Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 21 May 1941 — Page 1

FORECAST: Partly cloudy tonight and Somos possibly local showers tomorrow afternoon; 10t much change in temperature.

[scapes —owan) VOLUME 53—NUMBER 61

BATTLE OF CRE

‘WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 1941

Entered as Second-Class Matter -

at Postoffice, Indianapoli

s, Ind.

Invaders Reach ‘Capital's Outskirts But Are ‘Accounted For’

LINE UP TODAY ) FR3DR0UD AT SPEEDWAY

Railbirds Believe Ted Horn |

To Set Qualifying Pace; At Least Six Ready.

. G1 ° ; Today's Lineup Here are the numbers, names and drivers of the cars expect-

ed to make qualifying attempts. today at the Speedway:

‘CAR NO. NAME OF CAR 4 T. E. C. Special Ted Horn 5 Thorne Special Joe Thorne

22 Sirlipey Sandwich Shops Spec Kelly Petillo

DRIVER

Spent = S Joie Chitwood

Phillips Special. . Overton Phillips Sam Hanks

Greene! Special Lyons Special

By J. E. O'BRIEN

Fifteen empty spots in the 33-carf

Memorial Day race lineup were expected to entice at least a halfdozen cars to the Speedway pavement this afternoon for the third round of qualification attempts. Eleven optimistic entrants have indicated that their cars and drivers may take the four-lap runs, but it was certain several of them would

not be ready. After today’s trials between 1 and 7 p. m., the next qualification days. will be Saturday and “Slnday. j

Rallbiids Watel Hori

The railbirds looked for the veteran ‘Ted Horn to show the day’s best speed in the six-cylinder machine entered by Art Sparks, engineer for Joe Thorne. Although its motor has been trimmed since, the car was the same that (the late Jimmy Snyder piloted to ‘new lap and qualifying records two years ago. Horn was on the track late yesterday for several practice excursions. - Another colorful favorite due to run was Kelly Petillo, the 1935

ss

Speedway winner, Although he still}:

s 4 car faster than his own, ‘Petillo was ready to drive the latter the 10 required miles and assure himself a place in the starting field.

Must Drive at Least 115

Among others likely to make trial runs were Joe Thorne, in the Thorne Special, Paul Russo in the Leader Card Special, Overton Phillips in the Phillips Special, Louie Tomei inthe H-3 Special, Al Putnam in the Lyons Special, Joie Chitwood in the Blue Crown Sparkplug Special, Tommy Hinnershitz in the Marks Special and Sam Hanks in the Ed Walsh Special. No ‘matter how good ‘were today’s speeds, thos2 already qualified in ‘the front rows couldn’t be displaced. Qualifiers were required to drive four laps on the 2%-mile track at a speed of at least 115 miles an hour. Each candidate is allowed three chances to qualify and must drive the car he expects “to chauffeur in the 500-mile race,

You Can Clock The Race Cars

- CLOCK THE CARS yourself during the qualifying trials at the Speedway. Get out your watch, keep one eye on the second hand, the other on the car you want to o Aime, and you can translate

| work on $600,000,000 in defense con- ; tracts has been suspended for 121:

Night brings no blackout to the vast smokeless powder plant at Charlestown, Ind. Since the beginning of this month the $86,000,000 defense project has been turning out

powder on one production line. ahead so that it will be completed by fall or ea:ly winter.

No Blackouts at Charlestown Powder Plant—It Works Night and Day

Work on the other two lines, meanwhile, goes right

SHIP WORKERS DEFY PICKETS

Frey Leads Men Through Ranks of Strikers in San Francisco.

By UNITED PRESS Metal workers today ignored the picket lines of their fellow A. F. of .L. and .C. I. O. machinists and

marched bask. $0: work in. two of. th 11 San Francisco shipyards where

days. There was considerable booing but no violence as the men returned to their jobs. The A. F. of L. and C. I. O. machinists struck for higher pay. At Detroit the Hudson Motor Co. and the United Automobile Workers Union (C. I. 0.) accepted a proposal ending a six-day strike. It was believed the 8500 strikers may return to work tomorrow. Hudson has $30,000,000 in defense contracts.

