Page Two
We Need a New Building
Figures released this week by the Unemployment
Compensation Commission state that 98 per cent of all
payments being made to North Carolina veterans go to
farmer trainees. Apparently the days of the 52-20 club are
finished, and the program set up by the Veterans Admin
istration for former servicemen is now accomplishing
what it was originally intended to do: Provide the vet
eran with financial compensation for time used in making
him a better citizen by increasing his earning power.
The program at Wakelon School, which is under the
capable direction of Ed Ellington, is being carried out in
the spirit intended by the Veterans Administration. Trai
nees are being held strictly accountable for their actions,
insofar as meeting the minimum requirements of the pro
gram is concerned. In addition, each piece of the thous
ands of dollars worth of machinery installed at the voca
tional building is being used by every one of the seventy
odd local trainees.
Unfortunately two flies remain in the ointment of
training. The quota set for this area is too small to meet
the area’s needs. Although Wakelon has the largest quota
of any school in Wake County, some applicants for farm
training had to be turned down this year. Only an increas
ed appropriation by the national congress can change this
situation.
The other complaint has to do with space. There is
no more space in the vocational building for equipment;
as a consequence, veterans are not receiving training on
available machinery training they need and are entitled
to. To make the matter more distressing, veteran labor
is available to assist in the construction of a building to
house the still crated equipment; all that is needed to start
the addition is a mason and some brick, these latter items
to be furnished by Wake County. We hope and trust that
prompt action will be taken by responsible authorities to
give our veterans their required space.
A Campaign Every Week
Members of one of the community’s churches were
considering having a revival meeting a few years ago.
Some of the members were opposed on the grounds that the
church had already held one revival meeting that year. One
member, however, whom we will not identify, finally rose
and stated that from the way most of the membership act
ed, a revival every week would not be too often. They
had their meeting.
Just last month we had a statewide rat posioning cam
paign. Unfortunately, from the amount of damage done
by the rats missed and their progeny, a rat killing campaign
every week would not be too often. Hence during the latter
part of this month another campaign against the nation’s
most destructive rodent will be undertaken, this time by
the Wake County Health Department in cooperation with
the county agent’s office.
Dr. A. C. Bulla, county health officer, says in connec
tion with the campaign:
Os course, we are interested in saving food, but, pri
marily, we are interested in the extermination of rats.
With the killing of rats, the second and third parts of this
program automatically become effective. If every farmer
and home owner would take full advantage of this service,
it would save, perhaps in the next two or three months,
$150,000 to $200,000 in stored grain which otherwise would
be eaten or destroyed by rats.
More Traffic Case Convictions
Speeding convictions in North Carolina in 1946
amounted to 13,727, as compared with a 1947 total of 26,-
237. Other convictions of moving violations showed a corre
sponding increase, with a 1947 grand total of 59,787 as
compared with 31,604 in 1946.
The increase in convictions does not mean that Tar
Heels are becoming worse drivers; rather it indicates that
the State Highway Patrol, enlarged and properly equipped,
is doing a better job. In fact, if the Patrol keeps up its
good work, Tar Heels will eventually become better drivers
—or go broke paying traffic fines.
The Zebulon Record
Ferd Da- is Editor
Barrie Davis Publisher
Entered as second class matter June 26, 1925, at the post office
at Zebulon, North Carolina, under the act of March 3, 1879.
Subscription rate: $1.50 a year. Advertising rates on request
The Zebulon Record
This, That and the Other
By Mrs. Theo. B. Davis
Palisades, Washington This
is the evening of New Year’s Day,
and we have really celebrated.
My sister had a special dinner
with her son, his wife and baby
here to help enjoy it; and my hus
band walked on crutches from his
bedroom, across the living room
to the dining room table, sitting
down to his first meal with us
since September 27, the day he
fell and hurt himself. Theo hed
been practicing in his room for
the great occasion. Our nephew,
who once broke his ankle and re
membered crutches gave careful
instructions, which helped consid
erably. He had Theo learn first
to stand with his weight on one
foot. This took about two days.
(You can forget a lot in three
months.) But now we really feel
on the high road to recovery. The
broken leg is not stiff, though it
will most probably be somewhat
shorter than before, and the hip
seems to be behaving pretty well.
Since his accident Theo has done
more reading than he has done in
several years, outside his Bible.
Friends have sent reading matter,
we’ve bought some, and there’s
a good library here. One day
when another book was wanted I
took Theo “Kitty Foyle” and told
Zebulon s Loss Sanford s Gain
Well, we’ve said our goodbyes
to a darned good doctor, and it
is with regfets that we let him
go. It was a jolt to discover that
he was moving to Sanford after
becoming such an important part
of our community life. There’s
lots of things I remember about
Doc Thomas— things that mean a
lot.
There were several times when
I was downing a coke at the At
lantic Station, taking off time from
work at two or three o’clock in
the morning. Some poor fellow
would come in and plead: “I got
ta have a doctor. My wife is sick.”
A call would be placed to Ben
Thomas, and he was always ready
to help.
A young colored boy was lost
in a pond near Wakefield. He
was found by a trio of Boy Scouts.
And Doc Thomas stood by to
watch over the artificial respira
tion work in case he could aid in
any way.
At four o’clock in the morning
When you take your vehicle to
one of the State’s Mechanical In
spection lanes this year, make
sure the muffler is in good work
ing order—for that’s one of the
requirements for passing the in
spection test.
