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WEEKLY
Volume 11.
Charlotte, Ka;C., Thursday, July 31,1941.
Number 31.
CARRIER PIGEONS
TRAINED BY ARMY
FOR MESSENGERS
Both Dogs and Birds Have Often
Proved Valuable Servants
In Country’s Defense
THE TRAINING OF BIRDS
Horrid Thought^ We May Have ^[fmndji Interest
to Go Without Silk Stockings
A stout heart is honored by all men,
by all nations, and special tribute is
paid to voiceless heroes. That is
why out of every war has come ac
claim for the animals and winged
messengers who serve men alike in
the fields of peace and the fields of
battle.
The annals of the Unites States
Army are rich in tributes for these
comrades who. bearing no arms of
■defense or offense, have gone into the
ffight with hearts of steel. Into these
records have gone the history of
“First Division Rage,” hero of valor
ous deeds deeds in France and belov
ed buddy alike of generals and pri
vates -and on whose tombstone in an
•East Orange (N. J.) cemetery is chis
eled the simple epitaph: “Rags—-
Wounded in Action With the American
Expeditionary Forces in France—•
3918;” of “Old Cap,” wire-haired Grif
fon who served with distinction in the
World War, winning a French medal,
and who sleeps today in Ware, Mass.;
of “Stubby,” famous war dog of the
Twenty-sixth Division, painted by
Charles Ayres Whipple; of Mr. Down
ing,” General Pershing’s favorite
mount who answered the last call in
1933, and of “President Wilson,” bat
tle scarred war pigeon and one of
several hero pigeons of the. World
War, says a New York dispatch to
the Christian Science Monitor.
Training For Birds
Jt is to these sky messengers that
the United States Army is today
devoting attention and training
comparable to that given trainees
in any branch of the service. Maj.
John K. Shawman, pigeon expert of
the Signal Corps, is in charge of the
work of training these birds at Fort
Monmouth, N. J., and has recently
staged eight-day flights in New York
City of his feathered wards.
The United States Army is second
to none. in the dpvploprnfiit 6f ’ ire!
communication service, having found
that carrier pigeons have increased
in importance with each development
of the blitzkreig, since through them
defensive communications are main
tained and opportunity developed to
shatter the enemy lines.
Formetly homing pigeous could not
be moved around, but insisted uporr
returning to one spot. Army Signal
Corps officers have developed the use
of a mobile loft that can now be taken
on maneuvers to any part of the coun
try.. Within five days of their ar
rival at destination, the birds will be
performing their duties.
An exclusive development of >the
United States Army is a two-day
pigeon service. These birds will take
a message to a special point and re
turn to the place of take-off. How
the birds are thus trained is a close
Army secret. It is believed this coun
try is the only one to have developed
such tw07w^ay feathered couriers.
Major Shawman’s carrier pigeon
training in New York was cari’ied on
from. Rockefeller Center. Among the
most interested spectators were the
pigeons that make their homes on the
set-backs of the city within a city in
midtown Manhattan, and who find
easy living in the hands of bird-lovers.
They looked up in wonderment at the
swift flight of the winged soldiers of
the army.
Major STiawman gave his pigeons
several days in New York to permit
them to get accustomed to their new
surroundings. Sboi’t flights were made
during these adys. Then, for the big
test, six birds were taken by under
ground railroad to six points in the
outskirts of the city. The subway in
no way affected their sense of direc
tion, and when they wer§ released
they flew as straight as an arrow at
a mile-a-minute clip back to their
mobile loft at Rockefeller Center.
In War Service
The carrier pigeon service of the
Army is being greatly expanded.
Another duty that has fallen to the
care of Major Shawman is the reg
istering of every private pigeon loft
in the Nation. This was done not
only to list a reserve of birds in case
of an Army shortage, but more im
portantly, to keep a careful guard
over the activities of saboteurs and
fifth columnists who might use the
birds for message carrying.
Great Britain has been using pig
eons to carry dispatches in the pres
ent war and has appealed to American
loft owners to donate birds for war
service. Each British airplane when
it takes off carries two pigeons for
dihpatching messages back to its base
in case the radio fails to work.
