Indianapolis Times, Volume 45, Number 223, Indianapolis, Marion County, 26 January 1934 — Page 1
LEWIS FLAYS CONGRESSMAN AS ‘TRAITOR’ Miners’ President Stabs at Foes in Attack on Ex-Official. ANTI-NRA MOVE LOSES Resolution Upholding Right to Strike Is Tabled at Convention. •Traitor, he ran away and left District 12 in that mess. I don’t know what his record is in congress, but 1 know what his record is in the United Mine Workers.” With this vitrolic attack. John L. I-ewis. president of the United Mine Workers of America, stabbed deep at his foes in the Illinois coal fields with a verbal onslaught today against Congressman Walter Nesbit of Belleville. 111., former secre-tary-treasurer of the Illinois district. But before dealing this blow at anti-administration forces, a resolution upholding the right to strike under NRA suffered at the hands of pro-Lewis forces and the resolution was tabled without dissent and in the rubber-stamp manner of many resolutions in which conflict on the convention floor was seen. Mr. Lewis stepped out of the cloak of chairman to attack Congressman Nesbit. on a resolution demanding the accounting of funds in District 12, Illinois. Congressman Is Condemned He declared that the district showed $440,000 in indebtedness and that conditions were in a ‘’terrible shape.” “And the gentleman mentioned in a previous resolution is the man who ran away from this mess,’’ declared Mr. Lewis. The “previous resolution" was the adoption of a resolution condemning Congressman Nesbit for supporting a dual movement in Illinois and terming him “disloyal.” District 12’s affairs now are in the hands of the international union and Mr. Lewis said an accounting of funds would be made when debts were liquidated. Cheers gathered into a wave of tribute as Mr. Lewis concluded his extemporaneous talk. Fight U. S. Control of 1 nion The convention approved resolutions favoring government ownership of the coal mines but dodged any resolution that carried with it a tinge of bringing the union itself under the government's wing. “We don’t want our union run by the government —it's the mines,” shouted one delegate. Direct attack on the development of water power projects and the Tennessee valley power district under President Roosevelt and Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes came in the afternoon's meeting when C. B. Huntress, secretary of the National Coal Association, spoke to the mineis. He was the first representative of operators to speak before the convention. In .speaking of water power development he said. “If that be progress. we are headed for a fall. Now is time for every mine owner and operator to pull together.’’ “Have Common Foes" Received with courteous cheers. Mr Huntress sounded the union's own voting of a resolution declaring against Hitlerism and dictatorship with. “You don't want chaos, lawlessness. facism, civil war. which means communism.” Extending the olive-branch, the representative of the operators concluded with. “The operators are lined at your side, on your side. Were on the same. We're both angry, not at each other, but at common foes.” The convention voted the recommendation that all states pay a flat rate of $lB 75 in compensation cases involving union miners. Unemployment Insurance Favored Continuance of attempts by international officers to free union miners imprisoned in “Bloody" Harlan county, Kentucky, rioting was approved in anther resolution. Control of mining machinery with a tax placed on labor-saving devices was voted in another resolution introduced by Local 1719. Coaldale. Pa. Unemployment insurance took many minutes of floor debate with the approval of the resolution committee's report to "continue the fight for the insurance on congress and the states.” The convention will adjourn at 5 p m. today until Monday, when William Green, president, of the American Federation of Labor, will speak at the opening session. Hourly Temperatures 6a. m 26 10 a. m 34 7 a. m 27 11 a. m 36 Bam 28 12 noon>.. 38 9 a m 30 1 p. m 42 Times Index Page. Berg Cartoon 16 Br*dge 13 Broun 15 Classified £4. 25 Comics 27 Crossword Puzzle 24 Curious World 27 Editorial 16 Financial 26 Food Bection 19 20. 21 Hickman—Theaters 15 Lippmann 26 Our Gang—A Senes 15 Pegler 15 Radio 8 Sports 22. "3 State Hews Unknown Blond 27 Woman s Pages 12, 13
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.. u .i. . i. nsavn." armed state police left early this morning for Tucson. Ariz., to return members of the Jchn Diliijger terror mob captured there last night. Left to right: Officers Harvey Hire, Donald Winn and Gene Ryan, Captain Matt Leach and Lieutenant Vein Shields. Miss Marie Grott of the bureau of criminal identification, who also made the trip, dodged behind a protecting back when the photographer “shot.”
