Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 July 1938 — Page 9
.. Vagabond
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» AD pin ne -
. are scattered around. ; _ stone mansion suitable for a run-of-the-mine rail-
. road president. ;
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From Indiana = Ernie Pyle
Furnace Room for Van Sweringen Estate Looks Like Battleships; One Table in House Has 84 Legs.
(CLEVELAND, July 23.—What will eventually become of the fabulous Van Sweringen country estate a few miles east of Cleveland, nobody knows. ‘It is for sale. Maybe a million would take it, I don’t know. The bank which now owns it is keeping it up immaculately. Seven families are employed there. ; . Whoever buys it will find himself a minor empire. it’s practically a park. There are dense forests. There are creeks and dams, and -acres of smooth lawn. There must be 50 buildings on the place, many of them mansions in themselves. There are miles and miles of driveways. At one entrance to the estate is the “garage group.” Here were kept the eight Van Sweringen automobiles. With shops and servants’ quarters, it forms a little estate by itself. : elias . At another entrance is the “farm Mr. Pyle . group.” Here are machine shops, tool houses, warehouses; all patio with a fountain. : There are three glass-roofed greenhouses, as big as any in Cleveland, they Say. Homes for servants ; The butler’s “cottage” is- a
. -About a dozen of these servants’ quarters are now rented out to young business families from the city. This rental is the bank’s only income from Bi e
‘estate. ~3t just about pays upkeep expenses. mere thought of the taxes makes me shudder. Dow Jenkins, who lives as caretaker in the Van Sweringen “big house,” says he hopes the bank can sell it. He says living in such luxury isn’t all it’s. cracked up to be. He says he feels such a responsi-
_ bility he hardly dares leave the house.
He started with the Van Sweringens as yard man 14 years ago, about the time the house was built: His daughter was once one of the housemaids. In yesterday’s article we ran out of space before we ran out of house. So I want to finish it today. Take the dining rooms for instance. There are three. -The first one holds about 15 people. The Van Sweringens ate breakfast there. The second one would hold an army. The big table
. has 84 legs. They didn’t use this one very often.
Barber Shop in Basement
The third one is just off this, a sort of alcove, a tiny little thing about the size of a pasture, for overflow guests. * Cw Then Mr. Jenkins pushed open a door and said, «Here's where my family eats now.” We all had to laugh. It was the kitchen. d only slightly smaller than Macy's store. The basement of the Van Sweringen home is a study in “how to do it big.” The furnace room looks like the fireroom of a battleship. Three great boilers in a row, and half a dozen smaller furnaces. Mr. Jenkins burned 150 tons of coal last winter just keeping ‘the empty house at half temperature. In one wing is a barber shop, regulation chair and all. The Van Sweringens had a barber come out from Cleveland every Sunday and trim their hair. There is a laundry big enough for a small city. And in one wing is an enclosed swimming pool fit for the finest country club. One of the Van Sweringens swam in it-occasionally. The other was never in it but once. rity In these two articles it hasn't been possible to tell one-tenth of the splendor of this Van Sweringen home. It is colossal, fabulous and exorbitant. And yet I will say this about it—the place is lovely. everything blends. Nothing is loud -or garnish or freakish. There is not one note of bad taste—unless spending $4,000,000 on a home is bad taste. You make your own:decision. ;
My Diary By Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt ~~
Thinks All Government Homesteads Should Have Advisory Committees.
HH" PARK, N. Y., Priday.—I seem to be recording various day-by-day: meetings. Yesterday five
gentlemen came: up here who serve on the advisory ~ committee for the Gevernment homestead at Arthur-
dale, W. Va. I wish that every one of these home-
steads could have an advisory committee. I think it
would be a great help to the project manager, though at times the officials at Washington probably find outside interest a bit trying. Still, looking, over the last few years I feel sure that the balance ol advantage lies with the homesteads which have had outside advisory committees. These committees should consist, as far as possible, of interested citizens in the localities, with some
Government representatives and some outsiders who
have contacts with interests of use to any growing community. Miss Clapp, who started the Arthurdale school, joined us for lunch. She has written the story of that school and the part it played in the development of the community and its people. I hope before long it will be published, because I feel it may be helpful to others who are struggling with difficult situations and cannot see any hopeful ending to their struggles. Nothing could have been more difficult than the situation faced by these homesteaders, Miss Clapp is largely responsible for the initial steps which helped them to solve for themselves many of their problems.
