Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 January 1945 — Page 9

“Tf Rosey Says . . .

. WITH THE U, 8. 9TH ARMY IN GERMANY (Via Bomber Packet) ~“No fix. If Rosey say fix, we fix.” And the little German cobbler’s face showed deters mination, “But lissen; the colonel said, two colonels said, to fix Mr. Bell's shoes,” begged the embarrassed soldier to the interpreter, another soldier. The latter turned to the cobblér and explained that I am a very important man because two colonels‘ had given me permission to get my shoes fixed. Then we waited for the verdict, “If Rosey says», . , fix, we fix.” ] And that's the way the session ended. So here I am, sittin’ in one of the American army's strangest concoctions, a fullfledged shoe repair shop manned by expert German labor. It's sittin’ in a hollow beside an old coal shaft in western Germany. Ten men turn out 130 pairs of repaired shoes a day. They're experts, too, “better than the cobblers we have in America,” says Lt, Col. Willlam D. Putnam, Washington. “Give them the tongue and laces and they'll make you a pair of shoes.”

Rosey Is Typical . “IF ROSEY says 50,” I added. He grinned. “When Rosey gets back I'll ask him if ne’ll fix your shoes.” He promised. Which he did and here I am, “cause Rosey -was willin’."

Rosey’s just another typical Atfierican soldier with a lot of hustle and ingenuity. . , . Pfc. Al Rosen-

~perg, Brooklyn. Before the war- he was withthe

Strauss stores and Times Square stores; you remember those big auto parts stores; the pep boys— Mannie, Moe and Jack. Al traveled for them, often through Germany. He talks good German. When the Americans took Brest they found this cobbler shop. The workmen, German civilians, hadn't tried ‘to evacuate with the beleaguered (there's a 30-cent word) troops. They sat tight and were taken, sorf of prisoners. That's when the general told the colonel to find a German-speaking soldier to do straw boss work in our new army division cobbler shop -and that is how the colonel grabbed Rosey out of the chow line, saying “You've just inherited 10 Heinie shoe makers and a cobbler shop.” So Rosey and his cobblers went to work. They go where the 20th division goes. They eat army food, sleep in army barracks, along with Rosey, with plenty of blankets, and get the usual prisoner of war pay. Having been around. a little, Rosey is a fair to middlin’ loot artist. As the army moved from town to

town and the soldiers went hunting wine cellars and souvenirs. Rosey was out looking for abandoned cobbler shops. As a result he now has a well equip establishment, And 10 first-class cobblers turn but a lot of work. . “Tell me, Rosey,” I said, “How about these German aryans working for you, a Jew.”

Rosey spoke to them in German. “The first day

I took them over,” Rosey told -me, “I made ‘em al

little speech. Told ’em I was a Jew—-and their eyes almost popped out of their heads, Guess they thought it was going to be rough on ’em. Then I told ‘em that in the American army all religions get along, “that there's no class hatred. “ ‘Do your work and we'll all get along,’ I told ‘em Since then there hasn't been- one complaint.”

They’ re Not Pro-Hitler Now

SO HERE they are, typical citizens of the German Reich, working for a Jewish straw boss they obviously respect. Men such as these, their women and children, are they with whom we'll have to deal when this war's over; not with the fanatical Hitler Youth group which often, even in captivity, assumes haughty airs and performs with stupid arrogance, thinking that is what the Fuehrer would like. Rosey has talked with these men, of course. They're. not pro-Hitler now, though some were at first, They all blame Hitler for Ger,many’s troubles. There's a story about this Rosey, told “me e by an officer. One day, as soldiers were waiting around following a terrific battle, Rosey asked permission to see 70 German prisoners. He walked into the big pen, one G. I. among all enemies. “Boys,” he said, “to start with, T am a Jew and I know how you've been told to think about my religion. But I'm an ‘American soldier. you might like to know that you're going to be treated fairly.” The Germans were astounded, My shoes are about finished now. A wandering correspondent sees many strange scenes in a year. Somehow, sitting here among these cobblers a fellow feels there can come some semblance of order out of chaos when -it's over, In Germany are many who think right. But I know that when I go away, hear the guns screaming, watch the -diplomatic moves, far more savage than the guns, it'll be hard to see any light.