First Victim and Parole Signer for Dillinger Is *Glad They’ve Got Him ’ •| Hope They Keep Him Locked Up,’ Says Aged Mooresville Grocer Slugged by Terror Mob Leader in Initial Foray Into Crime. BY TRISTRAM COFFIN Times Staff Writer First victim of John Dillinger and the man who aidec greatly in getting the terror mob leader paroled from th( state prison, is “glad they have got him at last,”
BANKER ALIVE, FAMILY HINTS; I Air of Fear, Anxiety Gone: Early Release Expected by Police. By 1 nited Prrxx ST. PAUL, Jan. 26.—An air of fear and anxiety was gone today from the household of Edward G. Bremer. 36, kidnaped banker, but police and relatives maintained absolute secrecy in regard to latest developments. As the result of developments of the past twenty-four hours, both police and federal agents made public statements indicating that they were not interfering in any way with the efforts of Adolph Bremer, the victim's father and a personal friend of President Roosevelt, to negotiate the safe return of his son for $200,000 ransom. Reports persisted, however, that the ransom had been paid and that Mr. Bremer would be returned to his family before Saturday night. Adolph Bremer Jr., the victim's brother, told the United Press that he had “every reason to believe that the authorities are laying off until is safe.” He refused to comment on the report that a delay between the payment of ransom and delivery of the abducted man had been arranged by the kidnapers. There was no doubt, however, that once the president of the Commercial State bunk of St. Paul is safe at home, one of the most comprehensive drives in the annals of crime fighting will be started. The special anti-kidnaping squad of St. Paul police has been chafing to be given a free hand in the case. In addition, scores of federal agents worked out of headquarters in Minneapolis. determined to capture the kidnapers. ROAD SUPERVISER FIRED Insubordination Cited in Dismissal of Herman Modisett. Representative Herman Modisett. who has been employed as road supervisor by the state highway department in the Terre Haute district, has been dismissed, effective Feb. 1. it was announced today. Insubordination was given as reason for dismissal by H. F. Boettinger. who is in charge of department personnel.
Make Your Prized War Pictures Pay Dividends The Indianapolis Times will pay for graphic pictures showing activities of Indiana troops in the World war. The photos may have been taken either in this country or overseas, just so they concern Indiana troops. For every picture used. The Times will pay sl. For the best picture each day. The Times will pay $2. and for the best picture of the week. $lO. Pictures accepted will be used daily in layout form as a complement to the great Laurence Stallings war photographs senes appeanng daily in The Times. Pictures submitted for this contest must be accompanied by a plainly written or printed description of the scene and persons involved. Each photo should have a return address on the back, so rejected pictures may be mailed. Look through your souvenir collections, veterans, and join this contest now. Mail or bring your entries to The Times War Pictures Editor.
The Indianapolis Times Fair tonight and probably tomorrow; rising temperature, lowest tonight 30 to 35.
