davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
Walter Chrysler

Walter P. Chrysler, whose death was not
unexpected but is generally regretted, was
another American industrial leader who rose
to leadership from humble origin by his own
effort. From a ive-cents-an-hour railroad
roundhouse worker he climbed to prominence
in the automotive field because he had fore
sight, talent for organization, keen sense of
marketing and exploitation and ability to sur
round himself with efficient aides.
No plums dropped in his lap that he did not
shake down for himself. There was no easy
road to success. When he finally had enough
capital to take over the Maxwell automobile
and the Chrysler succeeded ii, he had to fight
an already established industry ruled by bust.
ness g%eniuses to get it on the market and
create sale for it. No man ever entered an in
dustry with more cards stacked against him.
He won because it was in him to win.
It is fortunate for America, in it's present
grave emergency, that his type is the rule
rather than the exception. Because this is so
we may believe that America will meet its
present crisis, as it has all others, success
fully. Despite the blatting of isolationists in
congress and elsewhere, and the seeming de-
lays in rearmament, America will do its Job
of preparing for a military emergency in a
workmanlike manner because its industries
and business are manned by Chryslers.
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
Store Sales

The increased activity in the industrial areas
is having a prompt reflection in the volume of
department store sales. AS against an average
Increase of seven per cent in sales for the coun-
ny as a whole in the four weeks to August 10,
he Philadelphia district shows an improve
ment of 10 per cent, the Cleveland district one
pf IL per cent, the. Chicago district, nine per
tent and the St. Louis district eight per cent.
The increase in the Richmond district is II
per cent, but this showing is doubtless trace
lble to the circumstance that Washington is
now classifiable as a boom city. Agricultural
areas, such as Minneapolis and Kansas City
districts, show sales unchanged and two per
cent respectively in the year. The increase
in the New York district is five per cent. That
sales should be higher in that district, though,
is not surprising, as employment in manu-.
featuring concerns is 10 per cent higher and
pay rolls IA per cent higher in the year.
Southeastern North Carolina may expect to
reflect the general trend in department store
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
QUOTATIONS.

One of the most effective measures of de
tense is to promote by every means at gu,
command a further Strengthening of our in
ternal economy.-AHred P. Sloan, Jr., Gen
Feral Motors chairman.
Mobilization of our young manpower will
naturally reduce serious delinquency ane
crime but there still remains the Yer,
serious problem of the still younger youtf
who is bound to be neglected. . .-Deput,
Police Commissioner John H. Morris, N. Y
Oh, we've just hit a Messerschmitt! Oh
that was beautiful! He's coming right down
You hear those crowds? British Newscaster
Charles Gardner in an on-the-spot broadcast
of a German air ~~~ -----
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
CHUNCKINC IS HIT
BY BOMBS, FIRES
Loss Of Life Inestimable'
American Methodist Edl'
flee Swept By Flames

CHUNGKING, China, Aug. ~
R-At least $4,000 persons "e''
reported homeless tonight as lla'"''
s t a r e d by japanese lhceiluial'
bombs destroyed the American -As.l
odist church and ragged uncohlloN''
through a vast mid-city section =
mile and a quarter long and a qu@'
ter-mile across.
The loss O.. life was i~nestina0ls'
The bombs we're dropped e'e,I
few minutes for two hours on GEN.
Chungking and the h itherto uAu1 n
aged western residential secVlon Il
the fifth air raid in three days @h'
the hardest attack since the "''
ings started early in June ,u,
Severed thousand policemen ir,o
men and volunteers battled late
the night to prevent the 'an,o
from spreading beyond the m.
splattered area before new falU' ,rn
still wider destruction ,hioI
out the Chinese provisional capi ed,
The American Methodist na,ea
escaped damage and its stan p Lew,
SO persons injured by the ooia r,te5t
and awaited any survivors "iio %,,iA
be brought out of the flaming "u''
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
Watch Elizabeth City

The August issue of Southern City," a mag
azine published in Raleigh, contains a cover
portrait of Jerome Flora, mayor and fire
chief of Elizabeth City, who, in addition to
these posts, is also president of the North
Carolina League of Municipalities and presi-
dent of the North Carolina Firemen's Asso-
citation.
An accompanying article tells of his public
service, citing that in 1915 he became fire
chief and has raised the department to one
Boosting modern equipment including trucks,
pulmotors and fire boat; that in 1927 he was
elected mayor and in 1881 city manager as
well, and has succeeded in giveing the city a
substantially reduced debt and lower tax rate
and many other advantages including a Duke
endowed hospital, a coast guard airport, and
many miles of paved streets.
1t is proper to call attention to Mr.. Flora's
accomplishments, as they largely account for
Elizabeth City's growing importance. w h a t
Elizabeth City has done for itself under the
guidance of its mayor demonstrates the in
!Iuence Of efficient leadership in municipality
growth. BY the same token it is obvious that
cities cannot hope to achieve greatly if they
lack true leadership.
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
Editorial Comments
From Other Angles

