Indianapolis Times, Volume 43, Number 97, Indianapolis, Marion County, 1 September 1931 — Page 1

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RAIDERS SEIZE HUGE ALCOHOL COOKING PLANT Mammoth Stills Are Found in East Market ‘Used ‘Furniture Store.’ LEADS TO AL CAPONE Chicago Gangsters Were in Charge, City Police Declare. BY FRED HEDGES A huge alcohol cooking plant, operated, police say, by Capone gangsters, that has flourished for three months as a “used furniture store’’ at 817 East Market street, today was smashed by Indianapolis police. The plant, with its stills totaling 1.300 gallons in daily capacity, yards and yards of pipe line, 350 gallons of “finished” whisky, and an “aging” tank with a capacity of 1.000 gallons is the largest ever found in this section of Indiana. The raid was made by sergeant Wayne Bear and patrolmen Sam Hitter and Edward Moore, members of one of two “crack” police booze squads. The officers gained entrance to the “furniture” store by picking a lock on the door. While they searched the place, Ornelio Pastoni, 52, of Chicago, entered and was arrested on a vagrancy charge, pending action by federal authorities. He refused to talk. Three Others Arrive Fifteen minutes later a car drove up in front of the place in which three men were riding. One came through the door with a large wrench under his coat. He was John Manognia, 44, of Chicago, who also is held for federal authorities. His two companions, who had started to get out of the auto, fled within the car when they saw the officers. The small brick building of two stores contained five stills, the largest of 1,000-gallon capacity, police said. This was located on the first floor in the rear of the building and had a whisky outlet an inch in diameter. Two fifty-gallon stills also were wound on the first floor and two dismantled 100-gallon stills on the second floor. "Aging” Tank Found Access to the second floor of the place was gained by a ladder placed against a hole in the first-floor ceiling. The 1,000-gallon “aging” tank also was found on the first floor. Discovery of six empty fifty-gallon denatured alcohol drums and eight dozen five-gallon cans led Bear to the theory that the “furniture” trucks seen at the building in the last three months had brought the denatured alcohol and taken away the "finished” product. Bear said information he received about the place came from underworld sources and he knew the men were agents of Capone. He said the place was reported to be the “depot” for central Indiana and Ohio manufacture of “small-order” liquor. Furniture as “Blind” Questioned by police, Harry H. Huff, 50, of 3302 West Michigan street, owner of the building, said the two men arrested and several others had rented the place three months ago. He said they brought small amounts of used furniture to the place and these were placed in the fore part of the downstairs. He said trucks had been there day and night loading and unloading “furniture.” He said he was not aware of the still operation until police crashed into the “alky" cooking plant. Apparently aware that their plant was known to police, the man had dismantled two of the stills and had taken out the few pieces of furniture. Huff told officers that the gangsters started their exodus early on Monday.

RESCUE LAD, 4, FROM WHITE RIVER DEATH Man, Youth Seining:, Hear Screams; Apply Respiration. A man and a 16-year-old youth rescued 4-year-old Tice Taylor, 1230 Oliver avenue, from drowning in White river today. Seining for minnows near the Oliver avenue bridge, they heard the little boy's screams, rushed to the place where he had fallen in, and dived in together to pull him to shore. The rescuers were Robert Curtis, 39. of 450 Birch avenue, and Burton Harris, 16, of 543 Birch avenue. They applied artificial respiration methods and phoned for police. Sergeant Nole Jones' squad took the lad to city hospital, and notified his mother, Mrs. Doris Taylor. Physicians said the child was not injured. MAN AND BOY KILLED Three Other Members of Family Hurt in Auto Accident. By Tutted Preaa LAPORTE, Ind., Sept. I.—Two persons were killed and three injured today tfrhen an automobile driven by Mrs, Archie Young skidded on wet pavement and overturned in a ditch, five miles east of here. The dead are Charles Young, 50, father-in-law of the driver, and Harold Young. 11. her son. Mrs. Young and two other children were injured.

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The Indianapolis Times Unsettled and cooler with probably showers and thunderstorms this afternoon and tonight; Wednesday partly cloudy and cooler.

