Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 June 1939 — Page 9

Hoosier Vagabond

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SECOND

SECTION

ENVER, June 19.—I don’t know which has the "worst work-out, me or my mail. Some of the mail we get sure has gadded about the country before it ever lands on our portable doorstep. (We carry a doorstep in a valise and put it out when we see the mailman coming.) Some time ago a man in Cleveland sent me a telegram. He sent it to Ft. Worth, but I wasn't there. Ft. Worth wired it on to Denver (I wasn't here either). Denver put it in an envelope and mailed it to Washington. (Was I in Washington? No.) Washington put it in another envelope and mailed it to Indiana (I had left). Indiana forwarded it on to Denver again _ —and I got it today. It was a nice telegram, but the sender just signed his initials, the dog, and I haven't the remotest idea who he is. Another little story: PROLOGUE—We have an old and dear friend in St. Paul, who knows we're never long in any one spot, and she knows we hit our home town of Washington only about once a year, and then briefly. Once in a great while she writes to us. TEXT—She has just written us a letter, and in it she said: “I'm writing and sending this to Washington becaus:, somehow, I have a hunch you're in Washington right now.” EPILOGUE—We got the letter in Denver, but— we WERE in Washington the day she wrote it, and we were there only one day! = 2 ”

He Stands Corrected

A reader in Menlo Park, Cal, writes me of a trip she took to the Scandinavian countries last summer. She fell in love with those countries, and wants me to go over and write them up. (Boss, please note.) She tells, also, of a description of Norway she read in a paper in Holland. The Dutch writer said: “The mountain scenery was so awe-inspiring that even the Americans were stilled!” I'll wait a couple of years and use that crack myself, and you'll think I originated it.

BNE

Our Town

Lately it has seemed almost like old times. Stocks have gone up (a little, anyway), the clergy appears to be getting ready to come out against the hats on women's heads, and the newspapers reek with features

about animals—starlings in University Park flirting with pigeons supposed to practice monogamy, elephants remembering things as they did when I was a boy, cats mothering canaries, dogs notifying pecple of fire and, goodness knows, what else, . Of all these, the revival of interest in animals is the most encouraging sign. It won't be long now until somebody springs a story about a horse as smart as the one Charlie Miller used to have. Then the world will ‘indeed seem normal again.

Mr. Miller was a salesman for the Murphy, Hibben people back in the days when I was a kid. One time he was making a trip through Brown County and as was the custom in those days, he not only sold goods, but collected the money for them, too. It appears that he had a profitable trip and when ready to start home had something like $2000 in his inside pocket. (Don’t send me letters questioning that amount of money in Brown County. I know exactly how Mr. Miller told the story.

Thwarting a Holdup

At one place where he collected money, Mr. Miller noticed two suspicious looking men eyeing him closely, but as they disappeared he paid no further attention to them. Later that same day he saw them again and right away he got the idea that, maybe, they were up to something. Mr. Miller's last stop was Ninevah and as he left there for the drive to Edinburg it was getting dark. About 9 o'clock the moon came out, but a heavy fog shut out the light and gave everything along the road a ghostly appearance. Near the bridge over Blue River heavy trees lined the roadway shutting out every bit of light. Mr. Miller whistled loudly to keep up his courage and was -just beginning to imagine

Washington

WASHINGTON, June 19.—I give vou no moral but lay the facts cold on the line as they were presented to the O'Mahoney Temporary National Economic Committee in its investigation of life insurance this week. The witness is Judd Dewey, Massachusetts Deputy Commissioner of Savings Bank Life Insurance. Massachusetts permits savings banks to operate in life insurance, under a system closeIv supervised by the State Insurance Department. The system was established more than 30 vears ago through legislation written and put through by Justice Iiouis D. Brandeis, then a Boston lawyer. Under this sys. tem there is now $154.700.000 of insurance in force, producing an annual premium income of $4,787,600, indicating that the experiment has had a thorough tryout in Massachusetts. Mr. Dewey presented to the committee a little table of insurance costs which the division circulates to show how much cheaper its bank insurance policies are than those of the regular life insurance companies. The witness said the table never had been challenged.

s » = Net Cost Explained

It shows that on the basis of the last 10 years of operation, a 35-year-old person can buy $1000 of straight life insurance for a net cost—that term to be explained later—of $2.74 a year. The cheapest of some 25 regular life insurance companies listed in the

My Day

HYDE PARK, N. Y. Sunday—I used to think it was a good thing to divest oneself, as far as possible, of interest in all material possessions. All my life I have seen people tied by them and, while I can see that historically it is interesting to own things 4 which have come down in a family through various generations, there is very little I really want to cherish except from this higtoric standpoint. This, of course, could be done better in museums than in a home.

