Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 3 March 1938 — Page 1
". hearing lists its gross electric reve-
kl -° ’ T02D, BUREAU WARNS
SCRIPPS ~ HOWARD §
RATE CUT PLEA SEEN AS POWER
‘REVENUE GAINS
Hanna Puts 1937 Increase For Light Company At $670,400.
FIRM CITES COST RISES
Public Counselor Estimates Income for Last Year At Over 11 Million.
By TOM OCHILTREE
A further Indianapolis electric rate reduction was suggested today by Public Counselor Ralph Hanna. He said he expected to show at rate hearings Tuesday before the Indiana Public Service Commission that the Indianapolis Power and Light Co. revenues for 1937 increased approximately $670,400 over the previous year. The 5-year-old rate case is being reopened on a petition of the company. Utility officials said they wanted to get into the record increased costs which the company has had to bear since the .original series of hearings closed in July.
Revenue Put at $11,359,400
«1 believe the company would be in better shape, in the matter of its public relations, if it would make a voluntary rate reduction in electricity instead of waiting to he ordered to make that cut,” Mr. Hanna -said. ) : Company officials said while the 1937 earnings may have increased over -1936, they thought they could show a corresponding increase in expenses and that in recent months ~ there had been a decline in revenues. oe * According to Mr. Hanna's estimate, the total 1937 revenue of the utility, including that received from sales of electricity. steam and miscellaneous products, is approximately $11,359,400. The total 1836 revenue, he said, amounted to ap10,689,000. .More than $480,000 of the 1837 increase comes from the sale of electricity, Mr. Hanna said, in spite of the fact that.
last nine months of last year. The increases accounted for in the ~ sale” of steam and miscellaneous ‘ products are approximately $174,000 - au $13,000, respectively. Mr. Hanna Report Due March 10 The company’s final 1937 report is due March 10. Mr. Hanna said his: figures were subject to “certain minor adjustments.” © “The company’s petition for re-
nue for the last nine months of
1937 as compared with the same 1936 period, and shows a decrease since October due to the recession,” Mr. Hanns said. Mr. Hanna said he expected the company to argue this point. before the Commission, but as counterstrategy he said he would ‘point out that the dropping in price levels also has lowered -the utility's total valuation. . This means, he said, that the valuation upon which they are entitled to a fair return probably is not as high as it was a few months previ-
cus.| 3 Coal Costs Increased -
One point on which the company claimed a need for a rehedring was its showing of increased casts because of the Bituminoys Cia) Conlmgsslon’s minimum price schede. : ~The utility estimated it would pay $190,877 more for coal in 1938 thas it-did for the same amount in Because the Bituminous Coal Commission has rescinded its minimum price schedules Mr. Hanna said this particulor- feature of the case had been placed “in a state of flux.” : : The company claimed it ‘would have to pay the following other incre in 1938: $55,348 in salaries; $47,770 'in” freight rates because of a recent Interstate Commerce Commission ruling; $18,000 more in social security, and $114,000 in local taxes because of increased valuaons.
MERCURY MAY DROP
~ TEMPERATURES
29 10 a. m.... 28 11a m.... 27 12 (Noon). 26 1pm...
The Weather Bureau forecast a low temperature of 20 tonight and overcast skies tonight and tomorrow. Tomorrow the temperature will rise, the Bureau said.
PIONEER TREK
\ To commemorate the ‘trek | of-1788 into the Northwest | Territory, the Government is | sponsoring another 'pilgrimage" over the same trails. |.Ses Page 13 for the first in a. series on the first journey
2 26 28 29
8
a commission inter<| reduced rates for" the °
FORECAST: Mostly cloudy tonight and tomorrow; colder tonight; lowest temperature about 20; slowly rising temperature tomorrow.
VOLUME 49—NUMBER 306
Who's Right?
Speeder Learns Right Side of Strtet Wrong And Pays $15.
