Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 19 January 1949 — Page 11

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ohdeived my Seutbing with cold stares. The old-

look like the work of a Mail Pouch man and for, that we can be happy.

In the House itself my progress was halted -

shortly. by oy A. Kreft (R. Michigan Cty), chairman of the desk top committee which was appointed recently after a nasty cigaret burn marred one of the desks. Rep. Kreft politely demanded what the score was.

“Five little piles of ashes -and one tobacco

The great search ... "Mr. Inside Indian< apolis” checks the taxpayers’ new rugs in the General Assembly.

.'was on the majority Side.

Maybe It's Blackjack Gum i

ON THE ROSTRUM itself, where one of the,

il or a pair of pliers to get it out of the rug.

Leaving out the atatistion and boiling my answer| down to “I'm counting floor burns” only resulted in a further raising of Rep, Kreft's eyebrows, After he got the pitch, and I can say he wasn't overly happy to have me poking around the nooks

Rep. Kreft but stopped when Jess Andrews (R. West Point) said a piece of heavy cardboard would + take care of the energetic young man from Rushville. . The big find was between the desks of Forrest W. Littlejohn (D. Indianapolis) and Roscoe G. Scott (D. Greéncastle), right in the middle of the aisle. Both men were out at the time. . Rep. Kreft and his committee were shocked. Dudley Gleason (R. Angola) suggested a glass top be put over the burn since there is a recom-

“SECOND SECTION _

mendation to cover all desks with, $4.90 pieces 2

of glass. The chairman ‘was visibly perturbed at the burn. He disclaimed any responsibility since it Members of the majority insisted it was his responsibility. It was time to check the Senate so I dor’t know how the argument ended. Oh, there were no burns on the desk. tops. The higher chambers had fewer piles of ashes on the floor (seven all told), no burns or an excessive amount of nap scuffing. It did have that nasty ink blotch, if you remember, right in front of the rostrum,

recording clerks works, are a couple of black spots which could be tar, black paint, Blackjack

gum, black nail polish or rubber cement with |

chimney soot mixed in. How the latter stuff would get there I don’t know but it is a possibility. Under desk 35, occupied by Manford Fergu-

son (D. Connersville), a nail was protruding and I assume still is, It would take a claw hammer

A man could count numerous things such as bits of soot, plain city dirt and blobs of clay but there's no use in going to an extreme on this thing. They have to wear shoes, you know. A parting thought: Would it have been cheaper to put in asphalt on the floors instead of red Tugs?

-

Poor Mr. Rich

By Andrew Tully

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19—Taxpayers will be pleased to learn that after 17 years Mr. Rich hasn't changed a bit. He ‘still wants to know. where all the money's coming from. Mr. Rich-—Robert Fis a Representative from Pennsylvania and he feels there are other uses for money besides spending it. Like, say, putting it in a nice, strong bank and leaving it there for

a few days. Ever since he first came to Washington in 1929, Mr. Rich has been trying to sell that disturbing philosophy to his colleagues but naturally he has been unsuccessful. Oh, the boys let him talk all he wants, but when he sits down they just go right ahead and spend some more money. Mr. Rich made another speech in Congress this week. There wasa bill up in the House to exempt official inaugural tickets" from the 20 per cent admission tax, . Why, Mr. Rich said, he never heard of such a thing! Why, you just might as well throw away $50,000! Take it from him, he said, If a person could afford $10 for a ticket, he could afford to pay the tax, too,

House Yawns and Squirms

THE House yawned and squirmed and then decided, 199 to 49, to exempt. Mr. Rich has caused the House other trouble recently. He was the one who refused to let the President's pay rise bill come up by unanimous consent. But the House outvoted him on that, too. Mr. Rich has been a voice crying out In the In: augural wilderness. Now 65, Mr. Rich owns the textile town of Woolrich, Pa. He served 12 years in Congress

before retiring in 1942 because he was against World War II and didn't want to have anything to do with helping to run it. But he came back in 1945, got re-elected in 1948. and still reads the

daily Treasury statement first thing in the morn-|

ing to get warmed up. The statement is Mr. Rich’s pennant. When the chaplain finishes the opening prayer, Mr. Rich likes to jump up, brandish the statement angrily, and demand: “Where are we going to get the money?” . Then he goes on from there and a bill's got to be pretty pure to pass the House without Mr. Rich saying a few words against it.

