Indianapolis Times, Volume 44, Number 117, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 September 1932 — Page 3

SEPT. 24, 1932.

FALL CAMPAIGN ISSUES CLEARLY ARE OUTLINED Conservative, Progressive Courses Followed by Major Parties. Cp Hcripps-ttuvcnrd \ntspaper Alliance WASHINGTON, Sept. 24.—Just as the Democratic delegates at Chicago adopted what was hailed as a progressive platform and chose a presidential nominee with western progressive support, so are Democratic voters in primary elections showing a preference for senatorial candidates with progressive appeal. In contrast, the Republicans, with a conservative platform and a conservative presidential nominee, have been turning to coaservatives for senatorial timber. Thus, the battle lines that the two major parties are forming for the big engagement in November offer, at least in outward appearance, promise of an old-fashioned struggle between Jeffersonian liberalism and Hamiltonian conservatism. The popular explanation of progressive triumphs in Democratic primaries and conservative victories in Republican tilts is that the voters in both parties are registering their protest against the “ins.” G. O. P. Choosing Conservatives But that analysis does not wholly explain why the Republicans of Washington state renominated for the senate Wesley (5 and 10 Law) Jones, Hoover conservative and ardent prohibitionist, while the Democrats chose as his November opponent, Homer T. Bone, a wet and a crusader for public ownership of power plants. Nor does it account for the choice by Colorado Republicans of conservative Karl C. Schuyler, wealthy oil man, while the Democrats selected the Costigan-indorsed liberal, Alva Adams, defeating their wealthy oil man candidate, John T. Barnett. It may have been merely a coincidence that lowa Republicans overwhelmingly defeated progressive Senator Smith W. Brookhart, while Oklahoma Democrats overwhelmingly renominated progressive Senator Elmer Thomas. Putting Out the “Ins” Resentment against the “ins” may explain: Why Wisconsin Republicans turned out two militant progressives, Governor Phil La Follette and Senator John J. Blaine, choosing instead the conservatives, ex-Gover-nor Walter Kohler and John Chappie. Why Louisiana Democrats ousted Senator Edwin S. Broussard, hightariff reactionary, giving his place on the ticket to Representative John Overton, who espoused progressive Senator Huey P. Long's pet program of limiting large incomes and inheritances. And why Georgia Democrats nominated for senate Governor Richard Russel], choice of organized labor, turning down conservative Representative Charles Crisp, because of his advocacy of the sales tax and his responsibility for shifting the electricity tax from power companies to consumers. Democrats Vote Own Ticket By accident, or otherwise, the two parties have been choosing senatorial nominees of contrasting political complexions, men whose purported economic and political views coincide with the purported views of the respective presidential nominees and the declarations of the respective party platforms. In Washington, lowa and Wisconsin, Democrats, who in years past had participated in Republican primaries, voted this year in their own primaries. With the aid of progressive Republicans, they hope to place those states in the Democratic column in November. ‘SLAVERY’ CHARGED IN FLOOD CONTROL WORK Woman Investigator Tells of Conditions Along Mississippi. B'l Scripps-Hotcard Xeicspapcr Alliance WASHINGTON, Sept. 24.—The personal story of what a woman investigator saw in Negro labor camps along the Mississippi flood control project was before the war department today, for use in connection with its inquiry into charges that conditions of virtual slavery exist on the levees. This investigator, Helen Boardman, former Red Cross worker, told her story to Brigadier-General G. B. Pillsbury. assistant to the chief of army engineers, in charge of the flood control work. Her complaints were against conditions in camps maintained by contractors, to whom levee and other flood control work has been let by army engineers. Miss Boardman told Pillsbury that Negro laborers were subjected to brutal beatings, were paid low wages and worked extraordinarily long hours, and that insanitary living arrangements and other conditions amounting to virtual slavery prevailed. JAFSIE STILL ON HUNT Hope Held by Dr. Condon That He Yet Will Find Lindy Hoaxers. Bp l nited Press NEW YORK, Sept. 24.—Dr. John F. (Jafsie) Condon, emissary in the Lindbergh kidnaping case, still hopes he will find the man who hoaxed him into tossing $50,000 of Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh's money over a cemetery wall in the Bronx. Last week he went to Canada on the trail of the money. He confers with federal secret service men twice a week. OPEN CLUB QUARTERS Washington Township Democrats Get 5206 College Room. Establishment of new headquarters at 5206 College avenue is announced by the Washington Township Democratic Club. The headquarters will be open throughout the fall campaign. Walter Clarke, Center township attorney, recently was elected ward chairman.

MILLIONAIRE DISAPPEARS

Doctor’s Fate Is Riddle for Sleuths

money WBk J did he write those letters that DISAPPEAREO TOilk DRIFTED BACK SO MYSTERIOUSLY ? DIUAFVIawciD Co' mrl R ii'onrt Robins, friend of aw H** W. & W&ZjSgg- IP- yII: 'A, Preset:-,' ifoo r r. j nneci the ranks third of a series of six Mori*s on Amerteas most famous mystery disappear- OOP HQM

Colonel R . mond Robins, friend of President Hoover, has Joined the ranks of the 50 000 persons who vanish annually in the United States This is the third of a series of six stories on America's most famous mystery disappearances.

