Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 December 1937 — Page 17
5 Bishi Indions: — Ernie Pyle
‘Wanderer Finds Self All at Sea, But Gets Chance to Explore Boat And Pick Out Quiet Dining Spot.
2 AZoM S. S. LURLINE (First day out), :
Dec. 9.—It seems to me that all pas-
_ sengers, on their first day at sea, are un-
happy. : “They don’t know anybody else. They " haven’t got onto the ship’s routine yet. Many have never been on a ship before, and don’t know ‘how to act or what to do. They wander around lonesomely, and look as
though they wished they hadn’t come. In fact they feel all at sea. (Pardon me for dropping that in. I just couldn’t ‘help it.) Even the most timid and retiring person feels aA urge to strike up an acquaintanceship at sea, and is unhappy until he does. They're all dying to speak to each thet, bus they're all afraid. $ Of course there’s always the sea= going show-off, who wants everybody to know he’s an old hand at ship travel. You see him running Mr. Pyle around the decks, and darting into “gall the ship’s lounges every few minutes’ so. people can see how “at home” he is on a ship. “He Engels clothes three times a day, and is very familiar with the officers, and he always knows what ‘speed were making and how soon it will get warm. ‘He's another reason most people stay in their cabins the first day out. It is cold this first day. at sea. Much colder than on on land in southern California. The wind is cutting amp. Those who have. already started their 3 ane tting in steamer chairs and blankets don’t enjoy it much, |
Ernie Looks Over the Boat
“Up ‘ill ‘now I've been afraid to leave my cabin, for fear I'd get lost and never find my way back. “This ship is- that big. There are six decks for the passengers, and I don’t know how many more below wat, for freight and engines and stuff. They say the ship has nearly 600 people on it. -There’s nobody important on board except Johnny smuller and mes He hasn't been around to call
day, between waves of nausea, I did explore the boat [a little. On the boat deck (that’s the top one) jereé are a tennis court, a badminton court and lots of shuffleboard courts. he next deck below that is all for polite recreation.| There’s an immense bright “pavilion,” where play games in the daytime and dance at night." : ere is a bar, with a free lunch. And a library with|big deep reading chaiis. And a writing room; all very| beautiful. And a lounge or social hall, where they have tea-concerts, and movies and games. the dining room there are big tables for six and |eight, and-‘little tables for two. Each one has flowers on it, and a card in a silver holder saying B-7-or G-9 or something, so the people will know where to eat. Ours is a little table called D-2-X. . .It-is customary for the celebrities on a ship to be assigned fo the captain's table. But I asked the ad waiter if he would be willing to overlook this pm and assign us to some small spot in a modest gk. The head waiter was very obliging, and did so.
y Diary By Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt
Help Feed Birds to Save Them From Rigors “of Winter Weather.
ASHINGTON, Wednesday—I{ is hard to believe here, where it is rather mild today, that upstate New York is enveloped in snow. But I suppose as the paper predicts cold weather for the East and South, by (tomorrow we shall find winter weather here, too.
Ever sin¢e IT'read the account of how exhausted the s are when they reach their destination after their migration from the North, I have wondered if there is any way in which their habits might be changed. we all saw to it that they had enough to eat. I think at besides feeding our squirrels this winter, we will get some advice on the best things to put out to atact and keep as many birds as possible. Today I received a funny message from a gentleman who is interested in housing. It appears that on the day I spent in Cleveland, O., I walked so fast and 5 so much, I left everyone exhausted, particularly poor newspaper photographers who had to carry : eir heavy cameras around with them and who practically had to run from place to place. It is & mistake to learn to move about quickly when young, you never get over it!
lans to Judge Poster Contest | Mr. de Lancey Kountze came down from New York to lunch with me and to ask me whether I would serve on a poster contest committee in which young artists are allowed to compete. I know I have
no business to take on anything more, even for next -
May, bgt there is something rather exciting about
seeing what young artists can do with an idea, and sol think I will serve. : _Another gentleman came to see me about a foundation which he would like to start to make our young people realize the fact that the country now recognizes success as service to the community as a whole. I think he has the germ of a real idea, but whether his plan is & practical one remains to be seen. I believe a number of people will haye to go over it before anything definite can be decided. Today I saw the drawings for the idea which is to be used in the Federal Court of the World's Fair in New York City. The architects have conceived
something really very beautiful and I look forward
to seeing it carried out.