•ON TO ARIZONA’ MOVES DETACHMENT OF STATE POLICE
Obviously elated at Dillinger's capture in Tucson. Ariz.. B. F. Morgan, aged Mooresville grocer whom Dillinger slugged in a holdup, today voiced this feeling. Following a drinking bout, Dillinger and an older companion, Ed Singleton, broke into Mr. Morgan's grocery in 1924. As Mr. Morgan surprised them, Singleton fled and Dillinger hit the grocer. In response to the question, “Why did you sign Dillinger’s parole?” Mr. Morgan said today: “He came around to see me during the trial and talked nicely. The people around here begged for him. He seemed to be a nice fellow and they gave him a pretty long sentence.” ‘Things Are Different Now’ Vehemently Mr. Morgan denied that if given the opportunity again he would sign the mobster’s parole petition. “Let them lock him up,” he saitj. “Under the same circumstances as before, I would sign it, however. But things are a lot different now.” Mr. Morgan said that he had been surprised and horrified at the life Dillinger had chosen and reiterated, “I hope they keep him locked up.” “I'm sorry they got him. I know what he has to go through,” was the reaction of Ed Singleton toclay. Singleton was the “older man” condemned by Dillinger’s father and friends as influencing the terror mob leader in his first criminal step. At one time, Dillinger was reported to have said bitterly of Singleton, “I’ll get him when I get out.” “He'll Have Tough Time” Looking back at his years spent in prison for the same crime for which Dillinger was "sent up,” Singleton's voice shuddered as he said, “he’ll have a tough time up the river.” Although Singleton refused to say what he meant by his remark that Dillinger had “a tough time ahead of him,” he possibly referred to the strong discipline which Walter Detrich, captured recently, predicted awaited him at Michigan City. Singleton said that Dillinger had been a likable youngster when the two were associated. “He never mentioned to me that he was going back into crime again after he got out of Michigan City, and I saw him only at nights and not very long at that.” said Singleton. “He didn’t say how they treated him in prison. No. I never heard him talk bitterly,” said Singleton. In answer to the question. What did you hope would happen to Dillinger? "Singleton responded. “We hoped for the best. He might have gotten out of the country.” "I'm sorry they got him,” Singleton insisted.
INDIANAPOLIS, FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 1934
TERROR MOB HEADED FOR MEXICAN LINE. FREEDOM. IS BELIEF
The fact that John Dillinger and his terror gang were captured in Tucson. Ariz.. only seventyfive miles from the Mexican border, has given rise to the theory that the mob was prepared to make good its boast that it would “clean up" in the United States and clear out for foreign territory. Added evidence to this theory" is the fact that with Dillinger and the gang was a large quantity of money and jewels that easily could be exchanged into currency. They had leased temporary rooms in the Congress hotel and had moved into a rented house only after the hotel had burned. The gang, four men and four women, had gathered in Tucson for a final roundout to make plans and scatter to the border of Mexico, experts believe. ROOSEVELT IN ‘GOODJUEALTH’ President Thrives on Grind That Shattered Nerves of Predecessors. By 1 nil < il Prrxx WASHINGTON, Jan. 26—President Roosevelt is thriving on the grind that shattered the health of his predecessors, a checkup revealed today. In proving the exception to the rule, Mr. Roosevelt’s friends attributed his amazing vitality to the fact that he exercises daily, and, more important that he also has the happy facility of throwing aside the cares and worries of his high position once decisions are mad% He is good-natured. After nearly a year of work that would have floored even a Dempsey, the President has been found by White House physicians to be in the pink of condition physically, practically unchanged from last March when he assumed office. Much of this they laid to his daily swim in the White House pool, that was built with funds subscribed by admirers soon after he took office. Scarcely a day goes by that Mr. Roosevelt does not plunge into the tank for a half hour of vigorous paddling that leaves him refreshed after strenuous hours and in fit condition to tackle administrative problems at night. In addition, the President goes through a course of calisthentics similar to the treatment given regularly to the patients of the Warm Springs Foundation at Warm Springs. Ga., at which place he is a yearly visitor. Mr. Roosevelt exercises are under the supervision of Dr. Ross McIntire of the Naval hospital here.
FACTOR POINTS OUT TOUHYJN COURT Room Tense as Victim Identifies Kidnaper. By United Prees CRIMINAL COURT BUILDING. CHICAGO, Jan. 6.—John (Jake the Barber) Factor stepped dramatically from the witness stand today, pointed a quivering finger at Roger Touhy and identified him as one of the men who kidnaped and tortured him before collecting $70,000 ransom. FARLEY FOR JOHNSON Postmaster-General Predicts Senator’s Re-Election. By United Prr WASHINGTON. Jan. 26 —Senator Hiram Johnson (Rep.. Cal.), one of the Progressives who bolted to President Roosevelt in 1932 will be re-elected to the senate this year. Postmaster-General James A. Farley predicted today—, w
DILLINGER AND PIERPONT ARE CAUGHT IN ARIZONA; PUT UNDER HEAVY GUARD
B B n B B City’s ‘Queen of the Gun Molls ’ Called Master Strategist of Terrorists Guiding Hand of Mary Kinder, Local Underworld Denizen, Seen Behind Clever Moves of Killer Gang Captured in Tucson. Ariz. BY BASIL GALLAGHER Times Staff Writer The dubious title, “Queen of the £un molls,” was bestowed grudgingly on Mary Kinder, Indianapolis denizen of the underworld and alleged chief strategist of the notorious Indiana “terror mob,” by state and federal authorities today.
