davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11
THANKSGIVING IS NOT
A MATTER OF DATE

California will celebrate Thanksgiving
this wear on Nov. %. Governor Olson
made that decision when he accepted
President Roosevelt's announced lnten-
ton to declare the 23rd, and not the
last Thursday in the month, as Thanks
swing Day.
In other states many governors have
declared they will defy Roosevelt's pro-
clamation in favor of tradition. Some
Californians, probably, will continue to
observe the last Thursday as Thanks
giving Day.
Ali the trouble over the holidays date
seems like a tempest in teapot, con-
sidering that Thanksgiving Day is mat
ter of praise to our Maker, not OF moe
bound tradition. Thanksgiving Day would
carry the same significance II 1t were
celebrated in midsummer or early IN
the spring.
THANKSGIVING, whenever it falls, is a
time to recount our blessings, and liter
allv to give thanks for them. We can do
that TODAY. or tomorrow, or mex week.
Thanksgiving is day purely Amerl-
can. and this year it is day that should
have especial significance for all Ameri-
cans Individually, we may be thankful
for many things. Collectively, we can
be thankful for one thing:
Our nation is not at war.
So, whether Thanksgiving Day comes
on the last Thursday in the month, or
the next to the last Thursday, we can
observe the holiday with the reverent
thanks that mark the day which after all
is an entirely arbitrary date for mat
ter between ourselves and God-and it
makes little difference when date for
such matter is set. For, when all is said,
no date can cover the greatness of our
blessings.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11
A PENSION UPSET
(Porterville RecOrder)

Colorado's old-age pensioners meet an
other disappointment Their state su-
preme court has outlawed, without dis
sent from any of the seven justices par
ticipating in the decision, claims for S45
monthly payments irrespective of funds
available, from January l, 1887, the day
when the S45 amendment became effect
i've. The high court reversed Denver
county court which gave pensioners
back claim aggregating we'll over S4, 500,-
900 against the state The effect of the
decision is to return the pension system
to a $50 basis, as originally provided.
The state has been unable to find funds
to meet the S45 pension level.
As discovered in more than one in
stance when liberal pensions are voted,
the difficult thing is to find the money.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11
MEMBER
OUR SCHOOLS OPEN
ON SCHEDULE

Schools throughout Imperial Valley
will open this month, on schedule.
The people of Imperial Valley are too
apt TO take that fact for granted. 1t is
often thus with good fortune.
III Europe, many schools will not open
this year. In Germany schools have been
closed indefinitely. Colleges and even
nigh schools in France and England will
oe drained of their men students. Poland
has more important" things to think
about than the education of her young
people.
In this country the schools follow nor
NAL schedules. The pupils have good
white paper fine pencils, and other no.
dern tools to work with. There is none
of the business of writing lessons on
brown wrapping paper, of getting by
with makeshift implements, of not know
ing from day to day if the school house
itself will be there tomorrow.
While Europe loses months, and pos
sibly years, in the development of its
civilization and the education of its peo-
pie, the United States goes calmly ahead
In the end, we will far outdiStance those
strife-torn nations where bloodshed has
become more important than youth We
will outdistance them, that is, if we
stay out of the European conflict.
If we do not stay out of it, we shall
go along with the others, losing pre-
cious years and even more precious lives.
When school opens this year, the OPEN
ing should be symbol to all Americans
that this nation, at least, is sensible
enough to deny passion and employ rea-
son in its dealings with others.
Our schools are a symbol of our ma
tional life and progress. This year, more
than ever let us thank God they open
on schedule.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11
Willis Thorntons Editorial on:
Did We Learn Anything? We Shall See

