davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17

Commander Richard Byrd and
Capt. Charles Lindbergh continued
preparations for the dangerous trip,
both planning test flights for their
planes today.
The split among the Belanca
owners and crew brought a state
n1enG from Charles A. Levine. finan-
cial hacker of the plane, that the
fight would be made "even If not
with the present crew." and the sub
sequent assertion of G. w. Mutt, at
torney for Lloyd Bertaud, co-piIot of
the plane, that Levine had displayed
bad faith in seeking to delay the
flight until someone else has
started"
AcOsta Byrd's Pilot
Bert Acosta, who made an en-
DURANGO record recently with Cham
berlin, today took Commander
Byrd's monoplane on a 25-minute
test flight, in which the plane
carried load Of 1880 pounds with
out complaining.
Lindbergh, the lone wolf of the
transatlantic pack, had good
nights sleep and reiterated that his
plane was ready to go without more
tests and all he wanted was some
good weather.
Acosta's flight in Byrds plane was
as undramatic as most Of the things
which happen in the efficient and
elaborate organization Of the hero
Of last years North Pole fight.
Acosta YESTERDAY was formally
named Byrds pilot, Before day
light he was at the hangar, the
plane was loaded. Acosta simply
got in and went flying.
No Word of French
The revenue cutter Daisy returned
today from a searching cruise of
Placentia Bay and reported no trace
of Captains Charles Nungesser and
Francois Coli, who left, Paris a week
ago Sunday to fly to New York, ac-
cording to dispatches from st.
Johns, Newfoundland.
Many new rumors from the south
ern section Of the Avalon peninsula,
similar to those which earlier came
from Harbor Grace and Whitbourne,
/ circulated today.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
EIGENMANN EULOGIZED
I. L. Club Members Discuss Life of
Late Scientist.

Indiana University Club members
paid tribute to the late DIR. Carl
Eigenmann, noted scientist who died
in California after forty years serv-
ice at 1. L., at their luncheon Mon
day at the Lincoln.
DR.. w. S. Smith. provost of the
indianapolis units Of the university,
and Harry Burnet. prominent Indi-
annapolis business man and close
friend Of the scientist. led the dis
cussion.
DR.. Smith pointed out that Eigen-
mann was one Of the distinguished
scientists Of his day and the only
Indiana scholar ever elected to the
Academy of Science. His great work
was research among fish.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17

Bowling along at clumsy gait, food
waters of the Mississippi River
apparently have failed TO swerve
back into the main channel from the
inundated Tensas basin and are NOV.
ing in full powell southwark down
the Atchafalaya River through the
Sugar Bowl country.
This was the opinion expressed to-
day by I. NJ. Cline, meteorologist in
charge of the New Orleans weather
bureau, based on the flfty-mile area
Of crevasses along Big Bend.
Damage Lessened
In other words. danger OF new
breaks below Old River and north
and south of Baton Rouge has been
considerably lessened.
Mansura. Red Cross headquarters.
stated that as far as known not a
life has been lost below Big Bend.
A disaster epic has been the dash
Of Capt. f. G.. Cherry. Z. S. 5. Allie
gheny, through the Big Bend Gre
vase. The relief fleet had stood by
above the levee, powerless to aid
1000 stranded folk in Plaucheville.
twenty miles below.
Captain Cherry and three men
climbed into a surf boat and ordered
three other boats manned.
I'm Going Through"
I'm going through the crevasse, +"
Cherry cried. IF fail, keep. clear;
If get through, follow me-"
He went. finally to bob up below
Old river men and engineers had
said no boat could live in the whirl
of a break.
Then more boats swept through
and the trapped were saved.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
HOG 'FASTS' 81 DAYS

BIZ Times Special
LOOGOOTEE, Ind. May Hill
bernation!
And this hog saw it's shadow-and
slept more than a week overtime"
Fifty-one days ago a straw stack
collapsed on the farm of Carl Cum
ningham.
Monday evening. while Cunning
ham and farm hands were moving
the straw from the field, they found
beneath it a pig, weighing seventy
five pounds. and missing since the
day the stack fell. The pig will live,
Cunningham believes.
Others of the same litter, sold re-
Gently, weighed 225 pounds.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17

