Patient Persistence— A Lot Of Work To Get A Book By EUGENE FALLON Sooner or later every citizen of Southport wends his way tc that stately white building which houses the town government. Few city halls overlook so much na tural beauty as is here found, Huge live oaks, looking the old sentinels that they are, ring the seat of civic government. They arrive of all ages, these citizens. Many are tax-payers anc people intent on complaints, com pliments, flattery, righteous an ger. Some come as tourists. But it is of none of these we write. Park in the spacious yard, Shortly after school lets out you’ll see children arrive. These come for other reasons than giver above. They come eager foi knowledge, eager for travel, ad venture and suspense. They come for truth. And they are never disappointed, because up the wide stairway is the beautiful world oi books. A million characters await them: Robin Hood, Christian, Greatheart, Hansel and Gretel Deerslayer, Little Eva St. Clair white whales and black beauties the Count of Monte Cristo, Dor Quixote astride Rosinante chal lenging non-existent giants. Percj Shelley rubs shoulders with Wall Whitman, and Hemingway pats Robert Ruark on the back, say ing “well done.” The librarian is always smiling Her name is Mrs. Philip King and she’s the best librarian ir the Coastal Plains, maybe ir North Carolina. Without her, Deerslayer would lose his trail, Don Quixote woulc wind up swimming across thf Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn Robin Hood would be shooting, his arrows in Central Park, Rip Van Winkle would be wide awake on the flat canyons of Chicago’s Loop. She is indispensable, and very, very obliging. Let me tell I how much so. I entered the Southport Public Library on January 1 in search of a book called ‘‘The Magic Maker”. It is a fairly new book, written by Charles Norman. It is a biography of one of America’s leading contemporary poets, a man now in his middle sixties, named E. E. Cummings. The book had received a good press upon publication. I said I’d like to read it. Mrs. King said immediately that her library did not have a copy. “But I’ll order it for you right away,” she promised. You don’t get that sort of treatment in the Fifth Avenue Library at New York. You don’t get that treatment in larger li braries scattered elsewhere in Tarheelia, not unless you happen to be a member of the library board. Some librarians regard every prospective borrower with ill-concealed suspicion. They wave you vaguely toward the great shelves, the mountain of books, . the clutter of centuries. You are on your own, and often you wind up at a table with a magazine. Not so in Southport. On the second floor of City Hall each book-lover’s quest is a mutual transaction. Mrs. King directs, finds the requested book, or makes suggestions. But to return to my story: This week I walked into the South port Public Library and found Mrs. King highly pleased. She E. W. Godwin’s Sons “EVERYTHING TO BUILD THE HOME” Phone RO 2-7747 — Castle Hayne Road WILMINGTON, N. C. PEACOCK FUNERAL HOME 24-Hrv—AMBULANCE—24-Hr. SHALLOTTE, N. C. Day Phone PL 4-8253 Night Phone PL 4-2491 i i Telephone Talk by H. F. KINCAID Your Telephone Manager IT’S HARD to imagine how the President of the United States could perform his many duties without the aid of telephones in his office. Yet, a telephone on the desk of the Chief Executive is relatively new. President Ruther ford B. Hayes directed the installation of the first White House telephone in December, 1878. Some time later, the President’s telephone was placed in a booth near, but not inside, his office. This arrangement lasted for more than 50 years. President Hoover, in 1929, became the first Chief Executive to have a telephone on his desk. WON’T BE LONG before we’ll be “folding our tents” and moving outside again . . . ready for another pleasant sum mer on the patio! And here’s a suggestion that’ll make your outdoor living even more pleasant this year — an extension telephone on your patio . . . either the portable or the permanent type. The cost is small, the convenience great. Why not call our business office, or ask any tele phone serviceman, about an extension phone for your patio . . . right away! * # * NEXT WEEK, April 8-14, is National Library Week. This marks the fifth observance of National Library Week, sponsored by the National Book Committee in coopera tion with the American Library Association, and dedicated to the expansion and increased use of library facilities. AN INTERESTING sidelight to this year’s National Library Week is that it coincides with National Foreign Language Week. With this in mind, a special flyer con taining the Library Week slogan, “Read — and Watch Your World Grow,” is being printed in 12 languages! APRIL SHOWERS make you blue? Cheer yourself and someone else ... go visiting by telephone! lad my book. And, dear readers, it took some jetting! Mrs. King showed me some cards. The first was from the N. C. State Library at Ra eigh. It acknowledged the re juest, and noted that their copy ‘was missing”. The second card lad been mailed from Wilming ton and the library of the same lame. It was an exact copy of the first—“copy here, but gone”, rhe third card came from High Point. Same story. The last • card tame from the Sheppard Memo 'ial Library at Greenville, and yith it came the book. i ! 