“Pages of history” features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and The Evening Journal. See the archives at delawareonline.com.
July 21, 1925, The Evening Journal
DuPont Co. has good six months
An appreciable increase in the business of E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co. for six months of 1925 was reflected in substantially higher earnings than in the first half of 1924, when net profits were $7,610,089, equivalent to $5.84 a share on the 950,609 common shares outstanding, says the Wall Street Journal today.
For the year 1924, net was $15,947,423, equal to $12.45 a share. …
Business in commercial explosives has shown a good improvement over 1924, increasing nearly 15%. Coal mining, which ordinarily uses large amounts of explosives, has not been active so far this year, but other mining operations, construction work, quarrying and similar industries all have shown a decided upturn since the first of the year.
Page 8 of The Evening Journal from July 21, 1925.
The fabrikoid division has kept extremely busy supplying largely increased amounts of its products to the automobile and upholstering industries.
Demand for Duco, the new finish for automobiles and furniture, is growing rapidly, and this department is increasing its manufacturing facilities.
The dye department, one of the nation’s large sources of American dyes, is doing nearly 20% more business than last year. …
Other chemicals and acids show substantial advances for the half year, as does also the output of the paint department.
Growing popularity of rayon (artificial silks) is keeping the duPont Rayon Co. busy adding manufacturing facilities. The plant at Buffalo, which doubled its facilities a couple of years ago, is running to capacity, and the new plant at Old Hickory, Tenn., will soon be in full operation. Another unit to double the capacity is being built, and both, it is expected, will be in full production by the end of the year, when the annual output of the company will be between 12 million and 15 million pounds.
The great prosperity of the automobile industry is most favorably affecting duPont’s earnings. In addition to supplying many of the essentials used in the manufacture and upkeep of motor cars, its interest in the General Motors Corporation is yielding large returns.
duPont’s holdings of 1,340,000 shares of General Motors common, at the present dividend rate of $6, return $8,040,000 annually, and the outlook for additional revenue from this source is exceedingly bright.
More recent DuPont news: DuPont revises plans to split into three companies. Here’s what this means
July 23, 1975, The Morning News
Blueberry Hill landlord-tenant trial in Sussex County hits snag
The meaning of a key section of the state’s landlord-tenant law was a point of contention yesterday in a trial in Georgetown to decide the fate of Blueberry Hill near Millsboro.
The case involves a suit in Common Pleas Court by landlord Robert B. Atkins asking that five tenants at his Blueberry Hill development be evicted so he can demolish their houses. The tenants have filed a countersuit, claiming Atkins is evicting them illegally and owes them damages for providing unfit housing.
Page 29 of The Morning News from July 23, 1975.
An issue in the countersuit to be decided by Judge Paul E. Ellis is what the state legislature meant when it passed the 1972 Landlord-Tenant Act, requiring a landlord “to provide housing fit for the purpose for which it is rented and not dangerous to the health, welfare or safety of the tenants.”
The legislature did not define the terms “fit” or “dangerous to the health, welfare or safety.”
This is further complicated since Sussex County has no building or housing code which might provide some guidelines.
Ellis noted yesterday that although he must face the concept of minimum standards applicable to the entire state, he also has to question what a Sussex County landlord should be expected to provide for $10 a week.
For that sum, Atkins has been providing a frame house with electrical service, one cold water faucet and an outside privy. A chimney was available for whatever heating facilities the tenant could provide.
Catch up on history: History from News Journal archives June 8-14: Army plane crash at Newark, cow sets record
July 26, 2000, The News Journal
Vandalism to school buses may cost $500,000
Five boys charged in a break-in at a Brandywine School District bus yard caused up to $500,000 in damage when they boarded at least one bus and drove like they were in a demolition derby, authorities said Tuesday.
The boys range in age from 10 to 16 but they were not identified because they are juveniles. …
Front page of The News Journal from July 26, 2000.
District officials are investigating how the intruders got around an elaborate security system, said Donald C. Fantine, interim assistant superintendent for the district.
The perimeter of the bus yard on Edgemoor Road in Wilmington is equipped with an electric sensor that alerts a security officer when someone goes over the fence, Fantine said. …
But that was not what happened Sunday afternoon. By the time police were called, 50 buses had been damaged, district officials said.
Two to five buses were totaled and 45 were damaged too much to be driven until repairs are made. A new bus equipped with wheelchair lifts was among the ones most damaged.
Insurance adjusters still were tallying the damage Tuesday. The district is insured.
Police were called after a maintenance mechanic arrived at the yard, found the main gate damaged and saw several juveniles in the lot. Officers chased the boys to the railroad tracks adjacent to the yard and found them hiding in some brush near the tracks, according to Family Court records. …
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: History in News Journal archives, July 20-26: DuPont thriving, bus vandals