{EORGE KIRSCH, 5246 N. \ New Jersey St. found the right side of the street was the wrong side when he faced a speeding charge before Judge Charles Karabell in Municipal Court today. Officer Marion Ostermeyer arrested him on 52d St. last night. “Judge, 52d St. is outside the City where I was driving,” Kirsch said. «Half of it is in and half is out —Mr. Kirsch was on our side of the street,” the officer replied. “Five qgollars and costs,” said Judge Karabell. [ 8
2 o Abandoned Elephants Enter Income Tax Case
N= YORK, March 3 (U.P). —John -M. Kelley, Ringling Brothers-Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows general counsel, and two other defendants were on trial today on charges of income tax frauds. - Joseph | W. Burns, assistant - United States District Attorney, charged that in addition to operating the “greatest show .on earth”. the circus owners maintained, from 1918 to 1932, a “colossal” collection of imaginary “specialties” usea as a bookkeeping “dodge” to evade income tax payments. During| the 14-year period, he said, the circus grossed 53 million dollars and reported a net income of four million when “as a matter of fact, the taxable profit was 10 million and the Government was defrauded of $3,359,016 in taxes.” “Bridgeport, Conn.,” the attorney said, “must have resembled a jungle when the circus moved from there to new winter quarters in Sarasota, Fla., in 1937. Income tax returns for .that year show the abandonment of 46 elephants, 23 els, 23 lions, 18 bears, hundreds lonkeys and some 800
BOY'S RANSOM REPORTED PAID
Rabbi Believed to.Be Contact Man to Effect Return Of Peter Levine. ,
’ Soa Bl BULLETIN : .« NEW. - ROCHELLE, N.,b XY. March 3 (U. P).~The Levine ransom demanded by . . napers for the return of Peter Leviné and the way is clear * for negotiations; a source close to the family said today.
NEW ROCHELLE, N. Y., March 3 (U. P)—Ransom to obtain the release of 12-year-old Peter Levine, kidnaped a week ago, has been paid
-or is about te be paid, it was re-
ported without confirmation today. The report was circulated among investigators after Rabbi Abraliam Nowak, reported intermediary for Murray Levine, father of the junior high school student, returned to his ‘home’ last night from what his wifé said had been a “very private engagement.” . Rabbi] Nowak. gave cryptic replies to questions by reporters... . .. “Is the report true that you- paid the ransom: tonight?” , , No comment,” he replied. | Boy Writes Note . Rabbi Nowak kept his “very private engagement” two days after his secretary, Evelyn Arkin, found a third note from the kidnapers in a vacant | lot adjoining ‘the Beth-El Synagogue, of which the Rabbi is pastor. To this note was appended a message from Peter, penciled in a childish scrawl, which read: “Dear dad: Please give these men the money. I have a bad: cold. Peter.” The note was reported to have renewed a demand-for $60,000 ransom, and to have insisted that the money be deposited wider a lamplight at a street -corner: in the Bronx, New York City. ; Levine, a prosperous but not
‘wealthy attorney, was. reported to
have succeeded in - raising . only $30,000, i Meanwhile, New Jersey authori= ties investigated the stories of two
men, who reported having seen au-
tomobiles containing looking men and a boy.
161 GAMES TONIGHT OPEN CAGE TOURNEY
Three Games at Tech Start Local Sectional.
suspicious-
(Complete Details, Page 17)
blasts in the 27th annual Indiana high school basketball tournament will be fired on 64 scattered fronts tonight. The battle will continue for three weeks until a 1938 champion is decided March .26 at Butler Fieldhouse. There are 161 games on tonight's schedule. . Before the final series at the fleldhouse, prep combinations will wade through sectionals, regionals and semifinals on successive week-ends; dur which the starting field of 787 ms will be éut to four. Ben Davis and Oaklandon, Washand Warren Central, and Tech and Franklin Township will
<1 and its counterpart.
local ¢
play the three games launching th 1 at Tech Gym. 3
x
BLAZES TRAP FIGHT FIREMEN, FAMILY SAVED
4 Men Overcome by Smoke As Parents and Baby Are Carried to Street.
»
FIRE FOLLOWS BLAST
Falling Walls Injure 4 as Flames Cause $40,000 Damage to Plant.
