The Indianapolis times. [volume], May 08, 1933, Home Edition, Image 1

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

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CONGRESS TO
RUSH REVIVAL
BILLS’ ACTION
Roosevelt Speech Is Added
Spur to Work on Job
and Wage Measures.
HIGHER PAY STRESSED
President Also Emphasizes
Need for Eliminating
Cut Throat System.
BY RUTH FINNEY
Timr* Staff Writer
WASHINGTON, May B.—With
definite assurance from President
Roosevelt that the fundamental
task of securing for the worker
decent wages, short working hours,
and new jobs through rehabilitation
of Industry will be undertaken at
this session of congress, the two
groups studying these problems
moved forward today with fresh en
thusiasm.
The house labor committee ex
pects to report a short work week
minimum wage bill not later than
Thursday.
Senator Robert F. Wagner (Dem.,
N. Y., chairman of the group which
is working on a bill to aid industrial
recovery, expects to lay the com
pleted measure before President
Roosevelt Tuesday, if conferences
being held today with representa
tives of organized labor result in
agreement on sections of the bill
relating ‘o collective bargaining.
Gives Definite Program
The President’s address to the
country Sunday night unequivocally
acknowledged that his program for
recovery is incomplete without leg
islation on wages and hours of
labor and legislation to check un
fair competition in industry.
An outline of his stand on these
subjects, made public in addressing
the Chamber of Commerce of the j
United States Thursday, was filled
in with definite recommendations
in his talk to the people.
Wages were put first in the Presi
dent s discussion of this program
Sunday night, as they were in his
earlier address.
After listing job-making legisla
tion already proposed to congress,
the President said:
“Well-considered and conserva
tive measures likewise will be pro
posed which will attempt to give
to the industrial workers of the
country a more fair wage return,
prevent cut-throat competition, and
unduly long hours for labor, and at
the same time encourage each in
dustry to prevent overproduction.”
Partnership. Not “ControP’
Later in his talk the President
repudiated the phrase “control of
industry,” which has been used to
describe plans for eliminating un
fair practices, and suggested in
stead that the plan is for "a part
nership” between government and
industry,” not partnership in
profits, for the profits still would go
to private citizens, but rather a
partnership in planning, and a
partnership to see that the plans
are carried out.” •
Illustrating his meaning with a
reference to the cotton industry, he
indicated that he will recommend
some relaxation in enforcement of
the anti-trust laws, while retaining
the protective features of those
laws.
“It prohablv is true that 90 per
rent of the cotton manufacturers
would agree to eliminate starvation
wages, would agree to stop long
hours of employment, would agree
to stop child labor, would agree to
prevent an overproduction that
would result in unsalable surpluses,”
said the President.
Would Halt Unfair Methods
‘•But what good is such agreement
if the other 10 per cent of the
cotton manufacturers pay starvation
wages, require long hours, employ
children in their mills, and turn out
burdensome surpluses?
“The unfair 10 per cent could pro
duce goods so cheaply that the fair
90 per cent would be compelled to
meet the unfair conditions. Here is
where government comes in.
“Government ought to have the
right and will have the right, after
surveying and planning for an in
dustry, to prevent, with the assist
ance of the overwhelming majority
of that industry, unfair practice and
to enforce this agreement by the
authority of government.
“The so-called anti-trust laws
were intended to prevent the crea
tion of monopolies and to forbid un
reasonable profits to those monop
olies.
"That purpose of the anti-trust
laws must be continued, but these
laws never were intended to en
courage the kind of unfair competi
tion that results in long hours,
starvation wages, and overproduc
tion.”
Wage Clause to Be Added
The subcommittee of the house
labor committee which is redraft
ing the short-work week minimum
wage bill, according to present in
dications. will add the minimum
wage provisions so urgently recom
mended by Secretary of Labor
Frances Perkins, and other sug
gestions of hers to make the bill
more flexible and more enforce
able.
Apparently it will include some
form of foreign embargo clause dis
approved by the administration, but
this easily might be eliminated on
the floor of the house, in spite of
committee action.
Sunday conferences on the in
dustrial recovery bill failed to iron
out all differences between econ
omists and business men working on
it. Conflicts still exist as to extent
of government power to be invoked,
with business men urging that the
major part of the program be left
to trade associations.
