Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 21 January 1937 — Page 1

c, MERE. iy

—

- » Ep a TI a Nt Oy

‘The Indianapolis Times

FORECAST: Rain this afternoon; probably changing to snow tonight and tomorrow; somewhat colder tonight with lowest temperature abolit 25; colder tomorrow.

HOME

FINAL

VOLUME 48—NUMBER 271

THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 1937

Entered 1: Second-Class Matter Ind.

at Postoiice, Indianapolis,

PRICE THREE CENTS

INDIANA HOUSE APPROVES TAX MORATORIUM

Rushed to Senate, Where Adoption Is Forecast This Afternoon.

FARM GROUP IS ACTIVE

Employers Play Waiting - Game on Many Labor Bills Introduced.

The Indiana House of Representatives today passed, 89 to 0, a measure designed to aid state

property owners who now owe $25,389,093 in delinquent taxes and penalties. In addition to establishing a sixyear moratorium, the bill also would ‘set up an installment plan for paying back taxes. . The measure was sent to the Senate, which is expected to pass it tRis afternoon under suspension of the rules so that it will reach Governor Townsend by tomorrow. Unless the bill becomes a law by Feb. 8, property on which taxes have not been paid will be sold at sheriffs’ sales. It is estimated there are 10,000 pieces of delinquent property in Marion County alone.

10 Bills in House

While employers’ groups appeared to be playing a “waiting game” in connection with the mass of labor

bills now pending in the Legislature, the dominant Farm-Labor Bloc continued to introduce its measures in both houses. Ten hills were introduced in the House today and seven bills and a proposed constitutional amendment in the Senate. Carn The two labor-sponsored measures having first reading in the Senate would: 2 1. Bring all state mines under supervision of the Department of Mines and Mining. Under the present law the Department has jurisdiction only over mines employing 10 or more persons. 2. Require trainmen to be equipped with electric lanterns.

Safety Bill Offered

Repeal of an act which made it a felony to halt produce and milk trucks is provided in a labor measure introduced in the House. The Jaw was passed in 1933 when highway picketing and milk strikes occurred in Iowa and Wisconsin. A public safety measure which would standardize the type and location of traffic lights in all cities and towns was introduced by Rep. George W. Wold (D. Peru). This bill is said to have the tentative approval of the State Public Safety Department. The Administration’s safety program is expected to_be brought out in the Mouse next week. On his return from Washington late today, Governor Townsend is expected to finish preparation of his safety program. Dog Licensing Law

A measure, sponsored by the Indiana Farm Bureau and introduced in the House. It would re-7 quire township assessors to license and tag all dogs. Revenue from the licenses would be placed in a fund for the payment of damages to cattle and sheep caused by gogs. The proposed constitutional amendment would remove the present requirement, that makes it mandatory on all state banks to renew their charters every 20 vears. It was reported the State Federation of Labor. was preparing to sponsor a House bill which would restrict strike breakers’ activities. Modeled after a New: York law and inspired by the La Follette Civil Liberties Congressional Committee, (Turn to Page Nine)

| BOB BURNS Says; rs Jen we

ourselves seriously that life begins to get complicated. I've always been a believer in good, wholesome fun and never let dignity stand in the way of my doing what I wanted as long as it didn’t hurt anybody else. . I knew a big business man down home one time who had one obsession that gnawed away at his inner self day and night. He was a strong, silent man with a will of iron and no one ever knew of this secret obsession until he fell in love with this strong woman. He told her he loved her, but he could never marry her until he had conquered -this terrible, fiendish craving that had taken hold of him. Finally, when he was just about to despair, his sweetheart convinced him that if he would unburden his heart by confessing his weakness, the two of them might fight it together and conquer it. She says “Now what is this terrible obsession that has come so near wrecking your life?” He buried his face in his hands and he says, “Darling, I know it’s horrible, but all my life, I've wanted to throw an egg in an electric fan!” a : (Copyright, 1837)

Pope Uses New Invalid Charr, Is Not Buoyed

By United Press # VATICAN CITY, Jan. 21.—Pope Pius was lifted from his sick bed and into a wheel chair this afternoon, but Prof. Aminta Milani refused to allow him to leave his bedroom. The Pontiff was assisted by Leone Castelli, Vatican architect who designed the invalid’s chair, Monsignors Venini and Confalonieri and Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, Vatican Secretary of State. Intense neuritic pains in both legs caused temporary suspension of the Holy Father’s audiences today. Intimates were said to have been disappointed because the new wheel chair failed to cheer the Pope, who was described as nervous, fatigued and indifferent to the proceedings. Vatican officials denied that the Pope’s heart condition was precarious.

