Indianapolis Times, Volume 41, Number 227, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 January 1930 — Page 1

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CONSTITUTION REVISION ILL BE COMBATED Legal Steps to Bar State Referendum Planned by Opponents. ONE POINT AT ISSUE Vote Necessary to Carry Proposition Looms as Stumbling Block. BY BEN STERN Injunction proceedings to restrain the state from holding a constitutional convention referendum in November are expected to be inaugurated by attorneys for organizations opposed to anew constitution, it was learned today. The injunction will be sought from the Indiana supreme court, which will have to decide on the method by which the majority necessary to carry the referendum is to be computed. Precedents from the Constitution of 1816 and the manner of voting for the constitutional convention of 1851, together with the vote necessary to ratify an amendment will be used in efforts to obtain a decision of illegality of the 1929 law providing for the convention referendum. The point in the 1929 law at issue Is the vote necessary to carry the proposition. Majority Is Necessary The stati eclares: “If a majority of the electors voting upon this proposition at such election .shall be in favor of calling a Constitutional convention,” then such convention shall be held. The phraseology of “this proposition” will be the contested point. Opponents of the Constitution, quoting Charles Kettleborough’s studies on “Constitution Making in Indiana,” cite the following precedents upon which the Injunction is to be sought: The Constitution of 1816, Article VIII, provided for submission of the question of calling a constitutional convention to the voters every twelfth year at the general election held for Governor, “if a majorty of ALL THE VOTES given at such election were in favor of such convention. The act of Feb. 22, 1840. providing for such a vote contained the language: “There will not be a convention called unless a majority of ALL THE VOTES given at such an election” shall be in favor of a convention. Many Do Not Vote Tlie question of a convention was put five times until 1850 and failed four times because only about half the electors voting for Governor voted on the question of a convention. As Kettleborough sets out: “The vote for a convention was greater ' than the vote against, but not a majority of the vote cast for Governor.” The Constitution of 1851 provides that in voting for an amendment the majority of electors voting in the election must vote on the amendment if it is to pass. The question of a constitutional convention has teen submitted twice to the voters since 1851. In 1859, when the question was submitted, it provided that “if a majority of the people voting at said election" voted in favor of a convention, it should carry.

Lost In 1913 In 1913 the question was submitted a second time, with the same phraseology regarding the vote, and lost because of lack of support. The supreme court several times has held that it is necessary for a majority of all the electors voting in the election to ballot for a constitutional amendment to obtain its ratification. Judge W. W. Spencer. Democratic state election commissioner, has not challenged the law, but has proceeded to formulate regulations for the vote to be taken. “If an injunction against a constitutional referendum is obtained, of course no vote will be taken, but until then the commissioners are proceeding on the theory that no such injunction will be issued,” he said. SIOO,OOO LOSS IN FIRE Elevator Near Terre Haute Burns With 50,000 Bushels of Corn. Hu United Prr TERRE HAUTE. Ind., Jan. 31. Cottrell Brothers grain elevator, two miles south of here was destroyed by fire early this morning, with loss estimated at *IOO,OOO. Fifty thousands bushels of corn was destroyed. It is believed insurance will cover the loss. TWO HELD IN DEATH Fear Man Poisoned: Housekeeper, Lover Are Arrested. By United Print GRAND RAPIDS. Mich., Jan. 31. —Two persons were held today in connection with the mysterious death of Verne Hogue, 46, believed to have been poisoned. Mrs. Manet te Moehl. who was living with Hogue, because he was supporting her three small children, and Harold Townsend, with whom she secretly was in love, are in j&iL

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The Indianapolis Times Partly cloudy tonight and probably Saturday; lowest temperature tonight about 15 degrees, warmer Saturday.