N. Y. Herald Tribune

The last world war, for all its display of
material force, exalted the power of the word
to new heights. At its conclusion a startlingly
large percentage of those who wrote on the
struggle seemed to be of the opinion that it
was not the facts of the war that determined
its course, but the way those facts were re-
garded, and that a cunning presentation of
haf-truths would turn black into white in the
minds of men.
No one can deny that words are a power in
human affairs, that they may, for a time,
make evil attractive or deny the good. But
the curious psychosis induced by excessive
concentration on the idea of propaganda has
produced some contradictory phenomena in
the present conflict. German planes brave the
British AFRAID defenses to drop quotations
from Hitler's speech on an England which is
thoroughly conversant with it, and which pro-
ceeds to sell the leaflets for the benefit Of the
Red Cross. British planes, in the course of a
1,600-mile. flight, intersperse appeals to tn e
Italians with their bombs. The appeals are
given wide publicity by the Italian govern
ment as an example of British stupidity
Meanwhile, Germans, who, in the first flush
of tremendous victories, might be expected to
remain impervious to the most honeyed words
of the enemy, are still forbidden, under strict
est penalties, to listen to foreign broadcasts.
Evidently, despite the microscopic attention
given propaganda since 1918, governmental ex-
perts in national psychology are still at odds
on the precise value of words or the best
technique to be followed in disseminating or
counteracting them. The simple thesis that
propaganda should seek to make ones w
people happy and it's foes miserable is not
tenable; British overoptimism during the
''sitzkrieg'' proved disastrous when the blitz-
krieg broke out, while the stark warnings of
Prime Minister Churchill have done wonders
to restore national morale. There is no golden
rule for propaganda it must be conditioned
by such elemental facts as hunger or well
being, physical WEAKNESS or strength, mill
tary power or the lack of it. 3
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
Hollywood Sights And Sounds
Robin Coons'

HOLLYWOOD-Aug. 19.-This is
a piece about a new movie that
isn't a good movie by usual stand
ards, but it's a picture to see. It's
called The Ramparts We Watch
and it is about national defense
and the problems of today. To find
the answer to today's questions,
the film goes back to the placid,
peaceful America Of 1914, at the
outbreak of the first World War.
Those of us who were growing
up then will remember it as some
thing we saw but did not quite
comprehend. The adult war gen.
Grafton will remember e S e
scenes all too well.
Through newsreel clips tied in
by an effective commentators
voice, and through a modern re-
enactment by non-professional &C.
tors, the war as it struck a typical
American community is recreated.
We e first the general apathy
towards the foreign conflict, the
growing resentment towards Ger
many and the ultimate demand for
U. S. action.
We see America, unprepared,
swinging into action, demonstrat-
ing its amazing, scarcely realized
pc,.7er and unity. We see the VIC
tory, and Wilson off to Europe
with his ideals-and then, briefly,
the current situation. There the
film ends, and there Americans
can draw their own conclusions.
Some, doubtless, will see h e
picture as war propaganda, lie,
What you've done before you
can do again - and why not?"
Others, including myself, see it as
a restatement of this nations pow
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
WASHINGTON
DAYBOOK =
BY JACK sTINNETT

