Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 March 1948 — Page 1
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TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 1948
he Indianapolis Times
59th YEAR—NUMBER 4
Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoffice Indisnapelis, Ind, daily except
sete
‘I Spent 4 Days in an Insane Hospital’
Inmates At Asylum Lack Medical Care | Central State Unable to Hire Enough Doctors—Insufficient Salary
Second of a Series of Articles
By JACK THOMPSON “You just sit at a desk for 12 hours and watch the
Prosecutor To Look Over Julietta Books
Searches Records Of Purchases
The County prosecutor's office prepared today to examine purchasing records of Julietta, the Marion County Home, in. its investigation of meat purchases there. The probe began yesterday and was accompanied by a Grand Jury inspection of the institution. The jurors did not indicate when they would make their report. Deputy Prosecutor Edwin K. Steers instructed prosecutor's office investigators to assemble purchasing records of the institution for inspection. The probe was touched off by, disclosures in The Times that al-| though large quantities of meat were being purchased by Julietta, ! inmates were not receiving it in| their diet. Ayres Comments Meanwhile. County Commissioners yesterday were assuring irate telephone callers that conditions at Julietta were “exagger-|
ated” by The Times. Commissioner William T. Ayres, told one caller: “The Times stories are exag-
gerated misleading. We have three or four beautiful kitchens out there. However, The Times took only pictures of the old kitchen. r r
“Certainly, our tables are old out there but they aré as white as the driven snow. And 1 wouldn't be afraid to eat off the floors.” ' The “old” kitchen described by The Times was the one where meals for approximately 450 ablebodied inmates are prepared.
Touch of Spring
T K . i : iy So de 4 doe “funy
6a m..5 10 a. m... 45 Ta m..5 11a m..4 8 a.m... 53 12 (Noon) 48 9a m.. 49 1p m.. 43
Slightly colder temperatures promised for tonight and tomorrow will not take the edge off the touch of spring, the Weather Bureau said today. Cloudy skies gradually wi'l disappear but the mercury will drop at the same time. However, thermometer readings are expected to average about five degrees over a seasonal norm of 40. i There is a chance of colder | weather late tomorrow as a cold| mass is moving in. Even so, any, cold which result is expected to be no lower than 32 degrees.
Operators Give - Lewis 3 Days
WASHINGTON, Mar. 16 (UP) ~The soft coal mine owners today gave John L. Lewis three days to call off the walkout in the coal fields.” Otherwise, they said, they will take the dispute over pensions to the Federal courts. In a letter to Mr. Lewis, Ezra Van Horn, spokesman for the operators, told the mine union boss that his demands are in direct violation of the Taft-Hart-ley act. Mr. Van Horn asked Mr. Lewis to join the operators in asking a Federal district court before Friday to appoint an impartial umpire in the fight over pensions. If Mr. Lewis refuses, he said the Sheralors will feel free to go ne. 1
(Earlier Story, Page 3)
Queen Mary Boils
Her Own Bathwater LONDON, Mar. 16 (UP)— Dowager Queen Mary, over in Marlborough House, had to ooil her own bathwater on the kitch€n stove, because 1600 government maintenance men walked out for higher pay. Y All 38 men in the maintenance
staff of Buckingham Palace were| on strike, too. Virtually the entire:
domestic staff supported them in their demands for a $2.50 weekly Wage increase. The 1600 maintenance men Walked out yesterday after the Bovernment refused to raise their Wages to $22 a week. The strike stopped elevator service and put out fires in 47 government buildings, including the houses of Parliament and government offices in Whitehall.
185 Used Car Dealers
Violate License Law Nearly 200 used car dealers in Indianapolis are violating a city license law that if enforced without warning might bring them fines ranging as high as ‘$500 and a jail sentence in the bargain. So, City Controller Philip Bayt has started a drive to remind Some 250 used .car dealers that they haven't paid their city license fee of $6 annually. Records show that only 65 out
patients.”
That was my first instruction on my four-day job as tan attendant at Central Hospital.
