Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 June 1943 — Page 17

“FRIDAY, JUNE 11,

1943

The Indianapolis

mes

SECOND SECTION

Hoosier Vagabond

(One of a series on a 13,000-mile flight made before Tunisia fell.)

- SOMEWHERE IN AFRICA.—In the huge aerial crossroads camp that I wrote about yesterday, hundreds of black natives work—as houseboys, as whitecoated waiters, as drivers, and as plain laborers putting up more and more buildings. They are descend- - ants of the ones who escaped : being carried away to America as slaves. There is a Negro houseboy for . every two rooms in the officers’ blocks. He dresses in khaki shorts, and goes barefoot. His job is easy, but he has less “manana’™ in him than some of our own Latins. The boys are faithful, honest and pleasant. Most of them are devoted to their masters. It will be hard for many an American officer to get over being waited on hand and foot when he returns to the old home town. «The houseboy comes at 6:30 in the morning, and Mays till 6:30 at night. He has an hour off for lunch, and two hours for resting in the afternoon. . He is always within yelling distance somewhere on the back porch, and he comes at call to get you some ice or find you some matches or anything you wish.

A New Vocabulary

HE GETS $12 a month salary, and each officer tips him 40 cents a week extra. The houscboy calls his officer “master,” and sometimes it is slurred so that it sounds just like our oldtime southern Negro “massuh.” | When our boy Jim first called me “master” I thought he was talking to somebody else, and looked around to see who was in the room. The boys all speak a native tongue, but they know enough English that you can talk easily with them. In that area there is a whole vocabulary of pidgin English. ‘

By Ernie Pyle

For instance you never hear the word “tip.” The word is “dash.” You “dash” your houseboy two shillings a week. A beggar never says “gimme.” He asks: you to “dash” him a penny. A meal is “chopchop,” and when you're telling a boy to do something immediately or to hurry, you say “one-time.” Another favorite expression is “Who dat man?” It seems that the native soldiers call halt by yelling “Who dat man?” So the thing has become a byword with our troops. If somebody knocks at your door, you call “Who dat man?” If a sinister villain appears in the movie to do the heroine dirt, the soldier audience yells “Who dat man:

All Wear Mosquito Boots

AROUND THIS special camp everything is made of mahogany. That doesn’t mean theyre squandering our taxes on foolish luxury; mahogany happens to be the cheapest and most prolific wood in those parts. A small proportion of officers and men—maybe one-tenth on the hottest days—wears khaki shorts in Central Africa, just as tropical "Englishmen do in the movies. At night you are required to put on long trousers, long-sleeved shirts, and the officers must wear ties. It is as much for safety against mosquitoes as for discipline. Also at night most people in camp wear mosquito hoots—which are brown suede, sort of like cowboy boots, nearly knee-high. The army nurses have special boots which come clear above. their knees. At least that’s what my investigating department reports. Oddly enough, you don't see many deep tans among our troops in the tropical countries. The reason being that you perspire so much you just soak the tan off. Cigarets get damp down there, and don't taste the same. And you have to put your extra envelopes in the closet near the electric light. Otherwise they seal themselves. That's the reason I don't write to anybody; all my envelopes are sealed. Any old excuse in a storm, I always say. :

Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

ROY STEELE, the C. of C. publicity director, was ‘the victim of a considerate thief the other day. The miscreant stole Roy’s car in the morning, then returned it in the afternoon to almost the same spot— back of the library. He left the keys in the car—and enough gas to get the car to the nearest filling station. . . . Al Feeney, the former sheriff, is working at the P. R. Mallory plant as safety director. One of his tasks is serving as a judge in a beauty contest. Al, don’t you know that’s not safe, especially for a bachelor? ‘+ ... Sheriff Otto Petit’s jail deputies are proud as peacocks because one. of the tomato plants in a * jail yard flower bed has a tiny tomato on it. The rest of the jail ’ garden is thriving, too. It should, with ali’ ‘the free (prisoner) help they have down AHere:

W Free Bath

: A READER’ drops in the office to complain about Abe thoughtlessness of the driver of a city street flusher. About 11:15 a. m. yesterday, the flusher crossed the College ave. bridge over Fall creek, forcing complainant to run to safety and soaking the legs 4 an elderly cripple who was- crossing the bridge on ‘sg@rutches. . . . Time magazine reports that Gypsy Rose has purchased for $250 the bed on which a Hoo“sier, President Benja Harrison, slept in the White House. + . « Mrs, Charley Davis, the wife of the former ‘Band leader, is_visiting friends and relatives’ here. CHatley runs a furniture store in Oswego, N. Y., now. “9 4 + George Saas, who lost hig voice -to laryngitis

