Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 December 1937 — Page 9

Page PDF (14.11 MB)

Back to issue view

cea Nain

- hd

~starting to warm up today.

- Nigh

From Indiana — Ernie Pyle Weather and Passengers Warm Up:

It Takes Luxury Liner to Reveal Class Consciousness of Americans.

A BOARD S. S. LURLINE, Dec. 11.——Both

the weather and the passengers are In fact, the Passengers are doing "better than the weather.

Little clumps of friendship have sprung

up all’ over the ship, and people seem happier. There's anybody you'd be afraid to speak to now.

The deck chairs are all full, and there are lots of |

walkers. But it isn’t really hot yet. There is a freshness in the air-—not a brisk freshness like the wind on a mountain-top, but a damp’ earthy freshness like the first mornings of spring. People are prematurely wearing their tropical clothes. White pants and sporty coats adorn the handsomer of the men, while beach slacks and gay head-sashes grace the women, who are as yet in no danger of -heat prostration. : : I have noticed there is always a Mv. Pyle little crowd at the back rail, looking down onto the after deck below. Finally I went to see what the attraction was. It was the passengers in first class, standing at the tail and watching the passengers down in cabip class having a good time. The first class watches the cabin class, silently and interestedly; just: as people stand and watch seals in a zoo. The cabin class pays no attention. Cabin class isn’t steerage by any means. Cabin class has a fine dining room, and social halls and swimming tank, and a lot of nice things. It's merely a little cheaper, and it permits a sharp line of distinc- . tion to be awh between human beings—something which Americans decry but demand.

Reading In Deck Chair Is Essential A person can’t even pretend he’s at sea unless he sits'in a deck chair and reads a book or two during the voyage. ‘Might just as well go-back home without a steamship sticker on your luggage. I've disposed of . two books already. One was sent me by. the author. He is a man in Washington, D. C., named Harvey Klemmer. I.have never seen him, but he reads my ‘pieces and" has written me some nice letters. His book was publisked just ‘a few weeks ago, and is called “Harbor ts. » It is the story of a period in Klemmer’s own life, when he was a sailor. It is the foul epic of a sailor’s life dshore. - Going to sea is the interlude for a sailor. His time in port is the meat of life, The average person hasn't the slightest idea what a sailor does when he hits port. Klemmer’s book tells. He lays revolting story on ‘top of revolting story, but with a touch that shows why he is no longer a sailor. And raw as it is, his book is truthful. I know it is’truthful, because I've been there, too. There are incidents in this book which have happened to me. I had never thought of them happening to anyone else. There were little occurrences in Klemmer's life so exactly like my own that it made me feel spooky to read them in print as another man ’S experiences, too. : Klemmer has understanding. And an ear for the symphony of the oth other half of life.

My Diary

By Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

Adequate Job Program Suggested To ‘Aid Handicapped Employables.

ASHINGTON, Friday—A very appealing letter has come to me _from a. woman who Yescribey her s efforts to.find a job. : ys a sophomore in college, this boy had ‘men- | ingitis which left him déaf. A year later he went back to college. He took lip reading and became very good -at it. He studied bookkeeping and business

"methods, but when he went searching for a job no-

body wanted him. Then he turned to commercial ‘art work, won & scholarship, and obtained a summer position, but again nothing permanent came his way. In some state and Federal Government positions, there is a rule that a certain percentage of handicapped people must be employed. This is the rule also in certain business organizations. The heads of these organizations tell me that almost invariably, the blind, the deaf and the maimed do their jobs well. Perhaps they concentrate ‘ more easily because of their handicaps. . ‘We cannot take care of all these handicapped employables unless it becomes a universal practice to de-

_ vote certain positions which they can fill exclusively |

to them. This may mean a study of the industry in order to make the adjustments necessary. Like so many other things in life, it can be Sone, and I ns it will be done.

Hopes to Know Kate Smith Better

° I went to the broadcasting station straight from the “dinner table last night. After my conversation with Kate Smith, I returned to find the rest of the family still conversing over their coffee. It is funny how instinctively you like certain people. I have met Kate Smith once, I think, but I have a feeling that if I knew her better, I would like her still better. I hope the opportunity for a better acquaintance than a radio connection will come to me before long.. We have been rehearsing our skit for tomortow night's gridiron widows’ party. It always amuses me to find how awkward one feels until one gets scenery and costumes, then it is then it is quite easy to easy to pretend.

New Books Today

Public Library Presents—

HE picturesque phrase “Old Man River” denotes that part of the mighty waterway from the mouth of the Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico. The Great River of the Ojibway in the land of sky blue

“waters, comprising the Upper Mississippi from Lake “Itasca to the Missouri has also contributed a large

share to. the exciting American pageant. In. STEAMBOATING ON THE UPPER MISSIS-

: SIpPI (State Historical Society of Iowa), William J.

