Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 17 March 1939 — Page 19

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From Indiana—Ernie Pyle

= | Sundry Memoranda From the South:

Sleepy Drivers, Hollywood Diction And a Certain Confederate Weapon.

OWN IN ALABAM’, March 17.—Just rambling around: : : We were talking with a Birmingham friend the other night about getting sleepy while you're driving a car. Occasionally, on those long, open roads out West, I have got so sleepy I had to stop the car and walk up and down the road. : But this friend has me beat all to pieces. The

minute he gets behind the wheel, he can barely stay awake. He has had one bad wreck from going to

sleep. And I think he holds | the |

world’s record for sleeping-while-driving in inopportune places. : He went right to sleep in the traffic of New York City! Right in the heart of town, near Grand Central Station. Ran over a curb and almost through a window. That's what I call being relaxed. Cullman County, about 50 miles ‘north of Birmingham, is a German community. St. Bernard College there was founded by Germans. The farmers around Cullman are Germans. You hear German spoken on the streets. That was surprising to me, because I had never thought of Germans being in the Deep South at all. The county, incidentally, is the most prosperous agricultural county in the state. . : You may have seen a movie short entitled “The Life of Dr. Carver.” It's the story of Tuskegee Institute’s eminent scientist, : . I saw it just before going to Tuskegee. And having seen pictures of him, I realized the Dr. Carver in the final scenes was not really Dr. Carver, though that was the impression given. So at Tuskegee I asked officials why the movie company hadn’t used Dr. Carver himself. They said they didn’t know. He would have been glad to do it. The officials regretted very much that the movie company hadn’t done so. : And when I talked with Dr. Carver, one of the most modest and self-effacing men in the world, 1 realized that he, too, was a little hurt that they hadn’t asked him. Personally, I think they ought to be kicked, :

Scarlett and the Films

And while we're on this movie short—the night 1 saw it the gudience howled when the film narrator mispronounced Tuskegee. Despite the spelling, it is pronounced “Tus-kee-gy.” The “g” is hard; accent on “kee.” But the Hollywood guy pronounced it “Tusky-gee,” accenting the last syllable. : Everybody down here is hoping they'll: do better with “Gone With the Wind.” I've been asking people all around what they thotight of casting Vivien Leigh, a British actress, as Scarlett O'Hara. : In Florida some of the chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy have got out boycott petitions against the picture Gf there ever is a picture). But up in these parts, which is certainly more the real old South than Florida is, I find a different attitude. In Birmingham, several women’s clubs were approached on what they were going to do about it. And they said they weren't going to do anything; they figured maybe Mr. Selznick knew a little more about how to make a movie than they did. They'd just wait and see. : You know those broad-ax-looking things you sometimes see in dictionaries or medieval battle drawings? I can’t think of the name now. They're like the curve-bladed broad-ax, except that ‘they are on the end of a pole, and you just charge at your opponent and ‘cut him in two. They were one of the main weapons in Roman times. Well, did you know that during tHe Civil War, when the South was running short of ammunition and guns, they had 15,000 of these made? They actually did. That's what the Mayor of Atlanta told me. He said they never did much good though. They were a few centuries too late. I sure wish I could think of the name of the darn things. Might get me one.

Mr. Pyle

Seco Se: tion

recovery.

By .'ohn T. Flynn

of business.

fairly obvious. : First of all, for the first time ‘the Administration has become acutely aware of the facts:

1. That recovery is utterly impossib.e unless private investment revives and, :

2. That private investment has

J Secretary of Commerce Hopkins, one of the leaders in the Administration’s gesture of compromise with business, is shown here during his appearance last month before the Iowa Legislature,

Af this newest crossroad of the New Deal, current signs indice te a turn to the right, with “appeasement” of business as the goal. John ‘TC. Flynn, reviews the condition which, in his opinion, has up to now caused recovery to bog down and points out the five keys to

