Indianapolis Times, Volume 46, Number 108, Indianapolis, Marion County, 14 September 1934 — Page 17

It Seem io Me hejwop'bmun JOSEPH CONKAD ought to be alive to write the story of the Motto Castle. Os all recent tragedies of the sea. I think this latest catastrophe is the strangest and the most dramatic. What a great master of construction might have done in reshaping the facts for fictional purposes is a subject for surmise. My guess Is that Conrad's chief character probably would be a man who played no part In the rule of the ship at the time the Are was first discovered. Captain Robert R- Wtllmott looms as the

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Heywood Broun

once won public praise by bringing his ship through a terrific tropical hurricane. But the fame of the skipper hardly was either deep or widespread. Time after time he slid into port and possibly upon a few occasions the ship news men came out to tackle some distinguished passenger. At such times the captain gate a friendly greeting and remarked. “I haven't got any story for you.” m u b /lend Man on a Ferryboat gN spite of the various eloquent gentlemen who 1 have gonr down to the sea in books, the business Cartßg l- a humdrum job. Typhoons and hurricanes are not numerous and the phosphorous and the flying fish of southern waters come to be. after a few voyages merely familiar landmarks like the Times Square subway station. Indeed the run from New York to Havana generally is as uneventful as the ride from Bowling Green to Van Courtland park. In all probability Captain Robert R. Willmott did not think of himself as an adventurous or a romantic figure. He had served long years at sea and if his mood was similar to that of other mariners his thoughts dwelt chiefly on some small house In the suburbs. I venture the guess that he was a man who could have become very excited about raising his own radishes. I don't suppose he found any thrill in seeing Havana's grim fortress come up suddenly out of the murk of misty mornings. He had looked so many times upon the tricky towers of Manhattan that the bay side view of the magical city no longer excited him. After a w’hile it Isn't fun to be fooled. I picture him as sitting in some urban room and saying. "I'm a commuter. My life consists of New York to Havatk.. Havana to New York. Life and adventure have passed me by. I’m the head man on a ferryboat.” m a b Lost: The Great Adventure I AM under the impression that only those who have shipped for one voyage, or at the most two, refer to the ocean as “that old devil sea.” The more case-hardened. I believe, take the Atlantic in their stride much in the manner of Sunday motorists crossing the Ohio river. Any actuarial chart would have supported Captain Bobert R. Willmott In the assumption that he would die a conventional death from natural causes. "Veteran Skipper Victim of Heart Attack"—and uftder the headline three pleasant and quite colorless paragraphs. By a margin of six hours the insurance tables correct. The skipper of the Caribbean ferryboat died just upon the threshold of his great adventure And if you were someone who loved this captain would you think of that eventuality as fortunate or a grave disaster? If you knew him .and loved him I think inevitably you would regard his sudden death as a grave disaster. Naturally your feeling would be that in the face of a grave crisis. Captain Robert R. Willmott might be expected to behave with magnificent courage and great sagacity. But w ho can make secure predictions about himself or others as to conduct under pressure. The agonizing test of smoke and flame did not come to Captain Robert R Willmott. Hours before the Morro Castle lit up the Atlantic lanes the sailor was home from the sea. The situation must suggest something of the peacefulness and the triumph of death. The lone person on the liner who could not be touched by danger or the fear of danger was the dead man In his cabin. And even so. it Isn't quite enough It Is a prayer to be made with trepidation and still I suggest the plea. "Oh. Lord, lead me into danger and into travail. for I have the desperate need to know and to prove my strength.” iCopvrlKht. 1934. bv The Ttmesl

