Newspapers / Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) / Sept. 10, 1953, edition 1 / Page 1
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I SIXTY-SIXTH YEAR- ? NO. 10. BOONS 1?M POPULATION 1.973 WATAUGA DEMOCRAT An Independent Weekly Newspaper ? Established in the Year 1 888 1 WATAUGA COUNTY IMS POPULATION 11*41 I,? dim agricultural and U Livestock, dairying arid trui of paramount importance L Parkway htvinn county, m Blowing Rock, one _?f the Summer raa orti ol BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1953 12 PAGES? 2 SECTIONS KING STREET BY ROB RIVERS THE CRY OF THE AUCTIONEER A few years ago the Street was J dotted with residences . . . the I old-timers were prone to build I their business places next to their 3 houses, and thus save walking to I and fro for any great distance; < but with the changed tempo of traffic, more and more of the | residential property has given away to the stores and shops, and now only a few families reside in property fronting on King in the main business district . . . Two of these are going soon . . . Greene Inn was auctioned the other day, and while the sale was not confirmed, the house is empty and done as a dwelling . . . The Mrs. Ida Moretz property on the hill across from the Demo crat is to go at auction this Fri day, and before long there won't be one of the old places left in the shopping section . . . Oscar Pitts, who is the auctioneer at the two sales mentioned, says that he has sold land in Boone for nigh thirty years, and recalls that he auctioned the Capt. Lo vill law office corner, up by the public well, pretty nearly three decades ago . . . The land was to have been used for a new home for the defunct Peoples Bank & Trust Co. . . . Later bought by Rev. Mr. Sebastian, the minister constructed the building which now houses Greene Buick Ag ency. O&LtktO nc.nr Uf 3Ulb Incidentally Oscar Pills says he's >old ? bit of lhe old sod in nearly every town o< consequ anca in North Carolina during his long career in tha raal es lata business . . . Formerly head oi the State Prison de partment, Mr. Pitts left the political arena some years ago and returned to his tint love, and we share his belief that land in Boone is a good, safe and sound investment, and that footage in the good spots in growing scarcer and scarcer. BEGAN LONG TIME AGO The sale of land by auction started in Boune a long time ago, and while talking to Mr. Pitts the other day, we were thinking of the first land tale we knew about, when the Southwest Land Co., of Abingdon, Va., held forth here . . . We don't know the year, but there was a deal of excite ment when the big field, extend ing from the present Baptist Church to the Blowing Rock road on the east, and to the cemetery on the south went under the hammer . . . The property of the late E. S. Coffey, the land was all marked off, the sale held, and the gold prize money distributed amongst those who came ... Along about that time John F. Hardin began selling land on the hill in the Oak Street section, marking the second big offering of lots in the vicinity . . . Daniel Boone Park, was another big development, and land was made available by the owners as the college and the town grew, other lot sales were held, and the stac cato voice of the auctioneer, and the blare of the "brass band" be came commonplace. _ nil'VI1 ?PVT /IBATIB Dr. C. K. Moot*, retired druggist. *u listening to on* of hi* friends. and the guy was musing on tha changing times . . . The oldster seemed to think there had been a general slow ing down, and that the young folks were not having as much fun "at we did a few years ago!" . . . Doc Moose allowed at how the people were acting about at usual . . . There were, in hit opinion, about as many folks pausing by the flowing bowL and cavorting around ov er the country at ever, and he thought that the boys and tha girls were in about the tame fettle at of yore. "The thing it" taid Doc. "li's jutt a differ ent crowd doing all these ihjngtl" ODD* AND ENDS Copious rains of the week end bring hope for kte pastures . . . The third drought in as mffiy years to hit Watauga is broken in the dying days of the grow ing season . . . Rain brought in cold tpell which caused house holdert to fir* the furnaces and stoke the stoves, as strings o( coal trucks are seen on the high way*. Blue Ridge F air In Full Swing The annual Blue Ridge Agri- 1 cultural Fair is underway this week, beginning on Wednesday and continuing through Satur- j day, just opposite the new Card- 1 | inal Motel on the Blowing Rock I Road. Royce Perry, president of the fair association, and County Ag ent L. E. Tuckwiller said Mon- j day they are expecting the big gest fair ever held here, with most departments having been enlarged and many premiums in- 1 creased. Additions to the program in I elude a dog show, which will be limited to a fox hunters' bench show, and horse racing Friday afternoon after the school events. The program is scheduled as follows: Wednesday, entering 1 exhibits and midway attractions; Thursday, Entering livestock, ' judging all exhibits except dairy cattle and poultry; Friday, judg ing dairy cattle and poultry, and field day (school children admit ted free Friday); Saturday, baby show, horse pulling contest, horse and pony races, midway attrac tions. , Following is a list of the vari ous departments and names of superintendents : Garden and field crops ? Ned Glenn, Milton Moretz, Zeb Farth ing, and Mrs. L. A. Henson, Mrs. Brad Beach. Farm and garden display ? Johnnie Greene, Billy Cook and ( J. B. Robinson. Fruits ? Albert Watson, J. C. Christenbury, and Dennis V. Ens ley. Canning ? Mrs. Raymond Jones, Mrs. Dean Reese, Mrs. Emery Mitchell, Mrs. Ray Wilson, Mrs. Mona Norris, Mrs. Stuart Norris. Pantry and dairy ? Mrs. George P. Edmisten, Mrs. Charlie Clay, Mrs. Clint Miller, Mrs. Charles Perry, Mrs. Ralph Wilson, Mrs. Ivan Farthing. Flower show ? Mrs. R. H. Har mon, Mrs. Lee Reynolds, Mrs. Ruby Baird. Mis. O. K. Richard son, Mrs. Jim Winkler. Veteran farmer department ? Hayes Wellborn, Edward Love. Beef Cattle ? Henry Taylor, Lynn Norris, Donley Hagaman, R. G. Shipley. v Sheep ? Howard Edmisten, J. M. Norris, Lewis Norris, Edward Love. Swine ? Ralph Wilson, Bill Kri der, Fred McGuire. ? Dairy Cattle ? Bill Farthing, Kenneth Patterson, Edgar Edmis ten, Odus Wilson. Horses ? Don Henson, George Wilson, Grady Perry, Cecil Mil ler. Poultry ? Mrs. Nalph Wilson, Thomas L. Wilson, Dallas Wilaon. 4-H, F.F.A. and F.H.A.? Kath leen Coston, R. L. Tait, Mrs. Council Henson, R. G. Shipley, Mrs. Howard Carlson, Mrs. Gard ner Matheson, Mrs. David Farth ing. Home Demonstration booths ? Mrs. A. E. Moretz, Mrs. Hattie Lewis, Mrs. Stanford Storie, Mrs. B. A. Hodges. Handicrafts ? Mrs. Stewart Barnes, Mrs. Alonzo Isaacs, Mrs. J. H. Taylor, Miss Elizabeth (Continued on page three) REA Administrator To Attend Meeting Mr. A. B. Hurt, President and C. E. Viverette, General Manager j of Blue Ridge Electric Member- ! ship Corporation announced to- 1 day that the Honorable Archer j Nelsen, Administrator of the Rural Electrification Administra tion, Washington, D. C. had ac cepted an invitation to speak at the annual membership meeting of th? Cooperative which will be held in Lenoir on Saturday, September 12th. Mr. Nelson was Lt. Governor of Minnesota prior to his appointment to head the R. E. A. in April of this year. He is a farmer by profession, having lived on his 200 acre farm near Hutchinson, Minnesota for the past 30 years. He has always taken a deep interest in farm problems and has been active in many farmer Cooperative organ zations including his own McLead Electric Cooperative which he helped to organize in 1935. Mr. Viverette pointed out that contrary 'to the thinking of many, the Blue Ridge Electric Member ship Corporation is not a part of the R. E. A., only a borrower from that Federal Agency. The Blue Ridge Electric Membership Cor poration i? a local Cooperative own^d by its 13,802 members. Mr. Hurt stated that a full and very interesting program is 'plan ned for the all-day meeting in Lenoir Saturday. The program will begin at 10 o'clock at the City Park or in the High School Auditorium in ca*e of rain. The \ morning program will feature ' entertainment by Arthur Smith and the Cracker-Jacks and a TV Talent Hunt The business ses- J sion of the meeting will be held in the afternoon starting at 1:30. In addition to the election of fif teen directors to serve for the next year the members will be ARCHER NELSEN requested to vote on a resolution permitting the Cooperative to raise its debt limit from 10 mil lion dollars to 50 million dollars. Mr. Hurt pointed out that this action was most desirable in or der to enable the Cooperative to continue its expansion program in the eight counties where the Cooperative operates. These counties are Caldwell, Alexander, Avery, Watauga, Ashe, Allegh any, Wilkes and Surry. Viverette stated that approxi mately four thousand members including their families were ex pected to attend their annual meeting this