Thursday, April 8, 1948
The United States Army Transport, the John L. McCarley, is due at New York at the end of this month with the bodies of 2,619 Americans who died in the struggle for the liberation of Europe. Aboard the vessel are the remains of 65 being brought to the United States under the provisions of a 1946 congressional act at instructions of next of kin residing in West Virginia.
Virtually all the remains aboard the “McCarley” are being returned from the “D-Day” military cemeteries at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Blosville and La Cambe, Normandy…
Listed among those to be returned to loved ones in West Virginia was Pfc. Andy E. Hefner, of the U. S. Army, son of Mrs. Bertha O. Hefner, of Marlinton.
FIELD NOTES
All winter long there has been a big varmint hanging out in the big laurel patch on Spruce Flat. Tracks in the snow were big enough for a chunk of a panther. In recent weeks, the varmint has been killing lambs on Spruce Flat and across Dry Creek on Bucks Mountain. Lambs and sheep are killed by a bite on the back of the neck at the base of the skull.
One day last week, Oscar Sharp took his bear dogs and some pups for to chase out the varmint. For four hours there was one grand chase. Finally the cat fooled all to hide away in one of the many rock cliffs on the Swago side.
Oscar got one good look at the varmint. It was one powerful big wildcat, probably a Canada Lynx. He could tell it was a wildcat by its bob tail.
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The redbird’s function in life is obviously to make this a better world to live in. A more beautiful world, one with more delight to the ear and eye. His whistled song can light up a dark gray sky and bring brightness to a dull morning. His color itself, one of the richest reds in the whole bird kingdom, can lift the heart and make it sing.
The redbird, or cardinal, is no migrant, though individuals may wander north and south for some distance. Traditionally a bird of the south, it has been relatively common as far north as New York City for a good many years; and its range seems to be spreading steadily northward. Whenever it chooses an area for its home, it can be seen there all year round, whistling eagerly from the top of a leafless sycamore in December, exploring the apple trees in gray March, swaying in the top of a tall, old elm in June…
Why there should be so many crows, so many bluejays, and so few redbirds, is a question nobody seems to have answered. But the fact remains that when a redbird takes up residence in an area, that area is fortunate indeed, for he is a good neighbor as well as a delight to see and hear.
BIRTHS
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Everette J. Welder, of Marlinton, a baby girl, named Patricia Ellen.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Gardner, Jr., of Clover Lick, a son, named Rodney William.
DEATHS
Mrs. Minnie Golden, widow of Paul Golden, died at her home in Marlinton Tuesday morning, April 8, 1948. For more than fifty years, this good woman had lived in Marlinton. Mrs. Paul Overholt is her daughter.
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Russell Gilmore Chestnut, aged 62 years, died Thursday, April 1, 1948, after a long illness. On Saturday afternoon his body was laid in the family plot in Mountain View Cemetery. The funeral service was held from the Frost Church.
The deceased was a son of the late Anderson Chestnut and was reared in Mill Gap, Virginia. He married Miss Blanche Bussard. She and their six children, John Marshall, Marie, Minnie Sue, Ronnie, Carol and Nancy, survive.
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Matthew Cook, of Seebert, aged about 75 years, died Thursday, April 1, 1948, after a long illness. On Sunday afternoon his body was laid in the Seebert Cemetery.
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Funeral service for Mrs. C. R. Shrader was held Tuesday afternoon, March 23, in the Cass Presbyterian Church, of which she was a longtime member… Mrs. Shrader was born in Union February 17, 1883, the daughter of the Rev. and Mrs. G. S. Weiford. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sharder, one of whom preceded his mother in death.