People Also Served Overseas in World War I in the YMCA, 1917

“Million Letters in the Mail Today Bearing Magic Words ‘With the Colors’” from the Nov. 8, 1917 issue of the French Broad Hustler

Keynote of the Splendid Work the Y.M.C.A. Does Among Our Men in Uniform Is Keeping Them in Touch With the Folks at Home….Stamped with Stars and Stripes and Red Triangle…Multifarious  Ways in Which the Association Appeals to Your Boy, Your Neighbor’s Boy, or Some Boy You Know and Love….Creates a Helpful Environment in Cantonment, on Way Overseas, in Front Line Trench and Beyond…First to Aid as He Comes Tottering Back….Give Your Share of the $35,000,000 Required to Accomplish This “Last Evidence That Somebody Cares”

It was evening on the broad Hempstead Plain, Long Island, where the Rainbow division was spending its last night before embarking for France. It had been raining hard in the afternoon—a cold, steady autumn downpour—and there was nothing to suggest the rainbow in the outward aspects of the camp. Lines and lines of sodden canvas housed 27,000 men, gathered from 27 different states. The ground was dotted with pools and quagmires. Under th wet canvas it was damp and cold with a penetrating chill. Lit by flickering candles, the tents were far from cheerful shelter for a man’s last night in his native land.

But there were seven big tents where electric lights, numbers and friendliness made the night pleasant. In each of these a soldier was strumming on a piano; others were reading books and magazines; hundreds were writing letters home. Behind the raised counter at one end three or four young men were busy passing out notepaper and envelopes, selling stamps and weighing parcels, which the men were sending home. One of the soldiers said to me as I stood in the tent used chiefly by men from Iowa: “We came all the way here from Des Moines, and we were mighty lonely. Then we found this Y.M.C.A. on the job, and it’s been a home and more than a home to us. It gave us what we wanted when we needed it most. We’ll never forget it. The boys’ best friend is the Y.M.C.A.

Fine, Clean-Cut, Upstanding Fellows

How close those benches were packed with men, bending over the long tables absorbed in their writing! What an appeal to the sympathies those great groups of soldiers make! Fine, clean-cut, upstanding fellows, some of them mere boys, one thinks immediately of the sacrifice they have made for the rest of us and how precious they are to some one back home. Somewhere, in far off farm or village or city street, there are parents or brothers or wives who would give all they possess for one glimpse of those sunburned faces as you and I see them on their last night before going across. And it was with a throb of the heart that I watched them, bent over their letter paper, in one after another of those seven big tents.

These were the tents of the Y.M.C.A. On that last night in America the association was serving the soldiers in the best of all ways—giving them an opportunity to write home. One previous nights they had enjoyed boxing bouts, movies, concerts, dramatics and a score of healthy entertainments as well as religious meetings. But on this last night home ties were strongest. And perhaps that is the keynote of the splendid work the Y.M.C.A. is doing among our men in uniform—keeping them in touch with home.

Magic Words, “With the Colors”

In these times there are some letters that mean more to us than any we have ever read before. They are written on sheets of paper stamped with the Stars and Stripes and the red triangle of the Y.M.C.A., and they bear the magic words, “With the Colors.” There are many more than a million such letters in the mails now while you read this. Perhaps one at least is on its way to you. Each one of our 16 cantonments, where the new national army is being trained, is using more than a million sheets of this paper every month. In the draft army alone that means 16,000,000 filaments of love every month reaching out from the great encampment where the men are being trained into the greatest army this nation has ever dreamed and binding them to the hearts at home. Multiply that by thinking of all the other places where Uncle Sam has men with the flag—in navy yards, on the high seas, in arsenals and officers’ training camps and “Over There” in France. In all these places men are writing home. Those unassuming little sheets of notepaper gladden millions of hearts a day. They transfer more love from one part of the world to anther than statistics can express. Statistics are pretty poor anyway when it comes to reckoning in terms of love and human tenderness. Let’s put it this way: That the Y.M.C.A. is the biggest express company the world has ever seen, and the parcels it is handling are the loves and devotions of human beings.

World’s Best Loved Trademark

This ware has made us think hard and fast. Your boy or your neighbor’s boy or some boy you know and love has been called to do his share in the job of policing the world for democracy and human liberty. Is it any comfort to you to know wherever his duty may call him your boy will have a friend that will serve him in body, mind and soul? Are you glad to know that this friend will place books and magazines at his disposal, organize classes to teach him whatever he wants to learn, give him a pocket testament and invite him to join religious meetings of the faith that he was brought up in? Did you realize that the association provides athletic equipment for his favorite games, teaches him games if he knows none and holds concerts, lectures, movies, Bible classes, dramatic entertainments and every kind of wholesome amusement to keep him interested? Are you glad to know that this friend will go with him overseas, help to shield him from a score of difficult and dangerous temptations and follow him right up to the front line trench and beyond it? The last contact the soldier has with this life he loves so well is a cup of tea given him by the Y.M.C.A. free just before he goes “over the top” to a hand to hand struggle with the enemy. And as he comes tottering back from No Man’s Land, wounded, but strong enough and plucky enough to keep on his feet, even before his wounds are dressed the Y.M.C.A. is waiting for him with tea and sweet chocolate, the great comforts of the man in the trenches. Do you wonder that the Red Triangle is called “the best loved trademark in the world?” One soldier in France has called it “the last evidence that anybody cares.”

If every thinking citizen could see with his or her own eyes something of the actual work being done for our men by the association there would be no question of the Y.M.C.A. having to appeal to the public for money. Rather than let this essential work falter for an instant, rich men would sell their motorcars, poor men would forego coveted possessions or even necessities. The work must go on, because there is no one thing that contributes so much to the spirit and efficiency of the troops. The Y.M.C.A. is working night and day to help the government win this war. And every penny that is given to aid the work is a direct assistance to the health, happiness and strength of your boy and mine.

Snapshots of Kaleidoscopic Work

In all the big cities in France where our men pass through in large numbers, the Y.M.C.A. is operating hostels, where they can get beds and meals at a minimum cost. In London, the American Y.M.C.A. has erected a large building for our soldiers and a clubhouse for American officers.

There are Y.M.C.A. dugouts right behind the front line trenches, where the soldiers can get hot drinks, crackers and other comforts at all hours.

Over 2,000 men who have been rejected on account of physical disability have been able to get into the British army by reason of the physical work of the British Y.M.C.A.

A fleet of motor cars leaves the big Y.M.C.A. headquarters in London at midnight every night to pick up soldiers who are wandering about the streets without any wholesome lodging in which to spend the night. These cars are operated by Englishwomen of position and refinement, who report that they never meet any discourtesy at the hands of the soldiers. The importance of this service can be estimated by the fact that at least 50,000 soldiers are on leave in London every week. Over half of these sleep in Y.M.C.A. beds every night.

