davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
An Old Story

NF course, even in the days of
~ the bull market, not everybody
really had a chicken in the pot or
a finger in the Wall Street boom.
Even then poverty and distress we're
far from being unknown. But we
took it calmly and paid small con-
Sideration, because much of our
prosperity was palpable, even fla
grant.
We were fond then of waving our
good fortune in the faces of less sit
uated nations and rubbing it in with
talk of the protective tariff and the
pauper labor of Europe.
BY now there is no denying that
we have felt the pinch. We boast
less and tread more softly. And
yet it seems to me that there are
limits to the good which a scare
can produce.
I see no great hope of ameliora-
ton coming out of a community
which runs about frantically in cir
cles saying, What will we do?"
Still less does salvation lie in that
defeatist attitude of crying out from
the housetops, There is nothing to
be donep'
The plain fact of the matter is
that we are not as badly off as
many headlines would suggest and
that there is plenty which can be
done Immediately.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09

this coming winter. Here, again,
the principle has been accepted.
But we lag in carrying it through.
Even as ardent a Standpatter as
President Hoover pointed with pride
on occasion to the number of men
now put to work through federal
activities. But he never has had the
courage to face facts squarely.
All programs of public work have
been infinitesimal. If the thing is
to be done at all, it must be done
on a scale which really will mean
something.
AS to the suggestion that heavier
surtaxes be plastered on large in
comes and inheritances, there need
be little fear that this will not be
done. 1t comes on rapidly.
Surely the headline of a $780,
100000 inheritance, such as that
left by Payne Whitney, must stir
even sluggish minds. Mr.. Whitney
was not an arch villain, but an
agreeable and pleasant man, who
started with large fortune and
drifted into the ownership of a
monumental one.
tt is sheer nonsense to assert that
anything he did contributed largely
to the welfare and progress of
America. After all, there should
be some limit set upon the rewards
due any man for the mere accident
of birth and amiability.
copyright 1881. by The Tines
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
Longevity Is Increased by Science

Professor Raymond Pearl of the
John Hopkins university studied
carefully the records of so persons
living beyond 80 years of age. He
reports that less than five women
out of every 10000 born alive ever
get to be 100 years old.
His figures indicate that persons
who live long come of long-lived
families. The brothers of the peo-
pie who lived long lived on an aver
age of Is 1-3 years longer than the
general male population and the
sisters of the long-lived persons
lived at least 9.28 years on an aver
age longer than the average woman
in the population.
The common assumption is that
the person who lives long is one of
exemplary habits particularly so as
far as relates to the use Of tobacco,
alcohol and similar substances.
Professor Pearl found that 81 per
cent of the men had used alcohol as
a beverage during their lives and 46
per cent had been total abStainers.
OF the 26 men over the age of SO
who were studied, six smoked, five
Ghewed and two both smoked and
chewed tobacco. The remaining Is
or so per cent, had never used to-
bacco in any form.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
HEALTH SERVICE

he was 122, and overdrank himself
when being presented to the king of
England in 1855, dying at the age
of 152 years.
Rumor credits him with five chill
dren born after he was 100 years
old, but his career seems to have
been more legend than a reality.
Since the middle of the last CEN
fury reforms in hygiene and Sani-
tation coupled with the advances in
general medical knowledge, have in
creased the expectancy of life Of
child born in the United States
from 40 years to SIS years.
Most of this increase is due to the
prevention of death in the first few
years of life. In contrast with these
figures there has been little if any
advance after a person has passed
the first 40 years of his life.
The expectation at the age of so
is today only 21.5 years as compared
with 212 years in 1925.
1t is interesting to know that
women are more likely to reach 100
years of age than are men. Out of
SOL reputed deaths of centenarianS
504, or 70 per cent, we're women
and only 1877, or 81 per cent, were
men. In 1923 Of the centenarians
who died in England "a were women
and % were men.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
The Suns NeighborS

CPECIAL methods and equipment
~ will be used in each of the eight
divisions of the survey.
Section One-The survey of the
"solar neighborhood" represents an
attempt to get as we'll acquainted as
possible with our nearest neighbors
in space.
DR.. Shapley proposes to begin
with a census of this portion of
space. 1t is by no means the easiest
part of the work since most of the
nearest stars are by no means the
brightest. In fact, most of the
nearest stars are invisible to the
unaided eye.
"a large majority of the stars
within fifty light-years of the sun
are of less than solar luminosity,
and most of them are below naked
eye visibility" DR.. Shapley says.
THUS a recent compilation Of
those stars known to be nearer
than sixteen light-years shows but
40 per cent brighter than the sixth
magnitude.
THE exploration of the solar
neighborhood is therefore a search
for dwarf stars among telescope
Objects" he said.
ut is important to have as COM
plete a census as possible of the
solar neighborhood-the most use
full sample We have of a volume
of space.
A thoroughly observed frequency
distribution of stellar luminosities
and a knowledge of the density-in-
space laws for the stars within fifty
light-years of the sun are funda-
mental in the analysis of stellar de-
velopment and the structure of
stellar systems" DR.. Shapley stated.
A light-year, the distance travelled
by beam of light in one year, it
will be remembered, is 100000
100000 miles.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
Just Every Day Sense
BY MRS. WALTER FERGUSON