ROOSEVELT ASKS

FOR RECIPROCITY

Urges Renewal of Authority | To Make Foreign Trade Pacts.

By United Press : WASHINGTON, Jan. 21.—President “Roosevelt today urged that

his reciprocal trade authority be continued by Congress as a means of aiding in bringing about “durable peace” throughout the world. In a letter to Chairman Robert L. Doughton of the House Ways and Means Committee made public as hearings started on a resolution to extend the Presidential reciprocal trade authority, the President defended the trade policy. He said that by reducing trade barriers world peace could be aided by bringing about economic prosperity. : The President's letter was made public as Secretary of State Cordell Hull appeared before the Committee to urge extension of the trade authority, which will lapse in June unless extended. Mr.. Hull warned that economic collapse in Europe is “almost a certainty” unless the nations of that continent shift from their present policies. “Within another year or two,” said Mr. Hull, “with most of their substance going into cannon, shot and shell instefel of the stomachs of their people another economic collapse in Europe would be almost a certainty.” Mr. Hull said most economists believed reciprocal trade policies were the best means of promoting peace and prosperity. During the last: two years, he asserted, with the policy in effect for the United States “we have made more progress than all of Europe.”

1,000,000 DEAD IN CIVIL WAR, REPORT

Million More May Die if It Goes On, Official Says.

By United Press MADRID, Jan. 21.—The Spanish civil war in its first six months has cost, the lives of 1,000,000 Spaniards and may cost 1,000,000 more if it continues another six months, Manuel de Irujo, Minister Without Portfolio, said in a signed statement today. The statement was published in the newspaper La Libertad as an appeal to all political factions to forget thir differences and unite for peace and the creation of a ‘demo-. cratic” republic. — Loyalists repulsed a strong Rebel drive in the Usera-Cerro de Los Angeles sector south of Madrid early today, an official bulletin an-

nounced. %

2 YOUTHS GET LIFE SENTENCE IN $7 HOLDUP

Plead Guilty to Robbery and Kidnaping of Local Taxi Driver.

CASE TAKES 10 MINUTES

Young Men Declare That They Realized Meaning Of Guilty Pleas.

(Photos, Page 24)

In less than 10 minutes today, two youths surrendered their freedom to spend ‘the rest of their lives in

prison. They are Ernest Ray Gillean, 20, and Everett Irwin, 22, who Tuesday night kidnaped and robbed a local taxi driver of $7. They pleaded guilty before Criminal Court Judge Frank P. Baker today. “Do you realize what you are dcing?” Judge Ba®er asked when they entered their pleas. “Do you know this means life imprisonment?” “Yes,” they answered, without changing expression. “It’s hard for a judge to sentence young boys like you to , life in prison,” Judge Baker said. “Bui society will not tolerate youths running around with revolvers, staging holdups. I must sentence you to life in prison.” >

Led Back to Cells

Without uttering another word, the two youths were manacled and led back to the County Jail. “You see, Judge,” Gillean explained after entering his plea, “I was hungry. I met Everett in the Traction Terminal Monday afternoon. I told him that if I had a gun I could get something to eat.” “I told him I had a gun,” Irwin testified. “I took him out in the alley and showed it to him. Then we decided to pull a holdup to get money for something to eat.” “Were you sober?” Judge Baker asked. “Yes,” they replied.

Parents Are Dead

Gillean also said that both his parents were dead and that he wandered to Indianapplis from his home in Duffield, Va. Irwin said he came here from Louisville, where he had a job in a grocery. He decided he wasn’t making enough money, he said, and came here to get a better job. The youths held up Condee Austin, 1304 Polk St., Tuesday night and forced him to drive them to Lafayette. They were captured by State Police in Hammond yesterday and returned here last night. They also confessed robbing Fred Gustino, 39, of 112 W. North St, another cab driver, Monday night, according to Detective Lieutenant Donald Tooley of the local police.

