ALLEGHANY
STAR ★ TIMES
The STAR, established 1889.
The TIMES, established 1926.
Published Every Thursday At Sparta, N. C.
Walter S. Mead, Editor and Publisher
Office in Transou Bldg. opp. Post Office
One Tear by Mail - |1.50
One Year by Mail in Alleghany County $1.00
All Subscriptions In Advance
Entered at the Sparta, N. C. Post Office as
Second Class Mail matter.
Thursday, March 6, 1941.
Alleghany County
Formed in 1859
Area, 209 sq. miles or 133,760 acres
Elevation, average, 2,700 feet.
County Seat, Sparta, population, 652
County Officers:
Cleric of Court . A. F. Reeves
Register of Deeds -. T. M. Gambill
Sheriff and Treasurer . DeWitt Bryan
Coroner . Hr. B. O. Choate
Surveyor .J. C. Sparks
Superintendent of Health . Dr. B. O. Choate
Superintendent of Schools . W. C. Thompson
Superintendent of Public Welfare . Lillie Ervin
Farm Demonstration Agent . R. E. Black
Chairman Board of Education ...... T. Roy Burgiss
Chairman Board of Elections . Amos Wagoner
Game Warden and Forest Warden .... R. D. Gentry
County Attorney .. R. F. Crouse
County Commissioners: V. B. Phipps, Chairman,
Mouth of Wilson; Mac D. Wagoner, Whitehead,
and J. C. Gambill, Independence.
|^. IU.III......1I.. .11111 HI 1.1 HIM HIM M I
“Let There Be LightT
jjwiu.....miim.im.. rtl
A Thought For The Thoughtful
I believe the first test of a truly great man j
is his humility. I do not mean, by humility,
doubt of his own power. But really great men
have a curious feeling that the greatness is not j
in them but through them. And they see some- i
thing divine in every other man, and are end
lessly, foolishly, incredibly merciful.—Ruskin. |
Fortified Wine in Alleghany
Just how it will finally come out in
Raleigh remains to be seen, but when
the administration introduced a meas
ure in the legislature seeking to shut
out from North Carolina dry counties
the sale of fortified wine, it has seemed
strange that Alleghany’s representa
tive.,. W. Bert Edwards, sponsored an
amendment to make an exception in
the case of Alleghany county.
Fortified wine is that that con
tains a larger or an added alcohol con
tent. Alleghany county is one of the
70 or more counties that by vote of
the people decided to be “dry” and
free from the offering for public sale
of the stronger spiritious liquors. The
measure seeking to shut out fortified
wine from dry counties would seem to
be exactly in harmony with the ex
pressed wish of Alleghany voters. And
why our representative asks that Alle
ghany be made an exception for the
sale of fortified wine is not yet fully
explained.
Modern Heating Systems
Now that the county officers are
moving into their fine new building,
and having to build separate fires in
the various rooms, it seems- to empha
size and give more point to the oft
expressed wish that a central heating
system had been provided for the build
ing.
Surely the day iS" past when indi
vidual stoves are sufficient in a modern
office building. Of course, Alleghany
is happy to have the new County Of
fice Building at all. It is a fine im
provement, and doubtless, some day, a
modern central heating system will be
installed.
But, there’s another building that
surely deserves a modern heating plant
before another winter. The Court
House is in almost every respect a
building to be proud of. And yet, and
yet, those variegated stoves scattered
in the various rooms, with their accom
panying coal buckets and ashes and
sundry decorative appliances do not fit
in the 1941 style of living.
When the Methodists, who are
only a small group compared with the
whole county, can put in a fine modern
heating plant, with heat carried direct
to each separate room, and when the
Baptists, who also are only one group
in the county, are busy installing a simi
lar up-to-date system, it does seem that
the Alleghany County Court House de
serves something better in the way of
heating than those individual coal
burners.
df course, various expenses will be
involved beside cost of installation.
There’ll be the cost of cuspidors, too,
when the stoves go out.
