Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 September 1939 — Page 17

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1939

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~The Indianapolis Times

Hoosier Vagabond

HELENA, Mont, Sept. 8—As a gypsy who has been at least three times into every state of the Union, I say flatly that Montana is the only state with historical signs that are actually fun to read. A few of you crippled up old readers may recall that I wrote about these signs in 9 the summer of 1936. And I de- | cided then that, whenever we { came to Montana again, I was i going to hunt up the genius who { thought of the idea, and do a column on him. Well, I've found him. His name is Bob Fletcher. He is “plans and traffic engineer” in the State Highway Department. He took me to lunch, and told me all about it. The idea of putting up gay, readable signs at historical spots came to him several years ago when he and Mrs. Fletcher were driving across the dismal prairies between Montana and Chicago. The trip was so dull they just yearned for a little road-side readin’. So when he got back he put his idea up to the Montana Highway Department. At first there wasn't any money. But he kept at it, and finally, in 1935, they told him to go ahead.

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They Grin—and Learn

They put up about 15 the first year. are very large, and beautiful, too. There is a knee-high base of native rocks set in concrete. From each end of this base rises a wooden pole. Another pole forms a cross-beam. And from this cross-beam hangs a large wooden board, and on it is painted in big, black, readable letters whatever message Brother Fletcher thought up for that historical spot. The signs are full of Wild West “stage” words, which appeal to tourists. For instance—"Shelby Junction became an oasis where parched cowpunchers cauterized their tonsils with forty-rod and grew plumb irresponsible and gala!” Montana is about the only state where you'll see tourists cars by the dozen pulled up at historical signs, with the tourists reading and grinning—and earning.

It Seems to Me

NEW YORK, Sept. 8.—From time to time George Bernard Shaw is eminently right. And it seems to me that he is quite correct in protesting against the action of the British Government in closing the theaters and cinema houses. To him the decision is “a master stroke of unimaginative stupidity.” In characteristic Shavian fashion he suggests a policy precisely opposite to that which has been set. But his suggestions appear to be practical rather than prankish. He would have the authorities “at once set to work to provide new theaters and picture houses where these are lacking.” And his second suggestion is that “all actors, variety artists, musicians and entertainers of all sorts should be exempted from every form of service except their own all-important professional one.” The British Cabinet, of course, is taking to heart considerations of the danger which may come to audiences during air raids either through direct hits or panic. But this safety factor in the long run is less important than the preservation of national morale. Circuses may be just as important as bread in the winning of the war.

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Difficult Person, Indeed

Bernard Shaw is advancing no new theory but actually going back to lessons which were made evident in the last war. He was on several occasions a visitor to the Western Front. In the summer of 1917 I went up to Amiens with some other American newspapermen, and the officer who toured us through the trenches had chaperoned Shaw only the week before. I asked the young captain what he thought of the distinguished visitor, and he replied, “He seemed a nice old gentleman, but just a little balmy.” And in explanation of this judgment he explained,

The signs

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Washington

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8.—This Government's activity with regard to rapidly rising prices, which are alarming housewives all over the country, appears likely to be restricted—for a time at least—to check-

"ing the profits of the middle-men.

Secretary of Agriculture Wallace is to be counted as favoring still higher prices for the farmer and he has his figures marshaled to defend his position. It is conceivable that there will be some pulling in opposite directions within the Administration on this subject of war boom prices. Attorney General Murphy has put the Department of Justice to work to protect consumers against undue price -increases. Mr. Wallace is pulling for higher basic commodity prices for his farmers—at least he looks on tolerantly as the market quotations on farm commodities go up. What the recovery drive didn’t bring the farmer, maybe the war will, 2 =» %

Wallace Cites Figures

In fact, when Secretary Wallace was asked whether there could be any justice in the rapidly rising prices, he became as belligerent as his mild nature ever permits and fired back the question, “Justice for whom?” With that he dived into his evidence to prove that prices need to go up considerably before the farmer receives his due. Plainly, if he has any influence in the Administration, the war boom in farm prices is going to be allowed to have its head for a while until the farmer catches up. Among reasons why Mr, Wallace thinks the city

