Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 July 1945 — Page 10

J — DOWN ON THE GERMANS

- have lowered army efficiency for the new job there.

he Indianapolls Times

Wednesday, July 25, 1945

Fo Rowan" WALTER LECKRONE HENRY W. MANZ Editor . Business Manager

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v

| SCRIPPS ~ NOWARD |

THE American police raid in occupied Germany set several records. Homes ‘and hangouts of something like 15,000, Germans were combed by 500, 000 U. S. troops. More than] 80,000 culprits and suspects were arrested. . A lot of S. S. men were rounded up. These are the most dangerous Hitlerites in the country. Most of them are war criminals. They pose as ‘discharged army prisoners, or assume any guise which’ allows them to sink back into the civilian population. Another group taken in were hiding illegal articles, jncluding guns, ammunition, and loot of various kinds. Many had American uniforms, some wearing them. The largest group had faked or irregular identification papers. Even more important than the catch is what it reveals - about the American system of operation and the German attitude. As to the system, there apparently was not a single espionage leak.- This is remarkable because the plan had to be known to vast numbers of American soldiers over a period of three weeks, and had to cover minutely the entire | area of occupation. There had been fear in some quarters |

that a letdown in military discipline since surrender might Our

OUR TOWN=—

Nose-talgia

-

By Anton Scherrer

SOMETHING WENT out of Ine dianapolis when the big department store came in. To be sure the department store contributed something of its own but it never

«8

smells that used to identify the little stores around here, - It's all of 60 yeurs since 1 was a-little-pboy, but my nose still hungers. for the aromatic spicy odors that used to be an integral part of H. H, Lee's tea stores. And I still sniff when I think of the pungent acrid smell of George W. Sloan's apothecary, or the clean calico smell of Jacob Efroymson's little drygoods store; or the sweet virtuous smell of Mr. | Haerle's lace and embroidery shop, or the robust Rabelaisian smell of Kaese Mueller's cheese store; or the musty moldy odor ‘of Karl Pingpank’s secondhand book store; or the luscious fragrant smell of Joe Becker's pastry shop—-what a heavenly smell that was!

The Odor of Knowledge

SOMEHOW I remember best the smell of Mr. Pingpank's second-hand book shop. It was a heady smell like that of old leather and paper incorporating, as it were, the hundred flavors of the books on his shelves, The smell changed from day to day. Sometimes the perfume of the French novels came to the top; sometimes, the poignant earthy odor of the Russian books; sometimes, the lavender scent of English stories. It depended altogether on the way Mr. Pingpank’s stock moved. ~~ Occasionally—but never more than once in a blue moon—Mr. Pingpank achieved what I shal] always remember as the perfect bouquet of books. When that- happened there was no smell like it in town unless, perchance, it was the blended smell in Hermann Engelbach’s second-hand book store, It wasn't only the way of the little stores that I learned to use my-‘nose. The training I received at home contributed its part, too. From Father I learned that the nose is the best qualified organ to warn us of impending dangers. “The nose knows” was one of Father's favorite quips. As for Mother, she carried the idea a bit further. { She insisted that the nose could be trained to serve not only in the matter of precaution, but in the matter of appreciation as well dealt in dictums, Mother showed us kids what she

quite compensated for the loss of the individual |.

Unlike Father who

~~ POLITICS.

Party or

By Thomas L. Stokes

WASHINGTON, July 25.—It's hard to beat these Democrats, that is, the old-fashioned kind, The reference here is not to elections, The old-fashioned -kind, ‘when .the "party is comprised wholly of them, never win elections. The reference here is to putting on a show. You can't beat them at that. My, how they love a show and a parade! gn ; First, it might be explained that the old- fashioned . Democrat is a composite character, strictly political in context and contour. He is compounded of part southern - courtliness, dignity and long-windedness, ‘with a dash of provincial humor, and part of the

To with, genlality and gusto and the practical political

acumen of the big city boss. This compound forms the basis of the Democratic party normally—when it's out of office. It's only when the country gets tired of Republicans—solid, respectable folks—or when any change looks -good, that the Democratic party streaks off on a rampage of reform and attracts the support of all soms. of people,

