4—Lancaster Farming, Friday, April. 20, 1956
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly Newspaper
Established November 4, 1955
Published every Friday by
OCTORARO NEWSPAPERS
Quarryville, Pa. Phone 378
Alfred C. Alspach
Ernest J. Neill
C. Wallace Abel
Robert G. Campbell
Robert Wiggins
Subscription Rates: $2.00 Per Year
Three Years $5.00; 5c Per Copy
Entered as Second-Class matter at the Post Office,
Quarryviile, Pa., under Act of March 3. 1879
“Blessings on thee, little man
Who found his store-bought shoes pinching with
the first touch of warm weather, who had that urge to
take off his shoes and run through the new grass barefoot;
Who tread gingerly on stone and sand, the rough
earth underfoot that punished the soles without end; whose
soles burned on first contact with sun-baked cement;
Who received treatment to no end from cuts and
stone bruises, until the season wore on, until the feet be
came acclimated and could carry the youngster over any
obstacle;
Who found summer waning, the chill of autumn
creeping up, or the first day of school arriving when no
youngster of his age would be seen barefoot;
Who finally, reluctantly, put on his shoes again at
season’s end, to find to his and his parents’ dismay
that the barefoot process had widened the spread, flattened
the arch, demanding a new pair of shoes;
Who now grown can recapture these days only by
kicking off his shoes under the table, or at the movie; who
now is grown up, our
“Barefoot boy with cheeks of tan.”
MERCHANDISING METHODS
“Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy?”
This old song reminds us that soon it will be the
fresh fruit and vegetable production season again, and it’s
pleasing to learn the Pittsburgh housewife doesn’t skimp
on the cherries. From what we’ve seen hereabouts, the
same might well be said of Pennsylvania Dutch cooking,
done so well in Lancaster County.
; In Pittsburgh, cans of cherries were placed side by
side at one supermarket. The larger, 19-ounce can, far out
sold the smaller 17-ounce can. Carrots sold best when dis
played without tops in one-and two-pound polyethylene
bags, 37 per cent more in fact.
■ Further, the USDA report indicates, there’s not
much to be gained in offering bananas in units larger than
59 cents’ worth.
It’s production merchandising, packing, packaging,
marketing, the whole complex system in which Lancaster
County plays a most notable role. And here, she truly can
bake a cherry pie
i Often you hear reference to the good old days. Con
stant reminders pop up in the 50-year-ago and 25-year-ago
columns that renew old memories. There’s one this week
about the influx of the automobile into one Lancaster
County township, where the farmer’s horses-were frighten
ed, his roosters run down. Life and limb were at stake
constantly.
Recollections of the first car back home are dim,
but there’s a story of high-wheeled gasoline buggies, and in
our town recollection a Model T sedan with a door in the
center of the body. Then there was a Chalmers and many
others
But perhaps the prime joke was the proud pos
sessor of a new gasoline buggy, a quarter century ago,
maybe .30 years ago, who cautiously let his daughters use
the family car one night. But when they failed to return
at the hour pop thought they should, he went out, hitched
up a team, ready to start a search. Fortunately, the gals
drove in just as pop started to drive out, and hever could
he explain where he would have gone to catch up with
the daughters
Today the auto’s commonplace, not .yet replaced by
the airplane, but it was perhaps one of the most significant
factors in changing America’s social life. As an economic
factor, it is one of the largest in the nation.
The upward struggle was difficult at first, hut the
goal was won.
Lancaster Phone 4-3047)
STAFF
THAT SEASON AGAIN
GOOD OLD DAYS
Publisher
Editor
Business Manager
Advertising Director
Circulation Director
50 Years Ago
This Week on Lancaster Farms
50 YEARS AGO (1906)
By JACK REICHARD
1906: New York State
Had Surplus of Fawns
In 1906 the State of New
York had a surplus of unoccupi
ed farms. A bulletin issued by
the State Agricultural Commis
sioner during April that year,
stated that 20,000 farms were
for sale in the State, with facili
ties for the employment of 50,-
000 additional agricultural work
ers. The report said most of' the
farms had good buildings and
fences, with wood water
for farming purposes.
105,533 Farmers
Attended Institutes
Algernon S- " Martin, Deputy
Secretary, of Agriculture, report
ad the total attendance of 400
farmers,’ institutes held in Penn
sylvania an 1905, was 105,533,
breaking all previous records.
