Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 10 December 1938 — Page 9
From Indiana =CErnie Pyle
'Voyagers Shudder With Happiness At Sight of Alligators and Huge Snake in Natural Jungle Setting.
OX THE RIVER PARAGUAY, Dec. 10.— All the way from Buenos Aires I have been going to our friends every hour on the hour and saying like a cloud of gloom: “I'll bet you 20 pesos we don’t see a single alligator.” It’s a good thing nobody took my bet. saw half a dozen yesterday. = We were a couple of hundred yards from the bank. Suddenly our Bolivian friend started yelling and pointing. We ran to the rail and looked. And over there, on a sandy ledge between the water and the high clay bank, lay a long curved form, thick in the middle. It was an alligator all right. And a big one. It must have been 12 feet long. It was lying parallel with the river, so we could see its full length. The sun shone upon the alligator like a beam on a sheet of armor. It gave the monster a look lof pure silver. ; And then the thing opened its mouth. I don’t know whether he was yawning, or going through the motions of a silent bellow, or just cpened up to see what would walk in. But anyway he opened it, and inside it was a striking, brilliant red. | A 12-foot silver cloud, with a red lining. The boat moved swiftly, and he was soon out of sight. ; : We saw more later. Just one at a time, each miles apart. Then there were no more toward evening. But I was satisfied. We had seen live alligators. This morning we were running close to shore. I stood on my knees and looked out the window. And the very first thing I saw was an alligator. I roused our friends the. Jencks, who also are alligator-conscious. Within five minutes we counted 45. And then, in one vast herd like cattle, there must have been at least 100, lying close together. Sunning. After that we didn't count. They just lay there, heads raised, alert, hideous, dangerous. During the dull days behind we had been speculating on the adventure of shipwreck to liven up the hours. Today we voted unanimously against shipwreck in these waters.
Star of Jungle Drama Enters
We had breakfast and then scattered ourselves around the deck to read. I just happened to look up from a book. We weren't more than 100 feet from shore. Among the tree tops, a flock of green parakeets flew around, squawking. Overhead soared one of those hideous, black carrion birds. On two of the logs stood long-legged graceful white cranes. On the ledge lay a dozen alligators. A great clump of old gray tree trunks lay sprawled in the water's edge where they had fallen when the bank caved in. Behind them was a sandy ledge. And up on the bank a dense tropical undergrowth. That was the setting. And then The Star entered. I would have applauded, had I not been so fascinated. For right across this scene, not 50 feet from the boat, came floating—an enormous snake! It was as big as my wrist, and six or seven feet long. Most of its body was coiled in the water, making a circular base about a foot and a half across. And from this base rose its head, a couple of feet high. he snake was riding the swift current downstream. Its neck was held in a curve, like the pictures you see of cobras. It kept moving its head, looking this way and that, in a sort of rnythmic sway. And then, as the small waves from the boat hit it, the snake rocked up and down, and its vicious head on its long willowy mast swayed in harmony with the passing waves. I never have seen anything so awful. Here, all in a square of 100 feet, was the South America that we read about. It js the essence of a life that makes up a great part of this vast continent. Even a boat journey up the Paraguay River is a modernized, mechanical thing that has been going on for a hundred years. ; And so I know that this will be my only glimpse, in 15,000 miles of traveling, of what I really wanted * to see. I hope I can cling to it a long time, and wake up in the nights, years hence, with the vision of this billowing, floating snake exhorting me into a cold sweat of delightful horror.
My Diary By Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt
Finds New Musical Amusing, but Prefers Plays of Serious Type.
X 7ASHINGTON, Friday—I saw another play last night, a very frivolous one called: “The Boys
From Syracuse.” It is based on Shakespeare’s «Comedy of Errors,” is delightfully staged and acted and there are a number of charming songs. However, I am afraid that as I grow older I find musical comedies hold my attention less than what I call real plays do. Nevertheless, I feel sure all of my young people will enjoy this particular play and tell me if is a sign of old age when I wanted something at the theater which absorbs me completely and takes me * out of my own thoughts. | I am finding ‘that I also judge a number of the books I read now by their ability to hold my attention sufficiently so that I will not revert to any problems which may be ¢cn my ming at the moment. When 1 find myself reading a book and at the same time thinking of something else, I rather weakly decide that it is not the fault of my own powers of concentration, but a lack of something in the book. You will say that this is just an excuse for an undisciplined mind which is not able to wipe out certain things which seem engrossing at the moment! We were up at 6:30 this morning to make a 7:30 train for Washington. How far away we seem from our early start in Sarasota just a week ago. Everything moved so swiftly this morning that we found ourselves boarding the train at the Pennsylvania Station at 7:10 and had almost finished our breakfast before the train pulled out of the station!
