Indianapolis Times, Volume 44, Number 283, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 April 1933 — Page 11

Second Section

CITY DRIVE TO SLASH UTILITY RATES STARTS Civic Clubs League to Fight for Reduction: Gas Is Exempted. COMMISSION ASSAILED Audits and Appraisals Will Be Demanded by Irate Group. City-wide movement to reduce all utility rates, except those of the Citizens Gas Company, was started today by the central committee of thp South Side Civic Leagues. Delegates of twelve civic clubs, comprising the central committee, voted Wednesday night to participate in a permanent organization of all civic leaders and consumers to fight, for lower rates. “It’s a problem no longer confined to civic organizations. We must form an organization of all classes of consumers," Walter C. Rothermel, center committee chairman, asserted. • Committee to Meet Mayor A committee was appointed to confer with Mayor Reginald H. Sullivan and other city officials regarding present status of the gas company. Rothermel urged that gas company rates be included in the drive, but John F. White, resolution author, argued the gas company soon may become property of the city. "Within two weeks, the city-wide organization to prosecute a utility rate reduction campaign will be formed,’' Rothermel told delegates. Attacking the newly formed public service commission, he said that Sherman Minton, the commission’s public counselor, had stated "it was the commission's aim to reduce all rates arbitrarily.” Asks Chance for Commission White contended the commission “should not be criticised, yet, but should be given opportunity to prove Itself.” “I told Minton that audits and appraisals of all utility properties should be made by the commission,” Rothermel asserted. “Minton's reply was," he continued, “that it could not be done, because it would cost too much and require too much time. "People will not stand for such replies from the public service commission. They are going to demand audits and appraisals and reduction of utility rates. “If we permit them to tell us that they can't do anything after one month in office, what will they be telling us at the end of four years?" he asked delegates. Speakers flayed Indiana Bell Telephone Company officials for their reported stand "that phone rates can not be lowered,” and declared “water rates are higher now than before efforts to lower them were begun several months ago." . MEASLES BREAKS OUT IN CHILDREN'S WARD Revealed After Girl Is Treated for Burns, Sent Home. Prevalence of measles in the children’s ward of city hospital was revealed Wednesday night when Sergeant Frank Ow r en of the police accident prevention bureau made an investigation of a complaint by the mother of a 6-year-old girl, suffering from burns, that the hospital authorities had returned her to her home after treatment. The injured girl was Betty Duncan, daughter of Mrs. Nellie Dunean, 2138 Avondale place. She incurred burns Wednesday morning when she upset a teakettle filled with hot water in the kitchen of her home. After Mrs. Duncan expressed a desire that her daughter be returned to the hospital, authorities disclosed the measles cases and said the child would fare as well at home. PARK PLAN OUTLINED A. C. Sallee Gives Talk at Montcalm Civic Club Session. Indianapolis' "beautification plan." sponsored by the recreation and the park departments were discussed and outlined in detail by A. C. Sallee, superintendent of the park board, at the meeting of the Montcalm Civic Club Wednesday. Establishment of a playground on the property of the Indianapolis Water Company at Stadium drive and Gent street was promised the club STATE RIVERS FALLING Wabash Is Exception. Weather Bureau Here Reports. Despite fairly heavy rainfall in the last few days, streams in sections of Indiana where flood conditions prevailed are falling, with the exception of the Wabash river, which is stationary at Terre Haute, it was stated today at the local United States weather bureau. Gridiron Dinner to Be Friday Annual gridiron dinner will be held at 6 p. m. Friday at the Washington by the Indianapolis Exchange Club. Roy Coats and Ralph Smith are in charge of the "roast” program.

