Indianapolis Times, Volume 43, Number 133, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 October 1931 — Page 1

POISON TRIAL DEFENSE HARD HIT BY EXPERT Capsules in Sandwiches for Hours Before Picnic, Dr. Harger Says. BLOW AT MRS. SIMMONS Toxicologist Tells of His Extensive Tests With Murder Evidence. BY STAFF CORRESPONDENT LEBANON, Inri., Oct. 13.—A strychnine capsule imbedded in a chicken sandwich taken to the fatal Simmons-Pollard picnic had been there between four and eight hours. Dr. R. N. Harger, expert on poisons, testified today in the murder trial of Mrs. Carrie W. Simmons. His testimony as a state witness gave first definite support to the prosecution’s allegation that Mrs. Simmons inserted the capsules in the sandwiches before she left her home near Grenfield. According to state’s attorneys, Harger’s testimony revealed that the dissolution process of the gelatin capsuls took place in the heat of the day while the food packages were in automobiles en route from Hancock county to the Pollard home and the picnic grounds. Druggist Faces Quiz With the state preparing to close Its case against Mrs. Simmons today, the defense will cross-examine Charles W. Friedman, Indianapolis druggist, again this afternoon. Spectators were tense as the druggist, who has testified Mrs. Simmons bought sixty grains of strychnine from him three days before the tragic picnic, took the stand. Just what line of questioning the defense will follow was kept under cover, but the courtroom responded to the mystery air and awaited Friedman’s words. Friedman was brought forward by The Times after he had identified Mrs. Simmons in the county jail. He says she paid 25 cents for the strychnine which the state charges she used to murder her daughters, Alice Jean and Virginia, at the picnic June 21. Husband Is Absent For the first time since The trial . started, John W. Simmons and his son Dale were not in the courtroom. Although defense attorneys refused to reveal their whereabouts, it was reported they were gathering additional evidence in behalf of the wife and mother. Verbal clashes of attorneys marked the testimony of Harger, who is toxicologist at the Indiana university school of medicine. He occupied the witness chair throughout the entire morning and told of his examination of the picnic capsule, of the organs of the dead children, and of capsules with which he experimented. “The capsule that was in the sanri\t~-h had been there four to eight hours,” Harger told the jury. Tells of Experiments Previously he had outlined his experiments, telling of various stages of dissolution reached by the gelatin capsules in sandwiches similar to the ones laid on the picnic tables and prepared by him. He said the degree of dissolution of the picnic capsule revealed the length of its period in the sandwich. He said the single layer of the capsule “was mostly dissolved.” Defense attorneys switched to the amount Harger would be paid for his testimony and he said he has received $125 for his report on the case and probably would get SIOO a day for his testimony. “Do you know how much Charles Tindall, defense lawyer is receiving?” Roy Adney, special prosecutor, asked Harger. “No,” Harger replied. “That’s all,” Adney said. Attorneys Swap Repartee During a lull in questioning by the state, Tindall turned to Adney and said: “May I ask the witness a question while you’re thinking up one?” “If you do any thinking, it will surprise me,” Adney retorted. Mrs. Simmons today had regained some of the composure she lost Monday when Friedman accused iier of buying poison at his store at 1002 South Meridian street. She stared ahead, then talked with her (Turn to Page 14) CITY LEFT ‘BANKLESS' Third and Last Institution in Morgantown, YV. Va., Is Closed. By l iriti and Press MORGANTOWN, W. Va., Oct. 13. —Morgantown, a city of 25.000 persons and seat of the University of West Virginia, today was without banking facilities. The city's last bank, the Second National, today failed to open i> doors. A board of directors’ notice said the bank closed to conserve assets. National bank examiners were In charge. The Bank of Monongahela failed here a year ago. The Bank of Morgantown failed two weeks ago. „ Purse Grabbed by Footpad A footpad Monday night grabbed the purse of Mrs. YVilliam Welsh, 1238 College avenue, as she stood on the sidewalk in the 500 block East Eleventh street, she reported today to police. The purse contained $9, she said. Hourly Temperatures 6a. m 49 10 a. m 53 7a. m 50 11 a. m 51 Ba. m 51 12 (noon).. 53 Ba. m 52 Ip. 55

