Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 30 June 1939 — Page 17

FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 1939

Our Town

Not long ago I wrote a little piece about Emmett Rice and how his eyes popped the day he found the forgotten grave of Alexander, Ralston, the surveyor who laid out the original city of Indianapolis. Today I know a little more about it. In March, 1878, after the question of the removal of the remains of Alexander Ralston from Greenlawn Cemetery to Crown Hill had been agitated for more than two months, the Council took up the matter, with the result that a committee consisting of Calvin S. Darnell, Henry Gimber and Fred Battine was appointed to locate the grave of the surveyor in the old cemetery and have the remains transferred to Crown Hill.

Almost immediately after their appointment the committee accompanied by several old citizens went to Greenlawn. They had been able to gain only vague information as to the location of the grave, and acting upon such advice they exhumed a skeleton. Before it had been on the ground five minutes somebody who was up on such things pronounced the skeleton that of a Negro. The disinterred remains were returned to the grave as reverently as possible and the earth restored. Realizing that the job of finding Mr. Ralston was a lot more complicated than they had thought, the committee then weni to work searching out clews. Finally somebody suggested that, maybe, George Norwood who came to Indianpolis in 181%, and who was the first wagon maker around heie, might be able to shed some light on the subject. Chairman Darnell found the aged pioneer, then 89 years old. » = ”

He Remembered, All Right

“Do I remember Aleck Ralston.” exclaimed Mr. Norwood when Mr. Darnell broached the subject. “Why, he was one of the best friends I ever had in all my life. While he was laying out this very town

It Seems to Me

NEW YORK, June 30.—When a reporter makes a speech the newspapers, quite understandably don’t print much and. instead say “Who?” And so I have a very fragmentary report on what Ray Clapper said to the New York State Publishers Association at their banquet in Long Beach, L. I. On the basis of the testimony which was printed I think that Ray introduced a heresy very dangerous to the principles of American democracy. As quoted he said, “I do not want to see either the country or President Roosevelt go through what a third-term campaign will mean. If he runs, the campaign will exceed in bitterness anything 3 that has been seen in our time. 3 The Hoover-Al Smith campaign will be a schoolboys’ snowball fight compared with what a third-term political battle will be. I don’t want to see the Democratic leadership of President Roosevelt crucified with the phony cry that he wants to be a dictator. Out of it, who could win?” And the answer is, “Nobody but a majority of the American people.” © I am far from saying that it must be Roosevelt or ruin. Democracy would be a feeble thing if it were wholly dependent upon the leadership of a single individual. I happen to think that Franklin D. Roosevelt not only personifies the principles of the New Deal but in a purely practical sense that he has the best chance of winning for the Democratic party. But if a convention, popularly chosen, decides that somely should make the race I will be for him if he carries any shade of the color set by the man who has been our leader for two terms. = = n

Let the Majority Rule

In fact. if a Republican is elected I will grouse and criticize and still admit that I must play the game along with the will of the majority. Ray Clapper suggests Secretary Hull. Mr. Hull is an individual in his own right, and his foreign policies coincide closely with those of “that man in the White House.” But I am not sure that Mr. Secretary Hull sees eye to eye with his chief on domestic issues, The issue goes beyond that. Ray Clapper seems to suggest that Mr. Roosevelt should retire, not on the third-term issue but because his candidacy would create “bitterness.”

Washington

ALBANY, N. Y. June 30.—The Governors’ Conference here this week has brought together some capable fresh figures, several of whom may play prominent roles on the national stage in future years. If the states are laboratories of governmental experience, the state governorships also serve as minor league training posts for men headed for national public service. Republicans have not done so well with certain Governors they elected last November, notably James of Pennsylvania and Heil of Wisconsin, After the unfortunate Earle regime in Pennsyivania, almost any Governor would be an improvement. But James has been a thorough disappointment. In Wisconsin, the new Republican Governor, Julius Heil. has succeeded chiefly in convincing the state what a good Governor Phil LaFollette really was. But the Republicans have new Governors of whom they can well be proud. Harold Stassen of Minnesota, too young to be eligible for the Presidential ticket next year, has impressed fellow Governors at this conference, as he has impressed his own state, with his intelligence and his ability to combine progressive outlook and common sense. In a state torn by labor battles, with extreme feeling on both sides, he has put through mediation legislation which is modeled somewhat after the Federal Railroad Mediation Act in principle,