It is true that what little jewelry I possess is more valuable to me from a sentimental viewpoint than from its intrinsic value. I was, therefore, quite horrified this year, when I was urged to insure certain of my possessions, to find that the insurance value was far more than I had dreamed possible. The jeweler told me that because these things are old, they could not possibly be replaced, which made me at once put them in the safe deposit vault with the sense that they should be preserved for one more generation at least. However, in spite of ail my rationalizing, I find

By Ernie Pyle

“Cappy Ricks” of Martinez, Cal, writes regarding our column some weeks ago on the San Jacinto Monument in Texas. Down there, at the time, they told me there were smokestacks in Japan higher than this monument; the highest smokestacks, in fact, in the world. But “Cappy Ricks” says no. He says the highest smokestack in the world is that of the American Smelting & Refining Co, at Martinez, on the east shoreline of the San Francisco Bay. He says it is 605 feet high, or five feet higher than the tallest one in Japan.

Thank you, “Cappy Ricks.” The next time I am in California I will come and sit on top of your Martinez smokestack. America has never been the same to me since people stopped sitting on chimneys and flagpoles. Let's revive the custom. gf 4 8

Making the Best of Things

A couple of girls of Hiram College, at Hiram, O, write: “We nearly die laughing at your accounts of some of the people you meet. (We hope you mean them to be funny.) People ARE funnier than anybody, aren't they?” Yes, who? A friend in Texas writes: “Jane is having a terrible time with aches and pdins that are the result of bad tonsils which she refuses to have out. And I have hay fever and my usual pleurisy. So we are enjoying our normal health. But as long as the aspirin and Scotch hold out we will make the grade.”

From Cavanaugh, the old Philosopher, who has lived near Hollywood so long he's beginning to feel joy in being a citizen and paying taxes, like Carole Lombard: “Mr. Pyle, I take great pleasure in informing you that I may soon have a $10 cut in my salary. And I think it is all for the best. “I had just purchased a couple of best sellers, had my car greased, and was kinda figuring on a new pair of shoes with holes punched in them to keep my dogs cool. “It just shows that too much money will make a fool of most anybody. When I write again I hope I can tell you the cut is in effect and I have recovered my balance.” Atta citizen, Cavanaugh!

By Anton Scherrer

that his fears were groundless when two figures, one on either side of the road, loomed up in the darkness. Both men started for the horse's head and the animal reared and plunged. This gave Mr. Miller a chance to collect his thoughts and quick as a flash he made up his mind to chuck a bluff. He stood up in the buggy and threw his hand behind him as if to draw a gun. Of course, he didn't have a gun (that was the joke), but he worked it so slick that the robbers took to their heels. After which Mr. Miller whipped up the horse and drove on, reaching the bridge a few moments later. When about half over the bridge, the horse stopped and although Mr. Miller used his whip freely the animal positively refused to move an inch. It was a terrible fix for Mr. Miller to be in. He knew the robbers were behind him and from the actions of the horse he had every reason to believe they were in front of him, too. He begged, pleaded, beat and cussed out the horse, but it didn't do a bit of good. The horse just wouldn't move. 2 2 2

He Takes the Hint

Next thing he did wos to leave the buggy and. groping his way, he finally found the horse's head. At that instant the moon, which had heen in hiding all this time, came out. Then Mr. Miller saw what had caused the horse to stop. Directly in front of the animal two planks had been removed and had the horse taken another step, Mr. Miller's whole outfit would have fallen into the opening. It was more of the robbers’ dirty work. After a search Mr. Miller found the planks, replaced them, and jumping into the buggy drove on as fast as he could. When he went to hed that night, he was conscious stricken that he had licked his horse. He even got to wondering whether he would have punished the horse had his eyes been better. Which got him to thinking that, maybe he needed glasses. Next morning when he continued his trip, the horse again came to a dead stop and, try as he would, Mr. Miller couldn't get the horse to budge. Bewildered, Mr. Miller look~d arcund and found himself in front of a drug store with a sign reading “‘Spectacles and Opera Glasses.” There was no holding the horse when Mr. Miller came out of the drug store wearing a pair of glasses.