VOLUME 41—NUMBER 227

Why Library Circulation Grows

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MOTORISTS WILL BE ARRESTED Police to Enforce Law on New Auto Licenses, Motorists who fail to have 1930 license plates Saturday will be stopped and no authority exists for the report that arrests will not be made before Monday, it was announced today by William P. Schmidt, assistant director of the license bureau in the office of Secretary of State Otto G. Fifield. Thousands of motorists were crowding the bureau in the statehouse basement today and also the six branches throughout the city. For the first time, the license law is to be enforced Feb. 1, with no days of grace, Smith said. Other states have complained of the leniency shown by Indiana in the past, according to Fifield. Cars without new licenses will be halted until they are obtained Smith declared. HOLD MURDER HEARING Man Caught With Gunwoman to Be Arraigned Feb. 6. Bv United Press PHOENIX, Ariz., Jan. 31.—Vernon Ackerman will be given a hearing Feb. 6 on first degree murder charges filed after the death Wednesday of Deputy Sheriff Lee Wright. Indictments on similar charges have been filed against Mrs. Irene Schroeder and Glenn Dague, with whom he was arrested and who are awaiting trial in Pennsylvania on a charge of murdering Corporal Brady Paul of the highway police. 80 FLEE HOTEL FIRE Three-Story Building Bums at Indiana Harbor. Bv United Press INDIANA HARBOR. Ind., Jan. 31. —Eighty guests, scantily clad, were forced from the new Regent hotel here early today when flames swept the building. The hotel was destroyed with a loss estimated lit SIOO,OOO. It was believed the fire started in the furnace room of the three-story brick building. JOE CANTILLON DIES Veteran Baseball Man Taken by Death. By United Press HICKMAN. Ky„ Jan. 31.—Joseph (Pongo) Cantillon, veteran baseball player, manager and umpire, died at his home here today. He had been confined to his bed following a paralytic stroke. Members of the family were at the bedside.

CITY MAN KIDNAPED, ROBBED BY GUNMEN

Two gunmen str J the second downtown kidnapL.g of a motorist at Ohio and Delaware streets early this afternoon, forcing Daniel DeLong, 1712 Spruce street, employment director of the Indianapolis Wire Bound Box Company, to drive to the city’s outskirts where they robbed him of S2OO. As DeLong stopped his automobile. a light coupe, waiting for traffic to move ahead, the two men stepped on the running board, and one of them covered him with a gun They got into the machine, and told him to drive away from downtown. At Pleasant Run boulevard and Prospect street they ordered a halt. Delbert Gossett, 20, of 653 Forth

Beauty and the books? This grows on a wanderer in the central public library. In the main reading room is a collection of volumes showing the test typography of the last year. But beauty is not alone on the printed page, for a walk into the children’s room where 93 per cent of Indianapolis school children have library cards and one finds Miss Doris Bernstein, 501 Sutherland avenue (upper right oval) checking in and out Mother Goose Rhymes, behind a book barricade. , However, unlike most business firms where beauty has the showwindow, one finds pulchritude in

4 POWERS OUTLINE LIMITATION VIEWS

BY RAYMOND CLAPPER, United Press Staff Correspondent LONDON, Jan. 31.—The fivepower naval conference got down to work today when four of the five nations presented their views on how to limit warships. The presentations were made at a meeting of the delegates sitting as a committee in St. James palace. Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan outlined their position on limiting ships class by class, or putting a general limit on total naval strength. The Japanese delegates, it was learned authoritatively informed the committee they opposed including any warship more powerful than six-inch gun criusers in the classes of ships which could be transferred. The United. States declined to state its position pending further study of the naval needs advanced b ythe other four power*. What progress was made, therefore, could not be gauged, but it was assumed the French compromise plan, whereby limitation would be a combination of both suggested methods, still would be adopted. Albert V. Alexander, first lord of the British admiralty and Premier Andre Tardieu of France reviewed the positions of their countries. Admiral Gieuseppi Sirianni reiterated Italy’s global tonnage thesis while Wakatsuki said Japan favors

Dearborn street, assistant cashier of the Gibson Company, Wednesday afternoon was kidnaped under similar circumstances, at Meridian and Michigan streets, driven to a sparsely settled section of town, and robbed of SBSO,

RUSH YOUR ENTRY FOR S2OO SUNSHINE GIRL CONTEST

OFFICIALS of The Times-In-diana theater Sunshine Girl *2OO contest announced today that all who expect to participate in the preliminary Wednesday night should mail their entrance blanks at once. One of the coupons, ready for clipping, filling out and mailing, appears on Page 4 of today's TIMES along with the rules.

