Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 26 December 1940 — Page 9

THURSDAY, DEC. 26, 1940

‘Hoosier Vagabond

LISBON, Portugal—OCur days of waiting have dragged on now into more than a week, and we think we won't have much longer to strain at the leash. If we should get out for London tomorrow, we will be luckier than almost all of our fellow passengers who came over on the boat with us. We know of only one who has left Lisbon so far.. He is a Belgian.” He expected it would take him five days. to reach Brussels by train. Most of our British friends from the boat have had no encouragement about getting home, They are settling down in the suburbs for weeks or months of waiting. We are taking messages of love and all’s.well to their families in England. These last few days have fallen into a routine of doing nothing which has -caused time to pass swiftly. We ‘go to bed at 9 in the evening, and get up at noon. That's 15 hours of sleep, which is good for growing boys like us. We eat lunch, .take a walk, come back and read ‘or write 8 couple of hours, take a few hot baths, eat dinner, take another hath, and get into bed for another 15 hours. The days just fly past. I'll bet time drags when we get to England and get busy.

Paging Mr. Milk!

My newspaper friend George Lait was telling me the other day that when he lived in France he continually had trouble with his name. In French, “lait”

means milk. And every time he'd register at a French

hotel the clerk would go “Haw haw haw, in Americain you are Meestair Milk!”

George got so sick of it, he said, that he had his name officially changed for French use to Laite, with the “e” accented, so they'd have to pronounce 1t “Lai-tay.” Well, the other day George and 1 checked out of our pension and came down to a hotel. And when George got his bill it was made out, I assure you in all honesty and innocence, to “M. George Milk.” So now I call him “Mr. Milk” and he calls me “Mr, Peelay,” which is what I get in Spanish countries. Last night we dug into our sleep program long

Inside Indianapolis (4nd “Our Town")

MAYBE IT WAS JUST THE Christmas spirit, but the Democrats didn’t have much to say about + the proposed G. O. P. bill - which would give the Republicans control of State House patronage during the next four years. They've been expecting it. They are sitting back smugly, preparing legal ammunition for their Supreme Court battle to have the bill declared unconstitutional when and if it is approved by the Legislature. Before it’s all over, you probably will see quite a few “reorganization bills.” We're told that another faction of the G. O. P. majority is drawing up one that would give major patronage powers to Secretary of State James Tucker. Under the G. O. P. steering committees’ proposal, Governorelect Henry Schricker, only Democratic survivor of Nov. 5, will have control over not more than four or five of the 40 divisions of State Government. All the other departments would be under the control of four executive hoards, of which the Governor would be a member—alocng with two elected Republican State officials. : Governor Schricker’s chief duties under the proposed bill, it seems, would be to issue proclamations.

The Deadline Is Dec. 31

RUSSELL. CAMPBELL, THE MAYOR'S tary, wanted a special-number auto license.

secreSo he

Washington

‘WASHINGTON, Dec. 26—We are trying to achieve wartime speed and quantity, of production without at

the same time running a war fever. Like an army at maneuvers, we are trying to stimulate the action without having the enemy on hand to stimulate it. That is difficult for any people, especially for a free people which must be led rather than driven. Even with a war on, France could not do it. Frenchmen thought they were safe behind the Maginot Line, and their production went down as they sat around blissfully in their fool's paradise. England was not able to do it; she pulled herself together only after the fall of France when the hot breath of disaster was blowing on the necks of Englishmen. Some have thought we could hot do it either and have urged that we. declare waf as the surest method of stimulating our war production. If we succeed in achieving wartime production without being goaded into it by beirz in war, we will have achieved a new high in democratic will power. We can only do it if the American people clearly understand the problem and put their full intelligence to it.

On Learning the Truth

That is why it was so important that William S. Knudsen break the silence of the political campaign and blurt out- the hard facts about our lagging production. That is why it is important that President Roosevelt take the air, as he will do Sunday night. and explain, as only he can explain, what he is driving at. To the same end it is useful that William Allen White has made it clear that his committee to defend America by aiding the Allies is opposed to our going into the war. Because Mr. White and his group have led the agitation for more aid to England, they have been branded as “warmongers.” He tries now, in a statement to Roy W. Howard, to make clear the line between helping England and going into war. Mr. White takes exactly the same position that

‘My Day

WASHINGTON, Wednesday—Christmas day! As 1 went my rounds yesterday I could not help thinking

that for no adults could this day be a completely joyous one, but for children it must be. All the joy that one can put into a child’s life, should be there. No matter what the future holds, those memories of childhood will help one through.

