Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 28 March 1938 — Page 9

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: dies — Ernie’ Pyle

2 Death Valley's 20-Mule Teams, as |.

“Well Known as the Overland Stage, Have Yielded to the Iron Horse. \EATH V. \LLEY, Cal, March 28. —~T eannat remember a time in, my childhood when there yas. not a box of 20-Mule-Team |: Borax in our kitchen: cabinet at home. . «But through all these years my knowl-

edge of borax néver developed one bit be-. |

yond the fact that we had a box in the kitchen. I never knew. what borax was, where it came: from, . Or what it Was (for, outside of softening: ‘water. : But now I know. It has a hundred uses. It is a rather rare product;and most, of the world’s supply is in these deserts. The history of Death Valley is almost the history of borax. Let's go way back: There were some small borax workings in Nevada prior to 1880. But in that year a prospector named Aaron Winters discovered borax on ' the floor of Death Valley. He sold his claims for $20,000. William T. Colethan bought : % these claims, and worked borax out Mr. Pyle of Death Valley until 1889. Then he was taken over by the Pacific Coast Borax Co., which is still the. biggest borax company-in tie world. ‘Borax, lik® gold, is mined in two ways—on the surface, and in hard-rock shaft mines. The Borax company buil: great mills right here in the valley, 4 and did its ovn refining. But it had to get this borax -to market, and it was 165 miles to a railroad. Out of this dire nee: came the 20-mule-team borax wagons. , It became a transportation service as daring, as romantic anc as thrilling in its way as the Pony “Express or the Overland Stage. | These great borax loads were hauled over utter desert from Death Valley to Mojave, Cal. The wagons were immen:e. A 20-mule team always pulled two wagons and = trailer with water and hay. The load was often a: much as 40,000 pounds of borax. plus 16,000 pound: of wagons and water. The wagons made about 16 miles a day—10 days for the trip ‘o Mojave. There were 10 stations, each supplied wit: water, for overnight stops. They didr’t go in dead summer. But even so, the heat was so ‘errific that men’s nerves went to pieces. Early in the century they started experimenting | ‘with tractors, and then in 1915 a railroad was built into the borax mill in Death Valley. . So there hasn’t been a 20-mule borax team for at least 25 ye: as. "But they still use the trademark, because it is a good one. -

Moved To Cramer, Cal.

‘One iten: in my borax lesson surprised me. That | . they haven’! mined a grain of borax in Death Valley for more than 10 years. "In 1927 sorax was discovered near Crater Cal. on the Mojave desert. If was a much purer borax than the suff -up here.: And it was practically on top of a m:in-line railroad. So they just shutidown : here and moved to Cramer. «There is enough borax around Cramer to last 50 years .or more. . But when and if that runs out, the Death Vallty borax will still be here. And wh: t do they use borax for, besides softening water? Well, in a general way, borax has the quality Borax is what makes glass " go clear. Borax is what makes ,enamel so smooth. ‘Borax is what welders sprinkle on two pieces of hot steel befor: putting them together. Borax is what the dentist stirs into his little cup: of gold before filling your tooth. Borax is used to purify paint, and. 2 dean mec’ianics’ hands.

My Diary By. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt .

i Lady Is Granted ‘Honorary Membership in Two Organizations.

HICAC ‘0, Sunday. —Here it is Sunday and I find myse going back to Friday in order to tell you the few things I cannot leave out in the record of - Seattle WPA and NYA projects I saw. My las% visit was paid to an NYA photographic project which trains young people to take photographs, color ther: and produce colored posters and signs of all kinds. This is a project on which girls and boys are employed about &qually. . _ John, Anna and I-lunched in a restaurant where I enjoyed crilled crabs’ legs for the first time. After - all, wher one "travels, one should. find out the food specialtie: of the place one may be in. Crabs in various forms are quite a specialty in Seattle. After 'unch, I was made an honorary member in two org= nizations. The Boy Scouts of America are putting <n a circus and they came to present mgswith a card in the. Scout Circus. Association.

