Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 May 1941 — Page 1

N SCRIPPS — HOWARD §

VOLUME 53—NUMBER 59

FORECAST: Fair and warmer tonight and tomorrow,

MONDAY, MAY 19, 1941

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Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoffice, Indianapolis, Ind.

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FINAL

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PRICE THREE CENTS

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Wickard: ‘Nazis Seek Combine Of

ations

100 AMERICANS ON

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“HITS ISOLATION SENTIMENT IN MIDWEST AREA

Hull Issues Peace Plea Based on ‘Equal Oppor"tunity for All.

WASHINGTON, May 19 (U. PJ). —Secretary of State Cordell Hull's five point program of post-war objectives for a more prosperous world was followed abruptly today by another Cabinet officer’s charge that Germany is seeking a combination of nations to attack the United States. Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard uttered that warning in an address prepared for broadcast on the National Farm and Home Hour from Hutchinson, Kas. He said ‘any dictatorship combination would be answered by “armed might.” | Mr. Hull's peace plans, promising a fair share of raw materials and an equal opportunity to live for all, seemed in some respects to be directed at the German people, as an alternative to the world domination ' to which their leaders seem to aspire. ‘Britain Must Win’ But Mr. Hull and other. speakers in a week-end of extraordinary oratory insisted that Great Britain must win ‘and that the United States must and will see that our weapons reach the British in time. It was Jdearned that the Admin- _ istration ‘considered Mr. Hull's address of great significance on two counts, first because of the outline of peace aims and, second, because of its emphasis on the idea that we are not helping Great Britain for ‘ the 'sake of the British but to insure our own security. © © Mr. Wickard, like Mr, "Hull, emphasized the self-interest of our aid-to-Britain policy. His speech was designed to be a hard-headed ‘appeal against Midwestern: isola= tionism. He made no apologies for “past ‘ sins or present motives of Britain,” but based his plea on the safety of the | .homes of his listeners. . He: appealed directly to, the Prairie States. Without mention- ' ing the word “convoy,” he urged .again that we “see that the goods get there.” He expressed confidence that the people of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas were determined to do what needs to be done. ' ‘Armed Might’ “Some people are saying that the odds against us already are too great, that we'd better pipe down and quiet,” Mr. Wickard said. I don’t think that there are many of those persons or that they amount to much. The events of recent days give new proof that the zis are deliberately trying to form a combination of nations to attack us. know what the answer of the Tjcan people will be to that. The answer to any dictatorship combination aimed at the United Sates ‘will be something the Nazis understand—armed might.” He warned against “what would]. (Continued on Page Five Five)

TAFT'S SON DENIES DRUNKEN DRIVING

BOSTON, May 19 (U. P.).—Lloyd B. Taft of Cincinnati, O., Yale undergraduate son of U. S. Senator Robert A. Taft (R. O.) pleaded innocent in Charlestown District Court today to drunkenness and drunken driving charges and the case was continued to June 5, Taft was released in $50 bail. The youth was seized last night after his auto plunged through a bridge and was prevented from falling 10 feet to Boston & Maine ailroad tracks by steel cables, ‘Police said Taft was visiting his brother, Robert, a: Harvard Law School student.

STEEL PLANTS RUN 99 PCT. OF CAPACITY

NEW YORK, May 19 (U, P.).— Steel mills of the nation are scheduled to operate at 99.9 per cent of theoretical capacity this week pressing into service all ava facilities, the . American Iron {and Steel Institute reported today. The industry has now covered from effects of ecen soft coal mine shutdown and reports from steel centers indicate that | operations next week may top 100 per cent of theoretical eapaclty,

TIMES FEATURES ON INSIDE. PAGES

Movies ........ 4 Mrs. Ferguson 10 Music 0 Obituaries ..8, 11 Pegler ........10 Pyle 9 Questions ..9, 10 Radio i8 Mrs. Roosevelt. 2 3|Serial Story.. Side Glances 18 3] Society “ee 12, 13 s

BOOKS «...e0..10 Clapper svsce.- 9 Comics ..,....16 Crossword ....15 Editorials ....:10 Fashions ......13 Financial .....17 Flynn . Forum . Gallup Poll. . ‘Homemaking. 13 In Indpls..... Inside Indpls.. 9|S] Jane Jordan ..13]

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.| substituted.

ING

MRS. RUNYON'S TRIAL STARTED

Charged With Failing to Stop After Fatal 1937 Accident.