Finds Seclusion on Train
I say a little prayer of thankfulness for trains when I have fallen behind in my work. The drawing room on a train is almost the only place I know where one may be comparatively uninterrupted. I still have in my bag to read the minutes of a
For we
Mr. Pyle
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conference: of the education of women, a one-act’
play, a pamphlet on taxation prepared by the officials of the City of New York, a plan for the rehabilitation of a group of workers, a part of a book for the Junior Literary Guild, a pamphlet on the religious situation in Spain, and an article on a broadcast which is being given weekly. I will probably tell you more about these things as I get a chance to digest them. I list them simply as a record of the variety of human endeavors which cross my desk. We arrived in Washington at 11:25 and I gave the - luncheon today for the ladies of the Supreme Court, +%attended the sale of the Good Will Industries, saw six or eight people at different times during the afternoon. In short, I have again taken up the busy life of Washington.
Bob Burns Says— OLLYWOOD, Dec. 10.—There’s a lot of talk these days about wives bein’ more thoughtless and extravagant than our mothers were. But half the time, it’s the husband’s fault for not confiding in his - wife like our fathers did. I had a cousin that went to the city and got married and when he saw that his wife was jest livin’ up every cent he could make, he sat down and had a heart to heart telk with her. He told her about how his ma use to make his pants out of his pa’s old ones and how she made over old hats and dresses
for herself. ~ And when he got through, his wife burst into tears and says: “Darling, you have made a different ‘woman of me! I'm show you that I can make until the spring sales
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1anapolis
Imes
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v Second Section g
FIVE YEARS OF
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1938
BY GILBERT LOVE
(Last of a Series)
MANY persons who have studied the life and works of John Barleycorn maintain that his behavior is better today than at any other period in American history.
In Colonial days, whisky was very plentiful. Fifty cents bought a large jug.
often used as currency.
It was
Intoxication was common, and thorough. When Charles Dickens visited America in 1842, and went West over the old Pennsylvania Canal, he was surprised and shocked by the amount of liquor consumed by the residents. Flagons of whisky were served on the canal
boat, even with breakfast, he reported to a friend in England. By the first part of the
present century, taxation had raised the price of whisky and thus lowered the quantity that could be consumed by the average citizen, but conditions were none too savory. For example, groups of men, called “Swamp Poodles,” used to gather on the slag piles in mining communities on holidays to drink liquor from kegs—amusing themselves, as the hilarity increased, by rolling the empty containers down the slopes. In the decade before the prohibition amendment was passed, big liquor combines held virtual monopolies in many parts of the country. Distillers and brewers owned chains of saloons and beer gardens; controlled many judges and enforcement officials, and
were a potent factor in politics.
Their principal interest, of course, was increased sales. New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts tried to limit the number of saloons by raising license fees, and to make them toe the line by forcing them to come into court periodically to renew their licenses. Anyone who didn’t like the way a saloon was being conducted could file a “remonstrance.” If there were enough of these protests the judge was supposed to close the saloon.
