Newspapers / The Chapel Hill Weekly … / June 24, 1955, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page Two Tfce Chapel HfflWeekly (ten *t ml Otme* Gmmvr fcj u» Your: Sak «f K. C-, Vfc. aad S. C AM nn» StßMs and Dun. «f Colombia ----- M * XK *' *"^ fc APVKgnßiye RATES for Me col met . . Lne*' Bant, 7Sc; oper. S&c; ref^i* 1 c^T^* tggt Ci—ififri ywrab* b idytaci- duzusbil. 60c lot 12 wank, nef aadraon*] wore 4e: AT emseftad «A iimi'iiyf lour or mart oiws e*rrr i 26** dn eaant . . sad tatmiar, 1 SOt pet mrc; 2 lawe* Tse; 8 tun**. Tkc; 4 or xoor* 65* **ltiailiii." aeporate frtnt readtcf nuttier aac eiearij »*AeC “adr..'' Tic . ■ Political (it ad- TW Faik Festival GeU a Severe Drubbing From a Faik tart Specialist Arthur Palmer Hudson, folklore speciai j*t ® the University* English detnrtmeßt, gave the Eighth Annual Carolina Folic Festival directed by Baecotr. Lamar Luns ford, a rouge going-over in hi* review in last Friday* issue of the Weekly. A large proportion of what be wrote wa* uncompli mentary. and when you came to a passage that started as a compliment you found, in many cases, that it ended with a quali fication that brought to mind Pope’s famout line about damning" with faint praise. Parts of the performance on which Mr. Hudson bestowed a real accolade, with out dropping any poison of detraction in hi* rjjj, of commendation, were the dancing numbers and the tinging and piavmg of George Pegram, Red Parham, J I-aurei Johnson, and Obrey Ramsey. He said these numbers were first rate. Os the Festival as a whole he wrote: “It was uneven, ragged, imperfectly dis ciplined, and over-exuberant. The num ber of performers and the acts was too great, much was lacking in the authentic folk note, and what talent there was did not display Ra best resources. “The instrumental marie waa, with a few exceptions, but little above the ruck of hillbilly stuff which rides the radio— too many electric git-tars, too much screeching, nasalising, gum-chewing, and gargling of old Tin-Pan Aiiey stuff and saccharine orphan and parted-lovers songs: of the last century.” As to the singing, “it was keenly dis appointing. The talent was there, but it" did not choose the right pieces—with a few honorable exceptions. Mrs. Freda English did not sing a single g ( >od tradi tional secular song. Miss Eunice Arnold’s selections were only so-so. Vtzgil .Sturgill gave his usual ‘Jackie Frazier,’ which is a Frit too long for outdoor audiences ac customed to beievbion and radio sj/>ts; his ‘Pretty Polly’ wa- ai.-o bs. long, and was not the best version ” Here are some of the compliments trail ing off into depreciation, of which i have spoken: “The much advertised Donald Macl)or»- ald was a cultivated and smooth singer; but for a man reputed to have spent a year in Scotland learning tin- JnJland songs, his Harry Jnuder imitations were not up to expectations. He hit the true note only once, in a Gaelic folksong. “Miss Claire Simmons, a charming per sonality and a trained singer, pleased with Bums’ 'My Love’s Like a Red, Red Rose,’ but only tired the audience with ‘Robin Adair' and another long song. Little Joan Moaer, with a large and beautiful reper tory, sang three times ‘Green Willow In My Hat.' Why couldn't she have varied her offerings? “Mrs. Sherrell, accompanied by Mrs. English on the guitar, gave, three times, -The Lonesome Valley,' a beautiful and impresaive spiritual, and beautifully and impressively rendered— only It begins to wear after one has heard it once or twice. “Bob Keppd gave a fine Twa Sisters', that waa too long for that time of night, and missed his chance of doing something better adapted to the audience’s temper when he appeared the second time with 'Whiskey in the Jug* instead of a short migtuxe of the spiritual and the animal song learned from his Mississippi mother. In conclusion Mr. Hudson wrote about tbe bearing of this year's Festival on the Outlook for future Festivals: “The disappointingly I tbs nft*d fwtformance* the low per / tibe failure of the performers to give their best, bode a for the Festival Mr. Luns ford has to do the best he can with what be baa, if be waste people to ooase out and see and bear. This year be get together too much. It waa not property screened and processed and monitored.