Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 January 1937 — Page 14

ashington

By RAYMOND CLAPPER

(Ernie Pyle, Page 13)

VV ASHINGTON , Jan. 6.—Foreign affairs, one of the subjects of President Roosevelt’s annual message to Congress today, forms one of our most important problems since in Europe, as Theodore Roosevelt said, peace is being waged furiously.

Modern war is, as Bernard M. B#ruch says, an “impact of civilization,” between whole nations in arms. Where.once g nation at war was represented by a sort of “gladiatorial football team” now even the children must do their bit by wearing gas masks so they will live into strong soldiers for the next war to end all wars, ; It has been suggested that the President might, by declaring that a state of war existed between Germany and Spain, invoke the neutrality arms embargo upon those countries immediately. Some are saying that it would be rank favoritism toward Hitler to embargo arms to Spain while allowing them to go to Germany. However there seems no immediate disposition to declare a state of war but rather an inclination to wait a few more days until the neutrality law is changed to specifically authorize executive action where civil strife exists within a state and then clamp down gn Spain. Arrangements have been made to expedite this legislation. : You wonder how it will all come out. On 16th St. just a few squares above the White House, is a slice from a giant redwood tree. It is almost 10 feet in diameter. This old tree was just coming up out of the ground about the time Julius Caesar and his Roman legions were trying to civilize the Gauls.

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Far Ring Dates Revolution

RING far out toward the bark line dates the American Revolution; For an inch or two thereafter the old tree grew along with a new world that seemed to be learning many things about how to live, how to light buildings and run machines with something invisible that came over a thin wire, how to talk into a little black mouthpiece. with family and friends at opposite ends of the country, how to scratch your arm so that you couldn’t-get smallpox or typhoid fever, and how to make a small mask so .that after inhaling under it you could let a surgeon open you up, take out several sections of inner tubing, sew you up again and let you wake up in a soft, fresh bed, feeling practically no pain. Then a few more rings on the tree and it was August, 1914, and over the same ground that Caesar and his legions roamed, this wonderful modern man was at it again in the same old way. The next year

Mr. Clapper -

somebody came along and chopped the tree down,"

and a slice of it was placed for sightseers in front of the headquarters here of the National Education Association. Why, nobody knows. It only makes us all feel small and stupid. & ® a

House Ready to Work

OW the House is ready to begin work. N . By electing Rep. Sam Rayburn of Texas as majority leader, House Democrats have made him the heir apparent for the Speakership, held now by Rep. Bankhead of Alabama, father of Tallulah. This promises to keep the South in control of the House machinery for some time to come. The defeated Tammany candidate for leader, John J. O’Connor of New York, is a brother of President Roosevelt's former law partner, which was all the good that

did him.

Mrs.Roosevelt's Day

~ By ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

ASHINGTON, Tuesday.—Two teas yesterday afternoon and an evening buried in old letters. Why does one ever keep old letters? Whenever I find myself looking for something in them I wonder ‘whatever made me think that I really would have time to find the particular things I want in them. "Of course, one should file everything so neatly that one knows exactly what letter to get for this or that information, but when I put these letters away I was not as familiar with files as I am today. Now I have chosen the busiest week of the year to get them prop“erly filed because I really want to get at some of the i tion they contain. Informa anes I found little strands of hair tied with pink and blue ribbons belonging to babies at different ages and some letters from the children when they were small. They make me smile today because I can almost see in the grown men and women characteristics which come out in these childish lefters. The fire is the proper place for a great many of the things that 1 am unearthing, so it is lucky I am ing it in winter. Sore morning a press conference, and a long talk with a-man who, for many years, has been building up international houses where foreign students can And a home in different cities in the United States and abroad. He has an idea that this service can be very much: increased in the interefts of peace and I am inclined to think ‘he is right. : He says that foreign students going back to their own countries carry a different and wider point of view and will always be an influence for peace and for international understanding. 1 asked if the movement had been going on long enough for any check . to be made on the influence exerted by these foreign students when they return to their own country. He felt that there is evidence enough to prove that taey usually occupy positions where they assist in forming .public opinion which must exert some influence on

