Riots in Wilmington, FDR dies: The News Journal archives, week of April 9
"Pages of history" features excerpts from The News Journal archives including the Wilmington Morning News and the Evening Journal.
April 9, 1968, Wilmington Morning News
Wilmington unrest quelled after 4-hour burst
Police restored order in Wilmington last night after a 4-hour outbreak of sniping, looting and firebombing that put the city under a state of emergency.
A 10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew was imposed. Helmeted officers had little trouble clearing the streets. The curfew will begin at 7:30 tonight, according to Mayor John E. Babiarz….
The wave of violence left 12 persons injured, one seriously. At least two persons suffered gunshot wounds. There were 13 firebombings and 19 reported lootings, mostly in a 12-block area of West Center City. Fifty-one persons were arrested.
About 50 state troopers were ordered into the city by Gov. Charles L. Terry Jr. and 1,200 National Guard troops were activated. Neither the troopers nor the guardsmen were needed to quell the disorders. Terry sent 1,100 of the guardsmen home.
The disturbances began just before noon yesterday as gangs of young Blacks roamed Market Street following a memorial service in Rodney Square for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Recent crime news: 'He shot him dead': Man charged with fatal shooting in Wilmington's Riverside neighborhood
April 10, 2003, The News Journal
Baghdad falls; citizens rejoice freely
Their hour of freedom at hand, jubilant Iraqis celebrated the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s murderous regime Wednesday, beheading a toppled statue of their longtime ruler in downtown Baghdad and embracing American troops as liberators.
“I’m 49, but I never lived a single day. Only now will I start living,” said Yussuf Abed Kazim, a mosque preacher.
A young Iraqi spat on a portrait of Saddam. Men hugged Americans in full combat gear, and women held up babies so soldiers riding on tanks could kiss them.
Iraqis released decades of pent-up fury as U.S. forces solidified their grip on the capital. Marine tanks rolled to the eastern bank of the Tigris River. The Army was on the western side of the waterway that curls through the ancient city….
“We are not seeing any organized resistance,” said Navy Capt. Frank Thorp at the U.S. Central Command….
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Saddam “is taking his rightful place” alongside such brutal dictators of the past as Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Vladimir Lenin….
April 13, 1945, Wilmington Morning News
Roosevelt dies suddenly; Truman takes oath as 32nd president
President Franklin D. Roosevelt died unexpectedly Thursday at 4:35 p.m. of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga.
Mr. Roosevelt’s last words were: “I have a terrific headache.”
The funeral will be in the White House East Room in Washington at 4 p.m. Saturday. Burial will be at the Roosevel ancestral home at Hyde Park, N.Y., Sunday….
Mr. Roosevelt, in the third month of his fourth term as President, went to Warm Springs three weeks ago to rest.
Mrs. Roosevelt planned to fly to Georgia last night. She left the White House at 7:15 after informing their four sons by wire of their father’s death.
The death removed from world councils one of the Big Three – Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin – who worked together to win the war and laid joint plans for keeping the peace….
Harry S. Truman, who 11 years ago was a Missouri county judge, became the 32nd President of the United States at 7:09 p.m. Thursday and solemnly pledged himself to Roosevelt’s policies….
Catch up on history: The News Journal archives, week of Jan. 30
April 13, 1970, The Morning News
White Clay Creek dam debate continues
While government officials and conservationists debate the wisdom of damming White Clay Creek, the Du Pont Company holds the land on which the proposed reservoir would be built.
New Castle County Executive William Conner said there is a critical water shortage now, and the county must do something to alleviate it. The dam, he said, seems to be the best solution.
Dennis Neuzil, president of the Delaware section of the Sierra Club, said building the dam would forego a precious, relatively wild area to provide for projected population growth….
Samuel Lenher, vice president and chairman of the DuPont Co. environmental control committee, said the company owns 95 percent of the 1,400 acres needed for the reservoir north of Newark.
“The company now plans to hold on to the land until appropriate government agencies decide whether or not to construct the proposed dam and reservoir,” Lenher said….
The alternatives are pumping water out of the ground, pumping water from Hoopes Reservoir into White Clay Creek and from the creek, or pumping water from the Susquehanna or Schuylkill watersheds.
The preliminary report, Conner said, draws “the broad conclusion that, for the long pull, the only economical way is to build the dam.” Wells alone wouldn’t do the job. Pipelines are expensive and the availability of water from the other watersheds is doubtful….
If the reservoir is built, 85 percent of the water will be consumed by “non-Du Pont users,” Lenher said. Now Du Pont’s average daily consumption of water in New Castle County outside the Wilmington Water Department service area is about 4.4 million gallons a day, 8.3 percent of the area’s daily consumption….
Since 1966, when the drought required enforced water saving measures, the average water demand of the area has increased considerably, mostly because of the increase in population, said Lenher….
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Riots in Wilmington, FDR dies: News Journal archives, week of April 9