London

LONDON, June 11 (By Wireless).—No matter how anyone in America may feel about the British, the fact is that we are bound to be mixed up in affairs with them for a long time. Hence it is a source of sonfidence and satisfaction that British politics are well stabilized around two such strong, friendly, and experienced men as Mr. Churchill and Mr. Eden. : There is every indication now that Mr. Churchill, contrary to earlier ideas about him, will riot retire at the end of the war but will remain on if health permits —and up to now his health seems to permit anything. Equally important is Mr. Eden, who is more than foreign secretary. It appears that Mr. Eden is being prepared in every way by the prime minister to take over when that becomes necessary. Mr. Churchill has Mr. Eden in on all secret war council Sessions and military discussions with staff chiefs.

Eden Meets Americans

7” AS FURTHER preparation for. the larger role the future is supposed to hold for Mr. Eden, he went to Washington last spring. The prime minister gave him several chores to attend to. 5 ... But the primary purpose was for him to become pcquainted with American political figures both in and out of the government, and to size up the attitude which America and various leaders might take toward post-war questions. - His mission was highly successful, in that a large ‘number of important Americans had an opportunity to talk frankly with him and to give him an insight into attitudes that must be taken into account. Mr. Eden is an aristocratic, younger conservative of -fairly liberal views on internal questions, so: he has not incurred the bitterness which Laborites have ‘Sigainst many Tories. That situation tends to reassure the Labor party in continuing the wartime political

My Day

WASHINGTON, Thursday.—Last evening I spent from 7 to 9 o'clock at a meeting at the Old Soldiers’ Home. They wrote me and said they were veterans

of many wars, that they held meetings twice a’

month, that they had a great interest in the war now going on, and felt left out because I had told so many groups of my experiences in Great Britain and had not been to them. So, since there was a stag dinner last night at the White House for the president of Paraguay, 1 spent the evening with the veterans, At 5 o'clock yesterday, president of Paraguay, Gen. Higinio Moringo, was received with “the customary formalities, and after dinner he and the president bad a long conference. I left on the night train for New York City, in order to go this afternoon to the dedication of the Anzac Garden on top of the British Empire building. At 5:30.1. go to Norwalk, Conn, to lead a : I was surprised on "ussdiay to have my press » women ask me about these tales which circulated a which socuse the. avagnen

the

recently, is able to talk g little now. At Ad club luncheon yesterday, someone told him his voice now sounds like that of the little girl on Fibber McGee's program.

Around the Town

THE FIRST THING an inductee is told when he reports at the motor armory to take his physical exam is a warning to turn in to his ration board all his ration books except his basic A gasoline book. , . . One of our agents reports that a guard on a train carrying Italian prisoners remarked, during a stop here, that the Italians peered out the train windows in every town, trying to find some evidence of the bomb damage they had been toldsabout before their capture. . « « Another agent reports that there's a mighty neat victory garden in someone’s front yard at 13th and Pennsylvania. The vegetables grow from the house clear out almost to the sidewalk. . . . Add signs of the times: A business establishment on N. Illinois, close in, has a sign in the window reading: “Selling out.

‘Pinball machines for home amuséments.”

Our Letter Dept.

MARK FERREE, president of the Indianapolis Rotary club, has received a letter from the president of the Rotary club of Elstree & Boreham Wood, England, reporting that the club last month had the

honor of entertaining an Indianapolis resident, Lt.

Robert A, Efroymson. . . . Mrs. Richard F. Green sends us a picture of her husband, Hospital Apprentice 1-c Richard PF. Green, all tangled up in a letter 50 feet long. It was written on adding machine paper and sent to Him by employees of the American Can Co., where he worked 17 years before enlisting in the navy. He's stationed at the naval hospital at St. Albans, Long Island.

By Raymond Clapper

truce—which it is expected to do at a conference next week. Washington has not seen exactly eye to eye with Whitehall on some aspects of Russian policy and on de Gaulle. The possibility of those differences growing into serious divisions toward the end of the war has been greatly reduced-as to Russia by Moscow’s action disbanding the Communist International, and as to the French question by the de Gaulle-Giraud coalition in Algiers. The delicate hand of Foreign Minister Eden is seen behind some of this, because the cornerstone of his policy is to prepare the way for the great powers to work together after the war. It must be clear to both

Washington and London that the first effort of the|.

defeated nations will be, as last time, to split up the victors and play one against the other.