"We learn from history that we
learn nothing from history"
Cynical thinking! But never
mind the cynicism. Is it correct
thinking? We are going to find
out.
Once again, the United States
is faced with the heavy task of
trying to remain out of a wide
spread European war. AS in 1914,
the great majority of the American
people want none of it, They feel
instinctively that the age-old hat
reds which underly all Europe s
wars are alien to us; that they
are something we have been trying
to get away from for generations.
But like skeletons In the closet
of our past, they will not let us
be.
1t is true that American feeling
is much stronger than in 1914.
Then, most Americans were gen.
timely indifferent to the bloody
brawls of Europe. Now we are not
indifferent. We cannot be. That
works to the disadvantage of the
effort to stay clear.
Against it we must set the ad-
vantage that we know more of
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11
THE PRESIDENT
LEADS
wall Street JournaD

lNall Street Journal)
With vigor and with wisdom. Presi-
dent Roosevelt exercised in his radio ad-
dress of Sunday night his high prerog-
atiNe of leadership in forming public
opinion on our relation to a distant con-
tinent at war within itself. We seek a
true neutrality, the foundation-stone of
which Is our abStention from the Use of
force to any other end than our own safe
ty. We owe complete loyalty to our
national confession of faith in the abil-
ity of free peoples of all races and creeds
to compose their differences without the
shedding of blood. We have now to bear
constantly III mind "a simple but unal-
terable fact in modern foreign relations:
when peace has been broken anywhere,
peace of all countries everywhere is in
danger wherefore the Presidents right
full plea that "partisanship and selfish
ness be adjourned and that national unity
be the thought that underlies all others"
President Roosevelt again, and with
out reserve, pledges himself to every eff
fort to keep the United States out of
war implicitly he recognized the diff
culties that may attend the accomplish
ment of that great purpose. With a fine
candor he says:
"This nation will remain a neutral ma
tion but | cannot ask that every Ameri-
can remain neutral in thought as well.
Even a neutral has a right to take ac
count of facts. Even a neutral cannot
be asked to close his mind or his con-
science
And there is the exaltation of the still
small voice IN this outstanding passage:
81 cannot prophesy the immediate eco
nomc effect of this new war on our
nation, but | do say that no American
has the moral right to profiteer at the
expense either of his fellOw-citizens or
of the men, women and children who are
living and dying in the midst of the war
in Europe
The Presidents address will greatly
clear our minds on our relation to Eu-
ropes war and help us to distinguish
successfully between our emotional i'm
pulses and our duties.
How long will last the war that open
ed in Europe Sunday morning with
Great Britain's declaration, what will
happen before it ends, what the end
will be and what the world will look
like when the end comes, no one can
now even dimly foresee. What we do
know is that the best service we can rem
der the cause of European civilization,
of which our own is a vital part, is to
direct all our efforts to the one task of
keeping intact its citadel in the western
hemisphere, so that if it shall fall in
Europe it may find here a new birth.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

hostilities are aimed not at the
German people but at the admins
tration, Aten said:
What is now the German en-
pire once was a collection of sep
arate and independent principali-
ties. That was before Frederick the
Great, and later Bismarck, drew
them together into an empire. In
those days they scrapped among
themselves about as Brawley and
Ell Centre do now, but on the whole
they got along well enough. Only
when they united did they become
a threat to Europe's peace. Why
wouldn't that be as good solution
as any to the question OF Europe S
problem child'?'
Atens suggestion entailed divi-
sion of Germany into the old
states of Hesse, Prussia and a num-
ber of Others He continued:
"The peace conference of 1918
butchered the German empire, but
left Germany intact. More than
that, it left Germany in a position
to again be dominated by the old
Prussian control
Aten showed small respect for
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

