North Carolina Newspapers

jDEMOCRAT THURSDAY BY RIVERS PRINTING COMPANY R. C. Kivna, JE, PUBLISHER l Independent Weekly Newspaper hi 1888. Published for 48 year, by the late Robert C. Rivera, Sr. M SUBSCRIPTION RATES County: One yen, 82.80; lis month ? 8180; four month*, $1.00. Outslda Watauga One year, 8800; six months. $1.78; lour months, $1.38. 'i OLd*:E ZSUBZn ' !??&?""" du"W 11 u Important to J Entered at the poetofflee at Boom, N. C., as ?eco nd class bmU matter, under the art of I of March 8. 1878. ?The bads of our imruMt hetag the opinio u ef tfcr people, the vary first objective shorfd to to keep that right, and Were R left to mt to decide whether we shootd have a government with ; newspapers, or aeeqMpu.li wtthaa*. government, I should no# hesitate a moment to rhooeo ' latter. But (should mean that every man should receive these papers and be capable of BOONE, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 1960 New Air Speed Only a few years ago they acid It couldn't be done ? that flying was too much against the natural laws to be tuccessfully consummated by van. Gravity, resistance of the air, plus "it was fixed to"* only the Mrds coold do it," were cited as reasons why man had just as well quit toying with the notion of sailing around in the ether. But, like all prophets of the status quo, these were wrong, and just how wrong is shown in the fact that a test pilot has recently flown a rocket plane taster than any human has ever moved before ? 2,150 miles per hour. Joe Walker rocketed to this unbe I lievable speed to a shallow two-mile dive from 78,000 feet, and dropped down for a safe landing oa the mlles> long saltbed runways of Edwards Air Force Base, CsMlsrato. Man's quest of fatting there faster, it would seem, has just about reached its apex. In his first effort to get off his feet, he perhaps rode a beast, later a crude sled helped, but when his tools and his genius finally resulted in his slicing slabs from the ends of a log, boring ? hole near the center and fash ioning a crude wagon, he was on the way. The machine age has been geared to the wheel. The motor car, the air plane, the trains, all date back to the invention of the wheel. We uaed to hear a lot in the old day* of express trains which managed a milo a minute, and when automobiles were devised which could go that fast where road conditions permitted, we thought we had reached the acme in transpor tation. Later one could travel 100 mile? an hour in a plywood, canvass-covered eirplane and aviation-minded men were saying we could some day travel with the sun across the country. In mak ing 2, ISO per hour, pilot Walker has shown that the age of speed is yet in its beginning, and thus the size of the world has been so constricted that we can't get away from world-wide prob lems, and their lethal dangers. But man has always looked toward the horizon and wanted to go. Out of his dreams came powered travel and a new world of pleasure and of peril. Death Toll Runs High Watauga had more than her share of violent deaths within th? past few days. Three lost their lives when a citizen slew twa, and than ended his own life, to bring sorrow in their neighborhood and in the county at large. We extend our sympathies to these people who hava been ao aorely atuiftan.- f Two residents of Welcome wQmWSnt when their car waa struck by a gravel truck which had evidently gone out of control near the Wiikes county line, be ing the first fatal highway accident in the county for more than a year. It is particularly aad that these visitors to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain* became casualties of the age of speed. - Man's inhumanity to man, however, is never ao plainly seen as when vio lence stalks peaceful neighborhoods, when a man strikes down his neighbor, or when there is tangled metal and broken bodies on the pavement. In other words such occurrences seem to bring uncommon excitement and almost joy to some people. A man of the cloth who had stopped were the travelers were killed, and offered the rites of his faith, marveled at the curiosity which attended thq gruesome accident. Motorists stopped and tried to get pictures of the bodies ? for what, it would be hard to say, and lingered when it was apparent they could offer no aid. The recounting of the violent deaths which occur, and for which We are grieved, are part and parcel of the news of the county and must be faithfully re ported, but the evident relish with which so many people delve into the gory details of these tragic events, re veals a sinister quirk in human