Thursday, November 5, M8!, Vohmae 2!, Number 45
25'
Hiram McCracken treadles the spinning mile.
Spinning mute restored
by Cynthia Reimer
The basic laziness of human nature
may be the real 'mother of invention."
In the eariy IMOs, the family ward
robe started out on a sheep. The next
step, spinning the wool into yam, was
done on a wheel nearly as tall as the
woman herself, a walking wheel.
B was called that because, as the
woman pushed the wheel with one hand
and held the newly-formed thread with
the other, she had to walk away from
the wheel. To wind up the thread, she
had to walk back toward the wheel.
If she had an average family of eight
or nine young-uns, husband and two or
three grandparents to clothe, she
covered a lot of miles in her spinning
days.
"Pa, my feet are killing me!" she
might have told her husband. She might
have complained so many times that her
husband began to fiddle with ideas
which would put his wife in a chair and
let the machine do the walking.
What he might finally have been the
one to invent was the spinning mule.
Hiram McCracken, Ninth Street,
Black Mountain, retired seven years
ago and began to repair and build
spinning wheels in his basement as a
hobby.
A short time ago, a woman from
Ttmberville, Virginia brought him what
McCracken calls "a basket case." B
was the numerous pieces of something
McCracken had never seen before, a
spinning mule.
"1 don't know of any other in the
country like this," McCracken said.
"B'a 1M years old; could be even older.
This belongs in a museum so people
could see it."
A carriage travels down a 12-foot
track away from the spinner seated
beside the wheel of the spinning mule.
As the yam winds up, it pulls the
carriage back on acongdicated system
of pulleys and string.
"B took a little while to figure it out,"
McCracken admitted.
McCracken also had to remake parts
that were missing or broken. The entire
contraption is wood, including the pegs
and nuts and bolts holding it together,
except for steel pins through the
pulleys.
McCracken said the spinning mule,
patented in Washington, was the fore
runner of the spinning jenny which took
hand-spinning forever out of the mills.
McCracken is a native of Bald Creek
in Upper Crabtree, Haywood County. In
1936 he left for New Jersey where he
worked for the Dupont Company until
his retirement. Then McCracken came
home with his wife to the mountains.
McCracken made his first spinning
wheel for his wife, based on memory of
his mother's wheel. Word-of-mouth has
him turning out several new wheels and
repairing eight or 10 old wheels a year
now.
Mrs. McCracken provides spinning
lessons to the purchasers of her
husband's wheels, if they need it.
His wheels, sturdy and beautiful, are
exact replicas of the antiques. Made of
oak, they are pegged together with
wood. No two are just alike. They are
called Saxony wheels, the result of the
best features of several wheels combin
ed into one.
Perhaps the most unusual wheel
McCracken has made is a "gossip
wheel." Two spinners could spin at the
same wheel, one on either side, with
one treadling while they caught up on
the latest gossip.
McCracken does no advertising, yet
his customers come from many states.
He guarantees his work in the old-fash
ioned way, from times when quality was
expected and things were made to last.
Says McCracken, "They'll be repaired
free as long as I live."
Mm. McCracken zpinsona wheel
herhuabaadjuatHnbhed.
Sobo) re-etected mayor;
Barttett teads race for town Board
Mayor Tom So bo! was re-elected over
A.F. Tyson by a wide margin in
Tuesday's race. Mayor Sobol finished
with 963 votes over Tyson's 374.
Cad Bartlett led the race for town
aldermen with 1,083 votes, followed by
incumbents Doug Stafford with 1,062
and Mike Begley with 1,038. Newcom
ers Steve King and Gay Currie Fox will
complete the new Board of Aldermen.
They received 957 and 910 votes,
respectively.
Losing the race for re-election were
Margaret Slagle, 459 votes, and Ruth
Brandon, 354 votes.
About the new Board of Aldermen,
Mayor Tom Sobol stated,' Of course we
were very happy. There was a lot of
team effort." Sobol also said he was
pleased that "Issues were what the
election was decided on."
Sobol said one of the first actions the
new board will take is to "restore
authority to the department heads and
Car) Barttett
1,083 votes
Mayor Tom Sobo!
963 votes
get the morale problem solved," which,
he said, would favorably affect all
services provided by the town.
Blade Mountain mayor and aldermen
are elected for two years. The board will
Mike Begtey
1,038 votes
Doug Stafford
1,062 votes
next meet Nov. 9.
A total of 1,343 out of 2,300
registered voters voted in Black Moun
tain Tuesday.
Gay Fox
910 votes
Steve King
957 votes
Fa!! colors, friend!iness impress German
by Cynthia Reimer
The last time Dr. Karl-Heinz Kroger
was in the United States, Germany and
the United States were at war, and Dr.
Kroger was a prisoner in a POW cans)
in Texas.
When Dr. Kroger and his wife Gerda
returned two weeks ago, it was under
very different circumstances.
Black Mountain families were hosts
to six visitors from Hamburg, Germany
for 10 days through a program called
Friendship Force. The Germans, about
130 in two groups, exchanged places
with an equal number of W estem North
Carolinians. The purpose: to foster
friendship among (he people of differ
ent nations.
In a get-together last Thursday, just
before their departure for Paris, then
home, the Germans described their
10-day experience in Black Mountain.
Some spoke English fluently, some
haltingly. Most were in the States for
the first time.
A variety of activities-from "Meet
the Candidates Night" to a trip to
Cherokee—were planned for the Ger
man guests, but the most important
aspect of the Friendship Force exchan
ge was summed up by Dr. Walter
Debacher. "People I like to see more
than huge buildings," he said.
Living with Americans in a small
American town, the Germans saw
contrasts and similarities among Ger
man and American life.