he was right; perhaps he had been
there before 1 came. Frankly, l
didn't know. If he had only called
my attention in soft-spoken, po-
lite way to the fact that he desired
to make his purchase without de-
lay, I would gladly have stepped
aside.
After all, what was the hurry?
We we're on a boat that wouldn't
reach Honolulu for five more days
Time meant little. But, to repeat
this little boy rudely struck my
arm, tried to push me aside, and
said to the clerk, in an irritated
tone, that he wanted TO buy a
watch. That little boys has been
attending school in America. He
has been taught reading, writing
geography, and the multiplication
tables. But no one has taught him
anything whatever about courtesy
If he continues to employ the
same selfish, aggressive tactics he
now employs, he will be Stunned
socially, and he will be thwarted in
business. The biggest problem he
will face in life will be the prob
lem of handling and influencing
others, at home, socially, and in
business: and obviously no one has
given him any guidance along these
lines either at home or in school.
His mother was a college gradu-
ate She had enough money to take
four children halfway around the
world: but she didn't have enough
wisdom to teach them the basis OF
good manners: courtesy, kindness,
and unselfishness. I feel sorry for
that boy. He is headed for a lot
of unhappiness in life and he Will
probably go TO his grave without
ever discovering that the basic cause
of his unhappiness lies within.
The late Alfred Adler, one of the
most distinguished psychologists OF
this century, declared: ut is the
individual who is not interested in
his fellow men who has the great
est difficulties in life, and provides
the greatest injury to Others. 1t
is from among such individuals
that all human failures spring"
Many requests come to me for
extra copies Of this column. I re-
gret that is rarely possible for me
to supply them, as have very few
additional copies. I suggest writ
ing to the newspaper which car
ries the column, giving the date,
and the name of the subject about
whom the column is written.
| am advised that the students IN
the Personality Development Class
es in the public schools in New Or
leans are required to paste these
stories of other mems achievements
in their scrapbooks daily, and
study them as a text book on sue
cess,
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11
Bruce Cation in Washington
Disseets the News

WASHINGTON Although Off
cial Washington is keyed up to the
hazards of war, the machinery Of
government has been revolving on
just about it's usual midsummer
basis. Few vacations have been cut
short or cancelled; little or no
midnight oil has been burned.
Now, however, develoments pro-
mise that the capital will be a hot
bed of activity at almost any mo-
ment.
The State Department, of course,
is kept very busy. Secretary Hull
is on the job, with all Of his assis-
tants and division heads. The de-
partment remains in close touch
with the White House, and the
job of keeping the government in
formed about developments over
seas is carried through on a non
stop basis.
In the Department of Agriculture,
the Commodities Exchange Admins
tration has had to do some extra
work to be ready for the conflict.
1t has drawn up plans for controlling
the commodity markets, keeping
speculation within bounds, prevent
ing sudden price fluctuations, and
believes it will be able to stabilize
the farm market pretty well.
In the Treasury-whose Secre-
tary Morgenthau was in Europe
when the fuss began close eye
is being kept on things. particularly
ON currency fluctuations (Which
gets the Stablization Fund people
UP pretty early in the morning..
The Secret Service has a pretty
fair line on the various foreign
agents it will have to watch Same
goes for the FBI, over in the De-
partment of Justice.
War and Navy Departments are
watching things closely, but aren't
being much incommoded. They've
been pretty busy all year anyhow,
and the crises brought little if any
change.
The Commerce Department will
be extremely busy. 1t has compiled
good deal of trade and financial
dato for FDR, but took it all in its
stride.
Besides those on the Dies COM
mittee, only 10 representatives re-
main in Washington. Eight senators
are in the city.
Senator Frederick Van Nuys, In
diana Democrat and impressario of
the Paul McNutt for President
boom, sticks around close to his
boss. Senator Ebert D. Thomas
tDem0 of Utah is holding the fort
for the two-man La Toilette Civil
Liberties committee.
Senator Claude Pepper CDemD
of Florida is convalescing from an
operation which he underwent soon
after the session ended. Prepara-
tions to put his two sons in
Washington high school and to
enroll his daughter for another
term at the nearby University of
Maryland are keeping Senator Chan
Gurney Rep) of South Dakota
in his Washington home.
Representative Sol Bloom, New
York DemocSat, says his dGties
make it impossible for him to leave.
For II years I've been in Con-
gress and for II years I've tried
to get away for few weeks during
the summer" he complains.
Republican Representative John
Schafer of Wisconsin has been de-
tanned by fistful Of resolutions
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

and as the clerk
moved to wait
on me. I sudden
ly felt someone
pushing me away
impatiently.
I looked down
and saw an AM
erican boy about
eight years old,
who felt he
should be waited
on first. Perhaps
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

he is preparing for introduction in
to the second session of the 18th
Congress next. January. These in
clude, he confides, a bill to make
Thanksgiving Day a national holi-
day-on the last Thursday of No
vember.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

what underlies these wars; we know
more of the deliberate efforts that
are made to embroil us. We have
the war debt; in 1888 we admitted
1e2,946 World War veterans to
disqualification, half of them neuro-
psychiatric. We have not for.
gotten our 10000 battle dead our
10000 dead of wounds and dis
ease
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11
CARNEGIE

