Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 14 August 1942 — Page 13

hot

- Fipapers for this abuse of public’ confidence.

FRIDAY, AUG. 14, 1942

" Hoosier Vagabond

| ; ‘SOMEWHERE IN NORTHERN IRELAND, Aug. 14—It’'s odd how some American soldiers pick up the ways of a new country instantly while others never do. The other evening I happened to be passEy ing : a soldier and two girls on the street when one of | the girls asked what time it was. | The soldier said, “Half eight.” At home we'd say “eight-thirty.” or “half past eight,” but over here they say “half eight.” tJ 2 8 - ONE OF THE things a lot ‘of people are wondering about already is whether the army will sell its excess jeeps after the war. My hunch is that it won't. : ss #2 = SO FAR AS I know there are no regular bomb shelters in the various army camps in Northern Ireland. At many camps they dig zigzag ditches into which the men can dive to escape blasts and machine-gunning if enemy raiders get close. Some of these old houses have tunnels running -out to the barns-and servants’ quarters. Soldiers’ quartered there will use these tunnels for sheltérs if it’s ever necessary.

Old Dishpan Faces!

I STAYED ONE night at a group of nissen huts occupied by officers. They have showers and toilets in an adjoining hut, but no place to wash their faces, so they use big washpans. And since there's not a dbs tap on ‘the place, they have to go fill the pans from the shower, then carry them back to the huts to wash. 3 ® » » ODDLY ENOUGH, there has been very little sickness among the troops caused by the drastic change in climate and the constant damp and cold. There are a few coughs, some yellow jaundice, and quite a few infections which probably wouldn't have developed if the facilities for keeping clean were better.

In one camp a sort of skin infection appeared to| develop from’ the water the men wash in. Lots of the boys have athlete’s foot. 2 = =» AT ONE CAMP the chief cooks are twins—Wilmer and Wilford Gilles, from Garner, Ia. On the kitchen door is painted “Garner Restaurant.” The two look so much aliké that even boys from their home town can’t always tell them apart. I did tell, though. The clue is two tiny moles on Wilmer’s right jaw. Wilford doesn’t have any. Or maybe it is vice-versa. I can’t be perfect all the time.

What an Awfully Dumb Pup

THE OTHER DAY I saw the weekly review of a

battalion. Like all reviews are, it was very formal|

and military and straight-faced, except that the pattalion’s dog had to have a part in it add he apparently was green at soldiering. He jumped and played and nipped soldiers’ heels and had a wonderful time messing everything up. He was a very dumb dog—didn’t even know that officers are superior. For when the company commanders came marching briskly across the field to

make their reports to the reviewing stand, the little}

dog stopped right in front of them on a personal mission, and the clocklike precision of the march had to be interrupted by the officers doing a high hurdle over the busy dog. I was delighted to®see thai they came up smiling instead of just ignoring the incident as German officers no doubt would do.

8 » »

QUENTIN REYNOLDS of Collier's came over from London the other day and we had dinner together. Quent went flying over France with the R. A. F. the other night, sitting in the bombardier’s seat in the nose of a Hudson bomber. Quent’s: recent bride, back in New York, heard about his little trip over the lines, and on the morning he arrived here he had a cable from her saying,

- “You dope stop being a Dick Tracy.”

Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

CONGRATULATIONS WILL BE in order tomorrow at the George Amt grocery, down on the south side. For tomorrow marks white-haired Mr. Amt's - 60th anniversary in the grocery ‘business. He started by buying out a grocery when he was a hoy of 16, which gives a clew to his age— 76. For 45 years or so he ran a grocery at Virginia ave. and ‘S. East st—until he had to make way for a gasoline station. He's been at his present address—454 Parkway—the last 10 years. De- - spite his age, he’s still pretty lively, warks hard every day and can mgke his four employees hustle to keep ‘up. He used to sing in the Maennerchor, still likes to bowl. We'll bet were speaking for a lot of people around fown when we say: Congratulations, Mr. Amt.

We wish you many more years in the grocery business. .

