Indianapolis Times, Volume 43, Number 34, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 June 1931 — Page 1

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APPROVAL IS GIVEN CITY’S TROLLEY PLAN Reorganization Draft Is Signed by Chairman and Sent East. ACTION TO BE RUSHED New Equipment Would Be Bought: Bond Program Agreed On. Chairman of the Indianapolis stockholders’ committee of the Inti anapolis Street Railway Company today signed the new reorganization plan r.nd forwarded the agreement to the eastern committees. Signatures of the stockholders in the cast are expected to be affixed within a week and then, after a period of sixty days’ grace to permit those share and bondholders dissatisfied with the plan to withdraw their holdings, a petition for foreclosure sale of the property is to be filed in circuit court here. This is the procedure as outlined today by Gavin L. Payne, chairman of the general mortgage 4 per cent gold bond committee. Plan Is Detailed Approximately 65 per cent of all the bonds and stock in the street car company has been deposited with the committee representing, it is claimed, 2,000 owners of these •ecurities. The new plan calls for reduction of the more than $18,851,000 of stocks and bonds to $10,134,000; ‘ >f $1,250,000 of new money ' lct assessment; sale of A . bonds to rehabilitate the noany’s rolling stock, and the ist .of $2,000,000 of 5 per cent bOwJl also to be used in the expansion program. Bank Is Manager Under the agreement, the Fletcher American Company is the reorganization manager. As is the condition at present, the terminal property will be owned by a separate corporation, to l:* known as the Traction Terminal Corporation. All new seewrities are to be dated from Jan. l. 1932, if the plan is approved and the liquidation is consummated by that date, Payne said, i POLICE OFFICER TO FACE MURDER TRIAL Clubbed Sweetheart to Death, Formal Complaint to Charge. By United Press LOS ANGELES. June 19.—A complaint charging Detective Lieutenant Edward P. Nolan with murdering his sweetheart, Mrs. Grace Murphy Duncan, 36, will be issued after a coroner’s inquest late today, police announced. Nolan, a former motion picture director, beat Mrs. Duncan to death with his fists and the butt of a revolver while in a drunken rage, according to police. He found her in a room in the Lankershim hotel, dancing with Robert V. Williams, a traveling salesman, they said.

WINE SEIZURE ILLEGAL Federal Judge Rules U. S. Must Return 500 Gallons Taken. By United ijrcs* NEW YORK, June 19.—Federal Judge Frank J. Colman today ruled that the government’s seizure of 500 gallons of sacramental wine last April, from the Fruit Industries Limited, the Bronx, was illegal and must be returned. Mabel Walker Willebrandt. former assistant United States attorneygeneral, now counsel for Fruit Industries, did net appear directly in the case, but retained Sanford R. Cohen, former assistant United States attorney here, and Frank Aranow to fight the case. Fruit Industries Limited, aside from dealing in grape concentrate, sells sacramental wine under permit. CITES VOLCANO DANGER Expert Says Mauna Loa Likely to Cause Hawaiian Disaster. By United Press HONOLULU. June 19.—Hawaiian government and business leaders were warned today by Dr. T. A. Jaggar. noted volcanologist, against a possible eruption by the volcano Mauna Loa, which he said would cause a disaster. He urged preparations against a catastrophe.

To the Rescue! By United Press NEW YORK, June 19.—The board of foreign missions of the Presbyterian church was the recipient today of a collection from the black natives of Batango, West Africa, “to help starving Americans.” “A month ago there was a little article in the Bulu news sheet," a Presbyterian missionary wrote, “telling of the hard times in America, and indicating there were actually people in America who did not have enough to eat. This particular item caught the attention of Pastor Eduma Musambi and his son, and they decided to give something for the starving people in America. “They quietly told the church people about it and, entirely of their own volition, a sum of money was gathered, which I inclose to you.” The check was for $3.77.

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The Indianapolis Times Mostly fair and continued warm tonight and Saturday; cooler Saturday night or Sunday.

VOLUME 43—NUMBER 34

Beware, Mike! Fan Mail Threatens New Police Chief’s Single Blessedness.

