Sylvan Valley News
VOLUME-XIX
BREVAKD, NORTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY. MAY 8. 1914.
NUMBER-19
WORK ON NEW DEPOT
Every citizen of Brevard and
Transylvania will be glad to learn
that at la»t, ufter seven months
watchful waiting, work has com
menced on the now depot, a force
of men beginning Wednesday
morning the work of clearing the
site of all obstrnctions for the real
work of building.
While it is to be regretted that a
local contractor conld not get the
contract, doubtless Mr. Elliott of
Hickory will do the work nj) in fine
shajK^. The building is to be com
pleted ready for occupancy on June
ir>th, and there is a heavy penalty
for any debiy utter this date.
As stated in the 'Kews several
weeks ago, tlie new depot is to be
much larger than the one that was
destroyed. Additional facilities for
the handling of the ever increasing
business will Ik? added and more
room will be given for the hand
ling of freight.
Messrs. E. II. Coapman, vice-
president jind i;eneral manager of
the tStmtliern, .1. B. Akers, sujwrin-
tendent of maintenance of way,
and (ieo. R. Loyall, gent'ral super
intendent, were in Brevard for
most of the day on Tuesday for tlie
pur]H)se of conferring with Messrs.
.1. F. Hays. su])erintendent of the
Transylvania division, and A. H.
Betterment Association
OUTLINES OF A PRACTICAL
EDUCATION
James E. Russell in “Good Housekeeping.”
The greatest peril of onr educa
tion today is that it promises an
open door to every boy and girl up
to the age of fourteen, and then
turns them ruthlessly into the
world to find mo.st doors not only
closed but locked against them.
Throughout this country wo are
telling thousands—yes, millions—
of boys and girls that anvthing they
please may be had for the asking,
and during the six or eight years
of the school course they are in
structed that nothing is beyond at
tainment. Then, too, onr demo
cratic notion of eciuality of o])por-
tunity is res])onsible for the at
tempt to hitch some very ordinary
wagons to stars of the lirst magni
tude. The result can only be bit
ter disajipointment. Instead of a
ha])])y, contented, and able farmer,
we make of the ambitions country
boy a eh'rk or helper in some city
industry, or a cog in soini' factory
wluH'l. Instead of lu'lping the
(|nick witted city boy, who leavt's
school at tw(*lve or fourteen, wise
far beyond his years, to e!ii])loy his
( aluwell, lead master, in legard to ! strt-ngth in shortening the
the \\«'t1v. and while hen* ti'rin of a])])(‘ntieesbip in th(> trades
statcvl that woik will b(‘ pu>hed ini])roving tl)t‘ (luality of
in order lhat tin* town will not have
tt) snlVt-r I'tpr lack of facilities for
the i)roiHM- liadling of tin* unnsv'.ally
largt' number of summer visitors
that will !)'• h('r»> this vear.
tlu* ont]>ut, we turn liijii ovi'i' ti>
tlu‘ tendiT Tm'rcics of tl;o tradi'
union, or :illo\v him to
ahead in his (dVorts to li*.H*o:nt a
t^OTiCE TO DEMOCRATS
Cai! for Deni()cr:Uic Prccinct
Meetings and County Conven
tion.
'capablc' W(>rlcni:in. Wliat woi.dis* ■
ll.ifly t!)is \vfi‘k a minilter <4 tliat onr slvilied crattsiiHMi art* I'oi-
Brevard bnsin('ss men, not having !(*i^iicrs, and that onr best Ahum i-
Jiiiv intoriMation as to tin* can boys licconu' ]>ctty ]'<iliticiaj;s
en*(‘tioJi a new d('i)ot. ajul wish-: or walkin^r d»dt‘«;atfs or s(M>k.-r<
ing to l.nrry matters n little bit. ^iter tlu' soft plaet'sV We do not
si>nt a niirht letter to I’ri'snIeTit teach thc!;’. to do th(* ilny's woj k in
Hiirristtn, j-ii iied by 1 wenty-eij^ht such a v’.ay as to liii I ])Iea -iwe .uul
business men, asking; him for an satisfaction in it. I’he result is
expressinii as to when work '^rnni])lini; an'l I’anlt lindini: !ii;d
would hcLMn. in less th> n twelve (liscont«'nt in ])iival»' li!c. and in
hoars afTir tlie mi*ssag(‘ wa.<« lih'd civil life tlie beginnings of social-’
the abov(* Trained ollicials were in ism and a!'.:n'chis?!i.
