Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 30 May 1941 — Page 17

‘FRIDAY, MAY 30, 194I

The Indianapolis

SECOND SECTION |

Hoosier Vagabond

| SAN- DIEGO, Cal, May 30.—Harry Lawson learned the art of tattooing more than 50 years ago - when he was serving on sailing ships. In those days they just picked the ink in with a single needle, by and

But tattooing is different nowadays. The principle is the same, but it’s done by rapidly pulsating, ° electricallydriven needles. The little tattooing instruments make a buzzing noise, sort of like a rattlesnake, and you can hear it clear out on the sidewalk. A tattooer has seven instru-

ments, each attached to an elec-

trical wire, and he changes from one to another such as a dentist changes drills. The instruments are all alike, except for the nests of tiny needles in the ends. These are so bunched that each instrument does a different work—one makes, a fine line for outlining, one 3 heavy line for shading, and “80 forth.

. The needles are really tiny sewing machine rnieedles. Owen Jensen, partner-tattooer of Lawson, . makes. his own instruments by soldering half a dozen needles in a bunch onto the end of a plunger. This plunger is driven up and down about one-thirty-second of an inch by a tiny motor. It vibrates several thousand times a second. These needles are made in England, and they're getting scarce. But Jensen has about 12,000 on hand now. When business is good, the tattooers have to " change needles almost every day.

Immunization in Tattooing?

The needles are: dipped in ink before being applied to the skin. The dye comes in powder form, and they make “ink” out of it by adding a liquid which is a very strong antiseptic. After each using, the needles are dipped in antiseptic. Lawson thinks tattooers should have to pay a license and abide by certain standards, in order to keep out the dangerous ones. But San ‘Diego has no regulations for them. ; They say tattooing doesn’t hurt—it just tickles. It does draw blood, however. It causes an inflamation around the tattooed spot, which lasts about 24 hours. Your arm is a little sore. Then a scab forms, and it’s about a week before that comes off. It's apparently much like a vaccination. Lawson believes that anyone who is tattooed all over doesn’t’ have to be vaccinated, and is immune

By Ernie Pyle

to all fevers. A small tattoo doesn’t immunize you, though, he says.

‘Imes

Pre-Race Tension Gri ps Crowd and Drivers

A good portion of tattooers’ work these days is|

removing tattoo marks. They do it by what they call a secret process which takes off the skin. It requires- about a week, is pretty painful, and leaves a white scar. If a man who was tattooed all over had it all taken off, Lawson says, you'd just have to skin him alive and it probably would kill him. You can get tattoos to fit your pocketbook. The cheapest one they have is a small bird for 50 cents. The average eagle or ship or anchor design, about the size of your hand, runs from $3 to $5. It takes about half an hour to put one of these one. Sailors naturally form the bulk of the tattooing clientele here, for this is a sailor’s town. But lots of aircraft workers and Army selectees are also getting tattooed.

Tourists Get Tattooed, Too

Lately they do a lot of business putting Social Security numbers on people. One fellow said he lost his Social Security card four times. So he brought his fifth one in, had the numbers put on his arm in ink, then tore up his card and threw it away. I asked if tourists visiting San Diego ever get tattooed. They said yes. Last summer a woman tour-

ist from Milwaukee brought two little girls in and

had their names tattooed on their legs. She did it because she said the world was in such a mess, with everybody getting kidnaped or killed by bombs, she wanted her girls to have some permanent identification. Lawson and Jensen, being practically peers in the business, know most of the best tattooers in the country. They say there are probably 1000 professionals, and many more amateurs just learning. Lawson is from Australia, but he hasn't been there for a long time. He studies the Racing Form between jobs, and thinks we should have been in the war a year ago. Jensen hates liquor and can hardly stand to see anybody take a drink. He would give his right arm to talk on the radio every night. He has done it several times; and loves it. They both have tattooed many people all over— people who intended going into circuses or carnivals. It costs $600 to get tattooed all over, and takes about two months. Lawson right now is in the process of all-over tattooing’ a San Diego dredge operator. He works on him every Sunday morning. The man is almost finished now. How I envy him!

