Indianapolis Times, Volume 46, Number 245, Indianapolis, Marion County, 21 February 1935 — Page 1

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SISTERS DIE IN 4000-FOOT DIVE FROM AIRPLANE American Girls Plunge to Earth Locked in Each Other’s Arms. DAUGHTERS OF CONSUL Love for Fliers Killed in Crash Hinted Motive in British Tragedy. • Cnpvrtcht. 1935. bv United Presit LONDON. F*>b 21. Two young American "iris, broken-hearted over lass of two British aviator friends in a Royal Air Force crash, committed suicide today by leaping hand-in-hand from an airplane speeding ov**r the British countryside. Jane. 20. and Elizabeth Du Bois, 23. dauchters of Coert Du Bois. United State consul-general at Naples. pushed open the airplane door and stepped out in space, plunging about 4000 ieet to an Essex cabbage field. They had bought all eight seats in the plane at a cast of 5135. They persuaded the pilot to clase the door and cover .he windows between the cockpit and the cabin so he would not interfere. He was out over the English Channel before he discovered they were gone and turned back. Bodies Found Side by Side Building construction workers and others at Upminster. about 20 miles out of London, saw them hurtle to the earth. Running *o the field, they found the pa the’Rally cushed bodies of the sisters side by side. Their hands were still clasped when we found them." said A. D. MacGregor. Upminster builder, his voice choked with emotion. •Their faces were buried in the ground." said Frederick Letten, another eye-witness. “Their hands Wfre clasped and one had a tight grip on the other's coat ” The sisters had been close friends of Flight Lieut. Henry L. Beatty, half brother of Lord Beatty, and Flying Officer John A. C. Forbes, who were among nine killed in a crash last week in Sicily. Sealed Letters Found The tragedy preyed so on the tmnds of the girls, according to friends in Naples, that their parents became concerned over their brood*:ik and sent them to England for a vacation, hoping it would take their m.nds of! their grief. Two sealed letters addressed to the girls' father were fouid in the plane, presumably messages of farewell. it was believed unlikely the letters would be made public. Police took passession of the girls’ suit cases from the plane and then sealed the door of the blue and stiver air liner, pending the coroner's inquest. Little personal possessions, including Jane's wrist watch, still running, were gathered from the ground around the txxiies. CORTLAND MARTINDALE IS TAKEN BY DEATH Vice President of Van Camp Cos. Passes in Miami, Fla. Funeral arrangements were to be completed today for Cortland Van Camp Martindale, 1321 N. Meridianst. vice president of the Van Camp Hardware and Iron Cos., who died last night in Miami. Fla., at the winter home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John T. Martindale, 1354 N. Delaware-st. Mr. Martindale was 27. He had been ill three weeks, and his death was the result of heart disease following pneumonia. He attended Culver Military Academy and was a member of the Second Prebytertan Church. Woodstock Country Club and the Columbia Club. He was a grandson of Cortland Van Camp, founder of the Van C.-mp Hardware and Iron Cos., and a great-grandson of Gilbert Van Camp, founder of Van Camp's. Inc., packers. FRANCE TcfcONSTRUCT TWO NEW BATTLESHIPS Work on 517.333.000 Vessel to Start Immediately. B;t I'altClf Pres, PARIS. Feb 21.—France intends to build two battleships of 35.000 tons each. Francois Cadoret. president of the Navy Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, informed the United Press today. The first, to be begua almost immediately. will be within the Washington treaty limits. It will cost 547.333.000. The second, to be begun in 1937. will be outside the treaty. “German naval rearmament obliges us to build these ships." Mr. Cadoret said. U. S. RATIFIC/ T ION OF ARMS PAC URGED Roosevelt Asks Senate t 'econsider Munitions Control 1 ty. Bt l mite 4 Press WASHINGTON. Feb. 21 -In a short message asking tion of the Senates previous action. President Roosevelt todav renewed his efforts to obtain American ratification, without special reservations. of the international pact for control of munitions. Flu Claims 104 In Madrid MADRID. Feb. 21.—Influenza, prevalent throughout Spain, continued to spread rmtngly here today. There were 104'funerals at a single cemetery up to 2 p. m. yesterday.

