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Newspaper
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Location
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States of America
Date
Dec 11, 1939
Page
11
The United States considers a Finland war loan despite not being technically at war, provoking fears of echoing 1914 attitudes. Critics warn public funds fund aggressive policy, while Iowa officials forecast tax hikes and state cutbacks as local budgets face restraint.
In Geneva the League of Nations Assembly urged Soviet Russia to accept mediation in the Finnish Russia dispute and to promise troop withdrawal from Finnish territory. The request, sent after Finland appealed for support, set a 24 hour reply deadline.
The United States approves a $10 million credit to Finland to purchase American agricultural surpluses and civilian supplies. The Finnish American Trading Corporation in New York will handle buys, backed by RFC and Bank of Finland guarantees, with operations starting soon.
Berlin reports denied that a new German peace plan exists and described such talk as a diplomatic trial balloon. The alleged framework would keep a corridor to Danzig and restore an independent Czechoslovakia minus the Sudetenland. A free Austrian plebiscite under supervision was floated.
The divorce of screen star Bette Davis and Harmon O. Nelson Jr. is now final in Los Angeles. Nelson had secured an interlocutory divorce on December 6, 1938.
A Des Moines editorial writer spearheads a Sunday conference and parade of objectors criticizing violence and terrorism in labor disputes, signaling ongoing opposition to such methods.
The U S Supreme Court ruled that evidence obtained via wire tapping cannot be used in federal criminal trials and that intercepting intrastate messages is illegal. In two decisions, six to one and unanimous, the court reversed convictions of alleged alcohol smugglers and ordered new trials for others in New York related to an insurance fraud ring.
A humorous wartime column by Arthur Bugs Baer notes France and Germany could create a buffer state if they keep digging. The Maginot line is reduced to bedrock as the war goes underground with soldiers beneath and diplomats underhanded, while the line about oil hints at strategic stakes.
Soviet troops launched a broad offensive against Finland on Monday aided by rugged Asiatic tribesmen adapted to Arctic cold. Stockholm reports Polish prisoners are used as guards and decoys to clear mines for mechanized units. Finnish counterattacks north of Lake Ladoga recaptured Suomisalmi as front lines hold east of Vipuri. Finns claim control of timing and choice to fight or retreat while defending the Mannnerheim line lying on a broad lake.
Dean C. Thomas, 46, a Cedar Rapids food salesman, was found hanged in his attic at 370 Twentieth Street SE Sunday at 2:20 am. The coroner ruled death by own action amid despondency after his wife’s death two years earlier. He left no note. Survived by son Robert 25, daughter Janet Rex, mother Mrs. D. C. Thomas, and brothers Carl C. of Chicago and Maurice D. of Wapello. Burial at Cedar Memorial Park after Moon chapel service.
Washington report says a House committee released a memo by NLRB member William M. Leiserson accusing Secretary Nathan Witt's office of procedural irregularities. Leiserson questioned a majority opinion in the Todd-Johnson dry docks case and listed several industrial actions with alleged procedural flaws.
King George VI returned to England from the front Sunday night as World War II coverage continues to unfold with the monarch arriving to greet officials and curbside crowds awaiting updates on the war effort.
Washington report says 13 consumers' organizations act as transmission belts for the Communist party to spread aims among the middle class and to undermine free enterprise. B Matthews claims the Agriculture Department publicly favors one group via Good Housekeeping and cites additional organizations tied to communist fronts.
Finnish and Russian forces clash above the Arctic Circle with Puukos daggers a tiny machine gun and skis shaping tactics. Finns hide in white parkas strike from rocks and trees using guerrilla ski warfare to disable Soviet tanks with improvised barriers and hand grenades.
The piece muses on silence as a divine gift and a path to inner strength. It contrasts fear of solitude with its healing power, citing religious and Eastern perspectives and urging listening beyond noise for eternal insight.
In Charles City, 14 year old Dorothy Carter, freshman class president at Colwell high, was killed by 17 year old Warner Blewett, senior class president. Blewett admitted the slaying after attempting suicide with poison. he and Carter had dated for some time, and motive remains unclear.
Cedar Rapids and Marion officials seek relief from congestion on a 13k bored highway. The state highway commission proposes a 16 mile concrete road from Thi tenth street SE to Cedar Park bridge north of Cedar Rapids. Estimated cost 60 000 awaits council approval with a new bridge planned near Cedar Park and trees to be protected. Gas mains would be relocated under the new road and work could begin in spring if approved.
An AP tale says two elderly Finns in a coastal village used a rusty cannon to curb a mass bombing raid on Helsingfors. They fired at 15 approaching planes. the shot missed but the squadron retreated, dropping bombs on the shore. Three planes reached the capital.
Colwefli law members report no clear motive for the shooting and death of 14 year old Dorothy Carter by friend Warner Blewett. Dorothy and Warner reportedly got along well, and the family says they have no idea why it happened.
Rolland Wells of Tulsa severed the tip of his tongue after repeated reprimands for swearing at a John Brown University dormitory in Siloam Springs Arkansas. Officials sent him home to recover from the drastic act.
Cedar Rapids saw warming in fair skies as temperatures rose through the day. Readings climbed from a 21 low at 5 am to 31 at 10 am and 43 at 2:30 pm, with earlier Sunday lows of 49 at 5:30 am and 44 by noon, then 47 in late afternoon before dropping to 36 and 26 by midnight.
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