(Copyright, 1945, by The Indianapolis Times and The Chicago Dally News, Inc.

Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

HARDIN PEARCY, chief meter reader of the water company, took his wife to lunch one noon recently. As he stopped at the cigar counter to pay the meal check, he asked for cigarets. They actually had some, and even asked what brand he wanted. “Chesterfields,” said Mr. Pearcy. And. then, recalling the one pack to a customer rule, he turned to his wife and said: “Aren’t you out of cigarets?” Instead of taking the hint, she protested: “Why, Hardin; you know I don’t smoke!” We'll bet she never makes that mistake again! , . . The magazine section of the New York Times (Jan. 7) had a story in it by Dow —Richardson. (undoubtedly the Dow

Richardson of the Kokomo Trib="

une): asserting that it wasn’t really Horace Greeley who first said: “Go.west, young

man.” Dow says that Horace Greeley attempted to

give the credit where it belonged; to John Babson Lane Soule, of the Terre Haute (Ind.) Express, but “it was too late.” Gosh, we Hoosiers have our finger in every pie, don’t we! , . . One of our agents reports seeing one of Brink's armored cars stop in front of the I. O. O. F, building where the firm has offices. Two men. got out and started in the building. One was carrying under his arm a couple of packages of

Kleenex. We knew the stuff was hard to get, But” we didn’t know they were carrying it. in armored g poisoned. |

trucks.

Has Snow Fragrance?

OLD INSIDE always tries to help out when information is needed, but we're stuck, at last. From a . feminine reader out on Northgate st. we receive a letter saying, in part:” “Could ‘it be that snow has a fragrance, such as flowers do? I walked down my driveway to our rural mail box Tuesday morning after a fresh snow. There was nothing but snow

: all around—not a track in it. Suddenly, I was aware

of a fragrartte, a terribly fresh fragrance. It wasn’t

OCCASIONALLY, when examining a bit of cancer tissue under the microscope, the pathologist will find a spot where the cancer cells have been choked off "and killed by the growth of normal connecting tissue. It is this fact, Dr. Harry Goldblatt tells me, that lends “weight to the hope that the anti-reticulocytotoxic serum by the Russian scientist, Dr. A. -A. Bogomolets, may be effective in the treatment of cancer,

A fund of $15,000 “has been put at the disposal of Dr. Boldblatt, distinguished "medical scientist and associate director of the Institute of Pathology of West ern Reserve university, for the study of this serum.

As I explained Saturday. the |

serum is made by grinding up human bone marroy and spleens obtained from bodies six hours after death, dissolving them in saline solution and centrifuging and filtering the mixture to-re-move the solid particles. The clear solution is then injected into rabbits, sheep or goats, After a period some of their blood is withdrawn and the liquid portion or serum of that blood constitutes the antireticulocytotix serum,

Promotes Healing

BONE MARRQW and spleen both contain tissues composed of cells known as reticulocytes. These are believed to be concerned with the formation of antibodies which confer immunity against various diseases and also stimulate the -growth of connective tissue. The serum, created according to Dr. Bogomolets’ method, is believed to contain concentrated amounts

WASHINGTON, Monday —Yesterday afternoon I went over with Secretary and Mrs. Morgenthau to the Corcoran Gallery of Art to see the exhibition of triptychs for the armed forces. The Citizens Committce for the Army and Navy. Inc., organized these .artists to do religious pictures for use in camps, with units in the field, and on board ship. They really have done

a remarkable piece of work. Thomas Watson gave them a

a sweet odor at all—but rather a distinctly different thing. It couldn't be the snow, and yet there wasn't anything else but snow around me, with the sun shining on it.” It’s a new one on us. And it has Weatherman R. M. Williamson baffled, too. . . . Elmer Lehmkrueger, Columbus, Ind., writes that he'd like to get a copy of “Climate of Indiana,” the book we mentioned the other day, but can’t find it in Columbus. Write to the Indiana University bookstore, Bloomington, Ind., Mr. Lehmkrueger. They have it there. . . . Mrs. Floyd L. White, Seneca, Ind. for whom we got some clothespins recently, writes to scold us for saying she had received “enough for a family of 20” Says she: “Our wash looks like a wash for 20, with four big boys, a little girl and a bouncing baby boy, but T used nearly every one of the clothespins on our wash yesterday.” She doesn’t want any-