(Photos, Page Three) :
A father and mother and their 15-months-old baby were carried down a ladder to safety as nine other persons, including an aged couple, escaped when flames early today swept a double residence at 17-19 S. Hawthorne Lane. Four firemen were overcome by smoke and one had to be dragged out through a basement window. Another fire late yesterday caused an estimated $40,000 damage to the Schwartz Sectional System Inc., 309 W. Wilkins St. Four firemen were hurt slightly while seven persons escaped injury in that fire, caused by an explosion. The blaze threatened homes in the
11100 block S. Senate Ave.
One-half of the S. Hawthorne Lane home was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Louis Chambers, their 15-month-old baby, Barbara, Mr. and Mrs. R. R. Mitchell and their daughter, Phyllis, 20. . Trapped by Smoke Mr. and Mrs. Carvel Costin, their two children, Nancy, 3, and Richard, 5, and Mrs. Costin’s grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. William Hess, lived on ‘the other side. Mrs. Chambers apparently was the first to awaken. She aroused her husband -and ‘then Barbara. The three were trapped in their bedroom by smoke. Garbed only in night attire, with the baby wrapped in blankets, they crawled through a window to the porch roof, screamed to awaken neighbors and waited until firemen aided them down a ladder. . Mrs. Mitchell and her daughter were able to fight their way through the smoke. Firemen aided the former who was bedridden.
_. Meanwhile, the - Costi
parents out of ‘the - smoke=fill
| house. They all took shelter at the
home of “James 8. Overtree, 20 S.
- | Hawthorne Lane.
The firemen oxercome were Chpt. Oscar: Ragsdale, - Spencer Groves, Howard Sanford and David Scheidelhut. Mr. Groves was rescued through a basement window by Capt. Ragsdale. . Firemen, estimating the loss at $1800, said the fore was caused by. hot ashes in the Costins’ side of the house.
room started the =re at the Wilkins St. factory. PF. S. Ballweg, building owner, estimated property damage at $15,000, partly covered by. insurance. Damage to ma 1ery was estimated at $25,000. Henry Moore, 62, of 1121'S. Senate’
Chadwick St, sald paint confainers were open and that a hot plate had been lighted about 10 minutes before and Bernard Lynch, Fire Prevention Bureau Chief, advanced the theory that fumes caused the blast. Five other men on the second floor found their escape by way of the front stairway cut off by flames and- smoke. They reached safecy by going down an outside stairway on the west side of the building. The men were Frank Brown, 2201% Brookside Ave.; Alfred Teifert, 12 ' Scailler St.; Raymond Dephue, 820 N. Hamilton Ave.; William Wheeler, Washington St. west of the city limits, and Chris Beckman, 6800 W. Washington §t., the foreman.
Four Firemen Trapped Four firemen, including Assistant Chief Roscoe A. McKinney, were
walls crushed and the second floor, on which there was heavy machinery, caved in. ‘ The Assistant Chief, standing in an alley when the last wall fell, stumbled while trying escape and flaming boards and timbers covered him. ‘Capt. Charles Milender of Pumper Co..7 turned the hose on the burning timbers as other firemen lifted them and Chief McKinney crawled to safety. The captain’s chauffeur, Arnold Phillips, standing at the other end of the alley, was knocked down and bruised
Less than a half minute after the east wall fell, the larger part of the. west wall caved in, catching. Lieut. William J. Bulmer and narrowy missing four others who assisted Lieut. Bulmer to safety. Twenty minutes later the second floor at the south end of the building caved in and Emil Windmoeller, another firemen, was caught under a beam. His back was injured. Fire Chief Fred Kennedy personally directed firemen in their long fight. Four companies remained at the scene throughout the night.
