Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 17 April 1939 — Page 9

Vagabond

From Indiana —Ernie Pyle

A Poor Boy With a Rich Voice Heads for an Audition in New York And Possibly to a Great Career. |

ADILL, Okla.,, April 17.—It's been a long time since there was an “Oklahoma Kid.” The kind they show in the movies, 1 mean. The kind who lived by the six-shooter alone. The “Oklahoma Kids” of today garner their laurels in other ways. I'm writing about one of them now. Thirteen-year-old Joe Coleman might be called

. Public Hero No. 1 of his home town of Madill. And

that's because he has one of the most hauntingly beautitful voices I've ever heard. Joe won one of these “talent ; hunt” contests over at Ardmore, 30 | miles west of here. There were ! hundreds of contestants. Everything from fiddlers to tap dancers. It lasted seven weeks. And on the night of the big final Joe got up out of a sickbed, and with a sore throat sang his way to first place. He won a silver cup a foot high, a check for $50, and a free trip to New York to be auditioned by Maj. Bowes. In the little old town of Madill, with its Court House square and mud on the streets, that is something big. Everybody knows Joe. Everybody is for him. He is the white hope of Madill. And the fact that he is from a poor family makes it all the better. I found Joe at school. from the noon play hour. Joe stay out and talk to me. We sat in the car. His face is light, and his eyes shine. His mouth is wide, and one side of his upper lip rises, as he talks. in a little movement of individuality and character. He is friendly and polite, and above all, natural. Joe finishes the eighth grade this year. He was dressed in gray striped overalls and a blue zipper sweater. His shirt was open, and he was nonchalantly neat. And he's as tow-headed as a field of flax. Joe's folks are poorer than poor. His father 1 a mechanic. but he lost his job. There was some kind of trouble at home, and Joe's father doesn't live with them any more. Times are mighty tough,” Joe said. “I don't know how we do get along.” He spoke sadly of his father. but not critically. He has intense respect for his mother’s judgment. They haven't cashed that $50 check yet. His mother says Joe began humming tunes when he was a baby. He has been singing at little public performances since he was 6. Regardless of what happens to his singing. he's bound for an education. “I'm going through college if I have to work my way through,” he said.

What of the Future

Joe will be taken to New York by W. D. McKeehan. the music director, and his wife. They will drive through when school is out, in late May. They'll take in the World Fair, too. We had moved into the school's music room, and I was about ready to leave. Suddenly I said, “Joe, I} haven't heard vou sing.” Mr. McKeehan sat at the | piano. Joe stood at one end, in his overalls and sweater, From the very first sound I could hardly bear to listen. I had never dreamed his voice could be so beautiful. It is high, but not a childish soprano. It is as mellow and soft as a ripe pear. And there is a sense of distant sadness in it—something from far away— the heritage of a little poor boy, maybe. There is no way of knowing what will become of Joe Coleman. The radio might find him; or Hollywood. Saqon his voice will change, and he may croak like a raven. There are always exploiters waiting around the corner. It was the boy, even more than the voice, that drew me to Joe Colenian. Even if he couldn't sing a ; note, he is worth all that thoughtful minds can give | him To me. little Joe is the thing that America | should be made of. I wish there were someone with great experience | and uncommon wisdom to stand behind and touch him on the shoulder and say “This road Joe, not that one.”

My Day

By Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt

«| a : ¥

Mr. Pyle

They were just coming in The superintendent let

New Houses Are Being Planned To Improve Home Environment.