Judges have been chosen for the
State Spelling Bee.
When champions compete for the
Indiana title at Caleb Mills Hall,
Shortridge High School, Friday at
8 p. M, their fates will rest with
three men of public life who have
BEEN chosen by the editor of The
Times. sponsor of the spelling con-
test in Indiana, to serve as an Off
cial board of judges.
Their Decisions Final
Judge Julius Travis Of the Indiana
Supreme Court; Arthur l.. Gilliom,
attorney general of Indiana, and
Charles f. Miller. State superintend-
ent &c public instruction, have &C
ceptes appointments as judges. The
StatsAcontest will be in their hands
from 3the pronouncing Of the first
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
TOMBS CHAPLAIN HERE:
TELLS OF DEATH HOUSE
0ne-Ti Prisoner, Now Comforter of Condemned Men,
Describes Fate Awaiting Snyder SIayers

One Of the last sounds that Judd
Gray and Mrs. Snyder. will hear
next month in Sing Singeprison VIM
be the clicking of little green
gate-the gate which swings behind
the condemned, but never opens for
them again.
THE sharp little click at that
gate is one of the most ominous
sounds in the world" asserted Dr.
John Callahan, chaplain of Tombs
prison, New York City, who is in the
city attending the International
Union of Gospel Mission Convention
at Central Christian Church."
Through that gate, the con-
demned prisoner passes from the
corridor of the death house in Sing
Sing into a darker space which
shelters the electric chair" says
DR.. Callahan, who has been the
Tombs chaplain for fourteen years,
goes over to Sing Sing, forty-four
miles away, many times when
prisoners with whom he has worked
in the Tombs are to be executed and
ask for him.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
Goodrich Gives Land

Former Governor James p. Good
rich Monday presented Director
Richard Lieber Of the State Con-
servation department with deed to
157 acres Of land adjoining Turkey
Run State Park. The gift to the
State is from the Patoka Coal Com
pany. Of which Jesse T. Norman,
Indianapolis, is president and Good
rich part owner. The new land
gives the park natural north
boundry line,
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
WiIlie'S In Again

Another notch was nicked in the
arrest record of Willie Carey, 81, Of
1914 Oliver Ave. Carey, who, ac-
cordig to police, has been slated at
the city prison more than any other
one man in the city. He was ar
rested at Senate Ave. and Washing
ton st. Monday and charged with
intoXication.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17

where thousands Of persons are fed
every month.
I'VE also house every night an
average Of about $50" said Gala.
han. No questions arc asked and
we do not force them to listen to our
services in order to obtain material
aid They stay and listen if they
wish and thank Cod"
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
See Flood in Oregon,
Washington

BIZ United Prrss
WASHINGTON, May IL
Warnings for flood stages by
Thursday or Friday and con
siderably higher stages next
week were issued today by the
Weather Bureau for the Villa
mette River at Portland. Ore.
and the Columbia River at
Vancouver, Wash.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17

word, and their decisions will be
final.
The State contest. in which will
compete the champions of the eight
zones in the Indianapolis public
schools, the champion of the Marion
County school zone, and the spelling
champions of Franklin, Bar
tholomew and Grant Counties, will
be free to the public and spelling
fans are invited to hear Indiana's
best spoilers compete for the title
of State Spelling Champion.
From Mccall SpelIer
Words for the oral bee Friday
night, the final contest in the pro-
gram that begun with grade bees,
then selection of building champions
and finally zone or county chom-
pions, have been chosen from the
Mccall Speller, a standard text
book in Indiana schools.
Selection OF the words was made
by persons having no connection
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
VANDALS DAMAGE CAR
Visitor Returns Home to Find Elec-
trio Slashed Badly.

Serious vandalism was reported
to police by Mrs. Hannah Kahn,
1884 Central Ave.
She stored her electric auto at
1928 N. Pennsylvania st. while she
visited out Of the city two months.
She went for the car late Monday
and found that a door lock had been
sawed off and the seats, top. wires
and everything that could be cut
was slashed. The packing of seats
was missing. The loss will total sew.
eral hundred dollars, she said.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
PRISONER RECAPTURED
Man Wanted at Goshen Held In
Chicago.

