Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 October 1951 — Page 25

11, 1951

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Inside Indianapolis By Ed Sovola

THE INDIANAPOLIS © Central Canal is getting its bottom lifted and ‘I went to také a look. Had $60,000 worth of diamonds on my mind. . =’ You're not supposed.to throw cans, bottles or diamonds into the canal. The Indianapolis Water Co. can prosecute if you're caught. I read the signs, One look at the canal, however, is evidence enough that few observe the warning. Everything under the kitchen sink is in the.canal. Why couldn’t $60,000 worth of diamonds be around. Howard Hoffman, who is in charge of the dredging, talked about the diamonds. He had heard the tale. One dark night a jewel thief was supposed to have been chased by local gendarmes and he wanted to get rid of the evidence. The story goes that the sack of jewels went over a bridge. It isn’t known which bridge. Good yarn. < oe be) MR. HOFFMAN'S SON, Melvin, who operates the Bay City crane, hasn't seen anything worthwhile from the day he bégan digging in the canal around Military Park. From that point all the way to St. Clair St. bridge, where I talked to Melvin and his dad, he has seen only bottles, cans, more bottles, Melvin said a couple of men found a rifle, two pistols and a shotgun. The artillery was in the same shape the canal is in—awful. On my tour I saw a trunk, hod carrier's hod, folding chair, section of bed springs, bicycle and automobile tires, crowbar, rolling pin, shoes, hat, thousdnds of bottles and cans and, plain junk that defies description. Melvin made the ticker flutter when he said

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- SPARKLING CANAL—The excavators of the Central Canal talk about diamonds and haul ‘up broken beer bottles and stuff.

It Happened Last Night

By Earl Wilson

NEW YORK, Oct. 11—Every fall, several people who claim they just felt the public pulse

tell me, “This is the year Milton Berle gets knocked off.” But the next spring he still leads the TV league.

I've been looking in on Frank Sinatra who must be brave because he goes up against Uncle Miltie this season with lots of handicaps. 1 attended one of. Frankie's “Buck -Berle” sessions. 1 hung over a bed at Comedian Jackie Gleason's room at Doctor's Hospital.

Frankie throws Gleason—the hottest new comedian around-—in against Berle on his second show, Oct. 16. Frank, looking thin. and

smoking a pipe, was just one of 10 guys packed in the room, leaving hardly any space for a nurse who came in to give Gleason a pill to take for hiz diet. Before Frank arrived, Gleason had set an autographed picture of Ava Gardner on his night table. Frank, when he came in, read the inscription. which said: 7 “To Jackie—With all my love. Remember that week-end?” It was fdked, of course. Max Gordon, who will produce the first seven Sinatra shows, if he can stand the pace, sat with his hat on and said to Gleason who was eating a steak: “Now if in some strange way the girl (Anne Jeffreys) could be singing to you..." “If she sang to me, it'd be in some strange way,” Gleason flipped. oe oe o>

BERLE was never mentioned. But everybody knew this was the Big Effort to cut into Berle's fantastic rating. Gleason's anxious to oppose Berle for personal reasons. To say that Gleason “won't dis-

cuss them" is a lie. He will discuss them. At great length. But this is not that kind of a column.

Repeatedly Gleason reminded Sinatra-of his promise to give him a new Cadillac limousine for doing one show. : “And no old 1951 models. It's got to be 1952 and have a telephone,” Gleason said. I.don't want-to- disillusion you but-we're-buy-ing this car from James Melton,” spoke up Sinatra writer Harry Crane. They talked and talked, and made a date to meet again. Sinatra, of course, knows what he's up against: Berle is the greatest all-round talent in television, he's how practically a ‘national habit,” he'll have about four times as much to spend as Sinatra, and he'll also have three or four times as many stations seeing him. What's in it for Frankie? ,A long chance to cut him down. And also... money.

