News deadline 5 p.m. Mondays
a
Thursday, August 27, 198!, Volume 29, Number 35
Second dass postage paid at B!ack Mountain, NC 28711
Second degree burns
Potice chief injured
Black Mountain Fblice Chief Crait E.
Slagle Jr. was rushed to the hospital
FYiday evening after a gasoline explo
sion resulted in second degree bums on
his hands and legs.
Slagle was fueling a lawnmower at his
home on Padgettown Road when the
fire occurred. The engine of the
lawnmower was apparently hot, igniting
the gasoline, a witness said.
On Tuesday, the Memorial Mission
Hospital reported that Slagle was in
satisfactory condition and "had had a
good night" Monday. No release date
has been set.
Second degree bums involve injury to
deep layers of the skin and to capillar
ies, small blood vessels connecting
arteries and veins. Blistering occurs,
but little scarring results and skin
grafting is not necessary, according to a
manual used by emergency medical
technicians. The manual also states that
second degree bums can make the
patient "very ill and can present serious
problems."
Gary Davis
returns from
Russia
by Cynthia Rehner
After a visit to specialists for treat
ment in Moscow last month, Gary Davis
has noticed a slight improvement in his
vision. Davis is afflicted with a rare
disease, retinitis pigmentosa, which
eventually results in blindness.
There has been no cure, no way even
to arrest the disease, until doctors in
Moscow recently pioneered a treat
ment, available only there.
Davis travelled to Moscow on July 12,
accompanied by his father Charles.
They stayed at the Leningradska Hotel,
built by Lenin after W orld W ar 1.
"It had dark, huge ceiling," Davis
said. "The bathtub leaked, and the first
week there was no hot water.'' The cost:
(75 a day. A Russian citizen could have
the same room for about $15, Davis was
told.
Hie hospital where Davis received
treatment, the Helmholtz Institute, was
a short distance from the hotel. To be
able to communicate with the doctors
during the tests he received the first two
days, Davis had to hire an interpreter.
Tanya, a guide for Russian tourists
abroad, spoke Biglish extremely well,
he said, and gave him much informa
tion about Soviet life.
There were no forms to sign at the
hospital, Davis said. He simply agreed
verbally to the treatment. Five days a
week he received an injection in his hip
at 11 a.m, in his eye at 11:30 a m. and
again in his hip at 2 p.m Davis said
although some experienced pain, he did
not feel the injections.
Between treatments, Davis and his
father saw Red Square, Lenin's tomb,
the home of the Bolshoi Ballet, looked in
the stores and searched for food.
Temperatures of 90-100 degrees, the
hottest in Moscow in 100 years, sent
them to join Russian citizens sitting in
the parks and lining up for ice creams
and lukewarm drinks.
"There's a line of people to get
anything in Russia," Davis said. A
popular non-alcoholic Russian drink
which Davis learned to like, kbac, was
made from bread and yeast. A vendor
pushing a white cart with a tank on it
would pour the customer a glassful,
wait until he downed it, wash the glass
and fill it for the next person in line.
Rather than eating in the very
expensive hotel dining room, the
Davises took meals at a small restaurant
nearby frequented by Russians.
"You got in one line to order, one to
wait for the food and another pay,"
Davis said. "We would order different
things, but we got what they had.
"You learn in Russia 3 take what
they have . "
For a satisfying meal of ground meat,
noodles, a large bowl of soup and a
drink, the cost was about 90 cents.
Although food and other basic neces
sities in Russia are very cheap, luxuries
are extremely expensive. The cheapest
model automobile, Davis said, costs
over (11,000 and must be paid for in
cash.
He saw one television set while he
was in Moscow, and never saw it turned
on. Another rarity, he learned, was a
refrigerator.
There are no fixed hours for shops,
Davis said. On their way to work,
Russians carry a suitcase or totebag. "If
they see a store is open and has food,
they go in and buy,'' he said.'' they wait
in line a long time for bread, and then in
another store they wait for fruit. "
Davis was told the number one
problem in Russia is alcoholism. "You
see a lot of drunks on the streets," he
said. "No one pay much attention."
One 3f the things that Davis noticed
often was an air of depression about the
people. "There's not a whole lot to do
but sit in the park and wait in line," he
speculated. "They don't see much
chance to improve their lives. "
The average Russian makes 150
!
rubles, or less than (200, a month.
Davis did not notice a single movie
theatre in the capital city, or any other
form of entertainment.
He also noted the contrast of the old
and shabby and the new and ultra-mod
em. As an example, he cited a scene he
had witnessed, hi front of the huge
glass-fronted new airport, built for the
last Olympic games, an old woman
swept the street with a homemade
broom.
Davis stayed in Moscow for three
weeks of treatment. He must return
three more times, the next in about a
year.