Military use of pigeons dates from
the days of the Roman Empire. De-
cius Brutus used homing pigeons to
get in touch with the Roman Consuls
in 43 B. C. when Mutina was besieged
by Mark Antony. The Saracens used
sky messengers during the First Cru
sade. The Crusaders tried to inter
rupt this service by sending falcons
after them, but many of the enemy
birds got through.
In the Franco-Prussian war of 1870
when the Germans surrounded Paris,
homing pigeons were used by the de
fenders to keep in touch with the out
side World. . The Germans countered
>IORE ON PAGE THREE
Dr. Lingle, late president of
Davidson College, published an
article in the current issue of the
Christian Observer, giving docu
mentary accountts of suffering
in the South just after the Civil
War. There was a philanthropic
couple in New York who under
took to aid to the extent of their
ability people all over the South
who were in dire need. This did
not apply to the colored people
who were the proteges of the Feb-
eral government. They were the
white people, poor before the war,
but left like Scarlet O’Hara, on the
land with nothing to eat. Letter
after letter is given from South
ern people, merchants or others
of known probity, who told of
such lack of food that it in some
cases amounted to starvation.
Well, we must have the hard
ships of war, even before we have
actual war. In some of the coun
tries which have had or now have
war, people are begging for bread.
And right here in our own be
loved land we are threatened with
a shortage of silk stockings. Of
couse people do not eat silk stock
ings. But Shylock said, “You take
my life when you do. take the
means whereby live.” And that
being so, people in America who
might find life unbearable with
out silk stockings may face the
stern necessity of shuffling of
this mortal coil.
Of course the soldiers of Wash
ington at Valley Forge had no
silk stockings. Many of them had
ncr stockings at all and a good
many of them no shoes- But times
are different now. Wliat were
then unheard of luxuries are now
necessities. The government may
find it necessary, in warding off
the attempt of Japan to stab
freedom and democracy in the
east while Hitler is mixrdering it
in the-west, to forbid the shipment
of silk from Japan to this country.
That means no silk stockings, for
all the silk that we can get will
have to’ go into parachutes to
save the lives of men who find it
necessary to jump fram death in
the air. \You can’t ixiake para
chutes out of cotton. Can you
make stockings of cotton? No,
not silk stockings, and who would
scratch his or her legs with cot
ton or wool socks ? Therefore, the
people representing the silk stock
ing manufacturers will endeavpr to
show the gov^'rnment what a sui
cidal policy r,t would be to pro
hibit the im\oortation of silk
from Japan. And we do not yet
know how large and powerfu) a
silk stocking bk'ck may arise and
exert its pressure upon the gov
ernment.
Freedom and democracy are
nice, if they do n*ot cost anything.
But when the necessities of life
must be given up in their behalf,
that is something to talk about.
Would America give up silk
stockings for freedom? Would
America give up anything for
freedom ?
WHY WE STAND
PAT WITH JAPAN
Her Threat Is Not Theoretical
But Involves Material Things
Already in Our Possession
FASTER IT RUNS
MORE IT BURNS
One-Fourth of Gais Used Is
Wasted Mr. Ickes Finds Out
and May Get Mad About it
Notes, reprimands and warnings
have been going to Japan for some
time. The last went Wednesday of this
week in consequence of the narrow
escape of a United States gunboat,
the Tutuilla, on the Yangtze river,
ii'aiu Japctiu'&e ijomb's. I'he boat! was
where it had a right to be and if the
bomb had hot missed, the boat would
have been blown up. “So sorry,” is
the usual Japanese reply. This will
not go any longer.
The meaning of all this is perfect
ly clear. The United States means
business, and for a reason which Ja
pan may have overlooked. There is a
significant difference between the Far
East and Europe. In the Far East
the United States has actual posses
sions and^ existing, established, rec
ognized territorial rights and respon
sibilities. The ban on use of “selec
tees” does not apply to the Philip
pines'. The Philippines are a depend
ency of the United States which
Washington is bound by treaty to
protect and defend with its military
forces.
Threat to Philippines
President Roosevelt is criticized for
sending United States marines and
naval. forces to Greenland on the
ground t?iat it is getting too far away
from the United States.- The Philip
pines are much farther. But they be
long to America to defend, and the
army and the navy are already there.
