20 Years Ago
Week of April 12, 2012
Alleghany Meats Opens Doors
Many dreams were brought to fruition Tuesday at the Alleghany Highlands Agricultural Center (AHAC) opening day celebration. The center is a collaboration between Pendleton and Pocahontas counties in West Virginia and Highland and Bath counties in Virginia. The intent of the facility is to provide a stimulus and support system to the strong agricultural base within those counties.
Pendleton Offers State’s Highest Quality of Life
For the second consecutive year, Pendleton County is ranked the state’s healthiest county. Another study documents the county’s exceptionally healthy environment for children.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute compile the national survey of county health rankings.
Week of April 19, 2012
SUGAR GROVE
English Language Can Be Quite Perplexing
The English language can be quite humorous and perplexing at times. It has been said that it is one of the most difficult languages to learn. When reading the following anonomyous excerpt, one might truly be confused with the spoken language.
“We polish the Polish furniture.
He could lead if he would get the lead out.
A farm can produce produce.
The dump was so full it had to refuse refuse.
The soldier decided to desert in the desert.
The present is a good time to present the present.
At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
The dove dove into the bushes.
I did not object to the object.
The insurance for the invalid was invalid.
The bandage was wound around the wound.
There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
They were too close to the door to close it.
The buck does funny things when the does are present.
They sent a sewer down to stitch the tear in the sewer line.
To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number.
I shed a tear when I saw the tear in my clothes.
I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.
Imagine how difficult it would be for an immigrant to adjust to the American lifestyle and the spoken language.
20 Years Ago
Week of April 18, 2002
Placing Things In Perspective Necessary
By Jim Davidson
On a day by day basis, how we view our circumstances, life is often a matter of perspective and this is especially true when it comes to raising children. Here is an example of what I mean: One time a woman said to a friend. “Our marriage would have broken up years ago if it hadn’t been for the children. We can’t get a divorce, because he won’t take them and neither will I.”
Children are a precious gift from God, but they don’t always perform or act in a manner we would like for them to. As parents, we want the best for our children and in most cases have high expectations of them. A good case in point is the story about a college girl who wrote her mother the following letter:
Dear Mother,
I’m sorry I haven’t written these last four months. The reason I haven’t is because of a brain operation I had, which was the result of a concussion I received when I jumped from the fourth story of the dormitory when it caught fire. Fortunately, a young service station attendant across the street saw the fire, called the fire department and the ambulance and got me to the hospital in time.
While I was in the hospital, the young man visited me regularly. When I was released, I had no place to go. He invited me to share his apartment. It wasn’t really an apartment. It was just a basement room. It was kind of cute. Yes, Mother, I am in love. I’m pregnant and we do plan to get married. The reason we haven’t already gotten married is because of some silly disease he had and he failed the blood test.
Sincerely,
Your Loving Daughter
P.S. Now, Mother, this is just to let you know: I did not have the brain operation. There was no concussion. I did not jump from the dormitory. It did not catch on fire. I am not in love. I’m sure not going to get married! I did make a “D” in English and an “F” in history. I thought you ought to see these two things in their proper perspective.
Now, I believe you’ll agree, after the first part of the daughter’s letter, the long-suffering mother was happy about a “D” in English and an “F” in history. After reading this story, I began to reflect on it and a couple of observations came to mind. Everything is relative, and only when we have the common sense to place things in perspective are we able to properly deal with them. When you think about that daughter away at college—in all likelihood at her parent’s expense—I’m sure her mother expected her to do better than a “D” in English and an “F” in history. The daughter knew her mother’s expectations. Why else would she have gone to such great lengths to compose her masterpiece?
As individuals, if we are to profit from this story, we should consider the underlying fact that sooner or later we will be held accountable for our actions. If we short change ourselves in taking full advantage of life’s opportunities, we are the ones who ultimately suffer the consequences. The message here is simple. Let’s make sure we do our best to take advantage of our opportunities when we have the chance. In many cases, real opportunity only knocks once. To make sure our ship comes in, we must first make sure we have sent one out. A good education is vital in today’s technological age.
50 Years Ago
Week of April 20, 1972
Winter Grazing Is New Concept
The Circleville High School FFA boys recently toured a winter grazing operation in Grant County on the Dr. Lyle Veach farm. The tour was arranged by Russell Lawrence, district supervisor with the Potomac Valley Soil Conservation District.
Lawrence said this type thing will enable the FFA boys to know who their supervisors are and some of the activities that the district is involved in. “I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with young people. I think we have a fine FFA chapter here at Circleville,” he added.
