The Indianapolis times. [volume], January 15, 1930, Home Edition, Image 1

About The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965

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1 SY KJPPS -//OWAKBI
CLASH ON TROOP USE IN FLOOD ZONE
YOUNG KILLER
lOENTIRED AS
BANK ROSSER
Edward Prater, 21, Out on
Parole. Held Suspect in
Southport ‘Job.*
DEFIANT UNDER QUIZ
Cashier Declares He Was
Bandit; Questioned on
Fairland Holdup.
A school-boy bandit killer paroled
after serving four years in the state
reformatory on a manslaughter
charge, today was identified posi
tively as one of two men who, on
Dec. 20, held up and robbed the
Citizens bank of Southport of $2,300.
Trapped, after planning another
holdup, according to police, Edward
Prator, 21, of 2008 East Maryland
street, was identified by Sid E.
Wright, cashier of the Southport
bank, at police headquarters here to
day. His alleged accomplice in the
holdup is being sought.
Viewed by officials of the Fairland
National bank of Fairland. Prater
could not be identified positively as
one of the bandit trio who robbed
that institution of SI,BOO on Jan. 7.
He resembled one of the trio, D. G.
Gordon, cashier of the Fairland
bank, declared.
Denies He's Guilty
With the defiance which marked
his attitude when, in 1925, he was
arrested with Lawrence Cottle, 16.
on charges of the murder of For
rost Van Devere, 42, street car con
ductor on the Lexington avenue car
line. Prater contended his innocence
of the Southport holdup today, de
spite identification by Cashier
Wright.
"I’ll go to the electric chair before
I’ll tell why we staged the holdup,"
Prater told police in 1955. after his
arrest. In the robbery of a street
car. Prater admitted he shot and
fatally wounded Van Devere.
His attitude today was much the
same.
Paroled from the state reforma
tory Dec. 6, he is alleged to have
engaged in the Southport holdup
fourteen days later.
Hear of Holdup Plot
Police received information that
Prater and another man planned to
hold up the Hoover jewelry store at
1502 East Washington street and laid
■a trap for the two. Knowing that
Prater had ‘hot in a former holdup
and fearing injury to crowds on the
street, the officers, laying a trap,
were ur'ble to take precautions last
Saturday night to insure capture of
the two. The two took alarm and
did not stage the holdup.
Prater was arrested Tuesday
eight.
Prater's youth saved him from a
first degree murder charge in the
Van Devere killing. He was per
mitted to plead guilty to a man
slaughter charge, after admitting he
fired the shot which killed Van De
vere.
Tried to Hide Identity
The Southport bank robbery was
staged by two bandits who had
smeared their faces with dirt in an
attempt to hide their identity. They
used a stolen automoile to escape,
abandoning the car at a spot where
they had parked another machine
to make their getaway.
Police today refused to say
whether they had traced any con
nection between Prater and Loren
McMinds, 29. held in jail at Shelby
ville on a charge of being one of the
bandit trio staging the Fairland
bank holdup.
McMinds also is a paroled prison
er from the state reformatory.
INDICT FIVE IN MURDER
Grand Jury Frees Nine Others in
Gastonia Textile Case.
Bv F nited Press
GASTONIA. N. C.. Jan. 15.—Five
of fourteen men held for the fatal
shooting of Mrs. Ella May Wiggins
tn a textile strike riot last fall were
indicted today by the Gaston coun
ty grand jury. Those indicted were
Fred Morrow, Troy Jones, O. H.
Lunsford, Lowry Davis and Horace
Wheeler, the latter of whom was al
leged to have fired the fatal shot.
Nine others were freed.
More Big News
There’s other big news to
cay and on Page 9 you will find
the latest development in con
gress on President Hoover’s dry
reform program.
The United States delegation
prepares to leave their ship at
Plymouth to depart for Lon
don, where the five-power na
val parley will start. Page 3.
Besides, you'll find another
big layout of pictures on Page
2. showing the extent of the
flood in Indianapolis and
southern Indiana,
And in addition. The Times'
usual number of interesting
and entertaining features.