‘Running in the Rum Runners,' Thrilling Tales of the War on Liquor Smugglers, Begin Friday in The Times

Colorful “ Inside" Stories of Strife Between Liquor Gangs and Guardians of U. S. Borders

full Wlr# Serrlr* of !he f nif<*d i’r<* Axsocimlon

Envoy Post in Reach of Ruth Owen

Ruth Bryan Owen Bryan's Daughter Finds She Can Afford to Take Denmark Berth. By I nilnl Pus* WASHINGTON, April 6.—Ruth Bryan Owen, whose appointment as minister to Denmark is expected to be announced soon, was afraid for a time that the expense of a diplomatic post would prevent realization of her ambition to be America’s first woman envoy. When Mrs. Owen first asked for an estimate of the expense involved in a ministership at Copenhagen, the reply quoted a figure far in excess of anything she could afford. Sadly, she turned away from the dream of diplomatic triumphs. But all that is changed now. A mysteriously revised estimate of the cost of living in Denmark did it. The new figure was within her means, and she notified the administration of her willingness to accept the post. Ambition Seemed Foiled Starting at the beginning of this series of events, it appears that a faction in the state department did not look with favor upon Mrs. Owen's first intimation of a desire to go to Denmark. Whether that had anything to do with the report on the excessive cost of the position is uncertain. But for the time being it appeared to have headed off her appointment. Mrs. Owen had to be cared for in the new administration, however. Her campaign speeches to women had been effective and vote compelling. A job in the interior department was suggested. Mrs. Owen vetoed it. She still wanted to work for the state department. Change of Front Comes The unfriendly faction in the department heard of Mrs. Owen's determination. A sudden change of front developed. The cost of living was declining almost everywhere—why not in Denmark? Files were consulted, records drawn up, fresh information was solicited from Copenhagen. The result showed that one could live there for an almost unbelievably low amount. Mrs. Owen was delighted. In a short time she will be “madame minister." KING TURNS TO LAW Former Fublic Service Commission Secretary to Open Office. Fred I. King, former secretary of the public service commission, announced today that he will enter general law practice with offices with the firm of Ketchem. McTurnan & Higgins. 1008-1009 Odd Fellow building. He will not be a firm member and will devote special attention to utility practice, he said. King retired as secretary of the commission April 1, being replaced by the Democratic appointee, Peter Dawson. Frankfort.

War! War! Roared Headlines in City Sixteen Years Ago Today

T 7 ASTER hats were on parade, just as they are today. But women bought them wondering if black bonnets wouldn't do instead. A saloon clung to every corner, just as the sandwich parlors do today. Good old A1 Jolson was playing the Murat in 'Robinson Crusoe Jr. at a $2.50 top. Each home whispered of a black cloud. Some laughed at it, sung songs about it, a few said nothing. The cloud burst April 6, 1917. just sixteen years ago today. It hurst in black, heavy type in Indianapolis newspapers. "United States at War—Wilson Calls for Volunteers." Boys raced the streets, into back doors of barrooms, over to Monninger s. Stegemeier s. Joe Stahr's with the editions, extra after extra.

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The Indianapolis Times

FARM RELIEF BILL WILL GET SPEED Y ACTION Senate to Start Study of Measure, With Revolt Put Down. BROAD POWERS GIVEN Some Criticism Voiced on Latitude Allowed to Agriculture Chief. BY MARSHALL M’NEIL Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON, April 6.—The senate is about to start consideration of the most far-reaching farm relief bill ever to be reported favorably by it£ agriculture committee. It will come up after the Black short work week bill. The double-barreled administration measure proposes, first, to clothe the secretary of agriculture with broad powers to raise the prices of basic farm commodities; and, second, to refinance farm mortgages through a $2,000,000,000 4 per cent bond issue, the interest on which would be guaranteed by the government. The committee attempted to revolt against the price bill, but its discontent was silenced by Rooseveltian pressure, and it reported the bill with faint praise, transferring the responsibility to the President. Controversy Is Stilled The bill was reported practically as passed by the house, the committee said, “on account of the desire of the administration that no change be made." The report describes one section of the bill as “complex,” and speaks of the “broad and drastic powers given to the secretary of agriculture and the secretary of the treasury.” There was slight controversy over the mortgage relief section of the bill, it having been reported as part of the price relief measure without appreciable change from the White House draft. If these two measures finally are enacted—and the general belief 's that they will be, and soon—the farmers of the country, who till about 350 million acres of land, are expected to take between 53 and 60 million out of cultivation. The government will rent this land, although it may be used for raising of products of which there is no surplus. Other farmers under specified conditions may receive monetary benefits without renting land to the government. The money to pay these bounties will come from taxes levied on the processing of the basic commodities covered in the bill. Cotton Plan Included Another section of the bill enacts the cotton option plan of Chairman Smith (Dem., S. C.) of the senate | agriculture committee, and still an- ' other authorizes certain price-fixing operations on the domestic portions of exportable crops. The mortgage relief section provides for immediate reduction in interest rates paid by farmers on mortgages held by federeal land banks; authorizes longer amortization periods; makes moratoriums possible in cases of acute distress; permits purchase by the land banks of mortgages held by private individuals or concerns; and liquidates the joint land stock banks. ROOSEVELT AT THEATER Laughs Heartily at Comedy; Cheered by Capital Audience. By United Press WASHINGTON, April 6.—President Roosevelt went to the theater Wednesday night and laughed heartily over Rachel Crother's comedy, "When Ladies Meet.” it was the first time in five years that a President has attended a regular theatrical performance. The audience gave Mr. Roosevelt a rousing ovation as he entered his box with Mrs. Rosevelt and a White House party.

