{
By LCX:KIE PARKER
Some '^Looks At Books
A TREASURY OF RAILROAD
FOLKLORE edit'sd by B. A. Bot
kin and Alvin F^ Harlow (Crown
$5). This book is rather like lit
tle Jack Horner’s pie. You can
put in your thumb almost any
where and pull out a plum. There
are “stories, tall tales, traditions,
ballads and songs of the American
railroad man,” as promised by the
subtitle, but there ate also a num
ber of other things harder to clas
sify. It is a big, fat volume, more
than 500 pages.
I was interested in a fuller ac
count of Casey Jones than I had
ever seen. It seems he was a man
of considerable stature both liter
ally and figirratively and had ac
quired a reputation befdre the in
cident of the ballad. One of the
most endearing stories about him
is that of Ijis falling in love with
Engine No. 638 at the Columbian
Exposition and persuading the au
thorities to let him run it all the
way down to Mississippi through
five operating divisions.
The collection of ballads and
songs is only a sampling, but all
types are represented. One that
I had not met before was recorded
by Botkin himself:
“You wonder why I’m a hobo,
■and why I sleep in the ditch.
Well, it ain’t because I am lazy;
NO, I just don’t want to be rich.”
Another chapter with much un
usual material was that on
“Cracker-Barrel Railroads.” These
are the short lines independently
operated and, as the editor says,
they survive “as a triumph of in
dividualism in a world grown
grey from the breath of assembly
line efficiency.” He found them
most numerous in the South, and
one good story concerns “Tweet-
sie,” an engine that operated for
many years up around Grandfath
er Mountain.
‘'Banditti of the Rails,” “Tools
and Tricks of the Trade,” and
“Told in the Roundhouse” are
other chapter headings that give
an idea of the book’s range.
LOVE IS A BRIDGE by Charles
Bracelen Flood (Houghton $3.75).
This is a first novel begun at Har
vard in Archibald MacLeish’s
writing course and finished on a
Houghton Mifflin Literary Fel
lowship. The publishers spent
their money well; for it is a good
novel, thouglitful, well written
and avoiding all flashy effects.
The characters are more impor
tant than the plot which is slight.
The main characters are members
of two families, one old Boston
and the other New York. Both
have had wealth, culture and so
cial acceptance for more than the
two generations involved. An in-|
termarriage between the two—
Susan Pemmerton of Boston to
Henry Cobb of New York—goes
on the rocks for rather subtle rea
sons, and one party barely escapes
a serious mental breakdown. Then
we follow the efforts of Susan
and Henry to rebuild their lives
and the emotional reactions of
their families to this ahd allied
problems.
One notable thing about this
novel as compared with many
others which have used a similar
background, is that Flood does hot
satirize the traditions of these
groups but sees them as having
value. The pleasantly complacent
Colonel Pemmerton says drily
that he does not believe anyone
really dislikes tradition “because
it carries with it the reality or
the connotation of wealth, accept
ability and security, all of which
are dear to the human heart.” '
In fact, the author sees these
people not so much hampered by
tradition as lacking one adequate
to human need. The exceptional
individual—Henry Cobb was
something of a mathematical
genius—dees not find it sustain
ing. “All life,” says Henry, “is a
search for significance.” His fath
er is seeking the same thing when
he dies. But the thesis is not
The Shearwood Travel Service
of Pinehurst has been elected a
member of the Anjerican Society
of Travel Agents, according to no
tification from' the New York
headquarters of that organization.
ASTA, as the Society is general
ly called, covers the whole of the |
North American continent, but,
membership in ASTA has been I
international Uniform
Sunday School Lessons
DR. Kenneth j. foreman
Scripture: John 1; 20:30>31.
Devciional Reading:: Hebrews 1:1-9.
HAVE YOUR CLOTHES CLEANED
The
Vmet
D. C. JENSEN
Where Cleaning and Prices Are Belter!
WILLIAM A. WRIGHT
SECURITIES
Member National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc.
Specializing in
KEYSTONE CUSTODIAN FUNDS
•A COMPLETE INVESTMENT SERVICE”
P. O. Box 528
Pinehurst, N. C.
Telephone;
Pinehurst 2151
PINEDENE, Inc.
EVERYTHING ELECTRICAL
ZENITH SERVEL HOTPOINT
FURNITURE TELEVISION AIR CONDITIONING
HEATING and PLUMBING
U.S. Highway No. 1 South—Southern Pines, N. C.
