Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 March 1939 — Page 1

SCRIPPS lS OWARD |

VOLUME 51—NUMBER 12

CON TY OFFICIALS * FIGHT COURT EDICT

* ON AUCTION SALES

Deputy Treasurer Warns Against ‘Tax Strike.’

LEGISLATURE HIT}

Koesters Prefers Jail To ‘Giving’ Land Away.

By SAM TYNDALL

County officials today summoned every legal weapon to block a court mandated auction sale of hundreds of parcels of tax delinquent property. Chief Deputy Treasurer Albert O. Koesters said he “would go to jail before giving the land away.” He charged auctioning of the Propesty, provided by law, would lead to “tax strike.” The auction issue has been involved in court action for several months. But it flared into the open in Circuit Court yesterday when Mr. Koesters refused to auction several parcels of delinquent property to Earl B. Teckemeyer .and David F. Smith, real estate dealers. They offered $3 each for the properties.

‘Law Clear,” Cox Says

Mr. Teckemeyer and Mr, Smith are realtors and former candidates for mayor and superior court judge, respectively. Circuit Judge Earl R. Cox in ordering the auction, said he had signed the decree “because the iaw is clear” on the subject. “But,” Judge Cox said, “I oppose this sale. I wholly disagree with the efficacy of it and I think it is silly.” He then criticized the Legislature for “not changing the law in the matter. County Attorney John Linder said he would appeal Judge Cox’ decision to the Supréme urt. He charged in court that Mr. Teckemeyer and Mr. Smith want to take the land “at county expense and sell it to make a profit.” Mr. Smith said, “The land isn't worth anything or someone would have redeemed it from tax sale.” . “This procedure if followed in practice will upset the whole budget

system in the county,” Judge Cox

said. “The budgets are. fixed on ‘estimates of taxes to be received.”

Hints Taxpayers “Strike”

Mr. Koesters charged that the sale would break a precedent of more than 40 years and that the taxpayers would go on “strike,” letting their taxes go delinquent and seek to buy their property back at auction for “practically nothing.” The law provides that any property delinquent in taxes which has been advertised for sale for more than two years may be sold at public auction... If purchased at -auction the buyer receives a deed and the original owner is unable to redeem it for back taxes. Another dispute as to the amount of property the court had mandated the county to’ sell arose during the

hearing. Mr. Koesters said the is= |

sue first came up in November when he was asked to sell at auction in the Courthouse corridor one piece for $3. He refused, he said, on advice of Mr. Linder.

Filed Mandamus Suit

It was then that the plaintiffs brought a mandamus suit wiich they subsequently won with Judge Cox’ order. But Mr. Koesters charged the suit was over one piece while the plaintiffs charged it involved “several hundred.” It was this dispute that brought the issue fo court again yesterday. Judge Cox ordered the county to auction the land a week ago. Mr. Koesters, who said the law provides that the treasurer shall auction the land, declared the county would be able with present increasing real estate prices, to sell - the delinquent property for back taxes. “In addition to failing to do something about this law, the Legislature made it worse by passing a law giving the city the right to purchase county delinquent property at auction,” Judge Cox declared. “If a private business ran its affairs like the county, it would be in the hands of receivers in about 10 minutes.”

‘WORK OVER,” HOOSIER JOINS WIFE IN DEATH

FRANKLIN, March 25 (U. P.).— Grieved by the death of his wife last night, T. M. Thom, 77, retired business man, shot himself to death with a rifle here. Double funeral services will be held Monday. He left a note which said, “I have finished my work . . . and now that Jennie is gone 1 “have nothing further to live for .

RUDICH IS REMOVED NEW YORK, March 25 (U. P.) — Magistrate Mark Rudich of Brooklyn was removed from office today by the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court for delinquency. Although he had been charged with accepting bribes and other judicial misconduct, the Court did not find Mr. Rudich ‘guilty of criminal activities.

TORRID WAVE T0 REMAIN FOR ANOTHER DAY

Spring Showers Promised, However, for Tonight Or Tomorrow.

LOCAL TEMPERATURES 6a m... 60 10a. m.... a.m... 539 Ham... 72 8a. m... 61 12 (noon) 95 9a m... 64 1pm... 71

69

The perspiration still rolled off Indianapolis today and will continue to do so over the week-end, the Weather Bureau said today. The mercury was nearing the record. for March 25, the 79 degrees a registered in 1929. It failed yesterday by one degree of equalling the March 24 record of 84, established in 1910. The official forecast said there would be cloudiness and “mild” temperatures and occasional show-

rains Monday. J. H. Armington, meteorologist, said “it will be pretty warm today and may seem as warm as yesterday even if the temperature is not so high. That’s because of the cloudiness which is causing moisture in the air.” ;

‘HARD LUCK’ BOY NOW HAS AIR-GUN WOUND

Two years ago last December, Arthur E. Berg Jr. 9, of 412 N. Tibbs-Ave., lost an eye when hit by a home-made arrow.

gun wound. Last night he was struck in the arm by a shot believed to have been fired by the same boy who shot him in the eye. He was treated by his family physician.