Yesterday, I started with a party fer the children given at the Capitol Theater by the Central Union Mission. As I go to these parties, I am impressed more each year with the complete tractableness of the children of the poor. They are told to stand thus and so, they are given a bag of toys so a photograph may be taken, and then it is taken away again. They look bewildered, but they never protest. It is a quality of reasonableness better fitted to maturer minds and indicative of much experience that one would rather the children never had. The first party was at 8:45 and from there I drove to Arlington, Va., where a second party, given by the Kiwanis Club, was in progress... To each group I gave the President's good wishes and my own. I was back in the White House at 9:40, going the rounds of the daily routine. Diana Hopkins had been busy While J was gone

‘sprung a leak and was now an empty field. Ed ex-

By Ernie Pyle

enough to go to a movie. We went to the Sao Luiz (St. Louis) theater, which is apparently one of the best in Lisbon. They were showing a first-run engagement of “Ninotchka.” There was just one performance, and the show didn’t start until 9:30 at night. All seats were reserved. We paid 40 cents for aisle seats halfway down, For fashioele boxes youd pay up to $1.80. The theater was about half-filled, The theater lobby was carpeted in bright red, and the woodwork was red too. e ushers, and there were scores of them, were in red uniform. And over here you're supposed to tip the usher who shows you to your seat.

Time Out for a Smoke

First there was a newsreel, voiced in Portuguese. Then a Fitzpatrick travel film, from which the voice had been taken away and music substituted. And then the main picture. ~The dialogue was all in English, with conversation in Portuguese printed at the bottom every few seconds. I'm sure not one-fiftieth of the audience understood a word of English, and thus they missed all the fine points, but everybody laughed and seemed to enjoy it. The oddest thing about the show was that there] were two intermissions. | One between the travel film and the main picture, and one right in the middle of the picture. The men all go out and smoke, and there's a little bar in the theater lobby for those who want a drink. The theater (like everything else) was cold, and half the men kept their overcoats on throughout the show. Tomorrow night we're going to see Powell and Loy in “Nicky Esposa.” 8 8 8

While we were waiting in line at an office the other day, we overheard three young men ahead of us talking in German. From what we could gather, they were Austrians. One was telling the others that he knew we were Americans because we wore big hats like cowboys. That's all we could make out of the conversation. We couldn’t decide whether they were refugees or fifth columnists. Maybe they were merely three young men who had seen too many movies,

sat down: and wrote a nice letter to Mark Rodenbeck, over at the State House, winding up with “enclosed is my application blank.” He mailed the letter—and two days later found the application blank in his pocket. So he wrote another letter, winding up the same way. A few days later, he found that pesky application card in another pocket. When last seen, Russell was sitting at his typewriter, application blank in one hand and pecking away at the keys with the other. We hope he makes it.

There Still Is a Lake Sullivan

ED PERRY, PARK DEPARTMENT engineer, is still looking for that practical joker who called him up the other day and told him Lake Sullivan had

citedly called Andy Miller out there and asked him what he intended to do. “Why,” said Andy, “this lake isn’t dry. It’s just as high as ever.” ‘‘Are you positive,” asked Mr, Perry. “I'm standing right here looking at it,” Andy answered....Herbert J. Reade, another businessman wha has succumbed to the lure of the country, started out to build a cabin on his. farm near Zionsville. His project has grown into a full modern house now.... Maj. Gen, Robert Tyndall, describing the recent Ft. Benning (Ga.) demonstration by Uncle Sam's new mechanized division, said: “The German panzer divisions don’t have a thing on that division.” . . . William Orion, Van Camp Hardware & Iron Co. executive, is. still carving that 20-pound turkey he won down ai the office. . . . Sign at City Market—"“The Pure Honey Shop.” neath that, “Fresh Ground Horseradish.”