“There ain't a lot to do,” my instructor told me. “Mainly, just leave the patients alone. Don't tease them
and don’t say anything to them unless you have to.
“About the only thing they’llthe hapless patients for more They than a few days. 3
From what I observed. the in- |
ask you. for is a match.
ain't allowed to carry them. Or}
sometimes they'll come up and
|prised at Central is when some{body stays on to help care for
istructions I was given were about
say something to you. Then, just|all there is any point to giving.
humor them or tell them to come;
and see me.” Four days isn’t enough to become an expert attendant. But when I packed up and walked out after four days, nobody was sur-
The only time anybody is sur-
1 [timer told me, “are mostly float-
|
“The kind that work around most of these places,” one old-
ers. Most of them are broken down and starving before they get desperate enough to try to get a job in an asylum. Some of them are just decrepit old bums.”
Coctor Won't Stand for Any Rough Stuff
One thing he made clear. Dr. Bahr wouldn't’ stand for any rough stuff. Bragging about how you handle some patient usually means walking papers. Drunkenness is considered unpardonable, another reason some of the attendants don’t last long.
. There were 76 patients in the | East Ward. Most of them did
absolutely nothing all day long but sit in chairs in the sun room. Some just stared. Others bowed their (heads as though in deep thought, occasionally muttering to themselves. They were the “overflow” from the main hospital. Although the
“sick With Me, We'll Play the Horses’
be called. I was given to under-;
Another patient approached me one day and said “Where are the stalls?” I didn’t know, but he didn't seem to care. He just said: “Never mind, I'll find em. You just stick with me and we'll play the horses.” Then he went back to his chair
“land sat some more.
“If you was a Kentuckian, would “you ‘like another Ken+
T turned and sw a grinning old man. I said I though that would depend some on the “other Kentuckian.” But he wasn’t in the mood to discuss it any further. - And so it went. Up in the morning, sit, eat, stare and tnen g0 back to bed. If a patient became’ physically ill, he could be taken to a doctor over at the hospital or one of the doctors might
many of the patients can be much help on the 200-acre farm. Most of them are what the doctors called “custodial” cases, because they were beyond medical assistance either because of age or because of the nature of their mental ailment. One young man’s wrists were strapped because he became violent sometimes. I wondered why he wasn’t in the hospital. I was told he had. been to “calm him down,” then the hospital had to send him back—to make room for others who needed help and could be helped.
stand that was to be done only if the illness seemed to warrant it.
Otherwise, the medical care was pretty much limited to a weekly inspection by Dr. Bahr. He just sort of dropped in, casually, on Sunday morning. I learned later oa A oe f the persone] . of the patient 08 pian. care. With about - patients in thé main hospital and 200 at the colony, individual calls aren’t practical. Thére are only two resident physicians in the entire institution bésides Dr. Bahr himself, Later, after I had revealed my identity as a reporter, Dr. Bahr showed me copies of a dozen or so letters he had written to doctors, trying to hire them.
Sitting and Waiting Seems Main Routine
“Not enough salary,” Dr. Bahr said sadly. 3 A few patients have menial duties to perform. They do their work with automaton-like pre-
cision. Some can read a little. A
few could pass the time with dominoes or checkers. But sitting was the main routine. Sitting and waiting. They didn’t know what they were waiting for, of course. But I think I do. One of my duties was to supervise the patients at mealtime. Food was served” up by the kitchen detail first, ladled onto metal plates. Then we brought in the chow line. They all stood up until a bell clanged. Once
But later investigation revealed that during July, August and September of last year, the hospital got about $7 a patient for food each month. It was during
amount of cash spent by the entire institution for salaries, clothes, everything, averaged about 70 cents a patient daily. If I had known that at the time, I probably wouldn't have been so shocked to see how we had to bathe the patients. They got a bath once a week—run in five ar six at a time under a
|
of Central Hospital Farm Colon
of the 250 dealers paid the license last year,
/
a
that three months that the total
SHOWER SHORTAGE—This single shower in the East.ward
seated, they had only a spoon and their fingers to eat with. The first meal I saw served the patients made me slightly nauseated. Some of it had been on the plates 20 minutes or so and was stone cold. It looked like tomato soup, boiled apples and potatoes. There was bread and tepid coffee. It didn’t look like enough to eat to me. Later I saw that the meals looked better in the main hospital where the same food was prepared with more and better equipment. My first ‘reaction to the food situation was “what do they do with the money they're supposed to spend for food?”
