North Carolina Newspapers

Watauga democrat N. C. Top-Award Winning Weekly Newspaper 1965 ' ’ An Independent Weekly Newspaper L ESTABLISHED IN 1888 _Z_Published tor 45 Years by Robert.C. Rivers. Sr. PUBLISHED THURSDAYS BY RIVERS PRINTING COMPANY, IN&, OWNER B. C. KIVKBS; J&, AtlO* and Manogfcr g f JSAN mmtRS. Associate ftilfdt ; , RACHEL A. MvKftE, Man»*ing Editor ;* SUBSCRIPTION RATES - Jb NORTH CAROLINA OUTSIDE NORTH CAROLINA One Year — -----$3.09 One Year ___$4.00 Six Months - .— — -$1.80 Six Months _$2.50 Four Months —^_$1.30 Four Months .___: $|;$o ' ; a-i ? . ' AH Subscriptions Payable in Advance NOTXCB TO SUBSCRIBERS—In requesting change of address, it U Important to mention the OLD. a* well as the NEW address. J>osto**ice at Boone> N- C., as second class matter, under the act of Congress of MEMBER NATTONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION v ^;r * NORTH CAROLINA PRESS ASSOCIATION ^*“2* ^ oplnion cf the people, the very first objective should be "*** n&Ht, and Were It left to me to decide whether we should have a government v*™** newspapers, or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment tb choose the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive these papers and be capable of reading them."—Thomas Jefferson. BOONE, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1986 Build It “Old" Now that the County Commission ers have entered into an agreement with an architect for a new County court house, and, as we reported last week, have decided that the new structure shall occupy the property where the old court house now stands, we should, like to be among the first to render an appraisal of what the new facility should look like. .First of all, it should look old— not dingy, not dusty, not poorly lit —*but stand as stately as the one it will replace, sport long narrow win dows, and Wide steep steps and lean on bright round columns of white. It should have dignity, and as most old buildings, grace, with which to step into its first months of duty. It should reflect the heritage to which this area has only recently thrown its full support. It should gently stir memories of the old days, and should in this fashion maintain its close tie with the people. We understand modern architec ture. We think it has grace—and polish and promise, but it would be Criminal to plunge dur County head quarters—into a square orange crate of a house. In the way of a court house, we will require something with walls up which ivy might crawl comfort ably; something tall to throw a cool shadow on summer days; and some thing warm and familiar to greet a visitor in winter. We will need a court house with plenty of room for county records, a court room with sufficient heat, and stairwells that creak, but not too loudly as one goes up and down them on business errands. The day is coming when Boone will be on every tongue, and she and Daniel Boone will be on the same breath, and—of all things!—a statue of the pioneer wili be erected in memorial. Passers-by should see our new County court house and feel respect for the country discovered by Indians and frontiersmen. Our Courthouse should reflect all this, and visitors should remember it as an aristocratic building. Uncle Gets A Pay Day Friday is pay day. The ides of March which used to fetch along more terror to the taxpayer than the warning voice brought to Julius Caesar, became the middle Of April fdr the Revenue Service and doubtless just as many of us are late as were before the time was extended. “What’s the use of working,” the fellow said, “when the government aims to take it all from you any way.” Being slightly on the old-fashioned side, in that we still have tucked away a tad of patriotism, we can think of a lot of reasons why we should keep plugging and working and expanding in order to earn more and more money on which to pay more and more taxes. In the first place, no matter what the bracket, part of the money one earns is his own. After all the taxes are paid, and the high cost of living added up, we the people have more stuff, more goods and services, more land and chattels, more homes, more food, and more of the comforts of life than any people have ever had in the history of the world. This isn’t to say that we get hilar iously happy when we mail the checks to IRS and to the State De partment of Revenue, but still we think we’re