*. . *, '. oo oe ow

IN THE OPINION of many students of comedy, Berle is the top in his field, just as Faye

Americana ; By Robert C. Ruark

NEW YORK, Oct. 11—Fellow named Perkins Bailey has just come up with some conversation on what the men will be wearing 1000 years hence, and one sentence especially intrigues me, We will have at it in a minute. Mr. Bailey is the he-fashion editor for a couple of magazines, Look, I belleve, and its stunted brother, Quick. He also designed the gentlemen's wear for a new movie called “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” having to do with what happens when the. Martians scramble out of a flying saucer. This would make him an expert, but since I am inclined to be dubious about what necktie I am wearing next Tuesday, if there is a next, Tuesday, I can't quite reckon with what occult powers keeps people hep about the next upcoming thousands annums. o> oe oo BROTHER BAILEY figures that the gents’ fittings of the future will. be the ultimate in simplicity, “reduced to the basic common denominator.” I suppose by that he means any of us who're left will probably be running around raw, or at best in a G-string. That seems to make some sense, because there are bound to be a few simple pygmies, Australian bushmen and the odd cannibal left when civilization has rid us of Rogers Peet, Christian Dior and each other. Our expert figures we have become a “more realistic world, and that clothes are always an expression of people's way of thinking. If this be true I do not have to wait until 2951 to describe the national costume. It will consist of a pair of patched pants, a frayed shirt, shoes with cardboard in lieu of leather for the soles, and no watch in the pocket, No wallet, either.

ACTUALLY, T despair of the efforts to re-

form the male animal in terms of clothing. Each tribe has figured out what best becomes it and is pretty apt to stick with it. The advertising j ] A

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Gem Cache ‘Eyed

In Canal Dredging

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his clam shell bucket scooped up a briefcase. Were there diamonds in it? “It fell apart in the. truck,” laughed Melvin, “I didn’t see any sparklers.”

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JOHN HOFFMAN & SONS, excavators, are rushing the job. The water has been cut off at 17th St. This is a good time of the year to dredge because the river is low. One of these days, Indianapolis Power & Light Co. will need water and they're going to scream for a full canal. It’s been several years since the bridges have been repaired and the canal dredged. Mr. Hoffman would love to run a bulldozer along the bottom and the banks. The water company says no, and requests that sleeping water mains be left to lie. Mr. Hoffman has to use a ctane and hand shovels, The excavators, even though accustomed to weird sights, are surprised at the condition of the canal. Next to plants the canal is fairly clean. Next to private homes it's a different story. They can tell you where the wine drinkers live, where the beer and whisky flows. In this respect, one might say the canal hasn't changed since it was built in 1832. Workmen, mostly Irishmen, were imported along with strong drink to do the work. : .

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QUITE OFTEN free-for-alls broke out in the camps. A local historian wrote about the “gangs of laborers, mainly Irishmen, whose disputes with spade and shillalah gave animation to their encampments.” : There also is record of an encounter a Rev. James Havens had when he began a camp meeting near the canal. A small gang came over to break it up. Rev. Mavens took on the leader and made him see the light. He didn’t have any more trouble after he made his point and showed the men the error of their ways. It's hard to imagine that over 100 years ago the canal afforded the best and cheapest way to travel north as far as Crown Hill Cemetery It wasn't a one-way ride. In those days a ride on the canal boat was considered romantic. The fare was 10c¢ each way. The roundtrip fare was unknown. Railroads eventually ®uined the canal

business. “oS “

IN THE EARLY days of the canal, muskrats caused a great deal of “trouble. The company used io pay a vounty. There are no nskrats to

pa zeen now. 1 don’t suppose a self-respecting

mudkrat would care to {ndulge in water sports under present conditions. I did. see plenty of rats. Mr. Hoffman admitted he had no hope of uncovering treasure. Long ago he. has learned when you dig a hole.in the ground all you have is a hole. When you excavate the canal, you simply make more room for debris, warning signs notwithstanding. Besides, if he did haul up the diamonds, they'd be awful dirty. You look if you want to, I give up.

Frankie Opposes Miltie In Television Tussle

Emerson is in hers, .and Ben Hogan is in his, and Gleason has got to establish his place. It was when it was all over that a waitress popped in and said the kitchen staff wanted Frank to stop in. “Hey, nurse,” boomed Gleason. “Did you send my tray back? I think Sinatra was on it." Frankie dropped in and signed autographs and even the older girls sighed that he was goodlooking. : “Do vou ever run into Berle?” I asked Gleason. “No, but I'd like to run over him,” said Gleason. “Maybe T will, too, with my new Cadillac!" And with Gleason having that kind of a mental attitude to start with, and hoping he can be on some of Frank's later shows, too. it looks lke the scrap should be ‘right interestin’.”

