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Newspaper
Decatur Daily
Location
Decatur, Alabama, United States of America
Date
Aug 29, 1941
Page
4
A Decatur Dispatch page piece mixes AP usage notes with local appeals. It highlights Delano Park progress, defense production concerns, and a Dallas father's open letter urging motorists to slow for schoolchildren and to think before driving, stressing driver responsibility.
This week marks the first aviation activity at the Southern Avian Training School as instructors arrive to prepare natives for primary training. The program aims to educate new pilots and establish a teaching staff for the facility.
An Ever wartime column collects about 500 reader letters from draftees and parents. Grievances include unfair treatment for soldiers, pay comparisons, doubts on draft limits, and incompetent officers. The author urges honest reporting, accountability, and patience as the army builds leadership and unity.
The speaker questions Allied resolve and notes a draft provision barring troop deployment from the hemisphere until Congress repeals the amendment amid open debate. Army leaders plan to expand numbers with basic gear while waiting for weapons, arguing production will eventually meet needs despite hardships.
Ex players voice concerns about football injuries and long term health effects. Dr. Clendening notes high school players show blood in urine and cases of ruptured kidneys from football. He argues the sport’s rules and commercialism endanger players and calls for public action.
J. J. Ransom spent days in Tuscaloosa at a basketball coaching school. Joseph Barclift of Birmingham visited his grandmother Mrs. Fannie Bowers. Margie Reese received treatment for a broken arm in Birmingham. J. W. Winton attended the funeral of Sampler Turney on route one. Mrs. Elkin Collier and children visited Decatur. Mesdames Johnston Mikell and son Don shopped in Decatur. Annie Black and family were in Birmingham. Carter Davis family moved to Decatur. G. Mikell from Florence was mentioned in Morgan County notices.
A reader voices frustration that the sons of bosses receive better assignments with gold braid while common sailors stay in lower ranks. The protest questions fairness in military promotions and job placements across history.
Editor notes Dr Clendening has seven pamphlets available at 10 cents each. To obtain any pamphlet send 10 cents and a self addressed stamped envelope with a three cent stamp to Dr Logan Clendening care of this paper. Titles include Three Weeks Reducing Diet Indigestion and Constipation Reducing and Gaining Infant Feeding Instructions for the Treatment of Diabetes Feminine Hygiene and The Care of the Hair and Skin.
The report covers a weekend home visit and a business trip to Decatur on Saturday. It lists attendees Miss Mayo Lyle Homer Barclift Mary Sherrill Black and Joe Barclift in Decatur midweek. Bertha Jacobs of Decatur visited W F Wade family. A baby girl was born to Everett and Mrs. Lemmond on August 16.
A reunion was held August 28 at the old Gibson home in Massey now occupied by Mr and Mrs Walter Speigle. Attending were Roy Gibson of Asheville North Carolina Mrs Visis, Mrs Walt Johnson of Monrovia Mr and Mrs Pink Garner Frances and Robert Garner of Mobile Mrs and Mrs F R Minter and family Miss Vida Mae Hardin of Parkville Mrs Milton Kyle of Hartselle Rufus Gibson of Decatur Mr and Mrs W H Gibson Miss Elma Gibson and Mr and Mrs Walter Speigle.
Department of Commerce reports American manufacturers supply about 80 to 90 percent of men's and women's shoes sold in Newfoundland, reflecting strong U.S. production share in regional footwear trade.
A reflective note on wealth beyond money, urging daily riches through laughter giving forgiveness friendship and cheerful endurance. It emphasizes recognizing God’s handiwork in daily life and valuing small joys like a child’s smile or a dog’s lick. The snippet ends with casual regional dialogue about illness and insomnia.
The excerpt blends a workplace ditty on rules and wages with a talk of efficiency and promotion. It contrasts short weight for money with long waits for goods and ends with a college exchange about a son who is a halfback, hinting at balance between study and sports.
