Indianapolis Times, Volume 47, Number 243, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 December 1935 — Page 3

DEC. 19, 193'

OLSON DENIES POLITICAL LINK IN FOE'S DEATH

Gangster Vengeance Hinted by Minnesota Governor in Interview. BY FORRKST DAMS Timim Spprial Y\rt*r MINNEAPOLIS. IVt. 19—A zralou=- rrlifor was machine-gunned as any racketeer micht bo, in The alloy bark of his shabby apartment. Journalistically, his principal offrn.se seemed to be a dogged determination to destroy politically the Governor of Minnesota I went to rail upon Gov. Floyd B. Olson in ihe Statehou.se at St. Paul The Twin Cities were not unaware that the mmder was being regarded a a political crime. Nor w’a.s tne Governor. The Governor denied that Walter W Liggett opposition to his regime had furnished the motive for h.s rubbing out. Elaborately, he sketched the circumstances which might have resulted in the coldblooded shooting of a back-street editor in Minneapolis before the eyes of wife and child. Mr. Ohon Able Lawyer Criminals, racketeers, mobsters, said the Governor, have their own code. They respect, or at least tolerate. an honest policeman, prosecutor or newspaper man. The underworld. he explained, never assassinates an honest man on the other side of “the line.” ‘ But once they cross the line, let th ern look out,” he observed. "Liggett is dead," said the Governor. hence we may not, speak ill of him.” He t reupon proceeded, with finesse, shrewdly, legalistic-ally, to extinguish the reputation of Mr. Liggett, He uttered no slanderous word. He differentiated carefully between hearsay and firsthand information. He is an able lawyer. Olson in Poor Health The Governor is not well. Stomach ulcers bother him. He has lost weight, his hands are white and lean. Rut he remains handsome, tall, self-assured and articulate. "The Big Swede is the smartest man In Minnesota." every one says. It becomes a refrain. No one could doubt Mr. Olson's smartness after five minutes' conversation. He knows the answers, the questions as well. His eyes are blue and cold. Infinitely cold. The Governor was not unwilling to discuss what he termed the ''demise" of Mr. Liggett. Without prompting, he traced Mr. Liggett's history as he knew it after the journalist returned to his native state to take a hand in politics. He told of Mr. Liggett's going to Bemidji, in the sub-Arctic, Jackpine north of the state, to run a Farmer-Labor newspaper. Mr. Liggett stayed there only briefly. Then he went to Rochester, home of the Doctors Mayo. From there he branched into Austin, a little parking town built around the Horntel plant. Always he was hungry for funds, looking for barkers in the Farmer-Labor movement; always broke. Mr. Olson at one time helped him out. “We hadn’t met when he returned to Minnesota,” the Governor Said. When Mr. Liggett, the avid, towering newspaper man, was helping the elder Lindbergh, A. C. Town-

. * BLOCK S STREET FLOOR ' Giue Hose That Everybody Knows! >Ce^e Se

Dionnes Take Joy in Harbinger of Santa

f " " ~ /

Os course there are Christmas trees again this year at the Dionne nursery at Callander, but the wide-eyed wonder of last year's quintuplets has been replaced by a healthy curiosity. Notice how Annette, left, smiles as she reaches out and fingers the tree ornaments and how Emilio, right, is making a confident grab at the tree itself. Nurses Leroux, left, and Lamoreux, right, are delighted w'ith the way their charges are entering into the Christmas spirit.

ley, Magnus Johnson and other peasant giajits to found radicalism in the Northwest, Mr. Olson was a youngster graduating out of the slum North Side of Minneapolis—a region populated largely by Jews and Negroes—into the practice of law and Democratic machine politics. Mr. Liggett’s father w'as a celebrated edufcator in the Northwest, dean of the State Agricultural College. The Liggetts were authentic pioneers. The Governor recalled that Mr. Liggett at one time cam" to him with a proposal that he centralize the state printing and turn it over for disposition to Mr. Liggett. Statutes prevented that, the law' calling for competitive bids, the Governor pointed out. He deter Mr. Liggett’s displeasure with him from that time. The Governor asserted that Mr Liggett, after splitting from his ramp in the fall of 1934. had abetted 'he cause of Thomas D, Schall. the blind Senator from Minnesota and a. Republican. Mr. Schall and Gov. Olson will be rivals in the senatorial campaign of 1936. Needed Money, Olson Hints ‘‘Liggett, lived in a house owned by Schall.” he said. He believed that Mr. Liggett, a free-lance journalist who had barged around the country with stops in New York. Chicago. Washington and other major cities, had reached a serious financial crisis during the last few weeks. The Governor himself had refrained from reading the Midwest American, which for 20 weeks had demanded the Governor's impeachment. "I knew he w'as aspersing my personal behavior,” Gov. Olson confided. "I was afraid if I read his

