1967 Nov 26 Gastonia Gazette - Gastonia Nc Paleofuture

Ex-School Teocher Operates Textile Machine Shop

THE GASTONIA GAZETTE, Sun, Nov. 24, W7—*-t»

D. L. Friday: He Works Every Day Of The Week By DAVE BA1TV GiiMttn CKy Editor

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County

, Fu,dayanleaned back ta hls cnalr ln the Machlne ar

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<>ftlce d mln!8ce Supply Co., puffed leisurely on his

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'l about hl« life In GBJlon

Much of his talk was proudly of the children he fathered. He • gawd occasionally about the room, pointing out pictures of "that's BiU when he . . . ,' Indicating the particular snapshot with his Friday his been a Gaston name for at lecst five generations and past that I don't know," the 71-year-old textile machinery representative said. It to R name which has become definitely linked with education In the past two decades. And that's pretty good going for a fellow with only a high school education. iV * -ft

DAVID Latham Friday was born and raised on a farm about four miles north of Dallas and moved to what was then the county Ma». |n i914 at the age ot 14 "Dallas hasn't changed too much-atmosphere wise-since that time,' Friday recalls. "We've added about 1,500 people, a few more stores, and several industries, but we're still a small town that looks like a small town and we like it." The son of the late David F. and Susan Hooper Friday, D. L. was one of nine children born to his father in two marriages. Initially, he attended school in a one-room schoolhouse north of Dallas. Ho graduated from Dallas High School after moving there. He attended one summer session at the University of North Carolina and that ended his formal education. But, it didn't end his interest in education. In iact, his first job was as a teacher. That was in the days when a high school graduate could stand the slate board examination for a teaching certificate. D. L. stood the exam, passed it, and spent one year teaching In a one-room schoo'.'-.ouse very similar to the one where he received his early training. . The next year he was hired as teacher of the seventh grade and principal of McAdenville Elementary School. it it -U RUMBLINGS of war were being heard over Europe during that time and in 1918 he went to Columbia, S.C., as payroll auditor on the federally sponsored construction project which resulted in Ft.

Jackson. After the construction job was completed, Krlday went into the U. S. Army and was stationed at the base he helped build. A member of a field artillery unit, lie fully expected to be shipped to the European battlefront. However, a tew months alter he entered service, the armistice was signed and Friday was discharged. "I not only didn't leave the States, I didn't even leave my first base," he recalls with a laugh. His army service behind him, the young man sought his niche in life and joined Cocker Machine and Foundry Co. in his native Gaston County as a general office worker. He stayed with the firm for 33 years, coming up through the ranks to hold positions as general manager, vice-president, and member of the board of directors. After 33 years, he resigned to join Walter Kidde Manufacturing Co. as southern sales manager for textile machinery. The company later bought Cocker Machine and Foundry. Af'er two years with Kid'Je, he decided to go into business for himself and founded Friday Textile Machine and Supply, and is now a manufacturers representative for J. M. Nash Co. and Dykcn Ma.iufacturing Co., both of Oshkosh, Wise., for their textile equipment lines. He also serves as president of Gastonia Belting and Supply Co. •?? i- ii

HE'LL BE 71 years old next month and he's stil! going and doesn't plan to retire. "I love to work and wouldn't know what to do if I had to sit down and rest." "I've been traveling for almost 50 years and I love meeting people. That's the way you stay young," he says. Friday's connection with education comes in ways other than serving as a teacher and principal early in life. He was named a member of the Gaston County School Board andd served on the past for 20 years. His son, Bill, took the cue from his father and pursued education as a career. He is now president of the University of North Carolina. In fact, what Papa didn't do, the children did. D. L. was father to five children. Between them, they hold eight college degrees. Bill graduated from N. C. State with a textile engineering degree and then took a law degree at UNC. D. L. Jr. graduated from Wake Forest College. He now manages Gastonia Belting Co.

