Four
Learn To Swim
♦
It will be a matter of only a few days before some fam
ily you know is saddened by the tragic death of a son or
daughter. The loss will be more heart-breaking because the
death could be avoided, because it will be caused by drown
ing. With more and more farms having ponds and lakes,
the danger of drowning is greater than ever, and the grow
ing danger brings with it an increased responsibility for
parents to protect their children by seeing that they learn
to swim as early as possible. The younger a child is when
he learns to swim, the better chance he will have to grow old.
Those of us who used to walk, the 2/ 2 miles to Little
River to swim with older brothers were fortunate. Gener
ally the older brothers forced us worry warts to dog-paddle
50 or 100 yards before they would let us play by ourselves,
and pleading and crying availed nothing. As a result, we
learned to swim and today are alive to have little worry warts
of our own.
The world changes and time is becoming a more valua
ble commodity of which nobody has enough. So the older
sons somehow don’t get around to walking to the river with
their kid brothers anymore. Somebody has to replace them
as swimming instructors. Somebody has to teach the lit
tle kids to save their own lives.
Happily, the Wake County Chapter of the American
Red Cross has stepped in with learn-to-swim classes held
annually at lakes not far from here. Happily, there are peo
ple willing to give transportation to take non-swimmers
to the classes. Happily, each summer more children will
learn to swim and the number of deaths from drowning will
grow smaller.
If you are a parent or guardian,and your child cannot
swim, you have a tremendous responsibility to see that the
child learns to swim. Next week is your opportunity, for
next week the Red Cross classes begin at Lake Glad. What
your child learns in the ten classes could be what he needs
to know to keep living. Unless h e can attend the classes, he
cannot learn. If he does not learn, his death by drowning
may lay heavy on your shoulders.
Let the kids learn to swim—and live.
Excessive Speed
Tnere’s a now law in North Carolina which says that
a driver who exceeds the 55 miles per hour speed limit
by as much as 15 miles per hour will lose his license to drive.
It’s a good law and one which should help in controlling
those who add danger and death to our roads by tromping
heavy on the gas pedal.
The law doesn’t go far enough, however. It should
make the loss of license mandatory for those who exceed
any stated speed limit by 15 miles per hour. It is frequently
more dangerous for an automobile to come through Zebu
lon’s crowded streets at 50 miles per hour than it is for it to
travel the open country at 70.
The present law is a step in the right direction. Another
step is in order.
Which Way Is Up?
\
The proper conduct of international relations is a com
plicated, confusing, and controversial matter. It is made
that way because what affects one people or one nation af
fects all peoples and all nations, and there is no quick, easy
solution to any problem.
Those who think that there is a simple, straight line an
swer to international questions can try this experiment.
Were we on this side of the globe to point down, the line
extended from our finger would pass downward through
the earth to the center, but from that point on would pass
upward out of the earth on the other side.
Similarly, if we point up on this side of the earth, we
are pointing in the same direction as a person pointing down
on the opposite side of the earth.
Bewildering, isn’t it? So are international relations.
The Zebulon Record
Entered as second class matter June 26, 1925, at the post
office at Zebulon, North Carolina, under the act of March 3, 1879.
Member of the North Carolina Press Association.
Published Tuesday and Friday of each week at Zebulon,
Wake County, North Carolina. Subscription rate: $2.00 a year.
Advertising rates on request.
*
BARRIE S. DAVIS Editor
JAMES M. POTTER, JR Publisher
FERD L. DAVIS Fifth Wheel
The Zebulon Reeord
By Eloise Potter
“We’re going to try to give you
the best possible service, and we
’ll do it too, if you folks will just
cooperate with us by getting those
garbage cans and putting them as
near the street as you can,” said
Town Clerk Willie B. Hopkins
when I called him yesterday morn
ing for definite information on the
matter of garbage collection in
Zebulon.
Mr. Hopkins went on to say
that he and his assistants have
made a survey of the residential
sections of Zebulon to determine
the needs of the housewives and
to urge their help in establishing
and maintaining efficient garbage
service. The survey truck made 362
stops and found only 160 approved
garbage pails and 38 sites suitable
for burning trash. The 202 house
holders without metal cans having
covers and handles were using ev
erything from huge oil drums and
bottomless barrels to fruit baskets,
washtubs, and cardboard boxes.
Many of the cans were placed at
the very back of the lot, thus re
quiring the men to walk an un
reasonable distance.
“A number of cans have been
purchased since the sur\ey was
made Monday and Tuesday,” said
the Town Clerk. “We hope the
rest will do so before we have to
force them to comply.” Mr. Hop
kins pointed out that the Town
does not specify the size of the
can, but only the type. When I
priced cans in mail order catalogs
and local stores, I found that one
of good quality and ample size
costs less than five dollars. The
one Jack and I purchased three
years ago is still in fairly good
A growing topic of conversation
likely to equal the weather is gro
cery bills. A couple of years back
most folks preferred no mention
of the size of their grocery bills,
apparently feeling that their ina
bility to hold the bill down plac
ed them in a bad light. But as
everybody has come to realize that
everybody else faces the same
problem and has a similar-size bill
at the end of the month, the topic
has been brought out in the open
for discussion.
•
It’s sort of like they say about
the weather everybody talks
about it but nobody does anything
about it.
9
Want to live a long time? Then
don’t get divorced. A recent sur
vey showed the mortality rate of
divorced men to be twice that of
married men.
