Contribute One Day's Income to Orphanages, 1916

“Appeal to State for Orphans Aid,” from The Commonwealth, Scotland Neck, N.C., Tuesday, Nov. 28, 1916

Every Man, Woman and Child Expected to Take a Part…Give Plan Wide Publicity…”One Day for the Orphans” Movement Expected to be Great Success.

The North Carolina Orphan Association is calling upon every man, woman and child in the state to contribute on or near Thanksgiving Day one day’s income to the orphanage of his or her choice. The publicity committee composed of M.L. Shipman, James R. Young, and Hight C. Moore is making an earnest appeal for orphan aid in this way. A letter has been issued by the commission reading as follows:

The North Carolina Orphan Association again calls upon every man, woman and child in the State to contribute on or near Thanksgiving Day at least one day’s income to the orphanage of his or her choice.

A year ago this appeal was issued for the first time. The response was gratifying, not only because of the unprecedented gifts made to the various orphanages, but also because it revealed the tender and practical sympathy which our people feel toward the thousands of fatherless children.

In order that more adequate equipment and support may be provided, the “One Day for the Orphans” Movement was started calling upon all our people to add to the stream of regular contributions a special Thanksgiving offering equal to a day’s income. This is a reasonable request, for any one can share with the orphans the earnings of one day out of 365. It is practicable, for rich and poor alike can participate in it. It enlists our people of all creeds and classes in beautiful co-operation for the support of a needed civic and Christian philanthropy.

We, therefore, make our appeal to—

The prince of business to give out of his abundance the actual or estimated income of a day.

The landlord or money lender to give one day’s rent of his houses and lands, or one day’s interest on his money.

The professional man to give one day’s earnings, specifying the day or taking the average day.

The salaried worker to give his or her salary for a day.

The laborer with only pick-up jobs to devote some special day to this cause.

The good housewife with her ingenuity and devotion to set apart the work of a day.

The boys and girls with no regular income to get a job after school hours or on some Saturday and give the proceeds to the orphans.

In short, everybody, old and young, rich and poor, learned and illiterate, to join in this holy movement and thus to “visit the fatherless in their affliction.”

To this end we call upon the editors of our papers, daily and weekly, secular and religious, to give the widest possible publicity to this movement which is philanthropic in purpose and statewide in extent; we call upon all church leaders of all denominations, including pastors, Sunday school superintendents, women’s workers, and others of influence to urge in their respective congregations the giving of a day’s income to their respective orphanage; we call upon the officers of the various orders to bring this movement to the attention of each man in their membership and enlist him in this extra offering; we call upon teachers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, manufacturers and all others with local following and influence to induce their friends to unite with them in giving at next Thanksgiving a day’s work or wages to the needy orphans of North Carolina.

Here, then, is our appeal: Make it, if you will, with the prayer that our orphan children may be led into the larger life here and the life eternal hereafter. And may this concerted philanthropy for the fatherless help toward making next Thanksgiving Day the gladdest and best ever observed in North Carolina.

Delay in Certifying the 1916 National Election of President Wilson

Election disputes, from the editorial page of The Commonwealth, Scotland Neck, N.C., Friday, Nov. 24, 1916

And now at this late hour says the defeated candidate to President Wilson, “excuse me, I am late in sending in my congratulations, but because the election was close I hoped I would win, and you lose, so I have waited as long as there was a shred of hope.”

So the republicans are at it again in Buncombe county in demanding that the canvassing board should certify the returns of November 9^th, in other words, without further argument, declare Britt, the republican candidate elected, and not Weaver, whom they say has won.

California’s Secretary Balks

The cat is out of the bag. There always appeared a reason why Hughes and his manager returned to the fastness of their summer homes in November without admitting, or conceding, the election to Wilson.

Now it appears that Frank C. Jordan, Secretary of State for California, refuses to certify the election, and will not issue certificates to presidential electors, because he says that precinct No. 3 of Marysville, an insignificant borough, and the county of Orange, have been slightly irregular in the form of sending in their official returns.

It is stated that this may be a serious matter, and even invalidate the election of President Wilson, though Mr. O.K. Cushing, chairman of the democratic state central committee, does not attach much importance to it, nevertheless it is safe to predict that there is danger in this attitude of the state secretary, and none at this writing can prophecy the outcome, for the republicans are wily and will not be ousted without a great struggle.

Harry Truman, Who Was Sure To Lose, Elected President, 1948

“Truman and His Vice President,” from Life magazine, Nov. 29, 1948. Harry Truman, who became president after Franklin Delano Roosevelt death, ran for election in 1948 against Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican's candidate (who had also run against Roosevelt in the previous election), and Strom Thurmond, a Dixiecrat from South Carolina. The Democratic party had gone through an ideological split which resulted in Henry Wallace of the Progressive Party, and the far-right Dixiecrats running as third-party candidates, which experts thought would make a Truman win impossible. Truman won 49.6 percent of the votes; Dewey 45.1 percent; and Thurmond 2.4 percent.

Harry Truman, the man who came from behind to win another term in the White House, smiles happily with Alben Barkley, his vice president.

Truman and His Vice President…Old friends from Senate make a happy new team

The big, wide smiles shown on the opposite page symbolize something new in recent U.S. political history. Few presidents have been very chummy with their vice presidents. Roosevelt got rid of Garner after two terms, was no intimate friend of Wallace and accepted Truman as a compromise. But President Harry Truman and Vice President-elect Alben Barkley have been fast friends from the time they were both senators and members of a “ham and eggs club” which met weekly to swap stories. They seem to like the same kind of amusements, the same kind of kidding, the same Midwest jokes. This has been most evident since the election, especially during the vacation at Key West, Fla., where the old friends cavorted about together and kidded everyone in sight. When reporters asked the President if he would make news over the weekend, he replied, “I’ll go to bed at noon Saturday and won’t get up until Monday morning. When they turned to Barkley for anything newsworthy he could offer, he replied in the same vein: “I’m not talking about anything except the blueness of the water and the hotness of the sun.

This display of happy geniality contrasts with some of the aggressive, dead serious speeches made by the President in the heat of the campaign. But Alben Barkley of Padukah, Ky., who seldom lost his amiable air even during the trying years when he had to lead a divided Democratic party in the Senate, carried on with easy conviviality all through his arduous electioneering tour. He always seemed relaxed and prepared for anything. When addressing an audience he was constantly reminded of a fellow he had heard about. “This fellow,” he would confide to the crowd, “had two promising sons, but an awful thing happened. One of those sons when to sea and the other got elected vice president. He never heard of either one of them again.”

Barkley’s friendly, drawling humor was a highly useful vote-getting device. He got votes from the farmers when he told a rural audience about a farmer he had just been talking with. “This fellow told me,” he said, “that he was living better under Hoover than he is now. Seems he had more than one chicken for every pot then; he couldn’t sell them so he ate them all.” Although in this story, he evoked the name of the last Republican to be president, Barkley almost never mentioned by name the man who was trying to be the next Republican president. Once, however, he relaxed and used the name, largely to get away with an egregious pun. Addressing a group of people in the rain in Dover, Del., he announced that he would cut his speech short. “I don’t want you to get wet,” he explained. “In fact, I don’t even want you to get Dewey.”

During the campaign Barkley was beset with misfortunes, which would make it hard for almost anyone else to keep his sense of humor. Before one speech he lost his glasses and had to address a crowd he could hardly see. On another occasion he fell downstairs in the dark and wrenched his knee. 

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At a fair in Illinois one of two steers, masquerading as a pair of 19^th Century oxen, almost ate his straw hat. Then, during a plane flight, he caught cold. “The man who sat behind me had his air intake pointed right at me and it blew on the top of my head all night so I caught cold.” He made the rest of that drip by car, carrying a thermos of water which he used periodically to wash down some cold pills a druggist had recommended to him.

Still, out of his long years as a popular speechmaker, he could find a joke for any occasion. When a group of men seemed to call for a story with just a touch of salt in it, he gave them the one about the fellow who “came into a bar to get another drink, but couldn’t recall the name of it. He told the bartender that all he could remember about the drink was that it was ‘tall, cold and full of gin.’ At that point a man leaning on the bar turned on him and snarled, ‘Sir, you are speaking of the woman I love.’”