Today s Science BY DAVID DIETZ

CHEMISTS gathered in Cleveland for the eigthyeighth meeting of the American Chemical Society have been much interested in gazing upon a little glass tube with the aid of a magnifying glass. Within the tube is a fine platinum wire. Fixed to the wire is a tiny bit of metal. That metal is protactinium, the rarest metal in the world. It is more rare than radium. In fact, that tiny bit upon the platinum wire is the only bit of it to be found anywhere in the world in the pure state. Dr. Anstid von Grasse, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago, succeeded in preparing that tiny bit of protactinium. It represents the first isolation of the metal in its pure state, and also marks the first time that anew element has been isolated in America. Several chemical elements have been discovered m recent yyrs by American chemists, but all still are awaiting isolation. a a a THE heaviest known element is uranium. No. 92, in the atomic table. Protactinium comes next. It is No 91. Uranium, the heaviest atom, has an atomic weight of 238. The weight of protactinium is 231. This is on a scale in which hydrogen, lightest of all atoms, is weighted at a little above unity, 1.008 to be exact. Dr. Von Grosse says that for every ten grams of rarinun in the world, there are only eight grams of protactinium. Radium is so rare that a ton of pitchblende. the ore in which it is found, yields only a few grains of radium. The story of the isolation of radium is one of the classics of science. Pierre and Marie Curie, starting with a ton of pitchblende, finally reduced it to a few grama of radium. Dr. Von Grosse followed a similar procedure in isolating protactinium. He began three years ago with three tons of radium residues imported from Joachimsthal. Czechoslovaki. where the world's oldest radium factory is located. The Curies received their original ton of pitchblende from the mines of Joachimsthal. a a a \BFTER three years' work. Dr. Von Grosse has succeeded in isolating one-tenth of a gram of protactinium from a ton of radium residue. The research cost approximately 85.000. The process was an extremely complicated one. The steps included acid extraction, leaching, melting, precipitation and finally crystallization into an oxide. A small amount of the ozide was then turned into a halide salt, that is a chloride, which was placed upon a fine platinum wire. The wire was then heated to a temperature of about 2 000 degrees centigrade. At that temperature, the chloride cracked, the chlorine coming off as a gas. Pure protactinium was left upon the wire. Questions and Answers j Q—Where is the French Academie des Sciences* A—lt is a branch of the lnsutut de France. Faubourg St.-Germain, Paris, on the left bank of Bmi, BptWMtU tlia Lmivt* mI Um ThUwms

great intangible in the whole narative. Six hours before the crisis came he died rather calmly and with a clean conscience. The situation should enlist the interest of some great novelist or playwright. I am not familiar with any tale which revolves around a similar circumstance. First of all there is the question as to whether such a curiously timed death should be treated as anew form of tragedy or as ironic comedy. Captain Willmott was a man honored in the craft in which he served. If I remember correctly, he

f'rll Leased Wlra Service of fie lured Press Assoclnflon

‘THE_ COMING AMERICAN_BOOM’ By Major Lawrence L. B. An gas . Installment No. 5

In th preceding inutallmcnt Major Angat told whr the N'RV codes. paMie works and other Roosevelt measures fit into an Integrated program for price reflation and credit expansion—the “coneomitsnts of a boom.” INSTALLMENT V THE President must have been aware that going back to gold at an undervalued rate might upset the on-gold European countries and cause them to increase their tariffs and deflate; but on the principle of "America First,” it doubtless seemed at the time the best thing to do. Roosevelt's policy was thus in the nature of a half-measure, steering midway between claims of the paper inflationists on the one hand, and the out-and-out gold bigots on the other, and yet holding all the while to the ultimate ideal of a dollar eventually possessing internal stability, which entails (as I have explained in other books i a fluctuating exchange rate in terms of gold. As regards the President’s political bias: He is neigher out-and-out Socialist nor out-and-out capitalist. He certainly desidres to help the underdog, and apparently thinks that there is room for a fairer redistribution of wealth. He also Intends to eliminate all financial abuses; but for all that he fully realizes that under the capitalist system profits are the mainspring of industry, and that if the prospect of profit is eliminated, cither through overtaxation, too high wage rates, controlled prices, confiscation or deflation, employers will become loath to produce and employ. Unemployment will, in consequence, grow, and the size of the distributable cake will diminish. The administration's first aim, therefore, must always be to let industries make reasonable profits, and thus stimulate expansion and general employment; for it is only if the cake expands as a whole that all wi 1 be able to have bigger portiom. But that is not to say that the President's sympathies lie only with the capitalists. He merely realizes that, so long as capitalism remains, he must take full account of the all-controlling profit motive, if the workers are to benefit.