year. Dial Telephones Being Installed; Cutover In Feb. In anticipation of Boone's com ing dial conversion, new dial tel ephones are being installed in residences and business offices throughout the city. H. M. Inabinet, group manager of the telephone company, said that the new dial instruments will be installed in all homes and bus iness offices well in advance of the actual conversion. However, the present manual telephone should continue to be used until the dial system is placed in serv ice. He stated that until the con version is completed, any mani pulation of the dial set might serve to impair the service. Telephone workmen from out of town are helping with (he in stallation, and the cutover is scheduled for February 1954. Tilden Miller, 75, Dies Thursday Mr. Tilden Ephriam Miller, ago' 75, Boone, Route 1, died Thursday, September 3, at his home in the Meadow Creek sec tion. Funeral services were held Saturday at Laurel Springs Bap tist Church, conducted by the Rev. Victor Trivette and the Rev. Ronda Earp. Interment was in Laurel Spring cemetery. Survivors include the widow, Mrs. Ada Miller, four sons. Clay, Tom and Paul, all of Baltimore, Md., and Frank of Boone; four daughters, Mrs. Norma Gentry of West Jefferson, Mrs. James Grigg of Clarkville, Ga? Mrs. Fred Howell of Detroit, Mich., Mrs. David Norris of Boone; four brothers, Jim and Charlie of Deep Gap, Harrison of Boone, and Wayne of West Jefferson. Mr. L. D. Tester Taken By Death * Mr. Lorenzo Dow Tester, age 70, of Blowing Rock died in the Blowing Rock Hospital Monday after an illness of about three weeks. Funeral services were to be held Wednesday (Sept. 9) in the Rumple Memorial Presbyter ian Church in Blowing Rock. Services were to be conducted by G. Sexton Buchanan and Dr. L. T. Newland, with interment in the Blowing Rock cemetery. Mr. Tester is survived by his widow, Mrs. Martha Tester, of Blowing Rock, two sons, William W? of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and Clyde C? of St. Petersburg, Fla.; five daughters, Mrs. Omer Coffey, and Miss Gladys Tester of Blow ing Rock, Mrs. Orpha Pitts of Boone, Mrs. Charles Greene of Elizabethton. Tcnn., Mrs. Conrad Presnell of Colonel Beach, Va., two brothers, Calt and Ben of Johnson City, Tenn., 20 grandchil dren and 20 great grandchildren. Correction In the Democrat last week, it was stated that the Highway Commission was entertained at a picnic sponsored by the Bonne Chamber of Commerce. A6 a mat ter of fact the picnic was spon sored jointly by the Boone and Blowing Rock Charabers of Com merce. The error was unintentional and is .regretted by Boone Chamber j of Commerce officials and the Democrat. Washington eases its travel curb on Soviet diplomats. HANDCRAFTS SCHEDULE? Watauga HandrrafU Center. pictured above, hat announced it* fall tched ule of clauea in hand wt-avillg ai follows: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurwiay and Saturday, 9 a. m. lo 4 30 p m. A cordial invitation u iuued by Mim Elizabeth Lord, uutructte**. lor citucni to participate. Horn Ends Second Season Monday; Plays To 43,384 BACK iO SCHOOL ? Typical of more than tour thousand students who entered school in Watauga County last week are the above students who are shown leaving the school bus (or a day's training at Boone Demonstration School. The students are aided in alighting from the bus by Principal John W. Howell, left, and Mr. Carl Day, not clearly shown. With mixed emotion, as shown in the picture, this i scene was probably repeated in the thirteen schools of the county. ? (Staff photo.) Potato Tour Of Watauga Made; T rip May Become Annual Affair A potato tour was made by a large group of farmers and agri cultural workers of Watauga County on Wednesday, Septem ber 2. The tour was sponsored by Mr. R. L. Tait and the Vet eran Farm?rs Class of Appala chian High School. It was for the | purpose of helping farmers to grow more and better potatoes on I each acre planted. Eight different farms were visited and an estimate of the amount of potatoes per acre was made in each field. This estimate was derived by digging and Last Rites Arc Held For N. B. Smithey r*. ij. onmnuy, u, uin- ui North Carolina's most successful merchants, died in bed at his hotel in Wilkesboro early Thurs day morning. He was found dead at six a. m. Thursday morning. Coroner I. M. Myers and a physician attributed death to a stroke of apoplexy and j said death apparently occured between midnight and two a. m. j Mr. Smithey had been in ap parently normal health. Born in a log