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HE scheme worked well where judges were independent, but it tempted the liquor interests to take an even more-active part in politics. They were naturally interested in putting on the bench men who would be lenient with saloons. Another preprohibition eyil was bad liquor. Some of the cheaper brands were almost as bad as the stuff available during the great drought. : The present liquor control regulations are designed to eliminate most of the evils that existed before prohibition. The wholesale guzzling of Colonial days, and later, is not common today. Prices are too high, for one thing. Educational campaigns and the increased use of beer are other factors reducing the consumption of liquor. The new regulations generally prevent ownership of saloons by distillers or brewers, and forbid chain operation of taprooms. Thus the old-time liquor combines, with their political alliances, have not been revived. The modern distillers and brewers—having learned a lesson during prohibition; and, perhaps, being wiser men anyway—are cooperating with the enforcement agencies in working for temperance instead of trying to push sales to the limit. - Rigid laboratory tests made by the monopoly states and some of the others tend to discourage the manufacture of poor quality beverages. : No figures are available on the number of saloons existing in preprohibition days. In some states, they - probably equalled today’s taprooms. The preprohibition saloons were concentrated in the business districts of cities and towns, however. The auto has made it possible for the modern bar to do business in the suburbs and in the country. : Indiana, however, limits the sale of beer and liquor to establishments inside cities and towns,
Side
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thus eliminating the poorly policed roadside tavern. i. : # 2 8 ECAUSE of the present-day feminine trade, the average
taproom is probably a little more .
refined than the preprohibition saloon.
Some of the states which permit by-the-drink sales of liquor are discovering that they have entirely too many taprooms. Pennsylvania, for instance, has more than 20,000, or about one bar for every 500 residents. Such crowding naturally results in competition between the bars for the available trade, and some of the proprietors are tempted to violate the law to get a little extra business. In Indiana both the tavern operators and prohibitionists favor a reduction in the number of permit holders. The taproom is one of the principal puzzles of the repeal period. Where it is permitted, it is a head= ache. Where it isn’t, the speakeasy blossoms. General problems which lie ahead of control agencies may be summed up in three words— politics, prices and police. So far, politicians have done relatively little damage, but they are a constant menace. If they are able to pull the teeth of control rules or influence enforcement agencies, John Barleycorn might get entirely out of hand. Indiana’s control system is on a frankly political basis, with the “spoils” . . . port-of-entry and wholesaler licenses going to leaders of the party in power in the State. Many states, including Indiana, have a police problem in liquor control. The local officers, who should know conditions on their
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beats intimately, leave the job of enforcing the liquor laws to state «+ and Federal men. Prices of liquor are important, because they just about determine how much bootlegging will be one.
2 nn = ; OOTLEGGING, under repeal, has been described as “purely: an economic problem.” If the
Agg
By Dr. Frank Thone - «
Science Service Editor in Biology ASHINGTON, Dec. 10.—Darwin’s evolutionary teaching, often cited in support of ruthless aggression and striving for power, is grossly misinterpreted when so used, declared Sir Richard Gregory, Bart, F. R. S, in a lecture here. “Evolution embodies the idea of social ethics and makes the welfare of the community the essential pur-
pose of the life of the individual,” he said. Sir Richard, who recently retired as editor of the British science journal, Nature, gave the dedicatory address of the new Elihu Root Hall of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The hall constitutes a memorial to the late American statesman, who was also a trustee of the institution. “Any nation of people which separates itself from the rest of the world in the name of race or religion, and cultivates ideals of conquest by force in order to assert its claims, is reverting to the law of the jungle and retarding the higher
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prices of legal liquor were as low, or even nearly as low, as the product of the back alley distillery,
few persons would want to buy the inferior booze. ; But governmental units need revenue, and liquor is one of the favorite sources. Taxes on liquor are defended on the ground that it is a nonessential. In fact, if
evolution of mankind,” declared the speaker. He continued: . “The view that the sole function of science is the discovery and study of natural facts and principles without regard to the social implications of the knowledge gained, can no longer be maintained. It is being widely recognized that science cannot be divorced from ethics or rightly absolve itself from the human responsibilities in the application of its discoveries to destructive purposes in war or economic disturbances in times of peace. ”» 2 ” EN of science can no longer stand aside from the ‘social and political questions involved in the structure which has been built up from the materials provided by them, and which their discoveries may be used to destroy. It is their duty to assist in the establishment of a rational harmonious social order out of the welter of human conflict into which the world has been thrown through. the prostitution of the rich gifts with which they have endowed the human race.” In the course of his lecture, Sir Richard traced the history of the
an
Wortman
September—it's sort of petered out
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NOW, :
Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoffice, Indianapolis, Ind.