the various governments,

New Books

PUBLIC LIBRARY PRESENTS— Fo. SANE and enormously talented American who has found our fields and.our cement canyons not hag-ridden, but full -of normal and exciting living,” is * Sinclair Lewis’ remark concerning his friend Carl Van Doren, whose autobiography, THREE WORLDS (Harper), is one of the important books this winter, The three worlds are: “Pre-War,” which tells of * the author’s boyhood in Hope, Ill, his young man- -_ hood at Champaign, and his college days at Columpia; “Post War,” which chronicles his experiences in journalism on “The Nation,” and in literature as an editor for “Century” and later for the Literary Guild; and the third world, which he calls “New World,” with a question. mark. In this last world he pictures the boom days of speak-easy and sex-easy; his own and the country’s drop into depression and his belief that slowly, along with himself, “America is putting behind it a dull confusion and beginning to free its great energies.” : Mr. Van Doren’s book is rich in literary persona.ities and has especially moving portraits of Elinor Wylie and Edward Arlington Robinson.

” td #

HE present trend even in some Evangelical ChrisT tian sects is to find good in all religion rather than to claim for Christianity alone an awareness of the nature of God. In accordance with this more generous and openminded attitude toward the genius of other faiths, a new book, LIVING RELIGIONS AND MODERN THOUGHT, by Alban G. Widgery (Round Table Press)—Once professor of the philosophy of religion at Cambridge University, England, and now professor of phizosophy at Duke University—presents and discusses with clarity and seasoned scholarship important world religions, namely Hinduism, Budahism, Jainism and Sikhism, Confucianism and Shinto, “Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Islam and Bdhaism, and Christianity, with a concluding chapter on “Religion ‘and Modern Thought.” : Dr. Widgery’s presentation of the modern thought that there are many pathways which lead to God, and that religion is not a static, but an expanding and ~ developing force working toward the uniting of manind, should con 3 th to all thas who look

e Indianapolis

‘Imes

Second Section

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1937

rene

at Postoffice,

Enterad as Second-Class Matter Indianapolis,

PAGE 11

Ind.

BUILDING TRENCHES IN THE SKIES

Italy Ready for War: Air Fleet Finest in World, Williams Says

‘(Third of a Series) é

By MAJ. AL WILLIAMS Times Special Writer

HE balance of military power in Europe has been in a tail-spin, and Italy is straightening out in a maneuver that puts her on top.

I saw her program, her factories at close range, and all the other leading European nations suffer by comparison. Italy is prepared for a complete war in the air, and she is ready to enter cne on that basis. Over 10 years ago the Italian General Douhet wrote a treatise on air power as a major factor in the wars of the future.:

: Maj. Williams Tha Sirates

gists of every nation read it and

shelved it as a “fantastic bit of sugar-charged imagination.” All except the leaders of Italy. They followed it. Without fuss and feathers, Italy has been developing her air power during the last 10 years. Lacking iron, coal and oil, she is straining every last bit of energy to explore the scientific corners and possibilities of synthetic substitutes manufactured from materials to be found within her borders. For her ingenuity she has the finest air fleet in the world. I saw it. Aviators are made, not born. Italy inaugurated an extensive training routine, and schemed to whet the interest of children in aviation. Schools, training camps, and youth organizations of a military nature figure in the longrange plan. For these efforts, Italy has an air personnel unsurpassed throughout the world. I know that at first hand, too.