sheet I might give vent to my anger and go over to Minneapolis looking for him. That wouldn’t do. So I didn't read the paper.” The Governor supposed that Mr. Liggett had been the victim of an underworld feud. Mr. Liggett had, he believed, crossed “the line.” Liggett’s Reputation Attacked The Twin Cities are rife with such talk. Mr. Liggett is being depicted here in the blackest possible colors. A fable is being constructed of Liggett the blackmailer, the under-w'orld chiseler. Visitors to his apartment and his printing office find it difficult to accept this view. I sat on the best chair in his flat, just within the house from the murder alley, today. A leg of the chair is off. The children—the Liggetts have tw ro—had maimed the chair. Two volumes of an encyclopedia substituted for the leg, Mr. Liggett left his widow without money to pay the rent or the light bill. "I suppose Liggett w'as the victim of what the Marxists,call economic determinism.” said the Governor. “He had to have the money and he w f ent out to get it.” No Grief Is Expressed The official theory of Mr. Liggett's murder is that the impetuuos editor, hard pressed for funds, went out soliciting money from the liquor dealers and gamblers he had been attacking. A double-cross figures in these calculations. There is no proof. At no time in the lengthy interview' did the Governor express regret over the death of a political enemy. No sentiment. He ignored the usual gestures: The criminal must be run to the ground, the community is outraged. Minnesota

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

Going Up—4B9 Clothed! Clothe-a-Child Has Its Banner Day With 91 Pledges Made by City Groups.

Individual donors clothed ... Mile-of-Dimes $1825 Office Cash $1057.54 Clothe-a-Child. of The Indianapolis Times, today had its banner day for enrolling men. women and organizations in bringing Christmas a little nearer to the home where folks huddle near stoves to keep warm. Pledges were received to clothe 91 children. With a drive and a shopping | rush, under the leadership of departments from the Real Silk Hosiery Mills, Inc,., the Link-Belt,, and Chevrolet Commercial Body Cos., the campaign's total reached 489 children to be outfitted for Christmas. Mile-of-Dimes. a silver lane Santa, hurried toward the S2OOO mark in an effort to keep pace with the individual donors going into homes to shop for their children. can not tolerate the assassination of citizens for the free expression of their opinions. But for the machine gun, Mr. Liggett would have been demanding Governor Olson's impeachment on the floor of the Minnesota House of Representatives within 48 hours

The Clothe-a-Child honor roll todrv follows: Real Silk Hosiery Mills Inc.. Maintenance Dept.. four bovs and five eirls. Link Belt Cos., night shift. Dents. 203, 210. 22. three bovs and two girls. Jacob. Leo. and Arthur Cassell, and Florence Roeder and Hare! Berry, four children. Chevrolet Commercial Bodv Cos., office emnloves. bov and girl. Chevrolet Commercial Bodv Cos., tool room, three children. Chevrolet Commercial Bodv Cos., Dent, 55. two children. Diamond Chain and Manufacturine Cos., cared for 25 children and look two more. Allison gjneineerine Cos. emnloves. three children. Pritchett’s Recreation Bowline Leaeue, rirt. Snencer Case Ladies Bowline Leaeue, eirl. Indianapolis Railways Cos., sub-station employes. St. Clair and Canal-sts. four children. Lincoln office of Indiana Bell Telephone Cos., two girls and a bov. Tri-O-Dice Club, jrirl. Indian Refining Cos.. Bulk Plant and Shops, took care of girl and another bov. Employes of Booster Club of Chapman Price Steel Cos., cared for two children and took another eirl. Real Silk employes. Basement No. II and Purchasing department, cared for two chi'dren and took a third child. Link Belt Cos.. Allen Mathews department, cared for five children and took a sixth.

