Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 10 January 1939 — Page 9
Vagabon From Indiana=Ernie Pyle
Real Forgotten Men Are Liberes Of Guiana Who Have Nothing, Not Even a Place to Lay Their Heads.
(CAYENNE, French Guiana, Jan. 10.— Maybe if you were born and raised with them under your feet, you could be indifferent to the liberes of French Guiana, as the natives are. But when a stranger comes . and gazes upon these ragged, unwanted, un‘holy outcasts from the human race, I tell you it slashes your heart Jike a knife, and you go up to your room and sit down and think, over and over, what
a place this world is. There are some liberes in French Guiana. About 1000 of them are here in Cayenne. You won't raise . your eyes, at any time, without seeing at least one. If you sit and look for an hour, scores of them will pass. Take a walk right into their bedrooms—for their bedrooms are the sidewalk! There they lie, dark huddled forms. A dozen sleep within 100 feet of the hotel’s sidewalk cafe, - where the Frenchmen and Negroes sit chatting over their drinks. | The liberes are very still and quiet. The only sound is a jarring cough, Tuberculosis. They own nothing. in this world but a dirty shirt and a pair of ragged pants. | People here say that a convict’s real punishment . starts the day he is released from the penitentiary as a libere. He is cast to the sharks. He must make his own living, in a place where there is almost no way to make a living. * The newly-freed libere cannot live just anywhere he wants to. Only certain ones can live in Cayenne. The others must stay at lest eight miles outside of town. Banished to the Jungle. Their life is purposeless and hideous. Some get a few odd jobs. Many get nothing. I don’t suppose there are 200 of the 1000 liberes in Cayenne who have risen to even a low standard of living. The rest live on the streets—homeless, like the vultures.
There is a Salvation Army here, which staves off actual starvation for some. Local business firms once a week hand out tickets good for one meal at the Army. The liberes do some begging, but pickings are poor. | A bare handful of the liberes are intelligent and fortunate enough to make fairly decent livings., The best barber in town is a libere. There are three well to-do general merchants. I have met all three. They are nice-looking, educated, middle-aged.
Some Rare Exceptions
_ One has a large store and employs many people. He has no bookkeeping system; doesn’t know how much he is worth. One libere is an expert carpenter and woodworker. He sawed off and polished for me a piece of violently purple native wood called “purple heart.” I have it as a souvenir. He is here for turning traitor to France when he was in a war-time German prison camp. Another libere is a sculptor, a genuine artist. He works now only in wood. I have bought one of his sculptures, for $5, to take home. It is. made of ironwood, the jungle wood that is so heavy it won't float.
Mr. Pyle
Two liberes serve all the patrons at the hotel's 2
cafe and bar. ; But these men are exceptions: The rest are helpless, worthless. A person must, I suppose, try to look at it rationally. Through reading and romanticizing, I had got it into my head that all these tortured men were martyrs, with hearts of gold. % That of course is not true. Most of them are confirmed criminals. No good whatever. Their banishment fo Guiana hasn’t made them the hideous wrecks they are today. They would be the same, they are the same—in Montmarte or on the Bowery, on Mission St. or The Bund. . But here they stand out before you in a frame, on exhibit. Walking busily up and down, as though they were going somewhere. Forbidden to live, unable to die. Too cruel, almost, to look upon.
My Diary
By Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt
Comments on Release of Mooney; Mrs. Bankhead Takes Up Painting.
ASHINGTON, Monday.—Yesterday was such a restful day that I felt caught up on a great many things, though I have no lack of work ahead. This morning I went to Mrs. Townsend's concert accompanied by Madame De Los Rios, Madame Ertegun, Mrs. William Bankhead and Mrs. Littleton Hambley. A very young violinist, whom I had never heard before, Miss Guila Bustabo, played charmingly, but for me the joy of the morning was hearing Mr. Ernest Schelling. I always enjoy him, and this morning he played a Chopin Barcarolle which I particularly like, as well as a sonata by Cesar Franck in which Miss Bustabo joined him, which made a delightful end to the morning’s music. I was delighted to find that Mrs. Bankhead had been to see Jo Davidson’s exhibit ‘and enjoyed it as much as I did.. She has also seen the exhibition of watzr colors at the Corcoran Art Gallery, which I hope to see soon. She tells me that though she never knew she had any talent, in the past few years she has been experimenting with painting in oil, water color and pastel and that she enjoys her new achievement greatly. There is no doubt about it that at any age, a discovery that one can master a new type of expression is a most satisfactory feeling. ; The release of Tom Mooney must bring. to his friends and family not only personal satisfaction but a great sense of vindication. It must be a: curfous feeling after so many years of enforced confinement, to walk again a free man, able to make personal decisions without consulting other people. I think thdt the sense of being held by force in any place must be a horrible sensation. That is one reason why I have always hated to watch wild animals who seemed to resent being caged.