When Japan went into French Indo-
China it was an immediate threat to
the Philippines comparable with the
threat which a German invasion of
Canada would be to the United States
itself.
Up until this latest Japanese move
every effort has been made to leave
a friendly path open for Japan to
reconsider its ways and abandon its
Axis alignment. But the moment it
went into Indo-China everything
changed here. It was the move advo
cates of firm action had been waiting
for. It made the whole pattern of
Japanese aggression too plain for any
doubting. The countermeasures and
the counterpolicy were all ready and
in order.
Japan has chosen to make the last
threat and the last advance which can
be made into the East Indies without
war. Washington has been busy ever
since making sure of two things:
A. That if war comes American
forces will have the Allies and the
strategic positions necessary to as
sure quick and certain victory.
B. That Japan is under no illus
ions.
There is also a powerful positive
retaliatory side of the matter. Even
if Japan heeds the warning and stops
where it is in Indo-China, the pres
sure of the American economic block
ade, implemented by Britain and the
Netherlands, will put an increasing
strain on the existence of Japan it
self.
The assumption in the background
is, actually, that the economic block
ade is going to force Japan to choose
between war and retirement. The best
estimates of the blockade’s effect on
Japan are that it will be impossible
for the Islands to maintain their pres
ent extended positions with all trade
to the outside world shut off. They
must break that blockade to live. They
can- break it by abandoning Indo-Chi-
na, and withdrawing from China it
self. Or they can attempt to break it
by war.
Washington is watching and wait
ing, prepared if Japan chooses to at
tack and confident that if Japan is so
foolish as to decide on the course of
war the outcome will be quick and
disastrous for Japan. The Axis may
I MORE ON PAGE TWO
MOtirCOW A BIG TOWN
Moscow, the Russian capital which
the Nazis are now bombing, is a big
to\v'n. It is larger than Chicago and
has latel/ been growing faster than
Washingt')n. With a population of 4,-
000,000, the Soviet capital is more
than twice as lai’ge as it was 20 years
ago. Among cities of the world it
ranks sixth, behind London, New
York, Tokio, Paris an.d Berlin. In the
same latitude as northern Labrador,
Moscow is the farthest north of major
world capitals and its life is geared
to long winters when the rivers freeze
solid and become roadways for horse-
drawn sledges. Summer comes to- Mos
cow not in the mild form known to
Berlin, Paris, and London, but with
extremes of heat to match the winter
cold. In these extremes Moscow cli
mate is comparable to that of the
nQrtiier.1 plains states of the U. S. A.
On an ancient trade route between
the Baltic and the Caspian, Moscow
existed as far back as 1147. It was
the naitaiai center of the movement
wtiich united the feudal Russian
states. The xity suffered a setback in
the early eighteenth century when
Peter the (ireat moved the capital to
a site bn the Gulf of Finland, where
he built St. Petersburg (Leningrad).
FIRST OF ALL, DESTROY THE MAD DOG—
Then the World Must Find Way
To Live in Pcace and Goodwill
(AN EDITORIAL)
IFIRST YEAR AFTER
THE WAR A TRYING
TIME FOR SOUi:
soir^-!
%
The pighead driver not only en
dangers the lives of others and him
self but throws away a lot of moneyJ'
by wasting gas. Mr. Ickes, Petroleurn
Conservater, may have to do
• It. Vtlijr!. imr
sound economy.
This is the verdict of the Ameri
can Automobile Association, official
spokesmen for more than 1,000,000
drivers.
The A'ssociation is not trying to
meet the\ resent-day emergency with
LENINGRAD ALSO LARGE
Leningrad, the old capital of
the Czars, on the Gulf of Linland,
is also a big town. The Germans
are reaching for that, too. Second
to Moscow among Russian cities
and the fourth largest in all con
tinental Europe, Leningrad has
a population of 3,200,000 and in
dustries that are vital to Russia’s
defense. Peter the Great founded
the city at the beginning of the
eighteenth century and callcd at
(after himself) St. Petersburg.
He sought to give Russia a cap
ital that would compare with
cities of western Europe.' The
name of the city was changed to
Petrograd early in the World War
and to Leningrad after the revo
lution. In 1916 Leningrad had a
population of 2,400,000, but by
1920 the figure had shrunk to less
than 760,000 as a result of the
revolution and removal of the
capital to Moscow. Since Soviet
iftdi atnalization, the city has
made steady population gains.