H. R. Friday graduated from Wake Forest College and then took a lav/ degree at Emory University. He is an attorney for the Army Engineering Corps in Savannah, Ga. John R. Friday is a graduate of Wake Forest College and took a law degree from UNC. He pracliccs law in Lincolnton and is judge of Lincoln County Recorder's Court. •it {' it

DAUGHTER Kay, now Mrs. Kay F. Harris, took a degree from Brevard College. "Her mosc important decree, though, was her Mrs. degree, which she's using to good advantage as a housewife in Arlington. Va.," her father says with a smile. These children were born to Friday through his marriage lo the former Mary Elizabeth Rowan of Virginia. His service lo his county and community was not limited to the county school board. He served as' an alderman in Dallas for five years and as mayor of the town for an equal length of time. That was during the depression. "I remember we cut corners about every way in the world we could Ihink of, bul we came oul in good shape. In fad, a good part of the town's sewer system was installed in those WPA days." A lifelong member of Dallas Baplisl Church, he served for many years as a deacon and chairman of the board of deacons. He was appointed In the Gaston County Selective Service Board when it was organized in 1940 and is still serving. "It's been 27 years and some of it was hectic," Friday recalls, "especially during World War II. Sometimes we'd meet two and three nights each week to hear all the business we had hefore us." During the war he also served as a ..;jinber of the advisory committee on textile machinery for the War Production Board and made many trips to Washington, D.C., in relation to his duties. * •* 6 ALL in all, he says he's had a full and happy life. He sometimes wishes he'd taken a little more time for his favorite pastime —fishing. "I'm just crazy about deep sea fishing," he say. And he's no slouch with a fly rod at his acre and a half lake on his farm. He says great sport is "landing a good healthy bream on a light fly rod. They'll really give you a fight." In earlier days he enjoyed duck hunting .on the coast, but "hasn't had much time for that sort of thing lately." Friday was a member of the appointed school board which was replaced this year by an elected board, but though his connection wllh the school board has now ended, his interest in GasIon Counly schools is still keen. • "I Ihink our people realize lhal an equalized and uniform lax across the county lo supplement the schools would be the system's salvation. This would put us on a competitive basis so thai we could get the teachers we need to upgrade the schools. I'm certainly hopeful that, if and when this business cornes to a vole, that ihe people will support it," he says. He sees Ihe supplementary school tax as even more important than consolidation at this time, but both together would be even better. "We need money for current expenses such as teacher salary supplements, and we need money for buildings. Without it, the school system will only remain where it is."

PREVIEWING THE FUTURE

By JOSEPH E. MOHBAT Associated Press Writer

FORESTRY EXHIBIT Visitors to the Schiele Museum of Natural History show much interest in the new Forestry o-.liibit s«ld to be the only one ol its kind. The large cross section of the Tulip tree donated by the Gennett Lumber Co. of Ashcville measures four feet in diameter. Its growth rings show the tree to have been 254

years of age when cut in 1963. Eventi of history are shown on the various tree rings, such as the birth of the tree in 1703, the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780, the Revolution in 1776, the First World War in 1917 and World War H In 1941, etc.

"Christmas Star' At Planetarium By K. M. SCHIELE Museum Director

THE DECEMBER Planetarium program will be an attempt to explain the mystery o.1 the ages, The Christmas Star. The setting will be Palestine in the year 7 B.C. Since Palestine is in almost the same latitude as Gastonia, the night sky will look the same as it does now in the 20th century, with one exception, the North Star is not Polaris but a star in the Dragon's Tail. Five scientific explanations will be discussed and explained, as possible causes of the brilliant star reported in the Bible in the second chapter of Matthew. The program will end with the brilliant and beautiful star in the wake of a beautiful red sunrise. •* * * PLANETARIUM p r o g r a m s have been witnessed by more than 6,500 people since thoy started In October. In this number 6,000 school children in fourth and eighth grade classes of Gastonia and Gaston County Schools attended the programs and also viewed and studied the natural history exhibits of the Museum.

Some 500 people attended public programs on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Programs for the public, except for children under eight years of age, are given every Saturday and Sunday atfernoon. One program at 3 o'clock and one at 4 o'clock. Saturday afternoon programs have not been fully attended but it has not been possible to accommodate all who come to the Sunday afternoon programs. *..*..*: VISITORS from four states registered at the museum during the past week, coming f r o m Richmond and Victoria, "Va.; Kingsport, Tenn.; Batesburg, Clover, Pacolet and Whitmire, S.C.; and from Charlotte, Hickory, Newton, ConoVer, Statesville, West Jefferson, Henrietta, Forest City, Lincolnton, Shelby, Morganton, Pilot Mountain, Kings Mountain, Cherryville,

