Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-24

lul OPPOA oAAAOy w otuuy hh oAC AICalby
from Washington, communities Of pre-
Of social disintegration and to
to apply to the study of human intel
ocial institutions.
information from the boy concerning
Lincoln he was told that "a mar over
the hill a piece has got one Of them
things" The questioning showed that
a name which does not pertain to a
class of familiar objects has no signih-
canoe to the children. This would be
a barrier to be surmounted In any
history teaching.
Like Biblical Days.
Probably the situation is due to the
fact that the mountaineers are falling
back into the social conditions in which
family names were integrated, such as
existed in biblical days. In Corbin
Hollow, for example, all the individuals
in the cabins for miles around are
named Corbin. The women and chill
dren seldom come in contact with other
family names. Consequently the name
"Corbin" has no significance In differ
~entiating a person and has become
superiuouS.
So the boy. Jim Corbin, would ordi-
narily be differentiated as SAILS JIM"
meaning oAA ! . SOAl, ulAAC ~
name Abraham Lincoln would have
disappeared in such an environment
and the man known as "Nancy's Abe"
So such a name as George Washington
does not naturally suggest a person. as
would the name "Mary'S George" The
combined family and Christian names
suggest some strange object rather than
person.
This condition does not exist in those
holloWS which have frequent contact
with other hollows. populated by diff
terent families. but in Corbin Hollow
the name d~isintegration Is making
rapid progress. The children know that
they are Corbins. But before the recent
influx of strangers they probably have
had only a vague realization that there
were human beings who were not Cor
bins. This name d~isintegration seems
to exist in various stages, dependent on
the degree OF contacts.
But although Abraham Lincoln, CAL
vim Coolidge and Herbert Hoover call
forth no response from children in the
deeper hollOws, the persistence Of q Re-
publican political tradition from Civil
War days is reported in the more &C.
cessible communities. and a Republican
candidate always can count on a hand
full OF votes from mountaineers who
pass the Virginia literacy tests. Al
Smith got most of the vote of one hol-
low last year. and the story OF how 1t
happened still calls forth a chuckle
from the amateur politician responsible
for 1t.
Log and Rail Bridge.
The men wanted the county to build
a bridge over a mountain stream be-
tween their cabins and the schoolhOuse.
A bridge" of course, meant q couple
Of logs across the brook with q guard
rail, which the men were willing to
build themselves. But they wanted to
be paid for their labor and figured that
they should get about $24. They all
intended to vote Republican.
But h individual from the 1owlAnds,
who wa an ardent Smith supporter,
saw his opportunity to break the solid
Republican vote. s
He managed to convince them that
the Democratic candidate was certain
to be elected.
And Just think what Mr.. smith
would say II he knew that 50 much
money as 1t will cost to build this bridge
wa going To be paid to men who voted
for Hoover" he argued.
That clinched it. Mr.. Smith can
thank him for four votes. Mr.. Hoover
apparently showed no such animosity 10
those who deserted his cause as vas
attributed to the New York governor.
for the bridge was built and the Smith
men got the money for their labor.
Another point brought out by the
psychological examinations was the lack
of ability to differentiate distances. The
two distinctions are lust a piece and
quite a piece" Most of those whom
directions In terms Of miles. The sense
Of time IS much better, and within an
hour the children kept the appointment
at the schoolhOuse made for them bv
Miss Miriam Sizer. the district school
teacher, last Summer, who served as
guide and interpreter for the scientific
expedition.
Interior Of School Wrecked.
The children we're told that DR.. Key
wanted to play a game with them and
that there was candy waiting for them
at the schoolhouse. They we're tested
both in groups and individually and
there was NJ lack Of interest. In the
individual tests they were taken into
the Schoolhouse one at q time to play
with Miss Key. and some Of them left
waiting cried because they could not
get in the game, too.
And Miss Sizer cried, too, when she
found that. the interior of her school
house had been wrecked during the two
weeks she had been away from 1t. She
found primers n charts torn to bits
and attributed it to m~ountaineers op.
posed to the school, which she had
worked so hard to build UP. She was
convinced, however, that this was not
the attitude Of the Corbin Hollow peo-
pie as a whole, since the mothers are
anxious for the school to continue.
The scientists who made up the party
we're on guard against drawing many
conclusions from the data obtained, but
Of mentality which evaded accurate
measurement.