2 8 Ed

HE power of the Roman Em1 pire is with us again — on wings. It’s strange that the British didn’t know about the highly developed state and power of the Italian Air Force before they tried to bluff Mussolini by shoving their grand sea fleet into the Mediterranean. His handling of this situation and his refusal to attack the British fleet unless his hand was forced, has sold Mussolini to Italians on his far-sighted statesmanship. If he had let go with his air fleet which he had ready it is quite certain that the majority of the British sea power would be at the bottom of the Mediterranean today. The effect of such a catastrophe upon the immediate course of events in Europe, without waiting for the great air fleets which are in the making, can only be imagined. Without a fleet an immediate redistribution of British colonial possessions would have followed with amazing and startling rapidity, and the history of the world would have been changed in a few days. According to my best estimate, the Italian Air Force strength runs between 7500 and 10,000 firstclass bombing and fighting airplanes. The Fiat and IssottaFraschini Engine Co. supply the power plants for the air .force. These engines range anywhere from 400 to 1000-horsepower of both the liquid-cooled streamlined and the radial air-cooled types. The quality and excellence of Italy’s flying engines is best attested by the fact that Italy holds - the world’s high-speed record for straightaway flight of 440 miles an hour.

[Editor’s Note — The world’s record of 1923 was broken by Maj. Williams whose speed of 266.9 miles an hour stood for eight years as the American record.]

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TALY has already tasted the fruits of what can be accom-

~plished by air power and still is

expanding her air force. Her single-seater fighters are well up

—— &

(RON

around 350 or more miles an hour. But her high-speed bombers, which make up the greater part of her air force, are by far othe best of all I saw in Europe. These jobs, carrying bomb loads of 2500 pounds, have a top speed of a little more than 300 miles an hour. At cruising speeds of 220 miles an hour, these same longrange bombers can fly 2000. miles. Italy’s research and experimental center is located at Guidonia, about eight miles outside of Rome. It is modern and up to date in every detail and is the scientific backbone which provides technical information with which her engineers build ships and engines able to establish and hold the world’s outstanding aviation records.

The towing basis, which I saw at Guidonia, where seaplane floats and hulls are tested, is a most remarkable' setup. The basin itself is 1800 feet long and about 25 feet wide. Provided with mechanisms io agitate the water, it simulates taking off and landing conditions as they are on the sea. A railroad track extends the full length of the basin. On .it is mounted an electrically driven car. An arm extends from the car and on its extreme tip is the mounting mechanism which guides the model airplane through the water. The resistance offered by the floats is measured to be read off a dial in the interior of the car. I had one ride in this car and it was a thriller. From zero to 90 miles an hour it went in the matter of a few seconds, while I watched a model seaplane skimming along the water, finally to take off and fiy by reason of the lift generated by its own wings. And every useful bit of information was automatically recorded in curves and diagrams.

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HE Italian aircraft mass production program is organized to fit the supply of raw materials and labor resources. The supply of high grade steel is limited; hence composite structures of wood and steel are built whenever possible. Hand labor is cheap in Italy and there is a tremendous amount of it.

Where metal production is necessary, ingeniously designed automatic factory machinery is provided. Both the Germans and the Italians entertain far more realistic attitude toward the distinction between the quality finish of fighting ships that are built in peace time and those manufactured in an emergency to meet war conditions. They both understand that fighting ships which are expected to serve only for 30

cr 40 hours of war flying need not -

be possessed of Rolls Royce auto coach finish, as 'long as they are built strong enough. I watched Italy make her ships at the Caproni plant, which employs about 40,000 workmen, and I visited the Fiat Co. where 65,000 persons are busy at their jobs. It is my estimate that Italy can produce, under pressure, about 2000 complete fighting and bombardment ships a month. The air force is not an experi-

mental project with Italy. She regards it as her first line of offense and defense. And the best way to appreciate the extent to which she committed her destiny to air power is to check over the ingenious and religious attention to detail she devoted to her air forces before launching the Ethiopian campaign. Her slant on that operation was realistic and prophetic. The British had claimed that the conquest of Ethiopia could nov be accomplished insille of four or five years. But in addition to an army, the Italians moved in with a complete and powerful air force to make it a joint air and ground campaign. Gen. Badoglio’s fastmoving, lightly equipped infantry

columns amazed military experts . by marching rapidly through that

uncharted country, without bothering to provide or maintain the usual and cumbersome army lines of communications and sup-

