Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 December 1939 — Page 1
The Indianapolis Time
/ FORECAST: Mostly cloudy tonight followed by partly cloudy weather tomorrow; colder with lowest temperature tonight 35 to 40.
FINAL HOME
| SCRIPPS ~ HOWARD §
VOLUME 51—NUMBER 242
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1939
Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoifice, Indianapolis, Ind.
PRICE THREE CENTS
ROSES BLOOM AS U.S. BASKS IN MIDWINTER
Slight Drop Due Here, but ‘White Christmas’ Is Unlikely.
By UNITED PRESS The nation basked in the most abnarmally mild weather in 50 years today as winter attempted to edge its way in for its official start Thursday. U. S. Weather Forecaster G. E. Dunn at Chicage predicted that winter would lose out. He expected a mild sample of yule weather in scattered Midwestern sections within a day or two but said, with that exception, spring-like temperatures would stay until nearly the first of the year. He said there was little chance of a “white Christmas.” Normally it would be stormy and cold with Christmas shoppers dodging shovels and snow plows. Instead shoppers shed their top coats and Santa Clauses sweltered beneath false beards.
LOCAL TEMPERATURES a.m ...52 10am... 33 a he ..-- 51" Ram ... 36 am ... 45 12 (noon) .. 30 am ... 4 p.m ... 51
In Indianapolis, balmy spring-! like weather continued, with the; prospect of slightly cooler tempera- | tures tomight and tomorrow. The mercury rose during the night to a high of 57 at 5 a. m., then fell several degrees during the morning. Roses bloomed and robins chirped in the Midwest. Winter sports en-! thusiasts kept their equipment in storage and joined summer sport fans mm golf, tennis, baseball and fishing. Denverites mowed lawns instead of shoveling snow. Chicago, where the weather has been the most spring-like for late December in several years, expected an interruption of cloudy, colder | weather today. The forecast gave] the Chicago Coal Merchants’ Association courage to announce it would proceed with plans to greet| the winter solstice, official start of winter, Thursday. On that day the association will select “Miss Winter Solstice.” The announcement hinted that she may ascend her throne quite properly clad, as far as the weather is concerned, in; a bathing suit. Mr. Dunn said December temperatures in the Midwest so far have been the highest since 1899. He] said the range generally throughout | the country was 5 to 25 degrees! above normal. | Low Pressure Areas Responsible | The reason, he said, was a low pressure area in the north Pacific which set up a country-wide cir-| culation of warm air. The warm mass has succeeded in blocking out cold blasts that ordinarily would | sweep down from the Arctic. Early today the temperature at Chicago was 51. Medicine Hat,! Manitoba, where the temperature at this time of the year usually is below zero, reported 22 above last night. At St. Louis the official | reading was 60; at Des Moines, 44; at Kansas City, 52; at New York, 43; at Washington, D. C., 54; at Pittsburgh, 33, and at Cleveland, 46. In Colorado the temperature was so mild golf courses were crowded with players in shirt-sleeves. In Minnesota, skiing was virtually at] a standstill, and the skating season, which opened officially last week, was a washout.
Grid Players Complain
Phoenix. Ariz., reported the high-! est De2cember temperature in its historv. The Temple Teachers football team, practicing for the Sun Bowl at El Paso, Tex, New Years Day, complained of the heat. Tennis courts that had been flooded for skating in Chicago suburbs were drained off so tennis could be played again. Members of the Chicago Polar Bear Club] cancelled their daily plunge into] Lake Michigan yesterday because, they said, the air and water were! “too warm.” { At West Chicago confused chrysanthemums bloomed and ended up in a vase for Yule decorations.
RESTORE CLEVELAND | RELIEF SCHEDULE
CLEVELAND, Dec, 19 (U. py _| Sixteen thousand single and child-less-couple relief clients off grocery
| brown hair and blue-grey eyes.