NOR. incidentally, does the fact that the government tries to raise general wages with prices, prove that its sympathies are solely Socialistic. Raising wages with prices is not an antibusiness measure, for, if traders are to be prosperous, and if profits are to continue, effective demand must keep pace with prices and supply. Meanwhile, the President's plan to eliminate financial abuses should have the moral support of all. His general policy, of course, is a mixed one of relief, recovery and reform, and all his bills have these goals as their motive, although some of them, e. g., the securities act and his bill for shorter hours, have temporarily interfered with the upswing of business, and thus for a while have appeared contradictory. His rules and regulations at the moment are stiff, but when young horses are being broken in they require a tight rein at the outset. Subsequently you can ride them on the snaffle with safety. As regards the administration's financial policy as a whole: Later on it will probably be necessary to establish some form of central banking system, and also to try to arrange that never again will industrial progress be held up solely by shortage of money or by institutional defects in the monetary machine. For the moment, however, the plan is, briefly, “First reflate, then stabilize’’—and when Roosevelt talks of stabilization he certainly refers more to the internal price than to the less important factor of the foreign exchanges. This he has stated again and again. a a a PERSONS, however, who have not studied the theory of money and the theory of the business cycle seem to think that the whole policy of the President is dangerous and crazy. Firstly, they argue that no inflation has ever yet occurred without giving rise later on to disaster. Secondly, they say that since it is lower prices that stimulate demand the objective should be to lower prices instead of trying to raise them. Thirdly, they say that Roosevelt is destroying all confidence by tampering with money and dangerously increasing the the government debt. They argue that until the burden of taxation and debt is lifted “industry can not be expected to recover.” A controlled reflation is, however. entirely different from the uncontrolled inflations of the past. Secondly, although lower prices may stimulate the demand for a single commodity, the prospect of lower prices in general merely makes production dry up and makes consumers hold off, while bankers begin to restrict credits cumulatively, and thus bring about further falls in trade. The President is therefore forced, as part and parcel of his plan, to create the propect of rising general prices. Thirdly, as regards increasing the government debt: The ideal would, of course, be to be able to improve general trade without any government expenditure: but since the public is nervous about using the surplus bank credit facilities now available, it is essential to provide a "primer.” This might be done by printing and spending paper money direct, but this goes too near to dangerous inflation; the alternative "primer” of government borrowing and government expenditure is therefore preferred. Then when general business has begun to revive, industry can be taxed and government loans paid off. IN view of the fact that even credit inflation so far Vas iwknUv rmwt*4 to at ah Um

The Indianapolis Times

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—Photo by- Hillary Bailey. Indianapolis moves ahead . . . And in the power of its movement is beauty . . . Here in one series of artistic camera studies being presented by The Indianapolis Times in conjunction with its presentation of Major Lawrence L. B. Angas’ ‘‘The Coming American Boom” is shown a worker ait the Continental Optical Company, 1402 North Capitol avenue, as he inspects a lens to make certain it is perfect and unblemished before it leaves the plant . . . Ninety-eight men and women work together to produce and distribute 500 kinds of lenses and to make the delicate machinery necessary for the grinding of those lenses.

The theories of Major L. L. B. Angas, in “The Coming American Boom” are presented by The Indianapolis Times to its readers as a journalistic function of service. Publication of the series of ten articles wTitten by the noted British economist does not imply an indorsement of his views by this newspaper.

results of the New Deal over the past year and a half have been not inconsiderable. Comparing June, 1934, with March, 1933, the following improvements have matured: Index of business activity up 40 per cent. Commodity prices up 25 per cent. Security prices up 100 per cent. Bond prices up 30 per cent. PiX-iron production up 190 per cent. Automobile production up 170 per cent. Business failures down 40 per cent. Imports and exports up 50 per cent. Building up 200 per cent. Car loadings up 40 per cent. Employment up 40 per cent. Employment "plus 4,000.000. As the Royal Bank of Canada has stated, comparatively few indices of business activity have

SIDE GLANCES

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“Too busy this morning, Mr. Parks. Might squeeze in a game thia afternoon.’*

INDIANAPOLIS, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1934

failed to show gains of at least 25 per cent within the period mentioned. Employment after being down to 57.2 in March, 1933, had attained a level of 78.7 in March, 1934; the gain in pay rolls was more than proportionate. The prices of wheat, corn, cotton, hides, wool and many other agricultural commodities had increased by more than 50 per cent; in fact, that for cotton had increased by 94 per cent and that for wool by 95 per cent. Farmers’ buying power and labor’s buying power had begun to make itself felt, and both chain store and department store sales were up by 40 per cent in March. Tomorrow—How the administration’s monetary policy provides driving force, despite recent reaction in business, for trade boom by creation of bank notes and deposits. (Copyright. 1934. by Simon and Schuster Inc.; distributed by United Feature Syndicate. Inc.)

By George Clark

- The DAILY WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND By Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen —

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14.—Liberty Leaguers have not confined their activities to statements by Jouett Shouse and to collecting the signatures of A1 Smith, John W. Davis and other Old Dealers. They have been carrying on a covert but effective campaign to raise funds from stockholders of the big companies whose “property” they propose to protect. The secret plan is to get each stockholder to agree to contribute 5 or 10 per cent of his dividends as a Liberty League war chest against the New Deal.

