THE
HOME
NEWS
tui l ED IN THE INTEREST OF McCRORY AND WOODRUFF COUNTY
VOLUME 1.
McCRORY, ARKANSAS, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24,1915
NUMBER 9
PATTERSON’S REPLY ON SCHOOL
Wants to Know the Truth, Asks for a Financial Statement
“Strangely Interesting” Reports Have Appeared
Jelks, Arkansas,
September 22, 1915*
Editor Home News,
McCrory, Arkansas.
Dear Sir:—
In your last issue we were crit
icised for having placed Olive
and Bennett Patterson’s names
among the school children at
Jelks. If you will look at your
list made by your census taker
you will find not only these two
names, for which you have drawn
our money, but Mildred Patter
son’s also, which we did not list,
as she is already twenty-one
years old.'
As to the list ot children which
we gave you and thought you
copied, I filed together with all
other papers on the fourth of
this month with the County
Clerk, that the County Court and
all parties concerned would have
the full thirty days for investiga
tion; however we will gladly give
you a list if you will call for it.
There are six names to be added
to the list of people who have
moved into the district since the
list was filed.
Out of the sixty-five pupils in
this proposed district seventeen
of them are all that have been
able to make even one day’s at-1
tendance at McCrory, even with
these long days, beautiful weath- j
er and good roads. We may pos-;
sibly get five or six of them
there later.
4
inis may be the condition in;
the south-east part of the district,
and in the north-east as you
claim in your article. If such is
the case we are ashamed of it;
and, if such conditions have to
exist for McCrory to have a high
school, then she should no longer
be proud of one. You might as
well say that we who live in the
rural districts should go bare
foot that other citizens in our
district may have money to buy
plug hats to match their patent
leather shoes.
TELL THE TRUTH and say
that it is an attempt to place ed
ucational supremacy in the hands j
or in the heads of the few against
the masses, aided by a small
commercial spirit against a sister
community.
One part of your article ‘ ‘lis
tens’' strangely to all of us, to
wit: FORTY-SEVEN HUNDRED
DOLLARS last year’s expendi
* ture. Please publish financial
statement showing vouchers and
to whom said sum was paid.
i I will ask a little space in your
paper next week to discuss a res
olution passed by the School
Board at the request of the prin
cipal unless they shall before that
time meet and retract and ex
punge from their record said
resolution.
Thanking you for this courtesy
as well as others, I am,
Yours truly,
M. Hr. Patterson.
OUR REPLY
Concerning the first paragraph
of Mr. Patterson’s article this
week the placing of Miss
Mildred’s name on the list
by the census takers was no
doubt a mistake, but was it not
possible for the enumerators to
make a small error along this
line when more than 700 chil
dren’s names were to be looked
after. He seems to note very
readily our insignificent mistake,
but as to his assertions about the
$5,000.00 which he claimed the
district had to its credit when,
in reality, the County Treasurer’s
books showed only $1,697.78 to
which $1,718.41 will soon be
added, he says nothing. Like
wise his statement last Week that
the court “shall” when the law
plainly says, “MAY” establish
districts, etc.
The gentleman states that he
gave us a list of the names and
thought we copied it. His mem
ory is very weak else he will re
member tnac alter some aeiiDer
ation he merely “handed? us
the list while standing in the
street in front of the Fakes Mer
cantile Co. recently one Saturday
afernoon and when we took our
pencil and note book from our
pocket to copy the list he re
marked that he was in a “little
hurry.” We told him we would
like to have a copy of the list and
also a copy of his petition but as
he did not have the time to spare
for us to get it then that he could
send it to us. He promised to
do so, but as we stated last week,
for some reason failed.
He states that out of the num
ber of pupils at Jelks, 17 have
already attended the school here
this term. If he will omit the
names of college students, the
married “children,” children
who are compelled to work, and
others who would not attend
ANY school regardless of its lo
cation, the remaining number
will be small, therefore would it
be better to grant a school for
the few left at home at Jelks and
thereby cut off some of the high
1 school work, or, let them arrange
! to come here, and give to the 397
children of the district the ad
| vantages of securing the higher
grades. Why should more than
three hundred children be handi
capped in an educational way
just for the accommodation of
I about thirty or forty?