By Raymond Clapper

table was $460 a year—nearly twice as much. The most expensive company was put down at $8.73 a year. To explain the term “net cost.” These figures don’t mean that you can buy life insurance for that sum. They represent the price which you really pay for the privilege of having your life insured. The figures were arrived at hy totaling the annual premiums over a 10-year period, deducting the dividends refunded and deducting the cash surrender value—or the amount you could get back in cash if you wanted it. The remainder is the real, instead of the apvarent, cost of carrying the insurance, the money that you won't get back, the price you pay to insure your family, after all the trimmings are stripped. ‘ Commissioner Dewey stated also that the bank. Insurance policies .are more liberal in some respects, as to early cash surrender period, for instance, than those of the regular insurance companies. = 2 2 3

No State Subsidy

Leon Henderson, chairman of SEC, told the witness he wanted to be sure there was nothing phoney in the figures, and asked if they would stand up. “This is what it costs the banks to provide life insurance protection,” Mr. Dewey said. During the

flu epidemic of 1918, he added, they used less than 80 per cent of the expected mortality under which they had collected premiums. How can the banks do it so much more cheaply? Mr. Dewey said the banks eliminate the agent's commission which is the largest single item of expense in life insurance. Banks earn a larger net rate of return on invested reserves. With no high pressure selling, there is more rigorous selection of physical risks.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

myself becoming attached to foolish things like a syringa bush in full bloom outside my door, or the view from my desk or my upstairs porch, a certain chair, a certain picture. A sad experience and somewhat comic, for I can no longer feel superior to those tho cherish their material possessions. Not long ago I received a letter from someone in San Antonio, taking me to task for having said that San Antonio had the highest death rate from tuberculosis of any city of its size in the country, and challenging me to correct my statement. I had taken my information from what I had thought was a responsible source, but when this letter came. I went to the United States Public Health Service and learned that no rates for cities had been compiled since the census of 1933. In that year, San Antonio ranked second in death rates from tuberculosis among the 100 largest cities of the United States. Oddly enough, the highest death rate per thousand population was at that time in another Texas city. Two other cities in the Southern states came third and fourth. This is probably partly accounted for by the fact that many people who are seriously ill seek health in these milder climates. In great part, it is due also to the fact that in these states, Negro and Mexican populations are numerous, and these two races are especially susceptible to this disease.

will FDR Be in the ‘40 Race?

By Dr. George Gallup Director, American Institute of Public Opinion EW YORK, June 19. —Will President Roosevelt be a candidate for a third term? Would he be re-elected if he did make the race? Those are the two burning questions in political Washington today. They are heightened by the growing drive to “draft Roosevelt” for 1940 which has been led by Secretary Ickes and other New Deal

officials. Only Roosevelt can answer the first question, and only the voters can answer the second. But today —with just 12 months to go before the Presidential nominating conventions—a nation-wide survey by the American Institute of Public Opinion shows two important things about the public's thinking: First, a growing number of Americans believe that Roosevelt will be a candidate again. Nearly half the voters now think a third term race is probable. Second, the number who think Roosevelt could win a third term has shrunk since the failure of the “purge” campaigf last year and since Republican gains in the November Congressional elections.

Political strategists will be interested in what American voters are saying on the subject—especially in their guess that Roosevelt would not be re-elected—because rank-and-file voters in an Institute survey proved able to predict the outcome of the 1936 election to the last state. In that survey —the most accurate state-by-state survey on record—voters in Maine and Vermont said they thought Landon would win, while voters in the other 48 states thought Roosevelt would win. Four times since the spring of 1937 the Institute has asked a representative cross-section of voters in all states: “Do you think President Roosevelt will run for a third term in 1940?” In the survey just completed the answers are: Think F. D. R. Will Run... 48% Think He Won't Run... .. 52% About one voter in six says that he has no opinion on the question. Obviously no one but Roosevelt himself can know what he will decide to do, but the public’s surmises at this date are not based merely on thin air. The third-term question has arisen for many two-term Presidents, and as late as 1928 a great many Americans favored a third term for Calvin Coolidge.

Today's survey shows how the public has been affected by the third-term statements of Ickes and others and by Roosevelt's

Japan Hopes

As President Roosevelt continues to keep silent on the t hird-term question, a nation-wide survey of rank-and-file

voters shows that more and more Americans expect him to be a candidate when 1940 rolls around.