ES of . family
An . explosion in the = finishing]
Ave., and William Dephue, 432. S: |-
caught beneath flaming debris when|
THURSDAY; MARCH 38,1988
40 DEA
The only hope today for. the. safety. of nine persons aboard a Transcontinental & Western . Air transport plane that vanished ‘Tuesday night was that the plane had ‘been landed intact in the eight feet of snow that blanketed the mountains east of here. Yn 3 Bud Rhoades of Fresno offered a new clue to the plane’s whereabouts. ‘He said he heard an airplane flying over his cabin ‘six miles ‘north of Bass Lake at: 11:45'p. m. (Tuesday night. A few later ‘he heard
to|® crash,-and at’ 2.a. m, Wednesday
he said he heard two shots. | Mr. Rhoades told his story fo T. W. A. officials, who- sent -searchers. to the Bass Lake area. . Lake is 20 miles from Shaver Igke, where the search had beén’ congenThe ,filane,. en route. “fom Sen passengers and a crew of three, last was heard from -shortly after 9 p. m. Tuesday night. -At'that time it was believed to have been in the vicinity of Shaver Lake, approximately ‘40 miles northeast’ of here. The pilot, Capt. John D. Graves, apparently confused by heavy rainfall and poor visibility iin. the vicinity of the Tehachapi ‘Mountains, reported first ‘that he was turning back from the route to Los Angeles to seek the Fresno airport apd later it he intehded:to land at rsUndersheriff ©. <A, Tarr said false: reports were being circulated
that mysterious._lights and a white object had Been seen on.a moun-
»
TIMES FEATURES
ON INSIDE PAGES
Flynn Gi ..oneis 14 Grin, Bear. It.20 In Indpls. .... ‘3 Jane. Jordan. .13 Johnson ......14 Movies .
BOOKS “.ceee-..13
...20,21 Curious World 21 Editorials . . . .14 Fashions ‘Financial
Music ........21| Scherrer: Obituaries. .:.15 Pegler ........141 Pyle .... co: Questions ....21
Slight Hope Held for Nine Aboard Missing Airliner
FRESNO; Cal, March 3 (U. B).—|
‘of communication.”
with six | rain
20 | Richard Boyd, 44, Honaker,.Va,
“500
d= L arent i 4 CE
i
tainside: in. the: viéinity: where the lost airliner last was reported. “There: is no: clue whatsoever to the location of the missing ship,” he said. 2
He said about 30° planes “would | take off this morning, weather per-|
mitting, to participate in an aerial search -over tlie mountain region north and east of Fresno, °° ‘Doriald ‘Black, spokesman for T.'W.:A; said there was; “every possibility that the craft landed safely in. ‘a snow-covered mountain meadow.” - He said thal “becatise of :the deep snows, it would bg diffictilt ‘for ‘the passengers and crew to ‘get ftom the plane to.any point’
Adding" to - the difficulty of the search was ‘the fact that 11 inches of isnow: féll drenched the district last
Shor Lake! District. © A road maint crew in the vicinity reported hearing a crash at about 9:30 p-m, Tuesday. . - = "men “said that until they heard that the Douglas twin-mo-
tored ship was missing, they believed |
noise ‘was caused by a falling esterday bad’ Weather grounded planes and only automobile parties woh the district.
yesterday: and:a heavy
ond-Class Matter
Entefed as Sec at“ Postoffice, Indianapolis, Ind
LEFT HOME
PRICE THREE CENTS
J
As Worst Flood in
Drown in Stalled Riverside, Long
(Copyright, 1938, LOS ANGELES, March began to subside today.
8500 persons homeless and
munication was down.
" The disastrous 96-hour cloudburst took a toll 40 lives, caused property damage exceeding $25,000,000, left
Property Damage. Estimated at $25,000,000
50 Years Subsides;
Los Angeles Isolated.
ARMY AND NAVY J = IN RESCUE
Many Perish as Bridges Collapse; Autoists
Cars; Hollywood, Beach Hard Hit.
by United Press)
3 (Via Radiophone to San
Francisco) .—Southern California’s worst flood in 50 years
of at least
virtually isolated the entire
area from the rest of the world. ‘Excepting for a single telegraph wire, all land come The telephone company said it.
