Weekly Newspaper Published for 49 years by the late SUBSCRIPTION RATES In Watauga County: One year, $3.90; six months, $1.90; four months, $1.00. Outside Watauga County: One year, $$.00; ata swaths, $1.75; lew meaths, $L2B 1% sales tax to be added on all North Carolina suhecrlptions. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS? In requesting change of address, tt is Important to Hon the OLD, as well as the NEW address. Entered at' the postofflee at Soone, N. C.. as second class nutter, undlf%e act of Congress of March 3, 1879. ^ mat iL MEMBER NATIONAL EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION NORTH CAROLINA PRESS ASSOCIATION 1 i fe issl 4-H Club Week When President Lincoln signed Into law a bill that eventually ted to the establishment of 08 land grant colleges and universities he hoped "to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life." Even though Lincoln was saddened by civil strife which was tearing the nation apart, he did envision a Unit ed States where higher education would be available to all. Would he be comforted to know that well over half a million students are enrolled in land-grant institu tions? Or that these educational e? stablishments also are the fountain head of agricultural, technological and scientific knowledge for the very young? For more than a half century, our land-grant universities and colleges have been "extending" such infor mation to 4-H Club members. Today more than 93,000 clubs, from Maine to California, are well into the 1942 program. The agency that directs 4-H work is the Cooperative Extension Service, an educational arm of the land grant system and the USD A. One of its functions is to supervise exten sion personnel and 4-H activities in some 3,000 counties involving 400, 000 volunteer adult leaders, and 2.3 million 4-H'ers between the ages of 10 and 21 years. As times have changed and popu lation shifted, so have the Extension Service and its 4-H program devoted to the fourfold development of boys and girls: Head, Heart, Hands and Health pledged to clearer thinking, greater loyalty, larger service and better living. This week (March 3-10) the entire nation joins in the celebration of National 4-H Club Week. President Kennedy has taken time to convey a special message to the 4-H'ers and plans to see a delegation in his White House office. Statesmen, bus iness and civic leaden, and parents will participate in local, Mate and national events to mark the week. And we have good reason to re . joice over our 4-H Clubs for they now have counterparts in at least 70 foreign countries. Mr. Lincoln would take great com fort in that fact alone, we think. His sombre countenance might even light up with one of his rare smiles if he could see the widttyiMd results of the stroke of his quill when he signed the land-grant bill a hundred years ago. Let us hope and pray that the land grant system will continue to flour ish unhampered, and the 4-H with | it, for the next 100 years. Entertaining The Danes The forty Danes who will come will be well received in the com munity, and local citizens and church groups are asking about having the visitors in their homes. Those in terested may get information by call ing M. L. Walters at the physical education department at the College. The Democrat is glad these vis itors are coming. Right when a dele gation from the state Is i? Europe trying to entice visitor*, we get a seitct group for free, so to speak. A Small town, with dvic pride, our churches, clubs and schools could each arrange some way in which to make a lasting impression on these splendid people. Doctor Walters and we would appreciate notions along this line. Girl Scout Week It isn t often that we receive a present at someone else's birthday party. But that's what is happening in Boone, thanks to the Girl Scouts. This week Girl Scouts of the U. S. A. are celebrating their 50th an niversary with the theme, "Honor the Past? Serve the Future." The present we're receiving? Along with very welcome service to individuals, to other organizations, and to the entire community, the Girl Scouts are giving us something even more important: the feeling that they are preparing to take over adult responsibilities, to maintain the good elements in our community life, and to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Happy birthday, Girl Scouts? and thank you! Tragedy From The Air Ninety-five people were killed lait Thursday when a Boeing 707 jet crashed while attempting a steep turn on the take off from Idlewild. This Yanks With the worst disast ers in the air-age history, and trav elers art already beginning to say that they won't chailbe a journey through and over the clouds any more. This is a dim view. There has never Wen a way of rapid transpor tation without attendant dangers. Trains have been making the head lines all through the years with wrecks. Ship disasters are common, and automobiles hay* coma through with the bloodiest record of any engine of locomotion yet devised. Air travel is here to stay. It Is important in these days when man's time is of the essence, and they have written an uncommon record of safe ty when the passenger miles amassed are considered. Automobiles have killed more peo ple than we have lost In the wars. But when the headlines tell every day of great numbers broken and killed on the highways we never hear anyone suggest that they aim to quit motoring on account of its lethality. Young Lady, Move Over! ( Mary vlll?