E Travel: by’ Sleeper Plane

After this was over, we proceeded to the composing roor: of the Seatile Post-Intelligencer, where I * had bee: invited to attend a.ceremony. After being shown some of the hines, Mr. Al Lewis, the chairman of the Posi- lligencer chapel of the typographical union, i me to all the. members present and presented me with ‘a plaque making me an honorary member of /their organization. It was a nice little ceremony, for in honoring me they also expressed their affection for John and Anna. I rather think that, in looking back on this pleasant "aay, John will feel, as I do, that this was its high:

spot. I left early Saturday morning for the University of Idaho, going by plané:to Spokane and then driving ‘to Moscow. There is much to tell you about that day, but again, I'll have to put it off and simply add that I made a plane at 6:30 to connect with the sleeper plane later on in the evening. At last I have spent a night. on a flying sleeper. 1 thought I woéuld never achieve this flying luxury, but here I am in Chicago after a comfortable night. I'm s Brung off shortly by plane for Atlanta, Ga.

New Books Today |—

Public Library Presenfs—

‘B was, gypsyish for the O’Riordans in summer, _ when ‘they drove about the country in a wagon, the ‘our children playing happily while their father. distestefully painted pictures for farmers. Each September they returned with a few hundred dollars to Chicago and Bohemian existence ‘in a ‘make-shift studio. ‘All winter their father painted® “master piecs” which never sold, their mother struggled with finances, and when hunger threatened, the children. -sol¢ ‘father’s. paintings on the streets. For Daniel’ QO’Fiordan, Si genius. and great painter, was | unknown after.20 years’ endeavor. in MEN ARE. NOT STARS (Doubleday) Clarence Arthur Millspaugh reveals the O'Riordans and their _ few loyal friends through the impressions of Jimmy, the 12-year-old We follow him “down days of sunlight” into th darkness of despair ‘and humilia~ tions, which . eventually break the artist’s arrogant spirit, making of him a drunkard faced with-mental “and spiritual dissolution. Painfully he learns at last thzt his own fanatically egotistical temperament is largely to blame for his ot he realizes that the creative spirit must ‘be adjusted to actualities; and the book ends with a ‘promise of happier days to: come for the O'Riordan. : = sn»

moore and disharmaby are present in the, very ‘atmosphere of the beautiful Nash home in -Grorgetown.- . Randall Nash is jealous of his wife;

. ard there is -hatred between Iris Nash and her |

lovely young stepdaughter, Lowell. Such is the sin‘ister setting for the. latest mystery story by Leslie

help faithful Pal to find the murrer, which. he finally accomplished by. the re-enact-it-of the etal amene: ani the disovary ¢ that some-

‘ a

boon the |

Entered ss as Second-Class Master

Postoffice, Indians

ansapolis, Ind.

Article Ne. §

ON THE CCC.

(The Civilian Conservation Corps was ev pived before i. was

.mamed. . The idea was nientioned in Presi inaugural address. It was one of the New Des measures of the “Hundred Days” of 1933, mos centrated upon emergency remedies rather

lation.

It was also the first New Deal agency

\ nt “Ropsevelt’s, first ’s first constructive of which were conhan permanent legis-

alphabetical nickname—the “CCC”—and is % of the few products

‘of “1933 still mittedly with

existence unchanged. It w t precedent, for reclaiming |idle young men and

an experiment, ad-

‘neglected. public lands with one stroke.

The President’s recommendation for the 21, 1933, and authority granted

gress Marc

CC was sent to. Con0 days later. Organ-

ization of the corps was carried out by a rapid Series of executive

orders, the first on April 5.

In the following notes written for his volumes of “Public Papers and Addresses,” hitherto unpublished, the President alls of this great peace time mobilization of 1933.)

N the spring of 1933 hundreds of thousands 2 young

men who had just reached an employable age found themselves in a tragic plight. Imbued with ambition:and idealism, they sought a place in the world, but were denied it by an economic situation over which they hads “no .con-

trol whatever.

