Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 March 1948 — Page 1
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—By Fred Harmen
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FORECAST: Cloudy tonight and tomorrow, colder tonight, slowly rising temperatures fomorrow. Low tonight, low 20's; high tomorrol, low 40's.
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: ~— MONDAY, MARCH 8, 1048
— Matter at Postoffics Eom De alee Teraed dally except Sunday
INSIDE OUR NINETEENTH CENTURY COUNTY POORHOUSE (First of a Series of Articles)
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Julietta's Kitchen Dirty, Food Meager
DINING HALL — Julietta Infirmary inmates’ eat their diet of starchy They had two slices of lunch meat apiece with macaroni when this photo was taken Friday, a "meat day."
gruel in t
Pictures by Lloyd B. Walton, Times Staff Photographer.
his dining hall on tin plates.
Demands U.S. Warn Soviets.
. McKellar Wants - Notice Served
WASHINGTON, Mar. 8 (UP) ~The Senate today unanimously approved a Marshall Plan amendment aimed at cutting off shipments of scarce U. S. industrial goods to Russia.
By JOHN L. STEELE United Preys Staft Correspondent WASHINGTON, Mar. 8—Sen. Kenneth McKellar (D. Tenn.) today called on the United States to serve notice ‘on Russia that Europe means war. Ben. McKellar told the Senate in the second week of debate on the European Recovery Program that the United States should “take the lead” in defending European nations who are still free. ‘ The 79-year-old former Senate President, said the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia and Soviet pressure on Finland have “prompted him to reverse his earlier opposition to ERP. Speaks After Appeal : ‘He spoke out shortly after Secretary of State George C. Marshall and his top advisers personally appealed to House Speaker Joseph W. Martin Jr. for speedy congressional approval of the ERP. Sen. McKellar urged that Amer{can armed forces be put in fighting condition at once “with one distinct purpose in view: “That if Russia takes over another nation or attempts to do 80, our nation will take the lead in defending that nation and all of the other free nations of Europe.” ‘Put Reds on Notice’ He said Russia should be put on notice that “if she undertakes to take over any more European
territory we are at the service of
these nations and will help them
maintain their individuality and
their independence.” Declaring that he was
states to add to her strength.
“I think we ought to look the he
facts squarely. in the face,” said. ’,
AWOL Son Pledges: Blood For Mom Expecting RH Baby
‘If She Needs Me I'll Come Home,’ Says Sailor In West Coast Phone Call, After Wide Search
By DONNA MIKELS “If mom needs me, I'll sure try to come home.” These were the words of 19-year-old Robert Kidwell as he tel‘ephoned his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Kidwell, 423 E. 224 St. \after learning of a nation-wide search for him to give blood to his mother and her unborn child. The youth, who is AWOL from the Navy, phoned home Friday night from Oakland, Cal. He said] he was crippled from an auto accident and “broke,” but that he would try to come home. . He learned of his mother's
He hasn't got any money and we can’t send him any. I don't knew how he’ll make it, crippled
and all, but he said he would|
“a Peaceful man” Sen. McKellar said he believed Russia was preparing to make war on the United States and take over other European
plight,” the family said, through a telegram sent by an. Indianapolis friend. The: ‘received
a letter from hin. giving a ge eral delivery address and ci rm ly sent a telegram telling him to contact his family. . Mother Nptifies Officials The mother, who had been cooperating with the Navy to help locate her son, today told officials of the local naval recruiting office that her son had called. “He said he had been in an automobile accident, suffered a broken foot, and had just gotten out of the hospital,” the mother said. - “He said he didn't have any money and that his boss was taking care of him, “He: planned to give Himself up anyway but that now he wanted to try to get home to me.
Son's Blood Needed The, 88-year-old mother of nine ( n chil
vised Her that the variance between her RH negative blood and her husband's RH positive bluod might be fatal to the baby unless it could be given an almost complete transfusion 24 hours after birth. The son's blood would be needed, they said because RH negative type of blood is difficult to procure, However, after the story of the mother’s plight appeared in The Times a scqre of local persons offered her transfusions in case her son could not be located. The son, who volunteered for navy duty two years ago, went AWOL from his base in October, after “some trouble about a girl,” his family said.