Chimes to Chime Again

KEN MOSIMAN, who has offices up in the Board of Trade—8th floor—has been wondering why he hasn't heard the Christ church chimes recently. He's used to setting his watch by them on the stroke of 12, and says he, the silence, now sort of gets you.

“V- we checked up and find the reason for the silence.

is that the chimer, Fred Weber, assistant organist of the church, is on vacation. His brotier-in-law, Norman Robinson, who: usually pinch hits for him, is in the navy. But Fred will be back on the job by Monday... . . Marc Waggener of the state conservation department has appealed to us to find the name of a melody that’s been haunting him. He heard it at the movie—Vanishing Virginian—at the Ritz one evening and it's been ringing in his ears ever since. It’s something he knows, he says, but what? It's a song the younger daughter in the play sings to

Washington

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14—Two phony abuses of public confidence have been perpetrated out of official mouths in the last few days. One was the Monday-morning official announcement at Mitchel Field that secret ground markers, placed with subversive intent, had been discovered. You saw photographs of the big ground arrow. The photograph was genuine. But the official announcement that this was a fifth-column marker was a fake. Lieut, Gen. Hugh A. Drum, of the eastern defense command, says the alleged markers were investigated weeks ago, that no subversive connection was found and no connection with national defense and the matter was dropped. Newspapers printed the phony story, given out by the army public-relations office of the first ground air support command. Don’t blame the newsNor responsible officers of the army. They will attend to this, The second phony was more subtle. Washington officials gave a misleading impression that the government was behind Henry J. Kaiser in his spectacu~ lar plan for building giant cargo planes. The governmenters are behind Mr. Kaiser—so far behind that they have run out on him. :

Just What Bureaucrats Wanted

HE HAS BEEN given a sly brushoff. All he has to show is two mealy letters from Donald Nelson, chairman of the WPB. Both are signed with the same rubber stamp. I have examined the ‘letters and they say nothing. The rubber stamp is genuine. ~ The faint outlines of the shoulders of the stamp

My: Day

SALISBURY, N. C., Thursday.—I left New York City on the evening train and arrived this morning at Salisbury. N. C. I am spending the day at the general convention .of Christian Education of the Afro Methodist Episcopal Zion church. I take an

evening train back to Washingtan.

+ Yesterday, in New York City, I had a most interesting time at - the - Hunter college forum. I ‘had a pathetic letter the other day from a mother, who said she had been entirely dependent n her son, who has now been : ted. I think it came to her . as an unexpected blow, because

: mong the very:

-39 years old.

a phonograph accompaniment for two little colored girls. Can somebody ease Marc's curiosity?

Too Hot in There

THE TREASURER OF .a large downtown hotel here received a draft for $100 from an insurance company the other day. A note indicated it was to cover a fire loss at the hotel. The treasurer hadn’t heard about any fire, so he called the manager. The latter explained thusly: In the wee, small hours about 10 days earlier, the hotel detective observed .a man, considerably under ‘the weather, staggering down the hallway on an upper fioor with a whiskey bottle in one hand and a doorkey in the other. He was trying the key in each door he passed. Asked by the detective what he was doing, the inebriated one replied: “Just tryin’ to get in.” The detective ‘looked at the man’s key and said: “Your room is down the corridor—not here.” Replied the drunk: “I know, but it's too hot in there. ~My room's on fire.” The house dick investigated, and sure enough it was.

Around the Town WATCH YOUR STEP driving out E. 38th st. or the cycle cops will get, you. Residents of the vicinity say the weeds on the corner of 38th and Arthington blvd. are so high" that they give the cops a good hiding place.from which to sneak out and nab the unwary speedér. We'll bet those cops: would be mad af ‘the dickéns«if someone rimfiied the weeds, Ji. Schools Superintendent DeWitt Morgan is vacation~ ing in Biloxi, Miss, for a few days after visiting son Robert, in the air corps at Columbia, S.C. . . . Memo to kids: Better play hard; oniy three more weeks of vaeation. Schools reopen. Sept. 8. . . . Pedestrians on Meridian at Washihgton were somewhat startled yesterday to observe the figure modeling fur coats in the window of Bishop Furs—above the Florsheim store—start moving. It wasn’t the usual dummy. Instead, it.was a classy looking gal wearing an equally classy looking fur coat.

