FOR BEST RESULTS
advertisers invariably use the col
umns of the Democrat With its full
paid circulation, intensely covering
the local shopping area, it is the
host advertising medium available.
An Independent Weekly Newspaper . . . Seventy-Eighth Year of Continuous Publication
:l ■
■ $Z'
gwiBwaw...
li 57 31
Jan. 25 28
Jan. 26 16
Jan. 27 22
Jan. 28 29
Jan. 29 23
Jan. 30 18
Jan. 31 17
17
23
.08
22 2%
-5 2%
10
11 fr.
-18 6 .48
-10
57 31
63 30
49 22
43 19
38 28
30 20
10 CENTS PER COPT
U PAGES—3 SECTIONS
AT FIRST, IT WAS A PRETTY SNOW, and
people moved back and forth along Boone’s
street, gathering up supplies in the midst of
a storm that came late and is staying long. .
Engineer Who Mapped
Parkway "Bieis Sunday
R. Getty Browning Sr., form
er chief locating engineer foi
the State Highway Commission
who mapped the Blue Ridge
Parkway, died early Sunday at
Blowing Rock. He was 82.
ED S. WILLIAMS
Ed Williams
Dies Sunday;
RitesTuesday
Ed S. Williams, 78, well
known resident of the Mabel
community, and long-time lead
er in the Democratic party, died
suddenly at his home Sunday
of what was believed to have
been a heart attack.
Mr. Williams was bom in
Beaver Dam township to Jacob
B. and Sarah Jane Richardson
Williams. He had been engaged
(Continued on page eight)
Browning came to North Car
olina as a district engineer in
1922 after working for the Mary
land State Roads Commission.
He became the chief locating
engineer in 1925.
As chief locating engineer,
Browning was responsible for
the routes which many North
Carolina highways follow. He
literally hiked over hundreds of
miles throughout the state seek
ing the best routes.
Browning was the chief archi
tect of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
He persuaded then Secretary
Say Mail Boxes
Should Be Put
In Handy Place
Boone Postmaster Ralph Be
shears urges Wataiigans to
make their homes and mail
boxes more accessible to RFD
carriers and town carriers dur
ing prevailing weather.
Patrons are urged to clear
off their steps and walks in
town end clean off mail boxes
on the rural routes.
Beshears says carriers are
delivering every piece of mail
that they can. All the star
routes are running, he said,
and mail is coming here re
gularly from other post offices.
WBTV To Show
Ski Lodge Filins
Films of Blowing Rock Ski
Lodge will be featured on
WBTV - Channel 3 from Char
lotte at 11 pjn. on Thursday,
Feb. 3.
2,269 Auto Tags
Sold At C. Of C.
The Auto License Bureau of
the Boone Chamber of Com
merce reports 477 auto, 158 pri
vate truck, 15 farm truck, 16
trailer and one motorcycle tags
sold last week. Total: 662.
Sales for the year are 2,269
auto, 773 private truck, 85 farm
truck, 88 trailer and five mot
orcycle tags.
- The Chamber reports It is re
ceiving many calls, letters and
personal Inquiries about , skiing,
lodging, etc.
Many persons are inquiring
about living facilities during
the summer months, and letters
are coming In from college stu
dents seeking summer employ
ment in resorts and business
of the Interior Harold Ickes to
route the scenic parkway
through North Carolina instead
of cutting through a corner of
the state and then following a
route through Tennessee.
A native of Garrett County,
Browning joined the Maryland
State Road Commission as a
youth.
He was attracted to North
Carolina by the big highway
construction program of Gov.
Cameron Morrison.
Browning is survived by his
widow, Bertia Cooper Browning,
three sons, R. Getty Browning
Jr. of Wheaton, Md., Charles R.
and Robert Browning, both of
Raleigh, and a daughter, Mrs.
Charles Davant of Blowing
Rock.
A requiem mass was held at
Our Lady of Lourdes in Raleigh
Tuesday at 11 a. m., with fun
eral services at Montlawn Cem
etery. A rosary service was
said at 8 p. m. Monday at Mit
chell’s Funeral Home.
Moct tolka jut gritted their teeth while the itorm covered up Buy of their Uvortte thlnn ettomohileo irrhidrl
Biting Gales Prevail
-18 Degree Temp
rvv:'
• '•/ x • * ’■
V
Accompanies Last
Heart
Effort
Begins
The 1966 Heart Fund Cam
paign will open here and
throughout North Carolina on
Tuesday, February 1, and will
continue through February 28,
it was stated today by Mrs.
Lura Greene, Watauga County
Heart Fund Chairman.
The officers of this local di
vision of the Heart Association
met last Monday to outline
work for the month’s campaign
under the theme “Hope For
Hearts”. Although this is the
shortest month of the year, it
will be the busiest of the year
for those volunteers who have
taken up this as their cause. It
is hoped that every person in
Watauga County will have a
chance to help in the fight
against heart diseases during
the month of February.
“Great advances have been
made against the heart ana
blood vessel diseases in the
•years -since the Heart Associa
tion became a voluntary or
ganization in 1948,” the chair
man declared. “The public’s at
titude of pessimism about
heart disease has been revers
ed. Today we know that some
forms of the heart and blood
vessel diseases can be prevent
ed, some cured and almost all
helped with proper treatment
after early d i a g n o s i s,” she
pointed out.
“Most heart attack victims re
cover from initial attacks, and
of those who do, three out of
four go back to work. High
blood pressure, which can
cause heart, brain, and kidney
damage, now can be controlled
in most instances. Stroke is no
longer hopeless, and thousands
of victims are now being re
habilitated and returned to ac
tive lives. Most cases of rheu
matic fever can be prevented.
