PERSPECTIVE
m m -mm
ffow do yawl cut
yore water melon ?
Ever watched a Yankee cut a
watermelon? I mean... have
yawl really ever WATCHED
'em at it? Folks above that
good old Mason-Dixon line do
(hangs a whole lot different
than us below. ..and cuttin' a
watermelon is a dead giveaway
is to jest which side of the line
they all hail from.
EASTERN
ECUCS
B( GAIl R06ER50N
: A Yankee.. .why they'll cut a
watermelon the round way evy
time. Then they finish slicin'
that thang, ya git a complete
circle of watermelon in youre
band. Than ya have to cut in
agin jest so's ya can git at it
And bury yore nose up in it for
a spell.
_ Now, us rednecks KNOW bet
ter 'n that. What'n the world do
yawl expect to DO with a wa
termelon ring anyhow other'n
admire the thang and count up
the seeds on both sides?
~ I mean...ya might want to
float it in the punch bowl or
sump'n, but lordy, them thans
was made for eatin'...NOT floa
hn' around in some sassy little
glass scrub tub.
- And why waste perfect good
time slicin' twice to get at
sump'n when once will do jest
fine. Ya know. ..we lamed years
ago how to save time. With a
Yankee behind evy bush and a
cannon in yore cotton field,
yawl KNOW we larned to make
haste with the git-go.
Z And, evy one of them minutes
counts when ya work from sun
up to sun-down hoe in' and chop
pin' and tillin' like we all have
to do jest to wrang a dime out'n
that dirt out thare.
Z I mean... slicin' watermelon
could git us way behind BAD
if'n we did it like them north
erners do. That nut grass and
kudzu would eat us alive if'n we
wasted all that time a 'foolin'
around trying to slice a water
melon Yankee style.
A Yankee'll most likely brang
out . one of them fancy silver
pprfng knives or sech to slice
their watermelon. Us folks
down heah, we jest reach up
undah the eaves of the smoke
house and take down great
grandpappy's skinnin' knife or
else- Uncle Leroy's ham slicin'
Any knife good 'nuf for a hog
killin' qualifies for slicin' water
melon... take my word for it.
And another thang. We like to
eat our watermelon whilst
{flopped down on the itchy grass
out unduh Pa's oaks. It's a
whole lot less trouble like this,
abdjtve have the added bonus of
spittin' our seeds Jest a short
distance so's the chickens can
jest peck them little old thans
right up out'n out way.
Whilst we're all eatin' and
spittin,' the fainty red sweet
Juice can run right on down our
arm to our elbow.. .and ifn you
bold your arm up jest
right.. .end up right ?m?kr H^h
in the nest of yore smelly old
arm pit. And, we don't give a
holler about our clothes cause
we're all a headin' right on
back in that sticky 'bacer patch
anyhow.
A Yankee don't eat water
melon sittin' on the grass. I
mean ya GOT to understand
now... about Yankees. There's a
whole different breed of folks
up thare. Ya know what? They
brang that watermelon right on
in the house and sit that little
green sucker right up there on
the linen and all.. .and gather
all about the thang with their
little glass plates and cloth nap
kins. I betcha they even use a
fork to eat that thang. What
chan wanna bet me... huh?
Now . .any redneck worth his
farm cap knows that the only
way to open up a ripe water
melon is jest to bounce that
thang a time or two on a good
old thick spread of itchy grass
till it busts right open by itself.
Thare ain't no thin' sweeter to
a redneck's ears than that
"cracklin' " sound a water
melon amkes whn ya do it right
in its native birthplace. Them
spawlin' melon vines make a
prutty good spot to eat water
melon right on location. Evy
body knows that a watermelon
patch is planted right next to a
corn field. That's done on pur
pose, ya know.
That's so's ya can stand in
the shade of the tall corn and
suck on that watermelon or else
plop down betwix them stalks
and rest yore rear on a "hill"
whilst ya go about it. You've
got to have jest the right "at
mosphere" when ya eat water
melon down South. Every red
neck with a little "romance" in
his bones KNOWS them thangs.
And last, but certainly not
least, is ...the salt. Now, heah's
the MAIN difference in us red
necks and Yankees. Down heah,
in the South, we put salt on our
salt. I mean. . .E VYTHANG gets
salted heah. And our water
melon ain't no exception.
It's like takin' a salt shaker
out to the 'mater vines and sal
tin' and eatin' them thangs
right there on the spot. Ya got
to do the same thang with them
watermelons. I ain't never seen
no watermelon that won't made
jest a mite tastier with a grain
or three of salt a'stickin' to it
now an agin.
So, how 'bout you? Which
side of the Mason-Dixon line do
yawl hail from? Jest how do
YOU cut YORE watermelon7
Huh?
Selective Service regis tra tio n is
important step for young men
When I was a teenager, be
coming 18 was nearly as impor
tant as the magical age of 16.
While few events in life offer as
much anticipation as that 16th
birthday, reaching the golden
age of 18 meant two things; be
ing able to purchase beer and
registering for the draft.
*
the draft
identification, MM
had a
of all men within 30 days of
their 18th birthday. Apropriate
forms for registering can be ob
tained at local post offices.
Once an individual has regis
tered, he will receive a letter
from Selective Services noting
his registering. ,This reply
should be kept for later refer
ence.
It is very important for all
young men to register with Se
lective Service. Conviction of
failure to register as required
by law carries a possible pen
alty of a fine of $250,000 and-or
a prison term of five yriars. It
should be evident government
does not take lightly the respon
sibility of young men to tegto
There are ether ra? ins why
it is important to register. Ap
edgfement from Selective Serv
ice will serve as proof.
Efforts are underway to pro
vide those that register with a
card showing they have regis
tered.