The Indianapolis Times
VOLUME 44—NUMBER 310
Madman Slays Farmer,
Then Forces Daughter
of Victim to Kill Him
Drunken Laborer Shoots Employer; Compels Girl to Take
Shotgun and Pull Trigger; Dies Instantly.
By l nil <1 Press
ELGIN, 111., May B.—A farmhand killed his employer
near here Sunday, then forced a 17-year-old girl to kill him
in one of the strangest tragedies of midwestern rural his
tory.
The three principals were:
.John Schmitz, 56. farmer, shot to death by his employe.
Oliver Day, 48. the farmhand, who killed Schmitz.
Loretta Schmitz, 17, the farmer’s daughter, whom Day forced to kill
him with a shotgun under threat of “wiping out” the Schmitz family
if she refused.
GASOLINE PRICE
CUTSJRDERED
Other Companies to Follow
Standard’s Lead in
Lowering Cost.
Lead of the Standard Oil Com
pany of Indiana in announcing
gasoline price reductions of from
2.2 to 3 cents a gallon was being
followed here today by most of the
larger oil companies in the city.
The reduction, 'in effect through
out Indiana and nine other states
served by Standard il Company
of Indiana, brought prices to 13.2
cents a gallon for third-line gaso
line, 14 2 for regular, and 16.7 cents
for ethyl gasoline.
The price cut was attributed in
a Standard statement to “overpro
duction of crude oil and consequent
oversupply of cheap gasoline, and
to cut-throat competition in some
territories.”
Companies announcing cuts in
line with those of Standard includ
ed Sinclair Refining Company,
Midwestern Refining Company,
Lincoln Oil Refining Company,
Shell Petroleum Corporation,
Pure Oil Refining Company, Phil
lips Petrolium Corporation and
National Refining Company.
Officials of White Star Oil Cor
poration said they are awaiting
orders to cut prices.
HOUSE IS URGED TO
SPEED UP RAIL BILL
Roper Asks Committee for
Quick Action.
By United Press
WASHINGTON, May B—Com
merce Secretary Daniel Roper, pre
senting the administration's com
prehensive program for railroad re
organization, today urged the house
committee speed a favorable re
port upon the proposed legislation.
Roper, who supervised preparation
of the railroad plan, said in testi
mony before the committee that the
“purpose of the bill is to assist the
railroads to help themselves, and
is essentially experimental.”
He described the set-up which
would control affairs of the carriers
|— a transportation co-ordinator and
1 regional co-ordinating committees
; which would divide the nation’s
I railroads into three general groups,
elimination of wasteful duplications
and to bring about decreased cap
italization.
Another section of the bill. Roper
explained, extended jurisdiction of
the interstate commerce commission
to the supervision of holding com
panies.
SI,OOO ROBBERS’ LOOT
Series of Holdups and Burglaries
Staged in Miami County.
By United Pres*
PERU, Ind., May B.—A series of
holdups and burglaries in Miami
county over the week-end netted
more than SI,OOO in cash and other
loot.
W. B. Perry, a filling station
proprietor, was robbed of SIOO after
being tied up with W'ire. M. G.
Scott, a taxi driver, was kidnaped,
driven into the country and robbed
of his taxicab. He was released.
Smashing Drive on Peiping
Is Opened hy Japanese
BY HERBERT R. EKINS.
I nited Press Staff Correspondent
PEIPING. China. May B.—Japanese entrenched in the Miyunhsien
sector, below the great wall about twenty-three miles north of Peiping,
began an intense artillery bombardment of the Chinese positions today.
The fighting was taken to presage
a major Japanese thrust southward
which would be most likely to end
in the occupation of this key city
in the event of determined Chinese
resistance and major Japanese cas
ualties. Huge American and Brit
ish interests center in Peiping and
Tientsin.
Chinese. Japanese and American
communiques confirmed the Jap
anese re-occupation of the Luanho
triangle, formed by the Luan river,
the great wall and the sea. with
heavy loss of Chinese life and many
Japanese casualties.
The fighting in the Luanho tri
angle included battles at Peitaiho
and Changli. The Chinese forces
under General Ho Chu-Kuo fell
back on their main defenses at
Luanchow.