FOR thirty-three years Police Chief Mike Morrissey has paddied his canoe in the channels of single blessedness. Today he opened letters that come in the morning mail for a police chief and among them he .saw the first obstacle In those quiet waters. Written in long hand, the letter set out that the writer is a young

woman of 25. She congratulated Mike on his appointment as chief and expressed her confidence in his ability. She further added, in her unsigned letter, that she is of the same religious faith as Mike, and indicated it wouldn't be such a bad idea if they became acquainted. Asa last request she wrote that if Mike wanted her name she would supply it if the story of her letter appeared in The Times. And Mike released it! So, Miss Unknown, here is the story. Prom now r on it’s your job.

COPS TO WAR ON GUN-TOTERS Almost Forgotten Statute Is Revived. Police were handed a weapon by Criminal Judge Frank P. Baker that may result in an intense drive to rid the city of gunmen. An almost forgotten statute was revived, giving officers authority to arrest gang leaders and gunmen on sight. It provides that all persons formerly convicted of a felony may be brought into court if found in possession of a deadly weapon. Judge Baker requested Police Chief Mike Morrissey and Sheriff Charles (Euck) Sumner to start vigorous campaigns against professional gun-toting criminals. The statute, which carries a maximum penalty of one to five years for its violatibn, has been on the statute books several years, but never enforced, Judge Baker announced. First arrest under the newly unearthed statute was made at the criminal court door a few minutes after Judge Baker released Floyd Board, Npgro, charged with robbery and wounding Earl Hendricks, 2927 North Gale street, Standard grocery store manager, during a holdup. BEN BERNIE BATTLES Hits Dance Hall Operator: Sued for $5,000. MONROE, Mich., June 19. Accused of hitting Clarence Kirk, a dance hall proprietor, with a music rack. Ben Bernie, dance orchestra conductor, today was named de-

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and added that Kirk refused to pay him his guarantee. * MR. STORK WILL VISIT Dorothy Dwan, Screen Actress, to Become Mother in FalL By United Press LOS ANGELES. June 19.—Dorothy Dwan, motion picture actress, announced today that she expects to become a mother early this fall. Miss Dwan is the wife of Paul N. Boggs Jr., son of the vice-president of the Union Oil Company.

MANIAC IS FREED BY CLERK’S ERROR

By United Press CHICAGO, June 19.—Freed from jail through the error of a newly appointed court clerk, a man who had been branded officially as a “dangerous lunatic,” roamed at large today while police deployed in search of him and stood guard over the home of the wife whom he once almost beat to death. The man, Michael O’Neill, 44, was released Tuesday from the county jail, but it was not made public until Thursday night that he was free. O’Neill was arrested March 26 after beating his wife unconscious with a mallet. He was turned over to the new “behavior clinic,” where doctors pronounced him a “dan-