"she is now editing ‘Progressive Education” and we
had an interesting time, after the others had left, talking over various new educational projects;
Battles Sistie at Table Tennis
Rain came down in torrents yesterday and as a result Mrs. Scheider and I gave up our plan for a drive into Connecticut to see a friend of ours. This {gave us unexpected time for work that should have been déne sometime ago. Between times I played Sistie three games of table tennis. "Being very poor at it myself, and Sistie being very new, we really were quite evenly matched. : At 6:30, Mrs. Scheider, Miss Cook, and I decided that we would drive up to Norrie Park and try dining on the terrace of the little restaurant. The entrance to this park is on Route 9, just before you reach the
village of Staatsburg. I had a few qualms beforehand as to our enjoyment, for it is right on the river and I thought we might be eaten up by mosquitoes. I was wrong, however. We sat and watched the view unmolested. 3
The skies are still threatening today, but I suppose we should be thankful that it is cool.
Bob Burns Says—
OLLYWOOD, July 23.—I1 believe we're all human and have the same human traits and do the ‘same things for the same reasons, but some people usé fancier terms for it to snake themselves sound high flalutin’.
Not long ago in a fancy, exclusive ladies’ club, ]
they were discussing the reasons why women cry. One after the other they got up and said the reason they cried was to get something out of their systems. Finally a lady rose in the back and said “Girls, I think it’s about time one of us was tellin’ the truth Shou ails hing. 3 gous cry ho Jet Bung out of my system—1I c! ngs out o : OC stem ery fo et things out of my hushed”.
The 600 acres isn’t a farm; .
built around a Spanish.
it
| ‘Second Section
: y reports circulated recently that Germ fronfier, barricades of farm carts were erec
Czechoslovakia—
Democracy’s Outpost in Central Europe Is
shows the Czech barricade at Seifliemersdorf.
(Second of a Series)
Times Special ASHINGTON, July 23. —The republic of Czechoslovakia, the Dbeleaguered ‘last outpost of “democracy in Central Europe, is not only a barrier to Hitler's plans to push toward, the oil fields of Rumania and the granary of the Ukraine. It is in itself a prize for conquest. It is not a large country, being about the size of Illinois. Shaped like a fish, its nose and half its body poke westward into the open jaws of the newly. enlarged Germany, and its tail reaches westward for 600 miles to near the Russian border. Its width varies from 45 to 175 miles. Little though it is, it is a rich country. A
Picturesque in scenery ahd racially complex, this new land
‘ was forged within our generation
out of. three old civilizations. It includes the lands of the old Czech . kingdom of Bohemia, Moravia and part of Silesia; the Slovak territory of old Hungary, and the autonomous country of Carpathian Ruthenia to the east. Standing between the Germanic and Slav worlds, it is criss-crosSed
* by a maze of beaten. paths be-
tween those two. Its richer cities and more industrial civil-
_ization border Germany, includ-
ing’ what was Austria; its pas-. toral hinterland clings to the blue Carpathian mountainsides, nestles in valleys- and sustains a sparse population of peasants many of whom are untouched by western ways. 2 = =
ROM the factories of Praha, the capital, "and other towns and cities pours a constant stream of manufactured goods for ex-
—® Jews, 82,000 Poles and 250,000 forNearly three-fourths of *
SO THEY SAY—
HEY don’t give an ambitious young man a break in aviation any more.—Herman Schapansky, Oklahoma farmer, forbidden by state authorities to fly his homemade plane because he has no license. . ” ” 8
It is not unlikely that public health may be the next great social issue in this country.—SurgeonGeneral Thomas Parran.
2 » »
If we attempted to build a car today the way we build a house, it would cost $150,000 and would not run.—Harvey\ Wiley Corbett, architect, urging \mass ‘ production of houses.
a
A giant long-range cannon is rolled out of the Skoda arms works This gleaming instrument of destruction is
at Plzen, Czechoslovakia.
highly mobile and has rubber-tired wheels.