The Indianapolis Times

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VOLUME 46—NUMBER 245

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By John Hawkins, Times Staff Photographer. Firemen stand silhouetted against a fierce, raging fire that swept the Brookside Lumber Cos. yards, 1700 Massachusetts-av, early today and threatened the entire neighborhood with destruction. A stiff northeast wind swept the fire across the yard eastward to Ludlow-av, where it destroyed one house and damaged several others. Officials of the company estimated the damage at from $60,000 to $75,000. The first alaim was sent in at 5:30. By 6:45 the yard was reduced to smoldering embers.

BACK TO COLD, HOOVER URGES Return to Standard Seen ‘Necessary’ by Former President. (Copyright, 1F35, by United Press) NEW YORK, Feb. 21—The United States should immediately return to the gold standard, former President Hoover said in a statement to the United Press. Commenting on the Supreme Court decisions in the gold cases, Mr. Hoover saw an opportunity to “restore confidence” in the dollar. He advocated a bullion gold standard whereby the present dollar would be equivalent to 59 cents of gold a;, the old value. Tiiis. he said, would be a “needed contribution” to “real recovery.” “I have now had opportunity to read the Supreme Court decision,” he said. “Apparently all members of the court agreed that the government acted unconstitutionally in repudiation of the covenant of its own ; bonds. A majority of the members I concluded that the citizen has no remedy. That will have long moral consequences. But whatever the morals or right or wrong of the devaluation may be, the face of the American people must be forward. "The need and the opportunty now is to restore confidence in the dollar. All threat, actual or potential. of further devaluation should now be removed. To do this and to give a needed contribution to real recovery, the dollar should immediately be made convertible at the present 59-cent of gold, making it payable in gold bullion—the modern method of specie payment. There is no need to wait on foreign nations oefore we re-establish the gold standard and restore confidence jin our currency. They would be bound to follow some time. They j are far more afraid of our doing just : this than they are of any American j ‘managed currency,’ at which game ‘ they have us at a disadvantage.” Stirs Senate Battle Ri/ f nit> <f Prr* WASHINGTON. Feb. 21. A stormy debate over Herbert Hoover, the gold standard and the Supreme Court broke out in the Senate today. Senator Tom Conally (D.. Tex/), .started the fireworks by denouncing Mr. Hoover for advocating policies which he said “brought financial disaster to the United States.” Senator Carter Glass (D.. Va.), broke into Mr. Connally’s speech when the latter said that the United States in effect still was on the gold standard. “We are on a fiat currency basis.” Mr. Glass shouted. “And under the decision of the Supreme Court we are on a fiat bond basis.” When Connally repeated a reference to gold. Glass arose, leaning forward on his desk, and shouted: “But you can’t get gold.” “What do you want it for?” ■ roared Connally. “You can't eat it and you can t wear it unless you go in for barbaric ornaments.” KENNAMER'S FATE PUT INTO HANDS OF JURY Emotional Plea for Mercy Made by Friend of Family. By Unitrd Prcn PAWNEE. Okla., Feb. 21 —The jury which heard the trial of Phil Kennamer. charged with murdering John Gorreli Jr., filed into a bare little room atop the Pawnee County Courthouse today to decide the fate of the 19-year-old confessed killer. The jury received the case at 11:44 a. m. Ringing in the ears of the 12 farmers and villagers, all of them married men. was an emotional plea for mercy from venerable C. B. Stuart. 78. a friend of the Kennamer family, and an impassioned demand * f or conviction from young W. F. Dixie) Gilmer, assistant prosecutor.

Unsettled with occasional lain possible tonight and tomorrow; wanner tonight; colder tomorrow afternoon.

