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PAUL DICKSON Publisher-Editor
SAM C. MORRIS General Manager
LAURIE TELFAIR Reporter
MRS. PAUL DICKSON Society Editor
Second Cliu I*U>U|1' Pud at Riclurd. N. t.
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1971
()[)inion and < (tninu
by Paul Oickion
"We will not find a way out of our present troubles until we have the
courage to look honestly at evil where evil exists, until we call injustice
and dishonor by their right names, and until a large number of Americans
from all sectors of opinion-right, left, and center-are willing to
acknowledge their own special contribution to our troubles."*
If you will think these words through, slowly and thoroughly, I believe
you will join me in thinking that they are a pretty good sermon, which, if
it could be spread far and wide enough, could do much to move us
forward in the "hard, long, exciting task of building a new America," and
of being united again in an inspiring purpose.
The first thing we would have to do in order to get willing to
acknowledge our own individual and group contribution to our collective
troubles would be to reach an identification of this contribution. For a
starter, how about the suggestion that most of us are going to have to
admit that there is another side to every one of the issues that we feel so
strongly about, and that in each of these cases some people honestly feel
differently from the way we do? That is, they are not scoundrels and
communists, they just believe a different way is better?
If we use this premise as a base, we find ourselves in position to talk,
and to listen, notable achievements in any disagreement. We are now in
position to find out why our opponents honestly take the position they
do, when it is so completely wrong to us. If they now will listen to our
reasons for having the only possible right position, we are going to find
ourselves first thing you know being polite to each other, over the fence,
as it were.
From two-way conversation over the fence, of course, anything is
possible, from a wedding to the need for an abortion, or a compromise
that will allow both points of view to be satisfied in part.
Now did that last paragraph shock you, or make you decide not to read
Paul Dickson any more? Well, if so, that's partly what it was intended to
do. We can't sweep these things under the rug, you know, or close our
eyes and hope they'll go away. Listening to the problem and the view of
those who may cause or precipitate it is a large part of the battle, and the
start we must make.
Another example of a shocker occurs to me: As a black parent, are you
prepared to learn that your son is dating a white girl? As a white parent
are you prepared to face the fact that your daughter is dating and
seriously interested in a black boy? Wait, now, don't run. If you can't face
this one you are going to have to go to South Africa, or get in a hole and
pull it in behind you.It will not go away.
So by now I am certain some of my readers have cursed me for a
wild-eyed liberal and worse, and they may be right. That's my virtue, and
my definition of the kind of liberal I try to be, to give each person credit
for having an honest opinion, honestly arrived at, whether 1 agree with it
or not.
Funny thing, though, this doesn't automatically throw me in the crowd
calling themselves liberals, not by a long shot-not any more, in fact, than
it does in with the labeled "conservatives." Reason for this is that a great
many self-styled liberals believe in being free thinking and open-minded,
as long as you agree with them. They will often deny the right of
opponents to disagree with them, and will almost never admit that there
are reasons for disagreement which often never appear in the argument.
Now that's enough philosophy (?) ? let's slip to a couple of tough ones
to go to sleep on with some of the above outlined principles. One, the
Arabs won't even admit the existence or Israel, for what to them are good
and just reasons. Think what a big step a little conversation across the
fence would be. Two, it looks like the protestants and Catholics of Ireland
are going to fight forever, as they have been at it quite a while and seem to
be fighting harder. We can relate to this by recalling our own attitudes
when the first Catholics came to town, and when they started a church.
Some have come to learn that they are really human beings, but that they
have a different religious background from most of us hereabouts. Others
of us still are fairly certain they are going to hell, unfortunately, and those
of us in this group need to work on ourselves.
I heard a fellow I consider real smart say a few days ago: "To survive
we must not just be able to change, we must create change." I wouldn't
say he's right yet, but I'm thinking about it.
rom 'Tin Racovary of Confidanoa." by John W. Gardner
Browsing in the files
of Th? N?wt-Journal
25 years ago
Thursday. March 28, 1946
The Hoke County chapter of the North
Carolina State College Alumni
Association held its annual election
meeting at the plant of the Hoke
Concrete Works here on Friday night.