nature. Profit From The Civil War We've had a notion that the Civil War should be concluded, and that the wearing of replicas of the grap caps of (tie Legions of Lee and the waving of Confederate flags have done little for us in the councils of the political parties. May have hurt. This is not to say that we are any less Southern in many basic beliefs than were our ancestors, or that we have strayed away from some of the funda mental teachings. It's just that the Civil War didn't pay off and won't now. Or that is what we thought until thi* business of collecting Civil War relics came into being. Appropriately enough the business of hunting relics on old battlefields starte 1 in Richnond, when N. E. Warriner one day found n cannon bell, and thus was born a new industry out of the misery and travail of oar country's most vicious baptism of blood and tears. Like prospecting for metals, relic hunting is already competitive, we learn, I and those who engage in the activity arc i! without honor, Mr. Warriner says. As In the days of the fabulous finds of gold and silver in the old west, if one tells of where be found something which was left by a bluecoat or a John ny Reb nearly a hundred years ago, others in the business will strip his "hot spot" down to the bedrock. Minnie balls, uniform buckles, but tons, swords, pistols, cannon balls, and the supreme treasure ? cannon, are being sought. Natives of Dixie will be pleased to* know that a Confederate buckle brings $65, compared to $2.50 for a Union buckle. Richmond is the relic hunter's capital, since many battles of the Civil War were fought nearby. However, the newest col lecting fad will spread and apt as not somebody will come up with some of the leavings of General Stoneman't foray into Boone and environs one of these days, to enhance local history and provide collector's items. - Trees (Ashcvllle Citizen) It is apparent, looking around you and comparing what you see with what you remember about past years, that trees are indeed a part of vanishing Ameri i <*??? The forests are still there, true, but what we're talking about are just plain, garden variety residential trees ? the kind that shade an over-heated lawn mower or that abed leaves for you to fSS rake in October. It seems that a lot of folks, when they get a lot for a new house, launch into let -themselves get talked into? .<> ' 'HUSKS having the trees knocked down right away. ' \ We grant it's easier, and we wouldn't stand four-square for building a house so that a tree rises to its lofty grandeur right through the living room. But our contention is that a little extra planning will save most of 'em for you and your kids to enjoy. It's hard to put a price on ? full grown tree. You can buy a replacement but only time can bring it into its own. And goodness knows, we're all running short of time. * ' MIS m mm> ?V>., mM Poor StartBAt Being His Own Boss -- SOME LOCAL HISTORICAL SKETCHES From Early Democrat Files Sixty Years Ago AagMt ?, ltOt. Mercury registered at 92 in the shade at the Blackburn House yesterday Aunt Laura Lenoir, one of our afed and beat colored women, died in Boone a few daya ago. Attorney E. S. Coffey ia push ing the work on hia new residence, and when completed, it ia aaid, will be the beat in the county. Mr. 0. J. Hawkins of Caldwell la erecting a neat residence near the Academy building. Dr. M. C. Boyden, dentist, of Baltimore, will be in Boone on the 10th inst. Dental work respect fully solicited The school opened here Monday with flattering prospects, there being a larger attendance than waa expected. There are now about liS boarders in. Good. . Mr. and Mra. W. H. Gentry of Jefferson are guests of their daughter, Mrs. Nathan Horton. Judge Councill will open his first term of court at Smithfield, Johnson county, on the last Mon day in this month. From the Tennessee Tomahawk: Robert C. Rivers, editor and prop rietor of the Watauga Democrat, Published in Boone, N. C. waa in the city Wednesday and gave us a business call. We found him to be a sociable and pleasant gentle man and it ia due him to say that he ia getting out a splendid coun try paper notwithstanding his Democracy. Hon. J. F. Spainhour of MOrgan ton, who waa elected to the Legis lature from Burke county by a majority of 376 votes, was in town Monday and Tuesday. Thirty-Nine Years Ago August 11, 1M1 The schools of the county are now practically all in session, and County Superintendent Smith Hagaman says the attendance is unusually fine. The Boone Fork Lumber Co. put a crew of hands to work in the trackage of tkeir lumber