‘More than one-half of thee young men came from congested areas of oun cities, and almost all of them were expected to lend some aid toward the support of their fam-

ilies.

Their willingness to work was of no-help, for no

opportunities to work could be found. Discouragement and defeat: could only lead them from despair into: sérious

' antisocial paths.

At the same time our natural resources of all

kinds had been allowed to

fall into a sad state of neglect. Our forests, soil and water resources were continuing to be rapidly de‘pleted. Destructive forest fires were continuing to take a toll of millions of acres of timber land each year. Soil wastage and disastrous floods were constantly causing enormous

damage.

Both. to save a generation of upright and eager young men and to help save and restore our threatened natural ‘ resources, I had determined even before -inauguration to take as many of these young men as we could off the city street corners and place them in the woods at healthful employment and sufficient wage so .that their families might also be benefited by their employment. I called attention in my inaugural address to the possibility of

providing this healthful employ-

ment, and at the same time doing

‘* something to prevent the destruc-

tion of these natural resources.

In conjunction with the Depaftments of War, Interior, Agri plans were :

Dn and Labor, made for carrying this into efféct. Before the end of March a bill was passed. It gave authority to. the President to employ unemployed citizens to carry on works of a public nature iin lahds belonging (to the United States or to the several states, for “the prevention of forest fires, floods and soil erosion, plant. pest and’ disease. control, the construction, maintenance or repair of paths, trails and fire lanes,” and any incidental work. The Act ‘also provided that the President might extend the work into | privately and municipally owned lands when in the public interest. "Acting promptly upon this authority, I issued an executive order on: April 5, 1933, setting up the Civilian Conservation Corps. Robert Fechner. was named the Director and is still the Director.

“Advisory Council

An advisory council named in the order was to obtain for the

Director the assistance and con-

tinued co-operation of the four : ernment departments which

have: been .used in the launching

and subsequent operation of the program—War, Interior, Agriculture and Labor. 'or’a successful program it was “necessary that camps be established quickly and be extended

* throughout

Mr.

the “nation; ~ that worthwhile *projects be planned,

with careful and efficient super-

vision of all work done. It was necessary also speedily to’ set up machinery for the rapid selection

“and enrollment of young.meén and

their = transportation to camp

sites; and to supply all the camps

with food, clothes, bedding and

"all the other ‘supplies needed in

the operation “of almost ' 1500 camps. containing about 200 men

reach.

The Department of Labor was charged with the task of selecting the enrollees and sending them to the War Department for enrollment. The actual work of selection of men has been carried out in the various states, usually by the state relief and welfare.organizations. The Veterans Administration was the agency given the task of selecting war veterans. To the War Department was given the job of paying, hougns.

receive a. popular .

Tax Burden Laid in Lap

Of Local Government:

A Comment of President Roosevelt from His ForthSipe coming Books.

People who speak of the ‘large percentage of national income which goes to the payment of taxes very often overlook the fact that a ‘great proportion of :.such ‘taxes is paid to what is .. known as local government ‘—town, village and county. For example, in most states -. practically all of the tax en: : real estate goes to local gov= ‘ernment rather than to state government. Of course; the -. Federal Government does not levy any tax at all ‘on real estate. AA great deal of :the taxes paid for local government could be avoided if the inefficiencies, anachronisms and overlappings in : local government were eliminated. Of course, little * ¢an ‘be done to remedy defects in: local government by Federal Administration in Washington, except perhaps to call attention to the need for reform. In my own. state of New York, steps have be- © gun for reform in local gov- . erment and it is to be hoped that the other local communities throughout the “United States, for the sake of efficiency as well: as. for the sake of economy, ‘ will take similar steps. :

ht. under ; In ernational Co :

by Franklin D. Koosevelt; distribfea by United Feature > Syndicate,

ne,

in 1933, the Civilian amseration Co lished. This scene was at Isle Royale, o Lake Su-

clothing. and ‘feedifig: the men’ of :

the camps.