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VOLUME 43—NUMBER 133

Baltzell Puts Church Friend Behind Bars By United Press EVANSVILLE, Ind., Oct.' 13. —Federal Judge Robert C. Baltzell sentenced a former

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Princeton, Ind., and attended the same church fifteen years ago. “I thought you were one of the most promising young men of our community,” Baltzell continued, “and I never dreamed we, would meet under such circumstances.”

EDISON SINKING TO LAST SLEEP Inventor Slipping Into Final Coma Stage, Says Doctor. By United Press WEST ORANGE, N. J., Oct. 13. Thomas A. Edison gradually is slipping into the coma tjiat will mark the last stage of his illness, Dr. Hubert S. Howe, his physician, reported today. A bulletin issued this morning said: “Mr. Edison slept through the entire night and there is little change to record, except a gradually progressive somnolence.” Outwardly, the inventor has changed but little, despite the ravages of the maladies from which he is suffering, Dr. Howe said, and has lost little weight, although he has had no nourishment for the last twenty-four hours and only six spoonfuls of stewed pears in four days.

FLAMES ROUT FIVE Damage to East Side Home Estimated at SSOO. Awakened early today by choking fumes of a fire in a downstairs room, five persons at the home of Thomas D. Moffett, 306 North Irvington avenue, assistant manager of an east side branch bank, fled to safety. Damage to the house from the blaze originating in a fireplace, was estimated at SSOO. Furniture, rugs, and several valuable . books were ruined by the blaze, Moffet said. Moffett said his wife. Mrs. Lola L. Moffett, awoke as clouds of smoke filled the bedroom. Mrs. Moffett roused her husband, who said he almost had suffocated. Moffett roused his son Harry, 16, sleeping in another room in the house, Waldo Littell, a roomer, and Kenneth Lowe. BOSTON COOL TO AIM EE Third Revival Meetings Fails to Meet Expenses; Jobless Suffer. By U nited Press BOSTON, Oct. 13.—Aimee Semple McPherson Hutton preached to a holiday crowd of about 10,000 at Boston Garden Monday night, but receipts still fell far short of expenses. If those in the audience gave the 10 cents apiece the Saturday and Sunday night audiences averaged the collection totaled SI,OOO. And Aimee claims expenses for each revival meeting are $2,600. Thus far, therefore, Mayor James M. Curley’s victory in getting the evangelist to agree to donate half the profits to Boston’s jobless has been hollow.

Girl, 3, 'Prattles Gleefully as Fight for Custody Is Waged

PRATTLE of a pretty, dimpled, golden-haired, 3-year-old child —the pawn at stake in the litigation involving her future—was the only light touch to the somber facts laid before Judge William Pickens in superior court three today. The child’s grandparents sought to vilify the character of the baby’s father and his parents in order to gain possession of the child. Little Donna Rose Pogue's grandparents and their attorney painted the father, Edward Pogue, 28, as a man who carried a gun while visiting friends at night, drank, visited poolrooms and associated with women of bad repute. The child's father countered with the statement that his father-in-law, Rov Towell, had threatened to shoot him if he visited the baby while his mother-in-law. Daisy Towell, attempted to keep him from the child. Both sides agreed that a year ago Edward Pogue and his wife, then alive, had resided in perfect amity at her parent’s home. The young mother was stricken with tuberculosis and her illness caused her death in July. A|cording to her parents, the

