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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 5, 1994                   TAG: 9401050100
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BLACKSMITH'S WELL-TRAVELED ANVIL IS NEEDED AT HOME

Lost: One blacksmith's anvil, 125 pounds. Somewhere between Mill Creek in Botetourt County and Crossroads Mall in Roanoke.

This is no joke, and, no, some cartoon character didn't steal it to drop on somebody's head.

Jack Goodman's problem started before Christmas: He and his wife, Linda, were shopping, and his truck - which has his blacksmith's shop on the back - wouldn't start.

Goodman asked a guy to give him a push so he could pop the clutch. As he pushed, the guy dented the sheet-metal door on the back of the truck.

The weather was nasty for the next few days, so Goodman hadn't gotten a chance to get his welder out and fix the door.

Last weekend, the anvil disappeared. Linda Goodman had been driving the truck to her job in Roanoke. Jack Goodman figures the anvil slid out the door on a curve.

Monday, he was getting ready to shoe some horses and noticed the door was open, and the anvil was gone.

Goodman doesn't hold out much hope that his anvil, worth perhaps $450, will come home.

"People are not as honest these days," he said. "They're gonna put it in their car, and they're gone."

Anyone with information about the anvil can call Goodman at 992-2331.

by CNB