road from near the Winkler siding, back of the Rich Mountain Tues day. They are getting everything in readiness for the re-starting of the big operation at Shulls Mills which Mr. Gilley hopes will not be farther in the future than ten days or two weeks. Mr. M. E. Towson of Lynchburg, Va. and Mr. N. C. Parsons of Ab ingdon, both Knights of the grip, were among our merchants Satur day, soliciting orders for their re spective houses. They were of the opinion that Boone was fuller of activities in many lines than any small town they had visited. In fact, Mr. Towson suggested that the name of this metropolis be changed to Boom Town. A cut of approximately SO per cent in the price of all candy from gumdrops to bonbons was an nounced by a chain candy store company, following a general agi tation against high prices of these and other commodities. Last Monday the directors of the Peoples Bank k Trust Co. held a meeting in the bank building, the main idea of the meeting be ing to transact business looking to the erection of their new brick building on the Lovill corner. It is hoped the building can be oc cupied by late fall or early win ter. Just One Thing ay CARL GOERCH Ronald Mumford, hotel man who I* now a big shot in the Robert Meyer hotels, was at one time president of the corporation which operates the Governor Clinton Ho tel in' New York. 1 was in Now York some time ago while Roland was there; so I went around to pay him a visit "I'd like to see Mr. Mumford please." I told one of the young ladies in the outer office. 'Tm sorry, sir, but Mr. Mum ford it in aa important conference aad won't Ito out for about an hour." "I don't believe I can wait that long. Just toll him I dropped in, will you please?" "What Is the name?" "Hodges. Tm Governor of North Carolina." The young lady gasped. Tw? or three other ladies, siting In. the immediate vicinity, swung around In their chairs and Marad. "Just a moment. Governor," said the first one. "Ill tell Mr. Mumford you ara here." She daahed Into a? offke dost by. The door was opao and I could hear Mumlord's voice plainly. "Who did you say? . f . The Governor at North Catalina? . . . Governor, hell! It's elAar Elvey Thomas, George White, ar Cad Goerch. Whichever one If is, teA him to sit down and 111 be out in Just a minute." The girl delivered the message with a hurt expression upon her countenanw. Mr. S. G. Winatoad is a well known resident of Roxboro. Used to ha mayor af the town. Mr. Win AFTER ANOTHER (tead attended old Trinity (now Duke) College. He i? the father of eight chil dren. When the first child was ready to enter college, Mr. Win stead said: "What college do you prefer?" And the answer was "Carolina." So he went to Carolina. When the second child got ready to go to college, Mr. Winstead asked the same question, and again the answer was "Carolina." Mr. Winstead sighed, but he acquiesced. The same thing happened with the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh children. AH of them went to Carolina. And last week the eighth child graduated ? also at Carolina. Of course, Mr. Winstead 1* mighty praud of his eight children, but h* ateo it still mighty proud of Trinity aad Duke alto. Gewral Albart Cox, <rf Washing tM, ft C? formerly of Raleigh, ra. turaed rwently from a trip over tea* He apent" tome time in Lon doa and found thrft the people in that city were greatly interested in 4ac raaat There are a number of tracks in an* around London. Albert awarded one of the races. He- di<tn't know anything about the Mia, but when he looked at hia program, he taw that aae of them waa named "White's Creamery." Albert thought of his old friend, Georce L. H. White in Raleigh. He Imme<f1ately placed a bet on "White's Creamery" for sentiment al reasons. The dog won in a walk, and Albert took in a nice little winning. P i Fifteen Year* Ago August ?, IMS. A special meeting of Watauga Port American Legion will be held at the Legion hut Friday evening at 8:30 (or the purpoie of initiating plans for the construc tion of a war memorial, honoring those who have served their coun try from this county in both world wars, it is announced by Com mander H. S. Steelman. Mr. Steel man asks that the Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, Merchants Association, ministers of the coun ty. members of women's clubs and any other organization interested be present for the meeting. An administrative conference for the teachers of the county is to be held in the auditorium of Appalachian High School Wednes day, August 13 at 0:30 a. m. it la stated by County Superintendent 8. 