NORTH CAROLINA. THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1959
lit* Robert C. Riven, Sr.
91.00. OuUtd* Watauga
to mention tb?
tb? art o( Concren
i "Come Back In October"
Ralph Tugtnan, whose genius and ca
pacity aj a promoter, is only exceeded
by hi? love fqr his native hill country
and his teal for the welfare of all the
people of the Holiday Highlands, Is pro
moting something new this week.
As the Vacation Section of the Dem
ocrat, which he initiated this year, and
which has met with such widespread
favor in the days of its infancy, reaches
the last two weeks of Its current run.
Mr. Tugman is promoting the "come
back in October" theme, in an effort to
stimulate travel in the golden days of
October.
The publicity is going out to the var
ious newsstands which handle the Dem
ocrat all along the crest of the Blue
Ridge in these last issues, in an effort
to bring to the attention of the summer
residents the desirability of coming back
to the highlands later on.
All through the years the Democrat
has plugged for a lengthened tourist
season, which to a degree, certainly, is
prevented by the opening of the schools
in September. But now with good roads
and iwift travel, long week ends may
be enjoyed in the glorious days of
autumn by the residents of ? wide area
of the country.
Nearly two hundred miles of the Park
way are now open to travelers, good
State and National highways reach out
in different directions, and we'd be the
the first to agree with Mr. Tugman that
the fall tourists season is certainly
worth promoting.
We hope that our visitors, whom we
have enjoyed so much in this area, will
heed our suggestion and come back
in October to get a different look of
the hill country, when she's all decked
out for company.
We'll be looking for you when the
emerald fronds have been stained with
both subdued and livid colors and when
there's a warning of wintertime in the
nippy haziness of autumn. Its a post
summer journey into nature's fairyland
one's not apt to forget.
Labor Day Well Observed
Labor Day can be variously defined
ai: the end of summer; the beginning
of the school year; a national traffic
jam; or simply an excuse for a long
week end away from the officfe.
But the founder of the holiday, Peter
J. McGuire, conceived it as a tribute to
"the industrial spirit, the great vital
force of every nation." ~
In 1882, McGuire ? a leader in the
Knights of Labor ? proposed that a day
be set aside to honor the working man.
He suggested the first Monday in Sep
tember, since it came almost midway
between Independence Day and Thanks
giving Day.
The Central Labor Union of New York
adopted his proposal and held the first
' Labor Day celebration on September 5th.
As McGuire had suggested, the union
paraded through the streets of Man
hattan, to (how the strength and spirit
of trade and labor organizations.
Shortly after, the Knights of Labor
voted for an annual celebration. In
1884, the Federation of Organized
Trades and Labor Unions of the United
States and Canada ? predecessor of, the
American Federation of Labor ? voted to
make the celebration national.
The first state to make Labor Day
a legal holiday was Oregon, in 1887,
according to The World Book Encyclo
pedia. The legislatures of Colorado,
Massachusetts, New Jersey and New
York quickly followed suit and, in 1894,
Congress made Labor Day a national
holiday.
Labor Day now ranks with Independ
ence Day, Washington's Birthday and
Thanksgiving Day as the most generally
celebrated holidays in the U. S.
X-Rays Available
Watauga county people are again
urged by the Alleghany-Ashe-Watauga
Tuberculoid Association to take advant
age of the free chest x-ray clinic being
conducted in the county.
These clinics started last week and
are being held in the different sections
of the county for the convenience of the
citizenry.
The mobile unit will be on King Street
in Boone through September 3, on Sep
tember 4 the facilities will be made avail
able to the State Prison Camp 7:30 to
9 a. m.; at Cove Creek Elementary
School the same day 10 a. m. to 3 p. m.
and all day September 5; Main Street,
Blowing Rock, September 2-S, and Ap
palachian State Teachers College Sep
tember 8-10.
Where hours are not mentioned the
units are open 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. No
x-rays are taken on Sundays and Mon
days.
Once a year this service is provided
for the people of the county, and all
those 16 yean of age and older are asked
to take advantage of this special serv
ice. If chest disorders do not exist, well
and good. If there is trouble, early de
tection, in most cases, can result in
complete recovery, it is said.
