The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1952-02-29
RAINY DAY MEDITATIONs

RAINY DAY MEDITATIONS
Everybody speaks well of King
George vi. Undoubtedly he was a
nice fellow. AS king he did no
wrong. Maybe it was because he
didn't have chance. Nowadays a
king has no power other than the
waning prestige his kingship gives
him. Everything that is done
wrong can be laid at the doors of
Parliament and the prime minister.
Now that the king has outlived his
usefulness in just about every land
on the globe, it looks as if it would
be well to do away with the enor-
nous expense of supporting the
king and his vast establishment of
luxury running into millions each
year which would be better applied
to the relief of the needy. 1t is al
ways little perplexing to some of
US that England has to constantly
beg of America to keep going, but
must spend millions yearly to sup
port useless king and his house
hold. Anyway, we can all say he
never did any wrong in the world;
probably never did much of any,
thing else.
Nell Battle Lewis finds it most
appropriate that the king went to
his last rest in a coffin of Royal
oak cut from the Kings estate. /
sort of like the idea also. Most ap-
propriate, if man came from the
soil. / have followed the same plan.
Some six years ago, l had the
boards cut from my land, from the
same land which my grandfather's
grandfather owned. These are wide
pine boards, some 10 inches wide,
with nice huge knots in them. /
still have the boards. l put them
up overhead in the woodshed of my
woodshop Of my cousin, who
agreed to make me coffin when
they had seasoned. Unfortunately
he died suddenly before we got
around to building the coffin.
still look forward to getting my
coffin built Of these native pine
boards.
1t used to be not infrequent for
men of the Coastland to build their
own collins. have seen several of
them with the owner and builder
standing proudly by. The late Will
liam Poyner of Frisco built his and
stored it a long time ahead of his
death. So did the late Charlie Aus
tin of Hatteras, who / once photo
graphed beside the coffin he had
built. He was quite proud of the
finished job. The late Charles T.
Greet of East Lake also built a
coffin for himself.
When I was small boy, it was
a frequent occurrence that neigh
bors met and built a coffin for
someone who had suddenly died.
The best carpenters in the COM
munity were chosen for this work.
No one thought of accepting pay
for this chore. Later, there came to
be coffin dealers in the larger COM
munities. Now collins are available
everywhere, and there are first
class funeral homes nearby where
every imaginable funeral service is
provided. No longer are neighbors
expected to, or offered an oppor-
tunity to contribute more than
sympathy when person dies.
Life may begin at 40 as the say
ing goes, but it seems to end at so,
or shortly afterward, judging by
the number of deaths of people in
their mid-fifties that are taking
place. During the past four years
more people of my age have died
than l ever recall dying before. It
seems if a fellow gets past 60 he
is safe again for awhile.
When l was a boy, 70 was a
mighty ancient age; now he know
many spry old people in their lat
ter sos. A person of 80 or more
was considered rare curiosity 40
years ago.
We often hear nowadays of
something else that didn't happen
often 40 years ago. People with
adult children begin expecting off
spring. All over the coastland are
examples of new babies coming to
homes whose youngest children are
finishing high school. There was
an old saving when I was a bow