! Had we made so many state
ments at random as he has done,
we would not emphasize “tell
the truth” so strongly as he has
put it when he asks if it is not
I an attempt to place educational
| supremacy in the hands or heads
[ of the few against the masses.
If we are guilty as charged, then
we certainly have plenty of good
company as One Hundred and
Ninety voters, with many others
yet to be approached, in the di
strict have signed a petition re
monstrating against the dividing
of the district.
In another paragraph he says
that one part of our reply last
week “listens” strangely inter
esting, viz, $4,700.00 expendi
tures, and asks that we publish
a financial statement showing
vouchers and to whom paid. We
are delighted to refer our friend
to the County Treasurer's office
just as he has referred us to the
County Clerk's Office for the
names on his list. We are
sure that bv checking the vouch
ers he can find who has received
the above amount and that he
will fail to find ANYTHING
“strange” about the expendi
tures thereof.
As to his closing paragraph
concerning a certain resolution
we have personally read the min
utes and resolutions of the school
board and there is not one word
in any of the same relating to a
division of the district and as
this is the matter under discus
sion, we must ask that he refrain
from asking us to grant said
request.
Mrs. Callie Walker and son,
Byron, arrived Saturday from
Cushing, Okla., for a vsiit to
relatives and friends.
J. W. Simmons, deputy income
tax collector, and family of Little
Rock and W. R. Shelton and
family and mother of Cotton
Plant were here Monday.
Chas. George has resigned his
position with the McCrory Drug
Co. and gone to Beebe. “Doc”
was one of our “live wires” and
will be missed among the young
er set of our town.
BARBER FOR COUNTY TREASURER
It is with pleasure that we can
offer from McCrory such an es
timable and efficient gentleman
for one of the county offices at ,
the coming primary in March as
our worthy friend and mayor, G.
W. Barber, who will be a con
testant in the race for county
treasurer. No man stands high
er in the estimate of our voters
than Mr. Barber as can be shown
by his having led the ticket in
all of the town elections in which
he was a contestant. He has
many friends all over the county
who will be strong supporters of
his candidacy upon learning that
he has entered the race for treas
urer. We are authorized to state
that his announcement will ap
pear soon in all of the county
papers.
H. Arnof left Saturday for St.
Louis to meet his wife who is
enroute home from the California
Exposition. He will buy fall
goods for his store while there.
Ten mail Sacks, 675 pounds,
of catalogues of a mail order house
in a northern city arrived at the
McCrory post office last week.
The postage amounted to $12.15
and they were shipped by freight
to Little Rock and from there
were sent out by mail. Our
home merchants should take a
hint. The only representative of
a mail order house is “printer’s
ink.”
“Uncle” John and “Aunt” Ida
Duncan, contestants in the Phys
ical Endurance Test between man
and woman, passed through Mc
Crory last Friday. He is 57 and
was born in North Carolina.
His wife is 43 and from Indiana.
They were selected from a list of
515 applicants by the American
Athletic Association of San Fran
cisco. They started out March
1, 1914 to walk a 12,000 mile tour
trom ban Francisco, Cal. to New
Britan, Conn, and return by the
Southern route via Key West,
Fla. - They are to receive $6,000.
00 on the completion of the jour
ney. They must sleep outdoors
in June, July land August, and
are not allowed to ask for any
thing *but water. They have two
years, or until March 1, 1916 to
finish the trip but expect to reach
San Francisco Christmas Day.
The trip is being made to show
the physical endurance of man
and woman and also cheap cost
of living of American people.
Their average daily cost of living
is 20 cents each. He is a brick
mason, an interesting talker and
belongs to the Masonic and Odd
Fellow fraternities.