Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 7 January 1939 — Page 9

~ looks to be more than 40.

agabon From Indiana==Ernie Pyle

Six Honest Murderers Part of Panair Ground Crew, the Luckiest Of All Liberes in Prison Colony.

(CAYENNE, Freneh Guiana, Jan. 7.—There

are eight men on the ground crew of Pan-American Airways at the Cayenne station. All of them are convicts, of the libere class. A number of pilots along the line

have told me, “Be sure and look at those liberes when you land at Cayenne. One of them is a murderer.” Which shows that the pilots don’t know everything. It isn't true that one is a murderer. The * truth is—six of the eight are murderers! Two of them come out in a little gas boat to hook a line to your plane. They are there all around you as you step out. If you caught your heel on the steps and fell, one , of them would catch you. If all this intimacy should frighten anybody out of making an air

trip down the coast, all I can say |

is, “Don’t be a fool!” You're as safe among these men as you would be anywhere in the world. They are the cream of the whole lot of convicts here. S. M. Filipovich, local mandager for Panair, chooses them carefully. He has to sign papers assuming personal responsibility for them. One of them has been working for Panair six years. One lives in the Filipovich house: has a nice little room of his own. Others

Mr. Pyle

have constant access to the office and records. When

the PFilipoviches are away, two of them have the keys to the safe. Nothing is ever taken. The murderers are honest. : Panair pays them. They are hired, and treated, on the same basis as free men. As a matter of fact, these eight have the choicest jobs of all the liberes in French Guiana.

Raise Chickens at Barracks

One of them is a German. One is Italian. The other six are French. They are all white. Only one None speaks English, so I couldn’t talk with them. But we always speak, all around, every time I show.up. And two of them frequently drive me around town on errands. - They wear the white unionalls and caps that all Panair crews wear. Two of them live in town, and the other six in a small but comfortable barracks at the Panair station. : They took me into their home. It was very bare. Apparently their long fime in prison has absolved from the senseless collection of useless gadgets. About all they seemed to possess was a few toilet articles and extra clothes. :

They don't sleep on mattresses. Just on plain canvas, lashed sailor-fashion to the bed frame. Apparently that is cooler, and I suppose it's like feathers compared to what they slept on in prison. Each bed has a mosquito net. The men do their own cooking. They raise about 100 chickens back of the station. They are very proud of the two Brazilian parakeets they keep for Mrs. Filipovich. They see a good many snakes. The station grounds are cut right out of the jungle. Last year 50 yards from the station, they killed the biggest alligator seen in these parts in years. The Panair station covers about an acre. It is a neat, elaborate layout with six or eight buildings, high-powered radio station, gasoline reservoirs, small shops and concrete walks. ‘It is across the river from Cayenne, about 20 minutes by boat. Maybe youre wondering why these men don’t just take the boat some day, and go away in it. Or try to hide in the back end of one of the departing planes. Well, the only reason I know of is that they don't want to. They're better off here than as fugitives. : In fact, two of them have served their time, and are absolutely free men. One of them has even had

“i$ citizenship restoréd. ‘These two are free to return

e

.

yo

to France. So they stay, have nice jobs, plenty to eat, and never get cold. Think how many millions there are in this world who don’t have those things. Me, for instance. Freezing to death half the time.

My Diary

By Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

Describes Procedure ~ Followed For White House Flag Ceremony.

: ASHINGTON, Friday.—The last time we had one of the state receptions here I mentioned the flag ceremony, and since then I have had a number of requests to describe this ceremony. I thought I had done it fully before, but since it is one of the few ceremonies which is a tradition, perhaps it will bear repetition. In the President’s study on the second floor of the White House, on either side of the fireplace, or back of his desk, there usually stand two flags, the flag of the United States and the President’s flag. Two similar fiags are in his office in the executive office building. On nights when there is a state reception, these flags are taken downstairs during the period of the reception and are placed outside of the Blue Room while the President is receiving the guests aid are returned to their places in the study after he goes: upstairs. ; A color guard consisting of four men under an officer, comes for the flags about 10 minutes before the President goes downstairs. The usher comes into . the room and announces that the color guard would like to take the flags. =verybody in the room stands up. The color guard coiues in, faces the flags, salutes, reforms, and marches oat, During the ceremony everybody in the room remains standing and at attention. When the flags are returned, the same ceremony takes place and the usher announces the color guard. The color guarc marches into the room, bearing the flags, places them in their. stands, goes back . to position, salutes the fiags, falls into formation and marches out, :