CHINESE BALK JAPAN’S MOVE TO END STRIFE Deadlock Holds at Geneva; Tokio Parley Request Is Scorned. LEAGUE AT WITS’ END Briand Called to Direct Efforts to Halt War in Orient. (Japan plays for huge stake. Read William. Phillips Simms story, Page 1, Section 2.) BY HENRY WOOD United Press Staff Correspondent GENEVA, Oct. 13.—Japan and China presented their cases in the Manchurian dispute before the council of the League of Nations today, but their deadlock continued. Kenkichi Yoshizawa, Japanese representative, reiterated Japan’s offer to direct negotiations with China. Alfred Sze, for China, insisted that China never will consent to direct negotiations until Japanese troops are withdrawn from the occupied portions of Manchuria and reparations have been made. Sze again laid the whole problem to the council for settlement. Yoshizawa, presenting Japan’s attitude to the afternoon session of the council, said military operations in Manchuria were now at a standstill. A state of war does not exist, he explained, but Japanese troops still are obliged to protect their nationals and airplanes have to follow the movements of Chinese troops. It was thus, he said, that the bombing of Chinchow happened. Aristide Briand, veteran apostle of peace, was called on by the council to direct its efforts to prevent wari Dickers With Nanking By United Press TOKIO, Oct. 13.—Japan sought direct negotiations with China today as the League of Nations council convened at Geneva in an attempt to prevent war. Baron Kijiro Shidehara, Japanese foreign minister, swept aside his diplomatic corps in suing for a closer contact with Nanking government authorities. China already has refused to deal directly with j Tokio, preferring to keep the league between them. Shidehara informed his diplomats | that he had “decided” to negotiate i with Nanking on fundamentals of the Manchurian crisis, now dangerously near the breaking point. A settlement of the controversy must include China’s pledge to cease anti-Japanese activities within its own country, especially antiJapanese teachings in school books, Shidehara said. Japan also will insist upon recognition of her treaty rights, the minister added. He referred to Japan’s long leaseholds on the harbor of Dairen and a vast network of railroads in the areas extending from it. Troops Move North ;/ United Press PEIPING, China, Oct. 13.—Chinese troops moved northward from the Yangtze river today, apparently in anticipation of possible warfare with Japan, it was learned by foreign military attaches here. A Manchurian communique issued here at -the same time, said that Japanese airplanes bombed three trainloads of Chinese soldiers at Tahusian today. Casualties were not determined. AKRON ON SPEED~ RUN Giant Airship Soars Away From Dock at Early Hour. AKRON, Oct. 13.—Eight 560-horse power engines drove the U. S. S. Akron through northern Ohio skies today in the giant airship’s first speed test. The Akron soared away from her airdock at 6:40 a. m. Naval officials said the flight would last until late afternoon. The sky liner has a calculated maximum speed of eighty-three miles an hour.

member of his Sunday school class to serve four months in jail when the defendant pleaded guilty to a liquor charge. “I’m disappointed in you, and also in mys e 1 f,” Judge Baltzell told Joe Adcock, a friend of the judge when the two men lived at

dying mother and her husband had agreed just before she died to leave the custody of Donna Rose with her grandparents, the Towells. Almost a month later Pogue, who had gone to reside with his parents in Maywood, sought to obtain possession of the child by a writ of habeas corpus in superior court two. At the hearing Judge Joseph R. Williams decided that the father and grandparents could have possession of the child on alternate weeks. With the passage of another month, the Towells also filed a petition for a writ of habeas cor-

A woman lay murdered. A daring jewel theft had been committed. Somewhere, not far away, the perpetrator of both crimes was hiding. On the night that was to have been the gayest and happiest of Mary Harkness* life tragedy descended on the household in which she lived. JVhose yoice rose in that frightened scream behind

‘GEMS OF PERIL’ IS NEW TIMES SERIAL

INDIANAPOLIS, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1931

Bank Is Picture of Ruin After Cracksmen Leave Lizton Given Thrill of Lifetime When Yegg Gang Stages Early Morning Invasion; Trusty Gun of Aged President Speaks.

V ' S ‘ with accuracy, is the hero of this little town today.