Petersen has told the story of those great days when the entire river, from the Falls of St. Anthony to New Orleans, was a bustle of aé¢tivity. Steamboats were afforded several ways of reaping profits: transportation of the equipment and sup-: plies of scientific and exploring expeditions; the yearly

delivery of Indian annuities; tours of inspection of |

the various military posts; tion of troops in time of war; and removal of Indian tribes to their new homes farther west.. The fur-trader created a

The heyday was ushered in with the creation of the : Be heyus of Minnesota in 1849. Business continued to be brisk until 1870, when the railroad super seded the steamboat and a new chapter ae in the westward course of Smite. » . HE great rains Bed edie. to Ranchipur That

Curved Space’: Is New Puzzle

: (Last of a tof a Bellon) rary By David Diets : ht

Times Science Editor 2 THE new .200-inch velédéope, it is expected, ; will throw new light upon the most gigantic problem which confronts mankind, namely, the nature and structure of -the universe. Our present notion of the kind of universe in which we live has grown out of two things. One ‘is’ the observations - which ‘were ‘made _ possible with the 100-inch telescope at Mt. Wilson, the largest telescope now in existence. The other is Prof. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. All authorities are agreed that not much further progress. can be made until a telescope bigger than the: 100-inch: goes info operation. Is the universe infinite, literally infinite, extending out and out in all. directions forever and forever? Or is the universe finite, containing only a limited amount . ol space? Recent observations plus the implications of the Einstein theory have. furnished an astounding possi“bility, It is the expanding universe. According to this

idea; space: ‘fs finite but unbounded- and, in addition, is constantly: expanding like “a soap bubble into ‘which

air is blown.

The bubble is getting bigger

and bigger. Tkings in the universe ara getting farther and farther apart. Before pursuing . this notion further; let us have a look at the structural members of. the 'universe. the planets, oie ' of the nine known planets: which ground the sun. * Our own sun is one of 100 bil-

lion stars—or sins if your prefer

—which make up.our galaxy or Milky Way. They are arranged in space in a large disc like a

grindstone, "120,000 light-years in.

diameter ana 10,000 light-years thick. (A light-year is is the distance which d beam. of light

travels in one year. It'is six tril-

lion miles. )

$8. 0

UT our galaxy is only one part: of the universe. For centur-

ies astronomers were aware of cloudy patches called spiral nebulae among the stars. - Not until the 100-inch telescope came into use was the mystery of these spiral “nebulae solved. We krow today ‘that they are other

great collectiors ‘of stars, billions of stars in eacli case. They . appea:, s0 small in “the telescope — like. “little. luminous

Side Glances—By C Cla rk

Our own earth is one of

revolve

so far away. The nearest is 870, 000 light-years away.. Remember that a lignt-year is six trillion miles. : The farthest now visible is at the extreme limit of the power of the 100-inch telescope. It is. 500

million light-years away. It will: be seen, therefore, that the 100-

inch telescope enables us to ex-

plore a volume of space which is

about one billion Hghteygars in diameter. Within that space, astronomers estimate, there ‘are 100 million spiral nebulae. ;

_As nearly. as astronomers can

determine, these are. distributed

at random in all directions. Here

and there a few nebulae, perhaps

as many as 40; ‘seem ‘to be clus-

tered into one" portion of space. But considered as a whole, they are uniformly distributed in space. But when the light from these

nebulae ‘ was examined with the

spectroscope, a startling. discovery. . was made. In every case, the spectrum or rainbow of colors was displaced toward the red end. The

farther ‘away ‘the mebula, the

geater the displacement.

This could only mean one thing,

namely that all the nebulae were in ghaotiga 8 ‘and receding from the earth.

patches of Tight—basanse they are

| her.

‘N explanation” was given ‘by the Abbe * Lemaitre, famous Belgian astronomer and recently appointed to the faculty of Notre Dame University. He said ‘the whole universe. was. expanding. like a gigantic soap-bubble. Therefore, ‘ ‘no matter where you happened to be on the universe, you would get

the impression that every other

part was running away: {rom you. But recent work by Dr. Edwin-P. | ‘Hubble of Mt. Wilson has introduced ' another complication. If Abbe Lemaitre: is. right then the universe must have so great a curvature that the volume of: space, one. billion light-years in - diameter, which is within range of the 100-inch telescope, ‘must’ constitute about one-third. of the ‘entire universe. : While a sphere of that size:

seems Very large, when we are told that it is one-third’ of the

whole universe, it suddenly sounds

very small. - The idea comes as. a shock © to the astronomer, and

many of them have been reluctant

to ‘accept the expanding universe ‘theory because of this implication. That is where the problem stands ‘today. The other alternative is to assume that the red shift is due to . Some unknown cause, that space is neither curved nor finite, and.that the, universe is literally infinite.