- Alcoa (Tenn.) Daily Times) young iaay, u you're sitting virtu ally on tb6 lap of your boy friend while he is driving, you are being an accessory before the fad of a possi ble involuntary manslaughter charge. B This habtt of young people in clinging to each other while one of them (sometimes who knows which one) is driving ia a contributing ? of many automobile accidents, young lady realize the dia that she might cause her by sitting that close to him? think that moat of the young could move over and utM distract the I to give serious - . \sm concern to nis devotion to the talk of driving. Those who do sit so close are evidently unsure o< thrs extent of their magnetism and feel it necessary to make close contaet so the boy will realize she Is in the cur.' How many times have we read . the unhappy story of the young girl whose face was disfigured or whose body was maimed because the young man driving her failed to take the proper safety measure? Would she gladly now move over a little and let him have full access to the wheel of the automobile which caused this destruction ? We think so. From Early Democrat Files * 'd "\^v- ?. Sixty Yean Ago Much 13. 1N2 ' There are quite ? number of our young men who will start for the wett at onee. Among the number are, Messrs S. S. Moore and M. C. Harmon of Sugar Grove. Hope they will have a pleasant trip and a prosperous stay. All poll tax payers remember to pay your taxes on or before > the first day of May or you will 'not be allowed to vote. It is a State law and it must be obeyed. Whether yon like it or not, you must take down the dose. r?r. J. B. Phillips says he is improving some. It is hoped that he will soon recover and resume hit. practice among our people. The doctor is a good man pos sessing some noble qualities. Some day ? since ops ofv th$ aehool boys received a neatly done up package beating the familiar mark "merchandise," and on opening it found two joints of a finger, the property of a negro long dead. Messrs Col Greene and Hill Edmisten have sold their homes near Poplar Grove to Mr. Adam Hodges and will leave for Sul livan bounty, Tennessee, this week, where they will make their future homes. Governor Aycock offers a re ward for the apprehension and conviction of the party or parties who burned Sutherland Semin ary. Sugar Grove item: The wheat crop in thia section of the county la nearly all killed by the cold weather. The outlook seems to say hard times, but it is providential and we mustn't murmur. An amendment on the public read on Brushy Fork has been surveyed and the hands ordered out, but we are told there is some friction among the hands and some of them have refused to perform the service. A suit will be brought, we suppose, to settle the matter. Why it is the hands refuse to work we are not informed, but we do know that the excuse rendered should be a good one for the amendment is badly needed. Thirty-JVijje Years Ago March 8, 1923 Mayor Halm has adopted this schedule of eosts for town drunks: first offense $7.00, second offense $27.00, third of fense $00.00. He has passed up one to the second degree, but has not raised Hie fifty bucks out of anyone so far as we have learned. He says. a man who must get drunk had best go to the woods as there is no place for Mm in Boone while under the influence of liquor. Mr. W. T. Blair, an aged and Just One Thing By CARL GOERCH From Wilbur W. Jackson of Route &, Wilmington, there comes a copy of a diary wtoieh was "kept" by a Bible from January IS to September 80. At first thought, you probably will say that U is impossible for a Bible to keep a diary, but just forget about that for a minute or two and I believe you will agree that the following is a very good diary in every respect. Jan. IB. Been resting quietly for a week. The first few nights after the first of this year my o truer read me regularly, but he has forgotten me, I guess. Feb. 3. Cleaned up. 1 was dusted with other things and put back in my place. Feb. &. Owner wot me for a short time after dinner, looking up a few references. Went to Sunday School. Mar. 7. Cleaned up. .Dusted and in my old place again. Have been down in the lower hall since my trip to Sunday School. Apr. 2. Busy days. Owner led League meeting and had to look up references. He had an awful time finding one, although it was right there in its place an the time. May 5. In Grandma's lap all afternoon. She is here e? a visit. She let * tear drop on , Col. 1:5-7. May S. In Grandma's Up again this afternoon. She spent most of her time in I Cor. 13, and last four verses of the 15th chapter. May 7, 8, B. In Grandma's lap evtry afternoon now. It's a comfortable spot. Sometimes the reads me and some times she talks to me. May 10. Grandma gone. Back In my old place. She kissed me goodbye June 1. Had a couple of four leafed clovers stuck in me today. ? AFTER