Royal Air Force Pay Scales
The commissioned officers of the Royal Air
Force of Great Britain are not getting high
salaries, despite the dangers they take in their
daily encounters with German planes. A Pilot
Officer, a rank equivalent to a Second Lieuten
ant in the Army, receives only $2.90 per day.
From this low the scale ranges to a high of
$25.40 per day, the amount paid an Air Chief
Marshal, who ranks the same as a Field Marshal
in the Army. Most of the men who do the
actual fighting receive from $100 to $200 a
month.
» • I
| The Hickory Grove Low Down j
In Arizona a person predicting, on the
weather is either a tenderfoot, or is slightly
touched—as the natives say, out there. But
you go down there to our nation’s capital where
the predicting is even tougher and where the
wind changes every half-hour, you find every
body guessing. Our 2-column columnists wade
in and predict exactly what is gonna happen
next—and don’t bat an eye.
No man—black, white or bronze—can tell
what will happen next down there. Anybody
trying to do so, the safest place for him is to
be locked up.
Today the super-latest idea is what to do
now, when defense work sags. Like a mountain
goat, we go from crag to crag, and each crag
is more slippery.
How any nation can keep on experimenting
year in and year out—and come home in a
barrel each time—is something for the his
torians to ponder.
Instead of there being 7 wonders of the
world, we might make it eight.
Yours with the low down,
JO SERRA
Citron
Citron, March 4. — Rev. Lon
Billings and Mac Dowell will
preach at Pine Fork Church on
Saturday night, March 8 at 7
o’clock.
Mrs. Effie Pruitt has been sick
for some time but is slowly im
proving.
Mrs. Leevette Sheets had as
dinner guests on Sunday Rev. C.
H. McKnight, Mr. and Mrs. Ves
ter Horton and children, Mr. and
Mrs. Daniel Dixon Jr. and child
ren and Daniel Dixon.
Mr. and Mrs. U. S. Myers and
Lena Sheets visited relatives and'
friends at Pleghom Valley, Va.1
Monday.
Okey Sheets had his hand seri
ously cut while filing an axe on |
Tuesday morning.
Mrs. Dora Williams and family
have been ill with the flu.
Rev. C. H. McKnight filled his
regular appontment at Pine Fork
Baptist church Saturday night and
Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. F. O. Richardson,
of Laurel Springs, visited their
( daughter, Mrs. Pozie Pruitte, on
Sunday.
Dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs.
U. S. Myers on Sunday were: Mr.
and Mrs. Bradshaw Myers and
n, Rufus, of West Jefferson, and
and Mrs. Edward Daney.
Tyre Taylor, who is employed
Greensboro, visited his home
Saturday and Sunday.
. and Mrs. Vester Horton
chilren, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel
and children visited rela
here Sunday evening,
and Mrs. Vergil Jenkins
Mra. Jenkins’ father, John
Saturday and Sunday.
Taylor, of West Vir
Sunday night with
Willard Dixon
and children spent the week-end
with Mrs. Dixon’s parents, Mr. |
and ' Mrs. Charlie Miller.
John Long, of High Point, vis
ited relatives here this week-end. |
Mr. and Mrs. T. C. Osborne
and F. T. Gart spent the week
end at home.
Those who attended the candy I
making at Calvin Wyatt’s on1
Tuesday night from Citron were: |
Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Osborne,1
Johnnie Hamm, Ray and Wilma:
Long, Lena and Okey Sheets,
and Iva Grace Hoppers.
Laurel Springs
Laurl Springs, March 3. — A
fine sermon was preached at
Pleasant Grove church Sunday
afternoon by Rev. Carlie Mc
Knight.
Claude Brinegar visited his sis
ter, Mrs. Caudill Brown, at State
Road this week-end.
Mrs. Carrel Jones visited Miss
Lura Anderson Sunday afternoon.
Frank Brinegar who is very
sick doesnt seem to improve
much.
Luther Blevins has been very
ill at Oscar Petty’s but is much
better.
Miss Lola Petty has been ill
with. flu but is improving.
Miss Lura Anderson was very
ill Saturday and Sunday but is
better now.
Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Brinegar
and Clinard McCann visited Frank
Brinegar Sunday afternoon.