Three Other Yards Idle

Meanwhile construction work on the Government's $35,000,000 ammunition loading plant atsRavenna, O., was disrupted today by a strike of several thousand laborers which the Army arged was unauthorized and’ cauged by a “group of. apparent agitators” It was the second interduption of work in 10 days,” The Pacific Coast Shipyard workers defied a “back to: work” movement in rejecting the proposal sub-

last night. Today John P. Frey, president of the A. F. of L. Metal Trades Department, personally led 1000 workers through C. I. O. lines at the Moore Drydock Co. plant in Oakland. Ed Rainbow, business agent for the A. F. of L. Boilermakers Union, headed a group entering the Matson Navigation Co’s ship repair shop in San Francisco. No attempt was made to resume work: at three other = yards—the Columbia Machine Works and ‘United Engineering plant in San Francisco and the Pacific Drydock & Repair Co. yard in Oakland, The Moore and Matson plants (Continued on Page Five)

4 BURNED SERIOUSLY IN LILLY EXPLOSION

“ “elapsed time for one lap into miles an hour with this chart. gy h. is, es. m. p. un. sec. mob

1:44. :20. 4 1,

Injured While Mixing Ether With Other Chemicals.

mitted to them by Governor Olson |

3 Injured as Car Hits Army Truck

SOUTH BEND, Ind., May 21 (U. P.).—Three persons were injured today when an automobile collided with a kitchen truck of the 46th Field Artillery during movement of the 5th Division of the U. S. Army. Injured were Luther Lee, 27, and his sister-in-law, Mrs. Treva Manwall, 18, both of near Mishawaka, and Private Albert Idyle,

1 19, Ft. Custer, Mich.

HEAT HITS 90!

It’s Sizzling All Over the ‘State; Showers May - Come Tomorrow.

LOCAL TEMPERATURES

6am..... 72 10a.m..... 87 7am..... 76 lla. m.....89 8a.m..... 80- 12 (Noon).. 89 9a. m. .... 84 ilp.m..... 9

Heat records were battered for’ the second successive day today when the thermometer hit 90 at 1 p. m, shaterting the old record of 89 for this:date. + Yesterday the - thermometer touched 90, a degree over the record for the day. The hottest places in Indiana yesterday. were Columbus and Vincennes, where temperatures reached 92. ‘Terre Haute reported 91. . Although Indianapolis cannot exs pect much change in temperature, there is a possibility of local thundér: showers ‘tomorrow afternoon. The heat has increased ‘the seriousness of the drought, which was alleviated somewhat by recent rains. Growers say, however, that the subsoil is very dry and can be put into good shape only by long, soaking, gentle rains.

KNOX ASKS REVIVAL OF ‘FREEDOM OF SEAS’

WASHINGTON, May 21 (U. PJ). —Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox today urged repeal of the “terrible blunder” of the Neutrality Act and a return to the freedom of the seas policy which would permit American merchants ships to sail directly into British and other combat ports to discharge their cargoes. The Neutrality Act abandoned the freedom of the seas so far as the United States is concerned, and. required the President to proclaim combat zones in time of war which American ships and shipping could not Sater:

LE

DREAM SAVES 13 FROMBLAZE

Woman, Awakened hy Image of Blackout, Fog, Finds Apartment Afire.

"A woman's dream of groping through a dense London fog during an air raid blackout probably saved

13 occupants of an apartment build--Oliyer: Ave. from ‘injury

today, .

in one of the four apartments in the building, listened to a war news broadcast last night. About 3:45 a. m., her dream of being choked by fog ‘became so vivid that she awoke. At first she thought she still. was dreaming. Then she realized the. room was filled with dense, choking smoke, instead of fog. Groping to a window, she managed to raise it and shout for help job watchman on a street repair 0 Blame Switch

. Firemen, who fought the blaze nearly: two hours, said the fire was started’ by a defective light switch in a first floor hallway of the twostory brick and frame building. Mrs. Steele, a widow employed as a clerk by: the Vonnegut Hardware Co., awoke her two sons, Bruce, 16, and Wilford, 18, and then aroused the occupants of the. three other

. apartments by knocking on the

doors. «All inree. were filled with smoke. Two of the apartments on the second floor‘ were occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Brice Mount and by Mr. and Mrs. Elzie Jones, their daughter, ‘Doris, 10; her half brother, David Parkhurst, 18, and a roomer, Nona: James, 22.