A reader complained to
the publisher o| a farm pap
er that he did not print all
the news.
“Publish all the news? I
should say not”, replied the
publisher. “If I published -
all that happened for one
week only, the next week
you would read my obituary,
and there would be' a new
face in heaven”.
Father of Dozen Twins
Down Texas Way
Half a century ago American
farmers in general raised large
families, but in Texas they rais
ed ’em larger. J. B. Dismuke,
aged 65, a prosperous Texas
farmer, was reported to be the
father of 31 children, most of
whom were living in 1906, in
cluding six sets of twins, accord
ing to a dispatch to the Chicago
Chronicle. Dismuke, a native of.
■Tennessee, who had lived in
Texas 31 years, weighed over
200 pounds and still worked as _
hard as most farmer* in those.!
narts. At the age of 22 he mar
ried Miss Susan Singleton, with
seven children resulting from
that union, three girls and four
boys, the latter two"" sets of
twins The first wife died in
1R67 and Dismuke married Miss
Ella Skinner, of Alabama. To
them were born 10 boys and
two girls, including four sets of
twins The second wife died in
1882 and’ a year'later Dismuke
married a Mrs Ecker, a widow,
who was still living in 1906- She
had borne him 12 children, nine
boys and three girls Dismuke
was believed to hold the world’s
record for twins
WHY do people get killed for
being Christians? It seems in
credible, and It hasn't happened
‘to most Christians. But it does
happen. Christianity was perhaps
only a few months old when the
first martyr, Stephen, met his
death at the hands of a mob.' Now
the peculiar feature of that mob
was that it was so respectable.
Not a hoodlum in
the lot. They were
all civic leaders,
men high in 'reli
gious circles. In
‘fact, it was the
high court that
Adjourned and be
icame the stone
throwing mob.
They would not
'have said that Dr. Foreman
■they murdered Stephen. They
'would have said they executed
him. But that makes It' all the
more of a puzzle. A hoodlum
might shoot down a good Christian
just for meanness, but why should,
men of dfstinction kill a man for,
no other crime than being a
Christian?
Blood of ihe Martyrs
Before trying to answer that
question, we tnght glance through
i history and see a few other cases.
iCircumstances .vary, but the kind,
(of martyidom that was Stephen’s
{is always essentially the same. No
lone ever brings the killers into
court. Who would have brought
suit against the Sanhedrin for
killing Stephen? They were the
court. Who could arrest the Em
peror Nero for burhing the Chris
tians alive in his gardens? Who
could have written a letter to the
tpaper (if there had been one)
(complaining about the mass mUr
(ders, by great emperors like Dio
■cletian or Marcus Aurelius, of
innocent Christians? So it was
when Joan of Arc was burned at
the stakes, or when “Bloody Mary”
was runnmg wild against the
Protestants, or when the Russian
, revolution caused the death of no-
People differ. Some object to knows how many hundreds
a fan dancer, and other to the priest, or when the Chinese
fans. Washington Post. ( ~ 1"
Prof. H. AT Surface, State
Zoologist, in his April, 1906,
bulletin, stated that the 17-
year locust would make its
appearance in Pennsylvania
that year, and would pos
sibly be found throughout
the State.
Sf *
Fire Destroys Bar.n
Owned by Rev. Groff
Fifty years ago this week, fire
of unknown origin destroyed a
barn and its contents on a Lan
caster farm owned by Rev. Elias
Groff, south of Strasburg. Ten
cows, six young cattle and four
mules, together with 200 bu of
corn, farm implements and wa
gons, were burned in the blaze
h- 1*
Crime To
Hunt A Wolf?
At London Grove, Chester
County, nearly 1,000 persons
who. had gathered 'at the farm
of John P. Worth, to witness an
advertised wolf hunt, were
greatly disappointed when six
officers of the State Society for
They Do
the prevention of Cruelty to
Animals confronted the promo
tors with warrants, to be served
if they liberated a wolf. In the
large farm house, where ap
proximately 700 persons had
been fed” Worth, a noted fox
hunter, announced he was ready
to liberate his wolf regardless
of the society’s agents Follow
ing the announcement there was
a rush to the field in the rear
of the barn, where more than
100 riders were ready ■■ for the
chase. “There he goes-” shouted
the crowd. But the spectators
were not aware that‘Worth had
given the fox the name of Wolf
until after the chase.