WASHINGTON-Aug. 19.-It looks as if the
time will come when every whistle stop in
the United States will have air mail service
and I don't mean the kind that travels by
some creeping mixed local from the nearest
big air terminal.
and lays it down each day, right back of the
general store or at least no farther away than
Jones' COW pasture.
The post office department and the Civil
Aeronautics board, after experimenting a year,
have Just issued new certificates to All Ameri-
can Aviation, Inc, Richard C.. du Points COM
pany at Wilmington, Del. This extends the
service to seven eastern states and gives the
advantage of mail with wings to 131 small
communities which haven't had it before.
=
Has Served 189 Cities
If you think that isn't branching out in a
hurry, Just consider that after % years of air
transportation, the mail has been flying into
and out of only 1879 cities, most Of which are
cities of 1000 or more or are natural stops
on existing air passenger routes.
The smallest town in the new set-up, accord
ing to Rep. Jennings Randolf, of West Vir-
ginia, is Glenviue, w. Va, where the popula-
ton on last count was 799 persons.
In case you have forgotten, the new service
is made possible by that pickup gadget that
looks like a rope stretched between two foot
ball goal posts. The pilot, hedge-hopping, hooks
the pouch as he glides over, at the same time
releasing the pouch of incoming mail.
Feeder Service Used
It's obvious of course that the tiniest COM
munities can not supply enough mail to justify
service. The post office department has gotten
around this by feeding the smaller towns with
a special air mail messenger service from
nearby small towns.
Fifty-three Of the towns under the new set-up
have this kind of service-but even that is
like lightning compared to the old delivery in
sections where railroad service is poor or nom
existent.
Not A casualty -.
Last year, the postoffice says, the ALI Ameri-
can outfit flew 438, 145 MES, made $4,000 pick
ups, had a performance record of almost 81
per cent and didn't have a single casualty.
It's that last point to which the flying people
point with pride. Postmaster General Farley
called it a safety record perhaps without
precedent for a pioneer service.
The states now included in air mail service
to 'the sticks are Pennsylvania, Ohio, West
Virginia, Delaware, Kentucky, New York and
New Jersey. Pennsylvania has the lions share
Of the stations so far, with 81.
Just how fast the service will be expanded
or wen whether it will be, officials won't say,
but off the record, members of both depart
ments think the feeder air mail idea is here to
stay. 3
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
Louisville & Nashville
Reports Income Increase

NEW YORK, Aug. 19.-R-
Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co.
reported today fro six months end
ed June 80 net income of $685..
$50, equal to $3.05 a share on the
capital stock, compared with ST.
372, $50, or SLIT a share in the first
half of 1899.
Kansas City Southern Railway
CO. reported for the first six
months net income of $499, 084,,
equal, after preferred divident re-
quirements, to Is cents a common
share, against SIT, 975, or IS cents
otehn hare preferred stock in
the comparable period a year ago.
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
HELP FOR FLOOD
VICTIMS PLANNED
Agricultural And Welfar
Workers Discuss Rehabili-
tation Program

RALEIGH, Aug. 19.-R-A con.
ference of agricultural and welfare
agency representatives today laid
plans to rehabilitate flood-stricken
families in western North Carolina.
Arrangements were made to offer
assistance Immediately to the noun
tain section with the understanding
that seed and feed loans, WPA prof.
ects and replacement Of livestock
and equipment will be extended to
eastern North Carolina when fami-
lies are able to return to their
farms and the full extent Of the
damage is KNOWN
Dean I. o. Schaub, director Of N.
C. State college Extension service,
called the conference and presented
reports from county agents in 20
western and northwestern counties,
indicating that more than 5000 farm
families in that area will need help.
County agents and AAA commit.
teemen are to be enlisted to certify
families needing assistance in rural
areas. Emergency cases will be re.
ferred to county welfare depart.
ments, which will provide food and
clothing from the surplus commodi-
ties corporation and register farmers
for WPA employment.
The Farm Security administration
and the emergency crop and feed
loan division will offer financial as
sistance in longtime rehabilitation.
Most of the counties said the most
urgent needs are seed, forage and
grain. or the chance to carr money
from these farm commodities. Corn
and hay losses were the heaviest
throughout the western region.
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
Are You Superstitious?
y A B 0 Ut
"a D s.?
BY RUTH
NEA Special Correspondent