My Day

HYDE PARK, Thursday.—VYesterday I reached New York City in time to attend the annual meeting of the National Advisory Committee of the National Youth Administration. The meeting was well attended. In the morning we found ourselves discussing how best to help the youth of the nation to live through the present crisis without being swept away by their emotions. It seems hard enough to expect grown-ups to accomplish this, but to expect young people who can hardly remember 19141918, to keep an objective point of view seems somewhat difficult. Yesterday was the first day I had not spent a good part of the day listening to a radio, and so I bought a paper at noon and again in the evening. But, in spite of being busy, one could not help but think of the war all the time, for everybody is doing the same thing. Mr. Aubrey Williams, cautioned the committee, therefore, against forgetting that domestic problems were still with us and that for us they were still paramount; that Congress had shown its confidence in the N. Y. A. by allotting it an increase in funds, and that it was essential for us to evaluate the work that had been done and plan, if possible, f° better it,

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Pyle

Today there are 100 of these signs scattered over the state. Mr. Fletcher's biggest worry, at first, was that the public would ruin the signs. People out West love to shoot at signs. And throw rocks at them. And write names on them. Yet, amazingly, Montana's swell signs have escaped. There has been only one case of desecration. And he laughingly admits it was justified, and blames himself

By Ernie

It seems that, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation sign, Mr. Fletcher said the Blackfeet were once defeated in battle by Indians from Canada. The next thing he knew, the name of the Canadian Indians had been chiseled out, and the poles holding the sign looked as though a family of beavers had been gnawing at them, The Blackfeet, you see, claim they've never been whipped by anybody. And they wouldn't stand for a sign saving they had. So. Mr. Fletcher wrote a different story, put up a new sign, and it stands there today, shining and unmarred.

Anaconda Was Off cided

Mr. where he wanted signs, and personally wrote all the inscriptions. He did many of them while he was in bed with a broken leg. The state's graybeards have done a little criticizing because of the saucy language of the inscriptions, but not very much. In fact, it worked the other way in one case.

The sign for Butte is a jaunty one. It winds up|:

by saying, “ .. . she was a bold, unashamed, rootin’, tootin’, hell-roarin’ camp in days gone by, and still drinks her liquor straight.” Well, if Butte could have a sign, then Anaconda wanted one, too. Anaconda is the famous smelter town, 25 miles west of Butte. Their histories are intertwined. So Mr. Fletcher put up a sign for Anaconda. It was one of the last. By that time he was a little tired of writing signs and couldn't think of anything very racy, so he just wrote a straight historical account. And Anadonda got sore. Why? Because the sign didn’t make Anaconda out to be as tough a place as Butte!

By Heywood Broun

“I took him out to Vimy Ridge, where we are going now. It was a quiet day, but you never can tell] when trouble may break loose, and so I told Mr. Shaw that he should wear a steel helmet. He wouldn't put one on. In fact, he said, ‘The Germans would

Fletcher himself picked the historic spots|s

be foolish to shoot at me, because I am practically the only man in England who knows anything about | them.” Imagine that! How would any German a!

ahha

Sweden, strongest of the Scandinavian countries in a military

sense, is prepared for emergencies.

Here is a Swedish anti-aircraft

gun in action during recent realistic exercises.

couple of miles off know whether he was firing at| J/q J Eliot Sa YS

Shaw or not? “But the worst trouble we had with Mr. Shaw] was when we got back to the chateau at night. | Naturally several of us had heard of him and knew | that he wrote plays. We figured to give him a bangup | dinner, and we had champagne and filet mignon. | But when he comes to the table he suddenly tells | us that he doesn't drink or eat a lick of meat, It took almost half an hour to scare him up an egg| and some of that stuff the French call haricots verts. He was a nice old gentleman, but I hope we don't get any more playwrights right off.”

= ” » Keeping Peace Alive

Nevertheless, Shaw knows the soldier as well as] the civilian population, and he is wise in urging that | the shows should continue. What war does to the body of man is bad enough, but it may do even worse to his spirit. I'm afraid that unless there is a negotiated peace Europe is in for a long war, and England will be wisé to keep alive some portion of normal life so that its men and women may not forget the existence of a thing called peace. This is an excellent word to keep in mind even in the midst of slaughter. War gets to a point at which all terminal facilities are forgotten. Fury comes to seem the normal thing and sanity.an aberration. The last war might well have ended on the basis of the Pope's peace proposals many months in advance of the actual settlement. And Shaw is right in contending that the curtain should go up. There is need of solace for the moment.

By Raymond Clapper

consumer ought to permit the farmer to enjoy the] war boom for a while are the following: The index figure for the prices which the farmer received for his products in 1913, just before the first World War, was 101. For some time it has been below even that ancient level. Last March the index stood at 91. By Aug. 15 it had slipped to 88. Now, with the sharp price rise of recent days, it probably stands at about 95—still under the pre-war level. That while the cost of living index is about 140—compared with 100 in 1913. The cost of living may be high, but the farmer isn't getting his out of it.

