The Corbin Times-Tribune from Corbin, Kentucky • Page 4

The Church Today The Preacher At The Watergate "Hey, Buddy--Wanna Earn Some Extra Money?" By REV. DAVID POLING Within a two-week period we have covered seven states from Iowa to Arizona. At every in- terval, every stop, every meal, the conversation of strangers turns to Watergate. The super- market clerk, the gas station attendant, the motel keeper, the city editor and the local pastor are shaking their heads over the Watergate events. Shock has turned to anger and alarm.

An Iowa farmer states that he will never trust the "people in Washington again." A Kansas highway employe feels that "this is as close as America has come to its own brand of fascism." The citizens of mid- America are waiting and wat- ching. Sermons about Watergate have not been delivered in many pulpits. Most pastors want to reserve judgment, let the in- vestigations reveal the crime. Yet the overhanging moral calamity rests like a London fog on the ethical countryside. Dr.

Ernest Campbell of Riverside Church, New York, points to the double standard that rules so well in affluent America. It goes like this: If you live in a ghetto and break into a store, you end up in prison. Break into Watergate, mastermind political intrigue, spend millions secretly and you are excused with the country club phrase, "Everybody does it." In this double standard, which has so many racist overtones, the car thief serves time, while the Watergate planners are simply "between jobs." The most instructive and helpful sermon on Watergate has been delivered by Dr. David B.C. Read, as guest preacher in Omaha, Neb.

last month. His topic: Ezra--The Preacher at the Watergate. And his text from i a is worth repeating across the land. "And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord has given to Israel." In the development of this text, the senior minister from Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City noted that the children of Isreal had been ignorant of the Law of Moses. Many had only recently returned from Exile and were shocked to learn of the moral decay that had come upon them and their nation.

Jerusalem was in ruins and their ethical, religious and moral standards were awful compared to the Law of God read by Ezra at the Watergate. Ezra read from the Law of Moses for half the day. When he was through, the assembly was face down on the earth, filled with guilt and shame. Dr. Read notes three immediate results: repentance, reverence for God's law and world, and ultimate rejoicing in a new way of life.

The Water Gate text is a powerful message for it speaks to an entire nation as well as the present administration. It does not duck the soul-searching that must take place if this event is to have a cleansing, renewing effect on American life. And it does promise celebration, for when a massive evil has been corrected, there is joy and happiness for the community. We are quite a distance from the third condition of this text--there will be much more unhappiness through legal procedures before Watergate drifts into history. The arrogance of power has polluted many lives, perverted justice, and mocked the people.

The Law of Moses and the laws of the United States have just started to grind. The one Mountain Man's Mark Of Greatness By R. SPRINGER HOSKINS The hills and mountains of Southeastern Kentucky have produced some great men--some of whom have become known far beyond the bounds of the hills for their accomplishments. There have been others, equally great in my opinion, whose names are. remembered by only a relatively few in a rather limited area.

One such man was William Creech born Oct. 30,1845, on the Poor Fork of the Cumberland River in Harlan County and died in the same county in 1918 not too far from his place of birth. Some idea of the kind of world William Creech grew up in is gained from, a sketch of his life that he dictateof fO'cltte' of luVsons- hot too'''many years before his death. Speaking of his parents, he said: "I think they was true Christians and are gone to rest in Jesus our Lord. Will say that I never heard one of them ever swear an oath or use any profane language, and was always strickly in obedience to the law of the country and God and tried to raise their children in obedience to their Savior, but being very poor was not able to give, their children but little schooling, so I got enough to read and write a little when the Civil War broke out in 1861." William Creech went on to volunteer in the Union army and returned following the war to work on his father's mountain farm and begin "going in the.

company with Miss Sally Dixon," who became his bride on March 15, 1866. Two days after the marriage, the couple "packed up all we had and took our plunder on our backs and moved to ourselves in an old log house on my father's land. After living about three years there I saw that I could not make a living as the place was small and soil badly worn out so got information Of there being some wild land here on the head of Greasy (creek) for sale so I bought six hundred acres for fifty dollars, also one hundred acres for ninety dollars, with very little to pay with except to work it out by daily labor. The next thing I had to look after was to get my new home built back in the woods and then get my family there." The location of William Creech's newly aquired land holdings was on the north side of Pine Mountain, one of the more isolated areas in Southeastern Kentucky. Describing life there, he said: "I had to find some land I could rent and make some corn on, and by going away to rent land left my wife and our two little children all alone except of the nights when I would come in from my work and stay with them, and she would tell me that she would sit and study and get afraid of the Indians.

