Newspapers / Shelby Daily Star (Shelby, … / Sept. 19, 1930, edition 1 / Page 8
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/VV W AW. «*« n--.-» WW "■ •--V _ _ _ _ _ w»* w% «w. w.® -www Around Our TOWN Shelby SIDELIGHTS By RENN DRUM. VW VW /*«■• /••••*. /*VW W. AV. w. w w. •••. .•-%*. •*« IT HAS been mure than a-decade sini'e "Wild John" Starnes, the hermit of the Dravo sod inn just south of Cleve land county., was gathered to his father:-, yet it is likely that no large number of Shelby and Cleveland county people re call the incidents in his unusual life marred by a tragic ro • • » “Wild John was bom approxi mately three-quarters of a century ago when men and women took their love affairs more seriously than they do in this modern day of a new love song and a new lover every fortnight—Or more frequently Such-sentimental dttlies as 'Caro lina Moon,” "Blue Ridge Sweet heart,” and the soft caressing croon ing of Rudy Valters Were unknown then. That was the day when love' songs—such as "And Twas from Aunt Dinah’s quilting party 1 was seeing Nellie home”—were sung to ihe accompaniment of the. thumb ing of banjo strings, the strumming of guitars, and the nielodious rol 1 irking strains of the fiddle. Troths were riot plighted in those days by ! radio or in rumble seats, and be throthals were far more serious matters than they are now, • * * . , Since sojourning m Shelby ihis eolyum has upon several occasions' heard references to the odd "Wild John” Starnes. but his complete story was-not known until recently, when related by W. J. Hogue in the; shade of the big trees which cover; the lawn of his country home south' Of town. Mr. Hogue was one of the; few intimate friends of the eccentric j Starnes, • • • When John Starnes. not then known as "Wild John," was a happy farm lad 18 years there was a noighboimg girl a beautiful girl, as the old-timers iccaltorit by hearsay 11 mu I llru i Mr:S, With StfilTy line’, i: ryes and- auburn hair whom he n\ (il Hr v, .1 \ i (I ip I ill h In tin girl. All indication;'Were that it " .1 jId In line rf lliosr luippy endine romances out. of the book of life, of which there are hundreds in, ac tuality for every one related in fic tion. Some dav- they hoped to be married. John worked hard in anti*, cipatipn and it was already decided which strip of land he would get front hIs father when married: The girl, likewsie, planned for the ap proaelimy. event. . ■ These thing's took place about the time many families from North and South Carolina migrated to Geor gia. Those far along on the shady side of Ijfe will remember that mi gration period. The girl's family vvn • one of those which decided to seek greener pastures and more fri t lie farm land farther to the south. Howbeit it was derided that the girl and John would be married before her family left and she would re main with her husband here About the time the girls family got ready for I he long trip to Georgia in a day when travel was a .slow, tedious task, John Starnes became seriously ill with typhoid fever. For days and days he lingered between life and death. For a week or more fits girl's father- postponed his trip to gin to see If Starnes would recover One morning early a passerby dropped in at the home to inform that Starnes had passed out,during the night. Believing the report to he true as the sick lhjn had seemed to have little chance to recover, the gill's father finished bundling the family belongings in the wagons and started dn the trip to Georgia. As the wagons crawled out of sight into (he distance, bound for what was then a iaraWay spot., n .sorrow ing girl, her brown eyes filled with tears, looked for the last time upon her native home where sty* had learned' to lore the boy she believed |dead, the wagon trundled onward. Tomorrow. she perhaps thought, they'll bury him. No longer was ' there anything for her to remain for, her John was dead, and she travelled into Georgia with her family an<J into oblivion insofar n 'Hie Grave .section was concerned. The wagons bound Goorgla-ward covfld not have been so many miles away when John Blarney, came out 'of the coma which those about his bedside had first believed to be the final sleep. Day by day lie gradual ly recovered his strength. Soon he was able to sit up and notice the moves of life about him. Tlif.it i' was he inquired about, his brown ryrd sweetheart. To hint wav gently related the story of her depar! a: ,• Whether lie thought she had been fickle, or why she left. he never discussed thereafter with anyone. But from that day on ’ehn Snrnrs. the happy farm boy. became "Wild: John" Starnes, the rad-faced her mit. When