WATAU6A DEMOCRAT
U !
An lad?0?jdeat Wetkly !Jew?p?per
Cktabluhed in 1B86 and published tor 45 jroon by ,
tt? Uta Robert 0. H lv??, St.
a. c. RIVERS, JR ~ PubiWihiir j
I^PflHmtJBSCRI PTTON RATES
In Watauga
1-, County
One Year (LOO
Six Month* IM
Pour Months 1.00
--- L
OuUide Watauga
? , Coanty
Ona Yaar 42.90
Star Month* 1.78
Four Month* 1.28
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS
to requesting change of address, It Is important to
mention the OLD, aa *ell ?J the Ni* address.
. ? ? - ?
Cards of Thanks, Resolutions of Respect, Obitu
aries, etc., ate charged for at the tegular
advertising rates.
Entered at Mm postoffiee at BooMj N. C? as
second da as mail matter, under the act of
Cosigressxf March V 1879
Th* basis at <Mr goaammant Mn| the optatoa af the
' people. tha v'try tost objective s&ould bs to Icssp that
right and ?n It toft to 010 to gesMa whether wa Siauld
have a gwornsnsnt without newspapers, or neeapapen
without government. I should not haaitoto s moment to
sboosa the la*ar. tut I should mean that ovary man
tfiould n<gSi dial* pa pan siM bs capable of rsadfntf
ttMO."? Thonui Jefferson.
THE TAX QUESTION .
The revaluation of real property for tax
ation has been affected by the Watauga
county board of commissioner*, and notices
of the current assessments have been receiv
ed by the people of this locality, where the
little slips have provided the chief topic of
conversation for the past few days. The most
of the talk we hear, from both sides of the
political fence, is in vigorous protest of the
revamped set of tax figures.
General agreement can easily be reach
ed on the point that equalization should pre
vail in the matter of knd taxes, but those
who have followed the haphazard, zig-zag
course of 16cal taxation are inclined to doubt
that such a Utopian situation can exist. So,
at best, officials who start a new tax struc
ture from scratch are up against a hard pro
position. But we speak principally for the
large number of people who are faced with
an equally, if not harder task, in trying to
mtet tax levies out of all proportion to the
cost of the property involved or its possible
productivity as a business investment, or a
farming enterprise.
a great many ioiks in eoone nave laoor
ed diligently in an effort to make their live*
a bit more abundant by providing living
quarters and business property for some of
the folks who want to live in Boone, at the
same time performing, we think, a public
service. Many of these folks, including us,
have provided such accommodations at the
lowest possible rental, absorbing our share of
the inflation without murmur. Higher prices,
in many cases, would tend to move some ten
ants to outside the city, where they would
at least be free from municipal levies, but at
the fame time the landlords are by all tht
rules of the game, entitled to a fair return on
their investments. Likewise farmers who
find themselves in the high brackets of the
revised tax structure, are suffering. Present
taxes, in many cases based on valuations In
excess of the cost of the property, are certain
to have an ill effect on the future growth
of the town and county, and we can see a
cessation in building and a rather general
feeling that investment construction is un
sound here at the moment.
A reasonable tax structure has been one
of the principal arguments for investment in
Watauga's soil, both urban and rural. We
hold to the discarded theory that an investor
is not necessarily content with a low tax
rate. He appraises the size of the check he
must lay on the line for the privilege of Own
ing a given piece of property, and with all
our progress and attractions, we "have no
monopoly on land and houses, and oppor
tunities. We must compete for new business
and new home-owners with the whole wide
world.
Residents of Boone, of course, are faced
with a State law which requires the use of
county valuation figures, and those whose
taxes are twice and three times their form
er amounts in both categories, or at least a
great many of them, just can't make the
grade, they nay.
County budget estimates, published and
explained in these columns some time ago,
indicate that the total tax take is not sup
posed to be much larger than heretofore, but
you can't argue that successfully to the man
whose taxes have hit the celling. He points
to past surpluses up at the courthouse at the
ends of both Democratic and Republican ad
ministrations, and vows no more money's
needed, particularly since A ost of the serv
ices for which county government was insti
tuted, have been taken over by the State
government.