$7 A Month Per Patient for Food
shower. The patients had to soap themselves. Then they rinsed and each patient was given a thin, cotton towel about the size of a hotel towel to dry himself. The kitchen at the colony was clean and neat. Tables were clean and dishes -seemed to be washed well. Clothing was tattered and
old, but usually patched and in one piece. I saw no evidence of brutality. But even getting a lot for a little money doesn't help much when the money is so little,
1
y is used by 76 patients in taking
their weekly baths on Friday merning. Two attendants herd the patigats in and out of the shower in little wy
#han half an hour, ¥
place is called a farm colony, not |
to rely ty much it's reat a a lt- lo Abo
LOCAL "STARDUST" BEAUTY—National contest headquar- |ji ters. in. New Yor! for "Miss Stardust” of 1948, announced today |President that Jo Ellen Eytchison, 2230 N. Sherman Dr., was selected as a emergency powers or funds to leading contender for the annual .beauty title, sponsored by a
manufacturer of lingerie and blo
2 Packers Here
Kingan May , Reach “ Agreement
Two major Indianapolis packing houses were virtually closed down today as the nation-wide strike of 100,000 CIO United Packinghouse Workers got underway.
Although workers at Kingan & Co. postponed their strike to negotiate further, the plant was working with only a skaleton staff of 300 today compared to the. normal 2300. Kingan officials said the plant had virtually closed preparatory
strike on 24-hour potice. Picketing at Armour
quietly patroling the area. Office workers remained on the job and the union permitted maintenance workers to pass through lines to keep stored meat from spoiling. Local Armour employees will remain out until the wage strike is settled nationally, spokesmen said. Negotiations in their behalf are being carried on through the firm's headquarters in Chicago. However, there remained a possibility that some agreement might be reached at Kingan's Representatives of Local 117, UPW and Kingan officials met yesterday trying for a compromise and will meet again. Agree to Postponement At the end of the sessions last night the union had agreed to postpone its strike, stipulating that it might be reinstated upon 24 hours notice. It rejected a 9-cent increase offered by management. In Chicago, thronged the nation’s stockyards. All police were canceled and 2250 lice assigned to the area. on 24hour basis. All taverns in the area were closed. Observers said, however, the picketing was peaceful.
8000 strikers largest
leaves
cut the nation's meat supply in
50 cities. It got underway at midnight,
By ART
If you've been studying — or
Spelling Bee. . It's getting close to spelling
the strike: and.that it could not resume full operation as long a5 the union might reinstate the
At Armour & Co., 350 workers were out and picket lines were
The strike which is expected to
Sharpen Up, School Kids, Spelling Bee Time's Near
Plans Being Made for Times Annual Contest, Champion of City Competes in Washington
—you can be a National Champion
|
{ i 1
uses. Miss Eytchison can win $500
in cash, a week's trip to New York City with all expenses paid, a year's modeling contract plus opportunity to take a screen test.
