Newspapers / Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) / April 4, 1957, edition 1 / Page 4
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AUGA DEMOCRAT TVMKT THURSDAY BY RIVERS HUNTING COMP \ny x. c. uvns, «, publisher S v nKI ,£♦ r . , • ;Sflfc AH *i In Hilt Wwkjy W...MIHI In UM. PahUM tor « yaan fcr tha lata Robart C. Rivar*, Sr J ... WMtVrnONUATU - /' : la Wata«#i Ooaatj: Om paar, IMS; aU Mttha, $1 JO; Urn m Om rear, SXJO; aU maatha, 91.11; faur northa, SIRS. $1.90; Outalda W«Uu|a Coaatr Rjrtoad at tha poatofficc at March I, 1T79. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS—In ~ aa tha NEW attraaa. - & K C, at aaeand rlaaa aufl Matter, —the art a( fa oi addraaa. It It important ta mention tha OLD, BOONE, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 1957 New WarlOn Speeders Capt. Lewis, of the State Highway Patrol, and some of his men were in Boone the other day, and gave us a look at the new Abeli traffic camera, which dates the well-known whammy in pegging down the motorists who are determined to drive like they want to, regardless of the safety of others. The new equipment photographs the car being trailed, the hour and date, the speed of the vehicle, along with the license plate identification. And there's no good defense from the gadget. Capt. Lewis says that speed is still the number one offender on the highways and the greatest killer of them all. The Patrol \ if determined to do aomething about it, and the new camera looks like the answer. Now if something could be done about the sightseers drifting along the traffic lanes at 23 or 30 miles per hour, pointing out the places at interest along the way to • friend, it would also help. We do this sort of thing ourselves sometimes, and if one happens to wobble over the center line while loafing on the pavement, he's apt to be in a bad spot when he meets someone really going somewhere. Anyway, it is heartening to know that the Highway Patrol is unrelenting in its .efforts .to make the highways safer for all of us. We're for them. , Working Together For >the first time, perhapi, in the history of the area, Carolina mountains tourists Interests are working together to attract more and more visitors to the bills. " Boone and Blowing Rock have been getting along together in fine fashion. There is evidence of cooperative action on every hand, and now from Asheville comes word that the hub of the Blue Ridge Tourist region is promoting the entire mountain area—not just the southwestern end of the State. The Chamber of Commerce in Asheville, in a recent press release, being sent far and wide over the country, not only extols the attractions of the so-called "Land of the Sky," but features Horn in the West, Blowing Rock and Tweetsie, along with generous treatment of Grandfather Mountain, Linvllle Caverns, and other (joints of MM terest in the Boone-Blowing Rock, Linvilte ' scenic triangle area. This is good news, and Northwestern North Carolina is bound to reap a tourist harvest from the Aaheville promotion. It follows that the Blowing Rock area will, in turn, help the southwest and itself too, by promoting the entire area. / In this day of high speed roads, and rapid transportation, folks don't stay in one resort overly long, like they did when it took days to get ,to the mountain top from a distance of two or three hundred miles. Many vacationists now cover hundreds of miles in a week or two week period. Such-folks, when they come to Boone are apt to mosey on down the Parkway to the Asheville country, meeting those who are traveling north from Buncombe's capital. Continued complete cooperation and food wijl, such as now exists, between Car* otina's several mountain resort areas, is going to help everybody—a lot. ' "Fallacy Of The Road" Statistics are often dull but there 1j one traffic statistic that intrigues us. Stated simply K is: In 60 per cent of the fatal traffic accidents in North Carolina last year, one or more driver violations were reported. In almost any issue of this paper you are likely to find an "accident" story. It might read something like this: "Two persona were killed and another seriously injured in a two-car collision last night. ..." You read through looking for familiar names and then go to another story without further thought These "accident" stories have become a standard part of the newspaper not unlike the news pages, comic stripe and sports results. If you do give it a second thought, or if a friend is involved in a mishap, you feel helpless and humble as you wonder what unusual quirks of fate created the conditions which led to the "aecident." Perhaps you are wondering why the word "accidents" has been i* quotation marks here. It's because the word is a misnomer for the terrifying smash-up and collisions that occur every day on our highways. • Remember the statistic—in well over half of the fatal traffic accidents a driver violation was reported. How many of these crashes would have occurred had there been no violations committed? No one can know. But one can certainly say that the number would have been far less than it was. ' v A fatalistic attitude about traffic accidents only serves to complicate the traffic problem.