Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 March 1940 — Page 1

gers owtas] VOLUME

FORECAST: Occasional light rains. tonight; tomorrow’ mostly ‘cloudy’ colder; lowest. tonight 20 to 25. .

52—-NUMBER 2

WAGTRATES LEARN THEY'RE NOT APPOINTED

No Such Officers Named, Despite Announcement By Judge Cox.

By SAM TYNDALL

Despite announcement Friday by|

Circuit Court Judge Earl R. Cox of the appointment of two Marion County magistrates, no such judicial ‘officers have been named, it was learned today. The reason is not clear but despite published reports of the amnnouncement, the “appointed” officers, Ira M. Holmes and Edward McElfresh, attorneys, are aware that their “appointments” never were

made. There is no court record that a magistrate’s court with the two judicial officers was created and evidently there will not be one. Judge Cox explained that the appointment of the magistrates always has been contingent upon the filing of a petition as required “under the law.” Petition Is Important

The required petition upon which a public hearing must be held, seems to be, according to the information learned, the technical error in the mysterious “appointments.” ‘ Mr. Holmes, who it was announced by Judge Cox was the Republican magistrate appointee, but who isn’t, admitted he learned -his appointment “was not.” He declined to comment further. Mr. McElfresh could not be reached for comment, but it was learned he now realizes he is not, after all, a magistrate. _ Also aware that there aren’t any t magistrates, is the county attorney, Carl Seet, who in behalf. of. the Commissioners opposed the appointment of any of the officers on grounds that it would be an unnecessary expense to the taxpayers. _ This latest tangle is another chap“fer in the confusion which has. surrounded the new 1939 Magistrates Court Act which provides that Circuit Court judges may, upon filing of petition by 40 freeholders and a hearing to determine the necessity for the court, appoint pairs of magistrates in cities or towns which are county seats and in cities of the * first to fifth class inclusive.

Beech Grove First

The first petition filed in Marion County. came from Beech Grove last fall. Contending that. the Act was not valid in that it provided that one judicial officer appoint. another, Judge Cox ruled the act unconstitutional. The State Supreme Court reversed Judge Cox’s decision, sending the case back to Circuit Court where the hearing on the petition started dgain Friday. The Supreme Court held that although the Act was constitutional it was discretionary with the Circuit Court judges to appoint the magistrates, the discretion to be exercised on evidence of necessity. Judge Cox denied the Beech Grove petition Friday, but in a surprise move stated he was appointing a magistrates court (pair of magistrates) for the county as a whole. He said his reason for this was that the Act in the first paragraph (Continued on Page Khres)

SCANDINAVIAN BONDS SOAR AT NEW YORK

Trading In securities dwindled sharply at New York today as Wall Street attempted to appraise the effect of the Russo-Finnish peace treaty. Minor gains were made. ‘Finnish bonds soared as much as $110 and Danish and Norwegian bonds seored gains ranging to $80 at New York. The British pound sterling plunged to the lowest since 1932, reflecting exchange restrictions imposed by the British Government. Canadian dollars also slumped. The Finnish ‘marka was nominally steady. Cessation of hostilities caused grain prices to open lower at Chicago but unfavorable weather reports in the U./S. enabled wheat to recoup its losses. A sharp decrease - in receipts forced hog prices 10 %o 15 cents higher at Indianapolis, in - keeping with the trend throughout the nation,

GINGER IS DIVORCED

HOLLYWOOD, March 13 (U. P.). —Ginger Rogers, the movie actress. today obtained a divorce from Lew Ayres. Miss Rogers charged Mr. Ayres deserted her almost four

years ago.

E TIMES FEATURES ON INSIDE PAGES

: ei 12 ve 17

Johnson ..... 12 Movies 14 Mrs. Ferguson 12 Music Denn 11 Baan | Fea 12 + Fashions vises 9 Quest

Fiancee of Ford.

The engagement of Miss Anne McDonnell of Southampton, N. Y. (above), to Henry Ford II, son of Edsel and grandson of Henry Ford, has been announced.

POSTAL AGENTS IN TUCKER HUNT

Join Search as Criminal Warrant Is Issued; Letters Studied.

