Indianapolis Times, Volume 45, Number 17, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 May 1933 — Page 1

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DRAW NAME OF HOOVER INTO MORGAN QUIZ Ex-President Is Mentioned When Former Aid Is Shown as ‘Pet.’ WOODIN ON NEW LIST How Huge Banking Firm Netted 7 Millions Profit on One Deal Is Aired. RV LYLE U. WILSON I nitfd Prrm Staff Corrmnondrnt WASHINGTON, May 31.—Thr name of former President Hoover was drawn today into the senate investigation of J. P. Morgan and Company when Senator Edward P. Costigan <Dem., Colo.' inquired if pdgar Rickard, whose name appeared on the selected list of United Corporation stock purchasers, was ',he person who is reputed to be ♦he representative of Ex-President Hoover." George Whitney, Morgan partner, who was testifying at the time replied. I don't know enough about him to know." J. P. Morgan fit Cos. was shown in ♦he senate investigation today to have realized an actual profit of $7,000,000 and a possible paper profit of $46,000,000 on a single securities issue. The issue was in United Corporation stock and the inquiry revealed also a list of some 200 preferred purchasers. This is the third Morgan ‘bargain list" that has been made public. Pecora Is Upheld The preferred list contained the names of many who had been on two similar lists made public last week, but in addition carried the names of Rickard, associated with Mr. Hoover in the Belgium relief administration and other war and post-war organizations, and the late Dwight W Morrow, former New Jersey senator and American ambassador to Mexico. As the inquiry entered its second week the program of Ferdinand Pecora, committee investigator and counsel, was upheld in a secret session of the senate banking and currency committee. This development assured continuation of Pecora’s questioning, aimed at ascertaining the profits, methods and political and business connections of the powerful Morgan system. Tells of Big Profits Whitney, regarded as the “financial brains” of the House of Morgan, testified regarding the financial operation of United Corporation, a holding company owning stock in utilities companies serving half the population of the United States. George H. Howard, president of United, also testified during the morning. The testimony showed that the Morgan company and the Bonbright Electric Company obtained a million option warrants at $1 per warrant. Pecora developed that during the spring and summer of 1929, 200,000 warrants were sold for $8,490,046. The price varied and the high was just over $47 per warrant. The actual partial profit, therefore, was more than $7,000,000 and the paper profit around $46,000,000. Similar profits were passible for the Bonbright Electric Company. Buy at $75, Sell at $99 While the issuing houses were in a position to make these quick and large turnovers, the favored purchasers also were able to make substantial profits. These selected clients bought united "units" at $75 each and the units sold for $99 when trading opened in Philadelphia. In the United Corporation “bargain list" were Norman H. Davis, William H. Woodin and others who have figured in the previous citation which grouped favored buyers of Allegheny Corporation and Standard Brands stock. Woodin on Third List v Woodin, now secretary of treasury, was on the list for 1,000 shares; William G. McAdoo, now United States senator from California, was listed for 250 shares: John J. Raskob. at that time chairman of the Democratic national committee, was down for 2,500 shares. Others on the list include General John J. Pershing and Charles A. Lindbergh, both on a previous list, and J. Henry Roraback, Republican national committeeman in Connecticut. 1.000 shares. Two former undersecretaries of state. Robert E. Olds, Republican, and Frank L. Polk, Democrat, were listed for 500 shares each. Charles D. Hilles, Republican national committeeman of New York, was down for 1,000 shares; Mrs. S. Parker Gilbert, wife of a Morgan partner, who formerly was agentgeneral cf the reparations commission. was listed for 250 units. Times Index Book-A-Day 13 Bridge 8 Broun Column 4 Classified 12 Comics 13 Crossword Puzzle 11 Curious World 11 Dietz on Science 7 Editorial 4 Financial 11 Hickman Theater Reviews 7 XJppmann Column 7 Obituaries 14 Radio 7 School Page 8 Serial Story 13 Sports 10 Talburt Cartoon 4 Womans Page................... 6

The Indianapolis Times Generally fair tonight and Thursday; somewhat warmer Thursday,

VOLUME 45—NUMBER 17

WARDEN KIDNAPED

Warden Kirk Prather (above) of the Kansas penitentiary at Landing, released Tuesday night by convicts who kidnaped him and escaped from the prison during a Memorial day baseball game.