When family groups were predominant in his audience, Barkley used the old stand-by, a mother-in-law joke: “This fellow’s wife had died and somehow there was a shortage of cars at the funeral. The undertaker asked the husband of the woman who had died if he would mind riding to the funeral in the same car with his mother-in-law. So the fellow answered, ‘Well, all right, but it’ll ruin my whole day.’”

Barkley’s mood since the election seems unchanged. Because he is a widower women reporters were quick to ask who would be his official hostess. Barkley’s reply was that he hadn’t decided, but he could not resist adding impishly, “There have been several applicants.” When someone reminded him that the Republicans had been talking about a big new home for the vice president, Barkley delivered himself of the observation that “If they build a $2,500,000 house for the vice president, nobody will want to run for president.”

Although the Vice President-elect is 70, he seems to feel as full of energy as he did 35 years ago when he began his career in Washington as a congressman. After the election a reporter told him that Present Truman’s aids had said the President did not contemplate running for another term. Did Barkley plan to retire in 1952? Barkley hitched himself over in his chair and answered in true Barklean style, “Well,” he said, “that reminds me of when Tom Heflin went back to Alabama to see about running something. When he got back to the Senate cloakroom colleagues asked if he were going to run. Heflin replied, “You can’t resist the clamorment of the people.’”

After Election Barkley Comments on 80^th Congress.

Shopping in Cuba, Barkley looks over leather novelties. During his Key West vacation with President Truman, he flew down to Cuba for a day’s sight-seeing, explaining that he would also make a courtesy call on Cuba’s president.

North Carolina Provides Free Surgery for School Children, 1919

A report of an afternoon visit by the Wilkes Nurse to Mount View School was printed in the November, 1919, issue of The Health Bulletin, published by the North Carolina State Board of Health

I went to Mount View Saturday morning, September 27, 1919, for special examination of 33 school children who have not been examined in school. Obtained the names from Dr. Reece, the dentist for the State in this county. Sent notices to the parents to meet me at the public schoolhouse. It is not in session and will not be until November 1^st. Has been suspended since September 1^st. Exactly one-third responded by coming. Most of them had dreadful throats. 

The last one who came in before 1 p.m. was a pitiful looking woman and child dusty and travel stained. The others had gone and I was alone in the schoolhouse waiting for any others who might come. The child was a boy nine years old. His mouth was open. I looked at his throat. I don’t think I have ever seen a worse throat. It was almost closed. The tonsils met at one point. The other part was submerged, pushing against the pillars of the throat so they bulged and looked taut and shiny like a balloon. I asked the mother how far they came and she said eight miles. I asked her how she came and was amazed when she replied, “We walked.” The child was lying on the bench. I questioned her and found out that she had four children. That her husband worked at a sawmill for $1.50 a day, and they owned 40 acres of land. She said her husband was not well, had dropsy in his feet sometimes. She said she had been telling her husband for some time something would have to be done for the child. He cannot talk plain and chokes when he is asleep. His pillow is always wet with saliva. 

Dr. Reece treated his teeth. The child gave Dr. Reece the wrong post office address the reason I called them to this place. The postmaster sent it to the right post office although directed to the wrong.

Before I knew of all this I asked her if they could afford to pay and she said yes, they would manage it some way. After I found out I told her we would do him free.

I have shed the first tears I have shed in this county over this incident. That is saying a lot.

                                Sincerely,

                                Cleone E. Hobbs, State School Nurse

We suppose an investigation would be in order in this case, or at least a committee appointed to place a value on the 40 acres and to inquire about the whereabouts of the mule before arranging for a life-saving operation for that boy. But we will cheerfully leave all that to the coroner, or somebody. Our business is to try to get the child treated before it is too late.

Local News Items From Scotland Neck, N.C., Nov. 24, 1916

“Local News Items” from The Commonwealth, Scotland Neck, N.C., Friday, Nov. 24, 1916. It’s interesting to see the focus on mode of transportation and the types of cars in this column.

The Episcopal Convention, which has been in session since Tuesday, adjourned yesterday morning at 11:30.

Messrs. G.C. Weeks, Edward Tillery and Tom Johnson caught the train at Palmyra yesterday morning to go to Greenville and bring back a couple of cars, one of which is expected to be a Willys Knight, which will be of interest to some of us.

The N.A. Riddick Motor Car Company sent over five automobiles yesterday morning to meet and 12 o’clock train at Palmyra and bring into town the 25 members of De Rue Minstrels, which was the only way in which a street parade could be arranged.

Dr. H.I. Clark and Mr. Ernest Leggett returned yesterday from Tarboro where they attended the session of the Shriners.

Mr. C.B. Parks motored to Tarboro recently to play a game of golf with some of the experts there.

Mr. Tom Fenner of Raleigh was in town Wednesday from Raleigh.

The four table card club met yesterday afternoon with Mrs. R.F. Coleman.

Mr. C.B. Riddick of Richmond, Va., arrived in town yesterday afternoon, having reached Palmyra at noon. He comes to visit his mother, Mrs. A.M. Riddick, and see Mr. Hubert Riddick, who is still quite ill.

Mr. Joe Riddick of Richmond, Va., came into town Wednesday in Mr. J.C. Riddick’s car, to see his brother, Mr. Hubert Riddick.

Recent word from the Rocky Mount hospital states that the condition of Mrs. Peyton Keel is not improved.

Extra freight train No. 313, with 25 cars, ran through town yesterday morning going north, and sidetracking No. 73 at the station.

Mrs. G.C. Weeks drove her six cylinder car to Tarboro to visit Mr. and Mrs. Hyatt, and lunch with them. She was accompanied by Mrs. Henry Gray and Mrs. J.M. Cotton.

Mrs. Frank Spruill of Rocky Mount arrived here yesterday morning and is the guest of Mrs. Bettie Coughenor. Mr. Spruill was unable to come, though he intended being one of the speakers at the Episcopal Convention.

Messrs. Charles Lawrence and J.E. Bowers came into town Tuesday night in their Saxon runabout with seven wild turkeys hanging around the car. This was the prettiest kind of decoration for a week before Thanksgiving.

Mrs. T.J. Williford left on the morning train to visit her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Harrison, in Wilson county. She will return in about three weeks.

Mr. R.M.S. White of Lumberton was in town for a few hours this week, and left for Tarboro on yesterday’s morning train.

Mr. J.C. Riddick went to Henderson Monday to deliver a Buick four, and from there went to Richmond, Va., and borrowed a Saxon six from the Virginia distributors Kehler Motor Company, and drove it back Wednesday to make immediate delivery to a customer who could not wait for delivery from the factory.

Mr. J. Baron of the Bee Hive Department Store is in Baltimore buying Christmas novelties.

Thanksgiving Greetings Post Card

Dr. Register on the Tuberculosis Sanatorium, Hoke County, 1916

From The Commonwealth, Scotland Neck, N.C., Nov. 24, 1916
Dr. Register Visits State Sanitarium…Praises Efficiency of Staff and Faulty…White Plague Being Conquered

The great work being accomplished by the various State institutions in combatting tuberculosis, or the white plague, as it is commonly known, is attracting world wide attention, and in this state, where the local conditions at Sanitarium, N.C., are so much in favor of successful treatment, should be a matter of pride to citizens of the Old North State.

We are indebted to Dr. Register for a letter on the subject which coming from a man on high in the medical fraternity carries with it great weight and is really an address to the people of this section of the state. His letter is as follows.

The Editor, The Commonwealth, Scotland Neck, N.C.

Dear Sir:
A few weeks ago it was my great pleasure to visit our State tuberculosis Sanitorium at Sanatorium, N.C. As many people in the State know little or nothing of this institution I would deem it a privilege to tell you readers something of my visit and some of the interesting and important facts which I learned.

Arriving at Sanatorium about 10 a.m., I was cordially received by Dr. McBrayer, the Superintendent of the institution, and his two efficient co-workers, Doctors McCain and Thompson. McBrayer is a man large in body and in mind and is eminently fitted for the very important work which is being done in this institution. Under his wise and efficient administration truly notable things are being accomplished in the battle with the great white plague.

In the Sanatorium I had the pleasure of meeting the nurses and patients, and also some former patients who had returned for examination. It was interesting and gratifying to note that all of those former patients have continued to improve after leaving the Sanatorium, thus illustrating the permanent value of the treatment they had received.

