State

THE STATE A Weekly Survey of North Carolina Entered u weond^lM. ■•«ter. Jon* 1. ItU. >1 tb. Possc-Sc U R.Uljb. North Carotin*, onder the Art of Mareh 3. J679. Vol. VIII. No. 33 January 11, 1941 Catawba County It’e an industrial empire* within itself and is also rieli in inter¬ esting historieal data, as well as being tlie center of camp-niecbt- ing activities in tty CARL THAT’S it over there on the right,” said Mr. Killian. “That’s the old Barringer place. It was in that very house that a meeting was held in which Catawba County was organized. Some folks claim that it served as the courthouse for a while, but there is no official record of that. Maybe some mag¬ istrate cases were tried in the old building, but 1 don't believe nny reg¬ ular term of court over took place within its walls.” The old weather-beaten, dilapi¬ dated-looking structure was about fifty yards off the highway. Rain had fallen intermittently during the last two or three days and the red-clay soil of Catawba was in rather slippery condition. "1 reckon we’d better walk,” sug¬ gested Mr. Killian. “1 think she’ll make it,” I told him. “All right,” he acquiesced. It was down grade and the car slid pretty badly, but we reached the house without any serious difficulty. There’s no one living there now. although the place has been occupied until quite recently. Huge beams, hand-hewn, support the second floor. Wooden pegs hold the walls together. There are two rooms downstairs and one large room upstairs. “It was built by Matthias Bar¬ ringer, one of the earliest settlers in this section,” Mr. Killian told us, North Carol!»». GOFRCII “and it was considered quite a place in its day and time.” We returned to the car and I re¬ garded the up-grade somewhat dubi¬ ously. "Believe I’d better stay outside and help direct you," suggested Mr. Killian. 1 started the car, and she began skidding immediately. In low gear she strained along slowly and then, half-way hack to the pavement, she stopped. Wouldn't budge another "Hold on a minute,” yelled Mr. Killian. “Here's an old sack: I’ll put that under one of the hack wheels.” He did it, and the car moved forward. Two or three times 1 thought she’d stop again, hut finally we reached the pavement. 1 opened the door for Mr. Killian to get in. But he didn't get in. I couldn't see him, but I could hear him. “Woosh !” said Mr. Killian. And then again: "Woosh, woosh!" I got out. of the car and was hor¬ rified at the sight that greeted my eyes. When he saw how slowly the car was moving, he had thrown his weight against it and had pushed with all his might. The rear wheels had thrown up red mud in a steady stream and he was literally covered with it from head to foot. You can tell how ho looked by glancing nt the accompany¬ ing picture. My abject apologies were cast to Mr. J. Y. Killian, who acted as our guide and got himself bespattered with mud as the result of his kind¬ liness. one side with n wave of his hand. “ ’TUn’t anything to bother about," he remarked casually. “I'm used to this mud. Let's go." A grand old man is Mr. J. Y. Kil¬ lian, of Xcwton. His ancestors lived in Lincoln County and were early settlers in that section. Despite the fact that lie claims to be <*7 years old. lie's as active a« the average man of fifty. When I arrived in Xcwton Wednesday afternoon, .lodge Wil-on Warlick. Editor <!. W. Mann, of the News-Enterprise, and Editor C. II. Mehane, of the Xewton Observer, told me that I couldn’t find a better man than Mr. Killian to tell ti¬ the interesting thing- about Catawba County, and they certainly knew what they were talking а1юш in making that statement. 1 had been planning for some time to visit that section of the state, but it wasn’t until last Wednesday morn¬ ing that I was able to make the trip. Crossing the Catawba River on the