Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 July 1950 — Page 23

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Editorials World Report

he Indianapolis Times

SUNDAY, JULY 16, 1950

Hello sucker!

of ‘dollars in Indiana alone. That's the word of a retired shill artist. This In-

dianapolis man, who prefers to keep his identity secret for obvious reasons, stakes his 33 years in the “game” on the statement that carnival patrons drop millions on games they can’t beat. “I'll bet my 33 years in the business’ that suckers are taken for over one million dollars a year in Indiana alone,” the man stated. “It's hard to estimate, but the take probably runs into several million dollars.” : The man speaks from experience. Just to cite one of hundreds of examples, he and another operator fleeced a “country cousin” of $700 within an hour several years ago. That was in Indianapolis. And by posing as a fellow-sucker, he managed to dissuade the vietim from reporting his loss to the sheriff,

. » ~ THE TIMES informant’'s contacts run the gamut of carni-

U. S. Customs Work Gaining Sharply By CLIFFORD THURMAN INDIANAPOLIS — port of entry. Although this Midwestern city is hundreds of miles from the nearest seaport, it is fast becoming one of the major ports of the United States. The United States Customs office In Indianapolis is getting busier day by day and import and export activities are increasing by leaps and bounds. Yet, says Collector of Cus- . toms ' Alden H. 'Haker, many businessmen and importers in Indianapolis and Indiana do not know that the city is a port of entry and costly brokerage fees in seaboard ports can be avoided. » s Is it. the result of alr transrt? No, it is not. Imported goods f¥bm virtually every nation on the globe. have been coming into Indianapolis for years — since 1905, in fact—by freight train, truck and airplane—but not many land loving Hoosiers have ever stopped to think about their Capital City as a port of entry to the United States.

- s = =» MOREOVER, U, 8. customs officials point out, Indianapolis has a great opportunity of becoming an even greater port. KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, has been quietly negotiating + with some of the larger importers in the Indianapolis area for some time, according to the government agents, and if provided the facilities necessary may make Indianapolis the first port line in inland United States. _ This expansion, of course, - would involve a greatiy=expanded customs service in In-

of the majority of more than 2000 inmates convicted of various crimes throughout the state of Indiana. : It also reflects the alm of officials of the institution to rehabilitate those convicted and . fit them for future lives of use. fulness rather than punish for

Suckers Lose Millions Playing Crooked Devices of Skill, Luck

By TED ENAP

Ex-'Shill' Tells Wh

If you are one of the hundreds of thousands who annually fall for “skill” games at summer fairs and carnivals, then you have earned the title of sucker, or easy mark, or shill target. Whatever you're called, you contribute to a yearly racket-grab that runs into millions

of entry for the

val rackets—from dime games aimed at youngsters to big money gambles designed for the well-heeled. He knows why the

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: Sa spinning arrow never stops in a winning block, why the stuffed oft 1s never knocked off at payoff, and why the swinging ball never hits the pin. - A smooth operator also knows how to handle “fuzz.”

That's the nickname for local officials, and the word is that

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You can hit the stuffed cat with a baseball, but it won't fall off the platform, which the operator has extended by pulling a hidden lever. Platform is wider than cat is tall.

Photo by Bob Wallace, Times Staff Photographer.

Alden H. Baker, left, customs collector at the Port of Indianapolis, and his assistant, Eugene J. -

PE SVS i LUSH

in most places one or more of them can either be bought out or induced to lay off, Here is a certainty: You never win unless the operator wants to egg you into further losses. In the long run, you never win. ” . ~

THIS IS the time of year for sucker-lined “skill” games to blossom. Millions flock to county fairs, state fairs, circuses dnd carnivals. Every one of them is a potential mark. “Be wary of all games,” the former slicker warns. “If you go in with the knowledge that they'll take you—if you want to play for the laughs and can afford to lose a little—then go ahead and try your luck, Otherwise, stay away.” “And be especially careful.” he added, “of the ‘innocent’ stranger who will play and win alongside you. He's probably a ‘stick’ (come-on).” Let's take a look at a few of these “innocent diversions.” » » »

STARTING WITH small time, there are scores of fairly legitimate games. They are easily recognized by their names: Fish pond, string game, slum bowling alley and pitch ‘til you win. These are seldom fixed in ad-

Landlocked Indianapolis Is-Busy

Okon, look over imported goods . . . guns are taboo, except under special conditions,

diana as well as considerably

increased facilities for landing the great six- motored transocean planes. # » . - “WE ARE TRYING to educate Indianapolis into the realization that the city is really a port of entry into the United States,” Eugene J. Okon, assistant collector of customs, said. “It is unnecessary for Indianapolis merchants and dealers to pay brokers in New York, New Orleans or San Francisco for handling imported goods.

