fichard H. Thornton Library
v Oxford, .North Carolina
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OXFORD
FOR A BIGGER, BETTER OXFORD
VOL. I.
OXFORD, X. C, MAF."H 31, 1922
NO. 20
MISS SAILS SPEAKS
At the last meeting of the O. Henry
"rary Society, the members ha I
trie pleasure of hearing Miss Helen
Sails of Oxford College speak on O.
Henry's life.
Miss Sails prefaced her remarks by
giving a rapid review of the develop
ment of the short story, showing th.it
it is a distinctively American pro
duct. Beginning with the Pocahon
tas incident in Capt. John Smith's
remarkable Historic, she traced step
by step just what shaping the short
story form received at the bands of
Washington Irving, Nathaniel Haw
thorne, Edgar Allen Poe, and others
before it came from the master hand
of O. Henry, a perfect thing of living
beauty.
From the very outset one was im
pressed with the very evident fact
that Miss Sails knew and loved her
subject. Every word that she utter
ed bore the stamp of sincerity.
' F"rtni his father who was a native
of Connecticut," said Miss Sails,
"Sidney Porter inherited his fine sense
of democracy; from his mother, a
Greensboro girl, he got his artistic
temperament." Speaking of (). Hen
ry's life in Greensboro, Miss SalLs
made an interesting comparison of
the drug store in which Porter work
ed with the coffee houses of Queen
Anne's day. Here were gathered the
budding politicians, the embryonic
statesmen, and the local wits of the
lUJejsoythern city; ,re.,i
- -, , t -,r k s'to bftcve 'lil so' ( and seiit w
well in later years. the case from
It was on account of failing health J there was not
that O. Henrv moved to Texas where I to be found.
he worked on a ranch two years be
fore going into the bank at Austin
as assistant teller. Miss Sails spoke
with rare sympathy of the circum
stances that led to the false accusa
tion of embezzlement which cast its
tragic shadow over the your.g man's
life at this point, of his subsequent
wanderings in South America and
finally of his three years' imprison
ment at Columbus, Ohio. Most tragic
CHRISTIAN WORKERS
Last Saturday afternoon Miss Lila
Currin's Sunday school class held its
regular monthly meeting with Miss
Katherine Watkins. Business was
- At the first mention of the word
izz one feels a peculiar sensation in
he region of his toes. Said sensation
ituvel on through the feet making
discussed first. Pollyannas were tol l :ilcni fw-'l deceptively light. Feet be-
to each other. The class chose "Chris
t'an Workers' as a name for the class.
Plans were then made for a Gypsy
Tea, when the weather is suitable.
After the business was fully discuss
ed, games were played. Miss Mary
Lee Critcher artistically rendered a
few selected pieces on the piano. Ele
gant tea and sandwiches were served.
Everyone fully enjoyed the hospi
tality of the hostess. It was decided
to meet with Miss Elizabeth White
next month.
Alma McFarland,
Claxx Report i'
WHY HAVE WE STOPPED READ
ING DICKENS?
In spite of the fact that Dickens
is acclaimed one of the greatest
writers of all time, his works are
being read less and less. If you
have children in school you are
probably familiar with most of Dick
ens' characters and are surprised t
find that your children do not care ;
for his works. Today a man is not
considered educated unless he knows
at least the most important of Dick
ens' characters, and, sad to say, the j
present generation is growing up in j
a most deplorably ignorant state.
T"v" fv'" . f r1V fm,r( 'c"t fVf ' Lt
. j
i"
which this resulted
a volume of Dickens
The older folks had
read them long ago and the young
folks .had never wanted to read them,
so they were not to be found.
The reasons for the fall of this
great novelist are many and various;
lave! If the mere word cives sneh
sensation how am I to describe the
feeling with which one hears that
veird series of sounds known as mod-J-n
jazz music? I will not attempt
t for I might get jazzy with the
..ypewriter and mess up this most
von ierful essay.
As a background of the study of
izz I Uynk it is necessary that you
j.ivnv something of its ancestry. So
I will put forth one of my pet theo
ies. Th second nearest ancestor of
iH7.z probably the American 'In
uan beating on a hide stretched owr
ne end of a hollow log, which was
-!! ti by him a tom-tom. He beat thia
U the tribal dances and from what I
avc heard of the savage dancing it
i somewhat like the modern jazzing.
!he nearest ancestor of jazz music
probably the noise the cat makes
'hen s.he has a race for life with a
l t across the pantry shelf which bears
le pots and pans. As you are more
r less acquainted with this sound I
fill not attempt to give a description
t the noise.
And now, gentle reader, having cx
usted my store of knowledge on
is subject, I will not persecute you
nger. If, however, you desire to be
re fully informed on the subject
NEW MACHINE INSTALLED AT ICE
PLANT
Mr. Walttr Bell, a construction en
gineer, representing Frick Company,
refrigerator engineers of Waynes
boro, Penn., came to Oxford Sunday
t complete the installation of a big
new ice machine for Messrs. Fleming
iind Moss. This work will be com
pleted within a few days and Ice
Products Company will be manufac
turing on a larger scale than ever
before. The new machine will double
the capacity of the plant, and the old
machine will be at hand ready to be
;ut in operation immediately in case
t.he new one should break down. A
r.ew; storune room twice the size of
tb old one has already been finish
ed and looks as if it would keep a
block of ice a thousand years. The
olant will begin operation soon and
tun at full capacity so as to fill the
store rooms before the hottest wea
ther comes. There seems no possi
bility of Oxford's suffering from ice
shortage this summer. And the sup
ply will U' sufficient for t.he sur
rounding country and small towns
nearby.
i-.. ...
