(Sift Barren firrord
PubJutfd fwry Thund*y By
P. O. Box 70 Warrantor), N. C. 27589
BIGNALL JONES, Editor
Member North Carotin* Press Association
ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST OFFICE
IN WARREN TON, NORTH CAROLINA. UNDER THE LAWS OF CONGRESS
Second Class Postage Paid At Warrenton, N. C.
,, -ATre ONE YEAR; ♦5.00; SIX MONTHS. $3.00
SUBSCKIPTION ICATfeS: oUT Of-STATE: ONE YEAR. $7.00
SIX MONTHS. $4.00
Performing Good Service
We know of two friends in
Warrenton, one living in the south
end of Warrenton and the other in
the north end, who made a pact to
alternately call each other every
morning. One of these ladies called
one morning and when her call was
unanswered hurried to the home of
her friend where she found her ill
and rendered needed assistance.
There are no doubt other elderly
citizens in Warrenton who have
some agreement to keep in close
touch with each other, but there are
many elderly citizens who have
made no such agreement.
In Norlina the realization that
many elderly persons living alone
might need emergency help, caused
the Police Department to call these
persons each morning, performing
for all who desire it a service similar
to that existing between the two
Warrenton ladies.
Not only do the Norlina policemen
call by telephone but they often
drop by to see these elderly citizens
for a word of cheer. In the words of
Mrs. Annie Macon, "When you are
old and by yourself with no transportation
but your feet, and they
give out on you, it gets lonely. I look
forward to these calls each
morning."
Not only are these calls a form of
protection, but they also demonstrate
to the lonely that someone
cares.
In our books this is an example of
applied Christianity, and we
congratulate the Norlina Police
Department in particular and the
citizens of Norlina in general for
their project. We trust that it may
be emulated in other towns,
including Warrenton.
Support For Reform
Smithlield Herald
Here's a political riddle:
What reform by Congress is currently
supported by the president of the U. S.
Chamber of Commerce, the president of the
American Bar Association, the presidents
of two major labor unions, the presidents of
the League of Women Voters, and the
president of Common Cause?
These leaders have signed the following
letter to President Carter:
"Each of our organizations has endorsed
Senate Joint Resolution Number 1, the
proposed constitutional amendment to
abolish the Electoral College and provide
for direct election of the President and Vice
President. We consider this long-needed
reform to be a matter of considerable
importance, and we hope you will join us
and the vast majority of all Americans in
support of prompt adoption of this Amendment.
"It is significant that a Gallup Poll released
February 10, 1977 showed five-to-one
support for a constitutional amendment to
allow direct election of the President.
Approval was overwhelming in every
region and among Democrats, Republicans,
and Independents alike."
With this kind of broad-based sentiment
in favor of reforming the presidential
electoral process, the current session of
Congress ought to m<(ie swiftly to pot this
constitutional amendment before the state *
legislatures for adoption before the 1980
election.
Mostly Personal
Sharing Some Quotations
By BIGNALL JONES
Sidney Harris, who writes
one of the better syndicated
columns, from time to time will
fill his column with a number of
pertinent observations that
occur to him in place of his
longer comment on some event
that is for the moment in the
news.
Over the weekend I have
read here and there a number
of quotations that I have found
interesting and which I would
like to share with the readers of
this column, such as a few
quotes from the Royal Bank of
Canada's Monthly Letter, "No
one in authority can ever do too
much listening, the best leaders
know that people prosper not in
proportion as they inform but
as they elicit."
'The person who sincerely
satisfies for recognition as
individuals will hold us in the
palm of his hand."
"Able people take pains to
spare others humiliation, even
when it is necessary to criticize
their actions. It is foolish to
scold. John Wannamaker confessed:
'I have enough trouble
overcoming my own limitations
without fretting over the fact
that God has not seen fit to
distribute evenly the gift of
intelligence'."
The above are only a few of
many of the worthwhile
quotations that fill the letter.
There are several others from
other sources that led me to
believe that I might succeed in
filling my column with the
observations of other persons.
But then I read Dennis
Rogers' column in The News
and Observer Monday morning
under the heading "Grifton's
found another quotation to add
to 017 list: "My daddy always
made me go to school and I had
A teacher at Grifton School who
Ipk^- the most beautiful,
prtcioos and nicest person I've
ever know. . .
And at that moment I
realized that the whole artick
was a beautiful story and that a
single quotations fails to tell it.
So I abandoned the idea of a
column of quotations as I
decided to reproduce the entire
article with apologies to Dennis
Rogers for "Borrowing" his
article, and the hope that a
column of quotes may appear in
a later column.
Dennis Rogers' article follows:
GRIFTON—Her name is
Mrs. Mattie Dixon.
She is 73 years old, a great
grandmother and the Grifton
Chamber of Commerce's Outstanding
Citizen of the Year.
She is also black.
"It made me feel happy and
rejoiceful to accomplish something
like that," she told me the
other day as we enjoyed a
spring afternoon.
"I called my sister in
Brooklyn, N. Y. and she said,
'In Grifton? You must have
moved. I never thought Grifton
would get to that'."
"Well, to tell you the truth I
didn't either. When I was
growing up here I never
thought I'd live to see the day
when a colored woman would
be chosen like that by white
folks.
"I was born right across
Contentnea Creek over there. I
can remember the whistles
blowing up and down the river
at night and all of us children
running out to see the boats. On
Sunday evenings in the
summer we'd all walk up to the
depot to see who was getting
off the train and who was
getting on.
"My daddy always made me
go to school and I had a teacher
at Grifton School who was the
most beautiful, precious and
nicest person I've ever known.