NEATTLE, Wash, Sunday—Friday morning I saw a S most unique method of experimentation in build- | ing. In a loft in Washington. D. C., the United States Housing Authority has set up a life size model of a small house with walls that can be pushed out in every direction. You can experiment with a larger living room, a larger kitchen or a larger bedroom and move all your furniture around to see how it best fits in all the different rooms. The more I visit housing projects, the more I am impressed by the fact that housing is not just a question of improving an economic situation, by starting the wheels of certain industries turning again. It ‘is not just a question of giving people better sheltgr for less money than they ever paid in rent before. Much more than this is involved. The aim is to encourage certain habits and situations by making it easy to live according to certain standards set up in the home environment. For instance, what difference does it make whether the kitchen is big enough to held a table around which all the family can sit down together for a meal? I have seen children who never sat down with their parents for a meal, who simply snatched handfuls of food from a dish set out on the table. That food became something necessary for existence, but never an opportunity for social intercourse and education. This is the reason why planning a house has social implications.

Atmosphere Is Important

Is it better to plan for a small kitchen and dining room and living room combined for families of cer-. tain sizes? This is not just a question of personal preference, but it is important because of the atmosphere it will create for the family life of the family. 1 know one family of 11 children, where the father made the long, narrow dining table. It takes up one corner of the living room with benches on either side. There they eat together, but on a rainy day you may find half the family using the table, some for a game, | some for study, some for a particular hobby. You may find the table used as a sewing table for cutting | patterns or, when young guests come in, games are played around it. It has become the center of the family life, Housing is not just a question of bricks and mortar | or wood and stone. It goes far deeper into the life | of the people.

Day-by-Day Science

By Science Service HEN strangeness of 1939 spring hats and shoes and silhouettes has been exhausted in conversation, there remains the argument as to whether clothes get queerer, For perspective, turn back to almost any other civilization and survey the clothes problems. Edda V. Renouf of the Brooklyn Museum has done something of this sort with Indians of the Incan Empire in prehistoric Peru. They had their oddities. They were, she concludes, apparently free from dictates of “the fanciful rogue Fashion.” The same tunic and mantle styles were good for centuries." But when it came to accessories and trimmings, there was endless variety, and Miss Renouf rates clothes as very important in life of the Incan Empire. The Inca. ruler of several miilion Indians, is said | to have kept a sisterhood of maidens busy making | his clothes. He wore a garment once, and since no one else dared wear his clothing, piles of exquisitely | woven and decorated articles were stored away. In centuries preceding Spanish Conquest, when | the Incas dominated a huge area with Fascist tactics, | they even dictated hair styles. Only the ruling Inca could wear short hair, says Miss Renouf. Medium length was for aristocracy, and long hair for the

general public, ®.

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Indianapolis

Second Section

INSTITUTE oi sl By Dr. George Gallup Director, American Institute of Public Opinion EW YORK, April 17.— Medical men, research workers and public health authorities are training their biggest guns today on the solution of one of America’s most serious afflictions—cancer. They know that the great majority of cancer cases can be cured if treatment is taken in time, and so the present drive against the disease is aimed first of all at the education of rank and file Americans. What do these ordinary Americans know about cancer? How do they regard it? How far has the campaign of education progressed? To answer some of these questions which interest the public and medical men alike, the American Institute of Public Opinion has conducted a nation-wide survey among men and women in all walks of life. The publication of the survey during

what has been set aside by President Roosevelt as “Cancer Month” gives ample evidence that as far as the public is concerned cancer is the most feared of American diseases. The survey shows: 1. Cancer education has progressed to the stage where the majority of Americans know that it can be cured if treated in time, 2. Nevertheless, many Amerfcans still think cancer is in- : curable, and many others have erroneous ideas about it. About one person in five thinks the disease is contagious or “catching,” and an almost equal number say they don’t know whether it is contagious or not. 3. In spite of the progress in public understanding of the disease, cancer is dreaded for far more than other leading causes of death, such as heart disease, pneumonia or tuberculosis.