Tuberculosis has long been recognized as one of our most dreaded diseases, taking an enormous toll of human life, and being considered both unavoidable and insurable But in this institution the disease is being treated with courage and success, in the light of the best modern science and medical practice. Patients are being taught how to care for themselves and for others. The sanatorium is a great educational centre, whose inmates are being trained for effective war on the plague. It is like a missionary station in a heathen country. It helps not only those who are so fortunate as to go there, but others to whom are carried the glad tidings that consumption is both avoidable and curable.

The great white plague is no respecter of persons. “The sickness that wasteth a noonday” is liable to enter any home, from the highest to the most humble. All our people have a vital interest in this institution that is rendering such good service in fighting a common enemy. It deserves our united and liberal support, and its capacity should be doubled at once.

The Sanatorium is situated in Hoke county in the sandhills, among the long leaf pine. It is high and dry. From the top of the building one can see 40 miles in any direction. The soil is so porous that just after a hard rain one can go and walk about without getting his feet wet. The days and nights are equable. All in all the situation and climate are ideal for an institution of this kind.

The medical profession has been somewhat backward in the diagnosis of tuberculosis. But there is a great awakening in this matter. More than half the cases that are sent to the Sanatorium are incipient, which means with proper treatment they will get well. Every case of tuberculosis allowed to run to an advanced stage means a losing fight for the patient, but also that this person becomes a new center of infection for the spread of the disease. Success in the fight with this terrible plague must be one by preventive measures, to avoid the development of new cases, and by prompt treatment of every case in its early stages. Especial responsibility rests upon the medical profession and upon the heads of institutions to be alert in the diagnosis of tuberculosis and to provide promptly for the isolation and treatment of all cases in their incipiency. Institutions where large numbers of people are kept together as fertile breeding places for the development and spread of the disease. Neglect in such institutions may more than counterbalance the good work being done in our State Sanatorium.

I am under special obligations for the gracious hospitality shown me by Dr. McBrayer’s wife and daughter. These charming ladies know how to make even a stranger feel perfectly at home. At their table I enjoyed two delightful meals. And at the close of my visit they took me in their car for a drive through the country to Aberdeen.
            --F.M. Register, M.D., Tillery, N.C.

How a Doctor Could Spread Diphtheria Through Country School, 1919

From the November, 1919, issue of The Health Bulletin, published by the North Carolina State Board of Health

Early in September a nurse doing school inspection work for the State Board of Health in a small town wrote the county physician of that county the following letter:

“There have been several reported cases of diphtheria here, and certainly there appears to be a good deal of sore throats going the rounds. Dr. T……. on his own initiative, so I am told, visited the school here to examine the throats of some first-grade children, being zealous for the good health and protection of said children. He used his pencil as a tongue depressor, going from one child to another with the same instrument (a lead pencil) and wiping it off on the sleeve of each respective victim. He examined a number of children in this manner. The teacher suggested they would soon get some tongue depressors. But he went again the next day, I believe it was, and took some sticks he had prepared, using them over and over again on a number of children. Some clean depressors were then urged upon him, and even with these in plenty he persisted in using these on more than one child. He probably was bent on inoculating them with, at least, a proverbial peck of dirt. Can you do anything to stop such criminal practice on innocent children? This is the fine preface for my work, where I urge individual use of cups, spoons, and everything of the sort. I have this information first-hand.”

The country physician thus appealed to, and, by the way, one of the best and most efficient in the State, immediately wrote us to this effect:

“I see nothing that I can do in this matter, any more than swear to myself and refer this letter to you for your consideration. Any publicity from me on this in the way of going after such personal ignorance or carelessness would, as I see it, be worthless, but I think that your office should promptly and properly bring to task men who would practice such ungodly methods.”

The only comment we can make on such procedure by a man holding license to practice medicine in North Carolina is that better men have been hanged for less grave offenses. The only fit place for such a man to be turned loose is in the penitentiary or a hospital for the criminal insane. As publicity is a cure for a good many evils, in future it will be the policy of the State Board of Health, when authentic evidence of such practice is presented, to publish the whole affair, giving names and places.

It is interesting to note that the same physician stirred up his town some six months ago by stating to the parents of a child who was paralyzed as a result of diphtheria, that the paralysis “was caused by the antitoxin” and that the child “did not have diphtheria.” As a matter of face, which the most prejudiced physician must admit, diphtheria antitoxin can no more cause paralysis than could the same amount of cold water. The simple fact is that either through ignorance, or prejudice, or carelessness a diagnosis had not been made until the consulting physician called in at the eleventh hour insisted on using antitoxin. The paralysis following proved beyond a doubt that the child had diphtheria and that the antitoxin was simply used too late to be effective. Osler once stated that as a fact there are more cases of paralysis noted since the use of antitoxin became general than before, for the reason that the patients which now have antitoxin administered and are later paralyzed were the ones that previous to the use of antitoxin always died in the acute stages of this disease, never living long enough for the resulting paralysis, because of the severity of the attack.

O, Childhood, mortal man will probably never know the crimes committed in thy name!

Deadly Fog Kills 12,000; Hospitalizes 150,000 in London, 1952

In 1952, a fog swept into London, England, just as fogs had always done, but this one proved to be deadly. After five days, the fog had hospitalized more than 150,000 people and the death toll rose to 12,000. An uncounted number of animals in London also died. This lead to all sorts of speculation, but scientists said it was simple air pollution. England passed its Clean Air Act and while London remains foggy, there have been no poisonous fogs rolling over the city.

Now Chinese cities have poisonous and researchers are studying the 1952 London fog. Read what they discovered: http://earthsky.org/human-world/team-solves-mystery-of-londons-1952-killer-fog.

Sacrificing Sweets to Win the War, 1917

“Sugar Trimmings,” from the Nov. 1, 1917, issue of The French Broad Hustler. The Hustler, Henderson County’s Leading Newspaper.

Cross off soda fountain and ice cream treats.

Reduce candy consumption. Eat peanut brittle made from molasses and peanuts.

Omit icing from cakes and fancy breads.

Use fruit and nuts, candied honey or maple sugar for cake fillings.

Sweeten fruit drinks with honey or corn syrup.

If you must sweeten breakfast cereals, try figs, dates, raisins, syrup or a light sprinkling of maple sugar.

Use honey, corn syrup, dark syrup or maple syrup with hot cakes and in bread and muffins.
Try cakes that call for honey or syrup instead of sugar.

Tide over the sugar shortage by using now your jellies, jams, preserves and fruits canned with sugar.

Replace white sugar candies with syrup candies, or sweets made from figs, dates, and raisins combined with nuts.

For dessert, serve a fruit salad or fruit omelet; cream cheese with honey or fine preserves; fruit desserts with honey or just enough white sugar to bring out the fruit flavor.

Teacher Fired After Asking for Pit Privies, Jacketed Stoves for School, 1919

“The Teacher Was Fired” from the November, 1919, issue of The Health Bulletin, published by the North Carolina State Board of Health. You may not realize that the common practice in 1919 was to simply go into the woods and relieve yourself on the surface of the ground. That's why the teacher was asking for pit privies.

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.

Private Shot When Provost Guardsman Tried to Arrest Him, 1917

“Private Von Bethoven Fatally Wounded at Charlotte,” from the Nov. 1, 1917, issue of The French Broad Hustler. The Hustler, Henderson County’s Leading Newspaper.

Guardsman Attempted to Arrest Von Bethoven, Who Resisted…Action is Approved

Charlotte, Oct. 25—Private Frederick von Bethovan of the state of Washington, member of the 41^st division stationed at Camp Greene, is in a local hospital and his death is momentarily expected as a result of a bullet wound inflicted today when he was shot on the street here by a provost guardsman who attempted to arrest him.

According to official statement, Von Bethoven was under detention at camp for some breach of military regulation when he left the camp. Camp officials notified the provost guard headquarters in the city and ordered his arrest if found. A provost guardsman discovered him this afternoon and undertook to arrest him, whereupon he resisted, broke and ran, according to the official account of the affair. The guardsman ordered him to halt, but Von Bethoven continued running. Then the guardsman shot him, the bullet piercing his body.

