12 Sep 1939
Page 1
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This newspaper page contains 26 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Athens Messenger
Location
Athens, Ohio, United States of America
Date
Sep 12, 1939
Page
1
United Press staff reports Polish troops continue to man the city as heavy bombardment from Nazi big guns and aerial attacks intensify. Despite shelling, defenders remain in position and resist with coordinated fire and sortie plans.
German high command says mechanized units pierced Polish lines east of Warsaw and pushed south to cut off defenders, with advances toward the Narew and Vistula rivers and rail routes to Bialystok and Siedlce. Hitler visits Lodz front as French and German forces clash along the West Wall front.
Sen. Gerald Nye and Sen. Borah press to keep a U S arms embargo intact. Nye vows a last ditch fight to block any revision while President Roosevelt weighs calling Congress into special session on neutrality law revision. Nye cites past trade as a path to war and defends the embargo as a safeguard.
Report from Radom Poland cites German losses in the push into Poland with estimates of 12000 to 15000 total casualties and 1500 to 2000 killed in battle as of the latest official word. The figures imply a major, possibly decisive eastern front engagement ahead of Warsaw.
The Rural Electrification Administration allotted 793000 dollars for 782 miles of electric lines in Ohio to serve 2615 farms. It includes 95000 dollars for the South Central cooperative to build 94 miles serving 346 farmers in Fairfield Hocking Licking Perry Pickaway and Ross counties, with the cooperative previously receiving 772000 dollars.
Columbus Ohio U P reports ten thousand cases of Scotch whiskey ordered by the state and liquor permit holders placed on normal rations due to wartime buying. Importers assure no shortage risk and anticipate only a slight price rise with higher war risk insurance rates.
Indictments issued against three men in Charleston for forging public assistance checks over two years. Named defendants include John E Burchett 35 Ben W Wakeman 60 former relief workers and Delmas Sloan poolroom manager.
State Director Earle L. Johnson announced a campaign to stop illegal flying in Ohio with Col. Lynn Black of the Highway Patrol promising full cooperation. The effort aims to reduce aircraft accidents from civil regulation violations and curb passenger hopping by unlicensed pilots operating near highways.
Velma Baker Fink, 22, of Clyde, on trial in Sandusky County for first degree murder after confessing to drowning her infant son. Her attorney Ben Dewey will pursue a temporary insanity defense claiming insanity incidental to childbirth. Prosecutor A L Huber seeks premeditated murder verdict. Jury venue examination of 50 prospective jurors started in Judge Baumann's court.
President Roosevelt suspended sugar marketing quotas to curb rising costs and wartime profiteering. He cited increased world demand and extraordinary consumer purchases as reasons for the temporary lifting of restrictions amid sharp price rises.
In Fort Myers Florida doctors declare the six pound infant born with part of her brain exposed by a thin sac has no hope of survival through surgery. Dr Harry Allan who delivered the baby says an operation is impossible.
The Ohio Pardon and Parole Commission granted paroles to 70 prisoners at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield. Names, crimes, and parole dates include Pearl Glass of Athens for grand larceny and Donald Lyons of Hocking for cutting to wound, both dated Nov 1.
Lorain County Sheriff Carl R. Finegan and four deputies thwarted two inmates found on the roof of the Lorain County Jail last midnight preventing an escape attempt.
A German submarine halted and searched the U S freighter Wacosta off the Irish coast with three hours aboard before releasing it for lack of contraband. The incident follows Britain and Germany declaring counter measures and signals a broader neutrality tension as ships from neutral Netherlands and Greece face mines in the North Sea and Baltic.
A concealed plow furrow blamed for overturning a tractor on a west local hillside farm killed Charles S. Specht age 57 a farmer and injured his son Emerson 26. The father died from a broken neck as the tractor toppled while they cut and bound corn.
Pittsburgh report states 47 year old Clarence J. Vogel of Wellsville Ohio fell 35 feet while supervising theater construction in West View. He misjudged a leap between steel piers and died at the scene.
A dramatic image shows Cracow Central Station in flames after German bombardment. The fire at the Polish rail hub is described as the work of German bombers and artillery, with the scene radioed from Berlin to New York.
The Methodist Church at its Ohio conference urged President Roosevelt to call a world economic conference and seek an armistice, reaffirming a firm opposition to war and U.S. entry into the European conflict. The social service commission report, adopted unanimously, urged peace amid wartime.
Cincinnati report shows Sears Roebuck Co spent 631,292 dollars on Ohio newspaper advertising in the last year. The nation wide 1938 survey tallies 10,748,176 dollars spent across 871 papers in 47 states. Dr Boris Emmet praises newspaper ads as best, while noting other media could aid Sears.
In Harrisburg voters selected candidates for four appellate judgeships and numerous local offices while 486 communities voted on liquor sales. Unlike 1938 contests, the day showed little fanfare and anticipation of the lightest turnout in years.
Dominic Mussolini disclosed he has received final American citizenship papers and is a second cousin of Italian Premier Benito Mussolini. He came to the United States from Argentina in 1909 and said he played with Benito as a child.
Ohio Democratic national committeeman Charles Sawyer, a 1938 gubernatorial nominee, was scheduled to meet President Roosevelt to discuss the Ohio political situation.
Ottawa reports Parliament rushed to put Canada on a war footing for the Allies. A $100 million war appropriation was completed, with a plan to levy taxes to fund the war, regulate war charities, and create the Department of Munitions and Supplies. An excess profits tax and higher income taxes are expected, with added levies on tobacco, alcohol, and luxuries.
The State Highway Patrol was asked to round up missing witnesses as the special grand jury investigation into alleged election irregularities in Pike County continued on a day to day financial basis. Some witnesses reportedly left for Northern Ohio to work in cornfields.
Washington dispatch reports Ohio corn and fruit crops are forecast to set a record harvest. The agriculture department's crop reporting service predicts yields will break all previous records amid strong growing conditions and favorable weather.
Paris dispatch says autumn rains began in Poland hindering German moves as rivers rise and mud slows tanks. Polish forces remain intact east of the Vistula and San, with reports that Germans failed to breach Narew and Bug defenses while probing near Warsaw and Jaroslaw.
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