getting a great deal in security, in services to our people, in conveniences and in the care and outfitting of those who fight at the outposts of freedom. The taxes are high, we wish they weren’t, but still, when the books are balanced, we are getting a bar gain. Deadline Draws Nigh a good many additional candidates have filed for office in the last few days and several others are apt to take the plunge by the time the books are closed. We are heartened that so much interest is being taken in politics on the County level, where in these times of inflation the modest salaries afforded would have to come second td the desire to be of service. Others who Would like to go be fore the voters in May to see it they will be tapped to tote the ball in the grand finals of party politics in November are reminded that next Friday is the last day they will be able to stake out a spot on the pri mary ballot. Where so much interest generates, and so many qualified men come forth for county office, the people ought to have it easy in selecting competent officials. '!m.f .;«-**•* jj.i > v. m rn m m *?**' Inklins In Ink BY RACHEL RIVERS About mid-afternoon Easter Sunday, our Aunt Virginia noticed that her dog, who reoently had three puppies—Whitie, Blac kie and Brownie—was promenading with only two of them. The family had been residing hi a near by barn owned by-Hr. Bynum Taylor of Water Street Aunt Virginia returned shortly and said she had been to the barn and could hear the puppy crying under the flooring of the grain room. To ggt that close to the lost one, she had gotten down on her knees and crawled through a tiny opening in the side of the barn, which had been boarded up for We and mine finally agreed that tile third puppy might be siclt, or hungry, and we made our way into the old bam to •oh What ire could do. After consider able deliberation, we decided that We' could do nothing, without yanking up the flour boards, and spouse decided that the puppy was probably alright and1 If it didn’t - come out in the morning, wo would toko mors serious action. _ , We wont home and started looking at - ' ‘ color slides, and the phone rang just about supper timet and Aunt Virginia said she just wouldn’t be able to wait until tomorrow, and would somebody please come and find the missing pup. R was after dark when we arrived, and before taking it upon ourselves to go prowling about someone’s property at night, Aunt V. called' Sir. Taylor and •' explained the dilemma. He was very much in favor of finding grownte, and' we struck off to see what might be done ’ about it u. Again wa looked, and again we decided that we just eeuldn’t get the little one out without tearing down the barn, and since the mamma dogge was comfort able asleep In a manger lull of hay, it appeared that the puppies Sad coddled up under the flooring: add ait wain prob ably well. , Holiday morning, Maekie and Whine HUM out to play, and- pretty seen- Ana* V. spied fttownle ahd> catted- te share the -'good- newt, id Row she hears a fourth puppy uudar the, fleering And haw away man are * there we don* tT v*r ,* ' *P > f * JVTA^V.TJT • * * •• ■ 5 " t. ■ juumamI . . «-i I ) k' ”* >■ ■ ' 1 • 1 ’ Mkte • l' f \J X ' V f T ; * "v V? 'i n. . '• fcW i. a. \ "0 -ijr. k, /utothy /jfoca^nr FROM THE EARLY FILES OF THE DEMOCRAT Mountain Men Go West; Told There’s Good Living Here Sixty Years Ago April 12, 1906 It is stated in an Asheville dispatch that hundreds of the Western North Carolina people are leaving for the West. This seems discouraging. Man; get the idea that money almost grows on trees in some places but when they get there they find that at has to be toiled for. There is a good living here for all if they have the determina tion to earn it. Walter Gentry of Jefferson spent Tuesday at the home of his sister, Mrs. J. G. Horton in Boone. Master Homer Moretz accom panied by his parents returned from the hospital at Salisbury Monday and despite the painful and trying ordeals through which he has passed of late he is in good health looking well and is the same dear little boy. J. Luther Banner of Monte zuma State District Deputy Grand Master A F & A M was present at the meeting in Boone on Friday night looking after the work finances, etc. of the Craft. Luther seems well up on Masonry and will doubtless be successful in the position he now holds. Thirty-Nine Years Ago April 14, 1927 