Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 April 1938 — Page 9

From Indiana — Ernie Pyle

The Story of How Billy the Kid Fought on the Side of ‘an Honest Leader and Shot His Way to Safety.

INCOLN, N. M., April 19.—Here in the Southwest, where the sun beats down, and the desert is long and empty, a piece of

histery is as exciting to me as a Christmas

package.

The Lincoln County war is one of those.

It was probably the bloodiest private war in the whole history of the frontier Southwest: Most of my information comes from that excellent : book “The Saga of Billy the Kid,” by Walter Noble Burns. L. G. Murphy had studied for the pulpit, but he took to the Army instead. Murphy opened a store in Lincoln, which was a thriving cattle town in those days. He prospered, and not always by legitimate means. His wealth grew into a cattle ranch, a hotel and-a saloon. Then in 1875 another man came across the prairies to Lincoln. His name was Alexander McSween. He, too, had been educated for the pulMr. Pyle pit. And, he, too, had abandoned the pulpit, for the career of a lawyer. It was known in eastern New Mexico that Murphy was paying rustlers to steal thousands of cattle for him. By his financial power he kept his thieves out of trouble. But finally it got so bad some of them had to stand trial. = ° Murphy ordered McSween to defend the cattle thieves. But McSween, knowing they were guilty, refused. He went over to-the other side, prosecuted the thieves, and sent them to the penitentiary. Now MecSween and another man started a store in Lincoln. They took all of Murphy's business. Murphy was getting pushed against the wall, and something had to happen. And so, one forenoon in: 1878, a score of Murphy men rode out of Lincoln and met McSween's partner on the road. As he stopped his horse and waved to them, they shot him dead.

Ruthless, Excuseless and Lawless

There was no peace in Lincoln County after that for more than two years. Men automatically took sides. The whole thing was ruthless, excuseless and lawless.: It cost dozens of lives. And .it created a national figure in the form of the Southwest's greatest killer, Billy the Kid. For more than two years the war went on, with good men and bad men almost daily biting the eternal dust. Murphy died a natural death in Santa Fe while the war was still going on, but his henchmen carried it to a horrid climax shortly afterward. The two sides sénsed that the zero hour was near. They rounded ufi Mexicans, cowboys and highwaymen, until there 'were nearly 60 on each side. Billy the Kid had chosen to fight with McSween. On the night of the third day of fighting, Murphy men slipped up and set fire to the McSween home. Billy the Kid tried to get McSween to take a gun and make a dash for it. But McSween simply walked out, stood up right in the glare and said: “I am McSween. Here I am.” Six bullets cut him down in one second. - But the preposterous Billy the Kid came out shooting. and was unscratched by more than 50 bullets fired at him from not 30 feet away. As he ran, he killed one man and gravely wounded two others.

My Diary

By Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt "Five Bands Are Present to Play for

Children's Party at White House. |

ASHINGTON, Monday.—The rain held off all 3 day yesterday, but it looked so threatening several times that I had great sympathy for the Easter crowds who tried to see Washington and did not dare go too far away from shelter. There were more people than usual outside of St. Thomas’ Church when we went in and when we came out. The rector told me every seat in the church had been filled. There also seemed to be .more people around . the White House, which makes me think a good many people have begun td feel a trip to’ Washington in thé spring is educationally valuable for the children as well as being .a pleasant way of spending the week-end. We had a grand ride in the afternoon and spent a pleasant, quiet evening with some very dear friends who were celebrating their wedding anniversary. This morning the sun was still hiding, but we opened the White House grounds on time. At 9:30, quite a crowd had collected when I went out to receive the basket of flowers which the underprivileged children of the Good Samaritan Home present every year. They brought a band with them this time. The little girl who presented the basket was a trifle older than usual, so she made her little speech with great com-

posure, Seeks to Hide Riding Clothes”

I wanted to ride this morning and knew that I would have no time for changes of clothes, so I put on riding clothes. When the pictures’ of the presentation of the flowers were being- taken, I tried to shield myself by putting children in front of me, so I would not look too obviously bent on sport. The next time I will try to be a little ‘more suitably dressed. Even though the weather looks threatening, quite a crowd has collected. The band from the Boys’ Training School has given its concert. The other bands, Loew’s Lapitol Theater Band, the Metropolitan Police Club ‘Boys’ Band, the Alexandria George Washington High School Band and the United States Marine Band, will play through the day. I think it is rather nice to have children come to, entertain other children before the grownups are admitted in the afternbon. The Capitol Theater is sending over many of its entertainers who are going to put on " their acts on an outdoor platform. Right now, a clown, Mr. Frank Portillo, is delighting the children with his antics.

