Indianapolis Times, Volume 44, Number 54, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 July 1932 — Page 2

PAGE 2

MAZE OF RIDDLES FACES LAW IN SEEKING SOLUTION FOR DEATH OF REYNOLDS Finding of Gun in Front of Docpr in Tragedy Room Hours After Shcjoting Puzzles Officers. PONDER BEDROOM SLIPPER CLEW Course of Bullet Also Baffling Angle; Friend of Victim Is Grilled by Investigators. BY MORRIS DE HAVEN TRACY United Pre* Staff Correspondent WINSTON SALEM, N. C., July 13—Investigators tried to learn today why three persons who searched the room in which Smith Reynolds was shot failed to find the death gun until five hours later, when one of the three stepped on the weapon—lying in front of the door. That is just one of several puzzling facts revealed in secret testimony in the investigation as obtained today by the United Press. Among other questions that confused the investigators and the coroner’s jury which ruled that the youthful heir to millions “died at the hands of a person or persons unknown” were these: Why was Mrs. Reynolds’ bedroom slipper beside the bed of her husband’s young fyiend, Albert (Ab) Walker, and her sweater in his bathroom?

llow could the gun have j been to the right of the bed, near the door, while the cartridge was found on the opposite side of the bed? j How could the bullet range slightly downward through Smith Reynolds’ brain from his right temple to below his left ear, and yet pass through a door screen six feet two inches from the floor? Why was there no bloody trail from the spot where Smith was shot to the place where he was lifted into the automobile for the trip to the hospital, where he died in one j room as his exotic wife and his friend, Walker, sat in another? Explanation Is Possible There are passible explanations to the last two questions not developed in the secret testimony revealed to the United Press. Had Smith Reynolds stood near the foot of the bed in the room where he was shot, lifted the gun to his right temple as his head drooped slightly forward, the bullet would have coursed through his head and the screen door in accordance with the evidence. Testimony was to the effect that Walker and Libby Holman Reynolds, both under influence of liquor, carried the wounded youth to the automobile. Smith’s head rested in the arms of one part of the time, and on Walker’s shoulder the remainder of the time. Absence of a bloody trail easily could be explained under such circumstances. The transcript of evidence contains the detailed testimony of Walker, held for three days as a material witness; Miss Blanche Yurka, New York actress; Dr. Fred M. Hanes, Libby Holman and several employes of the Reynolds estate. Dr. Hanes expressed the opinion that the shot was fired from a wea- ! pon held immediately against young Reynolds’ temple. A weapon so held, he explained, leaves a minimum of powder mark,s. There were , virtually no powder burns on Reyn- j olds’ temple. Feared He Was Insane The testimony of Walker alone ran some 7,500 words. He described how he and Smith Reynolds spent Sunday night before the shooting, at a Linston Salem hotel, at Reyn-, olds’ insistence. Miss Holman, Miss Yurka, and others were busy reading the man- ; uscript of a play. Reynolds left, he said, because he had little interest id it. That night in the hotel they hid talked long and Reynolds had confided to him. Walker said, a fear that he was insane. The questioning turned to the party given at the Reynolds estate Tuesday night, before the shooting. Miss Holman had disappeared from the party. “I asked where Mrs. • Reynolds was.” Walker testified. "And he (Smith) said, ’She is roaming around on the outside.’ We got up and went back in the pantry to talk and I asked him to let me go out and look for her. "He said, ‘No , I don’t want you to. If she is not in after the guests leave, I will go out and look for.’” “Was he disturbed?” Walker was asked. A—l would say a rather worried look . . . Questioned About Kiss q state to his honor and the jury what was the discussion you and Mr. Reynolds and Mrs. Reynolds had about her kissing you that night? A-The early part of the evening Mrs. Reynolds was very tight . Q —You mean under the influence of whisky? A—Yes, sir . . . and she threw her arms around my shoulder and leaned down and whispered to me something pertaining to Smith loving her . . . and it wasn’t long after that until thev both came up and Mrs Reynolds said. “Did I kiss you? I said, -No of course not. When Mr. Reynolds and myself went back in the pantry, he said, ? want you to get it straight that I wasn’t accusing you of anything Le said. “I saw the whole thing, t said “But there wasn't anything. He said “I saw what happened." q—Did he say he wasn’t accusing vouof anything, or wasn't accusing vou of being intimate with his wife —which words did he use? A—l don't know. Not Accused of Intimacy Q—He wasn’t accusing you of being intimate with his wife? A—No. sir. Q—When she leaned down and whispered to you. what did she tell you? A—l don't remember the words, but she said. “I don’t believe Smith loves me,” or something to that effect, in a very tight tone. He was closely questioned about an account of Libby and Smith talking alone in Walker’s room not long

