The NEW BEKN
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mAKT OF
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VOLUME 13
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, AUQU8T 14,1970
NUMBER 22
Next to a deep desire tor
life after death la God*s unre
vealed eternity, most mortals
earnestty hope that they*!! be
remembered on earth by those
they leave behind.
Not onlydothey wantremem-
brance when they depart from
the ranks of the living, but would
like very much to have recog
nition w^e they are still here.
Call it vanity. If you care to,
the wish prevails.
H*s a craving that starts in
earliest childhood, and lingers
to the brink of the grave. Which
explains why you’ll see cut into
many a New Bern sidewalk the
names or initials of small fry
who have long since reached
adulthood.
Those youngsters weren’t
Just being devilish when they
marred the wet cement. They
knew that in a matter of hours
It would harden into a state of
lasting permanence. That’s
what Intrtguedthem, the thought
that here at least their name
would be seen forever and a
day.
For the very same reason,
countless desk tops In local
public schools have been mu
tilated with a jackknife. You
knew that after a year you
would be moving on to some
other classroom, and even
tually make your exit. And
what you hated and feared was
the fact that In all likelihood
you wouldn’t be missed.
Although we have no way of
knowing, we rather suspect that
Adam and Eve’s two brats,
Cain and Abel, managed to leave
their mark on a few things too.
Certainly It Is reasonable to
believe that this urge to stand
out from the throng has exist
ed among humans ^ce the be
ginning of time.
The impulse is not without
merit, and surely the Gkxid
Lord had tois In mind when He
gave us the desire to excel.
Out of It have come great dis
coveries and inventtons, beau
tiful music and poetry, and
magnificent works of art.
Yes, all of us want to be
recognized and remembered,
including the kid who spoils the
appearance of your sidewalk
by scrawling his name on It be
fore It has a chance to harden.
”How do you find something
Interesting to write about ev
ery week?” That’s the question
most often asked us by read
ers of The Mirror, whenever
they see fit to speak kindly of
our wares.
Well, we don’t always write
Interestingly, If at all, but If
some folks (ding to this Illu
sion It’s flattering and we’re
all for It. Besides the bouquets
help to make up for the verbal
brickbats that every editor
gets.
When It comes to Interest
ing subjects, they are all around
us. In every home. In every
life, be It glamorous or drab,
there’s a story worth the tell
ing. Like all newspapermen,
we might overlook It or bun^e
It badly when we lay hands on It,
but It’s waiting to be told.
Writers sometimes make the
mistake of trampling ”llttle”
things In their search for some
thing ’important” tochronlole.
It’s a mistake and sooner or
later, through trial and error
or common-swse reasoning,
we awaken to the fact that tte
great truths of life are often
(Continued on page 8)
putiHr ^ibrar]|
FALLEN ANQEL — Small boys, delightfully designed,
are part saint and part sinner. Five year old Tim
Walker, unpredictable son of the Eiwood Walkers of
Greenview Road, discovered the combination has Its
disadvantages when he picked up a shiner that was
hardly in keeping with a choir robe and hymnal. How
ever, boyhood would be pretty dull without an oc
casional black eye, and a subbed big toe now and
then that swells up and impresses all the other kids
in the neighborhood. Adults don’t always understand
and appreciate the marvelous happenings in a young
ster’s world, but mostly you can blame that on short
memories. As Victor Herbert wistfully noted in Babes
in Toyiand, once you cross childhood’s portals, you
can never return again.—Photo by Eunice Wray.