Speed, Carelessness and Intoxication Are Branded Auto Accident Causes

Times Special HICAGO, Jan. 6.—The National Safety Council today branded

“reckless speed, carelessness and intoxication” as major factors in 1936's automobile traffic accidents. ~The indictment was made by the organization's executive committee at its late December meeting in New York. The official pronouncement named both pedestrians and motorists as guilty of carelessness and intoxication during 1936 “that threaten’ to set for the year a new alltime high of persons killed and injured in traffic accidents that will eclipse even the 1935 record of 37,000 dead and 1,285,000 injured.” With the second year of the FiveYear Campaign it is sponsoring to reduce motor vehicle accident

deaths 35 per cent by the'end of 1940 now under way, the Council} expressed chief concern about the! “human element” in the accident]

problem: “While we recognize the need for improvement of our highway systems and our law forcement programs, we know greater carefulness on

Pe ‘urgent

1= Executive Committee said, “Even though there has been a marked jump in automobile milegge ang a resultant increase in accident exposure, we recognize no excuse for circumstances that produce an ever-increasing toll of lives.”

Nearly complete reports sho auto accident deaths i slightly higher lever for 1936 than in 1935. Hcwever, Council officers said they were encouraged by the increased emphasis placed on intelligent safety work during 1£36. Their consensus was that when the saturation point in automobile mil age is reached, death rates could be expected to drop fast. In 1936 the Council’s fie ” sentatives, backed by the Ri tion’s engineering, educational, edi-

SHE Committee's resolution urged intensification and §

be a major objective in 1937. “Motorists,” he said, “will be urged to adapt their driving to road and traffic conditions—to slow down for safety. Although other phases of the traffic safety program by no means will be neglected, we shall give isolated emphasis to the im-

portance of sensible speeds and in- :

vite country-wide co-operation a ‘watch-your-speed’ program. “Reckless speed is ;

‘many as the principal

of death and injury

of miles away.

Premier Benito Mu; iolini is shown above as he reviews a new fleet of 300 bombers be ng delivered to his great air force. photo is a closeup of a long-range bomber, capable of 300 miles an hour or more and equi; ped to carry war to enemy cities hundreds Below, I lian ships lay smoke screens in a mock raid.

Center

plies. That job belonge: to the air force. ° 2 8 = | ADOGLIO had asked for 350 planes for the Atyssinian campaign. Mussolini sc it him 700. But no plane or :juadron leit Italy until it had !:en replaced by more modern : nd effi-

the home air defense stre; gth intact. ; | You can call the episoie I am ‘about to describe a bit ¢ showmanship, if you will, bul it was one of the many instanc:; I encountered of unequaled Zz al and morale. Gen. Valle, Sect: fary of State for Air, invited me 0 have lunch with him. A rap i walk through the Air Ministry ! uilding brought us to a spacious r¢ )m. It's the strangest dining room! I have

By MARK ASHINGTON, Jan. | —In a dispatch some time 2 o dealing with the Social Securit Act, I said that the individual stat s could make changes in the old-age pen-

cient aircraft, thus mai taining |

ever seen. It looked like a glorified restaurant, except that all the tables were in tiers made of black marble trimmed in chromium. Each table was provided with individual servidors in which the meals were kept warm. In that room were about 1500 air ministry officers, who ate their luncheon standing. Gen. Valle's place at the table was no different from any other except for the presence of a little white card bearing his name. Brilliant executives seem to be able to anticipate questions. Gen. Valle must have seen the curiosity on my face when he explained: “It’s not necessary to waste an hour or to sit down _at luncheon. Our airmen are a hardy breed.”

NEXT—England’s Clipped Wings.

Sullivan Flays Compulsory Part of Old-Age Benefits

SULLIVAN

he would prefer private insurance or not. The law compels each one to surrender. 1 cen out of every dol-

Our Town

F all the pitch-peddlers that came to Indianapolis, when I was a boy, I remember best those who used to hang around the corner of Washington and Meridian Sts. For some reason, they always chose the shady side in the summer—that being the season of the year the pitch-peddlers did their biggest business. The earliest pitch-peddler I remember was the old

Joyful Oil Man who had his stand on the southeast corner. His stand was about four feet high, about 30 inches wide and 20 inches deep, and the only reason I dis-

tress you with details is because

I want ‘to impress you with the fact that it took up a lot of illegal room. ; The stand stood astride the gutter so that it obstructed the street quite as much as it did the sidewalk. On rainy days and onvery hot days, the stand was even bigger, because on these days the Joyful Oil Man put up an umbrella. It was the kind the draymen used on their wagons at the time, than whieh there was nothing -bigger.