Dallas, Lowell, Mt. Holly, Belmont, and Gastonia. Boy Scout Troop 30, sponsored by Olney Presbyterian Church, and Mrs. Lutz and Mrs. Marsh's fourth grade classes of Morgan School of Shelby attended Planetarium programs and toured the museum exhibits. * ** PLANETARIUM LECTURER, James Lynn, addressed the Gastonia A.M. Optimist Club last Wednesday morning speaking on the programs of the Planetarium and the museum exhibits. Mr. Schiele and Mr. Stout addressed the Belmont Optimist Club last oMnday night and showed colored slides of many of the museum exhibits. *• * * A SPECIMEN of a Coot (Fulica Americana) often called "Mud Hen" by hunters found dead on a highway in Gaston

County was brought to the museum during the past week and has been mounted by Mr. Schiele and added to the Beaver habitat exhibit. This large bird is common during migrations and is often found injured having flown into obstructions or hit by cars. It is slate - colored with a whitish bill and a red crown plate. The legs are heavy, usually d a r k slate or greeenish, with scalloped toe flaps which serve like snow shoes in supporting t h e bird as it steps on water lily leaves or other water plants. * ** FOR THOSE who are interested in Indians, the museum has received a new shipment of the book "Indians in North Carolina" published by the North Carolina Department of Archives and History and sells for the modest sum of 25 cents. * * * SENIOR GIRL SCOUTS Miss-

es Tern Dickson, Susan Lewis and Kathy Adams, and Mrs. Lawrence Rankin Jr., representing the Junior League, served a: museum guides and receptionists at the museum and planetarium last Sunday afternoon.

Meet Britannica's New Ruler

Haley's Comet-The Encyclopedia By LAWRENCE MALKIN Associated Press Writer

LONDON (AP) — During a long career in some of the most powerful posts In British journalism, Sir William Haley has bought only one thing on tho installment plan-fl set of the Encyclopedia Brltannlca. He bought it as a young newspaperman in 1S22, nnd he consults the same set to this day. Haley, now 66 and recently retired as editor of The Times of London, will bo taking his old Britannlca with him to Chicago when ho becomes the encyclopedia's edltoi'-in-chlpf on Jan. 1. In a way, that old hut still useful set of volumes symbolizes Haley's chief problem as editor. Mow do you keep the Britannica up to date without having it simply chose intellectual fashion? ,, , Tn some scholarly critics of the Brilannlca. it has not lived up to its reputation as possibly the English-speaking world's most prestigious and complete compendium of universal knowledge They havo argued It has fallen behind developments in modern science, philosophy and technology. To this dote, the Brllannlca's editors reply Its a milter of judgment and honest dispute. Thoy slopped tho presses of the 1964 edition to include tho assignation of President Kennedy and tha rtonth ot Pop* John XXIII In 1903. They once

held them for an astronaut's splashdown. .But they waited several years to list India and Pakistan as separate countries, until they were certain the partition <.vas an accomplished political fact. Haley, aware of the criticisms, told a recent interviewer; "Everytliing is subject to criticism and nothing is perfect. The real problem of the Britannica is that there has been an explosion of knowledge at a hell of a ratei and you have to keep abreast as far as you can. There are two difficult things. First, what is absolescent? Second, if you decide lo forget what is absolesccnt, then .you forget history." He outlined the dilemma as it has'faced him before, and may face him yet again at the Brltannlca: "Tho problem of changing any Institution Is to havo it keep up with the times, while preserving Its character," Haley's career spans a tremendous range but It has one connecting thread—a self-made man working to combine the past and present In some of Britain's most venerable institutions, and not always with total success, Haley's father died when ho was a child, and he had to leave school at 15. Ho went to sen as ,1 radio operator on a merchant ship during World War I. Hero ho began reading to past tho I lino nnd worked up to a pace

he still maintains—100 pages an hour without losing the gist of the book. A photographic memory helped. He can still remember the page numbers and positions of articles in his old Britannica, one reason why he keeps it. He joined The Times afier the war as a telephone clerk taking down the reports of foreign correspondents. In 1922 he went to The Manchester Evening News. Ho was judged too shy lo be a . reporter, went to work as an editor, and became managing editor at the age of 29. For the next 10 years he served on the board

