weekly Perspective
Qther views \
? Our agriculture is on a diet
i * /
V By JOHN SLEDGK
For the first time ia a tew year*.
M wfll to able to say that U.S.
lawm are aot producing record
?raps this year. TMak of It as
agriculture oa a diet. More than half
of the aatko'a farms are earoUed la
various acreage reduction programs
to tahe aore than a third o i the
aattoa's cropland for wheat, feed
graima, rice and cotton out of
The Payment-In-Kind program,
Which returns surplus commodities
to farmers for leaving cropland idle,
waa first detailed by President
Reagan at the American Farm
Bureau Federation annual meeting
laat January In Dallas.
PIK was stalled in Congress at the
time, but the President announced to
the Farm Bureau that he was going
ahead wttL it Reagan rightly sur
mised that agriculture couldn't wait
another year. And, he received the
enthusiastic support of thousands of
farmers at that meeting.
While some thought that interest
might wane, it did not, and the result,
was' a tremendous participation in
acreage reduction. PIK has already
helped the farmers. Prices,
especislly for corn, have climbed
steadily since January, this yesr's
production at corn may be the
smallest since WT5, and teed grain
stocks could be cut by 3) percent.
Wheat production will probably be
the lowest since ltTt.
That doesn't mean we are in
danger of running short of grain. We
have more than enough even with
PIK. But, after several years of
steady diet of big crops, agriculture
is going on a diet.
Instead of carrying all that weight
around in surplus stocks, we are
going to see a leaner crop sector, and
that's going to be healthier for the
whole farm economy, as well as for
consumers.
F acts need to be explained
Contrary to the old saying, (acts do
?at speak for themselves. Facts
cannot simply stand alone, and many
are incomprehensible without in
terpretation. Historical research
<icesiitates the explanation of
discovered facts.
Consider the 1754 muster roll of the
Perquimans Regiment of Militia.
The facts present themselves as a list
of names. What does the list mean?
JHThy are certain persons named?
^Pfhat can the list reveal about those
persons7
' Drawing from that fund of
knowledge upon which the skilled art
pf interpretation is founded, the
flistorian can interpret the list. He
will know that every person named in
Jhat document must be a free white
pale between the ages of sixteen and
pixty years. He can weave around
|hat list a fabric of meaning, its warp
the militia's role in history and its
woof the citixen-soldier's place in
colonial life.
?
? It is the interpretation which
makes dull facts interesting.
Premature or immature in
terpretation, however, cuases
mischief and leads to false or
misleading notions about the past.
? Historical research is like an old
fashioned murder mystery. As clues
4 '
accumulate, suspicion is cast on
various characters in turn. Only
when the last or most important clue
is revealed, does the true solution to
the mystery appear.
So in the gathering of (acts to
various conclusions alternately seem
possible until the last fact is dropped
into the pot. (It is a fortunate
historian who can be confident of
knowing the last pertinent fact, and
assured that a new discovery will not
wreck his interpretation. )
Conclusions may vary at each
stage of research. Jacob and Mary
Peterson had a daughter Ann.
william Hall and wife Ann sold
property inherited from Mary
Peterson. Thus far, these two facts
point tro an inescapable conclusion:
William Hall married Ann Peterson.
Although that conclusion is entirely
logical, it ia entirely wrong. Con
tinued research proves Ann Peter
son's death at a tender age and un
married. When all the (acts that can
be found are interpreted, it becomes
clear that William Hall was Mary
Peterson's eldest brother; he was
Mary's heir, not her husband.
A single set of apparently
straightforward data may offer
numerous possible interpretations,
evaluations, or analyses. The 1850
Census of Perquimans, for example,
lists together Thomas Newby, age
55; Sarah A. Newby, 30; and Robert
B. Newby, 1. The obvious in
terpretation is that old Thomas has a
young wife and infant son. The
cautious historian, nonetheless, will
hesitate.
Thomas's advanced age suggests
the possibility he had a son,
deceased, whose widow and orphan
survive. Still other possibilities
emerge, but this instance can be
enlightened by facts from other
sources. In truth, Thomas sheltered
his late breother's widow and or
phan.