Old Time Democrats Are Back THE OLD-FASHIONED Democrat is coming back ‘Into his own around here again in this Truman administration, The Southern accent is heard again in the parlor. In the parlor, too, you may see once more the boys who spent such a long time in the back room. Bob Hannegan, running politics as usual, is re-introducing them to society. It all makes for something between a camp meet-' ing and a vaudeville show. Like most Democratic national conventions, for example, when the Southern big city boss combination is predominant through sheer animal spirits, and when everybody can have so much fun, even getting ' mad at each other. Only in Democratic conventions, tor instance, would you witness such a scene as that mad procession about the hall in- Chictigo back In 1932 led by the late Will Rogers and a mule at 3 o'clock in the morning. Republicans never let animals into tneir conventions, nor ever rowdy, hilarious folks. The closest any animals ever got to a Republican convention was that: procession of 15 elephants which celebrated the candidacy of Frank Gannett at Philadelphia in 1040. But they were not admitted to the hall

The festive-old fashioned Democratic spirit. is

meant. For example, I still remember how hurt Mother always looked when I failed to’ stick my nose into the turkey dressing before pitching it on my tongue. Mother was no exception. Every woman

spilling over here in a new sort of event, a different kind of coming-out party. The occasion is the swearing-in of new officials

“1 wholly disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.”

army of occupation in this raid has demonstrated that

"it has lost neither its brains nor its striking power. # »

Hoosier Forum

isi Se

a

"authorities are easy marks.

tive to a positive line of action,”

another. about creatures seen at sea. A couple of fishermen

» » L LL of this has a direct connection with the German attitude. From the beginning many-Germans looked upon us as softies and suckers. They misunderstood our humanitarian effort as weakness. But the American authorities were doubly patient. After many warnings, an additional week of grace was

granted in which many culprits could escape punishment.

by complying with the rules. That didn’t work. The Germans had convinced themselves that Americans were not capable of cracking down. They have not yet recovered from their surprise, according to American officers. The net result is that the German populace .now has respect for the U. S. army of occupation in a sense that it did not have before. And high time, too. Only segjous. trouble can result from any German idea that American Therefore Gen. Sibert’s*announcement, that “the raid marks the passing from a negais encouraging. ~~ None should be more pleased than the law-abiding _ Germans. They have nothing to fear and everything to gain from a strict enforcement policy.

MIDSUMMER NIGHTS TALES

LMOST anything can come out of the air these brow- = mopping days—humidity, a bad disposition, thunderstorms, prickly heat and animal stories. The air is alive with tales of monsters. : New England is hearing one monstrous recital after

off Swampscott, “Mass., say they hooked a demon that dragged them two miles toward Europe before it tired and let them pull it into their boat. A Boston harbor naturalist reports snagging an 8l-pound sea native with a mouth like Mammoth cave and little hands on its stomach. The director of the federal aquarium avers that something named Percival—a creature about 30 feet long, wearing a pompadour, and with a face vaguely resembling that of William Howard Taft—has been lurking in the Potomac | river near Washington for the last two years. The south is right in there swinging. One Virginian tells of a Paul Bunyan model tick, so big that a dog gets on it, instead of vice versa. An Ohioan, boasting of his state's chiggers, falters through a story of a chigger that chased him under a waterfall and kept him there so long that the

man is still dizzy from falls on the head. Or, at least dizzy. |

A San Francisco girl contends the ultra-strong waterfront

who was a good cook expected her guests to show appreciation by way of their noses. Otherwise the dinner was counted a fiasco.