| Sets Loss at $800

The fourth: apartment, downstairs, was occupied. by Mr.” and Mrs. James Falk and their son, James, 4. All occupants were forced out of the burning building by smoke and flames. Harry -Ewing, who operates a drug store in the front of the building, estimated the loss to the building at $800. J. D. Rushton, operator of a barber shop in the rear of the building, estimated]. damage to the shop at $100. Mrs. Steele estimated the damage to her clothing and furnishings st more than $300. After the firemen arrived, Mrs. Steele recalled that she had férgotten to save “my new dollar hat and my new shoes.” She ran back into the building and crawling along the floor where the smoke was less dense, managed to find the hat. Firemen forced her to leave before the found the new -'shoes.

uring” a $1200 fire plots Mis. Elizabeth Steels, 38, who lives |

Army's Patients to Don Maroon

WASHINGTON, May 21 (U. P.). —The War Department has adopted maroon as the colo: of new canvalescent lounge suits and robes at army hospitals, becauie it is a “cheerful color.” “The maroon suits and 1)bes were adopted for general us: in army hospitals after it was lea: ned that the new color had a ch:zerful effect on patients, * the department said. :

U, $, TO IGNORE:

dy

RED SEA F PERILS

Procesds with Plans to Send Middle East Supplies To British.

WASHINGTON, May 21 (U, P). —United States merchant vessels are going into the hazardous serv-,

ice of supply to British forces in the Middle East despite the fate of the Egyptian steamer Zamzam and emphatic advice from Vichy that the Dakar air base is at Germany’s service, . ' The Maritime Commission revealed in a circular addressed to newspaper editors that it was going ahead with the Red Sea service. Elaborate plans for .it had been made before these _developnients took place: 1. Germany threatened to sink vessels entering the Red Sea in the interest: of British forces in the Middle East. : * 2. French = Ambassador Geston Henry-Haye told the State Department that all French air field, including those in the colonies, were placed at Germany's disposal hy the armistice of last June. 3. Revelation that Germany. sank the Egyptian liner Zamzam a month ago in the Séuth Atlantic, alleging she carried contraband. The Maritime Commission circular requested a voluntary censoiship of movements of merchant vessels aiding the' democracies and, spe(Continued on Page -Five)

HESS ATTITUDE NOW “CALLED ‘TRUCULENT’

' LONDON, May 21 (U. P.)—Rudolf Hess, who parachuted down in Scotland May 10, is proving a hard man to question, it was reported reliably today, and some quarters described the No. 3 Nazi's attituds as “truculent.” Hess, who still is in a military hospital somewhere in Britain, was said to be demanding “extras” be-

ond the normal fare, asserting he,

‘enough money to pay for them.

i tian Tiner: Zamzam, when it “was

140 FROM U.§. REACH FRANCE

Germans Study C Case of 24 In Ambulance Corps; Rest'te Go Free.

BERLIN, ‘May 21 (U, P)—German authorities today studied ‘the case of 24 American ambulance drivers who were aboard the Egyp-

sunk by a Nazi wafship, to deter-

mine whether they shall be held as prisoners of war. The ambulance drivers ‘were among the 140 Ameriean passengers of the Zamzam, sunk in mid-April in the South Atlantic, who were landed at an occupied French port. They were: en route ‘to serve ‘with Free French: forces in "Africa.

Docked at Coast Resort

(Vichy revealed today that the port was St. Jean de Luz, a smart coast resort south of Bordeaux and near the Spanish border. | German authorities notified the American consul at Bordeaux of the arrival of the Americans—62 men, 53 women and 25 children. He left at once to arrange housing for them in St. Jean hotels.) (In Washington, the | United States State Department was advised by Admiral William ID. Leahy, Ambassador to France, that German authorities were ready to. permit Americans to leave France by Spain and Portugal.) . “The ambulance drivers, under international law, count asi members of the medical corps,” a Nazi spokesman said. “If they were British or French. they could be treated without further ado as war prisoners.

, ‘Danger. from Red Cross’

“Since they are United States citizens, however, and it is uncertain whether they aiready were enrolled as De Gaullists or merely were en route to enroll themselves as such, their status needs close invesligation before future treatment is decided. # “In addition there are military questions such as revealing the position of our warships to be considered., “We already are accustomed . to the faet that United States warships reveal the position of German merchantmen to British warships, hut we do not want the same thing to happen to our warships by actions of members of the Red Cross. “In any case, it can be assumed

crew - members, will be treated strictly in accordance with interna-

that all neutral passengers and];

8000 TO 11,500

Few es ‘Reported Landed From a

Ships; Germans Claim ‘Important’ Points Have Been Seized.