Bie\aid and in ]e>.'. th.inthiit\ six Think of wliat it nu'ans to our
hours work was begun. It pays to
CO o})crat('. y»'ars dayd’-eams which tlv llr>t
_ contact with life shatters. I> it
!\lr. Frank D. ( It' i'.cnt bd't Tnes-'-iny v.-oi.der that the ^'ii-1 of ei:^h-
day tor Kinustttn. ^^ass.. to atti-nd teen or tu'enty wlio lias r.ev(’r liad
the tnni ral o1 his mother, Mrs. hour's iT'slrnction m the scic: -
Olive \\ . ( N'lnent. who d;ed Mon- tilic and esthi'lic intcrpi'cratii ii of
.Mon.lay Tivzlit. Mrs. ('lem.-nt s])ent those dv.'i's wl.icli couf ont ht.r
th(' winter in i:n*vard but since should find no ].leasn; e in lit iv:e-'
gointr ha-k honu- she has been in ,.,akin-r Tlie situation .s c:;d
Aery bad h alth. enonuh in the country, but it is
iniii’.itely worse in onr grtat cities.
What chance has tht‘ Lrir’ of t'i,»‘
ti nements, even thouirli sl.e he
Well schooled and (ir.ick-wittcdr
She leave;- the >rh;)( l atl'iiuriicn
orfUti'.tn to tret her ]i<'s;;:rai'!r.ate
train'ini: in lio.isela ('])in,tr froiu her
^iu)ther. Think'of wh it that ine;;v,s.
A met'tin'.; oi' the Democratic A hom(' (jf two or thre(> or lour
K\*‘futive ('oHi'uittet* of Transyl- rooms in a t'rowdcd (luarter ; every
vaiiia County v.as held on Apiil !M(‘mln-r of the family at worl: or
<>tli. I'.ili.Kt which time it w;:s or- seekinLT it; livin-' confined IoIik*
(ii re.l ti'. i: :'r,'einct mi^'tings he hare>t ru'cessities ; n ) convt nietu i s
held ■'!! 'ii-.y r.'l!. ati(! the 1 (. :■ <li-in.r t he ordinary v.oi-lc <.{ a
county conv. ntion be lield on May home, (u*en if that wen- ne«-cssary.
2:5rd, to ascertain and dt'clare the What is b-ft to the girl'/ The;
strenirth ot the various candidatt's stre(>t ; and it is nothin*^ remark-
in the stii1t‘. judicial, state senato-1 able that sonu' thoughtful ])ersonsj
rial and tli*- com^nssional races or ; shot;ld hoid our ])uhlic .s<dn»ols re-!
contests fur snch ollices. | sponsihle for addim; to the dangers :
It is ord.'n-il that tht^ «-hairman , of city lite for bright and a ttracti v<‘]
of the (‘x.-cniive coTnmittee of each i girls. The surest way to break I
])recinct call a ine«‘ting of the pre-| dow'u family lite and (b'stroy the |
cincts on May ir.rh at Ii o'clock ]). | sanctity of the marriage tie is to
m, at wliich time and ])lace tlie'mate an ignorant man with an
strenfrtli of tlu* various candidat(‘s * ignorant woman—ignorant, Iinean,
will lie taken and eertilied to tb(i
county (H nvention which meets
May ‘iord.
It is furtlu'r ordered that the said
precinct meetings shall at the same
time and ])lace elect delegates to
re]iresent the re.spective precincts
at the county convention on May
‘2:ird.
It is further ordered that the
said ]>recinct meetings shall, at the
same time and place, each elect
five democrats as members of the
precinct democratic executive com
mittee for the coming campaign,
designating one of the five as chair
man.