*' ! Ail this adds up to a very severe drub bing. Now. it is reasonable to suppose that the performances in the Folk Festival were short of perfection, some of them by s wide margin, and from the point of view of a perfectionist Mr. Hudson’s criticisms may have been justified. But is that the right point of view from which to observe, and comment upon, a show put on by amateurs gathered together from scores of widely scattered communities? I have a theory about what ik the trouble with Mr. Hudson as a reviewer of a show of this character. My theory is simply this: that be knows too much. This makes him less easily satisfied than the ordinary run of people. He has made a lifelong study of folk music, folk dances, folk drama, folk medicine, folk fairy tales— all the amusements and practices em braced it the term, folklore. He has read innumerable books about them and de livered lectures about them. He has at tended gatherings at which folklorists exchange voluminous information about folklore. He has gone into the forests and swamps and mountain coves of Tennessee, Mississippi. Louisiana and other states, and in foreign countries too, to make records of the natives' songs and tales and banjo-and guitar-playing and to take photographs of them at work and at play. With his head full of all this knowledge, and with his experience of having seen on the stage and in movies the world’s most expert practitioners of singing, dancing, and instrument-playing, it is no wonder his spirit is troubled by imperfections, at a folk festival, that are not even noticed by the average citizen—me, for instance— who goes to such a show for no other pur pose than to have a good time. Consider, for example, the singer, Don ald MacDonald. I was utterly oblivious t>o the faults that Mr. Hudson found with him and so 1 enjoyed his Scotch song thoroughly. I have heard several acquain tances of mine, who are certainly to IJt1 Jt r l tnn'“f as educated persons (not educated in folklore, however), express the same good opinion of these songs. And these people have told me they liked the festival in general. Some lamented the rain, which drove them away before they had seen the whole show, but all I questioned said they enjoyed what they saw. There were about three hundred parti cipants in the Festival. They are ama teurs who, in their communities, sing and dance and* play intruments for the fun of the thing. Most of them come here at l their own expense. Some, from places far off, an helped out by shares in the gate money, but the help they got was meager thir year because the had weather kept the attendance down. Though my sympathy and g<*»d wishes an with the manager and his associates who/sw«*ai and stew to produce a show Ilk* thi.*, and with the performers, I don’t i mean that, out of gratitude for their efforts, we ought to praise everything they do. I don’t mind at all, in fa<H I like, to I see Mr. Hudson criticize ‘‘too much j screeching, nasalizing, gum-chewing.” But | J think it ought to be kept in mind that the main purpose of a F’olk Festival is merely to entertain the spectators, not to meet the exacting demands of a folklore specialist. The testimony I hear persuades me that, by the entertainment test, last week’s Festival jwas a success. My com plaint against Mr. Hudson’s review is that it placed too much emphasis on im perfections. It seemed to me to be over balanced on the side of censure.—L. G. People with Money Get the Bent Beats (Krooi UaiCktrlSU New*) In spite of what the calendar says and the weatherman predicts, there is just a touch of autumn in the minds of the Uni versity of North Carolina's football faith ful this month. Ticket application forms have already befen mailed out to thousands of alumni. Many T*r Heel fans — dazzled by a home schedule which includes Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Maryland and Tennes see—have responded with checks and money orders. But what are the chancas of getting a choice seat on the 50-yard line for a 1966 game at Chapel HiU? Pretty good — if you have money enough to contribute to the support of an athlete. The list price of a ticket to the Notre Dame game is |4.60. But that is hardly enough if you want what the UNO Ath- 1U CKAPEL HILL WEEKLY letic Aaancietinr deiicateiy calls “prefer ential treatment** or one of the high “pri orities" In seating assign meets. For instance, it is best to be a member of something called the “Century Club" and have your ticket order processed dur ing the special June 1-16 “priority period.” This is even better than being a member of the “Educational Foundation," organ ized some years ago to raise money for worthy athletes who would win for Caro lina. The ‘Century Club,” according to the University’s order blank, is “composed of Educational Foundation members who con tribute annually SIOO or more for gran ta in-aid to University athletes. They are given the highest preference in location (of seats) and are granted permanently assigned seats.” * Ordinary “Educational Foundation” members (lesser contributors) share the June 1-15 priority period but are not promised “highest