By LEO DAUGHERTY

United States Postal inspectors today officially entered the search for Charles F. Tucker, Indianapolis insurance agent, and the investigation into his alleged: $400,000 insurance swindle. . The postal men’s entrance into the case involving the missing salesman was: ordered by W. R. Briggs, Cincinnati; inspector in charge of this area, after studying correspondence written by Tucker in his alleged illegal transactions. As Government men entered the i other major developments and revelations in the alleged fraud were: Correspondence Studied

Indiana State Police held a bench warrant for Tucker's arrest on a charge of dealing in securities without a license. Marion County Prosecutor David M. Lewis, who subpoenaed Tucker's records at his Circle Tower office, hinted he might instigate a Grand Jury investigation of Tucker’s operations. Tucker's chauffeur told a State House attache high in authority that Tucker, who supposéllly had started a flight West, was in Indianapolis last Saturday night and Sunday. Postal inspectors had in their possession a volume of correspondence which Tucker had written to his victims and photostatic copies of what investigators say are forged policies. Detained, and Released The inspectors hinted that their activities , automatically - “interests the FBI.” However, G-Men said that the case was not of such a nature‘as to draw’ them into it at present. The postal inspectors, as their inquiry progresses, will file reports of (Continued on Page Five)

OCCASIONAL RAINS FORECAST TONIGHT

‘LOCAL s TEMPERATURES 6 a. m. 37 iu 7am... 39 ¢ 5 8am ... 40 . 38 9am. ... 42 37 10a. m. ... 45

The Weather Bureau today predicted occasional light rains tonight ahd mostly cloudy skies tomorrow. The lowest temperature tonight will be 20 to 25, the Bureau forecast. The State Highway Department reported icy conditions on roads in the northern part of the-state. Even so, someone living in the 5500 block of N. Illinois St. called and reported the presence of squirrels and robins on the lawn and said happily: ~ “Looks a little like spring.”

2p. m....

Raymond Clapper’s Column

T0 HALT WORK AT DISNEY DAM

Oklahoma Governor Prepares to Send Militia Into Grand River Area.

DISNEY, Okla., March 13 (U. P.). —The National Guard was mobiliz-

led. today to stop construction on ‘the $20,000,000 Grand River Dam

and hydro-electric project being built in northeast Oklahoma with

Seventy ardsmen. armed with tear gas bombs, machine guns and rifles, had assembled at Tahlequah under Maj. Harry V. Paris. Today, under orders from Oklahoma City by Gov. Phillips and Adjt. Gen. Louis Ledbetter, they transierred to Wagoner, 40 miles south of the dam. They rode in National Guard trucks. “No Resistance”

the Massman Construction Co,

will be no resistance when "the troops come in.” Ostensibly, Governor Phillips acted to bring to a head his quarrel with the Public Works Administra-

| tion aver the amount to be paid the

State for the disruption of its highway system caused by the dam and its reservoir. . He wants the PWA to pay $850,000. The PWA claims it had an agreement with Governor Phillips’ predecessor, Governor E, W. Marland, to pay $350,000. Governor Phillips maintains the agreement was verbal if there was actually one and is, therefore, void.

‘Fears Flood Damage °

= {Fhe project-is almost completed]; the dam had been scheduled to take its first water about April 1 snd

the last concrete. W. R. Molway, the Authority’s chief engineer, said that if the dam is left open after April 1 when the flood season begins, the unfinished foundations might be damaged seriously. In Washington, Clark Foreman, head of the PWA Power Division, said court action by the Authority, by the contractor building the dam, or by PWA itself was possible to circumvent Governor Phillips’ use of armed force to stop the project.

COUNTERS ANDERSON ‘PREJUDICE’ CLAIM

Lewis _Files 200 Affidavits To Block Venue Change.

Prosecutor David M. Lewis filed 200 affidavits for the State in Criminal Court today as a counter attack on the change of venue plea of Dan R. Anderson, Indianapolis grocer. Anderson ‘is scheduled to go on trial April 1 on charges of filing false relief claims. His venue motion asks that the case be taken out of the County because “a prejudice exists in Marion County against him.” The affidavits, said to be the most bulky document filed in Crim-

‘linal Court proceedings ‘in recent

years, are froni persons in all nine townships of the County. Each affidavit declares that, to the best of the signer’s knowledge, there exists no prejudice against Anderson in Marion County, which would prevent the defendant from receiving a fair trial. Special Judge Charles B. Staff venue proceedings tomorrow in Criminal Court here.