25 Years Ago
Cherokee Indian
Acquitted by Jury
Twenty-five years ago this
week, Lancaster Countians were
clamoring for newspapers to
read all about the trial of Wil
liam “Indian Bill” Craig, Safe
Harbor construction worker,
charged with murdering his com
panion. Jack McNeil, and de
fended by Miss M. Edna Hurst,
the first woman attorney to de
fend a man accused of murder
in the history of Pennsylvania-
The 35-year-old halfbreed Chero
kee was acquitted by a jury
Tuesday afternoon, April 21,
1931.
i BaeXeronnd Scripture: Acts 6:1—8:3.
f Devotion*! Rtading: , Psalm 107:l-o.
Unto Death
Lesson for April 23, 1958 „
From Berry Picker
To Millionaire
George F- Baker made Mg
first dollar picking berries oth
er berry pickers overlooked
under brushes near his home at
Troy, N. Y. That' was back' in,
1850. Through the years that
followed Baker had picked many
“berries”, and on his 91st birth
day, in 1931. the eminent New
York banker was rated one of
thfe richest men in the world.
"In 1931 the country’s top
economists warned that the
greatest barrier facing busi
ness in its fight for survival
during the depression that
year was the threat of high’
er taxes. They pointed out
that prosperity, which is
principally a matter of em
ployment, could only return
with increased industrial
activity, including farming.
Tax raising schemes that
discouraged industrialists
and investors was declared
to be depression’s best
friends-
5 <
Egg Gracing Bill
Introduced in'State
An “egg grading” bill was in
troduced to the 1931 legislature
at the instance of the agricul
ture department, according to
State Secretary of Agriculture
John A. McSparran. The bill
provided that all eggs, except
those sold by a producer direct
ly to the consumer, “shall be
graded, labeled and sold accord
ing to official standard® estab
lished by the P. D. of A."
revolution has brought death to
Christians again in our time. The
persecutors may be bishops, and
arch-bishops, heathen emperors,
(“people's governments,” or Afri
can chiefs, they always have
the law on their side, and what ds
imore serious, they have public
opinion. When the early Frendh
missionaries to the American In
dians were tomahawked, as so
many of them were, does any one
suppose that their scalps_ were
buried to destroy traces of the
crime? Not a bit of it,—some
{lndian warrior wore the scalp and
[was the envy of everybody in his
'Village. Always the murder of the
'Christians is done with public
(knowledge.
'Persecution Can Be Avoided
' We can move a little closer to
our question by remembering that
the church has not always been
(persecuted Sometimes it has been
highly praised, welcomed, honored.
It may even succeed in running
the country; Nobody would dream
of persecuting it,—in fact, it may
turn the tables and persecute other
people. Oh—you say at once—
when that happens, it isn’t the
church of God any more; the'
true church will always be per-l
secuted, and when it isn’t, it is aj
sign it is no longer the true chUrch.|
—There is some truth in that, but
it is saying too much. A church)
may be free from persecution and)
still be largely Christian. How
ever, you can set it down as a
rule: Whenever the church, and]
the people in it, do just what
everybody else does and think)
what every one thinks, then it)
/Will not be persecuted. j
“I Had a Higher Fuehrer^
Martin Niemoeller is a case in
pomt. He was a hero of World)
IWar I who later became a minister,
l When Hitler took over Germany,!
IPastor Niemoeller went along with)
I what Hitler did, or at any . rate he
[said nothing, for a long time.
And all that time, Martin Niemoel
(ler went right on With ids church
work undisturbed. Then - finally
Hitler was too much even foi}
Niemoeller’s strong stomach, and)
ie defied Hitler. “I had a higher*
[Fuehrer,” he said years later,)
a higher Leader. So the police!
came and marched that minister
oft to jail, one morning after)
church. You see? The church is
never persecuted when all It says
to the world around it is “YesJ
yes, we agree!” The church has
been persecuted, and will be per)
secuted here in America even)
,if and when—like Stephen of old-)
it dares to set above public opin-j
ion, custom, ‘mores,” respect)
abilities, authorities and power*,*
the Higher Leader.
(Based on outline .copyrighted by tU
Division of Christian Education.
tlorr.il Council of the ChnroUM of CkrUi
In the U. S. A. Bcfoaaed by Community
Press Service.)
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