9. Horton. Dr. Henry High smlth and Miss Hattie S. Parrott of the division of instructional ser vice will direct the conference. Mr. J. Paul Winkler, who has recently resided at Newport News, Va. has purchased an interest in the Watauga Insurance Agency here, and is now in the office to render a more complete service to the patrons of the concern. Pfc. Paul T. Swift of Beech Creek, was killed in action in France on July 19, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Swift have been advised by the office of the Adjutant General of the Army. It Seems To Me . . By RACHEL RIVERS Because it is late summer, and the nights are beginning to cool off somewhat, you may find your self seated beside a blazing camp fire, laughing with your friends over a cup of coffee. If you do, then you may amble into the age old habit of communicating mys terious, weird stories ? just to add to the depth of a moody moonlit darkness. And so I told my tale ? one which I cannot verify: About eleven years ago at ? University, an experiment was be ing run to determine whether or not four of the top mediums (those who can call spirits into the pres ent, good or evil) in the country could produce the Headless Horse man, ? legend once told that in spired George Washington Irving ' to pen, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." It is understood to t? ose of the "spirits' ways" that the pig is an evil animal, an animal of the Devil, and mostly because It is said in the Bible. The men were seated in a room much like a bank vault The walls were of metal four feet thick. Inside the walls were white and a table and four chairs were placed there for convenience's sake. The mediums were to have one and one-half hours and then the doors would be opened to see what had happened. From the out side, nothing could be heard for even the ventilating system was sound proofed. ? When the given time expired, the huge door was opened. The walls were covered with hoof prints, the sound of ? galloping horse was heard, the stench of a pig was unbelievable, and the four mediums lay there trampled to death by a horse. We poured the coffee out, mounted our horses, and went home. "H KING STREET By ROB RIVERS. About A Spreading Tree . . They Speculated When the work of grading the Rivers corner got under way some time back, preparatory to the construction of a market thereon, there was a good deal of speculation up and down the street as to whether we'd let the huge sugar maple, which has been a landmark for generations, go the way of all the other old trees along the Street, and be carted away to the city dump for its deadened trunk and limbs to rot awav In the sunshine and the rains and the snows of the multiplying years. . . . And when tree removal stopped short of the maple, and a circular brick well was erected to keep the dirt away from the aged trunk, a lot of people came by to sav how glad they are that the tree will continue to deal kindly wfth the traveler in the heat of summer, and battle for its life against winter's gales. . . . And never is there a day that doesn't bring inquiries as to how old the tree is, who planted it, and reckon how long it will last. About the year 1867, the late Bob Rivers, then six years old, was playing, he said, with some colored boys on a hillside, when one of his plavmates pulled up a tiny maple seedling. ... It was brought to the Rivers home, where Doctor J. G. Rivers promised the lads to help them set it out. . . . Being busv, however, the tree laid in the creek for a week or so, before young Bob watched his daddy plant the saoling in the damn rich soil near what used to be called middle branch. ... So the age of the old tree, from the time the winged seed sprouted, is running close to the century mark. In its growing davs there was plentv of room, and nothing was done to prevent the spread of its limbs in all directions. . . . Crowded bv buildings, and paving, it has lost some of its limbs through the years, but still is.a magnificent tree, with prospects of being around for a long time. . . . When the Democrat office stood below street level under the shade of the maple, it was a gathering nlace in summertime for those who came to confer with Bob Rivers about civic matters, about an ad in the paper, or about politics, and Senators, Governors. Coneresmen, Sheriffs, Representatives, county officials and Justices of the Peace, of all political persuasions have stooped under its kindlv branches to settle the prob lems of the countv. State and nation. ... It was big and strong when the first automobile