Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 April 1937 — Page 10

a FROM INDIANA

ERNIE PYLE

NEW KENSINGTON, Pa., April 24,—This’ town is about 20 miles north of Pitts-

burgh, and so far-as I can see it exists al- |

most solely because of the Aluminum Co. of America. \

\ One of the: Aluminum Co.’s biggest plants is here. It employs around 8000 people, which must be about everybody \in town plus a few relatives over the ridge. On the way up I asked the aluminum

man to tell me something about the background of aluminum, and

for goodness’ sake to make it sim--

ple. This is what he toid me: There is more aluminum tian any other metal in the earth’s surface. Iron is second. © But aluminum, despite its commonness, wasn’t even discovered until 1825. And it is always so intricately mixed up with other elements that after they discovered it they couldn’t find a way to separate more than a few lumps of it.

Mr. Pyle And in 1879 a young man from

Baltimore, in Paris on his honeymoon, bought his

bride a pair of opera glasses. The jeweler offered to mount them either in platinum or aluminum, for the same price, The young man made a very bad mistake. He chose aluminum, which sells today for 20 cents a pound! Aluminum was discovered by a Dane. Researches on a cheap way to separate aluminum from other elements in the earth were carried on by French and German sciefitists for half a century. But they couldn't crack the nut. And ‘then in 1838 it happened. pened twice. A young student at Oberlin College, in Ohio, dischvered a process for reducing aluminum by shooting electricity through the ore. It is the process used today, and it is the key to the whole aluminum industry. a 8 =

Discoveries Made Simultaneously

IS name was Charles Martin Hall. © He made Ws discovery on Feb. 23, 1886. And in that same month, exactly the same process was discovered in France by a young man named Heroult. Neither knew of the other. Their processes were identical. Each was 22 years old at the time. Each became immensely rich, They never met until 1912, when Heroult came to America’ to see Hall given a medal for his great work. Both men died in 1914. Hall peddled his revolutionary discovery in vain for awhile. He almost became the traditional inventor with the seat of his pants out. 'But in 1888 he found help, and the Pittsburgh Reduction Co. was started. In 1907 it became the Aluminum Co. of America. Aluminum today ranks fifth in tonnage among all metals. It is used in everything from wrist watches to entire railroad trains; from whiskybottle caps to the mooring mast atop the Empire State Building. They've made 350 million pots and pans out of it. Aluminum, they say, is the most workable of all metals. ” » ”

Aluminum Made From Bauxite

HE ore from which aluminum is made is called bauxite. The Aluminum Co. gets all its ore from Arkansas and from British Guiana. The Aluminum Co. ships this ore to four reduction plants—at Alcoa, Tenn. Badin, N. C., and Massena and Niagara Falls, N. Y. It takes a lot of electricity to reduce the ore to aluminum, so the plants are built near waterpower. After the ore is smelted and cast into “pigs,” it "is reshipped to the various fabricating plants, to be formed into a thousand things. There are nearly a dozen of these plants. The one here at New Kensington is one of the biggest.

Mrs.Roosevelt's Day

By ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

ASHINGTON, PFriday—I drove my aunt, Mrs. David Gray, around Haines Point yesterday afternoon to enjoy what remains of the cherry blossoms. These double blooms, whieh come later, last much longer than the earlier ones around the basin. To my mind, however, the ones around the basin are more delicate and because of the reflection in the water are doubly beautiful. I think this season of blossoming trees with the very light green of new leaves makes the whole countryside an enchanting spot. The dogwood and the apple blossoms are thrown into even greater relief by their green background and stand out better than the colored blossoms. I never can decide which I like best. I suppose the best way to do in this world is to enjoy everything which gives you pleasure and make no comparisons. After Mr. Forbes Morgan’s funeral this morning, I hope to take a plane for New York in the early afternoon to get to the party to be:given by the seniors of Todhunter School before it is completely over, then I shall go to Hyde Park. I saw a headline ini this morning’s paper which interests me very much. Mr. J. Edgar Hoover has asked the press to help fight crime.- For a long time I have felt that something might be done by the press along these lines. I remember a warden of a prison telling me that the average young criminal whose intelligence might not be very high was particularly pleased when he made the front pages of a newspaper. His concern was often not so much with his punishment as with the fact that he would be considered a “big shot.” I was also told the story of a boy who asked that he might go to the chair walking on his hands, so that the press would record a new and novel way of approaching an execution. I think sometimes the recording of each act which has gone into the perpetration of some crime simply given new suggestions to less fertile minds. I realize that crimes are “news,” but I wonder whether they could not be very briefly recorded. If as much detail as possible were left out, it might be easier for, the arm of the law to proceed in unsolved crimes. :

