Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I v?;' ' ‘ -r i W ■ t’-i / f ' • j ■ ‘V.^, .. .. "71 ‘ ■ • •• ip; ' • -’ M , | • *•' •• : * K -v '■ —- .. -j; ',v TMli.:-''. THE NEWBERRY SUN F f ■«- The foundation of all business is friendship and with 'each Christmas It gives us pleasure to extend our best wishes to those whose friendship we cherish. May your Christmas be merry! e -■ i G. B. SUMMER & SONS Furniture 1201 Boyce Street Newberry, S. C. wm" -'W® ‘ ^ g s- w L V v 1 \ 1 \ i ' 1 Moy fke kappiness ffeot yea look forword to of the Christ mastime remain with yon and yours for many days to folloyr.' Your every wish and ambition —may they be yours to eafoy. V \ 1 1 1 ^ I mf-. ■ - ». i • \ .y- J. DAVE CALDWELL • ,■ 4' » v • f ■ - v .. S By Papinta J. Knowles npHE PLAN had been forming in his mind since he lost his wheat crop in the fall and the creek over flowed the bottom, ruining most of his corn. Every year, since he had bought the farm four years ago, something had gone wrong. Last year he had lost several head of cattle, the year before he had had trouble with his shwp. With the buildings and fences needing repair, he saw no sense in starting this New Year in the same old unlucky rut. Surely Sally would agree to selling the farm, especial ly now that little Joe had Come. He’d talk to her about it on the way home from the hospital. He backed his car out of the ga rage, drove down past the bam and out to the lane. All the way over to Carson he planned. He wondered what Sally would say about selling the farm. Her f^ith in the old farm was unshakable. Sally was dressed and waiting for him when he reached the hospital. He took her hands in his, noting their newly acquired softness. , “Been waiting long?” he asked. “Since yesterday, really,” she smiled. Her face was radiant, and like her hands, it, had acquired a different look. A look that only motherhood could give it. A nurse came into the room carrying Joe. ,“And here’s your New Year’s gift,” she said, smil ing. “One of our best future farm ers.” Jim tried to smile* He touched the baby’s hand and it curled about his big rough finger. And Sally laughed softly, tears misting her eyes. “He knows him —I do believe he knows him!” Jim slipped his finger from the tight little fist. Now is the right time, he thought, to make the change. It wouldn’t be fair to Joe to let him grow up on the farm. “You’ll have him riding with you on the tractor before you know it,” the nurse laughed, placing the baby in Jim’s arms. Out in the sunshine, Sally said, looking up at him anxiously, “Jim, something’s wrong. I can tell.” Jim smiled, trying to reassure her, but he saw that he hadn’t. Aft er he drove past the hospital gates he told her. “I know you love the farm, Sally. We both had our dreams when we bought it—pooling our savings and taking the estate money dad left us to make it free of debt. But every year something has happened, and I’ve gleaned only a bare living. We have to admit failure sometime.” S ALLY WAS SLOW in answering. “Failure, Jim?” she said final ly. “You haven’t failed. You accept defeat when you stop trying. Only then are you a failure. We’ve had slow going, I know. But that’s part of a farmer’s life. He’s got to learn to take disappointments and hang on to hope as if it meant his very life. Others have had hard times in our neighborhood, they still have — FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1962 By Joyce Madison rpARL STEPPED OFF the mine lift and took a deep breath of chill December air. Guess a fellow raised on a farm never gets over hankering for fresh air, he thought. He lighted a cigarette and looked out over the city below. It sprawled like a huge'Christmas tree, a thing of beauty by night, but drab and colorless by daylight. Butte, Montana,—the richest hill on earth—and that hill honey combed by men carrying away her riches. Earl started down Excelsior Street and then took a short cut toward his rooming house. Tonight was New Year’s Eve and he had a date with Min. His pay envelope was in his pocket. He would pay his room and board and with Min’s help would throw the remainder. They would start with a steak dinner and end up somewhere when the dough was gone. That was the way they had spent Christmas Eve, and Christmas day in bed with a headache. Mom wouldn’t approve of throw ing the wad the first night. Mom would say Min was not a lady. But Min was a pleasant relief from