Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 1 January 1942 — Page 13

. Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

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THURSDAY, JAN. |, 1942

is Times

Hoosier Vagabond

SAN FRANCISCO. Jan. 1.—This city’s concern over Whether or not it will be bombed by Japanese planes Seems to ebb and flow with the tides of war on the other side of the Pacific. But right now, I believe the San Francisco public mind has settled down to a resigned but firm belief that sooner or later this city will have a taste of it. It may be soon, it may not be for a year, but some day it will come—that's what the publie thinks. Lots of people here ask me, in consequence, about bomb shelters in England, and whether they should build private ones for their homes. Theyre especially inter. ested in the famous Anderson shelter, so I guess I'll just spout off a “Yittle about the Anderson today. It was named for Sir John Anderson, who was Minister of Home Security at the time it was adopted as more or less the official home type of shelter. It was issued to the British public on a what-you-can-afford basis. People making below $800 a year paid nothing.

The Anderson is a corrugated iron shed shaped like & minature dirigible hangar. You dig a hole in the ground about two feet deep, set this iron shed into it, and then cover the top of the shed with dirt a couple of feet thick.

Anent the Anderson Shelter

THE ANDERSON is big enough for abbut six people and is good protection against blast and flying splinters, but of course is no good at all under a direct hit (and neither is almost anything else). I have seen an Anderson absolutely unharmed by a bomb 20 feet away,

England tried the Andersons for a year and a half, but when I left in the spring she was about to abandon the Anderson idea. Of course most people who already have them won't throw them away, but the Government's approval was switching to a different type. The main reason was that the Andersons turned

THE CHANCES ARE that Indianapolis never will experience a serious national defense catastrophe, such as a bombing or a sabotage explosion, but our hospitals, police, firemen, the Red Cross and other agencies are making preparations just as a precaution. For instance, every hospital in the county is being surveved to earn how many emergency cases it could handle. All ambulances— City Hospital and private—are being listed. Arrangements are being made to organize squads of doctors and nurses to climb aboard already loaded trucks and quickly establish first aid dressing stations at the scene of a catastrophe Volunteer groups are to be ar- : ranged to take over the dressing stations after they are organized At City Hospital, for instance, theyre digging old fashioned but still serviceable beds out of storage and setting them up here and there to be held for an emergency. Methodist Hospital reports it could handle 100 or so extra beds. Even Riley Hospital is setting up extra beds. They've lost so many technicians and nurses at Methodist because of the war that they've started training women of the White Cross to serve in nonprofessional capacities in the various wards. The volunteers will be able to answer phones, answer visitors questions and otherwise relieve nurses for other work.

Sergt. York May Be Here DON'T BE SURPRISED if you hear Sergt. York is coming to town. We mean the real Sergt. York, in person—not a motion picture. The committee arranging entertainment for the President's Birthday Ball at the Butler Field House is having trouble with its

Bese plans for movie stars. Most of th: stars will be enter- |

Washington

WASHINGTON, Jan, 1 —During these last few weeks I have been grateful for having had the opportunity last summer to spend a little time in Engand to see how people were living after two years of war. It was reassuring to see how they had readjusted themselves to what we would consider incredible sacrifice. They managed to find much worth living for even in their desperately cramped existence. I'm not thinking only about the people who lived at the Ritz or in the elegance of the Dorchester, or who enjoyed the spirited life around the Savoy bar. I think often of the Saturday night wedding in an East End pub known as the Prospect of Whitby. Bombs had wrecked most of the tenaments in the neighborhood and the families game into the pub before going to the shelters for the night. In the small social hall at the rear of the tiny barroom that Saturday night a wedding party was on. Dock workers and their families jammed the place. Fifty youngsters were jumping up and down in the middle of the floor singing “Roll Out the Barrel.” The bride, who said she had to go back to her job in the garment factory Monday morning, wore a cheap hand-made wedding dress. The bridegroom had come down from Scotland on 48 hours’ leave.

