Friday was good
for Hoke County
Last Friday's Chamber of Commerce dinner with guest speaker
Governor James G. Martin was a good night for Hoke County and
One of which sponsors can be proud.
It was an evening which officially marked the beginning of a new
push to make Hoke County a viable thriving community.
Martin's visit, which was engineered by Rep. Danny DeVane
(D-Hoke), was one of the first times in recent memory a governor of
the state has come to this county and not been campaigning for
money and votes.
It was a special occasion for Hoke County. DeVane and those
responsible for the dinner should be commended for their efforts to
make the evening a reality.
Currently, there is a drive afoot to improve the quality of life in
Hoke County. If the enthusiasm and the hard work of volunteers
keep the momentum going, there will be many future occasions for
the governor to return.'
Friday night marked the official beginning of Hoke County's
renaissance. The celebration is over. Now the work begins.
Economic push finally
getting out of station
Good omens are in the wind. The signs may be deceptive, but it
appears that after seven months of meetings and re-meetings,
members of the Hoke County Economic Development Commission
are finally ready to get down to the business of improving the finan
cial vitality of the community.
The commissioners have adopted bylaws, approved a budget,
hired an enthusiastic and qualified director, defined his job descrip
tion and last week, purchased a typewriter and an automobile. Not
bad for seven months' work.
All of the tools for a successful operation are in hand. The com
missioners can begin to offer guidance for finding more jobs,
revitalizing downtown Raeford, attracting new residents, develop
ing an industrial park, establishing countywide zoning and making
Hoke County a marketable location for plant sites.
Economic Developer John Howard has hit the street running and
seems on the way to making his new position an effective one.
Now that the routine matters are behind them, the five members
of the economic development commission can begin moving as fast
as the economic developer in an effort to make Hoke County a bet
ter place to live.
Of course, on the other hand, there is a copy machine that needs
to be considered and the furnishings to be found for the developer's
new office in the remodeled depot.
- SCHOOL ROOF REPAIRS -
Titanic crash still mystery
Seventy-three ye?n *, ag9>~lk** n
newest and finest passenger liner
on the North Atlantic, on her
maiden voyage and thought un
sinkable, struck an iceberg late at
night in midocean. The White Star
line's Titantic went down in two
hours and 1,500 people drowned.
A few years ago in England and
in Norway questions were seriously
oked about the long-accepted ver
sion of the tragedy. It will be
recalled that the Californian was
widely blamed for not having
rescued the drowned.
We read that the Californian lay
within sight, and failed to answer
emergency rocket signals -- its cap
tain being asleep and the watch not
realizing what the signals meant.
Yet the chief officer of a
Norwegian ship that was in sight of
the "Titantic" that night, a ship
that was engaged in illegal seal
hunting, said, after the death of
the captain, that it was this ship
which passengers on the Titantic
saw that fateful night.
The lifeboats had room for less
than half of the approximately
2,200 passengers, and took on
mostly women and children. The
ffpWVM* *?'
Cliff
Blue
People and Issues
ship's band played on the sloping
deck. The Tilantic went down bow
first about 2'/i hours after the
crash. The Cunard liner Carpathia
caught the SOS and raced S8 miles
to the rescue. It picked up 705 sur
vivors at dawn.
The Titantic had been the largest
ship in the world. No one knows
exactly how many lives were lost.
The British inquiry reported 1,490
dead, the British Board of Trade,
1,503 and the U.S., 1,517.
ELECTRICITY . . . provided a
new source for lights and transpor
tation^ the beginning of 1900,
and the automobile was hatching
about 1903, when the Wright
brothers made the first successful
powere airplane.
The late John R. McQueen and
F!m Oanley were tKe promoters
and owners of the first power plant
on Little River.
My dad, John P. Blue, and
Albert Sea groves were the first
men in the area, about seven miles
south of Vass on Little River, to
engineer the water-powered plant
in 1911 or '12, before 1 could
remember.
WHAT WE DRINK . . . Twenty
years ago the favorite drink in
America was coffee, followed in
popularity by milk and soft drinks.
