THE ZEBULON RECORD
Volume XXVI. Number 79.
MOTHER NATURE'S
HOME REMEDIES
By Mrs. Theo. B. Davis
The following aiticle by Mrs.
Theo. B. Davis of Zebulon, which
appeared in a recent issue of the
Carolina Journal of Pharmacy,
is reprinted for Record readers.
Suggested by Heywood Jones, lo
cal pharmacist, it was published
first in February of this year.
Childhood Remedies
In my childhood I never saw a
drugstore. Indeed, I did not often
hear the word. My father called
them apothecaries’ shops, just as
he said an ordinary instead of an
inn or boarding house. We lived
in the country and medicine was
bought from the general store or,
in more serious cases, from the
doctor’s saddlebags. No one was
given a prescription to have filled.
Most of what we used was prepar
ed at home and compounded with
faith as much as skill.
Homemade medication began at
birth when newborn babies wore
navel dressings of old linen cloths,
scorched, and liberally greased
with lamb’s tallow, a cake of this
having been hardened in a tea
cup and put away carefully with
the layette. Sometimes, in cases
of neglect through carelessness or
in emergency, hog lard was sub
stituted for tallow; but this was
a matter of embarrassment to all
concerned, except the baby.
Powder Unknown
Talcum powder was unknown,
its place being taken by corn
starch or wheat flour that had
been kept in a slow oven until
browned. Even then it was a bit
sticky but helped relieve the pain
of chafing.
Various teas were poured down
the throat of a new baby in an
effort to get it well started on the
road to health. Soot, catnip, or
calamus root made infusions that
were sweetened and spooned into
the infant for their digestive value.
Watermelon seed made a tea that
was supposed to be a specific for
kidneys that needed stimulation.
Chicken Gizzards
For colitis the lining of chicken
gizzards was saved. We scrubbed
them well, strung them with a
darning needs and coarse thread,
hung them to dry thoroughly, then
put them away for use as needed
by the family or by those neigh
bors who killed fewer chickens
than we. (And after years of be
ing laughed at whenever speaking
of this remedy, I heard a doctor
prescribe for a small nephew a
medicine which, he explained, was
made from gizzard linings.)
If afflicted by measles, we were
not allowed to drink cold water,
but were forced to swallow hot
drinks pine tea being a favo
rite with nurses. We had ad
vanced beyond the prescribing of
a tea made from sheep droppings,
though I have known those who
had taken it.
Summer Complaint
For diarrhea, commonly called
“summer complaint,” we drank
water that had been poured over
the bark of peachtree roots and
allowed to stand till pinkish in
color. It was bitter, but efficacious.
To cure boils it was necessary
only to fill a quart jar with ber
ries from red sumac and pour
cold water in, letting it stand till
a pink tinge was acquired. This
liquid was drunk whenever the
sufferer was thirsty, more water
being poured in as needed; or more
(Continued on Page 4)
R. I. f. By V. I. P.
I ~VU.*REST IN
Li PIECES if you
OVERLOAD your car
REPORTER
Meantime, last week Thurmond
Chatham and Governor Scott
were guests at a tour of Buggs
Island and a barbecue at Oxford,
both promoted by the Wildlife
Club there.
Thurmond heaped praise on
Governor Scott. He termed him
the best agriculture commission
er in the history of the State and
predicted Scott would go down in
history as a great governor who
always was “for something.”
Chatham in Race
All of this brought the comment
that Chatham sounded “like a man
running for something.”
The Elkin manufacturer told one
reporter he was interested only in
“being the best representative
this state has.” Other folks
thought Chatham either had his
eye on the governor’s chair or the
Senate seat now occupied by Clyde
Hoey.
Other Gleanings
Gleanings from the Buggs Is
land trip included reports from
CIITIDN QUIZ
MUCHIS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF A.ggfjg AUTOMOBILE: J
APPROXIMATELY 6SPOUNDS
OF COTTON ARE USED IN
THE VARIOUS PARTS OF
A CAR !
Zebulon, N. C., Tuesday, June 19, 1951
some tobacco farmers that activi
ties of the warehouse associations
are slowly but surely sounding the
deathknell c the auction system
of selling tobacco . . . Consolida
tion of schools is a major problem.
One politician said it was a ne
cessity, “but I don’t know wheth
er to come out and fight for it
killing myself politically or to
just sit back and see what hap
pens” . . . Farmers also were
talking about the increasingly high
cost of getting started as a farmer
due to high labor and ma
chinery costs.
Some Car
The new $4,000 Cadillac for the
governor has arrived and been
put into service, it’s mighty fan
cy, with all kinds of p.*sh-buttons,
which most folks is as it
should be for the State’s chief exe
cutive even if he is a farmer.
