PARAGRAPHS
JACK
Late one'afternoon recently I
was starting for home when an
ambulance pulled up In front of
the police station with more than
the usual number of people a
board. Natural curiosity caused
me to go over and Inquire about
the trouble. Inside the ambu
lance trussed up In plow lines
was a young man who was really
tied to the stretcher. It was ex
plained to me simply. “He’s
crazy.” Police Captain Glasco
Evans was busy trying to find
some place to put this “violently
Insane” man.
Finally it was decided to put
him in the county jail where
isolation was more possible than
in the smaller city jail. I went
along to watch the excitement
and to see just what was going
to be done with this strapped
down fellow. After squeezing the
stretcher into the elevator and
around some close comers In the
jail to the door of the cell to
be occupied was finally reached
and the long job of untying the
“insane man” began.
Much to everyone’s surprise
when the final ropes were re
moved the young man got up
meekly and walked into the cell
without the slightest trouble of
anykind. Just before entering
the cell, however, he did turn
and admonish his father rather
pointedly, “You’d better get me
out of here before Thursday
morning, bpcause you know I got
to go to Fort Bragg to get ex
amined.”
With that revelation I left,
musing rather bitterly on the
lengths that some people will go
to in order to keep from serving
in the armed forces. Of course it
is fear that will cause a man to
grovell so low as to play off
“crazy.” Funny thing about the
armed forces: They won’t have
a fellow who is playing off even
though they realize full well that
he is acting and not really crazy.
They take the attitude that any
man who will stoop to this level
is quite capable of getting a lot
of other fellows killed if he is
placed in a “tight spot.”
A young man in my group dur
ing the past war made up his
mind after getting overseas that
he would rather be back in the
United States. A sentiment that
was shared by each of us. But
he, being a practical soul, de
cided to do something about it.
He began sleeping on an ironing
board rather than the bed. He
refused to use toilet facilities
and then one morning he started
to open a 500 pound bomb with a
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Code
292
hammer and chisel. He sot his
“Section 8*’ ancient back, to
the United States. Not long after
he left bis squadron adjutant got
a letter from this character say
ing, 'Tm working in the Bayohee
ship yards making $89 a week.
Who’s crazy now?”
Everyone who was in any
branch of the armed forces can
tell you a similar story. In prac
tically any group of as many
as a 1,000 men there’d be one
who’d rather accept the “crazy"
tag than stay anywhere near the
war zone. Courage is about 99
per cent pride. Men charge off
to their death, not because they
are not scared, but because their
pride will not let them act cow
ardly in front of their buddies.
My personal opinion about men
who’d rather be called crazy
than to be in a war zone is this:
Not to give them a discharge
and send them back home but
put them on the nasty, filthy
work that most soldiers and sail
ors despise. Cleaning latrines,
washing pots and pans,
sweeping floors, unloading ships
—in short Td make laborers out
of them and at least remove
such drudgery from the men who
are just as scared but who are
still willing to go get killed be
cause they have too much pride
to be a coward.
It’s absurd to say that a place
can’t be found for these mal
ingerers. I know perfectly well,
that so long, as they were willing
to be “crazy” they’d be crazy on
J
government pay rather than out
side pulling down fat checks In
some war plant. Nothing In my
mind Is more loathsome than
the “smart fellow” who has fig
ured a way to dodge the draft.
Of course a doctor will tell
you that a man who Is willing
to put on such an act Is really
a mental case—and I agree with
that, but I don’t think he Is
enough a mental case to be re
leased. There’s another consid
eration worth comment In *>»»«
respect. When one of these pro
fessionally “Insane" characters
.turn up he should have a «*nn
tied-to him so everybody can rec
ognize him as such when he runs
through town.
Fear is a powerful thing and a
scared person Is far more dan
gerous than a mad one. On
this principle It might be logical
to presume that the most f light
ened soldier Is the best, and4o a
large degree that is true. But
those who have. been so scared
that they lose their self respect
are not fit for anything I can
think of at this time.
Charges for baking and retail
ing bread rose from 7.9 cents a
loaf In 1947 to 10.3 cents In 1949.
This Increase of 2.4 cents was
associated with a*rise of 1.S
cents per loaf In the retail price
of bread and a decline of 0.9
cent per loaf In the cost to the
baker of the ingredients.
The total harvested cropland
acreage In the United States has
changed little since 1910.
ill-Wood-Ja:
FUNERAL HOME
. E. Wood Mutual Burial
L DIAL 3846
AMBULANCE SERVICE
KINSTON , N. C.
I
WATCH—
For Tour Rente Man
TWICE WEEKLY
IDEAL
CLEANERS
102 E. Peyton Dial 3467
KINSTON N. C.
—And Not To A Price
STATEMENT OF CONDITION
COMMERCIAL
OF
Kinston,
At Close of Business, October 4, 1950
RESOURCES
Cash and Due from Banks ...
U. S. Government Securities .
State, County and Municipal .
Other Bonds and Securities ...
Stock of Federal Reserve Bank
Bank Building .
Loans and Discounts.
Furniture and Fixtures
Accrued Interest not Collected
Other Assets.
TOTAL
$1,277,400.92
2,756,490.82
774,324.91
324,646.28
9,000.00
84,700.00
1,942,219.35
19,268.78
14,529.08
2,562.49
$7,205,142.63
LIABILITIES
Capital Stock .$ 150,000.00
Surplus. 150,000.00
Undivided Profits . 117,209.99
Reserves for Taxes .. 10,243.79
Reserve for Contingencies . 12,287.00
Reserves for P. D. I. C. 975.00
Unearned Interest .. :.-. 24,157.96
Deposits . 6,736,869.69
Inetrest Due Depositors . 3,399.20
TOTAL . $7,205,142.63
OFFICERS
LEO H. HARVEY ...President
A. K. BARRUS . Vice-President
L. B. JENKINS . Vice-President
F. O. FITZGERALD . Cashier
MARY LEE BIZZELL _Asst. Cashier
H. C. WOOTEN, JR.Asst .Cashier
DIRECTORS
A. K. BARRUS *
Pres. Barms Construction Co., of N. C.
W. I. BISSETTE
President, W. I. Bissettte, Inc.
GEORGE DuBOSE
Contractor
F. O. FITZGERALD
Cashier
R. S. FLIPPIN
President, Dixie Leaf Tobacco
LEO H. HARVEY
Chairman of Board, L. Harvey & So
L. B. JENKINS
President, L. B. Jenkins Tobacco
R. P. MOSS
Vice-President, E. V. Webb &
L. L. OETTINGER
Oettinger Bros.
J. F. PARROTT, JR.
Real Estate and Insurance
JAMES M. PARROTT
Planter
GEORGE SKINNER
Merchant
T,
President,