Image 2 of Mountain eagle (Whitesburg, Ky.), April 8, 1971

THE MOUNTAIN EAGLE WH ITESBURG, Letters to the editor ? A2' 2Qr' man. Why ruin it? r ; ft v. ' ' To the Editor: I am glad to see this next month as cleanup month. If there is one thing that should be done, that's for everyone who can to clean up all the excess garbage t at is around the house. If everyone will do this, it will make for a much nicer community in which to live. I enjoy seeing the old pictures in your paper and reading about them. They refer us back to the good ole days, which will neverbe back again. This is the modern age in which we live. I was up on top of the Pine Mountain, and it was terrible to see all the ridges made around the mountain sides where they strip mined them. The government should get trees growing on them. I like the natural beauty that God created instead of seeing it tore up. We have beautiful mountains, why tear the top off and ruin it. What a disaster it will be after they get through, with mud slides running down to the houses. EMERSON PLUMMER Blackey, Ky. Supports Burke To the Editor: Kelsey Friend showed his true colors right off the bat to Letcher countians. His first campaign move here was to attack his opponent, Senator Burke. Well, his poor attempt at scaring us won't, work. Kelsey Fi" it rid attacks Mr. Burke's stand on state finances. But did he tell us the true story? Did he tell us that Senator Burke went to Frankfort to save Pike County schools, to stand up for the chil dren9 Maybe Kelsey Friend has already succeeded in scaring us. The way he talks about state support I'm worried ab.iut letting education down, about his cutting welfare, about his abandoning health programs and road programs. 1 wonder if he's against the housing project we have underway? All anyone has to do is to take a look at the great progress made in Pike County under Senator F. M. Burke's leadership to know who we need to represent us. BERMA WHITAKER Letcher, Ky. . It was his request to be brought to the Defeated Creek Old Regular Baptist Church for. the funeral, and then to be "buried at Byrd Ison's Cemetery at the mouth of Defeated Creek on Llnefork. When his family got him to the funeral home in Cumberland, we had to tell them they couldn't take him to the church of his choice because the bridges were all out and they couldn't get him there. They couldn't go down the Creek because three bridges were out and have been out for at least three years, and they couldn't go up Defeated Creek because the bridge across Linefork was dangerous to walk across, and the Line-for- k Creek was too deep to put their cars in. This family came from all over Kentucky, from Alabama, North Dakota, Indiana, Ohio, North and South Carolina. They wanted to know where our tax dollars go, as we didn't have any high school here now and they could see the conditions of the roads themselves. Where are your county officials' Don't they ever come over here, or know the situation? We had to tell them, yes, they know about it, but won't do anything. It was embarrassing to have people come in to our county and see the conditions we live with. We would like to know, why is it we can't get things done like other places? We pay taxes and elect people to represent us, but never seem to be able to get anything done. All we can here is, No Money. Where does it go? They sure don't spend it on roads. There are very few roads in Letcher County right now that are fit to put a good car on. We've seen different write ups about the coal trucks tearing up the roads. I can remember back before these trucks got on the roads and we still didn't have any. Coal trucks sure didn't break the bridges down on Defeated Creek, nor the one across Linefork, either, for when it was new the school bus couldn't get on it, and has never been on it. When the creek gets up, the children over there stay home. If the county officials were interested in our children, they would try to do something now, and not wait until another election year . RUTH FRAZIER Kings Creek, Ky. (PS: We would like to know what happened to that road building judge we heard so much about. I heard he was elected. Bad roads To the Editor: I just wanted to write and express my viewpoint on a very embarrassing situation that happened here in the lower end of Letcher County this past week. A good friend of ours passed away in Louisville this week. He was born and raised in Letcher County on Defeated Creek and lived most of his life there. In later years, he moved to Cumberland and had cancer, and I went to stay with his sisters in Louisville until he died. His name was Arthur Spark- - ) About letters to the editor THE MOUNTAIN EAGLE wel- comes expressions of opi nion from its readers. Letters should be clearly written, printed or typed and should be kept to 300 words if possible. The right is reserved to edit letters when necessary to meet space requirements. Letters must be signed by the authors, but names will be withheld on request. Letters should be addressed to "Editor, The Mountain Eagle, Box 808, Whitesburg, Kentucky, 41858. " EAGLE is published every Thursday at 120 W. Main Street, Whitesburg, Letcher County, Kentucky, 41858. Thomas E. Cish is the editor and publisher. Second class postage paid at Whitesburg, Ky. Subscription rates, $5 a year in Kentucky, $7 a year outside Kentucky. Single copies, 15 cents each. This is Number 48 of Volume 63. THE MOUNTAIN LETCHER COUNTY, DOES A FUEL THURSDAY. KENTUCKY CRISIS APRIL 8. 