Newspapers / The New Bern Mirror … / Feb. 4, 1972, edition 1 / Page 1
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The NEW BERN PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE HEART OP . "ASTERN NORTH '■'o tf tif Yestoxlay was when Pop Stanley, no longer among the living, had every right to claim on one occasion that his privacy was invaded. The case was so clear it would have been superflcial to present it to the U. S. Siqireme Court for a solemn ruling on the merit of his complaint. No mortal, before nor since, couid get as indignant on as little fuel. He talked baseball in cessantly, and differing with him incited instant rage. This wouldn’t have been quite so bad, if his (xrofession had been different. Since he manned a chair at Service Barber Shop, there was danger involved. Remarkably, Stanley didn’t lack customers willing to prostrate themseives for a shave, white he brandished his razor wildly, arguing with a third party. Pop tum^ livid at the slightest confrontation. Actually there wasn’t that much change in complexion. Chronic imbibing kept his countenance in btoom. You could always tell when he had been on an extended ben der, aside from his conspicious absence from the establishment for several very dull days. He would show up for work as tdeary eyed as a fireman who has been trapped inside a smoke titled building, and did more shaking than a betty dancer suffering from hiccups. In such a state it would ap pear to those unacquanted witti his dexterity that inevitably he was destined to perform unintentional surgery before sunset. Never in his long career as a tonsorial specialist did Pop amputate an ear or notch a nose, thus proving that the age of miracles had not expired. There was, of course, one afternoon when a stranger, loudly liquored, sat down in Staniey’s chair, and arrogantiy demanded a very close shave. Pop lathered him up untii his own mother, rest her dear soul, wouldn’t have recognized her offspring. Then, with sweeps magnificent, he started whining away the whiskers. The stranger vociferousiy questioned Stanley’s thoroughness, and told him to get with it. Pop obligingly in- cisioned his left jaw. After that lengthy laceration, silence prevailed. But harking back to what we started out to talk about, let us without further commotion delve into the instance when Stanley’s privacy was indeed invaded. It happened in the late thirties, when our late lamented Coastal Plain League was flourishing, and Service Barber Shop was on Middle not Broad. As was customary on his part. Pop had returned to his place of employment, where he nightly ascended the throne, and leisurely scanned carefully selected reading matter. This was Stanley’s own little world, far from the maddening throng, where he could absorb baseball statistics for tomorrow's pronouncements. (Continued on page 8) VOLUME 14 NEW BERN, N. C.. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1972 NUMBER s NtW BtRN-CRAVEN COUNfy PUBLIC LIBRARY ONCE UPON A TIME—Even If you’re a New Bemian young in years, there’s something in this picture, snapped in 1901, that should not only identify the street but tell you exactly where the photographer was standing. You can’t, of course, get your bearings from the cart in the foreground, nor the ox plodding along behind it. That cart up ahead, with the slop barrel on it, won’t give you any clues either, since similar ones roamed all over town back then. The trees along the dirt thorough fare, stripped naked of leaves by wintry winds, departed at least a half century ago, so naturally they don’t have a familiar appearance. What about the buildings? They were gone too, before most New Bemians were bom. Even so, you should have the answer, if you’re a keen observer, since you’ve passed this very spot hundreds, or probably thousands of times. Do you give up? Glance at the lower right hand comer of the picture, and there, right before your eyes, is the Lady Blessington cannon at the nor^east comer of Middle and Pollock’s intersection. The gent, or lady, with the camera was standing kerplunk in the center of the intersection, which we wouldn’t recommend doing now, drunk or sober. You’re facing directly north. It was bound to be a cold, or at least a cool day, since the men on the carts are wearing coats. However, in every generation there are people who hate to be bundled up, whatever the weather. That explains the man on your left who probably said, “To heck with a coat, just a vest is enough.’’ —Photo from Albert D. Brooks Collection.
The New Bern Mirror (New Bern, N.C.)
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Feb. 4, 1972, edition 1
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