Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 26 July 1938 — Page 9

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From Indiana =_Ernie Pyle

Clevelander Who Has Pet: Snakes Says They're Affectionate, but Ernie Will Take His Word for It.

(CLEVELAND, July 26.—In this city is an . organization known as the Reptile Society of Cleveland. - In order to belong, you have to keep at least three snakes in your house. . .

This sounded like a column to me, so I called up Robert T. Jones, the president, and asked if I could meet him at any point in Cleveland except his own house. So he came over to the hotel, and . . after the house detective had searched him we had breakfast together. ‘ The Reptile Society has six active members. Most of them keep more than three snakes. There are also 12 inactive members, who don’t keep snakes but love them just the same. Mr. Jones started off by saying that if I would just barely touch one of his snakes with the tip of my finger, my snake-horror would ' instantly disappear. Whether Mr. Mr. Pyle Jones is right or not will never be ! known. Mr. Jones has three snakes right now, a king, a bull and a gopher snake. The gopher is seven feet long, and wouldn’t you like to have that sitting at the table with you? | These snakes don’t crawl around the house all the time. They're kept in cages. The only reason they aren’t loose is that they'd crawl away. The Joneses let their snakes out for a couple of hours every evening. Sometimes they put one in the middle of the . sitting room, to see which member of the family it! will come to. Mrs. Jones likes snakes too. Their son Robert, who is 18, not only likes snakes but wants to be a newspaperman. Either one is bad enough, but putting them together, I think Robert should be examined.

Mr. Jones himself’ is a softspoken man, very intelligent, and is an associate in an investment trust company. He was born right here in Cleveland. He has liked snakes all his life, but it wasn’t until five years ago that he went at them seriously. ° "The Joneses have scores of friends who have got over their snake-fear by touching the Jones pets. They have only one friend who won't come to the house because of the snakes. Mr. Jones says snakes are really affectionate. For instance, when he lets the gopher snake out every -evening, it goes all over the house till it finds Mrs. Jones. Then it puts its head up on her shoe, and will lie like that for hours, peaceful and happy. About twice a month Mr. Jones lectures before Rotary Clubs and so on. He borrows some snakes from his friends, and takes along about a dozen. ‘He says the chairman who introduces him usually ‘moves quickly to the other end of the table. * Appearing in public usually makes the snakes nervous. Mr. Jones says they cling tightly to him, as if to say, “I know youre all right, but how abou? these other people?” . ai

A Snake That Seeks Encores

But this gopher snake of his is a showman. He's “calm, and keeps looking around at the crowd. He's the hardest one to get back in his sack. He wants to . stay out for an encore. . Mr. Jones has had lots of snakes in his career. Even rattlesnakes. But he handled them as they'd be handled in a zoo. Used a noose on a stick to. pick them up. Nobody knows what a snake’s life span is at large. But in captivity they seldom last more than two, years. That's because they won't eat properly. Mr. Jones feeds his snakes rats and mice, alive. He "also has cannibalistic snakes, which eat only other snakes. 'So he has to go out in the country and hunt garter snakes. He says theyre scarce as hen’s teeth when you're looking for them: And here’s something funny. A snake's temperature is always just one degree lower than the temperature of the house. Mr. Jones doesn’t know why. -Mr. Jones feels very deeply about snakes. He would" almost class them as man’s best friend. He isn’t angry or impatient with people like me, but he wishes we could understand.

My Diary

By Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

Farming Neighbor of First Lady Encouraged as Rain Finally Stops.

YDE PARK, N. Y., Monday—The newspapers seem full of reports of accidents resulting from . the last few days of storms. But today, with us at least, the sun is shining. Our nearest farmer neighbor looked woebegone when I saw him yesterday, but today I saw them turning over part of the harvest,~which had been cut in the fields and which I imagined was entirely lost. Now it looks as if some part of it can be salvaged. Just a few. hours of sun “can do a great deal. : ; For two hours this morning Mrs! Ellen Woodward and I sat outside in the sun and talked over a number of things, rejoicing that the rain had Stopped\a$ last. She was tempting me to go down to see a\ WPA exhibition in Ogilvie Park, near Wheeling, \ Va. She told me of an amusing incident, overheard at | this exhibit. : Two ladies were asked to look at it and announced - firmly that they disapproved of the whole program. They consented, however, to walk around. When they came out, one was heard to murmur: “I didn’t know WPA did things like this.” 1. know pretty well everything that WPA and NYA (editor's note—National Youth Administration) do, too, but if it is possible I would like to see an exhibit llike this, which tries to bring together in a small * space samples of the various programs carried out in different parts of the country. These exhibits _are especially valuable because they give an opportunity for people to get private orders, which they can fill in their own time and which may mean eventually that they can get off relief entirely. After all, it seems to me that is one of the main objects of work relief— ‘helping people back to positions where they do not need relief.