Born to Mr. and Mrs. Ira Ayers Monday a daughter. Mrs. Lunda Bingham Gray of Cove Creek has as her guest Miss Jennie Ring of ftew York City. Mr. IT. W. Horton and family who spent the winter months in Miami, Fla,, are ofl their way back home and are expected in Boone at any time. Just One Thing BY CABL GOERCH Now that spring has come to North Carolina, lot’s hope that there will be no more snow this year. Remember one year ft snowed on Easter? Most folks think that the snow we had back In January and February was Hie worst in a long time, and' they were right. But folks who can remember baok to 1899 will recall probably the worst Show on record. Dr. j. fi. Pritchard recalls it for us: “You call this cold weather? Shucks; this ain’t nothing In comparison with the bliixard that hit North Carolina in 1899.” 1 waa living in Randolph County at that time and recall this blizzard vividly. Ih the Asheboro area, snow began’ fall ing at about one o’clock Feb. 11, 1899. Snow continued to fall all Saturday night and all day Sunday, Feb. 12. On Monday, Feb. 13, the wind waa blowing ■ gale from the west and the anow waa drifting to the top of the rail fences In some places. the atmosphere was so charg ed with snow that it was im possible to tell whether it was new snow or other snow that had already fallen being carried by the wind. There were placet on our farm near Asheboro where the snow waa drifted as deep as a man is tall. Late Monday afternoon, Feb. 13, a dear streak appeared in the west. Tuesday morning, Feb. K, the weather was clear and Utter cold. i The U. S. Weather Bureau in Ha climatic summary for Cen tral and Southwestern N. C., a* determined1 by lnfbrmafioh ga thered by the Raleigh Office from the stations from the time > ef their establishment through Mdo-aayr "The hamet reeecd, le g» freer below ar^ aeered at - Randolph Coonty, < AFTER ANOTHER during the Widespread cold wave of Feb. 13-14, 1899." Public roads were blocked for several days. Trains were un able to move until the snow could be cleared out of the deep cuts. People who lived at Ramseur then have told me that so much ice formed under and around the locomotive of what was then C. F. and Y. V. rail road engine that die ice had to> be chopped away with axes be fore the train could move; An article in a well-known magazine some years ago quoted Hie V. 8. weather Bureau as saying that this was the most severe cold wave and snow storm ever to strike the United States in so far as the record gbes. i Item in Hie WaynesviHe Mountaineer some time ago: "Fire Chief Clem Fitagendd is sleeping with one eye open, aid his hand on the telephone. It la bound to happen—another ; fire. He has answered two and, according to the records, the blazes come in series of three. A check of the record* shows that when there hate been twd fires, the third Is not too hr off.” Call it superstition or co incidence, or whatever you want’: ‘ to call it, But we bhlieve that this theory is more generally accepted than any other we hap pen to know about it's not Just a local belief—-we’ve heard it mentioned In all sections of the ' country. As s general thing, J fires come in a series of three. W» ode* were BcduUnttH With » Mias sheepi, member ad a prominent Elizabeth City fam- 1 tty: When Mae Sheep’s Brother wet fta college he roomed with * young man hp tan naunr dr Slaull the sign on the door of .fbairiWDaa MB Hk* this: m I, Viaafc - ... SHEEP l Mr. T. C. Hodges of Boone aged 68; and Miss Mary Watson aged 55 of Caldwell county were married in Boone Tues day evening J. W. Bryan, Es<h officiating. The young (?) couple has our best wishes. Mrs. Casey, her daughter, Mrs. A. E. South and two little girls, left early Tuesday morning for Birmingham, Ala. to visit with Mrs. Casey’s mother, Mrs. Gun lock, who is ill at her home in that city. The' trip was made in a Chevrolet car with Mr. Johii ^tOele at the wheel. i ‘ Sorry to her of the very ser ious Illness of Mrs. John Mc Bride, of Shefwootf. She has been in declining health for several months and was recent ly taken worse. Much anxiety is felt! by loved ones and friends over her condition. She is suf fering With a complication' of di seasesi Dr. J. M. Gaither of Boone is in Greensboro this week at tending a meeting of the State Dental Society. Fifteen Years Ago April 12, 1981 ' LI J. M. Deal, Mrs. Deal and children, Sandra and Jimmy, of Charlotte, Mr. and MTS. Bill Bingham and children, Rehekah, Bill, Jr. and Carol Steele of Pinnacle and Mr. and Mrs. Rich ard Bingham- of Concord spent the Weekend With Mrs. R. K. Bingham. Mr. and Mrs. William Hood of Lenoir and Miss Ruth Farthing of Shelby were weekend visitors With Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Fart It ing. Mr*. R. E. Agle and children, Mollie, Bobby and Jimmy spent the Weekend in Bessemer City With Mrs. Agle’s parents) Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Eury. 