SOLUTION Tp STARR’S DEATH MAY BE NEAR Inspector Indicates Definite Break in Case Looms Momentarily. MURDER THEORY LEADS Movements of Beautiful ‘Playgirl’ Traced to 10 Hours of Death. By United Press NEW YORK. June 19.—Broad, indications of a solution of the mystery of beatiful Starr Faithfull's death were issued today by Detective Inspector H. R. King of Nassau county. He announced he was working on information which, “if verified, will prove a definite break in the case and will solve it.” “We are working on information,” King said, “and while not very new, it will prove a definite break in the case, if true, and will solve it. “The chances are that somebody! will be picked up. Based on ‘Say So’ “This information is based on somebody's say so. If it proves without foundation, it can be put down as another rumor." King, always cautious, apparently appended the sentence to safeguard himself in event of failure, but he ! gave the impression of feeling con- ! fident of a major development. When pressed for elucidation as : to whether his information pointed to murder or suicide in the death of the moody Starr, King merely said that the person sought “may be a suspect.” This consequently pointed to a murder theory, and it was recalled : that Stanley Faithfull, stepfather' of the ill-fated girl, returned to his ' home Thursday night from Mine- j ola with the impression that the ! authorities were working on the' murder theory rather than on ! suicide. Sister Also Traced There had been some belief that | authorities might be leaning to a suicide theory. One rumor had it that thfr person 1 being trailed by authorities was a well-to-do man w : ho had toured ’ abroad sometime ago. His possible ; connection with the case was unrevealed. Still another rumor was that a man hitherto presumably eliminated as a suspect might be under suspicion at this time. Authorities also have indicated an j increasing interest in the actions of, Elizabeth Tucker Faithfull over the j week-end in which her sister met! death. The mystery of Tucker's ! week-end in Providence deepened j with the revelation of Inspector j Harold R. King that he is seeking ; several telegrams which he believes ; were received by Tucker and signed only with the initial “J.” King re-1 fused to reveal what connection this ; may have with the case. Bottle Note Is Hoax Discovery of a bottle at Wading River, L. 1., with a note in it purporting to be signed by Starr was considered a hoax. The note said: “Help! I am going to be thrown overboard and I am just a little tight.” It bore a signature, Starr Faithful—with only the single “L” at the end, whereas the Paithfulls use tw T o “L's” Another development was the disclosure by Mrs. Jack Barr of Larchmonth, N. Y., that a friend whompolice described only at “Loretta” saw and talked with Starr between 2:30 and 3 o'clock on the afternoon of her death in Grand Central station. Authorities have fixed the time of the girl's death as either late Friday night or early Saturday, approximately forty-eight hours before her body was found washed up on the sands of Long Beach. The woman, police said, described Starr as being cheerful and in an apparently happy frame of mind. Previously, the last positive knowl- ; edge of Starr’s movements on that \ day ended with her departure from ! her home at 9:30 a. m. Retail Sales Tax Upheld By United Press FRANKFORT, Ky„ June 19.—The j Kentucky court of appeals, the highest state court, upheld today the tax on gross retail sales. The measure is aimed at chain stores and is graduated, the levy increasing with the volume of sales.

fendant in a $5,000 damage suit. Kirk said in his petition that Bernie stopped playing a half hour earlier than s c h e and uled and struck him when he remonstrated. “But I didn’t hit him with a music rack,” the deputy who served the papers quoted Bernie. “I punched him in the jaw with my fist.” He said he stopped playing when the dancers went home

gerous lunatic with homicidal tendencies.” Uoon the report of the clinic, a jury ordered O’Neill sent to an asylum. According to routine, this meant dropping criminal charges agairist him, with the understanding they be reinstated should he again become sane. A newly appointed court clerk, not familiar with this routine, sent the order for O’Neill’s release to the county jail, but waited a half hour to send the intended acompanying order committing him to an asylum. Before the second order arrived, O’Neill had been freed. Mrs. O’Neill was the first to make public the error. Almost hystetical with fear, she reported to the crime commission that her husband was at large.

INDIANAPOLIS. FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1931

Back to First Love in Death

In childhood's innocence at the age of 4, Starr Faithfull playecPon the beach near Boston (top picture), little knowing that death would come to her in just such a spot. .. . A T as the sea whispering some mystery to little Starr Faithfull in the picture at lower left, taken when at the age

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KNEW ’EM ALL-BUT ONE Jailed for Threat That Cop Hears

KNOWING one-half of the police department and meeting the other half put Arthur Bryant, 26, of 1039 Hosbrook street, in jail. “Champion-knower-all” of policemen, Arthur talked out of turn in the corridors of municipal court Thursday and threatened to ‘TSeat hell” out of Mrs. Anna Noland, 230 North Liberty street, if' she

GRIPS 16TH STORY SILL, CHEATS FIRE

By United Press CHICAGO, June 19.—His fingers paralyzed and one side painfully scorched, Walter H. Brandenburg, 40, was rescued today after clinging for twenty minutes to a sixteenfloor window' ledge while fire raged through his exclusive north side apartment. “I couldn’t have lasted another minute,” said Brandenburg, a JIMMY WALKER IS 50 TODAY; HE FEELS FINE But He May Be Worse Tomorrow, Says Gotham Mayor. By United Press NEW YORK. June 19.—Mayor James J. Walker, who looks ten years younger and feels “fine now,” but “may be worse tomorrow,” is 50 years old today. “It’s a fast world,” Walker said. “I’m not boasting of my age. And

on the other hand I don’t think I resemble a frontispiece or a title role on the tragic era.” He has planned no celebration for I today, as “everybody else seems to ; have taken care of that for me,” and he believes such characterizations of himself as jazz mayor, dapper. sartorial play-