Family and Friends Most Vital

THE FATHER OF the bride, a dock worker, didn't have a collar on but he wore a red carnation in his tattered lapel. He showed us the place at the bar where Elliott Roosevelt had stood a few days before and taken a drink with them. Old women sat on the benches around the wall, a glass of beer in one hand and s sleeping grandchild in the other arm,

My Day

WASHINGTON, Wednesday.—New Year's Eve, and gt midnight we shall be drinking a toast to the United States of America, with more troubled hearts than any of us have known in the past. Yet, we shall drink it with a greater determination that this : year will see the dawn of victory. We shall affirm again our beliefs,

and determine to build a stronger’

United States to serve the rest of the world, as an example of what democracy can really mean to the people of a nation. We shall wish, of course, to alieviate in every way we possibly can the hardships that are bound to come to any nation that has to put aside the civilian needs of the population and has concen2 trated primarily on ils war needs. There will be plenty of work in some localities, less ROIE In others. There will be a need for retraining BFS to meet new types of occupation. There be & need for moving people from places where | have lived for a long while, to other parts of the

By Ernie Pyle

out to be so miserable inside that people hated them. England is mostly low and soggy, you know, and it was almost impossible to keep water from rising and standing on the shelter floor, Also they were cold, and if you used an oil stove, the fumes soon gave you the miseries. They were cramped and gloomy, and sitting all night in them night after night was terrible. ‘The trend when I left was veering more towaid shoring up one room of your house for protection. Such as bricking up the windows in that room, and installs ing extra pillars of wood or steel piping to support the reof in case it decided to cave in on you. The ideal in shelters, as in everything else under wise war conditions, is to live as near normally as you can. Live in your own house, and hew as closely to your usual pattern as possible—that's the answer.

Old Fireman Pyle

IF ANYBODY WANTS to know specifically what I would do if I were a San Franciscan, here is just what I'd do, depending on where I lived (and assuming I could afford to spend a little extra money preparing for something that probably would never happen at al) — If I lived in a wooden house and had a back yard, I'd build me something approximating an Anderson shelter, and fix it up with electric lights and an electric heater and—a good system of drainage. If I lived in a strong brick house, I'd brick up the windows of one room, provide for ventilation and heat, brace the ceiling with some steel piping, and have plenty of picks and axes so you could get out if it caved in on you.

If I lived in an apartment house, I'd get together] with the landlord and other tenants and see that the basement was converted into a sound, habitable! sheiter. Yessir, thats just what I'd do. But before I did that, I'd get myself the damndest array of private, home-grown fire-fighting equipment that any citizen ever stalked the streets with. For I think that if the Japs ever set out to destroy the citizens of San Francisco instead of the actual military objectives, they'll do it with fire bombs,

taining the boys in camp. But a little birdie tells us! the famous World War I hero may be here instead. And were pretly sure of getting some movie stars for 8 big defense bond rally planned for another date . . ..

Another big name coming here soon, the same little birdie tells us, is Maj. Gen. James G. Harbord, U. S. A. retired. Now chairman of the board of Radio Corpororation of America (R.C.A.), he will be the speaker at the Indianapolis C. of C. annual meeting Jan. 29. In World War I, he was second only to Pershing in France.

Looking Ahead to June

KATHERINE HEARN, secretary in the State Probation Commission offices several years, is wearing a nifty ring on her engagement finger. She's to wed in| June. The lucky man’s William Sharkey, Indianapo- | lis boy now with Dupont at Wilmington, Del. . . . Indiana's Beech woods are pretty much out of fashion, as far as Hoosier painters go. But it just happens that the reason John F. Carlson, one of the country's outstanding landscape artists, agreed to come here next week to judge the Hoosier Salon at Block's, was! that he has wanted for some time to paint our| beeches. , ..