- Traffic safety authorities have been hammering at this fallacy for years. "Accidents do not happen," they have been saying, "they are caused!" We suspect that the "what will happen, will happen" attitude is really a rationalization by selfish and lazy people—lazy physically, intellectually and morally. It is easier to say "po one can prevent an accident if it is going to happen," and thus justify all unsafe and illegal driving prac-. tices, than it is to bend every effort to prevent accidents. Throughout our land religious and civic forces are organizing a "moral mobilization" for traffic safety. .Its aim is to make the Bibift as much a guide for motorists as the driver's rule book. Unless the moral and intellectual climate of the road is strengthened we will go on wantonly killing innocents and kidding ourselves that we are without blame. "You Can't Hold Back The Dhwn" Christianity's achievements, so often taken (or granted in the modern world, are summarized in "You Can't Hold Back the Dawn," an Easter message of hope and courage by Dr. Clarence W. Hall in the April Reader's Digest. "Christianity," he writes, "is primarily a religion of the dawn—a religion that addreacd itself not to the dead past and its failures but to the vibrant future and its potentials." Do you think this faith has been a failure? he asks. Look at a few achievements: It has fought and won over slavery. It has shaken the systems of caste and class, and helped us toward whatever religious, social and political liberty we enjoy today. It gave sanctuary to education in the dark ages when culture otherwise would have died. It hu gone into every field of human distress. It haa brought prison reforms. It haa built hoapitala, orphanages, asylums. It has given the laboring man dignity, elevated womanhood, abolished infanticide. It is everlastingly at war with every < power that rides roughshod over human rights. Dr. Hall takes the title of his message from the conversation of a Christian Arab with whom he talked while waiting restlessly to attend a sunrise Raster service in Bethlehem "Never fear, my friend," said the man. "The day will eome. You can't hold back the dtwa." Dr. Hall la a former executive editor of the Christian Herald. He lives in Cos Cob, Connecticutt. .., ^ »• yf ALWAYS A TEMPTATION #lii By Paul BerdimUr ffpl , i Stretch's Sketches By "STRETCH" ROLLINS In The Knife & Fork League, A New Entry HEAVY ON THE GRAVY, Gertrude, and the Mine all around! That could be the ilogan of Boone's latest "meet 'a' eat" club, of which there are many. But the members of this one rate some sort of iward for sheer honesty ana forthrightness, because eating is the only accomplishment they lay any claims to. This may even be unique. They eat thick, white gravy, mostly, it seems. Some towns are just natually afflicted with "clubitis." They hold luncheon meetings, dinner meetings, and bctweenmeals - coffee - meetings (the ■(tier usually Deing lor commiueei wno muii report their recommendation* to the luncheon or dinner meeting.) They'll even hold a breakfast meeting if the lunch and dinner schedule gets crowded. The end result of all this could be the elimination of the kitchen from the home of the future. Just Join enough clubs and you don't have to eat at home at all. BUT TO GET BACK to the subject at hand. this new club is unique, as hint#d, in that it make* no pretense of promoting industry, enticing tourists, booming city beaulification, or sponsoring the preservation of anything at all, except maybe a man-sized appetite. The bond that holds its members together, the basis for their esprit dc corps, is a mutual fondness for white gravy. They call it "sawmill gravy" and their organization (what else?) "The Sawmill Gravy Club." Oh yes, they're organized, all right. With a PhD., no less, as president. This would be Dr. J. T. C. Wright, professor of mathematics at Appalachian College, who is the only officer. They dont even need a treasurer, as there are ~ no dues, no fees, no fines, and everybody picks up his own check. They all happen to eat lunch together at J. W. Williams' Gateway Restaurant, says Dr. Wright. Other members, "sawmill gravy" lovers all, aiy Ernest Sims, George Moretx, Dallas Hodges, Albert Mull ins, Archie Carroll, Raymond Jones, Ralph Stanberry, George Flowers, Lee Cox, and Joe Todd. HE DIDNT SAY whether or not the membership is dosed, but I wouldn't qualify, anyway. I'm a red gravy man, myself. From Early Democrat Files Sixty Yeart Ago April I, 1897. Work fin begun on the Dew Methodist Church, and the building will be pushed to completion as soon as possible. CapL Coffey and son Stuart returned last week from