McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1919-03-28
there on time, and a aneighbor of mine,
Mrs RrnWnlnw Gibbs from East Ten


nessee, (related by marriage to Sec
retarY McAdoo) who had agreed to
bake the bread and fix up the other
good things at our own house, (my
own family being in New York City,
had everything in eating shape when
we arrived after an auto trip over my
farm near the District of Columbia
line, at 2 o'clock.
I had gone that morning early into
the corn field on my farm and select
ed dozen or more of the biggest
ears, dry enough for grating, got
cocoa-nut crater and in few minutes
"gritted" off enough meal for big
loaf, and it came on the table smoking
hot, golden brown and with that de-
licious smell that comes only from
that sort of bread. These two dis
tinguished men sat down as though
at home; Jim Wilmeth asked the bless
ing and they pitched in. Both are
Baptists: Myers of the "Hardshell"
kind. and both are Freemasons. Jim
forgot his hundreds of money-press-
es, stamp machines and bond-printers,
and tackled big wedge Of the grit
ted Bread" and introduced Mr.. Ayers
to the same, which was new to him,
but he went at it like veteran, and
declared it was great" as we'll as
grated, bread. His twenty-thousand
clerks were out Of mind for the mo-.
ment, and it certainly was great to
see how those two magnates of the
government did eat! And you know
how our good friends Mrs. Gibbs did,:
just like our mammies did when big
company was invited to the house
declared that. if she had known in
time that they were coming she would
have done much better by them; she
was sorry see could not have enter
tained them better, etc. Her apollo
gies were met by the declaration that
they had never had better dinner,
and they declared they were coming
again; which was good to hear. Soon
these two big men we're in their auto
speeding toward Washington again,
but not until they had picked up
some fine cultivated persimmons from
my place to take along: sweet as aug
al without any frost, These trees
we're budded by my father. who was
an expert, many years ago. with scions
obtained from the Department of Ag-
riculture, Of the Early Golden" va.
riety. You see, these men are natur-
al. whole-souled fellows who have not
been spoiled by prosperity, and that
is the test Of real bigness in people.
want to get back to my farm where
can have such people around me Of
ten, and live at home and board at
the same place." My living expenses
here last month we're over 5000, and
We lived very plainly.
The Independent also goes to Will
fred Stevens. Chief translator of the
State Department at Washington, who
has high words Of praise for the paper
and its letters. Mr.. Stevens Ia the
greatest linguist in America, and one
of the foremost in the world, having
mastered more than thirty languages
without going outside the United
States, and he has invented a uniyers.
al language which, when published, is
bound to help revolutionize communi-
cation between the nations He has
worked on it for years, but is too
modest to publish it until he has pol
ished it to perfection. 1t is one Of
the most beautiful languages ever
heard; child can soon learn it, al
though it will perhaps soon be used
mostly by grown people for CORES,
pondence and diplomatic purposes,
but its great feature is that it is at
least one-fourth more brief in its ex-
Ipression than any language now ex-
isting, except perhaps the Chinese, Of
which language he is also master.
Some day will try to tell something
about what he has done with langua-
ges, and what he says about the va
rious ones; also may tell about some
other interesting people who get the
paper, but this is enough for this time.
LINDSAY S. PERKINS.