Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 August 1936 — Page 13
NEW YORK, Aug. 13.—I rather think that Lincoln Steffens was the greatest of American reporters and in the narrowest : sense of that word. His best work was done late in life, and by that time his capacity for straight Feporiing had fortunately
very little to better municipal govi ernment in the United States. Steffens in his youth and middle | period hdd neither the will nor the capacity to go ahead and see what made masses of men move and tick. He was too much concerned with individuals to understand people. He was a tree fancier rather than a forester.
As Lincoln Steffens grew older he turned to economics and mysticism. He lost the great clarity which had been his when he ranked as America’s Muckraker No. 1. But he gained something more valuable. Now he had insight. Lincoln Steffens began to see how things shade off into each other, and he was an old man when
he sat down and wrote the book by which he is |
likely to be remembered, : #8 = ®
Shamed Cities Blush
HE shame which he pinned on the various AmeriT can cities aroused no end of indignation, surprise, tumult and praise while he was passing out the awards. But only research scholars can have any possible interest in looking up those back files. The cities which were mentioned blushed a little, spoke a few mumbling words of apology and went on. to pei once more and yet again, “Factual reporting,” in the narrow sense in which the phrase is generally employed, consists of cutting off the heads of Hydras. "It is nice work if you can get it, but exacting. And there’s no future in it. Lincoln Steffens found that out. The command for “dispassionate reporting” has done much to handicap journalism in all parts of the world. The man who doesn’t give a damn which of the contenders wins is a very bad person to cover a prize fight. Spirited writing only comes qut of commitments, enthusiasms and even prejudiced. For that matter, no reporting is really truthful unless it passes through some such filter. to” o 2
Experts Out of Gear
ITH very few exceptions the least significant writing which is being done in America today is all committed by financial experts. It is the business of being experts which throws them out of gear. They like to pretend that the have no prejudice or emotion. They are dealing with hard facts, and 2 plus 2 is always 4. But that isn’t the point. The problem is, Four what? It really makes a difference whether it is four aces or four radishes. And it was in a somewhat similar spirit that Lincoln Steffens, in the cool of the evening, sat down to write his autobiography, Facts seen at a distance became far more eloquent and revealing than when he had stood up against.them face to face. With the passing of the years they had taken on shape and eolor. te Wave themselves into a pattern. ourse, was. not given to Lincoln Steflens; nor has it been given to- anybody “else, to sed: allthings whole. But now and again he was privileged to peer over the edge of the world and catch a glimpse of those two great turtles upon whose backs existence rests, ‘Lincoln Steffens was allowed to see cause
My Day
BY ELEANOR say.
He: PARK, N. Y,, Wednesday—We reached home for an 8:30 supper last night and every one went bed early. I succumbed to my usual weakness for a in bed and thought I was going to stop in half an hour, but “Gone With, the Wind” is not a book you oan Put down Sasily! was 12 o'clock before my light went out. We are keeping workingmen’s hours at the present, so 7:30 this morning saw us at breakfast and at 8 I e over to see how the new road was progressing. ey hope to-have this road clear enough and sufficiently built up 50 that the President can get through in his little car to a point from which he can settle the direction to be followed for the last climb up a rather steep hill. Just as I reached the opening of the road I saw some one gesticulating wildly and shouting something I could not’ hear. I could not find a place to start my horse up the hill, which was’ fortunate, for suddenly there was a report like a gun and I realized that they were blasting out stumps on top. The horses behaved like lambs, but Jill, the dog, who was once trained for hunting, thought she must make for the scene of action at once and disappeared in the direction of the explosion. An amusing letter came to me today from Tennessee. I can not answer it because the lady does not give her last name or her address beyond the name of the city, which is a fairly good-sized one. She sent me a clipping which she hopes “will start my day off with a smile.” When I tell you the story I think you will agree that it is worth smiling over. A lifelong Democrat was asked by Chairman John Hamilton for a subscription and responded as follows: “I have always been a Democrat. I would follow | Roosevelt to Hades and back. I am a Democatic justice of the peace, have been for 24 years, and have just been re-elected for six more years. My father was also a justice of the peace for.36 years.” Perhaps my correspondent would smile, too, if she knew that not long ago I received an urgent invitation from our Republican congressman, Mr. Hamilton Fish, to do all I possibly could for his re-election! | > . (Copyright, 1936, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)
New Books
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY PRESENTS E most intriguing title for a “whodunit” in many. = Homes (M $2) and what's SELF, by Geoffrey (Morrow; » more, the story lives up to its title. There is the locale
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at Postoffice, Toaianapoii. Ind,
‘WHY © TT TOM Robinson Drank at Bar With Dillinger's C C
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SM M ROBINS SON’|
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(As told lo Fred x hville ‘Banger. Sisft Writer) ; NEW YORK, Aug. 13.—In Silver City, N. M., a William
(Cnapter Fou) 24]
Warner tried to interest us in a tract of land for our
projected ranch.