4

And directly be-| ©

New Streets, Fire Stations

Must Wait

By Richard Lewis THE City of Indianapolis

beauty treatment next year. She hasn’t had her face lifted

for ages.

In fact, it’s about all the old girl can do to keep her skirts mended and the cardboard .in her shoes, what with getting mixed up in her

red. Her limited $8,000,000 expense account from the taxpayers doesn’t permit, her the fuxury of repairing the 55 per cent of her streets that need it. She can’t have those parkways they promised her years ago that would skirt heavy traffic to all sections of the city. Track elevation would stimulate the development of the, South’ Side, but that’s far out of her budget picture. And that Central Ave.-East St. thoroughfare linking the North and South Sides has never come to pass. ~ Like the average family struggling to live within its budget, Indianapolis has to do without. Nobody believes this more firmly than the man who guides her slightly-patched destiny, Mayor Reginald H. Sullivan. What does he tell that civic delegation asking a new swimming pool? “Why,” says he emphatically, “if we did all the things some people want us to do, we'd need millions more than we can raise— miilions.” 2 ” 2 HE old girl can’t even raise the cash for her share of the City-County W. Michigan St. bridge over Eagle Creek, just a small bridge as bridges go. She has to pay on the installment plan, by bond issue, with a small carrying charge added. Can’t even build a new fire station on the South Side, new equipment for the Fire Department or Works Board without pledging her future income. With all her petty extravagances that $8,000,000 she spends is just about enough to keep her operating. And it’s a long pull to get that money the way her valuation has been declining in pe last 10 years. There’s some hope, now though, for the valuation is beginning to rise again. And when she lays a little aside, these are some of things she’ll have to do because the citizens are demanding it: She's got to repair Brookside Ave., from 10th to 20th Sts. Most of the brick thoroughfare was laid back in 1908. Now it's so rough it

U. S. WAR HELD

By Raymond Clapper

PERIL TO FARMS

this Government has taken up to now, namely ts

we should not send convoys with British ships. That would bring us into a clash with Germany and would mean war. Some in the Government are flirting with the idea of convoys. Senator Austin of Vermont, assistant Republican leader of the Senate, is for repealing the shipping restrictions of the Neutrality| Act. Mr. White's strong opposition to using convoys makes it doubtful whether the Administration will attempt to change the policy. His attitude, backed by such a supporter of the Administration foreign policy as Governor Landon, makes it certain that any attempt to switch the policy to permit convoying would meet strong resistance.

This War Is Different

All of us think too much in the pattern of the last war, although that pattern does not fit this one. The crucial point in this war is England’s ability to resist invasion and, by acquiring more bombers, to carry the air war to Axis soil. She most needs these weapons and ships with which to carry other supplies. Our most useful help will be to provide bombers and ships. Our own situation, furthermore, is utterly different from what it was in the other war. Then Japan was an ally of England. We had no Pacific threat. Now

. Japan is an Axis partner, committed to strike at us

if we go into the war, That would leave us threatened on two oceans, with only a one-ocean navy. In 1917 there was a ready-made base in France, with ports, dock facilities. and a huge supply zone behind the battle line "Now there is no toehold on the continent, so that even if we were disposed to send an expeditionary force it would have no place to go except tc England. There it would only. complicate England's defense problem, providing more mouths to feed, more men to equip and thus further straining shipping, of which there is hardly enough now to serve. Even though™ the war were ready for us, the United States is not ready for war. We are not ready either physically or psychologically.

Our interests would be better served by not worry-|

ing ourselves into further confusion and inaction through speculation about war, and by making one object supreme—the production of needed equipment at wartime speed and in wartime quantity.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