Reflecting the opinions and uncensored expression of the inmates, the weekly newspaper has become a vital part of the walled-in world in which hundreds of almost forgotten men live. ~- “It is their newspaper,” an official said. “They look forward to its publication. They are anxious to see their names mentioned as participants in prison activities and some—a

“For instance,” explains Mr, Okon, “when a shipment of imported merchandise arrives in New York (where 50 per cent of all imported goods arrives) it can be loaded directly onto freight cars, trucks or airplanes and directed to Indianapolis. “It doesn't have to be inspected or cleared in New York. It is simply sealed with a government: seal, just like the seal on a railway car and shipped direct to Indianapolis. Here, as a port of entry, our agents in this office are authorized and qualified

The staff includes an editor, assistant editor, sports editor, feature art and humoreditor and local events editor. » - » THE NEWSPAPER is not without humor. Even on the masthead a neat box is headed “Stirstistics” . and gives the

daily count of inmates as well

as the weather forecast. The masthead, incidentally, was drawn by an inmate. It depicts the reformatory walls and watchtowers in the background over which hovers an American

eagle, : 3

“There 1s no doubt about the Reflector being & great aid in morale building,” an official declared. “Inmate behavior has

to clear the imports—no matter what it might be.” :

» » » MANY FOLK helieve imports and exports arriving at the Port of Indianapolis’ consist of small shipments such as medicines and medicinal supplies for EN -Lilly & Co., and smaller - shipments for Indianapolis department stores and brokers. That is a very wrong impression. For instance, 35 million pounds of steel wire was imported by an Indianapeclis manufacturing concern just

Reformatory Newspaper Builds Morale, Aids

“SURRENDER not to past defeats; rather, look forward to the victories of the future.” Ly a That motto, printed across the masthead of the Reflector, inmate-published newspaper at Indiana Reformatory at Pendleton, tells several stories. Among them is the story of hope—even ambition—

oners eligible for parole who cannot be released until job sponsors—are found. ~- The story; written by an inmate, warns parolees and prospective ones against drinking, the wrong sort of company and other pitfalls facing the paroled convict. There's a story about blood donors within the walls of the reformatory expressing willingness of the inmates to co-oper-ate with the Red Cross. There is also a veterans’ column chockfull of information concerning inmates who seek government benefits for former fed- = ® » THE FORCEFUL lead editorial is titled, “A Letter to Johnny” and is directed to a

vance, but the odds against winning are high and the prizes nearly worthless. For a dime you can win a prize worth a cent and a half or slightly more—if you win, Seldom is a prize worth even a quarter awarded to a player. Although individual profit is small, volume is large and the take runs high in slum games. And operators eyeing the future know that slum game

sucker money. You drop a ball in the maze of nails, trying to guide it into a high score section. But the operator controls the path of the ball by moving the center row of nails.

Another trap for

‘Port’ Dutch Airline Seeks

Facilities Here

recently. It was the largest imported shipment ever cleared by the customs here, Outside of such so-called “heavy” imports, customs officials point out, Indianapolis department stores are, thus far, the state's largest importers. For instance, thousands of pounds of merchandise scheduled for Christmas sales has already been cleared by the customs officials at the Port of Indianapolis. This merchandise includes—to mention a few things—perfumes from France, music boxes and watches from Switzerland and literally tons of Christmas tree decorations from occupied Japan, and from France, Spain and other European countries. Then there's such importations as leather covered ostrich eggs from Africa, native ceremonial robes from the Belgian Congo and all sorts of geegaws and gadgets American tourists send relatives and friends from the lands across the seas.

~ = ” THE CUSTOMS office in Indianapolis, on the third floor of the Federal building, looks like any other government office. There's the collector, the assistant and half a dozen clerks. Down in the basement, however, there's an entirely different picture. In a spacious room with long tables, scales and various other testing devices, groups of men are forever examining imported merchandise. Prohibited merchandise is destroyed. : “Airlines and air freight are constantly increasing the duties of the collector of customs in Indianapolis,” says Mr. Okon. “There is a strong possibility that the business of the office will increase many times within the next few years.”

Discipline iscipli ture behavior, Judge Rabb and his contemporaries will gain a confidence—long lost t6 most of them — in their fellowman. If you make good, and God knows everyone wants you to do so, judges throughout the land will be more willing to give other erring young men an opportunity to rehabilitate themselves. . . . = - ” OTHER SECTIONS are devoted to sports, mostly intesreformatory activities, but including a resume of outside world events. 3 There are columns concerning various divisions of the reformatory — the shops, the the and the Tike.

One is headed simply, “Gone Home.” It lists the inmates

pou Kani Beat Carnival

kids of today are big money marks temorrow. . ” ~ » Ever toss baseballs at the six big cats? It's a lot like tossing at the wooden milk bottles, except that the element of skill and chance are removed. “Pay two-bits and win a dollar,” says the operator, “if you knock three cats off the platform with three baseballs.” It's easy, he urges, and demonstrates by flipping a ball that sends a stuffed cat tumbling. You're willing. So you toss the first ball and down goes a cat, clear off the platform. Ditto with the second ball, But before you toss a third time, the operator reaches under the counter and pulls a lever. This extends the back of the platform several Inches so that no matter how hard you hit the cat, it topples but fails to be knocked off Its stand. You lose, You want to try again? The shill urges you to toss one ball for a dollar and win five for knocking off one cat. You can't lose, says the operator, but you do, again and again.