Entertainment on Vast Scale

The Y.M.C.A. has erected a big auditorium, seating 3,000, in each of the big draft camps, and huge chautauqua tents, seating 2,500 in the other encampments. The association is running a 22-week entertainment circuit among the camps and is paying 16 companies of entertainers, who are traveling to 30 camps performing before the men.

In each of the draft camps the Y.M.C.A. has 10 secretaries engaged in educational work. The association is seeing to it that every man who cannot speak English is taught to do so. In many of the camps the association has a singing director who is teaching the men to sing the popular and martial airs that do so much to keep up their spirits.

Of 64 Y.M.C.A. men at Camp Dix only three are being paid full salaries. In all the camps the majority of the Y.M.C.A. men have left lucrative positions to do this work simply because its appeal is irresistible to any red-blooded man. Harry Lauder, the famous Scotch singer and comedian, now in his farewell concert tour in the United States, is giving all his spare time to the service of the association and is singing to the soldiers at all the camps he can reach.

In one of the draft camps the Y.M.C.A. is supervising athletics on 120 playing fields, providing full athletic equipment. The winners of the inter-regimental games will play the champions of the other camps.

One of the greatest services rendered by the association is the making out of money orders by which the men can send their pay home to their families. In some of the big camps the Y.M.C.A. is providing banking facilities for the men as well.

Do Your Bit With a Tenner

This month (November) the Y.M.C.A. must raise $35,000,000 to carry on its work among our soldiers and their allies until next July. Of this $35,000,000 about $24,000,000 will be spent on the work with our own troops, or about $10 for every man in Uncle Sam’s uniform. If everybody who has received letters from soldiers and sailors were to contribute $10 the task would be easy. Are your boy’s health and happiness and clean soul worth $10 to you?

Your town mayor, your pastor, your school superintendent will know who is the treasurer for the campaign committee in your county or town. Otherwise send a check or money order to Cleveland H. Dodge, treasurer, 124 East 28^th Street, New York City.

Only sacrificial giving by millions of givers will make possible the continuance of this vast work for American soldiers and for those of our allies.

Ignorance Caused Firing of School Principal, Says State Board of Health, 1919

“The Teacher Was Fired” from the November, 1919, issue of The Health Bulletin, published by the North Carolina State Board of Health

A few weeks ago the writer visited the dentist conducting a State Board of Health Free Dental Clinic at a rural school in an eastern county. Several mothers were present with their children, and while awaiting their turn at the dental chair the conversation turned to general school topics, such as the antique desks and poor heating arrangements, in an otherwise good three-teacher building in a well-to-do community. Knowing the young lady who was principal there the past year to be an exceptionally capable woman, we inquired how it was she did not get in behind the committee and make them bring the equipment and surroundings up to match the building. The question happened to be directed to the wife of the chairman of the committee.

“Oh, the committee couldn’t stand her. So they fired her in the middle of the session.”

With considerable amazement, we inquired what sort of conduct the teacher had been guilty of to merit such drastic punishment.

Replied Mrs. Committeeman: “The first thing she did was demand that two pit privies be built on the schoolhouse plat, and you know they would have cost $40 at least, and Buck [her husband] said it was a useless waste of money, and so paid no attention to her. The next thing she demanded was three jacketed stoves, one for each room.”

At this point another woman from the same neighborhood interrupted excitedly, “Cousin Buck said he never heard of such a thing!”

But the blow that shipped the teacher back to Pa’s for the remainder of the school year came down on her like a thousand bricks, when she forced the pupils to sit quietly at their desks at noon and spend 20 minutes eating their lunch, packing the scraps back into the baskets to be carried home for the pigs, thus teaching a practical lesson in thrift. The prevailing custom, of course, as in most rural schools, was for the children to scatter around on the cold ground outside regardless of weather, taking pot luck with the tribe of dogs always on hand.

To shorten this story, it may be said that the chairman called a meeting of the committee forthwith and informed the principal that she was “fired,” to take effect at once. Traditions must be upheld, and none so sacred as the way their daddies have always run the average school, be it city, town or country,--in the opinion of the school board the teacher is employed chiefly to obey others. We were just warming up to remark that they would still be ploughing with wooden sticks if somebody had not had the courage to at least try something else, when Mrs. Committeeman’s 10-year-old boy was called by the dentist. Four of the child’s permanent teeth were found badly decayed. After an hour’s hard work on the front porch of this schoolhouse that hot July day, 17 miles from the county seat, three of the four teeth were saved for the child but the fourth tooth had to be extracted, thus making one-quarter of his mouth a cripple for life.

At this point, we demanded to know why the head of the family and chairman of the school committee did not have interest enough at least in his child’s teeth to come to the dispensary. The answer was that he was spending a month at one of the expensive health resorts in western North Carolina.

Here is a man worth $50,000. A successful farmer, owning one of the finest farms in his county (to prove it his barn is twice as big as his dwelling house); educated at one of the great State colleges. Educated did we say? Graduated is the word to use. And yet his college training and his success as a farmer have not taught him a thing about the great fundamental things of life, not even to the point of caring for the health of his own child. As a school committeeman he is a tyrant. At home he is a kind father, but indifferent to the essentials of fatherhood.

This man’s type is duplicated in every township in the State, otherwise some other story would have filled this space. Find him and see if he cannot yet be educated.

Don Demorest Writes Home About War in France, 1918

Gives Insight of Horrors of France From American Eye

Don Demorest, son of Prof. and Mrs. L.B. Demorest of Marysville, Ohio, and a personal friend of Dr. A.H. Morey of this city writes a very interesting letter to his parents from back in France where he is busy doing Y.W.C.A. work among the soldiers and war prisoners.

The following letter is taken from a recent copy of the Marysville, O., Tribune:

Dear Folks O’Mine:

Here I am in a big fine clean room in a little hotel in the military zone, “somewhere in France.” I first arrived here night before last, with Rusty Dyer, who will be attached here, yesterday had a long fine conference with Gen. ---, about getting the Y.M.C.A. going here before the arrival of troops, which will come in a few days, caught the late afternoon train for Paris, had a conference this morning there with the bosses, brought two more men back, stopped two hours at the nearest big town and gobbled up some big supply of opportunities, got here this evening, had a fine big dinner, and here I am, with only a few minutes to write before it’s time to “hit the hay” a knockout blow for eight hours of the right out from the shoulder kind of snooze.

This sketch of my movements, the past two days is typical of them for the past three weeks or so, they have been strenuous ones and among the happiest of my life, buoyed up by big opportunities experiences among soldiers and men, rare unforgettable sights, and the sense of a tremendous worthwhileness about it all that all together have made them valuable and precious.

We’ve seen some very picturesque parts of wonderfully picturesque France, the famous chateau region, the cave-dweller region, hilly country, level land, forest and plains, and now here I am for a few days in a land which three years ago was in the claws of the Hun, whose stomach was full of wines from its cellars and head full of arrogant boasting and heart full of lust and black savagery. But today things are different, the war cloud has rolled far away, it is no longer here a land a death and winter in summer, but once again La Belle France, smiling France, triumphant, glowing, great-hearted France.