Mrs. Mary Runyon of Plainfield, former State Health Board employee, went on trial in Criminal Court today on a charge of failure to stop after a fatal accident. She is charged with failing to stop after her car allegedly struck and killed Noah Russell and’ fg HY | old daughter, Margaret, on TU. S. 40] near Bridgeport Dec. 4, 1937. Mrs. Runyon surrendered to the Sheriff’s office two days after the accident and, according to deputy sheriffs, made a statement that she did not know that her car had been involved in an accident. Dr. Hugh K. Thatcher, .former deputy coroner, testified that Mrs. ‘Runyon called him two days after the accident and said, “Something hit my car,” and asked his advice about going to the Sheriff's office to

find out about it. Dr. Thatcher said he advised her to report to the Sheriff’s office im-

mediately. Charles McAllister, dep-

piece of glass at the accident scene which later was found to correspond with a hole in the windshield of Mrs. Runyon’s car. Change Charge Dr. E. R. Wilson, former coroner, testified he asked.Mrs. "Runyon why she didn’t stop after the accident and that she ‘replied she didn’t know. she had had an_ accident. Dr. Wilson said he filed a charge of ‘second degree murder against Mrs. Runyon” at that time. .This charge, however, was dismissed in Municipal- Court and a charge of failure to stop after an accident was

Victor Humple, Indianapolis, testis fied he was driving along Road 40 at the time of the accident and saw a car lurch sideways and one headlight go out. He said he turned around and returned to the scene and found the bodies of the father and daughter. Mr. Humple said a few. minutes later a car with a broken windshield and a headlight passed the scene but did not stop.

LIQUOR BOARD VEIL ON PERMITS LIFTED

Renewal of 17 Approved; Two Hotels Included.

The newly - organizéd Marion County Liquor Board ay announced that it has abandoned its original policy of keeping secret information on application for liquor

e public any of the applications §r the Board's information on them. The Board renewal of 17 tail permits. Among the ‘renewed permits were those held by the Severin and Harrison Hotels. The remainder were for taverns which had been operating several years. Board members said that no action was taken on any applications for private club permits as a result of the State Beverage Commission's action in citing eight private clubs last week to show why their licenses should not be revoked.

HINTS F. D. R. MESSAGE - WASHINGTON, May 19 (U. P.) — Senate Democratic Leader Alben W. Barkley indicated today that President Roosevelt is considering sending a special message to Congress g|/in the near future—a message which presumably would mark a further advance in the program to aid the democracies and check the

State Ee vatiis. 8'Axis

uty sheriff, testified he found al

ringer,

18-PLAGES FILLED | FOR SPEEDWAY RACE

Further Tests May Be Held On Wednesday. (Another Story, Page Six)

Only 15 vacancies remained today in the 33-car field that will

start the 29th annual 500-mile race

at the Speedway on Memorial Day. Six. drivers qualified their cars yesterday, completing the first: six rows of the lineup. Speedway: officials' announced that further attempts will be held Wednesday if at least six carowners request the opportunity. Otherwise drivers still seeking places in the field will have to wait until Seturday for their tests. The best “speed yoda was turned in by George Connors, who pilotéd the four-cylinder Boyle Special at a 123.984 mile-an-hour

.|clip for the 10 miles. Other drivers

to hecome eligible were Al Miller, Miller Special, 123.478; George BarMiller Special, 122.299; Emil Andres, Lencki Special, 122.266; George Robson, Leon Duray Special, 121.576, and Floyd Davis, Noc-Out Hose Clamp Special, 121.106. After Saturday’s heavy wind died late in the afternoon, 10 more drivers joined Harry McQuinn and Doc Williams in the starting lineup. The pole position went to Mauri Rose, who turned four laps at a speed of 128.691 in the Lou Mooreowned Maserati. Others to win firstrow positions were Rex Mays and Wilbur Shaw.

Pre-Fabricated Home Completed in One Hour Flat

1. Starting with only a concerete fovncation in place, and pre-fabricated around, workmen on the FHA-North American Aviation bomber plant housiiiz

2

isctions of a house piled project, Avion Viliage,

Texas, set 4 record by erecting a house, complete with water, Cestricly and © eeipants, in one hour flat. The photo shows the first walls going up.

2. The same house 45 minutes later. 3. The house completed, Miss Veneta Swore,- who moved into it with her parents, tries out the bath

tub.

KIN QUIZZED IN AURORA DEATHS

Police, Hinting Family Feud, Seize Man Soro Seen. Near-Farm.