FRANGO MEN CLAIM MADRID'S COLLAPSE

‘General May Join Berlin and

Rome, Is Report.

(Foreign Affairs, Page Two)

HENDAYE, French - Spanish Frontier, March 25 (U. P.).—High sources on Gen. Franco's Nationalist staff at the border said today that Madrid has, to all practical purposes, surrendered, although Nationalist troops are not penetrating beyond the Manzanares bridgeheads on the edge of the city until they have completed precautions and until the Nationalist ultimatum expires tomorrow, Simultaneously it was reported in London that Gen. Franco has agreed to join the anti-Commun-ist pact between Germany, Italy and Japan, The sources said the proctocol for Nationalist Spain’s adherence had been completed in negotiations at Burgos last week. Diplomats heard that the protocol will remain unpublished for the present because Gen. Franco wishes to avoid a deterioration in his relations with Great Britain and France. They understood Gen. Franco had agreed to join the pact “soon.” The so-called surrender of Madrid was the result of Gen. Franco's demand for a decision within 48 hours with the alternative of an offensive, it was said. Nationalist sources declared the offensive is off and the ultimatum accepted after Gen. Franco dramatically tore up peace proposals brought by airplane from Madrid Thursday night. The Nationalists demanded unconditional surrender but were understood to have agreed to give the Republicans - time to get certain leaders out of the country who fear reprisals.

LEVEN-YEAR-OLD Glenwood Paynter lay in his City Hospital bed for five months, listening to the radio and reading— especially stories about anglers— and dreaming of the day he would again be able to go fishing. But his dreams ended in death early today. Glenwood was hurt Oct. 28 when struck by a truck at Raymond and West Sts., when he and his brother Victor, 16, were on their way with

stream. Fractures of the right leg and left arm and scalp lacerations prolonged his hospital stay. He had hoped to be home for Thanksgiving, then for Christmas.

But days grew into weeks and

SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1939

es

FORECAST: Mostly cloudy with continued mild temperatures and occasional showers tonight or tomorrow; Monday, showers and colder.

at Postoffice,

Y ou Pick ‘em

Burris? Franklin? Bosse? Frankfort?

ers tonight or tomorrow. But no re- | lief from the early “torrid wave” was promised until additional light |

Today Arthur is nursing an Adr-

the Butler

fl

IT'S FRANKFORT

AND BOSSE AT2

Franklin and Burris Clash at 3 and Two Winners Will Meet’ Tonight.

. .i J TOM OCHILTREE.... J

Indiana’s elaborate, recurring mania—basketball—was the magnet which this afternoon attracted I15,000 persons of all ages and sizes ‘to University Fieldhouse where four battle-tested teams were

to compete for the state high school | _

championship.

These four, Frankfort, Bosse of Evansville, Franklin’ and Burris of Muncie, are all that remain from an original starting field of 779. By successfully turning back sturdy challenges in previous sectional, regional and semifinal tournaments, these teams, under the sports equivalent of the ‘survival of the fittest” law, represent, by sections, the pick of the state.

They were paired off in the fol-|

lowing schedule of play: 2 p. m.—Frankfort vs. Bosse. 3 p. m~—Franklin vs. Burris. 8 p. m.—Winner of the 2 p. m. game vs. the winner of the 3 p. m game, 40 Players Ready

Since early yesterday evening, roads into the city have been crowded with supporters of these squads, | their cars decorated with ribbons and signs. The area around the Fieldhouse was filled this afternoon with students waggling pennants and cow bells, and improvised parking lots were established in surrounding blocks. When the gates opened, fat creeks of humanity poured into the building and cascaded over the long rows of seats. They will eat tons of ‘hot dogs” and popcorn before the whistle heard around the state is blown at 2 p. m. : For some of the 40 boys involved today’s games will mark a high point of their lives. Others, of course, will go on to further athletic glories and to adult prominence in other fields, but for many this will be the first and only time that the white searchlight of publicity will pick them out. Two Seek Fourth Title

In a game which produces such sharp emotional reactions in the spectators, these boys, from the stars to the second-stringers, have been taught by their coaches to observe a rigid code of fair play and to accept victory or defeat with equal grace. The Gimbel prize, symbolic of a true strain of sportsmanship, men-

rod and reel to their favorite

. (Continued on Page Seven)

