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February 28, 1939.
Mrs. T. C. Ingle (white).
Hamburg kountain Road,
fceaverville, N. C.
Housewife.
Anne Winn Stevens, wriLer.
Douglas Carter, reviser.
PRAYERS THAT 14ORKED
Original Names
Mrs. T. C. Ingle
ganated Names
Ura. Dorothy Walters
PRAURS THAT WORD
Mrs. Dorothy Walters insists that her paternal grandfather
came to this country "from Palestine in Egypt." Her complexion
and hair are dark, but she looks neither Jewish nor Egyptian.
She is 45 years old, but seems younger, and is a substantial,
capable type, neat in dress, reserved and quiet in manner. In
spit* of many hardships, she is in good health, and her gray
eyes are bright.
Born on a farm, she spent her early years in the country.
Her mother died when Dorothy was two years old, and sne did not
get beyond the third grade in school. The family moved to town
when she was about 12, and she became a housemaid, working for
several prominent families. At 17 she married Henry *alters.
"After I was married,* she said, "I worked at anything I
could get to do. My husband didn't have a regular trade, or
business, and couldn't keep any job long, on account of his
drinking. It was up to me to support us, because most of what
little money he made went for likker. I took in washing and
ironing, and did sewing. I worked day and night."
"Why didn't you leave him divorce him?" I asked.
"They tried to get me to," she replied, "but I don't believe
in that. I married him because I loved him, and I was bound
to stick to him. Besides, I thought I could get him to quit
drinking and join the church."
But the drinking went on, and Henry spent many nights in
jail. He engaged in many fights and drunken brawls. He was
sent to the chain gang many times, and worked on many of the
county roads, He was a good-for-nothing sponger. And babies
were coming to Dorothy at more or less regular intervals. In
her 28 years of married life she has had 10 children, all still
living. She was strong, though, and childbirth bothered her
but little. Only her youngest child, now five, gave her any
trouble. By dint of hard work, she was able to keep her children
in school. She received no charity. She urged her husband to
give up his evil ways, but he only cursed her.
Dorothy is a church member, and after many years she had an
idea; she would try something new on her husband! She asked
her fellow members to help, and about once each week, when
Henry was at home (usually drunk, or perhaps just getting over
a spree), Dorothy and several others would hold a prayer meeting
in the Walters home, and her domestic difficulties, as well as
her husbandfs misdeeds, were laid before the Lord with much
Methodist fervor. Henry raged and cursed, but the meetings
continued, and quite suddenly and unexpectedly he capitulated!
He went to church, joined, reformed, and has not taken a drink
since. In fact, he went from one extreme to the other: he is
now perpetually drunk on religion. He is looked upon as a
religious fanatic by those who know him,
His spectacular conversion took place about eight years ago,
after 20 years of drunken misbehavior. "He was saved," said
Mrs. Walters, simply. "My married life before that was so
miserable I hate to think of it."
Henry got a job, kept it, and learned tree surgery-, Be began
to help support his family. Later, when he was laid off bectause
his employer's business had declined, he set up for himself,
practicing tree surgery and landscape gardening. He carries
his religion into his business.
A friend of the family said, "His work is quite often, in-
fluenced by fits of temperament. If he does not like a pros-
pective customer, or does not approve of his religion, morals,
or conduct, Walters will not spray his trees, nor trim his
shrubbery. He talks of nothing but religion, andreads nothing
but the Bible. He's a bore when he geteetarted on theology,
but at least he doesn't get drunk now, and he makes an effort
to support his family."
He has a helper a necessity because, drunk, he once fell
from a moving truck and permanently injured one arm. He gets
little business in the winter, but in the spring and summer he
does fairly well. Next to religion, he is most interested in
trees and shrubs, and their care and culture.
For two years now, the Walters have lived in the village of
Grafton, near the county seat. Their pleasant, wide-piazmaed
home is bordered by neatly clipped evergreens from wtich a
well -sodded and terraced strip of lawn leads to the paved road.
Across the road an apple orchard fills the hollow, beyond which
rise the roofs of the village. In the distance, beautifully
blue, stretches a range of mountains. After the crowded, noisy
quarters the family occupied in the city, Mrs. Walters loves
her present location.
