THE YANCEY RECORD .
Established July, 1936
TRENA P. FOX, Editor & Publisher
THURMAN L. BKOWN, Shop Manager
ARCHIE BAI/LEW, Photographer 4c Pressman
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY
YANCEY PUBLISHING COMPANY
Second Class Postage Paid at Burnsville, N. C.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 2, IKS NUMBER ONE
SUBSCRIPTION RATES *2.50 PER YEAR
' "■ " " - 1 ' —»■ . ■■■ ■ i ■ '■
Head Stars Isn’t New
Those chaps In Waihlng
toti who think they have
come up with some more
federaleze are off their rock
ers if they think they coined
_ the term “head-start.” Hie
youth opportunity fellows put
this monicker on their pro
ject.
Okeh, so it isn’t in all of
the dictionaries. They say
they looked in three diction
aries and it was not in any
of them. So what? For a
long, time “ain’t”
wasn’t in the word tnoks
either But it has been used
down through the ages.
And ‘ head-'tart” has been
used a long, long time, too.
Down on the farm, it was
used, and still is, by the
head of the family, in the
spring of the year, when Pop
said he believed he’d go out
and clear the fields prepara
The President Should Listen
As Well As Talk
The President should have
listened to his press aides a
few days ago when they tried
to tone down statements he
made regarding the possibil
ity of racial violence in Wa h
lngton. He’s being very
soundly and roundly critici
zed for them. House Repub
lican Leader Gerald R Ford
said he was shocked by IJBJ’s
statement that recent violen
ce in Los Angeles could be
repeated elsewhere. He said,
too, the President invited a
riot in Washington. Others
have made similar charges.
The President said the fed
eral government would po
vide a sistance in trying to
eliminate causes of violence
<n Los Angeles. No one can
complain about that. But hd
continued on, perhaps with
out thinking, that the Cali
fornia riots were not an iso
lated Incident but could oc
cur in other cities where
people “feel they don’t get a
fair shake.”
He then touched upon the
District of Columbia, which,
with about 60 per cent negro
population, has the highest
Control Your Temper
And Cor This Wookond
ContT)l your temper, control
your car and control the safe
course of your family’s future
bv working hard this Labor
Day weekend to miss the list
of 22 persons the N. C. State
Motor Club predicts may die
in traffic accldenb on North
Carolina's st-eets and high
ways
THE YANCEY RECORD
tory to spring planting. He
ca’’ed this getting a “head
start” on the summer’s work.
Mothers sent, and still do,
the ; r off-sp-ings to kinder
garten becaui e of a desire
for them to get a “h'','d
s+o-t” along the education
route.
tve n today, a motorist,
faced with a long journey
climbs out of bed in the wee
hours of the morning because
he wants to get an early
start, i ea. “h^ad-start."’
And so it goes.
Washington can come down
oH its high-horse. That word
“head-sta-t” has been around
—a-iong —-
Things must be getting
rough in Washington when
the bureaucrats can’t come
up with an original bit of
federaleze, or a new set of
letters.
propo tion of any major
city. Here’s what he said:
“Those of you here in the
District of Columbia, I want
to warn you this morning
that the clock in ticking, time
is moving, and we must ask
ourselves every night when
we go home, are we doing all
that we should In our na
tion’s capital, in all the other
big cities of the nation where
80 per cent of this country is
going to be living k: the year
2,000."
This statement caused an
up oar, apparently, in the
President’s press Apartment.
Newsmen were asked by
Prest Aide Joseph Laitin to
place “no special insignifi
cance" on the remark. Later,
at an informal meeting with
reporters, President Johnson
was asked to clarify his re
ma ks. He said he “meant
just what I said.”
Let’s hope that <n the fu
ture, the President will weigh
his words more carefully.
His press assistants were
right in wanting to tone his
remarks down.
The state will count its
highway fata’lties from 6 p.
m. Friday, September 3, thro
ugh midnight Monday, Sep
tember 6, a period of 78 hou-s,
for the holiday that tradi
tionally closes the summer
vacation season.
North Carolina’!" Labor Day
traffic toll for the same per
iod la -1 year added up to 19
persons killed and 604 injur
ed in 832 accidents. Nine of
the fatalities were recorded
on Saturday.
h lARIIIN’S
1
Again on this annual Labor for its contribution
occasion we raise a to our Way of Life . . .
Salute to American
Blasting Off
By: William L. Rathbum
During the war years, peo
ple wondered, silently and in
song, when the lights would
go on again all over the
world. More recently, many
Yancey Countians have won
dered when the lights might
go on again in Burnsville.
And, now, that The Yancey
County Chamber of Commer
ce has come up with a bright
idea, it is not beyond the
realm of possibility that Bur
nsvllle is, Indeed, emerging
from a rather extended black
out.
I refer, of course, to the
Saturday night dances on the
street, and wish to say that
whoever conceived this fine
idea deserves the good citi
zenship award of the year.
And, while in the mood for
handing out bouquets, I feel
called upon to lay a comp'l
menta-y wreath at the door
of those members who have
been instrumental in putting
this idea into effect.