Caldwell and Burke with a nice drove of young cattle. Mr. J. P. Taylor of Elk Park, gave our office a call yesterday and said that the famous Blowing Rock Hotel would be open for guests this year early la May. Mr. Walter Gentry and Miss Bessie Hill, both of Jefferson, were anrried one day last week. We are sorry to hear that the town of Zionville has been afflicted with a fearful scourage of typhoid fever. Dr. Roby Blackburn and family, three of the family of A. Roten and four of the family of Mr. Thomas Greer are, and have bee% afflicted. General Wade Hampton is, reported to be ( very sick at Washington. The General is suffering with his wounded leg, and la near eighty years of age. The W. -J. Bryan stock is daily increasing In numbers. It la considered that Bryan is stronger today than he was last November. Corbett's father wagered and lost his livery stable on the fight. Thirty-Nine Yean Ago April «, ItlS. Superintendent B. B. Dougherty and Profeaaors Brown aad Hartaog of the Training School attended the clcaing exercises of the Cone school Friday evening. . . In this school Mr. Cooe supplements the county funds and the achool runs eight montha. ... Richard Searer, colored, died at the home of Rile Horton on the Winkler farm Monday. Work on the railroad la progressing nicely— in fact, the chief construction boaa, Mr. Ramey, U highly pleased with what has bean done. The team lone la now on the Winkler lands, and Mr. Wagner la anxioua to procure all the teama possible to rush the grading on to Boo|p Just aa loon as possible. . . . i Mr. Will Hayes and family left for the West only a few days ago, and on laat Monday Mr. Walter Carroll and family left for Dillon, Mont. Mrs. Bettie Hodges, relict of the late Holland Hodges, after a long Ulneaa, quietly paaaed to her reward at her home west of the village on Monday and the remains were laid to rest ia the Hines graveyard the following afternoon. . . Mr. Minton, the faithful Janitor at the Training School, was sick the greater part of last week The people of Blowing Rock have planned to meet at the Baptist Church nest Saturday for the purpose of praying for the soldiers. . . , Fifteen Year$ Ago April 2, 1942. , Funeral services were held at the Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church, Blowing Roek, Monday afternoon for Mr. W.L. Holshouser, pioneer merchant and citizen of Blowing Roek. Mr. I Holshouser died Sunday afternoon after three weeks of illness. ... He was stricken while on his way to church. . . . Mr. L. Bynum McNeill, aged 73 yean, former resident of Boone, died at his heme in the Rich Mountain section Monday evening of a heart ailment. Rev. V. R. Bradshaw of Hickory, retired Baptist minister, widely known throughout this area, died in a Hickory hospital last Wednesday, following a long illness. . . . Great Lakes, IU.—Charles T. Zimmerman, ST, of Boone, has enlisted in the U. S. Naval Reserve, and is now undergoing recruit training at the U. S. Naval Training Station here. Rev. Paid Townaend, former Methodist minister IB Boone, who is now a chaplain in the Navy, spoke briefly In chapel Tuesday Ha is on leave awitlng orders to report for active-duty aboard ship. ■ ■ " ;£■ • Thought for the Week From a worldy paint of view, there la take ae great aa that of being always KING STREET I V By ROB RIVERS CHECKERS .. MAN'S LAST CITADEL We have been in agreement that generally speaking women are cagier than men, and can truck along with the New York Times that they rate higher in efficiency, grack>u*/ess and charm than men ... It is also the opinion of the Times, says the Raleigh News & Observer, that women are not so hot at the game of checkers. . . . And since checkers has been good columning material heretofore, and since it plays, a vital part in the scheme of living along the street, we are interested in the dominance of men in the field of checkers and take the following from the News & Observer, which gives some of the whys and wherefores of checker playing a^between men and women: * I1** "In order to be really adept at a game, you need time, dedication and availability. The absorbing and fascinating game of checkers had its incubus in the old time bar-room and in the country store. Women didn't go to the saloons, and they went to the county stores and the general stores ostensibly to make definite purchases and to depart with all dispatch. . . . The game was simply not available. AND MEN ARE LAZIER . . PERHAPS "Too, men are probably inherently lazier than women, and men are probably given more to reflection. A woman can arrange her household affairs so that she may give an afternoon over to bridge, but she can't take an entire day from her binding duties to sit around a general store all day pondering subtle moves ten minutes in advance. . . . And the average woman is too fidgety to give the intricate game the complete concentration that success requires. THE SLIDING BUTTONS .. THEY