BURNS ARE FATAL

DILLSBORO, Ind., March 13 (U. P.).—Mrs. Minnie Licking, 85, died vesterday from burns suffered acci-

dentally at her home Monday.

I. N. Towne, superinténdent of 3

workmen were almost ready to .our{

of Franklin will hear arguments on| --

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1040 _

builder of the dam, kept his 1000 : men on the project but said “there :

Entered as Secondat Postoffice,

Long?’ Hoge-Belisha Asks ~~. InCommons. LONDON, March 13 (U. P)—

Great Britain’s Government today fought back against sharp criticism

o

land, prepared to resist any new “peace offensive” in the West, and declared that the war against Nazi Germany must be carried on with increasing vigor. ‘ The Government was frankly apprehensive, conceding that the Rus-so-Finnish settlement represented a diplomatic victory of magnitude for Adolf Hitler. There was broad speculation that the Fuehrer, under his newest afflatus, may be encouraged to start an early spring offensive on the Western Front.

Allied Prestige Drops.

The elimination of Scandinava as a possible battleground left the Allies with one other avenue of attack on the source of Soviet supplies to Germany—the Middle East—and reports of impending Turko-Russian negotiations seemed destined possibly to block that one. Of these two routes, the one by Finland would have been considered the better, since it is closer to Russian-occupied Poland. It was feared that Allied prestige had been struck a new blow throughout neutral Europe, and that Russia's enmity had been incurred almost as much through the unofficial aid the Allies had given Finland as if they had gone to Finland's rescue with a mass expedition. Undersecretary ‘of State Sumner Welles, President Roosevelt's representative, was on the scene today, conferring at length at 10 Downing Street with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Foreign Secretary Viscount Halifax. ;

Also Talks to Lloyd George

Mr. Welles earlier had conferred for over an hour with former Premier David Loyd rge, Dominions Seesiry an ony Eden and James Maxton, Laborite member of Parliament. ; The conferences marked the last day of -his visit in ‘London on a

{Continued on Page Three)

* CHAMBERLAIN

| from the British Army to head

of its fdilure to.send troops to Fin-|.

| Kermit Roosevelt

Will ‘Carry On’ |

LONDON, March 13 (U. P.).— Kermit Roosevelt, who resigned

British volunveers, “nas. “gone - "| away for several days,” a spokesmen at his quarters in the Ritz Hotel said. : But he added: “We are still carrying: on as it

nothing had happened.”

STEGEMEIERS RENT HOTEL DINING ROOM

: 2 Form New Firm to Operate Stratford Property.

Dr.+S. B. Friedland, owner of the Stratford Hotel, 136 W. Mark®t St.,

-|has leased the hotel's dining room

and bar to Stegemeier Bros. Inc, for 10 years. Richard W. Stegemeier, president of Stegemeier’s Grille, 114 N, Pennsylvania St., said the Stratford bar and dining room would be operated under the same management as the Grille, which will continue in its present location. The corporation; which is newlyformed. is comprised of Mr. Stegemeier’s sons, Richard Jr., Karl and Henry. Richard Jr. has managed | 52 the D. Metz restaurant in the Chicago Board of Trade building the last two years.. He will return here to aid in the management of the Stratford’s dining room and bar and the Grille, Dr, Friedland, who ‘bought. the hotel property about a month ago,

he said. Both the hotel and the bar and dining room have been remodeled and Te-equipped within the last year. :

EX-OHIO PUBLISHER DIES DAYTON, O. March 13 (U. P.) — Elzey Gallatin Burkam, publisher of the Dayton Journal and the Dayton Herald for a. quatter of a -century until those newspapers were sold to|

after an illness of several months. Mr. Burkam, who was 67, was a native of Lawrenceburg, Ind. '

Sees Secref (?) Tax Torture as Assassinating McNutt: Contends That Even His Foes Must Feel a Sense of Shame

By RAYMOND CLAPPER Times Special Writer

WASHINGTON, March 13.—The underground scandal of Washing-

ton is the job of slow-motion po-

litical assassination which this Ad-

ministratioh is doing to Paul Mgc-/|,

Nutt, Indiana’s candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination, through its income-tax investigation.