Explains Conciliation Law

Stassen, in explaining legislation to the Governors’ Conference. pointed out that its principle is conciliation through the good offices of the state. He ap-

My Day

HYDE PARK, Thursday.—We still pant for rain around here, not even a shower has come to soften our ground. However, some very lovely lettuce came in from the garden this morning, and by dint of

almost incessant watering the grass and flowers around the cottage still look fresh.

The Governors, who have been holding their annual conference, began to arrive a little before 1 o'clock and the luncheon was held out under the trees near the big house. As usuel, on these occasions many Governors brought members of their families, and I found te my pleasure that there were a number of tamiliar faces. Governor and Mrs. Hoey of North Carolina and Governor Cooper of Tennessee were among our old friends. The latter remembered our last meeting in Johnson City and was just as nice as possible. I could go on for a long

Hime, but I think I will just add that my mother-in- gi

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By Anton Scherrer

he lived at my house and stayed with me long after he made up his mind to remain here altogether.”

“Do you remember where he was buried in Greenlawn. Cemetery?” asked Mr. Darnell. “Well, why shouldn't I? I took care of his grave for more than 40 years. Why, man, I never missed a Sunday, rain or shine, going to Ralston’s grave except when the cold weather made me stay indoors as I got old and rheumatic. Of course, I know where Ralston’s grave is. I'll tell you just how to find it. You go to the burying ground, walk about 40 paces southeast from the gate and behind a little hillock you will find the grave. Right at the head of the grave you will find a spice bush.” Next day by appointment the committee met at Greenlawn. The grave was found just as described by Mr. Norwood and, sure enough, at its head, old and gnarled, stood the spice bush. = 2

All Doubt Allayed

From the grave was removed the skeleton of one who looked like a giant. The skull, too, was unlike anything ever seen around here and, right away, there were many skeptics who believed that the committee was on the wrong track fc® a second time. Chairman Darnell went to see Mr. Norwood again, this time to ask whether he could remember any distinctive marks by which Ralston could be identified. © “Well, I should say so,” exclaimed the 89-year-old man. “Aleck was exactly 6 feet 1 inch tall. One shoulder hung a little lower than the other. But what couldn't be mistaken was the formation of the head. Right over the eyes the forehead bulged out, it seemed to me as much as an inch, and from that line the forehead sloped right back, slanting straight to the crown of his head which was high.” After which, of course, the skeptics shut up. What's more, they weren't heard from again. As for the first grave the committee dug up, Mr. Norwood cleared that up, too. He said it was the grave of David Mallory. a Negro who back in 1821 set up the first barber shop in Indianapolis. Mr. Ralston was one of Dave's best customers, said Mi. Norwood.

By Heywood Broun

In a well-regulated democracy every major election should be bitter. It ought to be fought around vital issues on which there is considerable controversy. Every argument against Mr. Roosevelt's running for a third term could logically have been advanced against Mr. Lincoln's running for a first term. Abraham Lincoln did divide the country and by his success brought about a civil war. But much as we regret the blood and agony of that conflict it was a kind of confirmation of the democratic principle.

