Thursday, April 25, 1946
No wonder youths are delinquent, considering what they have to read and see in shows, with very little that appeals to their emotional life in the right direction.
“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As to be hated, needs but to be seen;
But seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity… then embrace.”
Bears
Not over two miles in air line from the Pocahontas county courthouse, on the side of Buck’s Mountain, west of Marlinton, an old big bear has been taking a heavy toll of lambs the last few weeks. The losers are Elmer Sharp, with at least seven gone, and maybe double that number; Milburn Sharp, Adam Moore and Alva E. Moore.
A crippled lamb was found, badly bitten in the neck just back of the ears; little pelts all skinned out, with leg bones bitten off about the knees, big bites in the neck just behind the ears – all perfectly good bear sign. But who could believe a bear was killing so far in the settlement; half dozen miles in from the big woods, with some sheep flocks in between?
It could not be the work of dogs, with the old sheep appearing no more disturbed than they were; a wolf would slit throats, a wild cat would attempt to cover up his prey, though he would wantonly kill a half dozen lambs a night. Maybe it was the work of a lonesome old dog fox whose mate had been killed, but even he could hardly crunch and swallow leg bones.
Last Saturday, Elmer Sharp went up to his Davis place a half mile from his residence, to mark some lambs. His grandson, Lewis, went along to help. The boy took a 22 gun for to get a ground hog. While they were in the pen stirring around among the bleating sheep, what should come ambling up the mountain but one big, long, gaunt old bear. He was in close shooting distance, too. Safety first, the gun had been parked by the fence some rods away, out of danger from being knocked over by the sheep in the pen. Lewis ran for the gun, while the bear appeared in no hurry to get away from that place. Lewis took a quick shot and apparently missed, for the bear still stood and looked the situation over. Then the boy found trouble getting another shell in his gun. The bear moved on up the mountain, came to a high rail fence, stood up, put front paws on the top rail, set one hind foot on about the third rail, and then rolled on over. Measured by the fence and how far his head was above the top rail, this bear was between six and seven feet tall.
The farm shepherd dog was put after the bear, and was gone about half an hour. A baying dog was heard on the other end of the mountain. This proved a false alarm, and by the time he was seen about, the shepherd dog had had enough bear fighting and had come back.
By late afternoon, Elmer had gathered the neighbors and some bear dogs and made preparations to follow the bear back into the Cranberry and Williams River Wilderness country. The dogs started out the best in the world, but over on Dry Creek, they hit a hot fox track. They had as fine a fox chase as anybody ever had, but really the outfit was out for bear, even if it did mean a journey in the night far into the wilderness country of the Black Forest.
I have more than a sneaking suspicion that this old, lean gaunt bear, coming into back yards to eat up lambs is here to even up the score with Elmer for his bear killing. He has been at the death of no less than 76 head of bears. Of these, he himself has killed an even thirty head; of the remainder, he put the finishing touches on no less than twenty others, shot and wounded by other hunters.
There is small satisfaction in the fact this old bear picks out a twin lamb to eat. The explanation appears that maybe the ewe with a single lamb fights off the bear, while a ewe with twin lambs makes away with one lamb and leaves the other to its fate.
I will further comment that of all sheep killing varmints, the worst pest is a lamb stealing bear. About every night he will sneak into the flock to kill and eat his fill of lambs. Grown sheep are soon missed, and the remains are comparatively easy to locate. A little lamb can be gone before it is known he has arrived, and a bear does not leave much of the lamb to look for.
DOUBLE WEDDING
In a double wedding held Saturday, April 20, 1946, at the Durbin Methodist church, Miss Bessie Brown, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe Brown, of Arbovale, became the bride of Mr. Robert Williams, and Miss Evelyn Barlow, daughter of Mr. S. I. Barlow, of Huntersville, was married to Mr. John Hunter Williams. The bridegrooms are sons of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Williams, of Durbin, and are attending West Virginia University.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Robert Williams are graduates of Greenbank high school and she also attended Glenville State Teachers college, now being an instructor in Pocahontas county schools. Mr. Williams served with the AAF in the Philippines and was taken prisoner after the fall of Bataan. He was discharged in January.
A graduate of Marlinton high school and Marshall college, Mrs. J. H. Williams is commercial instructor at Greenbank high school of which her husband is an alumnus. He also attended Glenville State Teachers college and Akron University and was recently released from the Navy with the commission of ensign after service in the Pacific area.
McLaughlin – Moore
Mr. and Mrs. Warren Moore, of Marlinton, announce the marriage of their daughter, Miss Juanita Helen Moore, to Mr. Forest L. McLaughlin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Park McLaughlin, of Minnehaha… The groom received his discharge from the army in September, 1945.