Get a Bicycle BOB EMERICK, General Motors’ public relations director for this area, has his own solution of the problem resulting from the rapidly diminishing production of cars. “Personally,” he tells friends, “I'm buying a bicycle.” . . . Mayor Sullivan is starting the New Year with a freshly painted private office. He's been occupying temporary quarters in his outer office while the City Hall painters applied cream colored decorations. . . . Bill Book of the C. of C. announces he is swearing off cigarets as his New Year resolution. That ought to be easy, as we happen to know he never did smoke, anyway.

By Raymond Clapper

These people had lived in miserable hovels all! their lives. Now they lived in shelters. Hard as life! was for them, they found that family and friends! were their real possessions. Considering the hard- | ships under which they lived, they found such enjoyment as was to be had out of it. They were full of stories about the blitz. They| made it a game of hare and hounds between them-! selves and Jerry. | Sometimes Jerry got them and sometimes he didn't and then the joke was on him, like the night a bomb | blew a scow out of the river and landed it up against the little pub. The pub stood up without cracking and everybody was mighty proud of it.

Some Rich Compensations

WE DO NOT face the extreme hardships that England suffers. There may be bombings but they can only be stunt raids, not the nightly pounding of heavy forces such as England took for months last winter. We have abundant food and do not need to restrict ourselves as England does to three eggs a month and meat once a week and not enough milk for the! children. We shall have to sacrifice mainly luxuries! —a new car, a new refrigerator, and many of the! metal gadgets that complicate life. | We probably will find life becoming simpler. No-| oody dresses for dinner parties in England. There | you get enough gasoline to run your car about 150) miles a month—and then you enjoy your car as a rare privilege. | Spend an evening reading Thoreau's “Walden.” Turn to some favorite book you have not read for! years. Listen to music. See some of those old friends you have been too busy to see. You'll be surprised how good they look to you now. These times draw people more closely together. Hardships. and the changes that must come in our living, will have their compensations, some of them very rich and permanent ones,

By Eleanor Roosevelt

JAll this means a great dislocation in the lives of human beings. One of the wishes which must be in all our hearts, is that each and every one of us may be able to vision the ultimate objectives of liberty, which will make these sacrifices seem worth while. When I was a little girl, my grandmother used to tell me that no New Year's Eve was complete without a set of New Year's resolutions. In those days, I used to decide not to eat too many sweets, and to be obedient to my elders and betters.

I wonder today whether there is some special resolution which all in this country should make. We could resolve to look for the contributions which all the other countries of the world can make in developing plans for more permanent peace, greater justice and economic opportunity for the future. The English speaking peoples will, probably, when peace first comes to this earth, have to bear a heavy burden. They must lighten that burden as quickly as possible, through the participation of all the free countries in this hemisphere: Liberated people in other parts of the world must join with us as soon ' which exhidden

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Local Factory Workers Help Allies |

Production in 3 Big Plants

Hitting Peak

By ROGER BUDROW

SLEEK FIGHTER planes hound Axis armies in Europe. Tough armored vehicles chase Axis forces across the Libyan sands. Sturdy, swift tanks are ready for Axis troops in the Dutch East Indies. Behind these fronts and unsung in the headlines are the workers in Indianapolis factories who are turning out war equipment which make victories possible, Much has been accomplished already. But it is only a beginning. Three big factories—Allison, Curtiss-Wright and MarmonHerrington—are turning out airplane motors, propellers and tanks on schedule. Two others—Bridgeport Brass and the Naval Ordnance plant—are being constructed. All over the city large and small factories are working on war orders. Men who made stokers are making shells. Expert saw-makers now turn out armor plate. Canning factories put up rations for the Army and parachute troops. Garment factories are making Army uniforms. More than half a billion dollars worth of orders for war equipment has been placed in Indianapolis factories. These orders are from the U. 8. Government for its armed forces, from the British Purchasing Commission, from China, from the Dutch. Millions and billions mean so little any more that it is difficult to realize what a huge sum $500.000,000 really is to Indianapolis. Back in 1939 Indianapolis factories were fairly busy, vet value of all their products was only $300, - 000,000.