Much interpretation is far more
complicated than these plain
examples. The historian really has
two difficult tasks. First, getting the
facts; second finding out whst they
mean.
hooking back
*
30 YEARS AGO
pf VIRGINIA WHITE TRANS EAU
?MORE HATS THROWN IN
POLITICAL RING: Erie Haste. Jr.,
Ijas put his hat In the ring (or a seat
?b the Hertford Town Council, as has
j.W. Dillion and Cecil C. Wins low
*. Haste is a past president of the
Hertford Rotary Club. He attended
(be University of North Carolina for
tow years. He is a member of the
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, a
past secretary-treasurer of the
Ffcrquimans County Chamber of
Conmerce and is present treasurer
of the Industrial Commercial
Development Corporation which is a
local corporation solely owned by
residents of Perquimans County.
J.W. (Dill) Dillon, manager of
W.M. Morgan Furniture Company,
has filed as a candidate for a seat on
the Hertford Town Board. Dillon is a
member of the official board of the
First Methodist Church. He is
treasurer of the church building
fund, and is also a member of the
local draft board and an active
member of the Merchants Com
mittee of the Perquimans County
Chamber of Commerce.
C.C. Winslow seeks a seat on the
council. He is vice-president of the
Winslow-Blanchard Motor Company
and has long been active in civic
affairs in Perquimans County. He is
a member of the Perquimans
Masonic Lodge, of which he is past
master. A past secretary for the
lodge, he held the job for a number of
years. He has been active in the
Eastern Star, ierving as past worthy
patron. He is a Shriner and has been
Perquimans County Chairman of the
N.C. Automobile Dealers
Association.
Letter to the editor
Editor. THE PERQUIMANS
WEEKLY;
At the Orange County Republican
Convention, I received a hand-out
which troubles me. It wai prepared
b f a young man who hat worked for
the Congressional Club and for the
North Carolina Republican Party.
He has seen the way in which the
CMb rales the state Republican party
aad is fighting that influence by
opposing the re-election of the
chairman of the state party.
One paragraph of the hand-out
doorrttiri how the paid staff of the
Congressional Club insult aad bully
the local party officials and volun
teers. Although I have not been ac
tive in politics myself for the last
year or two, I have served the party
aa County Chairman, of the
Resolutions Committee at the 1MQ
ftate convention.
My own obaervatkma and the ob
servations of many at my friends in
the party give credibility to his in
dictment of the way the Club
operates. Indeed, anyone who has
paid attention to the Club's political
advertising will recognise a quality
of meanness in it.
I am far from being a pacifist in
politics, but I do believe la a distinc
tion between hornet Mows struck
against someone you regard as a
particular villain and poison gas
attacks against innocent victims.
That young man. with the hand-out
has shamed me into standing up to be
counted. la there anyone in
Perquimans ?ounty who cares
enough about tAe party of freedom to
stand up with us?
Richard Smyth
Rt 5, Chapel Hill. NC
THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Published Every Thursday
By Advance Publ., Elizabeth City
Vol T. Short Jon? B. William*
Editor Advertising Manager
Pat Mansfield
Circulation Manager
NKWS AMO ADVERTISING DEADLINE
SsOO P.M. MONDAY
Qm Tar - 7.5* in com* *150 out of
lex 177
NX. 27*44
" The Clarkes, Brooks and Yates came to church 25 minutes early?
They're always late."
(Your last smug words before you realize ? Daylight Savings Time.)
Editor caught by surprise
by daylight savings time
Daylight savings time slipped vp
on me again.
I wondered if I was the only one to
be reminded during the U o'clock
news Saturday night.
Probably not. Nor was I the only
one to make a frantic attempt at
assisting my digital watch to "spring
forward. "
I had made the mistake of throwing
away the special tool made, I
suspect, for this annual occasion. I
was just about to "spring" my little
watch out the window, when I
discovered that a pinhead would do
the trick.
Ah... set for six more months,
unless of course the battery dies.
I don't think I was the only member
of THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
staff to forget about daylight savings
time, because somehow it failed to
get is the paper last week.
I really hope that none of you were
inconvenienced because of our
omission ? although I'm sure there
were a few latecomers at church
Sunday morning and also at work
Monday. Sorry we forgot to remind
you!