INDIANAPOLIS, FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1930

hidden recesses as well in a library system that showed, for the first time in years, a circulation over one million copies in 1929. Far away in the catalog room of the main library sits Miss Miriam Atkinson of Plainfield (upper left) cataloging some of the 56,642 new volumes placed on file during the past year. Their our beauty parade touches another hidden spot in the multigraph room, where Mrs. Opal P. Buck, 6012 Ashland avenue (lower right) works on the 1,066,977 book lists, printed on a multigraph during the past twelve months. L. E, Dickerson Is city librarian.

a limited shifting of tonnage from one class to another, similar to the French compromise proposal. Rene Massigli said France would circulate a memorandum outlining more definite views of her needs. Navy Secretary Charles F. Adams said the Americans would study the entire situation before taking a stand. At the close of the meeting, Premier J. Ramsay MacDonald said there were several propositions to study and the committee would reconvene next week, DIES OK BILLOWS Youth, 19, Pays With Life for Murder, Bv United Press BOONVILLE, Mo., Jan. 3!.—Lawrence Mabry, an Ozark boy of 19 years, was dropped from improvised gallows through a trap door In a barn loft here today as he murmured a newly learned prayer and attempted a last smile. Mabry was convicted of killing William Busch, young law student at Sedalia, Mo., Feb. 4, 1928, during an attempted holdup. RADIO STATIONS MERGE Unification of Des Moines, Davenport Broadcasting Approved. Bv United Press WASHINGTON, Jan. ?I.—Consolidation of Stations WHO, Des Moines, and WOC, Davenport, la., into one unit to be known as the Central Broadcasting Company, was authorized today by the federal radio commission. The new company, capitalized at $500,000, will be headed by E. Bremer of Des Moines.

No entry blanks will be recognized if they bear a postmark showing that they were mailed after 12 o'clock on Monday night, Feb. 2. The contest is ben g conducted by the Indiana theater and The Times for the purpose of giving talented girls of this state an opportunity of making gcod before public audiences in Indiana’s larg-

OFFICIALS GET NEW RECORD IN PAYPROBE Commissioners’ Approval on Council Order Found by Auditor. PROBE WILL CONTINUE Judges Deny Wage Increase File One Shown Them Before Quiz. Grand Jury probe into the alleged disappearance of a county record, authorizing a S6OO annual pay boost for court reporters, took on a complicated side-issue today when County Auditor Harry Dunn produced evidence bearing directly on the investigation. When the probe body entered the second day of its quiz, Dunn produced a county council ordinance of January 1929, in which the pay raise allowance was approved by county commissioners. Carries Signatures The record is signed by Commissioners George Snider, John E. Shearer and Charles O. Sutton, each of whom previously has denied attesting any record approving the pay increasee. Meanwhile, the probe body has heard testimony of Judges Harry O. Chamberlin, Joseph M. Milner, James M. Leathers and Linn D. Hay, with the story of three other county jurists yet to be heard. Whether Dunn’s newly discovered record will have a bearing of the finding of the grand jury is problematical, although Prosecutor Judson L. Stark, directing the quiz, declared the proble would continue uninterrupted. “This has come to my attention,” Stark said, “although I have not seen the paper. Co-incident with the investigation I will look into every angle that Dunn produces.” Deny Is Order Milner saw Dunn’s new record and said it was not the one judges originally saw. Circuit Judge Harry O. Chamberlin also said it was not the record he had seen previously. Chamberlin said he saw an entry in a book which carried the statement that the reporters’ salaries would be increased. The jury’s Investigation started Thursday when Stark called Chamberlin and Milner, who testified more than two hours. Dunn today said he formally would demand an opportunity to present his story to the Jurors. He had been informed he probably would not be subpoenaed. Wants to Talk “Giving the grand Jury only one side of this case is unfair,” he said. “I will insist on giving my side of the story.” The record which Judges charge has disappeared is purported to have been signed by commissioners in January, 1929. Hearing before the Jury will be resumed Monday when testimony of other judges will be heard. The quiz probably will not end until Wednesday.