cabin near Wil kesboro August 11, 1880, Mr. | Smithey was a lifelong resident | of Wilkesboro. His parents were Isaacs and Sarah McLean Smith ey. , ' Agent REA Phone Division To Meet With C.C. Officials A representative of the tele- 1 phone division of the Rural Elec trification Association (REA) will be in Boone this week to confer with Chamber of Commerce of- 1 ficials, according to an announce ment by President H W. Wilcox,' at the regular monthly meeting of the Chamber held Tuesday at Kirk's Bar-B-Q. | All indications point to, the fact that something will be done about the rural telephone sltua tion in the county in the very near future, and definite com mitment* are expected to be ob tained from the representative this week, President Wilcox said. J Blowing Roek Writer Is 111 The Democrat regreis that due to illness Mrs. Lucille Lett is presently unable to solicit and prepare news from Blowing Rock. However, if those who know of occurrenccs in yie resort town would Jot down the news and hand to Mrs. Lett by Sunday af ternoon, it will be forwarded t b us. Mrs. L^tt, who has woi'ked so faithfully and competently in supplying the news from the fbtck, would appreciate this courtesy as would the publisher of the Democrat. \ m cmiy nit: ne w'Kdii u mer chandising career which grew in to a chain of 17 stores in north western North Carolina, Tennes see and Virginia. His first business experience was with hi* father in meat and grocery merchandising in Wilkes boro and North Wilkesboro. In 1899 he opened a store in Wilkes boro and in 1906 purchased the hotel in Wilkesboro, which is now the Smithey Hotel and which he and Mrs. Smithey have operated for 47 years. During the 20's Mr. Smithey purchased the Goodwill Depart ment Store in North Wilkesboro, which was to became the head quarters for his chain of depart ment and grocery stores and for the North Carolina Auction com pany, wholesale business which he owned. The Smithey stores now in clude (our in North Wilkesboro, one in Wilkesboro and stores in Taylorsville, Statcsville, Newton, Elkin, Sparta, West Jefferson, Boone, Blowing Rock, Newland, and Lenoir in North Carolina, Mountain City, Tenn., and Dam ascus, Va. As in business endeavor, Mr. Smithey's experiences in public 'life were marked with brilliant success. During the early part of his career he was a member of the town board of Wilkpsboro, where in 1911 he received every vote cast in the election. For b number of terms, which included the depression years, Mr. Smithey was chairman of the Wilkes county board of commis sioners and devoted much of his time to managing the county's finances through that difficult period. Later he was chairman of the (Continued on page eight) Buys Shoe Shop For Medical Office . Dr. Len Hagaman has pur chased thu Dan it I Boone Shoe Shop builcnng from Prof. Chap pell Wilson, and the structure is to be remodeled to provide space for medical offices for the phy sician. The sho? shop is to move into an adjacent building, it is stated by Jerry Coe, local real tor, through whom the sale was consummated. weighing five 10-ft. strips in each acre. Then by measuring the row width, the yield of each acre was determined. The average yield on the eight farms visited was 535 bushels per acre. The highest yield of the day was found at Mr. Roy Hartley's of Flat Top cop'imunlty. His yie.ld was 683 bushels per acre. Mr. Hartley planted Kennebec pota-i toes 8 inches in the row with the rows 32 inches apart. He used 2,500 pounds of 8-8-6 fertilizer per acre and sidedressed the po tatoes with 100 pounds of am monium nitrate. He controlled the insects and blight by use of a 5% DDT and 7% copper dust. The second highest yield was at the farm of Mr. Grady and Al fred McNeil of Rich Mountain community. This yield was 648 bushels of Kennebec potatoes per acre. The third highest was at the farm of Mr. R. J. Cook of Bam boo community. His potatoes were also Kennebec yielding 560 bushels per acre. The other farms visited and their yields per acre are as fol lows: Marvin Dotson, 555 bushels; John and Avery Jackson, 505 bushels; Ned VanDyke, 497 bushels; Bub Fox, 353 bushels, and M. W. Greene, 372 busshels. Mr. Tait explained that these fields were not planted for any kind of contest and it is felt that they represent a great improve ment in the production of pota toes in Watauga county. , The interest was very high on the tour and some farmers sug gested that it be made an an nual tour. Three Boone Girls Enter Mass. School | Miss Connie Casey, Miss Shir | ley Sherrill, and Miss Ala Hod j gos, all of Boone, left Sunday, I September 6, to enter the New j England School of Theology in ; Brookline, Mass. All arc graduates of Appala chian High School, class of 1B53, 1 and intend to enter training for full time Christian servicc. Miss Casey is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Morris Casey, Miss Sherrill is the adopted daughter of Miss Stella Sherrill, and Miss Hodges is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. 