VOLUME 43—NUMBER 97

Quits ‘Other Girl, ’ Goes Back to Wise —Also Jail

Robert McCall, 25, of 924 Prospect street, is in city prison today because he really loves his wife, because he quarreled with “the other girl,” and because of a guilty conscience, resultant from the other two reasons. McCall appeared at police headquarters Monday night and asked to be locked up. He convinced a police sergeant he was not kidding by confessing several shoplifting visits to downtown stores,

where he procured fine raiment for the sweetheart, with whom he had gone almost two

U. S. TRYING TO AVOID TAX HIKE Hoover and Aids Hoping for Business Upturn. //}/ United Press WASHINGTON, Sept. I.—The administration still is hopeful that an increase in taxes this winter can be avoided. Possible improvement in the business situation at home or abroad, and possible decreased drain upon resources to meet the unemployment situation, it was learned today, are being watched for. The administration attitude was made clear today to refute the general interpretation given the announcement by the treasury of a new long-term loan. The attitude taken by the government’s fiscal experts here is that it will be impossible to come to any conclusion regarding taxation before winter. Many have interpreted the new treasury financing to mean the administration had decided against tax revision. The government intends to maintain its social obligations during economic distress, it was made clear. No man will be permitted to starve or go cold because of the fiscal situation of the government and the treasury machinery will be tuned with that idea in view, it was said. RAIN WILL CONTINUE Light Showers Send Mercury Down 5 Degrees. Light showers forced the mercury down five degrees between 11 and 1 o'clock today in Indianapolis. They are expected to continue this afternoon. Only traces of rain were reported in the northern section of Indiana Monday night. Hourly Temperatures 6 a. m 67 9 a m 73 7a. m 69 12 (noon).. 77 8 a. m 72 11 a. rn 76 10 a. m 75 1 p. m 72 CRIPPLE TRYING FEAT Starts on 22-Mile Swim Despite Leg Infirmity. MILFORD, Conn., Sept. 1. A 17-year-old crippled boy, William O’Keefe, started today on a twenty-two-mile swim to Port Jefferson, L. I. His useless right leg was bound to his partially paralyzed left and he swam with long, powerful strokes of his arms. The boy is a patient at the Newington home for crippled children and has been spending the summer at the home’s Play Ridge camp. Recently he swam two miles from Charles island to Pond Point without apparent fatigue. ' Railroad in Receivership By United Pres* JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. I. The Florida East Coal Railway, founded by the late Henry M. Flagler, pioner developer of Florida, went into the hands of a receiver today, on application of the Standard Oil Company of Kentucky.

‘BLUEBEARD’ TELLS GREWSOME STORY AS HUNT FOR BODIES CONTINUES

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AS “BLUEBEARD” CONFESSED—Harry F. Powers, suave, 45-year-old West Virginian, is shown here (right) with Detective Carl Southern of Clarksburg as the confessed mass murderer of five signed the Confession in which he told how he lured his women victims through a matrimonial agencj and then hanged them in his garage.

years whil e estranged from Mrs. McCall. Last week he fought with the, girl, made up with his wife, and then turned himself over to police. The wife will come to court, she has said, to say she will return to live with him. The girl’s father will go to court to describe the two years’ courtship and say that McCall told him he was divorced, and showed papers to bear out his contention.

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McCall’s mother blames the trouble on the “other girl,” she said, who knew of the thievery.