Japanese troops advancing down
the railway proceeded cautiously,
expecting a major action at Luan
chow.
Adidtional Japanese units began
an advance toward Peiping along
Generally fair tonight; Tuesday, increasing cloudiness; not much change in temperature.
A posse, formed by Schmitz’ wife,
reached the farmyard a few min
utes too ’ate to prevent the sec
ond shooting.
Dead on Floor
They found Schmitz dead on one
bedroom floor and Day dying on
another.
Day had worked fifteen years on
the 160-acre Schmitz farm in the
rich, flat corn area eight miles west
of here. He had seen Loretta grow
from a 2-year-old baby into a pret
ty girl of 17.
When sober, Day was such a hard
worker that Schmitz always for
gave him for going on periodic
"sprees.”
Goes On Spree
The laborer started one of these
“sprees” a week ago.
Saturday night Schmitz went to
a meeting of the Plato Center
school board, of which he was a
member. Loretta went out with
Donald Fitchie, 18. Mrs. Schmitz
and her son, John, 11, vipited with
a married daughter, Mrs. Erma
Johnson.
When Loretta and Fitchie re
turned home at 9 p. m„ Day pointed
a shotgun at them and told them to
leave. They did.
“We went to the schoolhouse and
I told father what had happened,”
the girl related. “He told me to
go to Erma's. After the meeting,
he took us all home. Oliver wasn’t
around then.”
Shoots His Employer
The family retired. Early Sun
day Schmitz heard Day prowling
on the porch and told the farm
hand to go to bed. An hour later,
Day opened the door of Schmitz’
bedroom and flashed a light.
“I’m going to kill you all,” he
shouted, and fired the shotgun.
The charge struck Schmitz in the
leg. Despite the wound, he arose
and tried to fight. Day fired again.
Schmitz, struck in the neck, fell.
Mrs. Schmitz fled as Day staggered
away.
Day then entered Loretta's bed
room and forced her to accompany
him to his bedroom. He told her to
get on the bed. She did.
Forced to Kill Man
“I'm going to kill you. Loretta,”
he told her. and pulled the trigger
of the shotgun. The gun failed to
work.
“Maybe you had better kill me
instead,” said the farmhand, and
handed the shotgun to Loretta.
“Now you kill me, or I’ll kill you,”
he told her.
“I pulled the trigger,” she related,
“but the gun still wouldn’t work. He
came over and fixed it, then stood
against the wall and told me to kill
him, then to shoot myself.
“I pulled the trigger. He fell
over.”
Loretta seized her brother and
fled from the house just, as the posse
galloped into the farmyard.
Day, struck in the abdomen, died
an hour later in St. Joseph hospital
here.
YOUNG FARMER SHOT
Neighbor Is Questioned by Sheriff:
At Odds, Is Report.
By United Press
SEYMOUR, Ind.. May 8. The
shooting of Marshall Callahan, 23,
Kurz farmer, was being investigat
ed today by Sheriff Meredith
Stewartt.
Callahan was struck in the chest
and wounded, probably fatally, when
he stepped out of his car near his
home Sunday. Stewart .said he would
question Ferdinando Wray, a farm
neighbor, after learning that there
had been trouble between the two
families.
the Mandarin highway, and reached
Yungping. where the highway
crosses the Luanho.
Times Index
Page
Book a Day 13
Bridge 9
Classified 12
Comics 13
Crossword Puzzle 11
Curious World 11
Dietz 6n Science 6
Editorial 4
Financial 11
Have a Hobby 5
Heywood Broun 4
Hickman Theater Reviews 7
Lodge Page 9
Radio 7
Serial Story 13
Sports 10
Talburt Cartoon 4
Vital Statistics 11
Wiggam Cartoon 7
Women’s Page 8
INDIANAPOLIS, MONDAY, MAY 8, 1933
GANDHI FREED
FROM PRISON;
STARTS FAST
British Release Captive,
Fearing Revolt If He
Died in Cell.
SPENT YEAR IN JAIL
Friends Fear Indian Leader
Will Not Survive 21 -Day
Starvation Ordeal.
By United Press
POONA. India. May B.—The Ma
hatma Gandhi was released from
prison by British authorities today
at the start of his three weeks’ fast.