By Raymond Clapper

show in the ink blur around the alleged signature. The rubber-stamp signatures: are not important except as they illustrate the phony quality of this whole affair. To quiet public clamor, which was on Mr. Kaiser's side, government spokesmen put out the word last week that they were giving Mr. Kaiser a go-ahead, with letters of intent. That seemed entirely satisfactory and public interest: relaxed, assuming the government meant business. That's what Washington wanted. It wanted to get out from under the public heat until the proposition was forgotten. It has very nearly succeeded. But not quite, I hope.

It's Monumental. Fakery!

ALL OF US NEED to be sparing in criticism. Obviously I know nothing of the merits of Mr. Kaiser's plan to build a fleet of super cargo planes. But we desperately need cargo planes. : This government is full of experts. They must know whether the plan is worth serious effort. If it is, then for God's sake why doesn’t Washington get behind Mr. Kaiser with an honest effort instead of brushing him off with a rubber-stamped letter? If the plan isn’t worth any effort, then send Mr. Kaiser back to building ships, which he does with such speed. Don’t waste the time of such a valuable man. Why Kid a man who has his production record? Why kid the public into thinking Washington is behind him when nobody here has any intention of lifting a small toe to help him? This is a piece of monumental fakery and’ President Roosevelt could well afford to-take 10 minutes to look into it. Possibly Mr. Roosevelt could suave what may be a useful idea, originating with a tested producer, from being tossed by sleight-of-hand into the ashcan of Washington bureaucracy.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

such situations. They participated in the drafting of the service men’s allowance act of 1942, but all of their recommendations were not incorporated in the act when it finally passed. Wives and children

have fixed allowafices, but cases a little out of the ordinary are not clearly dealt with as yet. Now I must tell you about something which is be - done for members of the merchant marine in our’ sister republic of Uruguay. Some public spirited young men of the British community in Uruguay conceived the idea that there ought to be a ;haven where officers and men of merchant ships, sailing under any of the unitéd nations’ flags, could go’

to enjoy themselves during their stay in a foreign port. f

“Liberty inn” was started. There visitors may ob-

‘tain food and beverages of the best kind at reasonprices. There is a billiard table, card tables, 3

able table tennis, dart boards and a quiet room for letter writing. a is the most remarkabie thing about this undertaking—the only paid person is the career who lives on the premises. Everything else is

By Ernie Pyle

on hand, and using ther

NEW WARSHPS

vita Materials Saved Under ‘Navy’s Revised Building Ideas.

By CHARLES T. LUCEY ; _ Times Speeial Writer WASHINGTON, Aug. 14—Navy officials said today that thousands

been saved through substitutions and eliminations in [the navy building program.

some of the clubby trimmings that made United States warships the most luxurious in the world. They have reduced, in some cases,

an extent as to affect the life of a vessel within any probable time limit of the war.

vital materials are these: Designs of 525 yard craft, all under 200 feet long, were changed from steel to wood, to save more than 40,000 tons of steel. One-third of all aluminum used ‘in warships has been eliminated. Naval officials said it would soon be one-half. Plastics are being ‘substituted in dozens of places, even in ordnance pieces. Eliminate Rubber Parts

Protective rubber parts have been eliminated from some items of machinery, and often articles of furniture, linoleum, rubber mats and similar items formerly thought negessary are left out of ship equipment, By using stampings for 33 brass and steel castings and forgings occurring in certain assemblies, it was disclosed, there was a saving of 3500 tons Of steel, 1950 tons of brass, 50 tons of zinc and an estimated 2,600,000 hours |of machine labor. These savings in critical materials have by no means reached a peak, and it will be the first of 1843, officials said, before they can approach such a stage. In some cases there is a necessary lag between the idea for saving, the required experimentation if something like ordnance is involved, the final decision to shift to another material, and the actual building change. In other cases, there may be supplies of the formerly

preferable to the expenditure of | ‘man-hours for reworking. Many of these savings have been

made under the direction of .J. W.

