Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 August 1951 — Page 22

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Inside Indianapolis :

By Ed Sovola ~-

HAVE YOU ever thought of hitchhiking around town? It's a pleasant and cheap way to

‘travel.

“ All of us (commuters, that is) gripe about service; rising costs. Our words are not backed up with attion. We treat transportation problems exactly in the same way we treat our weather problems. ; Yesterday I went into action to find out if it is possible to hitchhike ehort distances. It is possible. Hoosiers are wonderful, accommodating people. They will take you one block, if you ask politely. Complete strangers, yet, “he oo &» AFTER what happened to me I can see all our troubles vanish. I can see happy citizens flashing thumbs all over town at drivers who are going down the road a piece and have plenty of room in their cars. Let's say, for example, you are standing at Meridfan and Ohio Sts. and. want to go to the Central Library. You look for a bus and it is at 16th St. heading north. Time is a factor. You are in a bit of a hurry. With my system all you do is step to the curb and smile and raise a clean thumb. A friendly Hoosier, a fellow citizen, who is driving north all the way to 38th St., stops. You get in, tell him you want to go to the Central Library and begin a short but interesting conversation. Just long enough to get you to St. Clair St. * © & NOW, the motorist is happy te oblige, meet new people and have someone to chat with for a few blocks. You're happy, too. By thumbing a ride you were able to get to your destination quickly, didn't have to take your car out of a parking lot or pay for a taxi. Perhaps the next day you will have an opportunity to reciprocate. This idea of passing neighbors on a corner while you have an empty car is appalling. We ought to try to break the big-city complex and act as we do on dude ranches or when we're cavorting at camps and resorts. More friendship is what we need. ¢ & I HAD absolutely np idea when I stood on the southeast corner of N. Kitley Ave. and E.

- Washington St. what would happen when I was

picked up and told the man that the next block was my destination. Would the guy who stopped get sore? Would he punch me in the nose?

Americana By Robert C. Ruark

NEW YORK, Aug. 23—While anticipating no immediate attacks of gin-blindness or the creeping staggers generally accepted by my generation at the height of prohibition, I find myself almost pleased to note that the bootlegger is back again, and the same raw insult to the esophagus has found its place on the palate once again. It sort of serves us right. The licensed Beverage Industries, Inc. a bunch of worrlers with legitimate booze to peddle, have riz amongst us with the news that more of the old-style, unsanctified hooch is being pushed to the people today than the kosher kicker with the federal stamp on top.

This is because of taxes which leap and leap and leap until what you drink legally is cut stuff—ahout one-fourth grog to threefourths revenue. The worst the old leggers used to do to us was 50-50, and the other half was water, not money.

We are nearly 12 tax bucks into the gallon now, on legitimate red-eye, before we taste the fruits of distillery, and the indications are that the federal touch alone on a crock will be $10.50 before we impose the state and local bite.

o> ER oe

THIS MAKES the cup that cheers today and depresses tomorrow worth slightly more to the thirsty citizen than a beaker of compressed earls, and drives him inevitably into the hands of ne man who understands sour mash in the bac.vard. : I have heard of people getting drunk on excitement. ‘and on moonbeams, and on poetry, but 1s knack of accumulating stiffness on taxes is a: delicate perverseness known to but a specific few—all teetotallers, Somehow a stiff swig of excise does not drive off the drearies,

especially those megrims derived from -the con- .

tempiation of other tax blessings. A man may get some mordant satisfaction from the contemplation of an onion in a martini, but replace the vnion with the national debt and cheer departs the bar. S80 we are faced with economically enforced sobriety for most, or a return to the cheap and dreadful tipples of yesteryear—the suspect appletack, the extemporaneous gin, the overnight corn