Military authorities deny that Von Bethoven was being detained under suspicion of espionage. He came here several weeks ago with the Oregon troops. He claimed to be a grand nephew of the music master of the same name. An earlier report that the shooting was done by a secret service agent is officially denied. The action of the guardsman in shooting Von Bethoven is approved by the provost officials.

Broke Winston-Salem Family Hitchhiking in California, 1936

A young, penniless family hitchhiking on U.S. Highway 99, California, in November, 1936. The father, 24, and the mother, 17, came from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, early in 1935. Their baby was born in the Imperial Valley, California, where they were working as field laborers. The photo was taken by Dorothea Lange as part of a public works project, and it was put online by the New York Public Library. http://www.nypl.org/blog/2016/01/05/share-public-domain-collections

How Doctors Handle Folks 'Not Able to Pay', 1919

“Not Able to Pay!” from the November, 1919, issue of The Health Bulletin, published by the North Carolina State Board of Health

Classification of School Children Into Well-to-do and Indigent is Un-American, Un-Democratic, Un-Christian

No zydogactile bard of the order Psittacci ever told himself  “Pretty Polly!” with more satisfaction than otherwise responsible people derive from mouthing “Not able to pay.” It is unction to their souls. It is balm for many a troubled conscience.

“O, yes, this hospital offers free treatment to those who are not able to pay,” says the President of the Board of Visitors, adding, of course, “except a small fee to take care of incidentals.”

“Special provision for those who are not able to pay”; the “worthy poor”; “children of the poor”; “for charity” are a few of the canting generalities which cover a multitude of the sins of omission.

The North Carolina State Board of Health is neither Bolshevik nor Prussian; nor is its mission the setting of a wrong world right. But some of us who have played the game of life in the rough—who have practiced medicine and occasionally ourselves bound up a wound, as well as sat on “the rail” and watched the big men operate—have so often been balked in a sincere attempt to render honest service by the trite, satisfied reply, “Oh, yes, if he is not able to pay,” that we have become convinced that the expression itself is a howling hypocrite.

Suffering humanity means just exactly nothing to us, but suffering individuals whom it is partly our duty to assist mean everything. This peculiarly applies to the correction of common physical defects of thousands of school children in North Carolina.

Our Allies Need Our Hogs, Wheat, Ships to Win War, 1917

“Hogs Vitally Necessary to Win War, Hoover Says,” from the Nov. 1, 1917, issue of The French Broad Hustler. The Hustler, Henderson County’s Leading Newspaper.

Every Hog of Greater Value Than a Shell in Winning War….Allies Must Have Supply of Wheat

Washington, Oct. 27—In a statement reviewing the world food situation, Food Administrator Hoover said the fight against the submarine would be won if the United States and Canada could stimulate production and effect economies so as to feed the allies from this continent without sending a ship farther afield than the American Atlantic seaboard.

Ships, wheat and hogs are the great needs emphasized by Mr. Hoover.

Pork Consumption Increased
He said deepest concern had been caused by the fact that in spite of high prices this country’s pork consumption had increased during the war until  production had been outstripped; a situation that must be changed.

“If we discontinue exports,” Mr. Hoover added, “we will move the German line from France to the Atlantic seaboard. Pork products have an influence in this present world situation wider than one would ordinarily attribute to them. The human body must have a certain amount of fat; we must increase production of hogs if we are to answer the world’s craving.

“The production of fats is today a critical necessity for the preservation of these people (the allies and the maintenance of their constancy in the war. Every pound of fat is as sure of service as is every bullet and every hog is of greater value to the winning of this war with a shell.”

Wheat for Allies

As to wheat the administrator said the allies’ deficiency of production is 196,000 bushels, with imports of 577,700,000 bushels required to maintain normal consumption. He estimated aggregate American, Canadian, Australian, Indian and Argentine export surplus at 770,000,000 bushels, but pointed out that lack of shipping made it necessary for this country and Canada to bear the burden of meeting the allies’ deficit.

“The problem is thus simply one of ships,” he said. “If ample shipping existed there would be no need for saving or increased production of wheat on the part of the American people.But if we can produce economies and stimulate production in the United States and Canada as well enable them to live without sending ship farther afield than our Atlantic seaboard, we can resist the submarine indefinitely.”

Placing the United States wheat exports surplus from this year’s crop at 80.000.000 bushels and Canada’s at 150,000,000 bushels, Mr. Hoover urged domestic economies to increase this country’s surplus to 150,000,000 bushels.

“If war continues this wheat will be vitally necessary, Mr. Hoover said, but if the war should come to an end, there will be no foreign market for at least 400,000,000 bushels. The government must then take over the wheat and probably find a market for it at a very great loss. I should anticipate that the government may lose from $300,000,000 to $500,000,000 on this wheat guaranty if peace arrives before the 1918 harvest is marketed.”

Guarantee Unnecessary

Mr. Hoover expressed the opinion that the fixed guarantee was necessary and that a reasonable profit guaranteed to the farmer would have been sufficient to stimulate production.

“However, the guarantee has been fixed,” he added. “It is an insurance against the submarine and any estimate of what it may cost we must leave to the future.”

Turning to the meat situation, the administrator said pork products were more vitallyneeded by the allies than beef.

“In the matter of beef,” he said, “the allies can support themselves without any consequential expansion of imports from the United States.”

In view of the European situation and the American shortage in hogs he pointed out that there would be a high average price for pork products and therefore it would be to the vital advantage of every farmer to raise hogs, adding: “We need a keep-a-pig movement in this country.”


By preventing undue increases in forage prices, Mr. Hoover promised that the food administration would co-operate in measures to stimulate livestock production. He also said further production of sheep for both meat and particularly for wool, exclusively used in uniforms, is needed.

“Our farmers,” he added, “would be wise to realize that for a considerable period after the war there will be a very poor export market for American bread grains, whereas there will be a wide demand for animal products.”

My Weekly Reader, Nov. 7-11, 1960

Pieces of History Collected to Burn in Liberty Bonfire in Winston-Salem, 1917

“History Represented in Liberty Bonfire,” from the Nov. 1, 1917, issue of The French Broad Hustler. The Hustler, Henderson County’s Leading Newspaper.

Winston-Salem, Oct. 25—Among the historical places and incidents represented by the wood collected by Mrs. R.J. Reynolds and Mrs. Lindsay Patterson and burned on the liberty bonfire Tuesday night are the following:

Halifax, N.C., a part of the ruins of the house in which the constitution of North Carolina was written.
Wadesboro, N.C., a piece of the canteen of Chaplain Williams Bennett, 1776.

Quaker Meadows, N.C., piece of the council oak, with the inscription “Council Oak chapter wants to do its bit toward a blaze sale of the liberty bonds.”

Manteo, portion of trees from Fort Raleigh, and also a remnant of a Confederate saddle.

Mocksville, N.C., a piece of wood from the home of Daniel Beebe on Bear Creek, a tributary of the Yadkin river, Davie county.

Manteo, N.C., section of plank forming the ceiling of the house used as headquarters by the commander of the federal army on Roanoke Island, Dare county, 1862-1865.

Halifax, N.C., part of the house of Wilie Jones, seized by Cornwallis, 1781.

Morganton, N.C., a pre-revolutionary house.

Elizabethtown, N.C., famous “Tory hole” of revolutionary farm at which the battle of Elizabethtown was fought.

Statesville, N.C., wood from Fort Dobbs.

Red Springs, N.C., sticks of real light wood cut from the campus of Flora Macdonald college.

Local News in Cherokee Scout, Murphy, N.C., November 1904

“Editorial Notes” from the Cherokee Scout, Murphy, N.C., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 1904

The long drouth was broken by a slow rainfall beginning Wednesday night and at intervals continued until Saturday. In the place of dust, we now have mud. Crops had been made in this section before it set in, consequently no damage was done, only fall planting was delayed. It is predicted the wet spell will remain awhile with us. If the weather is fair today, a big vote will be polled. We’ll tell you all about the election in our next issue. Owing to the uncertainty of the election returns, we have thought it best not to wait for them. It will be noon Wednesday or later before you can tell anything about the county, and even later about the State and National election.

Superior court convenes here next Monday.

A.A. Fais spent several days in Ashville the past week.

W.S. Green has greatly improved his premises and dwelling.

Editor Shipman of Hendersonville was here Thursday night.

