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Newspaper
Decatur Daily
Location
Decatur, Alabama, United States of America
Date
Jan 16, 1941
Page
1
British communiques describe a heavy air attack on a Mediterranean convoy. The damaged destroyer Gallant and the aircraft carrier Illustrious were forced to port, while the destroyer Portsmouth sank an Italian destroyer. Pandora reportedly sank two Italian supply ships south of Libya.
From Washington, Senator Hill reports President Roosevelt approved a WPA highway project for Alabama. The $1,453,781 program aims to improve Alabama roads in the coming period.
Major Bennett G. Owens state medical director of the draft said selective service may be one of the most effective weapons in the nation wide fight against venereal disease. Local board medical visitors are uncovering latent infections in registrants who were unaware of their condition.
The Tennessee river stood at 18.12 feet with .52 inches of rainfall in the past 24 hours. Alabama experiences showers and cooler changes with southeasterly winds shifting to the northwest. Tennessee forecast calls for rain this afternoon and tonight, warmer then cooler in the west, Friday mostly cloudy and very cold with rain in the northeast.
James Phenix, paralyzed CCC enrollee, was flown by Army ambulance plane to the capital for a belated reunion with his family. They had moved from Orion Alabama, and the search for them followed his May accident near Franklin Oregon after a CCC truck overturned. The federal government covered trip expenses.
The House Naval Committee fast tracked a request to authorize 909 million dollars to build 400 small ships including chasers escorts and mine sweepers and to expand shipyards and ordnance plants. A separate 300 million dollar anti dive bomber program was approved yesterday.
Alabama Supreme Court rules Marshall County board, not the county superintendent, must decide if about 40 teachers will be retained for the 1940-41 term. The decision upholds prior rulings dismissing demurrers in a reinstatement suit and sends the case back for merits trial. The justices also hold Bessemer utility workers fall under Jefferson County retirement and tenure provisions.
About 20 percent of workers at Fort Benning have lost time due to influenza over several weeks, a report states Charley Frank Williams head of Williams Lumber Co contractor for most post defense construction.
Influenza spreads rapidly across Alabama with eight counties curtailing classes and rising case reports. Health officer Dr J N Baker says reported cases are a small percentage of total sufferers while mail divisions and telephone service suffer delays and athletic events are halted.
Morgan county reports steady flu levels with new cases in all areas while recoveries keep totals balanced. Pleasant Hill School near Decatur closed after 46 of 103 students were absent. Irwin J. Quinn notes large outbreaks in some schools. Decatur schools conduct exams with few students in class at a time as workers miss days.
Spectators barred from Auburn vs Spring Hill games this Friday and Saturday. Jefferson County schools dismiss early with pupils collecting report cards tomorrow. Jacksonville State Teachers College and Jacksonville High School closed as a preventive step. A regional FSA training session near Montgomery adjourned early due to influenza. Officials report Auburn cases easing, while Lee County sees an epidemic but mild, and Pepperell Opelika Mills report many cases not impacting operations.
Influenza remains widespread in Athens and Limestone County but not yet at epidemic levels. Officials say no immediate action plans have been announced and the item continues on Page Two.
British RAF night raids hit Wilhelmshaven naval base and the new German air base at Catania Sicily. London reported 30 to 40 aircraft burned or damaged at Catania and described Wilhelmshaven as the heaviest strike yet.
The German air campaign in the central Mediterranean seeks to rescue Mussolini forces in Libya and block British aid to Greece in Albania. If effective, it would reopen sea routes between Italy and Grigiani’s forces, allowing reinforcements and supplies to continue. The operation is framed as a rescue mission amid a broader Axis effort behind Allied gains in Libya and Albania.
The article discusses potential German rescue moves in the Mediterranean and the impact on Graziani and Tripoli. It notes Nazi success hinges on air superiority over the Royal Air Force in the Mediterranean and questions Italy's hold on its African possessions after defeats in Libya.
Horace Mellard DuBose, a longtime churchman and editor, died in Nashville at age 82. Born near Mobile in 1868, he was ordained in 1879 and became a bishop in 1918, leading the Pacific coast and later Tennessee conferences. The body lies in state at a Nashville Methodist church with funeral planned for Friday.
Mrs. Fannie E Sims aged 85 died at 7 15 this morning at her daughter Mrs Bertha Fuller house in Moulton Heights Final services set for 2 pm Friday at Dancys Chapel Rev E E Byars to officiate Brown to handle burial Survived by seven daughters one son W R Sims of Trinity route 1 40 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren widow of Dan M Sims Grandsons to be pallbearers
Undersheriff Howard Duckworth said Jay Theron Rutledge, 23, a WPA laborer, would be arraigned in circuit court tomorrow on cruel injuries charges after he twisted his baby son's leg until it broke because the child cried.
Eye-witness account from aboard the British aircraft carrier Illustrious details a seven hour German air attack on January 10 as Nazi dive bombers pressed 40 to 50 planes in the Mediterranean. The author, AP correspondent Larry Allen, describes bombing, anti-aircraft fire, and a collision near the starboard side, with 12 German planes shot down and the Vega destroyer engaged by a British cruiser.
Rev. J A Chambers resigns after 25 months at Southside Baptist Church to become chaplain of the 151st Engineer Regiment. The church gained 156 members, completed first unit of a $35,000 building, auditorium cost $17,000 with $10,000 paid, Sunday School rose from 125 to 225, BTU more than doubled, and an electric organ was installed. Resignation effective February 3. regiment to mobilize February 8.
Workers at a California Ryan Aeronautical plant faced a draft deferment risk if they strike as state officials warned of reclassification. The dispute with management centered on a minimum hourly wage with the two sides fixed 5.5 cents apart. Returns to work followed a nationwide wave as Eaton Manufacturing rehired staff under a defense order push. Rhode Island Nar ragansett Electric averted a strike minutes before its start through arbitration talks led by Governor McGarth.
Montgomery Alabama January 16 William Clark an 18 year old condemned for raping a Limestone County matron was sentenced to die tonight in Kilby Prison electric chair Governor Frank Dixon refused clemency after interview Clark was 16 at the time of the crime and his sentence was upheld by the Alabama Supreme Court with a U S Supreme Court denial of review.
Secretary Stimson warned the House Foreign Affairs committee that an air invasion threat looms if Britain’s navy is crippled. He said the United States could repel a 50 000 strong land assault if airborne support exists, noted Newfoundland as a base, and endorsed lend lease aid as a limited power to act without surrendering rights.
British soldiers press on toward Tobruk with renewed effort after a week without air caused by desert conditions. Italian stragglers are being rounded up as the Italian general Francisco Argentino, captured weeks earlier, is reported in custody.
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