Upper Left—When bandits invaded the State Bank of Lizton early this morning, Marion Bailey, 77 - year - old bank president, opened fire on them with the shotgun he is shown holding here. His shot were answered by a

NEGRO SHOT IN EVICTION_CLASK Constable Turns Gun on Ousted Man’s Companion. Attempt of a constable to evict a west side family resulted in the shooting today of Cleon Hizer, 30, Negro, of 1126 Roach street, by a constable in an altercation in front of a justice of the peace court. Hizer was shot in the leg by Constable R. J. White, 38, of 275 North Miley avenue, who works out of the court of Justice of Peace Edward Peck, 224216 West Michigan street. White served eviction papers on the family of Hovey A. Woodford, Negro, of 2431 Hovey street. Woodford, charging possessions had been removed from his home by White the family was absent, went to Peck’s court this morning to demand an explanation. He was accompanied, White said, by Hizer. White said Hizer reached into his back pocket as White approached him in front of the building. He said he thought Hizer was reaching for a gun, so he shot him down. Police "Old not arrest White, but held Woodford and Hizer on vagrancy charges.

pus, charging that Pogue would noL let them have the child. Attempts at obtaining an amicable settlement failing, Judge Pickens was called upon today to re-enact the role of Solomon. Witness after .witness paraded across the stand to show that both the grandparents and Pogue can provide proper homes for the child. Final arguments are to be heard late this afternoon. In the meanwhile, Donna Rose, blue beret askew upon her blond head, steadily is drawing upon the milk bottle which she carries about the courtroom in her chubby hands.

—Photos by Virginia Edwards, Times Staff Photographer.

fusillade of bullets from the yeggs. Upper Right—How the bank’s two safes were wrecked by several explosions of nitroglycerin. Lower ISeft—Exterior view of the bank building and the early morning crowd attracted by the

Bungler Leo, a Failure at Love, Even ‘Messes Up’ His Suicide Attempt.

By United Press CHICAGO, Oct. 13.—Leo Lynch, 27, and Caroline Spolinger, 24, were sweethearts for five years. Then Leo met Katherine Curran. Several nights each week after that Caroline- sat at home alone while Leo wooed the other girl. For months, Caroline said nothing. Finally she spoke. “Katherine must be a nice girl,” she told Leo. “I’d like to meet her.’* Reluctantly, Leo agreed, and Monday night invited both girls to his apartment. All were a little embarrassed at first. It was Caroline who opened the discussion of the subject uppermost in all their minds. “We’re all here now,” she said, “and I want my answer. Leo, whom do you love, me or Katherine?” Leo looked first at one, then the other, then at the floor. “I’m sorry, Carrie,” he said, “but it’s Katherine.” tt tt tt /CAROLINE turned to her rival. V>r “And now, Katherine,” she began, “let’s have the truth from you. I know you’re engaged to another fellow. Are you going to give him up for Leo.” It was Katherine’s turn to stare at the floor. “No,” she said, “I’m glad you’ve opened my eyes. I guess I don’t love Leo that much. I guess I’ll go.” As Katherine walked toward the door, Leo stepped to a desk. “Wait,” he said, “I’ll settle this myself.” While his two loves looked on, the young man drew a revolver from the desk and shot himself through the abdomen. At Grant hospital, it was said he probably would recover. Life Sentence Is Upheld Supreme court today confirmed the conviction of Arthur Cox, Columbus, sentenced to life imprisonment in 1929 for kidnaping. Cox was found guilty of the charge after he seized a 7-year-old-girl and abandoned her in an alley when pursued.

the closed door? Who fired the two shots Mary heard? Two murders, a robbery and daring criminal intrigue followed the Jupiter rubies in swift succession. Mary Harkness found herself swept into the center of these amazing events. “Gems of Peril” tell the story. Mystery, adventure and romance are combined in this absorbing serial, which starts Wednesday in The Times.

YEGGMEN WRECK LIZTON BANK, WAGE GUN DUEL, AND FLEE WITH $4,300

“excitement” of the bandits’ visit. Lower Right—George Huber, cashier, who immediately after the robbers fled the town, drove five miles to Jamestown to call, officers. The bandits cut all telephone wires into Lizton before they entered the bank.