Churchill Aids Teamwork

MR. CHURCHILL contributed toward teamwork of the two countries by his timely emphasis on the Pacific in his congressional address. These efforts by the two top British leaders to accommodate British

policies to the American attitude lay the basis on} ‘which tangled issues like post-war commercial air

traffic, and empire tariff preferences, can be approached with less danger to the fundamental strength ‘of the four power team. The Labor party conference here next week will consider questions of the continuing national political truce and admission of the Communists. It is expected to vote to continue the truce, and to exclude the Communists. In spite of all we hear in America about Labor party agitation for a more socialistic ‘England, the party is considered rather static here, lacking in fire, dominated by the Churchill national government, and unready to resume leadership aggressively. It seems to be widely expected that any poitwar leaven will come from new groups yet to appear, with the Churchill-Eden Tories taking a liberal line on social legislation and steering the country through the early post-war period.

By Elosnor Roosevelt

me knew quite well that they were not true, but, since they had to ask me, I also realized there must be a certain amount of belief in the country that these tales are justified. I have inquired of the authorities and find that there is probably no group of young women anywhere with as high a standard for good behavior. Someone wrote me complaining about certain things

‘they thought they had seen near one of the training camps and that was at once investigated.

These young women take their work very seriously. They are imbued with a desire -to be of service during the war, and they know that part

‘of that service is to set a high standard of con-

duct. The public should ' know that the women already recruited in the WAACs take the place of four divisions of soldiers, and are releasing that number of men for active service means something to the enemy. The enemy was conscious of this when it started a similar whispering - campaign against the women in the British and Canadian forces. Why we fall for this same type of axis propaganda here is beyond my understanding. If. any of us know of individual cases of misbehavior, we should report them at once so that they can be corrected. But to believe that. thess: girls are not i. a patiotic and fine iieh- ae 1 up to |

Meet the Folks Behind the Civic Curtain

|

Director an Alumnus of l. U. Hepcats

(This is the third of a series of

articles on the Indianapolis Civic

Theater) .

By RICHARD LEWIS THE NUCLEUS of the society of jazz musicians who flourished in and around Indiana university back in the ’20s was a sixpiece set known to the hep world of Bloomington as : “Carmichael’s Collegians.”

Chief | noisemaker was Hoagy Carmichael, whose solid noises

have sounded throughout most of :

the civilized world. He's still making them at a place called Homely Hills in Los Angeles.

"Twas said in those days that :

when this solid sextet gathered ‘round. and let go with Hoagy's “Riverboat Shuffle” of an evening, the cause of higher education in the classier €lassics automatically -became a thing of the past and the scholars turned from Plato to a contemplation of their feet. One of the key citizens in this organization, especially on “Washboard Blues,” was the outfit's guitar and banjo player, Jack Hatfield. He and Hoagy were classmates. ”

A Varied Experience

THIS BIT of history is related for the benefit of those citizens who may be interested in joining up in the acting or technical departments at the Civic theater next season. The man they see—and who will be glad to see them—is Jack Hatfield, ex-guitarist in the original Carmichael band, ex-movie actor, ex-interior decorator, parttime playwright and would-be victory gardener. He’s the Civic theater’s director. After Carmichael’s band, he played with the “Crimson Serenaders,” ‘of which several other local citizens were members. Then he was in the clothing business. He did interior decorating for a downtown department store. , # » ”n

Came Here Last Fall

"HE WENT to California and entered the Pasadena Playhouse drama school. He worked in motion: pictures—“Magnificent Obsession,” “Mexican Spitfire” and “Ghost Breakers.”

—O=

1. Bill Gordon, personnel man

at Shell Petroleum, has the task

of recruiting Civic theater backstage workers, or else—he does the

work himself.

2. Richard Eisenbach is a photographer by day. At night, he be-

comes theater's leading man.

Drama is his hobby.

3. Miss Mary Belle Dyson, insurance company employee, wanted an outside activity. She attended the Civic four years ago and has been

a member since.

4. Mrs. Bertrand Hawkins at the Legion auxiliary joined 15 years ago. When her three children grew up, they joined, too. They're in the

service now.

5. Jack Hatfield, Civic director, movies.

He acted in Henry Duffy’s productions at El Capitan, the “legit” theater in Hollywood. He did shows like “Small Miracle,” {Boy Meets Girl,” “Counselor-at-Law,”’ with Paul Muni, and “Ah, Wilderness,” with Will Rogers. He acted in and directed plays at the Pasadena Playhouse, which is one of the outstanding little theaters in the nation. The as--sistant art director there was Don Finlayson, who came to Indianapolis last fall as art ‘director of the Civic.

