Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 May 1939 — Page 1
The Indianapolis Times
VOLUME 51—-NUMBER 67
IRREGULARITY INCOUNTY WPA WORK CLAIMED
Springer Puts 43 Affidavits And Statements Before House Committee.
CALLED ‘ASTOUNDING’
Use of “Political Pull,’ Theft.
Of Truckloads of Gravel Alleged.
By DANIEL M. KIDNEY Times Staff Writer . WASHINGTON, May 29.—Fortythree original affidavits or signed statements alleging irregularities in the Works Progress Administration in Marion County were filed with the House Appropriations
Committee investigating WPA to-| day by Rep. Raymond S. Springer
(R. Ind). Included are charges that WPA labor was used on private property of Indianapolis citizens with *‘political pull” and theft of truckloads of WPA gravel and brick.
Called ‘Astounding’
Rep. Springer, who was the Republican candidate for Governor in 1932 and 1936, termed the affidavits “astounding.” He turned them over to Rep. John Taber (R. N. Y.), com-
mittee member who is handling the|
request of the seven Hoosier Repub-| lican Congressmen for a complete] investigation of WPA in the state. Rep. Louis Ludlow (D. Ind.) is also a member of the investigating committee. Mr. Taber has promised to push the investigation and seek public hearings for the Indianians. Rep. Springer predicted that the information he presented today will assure such action. “It also may provide another job for Val Nolan, United States District Attorney, like the one he has just completed from Kokomo,” Rep. Springer commented.
Action Due Wednesday
Indianapolis
| |
Joseph Hromada, who is to be
here today, points to a dial of the
reau, looks on.
S DEDICATED
Of Aviation’s ‘Last and Worst’ Perils.
While aviation-minded throngs stood in the huge Municipal Air-
Rep. Taber said that he would be unable to take up the Indiana situation with the committee before Wednesday and ‘maybe not then.” “I think that some of our investigators should be cleaned up first and get good ones to send out into that! state,” he said. The principal affidavits are from Earl Jay, 2031 North Chester Ave. and Liston C. Nine, 3161 Station St. Both at one time had supervisory jobs of the so-called “straw- | boss” type with the Marion County WPA but are no longer on the payroll. Other affidavits and statements support their charges and there are numerous ones complaining about discrimination in hiring and firing truckers who met the specifications for hauling and then lost out.
WPA Officer Here Recalls Investigation
aviation directors and commercial and military aircraft leaders dedicated the nation's first complete, aircraft radio laboratory. Robert H. Hinckley, chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Authority, after making his first inspection of | the CAA’s new hangar and equip-| ment, said: “This new laboratory, which will devote itself to experimenting to make fiying safer, becomes, with its| developments in civil aviation, one] of the nation's first lines of air de-| fense.”
Antennae Key to Solution
Other high officials who were to speak briefly at the ceremonies were Clinton M. Hester, CAA administrator, and William E. Jackson, CAA's radio development chief, | Mr. Jackson pointed to a copper | antennae device and told Mr
that with it “we hope to remove one| of the last and worst causes of ac-!
The cases involved in the affi- | davits presented to the House Appropriations Committee at Wash-| ington probably were those investi--gated some months ago by the WPA | division of investigation, Deputy/ State Administrator S. T. Brown said. State Administrator John K. Jen-| nings was cut of the city. “After the investigation,” Mr | Brown said, ‘we ordered the dis-| trict office to see that in cases| where work was done for individ- | uals that restitution be made to the] Federal Government.
which investigated irregularities at Kokomo.”
TOWNSEND DENIES EASTON CLEMENCY
Governor Townsend toaay denied last week, but some of it was moved |in clemency for Orville Easton, 25, from other parts of the field where | Memorial Day. But the rules came to be electrocuted at CAA experts have been experiment- too late to save scores involved in
scheduled Michigan City State Prison Saturday for the slaying of State Police-
man Ray Dixon a year ago. ;
A plea to save the youth's life |
was made by his mother, Mrs. Carl
Easton, of Valley City, N. D, 10 Hinckley to officially launch the
days ago. She said her son was suffering with a super ego. His conviction was upheld by the Indiana Supreme Court. Officer Dixon was slain when he attempted to stop Easton and his brother, Clarence, on a La Porte County highway for questioning. The brother was slain later by a posse in Illinois.