port—munitions, paper, beer, toys, shoes, buttons, pottery, steel, glass and textiles. Czechoslovakia in-
herited about ° three-quarters of the old Austria-Hungarian industries and a greater part of its natural resources. . Its northern uplands abound in. timber, coal and lignite. There is some iron, but not enough for domestic industries. Its lands, 42 per cent arable, yield rich ‘crops of sugar bests, hops, hides, flax, cattle and sheep. It .is one of the richest forest lands of Europe, and it has big stores of undeveloped water-
power. ; : The 15 million Czechoslovakians
are a people of many races, with two-thirds of the population forming the dominant group—7;400,000 Czechs and 2,300,000 Slovaks. The most important minority is a bloc of 3,232,000 Germans, or 22.3 per cent of the total. Other minorities are: 692,000. Hungarians, 549,000 Ruthenians, 186,000
eigners. ‘the population is Roman Catholic. Czechoslovakia boasts of a strong, French-trained -and mechanized peacetime army of 180,000 officers and men, a good sgjr force, a tank battalion :and
mountain infantry. It has uni-
versal military service, a military gendarmerie and state police. It maintains good roads and wellfortified frontiers. -
” 2 »
{J czateN in the World War and strengthened by reservists seasoned in a spectacular march across Russia, the solid little Czech Army would present stiff resistance to an invader. The Army’s worst drawback is that it speaks the tongues of six races. Czechoslovakia’s real ; strength,
an troops were being moved up to the Czech ted at points along the border. This photo
‘SATURDAY, JULY. 28, 1088
The Skoda munition
Here is a view of a great factory floor in the 8 night turning out arms for all Europe.
however, lies in her allies. Under a Locarno pact of 1925 Franee and
Czechoslovakia agreed to “lend |
immediate aid and assistance” to
one another if = either suffered from Germany's failure to observe its pledges under other Lo-
* A i ’ boas sul be. | re i il ag Le) 2 iy of i 5 : nL ® =
Artillerymen of the Czechoslovakian tered by their field pieces, with the help o during recent maneuvers of Czech troops.
%
Army are shown here plotting the hits regisf concealed periscopes. This picture was made
works, the second largest arms factory in Europe and the main industry of the city, wodld be one of the invaluable prizes to fall to Ger-
carno treaties. In 1935 the Czechs signed a. mutual assistance pact with Soviet Russia. Czechoslovakia is also bound by treaties with
the other members ‘of the Little Entente, Rumania and Yugo- ° slavia.
ko da 'works. The large arms factory is busy
‘many should her troops invade Czechoslovakia.
Times-Acme Photos. day and
Czechoslovakia may be an inviting morsel for Hitler, but it is’ a morsel that lies within a dan-
' gerous trap.
»
NEXT—Dr. Benes Herr
Henlein,
and
Side Glances—By
» oF
Jasper—By Frank Owen
| 2—No; it 1s a British possession.
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
1—-Name the largest of the five ‘continental divisions of the
earth. : 2—Is British Honduras a republie? 3—Which President of the U. 8. was called “Old Man Eloquent”? 4—Where is the International Date Line? 5—What symbolic insignia is used by Italian fascism? ° 6—Which letter of the English alphabet is most used? .7—In which of Shakespeare’s plays is Fluellen’'a humorous - character? 2 8 8 \
Answers -1—Asia. : :
3—John Quincy Adams,
following the 180 degree me‘ridian of longitude. Pain 5—The Roman fasces, 8 bundle - of rods with axe projecting,
‘1—“Henry the Fifth”
Co. » 2 \ ASK THE TIMES \ Inclose a 3-cent stamp for teply © when addressing. any quest of fact or information. to The Ingiznapelis Times Washington ice Bureau, 1013 13th St, N. W., Washington, D. C. Legal and medical
“| advice cannot be given. nor can : ‘be under
>
- tered as Second-Olass Matter at Postoffice, Indianapolis. Ind.
PAGE 9
Our Town By Anton Scherrer
* Your Columnist Has to Thank His Father for a Lot of Information He'd Never Been. Given in School.
ATHER had an idea that it was part of ~ his business to supplement the work of the public schools, and that’s why, I guess, "he always picked Saturday, my only day off, to show me something new and novel around
here. Very often it interfered with my
plans, but now that I look back I wouldn't have missed it for anything. In that way I got to learn® quite a lot which, for some reason, the public schools never thought of including in their | curriculum. Just to mention one instance: Without Father’s interest in my education I never would have seen the inside of the Silver Dollar Saloon. It was an educational treat, to say the least, and something I never could have picked up in a schoolroom. I know that for a fact because when I quizzed my teacher Conceming Je architectural merits 0 e Silver Dollar Saloon, it turned out she didn’t know what Mf Scherrer I was talking about. Otherwise, she was a preity
smart teacher. =
When I grew older, Father conceived it his duty to enlarge my education still more, and the only way left to do it was to confiscate my Sundays, too. Anyway, that was the day Father used to take me to the Maennerchor which at that time was on the upper floor of a building on E. Washington St. Father said he wanted me to profit by the talks of a group of men who had a habit of meeting around a certain round table up there. As near as I recall, the group included Gottfried Recker, the merchant; Engelbach, the bookseller; Dr. Guido Bell and Pref. Max Leckner, the music master. Not a smooth shaved face in the whole group. J :
Nothing Ever Settled
As far as I recall, the group spent the greater part of every Sunday afternoon discussing everything under the sun, and the funny part of it was that they never settled anything, What's more, they didn’t seem to caré whether they settled anything. Just got together for the fun of talking. On second thought I don’t know whether you can call it “fun,” because they always seemed so serious about it.