“one to- think she’d- hoard clothespins. It’s Too Dangerous

JIMMY HAGEN writes in with a suggestion on the pigeon situation. Says he: “All this bunk about setting traps to catch pigeons, why not dip grains of wheat or bread in a strong solution of poison, and have one or two men feed same to party of the first part, at University park.” It would be a simple solution, Jimmy. The only thing wrong with the idea is that songbirds, too, might get some of the poisoned grain, And also, there’s the possibility that domestic animals, or even possibly, small children, might be . The Indianapolis Symphony orchestra has been insulted. Mrs. Marion Hull, who for about five years was executive secretary of the women’s committee of the orchestra, called the orchestra office in the Murat theater. “Oh, I hear the orchestra practicing, » she said. She was much surprised to be informed that it wasn’t the orchestra—just workmen moving some furniture in the marble hallway. Many in the audience at the Mallory concert Saturday night wondered at the identity of a couple of soldiers in unfamiliar uniforms. For those who were wondering, we find the uniforms were Russian. One

. man was a lieutenant.colonel, the other a captain.

World of Science

By David Dietz

of the chemical substances from the reliculocytes which do these things. The first reports of the new serum from "Russia stated that it promoted the healing of wounds. When wounds heal, the so-called scar tissue which forms is connective tissue. So it would seem reasonable that the new serum functioned by promoting the growth of connective tissue. This fits in with what was previously believed about the action of the reticuloctyes.

Warns Against Optimism

WHEN WORD. came from Russia that the new serum was also being used to treat cancer, pathologists here began to recall-what they had sometimes seen under their miscroscopes of the way which connective tissue can invade a cancer. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of connective tissue in the body. It forms an envelope around. every tissue and organ in the body and in addition fills all the spaces and chinks between organs like excelsior packing. If every organ in the body could be made to disappear, leaving only the connective tissue; each structure would still be recognizable since the connective tissue would furnish a perfect model for it. But while the news about .the new serum sounds hopeful, Dr. Goldblatt warns that it would be most unwise to ‘jump to conclusions at this stage of the research. He points out that it will take at least three years to bring the studies to completion. Dr. Goldblatt is best known for his work on high blood pressure or hypertension, having won numerous

honors in the medical world for his discovery of the|

cause of high blood pressure. But he has also conducted investigations on cancer and as a pathologist has examined thousands of cancers in the past 25 years.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

Just beginning tc increase the membership of the Women's Action committee. This organization is an outgrowth of the old Cause and Cure of War group, founded by Mrs, Carrie Chapman Catt, With the coming of war, this type of study ceased to have very much point, ‘The Women's Action committee was the next step. These women intend not only to be informed, but to take action by using their influence on their own in. dividual . representatives,

grant which allowed them to seng> Perhaps one of the first things that women might

to Seabee groups a very beautiful .

altar painting done "with their

make requests through thelr chaplains or their commanding officers, and then the organization tries to find someone to-donate the cost. Many have already been placed. I am sure that many more will be given.

pre in the afternoon a group of men from Walter .

Reed hospital came in. Av it “was not too large a A, 6 eae poteitis Vo. talk Vo eviiyoin. \ waa'to meet

do is to spread that story which appeared in one of the newspapers the other day. It warned us not to believe everything we hear over the radio or read in the papers, citing the fact that an English voice talked over a German radio and gave a fake broadcast. Of course, the servicemen at the fronts must be very { know the voices of people who speak on German sta

tions, just as the men in the Pacific get to know the|

voices that speak on the Tokyo radio, But when these things are picked upsby newspapers’

and ate believed at home, it minkes for uritoriunate

Shida nail a fr by che he fo

By Jack 2a)

I thought.

with this technique.’ They even get to].