Queen we
ARE GOING UP, I. S. REPORTS
Steel, Auto, Cotton, Wool, Rayon Gain, Says Reserve Board.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (U. P)).| —The Federal Reserve Board pre-| sented a bright picture of the busi-| ness situation today in a review + covering November and the first two | weeks of December. | Almost all branches of industry showed improvement, the Board] 'said. The Board's seasonally ad-| | justed index of industrial produc-| tion advanced from 121 to 124 in| November, reflecting sustained activity in a period when a decline is usual.
iE
| { { | {
| Sales Increase Industrial activity continued at] the high level whieh began after) the outbreak of the European war, the Board said. with a considerable | increase in distribution of com-| modities to consumers and a rise] in prices of basic commodities. Production of durable goods, it! reported, showed further expansion.! ‘Record production of steel ingots continued in November and was followed by a less than seasonal de-|
a ‘cline in the first half of December.
} o_o | Automobile production increased, |
Margaret Huntley, 18-year-old |it said, notwithstanding that plants] brunet beauty, was chosen from of one important company (Chrysamong 3000 coeds of Pasadena |ler Corp.) were closed by an indus- | (Cal) Junior College to be Queen | trial dispute. of the Pasadena Tournament of | is xr Roses. She is 5 feet § inches tall | Juice Relat Volume = and weighs 118 pounds, has dark | etail sales of new cars were in|
[tion declined less than seasonally. | | Plate glass production showed a re-| -— duction but output of non-durable {goods continued at a high level. |
She is a junior in college and is majoring in speech and drama.
close to record levels reached three vears ago. Rayon production advanced but silk mills suffered a
of Roses TRADE INDICES | First Picture of Graf Spee Explosion
{large volume while lumber produc-| =
ey 3 3 Cotton and woolen mills activity, | SN [the review stated, increased and was|
SALE OF
NAZIS LAUNCH THIRD U-BOAT DRIVE ONSHIPS
‘Bombs and Machine Guns Also Used in Attacking Coastal Vessels.
BULLETINS TOENDER, Denmark, Dec. 19 (U. P.).—British airplanes made three bombing raids today on the German Naval and aerial base at Syit.
LONDON, Dec. 19 (U. P).— Three more British trawlers were bombed and machine-gunned from the air by German planes today.
LONDON, Dec. 19 (U. P.).—The {third German U-boat offensive |against Great Britain was believed ‘by naval experts to have started
| ie : . | today in co-operation with aerial
| bombing and machine gun attacks
jon Allied coastal ships. The torpedoing of the British
| steamship City of Kobe, a 4373-ton vessel from which 52 men were reported missing, and of the Norwegian steamship Glitrefjell, {which five lives were lost, appeared {to mark the opening blows by the
on|
U. S. APPROVES
A4 FAST
PLANES TO FINNS
Supreme Allied War Council Debates Quick Help.
War in Brief LONDON —British bid for aerial supremacy expected to lead to more spectacular battles with Nazis.
BERLIN German High Come mand repeats claim that Nazis shot down 34 British planes during North Sea raid.
HELSINKI—Finnish anti-aircraft batteries drive off Russian aire planes flying over capital. STOCKHOLM —Newspapers report
decisive Finnish victories over Russians on North Central Front.
PARIS—French patrols claim te have pierced German lines three miles in Lower Vosges sector.
MONTEVIDEO—Captain and crew of the Admiral Graf Spee face interrnment in Argentina,
.
§
By LOUIS F. KEEMLE. United Press Cable Editor Prospects of material aid to eme battled Finland from abroad, in< cluding the United States, increased today. The Allied Supreme War Council met in Paris and considered means of stepping up British and French shipments of war material which the Finns declare they must have to continue beating off the massed Russian attacks from the Arctic to the Gulf of Finland. At the same time, Avenol, Secretary League of Nations,
Joseph A, General of the went to Paris
sharp decline. The Board's index of department
re | store sales advanced from 90 to 94.
Results of Inquiry Into Auto postoffice Bulges Dealer's Case Go to |With Record Mail
More mail is being handled at the Attorney General. Indianapolis Postoffice this Christ-|
' |
This is the first picture of the
cruisers, (Story, Page Three.)
