THE ELKIN TRIBUNE
Published Every Thursday by
ELK PRINTING COMPANY, Inc.
Elkin, rir. C r
Thursday. January 11, 1940
Entered at the post office at Elkin, N. C.. as
second-class matter.
C. S. FOSTER President
H. F. LAFFOON Secretary-Treasure*
SUBSCRIPTION RATES, PER YEAR
In the State, $1.50 . Out of the State, S2.W
NATIONAL €DITORIAL_
g^-^^ASSQaATION
Member North Carolina Press Association
I .
If Joseph and Adolf are destroying civi
lization, what can be said of the youngsters
and their firecrackers?
According to Robert Quillen "Alimony is
what a man is required to pay for deprecia
tion when he trades in an old model.
If the earth just had to quake, we can
think of two places it could have exerted
itself more pleasingly than in Turkey.
"The fence straddler isn't always with
out convictions. Sometimes his pants get
caught."—Chattanooga Times.
You are not only an optimist but some
thing else, if you insist that your auto tag
is in good enough condition to last another
year without investing in another.
Stalin claims that he is only trying to
free the Finns. It's not for us to smile too
loud, for that's what we said about the
Indians.
Mr. Hoover reminds that every dictator
in the world was first elected by the people.
Ain't got no reference to any allusions, have
you, Herb?
The University of Tennessee is listed
among the institutions lacking in academic
freedom. Well, the football team was lack
ing in something at that Rose Bowl game.
And there is the Scotchman who never
writes his name on Christmas cards so his
friends can use them again next year—be
cause he does as he would like to be done by.
Rural Electrification
In spite of the fact that public thought
these days is mainly concerned with the
goings-on in Europe, the approaching na
tional elections, and the many local and na
tional issues, the relationship between the
public utilities and the people they serve is
continually demanding consideration.
And that is so partly because govern
ment has entered the electric power field
with its alleged yardsticks and its increas
ing urge to chart courses and determine pol
icies. It must be admitted that the federal
government's activities have served to
quicken the pulse of private power pro
ducers, and its progress in rural electrifica
tion has prompted the utilities concerns to
extend their lines as a method of their own
: defense.
But in this respect we submit that the
people of this section, served by the Duke
' Power Company, has had less to complain
about than those of other less favored areas.
It is only natural that the utilities with their
| far-flung investments would want to protect
them, would want to assure the making of
money in order to permanently serve. But
is is only fair to say that Duke has been less
autocratic and overbearing in its relation
ship with the public than most concerns.
Duke has been and still is progressive,
without being oppressive. Its management
. from the beginning has sensed the fact that
. if it would grow and prosper, the people it
serves must also grow and prosper, and the
| records show that the Duke Power Company
has contributed its mite to this progress.
And in no field has it showed a greater
interest than in the extension of its service
to the rural sections and in the education of
the farmer to the economic uses to which
he can hitch electric power. Duke official!*
feel strongly that electric service is playing
; and is going to play a very important part
i in the changing agricultural policy of rural
| North Carolina, and for thatj reason is
i spending time and money in counseling with .
the farmer and giving him valuable help in
| his problems. For he is a potential cus-
I tomer. /
j Two agricultural engineers are employed
i full time to counsel with farmers, individual
; ly and in groups, as to how they may apply
t.electric service to their particular farming
operations . most profitably and advan
} tageously. These men have nothing to sell,
j and their services are free and at the com
j mand of the farmer customers of the com
. pany, and the farm customer has only to get
in touch with the local Duke manager to ob
' tain this service.
\ More than nine thousand miles of rural
1 lines have been put into service by Duke,
 and these serve 60,000 customers, 45,000 of
which are farmers, and each year adds ma
f terially to this service. And it is of record
: that electric rates in this area have ,been
held to a lower average than is maintained
■ nationally. These are facts that shpuld be
kept in mind when these relationships are
under consideration.
Don't Expect Too Much
■ 9 Don't expect tod much of President
Roosevelt's splendid address before Con
gress on the state of the nation, nor of his
budget message which urged a slashing of
expenditures which would result in the
smallest national deficit in a decade.