(Photos, Page Five)

i ‘Times Special

AURORA, ‘Ind., May 19.—A 26-year-old relative by marriage of the Johnson Agrue family was questioned by police here today in connection with the murder Friday of five members of the family. Shortly before noon officers left with the man for Indianapolis, where he will undergo a State Police lie detector test.

The feud-like killing was not discovered until Saturday, when, one by one, the bodies of the victims were found on the Agrue farm. Four of the five had been shot in the back. { Police said they believed robbery and family differences were the motives back of the murders and

had been ordered off the farm by

The first body to be found was that of Mr. Agrue, 60-year-old head of the family. Shot in the back, he was lying on a shady path leading to the farm. Missing from his clothing was $68, pay for his labor as a carpenter at the Madison ordnance proving grounds project. As the neighbors who found Mr. Agrue’s body went on- toward the farmhouse, they discovered 12-year-old Mary Breedon’s body lying in a (Continued on Page Five)

OLD STORY BUT GOOD

LOCAL TEMPERATURES 6a.m.....58 10am ...72 7am. ....62 lam... 7 S8a.m, .... 68 12 (noon).. 75 9a.m..... 70 1p. m ... 18 |

The weatherman, never very loquacious, dug deep in his bag of forecasts today and came up with this one:

Fair and warmer.

that the man now being questioned |

Johnson Agrue earlier in the week.

Living Costs Up Another Notch

WASHINGTON, May 19 (U. P)). —The Federal Reserve Board and the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that it is costing the average American more to live than a month ago. A Labor Department survey rea 1. percent increase in

first half of May. The Reserve Board reported sharp advances in wholesale commodity prices. A survey of 18 foods in 18 large f cities showed: Lard up 3 cent per pound, reversing usual season trend, by advancing in 17 of 18 cities; pork chops, up an average of 1 cent per pound; navy beans, up 2 cents a pound; eggs up an average of .7 cents per dozen.

HEAVIER PROFITS TAX

Many Defense Industries Now Untouched, Is Claim.

WASHINGTON, May 19 (U. P.) — A plan to raise more than $1,000, 000,000 through broadened excess profits and corporation income taxes was put before Congress today by Assistant Secretary of the Treas: ury John L. Sullivan. He urged the House Ways and Means Committee to alter the present. system of taxing corporate profits in order to reach many corporations which he said were making substantial profits from national defense without having to pay an excess profits tax. He said that profits are being made by defense industry out of the sacrifices of the people and that they should go back to them. Mr. Sullivan also stated that heavy excise taxes on such durable goods as electric refrigerators, autoSe watches and cameras were justified both from revenue raising aspects and to reduce civilian com-

petition with defense for materials and labor.

Italian Duke of Spoleto to Rule Croatia, Kingdom Carved From Former Jugoslavia

By ELEANOR PACKARD United Press Staff Correspondent

ROME, May 19.—Premier Benito Mussolini issued a decree today providing that Italian troops in Croatia

henceforth are troops stationed inan| ’| Allied country—the new Kingdom of| : ’| Croatia—which will be ruled by the

Italian Duke of Spoleto. The part of the Croatian Kingdom, comprising two-fifths of conquered Jugoslavia, occupied by Italian troops will no longer be regarded as occupied territory but as an integral part of the Kingdom, the decree stated.

The commander of Italian troops|

in Croatia, Gen. Vittorio Ambrosio,

immediately will contact the Croat| authorities to carry out the condi-|

tions set forth in the decree, it was added.

Croat leaders were en route home} to plan for coronation of the Duke!

of Spoleto.

They left by train for Zagreb at|

10:15 last night after their spokesman, Ante Pavelic, had been re-

ceived in a 20-minute audience by}

the Pope, reportedly to discuss the possibility of a Vatican-Croat concordat similar to that between the Vatican and defunct Jugoslavia.. It was believed that the date for

Spoleto’s coronation Aim I

next few days. He is a second

King id within the manuel, the

cousin of Italy’s Kiag Victor Emhusband of t§» fi

Princess Irene of Greece, and the brother of the Duke of Aosta, Viceroy of Ethiopia, whose surrender to the British was admitted in today’s

: [Italian war communique.