Citizens are reminded that plans
should be made now for the chest x
rays. Only a few seconds are required
and no clothing needs to be removed.
Until recent years tuberculosis, once
referred to as consumption, or the great
white plague was regarded as the most
ruthless killer, md one whose inroads
could not be curbed. Due to the ad
vances in public health and in medical
sciences, tuberculosis may now be de
tected in time to effect a cure.
Those who are giving so much of their
time and effort to the development of
better health again insist on a complete
x-ray picture of the people of the coun
ty, to the end that tuberculosis and its
lethal impact may to a considerable
degree be banished from our midst.
'Dieting' Cures The Blues
(Montreal Star)
a i a nignway service station last
week I ran into a fellow I had not seen
since the war. He used to be one of the
gloomiest, grouchiest of men
If he had no troubles of his own he
was always ready to take on the world's
troubles. He was not exactly a pessimist.
He was a sourpuss.
j But here, waiting in the service sta
tion while the boys replaced a burnt out
bearing in his car, was my old ac
[ ? quaintance as cheery and cordial as the
chairman of a membership committee.
So friendly was our meeting that we
went in my car down the highway a
piece for lunch together. And naturally,
I commented on his changed disposition.
"Well, sir," be said. "1 dieted."
"I always figured you had eaten some
thing that disagreed with you," I con
fesaed.ljMjP
I don t mean that una ot aiei, ne
replied. "I dieted my mind. I've been
watching my women folk dieting for
years. If their-clothes get tight on them,
they diet a few day*, ana everything
eases up. So one day I got to thinking
maybe a person could get in the head.
Maybe my trouble was my thoughts were
getting too tight for me. So I went on
a diet. A mental diet. I quit thinking
my usual thoughts and reading the usual
books and magaxinM- I chose my
thoughts and my reading as particularly
as I saw the womenfolk choosing their
calories. I read a number of books I
didn't want to read, just the way the
gals ate things they didn't want to eat.
By golly, it worked wonders. Now when
ever I get down in' the dumps, I go on
a mental diet. Try It, some time.
It sound* salubrious.
Capitol Hill Run-Down
BETTER GRAMMARIANS NEEDED
Ancient Newsmen Probed Phrases
By BILLY ARTHUB
Close reading of newspapers and
attentive listening to radio and
television bave convinced me of
an acute need (or more grammar
guardians to help Louis Graves and
the late Joseph Pearson Caldwell
police the English language as
used.
Not that they might improve our
writing and speaking but they car
tainly would deter its further de
terioration.
As editor of the CharMte Ob
server, Caldwell, tor instance, In
1900 was critical of the Raleigh
News and Observer for identifying
? person as being "of near Ra
leigh. He could as easily be said
to be 'of considerable distance
from Fayettville' or 'of reasonably
cIom to Durham.'"
Likewise, Caldwall maintained
that one could "happen to an ac
cident" Just a* easily as "an ac
cident happen to one." Until his
death Caldwell's close scrutiny of
writing and speaking kept press
and public speakers alert.
Knowingly or unknowingly, In
later years the Chapel Hill Weekly
and Louis Graves have done that,
too. And, as pointed out by the
Asheville Citizen, "the Weekly Is
no stranger to intellectual horse
play."
Among its peeves has been the
phrase "message of interest." The
Weekly pondered If "there was
ever a phnse that had less truth
in it" and bemoaned the fact that
it has come to mean "a stream of
dull boasting about a soap, a per
fume, a patent medicine, or some
other commodity."
Graves and the Greensboro Daily
News tackled Phillips Russell, also
of Chapel Hill, for using the word
"recipe" to mean a cooking con
coction. Graves held out for "re
ceipt," maintaining that the other
applied to a medical preparation.
The Dally News, admitting that
both were Joining a "dwindling
rear guard," preferred "receipt"
but said it used "recipe" because
"our typewriter persists in making
the other one recipet."
The Weekly also took off against
too frequent use of "swell" and
"terrific" in meaning excellent,
saying that "there has been enough
use of it tor one generation."
It also became "satgiated with
the word outstanding; another is
service aa used by unctious public
speakers of the stuffed-shirt breed; '
another is sell in the sense of per
suade." '
Graves said, "I cannot quite
make up my mind what single word
I like best of all, but I'm pretty
certain what three words in com
bination are sweetest to my ears.