his strength had fully re turned he left his father s home for the tract of wooded land . upon which he and his bride had planned to live. There he tugged a dry good , box. About . I he box he built a crude shelter of limbs, logs and scantlings, Near the entrance he made an open hearth of rocks. And there he lived until they moved yim to the Chero kee county home at Gaffney to die Thirty-five to'40 years the .peceiW trie man lived alone m his shelter in the woods. As the buds burst ip the springtime . and leaves browned and fluttered to the ground in the fall, marking the passing of years, his youtj/gave way to mid dle-age, and then to old age. For many-years, visitors, curious people, made trips to the little lean-to in tiin woods to see the mysterious man who would never live again with humans because lie could not I live with his brown-eyed love. As I the years rolled by visitors were less numerous:. The little den of the her mit was not, SO: much of a freak as 1 it once was. A few men such as Bill ! Hogue, who find much in out-of the-way spots.on the byroads of life to interest them, continued to call land chat with the aging "Wild John" and lo wonder' at the far awa.v look in Id* eyes. ! Otic winter the cold of the semi open holier wat too much for the hermit of Drovo. lie contracted j pneumonia and became seriously ill." Many of those who had been boyhood friends in his early days had died, and sympathetic hand• removed him from his back-to-na ilin’ home m tire woods to the coun ty iyome. fh‘> "poor house," at Gaff nrv. There the romantic soul.j . M'tckcn in ns first, love, did pot. lin ger long. Where he i buried (his Colyiini; c'-ecs not-'know, but lipon his grave-1 stone should b" written the line "He loved but-once.” "What manner of man was he? Mr. Hogue,was asked. ■A fairly food-looking man in his younger davs.*and never'anybody . fool." was the reply. , Then - ' "Walt, I’ll show you." And a feW miftutes later lie ex hibited one ot (hose old-time en larged photographs of the Drava j hfTin.it and his home' in the woods. The photograph, if was ■ explained.' was made one day by persuading the hermit that the camera w a only a surveyor's photograph when; he learned how he had been tricked What became of the girl? Did ehe! ever know what, her lover lived two score years alone after she depart - ed No living person seems U) know Old-timers',' recall that notrnng was ever heard of her family, and nonet ol then) ever returned to their na tive section. John Starnes’ brown eyed girl may have loved again and married in Georgia without ever knowing that her first lover loved on until death. Perhaps it was best, that it was so, for had she learned in the late years of life that a lonely man had secluded himself In the solitude of woods to grieve his heart away over her another life would have been urn red. I! is a true story. One of those! romances of life which did not end! with the phrase, "And they lived! happily thereafter." Anywhere about (he Oravo section one can hear of unusual incidents in the hermit’s life; yet no one. as best we could dis cover, could remember the name of the brown-eyf’d girl. Yet this Is the story of Starnes and his love—not. of her. Mrs. W. C. Sarratt Of Earl Very Sick 'Special to The Star.) •-* I . il l. Sept. 17.- Mr. and Mrs. J Mark Hayes and family of Chesnee. j S. C. were thb guests Sunday aft-; ernoon of Mr. and Mrs. Prank Ha use. Miss Rebecca Austell left Monday' for Asheville where she will resume her studies at the Asheville Normal. Mr, Paul Camp and little daugh ter, Louise, of Charlotte were call ers in the village Sunday. We are sorry to report th« Illness of Mi W. C. Sarratt. * Rev. and Mrs. J. L. Jenkins and family of Boiling Springs were din ner guests Sunday of Mr. and Mrs, A ! T. Be!chirr. Mr, and Mrs. J. P. Jones and Mrsdames Ben Davis and Odell Se paugh motored to Golden Valley Monday. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Callahan and children of Spartanburg, S. C. spent the week-end with Mrs. Callahan's parents. Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Wylie, Mr. and Mrs, Gary Han-trick of tattimore spent Sunday with home folks. AhF. favorite—whose flashing hoofs have brought him in ahead so many times! Again he shows his mettle! Again he leads the field. One will always stand out! KEEPING IIP THE PACE . .. never letting down... that's what wins on the track — and in a ciga rette, too. & Chesterfield smokers stick to Chesterfield, because here they find those essentials of true smok ing enjoyment which never tire, never vary: MILDNESS — the wholly nat ural mildness of tobaccos that are without harshness or bitterness BETTER TASTE—such as only a cigarette of wholesome purity and better tobaccos can have. GET CATCH OF 193 Largest One Weighed 14 rounds. College Students Leave. No Colton By Christmas. f Special to The Star.) Toluca, Sept. 1R.