The Croats had come to ask Vic-

plied at a brief “for men nly cere mony at the Quirinal Palace yesterday. Among those present, in full re-

Amid a clanking of swords and aif array of peient Jeather Shoots, doe;

retaul: prices of staple foods in the |

URGED BY TREASURY

i hing

SHI’S SEIZURE 0. K. IMMINENT

58 Vessels to Be Available; Hint LaGuardia for Home Defense.

WAS HINGTON, May 18 (U. P.).o Congres was prepared today to pass within the week legislation granting the Administration - unprecedented economic powers and providing thousads of tons of cargo vessels for Great Britain and the U. S. Navy. Anot ner major detonie develdps ment «xpected this week is formation br President Roosevelt of the long-a vaited - home defense plan, probakly to be headed by New York's Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuar-

an

Chairman Carl Vinson (D. Ga.) of the House Naval Affairs Committee plens to ask unanimous consent today for immediate House consideratior. and passage of a bill authorizing the Navy to acquire 58 new ficet auxiliaries of a total tonnage of 550,000.

Will Be Commandeered

The Naval auxiliaries as well as cargo ships for Britain’s North Atlantic supply lines will be provided from commandeered foreign shipping. A b 11 sponsored by Merchant Marine Committee Chairman Schyler Otis Jiland (D. Va.) authorizing the Martine Co on - to impose prioriiies on the use of American merci:ant shipping, will be called today if the House ives its unanimous consent. The: Vinson Priorities Bill, authorizing control of the use to which virtu:dly ald American industrial facili ies are put, and the raw materials they use, was expected to get final approval this week.

i Stiffer Profits Tax?

Th ¢ House Ways and Means Committee scheduled Assistant Secretary of ‘tiie Treasury John L. Sullivan to explain the Administration’s new exces profits. tax proposals. There were indications from Secreta:v of the Treasury Henry Morgent aau Jr., that Mr. Sullivan would pres:nt a revised recommendation for stiffer taxes on profits resulting fron: ihe defense program.

GOMMODITIES RISE; WHEAT HITS '41 TOP

“leon 72 Cents After Hint

01 0. K. on Crop Loans. | (BW YORK, May 19 (U. P)—A

wil sign the farm bill providing crop loans at 85 per cent of parity ruaght 2 heosie rally in commiontty

ves] om i we zoomed as -much

: great satisfaction and a grateful a

soul.” At the mention of bis name, Spoleto. stepped. forward: to. accept the

ad Must] Five).

{as 3% cents a bushel with May

wi cat selling at $1.02%, highest this

{yeir. May ‘corn- sold 1 cent higher

at 72 cents a bushel. Profit-taking hardly dented these gains. Jotton futures shot up a dollar bale and more in spite of the

2 fa that Price

Commissioner Leon Henderson had announced earlier ht he. wil fix a price colling for, govbed cotton Fam in a Jw A eines

by Agricultyre Secrefary| |Wizkard that President Roosevelt

EGYPTIA BELIEVE

Four Missionaries From Local Society and 24 U. S. Ambulance Drivers Aboard Vessel : ‘Lost’ in South Atlantic. |

(Photo, Page Three)

NEW YORK, May 19 (U. P.).—The first large-scale: loss of American life since the start of the war was feared today in the apparent sinking of the Egyptian liner, Zam= zam, missing in the South Atlantic en route to Africa. - The exact number of Americans aboard the apparently;

\ \

\

r

ill-fated 8299-ton pride of the Egyptian merchant marine

icans were among the 32 Dr. Emory Ross, general secretary of the Foreign Missions Conference of North America, estimated that the Zamzam carried: almost 200 Americans and Canadians,

most of them missionaries. The Zamzam flew the neutral flag of Egypt but this apparently did not, save -her from sinking, either by submarine or surface raider. It was believed most likely that the Zamzam was the victim of a surface raider and in that case the passengers and crew might be prisoners aboard the attacking ship. | If the ship had been sunk by a sttbmarine, one of more lifeboats prob=

{ably ‘would have been reported by

this time. The ship had been listed as “lost” in shipping circles for more than & week but the British first admitted it last night. The only other substantial American loss of life occurred in the torpedoing of the liner Athenia, Just after start of the war, Sept. 3, 1939, Twenty-nine Americans lost their lives in that sinking. The American passengers on the Zamzam included 24 members of the British-American: Ambulance Corps, en route for service with the British and Free French in Africa. There also were an undetermined number of missionaries and other] Americans aboard the vessel. Four of the missionaries, Dr. and Mrs. A. G. Henderson and Mr. and Mrs. William H. Edwards; were being sent to Belgian Congo by the United Christian Missionary Society of Indianapolis. Mr. and Mrs, Edwards and their son, Donald, were rescued from ‘he Athenia. Other :- missionaries aboard (included five Catholic Oblate Fathers, bound for South Africa; nine Seventh Day Adventists bound for Egypt and Palestine, 19 adults and seven children of the ‘Adventist Africa Inland Mission; three members of the Sudan Interior Mission, an interdenominational group, two