Realism—With No Red Points

THE THEATER polished off my education and made my nose what it is today. Sixty years ago the theater was a three-dimensional affair which & to say that it included not only something to see and -hear, but something to smell-as well.-- Compared with

is nothing but an infantile affair. 1 believe it was James A. Herne who produced the best smelling plays when I was a kid: He was to the stage what William Dean Howells was to literature, the pioneer American realist. Both were sticklers for truth. Mr. Herne stopped at nothing #%- make his plays as real as possible and I think it is entirely fair to say that he reached the top when he produced “Shore Acres,” a picturesque New England drama in which he took the part of Uncle Nat Berry, the most lovable and hungriest character the stage has ever produced: It was in the third act of “Shore Acres” that the whole company celebrated a marriage anniversary bysway of a real-for-sure dinner. As near as I recall, it. consisted of a 15 pound stuffed turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, celery, an enormous dish of parsnips and a gallon of gravy. It.ended with pumpkin pie, and. enough for every member of the huge cast to have a quarter cut. 1 don’t think I'll ever forget that act. The savory smells swept down from the stage and reached

| every part of the theater, even to the remote corner

of the gallery where I sat. Except for my home: training, I never would have been able to pick. up smells at that long range. . It was a heavenly experience compounded partly of exquisite pain and partly of a feeling that Mr. Herne and his company had invited me to participate in the feast. I don't know how Mr, Herne’s company managed to put away -a whole ‘turkey every night (and four matinees a week), but they did. I guess I saw the play six times, and the last time I saw it Mr. Herne seemed to enjoy the meal as much as he did when he started eating turkey on the stage in | 1893. Mother, I remember, was extremely critical of the first two acts when she saw “Shore Acres” for the first time. The juvenile delinquency of a wayward daughter in the play didn't suit her at all Mother was completely carried away, however, when in the third act every member of the cast stuck his nose into the savory dressing.

, WORLD AFFAIRS—

Petain Trial By Wm. Philip Simms

WASHINGTON, July 25. — The trial of the 89-year-old Marshal Petain is another tremendous tragedy for France. It is bound to split

fleas there are invaluable to redeployment. They shove loaded troops-ships-from the docks with such force that the transport don’t need fuel until they are miles out in the Pacific.

Tulsa, Okla., enters the tournament with its flying | rabbits. Autos are deluged in rabbit showers. This frequently ends unhappily for the motorist who winds up in the ditch. The rabbits have been known to help lift cars back on their wheels, but not always. The rabbits, being highly patriotic, that they assist only with-those machines showing A cards. That's what ong finds in %i1s midsummer air. tists are not alarmed over it. the first frost, like hay fever,

“ScienThey say it disappears with |

MALLORY WAGE DISPUTE

WE don’t know who is right in the dite over a wage increase out at P, R. Mallory & Co., but we admire the way both sides are conducting it.

The arguments from both union and management have been reasonable and temperate—and public. We believe they should be public. The whole community has a big stake in anything affecting the incomes of 8000 families who live here. - The tone of the discussion indicates, too, a sincere desire both by the union and the management to find an equitable solution of their differences. The leaders of the union appear to be genuinely interested in the pros. perity of the company which employs its members. And the management of the company appears to be equally concerned a ~the welfare of the men and women it

ust: from the way they both talk, and without any iwledge of the merits of the issues, we'd guess that and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine ca are pretty likely to get together on oth, without on Which would

“the country like the Dreyfus.case of | 50 years ago. Charged with treason, Petain could, if found guilty, be shot. Yet the people of France are divided regarding his | guilt. Some contend that he is more culpable, even, { than Pierre Laval. Laval, they say, was just an ordinary political. crook on the make, whereas Petain used his exalted prestige to sell hig country to the | enemy. | Others regard the man as a martyr. These insist | | that Petain had everything to lose and nothing to | | gain when, in 1940, he took over the government. As | | a marshal of France, being president would be a let- | down. He did what he did, therefore, say many | Frenchmen, because he believed he _might soften somewhat the lot of the French people,

' Was This Ambition?

