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Published Every Wednesday By
Record Printing Company
P 0 Box 70 Warrenton, N C 27589
BIGNALL JONES, Editor
HOWARD F JONES. Business Manager
Member North Carolina Press Association
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Meaning Of Holiday
Since this week's edition of
The Warren Record is printed on
the Fourth of July, it is mete that
editorial expression be devoted
to the occasion. We are aided in
this task by the heading selected
by Pete Hulth for his column for
The Smithfield Herald of June
29. "How High Is Your Patriot
ism This 4th of July?" which is a
question we all may ask our
selves.
Hulth's column is based on a
note he received from a friend, I.
C. Mozingo of Pine Level, who
for many years has served as
Johnston County chairman of the
American Legion's high-school
oratorical contest. "And as the
Fourth of July approaches,
Clyde's emotions on the subject
well up inside and have to come
out."
While we have reason to
believe that there is a great deal
less sentimentality in our ex
pressions of patriotism than
there were when we were young,
it is always dangerous to engage
too heavily in generalities. So we
will rely on a partial report of the
article from Pete's friend, as
follows:
"During the last 30 years, we
have seen the American way of
life gradually change. We have
seen more people voting,
discrimination abolished, and
women's rights enhanced. In
other words, we have seen an in
crease in equality for oppor
tunity.
"Also during the past 30 years,
it appears that there has been a
declind in respect for the U. S.
Flag and for our country. There
has been a decline in law and or
der and the willingness of each
citizen to participate in helping
to keep the peace. Our founding
fathers, who wrote the Constitu
tion, assumed that each person
would keep the peace and
respect each person and his
property."
Mozingo says there is one way
we can help our citizens to be
more aware of our heritage, and
that is through the American
Legion Posts who sponsor for our
youth in grades nine through 12
an oratorical contest each year.
Its purpose is to "develop a
deeper knowledge and ap
preciation of the Constitution of
the United States. It also
develops leadership, the ability
to think and speak clearly and
intelligently, and prepares an
individual for acceptance of the
duties and responsibilities, the
rights and privileges of
American citizenship...."
You May Have Missed
By WINGATE LASSITER
In The Smithf ield Herald
The nation's news media are con
stantly under attack from politicians
and the public for some of the news
we choose to play big. But what
about the stuff the news media ought
to be covering but aren't?
Project Censored is a national
newsmedia research project that
identifies stories about important
issues which are not widely report
ed. Here is the group's Top 10 "cen
sored" stories of 1983:
(1) Israel supplies arms to Central
America. According to the CIA,
Israel is the largest supplier of
weapons to Latin America and sub
Sahara Africa.
(2) U. S. never dropped out of the
arms race. While the Reagan Ad
ministration would have Americans
believe the U. S. hasn't been in the
arms race for the past 15 years,
statistics show the United States still
leads in many areas of strategic
arms development.
(3) U. S. ignored Soviet nuclear
freeze proposal. Last October Andrei
Gromyko, U.S.S.R. minister of
foreign affairs, made sweeping
proposals for freezing nuclear
weapons and condemning nuclear
war; but the Reagan Administration
ignored them and so did the nation's
newsmedia.
(4) Farm program failed. Presi
dent Reagan's "Payment In Kind"
farm subsidy program of 1983 "was
one of the worst agricultural dis
asters in American history," says
Project Censored.
(5) Korean Air Lines plane was a
victim of a "spy war" going on be
tween the U. S. and the Soviet Union.
Sources indicate that KAL planes
regularly fly over Soviet air space to
gather military Intelligence and that
theU. S. could have interceded in the
Soviet attack on the Korean jet that
killed 289 people.
(I) Conservative editor rejects U.
S. policy in Central America. Peter
Fox of the Billings, Mont Gazette
reversed his opinion of what was
going on in Central America after he
visited there. He resigned his com
mission In the U. S. Army National
Guard to protest American interven
tion in Latin affairs.
(7) Media neglect South Africa
politics. While the U. S. media
provide substantial coverage of
Poland's Solidarity Movement and
the fight against Communism, they
ignore the struggle going on in South
Africa against the racist apartheid
regime there.
(8) Navy experiences nuclear ac
cidents. An unpublicized list now
documents 126 accidents of nuclear
powered U. S. Navy vessels, includ
ing 37 involving reactors and 13
resulting in discharges of radioac
tive material into U. S. coastal
waters.
(9) Biological warfare research
proceeds. Under the guise of "defen
sive" research, biological warfare,
researchers in the U. S. Department
of Defense are delving into recom
binant DNA (gene splicing) tech
nologies.
(10) Pentagon swindles taxpayers.
The Department of Defense uses a
federal contracting system for
military weapons which encourages
cost overruns, inefficiency, and
fraud. "Cost-plus" is nothing more
than an open-ended price tag which,
in the words of Project Censored,
"allows contractors to overcharge
America's taxpayers and reduces
our military strength."
What the people don't know won't
hurt them? Who says?