$600 Worth of Talk

MR. RICH gets people mad sometimes because he's always holding things up till past supper time. But ‘nobody’s squelched him yet, although back in 1935 Rep. John O'Connor of New York made a brave try. Mr. O’Conndbr said Mr. Rich should read the section In Jefferson's manual on the “parhia-

u S. Traffic Toll Began At Winchester in 1907

By VICTOR PETERSON Times Staff Writer

WINCHESTER, Ind., Jan. 19—Indiana wears a badge of dishonor. The letters are blood red.

happened in Hoosierdom. And Hoosiers haven't learned their lesson in the 42 years since Tarlton Kenworthy died instantly of a broken neck. The blood of Hoosiers blots the state map, marring Indiana with one of the worst traffic records in the nation.

» » ” INDIANA jumped into first place in the race of death on April 28, 1907. Since then Hoosiers consistently have been among the front-runners. The name Tarlton Kenworthy means little in Winchester today. It is a forgotten name, but in the May 1, 1907 edition of the

mentary methods of silencing a tedious member.”

The manual, Mr. O'Connor said, pointed out=that| yr, genworthy's tragic -death Edward Lenkensdofer (lof) w was an syeviinen to the crash. Kora

if a member found nobody listening to him he should sit down.

Mr. Rich listened carefully to Mr. Comme, of the accident on an in- automobile following the side page.

but that was all, Despite all his talk about economy, one of Mr.| Rich's speeches cost the country, money, That was when he insisted a holding company Bill. be read in full. He filled $600 worth of the Congressional Record with it before he sat down alll tired out. But Mr. Rich said that was okay. Said the) bill would cost the country $500 million and that if he could stop it with a filibuster that cost only $600 that was real economy.

Gadget Grief

By Frederick C. Othman

WASHINGTON, Jan, 19—Capt. Louis W. Benjamin Jr.-of the U. 8, Marine Corps, fell in love with the longest (20 feet), heaviest (6180 pounds), most luxurious (brocaded silk head cushions), fastest (140 miles per hour in eighth gear) lim-,

ousine In America, That was last May when he bought his beautitul behemoth at auction from Attorney General Tom Clark, the well-known trust- buster and used car dealer, without a guarantee, Since then Capt, B. has 8 discovered that beIng proprietor of the most elegant motorcar on road today is like being the husband of an extravagant wife, It's driving him to the poorhouse, He also has learned to his dismay that the automobile market, super - de luxe division, Is shot. He spends his nights writing letters to those citizens well-heeled enough to afford the finest car extant. He uses his spare cash buying newspaper adhas (or did at last count) 92

“Nobody,” moaned the Captain as he absentthe button that started the pump that sent grease under pressure to every bearing on his limousine and thereby gave it a thorough but unnecessary greasing, “seems to want it."

Captdin ‘Had’ to Buy It

OAPT. BENJAMIN'S troubles ‘as a motorcar

dealer make an interesting tale and we might as

well begin at the beginning: In 1940 the Nazis sent to their ambassador here this sleekest of Horch limousines for his official calls upon the State ent, It was a hand-built worth about a, $d the idea seemed to to show Americans that Germans Guid build automioblies better His anybody sine

worn off the new smell and it didn't come out until last spring when Mr. Clark sold it as a plece| of alien property

“I-bought a

then-weekly Winchester Herald

{was worth two columns of copy. His picture was on page 1, a

| member Mr. Kenworthy well,

They saw him die in the history- here. John Falls, the third, lives garage for the new-fangled auto-|

making crash. They were In an

Tax Dodgers... . No. nm

What is believed to be the

first death in the United States due to motorized traffic

Murder On the Highways

= Death Still Rides High Roads, Scene Of 1st Auto F atality

Tarlton Convoy. nation's first traffic victim, was front page copy for The Windwiter Herald ir in 1907, Today his name is all but forgotten

Hoosier highways,

_ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1040

+ 8

Frank- Fouseé lef) sf ofl tells customers like W. L. Granger of the ssid which set off mwirder on

a

E. Davis was a child playmate of the traffic victim,

Ken-

ward Lenkensdofer, still lve!

in Detroit® |

By ELMER L. IREY, as told to William J. Slocum THE ABSENCE of businessmen from the book can be traced

directly to the dullness inherent in an adding machine,

connection between the numerica

There is no | percentage of businessmen tax

; evaders in the files of the Internal Revenue Bureau and the number garage of the Japanese Embassy before he'd even|gisciosed in this book. In this chapter are two tales of businessmen/know of no case which has ever

at bay. Of all the wonders on display at the Ringling Brothers-Barnum

pig in a poke,” the Captain sald.|& Bailey Combined Bhows, none/gepreciation.

