MAN AND MULE
CLOSE FRIENDS
FOR 3$ YEARS
"Duck" and "Sis" Davis
Think a Lot ®f "Old Bet
ty," Foaled in 1901
NEARING END OF ROAD
Boonville, May 13—There is a
song that runs something to the
tune of The Old Gray Mule
Ain't What She Used to Be 30
Long Years Ago" that would very
aptly apply to the mule in this
story, except for the fact that the
mule I am referring to here is a
crow black in color. t
The mule's name is Betty. Long
years ago she was the pride and
joy of Ira G. Davis, who is better
known as "Duck," and his sister,
Novella, who likewise answers to
the nickname of "Sis." Duck and
Sis live in the only truly natural
rustic home to be found any
where in this whole section. The
home is of logs, which is partly
covered with weatherboarding to
give the appearance of a frame
structure. When I asked Duck
how long he had been living at
the present place, he remarked
that he first saw the light of day
there in the rambling structure
sixty-five years ago. He was born
there in March. 1874. The house
was built by his father, Albert
Davis, a Civil War veteran, and
he fought many a battle with the
Men in Gray in the War Between
the States
A visitor from the west, who
had been gone from this section |
for thirty or forty years, remark
ed that the homestead of Duck
and Sis was the only really na
tural looking place that he saw in
the entire country. The house
itself is in a beautiful setting as
it nestles close to the foot of a
long sweeping chain of hills that
are covered with virgin pine, oaks
and other' varieties of timber.
The view as one stands in the
doorway and looks away from the
hills is one to bring joy to any
lover of the soil. Acres and acres
of fine bottom land and second
bottoms are there, ready to pro
duce at the will of this sturdy
old farmer whose ancestry can
easily be traced k/ack to pioneer
stock. To get to this homestead
one has to turn south from
highway 67 and drive down a lit
tle used road that is barely wide
enough for a car to run. He
crosses a small branch and climbs
a hill and suddenly from out of
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SHOWING
13
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And When You
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Prices 30C.00
From "**up
' s We Especially
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EAGLE FURN.
COMPANY
BUrin, N. C.
the thick woods the house ap
pears.
But I am getting away from
the mule and her story. Davis as
serts that the mule is 38 years
old.
When one looks at this animal,
that has served its master for so
many long years, there can be
little doubt but that she is 38 and
is nearing her last milestone. Her
birthday was the past Friday.
May 12. She was foaled there on
the farm of the Davises in 1901,
and nobody has ever handled her
but Duck and his sister. In her
prime she weighed something
around 900 pounds, but what with
all the years that have been
creeping up on her she has been
unable to hold her own. She now
weighs less than seven hundred
pounds.
Strange as it seems, the mule
had never been stood between the
shafts before her 38th birthday.
Upon that day we placed her be
tween the bars for the purpose of
making her picture with that of
her master.
One might think that she
would have been trouble to her
handlers on that occasion, but
she wasn't; She stood there as if
she had been accustomed to do
ing the trick every day of her
life for 38 years. As I stood there
with the kodak in my hand to
make the picture seen above I
got some inkling of the esteem
in which Davis held the animal
in question. He never slackened
the reins on her the entire time
that she was standing hitched to
the one horse wagon. He com
mented upon that fact later.
"I have known this mule for a
long time," said Davis, "In these
thirty-eight years we have done
many pieces of farm work to
gether, but occasion never arose
when it became necessary for me
to "hitch" her to the wagon. She
made as good a plow mule as I
ever saw, although she has al
ways been a little small." Some
thing else is remarkable about
this animal too. Although the
Davis farm is only two miles
from the town of Boonville, this
mule has never seen the hard
surfaced road, or an automobile.
Davis said, "Why I don't reckon
she has been to Boonville in 25
or 30 years. I never did ride her
very much because she had so
much nerve and fire that she was
hard to manage. Mule like, when
she set her head to go. she was
going to go or bust. No matter
how hard I pulled on the reins it
made no difference to Betty "
The mule has been taken from
active farm duty now and enjoys
a peaceful time from her stall or
from the green pasture that
comes up to the feed barn and
stretches far away to the other
side of the farm and a meander
ing stream. She ought to grow
sleek and fat on that life, but age
lias left its mark on her.
Mr. Davis and his sister are the
last of a family of five children.
They carry on at the old home
stead alone. They are about a
mile off the hardsurfaced road
that runs from Boonville to Elkin,
but one could easily believe, if he
knew no better, that the road was
miles away. To visit this home
with its old fashioned well, the
outbuildings of logs, and the
thickly spreading shade trees
carries one back in thoughts to
the time when things of this type
were not such a rarity. And
amidst all of this quiet solitude
live this fine couple that can no
longer be called young. Mr
Davis is 65 and his sister is a lit -
tle older.
