This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
This newspaper page contains 23 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Decatur Daily
Location
Decatur, Alabama, United States of America
Date
Aug 28, 1939
Page
2
President Roosevelt and State Department officials prepare proclamations to invoke the neutrality act if war expands. Discussions with Secretary Hull continue as the White House monitors European developments and contemplates economic easing steps.
Reports from multiple capitals describe rapid wartime measures. A German man, Friedrich Sperzel, beheaded for spying after illegally returning to France. Slovakia seals its border with Hungary as German troops push toward Bratislava. Belgium hosts a disrupted cabinet meeting amid French diplomatic talks. Rhine frontier closes at Strasbourg and border controls tighten. Canada overtakes shipping control while the United States trims port stops for citizens' return. The Netherlands mobilizes its army, and Switzerland assigns defense troops as nations marshal forces.
New York stocks showed a mid day recovery after an early drop driven by renewed war fears. Transfers reached about 700000 shares as prices steadied with light offerings, while commodities and livestock markets posted varied moves amid the war scare. Chicago grain markets remained volatile with wheat, corn, and oats ending higher than Saturday's levels.
Professional selling and southern liquidation push prices to new lows in the final trading minutes. Short covering and scale down orders provide only limited support as values close lower across the board with futures, including October and January positions, finishing down 20 to 24 points. Middling spot quoted at 8.62.
Active selling driven by unfavorable war news leaves cotton futures barely steady with net losses of 20 to 25 points. Prices quoted for Oct Dec Jan May and July contracts show declines amid light volume and mixed closes in New Orleans.
Chicago market report shows Butler and Creamery price lines with mixed figures across stock and storage metrics. Carrot and egg receipts listed, with steady grading and current receipts figures noted for local sales.
Stocks slide at midday with a failed rally and bonds hit hard. Curb trading firmed modestly while foreign exchange remained nervous. Cotton fell on selling. sugar rose on trade and cover activity. Wheat closed higher and corn rose 10 to 15 cents. Hogs up 10 cents to a top of 6.95.
U S Department of Agriculture report notes cattle and calves salable with a slow opening for slaughter cattle. Stockers steady to about steady with last week’s activity, mainly Westerns offered and prices hold near prior close.
In New Orleans on August 28 the cottonseed oil market closed steady with bleach able prime summer yellow at 5.75 nominal and prime crude around 4.50 to 4.62. Futures ranged Sept 5.10, Oct 5.24, Dec 5.39, Jan 5.45, with March at 5.26.
Prime cottonseed meal futures ended steady in Memphis with 41 percent meal trading. September through April contracts posted prices around 20.70 to 20.95 per unit and sales reached 1,400 units.
Spot cotton in New Orleans on August 28 finished steady after a 16 point drop. Sales reached 6,166 bales with low middling at 7.55 cents, middling 8.80, good middling 9.15. Receipts totaled 3,619 and stock stood at 356,464 bales.
Finance Director A R Forsyth projects the Alabama treasury ending 1938 39 with 4 978 715 total balance. General fund 105 089 trust fund 4 873 621. Forecasts 1939 40 revenues at 49 012 641 with a 159 367 general fund end balance and trust fund 4 509 285 carried forward.
The Daily reports Mrs. Julia Wimbs of Balon Alabama asks for information on her husband J R Wimbs who left home about two months ago seeking work. He is described as about five feet nine inches tall with blue eyes and weighing 18 pounds.
In Warsaw on August 28, four American women depart for Stockholm and Oslo via Latvia and Finland, leaving only a small number of nonPolish Americans in the capital. An estimated 6,000 Americans of Polish origin remain scattered across Poland, while Embassy staff and consular officials also begin to depart or stay as tensions rise.
Reports from Paris describe Hitler's violent mood upon meeting British French Italian and Japanese ambassadors. France mobilizes about two million troops and seeks regional exile reserves. Britain strengthens anti aircraft defenses while Poland drills trenches and distributes gas masks amid rising border tensions. Berlin Moscow talks fray as before.
A damaged OCR fragment asks readers to contact Mrs. Wimbs at Baileyton about an unspecified matter. The readable text mentions vague references to attire and remarks about others, with no clear event or date.
The submarine Squalus briefly surfaced at 10 44 EDT with a 50 degree list before sinking again as salvage teams prepared to tow toward the navy yard. Admiral Cole reported progress and crews expected to raise the bow, with the Falcon and Sculpin coordinating air and water blasting to lift the sunken vessel from about 90 feet depth and recover possible bodies by nightfall.
A partial blackout of French coastal cities was ordered for tonight as thousands of reservists head to the frontiers. Women replace men in civil positions while Nice Cannes and Juan-les-Pins see tourism flee and bars close after 9 pm under frontier evacuation orders.
A Warsaw dispatch reports German balloons aloft on the frontier while Poland insists on direct talks if Germany agrees. Daladier Hitler letters hint at surrender of Danzig and Polish Corridor and possible further Polish losses. As tensions mount, US authorities seek to evacuate Americans and ships cancel sailings. Manhattan to return to New York via Southampton.
Decatur notes reveal several health updates from Hamil Clinic with operations on multiple residents including Lewis Blizzard and Alvin Clark. Community events include church services led by H L Kirby and Rev Hargrove and announcements of college enrollment and dorm openings.
Dies committee investigator Robert Barker testified that William Dudley Pelley diverted 35 000 to 40 000 in Galahad Press assets to his own use and the Christian economics foundation. The Galahad Press faced bankruptcy in 1934 after the alleged diversions. Pelley had prior convictions in Asheville for selling unregistered securities and promoting Galahad Press stock.
Paris reports a calm city despite tense diplomacy as Daladier and Hitler exchange letters over Poland and the Polish corridor. Britain expected to send a detailed note while some optimism lingers Italy may yet mediate. French press voices fatigue with the menace.
Montgomery reports a surge in independent store sales with a 17.3 percent increase last month over July. The release highlights growing prosperity in Alabama's retail sector as of August.
We want people to find what they are looking for at NewspaperArchive. We are confident that we have the newspapers that will increase the value of your family history or other historical research. With our 7-day free trial, you can view the documents you find for free.
People find the most success using advanced search. Try plugging in keywords, names, dates, and locations, and get matched with results from the entire collection of newspapers at NewspaperArchive!
You can also successfully find newspapers by these browse options. Explore our archives on your own!
Browse by location and discover newspapers from all across the world.
Browse by date and find publications for a specific day or era.
Browse old newspaper publications to find specific newspapers.