As Captain Matt Leach of the i state police traced her lurid career from the time she joined the Dillinger mob, following the outbreak of ten convicts from the Indiana state prison, to her capture in Tucson, Ariz., yesterday, authorities conceded her exploits placed the desperate forays of the “bobbedhaired bandit” and other notorious women in the lower brackets of daring. Born and bred in the influence of the underworld, Mary Kinder today has a husband and a brother in jail. Her husband, Dale Kinder, an inmate of the state prison at Michigan City, today did not know of her arrest, nor did her brother, Earl Northern, doing time in the same institution. “Cherchez la Femme” The old police axiom, “cherchez la femme,” was changed to the terse command “get the woman!” when police sought to end the reign of terror created by the “terror mob.” Blazing the way along the trail of murder and robbery which marked the exploits of the mob following the prison break at Michigan City, the police knew that some cunning mind, some clever strategist was planning the coups of the desperate gang of ten escaped convicts. Known to be in Indianapolis shortly after the jail break, the gang nevertheless managed to evade the police with ease. The ten convicts, heavily armed and boasting that they “never would be taken alive,” found shelter without difficulty. In some manner which mystified the police, the gang members were able to get clothes and shed their conspicuous prison garb. Gang’s Dupe Is Found The police were not long in finding the answer. A woman was doing it. They found this out when A1 Feeney, . safety director, accompanied by the writer, went to a j house on St. Joseph street on a tip. j Sitting on the doorsteps of the 1 house, his teeth chattering with j fear, police found Ralph Saffell, an I Indianapolis youth, who had been j made the dupe of the gang. Trembling with fear of reprisals, Saffell told of the gang coming into i his home on the west side of town j and forcing him to give shelter, j They were led by Mary Kinder. She ; supervised their movements. She ; drove Saffell and two of the men downtown, where clothing was pur- ; chased for the mob in three Washington street stores. The gang left Indianapolis. Then came the thunderous echoes of their desperate series of exploits. | Banks in all parts of the state were robbed . . . three of their members were killed . . . towns throughout: Indiana armed and waited anxiously for the gang to strike . . . police stations were looted of arms and ammunition under the very eyes of the officers ... a sheriff was murdered and Dillinger delivered from a jail in Ohio ... a series of blockades was set up on Indiana roads. Then the gang moved north to Chicago. Again came stories of murder and robbery. Two police officers were killed . . . night clubs were robbed . . . the “terror mob” shot itself out of police traps with ease . . . and the strategy of the gang in moving about constantly outwitted the best detectives in Chicago. And behind all these seemingly miraculous escapes, the careful strategists and the successful coups of the gang, police saw the hand of Mary Kinder.
STUDY COMMISSION SOON_TO_BE NAMED End of ‘Nonsense Courses’ to Be Aim of New Board. Personnel of the study commission to revamp the curriculum of the state’s schools of higher education and eliminate the “nonsense courses.” will be chosen at the state board of education meeting next Friday, it was announced today by Floyd I. McMurray, state superintendent. ENDS LIFE IN NIAGARA Suicide, Believed Buffalo Man, Leaps Into Falls. By l'nitrd Prrxx NIAGARA FALLS. N. Y.. Jan. 26.—A man believed to be Leiand I. Purdy, 23, of Buffalo, leaped to his death today over Niagara Falls. The man left a package of lunch on the river bank and a pay check receipt which bore that name.