and arranged the little Creche from the Greenwich House pottery shop at the foot of the big Christmas tree. I hope many children noticed it as they took their toys in the afternoon. Today we have it under our little tree on the second floor. The singing Trapp family, headed by Baron Georg von Trapp paid me a visit about 11 o'clock yesterday morning. After telling me many interesting things which they had learned in their travels around our country, they sang two songs, an American one, “Home on the Range,” and, then in German, the Austrian Christmas carol, “Silent Night.” It is one of-my favorites, but I don’t think I ever heard it more beautifuily sung. ; I hope that everyone felt as I did about the few words which the President spoke at the lighting of the municipal Christmas tree. It seemed to me that he expressed for us all, whether we are articulate or not, the feelings we have in our hearts this Christmas time. We all enjoyed the carols sung by the WPA Negro Community Chorus on the White House steps last night before we went into dinner. They sang for 15 minutes and sent us away more appreciative than ever of the fact that our Negro people have a great contribution to make in the musical world. Early this morning we were all in the President's room, the children and the puppy the center of attraction. I think the grown-ups had more fun playing with the puppy's stocking than in watching the children. Now we are all going to the interdenominational service at the Congregational Church,

Disparity With Prices Would Increase,

Fortune Predicts.

NZW YORK, Dec. 26 (U. P).— Entry of the United States into the European war would bring no spectacular rise in farm prices similar to that of the World War, Fortune Magazine predicted today in its Janua.y issue. Instead of producing quick profits

war specter of overproduction and a price collapse, Government officials believe American participation in this war would only accentuate the lack of parity between agricultural and industrial prices, the article said. Parity payments through the AAA would protect the farmer from this danger, Fortune said, but would cause the Government to pay bigger and bigger farm subsidies. Farm Markets Smaller

kited because there was not enough acreage in the United States to satisfy our own and allied needs,” the article said. “But today our markets for agricultural products are smaller than in World War I owing to the development of the British Empire's output in Canana and Australia, and owing to the shutting off of the Continent with the fall of France. And our productive capacity is much greater.” ‘he magazine estimated that the United States could produce 10 per cent more wheat simply by remowing restrictive controls and could increase production 20 per cent with a very slight price rise. When this country entered the World War in 1917, farmers developed vast new acreage to reap the profits from high prices. Demand dwindled =fter the armistice, and a collapse of farm prices sent many farmers into bankruptcy. Expect Industrial Price Boom Governmant officials believe, Fortune said, that American participation in the current war would boom industrial prices, making the fariners pay higher prices for goods they purchase. Lack of a corresponding. vise in agricultural prices would throw an added burden on th? government system of parity payments to maintain the balance between agriculture and industry. “From the point of view of economists outside the Government a gentle rise in industrial prices relative to: farm prices migh not be such a horrendous thing,” Fortune said. “After all, it was the sharp advance in agricultural prices dur-

i the World War that brought vo a farmer into his present pli

t.”

CAPE COD VISTA POPULAR

SOUTH WELLFLEET, Mass., Dec. 26 (U. P.).—During the past summer 4282 vistors from 41 states and 12 foreign nations climbed the forest fire observation tower to view the lower Cape Cod panorama, forestry officials report.

Ee 3

can’t afford much of a

buy |

Industrial |

for the farmer, followed by the post-

“In World War I our food. prices!

bookkeeping and running in the

‘Indicative of what the City some day hopes to do with its main

thoroughfares is S. East St. from

rattles your bridgework to ride

- over it.

Besides, its the main route to the northeast side and Brightwood. It’s a principal truck route and some of those lumbering giants find it hard to stop quickly on the rough pavement. 2 8 2

HERE'S Massachusetts Ave, built most of it in 1917, only 22 feet wide. It’s the through route to U. S. 36 and State Road 67. Bumpy, harrow, dangerous after dark. : And Rural St. the principal north-south thoroughfare east of Noble St. and College Ave. The brick was laid down in 1909, and is now almost hidden by cement and asphalt patches. Some East Side residents nominate Rural St. as the City’s roughest road. At City Hall, they cail S. East St., recently improved, the “thoroughfare from nowhere to nowhere,” although the map clearly shows it runs from “South to ‘Sanders Sts. S. East St, with its divided two-lane roadway, is an example of an interrupted dream. The dream started out as a through north-south highway combining Central Ave. on the North Side with East St. on the South Side, clear down to Road 31. East St. on the South Side was improved to Sanders St. But it never got any farther and the link between East St. and Central Ave, was never forged. Expense, that was it. An administration went out of office, a new one came in and the

National Guard ‘Streamlined’

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (U. P.). —The War Department today began reorganizing old-style infantry regiments of 18 National Guard divisions into the pattern of the regular Army’s “streamlined” units. More fighting power mechanized warfare is t of this program. The major change will provide an additional anti-tank company to each regiment, increasing the number of anti-tank weapons from six of the new 37 mm. guns to 12. f The new regiment will have a war girsnoth of 3000 of 3000 men.

