Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 February 1942 — Page 21

Hoosier Vagabond

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FRIDAY, FEB. 20, 1942

| SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 20.—The other day a shipyard worker wrote and asked me if I'd come out and have dinner at his house, so he could ‘tell me a few ings about the business from the workers’ standint. So I went, stayed four hours, and had a very nice time (along with an excel“lent” meal prepared by the man himself —I hate to admit it, but he’s a better cook than I am). He had invited another shipyard worker, to round out the

chat. Neither of them had any--

; very bad to say, but just the same I'm not -using their es, for you know how it is ge days. th these men had been whitecollar men all their lives, but they also had some experience with ls, 80 they dropped into the new work easily. They ve now ‘been in the Shipyards long enough to know thelr way about extremely well ‘The two things out of our whole conversation that uck me most were: 1. These two men feel that ships could be built a faster than they are. ey ‘say you can’t put your fingers on it, but things just don’t seem to move as fast they they ought to. 2. Shipyard workers are popularly supposed to be, * in|the big money, and the minute word gets around that you work in the shipyards, apartment rent goes Lup $10 a month and the butcher starts weighing his a along with the meat. Running to Evade Draft! CTUALLY, BOTH MY friends make less than $50 +a week when they work full time, and there is seldom a week they aren’t. laid off some by rain. In fact, they say 175 per cent of the men in San Francisco shipyards make less than $50. Another thing that struck me was their assertion that hundreds of young men are i to the ship-

Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

IET DRIVE to pledge all ‘local ‘industrial a scrap materials salvaging program is nducted by a subcommittee of the IndianCl! of C. The committee includes James S. n of Link Belt, chairman; Guy A. Wainwright, Diamond Chain, and John W. Smith, R.C. A. ey are asking plants to sign agreements to do everything possible to get scrap metals, paper, cloth, rubber—in fact, anything usable--back into circulation. It even includes the wrecking and sale of out-of-date and useless machinery. Unless industry goes along in| the campaign, it’s reported, you can look for a big federal drive with lots of time-wasting meetings. : Ie And speaking of salvage, the mum-, ber to call if you have some newspapers to contribute to national defense, rket 3321. For some [reason or other you can't get the Humber by callin Information.

Jobs and Locks

DON'T KNOW that there's any significance to it BUT: Since Uncle Sam took over the State Empl nt Service from the State Employment Security Division last -Jan. 1, the Employment Service has added 48 employees and the Employment Security Division, 40 employees. That's an increase of 88. + +» + Locdl locksmiths ‘were deluged yesterday with calls from motorists who couldn't get their car doors er They were frozen shut. The Tyny part

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~ Washington

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 20.—People won't be thrown off stride by’ the so-called Washington rumor factory if they stick to one simple and urgent fact. It is that we are up against such a tough fight that we need all the help’ we can get from every other nation. | Though the current rumors have stirred the indignation of President Roosevelt, there is nothing new in the fact that Washington is seething with rumors. We have always had them. If there isn’t anything more important to rumor about, somebody gets the idea that the President's wife is about to have a baby. That one hasn’t come up recently, but during both the Wilson and Coolidge administrations such rumors had to be denied because they had

individuals. Now they might damage the na-

The so-called Cliveden set here, to which Presielt and Thomas E, Dewey have referred, of headline gag to cover a variety of per-

ir "i Really Got Worries

SOME OF THESE are people who, becaiise they dons e communism, spread the story thai Russia “1s goit to pull out of the war and make a deal with : many and Japan. The answer is that Russia © showed last summer, by heavy expenditure of blood, 8 would not quit until she was licked. a- now faces a resumption of the German of-

