Out of the Past

Passed by the Senate (and certain to pass the House) was a $923,000,000 agricultural appropriations bill carrying $212,000,000 for parity payments and another $85,000,000 for the surplus commodities program. Though Congress hoped to offset the farm boat by slashing defense and relief appropriations, even this possibility is fading fast. Europe’s war was forcing U.S. attention to her armed strength and metropolitan congressmen were demanding at least a $500,000,000 boost in WPA’s appropriations. Treasury Secretary Morgenthau, hearing that Congress was looking covetously at his $2,ooo,ooo,ooo stabilization fund, hastened to protect it. 

For 70 years, father and son lived within 80 miles of each other in this rugged Kentucky Mountain country without meeting. And when they met finally, their greetings were simple: “How are you, pap?” - “How are you, son?” The father is the Rev. James Gooth, a 99-year-old retired minister and war veteran. HIs son Sidney V. Booth, 77, of Guyandotte, near Huntington, W.Va. “Don’t ask me how I knew it was him,” said the younger Booth. “I just knew.”  Sidney Booth and his wife drove here from their home Wednesday to make sure. “Gee, pap,  I thought you were dead,” cried Sidney after the two shook hands. The preacher-father remarried for the fourth time at the age of 94. The younger Booth said his father and his mother, the latter now dead, separated in 1870. “I was seven years old then,” Sidney said, “but we never heard of pap again." 

Over 4,000 Take Polio Vaccine

4031 persons have taken the Polio vaccine in this county up to last Friday. This includes the numbers who appeared for the three-day clinic, and those given by Dr. Rypstra and at the Health Center. The Farm Bureau sponsored the clinic in so far as paying for the vaccine. 25c donations were taken to help defray this expense and a total of $678.67 was raised. This more than paid for the vaccine, and the Farm Bureau is holding the balance to buy the vaccine for the next clinic which will be held in April.  

The home and contents of Mr. and Mrs. Green Abner, building contractor, Egypt, about 15 miles East of McKee, were destroyed by fire between two and three o'clock Tuesday afternoon. No one was at home at the time the fire was discovered. The McKee Fire Truck answered the call, but found the building bursting into flames on their arrival. They did however manage to save the garage in which there were a lot of carpenter tools. The property was partly covered by insurance. 

Jackson County Sheriff Hershel Lynch added a new deputy sheriff to his department. Jim Isaac Parrett, 23, a native of Jackson County, just completed training at the Military Police Academy in Fort McClellan Alabama and is also with the National Guard’s Military Police Company in Louisville. Parett, who is the son of McKee City Police Chief, Ike Parrett, said being involved in law enforcement has been a lifelong dream. 

US Congressman Harold “Hall Rogers will be in Jackson County Friday as part of his 27-county spring tour of Kentucky’s 5th Congressional District. Rogers will be in McKee at the RECC building on April 1, at 2:30 p.m.