New Books Today

Public Library Presents—

T is timely that Peter Quennell’'s VICTORIAN PANORAMA: A SURVEY OF LIFE AND FASHION FROM CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHS (Scribner) should appear just now while the city still remembers the recent presentation of “Victoria Regina.” The author intends his book to be a sort of “family photograph album” of an entire age. With pictures and commentary, he touches both the high life, royal shooting parties, and race days at Ascot Park, and low life, London slums, and the underworld of sewers. It is also a record of development in photography, and the first chapter is devoted to a history of out-

standing early photographers with examples of their

work. ® = » E when he was a boy, John D. Craig had been asked what he was going to be when he was grown, he would probably have ‘said that he would be an engineer, like his father. ‘But chance and circumstance intervened. From ‘the time oil was struck on land which he owned, and he became moderately wealthy, adventure became his avocation. With no particular purpose, he went to Algeria and was held as a spy by the Riffs; to Egypt, and risked his life climbing a pyramid; to India, and became an unwilling tiger hunter. : Only by chance did he take up deep-sea diving. ‘And then, as he became increasingly interested in photography, and as he was more and more taken by the idea of bringing adventure to stay-at-homes by way of the films, he made of this dangerous avocation his career. The life of the world under the water, the hagas of descending to the floor of the ocean, and the he éhallenge offered by the many technical

this business, combine to hold nd Rnable him to

agabond/

On Labor Relations

continually arising.

ment Agreement.

dustrial Recovery Act, which provided for collective bargaining between employer and employees.

The Board established 20 regional boards, . composed of representatives of labor and industry, with representatives of the public as impartial ‘chairmen, to adjust cases and hold hearings in the regions where the controversies arose. In this way the cases could be expedited; and the par-

den of coming to Washington. There were several flagrant cases of @efiance of the Board by large eQoyers of labor. To strengthen hand of the Board, my Executiwe Order of Dec. 6 gave it the right to adjust all industrial disputes arising out of the operation of the President's Reemployment Agreement or the various codes, and to compose all conflicts threatening’ the industrial peace of the country. Subsequent Executive approved and ratified the previous orders of the Board, and gave it

tiohs to determine the employees’

: to July 9,

ties involved could avoid the bur-

Orders

specific authority to hold elec-

- 'Fortunate' Reversal by Court on Minimum Pay

A Comment of President Roosevelt From His Forthcoming Books

As a part of the great deflationary movement which had come with the depression, wages had sunk to impossibly low levels (in 1933) because of the actions of some employers of labor who were taking advantage of the great number of unemployed and the accompanying fierce competition for jobs..The first attempt at Federal action to fix decent municipal wages took place in the codes which were adopted pursuant to the National Industrial Recovery Act. However, two months before the adoption of that statute, I thought that some relief might be obtained through the. individual action of the various states in fixing minimum wages, similar to the statute just passed by the Legislature of New York. I therefore sent a telegram to the Governors of the various industrial states, asking them to follow the lead of New York along these lines. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court of the United States, in 1936, declared the Minimum Wage Law of New York unconstitutional. In 1935 it declared the National Industrial Recovery Act unconstitutional, so that it appeared that this was . one subject about which neither the State nor the Federal Government could constitutionally legislate. Fortunately, after the transmission by me of my message to the Congress for a rejuvenation of the judiciary son Feb. 5, 1937, the Supreme Court reversed itself, and declared minimum wage legislation by states _ constitutional.

ight 1938; copy ht under nh Co Teh s

is uted by Syndi-

Roos! United Feature cate, Inc.

TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1938

OON after the enactment of the National Industrial Re-

covery Act, it became apparent that some agency would have to be set up to handle the labor disputes which were

In order to meet that need, I appointed the first National Labor Board on Aug. 5, 1933. Its function was to consider, adjust and settle differences and controversies that might arise through differing interpretations of the labor provisions of the codes, or the President’s Re-employ-

The Board soon found it necessary to expand its activities, in order to take care of the large number of disputes which were arising under Section 7-A of the National In-

choice of representatives for the purpose of collective bargaining with their employers, and to publish the names of such chosen representatives.

The Board was further authorized to present its findings of violations of Section 7-A to the Attorney General for possible prosecution. During the existence of this first National Labor Board, 1934, it settled 1019 involving 644,200 emand was successful in

strikes ployees;

* averting strikes in 498 cases in-

volving 481,600 employees. This first National Labor Board, therefore, had a decidedly beneficial effect on labor relations and on recovery in general, by saving money and preventing industrial strife and suffering, through peaceful settlement of disputes. It was equally valuable in providing experience for later Federal legislation in connection with labor relations.

