Indianapolis Times, Volume 45, Number 126, Indianapolis, Marion County, 5 October 1933 — Page 13

Second Section

LOOTERS ROAM HAVANA AFTER FIERCE STORM Death Ordered for Thieves as Aftermath of Hurricane. H>i f nitcrt Prrnu HAVANA. Oct. 5. Looters roamed Havana today as hurricane winds diminished, and citizens, nerves frayed by storm and battle, awaited the next development in Cuba's political crisis. Moving promptly to prevent disorder, the government ordered soldiers to kill any one caught stealing in the post-hurricane turmoil. Two Negro looters were reported shot to death last night, and a third was wounded. Snipers killed in a downtown street a member of the ABC radical organization which supports the government. Province Damage Heavy A few persons were injured here by the winds that whipped through the capital. Telephones and electric lights were damaged. There was heavy damage in the provinces where the storm hit harder. Floods were reported at some points, and telephone and telegraph lines were disrupted. Increasingly confident after the rout of rebel officers in the National hotel battle, President Ramon Grau San Martin continued to consolidate his position, and let it be known through aids that he had not ordered the arrest, of Mario Menocal, former president, and Carlos Mendieta, Cuba’s two chief political figures who went into hiding w'hile the National hotel fight was on. Await U. S. Recognition Grau San Martin appointed Cesar Rodriguez Morini as secretary of agriculture. Government supporters openly charged opposition leaders with provoking disorders in order to discredit Grau San Martin. Ruben Leon, a student leader and one of the president's chief aids, reflected today the government's confidence that its power will be maintained until it is recognized by the United States. ADMITS CHECK FRAUD .Sentenced to State Penal Farm by Municipal Judge. Virgil Hart, alias Walter Davis, yesterday pleaded guilty in municipal court three to charges of passing a fraudulent check for $22.50 on -.he H P. Wasson department store. Judge Dewey Myers fined Hart $1 and costs and sentenced him to 180 days at the state penal farm.

T mm l GENTLEMEN This is news —it’s important, it concerns close to 1,100 garments a P I' 'I Mpui Ciiitc ' m I //i£zs&&L liwW will 19 \aSHF ms<b-nssfw New Topcoats B /My New Overcoats JMW lS*i We don't like to look backwards—or make PPj!Pt forecasts—but last fall marked the depths of JfMM h> ***# Clothing prices—and this tall marks their up- g : ;.\ 4 /> „ N^^TSf swing—and up-rush. And so when we tell /•* you these are even finer, smarter, better fitting /&? ? than last year's $25 clothes-you know it's "front f-— ’ trVlhl page ' —you know you are in the presence of a real opportunity! All of this is not an accident, we The Suits are Worsteds, Tweeds and Cheviots, smile and double breaaUd, 1 1 , 7 I r . the best shades of gray, brown and blue. forced it to happen—by using Strauss optimism. ~. _ . .. . |. 1 || j I JL Th 6 I opcoats —include Knit-tex, fine tweeds, coverts, camel’s hairs and by buying llbsrally wh6n othors wavsrsd, by polos. Raglan coats, belt-backs, some with military collars. never forgetting quality, arid always The Overcoats are of deep fleeces and boucles that ‘Svear like a pig’s nose" remembering value. On sale at $25. smart and fine fitting - (A deposit holds your coat for iaur

Full Leased Wire Service of the United t’ren* Association

GOLD BRINGS ACTIVITY TO GHOST MINING TOWNS

Army of Needy Tramps Hills Searching for Fortunes or Fifty Cents a Day

The first world-side gold riish In history is on toda - . in every land and clime This is the third of a series of articles describing the rapid progress of events and their economic implications. BY EARL SPARLING Times Special Writer “XTERE are the ghost towns xlneedlng but the touch of magic to fling back their green shutters and boil anew with the life that had them dizzy threequarters of a century ago." It was in 1927 that Robert Welles Ritchie wrote that in his fine story of the great California gold rush which he called "The Hell-roarin’ Forty-niners.” In 1927 few men could forsee w’hat was going to happen to gold. The "touch of magic” has been given now. The ghost mining towns of the West —in California, Colorado, Nevada and elsewhere —are not exactly boiling. But they are stirring Poker Flat, Brandy City, Rough and Ready, Gold Run, You Bet, Emigrant Gap, Etc., Etc. Four bits to a dollar a day of gold meant nothing to the hellroarin’ Forty-niners. In most cases they left it where it lay. But today, with 15,000.000 out of work in America. 50 cents is the difference between starvation and grub. Fifty cents a day and a life in the open, thousands of city-bred men have figurfd, is better than hopelessly walking unsympathetic city streets. Throughout the hills and valleys of the West such men are at work panning gold in worn-out diggings. It has been estimated that at least 200.000 took to the hills this past summer. More and more can be expected to go now that new gold can be sold at the free market price, which means that a man able a few months ago to earn 50 cents a day will now get 75 cents and upward for the same work and the same gold. a a a IT is a strange gold rush, this of the busted Thirty-threers. There is pathos in it and humor and something immensely thrilling. It started in 1931. What lone hero first decided he had enough of breadlines and started off for the foothills never will be known. The fact is that he made good. The news spread that a man could earn 50 cents a day. Others followed him. The hundreds grew' to the thousands. By 1932 the rush was on in earnest. Arthur Hawthorne Carhart wrote an eyewitness description of the rush as he saw it in Colorado in September. 1932: “Gold fever was loose in the hills. The whole set-up was suggesting. more and more, a reacting of the days of ’SB, from pla-