Attorney J.W. Ferguson was here from Waynesville Wednesday.

W.H. Woodbury leaves on the noon train today for New York.

C.H. West and Arthur Bristol represented Andrews on our streets Thursday.

We are glad to learn that F.A. Gennett will move back to Murphy from Asheville.

Norman Davidson left Friday for Atlanda. We understand he will drum for a house.

J.R. DeJournette of Blue Ridge was here Thursday. He will spend the winter at Calhoun, Ga.

The ladies will serve lunches today and oysters tonight in the King store building. Everybody invited.

D.W. Deweese and W.G. Payne went before the medical pension board Wednesday at Hayesville.

J.V. Brittain spent Friday at Jasper, Ga., where he purchased the lumber for his house from the Pickens Manufacturing Company.

Talk of building the Dalton and Alaculsy Railroad has been revived, and we notice that J.H. Carter, the banker, is interested in the movement.

Cark Axlay, who has a position in Collector Harkins’ office in Asheville, arrived Friday night to visit his parents. He returns tomorrow to Asheville.

Rev. D.P. Tate, pastor of the Methodist church, preached his last sermon before conference Sunday. He expects to leave tomorrow for Charlotte, where conference will be held.

J.H. Dillard informed us Saturday that he had just received the ham of a large bear from his friend, Forest Denton, of Graham county, who had killed three large bears the day before in Snowbird.
Good eating and cooking apples retailed on the streets Thursday at 25 cents a bushel, with but few buyers even at this price. The apple crop this year was a large one.

From the Blue Ridge Post: R.A. Phillips and Miss Lizzie Shoutz of Andrews were married at the Cooke House here last Friday night by Squire Hedden. It was a run-away match.

People who have been in the big mountains tell us that the chestnuts are almost knee deep on the ground, and that there never has been such a crop. Prices range here from $1.15 to $1.50 per bushel.

What’s at Gum Log? These two items appeared together in the last issue of the Blairsville Banner: The senior editor and wife spent last Saturday at Gum Log. The junior editor made a business trip to Gum Log Monday.

Mrs. A.L. Cooper and daughter, Mrs. A.R. Bell and infant daughter, arrived Saturday night. Mrs. Cooper has been visiting her daughter at Bowers, N.C., for some time and brought her home to remain until after conferences.

The supper served Saturday evening by the ladies of the Methodist church was liberally patronized by our people, all of whom are loud in their praise of the excellent bill of fare they received. The oysters were especially well served. The amount realized was something like $40 net.

Yesterday was moving day with several of our citizens. Col. Ben Posey moved into the Hennesa hotel, the Murphy School for Young Men and Young Women moving into the Posey residence on the hill, which it has purchased, and E.B. Norvell moved into the Cooper dwelling on the square vacated by the school.

We regret to learn that Col. A.T. Davidson of Asheville, for many years a resident of this place, is critically ill and little hope is entertained for his recovery. He is 85 years old and is one of the few surviving members of the Confederate Congress. He has many relatives and friends in this section who will regret to learn of his condition.

Prof. L.E. Mauney, principal of the school at Blue Ridge, Ga., spent Saturday and Sunday here with his family. He informed us that he had 240 students enrolled, with five teachers. In the normal and business departments he has 14 pupils form this county. Prof. Mauney is one of the best teachers in the mountains, and we are not at all surprised at his success.

Noah Hollowell Pleased to Return to Hendersonville Newspaper, 1917

From the Nov. 8, 1917 issue of the French Broad Hustler

Great is the degree of pleasure afforded me in resuming newspaper work in Hendersonville.

As was announced by the Hustler in August, the sale of the Brevard News to Hon. M.L. Shipman was on the condition that I should return to The Hustler, where I began newspaper work in this section nine years ago. Previous to going to Brevard two years ago, I was associated with Mr. Garlington in the publication of the Hustler for two years. Our old arrangements have been resumed and I am proud of the opportunity to return to Hendersonville.

My work was pleasant in Brevard but my return to Hendersonville was prompted by what appeared to be a greater opportunity than I could see elsewhere. I feel richer in friendships and profitable experiences by my stay in Brevard for those people are appreciative and enterprising and to know them is a pleasure. Memory of those days ever will be sweet to me.

Hendersonville has always been dear to me and I am glad to make it my home again. In my work I shall strive to the best of my ability to merit appreciation, which I once enjoyed to a satisfying degree, and my efforts will ever be for the upbuilding of Henderson county.
            --Noah M. Hollowell

Remembrance Day, November 11th

In 1921 Field Marshal Douglas Haig established a charity to help former servicemen. Paper poppies were sold and people wore them in remembrance of the fallen in World War I on what was called Remembrance Day or Armistice Day. Today, the Haig Fund helps men and women who are veterans of British Armed Forces' military actions.

Poppies reminded people of the fields of Flanders in France, where so many young men fought in the Great War fought to end all wars. Here's a link that explains the American Legion's poppy program: https://www.legion.org/troops/216371/legion-family-flower-remembrance

Remembrance Day, November 11th

In 1921 Field Marshal Douglas Haig established a charity to help former servicemen. Paper poppies were sold and people wore them in remembrance of the fallen in World War I on what was called Remembrance Day or Armistice Day. Today, the Haig Fund helps men and women who are veterans of British Armed Forces' military actions.

Poppies reminded people of the fields of Flanders in France, where so many young men fought in the Great War fought to end all wars. Here's a link that explains the American Legion's poppy program: https://www.legion.org/troops/216371/legion-family-flower-remembrance

What Editors are Saying Across the State, 1917

From the editorial page of the Nov. 8, 1917, issue of the French Broad Hustler, Gordon F. Garlington, Manager, and Noah M. Hollowell, Editor.

--Mr. Cannon’s remarks relative to the needs of a Transylvania county fair are quite timely. Although the county has a farm demonstrator, she will lag behind what she had ought to be in the stock growing and agricultural way until the county holds annual fairs.

--Henderson county is listed among the counties shown on a map prepared by the State Board of Health as one of those doing quarantine work unsatisfactory to the State authorities. This shows a field to which our new officer might advantageously turn his attention.

--The Cleveland Star says that Abraham Lincoln ate corn bread and grew to greatness on it and suggests that people in humbler walks of life do likewise as a war measure. Henderson county corn meal was introduced to national fame when Congressman Grant, our fellow townsman, was in congress, and there’s not a thing wrong with eating this wholesome grain.

--The Hustler notes with interest the sale of the Cherokee Scout of Murphy to G.O. Mercer of Asheville, who was formerly in the newspaper business at Mebane. Tate Powell, the retiring publisher, failed to say what he would do with himself, save would linger in the shop for a few days. The Hustler welcomes Mr. Mercer to the Western Carolina field and trusts that his sojourn will be pleasant and profitable. We regret the going of Mr. Powell.

--There was a day in which the Hendersonville Board of Trade wasted much time in arguing the advisability of publicity work. Thanks for the departure of that period. They have all been educated as to the needs and efficacy of publicity. The question now is the method and extent but the rub comes in raising the wherewithal. Let us look to that good day when the only trouble will be in fixing the sum desired; then name it and every one will give cheerfully according or as she has been blessed with community publicity.

North Carolina Provided Free Dental Care for Students, 1919

Letters of praise for the free dental work provided to students throughout North Carolina to Dr. G.M. Cooper in Raleigh, who was state director of medical inspections in schools, as published in the November, 1919, issue of The Health Bulletin, published by the North Carolina State Board of Health

Dear Dr. Cooper,

I am just writing you a word to say that you might have sent someone else as good as Dr. Bobbitt, but you certainly couldn’t have sent anyone who could have done the work any better than he is doing it. He is as near 100 percent efficient as a man can be. He works from eight to twelve hours, and it is work, too.

I shall be glad to help him in any way I can. I am letting a part of my regular work go so long as I can help any in this, because I know the work the doctor is now doing is more badly needed than anything else at this time.

The people are friendly and anxious for the work to be done, and the more they hear of the class of work being done by the doctor the more anxious they are for him to reach them.

I know just the proposition you have to face, and know what it means to try to do a lot of work with limited capital, but if it can be done at all, I would like very much to have him for at least nine weeks. This will make it possible for him to get into all the schools of the county, and the work is so badly needed. I wish you could be up here for a few days and see just what is needed and what he is doing.