The boys were impressed with the operation which utilizes the tall fescue pasture and somewhat amazed at the condition of the cows. According to Moses Taylor, district conservationist, United States Department of Agriculture, “The cows have grazed out on pasture all winter without any feeding at all, which really cut down on labor cost. They were in very good condition,” Taylor said.
60 Years Ago
Week of April 19, 1962
100 YEARS AGO
McClellan Is Halted; South Begins Draft
By LON K. SAVAGE
Editor’s Note—The following is one of a series of articles on the Civil War. Each weekly installment covers events which occurred exactly 100 years ago.
Spring had come to Virginia, and the women and children of Richmond came out onto the streets beneath the foliage 100 years ago this week to cheer as the troops moved smartly through.
Down the east-west thoroughfares the battle-stained veterans moved on horseback, on foot and riding on caissons, around the Confederate capitol and on to the east, flags flying and bands playing. For days they had marched through, led by men who suddenly had become famous: the colorful J. E. B. Stuart, the fierce-looking James Longstreet, the harsh disciplinarian Jubal Early and the opinionated but able D. Harvey Hill. Over them all was Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, commanding field forces in Richmond’s defense.
The time had come for the South to make its stand otuside its capitol city. Some 50 miles eastward, Gen. George B. McClellan had gathered a federal army of more than 100,000 men, intent on pushing up the peninsula between the York and James Rivers to Richmond. Now, Johnston was bringing his army south from central Virginia, through Richmond and east to Williamsburg and Yorktown to halt the federal advance.
Chance is Missed
Although the Confederate troops didn’t realize it, they had halted McClellan temporarily—merely by arriving in his front.
For their arrival meant that McClellan had missed his chance. The young federal general had set out on his march up the peninsula April 2, when the peninsula was protected only by Confederate Gen. J. Bankhead Magruder with a little army of 8,000 to 12,000 men, dug in from the York to the James (many of them using entrenchments left from the battle of Yorktown in the American Revolution). Had McClellan launched a major assault at that time, there can be little doubt of the result.
But April 5 came, and with it the surprising word went back from federal Gen. Erasmus Keyes on the front to McClellan: “I am stopped by the enemy’s works.” Rain fell hard that day, and the roads turned to a morass in which guns and wagons sank to their axles. McClellan, greatly over-estimating Magruder’s strength, decided to lay siege on Yorktown.
And while McClellan prepared his siege, Joe Johnston’s Confederates swooped down from the Rapidan, filed through Richmond and moved into Magruder’s defenses. Now, thanks to McClellan’s delay, the thing he feared most—a strong Confederate line—actually existed.
Back in Richmond, there were other developments that week. The Confederate Congress was in session, occupied with a thorny problem. The first year of the war was over, and the enlistments of thousands of soldiers were terminating. Affairs had gone badly in the West, along the coast (just the preceding week, for Pulaski at Savanah, Ga., had fallen to the federals, closing the Savannah River to blockade runners), and Richmond was under threat.
So on April 16, at President Jefferson Davis’ request, the Confederate Congress enacted the first national draft law in Ameria.
It provided for conscription of all able-bodied white men from 18 to 35 and extended the service of the 12-month men to three years. But it exempted men in foundry and railroad work and planters with 20 or more slaves. The law raised a fuss against Davis that would last for the rest of the war.
Next week: New Orleans is captured.
70 Years Ago
Week of April 17, 1952
Where Disastrous Fire Started 28 Years Ago Today
Today 28 years ago—April 17, 1924—the great fire struck Franklin and burned down two blocks in the business district. The fire began in The Times plant when a gasoline motor used to power the press, backfired and ignited some combustibles nearby. All that remained of The Pendleton Times after the flames had run their course was the gasoline engine and the press.
Bicycle Club Gets Off To Good Start
Trooper Bill Cunningham reports that more than 100 youngsters in the Franklin area and on North and South Forks have joined or indicated their intention of joining the “Pendleton Pedal Pushers,” a bicycle club which has as its objective, the safe operation of bikes on the highways.
Contests will be held during the summer months for a wide variety of prizes which consist mainly of bike accessories and kindred items, which were furnished by Franklin businessmen. These prizes have been placed on display in a window of the Franklin Jewelry company, where they have aroused the envy of every bike owner who has seen them.
The Lions club will furnish a hundred rear reflectors for members of the club on all three streams. The club will hold regular meetings and outings are planned in warm weather. In order to remain in good standing, club members must be familiar with at least ten of the 12 rules printed on their membership cards.