The Manual of Motor Vehicle
Mechanical Inspection Require
ments states that “all motor vehic
les with internal combustion mot
ors shall be at all times equipped
with a muffler in good working
condition to prevent excessive or
unusual noise. The entire ex
haust system, including manifolds,
exhaust pipes, mufflers and tail
pipes, shall be leak proof.”
If you have ever driven behind
a car or truck with a loud, roaring
muffler, you know how offensive
such noise can be. So take your
car to the nearest repair shop and
have the muffler fixed immediate
him it would be good for him to
read it. Some time later he in
dignantly demanded my reason
tor saying it was a good book. I
reminded him that my statement
was not that the book was good,
but that it would be good for
him. From then till he finished
it he alternated criticism with puz
zled questioning of my motive and
meaning—but he read it all.
When my husband called me
somewhat excitedly I hurried to
his bedroom to find him watching
a tiny bird that was busily run
ning up and down the trunk of
an apple tree, without bothering
over which way its head pointed.
We had thought only nuthatches
could get around like that; and
this little fellow did not resem
ble any bird by that name we had
ever seen. It was hardly as large
as a wren, slender, with black
body and almost white vest. My
sister identified it as a pigmy nut
hatch, and it was certainly a pig
my. That kind is not found in
eastern states.
Besides Chinese and Hungarian
pheasants, we have seen flocks
of migrating warblers; the empty
nests of ljnany orioles hang from
twigs on apple trees; wild geese
have called to each other in the
a worried mother put in a call. Her
young son was burning with fev
er. Doc Thomas was at the bed
side in a matter of minutes.
It’s been a comfort to us who
have been well to know that we
had someone here who was al
ways ready to help. It didn’t mat
ter who called —Ben Thomas was
ready.
Well, it’s too late to keep him
here—and there’s no use crying
over spilt milk. But it’s going to
be harder to find another doctor
for Zebulon and we don’t want
to lose him through a repetition of
the same mistakes.
Doctor Thomas was promised
several thihgs to induce him to
come to Zebulon. Among these
were a clinic and offices on the
ground floor. He didn’t get the
clinic and he didn’t get the ground
floor offices and he didn’t get
other things he had been led to
expect. Now he’s gone to Sanford
where, we understand, he has a
wonderful set-up waiting for him.
Farm Home Hints
ly if it emits any unusually loud
or harsh noise And make sure
that the entire exhaust system is
leakproof.
Statistics show that one out of
every five vehicles has some mech
anical defect such as poor tires,
faulty brakes, lights, wheel align
ment or stering mechanism.
And one of the most important
and serious are bad tires. Are the
tires on your car or truck worn
so thin that a sharp curve or stone
in the road would send you car
eening into a traffic tragedy? If
they are, then you would do well
to have them recapped or discard
them for new ones, not only for
your own safety, but to insure that
your vehicle will pass its inspec
tion test.
The Manual of Motor Vehicle
Mechanical Inspection Require
ments states that all motor vehic
le tires “shall be free from any
Friday, January 16, 1948
air above us; a flicker comes near
the house occasionally; once in a
while a great goshawk swoops
over the yard; j uncos appear at
intervals; various sparrows come,
feed and disappear, though not
one of the English kind have I
seen. Magpies, strikingly hand
some in black and white, fly busi
ly to appointments. However,
you are smiled at in a peculiar
way, if you admire magpies. They
are scavengers and take over the
work done by buzzards in our sec
tion of the country.
We have had a beautiful snow
fall, with damp flakes that piled
high on branches of trees and on
every slope and crevice of the
coulee walls. It looked just like
a Christmas card done in black,
gray and white. Trunks of trees
gray, perpendicular coulee walls
black (too steep for snow to cling
on). For the first time I saw
what it means to have no green at
all in the landscape—or snow
scape. Incredibly lovely but ap
pearing piteously cold.
Up on Snowqualmie Pass snow
is more than seventy inches deep.
Stevens Pass has sixty-nine in
ches. There’ll be water for irri
gation in proportion to the snow
fall.
I’m not going to argue whether
or not Zebulon can support a clin
ic. And I’m not going to argue
whether young doctors expect too
much nowadays.
However, it is a crying shame to
make a lot o promises and then
fai to keep them. It’s not fair
and makes for too many disap
poinments.
If, as, and when Zebulon has
an opportunity to ge another
doctor to come here and practice,
let’s be honest with him and with
ourselves. If we make a promise
to give him ground floor offices—
which every doctor should have—
let’s keep that promise. If we
make other promises, let’s keep
them too. Or else we’ll lose the
next doctor that comes in to town.
I’m wishing lots of luck to Ben
Thomas in his new practice. He’s
leaving lots of friends here who
wish him well. I hope he’ll forget
all our faults and remember us
with as much pleasure as I’ve had
from knowing him. —BSD.
exposed fabric or bulges which in
dicate broken fabric or which ex
hibit dangerously weakened con
ditions.”
In 1946, 520 fatal accidents and
9,240 non-fatal accidents in the
United States were caused by
punctures and blowouts, alone
demonstrating the importance of
keeping tires in good condition at
all times. It is believed by Motor
Vehicle officials that tires are an
even greater factor in accidents
thant is generally reported, for of
ten when the investigating officer
lists “drove off the roadway” as
the principle cause of the accident,
it is logical to assume that with
perfect tires, brakes and steering
mechanism, the accident might not
have happened.
Help prepare your car for its
inspection check-up by having the
tires in good condition before you
report to the State Inspection lane
in your area.