Dreams Die With Boy, 11, Who Liked to Go Fishing

weeks into months and he kept on reading--and heping. Then complications developed ahd he died. ® 8 8 LENWOOD’S widowed mother, Mrs. Dale Paynter, 2002 S. Meridian St. had hoped, too, as she combatted illness herself. Just a week ago she was taken to the same hospital for observation Preparathey to a possible operaion

Two days ago, however, when hospital | attendants saw death nearing for Glenwood, she was discharged. Besides his mother and Victor, four other brothers survive, Eu-

gene, Lowell, Harry Jr. and

ie

Hold Tight!

Hoosierland Speeding Into Tourney— Here’s How.

"F there had been a calliope in downtown Indianapolis this afternoon it would have been just an old-fashioned circus day. In case you didn’t know-—and Hoosierland probably would dis-

|. franchise - if you didn’t—it’s the

" day of the finals of the “high school basketball tournament. And you ought to know What that means here, #2 80

Much coveted tickets, reputedly

+| «all sold out,” were available—at a

n. Burris or Franklin? This Franklin player, Russell Anderson, expects to have something to say about that. He is a forward. . “Give those Bulldogs some support!” urged Bosse’s Juliette Aras one of the cheer leaders whose job today ‘is to synchronize the yells of 15,000 state tournament fans. 3. Muncie Burris supporters look to Guard Roy Kilby to flag down Owl opponents headed for the basket. Kilby, only 5 feet 8 inches tall, = one of the smallest players in the meet. 4. “No. 92” has meant bad news for most Frankfort foes this season. It’s worn by Charles Splinter) Johnson, an adept Hot Dog basic -sniper.

Numbers and Lineups

" Wayne McQuinn ........

Harold VWhittern William.

FRANKFORT (Hot Dogs) Name "Pos. Ht. Wt Class Charles Johnson .......... C. 6.3 172 Sr. Lewis Cook ........ cerns FF. 64 178 Jr. James Laughner ...... F. 6.1 165 Jr. James Stinson .. F.' 6 158 Jr. Joe Billy ‘Wetzel .......... F. 6.1 151 Sr. Dan Davis vicesves Gn 5.11 160 Sr. Harold Pyle . G. 6.2 165 Sr. Ernest McGill ............ G. 6. 155 Sr. Loten Brower ............. G. 6. 193: Sr, Ellis: Good awa viense Gs 6. 162 Jr.

BOSSE OF EVANSVILLE (Bulldogs)

Pos. Ht... Wt Class G. .511 155 Sr.

Years Nos.

*s00ccene

Po ped fd pd fd fd ed ed DO DO

Name Sylvester Barnett ........ Bob Barnhardt .......... G. 511 140 Sr. Henry Sauer .... ....e0e., Fo 0510 155 Sr. Edward Cozine ........... C. 61 185 Jr. Bob Jenkins . “as sb 0000080000 C. 6.1 175 Soph. Harold ‘Kuebler essere Xa 5.8 145 Sr. Richard : Lambert eestor F. 59 - 152 Jr. Donald McKinney ........ F. 5.10 150 Jr, Jim Myers ....... ceveevane Ni 6. 170 Sr. Charles Rayburn ......;... G. 5.10 150 Sr.

FRANKLIN (Grizzly Cubs) Name Pos. Ht. wt. Class Russell Anderson ......... F 6 155 Jr. Gene Wales ........... .. F 591% 160 Sr. George Crowe .........eee. C = 61 175 Sr. William Ritchie . ssa nn :5.11 160 Sr. Jack Rider .... G 511 150 Sr. William Drake ....cc0000 G 6 155 Sr. John Campbell ....cc..... F 5.7 138 Soph. FF. 5.9 155 Sr. George: Murphy css pr0rane G 59 » 163 Jr. James Jones ........ .... C 6.3% 153 Soph.