It should have settled for all time the fact that ballots are better than bullets and that the man who wins is the Chief Executive whether you like him or not. In suggesting Cordell Hull, Ray Clapper is not arguing for a Tweedledum and Tweedledee election, but he is moving in that direction. He is giving aid and comfort to those who contend that the 1940 contest should be between Garner and Vandenberg, because the result will be precisely the same no matter who is elected. » ” »

Peril of Minority Rule

If an ardent and furious minority is allowed to dictate the choice of candidates, democracy is defeated. There may be many good reasons why Mr. Roosevell should not run again, but among them are not the protests of General Moseley. I have no information, but it is my impression that Franklin D. Roosevelt would like enormously to go back to his dream house and write books and historical pieces and let somebody else take the headache. But if he is challenged on the ground that he personifies the most vital issue in America today, then I think it his bounden duty to run whether he likes it or not. And no fooling. It is not his personal feeling. It is a challenge to the fundamental theory of democratic government that the man in the middle assailed by both sides simply cannot quit under fire. And if the entries in any national race are to be conditioned by what is said at cocktail parties God save the republic. I am for Roosevelt, but if I were not I would still say, “You must run.” It will be fatal to our system if it is the privilege of any group to say before the ballots are counted, “We simply will not stand for that man.” Democracy means that once every four vears we must fight—and let it be tooth and nail— about the things which concern us. We cannot dodge the issue. Let the better man win,

(Ernie Pyle is on vacation.)

By Raymond Clapper

pointed as state conciliator the head of the International Typographical Union in St. Paul. As assistant, a man was chosen from the management side. In two months’ trial, 92 disputes have been presented to the conciliator. Only three of these resulted in strikes and one in a lockout. Republicans also are able to point with pride to the rich young man, William H. Vanderbilt, new Governor of the smallest state, Rhode Island. He has put through the first civil service law in the history of the state, a statute drafted largely by the Civil Service Reform League, which has adopted it as a national model, and supported by the League of Women Voters. He has cut expenses, cut the payroll and raised taxes. » ”

Stark Is Outstanding

utstanding among the Governors is the Missouri Democrat, Lloyd C. Stark. He was elected chairman of the Governors’ Conference for the coming year in recognition of his spectacular victory over the corrupt Pendergast political machine. When he first resisted Boss Pendergast in a major appointment, the boss swung on him with the threat, “I'll send you back to vour apple orchard.” Instead, Stark sent Pendergast to the penitentiary. He didn't do it alone, but it was Stark who went to President Roosevelt and got the green light which removed any inhibitions from Federal agents who were ready to move in. In Washingion an eternal fight goes on over policies and theories of government. But the more one sees of the Government in operation, the more important seem the men who run it. Given a man with broad intelligence, common sense and courage, you don't have to worry very much about his philosophy of government because such a man will, in the long run, strike a balance which is in the public interest.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

In one way, however, this was a disadvantage, for Governer Lehman, who sat at my table, found the little vase of flowers that decorated it blown into his lap. There was so little water in it, that I don't think he was very wet. Much the same thing happened at one of the tables where some children sat, for. I saw my aunt, Mrs. David Gray, get up and go over to supervise some mopping up. - After lunch, I took those whe wished to go, into the big library to point out the chief family heirloom, the Gilbert Stuart portrait of the President's greatgreat grandfather, who was a friend of Alexander Hamilton, and sat in the constitutional convention at Poughkeepsie, when, after much discussion, New York State finally ratified the Constitution.

I cannot say that I feel very happy about the news which the papers bring us from abroad. It seems almost unbelievable that any leader wouid be willing to risk war at a time like this, and yet a responsible correspondent in the Herald-Tribune this morning seems to intimate that this is the case where one European leader is concerned. * ‘IT am particularly glad to see that an amendment was adopted 3 in the Senate to the relief bill which

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an of the white-collar projects, |p:

By Sam Tyndall

OE HROMADA decided radio was pretty intriguing

when he first heard there

was such a thing. That was

when he was 12 and lived in Chicago. Today at 32, Mr. Hromada is head of the Civil Aeronautics Authority radio testing station at the Indianapolis Municipal Airport, and he calls radio “exciting.” Unlike many scientists, he admits that there “might be something” that he and his staff are working on that could revolutionize air navigation by radio.

