Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 December 1938 — Page 5

Y, DEC. 9, 1938

BULLETIN: D. W. Vandever, Ghent, Ky. director of the defunct Ghent Deposit Bank, testified today in Federal Court that “paper we bought from the Continental Corp. closed the bank.” .

George A. Ball, Muncie capitalist, may be recalled to the stand to attorneys for the five persons who have been indicted in an alleged million-dollar fraud said today. U. S. Attorney Val Nolan questioned Mr. Ball yester loans he said he made to the Continental Credit Corp. of

testify as a defense witness,

The defendants are officials of the Continental firm or of one of its subsidiaries. Mr. Ball testified that he had made several large loans to the Credit Co. and had received warehouse receipts as collateral. He said that he has about $54,000 in unpaid notes of the Credit firm but that he also has collateral totaling in face value approximately $120,000, Mr. Ball would not estimate - the actual value of the collateral. He also testified he “understood” that other individuals have possession of warehouse receipts identical to several that he has received.

Tells of Buying Notes

C. W. Cox, Fremont, O., Croghan Bank & Trust Co. president, testified today that he had purchased several notes from the Continental for which he has received collateral and . payment equal to the investment. He also testified that hig bank had loaned the credit firm $27,000 which was backed by various notes totaling a face value of-$40,000. He said his bank has received in repayment for that loan all but $13,500. The payments have been made by the original makers of the notes and independently of the Continental Co., he testified. Maurice Warner of Summitville, Ind. secretary of the Summitville Bank & Trust Co., told the jury he had purchased a note from the Continental firm for which he has not received payment and that he has learned that his note was backed by warehouse receipts identical to -ones given to Mr. Cox.

Claims $162,000 Worth

Mr, Nolan has said that evidence will show that $162,000 worth of duplicate warehouse receipts was is-

sued by the defendants. Twenty-eight other banking officials have taken the stand and testified that they purchased one or more Continental notes backed by a warehouse receipt that is a duplicate of another sold to someone else. Two persons have said that they received payment on the alleged “bogus warehouse receipts.” W. B. Porterfield, Monticello banker, said that when he attempted to procure Michigan beans which had been pledged as collateral on a Continental note he found that four other banks had identical claims on the beans. Defendants are: John W. Moore, president of Continental; John W. Moore Jr. son of Mr. Moore and secretary-treasurer and vice president of the Indiana Warehouse Corp.; Kenneth P. Kimball, president of the Kim-Murph Co., Ralph S. Phillips, Mineral Felt Co., treasurer, and Russell E. Wise, Union City, counsel for Continental and ~ later receiver for the corporation.

STREET WORK RULING GIVEN

Minimum Wage Law of '35 Governs Pay, Says Attorney General.

Contractors doing street construction or repair work are required to pay their employees prevailing wage scales under terms of the Indiana minimum wage law of 1935, Attorney General Omer Stokes Jackson

held today. His opinion was given at the request of State Labor Commissioner . Thomas Hutson, who said he had . no particular case in mind, but merely sought a clarification of this question. The opinion revolved on the point whether the assessments paid by property owners living ad- ‘ jacent to the improvements could be classed as public funds. The Attorney General said that, although the money involved in street improvement projects did not come directly from the governmental units but from affected property owners, these assessments could be classed as public funds. Under the Minimum Wage Act, all private contractors working for State or local governmental units are required to pay prevailing wage scales. In classifying property owner assessments as public funds, the Attorney General placed street construction and repair work under terms of the Act.

WAVES DEMOLISHING GERMAN FLYING BOAT

MANILA, P. I, Dec. 9 (U.P.)— Naval officials said today that the German Condor, huge flying craft which made a forced landing and sank in shallow water near Rosario in Cavite Province, was rapidly being pounded to pieces by the sea. An officer who insisted on remaining anonymous, said the ship could have been salvaged if the crew . aboard the plane had asked for assistance from U., 8. Naval authorities. “However, we couldn't take the initiative unasked,” he said. The Condor was forced down b motor trouble on a flight from Japan to Manila on its way back to Germany. It previously had flown nonstop from Berlin to Tokyo on a good will flight.