War News on Inside Pages

France Draws Closer to Axis ‘Nazi Airlines to South America Feared...... Tobruk ‘No Man’s Land” Story Women’s Role dn Civilian Defense . Crete’s Importance Shown by Map .....ceseisesscsnreniancens vis vim Other Defense Stories

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‘By JOE ALEX MORRIS United Press Foreign News Editor

‘Hitler's Luftwaffe, aided perhaps by Axis naval units, od poured reinforcements into the spreading Battle of : Crete un today and British Prime Minister Churchill warned that the struggle for the strategic little Mediterranean island was intensifying. The invading parachute, glider and air-transport troops : —estimated in London to total between 8500 and 11,500 men ; —attacked Suda bay, Candia (Heraclean) and Retime (Retyhmnon) on the north coast of Crete, penetrating the outskirts of Canea near Suda Bay beforé they were, oo counted for,” according to British officjal statements. - Churchill reported that the military situation was in hand” but the Germans apparently were still being reine forced and fighting continued fiercely, He did not menti yr unofficial British reports that some enemy ships had'b through the British naval screen and landed reinforcem

Claim Important Seizures

In Berlin, Germans me ely said that they had: fornid able forces. in Crete and had occupied “important” points. 3 ‘The Nazis angrily denied British stateménts that thé parachute invaders wore; New Zealand and British unis. forms. A Nazi spokesman said that if the parachutist 2 were treated as spies—that is, shot upon capture—the Geta. mans would retaliate at the ratio of 10 to 1. CRs . There was a comparative lull in aerial fighting in no 4 h ern Europe; although the German High Command said't Lutfwaffe made raids on air fields in southern England. . ‘In the Mediterranean, Axis planes again attacked Malt and reported a hit on a 10,000-ton British cruiser.

Turks Stiffen Against Axis

Fighting in North Africa was mostly patrol actions In East Africa, the British announced that the Italian’ surrender at Amba Alagi had been completed. with. the formal surrender of the Duke of Aosta, five generals and between 18,000 and. 19,000 troops. | Fighting continued: in Southern Ethiopia. : Details of the British land and air offensive against. tha pro-Axis Iraqi ‘Army were meager except for previous Tes ports that the British had crossed the Euphrates to within 35 miles of Baghdad, but from Istanbul and Palestine came reports that the Turks were taking a firmer attitude toward Axis penetration of the Near East ard had closed the rails’ road running f yria along the Turkish border to Iraq: a far as German “tourists” were concerned. : For the-time being, according to a dispatch from north Palestine, there did not appear to be additional movemen of Axis aerial forces through Syria to Iraq.

How Nazis Staged Invasion

By EDWARD W. BEATTIE JR. United Press Staff Correspondent: . y LONDON, May 21 (U. P.) —Prime Minister Winston Churchill told the House of Commons today the methods used by the Germans in. unprecedented air-borne invasion of Crete.

tional law; and there is no question of their being treated as prisoners of war.”

All day Monday, he: said, the Germans made ‘heavy diveattacks on the Suda Bay sector, where the British warships are based, This was like the artillery preparation for a big land attack. At dawn yesterday, 1500 para-

chute troops in New Zealand uni-|had been “accounted for” by. 6:3 forms were landed near Malemi and |p. m.

Four employees of the Eli Lilly & Co. were burned today when a small quantity of ether, mixed with other

42. AL Meanwiille;

:40. were followed by an air-borne Sivie :38.

sion (7000 men) disgorged had turned to the Hei Junkers-52 planes and ei om clean (Candia) and Retimo '(R

however, the d V

U.S. DIPLOMATS IN

:37.

35. 34 :33. :32. :31. :30. 30 29 28

BE SEERERRELEARERRE

Ty ee 126.8 1:25.% 124. 124.1 128.

29.

233: ®

122.6 121.8

TIMES FEATURES ON INSIDE, PAGES

Clapper fers, 13 | Movies Comics .:.....21| Mrs. Ferguson 14 Crossword”. oye Lov Obituaries Bditorials$

Forum .......14| Mrs. Roosevelt 1 Homemaking. .17| Serial Stbry . In Indpls .... 3|Side Glances . 2 Inside In 13 Saciety

29 | pany’s research laboratories.

33 of er chemical. The heat from the

chemicals, exploded in the com-

The injured were taken to Methodist Hospital where it was reported

3 all four had been burned seriously | on the face and hands.