Fell Of Man
By BILLY ARTHUR
In The Chapel Hill Newspaper
Story is told about a couple at Ack
land Art Museum (in Chapel Hill).
The husband paused before the pain
ting of an extraordinary beauty. She
was covered with only a few leaves.
For some time he stood there ad
miring the painting. Then his wife
nudged him and said, "Come on,
dear. We can't wait here for
autumn."
Mistake Making
A bachelor is a man who can make
a mistake without ever knowing
it.—Franklin P. Jones.
Mostly Personal
4
Snake Story Is Told
By BIGNALL JONES
Reading over the edi
torial page of The Wake
Weekly last Thursday
morning I learned that
an "8-foot snake
changes drastically
when dead," that the
Wake Forest Methodist
Church is served by a
woman as pastor, and
that Bob Allen, editor of
The Weekly actually
likes snakes.
Editor Allen also
writes a weekly column,
"Roving Around" (a
Mostly Personal sort of
thing) which is well
read. Snakes were the
subject of his interesting
column this week, and it
was from this column
that I learned that all
policemen do not like
snakes, and that Bob
does not only like all
kinds of snakes, but has
a snake terrarium
which his family enjoys.
Since this is the height
of the snake season and
since I have not borrow
ed anything from The
Wake Weekly for a long
time, and because I
believe our readers will
enjoy the column, I am
reproducing his article,
as follows:
This is the time of
year when snake stories
abound.
Our pastor, the Rev.
Helen Crotwell, pastor
of the Wake Forest
United Methodist
Church told one recently
during morning
worship about finding a
long snake with
markings all down its
back. She was nearly
petrified and said, "It
was nearly 8 feet long"
and its head was tri
angular like a poisonous
snake.
She didn't want to call
her genial neighbor,
Dwight Lowie, because
she felt like she had
bothered him too much
already. Instead, she
called the Wake Forest
Police station for help.
Now, the police are
always eager and ready
to step into action,
whether it be to stop
speeders or to in
vestigate a shooting.
But, to catch or kill a
snake....well, that's a
different story.
It seems one burly of
ficer lost out and he was
elected to go to Helen's
rescue. She pointed to
the area where she
found the snake in her
garden near the house.
The officer, who already
had begun to break out
in a cold sweat, diligent
ly searched the area in
hopes probably that he
wouldn't find it. No such
luck.. .he, too, saw the 8
foot monster and
quickly proceeded to
chop it with a long
handled hoe as Helen
stood her distance
shivering.
All she could think
about was getting rid of
the terrible, poisonous
serpent or she would
never feel safe in her
yard again.
Now comes the
strange part. After the
snake was killed, it
turned out to be only 4
feet long, the diamond
shaped markings on its
back disappeared and
its head was not pointed
after all.
The terrible, "poison
ous snake" turned out to
be a harmless black
snake which is good to
have around for the con
trol of rats and mice.
Every member of our
family of si* now shud
ders when we hear of a
story like this because
we aU have learned to
appreciate harmless
snakes. It started back
in the 70s when 14-yev
old Greg accepted a
snake from a "friend."
One thing led to
another and he talked
me into helping him
build a snake terrarium
to better view his pet
and soon got another one
when someone learned
we liked snakes.
I'll have to admit it
took some getting used
to before I could relax
with these new pets. I
soon learned the best
way to appreciate them
was to learn everything
I could thn ugh books
and from talking to the
late Jesse Walls, who
used to go on snake
hunts to pull fangs from
moccasins.
We ended up with
several black snakes, a
king snake, which was
very tough and showed
us why they could kill
poisonous snakes and
the best of all....a
spreading adder.
The adder was a
regular little showman.
If you approached the
glass front cage, it
would start rattling like
a rattler. This is usually
enough to scare you out
of your wits, but to some
of us others, who
became snake fanciers,
we continued to get
closer and the adder
would then stand up and
spread its neck just like
a cobra.
Now, if you haven't
seen this, you have a
scary treat in store. This
sight would absolutely
petrify you unless you
knew him like we did.
We continued even then
to advance toward the
"cobra" behind the
glass and just when we
came within a foot, it
would turn over and
play dead.
We often then played
the game a little further
and righted the "dead"
snake. He would im
mediately roll back over
and we all would have a
good laugh. Everyone
knows a dead snake
can't roll back over.
Naturally, a lot of
people thought we were
crazy and maybe we
were. It at least taught
us to understand snakes
a little better and sym
pathize with them. How
would you react if your
legs and arms were cut
off and you had to crawl
around on your belly?
I'll bet you would try to
be "mean as a snake,"
too.
News Of Yesteryear
Looking Back Into
The Warren Record
July 7,1944
W. R. Strickland, Warrenton plumbing and heat
ing contractor, was named president of Warrenton
Railroad Company at the annual stockholders
meeting on Tuesday night, succeeding W. N. Boyc.,
Warrenton warehouseman who had served in this
capacity for the past four years.