V\/ASHINGTON, March 17 (NEA).—No one with half an eye in his head can move about Washington these days without perceiving that a change has come ove: the spirit of the Administration on the whole subject Some observers there call it the “drift to the right.” Secretary Harry Hopkins objects to that. He says it is bad manners to greet a gesture of ‘comproinise with that sort of characterization. Perhaps it is. The important thing, however, is to understand the phejiomenon here for what it actually is. We have heard the President’s promise of ‘no more tax¢s”’-—the Hopkins “appeasement” speech—the lifting of the “plague on both your houses” in the effort to-have the C. I. O. and the A. F. of L. smoke the peace pipe, and a current Capital rumor that the present monopoly investigation will be quietly demobilized. The reasons for this new and even sudden shift of the Administration to a policy of aiding business are

since 1933, bank loans have actually decreased by a billion. The banks have not loaned the money. For a long time the Administration ‘blamed the banks. They said it was the bankers trying to sabotage the Administration —-banks on a capital strike. But that argument is no longer tenable. . Because all bankers are not anti-New Dealers. Jesse Jones’

FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 1939

eal Woos Business

Economist Flynn Views Frozen’ Investment Fu

PO on

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

nds as Vital Key to Recovery

The key to recovery lies in finding out why people remain aloof from the three avenues of investment—

HAT the business community and the conservative groups want to know is how much

can be done by this Administra--

tion for business in its present “turn to the Right.” This concern centers around certain key subjects so far as business is concerned. One of them is taxes. The other is government regulations. The third is the antitrust laws. The fourth is labor. The fifth is the question of money andl the dollar. Whether the Administration can actually do anything for them or not, at least one thing is quite possible. It can stop frightening them. It can also declare a moratorium upon reform. That, of course, is what the businessman wants. | The liberal groups feel pretty bad about this. They insist

be done about this quickly. The solution of the railroad problem should have been tackled in 1933.

2 2 2

What of construction? Of course, construction is affected by so many factors outside the power of the Federal Government that it is very hard to know what it can do quickly to start building now. The building industry from top to bottom is tied up in pricefixing and production control combines and agreements—Ilabor, dealers, manufacturers, : subcon-

the utilities, the railroads and construction. :

tractors all leagued to keep prices up. The Government certainly has no plans on this front.One thing the President can do of inestimable value as a political move and that is to deliver himself into the hands of the sound money groups in his party. Uncertainty as to money has caused a great deal of trouble. Fear of devaluation and other apprehensions aroused by the President’s talk about money and managing the dollar, etc., have been responsible for no end of hesitancy in investment.

City of Refuge to Which Losing

Cretans Fled in 1100 B. C. Is Found

By Science Service

The fall of Crete’s brilliant Mino-

PAGE 19.

Our Town By Anton Scherrer

49 Years Ago Occurred the Great Tragedy in Which 12 City Firemen Were Killed in Downtown Blaze.

ORTY-NINE years ago today, I was sit= ting in School 6, in the sixth grade run by Elizabeth Cotton. It was just about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the most dismal hour of the school day. Suddenly I heard the fire bells ringing. I kept count. It was Box 45, the one that brought the whole departe ment to the corner of Washington and Meridian Sts. I couldn't help wondering why it was always my luck to be penned up in school when anything exciting turned up in Indianapolis. ; All of which explains:why the big Bowen-Merrill fire had a good start before we kids got around to it. Soon as we got home, Mother took us uptown, and I distinctly recall that she was dog-tired when we started. She had spent the greater part of the day planting her sweetpea -seeds. It was St. Patrick's Day. : Mr. Scherrer By the time we got to the fire which was on the north side of Washington St. on ground now covered by part of Wasson’s store, the horrible catastrophe had taken place. «Of course no two descriptions agreed as to what actually had occurred, but from the muffled conversations going on all around me, I could make out, more or less, what had happened. It appeared that when the firemen arrived they saw immediately that the best, and maybe the only thing to do, was to keep the fire from spreading. Anyway, a crew of firemen went to the roof and another squad entered the building by way of the windows. Suddenly without a moment’s warning,

| the floors from top to bottom caved in. Nobody at i| the time had any idea how many firemen were

trapped in the ruins, but the guesses ran all the

| way from a dozen to the whole fire department.