the mine and the rooming house. He shared one large room with some dozen other miners, whose silicosis coughs racked the night. The mine, the bar, the bunk—that was his life. Better than the ranch though. The rahch furnished end less drudgery from sun up to sun down. The mine was only for forty hours. It was a dry winter and he was making good time on the short cut. The gravel path was lost in dark ness. His miner’s helmet sat cock- ily on the back of his head as he hurried along, sliding sometimes on the down grade. Suddenly the path gave way un der him and he was falling through space. An old mine shaft! There were plenty of them in Butte. He spread-eagled his arms and they caught solid ground in front, leav ing him suspended over the pit* His toes fought for a hold, but the ground was frozen and he could make no impression. He flailed against the wall, his shoes slipping like a spinning tire. His whole life flashed before him. Happy carefree days of childhood. ' JThey seemed carefree now. Per haps chores were a necessary evil. Eternal milking, swilling, pitching manure. Chopping holes in the ice for the stock, hauling feed. Never start for town but some of the stock were out and had to be caught. Always something. S O HE RAN AWAY and came to Butte. Never been back. Three years now. He was a hard rock miner. Friendly Butte? Not to a boy away from home. Forty hours in the mine. Forty in the bars. Forty in the rooming house. What’d he do with the rest of his “And here’s your New Year’s gift,” she said, smiling, “(hue of our best future farmers.** them. And even Reiney, the wealthiest farmer in our county, said he had had ten years of hard luck before the tide 'turned. He wasn’t a quitter, Jim.” Quitter. Jim stared at the road ahead in silence. He sensed a feeling of shtune from the impact of Sally’s words. Was that the way he looked to her: a quitter? His lips tightened in a firm line. Sally laid her hand on his arm. “Jim, I’m sorry,” she said, “but all the time I was in the hospital I planned for Joe—on the farm. You see, dear, each New Year is a chal lenge to us in the job we’re trying to do. We shouldn’t look back; we should look forward and have faith in the New Year, fajth that it won’t be like the old—it will offer us something better.” Jim pressed Sally’s hand, and suddenly he was aware of an an xious feeling to top the next ridge so that the old farm would be in sight. So long aS we live by faith and hope, he thought, no hardship could be so great but that it could be endured and surmounted in the end, if we work and never give up. He knew it now. That was the spirit of the New Year. m Suddenly the path gave way under him and he was falling through space. time? Always had plenty ’til now. It was running out pretty fast. His arms were getting numb. He would have to let go and then . . . St. John’s bells chimed out the hour. One! Two! Three! Great booming tones. Four! Five! Six! Six o’clock was winter supper time on the ranch. He could pic ture his parents sitting at the table. Evening devotions. A calm settled over his strained nerves and he could tfiink clearly. Since he fell forward into the pit and his arms were resting on the far side, it must be narrow. He kicked behind with one foot and struck earth. He braced himself with both feet, and with a mighty push scrambled over the edge. Sick from the ordeal, he lay quietly for a long time. Finally he sat up, lighted his miner’s lamp and threw the beam into the hole. Then whistled softly and looked about, recognizing the site of a burned gas station. He had been dangling over the grease pit, his feet only a few inches from the bot tom. Suddenly a longing for the ranch and family possessed him. He jumped to his feet and ran down the hilL If he hurried he could catch the bus and be home for New Year. „ ’ ■ ' 7 ”, ' 5 . • V U ' _ ■ . ' ' . V- '"V : ■ ' ...- it -v ' ;i ,• .«•*:'*'>> /Ifa&rOSte'mBSMBKZ} ^ * % ND now, as you gather your loved ones and friends around you, we want to send our best wishes to each of I: . f ,|g||r St • ■ ' Mss you. At the same time, we say to you we appreciate your every courtesy during the days past that it has been our privi lege to, serve you. lf<Ml Oust m ' M | ■* s ' i . . , ■ ■- v * 7 • S^V- i t i i j 1 I i 1 I J * I 4 ! -X K ^ 5 1 I I M f I ,1,4 ,0* * l** Y ‘ 0 '\ *1*0 ■■T; V”" M NEWBERRY COUNTY BANK Newberry Joanna gMigl '4-H t i j -■ v. 14' - . * • ? a r ~n ' 'em M ,