V/. M. Henry, Chairman.
R. L. Gash, Secretary.
Democratic p]xecntive Committee
of Transylvania County. '
This April IK, ]i»]4. -1-21-lt
of what marriage means, and un-
litted t4^ meet its obligations.
The next desideratum is i>roper
manners and morals; in a word,
suitable habits. I am not sure that
there is any hierarchy in th(\se
practical ideals. (4oo 1 liealth was
put first because without it all else
is worthless ; pro])cr manners and
morals next, because without some
such norm there can l>e no eifective
j)articipation in social life.
It is a commonplace that a nuin
must be honest, and that a wonnin
must bear a good reputation. We
even go further and say that the
great object of education is the
development of good character;
but we do not always include in
that the whole round of conduct
which marks the agreeable member
of society.
We are not concerned here with
the origin or inculcation of cus
toms or conduct. It matters little
whether they come from mere imi
tation, or result from definite in
struction re-enforct?d by persistent
effort. It is what we do that connts
most in society. And every grade
of society demands that its mem
bers conform to an accepted norm.
We recognize this insistent de
mand when we require our chil
dren to eat with a fork, to dress
becomingly, and to speak gram
matically. Reverence, courtesy,
gentleness, sympathy, modesty,
obedience. brav<‘ry, when serially
considered, are virtues crystallized
in good manners and morals. They
are the surest evidence of what we
call good breeding. Moreover,
frt>m the social standpoint these
virtues have a value directly pro
portional to their habitual exjires-
sion. Veracity as a fixei habit is
far preferable to truth-telling for a
consideration. Temperance in
duced by fear of evil consequences
is far less effective than instinctive
s('lf-restraint. When these desir
able modes of conduct J)c-
conu^ thoroughly ingrained—be
come “natural,” as we often say—
then character is fixed. “Manners
makeyth man” is an adage of
g(>ater truth than is commonly rec
ognized in our modern educational
]>raetic(;. [
How to get on with oth«*r ]«‘o-!
j)le—for that is really the critr*rion ■
of ]>ro’>(M-infinners and morals—is j
tl.e clilef end of or.<' j^'reat tV}.:' (>f
ediicalioTi. The i’eisians accorii-,
in„r to Xeno])hon. insist»*d that their
lead»*rs should learn both to rule
and to bt‘ ruled, to command and
to oht'v. M'lu'se ends are not s(v
c-ured l)v formal instruction ; tlu'v
are thi> result of disciplim^ uiuler
t-onditions which are favorable ti^ '
the fixing id’ hahits. Education.
I’roft'ssor .lames says, is tlu; i r- |
i^ani/.ation of accjuin’d lialtits of'
conduct and t»*ndciud('s of be-1
havior. Walt Whitman, in on»^ of ;
those strange outhursts of his, tells '
how it is tliat the child got‘s fortli;
every day into a new world and
becomes ]virt and ])arc(d of all that i
he beiudds.
Tlurc was a child wont forth rvcry (l:iy; :
-And the first ol)jcct he loaked upon, that
ohiei't hi- biHanu-;
.\iul that (>l)ji-ct hccaiiu' part of him for
tht.‘ (lay. or ;; (.frtain part of the day, or
for r-:any yi-ars or strctching cyclf of
yran.
Thf early likus hfcamo part of ihis child, j
-Vnd fira.s,';, and white aad red morning-
jjlorics, and white and red elnver, and
the son^f of the phoehe-hird ' . ^
.•Vnd the school mistress that ])ai'scd (>n
her way to the schook
.\nd the friendly boys that pass’d —and
tlu- (juarrelst me boys,
.And the tidy and fresh-chcekVI girls—and
the liarel'uot ne^;ro hoy and ”irl,
.And all the changes of city and country,
wherever he went.