Since property' is very expensive,
Germans live closer together than
Americans, they said. Americans, they
thought, tended to have closer friend
ships with their neighbors and to be
more open in talking about themselves.
Unlike Americans, Germans general
ly have their large hot meal at noon,
with cold cuts, cheese or sausages and
bread in the evening. New foods they
sampied here induded sweet potatoes,
okra, grits, Carolina ham, pumpkin pie
and green pepper jeiiy.
The economic influence of the United
states has, however, lessened the
differences in the two countries' eating
habits, the Germans said. Not only do
they eat cornflakes and catsup, but they
also call them by their English names.
While there are not many American
tourists as far north as Hamburg, the
Germans do watch American television
programs, such as "Dallas" and "The
Rockford Files." German television is
taxed, but viewers don't have to put up
with commercial interruptions every
few minutes as Americans do; ads are
confined to five minutes at the end of
the program
Hamburg is a port dty, the second
largest in Europe, so the view from their
dty is of the sea. "What surprised most
of us," Dr. Kroger said of Black
Mountain, "is the really beautiful
landscape, the beautiful fall colors. Til
never forget that."
The visitors were made "Honorary
Tarheels" at the Biltmore House in
Asheville, receiving an impressive doc
ument with the Governor's seal in gold.
Johann Matthiesen joked, "I will take it
home to friends who can't read English
and I will tell them I have been
appointed Vice President of the United
States!"
The Germans were far more eager to
speak of what their visit meant to them
than they were of differences and
similarities in the two countries, and
kept returning to that theme.
"I had never hoped to find people in
this manner," Dr. Debachersaid of the
people he met in Black Mountain. "The
friendships we made in this time will
Heaith programs
foroider aduits
byPanlLimbert
Between 50 and 60, older persons are
meeting at Lake View Senior Center to
take part in a series of seven presenta
tions of one hour each titled "A Healthy
Age." This is an outstanding program
of Blms, group discussion and physical
activity dealing with health-related
topics of special importance to older
adults.
The purpose of the program is to help
older people become more responsible
for their own health and to point out
ways of making the later years of life an
experience of health in body, mind
and spirit. How to use medicines wisely
and how to keep fit are topics already
covered; topics still to come will indude
how to deal with stress, how to talk to
your doctor, and how to prevent home
accidents.
This program was produced by
members of MAHEC (Mountain Area
Health Education Center) with a grant
from TVA. Hie total set of materials is
priced at (700, but each county in the
TVA area has received a set free of
charge. The sponsoring body in Bun
combe County is the Council on Aging.
The program is being presented by
Richard Fhtzfahl, Council director. Ed
gar Torrence of Black Mountain is
leading a short round of exercises at
each session.
While most of the participants are
regular supporters of the Nutrition
Program at Lake View Center, other
persons hum the Blade Mountain-Swan
nanoa area are attending. The program
is open to all without charge. The
remaining four sessions will be held
from 11 a m. to noon on November 5,
10,12 and 17. Persons wishing to stay at
the Center for lunch should notify site
manager Mae Sawyer two days in
advance. She may be called at the Club
House from 9 JO to 11 JO each morning,
M9-2035.
continue for ail our lifetime."
Said Dr. Kroger, "We are thankful,
all of us, to our hosts. I can only hope we
leave behind a fairly good impression."
Judging by the spontaneous applause,
the "good impressions" were mutual.
FMendship Force participants gathered at the home of the Richardson Rices
to taik about their experiences. German visitors were Dr. Kari-Heinz and
Gerda Kroger, Dr. Waiter and Anneiiese Debacher, Johann Matthiesen and
Waiter Fischer. American hosts were Dr. and Mrs. John Wilson, Mr. and
Mrs. Bob Baughman and Mr. and Mrs. Richardson L Rice. Three Americans,
Mr. and Mrs. Ray Baughman and Mary Nyiand, who had just returned from
Germany, joined the discussion also.
Commissioners deiay decision
on power rescue too!
With Chairman Curtis Ratcliff on
vacation, Buncombe County Commis
sioners again hedged on the issue of
providing funds for a power rescue tool
for Blade Mountain Tuesday evening.
In a status report to the commission
ers, David Cunningham, administrative
assistant to the chairman of the board,
stated that the "Town of Blade Moun
tain requested assistance."
Ruth Brandon, then
liaison to the Bre department, told
Cunningham in an earlier conversation,
he said, that McDonald's would provide
up to $3,300 for the tool.
Commissioner J.D. Jackson, chairing
the board in Ratcliff's absence, report
ed, "I got a call from a (Black
Mountain) board member and they said
they could raise the money them
selves."
A motion was made by Jesse Ledbet
ter to offer Black Mountain $2,500
toward the tool and seconded by
Jackson. The motion was withdrawn
after Commissioner Riddle reported he
had also "got feedback that Black
Mountain wants to raise its own funds."
Further discussion was again tabled
for two weeks with Cunningham in
structed to get more information from
tWStDE...
Mountain Living
Magazine
Blade Mountain officials by the next
meeting.
Task Force
to tackie
probtems
Does someone in your family, or
someone you care about have a problem
with money, finance companies, a
husband or wife, housing, heating or
electric bilis, drinking, children, drugs
or retirement? If so, the Black Mountain
New Horizons Task Force might have
the answer.
Representatives of Buncombe County
agenaes which deal with these prob
lems and many other every day will
speak and answer questions at the Lake
View Center on Lake Tomahawk, Biack
Mountain at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12. The
meeting is free and open to anyone who
would like to come.
Speakers will indude Lois Nix of
ABCCM-East; Lee Dawes, Consumer
Credit Counselling of Asheville; Bob
Warren of Pisgah Legal Services; and
Kit Emory of the Department of Social
Services.
For more information, call Kathy
Wacaster, 669-6437.