To the Department of. Agricul- :

ture and Interior were given the tasks of planning the work proj

ects, recommending camp :loca=

tins and supervising . the work programs. Every one of these departments co-operated in getting the CCC off .t0 a quick start. Two, days

. after the executive order, the first

man was selected by the Depart

ment of Labor and enrolled by - Ten!days:

the ‘War ‘Department. later the first. camp. was set up by

the War Department in: George Washington National: Forest, Vir-.

ginia, ‘and work began. -

First Enrollment

The first call for men; April 3, 1933, was for.

ment of 250,000 juniors and about

25,000 experienced men to be selected from the - neighborhoods -

where camps were-located.. Later,

I authorized enroliment -of- 25,000 ; veterans of the World War, under :

regular enrollment conditions but

. as a separate and distinctive part’

of . the organization.

The. cash allowance of each

member of the Corps was. fixed at $30 “per month. Enrollments

were to be for six months and out of the young man’s allowance an. - allotment was sent to his family,"

usually $25 of his allowance. .. By executive order on June 7, 1933, I. provided for pay increases to $36 a month for 8 per cent of the erirollees -and $45 per. month

for 5 per cent, which was recog-

nition for effort and leadership. These men were placed. in key positions after gaining the necessary experience. i“ A total of .1468 camps: wan authorized for the first enrollment. The members to be eligible had to be .unemployed, unmarried, bes tween ® the-ages ‘of 18 and - 35;

good character: and willing to of x to their dependents this. substan . tial portion of their cash allow- .

ance. after the "first. man had ‘enrolled,

250,000 enrollees, -35;000 war vet-

erans .and 25,000 experienced

woodsmen were - settled “in: 1468

forest and park camps of 200 men each, .in every state of the na-

tion. . It was the most rapid: largescale mobilisation of ‘men: in: our,

Resulfs Achieved:

. {Editor's Note — Other executive ; orders ‘gave the ;CCC bays work to: do by apthorizing the purchase of $20, 000,000 worth of forest lands, incor-

porated into such national

parks as the Great Smoky :

Mountains, Shenandoah, ‘and ©

others. The President. visited, some

of the camps and addressed ~~ the recruits. - “I ‘wish I'could

spend a couple of months here myself,” he told one group.) The Congress -had authorized : continuation of: the Civilian Con=‘servation: Corps inthe first ‘stat=

ued. on. 000. For * the first. year I authorized enroll-.

By early July, ‘three “months

the “Brst of: the: Government organizations for relief, .

: perfor,’ atiowing one" of the many camps, ‘with long barracks: .in: the background: The youths are saw.wood in preparation for winter weather.

tion onstruction. The President signed the bill authorMarch 31, 1933. “CCC membéfs are shown above pitching tents

ata’ ‘camp. soon thereafter. -

ute for: two veafs,’ The: result; of the first - three. ‘mopths. of . the operation, of the C were, however] éagerly aw

by” all of -us’ ; . to détermine- whether or.not. the

sion, reduce flood damage ‘andiin. crease the recreation facilities of the nation.

‘Increased Recreational

ne: Opportunities

At: ‘the. time: of this siriting:

~ CCCihas.passéd-the fourth-year of . its activities... ‘The;benefits of this

‘new: venture in - loyment relief uid “coniservation work have been; & pa or everyrhand.

it- had. uppliod gents work to. almost: 2,000,000

000,000. by pay: ‘ teward 1 dependents. "Tt; had supplied:

pur-

,000,000 worth ‘of “ food-

. and other. supplies. , It had improved. the morale. and physic 1, young: when they. might have been. form-ing-Habits of idleness, which would have affected their entire lives.’ The-CCC has: provided a longrarige conservation program, which

has enhanced the present and fu-. ture values of the. couritry’ s natu-

ral ‘resources.’ It ‘has’ saved and improved vist areas of forest land; db: has-helped: 40 soptol soil / /ero-

