Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 January 1942 — Page 7

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MONDAY, JAN. 19, 1942

Hoosier Vagabond

GOLD BEACH, Ore. Jan 19.—For two days I have been holed up in a room in this spectacularly set little town, trying to write out some columns. I chose Gold Beach because I didn't know a soul here, or anybody within 300 miles. Most of the time I've been the only guest at The Inn. If it was solitude I wanted, then I could certainly have it at Gold Beach. Consequently I was somewhat taken aback when the lady manager came to my door and said Mr. Buffington was downstairs to see me. “Mr. Buffington?” I said. “Yes, Mr. Buffington.” she said. “And who is Mr. Buffington®” I asked. “Well, he’s one of our local lawyers.” she said. And then she added, “He's a pretty bright man for a small community like this.” So I told her to ask him up. And ih a moment here came Mr. Buffington—all of him. and that's a 15t. For Mr. Buffington turned out to be one of the largest men you ever saw.

The Landlady Wos Right

HE ALSO turned out to be one of the nicest men ever saw, and the landlady wasn’t joking when said he was bright. Not only bright, but tenacious. For it seems we have a mutual friend in Portland, and this friend had told Mr. Buffington three years aoo that if IT ever came through Gold Beach again he must be sure and sav hello. Apparently Mr. Buffineton had been scanning the hotel register daily for

you

she

three years, just waiting Well, the upshot of the whole thing was that I went out to Mr. Buffington’s house for dinner. Mrs. Buffington is as tiny as her husband is large.

Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

TIRE RATIONING BOARD members aren't lookine forward with relish to taking on the additional duties of rationing autos. They've got about all they can handle, as it is But,” says Irwin R. Brown, chairman of the local board, “if they double our work, they'll probably treble our pay.” That was just Mr. Brown's little joke. You see, the board is paid nothing, and three times nothing js—well, you figure it out. . . . The idea of putting the new Federal auto use stamps on the backs of rear view mirrors already has been mentioned, but some of the towns’ auto laundries wish it would catch on. William Buskirk, who runs a wash rack at 824 N. ] 3] the stamps are on the windshield or glove thev are likely to get washed off And then the poor

Meridian when compartment door when the car 1s being cleaned. car washer will catch heck.

Knitting Booms

THE CURRENT EPIDEMIC of knitting—for Britain and our own boys—has produced somewhat of a shortage of both knitting needles and yarn. One of our friends reports visiting five stores before finding both needles and the color of yarn she wanted. Some of the stores had no needles, others were practically out of varn. . . . The schools will start training soon for the annual All-City Music Festival, to be held Mav 8 at the Coliseum There will be 3500 in the chorus and bands. Hundreds were turned away from the Coliseum at last vear's prog The Alcoholic Beverages Commission, we hear, is getting ready to fssite new instructions barring sale of wine in less

Washington

By Ernie Pyle.

She's bright, too. Her name is Xenia, and his is Collier. But nobody ever calls them that. Both of them, and all of their seven children, too, just go by the nickname of “Buff.” Although I personally am a devout exponent of race suicide, still I must admit that I've never seen! a tremendously big family yet, rich or poor, that wasn't a swell family. And so are the Buffingtons. The parents haven't warped the kids with nice white lies about life, nor with nice old-fashioned restrictions. Everybody does pretty much as he pleases; and it has all turned out wonderfully. Somebody's always coming in or going out or saying hello or asking who's going to wash the dishes tonight, and in the middle of it one boy says, “Dad, can I join the Navy this summer?” and Dad says, “Well, we'll see,” which undoubtedly means yes. That's the way the Buffingtons are.

Where Boots Are Hot Stuff

ALTHOUGH the parents themselves seem quite young, the youngest of their children—twin boys—is 16. Four of the seven are at home now. The two older girls are in San Francisco. Ahd the seventh—that’s Dick—well, he’s in Sebtland. He's 21, and the harum-scarum genius of the family. Last fall he joined the Civilian Technical Corps; which is a group of Americans recruited as skilled mechanics for service in Britain. He gets $100 a month and sends part of it home. His parents were amused at a request in his last letter. He wrote: “Say, Mom, if you want to send me something for Christmas, you can send me a pair of size 85 cowboy boots. They are really hot stuff over here. The English think we are still fighting the Indians anyhow, and think all Americans are cowboys. So why

a

“Clara” -

disappoint em?” The cowboy boots have been dispatched.

than one pint bottles. Up to now half pints have been vkay. The reason for the change is that somebody discovered in the new liquor laws a section limiting wine sales to a minimum of pints.