BU UnifcF Press
GOSHEN, Ind. May 17.-Recap-
ture of Lloyd Bowman, %, one Of
four prisoners who escaped from the
county jail here eight months ago,
was reported from Chicago today.
Bowman is wanted here for rob-
berry and auto theft. The four sawed
their Jail bars.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
INDIANA EXPORT
MEN SEEK EQUAL
RATES ON FREIGHT
Discrimination Exists in
Products Produced Here,
Commission, Told.

Demanding equality with Chicago
and other industrial centers in ship
ping rates, Indiana exporters went
before the interstate commerce COM
mission in Chicago today, with a
plea for decrease in shipping rates
on several Indiana products.
Three products produced in In
dianapolis are concerned in the
hearing, expected 10 last two days.
They are galvanized roofing, cteosote
oil, and vitrous building slabs.
Other States Pay Less
According to r. r. Coapstick.
traffic manager OF the Indiana
state Chamber OF Commerce, who is
attending the hearing, the freight
rates for shippers in surrounding
States are from 20 to % per cent
lower on some products.
Indianapolis" he said produces
galvanized roofing and markets
much of it in The southwest. In do
ing this the Chicago competition
must be met. Zinc spelter is an inn
portant raw material in the man'
ufacture of the roofing. Zinc pro-
duction is in Kansas, oklahoma.
and Arkansas. In one case it moves
here 571 miles for 34isc per
hundredweight. The Chicago rats
FOR 577 miles is cents less.
Shows Difference
'In exporting the finished product
its costs Indianapolis producers 27
cents per hundredweight TO ship 24l
miles to st. Louis. Chicago pays
only &c for 2S4 miles"
Coapstick said the same thing held
true in the other industries.
The Indiana delegations fighting
the case in Chicago includes traffic
experts from Evansville, Terre
Haute. Muncie. Kokomo, Marion.
South Bend, TT Wayne, Indianapo-
lis and Newcastle.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
Paris Plane Loses
Ballast

Blu United Press
ROOSEVELT FIELD, N. Y,
May 17.-Sand and gravel bal
last taken aloft in Commander
Richard E. Byrd's Fokker
monoplane, in a weight-carrying
test preliminary to the New
York to Paris fight, were acct
dentally released today as the
plane was over the Curtiss
aeroplahe factory here.
Several windows and sky
lights in the factory were
smashed as the gravel ratified
on the roof. No one was in
jured.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
Hoosier Dies at Phone

BIZ united Press
PLYMOUTH, Ind, May N.-Oli-
yer George Soice, II, retired banker,
dropped dead at his home here today
while conversing over the telephone.
Soice had lived in Marshall County
all his life. He was a prominent
member of the Masonic order.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
Score Ready

A score Of State witnesses were
ready to testify. Practically all
were former inmates of Shiloh,
house where Purnell lived, allegedly
with the prettiest girls of his colony.
Whether the now aged King"
will appear on the stand is con-
lecture. The State has not
subpoenaed him and the defense
said 1t might not feel it necessary
to call him.
w. ]. Barnard, King Ben's" chief
counsel, argued that the State
cannot introduce happenings before
filing Of the suit, in July. 1924. He
claimed that the State was only
entitled to show conditions as they
existed at that time.
II the judge rules against the
State on this scope Of testimony
much Of its evidence and the
majority of its witnesses will be
ruled out. Most Of the girls hostile
to the House of David have not been
in the colony since 1923 or earlier.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
SPLIT HITS CAMP
OF PARIS. PLANE;
OTHERS ALL SET
Trouble BreWs Between
Pilots and BaCker of
Atlantic Flight.

BU UntteI Pf6SS
GARDEN CITY, N. Y, May IT,
Nerves strained by days Of waiting
for favorable weather for the three
American New York-to-Paris flight
attempts have begun to snap, and
today dissension in the camp Of the
Bellanca monoplane, Columbia, made
the status of that plane doubtful.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
Esthet's Visit

arranging group marriages TO
cover up Ben's depravities, Nichols
declared, was among Esthers
duties.
I'VE will show a document which
will startle you Of Esther's visit to
Ferris"
Hazel Wirth. another girl alleged
to have been attacked by the king"
took her case to President Woodrow
Wilson. Nichols said, but his efforts
to investigate the cult fell through.
Queen" Mary Purnell, heavy set,
dark featured, walked quietly into
the courtroom sometime after the
arguments opened. She is reputed
to be about so years old--looks ten
years younger.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
Death Door Dread