These are the words, uttered by
our faithful eggs, bacon and waf
fle-cooker, that come floating from
the hall to the bedroom in the
morning: 'Breakfast is ready., "
Personally, I always thought the
sweetest three words were: "En
closed find check."
Grave* wa? more emphatic after
visiting ? new home economies de
partments and being shown the
"foods laboratory . . . These educa
tors can't keep from calling plain
things by fancy names. No matter
what they say 111 be damned if
I'm going to call a swimming pool
a natatorium or a kitchen a foods
laboratory."
The Charlotte Observer under
Caldwell, while hounding some
public speakers, defended eussing,
especially that used by "Mr. E. L.
Kessler who cussed because he has
utilitarian methods. He Is a busi
ness man to the backbone and al
ways tries to use the right words
in the right place; and he cussed
in the convention because cussiag
was the only way he could express
his feelings and his hearers there
by could understand what he
m?fat. Such curing must ever be
eoadoned. A century ago cussing In
pollU society was in vogue, but
nowadays men above a certain
social strata cuss only for neces
sary purposes. An exception to the
rule is a born cusser. There is
one In town, a cultured, charming
gentleman who has the cussing
habit to the extent of puncturing
immaterial with a damn after the
first 4."
Were it not for editors as Cald
well and Graves, today's reading
and listening probably would be
worse than it is. Perish the thought.
SOME LOCAL HISTORICAL SKETCHES
From Early Democrat Files
Sixty Years Ago
August 24, ISM
The first session of Watauga
Academy opens Tuesday, Septem
ber 9th.
J. C. McGhee Is preparing to
burn a large kiln of brick near
town.
Hiss Mary E. Hine has been
quite sick, but we are glad to note
she Is somewhat improved.
Assistant District Attorney
Blackburn of Winston, was in
town Tuesday. He is spending a
few days recreating at Blowing
Rock.
W. D. Clarke of Blowing Rock
informs us that the crowd there
is the largest ever known.
Mrs. Annie Council! and little
daughter, Lucy, and Mrs. O. N.
Folk, all of Lenoir, arc spending
a few days with relative* and
friends ia Boone.
That proverbial "didn't know it
was loaded" gun in the hands of
John Grimes, colored, discharged
itself and in consequence he has a
badly mutilated finger.
Don't fail to investigate the
merits of Watauga Academy if you
have a boy or girl to put in school.
Beyond question they cannot be
surpasaed in all thia mountain sec
tion. The teaching in every depart
ment will be perfect, the morale of
the community good and the board
low. What more can you ask?
Jama* Williams, who is langu lett
ing in the county jail for toting
? gun, remains la a critical condi
tion. Hia convulsions and hem
orrhages continue, and grow ia
their violence. Hia physician, Dr.
Council), ia now endeavoring,
through Solicitor Harahaw, to have
him released and we hope he may
succeed, as the prisoaer's condition
I* very pitiful ladaad.
Thirty-Nine Yean Ago
Aagn^t 26, lKt
The JUdcllffe Chatauqua of
Washington, D. C. in Boone Sep
tember 17, 18, 20.
Mrs. J. L. Carrickhoff of Lexing
ton^ with her sister-in-law, Miss
Virginia Carrickhoff, left for their
home Tuesday after a few weeks
stay at the Critcher Hotel.
Rev. John Norris, residing one
mile west of the village, sold his
farm to Mr. Chas. Greer of Cove
Creek, the consideration being
<6,900. A few years ago the same
farm sold for $1,000.
Mr. Thomas Elrod, son of the
late John Elrod, died at the home
of his nephew, Mr. Lloyd Cottrell,
on Route 1, early Monday morning.
Mr. Elrod was a quiet, unassuming
citlaen, was never married and
was more than sixty-five yean of
age.
It seems that the road work in
Watauga county is over for the
present, however, the matter will
be taken up by the board of county
commissioners at its September
meeting, at which time it la hoped
that money sufficient for the eight
mile link of the Boone Trail High
way will be provided. Should this
fail, better it would have been if
we had never begun road con
struction In the county.