One evening he invited us to the- Elks Club to have a drink. While we were at the bar, the local sheriff came
in with another man. Mr. Warner remarked to us that He didn’t realize, how much of a
we had thrill in store. real thrill it would be.
‘He: called this man over. and iritvodiced him; as the sheriff from Tucson, the man who captured John Dillinger
‘and his gang.” We all drank together. Then I said I would
like to see how Tom would:look in a two-gallon hat. The Tucson sheriff put his hat on Tom’s head.
We asked him to tell us about the capture of John
Dillinger. “1 didn’t know it was Dillinger, but I sure know a crook when I see one,” he answered firmly. Ee 40 Many times, later on, we laughed about this. After two days in Silver City, we decided to continue
to the West Coast. Again we went to the Constance Hotel
in Pasadena: Every time’l mention this city, I think of the soda clerk who reported that he saw Tom at
* his fountain dre as a woman. “As a matter of fact, on the very day he gave out that report, we were at a ‘movie in Pasadena with Tom - wearing + a - mustache, I know the soda clerk's imagination was running away with him and likewise all those who believed in-this insipid story.
In the early part of: December, 1935, we rented a hillside house in Van Nuys, Cal., overlooking the San Fernando Valley. This time we took the name of Mr, and Mrs. Middleton. Here we had a wonderful chance to relax and enjoy the beauty . of southern California. Tom enjoyed the place and for a while got back to normal. As at Rye the previous summer, we enjoyed our cooking and eating sprees. Everything was sailing along nicely. We spent long hours planning to buy a ranch, discussing how we would build our house and furnish it.
” # ®
UDDENLY, one night, for no apparent reason, Tom went into a rage about the injustices ‘that had been done him over a period of years. I prevailed upon him to forget all that and let the past be dead and try to find peace within pi
a gun out of his “pocket and threatened to shoot ‘me. ‘I heard him click the safety catch off the automatic in his hand. I grabbed his wrist in one hand and his
throat in the other and we both
went to the floor.
We rolled all-over the living room, and I finally got my foot on his hand that held the gun. I managed to get possession of the pistol, threw it across the room ‘and slapped. his face as hard as I could. stunned, then tears ran down his cheeks. He cried like a baby. He wanted to know what he had done to me, if he had hurt me. He was inconsolable, and ‘it required hours to convince him: that I wasn’t angry. For days after that he outdid himself trying to be considerate. On Christmas Day, which was
less than two weeks after our
clash, he sent me a huge collection of roses, two large boxes of
He seemed
polnsetiias and a very ; dainty arrangement, of violets. I know | that he went to no end of trou-
ble to find these flowers:
We spent Christmas Day alone and had a feast of roast duck.
, That - night we toasted’ marsh-
mallows. in’ the fireplace. New Year's Eve we celebrated quietly— and of course privately—reminiscing about the New Year's Eve before, which was the night we met.
Tom’s composure didn’t last long, though.. During the month
' of January he ‘was in almost con-
stant tantrums. I was ill most of the time and had just about decided I could stand no more. When I saw no sign of improvement early in February, I left for New York. And I ‘left without saying & word to Tom.
8 8 » BOUT the time I left, it became necessary for Tom to
get 1936 registration for his car. Upon application, he found that
California law required a 90-day .
wait before receiving the license tags. Until then, a temporary sticker permit was provided. Upon my arrival in. New York, I realized that ‘leaving Tom: like this did not solve the problem. It merely left him on: his
own and he could not carry on
alone. There was no telling what he might do, and I felt a responsibility for his well-being: 1 was afraid he would fall into the
hands of unscrupulous se, mn, | 08! who: certainly. would.