$60,000 FIRE SWEEPS THROUGH EAST SIDE LUMBER YARD

Raging Blaze Spreads to Nearby Homes, Destroys One, Damages Roofs of Two Others; Battalion Chief Is Injured When Metal Falls on Foot. A raging, roaring fire tinned the Brookside Lumber Cos. yards, 1700 Massachusetts-av, into an inferno of leaping fiames early today and caused damage estimated by W. J. Goodwin, company vice president, at from $60,000 to $75,000. Ed Butler, an employe at the yards, discovered a small flame in a pile of lumber next to the Big Four Railroad tracks at 5:30. By the time

fire equipment arrived three minutes later a stiff northeast wind had fanned the flames eastward. Stacks of expensive hardwood lumber were wrapped in flames that shot high into the air A second alarm was sent in at 5:39 and at 6:01 two additional engine companies were ordered to report to the scene. Throwing thousands of gallons of w r ater into the yard, the Fire Department succeeded in reducing the fire into sullen smolderings by 6:45. The flames swept from the yards to Ludlow-av and completely destroyed the home of Mrs. Sadie NICHOLSON BILL IS AMENDED IN SENATE Measure Strengthened, Is Claim of Attorneys. Amendments said by senatorial attorneys to strengthen the bill of Rep. Roberta West Nicholson <D., Indianapolis) to outlaw suits for breach of promise, alienation of affections and seduction, today were adopted by the Indiana Senate. The amendments, offered by Senator William B. Janes (D., New Albany). would modify the provisions relating to seduction damage suits and the conditions under which the names of co-respondents in divorce actions might be disclosed. As amended, the bill would prohibit seduction damage suits by any woman over 2 1 years of age. As adopted all seduction suits are banned. Mrs. Nicholson said: "The improvements to my bill offered by Senator Janes are perfectly satisfactory.” HARRY SCHOPP NAMED CITY, GOLF DIRECTOR South Grove Pro Selected After Bitter Board Debate. Over the opposition of Jackiel W. Joseph. Park Board President, and after a bitter debate at a Park Board meeting, Harry Schopp this afternoon was named city golf director on the recommendation of Mayor John W. Kern. A. H. Gissler. who plobably will be next Park Board president, according to Mayor Kern, voted for Mr. Schopp. as did Paul E. Rathert and Logan C. Scholl. Mrs. Louisa Rich was named Park Board auditor to succeed Miss Cora Hartman. Mr. Schopp, professional at the South Grove municipal course, was accused of disloyalty to the Park Board by Mr. Joseph. Salaries of both appointees will be revised downward. WAGNER INTRODUCES LABOR DISPUTES BILL Senator to Insist on Decisive Action by Congress. By United Press WASHINGTON, Feb. 21.—A new labor disputes bill was introduced in Congress today by Senator Robert F. Wagner <D„ N. Y.). He said its enactment would "stabilize and improve business by laying the foundations for the amiy rnd fair dealing upon which permanent progress must rest.” Senator Wagner, who fought for a similar bill at the last session of Congress, intends to insist upon decisive action this time.

INDIANAPOLIS, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1935

Nichols, 1619 Ludlow-av. She and her two daughters were forced to flee from their homes and seek shelter with neighbors. Still under the impetus of the breeze, the fire leaped across the street and burned the roofs from the homes of Lyman T. Clark, 1620 Ludlow-av, and John Goch, 1620)2 Ludlow-av. Mr. Clark, his wife, two daughters, Lucille, 18, and Louise, 17, and Mr. Goch, his wife, and three children, Louise, 3; Lorna, 2, and Stanley, 1, were aroused by the crackling sound of the flames and escaped in time to save their furniture. The neighborhood was filled with freightened, half-clad residents, who lined the streets fearful that their own homes might fall in the path of the raging fire. Battalion Chief Carl Sims was injured while fighting the flames in the lumber yard by a piece of falling coreugated metal. He suffered a cut foot and was treated at the scene. The entire yard, with the exception of the office and another small building, was swept by the blaze. Lumber and equipment were badly damaged. Company authorities believed that the first fire in the small pile of lumber was caused by sparks from a passing Big Four engine.