Our Town |
The amount of liquor con-
. sumed by Americans surprised and
shocked Charles Dickens when he visited this country in 1842.
the taxes discourage some drinking, so much the better. : Some experts held that .taxes should be pared a little, so that the poorer classes would not feel obliged to patronize the bootlegger. Nature, however, is working to reduce the price of whisky. With stocks accumulating in the aging cellars, it will soon be possible to buy plenty of four-year-old bonded liquor for about $2 a quart, and good blends for $1, according to predictions. While politics, police and prices do not cover all future problems, they are the major items that the enforcement agencies can do something about. : & The drinker, himself, will always be the principal problem, but no one has ever figured out a way to regulate him directly anyway. :
(Copyright, 1938)
's |deas to Justify ression Termed Distortion
impact of scientific ideas on human beliefs and social behavior. The first well-developed science was astronomy, which reached a high state in Egypt and other nations of antiquity. Because of the supposed intimate connection between celestial bodies with divine beings, the religious implications of astronomy were very early and have been persistent, he said.
When Copernicus laid the foundations of modern astronomical ideas, it seemed at first as though the very foundations of faith were cut away. Then came Newton, with his laws of the motions of the heavenly bodies. “A “great revolution of thought was involved in this substitution of permanent natural law for the conception of a& world in which all events were believed to be reflections of the moods of a benign or angry god,” said Sir Richard. “The intellectual expansion thus brought about, together with the sense of justice which resulted from the existence of law in nature, profoundly influenced human thought and resulted in social changes which had the greatest civilizing effects.” (Copyright, 1938) °
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
1—Name the capital of Peru. 2—What was the popular nickname of President Zachary Taylor during the Mexican War? 3—Who defeated Frank Murphy in the recent election for Governor of Michigan? 4—Name the birthstone for April, 5—From what country was the U. S. Ambassador recently ‘ ordered home for consultation and report? ; 6—In what year was the battleship Maine blown up in Havana Harbor? 7—Does the U. S. Constitution prescribe any qualifications for Supreme Court Justices?
Answers 1—Lima. 2—“Rough and Ready.” 3—Frank D. Fitzgerald. 4—Diamond. 5—Germany. 6—1898, 7—No. » ” 8
ASK THE TIMES
Inclose a 3-cent stamp for reply when addressing any question of fact or information to The Indianapolis Times Washington Service Bureau, 1013 13th St, N. W., Washington, D. C. Legal and medical advice cannot be given nor can
PAGE 9
By Anton Scherrer
Wherein We Save the Law-Abiding 1:
A Tidy Sum by Exposing to Public
Gaze a. Few Forgotten Statutes, 4 4 OU have no idea what the police of Indie ll anapolis can put you in jail for. It's
against the law, for instance, to stretch a hammock in any of our parks unless you
put a baby in it. If you haven't got a baby to put in it, chances are it will cost you $100
by ‘the time the judge gets done with you.
Like as not, too, it will cost you $50 if you drop an
orange or banana peel on the street. And let me caue
tion you that the Indiana Supreme Court has defined a street as including its sidewalks. It would. You can’t throw confetti, either ($50). As a matter of fact, you can’t do anything in public any more, unless jus peeling peanuts and that’s no un
It’s the same story with spitting. It costs $2 everytime you spit on the Sldenals to say nothing of the rs and steps of public streetcars er oH vs buildings, Mr. Scherrer That leaves nothing but the streets and the ceilings of public places to do your spitting. Which isn’t fair, because the way the police have the traffic lights are ranged, it doesn’t leave you enough time to cross the
street, let alone spitting in it. There's nothing left
to do but pay the $2 and do your spitting on the side= walk after you've crossed the street, granting, of course, that you had the luck to cross it. The police can call the wagon, too, if they catch you in any street, alley, elevator, public or quasie public place wearing a hat pin or hair ornament have
from the crown or rim of your hat. And mind you,
that includes us men, too, the way the law is written,
You'll be lucky g:0 get out of it for less than $5. And
Heaven help you if you happen to run a theater or d
movie house. The judge can soak you $10 for letting anybody wear a hat, cap or bonnet after getting inside : your place. On top of all your other troubles, too
Slow Down Those Horses!
If you want to live in Indianapolis without ip jail, you can’t have more than one milk Cow, er. n as the cops learn that you got t will cost you anywhere go wo,
three cows.