Among the firms confidentially approached regarding the plan are Du Pont, General Motors, United States Steel and J. P. Morgan & Cos. They have been asked to enclose a letter with each dividend check proposing that each stockholder relinquish part of his earnings to the fight for LIBERTY. Unless plans are changed, it is expected that one of these companies will test out the idea within the month. The idea bghind this strategy is not merely to raise funds but to make stockholders property conscious, liberty conscious and conscious of the alleged fate which awaits them under the New Deal. a 0,0 FORMER Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, nearing 95, will be returning soon to his beautiful old home on upper I street. He has been summering in Massachusets, his native state, as is his custom since he came to the capital more than thirty years ago. Supreme court attaches were discussing the revered jurist’s expected arrival the other day. and swapping anecdotes about his long years on the bench. One recounted this tale: A young lawyer was arguing his first case before the august tribunal. Flustered and nervous, he was having hard sledding when gruff Justice Mcßeynolds barked a question at him. The young barrister stuttered for a moment, started to reply, when Justice Holmes leaned forward and in a quiet, but clear voice observed: “I wouldn’t answer that question, if I were you, young fellow.” o a a Homer cummings. lanky New England boss of the justice department, has applied some astute and hoir. ely philosophy to the problem of crime. He has decided that crime will never be rooted out of the American system until we. the people, are opposed to it. And Homer, who has been dropping in at the movies, listening to audiences applZvUd Dillinger and browsing .people .generally, .has <cotne

to the conclusion that the average American condones crime. So he has selected a special expert to study the attitude of the public toward crime, endeavor to win the co-operation of the public in its prevention. The expert selected Is Henry Suydam, ex-correspondent of the Brooklyn Eagle, not -an expert in crime, but as skilled an expert in human relationships as ever covered that complex and not inhuman institution—the personnel and politics of the government of the United States. (Copy right. 1934 by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.i ACCOUNTANTS TO MEET Secretary to Be Named Tomorrow by Directors. Plans for the coming year will be outlined at a meeting of Indiana Association of Certified Public Accountant directors at 1:30 tomorrow at 307 Peoples Bank building. A secretary will be elected to succeed the late Horatio A. Roney. State directors are A. R. Chapman, W. M. Madden, John S. Lloyd and Birney D. Spradling, all of Indianapolis; J. R. Wharton, South Bend, and E. E. Thomas, Evansville. PERU MAN IS KILLED Slayer Surrenders After Shooting Prowler at Home. By United Pre* PERU, Ind., Sept. 14.—Lyman Earhart, 35, was shot and killed last night by Clarence Hicks, 57. The shooting occurred in the yard of Hicks’ home here after Earhart was seen flashing a light into the room of Hicks’ young stepdaughter. Hicks surrendered and was taken to jail. 2 HURT IN CAR MISHAP Police Arrest Pair Following Collision With Truck. Benjamin Copeland, 47, R. R. 3, Indianapolis, and William Minter, 36, Maywood, received severe cuts on the neck and other injuries early today when, police say, Copeland drove a small sedan into a parked gasoline truck in front of 1502 Kentucky avenue. Both Copeland and Minter were arrested on charges of intoxication. They were taken to city '•hospital by .police. % #> t

Second Section

Entered Second-Clans Matter at Postnffic*. Indianapolis. Ind.

Fdir Enough WESnUKKUt WASHINGTON, Sept. 14.—The journalists along the press table called them the four dashing Du Ponts and got up a hand-wrought circus dodger which was passed down the line, depicting them in feats of daring on the flying trapeze. The four Du Ponts of Delaware, three brothers and a cousin, were on hand to testify before & committee of senators which is looking into the munitions business. Few persons in this world ever have looked upon so much wealth on the hoof. Read-

ing from left to right they were Irenee, Pierre and Lamont, the brothers, big men with aquiline noses and a distinct resemblance, and, over on the end, Felix. Felix has a straight nose and Is a little more dressy than the brothers. Felix smoked a cigaret, Lamont a cigar and Irenee a pipe with a bowl as big as a potato, but Pierre didn’t smoke at all. The Du Ponts are an old American family. The grandfather of the brothers made powder and ball for the Union armies in the Civil war, but made it a rule in his business not to sell anything to a for-