Even his Republican foes had to admit
that what he said at the opening of Con
gress, was on a high plane, and members of
his own political family called his address
a masterpiece. Even Senator Carter Glass
called it "pretty good." And as for his
budget message, that stands on its own with
everyone whose sincere purpose is to strike
a reasonable and justified balance between
national income and outgo, taking every
thing into consideration.
The President recommended a big ex
penditure for defense, but asked for a cut
of almost everything in the budget, includ
ing farm relief and public works spending.
If these recommendations are followed, he
estimates that the net deficit for the fiscal
year beginning July 1, would be around sl,-
716,000,000 as compared with nearly twice
as much for the current year.
And then he told the legislators that
those who call for further cuts should have
the courage and honesty to specify where
they should be made; and conversely those
who insisted on increasing the suggested ex
penditures should be prepared to find a
source of revenue to cover such increases.
To vary his suggestions in either direction,
would be the responsibility of the legisla
tive, not the executive, branch.
We were warning not to expect too much
of either message. And here's why: This
would be a remarkable Congress if its mem
bers willingly agreed to deprive themselves
of almost half of the contents of their
precious pork-barrel which is one of the
main factors that keep them in Washington.
It becomes serious business when a repre
sentative can't point to something obtained
for his district, and one may well expect a
lot of trading that will total far above the
President's budget estimate. And when
Congress finally quits and the members go
back to their fence-building, we predict that
farm relief and public works will have allo
cations far in excess of the President's
schedule.
And Mr. Roosevelt has enough political
wisdom to anticipate this. He is friendly to
farm relief and public works spending, and
it is barely possible that he advises cutting
them, with tongue in cheek. He didn't say
anything about a veto, you notice. But he
said and implied a lot about responsibility
and where it should be placed.
Nothing to Brag About
Along with the heads of the various |
other State agencies, Director Bruce Ether
idge, of the Department of Conservation
and Development, at the end of the year
gave a resume of the activities of his de
partment. While it was necessary for Di
rector Etheridge to point briefly and speak
in generalities he made out a very good case
for his department.
In his review was this reference to. a
matter that is of vital concern to the people
of this section of the State:
"Approximately 12,000,000 acres of forest
lands in 58 counties have been protected
against forest fires by the forest fire protec
tion branch of the State forest service. Some
six or eight additional counties have wanted
to come into the forest fire protective system,
but lack of State funds made it impossible to
include these counties."
"The forest fire protection branch of the
State forest service" looks well on paper and
has a big and pleasing sound, and we have
Director Etheridge's word for it that this
agency has "protected" around twelve mil
lion acres of forests —and how? Thousands
of acres of valuable but ruined timber assets
are the answer.
Don't get us wrong! There is no purpose
hsre to disparage the work of those con
nected with this branch of the forest ser
vice. With what tools they had they doubt
less have more than earned their keep. And
fortunately for all concerned they were able
to call upon the CCC lads for help and get
it, and upon frantic landowners who fought
desperately to save their neighbors and
themselves.
If the service of this agency is weak, it
is because it has but a puny support from
the State and not because those who man it
are inefficient. And instead of bragging
about its accomplishments in generalities
that mislead there should be a pointing of
fingers and a recital of losses calculated to
impress legislators with the importance of
upsetting the State's stupid complacency
and the adoption of a policy of spending to
save. For almost every year, forest fire
losses reach a total that multiplies over and
over again the amount spent for protection.
And such protection doesn't necessarily
mean a network of expensive fire-fighting
equipment, manned by a costly army of
handlers. It means a more complete and
rigid supervision that would provide ade
quate patrol. And heading the list of such
responsibility should be the running down
of hellions who set fire to the woods—inten
tionally and with malice. For the tales that
come down out of the mountains reek with a
cussedness that should be somebody's busi
ness. Maybe that is the duty of law en
forcement agencies—but it is a duty appar
ently neglected.
All praise to Director Etheridge's fire
fighters, say we, but let's accentuate the
praise with a brand of support that will as
sure' a real summing-up. And ahove all
should no county be'reminded of the State's
poverty, m sucn a* important wfttter as
fViia t ■ !