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boy, blithesome and funster, are “all the bunk.” Road Project Spumed The state tax beard has disapproved a petition of Perry township. Lawrence county to issue bonds totaling $9,800 for the construction of the School House road. The members declared the present tax rate is sufficiently high.

of 3, she listened with childish curiosity to the roar of a sea shell ? ... Starr Faithfull, grown up into a beautiful girl of 15, took swimming prizes while she attended exclusive Rogers Hall school. But already, when she looked as pictured at the lower right, she was writing of escapades in her diary.

testified in a case involving his brother, Hershel Bryant, 908 Virginia avenue. Standing near Mrs. Noland as the threat was passed was an unassuming man. Overhearing the blustering words, the unassuming man interposed with, “What do you mean by threatening my witness.” “Say, you don't know who

f wealthy plastering contractor and former member of the school board. “I was alone in the he said. “My wife and children were in the country. After daybreak I awoke suddenly, coughing and I choking from the smoke. “I ran from the bedroom tow'ard ; the front of the apartment, but w*3 driven back by flames. Then I ; dashed to another exit, but was cut off there also. The whole apartment it seemed, was full of fire, with the exception of my bedroom. “I ran back there, but the fire swept in after me and I was forced . to the window, then into it. and finally had to drop over the ledge, i clinging by my finger tips. “Flames leaped out the window at j me. My fingers became stiff and blistered. I heard fire engines be- | low and knew help was coming, j but was afraid I couldn’t hang on : until it got there. “A thousand thoughts raced 1 through my mind, but there wasn’t ; a thing I could do to help myself. : Finally—it seemed ages—it became ! so hot I thought I must drop and ->sk trying to catch anew hold on the window ledge below me. “Just then the smoke seemed to clear, and a moment later the firemen dragged me to safety.” Fire Chief A. G. Brandt estimated the damage to Brandenburg's nineroom apartment was about $70,000. CABINET CHIEF NAMED Catholic Leader Will Attempt to Form Austrian Government. By United Press VIENNA, Austria, June 19.—Monsignor Ignaz Seipel, former chancellor and Catholic leader, was commissioned today to form anew cabinet after unsuccessful efforts by Dr. Otto Ender to reconstitute the government. Like Dr. Ender, Dr. Seipel is a leader of the Christian Social party.

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you’re talking to do you?” ex- j claimed Arthur, “Why, i know | half of the police force. “Why, say, I’m a second cousin of Mike Morrissey’s, the new chief. Why, I know Sergeant Harry Smith and Captain Otto Ray, and I know two other captains.” “Sure, sure,” acquiesced the unassuming man, “but you never met Motor Policeman Fred Hague before. Yeah! the policeman that arrested your brother. Well, I'm him. Shake it up to the hoosegow. You’re booked on a vagrancy charge.” White Arthur awaited bonds no calling cards were left at his cell by Police Chief Michael Morrissey, for the chief says Bryant will be compelled to find anew Morrissey out of the city directory to bolster up his family genealogy. PAVING IS COMPLETED College Avenue, Twelfth Street Work Is Finished. Completion of new concrete paving on College avenue, from Sixtythird street to Seventy-first street, was announced today by the works board. Certificate of completion also was filed for paving of Twelfth street from West to Oregon streets. The Indiana Asphalt Paving Company was awarded contract for widening Station street from Roosevelt avenue to Twenty-fifth street on its low bid of $1,632.