preference” and “per manently assigned seats.” “Other alumni”—presumably those who just pay the list price of football tickets and cannot afford to subsidize athletics at the University—had to wait until the June 15-July 1 “priority period.” The general public will get its ticket orders processed July 1-15, say order form instructions. Despite the fact that all citizens of North Carolina support the University of North Carolina with tax money, we have no objection to alumni getting first choice on tickets. But beyond that, there cer tainly should be no favoritism in seating assignments. Tickets to these public functions should be handled on a first come-first-serve basis. For a state insti- Chapel Hill Chaff (Continued from page 1) nearness of relatives or close friends may be a factor. I have known some alumni who say they would like to settle here after retirement but whose wives, having no old-time ties with Chapel Hill, are of an opposite mind. These wives’ slant is cer tainly not surprising. Why should a woman whose asso ciations have been all with Boston or New York or Chicago, and who likes city life with its theatres arid* music and art museums and other attractions, want to hole down in a village that seems to her as alien and 'remote as if it were in the 1 mountains of Peru or the angles of Burma? Well, those of us who live here, and wish we could see more of the exiles, can only urge upon them that they choose Chapel Hill as: a va-J cation spot more often than they do. With the Carolina! Inn on the edge of the cam-' pus and several new motels close by, there is now anj {abundance of living quar-j jters. The exiles may think they| [know all about the climate, [but they don’t knqxjliat wej •have begun have coolness jin the summertime. It’s the )21st of Jime as I write ihis| and we haven’t had any: i really hot weather yet, ex-j cept for a few hours in the 'middle of a few days. jbody is amazed at it. Maybe we are coming into one of those cycles that the meteor ologists write alsiut, that bring regional climatic changes. But maylre—and I fear thi* is more likely— Chapel Hill will have a hate ful surplus of hot weather before the summer is gone. But, you exile*, don’t forget the new applied science of air-conditioning. All the modem motels are air-con ditioned, and when I was in the Carolina Inn the other day Manager Rogerson told me they were expanding the air-conditioning system there. Unless you have an occupation tjhat keeps you out in the sunshine you will find that air-conditioning takes the curse off summer heat. • * * • My chief mission in Wash ington was to make the acquaintance of my two great-nephews, Ralph Henry Graves, three years old, and Robert Barclay Graves, one year old. These ore the sons of my nephew, Major Ern e p t Graves of the U. 8.. Army tutioci to give preferential treatment to the wealthy—on the sole basis of how much money is contributed for grants-in-aid to athletes—is rather distasteful. It is, of course, a symptom of something far worse: Super-commercialization of ath letics at a great institution of higher learning. Such a system of values has no place at Chapel Hill. Spodtuae Beats Springtime By Btomfce Cahow in tfc* CHstiud Time* Many an ode has been written about the month of June—brides, lovers, birds and the weather—but to the Tyrrellonians it means the Mardi Gras of the year—Spud time. Fields alive with pickers; warehouses roaring with the sound of graders, bustling with hand truckers; laden trucks await ing in line for their turn at the graders; large vans waiting in other lines to be filled to pull out for markets, to be re placed immediately by the next in line. With roaring of diesel motors; the clank of tire irons at service stations; people hurrying here and hurrying there, too en grossed and too busy for even a casual greeting, taking time to await only for the phone call, which might inform them that market prices are stronger. This alone will tend to relax the grower and make him give forth a trace of a smile. Keyed up too, are the merchants, filling the physical needs of the throng; knowing in the subconscious, that if the market should fail, he, too can expect again to wait and hope for the money due him— for most of the surplus money from the laborers goes to the carnival which is always here at potato season. Fmgineers. Four years ago; I saw him married to Miss, Nancy Barclay in Paoli,! Pennsylvania. That was thej only time I had seen her till last Saturday. Not long after the marriage they went t/> Paris, where he was stationed with NATO under General Eisenhower. Both of the boys were bom there. Since last fall my nephew, who is a specialist in nuclear 1 physics, has