WORKED AT GREEN PARK HOTEL Tells Of Being Steward At Blowing Rock 57 Years Ago By NANCY ALEXANDER Roby Gilbert has tucked ? panel o* living iito Us 83 yTl- Wiry " ? wiHow withe and keen u a hawk, he'? of the day when kith, kin and even ,Were ??PPosed to J'Sht and ait a ?pe]l. One who's set many a fine table he s bred of the home spun fiber of hillfoiks, evident from his calluses to his hearty smile. a ^ Ws iron-gray W, he sits1 f*ii / jd r*c*U* d?y? when folks had to scratch for a living A resident of Hickory, he's a native of Boone, but has lived in Lenoir, Morganton, and Lin colnton. He's seen the Blue Kidge country unravel from hone and buggy gait into the fast-traveling pace 0f today Straight off the reel he can pull facts and figures from his storehouse of memories. "I was raised five miles east of Boone on the Brown's Chapel Parents were A. C Gilbert and my mother, Lucy Brown Gilbert. First time I I ever in Boone I went with my I father to take a load of oats to old Dr. Councill. His office was where the Daniel Boone Hotel is now. There were two old wooden hotels there ? Coffey's and Blackburn's. "I was si* years old the first .nTrtl in BIowin* Rock and the old Green Park Hotel where I worked later was there wen. "I went to a country school n,efvWhere 1 lived. ?t on a slab bench, wrote on a slate and just about froze In the winter. When X was 18 I went in the army?was stationed at Fort Monroe, Va., Washington, D. C and Fort Beard, New Mexico' I was in the parade in Wash ington when Teddy Roosevelt was inaugurated president March 4, 1905. It was a rough windy and cold day. My good ness alive, how bad it was! "I met my wife Jessie Ed misten when I got out of the r-r^y? 1908 We've bee" mar ried 53 ?a?._ ? "In the spring of 1806 Hick Harper, the manager, asked me sbout taking a Job as steward f' gy Hotel. I told him I didnt know anything about such work. He asked, "You can learn, can't you?' .J"?0 I w?rked there from 1905 until 1909. Folks came up the mountain from the two o clock train in Lenoir by hack and surrey-took 'em 'til about night to get there. They came from everywhere just like they do now. "The hotel belonged to Fin ley and George Harper, Hugh , WyD'?and a Bisener fellow from Charlotte. "Other hotels were the Blow ing Rock Hotel, the Watauga Hotel 11,6 King and Gray "The water for Green Park w*s piped from a spring on the mountain. There were two slangs near the hotel, one on either side. Folks used to come Just to see and drink from 'em. That was the best water in the world, dear and' cold. Every body drank from one gourd I keep a gourd in my car now. water tastes better out of it One of the springs flowed into the Atlantic and one into the Pacific or Gulf of Mexic*. I think both springs are covered up now. The Biawing Rock was free to anyeiie who wanted to go out and see it "The highest priced room was $19, including three meals a day. The chef. Willie Wil liams from Columbia, S. C. was the beat cook I ever ate after. I'd get with him each morning and plan the meals. I engaged fresh vegetables from the moun tain folks and they brought them in by the wagon load. If we ran short I got out a horse and buggy and found some. I bought beef from Will Craig ? a hindquarter for 10c and a fore-quarter for 7c and mutton, any kind, for 10c. Eggs were 12 to 15 cents a dozen, and butter, 12 to 15 cents a pound. "We kept our meat in the ice house, insulated with saw dust, in the basement The iee was cut from frozen pounds in the winter and hauled by wag on to the hotel where it lasted all summer. "The hotel had its own eow* for milking and a nun to milk 'em. "From the cream we made ice cream, turning it in old fashioned freezers. "A large range that horned wood was used for cooking. There was no coal in those days. On chilly days the bell boys kept wood fires going in all the guests' roam*. "Martha Johnson of Hickory cooked all the cakes, puddings and pies and baked all the bread, loaves and all. There weren't any bakeries then. "The hotel had a ballroom where we had dances every night. There was an orchestra who were all foreigners. "In 1910 I operated the toll gate for the Lenoir -Blowing Rock Turnpike Company. Mr. Finley Harper was head of the organization. We charged 25c for a two-horse wagon Me for a one-horse wagon; lOe for a horseback rider; and $1.00 for automobiles, Thar* were a Int. of folks who tried to beat their way through. They'd laugh at you, too, if they did. "Tom Coffey kept the gate 'way before I did ? about 75 years ago. "Will Holshouaer had the first truck that used the turn pike. It had solid tires and in rainy weather it slipped so he couldn't drive it He hauled merchandise to his store at Blowing Rock. B. C. Cannon drove the truck for him. "Mostly hacks, surreys, bug gies, and covered wagons used the road then; but there were a few cars, mostly Model-Ts. "I also carried the mail to Blowing Rock from Lenoir. I used a surrey. Sometimes I'd mire up axle deep and some times it would take me 12 hours to make the trip, not getting there until two in the morning. But I never missed a day. "In the spring of 1019 I hauled the first tank wagon of gasoline to Boone. Used mules at first and then had a pair of big white horses. There weren't any service