In these days black things happened to these good people here, and perhaps in this very room was billeted a Bosch, perhaps even one of those very Boschs who today are billeted here in another kind of hotel de luxe, within the barbwire enclosures, and helping France beat their fellows. This indeed would be irony of Fate, but these “guests” of France certainly seem like a contended lot, almost happy, because here and well fed rather than being on the other side of No Man’s Land.

Though I sometimes imagine I hear the far away rumble of war here, in more than a figurative sense, and though I can read cruel tragedies in many anxious and sorrowing faces, though great military preparations and movements are to be seen on all sides, great camouflaged transport trains, huge pieces of artillery, masses of French troops and all the rest, yet such is the spirit of the good people and such the peaceful harvest time aspect of this smiling country-side that despite “all these things” I often find it hard to realize that a few miles away the war cloud is breaking black and men are slaying one another because a few low ambitious souls seized a high occasion and dragged it into the mire with them to sate the repulse lusts of their greedy cravings for world-domination, and because many blind souls tragically visionless automatous followed as the mice did the Red Piper of Hamelin, who was a worthier leader in a worthier cause forsooth.

Yes, it is hard to realize, even with all the flotsom and jetsom cast back here and left by the rece4ding tide of war—the armless and the legless, the eyeless, the almost bodiless who yet remain. But there are other things which perhaps of their novelty, have been striking me these last few days, with the poignant pity, the titanic tragedy of it all. These last three days I have followed three routes between here and Paris, all different—one by auto, two by train, all wonderfully interesting and picturesque—and all sharing in the poignant touches here and there—the remains of hastily constructed, shallow trenches, like jagged, livid, ugly partially healed scars across the face formerly smiling and fair, the frequent little military burying grounds where lie the bodies of the heroes of those gallant, tragic hopeless early days of the France at bay—bodies whose souls reincarnated in thousands and millions of other hero-hearts, go marching on to victory. It seems a ghastly, incongruous thing to see the smiling country-side dotted with these little groups of graves, each with its cross on which usually some loving hand or other has hung a wreath or a handful of flowers, and each of which seems to be proclaiming those wonderful words of the Master, so full of meaning and hope these days: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” And those nude little wooden military crosses seem to me a symbol of the vicarious suffering of man, innocent man, to atone in beautiful brave sacrifice ofr man, guilty bloody man, after the example of Him, whose sacrifice symbol rests over the heads of the fallen, beacon crosses of the Savior’s message that it is good to have died for others.

And then there is another grim reminder that the iron boots of Mars have trampled out the vintage of the Lord, that comes as a shock here and there in the midst of harvest scenes, as though in a gallery of rare and fair pictures, suddenly one comes to a hideous, repulsive night-mare. This is which I refer to the occasional cross roads group of houses, no longer houses, but masses of ruined stones. Day before yesterday as we approached this village, after a rainstorm of no mean proportions, the West was aflame with one of the most richly radiantly beautiful sunsets I have ever seen, even in this land of rare sunsets. And our hearts were full of the beauty and glory of it all. And a minute later our hearts were full of something else, a great sorrow and rage, for there, against that glorious horizon, was what had formerly been a picturesque cross-roads collection of homes, but now clearly outlined against the vivid background were a few jagged walls, and here and there a piece of roof precariously hanging on and a chimney or two, looming up above a mass of debris like the arms of a dying man, held up to the heavens in mortal agony and petition to the heavens to right the foul wrong.

Word, Words. The grim fact remains. And those walls are not 10 minutes from here, and others like them, much closer. And in the meantime the three-quarters of an hour available for this letter have more than passed, and I must stop for tonight, not having told you a tenth of the things I had planned.

It looks as though we are going to have things finely set up here. The general was great. Treated me like an old friend almost and yet was all business, keen and clear-visioned and active. Very sympathetic with our work and glad to help. At my suggestion has turned over two large buildings for Y.M. and more later. Fine French colonel and officers also.

Good night, folks dear, and may you all be as happy as I am. Mother and Dad and all the rest of you, when the North Star changes to the east, county that you no longer have the daily growing love and affection of Your Boy and Brother, Don.

America's Thanksgiving from Red Rose Guaranteed Feed Company

Red Rose Guaranteed Feed advertisement from John W. Eshelman and Sons, Thanksgiving, World War II, published in The Southern Planter magazine

America's Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day originated with our Pilgrim Fathers nearly two and a quarter centuries ago, immediately after their first harvest. it was our First President, George Washington, however, who proclaimed the Fourth Thursday of November, 1789, as a National Thanksgiving Day.

It was then that The American Way of Life--assuring to every individual freedom to follow a life-pattern of his choosing--became the seed from which America's progress has grown it encouraged science and invention, and promoted agricultural education and efficient industry for the good of all; it spurred America's growth.

We appreciate that the loyalty of the folks we serve has enabled us to contribute more than a Century of Service to our nation, during the century and a half in which it has grown to world-wide importance.

Even though the world seems shrouded in darkness and confusion, there have been few times when we Americans could not find a great deal for which to be thankful on this holiday. Is it too much for us to hope that a war-weary world may find, in these times, the basis for an enduring, peaceful progress?

John W. Eshelman and Sons
Lancaster, Pa., York, Pa., Circleville, Ohio

Trinity News from the High Point Review, 1920

“Trinity News,” from the High Point Review, Thursday, Dec. 9, 1920

Mr. and Mrs. Willard spent Thanksgiving with relatives and friends. Mrs. Willard teaches in the high school.

Miss Effie White is in the High Point Hospital.

All the Parker house boarders went home for Thanksgiving. Mrs. Parker had a quiet time.

Mr. Henry Craven of Ridgecrest was in this vicinity recently.

Miss Malissa Wwlborn, who is clerking for Gilmers, returned to her work Friday morning.

Miss Louis Welborn, who holds a position in High Point, spent Thursday in Trinity with home folks.

Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Pepper of Thomasville recently spent Thanksgiving with relatives in town.

Mr. Tuttle and nearly all the workmen who have been going to High Point to work have stopped on account of factories being closed.

Mrs. Earnheart expects to go to Winston-Salem soon to get her children in the Methodist orphanage at that place.

Little Elizabeth Johnson was in town recently. Elizabeth brought one of her many friends with her. Elizabeth can get company on short notice.

Miss Bertie White spent Thanksgiving in Glenola with her relatives.

Several of our townsmen who have been working in High Point are working on the new church here, which is fast going up.

Rev. and Mrs. J.E. Woolsey had their daughter, Miss Olivia, with them for Thanksgiving.

A Thanksgiving Wish Postcard

Henderson County Families Sending Thanksgiving Meal to Their Boys at Fort Caswell, 1917

“To Give Sixth Company a Thanksgiving Dinner,” from the Nov. 7, 1917, issue of The French Broad Hustler

Mothers and Friends of Henderson County Boys Will Meet Tuesday Afternoon

Arrangements for sending a Thanksgiving feast to the local boys stationed at Fort Caswell are being made by a number of mothers of the boys in the county. A meeting will be held Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 o’clock in the Smith office building. All mothers and friends of the boys are urged to be present.