Looks Forward to Youth Parley

Flying across the Atlantic is becoming quite commonplace these days. Corrigan does it “by mistake” and, whether by mistake or not, you can’t help being stirred by the young man’s courage and his ability to put through a stunt of this kind. Now, the English pickaback seaplane, Mercury, arrived safely with its cargo of mail and’ papers. I think, before we know it, we will fly across the ocean as easily as we fly over land. Perhaps we will station a few rescue ships at different points, so that in case of accident they may be employed as we use emergency flying fields on land. 5 I had two other visitors this morning. A Miss Marguerite G. Wilson, who apparently knows much about cotton and must have been shocked at my ignorance, and Miss Elizabeth Shields-Collins, international secretary of the World Youth Congress. Miss Shields-Collins outlined for me some very interesting plans for their meeting in this country. The European group will arrive on Aug. 13 and 14 and, after spending Aug. 15 in New York City, will have their first meeting at Vassar on the 16th. - IT am looking forward with a great deal of interest to hearing what these young people have to say and to see what the future leaders of the world

look like.

Bob Burns Says—

OLLYWOOD, July 26.—We can’t always figger H the reasons why Mother Nafure does some of the things she does, but we must remember she has’ta fashion our actions to do the most good for all, even if she hasta hurt one of us once in a while. I had a uncle that wanted his son to be a minister and he was heart-broken when he turned out to be a jockey. CW Grandpa Snazzy says, “Well, as a jockey, he'll make a Jot more people repent than if he was a min- ” od - Aster!» (opyrian 300m ¥

NBA.

(First of Two Articles) By Joe Collier

Times Staff Writer

PICELAND, Ind. /July -26.—Spiceland, if you don’t mind, will have the next dance. Spiceland has not had a dance in 100 years and now that it is celebrating its

cut in. The dance, floor will be (for persons who will visit the town Aug. 13 and see the dance) on Main St.

" from Pearl to Cherry Sts.

To Spicelanders the dance floor will be on Main St. past the home of the W. C. T. U. president and as far as the preacher’s home. The boundaries are the same, in ' a sense, but widely different, in a sense. : Dr. Charles A. Beard, dean of America’s historians who used to be a Spicelander himself and who wrote a long letter of congratulations to the town on the occasion, should be there by the bank to record that historical dance. “Yes, we are going to have a dance,” said Banker Frank Dillon centennial organization president. “It will be the first one in 100 years.” ” a 8 E chuckled and glanced at Mrs. Wilbur Coffin, a member .of the publicity committee and a crown princess of Spiceland. “We are,” he said, “going to have the minuet, then the square dance, and then the waltz, We'd better stop there?” “Yes,” said Mrs. Coffin. There was a pause, “And were going to have the dance right in front of the W. C. T. U. president’s home. and the home of the preacher,” Mrs. Coffin said.

the late Luther ©. Draper, who once was a State Senator, and who started the company that bears his name and a part of the economic burden of Spiceland. Senator Draper conceived the idea of the celebration and would have been head of the organization if he had lived. Mrs. Draper has been active in the planning. The dances are to be’in costume. tJ ” ” HATS what will happen on the night of Aug. 13. On 14 there will be church services in the Methodist and the Friends’ churches—special ones arranged for the occasion but not yet detailed. Spiceland was settled by Quakers who were attracted to the place by the mineral springs. It was named Spiceland because many spice bushes grew there— one or two still are there. All but downtown streets are shaded with umbrella maples and elms. The bank closes from 12

100th year, it is going to

Mrs. Coffin is the daughter of -

ith the

Shady and college-like is-the high school-grade school campus.

’ —

TUESDAY, JULY 26, 1988

k 100th Year in August

Frank Dillon, banker and centennial president.

noon to 1 p. m.-so that Mr. Dillon may walk home for luncheon and back again. ? The sanitarium that was built around the mineral springs burned down some time ago and the grounds now are whipped into a park. That's on the edge of town. From the last house there is a path that winds evasively around tall meadow weeds to a swimming hole, the largest artificial body

. of water in the vicinity.