HOOSIER’S BODY RETURNED ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. Dec. 9 (U. P.).—The body of John Carson, . 68, was sent to Evansville, Ind., today for funeral and burial. Mr. Carson died of heart disease Jast night at his winter home here. He is survived by his wife, a daughter, Mrs. Wally Bishop, wife of the .. ‘cartoonist ,and a brother, Luther Carson of Paducah, Ky.

{

fense May Recall Ball for Testimony In Continental Trial Muncie Capitalist Testifies He Has $54,000 in|

Unpaid Notes, ‘Understands’ Others Have Identical Collateral.

ay on the inchester.

NAB ABDUCTORS

Indiana Police Aid in Capture of Bank Robbers, Two Women.

LEBANON, O., Dec. 9 (U. P.)— Two desperadoes, held on charges of kidnaping Corp. Parker W. Powell, 29, of the Ohio Highway Patrol, admitted to authorities today that they were ex-convicts with

a trail of bank robberies and petty holdups from Texas to Ohio. | David I. Cross, 29, of Hamilton, Pa., and Coy Russell, 29, of Houston, Tex., were captured by police at Washington. Court House, O., early this morning after a five-hour manhunt that rivaled any ever organized by the State Patrol. Held at accomplices of the men were Marie Hatfield, 25, of Ashland, Ky., and Naomi Hayes, 25, of Hayti, Mo. They surrendered to officers after they separated from Cross and Russell during the chase. Taken to the Wilmington patrol substation after their seizure on a bus, Cross and Russell admitted to Col. Lynn Black, patrol superintendent, that they robbed the MidlandBuckeye Fedéral Savings & Loan Co. at Sebring of $2700 yesterday after forcing four persons into a washroom. They also said they had robbed 2 Kent, O,, liquor store of $50 Tuesday night. Cross told Colonel Black that he robbed the Citizens Bank at Columbiana, O., of $7000 last Dec. 31. " They told officers they met several weeks ago when both were prisoners at the Huntsville, Tex., prison farm. Cross and Russell were captured by Capt. Jess Ellis and Patrolman Baiden Long, 34, on a Columbusbound bus at Washington Court House after they had abducted Corp Powell near Waynesville and had left him bound and handcuffed in a field néar Ridgeville. Capt. Ellis and Patrolman Long, a rookie of nine months’ service, boarded the bus about midnight (Indianapolis time). Patrolman Long walked to the back of the bus with drawn pistol. Cross and - Russell were armed with three guns, one of which they had taken from Corp. Powell. . _ “Give us your gun,” one of the men shouted as Patrolman Long advanced. But he kept on and knocked the gun from one of the men’s hands. “We give up,” Cross and Russell said. Corp. Powell, 29, was kidnaped when he answered a call to investigate an accident near Waynesville on Route 73 last night.

50 Indiana Police

Join in Blackade Indiana State Police in 30 cars patroled all roads leading into Ohio last night in an area bounded by

Adams County on the north and Switzerland County on the south in co-operation with Ohio authorities, who sought the kidnapers of an ‘Ohio State Patrolman. It was reported at headquarters here that more than 50 Indiana State policemen from Pendleton, Connersville and Seymour osts joined in the hunt. r

LA GUARDIA GUARDED: LIFE IS THREATENED

NEW YORK, Dec. 9 (U. P.)—A special police guard was arranged for Mayor F. H. LaGuardia at his citizens’ rally against oppression at Carnegie Hall tonight because of a threat aaginst his life. Fingerprint and ballistics experts of the Police Department and postoffice inspectors examined a letter and a loaded cartridge inclosed in it. The letter said: “You will get this if you continue to attack the German Nazi Party.” The signature was a reversed swastika—the Nazi emblem backwards. The bullet was a .22-caliber long. It was encased in a small cardboard box.

MRS. DIXIE DAVIS GRANTED DIVORCE

RENO, Nev., Dec. 9 (U. P.).—Mrs. Martha Delaney Davis is divorced today from J. Richard (Dixie) Davis, indicted “mouthpiece” of New York policy racketeers, who abandoned her for Hope Dare, the Broadway show girl. : She charged cruelty. She has been separated from him since July 5, 1937, when he went into hiding to avoid being a witness in the trial of Jimmy Hines, Tammany leader accused of “protecting” the gang of the late Arthur (Dutch) Schultz Flegenheimer. Their numbers racket netted a reputed $20,000,000 annually.