National Anthem Ignored

The other night I beard someone suggest that we do not do enough in this country to awaken an interest and reverence for the flag and for our na- - tional anthem. The suggestion, I think, was made that in many places nf entertainemnt the, flag should be displayed and ‘he national anthem played, either at some time during the evening or at the close of the evening. i Later I noticed a letter in one of our local papers saying that this had been done here the other eve- . ning in a motion picture theater, and that the audience had not come to its feet or stood at attention, evidently not realizing that this was the mark of respect which should ke paid to the flag and the anthem in any place 2% any time. I really do not know whether it is wise in this way to build up our bump of reverence, which is not very pronounced in this country. A little more of it would probably do us no harm, however. Today is like a spring day and I had a wonderful ride this morning. The Washington climate reminds

me of a great many other things in life—you shauld

enjoy it day by day with as little thought of the past and of the future as possible. In other words, be thankful for your blessings and live in the moment. : 54

Day-by-Day Science

By Science Service g new year will see battle along a new front to save America’s minds, Inspired by a co-operative program of the U. S. Public Health Service, psvchiatrists are placing new emphasis on discovering what social conditions put so much pressure and strain on the human mind that it disintegrates. i) The perennial battle between those who regard environment as the determiner of intelligence and mental health, and those who believe our physical heredity settles such matters for us, is by no means settled. But : n have considered it wise to as4CLAN an : SE : and

Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoffice, Indianapolis, Ind,

Second Section .

\

PAGE 9

of defending America, sn

By George Fielding Eliot

Time Special Writer

from fear.

Maj. Eliot long-drawn out affair.

» » # HILE our Navy remained _ superior, she could not send overseas such a great expedition as would be needed to attack Hawaii, much less our West Coast. Small air raids from carriers might be delivered against

our coastal cities, and commerce raiders might attack our mer-

would be about all, and these things we could eventually deal with. But for us to bring Japan to terms, it would be needful for us to establish a base in the Western Pacific from which our Navy could so interfere with Japan’s sea communications—upon- which, as she ‘becomes more and more industrialized, she is increasingly dependent—as to compel her either to abandon the contest, or make a last desperate effort for relief by sending her fleet out to fight. Thus, in considering the strategy of the Pacific; the all-im-portant consideration for us is always to maintain a considerable naval superiority over Japan. While we have such superiority, we can, if needs must, although at great trouble and with heavy

to force her to yield. #apan, on the other hand, can never do the same to us while her fleet remains inferior. Our best hope of staying out of so costly and terrible a war as would be entailed in the step-by-step process of fighting our way across the Pacific until we had come close enough for our purpose will be to keep up our naval

1 and military establishments at a

level at which there will be no doubt in Japanese minds of our ability to inflict deadly injury upon them—if they compel us The chances will then be excellent that they will not enter upon a course of action in which risk so heavily outweighs advantage.

® ® 8 N the Atlantic, the most serious threat of war—other than becoming involved in a European conflict as we were in 1917— seems to be a German or German-

Italian attempt to establish areas of conquest in Latin America, either directly or by supporting dissident factions in some LatinAmerican country. In either case, the attempt must be based on sea communications, and is initially a matter to be dealt with by our Navy.

may be sufficient in ships, it needs also bases to give it freedom of action. Agreements with Latin American states to this end will be useful, especially with Brazil, whose ports command the greater part of the South Atlantic Ocean, where we have no bases at all. : The air threat, to which Britain and France were compelled to yield at Munich, is hardly serious

chant shipping sporadically. That .

loss, so gravely threaten Japan. as...

While the strength of the latter

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1939

How-—and from what direction—might war come to us? . . . This is the fifth of six articles in which George Fielding E iot, former U. 8S. Army major and distinguished author of “The Ramparts We Watch,” examines the problem

» o 2

VARS don’t just happen. They arise out of differences between nations, or are deliberately begun by one side as an instrument of achieving national ambition, or

The planners of our national defense must consider (1) why we might be drawn into wer with various nations, (2) What we and they would be trying to achieve by such

a war, and (3) what means-are at our disposal and at Ton . theirs to gain these respective ends. : To take our Pacific front first, there is but one nation with which we are likely to be involved in hostilities—Japan. A war with Japan will not be ! apt to occur because cf something Japan does to us in our own part of the world. It will be far more . apt to occur because of something which Japan does in Asia which we objeét to and are determined to stop, even by force. Thus we might go to war to compel Japan to cease interference with our trade in the Far East. This would very likely come as the last act’in a long contest, begun by trade reprisals, economic embargoes, and similar measures. Or we might be ccnfronted by a Japanese attempt to seize the Philippines, perhaps as one result of our cutting off her cil imports from this country —the Philippines being a stepping stone to the Dutch East Indies, her most important sources of oil supply next to the United States. A war with Japan would be a There is very’ little more that Japan could do to injure us, once she had seized the Philippines and Guam and wiped out our military and commercial establishments in China.