. ow |

KELLEY'S main weapon was In 1918, when he

ON THE MORNING of Apri Kenworthy worthy death car. Two of them, 28, 1907 Tariton Kenworthy was| second There are three people who re- Frank“ (Deacon) Fouse and Kd-|a well-liked, up-and-coming young | Cried:

businessman of 28. He owned a

mobile and sold Reo cars.

{In 1946 he admitted he was worth over: $2,500,000, In January of 1945 1 was forced to write a rather detailed memo Jro the Secretary of the covering the manner in which this fortune was amassed

The memo concluded with: “I been before the Bureau of Internal Revenue which has been more replete with fraud, or one in which prosecution is more warranted.”

“The Attorney General wouldn't give: a demon- was comparable to the miracleshgaq the first inventory made of! Those strong ‘words were not

stration. He wouldn't even start the engine to of gall perpetrated on Uncle 8amithe circus, prove it would yun. He wouldn't let the customers for 15 years by the circus’ lawyer and Honest John was disappoint-|boss, led. He promptly ordered an in-|cial morals of a man who enjoyed

sit on the upholstery. All we could do was look’ at it. But I fell in love with that car. I had to| have it." He bid $3140, discovered that he was the highest of the 35 bidders, and pulled out the button) that turned the widget that allowed him to step on the starter. Bang! The Captain's’ limousine didn’t ‘exactly explode, but it shot out smoke like Vesuvius.

Draws Crowds but No Offers

THERE aren't ‘many mechanics hereabouts who know about Horches, but the Captain found one who took it apart, discovered that it merely was out of adjustment, put it back together, and rendered a bill like a corporation lawyer's. Since then the Captain's limousine has been purring like a powerful kitten, gulping 16 quarts every time he changes ofl, and attracting crowds whenever he parks it. It carries a bar, hydraulic jacks for each wheel, pigskin luggage, special air conditioners, and push buttons to operate the silken window shades. : The engine is as silvery as It Is beautiful; ditto, the tonmeau. Just riding in it made me feel rich, like Rita Hayworth's boy friend. “Everybody thinks it's wonderful,” the Captain said. ashe how I got Sa 34 92 salesmen. They

|the struggling Ringling Brothers

{bill of $3,600,000.

connected with the enterprise and

blank. .

‘Honest” John Kelley.

Honest John was a worker of| {miracles from the day he joined)

circus enterprises early in the century until the day Uncle Sam accepted $800,000 on a-circus tax

Honest John's earlier miracles were performed in the role of a humble claims adjuster for the circus. " r n . WHEN UNCLE SAM passed tax statutes and thereby became a legitimate claimant to circus Income in 1918, the job of adjusting these claims was taken over for the circus by Kelley, While John never sutceeded In paying Uncle Sam off in circus tickets he did make what might be called a try. From 1918 to 1932 the circus paid taxes on profits of $4,000,000, The various Ringling Brothers

their heirs withdrew more than $10,000,000 in that time, The evidence seemed to show that the brothers and their heirs were uncol beneficiaries of .I{Honest John’s skill with a tax

it reached $1,800,000)

ventory .of a standard 50-car circus. a This non-existent circus was! added to the true Inventory and| the value swelled to $4 million | and Honest John was off tothe! wars against the. tax laws, Kelley kept using the $4 million as the basis for depreciation charges until he was caught When the non-existent tents, wagons and animals had been fully depreciated, Kelley started all over again with equally fictional tents, wagons and animals. On April 26, 1938, Kelley was convicted of aiding and assisting the counseling, procuring and advising the filing of false and fraudulent returns for the Ringlings. He was sentenced to. two years in jail and fined $10,000, The Ringlings got ‘a bill for $3.6 million in additiond]l taxes, penalties and interest, A--forced sale of the circus, however, would have brought no such sum. The alternative was for us to take over the circus and run it ourselves until the necessary taxes: had been collected. This so horrified the government that the case was settled for

It seemed everybody just turned or Ta iar Just Wrned thelr signatures already affixed ad Wlley Sli iw fila

$800,000. "on » A

EUGENE V. CASEY, a » Maryland plumber, was broke in 1932.