before the shooting. Walker, at the time, said he was downstairs. Q—Do you know any reason why Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds would have gone in to your room? A—No, sir. Q—Was she in the habit of going in your room? A—No, sir The testimony switched to other subjects and then returned to the conference of husband and wife in Walker’s bedroom. Q- Three minutes later, after that conversation (one between Walker and Reynolds) in your room, and after seeing Mrs. Reynolds’ bedroom slippers beside your bed, and her sweater in your bathroom, you said, “By the way, about five minutes before Smith and his wife went to their room last night, were both In my room and those slippers are hers.” Did you say that? A—Yes, sir. Recognized Their Voices Q—And when told that you just had said you were downstairs looking up, you said: “I was, but I heard their voices and recognized them.” A—Well, there is no conflict between that and the first one . . . Q —But you hadn’t mentioned to Mr. Scott (the sheriff) in your first conversation anything about them being in your bedroom, had you? A—l don’t know; I thought I had . .. Q —Did you say this: “Well, the whole truth of the matter is Smith just thought too much of that woman?” A—Yes, sir. Q —Did you say later that there was something about this affair that you couldn’t tell and that you would carry to your grave? l A—That I said, but I was in a state of mind ... I am willing to answer any question you ask me as truthfully as I can. Q —You didn't think for a minute that Mr. Reynolds had carried his wife in your room to show her— A— She followed him in the room; he went first. Q —That he asked her to come in your room to show her her bedroom slippers under your bed? A—No, sir. Queried on Jewish Prejudice Q —He could have picked her bedroom slippers up and carried them out? A —That doesn't sound like Mr. Reynolds, to pick up . . . Q —Didn’t he look after his wife, when she would get drunk, as best he could? A —That was the first time I seen her drunk. Q —Did you know Mrs. Reynolds w'as a Jewess? A—No, sir. . . . Q —Did Smith know it? A—l don’t know, sir. Q—Did you ever hear Smith express his opinion, or make any statement in regard to people of the Hebrew race? A—No, sir. Q—Did you know' that he had a very peculiar opinion about them? A—No, sir. Walker was questioned closely about his reasons for returning to ! the Reynolds' house to get a wallet ! after he had taken Smith to the i hospital. Q—What was your reason for being so anxious to get back over to the house after you were over at the hospital? A—Well, I wanted to get the wallet and remove the w’hisky glasses and things before anybody came in the house. Made Two Trips He had made tw'o trips back to j the house!, the last one about 8 a. m. Q. —Wqen you got back the last time, whenever it was, Mr. Wamken said something about it being peculiar that they couldn't find the gun? A.—No, sir. Q, —I will ask you if you didn’t make this statement to Mr. Warn- ' ken or to Mr. Lasater when Mr. | Warnken said. “It’s funny we can't i find the gun,” you made the statement, ’‘it's in tho room.” A.—l . don’t remember that. Q. —Do you deny that you made

__ from Round Trip OH Coach July and August Califomi' liberal stopovers— Free baggage allowance <yi a on© way coach also from Chicago On tale daily until Dec. 31, 1712 Proportionate foret in tourist and sk Fred Harvey lunch and dining rooms on the Sen:. T P. FISHER. Gen. Asc:.t r„, ni,i,l._ w_ SANTA FE RT. rer > 111 Merchants Bank Bldg, V u . Y INDIANAPOLIS. IND. fhene: Riley 3071

Plane Dive Ends Amazing Career of ‘ Europe's Ford ’

w’W' ■• . mk lar jjfiL

Thomas Bata, Europe’s shoe king, at work at his desk in Prague shortly before his death.

