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Newspaper
Grafton Sentinel
Location
Grafton, West Virginia, United States of America
Date
Dec 16, 1940
Page
1
Greek forces force a headlong Italian retreat on the southern front near Valona after storming a key height. An Italian general and a colonel were killed, their bodies found among retreating troops. Greek mountaineer regiments push toward Elbasani, overcoming Italian reserves in a fierce drive.
Charleston Dec 16 Plans for the two year operating costs of West Virginia government and institutions were presented to the board of public works as the biennial budget process began Budget Director H Isaiah Smith submitted department and institution requests to the seven member board The board will evaluate recommendations from divisions as it builds the 1941 legislature budget The 1939 legislature appropriated about 31 million dollars for each year of the two year period ending June 30 next year
The Grafton Sentinel invites Mrs. C. H. Estep of 204 West Main Street to attend tonight's presentation of Third Finger Left Hand with Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas at the Strand theatre or They Drive By Night with George Raft Ann Sheridan Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart at the Dixie theatre.
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Bloom calls for removing all legal obstacles to expedited British aid. He outlines options from direct funds to more destroyers and naval help as Roosevelt returns to duty amid pressing foreign policy questions following Lord Lothian’s speech and the British ambassador’s death.
Burse Wilson, 25, told police in Huntington that two robbers hijacked his car near Cincinnati and forced him at gunpoint to drive to Chesapeake Ohio and Huntington before fleeing at Wayne. FBI agent Leo Cook noted a Lindbergh law violation due to crossing state lines with the abductors.
About 600 miners who quit at Red Jacket in Wyoming county last Wednesday voted to return to work today. UMW representative Jess Aquino of Welch said the strike over four dismissals was not sanctioned by the union.
Edward Kennedy reports from Sidi Barrani where British forces overran Mussolini’s advance. Massive Italian supplies, vehicles, guns, tanks, munitions, and food stocks litter the desert as British officers note the quantity far exceeds what was needed to oust the Fascists. Over 26,000 prisoners are mentioned, with captured material already repurposed for feeding and transporting forces.
Berlin reports Lieutenant-Commander Otto Kretschmer has become the first German U-boat captain to surpass 250,000 tons of shipping sunk. His latest total includes 34,935 tons from a recent cruise and the loss of three auxiliary cruisers plus the British destroy Daring, with the Daring later confirmed by the British Admiralty.
United States accorded full military honors to the Marquess of Lothian burial at Arlington National Cemetery near the unknown soldier’s grave. His ashes rested in a vault after cremation following services at Washington Episcopal Cathedral led by Bishop James E. Freeman. Diplomats from most nations attended the cathedral ceremony.
A Mackay radio message said the British steamer Bic Island of 2,450 tons, formerly Cape Noir, was being bombed by enemy aircraft about 340 miles west by south of Tory Island off Ireland. The ship had last left Montreal for Liverpool around October 2.
Washington December 16 leaders pushed to set a congressional program focusing on defense foreign policy and federal finances while awaiting President Roosevelt's veto plan. The Logan Walter bill would expand federal court reach over agency rulings and is expected to trigger a veto with a detailed message to follow.
A Blue Ridge Lines bus carrying passengers from Pittsburgh to Washington skid on a slippery road four miles north of Washington, rolled over and plunged down an embankment. Eleven people were injured and taken to a Washington hospital, none in serious condition.
CAIRO Egypt December 16 Five direct hits on a concentration of cruisers and destroyers in a British air raid on the Italian port of Naples were reported by an RAF communiqué. It said two Italian battleships were attacked without confirmed hits. The five hits on smaller war vessels caused four large explosions.
English steel center Sheffield suffered a second night raid within a week as German bombers hit the area. Berlin targets faced prolonged RAF assaults while industrial regions in northern England endured blasts. A German twin engine bomber also dropped explosives near an East Anglia town.
An early morning blast at the Lixie King Coal Company mine north of Lafollette killed W. P. Kirkland about 44, of Lafollette. Three others from Lafollette were burned and hospitalized Albert Burrell 27 George Brown 45 and James Rains 47 all with neck face and hand burns described as not serious. Several more received treatment at the mine entrance for sight cuts and burns.
Berlin says four persons were killed and 12 wounded in British air raids last night. The high command notes some houses damaged two hospitals hit a suburban rail line briefly disturbed a church destroyed at Herfore and a central Germany factory fire started but extinguished quickly no production loss reported and one raiding plane shot down.
Sutton by Mary Elizabeth Shaver marked her 104th birthday in a Reed Rocking chair as friends prepared a cake with 104 candles Janet remembers a Charleston visit 92 years earlier and the Lincoln assassination news. Neighbor women pledged a candle rich cake tomorrow and she says her secret is simply to keep on living.
Beaten France faces a delicate position as fears of German occupation grow among French leaders. Petain reportedly refused a German request to move troops through unoccupied France to aid Italy, seen as an Axis foothold in the Mediterranean. Interior Minister Peyrouton warned newspapers as Laval’s ouster and Petain's push for a consultative assembly unfold, amid reports of Napoleon Bonaparte’s remaining son’s Paris return influencing the crisis.
Clarence C. Hale, 69, a former member of the House of Delegates who served in 1917 18 and was McDowell county assessor from 1920 to 1929, died today in Welch. Hale lived in Huntington for years before returning to Welch in 1932 and is survived by his widow.
The American Red Cross plans to send two food ships to Europe, one to Spain and one to unoccupied France, contingent on US Britain talks outcomes. The State Department seeks permission for an American ship to Marseilles with condensed milk and vitamin products for undernourished children in unoccupied France.
R Worth Shumaker of Buckhannon resigns as Upshur County superintendent to become Americanism director of the American Legion on January 1. He will work under Homer L Chaillaux to promote the Legion educational program and remove un American material from school texts, based in Indianapolis with an advisory committee led by Frank McLennan of Minnesota.
Senators Taft of Ohio and Vandenberg of Michigan urged Republicans to postpone 1944 presidential plans until after the 1942 elections. They advocated focusing on winning more House and Senate seats in 1942 and avoiding internal infighting. Vandenberg said it would be silly for the party to become embroiled in 1944 debates now.
Wapello Ia Dec 16 A Rock Island passenger train crashed into the rear coach of another last night injuring 16 persons three seriously Mrs Ellen Bandy of Keota Engineer Ed Ludwig of Cedar Rapids and L R Boos of West Liberty were the most seriously injured Taken to Burlington hospital The crash occurred when the northbound No 61 smashed into the rear coach of a southbound train before the latter had finished pulling into a siding The trains ran St Louis Mo to St Paul Minn through trains
In Middlebourne on December 16 a 5 year old Emma Myer died of diphtheria at Polard. Health officials found three more family members infected, all untreated. County medical officer Dr G M Harsha said the home of Mrs Raymond Myers, 40, and two other children is quarantined with a physician assigned to care for them.
British forces press a western desert advance from Egypt into Italian Libya. Salum Fort Capuzzo and Bardia sectors see heavy combat as Italians defend Salum near the frontier while rain disrupts operations. British warships bombard coastal positions, and front lines remain difficult to gauge amid ongoing battles.
The Supreme Court ruled the Federal Power Commission may require Appalachian Electric Power to secure a federal license for dam and power projects on the New River, expanding federal authority over hydroelectric works. Justice Reed delivered the decision, underscoring federal regulatory reach.
Musical concert by the G. Glee Club and bands set for 8 pm December 17, 1940 to aid the High School Band. Program described as more beautiful than ever with admission 25 and 15 cents.
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