NEW BERNCRAVtl'j o...
PUBLIC LIBRARY
The NEW BERN
VOLUME 9
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, IW7
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
/ '* THE HEART OR
/Jte '^RN NORTH
As we expected, many stories
have been passed along to us
about the kindness of Dr. Char
les Hall Ashford since we ran
an editorial commenting on the
loss thatNew Bern suffered with
his passing.
For example, a widow stopped
on the street, and told how the
mild mannered physician strug
gled to save her husband. When
his efforts failed, he took time
out to attend the funeral and
wrote her a heartfelt letter of
sympathy.
Then there was the case of a
farmer of limited means whose
sustained an arm fracture. Dr.
Ashford x-rayed the arm and
placed it in a cast. Asked how
much the bill was, he said,
“Suppose you bring me a cou
ple of messes of collards.”
On another occasion, years
ago, a local man was distraught
when his bird dog was injured
seriously and he couldn't get
up with a veterinarian. He call
ed Ashford as a last resort.
“Bring him in after five
o'clock,’* the physician advis
ed the man, and thanks to ex
pert attention the dog was soon
as good as new.
Dr. Ashford liked everybody,
but he displayed special con
cern for Farney Justice, a de-
liehtful old codger who could
imbibe astounding amounts, of
the well known strong beverage
and still keep his equilibrium.
There’s a limit to everything,
however, and periodically Far
ney would exceed his capacity
and enter St. Luke’s hospital
to abstain temporarily. The
nurses pampered the elderly
bachelor, and he loved it.
He was a patient in the front
room on the second floor when
our first child was born at the
institution. When it rains it
pours, and shortly thereafter
seven other babies were born
there. The last to arrive were
Terry and Tommy Midyette,
the first and last offspring of
Margaret and Charlie Midyette.
There were no rooms left, so
Farney was moved out of the
front room to niake room for
Margaret. Later, while sipping
a team glass full of tlie most
potent joy juice available, tlie
ever spry character of char
acters told companions that he
had never had a narrower es-.
cape, “I came this close to
being the mother of twins,’’ he
said.
Then there was the time Dr.
Ashford took Farney out of the
hospital to show him how con
struction was progressing on
the physlcian’shouse in Bridge-
ton. Farney, still slightly un
der the weaQier, made the tour
without mishap, but Ashford
stepped on a board that jumped
up and cut his head. Farney ac
companied him back to St.
Luke’s for stitches.
We’ve always wanted to tell
these stories about Farney, but
held off until his surviving .sis
ter, Miss Sallle, went to her re
ward. “Farney’s brother,
Speedy, who could drive an auto
mobile slow enough to give a
turtle ulcers, was the first of the
three to depart this earth.
The longer we live the more
we’re convinced that an old
ster’s meandering along
Memory Lane is hardly less
pleasant than the primrose path
beckoning to those of younger
years.
You can’t turn back the clock,
(Continued on page 8)
TAKES OVER—Arthur T. Moore of Fayetteville was
publicly installed here Thursday nipht as the new
Potentate of New Bern’s Sudan Shrine Temple. He
succeeds Bruce Boyette of Wilson, who led the
Temple’s 8,300 members in 50 North Carolina coun
ties during the oast year. New Bern is the smallest
city in the world boastinp a Temple. North Carolina
has one other, Oasis at Charlotte. Sudan came into
being in 1916, largely through the vision of a New
Bern physician. Dr. Josenh F. Rhem. Often described
as the playground of Masonry, the Shrine has more
than justified its existence in America through estab
lishment of great hospitals to aid crippled children.
Wearers of the fez have worked tirelessly and en
thusiastically for years providing many millions of
dollars for this worthy cause. Few Temples have sur
passed Sudan’s efforts to give every child health and
happiness.
(