Newspapers / The Journal-Patriot (North Wilkesboro, … / Dec. 12, 1940, edition 1 / Page 9
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I# anftnal advaBtug• Mot DuyinfiT in Noril for ^^r.'^.aetr^ Northwestert IMta Carolina. mh ‘".Ti TRA -T. Mnnfiava and Thoradaya. iAm !Si^ Hooper Retim Aher 50 Y«^ As Locomotive En^eer for Sotttfaem a I 11 " . - - . “Casey Jones” Of Wilkesboro Run Steps Down (By Clay Thompson in Winston- Salem Journal) Swift Hooper, the old-timer who palled the throttle of the famous old Southern 97 for four years and whose train for 44 years was familiar to those who Hred along the tracks between Winston-Salem and North Wil kesboro as the very hills them selves, hooted his contempt tor the sleek-looking, oil-burning streamlined trains of today. “I never saw one of them,” he said In a tone eloquent with his contempt for the modern and his love of the old.“I never saw one of them.” he said again, “but I’ll tell you this much; Whenever they outrun one of the high- wheel coal-burning engines like the old 97 they're going to have to get up berore day.’’ Hooper has retired from an en gineering job he look on Decem ber 25, 1SS9, with the old Rich mond and Danville railroad, which later went into receiver ship and became the Southern. He’s 68 now. and his heart 1s a bit weak for throttle pulling, but he can tell you as much a- bout railroading as old Casey Jones himself. In fact, he is the Casey Jones of the Winston-Salem-North Wil kesboro run. On First Train to Wilkes Hooper was pitching the coal Into the engine of Cal Teague, who pulled the throttle of the first train that ever rolled into M _*u'the hllla of North Wllkeaboro. nortn in ’90. Shortly aft erwards, he started pulling hts own train there, and with the exception of seven years apent on the Southern main line from Spencer to Monroe, Va., the whistles of his trains No. 13 and 14 have resounded through the mountains. Hooper rocked In his rocking- chair in his home on the High Point highway. “Yes,’’ he said, "four of those years on the main line I was pulling old 97, the fastest train that’s ever been in this part of the country or ever will he. "I was supposed to have been with her the day she wrecked In 19U3 and would have been if I hadn’t asked for the day off. “Old Joe Broadie was pulling her at 90 miles an hour when she Keeping Close Tab On Beer D^len '..V Riding & Loan Raleigh.—Investigators for the beer Industry will visit every North Caroline -county during 1941 to make certain that retail beer dealers conduct repuUble I building ind loan adbocla places of business. tlons of the state have taken an- Edgar H. Bain of Goldsboro, other step forward In providing State Director of the Brewers ig-reater personal sefflce ito the and North Carolina Beer Dls- shareholders by the adoption of trlbutors committee, announced today that the Industry’s “clean up or close up” campaign has re sulted in the elimination of 136 undesirable beer outlets in 41 counties — 109 by revocation, three by surrender of license, and j 24 by refusal to re-license. “A great majority of beer deal ers conduct reputable places of business,’’ Colonel Bain said, “but there Is a minority which {disregards the law and public ;decency. Our campaign is direct ed at these scattered outlets. Dur- ,ing 1941, our field representa tives will check on these outlets Mlnlfhiun Construction Standards for small homes, according to Henry Gregory. Jr., of Rocky Mount, President of the North Carolina Building and Loan League. For several months extensive I research and study has been de voted to the preparation of such Standards by a group of selected r'-v'' ■potion ner at su muc;, lives will cnecK on lu-iac jumped the track on the curve at I necessary, we will re- Stillhouse trestle near 'guest the local authorities to re- Old Joe and 11 others were killed thgir licenses.” that day she left the ' ' ' u„,.ing the past year, Bain No. Joe didnt know the than l.OOJ retail oiit- You couldn’t take t a Jj^tg g4 counties were inspect- 90 