TALK DRY REVISION House Group to Reconsider Enforcement Change. By United Press WASHINGTON, Jan 31.—The house expenditures committee at an informal meeting today decided to reconsider the vote by which it has reported favorably a bill to transfer the prohibition bureau from the treasury to the justice department. Opposition of several members to an amendment giving the attorneygeneral the right to make regulations governing issues of industrial alcohol permits prompted the reconsideration. Representative Cochrane (Dem. Mo.) had threatened to submit a minority report on this provision, although the amendment left the industrial alcohol division in the treasury department. The committee will meet Saturday to reconsider the amendment. It is not expected, however, to agree. Two Hart In Car Crash Otha Gaber, 23, of 2325 North Harding street, and George C. Adams, 15, of 1315 Edgemont avenue, were cut and bruised when a car driven by Gaber and'a machine driven by George Blackwell of 23 East Thirty-third street, :ollided today at Twenty-fifth street and Boulevard place. Both were attended at St. Vincent’s hospital.

est and finest theater. The five winners will be given awards totaling *2OO in cash. The first preliminary Is to be held next Wednesday night after the regular performance at the Indiana. The public making up the audience for the final show will be invited to remain for the contest.

Entered as Second-Class Matter at I’ostoffice, Indianapolis

HOOVER SPOKESMAN BACKS BEER AND WINE FOR HOMES Fort, President’s ‘Mouthpiece’ in House, Suggests Clarification of Volstead Act; Significance Is Attached to Declaration. Bv United Pres* WASHINGTON, Jan. 31.—Clarification of the Volstead act to permit home manufacture of light wines and beer was suggested in a speech in the house today by Representative Franklin Fort (Rep., N. J.), who is regarded as President Hoover’s spokesman in the house. Much significance was attached to Fort’s suggestion because of his close association with Hoover, in whose campaign he was one of the leaders. The New Jersey member urged retention of the eighteenth amendment and education for temperance.

Fort said that in his opinion the manufacture of light wines and beer in the home does not seem to be Included in the % of 1 per cent alcoholic liquor ban of the Volstead act, but that they come within the ban “non-intoxcating in fact,” and thus a higher alcoholic content seems to be permitted. His speech was listened to with keen interest by house members. Some of whom regarded it as a “trial balloon” for reaction of the country. “Act Needs Clarification” Referring to the Volstead act he said: “Perhaps the act needs clarification on the question of home brew, although nobody has ever been convicted for making it for home use. But, otherwise, it seems to me pretty clearly to fulfill the purposes of its adoption and to satisfy the real wishes of the American people, for the preservation of the Industrial system, their prosperity, and their homes. That section of the Volstead act, providing no penalties shall be inflicted for manufacture of nonintoxicating beverage* in the home for personal use, Fort said, appears to permit manufacture of light wines and beer containing more than one-half of 1 per cent alcohol. Under Fort’s definition of the Volstead act, it would be possible for home owners to make their own home brew', and a jury would have to judge it actually intoxicating in fact before he could be punished under the Volstead act. Convictions Difficult Inasmuch as the standard of what is intoxication In fact is a variable one, subject to individual judgment, convicitions would be difficult under this interpretation of the law. President Hoover, It Is understood, was acquainted with Fort’s intention, as the New Jersey member frequently is at the White House. He resigned only recently as secretary of the Republican national committee because of the pressure of other business. Calm consideration of prohibition’s merits becomes increasingly difficult, Fort said, as proponents of the two sides in the perrenial conflict grow more emotional and vociferous. “To me, a dead black or a pure white is exceedingly rare,” Fort said. “And there are countless shades of gray between. Personally, my i*ecord is that I began the use of liquor as a beverage as a boy of 18, feeling its use to be a social necessity, and quit at 42, feeling its discontinuance to be a social duty.”