Phone 2-8071
only REGISTERED PHARMACISTS fill
your prescriptions at
SOUTHERN PINES PHARMACY
Al. Cole, R.Ph. Graham Culbreth, R.Ph.
tfn Phone 2-5321—Night Phone 2-4181
Fields Plumbing & Heating Co.
PHONE S952
PINEHURST, N. C.
All Types of Plumbing. Heating
(G. E. Oil Burners)
and Sheet Metal Work
granted to fewer than 900 of the
several thousand agencies. Ad
mission is limited to travel agen
cies meeting certain high stand
ards of experience, business prac
tice and trade ethics. The Shear-
wood agency is one of only two
ASTA members in the state of
North Carolina.
Captain and Mrs. George F.
Shearwoed, owners of the Pine
hurst agency, established the firm
about three and a half years ago,
but had had many years of pro
fessional experience before com
ing to Pinehurst. Members of the
agency’s staff have personal
knowledge of over 70 countries
around the world.
Oed ill Olirlst
Lesson for January 3, 1954
worked too hard. The develop
ment of situations is convincing
and the characters are warm and
human.
Mr. Flood sees the novel as an
effort to interpret life and under
stand personal relations. If one
may speculate on literary influ
ences, I would think of Henry
James and Edith Wharton. One
will be glad to see more work of
this quality.
THE CANYON by Jack Schaef
er (Houghton $2). This is a “West
ern” bu,t not the West of cow
boys and two-gun men. It is laid
in “the high border country, the
land of high plains and high
mountains” long before the
white man came. The hero. Little
Bear, is a Cheyenne Indian, deep
ly attached to his tribe but “a
strange one, a different one.” An
orphan at ah early age, handicap
ped by abnormally short legs. Lit
tle Bear was more thoughtful
than the others. On horseback he
was a successful hunter but he
had a strange reluctance to ^hare
in war parties.
His story is a sort of idyl work
ed out in almost poetic prose by
an author who is clearly deeply
attached to the country he des
cribes and well versed in Indian
lore. If the prose is sometimes too
lush, one is inclined to forgive this
for sake of the obvious sincerity
of the author’s affection for this
country and his genuine admira
tion for the uncorrupted Indians
of that day.
Hayes Book Shop
BOOKS
Office Supplies
School Supplies
Leather Goods
Patty Goods
Newspapers
Stationery
Magazines
Records
Radios
Models
Gifts
Games
Toys
Dr. Foreman
GREETINGS & GIFTS
ire brought to you from
Friendly Neighbors
(ft Givio ft Social Welfare
Leaders
through
WELCOME WAGON
On the occasion of:
The Birth of a Baby
EngagementAnnounoementi
Change of residence
Arrivals of Newcomers to
SOUTHERN PINES
Pfaone 2-6SS1
TkI)i I. ■ I
T T IS easier for some people to
believe in icicles than to believe
in God. That’s true. You will
hardly find anybody except sav-
'.■es in the hot belt along the
'qiiator who won’t believe in ici-
Oics. These ^winter days you can
perhaps see them for yourself.
Jut many people believe in icicles
who don’t believe
in God. In a way
this is not surpris
ing. An icicle is
right there before
your eyes, you see
it being made, you
know what it is
made of. But God
is not before your
e.yes, you can’t see
him made and you
can’t say what he
is made of except "Spirit” and
that isn’t nearly as easy to imder-
stand as plain water and ice. It
would be dishonest not to admit
it.—it is harder to believe in God
than to believe in little things.
• * •
The Living Word
Now God knows that. We can
(ay, without irreverence, that God
s faced with a kind of dilemma. If
he lets things take their natural
course, most men will not believe
in him, and that will be bad for
them. But if he so to speak bursts
an mortal men in his full glory,
no human mind could endure it.
Suppose a very curious and skep-
iical person who did not believe
in atoms because he had never
seen one, insisted on a close view
of an atomic explosion? He would
be vaporized before he knew what
hit him. A full view, so to speak,
ol the Infinite and Omnipotent
God, would be insupportable by
our small minds. It is the glory
of God that he has solved this
dilemma. He, the Unreadable, has
translated himself into the life of
man. He the Indescribable has
“become flesh” as Johnputsit—has
become the Christ who can be
described. He who is infinitely be
yond us has come to live beside
us. The God who dwells in Eter
nity’s silence has spoken in many
“forms and fragments” in ages
past, but now has spoken the per
fect Word in Christ. When the
church calls Christ the “Word”
of God we mean that Christ is
what God has to say.