New Books

PUBLIC LIBRARY PRESENTS—

T= distinction of having three plays running in New York at the same time belongs just now to Maxwell Anderson. HIGH TOR (Anderson House) is his latest to open on Broadway. It is a fantasticrealistic farce-romance, told with charm and freedom that are refreshing and original. The play concerns Van Van Dorn and his inherited bit of mountain, High Tor. In the background are the ghosts of the Dutch crew who lost their ship 300 years ago, and who wait on the mountain for it to return and carry them to their homeland. The shark realtors who are scheming to buy High Tor, the gunmen who bring their loot to the mountain top to hide, and the half-drunk phantom philosopher, all seem quite as appropriate as the steam shovel excavating ground next to Van’s beloved crag.

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“rT HE steady lengthening of the life-span through modern medical research and public health service, furnishes a fresh challenge to niake the added years a blessing and not a curse.” The Rev. Charles Courtenay has had his 87th birthday and is qualified to speak ON GROWING OLD GRACEFULLY (Macmillan). = Mr. Courtenay feels that since he has been put on the shelf he may as well make himself comfortable there and contribute to the happiness of others. He offers a practical course in everyday living, physical, mental, ang spiritual. Old age has its limitations, its privileges, and its duties; live one day at+a time, never let another do for you what you can do for yourself, find something useful to do, don’t attempt to mix with the younger generation, keep intercsted in life and those around you, these are a few of the suggestions offered for an erect and dignified old age. The book is a heartening, wise, and friendly guide, written for his own kind by an old man who has lived gamely and hopes to die cheerfully,

a

In fact, it hap-

NAOT 1)

Second Section

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 1937

Entered ass Second-Class Matter Indianapolis, Ind.

at Postoffice,

"SAVING LAND TO SAVE PEOPLE

This is the fifth and last section of the report of the President's Committee on Farm Tenancy.

S provisions concomitant with those set forth under the heading of recommendations for Federal action, the committee recomfiends to the states measures to improve lease contracts and land-lord-tenant relationships; to modify the taxation of farm lands, and to safeguard the civil liberties of

tenants.

Although the Federal Government can do much to improve conditions of tenant farmers, some of the most fruitful fields of endeavor are under the jurisdiction of state agencies. Much can be done to better the terms and conditions of leasing. Through regulation and education tenant-oper-ators can give greater security of tenure and opportunity to develop and improve their farms and participate in community activities. It is recommended, therefore, that the several states give consideratioh to legislation might well include - provisions such as the following: A. Agricultural leases shall be written. B. All improvements made by the tenant and capable of removal shall be removable by him at the termination of the lease. C. The landlord shall compensate the tenant for specified unexhausted improvements which he does not remove at the time of quitting the holding, provided that for certain types of improvements the prior consent of the landlord be obtained. D. The tenants shall compensate the landlord for any deterioration or damage due to factors over which the tenant has control, and the landlord shall be empowered to prevent ¢ontinuance of serious wastage. E. Adequate records shall be kept of outlays for which either party will claim compensation. FP. Agricultural leases shall be terminable by either party only after due notice given at least six months in advance. G. After the first year payment shall be made for inconvenience or loss sustgined by the other party by reason of termination of the lease without due cause. H. The landlord's lien shall be limited during. emergencies such as a serious crop. failure or sudden fall of prices where rental payments are not based upon a sliding scale. I. Renting a farm on which the dwelling does not meet certain minimum housing and sanitary standards shall be a misdemeanor, though such requirements should be extremely moderate and limited to things primarily connected with health and sanitation such as sanitary outside toilets, screens, tight roofs and other reasonable stipulations. J. Landlord and tenant differences shall be settled by local boards of arbitration, composed of reasonable representatives of both landlords and tenants, whose decisions shall be subject to court review when considerable sums of Toney or problems of legal interpretation are involved. Leasing provisions are strongly governed by custom and frequently fail to become adjusted to changing systems of farming and farm practices. It is, therefore, recommended that state agencies, particularly the Agricultural Extension Service, co-operating with state and local representatives of the Farm