BURRIS OF MUNCIE (Owls) Name Pos. Ht. wit. Class Hubert Scheidler........... F. 511° 164 Ei Jerome Scheidler......,...F. 510 155 sr, Norman - Ebrite. 6sv8n00 r. Cs 511 150 Sr, Roy Kilby \ sossiinnss iC A ir. Robert McKenzie .,.......G. soph. Billy Peterson sesaersgree .G. Sr. Richard Aubrey ....,,.,...C.-F. sr, Dick Hilderbrand ...,,,....C.-F. sr, Le SY,

1 5 1 1 6

0 COD DOD IID

evens

hf 03 Be DO DO TO DO WD b= § we oc wR En eD an awn

‘Years Nos. 88

kk} in 66 5.8 6.2 6.2 59 6

"08000084. Ge

6505 05 89 03 19 9 09 00 oo

Years Nos,

'

22 44 55 » [st 00 33

price ... ..in one hotel lobby there was a’generous sprinkling of sharpeyed fellows who held the pasteboards in their hands as a lure to

those without them. . . . Prices ranged from $6 for choles

‘| seats down to $3. ... The legitimate

price is $1.25. The supply from the source seemed plentiful. , . . 8 8 n

OLICE suspicion that two Hammond youths were scalping because they had—in plain view—two tickets, landed them in jail on vagrancy charges. . . . Franklin Tretter, 20-year-old follower of Evansville Bosse, appeared at Police Headquarters at 3:20 ‘a. m. to cool his thumb. . + « hiteh-hiking accommodations from the Ohio River town were better than he expected and he arrived ahead of his anticipated schedule. .. . He feared arrest for vagrancy if he roamed the streets. . He sat at Head- . quarters until dawn. a un A. L. Trester, High Commissioner of the I. H. S. A. A. and ringmaster of 1oday’s goaling, didn’t seem a bit excited about it, . according to Mrs. Trester. . . ““He’s an early riser in the spring,” she said, “I guess he got up at the usual time today, about

scalper

he went to his office or the Fieldhouse.” » » » OUNG feminine fandom on parade downtown gave some idea of what the well-dressed Hoosier high school girl should wear, . . . The boys attire? Well, there are 7750 in the state on teams which were banished before the finale . . . and hundreds of them who came to town wore their sweaters with coveted letters or numerals. 3 2 = =» = The ribbon and crepe paper merchants must have thought prosperity had dribbled around the corner . + « there was no end to the automobiles which had more “gingerbread” on them than a world’s fair grounds, 2 = ” HE Fieldhouse custodian wasn’t worried, but he was anxious. . . . shortly before noon he said: “Why there ain’t no one here yet. ”

LIST OFF AS TALK OF DUCE IS AWAITED

NEW YORK, March 25 (U.P). — Lack of demand brought a lower trend in the stock "list as Wall Street adjusted positions in advance of Premier Mussolini's speech tomorrow. Bond prices moved irregularly.

STRUCK BY HIT:-RUN CAR

Only one person was injured Sight in overnight traffic here.

~~ | Mrs. Mary Ellis, 42, of 965 Hosbrook reported

to police that she. hit. otorist ras

Taian aolts,

six o'clock. I don’t know whether

: PRICE THREE CENTS

Entered as Second-Class Matter

Ind.

$200,000 EFFECT

Schedule, Cutting

NAGEED,’ SAYS WIFE'S KILLER

Body of Strangled Society

Woman Found in. Oklahoma City Sewer Ditch.

OKLAHOMA CITY, March 25 (U. P.).—Roger Cunningham, confessed slayer of his socialite wife, said'today that her “constant nagging” impelled him to strangle her March 6, and then hide her body in a sewer ditch. ; He drew a diagram that directed officers to the freshly dug ditch where her body was found. “I want to give this advice to all

young men,” Cunningham said. “Tell your wives exactly how much money you make and what you do with it, so they will not continually be nagging you to know.” The woman's body was found shortly after 3 a. m. today by workmen digging in the eerie light furnished by flares and lanterns. The body was under about eight feet of earth as the ditch had been filled on March 7, the day after Cunningham put it there and covered it with a thin layer of dirt.

Murder Charge Filed

County Attorney Lewis Mortis filed a murder charge against Cunningham, a 33-year-old inspector for the Federal Housing Administra-

tion, who said he hoped the case would be taken speedily through the courts. «1 felt this morning like a 6-year-old boy awakening from a bad dream,” Cunningham said. “I don’t think I ever had a full realization of what I had done until today.” Cunningham insisted that he had been sincere until last Wednesday night in insisting that he did not ‘remember what happened to his 30-year-old wife. “The realization of what I had done came to me suddenly and {hen all the details were vivid,” he said.|] “My wife and I quarreled some, but I think our life was pretty much that of any young married couple. “Wives should not nag husbands abcut how much money they make.”

‘I Must Have Been Crazy’

Cunningham told officers: “I must have been crazy. It was

& hell of a thing to do.” Defense attorneys indicated he would plead insanity. Cunningham twice .had been held for examination at a state hospital for the insane at Norman, Okla. they said. Cunningham said that he had been married previously and divoced in 1932. He blamed the divorce on “money trouble.”