Mr. Lawrence of Statesville is in
the county putting up silo* for the
farmers.
Mrs. J. ?. McGhee, whose lllnee*
we have mentioned from time to
time, died of peritonitis la a John
son City Hospital last rrtday. The
body was brought home the follow
ing evening and interment was in
the Brown cemetery near her
girlhood home Sunday in the pres
ence of a Urge concoune of sor
rowing relative* and frteada ? , ,
Fifteen Years Ago
August M, 1944
The infantile paralysis ban if
being lifted tod*v in Watauga
county, it if learne'. by the District
Health Department here, who acted
upon the advice of State health
officials before removing the quar
antine.
Funeral services for Bertha Mae
Killian, who died in Richard Baker
hospital, Hickory, early Wednes
day of laft week, were held at
Sard is Baptist Church. Hudson, at
11 o'clock Friday morning. Burial
followed in Antioch cemetery in
Alexander county.
Mr. and Mrs Crater Marsh of
Boone received Information Tues
day that a son, Pfc. John D. Marsh,
kaa been ferioufly wounded in
France on Auguat 7th. The War
Department message gave no fur
ther details.
Ben. S. Dugger, who was pro
preitor of ? the Elk Park Hotel,
which waa destroyed by fire this
spring, for a number of yean, haf
bought the large Ledford reti
dence, and if having it remodeled
extensively for use as a new Elk
Park Hotel.
Mr. J. E. Baker, preaident of the
Baker-Commack Hosiery Mills of
Burlington, waf in town laft week
?nd told the Itemocrat that the
?ntire facilities of the Boone mill
wtfre being turned into war produc
tion for the remainder of the year.
Pvt. James Archie Holder waa
killed in Italy on June 5, according
to ? War Department message re
ceived by his wife, the former Miff
Edith Allgood of Stony Fork . .
Pvt. Header's immediate survivors
are the widow and one little
daughter, Sandra Kay, who are
aow staking their home oa Stony
fWk.
KING STREET
By ROB RIVERS
Giant Vegetables . . They Grow Here
Watauga has long been noted for her tender, succulent
vegetables, which grow big and tender in the rich loamy coves
and along the productive strips of creek bottom. . . . Folks
are going in more for cattle and sheep in late years it seems,
than for row crops, but still cabbage and potatoes are grown
in abundance, and with Improved practices on the farm and
with better varieties, spuds reach punkin size sometimes. . . .
Mr. Charles A. Clay fetches this corner six potatoes, with a
combined weight of eight and one-half pounds, which created
considerable interest about the Democrat office, and which
have been given to people far and near to show what can be
done in the matter of producing food crops in the highlands.
... Mr. Clay says the potatoes which have provided him
with such a bumper yield are the Kennebeck variety, which
have proven popular since their introduction several years
ago. . . . One caller comments on having some seed of the
Early Rose, the long red potato which was the mainstay of
living in the hills a good many years ago. . . . Later the
Irish Cobbler and Green Mountain came in for their superior
yields, the mammoth Sequoia had its day, and now Kenne
becks and perhaps other varieties are shooting the per acre
yields to fantastic figures. . . . Mr. Clay also fetched us four
Big Boy hybrid tomatoes which weighed a total of four pounds
and two ounces. ... We appreciate Mr. Clay's kindness.
* L# _? ?
School Bells Ring . . Snail-Like Steps
This week marks the start of the schools in Boone and
the county, and the return of the teachers and the students
to the class rooms from which most of them have been absent
for three months. . . . The swim suits, the picnic baskets, and
other paraphernalia of carefree summertime are to give way
to study hall, homework, basketball, band, football, and all
the other activities of the expanded educational system. . ,
And most of the youngsters seem more or less anxious to get
back in the academic grove, or at least into the routine of
School activities. . . . The youngsters are being taught more
and more that school presents a challenge and an opportunity,
and at the same time a vehicle for moving into an area of
usefulness and of wholesome living in an age of wheels and
atoms and space probing and big business. . . . It's a happy
time, in which the maturer ones may witness and revel in
the sowing of the seeds of learning which will prepare our
youngsters for the grasping of the opportunities of their golden
tomorrows. . . . But some of the youngsters, like always,
plod slowly along the street, snail-like, hoping to be a smidgc
late for school, and wondering what could be so important as
to take a.lad of the hills away from the skies and the sunshine,
and the blossoms and the snows and all the other wonders for
so long a time. . . . And we've been a mite sympathetic when
we observe a fat little boy drinking in the joys of nature as
he tries not to get there in time. . . . It's like our looking into
a mirror and seeing ourself in the days of our childish
reticence and wonder and love for most everything, 'cept
school.
