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This newspaper page contains 29 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Decatur Daily
Location
Decatur, Alabama, United States of America
Date
Dec 08, 1939
Page
4
A compact, year end parish and civic column notes wise sayings from Matt 6 34 and discusses local event plans. Bill Patton jokes about a Rose Bowl out of a Soup Bowl while Tom Dewey and Franklin are referenced in a political quip. The city offers 5000 in prizes for well kept premises and invites public attendance at Benson Field Friday night.
An editorial remarks that Kuhn was sent to Sing Sing prison more swiftly than expected and reflects on justice in the United States. It contrasts European outcomes with American proceedings and notes Kuhn’s punishment for actions rather than beliefs. The piece concludes with a critical view of how the nation grinds through its process, discarding chaff.
The Decatur area elevates the Alabama National Guard with a charity football game against the Lions club and plans to form a city league basketball. The text lauds rapid unit formation after World War I and urges upgrades to the Armory heating system to improve training and payroll impact.
The passage notes Decatur visiting Georgia to teach football, leading to Fovefrog forming a band. It also mentions a Georgia gentleman raising funds to pay Finland's war debt, questioning Finland's acceptance of such aid and suggesting the debt burden might not warrant gifts.
The editorial urges Decatur to complete the Salvation Army campaign to avoid duplicative panhandling and channel giving through one trusted, established source. It argues the Army’s 75 years of international presence ensures effective charity, and residents should support it to meet local needs responsibly.
The piece critiques Thomas Dewey as a top attorney and potential 1940 Republican starter while noting he offers no clear remedy to economic problems. It discusses Taft Van Genneberg and Vandenberg, arguing the GOP must present a stronger platform to contest Roosevelt.
Washington observers describe Thurman Arnold as pursuing multiple indictments against building trades unions under anti trust laws. AFL and CIO tensions rise as two CIO delegates join a regional labor office conference, affecting influence and voting power amid claims of data leaks and political maneuvering.
Four leading Roosevelt era prognosticators were asked to estimate 1940 industrial production. Individual guesses range from 105.3 for 1939 to 120 for a composite forecast, averaging to about 111. The estimates lie below the current rate but above 1939 overall, reflecting mixed expectations from officials.
The article notes wide opinion gaps between Mr. Wallace’s allies as to economic outcomes. It cites the Chicago milk case and says you cannot violate antitrust laws without Agriculture Secretary Wallace’s permission. Indictments accuse milk firms farmers and workers of privately fixing prices and marketing terms under Wallace backed deals from 1939 after a prior agreement expired in 1935.
The Tennessee river bridge project continues on schedule this morning with steady progress on the approach despite cold conditions. Mrs. AJ Harris plans to depart next.
Walter Winchell on Broadway presents a lighthearted column listing curious automotive trivia. It notes Memphis as the safest U S city by traffic death rates, quirks like toe in wheels for easier steering, color limits in Cairo, and amusing international contrasts in taxes and driving tests. It also highlights sunrise gas buying hints, rubber in tires, Hollywood hill illusions, and a speedy Damascus to Baghdad bus route with camel predecessors.
A quirky summary notes social quirks about early cars in the United States and abroad. It mentions a car for every four people and a bathtub shortfall, no gas stations on Broadway, green cars being taboo in Arabia and England, a car daily beauty sign, 2000 driving offenses, Mae West on car cushions, and an ammonia squirt gun used to scare barking dogs.
A collage of personal notices shows plans to spend Christmas in New York City with son Norman and Christmas among relatives. Several families report travel and visits, including Birmingham and Columbus connections. A fire damaged Clyde Hendrix’s home at noon. A birth is announced for Mr and Mrs J H Green on December 8.
If cars were built like houses, the cheapest car would cost 15000 dollars. Damaged vehicles sit on pedestals as warnings on Venezuela roads. Auto racers boost power by adding ether to fuel, risking disqualification. In 1906 the Baroness Hengelmuller shocked Washington by driving an automobile that released perfume from its exhaust.
A collection of tidbits notes 25 mph as the economic speed, claims Louis Firpo as a former boxing champ turned Argentine car dealer, and jests about car colors celebs wear. It cites varied quirks from backseat speedometers to Dutch bus doors and English stop signals with a humorous 1904 Kay City collision anecdote.
A foggy weather tip suggests glycerine to prevent mist on windshields and onion rubs for clarity. A cosmetic shade named Stop Red echoes traffic light signals. Historic England law once required a man to march 60 yards ahead of a car with a red flag to calm pedestrians and horses.
Art Klein once beat himself in a race at Cincinnati on Labor Day 1916 when he swapped cars after learning another driver was overcome by heat. Across the past fifteen years more people died in autos than in all U S wars. W C Fields travels by trailer to sleep while commuting. Tennessee law requires a sign to be posted before an automobile ride.
The piece notes British car terminology and slang for driving actions. It mentions a Tennessee mountain scene with poor housing, a character Amos from Amos and Andy with a car radio, skid guidance to avoid braking and gear throwing, and Marlene Dietrich’s chauffeur saluting when she enters or exits.
A Texas proposal promotes roads made of cotton as a solution to high speed travel. The text argues that driving at 55 mph wastes fuel, increases oil use, and halves tire life compared to a 30 mph driver, suggesting speed limits and material changes would reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Honolulu police give orchids to careful women drivers as a public courtesy gesture. A new motor horn on the market offers a variety of notes for different occasions. It provides programmable sounds for alerts and signaling.
The column urges buying a page of Christmas seals from the National Tuberculosis Association to fund local and national TB work. It notes a drop in U S death rates since 1900, outlines campaign goals such as x-ray screening of contacts, hospital segregation of active cases, and a need for about 40 000 more beds. Case finding in schools requires parental consent.
A chatty note urges drivers to yield and stay alert. It jokes that pedestrians and drivers should avoid arguments with larger vehicles and recalls a safety slogan about waiting for the light rather than an ambulance.
L. R. Berryman built an oxygen tent at home to aid his pneumonia-stricken dog Sally. He placed the gasping animal in an airtight box with a glass cover and fed oxygen through a hole from a 110 cubic foot cylinder.
Gritting teeth in sleep is usually a habit linked to malocclusion or tooth prominence. Experts caution it is not proven to be a nocturnal form of epilepsy.
Letter to a doctor requests sodium phosphate as a pain easing measure for a 75 year old mother who refuses surgery. The writer is advised the treatment may extend comfortable life with early morning dosing.
In response to a reader query C H J asks if days fever is contagious and the answer given is no. The note shows a brief exchange about public health information adjustments.
Editor announces seven pamphlets by Dr Logan Clendening available at 10 cents each. To obtain one, send 11 cents and a self addressed envelope with a 3 cent stamp to Dr. Logan Clendening. Titles include Diet for three weeks, Indigestion and Constipation, Reducing and Gaining, Infant Feeding, Treatment of Diabetes, Feminine Hygiene, and The Care of the Hair and Skin.
In minutes Sally resumed normal breathing and a veterinarian told Berryman she has a good chance to recover. The health assessment follows her earlier medical episode and offers cautious optimism for her prognosis.
In Grants Pass Oregon on December 8 the pre Christmas bazaar run by St Luke's church women drew large crowds but investigators found some attendees had sold church decorations.
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