Security Administration, inaugu-.

rate vigorous programs to inform landlords and tenants concerning methods of improving farm leases; and that state agricultural experiment stations adequately support research work to adapt leases to various type-of-farming areas. Research is also needed on the technical application of compensation clauses. For all of these purposes more funds are required; both state and Federal Governments should make early and liberal appropri-

ations - restricted specifically = to

work on improving tenant contracts. Little has yet been done in this field, and in many states little will be done without Federal contributions. It is recommenczd that Federal grants be made to aid states in this work.

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GATE agricultural research and extension services could be helpful in providing ‘groups of tenants—as well as other farm operators—with the benefit of intensive technical aid on the pay-ment-for-service basis successfully pioneered by the University of Illinois. In many areas such a program could be set up and paid for by co-operating groups of tenants, but in other areas it might not be within reach of the poorer tenants unless the service is subsidized. One of the methods suggested for stimulating an increase in the number of family-size owner-op-erated farms is differential taxation favorable to such types of farms and farm ownership. Local studies have shown that, in addition to the objective mentioned, such a policy may be justified by the fact that in some tax jurisdictions there is a tendency to assess family-size farms at a higher rate than larger properties. Preferential tax treatment could be effected only after classification of property. In a good many states classification could be accomplished only by constitutional amendment. - During the past few years there has been agitation in various

.parts of the United States for a

policy of complete or partial tax v.

et”k

rhich .

exemption of small homesteads. At least seven states have already adopted the principle, and bills or resolutions on the subject were introduced in at least 30 states during the 1935 sessions of state legislatures. The policy of differential taxation of farm lands has been employed for many years in Australian commonwealths. 2 # = HE merits and demerits of such policies depend so largely on the particular provisions of the legislation and the special circumstances of:the individual state that the committee does not care to make a recommendation. Differential in favor of small farm properties owned by their operators is an indirect method of attacking problems of tenancy and insufficient as a substitute for more direct measures. : Since uniform adoption by all the states at an early date is improbable, it cannot properly be

This Is Home for This Brown County Child.

urged as a nation-wide means of solving the problem of farm tenancy, but in particular states, if associated with more positive measures of land reform, the steady pressure of differential taxation might exert an influence in favor of family-size farms operated by owners. Within the. past few years tenants, croppers and farm laborers have organized to increase their bargaining power. Members of these organizations assert that they have been frequently denied the rights of peaceful assembly guaranteed them under the Constitution. They assert further that they have been subjected to physical violence and that some have been forced to flee for their lives. We have not had opportunity to investigate these charges at first hand. But frequent press reports of violence in some areas where croppers or migratory laborers make up a considerable portion

Flynn Hits Obscurity of Treasury's Statements

4

By JOHN T. FLYNN Times Special Writer

EW YORK, April 24—To the reader of newspapers the President’s message about his

budgets and his relief funds means nothing. ] follower of Federal finance, who goes behind newspaper reports and looks at Treasury statements, the whole subject is made extremely difficult to follow by the method used by the President in reporting' his financial management. For instance, if you look at the daily Treasury statement of relief expenditures issued April 16, you see the folowing item: “Total expenditures, $5,951,958,872.66.” You have a right to trust that. But if you have an adding machine and a healthy distrust of Treasury statements, you will see that it means something very different. The figure should read: “Total expenditures, $6,035,~ 234,121.27.” This is over 44 million dollars larger than the sum put down. / Why the difference? It is arrived at by means of a strangely indefensible device. The Government has outstanding various large sums due from farmers, banks, railroads —Iloans made during the depression. In the course of the year certain of

To the more constant

these loans have been paid. But to subtract from the actual expenditures the loans repaid and then put down the result as “expenditures” is hardly good financial reporting.