If there is, he won't tell, The Government won't let

him. His job today is to direct research into radio air navigation aids for the Government and if you listen to him tell what has been done and what he hopes to do at the new station along those lines, you begin to get the idea that perhaps he is keeping mum on a few scientific secrets. Mr. Hromada (the H is silent) is young for his job, but he is a veteran in radio. During the war, the father of one of his playmates operated an electrical supply house in Chicago. “Joe” hung around the shop after school hours and learned about the “wireless.” Soon after he built his first crystal set. During high school summer vacations he worked for other radio and electrical supply houses. Using his earnings, he purchased parts from time to time and like many

another radio-conscious youth, built a short wave radio transmitter. In 1922 he received his first amateur radio operator's license. After graduating from high school he decided, as he puts it, that “it was radio all the way for me.”

” 2 »

- E entered Arniour Institute of Technology in 1925. He majored in radio. During his summer vacations he worked as a student engineer for the Illinois Bell Telephone Co. He promised them he would join the organization after he graduated. After taking additional special work in radio during his senior vear he graduated from Armour Tech in 1929 with degrees in science and electrical engineering. “That was the year jobs were plentiful” he said. “I had offers, like many others, from many companies, — Westinghouse, Gen-

Here are two poses of Joe Hromada, head of the Civil Aeronautics Authority radio testing station at At the left, gazes out of the window of his office watching an incoming plane which his station helped guide to

Indianapolis Municipal Airport.

eral Electric and, of course, the Illinois Bell. “But just for the fun of it—to see whether I could pass it—I took the civil service examination for position of junior radio engineer for the airways division of the Bureau of Lighthouses of the Department of Commerce.” Mr. Hromada said the airways bureau represented the Government’'s first interest in radio air navigation work. At that time there were only four airline radio range stations in the country, and because officials looked upon them as “lighthouses of the air” their control was placed under the Lighthouse Bureau.

The young expert passed the examination. He got the job. He recalls that Illinois Bell “was a little peeved at this.” He went to Washington and for nine years was so closely connected with radio air navigation research, that his new job now as head of the CAA test station here came as no surprise to those in radio.

” ” 2 HEN he entered the Govern= ment service the chief aids to air navigation were emergency landing fields. He was immediately put to work on development of radio range flying—the system of broadcasting radio beams along air routes, upon which pilots today depend to guide them safely to their destinations. It wasn't long before he had carved his first niche in the progress and development of beam flying. He devised and received a patent on a device that helped to make radio range broadcasting practical. He was 23 at the time, It was a device which keys or interlocks the two beams which combine to establish the one to be followed in the course of flying. One cf the beams continuously sends out in code the letter A or dot-dash and the other the letter N or dash-dot, the complimentary signal. The device keys the two peams on the exact course to send out a continuous buzzing sound, the signal to the pilot that he is on his course. If the pilot should be diverted off his course, one or the other signal predominates. There are now 200 radio range

French Views Conflicting on War Peril; Outward Calm Masks Deep Concern

(Third of a Series)

By JOE ALEX MORRIS United Press Foreign News Editor France is trudging along the road back from Munich, outwardly confident that from now on the odds will be against an aggressor in Europe and increasingly impatient to “get done with it.” But there are many conflicting factors in the French comeback that make it difficult, if not impossible,

to judge its underlying strength until the showdown comes. That the nation's attitude is a contradictory mixture of confidence (powerfully encouraged by governmental sources), , unconcern and resignation to whatever comes is obvious even to the casual sightseer in Paris. There is, for instance, the determination of the government to foster the idea that France and the newly-formed security front are now so strong that the totalitarian states will never dare risk a war. Yet only this week Premier Edouard Daladier went out of his way to make public a declaration that the danger is greater than at any time since the World War and Paris became a center for hints of an early Nazi thrust at Danzig. There are air raid trenches in the public parks. But many Parisians insist they would not think of risking their lives under such thin layers of concrete and dirt if enemy planes appeared in the sky. There are flamboyant patriotic posters in the shop windows urging people to “buy now.” Yet the wife of an American businessman was told at a fashionable Rue de la Paix shop last week that the only rush of buying recently came when a sudden heat wave forced the population to invest in summer clothes which normally would have been purchased weeks earlier. There is a return of capital that fled abroad due to war fears, and there is an increasing attitude of defiance toward Italy. Armaments are being built at a faster and faster pace, the recent $300,000,000 arms loan was oversubscribed in four days and French experts are beginning to speculate optimistically on whether their army could break the -supimpregnable German forti-