It 4s about 25 feet by 12 feet and from two inches to five feet deep. It is fed by the mineral springs, captured by a dam that about all the small boys in Spiceland built and which stands now as a monument to the civilization of the young Spiceland generation. - 8 8 = HE dam is built of sticks, and logs and two sand-filled burlap bags, and only a small part of the water trickles through it. Swimming and fishing occupy the time of the Spiceland boys— the younger generation—to whom Dr. Beard addressed, in his letter to the organization officials, his best wishes. Downtown Spiceland is unshaded. The pavement .is concrete—

being |

white concrete that ping-pongs the heat right back at you. It is in sharp contrast with the residential section which certainly is air-conditioned by trees in the summer and must be protected by the same trees from the winter wind. . Although it is growing, -Spiceland has not found it necessary to widen its streets as larger cities do—and thus shorten its lawns and cut down its shade trees and make a stone mirrow for the sun. 2 FJ 2 OME Spicelanders have climbed the water tower. Some have not. It is a precarious climb, at best, and is generally attempted by only- the younger. citizens. In 1936 members of the graduating class of the high school, which has a campus that a lot of colleges would be proud of, painted the figures “36” on the very tip top of the tower. The mural stayed there for nearly a year and then was painted out. The town was divided in its view of the affair. One half who had any opinion on it thought it was a feat of daring that should mark the artists as people apart. One half believed it was not a museum piece and. eventually had their way. Winona Levy, 17, a Spice-

Ty Feo led Ua i BERRI 3 75a J.

Winona Levy, popularity contestant and good scholar.

land High School senior, who is an excellent. scholar and who is thoughtful and level-headed, is believed to be the only girl who has climbed the tower to its full height.

Winona, by.the way, is one of the girls entered in the centennial popularity contest. When you buy 50 cents worth .of merchandise from a Spiceland merchant you are entitled to 50 votes.

Spiceland and Dunreith, whic

" is about one sixth as large, are

nip and tuck about the race because a Dunreith girl, Mary Evelyn Kiser, is leading the contest. Businessmen pause in their daily rounds to look at the chart, displayed “in the window of the bank, which tells how the race stands. Dunreith people are probably as excited about the centenniel’ as the Spicelanders. They ask questions about it. Dunreith is only three miles away from spiceland.

Mr. Liggett was the Methodist

minister of Spiceland for several years. He rememberec that theres was a spice bush growing near the parsonage. . A spice bush is a bush that when you chew a dried branch.of it,

_ ‘Entered as Second-Class Matter : ‘ ‘at’ Postoffice, Indianapolis. Ind. !

One of the “stockholders” splashes inthe: swimming hole awaiting the others.

Times Photos.

tastes like spices. No one in Spiceland seemed to know whether it would actually spice food, and no one seems to have tried it. : A thoroughly - modern house, nine rooms, rents for from $20 to $25 a month in Spiceland. Many people who work in Newcastle live in Spiceland. Mbst Spicelanders | see this sort of commuting as ‘a potent factor in the continued growth of the town. 2 ri » 2 » R. BEARD recalled, in his letter, that as a boy he would fashion a shield from barrel staves and would go forth to the walnut wars. M seems there was an almost continual walnut war from the time they began falling until they were all gone. Dr. Beard said that all the boys participated after school. Today Spiceland points pridefully to a $50,000 school gymnasium, the newest public building in the town, and the most expensive toy for the younger generation. If there are any walnut wars these days, they are, apparently, ‘undeclared after the newest mode, and very few, if any, reports get through what must be the strict-

Side Glances—By Clark

~-. = : =

EOPR. 1938 BY NEA SERVICE. i

“We'll. never be invited’ again.

I= li Soa er

doifig som

A the other quests -are busy t . “" i $3 ov 5 5

est censorship this side of Russia.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1—What scholastic degree is represented by the initials M.E.C.? ie 2—Who was Virginia Dare? 3—On what island in the Pacific did the mutineers of the « ship Bounty settle with their Tahitian wives? 54 4—What is the name for the elastic tubes or vessels that carry blood from the heart to the tissues of the body? ~ 5—What is the nickname for Wisconsin? 6—In what year was the Battle of Gettysburg fought?

td » » ~~ Answers 2-Master of Engineering Chem2—The first white child born on American soil of English

insulting ‘remarks and embarrass us. working and taking care of myself for three years.