stations then, just pumps at garages. I remember taking gas to Ed Shipley's and Bynum Taylor's garages." After he was promoted to salesman, lfr. Gilbert and his fully lived in LeMir, Mor ganton and Lincolntoo. In 1*29 they moved to Hickory where he opened a wholesale plant for the Shell Oil Company. Re tiring in IMS, he didn't remain idle long. For a tint* he was manager of the Hickory Moose Club and then waa employed by the ABC stores for two yean. Most winters since 1092 he and his wife have spent in Florida. They have a son Alfred Gil bert and a daughter Virginia (Mrs. Ray) Icenhoiir of Hickory and a granddaughter Nillah Gilbert Porter. About Your Home IM the decorating and fur nishing of yoor home reflect your earn pmoaiilMj. The main factors to consider is you ? your personality, your needs and your means, if you give thought to jrour decoration and furnishing it will add greatly to your pleasure and comfort. Oder is probably the most im portant decorative element. The colors referred to as "waim" are those containing red, yellaur and orange. Decorators aay that the "warm colors" tend to stimu late a feeling of intimacy. But when over-used, they make you restless. These colors move to ward you and make rooms seem smaller. The coo! colors art blue, green violet and others predominated by blue. These ooid colors give a a feeling of serenity to a room. If over-used, they can be de Furniture is important. For pressing. Cool colors seem to move away from you, creating a feeling of spaciousness. some people it is bard to decide between conventional and mod ern. If you have one type and want another but cant afford a mind that beautiful results are achieved with combinations. In most cases, one style should predominate with the other used .moro-or-leas for accent. Every object in a room should serve some purpose and have a func tion. Added beauty to always a legitimate function. light and the way it is handled can make or break a room. You need not be unreasonable. When it comes down to the dollar, there are few gracieus humans. ENGINE REBUILDING Don't tolerate a winter-wearing gas-and-oil hog that's robbing performance and driving pleasure. Oar expert rebuilding pats your engine in the pink . . . restore* performance? saves gas and oiL Valve & Head Grinding Pin & Sleeve Fitting Brake Dram Turning Automotive Parts Accessories Equipment Kepaira to SMALL ENGINES ? Laws Mowers ? Tillers ? Scooters ? All Kinds Engine-Powered Equipment MOTOR PARTS AND SUPPLY COMPANY, INC. 120 N. Depot St? AM 4-8832 Boom, ff. C. Diverted Acreage May Be Graced Diverted acreage under the Peed Gran and Wheat Stabili zation Programs may be grazed effective Octdber 1. This is a month sooner than had keen planned originally. The reason far the change was to permit producers to plan fall and win ter 'operations more effectively, and to alleviate, to some -ex tent, the shortage of forage in areas containing spotty drought conditions. 290 farmers in Wa tauga County have diverted land from corn production and will be eligible to graze the land they had set aside on/and after the date of October 1. British aid is sought in watch on Castro. Fair's Community Exhibits Vie For Premiums TV Community Development Division at the Dixie Classic Fair, scheduled for October S 12 in Winston-Salem, offers a total of 91,200 in cash pre miums for exhibits. Nell Bol ton, Fair manager, recently pointed out that there are only two exhibit booths l*|ft. Final date for entires is Wednesday, September 18. Eligibility Competition is open to any organized community, subordi nate Grange, or community Farm Bureau in the eleved counties of the Northwest North Carolina Development Association. The exhibits are to portray some phase of the objectives that have been or are being carried out this year. Hie community , selects its own theme u long m It is consist ent with some phase of the ob jectives. It is expected, Bolton added, that the community will not use materials or objects used in prior exhibits. Objectives In aaking the announcement, Bolton also cited the objectives of the Community Development Division to encourage and sti mulate rural faQiilies to work together in organized groups to: 1, Increase per capita income by bettering farming practices, expanding enterprises, adding new enterprises, and developing Industrial resources and op portunities; ? 2. Better home and family living through home improve ments and convenience*, tetter home management, and better family relation*; 3. Improve community insti tutions and services. 4. Brine youth into the cob m unity program. A4*bory Comlttee Mrs. Doris B. Potter at North Wiikesboro is Chairman of the Advisory Committee. Po-chair man is Robert Campbell of Winston-Salem. Mrs. Forrest Harmon, also of Winston-Salem, Is superintendent. Mrs. Am Beese, of Reese, is Chairman for the Watauga County group serving on the Advisory Committee. Other members are: Mr. Clint Corai ett, of Reese; and Jerry Adams, Boone. LATUM AID HIGH President Kennedy's plan for helping Latin American na tions, The Alliance for Pro gress, has cost United States taxpayers $2,500,000,000 so far. 1 FISH liiu V' MOUNTED YE OLE TAXIDERMY SHOP Joe C. Miller ? 264-2348

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