Inside Indianapolis (And “Our Town’)

& WE HAVE A VAGUE feeling that May 29th is just about as hard on the 500-mile race drivers as

May 30th. : ~ What “with worrying about whether they remembered to put the hood down and things like that, they have to attend the annual drivers’ meeting, which most of them take to like castor oil—and we'te not referring to the grade they burn in their motors, either. The annual meeting is a mass get-togeth-er in which all the officials are introduced, say a few words, the lap prizes are announced and various last-minute proclamations issued. The drivers yesterday looked about as happy as War Admiral would be pulling double with a milk-wagon nag. The officials, for one thing, gave them guile a tow words. Then, Wilbur Shaw, acting as sort of a master of ceremonies on the platform, kept exhorting his comrades for “a big hand” after each oration. (They got scattered applause, most of it coming from Deacon Litz, the oldest and biggest driver, who had managed to sit as far away from the stand as possible and still keep in the reservation.)

Ted Horn listened with one ear, with the other. to the chap who was in the process of buying him a soft drink. Harry McQuinn paced back and forth like an expectant father, puffing at a big cigar, and his new straw hat perched on his nose. ~ Pop Myers wished all the boys good luck and then the finale was an announcement of the Pike’s Peak hill climb. It was the one and only time the congregation paid rapt attention.

Washington

WASHINGTON, May 30.—It is too early to judge how effective President Roosevelt’s speech and his proclamation of an unlimited national emergency will be. But the first wave of reaction suggests that he has Tailed to end the division in the country. Less than 24 hours after Mr. Roosevelt

spoke, a gr of 40 non-interven-tionist Senators and Representatives met and decided to continue their fight to keep the United States out of war. Several of their members, particularly Senators Wheeler and Taft, went on the air to take issue with Mr. Roosevelt. The non-interventionist group considered plans for carrying on a campaign ' around the country. Some are suggesting an unofficial referendum on a scale that would amount to an unofficial plebiscite of the nation. If this program is carried through, - then the bitterness which we have seen during the + last few weeks is likely to increase rather than recede. Mr. Roosevelt's strong supporters, and presumably he himself, expected that the persuasive effect of the _ fireside talk would be sufficient to end the argument.

Ready to Shoot

~ Mr. Roosevelt stated the national policy definitely. He said he would, in consultation with naval and military technicians, devise and put into effect additional measures to get our war goods to Great Britain. He said our fighting forces were being placed in “strategic military position.” In short, he made it plain that he was ready to shoot at the first threatening move by Hitler and he reserved the right to judge what would -be considered a threatening move. He said this Gove ernment had a right to expect of all citizens that they take a loyal part in our common defense—“from this moment forward.” So far as Mr. Roosevelt is concerned, he has proceeded into a new phase, a new order. Dozens of statutes can be brought into play by special proclamation under emergency powers. Exactly what he can

My Day

WASHINGTON, Thursday —The closing session of the National Nutrition Conference for Defense, yesterday afternoon, was most interesting to me. I never Dr. Thomas Parran, of the United States Public Health Service, speak, and Mr. M. L. Wilson, director of extension work in the Depart-

ment of Agriculture, present the.

recommendations which came as a result of the various group meet“ings and from the conference as a whole.

This seems to me to have been a very valuable meeting. It brought together not only the people, like the home ‘economic experts who have studied nutrition for years, but the educators, doctors, parent-teacher groups, business and professional women, etcetera. All possible groups must be interested in a program of education is really to be carried on throughout the country. I returned to the White House to see a number of people at tea, and to shake hands with the little Girl Scout, Beatrice Vlach, and another very charming ‘young girl, Dorothea Bock, both of them winners in Sontens te provided as a prize a trip to Washingn, s “In the evening, I went to my local Newspaper Guild ‘meeting. Then I found a basket of mail awaiting me, but even Lith his to do, 1 oid OL Bave io 81 Wp very

Which shows, we suppose, that the boys are always just one race ahead of the customers.