I She takes a great deal of pride
in her chickens and flowers, of
which she has many varieties of
both. One thing that is the pride
of her life at this season of the
year is a beautiful snowball bush
that stands in the corner of her
garden, hanging so full of the
pretty white flowers that the
boughs are bent and sway under
their weight.
As I left them Duck was stand
ing under one of the spreading
shade trees with his head bared
to the breeze, while the lady of
the house went about the task of
preparing dinner, talking in a
soliloquy as has been her custom
for many years due to the fact
that she has no one to talk to
Parole Revoked for
Harrison Pinnix
Harrison Pinnix, well known
Yadkin man, living near Marler,
was carried back to the roads last
week, after he was arrested by
Deputy Sheriff R. M. Haynes,
when his parole was revoked by
Governor Hoey.
Sheriff Inscorc received notice
last week that the parole had
been revoked and he was asked to
pick up Pinnix and notify the
governor. The sheriff had been
looking out for* him but had not
seen him, when lo and behold
Harrison called up the sheriff on
a business matter and then for
got what the business was and
hung up without so much as giv
ing his name. The sheriff, per
plexed, had the call traced to
Jonesville and learned who it
was.
It is understood that he has 5#
more days to serve.
THE ELKIN TRIBUNE. ELKIN. NORTH CAROLINA
Man and Mule Close Friends
- - •
(Pictured above is Ira G. Davis, of near Boonville, and his 38-
ye&r-old mule, who has been a close friend from the day she was
foaled in 1901. Old as she is, the mule had never stood between
the shafts until several days ago when this picture was taken. She
had !!»een retired from active duty.
YADKIN COURT
ENDS THURSDAY
| Several Go to Roads in the
Closing Days of Trials on
Various Charges
WILSON IS ON BENCH
Yadkinvllle, May 24—(Special)
—The May term of superior court
for Yadkin county ended here
Thursday with a number receiv
ing sentences to the roads when
they could not pay costs and
fines assessed against them.
Judge Wilson Warlick contin
ued his drive against drunken
drivers by revoking their licenses,
although they were allowed to
pay fines unless the case was ag
gravated in some manner. When
court was completed the docket
was the lowest it has been in
some time. Solicitor Avalon E.
Hall stated. This is due to two
criminal terms this year whereas
only one is usually held.
Th e cases disposed of or
changed from the original sen
tence were as follows:
The sentence of Conrad Hutch
ens, charged with manslaughter,
was changed from two years on
public roads to eighteen months.
Dallas Davis, indicted with him,
got his sentence reduced from
fifteen to twelve months.
Buck Nicks, sentenced to ninety
days on roads for driving drunk,
paid a fine of SSO and costs and
the sentence was suspended for
18 months. Driving licenses re
voked for 12 months.
Glenn Hoots got his sentence
changed from 90 days on roads to
a fine of SSO and costs, and his
driving licenses were revoked for
12 months.'
Lake Finney, indicted with Carl
Jester for violating prohibition
laws, was sentenced to 8 months
on roads.
Raymond Holcomb, violating
prohibition laws, three cases, and
assault, one case. Pleads guilty
and was sentenced to 8 months
on roads in each case, a total of
32 months, suspended for 5 years
and to pay the costs of the court.
Mark Wishon, driving drunk,
three cases. Pleads guilty in all
cases. Pined $250 and costs,, and
sentenced to 6 months on roads,
suspended for five years. Driv
ing licenses revoked for three
years.
Sylvester Mann, colored, driving
drunk, pleads guilty, fined SSO
and costs. Defendant had no
driving license.
Shore Hutchens, reckless driv
ing, pleads guilty, 60 days assign
ed to county commissioners.
Calvin Wood, driving drunk,
pleads guilty, fined SSO and costs.
Essa Harris, colored, driving
drunk, pleads guilty. Pour months
on roads, suspended for 18
months. Fined SSO and costs.
Driving licenses revoked 12
months.
Luther Pardue, violating prohi
bition laws, pleads guilty. Pour
months on roads.
Fred Hinshaw, driving without
licenses, two cases, non support,
one case. Pleads guilty, six
months on roads. On the non
support, two years suspended for
five years, on condition that he
pay into the clerk's office fifteen
dollars per month for the benefit
of his child.
William Henry Chavis, colored,
driving drunk. 60 days in jail, li
cense revoked for 12 months.
Raleigh.—' There were 254 fewer
births in North Carolina last
month than in March, 1938, and
00 more deaths, according to fig
ures just released by the Vital
Statics Division of the State Board
of Health.
WAKE UP
AND LIVE
By DOROTHEA BRAN'DE
Here is an example of develop
ing secondary talents so that con
fidence in important matters fol
lows:
A thirty-year-old clerk in a
business office who had had no
early advantages had wanted all
her life to play the piano. One
day on her walk home, moved by
an impulse which she fortunate
ly did not resist, she turned into
a house which advertised music
lessons by a little sign in the win
dow.