Maple Shade
Maple Shade, March 4.—»Mrs.
Nannie Williams, of Turkey Knob,
is visiting bar son, Sam Williams,
in Raleigh this week.
Miss Evelyn Pettyjohn, of .Pi
ney Creek, spent Tuesday night
with Ina DeBord.
Fred Halsey, of Piney Creek
commuity, is ill.
W. M. Paisley, of Radford, Va.,
spent the week-end at home.
Drewey Cox is having a new
house built near Maple Shade.
Mrs. Betty Anderson and Hix
Halsey were guests in the A. J.
Halsey home Sunday afternoon.
Lester Anders and family have
moved to Mrs. Nannie Williams’
place.
Edwards X Roads
Edwards X Roads, March 3.—
Mrs. Alice Edwards spent last
week with her daughter, Mrs.
M. H. Fender and family.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Crouse and
son, of Galax, spent Saturday
night in the home of Mr. and
Mrs. C. C. Choate.
Mr. and Mrs. Kyle Edwards
and family have recovered from
“flu.”,
Mrs. R. B. Lammbe, formerly
of this county/ now living at
Ulysses, Nebr., was in an auto
wreck on February 11th and is
reported to have sustained three
broken ribs and several severe
cuts and bruises. Her many
relatives and friends here will be
sorry to hear of this. She is a
sister of Mrs. John Duncan, of
Sparta, Route 1, also of Mrs.
Eddie Murphy, of Galax.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Crodse, of
Galax, Mrs. C. C. Choate, Mrs.
Greek Crouse, Floyd Halsey and
sister, Miss Ada Halsey, visited
in the home of Mrs. Lena Gentry
Sunday afternoon.
“What is meant by the bone of
contention, Pop?”
“I’d say it was the jaw bone,
OUR DEMOCRACY
-by Mat
ym
fwE HAVEN’T ALL OUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET!
is**®*—rsaerr—pMu^Miai i !«■—
(One of the reasons
« FOR AMERICA'S STRENGTH IS VARIETY-DIVERSIFICATION.
lli ~ much IS DUE TO NATURE .. .EVEN MORE
TO INITIATIVE AND BRAINS.
»*THhe adventurous pioneer
^ SPIRIT OF PROSPECTORS FOUND
5/
kftu.
|p*
I
OUR MANY MINERALS.THE
GREAT VARIETY OF OUR
MANUFACTURES IS BASED
ON ONE TW\UG-INVENTIVE
GENIUS IN WHICH
WE LEAD THE WOULD.
(BoR-ESIGHT and thrift gave us two other, great
AMERICAN DIVERSIFICATIONS -ROTATION OF CROPS,
ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESSFUL FARMING ... .AND THE
SPREADING OF THE INVESTMENTS OF OUR.
LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES
THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.
(Out from memory’s storehouse comes an old-fashioned poem
which our correspondent learned when she was a child, and has
never seen in print.—Ed.
“Give Us This Day —”
I knew a widow, very poor,
Who four small children had;
The eldest was but six years old,—
A gentle modest lad.
And very hard this widow toiled,
To feed her children four;
A noble heart the mother had,
Though she was very poor.
To labor she would leave her home,
For children must be fed;
And glad was she when she could get
A shilling’s worth of bread.
And this was all the children had,
On any day to eat;
They drank their water, ate their bread,
And never tasted meat.
One day while snow was falling fast,
And piercing was the air;
I thought that I would go and see
How these poor children were.
And when I reached their humble home,
I found it swept by every breeze;
On going in, the oldest child
I saw upon his knees.
I paused to listen to the boy,
Who never raised his head,
But still went on and said,
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
I waited till the child was done,
Still listening as he prayed;
And when he rose I asked him why
That prayer he then had said.
“Why sir,” said he, “this very morn,
When our mother went away;
She wept because she said she had
No bread for us today.”
“She said we children now must starve,
Our father being dead,
And then I told her not to cry,
For 1 could get some bread.”
“Our Father, sir, the prayer begins,
Which made me think that He—
As we have no own father here—
Would our kind Father be."