STOCKYARD OFFICIALS, UNION CONFER TODAY

CHICAGO, Dec. 9 (U. P.).—Representatives of the Packing House Workers Organizing Committee and the Union Stockyards & Transit Co. confer today on controversial issues which caused approximately 500 handlers to strike recently. The strike, which had tied up trading for 13 days, ended under a temporary agreement Monday. The company agreed to recognize the

OF OHIO OFFICER)

Decision of Public Service Commission Ends StateWide Probe.

(Continued from Page One)

action is expected on telephore company rates for several months.

$42,165,108 Valuation

In its order, the Commission fixed the present fair value of the utility’s property at $42,165,198 as of June

30, 1937. This is the valuation upon which the new rates were fixed. Reductions which apply to the Indianapolis exchange area include a new rate of $12 a month instead of $1350 for individual business lines on which there is unlimited service. New residential rates on unlimited service are $4.25 a month for private line; $3.55, for two-party line; $2.85 for four-party line, and $2.85 for rural party line. These compare with the old monthly residential rates of $4.50 for private line; $3.75 for two-par-ty line; $3 for four-party line, and $3 for rural line. Reductions also were ordered for telephone service on which the charge is based on the number of calls made. “Under the order, the reduction in rates does not apply to all the exchanges of the company but was apportioned to a number of exchanges which the Commission, in its opinion, found were entitled to reductions,” Commission members said.

Points to Some Losses

“The evidence in this case showed that a number of exchanges were not yielding to the company a fair return on the fair value of the property engaged in telephone service; that some of the exchanges were not yielding the out-of-pock-et expense and that some were actually being operated at a loss. “The rates of those exchanges which were not yielding operating expense and which were being operated at a loss were ordered to remain the same.” Commission members found the company’s composite annual rate of depreciation to be too high, and ordered it reduced by one-half of one per cent. Rate case expenses incurred by the company were ordered to be spread over a period of five years and amortized. Flood expenses, incurred in Southern Indiana in 1937, were ordered to be spread over a 10-year period and amortized. - Sleet and wind storm expenses which had been charged on the company’s books as they were paid were averaged by the Commission over a period of 10 years for the purpose of the rate case instead of keing charged against the particular yedr in which the damage occurred. Hotel private branch exchange station rates, throughout all territory in the state which is served by the Indiana Bell, will be reduced a total of $14,152 annually by the order, Commission members said. The Commission first had telephone company rates called to its attention when the petitions, which still are pending, were filed from a number of cities including Indianapolis, Auburn, Martinsville, Huntington, Marion, Mishawka and South Bend.

State-Wide Probe Asked

On April, the company asked that a state-wide investigation be made of its property and rate structure. At that time company attorneys claimed it would be unfair for the Commission to order reductions in specific areas without considering what effect these slashes would have upon the efficient operation of its entire Indiana property used for intrastate service. Without dismissing these petitions for local reductions, the Commission began its state-wide investigation. R. F. Davidson, B. G. Halstead and W. H. Thompson, attorneys, represented the company, and Public Counsellor Ralph E. Hanna represented the public. Others taking part in the hearings included Howard L. Chambers, South Bend City Councilman; Floyd J. Mattice, Indianapolis City Attorney; Donald B. Gates, representing Mishawaka telephone users, and George W. Freyermuth, South Bend mayor. Describing the order as. a “nice Christmas gift. by the Commission td telephone users,” Mr. Hanna said: “I think this is a fine reduction obtained at a minimum of time and expense. It has been the experience of most state commissions dealing with companies of this size that it is difficult to secure a prompt order. “This is important when it is borne in mind that the longer a rate case drags: out the ‘more a company

presented. This is reflected in the rates, since rates must be fixed high

TOWNSHIP, COUNTY MEETING STARTS . .

spends to get its side of: the: ecase|-

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Waters look over a farm engine at the Township and County Officials Association convention at the €laypool.