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THE MIDNIGHT EARL . . . Though “protected by Harry Gross, some of those 18 cops trapped themselves on income falsifications which can be used now that Gross _ won't talk . . . Eleanor Roose- pr velt on a trip to India for the United Nations will try to straighten out Nehru's attitude. (At the request of the White House?)

= ” = TODAY'S BEST LAUGH: Beautiful, shapely Janis Paige was well cast in very funny “Remains to be Seen,” which opened Wednesday night. I loved her line about how, while a band vocalist, she always changed clothes jn the bus with 18 male musicians. “0, I always hung a sheet up in front,” she said, “so the bus driver couldn't see me.” :

= = » WISH I'D SAID THAT: Mae West told Danny Thomas she's ° rich “because I'm always one chump ahead of other women.”

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GOOD RUMOR MAN: Ambassador O’'Dwyer'’s resignation has been promised well ahead of the 1952 election excitement to spare embarrassment for HST . . An uptown Protestant church posted a sign the other day, “We wish our Jewish neighbors a Happy New Year.” * o> & EARL'S PEARLS . , . Winnie Garrett, the §1000-a-week stripteaser, maintains: “I've got a lot to show for my money.” oo oe o> PETER DONALD, a football fan, says many a letter man can't write one , .,, That's Earl, brother,

Janis Paige

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Men. Not Women. Are Real Fashion Slaves

man is lost, without the Brooks Brothers gray flannel, black knit tie, and button-down shirt. The Australian Abbo thinks that nothing at all is an ideal costume. My old African skinner, Katunga, was a symphony in ragged khaki shorts, .a secondhand sweater that reached his knees, and a toothless grin. If we had any sense at all we would wear shorts and docked-sleeved shirts in the summer in cities, but we save this array for the beaches and mountains, where it's cool. Where it's hot we still stick to the necktie, the double-breasted blue, and the choker collar. If you sauntered down Fifth Ave. in a pair of sensible walking shorts the cops would grab You as indecent, but if you go to the resorts the dames show up buck-nekkid in Bikinis and the guys are simply clad in a breechloth. dd THE MALE has always figured out some way to torture himself. If it is not a stiff collar and a necktie it was a ruffled neck-cloth, a powdered wig, or, in the case of savages, filed teeth and self-inflicted scars to make him pretty. You cannot change him, once his mind is made up, because the man, not the woman, is the real slave to fashion. You will see the dames parade publicly in awful-awfuls of dress and decoration that would make a man recoil in horror. In New York they take away your citizenship if you wear brown shoes at night, which is one reason I may be deported back to North Carolina, where they don’t care what color they are, or even if you have 'em. : Wu THE DOUBLE-BREASTED blue has become the symbol of self-respect, although it attracts lint, dog hairs, and stray wisps of illegal blond locks. It is with us for at least half of the next thousand. years, for sure, despite the efforts of Hollywood and the he-fashionists to change over to something more violent in color and design. The male of the species is real sot in his ways, as any wife who ever gave away an ancient husbandly garment can tell you. Sell the sofa, honey, but leave that tattered tweed, that battered hat, alone,

”

Jordan Will Be the Sponsor—

‘Co-Op’ Concert Series Due Here

By HENRY BUTLER NEW experiment in co-operative concerts will start here next Thurs-

‘day under auspices of -

Butler University's Jordan College of Music. Ozan Marsh, head of Jordan's piano department, has arranged a series of four important recitals by eminent pianists from other universities and colleges. Planned for students, the series will offer “Carnegie Hall music at neighborhood theater prices,” Mr. Marsh says. “Our object is to bring the artist to the student directly and eliminate the usually greedy middleman. With some managements asking up to 35 per cent of an artist's earnings, we're going to try on a small scale what we hope can be done later on a much larger scale. We hope eventually to build a Midwest concert circuit primarily for students. Nobody will get rich from this, but the artists will have attentive audi- " ences and students will get infpiration and hear repertoire,” Mr. Marsh explained. " ” = AS NOW SCHEDULED, the coming Jordan series will open at 8 p. m. néxt Thursday in Riddick auditorium with a recital by Leo Sirota, chairman

_of the piano department of the

St. Louis Institute of Music. Mr. Sirota, an internationally famed pianist, has had an exceptionally colorful career, including study with the legendary Ferruccio Busoni and, more recently, four years’ imprisonment? in a‘ Japanese concentration camp during World War II. His program for next Thursday will

include, + as major works, the “Etudes symphoniques” of Schumann and Liszt’s “Don Juan” Fantasy. n n ”