WORK stopped in offices. Ticker tape in brokerage offices was neglected. Each paper had more than its quota of readers. “Look —they sent orders to naval vessels. Let me see that, before you turn the page say, here's a fellow arrested right here in Indianapolis for threatening President Wilson's life. No use waiting, might as well volunteer before they draft you. Let's go have a drink.” And then that night in Indianapolis the streets became a live mob of hilarity and alley fights. Hip! Hip! Hooray! War! We v e going to war. In the recruiting stations, men, some boys with fuzzy faces, were being urged, "Don't wait to be drafted. Bea man." They became men. Red Cross, Campfire Girls, church societies, began plans for sewing shirts for soldiers.

INDIANAPOLIS, THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 1933

Victim of Industry Finds Peace as Hawker on Bridge

| fr* ImhIII IP BSE— Y&sMi Left—Nick Yallier, industry's victim, selling his t "arcs on the North Delaware street. Fall Creek bridge. x H ; ~R ight—“Balloons . . . Balloons." arc the even spaced jUpF cries of Nick, as even spared as the tread of his f mechanized feet, as he stands by the curb and waits • ' | in all kinds of weather for buyers.

SLITHER, scrape, left foot, right foot—slither, scrape. Autos slither by the north end of the Delaware street bridge over Fall Creek. Brakes scrape to quick stops. One auto driver opens his car door at the curb near a traffc light. The light blinks off and on automatically, now green, now yellow, now red. Slither, scrape—left foot, right foot. Shoes shove themselves toward the car. Slither, scrape—then the head of the shoes talk. “Balloons! . . . Balloons . . . the voice is as automatic, as ma-chine-like, as measured, as the winking traffic light, the scraping car brakes and the slithering tires skimming the pavements of the bridge. Slither, scrape, left foot, right foot , . . now a green light . , . . now red . . . slither, scrape . . . . “Balloons! Balloons!” u u THE autoist ducks a head out a window calling to the shoes, the head of tha shoes, the blue—clean blue—shirt, the chest reared backward from the body. The driver calls, “I want a red one.” Slither, scrape, the balloon’s string slithers through hands of an automaton. Measured as miles on the driver’s card, the hands—hands that have given big vises strong wrenches tick off the cord’s yardage and then a quick

AUTO CRUSH lILIS BROWNSBURG MAN Dies Here of Injuries; Probe Opened by Coroner. Charles Reed, 73, Brownsburg, died Wednesday afternoon at Methodist hospital from a crushed chest and a brain hemorrhage received Tuesday in an automobile accident. Dr. John E. Wyttenbach, deputy coroner, is investigating. CALL OFF PUBLIC SHOW Invitation to Citizens Withdrawn After Heavy Rains. Invitation to the public to atttend Army day exercises at Fort Harrison this afternoon was withdrawn this morning due to rain which made the parade ground unfit for use.

THE primary election was near. Dick Miller was a candidate for mayor. Old Glory was waved. Dick addressed the crowd. Cannon caissons were in the streets. One carried the banner, "Two Hundred Men by Saturday Night.” in its appeal for enlistments. Wives feared and kissed fearful gcod-byes. Mothers waved brave "so-longs" to “baby boys." Whistles shrieked. War! War! But today A1 Jolson is in the talkies sometimes and the radio majestically sings "Farewell to Arms.” and not of black-eved Susans. Beer is on every lip. almost. A new cloudburst approaches in merrv foam in bottles. "When does the first truckload get in? Will we drink it Friday at lurch? Things are looking up. Times are better. Prices are right. We're getting back to before the war ." And this in Indianapolis, April 6, 1933.