U.S. ARMY MEN SCAN WAR AT FIRST HAND

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (U. P.).— The Army has sent 26 high-ranking officers to Great Britain since midsummer to obtain data on weapons and techniques of modern warfare, it was disclosed today. An official list showed that five generals, six colonels, 10 majors and five captains, representing practically every branch of the Army, have been sent to Britain. Many of them stay only briefly, and return to their posts here “with whatever information is available. Fourteen air corps officers, includ-

odern object

ing four majors or brigadier gener-

als, have visited Great Britain to watch the aerial battle. Maj. Gen. George V. Strong, former chief of war plans, was there in this connection. . Authoritative quarters said that there have heen few, if any, sensational, new weapons revealed by the war thus far.

THIEF USES PHONE SAN ANTONIO, Tex.; Dec. 26 (U. P.) —Mrs. Waldo Graff told police that she didn’t so much mind the loss of napkins and tablecloths stolen from her home, but the thing that really peeved her was the discovery that the thief had run up a $20 toll in a telspione call to St. Louis.

South to Sanders Sts. Originally

intended to extend south to U. S. 31, the improvement was sawed off

short for lack of funds.

Antiquated, hazardous, the W. Michigan St. bridge. over Eagle Creek is now being replaced by a new structure, to be financed jointly by the City and Gouniy, iil

dream burst like a bubble, leaving S. East St. all by itself, running from nowhere in particular to nowhere in particular. n ” ” RACK elevation for the South Side is, of course, an old story. Civic leaders down there are convinced the future of the

BAYONETS SPLIT ALTAR CARVING

Soldiers Crowd rowed) Cathet? in Chimara; Guns Rumble ‘Above Choir Chant.

By MARY MERLIN United Press Correspondent

CHIMARA, Albania (via Athens), Dec. 24 (Delayed) .—The little domed cathedral here was crowded tonight with soldiers and civilians celebrating the eve of Christmas and rendering Thanksgiving for the delivery ‘lof the town from the Italians. Above the rich chant of the choir we could hear the rumble of artillery across the hills in the direction of Valona, 30 miles north, where the Greek advance guard is pushing ahead. The Cathedral's fine Byzantine altar carving had been split by bayonets. Candles before the ikons flickered in the breeze coming in from the window frames, which were covered only by sacks. ‘ I had entered Chimara with a party of war corespondents behind a Greek machine gun company. Several old women and young girls ran out and embraced us. An old man, George Angelopoulos, who once had been a porter in a New York hotel, hailed us as “American fellow. citi-

zens.” “Now that the Yankee boys are here we will soon be in Rome,” he exclaimed. I explained to him that the uniforms of the correspondents designated them as writers, not fighters. Undaunted, Angelopoulos produced a turkey which he had saved from the Italians by hiding it in a loft, and promised to serve it to us for Christmas dinner tomorrow. We also have been promised some good Italian sparkling wine from the Greek: officers’ mess—some that the Italians had been unable to take

with them.

"JT ELE

FACT

SIGNALING, BETWEEN PLANES

GHT BEAM y aN

+ UGHT SIGNALS FLASHEDv, BETWEEN PLANES

ICTOGRAPH CORPORA

' South Side rests with the elimination of grade crossings. The Works Board has a plan for elevating the tracks from Madison Ave. to Orange St., but it hasn't budged in two years. There was a Belt highway, to encircle the City so that cross-

country leviathans would not have

to use City streets on their way east, and west, The idea hasn’

. even reached the blueprint stage.

Any number of citizens could suggest any number of improvements: Removal of abandoned car tracks in the streets, mainte= nance of esplanades in residenections, construction of a new

Bits of Alida o on Blade Of Saw Help Trap Saboteur

Men of the Federal Burejn of InJost ation and associated agencies are on e trail of spies in p eat cities, ated factories and far- une Jnilitary Illustrated by cases United Press Laser ay the firsi f dispatches which reveal

‘ something of the methods being used in

combating America’s internal ‘enemies.