I felt that in leaving FE letting him down. .I decided o!
on a ranch and try to straighten him out. 1 telephoned Tom by fong dis~ tance and.told him I was’ coming back. He was very happy about
my decision, for he had thought:
I would never return. He met me at the Santa Fe station when I arrived in Los Angeles. That was about the middle of February. Riding home to Van Nuys, he
‘promised to do better, not to let “himself go to pieces. His utter sincerity . was almost pitiful. =
We felt that the best thing to
do was to buy a ranch where he’ would be occupied and have .a
chance fo return to
We had advertised in the Los:
Angeles: Examiner for ranch lands and received many replies. Some were most desirable. While Tom ‘was keenly interest-
ed in buying a ranch, my en-
thusiasm was wahing because of
%
go back to California and see the ‘| . thing through one way or an-. other. My hope was to get him
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LET'S EXPLORE YOUR MIND
BY DR. ALBERT EDWARD wieGAM
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his inability: to‘ conduct himself in a normal manner. At our Van Nuys home, which was on the edge of a wilderness, even the birds and squirrels upset him and made him panicky. For this reason, around March -1 we moved from Van Nuys to a bungalow court on the corner of West-minster-av and Fifth-st in Los Angeles. This time our name was: Miller. 8 » »
place was the scene of one
“The travels of of Tom Robinson and Jean: Breese, | back and forth across the continent, in: the: Stoll
of Tom’s most violent brain | «|
storms. It was brought about because the. owners: of the building decided fo repair the concrete steps in front of the house. Tom raved and ranted, feeling that the owner had tricked him into renting the place by leaving him: in ignorance of this inconvenience. He worked himself into a frenzy over this minor incident and walked the floor, smashing every-: ‘thing in his pah--jamps, mir-" TOTS, vases; -€ These wild demonstrations, over a period of time, completely unnerved and exhausted me. I became ill, contracting a heavy cold which I could not shake off. We decided to take:'a trip to Death Valley for my health. In the
A I-had bongs an ad
glorious. time. , Tom went through all his: promises, but: by - this time they meant very little to me, I realized that while his {n- * tentions : were sincere, he wasn’t. able to fulfill them. I saw very little: ahead” for ‘either of us. I was filled with pity for Tom, who. splendid person, only to be afflicted in this -manner. After our trip to Death Valley, we returned and rented a house at 510 Cavanaugh-rd in Glendale as Mr. and Mrs, which name Juss still. in the telephone directory there, Kenwood 3895. We rented it from Mrs. Mable Spenest, the owner, whom I really liked
We liked her house better than |
any place we had lived. Thare was a delightful balcony . where we sat, a patio beneath, a barbecue
pit which we often used.. In the
back was a lovely rose garden that supplied me with cut flowers for the house. ‘There were orange trees, too, that were in blossom. In he mornings a breeze carried
“back, traveling le ro we. had 1 a
John Phillips, |
kidnaper's’ frenzied: efforts to elude’ capture graph“ically: are portrayed in the above map..
JEW YORK, Rui: 13 I you would k LV: your respect for the mighty men—tk big-name men—of our time in America not inquire too closely. - I happen to have known in my comps tively short experience in New York a nu
ber of Mlustrious Awmeticans who pall Jirge sulbf
broken-down, old-time preliminary prize fighters & muscle-thumpers for advice which they had
received, time and again from their -own loving wives. If a man is drink-
garets and getting
“| little sleep he doesn’t feel well.
knows why he doesn’t feel well, his own judgment is free so doesn’t respect it. His war department, as wives sometimes are called in the ‘prize fight business, also knows the remedy, but her advice is free, too. So, in many cases, our illustrious American will go around among his friends complaining that & his nerves are shaky and his diges- : tion bad and wondering what to do. Mr. Pegler At this stage of his decline he comes upon a friend who has recently been up country taking the cure. This friend tells him abe the marvelous establishment of Dr. Butch Klutches you remember Butch Klutch, the old-time middiés weight who trained Bob Fitzsimmons, Well, ol Butch is going on 85 now and he is running a health camp up the country where he does marvels for middle-aged captains of industry whose nerves ay shaky and their digestion not too good:
Butch Is a Doctor Now
O our friend telephones Butch Klutch at his heal camp up the country and is told that doctor—she is a doctor now, with a mail-order diploma from a college of physical fraining—is unable to accoms modate him this week ‘but can give him a roo the converted silo at the health-camp 10 days hence provided he shoots in his check today to show his good ‘faith. So he shoots in his check poi! I don't know how much. . Maybe: $2000, maybe $500, maybe $5000, according to his rating in the book and the length of time he can stay. And 10 days later, friend shows up at Camp Klutch, which is a torted farm house on a submarginal farm, with [8 suitcase in his hand and adventure in his heart. By way of greeting, Dr. Klutch will slap “ cigaret out of his. hand, warning him that cig mean expulsion from Camp Klutch. He will s one pipe or one cigar after lunch and dinher _one ‘before going to bed, and if he violates the out he goes with no refund. He will eat his. meal or hay or siwdust for breakfast and hiss and string beaus and beets at lunch and dinner, eat them all up, what's more, and there will be seconds on the cookies and nobody. may have ¢ after dinner. v
Ge a 88 =4 Knew What to Do : A ND, of course, there will be no alcohol. No, - even beer, And not many sweets, either, regver, everybody will rise and shine at half 2m. for calisthenics; followed by breskast. formes a long walk or
‘o +a herd of arfimated sofas
‘Robinsons wite, arrested as an aocomplice, but later released.
