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This newspaper page contains 17 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Whitewright Sun
Location
Whitewright, Texas, United States of America
Date
Feb 16, 1939
Page
4
The piece argues Governor O'Daniel underestimates listeners intelligence and misdefines the proposed 1.6 percent transactions tax as a sales tax. It notes how even a child or grocer would recognize the tax in price, with the act defining transaction as any exchange involving services or property between two or more persons.
A legislative proposal would dedicate one cent of the state gasoline tax to retiring old road bonds. The plan would divert funds from the highway department to refund bonds, improving value for some investors who bought bonds below par.
County Judges' Association backs a refunding bill while the Texas Good Roads Association and the Texas Press Association oppose it. Grayson County papers defend diversion claims amid fresh Austin dispatch alleging the bill would divert highway funds and slash federal aid, a move seen as likely to kill the proposal.
Governor O'Daniel backs a plan to merge the State Board of Water Engineers the State Reclamation Engineer the Livestock Sanitary Commission the Game Fish and Oyster Commission and A M College seed inspection efforts. The piece also notes SMU football players failing grades face ineligibility and upcoming Texas bills raising costs for eating eyeglasses and grooming while arguing air rights remain unregulated.
Dr. Homer P. Rainey, new UT president, told southerners in Washington that the North used government control since 1865 to impoverish the South through tariffs, subsidies, and special privileges. He cited freight-rate discrimination favoring the North and West, with Texas trade terms uneven against agriculture and industry. Ernest O. Thompson will represent Texas at the event.
The essay argues that university students opposing a University of Texas R O T C unit acted with sincerity but lack full foresight. It praises the House Military Affairs Committee for approving the bill and notes benefits of training including discipline teamwork and physical exercise for young Americans, despite war fears.
Dr Rainey criticizes rate differentials as absurd outraging the public interest while in Uvalde he notes spinach shipped from California to New York faces 1.57 freight land Texas at 1.70. He faults southern defeatism and urges southerners to act intelligently and stand up to fight.
Governor W Lee O Danial urges abolition but states he cannot claim capital punishment is abused in Texas. He notes executions are rare when guilt is clear and prosecutors often seek the death penalty, yet juries are reluctant to impose it amid concerns about the evidence and proceedings.
The governor recommends ending capital punishment and replacing it with irrevocable life terms for dangerous criminals. He argues overcrowding forces separation of offenders, notes lynching declines as justice proceeds, and praises capturing but not shooting violent fugitives. He frames the move as saving lives of the most dangerous public enemies.
The Houston Press notes a bill aiming to prohibit optometrists from advertising including business addresses and signage. Critics warn it would drive firms from the trade and raise eyewear costs, suggesting the measure overreaches and is not public interest driven. The piece also mentions lizards without limbs resembling snakes.
In Godley Johnson County a rare weather split hit Tuesday with hail in the east half of town and light snow in the west. The Vickers gin lot saw both precipitation, hail lasted about 20 minutes, some hailstones reportedly bantam egg size, and several windows were broken.
Martin Sodrdy lski astonished police by calling headquarters to report a found arm. He said it was valuable even if artificial and that he first noticed its absence when arriving at work, realizing he had only one hand. Police said they would search for it.
Seven teen men and nightly crews mop, scrape, and scrub gum wads off Canal Street New Orleans as a buxom woman adds a fresh wad to the pile. A three-man team pries up the gum with a putty knife applies mineral spirits to lift stains and buffers with steel wool.
J A McCelvey of Temple gathers jokes including many Scotch jests. He recalls a World War II era quip about a Weatherstrip boy. He also notes a verse about Father Abraham Isaac and Jacob, a long ago minister, and an insurance magazine tale from an auto crash victim asking about damages.
Mrs Jones and Mr Jones share a light exchange about eggs arriving by air mail from the farm. The farmer’s shipment becomes a humorous topic as they joke about the eggs potentially flying themselves if delayed another day.
Mr and Mrs Claude Dillon visited Mr and Mrs W T Brown west of Bells. Brown placed a black cat in a sack under Dillon s car. The cat disappeared after arrival home and reappeared at its old home about 10 miles away. The Browns insist the cat stay put. Dillon asks how Blackie found its way home.
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the death penalty for J. D. Johnson, a Negro convicted of rape in Hill County, due to jury and grand jury exclusion of Black citizens over 30 years, plus trial procedure errors. The indictment dated April 9, 1938, and attorneys argued no Negro sat on the jury.
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