Mr. and Mrs. S. K. Clark have been notified that
their grandson, Pfc. George Duke, son of Vernon
Duke of Middleburg and the late Lela Clark of
Marmaduke, has received the Purple Heart.
Mr. and Mrs. John Tarwater spent Saturday in
Williamsburg, Va. They are visiting relatives in
Maryland this week.
July 3,1959
Announcement of the sale of Radio TV Center,
Inc. to Allen Tucker of Warrenton was made
yesterday by Van D. Alston, president.
Viewers of the late-night Jack Paar TV show
Monday saw a Warrenton woman, Mrs. R. H.
Bright, make her appearance on this nationwide
program.
The election of a Warren County native, F. Perry
Wilson, to the newly created office of executive vice
president of Union Carbide Canada, Limited, has
been announced recently by A. A. Cumming,
president.
July 4,1974
Warren County Democratic faithful Saturday
elected W. E. Terry, principal of John Graham High
School in Warrenton chairman of the county's
Democratic executive committee. Terry succeeds
Warrenton attorney Frank B. Banzet, who was
ineligible for re-election.
Members of the Warren County Historical
Association agreed Monday night to publish a
brochure on Nathaniel Macon's homeplace to help
raise additional funds for restoration at "Buck
Spring."
Warren County's budget, approved by the Board
of Commissioners Monday, calls for total expendi
tures of $3,095,528 and a tax rate of 73 cents on the
$100 valuation.
Letters To The Editor
Young Farmers In Need
To The Editor:
I don't know why I wanted to become a farmer. I
knew it would take a farm and the money to buy one
with. The first ten years of my adult life were spent
saving the five thousand 1 needed to borrow ten
more to buy a rather neglected place I could get for
that price.
With the help of a good wife we made it our home, 1
raised our family, paid off the debt, built a comfort'
able house and later saved something for our old
age. Having worked so hard to build it up, we wan
ted to keep the place in the family and hoped one of
our children could continue to farm it.
A few days ago I received my notice from the
county tax supervisor. Their appraisal says that
this farm is worth almost a quarter of a million
dollars; and the property tax will be around two
thousand a year. At age 68 I will have to give up
farming myself. At current rental values I can get
enough to pay the taxes and pay for repairs and
upkeep. I can live on my social security and some
interest money. With reasonable luck my wife and I
have it made!
But what about keeping a "family farm"? If one
child has to buy out the other four, it means the in
terest on the two hundred thousand could run as
high as thirty thousand dollars a year.
On the basis of productivity and earning ability
there is just no way that the net income from this
farm, in its present state, could be more than
perhaps half of that.
It is my contention that the law requiring the re
appraisal of property in the state was enacted solely
to insure equality and fairness among the taxpay
ers. The contention by the State Property Tax
Commission, through its secretary, and through the
appraisal firm it approved is that all land in the
county has a true value equal to that of selected and
isolated sales of far less than one per cent of all
county property. While the law clearly states that
many other factors including the property's pro
ductivity should be considered, they are in fact
completely ignored.
The more than doubling of property values in
Warren County during just eight years has no doubt
disturbed much of the public. It should be even
more concerned about what happens to those who
produce our food and fibre. When the corporate
farm takes over prices may tend to look up a bit at
the grocery store.
This letter is written with the hope that some
where in the non-farm citizenry of the state there
will be a few unselfish souls who have not only the
courage and the ability but also the willingness to
speak up on the farmer's behalf. I have studied the
Machinery Act pertaining to the property tax and
feel that the law and the intent of the legislature are
not really bad at all. What is bad, is the erronious in
terpretation by officials that all property should be
appraised and rated at its highest possible dollars.
We live in rather difficult times and our foresight
is often clouded. I know that we, the older genera
tion are being hard on young people in all walks of
life. We are being especially hard on our young
farmers. They need our help!
WILLIAM H. BENDER
Rt. 2, Norlina
Citizens Are Thanked
To The Editor:
The recent search for the fugitives from the
Virginia Department of Corrections was a difficult
and sometimes frustrating experience for all of
those who took part. However, the aid and support
the community gave us made it a rewarding ex
perience as well.
I would like to thank you and the citizens in and
around Warrenton for tlie assistance you gave to the
Highway Patrol and the other law enforcement
agencies during our stay. It was most gratifying.
If the Highway Patrol can be of assistance to you
at any time, please let me know.
COL. D. L. MATTHEWS
State Highway Patrol
Raleigh
Subscribed Everywhere
To The Editor:
I would like to say that your paper has kept me in
touch with my home town for almost 23 years, since
I graduated from Norlina High School and enlisted
in the Air Force. Since this time my mother (Louise
Young) has always kept me a current subscription
to The Warren Record. I have read it in Texas,
Florida, N. C., Alaska, Thailand, Turkey, and
currently in San Antonio, Texas, where I retired.
No one knows how much this paper has meant to me
over the years.
ROBERT YOUNG, JR.
San Antonio, Texas