1 Mrs. King said that she had never known an exact duplication nf circumstances. That never had Bha had to run a book down like she did Norman’s. Two things shine clearly through these facts: Mrs. King is i most competent and obliging ibrarian; and secondly, E. E. Cummings made a music which leld all who heard it, in thrall. Once having gotten their hands >n “The Magic-Maker” readers , •efused to part with such treas- ! ire. In other words, they kept | heir copies, guarding them as zealously (and illegally) as a | niser. I feel that through the ef- i 'orts of our local librarian, I have I possession of a book well worth he reading. Time alone will tell if I shall break the chain, and re turn the book. The Facts About Easter Seals The National Society for Crip pled Children and Adults and its more than 1,500 affiliates, known as the Easter Seal societies, fight crippling on national, state and community levels through a co ordinated program of direct treat ment, research and education. Since its founding in 1921, the organization has spread into all 50 states, the District of Colum bia and Puerto Rico. Today over 1,000 centers and programs give special treatment needed by the crippled. Substantial facilities and services, each adapted to com munity needs, include rehabilita tion and treatment center^, resi dential” centers, sheltered work shops, resident and day camps, itinerant, mobile and home ther apy services; equipment pools; and home employment programs. Easter Seals each year provide rehabilitation care to a quarter of a million crippled children and adults regardless of cause of crippling, race, religion, national background or economic status. The $18 million cost of this broad program is financed large ly by the voluntary contributions of 4,000,000 Americans, given dur ing the annual Easter Seal cam paign. Legacies and special gifts also contribute substantially. Enhancement of knowledge and skill is the aim of the nation-wide Easter Seal professional educa tion program. Through National Society scholarships and fellow ships alone, more than 400 per sons including doctors, physical, occupational and speech thera pists, counselors, and others have received advanced training. Still more persons have received such awards from state and local societies. “Fashion Maid” Search Underway The “Fashion Maid of America ’ search, to select and honor Amer ica’s most fashionable beauty, as the symbol of world fashion prom inence, has staited to accept en tries throughout the nation on February 15. The unique contest, open to all school and college girls, career girls, single and married women, is not a bathing beauty contest. The emphasis is on appearance in fashions—dress, formal, street or sports attire—poise and per sonality in wearing of fashion, rather than appearance in a swim suit. All a contestant need to do to enter the “Fashion Maid of Amer ica" Contest is fill out an official entry form, attach a photo or snapshot in any dress, street at tire or formal, and send to con test headquarters. Entry blanks for this area may be found at Leder's Department Store. The goals of the "Fashion Maid of America” Contest, which is sponsored nationally by over 1,000 Department and Fashion Shops and Daisy’s Originals of Miami, is to enhance the prestige and im portance of American girls in the fashion world—and to elevate Uncle Sam’s nieces on the World’s fashion pedestal—for all the world to see and admire. America’s most fashionable b»»uty will achieve national and international fame and be elevat ed to her fashion throne when the selection of the 1962 “Fash ion Maid of America” will be made when all aspirants have been evaluated after April 15, 1962—close of the quest. Read The Want Ads Distributed In This Area By Electric Bottling Co.. Inc. WILMINGTON, N. C. KIMBALL'S Fine Furniture—Maytag & Frigidare Appliances Phone PL 4-6998 Shallotte, N. C. HUBERT BELLAMY, Prop. THIS WEEK'S SAFETY SPECIAL All Model BRAKE JOB THIS WEEK ONLY *17.87 SPECIAL INCLUDES: Reline Brakes. Check Hand Brake Linkage. Check Hydraulic Lines. Check Wheel Cylind ers. Check Master Cylinder. Add Fluid. QUALITY CARE FOR QUALITY CARS AT CAPE FEAR MOTOR SALES “Your Friendly Ford Dealer” SERVICE DEPARTMENT 215 Market — Wilmington, N. C.— RO 3-6221 100 BAGS OF GROCERIES 1 BAG FREE! Every 20 MINUTES, Thurs.-Fri.-Sot. 1951 PLYMOUTH CAR TO SOME LUCKY PERSON! Come In & Register All Day Thursday - Friday - Saturday — April 5-6-7 ★ Car Will Be Given Away Sat. Night April 7th ★ This Will Make An Excellent Car For The Family or For That 2nd Car You Have Alwavs Wanted For Hunting and Fishing. 1 CAR IS IN GOOD CONDITION AND READY TO GO! HAMBURGER . CHUCK ROAST GRADE “A” GOVERNMENT INSPECTED FRYERS . . TENDERIZED HAMS . . 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CAN PURE GOLD Peanut Butter 3 m. 99c SALT mmmmmmmmmmmmmm 2 BOXES 1 9C FREE • 50 GOLD BOND STAMPS! WITH EACH PAIR OF LADIES* SHOES G. W. KIRBY and SON F00DT0WN "BRUNSWICK'S FINEST MEATS" Dry Goods IB™ Shoes """ Hardware ■" Fishing Tackle GOLD BOND Stamps With Every Purchase SUPPLY, N. C.