Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 15 December 1947 — Page 16

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The Indianapolis ‘Times

ROY W. HOWARD WALTER LECERONY HENRY W. MANZ Business Manager

President » . Editor

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PAGE 16 Hendon Dee. 15, 1947

A SCRIPPS-HOWARD NEWSPAPER

Bt. Postal Zone 9.

Circulations. by carrier, 25¢ a week: 0. 8. possessions, Canada

month, Give LAght and the People Will Find Ther Uwn Woy

Victory for the Rackets

THE sinister characters who run Indianapolis’ $9-million-a-year lottery rackets have won another big victory in

the courts.

Circuit Judge Horace C. Hanna ruled in Danville that the ordinance adopted by City Council last fall to curb these gigantic swindles goes beyond the law-making powers of the |

city.

We do not question the sincerity with which Judge He may even be wholly right

Hanna reached this decision. in it. r

Nevertheless this decision should be appealed, at once, to the state's highest courts. If Indianapolis does not possess this primary power to protect its own citizens from the | that ought to be finally decided, and steps!

underworld,

taken on another level to deal with the lotteries.

- » ~ THEY EXIST, and flourish, in open defiance of the laws against them, chiefly because of court rulings which make it all but impossible to convict them, The ordinance adopted

last fall was designed solely to make such convictions pos- | sible by presentation of ordinary reasonable proof that a |

lottery was being run. Whether it will be appealed or dropped is complicated | by the approaching change of city administrations, Mayor- | elect Feeney has been lukewarm about the ordinance, and | says hg can clean up the big-time underworld gambling | rackets without it. We recall that Mayor Tyndall, taking office five years ago, said the same thing. He meant it, too, as we have no | doubt-Mr. Feeney-does. But the rackets have grown steadi- | ly, all that time, The Mayor has no control over the courts, and his policemen soon lose interest in bringing in gambling racketeers and having the court turn them loose on the wellestablished technicalities that make a lottery conviction virtually impossible in Marion County. There is no reason to believe these technicalities will | be waived under the new administration, any more than they were under the old, nor that the courts will accept testimony in evidence from a policeman under Mayor Feeney's administration any more than they did under those of Mayor Tyndall or Mayor Denny.

» uw APPARENTLY the only cure for the lottery racket in Indianapolis is a new law, under which a racketeer can be convicted. And one which will,” itself, withstand their attacks in the courts. Every possible step should be taken to determine whether this ordinance in question can do so. If it cannot, legislation must be sought which will deal with them effectively. The alternative is intolerable to a civilized city.

The Cure for ‘Bad Publicity’

F people all over the United States should come to believe that Indianapolis is a dirty, badly governed city, without adequate transportation, recreation or protection for its citizens, that belief could be costly to everybody who lives here. New industries might be kept away, the city’s growth

checked, jobs made scarcer, pay-checks smaller, and prop-

erty less valuable, So the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce is concerned

over certain reports from Indianapolis that have gained, in |

some instances, nation-wide circulation lately, But instead of just “viewing with alarm” the Chamber has started some positive action. The best way to prevent bad publicity, Chamber directors have recognized, is to make sure there

is no cause for bad publicity, They have begun a program |

which is basically:

To find out, fully and accurately, and make public the |

facts about every criticized phase of our civic life: and To correct whatever defects these facts may reveal.

THE FIRST such study to be completed went into | charges made last summer by the Public Service Commission that Indianapolis streetcars and busses were dirty, overcrowded, and inadequate. It was made by a recognized engineering firm, called in from a distant city, and instructed to do a completely objective and unbiased job. Not even the top officers of the Chamber knew what the study would show until the final report of the survey was handed to them last week and the full report was made public immediately, without any deletions or glossing over,

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MEM'RIES OF HOME

When I sit alone at evening ‘As the sun is sinking low, Fond mem'ries of my dear old home : Bmile at mie from out the glow. And I in fancy stray back there And wand'ring o'er the flelds again Gathéring daisies at my will,

I see the old mulberry tree Where we children used to play After the long day's work was o'er And our cares were laid away, I hear the woodlands singing with a melody of home, And how I wish I were back there Never more again to roam.