DOMINATE ONE "The game is not to be played furtively," the Times and or the News and Observer continues, "in interludes between icing a cake, mopping a floor, or talking over a telephone. Like love, it is all-consuming. It is a domineering master, exacting a toll of many assiduous hours. It goes on and on, and it despises conversation and turns up its nose at refreshments. Even the spectators act as if they were silent mourners at a funeral. . . Since women got the vote they have got Everything from long pants to hangovers. Checkers is one remaining imperishable citadel for men. We doubt that the atomic age alters the situation one whit." JUST THE SAME it would be fun to see the wives of the checker players down the street try a hand at the game. ... In deference to thp distinguished commentators we wouldn't lay all our money on the rugged male champions of the squared-off board, if women were included In the competition. . . . And all would agree that the fairer sex would fancy-up the game.... The nail kegs and home-made boards would give tfay, no doubt, to a precisely-designed and lacquered board and to comfortable chairs. . . . And apt as not there would be bowls of nuts and other nibbling material available, a perking coffee pot nearby, and a break once in a while to catch up with the happenings. The feminine touch would brighten the game no end, we'd say, and toughen the competition too, apt as not. i ON THE HIGHWAY .. THE DEER TRIP GINGERLY Near Linville the other day, we noted two does and a spikehorn buck, saucily loping along on the shoulder of the highway, not caring too much for the stream of cars traveling both ways, and gracefully leaping into the woods, apparently by choice rather than from fright. Until the Department of Conservation and Development began the deer re-stocking program here a few years* ago, it had been perhaps a hundred years since a whitetailed deer could be seen in this area. Now they are commonplace, while there are doubtless more bears in Westerp North Carolina than when Harrison Aldridge shot and trapped the bruins by the dosen. THE DEMOCRAT .. SAYS HE READ THE FIRST ONE A. C. Miller, 79, tell* the Democrat that as a small boy, he read the first copy of the Watauga Democrat printed. . . D. B. Dougherty, late one of the publishers of the first edition to the home or Mr. Miller's parents at Beech Creek, while he was In the neighborhood, optioning some mining properties. %. . Mr. W. R. Miller subscribed for the paper, which has been in the family ever since. So This Is New York By NORTH CALLAHAN Mrs. Harriet Brock, an attractive, youngish lady, sat in the .Rainbow Room, 09 floor* above 9th Avenue, and lokad out over the city at twilight. It Was a beautiful sight, the seen* below being a myriad of*soft shadows and checkered lights which blinked and brightened aa the evening came on, fusing into the cc|orful panorama of nighttime in Manhattan. But all was not bright to Mrs. Brock. Her eye rested on a street intersection far down, where a small hotel Is located, and a lump came into her throat Hera, a few yean ago, her husband, a valorous FBI agent, was shot down from behind by a vicious criminal. Memories of him ware now dim but still poignant. He wanted her to be brave too. She fingered a picture in her pocket book, than took another look at K. Shown were her twa stalwart sons and standing proudly between them was J. Edgar Hoover who understood and appreciated. Again her world seemed bright With aD that la being written about the "hostess with the raottest," It is believed that a local woman hay the record for a soft answer to an Impertinent question. She wai Hying goodbye to a caller who had been especially curious about the family affairs of her hostess all evening, and Juat aa the visitor got to the door, she asked what was the income of the hueband of the house. Smiling sweetly, the hostess replied. "If you 11 forgive me for not anawering that, til forgive you for asking it." • A man here did what every Madtoon Avenue execigive he was working for secretly Breamed of doing—swap bis gray flannel suit for a checkered flannel shirt and head back to iltt boondocks to get tway from h all. His wife was an especially good cook. Together they would run a country inn, enJoy the skiing, the mountaina. and the qaiet. But thinga didn't quite work out that way. They Went but the man's reputation overtook him and again he was besieged with order* for his art work. He built a studio on the wing of hla house, did hla work there, and New York executive* atarted coming ap lor the weak-ends, bat paying for the room and board and refreshing country atmocphere, as well aa the ait wWt-_ Now the nan caa tafce things -asier, mainly fix hi* own (Cm tinued on page seven)
Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.)
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April 4, 1957, edition 1
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