THE ELKIN TRIBUNE. ELKJN. NORTH CAROLINA
TODAY
TOMORROW
~b ~
FRANK 3>ftlKEl
STOCK BB IP 01
REVOLUTION . . . learning
Five hundred years ago a single
invention turned the world upside
down. In the year 1440, as near
ly as historians can figure it,
Johannes Gutenberg set up a
printing press in Mainz, Ger
many, and began printing sheets
of paper and books from movable
type.
The exact date is not impor
tant, nor does it make much dif
ference whether it was Gutenberg
or a Fleming named Coster who
actually invented the new pro
cess of making many copies of a
single manuscript and all of them
exactly alike. Whoever did it,
and whenever, it was pertiaps the
greatest revolution in human his
tory.
Consider. Up to that time prac
tically nobody knew how to read.
Only the wealthy could afford to
own books, and they usually had;
to hire men of learning to read j
them for them. The only edu-1
cated persons were priests of the
Church, and not all of them 1
could read. King John, famous
because he granted the rights of
freemen to the English people, at
the points of the swords of the
barons at Runnymede, could not
write his own name but had to
make his mark on Magna Charta.
When books began to be print
ed instead of written by hand,
everybody who sought to learn;
could have access to the learn
ings of the whole world.
CLERICS superiority
The first books printed were re
ligious books. Gutenberg's first
important volume was the Bible,
in Latin. The reason was main
ly that the only folks who could
write manuscripts were the clergy
and the language of the church
was Latin. Before printing, hun
dreds of young priests were em
ployed to make copies of manu
scripts and it was never certain!
that any two coDies were alike. I
The first printing types were
copied from the lettering of those,
clerical manuscripts.
We get the word "clerk," which ]
jthe English pronounce "clark,"|
| from the Latin word "clericus,"
! meaning priest. Anybody who,
j could read or write must be a'
' priest.
j When printing came into use
j and anybody could learn to read
I the ancient exemption was abol
ished, but those who could read
'and write were, and still are,
[called "clerks." Perhaps the most
important social effect of the in
vention of printing was that it
ended the superiority of the j
priesthood over the ordinary man.
' EVOLUTION .... presses
Before Gutenberg, or whoever
it was began to print on paper,
many preliminary steps had been
taken. Somebody had invented
I paper, probably the Chinese. No
j body knows just when paper was
introduced into Europe, but it
was brought by Arab traders from
the Orient, maybe around the
year 1,000. Up to then the writers
of books had used parchment or
vellum, made of animal skins
scraped thin. The ancient Egyp
tians wrote on papyrus, which
was thin sheets cut from the hard
skin of reeds and flattened out.
Gutenberg's crude hand press
was made of wood, and three
hundred years later Benjamin
Franklin was printing his Penn
sylvania Gazette on a wooden
press almost exactly like it. The
Earl of Stanhope built the first
iron printing press about 1780,
and thirty years later the first
power presses were designed for
the London Times.
NEWSPAPERS . . . progress
It took nearly two hundred
years after printing was invented
for enough people to learn to
read so that it was worth any
body's while to publish a news
paper. Most of the editors and
publishers of the early papers
went to jail for printing news the
government didn't like. After an
other 150 years the principle of
the freedom of the press was es
tablished, more people could read,
but the cost of paper, made from
rags, was so high that few could
afford to buy newspapers.
The year before I was born, in
my home town of Stockbridge,
Mass., the first cheap paper, made
from wood pulp, was manufactur
ed. That invention speedily cut
the cost of newspapers and books.
I was a boy in my teens whan
Ottmar Mergenthaler invented
the first practical type-casting
machine, which cut costs of
printed matter still further. Those
two inventions, in one man's life
time, have given us the modem
newspaper.
I've been a printer since I was
1 got oifit my own little
■paper on a hand press. I've been
1
making my living as a newspaper
man for close to fifty years. But
for Gutenberg's" invention 500
years ago I might today be a
cleric copying manuscripts in a
monastery. Certainly I would be
living in a world vastly different
from that which existed before
printing.