I was reasonably sure, however, that it wasn't :

: the whole department because when I got there, I | saw a lot of firemen working like mad to get to their

buried. buddies. When it came time to count the casualties, it was learned that a ‘dozen brave firemen had lost their lives. Sixteen were badly injured. Gus Ernst, the fireman who lived in the block below us on Union St., and who was, more or less, our idea of a hero, walked with a pronounced

| limp from that day on,

Proclamation Was Issued The tragedy sent a wave of horror through the

| town which quickly gave place to a desire to help the

living. Mayor Sullivan (Reginald’s father), I recall, got to his office early the next morning and issued a proclamation in the course of which he said: “It is the duty and pleasure of our citizens to see to it that want is not added to the grief of those so bereaved.” I remember that sentence because I thought Mr. :Sullivan’s use of the word “pleasure” on an occasion like this was ill-advised, but Father assured me that the word “pleasure” could be used in the sense of a wish, too. Father had such a high regard for Judge Sullivan that he never allowed anybody to criticize him, least of all his speeches. As a result of Mayor Sullivan’s proclamation, money poured in from all sides. Even London, England, sent a check for $1000, and when it came time to close the books, Mr. Sullivan’s committee had more than $50,000, Most of it went buy annuities for the widows.

Jane Jordan—

Girl Reluctant, So Youth Is Advised Against Urging Her Into Marriage.

ONDON, March 17.—A city of refuge built about 1100 B. C. when Crete’s fading civilization fell before foreign invaders has been unearthed by British archeologists.

It provides a vivid picture of what has happened on earth when

an civilization—named after their legendary King Minos—is being gradually understood. Minoan kings ruled Crete more than 2000 years, or from 3400 to 1100 B. C., and made Crete the world’s first great sea power. The palace at XKnossos, which Evans unearthed some years ago, is an archeological wonder,

EAR JANE JORDAN—I am very much in love with a girl who is 19, very pretty and too popular as far as I am concerned. I have asked her repeatedly to marry me but she keeps putting me off, although she says she loves me.

After much pleading I finally got her to wear my ring, but she evades the marriage problem. I have a

almost wholly collapsed. The Administration, its critics say, has done some good things. But fliey declare the good things have 1ot been on the side of recovery. For instance, social security is a good thing. But social security laws, while aiding the

bank in Houston, for instance, has that actually few of the great manot made any more loans than Jor reforms required by the counany other bank—in fact, not as try have been carried through. many. This is not the bank’s 2 8 8 fault. The loans are not available, Can the Administration balance the budget next year? The answer is “no.” Can (it reduce

My Day

By Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

8 2 os Natives Hail 'Million Dollar’ Rain R. HOFKINS in his speech

In Fruit-Growing Section of Texas.

ARLINGEN, Tex, Thursday —Yesterday the ; H Mayor of Edinburg corrected my first impression of the town—he had come to the town 15 years ago, but it became an incorporated town some 18 years ago. Even at that, it is remarkable to see how it has grown in a short time. Soon after our arrival it began to rain, a thing which seems most desirable to eyeryone in the valley. { Our hosts were polite enough to say that they regretted that we would have to drive about @gnd see the countryside in the rain, but it was quite evident that they were delighted and hoped it would continue to rain steadily for some days. On everyone's lips you heard the same phrase: “A million-dollar rain.” And you could not help praying with them that this might be the case. : During our drive, we crossed into Mexico where we were most kindly and hospitably received by the officers in charge of what will, some day, be an Army

post.

Visits Packing Plant

Then we visited the Engleman Gardens, a ranch of 11,000 acres. From a tower, we had a view of the fields and the cit.us groves, a really beautiful sight. I have never seen a packing plant in operation before and was much interested in seeing the fruit washed, stamped and packed. We drove along to Harlingen this morning, paralleling the line of the Southern Pacific Railway. The Missouri Pacific Railway was in this territory at an earlier period, but since 1927 this new line is opening up new country. During the winter and spring, they ship great quantities of vegetables and fruits from this section. : The greater part of their water comes from the { _Rio Grande, which seems to be a temperamental river, for it changes its course quite frequently. There are vast irrigation projects because the normal rainfall is insufficient, so the people of the valley are concerned about their water supply from the Rio Grande.

