THE DANBURY REPORTER
Established 1872
Reviewing The News
DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE BOYS
A mother writes the Reporter, worrying about
the boys in the armed services. She deplores
the influences that will beset the young fellows
in the army and the navy.
But we do not believe our mothers should wor
ry so much about the boys. Many of them will
be better cared for in their health, morals and
spiritual and mental advantages than they were
when at home.
The government has been very conscientious
in this matter of the moral as well as physical
welfare of the bc>ys who are entrusted to its care.
First, in the new life, the boy is trained to work, j
Often at home he was a loafer. He rises at 5 j
o'clock in the morning. At home he usually re
tired anywhere from 11 P. M. to 4A. M. But in
the army, taps come on at 9, and the young fel
low then must snugly be in bed.
The government feeds him on the best food
that money can buy—nutritious, wholesome, pal
atable food that makes him strong and virile,
when he comes home on furlough you scarcely
know him. His regular habits have made him
gain in weight, his hollow chest has filled out, his
stooping gate has been corrected. He stands be
iore you a fine specimen of physical manhood.
His mind has improved, his outlook has broad
ened. He has access to libraries, magazines and
newspapers. Before his induction the only liter
ature he ever perused was the funny strips.
Indecision of character, which is an infirmity
of the will, was one of his weak propensities be
fore he was called to the service. He was rest
less, throwing his cig-arette away after a half
dozen draws, then lighting another, betraying
his nervousness. He was not satisfied to remain
:n one place but a few minutes, then jump in the
car and hie away to fresher spots.
Now, under the curb of duty, he slowly evolves
into a being with a purpose in life. He becomes
proud of his branch of the service.
Before he went in he had little respect for au
thority. He was insubordinate, indifferent, de
fiant.
Now under the rigid decorum, and tempered
by discipline imposed by his superior officers, he
becomes loyal and considerate.
At home he had few contacts of a religious na
ture. He never read a chapter of the Bible in
his life. His Sundays were spent at the gather
ing places of those who drink, cuss, and disre
gard any Sabbath restrictions. Baseball games,
fishing trips, poker games, movie shows—these
were his recreations. He w*s a pagan. Ji be
lieved in nothing. Ho rareiv attended church
worship or Sunday School.
But on ship or in the camp, {he government has
provided not only religious opportunities but
religious regimen. Services are heU regularly
to which the young men are expected ro attend.
There is a chaplain who watches closely after
the habits of the company, and who gives spir
itual advice and consolation when needed.
Now, we trust that you will understand that we
have been speaking in averages, and that we do
not mean to say all boys have been raised up
without any moral restraints or any home or re
hgious influences. There are of course many
exceptions. We hope your boy is an exception.
Now don't wc v ry about his getting killed. !t is
true that he ir.r.y be killed. Likewise, if .:e .'.ad
Volume 72
Danbury, N. C., Thursday, Aug 1 . 26, 1943 * * *
A PROFITABLE INDUSTRY THAT HAS
LANGUISHED
News comes from L. C. Case, extension animal
husbandman at State College, that 30 decks of
lambs, totaling 3,923 sheep, have been ship
ped from North Carolina in recent weeks and
that the sheep industry in the State is making
steady progress.
The Winston-Salem Journal notes that there
were 330,000 sheep in North Carolina in 1891,
while last year there were only 51,000.
The Reporter has wondered why sheep raising
has so languished when the industry is well
!known to be the payingest branch of live stock j
culture.
Especially at this time when the food question t
is paramount, the culture of sheep would be j
very profitable. The meat is always in demand, j
! while the price of wool is attractive.
Fifty years ago there were several hundred
head of sheep in the Danbury community, the
flocks being pastured inside of a fence of rails
and stones extending up into the mountainside.
It is said that the depredations of stray dogs
among the sheep at that time made the industry
unprofitable. This disadvantage would proba
bly be still present, considering the large number
of curs now running at large, but this menace
could doubtless be handled satisfactorily, if in
no other way, by adopting the plan of the late
Chas. Lunsford.