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: york ory. Tay ebay. at ‘tunch, 1 enjoyed very much having an opportunity to’ talk: briefly with Mr. and Mis. Leonard Eimhirst. They have bocm.on' a very Jong trip tlrough the south. up the west coast and back through the central 1 part of our try. They visited agricultural . groups everywhere and told the story of conditions in England among similar people. Dr. Adolph ‘Keller, of Geneva, Swhaestands also came to lunch and told us something of his work with the church groups In . the us European countries, always marvel at what, these “men accomplish in war-torn % tries and how they stand u un: strain, Somehow 1 ¢ A Xpe i = (] } only

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«It’s No Secret

yards to get “essential” jobs in order to escape the draft. Both these men are middle-aged, and they say there is practically none of the work on a ship that can’t be done by older men. They don’t think shipyard work should be classed as essential.” They said they didn't know of anyone who had quit = better job to go into the shipyards except those who had an eye on the draft. These men work an eight-hour day, yet they have to devote at least 12 and sometimes more to it. They have fo be there nearly an hour ahead of time, and because of transportation bottlenecks they have to start from home far ahead of time. :

Violate No-Smoking Rule : - | 1}

ON THE WHOLE, building ships isn’t the pleasantest work in the world. If it rains hard enough the| work stops, but you can get wet and chilled with just a little rain, One of my friends is getting a little deaf from the din of riveting. There are many minor accidents, and they say the workmen are careless. The other day one of my friends was grazed by a 200-pound tpolbox that came hurtling dewn from above. He was showered and bruised by wrenches and other tools. What made him so mad was that the worker responsible wasn’t a bit concerned over

whether my friend had been hurt-or not; he was|

just worried for fear he’d lost some of his todls. One of their strongest complaints is about the “No Smoking” rule. Scores of men at a time. leave the job and congregate around the toilets for a “drag.” They say there's no reason, as far as danger is concerned, for not smoking on the ship. The rule slows up work. Neither of these men was the roughneck type you sometimes picture as the typical shipyard worker. Both have families, and a pleasant home life. They are what you would call good conscientious Americans, simple in their honesty, willing to work hard, but still interested in their homes and their pay: and their families. And more aware of their country’s peril than a lot of people are.

about it is that the business wasn’t sppreciatod, The locksmiths have their hands pretty full, as it is. One of them, Audley Dunham, suggests that before calling a' locksmith, the motorist rub his thumb briskly over the keyhole to melt the outer layer of ice, and then try the key. It may work.

‘THE BRIDGEPORT BRASS CO, takes exception to our item last week about the February issue of their employee publication. We said they forget to mention their nearly completed $12,000,000 plant here, and that maybe it was to be a surprise to their Bridgeport employees.. Well, here comes a letter from Advertising Manager Philip Davidson who says they had some-thing-about the Indianapolis plant in both their July and December (1941) issues “and the plant, therefore is no surprise to our employees in Bridgeport, some of wham will, of course, go to Indianapolis and start the wheels rolling.”

Miscellany

AROUND THE TOWN: Vedder Gard (Phone Co.) playing rotation billiards—pool, to you—at the Press club after lunch. , . . Easley Blackwood. (insurance) worrying about young Easley’s progress against a flu attack. . Curley Ash (publicity) trying to figure out'a promotion for his Legion post. ., Walter Greenough (banking) looking fit and ready, but insisting he has to take it easy. . .. Bill Book (C. of C.) chuckling happily over the Reed speech to Rotary. . John Bartee (C. I. O.) watching with interest the vagaries of a pinball machine. ., , , And politicians everywhere You turn.

By Raymond Clapper

fensive sind is clamoring for more help. She also fears Japan will attack her in Siberia. Others are strongly anti-British and take the line that we have. joined a bankrupt firm. The answer is that if the British quit we would be left in a hopeless position. Our worry as to whether Hi‘ler is going to get the French fleet would be nothin; compared to our worries if he was about to get the British fleet. The British people are riding their government for its blunders and they need very little help from us in that job, at least until we have made up for the setbacks growing out of our own blunder at Pearl Harbor.