Davis said he was grateful to the
businesses, individuals and dubs who
helped him make this trip, making
possible the hope of continued sight.
Season starts this weekend
ft,
Owen High Schoo! 1981 footba!) hopefuis
R. A. Motym, assisted by TMna O'Donnell, measures the taiiest sunflower
at 10 feet 2 Inches.
Jumbo sunf!owers
grown on test p!ot
You've heard of Erma Bombedt's
book, "The Grass is Always Greener
Over the Septic Tank." So had R.A.
Morgan, and the veteran sunflower
grower decided to try this theory out on
a few of his sunflowers this year.
The tallest in the "test plot" meas
ures 10 feet plus a few inches. The
heavy heads have caused the giant
stalks to bow a bit, so Morgan has tied
them to a support.
Morgan grows the sunflowers in his
garden on North Fork Road to feed the '
birds in the winter. Last year, he grew a
head that measured 22 inches across.
This year's jumbos came in under the
record at 18 inches.
Dance for Jerry s kids
on Saturday
The Black Mountain Chapter of the
Women of the Moose will sponsor a
street dance for Muscular Dystrophy, to
be heid on Saturday, Aug. 29th, in the
Ingle's Shopping Center parking lot
from 7:30-11 p.m.
Music wiU be provided by The Moon
River Junction. The iadies wiU se!l
hotdogs, homemade chili, candy, coffee
and sodas.
Ail proceeds will go the Muscular
Dystrophy Association.
Reservoir up six inches
Water ban tiffed
X is no longer illegal to wash your ear
or your dog, but Black Mountain
officials are still asking water users to
conserve voluntarily.
A new pump installed last Tuesday at
Gardening is
subject for
first iecture
atWWC
"Down the Garden Path (Past and
Future)" begins the Warren Wilson
College '81- 82 Staff Lecture Series at
7:30 Monday in the Bannerman Lecture
Hall at Warren Wilson. Ian Robertson,
director of horticulture at Warren
Wilson, will present the lecture.
Robertson holds a National Certifi
cate of Agriculture from the Stafford
shire College of Agriculture in England.
He will present a personal look at
gardening methods and their develop
ment, interspersed with poems of a
"garden nature."
The Staff Lecture Series will be held
the last Monday of each month at 7:30
in the Bannerman Lecture Hall at
Warren Wilson: The public is invited to
all lectures. Admission is free.
Weather
review
Aug. 17-high 71, low 60 degrees.
Aug. 18-high 71, low 60 degrees.
Aug. 19-high 65, low 59 degrees.
Aug. 20-high 74, low 58 degrees;
.02 inches precipitation.
Aug. 21-high 70, low 58 degrees.
Aug. 22-high 77, low 46 degrees.
Aug. 23-high 81, low 48 degrees.
Weather courtesy of WFGW
Radio. Black Mountain.
the well on the golf course has increased
water flow there, allowing the level of
the Dunsmore Cove reservoir to stabil
ize.
According to water department head
A! White, the level of the reservoir has
risen six indies in five days, prompting
aldermen to lift the ban on water use
Monday.
On Monday, only about 1,000 gallons
of water used by the town came horn
the reservoir and 495,000 from the
wells.
Voluntary conservation is still being
urged because officials fear an upsurge
in usage following the removal of the
ordinance will affect the reservoir.
There's enough water to meet town
needs now, said White, if it is used
wisely and not wasted.
Swannanoa VFD
approves officers
In their August meeting the Board of
Directors of the Swannanoa Volunteer
Fire Department and Rescue Squad,
Inc. approved the following fire and
rescue officers for the coming year at
the recommendation of Chief David
Trexler:
Ronnie Settle, assistant fire chief;
Ralph Coffey, assistant rescue chief;
Ray Grant, training officer; Jerry Pen
land, captain fire; Max Coffey, captain
rescue; Doyce Settle, captain traffic;
Bill Metcalf, lieutenant fire; Barbara
Settle, It. rescue; Scott Denison, It.
traffic; Joe Anderson, It. pumps; the
Rev. James Rogers, chaplain; and
James Dockery, supply sergeant.
The only no vote was cast by board
member Leon Rice.
This 1981 GMC-Mini-pumper "Quick out tnuck" was delivered to the
Swannanoa fine department on Aug. 19. Here, Steve King, sales
representative, turns the keys over to Fire Chief David TYexier.
The fou^wheei drive vehide with a 250 gallon water tank will enable
firemen to reach places the larger trucks can't.
Purchase price for the truck was $55,500.
Tht* fHnc!c WfoMHtwiM iVews
staff wiH be taboriwg vtt
LABOR BAY. . . bttf the
office Mpiti be CLOSED
Eridop, Sept. 4