= o ” Heavy Surpluses Ewist Wheat isn’t back to where it was before the World War. Neither are corn and cotton. Hogs, cattle and wool are only slightly above the pre-war five-year average. Butterfat is slightly below. Sugar is about the same. Lard—about which there are some profiteering charges—is slightly more than 7 cents a pound compared with 10!2 cents before the war. True,

lard has jumped more than 2 cents a pound in the last month but then it was at its lowest point in the] history of agriculture department records. It was] higher a year ago than now. Lard has been disastrously low, Secretary Wallace says. Farm prices have not even reached the levels of 1936 and 1937. Any outcry against the farmer, he says, is totally unjustified. | Complaints are being received that salesmen are| restricting orders in some lines of processed foodstuffs, | saying that the supply is limited. That so far as food- | stuffs and cotton are concerned, is entirely unwarranted. Secretary Wallace himself says that, if such things are being done, they constitute an attempt to force up prices by trving to create a scare. There is no scarcity. There are heavy surpluses in all basic commodities.

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By Eleanor Roosevelt

It seemed to me that the most interesting contribution made was that of a member of a local advisory group from Ohio. He discussed the problem of a

semi-rural neighborhood and went into details on the value to the community and the youth of the training for work. We had an interesting discussion on various rural and industrial problems as they affect youth today. I hope a committee will be appointed to study much more thoroughly than one can in a brief two-day meeting, the relationship between agricultural and industrial problems which affect youth.

I had a luncheon engagement and could not stay with the group, but I returned in time to hear the last part of Mayor La Guardia’s speech. He made a very stirring one that I am sure everyone present felt was a great contribution to the thinking of the group. A number of state directors were with us in the afternoon and some of the young people who represented different groups. A few of them returned to my apartment with me and discussed some of the problems which the present situation has put before them.

What price neutrality?

For the neutrals and the fghting nations?

War Outcome May Hinge on Neutrals

Maj.

George F. Eliot, military expert, describes the potential role of Europe's néutrals in the present conflict in his latest dispatch.

By Maj. Eliot

ONDON, Sept. 8.—Europe’s neutrals loom large as factors for defeat or victory in the German campaign. Spain’s neutrality is a serious blow to Nazi hopes, as Spanish bases were essential to German submarine and surface operations against British trade routes and the Mediterranean sea routes between France and her African

colonies.

A hostile Spain also would force France to guard the Pyrenees border against an expert and war-hardened

Spanish Army. With Britain's Gibraltar free from Spanish threat and a neutral Spanish Morocco removing any threat against French North Af-

rica, time and resources would not be wasted in cleaning up these outlying positions. Neutral Belgium is much more formidably armed than in 1914 with strong fortifications along Albert Canal and the Meuse River. It has a capable air force which includes only planes for defensive fighting and few bombers. For Germany to attack Belgium would add considerably to torces opposing Hitler in the West without markedly improving the Nazi strategical position. On the other hand Belgium would be of little help in the launching of a French attack against Germany since the Belgian frontier with Germany is very short, and German western fortifications cover Belgium and Luxembourg as well as the French border. ” ” » EUTRAL Netherlands is another matter. It is much more exposed to German attack,

| although provisions for inunda-

tion between fortifications might prove a formidable obstacle, at least delaying any German onslaught. The Dutch Army is trained on a short service basis and is neither as strong nor as well equipped as the Belgian military. But Holland does offer an advantageous geographical position to the Allies from its position on the right bank of the Rhine. On the other hand, the Bel-gian-Duteh neutrality, from the point of view of air attacks probably offers a greater advantage to Germany than to Britain as it protects Germany to some extent from direct attack from English bases. Historically neutral Switzerland occupies a key position between Germany, France and Italy. Its army also is trained on a shortterm basis. The Swiss terrain is most difficult, the mountain passes are well

fortified and the people are de= termined to defend desperately their traditional neutrality. It is likely that any attempt to violate this neutrality would cost the aggressor more than the results would warrant. = ” »