20M] | might be 48 hours before service would be resumed.
a
Pilot John D. Graves
ACTRESSES RIDE
RAFTS TO WORK
Gypsy. Rose Lee Strips to Get ~ To Car; Shirley Temple | Sleeps at Lot.
(Copyright, .1938,: by United Press) - HOLLYWOOD, March 3 (By Mackay: Radio to San Francisco) (U. P.).—With a bogus whale swimming down. the: Los -Angeles River, actresses riding: on camera booms
and imitation houses melting like so many pillars of salt, the movie colony managed today to inject some levity inte Southern Californias flood crisis. ~~ « io : The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had to'put off for a week its 10th annual banquet and awarding of prizes for the best pictures: of the year. : oa
Down. stfeam, rescue workers
'| rubbed their eyes at sight of a sad-
‘eyed blue whale wallowing among hot. dog stands, rocker chairs and other flotsam. This sea-going beast turned out to be a Warner prop, of rubber, which swam off an inundated “loading - platform. Sylvia Sidney, Dorothy Lamour land Mary Carlisle rode camera | booms across the flooded streets of Paramount's lot. : : _ Gypsy Rose Lee did her first strip
| tease act since she abandoned bur-
‘lesque in favor of the movies. She. ‘had on a velvet evening dress when she started for work only to see a
. { Jake between her door and her car.
ardess | With the grace of long practice,
TES aid ENGINEER 7. Va., March 3 (U. P.):
: coal “thet
she peeled off her gown and waded
: to: her 'motor—with a marooned ‘| milk’ man for audience.
. Shirley Temple, number. one box office actress, spent last night in her. alow on the Fox lot. Franchot Tone had to thumb a lift. on a bakery ‘truck; Arleen Whalen . bummed a . ride . ffom ‘an
nee “agent: while. Joan Craw-
» dher automobile in front
damaged towers. were swept away. by landslides.
being drowned when trapped
Twelve persons were reported
Radio was the chief means of communication with the outside world—and not very dependable at that because of
drowned: when bridges
Six were crushed to death when homes were destroyed
Peace officers reported a half-dozen incidents of persons
in stalled automobiles. -
Hardest hit were Los Angeles,- Riverside and Long.
of rain, peured down on the three cities and vicinity in the last 24 hours for a total of 11 inches since the storm
started. The Weather Bureau reported today that the crisis had passed. Bureau officials said that the precipitation was unprecedented for the Far West,
“If ever there was a they added, “this is it.’ Heavy rainfall continued today but not of the cloudburst proportions as yesterday and Tuesday. Forecasters expected the downpour to slacken by tomorrow. “The flood burst a dam on the Santa Ana River in Riverside. It transformed the semidry Los Angeles River into. a rampaging torrent. It flooded dozens of communities. It swept away dozens of ‘bridges. Because of paralyzed communications it was impossible to determine the exact extent of the storm’s devastation.
Railroad and bus lines were entirely out of commission, Air travel was stalled. The Red Cross announced it was caring for 8000 to 10,000 refugees throughout the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside area. San Francisco reported that telephone and telegraphic communication with Los Angeles failed shortly after 3 a. m. today. The telephone company reported its wires were out 11 miles from Los Angeles, either because of a washout or a landslide.