Day-by-Day Science

By Science Service 2

W JEEDS aren’t getting their fair share of atten- ; tion from the CCC, in the opinion of Prof. M. L. Fernald of Harvard University. The efforts of the young men could be better spent against “the vagrant pests which-crowd us” than in much of the work they are doing in woodlands, where ““they unconsciously become destroyers of the natural equilibrium of nature,” he declares. A good deal of “tidying-up” has been done in forests and this is highly destructive of some of our choicest wild flowers and ferns, as well as disruptive to the economy of ground-dwelling birds and small mammals, Prof. Fernald points out. wildlife generally needs a certain amount of judicious letting alone. But nobody could object to a wholesale assault on * such open and acknowledged pests as poison ivy, rag"weed and Japanese honeysuckle. Our worst weeds are either uninvited immigrants or native species that have been encouraged to become vegetable gangsters through man’s disturbance of the original state of na- . ture. Like certain human types, they thrive best un- : der conditions of constant disturbance. ; Sometimes plant immigrants will be decent and well-behaved for a time, but fall into evil ways when conditions change. The esteem in which such plants are held is apt to undergo a corresponding change. : Prof, Fernald mentions two examples: A plant orig- . inally known as Venus’ Paintbrush is now called the i Devil's Paintbrush; another, first called St. James’ ° Wort, lost its odor of sanctity and now bears the

Ling

worker for a while, do not prevent hard times. They help a man for a limited time when he loses his job, but they do not create a new job for him. Therefore, while approving what has been done in the way of social justice, the critics say that these measures of social justice have not been supplemented with measures of practical economic recovery. v # ” ”

HE facts about private invest= ment have suddenly burst upon tle consciousness of the people with a good deal of shock. For

the banks during the last six years of deprassion so rapidly that now there |i as much money in the banks as there was in 1929 at the peak of the great boom. * But while money has piled up in the bangs it has not gone into investment. The evidence of this is found ia the figures about bank loans. While bank deposits now are as great as they were in 1929, bank loans are 20 billion dollars less.: While bank deposits have increased by 15 billion dollars

bind

Side

Glances

instancs, money has piled up in

laid stress upon the fact that three avenues of investment beckon to us—the utilities, the railroads and construction. He admitted that the key to recovery lay in finding out why people would not invest in these things and how they can be induced to do so. ) Moreover, 1940 looms ahead. By the time the political conventions meet nex{ year the United States will have completely exhausted its legal debt limit of 45 billions. If private investment does not revive by then, the President will face the necessity of another tremendous debt deficit. ' - But Congress is ready to refuse to increase the debt limit. The party cannot afford to go before the country next year with an-

‘other deficit and the promise of ‘still another for the following

year. It needs recovery as a political necessity now and needs it desperately. Therefore the Administration has turned to business as its one great hope.

EN

J iW 6)

"Well sto, but d

- =

Loon 1935 BY MEA SEQVICE, INC. 7. M. REG. VU. S. PAT. OFF.

fix anything

taxes? Well, the President has announced that he will not raise taxes. That is as much as any businessman can expect. But while there can be no decrease of taxes, he may hope for some change in the type of taxes. The businessman does not want the undistributed profits tax on corporations and he wants the rates mitigated in the upper brackets. But if the upper brackets are relieved, then they will have to be shifted to the lower brackets. At least business leaders believe that they have gotten over to the Administration in a big way their demand for the elimination of those taxes which tend to hinder investment. And private investment is the oil that turns the wheels of industry. 8 un =» HAT can the Administration do about the railroads? Secretary Hopkins said in his Des Moines speech that a solution of the rail problem must be found. But he gave no inkling of what he would recommend. One thing is certain: not a great deal can

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1—On which continent is the Parana River? 2—Which American League baseball team is managed by Joe Cronin? 3—Which country pwns Greenland? 7 4—Name the place to which Jesus withdrew with his disciples on the eve of the Crucifixion. 5—What is the underworld name for cocaine? ; 6—Are whales cold or warmblooded?

7—Of which country is Tallinn

the capital? ! 8—In which city is the annual celebration of Mardi Gras? = 8 8 Answers 1—South America. 2—Boston Red SoX. | 3—Denmark. 4—Gethsemane.

5—Snow. 6—Warm-blooded. 7—Estonia. 8—New Orleans.