Her success, of course, is only
comparative. She had not the
time needed to make a really ex
cellent musician, nor did she be
gin early enough to train the spe
cial muscles that a professional
pianist uses. But she succeeded
in reference to her own goal.
Her whole life has been alter
ed by that moment of courage.
Besides the pleasure she has had
from understanding music as
only the performer can ever un
derstand it, she has, and knows
she has, acted in an adult fash
ion which resulted in giving her
more confidence in every relation
of her life.
Prom being the overworked and
oppressed drudge of her home,
she came to live in her own small
apartment, she visits her family
on terms of amicable indiffer
ence, and has made a group of
friends whose tastes coincide with
hers.
This case should give a hint, at
least, of the proper procedure.
Take a definite step to turn a
dream into a reality. Do some
thing every day towards your in
tention, however remote your goal
may have to be.
Always your first question to
yourself should be, "What would
I be doing now if it were really
impossible for me to fail at—
whatever it is; traveling, model
ing, writing, farming?" It may
be any of these things, or any
one of a hundred more.
Whatever it is, by thinking,
you can discover easily what the
first step would be if you were
engaged with reality, and not
with a dream of a different life.
We seldom realize how great
an amount of the friction we all
undergo in our lives comes from
our expecting to be rebuffed or
ignored.
Think back to some encounter
you had today in your office, in
a store, with a servant or trades
man in your home. Try to re
member just the form your re
quest took. Making all due al
lowances for courtesy, or for the
respectfulness due to superiors
and elders, was there not in addi
tion a tentativeness about your
request? Didn't you ask for co
operation in such a way as to
leave room for refusal, or grudg
ing action, or for being ignored?
Now think of the ideal way in
which that question could have
been asked, or that order given.
It can be cast just as courteously
as before, but in such a way that
the person of whom you asked
help cannot refuse you without
being deliberately surly and hos
tile.
That Is the tone of success.
When you find it you benefit not
only yourself, but the person with
whom you must for ef
fectiveness.
Do not waste another's time
and energy or your own patience
by suggesting even indirectly that
there is-more than one course of
actiom, if there Is only one which
will |,et the result you require.
The '-vork to be done takes half
|
I
the time if the attention is un
divided and so is free to go on
to the next demand quickly.
By going over your day in
imagination before you begin it,
thinking of all the contacts you
are likely to have and how they
can best be handled, listening to
you rown voice and correcting it
till you get the tone which is at
oike courteous and unanswerable,
you can begin acting successfully
at any moment.
By doing so you will find that
you get through your business
day with less fatigue; with what
you have left you can begin to
realize some minor wish of
which you have long dreamed in
secret. From there it is only a
step to finding the courage to
begin to do the major things
which you have wanted and
hoped to do.
W. R. Spillman
Claimed by Death
William R. (Dayton* Spillman.
69, died Thursday night at the
home of his son, Claude Spillman,
near Forbush Baptist church. He
suffered a stroke of paralysis a
week previous.
Mr. Spillman was born in Yad
kin county and spent his entire
life in the same section, being a
farmer until he retired on ac
count of ill health.
He was a member of Forbush
Baptist church. Survivors in
clude one daughter, Mrs. Cora
Davis, of Davidson county; three
sons. Reece Spillman, Eno n;
Claude and Neal Spillman, Yad
kinville, route 2. Ten grandchil
dren also survive.
The funeral was held at For
bush Baptist church Saturday
morning at 11 o'clock with Rev.
B. K. Mason in charge. Burial
was in the church cemetery. The
body lay in state one hour prior
to the funeral.
Pallbearers were: C. P. Mackie,
C. H. Shermer, W. G. Cornelius,
Sanford Phillips. Frank Mackie
and R. T. Hobson.
Last Words
Saleslady—But, sir, this is the
last word in millinery. '
Knagg—lf it's the last word my
wife will have it.
Future Meeting
The Irish patient had been
having a great argument and
meant to finish off his opponent
for good and all.
"The sooner I never see your
face again," ha said, "the better
it will be for both of us when we
meet."
✓
Think What A { A
Fine Vacation %jL
You Could Have On
$50.00*
IN CASH!
\
That's the Amount We Are
Going To Give Away Free
Friday at 5:30 P. M.
COME IN TODAY FOR COMPLETE DETAILS
McDaniel's Dept Store
ELKIN„ N. C.
1 ' ' ' ■ ■ ...uV
Special Range Sale
■■
M RESERVOIR $5.00 EXTRA W
ONLY 10 (AA Convenient
TO SELL AT 4) Terms
WE HAVE MANY OTHER RANGE
BARGAINS
Thursday, May 25, 1939