It Happened Last Night

By Earl Wilson

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 23—At sunrise our plane settled down on this colorful city after a night flight from Rome . . . and very soon I was wearing one of those Middle East nightshirts— not to bed. but refer to one of those Sheik or Bedouin outfits like Rudolph Valentino used to wear. "They consist of flowing cloaks and a headpiece that resembles your wife with a towel around her noggin after a shampoo. “How do I look in this thing?” I asked the Beautiful Wife when I crawled into one, out in a little strip of desert, where no native would see me, “Like Jackie Gleason in a nightgown,” she said, uncomplimentarily. “ Pb & NOW JUST a little more than a week out of New York on our Round-the-World-in-30-Columns hop, we began to feel we were really seeing “the world.” For now we were away from Paris and Rome and New York—you'd have been amazed (if you haven't seen it before) at the men violently kissing each other over and over when they met at the airport. We'd seen Frenchmen smooch each other half-heartedly on both cheeks . . . but these men were serious—and we just stared. And they stared back—at my Texas 10-gallon hat, originally white but now getting a shade darker. “Look at the women in the veils!” I crooned to the B, W. as we walked through the crowded streets. 2 > 4 4

SOME WERE veiled so heavily, it didn’t seem possible they could see out. Some had medium weight veils—they are the modern girls. “TI .wonder what women who have to keep their faces covered would think if they saw Faye Emerson or Dagmar on television?” asked the B. W. We saw all sorts of costumes here—a few of the men have pants that are so baggy in the seat that it scares you. My Sheik outfit was supplied by a gent a. Pan-American Airlines who said it was an “Emirs, of Prince's outfit, which had been given to him. The headband was originally intended to be a camel rope that the Sheik wore around his head. “Why do they wear these towel things around their heads?” I asked. . y o> 2 So “TO KEEP the sand out of their faces,” he . We were greatly thrilled at seeing this hunk of the world that we knew so little about before, but I still think my Texas hat was the greatest attention-attracter: | gi ba . FTven a Texan came over, Dr. 2 Schachtel, Rabbi of the. Congregation of mn, when we saw him in Rome.

&

Fs Hitchhikl To City Travel

Answer blem?

It is a great pleasure to report that Jack Sharp, New Castle, who is employed by the Ideal Engineering Co., didn’t bat an eye when I told him how far I was going. Here's how it happened: For 65 minutes I stood on the corner waving my thumb before Jack stopped. During that time I endured many sharp glares. You would think that I wasn’t gainfully employed or nad a bed to sleep in. I lost count of the number of drivers who ignored my thumb. They would stare [straight ahead on the highway and never twitch a muscle. . ® o o

DURING a 10-minute period of that lonely wait for a ride, I thought everyone on U. 8. 40 was turning off at the next intersection. Six drivers motioned with their hands that they were turning and tried to maka me believe that they would help if they could. Many of the truck drivers looked at me and I thought they disliked leaving a comedian on the corner, But they adhered to company rules and didn’t violate the “No Rider” stipulation. I don’t blame women for ignoring hitchhikers. Too risky. It Is comical to see them veer away to the center lane as if the man on the corner was going to leap on the fender. o Oo. ob

AS I SAID, Jack Sharp finally stopped after I had waited 65 minutes. When I told him I was going to the next block he took the request graciously and said he hoped the ride helped me out. : Almost another hour went by before I called it quits. No rides. And that, friends, complicates my system of beating the transportation problem terribly. In the long run it would be

@

The Indianapolis

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 1951

Paved With Good Intentions—

|

Little Hoover Unit On R

By IRVING LEIBOWITZ Like the little old lady who lived in a shoe, Indiana has so many bureaus, departments, agencies, councils and commisisons it doesn't know what to do. Some are important, some not so important. Some

duplicate each other. But they all have one thing in common —each and every one costs money.

The state legislature, noting the mounting growth of the groups, created a governmental study commission for the purpose of making the state operate on a shoestring rather than like the bewildered old lady in the shoe.

This grcup was labeled the “Little Hoover * Commission” because it was modeled after

i the Hoover Commission which

‘better, I suppose, to wait for a bus or walk a few

blocks. In order to make my idee work, we would have to launch a big educational program to get more cooperation from the driving public. My plan is workable and I think it ;8 sound. You need a lot of patience. Do you think we could put over a city-wide hitchhiking plan? (Ed’s Note: All of Mr. Sovola’s hitchhiking activities were In violation of an Indiana State Statute which forbids the solicitation of rides. At press time Prosecutor Frank Fairchild had not filed charges against Mr. Inside.)