for vs as yet. Yet it is as well to realize that this is only true while no bases on this side of the Atlantic are in the possession of any aggressive-minded nation. The northeastern part of our couniry, where are concentrated our centers of political, industrial, commercial and financial power and a third of our population, affords an objective for enemy bombers scarcely less tempting than the island of Great Britain. The defense of this part of the country, if it be threatened, must ever be our first consideration. » 2 2 HE mass flight of Air-Marshal Balbo, via the Faroes, Iceland, Greenland and Labrador, showed the practicability of this air route. The first three steppingstonss belong to, or are controlled by Denmark, which country is a neighbor of expanding Germany and has unsettled territorial questions with her. It is none too soon to consider the question of obtaining the right to establish strong air and naval bases in the island of Newfoundland—at present wholly undefended and open to seizure as the fina’ link between Greenland and our northeast—where we. could provide amply for defense against any attack from this direction. Similar considerations apply to Berinuda, which is but 680 miles fromy New York. We could not afford to allow Bermuda to fall into the hands of any conquering power. The Bahama Islands, covering the two important waterways of

Uncle Sam Chooses His Naval Superiority in Pacific and New Bases in Atlantic Are U. Ss. Needs

/eapons

“The all-important consideration for us is always to maintain a considerable naval superiority over Japan.” . . . American vessels of war maneuver “somewhere in the Pacific.” :

Davis Strait

A “oy Bahama ls. Key West®s,

Charledton ~M Bermuda (Br.) . { ;

GREENLAND (Danish)

»° . = @ :

°°

| ob ; C. Farewell

Selan ¢4C

Oc ean Flores 2 22 (Portuguese)

(Sp.)

Azores

Gibraltar (BT) Madeira (Port.)%®

Canary Is. 5% é

CELAND (Dan.)

ny

Faero¢ Is... Dan.) ¥s, NORWAY

Scapa Flo) (Br) LN

Brest (Fr.) RANGE

"Lisbon (Port.)

Casablanca (Fr.)

AFRICA

va

The fact that any conqueror of Denmark might conveniently use the Faeroe Islands, Greenland and Jeeland as aerial stepping stones to America, would make desirable the establishment of U. S. air and ‘naval bases in Newfoundland. Similarly, this map shows the strategic importance—to the United States— of British-governed Bermuda, 680 miles from New York, and of the British-governed Bahamas, off Florida.

the Strait of Florida and the Windward Passage, afford many lurking places for hostile submarines and seaplanes. British sea power now lies under the threat of German air power. British policy is showing a tendency to co-ordinate itself with

German policy. The Monroe Doctrine, long tacitly supported by the British fleet, is now become our sole responsibility. Conditions which were tolerable when Britain was free to act in

defense of her outlying possessions.

and her Atlantic sealanes are not

supportable under present-day conditions when the defense of this hemisphere is the responsibility of the United States Navy alone. -

NEXT—The “why” of national defense.

Senator Wylie Broke 30-Year-Old Vow Not to Seek

By Bruce Catton Time: Special Writer TASHINGTON, Jan. T7.—The man who licked the Roose-veit-La Follette combination in Wisconsin is a deepchested, strongvoiced chap who 30 years ago made a solemn vow that he would never have anything to do with politics. He is Senator Alexander Wylie, who rolled up a 195,000-vote plurality over the Democratic and Progressive foes in last fall’s election in Wisconsin and whose presence here this winter is an outstanding symbol of the electorate’s swing away from the New Deal. : “It was in 1908, when I was distri¢t, attorney of Chippewa County, Wiszonsin,” he said. “I saw the Congressman from our district come back from Washington, defeated after 16 years service. He was financially broke and emotionally wrecked; the tragedy so impressed me that I swore I'd keep out of politics forever after.” So youthful Alexander Wylie— he is 54 now—devoted himself to the