Times-Acme Telephoto.
actual explosion of magazines in the Admiral Graf Spee, German
raider, which was scuttled by her crew off Montevideo Harbor tn avoid a second battle with British
(third wave of submarines sent out| from Geneva on a mission to stime from German waters in the cam- ulate international backing for Fine |paign to break Britain's sea power. land. | At the same time, the new tactics| Avenol is carrying out the deci« adopted by German airplanes of sion of the League Council and machine gunning and bombing Assembly which, in expelling Rus-~ coastal shipping added to the dan-|sia as an aggressor, called on mems< gers of the Nazi offensive, in which her and non-member nations te floating mines still play an impor- rally to Finland's support,
{mas season than in any other of The joint Legislative Investigat- local ~history, according to figures ing Committee today recommended announced today by Postmaster to Governor M. Clifford Townsend Adolph Seidensticker, that the State Highway Commis-| Between Dec. 1 and the close of sion return $40.357 to an auto deal- | business vesterday, the postoffice er who did business with the State here handled a total of 26,355,778 15 years ago. pieces of mail. The refund question has been| During the same period a year fought in the Indiana courts since ag0 the office handled 24.679.812, 1924. The dispute grew out of a this year’s volume being 1675966 $50.000 deposit put up with the Pieces or 6.79 per cent greater. State by O. F. Schlensker, Indian-| Indianapolis is mailing more gifts apolis junk dealer, supposedly to this year than last. Thus far 2.269,guarantee his good faith in dealings 530 parcels have been mailed by with the State. ares) post against 2.156.514 during the same period last year. Involved Auto Parts And Indianapolis is receiving more The Legislative Committee's re- Christmas gifts, too. The record for
port showed that soon after the this year is 920.700 against 881.700
money was deposited in 1924, State incoming parcels during the same officials questioned some items in- period last year.
cluded in $429.00) worth of business | — transacted between the State and Mr. Schilensker. EX-PUGILIST ADMITS The business involved the sale of automobile parts to the Highway Commission. CONSULATE SLAYING At that time, John Williams was Highway Commission chairman. i — 3g ie refused to authorize return! of the $50.000 deposit until alleged i Overly ments were settled. 5 Salesgirl Overhears Talk, o settlement was reached and) the case was dragged through Leads to Arrest. State courts for years without a de-! cision.
\
‘No Intent to Defraud’ The Committee members said they recommended return of only $40,357 of the original $50,000 deposit because of errors in the records of Mr. Schlensker’s transactions. “We found no evidence of intention to defraud the State,” the Committee stated. » advances
The Committee also suggested: : : that interest “should be paid on the Police had been looking for Keh(ler, 24-vear-cld former
(Cont inued on Page Thiee) | since his bloody fingerprints were
4 | found in the Brooklyn home where BOY STRUCK BY CA Dr. Engelberg’s battered body was
| salesgirl with a sharp ear heard a Christmas shopper mention a name and as a result today Ernest Walter Kehler (Ernie Haas)) had confessed in Toronto, Ont., that he killed Dr. Walter Richard Engel- | berg, first secretary of the German | consulate here, because the 42-vear-old Nazi official made “improper
They finally picked up his trail through the salesgirl, who heard a woman purchasing toys in a Brookiyn department store mention |the boxer’'s name and say she was going to Canada. The girl got word to police who | trailed the woman and obtained | information which enabled them to | telegraph Toronto authorities that Kehler probably would meet a bus on which she would be a passenger. Police telephoned here,
found last Dec. 8.
Christmas May Be Gloomy One for Webb Family.
Prospects for a happy Christmas look pretty dark for the Robert
NEW YORK, Dec. 19 (U. P.) —A
}
|
i {
Bridegroom’s Death Fails To Halt Gypsy Wedding
{ ————— i
| PITTSBURGH, Dec. 19 | funeral dirge filled the air today
the aisle, head bowed, at St. Michael's Roman Catholic church in |
Braddock.
(JU. P.
).—The somber strains of a gypsy as the “bride” walked slowly down
| The last wish of Albert Horvath, 20, was being fulfiilled. “If I die before I can get married,” he said on his deathbed, “please
out the wedding at my uneral.” | So, today, everything was carried out as it would have had Albert lived. He died last Thursday of | pneumonia contracted a few months after a sinus operation.