Gossip Department

MAKING THE ROUNDS is a bit of hush-hush gossip about a certain rather prominent citizen reported to have been drinking ‘‘too much” recently.

Chicago.

“For Better, For Worse”

One night not long ago some of his friends —or perhats annoved occupants of the apartment building in which he lives — called a mortuary and instructed them to “call for the body.” The mortuary sent two! men who lugged one of those big baskets up to the] door and knocked. The “late lamented” himself an-| stwered the knock, reportedly somewhat under the weather, and, according to the gossipers, almost fainted dead away when the men told him they had come for “the body’ —naming him. Sounds like pretty | drastic treatment.

Around the Town

THEY'RE TAKING BETS around the Claypool Hotel on “how long it will be before some drunk tries!

to climb the flagpole” erected in the hotel lobby. . . . It seems as though most everybody who has any chance of being drafted, and a lot without much| chance. are pulling strings here and there to get a commission in the Army or Navy. Some of them are keeping the wires hot, others are even trekking to Washington. Most of them are telling everybody ov See vv them to secrecy “so IT won't be embarrassed if I don't click.” | | . Today's best tip: ~'ose to the English Hotel building, or some of our other downtown buildings, especially around dusk. Starlings and pigeons. Nuff said.

then <wweat

“ calls a t walk ro

By Raymond Clapper

gh

This portrait by Henrik Mayer was acclaimed the outstanding work in oil of the entire exhibit. An award of $500 was presented to the artist by John C. Shaffer,

e Indianapolis Times

By ANTON SCHERRER

HAVING RECENTLY had occasion to thumb through the pages of the current number of the Indiana Magazine of History, I came across a schol-arly-looking piece consisting of 72 paragraphs and 01 footnotes. And right away I knew what ails our newspapers—too many headlines and no footnotes. I propose to remedy the defect at once with the news that on the coldest day last week I went to Block’s [11 to catch a preglimpse of the Hoosier [2] Art [31 Salon [4] now on view there and scheduled to run through Jan. 31. Workmen, stevedores, directors antl a group of arty-looking men were deep in confusion and dream handling and hanging the 261 accepted items, most of which were nice 151. Mrs. Frieda Robinson, a dynamic little lady apparently in charge of publicity 161 took me in hand. 71 She had her hands full, not only because of me, but because she had to watch like everything to see that the stevedores didn’t exercise their own opinions and cart away some of the pictures accepted by the jury [81 F&F #8

ALL DURING my visit Mrs. Robinson was fol= lowed by an entourage of women fluttering like a flock of Fra Angelico’s 191 angels. On closer inspec= tion, Block's angels had the features of Mrs. Catherine Smith [10], Mrs. Lottie Crow [111 and Mrs. Rene Tucker Magee [12], an Art Consultant brought all the way from New York because of her ability to help people to enjoy pictures. She's going to be at Block's as long as the show lasts. As for the arty-looking men, they just stood around arranging themselves in circular patterns with their heads in the center 1131, Besides angels and the like I saw some pictures, too, of course. I saw two with flowers in them ana ventured the belief that they had something in common, I was wrong. One of them, I was told, was influenced by hypocotyl concepts, whereas the other was painted by an artist with his tongue in his cheek. And right then and there I knew that somebody had put me in my place=in the category of cows [14] if you must know. I know when I'm licked which is why, from this point on, my piece stops being stibjective and turns abjectly objective, meaning that if you have read this far expecting to meet an Art critic [151 you have another guess coming. 2 8 ”