” ” ” N view of this and certain other practices in Treasury reports, it is very difficult to check the President’s statements about his budget plans. But this fact has a very

important bearing on one of the statements of the President about his 1938 budget. As to that he declares that he will be able to balance it by holding down expenditures and by increasing Treasury receipts by liquidating certain assets of the Treasury. This means that the President will make an effort to collect sums due the Federal Government on various kinds of loans made by it. This is entirely proper procedure. When this is done, however, these moneys will be cash assets. The President can use these to pay Government bills, to meet expenditures. But he certainly cannot be permitted to deduct from his expenditures the sums which are paid off with these assets.

RARE VITAMIN FILM

Rare indeed is this enlarged photograph of

5 ct FF Science Service Photo.

Vitamin Bl, found in

whole cereals, green vegetables, fruit, milk and yeast.. Associate Professors W. A. Hynes and Leo Yanowski of Fordham University’s chemistry department took the picture with a two-minute exposure by reflected light at a magnification of 2U diameters. Lack of Vitamin Bl in the diet causes nervous and intestinal malfunctions, loss of appe-

tite and weight,

‘of the rural population, indicate i such allegations cannot be

ignored. A Federal commission, appointed to investigate cohditions among migratory laborers in the Imperial Valley, found substantiating evidence of such practices. The committee strongly recommends that states guarantee to these groups and enforce the rights of peaceful assembly and of organization to achieve their legitimate objectives,

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T also recommends repeal of state laws which make it a misdemeanor to quit a contract while in debt, since such laws abridge civil libertier of tenants and tend to nullify Federal antipeonage acts.

tions, however, the committee is not unaware that in many cases landlords and employers, as well as farm tenants, croppers and laborers, have grievances. Among disadvantaged groups there are not a few individuals who" have neither a responsible attitude in

“|. the fulfillment of their obligations

nor any property that can be attached for nonfulfillment.

For the protection of all interests, it is recommended that the committees of arbitration suggested above be called upon to set< tle disputes and promote better relationships. In a nation composed of 48 states, the Federal Government necessarily must play an important role in aiding and encouraging state action. Such assistance is vital if redsonable unanimity and uniformity are to be achieved in the development of adequate programs for land reform. The committee recommends, therefore, that the Farm Security Administration be given authority and necessary funds to enable it to aid state governments in drafting proper regulatory measures regarding tenant contracts and to stimulate and co-operate in state research and extension work aimed at improving lease contracts. -

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T is obvious that in the extension of the new ownership and rehabilitation ° policies recommended above, the Federal Government. has a direct interest not only in encouraging better lease provisions and improved landlordtenant relationships, but also in assuring itself that the basic legislation of the states makes possible the ,accomplishment of the’ objectives of its own broad program. As recommended above, therefore, adequate funds should be appropriated by the Federal Government to the land grant colleges, and universities to enable them to co-operate. It is recommended also that in selected local areas consideration be given to trying the experiment of including improvements in ‘leases among the conditions of benefit payments under the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act. Improvement of existing leases is one important manner of encouraging soil conservation. If the experiment succeeds, its extension on a broad scale may be worthwhile. Ignorance; no less than poverty and instability, forces many tenant and other disadvantaged families into an inferior relationship to the community. Ignorance, as well as insecurity, is often responsible for failure to adopt enlightened methods of farm operation, particularly of self-help to improve the family’s mode of life. Education can go far toward enabling these poorer farm groups to apply family labor intelligently in improving ‘home, school and community—by repairing, cleaning, and decorating rooms and buildings; repairing and making

| furniture and equipment; plant-

In making these recommenda- :

Peace and Justice for Owner and Tenant Held Duty of States

—R. A. Photo.

ing public grounds and home dooryards; properly selecting, preparing and serving home-pro=-duced food. = = 2 o T is strongly recommended that the rural educational systems of the various states be more definitely aimed at providing the kind of training needed by adult members of disadvantaged farm families as well as children.