MORE AT WORK, TRADES REPORT Rising Employment Claimed by Leading Organizations of Nation. By I nit nt f'rcsH WASHINGTON. May 31.—Rising employment, increased profits and general improvement in business conditions were reported to the department of commerce today by leading trade organizations. Better conditions in many lines were noted. The trade organization reports were in reply to a request from the department for facts “pertaining to employment, production, sales and prices in your industry.” Replies follow in part: Robert P. Lament, President American Iron and Steel Institute —Most steel executives fairly optimistic and hopeful for future, although lack of large scale construction and railroad buying, coupled with other unusual factors, makes a continued upward trend uncertain. Henry H. Heimann, Executive Manager National Association of Credit Men—Credit inquiries and requests for credit information in recent weeks established new peak, indicating unusual interest and accelerated volume of business. Fraser M. Moffat, president, Tanners’ Council of America—lncreased employment is anticipated, due to moderately increased activity, as well as cessation of strikes. Franklin W. Hobbs, president, National Association of Wool Manufacturers—General conditions in the wool manufacturing industry are improved, more people are employed, production is increasing, sales are larger, and prices have been advanced to meet the advancing prices of wool. George A. Sloan, President, Cotton Textile Institute—Employment and production in the cotton textile in(Turn to Page Nine) BARRED AT SPEEDWAY, LEACH PAYS ’EM BACK Captain Pulls State Police From Fence, Tells Them to Watch Race. Captain Matt Leach of the state police found himself barred from the speedway Tuesday after he returned from taking, Elmer Lombard, injured mechanic in the Billman car. to city hospital. His gold badge and other means of identification meant, nothing to the gate guards and they told him so. So Leach crashed the gate and explained the matter to Albert Rickenbacker, brother of the race course president, who agreed he was right. Irate at the treatment he received, Leach pulled his policemen from the outer fence, told them to watch the race, and handle traffic afterward, he reported today. PROTESTERS ARE FIRM Ten Property Owners Refuse to Withdraw Remonstrances. Ten property owners on East New York street between Noble street and the Big Four railroad today refused to withdraw their names from a remonstrance calling for a fortyfoot street in the improvement of the street from Highland avenue to East street. m Other property owners among the unimproved section have acceded to the works board request for withdrawal from the remonstrance and have consented to a forty-five-foot street for which city engineers’ specifications provide. BOUND TO GRAND JURY Charged With Charging Sporting Goods to Stepfather, Pawning Them. Donald Allison, alias Joe W. Sander Jr.. 1849 Holliday street, today was bound over to the Marion county grand jury by Municipal Judge William H. Sheaffer on charges of obtaining money under false pretenses. Allison is alleged to have charged guns, golf clubs and other sporting goods to his stepfather without the latter’s consent. He pawned the goods thus obtained, according to police. ASK PHONE RATE CUT New Augusta Residents File Petition With Commission. Residents of New Augusta today petitioned the public service commission for rate reductions from the Indiana Bell Telephone Company. Rate reduction petition against the Northern Indiana Power Company was filed from Somerset. "W