CLIPPER AT MARIGNANE MARSEILLES, May 29 (U. P).— The Pan-American Airways’ Atlantic Clipper landed at Marignane at 3:30 p. m. today (8 a. m. Indianapolis time). The Clipper's flight was the line's second commercial trans-Atlantic voyage.
The investi- | gation was made by the same group
cidents in airline travel.” It was the new 63-megacycle ultra-high frequency antennae] which CAA radio experts declare] will “take the static” out of radio range of “beam” fiyving. Mr. Jackson said it represents one | of the greatest developments in radio aircraft in the world. “I have just returned from Europe and can say we are much advanced beyond the European countries in technical radio aircraft development although in some respects we are not in practical application.” | The experts made their observa-| tion on a tour of the field shortly after their arrival.
Halleck Flies In
The antennae and its transmitter were a part of the $800,000 equip-| ment installed in the new station!
ing for some time. Mr. Hinckley said “this airport and field is a wonderful site for] this station—you must have some enterprising men in your city.” Others who flew in with Mr.
(Continued on Page Two)
CIVIC MEETING ON WATER CO. CALLED
Brookside League Invites U. S. Expert to Talk.
A Town Hall meeting at which the proposed purchase of the Indianapolis Water Co. by the City is to]
TIMES FEATURES ON INSIDE PAGES
6 | Movies 4 vores 1 Mrs. Ferguson Comics ...... 14 Obituaries ... Crossword ... 15/ Pegler Curious World 14] Pyle ‘ Editorials .... 6 Questions Fachions .... 9 Radio ..... Financial ... 15/Mrs. Roosevel Flynn 6 | Scherrer Forum 6 Serial Story.. 1 Grin, Bear It. 14 Society In Indpls. ... 3 Sports Jane Jordan. 8 State Deaths
Johnson
Broun Clapper
Ces anne
sss nn Pesan eee
RY
6 3 6 7 y § 5 7 7 4 8
ell, 31 5
be debated, will be held at 8 p. m.! | Monday in the Brookside Commu-| [nity House by the Brookside Civic | League. | Among those invited to speak are {Judson Dickerman, Federal util- | ities engineering expert. whose serv- | ices were borrowed by the City for a survey of the water property; E. O. Snethen and George J. Marott. Mayor Sullivan has been asked to attend as a guest, James Cross is chairman of the committee arranging the event. Fred Bates Johnson, attorney representing the C. H. Geist estate, {owner of the water company common stock, has been asked to explain the proposition in which the property was offered to the City
the new CAA radio laboratory which was dedicated ultra-high frequency transmitter while Charles I. Stanton, CAA’s director of the Federal Airways Bu-
The transmitter is designed to “take the static out of radio range or ‘beam’ flying.”
AIRPORT RADIO
Calculated to Remove One
FORECAST: Fair tonight and tomorrow; somewhat warmer tomorrow.
‘First Line of
resident chief of
sensational new
port field today, Government civil}
MONDAY, MAY 29, 1939
Air Defense’
Times Photos.
Robert H. Hinckley, chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Authority (left), William E. Jackson, radio development section head ministrator Clinton H. Hester examine the highly valued transmitter designed to replace 500-foot range towers along the nation’s airways. scribed the Municipal Airport as “a wonderful place.”
(center) and CAA Ad-
Mr. Hinckley de-
| tinued to London at 8:45 a. m. (In-
: | No | F sulted in a statement by the wire-
The Civil Aeronautics experimental unit building at the port.
7 Die in Traffic, 5 Drown, 2 Rescued in Boat Spill
Police today urged race-bound drivers to heed all safety measures as the state's week-end accidental death toll reached 12. Indianapolis streets were filling rapidly with out-of-city cars, many of
whose drivers were unfamiliar with
2
» | { |
ACCIDENTS KILL 107 AS HOLIDAY BEGINS
National Safety Council Says ‘Take It Easy.