Refugees Cling to Trees
Some estimates of the dead ranged as high as 50, but it was believed that some of those reported dead were alive but marooned. There were people still clinging to treeiops ahd perched on roofs long after daybreak, awaiting rescue boats. Police were told that 100 persons were marooned in North Hollywood in an island in the middle of the Los Angeles River. ! Police who watched the Landershim Blvd. bridge at Culver City collapse said none were drowned, although there had been reports that six persons were swept to sea with the bridge. The Emergency Relief Council was convened to cope with the worst
cloudburst,”
the Long Beach earthquake in 1933. Flood control experts estimated that the crest of the waters passed through Los Angeles at 6 a. m. (In‘dianapolis Time). Back. in the scenic foothills, mountain streams had filled flood control reservoirs to overflowing and there was a peril that any one of several dams might crumble and cause a worse disaster. Army and Navy Help
Resources of both the Army and Navy were made available. Soldiers gathered in refugees, pitched tents for them and, bedded down others in the armories. Navy and Coast Guard boats lay offshore; their crews aiding in rescue work wherever possible. Many communities remained to be heard from, but it appeared that Los Angeles, Riverside and: Long Beach had been hardest hit. Mayor William Evans of -Riverside, reporting on the Santa Ana River flood, said that no bodies were recovered “but undoubtedly a half dozen were drowned in this pvicinity. and the sheriff’s office says ‘the toll may go as high as a dozen.” Mayor Evans said a five-foot wall of water swept an area roughly encompassing a large section known locally as “the Rubidoux Ranch.” At Long Beach, a foot bridge collapsed while from 12 to 15 persons stood: on it watching the turbulent Los Angeles River disgorge itself into the Pacific. Seven or eight were lost and believed drowned. Crews from Navy surf boats saw
Beach. More than six inches |
crisis since it was organized during
the mishap and sped in to rescue three others. : A few hours later another bridge spanning the same river at Rane dolph Street near Haywood col= lapsed with a splintering crash and two or three of the 20 persons standing on it were hurled into the water and lost. The others scampered to safety. The movie colony was partly flooded and marooned. Two policemen and a student were reported drowned when a row boat overe turned near the North Hollywood High School. The Disaster Relief
time 600 chilren were marooned in the school. ot Relief agencies were able to respond to only a small percent -of the @ppeals for aid. Most communidations lines were down and for hour last night, the power was off and Los Angeles was in darkness. ’ The low, flat suburbs were swamped. The only access was by boat. In these stricken areas were Venice, Santa Monica, Compton, Lennox, Bell, Van Nuys, Lomita and Culver City. : The Pajaro River left its banks at Watsonville early today and the police department sounded a general alarm. : Residents were warned to leave the lowlands. The river runs through the center of the town of 15,000. It had risen several feet in a few hours. Sandbags were piled in front of stores. Many homes were flooded. In the ' surrounding foothills, sheriff’s deputies moved about in automobiles equipped with loud speakers, warning residents to. flee, and others had rowboats to aid in evacuation. The worst destructive force in the city proper was the Los Angeles River, usually dry, which had spread out a block wide carrying the waters from the highlands to the ocean.
Warships in Action
It was estimated that 15 persons had drowned in the river and that most of them were carried shrieks ing to sea. Warships anchored off shore occasionally put out small boats to make .rescues. Bluee jackets picked up Lloyd Falksted, 26, who was swept out when the Long Beach bridge fell. He esti-
bridge at the time and he told of seeing a woman and: two small boys drown. Searchlights from the bate tleships swept the shore. " Hospitals were crowded with per= sons suffering fro shock and bruises. Some were taught by the swirling waters and carried along the streets for a mile or more befors they were rescued. ® The - worst danger today was to residential areas below flood control dams. Many of these sections wers evacuated. Reservoirs were rapidly filling from the mountain torrents near Tujunga, Pacoima, Santa Anita, San Dimas, Eadon, New San Gabriel, Old San Gabriel, Paddingstone, Devil's Gate, Saw Pit and Live Oak. In some places water was running over the spillways. Near Burbank, the Los Angeles River overflowed and deluged 28 homes. = Residents along the east bank of the river between Glendale and Los Feliz Blvd. were ordered by army engineers to evacuate. = When Malibu Beach, playground of the ‘movie stars, was isolated, Coast Guard boats put out to make rescues from the sea, but they could not approach the coast because of the rush of waters. * io In Ventura, 10 blocks of ‘houses , were flooded. :
PROS SELECTED FOR "MUNICIPAL COURSES
Golf professionals for the muni-
the 1938 season by the Park ? Neal McIntyre was named to 8 : Grove; Tommy Vaughn, Pleasant Run; Russell Stonehouse, Riverside;
and Bill
cipal links were appointed today ot 3
LESS BY 2 : NIA CLOUDBURST
‘Couneil was informed that at the --:- a
mated that 15 persons were on the .
-