New Books Today
Public Library Presents—
N BREAKING INTO PRINT, edited by Elmer Adler, an editor of the Colophon magazine, 20 famous writers—among them Sherwood Anderson, Pearl Buck, Theodore Dreiser, Sinclair Lewis, H. L. Mencken and Hugh Walpole—discuss authorship, particularly the experience of seeing their work published for the first time. The articles, written with the freedom of the informal essay. are supplemented by letters from the authors in response to a questionnaire concerning their methods of work. Each author has supplied autobiographical data; 15 have contributed illustrative sample pages of manuscript. i These authors “who, having reached firm ground, pause and offer to share their experience with others who have. done no more than-dream -of ‘breaking into. - print’ ” have produced a unique book, stimulating and informative. ’ nn $i... JFTEEN years on the: African veld srevured Stuart Cloete to write THE TURNING WHEELS (Houghton), a novel of the great trek of the Boers from the settled Cape colony to the Transvaal. Fiery-tempered, intrepid, lusty Dutchmen, they took their horses, their cattle, their sheep, into the land of the Kaffirs and Zulus, driving their wagons until they found lush pastures and rich fields away from the meddling of the English. The story centers | in the beautiful Sannie; her elderly husband, Hendrik van der Berg, who was possessed by a passion for in-' crease in his family and his herds; and Zwart Piete ‘Plessis, her lover, who broke away from the peace- - life of the farmers to win fame as a hunter and fighter. More than this, however, it is the story of a passialists. earthy people, their battle with a wilderfalse 4 sehse of security in the midst of the
the valley in which they settled, swept
Perhaps they would not mind the cold if |
By David Diefz
Times Science Editor
heavens.
miles away.
turies will probably be answered in months when the new telescope is put to
work. An object on the moon as large as the World War Memorial will be revealed by the new telescope. With the new telescope, astronomers will know the mountain ranges of the moon with greater accuracy than geographers know the mountain ranges of the earth. ‘What is the moon made of? Do changes take place in the moon? Are there any traces of moisture, atmosphere or vegetation in the deep clefts and valleys of the moon? Did the moon originate in material torn from the earth where the Pacific Ocean now exists? . ° ; “These questions, astronomers feel certain, will be answered with the aid of the new 200-inch telescope. 2 8 8 STRONOMICAL knowledge has grown by leaps and -bounds in the 20th Century because new big telescopes were : made available. More’was learned about the universe since 1900 than was known in all the previous centuries. Our present knowledge of the moon rests upon - what has been confirmed with the -aid of the
. 100-inch telescope at Mt. Wilson.
The new 200-inch telescope will
Side Glances—By Clark
Telescope to Reveal Secrets of Heavens
(First of a Series)
~
MAGINE that suddenly, as you stood in Indianapolis, the moon was set down at Lebanon. you would then get of the earth’s daughter with your unaided eye is essentially that which astronomers will get when the 200-inch telescrope to be erected on Mt. Palomar in California is finally completed and turned upon the
The view which
The moon is 240,000 miles away. The new telescope ~ will divide that figure by about 10,000 and show the moon as it would 1ook 1 to the unaided eye if it were only 25
Problems that have troubled astronomers for cen-
have a mirror double the diameter of the 100-inch. This will give it four times the surface and as a result of improvements in design, about 10 times the power. The 100-inch telescope has discovered that the moon is a lifeless object, devoid of air and water, covered with great mountain ranges and great craters resemsbling extinct volcanoes.