By United Press The National Safety Council today focused national attention upon the other Memorial Day parade—not the bands and marching troops — but the parade of death and injury that always accompanies the holiday and which today had claimed 107 at the, start of the four-day respite,
“Take it easy,” the council warned releasing six rules ‘for a safe
Sunday automobile accidents, drownings and others tragedies. As usual, automobiles and drowning claimed the most victims. The safety council's rules. 1. Don't overdo in exercise, exposure to sun or eating. 2. Check your car before the trip— especially tires, brakes and steering apparatus. 3. Take it easy on the road. Give| vourself enough time. Don’t speed or take chances in passing. 4. Don't drive is vou drink. 5. Don't take anything for granted at railroad crossings. 6. Use common sense in swimming. Wait at least an hour after eating. Don’t go in while overheated or if you have a weak heart. Don‘t show off by swimming too far or in dangerous waters. Five children at Tama, Towa, died when they were trapped in their flaming home. Their parents were away.
ROOSEVELT SUFFERS SLIGHT HEAD COLD
HYDE PARK, N .Y., May 29 (U. P.).—President Roosevelt, resting here at his family estate, was suffering from a slight head cold today. His associates described the cold as a recurrence of a chronic sinus trouble. The cold first developed on Sunday when the executive attended divine services at St. James Episcopal Church, which King George VI and Queen Elizabeth will attend June 11
for $22 825,000.
ontheir visit here.
driving regulations here, and police
Hinckley and Mr. Hester in private warned local drivers to be doubly alert,
Five of the 12 dead were victims of drownings and seven were traffic victims. The traffic dead are: MRS. MARGARET ROSE BASTIN, 59, of 4005 S. Rural St. An UNIDENTIFIED man. LUTHER A. LUSK, 78, Aurora. MRS. LYDIA HENDERSON, 65, Pittsburgh. MISS EDNA MARIE SMITH, 17, Decatur, HERBERT ISAY, 36, South Whitley. FRED OTTO, 33, of Sandusky, O,, died at Richmond of injuries received yesterday when his car struck a truck at Dublin. The drowning dead are: MRS. DOROTHY HAGAN, 25, Bloomington. OTIS HAWKINS, 25, Bloomington.
WILLIAM MURPHY, 32, Bowling |
Green, Ky. IVAN KNAPP, 30, Gary. ISHULA ANN BARTON, 3, Lafayette. Mrs. Bastin was killed when an inbound Pennsylvania Railroad train
[struck a car driven by her brother, [organizations from Portsmouth and
Charles Stineburg, at the Madison
day. Mr. Stineburg, who lives in Bloomington, was critically injured and is at Methodist Hospital. Mrs. Bastin and her brother were en route to SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral for 11 o'clock mass. Mrs. Bastin was born in Bloomington and had lived in Indianapolis 20 years. Her husband, Morton J, died seven years ago. She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. J. LeRoy Kavanaugh, and Mrs. James G. Sweeney, Indianapolis; two sisters, Mrs. John Peterson, Bloomington, and Mrs. Theresa Gray, Madison, and her injured brother. She was a member of (Continued on Page Three)
St.
Hecker Products Corp. Plans 5-Story Addition
Plans for a new five-story addition to the Hecker Products Corp. plant, 1437 W. Morris St, were announced today. The new wing, to cost more than $100,000, will contain more than 35,000 square feet of floor space, and will house the company’s offices and provide badly needed extra storage and manufacturing space, The Hecker Products Corp. al-
Race Pictures, Biographies, Facts— All in the
a
+
IS LOST AFTER
'Smith’s Trans-Atlantic Air-
at Postoffice,
‘BABY CLIPPER’ IRISH ‘LANDING
plane Twice ‘Sighted,’ but Now All Is Mystery.
CHECK FOYNES REPORT Positions
License Revocation Likely Even if He Lands, Says CAA Official Here.
start of the 500-mile race. holder.
