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Newspaper
Decatur Daily
Location
Decatur, Alabama, United States of America
Date
Jun 17, 1949
Page
1
Fair this afternoon tonight and Saturday with gentle to moderate coastal winds becoming southerly. Community diary items include hospital operation, travel plans and visits, church pulpit duties, family visits, a vacation, and local police meters changing to one hour. No rainfall reported. Preparation day services for vacation Bible school Saturday at 9 A M.
Hal Boyle urges veterans not to visit old battlefields alone warning the memory can overwhelm. A 47 member corps tour sparked reflections on companionship grief and perspective. He suggests contacting the American Graves Registration Command for permission before visiting overseas graves and stresses the value of shared memory.
Governor James E. Folsom urged the Alabama legislature to pass an anti masking law to deter acts of lawlessness. The Senate debated the timing as a filibuster tied to state spending measures continued, while the House read the governor’s message amid ongoing wrangling over immediate action.
Birmingham police said an 18-year-old clerk was held up and robbed of more than 4500 dollars in cash and checks on a downtown street shortly after noon today. The victim, George White of an automobile concern, told officers a small man about 35 stopped him as he headed to a bank to deposit the funds.
Milton Babich testified he did not shoot Patricia Birmingham and said he has not slept well since the incident. He admitted he cannot be sure what happened during the struggle for a revolver, while cross examining with District Attorney William J. McCauley noting inconsistencies. The 19-year-old defendant appeared tired under pressure in court today as questions drifted to the night on Harrison Street.
Atlanta June 17 A speech prepared for the Northside Kiwanis club by P O Davis director of extension at Alabama Polytechnic Institute forecasts a sound prosperous future for Southeast agriculture. He cites a dozen advantages including diverse production climate favorable rainfall and high yields. Davis argues the region can capture larger markets and avoid past economic downturns by expanding livestock and cash crops.
Rev Maurice S Sheehy of Catholic University told a Senate judiciary sub committee that lynchings riots and religious disturbances feed the communist machine. He urged civil rights laws as hearings open on a bill to create a civil rights commission though action seems unlikely this session. He warned propaganda on American civil rights could sway new nations toward the Soviet system.
In Montgomery on June 17 a state senate recess during a filibuster allowed Girls' State members to assume posts in the upper house. The group swiftly backed an anti masking bill that had stirred prior wrangling in the chamber.
The Tennessee Valley Authority cruise flotilla reaches Decatur harbor with nearly 700 boats. Guests include Chauncey the Bear Hunter and daughter The Cub. Journalists Hodding Carter and Holiday magazine staff accompany the voyage.
The Decatur Board of Education weighs base bids totaling 1 323 447 for a proposed high school and elementary school with 30 days to decide. Forcum James of Memphis had the low high school bid at 1 058 547, while F N Thompson of Birmingham led elementary bids at 264 900. Architect Ray mond Sizemore said the 15 bids for both projects are the largest in the region since the war, with top high bids within 44 000 of each other and elementary bids within 25 000. The bid opening occurred with board members and observers present. further reductions may follow.
Senator Hickenlooper accuses the Atomic Energy Commission of wasteful spending for a $10 million natural gas pipeline to Oak Ridge Tennessee. The plan, privately built but bought by the AEC, aims to switch its main boiler fuel from coal to gas and save about $1.25 million yearly.
Six year old Dickie Williams drowned at an abandoned flooded pit in Cherokee Alabama while reaching for a frog. His playmate Eugene Brown alerted his mother Lucian Brown who tried to save him with a rope. Price Chief L M Myrick dived in to recover the body as construction workers searched for hours. He is survived by his parents sister and grandparents.
The Associated Press reports rising unemployment and swelling relief rolls across states and cities. It notes no national emergency, with most states able to handle relief loads, and unemployment insurance cushioning laid-off workers. Grants for home relief are proposed, costing about 230 million dollars yearly, with experts wary of a new downturn.
In Bluefield West Virginia June 17 Southern coal operators failed to win an extension of the contract with United Mine Workers led by John L Lewis until August 15 The move by negotiators headed by Joseph E Moody aimed to avert a strike set for July 1 and was rejected.
John K. Wis orders 480000 United Mine Workers back to pits on Monday as CIO United Steel Workers and U S Steel resume conferences. John Busarello district No 5 UMW says telegram from Lewis requests ending the week long walkout on schedule. Contract expires June 30. Miners will work five days then a paid vacation starting June 25 with $100 each. George H. Love of Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal notes Northern Midwestern and Far Western operators plan talks with Lewis though no date set. The issue of pensions in steelworkers negotiations remains unsettled as conferees meet.
The home of J. E. Burleson at 349 East Moulton was burglarized Thursday night. Missing are a box type camera and a table model radio. Officers Horace Standridge and Richard Hyde reported entry through the back porch, noting the screen door hook was opened and a broken back bedroom window provided access.
The government rested its perjury case against Alger Hiss as it presented a surprise witness to clarify a discrepancy in Whittaker Chambers’ testimony. Chambers, once courier for a communist spy ring, claims Hiss gave secrets to relay to Moscow. Judith Coplon testified in her espionage defense on loyalty to the United States and a kissless romance with the Russian she is accused of spying for. Henry Julian Wadsleigh admitted using his prewar State Department post to pass secrets to Chambers.
The church state fight in communist Czechoslovakia peaks as Archbishop Josef Beran is nearly a state prisoner. Secret police guard his palace and seize church records while officials deny access to diplomats. The government accuses church leaders of meddling in state and seeks to curb church schools and periodicals.
Montgomery June 17 The House of Representatives voted unanimously 64 to 0 to override Governor Folsom's veto of a Jefferson county local bill. Lawmakers rejected an executive amendment that would extend the measure to all counties. Backers sought funding for a legislative research assistant for the Jefferson delegation. Governor Folsom argued for uniform county privileges. Representative Wallace Gibson said the amendment would have killed the bill.
Folsom vows to stop night riders in Birmingham as anti masking measure aims to curb public mask wearing with exceptions for children Mardi Gras and holidays. Senator Mize files the bill in the Senate, with a house companion expected. Fite defends administration stance and accuses foes of subterfuge while readers are urged to see Page 2.
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