OBJECTIVELY, THEN, the thing that surprised me most was the discovery that this year’s Salon didn't remind me of a character in one of Mase= field's early novels. This amazing Masefield fellow, vou may recall, described a session of the House of Commons as two sets of buns throwing their raisins [16] at one another, a poet's simile so perfect in its universal application that it covers not only the technique of party politics, but also the peren= nial rows of Indiana artists. Well, that's today’s scoop. For some reason, the artists aren’t quarreling this year. Their pictures are beautifullv-behaved and get along so well to= gethet that, somehow, it reminds me of the pre= posterous fable of the lion and the lamb [17], 1 haven't the least idea why this should be so. Maybe it’s one more sign that finally, at long last, we have a United Nation or, maybe like some other things I could mention, there aren't enough raisins left to throw around. ‘ Which doesn’t mean, however, that Indiana artists have lost their identity. Not by a long shot. They still hunt in packs, which is to say that they still have theif Groups (181, As heretofore, the Groups may be classified as those operating in Brown County; [191 those operating outside of Brown County [20], and Eimer Taflinger, who still goes his own sweet way unmindful of everything and everybody [21], By the way, where's Elmer? ¥ & FINALLY, PERMIT me to point out, as objectively as possible, that to get the most out of this vear's Salon you'll have to bring something of yours self to it. Por one thing, 16 cents. This picayune will put you in possescion of the gorgeously illus= trated catalog designed by George Mess, the biggest and best buy this side of the moon, not excluding

SECOND SECTION

ootnotes On The 1942 Hoosier Art Salon

“Waiting Room”

$9

py E73 , op

award for the outstanding print of the entire exhibition, It was presented by the Indianapolis Publishers Association.

“Prelude to Winter”

The reproduction of this stream flowing through snow

This painting by Curry Bohm shared the Kappa Kappa Kappa Sererity of Indiana award with the painting "Fifth Avenue, New York" by Johann Berthelsen. The award

covered woods by Georges La Chance won a $300 prize awarded by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and ladies’

auxiliary.

Block's Basement. The other thing I have on my, mind is the condition of youy feet. To really appreciate the jury's work you'll have to walk some=

prescribe the methods to be used in Army and Navy procurement. Those services will remain where they are but the directing hand is Mr. Nelson's. His power

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 No basic existed for

fears that President Roosevelt would not go through

with his promise to give Donald Nelson complete power over war production ; The executive order is out now in black and white It goes all the way. Confidentialiy., the order was drafted by Mr. Nelson and one of his lawyers. They put into it everything they could think of The fact that the Nelson War Production Board is established within the Office for Emergency Management means nothing. Forget it. The fact that OPM is not abolished and that the two heads of it are on the War Production Board means nothing. The War Production Board has only the power to give “advice and assistance” to the chairman, ¥he is Mr. Nelson The powers given Mr. Nelson are, so far as I can recall, the largest ever invested in ohne man aside from the Pr¥sident himself Mr. Nelson is told to exercise general direction over the war procurement and production program. That is a generality. But note the next section. He is to determine the policies, plans, procedure and methods of all Federal departments and agencies in respect to war procurement and production

Down tn Black and White

THIS IS made specific by mention of purchasing, contracting, specifications, construction, conversion, requisitioning, plant expansion and financing thereof, Furthermore he is to issue such directives in those matters as he may deem necessary or appropriate Practically the whole war Government is packed into that brief section. It means that Mr. Nelson can

My Day

WASHINGTON, Sunday —Friday evening in New York City. I went to a very charming dinber given before the opening of Macy's Datin-American fair Even during the dinner, the stage was set, for we were delightfully entertained with music and daneing, performed by artists fre our neighboring republics At the fair. I could not help but be impressed by the architeeture of the buildings and the charming arrangement of flowers and merchandise There will be musi¢ and daneing and food served during this exhibition. You can buy grocerna, les fruits and handwork as they i ¢ come from these neighbors of ours. i Their desighs and skills are also adapted te modern needs. Bome of the leather work and Migs and much of the fig and pottery, make vou want to furnish a house atl “nee After I left the fair, f stopped for a minute at a weekly dinee given by Mise Anite Motgan's commit: tee at the Henry Hudson Hotel Here a 6wd of boys in uniform, belonging to both serv be were having & good time with some very chauhing gins. On my arrival, they released some Balloons from the balconies and I was told the bive ang girls caught these In two of them. Ineky number were found, which entitled a boy and git! to a prise. I presented these prises, but the boy whe found