STUTZ OUTLOOK IS BRIGHTENING Prospects Better, View of Wall Street Journal. By United Press NEW YORK, Oct. 13.—The reorganization plan of the Stutz Motor Car Company of America, Inc., which has been proceeding since early 1929, currently has reached a point providing possibility of profitable operations for the company, the Wall Street Journal said today. “Retail distribution facilities have been strengthened and dealers now total approximately 200. With the entrenchment program virtually completed, the company is planning an aggressive campaign to expand its business in the high-priced passenger field. “Stutz with a dollar volume business in the nine months ended July 31 only slightly in excess of last year, showed net profit of SIOO,OOO from factory operations. After deducting subsidiary losses, net profit was $20,000, against a loss of roughly $750,000 in the corresponding period of 1930.” GETS HOSPITAL POST Lafayette Man Named on Board of State Institution. Governor Harry G. Leslie today appointed Wallace D. Wolffe, Lafayette, to succeed Moses Epstein as a member of the board of trustees of the Logansport state hospital. * Epstein, who has resigned the hospital post and his place on the state purchasing board, has been ill. His term expires April, 1935. BOXER’S HOME BURNED Fire Marshal Asked to Probe Blaze, Believed Incendiary. By Times Special NEWCASTLE, Ind., Oct. 13. State fire marshal’s office has been asked to investigate a fire believed to be of incendiary origin, which destroyed the house and barn of Eddie Staten, middleweight boxer, near here, Monday night. Staten, who has been appearing in the prize ring several years, said he had no known enemies. Loss is estimated at $6,000.

Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoffiee, Indianapolis. Ind,

Hero at 77 \Lizton Bank Head and His Old Shotgun Give Yeggs Some Worry.

By United Press Lizton, ind., oct. 13.— a 77-year-old president who smokes a pipe continually, and can fire his long-barreled shotgun with accuracy, is the hero of this little town today. It was he, Marion Bailey, president of the State bank of Lizton. who made the only effort to protect his institution against yeggs who raided it and escaped ‘with $4,300 in currency and money early today. “I was awakened by the first explosion in my bank across the street,” he said. “I figured I better do something about it, so I got that shotgun I keep around the house and went to the front door. “Jim Young, my brother-in-law—he’s 80 and lives here with me—came downstairs, too, and we looked across the street. “Three of the bandits were behind boxes and furniture they had piled on the street. I took aim and let go with this shotgun. tt tt “ A ND right away they fired I*- back. They were steel-jack-eted bullets, too. They whined around us, the nearest coming about two feet from our heads. “I turned to Jim and said: ‘What are we going to do, let them blow us out of house and home?” “Then Jim said there wasn’t much we could do with those fellows, us having only this one shotgun.” Bailey said he and Young returned to the house and watched the yeggs and heard the other seven explosions that wrecked the interior of the bank Before noon, Bailey was behind the counter of a grocery, also located in the bank building, meeting his patrons. “I’ve been president of this bank since it was organized, on my birthday in 1910, but I never thought I’d be dealing money like bread, over a grocery counter,” he told them.

SENTENCED TO CHAIR Bandit Found Guilty of Murder at Lagrange. LAGRANGE, Ind., Oct. 13.—Herbert Johnson, 31, was found guilty by a Lagrange county circuit court jury here today on a charge of firstdegree murder, and was sentenced to die in the electric chair next Feb. 12. Johnson was charged with murdering Bert Frye, Seibert, Ind., storekeeper, during a holdup last June. Judge Clyde Collins, prescribed the death penalty, although the verdict left it optional. “Thank you, judge,” was the only comment Johnson made. The jury deliberated the case four and one-half hours. FAMOUS RUM CASE ENDS Prohibition Test Trial, in Which Judge Clark “Starred,” Is Over. i By United Press TRENTON, N. J„ Oct. 13.—A prohibition test case which attracted nation-wide attention when Judge William Clark ruled, in trying it, that the eighteenth amendment had not been ratified legally, has ended. Federal Judge Borquin of Montana settled the case of William Sprague and William J. Howey of Sussex, N. J., charged with having possessed and transported fifty half barrels of beer illegally when he fined them $750 jointly. y*