The Allison Growth

THE LION'S SHARE of these orders went to General Motors’ Allison division, about $400,000,000 worth, Allison's famous liquid-cooled V-type engine powers such planes as the Curtiss P-40 and successors, Bell Airacobra, Lockheed Interceptor and North American Apache. More than 7000 parts are used in a single motor. They come from more than 70 cities to be machined and assembled here. After months of strenuous effort, Allison has reached its goal of 1000 engines a month and expects to beat that schedule, Rather than take time to build a new factory, Curtiss-Wright's propeller division took over the old Marmon automobile factory at the beginning of 1941. It was a $7000000 investment with money supplied by the Government. The factory was put in order, machinery installed and quantity production began in September. The Curtiss-Wright propeller is a three-blade affair composed of more than 600 parts and cost-

| ing around $3500 apiece. It is an

electric propeller, contrasted to the hydraulic type. = = ”

New Cartridge Plant

JUST EAST of Stout Field, Southwest of the city, the Bridgeport Brass Co. is building a $12.000,000 factory to make cartridge cases. The Government is financing this plant, which is scheduled to be completed early in 1942 : The Navy has revealed little about the Naval Ordnance plant on the northeast edge of the city. But the building itself is well underway and reportedly will cost between 10 and 15 millien dollars. It is commonly believed the plant will make such precision equipment as gun and bombsights but this has never been stated officially. Many concerns in the city have war orders for their regular

products but some have made .

considerable changes to do war work. These stoker manufacturers, Schwitzer-

Cummins and Link-Belt, which |

are making shell cases, shot, gun mounts and ammunition of various sorts. E. C. Atkins, internationally known saw manufacturers, make armor plate and parts for field ranges. Interna-

tional Harvester is to produce |

anti-aircraft gun mounts at its big truck works here. StewartWarner's household appliance division makes pistols. The list could be extended almost indefinitely.

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Silk Plants Suffer

P. R. MALLORY is turning out bomb shackle reléases and ordnance equipment. Marmon-Her-rington makes light tanks for the Dutch and its all-wheel drive converted Ford trucks are being used by the British in the mechanized warfare in North Africa. War has not brought prosper-

ity to everyone, however. Indi- |

anapolis silk factories were among the first to suffer. The ban on

Japanese silk imports last sum-

include the big |

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Marmon-Herrington’s light tank will help defend the Dutch East Indies,

by the curtailment of automobile production. Then when war broke out and rubber imports from the Far East were placed in jeopardy many workers in the rubber industry were laid off until the situation is straightened out. Never-the-less Indianapolis factories added about 11,500 employees during the year, boosting the total now to nearly 60,000. This does not include retail trade, railroads and service industries which, on the whole, have increased employment considerably. Wages, too, have gone up in many instances. Higher wages, overtime pay in defense factories and increased employment have pushed the Indianapolis weekly factory payroll from $1,635,000 at the beginning of the year to $2,210,000 at present.

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The Labor Situation

AUTHORITIES predicted, before the war broke out, that at least 12,000 more factory workers will be needed in 1942. But with war production goals pushed bevond original plans, this figure will probably be exceeded. Where will they come from?

That is a question which is causing concern. The Office of Production Management established a training-within-industry program in local factories during the year, Basic industrial courses were inaugurated at the high schools. But still the war factories need more workers, Older workers and women are being hired to help fill the demand.

All this spelled increasing prosperity for the city. Not only were war industries busy hut the tempo was quickened in other lines of business. Retail trade was much better. The building industry prospered until priorities on materials gave it a stiff blow. Telephone installations set new records. Bank debits rose to new highs, Transportation firms were busy. Utilities spent millions to insure uninterrupted service. Indianapolis Power & Light Co. allocated $5,000,000 for expanding power production. The Indianapolis Water Co. began a seven billion-gal-lon reservoir on Fall Creek near Oaklandon, costing $1,600,000 and spent another $1,020,000 on its Fall Creek plant.