Bootleg Hooch Back As Taxes Cut Legit

squeezings and the other children of wood alcohol which are bred in cellars and barns and bear no seal of Sam's approval. Se S 2 KNOWING US as a drinking nation the latter alternative is the one we are in process of accepting, merely because we have already proved that we will drink anything if it's cheap enough. You can buy bootleg for a buck a pint or two bucks the fifth in most cities, as opposed to about four dollars for a cheap and legal blend on which the tax nip is some 60 per cent of the purchase price. This is known as slaying the keg that bled the golden stream into the treasury's coffers, and simultaneously sets up the new problem of extra law enforcement and the high cost of corruption and ensuing crime. It is as fine a springboard for the old days of gangster rule as has come down the pike lately, and seems just a touch simple on the part of the tax collectors. You can tax any luxury out of existence and into the beckoning arms of a cheap and illegal substitute. It may be of momentary delight to the sisters of the WCTU that the working man is soon to be deprived of his Saturday fifth of forgetfulness, but no high moral achievement actually will be registered when whiskey becomes too expensive for you and me. © & Prohibition proved us a nation of swiggers and gulpers, and repeal has done little to disprove it. They still take it straight in the South’ and West, and the effete East drinks whisky on the rocks and neat gin under the. name of Martini. A switchback to the shuddery gulp of sheep-dip won’t rearrange the drinking habits of the majority very drastically. And then come all the side-bar delights of illegal drinking—the delicious uncertainty as you down the alky-and-ginger ale as to whether you will be able to see tomorrow, the sporting thrill of the perforated stomach, the exciting vistas of purple reptiles on the ceiling . . . Oh Boy! The gaudy era of my youth is just over the horizon, and you can thank the greed of the tax grabbers for the right to rap on a smoky cellar door and the muttered words: “Joe sent me.”

Y olumnist Tries On ,/ Outfit of a Sheik

letter from a bridegroom he'd recently married. The bridegroom said: : “Dear Rabbi, I want to thank you for the beautiful way you brought my happiness to a conclusion.” Well, tomorrow, you globe-trotters push on to Istanbul for a look at Turkey . .. and speaking of Turkey . . . how's everything around Broadway? So Hb THE MIDNIGHT EARL IN NEW YORK ... A successful TV actress has fallen so hard-for an actor here that she’s taken an apartment next to his and is trying to get her husband, in Europe, to stay away indefinitely. He suspects nothing . . . Chesterfield’s talking to Jerry Lester about a possible TV show. ‘ The Park Avenue Restaurant was sold for 50 gees to L.I. building contractor John Rugglero . . . Jerry Lewis’ doctor wouldn't let him fly here to catch his father, Danny Lewis, at the Paramount so Danny taped a show and sent it to the Coast instead. o> o> oo B'WAY BULLETINS-—Milton Berle offered Joe Walcott $23,000 for a week of personal appearances with him but was turned down as Joe's in train-

ing. '. . . The Shuberts are producing 11-hour musicals for TV.... Mario Lanza may star

in a film version of “Carousel.” . + « The Rev. Bill Bailey returned to Harlem from his tour of one nighters in a new Cadfllac. . . . A famous bop artist, picked a year ago as most promising in a strange field, was picked up on dope charges. +. « + Today's Daily Double: Chicago beauty Nancy Ahner and Greg Bautzer. . . . Bill Miller's Riviera will start serving drinks at 2:30 p. m. Primary Day. . . . Manufacturers are . pushing a campaign to make this year’s Valentine Day an occasion to gift men as well as women. , , . Priscilla Callan’s one of the en-

Sai

Miss Callan

semble beauts at the Latin quarter, * 9 2

EARL'S PEARLS . . . Donald Richard's uncle just bought a duck farm but imagines things won't pick > anu he can pick down. ; i WISH I'D SAID THAT: “Taxes are like golf— you drive hard to get near the green and then wind up in a hole =-Padie Davis. : :