I wcu’d not, however, dese
crate a single flower with
ac”ld criticism. Instead, I
would merely enhance the
flowerr hereby bestowed by
a suggestion:
Yours truly has observed
that many spectators or
wallflowers, if you please
leave the Saturday night
dances long before the festi
vities are over. The reason?
They have no place to sit! So
I suggest that benches bo
provided for those who have
no inclination to shake a
leg, but enjoy teeing others
do so.
I believe there are several
business fi ms that would
sponsor at least one bench,
Each seat thus sponsored
bearing the name of the firm
by which it is donated I will
letter any and all benches
donated free of charge.
Seating facilities are need
ed on the town square. And I
can see no reason why Bur
nr.vllle insists on being unique
in the respect that no such
means of comfort is p nvided.
Is everyone out of step but
Jim?
THURSDAY, SEPT. 2, IKS
Scoit Troop
Rocoivos Lottor
Fro* Fiji Islands
The Brownie Scout Troop,
now Girl Scouts of T oop 19
at Celo, sent a parcel of toys,
clothing, soap, etc to the
children of their age at a
Lebrosy Hospital in the Fiji
Islands. Thdy earned the pos
tage, $4 00, through their
sales of Girl Scout cookies.
Below is the letter that ar
rived Saturday. I have put In
some from a personal letter
as well.
Dear Brownies of Troop 19:
Greetings from the Fiji
Islands! ! !
It was wonderful hearing
from you all and to learn
something about you. The box
of Treasures also arrived and
we were very pleased to re
ceive it as we knew it would
make many people happy.
I hope you will not be too
disappointed that I could not
turn the parcel over to the
B nwnie Trcop at MakogMe.
In the year I was away the
children we had in the hospi
tal were either discharged as
cured or allowed to return to
their villages on home treat
ment.
Farly this year our islands
suffered severe hu-ricanes
and flood' Many people were
homeless. A few East Indian
couples were particu’ariy
hard hit. One family had five
youngsters wth an uoem
p’oved father. We gave most
of the gift parcel to them. I
don t think the smaller ones
ever saw a toy before. It was
beautiful to see the nieasure
that the gifts gave them.
Some time ago, I suggested
this same thing. Hie response
was ridiculous. The unani
mous concensus was, that our
less civic-minded citizens
would destroy the benches.
That is sheer nonsense. For,
with the noticeable improve
ment in the Police Depart
ment, I am sure most would
be vandals would be deterred.
In no case should the ma --
ch of progress be averted by
any lawless element.
By: nelton Carmichael
The long-lived sequoias and
bristle-cone pines of Califor
nia, and the centuries-old
caks of the humid East have
led many people to regard all
forest trees with awe. Per
haps this has resulted in the
belief that so ests are inde
structible if only they are left
alone. A man’? life span is so
short that it is easy for him
to Imagine that the forests
of today in the Pisgah Na
tional Forest go back to the
beginning of time and are
ageless.
But a tree is a living thing,
and old age and death come
to it as to all other living or
ganisms. Left alone, a gray
birch has a life span of 40
years, a sugar maple lives
longe-—up to 500 years. Some
oaks may live to be 1,500
years old, but sequoias may
live for 4,000 years.
The ancient forests that
have clothed and reclothed
the land that is now America
wer e often ruthlessly destroy
ed by natural forces. Inunda
tion by inland seas destroyed
them over vast areas. Moun
tain building often cut off
the life giving moisture that
had been the~e for millen
lums either retreated or dried
out entirely as newly formed
deserts took over. During the
glacial ages, forests were ob
literated from millions of
areas. Then slowly they re
clothed the ravished land as
the great ice sheets retreated.
Since then, such natural for
ces as hurricanes have taken
their toll, and lightning has
put the torch to vast acre
ages.
Natur e is often the ruthless
destroyer of forests, but man
can be their protector. This is
one of the roles that the dis
trict ranger plays in manag
ing the timber re ources of
his district on the No~th Car
olina National Forest. He pro
tects the forest from its nat
ural enemies—fire, wind, in
sects, and disease, and does
this as an Important part of
his over-all multiple-use
management job.
It has been thousands of
years since the last of the
great ice sheets of the glacial
age came down f.om the
North to destroy the forests
that barred its path. New
forests have grown up to sup
ply the needs for timber,
wildlife, forage ,and
recreation. Under multiple
use management they can be
made to yield all of these pro
ducts and services while being
protected and developed for
future generations.
And now, I must tell you of
a recent Incident: A 60-ft.
wha'e was recently t'aoped
inside the oclets rot far from
our convent. When it died,
quite a few of our Fijian peo
ple went out to it in boats to
extract its teeth. They use
thepi in Fijian ceremonial.
They are called “Tabua” and
are very precious items to
have. After a few days, how
ever, the huge fnammal start
ed to decompose, so the au
thorities had to take steps to
turn it. Now only a few giant
ribs remain. Wasn’t that a
"whale of a story". Once a
gain heartfelt thanks for ~’our
kind thoueht and deed. We
were deeply grateful.
May God bless each and a’l!
Sincerely, Sister Mary Paullta