Complete Wire Reports 'of UNITED PRESS, The Greatest World'Wid e News Service
The Indianapolis Times
Partly cloudy tonight and Thursday; colder tonight with lowest temperature about 5; continued cold Thursday and Friday.
VOLUME 41—NUMBER 213
Bandit Suspect
Edward Prater, he’d as Southport
bank bandit suspect.
HUNT PERSONS
MAROONED BY
SNOWSTORMS
Recount of Blizzard Toll
Reveals Heroism of
Rescue Parties.
By United Preen
CHICAGO, Jan. 15. Heroism
and loyalty of rescue workers shone
from today's bleak chronicle of
storm and suffering over central I
and western America.
Several hundred men, comprising ;
at least a score of rescue and relief |
parites, battled through snow-choked j
mountain canyons in the far west .
seeking persons or attempting to !
bring out those marooned by a •
series of furious blizzards.
Kip Rhinelander, wealthy young
New Yorker, and three companions |
were safe at Las Vegas, Nev., after ;
being snowbound for nearly a week !
in a Campbell Park mountain i
cabin. The party was rescued late j
Tuesday after a group headed by !
District Attorney Harley Harmon j
and Postmaster Robert Griffith of
Las Vegas had struggled through j
deep drifts for hours to reach them, i
Rhinelander and his friends, Mike !
Mahlan, Jay Simmons and Pat Roo- j
ney, suffered no ill effects. They j
had been marooned in the cabin.!
thirty-five miles from Las Vegas,
when blizzards swept the mountain
resort. Their rescue was made pos
sible by a tractor, which cleared a
path almost to the resort.
Nearly one hundred miners and
cowboys battled through the snow
filled gullies near Pioche, Nev*
seeking Maury Graham, West
ern Air Express mail pilot, missing
since he took off in a snowstorm
from Las Vegas Friday to fly to
Salt Lake City. Utah. Blizzards
prevented resumption of search by
air. Hope of finding the aviator alive
virtually has been given up.
OUSTER SUPPORTED
Cleveland Council to Draw
Bill Against Hopkins.
Bu United Press
CLEVELAND, Jan. 15.—Charges i
supporting the ouster of former city :
manager William R. Hopkins are to!
be drafted tonight at a special
meeting of city council here.
Hopkins’ discharge was voted by a
Republican majority Monday night.
The councilmen will meet tonight
and assemble their individual com
plaints against the former manager
and compose a formal set of
charges.
Councilmanic land scandals which I
marked the last year of the Hopkins !
administration will figure in the ac- j
cusations, it was said, although |
Hopkins will not be charged directly j
with any participation in these.
Hourly Temperatures
6a. m 18 10 a. m..... 20 |
7a. m 18 11 a. m 21 |
Ba. m 18 12 (noon).. 22 j
9a. m 19 Ip. m 22 I
NAB BLOND GUNWOMAN
AFTER RUNNING BATTLE
Bv Cnitrd Puss
PHOENIX. Ariz.. Jan. 15.—Three
transcontinental fugitives, one of
them a woman fleeing from murder
charges in Pennsylvania, came to
end of their trail in Jail here today.
The woman, captured in a mes
quite wilderness with her two men
companions, after a running pistol
battle with deputy sheriffs, admitted
she was Irene Schroeder, wanted in
Pennsylvania on charges of murder
ing a highwav patrolman at Butler
"Sure, I'm Irene Schroeder, but I
don’t know anything about any kill
ings.” she was quoted by Sheriff
Charles Wright.
"On* of the men is Glen Dargue,
FLOOD THREAT
■ TO CITY PAST;
COLD COMING
White River Begins Slow
Recession, With Level
Near 18 Feet.
MERCURY TO BE HELP
Thousand Sandbags Placed
Behind Barricades at
Warfleigh.
Danger of flood devastation in
Indianapolis was past this after
noon, United States weather bureau
authorities believed, as White river,
four inches above flood stage, be
gan to recede slowly.
At 7 a. m. the stream’s tide was
stationary at 18.3 feet, and shortly
after noon it was falling, with a
level then of 18.2 feet. Flood level
here is 18 feet.