The emaciated leader of Indian
Nationalism, who, his friends fear,
may not survive the fast, was set
free after more than a year in Ye
ravda jail for refusing to abandon
his civil disobedience campaign.
He was released because the gov
ernment feared disturbances if he
died in prison.
MOTHER OF 3 ENDS
LIFE AFTER QUARREL
“Now You Can Dance With Whom
ever You Please,” Husband Told.
By United Press
MILWAUKEE, May B.—Because
their mother quarreled with their
father over his dancing with other
women at a roof garden, the three
Cichy children were motherless to
day.
Mrs. Leona Cichy, 26, opened gas
jets in the kitchen stove Sunday
and sat reading Dickens’ “David
Copperfield” until she died. Pinned
to her dress was a theater pass on
which was written this note to the
husband:
“Now you can take whomever you
wish to the burlesque and dance
with whomever you please at the
roof garden.”
The children, Lloyd, 5; Clarence,
3, and Conrad, 18 months, were in
the house, but were not affected by
the gas. Cichy found his wife’s
body when he returned home Sun
day night.
CHILDREN'S CIRCUS TO
BEGIN PERFORMANCES
Gentry Brothers to Give First
Show This Afternoon
First presentations of the Gen
try Brothers trained animal shows
were to be given today with a mat
inee performance at 3:45 and a
night show sscheduled for 8, at the
grounds, Thirty-eighth and Iliinois
streets.
The shows arrived Sunday and
were visited by crowds at the
grounds. Matinee and night per
formances also will be given Tues
day and Wednesday on the Illinois
street site.
Thursday and Friday the shows
will be at East Tenth and Linwood
streets and Saturday at East Wash
ington street and Sheridan avenue.
Only change in time will be pres
entation of the Saturday matinee
at 2:30.
Hourly Temperatures
6 a. m 57 io a. m 67
7a. m 59 n a . m.... 69
Ba. m 63 12 (noon).. 70
9a. m 64 Ip. m 71
Drys Far Outnumbered
by Wet Petition Signers
Signers of petitions for repeal candidates to the state convention for
rejection or retention of the eighteenth amendment outnumber signers
of dry petitions more than four to one, it is revealed in a final check
of petitions on file today, in preparation for the special election June 6.
SENATE PUTS FINAL
0. K. ONJEIEF BILL
Approves Conference Re
port on Wagner Measure.
By railed Prrn
WASHINGTON. May B.—The sen
ate today adopted the conference
report on the $500,000,000 Wagner
unemployment relief bill.
JUDGE TURNS DENTIST
Inspects False Teeth, Hands Down
sl3 Judgment.
In defense of a dentist's bili. Wil
liam Marshall, Negro porter, re
moved his false teeth in municipal
court today and handed them to
Judge Wilfred Bradshaw as Exhibit
A in the case.
Marshall contended he had not
paid sl3 due on a bill to Eugene
Williams, dentist, because “the
teeth were no good.”
Examining the shiny upper plate,
which lay on his bench, Judge Brad
shaw ruled:
“They look like good teeth to me.
Judgment for sl3 against defen
dant.”
WAR~VETERAN HONORED
Order of Purple Heart Awarded
Trucking Contractor.
In recognition of wounds suffered
in action in the World war. G. P.
Inman, trucking contractor, 5540
Kenwood avenue, has been awarded
the Order of the Purple Heart.
While serving as first lieutenant
in the One hundred fiftieth field
artillery (Rainbow division), Inman
was gassed twice in major engage
ments.
$200,000 Bail Fixed for
Brothers in Kidnap Case;
Both Plead Not Guilty
i '
1
s ;._. W. i I
lii® ■■■ il|P|| j j|
Kenneth Buck, left, and his brother, Cyril, under arrest at Barn
stable, Mass., for the kidnaping of Peggy McMath. Kenneth confessed,
saying his brother was only the intermediary, and the $60,000 ransom
was recovered.
STUDENT CLEAR
IN BOOZE CASE
High Rank Senior Is Freed:
Didn’t Know Passenger
in Car Had Liquor.
A high-ranking student, with a
record for good behavior, James
Presutti, 16, Manual Training high
school senior, will be graduated this
June with his classmates instead of
receiving a federal sentence for
transporting liquor.
Transporting charges were dis
missed today by Judge Robert C.
