Customers Can't Enter His Store
But This “Merchant Prince’ Thrives
“I reckon most storekeepers would
make fun of my place.” says Charles
R. Corbett, the merchant prince of
Ivanhoe, “but my system suits me
and my customers.” Corbett pre
fers to sft on his front porch and talk.
■ ■ I l . I 4
II inifred'sKitchen
Is Cheerful Place
For Work or Rest
By BETTY WELLS
Winifred’s kitchen is the cheeriest
place. It has all the conveniences,
that's true, but some way it man
ages to seem so much more friendly
and hospitable than the usual stark
ly glaring kitchens.
That green and white checked lin
oleum is one reason. And the light
crisp green walls do their share,
too. But we think the yellow cur
tains have the most to do with it.
There are two wide tiers of win
dows, (the kitchen is on the corner
of the house) and Winifred has
made yellow percale curtains tied
back crisply. Then across the top
she has valances of the brightest
red printed cotton in a Tyrolean
peasant pattern finished with rows
of bias tape in yellow ^nd green,
like a peasant petticoat.
The kitchen chairs have their
backs and seats slip-covered with
this same red printed cotton with
five-inch pleated skirts all around.
Yellow oil cloth covers table and
cupboard work surfaces and the
shelves are all painted yellow. The
canisters and kitchen dishes are
in light green.
It’s a big kitchen with room in
one corner for a rocker and a round
braided rug. “Just for old time’s
sake,” laughed Winifred, “though I
must say it’s a nice place to sit
and sew, read or rest, while I’m
waiting for something to cook that
I can’t really leave.”
We liked Ethel’s kitchen, too. It's
quite different from Winifred’s—no
North Carolinian Runs a
Department Store Al
though He'd Sooner
Gossip With Neighbors
IVANHOE. N. C.—Charles R.
Corbett, Ivanhoe’s “merchant
prince,” is getting along all right
though he hasn't had a customer
in his store for five years. What's
more, they can't get in!
Corbett’s store is a department
store without departments. From
floor to ceiling is stacked a mass of
miscellany in wildest disarray.
Whenever new goods arrive they are
pitched in on top.
The stock has so increased that
now there is only a narrow lane
between stacks—just enough to per
mit passage of the lean storekeep
er. So customers give their order
outside and Corbett, armed with
a flashlight, goes in and digs out
the wanted articles. He can find
1 anything, immediately.
Thirty years ago Corbett opened
his little store in this village of a
half-dozen houses, off the main
highway. His stock steadily in
creased in helter-skelter fashion, un
til one day a young boy assistant
pulled something from the bottom
of the pile. Down tumbled a bewil
dering stack of merchandise.
“Gosh,” he said. “How’ll we
ever get it back?”
“Don’t bother,” said Corbett.
“We’ve got too much stuff in here
anyway.”
So he rented a nearby structure
and opened a new store, his present
, one. He still uses the old store as
an annex and has a third building
for a warehouse. But the new build
ing has gone the way of the old
because Corbett, though scorning
modern ideas of efficiency, is
anxious to stock new things.
Sixty-five years old, he is usually
to be found on his front porch await
ing trade. Since there is no space
inside, he has his office in the
right pocket of his coat. In the
pocket are perhaps 40 or 50 letters,
and Corbett explains that he an
swers correspondence when the no
bigger than a minute for one thing,
with white walls and a plain red
linoleum. Ethel cut out stencils of
stars in different sizes and paint
ed them bright blue hit or miss over
the ceiling with some odd ones on
the side walls. White canisters got
blue stars painted on them, too.
And even the white swiss curtains
had bright blue stars appliqued over
them. So Ethel sees a lot of stars
in the course of her daily duties!
Only she calls them the stars in
her crown.
© By Betty Wells.—WNU Service.
From Parisian Smart Shops
The latest in outdoor play suits is this ensemble just arrived on the boats
from Paris. It features strictly tailored shorts in natural silk-color shan
tung with four pockets. The belt is in green and beige grosgrain and the
scarf is green, white and beige Also note the comfortable beach sandals.
You can put your finger on any item in Corbett’s department store,
though it may not be the item you want. Here’s an interior view of the
strangest store on earth.
tion strikes him. New letters are
stuck on the inside of the batch in
his pocket and he gradually works
them out.
‘‘I reckon a lot of storekeepers
would make fun of my place,” he
philosophizes, ‘‘but my system
suits me and my customers. Folks
have got sort of used to my way of
doing things, and I believe a change
would worry ’em almost as much
as ’twould worry me. What’s the
use of wasting a lot of time arrang
ing stock and keeping things in
order when you can set out on the
porch and talk to your neighbors?”
-BEDTIME STORY
Mr. Toad Learns His Lesson;
Won't Be4High Hat' Anymore
By THORNTON W. BURGESS
HEN Old Mr. Toad saw Mr.
Blacksnake and turned his
back on Buster Bear and the fine
dinner to which Buster Bear had
invited him. he had but just one
idea in his head, and that was to get
out of sight of Mr. Blacksnake as
soon as possible. He forgot to ask
Buster Bear to excuse him. He
forgot that he was tired and hot.