DR. TO JO PRESCRIBES
Dr. Tojo decides that the air of the Aleutians
is bad, and prescribes home treatment for his
Japs.
So when the American boys reached Kiska, the
rats had scuttled and gone.
stayed at home, he might have been a casualty,
100.
| We have been at war now nearly two years, at
least since December, 1941, but the deaths and
rnjuries in battle, even counting the massacre of
Pearl Harbor, are nothing like as heavy as the
fatalities and injuries at home.
The average death roll in the United States
from automobile accidents is 60,000 per year.
This does not include the tremendously greater
list of those who are permanently injured from
ithe cars. .Of course, since gas and tire rationing
the figures are not so lar*e, but they remain ter
| l ifying. Then if we include those who are killed
land injured in the factories and mines, and In
'drownings and all the different species of fata!
j accidents occurring daily in the nation, we may
i' /ell conclude that the army and navy are safe'
than the home risks.
We have now around 10 millions of men in our
total armed services. The chance of the average
boy to get knocked out is comparatively diminu
tive.
, The fatalities of the United States in the late
bitter fighting in Sicily were about 7,000, which
is at the rate of one man out of every 3,500.
Our boys are engaged in the greatest and no
blest task that ever befell any human beings—
that of preserving- our country in its God-given
right of liberty and freedom.
In that splendid effort they will succeed.
EDITORIALS
Published Thursdays
' A WISE DECISION
The Stokes county ration board has set its
foot down on gas releases for long truck trips
with Stokes county tobacco to distant eastern
markets.
The board takes the view that gasoline is far
too precious to waste on useless cruises to mark
ets that are no better (if as good) as those near
home in adjoining counties.
Therefore the supply of petrol will be limited
to home ports. ,
For several years, before our crop was cured,
and weeks before our home warehouses opened,
many farmers marketed early curings at Lum
:>erton, Fairmont, Durham, Oxford, and other
markets hundreds of miles distant. That these
• rips were made at a net loss to farmers, when
ras and time and tires were counted, goes with
it ut saying.
| As good markets as any in the world will be
Available to Stoke.- farmers now in a few weeks
i —in the counties adjoining our own.
They will be patronized.
P. 11. YOUNG
When P. H. Young died the Danbury Reporter
lost its oldest subscriber, and one of its valued
friends.
Until he became enfeebled two or three
years ago, Uncle Pleas would visit Danbury ev
ery first Monday and on these visits almost the
first place he stopped in town was the Reporter
office, to sit down for a chat. He was always
friendly and jovial and keenly interested in pub
lic affairs, in people and things.
He saw the first issue of this paper printed on
a cold day in January, 1872, he often told us.
His name was on the subscription books for
nearly three-quarters of a century.
Uncle Pleas lived a quiet life on his farm over
looking Snow Creek. He was a thrifty farmer,
a good neighbor and one of Stokes county's most
substantial citizens. In his cle.ith the county
sustains a loss.
A LOVELY RETREAT
i In case you have never seen it, stop sometime
jat the beautiful spot known as the County Home
Spring picnic ground.
It is situated right off highway No. SO a hun
dred yards or so, two miles south of Panb.try on
.the upper end of the County Home fan:. A
, I good dirt road leads to it.
It is a sequestered dell in the heart of deep
; woods, where the creek plays over iiv v. - ks,
and a spring bubbles the purest m >un . in water,
i Superintendent H. P. Loft is of the County
I Home and the orficials of the Sfire hit;'way c.n
|sfruction camp nearby, we believe \liseo\ered
;and beautified the place, arranging picnic tables
jand seats, furnaces for cooking, etc., while the
; undergrowth all around has been cleared out.
Man?, picnic parties, fish frys, etc., have enjoyed
us delightful shade and convenience.
The ladies of the Fine Arts Club of Danbury
nave recently become much interested in the
lovely possibilities of County Home spring
ground, and are desirous that the county
missioners should allow them to add to its natu
ral attractions by the erection of a rustic pavi
lion, which would be practicable in the case of
showers, and to give it other appointments to
render it really an ideal retreat.
• • .4... * .
* * * Number 3, 716.