It would be weeks at time that "she would riot see anybody pass by our home and she had been raised on a farm in very thickly settled country where two or three people would pass by in a week." As mountain farming went, however, William Creech and his family fared fairly well down through the years. The children grew up and "soon began to get married in different families, none of which was worth much more money than myself, and it was not very long until grand- children began to arrive, and I did not see much chance for them to do much better than to do as dad had done, grow up without education." This lack of opportunity to gain an education for his grand- children and his neighbors' children was a great concern to William Creech. In May of 1911 he learned through a circuit riding preacher, the Rev. Lewis Lyttle, of two women at Hindman, who wanted to start a new school near Pine Mountain. "I at once offered to' do anything that I could to -help," William Creech later said.

William Creech soon made an offer to give several hundred acres of his hard-earned moun- tain land to the women-- Katherine Pettitt and Ethel deLong--as a site for a boarding school for mountain children. "One more reason for me being so liberal with the school was knowing that the school could not be any special benefit to me, but hoping that it would be a benefit to my grandchildren and all of the community around me, so that I may spend my last days in a quite moral and peaceable country and make a benefit for the yet unborn children of this country," William Creech said. The school that William Creech Sr. made possible became known as Pine Mountain Settlement School. It exists today on a beautiful 800-acre campus at the head of Greasy Creek on the north side of Pine Mountain near the Harlan and Leslie county lines.

"It's function has changed -in recent years; but" it stands as monument to a mountain man of very limited education who had the innate wisdom and foresight to do what he could to help the young people of his area obtain an education. Just a couple of years before his death, William Creech expressed his hopes for the youngsters in these simple but meaningful words: "I don't look after wealth for them. I look after the prosperity of our nation. The question of this world is naught. We are born into it naked and go out naked.

The savin' of the soul is what we should seek. I want all younguns taught to serve the livin' God. Of course, they won't all do that but they can have good and evil laid before them and they can choose which they will. I have heart and cravin' that our people may grow better. I have deeded my land to the Pine Mountain Settlement School to be used for school purposes as long as the! Con- stitution of the United States Hopin it may make a brigh'tknd intelligent people after and Yes, some men are great and receive wide acclaim for it.

Others, like William Creech, are also great and their only acclaim is in the hearts of the relatively few who benefit directly from their greatness--and, of course, with the "livin' God." Sod Condition Of Roil Roadbeds Hampers Passenger Service By DON OAKLEY So bad is the deterioration of tracks and roadbeds on the nation's railroads that the ride quality of several Amtrak routes has declined to the point where "almost the only people who will ride trains are pass holders, railroad enthusiasts and those with an absolute mental or physical aversion toward air travel." And presumably one other category--members of the National Association of Railroad Passengers whose a i a Anthony Haswell, made the above charge at NARP's a a meeting a few weeks ago. He cited a number of important routes Chicago Louisville, Chicago-New Orleans, Chicago- Thoughts From The Living Bible A wise woman builds her house, while a foolish woman tears hers down by her own efforts. To do right honors God; to sin is to despise him. A rebel's foolish talk should prick his own pride! But the wise a speech is respected. An empty stable stays clean--but there is no income from an empty stable.

A truthful witness never lies; a false witness always lies. A mocker never finds the wisdom he claims he is looking for, yet it comes easily to the man with common seme. If you are looking for advice, stay away from fools, Proverbs Denver--that are plagued by stretches with "slow orders" limiting trains to speeds of 30 miles an hour or less. Passenger train schedules over these routes are significantly slower then in years past. In some cases, far slower.

Because of track conditions, much of the money spent on A a is actually wasted, Haswell asserted. If rail passenger service is to attract patronage in competition with other modes of transportation, he added with unassailable logic, well-maintained track and roadbed is absolutely essential. NARP has announced a cam- paign to seek "vast im- provements" in railroad track and roadbed and calls on the government to require all railroads to maintain their main lines to standards sufficient for smooth, dependable operation. If tracks were in good enough shape that freight trains could move at 60 m.p.h., the association notes, then passenger trains could be operated at 80. This could be increased to 90 or 100 with im- proved locomotives with a "feather touch" on the track.