The most serious occasion I remember, and certainly the one most profitable for me, was the after= noon when Prof. Leckner told the story of his life. He began with his birth in Germany and gradually worked up to the time he was old enough to take music lessons. He was getting along fine, he said, when all of a sudden his teacher died. It surprised every=body, and nobody more than the Leckner boy, because the teacher was in the best of health. - As a matter of fact, the way Prof. Leckner told the story, he had finished his lesson just 10 minutes before his teacher passed away. 3 Well, the news of his teacher’s death just about broke him up, said Prof. Leckner, and the way he was feeling he didn’t know whether he could attend the funeral or not. He did, though, and the way. things turned out, it was the luckiest thing he ever did. The preacher had just finished the last prayer, said Prof. Leckner, when all of a sudden right before his eyes, the Leckner boy saw his old teacher stir, get up and step out of the coffin. Sure, after that, the Leckner | .boy resumed his music lessons just as’if nothing had happened. :
Jane Jordan— Express: Confidence in Pudand in Urging Him to Get Job, Wife Told.
EAR JANE JORDAN—Ten months ago when I married my husband I promised myself that 1 would always try to understand his point of view in any situation between us. I want nothing more than for us to have a comfortable home and a happy life. I am 21 and my husband is 25. I have worked almost every day since our marriage, but my husband has only had three months of steady work. I know jobs are difficult to find, but in that length of time it seems that he could have found something more. I have ‘never nagged because I have had to do more than my part. I want to work until we get a good start, But I am afraid he is becoming somewhat passive to ward the situation. Don’t think I am sorry for mys self and want to escape work. It is just that I want my husband to feel the same responsibility in establishing a home that I do. When we talk, his attitude is fine. He says that he will find something soon but that we should be glad he has as much work as he has. I encourage him and try to give him confidence in himself. I realize that it hurts his pride for me to make more money than he, but I want it to make him Fiore determined than ever to succeed. KAY.
2 =» 8
Answer—The trouble is that you married your husband before he had solved his economic problem. Now he has two problems instead of one. Whereas formerly he had only himself to consider, now he has you. It is a blow to his pride to have his wife succeed when he cannot.
Some men react to this situation with increased resourcefulness and determination to crash through all the obstacles. But others are so lowered in selfesteem that it acts as a handicap. Their feeling of inferiority creeps into their actions to such an extent that they inspire no confidence when they apply for ‘a job, if they can bring themselves to apply at all. Diffident, - uncertain, secretly humiliated, they fall back upon brave statements about what they are going to do tomorrow,
Well, all you can do is to be a good sport about it. You are not wrong in expecting your husband to take his ‘responsibilities ‘seriously and in resenting an easy acceptan® of the situation. You cannot let him feel that you are perfectly content with doing more than your share. Yet to speak of it too much or to show your waning confidence is to increase his discouragement and prevent the very result you wish to achieve. - a : To know just when to push and just when to praise constitutes a nice problem in judgment for a 21-year-old girl. About all you can do is to maintain a steady, consistent attitude of pushing him out while making him believe that your confidence in his capacity is still undimmed. I believe ‘that constant assertion that he can and will find work because of his innate superiority will be more apt to act as a stimulus than a show of disappointment, ‘JANE JORDAN.
Put your problems in s letter to Jane 7 answer Yor questions in this column di Srdan, Yio. wig
| New Books Today .
Public Library Presents—
D° you want to make a sales talk that quickly closes the sale, to leary the art of “small talk,” or to be a leader in conversations—in short, to know HOW TO BE A CONVINCING TALKER AND A CHARMING = CONVERSATIONALIST (Business Course)? J. George . Frederick, president of the Writers Club of New York, has written two small (but dynamic), volumes that lead you step by step through each difficult detail of voice cultivation to the “art of listening” and good repartee. Ciood repartee has rules and a pattern. A charming conversationalist knows these rules and follows a pattern. : Frederick tells us: “Talk is the stuff of which modern life is made. Why? Because the one sure way to build a civilization is. to intercommunicate. . . There is no stimulation which does so much for personality, sociability and knowledge as good talk, . . . Minds. talking together act like flint; they strike
| sparks
¢ would not otherwise come. . . . Talk is