RITES SATURDAY FOR QUINNETTE, GUNMAN VICTIM

Fellow Members of Police Department Named Pallbearers. Services for slain Detective Sergeant Orville Quinnette are to be at 2 Saturday In Olive Branch Christian Church. He died yesterday of wounds inflicted Dec. 7 by gunmen who are held on murder charges. Pallbearers are Detective Sergpants Alfred Schulz. Faye Davis and Morris Corbin, Police Sergeants Kent Yoh. Motorcycle Policeman Ray Moistner and Patrolman Noel Stark. The body will be at the G. H. Herrmann Funeral Home until noon Saturday, when it is to be removed to the church. Detective Quinnette w'as born in Putnam County Sept. 11. 1902. He joined the Police Department in July, 1930, and was promoted to the rank of detective sergeant Jan. 2, 1934. He was a member of the Masonic order. Survivors are the widow; his mother, Mrs. George Quinnette; two brothers. Freeman and Everett Quinnette and a sister, Mrs. Dorothy Tutterow’. Donald Joseph and Paul Pierce escaped convicts, have been charged with the murder of Detective Quinnette. After indictment yesterday by the Grand Jury, trial was set for Jan. 6 by Criminal Judge Frank P. Baker when the men were arraigned. The gun battle ensued when Detective Quinnette and his partner. Detective Sergeant Russell Chatham. went to the Hazel Dell Apartment, 1201 Park-av, to investigate the report that two men suspected of murdering an Anderson policeman w'ere hiding there. Slaving Suspect Recaptured NEWARK. N. J.. Dec. 19.—Edw'ard Metelski. alleged murderer of a state trooper, w'ho escaped from a New Brunswick jail Saturday, was recaptured last night.

Employes Benefit Association. Indiana Bell Telephone Cos., three children. Indianapolis Fire Fighters Association. Local lit!, cared for four children and took two more. Mrs. C. G. McG.. two eirls. Mrs. Edward H. Mever. two eirls. Polk Sanitarv Milk Cos. emplove3. bov and eirl. Tail Delta Tan Sororitv. eirl. Automatic Screw .Machine Department, P R. Mallorv Cos., bov and eirl. Third Ward Democratic Club, child. Sien Writers Local Union No. 1012. boy. Indianapolis Electrotype Foundry employes. three children. Drexel office. Indiana Bell Telephone Cos., two hovs and two eirls. Socony-Vacuum Oil Cos. Inc. emnloves. three children. Raner Comnianderv No. t. Kniehts Templar, three children. Powell Commission Cos., three children. Indiana Railroad emnloves. three children. Mr. and Mrs. Walter A. Oueisser. eirl. N. M. R.. child. Eli Lilly & Cos., record department employes. boy and eirl. Phi Sigma Theta Sorority, eirl. Mrs. No Name. eirl. Belmont F.xchanee Operators. Indiana Bell Telephone Cos., eared for two children and took another eirl. A. D. Took B. T.. eirl. Joan and Jane Schlosser. eirl. Evangelical Bowling League. Prietrhett Alievs, boy. Litzelman & slorrison. Inc.. Studebaker distributors, employes, child. Rrtaii Credit Cos., child.

