24 Dec 1939
Page 1
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This newspaper page contains 23 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
The Pocatello Tribune
Location
Pocatello, Idaho, United States of America
Date
Dec 24, 1939
Page
1
The Associated Press reports 122 people died nationwide across 31 states during a pre Christmas period, including 99 in traffic crashes. Multiple families were lost in wrecks in New Mexico and Kansas, with losses across Georgia Ohio Missouri and more.
Five members of a Texas family died in a highway collision near Deming New Mexico as they traveled to Phoenix for Christmas. Also injured were four Los Angeles men, including the driver Robert King, with one surviving, and the Horton Vick family members. The crash occurred when the Los Angeles auto attempted to pass a towing trailer, state police said.
Wartime Christmas scenes show Allied troops preparing feasts while German units brighten bunkers with greenery. British and French supplies include pork turkey apples and plum pudding as tens of thousands of packages flow to soldiers. Christmas services, messages from leaders, and village celebrations frame a holiday amid conflict.
President Roosevelt honored 300000 Civilian Conservation Corps members in a Christmas message for their record building and conserving natural resources. Army estimates show 250 tons of turkey and 175000 pies planned for Christmas dinners in camps.
Berlin dispatch reports Heinrich Himmler and Rudolf Hess promise support for children of soldiers who die in combat. Himmler says SS sponsors will be appointed for children of good blood born in or out of wedlock whose fathers fall in war. Hess writes to an unmarried expectant mother that the state will care for war children as a national treasure.
The Basque sheepherders of Idaho raised 1000 dollars at their Boise annual ball. Receipts, usually going to the Basque relief fund, were donated to the children's home finding and aid society as a Christmas gift.
Huntington Monts Santa Claus driver Douglas Byrd, who operates a float for local merchants, was arrested after a collision and faces a magistrate appearance for driving a truck without a license.
The weather bulletin forecasts snow tonight for much of the East from southern New England to Virginia and along the Atlantic seaboard into the Ohio valley and lower Great Lakes, with snow also likely in the plains states.
Mr. S. Clause and countless supporters welcomed a rare precipitation event in a drought-stricken Midwest last night as rain or snow fell for the first time in weeks. In Woodward Oklahoma the snowball marked the first moisture since July 22.
In Pittsburgh on December 23 a dispirited young man facing unemployment and his wife found unexpected joy as Santa Claus arrived early, lifting their spirits amid hard times. The anecdote reflects a festive gesture aiding a struggling family during the season.
No Paper Monday as Tribune-Journal employees join in the Christmas observance and the Tribune will not publish.
Pocatello churches join a city wide Christmas observance with pageants plays and music at First Baptist and First Presbyterian. Services feature a 9 50 a m church school 10 45 a m sermon The Holy City and other choir pieces plus violin and piano solos.
German police pursued responsibility for two rail crashes that killed 184 people as blackouts halted signaling. One wreck near Genthin was the worst in Germany's history, while another near Marksdorf Klostern left 52 dead and 30 wounded, with arrests of station masters and blame on wartime strain.
Scottsbluff Neb reports on a Christmas front page plan for Sunday editions with modern retellings of the birth of Christ. The feature, by a staff using Biblical and historical sources, covers reaction, astrology, and angels in a secular modern style.
Milwaukee doctor Dr. C. O. Thienhaus announced in a newspaper ad that he is canceling all patients' balances to date as a Christmas gift. He did not discuss the decision publicly. His wife said the total owed likely ranged from two to three thousand dollars.
After 50 days the neutrality act draws broad support from the American public except some shipping interests. Allies press to lift the arms embargo hoping American industry can aid their war effort. Germany shows mixed reaction as the law shapes wartime policy.
Five persons were killed and eight injured in a multiple auto crash at a crossing on the Pacific highway about 15 miles north of Marysville. The wreck halted traffic as responders searched the mangled vehicles for survivors.
Richard Valentine, 18, was charged today with assault with attempt to kill after he shot Edith Balcom, 18, in Reading's school office during a Christmas party. Balcom, secretary to the superintendent Max Smith, was flown to an Ann Arbor hospital for surgery to remove a bullet lodged in her neck.
The forecast calls for unsettled conditions with occasional snow flurries on Sunday and a minimal temperature change. No significant accumulation expected.
The article reports a pessimistic forecast for a white Christmas in Pocatello as light snow may not accumulate. The storm moves north with snow reaching Idaho Falls and Burley, while Kumsite Plymouth and Salt Lake City may see limited snow. Idaho mountains have 1.5 inches on Mink Creek. Havre chills at 2 below zero and Great Falls at 3 above.
Twenty one American republics protested to England France and Germany over naval engagements within the American neutral zone. They consider rules to bar belligerent vessels from provisioning and repairing in American ports after warlike acts. The protest, led by Panama’s Dr Don Augusto 8 Boyd, cites Graf Spee actions and British seizures in American waters and vows stronger collective protection rules.
A Green Bay group of regular tavern patrons fined themselves a nickel for every profanity offense and used the collected money to buy Christmas baskets for the needy. The fund reached twenty five dollars after today’s collection.
In wartime Berlin large restaurants install amplifiers to announce depleted dishes like goulash and declare deer meat replacements. Patrons must dine early before 7 PM to avoid mutilated menus and loud announcements, as dining becomes a test of patience and adventure.
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