* * *
Concern
As has often been said, it is
more helpful, and just as true, to
say that God is like Christ as that
Christ is like God., Christ, we may
;ay. is the knowable, the believe-
able God. God apart from Christ
is like an inscription left on a
meat rock in an inaccessible des
ert, an inscription in an unkown
tongue. God in Christ is written
in our own language. It has been
said (with pardonable exaggera
tion) that Christ is the only God
the Christian knows. Surely this
much the Christian church has
always believed: that any notions
of God that are out of line with
what we know of Jesus are out
of line with truth. Now there are
many things we want to know
about God, and some of these
things we really do not need to
know. But some things we des
perately do need to know—every^
thing hangs on it.
One question is this; Does the
high God have any concern for,
or concern with, the affairs of our
little planet? Is he so great that
our prayers never reach him, or
if they do, give him no concern?
Jesus is God’s answer to that ques
tion. Everything human interested
Jesus. Sad things like funerals,
giad events like weddings—peo
ple's ordinary problems and their
great crises, -t wherever people
were, however obscure and “un
important,” there Jesus of Naza
reth was concerned. We cannot
believe in Christ as God’s Word
and still fancy an indifferent God.
*
Power
Another thing that we seriously
want to know, is whether God has
real power; and if so, what kind
it is and how he uses it. There is
a notion abroad, strange as it
seems, that God is not really the
ruler of all, but a sort of candi
date for the throne of the uni
verse; a celestial “Bonnie Prince
Charlie” who is doing the best he
can to gain control but who so far
has not succeeded. If we under
stand and believe that God is like
Christ, we can believe that he is
in charge of every situation. Men
called Jesus “Master” and with
good reason. God is master of his
universe. And yet we also see that
Christ exerted his power in differ
ent ways. (More of this in later
lessons in John.) He did not act
on men in the manner of a light
ning bolt.
(Based on outlines copyrighted by the
Division if Christian Education. Na
tional Cou,ncll of the Churehes of Christ
In the II. S. Released by Community
t’rfcsa. Service.)
Schedule of the Moore County
bookmobile for the week January
4-8 has been announced as fol
lows;
Monday—Through Niagara to
Union church with stops at Mar
tin, Kelly, Darnell and Briggs
homes, 2 to 2:45; Bailey homes
and on to Vass with several stops,
2:45 to 4:15; Vass, 4:15 to 4:35; W.
F. Smith home, 4:45.
Tuesday—Eureka route, 2 to
3:30; Red Hill church route, 3:30
to 4:30; J. R. Marion heme, 4:45.
■Wednesday — Unscheduled.
Thursday — Carthage Library,
11:30 to 12:30; Davis service sta
tion, 1:30; Wesley Thomas home,
1:40; Lamms Grove section, 1:50
to 2:20; White Hill neighborhood,
2:30 to 3:15; across “plank read”
to Highway One, 3:15 to 3:30;
Carolina Pines Tourist Camp, 3:30
to 3:45; back to Southern Pines
with home stops.
Friday — Robbins Library,
11:30 to 3:15, around talc mine,
3:20 to 4:30
The Prudential Insurance Company
of America
L. T. "Judge" Avery, Special Agent
Box 1278 SOUTHERN PINES E. Indiana Ave.
CLARK’S New Fmieral Chapel
FULLY AIR CXDNDITIONED
24-Hour Antbulance Service
Phone 2-7401
Attend the Church of Y our Choice Next Sunday
A little wiser?
“Perhaps!’*
Accomplishments in the last twelve months?
“Well, John got a slight raise in salary in November. And we painted
the house at long last. I suppose we could include our week 8 vacation
in the Adirondacks in the summer. These things seemed so important
at the time, but now they aren't even vivid recollections. Funny how
insignificant they have become.’*
But aren't there moments which you do recall, things oi which you
are proud?
“Yes, now that you mention it, but you wouldn’t be interested. They
were such small things—taking care of our elderly neighbor during her
illness—helping at the Orphanage on Saturdays—bringing our mend s
children along with ours to Church—assisting with the decorating and
painting at the Church ... I’m beginning to see what you mean. These
are the important events of last year.”
* jji ♦ *
Try the above experiment on yourself. It’s amazing how time will
give a different perspective to our lives. True values, values of the
heart and spirit are those that persist and become real. Your Church
is where you cultivate this all-imporlant aspect of living.
the chohch fob au ...
for the CHURC3I
The Chui^ is the greatest fac-
building of
ohmacter and good citizenship. It
te a storehouse ol spiritual values.