-=-

Double Creek School

W.L. Brewer, Princ.

Rosefarm, Abshers, N.C.

September 10, 1919

Dear Dr. Cooper,

I am writing to say that we had Dr. J.F. Reece with us last week. The doctor is a genial good man and soon won the confidence of the children. Some of the patrons of the school were out to meet the doctor and heard his talk to the school, which was just splendid. He treated 28 of our pupils, and the work is greatly appreciated. The children were so anxious to have their teeth treated that they could hardly wait until they were called. This is one of the greatest things the State could do for the children, and it is to be hoped that it will not only prove a very great blessing to the individual child but to the State as a hole, for healthy children are the State’s best assets.

Kindest regards and best wishes for your success in this great work. I am

Cordially and sincerely ours,

W.L. Brewer

-=-

This was a very interesting week. I cannot make more than one rural school a day and do my study toward the children. All of the schools I visited the past week were done on horseback, the only means of transportation in this section. The children behave splendidly, in spite of wild rumors as to stripping them, vaccinating, etc. They soon discover I am quite harmless and are intensely interested in themselves and others. They crowd around and many of them confide symptoms which you know is the acid test of a child’s confidence. I am expecting to work next week in arranging for the clinic on the 20^th.

                --Miss Birdie Dunn, State Board of Health school nurse writing from Cherokee

-=-

Two days later, she reported: We had a good response here considering everything: 38 children were operated on and everything went well. Today, answering a complaint from a specialist as to our not discriminating against children of well-to-do people, I told him that these clinics are relieving a few, but educating the whole communities, that eventually they would voluntarily, and at a sacrifice, present their children to specialists for private treatment, and that but the smallest per cent now accepting this service would, without it, have treatment at all.

-=-

Dear Dr. Cooper,

We had a very successful dental clinic here the latter part of the week. The parents and children were very much interested in the work. Dr. Schultz seems to be doing the work and the people liked him just fine. He worked three days as hard as he could and had a day’s work to do when his time was out. I don’t believe there is anything more important in the school work than to look after the children’s teeth and to teach them to take care of the teeth; therefore I wish to express my appreciation for the work you are doing. I will be ready at any time to cooperate with you in this work.

About five years ago you came to Elm City and made a medical examination of the school children. I have two boys, and you advised me that they had enlarged tonsils and adenoids. You also suggested that I have them operated on. I did so, and they have improved wonderfully. The older boy is one of the finest physical specimens to be found anywhere. He is nearly 13 years old now, weighs 90 pounds, is well muscled and is as hard as a brick. He is working in the field this summer. Last year he led the class when they took the seventh grade county examination. This year he won the medal for declamation. My younger boy has improved wonderfully. Dr.  ….., of ….., operated on these boys and I think is a slick operator. I hope you will come down to see us as we would like to talk with you about the work.

Yours very truly, W.G. Coltrane

Prof. Coltrane was head of the Grifton schools in Pitt County when this letter was written.

-=-

The state also received a brief “May God bless you,” from a mother.

-=-

Superintendent M.K. Weber, head of the Asheville schools:

Permit me to express my keen appreciation and deep satisfaction in the plans that led to the selection of Asheville as one of the cities of the State in which you have established dental clinics.

The first week of the clinic, closing Saturday, with 260 children registered at the one building alone, clearly demonstrated the great value as well as the need of this work. With this almost startling object lesson of the urgent need I wish to join in an unanimous public sentiment and appeal to your office to extend the time of this clinic in Asheville for at least two weeks.

From Dr. F.L. Hunt, Secretary of the State Board of Dental Examiners:

I had the pleasure of visiting the clinic being conducted by Dr. Schultz in one of the Asheville schools yesterday, and am certainly pleased with the work being done.

From Dr. Warren W. Way, Record of St. Mary’s:

I have requested every teacher in the St. Mary’s faculty to comply with the State law for public school teachers which requires a health certificate. I think it a wise law.

From Prof. C.C. Wright, head of the Wilkes County schools:

I am writing to know if you can let Dr. Reece stay with us through the first week in November. I have done the very best I could in making his itinerary, and am only sorry that I cannot send him to all the places clamoring for him. He has done excellent work and our people are well pleased and want him back.

Election and Other News From the Cherokee Scout, Nov. 8, 1904

“Editorial Notes” from the Cherokee Scout, Murphy, N.C., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 1904

The city of Winston-Salem was visited Wednesday by a terrible accident. The north wall of the reservoir burst with a roar and millions of gallons of water swooped down upon 50 houses adjacent, drowning 13 people and injuring scores of others.

Today the election is being held, so hurrah, for—we, us and company!

Whiskey will flow freely today, and many men will be killed and scores wounded.

What is to become of the mighty host of political speakers? After today they will be out of a job.

With nine presidential tickets in the field today, every voter ought to be satisfied. Take your choice.

The Baltic sea fleet is rushing to certain destruction, and Russia is as well aware of this fact as any one else. [Japan and Russia were at war.]

Many a man will cast his first ballot today, and many a man his last one. Such is the uncertainty of life.

Atlanta is experiencing an epidemic of assaults and burglaries, and the police always arrive just after it happened.

We are for anything that will build up Murphy and keep up the growth that she is now experiencing.

The total valuation of real estate in North Carolina as returned for taxes is $220,303,339, an increase of $32,000,000.

Agitate the electric light and waterworks question, now that the election is about over. Nothing was ever accomplished without agitation.

Several of the airships at the St. Louis fair have made short but successful trips. In a short while airships will take the place of automobiles as a mode of travel.

The North sea incident between Russia and England is at last to be settled by a court of inquiry, and it is probably that Admiral Geo. Dewey will be made a member of the court.

It is fortunate the mean things said by opposing political speakers will soon be forgotten. But we can truthfully say that the campaign just closed was cleaner than many of its predecessors.

The history of the assaults on Port Arthur since the first of last August tells of desperate fighting by desperate men. It is now only a question of a short while until it must surrender.

President Roosevelt has issued his proclamation calling upon the people to observe November 24^th as a day of Thanksgiving. Crops have been bountiful and the times are prosperous. Altogether each individual has much to be thankful for and the Giver of good gifts should not be forgotten.

When You Could Choose Between Candidates From Nine Parties: 1904

From the Charlotte Observer, November, 1904


Today nine presidential tickets will go before the American people for their support, although only six will be generally voted upon. Besides the Democratic and Republican nominees there are candidates representing the following parties: People’s, Prohibition, Socialist Labor, Continental (labor), National Liberty (negro) and Lincoln (negro). The two negro parties, however, apparently ended their work when the national conventions adjourned, as no electors have been selected, or at least none will appear on any official ballot. The Continental party seems to be confined to Illinois, and perhaps to Chicago, the place of its origin.

Why the Mountaineer of Newland May Go Out of Business, 1917

“Moral Support Greater Than Financial Aid,” from the Nov. 8, 1917, issue of the French Broad Hustler.

The thing a newspaper desires sometimes more than money is shown in the following editorial from the Mountaineer of Newland, which was established 13 weeks ago by F.A. Carr. There is a good moral for the ordinary newspaper reader in this story:

It is time the people and the editor should understand each other and either pull together for better things or keep quiet together and let things go to the devil as fast as they can and as far as the editor is concerned he is anxious that the people who are really interested in improvement should come out from under cover and get together and pull together. The Mountaineer has set the pace and started the ball rolling and now it is your move.

We were informed last week by one of the owners of the gambling machines in town that they had been laid away because of information given by the solicitor that they were gambling machines and a violation of the law and that their continued use would result in prosecution. We have evidence that both have been in operation since court adjourned. We are told that the editor is the only man in the county who objects to these machines running.

The editor located in Newland because he likes the people and the country. He was told on every hand that the people wanted to live according to law, that they wanted to suppress lawlessness and that a newspaper could help and the help would be welcome.

The Mountaineer’s efforts have been commended by a great many people privately to the editor, but so far we have failed to see anyone come out in the open and back the editor’s efforts.