The findings, which add something to what cancer research now knows. indicate that much still remains to be done in the field of educating the public. ” ” ” RTUNATELY, the majority of Americans have already realized that cancer can be halted or cured, if discovered in time and treated by surgery, X-rays or radium. The Institute asked a cross-section of men and women in all parts of the country: “Do you think cancer is curable?” Nearly two in every three said they thought it was, many of them offering the proviso, “if caught in time.” People in Eastern United States, where the greatest efforts have been made so far toward cancer education, were more aware of this fact than some of the Westerners and Southerners, who often took a more pessimistic view. Doctors have discovered that many people have ere roneous ideas about cancer, and today's survey shows that some of these theories are widespread. Commonest of all misinformations is the idea that cancer is “catching.”

The Institute asked: “Do vou think cancer is contagious (or ‘catching’ ?” Although cancer education has tried to remove this unfounded fear, the answers were:

Contagious .............v0000 sera ohana 20% Don't Know Not Contagious

The Institute found that almost every other person has some theory or other about what causes cancer. Bruises, wounds and skin irritations were named most frequently. Other suggestions—some of them showing wide misinformation include: Smoking, drinking, vaccinations, colds, infections, warts and moles, a bad diet, canned foods, certain kinds of cooking vessels, modern diet, too much milk, lack of vitamins, electric shocks and burns, using dirty dishes, adulterated food, the use of vinegar, the use of food preservatives, too much acid-forming foods, overheated foods and drinks, swallowing phlegm, swallowing unchewed foods, swallowing seeds, coal dust and sunkurn.,

2 ” 2 THERS were: ulcers, using clay pipes, syphilis, poor living conditions, high pressure living, operations, child birth, improper workings of the glands. poor circulation, indigestion, eating meat, using pepper, using spicy foods and getting chills.

: MONDAY, APRIL 17, 1939

Cancer Knowledge Gaining

Many Still Think Disease Incurable, However, Poll Shows

J’ How Does Y J the American)

Some thought that “jealousy,” “resentment,” “bad thoughts” or other mental states might be casual factors.

Younger persons showed less misinformation than older persons, and as might be expected, persons in the upper and middle income levels showed better information than those less well-to-do. The Institute found that cancer is almost universally more dread than the other diseases with high yearly mortality rates. The Institute asked which of the four— heart trouble, pneumonia, tuberculosis or cancer—they would least like to have. The replies were:

Tuberculosis BABB LMMLA REALE BREE Heart Trouble ...., coves ensisninssvresoss § Pneumonia

These figures are especially interesting in view of the fact that cancer ranks below heart trouble as an actual cause of death, and that pneumonia, the third commonest

The Public's Ideas About Cancer

Following are the questions and replies in a nation-wide survey by the American Institute of Public Opinion, conducted for the purpose of seeiny how the American people regard cancer:

Do you think cancer is contagious (“catching”)? YES : Do you think cancer is curable? YES (or YES with qualifications) 64% 36 Which of these diseases would you hate most to have? CANCER TUBERCULOSIS ......vvvv0

HEART TROUBLE ............ PNEUMONIA

Entered at Postoffice,

Doctors have found that many patients have erroneous ideas about cancer. To find out how Americans do regard this major cause of death and sickness, the American Institute of Public Opinion has conducted a survey among a cross-section of men and women tn all parts of the United States. i

cause of death, is named by only 2 per cent of those interviewed. ” 8 o HE reasons for these choices, the comments show, are (1) the feeling that there is less chance for recovery from cancer, (2) belief that cancer patients suffer more, and (3) belief that unchecked cancer means a “lingering” affliction. Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers (Rep. Mass.) has introduced a bill in Congress to provide Federal money to the states for cancer work during the next fiscal year, and the Institute survey shows that such an appropriation has the strong support of public opinion. Ninety per cent of those interviewed said they approved the $3,000,000 assistance plan.

‘Model Law Bars Politics

On Civil Service Boards By R. M. Boeckel Jr.