He forgot all the pride with which he
had been so puffed up. He forgot
everything but the need of getting
out ot sight of Mr. Blacksnake as
soon as ever he could. You see,
Mr. Blacksnake has a fondness for
toads when there is nothing better to
fill his stomach. So away went Old
Mr Toad hop, hop. hipperty-hop,
hop, hop, hipperty-hop!
But ne nad to stop after a while.
You see, his legs were so tired they
just wouldn’t go any longer. And
he was so out of breath that he |
wheezed. He crawled under a big
piece of bark and there he lay flat
on the ground and panted and pant- i
ed for breath. He would stay there
until jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun
went to bed behind the Purple Hills
Then Mr. Blacksnake would go to
bed, too, and it would be safe for
him to go home. Now, lying there in
the dark, for it was dark under tha1
big piece of bark, he had time tc
think. Little by little he began tc
understand that his invitation to
dine with Buster Bear had been
part of a plan by his old friends
and neighbors, whom he had sc
snubbed and looked down on when
he had been puffed up with pride, to
teach him a lesson. At first he
was angry, very angry, indeed
Then he began to see how foolish
and silly he had been, and shame
took the place of anger. As he
remembered the deep, grumbly
rumbly laughter of Buster Bear the
feeling of shame grew.
“1 deserve it,” thought Old Mr
Toad. “Yes, sir, I deserve every
bit of it. The only thing that I have
to be proud of is that I’m honest
and work for my living. Yes, sir,
that’s all.”
When darkness came at last and
he crawled out to go home he was
feeling very humble. Peter Rabbii
happened along just then. Old Mr
Toad opened his mouth to speak,
but Peter suddenly threw his head
up very high and strutted past as
if he didn’t see Old Mr. Toad at
all. Mr. Toad gulped and went on.
Pretty soon he met Jimmy Skunk
Jimmy went right on about his busi
ness and actually stepped right over
Old Mr. Toad as if he had been a
stick or a stone. Old Mr. Toad
gulped and went on. The next day
he went down to see Danny Meadow
Mouse. He meant to tell Danny
how ashamed he was for the way he
had treated Danny and his other
friends. But Danny brushed right
past without even a glance at him.
Old Mr. Toad gulped and started up
to see Johnny Chuck. The same
thing happened again. So it did
when he met Striped Chipmunk.
Peter suddenly threw his head up
high and strutted past as if he didn’t
see Old (VIr. Toad.
At last Old Mr. Toad gave up and
went home, where he sat under a
big mullein leaf the rest of the day,
feeling very miserable and lonely.
He didn’t have appetite enough tc
snap at a single fly. Late that after
noon he heard a little noise and
looked up to find all his old friends
and neighbors forming a circle
around him. Suddenly they began
to dance and shout:
■Old Mr. Toad Is a Jolly good fellow I
His temper is sweet; disposition is
mellow I
And now that his bubble of pride is
quite busted.
We Know that he knows that his friends
can be trusted.”
Then Old Mr. Toad knew thai
all was well once more and present
ly he began to dance, too, the fun
niest dance that was ever seen.
© T. W. Burgess.—WNU Service.
*
Solons Take Oath
Of 6Alfalfa CluV
FREDERICK, MD. — A dozen
members of congress, Vice Presi
dent Garner, an admiral and a gen
eral are in this group of partici
pants in the annual outing of the
Alfalfa club held recently at the
estate of John Himes, Washington
realtor. Five hundred guests har
vested an exclusive quarter-acre of
alfalfa.
j-lofyd
ADVENTURERS’ CLUB
HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES
OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF!
‘ The Death Stampede'*
By FLOYD GIBBONS
Famous Headline Hunter
Hello everybody:
Meet Andy Grob of Freehold, N. J., today’s Dis
tinguished Adventurer. He’s going to tell us the story of
how he went hunting and got hunted himself.
It was in the late fall of 1932, and Andy’s dad, who is a great hand at
rambling through the fields with a shotgun, took him for a little prowl
across the field to see if they couldn’t bag a rabbit or two for supper.
Brownie went along, too. Brownie is a hound dog and his job is to
scare up the bunny and drive him out into the open so Andy's dad can get
a shot at it.
Andy Went Out Hunting Rabbits.
It was a nice, brisk autumn day, and Andy took a tip from Brownie
and began searching through the thick grass along fences and around
I tree stumps to see if he couldn’t scare up some game for his dad. Every
S thing went along nicely until they came to a fence. Andy’s dad climbed
the fence and started across the next field. But Andy saw a pair of mules
and a horse on the other side and he was a bit afraid of them. He figured
he would walk along the fence a few yards and cross at a spot where
those animals wouldn’t be so close to him.
Andy intended to follow close by that fence, but he turned
aside to investigate a few clumps of grass and got quite a way
out toward the center of the field. He wasn’t paying much at
tention to anything but the grass clumps, but suddenly he heard
a sound of hoofs on the turf.
