30 Years Ago
Week of July 7, 1994
DAHMER
Church of the Brethren, Richard McDonald, pastor, from church bulletin — in 1776, on July 4, John Hancock led the signing of the Declaration of Independence. To those who signed it, it was the most important act of their lives. Thomas Jefferson observed the day with more importance than his birthday. John Adams said in a tribute to the day, “It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God, it will be my dying sentiment, independence now and independence forever.” Ironically, he and Jefferson died July 4, 1826, on the fiftieth anniversary of Independence Day.
40 Years Ago
Week of July 12, 1984
Seneca Rocks
Is Classroom
For Pendleton
Rock Climbing School
Danger. The rush of adrenaline. Gripping a crack in the rock face, you delicately place one foot, then the other, on a two-inch ledge, pausing to look down. Two hundred and fifty feet below, the Germany Valley floor spits out the white-brown sandstone conglomerate that is Seneca Rocks.
Seneca Rocks is one of the two most popular climbing areas in the eastern United States, along with the Shawangunks in New York State. The 900-foot strata is located in the Monongahela National Forest at the junction of state routes 33 and 28, 25 miles west of Franklin.
Rock climbing fuels the basic human fear of falling. Climbers move acrobatically up seemingly sheer cliffs, attached by nothing but a rope and their hands and feet. The participants only seem crazy; up close we see the precautions taken that render the sport challenging, strenuous, rewarding and, ultimately, danger free if you know what you are doing. The sport is nearly as safe as walking down the street, only the level sidewalk is traded for a vertical cliff.
Learning to climb is a task which requires few special skills. Those are developed through proper instruction and practice. Strength is not a prerequisite; balance, coordination and, most importantly, the will to learn are the tools. The Seneca Rocks Climbing School offer expert instruction in an informal setting; the instructors act more like experienced friends that know-it-all rock jocks.
The climbing school operates out of The Gendarme, a climbing equipment shop located behind Buck Harper’s General Store in “downtown Seneca Rocks.” The school offers three-day courses in basic and intermediate rock craft, with a maximum of three students per teacher.
Some climbing schools offer one-day courses for beginners, but, says John Markwell, owner of the Gendarme and director of the Seneca Rocks Climbing School, “what you can learn in one day is just enough to get you in trouble.” Most of the accidents that occur in climbing involve inexperienced climbers who get in over their heads, so to speak.
The purpose of the Seneca Rocks Climbing School’s basic course is to turn out competent “second” climbers, who are a little like relief pitchers. The second follows the leader, who places his own protection against a fall with aluminum alloy wedges called “chocks,” “nuts,” or simply “protection.” Chocks are wedge-shaped “stoppers” and six-sided “hexes” of various sizes to fit in the cracks in the rock. The basic tool for climbing, the rope, is clipped to the protection with “carabiners,” oval or D-shaped rings that allow the rope to pass freely up the cliff with the climber. The second removes the protection as he climbs past, known as “cleaning the route.”
The climbing vocabulary is vast and may seem overwhelming at first. Climbing is done in teams of two usually, each climber attached to opposite ends of the rope. The “belay,” or security system, is set up using “webbing” also known as flat rope, and carabiners. The chocks are placed in the rock itself and then attached to the second climber’s “harness,” a diaper-type belt, thus securing that climber. The rope is passed through a “belay plate,” a braking apparatus, which is also attached to the harness. As the leader climbs, the “belayer” feeds out the rope as the lead makes his way up the route. If a fall should occur, the tension in the rope allows the belayer to break it. The leader climbs until he reaches a suitable ledge to set up a belay for the second; the distance the lead climbs is known as a “pitch.”
Sound confusing? Actually, the whole system is simple. Topper Wilson, one of three instructors at the climbing school, says, “If the systems is logical, if it looks like it will work, it probably will. There aren’t a lot of complicated maneuvers.” In fact, Wilson says, keeping the system simple is one way to assure that it will work.
The thrill of climbing comes in the challenge of the rock. Using tiny footholds to stand on and thin cracks just wide enough for three fingers, the climber links moves like a pool player.
The Seneca Rocks Climbing School provides all the needed equipment for its course; all you need to bring is you and suitable clothing. The average temperature during the day runs between 75° and 85°, so shorts are probably best, but at an altitude of about 2,400 feet, be prepared for cooler nights. Courses are offered seven days a week through Labor Day.
60 Years Ago
Week of July 9, 1964
100 YEARS AGO
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.
Early Invades North, Moves on Washington
A scare swept across the North 100 years ago this week as, once again, a Confederate army marched on Federal soil, threatening the nation’s capitol.
The army was that of Gen. Jubal “Old Jube” Early—10,000 ragged veterans whose mood was enough to scare most anyone. They had seen bitter warfare; many were barefoot, and they came north with a vengeance.
“Old Jube” had left the fighting around Richmond in mid-June under orders from Robert E. Lee, and he had two purposes: one was to clear the Federals out of the Shenandoah Valley; the other was to threaten Washington, thereby relieving some of the Federal pressure on Richmond.