New /Boa rd Created

(Edijor's Note—A number of separate labor boards, each charged with jurisdiction over labor relations in a given industry, were also created during the life of NRA. Industries thus specifically covered include bituminous coal, petroleum, newspapers, textiles generally and

cotéon, silk and wool separately,

longshoremen on the Pacific Coast, and steel.

To put this new machinery of

the Government “upon a firm statutory basis,” the National Labor Board was discontinued and a new “National Labor Relations Board” created on June 29, 1934, by Executive Order. Its first chairman was Lloyd Garrison of Wisconsin.) The appointment of the board for the iron and steel industry,

the concurrence of both the em~ . ployers and workers in accept--

ing its good offices, and the general terms of its powers, had the

effect of preventing a general

strike in this field.

However, the National Labor Relations Board made a study and concluded that separate boards for the various industries were not desirable. They reported that it was preferable to have one impartial national board to determine, in the last instance and subject only tq court review, all labor questions; and that subagencies should handle the cases in the first instance in the various regions and localities. This first National Labor Relations Board commenced ,operations on July 9, 1934. Under its procedure, complaints of violations of Section 7-A of NIRA were filed . with the various regional boards which were continued from the days of the old National Labor

Board. Attempt was then made

to adjust the matter by mediation: if that failed, a hearing was held. Findings of fact were made, and if there was refusal by the employer to comply, the case: was forwarded to the National Board in Washington, which after further oral argument, or submission of briefs, or in some cases, further hearing, issued its decisions. If no. compliance resulted the cases would be sent to the Attorney General for prosecution and ilo the Compliance Division of the NRA with a recommendation that the employer's Blue Eagle be

" revoked.

The life of the National Labor Relations Board: was extended to Aug. 27, 1935, although, of course, the active work of the Board

Side Glonces—By Clark

The present National Labor Relations Board was set up Aug. 24, 1935, by the National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act. President Roosevelt explains that the act was the result of the cumulative experience of many years with various methods of Government

F. D. R's Own Story of the New Deal (Contained in an authorized advance publication of his notes and com- fit

ments to “The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt”) - Article No. 24

dealing with labor relations. of employees to bargain collectively through repre- . sentatives of their own choosing. Board are Edwin S. Smith (left), Chairman J. Warren Madden (center) and Donald Wakefield Smith.

as Second-Class os astotfice, Indianapolis, Ind.

It asserted the rights Members of the

wild , mushrooms.

As predicted, many strikes and other labor. trou-

bles followed discontinuance of the NRA and “sitdown” became a much used phrase in the United States. Above is a scene at the Memorial Day riots in South Chicago, in 1936, when police hurled tear

gas. ‘and then took to clubs to disperse about 2000

steel workers who were on strike at the Republic Steel plant. . In the foreground, two of the strikers are down, while the man in the white shirt is about to fall.

ceased immediately upon the deci-

sion of the Supreme Court of the United States on May 27, 1235, de- .

claring Title I of the NIRA unconstitutional. : The record of the accomplishments of this Board again clearly proved the beneficial effect of Federal intervention in the field of labor relations, and the necessity of a Government Board for this purpose. .

Wagner Act

(Editor’s Note—The Supreme Court decision in the Schechter case struck all Federal labor legislation a body blow. Many labor cases were included in the 411 NRA code cases dismissed by the Attorney General after the decision. Seven labor boards became immediately inoperative. At a conference with legislative leaders, the President suggested the passage of the Wagner Act to sef up new labor tribunals. Meanwhile some of the national labor board’s functions were continued by the Department of Labor and by the skeleton NRA, as described below.) In order to remove any doubt as to whether the Supreme Court decision affected the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board, my Executive : Order: of June 15 was issued, re-establish-

ing it and fixing its functions and - duties under the Senate resolu-

tion extending a skeleton NRA. On Aug. 24, 1935, the Board set up by the National Labor Relation (Wagner) Act was created. This Act was the result of the cumulative experience of many years with various methods of . Government dealing - with labor relations, which extended as far

back as 1888 when the Congress

provided for the investigation of

railroad labor disputes threatening to interrupt interstate _commerece, .

In more recent years, singe;

March 4, 1933, there -had been the experience of the National Labor Board, the first National Labor Relations Board, and the separate labor boards for different industries.

This new . statute piovides for . a new National Labor: ‘Relations \

Board. of three me! to: ad~

minister the Act. It again asserts

the rights of employees to bargain

* collectively through = representa-

tives of their own choosing. : It defines as an. unfair labor

practice any act by an employer

to interefere with, restrain or

coerce employees in. the exercise of such rights, or to interfere with . ‘labor organizations or: discrimi-

nate against members thereof, or to refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives of his employees.