Rum Case . Dismissed; Spite Work BY HEZE CLARK HE loved his wife and then he hated her. She turned him out, and then he turned her in— For operating a blind tiger. This story of the comglomeration of liquids and emotions was laid before Municipal Judge William H. Sheaffer today in the liquor case against Mrs. Nellie Manlove, 28, of Apartment 3, 2827 Kenwood avenue. Mrs. Manlove appeared in court to answer the charge that Sergeant Wayne Bear and his squad found ninety quarts of home brew in her apartment. She was accompanied by Miss Mary Kolinsky, who has been residing with her. a tt a ALTHOUGH Bear and members of his squad entered Mrs. Manlove’s apartment at the direction of her estranged husband, Rudyard Manlove, garage operator, without a search warrant, Mrs. Manlove pleaded guilty to possession. “What, are you going to plead guilty when they didn’t have a search warrant and filed the affidavit after your arrest?” Jacob Steinmetz, deputy prosecutor, asked her. “I certainly am,” she said. “It wasn’t mine, but it was found in my property and I’ll plead guilty.” Bear, first on the witness stand told how Manlove had approached him at Twenty-second street and Capitol avenue last Thursday and told him that he “knew where there was a big bunch of booze.” n tt a MANLOVE led the police to his wife’s aparement and told them that since she had filed the divorce suit he had removed the furniture from the house. “I know this wasn’t my wife’s beer,” Manlove testified. “She did buy it or make that beer. But she has been living in a cottage on the river with Miss Kolinsky. Another fellow has been out there and it’s his liquor. I told her not to run around out there, but she did, anyway.” Sheaffer, holding the affidavit against Mrs. Manlove, turned to her estranged husband: “What is this, a case of spiteW'ork?” he demanded. “Yes, I guess you’d call it that,” Manlove answered. “Charges dismissed,” Sheaffer said. NAB ‘FASTEST’ SPEEDER City Man Faces Charge of Doing 85 Per on English Avenue. Branded by police as the “city’s fastest driver,” Delbert Rose, 1523 West New York street, today faces charges of speeding eighty-five miles per hour on English avenue Monday afternoon. Motorcycle officer Jacob Hudgins started his pursuit of Rose at Sherman drive and at Emerson avenue his cycle was registering eighty-five miles an hour. Hudgins said he was within an arm’s length of the car, but could gain no more. Rose saw Hudgins behind him and finally slowed down. “That’s the fastest boy I ever got,” Hudgins said. “I guess he’s the fastest in town.”

INDIANAPOLIS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1931

OWEN D.YOUNG TO DIRECT AID FUNDS DRIVE Named Chairman of Campaign Committee for Relief by Gifford. • r 18 OTHERS ON BOARD Scope of Group’s Functions Broadened to Provide More Help. By United Press WASHINGTON, Sept. I.—Appointment of Owen D. Young as chairman of a committee to coordinate collection of funds to provide relief for unemployed this winter, was announced today by Walter S. Gifford, director of the President’s organization on unemployment relief. Young has accepted chairmanship of the committee of nineteen, which will be concerned with public and private efforts to provide relief funds. The committee will be known as the committee on mobilization of relief resources, Gifford said. In announcing the appointment of the chairman of the board of the General Electric Company and a prominent Democrat, to the important post, Gifford also revealed that he has broadened the scope of the organization to include measures to distribute and increase employment. Works in Three W r ays The committee will function in three directions, Gifford explained, aiding collection of public and private relief funds, administration of relief funds, and aiding unemployment by seeking to provide jobs. Serving on the committee with Young are: James F. Bell, Minneapolis; Charles Claiborne, New Orleans; Pierre Du Pont, Wilmington, Del; Fred Fisher, Detroit; Cari Gray, Omaha; H. C. Knight, New Haven; H. E. Lloyd, Philadelphia; J. F. Lucey, Dallas; Conrad Mann, Kansas City; Samuel Mather, Cleveland; William Cooper Proctor, Cincinnati; Henry M. Robinson, Los Angeles; Edward L. Ryerson, Chicago; Myron C. Taylor, New York; Walter Teagle, New York; Oscar Wells, Birmingham; William Allen White, Emporia, Kan., and Matthew Well, the American Federation of Labor, Washington. Denies National Campaign “State-wide committees appointed by Governors and concerned with all phases of unemployment relief already are active in many of the states,” Gifford said. “It is urged that such committees be appointed in all the states that face an unemployment problem this winter.” Gifford reiterated today that the campaign for relief funds is not a national campaign for contributions, but is a nation-wide movement in support of local efforts to meet local needs. Reports received by Gifford’s committee today showed improved business and employment conditions in some sections of the country, especially New England, some parts of the south and southwest and along the Pacific coast. These, however, were offset by stationary conditions in some of the larger industrial areas. Philadelphia Is Improved Philadelphia was one large industrial city which reported a slight improvement in business and employment. Increased fishing activities along the gulf coast were responsible for an increase at Mobile, the report said. Building and construction figures are showing an upward trend in Chicago. St. Louis reported an increase in employment in clothing and sporting dress factories, some increases in building trade and also an increase in demand for office workers. Gives Up Asiatic Fleet Command By United Press SHANGHAI, China, Sept. I. Rear-Admiral Charles B. McVay Jr., today relinquished command of the Asiatic fleet of the United States navy to Rear r Admiral Montgomery M. Taylor.