miles an hour. Joe was ( ^ emphasized that the on the run.” ;“clean up’’ campaign will he car ried to all counties in 1941. of e: of home ni ards group HaitH fcoa^ v tofore hav» not iCid ahob. tlon. They will be eepeelnlly and helpfu] to the person who If constructing a modeet hams they will-give him a guide ai td w^at provided in home eonstruetfon to h#Xfi,js dweUtog which win he . sd^ntia^-'a$d durable, Mr. Gregory said. These Minimum Conat.ructidn Specifica tions can be applied' to small homes as well as large. Re also emphasized that another purpose of these Standards was to protect the associations in the construc tion loans which they ajfe mak- di^f^'ihere will te W ad- ditipnsl charge to the . borrower for tbla service. ; ^,;‘The Impdrtance of these Spec- to the' communities, In- '^vidnhls. and associations, can- ;nof be over-emphasized,” he add ed. “tlioneands of mistakes in oonstrnetlon will be preiented hy emCorolBf;,. the lessons in sound bulldtft vrhleh have been learn ed'h|i.4he associations In their years* of sKPorlence In' financing ihomes fa'North Carolina. So far a$d fa 1946^ mere than $13,000,000 ' *'hai heea, loaned out by these in- stltnMona for the-construction of new homes and $3,000,000 for repair ^a n d modernization of dwellings.” • These Specifications which have been set up are the mini mum which will be changed - '1^ Ihe asioelah.rw- ~ , to the reQulrenmWJ. thd pattlealar locality, Itaa^- the aMoefations already hai^ ' Into practice extensive tlott ftondards of their o#b —^ conform to local building and other condltloas. Their ; vice and counsel based upon experience was • very helpful working out the state-wide quirements, Mr. Gregory said. POPn^AR lift As Forsyth county farm^ have realised the value of t^; racing, the demand for work the'county terracing unit has come so great that all calls caB» not be filled, says AasUUnt Far* Agent 8. R. Mitchlner. Let the advertising eolmnna 1 this paper be your ahoppfag**^ Ballad Itom And because Joe was new on I I the run. a ballad was born and placed on thousands of records which in varying forms have spun out the blue story of how old 97 was “going down that grade making 90 miles an hour, and her whistle broke into a scream’’ . . ■ The story spin’ on to the inev itable eoiicliision where old Joe was “found in the wreck with his hand on the throttle, all scalded to death hy the steam.” ^ May Easily Be Purchased If You Join Our » 1941 NOW OPEN Select one of the following Clubs TWENTY-FIVE-CENT CLASS Requires a deposit of 25 cents each week for the next 50 weeks. At maturitv of the club you will" receive a check for $12.50. FIFTY-CENT CLASS R'quires a deposit of 50 cents each week for the next .50 w^;eks. At maturity of the club, you will receive a check for $25.00. ON E-DOLLAR CLASS Requires a deposit of $1.00 each week for the next 50 weeks. At maturity of the club, you will receive a check for $50.00. TWO-DOLLAR CLASS Requires a deposit of $2.00 each week for the next 50 weeks. At maturity of the club, you will receive a check for $100.00. THREE-DOLLAR CLASS Requires a deposit of $3.00 each week for the next 50 weeks. At maturity of the club, you will receive a check for $150.00. FOUR-DOLLAR CLASS Requires a deposit of $4.00 each week for the next 50 weeks. At maturity of the club, you will receive a check for $200.00. FIVE-DOLLAR CLASS Requires a deposit of $5.00 each week for the next 50 weeks. At maturity of the club, you will receive a check for $250.00. TEN-DOLLAR CLASS Requires a deposit of $10.00 each week for the next 50 weeks. At maturity of the club, you will receive a cback for $500.00. TWENTY-DOLLAR CLASS Requires a deposit of $20.00 each week for the next 50 weeks. At maturity of the club, you will receive a check for $1000.00. w • Our Christmaa |^T — Join Saving. Club INOW and have plenty of money to dd your Chri.t- ma« shopping neat year. THE NORTHWESTERN RANK § North Wilkesboro, N. C. ^ Mambor Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation' ^ Hooper didn’t say so