Baltzell when Val Nolan, district
attorney, informed the court that
the federal grand jury indictment
of James should be nolled because
the youth had no knowedge that
he was violating the law.
Young Presutti was arrested after
he went to the home of a school
mate and the latter’s father, Do
minic Mail, asked a “lift.” Mail
came out of the house and asked
James to take him to a Pennsyl
vania street address, federal offi
cials learned.
“I'm out of gas.” James replied.
Mail bought some gasoline and got
into the car with a covered basket.
The basket contained liquor, James
learned, when dry agents raided
them en route to Mail’s destination.
The latter now is serving a six
month sentence.
E. H. Kemper McComb, Manual
Training high principal, appeared in
court in young Presutti's behalf, in
forming Baltzell that the youth has
a fine scholastic standing and had
not been in trouble before.
“Stay away from questionable per
sons after this,” Baltzell warned as
he dismissed the case.
Wets obtained a total of 61881
names and dry proponents could
obtain only 13,518 for the “stand
pats” candidates. The repeal or
ganization made a determined effort
to learn the true sentiment of the
voters on repeal, according to Judge
Smiley Chambers, repeal leader.
One worker in each precinct was
paid $3 for the task of circulating
the wet petitions, Judge Chambers
said.
Voting will be by paper ballot on
forty-two wet candidates and an
equal number of drys. Thus, the
question of whether Indiana will
favor repeal of the dry law will be
decided June 6, as the constitutional
convention June 26 is only for the
purpose of formally ratifying the
vote.
Precinct boundaries will be ob
served in the election and polls will
be open in every county in the state
from 6 a. m. to 6 p m.
CINCHES POLITICS PLUM
R. Earl Peters’ Daughter to Get
Foreign Job, Is Report.
By T nited rrett
FT. WAYNE. Ind., May B.—Miss
Leah Peters, Ft. Wayne, daughter
of R. Earl Peters. Democratic chair
man. may become secretary to
Claude G. Bowers,-who will be am
bassador to Spain.
Peters has held several con
ference in Washington recently on
Indiana's job patronage and re
ports in political circles here say
that he has cinched the foreign job
for his daughter.
Like her father. Miss Peters is
active in Democratic politics. She
is a graduate of Central high school
here and attended Indiana univer
sity.
Bowers, now a New York editorial
writer, is a former Ft. Wayne news
paper man.
Father of Peggy M'Math
Voices Plea for Eider
of Pair.
BY MARTIN KANE
United Press Staff Correspondent
PROVINCETOWN. Mass., May 8.
—Two Harwichport brothers alleged
to have been involved in the kid
naping and ransoming of 10-year
old Peggy McMath, today were or
dered held in bail totaling $200,000
for hearing May 22.
District Judge Robert A. Welsh,
who at 30 is the youngest justice in
Massachusetts, set bail at SIOO,OOO
each for Kenneth Buck, 28, jobless
chauffeur, and his brother Cyril,
41, garage proprietor, when they
were arraigned before him in a
crowded courtroom.
Both pleaded not guilty. Kenneth
was charged with kidnaping and
extortion and Cyril was accused of
extortion.
On the eve of the hearing Neil
C. McMath, father of the 10-year
old victim, pleaded in Harwichport
for severity toward Kenneth and
leniency for Cyril. His plea seemed
likely to be fruitful, for the charge
against Kenneth, who admitted ex
ecuting the kidnaping, was abduc
tion, with a twenty-five-year max
imum penalty, whereas, Cyril, who
only helped In negotiating for ran
som, was accused merely as an ac
cessory.
Kenneth admitted full responsi
bility for the plot and its execu
tion, state police said. It was he
who, disguised with burnt cork and
a chauffeur's uniform, abducted
Peggy from her school; it was he
w'ho drove her first to a cabin in
a cranberry bog, and then trans
ferred her to a dismal, black hole
beneath a cottage across the street
from the Buck home; it was he who
fed her through the days of her
imprisonment and finally returned
to her father in exchange for the
$60,000 provided by her grand
parents.
The arraignment today came after
Kenneth had told newspaper men.
in a courtroom interview, that he
and his brother were not alone in
volved in the plot.