Coach Beatte Feathers was principal
speaker.
Dr. G.W. Brown, Hoke County's
delegate to the lower house of the North
Carolina General Assembly for thf.past
six years, announces in a political
advertisement in thit issue that he intends
to seek to succeed himself in the
Democratic primary to be held May 25.
Sl-C Morris Tucker has been
discharged trom the navy after two years
service.
? ???
Pfc Robert Weaver landed in New
Jersey Sunday. He has been in Germany
for the past fourteen months.
????
Lt. and Mrs. Ivey Hill Shankle and
daughter are visiting Lt. Shankie's mother
here. He has been separated from the
service and it on terminal leave.
Hawaiian flowers, palms and greenery
formed a beautiful letting for the annual
Junior ? Senior banquet of the Hoke
County High School which was held
Frid?y evening March 22 in the
gymnasium.
1 know it's a planned withdrawal, Captain,
but whose plan was it?'
By LAURIE TELFAIR
Brief Absences
Good F or Soul
The kids and I have been
bacheloreiting it this past week while the
lord and master is out in the woods
playing Army.
I think most wives will agree that brief
separations are good for the soul -? not to
mention the household projects that get
done then.
When hubby goes away, its a perfect^
time for taking the wax off the floors,
cleaning the closets, washing walls and
windows and other such occasional
chores. Not that 1 ever do any of that,
but it is a perfect time for it if ever there
was one.
I like to sew then. I can cut out
patterns and leave sewing gear around the
house to my heart's content without
having to worry about gathering
everything r.p each time I ttn:sh a session.
And woe unto him, if he comes home
early. Once he came home briefly to
restock clean underwear and it took
nearly an hour to clear a path to the front
door to let him in . As 1 recall, he gave up
trying to hack his way from the living
room to the bedroom and went back to
field where things were clean.
Back in the days when I was more
afraid to stay alone than 1 am now. I used
to carry a pistol around with me for
protection. As 1 look back, its a wonder 1
didn't do in some innocent neighbor
because I carried a big German Luger
with me from room to room. Since I
couldn't cock it myself, rtiy husband
would cock the gun for me before he left
and put the safety on.
When he returned from his trip, he
always called me from the office, then
Puppy Creek
Philosopher
Dear editar
It's not very important, but I was
reading in a newspaper last night that
there are now 255,200,000 telephones in
the world.
Furthermore, as you might guess,
nearly half of those, or 114,798,000, are
in the United States. We've got one phone
for every two people.
But what interested me was a further
breakdown in the statistics, reporting that
people in the United States last year
made 156,450,000,000 phone calls. !f
you lost track of the zeroes, that's over
156 bullion calls.
Moreover, thai coines out to an average
of 745 telephone conversations for each
man, woman and child, the report said.
Now considering the fact a lot of
people don't talk on the phone at all. like
infants, and a lot don't have access to
phones for long hours at a time, like
farmers and laborers and bus drivers, etc.,
plus the fact a lot of people don't even
have phones, you can see that some
segments of the society are making a
whole lot more than 745 phone calls a
year. To get up to that 156 billion calls,
somebody has to talk at least 10,000
times a year, or an average of about 30
times a day.
I can believe it. I'm not calling any
names, but I can believe it.
Just to be doing, I fugured up how
much the world is paying for its
255,200,000 telephones, more or less
Just say the average phone costs a flat 55
a month. That's 51,266.000.000 a
month, or 515,192,000,000 a year, not
counting long distance calls. When you
add long distance charges, I'd say it's
costing the world something around 30
billion dollars a year to talk.
I started to figure up how much truth
is transmitted in those 30 billion dollars
worth of calls a year but I never was any
good at small fractions.
Yours faithfully
J A
blew the horn when he got to the
driveway. Before he would come to the
door, he would call to me from the yard
to make sure I knew it was him.
The first time I ever stayed alone, I had
two pistols by the bed and another
hidden just inside the door that I could
reach as 1 entered the house. However,
what really upset him was the extra box
of ammunition 1 had by the bed to reload
in case of siege.