The editor is not the giving up kind. He has started in to go all the way, but if he is forcing his ideas and wishes on the people of the county and none of these people want what he wants, then he is a mighty selfish man and the sooner he and the Mountaineer leaves Newland and Avery County, the better it will be. He is tired of having people call him off to one side where no one will hear and say in effect “Sic ‘em, Tige, I’m for you!” If the people of Avery county want tee improvements the editor wants, if they want the enforcement of the law and better moral conditions, it is their move, their time to come out in the open before the people and say so.

It is not a question of money. We are making that in a satisfactory amount. It is a question of the open moral support of the people.

The Mountaineer and its editor are both wanted elsewhere, where the people understand our aims and our position and are willing to work openly with us for things that are in the line of public improvement. If there are any people in Avery County who are willing to put their shoulders to the wheel and help for better things it is time for them to say so.

The columns of the Mountaineer are open to a reasonable extent as far, in fact, as our force can set up the type for articles from those who oppose him. It is the people’s paper. To those who have been asking us to do certain things, however, the time has come for you to ask it openly in print over your own signature.

Christ opposed evil whenever he found it openly and boldly.

His disciples followed Him.

He said not those that say Father but those that do the will of the Father will enter the kingdom, and instructs us repeatedly not only to avoid sin, but to oppose sin. Unless we have the faith that will force us to do what He tells us to do we may be church members but we are not Christians and we will fail of the Christian reward.

Shall the Mountaineer and its editor keep up the fight for law and order for a better moral atmosphere for you to raise up your boys and girls in? It is your move. A short letter from you printed next week will be the answer. There is not a person in the county whom we are willing to oppose personally but wrong doing we will oppose clear through to the end if we feel that there are enough people sufficiently interested to come out openly for the welfare of their own children, but we shall wait to hear from you. Don’t tell us unless you are willing to tell the world for you don’t count unless you are willing to stand up in the open and be counted.

Army Needs Experienced Woodsmen and Sawmen, 1917

“Woodsmen and Sawmill Men Still Needed for Forest Regiment,” from the Nov. 1, 1917, issue of The French Broad Hustler. The Hustler, Henderson County’s Leading Newspaper.

Chapel Hill, N.C., Oct. 27—The assistant forester in charge of recruiting has announced that the first two battalions of the 20^th engineer (forest) regiment are now practically recruited to full strength. This not mean that it will now be difficult to enter this very attractive service. On the contrary, enlisting will go on as heretofore. Men familiar with the different branches of the work of logging and running small portable sawmills, such as are found all over North Carolina, are especially wanted. The State forester, Mr. J.S. Holmes, says that he has received letters from a considerable number of men inquiring about conditions and some of them have already enlisted in this regiment, but North Carolinians have so far been slow to avail themselves of this opportunity of serving their country. There are many thousands of young men thoroughly familiar with woods work and the handling of portable sawmills in this State, which is known to have the largest number of such mills of any State in the Union, with the possible exception of Virginia.

Speaking of the reluctance of coming forward, which is perhaps characteristic of us in the South, M.G.E. French of Statesville says:

“It seems to me, if a young man is looking out for his future welfare in the community in which he lives, that the first thing he would do would be to volunteer, and how strong healthy young fellows of military age can feel any desire to hold back and wait to be forced in, I don’t understand; that is, if they attach any large importance to their future, as the people in every community of the United States will be very certain to remember who were the volunteer soldiers, and who were not. If I were of military age, I would not hesitate a second about volunteering—in fact, I would not feel that I could afford to do otherwise. It is always distressing to me to see a strong, vigorous young man stay at home when another boy he grew up with has gone out to offer his life to help win the big fight, which means so much to us, and to every citizen of the Republic.”

Now is the time to enlist. Timber and firewood are badly needed by our armies at the front, and none know better how to get ties, posts, lumber and firewood than the youth of North Carolina.

Applications should be made without delay to the State Forester, Chapel Hill, N.C., or to the nearest recruiting station.

Working to Give Women the Right to Vote in North Carolina, 1920

Our State magazine features an account of the North Carolina suffragettes' campaign. You can see additional photos and read the complete story at: https://www.ourstate.com/north-carolina-suffragettes-crusade-to-cast-a-ballot/. Here is a photo of some of the people who worked for approval in 1920. The legislature denied the right of women to vote, but other states were in favor so the 19th Amendment was ratified and all women got the right to vote. This photo, which was used with the article in Our State magazine, came from the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh.

Derby Urges Farmers Not to Grow More Peaches Than Can Be Sold, 1924

“Derby Says Limit Peach Production” from the Nov. 7, 1924 issue of The Pilot, Vass, N.C.

Thinks Crop Should Be Held Down to What Market Takes Freely

I have just returned and read the article in the Sept. 5^th issue of The Pilot entitled “Is the Orchard Overdone?” in which you take issue with me on the question of production of peaches.

There are several points that I would like to clear up in this connection and as I believe the whole matter deserves the widest possible discussion in the local press I am very glad to write this open letter to you which I hope you will see fit to publish. I want to discuss the matter in perfect good humor on account of you and the pleasant relations I have always had with you so that any little pleasantries that I pass out should be taken in good part. We once argued in the public press the question of whether or not you deserved to hung without a lynching taking place and as you escaped the gallows I expect my idea of a proper punishment for you was wrong. While we are discussing personalities I might say that in my opinion your vision and enthusiasm are and have been very valuable assets to this community and I am very glad that you were NOT hung. However it is possible for even a prophet and the Sage of the Sandhills to be sometimes wrong and when he is I want to assist in setting him right.

It seems to me that the responsibility of the press is a very great one and that when a writer undertakes to advise such a community as this on a fundamental economic policy he should be very sure of his facts. This is especially true when one is dealing with farmers, for as a class they have less cohesion than any other class in our civilization and the development of public opinion among them is an extremely difficult matter. Therefore I want to get down to the fats in this matter of production of peaches and stick to them, leaving generalities and sweeping prophesies as to the future alone.

In the first place you start your article by misquoting me. I never have made the assertion that the Sandhills are producing too many peaches. What I have said is that the South was producing too many peaches and that the present acreage planted in this district will produce all we can hope to market at a profit and that this acreage should not be increased. I took this position two years ago and still maintain it and I believe that the experience of last summer has proved my position to be correct. Of course it is not a popular stand to take. Being a Cassandra never went down very well in America but that happens to make no difference to me whatever. I would a good deal rather be right than insincere.

You go on in your article to say that the trouble is not with overproduction but with an imperfect system of marketing and you lead your reads to believe that in some  way the community can improve this so that 50,000 cars of peaches can be sold as easily as we used to sell our 300 or 400 carloads. You compare our problem to the marketing of beef which you say is an equally perishable product as peaches.

This comparison seems to me to be unworthy of your intelligence and indicates that you are guessing about the question and not boring down after the cold hard facts. Beef is really not a particularly perishable product. It can be frozen and kept in cold storage indefinitely. It can be and is slaughtered whenever the occasion demands. If we could leave our peaches on the trees for twelve months and pick them when the market demanded them or pick them and store them under low temperatures for an indefinite period, then I would agree that our problem would be much simplified and would approach a comparison with the beef industry.

Moreover beef is a necessity in the diet of the nation that really has no substitute. Meat has a stimulating effect that most people believe is the source of energy and endurance of our very vigorous people. But for peaches there are dozens of substitutes, both fresh and preserved that can answer the same purpose equally as well. It is well known that cantaloupes are serious competitors of peaches and in this connection it might be well to point out that we peach growers were very fortunate during the market gluts of the past season in that the cantaloupe crop was short and poor. Otherwise we would have had an even more disastrous experience than we had.

You also lead your readers to believe that one solution of our problem would be to can our product. This is a very common illusion among people who really don’t know anything about the peach business. Our fresh fruit varieties such as Belle, Hiley and Elbertas are not suitable for canning. This is a well known fact which I am surprised that more people do not recognize. These varieties do not hold their shapes when put up n cans but break own into a frayed, mushy mass that is not acceptable to the public. I grant you that the flavor, when properly prepared, is superior to the ordinary hard meaty California canning peach but unfortunately the public will not accept them.