includes authority to supervise OPM and to direct such changes in its organization as he may deem necseary. That language seems to make him the boss. He is instructed to report directly to the President. There has been talk that Mr. Nelson ought to huve Cabinet rank. This order gives him a special pass to operate anvwhere in the Government. To make him a Cabinet officer would be stepping him down from a higher perch. One other matter Mr. Roosevelt in the executive order puts the rest of the Government at Mr, Nelson's disposal. The order specifies that Federal departs ments and agencies shall comply with policies, plans, | methods and procedures in respect to war production.

The Smart Thing to Do

YOU WOULDN'T know it unless you worked around here but one of the hardest jobs of a Government official is to find out what he needs to know from another branch. OPM has had trouble finding out what the Army and Navy were up to. If the Navy ordered a quantity of aluminum, it didn’t have to tell OPM why. OPM might find that steel would do just as well. Under the new setup this should be eliminated. Possibly Mr. Nelson intends to expand the Joint Munitions Board, end, transfer much of the work how done by OPM into one basket. That might be a smart way—build up the existing procurement machinery instead of trying to rip it apart and set up a new civiliah procurement and supply ageney as some have suggested. The President’s decition to put william 8. Knudsen in the War Department as a lieuten-

prite was $350.

” 8 ® ® 8 2

11 An Indianapolis glamour store located on fllinois St. on what was once the site of Chapin and Gore's saloon (an English word cribbed cold from the French Salon). Here on a hight made for murder, inh the winter of 1878, two Hoosiers got into an argument over something connected with fare, a parlor game which, once upon a time. enjoyed the respectability of bingo today. When the smoke cleared, both men had to be hauled away; one to thé morgue, the other to jail. Just about the same time, and probably because ot the same winter, a local livery stable owner found fault with his wife and slipped her a dose of strychnine wrapped in a glass of heer Both killers got the death sentence. On Jan. 29, i879, both were hangec from the same gallows at the same instant. It wae the first showing of a double feature in Indianapolis.

12] A whimsical connotation for one born in Indiana, nut sometimes loosely used to include artists born elsewhere. Examples: Donald Mattison (Wisconsin), Henrik Mayer (New Hampshire), David Rubins (Minnesota),

[31 A word incapable of definition with any degree of precision. To listen to some artists, Art is anything that gets by a jury; others are just as sure that Art is the stuff the jury rejects.

[4] The French equivalent for a patrior ahd not a boudoir as some people would have us believe, Just because the word Salon is also a euphemism for the intellectual feasts provided by distinguished ladies of the past, like as not the mistresses of French kings, is no reason to jump to conclusions. In this connection it's kinda interesting to know that all the old masters did a whale of a business painting the old mistresses. Compare Kolynhos Pepsodentski's recent biography of Madame Pompadour in the eourse of which he says: “I could learn to like her if I could forget Bouecher's painting of her.”

{31 A slippery word occasionally, ahd in this case, used correctiy to express satisfaction; more often, however, to break the awihul

ant general seems to fit into such a design. i Lastly, there ig this line in the executive order | about Mr Nelson: “His decisions shall be final * There it is—at last, after a year and a half.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

| silence when one thinks How Perfectly Terrible, and hasn't the

nerve to say it.

[81 A good guess, Mrs. Robinson turned out to be Block's Audi torium Director.

[1 Metaphorically speaking, of course,

[8] To get the exact meaning of this word you'll have te listen for nuances. For example, a rejected artist's opinion of a juty is