Thanksgiving in North Carolina, Living in the 'Shade' of War, 1917

From the News and Observer, Raleigh, as reprinted in the Watauga Democrat, November 22, 1917

There’s much on this Thanksgiving we should be thankful for, although we are now living beneath the shade of war. Though we may push the dagger in foemen to the hilt when from the scrap we stagger, there’ll be no sense of guilt. We did not start to scatter the blood around in showers, no treaties did we shatter, the rough-house is not ours. The trouble we evaded so long the neighbors cried that dollar lust had faded our courage and our pride. Not to impose our culture on other nations’ schools do we ply catapult or other deadly tools. Not that our bounds may widen to take in our neighbors’ lands do we go to war ridin’ with pitchforks in our hands. Not that our hearts are burning with hate for Wilhelm’s hordes do we begin a-turning our stovehooks into swords. When peace is again reigning, and seems as good as new, there will be no shamed explaining for Uncle Sam to do. No words need then be spoken, in Uncle Sam’s defense; he has no pledges broken, in spirit or in sense. For this we should be grateful, whle smiling cooks produce the large and brimming plateful of turkey, duck or goose.

Adding Hot School Lunch at William Hooper School, Wilmington, NC, 1919

“The Hot School Lunch” by Mrs. Estelle T. Smith, District Demonstration Agent, Agricultural Extension Service, North Carolina State College, Raleigh, as published by the North Carolina State Board of Health, November, 1919

A serious problem presents itself when we consider the thousands of school children who daily depend on the box luncheon for one-third of their food supply. So considered, it should be as important as that of providing any other meal. That this is not the view taken by the majority of people is, I am sure, apparent to all of us.

One of the biggest worries of the mother is what to feed the baby, but when a child reaches school age the general impression seems to be that he has the properties of an ostrich, and that anything that comes handy will do for his school lunch. This is a great mistake, for the school child is at the stage of development at which he begins to work his brain, at the same time he must be studied and given the food which will make him grow and thrive mentally as well as physically.

The expensive machinery of education is wasted when it operates on a mind listless form hunger or suffering from indigestion. Much thought must be given to the selection of food suitable for the needs of the school child.

A well balanced selection of foods is the important requisites of a school lunch. This does not necessitate a great variety or quantity. The lunch should contain muscle-building and heat and energy-producing foods. Mineral matter is also necessary as this builds the bones and develops the teeth.

This balanced lunch can best be carried out in the “hot school lunch.” It is impossible to make strong, healthy young animals of our children unless we provide the right kind of food.

A cold lunch is unattractive and unappetizing. A school lunch should please the palate and at the same time meet the bodily needs.

It has been found possible to work out a definite plan for lessons in the preparation of practical dishes which can be used to supplement the lunches brought from home.

Each week a committee could be appointed to take charge of the work for that week, planning which pupils shall bring supplies, which prepare and serve food, and which attend to clearing up. One day each week the lesson should be demonstrated by the teacher taking 30 minutes or more, and this lunch dish could be served each day for the remainder of the week. This plan may be modified to suit conditions.

The hot school lunch means increased mentality, increased vitality, better attendance, less incorrigibility, higher average in scholarship, better team work, reaction on home life.

Experience of the Hooper School

“They are happier.” That is the remark made by the teachers of the seven first and second grades of William Hooper School of Wilmington, N.C., after hot lunches had been served to the children for two weeks.

This work was started last year under the direction of Miss Annie Lee Rankin, City Demonstration Agent of Wilmington, with the cooperation of the school officials, the parents of the children and the Red Cross.

There had been more influenza in this section of the town and there were more undernourished children. The basement of the school was equipped and one hot dish each day was served, hot chocolate or cream soup, this being prepared by a committee of women from Wilmington, who were interested, and the mothers of the children in the school, 300 to 350 being served each day. Some thought the children would not care for soup, but after it was once tasted there was no further trouble. By using two large home-made fireless cookers the soup could be started the day before and finished up in a short time. In serving, cups and bowls were carried to the room in large baskets and the bread carried on trays. The soup was put in large pitchers and served in the room. Each child had a sheet of paper on his desk and that protected the food from the top of the desk. One teacher had the children ask a little blessing before having their lunch together.

The teachers said the children attended school better after the serving of the lunch was started. Lunch was sold to the older children, and while the first week only $1 was collected, the second week showed $12.50 to have been collected.

-=-=-=-

What North Carolinians Were Thankful For in 1913

“We Have Cause to Give Thanks,” from the High Point Review, November 20, 1913

If we remember what were the conditions, circumstances, events and incidents of the first Thanksgiving day, and allow thought to traverse even rapidly and superficially the path of blessing until this Thanksgiving day of 1913, we shall have a faint vision, at least, of that for which the land should offer praise. If we dwell only upon the great benefits that affect the general welfare, abundant reason appears why we should set a season apart, assemble in our places of worship, and lay upon the altar our united offering of praise. And this is not alone for abundant harvests, for commercial prosperity, for continued peace and increasing power; not alone for good bestowed, but thanks for evil spared, for fires of trouble from which we passed unharmed; for the floods that threatened but did not overwhelm; for the casting down that yet did not destroy; for all calamities endured and overpast.

Surely if every land should in humility bring tribute from multitudes of grateful hearts, ours should make this a true Thanksgiving day.

Meriwether Hospital in Ashville Reviewed in Charlotte Medical Journal, 1917

Meriwether Hospital in Asheville reviewed in the Charlotte Medical Journal, 1917

It certainly gave me a great deal of pleasure to look over this magnificent plant about two weeks ago. I regard it as one of the most modern and up-to-date institutions of its kind in this section of the country. It is thoroughly equipped in every respect.

Its architecture is as modern as it can be, with the spacious rooms, as well arranged as any I have ever seen, and it has been my pleasure to visit the best in the world. They are equipped with everything that make operating rooms complete. The rooms are well lighted, well arranged, and almost all of them have private baths and many have private sitting rooms. The furnishings are ideal. We do not find here the old stereotyped high enameled bed-steads but the furnishings are those of a modern hotel.

The frontspiece of the beautiful booklet they printed a month or two ago, gives a splendid likeness of the late Dr. Frank Tyron Meriwether, who was born in 1865 and died in 1913. This booklet gives a complimentary and very attractive short history or sketch of Dr. Meriwether, whose career was certainly very successful. The booklet also contains some very fine views, not only of the hospital but of the grounds and environments. It would be interesting to anyone to look over it and admire it.

Its location could not be more attractive or beautiful. It also contains views of the different operating rooms, the examining rooms, bed rooms, etc., and quotes the prices or charges for services.

To anyone who is interested in training school for nurses, or anyone who is interested in hospital management, or interested in cases requiring operations, would be benefited by writing to this Institution for one of these beautiful and attractive booklets.