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John Dillinger
STATE COPS ON WAT TO TUCSON Leach, Squad Are En Route to Arizona; Dillinger Custody Goal. Armed with warrants and submachine guns, Captain Matt Leach and four state policemen today were en route to Tucson, Ariz., where they will seek custody of John Dillinger and three escaped convicts, captured there last night. Besides Dillinger, the officers hold warants for Harry Pierpont, Charles Makely and Russell Clark, together with warrants for Mary Kinder, termed the “brains” of the terror mob, and “Mary Roe.” The latter warrant is for one of three other women being held with the terror gang members. Captain Leach said he expected difficulty in obtaining custody of the gang, because of claims made by officers in other states. “Police in almost every city of any size are blaming the Dillinger gang for every petty crime that has occurred,” he said. “We are positive the gang was connected only with the freeing of Dillinger from the Lima to.) jail, in which Sheriff Jess Sarber was slain; bank holdups at Greencastle and East Chicago, Ind., and at Racine. Wis., and St. Mary's, O. “That is absolutely all they were connected with.” Leach said threats that the gang would be released unless telegraphic copies of warrants against them were sent immediately, were made early today by Tucson officials. Previously, Leach had wired the Tucson police chief that warrants were held here. Later, copies of the warrants were telegraphed to forestall the gang’s release.
John Dillinger’s Father, Told of Capture, Weeps >
By Timei Bperint MOORESVILLE. Ind.. Jan. 25 Roused from his sleep to hear news of his son's capture, a gentle old farmer, John Dillinger Sr., broke into low sobs. His life, an unceasing vigil since John Dillinger, public enemy number one, escaped from Lima, 0., after the deliberate murder of a sheriff, the father has been in constant fear that his son would die in a furious gun battle Clad in an old-fashioned flannel night shirt, typical of his life's simplicity, Mr. Dillinger said in shaking tones that he was comforted to know that his son was alive. He reiterated the hope that his son was not involved in any slayings. Far from the world's crime news in his plain white frame farmhouse, the father could not grasp the horrible significance of his son's reign of terror throughout the midwest. To 1 )
Knterert as Second-Class Matter at Poatoff.'ce, Indianapolis
Extradition Fight Between Indiana, Illinois and Ohio Looms; Makely and Clark Also Captured. ‘I GUESS YOU WIN/ SAYS BANDIT Tucson Fireman Sees Gangster’s Picture in Magazine; Paves Way for Series of Raids by Police. By L'nitrd /’its* TUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 26.—10hn Dillinger and three members of his Indiana gang, accused of a score of crimes ranging from murder to robbery and jail breaking, were arraigned here today and Justice C. M. Budlong fixed bail at SIOO,OOO each. By L'nitrd Prrxx TUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 26.—Fifty deputies mounted machine guns around the Pima county jail this afternoon, guarding four of the midwest’s most desperate gangster-killers, all captured by a small-town police force. In the jail, nonchalant, .expensively groomed, were John Dillinger, of Indianapolis, leader: Russell Clark, Charles Makely and Harry Pierpont, accused of a score of robberies and murders, a prison break and a jail delivery in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. They eluded picked metropolitan detectives only to fall prisoners in a “hick” town. From them police took five machine guns, three of them “Tommy” guns and two “tank models’’ equipped to fire .351 caliber cartridges, numerous pistols, 3,500 rounds of ammunition, more than $40,000 in cash and $12,000 in jewels. Officers searched the city today for two other members of the gang believed still hiding. With the men were arrested four women companions, Mary Kinder, Opal Long, Ann Martin and Madge Metzger.
Second only in importance to Dillinger, ranked as the nation’s “No. 1 public enemy” since the imprisonment of A1 Capone, was the capture of Pierpont, deadly “triggerman,” described by Chicago police as “kill crazy.” The four refused to permit photographs to be taken. “You should have been in that roughhouse yesterday,” Pierpont said, referring to a forced picture when three officers held him for the police camera. The gangsters disdained the regular jail breakfast of oatmeal, toast, minced meat and coffee this morning, ordering ham and eggs instead, to be paid for out of the more than $40,000 in cash officers took from them. “I want my pggs straight up. Pierpont. suave trigger man, said. Four women arrested with the men ordered their eggs scrambled. Fireman Recognizes Photos Recognition of pictures of the gangsters in a detective story magazine by City Fireman John Freeman led to the arrests. He identified a man whose baggage he carried from the burning Congress hotel last week as Makely and notified police, who tracked and arrested the four couples without bloodshed. Freeman and officers may share rewards of $5,000. A strong guard was posted about the prisoners. Officers remembered that Dillinger engineered a break from the Indiana state prison and that he himself was freed from the Lima (O.) jail by confederates who murdered the sheriff. Numerous' robberies and murders, most of the crimes in Indiana and Illinois, are charged against the Dillinger gang. A lively battle between authorities of these states and Wisconsin developed today. All wanted jurisdiction over the criminals. “I Goes* You Win” “Well, I guess you win,” Dillinger said as a machine gun was thrust against him, dropping his hand from a shoulder pistol holster. He had walked into a trap at a house rented by one of his gang. Officers were inside, and surrounding the house when he walked in.