Administration’ of Act”

Under the Act: the Board has two main fungfions: (1) to pre-

* vent unfair labor practices affect-

ing interstate commeree; and (2)

to investigate any controversy af- -

fecting interstate commerce which has arisen concerning the .representation of employees and to certify the representatives that have been selected. About the beginning of October, 1935, efter the completion of ‘its organization and : the -appointment of its staff, the Board began to accept cases, ‘Two types were - submitted: - Charges that employers had engaged in one or more of the unfair labor prac-

tices. designated by the Act; and °

petitions for investigation: and

certification of representatives of .

the ployee

Jasper—By Frank Owen’ I: ;

_ approximately

In the 27 months ending Dec. 31, 1937, the National Labor Rela=

. ‘tions Board handled 11,179 cases,

covering 2,997,826 workers. These figures’ inclide action on charges of unfair-labor practices and petitions for elections received by the

~ Board and its 22 regional offices.

Of all cases acted upon, 7760 or two-thirds were closed; leaving 3419 cases pending on Jan. 1, 1938. Of these 7760 cases, 4440. were closed: by agree-

“ment of - both parties, involving

1,046, 326 workers. The Board handled 1256 strike

' cases, involving 234,749. workers,

and of these 957 were settled and 165,278 workers were reinstated

after strikes or lockouts. Through

the Board’s action 489 threatened strikes, involving 125,243 workess, were averted.

There were 948 elections held in which 339, 313 valid votes were cast. An analysis of the causes: of complaints shows that 3581 of the

~~ cases which came before the

Board and its regional office in the 27 months of its operations, concerned Section 8 (3) of the act, which makes it an unfair labor practice to discriminate against workers because of their union affiliation or activities. In 2481 cases the main cause of complaint was based upon Sec-

. tion 8 (5) of the act, the failure

of the employer in good faith to

. bargain collectively with the rep-

resentatives chosen by the emB to deal with the managemen

se Union ‘(1 910) by Franklin D. Roosevelt;

distributed by United “Feature Syndicate. 3

“NEXT — The Go Policy.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

: 1—Name the Administrator ‘of the U. S. Housing Authority. :2-—-What-is a vesti :

1 organ? 3—WhHich boxing bout drew the the largest gate receipts?

Te 4—Name the Governor of Ver-

‘mont. 5—What is a novena? . 6—In which country: is the Lake of Bienne?

.1T—Which state ‘is called the

“Cotton State”? . 8—Where ‘in the U. S. is the ‘best known planting of Japanese Cherry Blossom trees?

aR IR. i Answers 1—Nathan Straus.

. 2—Any organ in the Body that

appears not to function. 3—The second fight between

Tunney and Dempsey at Chi- .

' ‘cago in 1927. 4—George D. Aiken.

« .5—A nine-days Hevotion to any

ASK THE TIMES

close a ‘3-cent stamp for |

reply when addressing any

question of fact or information to. The Indianapolis Times

pyright °

Good Neighbor

Walter O Reale

PAGE 9

Matter

Our Town

‘By Anton Scherrer

You Don't Find Lorn Cooper, Who Is an Expert Mycologist, Fooling Around With the 'Destroying Angel.’

I WENT to the corner of Meridian and 18th Sts. the other day and took a good look at Lorn Cooper. He has the jolliest face imaginable—the healthiest-looking, too—and you'd never suspect that he is a mycologist, That isn’t the worst. Maurice Maibaugh,

John Landis and Dwight Tappan, the fellows who

help him run the filling station on that corner, are mycologists, too. It isn’t as bad as it sounds, though,

5 A mycologist is one who dabbles in

fungi—more particularly, in wild mushrooms. Maybe you don’t know it, but this is the open season for To hear Mr. Cooper tell it, it’s “the grandest sporting event of the year, and one open only to experts. The uninitiated are just flirting with death to fool with it, say Mr, Cooper. For ex-' ample, there’s the wild mushroom known as: Amanita. Hunters on speaking terms with the beast, call it the “Destroying Angel.” If eaten, even in minute quantities, it means certain death within 15 hours unless an emetic is administered within eight hours, But that’s exactly the catch—no antidotes are availe able for it in this country. It surprised me, too, . because after listening to the Pon the past few weeks I sort of got the idea that there was a cure for everything. Mr. Cooper leaves the “Destroying Angel” zlone, you bet. He has enough to do collecting the spongeiike, -edible kind that grows around and under May apples and horseweeds. The best patches of May apples and horseweeds, I learned, are somewhere between here and Martinsville. There is another good patch two or three miles north of Indianapolis, but Mr, Cooper shut up like a clam when I asked him where. He won't tell you either. Said it wouldn't be fair to his colleagues who, like himself, had to start at the bottom. :

