Seventy-Five Years Ago

Thursday, February 14, 1946

Our Army and Navy Boys

T-3 George Hilleary, of Hillsboro, is one of 2,099 Army veterans returning to the States aboard the S. S. Cape Perpetua, which left Yokohama, Japan, January 14, and is scheduled to arrive in Seattle about January 31. The S. S. Cape Perpetua is one of the hundreds of Navy and War Shipping Administration ships which accomplished the huge task of supplying U. S. sea, air and land forces throughout the Pacific war.

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Pearl Harbor. T. H. – Private First Class Forrest Simmons, of Bartow, was one of 1,630 Army veterans returned to the States aboard the S. S. Azalea City, which left Yokohama, Japan, on January 19, and is scheduled to arrive in Seattle about February 3. The S. S. Azalea City is one of the many Merchant Marine ships which assisted the Navy in main- taining supply lines to island bases seized throughout the Pacific.

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Pearl Harbor, T. H. – Corporal Elmer Simmons, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Simmons, of Hillsboro, was one of the 1,033 Army veterans returned to the States for discharge aboard the U. S. S. Munda, an escort carrier of the “Magic Carpet” fleet. This ship left Saipan, January 21 and was scheduled to arrive in San Pedro about February 5. The U. S. S. Munda was originally intended to protect Allied supply lines in the Atlantic against German U-boats and later was used as a transport in the Pacific.

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Sergeant Odeth H. Lambert, husband of Mrs. Willa G. Lambert, of Durbin, has been released for discharge from Headquarters V Corps and will shortly return to civilian life.

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Staff Sergeant Don McLaughlin, son of Mrs. C. C. McLaughlin, is home from the Army with an honorable discharge. He was with the First Cavalry, just from Tokyo. Don had 44 months in service with 14 of them in the South Pacific. He has battle stars for Bougainville and the Philippine Invasion.

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Sergeant and Mrs. Houston Simmons and small daughter, Agnes, of Fort Monroe, Virginia, spent last week here with home folks.

The Hospital

Standing room only well describes the attendance upon the mass convention called for last Tuesday at the Courthouse by the County Court for the open discussion of questions relating to the continuance of the Pocahontas Memorial Hospital.

So far as public sentiment is concerned, this institution has a secure place in this regard for the people. One observer remarked it was about as unpopular to talk about discontinuing the county hospital as it would be to propose abolishing the County Clerk’s office.

Month after month the hospital has shown a deficit. The Court very properly brought the matter to a head by setting a date for closing it. After the public hearing of the people the Court very properly ordered the hospital continued until July 1st, the first of the next fiscal year. Machinery was set up to get popular subscriptions to keep it going.

After that it is expected a special election will be held to vote a levy of taxes to carry the hospital on properly.

So, the Pocahontas Memorial Hospital is open as usual.

The Board of Directors is composed of J. E. Buckley, Mrs. Russell Campbell, Mrs. G. O. Wade and Richard McNeel.

Letter to the Editor

Dear Mr. Price;

I have been back in the United States since Christmas Eve and have been in the East less than a month. I had thought that about everything had gone to perdition from my first slight observations of the domestic scene.

However, I chanced – while trying to catch up on my contemporary history by reading the newspapers – to run across a copy of The Pocahontas Times. I found it, to my delight, still the same Times that I used to read when I was on the Daily Mail. It stands unchanged in a world that is changing too fast to suit me. I give you my personal vote of thanks for your superb defense of the presence of Panther in the Endless Mountains. Although I’ve never seen one outside the San Diego and Bronx zoo, I’m sure they are still around in Pocahontas – if you say so.

With every good wish,

Sincerely,
Lewis T. Welch, Lt, USNR
U. S. Naval Station
Norfolk, 11 Va.

STATE PARKS

Improvements in state parks, to be in operation when the 1946 season opens early in June, will include a recreational area in Watoga, according to chief Watt Powell of the conservation commission’s parks division. Facilities are being installed for tennis, archery, volley ball, shuffleboard and croquet. A play area for small children will be in operation.

LOCAL MENTION

Due to the sudden snowfall, the roads were too bad for driving, so there was no Sunday night services at Stewart’s Chapel and the singers who were scheduled to sing at Cass were unable to fill their appointment.

There will be a Valentine Party at the home of Mrs. Bell Jackson on Friday night, February 15th. The public is cordially invited. Proceeds will go to the W. S. C. S.

For Race Relation Week, the Community Singers, Mesdames Bell Jackson, Lelia Taylor, Artie Jones, Susie Morris, Ida Barnes, Evia and Lena Smith, sang at the white Methodist Church on Sunday February 10th.

COSTUME BALL

Washington Birthday Costume Ball Thursday, February 21st, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., Marlinton High School Gym. Admission $1 per person plus tax. Prize for best costume. Approved by Post 50 American Legion.

WEDDINGS

Mr. and Mrs. Wilson C. Brandenburg, of Webster Springs, announce the marriage of their only daughter, Wilna Clarice, to First Lt. Earl Marshall Kesler, Army Air Force, son of Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Kesler, of Clover Lick.

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Mr. and Mrs. I., B. Baumgardner announce the marriage of their daughter, Florence Ella (Billie), to George M. Hinds, of Springfield, Illinois.

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Eugene Wimer and Miss Madeline Waugh were united in marriage at the Marlinton Methodist Church on Friday, February 8, 1946.