16 ‘had en“abled: ‘enrollees to cp tisute $350, “their . Sugoi of their:

‘health’: of “more ‘than ‘men at an ‘age

. It has helped directly

Side Slonegpety Clark

Jasper—By Frank Owen

““The. work in forests, ‘patks and fields included forest protection, forest culture, prevention of ‘erosion, reforestation of denuded and

* ‘burnt-over acres, preservation of

the woods from fires, pests and diseases. The work of the CCC: ‘has in creased recreational opportunities in ‘national parks, - Government . forests; state forests and: in state, county - and metropolitan parks. ‘Lodges, cabins, trails, museums, lakes, water and sewage systems, picnic and :camp-ground developments and better fishing facilities have all been added for: the publie’s use. Many. thousands of acres of unused publi range lands have been reclaimed and improved for graz-

ihe. ccc has directly assisted inl the expansion and development

_ of a nation-wide system of wild-

life refuges without parallel = in any other country. 1t has helped in flood control indirectly ‘by controlling erosion and fire, and by planting forests. y building dams and other -control projects. It has reclaimed and saved millions of acres of land by

"its 'work on drainage." @ The greatest and most worth-

while achievement of fhe corps, however, ‘was the help given:to the “young - men themselves. No one will @ver: be - able to estimate in

‘ |. dollars-and cents the value. to.the

:fnen: themselves .in morale, in

1 _health’'and in adaplapiiny to later

‘competitive life.:

‘Co pyrig ht 1938; co! ht under tntorsias

tions] Eo right Union; all rights ir / ad. er ister American. Qopgr

Talon - (1910) by: Frankl

a in DB. Rosse Tight : gist ributed by: United Feature Syndicate,

NEXT—The Was War on ‘Crime,

|A WOMAN'S VIEW By Mrs.; Walter Ferguson - :

| CCORDING to the fashion au- . thorities; good grooming ‘denotes business ‘efficiency. ‘So there

J} has been set. up the idea. that the

be ‘is unquestionably one of

individual who thinks’ I: more of her work is gros Pie than:she does of herself. The _damsels’

Our To wn By ig Scherer. 22,

om Johnson's Attempt to Sell He . Streetcar. ‘Company His Invention . Ended’ With His Owning the System.

SOMEWHAT behind in my reading I just got around to the 1938 World Almanac the other night, 'I got to ‘Page 745, and there discovered a chapter labeled “Memor"able Dates,” Tt turned: out’ to be pretty good‘reading until I reached ‘the year 1875. Be lieve it or not, the World Almanac people can’t think

~ of "a single thing: that ‘happened in ‘1875. They hans, “dle 1874 -all. right—the kidnaping- - Charley Ross:

(July 1); for instance—and’ 1876 - with Custer’s last stand at the ' Battle of the Little Big Horn (June '26) and the ~ of the Cen-

tennial Exposition at Philadelphia (May, 19) is pretty exciting, too. For

some reason, though the World Almanac just ignores the year. 1875. ° Well, for the information of he World Almanac people let me sa that 1875 marked the year a Kid by the name of Tom L. Johnson, blew into Indianapolis and tried to sell William H. English a slot machine. It was the kid’s own invention and consisted of a. metal tube with a slot in the top just big enough to receive & nickel. Properly installed with the right inclination on the inside of a streetcar, it permitted the nickel to roll from the place it was deposited to where the mule driver sat. The kid called on Mr. English bee cause he was the one who owned the Indianapolis street railway system at the time.