"Unlucky at cards, lucky a
love-" isn't very eonsoling to {
player whose last ace has u S
been trumped or whose last nicke
is in the pot.
Card players r ordinarily
superstitious lot, says, Dr. B. A
Cartwright of the University O.
Oklahoma, owner of one of h
largest collections of superstition!
in the world-more than $4,000 Of
them. Here are some of the things
he finds card players believe:
It is lucky tor a card player to
carry the bone of a dead person
in his pocket.
You can break bad luck at cards
by sitting on a handkerchief.
To change your luck at cards
turn the back of the chair to the
table and sit astride it.
For luck at cards, turn up the
bottom of a trouser leg.
For luck at cards, milk the
deck, thus, deal a card alternate
ly from the top and from the bot
tom.
To change luck at cards, change
decks.
1t brings bad luck to tumble the
deal.
When the ace and the two,
three, and four spots make a trick,
the winner should kiss the dealer
for luck.
You are likely to have bad luck
if you gamble under your own
roof.
It will bring dire calamity to
you if you permit a person to put
his feet on the rung of your chair
during a card game.
Kiss a card goodby for luck.
It brings good luck to pick up
your cards with your left hand.
1t brings good luck to be the
last to take up and look at your
cards.
It brings bad luck to play cards
any place near the spot where a
murder was committed.
It brings bad luck to play cards
across the grain of a table. Luck
runs the way of the grain.
Walk around the card table three
times to change your luck.
For luck at cards. reverse the
direction of dealing.
For luck at cards. remove a
piece of jewelry.
1t is lucky for a card player to
carry the wishbone of a chicken in
his pocket.
1t is unlucky to gamble in a
room where there is a woman I'm.
less she is gambling, too, says an
old supertition. And it is usual.
ly unlucky, anyhow" commented
an expert poker player recently.
Therein lies the probable explana-
ton for stag parties. 3
NEXT: Cooking superstitions.
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
Star.News Program

Consolidated City.CoAnty Government
under Council Manager Administrations
Public Port Terminals.
Perfected Truck and Berry Preserving
and Marketing Facilities.
Arena for Sports and Industrial
Shows.
Seaside Highmay from Wr1ghtsotHe
Beach to Bald Head Island.
Extension OF city Limits.
's5.Foot Cape Fear River channel. p1dt
er Turning Basin, Nth ship lanes into
industrial sites along Eastern bank
south OF Wilmington.
Paved Rtve. Road to Southport, via
orion Plantation.
Development OF Pulp Wood Prod1e
ton through sustained-yteld methods
throughout Southeastern North CGrolind.
Unified Industrial and Resort Pro
motiona. Agency. supported BY one,
countrywide td7.
%Shipyards and Drydock.
Negro Health Center TO, Southeastern
North Carolina, developed around tho
Community Hospital.
adequate hospital facilities for .ehites.
Junior High School.
Tobacco Warehouse for Export Buyers.
Developme nt OF ndtive grape 0roacin0
throughout Southeastern North Carolina.
Modern Tuberculosis E1ndtorfnm.
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
Man About
Manhattan
Bv George Iueke'

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va, Aug.
49, The personnel of this movie
caravan from Hollywood and New
York is scattered all over the ir-
ginia countryside. Miss Carroll,
MIR. MacMurray, Mr.. Rutherfurd
and the other principals are stay
ing at Pennington Hunt Club. :.
Leigh Whipper, the splendid ne
gro actor who played the part of
the stable hand in "Of Mice and
Men, so well on Broadway, and
who plays the role of Uncle Eze-
kiel" in virginia." isplaying with
the janitor of the Charlottesville
Daily Progress, in Vinegar Hill.
Edward H. Griffith, the pro-
ducer-director, and his staff are
maintaining quarters at the Mon
ticello Hotel, in town. The Para
mount press staff has leased Pied
mont Manor, a magnificent estate
about II miles out of the city.
Piedmont is in the old time tradi-
ton, with white columns and a
winding approach. The house sets
about a quarter of a mile from
the road, and originally the
grounds included 5000 S.
These acres have dwindled to
about 900 now, but the view is as
breath-taking as it ever was. When
you stand on the veranda and gaze
across the valley to the blue-tinged
hills, the beauty of it gets in your
eyes.
One of the unlooked-for contre.
tempts of this pilgrimage to the
Old Dominion has turned out to be
what Director Griffith calls "a
rather expensive Act of God"
They tried to forsee all the even
Qualities. but they missed on one
thing. This is the year for 17-year
locusts. When the locusts sing, they
drown out the actors. The sensi-
tive microphones pick up every
thing.
In desperation because the de-
lay was costing money! Griffith or
dered ropes attached to the tree
tops. He hired 20 men to tug at
these ropes, hoping that the distur-
bance would lull the little pests in
to silence. But it didn't work.
Griffith mopped his brow a n d
sighed. "These locusts are more
temperamental than any star I
ever saw" he said. '"They are
preening themselves, confound
them, and their love-making is
costing Paramount So, 900 a day."
Finally, somebody remembered
that the pests never sang after a
rain. So a fire truck was obtained,
and before each shot the giant hose
played on the trees, whipping them
down with artificial rain. The ruse
worked.
There also is on this set a young
man named Sterling Hayden, who
is making his first picture. Hayden
is a yachtsman and sportsman but
he doesn't know anything about rid
ing. All his medals for seaman
ship did him no good when he
climbed on a steeplechaser. He
didn't ever understand horse lingo,
and SO the laugh of the camp now
is the way Director Griffith gives
Hayden direction in nautical terms.
-. "Okay, Hayden, hard astern,"
yells Griffith when he wants the
actor to back up his horse. The
riders of the Pennington Hunt
Club haven't got over this o n e
yet. Al
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
Negroes Body Found
At Wrightsuille Beach