“And then you know, sir, that the prayer,
. Asks God for bread today,
So in the comer, sir, I went,
And tfiat’s what made me pray.”
I quickly left the wretched room,
And went with fleeting feet,
And very soon was back again,
With food enough to eat.
“Oh good! God heard me," said the boy,
I answered with a nod;
I could not speak, but much I thought,
Of that boy’s faith in God.
—ALICE CHOATE
Cherry Lane
He Would Divide
“Yes,” said the eminent special
ist to the tramp, who had called
upon him, “I will examine you
carefully for ten dollars.” .
“All right, Doc,” said the tramp
resignedly, “do dat, an’ if you
find it I’ll give you half.”
_ ' ■1
“Can you senre company?”
asked the housewife when she
was hiring the servant.
“Yes, mum, both ways.”
“What do you mean?” asked
the paaslad one. *
“So'g they’ll come again, or
stay away.”
PETTENGILL
| “The Gentleman from Indiana’’ |
a.....db
WILL HITLER RUN
OUT OF GAS?
In December 1917 Clemenceau
cabled President Wilson, “A jug
of oil is worth a jug of blood.’’
It was later said that “The Allies
floated to victory on a sea of oil.”
Recently Ambassador Kennedy
said that he never understood why
Uermany permit
ted the British to
escape from
Dunkirk. With
Holland knocked
out, Belgium!
crushed, France
doomed, with vic
tory almost in his
hand, and with
h i s tremendous
s u p e r i ority in
planes and bombs, why did not
Hitler fill the skies over the Brit
ish ships and prevent the retreat
of a third of a million men over a
narrow channel ? Furthermore
Italy acted as if her vaunted air
force of 6000 planes were ground
ed.
In 1938, Dr. Rudolph Eicke,
director of the Reichsbank, said
that Germany produced only 40%
of her peacetime requirements of
gasoline, fuel, and lubricating oils.
Dr. Ferdinand Friedensburg, au
thor of the German reference
book, “Mineral Resources as Fac
tors of Military Might,” wrote in
1937 that war requirements of
oil are several times peace re
quirements. On the plus and min
us side of peacetime consump
tion Germany saves because her
marine shipping is practically idle
and her civilian use of automo
biles is cut down to the point
where physicians are allowed only
two or three gallons a week, and
ordinary folk none.
She has gained, also, by seiz
ing storage in Norway, Holland,
Belgium and France. She has ac
quired additional supplies in Po
land, Czechoslovakia and Rou
mania. Possibly only a little more
from Russia. She is stepping up
her production of synthetic motor
fuel from coal. Is it enough?
If by shooting the works on a
single toss of the dice she forces
Britain to quit this spring or
summer, that question will never
be answered. No doubt she has
enough for a supreme effort, but
the risk of losing her offensive
and then fighting on the defensive
with short rations for her ma
chines is an efcormous gamble.
If, however, Britain holds her
lines during 1941, all available
evidence indicates that Germany
cannot obtain enough gas and
fuel oil from all sources to carry
on a full-sized war. But on the
other hand, her submarine coun
ter-blockade may cut Britain off
from her overseas sources of sup
ply. In short, if Germany does
not win in six months it seems
likely that neither side can win
except by a war of exhaustion,
hunger, and terms that will wreck
victors and victims alike.
As long as the sea lanes are
open to the United States, Venez
uela, and Trinidad, Britain has
access to two-thirds of the pe
troleum world total, And a new
factor comes into the picture—
100 octane gas. Here Britain has
an enormous potential advantage.
A plane with 100 octane gas can
fly at least one-fifth faster, carry
a load of bombs one-fifth heavier,
and climb 25% faster than the
same plane using 85 octane gas.
! Equipment equal, the high octane
'fuel carries victory. And as
! against 70 or 80 octane gas, the
margin of advantage increases.
We can produce 110 or 125
octane gas from our enormous
raw material supply. Petroleum
engineers tell me there is only so
much of the makings of high oc
tane gas in a barrel of crude.