You'll die when you hear what happened to the kid. Instead of selling Mr. English his invention, Mr. English sold his whole streetcar system to the kid. It’s a fact. Tom Johnson didn’t have a penny to his name, but he went back to Louisyille that night with ~~ an option in his pocket. In no time at all, he raised “the $25,000 cash necessary to satisfy Mr. English and assumed the $200,000 ‘mortgage. "After-that, Mr; Johnson brought his: wife - pong ‘son. to Indianapolis and installed the family in a house on Christian Ave. (now 11th’ St) in the neighborhood of Ashland Ave. (To save myself from my fact-finding . critics who may, and: undobutedly will, take me to ‘task for calling Mr. Johnson *a kid,” it’ “behooves me to say that he got married at the age of 18)

He Became Cleveland's Mayor

Well, that was the start: of Mr. ‘Johnson’s uri believable career as a traction magnate, He stayed in ‘Indianapolis until 1885 at which time he went ‘to ‘Cleveland and ‘bought a little suburban line that ros

Mr. Scherrer

| body wanted. . He: got it for next-to nothing and ended

‘up owning the whole ‘Cleveland system. Eventually “he expanded his interests: to include the streetcar sys--‘tems of St. Louis, Brooklyn and ‘Detroit. In 1888 he “sold the Indianapolis system ‘for $780,000. It ‘Was ‘equipped ‘with his slot machines,. = In the meantime, Mr. Johnson: enlarged. his field of. activities, became ‘a Congressman, and ended up ‘being Mayor of Cleveland—for three térms, as a mate ter of fact. Curiously enough, too, he ended up bee lieving in city ownership, including streetcar systems. When his former business associates heard of it, they: turned on him, regarded him as a traitor and an ine grate toward the system that had made him rich, They called him a paradox, but. I wouldn’t go so far, . After all, Mr. Johnson didn’t act a bit differently than the day he went to sell Mr. English a slot machine, and walked out owning the Indianapolis Sirectcar 4 Sysieini. Sing . &

x Jong Jordan—

- Don't Look for a Wife - Among Women Already Married, Man Told. EAR JANE JORDAN-—I sm 38 years old and have never married. I am now unemployed and have no cash. I have traveied some and find many married women who deceive their husbands. I doubt if I ever could trust any woman. I am in love with a woman who has been married for five years to a good worker who provides life’s necessities for her. She has one child, a boy, whom I love as my very own. He loves me, too. She says she does nof " love her husband now and never has; that she married him to escape bad home conditions and now ° stays with him only until she can do better. He knows about me but absolutely is not jealous. ‘She has confessed to me that she entertained her old sweetheart in her home while her husband was at work since we have been going together; yet she says I am the only one she cares for. Does a woman really love a man when she continually flirts with just any strange man? We quarrel when she doe® this; so lately she has continued her flirting behind my back. She wants me to take her and the child away. Do you think it would be possible for me to find a measure of happiness with her after marriage? Would she do me as she is now doing her husband? FOGGY HARRY. - ® » 8 Answer—You have not painted a very desirable picture of the woman. It is safer to judge people by what they do rather than by what they say, and she behaves like anything but a one-man woman. I see no reason why you should expect her to: be faithful to you after marriage when she has not been faithful before. So far she has been loyal to. nothing but herself.

Everything you have told me about the woman points to a selfish and taking disposition. She married without love to escape a home she did net like, Did it never occur to her to work and take care of herself? If what you want is a loyal wife, devoted to you and your interests, I imagine you have chosen the wrong woman. . Now as for YOU=-WhY do you search for: a mate among married women? There are plenty of single girls in the world. If you look for a wife among them you might have a. better opinion of womanhood.

Note—May I remind those those who: have written for the Young Bachelor's: address that T do not exchange addresses? - JANE JORDAN.

‘Put your problems in a ‘letter to Jane Jordan, + who wit answer your ynsstivns in this column daily. :

Walter O Keole-s

ORONADO, Cal. March 28.—Seabiscuit, who's 3 economic’ royalist in” the turf world, seems ‘to ba worried about: the: recession. - When you..consider the way he won almost every race last season this horse of “the selfish few” F. D. R. :

‘two starts at Santa Anita, , Frobs ; of punitive - taxation in the

ets. : esterday, he raced at Agus Caliente, Just over ‘Mexican. border, and his handlers say he’s as worried as an’ American ‘oilman. He's afraid the Mexican, will Sapropriaie | his poses.