The above chart

shows how the number expecting Roosevelt to run has increased in the last two years. Significantly, however, the number who think F. D. R. would win a third term has decreased since the Republican gains of last November.

own tactical silence on the subject. ” 2 2 UT could Roosevelt be elected? Opinion has shifted on the question. The Institute has thrice asked voters: “Do you think he will be elected if he runs?” Today a majority of American voters say “no.” The actual vote is:

Think F.D.R. Would Win 45% Think He Would Lose... 55%

Two years ago, and even a year ago, a majority (51%) thought Roosevelt would win if he chose to run. But that was before the failure of the Presidential “purge” in South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland and elsewhere, and before the G. O. P's gains in last November’s elections. A large majority of rank-and-file Democrats still think Roosevelt would win, but Republicans are more confident now than formerly. Today's vote by parties is: Would F. D. R. Win? Yes No Democrats ..... 61% 39% Republicans .... 16 4

” 2 ”

WO years ago, in April, 1937, only one person in four expected a third-term attempt. For the first time in political history it is possible to chdrt the way that opinion has shifted:

Will F. D. R. Run in ‘40? Yes No April, 1937... ..... 28% 2% August, 1937 63 July, 1938 64 52

There are clear elements of wishful thinking in the attitudes

to Take Over

All Concessions in China

By LEE G. MILLER Times Special Writer WASHINGTON, June 19.—If Japan effectuates her reported warning that “the days of foreign concessions in China are numbered,”

she will be fulfilling a Chinese demand of many years’ standing. the Chinese expect those who wear the brand of Nippon

rejoice. For under the “new order” the concessions : would of course be ruled by puppets of Japan. If the Western powers lose their concessions, they may also be expected to lose the extraterritorial right of their citizens to trial in their own courts, and certain special privileges in overseeing the Chinese customs service, Japan herself cast off the ignominy of extraterritorial rights and foreign customs privileges only 40 years ago. There are 13 “concessions” in China, aside from the international settlements at Shanghai and Amoy and the legation quarter at Peiping. Of these Japan has five, France four, Britain three and Italy one. The United States has none, though it participates in the administration of the Amoy and Shanghai settlements.

Neutral in Wartime

The concessions and settlements are theoretically under Chinese sovereignty, but the Chinese have had nothing to do with their administration. Like independent principalities, they are neutral ground in time of war. They control their own police, roads, buildings, sanitation and taxes. The number of concessions used to be much larger. During and after the World War, in which China was on the allies’ side, she took over the German, AustroHungarian and Russian areas. In 1927-30 the British gave up their concessions in Hankow, Kiukiang, Chinkiang and Amoy, and in 1931 Belgians surrendered their Tientsin concession.

Chinese Power Increased

Had it not been for the Japanese invasion, the British might even have given up their Tientsin concession, now blockaded by Japanese troops. A draft agreement for the restoration of the Tientsin area to native rule was drawn up and initialed by negotiators for both sides, but the final agreement was never concluded. The international settlement at Shanghai has in recent vears given

increased authority to Chinese resi<

But will hardly

dents, but has resisted demands of the Japanese for a larger share in the government. The settlement, which has ‘a population of more than a million, including 39,000 foreigners, is run by a municipal council of 14 members. Japan, with two seats on the council, has been agitating for larger representation but has been turned down—although more than half of the foreign residents of the area are Japanese.

Seized Custom Control .

Five members of the Council are British, five Chinese, and two American, As for customs collection, the in= spector general of the Chinese custom has traditionally been an Englishman, most recently Sir Frederick Maze, but last year the Japanese, being in control of all Chinese ports, insisted successfully that their puppet governments be given control of the customs, and that custmos funds be deposited in a Japanese bank. As a result of this new arrangement, Japan has beeh able ‘to revise

tariff schedules in such a way as|

to favor Japanese goods. It is also reported that the customs setvice winks at the importation duty-free of Japanese merchandise , falsely labelled “supplies for troop” ———————————————

DAHL RELEASE ASKED BY U. S. AMBASSADOR

SALAMANCA, Spain, June 19 (U. P.).—Harold Dahl, American aviator and former Butler University student, captured by Spanish Rebels while he was fighting for the Loyalists, has been officially placed on a list of 18 American prisoners whose release is being sought by Alexander Weddell, new U. S. Ambassador to Spain. Earl Orain, second secretary of the embassy who has been touring Spain to obtain documentation on American war prisoners, conferred yesterday with Dahl at the Provine cial Military Hospital in Salamanca.

for a third term in 1940?

Do you think President Roosevelt will run

If he runs for a third term in 1940, would

Third Term Sentiment at a Glance

you vote for him no matter what Republican runs against him?

prohibiting’ any

Would you favor a constitutional amendment

term? (September, 1938).

oe

President to run for a third

of various groups toward: the third-term question. . The: survey shows that persons on relief and WPA — strongly pro-Roosevelt — are more convinced he will run than voters in the predominantly Republican upper income levels:

will F. D. R. Run in '40?