On my recent trip to the Orient,
I walked up to the little store
where supplies are sold on the ship
Asama Maru. 1 pointed at a pair
of cuff buttons in the show case:
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11
You re Telling Me-

We won't believe that Russo
German pact until we see a pho
tograph of Comrade Hitler tossing
off stein of vodka and Herr Sta
lin chin deep in pigs knuckles mitt
sauerkraut.
A new salad dressing is made
of minerals instead Of oils. Gives
us one more reason for not lik-
ing salads.
Thought he doesn't always see
eye-to-eye with II Duce. the man
at the next desk says that spa
ghetti is really noodles of fun.
Since more and more folk are
riding passenger airlines it pro-
badly won't be long before bill
boards are placed flat on the
ground. Which will be the first
break the motorists has cotton in a
long time.
Statistics show that today there
are 375.OO0 American citizens dwell
ing in other parts of the world
and wishing they didn't.
An American just naturally can't
take too gloomy a view of the
news when he realizes that wheat
cakes and country sausage are only
weeks away.
When statesmen close their minds
to all argument it isn't long before
their countries are forced to close
their borders, too.
Junior wants to know If the
reason medieval times were called
the dark ages was because the
world then staged a continuous
blackout.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11
Thoughts for the Day

seen me. thou hast believed: blessed are they that
have not SEEN and yet have beleved.-John 2O:29.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11
Barbs-

What with an extended summer
vacation in the country and nc
classes. evacuated British school
children are probably as highly
elated about the war as are Amer
lean kiddies when bankrupt NUM-
cipalities can't pay the teachers
And the actors over here are
thinking of giving up their war
with the stagehands now that the
real thing is being produced on the
European front.
Hitler has told five of Europe s
Little Nations that he will respect
their neutraliy. That makes Just
five more countries that can start
building air raid defenseS.
Italy is conserving all her coffee
for the army. Chieftains have evi-
dently overlooked the possibility
of Old Mr.. Coffee Nerves under
mining the morale of the soldiers.
A French actress shouted Hell
Stain" and started a roit in a
cafe. Won Ribbentrop merely shook
hands with the Russian and all
Europe Is in upheayal. tat
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11
Famous Sayings
Split Germany.
voIIeYite Urges
BY LOGAN JENKINS

One possible solution to the question What 10 III
About GERMANY was advanced Monday by Marion Aten
former captain of the Royal Air Force of Great Britain
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

Japanese are said TO be sus-
eeptible to smallpox, scurvey
measles and leprosy, but do not
contract scarlet fever or whoop-
ing cough.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

In the first place. we might as
we'll recognize once fir all that
a bombing pilot, harassed by anti
aircraft fire, can never be sure
within matter of three city blocks
just what his bomb is going to hit.
The hellish part of air bombing
is not that the aviators coldly choose
hospitals and old ladies' homes for
their targets, but simply that when
the bomb drops they have only the
vaguest idea of where 1t will fall
1t is not the deliberate choice of
defenseless targets. but the sheer
abandoned recklessness of bombing
that makes its horror.
The United States has the right
to expect from its official diplo-
maic representatives a special wari-
ness against thoughtless accusations
and infiammatory talk In generaI1
The wariness is duty which every
American ought to impose on hinIs
self. But it is a duty which the
government must impose on all
those who officially represent 1t.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

To make the summer outfit of
high-claSs japanese woman,
10000 silk worms are required.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

AS the President has pointed
out, we must try resolutely to draw
a line between what we think and
what we ask our government to DO.
We must look skeptically at every
effort to rouse passion and hatred,
and calmly and even coldly con-
slider what is best for us.
Thus it seems clear that Anthony
Drexel Biddle, the Philadelphia
socialite who happens at the mo-
ment to be the u. s. ambassador
to Poland, has done his country
no great service in implying that
German aviators bombing Warsaw
were practically aiming at him.
1t seems that several bombs were
dropped near Biddles summer home
in Warsaw surburbs, damaging the
house. Biddle was quoted as saying
that the attack was deliberate. {"
If by that he means that the Ger
man .aviators took pains to inform
themselves of the location of the
Biddle home, and then aimed their
bombs at it with special intent to
kill the American ambassador then
the only answer is that any such
IDEA is fantastic.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