They Just Don’t Realize

OTHERS ARE FORMER isolationists who naturally want to demonstrate that they were right by| dwelling upon our own defeats since Pearl Harbor. The answer is that if they had not succeeded in convincing so many people that we were in no danger, we might have ‘been in a stronger position now. Such production as we have started with was due largely to the pounding of the administration and to the stimulation of production by allied orders after the war began in Europe in 1939. Much of the Pratt & Whitney airplane-engine plant was built 0 on French and British engine orders. The rumoring, insofar as it is anything more than thoughtless conversation-making just for the sake of having something interesting to say, probably grows out of a failure te realize how close to defeat our side is at the moment, It grows out of a failure to realize that we have such a hard fight on qur hands.that we must have all of the help we can get from everybody.

Some friends of President Roosevelt hope that in|

his radio address Monday night he will pull no punches in telling the country just how serious this|¢ business is and how necessary it is to have help from everybody.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

it as an adveniure and to accept the uncertainty, not only with ‘stoicism, but with cheerful optimism. After dinner, I took the night train to New York . City and am spending some time today at the Brooklyn naval hospital with Franklin Jr. It is grand to see him recovering. Of course, with returning health. his annoyance at being in the hospital is making him very restless. I hope he will stay in the hospital as long as is necessary, for.I know the

By Ernie Pyle

MEARE FIR EMERGENCIES

1400 Volunteers to Train In. Police and Fire Auxiliary Units.

By RICHARD LEWIS At the Crossroads of America, the blueprint for civilian defense has been drawn, erased in part and redrawn. Now, it is coming to life. - Civilian defense has been organ‘ized in Indianapolis and Marion County on the theory that whether or not the .people believe air raids can strike this far inland, it is their duty to be prepared. Mayor Sullivan neads the municipal Defense Council and Maj. Gen, Robert H. Tyndall is chief of the Marion Cqunty Council. What has been done in the more

than two months the United States has been at war?

INDIANAPOLIS * City defense officials believe that sabotage is a more immediate menace than air raids. Auxiliary policemen, 500 of them, and 900 auxiliary fire fighters are being organized

| first.

They are being drawn from the ranks of men who volunteered for civil defense duty early in January. After the applicants for these posts have been interviewed, appointments will be made by Mayor Sullivan, who has been granted emergency defense powers by City Council.

Serve Only on Call

Police auxiliaries will be trained by the Police Department in rudimentary police procedure. Fire

auxiliaries will be trained by the Fire Department, The auxiliarymen will wear identifying arm bands. when called into active service by the Mayor. Unless they are called, the auxiliaries will not function. The Mayor has emphasized that the auxiliary police force” will not substitute for the Police Department. It will aid the Police Department. Auxiliaries will be accompanied by police in an: emergency, will rarely operate alone,

Chief to Be Named

Air raid wardens are to be appointed for each of the 47 .police districts. Herbert R. Fletcher is chief air raid warden for the city. He will work closely. with Police Chief Morrissey. Under each. of the 47 district

each supervising a community of about 500 persons. Emergency medical services have been organized by the City Hospital, in co-q on with private hospitals. Demolition and clearance crews will operate under the Street Department. All ‘factories, schools, department stores and office buildings have been prepared. These will be self-suffi-cient units, except where aid is needed in case of damage.

THE COUNTY

Under Gen. Tyndall's direction, township areas outside the City have been organized. Each town has its defense director, air raid warden, auxiliary fire fighters and first aid units. Policing will be handled by special deputies appointed by Sheriff Al Feeney. The County Highway Department force has been divided into districts where groups of em-

ployees and equipment can be mo-

bilized quickly for road repairs. Under the ‘County organization, women’s groups have been functioning for weeks, organizing recreation activities and planning morale prq-

grams. A survey to determine what homes in the City can accommodate families or persons who might be “bombed out” is being ‘conducted by

* | the women’s groups.