~~ WPA Report Should Aid Housing
The WPA report on urban housing throughout the country should stimulate building, it seems to me. It certainly bears out the contention that our housing is not of the best. I feel quite sure that if it were possible to make a similar survey of rural housing, we would find the percentage running very much along the same lines. The contention always is that it is impossible for low-cost - housing to be done by private individuals, because money cannot be borrowed at a low enough rate to make it possible. I still wonder why banks cannot make this money available at a lower interest rate. Of course, they cannot unless people become conscious of the need and are willing to have their ' money used in this way. After all, everything in our country is referred back to the individual, isn’t it? In a democracy the individual must control the economic as well as the political situation and he cannot do this unless he is willing to shoulder the responsibility of making up his mind about what he wants to have done and then sees it through,
By Science Service RIMITIVE people have their own sufficient ways of reckoning time. So it appears from a study ‘of the Tena Indians in the Alaskan Yukon region, reported by Rev. Robert J. Sullivan, S. J.,-of Weston College, Massachusetts. He finds that these Indians did not divide the day into hours. It never occurred to them to mark off a day by mealtimes, because they ate after rising and before going to bed, and took snacks at other times, provided they could find something to eat. Inci-
dentally—though it has nothing to do with time— |
they called the morning meal “we eat” and the evening meal “we eat again.” ; ; Recurring day and night they were aware of. And sometimes a journey would be referred to as so many “sleeps” away. But in their aboriginal scheme of things the Tena Indians had no idea of a week or any other grouping of days into a larger unit. They .me d time from such b ndm
Second Section
Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoffice, Indianapolis, Ind.
Mr. Frankfurter Thinks on His Feef
TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1939
He’ll Miss Favorite Form of Exercise on High Bench; Friends Think
2
ar BE
aol
ev
Justice Butler
" — ‘¥ gd . Fd
. ” 1 Laos 4 & 4 ; ¥ 2 : 3
Le 6
Justice McReynolds @® Chief Justice Hughes Justice Erandeis JusticeStone Justice Black Justice Frankfurter
Here is the artist’s conception of how the U. S. Supreme Court will look with the The'56-year-old liberal, as the newest Justice, would be seated at the extreme left of Chief Justice Hughes who is 76. Ages of the
addition of Harvard’s Felix Frankfurter.
The new Justice receives congratulations by telephone.
By Bruce Catton
NEA Service Writer
ASHINGTON, Jan. 10.—There is just one thing about the Supreme Court that Justice Felix Frankfurter may find irksome. He won’t be able to pace the floor. The new justice has tremendous energy, and is constantly stalking up and down. In his seminar at-Harvard Law School there are arm chairs for his students, but
only an armless wooden chair for himself—which is all right because he almost
never sits in it. He is fond of provoking spirited discussion by two or three students. While the argument rages he stalks about listening. Once in a while his students get so carried away by the heat of the argument that when he chimes in they call him crazy. He doesn’t mind. He freely admits that if he gets in a hole in these classroom discussions he evades answering until he has sent’ out a digest of the subject under discussion to some former student and received an opinion on‘it. (This, like the floorpacing, is a little habit the Supreme Court won’t have room for) A conservative, well-groomed dresser, he usually wears gray
suits. Last year he tried a green .
one, but his students criticized it so much he discarded it. Occasionally, in warm spring days,
he will conduct a class with coat and vest unbuttoned; at such
times he suffers a trouble comfnon
to lesser men—his shirt won't stay
tucked in. ® 2 = ESPITE the air of informality that pervades his classrooms, and despite his habit of keeping close touch with present and former students, no student can see him outside of class without first writing a note and making an appointment. When a student does call on him, Mr. Frankfurter usually has a book in his hand. As often as not he will toss it at the student and say, “Here—you ought to read this.” : He smokes cigarets constantly in his office and outside, but in the classroom—where students are permitted to smoke—he never smokes. He quotes the late Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes a great deal,
and is an almost extravagant admirer of the British Civil Service
System—as, indeed, he is of al-
most everything British. Fond of good music, he attends most of the symphony concerts in Boston. He has a large collection of phonograph records, which he plays on a handsome phonograph
Prof. Frankfurter is shown here looking over books in the library named for the vacancy created by the death of Benjamin N. Cardozo.
ment is expected by the Senate.
given him by.students. He reads modern novels and modern poetry, and takes no exercise. Mrs. Frankfurter chauffeurs him on their drives about Cambridge, where they have a home on Brattle St. Usually they spend their summers in Vermont.