PANTAGESJEBUFFED Theater Man to Make New Appeal Bail Plea. By United Press LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31.—Attorneys for Alexander Pantages Saturday will make a third attempt to obtain the wealthy theater man’s freedom on bail pending decision on his appeal from a conviction on charges of attacking Eunice Pringle, dancer. Testimony of Pantages’ physicians that the multimillionaire is suffering from a heart ailment, which incarceration in the county jail is aggravating, failed to move Judge Charles A. Fricke Thursday. Gets Ten Years for Murder Bv United Press JERSEY CITY, N. J., Jan. 31. Edward Maher, 23, was sentenced to ten years in state prison and a fine of SI,OOO today for killing his fiancee, Miss Helen Wittpenn.

AGED MAN’S SAVINGS STOLEN BY ROBBER

A bandit, posing as a police officer, Thursday night robbed Alonzo Leidherdt, 76, of 131 North New Jersey street, of SI,OOO, his life’s savings. Accosting Leidherdt on the street near his living quarters in a basement room, the man flashed a badge and demanded to know who Leidherdt was. To prove his identity, Leidherdt took the man to his rooms and brought out insurance papers.

Five winners will be selected at this first preliminary and then this quintet of girls will be in every stage show at the Indiana during the following week. After the week’s final performance, the winners will be announced in the order selected by the various audiences. In every instance audiences will act as judges.

DORAN DEMANDS MOVE BY BORAH Wants Misconduct Probe Charges Set Forth. Bv Prrs WASHINGTON, Jan. 31.—Senator Borah of Idaho received a letter today froir Prohibition Commissioner Doran asking him to set forth the charges upon which he based his demands for investigation of conduct of Prohibition Administrator John F. C. Herbert, recently transferred from Baltimore to the Montana-Idaho district. Borah replied that the charges he had already were in Doran’s possession. The charges were understood by Borah to have been submitted to Doran some time ago by Frank Flynn, former employe of the prohibition unit. These are the same charges Flynn submitted to Doran. STUMP IS APPOINTED Selected by Mayor as Plan Commission Attorney. Albert Stump, prominent Democratic attorney will succeed Lloyd Claycomb as city plan commisison attorney, Mayor Reginald H. Sullivan announced today. Claycomb resigned. William Kern, formerly plan commission attorney, told the mayor he would not be an applicant for the post. Stump twice has been the Democratic nominee for United States senator. PRIESTS FACE DEATH Arrested on Grave Charges by Soviet Agents. Bv United Press VIATKA, U. S. S. R„ Jan. 31. Twenty-three persons, among them the leading priests of Viatka, have been arrested by the soviet secret service, in connection with the closure here of the Cathedral of the Resurrection. The mother superior was among those taken into custody. All are charged with counter-revolutionary activities. The sentence on this charge usually is death. Gregory Popivanov. one of the priests, had constructed a series of “catacombs” in his own garden and conducted clandestine services there as a protest against Soviet persecution of religion. MORAN LOSER IN COURT Member of “Black Crow” Team to Refile Against Ex-Partner, Bv United Press LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31.—The petition of George Moran, former “Black Crow” partner of Charles E. Mack, stage and screen comedian, for an injunction to restrain the latter from the use of the professional name “Moran and Mack,” was denied here Thursday bv Superior Judge Gates. With the denial, however, was given permission for the plaintiff to amend, thus indicating that a new petition, with technical flaws corrected, may be filed.

“That’s not what I want,” the man said, and began to search Leidhert’s clothing. Leidherdt, believing him an officer, made no resistance. The robber took sl7 from Leidherdt’s pockets and, not satisfied, began a further search. He found a special pocket Leidherdt had in his clothing and tore it out The pocket contained five SIOO bills and SSOO more in S2O bills, Leidherdt’s life savings, which he had not dared trust to a bank, he told officers, Leidherdt could not tell police whether he fainted because of a heart ailment, from which he suffers, or whether the robber slugged him. His head was bruised badly. He was unconscious for several hours. The robbery was not reported to police until this morning and, at that time, Leidherdt’s incoherency prevented police from understanding, for a time, the of the crime.