JACKSON KILLERS’ TRAIL GROWS HOT

Holding an east side man under $3,000 vagrancy bond as a suspect in the Lafayette A. Jackson slaying, Indianapolis police today indicated they believe the crime will be solved within a short time. According to reports from detectives, Chester Jackson, son of the slain head of the Standard groceries, has viewed the suspect and stated he resembles one of the gunmen in the store when they opened fire on Mr. Jackson. Chester Jackson, who has advanced the theory that his father, was the victim of a murder plot, denied today he had “seen any one.” The man held by police has a police record, according to Major Herbert Fletcher. Fletcher sard he

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HEAT RECORD FOR SUMMER CRACKED IN CITY; NATION SWEPT BY SEARING WAVE

Mercury Rockets Past 100 Mark: Grazes Record in Chicago. VAST AREA SCORCHED Far West, Midwest, South Swelter: Report Crops Are Periled. By United Press CHICAGO, June 19.—A blizzard swept down today on Churchill, a Canadian town on the west side of Hudson bay. More than two inches of snow fell, the temperature was below freezing and a twenty-mile wind ' was blowing. Cool breezes from that section, the United States weather bureau promised, will bring relief Saturday and Sunday from the heat wave which has extended over most of the rest of the continent. By United Press CHICAGO, June 19.—Virtually all j the nation sweltered today as a I sizzling sun and sultry breezes j brought temperatures ranging from |9O to 110 degrees. Hundreds of prostrations, scores of deaths and suffering was reported from more than half of the i nation's states. Accident deaths increased as thousands of persons sought refuge from the heat in motoring and at bathing beaches. There is no prospect of general relief until Saturday night, the United States weather bureau said, although scattered rains may be expected tonight in some, sections of the midwest. ! From the Atlantic seaboard to the j Rocky mountains and from WinniI peg to Memphis, new June heat ! records were in the making. In | many sections it was the hottest | June 19 on record. Few Miss Scorching Comfortable temperatures were reported from only a few sections. They included the northern Pacific coast states apd the northern sections of Montana, North Dakota j and Minnesota. The heat wave was welcomed, I however, in the southwest wheat j states and in the corn belt. Early I wheat, which is almost ready for ! harvest, was ripening fast, and farm 1 workers on cultivators in lowa fields declared they could “almost see the corn grow” under the blazing sun. i Farmers in Arkansas, whose last : year’s work was wiped out by the heat and drought, were worried as the mercury climbed toward 95. Rain was needed badly in the j farming region surrounding New ; Orleans. In Springfield, 111., the mercury | had risen to 91 at 10:30. Members |of the state legislature, toiling I through the last day of the 1931 | session, removed their coats and | worked In their shirt sleeves, with handkerchiefs around their necks to keep starched collars from wilting. Chicago Hard Hit Chicago was one of the many cities where the temperature was near 95. The city met the emergency by sending extra life guards to bathing beaches and opening up water hydrants to provide shower baths for children in the slums. Three persons died after being prostrated In Minneapolis and St. Paul. About fifteen other deaths in Minnesota and Wisconsin were attributable to the heat. At Peoria, 111., John J. Gaffney, an ice handler, fell dead ten minutes after reporting for work today. The other deaths included many persons who worked Thursday in ! temperatures above 90 and collapsed today under the renewed high temperatures. Phoenix was the hottest place in | the country Thursday with a max- ! imum of 104 degrees, Amarillo was j next with 100. Some other places with maximums more than 90 ■ were: Cairo, 111., 92; Springfield, HI., 96: Davenport, 1a,., 92; St. ; Louis, 94; Sioux City, 94; Minnei apolis, 94; El Paso, 96; Pueblo. 96; Memphis. 94; Kansas City. 92; Little Rock, 92. Charge Blasts Killed Chicks By United Press LYNN, Mass.. June 19—Claiming that blasting operations at the site : of anew golf course near his poul- : try farm caused chickens to die in i the shell before they wer * hatched, Arthur H. Seague has billed the city for $20.70 damages.

first arrested him when the suspect was 15 for the theft of a bicycle and auto. In addition to the questioning the suspect held here, police directed a search of adjoining states for an escaped convict who, it is said, is one of the gunmen. Arrest of the east side man followed investigation in Chicago on Wednesday of three men arrested there. Viewed by wltnessses of the shooting, the men were not held for the Jackson slaying, but will answer robbery charges in Chicago. Photos of the escaped convict have been identified by Detective Charles Bauer as the gunman who shot him in the head with a shotgun when he ran to the store on East Washington street.