The Indianapoli

SECOND SroTion

BIZARRE TRAGEDY—

Yank Bombs,

Leaflets Fell |

On U.S. 30th

By JAMES McGLINCY . United Press Staff Correspondent

PARIS, Jan. 16.—A bizarre footnote was added to the tragedy of Malmedy today. It was disclosed that the Amerfcan pilots who mistakenly bombed the city twice in 24 hours also showered the stunned people with propaganda leaflets. __The leaflets called upon them to: surrender to the allies——while American troops still were billeted in their homes. : Earlier dispatches disclosed that the 30th division (trained at Camp Atterbury, Ind.) was holding the town. ‘8 ¥ .» . ONLY THE resourcefulness and tact of a handful of American civil affairs specialists who moved into the town and restored order under fire saved the day.

The Yanks prevented the panic-|

stricken Belgigns from stampeding and perhaps snarling up the U. 8. 1st army’s road lines at a critical moment in the Battle of the Ardennes, Lt. Col. Harry P. Cain, former mayor of Tacoma, Wash., and now civil affairs advisor of the U. 8. 18th airborne division, revealed the full story.

o » ” MALMEDY stands”in a valley on the shoulder of the German bulge. American planes bombed it on Dec. 23 and again on the 24th in the mistaken belief it was held by the enemy. After the second bombing and the ironic propaganda barrage, the mayor and most of the town’s civil administration fled. The rest of the population, swollen - to more than twice its normal size by refugees from the surrounding areas, was on the verge of stampeding when a small civil affairs unit headed by Capt. Rodney Welch took over.

” » » FIRES were raging everywhere.

‘The wounded were crying for

help. The dead had been left une buried. The homeless were desperately in need of food and shelter. “Hell was breaking loose,” Cain said. “The mayo¥ was gone, the doctors were gone or dead and the Belgians were puzzled. “The city was without a soul.” o " 2

SOMEHOW, Welch organized a fire department.” He obtained food from Liege for 3800 people, got three doctors, one of them a woman, and evacuated the surplus population into nearby towns. “They were good soldiers, but the average soldier wouldn’t know how to do it,” Cain said in describing the work of Welch's unit. Welch and his unit carried on day after day, though the bombings continued for the fourth, fifth and sixth Umes—German bombings now.

“ALWAYS the Germans were shelling with heavy stuff and air bursts, until every house was damaged and the business section was destroyed.” Cain repealed that several thousand* 6f Malmedy's townspeople fled into nearby coal mines. They were- packed so closely there that they couldn’t lie down or move about, living in darkness without even elementary sanitation facilities. Welch and the doctors managed to get them out in time to prevent an epidemic.

WRONG, AS USUAL

AT THE LUZON FRONT, Jan. 15 (Delayed) (U.P.).-—Refugees re-

vealed today that only three days before the Americans landed on

Luzon the Japanese told the Fili-

pinos no further American moves

in the Philippines were possible be-

cause all available American troops

were being rushed to Europe to halt

the Nazi thrust in the Ardennes.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1945

: 500 G. O. P. Good Fellows Get Together Here

oo»

«Te

One of the biggest “get acquainted” sessions in the city's history was held last night in the Riley

room of the Claypool hotel,

Among those at the speakers’ table were (left to right) Robert A. Adams,

toastmaster; Lt. Gov, James, Attorney General James A. Emmert, Senate Majority Leader John Van Ness, Public Instruction Superintendent Clement T. Malan and A. F. of L. Vice Président Stanley J. Elliot.

Honored guests at the Indianapolis Chamber of Commercesponsored affair were (left to right) Mayor Tyndall, House Speaker Hobart Creighton, Indianapolis Post-War Chairman Storfe Kuhn

.and Governor Gates. os » td

'Hoosier Harmony' Reigns

At C. of C. Sponsored Dinner

By SHERLEY UHL Hoosier-harmony as mellow as a Riley poem merged 500 state officials, legislators and businessmen into one big happy family at the Claypool hotel last night. The occasion was a “get-acquaint-ed” fete sponsored by the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, After eating sirloin steak and apple pie, the state politicos and officeholders stood up for introductory bows. Then they settled down to hear City Post-war Chairman George Kuhn make what he termed a “booster speech” for Indianapolis. Highlight of the session, however, was a brief. punchy address given

by Governor Gates, his first public

speech since his inaugural. ’ Stresses Harmony

Stressing harmony and good-fel-lowship, the governor lauded Indianapolis as “the melting pot of Hoosierdom,” adding jestingly, “I'm certainly glad the capitol was moved from Corydon.” Democrats present received a salutation when Mr. Gates warned his fellow Republicans: “not to apologize for the minority. . . . Re-

member, they were the majority just a short time ago.” The governor explained that he wasn’t “demanding” anything of the legislators in the 1945 general assembly, The correct word, he said, is “advocating.” His suggestions, he declared, are not intended to bind legislators to any toe-the-line program. Other Speakers

