ent Weekly THE DEMOCRAT U TOUT nucaj M VOL. LXI, NO. 9. in the Year 1 888 BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1948. FIVE CENTS A KINGjpET BT ROB RIVERS ? ? CARL GOERCH, editor of the State magazine, who writes more stories about Carolina and gives out more information about the area than perhaps any other man, was in town the other day, while we were away from the office . . sorry to have missed seeing our friend . . . who along with Bill Sharpe constitute a team of pub lic press agents for Tarheelia igo w iU-Pthe rn'i g r;vU on of Wataugans to the broader fields of Ohio, pays his first visit to the old home town for about eigh teen years, and finds relatively few of the old-timers around . . . Brings word of Rom Lovill, Er nest Hicks, Plato Moody, and oth ers, who are doing well in the vicinity of Fresno . . Earl Nor ris, one of the State Highway Commission's most valued local workers, putting the asphalt on State route through town, and giving us the low-down on a few matters . . . Town Council putting in enlarged pipe line on Daniel Boone Hill, to alleviate critical water shortage in that section . . Graham contractor shows up to begin to do some black-topping for the city and offers to do pri vate driveways for citizens on the side . . . Large numbers of local Republican leaders inclined in the list of contributors to the G. O. P. national campaign . . . am ounts ranged from twenty to fif ty dollars . . . Edwin N. Hahn, Esquire, walks about the town, talking with friends, visiting the sick, and as always, contributing a full share to the upbuilding of the community, and to the wel fare of his fellow man . . . W. G. Todd, of Perkinsville, the oldest male native of the community of ?whom we know, carrying on his lumber business, and giving us the information as to what the weather is likely to be oh occas ions. LOCAL MEMBERS of tha Masonic fraternity dealing with W. R. Winkler for hall in the new building ha ia erecting be Iwatn tha old courthouse and tha naw . . . Mica as tha Junior Otto has baan to allow tha brethren to hold forth in thalr hall, it Is tiina for tha Masons to hare thalr own sanctum . . . By tha very nature of tha or ganisation it should never hold forth, 'capt in its own quartars ? if possible . . . tinea Dr. J. G. Rivers, our patarnal grand father waa ona of tha founders of tha now defunct Watauga Lodge, and since we make the third and no doubt tha last gen eration of the tribe to have been raised in that lodge, we have a rather keen interest in getting tha present organisation housed all to itself . . . We would like to insist that tha Masons join together in raising tha relatively small amount of money- required to buy a home and thus par haps strengthen tha fraternity, which used to be a mighty force in tha commun ity . . . Free masonry has had its lapses through tha years, but has lived on to promote the brotherhood of man through out tha centuries . . . without fanfare* or press agents, its work will continue to go on be hind those mystic portals . . . Wa can now contribute to its strength and s.'abillty in this community. ? ? ? CONTESTANT on Sunday quiz program, mellow withr wine. > couldn't quite make the grade . . boy and girl pass down the street, arm in arm, happy as jaybirds, one trying to support the other . . The non-chalance of some auto drivers as they whisk through ... the uncertainty of others . . some just idling along, looking about with studied carelessness, lighting a cigarette or opening a bottle without a waver . . . one with a lovely bejewelled femin ist hand toying with the lobe of ha left ear . . .the brand new shiny cars that look the same front and rear . , . the tourist ewko wants to know what one does for recreation 'aides walking . . . didn't have th* answer right off . . . school kids inquiring as to the possibility of schools being opened late due to polio . . . they want 'em to start . . . streetside discussion of the fundamentals of the Christian religion . . . don't know if either one got very clow ih . . . Spud Whitener gets good crowd and a big hand at his voice recital . . . The personable colle gian will be misted when he takes on the new Job down at FJorida U] (Continued on page 4) '' v'-'V ?/. WOODEN SHOES STILL IN VOGUE v - : * 5 ,t' V ?_ y V . -? : rv-.