Because She Loved a Man Jessica Carter, only 20, slumped down in a dark jail cell . . . put there because a gang of crooks had ‘‘framed’’ her. Fate sent a man into her life ... a man who could help her escape from the little room wtfh the high windows. But only if she would give up the man she loved. What Jessica Carter decided to do when faced with this problem forms the theme of the fascinating new serial . . . "HIGH WINDOWS" Starting Friday, February 22, in The Times

War Veteran, Father of 3, Gets New Job, Wins Court Battle to Escape Eviction From Indiana

BY TRISTRAM COFFIN Times Staff Writer Frank Coontz, a cleanly-brushed, alert little man of 39. last night won a great victory for himself, for his family of four and for thousands of men and women who for the last few years have been forced to wander across the country' looking for employment. In the crowded court room of Jack Berger, Washington Township justice of peace. 4102 Byram-av, Frank Coontz won the right to stay in his cottage home along White River at 6800 Ferguson-st, instead of being shipped back to St. Louis, Mo., as the Federal Transient Service Bureau and Charles M. Dawson. Washington Township trustee, wished to do. An honorably dScharged soldier of about five years service. Frank Coontz. in 1931 and 1932, made as high as SBO a week digging mussels

JR. AIR CHIEF idglqf boys Capt. Al Williams Athlete, Lawyer, Air Hero and Business Man. Capt. Al Williams, chief of air service and national commander for the Scrlpps-Howard Junior Aviator, is the kind of a chap that small boys follow down the street and hero-worship from a distance. Athlete, college graduate, lawyer, air hero, speed record holder, acrobatic flyer and successful business man tells only a small part of the story. All his life, Capt. Williams has been going places and doing things. Every day has carried anew thrill but it was not in the thrills that Capt. Williams has been interested. Instead, he has been vitally interested in making good and doing the job at hand in the best possible manner, whether it be studies, baseball, flying, salesmanship or law. He has packed more action into the last 10 years than any of the (Turn to Page Four)

TODAY’S WEATHER

Hourly Temperatures 6 a . m 25 10 a. m 38 7 a . m 28 11 a. m 40 Ba. m 30 12 <noon).. 47 9a. m 32 Ip. m 52 Tomorrow’s sunrise, 6:28; sunset, 5:29 p. m.

along White River. That was a good season. Last summer ne camped in a tent along the river and could make only as much as Sls a week during the season. He was forced to fall back upon relief for himself, Mrs. Gertrude Coontz, 29; Frances Coontz, 6; William Coontz, 6, and Franklin Roosevelt Coontz, 16 months. Another child is expected in April. Although Roy Griffith, 1303 N.La-Salle-st, contractor, testified that Coontz, whom he had hired last Monday, was one of his best workers and that he would afford him continuous employment at 35 cents an hour, the township wanted to ship the family back to St. Louis, Mo., because it had lived there 17 months, or long enough to establish a legal settlement. The township's case was built on the theory mat Coontz soon would be on the relief rolls.

Entered ns Second-Class Matter ••• at Postoffice, Indianapolis, Ind.

