The NEW BERN
'•BUSHED WEEKLY
^ HEART OP
No matter how big a vocabulary
you may have, it’s bound to grow
obsolete unless you keep it mod-
-phized^ For example, very few
New Bern adults are familiar with
the terms used by hot rodders.
If you’re like us, you have no
intention of whizzing hither and
yon in a souped-up vehicle. Howev
er, to eliminate the necessity of
an interpreter, should you unex
pectedly t)ecome involv^ in hot
rod conversation, here are some
definitions.
“Goodies” consist of special
eqbipinent and accessories. Speed
goodies are designed to get more
“go” out of a car, while chrome
goodies make an engine look more
powerful and more finished.
“Slicks” are .special racing tires
They are used on the rear wheels
only, to get the greatest possible
traction. Tires in this category
have no tread on them, but they
“work” because an extremely large
traction area is exposed to the rac
ing surface.
An automatic transmission
known as a “Slush-Pump” or a
“Mush-o-Matic”. A standard trans
mission is preferred by hot rodders
rather than the automatic type
and is called a “stick.” And, when
you hear a “bump stick” mention
ed, it means the cam shaft, which
opens and close the correct valves
at just the right time.
Among the bump sticks to choose
from are such “styles” as the
“three-quarter race” and “full-
race” cams, not to mention the
“five:cypl|! ^OQO T” and the “para
bolic cr(wsfIow.” There’s one also
called the “exterminator.”
Hot rodders refer to carburetors
■ as “jugs” and “pots” and “carbs.”
When talking about a supercharger
' they refer to the “blower” or
_ “windmill.” Or, quite frequently,
it's dubbed the “puffer.”
If you hear “bug juice” spoken
of, the reference is to special ni
trate and methane-based racing
- fuels. They are far more powerful
than gasoline, and are so dange
rous that they can blow an engine
, f apart if it is not set up properly.
This at least saves the trouble of
disintegrating the engine and the
rest of the hot-rod vehicle in a
specUcular, life-snuffing wreck
. sometime later,
fy New Bern’s young hot-rodders
aren’t, as a rule, overly familiar
with some of the things we’ve men-
tidned. As a matter of fact, we've
. been Md that the true hot-rod en
- . tbusii^t is a serious ii^ividual, in
V h& 20’s or older, and resents the
fiot that teen-^e gadabouts are
called hotfodders.
^ ’ The afOremention^ serious hot-
jMdder has his oWn name for youth-
M- drivers vtHo Speed recklessly
a^ong street and roads. He "calls
flfbm “squirrels.” This label stems
.Itoioi the,^iact that a ^uhvel taU
is sranet^Ma attached to a bump-
flip iui aerial by a youngster
.-^iio. loatls tv bis ear inside with
■ yffriehds, and outside with fancy oi^
'^-haments. ■
As oiie of the Older, “offiiial^
““jwt-roddeps- puts it, a “squirpel”
- isn’t hard'ito identify. “He roars
abound town, cutting in and out of
traffic, and gets all the noise he
caii from the blare of his horn,
> theacreech of bis br^es,.and .the.
sq^al of hijs tires.”
‘iiiere is a National Hot Rod As-
sofliation and it has mote than
1(K1,000 members. 'Hiese members
are described by Robert A. Wilkin
of the Christian Science Honitor as
being “young men with a. serious
' and consuming interest in auto
motive design, construction and
performance.”
These bopafide hot-rodders and
the “squirrels” they detest have
one neat love in common. Primari
ly, they are fascinated by speed.
The basic difference is that the
*' hot-rodder engages in “organized
t—
New Bernes Eighth Graders
Appreciate Their Homeland
How wo'uld you describe the land
of your birth? Offhand, we can’t
think of a more delightful descrip
tion than the one penned by iris
Warren; an eightii grader at Cen
tral Elementary school here.
“America—^what Is America?”,
she asked in response to a written
assignment given her by Elizabeth
Disosway, her junior high teacher.