Early’s men had gone to Lynchburg near the head of the Shenandoah Valley and there had whipped Gen. David Hunter’s Federals on June 18 and 19. Hunter’s men scurried off into West Virginia, stopping in Lexington long enough to burn Virginia Military Institute and the home of a former Virginia governor.
That, perhaps, was what put vengeance in the hearts of Early’s Confederates. They turned north, swept down the valley and on July 6 crossed the Potomac into Maryland. They tore up the tracks of the long-suffering Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the aqueduct over Antietam Creek and the locks and boats of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
They entered Hagerstown, Frederick and Middletown where they exacted shoes, clothing, food and huge sums of cash in return for sparing the towns. Maryland farmers choked the northern roads as they fled with wagon loads of their belongings.
In what was becoming a habit in this war, Federal troops evacuated Harpers Ferry, W. Va., at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers and burned the bridges across the Potomac there.
On the banks of the Monocacy River just south of Frederick on July 9, Early’s men came upon a hastily-assembled army of Federals under Gen. Lew Wallace (later to become the author of “Ben Hur”), who had brought the men down from Baltimore. Early’s men, in a day of fighting, routed the Federals and sent them retreating toward Baltimore.
A detachment of Confederate cavalry moved on Baltimore, with the idea (that never materialized) of circling north of Washington and freeing thousands of Confederate prisoners at Point Lookout, where the Potomac meets the Chesapeake Bay. Early and his main force moved on Washington.
The scare reached a high pitch. The governors of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York and the mayors of Philadelphia and Baltimore issued appeals to the people to rally to their nations’ cause in time of imminent danger.
Early’s men, meanwhile, were busy. They tore up railroads, cut telegraph wires, captured trains and robbed the passengers. The homes of Maryland’s Governor Bradford and Lincoln’s Postmaster Montgomery Blair were burned.
In Washington, raw recruits and convalescents were assessed to man the defenses, and some of the regulars from farther south arrived. By the 11th, Early was inside the District of Columbia facing Fort Steven. After skirmishing there all day on the 12th, Early decided he could do no more harm. Two days later, he crossed back into Virginia, carrying his prisoners and his loot.
Next week: Joe Johnston is fired.
Market Opens Here
Tuesday; Farmers Sell Eggs, Cabbage
A new West Virginia Farmers Market opened in Franklin Tuesday morning.
Neville Zinn, marketing specialist of Philippi, is in charge of the market.
The market, located at the Max Ruddle Sawmill in Franklin, will be open every Tuesday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Farmers of Pendleton and adjoining counties are invited to come in to the market and pick up cartons for any produce which they may have for sale.
Housewives and restaurant operators have the privilege of coming to the market and looking over the produce which will be for sale and buying what they desire.
Produce not sold to local customers will be trucked to the more centrally located market at Weston where it will be sold at auction.
Zinn said principal items of produce which was brought to the market this week were eggs and cabbage.
The manager of the market extends an invitation to farmers of the area to come in and talk with him so that he might advise them how they can best profit from the new facility.
70 Years Ago
Week of July 1, 1954
Paul Schulz Family
Returns Home
After Seven Years
In New Guinea
The Rev. Paul Schulz and Mrs. Schulz are back at home in Sugar Grove after spending seven years as missionaries to New Guinea. They are returning with their three new “Schulzes” who were born in New Guinea and are seeing their grandparents for the first time. Their names are Paula Ann, age 6, James, age 3 and Theodore, age 1.
Mr. and Mrs. Schulz went to New Guinea in January, 1947, as Lutheran missionaries and have been working in an organization of thirty missionaries and teachers serving an area populated by approximately 8,000 natives. Mr. Schulz said their work includes educating the natives as well as teaching them of their Savior, Jesus Christ.
Besides giving them a formal education, the natives are taught how to use heavy equipment, such as bulldozers and trucks, and they are also being taught medicine, Mr. Schulz said.
After spending a year’s furlough in the states continuing his studies, Mr. Schulz said they plan to return.
Dumping Problem
Faces New Officials
One of the first tasks facing the new city officials elected at Saturday’s election will be to provide a site for dumping trash and garbage.
The trash dump on the John Harman farm which the people of Franklin have used for the past several years has been closed to further use by individuals. John Harman told a Times reporter yesterday that his property had been misused to such an extent that he could not allow further dumping.
Harman added that people who live in the Propst Gap area have been complaining about the offensive odor that is beginning to arise from the dump and permeate the area. The stench has been caused primarily by the dumping of dead animals and chickens, Harman said.
The closing of the Harman dump leaves the people of Franklin without any officially approved and supervised dumping area. It is believed by some that unless a dumping site is provided quickly, people will begin dumping trash indiscriminately along the roadside.
Harman said that the town still has permission to dump on his property and so long as the trash is hauled by city employees, he has no objection to the quantity of trash that is dumped there, but that it is closed to individuals.
Week of July 8, 1954
Mrs. Sites is New
Manager of the Coffee Shoppe Here
The Coffee Shoppe, popular restaurant located in the Dyer Building on Main Street, changed hands the first of July. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Kimble, who have operated it since January 1, have turned the management over to Mrs. Beulah Sites, who will continue to operate it under the name The Coffee Shoppe.