Other speakers were Lt. Gov. Richard T. James who emphasized community co-operation, and House Speaker Hobart Creighton, who urged state-wide political, racial, economic and religious tolerance. Mr. Kuhn described Indianapolis as a city which was made what it is today by the infiltration of thousands of Indiana people from smaller communities, Hoosiers are different, he ‘insisted, because everybody here is a “neighbor.”

Master of ceremonies was Robert A. Adams, chairman of the speaker'’s bureau of the Marion county war finance committee. €. Harvey Bradley, chamber of commerce vice president, greeted the guests. For 15 minutes the Butler Philharmonic

choir, led by Joseph Lautner, sang.

Japanese 'Suicide Flotilla’ Tried to Halt Luzon Drive

By RALPH C. TEATSORTH

United Press Staff Correspondent

ABOARD ADMIRAL KINKAID'S FLAGSHIP, Off Philippines, Jan. 16.—A fantastic Japanese plan to destroy the American invasion ships in Lingayen gulf by hurling at them a fleet of “suicide boats” can be

revealed today.

The plan flopped because the Japanese failed to exploit their own weapon to the maximum advantage and because the American troops

advanced so fast that the “suicide

base” becanié untenable. The Japanese made a feeble effort to sink our ships on the night of the landing on the Lingayen gulf coast, but caused only slight damage and did not repeat the attack.

I ACCOMPANIED a U. 8S. Tth fleet party that discovered the hideout of the Japanese suicide boats yesterday. An LCI skipped by Lt. (j.g.) W. Craw of New York City, took us into Sual bay on the west side of the gulf, where the boats had been abandoned. The hideout was just north of the town of Sual in a coconut grove that made it difficult to _spot from the air, The Japanese apparently fled-two or three days ago as the Americans approached the base.

Up Front With Mauldin

» s A

WE FOUND 22 boats measuring 18 feet and seven inches in length. They had been equipped to carry two depth charges and two spares on the rear. They could be dropped in the normal manner or set off as the boat crashed. into the cide of a ship. They had places for two men, but also were rigged so that one could carry out a mission. The device for releasing the depth charges was crudely made of two long steel rods joined together near the bow. 8 = =» THE BOATS were operated by. a. special squadron of the Japanese army. They were built as dispatch or communication boats, and the suicide equipment obviously was added just before the Americans landed here. We found evidence it was installed at the Sual base. ) Since the dllied warships bombarded the Lingayen area and navy demolition teams combed the gulf for three days before the actual landing, the enemy had plenty of time to prepare the boats. n » »

THEY HAD six-cylinder engines and were capable of doing 22 knots. They were made almost entirely of plywood. We found five of them. along the beach and .the rest hidden in the coconut grove. Those on the beach Had been

| damaged, probably in their one

attack, and the others did not appear to have beensused at all,

CHAPLAIN TO SPEAK AT W.S.C.S. LUNCHEON

The Rev. Albert M. B. Snapp,|

ONE-MAN ARMY— Legendary Hero

Bottcher Killed Battling Japs

By WILLIAM C. WILSON United Press Staff Correspondent

« WITH 32D DIVISION, Leyte, Jan, 16.—Capt. Herman Bottcher, 35, the one-man army of Buna died of wound early Dec. 31, as his small reconnaissance force battled off 300 Japanese far behind enemy dines in the drive south toward Ormoc, headquar=ters revealed today. The German-born Boticher, who enlisted as a private soon after Pearl Harbor and became a legendary hero in the Southwest Pacific, was struck in the arm and knee by enemy mortar fire and died a few hours later,

s » ®

AS A SERGEANT at Buna during the New Guinea campaign two years ago, Boticher won a battlefield commission and the distinguished service cross. He often had said “if they only would give me actual command of an outfit, I would get something done. - When bitter fighting became worse at Buna he was told “now, is your chance,” and was given command of an infantry come pany. He led it to victory.