Second Section. :

PAGE 9

Dur Town By Anton Scherrer

Cards Disappeared in Midair and Rabbits Jumped Out of Hats When The 'Devil' Visited a Local Priest.

rE HIS, then, is the story of a certain after-

“noon back in the Nineties when the Rev. Herman Alerding, in response to a knock,

went to the door and found the devil stand-

ing on his threshold. It is one of the many

stories told about the beloved priest who came to Indianapolis in 1874 to help organize St, Joseph’s Church, and lived to see it grow from & mere handful of people to one of the powerful parishes of the city. : > There wasn’t any doubt that Father Alerding saw the devil in person that afternoon. He wore a long Prince Albert coat and a highly polished silk hat which together with his luxuriant mustachios and aggressive goatee was just the kind of a get-up youd expect the devil to wear when ‘he Was out making calls. The priest : asked the devil to come in and have a seat. Immediately, He noticed MF Scherrer that the devil felt very much at ease in a pastors study. As a matter of fact, whenever the priest told the story, he always made it a point to say that the devil felt “very much at home.” . With the light falling on his face, it also occurred to the priest that the devil looked exactly like the

pictures of Herrmann the Great. He couldn’t help

noticing that, because that very week all the billboards of Indianapolis were decorated with posters of the famous magician. Well, that’s exactly who it was. Herrmann the .magician, said he came to call because, once upon a time, a priest in Terre Haute had shown him an unusual courtesy. He had never seen the priest, much less known him, he said, but from what he had learned in the meantime he rather suspected it might have been Father Alerding. To show his gratitude, the magician had brought his bag of tricks with him. And that’s how it happened that on.a certain afternoon in the Nineties a priest and a prestidigitator got together in the study of St. Joseph’s rectory and turned the place into a madhouse with cards disappearing in midair and rabbits jumping out of all the vases on the mantelpiece. Father Alerding said he wouldnt have missed it for anything. Indeed, he went so far as to point the moral and said it always pays to be polite, even when you think it’s the devil.

A Caller From Sullivan

On another occasion, Father Alerding went to the door and this time found a young man on the threshold. He recognized him immediately as Paul Dresser, the boy who lived in Sullivan back in the Sixties when Father Alerding was stationed at Terre Haute and used to run over to say mass in Sullivan. One day the little boy came to the priest and told him he had a great treat for him. He had built a menagerie out of dry goods boxes with slats nailed to the open ends. Inside the cages he had imprisoned his little brothers and sisters and when Father Alerding showed up, the improvised animals howled like a pack of wildcats for the benefit of the priest. Father Alerding used to say that Paul Dresser was the most orig kid he ever knew. : Of course, you know without my telling you that Paul Dresser ended -up writing “On the Banks of the Wabash.” Father Alerding ended up as Bishop of Ft. Wayne, and as for Herrmann the Great, he was followed by Herrmann II and finally by Herrmann III. They weren't near as good, though, as Herrmann the Great, who fooled Father Alerding into believing he

was the devil.

Jane Jordan

Courage Necessary to Establish Home of Own, Jane Adyises Girl.

EAR JANE JORDAN—I am a girl of 17 and_1I have a sister 19. \Our mother and father are on bad terms and whenever we have company they make I have been

Now I have a little increase in my wages. I go to high school part time and work the rest. My sister became discouraged and quit, but I am determined to finish. My parents try to get all the money they can from me. When my mother is angry she says, “I wish you would find another home.” Our life is miserable. Our parents say we owe them more than we can ever pay. When®we were as young as 12 we had to get up at 4:30 to cook father’s breakfast and if things weren't just right we were thrashed severely. Last year we gave my mother a lovely birthday party but when we speak of inviting anyone in she always says, “Who is going to clean up the mess?” She never wants us to go any place and we never have any clothes except those we make. Sometimes my sister and I think of running away, but our friends tell us everything will change. What would you advise me to do? 1: HEARTBROKEN. ' 8 s o Answer—Things will change if you do something to make them change, but wishes have no power what ever. If all the things that you have told me are true,

I see no reason why you and your sister shouldn't

make a home together somewhere if you only have one room to live in. You couldn’t simply pick up and run away without any plans for your future, but if you both have jobs you could take your time and work%ut a plan for taking-care of yourselves.

Since you are only 17 it’ may be that “your parents . °

could force you to return if they were really determined to do so. In that case you would have to appeal to the Juvenile Court or the Family Welfare Society in order to have the backing of authority.

Haven't you an older woman friend in or out of

the family who would have the courage to help you get a start somewhere? And have you yourselves the courage to stand your ground in the face of the pressure your family might bring against you? Don’t be hasty. Think the whole thing through. You wouldn't have much money. You would have nowhere to go if you lost your jobs. To work, go to school, cook for yourselves and make your constitutes a large order for two young girls. You wouldn’t have any less work than before and no more money, just a better home. Would it be worth it to you to live in peace, free from the persecution of your quarreling parents? ! ; I don’t know because I don’t know how much grit you have. Many girls have made their own way from the age of 17. Can you? = JANE JORDAN.

Put your problems in a letter to Jane Jordan, A answer Yous "questions in this column al A Whe; will 3

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