VOLUME LXXV1 ? NO. 17 ft TAUGA DEMOCRAT WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, IMS 4 Section C PRICE TEN CENTS Democrat Writer Tells Of War Waged By Sheriff On Liquor By CLASS COX Some of the activitiea of Wa tauga County Sheriff Dallas Cheek and his deputiei seem to go beyond the call of duty, even for law-enforcement off icers. I refer to their all-out, no-holds-barred war against "moonshiners' 'and bootleggers. I got my first inkling of how difficult this phase of their work is when Deputy Smith Brown phoned me last Friday. "We're going after a whiskey still we discovered the other day," he told me. "A couple of Alcohol Tax Unit agents are going along, and we thought you might like to go, too, to get a picture of the still before we blow K up." To get to the still, we went about four miles out of Boone on the Blowing Rock Road, turn ed left on the Parkway, and then turned left twice more on tortuous dirt roads. Then fol lowed four miles of the great est monstrosity that ever passed for a road. Sampson Road is about seven feet wide, with road banks loom ing up on both sides tyat invite collision. Branches from these banks scrape the sides of ve hicles. The road is strewn with rocks and matted with fallen leaves, and the grades are un believably steep. A half-dozen times you are forced to cross the meanderings of a single stream, without benefit of ? bridge. Driving st breakneck pace, we avnraged about five miles an hour on Sampson Koad. But finally the ATU car ahead stop ped and the driver indicated that we had reached our desti nation. Well, almost. The still was accessible only by wading up stream through the woods for another quarter of a mile. An ATU agent soon reported via walkie-talkie that no one was around the still at that time, but that bran had been strewn around indi cate to the operators Whether anyone had been there during their absence. Working witp extreme caution, the investigat or discovered also that the three mash boxee had just been filled with about 790 gallons of mash, but that it would not be ready to run until about Monday morning, depending on the weather. "Do you want to come back Monday morning and try to catch the operator?" ATU agent Jim Saunders asked Sheriff Cheek. "It's up to you." Cheek had a difficult deci sion. If he decided to liquidate the itill, then and there, the moonshiners would be free to set up other stills and continue in their unlawful acts. On the other hand, the still might be gone by Maaday, since hunting season would open Tuesday and hunters might stumble onto it And if the lawmen arrived too late Monday morning to estab lish their waiting positions be fore the lawbreakers themselves arrived, they could be walking Into a dangerous trap. "I'm all for capturing some of the men if we can," Cheek said. "Let's meet in front of my off ice at four o'clock Monday morning." So I didn't get my picture. Furthermore, I would now have to get np at three a. m. Mon day, and go through the whole mess again, having to lie be hind a laurel bush somewhere for hours with temperatures ap proaching the freeiing point, if I wanted a picture at all. And I began to have nightmares about being chased by little bearded men with squirrel ri fles. I decided to oversleep Mod day. But Sheriff Cheek and his hard-working cohorts didn't ov ersleep. "Deputies Brown and Har mon, ATU agents Saunders and Sam Cabe, and myself left Boone at 3:58 a. m." Cheek told me later, "reaching the still at S o'clock. I stationed myself at a point slightly below the still, and Saunders and the deputies took positions up the hill, where anybody that might see me would have to run. Cabe hid where he could watch the road. . "At 8 JO, a subject started carrying gallon jugs up the stream? forty caaea of them. Ha also brought In three new mash tens, apparently with no idea of ceasing operations during hunting season, and several bags of coal to fire the still with. "We had no idea how many nien were helping him unload the stuff, but it soon became apparent that we weren't go ing to catch all of them in there together. I stepped out of hiding and started walking toward the one nun. I was al moat close enough to grab him wnen he turned around and aaw me, let out a yell, and ran up the hill right into the arms of the depute "After they caught him. he 1 out three warning yella to let the others know what had happened." Things happened pretty fast after that. Saunders returned to the road just in time to see three other men drive off in a blue Chevrolet pickup. Sheriff J w *Bd hU men Uter aight thr?? men on foot; but without the truck in their pos sesion there wu no basis for m*king an arerst. Meantime, Cabe was busy too. Stopping a black Ford pickup fi2 "kin* questions of the driver, when the man sud denly slammed the truck into reverse and went tearing up the narrow road backwards, careen ing from roadbank to road bank with great noise and dislodging dirt and rocks from the Somewhere, he located a place to turn around and then con tinued madly up the hill. Cabe returned to his car and pursued the truck, but it had disappeared by the time he reached the Parkway. . ..P1? captured man was iden tified as Rodney A. Penley, 32 of Patterson, N. C. He was t?ken to North Wilkesboro and Pueod under bond for his ap pearance in Federal Court next M|y. It took 11 sticks of dynamite to demolish the 80-gallon still Cheek stated, as well as some diligent work with an axe to break all the jugs. But at least it Warmed the chilled officers to a bearable point. "That was the most enjoyable part of the j job," Cheek said. But a more enjoyable activity remained. It seems that the op erators of the still had also car ried in some groceries to sus Uln them U?roufh the day. The lawmen spread out the feast and enjoyed a "long-delayed break fast. The breakfast, all will agree, was well deserved by the dili gent Cheek and his staff. I missed It. While the sher >f"? department and the ATU agents were turning in half a day's hard work, I was sleep ing. And I never did