thing like half a mile, involving 1683 steps [22],

®, = s

a gang of two of more with membership in the National Academy of Desigh, or some rival trade's union, who are brought tn, usually from a thousand miles away, to prevent any work from being shown which might possibly injure their business. ‘Sour grapes,’ ig the snappy and usual come-back of the lueky boys. 19] Alias of Fra Gicvannhi da Fiesole (circa 1387-14565), a Floren= tine painter whose work is easy to identify because of the dolichocephalie heads of his angels (pear-shaped to you). Best Indianapolis example of a Fra Angelico angel-shaped head; Wilbur Peat, Director of the Herron Art Museum, [10] Executive chairman of the show and wife of Leonidas Smith, D. D. 8 Ever since I learned that Mrs. Smith isn't the only member of her family to have the artistic temperament, I make it my busi« ness to maintain an air of intellectual curiosity about everything. Dr. Smith's God-given gift of recognizing an artist when he sees one asserted itself some 30 vears ago when a boy with an infected tooth looked him up. He introduced himself as a counterman at the Baltimore baity Luneh Room and, under ecross-examination, ade mitted that he spent his nights attending the Herron Art 8chool. As a business proposition the kid didn't 160k any tee good, but Dr. Smith teok the ease anyway. Said he'd take a chance on getting his honoratium when, and if, the boy sold a picture. Today the poy gets four-figure fees for his portraits. What's more, he always calle on the Smiths when he comes to Indianapolis no matter whether his teeth need fixing or not. The story is important for two reasons: (1) Because it establishes the fact that Wayman Adams pays his bills and (2) that it is possible to maintain cordial relations with dentists after they send their bills. {11} Chairman of the Art Division of the Indiana Federation and wife of Walter 8. Grow, an osteopath (DP, O.): [12] Descendant of the Tuckers who used to run a spiffy glove shop on RB. Washington St. in the neighborhood of where the Craig candy people now do business. Baek in the Naughty Nineties, the Tucker people employed Fred Hetherington, then a promising Art student, to illustrate their ads, On one occasion Fred portrayed a buneh of boys without a stitch of clothing, Mind you, as naked as God made them. Tt had us all guessing until somebody bright enough to interpret Bymbelic Art suggested it might mean a sale of une dressed kids. And by the Lord Harry, it did [18] Nothing ever comes of this, Btill it seems important to artists. Nobody knews why.

” ” ” ” 2

[14) Once upon a time (circa 1875) a determined old lady mes James MeNeill Whistler in a london Salon, Rointing with her parasol she said: “Do you know, Mr. Whistler, I don't know ‘why 1 like that picture, but I do know what I like.” . , , “So do cows,” quipped Mr, Whistler,

[15] Double talk. In the higher brackets of society, an Art critie is something precious dropped from Heaven to tell people that cere tain paintings aren't important, invariably the very picture the hot polloi likes. In lower social circles, especially in and around news= paper offices, an Art critic is a journalist who has graduated from the Society Page and doesn't yet write well enough to be trusted with fashions and murders,

[16] Not what you think it means. When a Briton says raisins, he invariably means currants, Now that America and England speak the same language, it might be well to straighten out such mis understandings

[17] Aesop, the first nature faker of record (circa 500 B. C.).

f18) The singular of which is Group, an assorted collection of artists the majority of whom bask in the halo of the more prominent ones. Which is why we laymen are constantly fooled into believing that all artists belonging to a Group are topnotchers,

[10] A regional Group divinely appointed to paint beech trees, bunches of peonies, autumn rhapsodies and, of late, snow scenes.

[20] A Group with the fixed idea that Art consists of painting silos, weather-worn barns, circuses inside and out, epicine nudes, locomotives behind their time schedules, spoiled vegetables and speckled apples arranged on white table cloths, the creases of which would drive our laundryman out of business, '

[21] A half<truth. Elmer has a dog for a companion,

[22] A relative term. Bob Hollingsworth, George Kuhn, Jack Ruckelshaus and Fred Jungelaus, for instance, wouldn't use anywhere near my number of steps. On the other hand, Arthur Brown would use double my number. No matter the number of steps, however, ‘Art is long,” a discovery made by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, still the best authority on the habits of us tire-less pedestriang, Consult his “Psalm of Life’: And, departing, leave behind us Footnotes on the sands of time.

the lucky number for the girl's prize, had lost his | girl, so we had to send him seurrying, box ih hand, ! to find her in the erowd.

I reached my office yesterday morning st 9 o'clock and was sorry to bid goodbye to Miss Eloise Davison, wip has been assistant director of eivilian defense, in charge of group aetivities, under Mayor La Guardia.

The New York Herald-Tribune lent her for a part time job, which took up all her time. She feels she must returh to her job in New York City. Miss Davison hopes to be able to help civilian defense, however, by working in New York City on some special assighients for the mayor.