MURDER LAID TO FUGITIVES FROMPRISON Night Watchman Slain in Kansas Town; Fleeing Convicts Blamed. THREE WOMEN SET FREE Last of Hostages Taken by 11 in Penitentiary Mutiny Released. BY RICHARD G. BALDWIN I'nited Press Staff Correspondent LANSING, Kan., May 31.—Murder was attributed today to eleven desperadoes fleeing from the Kansas penitentiary, where.they mutinied Tuesday. Otto L. Durkee, night watchman of Chetopa, Kan., was slain today by unknown assailants, who shot him on a street of Chetopa and hid his body in an alley. A few hours before the killing, one group of fleeing convicts were known to be north of Chetopa, and another group south of Chetopa. An invalid woman and two girls, the last of six hostages seized by the convicts, were released today. Word was flashed immediately to peace officers of four states to shoot to kill in the search for the fleeing mutineers. Kidnaped Warden Released Three other hostages, Warden Kirk Prather and two prison guards, were released Tuesday night near Welch, Okla., by their six captors. The women, Mrs. M. J. Wood of Kansas City, Kan., the invalid; her daughter, Louise Wood, 17; and Clarice Wears, 17, formerly of Higgin, Tex., were set free unharmed at the farm home of William New, 2 1 i miles south of Pleasanton, Kan. The women and their five captors arrived at the New farm Tuesday night and demanded “supper for eight.” Brandishing razors and revolvers, they forced Mrs. New to prepare them a meal of bacon and eggs. Having eaten, the convicts isolated the home by cutting telephone wires. When the convicts left they told the hostages and New and his wife not to attempt to report their presence in the vicinity. “If you show your heads outside, we’ll pop you off,” the ringleader declared. Warden Tells Story Ail remained in the house all night. After her terrible experience, made w’orse by her invalidism, Mrs. Wood could not be moved from the farmhouse. She remained under the care of Mrs. Margaret New, while New and the two girls went to Pleasanton to notify officers. Warden Prather, and John Sherman and L. A. Laws, guards, told by telephone an exciting story of their harrowing hours in the custody of the convicts, who held guns to the captives’ ribs and razors to their throats and wrists during a mad ten-hour ride through Kansas and into the Osage hills of Oklahoma. The fugitive convicts, including seven life-term prisoners, rebelled during a Memorial day baseball game on the prison diamond. Avoid Driving in Cities Cursing and shouting, they disarmed guards and went over the wall with the three penitentiary officers as their prisoners. Outside the wall, they divided, commandeered automobiles and drove away. The three women, riding in one of the automobiles seized, were ordered to stay in the car. The convicts spread a reign of terror over the peaceful farming regions of eastern Kansas as they drove madly onward. Several times they stopped motorists and exchanged cars, adding to the confusion of the pursuit. The six convicts who kidnaped the warden and the two guards were ring-leaders of the break. Wilbur Underhill, 30. killer of three men and suspected of other murders, started the mutiny, and was at the wheel of first one stolen car and then another as he piloted his companions and the three officers to Oklahoma. Guard Laws supplied vivid details of the flight. “They made Prather lie down in the back seat of the car all the time,” said Laws. "They kept him covered with (Turn to Page Nine)

‘Money Trust’ Picture Little Changed in 20 Years Since First Morgan Probe Failed to Bring Reforms

Same Sensations Aired in 1912 as Now: Wide Power Then Shown. BY RUTH FINNEY Times Special Writer WASHINGTON, May 31.—'"Something of a stir was caused in committee room when Mr. Morgan entered. With him were most of the members of the party that accompanied him from New York. . . . The party was conducted to seats at the end of the long table at which the committee sat. . . . The marble committee hall was packed. . . . ” The date was Dec. 18, 1912. It was a committee of the house of representatives sitting in judgment on the financial world. The center of the stage was the Elder ,*y

INDIANAPOLIS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1933

RICKENBACKER SPIKES REPORT THAT LAST RACE HAS BEEN RUN

Four Lose Lives in Head-On Auto Crash

- llvlS ■ jjfwr§ at jjjfjj ♦ jy mgmi I l|f| Husband Is" Grilled by Police. . v SAN JOSE Ca).. May 31.-A new ordeal of questioning was in prosU|' l|Jr \ ,oriav for ,h(> husband of a Ifllrt" young V W C A execunvp whose vioUn’ dentil shocked the holiday - J quiet of the Stanford university

Charles Murello of Indianapolis, his wife, son and brother were killed late Tuesday in a head-on automobile crash on road 31, near Scottsburg. Mrs. Emma Murello, widow of Frank Murello, brother of Charles, probably escaped injury or death when she did not make the trip. Upper Left—Charles Murello, 28, of 541 East Merrilll street. Upper Right—Frank Murello, 34, of 664 South East street, and

SCOn BREWER BEFOREJURORS President of Closed Bank Voluntary Witness in County’s Probe. Scott R. Brewer, president of the defunct State Savings and Trust Company, appeared before the county grand jury today as a voluntary witness in investigation of the bank's affairs. For a week the grand jury has been studying evidence selected by Prosecutor Herbert E. Wilson from records given the prosecutor by Circuit Judge Earl R. Cox. Brewer was in the grand jury room more than tw’o hours. He now resides in Louisville. Before testifying he signed a waiver from any immunity his voluntary testimony might allow under criminal laws. This w r as requested by Oscar Hagernier, deputy grand jury prosecutor. since Brewer never had been subpenaed as a witness. After testifying. Brewer explained to reporters he had appeared because he didn't think he should have to take all blame for affairs of the bank which he formerly headed. Hourly Temperatures 6a. m 58 10 a. m 72 7a. m 63 11 a. m 72 Ba. m 67 12 (noon).. 72 9 a. m 68 1 p. m 74