HREE persons were riding atop the Junk wagon
The man was unkempt and carried SickIy
pallor The woman dropping beside him had sore
SCralnlng eyes. Her face mask of misery The
baby on her lap was pitiful little object
Tnere must, without doubt. always be Junk men
ana THESE men also will, I presume go on having
wives and children. They as much part of our
world as the garage mechanic or the department store
clerk.
The fact that they are poor and so obviously with
OUT the simplest luxuries does upset u.s. But what
can not forget was the cropping sghtless look on the
woman'S thin, set face.
Such individuals may not always be in dire straits
for food But aSSuredy they need medical attention
desperately Glasses dental work. and doctors help
THO see a healthy man or woman start forth to
battle for a living is not sad but an encourag-
Ing, sight. One has no fear for them But these ILL
nalf-blnd creatures whipped before they start.
We boast good deal about our free clinics and
our charitable institutions and perhaps we have rea-
son to do so. But the truth is that only small per-
centage OF those who not pay get adequate care
optical, dental, or medical.
good parent may send his children out to fend
Tor themselves without penny of money But he
IS not good parent it, having the means he lets
them go from him without clear brains and healthy
bodies Giving them these, he has done his duty.
No father owes his adult child a living and no
government like its support to one of its
citizens. But shall not have an enlightened cvili-
zaton until We insure to every man, woman. and
child the right start-health.
One-tenth of the money we spend on ornaments
would give free medical service to every person too
poor to pay for it. And money thus spent would be
profitable investment, materially and spiritually.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
Railroad Losses

Net operating income of I'll Glass l railroads
during the first seven months of the year was 219
per cent according to reports to the interstate COM
merce commission Last year, during the period,
it S.4S. Thrty-hve railroads operated at loss.
Net railway operating income is computed
basis of property investment" Property investment
is the value of the road and equipment as shown by
the companies books Net operating income is what
is left after operating expenses taxes and equipment
rentals have been paid but before interest and other
fixed charges are paid
The companies valuations may differ from those
of the interstate commerce commission, as they have
in several notable instances when the government
set out to recapture earnings defined by the
transportation act
Nor is there necessarily fixed relation between
stocks and bonds a railroad may have outstanding
and its value.
The railroads net operating income of $295,O00000
for the seven months $165 100000 less than last
year This is stable drop, and is responsible
chiefly for the plea OF the railroads for horizontal
freight rate increase of Is per cent now being
sidered by the I. c. c.
The figures show that the railroads have suffered
severely from the depression But have all other
businesses some even more than the railroads, the
majority of which at least are not idle or running at
an actual loss.
The question naturally arises whether the rail-
roads have been forced to bear a disproportonate
share of the cost of readjusmen and doubtless this
phase Of the rate question will be given due conSid
Grafton by the l. c. c. before it allows rate in
crease which finally must be paid by consumers.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09

gress" Beck goes on, lies in the party system for
the minority always can propose extravagant expen-
dures which, if rejected by the majority makes for
it enemies and no friends"
Is it possible, wonder that Beck realizes that
he may be member Of the minority and is seeking
ways of avoiding making enemies and no friends j"
particularly in a presidential year?
We agree that partisan politics should be for
gotten during this crisis But the hope that there
might be declared such moratorium on party poll
tics" is weakened by the fact that experience under
two-party system shows that political truces
rarely work
Yet, after the miracle of Representative Will
Wood, the appropriations committee chairman COM
ing out for army and navy economies Becks decara-
ton for these and other economies is heartenng
Democrats and progressives demonstrated during
the early part of the last session that they could
keep their bargain with the administration for So
called truce politics.
That truce not broken until it was clear that
the arrangement had become a cover for admins
raton dictatorship Obviously any kind of coalition
even of the temporary truce variety implies conces-
sions on all sides for common purpose.
We believe there is common purpose in the coun-
try to provide adequate unemployment relief and at
the same time balance the federal budget which now
threatens three-billion dollar deficit for the two
year period.
If all parties sincere in their desire to carry
tut this purpose, the result can be achieved
whether the method is called a truce or something
else.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
Finding the Stars