-V-V * Deipite easing of the leather shortage for Holland through the Marshall plan, the wooden shoe is still popular at large. Van Zwie nen of Lekkerkerk is working dailv on hand-carred shoes to meet the demands. He carres out a willow shoe, which when dried, is repellanl to dampness. Given 8 to 12 Years For Shooting Douglas Norris 1 College Ends Record Term Friday, August 27, will see the close of the biggest summer school in ,the history of Appala chian State Teachers college.1 Graduating exercises for the 76 graduates will be held on Thurs day evening at eight o'clock. | There have been 274 enrolled in the graduate school. This is the first time the college has of fered the master's degree, though graduate work has been given since 1942. I 1408 different students have been enrolled in the summer school. There were 1902 enroll ments, but this included the people who registered twice. In addition to North CSFBIfha there were students from six teen other states. The home state led in enrollment with 1100 students from 89 North Carolina counties. South Carolina had 127 students, Florida 72, Georgia 39 and Virginia 28. The college was fortunate in having on its faculty some of the outstanding educators from vari ous sections of the United States. There are faculty members from Chicago, Kansas City. Newark, N. J., New York, Gainesville' Florida, Philadelphia, Greens boro, Staunton. Va., Marycille, Tenn., Raleigh. Wittenburg, Kan sas, Bristol, Va., Granville, Ohio, and a number of others. There were eleven faculty members with master's degrees, and nine with doctor's degrees teaching in the field of elementary educa tion. The college wishes to place special emphasis upon work in primary and grammer grade education. Because of its outstanding faculty and its climatic advan tage during the summer months, the .administration expects the Appalachian summer school to grow into one of the largest and best known in the South. Horseshoes To Feature Tourney Final -arrangements are being made for the horseshoe tourna ment which is to begin on Thurs day evening. Registration for the tournament will be continued until ten o'clock Wednesday evening. Six prizes will be given to the winners In the singles und doubles events. Prizes will also be given to the runners-up in the contests. The following prizes have been donated: Five passes to the Appalachian Theater. One pair of suspender? donated t>y Belk's Dept. Store. One Tie from Hunt's Dept. Store. One bottle of( hair tonic from Charlie Ray's Barber Shop, and one bottle of hair tonic from Joe Crawford's Bar ber Shop. Another prize will be presented to make the awards total six. Mr. Tommy Thompson, direc tor of the project requests that all persons interested attend the tournament fither to enter, or look on. The competition should be interesting in both the doublet and single events. > Waistline raised two to threeL inches by Paris designer. Cecil Chuxch Gets Term in Penientiary for Slaying Former Boone Man. Cecil Church, who resides near North Wilkesf>oro, was sentenced Friday to from 8 to 12 years in the penitentiary for the fatal shooting of Douglas Norris, nat ive Wataugan. at the Norris home (in Wilkes county June 6. Judge John H. Clement passed sentence in Wilkes Superior Court. The jury deliberated the evidence for two hours following the charge of the court. Evidence in the case disclosed that Norris and Church had en gaged in a quarrel at a cafe on highway 421 near their homes, and that after Norris went home the .trouble was renewed. Norris v^ras said to have been in the yard of his home when he was shot with the 22 calibre rifle. Norris' widow is a sister of Church. Norris was reared in Boone, a son at the late J. G. and Mrs. Norris and had resided' in Wilkes county for several years. J. Hill Coitrell Dies On Sunday James Hill Cottrell of Lenoir, retired superintendent of the State prison camp at Hudson, and well-known lumber inspector, died in a Lenoir hospital Sunday, following a short illness. Funeral rites, with Masonic honors, were conducted from the Greer funeral home at 2 o'clock Tuesday. Dr. A. A. McLean, pas tor of the Presbyterian church of ficiated and burial was in Belle view cemetery. Mr. Cottrell was born in Wilkes county, August 18, 1874, the son of the late Calvin and Melissa Norris Cottrell, who later became residents of Boone. He was a bro ther to Mrs. Floy Mast of Boone, and the late D. Jones Cottrell of this city, and was widely known in Watauga. Following