Cold weather and fair skies today
averted further floods. Still colder
weather due tonight, when the
mercury is expected to drop to 5
degrees above zero, probably will
hasten recession of flood waters, in
the opinion of those battling White
river. Fall creek and Big Eagle
creek.
Levees Strengthened
Levees at 'Warfleigh, which threat
ened to give way Tuesday, were
strengthened by a thousand sand
bags placed on them by 150 city
street department workers, who
labored all night.
Summer resorts north of the city,
including Lagoon park, Ravenswood,
Riverview park and Rocky Ripple
still were under water today. Some
cottages were submerged to their
roofs.
Two bridges over White river here
still were closed to traffic this
morning, because city streets! de
partment officials feared the swift
current might sweep away support
ing abutments.
At the West New York sweet
bridge the brunt of the current
shunted by junk piled in the river,
north of the span, weakened the*
western foundation so greatly that
it shifted Tuesday. Street commis
sioners ordered it closed.
Bridge Is Reinforced
The West Raymond street bridge
was barricaded to bar flooded sec
tions to motorists.
The Belt railway bridge, north of
West Raymond street, was reinforced
Tuesday night with sixty carloads
of rock and graveL
At Warfleigh this morning the
river swirled within three feet of
the top of the levees. Shallow wa
ter that stood in residential lots and
streets nearby Tuesday night was
frozen.
Ice was forming today, strength
ening the earth walls of the levees.
Water covered U. S. Road 31, north
of Broad Rippple, near the Broad
Ripple dam.
Foads Are Flooded
Roads flooded were:
Road 14. between Akron and Sil
ver lake; Road 27, closed at Geneva,
traffic iW’s Roads 18 and 16;
United States 31, closed north of
Seymour, traffic routed from Colum
bus to North Vernon on Road 7 and
on Road 50 back to United States
31; Road 27. traffic moving through
floods at Waverly, closed between
Bloomington and Bedford; Road 39,
cuts off Martinsville from Road 67;
Road 46, closed east and west of
Columbus and between Nashville
and Bloomington: Road 50, closed
at Medora, between Washington
and Vincennes and at Shoals; Road
54. closed at Switz City; Road 57,
closed at Newberry; Road 59, closed
north of Clay City; Road 61, closed
between Vincennes and Petersburg;
Road 62, closed three miles east of
Leavenworth; Road 63, closed be
tween Clinton and Lyford; Road 67,
closed between* Martinsville and
Worthington: Road 150, closed west
of West Baden; Road 3, closed
north of Bluffton; Road 16, closed
between Decatur and Ohio line;
Road 21, closed in Peru; United
States 30, may be closed any time
west of Ft. Wayne; Road 18, closed
east of Kokomo; U. 8. 24, closed
east and west of Peru.
my husband, and the other is Joe
F Wells, a fellow we picked up in
Texas,” she said.
Pittsburgh authorities telegraphed
that the woman, Dague and Craw
ford are charged with the murder
of Corporal Brady Paul, state high
way patrolman, after a holdup at
Butler, Pa., on Dec. 27.
The woman and two men, dusty
and almost exhausted after their
flight across the country, ran into
a barricade of western peace of
ficers in this territory and were
brought to the Phoenix jail when
they were captured after a battle in
the desert near Laveen, a small set
tlement.
INDIANAPOLIS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1930
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With White river reaching a level of 18.3 feet
today, Ravenswood, cottage and amusement section
northeast of the city, was inundated, isolating scores
of unoccupied cottages. The top picture was snapped
irom the west bank of the river, showing the sweep
of the swollen river at Ravenswood.
WATSON DINNER
IS CALLED OFF
Vice-President Curtis Will
Speak to Editors Here.
Skirmish between followers of
Senator James E. Watson and
Arthur E. Robinson ended in a
draw, when a committee of Repub
lican editors postponed their mid
winter meeting until March and
obtained consent of Vice-President
Charles Curtis to come as the main
speaker.
The testimonial dinner to Watson,
at which Senator Moses was to be
the chief speaker, will be abandoned.