TRATEGICALLY important Denmark, commanding the entrance to the Baltic Sea, is in an extremely exposed position, with a very small and poorly equipped army and a navy that could not resist seriously a German thrust. Norway, less exposed geographically, is somewhat better armed than Denmark. Sweden is very important to Germany because of its supply of high grade iron ore, and its munition works. But Sweden, by far the most formidable, in a military sense, of the Scandinavian countries, has a good army, equipped to the teeth, and an excellent although small Navy, ine cluding small battleships, cruisers, destroyers and submarines. Finland is in a bad position because of her long frontier with Soviet Russia, always an uncertain neighbor. The Baltic states could not long resist attack either from Germany or Russia. If forced to choose, they would prefer Germans to Russians any day. Portugal has declared her neutrality, though asserting fidelity to the British alliance. She is not important while Spain remains neutral but would be a vitally important British fleet base if Spain made Gibraltar untenable. There remain then only the neutrals of southeast Europe and the Balkans which will be dis cussed in a succeeding dispatch. It is important to remember that because of the major character of this crisis these small neutrals may join or be forced to join sides in the war and may have a decisive influence on the outcome. The “propaganda” war continues unabated and will be intensified as the war proceeds and each side seeks to win neutrals to its cause.

Name Scout Committees For 25th Anniversary

Appointment of Boy Scout committees to arrange events in connec-

DeWitt Morgan, schools superine

tion with the 25th anniversary of Scouting was announced today by Wallace O. Lee, chairman of the silver anniversary committee.

tendent, was named chairman of a| Harry T. Ice, Almus G. Ruddell, subcommittee to plan the Scout-| Foster Clippinger, Harper J. Rans-

yr ESS ARRAYS + 1 oe wren

“It is likely that any attempt to violate Swiss neu trality would cost the aggressor more than the results would warrant.” Above, an artillery crew on guard in a Swiss mountain pass, backgrounded by the tower

ing crags that make the terrain a military hazard.

Spain's neutrality is a serious blow to Nazi hopes. Gibraltar, Britain's guardian gate to the Mediter ranean, is free from the threat of hostile forces behind it and those in Spanish Morocco in front of it.

Neutral Belgium is much more formidable now than when she was overrun with German invaders in the early days of the World War. Here crack Belgian machine gunners are shown in action during

maneuvers.

LEGION MARGHERS COMPETE SEPT. 24

The state championship Amerie can Legion color guard from Tille man H. Harpole Post 249 will come pete in a national contest at Chie cago Sept. 24. Directed by Come mander Robert E. Skelton, the guard won the Glenn Hillis trophy at the recent state convention ‘at Bloomington. Commander Skelton and other officers of the post will be installed . | Monday night. They include Wile liam Porter, Bernard Martin, O, Warren Harvey and Teril M. Robe erts, vice commanders; Van Pare rot, adjutant; Sam Hall, assistant adjutant; John W. Beatty, finance officer; Herbert C. Willis, service SD | officer; Samuel Swancey, chaplain} . | Ralph McWilliams, historian. Others to be installed are George Peters, sergeant-at-arms; Virgil Tuines, assistant sergeant-at-arms; Cody Blackburn, athletic officer; Plumme Jacobs, child welfare offie cer, Theodore Cable, Americanism officer; W. C. Hollins, employment officer; Bernard Martin, member ship chairman and Sons of the Lee gion chairman; William Porter, publicity officer; McKinley Brewer, poppy chairman; Homer Carr, drill team captain; Bruce Bedenbaugh, drum corps captain, and Van Pare rott, lieutenant drum corps.

I felt that many people at this meeting were still con- master’s Appreciation dinner to be | burg and Felix McWhirter.

fused in their own thinking as to what our attitude held soon. Other members are El rnest : lp itit ; uk § » st Cohn was named chairas 2 Rin Hg 35 Ihaiviidals should be in this crisis. pert Glass, Stanley Norton, ln of a subcommittee to compile Ve yn] son struck a note which I thik | vit; Henry Stenger, Clarence |and print the Silver Anniversary > must ho efore us. He said that we were the Sweeney, William H. Sanford. brochure covering the 25 years of only nation that could think of building a world in! Ear Kiger was named chairman [scouting in Indianapolis. which wars did not recur and that that thought must of a subcommittee to arrange the| Glen Findley was named chairnever be out of our minds. I returned to Hyde Park Silver Anniversary annual meeting! man of a committee for special late last night. in October, Other are gifts,

TEST YOUR

KNOWLEDGE

1—Where is the Guernsey? 2—Who was the first woman to become a member of a President’s Cabinet in the United States? 3—Where are the Jura Mountains? 4—With what sport is the name of Marion Miley associated? 5—~What is the abbreviation for the word manufacturing? 6—Of which country is “Rule Britannia” a national song? 2 s o

Answers

1—It is the second largest of the English Channel Islands. 2—Frances Perkins (Mrs. Paul Wilson). 3—Between France and Switzerland. 4—Golf, 5—Mfg. 6—Great Britain.

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., Washing-

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Everyday Movies—By Wortma

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