THER GUEST artists

on the series will be Elizabeth Travis, head of

the piang department of Millikin Conservatory, Decatur, Ill.. Nov. 15; Stanley Fletcher, piano department chairman of the University of Illinois music school, Dec. 13, .and Franz Bodfors. resident pianist of DePauw University's School of Music, Jan. 10, 1952. Miss Travis, former protege Mme. Olga Samaroff at Juilliard and subsequently pupil of Artur Schnabel, has made seven appearances as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and three with the Chicago Symphony. She also has made three tours of South America, and will fly here directly from a tour scheduled to conclude in Bermuda. Mr. Fletcher, former pupil of Guy Maier before Mr. Maier's term as head of Jordan's piano department some years ago, has appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony, and has

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Note to Broadway Producers—

The ‘Road’ Still Shows Signs Of Life

By RECHARD KLEINER Times Special Writer NEV YORK, Oct. 11 The “Road,” smart Broadway producers said a

year ago, was dead. But this year there are signs that the corpse is twitching. An NEA survey of Broadway producers shows distinct signs of life, The resurrection is still feeble — possibly no more than 30 shows will tour the nation this

season—but the prophets of doom who said road shows would succumb to TV and/or popcorn machines are changing their tune. People still like to see live actors. As proof of the road's vitality, consider the Metropolitan Opera Association. For the first time in its long, pear-shaped history, it is sending a company on the road to present only one opera. The English version of Johann Strauss’ “Fledermaus” dressed and streamlined like a musical comedy, is the opera which will tour, A five-month schedule has already been worked out. From Philadelphia, the company. will sing before audiences throughout the East in October, then across Ohio and western New York in November. In December they'll be in Indiana, Michigan and Washington, D. C, and in January they'll go from Chicago through the Midwest . as far as Minneapolis.

” ” n THAT WON'T BE the end of the tour, but the remainder of the itinerary hasn't been planned.

Legitimate Broadway productions, possibly 30 strong, will

pack up their scenery and take

to the road. But that figure is still far below pre-war (and pre-high-cost) days. The statistic most quoted .along Broadway is that this year’s schedule is about a third under the pre-war average. There is still a considerable difference of opinfon among leading Broadway producers about which way the road will turn. This season's tentative total of 30 shows which will tour is easily better than last year. But some cynical Broadwayites point out that the 195051 season was the rock-bottom year of road show history and

* and “South Pacific”

DePauw Bach specialist . , , Franz Bodfors.

concertized extensively in the East and Midwest. Last season he gave a recital at Indiana University School of Music, Bloomington, in exchange for one given at the University of Illinois by Anis Fuleihan, IU pianist-composer, = n J] ACCENT ON NOVELTY apparently will characterize Mr, Fletcher's program. He's bringing a woodwind quintet from the U. of I. music department, plus an extra pianist and two percussionists. With the latter three, he will perform Bartok’'s Concerto -for Percus-

add that this season could hardly be worse There are some who say the future prosperity of the road hinges on how well Broadway does. If Broadway turns out big hits -— things “like “Oklahoma” it is only natural that the folks west of the Hudson River will want to see them some day, too. But, others point out, Broadway has learned to be careful what it exports. Serious plays, even with top companies and big-name stars, seldom make money. Only musicals and light, escapist comedies are fairly certain of prospering. r ® 8% a a THE EFFECT of television on the future-of the road fis debatable. One school feels that the novelty of TV has worn off, and movies haven't turned

out consistently good enough pictures, ‘so people will turn to road shows.- On the other hand, there are some Broadway. producers who look on TV as the last straw because, as one man puts it, “it offers a lot more for a lot less.” The majority, however, feels that the people in the country at large are hungry for good theater. If Broadway can send out salable attractions and beat the high-cost factor, the consensus is that the road will return to its pre-war popularity. “Mister Roberts,” the comedy

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1951

The Indiamapolic T

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sion and Two Pianos, undoubtedly an Indianapolis premiere. And the woodwind quintet will contribute interesting chambermusic items. Mr. Bodfors, who won aeclaim for his appearance with Fabien Sevitzky and the. Indianapolis Symphony in an all-Bach program a couple of seasons ago, probably will play an all-Bach-program on Jan. 10. Another Schnabel pupil, Mr. Bodfors for the past couple of seasons has been devoting himself to playing all the keyboard (nonorgan) works of Bach in a series of DePauw recitals. Altogether, the series as planned by Mr. Marsh will offer some fabulous music to students who otherwise might not be able to hear it,