The naturalist Ernest Thompson
Seton in his book, 4 * Lives of the
Hunted,” wrote a delightful story
on the kangaroo rat. It may have
conditioned many people in their
subsequent understanding of this
animal. Unfortunately it unjustly
conditions people to believe that
kangaroo rats can sulffer at the
hands of such a harmless creature
as a spotted salamander. Some
how as the years go by and we
have experiences both with kanga
roo rats and with spotted sala
manders. we come to believe that
we should depend to a consider
able extent on what we see for our
selves.
If you have had the opportunity
of keeping some of these delight
ful animals in captivity for some
Potter Patter
condition, and we expect it to
last another three years, barring
accidents.
On the basis of the survey and
complaints that have been voiced
the Commissioners are trying to
write a new ordinance that will not
require the sorting of household
refuse. Mr. Hopkins could give me
no positive statement about the
wording of the new regulation,
but he assured me that it will try
to make garbage disposal as sim
ple as possible for householders
without overworking the men on
the truck.
•
Now as one housewife to
another I beg those of you who
have not bought approved gar
bage cans to do so immediately.
Less than $5.00 is a small invest
ment to make in promoting top
notch trash collection for Zebu
lon. The men on the garbage truck
have done some favor, large or
small, for nearly every one of
us; let’s all join together to help
them do their work the best they
can with the minimum of effort.
•
In the course of conservations
with folks in Zebulon about gar
bage collection, I have picked up
some suggestions others might find
helpful. Here goes!
1. If dogs turn over your can,
drive two lengths of pipe in the
ground so placed that the handles
fit over the pipes. Jack and I tried
that one, and the men were always
very nice about replacing the can
properly.
2. Another way to discourage
dogs is to place the can against a
building, preferably in a corner.
3. If there is a carpenter in the
Seen and Heard
The trouble with people who
say what they think is that usu
ally they say everything they think.
•
We often think that bus drivers,
airplane pilots, and such people
have tremendous responsibilities
placed on them for the safety of
their passengers. But the everyday
motorist, driving down the high
way, has as great a responsibility,
for his careful driving may mean
the difference in life and death for
the thousands of people he meets
on the highways.
•
A friend of ours was suggesting
ways of turning out a better paper
for the community. He realized
that time is lmited, everybody be
ing allotted the same amount by
our Maker. “But,” he asked,
“couldn't you find somebody to
help you by writing all the news
and soliciting the advertising for
Study of Nature
time, you come to feel that some
how the name “rat” should not be
applied to the kangaroo rat. A rat
is a despicable critter, and it is
difficult to apply that term to this
animal of our Southwest desert
lands.
The kangaroo rat comes in a va
riety of species. In fact there are
approximately a hundred kinds
and in suitable territory there may
be a population as high as 1.000
animals to the square mile. Be
cause of the different kinds it is
difficult to limit the territory oc
cupied, but they seek hot, dry
lands where coolness may be
reached by burrowing a short dis
tance underground. Some species
are to be found in damp lands and
Friday, July 10, 1953
family you might have him de
sign a stand or frame of some sort
that will keep the dogs from up
setting the can.
4. Someone suggested that an
ordinance requiring dog owners
to keep their dogs shut up at
night would put an end to upset
trash cans. Os course there are
problems involved in that, too.
5. If your household refuse is
too much for the can and you have
no suitable place for burning, tie
newspapers and magazines secure
ly and place them on the street
just as if they were limbs. Other
heavy or bulky objects may be
placed on the street, too—large
boxes and discarded furniture, for
example. Mr. Hopkins says Wed
nesday is the day to put excess
trash on the street.
6. When putting small boxes and
cans in the garbage pail, either
fill them with smaller waste or
collapse them so they will take up
as little room in the can as pos
sible. Fold paper instead of ball
ing it up. A combination of these
procedures should make it possi
ble for most people to get every
thing in one can. but a few people
I know have bought two cans to
be sure there is no waste put in
improper containers.
7. If you should clean out the at
tic on Thursday and not want to
junk around the yard for a week,
you could haul it to the trash pile
yourself. Many business firms al
ready haul their own regularly
rather than burn it down town.
Whether you follow these sug
gestions or not, the main thing is
that you cooperate. Without your
help the drive for improved gar
bage collection will fail. Are you
doing your share?
something like $125.00 a week.”
We told him is we could find a
job running a weekly which pa'd
$125.00 a week, we’d take it instead
of hunting for somebody else to
fill the job.
When folks ask when the armory
is going to be built, it is good to
be able to tell them it is under
construction.
•
Our dark room is in operation
on a limited scale. You will have
to be patient with us on the quality
of our pictures until we get the
knack of finding the right expo
sure for the enlargements.
•
It is discouraging to think the
home finances are getting on an
even keel, and this discover an
insurance premium notice in the
mail and find that the tires on the
car are slick.
some in forested areas but usually
the ground is of a loose type, such
as sand or clay, in which excavat
ing is relatively easy.
A nest den about 8 by 10 by 5
inches is built some 3 feet under
ground and lined with fine plant
material. It is kept free of dung
and waste food and there the two
to four young of a litter are born.
The rats are social but the fam
ilies live in separate tunnels. How
ever, if the animals are confined
in a cage they will fight to the
death, and, while one may sur
vive out of a group, even the sur
vivor may become so wounded
in the process of proving his super
iority that he too does not live out
his normal life span.