JIALKY

of the Manchester News and the Guardian. In 1943 Haley went to the British Broadcasting Corp. as Editor-in-chief, and next year was made director-general. Haley's great innovation at the BBC was the Third Program, a forum for discussions, plays and music for Britain's intellectuals, with few concessions to popular taste. In 1952 Haley capped his career by becoming editor of The Times, virtually a British institution as the spokesman for the nation's waning Establishment. Last year Canadian-born newspaper millionaire Low! Thomson of Fleet bought the paper and installed a young editor appointing Haley chairman of the board. Haley now starts a fiflii major career at a time when most Englishmen of his age and station would bo contcnl to accept a peerage and a scat in the House of Lords. But he could hardly accept such a fate, Ho stands tall and erect, and his piercing blue eyes are dear and alert. His demeanor seems to havo mellowed with time, and lo a visitor he smiles with a warmth his staff members say Ilicy rarely know. Editing the Britannlca, he says, "is the same kind of thins as In broadcasting nnd newspapers. You use your judgment, init on n longer time scale. For Iho Britannlca, you havo lo dolormlno whet will hold up."

In a flash of geologic time, the 21st , century—the third millenium—will be upon us. Will it bring the good life for Americans? There are men today planning for it. Will it be unbearably crowded and clogged? The same planners fear it, but have ideas for avoiding it. There probably will be men from earth on the moon 50 years hence. But-will it be easier to make that journey than to commute to work, or to visit a dying relative halfway across the land? There will be technicians with computers capable of the most ingenious innovations. But will their children have ready access to the ABCs of human knowledge? Will we breathe clean air, drink good water, boast good health? Or will technology, moongeared and missile-oriented, leave man, in his everyday existence, lagging far behind? For a glimpse into that world, the 50-year-old American Institute of Planners called recently for the ideas of respected authorities—not in missilery and aerospace, but in housing, transportation, finance and the arts. The responses produced some intriguing previews of. a 21st century America that, for technology and gadgetry, would make Buck Rogers feel like a relic of the horse and buggy age. But they also raised some problems of enormous potential that must be surmounted, if life in the new century is to -be . worth living at all. To the extent that the future is predictable, a fairly believable portrait of the next half century emerges from a blending of the ideas of these scholars and planners. Their composite view: By the year 2020 the population of the United States, now 200 million, will be about 350 million. About 80 per cent of the population will be living in vast metropolitan areas. Four huge "megalapolitan' regions will contain 60 per cent of the people on less than 8 per cent of the land. These giant complexes will be in Florida. California, along the lower Great Lakes and the Atlantic seaboard—with the last two possibly Wending into one gigantic megalopolis. One pessimistic view is that unless enormous advances are made, the homes of these millions will be little different from today's. City planner Charles Abrams cautioned: "If present trends are any guide, the United States should have put houses on the moon long before it has given all its families decent communities on its own soil. The disparity between house cost and income will show no sign of abating." But a rosier vrew, also put forth by Abrams, envisions automation and nuclear power yielding tremendous benefits to man in his quest for suitable shelter. Picture thousands of self-contained new towns in the countryside; fully equipped, capsule rooms to be bought in department stores; sonic cleaning devices nnd air filtering systems banishing dirt; computerized, microwave ovens automatically mixing ingredients from preselected recipes. Or helicopters whirling above, hauling geodesic domes to distant sites, where thoy will be lacked to tho ground complete with utilities; compact sowupc systems converting dishwater to

Some Experts Look Ahead To 21st Century

pure drinking water. But achievement of these dreams may require a federal agency to do "the long-range planning, buy the land directly, arrange for its use, and turn it over to the private sector. As planner Abrams foresees it: "As more and more people move into the metropolitan regions, the competition for land will stiffen, the traffic flow stow to a halt, and the general problem of gelling around, finding a bit of open space, brealhing good air and gelling good drinking waler will move up as public concerns. We shall have to build as many structures of all kinds as we have built since our earliest immigrants moved from their hillside dugouts." Transportation expert Max L. Feldman, peering into the next 50 years, looks for the development of "at least one highspeed, long-distance transporta lion- mode," and high-speed systems carrying air Iravclers from all major airports to connections with local traffic distribution systems. "Al leasl one east-west and two north-south automatic highways should be guiding and controlling individual passenger vehicles speeding from coast to const nnd bordor to border. Freight should bo moving

