Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-21
Real Patriotism
in the Mountains
BY Frederic J. Haskin

| u Hi'iittf VI Int Sustft lafffffNs ana WHO
turkeys are still plentiful Moorefield has
a population of 1000, and the nearest
city Of any Importance is Cumberland
Maryland, So miles away
This letter Is written from Mooreiield
To record the fact that the people in this
part of the country are earnestly attend
! ing TO the tremendous task Of defeating
| Germany In fairly wide wandering
since the war began, the writer has found
no place IN America where people take
their patriotism more seriously, or more
as q matter Of course There is not much
bluster or boasting about the attitude Of
the mountain people toward the war;
no breath is wasted ctirsing the Kaiser
and what discussion takes place is quiet
and confident in tone
But everyone is doing what he can 10
help win the war The orders Of the Food
Administration, instead Of being evaded
as sometimes happens in cities, are obey
ed as matter Of course and without com
| plant. You cannot buy more than your
righteous allotment Of sugar for any
amount of money. II is common thing
To hear a country storekeeper expounding
| the new gospel Of food conservation to q
customer, both OF them very much in
/ earnest.
WOMEN KNIT AND CAN.
All of the wornen are knitting and can
! nlng. Nearly all Of the young men from
this particular neighborhood are already
drafted. Everyone Of them carried with
him a large shoe-box full Of the most
delectablc fried chicken and cake, q
knitted sweater a swing kit, and various
| other small articles. A colored detach-
ment was supplied with exactly the same
things that the white boys got, and the
white women helped TO supply them.
There IA an impression abroad in the
land that the southern mountains are
place Of abject poverty, where people
live on "grits and bacon" sleep in log
cabins without windows, and shoot their
relatives for sport a long tour through
the mountains Of Maryland, Virginia and
West Virginia has failed 10 discover these
typical" conditions.
This town, for example, il located in
particularly rich valley which is about
half grassland and half corn. As soon as
the timber IS cut, Kentucky blue grass
carpets the ground. and affords the finest
pasturage in the world There are great
herds Of Hereford cattle, and scarcely
any small, "scr,Ibby'' stock. Horses are
also abundant, large and well-fed, but
they are used almost exclusively for farm
INK liItt uub vi tNtfF isJi4i thfIlffS III
this region own automobiles and they
are not all fivvers either
CORN AND WHEAT LEADERS
Corn Is the most important crop, but
wheat IS a close second. Moorefeld has
two -four mills II has shipped several
carloads of wheat this year, and s holding
some more subject government order.
IL has also sent out IT'S share of firs:-class
beef animals, and also Of sheep.
The black walnut trees, for which the
government is securing the country to
make unstOcks out Of are still found in
considerable groves up hero \ stranger
vino noted a grove of about 50 trees in
farmers back pasture, ventured To inform
the countryrnan of his governments
need for them. He was not, however in
need OF any posting.
We begin cuttin' EN- next week, he
explained
A laboriOus foot journey to the top of
the highest mountains in the vicinity also
failed TO reveal any of the characteristic
primitive conditions" Of the southern
mountain people The way led through
solid forest until the top was reached. but
there, at an elevation of over 5000 feet.
was a fine farm where beans and corn
were fiourishing in fields that appeared TO
lie made OF nothing but broken rock.
LOOKED LIKE UNCLE SAM.
The owner Of this substantial property,
who looked like Uncle Sam in his working
clothes, admitted that his farm was q
hard one TO plow, but added that beans
were worth something this year He had
about 60 acres of them in prime condl-
ton. He also had large flock of sheep,
but a bear had gotten into them and
killed seven the night before.
This man was q relatively recent set
tier, having been on the mountain top
only matter of 20 years. Down in the
valley many of the residences we're built
long before the Civil War. Some of these
are veritable mansions of 20 TO 30 rooms
situated on estates including 700 TO 900
acres of valley land-which again are not
the kind of mountain homes YOU read
about.
OF course, the farmers are not losing
any money by their patriotism All Of
them are exceptionally prosperous, as
evidenced by the large number Of new
automobiles which leap and swim along
the clay roads. (Motoring IN this country
Is hazardous and exciting sport.
The only thing the farmers are inclined
to kick about is the drafting of their sons
and hired men. which has left many Of
them mighty short-handed." There IS no
violent denunclatlon of anyone or any
thing about this, however One may say
that is is a misktake, but to 90 farther is
also "A mistake.
The mountain farmer realizes that he
rs an important man, upon whom great
deal depends As one Of them put il, the
farmer is not only expected 10 feed the
world, but now he is asked to go out and
tight the world as well Even SO, he ac-
cepts hls responsibilities with eQuanImitv
Other signs of war in these parts are
that the girls, even the prettiest ones, 20
TO the movies alone, and there are no more
dances given In the town hall, for lack of
the uglier element The chief social
gatherings are flag raisIngs, which seem
TO occur at frequent intervals and IN all
parts of the country. The other night a
flag was raised over the court house at
Romney lanother metropolis of thousand
twenty seven miles from here). and the
day before that the Boy Scouts raised a
flag down by the river. In each case. a
large chorus of the village beauties sang
the 'Star-Spangled Banner and Hail
Columbia, and the nearest candidate for
Congress lambasted the Kaiser, and /
placed the American farmer upon high /
pedestal with halo around his perspir-
ing brow.
In spite of the war food regulations.
and the fact that they are strictly observ-
ed, things to eat here are abundant ana Of I
a C eapneSS which makes the city dwaller f