It’s war! ... A thirteen-year war, bitter, unrelenting 1 , sanguinary ... A war fought on land and sea and in the air, at the cost of many millions of dollars annually . . . And some of the exciting, virtually unknown stories of this continued strife between the liquor smugglers and their arch foes—the customs agents and the coast guardsmen—have been told in a series of six colorfully written articles on “RUNNING IN THE RUM RUNNERS,” which will begin Friday in The Times. Don’t fail to read them.

ANY BALLOONS TODAY?

snap and the balloon is in the hands of the buyer. The hands wait. A coin is passed. The hands fumble with the coin and telegraph its denomination. The car slithers on. The shoes do, too. Slither, scrape, left foot, right foot. tt tt tt MAYBE you were the one who bought the Galloon? Today, any day of the year, snow or rain, sleet or hail, might have been the day you bought that balloon from Nick Vallier, the robot balloon-seller on Delaware. If you even looked past his slithering, scraping shoes, to his eyes and those eyes looked at you, through you, and past you, the meshing of gears, the hum of factories, the moil of industry, you saw in them. It was industry, so Nick will tell you if you can get him to, that made his slithering walk, took his machinist hands and made them putty for balloon strings to slip through. It bent his chest away from his body. It dug crevices for his eyes. It gave him the cry of “Balloons” as he stares out on the avenue of mechanized commerce that flows by. It took away his health as a mechanic (’'id made him cherish the “five cents he makes on cats” and “three cents on the regular balloons” as he did SB-a-day pay in World war days in an Indianapolis factory.

Hope Revived for Return of Insult to Face Trial By Scripps-Howard Xewspaper Alliance WASHINGTON, April 6.—America's most celebrated exile—Samuel Insull cf Chicago—may return home to stand trial for indictments growing out of the collapse of his $4,000,000,000 public utility empire.

EXEMPT HUCKSTERS FROM LICENSE LAW Need Only to File Affidavit, Ruling of City Attorney. Following conferences with members of the city legal department, it was decided today that hucksters and growers are exempt from the S2OO license fee provided for in an ordinance regulating itinerant peddlers, passed recently by the city council. James E. Deery, city attorney, held that such dealers need only to file an affidavit with the city clerk showing that their business is within the exemptions allowed by the dinance.Commission merchants backed passage of the ordinance, contending that they were suffering heavily from foreign dealers who were bringing truck and freight car loads of produce here and selling at reduced prices from temporary quarters, on which they paid no taxes. STETSON PAID TRIBUTE Honored at Dinner for Election as President of National Board. Dinner honoring Paul C. Stetson, city schools’ superintendent, for his recent election as president of the department of superintendents of the National Education Association was held at Technical high school Wednesday night. Teachers in city schools sponsored the dinner, and tribute was paid Stetson by Milo H. Stuart, assistant superintendent of schools; Miss Sara Ewing, Indianapolis Teachers’ Federation president, and Julian Wetzel, school board president. D. T. Weir, assistant superintendent of schools, acted as toastmaster. Ralph Wright, public schools’ music supervisor, directed singing.

Left—Nick Vallier, industry’s victim, selling his wares on the North Delaware street. Fall Creek bridge. Right—" Balloons .. . Balloons,” are the even spaced cries of Nick, as even spared as the tread of his mechanized feet, as he stands by the curb and waits in all kinds of w r eather for buyers.

ELEVEN years he worked as a machinest. They put him on a tractor-truck, hauling ashes. The trucks have hard-rubber tires. The tires bump over rails, Nick says. They bumped for four years for Nick. Slowly it crept upon him. His arms became dead things. His legs got leaden. He could work no more. The doctors. Nick says, told him it was the bumps of the ash-cart that did it. He didn’t receive a workman's compensation. Nick rested for awhile at the home of a brother in Ft. Wayne. The inaction, nothing to do, sent him back into industry. Two and one-half years ago he came to Indianapolis. An old sweetheart, of the days when he was the man with iron hands, not putty ones for balloon strings to slip through, gave him a job selling balloons. tt tt tt SHE’D always waited for Nick to come back some day. She had married twice, but now her husbands were dead. Nick became one of her best salesmen. Nick found that red balloons sell best. Men purchase more balloons ‘ then women. Children are the best customers, he says. Nick hasn’t missed more than three days of each year on duty at his post on the Delaware street bridge between 1 and 6 p. m. On Sundays sometimes, in good weather, he’s sold as high as 125 balloons. He walks to work.