TODAY SOME Frenchmen charge that Petain was guilty of “political lassitude and personal ambitions.” Former Premier Reynaud told the court that, in”his opinion, the marshal was no great leader anyway. He only “waded in power through the blood of his soldiers as other leaders descended into the tomb.” Here is what Enyclopedia Britannica says of Petain's record: A colonel In 1914, he “acquitted himself so well” that he was given one command after another—first

n entire army, all within less than 12 inonths. In. February, 1916, when the life of France was at stake, they put hini in command at Verdun. In May he became commander of the whole army group in the center. | In April, 1017, he became chief of the general ‘staff, at Paris and, 30 days later, commander “in-chief of the armies in the field,

the French ary “was faced with a grave crisis, not «excluding mutinies . .. by means of reforms, rather than by measures of repression” he soon had the army “completely in hand.” Petain’s’ ‘accusers now claim he was always | a defeatist, that he “had to be ordered” to hold the right bank of the Meuse, at Verdun. Count de Souza,

northeast of Verdun was a feint. Therefore he re{used to throw troops across the Meuse at that sector. Here, then, are the two Petains: One the idol of a grateful people, Snes. 9 ie most brilliant, marshals |.0f Prance; the other

which, the two-dimensional thing known as the movie |

a brigade, then a division, then an army corps, then |’

Wher Petain took over the job, says Britannica,

military writer and confidant of Joffre ‘at the time, wrote that at first Joffre believed the German attack |

“IS STALIN'S AGGRESSION DIFFERENT FROM HITLER'S?” By The Watchman, Indianapolis Harold B. Smith of 3148 Northwestern ave., attacking the editor of The Times for publishing The Watchman's articles, is an example of left-wing attempts to stifle and suppress all adverse criticism of communism. They're “agin” free {speech. The Watchman advises The {Times editor right now and here that any letter of mine which can be construed in any manner to.endanger the lives -of Americans or sabotage our war effort, in any manner, or which is not the plain unvarnished truth, to throw such letters in‘ the waste basket and I suggest this be done of all letters pro and con in this series of political controversy. Let's be “tolerant.” Plainly Mr. Smith wants to suppress the truth about what is happening in Poland, the Balkans, the near and far East, but he can’t do it. ; > Americans, Mr. Smith, true Americans, have fought, bled and died to halt brutality and aggression in Europe and Asia, to bring order out of political chaos and to preserve freedom and liberty and justice for Poland, Ozechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and all other oppressed and terrorized peoples of Europe ground under the Nazi war machine. Have these men of ours and other nations died in vain? Stalin has stepped right into Hitler's role of world conqueror and has denied us the fruits of victory in Europe. And The Watchman expects - him to follow the same {political strategy in Asia. | What The Watchman wants to know is whether we, who have sacrificed millions of our best boys, billions. of our money and untold natural resources to stop the Nazi-Fascist-Japanese aggression and inhumanity to their fellowmen, shall lie down like yellow curs and let Joe Stalin snatch the fruits of victory right out of our hands and Jteprive by force and brutality the very nations we have fought to free, the liberty our boys gave their lives to restore to. them? You give us the answer, Mr. Smith. Is Stalin’s forcing of communism on Poland and other nations any different: from Hitler's brand of aggression? The Watchman doesn’t want war, he wants real peace, based on justice.

(Editor's Note—The Forum fs tor opinion and debate, and publication of an article in it impliés neither indorsement of nor. disagreement with its statements by The Times. |And our wastebasket wouldn't begin te hold all the letters that dif-

(Times readers are invited to express their views in these columns, religious controversies excluded. Because of the volume received, letters should be limited to 250 words. Letters must be signed. Opinions set forth here are those of the writers, and publication in no way ‘implies agreement with those opinions by The Times. The Times assumes no responsibility for the return of manuscripts and cannot enter cor--respondence regarding them.)

