Do you know why newspapers turn yellow? It's not because something is added, but because something isn't taken out. Paper is, of course, made from wood pulp and there is a particular chemical in trees that makes them firm and stand up straight - it's called lignin. There are higher levels of lignin in newsprint paper than most other commonly used kinds of paper because it's more cost effective that removing it. It's the exposure to air and light that causes oxidation in the lignin molecules and turns the paper yellow.
The issue of the Rockbridge County News we're looking at this week is very old and thus very brown in color: April 6, 1933.
The front page had stories about:
- The death of a certain prominent woman named Elizabeth Preston Randolph Allan. She was so well known and revered that her death is announced on the front page four times.
- The naval airship, Akron, crashed into the ocean during an electrical storm. The story includes a first-hand account of a survivor of the crash.
- From the section 'In Neighboring Counties' - "Miss Francoise E. May, brunette daughter of the Belgian ambassador, will be queen of the tenth annual Shenandoah Apple Blossom festival"
- And in the section 'News in a Nutshell' - High schoolers in Chicago were on strike in deference to their teachers, who were not being paid.
Included this week are many articles about budgets, which puts our current budget projections into perspective. There are also some Easter ads and a story titled "The Fable of the Monarch of Western Hemisphere." It tells of a man named Mr. Jelby who gets really upset at trends and fads.
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