1971 Jenkins boycott DEMAND (from Page THAT COAL BE STRIP MINED? What this of course means By PHIL PRIMACK Of all the pieces of the current "Let's talk about surface mining" advertising blitz, few present so ominous a prospect as that which warns of a major "energy crisis" nationwide if stripping is banned. Stripped coal, the argument goes, is crucial to maintaining this nation's reserves of fossil fuels. Without it, the prospect of powerless air conditioners and stilled electric toothbrushe-looms- . So the argument goes, and with It one of the prime Ing. dustry justifications for The coal industry has thus Imaged itself as the " root of the "coal tree, upon whose branches all of America hangs dependent. Furthermore, the local coal Industry emphasizes that without surface mining, a vast number of men will be left unemployed. That argument, however, Is rather easily debunked. As an article in The Mountain Eagle of last March 11 showed, surface mining employs far fewer men than deep mining the same tonnage of coal would. In fact, employs only one man to yield the same t onnage which requires six men underground. The argument that we are In the midst of a major fuel crisis can be refuted almost as easily--an- d again by using basic coal Indsutry figures. The Keystone Coal Industry Manual, a massive bin die of coal facts, figures and history which sells for $60, Is generally regarded as the Bible of the industry. Within the 1970 edition is a section which discusses "coal exports" for the year 1969. That single section says much In answer to the claim that the U. S. may be running short on coal. In 1969, the statistics report, the U. S. exported 56, 234, 000 tons of its coaL Of the total, 16, 788, 000 went to Canada, while the remaining 39. 446, 000 went overseas. The total represents more than 7 per cent of all U.S. coal mined in 1969. More coal was exported from this country In 1969 than In any year since the great peak of 1957, when 76. 4 million tons left America. strip-minin- Strip-minin- g, teachers, but the teachers don't have to respect the students. " is that despite the loud cries that our nation is starving for coal, we are somehow managing to send off roughly one out of every fourteen tons we produce. And the trend Is likely to continue and even escalate. "The U.S. is fortunate in having a low mining cost, which Is being reduced even more, and also in having ample reserves of the specialty and gas, for example--which were and are scarce abroad but which are essential for steel-makiand for fueling other Industrial expansion, " the Keystone Manual reports. As If that weren't clear It goes on to add, "The entire world coal trade, in fact, should reach new high after new high In the years ahead as a result of Industrialization of previously primitive or agricultural states, with consequently Increasingly heavy draft of coal and other energy sources. " The Manual notes one government survey which speculates eventual U.S. coal exports to million tons be from per year. All this makes it verv difficult not to scoff at the Industry line that we have to strip because we have to have the coal to supply our nation. It Is, of course, true that coal Is vital to the nation's economy and our everyday lives. But to suggest that without the current massive gouging of eastern Kentucky our lights will go out is, to say the least, Irresponsible. g, according to the Industry, will soon be responsible for one- - third of the country's total coal production. coals-metallur- gical ng 80-1- 30 Strip-minin- reliable sources In and out of the Industry state that a growing percentage of that coal will be shipped out for use in power plants and factories overseas, particularly Japan. Tie that to the fact that there already are vast quantities of natural gas, oil and coal sitting tapped but as yet unexploited throughout the country Including Appalachla, and It makes the "fuel crisis" argument for pretty weak. And strip-mini- ng Roxan a MRS. CORNETT MOVES TO WHITESBURG Mrs. Shirley Cornett, accom- panied by her father, Arthur Stidyam, and her brother-in-laIra Whitaker, went to Greensburg, Indiana, and brought