The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-05-01
Our
Town
By
Anton sCHERREf.
nE. HORACE R. ALLEN


pie recognize the fact, for they take
care of it in parenthetical note in
their directory. It's about the only
human touch in their whole book
Docs alias is almost as old as he
is. At any rate, Doc was only 3
years old when his father realized
the mistake at the baptism and took
steps to rectify it.
The baptismal name didn't seem
to fit the frankest boy ever born in
indianapolis, said Docs father. Any
way. that's the legend.
A FTER that, Docs life shapes it.
4 = self into two big and equal
parts, namely: The period he spent
in school and the period he spent
out of school,
Doc went through Yale. Harvard
and Columbia. not counting such
trivia as prep schools. and is today,
perhaps, the best exhibit we have
of what American education can do
to an Indianapolis boy away from
home. Doc carries the scars of a
dozen degrees to show what he's
been through.
In his day, Doc was the Strong
Man of Harvard. AS such, he could
tear the big Boston directory into
tiny bits in 4s seconds. a pack of
playing cards in IA seconds.
1t would be asking too much OF
Doc to do the same thing now be-
cause the Boston directory is a lot
bigger now than it was then but he
still does the card trick. Maybe you
don't realize 1t but a deck of cards
just stands still.
THAT'S nothing however. Doc
a can do anything anybody else
has done and then some. In his
spare time he paints pictures, whit
ties wood, models in clay and COM
poses abstrusea dissertations on the
fourth dimension which don't al
WAYS agree with Einsteir, Doc saws
they don't have to.
Besides all this, Doc runs a
shop where he fixes up broken
necks and fallen arches that come
to his door. We probably forgot
to tell you that Doc is also inter-
ested in orthopedics. That is why
he went to Columbia.
Docs house is crowded with ex-
amples of his creative genius. He
sleeps in swinging bed which is
from the ceiling and he
bathes in a room decorated with
murals of flying fishes and mer-
maids or, at least. what Doc thinks
mermaids should look like.
Docs bed is museum piece and
a triumph Of his own wood carv-
ing. 1t is literally covered with
carved elephants, camels and mon
keys, of saints and sinners all NOV
ing in a general but undetermined
direction.
Doc calls it 1.-THE Sense of Civil
ization." Doc didn't have anything
but = jack-knife to do it with.
What's more, everything he does is
done on a diet of buttermllk and
grapefruit.
nOC is very fond OF animals and
- loves to participate in their
pains and pleasures. In his Co.
lumbia days he was the most fire.
quent visitor the Central Park Zoo
ever had and it got so finally that
the keepers depended on Doc for
advice. Doc kept a telephone near
his bed just for that purpose but
don't get the idea that Doc is that
kind of doctor
One night we like to recall, Doc
was called to the Zoo to extract a
thorn from the left foot of his pet
elephant. 1t was a very simple
operation, says Doc, and it wouldn't
be worth mentioning except for
what happened 40 years later when
a circus came to indianapolis. Doc
goes to every circus.
He CT afford to because he never
Pc more than so cents for a seat.
MEL, on the night we're tell
W ing about Doc was in his
50-cent seat in time to see the start
Of the grand entrance parade.
When the herd of elephants came
to Docs section, one of the beasts
started trumpeting and before any,
body knew what the excitement was
about a nonstrous trunk shot out, |
picked up Doc and carried him to
the reserved seat section.
Doc says the elephant had a lit
tie scar on his left foot which he
judges was about 40 years old.