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Newspaper
Shafter Press
Location
Shafter, California, United States of America
Date
Dec 11, 1941
Page
2
A wartime exhortation urges all Americans to devote body and mind to the national effort. The speaker stresses unity and service in every role from soldier to civilian to secure victory and then rebuild a fractured world.
Dr. L Warrington of Westinghouse Research Lab demonstrates smoke ring projection from a box that can blow a match at six feet and a bass drum sized ring capable of knocking a man off balance. He envisions large air rings at 1000 feet per second that could disrupt aircraft and even raise smoke to clear pollution clouds.
The National Defense Research Committee, in its first year, spent 10 million dollars on 270 contracts across 47 universities, technical schools, and labs, plus 153 contracts with 39 industrial firms. Nearly 2,000 scientists and 2,000 technical staff work under these contracts on military and naval research.
Mrs James Roy Hill of Lock Haven Pennsylvania welcomes their eighteenth child amid modest means. Father Hill earns 30 dollars weekly as a paper carrier and the family manages by passing clothes along keeping grocery costs down and older children helping. The nine boys remaining, none drink or smoke and two daughters are married, though a measles outbreak recently strained finances.
Street Superintendent George H Gaede complains homeowners yard waste ends up in gutters. Raking leaves and pruning shrubs lead to trash plugging drainage, causing extra work. He urges burning waste where legal or hiring garbage collectors like Mike Poznoff to remove it.
An ad for sale of a growing newspaper and job plant cites publisher’s blood circulation lag as reason. A Shafter high school student rushes to administration announcing family plans to return to Oklahoma amid fears of bombing from Japan.
A Boston resident jokes about a reflex whistle to correct posture. A Sixteenth Pursuit corporal mistook a signal and bailed from 4500 feet, landing on a house cornice. Alexander Woollcott returns from England and humorously withholds pricing for his words.
A man faced a drunken driving charge in a local court and claimed confusion over the case. He argued he was not drunk, not arrested, his car was at home, and he had not been driving when arrested.
A column notes holiday rushing pressures and urges planned acts for cheer. It cites a Reno Evening Gazette quip on talkativeness and highlights a Council of State Governments finding that premarital health exams lower syphilis rates to about 1.28 percent across sixteen states.
The American Social Hygiene Association reports the U S adult syphilis rate at 4.24 percent for the 1935 40 period. The article notes discussion on the implications and effectiveness of public health efforts.
The excerpt argues a suspect drove the car since he was the only one stopped and the vehicle was stored after arrest. It notes two officers stated an arrest occurred, despite his denial, and he was jailed until morning. The conclusion claims justice was done with a fine for drunk driving.
The club charity event featured a mistaken Miles Standish costume for a performer cast as Captain John Smith causing mild embarrassment. A separate note recalls damage to a car owned by H. F. Janzen after a Santa Fe streamliner collision while he towed it to a garage for door work.
The Chicago Daily News notes rumors of military uniforms stockpiling and threats of involuntary nudity used to frighten civilians. The piece dismisses such claims, recalling that no naked soldiers were seen in 1917 or 1918 and calls the chatter unfounded.
James M. Carter, director of the State Dept. of Motor Vehicles, remarks that worn tires are like worn jokes, both often flat. The quote emphasizes tire safety and public awareness in California.
The quote presents Kelley stating that learning and performing card tricks can cure inferiority by fooling others and giving the performer a sense of superiority, describing party tricks as a mental lift.
James K. Fisk, foreman of the grand jury that indicted recently paroled ship murderers, calls parole a travesty on justice and says murder can be tempered or condoned by political pressure.
Report from Munich states that Roy E B Bower was expelled as Hitler demanded. The dispatch warns that if Hitler falls the German people remain bound to a hostile creed, with 80,000,000 Germans influenced by a dangerous philosophy.
Orson Welles argues that Hollywood elites avoid risk, fearing exposure at the top. He contends that growing power makes them cautious and they settle for safety rather than bold action, leading to stagnation.
California shows a stronger tendency toward specialization on individual farms and more varied lines of specialization than any other large area of the United States.
Three trainmen died and many passengers injured when Southern Pacific passenger train No 51 struck a gasoline truck at the Lost Hills Famosa crossing. Engineer Toland remained at throttle to stop the train. truck driver escaped unharmed. Fire and smoke filled cars as 5800 gallons of gasoline exploded, with crew and passengers escaping to safety. W T Berryman and others aided evacuation. baggage car burned for an hour. Judge Whalen recovering, Ida Engle hailed for fire prevention.
Mrs Elvina Enns Mrs Earl Terry and Mrs AB Fox of Shafter were among those honored in Bakersfield for relief work. The Shafter auxiliary reported handling $46 in aid and donations of clothing milk chickens eggs and vegetables from members to support the cause. Legion members from Shafter attended the Kerr event.
The Shafter district sustains active pruning across thousands of acres with large crews. Grape shipments exceed six hundred carloads signaling strong distribution for California. Fruit houses finish season while lettuce near a train load. crops include cotton alfalfa corn mint and small grains.
A six month drought ends with widespread rainfall in the San Joaquin valley from Bakersfield outward. The rain moistens parched soil and is not expected to damage the cotton crop amid hopes for a later sunny recovery. Scarlet fever remains widespread in California with 12 816 cases reported by November 16 1929 and a relatively low death toll.
J O Reavis of Bakersfield called in Shafter last Tuesday while visiting friends. A high school musical and a festival are planned as part of the program. The P T A will sponsor Christmas decorations at Shafter High. Mrs Joe Seigler spent the weekend in Los Angeles visiting relatives. Max McKinley recently recovered from flu. Powell of Bakersfield, a former Shafter resident, was a caller Monday. Roland Taylor, Miss Betty Hermeson and Miss Ruth Voth are mentioned in continued notes.
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