eign power which might later be used to kill Americans. Across the table from them sat Gerald Nye, a senator from North Dakota, a member of the younger set among the statesmen. Senator Nye’s family had a stake in the Civil war, too. Both of his grandpappies were in ft, shooting off Du Pont ammunition, and both of them were hit. BUB Earmarks of a Dirty Dig 'T'HE present Du Ponts had issued a claim in advance of their appearance at the munitions inquiry that peace, to them, was preferable to war from all standpoints. As if to challenge this assertion, the statesmen on the other side of the table started off the examination by introducing figures showing how comparatively small their business was up to 1914 and how big it had grown before the war was over. Pierre was the first one sworn, he being president of the board at present, but every now and again brother Irenee would lean over and buzz something in his ear, whereat Pierre would say, "My brother tells me ” and either amend or amplify his answers to that extent. So Senator Nye said it would be a good idea to put them all under oath at once, thus permitting them all to put in remarks whenever they wished to do so. In 1914, between September and December, the Du Pont company booked war orders for $20,000,000 worth of goods. In 1915. the war business was $323,000,000, and Senator Homer Bone of Washington dropped in a remark at the mention of this figure which, in view of the Du Ponts’ presence for peace, had all the ear-marks of a nasty crack. He spoke of 1915, with its war orders of $323,000,000 as ‘‘the turning point of your company’s business.” And before they were through introducing the figures, including income tax returns which had been prepared by John J. Raskob, the statesmen had entered against the Du Ponts’ preference for peaceful business the fact that their gross war business had amounted to $1,245,000,000. B B B ‘One Hell of a Business' SENATOR NYE already had claimed that their profits on this war business amounted to $58,000,000, so w'hen the four Du Ponts of Delaware finally get down to the matter of their love of peace, they at least will have a contest proving it. They don’t look as if they would take much personal pleasure in providing the makings of war. In fact, when the photographers touched off the first salvo of flashbombs. Mr. Pierre Du Pont, who could make you a shell big enough to blow down a courthouse in one lick, jumped six inches from a sitting start. None of it makes sense, anyway. The peace-loving Du Ponts of Delaware are said to own a considerable stake in the Remington Arms Company. An employe of the Remington Arms has done the neatest job of wrapping up the philosophy of the munitions business yet acomplished in this investigation. It was Mr. Frank Sheridan Jonas, the Remington man in South America, who wrote in a confidential letter in 1933: “We certainly are in one hell of a business where a fellow has to wish for trouble so as to make a living. The only consolation is that if we don’t get the business, someone else will. It would be a terrible state of affairs if my conscience started to bother me now.” (Copyright. 1934, by United Feature Syndicate. Inc.)

Your Health —Bk DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN—

REGARDLESS of the fact that many millions of persons smoke tobacco regularly and ihat they have been doing so for many years, the scientific facts relative to the effects of tobacco on the human body are only beginning to oe established. A recent investigation made at Harvard university indicates that the most important substance in tobacco is nicotine. A cigaret contains about one gram of tobacco—that is, about one-thirtieth of an ounce, and one-one hundredth of this is nicotine. • Investigations show also that about one-tenth of the nicotine present is absorbed by the smoker into his body. Yet, it has been established, this small amount of nicotine may bring about significant changes in body reactions. Some investigators found that the blood sugar increases 30 to 40 per cent during the fifteen minutes that follow the smoking of one cigaret and returns to normal within the next thirty minutes. Another investigator found that the blood sugar rose in a fairly uniform manner for a period of two hours after smoking two cigarets. a a a UNFORTUNATELY for the significance of these observations, still another investigator found a decrease in blood sugar after smoking, and two others found that smoking did not have any effect on the blood sugar. For this reason the investigators in Harvard decided to recheck the matter. They tried the effects of smoking of cigarets on ten smokers, using four different types of cigarets and taking several specimens of the blood at different intervals after smoking was completed. In nine of the ten cases the blood sugar content was not affected more than 5 per cent one way or the other. This observation is of the greatest significance, because the establishment of a definite rise in blood sugar following smoking would seriously modify the habits of all persons with diabetes or of diabetic tendency. m u IN connection with these investigations it has been pointed out that the smoking of cigarets will alleviate hunger. One group of physiologists pointed out that this alleviation of hunger was due to the increase of the amount of sugar in the blood. Another group insisted, however, that the alleviation of hunger was associated with a lessening of the contractions of the stomach which come on when a person is hungry. Some special studies have brought out new evidence to the support of those who insist that smoking relieves hunger because it stops the contractions of the stomach. A final observation of considerable significance is the relationship of cigaret smoking to oxygen consumption. In some persons the smoking of cigarets is followed by an increase of oxygep consumption of •tram -10 .to 45 jcw

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Westbrook Pegler