Italians Surre

British.

become King of the newly- created Kingdom of Croatia. Aosta, Viceroy of Ethiopia sinc 1937, was given permission to be thi last to leave the mountain fortress of Amba Alagi. He and his staff will become British prisoners tomorrow. Most of the 7000 troops filed through British lines today. The British, who had encircled the mountain more than a month ago, today reported progress against the comparatively few Italian troops still fighting in the Gondar sector of northwest Ethiopia and the Jimma lake region in the south. | The capitulation was expected to release several thousand British:

was not yet known. It was believed that 60 to 100 Amare. persons on the steamer.

" On War Front

Today’s War Moves .... Diary of ship victim ae ; Nazis expect Libyan defeat..... 3 : William Philip Simms Material plentiful for.U. S. Army ’

members of the interdenominae tional South Africa General Mission and two Church of the Brethrem missionaries bound for Equatorial Africa. a

Charles Murphy, ‘an editor of Fortune = Magazine, and. Davie Sherman, a photographer for 4 Magazine, also were aboard, . “The ship was an ol ) been built in Belfast in 1908 as th British linen Leicestershire. During the World War, she served as: United States transport. Returned : to the British flag she became the Bridish Exhibitor. acted] efore the present war s Egyptian Interests bought the old vessel to transport pilgrims to Mecca and installed aboard & mosque accommodating 600 wore shippers at one time. } : She sailed from Jersey City, J., March -20, for Alexandria by wa: of -Brazil and the Cape of - : Hope. There were 203 passe] and a crew of 10 British officers a 110 Egyptians. The ship had Tenched Recife, Brazil, safely, had sailed: from there soon after April" 10, bound for. Capetown, where it wag due April 21. William V. C. Ruxton, president. of the British-American Ambulance Corps, claimed that the Zamzamy “was a neutral ship carrying none belligerent cargo.” Arthur Krida Jr., 26, of South Kent, Conn, a surveyor; had eloped three days before the: ship sailed, with Miss Georgette de Vilaine of

the ship sailed, Mrs. Krida labghed

gficiace Eastern sector.

through her tears to reporters, “I'my prepared to be a widow.”

nder Ethiopia

By JOE ALEX MORRIS : United Press Foreign News Editor After a 40-day seige in which the Italians ran out of ammunition and resorted to home-made hand grenades, the Duke: of ‘Aosta today: surrendered the last large organized Fascist force in Ethiopia to ‘the

The Duke, a cousin of the King of Italy, accepted-Biitish tori foie: ‘capitulation only a few hours after his brother, the Duke of Spoleto, had

service on the more —— In Syria and Iraq, the Bagh radio claimed that Arab forces (now reportedly led by an and backed by Axis airplanes possibly air-transported troops) had attacked in the Rutbah sector and pushed across the border |to strike at the British, These claims were not confirm elsewhere. HH British planes | Sunday again heavily - attacked the Rayat and Palmyra airdromes in Syria at about the time Gen. Henri Dentz was dee

troops and some British planes for

Today's War

J. W. T. Mason.

increasingly to

low ‘much aid, direct or indirect, they, ‘are likely to give the Axis. A significant item in ‘today’s news was the official declaration in London that Britain is closely| watching the possibility of the passage of German war material from Syria into by any route, including across The declaration shows the seriousness with w ‘Britain views the

{bassador to Ankara probably

(Continued on Page Five)

Moves

a 1 “5

In response to requests from readers, we are resuming the popular daily analysis, “Today's War Moves,” which is now being prepared by She Onitell Prise war staf 1s New York, besaute Wf the desil

<

By UNITED PRESS 3 Developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East point a German drive, first for control of the oil fields, then for the Suez Canal and the British. naval base at Al . French-mandated Syria and independent Iraq already are involved: Turkey and Russia are potent factors and their support of Britain seem most “unlikely; the question bothering Britain ‘at the moment is rath

East is a long haul for German § plies, and communications are perfect. The easiest route would be & Turkey: Combined German-F presswe on Turkey, if Comic the skill which Hitler has s such matters in the past, suade the Turks that their cudrse would be to permit he J of supplies. LR

has representations - to the TRtkists Goverament, The

Turkish: attitude.” The British tier

Turkey, of course, could (Continued on

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