ANOTHER July 1. Packed in a trunk with elothcs and other thing*. Off on a vacation, I guess. July 15. Back home again, and in my old place. Quite a Journey although I do not see why I went. Aug. 1. Rather stuffy and hot. Have two mag aiines. a novel and an old hat on top of me. Wish they would take them off. Sept. 1. Cleaned up, dusted .and set right again. Sept. 10. Used by Mary a few moments today. She was writing ? letter to a friend whose hrother had died and she want ed an appropriate verse. Sept. 30. Cleaned up again. Folks who sell hamburgers evidently are going in for high falhstin' terms and expressions. Over one store I saw the sign: HAMBURGERS WITH A COLLEGE EDUCATION And a little while later I saw another sign: HAMBURGER HEAVEN Ono of our colored friends who works In a garage in Ra leigh told me something the ? other day which may be of some interest to superstitious people. A black cat was crossing the street, and I said something about bad luck. But Albert shook his head. "That alnt no bad lack," he asserted. "Why isnt it** I demanded. "Doesn't a black cat mean bad luck?" "No, air. Not every time. It all depends upon the way she's traveling. If a cat crosses your path, running from right to left, that'* had luck all right But if the cat travels from the left side of the street to the right sid*? that's a sign of good Umk.-J T'Kjm t" respected citben of Watauga county, died at the home of a son, Mr. A. D. Blair, near Boone, Tuesday morning, fol lowing ? stroke of paralysis Friday. Mr. Blair had almost reached his four score years and was a wonderful man for that age. His mind was bright and his interest in public af fairs never lessened. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Church . . < He was a Confederate veteran, having aerved the full four years -in the War Between the States, and was never known to shirk a duty . . . Interment was in the cemetery here Wednesday afternoon. Hi* pastor, the Rev. G. C. Brinkman, conducted the funeral service from the Baptist Church. Mr. Henry Brlnkley has been sssata 01 the day police, and if he finSs any mischief being carried on he is vested with power by the town. This is another good move by our progressive town. Mrs. J. N. Taylor of Valle Crucis and little daughter, only a few weeks old, have joined Mr. Taylor here and the family will do housekeeping In a suite of rooms in the ? Blackburn Hotel Mr. L L. Bingham, who has been doing efficient work In the Boone post office, has re signed and accepted a position as bookkeeper in the Taylor Garage. Fifteen Years Ago March IS, 1M7 For the first time in history, women will serve on the Jury at Watauga Superior Court next month, and three local ladies have been selected to be the first to perform this Important duty. The three women who have been aelected for the jury are Mrs. Nora Broyhill, Boone; Mrs. J. Wayne Harmon, Laurel Creek township; and Mrs. C. P. Moore of Watauga township. Thomas I. Holloway, WD carrier at Shulli Mills, retired February 28 after S4 years in government service. A veteran of World War 1, he served as assistant postmaster at Blowing Rock before being appointed rural letter carrier. John G. Lay, prominent ci?l aen of the Bamboo section, aied at the home on Tuesday of last week from an extended illness at the age of 94 years. Funeral services were conducted from the Hiree Forks Batpist Church Thursday and interment was In the Ray cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Woodrow Ore one have purchased the local retail shop known as the Fashion Shop from Mr. and Mrs. Guy Hunt. Mr. Jones Ashley, laboratory technician at Watauga Hospital, remains IB at that inatitntton, following an attack Saturday evening. Mr. Aahley was en route home from the hospital when It is thought he suffered some sort of stroke, and he was found by the street in an un conscious condition. Physicians have cot definitely determined the nature of the attack and Mr. Ashley remains unconscious. Mr. J. B. Hagaman. Jr., stu dent at the Medical College of the University of Tennesaee. Memphis, waa a week end vW tor at the homo <* Parents, Dr. and Mrs. J. B. Hagaman. I & STREET By ROB RIVERS March . . Gambols In Lite A Lamb March, fickle and blustery, noisy and calm ? the month that got its name, no doubt, from the God of War, came to the hill country like the proverbial lamb, to bring promise, according to the word of the bid folks, of going out "tossing his mane of snows in wildest eddies and tangles, lion-like, hoarse with tempestuous breath." ^ March, the ides of which foretold the undoing of Julius Caesar, and of the income taxpayers some years thereafter, during which time the daffodils this year were pushed through the dark, cool, soil to bud and al most blossom in shielded spots, can at the same time bring forth mountainous snows to cover the countryside to fantastic depths She fetches forth the Jggjf merry songs of the birds, and maybe next day all but blows their feathers off with her frigid fury. . . . Sometimes she drys out the soil, and folks get their onions and some early potatoes in the sod, and again she freexes the streams and the early buds and stops the flow of