COMPROMISE S-NRA BILL READY TO BE PLACED BEFORE INDIANA SENATE

cnunrimi mm nu UNDERAITACK $6728 Paid for Advertising Published Only Twice, Is Claim. BY DICK MILLER Times Staff Writer “. . . . for publication of delinquent tax notices, 30 cents for each description to each newspaper for all insertions required . . .’’—lndiana Statutes, 1934, Chapter 6, Article 1. For the last three years, the sale of property for collection of delinquent taxes has been illegal, and not one piece of property has been so sold. However. Marion County, in 1933, paid the Indianapolis Commercial Publishing Cos., which publishes the Indianapolis Commercial, a journal of legal news, $2827.70 for such advertising. That year none of the notices, or Items, ever was actually published. The law requires that those advertisements must appear three times at specified intervals before the date of sale. In 1933, the Commercial had set the notices into type, but the Legislature enacted a law' declaring a moratorium on sales for delinquent taxes and, so, publication of the advertisements was unnecessary. The 1933 law also provided that owners of property could pay all delinquent taxes in 20 instailments, the first to be paid in May, 1934. Inasmuch as the law also provides that salts of property for taxes must be on the second Monday of February, for 1934 were automatically outlawed. Published Only Twice In 1934, nevertheless, the Commercial was paid $3700.90 by the county for publishing two insertions of the required three of notices of sales of property for 1932 tax delinquencies. Before the third insertion, Superior Judge William Pickens declared the sale illegal and publication was dropped. The Commercial did not charge for the third insertion. In those two years, then, the Commercial has been paid $6728.60 for legal ads that were run but twice instead of the six times the law calls for, and were run those two times with no actual service to the county. This year The Commercial paid $4261.80 for 14.172 items on ihe day after the Legislature again made sales illegal and on the day oefore Gov. Paul V. McNutt signed the law and made it effective. Offers to Return SIO6O. Twenty-three days later, Feb, 7, Mark Gray, Commercial editor, attached to the statement to the county, already paid, proof sheets of the type set up. County commissioners counted the items and found only 10,670. Yesterday Mr. Gray offered to return the county $1060.80, the difference, at 30 cents an item, between his statement and the commissioner’s count. The commission said today they would not accept that in settlement. None of the items ever was published because the sales were rendered illegal by the Legislature. The Indianapolis Commercial Printing Cos., which does printer and press work for Mr. Gray on contract, charged Mr Gray less than $420 for the work of setting the type, for which the county paid Mr. Gray $3210. Although he was asked eight days ago by the commissioners to see how the county could legally proceed to recover some of the money spent in the last three years for such publishing. County Attorney John Linder had not today given them an opinion.

To move nim would have cost relief agencies the cost of transportation, and relief in St. Louis. Sol Bodner, attorney for Mr. Coontz, questioned the authority of any state court to ship a family “like cattle” across a state line. Two social workers, Gilbert Huntsinger, 2310 N. Delaware-st, transient case worker, and Miss Charlene Winters, 419 W. 40th-st, investigator for the Governor’s Unemployment Relief Commission, testified that Frank Coontz had told them he migrated from St. Louis because the relief there was inadequate for his family. At that point William Duke Bain, attorney for Mr. Dawson, said: “If we do not have the authority to ship the poor across the state line, Indiana will become the poorhouse of the country.” He added that Frank Coontz was a public charge.

Measure to Be Favorably Reported to Upper House This Afternoon; Exact Details Not Divulged. PRICE-FIXING BELIEVED ELIMINATED No References to Be Made to Commercial ‘Loss-Leaders,’ Is Word Given Out By Leaders. Indiana Senate leaders announced today that anew compromise State-NRA bill to enable the state to participate in the enforcement of Federal NRA codes, will be favorably reported to the upper house of the General Assembly this afternoon. The new measure will be a general enabling act, permitting the Governor to utilize existing state and local officials in the enforcement of the Federal codes. Exact details of the bill, which will be favored by the Senate committee, were not disclosed. It was understood the — I measure will contain no refer-

STUDENT STRIKE COMES TO END Franklin Collegians Vote to Return to Classes by Narrow Margin. BY JOHN THOMPSON Times Staff YVriter FRANKLIN, Feb. 21.—The Franklin College board of directors today admitted to striking students that its faculty was the lowest paid in Indiana, but the board expressed itself as distinctly annoyed that students should have used a “labor center strike” to call attention to it. The students, after they had heard this and had heard the board give not an inch in their direction, voted by a narrow margin to return to their classes. The board said that, while it had not investigated the programs of the chapel, it thought three times a week was not too often for students to gather and “sing hymns and heed the Word.” The board said that, unfortunately, the college could not afford a public relations expert, so that President William Gear Spencer would not continue his speaking tour in its behalf, regardless of the students’ plea that he remain on the campus and study conditions there. The board then said no student would be punished for having participated in the week's strike if he returned to classes immediately after chapel, and that all who were still dissatisfied with conditions could resign and get their tuition money back. FLIER SETS NEW MARK Former Army Pilot Makes Record Trip in Cross-Country Flight. By L nited Press WASHINGTON, Feb. 21.—Leland S. Andrews, former Army pilot, smashed his way to the forefront of America’s speed aces today with a record-breaking Los Angeles-to-Washington flight that cut the distance between the two cities to less than 10 hours and a half. •Times Index Page Bridge 44 Broun 17 Comics 23 Crossword Puzzle 23 Curious World 23 Dionne Babies 3 Editorial 48 Financial 19 Hickman—Theaters 12 Napoleon’s Letters IT Pegler I 7 Radio 19 Sports 20-21 State News *3 Woman’s Pages 14-15