By ALLEN C. DIBBLE United Press Staff Corre {pondent WASHINGTON, Dec. 26.—Inspectors at an airplane factory, examining the minute details of| a nearlyfinished plane, were startied by the discovery that part of the aluminum structure had been cut. |

This act of sabotage, |if it had gone undetected as its perpetrator planned,-would have causgd the destruction of the airplane and perhaps the death of its, pilot. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was summoned and preliminary inquiry showed that a good many workmen had access to the plane.

Inspected Saw Blades *

The agent assigned to the case first inspected the damaged irplane part and then asked that) all of the hacksaw blades in the factory be turned over to him. He wasn’t playing a “huinch.” He knew that every saboteur leaves some clue and if it was to|be found, the most likely place would be on the instrument used in the violence. There were 72 blades in the factory. All were shipped to the FBI technical laboratory for analysis. Scientific tests eliminated 54 of the blades and narrowed the investigation to the’ point where the users or owners of only eight blades could be listed as suspects. Minute aluminum particles on the cutting edge provided the:clues. By means still kept secret,! the FBI went on to single out the guilty man from among the eight.

Ciphers Are Weakness

The FBI realizes that one of the weaknesses of an espionage ring is its need for communication. To capitalize upon his occupation, the spy must transmit to his employers the information he has obtained. If he resorts to secret writing or to ciphercs, the FBI laboratory is equipped to determine the hidden message. Ultra-violet and infrared light photography have proved invaluable in the detection of secret messages. FBI technicians played an important ‘part in the espionage - case of Guenther Gustave Rumrich and others in New York City. The experts: found that the various members of the ring communicated with one another by means of cipher messages in which symbols were substituted for letters. Cryptanalysts of the FBI decoded the

‘ messages and exposed the contents

which incriminated the defendants. : Research Continues This was another triumph for 50 “men in white” in the laboratory

who. have hecome an integral part of the Government's counter-espi-

.jonage system.

: “Constant research and experimenting are necessary fo keep breast of

oniy as good as their ability to conceal,” according to FBI officials,

“To mset these new demands, .

various entra! files were established in the laboratory. These include a collection of samples of explosive ingredients, a file of the writings of subjects in espionage cases, a file of code writings, and an index of code words.” A short time ago, a leading manus facturer in the United States ship ped some tractors to a foregin country which was friendly to Great Britain, Upon arrival at their destinatym, the lubricating oil ‘was drained from the tractors for checking. It was found that some of the oil contained a large amount of metal granules. These were sent to the technical laboratory, where they were analyzed as a type of cast iron. Furthermore, the condition of some of the particles indicated that the attempted sabotage had been perpe=trated before the machines were shipped. This information = was found to be of great value in solve ing the case.

tah rian COUPLE DRAWN ON JURY SCHENECTADY, N.Y. Dec. 28 (U. P.).—Mr. and Mrs. Edgar A, Harveys’ names were drawn cone secutively for jury duty, the first instance in which a man and wife

ever have been drawn simultane

eously in selection of a panel, ace cording to county court attaches.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1—What is The name for civilian

dress worn by Army and Navy, officers when off duty? 2—Can the Federal Government or the States grant titles of nobility? 3—Is the ‘‘Loop” district in St, Louis, Chicago or St. Paul? 4—Puerto’ Rico#is in which group Islands? 5—Where did Cornwallis surrender to George Washington? 6—What are the primary pigment colors? 7—Which States have unicameral legislatures? 8—What relation was former President Theodore Roosevelt to President Franklin D. Roosevelt?

- ® 0» n

Answers 1—Mufti. oe 2—No. 3—Chicago. 4—Greater Antilles. 5—Yorktown, Va. 6—Yellow, blue and red. 7—Only one, Nebraska. 8—Fifth cousin. ; J

a i ss 2 : ASK THE TIMES

Inclose a 3-cent stamp - for reply when addressing any ~ question of. — information to. The Inc is Times Washington Bureau, 1013 13th 8t., Ww. Washington, D. C. Legal and medical - advice cannot ‘be - given nor can : Popa research. under-

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