I'm sure if I could have
eavesdropped outaide households
around the community, I would have
heard statements similar to those I
heard in my own. Things like...
"Do we let the clocks up or back?"
v *^5oes this mean we lose an hour of
sleep?"
"It seems backwards to me...
wintertime Is when we need more
daylight"
"At lease it will be daylight when I
get home from work now." And so
on...
Daylight savings time will be
especially appreciated this year ?
when the fanners have lost so much
time to bad weather. Every hour of
daylight will be needed from now on
to get the fields disced and crops
planted.
Daylight savings time poses a
particular set of problems for
parents of babies, however. I
remember that feeling of relief when
I had at last gotten my little ooe on a
regular schedule... getting up and
going to bed at a reasonable hour and
napping and eating at the proper
times.
But daylight savings time puts an
end to all that Your babies just
might allow you to sleep a little later,
but they make up for it by staying up
later. And they are ready for lun
chtime when it should be naptime, so
therefore they sleep through sup
pertime.
When they are finally settled into a
schedule again, it's October and time
to "fall bade!"
But after a few years pass, you
realise that schedules really aren't
that important and that Aprils and
Octobers are passing faster than you
can imagine.
Oh there's ooe "daylight savings"
conversation I forgot to mention. It
involves the ole' how late is late
syndrome that comes after a date or I
poker game on that fateful-night in
April.
It goes something like this... j
"Where have you been ? it's one !
o'clock?"
"No, dear (Mom, Dad or
whatever) it's only 13."
"My clock says one ? don't change
the subject.."
"It's only U ? the clocks don't |
change till two!"
Facing South
a syndicated column
voices of tradition
in a changing region
MONTEZUMA, Ga. - Southerners
doat jut casually enjoy their
vegetables. They love them dearly
and defend them passionately. They
would approve adding a fifth verse to
"America, the Beautiful" in which
the black -eyed pea, the cotlard and
the butter bean received their due ?
share of choral praise.
And... maybe. ..with reser- <
vatioos...okra. , 1
Okra to at aaee the most relished <
and mot iisifctl at the vegetables i
"new" vegetable, it arrived with the i
and dipped in mayonnaise. In
Wisconsin, yon can get it (tilled (as in
pickle) ? and in New York City,
much to the surprise of a Greek
American Boy Scout visiting from
Atlanta, it waa built into a moussaka.
'Jeeie. Mom," he proteated,
'eggplant and okra!"
Like the egg and the avocado, okra
?omei in attractive little packages.
In France, according to LaRouate
Pastronomlque, the poda art
lometimes called "Udies fingers."
(be word "gumbo "uaod lor a sort of
it?w that incorporates ham,
:hicken, tomatoes, onions and
wppers, la actually Just another
feat African name (or okra. The
dant beloogi to the mallow family
tad grows all over Africa aad India,
rhere, since earitoot timea. It has
imi cultivated as s garden
into a slippery mess. Ia gumbo, this
is a desired quality; It makes a thin
stew into fork food. But by far the
most popular way of preparing okra
Is to slice the pods Into half-inch
rounds, shake then in a bag wtth
salt, pepper Southern cornmeal,
and fry them ia bacon fat
What fast food chains hare done for
the potato and cabbage, through
offering French Man and slaw, they
may yet do for triad okra, la the
M acoa area, several truck stops near
the farmers' Market saO "Fried
Okra Snacks" by the paper aeoepfuL
Retired Southern isasalliaa toad
out tad pot them down oo Papa's
piste, along with Us peas sad rice
sad his chopped <w*ihh pepper
sauce." Now he is Papa, aad Us wife
Indulgently lays the okra over the !j
peas whea aha cooks then. So, ia
small wars, we reeoastract oar
persoaal paste.
It has always been s pusale to ate
that soaae vegetables are taaier
thaa others. Tsha corn. Wheat aad
17a aad bariajr aia
is Hsrious
.
Eatahagas aad paraalpa are
of
the
prise: "Play that okra am* - Hip
MMHri' Away'" Or. to a fUU whoso
socks have faUea over Us
I "What's the matter, kUT