The social workers, Mr. Huntsinger, a stumbling witness, and Miss Winters, a precise, sharptongued witness, told of efforts they had made to make Frank Coontz agree to return to St. Louis. They told how, when Coontz had no work, he had asked for clothing for his children and how they had refused to deliver it until Frank Coontz complied with their wishes to return to St. Louis. Mr. Berger, in tr-aking his decision, said that it would be inconvenient to send the family back to Missouri because Mrs. Coontz was expecting a child and because her husband was working steadily. Frank Coontz said that he would never ask for relief again. The decision was a popular one and a buzz of approval went up from the neighbors, who sat on the Berger furniture and lounged against the walls, as it was announced.

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ence to price fixing or the use of commercial '‘loss leaders” such as precipitated a bitter fight against the Dyer state recovery act now pending in the Senate after its adoption by the House. The measure, it was reported, has been worked out in conferences between code authorities and representatives of business and industrial interests. Also to be omitted, it was reported, will be a section corre' lending to Section 7-A of the leral codes. This section relates collective bargaining agencies c employes of industry. Senators indicated no provision would be made in the compromise bill for a state code commission, such as was proposed in the Dyer act. Budget increases totaling approximately $30,010 were to be sought by majority Senate members when the $50,000,000 appropriations bill is considered this afternoon. Republican Senators were prepared to follow the minority example in the House of Representatives and offer amendments for a 10 per cent reduction in at least some of the state salary appropriations. The House-approved bill to permit Marion County Council to increase the salaries of the chief deputy County Treasurer, the chief deputy clerk cf the Circuit Court and the chief deputy County Auditor to $3600 annually passed the Senate, 36 to 6. Liquor Bill Attacked Charges that the current budgets of 76 Indiana cities would be thrown out of balance and local tax rates increased wore laid before Gov. Paul V. McNutr, and members of the General Assembly today, following last night’s nearing on the administration liquor control act. A delegation of mayors and city attorneys bitterly attacked the revenue distribution sections of the control act, and told the House of Representatives’ morals committee that $3,000,000 would be taken away from local governments and added to the state’s revenues. They did not abandon their assault upon the bill, although Edward P. Brennan, state budget cler!:, said no Indiana city would receive less revenue than was anticipated last September when budgets were prepared. Mr. Brennan insisted that higher license fees would make up for what the cities lose in excise taxes. E. P. Davidson, Lafayette city attorney, asserted at the hearing that “the state of Indiana, in order to balance its own budget, is going to wreck tl ; budget of every city in the state ’ Resolutions, in which strong language is used, today were sent by members of the Municipal League to Gov. McNutt, Lieut. Gov. M. Clifford Townsend and Assembly members. Representatives of retail and wholesale liquor and beer dealers argued that the proposed excise taxes are so high, costs to consumers must be kept up. This condition will cause an increase in bootlegging, they insist. Special Session Likely Prospects for a 45-day recess in the session of the Indiana General Assembly today were developing into the possibility of an extra ession in the late spring or early summer. Although the proposal for a recess has not been definitely abandoned, many legislative leaders believe such an action would be unconstitutional. Meanwhile, Atty. Gen. Philip Lutz Jr., is studying legal aspects of the situation and will not finish his opinion on the possibility of a recess for several days. Aside from the constitutionality difficulty, it was learned many members of both houses are opposed to a recess and might not vote for one, even at the administration’s request. Gov. Paul V. McNutt has expressed himself as being opposed to an extression session and bent on doing anything possible to avoid one. However, there is no prospect at present that Congress will complete the Federal social welfare program by March 11, when the Assembly must adjourn, sine die, so a recess or special session appears inevitable