his retire ment as head of the prison camp six years ago, he had engaged in the measuring and inspection of lumber. He had been a member of Hibriten Masonic lodge for 37 years. He is survived by his wife and one son, George H. Cottrell, both of Lenoir. A communication of Hibriten Masonic lodge was called for Tuesday for the purpose of pay ing final tribute to Mr. Cottrell, a life member of the lodge. Winebarger At St. Paul Meeting Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Winebarger returned Monday from St. Paul, Minn., where they attended the national convention of rural let ter carriers and ladies auxiliary. North Carolina was signally honored by having the largest percentage membership in the national association, and also by having Kenneth Taylor of Mag nolia elected to the office of nat ional secretary, which is a full- ' time job, with national offices in i Washington. He had served on ' the executive board for the last1 two years. Berlin, Germany? Seven Ger man children, ranging in agel from two to ten years, were kill- < ad when an old artillery shell 1 they found exploded. ; | WILSON NAMED TO FHA BOARD; 500 FAMILIES IN COUNTY AIDED Soone Farmer Succeeds Ben W. Farthing;. Grady Tug-' man, Ben W. Greene Other Members of Group; Agency Approves Farm Loans. Appointment of George A. Wilson, Boone, to a three-year! term on the Farmers Home Ad ministration County Committee for JVatauga county was an nounced today by J. B. Slack, State Director. Mr. Wilson succeeds Mr. Ben W. Farthing, whose term expirefi June 30. Also on the committee are Grady Tugman and Avery W. Greene. A committee of three serves in each agricultural coun ty throughout the nation in which the agency makes farm ownership and operating loans. Appointments are scheduled so that a committee always has two experienced members. The Watauga County Commit tee has an important place in making supervised credit avail able to local farmers, According to William A. Smith, County Supervisor. Before any money can be bor rowed through the agency an applicant must have the approval of the County Committe. In the case of farm ownership loans the farm to be purchased, en larged or improved must also be approved by the committee. "The members know agricultural con ditions in the county, are often familiar with the farm the ap plicant plans to operate." Mr. Smith explained. In addition to approving loans the committee cooperates with the County Supervisor in overall administration of the program in the county. Periodically they re view the progress of borrowers to determine whether they have reached a financial position that would enable them to rofinanc* their loans through private lend ers. A farmer who is eligible for credit from regular lending sources is not eligible for a loan from the Farmers Home Admini stration. "Using this system of opera tion, the agency helped 500 families in Watauga county to ward better farming and better living with farm purchase and farm operating loans," Mr. Smith said. In the past 12 months 400 applications have been received for this type of credit Park Commission Meets Ai Linville Mr. W. R. Winkler, member of the State Park Commission, was in Linville Monday where he at tended a meeting of the full park commission membership at a lun cheon at Eseeola Inn. Mrs. Winkler was with her husband in Linville Sunday even ing, when the commissioners and their wives were guests of the Linville and New land Chambers ?f Commerce at a banquet. The commission, at its executive meeting Monday, concerned itself with the future of the Grandfath er Mountain as a park area, the Cone Estate, and steps looking to the early completion of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Among those meeting with the park commission, were, R. Getty Browning, chief locating engineer for the State highway depart ment; Raymond Smith, highway commissioner; Hugh Morton of Wilmington, and others. Overseas Aid Plans Napped The town chairman of the American Overseas Aid Program, Mrs. Nora Warman, has mapped out areas of the town for the canvas in in drive to aid the starving children overseas. Each organization helping in the drive will receive this week > notification as to the territory assigned to its group and it is Hoped that each will assume the responsibility of making the lrive successful. Watauga coun ty's quota is tl.OM which is to be raised by