Upper Income Group

Middle Income

Lower (including persons on Relief and WPA)

Persons on Relief and WPA only.. 60

Southerners are more expectant of a third term (56%) than voters elsewhere, but there is virtually no difference in the opinions of Democrats and Republicans in general. ” 2 ” T remains to be seen—in the

12 months—whether the public has been a good judge or a bad

judge of the President's intentions and of his vote-getting ability in a third campaign. But there are other important indices of what Roosevelt's strength would be in such a race.

First of all, as continuous sur=

" veys have shown since 1937, a ma-

jority of Americans do not favor a third term for Roosevelt. The number favoring a third term has varied betweeri 23 per cent and 38 per cent in- more than a dozén separate polls. Nevertheless, if Roosevelt should be renominated some of those who oppose a third term on principle say they would vote for him. To

© measure the size of the group

which would be for Rooseveit against any Republican candidate whatsbever — the rock - bottom third-term vote—the Institute has just asked voters: “If Roosevelt runs for a third term in 1940, would you vote for him no matter what Republican runs against him?” The answers show that almost four voters in 10—made up chiefly

of persons in the lower income group—would be on F. D. RS side:

Would Vote for F. D. R. Against Any Republican, 39% Would Not Vote for Him. Against Any Republican, 61%

The vote by {pcome groups is:

For F. D. R. Against Any Republican Upper Income Group Middle Income Group Lower (Including Relief)..55 Relief Only 66

2 ” ”

CTUALLY the result of a third-term race would probably depend on the man chosen to run against Roosevelt. If such a campaign were being decided at the present time, the Institute’s “trial heats” indicate that Roosevelt , would run a 50-50 race against Senator Robert Taft of Ohio and would fall slightly behind District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey of New York.

Alcohol in Blood Limit Urged as Law

By WATSON DAVIS Director, Science Service “It shall be conclusive evidence that a person is under the influence of intoxicating liquor sufficiently to affect his ability to drive safely if it is shown by chemical analysis that within one-half hour after he has ceased operating a motor vehicle his blood contains one-half milligram, or more, of alcohol per cubic centimeter.” This is a new traffic regulation recommended by Dr. Yandell Henderson, Yale's emeritus professor of physiology, the father of 32% beer, and a proponent of moderation in the use of alcohol. Just how valid are various proposed methods of analyzing for alcohol the blood or breath, Prof. Henderson would leave to the courts and their competent scientific advisers.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1—Is the salary of the President of the'U. S. subject to Fed-: eral (income tax? 2 2—Which cities in Minnesota are known as. the “Twin Cities”? ' 3—What is the meaning of the union labor term “fink”? 4—What is the nickname for Illinois?" 5—On which body of water is the city of Sevastopol? 6—What" is the correct pronunciation 6f the word lamentabig? : 7—In what year was the “Star Spangled Banner” made the national anthem? # 4 5 Answers 1—Yes. 2—St. Paul and Minneapolis. 3—Strikebreaker. 4—The Prairie State. 5—Black Sea. 6—Lam’-en-ta-bl; not la-men’-ta-bl. T—1031.

ASK THE TIMES

Inclose a 3-cent stamp tu. 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 extended research be undertaken.

Analysis of the exhaled air is one method , proposed, based upon the fact that when alcohol is in the blood a definite proportion of it diffuses into the air in the depths

of the lungs. The breath can be collected by having the suspected person blow up a rubber bag. But Prof. Henderson considers - this method unperfected and likely to give misleading results. . European investigations and confirming American tests show that the moderate drinker, who has less than that half milligram of alcohol per cubic centimeter of blood, has no "more accidents than the wholly nonalcoholic motorists. This is comforting to those who have worried about the possibility that for safety's sake they would have to give up either motor cars or alcohol.

Scientists recognize that alcohol

does affect different persons to different degrees. Should traffic regu-~ lations take account of these differences? Prof. Henderson coms=ments that there are also marked differences even among entirely sober persons in the ability to drive a car. Yet there is a 25-mile-an= hour speed limit for all. What does half a milligram of alcohol per cubic centimeter of biood mean practically? Yale tests show that on an empty stomach two ounces of whiskey, such as a& highball, somewhat less of gin, as in a Martini, or one to one and onehalf quarts of beer can be taken without exceeding the suggested limit. With or soon. after a meal, double these quantities can be taken safely. Keep well within these limits for safe driving, is Prof. Henderson’s advice.

Everyday Movies—By Wortman

BP Pdi

"Her daughter's getting married,

ain't that nice! . .. What! The

daughter that was working? . Oh, that's terrible!"