Indianapolis to Get Share in $350,000 Cut in Phone Rates

Commission intermittenently since May 10, the last one being last Tuesday. During the hearings Mr. Hanna introduced exhibits prepared by engineers employed by the Commission which fixed the present valuation of the utility’s property used in intrastate service at approximately four million dollars less than that claimed by engineers of the company.

Compromise Figure Used

The company said it would cost $50,218,005 to reproduce its intrastate equipment new, and that counting depreciation the property now was worth $45,184,635. According to the exhibits introduced by Mr, Hanna, it would cost only $46,040,107 to reproduce the intrastate equipment new and the present depreciated value was set at $41,138,966. : Rates fixed by the Commission, it was said, are designed to yield a fair return of profit on the present valuation of a utility’s property, and in this case the Commission found the fair valuation to be $42,165,198, or between the conflicting figures introduced by the public counsellor and the company’s engineers.

The company’s statement in full:

“In 1926 the Public Service Commission issued an order fixing the rates of this company by individual exchanges, after a consideration of the value, expenses, revenues and earnings of the company as a whole. “Since that time, voluntary reduction in inter and intrastate rates have been made from time to time resulting in a saving to telephone users within our territory of more than $700,000 a year.

Tax, Wage Boosts Cited

“During this same period there have been substantial increases in wage payments and the taxes of the company have increased 130 per cent. : SE Reductions in rates despite increases in expenses have been made possible by the installation of improved apparatus and equipment, developed by our laboratories, and by improvements in operating methods. “The Commission now . has ordered a further reduction of $350,000 annually in our rates. We think this is more than is justified. However, rate litigation is slow, tedious and expensive. For that reason, and also in the interests of settling this controversy, we will accept the Commission’s order, in hope that with improved business conditions we will be able to earn somewhere near a fair return on our property. We shall continue to pay fair wages and to make still' further improvement in telephone service wherever possible.”

DETROIT FIRM GETS FT. WAYNE CONTRACT

FT. WAYNE, Ind. Dec. 9 (U. P.). —Bass Engineering & Construction Co. of Detroit last night tentatively was awarded the contract for building one branch of Ft. Wayne’s proposed five - million - dollar sewage system. The Detroit firm submitted a low bid of $762,279.35 for an interceptor system engineers had estimated would cost about $800,000. Final approval of the contract must be given by PWA officials and the City Council. . Work on the new branch of the system wiil begin after the Arst of the year and is expected to employ

union, a C. I. O. affiliate, as sole bargaining agent for all handlers, °|

enough to amortize rats Hearings have been

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te case costs.” | held by the

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"MORE THAN 3000 OFF

s Photos.

: Ti More than 3000 officials sign up for the three-day convention, consis ting of special meetings of the 12 affiliated organizations and joint 3 meetings. Problems of county and township government are discussed. : :

FTC ORDER AFFECTS INDIANA GLASS FIRM

Labor Union Also Charged

With Monopoly Action. WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (U. P.).— The Federal Trade Commission or-

dered four St. Louis glass distributors and an A. PF. of L. union today

to discontinue alleged monopolistic practices in the St. Louis area. The case is one of the first charging a labor organization with promoting monopolistic tendencies. The Commission directed its order against the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. and its St. Louis manager; the Nurre Companies, Inc., Bloomington, Ind., and its St. Louis manager;

the Burroughs Glass Co. and the Hadley-Dean Glass Co., both of St. Louis, and the district council (number 2) and local 513 of the Brother-

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hood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers. In its order, the Commission said the four concerns worked together to apportion among themselves some of the glazing contracting business in the city. They conferred with each other on price levels for supplying glass under contract, exchanged information on prices and used that information to compile kids for glass in connection with construction work, the Commission said. The union, it was charged, obfained a contract with the crm-

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panies under which the firms agreed to employ at least four glaziers at $12 per day steadily. The gontract was obtained under threat that the union would not supply glaziers for any construction work if the four men were not employed undec those circumstances, the order said. 5

WARS ON DISEASES TOLEDO, O., Dec. 9 (U. P). — A

civic ‘health committee is to bé formed here to work with City health officials in an attempt to res duce mortality rates from tubercus= losis, diphtheria and childbirth,

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