25 Gypsy Musicians
The “bride,” Irene Garber, 19, was dressed in a flowing snowwhite gown with a corsage of roses. There were eight “bridesmaids” and a half dozen “ushers.” Twenty-five gypsy {most with typical violin and bow, provided the music. But there was no “wedding march.” Instead, they played a solemn requiem for the dead “bridegroom.” Led by sad-faced musicians, the “wedding procession” left Albert's home for the march to the church. | Behind the musicians, with three train-bearers, came Irene, the “bridesmaids” and the “ushers,” followed by the hearse which con- | tained: the body of Albert.
| Then to Cemetery
| After a 35-minute ceremony at {the church, the procession formed again. Funeral cars sped to the
[carry
|
tant. The “wedding party” stood at the graveside. Irene was there, her roses fluttering in a mild breeze. | The coffin was lowered as the gypsy musicians played a farewell dirge. | Then suddenly the music stopped. Irene looked at her corsage. She tossed it atop the casket and turned laway.
PHILIPPINE HOMES BURN
| MANILA, Dec. 19 (U. P.) — Eighty | houses were destroyed and hundreds
quoting of persons were made homeless to-
orders for four weeks, probab'y will Webb family today. But if Robert gepler that he “went berserk” and day when fire swept the town of be restored to “full relief” by to- Jr, 15, wins that battle for his life, bludgeoned the German to death Badoc in Ilocos Norte Province. No stands were used exclusively by un-
morrow, social workers believed today. Mayor Harold H. Burton Monday ordered “full relief” stored Dec. 15 after City Council had voted a $1050.000 bond issue to finance it until the end of the vear, but the task of relisting the needs of those off relief since Nov. 15 has delayed issuance of food orders. | Full grocery orders to 40 030 family cases, which had been on two-thirds! orders for the same length of time, gradually were being restored. | |
SHOPPING DAYS LEFT | HE Welt
last re-|
~Y'0 Q
enOD Roo
-
|
the Webb family, which lives at]
is a WPA worker.
his parents and brothers and sisters
3 : on the morning of Dec. 5. won't ask anything else, |
| deaths were reported.
musicians, |
REFUSES TO REDUCE PROPOSED BIKE FEE
| ee
Safety Board Also Calls 7 To Anti-Smoke Session.
The Safety Board today definitely rejected a proposal to reduce a proposed 50-cent fee for bicycle registration. The bicycle ordinance is [pending in City Council. | Police Chief Michael F. Morrissey |told Board members that the 50‘cent fee was the minimum in his opinion and should stand. The Chief's comment was made when Donald S. Morriss, Republican Board member, asked whether it would be {practical to cut the proposed fee to 25 cents. The Board summoned seven al-
|
pugilist, Catholic cemetery about a mile dis- leged violators of the anii-smoke|
‘ordinance, including Manual High
School, for hearing at 2 p. m. Friday at City Hall. Leroy J. Keach, Safety {Board president, said that Board {members and City Combustion Engineer J. Webster Clinehens would |confer with the alleged violators to seek a means of reducing the volume of smoke. | The Board also took the first step in harassing unlicensed taxicabs when members decided to ask City Council to rescind ordinances permitting cab stands on the north side of W. North St. east of N. West St. and on Vermont St. east of Senate Ave. Chief Morrissey said these
licensed cabs.
tant part. Sea War Toll Listed
In addition to machinegun and bombing attacks on a score of vessels yesterday, the sea war toll reported today included: 1. The British trawler Etruria, damaged with loss of three lives, in machinegun and bomb attack. 2. The British trawler Active, sunk with loss of one man in aerial attack. : 3. The Norwegian steamer Glitref jell, sunk by a torpedo. 4. The Danish steamer Jytte, 1877 tons, sunk by a mine with apparent loss of 10 men. 5. The British trawler i it i rious damage | “Bobby is a very friendly child, HR Serious damage and is so appreciative. . 6. The British trawler Fort Rose, Yes, and Bobby is 9 years old and attacked by Nazi planes. : his clothes aren't warm. And Bob- | 7. The British steamer City by's father has been
except for occasional odd jobs, since sunk hy a torpedo today. b st day $ i -| : the last day of July. And his moth Three-Way Attack Used
er wrote: British experts said that the Nazis
|
WARM CLOTHES S BOBBY'S NEED
Hundreds Are Ahead of Him On List but His Case Is Urgent.