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President Is Awakened by Blast, Opens Fire From His Home. LEAD RIDDLES HOUSE Shattered Safes Hurled Across Poom, Ruining Ceilings, Walls. BY HEZE CLARK Times Staff Correspondent LIZTON, Ind., Oct. 13.—Blasting two safes and wrecking the interior of the State Bank of Lizton, five bandits early today staged a gun battle with the president of the institution and fled in two automobiles with $4,300 in cash and securities. This little town of 200 residents, twenty-two miles northwest of Indianapolis, still was in an uproar hours after the yeggs fled. The bandits worked in the bank more than an hour and a half, using eight charges of nitroglycerin to blow the safes. Sections of the safes were blown to various parts of the bank. One wall of the three-story building bulged under the force of the explosives. Windows in the bank were shattered. President Opens Fire Awakened by the first blast, Marion Bailey, president of the bank, who lives across the street from the institution, opened fire on three bandits in front of the bank. The yeggs had barricaded themselves behind grocery store bread boxes and bank furniture piled on the sidewalk in front of the building. Bailey, who is 77, and his brother-in-law, James Young, 80, became targets for a fusillade of shots from the bandits’ guns. Four of the outlaws’ bullets bored into the side of the house, another barely missed Young and Bailey, and a sixth ripped through a wall of the house. Persons in the vicinity of the bank armed themselves, but did not dare turn on lights or open an attack after the exchange of shots ! between Bailey and the thugs. Cut Telephone Lines Before entering the bank, the yeggs stole a ladder from a grain elevator near the town and cut the main telephone and telegraph lines. The place was without communication for several hours after the crime. Believed to be safe-cracking experts, the yeggs tried to muffle the explosions with coats and tarpaulins they stole from the Big Four station, where they also obtained crowbars and tools. Two of the bandit cars were parked near the bank, while the robbers worked inside. George Huber, cashier, who estimated the loss, was awakened by the exchange of shots, and was armed, but did not make the trip to the bank. Instead he left his home and drove to Jamestown, five miles distant, to sound the first alarm of the safeblowing. Damage Is Heavy One large safe blasted by the bandits contained only bank records, while the other held securities and money. The loss in money and about $3,000 to the bank building is covered by insurance, Huber said. Carrying $6,000 worth of currency in his pockets, C. F. Martin, president of the state bank of Jamestown, appeared before the debris was cleared, and told Bailey he was prepared to support the banks opening. Banking took place today in a grocery owned by Milo Dowden in the same building with the wrecked bank. State criminal operatives attempted to find fingerprints in the wreckage and all parts of the state were searched for the bandits. WON JOINS COLUMBIA Chicago Tribune Station Added to National Network. By United Press CHICAGO, Oct. 13.—Negotiations have been completed whereby WGN, tne Chicago Tribune station, will serve as an added outlet in Chicago for programs of the Columbia Broadcasting System. While the Tribune will continue to own and operate the station, a number of hours each week have been allotted to the network on a long term contract. Other Columbia programs will be carried in Chicago by station WBBM. WGN has been on the air under its present call letters since 1924. FLIER GOES TO JAIL’ Don Moyle of Tokk>-to-Seattle Fame to Serve Drunk Term. By United Press LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13.—Hero or also ran, Don Moyle prepared today to hear the doors of the county jail clank behind him. Moyle, “jail or glory” flier, who with Cecil Allen attempted a nonstop flight from Tokio to Seattle, was ordered to appear before Justice B. Rey Schauer to report himself ready to begin serving a thirtyday jail sentenced imposed as part of probation granted him alter he pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while drunk. He was sentenced last July, but Judge Schauer granted a continuance to permit Moyle to undertake the flight. Judge Schauer said the sentence would stand.

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