Strike Ties Up
$53 ‘Poke’ Begging For Youth Bitten By a Texas ‘Bug’ |
“Gimme a ticket to Texas,” said a boy about 9 or 10 years old at the Greyhound bus station window yesterday. | “Where do you want to go in Texas?’ asked the ticket seller. “Santa Fe,” answered the boy. “That's not in Texas,” replied the ticket seller. The boy then ran from the window and came back presently. He shoved $53 in bills into the window—“A ticket to Texas.” When the ticket seller started to ask where, the boy ran again, leaving the $53 on the counter. The money was still being held at the bus station unclal today, ©» and rE i
Mayor Asks More Gas Tax Revenue
$1 Million Additional Needed, Rotary Told
‘Mayor Al Feeney today began a campaign to obtain a bigger share of gas tax returns for the city of Indianapolis. In an address before a lunch-
bp
Truman Seen Seeking Power To Block Russ
Washington Tense At Turn of Events
~ Other Foreign News, Page 2
By LYLE C. WILSON United Press Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Mar. 16—This| ttery Capital feared today that| Truman needs new
check communism's. creeping invasion of Europe. { The White House alarm bell clanked yesterday with announce- | ment that Mr. Truman would] address a joint session of Congress tomorrow on the critical foreign situation. He will speak in the House chamber at 11 a. m. | (Indianapolis time). { The message will be broa on all major networks. Washington was startled by
dcast |
{the unexpected White House an-|
nouncement of a personal presi-| dential appearance before Con-| gress. It loosed a burst of specu-| lation. “ul {
Puts Off Testimony <5 | Secretary of State Geor C.{ Marshall immediately asked postponement of his .scheduled appearance this morning before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Mr. Marshall was to have renewed administration pleas for universal military training. Reports that Mr. Truman might ask Congress to revive the draft act were accompanied by rumors the Soviet Union had de-
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Norway, Sweden and Denmark. None of these were confirmed. The State Department said it had not heard of any Russian demands on Scandinavia. To Press ERP The President told his news conference last week that his confidence in world peace prospects had been shaken by recent events, This followed the Communist seizure of power in Czechoslovakia. It .is reasonably certain that Mr. Truman will urge faster congressional action on the first $5.3 billion installment of the European Recovery Program. It nas
eon meeting of the Indianapolis Rotary Club he said the city should be receiving an additional] $1 million yearly as its share of | the state gasoline tax. | The Mayor's campaign coin-| cides with his drive to remove
As a solution he told.the .Rotarians that he would propose a meeting of Gov. Gates and the Indiana Municipal Teague at which the Goverdor would be invited to make recommendations for obtaining a larger share for Indianapolis. { Mayor Feeney said the city now receives only 58 per cent of the amount of gas tax revenues sent back to Marion County, whereas its population and assessed valuation ratio is approximately 80 per cent. He declared that all Marion] [County governmental units in{cluding Indianapolis should be re-
half, affected about 133 plants in ceiving a total of nearly $2,250,-
{000 from the state instead of the [$1,368,000 they now. get.
WRIGHT
Note to grammar school students: How's your spelling this year?
if you start to study real hard now through the annual Times
bee time again and within a few
Blood Donors
the deficit in the city treasury. |
{10th healthy child “ment ‘and Mrs. Kidwell, despite their
days—this week or early next week—you'll read the plans for the
1948 Spelling Bee in The Times. tional finalists, $40 each. 80 Just like in former years, the ine Indianapolis champion will
Washington, D.C., for six excit-
by The Times. That Indianapolis champion can be a city, parochial
restriction is that contestants must not have passed beyond the eighth grade and must not attain their 16th birthday until June 1. Again there will be local awards and national cash prizes. When the Indianapolis cham-
Washington in May, he (or she) $2400 in national prizes.
on an all-ex York City. at Washington will
get $200
ing days with all expenses paid
or private school pupil from In< t |dianapolis or from one of the Marion County schools. The only
pion competes against the winners from other major cities “the United States at
Indianapolis champion will go to get not less than $40 in the na-
tional finals. The Indianapolis champion will arrive in Washington on Monday, May 24, and immediately will begin 4 round of sight-seeing and entertainment that will end ‘on Saturday, May 29. The final spelling contest in Washington will be held one day only—on May 28. The balance of the week will be given over to fun for all the contestants. You grammar-school pupils can |start brushing up on your spelling now . . . for the first preliminary contests will start late this month or early in April. : The words used this year will
will be bidding for a share of the be taken from classroom work in
{the city, parochial and county
The first-prize winner in the schools. They will be taken from finals at Washington will get word lists of the fourth, fifth, $500 plus $75 for spending money sixth grades and junior high nse trip to New school. nd-place winner
More important Spelling appearing
Bee ;inews will be in The
third, $100; the next 14 will get|Times. .. so be sure to read your
$50 each, and the balangy of the Indianapolis Times every day.
passed the Senate and waits House approval.