Although officials say developments have not reached the stage where they can be discussed, it is understood that the Roosevelt administration has entered into negotiations for his return, and entertains some hope of success. Cooperation with the state department in the venture are the treasury and justice departments and the comptroller of the currency. Insull fled to Greece just before he was indicted on charges of defrauding investors, and the Hoover administration's efforts to bring him back were balked when a court in Athens held that his offenses were not extraditable. It is not possible to disclose the arguments this government hopes to use in persuading Insull to return. But it is pointed out that he still has connections in this country, and that they might be imperiled if he did not bow to the government's demand. Testimony before senate committees concerning operations of the various Insull companies has been scrutinized carefully by AttorneyGeneral Homer Cummings, as well as representatives of the treasury and the comptroller of the currency. CITY BANDITS GET $64 Oil Station Attendant Is Held Up; Motorist Robber at Garage. Sam Scalf, 2747 North Olney street, attendant at the Sinclair oil station at Twenty-fifth and Rural streets, was robbed of S3O Wednesday night by a gunman while a second bandit stood guard at the door of the station. James W. Shank, 58, of 338 North Walcott street, was robbed of $10.75 when he started to drive his car in the garage at the rear of his home. Two masked bandits obtained $3.75 and a watch valued at S2O from Charles W. Lamb, 27. of 27 Eastern avenue, night man at a lunch stand at Market and Davidson streets.

Second Section

Entered a Second Oss* Matter nt Postoffice, Indianapolis

When night comes and the working crowd slithers by him in cars you'll see Nick scraping, slithering, across the street to catch a homeward-bound bus or maybe to catch a ride from some kindly one caught by the vagrant unsold balloons that wave from his brass ring. Slither, scrape, left foot, right foot. a tt tt NICK shuffles up narrow stairs to the balloon shop, 17' 3 West Ohio street. It's Nick's home now. He married his sweetheart of the days when he wasn't an automaton of of man. “He shouldn't go out on rainy days. But you just cant keep him in. He says he’s better off out earning some money. I pay him a commission just like I do my regular salesmen. He uses t to buy food,” says his wife, Mrs. Charles Ross. She wears her last husband's name for business reasons. Slither, scrape, left foot . . . Nick moves to take his coat off. Another balloon seller aids him. Fanny, his dog. barks at his heels. He sits down jerkily in a couch. Fanny crouches beside him. Outside the traffic of industry, trams, autos, slither and scrape across Ohio street and farther up across Nick's bridge on Delaware. A mechanized world, that Nick helped make, vibrates. Inside. Fanny licks the putty hands that balloon strings slip through. Slither, scrape . . .

SIX INTERNES ARE INJUREDIN CRASH Two Critically Hurt; Auto Runs Into Truck. Six hospital internes were injured, two critically, this morning when the car in which they were riding crashed into a truck about ten miles northwest of Lebanon, on road 52. Most seriously injured is Dr. Gus Fisher, interne at St. Elizabeth’s hospital, Lafayette, who is unconscious in a Lebanon hospital. Dr. William McConnell, interne at city hospital here, who was driving the car, suffered a skull fracture and will lose one eye, doctors say. Fractured ribs and face lacerations were suffered by Dr. John Showalter, also a city hospital interne. Dr. David Pugh, city hospital, suffered a fractured jaw. Dr. Roger Sommer, city hospital, escaped with bruises and scratches and Dr. Leland Sharp, Indiana Central hospital interne, had several teeth knocked out. FREED: VIOLATES LAW AGAIN: GETS HIS BIT Judicial Leniency May Be Appreciated Now by Cab Driver. Judicial leniency apparently is something not appreciated by Albert Burton, Negro. 32, of 2326 North Capitol avenue. Burton was fined SSO and costs and sentenced to thirty days on the state farm and sentenced $25 and costs on charges of failure to have taxicab insurance and failure to have a city license. Municipal Judge William K. Sheaffer suspended both judgments Wednesday in court four on Burton's promise to obtain both before he operated his cab again. A few’ hours after Burton got out of court, Captain Otto Ray and patrolman Carl Ashley arrested him at Sixteenth street ana Capitol avenue, again operating his cab without benefit of either license or insurance. Sheaffer revoked both suspensions today, so Burton is facing two heavy fines and a slate farm visit.