The situation has reached the proportions. of a major campaign atrocity. You do not have to be for Mr. McNutt for President to sympathize with: him in his helpless plight under this slow torture. ‘Mr. McNutt, like ‘a number of penis very much

‘9 other gentlemen,

be Federal Security Administrator, and at the same time he announced that he would be a Presidential candidate unless Mr. Roosevelt wanted renomination. One month later Washington sent a squad of internal revenue agents into Indiana to give Candidate McNutt the old fine-tooth -comb right down the middle. These investigators—and this is no reflection on them since they are merely carrying ‘out orders—have gone around Indiana, talking to literally hundreds of people, friends

them for the dirt, They went into every town where

fo see if he bad

he had made a. speech as Governor |but accepted speaking |

Federal agents went into the town, of Rising Ind., where Mr. McNutt, wh ‘Governor, dedicated a civic building. They asked the judge who handled the dedication ceremony 4f Governor McNutt had been paid for the speech. The judge made an affidavit saying that not only had no fee been paid but that Governor McNutt would have been insulted had one been offered. The editorial staff of a large metropolitan newspaper invited Mr,

Mout, 56 ue a guest st & luncheon | 1 discussion in office. Federal and enemies of Mr. McNutt, asking al

high the revenuers have been pushed into a ruthless investigation. Up and down the state of Indiana, out over the country, wherever Mr. McNutt has spoken, into American Legion records, into Mr. McNutt's private safe box tq which he voluntarily gave. the revenue agents his key, they went digging for dirt. ‘Théy questioned his insurance broker to ascertain how much in life 8 Mr, McNutt was

whether they. found “have been hinting

will. continue operating ‘the hotel, |

Lewis B. Rock in 1933, died today|

NAZIS FORESEE ALLIES’ DEFEAT

lend of Fifi War Removes. Opportunity for Northern Attack, They Say.

BERLIN, March 13 (U.P)— Great Britain and France confront a defeat of such enormous proportions in the Russo-PFinnish treaty that “one can only vaguely conceive the ' consequences,” the newspaper

National Zeitung of Essen, personal organ of Field Marshal Herman Goering, asserted today. In an admonitory note to the Danubian and Balkan countries, the newspaper. said: “Sotitheastern European states have learned a valuable lesson and have preserved a sensible and profitable neutrality.” It was asserted that Russia had assumed the leading. role “which was its due” in the “entire European east from Murmansk to the Black Sea.” “England’s attempt at a flank attack against Germany has failed,” the newspaper continued, “and she has been wn back from’ east Europe. to her island, and from this vulnerable pesition she must now face further developments in a decisive struggle.” An authorized Nazi spokesman

victory for common sense.” “The terms bear a fair relation to sacrifices and also a fair relation to the need of a greap state within its living room (lebenstraum),” the spokesman said? ; He added that Germany never

fo Finland but that from the be{Continued on Page Three) ;

TORNADOES KILL 13 INLOUISIANA, TEXAS

Property Damage Estimated In Excess of $1,000,000. SHREVEPORT, La, March 13 (U, P.).~Tornadoes which twisted across western Louisiana and eastern Texas last night claimed 13 lives and caused property damage in excess of $1,000,000, it was estimated today. Scores were injured.

industrial and residential districts {of ‘Shreveport, cutting a four-mile swath and killing 10 persons. An-

munity near Marshall, Tex., 40 miles west of here, killing three Persons,

INDIAN ASSASSINATES

LONDON, March 13 (U. P.)— An Indian gunman today shot: and killed Sir Michael O'Dwyer, former Heutenant governor of the Punjab, and wounded ‘Lord Zetland, Secre tary for India, 2% & meeting of the ‘India Association in London.

also were wounded. Lord

ral only slightly grazed by the gun.|

-Class Matter Indianapolis, Ind.

said that the peace treaty was “a|-

had sought to extend its influence|

_ The principal storm centered in|

PROMINENT BRITON [arms

Sir Louis Dane and ford Lam-|Finnish ington : Zetland, it was established, was|

PRICE THREE CENTS |

"PRESTIGE WITH

CLOSE

OF WA

BULLETINS el

HELSINKI, March 13

(U. P. ).—Finnish Foreign.

Minister Vaino A. Tanner told the Foreign Press today that - a conference would be held immediately at which Sweden, Norway and Finland will conclude a defensive alliance.

COPENHAGEN,

March 13 (U. P.)—The Finnish

radio broadcast late this afternoon said the Finnish Pare liament had not yet ratified the Russo-Finnish peace treaty = and that it was not known when ratification would be.