WEATHER
Ever stop to consider how you
vould get along without the weather?
ly weather I do not mean the sun,
he rain, and the wind, buf that pr
ion of your brain labeled "Weather."
fo be a little more specific, what does
first, last and always there is a small, he grocer give as a reason for the
but persistent minority who maintain High price of fruit? Bad weather.
OUR GIRLS TRIUMPH AGAIN
The High School girls, Saturday
night, bent that feminine quint known
as (he town girls' basketball team, by
a score of 27 to 18. The High School
was slow in getting started, but by the
end of the first half they overcame
a lead of about 6 points, and stayed
ifMJMji Ap
proved by the playing of Miss Nina
Cooper i.t center. Miss Eugenia Cur
rin played an extra good game for
the high school. The lineup was as
follows:
that the world is going to the bow
wows. Then there are some who say
that the world is in too big a hurry
to read such long books. And some
A'hat does the farmer say when he
asks an exorbitant price for his pro
duce or when you go to collect a bill?
A'eather ruined the crop. And last
Hith School
E. Bragg f.
E. Currin f.
C. Watkisn c.
F. Jackscn g.
Rosa Dickerson g.
Town
Johnny Peed
Mary Landis
Nina Cooper
I. K. Taylor
Eloise Horner
of all, she told us of the simple bit
of evidence, overlooked at the trial,
which would have cleared Porter's
name of even the vestige of a shad
ow. Who knows though but that 0.
Henry would never have been born
had it not been for the bitter suffer
ing and humiliation borne so nobly by
Sidney Porter. Certainly we do know
that it was while he was in the peni
tentiary at Columbus that Sidn?y
Porter patiently trained himself in
ti e splendid art that has immortal
ize;! the name of O. Henry.
After his release from pii.-on, O.
Henry sjn-nt most of his life in New
York. It was here that he died in
1910. His last words were character
istic "Turn up the lights; I don't
want to go home in the dark."
We are hoping that Miss Sail.
may be persuaded to come back an 1
talk to us about O. Henry's works.
We can assure her of one thing she
won't find a more appreciative au
dience than the 0. Henry Siciety.
Irvine Jackson
go fo far as to say that his charac- hut not least, what do you say when
ters are widely exaggerated and over
drawn. But perhaps the most logical
reason that has yet been advanced
is that many of the characters are
simply victims of fate. No one dis
putes Dickens' ability to draw char
acters, but some are beginning to ques
tion his ability to make them act.
Present day readers demand that the
decisions of the characters have some
definite effect on the story, make them
the master of their own destinies, so
t speak. Dickens' characters sim
ply move along in a chain of events
without the least bit of effort of will
power on their part. It may sound
like a rank heresy but there is an opin-
you walk down the street with an ac
quaintance? You talk about the
weather, and so does everybody else.
It has only one rival, baseball, and
while baseball arouses more enthusi
asm than the weather, the weather
s more widespread and universal, an 1
while baseball lasts only through the
ummcr, the weather we have with
us always. Truly, if you want to b -in
style talk about the weather.
Ivey Alien
Substitutions: Dorothy Parham for
Eugenia Currin, Eugenia Currin for
Elizabeth Bragg.
Referee: Livengood. Time: 40
minutes.
LOST
Antoinette Daniel has lost a hand
somely engraved sterling silver pen
il, bearing the initials F. A. D. She
n
ion sprouting, that in putting Dicke i will greatly appreciate your help
on the shelf the world is making a recovering her pencil.
step forward in literature
BLACK FACE FROLIC WILL BE A
RIOT
Rehearsals for the American Le
gion minstrels are now under way.
Everything points to a show filled with
mirth, music, melody. There will ho
singing, shouting, syncopation, mi'th,
gayety and joy.
The ca.-t includes the best talent
in (lfrd; and each player promise;
be at his lost on performance
s-hts.
There is to be plenty of goxl danc
irg and the music will ring in your
ears for weeks.
Don't fail to see this show.
to
ni
Dey Allen
WHERE HE STOOD
"Am I good enough for you?" sigh
ed the fond lover.
"No," said the girl candidly, "you're
not, but you are too good for any
other girl."
EASILY EXPLAINED
"P'taters is good this mornin', Mad
am," said the old farmer making his
usual weekly call.
"Oh, are they?" retorted the custo
mer. "That reminds me: How is it
that them you sold me last week is so
much smaller at the bottom of the bas- j
ket than at the top?"
Waal," replied the old man, p'ta- j
MRS. BARNHART'S RECITAL POST
PONED Mrs. Barnhart's voice recital which
was first scheduled for Friday night
of this week has been postponed un
til Monday night, April 3. Mrs.
Barnhart will be assisted by Mrs.
Blount Bryan, violinist. It is ex-
nected that these ladies will have a ters is growin' so fast now that by the
record audience as Oxford people time I get a basketful dug the last J
know that something good is in store ones is about twicet the size of th j
when their names head a program. : first." !
MIGHT GET IT THAT WAY
An absent-minded husband was ask
ed by his wife to stop in a store on
his way downtown and buy her three
articles of feminine wear. Of course
when he reached the store he had for
gotten what they were. So the young
clerk behind the first counter was a
mazed to hear:
"Excuse me, my wife told mo to
come in here and get her sonw? thing
to wear and I've forgotten what they
are. Would you mind naming over a
few things?"