practice of law and the cultivation of a farm. He kept his vow until 1936; then his belief that something had to be done for Republicanism in his native state got the better of him, and he won his party’s nomination for Governor. He ran against Phil La Follette, lost but made a creditable showing, and last year was put up for the Senate. He won the election, but took a lot of physical punishment doing it. He stumped Wisconsin in oldfashioned style, -driving his auto 16,000 miles and making more than 500 talks. One of his pet stunts was to make inspection tours of factories and harangue the workers when they came out. So now he's in Washington. He came down the aisle to be sworn, his hand on the arm of Senator Bob La Follette. Both men contrived to look pleasant during the process. 2 T= happiest man in. Congress is undoubtedly Rep. Arthur B. Jenks, Republican, of New Hamp-

shire. For Mr. Jenks is in the position of being able to face the Congress and .say, “Yeah—I told you so.” Mr, Jenks came to the last Congress with an election protest hanging over his head. In the 1936 election he had led his Democratic opponent, Alphonse Roy, by 550 votes out of 103,000 cast in the first New Hampshire district. Mr. Roy demanded a recount, and somehow

in the recount the 550 votes van-

ished—leaving the two men tied. A state ballot commission did some

more counting and ruled Mr. Roy the winner. This squabble lasted a long time and finally fell into the lap of Congress. Congress at last decided that Mr. Roy was the winner. Mr. Jenks, who had served practically all of the session, was unseated; Mr. Roy became a Congressman for about one week of active service— but he drew two full years’ pay, or $20,000. ~ Anyhow, Mr. Jenks told Congress

«Office and Won for G. O. P. in Wisconsin

be pretty mad about it all and would send him back in triumph. He was right. He got in by a 7200-vote ma-

“| jority this time—defeating Congress-

man Roy, d 8 8 =

QENATOR JAMES M. MEAD o New' York, who was sworn in to fill the unexpired term of the late Royal S. Copeland, is very long and slim. His colleague, Senator Robert F. Wagner, is short and stocky. A new Senator is always escorted to the dais to be sworn in by the other Senator from his state, and custom says they shall go arm in arm. /- : Senators Wagner and Mead made it, all right, but it was a struggle.

Either Senator Wagner had to reach high for Senator Mead’s arm, or Senator Mead had to stoop to accommodate him. Said Senator Mead: “I can't for the life of me see why it’s the short Senator who has the long term and

the long Senator who has the short

term.”

that the people back home would

Everyday Movies—By Wortman

'l. to The

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDG

1—How many cylinders were in the engine on Orville Wright’s airplane in which, he made his first flight? 2—What was the middle name of James K. Polk, 11th President of the U. S.? 3—How many feet are in & nautical mile? 4—For which college team was Davey O’Brien the 1938 football star? ev 5—What are the colors of the flag of Peru? 6—What is the name for salmon after spawning? 7—What is the correct proHineistion of the word hia- ? 5

” ta Answers 1—Four. © 2=—-Knox. ‘3—6080.2. '° 4—Texas Christian University, 5—Red and white. 6—Kelt. § “T—Hy-ay’-tus; not hi-at’-us. 8 = = : ASK THE TIMES Inclose a 3-cent stamp for reply when sing any question of fact or information Washington Service Bureau, 1013 13th St, N. W. Washingon, D. C. Legal and medical

-| Soviet Union’s economic p

Our Town

By Anton Scherrer

Score One for Tradition Because i; Proof Is Here That Leaves of the Blue-Ash Are Remedy for Snake-Bite.

"TRADITION around here has it that, once

upon a time, Ira Plummer was bitten by a rattlesnake, but survived and recovered wholly through the efficacy of whisky and a tea made of blue-ash leaves. :

I always wondered what the blue-ash leaves had to do with it. Now I know. I wouldn't | have known, though, had I not picked up the last number of thé Indiana Magazine of History and dis covered an article by Dr. R. W. Terhune of Martinsville titled “Pioneer Folklore Relative to Snakes.” It’s grand reading. : : : Dr. Terhune goes way back to 1830 and cites what happened to his great-grandfather. Seems the pioneer Terhune was bringing his wife and nine children from Kentucky and had almost reached his destination in Johnson County when one of the boys, who was running ahead of the covered : wagon, was bitten by a copperhead. As luck would have it, they were near a cabin. The man of the place took in the situation at once and yelled ine structions to his wife and two grown sons: “Build a hot fire uncer the Kittle! oil plenty o* hot water! Git your axes and cut that little blue-ash tree down yander! Bring a big arm load o’ the leaves; dig a hole in the gyarden, and put the sick boy in it!” Sure, the boy got well. : “To the practical mind of the boy’s father,” says Dr. Terhune, “there was no magic in what had been | done. To him it was merely a local application of garden earth, a hot fomentation of green leaves. But what that unknown frontiersman did,” continues the doctor, “carried in its significance some of the most beautiful symbolism to be found in the whole realm of folklore.”