ANNIVERSARIES .... six
This year of 1940 is certainly a
year of great anniversaries. The
500 th anniversary of printing, it
is also the 400 th anniversary of
the setting up of the first print
ing press on the American con
tinent, by the Spanish mission
aries in Mexico, and it is the
300 th anniversary of the first
printing done in what is now the
United States, by Stephen Daye,
of Boston. It was 250 years ago,
in 1690, that the first paper mill
was started in this country, and
1150 years ago that the most
famous of all American printers,
Benjamin Franklin, died.
When Gutenberg was starting
his first press, in 1440, there was
born in England a baby who was
to write the first book to be
printed in the English language,
i just emerging from its Norman-
I French swaddling clothes. His
name was Geoffrey Chaucer,
whose "Canterbury Tales" mark
ed the beginning of English liter
ature.
Cashwell's, Inc.,
Acquires M
Dept. Store Here
Cashwell's, Inc., one of Greens
boro's outstanding department
stores, has recently acquired the
business here formerly operated
by Marsh's Department Store in
the old Smithey building on West
Main Street, and have announced
that they will operate it as an Elk
in branch of their Greensboro
store.
The Cashwell company is favor
ably known in Greensboro as a
store with a reputation for fair
dealing and value-giving, and the
owners have stated that they in
tend making their Elkin store a
credit Ao this community, and plan
to fully cooperate in all worth
while causes and projects at all
times.
David H. Cashwell is president
and general manager of the firm.
G. Barney Cashwell is vice presi
dent. Mike Dunebour, who has
been associated with the Greens
boro store for some time, will be
manager of the store here.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Bunebour
stated that they are highly im
pressed with Elkin, and hope to
be of service to the store's many
customers and the community at
large.
Cashwell's Inc., will hold an
opening sale here starting Friday
morning at 8:30 o'clock. Pull de
tails may be found in their adver
tisement located elsewhere in this
issue.
Don't Like 'em
Playboy—What do you think
of modern night clubs. Pop?
Oldboy—l don't like-them. They
have taken the rest out of res
taurant and put the din In din
ner.
■ it., i. t v . •
Patronize Tribune Ad-rerttserSr
They Offer Real Values. :
BOONVILLE
Mr. and Mrs. Grover Brown, of
Sandy Ridge, spent the week-end
with the former's parents, in
Boonville.
Mr. D. H. Craver left today for
Florida where she will remain for
three months because of illness.
Francis Woodhouse, Mrs. J. A.
Speas, and Dr. T. W. Shore are
listed among the sick this week.
Dr. and Mrs. Tula Stimpson and
daughter, Nancy of Raleigh spent
Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. V. B.
Brown.
Mr. and Mrs. Hal Transou and
family and James Transou visited
Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Transou here
Sunday.
Miss Carmen Fre, teacher of
music in the Cherryville High
School is still at home because of
t.he delayed opening of school
there.
Miss Amanda Hallman of Win
ston-Salem and Mrs. Robert Gai
ther of Cool Springs, spent the
week-end in Boonville. Both are
teachers in the local school.
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Matthews
of Winston-Salem visited in Boon
ville Sunday.
Miss Grace Brown of Raleigh,
spent the week-end with her pa
rents.
Miss Mary Speer is still at home
due to the delayed opening of the
Gibsonville school.
Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Coram had as
their dinner guests Sunday, Mrs.
Mary Mock and Mrs. Cornelia
Burch.
Mr. Joe Fleming spent several
days with relatives near East
Bend.
Boonville basketball teams won
a double header over Courtney
high school in the local gym Tues
day night. A third game was
played between the Boonville All-
Stars and The Copeland Blues.
Copeland came from behind in
the last two seconds to win the
game 25 to 24.
Mr. Joe Reece is ill at his home
at the present time.
Mr. Harvey Gentry and Mr.
Johnnie Canipe made a business
trip to Charlotte last week.
Mr. Lloyd Mason of Yadkin
ville was a business visiter in
town this week.
Rev. Raymon Connell, who has
accepted the pastorate of Boon
ville and Jonesville Baptist
churches preached his first sermon'
here Sunday morning. Mr. and
Mrs. Connell have been making
their home in Kannapolis.