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HANGMAN’S NOOSE—A corner of Powers’ garage where he says he hanged his victims with the rope indicated by the arrow and then dropped thim into this subterranean chamber.

‘Princess’ Colt of Barrymores Quits Scandals

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Ethel Merman

By United Press NEW YORK, Sept. I.—Ethel Barrymore Colt, who caused some stir among admirers of the “royal family of Broadway” when she joined the cast of George White’s “Scandals,” has left the show be-

cause another member of the cast was given all her songs. Ethel Merman, who has a way of singing, even though her family hasn’t been behind the footlights nine generations, was given all but one of Miss Colt’s songs, White explained today, so the “princess” quit.

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“I would like to have Miss Colt continue, but I can understand why she wanted to withdraw,” he said. Last week the other younger member of the family, John Drew Colt, left the cast of Arthur Hopkins’ forthcoming production, “The Man on Stilts.”

CONSTABLE IS SUED $1,500 Damages Are Asked in Court Action. Damages totaling $1,500 are sought in a suit, filed in superior court three Monday, charging that George Davis of 4421 College avenue, former township constable, allegedly removed and sold furniture belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Spencer L. Poynter. Poynter charges the furniture was sold from a storage house after it h&d been taken from his residence at 2507 Ashland avenue. The suit declares Poynter subleased the house to a tenant who failed to pay the rent and was ordered evicted by the Washington township justice of peace. The furniture was removed by Davis and sold without the owner’s knowledge, the suit contends. The plaintiff declares his furniture was taken “without due process of law.” MANILA GREETS HURLEY More Than 10,000 at Wharf as Secretary of War Arrives. By United Press MANILA, P. 1., Sept. I.—Patrick J. Hurley, secretary of war, arrived in Manila today for an official tour of investigation. Government officials and thousands of natives joined in demonstrations welcoming him. Scores of harbor craft and a squadron of army airplanes circled around the liner President Cleveland as it entered the harbor bearing the secretary and his party. More than 10,000 were at the wharf.

DIGGING FOR MORE BODIES—A crowd of curious and angry spectators is shown here gathered about the garage in the West Virginia hills at Powers’ “murder farm,” where workers dug in an effort to uncover bodies of other victims of the “Mail Order Romeo.” The bodies of Mrs. Aste Eicher, a widow residing near Chicago, and her three children were fougd buried near this garage, and this led to powers’ confession.