September 30. Wasted farmland which has seen stripped of its topsoil and ?ut to pieces with gullies offers tttle in the way of food and protection for wildlife. t. ? -i'l." *-v SET NEW NON-STOP SPEED RECORD Here ax* the ihree pilot* who, with thalr craw ol IS. Mi ? new non-stop 5,120 mile speed racord flying a B-2S from Funianfald bruck. Germany. The pilots are. left to right. Capt., Walter Abbott. De* Moines. la.; Lieut. John Gaffney. Akron, Ohio.; and Capt. Hol ly Barilatt of New Macon, Ga. The pilot* landed thalr giant bomb er at Marshal Field, Kans.. Just 23 houn and SO minute* aftar the takeoff from Furstenfeldbruck. Say Burley Prices To To Hit High Levels 60 Local Deaths Held Preventable In 1940 there were 146 death* in Watauga county. Of this num ber. 60 were preventable accord ing to the department of rural sociology of N. C. State College. A preventable death is a death that would not have occurred H the death rates by age in North CaroTlnf had been as low as those in the major residential group of any other state. The sociologists assume, as basis for these findings, that the geo-phy sical conditions in rural and urban areas of North Caro lina are as favorable to a low death rate as in any other state and that the people of this state are as sound biologically. Yet, 37 states had lower death rates than North Carolina in 1940, a situa tion which points to lack of ade quate medical care in this state. Figures on percentage of preven table deaths for more recent years are not available, since it is necessary to have an age-race breakdown of the population in order to calculate preventable deaths. Such data have not been available since the 1940 census. According to figures compiled by the department of rural socioligy, 60, or 41.4 per cent, of the white deaths in Watauga in 1940 were preventable. There was only one non-white death and it was not listed as preven table. The county ranked 39th in per cent of preventable white deaths and lowest in per cent ol preventable non-white deaths. In human terms these figure* tell a story of grim tragedy ol suffering, heartache and broken homes, of social and economic waste in the loss of people who should not have died in the year in which they did. These needless deaths give stark urgency to the report ol the N. C. Hospital Association which points out that hospital! of the state are finding it in creasingly difficult to stay in business. They also give urgency to efforts to provide additional hospitals. Greene Launches Congress Race Statesville. ? At a countywlde Republican rally held at the Am erican Legion hut here Saturday afternoon. Clyde R. Grew*, ol Boone, officially launched his campaign for election to Congreai from the ninth district this fall In addition to hearing their candidate for Congress, the Ire dell Republicans heard local spea kers and organized for the com ing campaign. \ Approximately fifty Republi cans from all section* of the county attended the Saturday af ternoon meeting. Preliminary plana for a district rally this fall which a nationally prominent Republican will be In vited to attend were diacuMed. Observers Say Market To One of the Highest Of All Time. Lexington, Ky? Market obs#r-[ vers are forecasting this year's price (or burley tobacco, win be "one of the highest of all time." Th#y said they are baaing th?ir predictions on the support prices assumed by the government and demand for burley. They alio pointed to presently prospering Southern flue-curea markets. William C. Clay, attorney for the Burley Auction Warehouse Association, said "today's bur ley parity (price), coupled with prevailing prices for flu-cured, indicated that Kentucky will have one of the highest priced tobacco crops of all time." W. L. Station, Executive Se cretary of the Burley Growers Co-operative Association, com mented that "as long as supports are there in the amounts they are now, the market's bound to be good." The parity prices for burley now is 48 cents a pound with government loans based or 90 per cent of parity, the aver age loan value would be 43 cents a pound. Staton added, "indications are that parity still will crawl up gradually." He said "cogarette consumption has been on the up trend all year. It is considerably higher than last year. The disap pearance (use in manufactured) of burley will be greater than anticipated." * Lions Enjoy Annual Ouling The annual picnic