Baby Spurns RH
The picture of health, an eight-| pound baby boy today gazed at doctors at Coleman Hospital, maybe wondering what all the fuss was about. The baby is the child of Mr. and Mrs. John Kidwell, 423 E. 22d St., born Saturday night at the hospital. Doctors had expected that the baby might be born with an RH blood condition which would necessitate an almost 100 per cent blood transfusion at birth.
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AWAITS STORK — Princess Elizabeth is expecting ‘a baby in October, a source close to Buckingham Palace in. London, said today. The palace would not comment officially on the report, Yoh.
Milligan Poiso Case Up for Trial
Charge Woman Gave Mate Arsenic in '46
Times State Service
manded military alliance withi RUSHVILLE, Ind, Mar. 16— The two-year-old’ pofsoning case|,
|of- Maxine Milligan will come to trial here next Monday before Special Judge Harold Barger of Shelbyville. : The wife of Pacific Veteran Raymond Milligan, a patient in Indianapolis Billings Veterans Hospital, is charged with poisoning with intent to kill, The state charges that the bespectacled, de-mure-looking mother of two. children administered arsenic to her husband in the spring and summer of 1946. After her arrest in September of 1046, Mrs. Milligan was released on bond pending trial. In the Interim she was arrested on charges of child neglect and sentenced to Indiana Women’s Prison. The trial then was delayed, pending her release Feb. 4. Letter Cited Poisoning charges against Mrs. Milligan grew out of an alleged letter to a relative in which she is reported to have written that she was “about to get rid of old gooserieck.” The remark caused former ‘Rush County Sheriff Virgil Grinstead to investigate. The husband, then seriously ill, was taken to Veterans’ Hospital where doctors diagnosed his case as arsenic poisoning, He later became almost totally paralyzed and has been hospitalized in the
The infant, however, was apparently normal and no transfusion was necessary. It was the born to Mr.!
{RH positive and negative types blood. | Scores .of Indianapolis people, (had offered blood transfusions to |the infant should it be needed | lafter the family disclosed that their 19-year-old son, Robert, needed to give blood, was AWOL from the Navy.
House Rejects Move To Roll Back Rents
WASHINGTON, Mar. 16 (UP) | —The House today rejected a pro-| posal to roll back rent ceilings] to the wartime levels. | The proposal was made by Rep. | Helen Gahagan Douglas ¢D. Cal.) | it was turned down by a standing vote of 117 to 29. Under Mrs. Douglas’ substitute tenants who already have signed “voluntary” leases providing for rent increase of up to 15 per cent would no longer be obliged to pay the increase. | After voting down the Douglas substitute, the House moved ahead toward almost certain approval of the Republicansponsored bill to continue rent| control for another year. (Earlier Story, Page Six) A ———————
Pension Fund for Police, Firemen Getting Low
The police and firemen’s pension fund will go “broke” on Apr. 1, according to Harry Irish, secretary-treasurer of the fund. He has asked for a temporary loan of about $50,000 to cover) pension payments until the fund receives its share “of tax collections in June. . Pension payments amount to about $26,000 a month to retired
‘the case.
intervening two years. } After her arrest the wife confessed the poisonings, police sald, but she later repudiated the state-
A special venire of 35 has been| drawn to supplement the regular Jury. Judge Barger of Shelbyvile was chosen after the defense requested a special judge. Veterans organizations and other groups have retained the law firm of Kiplinger & Kiplinger to supplement the prosecution in
The couple was married in 1940 and the husband served overseas two years. Their two children are now in a Knightstown home.