Sat

about a gangster or even a party

the friendship and trust of the {President of the United States, Casey was one of Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous battery of executive assistants. Casey per. formed his best feats of calculated chiseling while working in the White House. This tale might possibly be to FDR. Pe

On Hoosie

In this view, taken Apr. 28, 1907, Mr. Kenworthy's body fies by the ¢ car,

.. Life was just beginning for um, Business success was comway and he was engaged to Miss Nona Albright.

Before noon he was dead. His!’

mother, father, sister, two brothers and his bride-never-to: be were left in oH M IT WAS ‘abont 9:30 this Sunday morning, April 28, when the town of Winchester was startled with the news of a bad train wreck on the Grand Rapids & Indiana line near Collett. Scores were reported dead

1907,

people were aboard and a mass exodus began for the scene. Ed (Daredevil Teddy) eon ner rented a car from Mr, worthy. With him were Ren Fouse, Mr. Lenkensdofer, Getter and John and

it, J. A. latt and + Ww. Ruby, three Civil War 8. Ironically, no one died in the train wreck although several cars were thrown from the tracks.

WORTHY didn't know this. He pushed his car over the narrow,|. gravel Harker Pike and overtook Daredevil Teddy. Then he passed in a swirl of -dust. According to the newspaper account he was going about 15 miles per hour. Jt was fast enough, for death rode with him. Mr. Kenworthy was about a block In the lead when it happened. A dog dashed out from the farmyard of Arden McCurdy, Mr. swerved. In - the car Daredevil Teddy

“See Kenworthy hit that dog.”! “See him go in the ditch,” Mr. {Fouse called immediately.

and injured. Several Winchester,

| careened en-!

Fred Se veryone, moet | Mr. Thomas ortny from

Falls. I ALATA lout DYE dhe

oP. Maric and the latter! ol mn from fhe debris.

on. io! BUT TARLTON. KEN:

| quarter's Post, Indiana } Police.

In this fourth article of > series, almed at

story of the first victim of

motorized traffic in the United States. °

AFTER STRIKING the dog, the death car hit a fence post, crazily into a tree which it rode part way up, then fell back on a telephone pole

Kens the

Tarlton Kenworthy was dead

—broken HEE.

THE OTHERS in the car were

There is nothing to mark the

scene of the accident that took the first life. It happened In Randolph. County on the Harker Pike exacfly 9-10ths of a mile

TOMORROW: Post 9, Head

State

a

Tax Evasion Trail of Casey Leads to the White House

U.S. Almost Goes Into Circus Business As Result of ‘Honest John’ Kelley Activities |

but some of the party powers remembered Casey's enthusiastic support of F.

D. R's abortive

cam of 1938. I'm

afraid it was just as bald as that, In December of 1946 Casey was indicted in Baltimore. Loy

CASEY'S DEFENSE was pred.

icated on the fact that he had simply been too busy as a right.

They described the finan-

Secretary Morgenthau «eb said go right ahead. ” . ” MR. SULLIVAN'S investigation knocked Casey's claims of personal carelessness and Inefficient tax advice into a cocked hat,

In all, he was found to have

cent of his Income, In 1942, and $112,234.51, or 90 per cent of his

| income, in 1942

The Intelligence Unit recommended In January of 1945 that Casey be criminally prosecuted

to the Justice Department. stayed quietly in Justice for als

cheated on income of $81,747.84,/; 77 per cent of his income, 1941; $76,79345, or 72 per penalties.

for 1941-1943 and the matter went|

hand man of a wartime President to look after his taxes. He told the jury of a conversation with FDR in which the President had ordered him to go at once to Cali« fornia. on some pressing war mate ter. Casey had politely demurred, saying, “I'm in a mess over my taxes and I have to get them straightened out.” “Gene,” Gene claimed the Presi. dent said,

go out and do the job. I want done in California you'll be paying your taxes in Japanese yen.”