The United States government
has set aside three national parks
in Alaska, containing a total of
5,801 1888 acres.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

A Roman law. dated about 443
B. c., forbade the burying of gold
ornaments with the dead. 1t per-
mitted the gold in their teeth to
remain undisturbed however.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

Biologists say that the Lauren
tain mountains of Quebec are the
worlds oldest land.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

A new salad dressing is made
of minerals instead Of oils. Gives
us one more reason for not lik-
ing salads.
Imperial Valley press., 1939-09-11

When statesmen close their minds
to all argument it isn't long before
their countries are forced to close
their borders, too.
The Hagerstown globe. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1936-1943, 1939-12-29
Maybe This Is 1t

Since Christmas there has been
a steady movement Of goods over
the counters of retail stores some
what in excess of the volume that
was looked for. Price reductions
and clearance sales in many lines
have accelerated this trend to a
marked extent.
When people become convinced
that they will pay more later for
an article if the acquisition Of it is
deferred, cash registers start to
tinkle If that stage has now been
reached, better days for all are
ahead
Many bargains are offered By
stores whose advertisements I'D
9ear in this issue Of the Hagers-
town Globe. Tt may be q lone
The Hagerstown globe. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1936-1943, 1939-12-29

In other times, the discovery in
the same month of rich gold de-
posits in CALIFORNIA; Ell Dorado
County and at Dahlonega in Geor-
gia would have started a rush If
most of the continents footloose
citizenry in one direction or the
other. But the spirit Of adventure
now finds other outlets and the
day of stalking a claim on almost
any unsettled land is largely over
Until the recent strike, few
knew of Georgia as gold pro-
Queer and yet until the Civil War
the Government operated a mint
at Dahlonega, supported by the
gold from the nearby hills. The
Carolinas and other neighboring
The Hagerstown globe. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1936-1943, 1939-12-29

The sun is more popular today
than he will be next July. Today
people are welcoming every bit of
sunlight they can get, throwing
wide open the blinds and curtains
that guard their windows, gather
ing in sunny spots on the warmer
days, hoping for the spring, when
the SUMS genial warmth will thaw
out their chilled bones.
The ancient Hindus, the Baby
lonians, the Egyptians, and many
old races, worshipped and made
offerings to the sun. They looked
at the sun as the god of life, the
force that brought growth to the
crops, and which fed human life.
When the sun went south in win
ter, they probably believed he was
angry with his poor creatures.
When he returned they rejOiced in
his favor.
There was an element of truth
in this primitive and ignorant be
lief that man needs much sunlight
to keep his health People who
habitually avoid these life-giving
rays cannot expect to be very Wig
OrOus.
The Hagerstown globe. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1936-1943, 1939-12-29

One # the big problems Of mod
ern tr9da il how to del with 70
turned goods Tha n'o~oh-1'fs
ha-n Fl worry about thot following
Chri~t'nas when a lot Of stuff
comes book. Business concerns
realize that i people buy some
thing ana then find that it is not
what they wanted, it pays in the
long run to be liberal in letting
them return it.
But too many people abuse that
privilege and make a nuisance of
it. People viii sometimes wear or
use things 50 they appear soiled
and imperfect, and then expect
the store to take the articles back
The Hagerstown globe. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1936-1943, 1939-12-29

course, in actually all days are
the same length, but some have
less sunshine than others. But il
1t were not for the fact that the
process OF nature which makes the
night daily longer goes into re-
verse on the first day of winter,
we'll, there soon wouldn't be any
daylight.
In fact, up north where the Es-
kimo live and Santa Claus gets his
reindeer, there is no daylight at
this time of year and not much for
the natives to do but hibernate.
There the passing of the shortest
day really is an event. because it
means that before long there will
be daylight again, starting at first
with just a little and ending up
next summer with "A hours Of it
a day.
Which just goes to show that
Man either has too much or not
enough of practically everything.