Comic Farrar Taffy Tuttle why she « the flies in her home and was told, “rd let them go barefoot.” , , , That's Earl,

fons tL Har ,

acini

| self,

made a similar study of the federal government, ” = ” FEW HOOSIERS disagree with the intent of the legislature. But many seasoned politiclans seem to think that like the road to Hell, the road to a streamlined state government will be paved with good intentions only. The record,- these skeptical politicians say, speaks for it-

The 1951 General Assembly,

| loaded with promises of econ-

|

| chologist, has

|

| from ; call “a

omy and a program to eliminate 15 “non-essential” agencies, ended the session by effecting no economies and, in a surprising about face, added 19 new groups. Members of the new commission, however, are optimistic about the future. The commission will study and investigate state government for the purpose of making recommendations to the 1953 General Assembly for the following five expressed purposes:

ONE—Limit expenses to the lowest amount consistent with efficiency in performance.

T W O—Eliminate duplication

| of service.

THREE -— Consolidate servfces, activities and functions of a similar nature. FOUR—Abolish unneeded services, FIVE—Define and limit executive snd administrative functions, services and activities.

Gambling Fever—

Hypnosis Didn't

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fourth of a series which analyzes the make-up of the habitual sucker for gambling games.

CHAPTER FOUR

By MURRAY ROBINSON A middle-aged woman recently visited Dr. Alfred E. Johns, in his office near Times Square in New York. Her problem was one which Dr. ‘Johns, a consultant psygiven much thought. She was suffering what the psychologists compulsive gambling

’

‘

neurosis.’ She was. in short ual horse-player. “T tell. my patients,” Dr Johns explains, “that the very fact that they recognize their problems and seek help is half the battle. But this lady came to me for a different reason, I soon found out.” “Doctor,” the female horse player said, “I want you to help me. I want you to hypnotize me. I will try to pick winners under hypnosis.” Dr. Johns reeled slightly, but the new scientific experiment proved an irresistible challenge. He went to it. The patient, clutching a Racing Form, underwent a light hypnosis and picked a horse. The next day she was back with the result of her reverie.

an habit-

» » » THE LITTLE Hooverites take their first step forward Monday when they officially open their office on the third floor of the Statehouse. Noble Shaw, Republican poli-

ticlan of Crawfordsville, has been appointed executive secretary of the commission at a Yearly salary of $7500. Mr, Shaw =aid the commission prohibited him from making any statements to the press about the functions of the group. He said that all statements and press releases must come from Paul Moellering, Republican member of the Indiana House. of Representatives and ch¥irman of the Little Hooverites,

Since Mr. Moellering lives in Ft. Wayne and will be occupied with being president of the Moellering Supply Co., finding out what is happening or not happening on the Hoover front is not expected to be an easy task. n ” n

MR. SHAW and a staff of assistants will start digging into the jumble of state agencies as soon as they can organize the office routine, he said.

Members of the commission, who will check up on the operation »f the staff from time to time, include: 3 Otto K. Jensen—State Examfiner, Democrat from Arcadia. Former Township Trustee and director of Indianapolis Redevelopment Commission. Hobert Creighton — Former Republican candidate for Governor of Warsaw. Former Speaker of the Indiana House. Edwin Beaman — Republican State Senator of Princeton. A dairyman.

EDWARD WHITCOMB —Re-. publican attorney of Hayden. State Senator. Member Farm Bureau. Hugh A. Barnhart—Publisher of Rochester News-Sentinel. Also, president Rochester Telephone Co. and president of In-

“That horse was a stiff,” she said shortly, “Let's try again.”