"I looked back toward the mules,” says Andy, “but they were
grazing peacefully on the other side of the fence. Then I saw Brownie
^ ■ sTT** -y. - ^ ■ ■—-t~—-— r*\n*ci'-~-- i
Andy Knew He Had to Reach That Fence.
coming toward me, growling and showing his teeth. I turned around
then—”
Stampeding Herd of Young Cows.
. And what Andy saw then just about scared the life out of him.
Behind him was a herd of young cows—stampeding—coming full tilt
in his direction.
“Their heads were down,” says Andy, “and they were making
a funny noise. A terrible feeling came over me. I couldn’t move
my legs and felt like I have in dreams when something was after
me and I couldn’t move. I knew this wasn’t a dream, though, be
cause those cows were getting closer and closer. I turned and
ran toward daddy.”
As Andy ran he saw his dad start running, too. He heard him shout
something, but he was so far away that Andy couldn’t catch what he
said. He did know, though, that he had to get to that fence—and over
it—before the cows caught up with him. If he didn’t he’d be smashed
to a pulp beneath those panic-stricken animals’ hoofs.
“I was so scared,” he says, “that I guess I almost flew. I was
close to the fence now, but those cows were close to me, too. I could hear
them breathing as I ran, and I knew I’d never get over that fence
in time. I was winded and my breath was coming in sobs. I tried to
ri n faster, but I couldn’t.”
Mad Race to Reach the Fence.
It was about the toughest spot any kid has ever been in, and
even Andy, at that moment, didn’t realize how close to death he really
was. Nothing short of a miracle could get him over that fence in
time to escape the pounding feet of those fear-crazed cattle. And it was
only a matter of seconds, too, before they would be on him.
Then, suddenly, they WERE on him, and things began to happen all
in a bunch. “I heard a shot,” he says, “and looked up to see Daddy
standing with the gun to his shoulder. But, as I looked up, I tripped on
something, stumbled and fell. As I went down I dived headlong toward
the fence. At the speed I was running I must have rolled over and over.
Something sharp struck me in the back. I saw Brownie fly past me,
his teeth bared. Then I shut my eyes and waited.”
Everything happened so quickly that Andy was bewildered.
He heard the cows’ hoofs pounding, almost at his ears. He kept
his eyes shut tight, afraid to open them. But, strangely, no hoof
crashed down on his body. Even more strangely, the sound of
hoofbeats came no closer. He felt Brownie jump on him and he
heard his dad call his name. Then he opened his eyes.
His Escape Almost a Miracle.
Andy hardly believed what he saw then. He was on the other side
of the fence. How he got there he didn’t know, but there were the cows,
separated from him by strands of wire, pressing against the fence, try
ing to hook him with their horns. Then his dad came over and showed
him what had happened.
It really was a miracle, in a way. When Andy fell he had rolled
right through a small broken space at the bottom of the fence. A strand
of barbed wire had caught him in the back and that had caused the
stab he felt as he rolled through. His dad had fired a shot just as he went
down, but he had fired it in the air, because he was afraid of hitting Andy.
Copyright.—WNU Service.
Calcium Needed by Body
Calcium is an essential element
in the body for the building of bones
and teeth and for making the nerves
function properly. It is obtained
from foods, but in relatively small
amounts. It becomes quite expen
sive when obtained separately in
the organic form in which it occurs
in such foodstuffs as milk and vege
tables. Calcium, however, is a very
plentiful material in nature, in min
eral form. Chalk, of which there
are vast deposits, contains 40 per
cent calcium, and it is used in pure
form in many industries. Many
kinds of paper are “filled” with it
to provide improved printing sur
faces.
Camouflage Old Practice
Most people associate the art of
camouflage with the World war, but
Maine historical records show that
the art was practiced by the St.
Francis Indians prior to the Amer
ican Revolution.
Kept Sacred Fire4 Burning
Fire was looked upon with awe by
the early religious sects. In Rome,
for example, there were vestal vir
gins charged with the duty of keep
ing the sacred fires burning in the
temple of Vesta.
Dangers Faced by Archeologists
Very real are the dangers arche
ologists often must risk. In Egypt
they face sudden sandstorms, fierce
heat; in Tibet, suspicious, hostile
natives; in Central America, dis
ease and deadly snakes; in most
places, ordinary thieves, seeking
valuable jewels of other civiliza
tions. Yet their diggings have added
page after page to ancient history,
brought to light many interesting
facts. Some of these: There were
cities of half a million inhabitants in
prehistoric times; Cretans, 4,000
years ago, had bathrooms much
like modern ones; Roman boys
scrawled slang on house-walls 2,000
years ago.
How We Are Saved From Meteors
The earth would be pelted to
pieces by meteors if it were not for
the layers of atmosphere around it.
Friction caused by air resistance,
burns up most of the "shooting
stars” before they reach us.
"Larboard,” Obsolete Word
"Larboard” is an obsolete word 4
in nautical affairs. It refers to the
left-hand side of the vessel as you
stand facing the bow. This is now
known as “port.” The right-hand
side is called “starboard.”