LONDON, May 29 (U. P.).—The
| 3000-mile flight of Thomas H. Smith | from Maine to Ireland took a] | mysterious turn tonight when the | | American flier was reported in Ireland but failed to show up on | schedule in England. The little $1800 ‘“Baby Clipper” plane was first believed sighted over Londonderry, on the North Irish coast, but flying too high for identfication. Later, the officer on duty at Crovdon Airdrome, outside London, announced receipt of a message from the control officer at { Foynes Air Base on the western |coast of Ireland saying Smith had (landed there, refuelled and con-
Car No. Driver 10 Jimmy Snyder 45 Lou Meyer 2 Wilbur Shaw
Ted Horn Chet Miller George Bailey
Shorty Cantlon Mauri Rose Herb Ardinger
Cliff Bergere Frank Brisko George Connor
dianapolis time), News Anywhere
A telephone call to Foynes re-
Ralph Hepburn Mal Hansen George Barringer
less officer. only official on duty at the air base at 10:50 a. m., that he| 4 | knew nothing about Smith landing {at the base. | At Londonderry, a checkup failed tos ho wany further trace of the plane that observers believed might |have been Smith's craft. There is no airport at Londonderry. A check of other Irish airports, including Rynnana, Aldergrove and |Baldonnel revealed no clue to Smith's whereabouts. The Irish Air | Ministry also said it had no news of |Smith, The latest news was a report from {a pilot on the Railways Air Service flying from Liverpool to Ringway that he had sighted a plane over Widnes, in Lancashire, which he believed might be Smith's. Crowd Sees Takeoff
Smith's craft carried 160 gallons of gasoline on a flight that he expected to complete in less than 30 hours after taking off from Old Orchard Beach, Maine, at 2:50 a. m. (Indianapolis Time) yesterday. He |; had enough fuel to keep him in the air for 32 hours if he e ncountered bad weather and for possibly 40 hours if all went smoothly. 5 The 32-hour mark was passed at 10:50 a. m. today after fog and patches of snow had been reported over the North Atlantic air lane. The 40-hour mark will be passed at
Babe Stapp Frank Wearne Ira Hall
Rex Mays Joe Thorne Emil Andres
Bob Swanson Floyd Roberts Kelly Petillo
Russell Snowberger Tony Willman Tony Gulotta
Al Miller Floyd Davis Louis Tomei
Deacon Litz Harry MacQuinn Billy DeVore
George Robson
Entered as Second-Class Matter
FINAL HOME
PRICE THREE CENTS
Indianapolis, Ind.
and Numbers
In 500-Mile Starting Field
This is the way the field of 33 cars will line up tomorrow for the
Jimmy Snyder, in No. 10, is the pole position
Qualification speed and the day the successful qualification run was made determines the position of the cars.
FIRST ROW Qualifying Time 130.138 130.067 128.977
Car Name
Thorne Engineering Special Bowes Seal Fast Special Boyle Special (Maserati)
SECOND ROW
Boyle Special Boyle Special Miller Rear Engine Special
THIRD ROW
Automotive Service Special Wheeler's Special Miller-Hartz Special
FOURTH ROW
Offenhauser Special National Seal Special Marks Special
FIFTH ROW
Hamilton-Harris Special Joe Thorne Special Bill White Special
SIXTH ROW
Alfa Romeo Burd Piston Ring Special Greenfield Super Service Special
SEVENTH ROW
Thorne Engineering Special Joe Thorne Special Chicago Flash Special
EIGHTH ROW
Sampson Comet Special Burd Piston Ring Special Kay Jewelers Special
NINTH ROW
D-X Special Burd Piston Ring Special Burd Piston Ring Special
TENTH ROW
Kennedy Tank Special W. B. W. Special Alfa Romeo
ELEVENTH ROW
Maserati Elgin Piston Pin Special Barbasol Special
ALTERNATE Deacon Litz Special
127.723 126.316 125.821
125.567 124.896 124.125
123.835 123.351 123.306
122.204 121.683 120.935
125.000 125.074 121.188
126.413 122.117 121.212
129.431 126.998 123.660
123.199 122.771 121.749
123.233 119.375 118.425
117.979 117.287 116.527
116.305
6:50 p. m. In addition to the other hazards of crossing the ocean in a 650-pound airplane, a storm whipped up across (Continued on Page Three)
Motorists
SEEK TO LIFT SUB: SERVICES PLANNED
Naval Inquiry Starts With Survivors’ Statements.