But®* many problems remain to be solved. One, as already indicated, is that traces of moisture and perhaps vegetation exist in deep valleys and clefts. Some astronomers think that they see tiny changes in these valleys. Others disagree. The 200-inch . telescope should solve the problem. Another mystery is the nature of the craters. While some appedr to resemble extinct volcanoes, others seem to be too large. They are more like circular plains sur-
_rounded by rings of mountains.
Not only the moon, but. the planets as well, will begin to yield their secrets to the new telescope. For generations men have asked whether or not the earth is the
‘only inhabited planet in. the
heavens. Opinion has varied back and forth. > 8 2 2 ODAY astronomers think that only Venus or Mars exhibit the possibilities of life as we know it. Little Mercury is so close to the sun that its surface is as hot as that of a blazing stove. Jupiter,
{
‘Ibe his wife.
i{ symbolizes.
At the upper left is an’ artist’s drawing of how the gigantic 200-
inch telescope will loek when completed and in use. At the upper right .
is a view of the northern half of the moon as it appears in the 100inch, telescope, the largest now in existence. Note the mountain ranges and craters. Below is Saturn, the ringed planet, and Mars, which some astronomers think is inhabited. The polar cap of ice on Mars can be
discerned as a bulge.
Saturn, and the more distant planets are so far away their temperatures are far below zero. = -°
Venus has been called the
earth’s twin sister. It is approxi-
mately the size of the earth and seems to resemble it in many ways. But in many ways the planet is one of mystery. Nothing is known concerning the surface of the planet. The telescope reveals a smooth white face upon which occasionally dark spots appear for brief periods. Astronomers are rather certain that what they see ‘is the outer side of a dense layer of clouds and that the dark spots are thinner places in the clouds. -
Mention of Mars brings up
thoughts of the canals of Mars. Do they exist or not? Some astronomers insist that they can see canals on this planet. Others deny it. The 200-inch telescope should settle the problem. Present indications are that Mars has an atmsophere though not one as dense as that of the" earth. Clouds are frequently seen in it. These may be water: vapor or dust. Thermocouple measure= ‘ments indicate a fairly high temperature in the daytime, about
A WOMAN'S VIEW
By Mrs. Walter Ferguson ~~. ~ “Count her among the beautiful and brave . ‘Her turquoise mausoleum in % each wave.” :
O ends Nathalie Crane's lovely |
poem to Amelia Earhart, and that poem serves as a poignant in-
. equator.
50 degrees Fahrenheit, at the But temperatures at night drop to about 40 below zero.
T is now assumed by many astronomers that there is plant life on Mars and that the dark markings are regions covered with vegetation. Polar caps on Mars are undoubtedly ice.
While astronomers are eagerly waiting the: opportunity of studying these and other problems with the 200-inch telescope, skilled mechanics at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena -are ' proceeding with the grinding - and polishing of the great
_ 200-inch mirror.
It will take at least two years to finish this task. The telescope tube and mounting are already completed. They were made by the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co. in its Philadelphia plant and shipped to California by boat by way : of the Panama Canal. I saw the telescope and tube and mounting while they were being constructed in- Philadelphia.
troduction to “Last Flight,” which| |
has her name an@ bright face look-
{ing up at us from the cover of a
compilation of notes written by the
lost aviatrix about her flying. career |.