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Temperature of 92 Reached Here at 1 o'clock and Climb Continues. SOME RELIEF IN SIGHT Drop May Come Saturday Night, but No Rain Is j Forecast. Hourly Temperatures 6a. m 72 10 a. m 88 7a. m 75 11 a. m 91 Ba. m 80 12 (.noon).. 90 9 a. m 86 1 p. m 92 Heat wave that has held the midwest in it* scorching gTip for the j last twelve hours struck Indianapoiis today as a sweltering blanket, ; shattered the previous heat record I for the year and established anew one of 92 at 1 p. m. Only respite from the terrific heat as the mercury soared and wilted i office workers and pedestrians were clouds that gathered from the west. ; and a south breeze that held down I the heat increase early in the after[noon. However, weather forecasters informed Indianapolis and Indiana that only relief would come if the entire sky became overcast. No rain is forecast in the next twenty-four hours, and the weather bureau said the he3t wave probably will break Saturday night or Sunday with changes in air currents. No Prostrations Yet The wave already has claimed ! two lives in the midwestern area which it struck Thursday. No prostrations from the heat had been reported in Indianapolis early this afternoon. As the mercury climbed from 72 at 6 a. m., breaking the former record of 90. with 91 at 11 a. m., children and their parents fought their way into swimming pools in city parks and the two White river beaches for relief. Picnic grounds and shady spots along country roads were the haven of the heat-driven residents of the city who were able to strike for the country. Golf courses that had been packed earlier in the day v;ere deserted by many players later, due to the excessive heat. Conditions Phenomenal Conditions that brought the terrific heat were described as phenomenal by weather experts. Indianapolis bureau attaches said they believed before the afternoon was ended, the June 19 records set in 1888 and 1913 of 96 might fall by the wayside. The all-time record for June is 100, established in 1895. Unofficial thermometer readings on downtown streets snortly after noon showed some as high as 115. The heat rose in waves from sidewalks and streets throughout Indianapolis. Entire central west was struck by the heat Thursday, and today the high temperatures had carried on to the Atlantic seaboard. In some sections, it was reported that the mercury continued upward during Thursday night and early today. The lowest in the last twentyeight hours in Indianapolis was 71. The mercury halted temporarily at this mark shortly after 5 a. m. today, after a gradual descent from 88 late Thursday. RUTH NICHOLS’ PLANE DAMAGED IN LANDING Trans-Ocean Hop May Be Delayed Until Next Week. By United Press NEW YORK. June 19.—The start of Miss Ruth Nichols’ flight to Harbor Grace, N. F.—the first leg of her projected solo trip across the Atlantic—may be delayed until next week as a result of damages to her plane incurred Thursday as she was preparing to take off from Floyd Bennett airport, Barren island. Miss Nichols flew her big Lockheed monoplane from Jersey City to Barren island in the afternoon. The ship was heavily loaded with fuel, sufficient to carry her to Portland, Me. When it landed, the tail skid and one of the V-struts were damaged. Mechanics were working on the ship today. VANDERBILT SUES WIFE Divorce Suit Follows Chase of Artist With Empty Gun. (Detailed Story Paee 35> By United Press RENO, Nev., June 19.—Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., the socially prominent author who startled Reno by pursuing Peter Arno, New York artist, with an empty pistol, filed a divorce suit today against his wife, Mary V. Vanderbilt, charging extreme cruelty. The suit was brought by Sam Platt. Vanderbilt’s attorney, and it was announced that Platt will confer with William Woodbum. Mrs. Vanderbilt’s attorney, to arrange a property settlement. MIKE CITY’S FIRST DOG Mayor’s Collie Gets License No. I for 1931-32. Mike, Mayor Reginald H. Sullivan’s collie, is within the law'. For today he was taken to the office of Captain Otto Ray. city license inspector, and awarded 193132 dog license No. 1. Ray announced that the deadline for procuring dog licenses is June 30.