Thirtieth of World Walks on Shoes Made by Bata, Crash Victim. BY MILTON BRONNER European Manager. NEA Service PRAGUE, July 13.—The story of Thomas Bata, Europe’s shoe king, who crashed to his death in j one of his eight airplanes Tuesday,; is the story of the shoemaker who | stuck to his last and rase from poverty to the point where one-thirtieth ! of all the human beings in the world w'alk in the shoes that his busy factories made. More than that, it is the story of the man who introduced mass production in European industry, ’ and thereby became Europe's great- j est industrial genius—and, as he has been called, “the man who outForded Henry Ford.” The most recent figures show that his factories were turning out 135,000 pairs of boots and shoes each day. His retail stores, through which he marketed his own product, spread by the hundreds throughout Europe and Asia and to India, China and the Malaya states. There are even ten of them in Chicago, which has a large Czech population. tt u tt BORN in 1876, son of a poor cobbler in the nearby Moravian village of Zlin, Bata peddled from house to house —as a boy—the shoes that his father made. At odd times, he worked at the bench. In 1894, when he was 18, he set up a small shoe-making business of his own, using capital furnished by his brother and sister to hire fifty hand cobblers. In a year he was broke and deeply in debt. From somewhere he obtained new capital and turned to the manufacture of shoes by machinery. This business grew and prospered. In 1904, Bata went to America to study mass production in big American shoe factories. He returned home, revised his production methods, bought more machinery and soon had 2,000 employes at work. When the World war came along, Bata hurried to Vienna and succeeded in obtaining a big contract for military boots from the Austrian army. Soon, he was turning of 1,000 pair of boots a day. With the coming of peace he switched his production to civilian shoes and started out to find markets for them by opening up his own retail stores. His production doubled and trebled. Latest available figures show the great chain of Bata factories employing 20,000 an dturning out 135,000 pairs of shoes a day. u tt a A . STOCKY, 56-year-old man /Y with hawk-like nose and blue eyes that danced with nervous energy, Bata was one of the most forceful charapters I ever itfent. I interviewed him not many months ago in his general offices, which are on the top floor of his ten-story retail store in Prague. “I am not as young as I used to said he, “but I still am going strong. No, you musn’t call me ’the man who out-Forded Ford.’ Your industrial king could buy me and sell me a dozen times over. “I’m just a shoe-maker, tryng to the statement? A.—l don’t rememi ber any discussion about the gun, | except the gun that we discussed in | my room. Q —Do you deny you made the satement? A.—Everything is sort of hazy at that point. W. E. Fulcher, night watchman, j testified he searched the rooms | where Reynolds was reported shot, a few moments after the shooting, “all around the bed and all around the room.” Stuart Warnken, and J. T. Barnes went into the bedroom and searched the sleeping porch, Warnken ' a second time. They found no gun. Then A. Clint Wharton, superintent of the estate, testified. Q —Where was the gun found? A —Right on, I should say, the southwest corner of the rug. Q —Did you have any trouble ; locating the gun the last time you were in there? A—l stepped on it as I went in.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

make and sell as may shoes as possible. And, unlike the auto business,. the world has not come near to the saturation point in shoes.” He rose to go. He had to hurry to his factories in Xiln. He never traveled by train; they were too slow for this busy man, so he maintained his own fleet of airplanes. He had eight of these, so he would be sure that one was always ready for his command. It was on such a trip as this that Europe’s greatest industrial genius crashed to his death Tuesday. Pet Dog’s Scratch Fatal B;i T’nitcd Pres* LINTON, Ind„ July 13.—A scratch suffered by Mrs. Ona Fisk, 29, i Pleasantville, while playing with her I pet dog four months ago, caused her death in a hospital here Tuesday night. She became ill only last Saturday and emergency treatment proved futile.

* / UNITED MUTUAL Life Insurance Company Announces the Opening of an Indianapolis * Agency with R. S. Crowl as General Agent At 715 Circle lower Building

'-t-'he United Mutual Life InJL surance Company announces the opening of a special Indianapolis Agency at 715 Circle Tower Building. The United Mutual Life Insurance Company is chartered under a Special Act of the Lnited States Congress. The company is famous for the safeguarded protection which it provides its policyholders. Its assets are as strong as the nation itself. The company has established this special Indianapolis agency to accommodate the people bf Indianapolis and Marion County who are interested in obtaining information regarding life insurance. The office is conveniently located and is in charge of Mr. R. S. Crowl, General Agent. He is a man ' I

United Mutual LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY Harry IVade t President HOME OFFICE OF THE COMPANY • SOUTHEAST CORNER OF ST. JOSEPH AND MERIDIAN STREETS • INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA ufeinsuranceT

REFUSE TO KILL BILL ABOLISHING TAX FORJONOS House Disregards Report or Ways, Means Group •* on Measure. The Indiana house of representatives today took its first definite step toward tax relief by advancing to second reading a bill abolishing tax exemption on all public bonds except these issuer by the federal governmnt. Although reported for postponement by a majority of the house 1 ways and means committee, the; lower house seized on the bill as a passible relief avenue by substituting a minority report for passage, automatically placing the bill before the house for action. Gerritt M. Bates iDem.), Indianapolis, author of the measure, declared from the floor that the bill would put millions on tax duplicates and will reach into the pockets of thousands of investors now escaping taxation on tax exempt securities. He asserted that resultant revenues would lighten the tax burden o nthe small taxpayers and distribute it over a wider range of wealth. The measure was advanced for second reading on motion of Representative Nathan B. Combs (Dem.), Mulberry, after debate on the floor. Representative Earl Crawford (Rep.), Milton, opposing its enactment during the special session as a “waste of time,” urged that consideration be postponed until the regular session next year. He favors the measure, however, he said. Among eleven new introduced today in the house, one would authorize municipalities to purchase utilities to be paid for out of revenue bonds, and would remove them from jurisdiction of the public service commission. Another provision is made to force [ public utilities to iissue certificates j of assignment of utility revenue as 1 a basis of rate making. Signers of the measure were headed by Representative Edward H. Stein (Rep.) Bloomfield.

