Thursday, July 12, 1923
After about four false starts at different times in the last year or two, I finally succeeded in reading the book, “Main Street,” by Sinclair Lewis, and I feel like I had been penned up with the town gossip. It is a story of the village of Gopher Prairie. Gopher Prairie is what we would call a town… Of all the towns in West Virginia, Gopher Prairie was more nearly the size and the importance of Alderson…
It is not a pleasant book to read. After much cogitation I have come to the conclusion that it is a true picture of small town life so far as it goes, with the saving grace of religion left out of it…
My attitude toward this book as to reading it was exemplified in its pages by a remark made by Juanita Haydock, a lively young matron of Gopher Prairie, who declared that she would rather go to jail than write a paper for the club. And that had been my feeling for the book until a couple of rainy days starved me into reading it.
The book develops the innate cussedness of a young female person by the name of Carol, a thin flanked woman as dry and white as a bone. She was city bred, college graduated and poor, and she married a town doctor, with the idea of making the town of Gopher Prairie beautiful, and about all that she succeeded in doing was to get herself talked about by the people of the town.
She was badly infected with the fallacy of the elsewhere, and the fact that the doc chewed tobacco and ate with his knife was almost more than she could bear.
She worries along for a number of years, taking a few vacations from the doc, one of nearly two years, but after acquiring a little more age and a couple of children, she at last settles down to life in Gopher Prairie.
All the sympathy that developed in me was for the doc.
– – –
Beginning Sunday morning, passenger train service was discontinued to Thornwood. The morning and night train now starts and stops at Durbin, and the mail train turns at Durbin and backs up as far as Bartow.
– – –
Mrs. Guy Bratton, Miss Dot Irvine and Harry Sharp killed a fine, able rattlesnake in front of the home of W. A. Bratton last Wednesday afternoon, July 4. Ten rattles and a button.
GAME NOTES
Robert Keene, of Baltimore, and Jesse McNeill, of Buckeye, were fishing around the Big Island on Williams River last Monday. They heard a noise up in the woods and decided it was a gang of turkeys scratching. Hoping to see the turkeys, the boys dropped their fishing things and crept through the laurel as quietly as they could, which seems to have been almost noiselessly. Peering over a rise of ground, they found themselves within a few paces of an immensely big bear, industriously engaged in tearing big logs and stumps to pieces looking for grubs. Immediately the bear riz up at the man scent, and he was a fearsome sight. Boys and bear left simultaneously and they went away from that place. Steve Broady, the bear trapper, was notified, and he is fixing to set a trap for this bear.
BIRTHS
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Lonnie VanReenan, of Woodrow, a son.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Joe Busch, of Beaver Creek, a daughter.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Denton Wilfong, near Marlinton, a son.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Arch Simmons, of Marlinton, a son.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. George McCloud, of Clawson, a son.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Burgess, of Woodrow, twins, a girl and a boy.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Cackley of Millpoint, a son.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Billingsley, of Marlinton, a daughter.
DEATHS
DAVID M. VARNER
The people of Allegheny community were very sorry to learn of the death of David M. Varner which occurred at Johns Hopkins Hospital where he had gone for an operation, for awhile after the operation he seemed to be doing well, but pneumonia developed which caused his death. Mr. Varner was 45 years old. He had been a member of the Brethren Church for a number of years. He leaves a wife, six children, an aged father, five brothers, five sisters and a host of relatives and friends to mourn their loss.
Funeral services were conducted at Allegheny Chapel in the presence of a large number of relatives and friends, and his body was laid to rest in the Varner graveyard.
JASPER DILLEY DEAD
Jasper D. Dilley died at the Ronceverte Hospital Monday evening, July 9, 1923, of pneumonia following an operation for appendicitis. His age was about 65 years. His body was brought here Tuesday for burial in the Hills near his late home. The deceased was one of the prominent citizens of Huntersville District, honest, upright and industrious. His wife died a few months ago. He is survived by a number of children.