She made a real impression on
me and I decided if she could
teach, so could I. When she
found out what I wanted to be
•he'd cooie to my house on
Sunday and help me with my
1 finished the eighth grade
here and then worked my way
though Kin stop College to
finish 12 grades. I still wanted
to be a teacher so I read all the
books I could find. My pastor
even used to loan me books.
"I took my certification test
in Kinston and they told me
they'd mail me the results. I
went to that mailbox every day
looking to hear from Raleigh.
When the letter came I hugged
it to my heart and ran all the
way back to the house before I
opened it. I didn't need to open
it because I just knew I had
passed.
"And when I opened it and
saw I'd made it I had me a
hallelujah time. I've never been
so happy in my life."
That was in 1928. She taught
school until 1942 when her
husband was taken sick. She
quit to take care of him for 12
long years, giving him all her
attention.
"He was my husband," she
said simply. "He came first.
After he died I buried myself in
church activities and taking
care of people."
The slight little woman,
hurrying from one humble
house to another in the part of
town they still call "colored
town" became a familar sight in
Grifton.
"Folks used to ask me what
I'd do if I come up on one of
them drunkards in the dark. It
wouldn't bother me a bit. They
all call me Ma and they respect
me and love me, because I treat
them right.
"My Bible — and I keep it by
my bed — says God is no
respector of persons and I'm
not either. I don't care if they
are drunkards or black oi
white. 111 help them if I can.
"I started working in white
people's houses after my
husband died, and do you know
those children I helped rai* j
still come to see me and write
me letters? When they have
babies I know about it as sooo
as their parents do. I know
where everyone of them is and
what they're doing. They come
to see me as soon as they see
their own family."
Drought In West Could Mean Higher Food Prices
When /much of the nation
shivered In the worst winter in
United States history, many
people invied lucky Californians
basking in sunshine.
Then by the end of February,
things w jre warming up a bit in
the irozen states. Californians
got a change in the weather,
too—some rain, and with it
hopes that the state's severe
drought may be easing.
Nevertheless, some communities
are rationing water,
ranchers and farmers in the
West and Southwest are
threatened with financial loss,
and industries face probable
cutbacks in hydroelectric
power because of the two-year
drought. And consumers will
pay more for beef and produce
in the months ahead.
Naturally Arid
A good part of America's
agricultural bounty comes from
land that is arid. Left to itself,
the soil would be too dry for
many food crops or for heavy
grazing, the National Geographic
Society points out.
Vast areas have been transformed
into rich farmland by
irrigation, selective planting,
fertilization, spraying, elaborate
drainage systems, and
other techniques developed
since drought in the 1930s
temporarily turned 50 million
acres of Kansas, Colorado,
Oklahoma, Texas and New
Mexico into a dust bowl.
But scientific methods won't
work without water, and this
year's rain and snow has fallen
in the wrong places.
Inadequate rainfall has become
an international headache.
Nations striving to feed
Miss Gupton Paid
*
Acteen Tribute
Miss Deborah Gupton,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Joseph Gupton of Louisburg,
was honored at Sandy Creek
Baptist Church on Sunday for
attaining the highest goal in
Acteens. She was named Queen
Regent and given a gold cape
and scepter.
This honor entitles her to a
scholarship to a Baptist college
of her choice.
Following the service a
reception was held at the
chureh in her^honpr. AtU&diogf
from the area were MR. Mftlli# '
Paschall, Mrs. Carl Holtzman.
Mrs. Lena Bender, Mrs. Eva
Holtzman and Carl Perkinson.
They later were supper
guests of Mr. and Mrs. Gupton
at their home.
Miss Gupton is the grand
daughter of Mrs. Mollit
Paschall of Manson.
Lilacs were brought to
America by the earliest
settlers.
More than a billion peopleone
of every four persons on
earth—can now see an
important event on television
live via satellite.
SCSBBSaBSW-SiSSK
growing populations must cope
with climatic changes, intensive
cultivation, and over-grazing
that causes deserts to shift and
expand.
Fully a third of the earth's
land is arid. In February when
the American Association for
the Advancement of Science
held its annual meeting in
Denver, much of the five-day
conference was devoted to
research into arid lands.
"Aridity," reports the Na
i
tional Science Foundation, "is
as important a subject in
Kansas as in the Kalihari"
desert of Africa.
Wide Variation
The globe's dry regions vary
widely. America's Great Basin,
which includes Nevada, Utah,
Idaho, and parts of Oregon and
Washington, is what scientists
call a high-altitude desert.
It depends on snow for its
water. While the East Coast
was struggling with record
snowfalls this winter, the
region between the Sierra
Nevada and Rocky Mountains
received far less snow than
required for a normal spring
runoff.
At the other extreme is the
Sahara, where temperatures
have been recorded as high as
136.4 degrees in the shade. The
Mojave Desert in California
resembles the Sahara and, with
only four inches of rain a year,
is the nation's driest region.
With the aid of computerised
models, scientist* now can
determine how much farming
and grazing arid and semi-arid
lands can support without
destroying their fragile ecologies
and turning them into
desert.
Already, the government has
withdrawn some public grazing
land, and lack of water for
irrigation ^neans some fields
will not be planted in food crops
this year.
The Roxboro
The Roxboro by Kingsberry Homes is just one of many homes we offer that
meets loan specifications. The Roxboro features a spacious family room with
exposed beams lending a rustic air. The "L" plan offers the advantages of
three separate homes, and the corner living room receives the least possible
traffic. This is truly a lot of house for a lot of living! Let us show you how
easy the Roxboro, or your choice of many other models, is to own.
If ,
KINGSBERRY HOMES
Lake Gaston Supply Company
Littleton, N. C. Route 3
TO. P. 0. Bo* 160
' Ut.fclon. V C."
5863121
Plttu untf mt information a* The Roxboro
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