The Watson forces scored in
gaining the consent of Mrs. Dolly
Gann, the sister of the Vice
President, also to come. She is
heralded as a close friend of Mrs.
Watson.
Opposition by Robinson’s friends
to the Watson dinner on the eve
of the Republican editorial gather
ing resulted in its abandonment.
Mrs. Gann was the center of a
social war in Washington over the
matter of precedence. It may be
revived in Indianapolis as to
whether the wife of the President
of the editorial association, the
senior senator, or the Governor is
to have the privilege of entertain
ing Mrs. Gann.
The incident is expected to drag
the submarine warfare between the
senators to the surface or, perhaps,
to the air.
mrsTparks loses calm
Murder Defendant Quickly Re
covers From Emotional Shock.
Bu United Pres*
CAMDEN, N. J.. Jan. 15.—Gladys
May Parks, the former ‘"Midnight
May" of the Atlantic City bright
light district, on trial in criminal
court here on charges of murder
ing Dorothy and Timothy Rogers,
today must listen to testimony of
the dead children’s father, Alan B.
Rogers, Woodbury, N. J., insurance
man.
The woman hacl her first emo
tional shock Tuesday when her dead
cousin’s husband took the stand,
but it was brief and she recov
; ered quickly.
! Rockefeller Makes Church Gift
NEW YORK, Jan. 15. —John D.
Rockefeller Sr. has given another
SBOO,OOO to the Ministers and Mis
sionaries' Benefit Board of the
Northern Baptist convention. The
gift brings his contributions toward
financial relief of clergy to nearly
SIfiOOJXXL
Torrents Spread Devastation
BRITAIN CITES STAND
Ready to Oppose Abolition
of Battleships.
Bu United Press
LONDON, Jan. 15.—England will
propose abolition of battleships at
the forthcoming naval conference,
Prime Minister MacDonald an
nounced today.
If the proposal is not accepted,
Britain will suggest extension of life
of the ships and drastic reduction
of the tonnage and caliber of guns.
WORLD TO HEAR HOOVER
President to Speak Over Far-Flung
Radio Hookup, Feb. 22, 1932.
Bv United Press
WASHINGTON. Jan. 15.—Plans
for broadcasting a radio address by
President Hoover around the world
when the bi-centennial celebration
of George Washington’s birthday
anniversary is observed in 1932, were
considered at a meeting of the plan
ning committee today.
President Hoover, as chairman of
! the group, presided at the session
in the east room of the White
House.
WARNTaBOUT LICENSES
Feb. 1 Is Deadline for All Types,
Inspector Points Out-
Persons required to have any of
the thirty-three city licenses pro
vided by city ordinances were
warned by Otto Ray, city license in
spector, to obtain their license at
once.
The deadline on 1930 licenses has
been set for Feb. 1, after which ar
rests will be made for violation of
the ordinance.
Only 200 of the 300 pool rooms
have made application for Dew li
censes under the revised ordinance,
Ray said. The ordinance requires
that an application be filed with the
city controller and a thorough in
vestigation made of each billiard
and poolroom operator. The ordi
nance is designed to eliminate a
large number of undesirable*.
In the center photo Is pictured the pier of the
West New York street bridge, undermined by the
muddy torrent in White river so that the span was
closed to all traffic.
In the bottom photo, is seen one of the flooded
neighborhoods in Vincennes, where the Wabash has
equalled the disastrous height of 1913.
Another Beat
First and best news pictures
of the Vincennes flood district
were printed Tuesday in The
Times, hours ahead of any
other newspaper in the city,
with complete details* of the
situation in the periled section
of southern Indiana. Score
one more big picture beat for
The limes.
Entered as Second-Class Matter
at Fostoffieo, Indianapolis
LIQUOR LIFERS
GET CLEMENCY
Michigan Governor Orders
Terms Commuted.
Bu United Press
LANSING, Mich., Jan. 15.—Life
sentences imposed on Mrs. Etta Mae
Miller and four others when con
victed as “fourth offenders’’ under
the Michigan "life for a pint” law,
were commuted today by Governor
Fred Green.