-voted upon.

(Text of Peace Treaty, Page 16)

By JOE ALEX MORRIS Vnited Press Foreign News Editor

. Peace came to Finland on Russian terms today at 11

a. m. (3 a. m. Indianapolis Time) and immediately. threats ened far reaching effects on the war in Western Europe.

Cw

In Great Britain, the Red Army triumph brought sharp criticism of the Government's failure to intervene from fore mer War Secretary Leslie Hore-Belisha but Prime Minister

Neville Chamberlain and his

Cabinet ministers merely ree

emphasized their determination to carry on more shergets : ically than ever the war against Nazi Germany. : Official London could not escape the illuminating fact

that Russian rearrangement of Finland

immeasurably

strengthened Adolf Hitler's position.

Fear Early German Offensive 3 Authoritative sources pondered the possibility that the * Fuelirer, relieved from an Allied threat through the Scane J dinavian channels, might launch an early. spring offensive :

on the Western Front.

For the Finns, peace meant t the immediate loss of their

position as a “locked door’ toward Scandinavia. + Finland gave Russia:

1..All of the Karelian Isthmus and the entire shore i i

against Russian expansion

of Lake Ladoga, wiping out all man-made and” many of Finland's natural defenses against invasion from the east. :

2. Hango Peninsula (on

lease).

3. Ribnii and Srenti Peninsulas in northeast Finland,’ 4. The city of Viipuri, Finland’s second largest city, :

5. Free transit through sia and Norway.

north Finland between Ruse:

6. Right to construct a railroad through Finnish. ter. : ritory to link Russia and Sweden. 7. An agreement not to maintain, warships, eutiynss rines, or aircraft in the Arctic region except small coast

guard boats. - Russia gave Finland:

)

1. A non-aggression treaty.

2. A trade treaty (negotiations to begin at once).

No Grave Obstacles in Reds’ Path’ : Technically, the Finns retained their independence on the basis of economic co-operation with the Soviet Union but

only future developments will

show whether they, too, must =

go the way of the Baltic States or of Czechoslovakia. If Russia seeks eventually to exert greater domination it is difficult to foresee any grave obstacles i in Moscow’s path. For the Russians, the peace agreement meant the end (Continued on Page Three) :

In Helsinki:

Two Finnish Leaders Quit In Protest to Peace Terms

By EDWARD W. BEATTIE JR. United Press Staff Correspondent’

HELSINKI, Finland, March 13.

..|—Giant Russia and little Pin-

land formally ended their unequal 3%-month war today and Foreign Minister V. A. Tanner, in a poignant radio speech to the mourning nation, said that Finland had had no choice, Shortly after official announcement of the war’s end, Minister of Defense Juhu Niukkanen and Min-

ister of Education K. Hannula ten-{®

dered their resignations. Both ministers had differed with the Govern-

ment regarding negotiations of

peace with Russia.

Hostilities ceased at the World War amlistice hour of 11 a. m. 3 a. Indianapolis Time). The A hing guns of the Mannerheim

In Moscow:

other twister struck a rural com-! :

& - xe 2 i Tos March 13 (U. P).— |The peace treaty ending the Rus‘stan-. ‘war, was - celebrated throughout the Soviet Union today as a complete triumph Jor | the Red and as removing all of a “imperialist” war Finland as the stepping stone.

hres)

sgh ony. n view of

Line ceased fire, and the ski patrols in the far north were called in. “All war-like operations ceased at 11 a. m. Finnish time,” said the . official announcement. : This was the hour set in .the treaty signed at Moscow at 2:30. a. m., Moscow time. It was announced also to the

Finnish people that the treaty, .

which put Russia back’ to the frontiers of Peter the Great's time = the early 18th Century, had been. .

igned. ene hour later’ Mr. Tanner made. the first of a series of speeches bv national leaders—bitter, sorrowful but resolute speeches—to tell the nation why a humiliating peace had been made for them. “We were not prepared because we had believed in treaties,” Mr, (Continued on Page Three) =

on

Soviet Celebrates Al Night

In Halling Complete Vistorys

ahnouncement ‘on the official me of a treaty which gave Josef Sill | much more than he had asked be« fore the start of the 3% months of :

its demands on the other

a républics—Lithusnis, Se

thonia—had en the