sorry to say. Indeed, we think so

much of ourselves that Christmas |. ‘with its excessive demands has'come |

: Above right, the swiial nebila in the ¢ constellation of. the Big Bear. + It is visible only in a powerful telescope, is ; Above left, Dr." Edwin P. Hubble, astronomer “of Mt. Wilson, who i pioneered in the study of these spirals. Lower left, Prof. Albert Ein- ; stein, whose relativity - eary siyperts the idea of an ‘expanding

universe,

The answer: must be’ sought with the 200-inch telescope. | =

Sites as powerful as. the 100-inch, will - space. How much: farther is ‘not

easy to calculate. “Some. astrono- : mers think it will give astronomers :

4 volume of -§pace to -explore “which will contain 30 times . as

“much space as that visible in the

' 100-inch telescope. ‘ . At; the same, time it will. give. astronomers.a much clearer view

“of. the nearer spiral nebulae, and © "this ‘is expected to throw important light on the eyolution of |

the galaxies.

ulae We nate. . there are many

types, and that what looks like y

an’ evolutionary sequence can be

‘traced among. them. It ranges from types of spirals that are al-

‘most - globular in shape ‘to true spirals with small flattened cen-

| ters and widespread, open ‘arms.

It {is thought the globular types

are tt e oldest, and that. as time goes. on mare and-more of the : material is whirled out. into the

open arms. But this theory takes it for: granted that the spirals are : of different ages. In the face: of

_ the theory of the expanding uni= verse, it seems more than likely : that all the spirals | ‘are ofv the

same age. The new 200-inch’ telescope will also prove exceptionally useful in

. Studying those. two, great collec- .

- tions of stars just.outside our own

galaxy or Milky Way which ‘are CL

known ; as the Magellanic clouds. 8 a8

We the ASEAN: clouds:

¥ are sometimes classed as | the nearest of the-spital nebulae,

the {act is that they do not Exhibit :

reach much farther into

When we study the. spiral nieb- :

any spiral shape. "It may be that

: * + their entirely irregular shape’ is ‘The new: 200-inch” telescope, 10

due tothe gravitational pull of . our own galaxy. upon them.’ The small Magellanic cloud is estimated to have a diameter of

‘6500 light-years and to be 95,000 ' light-years from ‘the ‘earth. ‘The ~~ large: Magellanic - cloud is esti- ' mated to have a diameter of 20,000 light-years and to be 86,000 miles

from the earth. . The large cloud contains many

. bright stars, 20 or 30 of which %are

brighter than’ the brightest star in the small cloud. One star, called S Doradus, is’ the brightest ' star known to astronomers: It is esti-

- mated to be 500, 000 times. brighter

than our sun. Why these clouds should contain

.stars so much brighter than those + of our own galaxy is a problem

which has not been solved. Perhaps the 200-inch telescope will

- help solve it.

~~ While some spiral nebulae are known by names chosen from the constellation in which they appear, others are merely known by

-catalog: numbers. The two spirals

which are ‘nedrest to our own. galaxy are known as the Andromeda Nebula and M33. They are each 870,000 light-years away. _ Bince the dawn of history man | has reached out to the stars. The new 200-inch telescope will bring him closer. than ever before.

See this page Monday for ~ TRANSGRESSOR IN' THE TROPICS. | + By Negley Farson Ei

J asper—By | Frank Owen

a cn oo oon |

‘| people as a very trying period. Some BR | actually dislike it. ;

That, of course, is their misfor-| ka:

tune; and it happens, 1 ‘imagine; |.

becatise all of us are rather. sheeplike in our behavior, and if we do

i not have much money to spend on | "| | Presents we feel preity miserable’

804 are sure we can spread no hoil-

da, ;

ek a weit Who Sond

| trives a. gorgeous gift for each of friends. - The reason is that this | §

e good. qualiti

oisbock: and during | |

pe ; 4, bg Shieh has 2d i , : or Pps

Second ~Ol somo

By. Anion Scherrer

Swallow-tails Are Bugaboo of All Symphonies, Chronicler Finds, but ‘He Has Solution—About Facel

