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July 28, 1965rAnEditor’s ViewsBy HARRY HOOPERFrom Loachapoka to Waverly: There is a waterfall near the road to Waverly that is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. There used to be a grist mill there and the foundation remains as well as part of the dam. The millpond is quiet and lovely and hardwoods and willows hang low branches into the dark and slow-moving water.But the beauty of this place canonly be seen at a distance because the water is pol-atluted by a factory milesupst reamand to ap-p r o a c h it closely, is to be repulsed by its odor. It is a beautiful but dis-place.appointing place.On the dirt road that goes to Waverly there is a similar place by a steel girder bridge but at this place the water is clear and1 pure and the mill still stands. The millhouse has been converted into a home. It is quaint and lovely and far away from anywhere. I think2 that people who would live ins such a house must be adventur-s ous and independent.The dirt road to Waverly is3 dusty and strata of mica-filledstone strike across it at intevalsr and the thump on the tires makest a driver winch. Dried blackberrye bushes covered with red dust anddried mud line the ditches and in s many places kudzu vines havetaken over whole fields and even trees. There are some old housesand barns along the way. Some of them are frame buildings andsome (the older ones I suspect) are j made partially of stone.1 One of the houses is filled withj young Negroes that run in andout while their old mother rocks on a worn porch. The groundaround the house is hard packed like a floor and the busy feet prevent any hope of vegetation growing in the area. In the yard by a tree is a large black kettle that is used for washing clothes (and probably children, too).I have only been inside a few j houses of this type but I imaginethat it is like most with straw-bottomed chairs and an old black, wood-burning stove. The walls I suspect are papered with news-papers that are glued with wet flour. I bet those newspapers could tell a lot of history because it is an old house.I have been told that this part of the Southeast was settle late,in a relative sense, and I imagine that is true since the old mills are of the relatively modern turbine type as opposed to the older water wheel. It appears that the area, once settled, broke from progress and slid into a comfortable yet hard form of unchanging life. But then, the soil is poor and there is little demand for water mills.Old mills, old people, old soil,I old trees, and old ways of doingi things aren’t symbols of progress.; But at times they help rest modern,fast-moving souls.
Newspaper Details
Auburn Plainsman
Auburn, Alabama, US
Wed, Jul 28, 1965
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Carolyn S.
AL, USA 23 Jun 2021
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