We don't know an awful lot about county
' governments, and In this latter day age have
often wondered whether or not they are even
necessary as presently constituted. We know
lew about budgets and bond issues and sink
feg funds and the_ like. Our acquaintance
? ? i . ? . ..
witt) the world of high finance has been 1
flight. But we do know a lot about ?oone I
and h?r business life, and the amount of fi*? ;
csl burden the folks cart carry on their
shotrtdert. We likewise know something of
the farming community, and of the uncer
tainties of our farm income, and the need for
llffcUhtd loads (here. We also know that
thert ire folks who would move in and help
us with the tax payments and help us build
a bigger and better town and county, but
tax structures enter into the reasoning of
those who have been ugey enough to as
semble sonte cash for investment. We don't
believe that we can continue our present rate
of progress, unless the county and town of
ficials act in favor of a lighter tax burden
than is now prescribed.
Our position against the tax assessment
which we believe to be fraught with public
peril, is taken out of love of our county,
town and the people. We would be unfaith
ful if we failed to speak on a matter of such
vital tonSorn to the people who have been
so very good to us. And we rather believe
that public officials, generally speaking,
would like to know how you feel in the mat
ter. Public opinion has lost none of its force.
It can yet change the trend of any govern
ment, if it is adequately expressed.
DALE CARNEGIE . . .
DISASTER CAN LEAD TO SUCCESS
Samuel Krajcl, Chicago, Illinois, believes that
any difficult iituation can be conquered if some
body ha* the will to do ft.
It wa* In IBM, during America'* "prosperous"
yean, mvviou* to the Mprasaloh that hit us in
192t, and Celotex was the product being manu
facturad by Mr. Krajci's company.
In 1M6 the Louiiiana lugar cane crop wa*
most promising. Good news to the Celotex ex
perts who were depending upon this crop to furn
ish the fiber for the synthetic board. Cane fiber
was the life-blood of their manufacturing plant
Than cams bad news I Just before the
grinding season started, a Mosaic disease
spread Ilka wildfire throughout the fields.
There wa* no crop I And the plant's equipment
wa* (ulldBle tor making board only out of su
gar can* fiber. It wa* easy to see what would
happen to basin***.
Quickly they took itock of the iituation,
found out what they had on hand to work with.
Juat enough left over from the previous year to
carry them for three months.
Then suddenly somebody camc forth v/!th the
idea that they try to find a substitute for cane
fiber. Seemed abiurd, particularly as their plant
was geared to cane fiber.
Then came good news! Louisiana'* second
greate*t crop ? rice? could be utilized since 20
per cent of rice straw could be addad without af
fecting the product. So they hired plane* to icout
the rice field* and bought from the farmer* on the
spot. Now they had It more days to live!
During this time, they went to Cuba, bought
enough sugar cane fiber to tide them over until
another Louisiana sugar cane crop could be pro
duced.
But that wasn't all the good wrought by this
company. Their difficulty resulted In the develop
ment of disease-re stotant strain* of *ugar cane and
loon cane fiber in Louiiiana wai more suitable for
their use than the old strains.
And so Samuel Krajci's belief is firm that dis
aster can be uaed a* a stepping itone to better
thing*.
THEY SAY . . .
CHARLES F. KETTERING, retired inventor:
"The next half century offer* opportunities that
never existed before."
ROBERT SCHUMAN, French Foreign Min
ister: "It is extremely difficult to speculate on
what the Russian delegates will do."
RALPH B. NESBITT, Presbyterian preacher:
"There is no doubt that there has been a slack
ening of the moral fiber of the American people."
NICHOLLAS HOBBS. psychologist: "The sci
ence of psychology puts into the hands of psycho
logists instruments and techniques of tremendous
social power."
RAY D. SPENCER, former head of bomb
shelter program: "Military experts have estimated
that seventy per cent of attacking planes, in large
scale raids, wjjl get through our screens."