Fog Blanket Favors Yanks i

This is the first of a series of five eye-witness articles describing the American victory on Attu island in the Aleutians. The writer, Sherman Montrose, is an Acme Newspictures cameraman whose photos are distributed through the wartime pool of the various photographic agencies.

By SHERMAN MONTROSE Times Special Writer HOLTZ BAY, Attu, June 11.—The weather was friendly to amphibious troops on May 11, when the navy brought the army ashore to plant the Stars and Stripes over its first land to be reclaimed jin world war II A dense, soup-like fog threw a protecting mantle over transports, warships and the swift little landing boats as they edged toward the first land battle of the Aleutians. The weather was co-operative and the enemy Surprisingly so, too—for a while. “We caught the: little yellow guys asleep this time,” everyone exulted as boat after boatload of fast-mov-ing troops was dropped on widely separated beaches. Not an enemy shot was fired as our group of troops, under command of ‘Maj. Albert V. Hartl, Bismarck, N. D,, inched its way into a tiny unnamed beach northwest of the Holtz Bay area. On the shore a navy beachmaster waved his directions to right and to left, shouting to the coxswain, “you gotta gome in like a snake—come in

jhe] tks:

sea .told us why. Jagged rocks jutted to the surface. One hit would ground our craft or tear open its bottom.

Fog Hit Peaks

The fog was so dense that at times we couldn't see 100 yards in any direction. Occasionally it would lift slightly and we could make out the shoreline of Attu. Desolate, precipitous peaks rose from the water's edge into the fog belt. Our landing beach was small— so small* and so beset by dangers of hidden rocks that the enemy didn’t ‘expect us to .try it there. That much was obvious. He wasn’t around and the kindly fog kept cur whereabout a secret until nearly everyone was safe ashore. Safe— that is, from fire while most vulnerable in landing. A party of Alaskan scouts ‘were the first to land from our transport. With them in specially-constructed plastic landing boats was Col. Frank L. Colin of Tucson, Ariz., whose job it was to decide whether the beach was safe for a major landing. It was, he decided, and we landed.

Another Landing

On thé other side of the Holtz bay area, on Massacre bay, the big movement into enemy territory was under way. There, troops many times our number were . going ashore. They effected a successful landing under the mantle of the same fog that cloaked our aROVEREnt. Troops ition

has played on the stage and in the

His watchword is patience. v

Competing in a field of 85 candidates, Mr. Hatfield won a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship, awarded through the - National Theater conference, and returned to Indiaria university to get a master’s degree in speech. He came to the Civic when Richard Hoover entered the service. tJ ” ” ‘ MR. HATFIELD finds that one of the greatest difficulties amateurs have is a failure to hear themselves as they speak lines.

=F His is not the frenzied school of directing. He neither shrieks nor throws pop bottles when the actors tread on each other's lines. He explains, he cajoles, he appeals. Sometimes it has seemed as though the cast has needed a few bottles thrown their way during rehearsal, judging from the opening performance. That technique has been known to work miracles. ‘But Mr. Hatfield firmly shakes his head. “These people are donating a lot of time and a lot of effort,” he explains, “They aren't professionals. They work during the day and come out here every night for a month to do a play.” The only time he feels like tearing out the seats, row by row, is when the people show up without knowing their lines. By and large, this director is philosophical. He knows how to get along with people. And he gets results.

” » un

They Do Things

WORKING BY day and pitching in at the Civic by night is the routine of the participating members. The difference between them and other people who have an urge for the theater is that they have done something about it, like picking up the telephone and calling up to discover that the theater wanted them. The case of Richard Eisenbach, a photographer at Block's, can be cited as typical. Mr. Eisenbach operates a new-fangled camera over there which does everything but brew coffee. » Mr. Eisenbach is from the east. He was a member of the Bandbox theater in East Orange, N. J. Then he went to St. Louis where he was active in the Little theater and the Mummers. When he came to Indianapolis last October, he looked in the telephone book, discovered the Civic theater and has been work-

- appeared

ing there since. He had the lead in “Jason.” The tax division of the mortgage loan department of the State Life Insurance Co. is operated by Miss Mary Belle Dyson, a Civic theater worker for the past four years, She wanted an outside activity and when. a friend took her to a Civic theater performance, she found it. She handled properties and stage managed a production last

season.