BY ROBERT TALLEY NEA Service Writer (Copyrißht. 1932, NEA Service, Inc.) WHERE is Dr. Charles Brancati? He came to America from Italy as a barber, worked his way through medical college in New York, turned to business and made a million dollars in some way that 'is not at all clear. Then he vanished as though the earth had swallowed him, leaving his present even a deeper mystery than his past. It was on Nov. 19, 1928, that Dr. Brancati left the stately old Gouverneur Morris mansion in New York’s Bronx, fer which he had refused an offer of $400,000 only a short time before. He said he was going downtown to his office. That was the last ever seen of him. The authorities incline to the belief that Dr. Brancati engineered his own disapearance “for personal reasons.” His brothers say they are convinced that he was kidnaped and murdered. Each theory seems to fit known facts equally well. The subsequent linking of Dr. Brancati s name with various sinister activities easily might explain why he should choose to disappear; cojild just as well explain a motive for a murder. Various rumors have linked his name with a huge counterfeiting ring, with the Arnold Rothstein murder (which occurred just sixteen days before Brancati's disappearance and with the smuggling of narcotics on a tremendous scale. tt ft tt THOUGH the millionaire physician vanished on Nov. 19, Dr. Brancati’s brothers did not report his disappearance to the police until the following April. And in the meantime, these strange things were happening: From Passaic, N. J.; Albany, Boston, Ottawa, and London came a serirA of letters, telegrams and cablegrams, all signed with Dr. Brancati’s name and ostensibly written by him. The letters were typewritten, but the signature looked very much like that of the missing physician. The first communication —a telegram—came from Passaic the day after his disappearance. Addressed to Ercole Brancati, one of the brothers, it read: “AM HUNTING WITH FRIENDS STOP IF ANYBODY CALLS FOR ME WILL BE BACK IN ABOUT WEEK STOP WILL WRITE LATER. . . . CHARLES.” Ten days later came a telegram from Albany, saying he was there on business. Then a letter postmarked at Boston, which assured his brothers that he was “doing well” and would return soon. There were more of such letters and tqjegrams, followed by a cablegram from London which announced that Brancati had arthere. * Then came a letter from London, postmarked Dec. 26, which

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said he would be there several weeks. That was the last that the brothers ever he #l, so far as is known. tt tt tt NOW the triangular question arises: Did Dr. Brancati disappear voluntarily and write these letters and telegrams himself? Or was he kidnaped and forced to write them by his captors? Or was he murdered by men who slew him, then forged his name to this chain of missives? There is no satisfactory answer. But a still stranger thing happened: A day or so after Dr. Bfancati’s disappearance on Nov. 19, 1928, his brokers received from Dr. Brancati a note which directed them to turn over to the bearer—one Luigi Romano—his $234,000 account, which the brokers did. It is said that Dr. Brancati had introduced Romano to them the previous autumn. Romano—who now has become a first-class man of mystery—drew out all but $9,000 and deposited $225,000 in cash in a bank in New York’s Italian section. In less than two weeks he had withdrawn the money from the bank, $25,000 at a time, until only $292.82 remained. Then Romano vanished, adding another baffling chapter to the mysterious chain of events. No trace of Romano ever was found. a a a IN April, when Dr. Brancati’s brothers finally reported his disappearance, detectives searched the old mansion where the missing millionaire had lived. In Brancati’s bedroom they found three bullet holes in the ceiling and another in the mantelpiece. From woodwork near the mantel they dug a .38-caliber bullet. In the room were a number of other things; three dozen bottles

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of ginger ale, a pair of woman's slippers, some medical books and surgical instruments, a lot of tom letters. One of these, written in Italian, addressed Dr. Brancati as “You Big Villain” and threatened him because of an affair with a woman. n a u IN November, 1929. Captain Thomas Brancati, for thirty years a police detective in Italy, came to America and conducted an unsuccessful search for his brother. He said he was convinced his brother had been kidnaped and later killed when the money was removed from his account. Later, Brancati’s brothers petitioned the courts to declare the doctor dead, so disposition could be made of his estate. But before this, District Attorney McGeehan announced that he no longer was interested in the case, being convinced that Dr. Brancati effaced himself deliberately. If a crime had been committed, McGeehan added, it had not been committed in Bronx county. Meanwhile, Assistant United States Attorney Alvin Sylvester dug deeper into reports that Dr. Brancati had been a partner in a huge drug ring. Others expressed the opinion that Brancati’s flight had a connection with the murder of Arnold Rothstein, the big-time gambler, who was said to have been interested in narcotics on a wholesale scale. But, dead or alive, Dr. Brancati is still a mystery. Next—The strange disappearance of Hisashi Fujimura. 38. millionaire Japanese silk importer of New York, who vanished from an ocean liner near New York while returning from a gay "whoopee cruise” to Halifax with a beautiful blond show girl. The English government spent $333,000,000 on the unemployed last year.