'They wwht especially to get little Richard Agle who tad spent two Weeks with Mr. add Mr*, ■wry. . Mr*. Herman F. Duncan and daughter, Susan, of Greensboro joined Rev. Mr. Duncan at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Councill for the weekend. Rev. Ur. Duncan spent last week with Mr. and Mrs. Councill. Mr*. Mack Luttrell, who has spent several weeks with her husband in Johnson City, Tenm, returned to their home hefw Saturday. Mr. Luttrell was harts for the weekend. jf Mr*. Joe Mast of Myrtle Pointy Oregon is spending a month vis : Ring at the home of a cousin, . Mr. A. N. Milt at tterwood and with other relatives in the IDoutaM. r Mr. and tt*. Kenneth Littney an<( Mrs. Paul A. Coffey return ed to- their homes Sunday from Chartotte Where they had visit ed wdth Mrs. F. A. Linney at Memorial Hospital since Friday. Mr*. Linney is slMlthf hnprflW ed.; Dr. and Mrs. Gus Langhrun of FoVSIt City spent Monday and Tuesday with Hr, I *nghniaa aunt, Mrs. W. ft. Gragg ant Jki -. KING STREET Sunday’s Newspaper BY ROB RIVERS . Big And Fat Sunday morning, while the eoffee was a-maldo’, we mechanically went into the driveway to get the Winston Salem Journal. . . And instead' of getting the normal weighty edition, we fetched back an armful of newspaper —4 or 5 pounds, to set a record for a Twin-City periodi cal. ... The edition, which was published' in line with Hie city’s 200th Anniversary Celebration^ appears on the face of it, tb be a masterful job, and we are saving it back for some good long, evenings of pleasure. ... It com prises a history of the Forsyth metropolis, of the people who founded it and nurtured its growth, and is a tribute to those who publish the Journal, and to everyone who had anything to do with the mammoth edition. . . . It will no doubt be cherished for years to come for its au thentic historical value, and newspapermen will want to keep it around for the added reason that it’s a top-notch job of newspapering. A First In Boone We’ve had an especial liking foe the Journal for seven! reasons. . . One is personal, and conies from the fact that We've half some good friends who’ve done service on the newspaper, and another is that the Journal was the first daily newspaper to be sent np to Boone for breakfast time, fortp-sonwodd years ago. . . Those were the days when Clinton Nance sold some sobs around Boone, and when J. Lee Hampton, the best county seat, courthouse reporter we ever knew, made his tobacco (diewing way to Boone new and again to bang out a heap of good copy, when on the face of it, there was nothing to write about. . . The Jour nal, like everything else, has grown immeasurably since those skimpy, pinchy days and continues to give wide coverage to the northwestern section of the State. . . No other daily newspaper covers the news of this region like the Journal or does so much hr promote the welfare of Boone, Watauga County and adjacent areas. . . Editor Santford Martin was plugging for us when the counties in this comer of the State were generally known as the Lost Provinces. . . The late Mr. Martin’s successors have fol lowed faithfully in the big tracks he made, and we have benefltted to a considerable degree. . . We congratulate the Journal on the out-size edition and wish for it con tinuing success, as it con stantly tends us a hand in let ting (he people know what’s happening around here. “Brown-Bagging” We were brought up in an atmosphere where one was bound to khow at an early age what a carpet-bagger Was. .. As We recall it, he was labeled as a sort of Cross between a devil and a witch. . . But be danged if we knew tilt lately about a brown-bagger. . . That is we hadn’t heard that appendage for the guy or gal who totes his or her likker in a poke. . . But we know now, and the decision of the Attorney General’s office that one just ain’t in his legal rights when he