South Africa license.
sands of visitors poured in
out and that indicates the
station attendant, PORTSMOUTH, N. H., May 29 (U., P.) —Under a cloud-flecked sky the Navy resumed full salvage operations on the sunken submarine Squalus today while ashore the post chaplain announced plans for Memorial Day services honoring the ship's 26 dead. Comm. Albert E. Stone said he would eulogize the lost crew of! the Squalus in a brief sermon at the the Borg-Warner Cor).
became a special courtesy
of directors this morning.
crew with simple music and prayers. | Club. Children, marching with veteran's : Decorating Inearby Kittery, will scatter lilacs
and a Navy bugler sound taps.
suit to report that freezing airlines,
The Navy was beginning an offi- | cial investigation of the mishap]
be brought up and examined. As the first step in the investigation written reports were taken from the 33 survivors of the crew and from civilians employed in the Navy Yard here. Six Portsmouth churches held memorial services for the 26 dead yesterday.
About 175
train, which will serve as
dent, will be toastmaster,
president, as the principal
tors; W. J. Davidson of
ready has the world’s largest plant |ident, devoted exclusively to shoe polishes and cleaners. Its products include Shinola, Bixby and Two-in-One polishes. J. T. Heckel, plant manager, said bids on the new wing, which is to be built this summer and fall, woud be sought later this week. The addition was made, he said, to relieve the present space shortage at the plant and to provide facilities for business expansion.
Aviation representatives
T. Kreusser, Corp. general manager,
clude Gene Tunney,
Every policeman, fireman, filling) taxi driver—in| fact, nearly everyone in the City—
tee of one for out-of-town visitors. More than a dozen nationally noted business, financial and aviation figures arrived here for a meeting of the Eastern Air Lines board
Among the first of the prerace activities was the annval dinner of
National Cemetery on a hilltop in (drivers, visiting sports writers and the yard. He also planned a special [Speedway and A. A. A. officials last| afternoon memorial service for the night at the Indianapolis Athletic | The Supreme Court ruled today that
Flags Decorate Tables the speakers’ {were the varicolored flags which Ave. crossing at 10:30 a. m. yester- and other flowers from a bridge into | will be used in the race, and the the Piscataqua River as a Marine $10,000 Borg-Warner trophy. The race drivers were introduced livering the majority opinion. Chief Salvage work began soon after by Wilbur Shaw, Indianapolis. 1937 | Justice Charles Evans Hughes and dawn when a diver returned to the|race winner. C. S. Davis, Chicago, Justices James C. McReynolds and surface in an electrically heated corporation president presided. ‘ 3 A The Society of Automotive Engi- {sent delivered by Justice Pierce Butwhich threatened to trap a dozen'neers will give a prerace dinner at | ®': companions, were in working order. |7:30 o'clock tonight at the Colum-| bia Club in connection with the| World Engineering Congress ses-| without waiting for the Squalus to sions here today and tomorrow. internationally aviation and automotive engineers were to arrive here from New York shortly before noon on a special
gates’ hotel during their stay here. Capt. E. V. Rickenbacker, Speedway and Eastern Air Lines presi-
G. Roos, Willys Overland Motors
Among the honor guests repre-| senting the automotive industry are to be M. M. Gilman, Packard Motor Car Co. president; John G. Wood, Chevrolet Division of General Mo-
Motors; and national S. A.
Give ’Em a Smile
honored guest list are to include Capt. Rickenbacker, Guy Vaughan, Curtis-Wright Corp. president; Otto Allison Engineering and Col. A. Chramiec, military and air attache of the Polish Embassy, Guests already here or coming inVicomte de (Continued on Page Three)
Wheeling In,
One From South Africa
There was a yellow sports roadster in town this afternoon bearing a
That gives you a pretty good idea of downtown Indianapolis as thou-
for the annual Memorial Day race tomorrw,
Althugh hotels reported the crowd was slow in taking up reservations during the morning and early afternoon, they said they were sold
crowd will be at least as large his year as last.
+ DOUBLE TAX OKAYED BY SUPREME COURT
for race WASHINGTON, May 29 (U, P.).—
two states may impose inheritance | taxes on intangible property, under table | certain circumstances, without violating constitutional tax guarantees. | The decision divided the court 5 to (4, with Justice Harlan F. Stone de-
Owen J. Roberts concurred in a dis-
The tribunal recessed until next Monday without submitting import- | ant pending opinions in cases involving the proposed Child Labor Amendment to the Constitution, the Mayor Frank Hague civil liberties dispute and Constitutionality of the Federal milk marketing program. These decisions, the court indicated, will be presented next Monday. It announced today that the year’s final session will be held on that date. The tax ruling reversed, in part, a Tennessee Supreme Court decision holding that Tennessee, not Alabama, has the right to levy inherit(Continued on Page Three)
$45.000 FIRE HITS ELKHART BUILDING
ELKHART, Ind., May 29 (U. P.. — Fire of unknown origin swept through a three-story building in the downtown business district today and caused damage estimated at $45,000. As estimated $25,000 loss was sustained by the Kin-Ko Department Store which occupied the basement and first floor of the building. Stock and fixtures were destroyed when the first floor collapsed.
noted
the dele-
with D.
speaker.