been with the Atomic Power Development Research unit, at Fort Bel voir, the Army Engineers” Ipost down the Potomac from. ‘Washington, near Mount Vernon. " I put up at the Flverett .hotel on H street and went out to the Fort to visit the family. I had a fine time | playing with the two sprightly and charming chil- For Comfortable Summer Living... ... eool your home .., travel on vacation wiHi a ! with Isj «O.M AIM QeSgR COMPITIOMB uim Wuriraka. t2Mt ainf 3/4 Ton *239* “ SAMSONITE LUGGAGE OPEN FRIDAY EVENINGB TILL NINE - CLOSED WEDNESDAYS AT ONE V “Quality is remembered long after price la forgotten” 422 W. Franklin Si. . Phone 6-461 Idren; talking with the par ents and with my sister-in llaw, Mrs. Ernest Graves, sr., [who drove out from Wash ington with us; and consum ing the food and drink they had for me. I saw a game between the Kansas City Athletic* and the Washington Senators on Saturday, and Ralph and his father and I went to the Zoo and drove around Arlington on Sunday. Altogether, a splendid holiday for me. Air travel made the trip ‘an easy one. The plane I went on, each way, was non stop between Raleigh-Dur ham and Washington, and the flight took only an hour an 15 minutes. Coming back, I left my hotel early enough to allow me to call on the F’red Archers. They have a lOm the Topr m mmmmmmmmmmm By Chuck lam ITEMS ON THE FRONT PAGE of Wednesday’s Dur ham Morning Herald tell us, among other things, that (1) A million and a half Americans have quit smoking cigar ettes in the last 18 months, apparently as a result of the lung cancer scare, and (2) The State College agronomy department is working on the development of a nicotine less tobacco. This should inspire some R. J. Reynolds researcher to come up with a tobaccoless cigarette, or maybe a Liggett and Myers vice-president to dream up a cigaretteless cigarette, one of those ersatz jobs that just glows and smokes up the place and gives the user a feeling of satis faction and a look of sophistication without slipping him any of those deadly tars the doctors talk about. And then there’s the woman in Kennebunkport, Maine, who says she has invented a mechanical cigarette which puffs l»e steam. She says she’s sure water can’t inspire any drWd diseases, but she’s now looking for away to keep from i scalding the throat. HANK MESSICK, THE DURHAM HERALD corre spondent for the Chapel Hill area, confronted me at the Town Hall day before yesterday and light-heartedly ac cused me of unfair treatment of our competition (namely, him). In the picture the Weekly ran on the front page Tuesday showing a group of children drawing names few the Father's Day fishing trip contest, there was one little girl whom we left unidentified. Her name? Marda Mes sick, aged A\/%, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hank Messick. WHICH BRINGS US TO A REQUEST for two brief but pertinent bits of information: (1) The Weekly would still like to know the name of that little boy who was holding the cow’s tail for Carrboro Mayor R. B. Todd in the milking contest last weekend, and (2) We’re also hunt ing for more information on the person for whom Bolin Creek was named. A lady who saw our story on the name controversy last week called in to suggest that there was a Confederate States functionary of some minor distinc tion whose friends in Chapel Hill sought to honor him some years after the War by renaming Closs Creek as Bolin Creek. And while we're on the subject, does anyone know who Mr. Closs was? “HOW DO YOU PLEAD?” asked Charlie Hodson, who was acting as solicitor in Recorder's Court Tuesday mopp ing. * “Guilty,” murmered the tall blond youth. He was charged with drunken driving. “This is a very serious offense,” Judge William Stewart warned the young man, “and I want to make sure you understand what you are doing.” The youth nodded his understanding, and stuck to his plea of guilty. Carrboro Police Chief J. A. Williams told the court the story of how he had stopped the young man when he observed him driving in an intoxicated condition. The de fendant had nothing to add. “I>:t the record show the defendant paid a fine of SIOO and costs,” said the judge., #4 The youth didn’t even blink. Heremained poker-faced as he walked over to the clerk's table and shelled out the money in cash. beautiful apartment and we 1 sat in a living room whose walls were covered with books. The colony named Park Fairfax, where they Friday, Jm* 14, IKS live, is not far from the air port and they took me there in their car in good time for me to catch my plane for home.
The Chapel Hill Weekly (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 24, 1955, edition 1
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