‘Tree of the Universe’

And here’s the way the Doctor has it figured out. “In India, central Asia and southern Sibir is 8 tree known in scientific phraseology as the Fraximus Ornus. It is also found in this country where it is popularly known as the blue-ash. In olden times, | this tree was much venerated and in the northern mythology it was called ‘Yggdrasil’ (the sacred ash), or ‘Tree of the Universe’ from which the gods formed mankind. “The sap of the as honey, and honey dripped like dew from its leaves. | At its fool was a serpent (evil or darkness) that con~ .| stantly bit at its roots. But the serpent could do no harm, for the leaves of the tree had power to cure its deadliest venom. en our Aryan ancestors left the | cradle of the race, traversed Persia, Asia Minor, and | southern and central Europe, in successive migrations, and crossed the channel into England, they carried ’ this superstition with them. Two thousand years ago Pliny claimed that ash tree tops and leaves were a remedy for serpent bites. | “Such,” says the Doctor, “are the reasons why | James Terhune, when bitten by a poisonous snake in | a little Johnson County clearing, was medicined so | industriously with the same magic blue-ash leaves | that were used by our Aryan ancestors in their first home thousands of miles away, and centuries ago.” | Which, of course, leaves me no alternative but to elieve that maybe, mething to do with curing Ira Plummer’s bite, too.

1 T TTT Jane Jordan—

1 Girl Anxious for Musical Career i Is Adyised to .Delay Marriage.

EAR JANE JORDAN—I am a girl of 18 engaged to a boy of 20. We love each other very much. I ave a problem, though, and I would appreciate your dvice very much as you have helped me before. I am onsidered quite g musician and my parents are able 0 give me a musical education. They do not know of ny engagement to this boy. If I marry, I am afraid it will be the end of my career. I feel as though I cannot give it up or the boy either. Can you help me? | WONDERING.

Answer—Why don’t you postpone your marriage for a couple of years at least and go on with your music? After all itl is hardly likely that a 20-year-old hoy is financially able to establish a home and support a wife. You'll have to give him time to establish himself in business and accumulate a reserve. Two years is short enough and the pair of you will still be pretty young for such a mature venture as marriage. | At any rate you ought to spend the next two years : more working hard at your music. By that time you may have made enough progress that you can safely combine further study with marriage. Nobody succeeds in gratifying all desires immediately. Every= jody must learn how #5 put up with postponement. : 2 8

Dx JANE JORDAN—I am a girl 22 years old

. Mr. Scherrer

|

AJ and I am in love with a man who has been married twice. I found out that he is not divorced from | his second wife. He says he wants to marry me, but I | ound that he was going with another girl, too. He | qui her once but she would not let him alone. He | old me to go to her and teli her to let him alone. | Now should I go in person? I do not want to cause | any more trouble than I can help, for I may need help from the man I love. A.C. B.

' Answer—Let the man get rid of his own girl friends. His record of two failures in marriage does |

‘not recommend him to me. It is folly for you to take A = = his proposal of marriage seriously when he has no = ~

divorce. You would do well to keep out of his affairs and go with single men.. JANE JORDAN.

! Put your problems in a letter to Jane Jordan who will | answer your questions in this column daily.

New Books Today

Public Library Presents—

HARACTERS and incidents typical of the recent past in the open range country of Arizona lend life and color to Dane Coolidge’s ARIZONA COWBOYS (Dutton), a book which is sure to give pleasure to those who enjoy tales of the West. : Li The author tells of the contending interests of the * cattlemen and the sheepherders and of the part played by the conservation movement in this fight between these antagonistic factions. The accounts of the Lost

Dutchman Mine and of the Pleasant Valley War add

flavor to this picture of the West, as do the descrip= | tions of stampedes and rodeos. ; i And for the consolation of those who mourn that 1 the “brave old days” have passed and that the methods of working the cattle have changed, the writer assures us that the cowboys of today are “just | as ‘good riders” as those of the past. ” 2 # ® p 3 T progress-of science is measured by the brave ery and ingenuity of men. One of the most | profitable scientific ventures of ; that sponsored by the U. S. S. R. in 1937ee enti cis oe an resources & i i The Soviet po tion was organized to make a onged study terrestrial magnetism, geophysical problems, and astro-

‘| nomical observations in the Polar regions.

established a winter station was a *ole

previous experience in th was stocked with enough food for an 18 'n

‘Tree of the Universe’ was as sweet | 3 0

after all, blue-ash leaves had = :