Lee 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 : d research od under-

civilized people had to abandon their hard-won position, and let a totally new regime take -power. Historians have figured that out of 21 civilizations -in the world’s .history, no less than 14 have had to give up. The ruined city has been found near the peak of Mt. Karphi, on the Mediterranean isle of Crete. An expedition from the British School of Archeology at Athens, digging there, concludes that some of C ’s ancient war refugees csabisned themselves in the stronghold that they clung to their own customs up there for generations, .perhaps nearly 200 years. Several such cities of refuge have been identified in Crete. Eventually, with ’ peace restored, old inhabitants gave up isolation. A temple of the old religion, where refugees worshiped with double-ax symbols and ancient rites, has been unearthed at Karphi.: A “Great iIouse,” the largest dwelling of that period ever excavated, has been found. The walls stand nine feet, and the plan shows

how large and well built were real

mansions of the Homeric age.

Everyday Movies—By Wortman

|

"You'd think that: people who

with its wall paintings of ladies in decollete gowns and vivid scenes of religious bull fights. Supposedly, it was the Dorians, aggressive tribes of Greece, who invaded Crete and

ended its glory.

Glass Stronger Than Steel”

By Science Service

EWARK, O., March 17.—Glass stronger than steel is now being produced by scientists here engaged in developing glass fibers for weaving into “fabrics of tomorrow.” By careful melting to remove as much as possible dissolved gases and bubbles so as to reduce strengthin the fiber, glass with a tensile strength of 400,000 pounds to the square inch can be made, F. O. Anderegg of the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corp. re-

killing “discontinuities”

ports.

=

a

: 1-9

can afford fo buy four-dollar seals

d have enough memory to think of their tubbers

and ¢

and ymbrellas,”

good job and can easily support a wife. If she really loves me, don’t you think she would want to marry me? She isn’t just stringing me along, for she is not that kind, My parents think she is one of the finest girls they ever have known. I really believe that she does love me, but I don’t know why she won’t marry me. Sometimes I think something is troubling her, because one night I noticed that she was crying. I can’t give her up. I would wait forever. Can you help me in any way? JOHN.

Answer—I do not believe that any young man should urge a young woman to marry him when she is reluctant to do so. It seldom turns out happily for either. The girl’s tears indicate that she is torn by an inner conflict of some kind which should be a warning to you. It may be that something in her experience or training has caused her to regard marriage with distaste. She may enjoy your companionship very much and yet be adverse to a more intimate relationship. Even though she has no such fear of marriage, it may be that she feels no instinctive response to you. This is no reflection on you, nor on her, A sponses

taneous response is hard to account for, $ : JANE JORDAN.

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

New Books Today

HONEYMOON trip by air for $75. A voyage around the world for less than $1000 or a de luxe vacation for $3500. Take your choice and Helen: Eva Yates will tell you the tricks for getting from here to there with the maximum of ease and comfort. Her tips on traveling smartly are contained in THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER, published today by Henry Holt & Co. Her three requisites for travel are merely that you have a determination to go, ingenuity to seize every opportunity and an unworried faith that you'll get there all right. With more and more travelers visiting the Americas, Miss Yates centers her interest in the northern hemisphere. Adventure and education for one price. See America first. Honolulu Holiday. Lake Louise, Carribbean Cruise. Winter sports at Sun Valley,

| Mornings in Mexico. South America by freighter.

Miss Yates describes the trip details of all of them. Among her ways to save on a jaunt are to stay at a pension instead of a hotel in foreign countries or

tourist haunts and signs. As to hotel rates, the wellinformed traveler will do his arranging (more polite than ing) over the hotel desk before signing the register. (Mexico, being so near, offers the quickest, cheapest and most satisfying foreign trip.) Following a lively description of the San Francisco and New York Fairs, the book tips the reader to the cost of the trip. : Wardrobes for the woman traveler are outlined in one chapter—few necessary ensembles that are care= fully planned to go with accessories and stick to a basic color. Dress simply is one of her travel suggestions. And if you need information don’t ask the man across the aisle! : Pointers on foreign shopping and how to handle the customs man fill two chapters. Parents will be ead “Taking the Children Costs Less.” The

books that bring the farthest corners:

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become a local resident as soon as possible, avoiding =