California when through this same experience years ago with the same varieties that we are growing here and finally developed a special peach for drying and canning. You wonder why we should not do the same. Well, that is worth looking into but first we should determine whether we can enter this special line of agriculture with any hope of success. Raising canning peaches is a very different matter than raising fresh fruit. Colour, which is an essential for fresh fruit is of no consequence in canned fruit. The important considerations are the size of the individual specimens and the yield per tree. In California in the peach canning districts they get a very much larger yield per tree than we do here on account of the stronger land, and, in my opinion this is the stumbling block that would prevent our hoping to compete with California in this line. At all events it would take years of experimentation and a great deal of special knowledge and investigation before we could enter the canning peach industry. I object to your sweeping and off hand assertion that to can our peaches is a solution of our difficulties.

Now as to marketing. You again make a sweeping assertion to the effect that we should do something to improve it so that more peaches can be sold at a profit and one would infer form what you say, that our present methods are very inefficient. In this I totally disagree.

It is utterly impossible for a district that has a product to market over a period of only three weeks in a year to build up an organization of its own to handle the business. This has been tried time and again by various districts and has always proved a failure. Our own experience in this line should have taught us the lesson in conclusive fashion. For such a district as ours the only solution is to employ a marketing organization that is constantly in the field and that has the connections and trained personnel to handle the job efficiently. This was done last year by the American Growers and the Federated Growers and done as well as it could be done. Contrary to what you would have your readers believe they put our product everywhere. Of course there were many people that did not get Sandhill peaches 1,500 carloads will not supply the whole country, but the consuming public had plenty of peaches during our shipping season as anyone could ascertain by simply looking at the fruit stands and push carts in the big centers of the country.

This is a well established fact that is recognized by everybody.

One would also infer from your article that something was wrong with the country’s system of getting fruit into the hands of the public after it reaches the big centers. If you walk down any if the busy streets of any good-sized American town the thing that impresses you is the multitude of fruit stands, for the most part run by Italians. You wonder how they all manage to make a living at it. This summer in Portland, Maine, I had fruit thrust at me on every corner. I don’t believe than any middleman is in closer touch with the consuming public than is the Italian fruit vendor. He sets up a stand in any nook or corner available, he puts his wares out in the open close to the passerby and he is always in attendance in his white coat urging the public to buy. Or he pushes his long cart through the crowded streets taking his wares to the very doorstep of the purchaser. In fact I don’t believe that any product has a more complete distributing system than fruit has in this country or more efficient and enterprising salesmen to dispose of it.

In seasons like the past one generally hears a wail raised by the growers against the middlemen and the railroads. These are easy people to blame for all the troubles of the business but I cannot see quite how the responsibility for raising more stuff than can be consumed is to be fixed on them. The middleman is vital to the success of the perishable fruit grower. Without him to take a share of the risk and to unload the stuff on the public we would be in a sorry plight indeed. Nor is the business all beer and skittles for him. The large number of failures in this line is proof enough that his end is quite risky, if not more risky, than the growers’ end.

LaFollette and his crew of radicals blame the railroads and Wall Street for the condition of the wheat market and the hard times of the Western farmer when every thinking man knows that what ails the wheat farmer is too much wheat and nothing much else.

We have never experienced an agricultural crisis in this country that was not directly caused by overproduction. The corn famine in Kansas in the nineties was due to an overproduction of corn. Then the farmers burnt their cornstalks for fuel as they were cheaper than wood or coal. The opening up of our fertile West during and after the Civil War virtually prostrated agriculture in the East and for that matter in Europe as well. Why? Simply because those rich lands yielded more and at less expense than the worn out soils of an older civilization and because the free homesteads upon which the settler had no interest on the investment to pay and no mortgage to clear was a more profitable investment than the capitalized farms of an older civilization.

The potentiality of this great country from the point of view of the production of all kinds of crops is still enormous. If it were all farmed intensively agriculture would be ruined. Make no mistake about that. Our government has fostered agriculture by encouraging the farmer to produce more and more, to make two blades of grass grow where one grew before, regardless of whether the second blade could be sold at a profit or sold at all. By giving away the homesteads to settle the West, by numerous reclamation projects, by teaching and preaching better and cheaper methods of production our government has assisted mightily in developing the greatest country on earth but it is only natural that such a program should bring its periods of suffering for the producing classes.

I am not blaming or criticizing the policy of the government in this. I am merely stating that I believe to be facts and attempting to point out the dangers that a community like ours may run into. Only by knowing the truth about the past can we safeguard the future.

The question, as I see it, is whether we in this section should not take stock and the possibility of marketing what we will produce on the present acreage planted and plan our future as intelligently as any large business concern plans its future.

No manufacturing concern goes ahead with a program of production without consulting its sales department to find out how much can be sold. Yet the peach grower goes blindly ahead planting trees without the dimmest idea of where or how his product is to be marketed four or five years later. True, you cannot control this by legislation or by any other direct method, but if the press has the welfare of the section it serves really at heart and is honest and candid and not serving the ends of real estate speculators or railroads that are pursuing a policy of too rapid development, it can present the facts to the public and the public can judge for itself.

Let us profit by the experience of the Georgia peach growers and the Washington and Oregon apple growers and the Florida citrus growers and the California lemon growers before it is too late and we smash half the banks in the district and send a lot of disgruntled settlers back to the North with empty pockets and a cordial feeling of dislike for our beautiful section.

If you will consult the United States Bureau of Markets in the Department of Agriculture in Washington, they will tell you all the facts in the matter and support them with figures that are conclusive. I have discussed the whole question with them from A to Izzard and I haven’t found a man in the Bureau who is anything but a pessimist about the immediate future of the peach situation in the South or the citrus industry. Last week in Washington I was told by one of the men high up in the Bureau that in his opinion not more than 60 percent of a normal apple crop could be marketed at profitable prices in this country today. He supports this assertion by pointing to the present crop which is going at profitable prices and which is only 60 percent of a normal crop.

The unfortunate thing is that the very accurate information that these men have in Washington cannot be presented to the farmers officially because of the political pressure that would immediately brought on the Department by real estate operators and the railroads if anything were said that might tend to discourage additional planting or break a real estate boom.

The blight of any fruit district is the man who wants to sell land rather than enter seriously into the production of fruit. We have such people here and if they were given enough rein they would land this district on the rocks as sure as shooting. How much harm have they actually done us remains to be seen.

It is a pity that the U.S. Bureau of Markets cannot be invited by the fruit producing districts of the South to make a survey of present planting and production and report on the condition and probable future of the industry. Such information would be accepted by the public as disinterested whereas if an individual or group of individuals attempt to supply such information the public assumes that they have some special end to serve.

How you can blink the fact that Georgia filed to market between four and six thousand carloads of peaches this past season and actually left them to rot in the orchards because the prices at the terminal markets would not pay the freight and contend that there was no overproduction of peaches is beyond me. Everybody that has looked into the situation recognizes the truth. The Georgia and South Carolina Peach Exchanges recognize it so well that they have issued statements in the public press to the effect that there is an overproduction and are urging a moratorium on planting so that no additional fruit shall come in before 1932.

You are kind enough to state that I am no coward. I trust that I am not but when I consider the situation before us in the peach business I feel like one. Frankly I would get out if I could. Not being able to do so however, I shall do what I can to see the proposition through, taking care of my own interests first of all and helping others where and when I can. At present I believe the biggest assistance I can be to others is to present the facts about the industry as I see them. I felt this two years ago when I hired space in the local press together with others who felt as I did and advised against an extension of the industry here. You may not believe it, but I did not take this action with the idea that it would assist me in getting votes in case I decided to run for Congress or to be elected dog catcher.

I am neither so stupid or so selfish as to want to be only one of a handful of people who have the peach market to themselves. Under such conditions it would be extremely difficult to succeed. We are all benefited by each others’ experience in this business and unless we have trained labour at our command we cannot operate as efficiently as we should. There is a great advantage in operating in a district composed of intelligent and efficient growers who set a high standard of quality for their fruit.

Two other misstatements you made were that the car of peaches I shipped to England made a hit and that I come of a family that used to catch whales. The car we shipped to England sold very slowly and the fruit was not appreciated by the public. The net return was not sufficient to warrant the enormous risk taken in shipping across the water and I doubt if I ever try it again. As for the whales, my ancestors never caught any that I am aware of. They were East India traders up till the war of 1812 when they had the good sense to get out of the shipping business. So far as I know I am the only Jonah that my family has produced.

With kindest regards, Sincerely yours, Roger A. Derby, October 25^th, 1924