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STATE BROKER IS SHOT DOWN BY GANGSTERS Greenfield Man Fired of| During Holdup in Front of Home. RIGHT HAND BLOWN OFP, Order to ‘Kill’ Is Given by. Bandit; Cab Driver Held in Custody. Seizing the muzzle of a shotgun with which a bandit was threatening him. Ralph Scott, 40, of Greenfield, rice broker, had his right hand shot off at 2 this morning in front of his Greenfield home. As he lay in the bottom of th* taxicab, in which the holdup occurred, one of the four bandits ordered the gun holder “kill him” and a second charge of shot tore into the cab to strike Scott in one heel and foot. Brought to the Methodist hospital here, Scott's right hand was amputated. Amputation of one foot also may be necessary. George Pennington of the Lindeni hotel, tax driver, is held by Greenfield authorities for questioning in the shooting. Scott, an intimate friend of Governor Harry G. Leslie, was one of the party which accompanied the Governor on a hunting trip in Arkansas last December. Scott, in Indianapolis Thursday night, had accompanied a friend to the Union station, where the friend boarded a train. Intending to re- ! main in Indianapolis Thursday I night, Scott decided to return to I Greenfield instead and engaged j Pennington’s cab at the Traction | Terminal station for the trip. Robbed of sl3 When the cab pulled up at Scott’* home in Greenfield a large car parked nearby. One man remained j in the car while three left it. Pennington told Greenfield police he was robbed of sl3 by the men who menaced him with a shotgun. When the bandits shoved the shotgun into the rear of the taxi and ordered Scott to give up his money, Scott grabbed the muzzle of the shotgun. The bandit pulled the trigger and the charge tore off Scott’s right hand. He fell to the bottom of the cab. “Kill him,” one of the bandit* ordered the gun holder and the latter fired the second charge of shot into the cab. It struck Scott in one heel and foot. Fail to Locate Bandits Indianapolis police were called and attempted to Intercept the bandits as they drove away from Greenfield toward Indianapolis, but failed to locate them. Pennington told Greenfield police the bandits forced him to lie face downward in the snow. Sheriff John Nigh and Chief of Police Ted W. West of Greenfield said they found no marks in the snow to Indicate the taxi driver had laid down. Pennington's record with the Yellow Taxi Company here is excellent, officials said today. He failed to obey a company rule, requiring drivers to report when they have trips outside the city limits, in making the run to Greenfield, officials said. Half an hour after the holdup three men in a sedan broke into a filling station at Emerson and English avenues and stole five gallons of gasoline. Description of the car checked with that used by the bandits at Greenfield. GLIDER FLIGHT SUCCESS Navy Pilot Takes Off, 3,000 Feet tak Air, From Dirigible. BV United Press LAKEHURST, N. J., Jan. 31.— A glider, piloted by Lieutenant Ralph Barnaby, slipped away from the navy dirigible Los Angeles today at an altitude of 3,000 feet and made a successful flight over the naval air station here. Barnaby is the only licensed glider pilot in the navy. The flight was the first of Its kind in history. He made a perfect landing on the snow-covered field thirteen minutes after leaving the dirigible. MARRIAGE REPORT TRUE Elopement of College Student! Admitted by Mother. Bv United Press HOLYOKE, Mass., Jan. James M. Ramageg of this city to- j day confirmed reports that her j daughter, Mary Risley Ramage, a student at Barnard college, had married Robert Morris Swaney, Amherst college junior and son oI Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Swaney of Avalon, Pittsburgh, Pa. The couple eloped Jan. 21, going to Mt. Vernon, N. Y., where they were married. Twin Brothers Reunited J Bv United press RICHMOND, Ind., Jan. 31.— A thirty-six-year search by Holley B, Wiggins, 76, for his twin brother Harry has ended successfully In Log Angeles, friends were notified today. The twins were bom here. Thirtysix years ago Harry disappeared. Hourly Temperatures Ba. m.,... 19 10 a. m 20 7a. m 18 11 a. m 23 Ba. in 17 12 (noon).. 2 9 a. m 13 1 p. g 5..... 30

Outside Mario* County 3 Cent*