Today, however, according to a
study at the Univqrsity of New
Hampshire, soft drinks have
replaced coffee as America's first
choice.
We read that beer has become
more popular, in a tie today with
coffee, as America's third choice.
In the past 20 years so we read,
Americans have increased their
beverage intake while the amount
of food eaten has remained con
stant.
Fruit juices, fortunately, are ris
ing in popularity ? perhaps
because of widening availability of
individual juice drinks.
Squire has displayed dignity
Rare are the individuals who
deserve all the nouns which are at
tributed to them. Dedication and
compassion are two of the most us
ed. Both deserve the seat of honor
in paying tribute to my friend
Robert "Squire" Gatlin.
One of the first people 1 met in
Hoke County when I arrived in
1966 was the "Squire". Being im
pressed by the dignity he displayed
and the courtly manner in which he
approached a subject caught my
attention.
It became apparent to me after a
short time that this southern
gentleman had a pretty good mind
underneath that white hair.
A teacher of drafting and a
molder of young men and women
gave him a solid footing with the
faculty at Hoke High.
Distinguishing himself in the field
of engineering and teaching at
Duke University were only two of
the many worlds he brought to the
classroom. He took pride in the
young men and women under his
tutorage. They in turn were
devoted to him. Never once did I
hear a student complain about his
policies or his demands. They only
sang his praises.
My work in the school system
was made easier *bekause'6fM$ tin
tiring effort to help. He drew the
plans for the construction under
the Hoke High stadium.
The construction of the track
was under his supervision. Any
time we had a problem with water,
boundaries, manholes or a
thousands other problems we call
ed and he answered. If it was a
Saturday job he never complained,
and he would not take pay for it.
After his retirement I asked him to
work with me. For several years he
furnished his service to the school
system free of charge. The auto
mechanic shop and brick laying
shop are free of problems because
of his insistence they be built on
the present site.
When Mr. Gatlin gave up his
service to the board of education
he turned his attention to helping
the community. Raeford and its
history is a passion with him. He
became the focal point of anyone
needing facts about his beloved
town and county.
The News-Journal was blessed
with his service as the official
weatherman for many years. A
slight stroke put his forecasting on
Looking On
Raz Autry
hold; however it didn't damper his
desire to help his fellowman.
Just recently he furnished his
cabin and pond as he has done for
many years for the sixth graders in
the school system to take part in a
conservation workshop. Robert
was on hand each day to see if he
could offer more of his hospitality.
His keen interest in young people
has not slowed over the years. It
has intensified in his desire for
them to succeed.
Robert is a great family man.
His two daughters are his life. The
changing expression in his eyes
when he speaks their names tells
the story of his love. It is a mutual
admiration. It is evident in talking
to them that love was the central
theme in the home during their
growing up years.
The other love in Robert's life
left him a few months ago. Mamie
was a charming lady and a friend I
dearly miss. She shared her
positive nature with everyone in
whom she came in contact.
Losing a mate must be one of
the greatest of traumatic ex
periences. Robert picked himself
up after Mamie's death and con
tinued to serve.
The "Squire" has very definite
ideas about issues and he never
wavers once he makes up his mind.
Trying to change him is like mov
ing a large piece of granite with a
toothpick. He has often said to
and of me that I was the hard
headedest person he had ever
known. The old saying it takes one
to know one was never more true.
His back handed compliments is
keeping with his personality. In
troducing me to folks and telling
them I was the finest high school
principal he had ever known and
the worst superintendent was
characteristic of not mincing any
words.
Among his many hobbies has
been quail hunting. Some of my
finest memories, is recalling the
Saturday hunts with him and Hank
Richards. Robert wasn't a very
good shot, and neither was Hank.
Sheer enjoyment of the hunt was
enough to satisfy him.
My admiration for this southern
country gentleman is plain to see.
Robert is part of what we cherish
of the past, and he represents what
we long for in the future.