On the Insi
|
‘Threat’ Pollard
Judge Orders Remark Taken From Records
Lawyers Seek to Build Self-Defense
By ROBERT BLOEM Times Staff Writer GREENFIELD, Ind., Mar. 16 “My only regret is that I didn’t kill him.” That statement was attributed by a witness today to Leland Paul Miller, 24-year-old arthritic crip-
ple for whose murder Howard
Pollard is on trial here. The witness, Jack Woods, 26,
| |of 520 Woodlawn Ave., quoted the
statement which he said Miller made to him about Mar. 5, 1948. Woods said on cross-examination that Miller was referring to an episode the previous in which he had shot Pollard in the neck, Defense Attorney Frank mes was trying on cross examination to prove that Miller had threatened Pollard's life. The defense contends Pollard shot Miller in self-defense on the night of Apr. 10, 1046. Stricken From Record
After the witness recited his conversation with Miller, Judge John B. Hinchman ordered the remark stricken from the record on grounds that it was not a
{threat and had not been made
directly to Pollard. | ‘The defense also attempted to discredit Mr. Woods’ testimony by asking him if he had not made a statement recently
aying: Se ; “I will say anything to conviet Pollard.”
The witness denied having made such a statement. Mr. Woods was the first witness for the state and testified earlier that he was with the victim and the accused murderer on a round of taverns on the eve of the slaying. Recounts ‘Threat’ : On direct examination: by the state yesterday Mr. Woods quoted Pollard as saying he was going to kill Miller. “If I were you I would not be seen too much with me tonight, because I'm going to kill Miller,” Mr. Woods testified. He said Pol lard made the statement while making a round of taverns with him, Miller and a Harry Adams. At the conclusion of the Woods’ testimony the state called Howard W. Troth, 28, of 1153 Winfield Ave., who discovered the two hands and a foot believed to have been severed from Miller's
body. ‘Mr. Troth told the jury he was plowing in a field which belonged to his brother-in-law,” who lives near Advance, on the morning of Apr.’ 11, 1046, He said he saw a black dar drive on to a nearby bridge and saw “one or more”
‘men get out.
After the car disappeared, Mr. Troth testified, he saw a fire blazing beneath the bi and went with his brother-in-law to put it out. Found Foot, Hands He said they found a smoldering Army blanket in the fire and when they kicked it out a singed human foot rolled from the blanket. A moment later, he said, two human hands, which had not yet been touched by the fire, also rolled out. Mr. Troth identified the blackened remains of the blanket and a photograph of the severed hands and foot. Both exhibits were passed to the jury.
de
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Swedes fear Soviet squeeze . . . military staff requests defense appropriations.......c.cie00v0eieenison. Page 2
» lJ Catfish Pete, Cla with The Times . .
Amusements 8 Editorials ...14 Eddie Ash ..10/Foreign Aff. .14
members of the two city departments. # {
>
(4
” » . 319,000 Coal Miners idle......e0o000..
~ = . . » -. ase Social problems discussed by high school students here . . . a second story on social education by Noble Reed. Page 13
ude Braddick and others . .. . editorial page features. . . »
» get in Tune ....Page 14
Times sewing contest information ,.. other women's TBWE. vis o matin vinis eases une van vsasesss sos surss PEO TT
s ” ” » ” . New discs are hits from another Spring . . . Off the Record by Donna Mikels . . . other platter chatter. .....Page 19 » ~ ” » . .
A Key to Other Features on Inside Pages
{Ruth Millett ,18 Ruark ......13 [Movies ...... 8!Side Glances.14 work
Ernest Blau .18{Forum. .:....14/ Needle «17 Society .4s...16 Bridge ......18 Gardening ..18Obituaries ... 5 Sports J..10-11 Carnival ....18 Meta Given ..18|F. C. 1 «+10 Childs ......14/In Indpls. .. 3 Pattern .....17|Teen «18 Classified .20-22(Inside Indpls.13/Radio .......28 f 14 Comics os ees 2 . Jordan «18 A sree ee 0 3 Crossword ..15{Mrs. Manners jars. 'omen's +...