(Donors’ List, Page Three)
» .o.
“I have been thinking I would write you, but thought my husband apparently were attempting to make might get work, and I could buy full use of all three methods of atthe clothes myself. |tack—U-hoat, mines and airplanes “I have never before asked for _jn an intensified Naval offensive. help from any Christmas fund, but when one method has appeared to we are not able to buy the clothing'pe overcome by the British Navy ourselves. [another is put into effect on a big “I know you have many others geale. to clothe, but if possible I would| There were reports from Denmark like to have him on the list.” lof a new aerial battle over the GerWell, Bobby, there were hundrads man naval and air base area on the {ahead of you. While your mother | northwestern German coast, where ‘was waiting, hoping desperately | British planes apparently attempted that your father would get work another attack on the Isle of Sylt. land she would not have to write at| Neither Britain nor Germany, (all, Ciothe-A-Child was forced to (Continued on Page Three) {cease accepting all but the most mp————————————
lurgent requests. To you, of course, this request is REDS THRICE BOMB
urgent—so urgent that it will get lall the attention we can give it. But Several Hurt, Houses Fired Driven Off at Helsinki.
. ’
rewere were
Robert is in City Hospital seriouslv hurt. He was struck by an automobile last night while crossing the street with a penny’s worth of candy for his 7-year-old brother, Donald. The radiator ornament pierced his! skull. | Today, serious-faced physicians said gravely: “There's not much] chance.” But then, as if to keep hope alive, |
they added, “But he’s putting up a|
game fight.” The boy was struck by an auto last night as he darted across St.,, the driver, was driving slowly and stopped within a few feet. Robert is one of six children in!
didn’t start.
Washington St. at Oriental St. Witnesses said Robert had only run about eight feet into the street when he was struck. They said
Flavian Baur, 24, of 1203 St. Paul Below, the earth was
slowly was losing altitude.
1409 Southeastern Ave. Mr. Webb “Abandon ship,” he com | Mrs. Webb said they learned of] the tragedy last night when two] boys ran to the house to tell the family: “Robert has been hit by a car,” “He had been looking forward to Christmas,” Mrs. Webb said, “and (Continued on Page Three) 8
the earth.
was an opening parachute.
He leveled off to make his decision. He could abandon the ship and save the lives of the three men of his crew and his own. Or he could try an emergency landing,
grayish murk and he could
distinguish nothing—no land marks, no lights, The plane
manded through the speaking
tube to the three men in the rear. Adjusting his own parachute and keeping the ship level, he watched the air below in which there were only darker masses to indicate
A white ball exploded below him, dropping away. It
| Death Rides U.S. Bomber...And Pilot Makes Decision
HILL CITY, Kas, Dec. 19 (U. P.).—Through the dusk at 2500 feet flew a two-motored Army bomber. Suddenly both motors coughed and died. Pilot Lieut. Harold E. Neely switched to the emergency fuel tanks and went into a dive to start the motors again. They
“One,” murmured Lieut. Neely. A few seconds later, another ball expanded below
him and dropped away.
“Two,” he said with returning confidence. Lieut. Neely eased out of his seat, still holding the ship level. When he saw the third parachute open,
he would go himself.
He waited. He saw nothing. He shouted imperiously. There was no response. Quite evidently, something had happened to prevent the third man jumping.
Lieut. Neely had a new abandon the ship and save doom a member of his crew know, had failed to jump.
Or he could try that forced landing—now even more difficult, because the darkness had intensified—and per-
haps save his own life and
He held his ship as level as he could and let it glide.