Wiftout a sfr(ing Church, neither
democracy nor civilization con
swwe. There ore four sou^
P®™on should
mtend sei^ces regularly and sup-
Wrt the Church. They are: (1^
<2) For hte
ohiMren s sake. (3) For the sake
pL and nation. (4)
which
Which needs his moral and ma-
teriai support. Hon to go I
Bible
Book
Sunday.., Luke
Monday.. Luke
Tnesda.y Psalms
Wedn sd y Proverbs
Ihursday Isaiah
bnday.... Ephesians
Saturday. Psalms
Chapter Verses
4 M3
4 14-30
5 18-29
5 7-lS
S 1-s
2 13-22
D 1-17
BROWNSON MEMORIAL
CHURCH
(Presbyterian)
Cheves K. Ligon, Minister
Sunday school 9:45 a. m. Wor
ship service, 11 a. m. Women of
the Church meeting, 8 p. m. Mon
day following third Sunday.
’The Youth Fellowships meet at
7 o’clock each Sunday evening.
Mid-week service, Wednesday.
7:15 p. m.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH
New Hampshire Ave.. So. Pines
Sunday Service, 11 a. m.
Sunday School, 11 a. m.
Wednesday Service, 8 p. m.
Reading Room in Church Build
ing open Wednesday 3-5 p. m.
THE CHURCH OF WIDE
FELLOWSHIP
(Congregational)
Cor. Bennett and N. Hampshire
Rev. Oswald W. S. McCall, D.D.,
Litt.D.
Interim Pastor
Sunday Worship, 11 a.m.
Sunday School, 9:30 a. m.
Sunday, 6:30 p.m.. Pilgrim Fel
lowship (Young people).
Sunday, 8:00 p. m.. The Forum.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
New York avenue at South Ashe
David Hoke Coon, Minister
Bible school, 9:45 a. m. Worship
11 a. m. Training Union 7:00 p.m.
Evening worship, 8:00 p.m.
Scout Trcop 224, Monday, 7:30
p. m.; midweek worship, Wednes
day 7:30 p. m.; choir practice
Wednesday 8:15 p. m.
Missionary meeting, first and
thitd Tuesdays, 8 p. m. Church
and family suppers, second Thurs
days, 7 p. m.
MANLY PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH
Grover C. Currie, Minister
Sunday School 10 a. m.
Worship Service, 2nd and 3rd
Sunday evenings, 7:30. Fourth
Sunday morning, 11 a. m.
Women of the Church meeting,
8 p.m. second Tuesday.
Mid-week service Thursday at 8
p.m.
—Hiis Space Donated in the Interest of the Churches by—
SANDHILL AWNING CO
CLARK 8i BRADSHAW
SANDHILL DRUG CO.
THE VALET
SHAW PAINT & WALLPAPER CO.
CLARK'S NEW FUNERAL HOME
CHARLES W. PICQUET
MODERN MARKET
W. E. Blue
EMMANUEL CHURCH
(Episcopal)
Holy Communion, 8 a. m. (ex
cept first Sunday).
Church School, 9:45 a. m., with
Adult Class at 10 a. m.
Morning Prayer, 11 a. m. (Holy
Communion, first Sunday).
Wednesdays: Holy Communion
10 a. m.
ST. ANTHONY'S
(Catholic)
Vermont Ave. at Ashe
Father Peter M. Denges
Sunday masses 8 and 10:30 a.
m.; Holy Day masses and 9 a.
m.; weekday mass at 8 a. m. Con
fessions heard on Saturday be
tween 5-6 and 7:30-8:30 p. m.
OUR LADY OF VICTORY
West Pennsylvania at Hardin
Fr. Donald Fearon, C. SS. R..
Sunday Mass, 10 a. m.; Holy
Day Mass, 9 a. m. Confessions are
heard before Mass.
JACK'S GRILL & RESTAURANT
CAROLINA POWER & LIGHT CO.
CITIZENS BANK & TRUST CO.
UNITED TELEPHONE CO.
JACKSON MOTORS. Inc.
Your Ford Dealer
McNEILL'S SERVICE STATION
Gulf Service
HOLLIDAY'S RESTAIHIANT &
COFFEE SHOP
PERKINSON'S. Inc.
Jew^er
SOUTHERN PINES MOTOR CO.
THE PILOT