CORN CRACKER ON
JOHN FOX, JR.
Gives Resume of Fox's "Trail
of the Lonesome Pine"
and Sidelights
People who write for publication,
are actuated by different motives.
Many of them are emotionless matter
of-fact enough to warm the cockles
of the heart of the most pronounced
Gradgrind. Gradgrind was a stupid,
materialistic creation of Charles
Dickens who would have interpreted
a flight of humorous fancy as a
piece of sad news; and in that he
would have been sustained by his
commonplace and provincial uncles,
aunts and cousins. Such people aie
hell-bent-for .leather in quest of
"news") —and if they try to write
they are pronounced news-grubbers,
—and denounce any flights of fancy
as a price of sad news and of danger
ous tendency. Their turgid produc
tions are composed largely of biog
raphies of kinspeople who never read
anything and were never fifty miles
from home. A rambling regard for
dry detail and subject-matter of no
interest except to inbred ignoramus
es, is regarded as a literary master
piece-by all the anointed cousins but
appeals to nobody of sense and in- ]
formation. Any departure from this j
stupid style, is a slimy slander on |
the birth of Abraham Lincoln, or a j
mendacious attack on the character |
of Washington and a glorification of
some selfish and cowardly Tory.
Among popular Southern authors
was the lamented John Fox, Jr. He j
was a Kentuckian, and was familiar
with the cause and effects of moun
tain feuds. His literary masterpieces
are, "The Trail of the Lonesome
Pine,"—and "The Little Shepherd of '
Kingdom Come" is a thrilling account!
of a supposed waif who finally prov- j
ed that he was a scion of Kentucky i
aristocracy and exemplified the su-j
periority of good blood by a bright j
and vigorous intellect and by a sub
lime and exalted courage. Abraham
Lincoln proved the same traits and
for the same reason. A scrub will
show his snobbery by truckling to
the rich; while a real hero admires
true nobility,—money or no money.
In the "Trail of the Lonesome
Pine," a Kentucky faction and a Vir
ginia contingent had fought for per- j
haps 50 years, because the Falins
ridiculed a Tolliver boy for wearing
patched breeches. Result, a bloody
battle and many funerals. This meant
a war of extermination between the
forces. "Devil Jud Tolliver," a fear
less Kentucky giant, was leader of
the Kentucky forces; while "Red
Ruck Falin; marshalled the other
line of warriors. The story begins
with the advent of John Hale, a grad
uate of Centre College and a civil
engineer who was riding on The Trail
of the Lonesome Pine, —and began
fishing in a mountain stream near
the home of Jud Tolliver. Of course
he was a "furriner", and probably
inimical to the still of Jud Tolliver.
The sharp-eyed suiweyor saw "June"
peeping from mountain laurel and
engaged her in conversation. Devil
Jud appeared with his deadly Win
chester and an expanse of whiskers.
He issued the mountain challenge as
to who the furriner was, where he
eame from and where he was going.
Hale was non-commital and rather
out-spoken. Jud prepared to fire
when June, the bright and beautiful
daughter of the feud chieftain, —
told that his name was "Jack" and
he had no gun. If he had no gun he
was not a raider; and Jud invited
him to dinner and gave him a jolt of
"white lightning." Hale found a
vein of cannel coal on land of Devil
Jud, secured capial to build a rail
road, develop coal mines around Big
Stone Gap, sent June to school; and;
established law and order at Big j
Stone Gap. But her uncle ruthlessly j
murdered a policeman; was appre- j
hended, tried and executed by ef- i
forts of Hale. This temporarily alien- j
ated June and Hale, —Devil Jud was |
seriously wounded by a Falin; and'
later, Devil Jud and June went to j
Missouri where Jud died. Hale and
June met at "Lonesome Pine" re
newed their plighted troth, were hap
pily married and lived "unhappily"
ever after.
But Devil Jud Tolliver is not dead
so you would notice it. He has a
roving commission something like
Buck Fanshaw and Wild Bill Hickok
in mountains of Kentucky to keep
the peace by blowing out the brains
of undesirable citizens. He has ;J5
notches on stock of his gun, and that
tallies with the mounds in his private
graveyard. He says that enemies
have told he killed 38, which is a
d d lie and preys on his mind. He
has reached the adolescent age of
> I*2, —and had he not been maligned
might have reached a ripe old age.