“GIVE OUR CAB DRIVERS A SQUARE DEAL”

By Mrs. A. A., Indianapolis I would like to see the Red Cab

drivers get a fair deal- I do not

think they lead our soldiers into,

taverns. “I am a woman and for many years have ridden in Red Cabs. They were all very nice, polite and

kind. They have never overcharged me and if I have extra change I tip them. I quite agree with Capt. Levi McCarty of Ft. Harrison. ‘He believes that a number of these so-called rollings of our soldiers haven't happened. We have one of the best police forces in the country, a swell chief of police, a grand mayor and excellent sheriff. What more do the soldiers expect, they are protected. If they visit taverns, we or our police can’t help that. Look at that Pvt. Humfreys that hit an aged man on Howard st., killing him. Is this soldier any better than an ordinary citizen? Just because he wears a uniform doesn’t give him the right to run our city—and a very poor excuse, he was drinking. Some of these soldiers are insulting. I know because sometimes I eat in a restaurant and they have the nerve to walk over to you and speak. I sure do not blame the waitresses, they take plenty insults and I do not think they are in on any deal with our taxi drivers. These soldiers sperid their money in taverns—no one calls them in. My husband and I do not blame the girls (V girls as you call them) for if this soldier did not wish to sit with them he surely would, walk away. Give our cab drivers a square deal and you will find that one out of every ten of the soldiers were never robbed or rolled as they call it. “I do not know any of our taxi

drivers, but as I said before, they,

are polite. I am not afraid to ride in any of these cabs.

Side Glances—By Galbraith _

fer from our own viewpoint.)

“WE- HAVE HAD ENOUGH WAR FOR A LONG TIME”

By Forum. Fan, Indianapolis * I think that any well informed

reader must admit that a great deal of what The Watchman writes is

true. The record of the Communists in this country prior to Pearl Harbor, or-rather prior to. the German attack of Russia, is a bad one as well as have been Stalin's diplomatic doublecross of America and England up to the present time and. his lack of co-operation with his allies in-general. . However, we should face the facts as they are. In theory we went to. war to establish the four frees ‘doms throughout the world. In fact we went to war to protect our own country from Hitler and the Japs. . Remember that radio broadcast by the Roosevelt in which he described by using a world atlas how vulnerable we were to attack. It scared a lot of formerly -complacent citizens half to death. . Well, we are safe from Hitler, at least for a while, permanently we hope and before long may be safe from Japan. So. what? So The Watchman wants us to prepare to go and fight the Russians in order to insure. a democratic form of government for the so-called little nations who are always fighting among themselves anyway and might not even appreciate. our benevolent interest in their -welfare after it was all over.

late President |

of the Iruman administration, including cabinet officers, and you may see from the number ~f changes that this permits a practically continuous perfors mance, :

It Used to Be Private FORMERLY, A NEW official would be taken over in a corner somewhere with his family and a few of his friends, given the oath, congratulated, and. that ’ would be that. But not now. : ‘A splendid example -of the new fashion-was-the swearing-in of Fred M. Vinson, that general utility man who now Nas reached the elevated station of Secretary of Treasury. The function was held in the rather gaudy Ways. and Means Committee room of the house, a spacious room. It was full to overflowing, signifying Mr. Vinson's popularity, : He and retiring Secretary Morgenthau and ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee sat on the dais, among the lights and baskets of flowers, with the rich curtain behind, looking like the Supreme Court as |, Hollywood might do it. v ; . Giving of the oath was only a start. Then the oratory flowed and flowed and flowed. The cameras clicked. For an hour Mr. Vinson was “the man who—" Senator Barkley (Ky.), the Democratic floor leader, talked, and so did Senators George (D. Ga.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and White (R{ Me.), Republican leader, and La Follette (Prog. Wis.), and Rep. Cooper (D. Tenn.) ranking | majority tnember of Ways and Means. You would have thought they were nominating good old Fred for President. And then someone did—and it was Republican, Rep. Gearhart (Cal). He succumbed to the good fellowship and the persuasive oratory of his predecessors, and sald he thought Mr. Vinson might aspire even higher yet. You can never tell what may happen when these Democrats put on a show.

ture years is up to the American people. Personally 1 want none of it. The Watchman loses sight of the ‘fact that we are still at war with Japan and that she would welcome an open break between her enemies or else he just doesn't care, I am willing to trust our Russian relations with President Truman (although 1 voted for. Dewey) and th. members of our state department. They are as well aware of Russia’s faults as is The Watchman and we have had enough war for a long time. Besides, our fighting men seem to like the Russilans, That's good enough for me. 3 A. . “COULD ADOLF HITLER BE IN A U.S, HOSPITAL?” By Ivan C. Clearwater, Indianapolis I noticed on the front page of the Thursday, July 19, Times two pic~ tures captioned “Phony ‘Private Arrested by F.B.I ‘as'a German Spy”-—story on page 10. I turned to page 10 and read the story and after reading the story I wondered if it could be possible that Adolf