Yank Clubbed, Shot In Back hy Red
VIENNA, Mar.: 8 (UP)—A young American soldier was knocked down by a Russian guard today and shot in the back while he lay prostrate, the U. S. Provost Marshall announced. Eye witnesses said an Austrian girl accompanying the soldier was removed forcibly from an international patrol by 40 bayo-net-wielding' Russians, who took her away. . The American was identified as Pfc. Jack - Grunden, 18, © Portland, Ore., attached to a military police battalion in Vienna. Authorities said he probably would lose an arm, but was expected to recover. Called Deliberate ‘ U. S. provost marshal Col. Ber-
U. S. Aid to Europe
Good for 2 Years—Taft was “deliberately provoked by COLUMBUS, O., Mar. 8 (UP)— the Russians.” . The United States is committed How to aid European recovery for,
only two years, Sen. Robert A Taft (R. 0.) said today.
Sen. Taft, here to meet with Ohio GOP leaders laying plans tojtation of Mr. fight Harold E. Stassen’s bid for tered left arm was past. Barring Presidential delegates from the said the next Congress Would have to determine whether arm. or not American aid to Eugope| An Army spokesman mg a would continue more than the protest has been forwarded yet
state,
two-year period.
On the Inside
Ross Lockridge Jr. rites tomorrow in Bloomington. . Page 3 LE nna Nomination race for governor termed ‘wide open .. Page 7
” s 8 Bob Stranahan reports a Washington High School . other sports........evess
= » s Wayri® Township volunteer story by Victor Peterson:
A Key to Other Inside Features
Amusements 4 Fashions +o.15/ Mrs. Manners Bridge .....,14| Forum ......12|M
Business . Comics ..,,.19
Crossword ., Editorials . a
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... 6/Meta Given..14 Obituaries .. 5 Sports Classified .16-18| Homemaking 15 F.C. Othman 118 Hollywood .. 4|Pattern ...: 15 Teen In Indpls.... 3|Radio ..... Inside Indpls..11 Ruary viees J3IW
nard Hurless said the incident
«Without doubt the Russians are clearly at fault in this -one,” Col. Hurless said. Army hospital authorities said the “immediate need” for ampuGrunden’s shat-
(complications, they said, it appeared likely they could save the
to the. Soviet command.
possible athletic. shake-up at .. state basketball scene and
fire department . . . a photo-
sean
2| Side Glances. 12
vesees 4 Society gies RY
Talk.. 14 19 Wi 12
Weather Outlook
—More of Same LOCAL TEMPERATURES
6a m... 28 10a. m... 30 7a Mm... 27 11a m...S 30 8a. m... 27 12 (Noon) 33 9g m... 28 1p. m...38
The Weatherman is unhappy Y. . He said he was fully ready to
but all he can see is cloudiness and cQld temperatures. . Though spring is officially just around ths corner, winter conditions are still holding sway. Temperatures today will reach a high of between 35 and 40 degrees he said and will drop to the low 20s tonight. There will be only slightly. higher temperatures tomorrow. Prospects for the rest of .the week are equally poor. A large mass of cold air is building up in the north. he weatherman said, however, this was not likely to develop into an extreme cold wave for Indiana.
forecast warm, sun-shiny weather
Pollard Trial Opens Slowly
Stark Rejects Five ~~ Of 8 Names for Jury
By ROBERT BLOEM - _ Times Staff Writer ‘GREENFIELD, ‘Ind. May. 8 —Selection of a jury to hear the hands and foot murder trial of Howard C. Pollard, 25. of Indianapolis, got off to a slow start in Hancock Circuit Court today.
The youthful railroad man has been under indictment nearly two years, charged with: the brutal murder of Leland P. Miller, 24-roas-olq arthritic cripple, Apr. 10, Five of the first eight prospective jury members from a special venire of 150 names were rejected by Marion County Prosecutor Judson L. Stark this morning because they had conscientious scruples against the death penalty for murder. Chief Defense Counsel Frank Symmes had not begun to question veniremen. The Pollard case, five times delayed, was venued to Hancock County last year from Marion County Criminal Court.
Causes Little Interest
Circuit Judge John B. Hinchman will preside in the case. |
Unlike the recent sex murder trial of Robert Austin Watts in Shelbyville, the Pollard case caused little interest among the! residents of Greenfield. Only a scant dozen spectators turned out for the trial's opening phase this morning. Pollard has been in jail ever since his arrest at Nicholasville, Ky., a few days after state police found the charred body of Leland Miller in a burning shack near Ladoga. Miller's hands and one foot had been severed. At Pollard’'s side as the trial opened was his father, Homer Pollard, who has waged a oneman campaign to free his son] from the murder charge. The elder Pollard also is a railroad man and is a former Republican precinct commyjtteeman in Indianapolis.