The original code, under which
Mrs. Miller and the four men were
convicted, later was amended. Gov
ernor Green cut the sentences to
from seven and a half to fifteen
years, to conform to the new code.
TARIFFcHANGE SCORED
Charges Sugar Duty Hike Would
Injure Most Fanners.
Bv United Press
WASHINGTON. Jan. 15.—The
proposed sugar tariff increase was
attacked as a tax upon 99 per cent
of the farmers to protect 1 per cent
of the farmers in a speech to the
senate today by Senator Barkley
<Dem., Ky.).
Barkley asserted the sugar busi
ness is a hot house industry and
urged adoption of the pending Har
rison amendment to retain the ex
isting duty of 1.76 cents a pound.
GERM CULTURES SOUGHT
IN PARROT FEVER WAR
BY WILLIAM W. CHANCE JR.
L'niteJ Press Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15.—Baffled
by the widely scattered outbreaks
of psittacosis with their increasing
death toll, the United States turned
to South America for aid today.
Through the Pan-American sani
tary bureau, Surgeon-General Hugh
S Cumming has requested the Ar
gentina government to forward
psittacosis organisms and bacillus to
Washington. Dr. Gil Borges, assist
ant director of the Pan-American
Union, was believed to have influ
enced Cumming’s decision to make
| the request.
Scientific study of the organisms,
1 public health experts predict, will go
far toward solving the problem of
; curing the disease, which has causetf
j seven deaths and more than forty
! illnesses.
Having. no culture, tvm m
RUSH GUARDS TO
BAR DYNAMITING
OF STATE FILL
First Call for Mobilization Is Issued When
Residents of Hazel ton Vicinity
Threaten to Blast Barricade.
MOVE PROTESTED TO CxOV. LESLIE
Southern Indiana Continues to Watch
Swollen Rivers, Although Wabash Is
Believed to Be Near Its Crest.
First call for mobilization of national guardsmen to pro
tect property in flooded southern Indiana regions was issued
today, when Battery D, One hundred thirty-ninth Field ar
tillery, was sent from Princeton to patrol the three-mile
Hazelton fill on U. S. highway 41.
Residents of the vicinity threatened to dynamite the
fill because they believed it was damming up flood waters, and
endangering the Brevort dam between Decker and Peters
burg, John J. Brown, highway director, told Adjutant Gen
era Manford G. Henley.
Colonel Edwin Nicholas, regimental commanding officer,
said Captain Norman A. Hart reported that twenty-five men
and two officers were on duty at the fill at noon.
If Battery D is unable to
cope with the situation, ad
ditional troops will be ordered
to move from Evansville to
support those at the fill, Col.
Nicholas said.-
In a telephone call to Governor
Harry G. Leslie late today, Mayor
J. W. Kimmel, Vincennes, and
Sheriff Kruse, Knox county, pro
tested against dispatching of troops
to guard the fill.
Stating that they represented the
residents of Knox county, they asked
the Governor *to rescind the order
for troops, declaring it was an af
front to the county. The mayor
told the Governor that rumors of
threats to dynamite the fill were
false.
Denial that the fill was “respon
sible for backing up of flood waters
was made by William J. Titus, chief
engineer of the state highway de
partment.
"The bridge was extended 350 feet
beyond the length prescribed by the
federal bureau on bridges, to care
for overflow',” he declared.
Road May Be Closed
Backwater from White river was
lapping at the crest of the fill at
noon, and was expected to wash over
the roadway at any time. If the
pavement is submerged the road
will be closed to prevent motorists
from driving over into deep water,
highway officials declared.
Seventeen thousand sandbags pro
tected the fill against the flood to
day. It was constructed several
years ago over lowlands at a cost
of more than $850,000.
Southern Indiana continued to
watch flood waters of the Wabash
and White rivers today while north
ern points reported falling or sta
tionary levels.
The Wabash, although rising from
Logansport south, was believed near
its crest. At Bluffton the river was
falling. It is expected to rise an
other foot between Lafayette and
Terre Haute.