A large hotel experienced a fire that woke guests and forced a quick evacuation. One guest boasted about remaining calm, claiming he showered and dressed, then smoked a cigarette as others fled. A bystander quipped about his pants, highlighting the panic. The latter line hints at a humorous aside about flirting and a joke.
A dawn scene shows a town waking from a hill top view with sleepy lights, chimneys smoking, and the sun rising behind the church spire. A child laughs and a dog barks as people seek their place for work or play in the daytime bustle.
Walter Winchell notes that the horse Tetrarch, an undefeated two-year-old in England, later broke records as a three-year-old and earned the nickname Big Red. He contrasts this with the famous Man o War, arguing the English doubted the American great.
Ailing horse Play Gold suffers toothache causing tears, later calmed after tooth extraction and licking the vet. Jockey Don Meade, famed for a deformed forearm, is highlighted for his challenge. A mare Social Climber foals Social Error whose sire remains undetermined and is now racing.
Merrick a 36 year old gelding from near Lexington Kentucky is described as the oldest living race horse. He is deaf and blind and suffers rheumatism yet remains active on the farm and had a career win total of 62 races.
Jockeys do not use personal judgment when riding a horse as each horse has a unique temperament and must be ridden according to the trainer's instructions.
The article details routine meals for race horses with meals at 6 a m noon and 7 p m and a siesta from 2 to 4. It notes Sea Biscuit and Whirlaway sleep positions and odd preferences including horses preferring beer to sugar and eggs as a delicacy. It also mentions diet as a health indicator and a remedy of eggs and brandy for ill horses.
The piece notes that many stables keep a variety of animals such as monkeys dogs cats mice chickens donkeys and lion cubs. Some thoroughbreds are inseparable from their pets and race poorly unless they see them first. Often a stable pony accompanies the horse to the post at a cost of ten dollars.
Osmand and Brass Monkey show sprinters can excel at steeplechase, as speed horses develop superior leaping ability. Despite the event’s long distance, short distance speed works to the jumper’s advantage and makes fast horses strong jumpers.
Two race horses Osmond and Brass Monkey were escorted to a hotel elevator and brought to the banquet hall where they were feted with champagne.
Alviso, owned by a San Diego fire chief, trained entirely in the surf and earned the nickname Sea Horse. He never ran a race before his first start as a two year old, yet he shattered the track record.
A historic horse racing note profiles Man O War as a super horse famed for speed under varied weather. It emphasizes that class depends on performance and proper rider judgment shapes a horse’s value and career trajectory.
A quoted profile notes he never drinks, spends evenings at home, and does not belong to clubs. It states he smokes sparingly, enjoying a cigar after dinner but averages about two cigars a month.
An old saying equates a three and four year old Thoroughbred's prime with human fitness. It notes one horse year equals seven human years, suggesting men would reach athletic prime between ages 21 and 28 if judged like horses.
The article notes the longest odds ever paid on a horse at Haydock Park England 3400 to 1 for Coole a doctor’s wife fainted on the win. It also cites Robledo 3037 to 1 in Shanghai 1929 and Wishing Ring 1185.50 to 1 in Lexington 1912 with multiple ticket pays including 664.60 and 172.60 for place and show. A Newmarket Daily Double paid 11800 to 1 11800? 11892 to 1.
Ninety percent of modern Thoroughbreds have unsound legs and are called platers. Platers are considered unreliable, which helps explain statistics showing only about 30 percent of public selections win races over a ten year span.
A bettor named G Faber paid 105000 for a two year old horse Duke of Westminster. Lord Glanely paid 250000 for a horse named Solario at public auction setting a new high.
A rule requires a racehorse name to be unused for 15 years after a horse named with that title dies, preventing reuse of the same name by any new entrant. The policy aims to preserve the legacy and prevent confusion in racing records and betting markets.
The column lists numerous Sunday and week visits across Danville Leoma Lawrence Cove Cullman and surrounding areas. People like Mr. and Mrs. Boyd Puryear Mrs. Manford Chaffin Rev. Doss Shadix and families from Tennessee Kentucky and Alabama appear among guests and hosts in local homes.
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