Company officials said the explosion occurred when the ether was poured into a beaker containing an-

ulting flames started the autoIk sprinkler system operating and sent in a fire alarm. Little damage was done to the laboratory, it was reported. The injured were reported. as Leo Freihage, 30, of 1435 E. 46th St.; Auburn Ross, 37, of 433 W. 44th St.; Otto Behrens, 5946 University Ave., and Miss Mildred Sartor, 23, of 4555 Central Ave.

BITTER OVER SENTENCE

NEW YORK, May 21 (U. P).— George Joseph Cvek spat at Judge 1/|James M. Barrett today as the Bronx County Court jurist sentenced him to die in the electric

Can Sports ...

:+ ++ ,14| State Deaths... 7/erine

J. 'H. Yindrich, who spent 39 days with the British Imperial forces besieged at Tobruk, Libya, has arrived in Cairo, Egypt.

By J. H. YINDRICH _ Uni.ed Press Staff Corres~ondent CAIRO, Egypt, May 20 (Delayed) (U. P.).—At Tobruk, where I spent the past six weeks, men ‘bathe in the blue Mediterranean, loll on sandy beaches, listen to open-air band concerts and read free’ newspapers. It could be a delightful spot. But it isn’t. Sleepless nights, flies, dust, boredomg\hordes of fleas, lack of beer, the brasn of artillery shells morning and evenings and the incessant visits of bombing and machine-gunning airplanes keep one jumping. ducking, swatting and scratching.

chair for the murder of Mrs. Cath-

When the Italians surrendered Tobruk in J they left. be~

"and Australian troops

Tobruk: Beaches, Blue Skies, Free News —But Fleas Take-All Joy Out of Life

hind an almost invisible fifth coluinn that grew into probably the greatest collection of fleas ever gathered on the Libyan desert. Now, four months later, the British Imperial garrison: besieged there is still unable to wrest some of the old Italian camp sites from the pests. Several organized flea hunts have come to nothing and the flea is in accepted part of Tobruk life. Bathing facilities are excellent,

line duty take full De Yanlans of them, but German planes are apt

to swoop down at any moment

and machine gun the beaches. Nevertheless, one cam) has erected showers which attract troops from all over the 30-mile semi-circular perimeter comprising the fortress of Tobruk. Ger-

man fliers have not located- the b

Showers Jot iu there it scarcely a building in that -

off front- .

PARIS FAGE OUSTER

has not been damaged. There are three newspapers, antidotes for boredom. “The Happy Valley News” is published to amuse rather “The Truth” pihlishes British Broadcasting Co. dispatches and local items; it zot out an extra on the ‘Hess ease, “The Libyan News Bulletin” 1: the German and Russian ne casts too, with vivid comment: on them.

The Victorian Band has bien

{Military Reasons Cited in

- | the former capital after June 10 and

the |Government, to which these diplo- : mate were aocredited. was I

Request by Berlin.

VICHY, May 21 (U. P.). — Germany, for “military reasons,” was reported reliably tonight to have lasked the United States to withdraw its ‘diplomatic Stall] from Paris by June 10. > "The German Government ‘was said to feel that for military reasons it could not permit American |the diplomatic attaches to remain in

had communicated the request to the United States Embassy at Berlin,

German authorities were ‘said’ to have pointed out that thé French

The troops rushed together after |thymnon) sectors and at 5:30 p.:

they landed and were engaged by |troop landings were begun -

British troops. - Mr. Churchill said | Mr. Churchill said he had: that the majority of the 3000 men |further information on the bal landed for the Suds Bay attack {Continued on Page Five) -

Today’ s War Moves

: By UNITED PRESS WAR EXPERTS ; The battle for Crete, only one of hundreds of islands in the Sen, as amSriunce out. of al Neburtion te tie sim of the Glan The hattle is significant for three chief reasons: : . 1. Loss of Crete would be a severe blow to the British s position in the Eastern Mediterranean, and to Britain's prestige a ihe Amis of the Near Bast, where she needs friends. HE eaunired Germans, it would be of the greatest tactical advantage to the|ing Crete by air and the pre Axis for operations against North|of invading Britain. : Africa and Asia Minor, not exclud- 2.70 may be a test of he 3 ing Turkey. Navy’s power to control Medi 2. Whether ‘intended as such, hel aos Seat a action gives the Germans a valu-|stances. Withows the Ray rit test of the practicability of| would have lite chance of a ae onl 20 wa ad palin.

nu i