There is no present need for Red
Cross relief at Vincennes, H. B. Wil
liamson of the national disaster re
lief division, told Governor Harry
G. Leslie today after surveying
flooded areas in southern Indiana.
The situation will be serious,
however, if the Wabash river con
tinues to rise, he said. Williamson
and other Red Cross officers, sta
tioned at Peru, Lafayette and other
most famous medical centers of the
nation, physicians have been handi
capped in their search for a cure.
Symptoms of pneumonia were
noticed in all cases reported so far,
but ordinary pneumonia treatment
failed. Physicians are trying to
combat the disease by rebuilding
the patient’s vitality to such extent
that the infection can be thrown
off. The difficulty, however, is that
the patient, suffering with chest
pains, high fever, and delirium,
finds it hard to take the nourish
ment necessary to increase resist
ance.
Cumming cabled his request to
Dr. Vanca Murray, Pan-American
sanitary bureau field doctor, sta
tioned at Buenos Aires, instructing
him to obtain the cultures from the
Argentine ministry of medicine.
He also requested detailed infor
mation concerning the parrot fever
atttKMk AtfMs JkXsm last fall.
HOME
Outß’de Marion
County 3 Cents
TWO CENTS
points, are preparing for any
emergency that may arise.
From Terre Haute to Vincennes ft
was impossible to estimate further
rise because of the many levee
breaks allowing flood waters to
spread over lowlands instead of
passing down the river channels, J.
H. Armington, United States weath
er bureau meteorologist, declared.
Rise Is Awaited
Rise of two feet, bringing the level
to twenty-eight feet, was awaited at
Mt. Carmel. Rivers in southern In
diana will continue to rise for four
days, despite a cold wave that set
in today, Armington said.
’ White river was falling at Ander
son and rising at Elliston, on the
west fork, while below Elliston it was
falling due to many levee breaks.
On the east fork the stream was
climbing at all points. Decker, on
the main stream, also reported high
er levels.
Further minor levee breaks came
Tuesday night along the Wabash
above Terre Haute, when a private
dyke gave way in three places.
The Lyford Levee Association met
Tuesday night at Clinton to plan
for reconstruction of the earth wall
that collapsed Tuesday. Damage in
that region will equal the 1913 loss,
Mrs. Virginia Jencks of the Wa
bash-Maumee Improvement Associ
ation stated.
Fanners in Flight
A vast inland sea, shallow as yet,
stretched back from the river at
Vincennes, across thousands of acres
of farm lands. The flood lapped at
window sills of deserted homes.
Farmers were in flight, their fami
lies and a few of their belongings
heaped in automobiles or wagons.
Relief headqua r ters had been es
tablished in a high section of Vin
cennes. Red Cross workers, police,
national guardsmen aM citizen vol
unteers who responded to a call by
Mayor J. W. Kimmel, had been mo
bilized to carry on rescue and re
lief work should the dikes give way.
Major H. G. Robb, Salvation Army
secretary, was at New Albany, pre
paring to assist refugees from here
and nearby points.
Bedford Is Marooned
On White river, Bedford was
among the places hardest hit. Im
passable roads left the city ma
rooned. With water lapping at the
motors in the water works, the
equipment, with the exception of
one pump, was removed.
The full fury of the flood was ex
pected to strike points lower down
the Mississippi valley today. Al
ready hundreds have abandoned
their homes and sought shelter on
elevated lands.
The flood peril was imminent in
lesser degree throughout the valleys
of the Wabash, the White, the Ohio
and the tributary streams of western
Tennessee, eastern Arkansas and
northern Mississippi
Southeastern Illinois was cut off
from Indiana and Kentucky by the
flood. No ferries dared the swollen
Wabash or the Ohio. A government
rescue boat was at anchor near
Shawneetown, 111., ready to steam
to any point where rescue work was
made necessary.
Roads Are Useless
River roads and ferries were user,
less at Decker and families wera
moving into the hills. Boat service
had been established with Mt.
Carmel, 111.
Crawleyville, a village near
Evansville, was inundated today,
and its inhabitants had evacuated.
Many Acres Flooded
Anderson reported the White river
at its highest peak in years, with
many aaaa of land