chugged uncertainly along | the street, and when the Wrights made their first flight down at Kitty Hawk. ... It sheltered the laded beasts when the carriages and the fringed surries or ought the wealthy to the countv in another century, and was experiencing a lustv growth in the davs of reconstruction when the South, while not dving, wasn't gaining much in its race for survival. We're happy that when there was talk around town that the old tree was going, most folks vowed we'd never stand for the abolition of such a magnificient contribution to the beauty of this section of the Street . . and they were right. . . . So the manle w*H be he" right along, leaning a mite awav from the prevailing wind like it always did, but still in fair vigor. The last of the Street's huge locusts which stood on the iwtiw of the some W had to go. . . . Ravaged bv age. hollow and with a shaky hold on the soil, it couldn't be saved. * * ? ? Other Noted Treeg . . Some Remain We recall other trees, like the Daniel Boone Oak. which if living would be right in Faculty Street between the Bus Station and the football stadium. . . . Ixical "ost card racks used to include one with a lithograph of the old oak. The buckhorn tree which stood near the home of Mrs. A. E. Hambv has long since been cut down. ... It was named because of a deer antler which had been fastened to its trunk and which had been swallowed by the growing wood. The old maple on Blowing Rock Road near the present south entrance to the College campus used to mark the city limits on that side of town. The old Moretz oak on Queen Street near where the old Masonic Hall stood, vet stands. Hollow and burned out, it still comes forth in full foliage, like an old man, making a game try when he knows his time is near. All the bi? cherrv trees which used to line the street a?-e gone. . . . The asoen on the court house lot grew from a ridinc switch st?ok in ?K? ground bv the late John W. Hodges when he was high sheriff more than half a century ago. Uncle Pinkney (McKnifht Syndicate) Fer yean the mail man has been stuffing my box full of pamphlet!, circulars, and junk from the farm agencies, agri culture departments and other folks that thinks a farmer or rancher ain't got nothing to do but read. I've had to git me a bigger mail box twict in the last 20 years to handle this stuff and it looks like the last on* I got is gitting too small. But I ain't in vesting in another one. I'm going to leave the mail man a note and tell him to pile the surplus up alongside the post and put a big rock on it. I don't want it blow ing over on my neighbor and maybe poisoning his stock. But anyhow, in one of them pamphlets I got last week it was announced that elephants was gitting scarce. The piece said that in a few more year the ele phant, like the American buf falo, would be about gone. Just what elephants has got to do with agriculture, I aint shore, but it's nice fer them agriculture folks to warn us about it. We was talking about it at the country store Saturday night and all the fellers was mighty grate ful to the Guvemment fer notify ing us about the matter. One fel ler said it made him feel like paying up his back taxe* so's they could keep gitting out them pam phlets Ed Doolittle allowed as hew they wasnt nothing that at HIS P At AV ARM'S traded attention at the circui like a elephant. Fer instant, said Ed, when a half-naked firl was riding a elephant they'd be at least a dozen out of 5,000 that would look at the elephant. But put the same girl on a white horse and they wouldn't be one in the 5,000 that could tell you two minutes later what color the horse wa*. Elephants is foing to be missed and all the fellers agreed that this item from the agriculture folka was mighty important news. From elephants the fellers nat urally got to talking about the hot weather. Zeke Grubfc said it got so hot at his pUce here awhile back that the scare crow he'd put out left the corn field to set in the shade. He allowed as how next summer he aimed to rig up his scare crow in a bathing suit. Nobody gits mead of Ed Doollttl* in these matters, so Ed had to tell us about the time when he was a boy it got to hot they had a square rain bow on account of it (fitting warped from the heat. I left on that one, figgering that, sooner or later the fellers would git to lying. I aee when a Englishman that was visiting us when Congress was in win has wrate that be was shocked at how little dicnlty they had. He ain't saw nothing till he catches one of 'em back I, - ? 1. ? L|a - _ ,M| ,| nonre icning aoouc nis rccora.