<. * * * *
The Grapevine . * It Supplies The Tales
One of the joys of.^ving in a small community, and at
times one of the vexations is that everyone knows everything
about everybody's business. . . . We've often marveled how
people could tell us about our own affairs, including whether
or not we had any cash, and if so, what we aimed to do with
it. . . . The accuracy of these reports sometimes intrigues. . . .
But we gathered one from the week end which was so far
afield, the best we could manage was a wry smile. ... A
grapevine which was rooted way down below our lovely blue
hills brought us the news that we were not only quittin' work,
but were in the process of selling our business, and that an
erstwhile friend of ours was coming to spark the thing . ; . .
Of course anyone who's observed the affinity of a Rivers
for a newspaper, or his love for Boone, or his willingness
to plow whatever profits accrtie into an improved product
and into civic enterprises, would know this tale is fabricated.
. . . But anyway, we feel impelled to state that we have no
notion of quitting, that the Democrat, or no portion thereof,
is available to anybody, and that we aim to keep plowing,
as Kerr Scott used to say, right down to the end of the row. . . .
But if wprd comes to you that we and the fine members of
our staff are busily engaged in plans for making the Democrat
bigger and better, and of more service to the town and country
and area, you may perk up your ears, for that will be the
hope-to-die truth.
Uncle Pinkney
(licKnlflbt St^cW, fffS PALAVERIN'S
DEAR MISTER EDITOR:
I see by the paper* where they
got a bank in New York built all
out of glass, doors, wall*, ever
thing out of glass. It'* gitting so
everybody want* to live in a
showcase but I never thought
them hard-rock bankers would
fall fer than new-fangled (tuff.
But they *ay some big city banks
ha* put in lunch counter* and
music, so I reckon the country
has finally gone to the dog* afore
the meek had a chanct to Inherit
it.
It used to be that when a fel
ler wanted to git a bank loan, he
could tneak in the bank, set with
the caahier behind a pertition or
?ome good boxe* and maybe git
it without the whole town know
ing about it. But with glas* bank*
coming in style, I reckon a fel
ler just a* well put it in the paper
if be git* a loan. And if he
don't git it, be ]u*t as well put
that in the paper too.
More'n likely, he didat git
it. Next to a ben trying to set
and a woman trying te marry
off her daughter, there ain't
nothing in this world as stub
born as a banker when you're
trying to git a loan. I recollect
onct when Zeke Tinker decided
tp trade his car eff far a station
wagon. Zeke figgered a station
wagon would make him look like
a agriculturist instead ef a farm
er. So he asks hi* hanker to let
him hare a thousand dollar* un
til h? got hi* crop* laid by. When
th^banker asked him what he
wanted with the money, Zeke
told him he wanted to add a
bathroom to hi* house. The bank
er lit into him something terrible.
Told him a* feller railed on fat
back and corn bread didn't need a
bath but onct t month and a good
creak had a bathroom teat two
to one fer luxury bathing. I
beard that Zeke got *o mad at
the banker he ain't took a bath
since.
I think the Congress ought to
(trikt off a medal far that col
umntst in the Chicago paper that
said he was gitting tired of them
Rusaian writers making smart re
marks about American wimmen.
He said he was too much of a
gentleman to answer back, that
if them Ruaaian* liked their wim
min raw-boned, bow-legged, big
footed, buck-toothed, loud mouth
ed, scatter brained, and with a
oversize rear axle, it was okey
with him.
And I aee where the income
tax department has announced
that 797,000 lets persons asked
fer help on their return* thi*
year than last. It shore ain't on
account of the forma gitting any J
simpler. I reckon it must cornel
from this "fix-it-yourself" craze V
that's (weeping the country.
Yours truly A
Untie PinkaejB