‘RESCUE U. S. farmer; is PINCHOT PLEA ‘Nation’s Welfare Depends on It,’ Warning of Governor. URGES CONGRESS HELP Cites Income Decrease as Evidence of World’s ‘Greatest Disaster.’ By United Press SEDALIA, Mo., Sept. I.—Upon justice to the farmer—justice as he himself understands it depends “the welfare of America, the safety of America, the preservation of our institutions and the security of our children,” Governor Gifford Pinchot of Pennsylvania warned an audience of Missourians here today. “For generations the farmer has been the orphan child of American politics and I am for taking him into the family,” Pinchot said. He urged an extra session of congress to consider farm relief, lower taxes, better marketing facilities, and organized efforts to secure foreign sales for existing crop surpluses. Pinchot spoke before several thousand persons, gathered for a meeting of the Missouri Farmers’ Association. Get Worst of Deal Asserting that a depression such as the present one could not exist if the farmer were able to buy, Pincnot said: “There can be no secure and permanent prosperity in the United States unless the farmer is prosperous. For years we have been saying it. For years we may have believed it. But never as a nation have we acted on our belief.” The Governor summed up the decline of agriculture with these facts: A decrease of $4,000,000,000 in the farm income, while the national income was increasing $22,000,000,000. A yearly increase of $1,000,000,000 in the farm debt. A $2,000,000,000 shrinkage in farm values. From 1926 to 1931, 682,000 farmers, or 10 per cent, lost their homes by foreclosure, Pinchot declared. Points to High Taxes There are two ways, the Governor said, in which the farmer can be aided. One is to increase his returns, the other to cut down his expenses. “The best way to increase the return the farmer gets is to carry out the promises of the Republican national platform, to put agriculture on a basis of economic equality with other industries,” Pinchot continued. “The best way to cut down the farmer’s load is to reduce his taxes.” Pinchot asserted that a tariff could not increase the farmer’s return. The equalization fee, he said, could fill the need. Discourages Acreage Reduction “The debenture plan,” he added, “unquestionably has its merits. The question is not whether we shall have its equalization fee or the debenture plan, but whether, by whatever means, the farm industry shall be put on a basis of economic equality with other industries. “The farmers asked for the equalization fee. They asked for the debenture plan. Instead they were given that huge and costly lemon, the farm board, for which they did not ask.” Acreage reduction, Pinchot asserted, is an uncertain remedy for existing conditions. Far safer and more certain, he declared, would be organized efforts to find a foreign market for farm products, as is done for the products of industry. do-)Tfues qVer n. y. Takes Hour Twenty-Minute Flight With 50 Guests Aboard. By United Press NEW YORK, Sept. I.—The German flying boat, DO-X, made an hour and twenty-minute flight over the New York area today. The big craft with fifty guests aboard, went aloft shortly after 10 and cruised over the district from the base at College Point, L. I.

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Dugan Named Investigator to Prosecutor

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John Dugan

Appointment of John Dugan, detective, as special investigator to the Marion county prosecutor’s office was announced today by Police Chief Michael Morrissey. Dugan succeeds Harry McGlenn, who is being transferred to the detective department at police headquarters, where he will have charge of the desk. Dugan has been connected with the detective department ten years. Special investigations in regard to county criminal cases and overseeing the transferring of prisoners to and from other counties are among the investigator’s duties.

WRECKS CAR TO SAVE CHILDREN Woman Drives Into Curb, Four Are Injured. Wrecking her car against a curb to prevent killing four children who ran across East Washington street, Mrs. John Gentry, 39, of 1818 Central avenue, injured two of them and herself and a passenger were cut and brused today. Gleda Moore, 11, of Sandusky, 0., was most seriously hurt, sustaining chest injuries, and Billy Henthorne, 1, son of Mrs. Frank Henthorne, 60 North Whittier place, was cut and bruised. Mrs. Gentry was cut by flying glass and Mrs. Emma Moehlenkamp, 35, of the Central avenue address, riding with her, sustained head bruises when she was thrown against the car's windshield. Two other children, Ruth, 12, and Frank Henthorne Jr., 2, whom the Moor egirl is visiting, were net hurt. Mrs. Gentry told the local and state police that “If I hadn’t hit that curb I would have killed all those children.” The Moore girl started across the street with Billy Henthorne, followed by the other children. The accident occurred in the 5500 block East Washington street. WON'T BID FOR COP 0 * Sir Tom Lipton to Wait for ‘Better Times.’ By United Press LONDON, Sept. I.—Sir Thomas Lipton will not challenge for the America’s cup this year, it was announced in his behalf today. His secretary said he had decided definitely against challenging because of the heavy depression and unemployment in the United States and Britain. However, he added, a challenge will be issued as soon as the depression lifts. Roosevelt Urges Firearms Curb By United Press ALBANY, N. Y., Sept. I.—Drastic recommendations for revision of the Sullivan law to curb the distribution of firearms to criminals and racketeers was recommended in an emergency message to the legislature today by Governor Roosevelt.