WITHIN THREE DAYS after the series first was announced to Jordan

students, the entire ca-

pacity of Riddick auditorium had been sold out. “This thing is really moving, Mr, Marsh said enthusiastically. One reason why it has been possible to offer the series to students at a registration fee of only $2 is that proceeds above expenses will benefit a worthy cause. Hence, Mr. Marsh's guest artists have agreed to play for a small fraction of their customary fees. Beneficiary of the series will be the Betty Phillips Memorial Award, established last year in honor of the late Miss Phil-

PAGE 25

ee “This thing is really moving: Ozan Marsh; —— Rr

. Great tradition of Busoni , , . Leo Sirota.

who had been a senior piano student at Jerdan. The award will be granted at suitable intervals to young artists

lips,

of exceptional caliber to aid them in giving an Indianapolis debut recital and further pure suing their studies.

FOR THE HINTERLANDS—Caught in the midst of singing "Bushel and a Peck," this is the national company of "Guys and Dolls," one of 30 Broadway stage productions taking to the road this

season,

about wartime Navy life, is one show that has been a consistent success on the road. This season it i8 going out again on a cross-country sour, Some of its stops will be one-nighters, tougher than ever because the railroads have cut out a lot of accommodation trains that show business relied on for its moves.

Many touring companies now use trucks exclusively. Some, like “Mister Roberts,” occasionally resort to “rubber moves” and transport sets and cast by rented trucks and buses. Others try to by-pass the problem by avoiding one-nighters and sticking to the bigger cities, ” ” n SOME OF THE other shows definitely scheduled to tour this

Urge to Swipe City Hall Cornerstone— With Bottle Inside—Leads to Hoosegow

By United Press PEKIN, Ill, Oct: 11—Julius, E. Barnes, who twice failed to chisel loose the old city hall cornerstone and abscond with it, was arrested when he returned a third time and tried to haul it away with a pair of ice tongs. A bottle of choice whisky—at least 65 years old—was sealed inside. J The former Delavan, Ill, mayor ahd American Legion commander faced a hearing today on charges of being drunk and disorderly. It was understood he would demand a jury trial. :

Barnes told police he was not after the whisky. He said he just wanted to swipe the cornerstone. . :

PEKIN recently built a new city hall and the old building, completed in 1884, was torn down, leaving only the cornerstone in place. It was to be opened at a ceremony dedicat ing the new building. Bdrnes, owner of the Windsor Hotel, in company with Elton Koch, current American Legion commander of Pekin's

William Schaefer Post, and a tavern owner, crept up on the

stone in the wee hours of Monric, g

They had a chisel and a hammer with them and they were making good progress on the stone when police discovered then and sent them off with a warning.

FIFTEEN minutes later, Barnes and Koch returned to the cornerstone site and went to work again. Policemen Orville Smith and William McMillen found them, issued a sterner warning, con-

fiscated their tools and sent them on their way. At 1:45 a. m, Barnes re-

turned again. He was alone this time. He was tugging at the stone with a pair ef lceman’s tongs when Officers Smith and McMillen interrupted him and took him off to the station. He was freed on $100 bail

yesterday amd was to appear.

before Justice of the Peace Joe Aimone today, :

season are the prize-winning drama, “Death of a Salesman,” booked into 112 towns; “The Moon Is Blue,” a light comedy; Tennessee Williams' first comsedy, “The Rose Tattoo,” going on a two-year tour beginning

in November; the comedy about GIs in a Nazi prisoner of war camp, “Stalag 17.” which will go on tour in January; the hit

musical, “Guys and Dolls"; “Season in the Sun”; “Black Chiffon”; “Angel in the Pawn» shop”: “Kiss Me Kate,” and

“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” The road decline of the past few years has been caused, say producers, by four chief factors: High costs have made producers shy away from tours; stars have been unwilling to tour because they can make more in movies or television; many legitimate theaters in key cities have been turned into cinema emporiums; and inroads have been made by radio and TV. But, of late, those factors have changed. The inroads of TV haven't been so deep, some movie theaters are being changed back to legitimate stages, stars are showing renewed interest in touring; and producers are learning how ta cut corners and costs.

So there are definite signs that the road is coming back.

Slowly, but surely. J ' MN