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This newspaper page contains 25 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Decatur Daily
Location
Decatur, Alabama, United States of America
Date
Jul 19, 1940
Page
4
The piece probes United States defense needs with a nod to Bermuda grass bans and a proposed cotton binder for road fills. It questions political attention at conventions and hints at renewed European war coverage while noting Bermuda grass concerns and farm plan trials.
The article notes Stimson backing a dry military training program and explains volunteers alone cannot meet current demand. It observes many Americans resist at enlistment while awaiting a call, with broad public support for some form of draft or selective service to fill the ranks.
The Daily recalls a years ago visit by Secretary Wallace to Decatur where he toured the Lelia Cantwell Seton Hall site and complimented the gallery as a grand place to make a speech. The text suggests he should use that iron gallery for a future campaign stop in the TVA region.
The speaker cites items for blame on the war including Republicans serving in a Democratic administration and cross party nominations for president and vice president. The Cleveland Indians drop four straight games but retake American League leadership.
Walter Davenport writing in Collier's relies on Hoover files to warn that Europe faces widespread starvation as armies move and fronts stall grain and livestock. Britain’s blockade worsens shortages, while Norway Poland Belgium and the Netherlands suffer severe shortages and Argentina and the Americas divert exports elsewhere.
An archival account details a chaotic Democratic National Convention scene in Chicago with vacuum, windups, and clashes over Roosevelt’s nomination. The piece highlights Hollywood-like demonstrations, Pepper’s push for early acclaim, Clarke’s opposition, and Oklahoma delegates juggling symbols amid intense political theater.
A chaotic convention scene features loud radio cries for Roosevelt from Illinois and New Jersey factions. Report notes most delegates stayed in line, with one Wheeler leader remarking that if rival delegations had paused headlong noise would have silenced a delegate.
The Chicago report notes Kelly invited “John Tuohy’s boys” from the 27th ward and plainclothes ushers managed Roosevelt banners while youths with Wheeler for president placards were rounded up to keep lines clear, the scene mostly orderly though drafty and brisk.
Chicago reports a complete summary of Justice Douglas's Democratic voting history. The 1938 record shows he did vote in New Haven though earlier notes claimed otherwise. The analysis lists registered status from 1936 to 1938 with gaps in 1932 and 1937 a year he did not vote.
Walter Winchell reports on Edmond Taylor returning to the United States aboard the Washington last Saturday July 13. He notes Taylor's expertise on Fifth Column tactics, citing his book The Strategy of Terror and recent observations of the collapsed French government. He recalls the Tours to Bordeaux government move, and the empty Ministry of Information left to painters finishing walls by 5 p.m.
A veteran correspondent recalls fleeing Europe after years in France and Spain. He describes refusing to leave Bordeaux, a border photo warning him by Spain’s border police, and a controversial Paris club speech about Franco’s shooting behind the lines.
Narrator travels on a freighter named the American Farmer under a Belgian name with Sevareid and a Belgian captain. The crew allegedly ships non paying Polish Czech and Belgian refugees while keeping lifeboats available for the crew, an action the narrator deems unneutral despite not being Americans.
American correspondents in Paris doubted censor bias toward the French cause. One cable noted Paris morale remained intact after a major bombardment, but officials scrubbed such military information as potentially helpful to the enemy.
A London source states Balbo was killed during a sightseeing flight over the front by a British fighter. The British denial of any planes in action that day is confirmed as true. The Italians misled themselves with timing, Balbo dying four days before Rome’s official notice.
The article explains how propaganda, especially German radio broadcasts in French, swayed French opinion during the war. It notes that listeners trusted German news over the French press and cites the tactic of pre announcing bombings to unsettle civilians, sometimes followed by actual raids on schedule.
Using old tanks training units and captured German armor Gen. de Gaulle assembled an improvised armored division in exile. He raided deep behind German lines along the Meuse with trucks fitted for armor and World War I era machines to project strength and boost French morale.
In England the population shows readiness and eagerness to confront a possible German invasion. Some readers suggested practical home front tips such as using simple recipes for managing supplies and a humorous method of blocking tank turrets with wood from a lettuce patch.
UP correspondent in London Wally Carroll finds wardens in his building resisting his visits to the office. One is a retired admiral and the other a colonel with an India liver who urge him to ignore news and train on the cellar foot pump for emergency bombing. He notes England’s morale is high and the people are as serious as a fox hunt, underscoring the nation’s resolve.
A speaker reflects on returning to the Americas and compares the Atlantic barrier to the French Maginot Line, hoping the barrier isn’t relied on in the same way. The remark mixes light humor with caution about defenses and borders.
A humorous sketch follows a well dressed man who degrades to a shabby appearance by day’s end. A dialogue between Calvin and Jack recounts roughing it on a camping trip with a failed portable dynamo leaving them without hot water heat electric lights or radio for nearly two hours.
Two generations ago tobacco chewing was universal among men over thirteen. Cigarette butts nuisance but less than tobacco juice. A diner complains the flowers on the table are artificial, then notes that in a vegetarian restaurant real flowers would be eaten by customers, revealing a humorous exchange.
A list titled I CAN TAKE IT CLUB hangs in a dentist office. It records children patients who pledged themselves to face dental procedures with courage.
Dr Clendening explains fontanels in the developing skull, noting six exist with two obvious in infancy, and closure timing varies from two months to adulthood. He cites rickets and cretinism as causes of delayed closure, with rare cases of the fontanel remaining open into adulthood.
A collage of playful vignettes about business grit and morale. Jokes about pride, crying on shoulders, and an “I Can Take It” club promise resilience. A Jewish tailor in a film studio recalls Rosenry and Goldberg as names shift with time and memory.
A farmer boasts a secure life with no need to seek other work. He believes his routine duties are sufficient and sees himself as a humorist for sending jokes to a newspaper and awaiting publication.
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