General E. pres-
on the
Two States May Levy on | ‘Same Goods, Is 5-4 Ruling. |
FAIR WEATHER PROMISED AS FASTEST RACE FIELD IN HISTORY WAITS
BOMB
Averaging Qualifying Speed Placed at 123.547.
TRACK IS WASHED
Tens of Thousands of Visitors Move On City.
LOCAL TEMPERATURES
eh... 00 1032 Mm... 90 «MM ... 63 11 a, Mm... "1 «ML ... 65 13 (noon).. 73 .m. .., 67 1p m...%738
By TOM OCHILTREE With the weather problem settled, at least tentatively, the fastest field of cars in Speedway history this aftere noon awaited only the starte ing bomb which will send it careening on its way at 10 a, m. tomorrow in the 27th an-
nual 500-mile race.
The Weather Bureau predicted tomorrow would be fair with the possibility that temperatures would be at 90-degree levels. This forecast indicated that once again the Speedway’s amazing weather luck, which has extended back through the years to 1911, would hold good. Qualifying speeds definitely class the 33-car field as the greatest ever assembled. The average qualifying speed for the entire list was 123.547 miles an hour, and only five of the 33 qualified at less than 120 miles an hour,
Living Tempo Steps Up The tempo of living here was stepped up by anticipation. The advance guard of an invading throng of tens of thousands already had arrived, Every barbershop, hotel lobby, streetcar platform and bar
swarmed with soothsayers who knowingly informed any and all persons within the range of their voices the speed it would take to win. For winning speed is the one great topic of speculation in connection with the race. Unlike any other sport, unpredictable mechanic failures and bad streaks of luck make it impossible to grade the 33 starters and one alternate strictly on form, since the Indianapolis race title doesn’t always go to the swiftest,
Expect Average of About 120
A majority of the competing drive ers think that the victor's average this time will be approximately three miles an hour faster than the pace of 117.20 miles an hour which Floyd Roberts set in winning last year’s race. Included in this group is Lou Meyer, only three-time winner of the race; Wilbur Shaw, victor in 1937; Kelly Petillo, 1935 titleholder, and Roberts himself. They point to the exceedingly fast qualifying times of all but the few tailenders in the field and the fact that the newly surfaced back stretch will reduce the fatigue of the drivers and make it possible for them to safely maintain a hotter pace in the closing stages of the race. Whether they are right or not, it is evident that in a field that ine cludes four former winners, every one of whom will drive one of the fastest cars in the field, it will be more difficult this year than before for a comparatively unknown to capture the title.
Four Foreign-Made Cars
On the speculation as to the wine ner’'s average speed, an almost equally authoritative group of pilots maintain that the chances of break= ing Roberts’ mark are slimmer than the profile of an expensive watch, Weather conditions were ideal last year, and Roberts made only one pit stop—an important consideration in any discussion of speed averages, Roberts also traveled approximately four miles an hour faster than Shaw did to win the 1937 race, Although there have been mechanical and track improvements during the last two years, those drivers making the more conservative predictions claim the changes haven't been as great as this difference in speed seems to indicate. This field contains four foreigne made cars—the largest number in recent years. All are of Italian make and are to be chauffeured by American drivers. A good showing by these cars may foreshadow a return of the international complexion the race maintained in its earlier years. Two of these foreign cars, the big (Turn to Page 10)
STEEL OUTPUT RISE ° BOLSTERS N. Y. LIST
NEW YORK, May 29 (U. P.).—A downturn in the stock market was halted today by an unexpected jump of nearly 8 per cent in steel operations scheduled this week, Steel shares led the recovery, U. S. Steel issues bounding back nearly a
point from its low of the day.
Speedway Souvenir Included in This Edition