?*? -%
By registering, as required by
law, a young man would not
necessarily be drafted should a
nai tonal emergency arise. Se
lective Service planning is fo
cused on emergency conditions
and not a peace-time draft.
? ? >'
It it designed to get large
numbers of people into the
training camps as quickly as
possible, under .circumstances
where national survival might
well be involved.
While each of us certainly
hope there win not be reasons
to return to a war-time draft, it
is extremely important to be
prepared Registering with the
Selective Service is not only re
quired by law, it is an impor
tint in assuring the
of our freedoms. This
.i', ,? : m
The day they quit talkin about the flounder being caught off the S-* Shaped Bridge
Summer 's gone and lam too !
By TIM BRYANT
This column is written 30
minutes before deadline; when
Jane came in the office scream
ing that her mind was dry and
that she was supposed to be on
vacation anyway. I was once
again 'volunteered' as a jour
nalist. I know this doesn't^ sound
like a good excuse, but it was
the best I could do.
As I look back at this sum
mer's experiences I get a bit
ter-sweet feeling knowing this is
my last week with these -the
only word that is suitable - IN
CREDIBLE Women.
I have to say that when I look
at the finished paper I wonder
how we pulled it off. I have
come to hate Tuesdays (dead
line) more than Mondays.
f There have also been compli
cations to add to our fun around
here. When the addressograph
breaks at Ave o'clock or the pa
pers come off the presses at
midnight you begin to wonder
what possessed you to take a
job at the newspaper. I'll bet
Lou Grant never had these
problems!
This week we also have two
new employees who, by the
way, have desks. Needless to
say I never saw my desk again
after Anzie grabbed it. Not
even my last column solved the
desk problem.
The last column also helped
to add to my problems. Sure I
wasn't attacked with magic
markers anymore, but how
many men dream of being at
tacked by four women?
This past week will have to
be one of the most memorable.
It seems like all we ever write
about is bad weeks, but some
one here almost always has a
bad week.
Anything that was put to
gether with screws or nails was
a goner with me around. As I
opened the darkroom to release
Cindy, after I locked her in with
2,000 newspapers in front of the
door, I found that the only thing
holding the door up was me.
The hinges had ripped out of
the wall. The incredible hulk
right?
To steal Jane's favorite line
"It gets worse!"
Cindy decided that her desk
needed moving. As I lifted Cin
dy's desk, the extension, which (
is held to the desk by screws,
decided it no longer liked hang
ing around with the desk. The
repair job looked close to im
possible. Jane and I had to de
velop a bracket and thanks to
the men at the hardware store
we soon had our new creation
to fix the desk. (Maybe we
should patent it.) The problem
with the door was corrected '
Monday before pictures had to
be developed on Tuesday.
Whew! Thank goodness that
week is over.
This is definately one sum
mer that I will always remem
ber. Working with these people
has been a treat to say the
least. I have made a few more
friends that are very special. (
Still when I think of this job,
one word comes to mind-WHY?
Lay leaders conduct early church services
As there was seldom an or
dained priest to serve any
length of time in Perquimans
County, the Church of England
depended upon lay readers to
conduct church services.
BY
RAy
WINSLOW
The readers customarily read
part of the liturgy from the
Book of Common Prayer along
with a sermon written by a
minister, generally found in
published collections of sermons
by noted Anglican preachers.
There is very little record of
the readers who served in Per
quimans during the coknial pe
riod. There must have been one
reader for Yeopim Chapel
(which stood on the site of pre
sent Bethel Baptist Church) and
another for Nags Hoad Chapel
(which stood on the sito of pre
sent Ner/ Hope Methodist
Church).
One reader's name is known
only because he made a com
plaint to the county authorities
sometime in the 1780s. James
Gibson petitioned the County,
Court: "That your Pedtkner
having for some years past and
doth at this present Officiate at
the Naggs-bead Chappel as
Reader, to his peat Disadvan
tage ? by reason that some
part of the way to the said
Chappel (to Wit) from your Pe
titioners House to the main
Road is Excelling bad to Ride.
Especially in the Winter Saa
_ .. .
Worships would take it in Con
sideration and Grant an order
for the same to be Publick
Road, and take as many hands
off the Down-Neck Road and
the Ash Neck Road as your
Worships shall think fit to work
on the same which will be of
great Service, not only to your
Petitioner, but also to a great
many of the Neighbours."
Gibson owned land on Little
River near the mouth of Deep
Creek, about three-miles away
from the Nags Head Chapel. If
his road had been good, or if he
had chosen to bear the difficult
ride in silence, it would proba
bly not be known that Gibsqn
had served die Church for a pe- 1
riod of years.
The road petition illuminates
another record which could {
have been interpreted only as a
sign of Gibson's taste in read
ing. In his will, dated July 20,
1765, Gibson bequeathed to his
son John "my great bible and
seven sermon books and my old
Arithmetic book."
Those sermon books must
have. been used by James Gib
son when he led the worship
and preached at Nags Head j
Chapel to the Barclifts, Godf
reys, Laydens and other fami
lies of Durante Neck. There is
also some suggestion that he
might have been school teacher
' to the" neighborhood as well.
THE
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
1 1 9 West Grubb Street
P.O. Box 277
Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Published Every Thursday
By Advance Publications. Elizabeth City, N.C.
Second Clots Matter
Jan* B. Williams
Editor ?
,
, '? . \ ,? ?
[stjj Aral* Wood , * L>'; Dobblo Stalling*
Advertising Manager Circulation Man ogp.
? , ul . ? ,
SUBSCRIPTION KATES
Annual ? In-County ? *8.50 IS
Annuol ? Out-of -County ? *9.50