The officers of the Association or hospital are as follows:

C.P. Ambler, M.D., Dean; E.B. Glenn, M.D., Vice-Dean; W.J. Hunnicutt, M.D., Secretary; D.L. Meriwether, Business Manager; N.F. Pitts, Superintendent.

Medicine: C.P. Ambler, M.D.; M.L. Stevens, M.D.; A.F. Reeves, M.D.; C.E. Cotton, M.D.

Surgery: Eugene B. Glenn, M.D.; F. Webb Griffith, M.D.

Neurology: R.S. Carroll, M.D.

Dermatology: C.W. Brownson, M.D.

Gastroenterology: W.A. Calloway, M.D.

Pediatrics, L.W. Elias, M.D.

G.U. and Rectal Diseases: P.R. Terry, M.D.

Ear, Eye, Nose and Throat: E. Reid Russell, M.D.; J.B. Greene, M.D.; R.G. Buckner, M.D.

Anesthetics: W.J. Hunnicutt, M.D.

Thanks to the Farm Hand Who Stayed on the Job and Avoided the Lure of $5-a-Day Pay in the City, 1917

“The Man Who Stuck to the Plow,” from the Christian Science Monitor, reprinted in the French Broad Hustler, November 1, 1917

The average citizen of the United States this year owes at least a thought of appreciation to the farm hand who stood by his rake and his plow and refused the lure of higher wages in the cities and larger towns. There was surely something besides selfishness in the motives that caused these men to work in many cases from 12 to 14 hours for a wage of $3 a day, when unskilled labor was bringing $5 for an eight-hour day within 12 hours’ ride from the average eastern farm. Not only have the farm hands helped to sow and cultivate, but thousands of them are still at work on the soil, gathering in a record harvest. One seldom hears of strikes among farm hands, yet few laborers work so long and so energetically as do they.

Where Did the Old-Time Family Doctor Go? 1917

“The Family Doctor,” from the Charlotte Medical Journal, 1917

What’s become of the old time family doctor? Except in sparsely settled rural districts, he is “non est inventus.” The family doctor was firmly entrenched in the confidence of the family! To them he was an oracle of wisdom and skill. He didn’t forsake the family in the dying hour, but stayed till the curtain of death was rung down. He ministered both in medicaments to the sorrowing, and sympathy and consolation as well.

He was the court of last appeal! With crude weapons to combat disease, he was wonderfully successful. He endured hardship and exposure. His means of travel were not autos and taxis, but astride “Pegasus” he would ride form sunrise to sunset, in winter, with its chilling blasts, and under the scorching rays of summer.

It is no exaggeration to say that he was the repository of information upon almost all subjects! In fact, he was hailed by his clientele as an animated, peripatetic encyclopaedia of general knowledge. He could recall the past as well as current events, to the edification of his friends. His talents were not circumscribed by any narrow pent-up Utica of specialism, but were found equal to any emergency. He amputated limbs, extirpated tumors, and thrown upon his own resources was no mean hand with the knife, and he kept an eagle eye to see “laudable pus!” That was the assurance of surgical skill and triumph.

The old-time doctors ministered to rich and poor alike; and their ministrations were based upon the broad spirit of philanthropy. While they didn’t lay up treasures here, yet it could be said of their unselfish devotion, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The pioneer doctors were, with rare exceptions, Good-fearing and God-serving men. They were honest, kind, patient, self-sacrificing men. The present day grasping mercenary spirit and practice would have been criminal in the estimation of the good men of the remote past. The doctors of the past were not extortionate, but were reasonable and liberal.

Farmer and Soldier, Both Did Their Part in War

Raising $2 Billion Selling Savings Stamps to Finance World War I, 1917

“War Savings Stamps to Be Sold in Nation,” from the Watauga Democrat, November 22, 1917

Washington, Nov. 13—Plans were announced tonight by Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo for a nation-wide campaign for the sale of $2,000,000,000 worth of war savings certificates. He has created a war savings committee, of which Frank A. Vanderlip, the noted New York financier and banker, is chairman, to float these certificates, and the sales will begin on Monday, December 3.

Any person may invest amounts as small as 25 cents at a time at post offices and other places were accredited persons will act as selling agents. After the sales begin the certificates may be purchased at any time. At the average 1918 selling price such investments will yield 4 per cent compounded quarterly. The certificates will be dated January 2, 1918, and will mature January 1, 1923. No person may purchase at one time more than $100 worth or hold at one time more than $1,000 worth of the certificates.

For Second Draft, Rules Are Simplified, 1917

“The Second Draft,” from the Watauga Democrat, November 22, 1917

The Statesville Sentinel has the following editorial, supplemented by one from the New York World on the second draft that will be read with interest:

It is a known fact that the first draft machinery was far too complicated and those who were called upon to execute the rulings were, as a rule, ignorant of the work allotted to them. The exemption boards did their work in a conscientious manner, and to the best of their ability, but their knowledge of that which was expected of them was limited and the many blanks and details served to hamper rather than help them. We feel that the most serious mistake made was the manner in which the men were taken from the farms. In our own county the greater part off the farm. When these men left a certain percentage of the count’s production is bound to have been left off.

With two months to study the new draft machinery and with the experience gained from their first work and the improved, revised and limited number of blanks to be handled, the work will be handled more expeditious and in a better manner. Every man’s occupation and his real worth to the nation will be set before the board.

The New York World in speaking of the second draft says:

With proper foresight the second draft begins, long before the actual calling of the men, with an appeal for professional aid in classifying them. Two months remain for this work, in which experience already gained should be invaluable.

What is proposed by President Wilson is “a complete inventory of the qualifications of each registrant.” We are told, for instance, that hereafter ship-building trades will be exempt. Possibly farmers were not sufficiently considered in the first draft; the President wishes to determine “the place in the military, industrial, or agricultural ranks” where each can “best be made to serve the common good.” The selective process is to become more selective.

This increases the labor of selection. The President pays a high tribute to members of the local board who have toiled so faithfully, and safety assumes that other men of technical knowledge, such as doctors and lawyers, will welcome the chance to serve the country by expert assistance to boards now at work or to be established.

To organize the Nation for war is a task for the Nation; no less. Go or stay; fight, manufacture or grow food; pay or advise, help in the draft; knit, sew, nurse or cook—more and more there will be opportunity, as we sweep into the midcurrent of conflict, for all to help. The President may indeed “call upon all citizens to assist.”

To Germany these early arrangements for the second draft give notice. We are but beginning to prepare to fight as we can fight!”

France: Always Our Ally and Our Friend

Because of the attacks in Paris last night, I decided to put some old Paris postcards on the blog today. The first one is from 1912. I can't tell the dates for the next two, but there are horses in the street in the second postcard and the old cars in the third image. The fourth is a picture of my grandfather, Thomas J. Barker, before he was sent to France in World War I. My grandfather is the tall man on the right. I don't have the name of the other man.