through at least one completed, continuous freight system that completely separates freight from people." City traffic threatens to become so clogged as to change drastically some long-accepted values, Feldman said. "For example, extreme freedom, the ability of people to go where they want to, when they want to, in their own vehicles by the route of their own choosing, will eventually have to be limited in order to prevent the complete collapse of urban circulating systems and save the cities themselves." The result: possibly a general acceptance of more expensive, but also more satisfactory, communications devices, such as visual phones. For international travel, Feldman looks forward to development of a low-fare sky bus, "The jet set will be outnumbered imd overshadowed by a great horde of middle-class people from all nations exploring their world. More people will learn to understand people of other lands." By the year 2000, as Feldman envisions it, "the larger U. S. cities may have converted completely to electric transportation, and several completely new citios should have been

built incorporating Ihe most recently developed transportation systems and offering maximum convenience." In those great cities, when the private automobile passes from the scene, public transportation might even be free. Those who hunger lor time off Iron? v/ork may take heart from the forecast of political scientist Sebastian de <3razla thai the average work week, by the year 2000, will average 31 hours, and perhaps as few as 21. Twenly years later, on-the-job hours may have dwindled to 26, or even 16. But what will people do with all that free time? The outlook may not be cheery. As De Graila sees it: "There is reason to fear, as some do, that free time, forced free time, will bring on the restless tick of boredom, idleness, immorality, and increased personal violence. If the cause Is identified as automation and the preference for higher Intelligence, nonautomsAod jobs may increasa, but they will carry the stigma of stupidity. Men will prefer not to work rather than to accept them. Those who do accept will increasingly come to be a politically inferior class." One possible solution: a separation of income from work; perhaps a guarantee! annual

wage to provide "the wherewithal for a life of leisure for all those who Ihink they have the lemperamenl." To accommodale Ihe new age of leisure, "the cily has to be ._ turned into a place for (man) to live in and enjoy, rather than a ; place for him to escape from to • restore his senses." Educator Robert M. Hutchins sees a movement away from the theory of education aimed at meeting the manpower needs of society. "An educational system that aims at manpower ratter than manhood will not suffice. As the rate of technological change is accelerated, it will become clear that, almost by necessity, training for a job will have to be given on the job or immediately before hand. Educalion takes time, and job requiremenls can change in no time at all." Hutchins envisions an educational system geared not to "a limited, partial life," but "to prepare for a full life for all." "A six-year e l e m e n t a r y school, a three-year high school, and a three-year college should suffice to give everybody a basic, liberal education. Only those students interested in and qualified for independent study should go on to the university." A technological revolution in education, Hutchins said, "may go so far as to dissolve the institutions we have known. Imagine a learning center in every home. Its components might be a telephone, a TV set, and a console. Teachers might go, from house to house like visiting nurses. The bulk of the instruction and examinations would be handled by computers. The safest course will be to turn over J&; tho machines the task of traiBing and informing, thus relieve ing teachers for the work of education." The university, in Hutchins*. view, must become a center of independent thought and criticism, geared to Ihe intellect, abandoning irrelevant activities, such as intercollegiate athletics. A foretasle of the potential contributions of science to 21st century man's physical wellbeing came from John R. Platt of the University of Michigan's Mental Health Research Institute. Wouldn't it be possible, he wondered, to regenerate a cutoff finger or hand, instead of just regenerating a bit ot skin tissue over the- stump? "Lobsters can regenerate claws. Perhaps tile ability to do this is simply turned off in his o r g a n i s m s . Who knows? Perhaps it wa» an evolutionary defense against the unwanted prolifcralion of cells that we Call cancer. But perhaps- it might be turned on again by some application of embroynic fluids of tissue inducei's." Pervading the thoughts of most of the planners is the fundamental question whether space-age technology will end up being man's master or his servant. David T. Bazelon, writer and social critic, taking the pessimistic viewpoint, contend^ ed; "Technology does notTr change society; it' destroys IL But August Hcducher, public official and author, sees possible salvation in tire hippies o( today. "It is c;,sy." Hcckscher told his fellow planners, "to dismiss the hippies as one mom fad, a new and passing phtue In tn« dialogue between ftnttMlm which hoi alw»ys ttteM,