Built on low ]artd on the' delta
of the I'V . Ver, Leningrad is
subject .0 ..ding. A flood ii*_1924
was highly destructive.
KING SNAKES KILL OTHERS
Some people kill any snake they see
iregardless of its kind and character.
Yet there are two kinds of snakes
which should never be killed. One is
the blacksnake, which is a great rat
arguments concocted over night.. For! the other is the king piake,
40 years it has been engaged in studies
intended to prove that wasteful driv
ing habits are taking millions of dol
lars annually out of the pockets of
the Nation’s more than • 40,000,000
licensed operators.
“Uh ... uh. . . watch that ac
celerator. . . ease up on those speeds
. .. . keep the car properly adjusted
. . . let the other fellow throw away
his gasoline dollar on jack rabbit get
aways and neck-jerking stops” . . .
that is the advice the Association
has been projecting into motor circles
for years.
And to this money-saving plea of
motor groups, State agencies have
added the safety angle, for such things
as tires, for instance, not only wear
out faster at high speeds, but they
project the blowout hazard into the
daily motoring of 36,000,000 car own
ers.
Meet the Patriot
Now comes Harold L. Ickes, Sec
retary of the Interior, to glorify the
safe and economical driver with'the
title of “patriot.” For tlie Nation is
asking voluntary reductions of 30 to
35 per cent in its gas consumption
. . . or^ else. The “or else” is assum
ed to imply either rationing, gasless
Sundays, or drastic Government regu
lation of all gas sales. And if any
thing can convert the gasoline glut
ton into a member of good standing
in the fraternity of safe, sensible,
money-saving, car conserving drivers
..' . . it is the urge to do something
for his country in its hour of need.
The glutton for gas consumption
which the Association hopes to reach
and reach quickly “or else” is hie who
tramps upon the accelerator, generat
ing more power that the car engine
can use; he with a passion for using
second gear which burns up 50 per
cent niore fuel than high gear; and
he with the futile complex for beating
all comers to the getaway at traffic
signals.
The gas burner picks up on hills
where slow, steady speeds mean
smooth, economical operation. He
handles the choke like a bicycle pump
with no thought for the technical point
that over-choking the engine can con
sume more gas in starting than would
ordinarily be used in a mile of top-
gear driving.
Elementary Fact
The basic rule the Association is
trying to get across to motorists is
that physical things are hard to move.
The bigger they are, the more stub
born they become. And the harder
they are to stop. Hence, to hurry them
takes extra power or gasoline. So the
mark of the unpatriotic will fall upon
the driver who henceforth goes roar
ing off in first gear, then into sec
ond and high with the throttle wide
open. He is wasting gasoline needed
to keep Hitler away from America.
But why spend money for power
that is never used by the engine ? The
Association has posed that question I
which kills any poisonous snake.
Neither harms man. Saturday morn
ing Mabel Coffey, ten-year-old girl
We are told that chemists,
knowing the results of action and
reaction of substances, can tell
in advance when and how a new
substance may be discovered or
produced. It may require time
and patience to make the discov
ery but it is known to be within
the field of possibility.
There is something like this in
human society. Students may
gue^s or even be assured that
certain things must take place.
The time may be far.from “ripe”
for them and educational pro
cesses are long and difficult.
The inertia of custom, the op
position of self interest, the in
ability of the masses and the
classes to comprehend the ne
cessities, all tie up to make a
lag which makes it difficult for
development of much that is ad
mittedly desirable and necessa
ry.
It was thus with Woodrow
Wilson and the League of Na
tions. The time was not ripe.
Men could see the purpose and
the need, but few of them could
see that something of the kind
must come before the world
could have peace. The future
effects of the World War were
reckoned as similar to the ef
fects of other wars. But they
could not be for the world had
changed. At the peace council
Wilson visioned it, but Loyd
George and Clemenceau did not.
None foresaw that the conquer
ors would relax in a moral slump
and that the vanquished would
immediately start a quest for
revenge.
But Wilson, bringing home a
scant victory oiyer Loyd George
and Clemenceaii, met defeat in
his own country from the same
elements that are now estimating
war and worldwide influences in
the terms of war with powder
and l)all and world commerce as
when carried in sailing ships.