2 ” ” HEN a friend of Mr. Frankfurter was asked where he supposed the new Justice would live in Washington, he remarked: “If he does the way he always used to, he’ll live about 22 of each 24 hours in his office.”
. The new Justice could pick a worse spot, at that. The impressive Supreme Court building, with its gleaming white marble and its towering colonnades, may have all
the home-like qualities of a high-
class tomb—but the office suite
which awaits the new Justice is as pleasant and comfortable as a man could wish. Each Justice rates a suite of three rooms on the main floor of the puilding, and the suites are all exactly alike. From the cotridor, you enter an outer office, with a deep carpet ‘on the floor and rich blue drapes at the windows. The walls are panelled in oak, and the little floor that can be seen at the edges of the carpet turns out to be a tasty inlaid job. In this outer office the Justice's secretary holds forth. ” ” »
ROM: it, one door leads to the judge’s private library. Panelled and draped and carpeted like the first office, with long rows of
bookshelves along two walls, desk
space for & clerk and a law sec-
other members of the High Court are: Mr. Reed; 54; Mr. Roberts, 63; Mr. Butler, 72; Mr. McReynolds, 76; Mr. Brandeis, 82; Mr. Black, 52. A number of Prof. Frankfurter’s former students are now serving the Government in responsible positions.
Sl | cases he had treated down there.
Times-Acme Photos. of his office at Harvard. He was Early confirmation of his appoint-
retary, and a black-leather lounge and easy chairs, it would make an ideal setting for one of those mur=-der-in-a-country-house English detective stories. On the other side of the outer office is the judge’s private office —high-ceilinged, luxurious, restful, with more of the panelling and drapery, and with a large fireplace at one side. There is a huge mahogany desk, with an easy chair behind it. A tiled bathroom with glassed-in shower opens off of one corner of the room. There is a restaurant in the building where the justice may take his meals. He rates a private elevator to take him to and from the courtroom. He can escape the vulgar eye by driving his car down a ramp right into the building, if he likes. : All in all, there are worse spots to spend 22 hours a day.
‘becomes stiff, awkward and shy.
Side Glances—By Clark
I
| 1013 13th St. N. W. Wa
-TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
1—How many time zones are there in continental United © States? : 2—Who recently defeated Tommy Farr in a bout at Madison Square Garden? 3—In which State are the Catskill Mountains? 4—To what English title is the German Herr equivalent? 5—What is the correct pro- . nunciation of the “word idea? 2 6—How many stars are in the flag of the Republic | of Panatha? : 7—In which river are th Thousand Islands? !
® » 2 0 Answers
_1—Four. 2--Lou Nova. 3—New York. 4—Mr. 5—I-de’-a; 'not i-deer’. . 6—Two. T-—St. Lawrence.
ASK THE TIMES
Inclose a 3-cent, stamp for reply when addressing any
|. question of fact or information Indianapolis = Times
to The. n Service Bureau,
tom, D. C.
By Anton Scherrer
Our People Got a Good Scare 78 Years Ago When Woman's Skin Disease Turned Out to Be Leprosy.
RS. LAVINA BLACKWELL left Tennessee sometime in 1907 and headed straight for Indianapolis. She brought her sister along; also her daughter-in-law and 6-year-old grandchild. Together they set
up housekeeping in a gambrel-roofed cottage
at 746 W. 25th St. each doing her part to pay the expenses. . Mrs. Blackwell took in washing. Four years later, somebody told Mrs. Blackwell . about Bobbs’ Dispensary, a place where she could get medical attention for nothing. She went there regularly for six months to have her face treated. Seems she brought some kind of a skin disease with her when she came to Indianapolis. Mrs. Blackwell's face didn’t get better, however. As a matter of fact, it got worse and that set the doctors to wondering what in the world was the matter with Mrs. Blackwell. It also had the City Board of Health | guessing. The State Board of Health, too, They he= gan watching Mrs. Blackwell, and pretty soon eve!ybody connected with the case had a hunch that Indianapolis was in for a. good scare. They suspecied leprosy. ! Dr. Nelson Brayton who had just returned from
Mr. Scherrel
| the Panama Zone had a look at the woman ghd
confirmed the suspicion. Said it looked just like the Dr. Frank Foxworthy said the same thing. He knew something
-about it, too, because he had been an Army surgeon
and had seen leprosy in Cuba and on the Island of
Luzon. What's more, he had been superintendent of = | eny oo
San Lazero Hospital in Manila and had treated number of cases. In the meantime, Mrs. Blackwell’s case was brouzht to Governor Marshall's attention, Dr. Hurty vho ran the State Board of Health at the time told the Governor about a leprosorjum in Louisiana desighed to take care of just such cases. Governor Marshall wired the Governor of Louisiana asking whether it would be possible to send Mrs. Blackwell down thire. The Governor of Louisiana said he was awful sory, but that the laws of his State prohibited taking in outsiders.