Superfort Unreported HAMILTON FIELD, Cal, Mar. 8 (UP) — A B-29 superfortress with 11 men aboard, one of a group of 10 big bombers on a flight’ from Spokane, Wash,
to the Hawaiian Islands, is unreported, the base public infor-
apolis police character, confers his plans for a self defense
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ashington . eather Map 10
PLANS SELF DEFENSE PLEA—Howard Pollard (left) Indian-
lea in the murder of Leland Miller; 24, at the Pollard home here pri, 1946,
mation office said today.
with father, Homer F. Pollard, on
Equipment Old, Diet | Fails to Sustain Inmates Required to Work
Times Reporter Takes Job as Assistant Cook, Finds Men Treated as Bums
By RICHARD LEWIS : I have been in a fair way of becoming assistant cook at
Julietta, the instution operated by the Marion County
What Our Aged Poor Are Getting For $184,745 This Year
This is how Marion County Commissioners are spending $184,745 this year to care for the aged poor at Julietta: ONE—Inmates received a diet of starchy gruel, with stew on Sundays. It is cooked in one big pot in a dirty kitchen. TWO—Enough meat to serve each inmate 21 pounds a month is purchased or slaughtered there, but inmates say they don't get it. THREE--Living conditions are overcrowded. In the old building, they are insanitary. ' FOUR-—There is no full time physician nor nurse in the crowded hospital section. The mentally unbalanced lie in dirty cells.
Commissioners for the elder poor of this county out of public’ funds. | The job is wide open again to anyone who thinks he! can cook, It pays $55 a month, room and board. I don't recommend either the room or the board. I spent 10 hours in that institution in the guise of a| probationary cook to investigate complaints The Times has | been receiving about food served Julietta inmates. I can| make this report: : ] ~The food I saw served inmates is worse than jail food and below a prisoner-of-war diet. It is loaded with starches. It contains only scraps of meat. It does not sustain inmates who are placed oh labor details. —Nearly all the food the inmates receive is cooked in a steam kettle. I was told by employees this kettle | also is used for rendering lard. 3—The kitchen where the inmates’ food is, prepared is just plain dirty. The equipment is old, partly unusable and inadequately .cleaned. Employees could not recall when it was last inspected by a health officer. —While the inmates’ diet consists of a soft, starchy | gruel for the most part, employees, particularly administrative ones, eat balanced meals. §—Employees’ meals are prepared separately in a modern, electric kitchen, next door to the decrepit, insanitary kitchen where 400 inmates’ meals are prepared. —Inmates who are assigned to work details say they can’t work on the diet they receive. I saw one old | man assigned to shovel coal nearly pass out from exhaus- | tion in the yard behind the old building. 7— With the exceptions of a recreation room for women |
recreational facilities at Julietta. I couldn't even find a checker board, although some inmates had decks of cards. The lights go out at 7 p. m, and inmates who don't want to 20 16 bed at that hour either sit inthe dark or stand around in the corridors which are dimly lighted. §—Mental patients are confined to harrow, barred cells. Some sleep on mattresses on the floor. Others lie in cots with dirty bedding. Q—Although modern hospital space is provided in the new section at Julietta, there is no trained nurse and no physician in attendance to give simple drugs or enemas. A county physician comes out twice a week and I was told that in emergencies, a physician in New Palestine is summoned. 10» the old buildings, men inmates are treated as bums. They react defiantly to this treatment and their complaints are bitter. Those who complain loudest
ACTRESS LILA LEEDS ILL HOLLYWOOD, Mar. 8 (UP)— Film actress Lila Leeds was treated last night for a slight ovedose of sleeping tablets,
—— creepers Ft. Wayne Attorney Judge Postpones . { Times State Service SHELBYVILLE, Ind., Mar. 8— The execution of Robert Austin Walter Helmke Seen uled to die May 10, was posts |poned today as Judge Harold As Governor Timber |G. Barger overruled a plea for (Earlier Story on Page 7) In overruling the defense motion, Judge Barger granted the state Republican circles today defense 90 days to file bills of were that Walter Helmke, Ft. postpones the execution of Watts Wayne attorney and party leader,|for the. slaying of Mrs. Mary Lois Burney, Indianapolis housecandidate for the GOP nomination Judge Barger said the 90-day for governor. period is mandatory. The reports came out of a pobigwigs here this morning. These included representatives of the governor's office, upstate party State Republican Committee. The same report included a rumor that the state organization Burch for lieutenant governor and H. Dale Brown, state motor license bureau director, for the Jenner to Ignore 3 i Editor's Demand | Hoosier Republican editors to-| KE. Jenner resign immediately and | the Senator shot back a reply | which indicates he will continue | Senate seat. | The editors followed up a| recent demand that Sen. Jenner aspirations he might have and| stay in Washington to complete] four years of his term, !