But even more interesting to
this reporter was the stuff that
the Governor carries along. There’s
a copy of a farm magazine, a Ral
eigh telephone book, a first aid
kit, a box of cleansing tissue, mem
orandum pads, a road map, one of
those thin raincoats that you can
fold up and put in your pocket,
and on the day I peeped —a
withered rosebud that the Gov
eorner had discarded from his la
pel.
Not So Petty
The misuse of State-owned
cars once more is hitting the head
lines. It doesn’t sound like much
when one man drives a car home
at night, then mebbe takes the
missus back downtown to a movie.
But when you add it up it comes
to a not-so-petty sum of state
cash gone down the drain.
Attorney General
In the latest drive to stop this,
the Governor called on Attorney
General Harry McMullan to find
out what could be done to stop the
goings on.
So don’t be surprised if sev
eral state employees either get
fined or fired in a drive to stamp
out this “not-so-petty” graft.
Hailstorm Last Thursday Afternoon
Does Thousands of Dollars Damage
To Tobacco, Other Crops in Field
A single hailstorm which swept from Daniel’s Store east of Wake
Forest past Rolesville and Zebulon as far east as Murraytown did
damage to local crops last Thursday afternoon which may reach the
million dollar mark. The storm, accompanied by torrential rainfall
and high winds, did its greatest damage along the Bunn Road east of
Wakefield and along highway 39 northwest to Rosenburg, including
hundreds of acres of the same area devastated by hail only a year ago.
Six Softball Contests
Scheduled for Wakelon
Diamond During Week
Six softball games are scheduled
for men on the Wakelon diamond
on three nights of this week, ac
cording to Jim Fish, recreation di
rector. Games will be played on
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday
nights.
Tonight the Lions meet Pearce
and Pilot plays Wakefield. On
Thursday night the American Le
gion meets Pearce and the Na
tional Guard plays Wakefield.
Games Friday night include the
Lions versus the National Guard
and the American Legion against
Pilot.
This schedule will be incorpor
ated with the games which will be
scheduled for the girls and the
teenagers.
The first game each night will
begin at 7:30. Director Fish stated,
and no inning of the first game
may begin after 9 o’clock.
Methodist Field Served
By Rev. Keith Glover
Rev. Keith Glover, a recent
graduate of Duke University and
ministerial student, is assisting
Rev. S. E. Mercer at Zebulon and
Wendell Methodist Churches for
a five week period under the
sponsorship of the Duke Endow
ment.
Mr. Glover is helping in Vaca
tion Church Schools, youth work,
general pastoral assistance and is
preaching at the Sunday evening
services. He will conduct Youth
Week in both churches soon.
Mr. Glover will enter the Duke
Divinity School for further train
ing in the fall. He is a native of
the Mount Pleasant community in
the adjoining county of Nash.
COMPLETE "OVEN MEALS" SAVE TIME
A good way to save time now that the busiest season of the farm
year is approaching in central North Carolina is to make full use of
your electric range in preparing “oven meals.” Here a farm house
wife takes a completely prepared meal of pork chops, string bean
casserole, and baked apples from her oven, after making it earlier
and storing in her refrigerator until almost meal time. Such time
conserving steps will be explained to you by Mrs. Maude Mclnnes,
home demonstration agent, or the home agent of your power firm.
Theo. Davis Sons, Publishers
T Crop damage was estimated at
from 50 to 100 percent on tobac
co, corn and cotton, and insur
ance adjusters were swamped as
farmers made reports of the heavy
damage.
The hail, which ranged up to
the size of golf balls, fell with
such force that large heads of cab
bage were split open, stalks of
corn riddled, and tobacco and cot
ton stalks cut completely in two.
Heavy Fog
Following the hail, a heavy fog
rose from the ground, making it
necessary for automobiles to drive
with lights in many areas.
Many cars, caught in the open
during the storm, had paint pep
pered by the stones.
By late Friday farmers were re
planting tobacco in sections in an
effort to regain some of the lost
acreage. Others hoped to cultivate
suckers rather than work with a
late crop.
Weekend Rains
The rains which fell over the
weekend proved a great aid to
those who were replanting their
fields of tobacco.
A complete estimate of the dam
age will not be possible until all
reports are in, according to D. D.
Chamblee, local insurance man.
Aleigh Perry Represents
Town in Beauty Contest
Aleigh Perry, lovely daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Sean Perry of
Zebulon, has been selected as the
Zebulon representative in the
beauty contest to select “Miss
Raleigh Capital” for the Raleigh
baseball team.
Entrants in the contest must be
from Wake County, and between
17 and 25 years of age. The win
ning contestant in the Raleigh
contests will be entered with
i other winners to determine “Miss
I Carolina League.”