TINE first task involved in a
l. survey of the solar neighbour
hood is to ferret out the stars which
are in this neighborhood. This is
not as simple matter as it might
seem at once.
When we look at the sky, we see
all the stars as though they we're
projected upon the interior of an
inverted bowl. They all appear at
the same distance from us. We
have no way of telling, merely by
looking, whether a particular star
is dim star which is near us or a
bright star which is very far away.
To measure a stars distance is a
difficult task. 1t is first necessary
to determine its parallax, that is
its angular displacement as shown
by measurements made six months
apart.
Fortunately, there is a quicker
method to separate the stars which
are quite close to us from the other
stars.
While we sometimes speak Of the
stars as ''the fixed stars" we know
that all stars are in motion and
that in general their motions lie
within narrow limits.
But in the case of stars moving
across our line of sight, those near
by will appear to move more rapid
ly than distant stars appear to
move.
Consequently if we pick out those
stars which appear to be moving
the swifteSt across the line of sight,
or as the astronomer puts it, those
with large proper notions" We will
have the nearest stars.
The Howard observatory has
photographs of the southern heav-
ems made thirty years ago. These
will be compared, DR.. Shapley an
nounces, with new photographs
made at the obServatory's southern
station at Bloemfontein, South At
RIGA.
In this way, the stars with the
largest proper motions will be sin
gled out. These stars then will be
the subject of special studies.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
War Debts Are Snag
TINE chief difficulty is going t

THE chief difficulty is going to
Il come in the matter of the can
collation. of war debts. Various
gentlemen in congress speak as if
Wiping out the accounts means TAX
ing actual nickels and pennies from
the pocket of the individual Amer
lean citizen.
This, of course, is all nonsense.
No matter what France pays or
doesn't pay, the coin itself never
will jingle in your hands or in mine
On the contrary, if the world were
restabliShed upon a basis where we
might both buy and sell in con-
junction with our neighbors trade
would boom nightly, and even the
most obscure American would feel
the benefits.
Disarmament takes on a peril
nence when one reads that the
Navy League of the United States
purposes to advocate the expendi-
ture of $767, 100000 for 113 ships in
the next six years. This is an actual
expense which will be borne by you
and me, unless we have the very
ordinary common sense to call a
halt.
Debaters on the other side argue
that here are millions to relieve I'M
employment through the use of
laborers in shipyards. But it must
be remembered that only small
portion of that vast fortune will go
actually to the worker.
The rest will be distributed in
bonuses and profits to executives of
large companies.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
World Court Attacks

When the senate fight over American adherence
to the world court renewed in December opponents
will use the latest major decision of the court to
discredit it.
They will say the court opinion, that the proposed
Austro- German customs union would violate Austras
pledge under the Geneva protocol a political,
rather than judicial, ruling.
They will say that the eight-to-seven division of
the judges with France and her military allies pro-
Wding the judges which made possible the adverse
majority proves their charge. They will make capital
Of the fact that Frank B. Kellogg was one of the
seven dissenting judges.
AS advocate of American membership in the
court under the Root protocols, this newspaper is
inclined TO admit that there probably is some truth
in these charges. 1t looks to us though political
considerations may have influenced some of the
judges.
That is unfortunate But no sane supporter of
the court has argued that it is perfect
Probably no American would favor abolishing our
supreme court. And yet great many Americans
deplore the partisan purposes which sometimes have
moved the supreme court majority. Similarly, many
Americans often critical of the failures of con-
gress the presidency but they do not therefore
conclude that those institutions should be wiped out
Judged in the light of other institutions, rather
than of perfection, the record of the world court
on the whole is a very fine one 1t is difficult to
conceive of any effective. international peace ma
chinery without a world court.
This one exists and has the adherence OF vir-
tualy all other nations Either the United States
co-operates with the rest of the world in this court
or stay out and thereby weaken the key institu-
ton for the peaceful settlement of international
disputes.
Given that alternative, overwhelming majority
of the American peope-as indicated by the press
and every popular poll taken-favors adherence to
the court.
That popular mandate would have been carried
out long ago had not the administrations political
maneuvering prevented senate action. We hope this
policy of delay is at end.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
BY DIR. MORRIS FIsHBEIN

Editor Journal of the American Medical
Association and of Hygeia, the
Health Magazine.
ONCE the earliest times men have
~ searched for the fountain of
youth, some magical elixir by which
their years of life might be pro-
longed far beyond the three score
and ten assigned by Biblical legend
as the due of all.
Modern authorities are inclined
to view askance the numerous years
assigned to such patriarchS as
Adam, Abraham and Methuselah,
believing that the Biblical accounts
refer either to lunar months or rep
resent merely the desire of the
descendants to brag about their
forefathers.
The Middle Ages also gave rise to
numerous stories of remarkable
longevity, but few critically minded
investigators give much credence to
the tales of these centenarians.
Of all of those to whom reference
is made, the most romantic was Old
Parr, an Englishman of Shropshire,
who was first married at the age of
SO, asserted his fatherhood of an
Legitimate child and had to sit in
the stocks in a white sheet at the
age of los, married a widow when
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
A Coalition?