The Indianapolis Times

er panners in Cherry creek to j ' ‘'After I find gold, how do I c? eports of big strikes in the mnun- " it out of the sand? a ins. ... A motley procession of -JSL V< "Suppose I find gold, where do I iutos followed the roads to the sell it?" ;old camps. Many had out-of- SSIjfIMSKM&BHE' In self-defense. authorities tate licenses and often displayed opened classes in placer mining. :old pans and shovels among The California Mining Division iriiiimint! bundles of duffel Along nmairurs. ,i- as h ' roai be ween Fau pla: and <'**#* 1 n b>- ac'-cmunorialed m its laborUma were dozens of tents, and atones in San Francisco. The learby men worked sluices and h'SEI jPBPg' Yfe : Denver Public School of Placer land rockers. Our trail turned - uy9|[HnßH Ik f. Mining takes its students to a river eftward toward Mosquito Gulch ' *vMfSigi bed near Denver. The Denver ind London Mountain, where a HH*.i jBK '-j. > i JB school has graduated hundreds of ecent strike was made. Along *S * wHKIf ‘Amen this year and sent them up he road were slab-walled shacks. *,. 'ipyjgjH into the lulls to find gold where og houses and tents —abodes of f/A they can find it. he camp followers of the gold MBpfil tV*f. 1 \ Bjj Placer gold is found in stream rmy." HKg| Bffc < / beds, their bars, tributary gulches Samuel G Blythe witnessed / 1 B and benches alonß the slopes - The imilar scenes in California in * i 11-CrlliffifP .1 ' -• M gold is freed from the dirt or sand 932: EHL. ~v. M by panning, a laborious operation. the pan. a shallow wide utensil tocky Mountain states, where iß|kfr ■ irPfflißßß! moving the dirt by shaking the nining is more or less familiar to P an under water. verybody. They were still com- " The heavy gold settles to the ng in August when I spent the ~ bottom of the pan. the lighter dirt. renter pari of a week up along the washes away It takes an exp,nnother lone, mostly in cars- some enced man ten hours .to pan 100 n fairly good cars; many in cars pans. Sometimes there will be no

cer panners in Cherry creek to reports of big strikes in the mountains. ... A motley procession of autos followed the roads to the gold camps. Many had out-of-state licenses and often displayed gold pans and shovels among brimming bundles of duffel. Along the road between Fairplay and Alma were dozens of tents, and nearby men w’orked sluices and hand rockers. Our trail turned leftward toward Mosquito Gulch and London Mountain, w'here a recent strike was made. Along the road were slab-w’alled shacks, log houses and tents—abodes of the camp followers of the gold army.” Samuel G. Blythe witnessed similar scenes in California in 1932; “They came from all parts of the country, but mostly from the Rocky Mountain states, where mining is more or less familiar to everybody. They were still coming in August, when I spent the greater part of a week up along the mother loae, mostly in cars—some in fairly good cars; many in cars that barely wheezed along and had terrible times getting up the mountain roads; cars of all the cheaper makes, loaded to the roof and above, on the running boards, on the fenders and bumpers, with all sorts of gear, and with children—hundreds Qf children—all eager, enthusiastic, ready to make their fortunes and confident they would . . . They were packed ih along the streams, close together, and in

INDIANAPOLIS, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1933

—Underwood Si Underwood Photos Chow time in the Tornado Camp at Tonopah, Nev., where new gold strikes recall the hectic days of ’49. Below—Old prospectors cleaning rocker blankets after washing gold-bearing sands.

some promising places had w'hat amounted to little villages.” a a a THAT was in 1932. At least twice as many city argonauts flocked into the gold country this

summer. Most were rank amateurs at finding and panning gold. They deluged authorities In Denver and San Francisco. “Where’s the best place to go for gold?”