Prospects Are Doubtful

Mr. Cooper expects the mushroom season to be in full swing in another week. He doesn't know, though, whether it is going to be a -good season. From the

Mr. Scherrer

“way things looked last week, he had his doubts. Last

week, for instance, Maurice Maibaugh, who by the way is Mr. Cooper’s boss, went out and did a little scouting of his own. He came back looking mighty blue. Said the ground was too hard to do the mush=rooms any good. Somehow, it didn’t sound reasone able after all the rain we've had, said Mr. Cooper, And because it didn’t sound reasonable is why Mr, Cooper thinks that, maybe, Mr. Maibaugh was fool ing. His boss has a grand sense of humor, said Mr, Cooper. Let’s suppose, though, that next week is going to be nice and hot, and moist enough to start the soil steaming. In that event, Mr. Cooper is going. to bring home more than his share of mushrooms. When he gets home, he’s going to soak them overnight in salt water (to remove all doubts), split them in half, and roll them in cracker crumbs and butter, After that, the only thing left to do is to fry them.

Jane Jordan— Gill Told She Needs Experience

Before She Can Become an Author,

EAR JANE JORDAN—I am a girl with a boy's ambition. I wish to roam the wilds of a certain country where I can be alone and concentrate on my hopes of being a writer. I know it is the only place where I will ever write successfully for there lie my inspiration, dreams and life. In four years, when I believe I will have enough education, do you think it would be a wild goose chase to leave my mother and lose myself in that country? Mother is the greatest in the. world but I find it difficult to speak to her about this matter for I know she would not understand. If I ever write it will be at the ends of the earth where no one will bother me and I could live the way I've long wanted to, as a man. There is nothing to hold me back except Mother, my needed education and my health which is not the best but which I've been assured will be all: right in a few years. SOME ONE.

: ” ”» ” -Answer—You have left me ‘to guess. your age. Since you need four more years of education, that places you in your teens. I mention this fact becatise

‘it is important in view of the profession you mean

to pursue. You see a writer must live abundantly before he can write. He must touch life at many

points, must know and understand many people, in=

cluding his own family, and have met with many situations before he can afford isolation. Otherwise his writing will have no depth, no truth, no wisdom; it will be just fantasy. Faithful - observation plus accurate recording makes a writer, not flight from life. When you:have gathered a wealth of experience you can retire from civilization to write about it, but it is impossible to accumulate the knowledge of life which you need to draw upon in four short years. Twice in your leiter you have referred to your wish to be a boy--“to live like a man.” Perhaps every woman has had this wish at some time or other. The wisest women give it up because it is obe viously impossible. The most earnest advice I have to give is tor you to reconcile yourself to the life of ‘a girl. In this you will need to be guided by the mother whom you say is the “greatest in the world.” If your mother has made a success of being r, wome an, you can also. You feel that she would not under-. stand your wish to live like a man and will not risk her disapproval and resistance by telling her. In other words you do not want her to restrain you in your flight from reality. Analyze your wish to run away from everybody. Will this make you a great writer, or is it just a means of escaping the day by tay problems with which you do not wish to cope? ~ JANE JORDAN.

Put your problems in ‘a letter to Jane Jordan, who win answer your questions in this column daily.

Bob Burns Says—

OLLYWOOD, April 19.—T sat in on a meeting of a bunch of movin’ picture producers the other night and one of ’em suggested that they make pic~ tures a little more true to life. I came right out and ‘told ’em I didn’t think people would wanta see pictures like that °because real life is sometimes a little too blunt. It would just take the sweetness and excitement outa the romance. I remember down home a boy was engaged to a girl and they decided to elope like they do in pictures, They laid their plans carefully and in secret, and that night he sneaked up to her window and put a ‘ladder against the wall real easy and she came et Then, so he wouldn't leave any evidence, he started to

take the ladder away, when her paw stuck his head

outa the second-story ‘window and said “Leave that ladder there, young fella, I've still got a couple of daughters I wanta get off my hands.” (Copyright, 19383)

AE ”y

H%% LLYWOOD, April 19.—Mussolini has | ine : formed the 2 8st bas fh tne By for any profanity among his fighters. He ants Ihe ‘the 3 children to be calm like self. Benito ] if a bomb explodes in a soldier's hands as : Musil provbly strata. that bis solder ae. young to Don a such talian family er “there who don't ‘resembles his fa ‘

merely say, “Oh shucks!”