him.self. but ralroad officials are known to have said that if Swift Hooper had been at the engine’s throt tle that fateful day back in ’03 old J7 would have taken that curve at Stillhouse trestle. ■'The fastest I ever run 97? Weil, the division man was late pulling her into Salisbury from down South one day. He pulled her in late and I had to make up some time . . . Old 97 didn’t carry anything but mail, land the mail had to go. "Well, we steamed her up. and I took the throttle, and we head ed for the hills.” " ’Hooper stopped rocking his I chair for a moment, and then he snapped; 1 ”I gained 25 minutes from jsaiisbury to Monroe, 'Va. That’s jthe fastest I ever pulled her.” I The other three years Hooper j spent on the main line he had ^ I trains No. 34 and 35, but they |c.ouldn’t "slay in sight” of old 97. ur Xative of Kerner-vlile W { Hooper was born in Kerners- ' ville, and ever since he can re- ^ member a railroad engine has ^ been his pa.ssion and glory. “I had to have e job on one.” he said, “so 1 went down to ^ ^•ompany .shops (now Burlington I and got me one firing for Cal Teague from Winston-Salem to ^Tlnonnaha. I fired for him seven ; months, and for Ned Harris a 4» while. Then I got an engine for !^1 myself, and I pulled her until last ^ : October.” ^1 For 4 4 years he has pulled jN ’ passenger train No. 13 into North Wilkesboro and brought passeng- ^Ur train No. 14 back to Win- ^9 ; ston-Salein. That counts up to IS i around a million and a half miles. “Did I ever have any wrecks! Why I was killed out here at White street one day and was dead tor several days. I guess they’d have buried me it Dr. Valk hadn't brought me out of it.’’ Hooper's engine jumped the track and fell on him at W’hite street as he was piiUing into Winston-Salem. Another time his engine fell over 6n the turntable at North I Wilkesboro, and still another oc- .curred when his train plowed in to a couple of box cars left on the main line in Lynchburg. “It was a cold, foggy morning in Lynchburg, and you couldn’t see farther than the end of your nose,” he reminisced. “I was pulling into the yard at a good clip and broke into the cars. I had a couple of carloads of young steers on my train, and when It wrecked the steers that weren’t killed really took the town.” Is Swift Hooper lonesome for the railroad? “Thunder no!” he’ll tell you. “Fifty-one years is long enough for a man to stay jn any one job. and it’s plenty long for a man to pull a throttle.” Certainly the dei>ot officials at the dozen or so stops between here and North Wilkesboro know that Swift Hooper Is not pulling S 13 and 14 these days. ^ And It may be, too. that those who live along the tracks know that It Is not Swift Hooper who sits up there with his band on the throttle and his eyes on the rail and pulls her whistle as she thunders through the failU, Swift Hooi>er, the Casey Jones of the Southern who baa pulled them with the'bMt p( them, baa ttniahed his raiifaaAiRis. 'tSL. /. 5 CAR the Nicest Family GIFT! SURPRISE THEM IN A BIG WAY! It’s A Gift That Will Bring Pleasure For Years To Come! A BIG PACKAGE — OF — HAPPINESS IN THE GIFT OF A CAR! Think of the thrill to the whole family when Santa delivers the key to a big new automobile! Play Santa in a big way this Christmas—give the gift that IS a gift! m Give the Family the Keys to a New . . . CHEVROLET w ■ w |H 1 1 wt 1 f 1 WK f NEXT Year's Models Are Now on Display EASY Plan to Pay Makes Buying Easy If you find that you cannot give a NEW car, then we suggest that you trade your old one for a later model selected from our fine lot of all makes and models. Many have new car appearance and per formance, yet are priced at a big discpunt. Bring your car in for an appraisal allowance, and let’s get ready to give the family the KEY to a CAR this Christmas. 'AT tenth street NORTH WILKESBORO, % - "'LVA'S
The Journal-Patriot (North Wilkesboro, N.C.)
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Dec. 12, 1940, edition 1
9
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