“They left me with her and what
could I do?” said Kenneth, w'ho
w'as in tears. Later he said that
“they” had fled “because they were
scared.” and that he had been afraid
to “squeal” because he w r as “afraid
of what wmuld happen to my wife.”
UTILITY TAX VOTED
Senate Finance Committee Puts
Levy on Producers, Users.
By United Press
WASHINGTON. May B—The sen
ate finance committee today voted
to impose a 2 per cent tax on the
producers of domestic and com
mercial electric energy and a 1 per
cent tax on the user of industrial
energy.
The transfers W’ould go into effect
Sept. 1, 1933.
Cox to Continue Probe
of Bank Receiverships
Bank receiverships continued to hold the spotlight in circuit court
today, following a week in which another defunct institution, the Meyer-
Kiser bank, was declared insolvent and the acts of former receivers of
other banks came under scrutiny of Circuit Judge Earl R. Cox.
Filing of final report by Brandt C.
Downey, formed receiver of the
Washington Bank and Trust Com
pany, opened the way for an audit of
his records of twenty-eight months'
operation.
The report now is being audited
by the court. Operating expense of
more than $lll,OOO was reported by
Downey, which, with operating ex
pense of the City Trust Company
under Curtis Rottger, brought the
cost of receiverships, as listed in final
reports, to more than $200,000.
Finding that expense of liquidat
ing the Meyer-Kiser bank during
less than a two-year period had
reached approximately $232,000,
Thomas E. Garvin, new receiver,
slashed the cost more than $2,500
monthly last Saturday.
Garvin, former judge in municipal
court one, was appointed by Cox
Thursday and assumed his new du
ties Friday. The follow-ing day he
Entered as Second Class Matter
at Postoffiee. Indianapolis
SUIT TO CONTEST
WATER CO. CANAL
TITLE THREATENS
lowa Man Considers Legal Action for Strip
of Land Conveyed by His Father
to Utility Corporation.
$2,000 ACRE VALUATION IS RIDDLED
Owner of Adjacent Ground Says His Family
Sold Tract for S3OO an Acre;
Offers More at Low Price.
Suit contesting the Indianapolis Water Company’s title
to a section of the canal loomed today as result of investi
gation being conducted by Frank Y. Pitts. Moulton, la.,
whose father, George W. Pitts, sold a strip of land bordering
the canal in 1854.
At the same time, it was revealed that the Dawson
tract, which appraisers in the water company’s pending fed
eral court suit for higher rates value at SI,BOO to $2,000 an
acre, was sold to the company for S3OO an acre.
MAY BLIZZARD
RAGESJN WEST
Traffic Over Sierras Is at
Standstill; Planes Are
Halted by Snow.
By l nited Pirns
RENO, Nev., May 8. —A fierce
May blizzard held the Sierras and
western Nevada in its grip today.
Traffic over the Sierra summit
was blocked when high winds piled
snow from one to six feet over
highways and blew down trees.
All westbound traffic was stopped
at Truckee, Cal. Roads beyond
w'ere impassable, it was said.
Westbound air traffic was stopped
at Reno, where a heavy, wet snow
fell.
Automobile traffic turned back
after several cars were blown into
embankments by the high winds.
Others narrowly escaped falling
rocks.
Highway crews delayed putting
snowplows into operation until the
storm receded.
Heavy snows fell at Soda Springs,
Tahoe and Verdi. Communications
lines to many communities on the
summit were down and storm dam
age. there was not known.
OUSTS TENANTS BY
RAZING HOUSE; HELD
Landlord Finds His System
Is Not Quite Legal.
Anew method of getting rid of
tenants who fail to pay rent, the
simple one of tearing down a house
over their heads, isn’t legal, the
owner, Wilbern Lutes. 30 West
Ninth street, learned today in mu
nicipal court.
Lutes was before Judge William
H. SheafTer on charges of razing a
house without a permit and without
bond, filed by William F. Hurd, city
building commissioner.
One w'all of a brick and frame
residence at 529 East Miami street,
had been demolished before the
work came to the attention of
Hurd.
Judgment was withheld on the
charges against Lutes, whose defense
was:
“I thought I could do anything
with a house I owned.”
He said the occupants moved Fri
day.
SMOOTH SHOALS PATH
House Rules Committee Acts to
Send Bill to Conference.