Powell, long a private shipbuilder and now a special assistant to the secretary of the navy.

Destroyers Need Aluminum

While officials are able to cite major econcmies, there are many

places in naval building where sub‘stitution is virtually. impossible. A

destroyer’s ; upper works demand extensive use of aluminum, for exsample, and if heavier steel is substituted there must be, generally speaking, a wider beam. Again, a ship's condensers are made of scarce monel metal—a cop-per-nickel alloy. But they must be absolutely. tight, and if substitution resulted in a leaky condenser it could disable a warship, Naval officials say many steps faken primarily to speed production, going back to late 1940, have resulted in important savings in materials. After Pearl Harbor, shipbuilders were called in and asked for ideas on speed-ups and eliminations, and item-by-item checks were made of all type of vessels. In June a basic list of about 200 substitutions or eliminations went out to shipbuilders, and new shifts are being evolved steadily. Among articles shifted from

ble covers, and large casipgs: covering main reduction gears. :

Monel Metal Changed

Monel metal has been changed on ship airports to manganesebronze, in water-closet. sheeting to painted iron, and in galley equipment to galvanized iron or copper. Copper has changed to plastics or welded steel in handwheels, and to galvanized steel in the buoyancy of small boats. Plastics are being used instead of metal in thousands of nameplates,} doorknok s, utensils and asimuth dials,

of plain steel in some bulkheads.

rooms, shower stall partitions in of-

walkways, transoms, much ture, and confidential publication

of tons of critical materials had}

the durability of certain parts off our fighting ships, but not to such

Some of the major savings in|

d_ material os %

aluminum to steel are all ventila-| tion duets, furniture, armor on ca-| .

faucet handles, table}

Non-corrosive nickel-steel in boil-{ = er casings and in some uptake and| <i smoke pipes has been eliminated in| \ 2

Many items are being left off to-| day’s men-of-war — towing and| hauser reels, chart houses, trunk}

ficers’ quarters, rubber cleats on|_

These changes have washed: out|

0, S. AHEAD IN CARGO PLANES

Douglas. Says Production In Quantities Began Months Ago.

10S ANGELES, Aug. 14 (U. P).

—Long-range military cargo planes of “freight car” capacity have been in “quantity production for months” at Douglas Aircraft Co., President Donald W. Douglas reported today. Douglas disclosed that in a single month his plant is now manufacturing . these cargo planes in “numbers not far from the grand total manufactured for world airlines over a period of seven preceding years.”

Some cargo planes already inj

service are delivering “freight car capacities of men and war equipment, tillery and trucks, food and other

supplies to battlefields thousands of a miles frem source,” the Douglas { :

statement said. .

tehes from the Russian front, Sebpriing delivery of German tanks by transport, serve to “emphasize” a program already under way in the United States. «Big scale preparations” for building cargo carriers began “many months” before the current “public clamor” for such transports. Al-

{ready the United States is “fully

abreast, if not ahead, of ¢ Nazi achievements. in air transport development,” Douglas said. “The fact that military necessity

at first demanded immediate sup-|

ply of combat aircraft did not prevent full recognition of the importance to transports. Speed Up Production “Even the luftwafle’s latest feats

in air-borne transportation occasion:

neither surprise nor technical dis-| i hearing |

may to thé military experts and aircraft technicians.”

Douglas said the C-54, largest

folr-engined cargo carrier produced!

in the United States, is being delivered to the army in ever increasing numbers. He pointed out that military versions of the DC-3 had re-established the Burma road. The same type carriers, he went on, are flying’ in a “continuous stream” over the 4300-mile transport and ferry route to Egypt and the Near East. :

Elmer Changes Name and Outfit

- CAMP BLANDING, Fla. Aug. 14 (U. P).—“Elmirs,” a small puppy mascot at Camp Blanding, which was named LIlmer until

" the: ‘Soldiers discovered she was a

“lady dog,” was a candidate for the WAACS today. Sergeant Joseph B. Thompson of Buford, Ga., who looks after the dog, said the army would be sorry to lose her, but that the woman's auxiliary would be the logical place for her." WAACS are willing, ElCh will ‘be crated ‘and shipped

favor of carbon steel and in favor|

completely assembled ar-|=

RITE abl

oti! Ap an

1 “Car police. He

Kinder (I (| Nancy Hu |

2. Miss

Shor!

