
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 23, 1991                   TAG: 9102250260
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BRIEFLY PUT . . ./ HOMESTEAD, FLAG-BURNING AND MINTS

Its registration books read like a Who's Who of world history. Almost every U.S. president, beginning with George Washington, has been a guest there. So have countless foreign dignitaries, the cream of international society, the business-and-professional elite, movie stars, and sports legends like Slammin' Sam Snead, who learned the game of golf on its Cascades course.

Yet, for all the rich and famous it has attracted, The Homestead in Bath County never went blue nose. The mountain resort has warmly welcomed all guests, without regard to their station in life. It has been a symbol of Virginian hospitality. This year, The Homestead celebrates 225 years - the last 100 under the ownership and leadership of the Melville Ezra Ingalls family. It's a record unmatched by any major hotel in America. Here's wishing it happy centuries to come.

> A SALUTE to the Virginia Senate for killing a resolution asking for a constitutional amendment to ban flag-burning. Most Americans are troubled if not angered when contempt is shown for the revered banner. But the upsurge in patriotism with the Gulf War has not blinded everyone to the fact that an occasional flag-burning threatens our Republic less than would tampering with constitutional freedoms.

FOR A TIME there, the Roanoke Valley could have felt abandoned at the altar. But while Allied-Signal said changed business conditions won't permit it to proceed with a brake plant in Glenvar, the company still thinks highly of the valley and wants to put "this outstanding site" to another use soon. Kind words to soothe wounded feelings. Let's keep the wedding cake on ice and hope for better times.

RESEARCH funded by the perfume industry suggests that whiffs of peppermint-scented air in the work place help people concentrate better on their jobs and could possibly increase productivity. Should bosses pass peppermint under employees' noses? We don't know, but with America's industrial productivity falling behind foreign competitors', we hope our experts can come up with something more than Life Savers.

by CNB