His own parents, * * ■
The mother al home, quietly placing the
dishes on the supper-taule;
The mother w ith mild words clean her
cap and gown, a wholesome odor failing
oil' her person and clothes as she walks
by:
The father, strong, self-sulficicnt, manly,
mean, angered, unjust;
The blow, the quick loud word, the tight
bargain, the crafty lure,
The family usages, the language, the com
pany, the furniture—the yearning and
swelling heart,
.Affection that will not be gainsay’d the
sense of what is real—the thought if,
after all, it should prove unreal,
The doubts of day-time and the doubts of
night-time—the curious whether and
how.
Whether that which appears so is so, or is
it all flashes and specks?
These became part of that child who w’ent
forth every day, and who now goes, and
will always go forth every day.
A very serviceable education can
1)0 given with a modicum of formal
instruction. In fact, we sehhmi
hear a course of study justified be
cause of the information it gives.
It may be well that some of these
courses put forth no such claim,
but the truth is that much of what
we claim for study may be gained—
and is gained by far the greatest
number in any society—from lead
ing a wholesome life with one’s
fellows. English education, as
given in the great pablic schools, is
pre-eminently of this type.
To be continued.
FROM TURKEY CREEK
I think it is best to state plainly
at the outset that this article and
the one appearing in this i)aper a
few weeks ago is not a personal
fight against Prof. T. C. Henderson,
nor is it a fight against public edu
cation, nor yet a fight against a
uniform tax rate. ■ I want to say
emphatically that I believe not
only in public education but com
pulsory public education, and the
purchase by the state of all text
books used in the public schools.
A little comment that a])peared
in the Saturday Evening Post is, I
think, well worth i)ublishing just
at this point:
“Here are some figures from a
survey of country schools in a large
Middle Western region : In all the
schools linear measure is taught,
yet in only one-fifth of them are
tapelines found; they all teach
avoirdui)ois weight, yet less than a
tenth of them have .scales; thej;
teach liquid uk asure, but only a
fifth have any measures.
“In a third of the schools geogra
phy is taught without maps, and in
more than two fifths Vr’ithoiit
globes. All of tb(‘in seek to teach
children things about this fruitful
and w'onderful earth, yet more
than two-thirds of the teachers
n(n-<‘r step outdoors to vitalize a
point by the fii-lds, flowers, woods,
rocks and str(*ams near at hand.
“Tliat is the bb)ssed old (idnca-
tional rt‘(-i])e t (iet evi*rytli’:!g ont
of a hook : reiluoe it so fui' as pos
sible to a parrotiike e.xercis»; c)f
nu'inory ; make it all as dry and
repulsive an<l remot»^ from actual
lifi^ as possible.”
To those who hav(* watidied the
results of the lu’csent system and
who had (dev(“n years experience
as a tdiild under that system c<'r-
tainly hates to se»* ])ublic money
wast d in tlu* jiresent frivolous
way.
It is curiTiitly ri-porti'd in the
lowtn- end of tlu^ county that out
of the one hundnnl cent dollar tint
is collected from the tax })ayi‘rs
only forty cents reaches tlu} eliild,
th(* balance bcin^- absorbed in in-
t*‘rest, salaru's. incidental expen.ses,
traveling exjieni-cs. so-called t.'ach-
t‘rs’ institutes, etc. Now if this be
playing cards and shooting pool,
while the hill-billies, the widows
sons, the gutter snipes and the
emigrants are taking the cream of
our country. And why? Because
they were taught in the school of
adversity, and nurtured by old
Mother Nedbssity.
It is gratifying to me to watch
the life of a man who, in his early
life, had none of the finer chances
of education that some men have,
carve his way from the bottom to a
position of prominence. A few lit
tle incidents in this man’s life are
as follows : He is a cripple and has
been a cripple since early boyhood.
In his younger days he would leave
his father’s home and go through
the woods to “Scratch Ankle”
school, spend his w’eek there and
on Saturday trrmp back to hi.s
father’s home, for a stipend of
twenty or twenty-five dollars per
month. While he taught ho
studied, and today he stands head
and shoulders*above men wTio had
every advantage of education and
money. He is a man w’ho has lived
his life where he was born, and luj
is a man who had honor even in
his own country—and of such men
there be legion.
JoM.N' S. Bo(;<;s.