After the kids came along, I gave up
the gun as being too dangerous. I rely
now in a large dog who regards cats and
rabbits as mortal enemies and all humans
as his friend. I feel safe, though, from any
rabbit in the neighborhood.
Mealtime suffers when the meat and
potato eater is gone. For brief absences of
no more than a month. I can get along on
sandwiches and spaghetti with an
occasional trip to the local hamburger
joint. Army clubs usually have delicious
buffet dinners on Sunday, which serves as
the weekly decent meal. (Did 1 read
somewhere about malnutrition increasing
in America?)
The automatic reaction of the kids to
anything other than sandwiches or
spaghetti is "Yeach" so I don't have
much incentative to cook anyway. But
eventually, during prolonged absences,
even the youngsters are ready for a good
meal.
Of course catastrophes just hang
around waiting for the husband to leave. I
have a friend who began to keep a list of
major foul ? ups while her husband was
on a two ? week trip She stopped
counting at 16 and began to whimper a
little bit. By the time he returned, she
was sitting on the kitchen floor rocking
back and forth moaning softly while the
washing machine oversowed, the oven
refused to heat about 200 degrees and all
the tropical fish died in the tank.
When the Army takes to the woods,
the weather usually cooperates by
producing a downpour and freezing
temperatures. 1 was feeling very sorry for
the poor souls out in the rain when I got
a phone call through on a field
telephone.(Or that's what I was told.) I
think they all survived the rainstorm but I
can't be sure. It was hard to hear above
the sounds of the poker game and the
clanking glasses in the background.
People & Issues
CLIFF BLUE ? ? ?
WASTE IN EDUCATION ? At the
request of Governor Scott the stuff of the
Board of Higher Education has brought
together a report concerning the private
institutions of higher education in North
Carolina, looking particularly at
enrollment and fiscal trends.
In public edcuation at all levels there is
some waste which is traditional in a
democracy. Democracy is not the most
efficient type of government. It is often
cumbersome, slow and costly, but it is
well worth the price we have to pay for
it.
Concerning the teaching of chemistry
in the private institutions of higher
learning in North Carolina the report has
this to say:
"Quantitative efficiency can never be
the paramount aim of higher education,
but the avoidance of waste is necessary
for its survival.
"One example of possible waste that
needs attention follows: twenty ? six
private senior institutions in North
Carolina grant degrees to majors in
chemistry. The 26 employ 96 teachers of
chemistry who produced 198 bachelor's
degrees in June, 1970. If the three top
producers are not considered, the
remaining 23 institutions employ 65
professors of chemistry who produced 73
bachelor's degrees in the academic year
ending June 30, 1970. These 23
institutions maintain a ratio of almost
one professor for every graduating senior
in chemistry. Unless chemistry professors
on each campus can demonstrate that the
discipline makes a very large contribution
to the intellectual life of the college
community, most of these degree
programs in chemistry should be
abolished and chemistry majors advised
to go where prospective chemists are
more numerous and less costly per capita.
This discussion deduces that upper ? level
chemistry courses are greatly
underpopulated on the private campuses.
The conclusion is inescapable even when
one considers only faculty salaries,
exclusive of expensive and little ? used
laboratories and the cost of expendable
supplies for the discipline. Every
discipline needs the kind of scrutiny
suggested here for chemistry."
With the ever expanding cost of
Just One Thing After Another
By Ctrl Goerch
In a feature article in The Asheville
Citizen Times a few years ago Miss
Gertrude Ramsey made the following
observation:
"Communication seems to have
doomed the colorful and spiced language
of the days of Good Queen Bess -
communication and the fact that the
people learned that others were unlike
themselves. Perhaps mankind tries too
hard to conform.
"There were times," Miss Ramsey
continued, "when a noun, expressed what
a (mountain) man meant, and he used it
as a verb," and she gave the following
examples:
"He's a - footing it down the
mountain."
"They muscled that log clean up!"
"These molasses eat good."
"Jake's wife faulted him for forgetting
it."
"It pure don't pleasure me none at all
to go."
"Our least one's so growed he's a
sweethearting Ponder's girl."
"I'm going a-squirreling."