and her tragic final journey. The publishers are Harcourt-Brace, and the notes were arranged by her husband, George Palmer Putnam. Miss Earhart says of her husband, “Without his ‘help and encouragement, I could not have attempted what I have. Ours has been a contented and a reasonable partner-
| ship, always with work and play
together, conducted under a satis-
“| factory system of dual control.” ". 'A husband either helps his wife | ‘to do what she can—in the direction | . her talents may lie—or he arbitrarily
decides she shall do nothing but In the face of such a decision, the ambitious person faces a critical decision. She must not marry at all or, if married, she must disobey her husband, and con-
vention then demands that their
union shall be broken. And the woman doomed to. enforced celibacy or’ to extramarital sex life is. a ha because woman's ature cries out for everything that the word “home”
“A reasonable parthemships i
Amelia Earhart describes her mar-
capped woman, |:
ed Enter RAE aR a
I was shown a great circular, cage-like structure built of mas= sive steel girders.. It was. 22 fee in diameter and .12- feet high. This® was :- merely = the structure telescope tube. The tube itself is 22 feet in diameter and 60 feet long. In other words, it is as high as a six-story building. It swings in a great cradle-like mounting or yoke which is as wide as ‘the height of a four-and-a-half-story building. Contrary to a popular belief, the giant celestial telescopes do not magnify. Their function is to gather light, focusing it by the lens system of the instrument. In most of - the telescopes: the. ob= server does not: Jook directly
through a smaller “pilot” telescope. inch lens, atmospheric conditions must be almost perfect. The least haze in the air might spoil the observation. 9% 8 2
T the same. time : that the
mirror is : being completed,
the work of ‘building the ob= servatory on Mt. Palomar is going forward. A tract of 600 acres has been acquired on the' moun=tain top which is 93 miles south-
west of Pasadena and 50 miles t
north of San- Diego.
The building of the 200-inch 1
telescope was first suggested by
Dr. George Ellery Hale, honorary:
director of the Mt. Wilson Observatory. The suggestion appealed to John D. Rockefeller Jr., and the Rockefeller Foundation undertook to defray the cost. It
is estimated that: the completed . telescope and observatory will rep
resent an investment of six million dollars. Mt. Wilson has’a 60-inch telescope as well as the 100-inch telescope. Research work is planned so that each telescope is used for the work it does best. In the same way, it is expected that the
200-inch telescope will in no sense:
end the usefulness of the 100inch telescope. But it will do the things which are beyond the power of-the 100-inch telescope.
NEXT—How the new telescope’
will be turned upon the problems of our galaxy of stars in the Milky Way.
J asper—By Frank Owen
“| drowning in White River.
super: which will top-. the |
For the use of the 200--
| sight,
questions, answer this one: - is Jasper? Is the author ga-ga or is it just an ordi-
Citas Matter Ss
By Anton, Scherrer A
Hallowsen's Past, but Here's Story Of Those Remarkable Spooks: Who
Used to Dance in Haunted House.
T'S funny. how old, habits. persist. | Last night again I pulled the bed covers over my head. I always do it when the. wind starts blowing in from the west on a winter's night. And so would you, if you knew as much about the haunted house on Ww. Merrill St., as I do. Fifty years ago when Iwas a" boy, it wasn’t ‘anything out of the ordinary to see the ghosts of Indiane
| apolis come trooping eastward from
the river bottoms and enter the Merrill St. house by way of the second story windows. They went right through the glass. When they got .
- inside, they gathered in a semicir‘cle, like an old-fashioned- minstrel -
exchanged experiences they met. Some-
show, and since the last time
‘times they had .enough to. say to. . . keep them there until 3 o'clock in
the morning. : : Like a minstrels show, too, the Ms. Scherrer ghosts were all men. I happen to know that because an old Negra who worked for a nearby junk dealer on S. Capitol Ave. -told me so. For some, reason, the
ghosts allowed the Negro fo.attend their meetings. He ‘was the only human being I ever knew who did. We
kids had to be content to see the ghosts disappear through the windows. It was the Negro, too, who told me why the ghosts came from fhe river bottoms. They were the spirits of men who had been drowned in White River. It sounded reasonable enough, because up to- that time nobody around here had ever heard of a woman Which. brings me to the terrible night one-winter when the wind blew in from the west the way it did the other day.