THERE'S ANOTHER game that makes it expensive for you to have forgotten, a high school physics lesson. Its called swinging ball, or ball and stob. The game consists of a ten pin and a bowling ball suspended above it from a string. All" you have to do is swing the ball past the pin, without touching it, and knock the pin down. on the ball's return flight. Sound easy? Well, it's physically and scientifically impossible. Builders call it plumb, Unless the ball starts on a straight line, in which case it will hit the pin, it will have to return at an angle taking it farther from the pin. You can't beat it.

How to Stop Killing Yourself—

Overwork Is One Form of Slow Death, And Best Antidote for It Is Laziness

EDITOR'S NOTE: Many of us . are unconsciously killing ourselves in our own fashion, says Dr. Steincrohn. In. this series of articles, of which this is the second, he describes some of the subtle forms of suicide, tells how to avoid them. The series is condensed from the book, “How to Step Killing Yourself,” just published by Wilfred Funk, Inc. Dr. Steincrohn is a specialist in internal medicine with 25 years of practice and Is former vice president of the Connecticut State Medical Society. CHAPTER TWO By PETER J. STEINCHRON AZINESS can save you. The late Dr. Raymond Pearl of Johns Hopkins came to this conclusion after studying everything from files to men. It- has long been my belief that laziness is a safety valve. All of us, in varying degrees, are lazy at times. “Just how do you keep looking so young?” Hedda Hopper asked Gary Cooper. “Well, Hedda,” he said, “I'll

When there's heavy work around, Gary. Cooper shines his shoes.

tell you. When I get ‘up in the morning, I look around the place to see if there's any heavy work to be done. If I find any, I walk quietly away from it, get off in some corner, and shine two or three pairs of shoes.” If the most ambitious of us did not suffer laziness and fa‘tigue, or whatever one wishes to call it, we would work ourselves to death prematurely. » =n

I KNOW & mian of forty with a sick wife and four f,hildren.

“He works in a factory eight

fours a day; another eight hours are spent as assistant on delivery truck. -He has driven himself this

way for two years. He has no vacations or dally relaxation. He is too tired to read or en-

pace will kill you in a

+ ‘antidotes,

two.” You couldn't — or you.

securities are not their problems. How to escape from life-— : and yet continue to live—is the problem for many of them. I know a successful businessman who is a failure as a father and a husband. His wife does not love him; his children fear him for his overbearing manner, lack of humor, and lack of interest in them. He has unconsciously gone about killing himself, and them, for years, If you ask him why he is unhappy, his finger will point at them and never toward himself, They have no understanding of him, he says. He is a stranger in his own family. What is his solution for this unbearable situation? First, what might he do other than overwork? Take extended vacations alone? He tried it once. Having taken time off for a month in the South, he returned after four days because of a nagging guilt, Unconsciously he lad felt that he had let his family down. Returning, he was as difficult as ever to please, ” » .

ONE WORKS hard because

-he doesn’t know where the next

dollar is - coming from. The other because he has a mixture of too many dollars and too many troubles. Somehow dollars are not in themselves, for doldrums. Sometimes they make things seem more futile, “If money can’t do it,” such persons think to. themselves, “then how on earth will I ever solve my problem?” When hope and faith fly out the window, a bruised spirit ‘will never recover. Normally, only a genius can escape in work. He is not engulfed; he dominates his medium. . Were the driving forces be. hind Michelangelo and Edison powered by neurotic urges to escape life? With such giants it is safe to assume they were facing on what they wanted to do. They were not working hard because they were running away from themselves. | = ® » : "I SAW a man the other day who was running away from himself. He was in the 40s. He had recently sold out a lucrative business. Three years before he had had a heart

Swing the suspended ball past the pin, and If you hit it on the way back you win prize 6r money. But it can't :

pling. x

4 heads

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be done. HOWEVER, the operator,’

ways: ONE: He uses cleverly hidden = “English” to curve the ball in flight. TWO: While the sucker isn't: looking, he moves the pin : center or turns it so that wider part of the pin meets the: ball on its way back. Ss moves it back before you shoot.” There are other games, ine" numerable ones. Some are old’ favorites while others are. greenies, There are too many describe here, and

They don't give a chance.

” = N STUDY your own {fi

Is Mabel an overly lous housewife? Is she the enemy of any speck of dust If she is a worker from é to very late, perhaps she . running away from something: Is John always “on ball”? You wonder why works so hard and necessarily. “With all his ey, too,” you say, I can understand why painter might create for hours on end, or the lawyer fight tar save a corporation from topes

But what keeps John Is there anything p interesting about fourteen hours a day In tory that makes paper There is an excuse; p when the work is absorbing When it is unimaginative

against ove +f your ®

wif! “have begged you ry, usden; Either and chances or

yourse ir a. Am I working too