Expected 15 Years

Interviewed later in the jail, Irwin said: “Today is my 22d birthday—and what a surprise package I got for a present! We didn’t expect to get more than 15 years. I guess we just didn’t know what we were getting into when we made that taxi driver take us to Lafayette. We thought it would be just plain robbery if we were caught.” Gillean seemed more dejected than his friend. He said he had gone only through the sixth grade in schonl. Irwin spent one year in high school, he said. Detectives said both men denied they were involved in the murder of William Ross, 30-year-old taxi driver, whose bullet-riddled body was found on Fall Creek Parkway near 44th St. early Sunday morning. Austin had told police the youths talked of the slaying Tuesday night when they entered his cab here. Police ballistics experts performed tests today with a '38-caliber revolver taken from one of the youths. Lieut. Tooley said after the tests that it was not the weapon which fired the shots that killed Ross.

This Section Hardest Hit by

4 : MT. CARMEL

"WATER STILL RISING IN Kk

INCENNES)

Flood

i in

asi 33! For

* PETERSBURG

)

#& PRINCETON

OWENSVILLE

-PATOKA Riv

€r;

| it

Hr BOONVILLE

7 NENANSVILLE |

Letsaaras LEV EE

In the detail map of the worst Indiana flood dis-

trict, shown above:

Figure 1 is the Brevort Levee system. Figure 2 is the Plass Ditch Levee, part of the

rR, : oc Va 0 SN

or 0 ). ¢

Brevort system, which broke and through which wa-

ter is pouring to inundate souther;. Knox County.

Figure 3 is the levee around H::leton that broke last night and flooded one-third of the town.

LEVEE THREAT HERE INCREASES

Protective Line of Poles to Ease Current Breaks.

High water and a break in the protective line of telephone poles floated along the west bank, increased the seriousness of the White River levee’s condition today, according to engineers. A line of telephone poles chained together to ease the current from the west levee south of W. Washingten St., broke loose at one end. Workers tried to fish it back into position. Meanwhile, junked auto bodies were dumped into the river, work on the temporary jetty continued and water, raised above last night's level by rains, poured over the dam, which yesterday was a foot above water in places. Workers were forced to abandon all efforts to blast a dam between Washington St. and Oliver Ave., and today they concentrated on building a temporary jetty.

Flood Dramatizes Vast Loss of Land by Erosion

BY JOE COLLIER

The flood today dramatized for Indiana farmers aiid landowners the story of a huge economic loss caused annually by watei erosion. In a wry joke, State Forestry Department officials (aid: “Waters of Indiana’s rivers today are just a little too thin to plow,

and a good deal-too thick to drink.”

Today and for several days pas

lations showed, the Wabash River,

the Patoka River have been steal-©-

ing priceless topsoil on a grand

scale. They have been taking this soil out of the state as rapidly as would 4000 'one-ton trucks, each making a round trip hourly from Indiana farms to the Ohio River, E. P. Wilson, assistant State Forester, said. “The Wabash River at normal,” he said, “carried 250 cubic yards (each cubic yard a one-ton truck load) downstream. It is a conservative ' estimate that the Wabash, each branch of the White and the Patoka carry 1000 cubic yards an hour each when waters are this high.” It has long been established by conservation engineers that nature requires 500 years to grind rocks and

President Must Have Been Proud as CCC

t, State Forestry Iiepartment calcuboth forks of the White River and

mix decayed plant life into one inch of top soil. | : The loss down [Indiana streams of this topsoil is mgstly a loss to posloriss, However, &4il engineers last eek at Purdue University told farmers that prodiiction capacity of Indiana farms hag declined steadily since the World] War and they designated water erosion as the greatest single fact4r in this decline. Mr. Wilson sail that the best calculations of soil engineers are

that 200 years ago flood rains of the proportions we havi had in the last 10 days would hive swollen the rivers only slightly, and would have inundated only a ginall fraction of the lowlands now 'inder water.

Swept By

By THOMAS L. STOKES Times Special Write

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21.—In May; 1865, a mcnth and a half after the assassina.isn of Lincoln, the Armies which hav preserved the Union passed in review before President Andrew Johnson. On the first day there swept down Pennsylvania Ave. the resplendent Army of the Potomac. Proud of its final victory at Appomattox over the hungry and tattered army of Robert E. Lee, it was booted, spurred and polished, a feather in its hat, cocky and conscious. of its line and its discipline. The next day was set aside for the Army of the West, the farm hands and plowboys who had followed Sherman through Tennessee ani across Georgia and the Carolinas in pursuit of the elusive Johnson. " The boys were a tough, straightshooting rough-and-ready lot, but

a bit short on parade and the finer |

voints of discipline, at least in the

some reason to think so from the fist fights they had started the night before with the “dandies” of the Army of the Potomac. His sleep that night, therefore, wds not entirely peaceful and it was with.some qualms next day that he set out on horseback, at the head of his legions—whose uniforms still -d the color and smell of Carolina swamps.