Haying posed the question, she
came up with this:
“Aaieriea is bur home^ a lutd cfi
plenty .mct&eedomr-It’s littte IridSi
with diippy ice cream-coma,. HV
teenagers, America’s
next generation with their crazy
hot-rods.
“It’s mothers and fathers.^ wor
rying about- their mixed-up kidfl.
It’s grandiMothers and grandfaWers
wondering what this new getaera'
tion is coming to with its slUort
skirts and Elvis Presley’s singing
about the good oW songs back in
their days, but giving them a crazy
kind of beat that tiiese kids call
WAY OUT:
“America is a land of hot dogs
(with chili, please), chocolate so-
speed events, conducted under
safe, supervised auspices” while
the “squirrels” run loose and en
danger the lives of every motorist
and pedestrian in their path.
A craving for speed isn’t pecu
liar to this generation. Mortals
have been infested with it since the
beginning of time, but always it
walks hand in hand with violent
death. New Bern has seen its share
of the carnage, and will continue
to see it as wheels turn faster and
faster.
das, real gone teenagers, dime
stores, contented carnation babies,
Santa Clauses, Fabians, pretty glris
and Dennis the Menaces. Where
would we be without it?”
Of course, America is a lot of
other things—some good and some
bad—but it seems to us that this
New Bern youngster has caught
the sidrit of it all.
America to most of us is more
Veeifleally North Carolina,-^ and
be» when we aren’t having our
occasional bad days, the woHd is
In Hiyme. Apparently, local eighth
mwpst 'ipsidei^vifeol the same way, for a
■ iai’gfl miipber of them turned to
verse rather than prose when they
complied with the smne assign
ment handed Iris relating to a unit
entHifld ‘"11118 Is America” in read
ing class. ^ .
Waxing poetic in a juvenile?s
inimitable sfyle, Suzanne Mallard
penned these lines:
I love her trees, her needly pines,
Hm* earth so brown and true.
Her mountains with their sturdy
lines.
And everything that she can do.
love the pretty blue* jay’s song.
The'dogwood’s scent s6 sweet,
I love the coastline, rough and
long,
And her products, tobacco and
meat.
I love the oceans rough and blue.
And all her songs so great,
I love the rain and morning~dew,
I love all the “Old North State.”
♦ ♦ *
Patricia Morris, equally enthusi-
'astic, leaves no doubt about her
sentiments. This
expressed them:
is the way. she] blessings around you, hark to
these words from Jennie King:
North Carolina, one of the original
thirteen.
Fought for her freedom in the
late seventeens.
Her brave young men stood high
and strong
And were in the right, not in
the wrong.
From town to town, freedom rang.
From door to door, people sang;
How very pleased they were to be
' In a strong young state so true
and free.
As time went on, North Carolina
grew
And proqtered under her
9>vernment so new;
Now she is well on her way
Toward taking her place in the
UjS.A.
With her strong tall mountains far
to the west.
And Piedmont and plains
covering the rest.
She has many beaches and a
rugged coastline,
Where the tall pines sway and
the sun doth shine.
The good old “Tarheels” really
rate
The honor of living in the “Old
North State.”
There is no other place I’d rather
be
That in the clean, green state of
ole N. C.
And, to further enlighten you,
and ibakc you appreciative of the
North Carolina, North Carolina,
the land of the free.
With its kind-hearted people,
that’s the land for me.
Down in the South is where the
Venus Fly Trap grows.
The best in the land everybody
knows.
Out in the West is where the
mountains stand tall,
A sight of beauty for one and
aU.
Here in the East is the historic
town of New Bern,
The pl’ace where most of the
State’s tourists turn.
North, South, East or West,
North Carolina is by far the
best.
We may not be as big as some
states in size.
But in everything else we win
the prize.
North Carolina is the best,
everyone will always say.
They’ll keep on saying it imtil
the twelfth of never and a day.
«
It’s a shame we can’t print all
of the poems by eighth graders
that we have on our desk, but we
intend to publish them in later
issues. For the time being, to round
out this article, let’s settle for
this gem composed by Sharon Cill.
It neatly sums up the subject we’re
on:
My state is known as the Old North
State,
(CotWinued en Back Page)
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