‘‘After I find gold, how do I get it out of the sand?” “Suppose I find gold, where do I sell it?” In self-defense, authorities opened classes in placer mining. The California Mining Division instructs the amateurs, as many as can be accommodated, in its laboratories in San Francisco. The Denver Public School of Placer Mining takes its students to a river bed near Denver. The Denver school has graduated hundreds of men this year and sent them up into the hills to find gold where they can find it. Placer gold is found in stream beds, their bars, tributary gulches and benches along the slopes. The gold is freed from the dirt or sand by panning, a laborious operation. Panning consists simply of filling the pan. a shallow wide utensil, two-thirds full of the dirt and removing the dirt by shaking the pan under water. The heavy gold settles to the bottom of the pan, the lighter dirt washes away. It takes an experienced man ten hours .to pan 100 pans. Sometimes there will be no more than one or two "colors” to a pan. and it takes from 2,200 to 885,000 colors, depending on the size of the pai'ticles, to make an ounce of gold—which means that placer mining is no job for a lazy man. It is hard work and 50 cents to a dollar a day is the best the average man can expect to earn. There is always the chance of finding a spot where the gold is

Second Section

Entered as Second-Cltss Matter at FostofTlee, IMianapolU

a bit thicker, however, and always the lure of making a real strike. THEODORE "smith, a reporter on the San Francisco New's, went up along the mot hen. j lode this summer to find out how' j the 50-cent miners sere making j out. His report indicates what | luck and life are like on the av- j erage: “Hans Sorenson, with his wife ■ and three children, were caught in | the vortex of the depression. He ] lost his job as auto mechanic, tried a hand at fruit picking and finally drifted into placer mining. Eight months now' he has toiled patiently over the gravel pockets of Parks Bar. They all live in a small tent. They make 35 to 50 cents a day. “Arch Harris and his family have had a camp on the Bear river for more than two years. With his brother's family and a few friends they have stayed summer and winter. During the summer they have plenty of company. As many as thirty have tried to support themselves on the tiny golden spots in the crevices. Despite two years' work at building home-made sluices, rockets and crucibles, Arch Harris still is able to squeeze little more than 75 cents a day from the river bed.” Others are doing better. Along Deer creek, near Grass Valley, placer miners have averaged as high as $3.50 a day. And every miner can keep going with the hope of doing what Bob Newmeyer did on Jackson hill. Newmeyer up and found himself a single nugget W'orth $1,700. Tomorrow: More aspects of the Gold Rush. LICENSE REVOKED ON CHARGE OF SPEEDING Motorist Loses Right to Drive for 90 Days. Sam McGarvey, 19, of 5264 Washington boulevard, was fined $lO and costs and had his driver's license revoked for ninety days when he w'as arraigned in municipal court yesterday on speeding charges. McGarvey was arrested at Central avenue and Fifty-second street Tuesday by motorcycle policeman Nolan Hill, charged with speeding at the rate of fifty miles an hour. Norman Kevens, 5715 North Pennsylvania street, w'as arrested by the same officer Tuesday for speeding and was fined $1 and costs. William Schultz, 2432 Central avenue, was fined $5 and costs yesterday speeding on East Washington street Tuesday.

INSULL POWER SOLD BELOW COST, CHARGE Street Car Firm Gets Low Service Rate. State Board Told. BY DANIEL M. KIDNEY Times Staff Writer Power produced by the Public Sendee Company of Indiana, at an alleged cost of 8.8 mills, is being sold under contract to the Indianapolis Railways, Inc., for 8.5 mills, it was brought out at the rate reduction hearing before the public sendee commission today. The rate case was inaugurated by Sherman Minton, public counselor, who charged that the Public Sendee Comuany made $2,500,000 excess profits in its “south system” last year. Mr. Minton's questioning today way directed at the cost of power. It disclosed that while the street railway here gets power from the company at 3 mills less than the cost figure, the company sells its own power users at 1.883 cents a kilo- ; watt hour. Build-l’p Exposed This includes water pumping staj tions and electric lines operated by the Public Service Company. Average charge to all users was placed at 4.7’ cents. Expose of the Insull methods of financing marked the hearing Wednesday afternoon. The company, in an effort prevent i electric rate cuts throughout the ! entire “south system,” presented a i financial statement calling for ; $1,800,000 depreciation reserve. Mr. Minton pointed out that this j sum is nine times that allowed by I the company during its boom days j from 1925 to 1930. Depreciation Fund Low L. B. Schiesz, company controller, who presented the figures, ad- | mitted under Mr. Minton's questioning that during those prosperous years only $200,000 was allowed for depreciation w'hile $500,000 went to pay common stock dividends. He explained that this was done to “strengthen company credit during a period of extension and expansion.” Mr. Minton contends that it was done to build up Insull stock jobbing plans and that the company now has no right to take out nine times ! more depreciation at the expense of ratepayers “during the worst business months in its history.” He called it “raising the ante during the depression,” to which Mr. Schiesz objected.