the water pipes and coats the highways with ice. When March does give down with appreciable snow, it's generally aet down In the books, as witness 1936 when travelers were stranded and when the waist deep snowfall was accompanied by zero blasts. . . . But we've always had patience with March, and all her tempestuous uncertainities. . . . After *U, she makes springtime's beginnings, and in spite of her stormy galavanting, she arouses the bud, stirs the latent seed, and sets the stage foe the first movements in nature's borning days. . . . Even her most frenzied spells shriek out promises of brighter days, and her sunshine and zephyrs trigger the endless cycle of fulfillment ? the bud, the blossom and the rich fruits of the harvest. v-:~ * * * * ' A Man's Religion . . It's Close To Him The manner in which a man chooses to commune with the great Divine Spirit, constitutes a privilege which is usually held in the golden silences of his own soul. . . . When Senator Kennedy felt obliged to defend his beliefs in the field of Christianity against the loaded questions of a Urge group of preachers while he was running for the Presidency, it appeared to us as if his freedom had been violated, or even more than that. It seemed to us like forcing a man to disrobe or tearing his skin to see if his heart was in the customary place, or probing his brain in an effort to locate an unorthodox thought or an unanswered prayer. ... We felt the same way the other day when Colonel Glenn was being questioned at a Semte committee hearing. . . . And as we might have expected, there was one who wanted to know about the astronaut's religious faith. Senator Wiley used this extremely poor taste, and Glenn's answer was: "1 have some very defij$itq fpelings op that- ?-? ?I cannot say that while I was.in:orbit I sat there and prayed. I was pretty busy." . . . .He said a man should live as if every day should be his last, but said he falls so far short of that it is "pitiful," but always comes back the next day and tries again. He feels that religion "should not be of the fire engine type" ? a man should not call on faith only in emergency "and then put God back in the woodwork. ... I am trying to live as best I can. ... My peace has been made with my Maker for a number of years so I had no particular worries on that line." And we shall hope that public figures will desist from continually trying to find out how a man ap proaches The Throne. ?> . Senator Wiley, however, did bring forth a classic explanation of a vital faith, which should be good for many who use the Book and their faith in the manner of good luck charms. Uncle Pinknev (MacKnlfht Syndicate) DEAR MISTER EDITOR: I see by the papers where them science felers Is claim ing that people on earth will gradual squeeze theirsehres to death. They figger the popula tion of the world U increasing by 46 million a year and it's a simple matter of Aggers that in due time they won't be no standing room left. I ain't no Fort Knox on sci ence and Aggers but I recol lect when me and my old lady got married the nearest neigh bors we had out here lived three miles away. Right now we got two neighbors that lives ltas than 300 yards away and I can see how we could git squeesed to death if this trend keeps up. We was discussing this item at the country store Saturday night and Ed Doolittle allow ed as how he aimed to take shelter in the stable with his mule when the popli^Qon ex plosion got to the squeezing point. Ed says his old mule wont let nobody but Ed in the stable and as a extra pre caution against a ay undue squeezing trou his neighbors, he'U keep the mole'* heels aimed at the door. Some of the felers claimed the population problem had its good points if it could be ' stopped the right ti*ie. Zeke Gruoi. reported that, ac cording to the latest per capital Aggers, his part of the national debt waa new *4.188. Zeke says if thagr can hold aff payment on the natioaal debt HIS PALAV ERIN'S till the population is about to explode, his per capital part could be reduced to around $150 and he'd be give the Gut ernment a whiteface cow in full settlement. Clem Webster was predict ing that the time is coming whea all debts will be cancell ed and everybody will (tart over getting in debt. Clem says Franklin Roosevelt claimed the national debt was just some pun we owed to each other. If the New Frontier will go along with his idea, allows Clem, hell consider the mat ter closed on the $4,169 he owes. Bug Hookum was lamenting how styles in worrying chang es from one generation to an other. Fer instant, Bug said when he was a boy he was al ways worrying about gitting run down and killed by a mule with a shuck collar on, and to day fed's got to worry about bedding down with the mule to keep from gitting squeeaed to death. He claims they ain't much future to a situation where we ain't go but two chokes, bomb explosion or population explosion. This is a mighty bad time. Mister Editor, fer this feller licNamara to come out and say the folks bade home is "worry ing unduly" about the world situation. It would seem to ma that a heap would depend on haw much worrying he calls duly. Yours truly. Pink