Times Special Writer ASHINGTON, April 17.—Efficient operation of a true merit system in civil service has been hampered in many instances by lack of funds and political control of civil service commissioners. A new model civil service bill drafted by the National Municipal League and the National Civil Service Reform League, with the co-operation of the Civil Service Assembly of the United States and Canada attempts to correct this situation by providing that ‘no member of the (civil service) commission shall be a member of any local, state, or national committee of a political party or an officer or member of a committee In any particular political club or organization, The authors say that “the law should impose the positive duty upon the appropriating and budgetary authorities to see that the (civil service) department is adequately financed.” Three states, Alabama, Rhode Island and Tennessee, adopted civil service laws based on advance drafts of the model law last month, and similar measures are pending in 13 additional states.

Tax Evasion Halted

Times Special V TASHINGTON, April 17.—An ingenious device used to evade real estate taxes in Minnesota was recently upset by that state’s Supreme Court. Four years ago it was found that owners of Minneapolis real estate had made gifts of valuable revenue-producing parcels to a small preparatory school which paid no taxes. In return, they wera to receive life annuities which were charges on

the income of the property, with the provision that if the annuities were not paid the property would be returned. The Court ruled that the school was not entitled to tax exemption on property not used for educational purposes. reversing rulings of two district courts in favor of the school.

as Second-Class Matter Indianapolis, Ind.

Side Glances

TEST. YOUR

TRE“ YTW. PAT,

KNOWLEDGE

1—-What is the F. D. I. C.? 2—Who wrote the novel “Old Curiosity Shop?” 3—In units of length, how many feet are in one chain? 4—Which Major League baseball club is managed by Charles L. (Gabby) Hartnett? 5—Name the capital of Chile. 6—In what country was Adolf Hitler born? 7—What is the correct pronunciation of the word anabasis? 8—Who won the recent Greensboro Open golf tournament? ” » »

Answers

1—Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. 2—Charles Dickens. 3—66.

4—Chicago Cubs. 5—Santiago. 6—Austria, now a German state. © T—A-nab’-a-sis; not an-a-ba'-

8—Ralph Guldahl. 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

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PAGE 9

Our Town By Anton Scherrer |

Modern Pioneering May Be a Phoney But 40 Years Ago Dr. Abbott Had The Right Idea on the Simple Life.

"THERE .is something faintly spurious about all modern pioneering. On the other hand, it always struck me—even as a kid—that Dr. Herman Abbott's strange behavior was genuine. He was the 60-year-old man who chucked his profession to practice the Simple Life, at a time when the Simple Life, con=sidered as a cult, was unheard of around here. I haven't the least idea when Dr. Abbott came to Indianapolis. All I remember is

that he was here some 40 years ago when suddenly one day, he conceived a notion that a man cannot afford to be rich. Money costs too

.| much and he, for one, was not in-

clined to pay the price, he said. On another occasion I remember his saying that when he was a boy, there were a lot of his kind of men, but for some reason they were dying out with his generation. I also seem to recall rather vaguely, however, that Dr. Abbott was born in England, left an orphan at an early age, and educated by a Quaker who brought him td America. I'm going to tell evérything I know in the hope that, maybe, something I remember may help to explain the strange behavior of the doctor. In a way, Dr. Abbott and Henry Thoreau had many things in common. Both ate beans and drank a lot of water; both were celibates by nature which explain a lot; and both, as far as I could determine, had the same philosophy, namely that to live right one must disembarrass himself of all the apparatus of life. Temperamentally, however, the two men were very different. And that, more or less, is the point of my story. The lovable thing about Dr. Abbott was the entire absence of any desire to stimulate the curiosity of others in his mode of living. In which respect he was a great improvement on Mr. Thoreau, who was forever peeping out of the corner of his eye to see if inquisitive strangers were hovering about to observe the hermit at his contemplation. Apparently Dr. Abbott didn't care a whoop what people thought of him or his way of living which, of course, was all to the good of the cause because when you come to think of it, simplicity, like humility, can= not exist side by side with self-consciousness.