There is no presently known
cracking process by which you
can extract more than there is.
Consequently, the belligerent with
access to limitless raw crude can
overcome, with high octane gas,
advantages its adversary may
have in better engine and plane
design, aircraft artillery, or the
training and experience of the
flyers. Already, plane for plane,
British superiority is becoming
manifest.
In a book just off the press,
“This Fascinating Business of
■ Oil” by Max Ball, a petroleum
“North Carolina,”
First Battleship
In 17 Years
(continued from front page)
October 27, 1937, it was the
first battleship keel to be laid
since April, 1921. At that time,
the contractors set the completion
date for September 1, 1941. But
it now appears that the North
Carolina will be serving in the
line of the fleet nearly three
.months ahead of that date.
The North Carolina will be
one of the most formidable ves
sels upon the seas. Her stand
ard displacement is 35,000 tons
and her armament is nine 16-inch
guns—mounted in three turrets,
three guns per turret—and a
heavy battery of anti-aircraft and
secondary broadside guns. Pro
pulsion is by turbines, develop
ing 115,000 horsepower from oil
fired boilers, giving a designed
speed of twenty-seven knots. The
length at the water line is 704
feet, maximum beam 108 feet,
and has a mean draft of 26 feet
8 inches at standard displace
ment. She is equipped to carry
three aircraft.
The battleship is the fourth
naval vessel to be assigned the
name of North Carolina, and wiH
be the third of that name to be
in the service of the United
States navy.
Secretary Knox accompanied
his order to Captain Hustvedt
with orders to additional naval
officers to assist him in placing
the North Carolina in service.
None of these 19 are North
Carolinians.
Captain Hustvedt is 54 years
of age. He is a native of Chicago
but was appointed to the Anna
polis Naval Academy from Iowa,
where he still maintains his home.
During the World War he serv
ed as aide to the commander of
Battleship Division Six in the
Atlantic fleet and later operated
with the British Grand Meet
aboard the USS Oklahoma. He
was awarded a special letter of
commendation for his service dur
ing the World War, and in ad
dition holds the Mexican service
medal and the victory medal.
He has served aboard many
ships of the fleet as well as at
the naval gun factory in Wash
ington and with the Chief of
Naval Operations. At present,
he is a student at the Naval
War College, Newport, R. I.
engineer with years of training
with the U. S. Geological Survey,
Bureau of Mines, and large oil
companies, the author gathers to
gether the latest evidence on oil
and the war. His text leads to the
conclusion that Germany cannot
carry on a long war and have
anything better at the end than
a peace without victory.
To summarise: At a minimum,
German war time requirements
are 90,000,000 barrels annually.
(Some German authorities put it
at three times that figure). In
Germany, Poland and Czechoslo
vakia, Mr. Ball estimates a total,
from crude oil and coal, of 25,
000,000 barrels. That leaves him
65,000,000 short annually.
Where is she to make up her
shortage ? Except for supplies in
storage when occupied, Norway,
Holland, Belgium and France
produce nothing. Russia has ac
tually been importing aviation
I gasoline. But she has exported as
I high as 6,600,000 barrels of
crude. Rumanian production is
decreasing. However, by cutting
off what Rumania formerly sold
to Britain and France, Hitler may
| there obtain 18,000,000 barrels
extra. Italy has no oil that counts.
She is an oil liability. Germany
! in time may increase her artificial
i motor fuel from coal. But this
; is a process very costly in man
power with a labor shortage al
ready existing.
All in ‘all, and from every
| source, Germany appears short
j one-half of her war time need.
■She needs two barrels and can
i secure but one. When an all-out
effort exhausts her present stor
age her power to carry on a full
sized offensive is gone. This makes
the New York and Washington
talk about Germany conquering
the Western Hemisphere look like
sheer propaganda, either ignorant
or dishonest.
Samuel B. Pettengill'
Copyright, 1941, America’s Fu
ture, Inc.
DR. N. D. FOX
Dentist
ANNOUNCES
The opening of his office in Sparta,
in the rooms formerly occupied
by Dr. C. A. Reeves