HOLD EVERYTHING

more important is the

The Citizens Gas & Coke Utility put in a battery of 41 coke ovens costing $1,100,000 and finished a new $700,000 gas holder in the northwest section of the city. Indiana Bell Telephone Co. spent about $3,000,000 to extend its services. » n ” THE HEAVY concentration of war orders brought many new families to Indianapolis, filling up hundreds of empty homes and apartments. Vacancies dropped to new lows; rents went up. During the past year the cost of living for the ordinary family here rose about 10 per cent. To spread war work among smaller concerns, the OPM opened a local branch of its Division of Contract Distribution. A train full of war materiel helped small manufacturers get an idea of what they could do in the defense program. The OPM opened a Priorities Office here also and “clinics” were held to acquaint business men with the workings of the priorities and allocations systems, A 1000-bed hospital, Billings General, was built at Ft. Benjamin Harrison. The Civil Aeronautics Authority trained youths to fly. Radio operators for the two-ocean Navy were taught at the Naval Armory. It was a year choked full of problems that business had to meet and solve quickly. And yet the business community realized hat it was only the prelude for the most concerted effort ever made by the city-~the determination to do more than its share to achieve victory in the second World War.

LABOR ASKS PLACE ON RATIONING UNITS

Labor representation on all rationing committees was asked by the Indiana C. I. O. today in messages sent Governor Schricker and Mayor Sullivan. Asserting that organized labor represents a large consumer bloc; Walter Frisbie, Indiana Industrial Union Council Secretary, told the officials that defense workers would probably be the hardest hit by tire rationing. “This rationing must be handled in such a manner as not to impose

too great a hardship on them,” he stated.

“Important to defense as|

INCOME BLANKS READY MONDAY

More Will File Federal Returns and Payments Will Be Higher.

Federal income tax blanks will be

released Monday.

As if that's not enough, Will H,

Smith, collector of internal revenue for this district, adds that there are several “new” provisions in the tax schedules that willedraw higher tax

payments from “Mr, and Mrs. Taxe payer” and will require more pers sons than ever beforég file returns, The Revenue Act of 1041 re= quires that single individuals with gross incomes of $750 or more and married couples with incomes of $1500 or more must file a return, Married individuals not living with husand or wife are classed as sine gle individuals. Last year the two personal exemptions were $800 and $2000. The surtax for the lower brackets has been increased this year. This surtax starts at the first dollar of income in excess of the personal exs emptions and credits for depends ents. The normal tax of 4 per cent remains the same and the 10 per cent defense tax has been elimie nated. Again this year the Gove ernment allows an earned income credit of 10 per cent. But the earned income credit is a credit only against the normal 4 per cent tax and under some condi= tions a surtax may be payable even though no normal tax is due. If taxpayers desire a “helping hand” in filling out the return, Mr, Smith announces that “assistance and information will be gladly given to taxpayers writing or calling the Internal Revenue Office here.”

WAKE DELAYS TRIAL CHEYENNE, Wyo., Jan. 1 (U. P), —~Judge Sam Thompson today ihe definitely continued a case agains$ Pat Herndon when a defense ate

|torney said that the last letter from

Mr. Herndon “Wake Island.”

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1—Thai is the ethnical name of‘s majority of the people of what country? . 2—-Name the first U. S. naval ves= sel to be sunk by Japanese bombs. . 3—Are American male citizens ‘of military age permitted to leave the country without permission of the U. 8. Government? 4--What is a cantilever? SRE 5—~Who is reputed to have said, “Sir, IT would rather be right than President”? . 6—In Spanish, a nap at midday is called a fiesta or siesta? T7—On what mountain did Noah's Ark come to rest? 8—What animal is mascot -for the Navy football team?

Answers 1—Thailand (formerly Siam). 2—Panay (December, 1937), 3—No. . : 4—A beam fastened at one end only, 5-Henry Clay. f-—Siesta. 7—Mt. Ararat. 8—Goat.

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