 

 

 

 

With Demobilization of the Army, More Railroad Cars Available, 1919

"More R.R. Cars Available,” from the Elizabeth City Independent, Sept. 12, 1919

Demobilization of the army, which practically will be completed in a few weeks, will release railroad passenger equipment in part from the tremendous strain put upon it since the United States went to war. Many of the hundreds of coaches and sleeping cars now employed in troop movements will be freed for ordinary service, thus enabling the railroads to provide more adequately for the comfort and convenience of the heavy general passenger travel which is taxing their limited facilities to the utmost.

When Was a Two-Year-Old in Criminal Court in North Carolina? All Neglected Children Were Before Law Changed, 1919

Before the North Carolina State Legislature established juvenile courts in each county in 1919, the “wayward, neglected or undisciplined child” was a criminal under the law. “Health, Discipline and Training for All Children” by Roland F. Beasley, State Commissioner for Public Welfare, explains the change. The article was published in the November, 1919, issue of The Health Bulletin, published by the North Carolina State Board of Health. The Health Bulletin was a free brochure sent to any member of the public who requested it.

If you are one who believes that the State’s children are its most precious possession, your heart must thrill and your mind obtain a new satisfaction by reason of the plans that are now on foot in our State to carry physical health, mental training, and moral discipline to every child within our borders.

If you are one that does not see the great vision of child welfare now breaking upon the world, you should get on your knees and ask God to set you right on what His Son meant when He said, “Summer little children to come unto me.”

No longer is a wayward, neglected or undisciplined child defined as a criminal by the laws of North Carolina.

By act of the great Legislature of 1919 there is now a juvenile court in every county in the State and a county superintendent of public welfare. The clerk of the Superior Court is ex officio judge of the juvenile court and the county superintendent of public welfare is the ex officio probation officer of the court. This is the machinery which the State has provided for caring for all children who are without natural guardianship.

The court is charged with the duty of seeing that opportunity for physical health, moral discipline, and mental training is secured for such children. The court has all necessary power to do what it thinks best for the child.

The court has jurisdiction over every child under 16 years

(a)    Who is delinquent or who violates any municipal or State law or ordinance or who is truant, unruly, wayward, or misdirected, or who is disobedient to parents or beyond their control, or who is in danger of becoming so; or

(b)   Who is neglected or who engages in any occupation, calling, or exhibition, or is found in any place where a child is forbidden by law to be and for permitting which an adult may be punished by law, or who is in such condition or surroundings or is under such improper or insufficient guardianship  or control as to endanger the morals, health or general welfare of such child; or

(c)    Who is dependent upon public support or who is destitute, homeless or abandoned, or whose custody is subject to controversy.

The juvenile court principle is now being applied all over the United States and in foreign countries. It is one of the great forward steps of the age, and the most important advance in court methods in many years. It can be no more checked that the public school. It is here to stay and be improved.

The juvenile court can’t save every child; but it has been proven that when the system is properly carried out it will save 75 per cent of them. That is more than worth the money.

It costs the taxpayer 10 times more to capture, try, punish, and maintain an adult criminal than it does to save a juvenile delinquent.

The court stands in the relation of parent to such children, and will discipline, guide and control them through probation just as a wise father would.

The court may punish a child if it is necessary, but wayward children are more in need of wise guidance and just discipline and friendly help than of punishment.

The judge is the kind and wise father, the probation officer is the big brother of the boy who is about to be lost. Both are studying ways and means to make a man of him.

Do you believe in saving boys and girls whose parents let them go astray, or who have no parents?

If you are a Christian, you certainly ought to pray for and encourage this work, for it is Christ’s work.

If you are a good citizen you ought to help it, for you believe in having good citizens and not bad ones.

If you are a taxpayer you ought to stand by this work, because it is cheaper to save a boy than to maintain a lifelong lawbreakers.

If you are a mother you ought to help, because every wayward child is a burden to some mother-heart.

If you are a man you ought to help, because this is a practical application of the brotherhood of man.

The juvenile court is really a part of the educational system. It carries opportunity to children who otherwise would not have it.

The juvenile court does not ask what can be done to a child, but what can be done for him—to make a man or woman instead of a human wreck.

Details of New Conscription Law, 1917

Details of New Conscription Law,” from the May 17, 1917, issue of the High Point Review

Washington, May 10 [Special]—Outstanding features of the universal service law as drafted by the senate and house conferees.

Ages of Draft, 21 to 30 inclusive.

Ages of Volunteers, 18 to 40 inclusive.

Number subject to draft, 11,000,000

To be Obtained by Draft or Volunteers:

            Numbers to be drawn by selective conscription, 1,000,000 [In two drafts 500,000 each]

            Regular army, 300,000

            National Guard, 625,000

            Special and technical troops, 76,000

            Total strength provided, 2,001,000

Terms of Service: Period of Emergency.

Exemptions: Federal and state officers. Ministers of religion and theological students. Members of religious sects opposed to war.

Liable to Exemption: County and municipal officers. Customhouse clerks, mail employees. Employees of armories, arsenals and navy yards. Persons engaged in industries, including agriculture. Those supporting dependents. The physically and morally deficient.

Method for Draft: Proclamation by the president for registration. Immediate registration by those of draft age. Selection from register of men for service. Dispatch of men drafted to nearest training camp.

Provisions for Pay:

Second-class private, $25

First-class private, $31

Corporal, $32

Sergeant of the line, $36 and $42

Quartermaster and hospital sergeants, $46

First sergeant, $50

Safeguards Thrown Around the Army: Prohibition and suppression of social evil.

Armistice Day Parade, Statesville, 1920

Armistice Day Parade, Statesville, 1920 Photo from the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. http://ncpedia.org/world-war-i-part-3-contributions

Uncle Sam Wants You: To Keep Chickens, 1918

Classifications in the Draft for World War I, 1918

“Classes Into Which Drafted Men Are Placed,” from the French Broad Hustler, March 28, 1918

The local exemption board has completed the classification of the men in Henderson county in accordance with the following regulations and has called the eight composing the first quota:

Class I
Single men without dependent relatives.

Married men, with or without children or father or motherless children, who has habitually failed to support his family.

Married man dependent on wife for support.

Married man, with or without children, or father of motherless children; man not usefully engaged, family supported by income independent of his labor.

Unskilled farm laborer.

Unskilled industrial laborer.

Registrant by or in respect of whom no deferred classification is claimed or made.

Registrant who fails to submit questionnaire and in respect of whom no deferred classification is claimed or made.

All registrants not included in any other division in the schedule.

Class II
Married men with children or father of motherless children, where such wife or children or such motherless children are not mainly dependent upon is labor for support for the reason that there are other reasonably certain sources of adequate support (excluding earnings or possible earnings from the labor of the wife), available, and that the removal of the registrant will not deprive such dependents of support.