Suspicions Are Confirmed
Which, of course, put the case right back on the City Board of Health. To make absolutely sure that they were doing the right thing, the City Board of Health paid $500 to bring Dr. Ralph Hopkins, head of the Louisiana leper colony, to Indianapolis to diagnose the case and advise them what to do. Dr. Hopkins turned up, had a look, and pronounced it as dangerous a case as he had seen. The best thing to do, he said, was to keep the woman isolated. The relatives, too. i To isolate her, the City of Indianapolis bought the house Mrs. Blackwell was living in, and built a 10-foot-high fence around it. Dr. Nelson Brayton {who was one of the first, if not the first to diagnose the
disease correctly took care of the case, and didn't |
charge a cent for his services. : | Nobody gave the woman more than a week to live. a rumor that she had died. There wasn't a bit of truth in it.
long because I called up Dr. Victor'Keene to make sure. He was a member of the Board of Health at
| the time.
As for Mrs. Blackwell's relatives, not one of them caught the disease. Nor did anybody. else.
Jane Jordan—
Woman, Unmarried at 30, Wonders i If There Are Any Single Men Left.
EAR JANE JORDAN—I am a woman of 30 and
in love with a married man. We went together Lf
for a year. He and his wife were supposed to be separated but I found they were not and I quit him. However, I'll always love him, Now in the meartime I have had dates but they always turn out to be mar- o
ried men. Aren’t there any, single men left in. the
world? It seems that all the men where I am ems=
ployed are much too young for me or else they are ° Ea
TRUE BLUE.
Answer: Every unmarried woman of 30 finds here self in a position similar to yours. Enough o: the men of her age have married to narrow her choice. considerably. Most of the single men are too young for her, and she finds it easiest to flirt with other women’s husbands. _ However, the shortage of men isn’t always the whole of her difficulty. It doesn’t explain why she hasn’t settled the love problem before the age of 30,
married.
or why she attracts only married men. Since no one:
explanation covers all cases, I can’t tell you why you i are in this dilemma. Ri
I do know that many young women feel fre: and easy with married men because of the very fac: that the married man cannot assume any responsibility for ' the woman whose favor he courts. The girl feels at ease because he isn’t a prospective husband. The moment she meets a potential husband her manner In her anxisty to prove that she is not man-crazy, not on the hunt, she erects certain defenses which repell the male instead of attracting him. : All this points to a secret doubt of her own pers sonal worth. She is afraid she isn't worth what she would cost. Sometimes it points to a half-recognized fear of men which holds her frozen in their presence Her claim that only married men pay her attention serves as an excuse; it’s a device for dodging the
issue which she fears.
I do not know that these things are true of you, They're food for thought. Doubtless your first ime pulse will be to reject the idea .. . but think it over . instead. 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—
OVELY girlhood enmeshed in the circumstances of a tragic heritage, and the manner in which Linda meets the challenge of her Chinese-Araerican
birth provide material of a singular poignancy for Margaret Mackprang Mackay’s novel LIKE WATER = FLOWING (Reynal). fe
Peking and the surrounding countryside—vouched for as authentic by no less authority thar. Pear Buck—form a setting for this story of an Eurasian girl whose blond beauty and careful upbringing by
“her scholarly American father belie her miied ane
cestry. Love beating vainly against impossitle bare riers of racial taboo forms a dramatic implication, however. the Oriental passivity in Linda’s natiire, un= suspected - during happier days, effects a hope of compromise. In the “fusing the best of the ¢ld F and the best of the new West,” she foresees i gl of happiness in a future surrounded by the bi: and delicacy of a beloved Chinese landscape comforted by the sympathy of one whose bacgra parallels her own. | haley ‘To those who seek to know the ancieat
| through the fiction of Pearl Buck; Ann Bridge,
Hobart and other contemporary wi rent novel . presents A
And sure enough, inside of a week there was |
Mrs. Blackwell fooled everybody and | lived 18 months after that. I know it was that