In the past decade, remarkable
progress has been made in cor
recting congenital heart defects
through surgery,” she said.
Despite this progress, the
campaign chairman added, the
(Continued on page eight)
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT WORKING TO OPEN SECONDARY Rb/fflr"
State Highway Forces
Move Snow Round Clock
Additional equipment has
been moved into Boone from
Eastern areas of North Carolina
to assist the State Highway De
partment in opening secondary
roads in Watauga County.
District Engineer Tom Wink
ler said Tuesday that all pri
mary roads were open except
Highway 194 to West Jefferson,
and that equipment had been
dispatched to break the road
open.
Forty-four units are at work
on secondary roads here.
The Snow-Go, a machine
which blows snow out of the
road, rather than scraping it,
has been a tremendous asset
in the work, Winkler said. It
was purchased in the winter of
I 1960, and can plow right
through drifts of eight to ten
feet, as well as handle light
snow work.
Barring the prospect of new
snow, Winkler said all roads
should be open by Wednesday
(today).
Thirty-five to 40 men from
the maintenance crew, the
road oil crew and the construc
tion department of the local
highway office are working in
shifts 24 hours a day to open
up secondary roads. Addition
ally, crews from Eastern N. C.
Highway Departments are in
the mountains, pitching in to
clean up the accumulated
snow.
Winkler said Highway Patrol
men are proving to be invalu
able in the work—calling in re
(Continued on page eight)
Mrs. Isaacs
Taken By Death
Mrs. Nancy Elizabeth Isaacs,
90, of Zionville, wife of John
H. Isaacs, died Friday morning
at her home.
She was born in Watauga
County to William H. and Mar
tha Isaacs Greer.
Surviving are her husband;
two sons, Alonzo and Don
Isaacs of Zionville; four daugh
ters, Mrs. John Davis and Mrs.
Max Hagaman, both of Boone;
Mrs. James Grindstaff of Butler,
Tenn., and Mrs. Paul Roark of
Johnson City, Tenn.; three
brothers, Cicero and Filmore
Greer of Zionville and John
Greer of Boone; a sister, Mrs.
Alfred Thomas of Zionville;
15 grandchildren, 28 great
grandchildren; and four great,
great grandchildren.
The funeral was at 2 o’clock
Sunday at Union Baptist
Church. Burial was in the
church cemetery.
Motorists Are Blamed
In Slow Snow Removal
Many of the motorists who
were upset about city streets
not being cleared off may have
played a role in the holdup, ac
:ording to Chief Hubert Tho
mas.
Town crews went to work as
lie snow began accumulating
Saturday afternoon.
Thomas said at least 90 per
*nt of the man hours spent on
lie job were devoted to towing
ars out of roads, especially in
esidential areas.
Several cars were deserted
Lowntown also and many of
hem had to be towed off to
oake way for the snow plows.
Thomas said the city k not
responsible for cars that were
towed, since they were obstruct
tag city work.
As of press time Tuesday,
drifts were being reported an ,
Grand Boulevard, and many
other streets. Thomas then said
that city workers should have
all streets open very shortly
unless another heavy snow bn
comes this week.
Motorists are urged to keep
their cars out of the streets un
til the work is finished, and al
so in the event of another
storm. Thomas said the city has
its two trucks and a grader,
plus a grader and loader from
Brown Brothers at work round
Schools Yet
Gosed, Drift
Problem Posed
BY RACHEL RIVERS
At first it was a nice snow,
the kind thait falls so gently
that it piles up on telephone
lines, the kind that’s good for
making snowballs or sleighing
down a sloping hill.
The ski lodges were having
a banner business and as the
Jong-awaited snow began eas
ing into the mountains, people
began loading up with grocer
ies and trying to remember
how much antifreeze was in
the car.
County schools had been out
for several days, and college
students were beginning to
wish their classes were cancell
ed.
It was Saturday, Jan. 29—
the day the temperature got up
to 18 degrees.
Snow Like Sand
Just after dark, the great
North Wind broke loose in the
Blowing Rock area and moved
methodically into Boone. Loose
snow carried by gale winds was
like thick sand, *nd a drift be
came two feet deep in less than
-m hour.
Night sluing at Blowing Rock
Ski Lodge was called off. Even
professionals were barred from
the stormy slopes. A family
was making arrangements to
spend the night in the lobby of
the Lodge. There were no ac
commodations left, and the
canvass-top camper they had
brought was not likely to last
out the storm.
Sunday dawned cold. U. S.
Weather Observer Joe C. Min
or noted a reading of 12 de
grees below zero at 8 a. m.
Sometime during the day, the
mercury dipped six more de
grees to 18 below.
Town of Boone road crews
were working feverishly to
keep the streets clear, al
though impassable drifts were
building up within a few hours.
There was the Faculty Street
drift, and the Water Street
drift, and a hundred others in
residential areas in Boone and
Blowing Rock.
Nearly all families residing
on secondary roads were snow
ed in, and although state mach
inery was constantly at work on
primary roads, wind and snow
were unfriendly conspirators.
Sunday afternoon, a small
boy, who had struck out into
the storm, finally hailed a car
and climbed in out of the cold
—with tears on his frosty
cheeks—for a ride home. He
didn't want to talk about the
weather, he didn’t want to talk
about school being out. He
wanted to go home.
By and large, those who
were in the storm wished they
(continued on page four)