him the desperado still is the freckle faced boy who used to play about his grocery in Indianapolis. The town of Mooresville today hums with many told tales of John Dillinger, a little confused with the notoriety that has surrounded his life. The death of hope that his son might have escaped to South America or Mexico was expressed on the toil worn face of Mr. Dillinger as he talked to his informant in the early hours of morning. The father consistently has blamed his son's crimes on the long sentence that he was given when he was convicted of attempt to rob an aged grocer in Mooresville. Finished with talking brokenly of his son. Mr. Dillinger returned to bed. untroubled with the fear of his son’s death.
HOME EDITION PRICE TWO CENTS Outside Marion ‘County, 3 Cents
“What do you want?” an office inquired. ‘I guess I'm in the wrong place’* Dillinger replied, and started away. “No, you're not,” the officer answered. Two more policemen came from hiding. Dillinger reached for his shoulder holster. The officer thrust a sub-machine gun in-th® gangster's back and Dillinger suitrendered. "I Can’t Leave Job.” The Tucson fireman's practice of reading detective story magazines led to the arrests, which stand to net the small town officers $35,000 in rewards. The gang had luxurious quarters in the Congress hotel, which burned i last week. During the fire a stranger asked Mr. Freeman to get his bags. “I can't leave the job,” Mr. Freeman replied. The man gave him SSO and Mr. Freeman retrieved the gripe. The next day he recognized the hotel guest as Harry Makely from a detective magazine picture and informed police. The officers traced the baggage and laid careful plans. The arrests followed. Each of the gang, and his woman companion, had rented a | house in the exclusive residential i section here. Chief Wollard called his men their beats about the town. He hid no detective bureau to aid him, But the regular patrolmen trailed the sucpects, learned their identities and prepared for the cleanup. Pierpont Puts lip Fight Makely, the first to be arrested, was taken into custody at the Consolidated National bank. The officers then went to Clark’s residence where Clark was overpowered after drawing a gun. Pierpont made a desperate effort to avoid capture. While under arrest he suddenly drew a gun and | trust it into Chief Wollard's stomach. Other officers beat him into submission. Dillinger was carrying two ,45I caliber automatic pistols and several clips of shells when arrested. He had on his person $7,107 in cash. The new automobile in his possession bore a license issued in Green Bay. Wis. Three other new and expensive automobiles, each equipped with a short wave radio receiving set such as used to intercept police calls, were taken from the men. In Dillinger's residence two of the five machine guns, two bullet-proof vests, a flour sack filled with money, diamonds and three pairs of nippers were found. Police said that the nippers were the type used as instruments of torture. Dillinger s first known crime was a robbery in Grovetown, Ind., in 1924, for which he served six year* in prison. His name was mentioned frequently in bank robberies thereafter. Sheriff Shot to Death While being hunted for the robbery of a Lima <O.l bank, Dillinger engineered the plot through which Pierpont, Clark Makely, John Hamilton and six others escaped from the Indiana state prison at Michigan City. Shortly after that delivery, Dillinger himself was arrested on bank robbery charges. The men whom he had aided to escape rescued him from the Lima i jail, murdering Sheriff Jess Sarber. The last recorded crime charged to the Dillinger band was the slay--1 ing of policeman William O’Malley in the holdup of the First National bank of East Chicago. Ind. 1 robbery netted the gang $20,000,*