; ‘Watt's Execution In GOP Picture Watts, condemned slayer scheda new trial. "Reports circulating around exception. This automatically is being considered as a major wife, last November. litical conference of some GOP leaders and some members of the may back State Auditor A. V. state treasurer nomination. day demanded that Sen. William | to run for governor from his| give up an Indiana gubernatorial Sen. Jenner's reply said
in|
art: i “, . « permit me to say without criticism of the press that in my public service I would be totally bewildered if I "attempted to reconcile the moral duties I owe| to my state and my nation with all the consistent and inconsistent exhortations to which the | i press now implores and now| commands me to respond.” The senator ended his reply by saying he would “yield only to the voice of my conscience ®hd to! the lessons of a long political ex-| perience” in making a decision. |
KITCHEN — Here is cooked in one-big pot. Th
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NATIONALLY FAMOUS FOR FINE FOOD Pi FOR STEAK 3 YEARS. Restaurant, 144 E. Objo.—Adv.|
electric kitchen for employees only.
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about the food are characterized by the administrative staff as “senile.” 1] Personnel at the institution is paid an average of $15 a week, room and board. Most: of them I found to be apathetic. Some feel the inmates are treated shabbily, and try to make up for it by small personal attentions. :
| 12 The institution at the moment is overcrowded. Beds
are jammed close together in dormitories. The dormitories themselves do not meet State Welfare Department minimum space requirements. —Employees who live at the institution have small, private rooms, and their own washing and toilet
| facilities which are not available to inmates. In the old
building, the inmates’ toilet is dirty. Two wash troughs are encrusted with lime and there is only one shower for about 80 men.
1 —For the most part, inmates not assigned to labor
details simply sit when they tire of walking around. They are listless and silent for the most part. In the spring, many of them leave. Last year, 137 died at the institution, according to its records, which are incomplete.
Shades of the 19th Century I approached Julietta afoot on U. 8. 52 in last Tuesday's driving rain. From the highway, the redbrick buildings which rise from the low level plain suggested a 10th century poorhouse. Inside the old half of the institution where most of the 500 inmates spend the twilight of their lives, the sug-
and an auditorium for church services, I saw no |gestion became a reality. This was a poorhouse out of
{the pages of Charles Dickens. The gleaming asphalt of the rainy highway and the 20th century vanished behind the closing door, J. When you enter Julietta, you step back a century in time. ‘The new half of the building, with firebrick walls and shiny bathrooms, still has a century-old atmosphere about lit, for its inmates, too, languish in the poorhouse routine of ithe past. In Role of Hitch-Hiker I assumed the role of hitch-hiker from Cincinnati, heading generally in the direction of St. Louis. I turned in off the highway and walked along the gravel drive which leads through grounds strewn with heaps of stone in some forgotten landscape effort. An old man leaned against the brick wall and began to sag slowly to the grass. I asked him what was the matter. “lI can't make it,” he said. “How kin they expect a man to shovel coal on what they feed you here?” It was my first encounter with anyone connected with Julietta. “Food bad, Pop?”
‘No word Invented for It’ “Bad, bad? That ain't no word for what it is. There ain't no word ever been invented for what it is.” “How long have you worked here, Pop?” Sy “I ain't supposed to work here. I'm 67 years old. Trustee sent me out.” He had recovered himself and shuffled away along the ‘path toward the chicken houses, mumbling. | © Iwent on inside the building then to ask for a handout in exchange for some work in the kitchen. They told me to sit down and wait. I shook the water out of my torn felt ‘hat and GI jacket and sat down. # . TOMORROW:
Supper at Julietta.
the kitchen at Julietta where meals for 526 inmates are
e coal stove on the left is
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broken. Next door is a modern, | * =z