He was afraid to look back, but finally, just before turning the Treasury corner to lead his Army past the White House, he could not resist the temptation. He looked. Back of him, line after line, in perfect step, their ranks straight, they came—doing their noblest for their commander. Tears came into Sherman's eyes and with implicit confidence he faced the test. Franklin D. Roosevelt must have had such a feeling for a few moments during the Inaugural Parade. The fine-looking cadets of - the Military Academy swung -past, their

Sas Wi AY

opinion of their leader, and he had |

lines true, marching as one inan

with a single gun. In their steps followed the splendid young men of the -Naval Academy, trained to a fine edge. Then came the boys of the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps. From a distance, they were a drab blur against the rain. They came nearer, but not with the precision of West Point or Annapolis. They appeared as individuals rather than as a machine-like unit. Long and short, fat and lean, helter-skelter. The vanguard, the little group out in front corresponding to the outpost of commanding officers in the military and naval units, was a sight to behold. But the laugh choked back in your throat.

All sizes they were, ranging from a stocky youngster under 5 feet to a gawky, raw-boned fellow whe looked as if he would be at home with a squirrel gun in Tefinessee’s mountains. Then the solid ‘panies paraded by.

i 4

column of com-

They tried to keep step, and were fairly successful. 5 DE

acked the squareness of West Point J A Their hands swung loosely. But the spirit was there. They marched proudly, if not skillfully. There was a zecognition of is when someone sald: ry march better than all the rest.” « For they didn’t. There was a company of Negroes, all sizes. As it swung past the President, eyes right, a- half-pint Negro in the rear rank poked out his chest and gave the situation everything he had of military bearing. is is a time of peace. Our conflict has been an economic conflict. These boys, and millions like them, once were the casuals of that conflict. They knew what it was to stand in the rain in a line that moved slowly, with no pretense of precision, past a window where someone

Editorial, Page 14; Photos of Inaugural, Page 8.

ladled out soup. Htndreds of thoustands of them hive been taken from the street coiners, the poolrooms, the bread Ji‘ies, and put to work in the forests, | Many of them have gone from tls course which built up their bodits and restored their morale into joiss.

President Must H:ve Been Proud Franklin D. Roos:velt must have been a little proud Of them as they marched by. i And back of théin came young ‘men and young wimen from the National Youth Adi inistration. In this was the rcinauguration of Mr. Roosevelt synibolized, rather than in display, foi it is the rehabiliation of casuils of all sorts which has been th¢ theme of his first Administration and which, he told the nation ye:lerday, will be the theme of his seciind. “If I know aught <f the spirit and purpose of our natiin, we will not listen to comfort, oiportunism and timidity,” he shout:l h the rain from the front

y: on,’

of the Capitol. | tinued

ADDSTO

OX COUNTY

RAIN CONTINUES,

DANGER;

4500 HOMELESS

THE INDIANA FLOOD SITUATION

INDIANAPOLIS—Rain forces abandonment of dam blast. ing operations; construct temporary jetty in White

River.

HAZELTON—Situation may become critical if rains con. tinue; one-third of town under water.

DECKER—Breaks in Plass Ditch section of Brevort Levee inundate soutliern portion of Knox County; 4500 ree

ported homeless.

PRINCETON—Water system days’ supply on hand.

out of commission; only two

EVANSVILLE—Peak of Ohio River flood not expected until next week; lowlands under water.

RICHMOND—Whitewater River overflows, forces families

to high ground.

Hazleton Talks About “Worst Flood in History Here.”

By SAM TYNDALL Times Staff Writer

HAZLETON, Ind., Jan. 21. —1It is raining here this afternoon and White River is rising, One-third of the town already is under water, business has halted, the water

‘| supply has been polluted and

there is only one trunk tele-

phone wire in operation.

People are standing around in doorways talking about the “worst flood situation here in history.” The U. S. river stage. marker is isolated on a sand bar, under water and can’t be read, but the operator guessed that .it was around 31 feet. They brought a U. S. Coast Guard boat, 20 feet long, here today from Chicago. It came on a railroad flat car. They backed the train onto a siding that was under water, and launched it from train to . river. Most of the people of the town watched. A woman called long distance from Vicksburg Hill, highest place in the southern part of Knox County, to tell Coast Guards here that everything will be all right if the Brevort Levee doesn't break further, as it threatens to. If it breaks, she said, then Vicksburg Hill will go under water and everybody will be in danger. She said the lowland farmers have climbed the hill, bringing their livestock, and that they are having trouble feeding all the cows and horses as it is.