Mr. and Mrs. Jessup Entertain
Mr. and Mrs. R. Allan Jesup,
who have recently moved into
their new home in Boonville, en
tertained Saturday with a float
ing tea.
Mrs. Jessup received at the
door and the guests were asked
to register in an adjoining room.
Miss Ruby Winkler presided at
the registering table. The guests
were directed over the house by
Miss Dorothy Coram and Mrs.
Ralph Coram. Mrs. Watt Deal
and Mrs. T. M. Reece presided at
the punch bowls.
Several gifts were received for
the home.
Those attending the tea were:
Mrs. Avalon Hall, Mrs. Walter
Zachary and Miss Edith Jessup,
ot Yadkinville; Mr. and Mrs.
Ratph Smithermaa, of ©Mtßend;
Mr. and Mrs. Slg Holcomb, of
Stkfti: MJw SdiMfc Jester and Miss
\
Thursday. Jannarv It. 1»40
Laura Cornelius, of Yadkinville,
and Miss Paul Mathis, of Elkin;
Irene Hall, of East Bend; Rev.
and Mrs. Raymond Connell, of
Kannapolis and Boonville, and
the following guests from Boon
ville and vicinity: Mr. E. W. Cau
dle, Mr. and Mrs. Gorrell Stin
£on, Mrs. C. W. Riden, Mrs. O. C.
Motsinger, Mrs. Olive Smith, Mrs.
J. L. Motsinger, Mrs. J. J. Coram,
Mrs. J. L. Jones, Katherine Jones,
Mrs. W. R. Frye, Carmen Frye,
Mrs. E. D. Mock, Mrs. C. R. Tran
sou, Sadie Fleming, Mrs. Carl
Martin, Mrs. S. C. Bohannon,
Mrs. E. E. Hood, James Speer,
Mary Speer, Mrs. George Wil
liams, Mrs. Arlie Steelman, Mrs.
Robert Transou, Amanda Hall
man, Frances Thomas, Mr. and
Mrs. Frank W. Hobson, Mrs. Roy
W. Roscoe, Mrs. J. W. Shore, Mrs.
James Amburn, Grace Hayes,
Mrs. Robert L. Gaither, Mr. and
Mrs. F. M. Woodhouse, Mrs. RT
M. Fletcher, Cleo Brendle, Velma
Hobson, Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Stin
son, Mrs. Claude Hobson, Mr. and
Mrs. J. R. Walker, Robert Wood
ward, Watt Deal, Clint Hobson,
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Martin,
Ralph Coram, J. J. Coram, Mr.
and Mrs. Ralph Brown, Mrs.
Ralph Fletcher, Mr. and Mrs.
Fred L. Key, Mr. and Mrs. John
ny Canipe, Thad M. Reece, Mr. J.
M. Speas, Fred and Edward Cor
am, Bruce and Nellie Sue Stin
son.
Patronize Tribune Advertisers.
They Offer Real Values.
We buy scrap iron and metals.
Double Eagle Service Co., Elk
in, N. C. tfc
Lost or stolen: Black and white
rat terrier dog. Answers to
name of "Snippy." Reward of
$2.00 for return or information.
Foley Evans, Elkin, Route 1.
ltp
For Sale: one cow, will freshen in
May; one Hereford heifer. Also
white leghorn pullets, hens and
rosters. Reason for selling, I
am moving. Edward Freas,
Traphill, N. C. ltp
Wanted to repair radio*. Our
expert thoroughly knows his
business. Prices right. Harris
Electric Co., Elkin,' N. C. tfc
When selling or buying produce
see Early Combs, in the old city
jail building. Telephone 308.
Permanent Waves, SI.OO and up.
Shampoo and finger wave. 40c.
Modern Beauty Shop, Louise
Vestal, Ruby Gray. Telephone
340. tfc
Do yon want plenty of eggs fr«R
strong, fast growing yotmg
chicks? if so feed Panamin. We
have it. Abernethy's, a Ckbd
Drug Elkin. N. C. t&>
Wanted to bay all kind* if cattle,
calves See
F«r Two f*wal» vn*s. XX