Exception to the Rule

AND, OH, YES, we ought to tell you about the Merz Engineering Co.'s open house the other afternoon. It was carefully explained to the visitors that the company was handling nothing except defense orders. That's a rigid rule, added the gentleman showing one group around. And there arose just as he said it the darndest hullabaloo you ever heard. Over in a corner, a short, stocky chap was raising a barrel of noise with some workman tinkering over a gadget — with gestures thrown in for the film effects. “That,” glumly explained the gentleman, “is Kelly Petillo—ah—er—ah—supervising work on a part for his race car. Speedway time is—ah—the one exception to the rule.” We might add, too, that Kelly himself is generally an exception to all the rules we know.

Shucks, Why Not a 3d Time?

IN THE HUBBUB of it all, the Indianavolis Clearing House Wednesday and yesterday was setting a record all its own. You see, on Wednesday the Clearing House handled $3,612,000 on local banks. Yesterday it handled $3,612,000. It was the first time in the memory of George C. Calvert, secretary-treasurer, that such a duplication has occurred, and Mr. Calvert has been around for nearly 40 years. Sometime you might try to work up the mathematic probabilities of the same number coming vp two times in a row. It should give you at least an evening's entertainment.

By Raymond Clapper

do is still a matter of research by legal assistants. For instance OPM, and. presumably other affected agencies, are now studying the statutes to determine what new powers may “be applied under the state of full emergency. It has been confidently expected among friends of the Administration that the President’s speech and his proclamation would end the main phase of the war debate as we have been hearing it up to now. It was expected to mark the end of the Lindbergh movement. The country was to turn with united support behind the execution of the national policy outlined by the President. Much was expected from the psychological effect of the emergency proclamation.

Mr. Roosevelt set the course of the nation. He did

not recommend anything to Congress. He fixed the policy by executive declaration, trusting undoubtedly to public sentiment to accept and support him in his emergency action,

Country. Still Divided

But so far as the first scanning of comment indicates, none of the leading voices in opposition to the President has changed tune. Typical of much of this reaction was that of Senator Vandenberg. He said nothing had altered his conviction that America

should stay out of this war. The America First Committee announced, after a meeting of its executive committee, that this organization would redouble its efforts—which have been considerable already—to crystallize public opinion “in support of the President’s pledges to keep America out of other people’s wars.” President . Roosevelt has attempted to settle the issues without referring it to Congress. The situation seemed so desperate that he decided to appeal straight to the American people, confident that they, too, would recognize the danger and give him their loyal support. But it begins to appear as if the country is still left divided, with a stubborn and militant opposition that is determined to wage a new campaign to defeat the national policy proclaimed by President Roosevelt. If this should happen, the plight of the country would indeed be tragic.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

late. It is becoming easier to get through the work, though I must say the days seem to be filled. I don’t believe that the time will ever come in Washington when we can sit down and say: “There is nothing left which we ought to do.”

This morning, I started off very early after saying goodby to Miss Flora Rose, who is going up to Cornell after her trip across the continent from California to attend the nutrition eonference here. I reached Catholic University a little after 9, thinking that I was going to see a nursery school. After wandering around for some little time, I discovered a “nursing school” and had the pleasure of talking about their course for a few minutes. Eventually I found what they had really wanted me to see! A group from Catholic University has taken a small house, where they are running a nursery school, a boys’ club, and a sewing class for adolescent girls. The expense is borne by some of those working in the sociology courses, who deny themselves in order to carry on this work. It is, perhaps, the most valuable kind of education, because there is nothing as valuable as actuai contact with problems and an effort to work them out in a practical way. A number of these small units are operating separately, instead

of working in one large center, which is a newest,

novel experiment here. After -a few appointments this afternoon, Miss Thompson and I are going to fly to New York and drive up to Hyde Park. We arrive there a little later than my husband, who has just left by train, v

“Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day.” That is the litany these three—Rose, Shaw and Mays—are. chanting.

Uh-Oh! Rain!