DANIEL A. REED, Member of Congress from
New York: "It is currently estimated that thirty
per cent of the taxpayer's dollar is going into
Federal, state and local taxes.'
FRANCIS T. MURRAY, director of athletics,
University of Pennsylvania: "Sports are a normal,
useful and human part of civilization."
EARL JAMES McGRATH, Federal Education
commissioner: 'You cannot put a generation into
education cold storage'and then later put them
into an educational hot-house."
' WILLIAM O. DOUGLAS, Justice, U. S. Su
preme Court: "Recognition (of Communist China)
will require stralght-forwsrd and courageous
thinking by all Americans, but it is the only 'log
ical course."
REPORT, Senate Crime Investigating Com
mittee: "The public now knows that the tentacles
of organized crime reach into virtually every
community throughout the country."
ERIC JOHNSTON, head of Economic Stabili
zation Agency: "I don't have to jump off the
Washington Monument in order to tell you that
the fall would be fatal."
PICKED UP"?
ONLY TIME
The only time a traffic light shows green in
both directions is during the testimony of two
drivers who have had a collision. ? The Sentry.
INTERNATIONAL OBSERVATION
It took a lot of tan pulling by the Russians
for America to work up its strong policy. Even
the most skeptical Russian might be surprised at
What changes would come in the International
saene and in American temper if Rossis would
cease to be fidgety and would sit still. ? Manchest
er (England) Guardian.
Public Health
Rone Resigns
MRS. MYRA MOTT LENTZ
The Health Department regrets
very much the Jobs of the services ,
of one of their public health
miraes, Mrs. Myra Mott Lentz.
Major Lentz waa transferred
to Ft. McClellan, Ala, from Ft.
Bragg, making it neccsaary for
Mfs. Lentz to sever connections
with her work here.
Mrs. Lentz will b$ replaced by
another nurse as soon as possible,
the department announced.
THIS WEEK m
WASHINGTON
The new tax bfll, likelihood of
another congressional look at a
price control bill, step-up in
tnllitary spending and production
as result Of world out-look, sensa
tions in veterans schooling probe,
living cost increases, political
bickering and possibility of an
October adjournment d&te were
high lights of congress.
? ? ?
The house passed the largest
military construction program in
hiitory with only five dissenting
votes, carrying authorizations to
taling $5, 766,720,928, which was
$729,941,000 below the budget re
quest. In the meantime the house
had passed the foreign military
aid bill with less of a cut than
anticipated and the senate for
eign relations committee made a
further slash and divided author
ity over the fund between the
department of defense, for mili
tary, the ECA for economic aid,
and the state department for
Point Tour and other foreign as
sistance.
? ? ?
The House also passed a meas
ure authorizing fl, 635, 000, 000 for
housing construction in defense
areas over determined opposition
led by Rep. Jesse P. Wolcott of
Michigan who said there "is no
need for it" and that the mea
sure was a step in the direction
at socialism. Passage came on
the heels of an investigation
which showed that even mem
bers of the armed services were
being charged unconscionable
rentals for mere shacks unfit for
human habitation in these de
fense areas and near government
installations.
The appropriation authoriza
tion was ?pHt u* at follow*: $50
million lor foveratatnt-con
stfucted housing: $80 million for
community facilities and carvices;
ffi million for loan* to prefabri
cated housing builders; $10 mil
lion for land condemnation in
isolated area* and $ltt billion
for FHA mortgage insurance oh
privately constructed housing
Observer* saw in the opposi
tion the usual charges from men
like Representatives Wolcott and
Reward Buffet of Nebraska, than
any governmental he If is social
Congressman Thomas B. Curtis
(R-Mo.) pleaded with newapap
tr* or any body for recognition
M a slash of $19 million which
he said he got through in the de
fense department appropriation
bill. What the Curtis amendment
did was not to cut appropriation*
ind fund* appropriated from the
treasury by the defense appro
priation bill, but reduced the
amount that could b? spent from
proceeds of a salvage program,
on salvage work.