But Wilson saw the great truth
—the constant and increasing
integration of the world in which
of Edgemont, near Lenoir, was bitten _
by a rattlesnake and died on Monday, things had passed away and
Saddened by the death of his daugh
ter and seeking revenge upon her as
sailant, the father of the girl, Cuba
Coffey, and several of his neighbors
in the Edgemont section, kept a watch
on a hole near the home which, it was
believed, the snake inhabited. On one
of these visits to the hole, the men
found the rattler and a king snake
engaged in a violent battle. The fight
that followed between the two snakes
lasted for seven hours, a struggle in
which only the victor could sui’vive.
Large numbers of people were at
tracted to the scene when the word
passed out, and watched the battle.
The two snakes matched their
strength in a dramatic conflict, lash
ing the ground, hissing, each strug
gling in the coils of the other. Final
ly, the king snake was victor. When
hours after the battle began, Mr. Cof
fey looked in upon the affray again,
only the 12 rattlers and the last foot
of the snake’s long four-foot body
could be seen. The king snake had
swallowed all but the tail of his op
ponent.
IT’S WET IN GEORGIA
In some sections of Georgia,
says the Atlanta Journal, crops
have been so rained out that star
vation faces many people unless
they get help. It has been wet
jn Georgia, but some of the Geor
gia editors will have their jokes
about it. The following is from
the Omega News: “Windy Harris
says his uncle up in north Georgia
has a grist mill that operates by
water power, and that recently it
rained so hard the water was
backed up the river, turning the
water wheel backwards and un
grinding 250 bushels of meal be
fore his uncle found out about it.”
WHERE TH’E DANGER IS
In a speech Wendell Willkie sum
med up' the difference between the
danger from Hitler and the danger
from Stalin. He said: “The only thing
we have ever had to fear from com
munism is the possible triumph of an
ideology. Now even the idea of com
munism is no longer a real menace
to democracy. Its appeal is rapidly
dying; its propaganda is confused and
futile. It is a dream that didn’t come
true. Russia has never been a military
menace or a trade menace to us. For
23 years the Communists have been
bn the Bering Strait, and we’.ve never
had any reason to fear that they'
would attack us across that narrow
water. But the picture with Hitler is
different. He is engaged with all the
terrible power of his military machine
in conquering the world. If he suc
ceeds, he means to enslave it econom
ically, politically and culturally. He
has plainly told us so.”
new methods must be devised
for new conditions. To him the
League of Nations was to be a
supervising agency through
which all nations, coming into
court with clean hands might re
ceive justice, and with reason,
tolerance and cooperation estab
lished, wars might become obso
lete.
But once more the old methods
must be depended upon, and now
what have we? Another world
war more cruel, more unneces
sary and more far reaching than
the first. So Wilson’s idea, the
stone rejected by the builders,
may yet become the corner stone
of a new edifice of world peace
and justice. And now reasona
ble men are talking of what must
come after this war is over, and
that is the enthronement of the
principles of Wilson. This idea
was concisely set forth by As;
sistant Secretary of State Sum
ner Wells, the other day for the
consideration of the wirld. His
utterances were in part as fol
lows :
“I feel it is not premature for
me to suggest that the free gov
ernments of peace - loving na
tions everywhere should even
now be considering and discuss
ing the way in which they can
best prepare for the better day
which must come, when the pres
ent contest is ended in the victo
ry of the forces of liberty and of
human freedom, and in the
crushing defeat of those who are
sacrificing mankind to their own
lust for power and for loot.
“At the end of the last war, a
great President of the United
States gave his life in the strug
gle to further rea\i?:atiqu cf
the splendid vision which he had
held to the eyes of suffering hu
manity—the visioh of an order
ed world governed by law.
“The League of Nations, as he
conceived it, failed in part be
cause of the blind selfishness of
men here in the United States,
as well as in other parts of the
world; it failed because of its
utilization by certain powers
primarily to advance their own
political and commercial ambi-
— MORE PAGE SIX
THEY MARRY YOUNG
A preliminary survey of 100 ques-
tionaires returned by the men 21
years old and registered July first, in
dicates that one fourth of them are
already married.