derstand what has happened since the Nazi dismemberment of Czzschoslovakia, it is essential to emphasize that in the long run Paris looks to { London for almost all final decisions {just as Italy looks tp Berlin. | Thus, there may be much beating of breasts and many strong statements from official sources that

there will be “no more Munichs,” but ultimately France must gear her foreign program to that formulated in London. Two points stand out, however, in France's effort to regain a powerful position in Europe. They are personified by two men: Premier Daladier and Finance Minister Paul Reynaud. Reynaud #s the sparkplug in the nation's economic rehabilitation. He is responsible for the “buy now” posters because a 1 per cent arms tax is now paid on every transaction in France. Even the trenches in the parks are credited with being of greatest value as a psychological spur to united efforts toward recovery and preparedness. Daladier still has Georges Bonnet as Foreign Minister but for all practical purposes the Premier has taken over the job, especially since Bonnet was reluctant to press negotiations for adherence of Soviet Russia to the security front. Since the day Daladier visited Tunisia and saw the strong position of France against the Italian forces in Libya he has taken a more determined stand against the Fascist demands for greater power in the Mediterranean. Daladier returned from North Africa convinced that a successful Italian attack on the French colonial stronghold was impossible. Since then, the theory has been fostered that France and Britain are rapidly overtaking the totalitarians in military preparedness, that the airplane superiority of the Nazi-Fascist hloc had been or soon would be wiped out and that, in event of war, Italy would be at the mercy of the crack French Army from the first cannon shot. In other words, France has worked to put over the idea that the tide has turned and that, if war comes, there would be no question as to the superiority of :the security front. This hag resulted in a spread of skepticism in

x3

long as six months and as to the

|strength of the Nazi “limes” de-

fenses in the Rhineland opposite the French Maginot line. How much of this attitude is inspired by propaganda for its psychological value and how much is the result of obvious improvement in the economic and preparedness fields can never be definitely determined. But there is no question that official

'so'irces have sometimes been over-

optimistic or permitted exaggerated impressions to materia.ize as in the

Britain and the Soviets would get together without difficulty.

NEXT—British Government clings to appeasement theory.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1—From which country did the U. S. purchase Alaska? 9__Can aliens enlist in the U. S. Navy? 3—Into which sea does the Dnieper River empty? 4—_Who was Sir Walter Scott? 5—Name the horse that won the Belmont Stakes recently run at Belmont Park, N. Y. 6—Who succeeded Associate Justice Sutherland on his re= tirement from the U. S. Supreme Court? 7—What body of water connects the English Channel with the North Sea? » ” 2

Answers

1—Russia. 2—No. 3—Black Sea. 4—Scottish poet and novelist, 5—Johnstown. . 6—Stanley Reed. a 7—Strait of Dover.

= ” 8

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 ded be

France as to Ger

case of inspired statements that

safety.

he

stations in the country, spreading beams over 23,000 miles of airways, all dependent upon the Hromada keying mechanism.