OFFICIAL WEATHER I I. I nltfd Statr* Kralhfr Burmn___J Sonri** * 63 I 11 TTMPFFATVRF —D*r. 19. 1931 7 x. m 3.9 1 p in —Todar—--6 a. m 28 l a m 3* tarn 24 11 a. tn * a m 28 12 a m 9 a. m 28 BAROMETER 1 a m. 29.91 PrrciDitaMon 24 hrs. endinn 7 a m 00 Total preciptation sincp Jan. 1 37.01 Deficiency since Jan 1 • 168 OTHKR CITIES AT 7 A. M. Siation Weather. B:- Temp Amarillo. Tex Clear 30 38 26 Bismarck, N P Clear 30 .62 - 8 Boston ~. Cloudy 20 70 30 Chicago Snow 29 88 28 Cincinnati Cioudv 29 84 30 Dcrver Clear 30 48 22 Dodge City. Kas Clear 30 42 26 Helena. Mont Clear 30 66 14 | Jacksonville. Fla Cioudv .30 12 46 Kansas Citv. Mo. . Ciear 30.28 28 Little Rock. Ark. Clear 30 18 42 ■ Los Angeles . . PtCidv 29 94 58 Miami. Fla. Clear 30 18 48 Minneapolis Snow 30 16 8 Mobile. Ala. Clear 30 16 46 New Orleans PtCidv 30 22 48 New York Cioudv 29.72 34 Okla. C’itv. Okla. Clear 30 38 30 Omaha. Neb. Cioudv 30 34 22 Pittsburgh Rain 29 84 28 Portland. Ore Clear 30 46 34 San Antonio. Tex Rain 30 24 51 San Frarcisco Clear 30 12 44 St. Louie . . Cioudv 30 10 26 Tampa. Fla. Cioudv 30 18 48 Washington. D. C. Cioudv 29 82 40 STATE Q. OF C. j HOLDS LEADERS J. E. Fredrick. President, and Other Officers Are Re-Elected. Officers of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce continued their duties today following re-election yesterday at the Board of Trade. John E. Fredrick. Kokomo, is president; G. B. Tuthill. Elkhart, vice president: W. H. Arnett, managing director and treasurer, and R. B. Coapstick, manager of traffic dej partment. A. H. Myers. Indianapolis, and E. R. Westphal. Michigan City, were named to the board of directors to serve three-year terms. John Zimmerman, Auburn, and Charles B. Calvert, Mishawaka, were named to two-year terms, and L. A White. La Porte, to one-year. Re-elected board members are Mr. Fredrick, Mr. Tuthill, Charles H. Barnaby, Greencastle; A T. I Morris, Terre Haute; Arthur Hall, | Fort Wayne; Curtis H. Rottger, Indianapolis; Louis J. Borinstein Indianapolis: Fred C. Kroeger. Ander|son; R. H. Allen, Crawfordsville, ; and E. G. Scotten. Newcastle. Discussion of the social security ! act was led by Virgil Sheppard, director of the bureau of governmental research of the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. Opposition was voiced to the State Industrial Boards ruling that unless an employer pays annual premium of SSOO or more under the I Workmen's Compensation Act no S credit is allowed for past safety j records. FEWER -BLOOD DONORS' Montreal Hospitals Report Volunteers Not So Numerous. Hy T'nilrd /Vex* MONTREAL. Dec. 19.—Montreal | English hospitals are running short !of voluntary “blood donors,” Dr. | Grant Fleming, chairman of the Department of Public Health and ! Preventive Medicine at McGill Uni--1 versity, reports.

PAGE 3

NOLAN REFUSES CLAUDE WORLEY FREEDOM PLEA

Terre Haute Politician Speaks for Former Police Chief. A proposal that District Attorney Val Nolan recommend that Claude M. Worley, former Indianapolis police chief, be freed from a Federal term this March has been turned down by Mr. Nolan, it was revealed today. Richard Wernecke. Terre Haute politician, visited Mr. Nolan in Worley's behalf yesterday. Worley pleaded guilty to income tax evasion charges and was sentenced July 22, 1932. to five years in Federal prison and one year in the Marion County jail. Several months ago. Mr. Wernecke asked Mr. Nolan his attitude on recommending a presidential pardon for Worley, and Mr. Nolan said he believed Worley should serve his full term. Mr. Nolan revealed today that no part of the SIO,OOO fine levied against Worley has been paid. Worley has served three years and five months of his term. PURSE HOLDING 5220 IS STOLEN AT STORE Another Complainant Reports on Loss of $96. A purse containing $220 in cash and check for SSO belonging to Mrs. Marie Slaskamp was taken ova sneak thief last night from a store at 4001 Boulevarri-pl. Carl Burgett, St. Paul. Ind., yesterday reported to police the loss of a purse containing $53 in cash and $43 in checks. He had been riding in several taxicabs, he said. Tw’o Negroes pulled the trolley of a trackless trolley last night at 25th-st and Martindale-av. then drew guns on Earl Litter. 8 N. BanI croft-st, operator! when he alighted Ito replace the trolley. Litter withdrew and the Negroes fled. ACCOUNTANTS INSTALL FRED DAVIS IN POST Lilly Employe Assumes Duties of First Vice President. Fred Davis of Eli Lilly & Cos. was installed as first vice president of Indianapolis chapter of the National ! Association of Cost Accountants last night at the Washington. W. Mason Smith, New York, was I th” speaker. New' chapter members introduced included J. W. Barrow. H. H. Eartj lett, George C. Burkert Jr.. L. M. Huesmann and L. C. Pearman. More i than 60 state members attended. VICTIMS OF ROBBERIES VIEW EIGHT SUSPECTS Police Say Three Identified as Taking Tart in Holdup. More victims and witnesses of recent Indianapolis robberies may be called today in an attempt to identify eight suspects arrested in a po- , lice roundup Sunday. At yesterday’s “showup” three of the men. police said, were identified ! as participants in the holdup of an A. and P. grocery Dec. 1. More than i 60 persons viewed the suspects.