The government has announced that
the former policy of extreme leniency
on account of marriage will be modi
fied. Whether marriage excuses a man
from service will depend upon time
and circumstances of the marriage.
The young gentPeman who acquires
the marriage status as a lesser veil
than military service, may find some
difficulty ahead.
BACK TAXES
The county commissioners authoriz
ed Revenue Collector Joe A. Sherrill,
to create a back-tax department which
IS to try to collect back taxes that
have accumulated on the books. “No
thing is sure but death and taxes,”
yet in Mecklenburg county it seems
that the nemises of tax paying fails
to over take a great many people. Mr.
Sherrill presented a list of about 5,-
000 names of individual and'business
organizations that owe taxes thrdugh
the years 1927 through 1934. All are
supposed to be insolvent, but the com
missioners thought that a good strong
effort might result in getting some
of the money. Mr. Sherrill was autho
rized to employ help and make an ef
fort. The unpaid tax on businesses is
supposed to be about $8,000, while the
long list due by individuals averages
about $5 each.
in the service, for he enlisted during
the World war 19 years ago when he
Was 16.
Among his tasks is arranging for
fest drops, plunges in which dummies
are dressed up in parachutes and toss
ed from planes to give the ’chutes a
try-out. A dummy’s average life is
four years before being banged around
Wears it out. It is made of heavy hemp
rope, canvas, and lead, and it weighs
about 130 pounds.
Silk is Used almost exclusively to
make the canopy, and the ’chutes cost
about $90 apiece. Very recently, some
have been make of nylon, and they
cost a little less. With trade in silk
halted by the United States, it is a
good guess that stock on hand will
go mainly to'make this important part
of a flyer’s equipment and not—as
in the past—to flatter the ladies’ legs.
Also nylon canopies are expected to
become more common.
The harness into which the wear
er fastens himself is also given a
thorough inspection. Included in the
harness is an air cushion to protect
the wearer and a pocket in which is
kept the ’chutes history.
Tips and Downs of Daily Li
Given in Highly Interestii.
Diary oi Ardrey
MARRIAGE AND AN INFAI
THAT UKRAINE WHEAT
IThe Germans were supposed to
get into the breadbasket of Rus-
i MORE ON PAGE TWO
PARACHUTES IN ORDER
When: a flyer for any reason has
to jump from his plane in midair,
his life depends upon how perfectly
his parachute work. A swimmer in the
ocean may save himself without a life
preserver but in the great ocean of
the air there is no refuge if the para
chute fails to unfold.
Whether the big silk ball billows
out and slows the diving pilot in his
plunge to earth is a question of the
expertness with which the parachute
was folded and the time it was done.
For parachutes packed too long are
useless.
Giving rigid inspection to para
chutes used at the Charlotte air base
is the duty of Technical Sergeant J.
B. Baker, who has become a veteran
in the parachute division. He entered
the branch when the army first issu
ed parachutes at Kelly Field. Before
that, he was among the youngest men
MR. MARTIN COMING
Representative Martin of Massa
chusetts, national chairman of the Re
publican party, has promised State
Chairman Jake F. Newell that he will
speak in Charlotte sometime in Oc
tober.
Chairman Newell has been joined
in extending^ the invitation by John
Crowley of Charlotte, a personal
friend of Chairman Martin, Chairman
Ernest M. Morgan of the Mecklenburg
organization of the party, and other
leading Republicans of the section.
Mr. Morgan, as county chairman, will
likely have general charge of the
plans for the big rally, the exact date
of which will be announced as soon
as it can be arranged.
CLERK’S OFFICE REPORT
Mr. Robert L. Smith, the very effi
cient deputy clerk of the court in
charge of fiscal accounts, has made
up a report showdng receipts and dis
bursements of the office since it came
into the hands of the present clerk,
J. Lester Wolfe, in December 1935.
I'hese accounts relate to fees received
and disbursed. During the period this
department of the office took in
$178,226, and paid out 8151,899. This
left an operating profit of $26,326,
which goes iato the county treasury.
(By H. E. C. (RED BUCK) BRYAN^
The diary of Captain William E
Ardrey, of Providence township
Mecklenburg county, may give intel
ligent citizens suggestions for thi
present, and post-world war day*
That the South was poor, and d'^wr
after the War Between the States nt
student of history can doubt, but just
the same its people were couragous
and proud.