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC
The Board of Aldermen have
designated Tuesday, Ma>' 12th as
a general clean up day in the
town of Bre\'ard.
All the business houses, hotels
and private residences are re
quested to clean up and put their
garbage in boxes or barrels at
some convenient point so that it
may be accessible with a wagon.
If you desire the town to haul
your garbage you must notify
the chief of police by May I3th.
The town will not be responsible
or haul your garbage after May
13th.
W. M. HENRY, Mayor.
LOCAL PARAGRAPHS
Mr. (^ H. Case, who has been
em])loyed as cdork at tlu? A('thel-
, wold for till! ])ast several months,
ti ne it is not at all suri)risinL' that j acce])ted a similar i)osition with
Prof. Sent(dle in his article of a i
tew days av;(* niacb* mention of tlu'
tlu! (4atos Hotel, (; re(Mi ville. ('.
Mr. B. B. II< stiT of Rutherfcirdton,
,,r.si,l,.nf ,.f .111 can-; ,,. sntrrals Mr. ( iiso lit the
Aetb,ehvo’d.
cational assc( iation of eigliti en
counties, that the stati* superin
tendents and all other superin
tendents who cam:* in contact with
the secretary of tlie said associa
tion, who happens to be th(> super-
inteiuh'nt of i)uhlic instructi(tn oi'
our county, admired liini v(>ry
mufdi. Tlu're is a reason, wliich is
])artly e:q)lained hy a clipping fr» m
the Satnrdiiy Evi'ning Post of .May
'J, I'.ill, in whicdiit was said: *‘A
long-standing abuse from which a
In taking an auto ride re;'ently
the writer was much amused t) set'
a colt, ])os.>ibly two months old,
desert its nu^ther and follow tlu;
auto for about half a mile. It
would have followi'd fnrtlu'r had it
not bc(‘n driven back. We v.onld
not t(dl this story had a pn'aclier
not been along to voncli lor the
truth of it.
Mr. Janies Bracken, a v('t.M\in of
])rofit is d<>rivi'd ‘novitahly blinds iu\:r 1 sin.
Its beneficiari(‘s and makes them
utterly untrustwc.rthy witnc'sses.”
This association b<'ing jiractii-ally
self per])utuating. it is natural that
they would still want this power
IiLdd unto themsi'lves.
An article appearing in last
his life last Sunday morning.
While crossing a trestle iit'r.r tlie
Ell Hamlin jilace he fell la'tween
the ties and had not .'dr. T. II.
Hampton arrived when he did to
assist him from his ])recarious po
sition the inorning train would
week's isaue of the Sylvan Valley ^loubtless have run on him. At
News recommending that the peo- ’ p^int it would have been ini-
ple make all candidates pledge possible f<u-the engineer to have
themselves regarding the election stopped his train in time to keep
of the county board of education'^om running over him. While
and superintendent of schools does! Bracken sutYered som.j slight
not go far enouga. I think a bet-j be around as
ter ])lan and one more likely to be ! visual,
heeded would be for the peojde of
this county and of Haywood coun
ty and of all other counties in the
state where they are denied the
right of electing the men who han
dle the most important fund col
lected in the counties to demand in
their coming primaries the riftht to
elect both the county board of edu
cation and superintendent of
schools, and to make that demand
SPECIAL NOTICE
The Carolina Special Auction Co.
has been appointed agents for the
Netzow Manufacturing Co. of Mil
waukee, Wis., to .sell and collect for
the famous Netzow pianos. AVe
have just received notice from the
company with bill of lading en-
80 strong that this incubus which i closed for one upright piano to sell
is on our body politic, this cancer | for ?2.)0, and one player piano for
that is sucking the life-blood from { We expect to sell private
the vitals of our school system auction. We will exchange
shall be eradicated. for your old piano also. Remem-
In referring to graded classic that the Netzow Manufacturing
education a man does not have to [ with each instrument a
go far afield to find men of brains, | ten-year guarantee. It is known aa
men of family, men of classical of the largest piano fiictories
educations who are sitting around the world,
club rooms reading magazines,' Carolina Special Atction Co.