Though time has turned my hair to gray, And left furrows on my face, The mem'ries of my dear old home Time can never them efface, All is beauty, all is sunshine In those fields I loved to roam, The dearest thoughts of earth to me Are the mem'ries of my home. -H. T. JOHNSON » 9

CONTRACT

My friends are wondering what's come bver me. I'm not at all the way I used to be. Pre-occupied with weighty problems now— While formerly I seldom knit my brow For several years my club has met to play Aa game or two, It was a pleasant way To spend our time for conversation’s sake And now and then a trick or two we'd take:

June wouldn't know the trump or who had dealt, But “Did you notice Thelma's fancy belt?” Lil knew she shouldn't trump her partner's ace | But Esther didin’t show the slightest trace | Of noticing the error — she would try To get Myrt's recipe for custard ple, Or maybe we'd just stop awhile to chat About an operation or a hat.

Well then somehow we ali agreed to learn A better game — all gossip we would spurn. My dear, did you say Auction? Goodness, no— It's Contract Bridge, the other's much to slow! “We girls” had reached the age to just relax, Sit back and take it easy. Now the facts Of Contract Bridge have set us on our guards, We have to concentrate on playing cards.

In memorizing rules my time is spent, With great determination 1 am bent On nonchalantly taking it in stride (My ignorance I feebly try to hide) I must admit I'll never be the same Until IT learn the fine points of that game, Be patient, friends and family, you can trust I'll learn that Contract Bridge game or I'll bust! —MARCELLA HIBNER

¢ 4 ¢

ZEPHYR EPITAPH

Scatter my ashes to the wind To seek their kind. Confusion weighed thelr mortal trend From the beginning to the end. It may be that all will be well When each dispersed particle Upon the Mmmon ground shall dwell, Blossom and swell, Then in the afterdawn may be The freedom of the naked sea Will descend upon the dust of me Familiarly, familiarly. ~HELEN MORI ECK.

Gb o &

ITEMS FROM THE GRAPEVINE

Bady Morgan's missus finally got him to own up ‘bout bein’ out with the boys. Sez Bady, “I be daddogg'd effn a woman's intuition don't git a feller Into wishin’ thar were no sech thing.” Freddie Oatin hez returned from the city a self-made man. Freddie is clerkin’' in a big deepartment store makin’ $3 a day an’ time out fer drinkin’ cawfee. Nice goin’, Freddie, we knew you hed hit in you.

|

—CATFEESH PETE “ o 5

FOSTER'S FOLLIES

(“WASHINGTON-J. Edgar Hoover % honorary British knight.”)

FBI Chief Edgar Hoover, Is an honorary knight, For his work as a prime mover In the recent global fight.

is made

Don’t you erimesters get Fxcited! Though an honorary “Sir,” Hoover's not the least benighted; He'll still keep you guys in stir! LE J

It 1s estimated “that 800,000 motorists will be driven off the road by England's gasoline ban. It's our motorists who drive our motorists off the Toad,

WORLD AFFAIRS “e's

No, Says Backer

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15—Is Gen. Charles De Gaulle a would-be Is he plotting to make himself a French dictator? |

Napoleon?

It showed that streetcar servige in-Indianapotis;~white far from perfect, compares very favorably on all counts with |

As the General is almost certain to return to power in France be-

By William Philip Simms

De Cie Dictator?

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OUR TOWN .

’ “By Anton Scherrer

The Days of the Abundant Life

SIXTY YEARS AGO when I was a kid, Indianapolis men wore a pile of jewelry. I suspect it was an index of their prosperity. In support of which I cite the all too apparent fact that with not enough prosperity to go around today, men don't wear the amount they once did. Back in the days of the abundant life, a man didn’t think anything of lugging a couple of pounds of jewelry around with him.” His gold watch alone weighed that much. And the heavy chain that went with it burdened him down just that much more. Just how much more the chain weighed depended on the specific gravity of the trinkets it carried. For one thing, there was always a watch key. In the 19th century all watches were wound with keys, and they were the easiest things to lose unless fastened tight to something. A new key cost a nickel, the equivalent of half a dozen eggs at the time. That was the least part of the chain's load, however. The heavy load was the result of the trophies a man. had collected during his career.

Most Men Had Diamonds

THE MOST PROMINENT trophy, and usually the heaviest, was the emblem of the man's trade. A blacksmith, for instance, was identified by the gold anvil or horseshoe dangling from his chain: a bartender, by a bejeweled beer -keg, and a railroad engineer by a sparkling miniature locomotive. And not to be outdone, the train conduétor’s chain carried a heavy ornament which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a jeweler's quaint conception of a caboose.