FIRE-WATCHER KEEPS EYE ON INCENDIARIES

When raids become heavy and not | incendiary. bombs fall, the fire watcher becomes one of ‘the lead-

‘Perched in ‘trees, on rooftops

minute he is out, it will be A to hola him |g

down.

to Washington. "1 have just received from the Uso. «office . in Savannah, Ga. an atcount of what they call. “adopted son plan.” i ee be done in other places. rs They found that the less service men, coming in from the Ft. Screven and Camp Stewart, contacts in the city. “me 50 af i no’ rec mending a boy to an individual family and for the Sime, lie. s 18 camp Heaths, gat family

‘I have been visiting other friends and members| i of my fami, and am returning by the aight train -

‘becomes his fire

wardens will be community wardens,

What ar If Bombs Fall

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If the bombs fall: The air raid warden calls the conirol center and the fire, police and medical units are

dispatched to the scene,

ES DEFENSE

AIR WARDEN'S 0B OUTLINED

He Must Know His Area And Location of All

Vital Installations.

What would. you be expected to do if you were an air raid warden? If you are appointed, you will receive specific instructions from

City and County Civil Defense chiefs.

Generally, your first job would be to know everyone and every house on every street in your sector. You would have to know the location of every lamp post, manhole, gas shutoff, electrical connection and sewer in the neighborhood,

Watch Fire Hazards

You would have to see to it that fire hazards—trash in attics or basements—were removed and that everyone had a garden hose with adjustable nozzle, buckets, emergency water supply and a few simple tools You would have to know who is ill, who is infirm and where the children are.

Know Your Helpers

You also would have to know who you could depend on to help you. You would have to know hew to detect poison gas, put out incendiary bombs, direct emergency vehicles and establish emergency com-

munications in case the telephones

went dead. You would have to feel responsible for the welfare of just about every man, sector,

woman and child in your|

still Time for You to Register

Men may still register for | auxiliary police and fire duty in Indianapolis. Applicants for these civil defense posts are asked to regster at Civil Defense Headquarters at the Indiana World | War Memorial and NOT tb report directly to police or fire departments. City officials announced that applicants will be summoned by personal letter for interviews after they have registered.

WAR GASES SINK TOWARD GROUND

Some Civil Defense experts believe that gas is up Hitler's sleeve, his “secret weapon.” War gases are surprise weapons. While they have not been used in the West as this is written, the Japs have used them on the Chinese with terrible effect. You can't become a’ gas vapert overnight. Generally, it is well to remember that high places are safest against most forms of war gases. These gases being heavier than’ air, settle toward the ground. ‘Most common gases are mustard, which smells like old vegetables; Lewiste, which smells like a potful of geraniums; phosgene, like hay or green corn; OChlorpicrin, like flypaper or anise; diphosgene, like silage. Chlorine is highly pungent and

Cloracetophenone like ‘apples.

organization is complete.

BLACKOUT NOT PLANNED HERE

Army Will Decid Decide If One Is Necessary, but Here

Are Some Tips.

Dont believe rumors that Indianapolis is’ going to have a blackout . . . today, tomorrow or next week. | It isn’t going to have one until the Army. says so. It isn’t going to try one until the civil defense

When a blackout is to be attempted you will be notified through newspapers and radio. Just how much Indianapolis should be blacked out has not been decided.

Full Blackout Unlikely

Police experts who have observed the. blackout experience of England believe that a complete blackout may be unnecessary here. However, in case you are called upon to’ darken your, homes, these are some things you can do: All ‘occupied rooms must be dark from the ‘outside. Bulbs in unoccupied rooms should be removed as well as porch or yard lights. This is to prevent them being turned ‘on by mistake. Occupied rooms can be blacked out simply by using dark blue, darkpurple or black drapes. These colors may not set off your living or dining rooms, but they keep light from escaping into the street. Lights. in blacked out rooms should be used sparingly. One lamp

with a 60-watt bulb is enough.

