Thursday, January 6, 1921
Everybody kept up appearances pretty well, and it will not be long until a little money, well expended, will make a showing again. Any man who made it through 1920 without getting deeper in debt, or in other words, those that made a living and broke even, are to be congratulated, and they can rest assured that pretty soon they will be able to make it and save with a good deal less trouble than the bare living that they wrung from the cruel and heartless days of 1920.
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At the first hop or ball or at the first hop of the ball, the incoming administration runs up against one of those hated precedents that Wilson established, and the question that is now engaging the best minds is whether to dance or not on the Fourth day of March. Jefferson took his place as president in a calm and sedate manner, riding up to the White House on horseback, hitching the horse to the palings and walking in, hanging up his hat and making himself at home. The pioneers did not pay much attention to this, but we understand that it made quite a stir in Europe where they think that it is as little as an official can do for the people to put on considerable dog. The poor have so few pleasures that the royalty thinks that they ought to be allowed to see the pomp and ceremony of the court. Goldsmith relates that in the days of the imperial Russia, the peasants stood around the doors with cups to catch and drink the urine of the intoxicated nobles. And that represents the greatest value that the common herd ever got from a state ball. So it does not really matter to us whether there is a big ball in Washington on the day of the inauguration or not…
LOCAL MENTION
Johnny Hayslet, a fifteen year old boy, lost an eye last Friday by the dynamite cap route. He and a number of half grown boys had gathered some dynamite caps and took them to the mouth of the creek to explode them. They built a fire and Johnny held one of the caps down with a stick. When it went off, the cap hit him in the eye, probably destroying the sight. On Saturday, he was taken to an eye specialist at Charlottesville.
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The venerable John R. King, of Weston, was here last week to visit his kinsman, L. M. Waugh. Though nearly eighty years of age, Mr. King is still straight and enjoyed the five mile walk from Marlinton to Mr. Waugh’s home and the fine winter morning on New Year’s. He was a Confederate soldier, a member of that fighting regiment, the 25th Virginia Infantry. Mr. King has devoted much of his time in late years to writing reminiscences of the war and early days of the State.
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This week, William Gibson retires from the sheriff’s office and B. B. Beard goes in. Mr. Gibson has made the enviable record of never having lost a prisoner, nor had a jail delivery, never lost on a tax ticket nor was faked by a bad check, and of a consequence was probably the most unpopular sheriff that ever served Pocahontas County. But business is business, and they never made a goat of this sheriff.
LEWISBURG SEMINARY BURNS
Monday morning before daylight the main building of the Lewisburg Seminary was discovered to be on fire and resulted in the total destruction of the building. The building was a large three story brick with a basement. It was about a hundred feet square and very well built and furnished. In it were cooking departments, the dining room, the principal’s office, and the sleeping rooms and parlors.
The building was erected after the destruction of a building on the same site in 1904. It was worth something over a hundred thousand dollars…
The cause is not known but an electric wire is suspected. There were very few persons in the building at the time, as most of the boarders and faculty were absent on the Christmas holidays and were expected on the morning trains the day of the fire…
The school is the property of the Greenbrier Presbytery which is a very old and famous institution. It was established in 1812…
The school is now going on in Carnegie Hall, the young ladies being lodged in the homes of the town.
STATE CAPITOL BURNS
Monday afternoon, the capitol building at Charleston was discovered to be on fire and the building was totally destroyed. The fire originated in a room in the top story in which were stored a lot of tents and other inflammable goods. The origin of the fire is not known. The building burned in daylight, and a lot of the contents were carried out, but a great part was destroyed. The records of the auditor, the treasurer and the Supreme Court as well as the historical department’s museum were in the annex and were not affected. The offices of the governor, the secretary of state, and the attorney general were in the old building and were destroyed. The museum and equipment of the department of agriculture were destroyed.
One life was lost, that of a volunteer fireman who was caught under a falling wall…
WEDDING
On last Wednesday a pretty wedding was solemnized at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Mack Greathouse when their daughter Miss Janet Greathouse was united in marriage to Lonnie Kisner, of Thornwood…
NOTICE
All persons are hereby notified not to trespass on the lands of the undersigned by hunting, digging roots, gathering herbs or in any other way.
This is a warning and not a bluff.
L. J. CARTER