get that pic ture. Sheriffs Deputy Smith Brown took thli photograph of a part of the (till which *u captured last Monday by Sheriff Dallas Cheek, Deputy Ed Harmon, and ATU men Jim Saunders and Sam Cabe. Halloween Carnival At Blowing Rock . The annual Halloween Car nival will be held ( at the Blow ins Rock School Saturday even ing October 88," at 8 o'clock. Door prizes will be given, I and sandwiches will be avail able at the food booth. The public is invited. Merchants and other business men of Boone, whose contribu tions are ' appreciated, are a* follows: > McClung's Five and Ten, Swofforffs, Modern Appliance Co., Boone Drug Co., Southern Agricultural Insecticides, Bur gee Furniture Store, Smithey*s, Watauga Democrat, Western Auto, Winkler U o t o r Co., Belk's, Caudill's, Walker Jew elry, Parkway Co., Newton's, Boone Loan & Gun Shop, Wa tauga Insurance Agency, Wa S witcli To @) HeatingOil * Economical ? claan burning * We d?liv?r automatically R. D. Hodges, Jr. Agent HUMBLE OIL A REFINING COMPANY Boon, N. C. Phone AM 4-SStl or AM 44251 Only thia could come between Chevrolet mud Chevy II. The Chevdle is a highly polished or on ? trim 115 inch wheelbaae. Remarkably agile and aasy to handle and park. But it'* roomy inside, with m tkf of the comforts /wu u eAjrtxi in ? Diner cv. Its ride comes from the people wMNPiraioped the Jet-?nooth kind. It* four enginee?VS or 6 ?carry that irrepressible Chevrolet qririt ?D N^w ChtmlU Mmlibu Sport Coupe (foreground) with M*Ubu Super Sport CommtiMt the way up to 220 hp*. Ita lively, graceful styling And Body by Iisher craftsmanahip make its modest pnoe all the more remarkable. And it cobm hi three series and eleven models? wagons, sedans, sport coupes, convertibles. Want to cheek further? Consider thto your Chevrolet dttler's. tauga Savings & Loan Associa tion, Boone Supply Co., Greene Furniture Store, Church's, Cof fey's Building Supply, Builders Super Market, Norris Furni ture Hart, Varsity Shop, Dixie Music Shop, Carolina Phar macy, Carolina Business Mach ines, S tailings Jewelry, Farm ers Hardware, Watauga FCX, Flowers Photo Shop, Federal Land Bank, Trallway Cleaners, Hountain Oil Co., Crest Store, Hunt's Dept. Store, Jay Grocery & Service Station, Greene Bros. Body Shop. State Board Of Higher Education Makes Biennial Visit To ASTC The State Board of Higher RrtuMrttai Friday gave final ap proval to the establishment of a two-year college center at Sey mour - Johnson Air Force Base near Gokfeboro. It also aproved construction of self - liquidating projacts at Win ston- Salem State Callage and Charlotte College which had been authorised by the 1963 General Assembly. The AF base center will be established by East Cwolina Col lege at Greenville, N. C. The board had fiven the proposal tentative approval at its meeting Boone Man Wins Fishing Award Myrtle Beach, S. C. ? H. E. Poindexter of Boone won an award in the September compe tition of the Grand Strand Fish ing Rodeo in Myrtle Beach and the 80-Mile Grand Strand of South Carolina, according to Walter Hosier, rodeo chairman. Poindexter entered a first place, 7-pound, 4-ounce Bonito offshore. The $10,000 fishing rodeo of fers ten dollar fish - shaped checks as first place awards each month. Forty-four fish are eligible in three divisions ? pier, surf small boat, and deep sea. Spaak urges new moves to bolster peace. Uot December. After that the project was appraised by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. The board's actions were among those taken during the board's biennial visit to Appa lachian State Teachers College at Boone. The business session also constituted the board's regular meeting for October. The two years of work at Sey mour Johnson will be available to either civilian or military person nel. Winston-Salem will build a dor mitory tor 215 men, and Char lotte an addition to the Student Union building. Winston - Salem and FlayetteviUe State Colleges have before the board requests for granting both the B. A and & S. degrees (Winston -Salem State gives on the B. S. now.) The board said yesterday that a team of educators will be on the campus of Winston - Salem State Collage on November 3 and 4 for evaluations which are to be made before the request can re ceive final action. Similar visits are to be paid to Fayetteville State College later. It was announced that the board has reactivated its Ad visory Committee on Nursing. Among those attending the conference at Appalachian were Dr. Oliver Oarmfchael of Ashe vttto, chairman of the board; William A. Dees, Jr., of Golds boco, vice chairman; Mrs. Har YOUR LAUNDRY EQUIPMENT CAN'T DANCE WHEN YOUR HOT WATER SUPPLY IS LAME I Don't . wait hour* for aB.ou|-djtejl. water heater to "catch up" ? Let us Install a modern fast recovery unit that lets you get maximum efficiency, from your laundry equipment. Quick Recovery Automatic ELECTRIC Water Heater from $44.95 Glass Lined ? 10-Year Warranty Available in Round & Table Top Models Does Your Laundry Room Floor Say "Rout Step" . . . While Your Equipment Says "Let's waitz?" Armstrong INLAID i? B. Stein o f Fayetteville, sec retary; Joseph W. Grier, Jr., a f Charlotte and Ailen H Gwyn, Jr., of Reidsville, members; Dr. 'Howard it Boozer, assistant board director; and Mrs. Elea nor S. Parker, educational re search analyst, both of Raleigh. Representatives from other institutions included Dr. C. Rob ert Benson, president of Gaston Technical Institute; Miss Bonnie E. Cone, president of Charlotte College; Charles Milner, director of extension, 'University of North Carolina; Ed Ruggles, director of extension. North Carolina State of the University of North Caro lina at Raleigh; Dr. David Middleton, director of extension. East Carolina College; Dr. Eng Ifch Jones, president of Pem broke State College; 'Dr. George T. Kyle, dean of North Carolina College at Duiham; Dr. L^wis Dowdy of A4T College, Greens boro; Dr. WUHam Randall, (resi dent of Wilmington College; Frank Brown of Western Caro lina College; and Dr. W. 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