At the same time, the needs of the children should not be neglected. The elementary rural schools in many areas are such as to offer little opportunity to children of low-income families. Tax bases are inadequate; school terms are short; attendance legislation is not well enforced; teachers are poorly trained and even more poorly paid; too often methods of instruction are routine and ill calculated to equip the children to improve their environment. This committee prefers to leave to education specialists the question as to the proper contribution of the Federal Government to a better equalization of educational advantages. A number of considerations appear to justify substantial Federal aid. The classes, of farm families now below the margin of security are a principal source of the nation’s population, by reason of the high birth rates prevailing among them, The congregation is given areas of large numbers of such families frequently results in a collective poverty that is a primary obstacle to the provision, from local resources alone, of adequate educational advantages.

No fundamental attack on. the

“problem of the disadvantaged

classes of farmers would be complete without inclusion of measures to improve their general level of health. 2 = #8 O a large extent this is a matter of education in improved dietary practices and personal hygiene, supplemented by more ade-

quate medical service, and more -

ample provision of clinics and public health nursing. The grouping of counties into public health districts appears to be a promising way of improving such services. It is urged that adequate funds be made available under the Social Security Act to take care of the health needs of rural communities, especially. in areas of excessive tenancy. In the preceding pages the committee has made recommendation

for action both by the Federal:

Government and by the governments of the several states. Sturdy rural institutions beget self-reliance and independence of judgment, dependency and incapacity to bear the responsibilities of citizenship. Over wide areas, the vitality of American rural life is daily being sapped by systems of land tenure that waste human and natural resources alike. Security of tenure is essential to the development of better farm Domes and better rural communiies. Vigorous and sustained action is required for restoring the impaired resources on whose conservation continuance of the democratic process in this country to no small extent depends. The final emphasis of this report is consequently on the necessity for action, action to enable increasing numbers of farm families to enter into sound relationships with the land they till and the communities in which they live.

Beginning Monday—'"The Reservoir of Beauty,” a serial on models, their lives and ambitions.

PAGE 9

Our Town

HE same letter that brought me news about Chris Bernloehr, the lamplighter, had a lot more to say about Irish Hill. You'd be surprised to know how news about the Hill has been piling up since St. Pate rick’s Day, when I ran a piece about the place. |. Nearly all the letters agree, by implication at least, that I didn’t do more than scratch the sure face. To tell the truth, I didn’t try to because if I've learned anything about running a column like this, it is that nobody—not even I—can be helpful about subjects of such scope as Irish Hill. Of course, that is no reason why I should have forgotten about Edward Eckel and the Griffin sisters. To talk about Irish Hill and not mention them is like going to Rome and not seeing the Pope. ; Old-timers agree that the sun shone brightest on Irish Hill the day two pretty colleens arrived to live with their brother, Mr. Griffin. They buried one of the col= leens not so long ago, and thers wasn’t a soul that day but what saw the same extraordinary beauty that was hers when she came to live in Indianapolis, She was the mother of Chief of Police Morrissey. As for the colleen’s brother, he turned out to be the father of Patsy Griffin, the priest who now Shepherds the souls of the Church of the Associae ion.

Mr. Scherrer

td 2 2 Three Boys Drowned

HE saddest day to come to Irish Hill was Aug. 19, 1891, when Pogues Run went on one of its cruel rampages. Irish Hill broke down that night when it learned that three of its jolliest little boys had been drowned. George Eckel, a mere youngster and a hero if there ever was one, recoverd one of the bodies under the East St. bridge. Next day his own little brother, 9-year-old Oliver Eckel, was found swept under the viaduct at Washington and Noble Sts. It

took Irish Hill years to get over it. + The Eckel boys were sons of Edward Eckel who came to Irish Hill by way of Tennessee. For 40 years he was the gunsmith of “Uncle” Sammie Beck, who with his son Joseph, ran a shop at 86 (old style) E. Washington St. Some day I'll have to tell you about the old gunsmiths of Indianapolis and the amazing marksmanship of Mr. Beck's customers, because of all - the apocryphal tales handed down, they are the tallest,

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Worked at Arsenal

DWARD ECKEL spent the last years of his life taking care of the guns out at the Arsenal, where Tech High School now stands. | : And here I am caught with only time enough to tell you that Jimmy Sexton and Ownie Bush were delivered to Irish Hill by way of Mrs. Jackman, the nurse who knew more about the mirth and pathos of the old place than anybody else.