For all he knew, it would crash into the side of a hill or a (Continued on Page Three)
| (Continued on Page Three) | i the Southwestern high bank of dirt collapsed on them City ‘of Abn on 2 y the Southwestern Coast.
|so many, many others are urgent also . .. we'll have to wait and see |what happens the rest of this week. | We'll have to wait and see how the Mile-of-Dimes goes, and how | KILLED BY CAVE-IN ha : : By WEBB MILLER | TERRE HAUTE, Ind, Dec. 19 (U. United Press Staff Correspondent P.).—Michael Moroz, 54, a WPA . i | HELSINKI, Dec. 19.—Reports to worker, was fatally injured and two . id that the Finnish fellow workmen were hurt when a | 0fcial sources said tha . | Coast was bombed three times in as they worked on a road project’ goviet, air raids today. | here. Officials said about 10 tons| = Ngo reports of deaths were of dirt fell directly on Moroz. ceived but several persons [injured and several houses burned in the port city on | The first raid occurred at 11:36 la. m. when 10 planes flew over and dropped several bombs on the workers section. The planes returned two more times and bombs fell near the hos-
houses. The last raid was conducted by a
planes. one three-story building and wooden
Officials lacked confirmation of reports that two Russian planes had (Continued on Page Three)
WHEAT, HOGS GAIN: N. Y. STOCKS SLIDING
By UNITED PRESS
Chicago wheat futures rallied to new two-year highs today after a break of more than 4 cents in early trade. Raw silk futures also were strong in commodity trading. New York stocks were easier with leading issues declining. Indianapolis hog prices advanced 5 cents on all] weights. i
decision to make. He could his own life, but he would who, for a reason he didn't
the other.
b.
of |
I 4 Kobe, bombed and machine gunned | unemploye {by Nazi plane two days ago and |
pital district and set fire to Seve The Brewster plant was able to
flight of 10 tri-motored Red Army | The front was blown out of |
structures were set ablaze. i
May Go to U, 8,
From Paris, Avenol was expected (to go to London, the Scandinavian capitals and perhaps the United |States. His task is to co-ordinate (and speed up the shipments before [it is too late. - | Avenol's activity, coupled with other developments such as Prime | Minister Neville Chamberlain’s | promise of aid to Finland beyond {the British airplanes already |shipped, would indicate the possi
| bility of a concerted effort. ;
HELSINKI, Finland, Dec. 19 (U. P.). — Christmas shoppers today scampered for safety as Russian planes dropped a dozen bombs in the Helsinki region, Police reported only one casualty. A black crow was killed by a 660-pound aerial bomb, )
Help apparently is coming from the United States, even beyond the sums being raised voluntarily for Finnish releif and the $10,000,000 credit granted by the Government for the purchase by Finland of food and non-military supplies. In Washington the joint Army and Navy Aeronautical Board ape proved sale to the Finnish Govern iment of 44 new fast fighting planes and a new type which the Brewster | Aeronautical Co. of Long Island City, N. Y,, originally manufactured for the Navy, it was disclosed today,
Part of Navy Order
The planes were part of a Navy order for 54 of the swift fighting | craft which are comparable to Army pursuit ships. They can be used on land or aboard aircraft carriers, [It was understood that 10 of the planes had been delivered to. the Navy prior to the Finnish sale, | The Finnish Government recente [ly has been actively negotiating with American manufacturers for gas masks, munitions, machine guns land other supplies. It was understood purchasing missions have made thorough surveys of available aire craft and other munitions, especiale [ly gas masks and machine guns, |and are receiving co-operation from American manufacturers. It also was understood that quick approval for most of the Finnish purchases would come from the Munitions Board.
Finns Wanted 47 Planes
|
that Finnish
The Finnish check of American aircraft factories disclosed that the | Brewster plant was the only one [that could make immediate delivery |of pursuit ships. The Finns wanted (to buy 47 pursuit planes to be used rin repulsing bombing attacks by | Russian squadrons.
supply only 44, but Navy experts said that the planes the Finns were | getting were among the fastest and (Continued on Page Three)
TIMES FEATURES ON INSIDE PAGES
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Books | Clapper ... | Comics Crossword / Curious World 23 Editorials .... 16 Financial .... Flynn Forum Gallup Poll
‘Johnson ..... Movies Mrs. Ferguson 18 | Obituaries | Fyle Questions .... Radio T Mrs. Roosevelt 15 Scherrer 15 Serial Story , 28 Grin, Bear It. 23! Society.... 12, 13 In Indpls..... 8 Sports .... 18,19 Jane Jordan.. 13| State Deaths. 10
Ne