? * *
And then these with her comments:
"It's come on to rain, and I'd laid off
to fix the fence today," doesn't mean
absentee-ism from a job. It means the
speaker had planned to do the repair
work.
"I know in reason she'd be took down
sick," might be the response to a report
Hey!'
government, we feel that every phase of
public education, and education beyond
the high school should be scrutnized to
see that dead wood is cut out and that
the most for the tax ? dollar is secured.
If there is waste in private institutions
of higher learning, chances are that there
is greater waste in public institutions of
higher learning.
And while we are discussing education,
the waste is not pecular to education, we
venture to say, but to most divisions of
public service and more in the federal
government than in state government
because the federal government has so
many duplicating programs.
Every president from FDR on started
out to trim waste but when all is said and
done brueaucracy, like Topsy, just keeps
right on growing!
Many people feel that more trimming
rather than upped taxes is essential in
government spending.
CONGRESSIONAL
RE-DISTRICTING ?? When all is said and (
done chances are that there will be very
little if any changes made in Senator
George Wood's congressional re ?
districting bill. While the bill, now passed
by the Senate is not pleasing to
everybody by a long - shot, only ten
counties were shifted in devising the bill,
which says a whole lot.
SENATOR JORDAN - There remains
a big question in the minds of many
people whether Senator Jordan will be a
candidate for reelection to the United
States Senate.
Should Jordan decide to stand aside
the possibilities to seek the office would
include, Governor Scott, Attorney
General Robert Morgan, Rep. Richardson
Preyer, Rep. Nick Galifianakis, Rep.
Alton Lennon and Senator Jyles Coggins
the latter who just might run even if
Jordan chooses to seek reelection.
No doubt but that Terry Sanford
would like to serve in the Senate - at
least he gave serious consideration to
running against Senator Sam J. Ervin in
1968 but decided against it after having a
poll made. Reports are that Terry agreed
not to seek election in a state race in
1971 when he accepted the Duke
University presidency.
on a neighbor's health.
"There's another getting of wood in
the logpile."
"To express the passing of time,
consider the man who has long gone.
Know anything better?"
? * ?
A man was telling me of a little game
he and his wife had learned to play. He
said they both had noticed whenever they
went out to dinner, how glum and silent
most married couples are. Younger
couples sometimes engage in
conversation, a boy and a girl usually
talk, two or more girls or women seated
at a table laugh and talk, and the same is
true of a group of men. Usually four men
at one table will be hilarious in their
injoyment of conversation, even without
any artificial stimulant. But a couple
married for ten years or more usually sit
without talking while waiting for their
meal to be served, and then eat more or
less in silence.
This man and his wife decided that
they would make conversation, if none
appeared spontaneously. So when they
are dining out and feel one of those
silences coming, the wife looks at her
husband with an animated expression and
says, "One, two, three, four, five, don't
you think so?" And he answers as though
she has just told him the most astonishing
bit of news: "Six, seven, eight, nine,
ten!" It sounds silly, and both laugh, and
then repeat something of the same sort,
or else go on into conversation that has
suggested itself as an outcome of the silly
exchange. It nearly always winds up by
their finding plenty to talk about.
? ? ?
From time to lime I've made mention
of tautology or redundancy: such
expressions as "widow woman," "tooth
dentist," "consensus of opinion." A few
days ago, however, Jim Battle called my
attention to something I had written in
the magazine about being a pallbearer at a
funeral.
I never realized before that this is
tautology in its best (or worst) form.
Where else could you be a pallbearer
except at a funeral?
STORIES
BEHIND WORDS
By William S. Penfield
Names
The name Latimer is of Anglo ? Saxon
origin and means a teacher of Latin It is
a corruption of the obsolete "latiner" -
one versed in Latin.
Leland, which also is of Anglo ? Saxon
origin, means of or from the
meadowland. The name's origin is more
apparant in two of its variations -
Leeland and Leighland. "Lee" and
"leigh" mean meadow.
The "ley" is Morley is another
variation of "lee." The "mor" it a
contraction of "moor." The name wis
coined to describe a person from the
moor meadow.