A Woman's View By MRS. WALTER FERGUSON oi

KNOW now how Jack felt when he had climbed up the beanstalk and arrived in the Giant's country. Precisely the same awe that filled us—the pretty girl reporter and myself who were conducted about by two gracious gentlemen when we entered the Republic Co. steel mill at Cleveland. Inside the gates everything was solemn and brown and gigantic. Near us, several engines went bumping and snorting about, seeming in a huff over something. Ahead loomed the enormous blast furnaces and the gargantuan sheds where fires glowed, and the acres of machinery. The spaces between the tow= ering structures appeared like miles of tunneled avenues. As a matter of fact they were miles, because the whole thing covers more than 100 acres, even though we were assured it was not one of their bigger plants. : Thirt§-five hundred men were working there that day, but they Ia lees in the vast dise tances surrounding uy. The place seemed almost dee serted. Occasionally away off we could see a little figure moving, like some lost naughty child in a fairy-tale witch’s world. There was machinery everywhere. It crawled under the ground at our feet and hung over us high in the sky. We went inside. In a place that looked as big as a

dirigible hangar only three or four men worked. The gigantic boiler was before us. Suddenly its great door was opened and out poured a volcano of sparks fol- . lowed by a slow-moving river of molten gold. Beauti= ful, never-to-be-forgotten sight! Down it rushed, bubbling, little flames dancing on its surface; dswn through the crooked trough to cascade finally into the enormous vat below which looked like nothing so much as a giant’s porridge bowl. In other sheds the reheated metal appeared in huge, golden, bottle-shaped blocks, which, cooling quickly, turned to tender rose and then to a slate gray. We watched while the great cranes lifted them about, while the wheels and pulleys and belts car=ried them to and fro and the machines pounded and flattened and elongated them. Driving force; terrifying power; steel! This was a man’s world. Here was something with which woman has had nothing to do and where the very atmosphere is hostile to her. I felt again the timidity I exe perienced once when as a very little girl I sneaked into the barber shop and was pierced by the glances of strange males—and father was not among them. Men and steel. They belong to each other. And seeing them together gives one a new respect for their combined strength. i

Your Health

By DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor, American Medical Assn, Journal UBERCULOSIS is caused by a germ first des scribed by the famous bacteriologist, Roger Koch. ‘We know that there are at least four different kinds of tubercle germs. One kind affects human beings primarily; another, cattle; the third affects birds, and the remaining kind cold-blooded animals such as frogs

and. turtles. The germs that affect cattle are most like those

that attack man, but the latter are more dangerous to & human being than to domestic animals, just as the type that infects cattle is more dangerous to domestic animals than it is to man. The cattle type, however, may infeet human bes ings, especially children. Indeed, the bovine or cattle form of tuberculosis is known to be largely responsible for tuberculosis of the bones, joints, and lymph glands of children who, in the past, have been infected by drinking milk from infected cows. Now that this has been recognized as a menace to health, it is customary to control milk supplies by subjecting catile to the tuberculin test and by elim inating from herds cows found to have the disease. In Denmark, which has been most successful in suppressing tuberculosis among cattle, all animals are tested with tuberculin. Those found to be negative are kept in one place and those found to be positive in andther. Calves from cows which react positively are removed immediately after birth and reared on milk of healthy cows. All cows with tuberculosis of the udder are killed and the farmer is reimbursed in an amount equivalent to one-fourth of the meat value of the animal. The cattle found on examination to be tuberculous also ars killed. In this way it is possible to stamp out tue

——ateeed

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berculosis entirely as it exists among cattle.