts to raise it, 'his job was always insecure and it was impossible for him to better the conditions under which he worked. NEXT; What the “good old days” meant to women and children

THRONGS SEE TROLLEY CAR RUN BY RADIO

Wizard of Wireless Gives Spectacular Display of His Powers. USES TINY APPARATUS Francili Will Be in City All Week, Showing Science Marvels. FRANCILL’S SCHEDULE TUESDAY 2:00—4:45—6:00—8:85 P. M. Lyrice theater stage. Supreme all-week vaudeville attraction. Operating minature battleship and a standard, stock model Hudson-Essex automobile, by wireless control, without t ouch of human hand. Other wireless wonders. 7:25 to 7:85 ,„S;SL^£ ess ', “ The Radio Age,” over station WFBM of the Indianapolis Light and Power Company, under auspices of The Times. WEDNESDAY 10:30 A. M. Broad Ripple high school. Special scientific expose of methods of fake spirit mediums and other so-called "fortunetellers, before students and faculty, under auspices of The Times. 2:00—1:35—:00—8:35 P. M. Lyric theater vaudeville presentations. 7:00 to 7:10 P. M. Second and concluding address on ”Th Radio Age.” over station WFBM, of th-: Indianapolis Light and Power Compan” under auspices of The T.mes. ' Thousands of spectators were thrilled and amazed at noon Tuesday, when a 50,000-pound trolley car of the Indianapolis Street Railway Company was operated by wireless control, without motorman, or conductor, through the heart of the business district. The feat was performed by Maurice J. Francili, radio wizard, under auspices of The Times. An enormous crowd saw the feat. The route followed by the radiocontrolled trolley car was over the entire distance, spectators massed on the sidewalks, with the converging point of Washington and Illinois streets and Kentucky avenue, where both pedestrian and vehicular traffic were paralyzed for a few minutes. Not only were the sidewalks and cross-street intersections jammed with humanity, but roofs of buildings, windows, and points o* vantage each held its quota of eagei spectators. At severla points, police had difficulty in clearing a way for Francili.

Worked by Tiny Apparatus The car was one of the newest and finest pieces of equipment in service of the Indianapolis Street Railway Company. From the center of the front bumper beam, there extended a small shelf. On that shelf rested a tiny wooden cabinet, weighing less than three and a half pounds and containing the delicate, brain-like apparatus through the medium of which Francili supplanted motorman and conductor. From the small cabinet there extended vertically a s’ender brass tube, about four and one-half feet long—the aerial, an antenna, which plucked from the ether the infinitesimal wireless waves that controlled the receiving mechanism and caused the trolley car to respond to ihe wizard’s will. The cabinet, with its slender aerial, was in plain view of spectators at all times. Francili visualized to the huge assemblage both the sending and receiving of his wireless waves, Standing in the rear of a big Hudson automobile, he rode along the car tracks ahead of the trolley, distant from the car from fifty to several hundred feet, as occasion demanded. In his hands he held his small, portable transmitter, or “magic box,” with which he has thrilled Indianapolis since Sunday afternoon. Tap Starts Car The “magic box” also was a wooden cabinet, equipped, like the receiving apparatus on the trolley, with a slender brass tube four and a half feet long and serving as a broadcasting aerial. On the side of the “magic box” was an ordinary telegraph key. This key Fancill would tap with a finger. There would be a blueyellow, hissing spark. Instantly, an audible click would occur In the cabinet on the street car, as the wireless wave was received. And immediately the trolley would start, or stop, as Francili desired. The Indianapolis Street Railway Company, through Superintendent Tretton, also had made elaborate special provision for the experiment, co-operating with The Times for the advancement of science and to give the city its first glimpse of a radio-controlled trolley car. Here All Week Francili will be in Indianapolis all this week giving varied thrilling demonstrations of wireless wonders. He is the supreme vaudeville attraction at the Lyric theater, where he is appearing on the stage four times each day. His stage presenta Jon Includes the operation of a standard, stock model Hudson-Essex automobile by radio control, without driver, or touch of human hand. Francili selected Hudson-Essex automobiles for his Indianapolis engagement because of their ease and flexibility of engine movement and other mechanical refinements. The cars he is using were loaned to him by the R. V. Law Motor Company, dealers of that concern. A review of many wonders of wireless now in the making and a forecast of marvels of radio he says are lurking “Just around the corner of time,” will be given by Francili in two addresses over station WFBM of the Indianapolis Light and Power Cos., under auspices of The Times. The first will be Tuesday evening from 7:25 to 7:35 and the second Wednesday evening c.c 7 to 7:10 o’clock.