In 1912, a committee of the United States house of representatives investigated the House of Morgan. In 1933, a committee of the United States senate is investigating the same Morgan firm. There are few changes in the picture after twenty years. The earlier inquiry disclosed the same practices regarded as sensational when revealed in today s probe. Will the present quiz prove as futile as the tirade at the money trust in 1912? Will the present regime follow the example of twenty years ago, when the investigating committee's recommendations never were carried out?

J. Pierpont Morgan with a longcurled mustache. Arsene P. Pujo was chairman of the committee. Samuel Untermeyer sat in the seat now occupied by Ferdinand Pecora. There had been a panic in 1907. The people had learned to wonder and ask questions about currency, credit, gold. There was talk of writing anew banking law and conservative Senator Nelson A. Aldrich had drafted one which was scheduled for quick passage. But in the house was a man

his widow, Mrs. Emma Murello. Lower Left—Rosario Murello, 2, son of Charles Murello, who would have celebrated his fourth birthday Thursday. Lower Right—Mrs. Mary Murello, wife of Charles and mother of Rosario. Last rites for Frank Murello and the child will be held at 9 Friday in the Holy Rosary Catholic church with burial in Holy Cross cemetery. (Story on Page Three.)

CHINA, JAPAN TRUCESIGNED Formal Action Is Taken to Halt Hostilities Between Nations. By United Preen TOKIO, May 31.—A truce was signed formally today between China and Japan, the war office announced. Under terms of the truce, Japanese troops will maintain their present positions until after China’s forces have withdrawn beyond a point a little north of Peiping on the west and Tientsin on the east. A line would be set up as a neutral zone, connecting Yengking, Hangping, Kaoliying, Shui, Tungchow, Siangho, Paoti, Lintingchen, Ningho and Lutai. Tungchow virtually is an east suburb of Peiping. The neutral zone would be pa trolled by Chinese police. The truce decrees that the Chinese military retreat west and south of the imaginary line, and stay within the fixed boundary. Accomplishment of this general retreat would fulfill the first article of the truce. Protection of the Japanese occupation forces was a second provision. Upon fulfillm?nt of the two, the Japanese agreed to withdraw beyond the Great Wall, leaving the unoccupied area under command of a special Chinese constabulary, charged with the duty of maintaining peace and order.

named Charles A. Lindbergh from Minnesota. He had studied the money question for years, and it was his constant contention that there existed in America a money trust which it was necessary to examine and control before anything could be done to remedy economic conditions. He offered a resolution calling for an investigation, and demanded that it be acted on before the Aldrich bill. Day after day. Representative

‘Y. W.' LEADER SLAININ BATH Young Mother Found Dead; Husband Is Grilled by Police. By United Frees SAN JOSE, Cal., May 31.—A new ordeal of questioning was in prospect today for the husband of a young Y. W. C. A. executive whose violent death shocked the holiday quiet of the Stanford university campus. Almost within a stone's throw of the San Juan hill home of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Hoover, Mrs. Allene Thorpe Lamson, 28, met death while in her bath. Her head was crushed with what authorities said was a blunt instrument. Her husband David, 30-year-old sales manager of the Stanford University Press, who found the body, was held. He was questioned several hours Tuesday. All he knew, he insisted, was that within an hour while he was puttering in the garden, his wife was killed. Authorities halted their questioning to permit him a night's sleep in jail, but planned to renew their interrogation today. While inclined to the theory the victim was slain, possibly by a prowler, they also investigated the possibility she might have been killed in a fall. Mrs. Lamson, an attractive brunet, was executive secretary of the Stanford Y. W. C. A. Her work kept her in collegiate circles where once she moved as a leading figure. As an executive of the University Publishing House, her husband likewise occupied a position of prominence. HOLDS SPEEDWAY NOT PRIVATE DRINKING SPOT Plea of Pair Fails to Win Freedom in City Court. The fact that their admissions to grand stand B at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway cast s2l doesn’t make it a private place, Judge William H. Sheaffer ruled today in municipal court four. Sheaffer fined C. L. Kain, 630 Division street, $1 and costs on drunkenness charges and suspended a similar fine on Paul Brown, Houston. Tex. They were arrested at the Speedway by state police, who said Kain and Brown playfully were tossing beer bottles into the crowd. Both denied bottle throwing, but said they had a case of beer apiece and were having a good time. Thomas McNulty, their attorney, attempted to have the case dismissed on the grounds that they were in a private place, but Sheaffer couldn’t agree.

