The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1921-08-22
However Jonathan Faust
Was Not Sur
prised
is PR0GRESSIVISI
Electrical Science Devel-
oped During His
Life Time

to the movies for the first time
say to give him a treat on his third
birthday and you ask him how he
liked them you probac.y hear q
boy full OF glee exclaim, Gee, they
were great, Mamma! Mamma, can
l go again tomorrow atternoon?"
But when Mr.. Jonathan w, Faust,
OF T07 Locust avenue, who, on his
|eightieth birthday last week, was
escofted to the movies for the first
time in his life, was asked what he
thought Of them he said merely:
They were Just what ! expected
they'd be-"
"Just what you expected? But
Mr.. Faust, how could you know
what to expect when you had never
seen even the old fashioned kInd?F
"Well, I've seen stereoptlcon
views and ! knew It was the same
idea except the people and things
on the screen moved. I've read a
lot about them, too, The picture
was very fine but ! was more In,
terested In seeing the objects move
than | was in tho picture itself"
"0h, you knew they really moved
but you wanted to prove 1t 70 youi
own satisfactlon7"
"Yes.' 7 It.
"po you expect to go again very
soon ! = -. -
z t'WelT naarha - -
Mr.. Faust was wounded durtng
the Civil war. He served with the
famous old Maulsbys Battery ol
northern West Virginia. But twelve
OF its members are living today,
When the Birth of a Nation
was shown hero a few years age
Mr.. Faults family tried to- induce
him to SEQ the picture but he re
fused to go. He avoids excitement,
Though so years old he, insists on
walking to and from his farm "bacls
Of Palatine" every day the weather
Is good.
His mind Is active and he reads
extensively and although he seldom
talks as long at one time as he did
upon being interviewed he has the
ideas nevertheless. You could sec
from his clear grey eyes and Sc.
rene countenauce that he IL
thoughtful and reflective rather
than impulslve and fiery.
81 read as much as ever did,
he said. "I have always kept UP
on current happenings and Of
course things have happened in my
time"
\ Motion pictures is but one OF the
many inventions which have revo
lutionized every mode Of living
since Mr.. Faust was boy. He wac
born in 1S41.
II worked on the farm down at
White Day up until the time | en-,
listed in the army. When we har.
vested we cut the hay with scythes
and did the rest with pltchtorks
and rakes. The moving machine is
one Of the first Inventions ! re
member"
"Did you people buy a moving
machine at once or did you wail
to see how other peoples worked q
he was asked.
We'll. we did wait a while to
SEQ how they worked but we didn't
make fun Of such new tangled
thing because 1t was new. l was
never skeptical about new lnven.
tions and I'm not today. l believe
IN using the latest possible i'm
provements in everything"
"Then you are not the kind Of
person who thinks the good old
days were the best days?"
NO. think we'd be in an awful
fix II we had to liye like they did
in the old days. And the most won.
derful thing that has happened IN
my time, l think, is the invention
OF the wireless telegraph. That's
what Impressed me among all the
inventions"
He was asked II the wireless i'm.
pressed him more In this late day
than did the Morse telegraph which
was put into practical operation
when he was q boy and he replied:
"Yes. much more"
And It was a great event when
electric lights were first used in
Fairmont but It seemed almost as
wonderful when the first oil lamp
arrived for even as late as the war
We burned tallow candles. We had
our own molds and made them al
home, We also did our own spin.
ming and weaving at home. Shoes
were made by hand by the shoe.
makers IN the community. They
obtained their leather from TIE tan.
nertes. There was . tannery at
White Day"
"Middletown tFairmontj and the
towns around Ia those days were
(coutiaued on pAVs stEhtl