By T nited Press
WASHINGTON. May B.—The
house rules committee today report
ed favorably a special resolution
which would allow house leaders to
send the Muscle Shoals bill to con
ference.
discharged eleven of the eighteen
employes for a monthly pay roll
saving of $1,300.
By cutting off the $425 monthly
salaries of the three former liqui
dating agents. J. J. Kiser, M. S.
Cohn and Ferd Meyer, a total
monthly salary saving of $2,500 was
accomplished.
Returning from a week in Wash
ington attending the American Law’
Institute, Prosecutor Herbert E. Wil
son was expected to resume his per
sonal probe of affairs of the State
Savings and Trust Company.
Representatives of the prosecu
tors office attended last week's in
vestigation of the bank conducted
by Cox. Wilson previously had
been supplied with documents and
other bank records by Cox and is
reviewing the evidence to determine
the possibility of grand jury action.
HOME
EDITION
PRICE TWO CENTS
Outside Marlon County. 3 Cents
S. G. Dawson, Sixty-second
and Keystone avenue, told
The Times today that his fa
ther sold the land to the com
pany for this price in 1903.
Adjoining the company's twelve
acre Dawson tract, half of which
the appraisers admitted was
swampy and under water each year,
Dawson said he still owned a tract,
all of it on high ground and platted,
which he would sell for less than
one-third of the company’s valua
tion rate-making.
Contract Violation Charged
In a letter to The Times, Pitts
charges violation of the contract his
father entered into.
An attorney employed by him to
study his claim has found a deed
executed by the father to Jacob
Burnet and Jeremiah Jackson on
June 10. 1854.
By this deed, George W. Pitts con
veyed “one foot of ground on each
side of the Indiana Central canal,
in addii.on to the present bed and
banks of the same.” the legal de
scription showing that the land w r as
located south of the aqueduct, be
tween Twenty-first and Twenty
third streets.
The deed included the stipulation
“for the purpose of enabling the
owners to widen the same for navi
gation or hydraulic purposes, the
conditon of the above obligation is
such that in case the canal should
fail and the purposes contemplated
be abandoned, the land shall revert
to the donor.”
Ice Cutting Banned
Appended to the deed was the
provision that “Pitts shall enjoy the
privilege of cutting ice in the canal
for the purpose of filling his ice
house.”
This provision, Pitts charges, was
violated by the wateer company in
1870 when the company refused his
father the right to cut ice. He con
tends that by this provision his
father never gave up title to the
land.
“The deed calls for reversion in
case the canal is not used for the
purposes mentioned: namely, for
navigation and hydraulic purposes,”
Pitts said.
“It is a matter of common knowl
edge that the canal, from a prac
tical standpoint, never was used for
these purposes.”
Claim Is Doubted
Attorneys Interested in the canal
title dispute point out that there is
possibility that Pitts and numerous
claimants to other parts of the canal
probably, under the law. have
“waived” their rights through
failure to take action for so many
years.
In 1882 in the Burkhart case, filed
by a brother-in-law of Pitts’ father,
in a somewhat similar situation, the
United States supreme court upheld
the water company's title.
While the canal never was used
for navigation purposes, and was
used for power by companies along
its banks only a few- years, never
theless it still is being used partly
by the w'ater company for
“hydraulic” purposes, it was pointed
out today.
The canal is used for water supply
purposes as far south as the River
side station. From there it flows
south to the Washington street
station, where it is used as the
power to operate the w’ater com
pany's turbines.
M'NUTT PROMISES TO
‘PUSH’ INDIANA COAL
Pledges Aid to Force State Units to
Purchase Product.
Governor Paul V. McNutt today
assured a joint committee of miners
and coal producers that he will sup
port use of Indiana coal in state
governmental units.
Only state institution not using
Indiana coal now is the Madison
i hospital and new boilers will per
mit its use there, the dele
gation.
300 JOIN BONUS ARMY
Leave Here for 1933 March on Wash
ington; 120 Go by rucks.
Under the comn.acpj of Ellis
Campbell and more
than 300 World tfgT veterans left
here Sunday to |(fn the 1933 bonus
army in Washington.
One hundred twenty of the vet
erans were reported to have left by
truck. 184 by freight cars over the
Big Four railroad and thirty-seven
in automobiles.