The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-05-02
Letters To Edito,


Bit OF Nostalgia
BY Former Resident
In Texas
Editor of Herald:
The article, in the Saturday
Evening Post of this week, has
brought back memories of my
childhood when 1 spent some
golden years in that little village.
more than a half century back.
Back in those days l played with
the Negroes and loved it and I
loved sincerely Aunt Zanobia and
Aunt Matilda who had as much
to do with my upbringing as my
parents did. I glorify in your
spunk to be the only one in The
United States to stand up for
your rights as you see them and
wish you every continued sue
cess. The damned Yankees are
trying to legislate social equality
not equal opportunity. So, let
Old Lady Roosevelt live with
them if she wants to but as fol
me l am glad I lived in the
good old days when each race
respected the other and it was a
grand old world, free from So
calism but with a policy of fair
dealing for all and an opportun
ity for those with the ambi-
ton and the knowledge to make
the most of it.
My father was head Of the
History Department at the then
State Normal School. Severa,
summers he acted as editor Of
The Herald when the editor took
long vacations. 1t was there al
the Herald office I first learned
of type lice. As a red headed kiC
of ten or twelve l was shot ii
the eye with a douse of water
when the printers separated tWC
fonts and showed them together
when l looked in to see the lice
AS l recall it, after more thar
fifty years, the Herald office was
down a short flight Of stairs anc
the shop down another shor
flight. My father later became
a feature writer for The Kansas
City Star.
Among those boyhood mem
cries was crazy Charlie. a half
wit Negro. who suffered greatly
from the antics of the small boys
Then my hero was Uncle Pa
Pascal Faux, l think an in
telligent Negro who ran a little
grocery store up close to the
Normal. He called me Little Do.
and my dad was Big Doc. The
girls from the school would comt
up every afternoon to buy
nickels worth of candy. in a:
many pennies varieties. will
alawys a cents worth pitched in
Old Uncle Pat ran a refreShmen
under the counter business.
cents for sweet cider and tel
cents for wine, which | did no
| know about until years later. A
l recall, the town must have beef
dry except for a dispensary OF
Main Street. That was one of m.
main sources of income becaust
I sold my collection of 'ticklers
at one cents each. picked up il
the several livery stables.
The boys l remember Wer
Emerson Jarman, son of tn
President Of the school. M.
| bosom friends were Charlie,
Bugg. his twin sisters, Virgil;
and Lillian. Tom and Womac
Grey. The Grey home was m.
favorite visiting place Of night
because year in and year GU
they always had the same de
liciouS meal-hot wheat muffil
Boiled potatoes and scads O
butter. I spent more time wit
that large and wonderful famil
than l did in my own lionel,
home W here I was the onl
child.
The yard of our house joine'
the school where l attended AM
was the bane of the life of
very grand teacher. One day
got twenty-five marks agains
me, carefully audited on tn
blackboard. The achievement 70
which she had warned in ad
vance would get the culprit sen
upstairs to the principal for ;
whipping. Believe me, I got m,
backsides blistered so impress
sively I well remember it to thi
good day. The next day the pref
test girl in the room dropped
her petticoat at the blackboard
much to her embarrassment ant
confoundment but to my amuse
ment. and back to the principa
| I went.
NV father delivered a serie.
of lectures at Hampden-Sydney
which he rode to in the frs
automobile that ever came t
Farmville. I also remember thu
old opera house where tht
Lyceum events were held ant