Another Head of Firm Is Using Almost Identical Words of Father. Lindbergh talked about the money trust. Referring to one speech a friend said of him: “As he spoke he looked like a prophet inspired of God. On that night,* he related among other things that he was in possession of a part of the minutes of a banker’s’ meeting where they planned with diabolical coolness and cunning the deflation that should prove their contention that ’homeless people do not quarrel with their leaders.’ My blood froze as I listened. Today, we look back upon it as a prophecy of what is now history." At first the leaders laughed at jLTurn to Page Three)

Entered as Second-Class Matter at Poatoffice, Indianapolia

500-Mile Grind Is an Institution That Must and Will Be Kept Alive, Declares Corporation Head. TRACK NOT TO BE RELAID, HE SAYS Better Than Twenty Years Ago, Asserts President; Some of Stands May Be Replaced, but Not This Year. BY LOWELL NUSSBAUM Times Staff Writer The race will go on! With this statement, Colonel E. V. (Eddie) Rickenbacker, Speedway corporation president, and America’s World war ace of aces, spikes persistent rumors that the last 500-mile race was run Tuesday. “The race is an institution that must, go on,” Rickenbacker said today. ‘lt will go on as long as I have anything to do with it, and I expect to control it for many years.”

At the same time, he denied rumors that anew track was to be laid, and other changes made. “There is nothing wrong with the track,” he said. "It is better now than it was twenty years ago. It was laid on a perfect foundation, and it has been smoothing out for years. Would Spoil Test “To make the curves longer and more gradual would be to destroy the sporting element—the human element, making it just a mere test of the endurance of a machine. “We have pians drawn for replacing some of the stands, but I do not know just when the work will be done. It probably will not be this year. “The stands now are in good shape, as they are given constant attention by a crew of workmen.” While promising that the race will go on as long as there are as many as two race cars entered, Rickenbacker revealed that Indianapolis never may be nearer lasing its most famous attraction, which draws spectators from every state and as far away as New Zealand, than it was Tuesday. Shows Race Strain Still showing the strain of race day’s hectic events, Rickenbacker explained that failure of the drivers to accede to the race rulings would have meant refunding of the public’s money and “turning the race grounds into a cow pasture.” As long as he has the responsibility of directing the track, he will be boss, Rickenbacker announced. "It is one of my greatest regrets that the race started late for the first time in the track history, except when it was caused by an act of God,” he commented. “But I had to sustain Dr. H. R. Allen's ruling barring Howdy Wilcox, one of four greatest drivers, from participation because of his health even if the drivers carried out their threatened strike. Otherwise, I might have been morally and legally guilty of manslaughter. “I feel that I know more about that race than any one other per-

Three Drivers Dice With Death and Lose in 500-Mile Classic

Death, that dark handmaiden of the great god Speed, trailed her somber shroud across the treacherous, oil-glazed south turn of the Indianapolis motor speedway Tuesday, keeping a rendezvous with two drivers and a mechanic.