Most of the men wore diamonds, too, which accounted for the stooped appearance of prosperous males back in the Nineties. Frank Schuessler, a butcher, always carried a four-karat canary diamond around with him. Otis Morrison, a conductor on the Vandalia, wore a 2% karat—in addition to the flashing caboose on his chain, mind you. August Kuhn wore a smaller stone—115 karat, as a matter of fact—but ft was a honey. Sam Dinnen, who ran the.Fan Saloon at Washingotn and Delaware Sts, always carried a couple of loose diamonds in his pants pocket as did George Rhodius, Fletcher Noe, and the proprietor of Pearson's drugstore—the first to.do a cut rate business around here. It remained for a Japanese jeweler by the name of Ikko ko Matsumoto, to think up the slickest way of

~—up in business.

displaying his diamond (2K).” Mr. Matsumoto persuaded his Indianapolis dentist to pull a prominent front tooth (which had its origin in the Orient), and set the diamond in its place. He thought he'd start a vogue—at any rate, a trend in that direction— but it savored too much of hari-kari to make any headway around here. : Dr. E. F. Hodges also was a collector of precious stones, especially rubies. Rarely, if ever, however, did he wear any. He kept them locked up in a safety deposit vault which he visited every so often just for the sheer pleasure of picking up a handful of rubies and pouring them back into the box. It was Dr. Hodges, by the way, who set Mr. Matsumoto At any rate, it was he who authorized Mr. Matsumoto to go to Vonnegut's, buy anything he needed to start business, and send the bill to the doctor.

Clerk's Joke Backfires

MR. MATSUMOTO, who had the diminutive physique of his race, saw just the kind of lathe he needed. When he asked the price, Alber (AL) Off (the clerk) jokingly remarked that Mr. Matsumoto could have it for nothing if he could carry it home. Mr. M. picked up the 100-pound lathe with one hand and walked out of. the store with it. Clemens Vonnegut learned of the transaction, he didn't bat an eye. A reputable store was responsible for the sour jokes of its clerks, he said.

Charles J. Gardner, I remember, was always loaded down with diamonds, too. He carried them around in a pouch mixed up with his loose change... It was nothing out of the ordinary for him to have some weighing 4 to 5 karats apiece. A karat cost $150 back in those days. One of Mr. Gardner's best diamonds was in a ring inscribed “Susan to Charles 1887.” Susan was his wife. Mr. Gardner's ring was not attached to his watch chain with the result that he lost it almost immediately, In 1936—almost 50 years after the calamity—a PWA worker digging in the neighborhood of Gardner's packing plant picked up the long lost ring. He was aware of his discovery because, once upon a time, he had worked for Mr. Gardner—Ilong enough for him to realize the sacred significance of “Susan to Charles.” That same night, he called up Mr. Gardner's son and sure enough, the old ring was restored to the survivor of the family. The finder didn't want any reward; but-he-got-one just the same, you bet. Thank goodness, some of my stories have a happy SRNg:

Side Glances—By Galbraith

DEAR BOSS . . . By Daniel M. Kidney '

DEAR BOSS:

When old.

Hoosier Forum

" do wot 4gree with s word fiat you say; but)

| wil defend to the death your right te say W"

i Wa p¥ : & Thanks to the Old, on With New’ By Walter L. Hess, 2544 N. Delaware St. City, To the new and the old Fire Chief: Chief Harry' H. Fulmer goes out on Dec. 31 because this very young fireman reaches the “old age,” and Roscoe McKinney goes in as t Fire Chief of our goods City of Indianapolis.

As a member of the auxiliary fire department

" during World War II, I want to express the:

thoughts of an average citizen and take myself the liberty to speak for all the citizens of our good town.

Under the leadership of Harry H. Pulmer, our

‘new

Fire Department reached a high in efficiency, remember

unsurpassed in my opinion. I cannot any other Fire Department leaving the stations in such a speed (average 20 seconds after the firse gong), eating up’ the smoke in the very sense of the word, helping the helpless and injured people. To keep up the good work during the period of war, short on help and working with old equipment, it was the work of Chief Fulmer

“to keep up the grand spirit of his men and of

his reserve men on the auxiliary force. And so, if he goes out in a few days, there is anly one word to say to him:

“Thank you and good luck during the time

of;your retirement and do not forget, if you go to

me fire in the ftuure, you have no siren on your car anymore.’ And to Roscoe McKinney, the new chief, I wish the best of luck too. He is a fine fellow and deserves all the help of every citizen. This help can come in the following things: ONE: Help to prevent fires in the home and places of business, . TWO: Locate your nearest fire-alarm box— maybe the telephone is out of order for hours as it happened during the last week. THREE: Pull over to the curb when you hear the sirens of the fire department or any ather emergency vehicle, approaching, FOUR: Do not stand in the way of the firemen during a fire—they like to have onlookers, but they have no use for “sidewalk superintendents.” FIVE: Keep the Fire Department out of politics in the future as it has been in the past and see that the City Council gives the OK to the long-awaited new equipment, so that the men of the force can ride on safer vehicles than those old aerial ladders, still in service after 50 years.

Again, thanks to the old chief and best wishes

, to the new one.

eo 4 @ ‘We're Going Backwards’

By A Butler Student.

I just finished talking to an Indian friend of mine (one of those red ones that ran loose in this country so many years before the white men appeared) who, since reading of the partition of Palestine by the United Nations, is wondering if maybe he could get a goodly part of Indianapolis for his tribe by presenting the idea to the afore« mentioned organization. His argument in favor of the plan is that it was a religious center (the site of the witch doctor’s tent) at precisely the same place where the Circle Monument now stands.

In view of that fact:I am without doubt that the delegates will give careful consideration and probably approval (undoubtedly if Russia will agree) even over the disapproval of Indianapolis. As long as the Russians are satisfied, since they are always so ready to agree and co-operate with anyone alse, why worry about the actual principles involved? The majority will naturally be for the whole thing if the big powers go along with it. This move on the part of the international group should arouse much speculation among the smaller countries of the world. Any nation or race that feels entitled to a portion of some small nation: omethe basis that a few centuries ago it belonged to them but was lost one way or another will only have to go before the United Nations and claim the situation could develop into an international crisis. Please note the fighting and difficulty the partition of Palestine has saved. If Russia and the United States are so anxious to give away somebody's country, why don’t they chop off a piece of their own vast expanses of land? I am very much amazed at the willingness of the American people to back such a program in the name of a nation that has always been interested in advancing fair play and protecting the interests of a small country. With everyone screeching equality why doesn’t Arabia have a right to veto such an important issue directed against her? I'll bet the United Nations would get a long way by proposing to give. someone a hunk of Siberia if every other country there agreed to it but Russia. But in view of the fact that the organization feels so generous at present let's give America back to the Indians, all of the ancient Greek empire back to the Greeks, Rome back to any descendants of Caesar—and—oh heck, let's all turn caveman and go back to where we originally were since we're going backwards at present instead of forward.

Russian Strategists Miss Their Marx

When the late Calvin Coolidge was President, someone Baia of him: “He talks like Jefferson, but acts like Hamilton.”

service in Toledo, Cincinnati, Louisville, Columbus and Dayton, which are nearby cities of comparable size. As a result we know, now, where we stand in street | transportation” among other cities of like population, and | anyone who wishes to be critical of what we have can, at | least, be an informed eritic. The survey did not go into the question of fares to be | charged, now in the hands of the Public Service Commission | and the courts, although its result should be most helpful to | those public authorities in reaching their final decision. Fares and the kind of service we get are very closely related. The Chamber of Commerce already has taken the position that it wants the lowest fares possible that can pro- | vide Slequate service.

yr ” OVER" AL L; the Chamber's program is a constructive

one. Certainly we don’t want, and we can't afford, to have the wrest of the country looking at Indianapolis as a dirty city. The best way to prevent that is not to be a diyty city. Naturally we don’t wont to be charged with bad community housekeeping where the charged aren't true, and by all | means we want to correct the shortcomings wherever they exist.

to sweep the dirt back under the rugs. That approach is the best we know of for reversing “bad publicity.”

|

How's That Again? THE Census Bureau reports that both employment and | unemployment declined during the month of November. ~ You may now resume i” your attempts $0 understand the Hinstein theory. : i.

et

Thé Chamber of Commerce appears to be in no mood Would

| Meonatig would pe

fore the end of winter, and as France is the key to Europe and the success or failure of American aid over there, Americans ought to know more about him. Gilbert Remy, head of counter-espionage for Pree France during the war and a leader of the resistance movement, is over here, Cali-fornia-bound, via Washington. As a member of De Gaulle’s Rally of the French People he was asked to clear a few points for the press. Gen, De Gaulle, he said, is far from being a totalitarian. In fact, he feels there must be more than one party. The party in power must have opposition, As for staging a coup d'etat and seizing power by force, he said, nothing could be further from De Gaulle’s aims, The truth is, according to Mr. Remy, the general would not accept power unless he knew he had a majority of the country behind him. g