her furniture to Whitesburg where she will live. We hope she and the children are happy to be home again. We are happy to report that Mr. John Collins is home from the hospital and doing much better. Also glad to see Shirley Gentry up and around again after a stay in the Jenkins hospital and a couple of days in bed at home. Mr. and Mrs. Clifton Cornett of UZ recently has as their guests Mr. and Mrs. McKenn-le- y Mcintosh and Mr. and Mrs. Jones and daughter. Mrs. Cornett said to send a big hello to all her friends and relatives in Indiana. Mr. Ike Cornett of North Vernon, Indiana, brother to Clifton Cornett, is much better after a serious heart attack from which he was hospitalised Tor several weeks. Mr. and Mrs. Gary Creech bought them a lovely new The students and parents plan to continue the boycott of the Jenkins School District until the expelled students return. "We trouble, " Mrs. don't want Ellis said. "We just feel that we've been wronged. " The five expelled students, according to Supt. Wright, were suspended for the year only after they had violated three-da- y suspensions. "They received the first suspensions, " he explained, "but showed up at the school the next day anyway. " Thus, he said, the Board had to expel them for the remainder of the school year. The letters of expulsion to the parents said, "I am always sorry when this action (expulsion) becomes necessary. However, we must have discipline and respect for authority if we are to maintain a school system. " Wright told a reporter that the initial suspensions were "for "disorderly conduct, " In the school lunchroom. He also said that high school principal Charles Stallard "had been threatened by some of the colored students. " The students and parents firmly deny this, and Stallard was unavailable for comment yesterday. Wright expressed surprise over the developments yesterday, saying that he really "doesn't know what the real complaint is. " He added that he hoped closing the schools early for vacation would "cool things off, or someone might get hurt. " Wright also expressed concern about the various rumors and alarms which quickly spread through the Jenkins area as word of the incident spread. Reports--rangin- g from bomb scares to riots in the streets to outside agitators--wer- e all denied by school authorities who told parents coming to school not to be concerned. Nonetheless, the high school yesterday afternoon was a scene of confusion, with parents demanding to know what was going on and students being dismissed to go home early. Some parents were angry at the continued existence of rumors of difficulties coming from the school. "I'm getting tired of coming back here to get my kids because of these " rumors, angrily. trailer. By MRS. JANELL FIELDS 1) Happy to hear that Hessie Whitaker is home from the hospital, and hope she continues to feel better. Mr. and Mrs. Willis Fields and boys spent the week end in Charlestown, Ind., visiting Mr. and Mrs. Green Cahhan, Jr. They also went to Jeffer-sonvllto visit Aunt Mary Calihan and Mr. and Mrs. Oakley Stamper. Aunt Mary was just fine and we certainly enjoyed seeing her and the Stampers. Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Caudill and kids went to Wise, Va., Sunday to visit Miss Barbara Fleas, who Is a patient in the Wise Regional Hospital. They reported she was doing fine after having surgery the week before. Also visiting her were her parents, Mr. and Mrs. David Fields and Davey. We hope she will be well enough to come home soon. I was talking with Monroe Fields and am happy to report that Uncle Willie Caudill is getting along just fine at this le time. Mr. and Mrs. Carl Lee Roark are the proud parents of a baby girl named Tessa Renae. They have three sous also. one mother said Apparently, she was referring to the repeated reports of other racial tensions at the Jenkins schools. The boycott supporters state that there Indeed have been previous problems at the high school, one of which resulted In the all- - day presence of a policeman at the school last Thursday. "There was a rumor put out last week that some blacks were going to blow up the school, " one black student said. "But none of us had ever heard of such a crazy thing." She did state, however, rhat there has been growing anger among black students and their parents "over the continued mistreatment we get at school. " Wright stated that he had nothing to say about the blacks' charges of discrimination because "I just don't think there's anything to them. " Various meetings have been scheduled to discuss the problems. Wright is hoping that the situation can be resolved before school reopens after the spring break. The boycotters also insist they "want to go back to school, " but will not unless the expelled students are also able to return to classes.