Thursday, February 7, 1918
The county newspapers have sworn not to let Groundhog Day perish from the earth, and the city editors striving for the delectable do not wholly neglect to mention the day, referring to the groundhog under the name of monax, to show their erudition. If they wanted to be real scientific they should refer to it under the name of arctomys which means the mouse bear. The monax is just a given name…
Of all the hundreds and hundreds of Groundhog Days that we can remember, there has never been one on which the sun did not blink out for a while anyway. Last week it was late in the afternoon when it broke through a peculiar haze, but it did come out for a few minutes.
The custom of looking at this day as a weather indicator prevails in all Christian countries, but very few of them have the groundhog part of it tacked on. This came from Germany where it was applied to the badger, and there being no badgers to speak of in Pennsylvania, the farmers took up the groundhog, and made that otherwise colorless animal serve…
Owing to the poverty of topics with the average man, he turns with relief to the groundhog and cracks jokes about it…
Writing groundhog pieces is habit with us. There is one observation that is submitted this year, and that is that Groundhog Day comes oftener than they used to…
And having done our duty by the time honored subject, we move on to speak of something else.
Charleston – Hearing what she described as grunts, the small daughter of Mr. John Mayer hastened into her mother’s room and discovered her closed up in a folding bed with her feet protruding. After being released she said she was not hurt, but demanded the arrest of her husband for putting her there.
OWLS OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY
By Ligon Price
There are six different species of owls known to be in Pocahontas County, and probably eight. Namely, the great horned owl, barred or spruce owl, screech owl, saw whet owl, barn or monkey faced owl, and the snowy or arctic owl. These all have records for this county.
The ones that have no record of having been taken here are short eared and the long eared owls. These have records for the State and are not uncommon in some sections, especially the short eared owl. These two species are admitted on that basis for there is no record for this county so far, although they may have been here at some time.
The most common of the owls that we have are the great horned owl and the screech owl. These may be found at all times close to and on farms throughout the county. The great horned owl’s fondness for the poultry yard is often his undoing. The screech owl is only found about the poultry yard when driven by hunger, and it is so small that it cannot do much damage. There are two color phases of this owl, the red and the grey. Ornithologists have not yet found out or agreed upon any reason for this difference…
According to Dr. A. K. Fisher’s reports on the food of hawks and owls, issued by the Biologic Survey in 1893, the owl is one of our best friends…
Thus the little screech owl feeds chiefly on mice and insects. Only one of the 255 stomachs of screech owls examined by Fisher contained the remains of poultry, while mice were found in 9, and insects in 100…
In 1,000 castings of the barn owls, Dr. Fisher found the remains of 854 small mammals, of which no less than 225 were meadow mice. This shows what value our owls are to us, but only a few appreciate this fact…
BOYER SIDING
We are having very cold weather at this time – taking lots of wood and feed.
C. P. Kerr and wife were the guests of J. B. Nottingham last week.
The band mill is running every day.
Rev. Lambert is going to move to C. R. Moore’s place where he expects to do some farming.
Otto, the North Fork Lumber company’s track walker, has quite a time keeping the switches open.
NOTTINGHAM – KIRK
Married, on February 2, 1918, at Ronceverte, Robert Julian Nottingham and Miss Dakota Kirk, Rev. T. A. Burch officiating minister. The bride is the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. D. Kirk, of Hillsboro, and is one of the teachers in the Hillsboro Graded school. The groom is the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Z. J. Nottingham, of Boyer, and holds a lucrative position with the North Fork Lumber company.
BIRTHS
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Moore, a son.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Boyd Campbell, February 1, 1918, a son.
Auction Sale
February 25th, 1918
At Hillsboro, W. Va.
I will offer for sale to the highest bidder on the Poor Farm the following personal property:
9 head of cows
1 thoroughbred Hereford bull
3 two year old heifers
38 head of good ewes
3 good draft mares
2 good brood mares
2 good yearling colts
2 good two year old colts
10 calves, 8 steers, 2 heifers
2 sets of work harness
1 set buggy harness and buggy
1 Wilburn saddle
1 road wagon
1 Ford automobile in good running condition
9 head of shoats
1 brood sow
1 good cream separator, oats, 8 to 10 tons of hay, corn, wheat, straw, and a good lot of ensilage, farming implements sufficient to run a farm, a lot of household and kitchen furniture and other things too numerous to mention.
TERMS – Under $5.00, cash. Over $5.00, four months’ negotiable note with approved security.
D. A. GLADWELL