Mr. Scherrer

Every once in a while some testy old individuals

would write to the newspapers complaining about the Joyful Oil Man and the room he occupied, but they never got very far. Indeed, it always struck me that the business men in the neighborhood sort of protected the old medicine man. because, certainly they could have got rid of him if they had wanted to. I guess they got to like him, just as one gets attached to an old tree or some old fixture around the place. z u 2

Remembered in 1871

HAT'S exactly what he was—an old fixture— because I know people around here who ree member him as far back as 1871. He was still going strong in the Eighties when I came along to make his acquaintance. Of course, when I came along, the Joyful Oil Man was pretty old but he carried himself surprisingly well. He was tall and loosely put together. I remember, too, that he had the halting and hesitating manner of a blind man, but he wasn’t blind. Of that, I am quite sure. His product was, of course, Jdyful Oil put up in rather small bottles. He said it was good for anye

thing that ailed man or- beast, but I never saw him

make many sales. Indeed, I doubt whether his heart was really in the medicine business, because nearly always when I got around he was either playing the fiddle or telling stories.

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Best Stories About Custer

IS best stories were those about Gen. Custer, and he handled them with such intimacy that he had us kids believing that he knew the old soldier, Indeed, one day he had us believing that he knew Mrs. Custer, too. Anyway, the story he told that day was about the time Gen. Custer took his bride overs land to a station on the Pacific Coast. It was just after Custer had graduated from West Point. On this trip, the General and his bride spent a night in a little cabin high up in the Cumberland Mountains. After their supper of corn pone and pot

liquor, Mrs. Custer and her husband were sitting in .

front of a roaring fire, chatting with the widow owner of the cabin and her grown daughter. . The daughter, a tall, lank mountain girl, barefoot, of course, got up from her chair and walked over and stood in front of the popping logs.

After a while, her mother took her corn-cob pipe :

out of her mouth and said: “Suze, there do be a live coal under yur fut.” And Suze, never moving, drawled back: “Which fut, Maw?”

A Woman's View

By MRS. WALTER FERGUSON

N The Christian Century, Dr. Joseph Fort Newton writes a stirring plea for the practical building of permanent peate. He points out once again that there can never be peace until justice is established on the earth—justice for the little man, justice for the little nation. “Justice,” says Dr. Newton, “is not itself peace hut it must be the basis of any peace that is to and grow.” And again: “Sixty nations of their own free will and accord signed the Pact of Paris, out= lawing war. Two have already broken it. Others may yet break it, including our own. While this is true, talk of disarmament, to say nothing of world law and

peace, is idle. Until nations themselves are as honest | as honest men, keeping their vows and fulfilling their honorable engagements, peace will be insecure and

the earth will bristle with arms.” The main fact, as he emphasizes, is that our mass

groups would do alone. illustration for the truth of the statement.

impractical movements are made possible by the forea of mass co-operation.

What, then, can the individual do to help in the | , crisis we now face?

Dr. Newton says “For one thing we can begin with our own heart: making it a center of life, and we can keep our mind awake! ia the situation as it is, refusing to be suffocated by tha cynicism of the age. Alas, our chief obstacle if nog the sum of all our difficulties, is a dull inertia of mind, a lazy, hazy, hateful Kind of fatalism ag pei» vasive as it is paralyzing.” How true those words are. So true thaf fwhen Mr. Henry Mencken tells us that we must that J Wai because men love to fight, thousands of readers w» swallow the foolish, blustering statement witho thinking that it would be equally sensible to say should do nothing to stop street homicides.

brawls

Fiows «

Your Health

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