Thursday, December 1, 1916
GREENBANK
The election passed off quietly; no trouble anywhere only somebody got beat but no one got a black eye.
The Presbyterian ladies realized a nice sum from their dinner and supper on election day, and had a nice social time.
There are two good houses here for rent or sale, and we will have a high school here next year and we want people to come to our town.
We have had a fine fall, but bad on shucking corn and water is scarce; mills depending on water power are still and the warm weather has stopped butchering for the present. Signs are today that there may be a raise of water so the defeated candidate can sail up salt river and not hang on the rocks.
DURBIN
We had one more election on the 7th of November, and as usual, some people were surprised and some say they knew exactly how it was going, so we had no need of an election.
Our town was thrown in a panic last Thursday by a big gray horse walking into C. P. Wimer’s house and did not want to walk out. By some help the horse was removed.
H. E. White unloaded a car load of flour here last week.
Turkeys are just a bit too high to bother with for Thanksgiving, so we’ll just be thankful we are living.
HILLSBORO
Mr. and Mrs. Lanty McNeel returned from Monterey recently, where they were visiting Mrs. McNeel’s father, Mr. Wilson.
And Mr. Hughes has really sent his congratulations to President Wilson. Good for Mr. Hughes! We always had a very good opinion of him, but we sometimes wonder just how he feels after giving up a lifetime position on the highest court in the land, only to suffer defeat by a man nominated by acclamation. It reminds us of the story of a typical mountaineer Virginian, eccentric in his nature, who being interrogated by Emory & Henry students, replied in the following dialect: “Say, Uncle Charley,” inquired the E&H student body, “were you in the war?”
“No,” said the mountaineer. “I war not thar, but my son John he war thar, and he said he wished he never had a went.”
TOP ALLEGHANY
We have been having some right cold weather, but suppose it is a wedding storm.
Jake Kramer and Miss Mae Wilmoth were married in Washington, D. C., Tuesday, November 21. They returned Saturday. We extend congratulations to these worthy young people.
Oliver Gum passed through this section Tuesday with a load of apples for Boyer.
ARBOVALE
We have had some winter the past week; pretty cold for shucking corn.
L. D. Wooddell and the Conrad boys expect to cut some timber for Sam Ervin.
J. Hamed killed some nice turkeys last Friday. He has been paying 17 cents per pound for them, and 35 cents per dozen for eggs.
Andrew Nicolas is the champion coon hunter, some nights killing as high as three coons.
The North Fork Lumber Co. had a very bad wreck last Monday evening at the Wilfong place. It took them about two days to get everything cleared up.
Rev. Geo. Burner filled Rev. Blackhurst’s pulpit last Sunday, he not being able to be out.
CROOKED FORK
The weather has been fine and the roads are in good shape.
Harlan Gibson and family spent Sunday at George Gay’s.
Little Oleta Varner is confined to her home with pneumonia.
Summers Galford has been spending a few days at his home.
Dick Smith and family of Edray, spent a few days at Harlan Gibson’s last week. Dick is making good use of the hunting season.
Pifer and Williams are having some lumber hauled from their mill at this place.
RABBITS
The rabbit has thrived with the town. There are in and about the town in untold numbers and the hunting is good in the city. It knows how to take care of itself and with a little encouragement it becomes almost tame. It seems to know that it must not eat too much of the garden stuff.
Rabbits have a lot more sense than people think they have. Uncle Remus, having all the animals to choose from, selected the rabbit as a wise member for his parable and what Brer Rabbit does for the congregation is a plenty…
One of the most reliable nature observers declares that he saw the following occurrence. He was fishing in the Greenbrier River as still as patience on a mantle piece, when he saw a big buck rabbit come to the edge of the river and enter the water, slowly and carefully until he was entirely submerged all but his nostrils and remain in that position for some little time. The beast carried in its mouth a bunch of rabbit fur, and after a time, let go of the fur and left the water and shook himself like a dog, and hopped away into the bushes. The bit of fur floated near the fisherman and he examined it, and in it were at least a hundred fleas. The intelligent animal had taken this means of ridding himself of the little pests.
At sometime later he told the tale to an old farmer who listened interestedly and spurred up his horse and went on down the road. After being gone a while he came galloping back, and said: “Here, tell me about that rabbit again. It sounded all right when you was telling about it, but after I got down yonder around the bend, it seemed to be the dadburndest lie I ever heard.”