"It's so nice and quiet here," she said, "and there are no
drunken neighbors like we had in town."
The white, story -and -a -half cottage is sparingly furnished.
The living room, which serves also as the younger children's
bedroom and playroom, is heated by a stove. There are two iron
beds, bright green, neatly made up, and covered with red -.and
white eounterpanes. Purple and green predominate in the large
flowered wallpaper, and the room is clean. The children, re-
turned from school, spread out their toys around the stove, but
at a word from their mother will gather them up, put them into
a large basket, and place the basket carefully in its accustomed
corner. The youngsters are a healthy -looking lot, apple-cheeked
and brown -eyed. They are spontaneous, but well-mannered, and
are comfortably and appropriately dressed.
Of the six children now at home, one has graduated from high
school, and helps her mother with the housework and the care
of the younger children, who attend the public school. The
family seems to have little social life, and no recreational
outlet other than that afforded by the school and by the "soeials"
and entertainments given by the neighboring church, which they
attend regularly. Mrs. Walters finds time to cultivate a garden,
and she cans the family's winter supply of fruit and vegetables.
She crochets purses and knits shopping bags that she sells at
a profit of 950 each, The bedspreads that she knits bring a
larger return.
The three oldest daughters, all of whom graduated from high
school, are employed and live in the city, Eaoh contributes to
the support of the family, inasmuch as the earnings of Mr. and
Mrs. Walters are not adequate. Claire, the oldest, is a slight,
pale girl of 26, with large brown eyes and gentle manners, She
dresses neatly and becomingly and has considerable poise. She
is employed at an exclusive dress shop,
"Claire was very ambitious," said her mother, "and when she
finished high school she wanted to work her way through college,
but she gave up her plans in order to help support the family.
Six years ago she went to work at the Kroft 5 and 104 store in
town. She was in the crockery department in the basement. The
girls had to stay, by shifts, long after the store closed;
sometimes until 10 or 11 ololook at night. They had to clean up,
and arrange the stook for the next day. At first she made $11
a week, but later her pay wagtaised to $13. Each year she got
a vacation of two weeks with pay, and a bonus at Christmas, She
liked the work all right, but it made her kinda nervous."
As long as it was necessary, Claire, living at home, used her
entire wage for family purposes, but now, with her sisters con-
tributing, she is able to save a little, although she has to
board in the city in order to be near her work. Since leaving
the Kroft store she has been a saleswoman in one of the old-
established shops catering to the highest class patronage. Her
pay is higher, the work lighter, hours shorter, and working con-
ditions better.
The second daughter, Maria, has a position as nurse for the
three -year -old child of a wealthy and socially prominent family
in a fashionable suburb. She is paid 19 a week, and lives on
the premises. She finds her working hours long, and she gets a
little lonely, but she has an afternoon off once a week, and
always visits her family on this occasion.
Mildred, the third daughter, is also a nursemaid in a well-
to-do family, and gets the same pay as Maria. She is 20, but
looks 14 or 15. "Her charges adore her," Mrs. Walters declared,
"and the people are grand to her. They treat her as one of the
family, and are always giving her presents." She, too, visits
her family whenever possible.
The older of the two boys is serving aterm on the chain gang.
He is now nearly 19. Having dropped out of school in the 10th
grade, much to his mother's regret, he went to work in a curio
shop. When he had saved a little money, he bought a secind-hand
automobile. One Saturday he took two boys of his own age for
a "joy ride." They were all drinking. During the afternoon
they collided with two other automobiles, each time quickly
leaving the scene of the accident. In due course, they were
apprehended by the police. Young Walters was charged with drunken-
ness, drunken driving, reckless driving, and "hit-and-run"
driving, as well as driving without a license. It seems that he
had been arrested for drunkenness before, and was therefore not
unknown to the police.
"The judge," said his mother, "gave him two years' hard
labor on the roads, because the boy was driving without a
license. That seems a hard sentence, seeing as how nobody was
hurt. I did the best I could, but the judge said he hoped the
sentence would teach Son a lesson. I hope it does, but just
think of him being thrown with criminals and convicts for two
years!"
Joe, the younger boy, is 10 years old.