The body Of William Harrison
Foushee, negro, of Greensboro,
washed ashore at Wrightsville
Beach yesterday morning at 2
o'clock, coroner Asa W. Allen said
yesterday.
The man was last seen, the
coroner said, when he left his
room about 10 o'clock Sunday night
to take a dip in the surf. T h e
coroner quoted the negro's father
as saying he was unable to swim.
Coroner Allen said there would
be no inquest
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20

ers and principles, of its ability
to face without fear whatever may
come to threaten it, to do whatever
is necessary to preserve America.
1t is a powerful answer to any
Americans who fear that this ma.
tons sun has set, that its people
and its ideals are not equal 10
survival in a conquest-crazy world.
If you look at it this way, The
Ramparts We Watch a feature
done in the documentary manner,
is the greatest tear-jerker ever
made. Most of us we're ~blubbering
at the end. A shot of whirry fac
tory wheels had greater effect than
the intended te~ar-jerking staged
scenes, such as the funeral Of the
local lad who went off to fly for the
Allies before American -ltry into
the war, or the scene of the i'm.
migrant girl whose dad had been
recalled to Europe by the odd
country"-and killed.
Specialists in nostalgia will de-
light in the neWsreel clips-ot
Wilson and the preparedness pa
rades''; of a simmer, young
er Hoover fighting the famine in
Belgium; of a younger l.D.R. as
assistant secretary of the navy; Of
Teddy Roosevelt calling for a big
stick We'd almost forgotten the
peace at any price paradeS, but
here they are.
In the personal dramas (by the
non-pro actors) other things come
back: The shameful snubblng Of
German-Americans, the war rellel
knitting ar bandage bees, the
family discussions on war, te
ways war hit home in every CON,
munity. !
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20

should have the reinforcement of a pact to
insure its permanency and power.
The parliament at Ottawa and the congress
at Washington ought, without delay, to EN-
rower our minister to Canada and Canada's
representative in this country to promulgate
such a treaty.
In the meantime it is gratifying to find
that the long friendship and good will existing
etween these countries has reached out for
closer relations in a mutual emergency.
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
Two Youths Enlisted
Here For u. S. Army

Sergeant S. w. D.. Bennett local
recruiting office, yesterday report
ed two additional enlistments of
young men from Southeastern
North Carolina for service with
army units at Fort Moultrie, S. c.,
and in Hawaii.
They are: Albert Mintz, 10, son
of Charles D. Mintz, Of Leland,
medical department at Fort Moul-
trie, and Earl W. Morton, 81, son
OF Mr.. and Mrs. NJ. H. Morton, of
Jacksonville, infantry in Hawaii.
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
VAN M M

NEW YORK, Aug. 19.-RLThe
New York stock exchange today
announced. appointment of Wayne
Van Orman as special assistant to
President William Met hesneyM Mar
tin, Jr., to handle organization
work in connection with the ex-
changes new nationwide public re-
latlons campaign. Van Orman, "a
year-old' New Yorker and member
OF the State bar, for IL years has
been in the employ of DeCoppet Il
Doremus, a stock exchange mem.
Der firm,
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
IGN TOP WEIGHT

CHICAGO, Aug. qs,
l.. Brann's Challedon, ne too
horse-of-the-year, was asslgn ee5 oob
weight of 1873 pounds in the s5ic,p
added Washington Park na nils
to be run Sept. 2 over tns
and one quarter routss
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
Atkinson School Plans
To Open On August q

The Atkinson school will o p e n
Tuesday, August q, G. w. Harriet,
principal, said here yesterday.
A meeting Of the Parent-Teach-
ers association will be held at 8
o'clock Monday evening, August 26
All parents r invited to attend. 4
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20

sales as it attains greater importance In the
rearmament program. Already Fayetteville is
eni6ying the benefits Of increased forces at
Fort Bragg.
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20
TOP o. THE

and prospered?
JOB 81
The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-20

A thumb tack is called a draw.
ing pin" by the English.