Yesterday morning was spent largely with Dean James Landis at OCD, though I saw two or three members of the staff. The entire aftérnoon was taken up with appointments of various kinds. Mayor Cain of Tace™a, Wash, lunched with me and I was happy to see Riv again. I remembered how much impressed I was by the way in which he was taking hold of hig job in the hectic week after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Last night I went to the Salvation Army Service Club, where I had promised to go last week and was not able to kéep my appointnment. They keep open house for the service men every Saturday night, and they wanted me to see their guests. It is a relief to know that the Prime Minister of Great Britain is safely home. Whichever way he left, it seemed dangerous, but I confess that I felt that

HB 40g bY SIF wa ious of 4 Sein for sme.

»

DECLINE IN AUTOS COSTLY TO STATES

Times Special WASHINGTON, Jan. 19-—Putting

the automobile out of business will pose a serious tax problem in the states, a tabulation made by the Census Bureau pointed out today. Highway-tiger taxes account for about 22 per cent of the total state and local governmental revenues

and range in importance from 11.7 per cent in California to 45 per cent in Florida. The figures used in the tabulation cover the experience of 1030, which was rated as a normel year, unaf-

‘| fected by war influence, the Bue

reau pointed out. - In Indiana the highway-users taxes for that year accounted for 27.1 per cent of the $122.984,000 total of state and local revenues. It was broken-down as follows: CHER Si, "Si . - 181,000, eA

X-Ray Is Arranged for Errant Boy, 14; Hope Surgery Cures Jekyll-Hyde Complex

An X-ray examination has been arranged for the 14-year-old boy whose mysterious Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde conduct has baffled Juvenile Court authorities for more than a year, “If the examination shows that an old head injury may be causing emotional disturbances, I am going to obtain the best brain surgeon in this part of the country to determine if an operation will cure him” Juvenile Court Judge Wilfred Brade shaw said. The boy, once considered a model student and free from any de« linquent tendencies, has been arrested several times for stealing automobiles in the last two years, Stole at Intervals Investigation showed that he stole the cars at intervals of 60 to 70 days and that in the interim, he was a model boy.

Psychiatrists established that th a

emotional disturbances occurring every two months or so which coin cided with the sudden automobile stealing forays. This, however, didn’t solve any« thing but the parents of the boy recalled that he suffered a skull injury when knocked off his bloycle two years ago. This was the clue that led Judge Bradshaw to seek medical aid earlier this week. The boy's school teachers said they noticed that he became extremely nervous at certain times,

Observed Swelling

His parents said they noticed a swelling on his head at the spot where he: was injured every time he suffered nervousness. It was during these periods that he would steal cars. Judge Bradshaw sald it is quite possible that an Xray examination

hoy was suffering a cycle of{may stow some pressure on the

brain from the injury and that it could be relieved by surgery. The case has attracted wide attention from all parts of the state and from leaders of social werk in other cities.

BRETHREN RELENT IN WAR OPPOSITION

For the first time in history, the Church of the Brethren officially

recognizes young men members who decline its traditional stand of conscientious objection to war, The church's new attitude is marked by the appointment of the Rev. H. L. Hartsough of North Manchester, Ind. pastor of the Walnut Street Church of the Brethren, to make contact with 800 denominational members in the armed forces. The Rev. Mr. Hartsough is on leave of absence in order to visit Army

ARRANGE CHURCH SERVIGES AT FORT

The Church Federation of Indie anapolis is carrying on a religious program for the armed forces and men in defense inaustries. Services are being held at 8:15 a. m, each Sunday at Ft. Harrison and on the fourth Sunday of the month at Billings Hospital. This week the Federation inaugurated Tuesday and Thursday noonday worship at the Schwitzer-Cummins Co. Dr. Howard J. Baumgartel, Federation executive secretary, and a committee are sponsoring the war emergency services. The commite tee represents both the Federation and the Indianapolis Ministerial

Association. It includes the Revs. S. L. Martin, George King, 8. Grundy Fishe er, E. T. Elliott, Henry C. Bell and Linn A. Tripp.