? ? ?
The Senate by a vote of 50 to
10 passed an army civil functions
bill allowing $838,578,213 for
civil functions of the army en
gineers, cemeterial expense for
the quartermaster and expense
of the Panama Canal Zone gov
ernment in fiscal 1992. Senator
Paul Douglas was beaten back
three times in moves to reduce
rivers and harbors funds as was
Senator Homer Ferguson of.
Michigan.
Sentiment in favor of the army
civil functions bill was strength
ened, o I course, by the Kansas
Missouri floods, but there was
every indication that the con
gress would refuse to stand the
cost of losses in that catastrophe.
It would mark a precedent, and
it was pointed out in some sec
tors that neither the Kansas nor
Missouri state legislatures had
made a single move to help their
own people who stood the losses.
The congress already had ap
propriated $25,000,000 for emer
gency relief of the flood suffer
ers.
Observers here point out thpf
in the Pick-Sloan plan for relief
of floods in the Missouri river
valley there is nothing but a
patchwork development because
there is no over-all guiding plan.
Thesa same observers declare
that the great demand for com
pletion of dams and reservoirs,
some of which are included in
the civil functions bill, in Kan
sas, will be built at the expense
of flooding great areas of farm
land which under a more com
prehenaive plan would be per
fectly usable. Some suggestion
has been made that, if the pro
posal of a Missouri Valley Auth
ority is too all-inclusive, that a
national committee be named
with no axe to grind, to make
recommendations, possibly for
breaking down the authorities
Into smaller valleys such as the
individual watersheds of the
Kaw, the Platte, the Big Blue
and other rivers.
It is possible to go wrong in
many ways, but right in only
one. ? Aristotle.
stw
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7KO081&
TO
TIRE SERVICE Vr
HEADQUARTERS
We can make your car TIRE SAFE
. . ? make your tires last longer!
FREE TIRE INSPECTION
? Free inspection of tiros
for mileage-iteojing.cuts
and bruises.
? Rtmov* stones, glass,
nr ,1s and other objects
thai cam cause punctures.
? Check tires for manufac- '
turert' recommended air
pressure.
e Impact tires for uneven
weor caused by worn
mechanical parts.
BRIEF NEWS
Jess Larson to serve as chief
U. S. buyer of defense materials
Pentagon in ferment over tac
tical air arm.
New cooling device increases
transformer's output by WO per
cent.
He* oil discoveries in Mexico
lifts country's known Mwrves.
General George C. Ketmey
ends long air career.
U. S. group in Spain ready to
begin detailed military survey.
r H. A. orders nation-wide
cuts in field staffs.
Coal exports expected to set
post-war record this year.
Federal spending on education
in I960 set at tS,?00,MO,MO.
Childless husbands to loee de
ferment under draft rules.
Kettering, at 7S, optimistic on
prospects of peace and plenty.
C. C. C. lost $145,399,000 carry
ing out 'price-support programs.
More Blood
Washington. ? Defense Secre
tary George C. Marshall and top
military leaders opened a nation
wide drive this week for 1,800,000
pints of whole blood.
Military authorities repeatedly
have said there has been an ade
quate supply of Whole blood and
blood plasfna for wounded man
in Korea, but Maj. Gen. George
E. Armstrong, surgeon general,
said the reserve supply of plasma
in this country has teen seriously
deflated to meet Korean war
needs.
SCHOOL BURNS
Gallatin, Term ? Set off by
lighdting during a brief storm, a
1600,000 (ire swept through the
main section at the Oallatin High
School ? just a few days before
the school was S(hedul*d to aptn.
A recently completed addition,
coating ?187,000, was not destroy
ed but wa? badly damaged by
water.
frfT^ b^ZLOPtD ??'
rlLiTl ( EXP. ROLL 00
Overnight Service
WB8TBKOOK PHOTO
TODD. V. C.