ONdtu DOOl
There is something indescribably
terrifying in the atmosphere outside
that green gate in Sing Sing" as
serted the chaplain. prisoners, I'M
less sustained by strong religious
hope, are absolutely stricken by it..
/ am often in the death house, but
I do indeed avoid going beyond-into
that inner chamber of death. You
see. 1t is really a room within two
walls, as the death house is a little
prison, holding twenty-four cells
within the prison proper"
Callahan has been associated with
many famous prisoners usually. espe-
cially when the prisoners have had
the sentence of death passed upon
them, they are eager to hear of re-
ligious things. One Of those who
cared to hear nothing of the after
life, although he was to pass short
ly into the shadow of death, was
Gerald Chapman.
Chapman Hard
Chapman was one of the hardest
men l have tried to reach" said Cal
lahan.
"He did not seem exactly con-
scienceless, and he certainly was
courteous, but It's no use. do not
care even to refer to your God or re-
ligious things, Brother john he
cold fTiY1a cr1a1 hn H..iK, ~
consolation to others, though I
appreciate your work with men
like me-
Dutch Anderson, his pal was
also hard like that, but their part
ner, Charlie Lorber, was eager to
hear and talk of religion and came
to be thoroughly repentent."
Callahan, who has been in relig-
ious work for almost thirty-seven
years, declares he understands the
prisoners point of view, because he
was once one Of them. 1T served
time in Joliet" he observed, "but
for the grace Of God I might also
have ended up in the electric chair.
was converted though while still
young man."
BOwery Mission Man
Callahan, in addition to his work
as chaplain, is superintendent of a
famous Bowery rescue mission
Hadley Hall. This mission building
was once the famous McGuerl1 dive,
known as the old Suicide Hall, F."
where more girls were said to have
committed suicide than in perhaps
any other building in New York.
Among other interesting work of
Hadley mission at the present time
is the maintaining of a bread line,
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
Motions Overrulled.

Judge Fead overruled eight spe-
cial defense motions regarding intro
duction of evidence. This supported
the previous ruling Of Judge Charles
T.. White.
The judge issued an order forbid
ding all photographing in the court
house and ordered that no photo
graphs might be taken Of any per
sons on the courthouse ground with
out that persons consent.
Nichols charged that Governor
Woodbridge n. Ferris, now United
States Senator. was induced by
Mary Purnell and Esther Johnson
Hansel in 1914 TO stop State investi-
cations into the cult. Esther then
was Ben's confidante and she now is
the States star witness.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
Code Without Moral Standards Charged to King Ben
Prosecution Alleges Gov
errors Love Cult Probe
Was Halted.
QUEEN MARY IN COURT
Prince Mike Practice Cited
in Receivership.

b. United Press
ST. JOSEPH, Mich, May H.
Teachings that RIGHTEOUSNESS, per-
Jury and fraud was honorable in the
eyes of God were among tenets Of
king" Benjamin Purnell, House of
David religious colony leader,
George e. Nichols, special assistant
attorney general, charged in his
opening statement before Judge
Louis w. Fead, who. without jury,
is hearing the States receivership
case against the colony.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-05-17
prince Mike" Follower

1--WE will show" Nichols asserted,
chat Benjamin was a follower of
Prince Michael Mills in his cult in
Detroit prior to 1902. We will also
show that Mills taught what Benja-
min taught and practiced--the same
things for which Prince Mike went
to prison.
THE code of these fanatics was
without moral standards. 1t is a
manifestation of a iicentious mind.
Under the guise of religious cere-
mony they glorified in lust"
The States special prosecutor fur
Their charged that the king
schooled his charges to dodge Gen
tile" inquisitions with perjury and
fraud
"Purnell's colony Nichols said.
found it's nucleus in the Detroit
colony of Mills. And we will show
it was but a continuation of that
colony"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-31