totes the fifth anywhere ’ceptin’ to his own domicile, and then the seal must be unbusted, Is in file way of making an issue in- the State of more than passing concern to the politicians as well as to the baggers in general. Had Two Notion* ti seem* that the AG’s of fice had once held that one could tote a sack of grog, hot that's keen over-ruled and It seems that in some localities word has gone out to the en fercets of the law that the brown-baggers and/or locker key carriers are to be arrest ed tor Illegal possesstow at spirits. . . That, in essence, a fellow just can’t have the con (Hmenfts for a toddy at any rites except right hr the let* . . which, eoeae con tend, |» about the worst place there Is to fcnbibe, especially when there are children. . . Country chibs, for Instance, barf bee* generally undbr rieod to be a man** second tome’, Where be coutrf have some good food, fellowship and fun, and maybe some of •* members hare fated togs. . . We don’t know, not being a politician of any appred abbtUv wharfs gala* ta hap» pea, but we’de hate to be the one- who decides that an to* people SrtM take * dram ■way from home from their fi*«ks are to be arrested! . . W»w* a» *Mb apt*-A* tm that the medley of prohibitive laws in tiie State should be clarified, to my the least . . We waul da* suggest tori toe feffow ids carries a bag toe«V black, is doing himself any good, but from what wo see In the papers he always has thought he had the right to do that If he wanted to. . . We would say, though, that a blanket arrest of these pew vie wouldn’t be particularly promoting the peace and dig nity of the State. .. The ones the legal gun is being point ed st, don’t do violence to society anyway. . . But we’d add our firm conviction that things would be better with out the bottle, bagged or un bagged, if such a happy day could be achieved. Uncle HIS PALAVERIN’S (McKnlght Syndicate.) DEAtt MISTER EDITOR: I see where one of them Washington column writers named John Cramer that works fer a outfit called the Scripps Howard Newspapers has sneak ed up on a possum hiding in (he Pentagon woods. Me come aorost a agency there that ain’t hit a lick at a black snake in four months. The Big Brass in the Pentagon explain* ed that all them workers was waiting fer a big computer to git t installed and they was run ning four months behrnd with the installing, this Column writer said the name of the new agency was IPS of RPB ot OD of AI&DSC which stood fer Input Preparations Section of Report Preparations Branch of Operations Division of Army Information & Data Systems Command. I brung this item up at the country store Saturday night and some of the fellers was dis agreed in the matter. Ed Doo little allowed as how it wouldn’t make no sense to hire a bunch of carpenters to build him a bam four months afore he got the lumber to build" it. He was of the opinion this was more of that non compus mentus busi ness the storekeeper was talk ing about last week. Zeke Grubb was agreed with Ed, said them workers could’ve been earning their pay fer four months by cleaning junk piles, picking up Beer cans and help ing Lady Bird in the America Beautiful program. v-iem weoster of the Great Society argued everybody was mining the main point, that it would take four months fer them workers to learn the name and call letters of their new agency and that didn’t nobody want to be working fer some pun he couldn't spell or per nounee. ru tot ybu umpire this one, Mister Editor, and if you git to any decision in the mat ter, put it in your computer and send it along. Incidental, Ed told the fellers we "image” of the Great So ciety was gitting worse all the time,.reported he had saw where they was a big rash of phony $S bills in New York and Boston. He claimed it was a sad state of affairs in the Great Society when them counterfit boys was looping lb *5 bills. Anything under a $20 bill nowadays, said Ed, had ought to be throwed iilto the poverty program collec tion plate It’s a great pity. Mister Edi »», same of the sessions at the store ain’t recorded fer history. I read one* that some of the be* wrung in the world was in newspapers but it was enjoyed mW-forgot IMo the weather. It’s ™ sgBW Wgy Wttlr some of the •essions at the store. I reckon they was times when some of the greatest filosophy of this agh has come from feHert like Ed, Zeke, clem, Bug, Josh and ruy-^mfs,.