AIR RAID wardens have charge of sectors containing the homes of about 500 people. They are the head men in community civil defense organization, working directly under civil authorities, Auxiliary police are citizens given special training so that they may assist the regular police. They are on duty only when summoned by Mayor Sullivan during an em-

ular fire fighting forces. They do

Auxiliary firemen help the reg- .

How to deny Home Defense Army

handle and dispose of time bombs and duds. Rescue squads of 10 men each remove injured from debris. Physicians, nurses . and their assistants form the medical force. : Emergency food and Housing

Corps members provide welfare services to disaster victims while motor corps units carry supplies and transport personnel. Messen-. gers carry supplies and dispatches and are particularly important if communications. are disrupted. Road repair and demolition and “clearance crews repair road dam-' ‘age, remove debris, fill. bomb craters and remove unsafe portions of buildings while decontamination men treat areas infected by War gasses. Fire watchers from high vantage points spot incendiary bombs.

SAFEST PLACE

Here Is Some Advice on

. What to Do if Enemy Comes by Air.

The enemy's airplanes may never raid Indianapolis. But if they do,

‘ |being unprepared would multiply

10-fold the seriousness of the raid, in the opinion of Civil Defense offi cials.

KEEP COOL is the first rule in an air raid as in all emergencies. Getting excited is dangerous. Panic is what the enemy wants. STAY HOME if you are at home. If you are not, go inside the near est building. Home sweet home, though, is the safest place. The chances that a bomb will hit you there are remote. PUT OUT YOUR LIGHTS as soon as you are notified officially of a raid. : STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS, Windows break under bomb cone cussion and flying glass cuts. It's the greatest. single cause of injury in an air raid. DON'T RUN OUTSIDE to see what is going on. You can’t see anything anyway and your chances of being ‘hit by anti-aircraft shrapnel or bomb pieces are good—outside. The best home preparation for an air raid is to fix up one room in your house as a shelter or retreat. The dining room or kitchen are good spots.. They're convenient to | food and water. r

Keep House Dark

There you can blackout the wine dows with heavy curtains or drapes and turn lights out in other parts of the house. The dining room or kitchen table is good protection, too, and you can put your family under it if the bombs fall close by. Pots, pans and bathtubs should be filled with water, in case incendiary bombs fall. Incendiaries take seme instructions and practice to fight. Generally, you never throw: or squirt water on them. It makes them explode. Instead you turn a very fine spray on them, increasing the oxygen available to the burning bomb so that it burns out faster. -

Use Sand on. Bombs

If air raids are ever feared imminent here, you will be instructed to keep buckets of sand handy. Sand extinguishes an incendiary bomb. Water doesn’t. You use the water to put out fires started by the bomb, but never on the bomb itself. What the enemy hopes to accomplish by air raids in addition to destruction of property is terror and confusion among the population. So it’s. important to act coolly during a raid, avoid panic and avoid spreading rumors of doom and destruction you may pick up from somebody else.

CITY TO BE CLASSED IN WARNING SYSTEM

The United States has been die vided into air defense areas. Each area will be subdivided into warning districts. The district is to be the unit of the air-raid warning system. As yet, Indianapolis has not been classified under this system, but will be soon. Under the air-raid signal system adopted by the Office of Civilian Defense, the sounding of the siren is the last signal. When enemy planes are reported on the way, a preliminary caution signal is sent to Army and Civil Defense officials. This is known as the “yellow” signal. It serves to notify essential industries and transport services. The next signal is the secondary or “blue” caution message, also re= ceived by phone. It means that raiders are expected. Essential industries and utilities must obscure exterior lighting at once. When the objective of the raiders is determined as nearly as possible,

{the third signal is given. This 48

when the sirens sound. It is called

‘the ‘ “red” or. danger signal.

The sirens not only say that the planes will be ov. ..’ead in five min=~ utes, but they also notify air-raid wardens to get on the job. oo The All-Clear is called the “white” signal. The siren ude : again to notify the publice that raid is over.

Go IN ‘ACTION DURING rap

over to get into action. They go

bat - digging out persons