The experiment Was répeatell:"

The result was the same. “Looks like you can't help me,” the woman said. “All I want is winners. Goodby.” 2 ” = DR. JOHNS’ ex-patient typifies the habitual horse players who pile crackpot ideas for beating the races on top of financial worries and the hidden cause of their gambling neurosis. The result is complete mental

chaos, compounded of worry, occultism, “scientific” systems, superstition and hunches,

Habitual horse-plavers keep banging their heads against the brick wall of sure loss, but they find hundreds of fascinating ways to do it. Two Times Square horseplayers recently invested the price of a Daily Double in an unique sortie into the occult. Object: Winners. They bought a ouija board. 2 ~ » THEY SAT DOWN in their hall bedroom and put the board on their knees and their fingertips on the gimmick. One of them murmured hoarsely: “Give us a winner.” The thing raced from letter to letter on the board and spelled out the name of a horse. The occultists galloped to get

also has mak

‘NEW HOME OF ECONOMY'—State's Little Hoover Commission takes first step to eliminate

PAGE 23

ift office for Department of Financial Institutions. If Little Hoover Commission makes

crowded li at Statehouse by crowding in a new makeshift headquarters (center). Top floor

progress, th

diana Democratic Editorial Association. Howard Batman--Democrat Terre Haute attorney and fore

mer member of the General As-

sembly. Also former ® Public Counselor. Paul C. Moellering — Ft.

makeshift quarters will be removed along with some "nonessential" agencies.

Wayne Republican member of the General Assembly. Also, former Deputy Township Truse tee, ?

Help Her Pick’ Winner

a bet down. The horse ran - second. Back to their room stormed thé breed-improvers. With trembling fingers, ‘they, put. the

board back’ into. position.

“Hey youn,” one of them snarled accusingly. “Your pig run second.” .

The board got busy. “I told you to play it to place,” it spelled out swiftly.

“Don’t give us no alibis, you lousy tout!” the occultist screamed. He smashed the board before it could reply— and he and his partner went back to more conservative methods of picking losers.

Dr. Johns has pointed out that strong belief in superstition is typical of certain neurotics, gamblers among t» : Thus, some horse - players become imbuea with a fteeun.d they can't lose if they spot a white horse on the way to the track or bookie. » 5 ” WOMEN, more than men, are addicted to playing hunches, observers have noted. A woman at the track is apt to bet on a horse because its owners racing silks are the same color as a new dress she was thinking of buying. Women frequently play a horse because its name approximates that of a friend, relative, or because the jockey is “cute.” 4

What makes the “scientific” males around them blow their wigs is that these ladies sometimes come up with jufcy winBR 10 NEN - 5 “T,ucky numbers,” either seen In dreams or bought from purveyors of number lists in cerAainareas of the city, point the ‘way to poverty for some gulli‘ble horse-players. Students of racing untouched by the gambling neurosis say flatly there's no such thing as a “scientific” .system, because there are too many imponderables Among them are how a horse feels on a given afternoon and what its owmer's plans are. No one has been able to get a square answer from horse or owner. 2 on » & ROUGHLY, there are two classes of horse-playing systems. One is concerned merely with betting methods—progression, etc. The other is based on methods of picking horses and are called handicapping systems. These really turn on the flow of pseudo-scientific drivel, employing factors like “track variants,” “speed ratings,” and even “wind velocities.’ A few weeks ago at Jamaica, Bill Devine, one of Jerry O'Grady’'s ace Pinkerton operatives, pointed out a brace of earnest horse-players. They

GETTING ON-—The Philadel phia Zoo's bamboo-gorilla stood

were scribbling notes furiously as the races were run. « “They are sclentific horseplayers,” Mr. Devine sald. “They are experts on.wind vee locities.” r “Big operators,” a racetrack regular commented admiringly, “They got some secret system, They come out here with $250,000 and they bloWw it right away. Something must of went wrong.” » ” » AMONG the finest nonsciene tific systems for not beating the races are those collected by Tony Murphy, who hasn’t missed a day at the track since he was too young to get in. Mr. Murphy lists some real doozies. Two of them stand out in particular for their logic. They should, therefore, appeal to horse-players everywhere. One of them calls for a bet on any horse whose name has been misspelled in the racing entries, The other is the Chinese System. You bet on a horse only when the first letter of its name corresponds in alphabetical number to the number of its post position. Thus, if a horse by the name of Apeproval draws No 1 post posie tion, you simply must bet on it,

Next: A gambler tells of a “sure way” to “beat the house.”