11. Hodges of Boone Route 3. The three girls have been ac tive in church work, and have sung together in Advent Christ ian churchcs as the Herald Airs Trio. During the tobacco marketing year just ended the United King dom imported about 110.000.000 pounds of U United States flue cured tobacco; purchases for the 1953 crop are expected to be slightly leaa. Playgoers From 38 States Are Seen At Theatre The popular historical drama, "Horn in the West," c!osed its second successful season at the Daniel Boone Theatre here Mon | day night before a chilled audi ence of some 650 persons. ' The newest of the outdoor dramas attracted 43,384 play goers from some 38 states in its 62 performances this season, as compared with Ifist year's at tendance of 53,500. The attend ance drop was not viewed by the producers as a sign of declining popularity. The polio epidemic in neighboring counties, they be lieve, kept many people away. Attendance gained steadily dur ing August and reached its peak when an audience numbering 2, 086 saw the drama Saturday night, August 29. The final performance was highlighted by introduction of the cast and other theatre personnel by author Kermit Hunter. He also expressed appreciation to the cast and workers on behalf of the Southern Appalachian Historical Association. "The outdoor drama is a very excellent test of the moral and spiritual health of our people,'* Mr. Hunter said. "So long as we cherish a deep respect for the American traditions and ideals which these plays represent, we will remain true to the ideals. A nation which believes in itself will be strong." Most of the non-resident play ers who take part in the drama were preparing to leave Boone on Wednesday. Department heads and the technical crews will re main here several days to com plete the enormous task of clos ing the theatre and preparing sets, costumes, properties and lighting equipment for winter storage. Although North Carolinians fill many of the roles in the play, "Horn in the West" personnel of the past summer will be located from New England to California and even in foreign countries I during the coming winter. Two of the vocalists, Emogenc Gunter and William Rutherford, have been granted scholarships to study in Europe, Miss Gunter in Bonn, Germany, and Mr. Ruther ford in Florence, Italy. 1954 Plans Drawn | Plans for the 1954 run of the ' play arc now being drawn up by { the Southern Appalachian l(is , torical Association, Dr. I. G. Greer, president, and Dr. D. J. | Whitener, executive vice-presi I dent, recently appointed commit I tecs from the board of directors j to study the various phases of 1 production and make recommen dations for the coming year. Committee chairmen include Clyde R. Greene, finance; W. R. Winkler, theatre maintenance; Russell D. Hodges, promotion; R. E. Agle, production; and Mrs. B. W. Stallings, historical associa tion. All are Boone residents who have been prominently identifi ed with the association since it was organized late in 1951. The play will run from June 25 through September 6 in 1954. The association will hold its annual meeting on October 12. The offices of "Horn in the West" will be kept open at the usual hours this week and next ! week, and William M. Hardy, I whose contract as general mana ger was recently renewed for a two year period, will be here during that time. Mrs. Miriam Rabb, publicity director, will leave Boone Friday to return to her position with the ! State News Bureau in Raleigh. The cost of living rose to a rec ord high in mid-July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reported ,th?t it* revised consumer pricc index stood at 114.7 in mid- July, based on the average prices for the years 1M7 49 at 100. This was the fifth straight month that consumer prices had shown an increase, which has amounted to 1.1 points tince February.
Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.)
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Sept. 10, 1953, edition 1
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