G. 0. P. EXPECTS UTILITY AID TD CAMPAIGN FUND Roosevelt’s Portland Speech to Align Big Interests With Hoover’s Camp. Bp Scripps-Hotcard Setespaper Alliance WASHINGTON, Sept. 24.—Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt’s eightpoint program for federal regulation of public utilities is expected by politicians to give impetus to Republican efforts to collect a $1,500,000 campaign fund. The Portland speech, they say, definitely will align public utility and allied interests with President Herbert Hoover and against Roosevelt. Roosevelt, himself, anticipated such a consequence when he told his hearers to judge him by the enemies he has made. Public utility interests long have opposed Roosevelt. Their opposition began soon after he became Governor of New York when he adopted the policy of making the St. Lawrence water power resources available for all New Yorkers’ at the lowest possible cost. These interests secretly sought to prevent Roosevelt’s nomination by the Democratic convention, and even after the convention convened several of their workers endeavored to dissuade Roosevelt-pledged delegates from voting for him. Aligned With Norris Liberals Now that Roosevelt has declared open warfare on them and their present methods, It is expected that many in the power industry will display more energy in efforts to halt him. Under the corrupt practices law, corporations can not contribute directly to political campaign funds. In his Portland speeech, Roosevelt aligned himself with the Norris liberals for power policies which eastern financial and political interests have termed “radical.” But until he reached Portland his speeches, even though sharply critical of President Hooover and his policies, were not of the nature to make the “radical” charge stick. In Portland, however, Roosevelt not only attacked practices of big business and pointed to the collapse of the Insull utilities structure as proof of his charges, but he warmly praised Senator George Norris. G. O. P. Welcomes Issue He created an issue which G. O. P. politicians privately and enthusiastically welcome, even though they are careful not to assail him too vehemently in public. He furnished, politicians say, a theme whereby Republican campaign collectors and whisperers can charge that he is “unsafe.” Joseph R. Nutt, Republican national committee treasurer, has been identified with public utilities interests in the past, and so have some of his associates on the finance committee. Democratic politicians take the attitude that for every conservative business vote Roosevelt will lose—votes which he probably would nol have gotten any way—he will gain several additional votes. CONVICT CHILD SLAYER Kentucky Woman Gets Life in Death of Stepson, Found Hanged. Bp United Press t GRAYSON, Ky., Sept. 24.—Mrs. Eliza Rickey, 37, was found guilty of murdering her stepson, Roy, 10, found hanging from a tree. She was sentenced to the penitentiary for life.

Assumes Helm

US w? IsSe*-. w ” Hr Hf m lilt’ll ■ .j,' ■, .• ' -

Taking the place in shipping circles so long held by his father, R. S. Dollar, head of the ynited States and Dollar Lines, is shown here as he arrived at his London office. He inherited the millions left by the late Captain Robert Dollar, west coast pioneer.

BUTLER ALUMNI WILL HOLD MEMBER DRIVE Committee Headed by Henry O. Goett to Conduct Campaign. Membership campaign of the Butler University Alumni Association will begin Oct. 10, directed by a committee headed by Henry O. Goett, Indianapolis, who will be assisted by* Samuel Offutt, Greenfield, and Henry F. Bruner, Chicago. Bruner will have charge of the national campaign. Goett will conduct the local campaign, and the state activities will be in charge of Offutt. Effort will be made to solicit nonmembers of the association in all parts of the country to join. Formatin of a permanent Butler luncheon club will be a part of the local campaign. A year’s free subscription to the Butler Alumni Quarterly will be given all new members.

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BAD LOAN OF SCHOOL FUNDS BOOSTSTAXES Deficit Causes Additional 2-Cent Levy to Be Added by County. Forced to appropriate $50,000 to meet interest deficits on loans from the county common school fund, county councilmen today scored officials responsible for “loaning on worthless real estate.” An additional 2 cents was added to the tax levy because of school fund deficits, asserted Walter C. Boetcher, council president. The county recently offered at auction several hundred vacant lots remaining from a real estate "bubble” that took $61,360 from the school fund in 1928 and 1929. Failing to sell the properties, the county now is assuming the in-

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debtedness and the 6 per cent accrued interest. Involved In the financial load to be met by taxation are scores of unimproved lota In Rainbow Ridge addition, near Speedway City. Wesley Ryan. Indianapolis contractor. obtained loans totaling more than $60,000 on these lots, on approval of Harry Dunn, former county auditor. According to statements of officials. revealed by The Times, the law, limiting loans to $4,000 to any individual, was evaded through use of nineteen persons' names in the transaction. “This law that makes a real estate office of the county auditor's office is all wrong." Boetcher declared. He referred to the law creating the school fund, and requiring the county to loan it at 6 per cent interest. The county must pay interest annually regardless of failure to collect from borrowers. “The public should know about these loans, and understand how they are made.” John S. Newhouse, councilman, said. The council advised County Auditor Charles A. Grossart to limit future loans from the common school fund.

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