Married man, without children, whose wife, although the registrant is not mainly dependent upon his labor for support, for the reason that the wife is skilled in some special class of work which she is physically able to perform and in which she is employed, or in which there is an immediate opening for her under conditions that will enable her to support herself decently and without suffering or hardships.

Necessary skilled farm laborer in necessary agricultural enterprise.

Necessary skilled industrial laborer in necessary industrial enterprise.

Class III
Man with dependent children (not his own), but toward whom he stands in relation of parent.

Man with dependent aged or infirm parents.

Man with dependent helpless brothers or sisters.

County or municipal officer.

Highly trained fireman or policeman at least three years of service of municipality.

Necessary customhouse clerk.

Necessary employee of the United States in transmission of the mails.

Necessary artificer or workman in U.S. armory or arsenal.

Necessary employee in service of United States.

Necessary assistant associate or hired manager of necessary agricultural enterprise.

Necessary highly specialized technical or mechanical expert of necessary industrial enterprise.

Necessary assistant or associate manager of necessary industrial enterprise.

Class IV
Man whose wife or children are mainly dependent on his labor for support.

Mariner actually employed in sea service of citizen or merchant in the United States.

Necessary sole managing, controlling, or directing head of necessary agricultural enterprise.

Necessary sole managing, controlling, or directing head of necessary industrial enterprise.

Class V
Officers—legislative, executive or judicial of the United States or of State Territory, or District of Columbia.

Regular of duly ordained minister of religion.

Student who on May 18, 1917, was preparing for ministry n recognized school.

Persons in military or naval service of United States.

Alien enemy.

Resident alien (not an enemy) who claims exemption.

Persons totally and permanently physically or mentally unfit for military service.

Person morally unfit to be a soldier of the United States.

Licensed pilot actually employed in the pursuit of his vocation.

Members of well-recognized religious sect or organization, organized and existing on May 18, 1917, whose then existing creed or principles forbid its members to participate in war in any form, and whose religious convictions are against war or participation therein.

Each Township to Pay Soldiers' Expenses, 1918

“Each Township to Pay Soldiers Expenses,” from the editorial page of the Watauga Democrat, Sept. 26, 1918, R.C. Rivers, proprietor. "This paper has enlisted with the government in the cause of America for the period of the war."

The Government is asking every township and county to pay the expenses of its soldiers at war. This costs the Government about $1,000 a year for each soldier, except when he is in battle. The way that the Government has devised for each township and county to do this is to purchase its full quota of War Savings Certificates. This amount will take care of the boys sent from that county.

A bulletin from State Headquarters points out that for the care of the 2,000,000 American soldiers selected by the first draft the War Savings Fund called for $2,000,000,000—or $1,000 for each solder in service, white or colored. As soon as the War Department decided to increase the army to 4,000,000, congress authorized an increase of the War Savings Fund to $4,000,000,000 thus keeping to the apportionment of $1,000 for each soldier.

The bulletin says, “If a township fails to invest its allotment of War Savings it fails to take care of its own boys, and unless some other township assumes the burden of their sustenance, they are unprovided for.” No township in North Carolina can afford not to support its own solders by lending the Government the money needed for the purpose. Such a record of ingratitude would outlive every person now living in the township.

The bulletin says further that when a person invests in War Savings Certificates he serves that part of the Army that is nearest and dearest to him,--he supports his won boy or that of his neighbors. It urges that every boy in service be represented by some star in some service flag and that every star be backed by $1,000 invested in War Savings Stamps.

Army Draft Information, 1918

“Men to Be Classified as to Physical Fitness” from the French Broad Hustler, March 28, 1918

Washington, Mar. 7—Reclassification according to physical condition of the men called in the next army draft is provided in revised instructions for medical advisory boards throughout the country.

The new regulations made public tonight require that every man summoned before the board shall be placed in one of the following four classes: (A) Acceptable for general military service; (B) acceptable for general military service after being cured of remedial defect; (C) acceptable for special or limited military service in a specified capacity or occupation; (D) rejected and exempted from any military service.

It is the intention of the provost marshal general to provide later for the further investigation and classification of the men acceptable for limited or special service so that record may be made of the sort of work each of these men may be assigned to do without endangering his health.

Under the new regulations, many ailments and defects which gained exemption of drafted men in the past will result only in their being listed in group B. Such men if they choose will be given the privilege of securing the services of their family physicians in the effort to remove the defect, but if they have not availed themselves of this privilege within a specified time, they will be called into military service and ordered to a cantonment base hospital, a reconstruction hospital or to a civic hospital, as may be designated by the surgeon-general.

History of Oak View Farm, Wake County, 1829-1955

Oak View Farm is now part of Historic Oak View County Park and the farmstead is open to the public. The following history of the farm is from the park’s Web site: http://www.wakegov.com/parks/oakview/about/Pages/default.aspx


The recorded history of Oak View began in 1829 when Benton Southworth Donaldson Williams purchased a tract of land in eastern Wake County from Arthur Pool for $135. The property included 85 acres and several outbuildings. Williams continued to acquire land and holdings over the next 30 years and completed construction of a two-story Greek Revival I-Frame house in 1855.

Though Williams was not considered a member of the planter class, he was a successful farmer. By 1860, the Williams family owned 10 slaves and produced 10 400-pound bales of cotton per year. After the Civil War, most farms in the South greatly increased cotton production, and by the 1880s, 93 percent of Wake County farms, including Oak View, produced cotton. Williams is also an important local historical figure, as he served as one of four delegates representing Wake County at the 1868 North Carolina Constitutional Convention following the Civil War. Oak View is the only surviving homestead of the four Wake County delegates.


When Williams passed away in 1870, his will indicated that his land be divided among his children and his wife, Burchett. Portions of the property were also sold to satisfy debts. Burchett passed away in 1886, and 178 acres of land, as well as the house and outbuildings, were auctioned off to Job P. Wyatt and Phil Taylor. Several years later, Taylor sold his interest in the property to Wyatt, whose family continued to operate the farm until 1940.


Under Wyatt family ownership, Oak View was one of only a few manager-operated farms in Wake County. Instead of using sharecroppers to farm their land, as was common during this time, the Wyatts hired a property manager to live in the main house and oversee the operations of the farm and the tenant farmers. Several tenant families lived in small houses on Oak View's property and were paid a wage for their work. Unfortunately, none of these houses remain. The Wyatts also built several more outbuildings on the property, including the Cotton Gin House, Livestock Barn and the Carriage House. The Pecan Grove, which was planted in 1911, was an effort to diversify the farm's operations and is another lasting Wyatt family legacy.


In 1940, the Wyatts sold Oak View to Gregory Poole. Although the Poole family lived at Oak View for only three years, they are largely responsible for the current appearance of the main house. Influenced by the trends of the day, the house was remodeled and expanded in the Colonial Revival style. Some of the changes to the home include the addition of an indoor kitchen, a sunroom and a library. These additions briefly preceded more modern conveniences that the Pooles installed, namely electricity and indoor plumbing, which had never been present at Oak View before. During this time, the Poole family also expanded the barn and upgraded the farm's facilities. Shortly after all these renovations were complete, Gregory Poole sold the farm to James and Mary Bryan in 1944.