Let congress- says James NJ. Beck, Republican
representative from Pennsylvania and former
solicitor general, form coalition elect some fair
minded" as Speaker, and cut federal expendi-
lures from three to five billions.
1t seems a good idea, but it should be contem-
plated in connection with the party lineup of the
seventy-second congress. Republicans will have a
shaky majority of or two and the progessives will
possess the power of turning that minute majority
into minority.
The difficulty of enecting economies In the con-
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
It's Perfectly Logical

r IKE so many other things,
IL aviation is ranging beyond the
capacity of individuals, except in
the stunt realm. Instead of evoIv-
ing into flock Of winged f1ivverS,
as most of us expected fifteen or
twenty years ago, it promises to
become a highly organized activity.
Perfectly logical, when you come
to think about it. Aviation repre-
sents a tremendous compound of
invention and discovery. 1t is one
Of the last words in technical
knowledge, not only with regard to
wind pressure and combustion en-
gines, but with regard to many
other things. 1t represents our first
effort to employ vehicles out of
their natural element.
The safety of those who ride in
airplanes is dependent on motion
derived from mechanical power.
That means that nothing should be
left to ignorance, incompetence or
faulty construction.
Unyielding vigilance, strict atten-
ton to detail, and exacting super
vision are essential to create public
confidence in air transportation,
and they can not be had without
organization.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
SCIENCE
BY DAVID DIETZ

- - -
Scientists DiVide Universe
Into Eight Sections ct
Start Of Photographic
SurUey."
THE Harvard observatory has
= parceled the universe into
eight major sections" for the sake
of the survey upon which it is about
to embark.
Thirty astronomers, employing ten
Photographic telescopes, will take
part in this survey of the universe.
which represents an extension of the
work which the observatory has
done during the last ten years.
DR.. Harlow Shapley, director Of
the observatory, lists the eight ma
jor sections as follows:
The solar neighborhood.
The region of the brighter stars.
The local system.
The milky way.
The system of blobular clusters.
The clouds of Magellan.
The -galaxieS.
The metagalaxy.
The term "metagalaxy" has come
into astronomical literature only re-
Gently. am under the impression
that the word was coined by DR..
Shapley.
He uses it as an all-inclusive term
to describe all Of the universe which
lies within range Of the largest tele-
scopes.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
Three Cheers for Chase

T NOTE in the papers a prescrip-
l. ton offered by Stuart Chase.
1t seems to me an excellent pro-
gram. Here is his prescription:
Il. Create a national planning
board to coordinate facts about
basic industries and direct their OPP
erations so that supply will balance
demand.
20. Reduce tariffs, cancel war
debts. and diSarm.
80, Set up unemployment in
surance on an actuarial basis.
"a. Float at once federal bond
issue of three to five billions Of dol
lars to put men at work this COM
ing winter on public works projects"
The first ingredient needs a little
closer definition. A national plan
ming board will have to have its
scope clearly outlined. To be sure,
some such mechanism is not en-
tirely new under the American
scheme. The war trade board
loosely fulfilled similar function.
During the war we were willing to
make great concessions to CO.
operative effort because We realized
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
"L,ake Mead

The board of geographical names has recon-
mended that the greatest of all man-made lakes
which the Boulder dam will create will be named
for DR.. Elwood Mead, chief of the United States
reclamation bureau We hope that it will.
Author of the Wyoming water law, pioneer in
land settlement in California engineer, teacher
evangelist for reclamation, DR.. Mead has been a
valuable public servant
Throughout the long fight for the swing-Johnson
act, DR.. Mead, among all other administration men,
stood firm for sound power features of the Boulder
dam measure.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
Just Human Nature

CTILL speaking of craftsmanship,
~ Captain Eaker says that those
attending the Cleveland air races
are far more interested in stunts
than in speed records.
That proves little, except that hui
man nature hasn't changed very
much.
People are interested in stunts
not only because of the thrill, but
because stunts show the pilots in
dividual skill.
People like to see what q man or
woman can do that is different and
daring, like personal performances.
They can imagine themselves doing
the same thing, and how it would
feel.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-09
1t Can't Be Done

BECAUSE organization is essen
- tial in mechanical fields, we
should not assume that it is es-
Sential, or even desirable, in all
other fields.
There still are many things that
we not only can do better alone,
but that we must do alone.
No system has been devised where
by we can be born in an organized
way, or die in an organized way.
No matter how many folks are
standing around, we have to go
through each OF these performances
by ourselves, and a lot more in be-
tween.
Though we can be helped in OBJ
tanning knowledge, what it means
and the use that is made of it, rests
largely with each of us as an in
dividual.
For certain phases of life-and
they are very important phases,
there just isn't any room for a cor
poration, board of directors, bond
issue, or mass production.