SHOOTS HIS FATHER, RIDES TO ‘COOL OFF’

SEATTLE, Wash., March 25 (U P.).—William Lehman, 18, walked into a newspaper office early today and asked if the police were look-

ing for him. “We had a little trouble at home,” he said. “I've been riding around to cool. off.” ‘Lehman then told that he fatally shot his father, Henry Lehman, 54, when, he said, his father came home drunk and slashed his clothes.

FATALLY WOUNDED WHILE HUNTING RATS

NOBLESVILLE, March 25 (U. P.), —A 65-year-old carpenter today was dead of an abdominal wound suf=fered when his shotgun accidentally discharged while he was hunting rats on his farm. He was Joseph E. Bennett, who died: at the Hamilton County Hosp

LOGANSPORT MAN DIES Times Special LOGANSPORT, March 25 — Frank Rice, founder of the Logans-| Fin port Basket Co., died here today. He was 83. He formerly was associated with hardware and mercan- .| tile firms and was active in civic

"| affairs,

LIGHT

RATE SLASH IN

APRIL 1

Public Service Commission Authorizes New

15 Cents on First

Block of 30 Kilowatt Hours. SMALL USER WILL, BENEFIT MOST

Cut Is Result of Company Agreement to Pass on to Customers Part of Savings Obtained by Refinancing Plan.

A reduction of $200,000 annually in electric light rates, affecting all customers of the Indianapolis Power & Light Co., was authorized today by the Public Service Commission, The new schedule will mean a reduction of 15 cents a month for the first block of 80 kwh used by city and rural

The Commission authorized a cut of from 51% cents to 5 cents per kwh in the city and from 6 to 514 cents in rural areas. The reduction is not effective on current used above the first 30 kwh block,

Company officials said the new rate would take effect April 1 and would apply on March electrical consumption. That means, they said, that 15 cents will be slashed from the bills which are sent out April 1 and after. Affects Nearly Every User

“This is the lowest rate we've had,” they said. “It is impossible te

tell whether the rates will go lower.” The new cut affects virtually every user of electricity, they said. They estimated that 107,107 resi dents would receive reduced bills next month, The reduction .is the fourth one ordered for Indianapolis since 1933, bringing to $1,800,000 the total ane nual savings to customers, the Come mission stated..

" Cut Follows Agreement

The new schedule is the result of an agreement made by the light company that it would pass on to its customers a substantial part of

the savings obtained through a ree financing plan authorized by the Commission following the last rate hearing in May, 1938. At that time, the Commission or= dered an annual rate reduction of $460,000, the third cut during four years of hearings. Other reductions were $525,000 in March, 1937, and $475,000 in February, 1934.

Small User to Benefit

Hearings were started in 1933 when Senator Minton, then public counselor for the Commission, had the light company cited to appear before the Commission to “show

cause why the rates should not be reduced.” The Commission pointed out that the latest reduction will be of “great benefit to the small user who would not have benefited if the reduction had been made in the higher blocks of rate schedules.”

KIDNAP ATTEMPT ON BISHOP’S KIN BARED

NEW YORK, March 25 (U. P.).—~ A servant reported today that an attempt had been made to kidnap the granddaughter of the Rt. Rev, William T. Manning, a bishop in the Episcopal Church, Thomas Wilson, 50, a butler eme ployed by Griffith B. Coale, an,artist and husband of Bishop ‘Ss daughter, said that while his employers were away from their Greenwich Village home last night, he answered the door bell'and found two men on the stoop. He said they asked where the granddaughter slept and that he slammed the door in their faces after they offered him “a thousand dollars if you'll play ball with us.”

KID BROTHER SPOILS ‘DATE’ WITH ERROL

DODGE CITY, Kas., March 25 (U, P.).—Mary Agnes Butterfield, a dime store clerk, “won” -Errol Flynn in a raffle the other day and thus gained the right to entertain him when he and other movie stars come here next week for the premiere of the movie “Dodge City.” Today Miss Butterfield sorrowfule ly prepared to raffle off the actor again. Her 11-year-old brother, Joe, has the measles and her home is quarantined. -

TIMES FEATURES ON INSIDE PAGES

Books Cavin Broun ......

9 10

Johnson . 10 Movies Churches .... 5|Mrs. ReTguson 10 Comics ...... 14 Obituaries . 1 Crossword . {Pegler ....... 10 Ouious World 14/Pyle .......s. § torials .... 10| Radio ABs San 3 Faitona) vane 5 Mrs.- Rot Financial .... 13|Scherrer Flynn .

Seas

sevens’ 10

Forum ...... 10 Grin, Bear It i"

In Indpls. ,.. Jane Jordan. : ;: Wig