January 1, 1866, nine months after
General Robert E.. Lee surrendered.
Captain Ardrey wrote, in his day-book:
“We (meaning he and his wife)
commenced farming and housekeeping
to ourselves with all the responsibili
ties of a family, either to sink or
f.wini, or to rise or fall in the world’s
scales. A happy pair to walk the paths
of life together, to enjoy the pleasures
and share the sufi'erings with .each
other.
“Maggie’s father moved her fur
niture down—a large house and poor
ly filled. Brother Joe living with us
and going to school to Rev. A. N,
Mills.
“Our labor for the year: Adam
Withers, colored, and Dorcas, Jake
Stewart, colored, and family; hordes,
1, bobtail; mules, 2, Beck and Rose;
cow with young calf, 1; dry cows, 3;
hogs, all sizes, 12; land, 285 acres.
“My indebtedness for the house and
lot, after deducting my interest, $
100, in gold.. Other debts about $'
total, $1,500.. Owing to mv
about $300. Balance against
200.
“The weather bitter col'
Fifteen Dollars Wor'
“Miss Lizzie Rea
White visited us '
ther Robinson/-
“I bought ' *
Mr. Vail at lie'
- “Jaauivi’.v '6: a.ii. jJavis
wife, Mi«‘- Tirz.i and sister Md
lie, visited us.
“January 20: Building, repairing
fences, etf .
“February from the first to the
15 th: Planted my Irish potatoes;
clearing the old pine field above th" ^
Warwick new ground.
“March 1st to 15th: Seeding oats
and clover—my lirst experience with
clover.
“March 5th: “My first baby born—
James Potts Ardrey. I went for Mr.
Thomas Kell, rode Bony, and found
the doctor at Mack Davis’; great ex
citement—an important era in our
lives.
“March 6th: I went to Potts’ store
for medicines. Saw Mr. John Wads
worth. going south with a drove of
mules. Father Robinson and family
came down to see us.
“March 10th: “Bedded my sweet
potatoes.
‘March 25th: Commenced planting
corn. Ashed my meat and put it away
in the garret for safe keeping, as
breaking into smoke houses is a com
mon occurrance. Hams 18 shoul
ders 18, and sides 18. The Spring very
backward, and wet; continual rains
and cool.
Loses Old Bobtail
“April 25th: Commenced planting
cotton. Seed very scarce and in great
demand at $1 per bushel. S'till very
wet.
“May 1st: Bobtail horse accidents>l-
ly stabbed and died. Strip cow calve
“May 20th First mess of sugar peas
25th, first mess of Irish potatoes? b'
freshet in the water courses.
“May 30th: Plowing and plan
my creek bottonls; first mess of be
“June 1st: Purchased a pony h
Andy from Dr. P. for $165.00 in
Proved to be unsound; I was
cheated.
‘June 9th: Big rains; creeks
the bottoms.
“June 12th: Finished setting
potato slips. Fine rain and plenty
grass.
“June 13th: The Warwich ne
ground cotton very grassy.
“June 15th: The hardest hoeing
ever did, and as it was my first expe
rience with ground I was much trou
bled and perplexed. Dorca;s, Jodie
(Joseph), and myself hoeing, and
Adam and Jake plowing.
“June 20th: Commenced laying by
my old corn and replanting my . creek
bottoms.
“June 28th: Big freshet in creek
and fences gone.
“July 1st: We visited the Potts and
Elliott families; all well and have
good crops.
“August 1st: Traded Mr. Stevens
my Rose mule for bay horse, Dan.
“Setember 1st: Mr. Rone and my
self went down to Monroe Court, and {
procured an order for settlement with/
Captain Robinson as guardian for mjr
wife, and collected the amount due by
him to her—$200.
“September 20th: Rev. James Sta
cy, pastor, had a great revival at
Harrison’s; 25 added to the cKurch.
“September 30th: The potato and
turnip crops very fine.
“November 8th: Commenced seeding
wheat. Postell Smith dug for us a
well for $42.50, forty-five feet deep—
1 fine water. I found it a big .job haul
ing rock to curb it.
“Births: September 10th, Mr. Bell’s
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