No Foolishness With Him

The big difference in the two men, however, was their way of making the little money it took to keep them going. Mr. Thoreau, you will recall, made lead ° pencils for a while, and at one time considered the possibility of gathering evergreens and peddling them from door to door. He dismissed the idea with the observation: “I have since learned that trade curses everything it handles; and though you trade in messages from Heaven, the whole curse of trade attaches

Mr. Scherrer

| to the business.”

Dr. Abbott entertained no such ideas. he didn't trade in messages from Heaven. He gat down to brass tacks. When he chucked his profession to adopt the simple life, he invented a wire contraption into which a dishrag could be inserted to assist the busy housewife in handling her pots and pans. Not only that, but he was constantly thinking of ways to improve his invention, until finally he hit upon a scheme of shifting the rag to one end of the wire and, rightaway, he had a first class article for cleaning lamp chimneys, too. He sold the gadget on the streets of Indianapolis and made enough money of a morning to spend all his afternoons in the country, in the contemplation of nature. Now consider Mr. Thoreau: When he discovered that he could make a good lead pencil, he stopped. making more with the rather slovenly observation, “Why should I? I would not do again what I have done once.” The more I think about the two men, the more I am convinced that Dr. Abbott put it all over Mr. Thoreau. And I think it was largely due to the fact that Mr. Thoreau, in spite of his great love of simplicity, was one of the most complicated natures the world has ever seen,

Jane Jordan—

Give Suitor Chance to Close Book On Old Love Affair, Girl Advised.

EAR JANE JORDAN—I am a young woman of 28. I was married at 17 but last year my home was broken up by my nearest girl friend. I divorced my husband and he married her. Now I have met a very nice man just my age and he has asked me to marry him, I promised that I would and we have been saving for a home. A few weeks ago he began to disappoint me and at times fails to help make payments on the furniture we had started to buy for our home. Last week he failed to see me all week but called me as usual and told me that he was very upset. He said that although he had not told me, he had gone with another girl for six years. He was sure she was not the girl for him for he had found her unfair and that several others had come into her life during the time he went with her. He said “My, dear, I do hope you will bear with me until I work this out. I want you and know you are the one for me but I want to prove a gentleman with the other girl.” I told him that if he wanted this girl to forget me for I had no desire to break any girl's heart as mine had been broken, but he said he did not love her. He has taken me to meet his family, and his mother is an ideal woman. She told me her son was much in love with me and did not have any desire to continue with this other girl, and that he called her every day and asked her to pray for him that this other girl would not break us up. Please tell me what to do. Shall I keep on with him or not?

Certainly,

A LONELY GIRL. ” “ 5 Answer—I would give the young man ample opportunity to extricate himself from his difficulties and prove his sincerity. It cannot possibly do any harm and will give you an opportunity to judge him fairly. There is no sense in flying off the handle because a man has had a love affair in his past which does not dissolve as easily as he expected. It is true that a man can get himself terribly ine volved with a woman and incur obligations which become extremely distasteful to him, He may want a break with all his heart but the weeping woman makes him feel so guilty that he cannot face her with the flat facts that he is tired and wants to be released, He is apt to hope that if he lets things drift long enough he will be saved a disagreeable scene. JANE JORDAN,

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

New Books Today

Public Library Presents—

N his first full-length book, ROADS TO A NEW AMERICA (Little), David Cushman Coyle points the way for young America. One-time member of the National Public Works Administration and consultant to the National Planning Board and Resettlement Administration, the author is familiar with the aims of the New Deal. His latest book is a valuable clarification of these objectives for both anti and pro-New Dealers. He blames ignorance, not dishonesty, for the crash of 1929. “We have fallen by accident,” he writes, “into an economic system that profits by destruction . and by nonproducfion.” Conservation of soil, forest, and minerals; security for the aged, and the constant improvement of her people will, he believes, be America’s salvation. Income, he points out, not liquidation of assets, constitutes real wealth, “Amerea