The dead are: LESTER SPANGLER, 27, Los Angeles, driver. MARK BILLMAN, 26, of 2225 Villa avenue, Indianapolis, driver. G. L. JORDAN, 27, of 402 Rinkler street, Lafayette, mechanician. Spangler and Jordan were injured fatally in one of the most spectacular crashes in speedway history,, when Spangler’s Miller Special collided at more than 100 miles an hour with the Universal Service Special of Malcolm Fox on the southwest turn. Oil spots polished by the grinding clutch of rubber tires had made the turn a death trap. As Spangler came in the turn, Fox went into a spin and was endeavorng to bring his car under control w'hen Spangler crashed into him from behind. Hurled High in Air As thousands looked on with blanched faces, Spangler and Jordan were hurled into the air, their limp and insensible bodies striking the bricks with stunning force. Several women in grand stand A fainted when Spangler’s car started turning over and came to rest against the concrete retaining wall. Fox and Bert Cook, his mechanician, unhurt except for bruises, climbed stiffly out of their mount and dragged the two bodies off the track. The sinister yellow flag slowed down the field to a cautious fifty miles an hour as it paraded in single file between the two smashed racers. Jordan Dies First Jordan, who was knov/n to his friends as "Monk.” died first, just as his brother reached the Speedway hospital. Spangler, who was driving his first Speedway race, died later, in the evening. Fractured skulls were the cause. Billman's life was almost drained away on the track when he was pinned under his Kemp-Mannix Special on the wall of the southeast turn. Slithering into the turn. Billman lost control and his hurtiu) mount

HOME EDITION PRICE TWO CENTS Outside Marion County, S Cents

son. and the responsibility for safety of many lives is mine. It is a tremendous responsibility and I feel it keenly. Jim Allison sold out because he could not stand the terrific strain of responsibility.” Rickenbacker said he felt a distinct pride in the fact that the race had been carried on without change or retrenchment in any respect, through the lean depression years, until this year, an accomplishment achieved by few companies. There w’ould have been no change in prize money or pay of employes this year had it not been for the bank holiday, freezing millions of dollars in Indiana and nearby states from which the bulk of the race patrons come. ‘‘But with the reduction of admittance fee from $2.50 to $2, and the new federal tax, which we paid, I cut myself $2 for every $1 the participants were cut,” he explained. Worried by Mob One of his greatest worries during the race was the mob breaking through the fence surrounding th# race grounds. Nearly 5,000 persons, many of them small boys and even some girls, crashed through the fence before and during the race, swarming across the track between hurtling race cars 4 o gain the immunity of the inside fence. ‘ Hundreds might have been killed in that mad rush,” he said. “All the guards in the world couldn’t have stopped them. That never would have happened four years ago. It resulted from mob spirited from the disregard for law and order brought on by the present economic disorder.” This incident brought him more gray hairs than all the squabbling of the drivers over limitation of gas tank size and amount of oil used, and other technical rulings. Explains Gas Ruling “The drivers are in the race to win, taking dangerous chances,” he said, “and in some ways we have to think for them. “We found, in previous races, that most accidents occurred after drivers had been in the pits and re(Turn to Page Nine)

ripped away nine feet of the concrete wall before it came to rest with the left wheel on top of him. His ami was torn off and he lost a great quantity of blood while guards frantically tried to extricate him from Deneath the car. Both Legs Broken Both of Billman’s legs were broken and he suffered internal injuries. He lost so much blood that several transfusions were futile. Billman’s mechanician, Elmer Lombard, 26, of 438 Colorado avenue, miraculously escaped serious injury when he was catapulted almost fifty feet from the car, outside the retaining wall. The total casualty list of the twenty-first running of the speed spectacle stands at five. Williaaa Orem, 32, Audubon, (Pa.) driver, and Hugh <Bob> Hurst, 227 North Parkview' avenue, Indianapolis, mechanician, were killed Sunday on the northeast turn in a qualifying dash. Jordan’s only fear of the track, according to relatives, was that the car in which he was riding might be passed. Raced for Thrills It was Spangler’s first try at the local race. Jordan had been in three previous races here as mechanic. Jordan's relatives said he raced for thrills. He operated a profitable paint shop in Lafayette. Spangler, who formerly lived in Brook, Ind., was unmarried. He is survived by his parents, two sisters, Mrs. Paul Howell and Miss Pearl Spangler, and a brother, Floyd Spangler, all of Brook. Jordan is survived by the widow, his parents, four brothers and three sisters. The brothers are R. F., Roam and Walter, Indianapolis, and Rollie, Lafayette. Sisters are Mrs. Wallace Long and Miss Jane Jordan, Lafayette, and Mrs. Nellie Van De Creyse, New York. The parents and tht widow reside ; n T > v