Miles an hour, is you've got to slow down when turng corners, or else the cops have you ($50). and tricyclers had better Jook ave You ny oyclers governed by the same laws that govern horse-drawn vehicles. There's a $50 fine, too, for “idling, lounging, or walking” about the City Market, and it wouldn't surprise me if one of our liberal judges in the very Bear future would interpret that to include gossiping,
And while I'm at it, I might as well set you
straight on the Snow Law. | If the snow falls during : |
the night, it’s your business to have the pavement cleared by 8 a. m. On the other hand, if the snow falls during the day, you got to have it shoveled off within an hour from the time the snow ceased to fall, ere The cops will get you ($10). ll bet I've saved you $500 today, without sayin anything about lawyers’ fees. y ve
Jane Jordan—
Decision to Rewed One for Mother Alone, Daughter of Widow Told. EAR JANE JORDAN—My father has been dead,
for several years. My mother has been keeping
company at times with a man who is about 15 years her senior. He claims that he is in love with her
and has asked her several times to marry him, but he
is old-fashioned and doesn’t want to dress as they do
in the modern times of today. My mother doesn’t
love him. Do you think that it would be the proper | §
thing to do to marry him just for a home? Do think that a man at this age could be kind to Tu
considerate to we children after living without chile
dren in His home for several years? There are three of us. My mother is 40. DAUGHTER.
Answer—It is impossible to give an intelligent ane swer to a question like yours without knowing the people involved. The success of any venture depends entirely on the spirit of co-operation which the pere sons bring to it. ; The thing that makes me fear that this marriage might fail is the fact that your mother doesn’t love
the man. I do not mean that she would need to be = 3
swept off her feet by a gust of romance, but to live
with him happily she would at least have to be genu-
inely interested in him and willing to give as well as to accept. :
If your mother and her suitor were congenial, if | they shared the same point of view and found each | other companionable, there would be hope that the | common objective of founding a home might work |
out quite pleasantly.
After all this is your mother’s decision, not yours. ; Few women have the courage to marry a man whom. |
their children do not respect unless they are powers fully in love; so I do not think you have anything to worry about. « » ® ®
EAR JANE JORDAN—You say well-bred young people do not neck on their first date. A few weeks ago I had a blind date with a boy. There was no necking but he kissed me good night. He asked me for a date a few nights later, We did not neck but had a very nice conversation and again he kissed me good night and said he would call me later. He has never called. Do you think his opinion of me was lowered because I let him kiss me, or do you think it is because he has no money of his own and must ask his father for what he spends. I know he is rather
hard up. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE, = |
Answer—I doubt that the boy's opinion of youwas | | affected by anything so simple as a goodnight kiss,
His failure to make another date is probably due to
the fact that he has no money to spend, or he may have met another girl who interests him more for the time being. Don't expect to be a howling success with
each boy you meet for it won't work out that way.
JANE JORDAN.
"Put your problems in a letter to Jane Jordan who will 5 answer your questions in this column daily. 3
New Books Today
Public Library Presents—
F all women innocently involved in celebrated murders, Henrietta Desportes, governess for seven years to the children of the Duc de Praslin, was far the most remarkable. In 1847 the Duc’s brutal murder of his wife and subsequent suicide made Hen= riette “not beautiful and 35” the storm center of a scandal which shocked - the continent. Eventually she fled from France to America; in 1851 she mar Henry M. Field, preacher, writer and brother Cyrus W. Field of future Atlantic cable fame. The family legends of “great aunt by ms Henriette” form the nucleus of Rachel Field's A THIS, AND HEAVEN TOO (Macmillan). Miss F
1 recreates, from old records and memoirs the am
Henriette and her exciting times, from gli Paris of Louis-Philippe’s reign to New York of 1870’s. Mrs. Henry Field became an honored leader New York’s social and religious life, loved and ade mired for her nobility of mind and heart; delightin and amusing her friends, many of them outstandi celebrities, with her sprightly Gallic wit. Her mar
life with the dignified c ‘was radiantly Tih and, huppy— 00d DU saayInG seq
getting |
from $5 to $50. And goodness | only knows what they'd do if they found you milking | § Nor can you build or burn a bonfire ($100). You can’t drive your horse more than five
Eo 8
ing a sharp point protruding more than half an inch = | |