” ” ® R. HROMADA'S next job was the result of one of his own ideas. The idea was a radio teletypewriter to be used to replace the leased wire teletypes for disseminating weather information. He built one in 1931 but the Government wasn't much interested. After turning his efforts to other phases of research, the Government revived its interest in the radio operated teletype and ordered him to set up a circuit. This culminated in 1936 with the operation of two teletypes between Baltimore and Washington. Operating exactly like the leased press wire teletypes, except for the radio departure, the machines were designed to be placed in planes to give the pilot a complete record of weather information from the ground. The climax to the radioteletype development work was reached last week at Washington where successful flight tests were conducted for the Army and the CAA. Now the Government is planning as a 1940 project to establish a radio-teletype circuit with seven stations between Washington and Newark, N. J. However, like many discoveries the “per se” value of the radio teletype appears to be relatively unimportant compared to a “byproduct” discovery. This was discovery of the startiing behavior of ultra-high Irequencies in radio which had been used on the teletype circuits. And about this subject Mr. Hromada admits that he is excited and that so are airline pilots, assorted radio experts and the Government. ” ”n os LL of the radio range stations established, of which there are 200 now, operated on low frequencies. The broadcasting beams weve “perfect” for the pilot in good weather. No pilot could get off the course, but just when pilots had to depend on the beam— when it was stormy, when lightning flashed through the skies and the vicibility was “zero,” the beam could not be followed. Static blocked out reception of the signals, throwing the pilots off course. It was during storms that the country was shocked by some of its worst airline disasters. Mr. Hromada and other experts found through demonstrations of the teletype that the ultra high frequencies were remarkably static-proef—in good weather and bad. They don't know why the high frequencies absorb less static, Mr. Hromada said. All they know is that the low frequencies shoot from the earth into a “conductive layer of atmosphere” 42 miles above the earth, reflect and bounce back to earth. The high frequencies penetrate the layer and are lost. They know that more frequencies can be used to cover the airways with the higher degrees. The chief reason for the excite-

Times Photo.

At the right, sleeves rolled up, he is =2t his desk ready to tackle another of the problems confronting the scientific men who are working unceasingly to bring further improvement to navi gation of the airways.

ment is that the high frequencies have shown they may be the solution to radio's chief bugahoo— static.

The first ultra-high frequency radio range station in this coune try was constructed by Mr. Hro= mada here at the Municipal Air= port in 1937. It was then that the young ene gineer first came to Indianapolis, He was here off and on checking tests. This station proved so success= ful after flight tests that it was moved to Pittsburgh. Another later development in the high frequene cies for use on the range stations was developed here last year by Mr. Hromada. Both stations are now being flight checked by Transcontinen= tal Wesiern Air and American Airline planes. » ” o

XPERIMENTS have been so successful that the Govern= ment now has under way the establishment of the first pracetical radio range beacon system to be used on the ultra-high frequencies between Chicago and Newark, N. J. It was last year that plans were made to establish the new CAA station at the Municipal Airport, where most of the CAA testing was being carried on. Mr. Hromada naturally enough moved in as head. Under him, the station will become the center for continued experiments in ultra-high frequencies. Other experimental projects under way involve landing lights, fog penetrating lights and instru=ment or “blind” landing equip= ment. However, research will not be confined to radio air aids. Tests on airport coils and drainage systems also will be con= ducted here, he said. The CAA staff consists of two associate radio engineers, one assistant radio engineer, two radio electricians, one machinist, two airplane pilots and a me= chanic. Asked if his staff was now working on any phase of radio navigation which might prove as startling in results as the ultrahigh frequency experiments, Mr. Hromada smiled and said “that information must come by special permission from Washington.” He did say they were working on the problem of interference of radio beams in mountainous country—the greatest flying hezard. It has been blamed for . many of the air disasters in that type of country. It is a phenomena by which beams are reflected off the moun tains. The beams become “scale loped” resulting in ‘“multi-course” signals. An erroneous beam is often sent out taking the pilot off his course. Experts are able to control “the scalloping,” Mr. Hromada said, “But we can't eliminate it yet.” The new station chief, who works in his shirt sleeves at hig desk, was asked if he still liked work in radio. “Oh yes,” he said. “Is this research and experi mental job hard work?” “Yes, it is sometimes when we have a real problem—but we like a real stickler.”

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