icals. Then he consulted his watch.
Don't get nervous. young man.
It's five minutes after four. but the
bride is always late." He smiled jocu
arly at Warner. and turned to Whit
ridge. II am going into the chancel.
You and Mr.. Warner had better come.
too. as the bridal party will surely be
here any moment now" he said, and,
followed by the two young men,
passed into the chancel.
From their station behind the bar
rage of palms, Warner could see the
shifting. myriad-hued assemblage per-
fectly. Above the swelling arpeggios
from the organ-loft there hummed the
murmured talk of the restless throng
The heavy perfume Of flowers hung in
the agitated air. Warner felt queer
construction in his throat. a tightening
about his pounding heart. If only it
were over,-if only the ordeal were
over and he could slip away!
He put his hand in his pocket and
touched again his passport to liberty
After all, it wouldn't be long now-he
was only getting what was coming to
him. He'd stand it! Freedom was
only little way ahead. He passed a
handkerchief across his damp fore
head.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-31

and nobody being able to find it.
Every one who has been on a Mari
posa excursion knows all about that.
Nor can I describe the day itself
and the picnic under the trees. l
should say that there were races, too,
on the grass on the open side of the
island, graded most accordingly to
ages-races for boys under Is and
girls over 10 and all that sort of thing.
Sports are generally conducted on
that plan in Mariposa. 1t is realized
that a woman of 60 has an unfair ad
vantage over mere child.
Dean Drone managed the races and
decided the ages and gave out the
prizes: the Wesleyan minister helped
and he and the young student who
was relieving in the Presbyterian
church held the string at the winning
point.
They had to get mostly clergymen
for the races because all the men had
wandered off, somehow, to where they
were drinking lager beer out of two
kegs stuck on pine logs among the
trees.
But If you've ever been on a Mari
posa excursion you know all about
these details any way.
So the day wore on and presently
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-31
ODD STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT.

THE inhabitants of the Lushai Hills,
in India, like other barbaric and
savage peoples, have standards of
weight and measure that they find
simple and Ineligible, but that are
very confusing to the stranger.
In every village there is a small,
fiat basket, the size of which is fixed
by the chief and which Is used for
all retail dealings in rice and the like.
but they measure large quantities in
loads, a load being about so pounds.
After the harvest, the unhuSked rice
is piled in a conical heap.
A Lushai will tell you his crop is
chipzawn, meaning that the heap is
level with his head; or silai-zawn,
which means that it is level with the
end of the gun held up perpendicular
ly over his head. Lesser quantities
are denoted by the height of his hand
or hoe or AK held up.
He measures time by the cooking of
a pot of rice-about an hour-or by
the time he can hold a sip of nicotine
in his mouth. He has names for each
period of the day. denoting his usual
occupation at that hour. He also di-
vides the year according to the agri-
cultural occupation proper to the diff
ferent seasons.
Short distances are measured by
parts of the human body, as we speak
of span. But the Lushai has Is or
II of these. extending from chang
khat--that Is. the distance from the
tip to the first joint of the first finger
to hlam. which Is the distance a
man can stretch with both arms ex-
tended. Longer distances the Lushai
describes by such terms as the dis
lance of the nearest jhum, the dis
lance OF the farthest jhum, the dis
lance mithan will wander during
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-31

the day, the distance man can
travel before his midday meal-termS
that perplex strangers, although they
are well understood by the people.
There are few measures of weight:
n curious one is chuai-that is, as
much as a man can support hung
from the tip of the first finger. palm
downward. Many of the stars and
consultations have names; most of
them have some story attached to
them. The months are lunar months.
and some have names, but these are
not widely known or used.
In the hills they often tell story
of Shahji. a Hindu prince. who on Il
certain occasion showed himself al
most as clever as Archimedes. A high
official had made vow that he
would distribute to the poor the
weight of his own elephant in silver
money. But how should he go about
to learn what the weight really was?
All the learned and clever men of
the court labored in vain to construct
machine of sufficient strength to
weigh the elephant. At length Shahji
came forward and suggested a plan
that was as simple as it was ingeni-
Gus. He caused the unwieldy animal
to be conducted along stage spe-
cially made for the purpose into
fiat-bottomed boat. Then, having
marked on the boat the height to
which the water reached after the ele-
plant had weighed 1t down, he had
the creature led out and stones substi.
tuted in sufficient quantities to sink
the boat to the same line. The stones
were then taken to the scales and
weighed one by one.
Thus, to the admiration OF the
court, Shahji discovered the true
weight Of t1a elephant.