ANOTHER thing that worries me like everything is the "fit of swallow-tail coats, especially when they're on the backs of symphony orchestra conductors. I don’t think I can put up with it any longer. What's more, I don’t see why I should. To sit in the audience and see a conductor’s swallow-tail coat behave the way it does is almost something more than I can bear. It isn’t so bad in

the adagio movements, but it’s torture when it reaches the presto agitato stage. At this point, the back of the coat behaves like a muscle dancer, and jumps up and down in a most unseemly way. It’s especially emotional around the arm pits, I've noticed. The law protects us from muscle dancers, but for some reason, it hasn’t got around to swallow-tail . coats on the backs of symphony conductors. Well, it’s time. As a : matter of fact, it’s high time. That's the way I feel about it today, and I know a lot of people who are just as bitter about it as I am. I know, of course, what the symphony conductors are up against. It isn’t easy to steer something as dynamic as a symphony in a coat as ridiculous and inelastic as a swallow-tail. But it strikes me that they can do better. For one thing, they might discard the swallow-tail altogether, and conduct in their shirt sleeves. I wouldn't ¢<want to see it come to that, but it's better than the way things are going now. At that, I'll bet that most rehearsals are conducted in shirt sleeves. I don’t want to press the point . unduly, but if there’s any truth in the rumor that most rehearsals are better than the scheduled cone certs, there's only one thing left to believe and that is that a conductor wearing a swallow-tail doesn’t help his musicians any more than he does his audience. I hope that’s clear. It’s hard to collect myself in my present frame of mind. ;

Mr. Strauss Overcame Difficulty

Don’t get scared, though. I'm not going to advocate anything as drastic as shirt sleeves. I don’t have to, because I know something far better. I got on to it about 40 years ago when Edward Strauss, nephew of the great Johann, brought his Austrian Imperial Court Orchestra to Indianapolis. Boy, that was some-

The handsome Mr. Strauss (they called him “der schoene Eddie” in Vienna) came on the stage, turned his back on the audience, and started his concert with a number by Waldteufel. It was the same old stuff, and just as disheartening, because Mr. Strauss’ dress coat didn't behave any better than they do now. I don’t know what I would have done if it hadn't been for the nd number. The second number was his uncle's “Tales of the Vienna Woods.” Mr. Strauss started it the same way with his back to the audience. . He played about five bars like that, and then suddenly turned toward the audience, picked up his fiddle and played right through to the end with his men. It lifted the people right out of their seats. He played all the Strauss numbers .that way, and I'm telling you that his swallow-tail coat behaved perfectly, or as well as a swallow-tail can behave. -I don’t know whether you have ever noticed if -or nof, but there's less: to the front of a swallow-tail than there is to the back.

Mr. Scherrer

Jane Jordan—

| J.B. P. Again Protests Taverns,

As Others Criticize: His Stand. EAR JANE JORDAN—I am not married and I have no: children but I have seen a side of life which rarely falls to the lot of intelligent, decent people. I have been in hundreds of saloons (taverns) from San Francisco to New York and I have seen much that is sickening. I have seen “moral” truck drivers walk young girls into saloons and carry them out ‘because they were drunk, and other things too horrible to print. I have seen scrubwomen raid a joint to get out their daughters. I have seen Government charity workers go broke on booze, then howl for more money. I have seen an apparently peaceful saloon turned into a seething mass of flying fists, beer bottles and chairs in the twinkling of an eye . lash simply because someone drank too much. I have seen: innocent victims battered to a pulp just because they were in the wrong place. A saloon (tavern) is no place for a decent girl to go for a sip and a bite, for if one mingles with cheap erie one gradually becomes cheap. Why don’t you uy to elevate instead of degrade? And if you publish any of my stuff, why not publish all instead of leave ing pert of it out? 5 J. B..P,

Answer—We have dEagread simply because we aren’t talking about the same thing. The word tavern does’ not call up the dreadful picture in my mind

-| that il does in yours. When I think of tavern, I only

see a placé in town or along the road where people eat, drink and dance. I am not unaware that some people’ get drunk, but that happens in the best of private clubs, too, and is no reason for condemning ‘the whole because of the errors of the few. If there are any such degrading “dives” or “joints” around Indianapolis I do not know about it. If you do, I suggest you write Chief Morrissey instead of me for he can do-something about it and I can't. The reason I can't print all your stuff is that my space is t80 limited. It is true that I do not run an “uplift” column. I only try to help people meet their Problams in a practical way. 3 ” » Dear Jane Jordan—I was never so furious in al} - my life as I was when I read J. B. P.’s letter. I dont drink or go in beer taverns and it isn’t because I think

% | I'm too good, but because that kind of life doesn’t -

interest me. I think it is wrong to-look down on peo~ ple who do harder work for a living than we do. i G. E. Dear Jane Jordan—What a have to live in if everybody Tet Ls “muscle-headed mutts” who write to you are nof | Sum as he thinks because people listen usually solve their problems. I | and maybe I have a 14-year-old have so much more to learn that won't SNA.

Aistvesid really GESTS 0. B. P.'s intentions are

Put your meobloms In.» Tolies fo: Jase Jordan: whe will answer vour Suestions in this column daily,

adoro Germ The doctors say

but it il tke time fo get over the axel e