Help a ‘Regular Guy ’ —

Upper—Alex Stavanvich (left) and his brother, George, are regular visitors at the American Settlement playground at 617 West Pearl street. “If we had a bat, we’d play baseball, if we had a ball,” Alex is telling George as they wait for play equipment to be donated. Lower—Philip Vudis (left) and Charles Augulkovich, have a great time playing at the settlement.

As near as your drug store this week is the opportunity to aid social service agencies in providing sporting goods, gamps and clothing for youngsters who 'are deprived of the articles which probably are lying discarded in attics and playrooms. The recreation committee of the Indianapolis Council of Social Agencies has obtained the co-operation of drug stores as receiving stations for articles contributed for use at playgrounds and .summer camps maintained by the organization.

of broad experience in life insurance work and will be pleased, at all times, to render aid and guidance to those who are interested in investing in life insurance, or those men and women who desire to become representatives of this company. The United Mutual has insurance on the lives of men, women and children in every state in the Union and every province in Canada. A glance at the easily understood financial statement shows clearly why and how the United Mutual occupies its high position in the insurance world. The Indianapolis Agency has splendid opportunities to offer men and women who are experienced in the life insurance field , and also to those who desire an opportunity to develop into capable representatives of this company.

- No limitations are placed on the articles contributed. Bathing suits, baseballs and gloves, bats, roller skates, tennis racquets, checker- ; boards, puzzles and other games are ! sought. In addition, clothing which might be used in camping or hiking, such as bloomers, knickers, sweaters, shoes, middies or shorts, is desired. Under the plan of the committee, articles left at drug stores will be collected Saturday, sorted and distributed. _

FINANCIAL STATEMENT assets liabilities GoTCrnment Bond* Policy RMerges inowned $ 257,916.44 eluding Surplu* 124,242.650.40 Municipal Bond* owned 23,00ti.715.©2 Death Claim* on SpecUl A.ment which ha „, Bond* owned None Industrial Bond* ben received owned None at Home Office . 175,196.95 Railroad Bond* None Stock* owned None Monthly Income Policy Real E*tate Mortgage Claims not due ... 207.928.50 loan* None CollateralLoan* Son* R e .. rTe Held ,o proCa*h on Hand 193,877 90 Loans to policy tmct * nv Auctuaholders 1,417,191.34 rlon In Inveatment 750,000.00 (Fully covered by legal reserve) Reserve to pay dlviHome Office Building 435.672.06 dend* to policy Other Real Estate. . . . None Money Borrowed holders 47#,###.M from Banks None 1 Money Borrowed on Premiums and insecurities. None terest paid in ad - Furniture and No Credit Fixtures I ak*n , Accrued IntereM . ... 590,244.41 Co , lect ion Fee. 30.420.99 Premiums In Course of Collection ...... 44,484.5# (Premiums due but not received on date of statement) Other Assets ........ 185.19 Total Admitted Assets $24 174.484.84 Totsl Liabilities $24 174,486 84 You will find that United Mutual’s safeguarded policies arc easy to carry and liberal in their provisions. There arc plan to cover every insurance need. Write or call the new office *or complete information on any plan oflife insurance in which you are interested.

.JULY 13, 1932

LESLIE NAMES RALPH YOUNG COMMISSIONER Personal Friend of Governor Succeeds Singleton on State Board. Ralph Young, personal friend of Governor Harry G. Leslie, has been appointed to succeed Frank T. Singleton as a Republican m-'m- | ber of the public service commission. For the last three and one-ha’.f ! years Young has held the post of chief of the bus and truck division of the commission. Much of his time has been spent in tile company of the Governor as a personal aid. He served in this capacity when Leslie entertained the Governors’ conference at French Lick last year and was active in serving the Governor and his mentor, Henry Marshall, at the Chicago Republican convention. Managed Leslie Campaign Young hales from Muncic. where he managed the Leslie gubernatorial campaign. Since coming to Indianapolis he has developed greatly as an adroit politician. Champions of the idea that politicians make better commissioners than lawyers, he welcomed the anouncement of his appointment ak commissioner. Young for many years was employed in the advertising departments of various newspapers. Good for Utilities He is married and has a daughter. Singleton, whose second term expired July 1, comes from Martinsville. He has served eight years on the commission, being first appointed by the late Governor Emmett Branch and reappointed by former Governor Ed Jackson. He was a candidate for reappointment on his record of service in the interest of the public. But as a minority member he has drawn fire from the utility interests to which Leslie always has been kind.