HOME

TWO CENTS

SNAPSHOTS OF LOVE BUTCHER PILEON GUILT Police Find Roll of Films Showing Slayer and One of His Victims. MORE BODIES SOUGHT ‘Will’ of Killer Discovered, Used to Gain Confidence of His Dupes. Pirturr of death *ara*e and cache of slayer on Tase 3. By United Press CLARKSBURG, W. Va., Sept. I. A roll of “honeymoon snapshots’’ of Harry F. Powers, alleged matrimonial “Bluebeard,” and his prospective bride, Mrs. Dorothy A. Pressler Lemke, Worcester, Mass., whose honeymoon ended in death, was developed today to provide the latest evidence against the man accused of five killings and suspected of more. The pictures, alternating full length photos of Powers and his bride-to-be, were taken on that fateful trip from Worcester to Clarksbmg en route to Powers’ “farm in the west.” The pictures were revealed as po- ! lice prepared to continue their i search in the Quiet Dell property 1 where the high-pressure mail order Romeo is alleged to have hanged and buried his victims. Trace Other Activities In belief that Powers may have conducted the mail order matrimonial agency which extended over the entire country and even into Denmark from nearby cities, police were checking every possible clew. Police Chief W. B. Moran, Fairmont, W. Va., twenty-six miles from here, was here with several ! off icers today to see the prisoner ; and question him concerning his activities in Fairmont. Moran said Powers, using the alias “Matthews,” had been in Fairmont. One of the three children of Mrs. Asta Buick Eicher, Park Ridge, 111., whose bodies, with those of their mother, were found at the rear of Powers’ garage death chamber, was known to have mailed a letter to a friend from Fairmont. W. H. Malone, gubernatorial candidate in Illinois, and prominent resident of Park Ridge, will provide burial expenses for the four members of the Eicher family, police revealed. Powers’ ‘Will’ Is Found A coroner’s jury made preliminary examination of the bodies in a mortuary here Monday night so they could be sent to Pittsburgh today for cremation, police said. The ashes then will be sent to I Park Ridge for burial. Inquest will be held later. The body of Mrs. Lemke still is unclaimed at the undertaking parlor where it has lain since it was dug from a cellar ditch leading from the garage in Quiet Dell to nearby Elk creek. Police revealed anew angle to the operations of Powers, known to his matrimonial prospects as Cornelius Orvin Pierson, “Connie” for short, civil engineer. Tnis was discovery of his purported will, believed used to gain confidence of his victims so they, in reciprocation, would sign over their estates to him. The roll of films, with the subjects in blissful poses against a background of rustic scenery, was regarded by police as decidedly incriminating. Mrs. Lemke wore the same dress which police recovered, muddy from the shallow trench, with her body. The dress, washed of its mud and compared with the photo, showed the same figured pattern and design, police said. Try to Link Baker Case The slaying of Mary Baker, pretty government clerk in Washington, D. C., entered the investigation of Powers’ activities today when it was learned that Washington detectives were seeking a possible link between the two cases. Description of the alleged assailant of Miss Baker, whose bulletriddled body was found along a ditch in Arlington, was said to tally with that of Powers. A check at police headquarters and the sheriff’s office failed to reveal the presence of a. Washington detective reported sent here to check on activities of Powers on April 11, 1930, when Miss Baker was slain. Sheriff W. B. Grimm and police on duty had no knowledge of the reported connection between the two cases.

Marion Woman Involved By United Preaa *J^ A £ ION ’ Ind - SeP*- I ~ A belief that Harry F. Powers, who confessed slaying five persons in Clarksburg, W. Va., was the man who mulcted from a Marion woman $3,000 three years ago, was advanced today by Lewis Lindenmuth, police chief. He expressed the belief after he compared pictures of Powers with those of the man who perpetrated -the swindle. Lindenmuth withheld the name of the Marion woman involved, but said the money was obtained under a marriage promise. moo¥eyTuit is Tiled San Francisco City and County Named in Court Case. By United Preaa SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. I. Thomas J. Mooney, renewing his fight to gain freedom from San Quentin state prison, has filed suit in equity against the city and county of San Francisco asking that his life sentence be set aside aixl anew trial granted him i

Outside Marion County 3 Tent*