The autograph that adorns his notes
and checks is not Jud Tolliver: but
1 MIDWAY NEWS
Forest City, R-3, -Jan. 25, Mrs.
John Young and daughter spent Sun
day with Mrs. C. L. C ash.
Mrs. Daniel and son spent Sun
day afternoon with Mr. and Mrs. \\ al
i ter Daniel.
Mr. Ed Thompson spent Sunday
afternoon with Mr. and Mrs. G. W.
; Long at Rutherfordton.
i Mrs. S. L. Thompson, of Cliffside
: visited Mrs. Jay Cole last Sunday.
Honor Roll of
Pleasant Grove School
Hubert Bridges, Louise Matheny,
! Rush Cole, Arlan Baily.
I Second grade—Yonnie Crowder.
I don't propose to tell what it is.
Facing guns in hand of "Devil Jud
Tollivcr" does not agree with my
complexion.
CORN CRACKER.
Shelby, R-5, Jan. 26.
When it Comes to
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CLIFFSIDE, N. C.
THE fOREST CITY COURIER, TH URSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1928
I EN ROUTE TO MARRY
WHEN ARRESTED ON DRUNK
' ' Well, pay the costs and go on
!up to Caroleen and get married—
' but don't stop over any more en
route," was in substance what Judge
John P. Mull told a defendant in
county court at Shelby Monday
i morning.
I
' The trial, .which ended when the
defendant, a white man of Maiden,
1 Catawba county, paid the costs
j brought out an unusual story in the
couit room. Sunday afternoon late
one of the motor busses plying to
| and through Shelby halted at the
i local bus station. The Maiden man
j with a drink or two more than his
I iegs would operate * under was ar
| rested by city officers for being
i drunk. Sunday night he was. the
guest of Cleveland • county, being
lodged in the county jail. In court
Monday the officials naturally ex
pected just another one of those
drunk stories, but they heard some
thing else. According to the de-
, fendant, he was en route to Caroleen |
to get married. Questioning on the'
part of Solicitor Gardner brought |
'out that the man had recently been j
to Caroleen and secured a job, also ,
running upon his future spouse. No ;
mention was made of Leap \ ear, 1
. but stated that when arrested here
he was en route back to Caroleen
to go to work and intended during,
the week to go over in Gaffney and
get married. Com*ng over on the
bus, however, he felt his drinks be- j
j>in kicking and was out taking a I
little air when the officers picked
him up and finished the process in
the city cooler. —Shelby Star.
r
Poultry club member from Cataw-j
ba, Anson and Lincoln counties are J
[exhibiting 18 selected birds at the
I Madison Square Garden Poultry
Show this week.
_ _
Miss Rachel Corwen of Duluth,!
j Minn., was arrested for stealing from |
j her employer to buy flowers for a I
! friend's funeral. J
SUNDAY SCHOOL
I INSTITUTE TO BE
! HELD MARCH 6-11
:
Methodist Sunday School
Workers to Meet in Alex
ander This Year
; The week of March Gto 11th has
been designated as the time for hold
ing the annual Sunday School train
! ing- institute for the Methodist
! churches of Rutherford county,
j Plans for the Institute were made
iat a meeting- of the pastors, Sunday
school superintendents and depart
mental heads of the Sunday school
with Mr. O. V. Woosley, of Lex
ington, field secretary for the West
jern North Carolina conference.
! The institute will be held in the
| school building- at Alexander. From
I the interest manifested at a prelim
, inary meeting held at the Metthodist
COUNTY FAIR OFFICERS
At th? annual meeting- .l
! stockholders of the Rutherford  lr
ty Fair Association held at >,,; r
dale - Tuesday afternoon, Januaw •>
Mr. Geo. W. Roll ins was elected
j ident to succeed Mayor C'ha> 7
'.Flack of Forest City. Mr. Grat \
len of Union Mills, was elected V j Ci .
[president; Mr. David Lindsay i-x. ru .
jtivc secretary with Mr. F.  Kir.
zie, secretary-treasurer. All the ; orn .
•er board of directors were re-rlectod
for this year. The treasurer made :i
report. Plans were discussed to niafo,
•the 1928 fair the best in thi- hi?
Tory of the county.
I 5
A. B. Chester and his bride 0 ,
j Skipton, Eng., are taking the!:
j honeymoon trip on horseback through
Yorkshire.
i
i church in Forest City, the tr;;ini nL
; school this year will be the l ost of
| any year since the first one was held
j in the county.