The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1944-07-13
Turning Over An
Old Leaf
By PHILLIP A. GLADDEN.

III "CIC -oISo I'M & al dCN' IlAOAO
I'll. were 4aceS 10 org, e-.... 49,.
arc a few forgnftan ashas.
There We're sparks of recognition that
are not forgotten yet.
Ono Of +ba substantial hv-nroduc+s
Of tbo da,ro.s;,,, u, +ba tbi,.tias was -
v,idasnraad nvodps from, the cities The
n,o4i,os +bat n,.o,,,ntad tho return +o
tho soil ,varo hath n,iyad sinpIa and
novel Soma left invoIun+arilv whilst
ctbars anvisiorol tho oood life as more
IN alliance with orowino landscapp
han with crnmhIino towers The more
alert Of tbeea neo-miorants soon made
rooord If tLai,. ohsa,vo+;ons after he
oo,,ipo newly sa++Ind on the soil The
rasuI+ has haan sizable literature
oivino IN us . new nbjIosophv and way
If life indannndent Of the proft-mo
two This Lost notiva * fundamental
;f ono < to survive in an urban setting
No no+tar how many alnuistic barli-
codos ara placad in front of il
On +ba chi; tho largessa of nature is
avo,. nrasant. one is surrounded bv its
abundance and IFS normal dependabil-
itv One can afford to push the profit
motive into the second or third posi-
tion That does not mean that country
neonIo are idealists-ra from it. One
finds rs many farmers greedy of gain
as tba radesman But those who have
ived in the cities and have GROWN
weary Of IFS tentative ife-pattelns.
when retu,ning 10 the soil have be-
come RECIPIENTS Of 2 new idealism and
bold new appreciation of the land
scane that far ranscends esthetics.
II has been NV custom for the past
two seasons Of trout fishing to adopt
that method of TRANSFORMATION known
as bitcb-hiking, for obvious reasons.
At FIRST labored emotionalIv to main
tain sense Of seIf-respect. But then
7 discovered this was = capital means
Of Iea,nino 70 know the local Doonle
(hecause thp man who was TRAVELLING
1ono distances or from another state
very seldom vouId pick up q stran-
ger) Over in the West VIRGINIA hills
one finds the people unacouainted
with that kind of individual conceit
which puts nremium on STRANGERS
Tbnv arc moro conuaniaI and COM
municativo. Along with the Measure
of fishing was the delight in hailing
them on the road and the pleasant
talk that ensucd after getting in the
car, When the "hjtch" came to its end
NV new-found friend would hold out
his hand and saw in most attractive
sincerity: Come and see me when
Won pct down this way again"
A few weeks ago | found myself on
the north edge of PETERSBURG at the
junction Of two HIGHWAYS. Nv object
was to reach Mount Storm. 26 miles
distant. where | could contact the bus
going west on Route so. | had been
there but few minutes when a man
stoppped in good looking new model
at the service station. I asked him if
he was on his wav IN the mountain,
He REPLIED that he was turning about.
headed for PETERSBURG. However. we
commenced conversation. After his
car was sclviccd he suddenly surprised
me by saving that he would be clad to
take me to Mount Storm. Now in
these busy. gas-rationed DAYS for a
car owner TO % 26 miles ont Of the
way for a hitch-hiker has almost a
Ripley news value.
The dav was fair. the broad. level
fields of the South Branch VaIIev were
FESTIVE with vari-coIorpd Greens and
the car was clean. comfortable and
ouite adeouate 70 conouer the ascent
up Alleganv Front. Nv host pointed
to the right and said. "The people here
in the Valley saw this is the finest
farm in Grant county" The level
fields stretched far awav to the precip-
lions wooded RIDGE onnosite Innica
Creek, One could sense the undertones
of honest pride and happiness when he
said the farm was his and that YES
terdav he was there helpinp to make
hav.
We EXCHANGED autobiogranhies He
was q country Iad horn biob nm on tho
east face of AlIeganv Front, one Of
large family. Early in life he had