of the Boone \ Lions Club was held at Winkler1! Creek last Wednesday, with an attendance of one hundred and ! fifty. A number of wives and sev eral guests were present. ' The repast consisted of baked 1 ham, potato salad, tomatoes, roas ' ting ears, watermelon and drinks 1 After dinner, the Lions, theii ' wives and friends joined in gamei of horse shoe, golf and softball The soft ball game became so ex citing that all other games were discontinued so the entire group could join in the game or cheei for their favorite players. The all important game was called be cause of darkness with the scorc dead-locked at 0 all? after Lion Hoover hit a home run. The arrangements committee were: Food ? Paul A. Coffey and Lee F. Reynolds; Games?Lions Hoover, Broome and Keptiart. MAST FAMILY REUNION A reunion of the Mast family will be held at the pioneer Mast homestead, adpoining the ceme tery west of Elverson, Pa. Aug. 29. An all-day program has been prepared for the accasion, and a number of the members of the Mast family in Watauga are plan ning to attend. 4 men to add M feet to ML Rainier to make tt second high est. y>;'" ?? > -?< &S..& :? -Xiiii . '?> lkt< SCHOOLS OPE! 2 WEEKS LATE m WATAUGA DUE TO POLIO | Board of Education Takes Precautionary "Steps On Ad- s vice Health Officials; No New Cases; Quarantine May Be Lifted Soon. The Watauga County schools which had been scheduled to open their 1948-49 terms September .1, will not open until September 13. it is stated by county sueprinten dent W. H. Walker( who said the postponement was brought about in the interest of preventing the further spread of polio in the county. Although no new cases of par alysis have been noted in the past week the Board of Education followed the advice of health au thorities in setting a new date for the school openings as an add ed precautionary measure. v Or. Len D. Hagaman, acting public health officer states that in his opinion the polio epidemic here is definitely on the wane, but advises parents to continue to observe the voluntary quaran tine of their children until it least September 1. He is of the opinion that if the quarantine should be lifted as of the opening day of school, parents might be unwilling for their children to at tend. One child, it was stated has been sent to the Ashevllle hospi talf from the county during the past week, where it was deter mined that polio did not exist. The total still stands at nine cas es here, with one death having occurred as a result of the di sease. FOOTBALL PRACTICE DETERRED AT HI SCHOOL Football practice at Appalach ian High School will not start until the opening of school on Sept. 13, due to polio, it is an nounced by Coaek Quincey. ? - - r ' ' '1 Local Farmen Watauga county office and supervisory personnel and com mitteemen of the Farmers Home Administration attended a meet ing of committeemen from ten North Carolina counties in Wll kesboro. The counties in addition to Watauga, are Alexander, Ashe Wilkes, Iredell, Alleghany, Sur ry, Stokes, Forsyth and Yadkin. Principal speaker was J. B. Slack, state director from Ral eigh, who told of the different loans and service for low income farmers and explained the eligi bility requirement of applicants for loans. He pointed out that veterans have preference in farm ownership and operation loans. Other speakers were A. E. Rozar, chief of production loans operations. M. B. Riggle, pro duction loan officer; and Vance E. Swift, chief of farm owner ship loans, all of Raleigh. W. B. Oliver, state field representative, was in charge of the meeting. Attending from Watauga county were William A. Smith, county supervisor, Lena A. Geer, office clerk, and Avery W. 1 Greene and George A. Wilson | county committeemen. Mri. Thomas Watson Is Taken By Death Susan McRary Watson, resident lof the Laxon neighborhood died , last Saturday at the age of 83 years. Funeral rites were held at the [Laurel Springs Baptist Church Monday at 2 o'clock. Rev. R. C. . Egger's conducting the services, , and interment was in the Watson 1 family cemetery. Mrs. Watson, who was a widow j of the late Thomas S. Watson, is survived by two sons and five daughters: Edgar L. Watson, Asheville; Otis Watson; Mrs. E. A Watson, Wythevllle, Va.; Mrs: George W. Greer, North Wilkes boro, N. C.; Mrs. Willi/ Greene, Laxon; Mrs. Millard Greene, Le noir; Mrs. Joe Coffey, Laxon, N. C.; There are 35 grandchildren and 40