UNIFIED BANK SYSTEM, GOAL OF ROOSEVELT Strict Federal Supervision Included in Legislation Being Drafted. GLASS BILL IS BASIS Reserve Membership Will Be Made Alluring to State Institutions. BY RAY TUCKER Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON. April 6 A virtually unified banking system under federal supervision will be the aim of permanent banking legislation now in preparation by President Roosevelt's advisers and the senate banking and currency committee. Although full details are withheld, it was learned teday that membership in the federal reserve system will be made so alluring that nonmember state banks undoubtedly will deem it advisable to join. This method has been tried in the past, and the banking crisis revealed the value of reserve membership. The committee has legal advice on means of forcing state banks into the system, including such drastic proposals as elimination of use of a checking mechanism by non-mem-ber institutions, but nothing of an arbitrary nature is contemplated. Glass Bill Is Base The original Glass bill will furnish the basis for the new legislation, including far-reaching provisions eliminated before it passed the senate last session. These break up all interlocking directorates, as urged by President Roosevelt, and prohibit bank depositors from holding a directorship in an industrial corporation. Other provisions provide regulation of private banks, if it can be effected, and stricter control of banking operations will be included. The bill as it passed the senate will be utilized, including requirements for divorcement of banks and investment affiliates, extension of chain banking, and greater control over recalcitrant directors. It also is understood that the administration looks more kindly on some form of guarantee or insurance of bank deposits than it did originally. Awaits Morgan Probe Although detailed framing of the bill waits upon investigation of J. [P. Morgan & Cos., and other great private banks, it will provide for a sharp limitation on their activities. It may, lor instance, subject private banks to the same regulations as commercial institutions and prohibit deposits in security corporations or partnerships. These reforms have been suggested by the administration and they commonly are known as the “Aldrich program.” Although they were proposed by W. W. Aldrich, board chairman of the Chase National bank and Rockefeller spokesman. they were advanced by Senator Carter Glass (Dem., Va.) long ago. Representatives of the Chase National bank fought them bitterly for the last two years and eventually succeeded in eliminating them from the original Glass bill. Divided Over Inquiry The Aldrich reforms were not proposed until after the committee's investigation of the operations of the National City bank and its investment company, which resulted in the resignation and indictment of Charles E. Mitchell, former president. Meanwhile, some division has arisen in the banking and currency committee as to whethert he inquiry into Chase National should be pressed. In view of Mr. Aldrich's change of heart, some members think his bank should not be investigated. But others, recalling certain revelations during the foreign loan inquiry. insist that Chase National's operations be examined along the same lines as National City's were. SIGMA DELTA CHI TO CELEBRATE APRIL 17 Founders’ Day Dinner to Be Held; Nieholson to Be Speaker. Annual Founders’ day dinner of the local alumni chapter of Sigma Delta Chi. national journalistic fraternity. will be April 17 at 6:30 in the Washington, with Meredith Nicholson, author and former newspaperman, as principal speaker. Talcott Powell, editor of The Times, also will speak. Governor Paul V. McNutt, a recently initiated member of the fraternity, will attend the dinner. Eugene J. Cadou, president of the alumni chapter, will preside. Others at the speakers’ table will be Edwin V. O'Neel, Hagerstown publisher and former national fraternity president, and Earl Mushlitz of the Indianapolis Star, member of the national executive council. Coal Head to Give Talk At a meeting of the IndianaKentucky section of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgican Engineers to be held in Louisville, Ky., April 15, R. H. Sherwood, president of the Central Indiana Coal Company, will be the principal speaker. His subject will be “Strip Mining of Bituminous Coal."

Friday: The Strange Story of the Battle of the Water Lilies.