“These 3 You've

about the. :

But if |

student dri:

Althous |

leaders thr:

teaching motor vehi Right he fact, they”: mester at the city sct

an. experin :

sults were

With them :

are revam. |;

fall semest |

And, mor | to snort o' :»

periment ] or

sters get @ doing the

struction 1:

professions

expert tha .

instruction actual gris The ‘cout | students s

rivers have fewer . accidents” emphasiaed ¢ ‘Officer Jake ‘Neal (right) of the Indians date. : Mrs. Mabel Zirkle Metz (third from lelt), driver trainer, were assisted by Officers Claude’ ind Eddie Meiers of the city police in testing (left to right). Phyllis oapyer; Bil IL Suedencts: « Carl Rohde, student drivers.

hert and Mrs. Metz in a dusl control car.

dge Acts fo End

raffic Toll on Highways

By ROSEMARY REDDING

ig drivers!” i it. Somebody in

the old guard lets off a little steam

she younger set drives.

schools have their

way, they eventually will turn out

nat will put mom and pop to shame.

isn’t particularly out the country are 2 field of safety by | the operation of

n Indianapolis, in oneering. Last seridge high. school,

, #cials arranged for

114%

course... The rea. than gratifying. basis. they already the course for the

de Parenis

: pop, you are going nis one but the exi that the youngbetter without you ing. Classroom in‘he guidance of a zed out drivers more se given classroom left to get their ;xperience at home. : taught here, gives mechanical - backThey're taught to instrument panel on under the hood rauges, etc. register sy’re shown how to| final smoothly to save sar and tear. They ible clutching” afid id start on a hill—

wn,

different

their responsibility, . various school

something a lot of adults are still learning to do with ease. . The get lessons in speed. They are shown by the law of physics why it is that a car traveling 30 miles an hour travels only three times as fast as at 10 but hits a telephone pole with nine times the force, not just triple, the force at 10 miles an hour. A new phase .of driving is taken up each day and when it is deemed wise, the driver practices on a private field, then in public traffic. He is completely familarized with state and oly traffic laws. The experimental course . Was jtaught by Mrs. Mable Zirkle Metz.

ners’ driving permit. Those who

home had to turn over their per-

driving would be under supervision. Use Dual Controls An automobile equipped with dual controls was provided by the Hoo-}* sier Motor:club. . Driving skill tests were given with the aid of the local ad state police departments and testing was done by the slate department of safety.

experiment. . The group ‘which took classroont|

work only, and presumed to learn

‘to drive at home, showed the least

improvement in knowledge and attitudes. Mrs. Metz points out that the second group did rank second

average driving experience at home was 1855 miles in comparison with the 485-miles average,

weren't in the class which got], actual driving experience from the}

mits to Mrs. Metz so that their! 5

in its driving skill, but that their|,

or" shout;

U.S. T0 PRODUGE

53 Medical Schools Boost Graduating Classes by

Cutting Terms.

. CHICAGO, Aug. 14 (U. P)— Amerjcan medical colleges ‘will graduate a record-breaking : total of 21,000 physicians in the’ next. three years under a: war-time speed ° up program. The’ American: Medical Association ‘council on: ‘medical : education’ reported today. : This was 5000 more than would have ‘graduatéd' under a normal program. - The - program provides ‘more ‘than “two graduating phy= sicians for every. death of a prace ticing' doctor of medicine. |

‘Bach pupil had to have a begin-|be

during the period from medical schools, the report. said.

JUST IN THE MIDDLE

One hundred and one pupils’ 1 Washi three groups participated in the |" y

and the coast of | Maine. 1s