It is interesting that at a time when tracks and roadbeds are in a sad and worsening state there is growing talk of having the government take over the railroads' right-of-way (and the responsibility for maintaining them) as a solution to the railroads' troubles that does not go as far as outright nationalization. Should this happen, both railroads and erstwhile railroad passengers would be on the same side for a change: They could both blame Uncle Sam for the bumps. Q--Who was the "beloved physician?" A--Saint Luke. Biblical Q--In religious symbolism, what does the triangle in a Circle represent? A--The Trinity. Q--Is a peanut a nut? A--No, it is a kind of pea.

THE CORBIN Times-TRIBUNE JOHN L. CRAWFORD Publisher JAMES L.CRAWFORD Editor JAMES0. CRAWFORD ROBT. SPRINGER HOSKINS Co-publisher Managing Editor E. FOLEY RUGGLES Asuociate Editor I'AUI.

EATON Supt. of Production An Independent Community Newspaper Page Four Sunday, June 10, 1973 Dear Abby Advice To Servicemen Is Still Same Today By ABIGAIL VAN BUREN DEAR ABBY: Even tho, for the most part, the United States is "out" of Viet Nam, we still have thousands of men stationed in Southeast Asia as well as in other countries abroad, so I wonder if you would consider running the column you wrote several years ago, signed GI. It made a tremendous impact on the servicemen when it ran in the Stars and Stripes. Many of them cut it out and sent it to their wives. And months later I was asked for additional copies.

Thanking you in advance. U.S. ARMY CHAPLAIN moment that I following letter. received the DEAR CHAPLAIN: pleasure. And here it is: With DEAR ABBY: I am a happily married woman with a wonderful husband and two small children.

My husband has been in Korea for four months. After living a nor- mal married life for three years, what is a young, healthy woman supposed to do for her physical needs? There are plenty of men around and when they learn my husband is in Korea, they prac- tically throw themselves at my feet. Don't get me wrong, Abby, I love my husband and always will, but he's going to be gone a long time and I am only GI'SWIFE DEAR ABBY: My problem is one that bothers thousands of other GIs so I hope you will print your answer because it is needed badly. I am a happily married man with a wonderful wife and two small children back in the States. I've been in Korea for four months.

After living a normal life for three years, what is a young, healthy man supposed to do for his physical needs? There are 12 women for every GI over here and the women practically throw themselves at our feet. Don't get me wrong, Abby, I love my wife and always will, but I have a long hitch over here and I am only human. This letter is sincere and I am not ashamed to sign my name, but i you use It, please sign me GI DEAR Cl: Assume for a DEAR WELL, GI: I would tell that woman to keep busy as possible with her duties and as many wholesome activities as her timt and energy permit. I'd suggest reading, exhausting, physical exercise, and yes, even prayer! I'd tell her to stay sober and to avoid temptation and to write you every day) And that GI, Is my answer to you and to all your buddies in the same lonesome boat. ABBY DEAR ABBY: My 4-year-old daughter likes to "ride honle" on my foot occasionally.

My wife charges that this Is "seductive and obscene." What do you think? A MINISTER MIMItTFD. "Ok i i i scenity" (like beauty) sometimes lies in the eye of the beholder. DEAR ABBY: Please tell Ronny's mom not to worry about her son's being the youngest and smallest in his class. Ronny is a Capricorn--the most intellectual of all signs, and they reach in- tellectual maturity early. Besides, being short never stopped Napoleon.

I graduated first in my class, and I also was the youngest and smallest. ANOTHER CAPRICORN CONFIDENTIAL TO: Those who are interested in reading a delightful little book with a big message about the purpose of life--beg, buy or borrow "Celebrate the Sun" by James Kavanaugh. Q--What is an actual blueblood? A--The horseshoe crab, plus other crustaceans, Q--What long naval tradition wa? abolished by Britain in 1970? A--The daily rum ration, a tradition for 23V years. Q--Have any members of the U.S. House of Representatives been expelled? A--Three, In IMI, for serving In the Confederate army.

Q--At what velocity does a windstorm become a hurricane? A-When It passes 74 miles an hour..