‘Woman Joins Ghostly Group On this | | particular night the ghosts came troop-
ing in from the river bottoms as was their habit, and
took their accustomed places in the semicircle, The old Negro was there, t0o,-and it didn’t -take him long to discover that the circle was bigger than usual... , He. didn’t think much: about it-at the time, and ate tributed the big attendance to the kind of night the . ghosts liked. About 2 o'clock in the morning, how. - ever, the Negro got another surprise. This time he
‘heard a new voice. It was that of a woman. *
.. Well, when the Negro heard a woman’s voice among the ghosts, he rushed right over to: the Engine House at Merriil- ‘St: and Russell “Ave. and told the firemen about it. That wasn’t. anything out of the ordinary, because the firemen were always the first to hear anything ‘new about fhe haunted house, ‘They were the Negro’s most sympgthetic listeners. . This time, however, the firemen cdbldn’t believe théir ears. They thought the old Negro had gone plum crazy, and so they put him to bed and watched over him all night. Next morning they. gave him black coffée, and told him not to breathe a word about his experience, least of all about the woman
| ghost. into § the “eye,” ‘but -studies “His. ‘vhject.
It couldn’t; be kept a dere, however, becaus the next day “the newspapers had a front page ace count of a woman who jumped off the Washington
St. bridge and got drowned in White River. As near as I can figure out, the woman’s ghost turned up in Merrill St. two hours afer her body went
~under the water. -
Jane forda n— Frivolity, Not Jealousy, Blamed By Jane for Boy's Indifference. EAR JANE JORDAN—When I was: working in an office as a substitute I met a boy. who worked in the same building. He took an. ‘instant liking to me
and asked me many times to zo out with him but he didn’t appeal to me. I showed him a picture of my
girl friend and he didn’t show any interest in her at
first but when I kept refusing to go with him, he began to inquire about her. One evening: I saw him and spoke to him and’he just gave me a cold state. Then he caught up with me and asked: me’ ‘where my girl
‘ friend lived. She is going to be married. I care for "this boy very much now-.and told him to come and
‘see me sometime. Somehow I feel that he likes me and is trying to make me jealous.. Hdyever, I would like to have your ‘opinion on this cas UNCERTAIN.
~ Answér—If he wanted to see you badly enough he
‘would swim the Hellespont or scale Mt, Everest to do
so. Boys do not take round about or elaborate methe ods of making their girl friends ‘jealous. They're much more direct. I imagine the: ‘boy likes you well enough when he sees you, but he is so young and frivolous that any. pretty girly will do. It's “out of out-of- ming” with. him. : Dons take" him so seriously. : Yo » 8 Dear Jane Jordan—You are so good. at answering Who, why and what for
nary case of flub dub? Now that I have unveiled my innermost secret to you I feel very light hearted. Yea, I feel that reckless abandon for ringing doorbells, .
| chasing fire wagons and eating chocolate cake. Top-
dle-00. JIM. P.
Answer—Jasper and I do not: understand each other, but I've done yeoman service. among my friends
‘I'] who do understand him in the effort to discover who,
: you but Jasper defeats me. I give up
‘|: why and what for Jasper. I ¢an get chuckles from the
esoteric who pity-me because I don't ‘belong; to (the charmed circle but who can’t tell me how to ‘get in,
| Some of the answers I received are:
“Little Jasper _zepresents the highest Peak which fantasy has ever reached.”
«It wouldn’t be-good except that it i550 darned. ime possible.” ; _ If you have any “love troubles, Tl be glad to help >
JANE JORDAN.
Put your problems in a letter fo Jane Jordan, who will answer your questions in this column daily. ‘
los oO Keele
ENNA, Dec. 9.~-0f course ‘there's not going to be war in Europe. Those submarines, seaplanes and guns at Cherbourg: Were just rehearsing for the Fourth of July. Those companies of Polis marching down a Paris
: : street must have been movie extras.
. In Budapest today that air raid is not only going to drive people to cellars, bu they're: going to bomb
I and cripple water works and electric light ‘companies
Birposdy Just to see How Jong 1 wil tafe them 5 1 Ie ! So it can’t: be preparation for war. ething to Christmas and