_| Hitler (himself) had been flown to

the United States by “special plane” and was taking treatment in one of our-U.8. army hospitals under the name of “Pvt. John Jones.” . Well, anyway, I hope the F.B: 1. is on the job=evidently ‘the army is not. . . “COME ON» BRIGHTWOODIANS"

-|By Andrew Wilson, Brightwood

Why is it Brightwood fis the most forsaken end of town? We have fewer streetcars on the Brightwood and Brookside lines than any other line in the city, and if we want to go ‘to a swimming pool we |have to catch a streetcar or walk to the pool. This is the only part of town that has no swimming pool. Come on, Brightwoodians, let's get together and start squawking,

an» SORRY By Mrs. Kenneth Maple, Columbus In Saturday, July 21, Times crossword puzzle, number 21 horizontal is the abbreviation for. Doctor of

Philosophy. The answer only leaves {two spaces which I find is D

P. I have always considered Ph, ‘as the abbreviation for Doctor of Philosophy.

DAILY THOU GHT

For they are a nation devoid of ¢ounsel, neither is there any un

onomy 32.28.

The "amount of harm done by | Communists in this county in fu=|

in them. — .Deuterderstanding ) | taste of the mutton and then take a bite of mutton

IN- WASHINGTON—

Short Term By Peter Edson

WASHINGTON, July 25.—~Stand« ing gag around Washington is that anyone having anything to do with disposal eof surplus war materials probably will end his days in the penitentiary. As if to illustrate the gag, the first press. conference for W, Stuart. Symington, new surplus property board chairman, was held in District of Columbia police headquarters simply because the only room big enough to hold the gathering was where the cops and plainclothesmen size up the night's haul of petty crooks at morning police lineup. The reporters sat on stools and Symington stood in front where he could be given the third . He turned out to be a <ice-looking young fellow, blond hair, clean cut, dressed in a natty brown suit and matching tie. He handled himself well, considering he had been on the job less than 48 hours. When a gal reporter figured out that at the current rate of $40,000,000 sales a month it would take over 200 years to get rid of the $100,000,000,000 worth of surplus war materials, and asked Symington about it, he said, “Well, I don't expect to be here that long.”

The Punishment Fits the Crime

UNDERSECRETARY OF WAR Robert P. Patterson is pretty proud of the record of fairness the army. judge advocate and provost marshal general's offices have hung up in this war. Back in world war I, however Judge Patterson had a Slightly different slant; and he tells a story on himself to prove it. He was a captain in the A. E. F. then and it seems that some of the Yanks in his command, billeted in a small French farm village, stole the honey and. destroyed the beehives belonging to a peasant. The bees died and the farmer put in a claim. Not knowing just who had stolen the honey, all the soldiers living in the billet closest to the beekeeper's home were assessed for the damage. That satisfied the Frenchman, but Judge Patterson says he can’t defend it today as an example of good adminis- : tration of military justice. . What to do with cranks who write letters asking for endorsement of screwball projects is of serious ‘concern to congressmen and government administra tors. If the official tries to be polite and writes back a letter which says nothing more than, “Your idea on tax reform is interesting,” the crackpot is apt to take that letter and use it as proof that he has official backing for his plans.

Reverse Lend-Lease Goes to the Dogs

ONE OF THE minor problems of Gen, Douglas MacArthur's army service forces in trying to wind up

D.| the war on some of the now peaceful islands of the

Southwest Pacific is what to do with thousands and thousands of cans of silver beets obtained from- Australia to be fed to the troops, Sliver beets, in plain American, are beet tops, and down under they are

considered a great delicacy, particularly with mutton, you say that you take a bite of sliver beets to kil] the

To beef-eating Americaps that adds up only when 5