# » 8

The Show Goes on

Mrs. Bertrand Hawkins who has the double role of being in charge of props and also secretary to the board of directors, is secretary to the national secretary of the American Legion auxiliary. Fifteen years ago, someone sold her a ticket to a Civic theater production. She has been an enthusiastic member ever since. She has acted, too. “I was the gabby sister-in-law in ‘Holiday,’ ” she recalled. “Oh, yes, I also played the chambermaid in “Good-bye Again.’” Mrs. Hawkins was a “find” for he Civic. Not only she, but her two sons and her daughter did backstage carpentering and electrical work. They are all in the service now. Gaylord, 22, and Edward, 19, are in the navy. Carol, 21, is in the army medical corps. That brings us to Bill Gordon, personnel department manager . at Shell Petroleum here. Mr. Gordon joined ‘the Civic three years ago. It was a case of a man with a theatrical bent looking for a way to bend it. At Ohio State university, he had been in Scarlet Mask, the campus dramatic society, and had some amateur work with the Lima, O., Players. He was one of the detectives in “Ten-Minute Alibi” and ‘also has in several workshop productions, including “Icebound.” He's a member of the board of directors and one of his jobs is to recruit folks to work. backstage —or else. Or else he has to do the work himself. These are some of the people who make the Civic theater tick. There are many more. But the old timers will have to doff their hats to one of last séason’s newcomers. She is Mrs. Mildred Gillie. On opening night of “Out of the Frying Pan,” in which she had a part, she was struck by an automobile while en route to the Civic. She was taken to City Hospital and released in time to make the curtain. Shaken up, Mrs. Gillie nevertheless wanted the show to go.on. Without her it would have been cancelled. ‘And the show went on. She never missed a line.

in Unopposed Landings on Attu Island

But the fog didn’t stop the guns of the navy as they plastered known enemy emplacements on the island. Echoes rolled back from the hills of Attu from early morning all through daylight hours, and once planes from a protecting scout force circled over our heads. That fog, too, was kind to the enemy in that it grounded bombers from nearby bases. The landing boat to which we were assigned was lowered . over the side of our transport on davits. Then we circled the ship—often nearly lost in the fog—for a rendezvous with other landing craft.

Birds Are Startled

It was shortly after noon when we hit the water, and mid-after-noon found us swinging into the beach. Startled birds headed out to sea. In the distance we could hear a furious bombardment. Seconds after .the prow grounded in the gravelly beach, combat troops had reached the protective cover of tundra grass growing 75 feet away. Ammunition and stores and artillery swiftly followed. The flat and comparatively easy going of the beach didn't last long. Even though we couldn't see them clearly, the hills of Attu came close to the beach. Up them sweated the men. Up, almost unbelievably straight up. To carry oneself alone was a mansized job, but these men struggled, climbed, sweated and went forward’ foot by foot under combat loads of SIERIHOn and guns. ey: carried t 0% mys new light |s

1000 feet by sheer back-breaking labor. Men who reached the top first lowered ropes while those behind pushed. ‘Pushing and pulling, the guns were in position before nightfall. / As the thin and spaced line of figures moved ghost-like through the fog, crossing gullies and ridges, men began to remark about the unnatural quiet. Hours passed withot the sound of small arms fire in the vicinity. Finally, the rattle of rifles broke out on a beach to the left. Above the duller, heavier “whang” of American rifles could be heard the spiteful, spitting “spang” of the enemy’s .25’s. Report came up that we had drawn first blood. Lt. Bill Davis’ platoon had encountered ‘an enemy patrol of four men on the peach, killing one, wounding another. The dead man’s rifle was brought in. Someone cracked. “One down, 1699 Japs to go.”

Fog Still Friendly

The fog was still friendly, but the country was growing tougher. Bursts of rifle and mortar fire were becoming commonplace. By nightfall Maj. Hartl located a shallow valley where his command was set up. Patrols and outposts were set out, and the force dug in for the night. This was to be our base far several days. We were . surrounded by snowclad peaks. Ahead of us some place Was Holts valley, a Japanese

0g me Fis

snow-seepage from the tundra soaking everything in a few moments’ contact. It was bitter cold for California and desert-trained troops, but none complained. They said, instead: “We've been waiting for this a long time. A little cold and wet won't bother us now.”

NEXT—Japs beaten in mountain fighting.

SALVAGE EMPTY JAIL

The Athens, W. Va. county jail, vacant for a year, was scrapped and yielded 30 tons of steel. 3

HOLD EVERYTHING