—Cotton is open ing Last now and picks easily as compared with last year. If the weather continues so. cotton will all be open in a month nr so. There will be no Christmas cotton this year, Misses Sadie. Mull Helen and Martha Falls and Lucy Yehon, Messrs Fletcher Sajin and Ralph Falls, attended a ’petty Saturday night, given at the home of Mr, end Mrs. Alfred Falls of near Lattimora, by Miss Willie and Mr. Robert Falls Catch 191 Coolers. Mrs, M. S. Boyles \.'sited her par ents Mr and Mrs. D. L. Davis of Rockdale last Tuesday, Her brother Mr. Blanche Davis and a party had lust returned from a big cooter hunt n Tennessee, They made. a catch of 193. The large.'rt one weighing 14 to unds, Mr. and Mrs. J, M. Carpenter, Mr aAd Mrs. Thomas Virkcrs and IIjUj son Jacob motored to the home oi Mrs. Carpenter’s brother, Mr. and Mrs. D. J. Sain of Hickory and spent the day last Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Sain and sons Fletcher and Thaxter, were dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs., C. C. Falls on last Sunday. Misses Mary and Joyce Ledford spent last Saturday night at ,.1'e l ome of their aunt,, Mrs. Gertie Proctor of'Burke county. Master Edwin Hoyle spent last Saturday night with Master Chari'e Wade Carpenter. Mr. Fletcher Sain and Miss Lucy Yelton were supper guests at the home of Miss Yelton’s sister, Mr. and Mrs. Grady Mauney of Shelby last. Wednesday. Miss Nora Costner spent last Wednesday with Miss Mary Led ford. Miss Nora Costner spent 1,1st Wednesday with Miss Mary Ledford Mr. .and Mrs. -L. F. Boyles haw as their guests their uncle, Mr. Dock Lutz of Bessemer Cit;. College Students Off Several more college students left last. Monday Miss Sadie Mull for >T,. C. C. W., Greensboro, Mr. Fletcher Sain for the University of N. C., Mr. H. D. Boyles for Boone. Mr. L. M. Williams of Catawba county was a dinner guest of Mr and Mrs. L. E. Boyles last Tuesday. Miss Pauline Davis spent la -1 Wednesday night with her uncle and auilt Mr. and Mrs. M S. Boyles. Mr. Walter Boyles was a visit t In Newton last Tuesday. Mr. and Mrs. John Sain of t'r North Brook section were dUn!**'r guests of their parents. Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Sain, Sunday. Misses Mittie and Zennic Sam. Messrs. A. b. Costner and Ra.vm n Lackey, motored to Linville City lit. t Sunday, Mrs. Everett Downs and child.;'n of Baltimore, Md., are spending this week with her sister. Mrs. A, K. Boyles. Rev, J. M. Morgan and daughter of Enllston, were dinner guests o.f Mr. and Mrs,. W. If. Young last Sun day. Mr. and Mrs, Buit.Satn visit- 1 < their grandparents Mr, and Mi .. Ambrose Peeler of Belwood le d Satuday night. Miss Clara WiKirnv of Falls! n spent last, Tuesday night with M. s Minnie M.ull. Mr. and Mrs R. P. Bovles mot"' ed to Statesville hut Sunday to the home of their un.de and aunt, f.t and Mrs. Dixon Boer. Try Star Wants Ads. HOME OWNED STORES <fori4 Be a* Comidcr the crab! He gee* throwsk lift in a perpetual itete of indention. Al wayt taking the moit roundabout way to jet thinji done . . . alwayi backing up „ . , and forever in an irritated frame of mindl Don’t be a crab! Let a Qualrty-Servlee Store (boulder the tailr of tuppiying you' table with palatable foodi. He hat at hit command the world’( market* . . . and he it a> near you ai your telephone! 1 C/3 U as O H cn Q UJ 2 £ O UJ S o X MORTON’S IODIZED SALT, Per Package 9c BEF; BRAND SPICES — 3 For 25C DUKE S HOME MADE MAYON NAISE — 8-oz. Jar 23C FRENCH’S MUSTARD — Jar 14C BECKER’S B AM BY BREAD Full 21 Ounce Loaf 10c OCTAGON SOAP POWDER 6 For 25c .. QUEEN CHARLOTTE PEANUT BUTTER — lb. Jar Highest Qualify 29c WINONA SANDWICH An unusual delight for tempting Cake — lb. 54c WHITE HOUSE COFFEE — lb. 42c BLUE KROSS PAPER CLOTH — 3 Rolls 25c IVORY SOAP — 6 Bars 25c _ octagon laundry SOAP fi For SUPER SUDS — Package 9c OLD MANSION COFFEE — LB. 42c STANBACK HEADACHE POWDER — 3 For SAUER’S EXTRACT — Large Bottles PILLSBURY’S PANCAKE FLOUR — Package 14c CHIPSG — Large Package HOST’S CAKES —J’ound 24c STALEY’S BLUE "LABEL SYRUP, 5 Pound Bucket 39c GILL’S FULL DRESSED BEST BLUE ROSE RICE — Lar?e MILK — BORDEN’S — Small tan 5c MILK — BORDEN'S — Large IOC X c s m C - 3* 'Z m a CO H O zj • m C/5
Shelby Daily Star (Shelby, N.C.)
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Sept. 19, 1930, edition 1
8
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