the - ‘pesfopise of the oraiige Blossoms through the entire house. * All ‘this constituted a veritable paradise on earth, a place ‘where |
any. normal person could have found. peace. For a week. or 10 days, Tom seemed ‘perfectly. contented there. I, who had almost abandoned “hope . for’ him, bégan to feel that there migh ‘be a chance after all for readjusément. My hope, howgver, was i :
BOUT this time 2 were wait-
ing for. the California license plates for his ear, which were due from the application made in Feb~ ruary. There was a slight delay in their. arrival, caused, I presume, by heavy demand and congestion at-Sacramento. ‘This delay seemed to weigh upon Tom’s mind, and imbedded a oar that he had been identified by that registration.
He refused 1 to. call for his plates.”
] Absentee Management Blamed
by Johnson for Labor Trouble
(Gen. Jotinsen writes thrice weet)
BY HUGH 8 JOHNSON | AMDEN, N. J, Aug. 13 About
big ¢ eS Sle In meth Ak rr Most modern corporafons are owned by & vist diversity
dustrial cundition; hh growing
‘more serious dally. There must be some remedy, Industrial unionism
is one. remedy. The ‘McGrady: . To- - the window. He whispered to me
A Feature
oie copyrant pe Ine. GRIN AND. BEAR | me
“hear him. one in the world was persecuting . him but: me.
As a consequence, we no Yohiger
cauld use his Plymouth. It stayed iin the garage back of the house. ‘Because we didn’t have the use of his car, he was ' inconvenienced again, and this brought on another tantrum afmost as violent as the
last ‘one; in which he wrecked our . bungalow. He raved and swore so loud that I had to go over the en~ tire house closing windows: .and doors so the neighbors would not “He swore that every
On May 21, Alvin. Karpis was
captured in New Orleans. Tom first heard about it on a ‘news
broadcast: from the Los Angeles Times. I was in the room at the time. Tom turned deathly white. “My God, they got Karpis!” he said. Then he got up and walked the floor. For: the regt of the day he did nothing but rave about the Karpis capture, cursing and reviling the entire social order. ‘He felt that he was. oppressed. and had been all his life. All that night he walked . the floor. I can remember the
“dawn of the next day, as I sat in
the bedroom talking to him, trying: to make him see things in their. ‘proper light and accept things as they are. At that moment the milkman.
“Jeft the milk at the front door. As he came up the walk, Tom
jumped. off the bed and stood at .
that it was a G-man.
(Continued Te Tomorrow). gs Fh by the Nashville Banner
L by: Lichty
plows but missed their calling, ‘and “after that rub and a nap and after that some work with medicine ball and so forth. And fresh milk. ~All this, our friends, the captain of industry c have done for himself at home. He knew he o to curtail his drinking and smoking, revise his. hou and habits, stay home from work a few days eat plenty "of vegetables. His war department him the same, but he didn’t respect the advice ; he received it from Dr. Klutch. Nevertheless, he comes back from camp singing the praises of the remarkabl Dr. Klutch—you remember old Butch, the spe partner who used to train Bob Fitzsimmons.
Merry- Go- Ee
BY DREW PEARSON AND ROBERT S. ALLEN ASHINGTON, Aug. 13.~The President's f coniing Dust Bowl trip will be quite a and the conference with Gov. Landon is only one. the acts. = The President has a big surprise: up his sleeve. is a spectacular “show boat” journey down the sissippi River on one of the vessels of the gov deny inland water fleet. Accompanied by three or four members of Cabinet, conservation experts, and a large entou of reporters and camera men, the. President plans -steam down the river and make numerous stops the way. The trip will start at and g0 as south as Mesphis, Tenn. Among: the cities o
BY Demociaile sammich Neb command paring a blast against election polis... The straw ballots have been getting in the ’ Dealers’ hair. They assert most of them are