The Bryans were the last to operate Oak View as a family farm. In addition to farming the property, the Bryans also dug the farm ponds that remain on the land. The Bryans sold Oak View 11 years later to Chauncey and Ella Mae Jones, who rented out the land once again to tenant farmers.

Letters From Edward Hodges and Thomas Harmon, in France in WW I, 1918

“Letters From Our Soldier Boys,” from the Watauga Democrat, Sept. 26, 1918

Following are some extracts from a letter just received by Mrs. A.M. Hodges from her son Edward of Battery E., 113^th F.A., now with the American Expeditionary Force in France:

“I am on the front. Can hear the big guns day and night. The shells are bursting all around. We sure are going to give those Germans what is coming to them. Don’t be uneasy as we are faring just fine. All the boys are in good heart—just raring to go all the time.

We are having fine weather. How is the weather at home? I hope you have the crops all taken care of. We have just had supper and had fresh mutton, and of course I didn’t eat much. You all cheer up and don’t worry. We are all faring fine.”

The following is from a letter received by Mr. and Mrs. Abel Harmon of Vilas, from their son Thomas of Company C, 324^th Infantry, A.E.F.

“I am somewhere in France, and getting a little experience in Army life. We are staying with some old time French people. I don’t believe I can ever learn to speak French.

This sure is a pretty country. The people here are just harvesting their wheat and the crop is very good. How are the crops in Watauga this year? I hope they are good. I wish I was there to help ou eat honey. It sure would go good. We don’t do anything only hike. We went about five miles to the river and went bathing. I haven’t found any of the Watauga boys yet.”

Worrying Pays Off, 1913

“Happy Thanksgiving Custom,” from the High Point Review, November 20, 1913

A woman who has an almost old-fashioned faith in Providence keeps what she calls her “thank offering box.” Into this goes throughout the year, from one Thanksgiving to the middle of the following November, a sum of money for every accident escaped, calamity averted, or special joy.

These offerings are not confined to her own escapes but each time some member of her family bobs up from some threatened woe into the box goes the money offering of thanks.

Not the same amount is given each time, and rarely rich sums, for the woman is not rich, but a nice little sum is realized.

This is devoted to giving some one a happy Thanksgiving day. It does not always go into regular channels. As the woman says—the poor and hospitals are usually well cared for in holiday seasons.

Dealing With Measles and Whooping Cough, 1920

“What To Do For Measles and Whooping Cough,” from the November 4, 1920, issue of the Rockingham Post-Dispatch

The State Board of Health does not pretend to have found any specific for measles and whooping cough, which kills so many babies. It does know, as shown in the October Health Bulletin, how to make less likely deaths from these diseases.

The first thing is to avoid having these diseases. If measles is abroad in the community the order is to keep the child away from it. If the child gets it the thing to do is to send the victim to bed and keep him there. By careful treatment there will be no dangerous aftermath which really makes measles highly fatal.

Whooping cough does its worst in youth. The baby under one year stands one chance in eight of dying; from one to two, 1 in every 10; from two to three, the rate is 1 in every 30; from three to four it is 1 in every 50; and from four to five, 1 in 200 die.

U.S. Calling Up Additional 800,000 Men in Second Army Draft, 1918

“800,000 Drafted Men to be Called During 1918” from the French Broad Hustler, March 28, 1918

Washington, March 12—Eight hundred thousand men are to be called to the colors gradually during the present year under the second army draft, which began March 29.

An announcement today by Provost Marshal General Crowder of the number to be called was followed closely by an order for the mobilization of 59,000 men during the five-day period beginning March 29, some 15,000 of them to be assembled under the second draft. Eighty thousand will be men of the first draft of 687,000 not yet summoned into service.

Details Later

Details of how the second draft is to be applied will be made public later, after congress has acted upon proposed legislation providing for the registration of youths attaining the age of district quotas on the number of registrants in Class One. In his first official statement on the subject, however, General Crowder assures the country that no sweeping withdrawal of large numbers of men at one time is contemplated and that care will be taken to avoid interference with harvesting.

The 95,000 men now called, it is understood, are needed at once to fill up divisions and other units scheduled for departure or to take the place of men transferred from other divisions to make up such deficiencies. Newly organized regular divisions are particularly short of men and heavy draft on national army divisions to make these good have been necessary, seriously interfering with the training work of the national army divisions drawn upon. The call for new men makes it probable that no further transfers will be necessary.

Will Fill Up Army

The 800,000 men to be summoned this year represent the number necessary to fill up all existing divisions, to create all the army corps and field army troops to fill out the war machine for which the framework already exists, and to provide a quarter of a million replacement troops. When they have been mobilized, which will not be completed before the first of next year, there will be more than 40 full infantry divisions of 27,700 men each and all the additional units necessary. No additional divisions of the national army or national guards will be created this year, although the program for the regular army, now composed of 80 infantry and one calvary division may be enlarged.

The first purpose of the war department is to complete the first field army in France. Probably this will be composed of five army corps of six infantry divisions each. It has been estimated that with the force and its necessary auxiliaries at his disposal. General Pershing would be able to hold a 100 mile sector of the battle front, relieving the strain upon French man-power during 1918 to that extent. What that would mean to France may be judged from published statements of French officials that on January, 1918, the Belgian army held about 15 miles of the western front, the British forces about 105 miles and the French about 205 miles.

Homemakers to Learn About Making Butter, Hats, and Using Equipment with Electric Motors, Like Sewing Machines, 1920

“House-Keeper’s Week…Nov. 11 to 13^th at Yadkin River Power Company Office,” from the November 4, 1920, issue of the Rockingham Post-Dispatch.

Thursday, Nov. 11^th

Butter Making—Mr. J.A. Airy, Dairy Specialist, State College of Agriculture and Engineering, West Raleigh, N.C.

2:00 to 4:00 P.M.

Millinery—Mrs. Cornelia Morris, District Demonstration Agent, Henderson

Power & Water Demonstration—Lally Light Co., Ellerbe, N.C.

Friday, Nov. 12^th

10:00 to 12:00 A.M.

Sewing with Electric Motor—Mrs. Mary Fletcher

Demonstration of Fireless Cooker—Mrs. Rosalind Redfern, Home Demonstration Agent, Anson County

2:00 to 4:00 P.M.

Decorative Cake-icing Using Oil Stove—Mrs. Rosalind Redfern, Home Demonstration Agent, Anson County

Millinery, Power & Water Demonstrations continued

Saturday, Nov. 13^th

10:00 to 12:00 A.M.

The Family Laundry Using Hand Power and Electric Washing Machine and Demonstration of Electric Iron—Mrs. W.B. Covington

2:00 to 4:00 P.M.

General Exhibit of Finished Products and Labor-Saving Devices—Mrs. John Sandy Covington, Home Demonstration Agent.