CONGRESS passed a special act granting him citizenship so he could be commissioned. When Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt was touring Australia in September, 1943, she said she especially wanted to meet Bottcher. She finally ran across him in a Sydney ice cream parlor and they chatted for half an hour. When Bottcher was to be presented with a distinguished serve ice cross for his work at Buna he failed to show up at the ceremony. They found him training his reconnaissance troops.

# ” ” DURING the Aitape campaign in New Guinea when the 32d division killed 9000 Japanese, Bottcher and his troop operated more than six weeks deep inside enemy For nearly a month and a half Bottcher operated almost continuously behind enemy lines on Leyte; disrupting the Japanese defenses by destroying bridges. He often would remove entire bridges piece “by piece, hiding them in the jungle for future American use,

HIS MEN lived mainly on native food, asking ° headquarters only for salt, sugar and tea. . Bottcher was idolized by Ms men. “People may think I'm Say but it's actually fun working out there with him,” one of them said recently. “It's like playing cops and robbers. And I never feel safer out in the jungle than when I'm with Capt. Bottcher.” n . . “ HIS WORK was praised highly by Lt. Gen. Walter Kreuger and Maj. Gen. William H. Gill, division commander. Bottcher’'s decorations included an oak leaf cluster to the distin--guished service cross and the purple heart with two clusters. For his work on Leyte he has been recommended for a posthumous silver star. Bottcher was born in Lands« berg, Germany. He served in the Spanish civil war as & major in the Abraham Lincoln brigade.

is Times

Morgenthau States Tax Issue Mildly

By EDWARD A. EVANS -- i WASHINGTON, Jan. 16.~Stat« ing his opinion that a fairly high, strong federal tax structure should - be maintained unti] the war debt is .paid off, Treasury Secretary Morgenthau offers this profound observation: * “My generation should * realize that | during the rest of its lifetime | it will pay high taxes—high in comparison with what we paid in 1941” President Roosevelt esti~

r..

‘mates that the national debt win

be 202 billion dollars by the mide dle of 1946. Let's be optimistie and say that it stops growing at 300 billions. If we pay it off at an average rate of 5 billion dol+ lars a year, that will take 60 years. . s » FIVE BILLIONS a year would be about two-thirds as much as the federal government's total revenues in fiscal 1941, or only a little less than the government's total expenditures in fiscal 1932.

And there will also be the cur« rent expenses of operating the government, which are certain to be much greater than they were in 1941, s s - WE RATHER think that Mr. Morgenthau puts it mildly. His generation is not likely to ‘be the

*HANNAH¢

We, The Wome Women, Too Have Had Adventures

By RUTH MILLETT

A WOMAN this year won the title of world’s champion liar— an honor that has usually in the past fallen to a man, It may well be that when this war Js long past and the men who are young today sit

go on in actual fact, and since & member of their sex has just proved that women can excel at telling tall tales, the granddads of the future may have to take a back seat for the grandmas when the two get going on what happened to them way back in the forties.

The women have had to solve their problems without their husbands being around to help them,

- They have followed their men from camp to camp, living under all sorts of conditions; they have. taken on men's jobs in factories and in the great out-of-doors and they have pulled their children through desperate illnesses withe out a man to help or comfort them. » . » FURTHERMORE, they have held more responsible positions than women ordinarily get a . chance at; they have been in unie

¥orm themselves and many of J them will have their own-overseas .] iéXperiences to look back on.

The business of being women ‘An wartime has held some pretty big adventures for many women, and when those experiences are polished up, embroidered, and improved on as a good story teller always does, they will be tales to make their grandchildren’s eyes bulge out.

It. looks as though the women will be able to give the men a run for their money when stories of “the last war” become Aresids conversation,

TAGGART AT HEAD

OF UNIVERSITY CLUB"

Alex L. Taggart Jr, today assumed his duties as president of the versity club after election day. He succeeds Fred G. Appel “=