Thursday,
January 27, 1966
Mr. and Mrs. Fred C. Burns, Sr., will move this week into their newly remodeled home on Smith Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Jones will move into the Burns home and the Alvon Deans have purchased the Jones home on Second Avenue. Mr. and Mrs. Kent Galford, Jr. moved into their new home in Smith Addition in December.
Cass
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Brice Cassell, about two miles out of Cass, was destroyed by fire last Wednesday. They managed to get a table and four chairs out and their potatoes from the cellar. Everything else was lost. Donations would be appreciated and may be left with Roy Cassell.
SNOW
Guy Sharp, State Road Supervisor, says the snow over the weekend measured from 10 to 20 inches and blew on the mountains from the time it started to fall. The heaviest accumulation was about 20 inches in the Williams River, Sharp’s Knob and Clover Creek areas. About 18 inches in the northern part of the County. They kept the main roads open Saturday. Sunday they worked hard on back roads but they blew closed again. Monday was clear with no wind so what they opened stayed open. They hoped to have everything clear Tuesday. Schools reopened Tuesday.
Winter
This past weekend brought our first good winter snowstorm, so we thought a requested reprint of the famous Trotter reply to the postal authorities might be timely.
During the winter of 1885, the Trotter Brothers had a contract with the U. S. Government to carry the mail between Huttonsville (Ran- dolph County) and Staunton, Virginia. The brothers had made the trip from Huttonsville to Staunton and a severe snowstorm came up while they were in Staunton and on their return trip they could not cross Cheat Mountain, and as the result of this delayed trip, the people in Tygart Valley complained to the Postal Authorities about the delay in delivery of their mail. The Postal Authorities wrote the brothers for an explanation and the following is an exact worded copy of their answer:
Mr. Postmaster General
Washington, D.C.
Sir: If you knock the gable end out of Hell and back it up against Cheat Mountain and rain fire and brimstone on it for forty days and forty nights, it won’t melt the snow enough to get your ——— mail through on time.
Yours Truly,
TROTTER BROTHERS
By s-James Trotter
Note: Original of above letter is supposed to be in the Smithsonian Institute.
Service News
Army Pvt. Richard S. Combs, son of Mr. and Mrs. Watson A. Combs, of Minnehaha Springs, was assigned to Headquarters Company of the 14th Supply and Service Battalion near Hanau, Germany, January 5.
Army Pvt. Denver J. Hollandsworth, 21, son of Mr. and Mrs. Denver M. Hollandsworth, of Hillsboro, completed a combat engineer course at Fort Leonard, Missouri, January 14.
Norris F. Long, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Percy F. Long, of Cass, and Harry R. Aldridge, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Aldridge, of Arbovale, reported for active duty with the Navy on January 12. They were transferred to the U. S. Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois, where they will receive their basic training.
Joseph (Joe) Shafer, with the U. S. Navy, spent a 15-day furlough here with his wife, Mrs. Shafer, and little daughter, and his mother, Mrs. Mary Shafer. He just returned from a tour of duty to Cuba.
Earl M. Kelley, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ward R. Kelley, of Huntersville, recently completed two years’ service in the U. S. Army. The last six months he was overseas in Viet Nam.
Seaman Richard W. Horton, USN, son of Roy M. Horton, of Marlinton, is serving aboard the attack air craft carrier USS Randolph, which operates out of Norfolk, Virginia. While serving aboard the Randolph, he will play an important part in fulfilling the ship’s mission of anti-submarine warfare.
Engagement
Mrs. Walter Shafer, of Jerico Road, Marlinton, wishes to announce the engagement of her daughter, Mary Lee, to Ronald (Ronny) Roy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Roy, Sr., of Marlinton.
Never Too Old for Love
W. W. Gladwell, of Titusville, Florida, and Willie Hinkle, of West Virginia, proved that you are never too old to fall in love as they were married Thursday evening, September 14, 1965, in the Galdwell residence. He is 80 years old and she is a young 74…
Gladwell is also from West Virginia, but has lived in Titusville for fourteen years. The proud groom stated that he planned to continue to do a lot of fishing.
The groom is the oldest uncle of Virgil Gladwell, of Beard, and has other relatives here.
BIRTHS
Born to Spec. 4 and Mrs. Jerry R. Compton, of Arlington, Virginia, a son, name John Vinton.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Grand Daniel Sharp, of Buckhannon, a daughter, named Kay Charlene.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Maddy, of Buckeye, a daughter, name Penny Jo.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Williams, of Beard, a son, named Randell Lee.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Grey McComb, of Huntersville, a son.