Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SECTION B—PAGE THREE Clemaon Extension Information Specialist . K ' ■ •- • . Young’s Fruit Store Main Street Newberry By J. Conrad Inselberger N ANCY Miner, aged ten, had twelve Christmas cards left when she reached the last house on the street. She decided to try her luck with Old Martin. She mounted the steps of the aging, deteriorating, red brick house and rang the bell. For a long moment she felt the urge to run, but the thought of the minister’s surprise if she should seU the old man was too strong. She waited there shaking and suddenly the door was opened. “WeU, What do you want?” The taU old man glared down at her. ‘I’m Nancy MiUer. I-Ive got—” “Come in. Come in. You’ll, freeze out the house.” Nancy’s heart leaped. She was inside and that was something. “I’m selling Christmas cards to help the church. Would you—.” Old Martin snorted. “I thought I’d seen you before. Your father owns the garage. You pestered me last year and the year before. And now you’re here again. What makes you think I’ll buy your cards? I haven’t before.” “No. But I thought maybe you’d change your mind.. The other kids—” COTTON IN THE WEST AND HERE “Nothing is so constant a s change. I’ve quoted that often, for it is so true. Look at cotton. Back in 1932, Arizona, California, and New Mexico together produced 268,971 bales. Last year they had increas ed that over 10 times to 2,714,00 bales! And this was done on about a million and a half acres for an average yield of about 900 lbs. of lint per acre. They are planting their full al lotments, we are not That means the cotton acreage is moving west on the present basis for figuring allotments. We once planted* almost 3 mill ion acres in South Carolina. This year we planted less than three- quarters of a million, or consid erably less than our allotment. Our farmers have been repeatedly told by Clemson that the only way 1 to retain their cotton acreage un der the present program, is to plant It. Therefore, they must not need it all in their scheme of farming. Maybe thats all right. Only time will tell. But we should j consider the matter well before giving up our heritage with cot ton. .However, changing conditions might make what we are doing advisable and necessary. We are surely growing into di versity. And, as we master new things like grass, and trees, and livestock, and poultry, and grain farming, maybe we will be better off, with cotton remaining only on the lands best suited to it, and full mechanization. For, folks, remember, we are in a changing world. It has always been so. But faster now than ever. HOG-KILLING TIME In recent years many farm folks have drifted away from butcher ing at home. I won’t go into the reasons here now. But with cheap er hogs and refrigeration we have now, like more people will -be butchering again. Clemson has recorded the es sential steps in producing good home cured meat in its revised Bulletin 77, entitled “Pork For Carolina Farmers.” It la free from ^our county or home agent or from the college. In the estimate of many people, including the writer, good coun try ham is the king of all meats. Some manufacturers have tried to imitate it in the familiar typb Smith field” hams. And they are great improvements over the us ual sorts. But they just don’t quite measure up to the aroma, taste-delight, brown gravy, and general come-hither that a piece of really good country ham does. Will Henderson and his son, Fred, down at Ninety Six, have built a reputation and a business of curing good country hams. They cure hundreds of them, test them before they go but, and they reach all parts of the country. And Hen derson cured hams usually win at fairs. The curing method he uses is the same as described in Clem- son’s Bulletin 77. I have seen many who used it sffccessfully. BURN QUT THE CHIMNEY We used to watch for rainy days in early winter to burn out the chimneys. And it is still a good practice, 1 if you use a fireplace. Soot acumulates in the average chimney. There is dries out and will eventually bum, when it gets caked thick over the walls. And that usually happens on one of the coldest and windiest nights of winter. For then you have a roar ing fire whose flame reaches the dried soot. My, what a frightening roar, when that soot catches! And on top of the chimney you see a c !- umn of fire and burning mass s cascading out and- falling on t a roof. On dry, frayed wood shingl. , that has taken many an old land mark. The way we always burned our chimneys was to pick a rsi y Jday when the roof was wet. V. i fluff up a newspaper, light it. ; 1 push it up the chimney. It would catch the soot and burn the cd u- ney out clean, doing no harm. All rabbits utter some kind of I cry. <<vc< 1 oeace tuV sP lIlt VUY the ^ a through Christ^ P ieVa ‘ and Vo*g a * tet ’ * ^ nwT 7 In pm MARTIN’S USED CARS 1 PROSPERITY, S. C. | mtf ■ frC tit;-? ■ ■ f 1 j Him V-; - With an the That Wd Eke to add. A MEHBT W. H. Davis & Son, Inc. —- OLDSMOBILE — 1532 Main St. Newberry Old Martin snorted. “I thought I’d seen you before.” * “The other children! Humph! Why don’t they come here with their cards? They’re afraid, eh? I’m Old Martin, the meanest man in town.” Nancy smiled up at him. don’t think so.” “Well—, m buy the box of cards just to get rid of you. But mind you don’t ever come again.” Memories Nancy left and the old man stared at the door wondering if he had really bought the cards to get rid of her. Could it be that she, with shining eyes and long golden hair and warm smile, reminded him of another little girl much like her? She who had left her widower father bereaved for the second time within a year? Meanwhile, Nancy raced toward the minister’s house with the great news. Late that night in the red brick house the old man spread the cards on a table and glanced over the warm and happy greetings. In the right hand comer of each card he noticed a tiny red and white Santa Claus. “Sentimental rubbish,” he snorted and replaced the cards in the envelopes. The next morning he discovered that the ancient wall paper in the back-hall had loosened and a large strip was hanging. He could fix that, he decided, and realize some return for the dollar he had given Nancy. He spread glue over the faces of the cards and used them to patch the tom wall paper. Christmas for Old Martin was to be no different than it had been for the past thirty years. He would receive no gifts and he would give none. It was not as easy as it had been the past many years. The memory of the little girl who had visited him the day before blended with the memory of the little girl of thirty years before. She too had looked forward to Christmas with all the excitement and wide-eyed wonder of childhood. A light burned late in the old house. Usual Holiday Most everyone in town, except Old Martin, received a share of Christmas greetings. He got only one; that from a little girL Elev en needy people received cards with no signature and each card was accompanied by a five dollar bill. The face of every card was rough as though something had been pasted to it and then re moved. Nancy received the twelfth card in care of her father’s garage, and though she recognized it as of the style she had sold she couldn’t recall to whom she had sold it It contained a ten dollar bill. Christmas Eve, an old man knelt and prayed for the first time in khirty years, but from the outside pthe old brick house looked the Same as usual. Nearly two thousand years ago, on the first Christmas Eve, the Holy Star of Bethlehem gleamed as the symbol of the sublime event in history. Watching and waiting that night, those Three Wise Men of the East had faith in their hearts... faith serene and invincible. Every worth while human achievement since has been in some measure based upon Faith. The professional man, the craftsman, the housewife, the student...all need faith to cany on successfully. Thws the true spirit of the Christmas Season is evidenced best by the expression of faith in our fellowmen, “ >d m the worth wha « thin g* ^ Mfe. May we ever practice this confidence and may the Christmas Season, m alt its giory and magnificence, be one of genuine happiness for you and your loved ones and PURCELLS “Your Private Bankers” . B. PURCELL, Pres TROXELLE SENN SARA FRANKLIN KEITT PURCELL, Vice President PEGGY SCHUMPERT BEN STEJWART