Thursday, December 13, 1917
Twenty degrees below zero at Marlinton Tuesday morning is the record for cold in the twenty or more years that county clerk S. L. Brown has kept the record as local weather observer.
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On Tuesday afternoon the sun dogs or mock suns were to be seen
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At three o’clock in a winter night,
The ground was bare, and the sky was bright;
At seven o’clock, when the whistles blow,
The workmen plouted through the snow;
And the home folks sat by the hearth stone warm,
And looked out doors at the driving storm.
That will be about enough of that. We are sure that it will leave you cold. The first big snow of the season fell on the 8th inst. That is the word. It fell in an instant. Most of it fell while we were getting breakfast. It made the ground mighty white and nice and covered up all unsightly objects like the obquitous tin can, but it was cold comfort. The plain blunt man said that it was pretty hard plouting through the snow, and the purist said that there was no such word as plout, but he was mistaken. The purist thought that it was the same as plod. Plod refers to power of locomotion, and plout refers to the difficulties to be overcome. One may plod over smooth road, but he plouts when he wades through snow, water or mud. The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, because he is weary and not on account of anything in the way that makes the walking hard. Everybody plouts, but not everyone has to plod.
In Thanatopsis there is a curious coupling of the words plod and chase:
The gay will laugh when thou art gone,
The solemn brood of care plod on,
And each one as before will chase
His favorite phantom.
Whenever men congregate on the day of the first big snow of the winter, they proceed to recall the big snow that fell on the 16th day of December 1890. The 15th was noted for the fact that the air was clearer than ever known in this section, and the 16th for the fact that the biggest snow that ever fell in these parts began that day. And the peculiar thing about the snow is that it gets deeper and deeper each year. The young person who was not born when that snow fell has a sort of an idea that it covered up the houses. That is not correct, it only came up to the second story windows. That is as much as we will take off of that snow for anybody. It is one of the compensations of old age to remember things that young people have only heard about…
Editor Times;
It has been reported in Greenbank District that the undersigned and others had escaped taxation this year through the laxness of the officials. This is wholly a mistake, as the tax receipts in my hands and the records will show.
J. D. Wilmoth.
Not an Insult
“Did you call that contemporary a lowbrow and a bonehead?”
Yes, I did, “ answered Senator Sorghum.
“He resents the insult.”
“That is no insult. That was a diagnosis.” – Washington Star
The Dull Man
The dull man has no imagination. He does not possess the faculty of putting himself in the other man’s place. Therefore he is certain to blunder, to be unjust and to be cruel. He cannot be charitable. – Arnold Bennett in Woman’s Home Companion
GREENBANK
We are having very cold, blustery winter weather; six inches of snow and the thermometer at 9 below the funny point which is the coldest for the winter.
There was no preaching at the Methodist church last Sunday. It was so very cold but few persons were out.
J. H. Curry and wife are having a bad case of grippe, but keep going enough to keep the postoffice open for business.
Lieut. Grady Arbogast, of Camp Custer, Battle Creek, Michigan, was home on a six days furlough… He has been in the standing army two years and two months, and has made a fine record as a soldier… He expects to cross the briny deep to France in the near future. We hope he will not have to go, but if duty calls he is ready and we will have to submit. Our prayers will ever follow him that God will permit him to come back to us.
Mr. Kramer has finished the two cement bridges near G. B. Slaven’s which is a very great convenience to the traveling public.
C. E. Nottingham, of Dunmore, butchered one hog weighing 306 pounds. Who can beat that on frost-bit corn?
DUNMORE
Our Little Town was visited by a snow storm and severe cold spell – 10 below zero Monday morning.
Cecil Shinaberry, one of our Pocahontas soldier boys from Camp Lee, was here Friday to see his sister Miss Stella, who is teaching the Hill Side School.
W. W. Nottingham, of Sitlington, is going to build a fine house on a beautiful location between Dunmore and Sitlington.
Fred Pritchard is putting up a stock barn.
The new road is completed to Raywood. This is a great help to the community. Before this road was made, the people of Raywood had to keep their cars at Dunmore.
We understand there will be a big garage built at Raywood.
The young folks are enjoying the skating season.
There will be an oyster supper Saturday night for the benefit of the Red Cross. Everyone come out and help us in this good cause.