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This newspaper page contains 27 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Decatur Daily
Location
Decatur, Alabama, United States of America
Date
Dec 24, 1927
Page
3
Sheppard left this afternoon for Columbia to spend Christmas with relatives. Miss Maude Fitzpatrick of Nashville arrived today to spend the holidays at home.
A brief collage notes church attendance Sunday and an early end aim for the Shoals issue. It mentions Nashville headlines and a Nash ville Banner item about prizes for letters on love. The Daily staff is thanked for Christmas time appreciation.
A friend recounts hearing a beat joke about a Scotchman from a card he received. The card bears the inscription Merry, merry Christmas for the next three.
Residents share goodwill as stores open late and volunteers hand out meals. Local churches host carols and charity drives, while students perform in town hall events promoting hope and unity during the holiday season.
The Marian Parker case in Los Angeles drew national attention comparable to the Floyd Collins rescue and Lindbergh flight. William Hickman and his capture sparked huge newspaper interest and rewards approaching $100,000. Public sympathy for Hickman’s family contrasts with calls for justice and possible insanity defenses.
The Daily extends kindest season greetings to readers as the Christmas rush begins and the snowy joy of Santa Claus approaches. The notice wishes a merry Christmas and happy holidays to all in its traditional festive tone.
The National Republic condemns an American educator, Jerome Davis of Yale, for suggesting free propaganda might be harmless. It argues Bolshevism is a violent program intended to seize control, not a philosophy, and warns vigilance to prevent radical influence in the United States.
A moral Christmas story recounts a young woman who ignores a tired stranger at her door. She shuns him despite his kindness to her child, mistreats him, and learns too late that the lily of the field he bears echoes the Great King’s promised return. Her remorse echoes the scripture about not neglecting the least of these.
The Crescent Amusement Company purchases seven more theatres as Tony Sudekum grows a major theatre chain with support from friends across the South backing his work.
A mid 1920s public discussion examines Virginia's sterilization statute, asserting a claim that five percent of the population are criminals and questioning whether science can curb crime through such measures. The piece frames the ethical and legal stakes of eugenic policy in the era.
A garbled line comments that the editors at the top pay grade face sentiments in the country. The text seems to reflect a critic’s view of press leadership and compensation without clear specifics.
A Dec 24 report from Gallup, New Mexico outlines a brutal Los Angeles kidnapping and murder. The kidnapper forced the father to hand over 1500 in gold certificates and in return the kidnapper gave part of his severely mutilated 12 year old daughter's body. The article argues for severe punishment and questions whether science can reduce criminal behavior as it discusses sterilization laws and a Virginia case.
The excerpt argues that severe laws enable abuse and fear, noting historical practices in Virginia and England where the weak minded and petty criminals faced brutal penalties. It contrasts past executions for minor thefts with modern humane laws that allow criminals to live and potentially breed.
The author argues that feeble minded parents produce feeble minded children and criminals and that a carefully supervised program could prevent reproduction of the mentally unfit. The piece claims such measures would not cause physical suffering, but would stop them from bearing children, likening it to olden times as a metaphorical gallows.
A reporter recalls a well educated man sentenced to death who asked the writer to witness his execution and report how he faced death to his mother. The piece reflects on inherited crime and parental influence seen through nature and stern laws.
A damaged excerpt describes a young man dying and his mother waiting near a prison. She claims he died bravely and expresses belief in his innocence, but the text is incomplete and unclear about the event and context.
A chilling scene depicts a mother’s cold voice during a prison execution where her son’s life ends with his skull severed by surgeons, illustrating the origin of his alleged criminality.
The text claims that sterilizing criminals and the feeble minded could instantly erase crime and insanity. It cites the Mendelian law as proof that all humans carry defects and suggests sterilization would rapidly reduce social ills.
The Central Methodist church will dismiss its evening service Sunday to honor the new pastor of the Central Baptist church and asks members to attend the Baptist service. The Methodist morning worship will begin at eleven o clock and end at 11 45, so the congregation can be home early for Christmas dinner.
The Almon family gathers for an annual Christmas reunion Sunday at Gordon Drive home of Hon. and Mrs. D A Mon. Attendees include Mr and Mrs Almon and family from Nashville and Atlanta, with several relatives from Jackson and other places expected to join.
The author argues against drastic reform this generation but favors careful consideration of sterilization as an alternative to inefficient capital punishment with its delays and escapes after conviction.
Report notes a convict escaped from officers boarding a train while searching for a Los Angeles murderer. The escaped man is described as an imprisoned killer who hid a woman's body in a furnace and is labeled a degenerate murderer type with potential to reproduce others of his kind if freed.
In Santa Monica a man who cared for a young man confined in a sanitarium for criminal attacks on girls telegraphed police. The youth escaped vigilance and the caretaker fears possible kidnapping and murder. The piece argues science could safely and legally restrain such offenders, criticizing civilization’s lax safeguards.
The text argues against objections that scientific crime prevention interferes with providence. It recalls early resistance to anaesthetics as an analogy. It suggests those opposing preventive measures lack worthy opinions on napping and murder.
The article profiles Clara Bow as a rising film star and previews her new picture Lady of Whims, showing her as a petite yet magnetic performer with expressive eyes. It notes her rapid screen development and compares her to historic heroines while promising a strong performance beginning next Monday at the Princess theatre.
Several large cartons of cigarettes thought stolen from the A. Z Bailey company in Cullman have been located in Birmingham according to police. A druggist reported suspicious pricing and notified authorities, prompting recovery.
Ville Florida reports a fragmentary notice listing Mr and Mrs Almon of Decatur Mr and Leroy McEntire and hi Decatur Misses Christine Louise Aumon of Decatur in an unclear social note from a local page.
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