Seen as a Tough Taskmaster

MR. REMY indicated that new national elections must be held no later than next Spring. These, he believed, would give the general a majority of 55 or 60 per cent over all others—which, for France—always a country of many parties—would be almost unheard of. Yet, judging by the recent municipal elections in which the Gaullist Party received about 40 per cent of the votes without trying, it easily could happen. ” He prgbably would call oi French youths to go to work in the fields, said Mr. Remy, extra stint, something more than the ordinary day's work. One out of every five Frenchmen is on the government payroll.

And, observed Mr. Remy, # would seem that the job of the one was | |

to keep the gther four from working. The general would put an end to that. He would fire many functionaries.

Dissolve Communist: Party

ON THE OTHER HAND, for the worker he advocates a fair share of the profits which he helps to produce. That, in his opinion, is one of the best ways to combat Communism, As for the Communist party, the general would dissolve it as being “a: state Within a state,” and as such inconsistent in a free country and intolerable.

The general believes in the free enterprise system which he would | Some of the enterpriss which have been ownership.

gradually restore in France. returned to private are twa Gen. De Gaulles. During | Joan ot Are, Bayard and “Tiger” been pictured as a combination Mus-

Tk She avigigy 4

and from all workers everywhere he would ask an |

oe,

12-15 |

"1 don't see why | should struggle for the next seven oars to get a

degree—you've got one, but you can't even work this algebra!"

soln, Napoleon IIT and Bolanger—a reactionary plotting to ride down the Champs-Elysees, in a welter of gore if necessary, to make himself supreme. ' Neither picture appears to be accurate. De Gaulle more than any other one man becamg the symbol of French resistance during Nazi occupation. He was so hailed even by the Communists. There was a time when the Communists thought they could use him. That was when De Gaulle believed—with President Roosevelt and s0 many others—that Russia would collaborate to make this a world. But they soon found that they could not make him a Since then they have been systemafically tearing him down of their propaganda has taken rootiin ie most wnexpected n this, colnkgih x |

it _all lies the fear of spreading * He must be chuckling in his grave.

After listening to some of the debate in this special session of Congress, it occurred to me that we are worrying about Marx when we should be worrying about Malthus. For the U. S. 8. R. seems to be preaching Marxian dialectics while practicing the Malthusian theory, Both Thomas Robert Malthus and Karl Marx lived and wrote their social and economic theories in England during the 19th century. The latter, a German-Jewish refugee, expounded the doctrine that through a dictatorship of the proletariat a classléss world would be established and the state would wither away. (Apparently he wasn't familiar with the tenacity of politicians once they get into power.) Malthus, an English sociologist, held no such messianie delusion about mankind and the coming of heaven on earth. (No state, no police, no taxes etc.). Instead, he figure! out that while populations increased geometrically, food supply increased arithmetically and therefore three population checks continually were provided. They are war, pestilence and famine. Two world wars in our time, with their disastrous aftermath, have done much to make Malthus seem to he quite a realist. And the Marxists, meanwhile, seem bent on making him more so. Vishinsky, shouting “war-monger” at us during the United Nations meetings, was working for Malthus and making a monkey out of Marx. For while we do have the A-bombs—handy gadgets to make Malthus more right than he ever dreamed of being—we have no intention of using them in aggressive warfare. But the Russian Marxists and their Moscow-trained apostles, scattered throughout their satellite states and everywhere else where they can muscle into governments, seem determined to decapitate all op. position. Thus they make Malthus’ contention that poverty ‘and distress are unavoidable seem far more true than the Marxian myths. French and Italian Communists, seeking suicidal destruction of their own country rather than trying to help make the Marshall Plan work to save them, are outstanding examples with which to illustrate the point. Famine with them becomes ong of their best weapons of war. The chaos they are trying to create wilvary pestilence throughout their cities without the aid of any disease reading devices which have been perfected by modern man for mass. destruction. With the world thus afire, much of the debate in Congress, particularly in the House of Representatives, seems picayune. But behind Malthus isn't mentioned. -

» ot ; ) .

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going in on a fire from every direction, '

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