' '
{ NOTICE
It will be necessary for the electric power to be off
in Watauga County on Sunday, September 16, from
1:90 p. m. to 5 p. m., in order to relocate some trans
mission poles for Highway Department on the Lenoir
Blowing Rock highway. The outage will effect all
members in Watauga County and Blowing Rock as
well as Caldwell, Wilkes, Ashe and Alleghany counties.
Should there be rain the work will be postponed until
the following Sunday. A similar outage will be neces
sary Sunday, September 30, in order to complete the
work for the Highway Department.
, ? .? ?
BLUE RIDGE ELECTRIC
MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION
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BUCK MADDUX MOTOR COMPANY
533-5 WEST MAIN STREET
H. GRADY FARTHING, President STANLEY A. HARRIS, Sec. Trees.
WATT H. GRAGG
Home Realty Co.
Reel Estate ? Property Management ? Rentals
Main Floor Rear Watauga Building & Loan Building
TELEPHONE 200 BOONI, NORTH CAROLINA
1 ? $3,000 ? 4-room cabin. Nice lot, fronting highway. Close in.
2 ? $4750 ? Ten acres river bottom meadow land on 421 near city limits.
3 ? >4900 ? Good five room dwelling. Water in house, 4 acres level land, close in.
4 ? Make us an offer ? 90 acre term, 75 acres in grass and crops. All tools.
5 ? Five-room dwelling, 13 acres land, trout stream, 2 miles from Boone. Cheap.
6 ? Would trade a good going restaurant in Boone for stnall farm.
7 ? $4750 for a good house, 3 acres land, apple orchard, on highway, close in.
8 ? 16000 ? Modem 5-room house, 4 acres bottom land ift sight of college.
9 ? IJ0OO ? A home and farm on hard surfaced road near city limits. Come in.
10 ? Vacant lots on Grand Boulevard, 75 feet frontage, nice view. Very Cheap.
11 ? $3500 ? 6 room house. 13 acres land, 2 milk cows, 7-10 tobaeco, tools.
11 ? New 8 room dwelling near college. Very nice. The price is right.
13 ? 3-room dwelling, all out-buildings. Large lot ? $8,500.
14? Two of the best building lots in town ? $3,600.
18 ? JSOO ? Eight beautiful lots well located on paved road.
16 ? $6000 ? New S room dwelling on Queen Street , Heai lights, bath. A bargain.
17 ? Brick dwelling, 7 rooms, close in. 4 acres in residential section. ?
18 ? $1200 ? Near Blowing Rock. 4 room cabin, large lot. on paved road.
19 ? $4750 ? 5 rooms, bath, basement, kitchenette, large lot located close in.
10 ? $3400 ? 4 rooms, 2 large bed rooms, toilet, city water, lights, good lot
21 ? 11 rooqu made into 3 complete apartmenta. Valuable lot near college.
>2 ? $600 ? 6 good vacant lots near college. Located on paved street.
25 ? Three-room rustic cottage, well located, good lot ? $4,000.
24 ? 8-room dwelling, rock front good lot on paved road ? $9,500. ?
15? 7-Roort dwellihg on Queen street. Conveniently located? $7,006.
17 ? New 7 ram brick dwelling, basement lights, water, heat, bath, 100 Ares.
18? 60-jpre grass farm. Obod trout stream ? $3,500.
29 ? $8fW? New framed dwelling, 6 rooms, bsth, 3 bedrooms, large lot, nice.
11? Pineola? 2 story, 8-room dwelling. Close in ? $6,000.
31 ? Blowing Rock ? 16% acres gifcag land, frontage? $1,800.
S7? Minneapolis? 7 -room dwelling. 25 acres, close in? $$,500.
38 ? 8 three-room apartments near collage, all completely furnished. These apart
ments being located near the college, are easily rentid nay season of the year.
Modern and comfortable. A good place to live. Tor farther particulars sea us at
our office. 0
41? Grand B<Mlevsrd ? Brick dwelling. Modern in every respect
WE CONSIDER XT A PRIVILEGE TO SERVE TOU? IT YOU WISH TO SELL OR
BUT REAL ESTATE