The News-Journal
? ? ? PrtHittd Every Tfearsday by ^
Raeford, N.C. ?37*
So Inert ptioi Rales la Advaace
la Couaty Per Year? S10.M 6 Months? S5. 00
On I of County Per Year? $12.00 * M oaths? $6.00
LOUIS H. FOGLEMAN, JR Publisher
WARREN N.JOHNSTON Editor
HENRY L. BLUE Production Supervisor
SAM C. MORRIS Contributing Editor
ANN N. WEBB Advertising Representative
Second Class Postage al Rseford, N.C.
(USPS 3M-260)
Shopping trip turns to coat of different color
It was Mother's Day weekend. My wife, whose maternal instincts
are concentrated on the care and feeding of three cats and a dog,
decided we should celebrate by going clothes shopping in a
neighboring mall.
"I have nothing to wear. This will be a good excuse to go shop
ping," she said Saturday morning, as we attempted to find a park
ing place in the already overcrowded retail center.
I knew better. I knew I would suffer. I shouldn't have gone along
with the plan. I should have stayed home, mowed the grass,
watched the ball game and let her go by herself.
It had been so long since we purchased anything, that I had
forgotten the misery of shopping with a woman, particularly my
Shopping should be done in a matter of moments. I become
frustrated and disgruntled if f spend more than 30 minutes in a
store. I like to get in and get out.
My wife, on-the -other-hand , likes to forage over vast sections of
women's clothes, examining each item on the racks and trying on
half of them.
If left to her own devices, she would probably spend days cruising
the dothlng aisles. Rarely does she buy witHout examining every op
tion in all of the mall's acceptable market*.
In order to ease my pain, we shop separately and agree to meet
aft* ? fixed period of time. 1 usually suggest a rendezvous in IS
wife.
feed to meet at tn escalator on Macy's
made the plan, neither of us
escalators on Macy's third floor.
be shopping strategy proved to
The Puppy Papers
Warren Johnston
?For SO minutes past the meeting hour, I rode up and down one
escalator, imagining that she had been mugged by hoodlums; while
my wife rode up and down another escalator thinking 1 would be
found floating in the East River. Since then we have been more
precise about where we meet.
"I'll be in the women's clothing section," she said Saturday.
After about 15 minutes, I had finished with my purchases. I
sauntered over to the. women's section. She was not there. New
York came flooding back, but I put it out of my mind.
Calmly I wandered through the sea of dresses, blouses and
unmentionables. I was steeled against panic by thinking her absence
was a plot to gain more time.
My wila was not to be seen in the women's section. Instinct told
ma she was there. I knew she mutt be hiding, probaMy hoping I
would flfed something to occupy myself and would leave her to do
more shopping.
However, 1 would have none of it. I wanted out of the mall. I
longed for the roar of nfy lawn mower and the smell of freshly cut
grt*; jr.v* ?* 'ifyi ; '??? ?
Although r felt lite an unwanted suitor, I dackted to stick to my
plah to make the shopping foray a brief one and to ferret my wife
out of hiding.
I thought of making a spectacle of myself, so that she would have
to come out, but I abandoned the idea when several people passed
whom I knew.
"I'm just waiting on my wife," I coughed, when they asked why I
was hanging around the women's section.
"I was in the dressing room," she said when she Finally appeared.
"You don't have to hang around here with me. Why don't you
go buy a sports coat. You need one," she suggested, pointing out
that my present model was frayed at the sleeves.
I had not bought a sports coat since I was 12 and a senior in
elementary school. The suggestion of a new one was exciting. I
headed for the men's department.
I am fussy about some clothes. I have certain rules that goverp
the purchase of sports coats in particular.
It is important to buy just the right sports coat. A jacket that ybu
can look forward to putting on each time, and one should always
purchase coats they will wear for at least 25 years.
My last coat had reached the end of its life. It was time for a new
one. I saw the shopping as a mission to replace an old departed
friend. .
I went to several stores. I examined all of the coats they had to of
fer and tried on half of them.
After about two hours* my wife showed up. She was disgusted. I
ducked down behind the dothing racks, but she spotted me. I told
her I was looking at the quality of stitching in the seams of trouserf.
"I've been waiting for you ova- an hour. It's time to go horn*.
You have to mow the grass," she said, dragging m* from the store
with my new coat trailing on the ground.