If the levee breaks seriously, and

threatens the highlands, Coast Guardsmen said they would ride the crest in their gasoline boats to remove those drivem from their homes. When the water goes out, if that happens, they'll have to pick up their boats, cart them to a train and ship them back to Chicago. Protect Railroad Bank “They began to put sandbags along the banks of the C. & E. I. Railroad,

only communication to this town. If

that should go, the town would be cut off from all sides, and there might not be enough food, town officials said. It was pretty hard to get the restaurant girls to leave fhe front door long enough to cook me a sandwich in the kitchen, but she did after I assured her it was going to rain a long time yet. Nobody else did any work today except flood work, and there wasn’t much of that to be done. To get here it was necessary to walk two and a half miles along the railroad tracks from Decker. It rained all the way. We had to skip ties across two bridges, and the river waters looked pretty treacherous below.

LEWIS AND MARTIN TO MEET PERKINS

Occupations of Plants Chief Handicap, Claim.

By United Press WASHINGTON—Secretary Perkins to confer with Homer Martin and John Lewis. FLINT—Flint Alliance assails leadership. Arraignment of four strikers on riot charges due today. Buick plant closed. DETROIT — Chrysler closes four plants because of glass shortage.

By United Press a WASHINGTON, Jan. 21.—Secretary of Labor Fraces Perkins, striving to end the impasse in auto strike negotiations, arranged to meet with John L. Lewis and Homer Martin, president of the United Automobile Workers, this afternoon. The meeting was spranigod shortly after Miss Perkins ounced that the chief stumbling block toward resumption of negotiations was conoccupancy of General 5) by d

Near Record Heights May Come, Say, U. S. Officials.

By LEO DAUGHERTY - Times Staff Writer

HAZLETON, Ind., Jan. 21, —If rains continue, flood waters in this section of Indiana may rise to near record heights, the U. S. Weather Bureau this afternoon warned residents of this flood-bound town.

Already one-third under water, Hazleton was the pivotal point of the flood ' today . that coursed through rich Knox County farm lands. Lands to the southwest of here were in imminent danger of severe inundation—even normally high lands—if a break that threatens in the Brevort Levee system south of Decker materializes this after noon or tonight. It was estimated that 4500 Hoosiers are homeless now. The Weather Bureau , forecast further rain for tonight and tomorrow, changing to snow possibly tomorrow. } The Weather Bureau today said that in the last 24 hours, 1.50 inches fell at Terre Haute; 1.31 at Vincennes; 1.89 at Mount Carmel; 2.18 at New Harmony; 1.90 at Elliston; 1.65 at Edwardsport; 250 at Seymour; 2.30 at Scottsburg; 2.13 at Shoals; and 2.30 at Petersburg.

Whitewater Rising

A levee around this town broke last night. Two more spots in the Brevort system were threatened today by additional waters in White River, and approximately 50 square miles of Knox County farm land now is under water.

Part of the levee had been constructed for several years, but most of it had been thrown up hastily for this particular emergency. It was semicircular in snape. The levee here broke last night at about 10:30. It was a levee approximately 500 feet long, 15 feet thick at the bottom and 10 feet at the top, and eight feet high, built to protect the town. When it broke, a wall of water rolled into the west end of the town, witnesses said. Persons living there aiready had moved out, and today some of their homes were standing in six feet of water. The force of the eseaping water did considerable property damage, witnesses said. However, the break in the levee, which was on the south side of the river and which is not connected with the extensive Brevort system on the north side of the river, will not flood a great deal of territory. - It will flood only Hazleton, where= as the two breaks in the Plass Ditch. section of the Brevort Levee system, near Decker, are flooding the whole southern end of Knox County. It is estimated that more than 50 square miles are under water between two or three inches to three or four feet deep, and he calculated

that, conditions remaining the same

(Turn to Page Three)

HOURLY TEMPERATURES 6am... 34 10a. m... 33 Tam... 33 11am... 34 8a. m... 33 12 (Noon) 34 9a m... 33 1pm... 34

TIMES FEATURES ON INSIDE PAGES

22 Society ......