Thurs., Nov. 21, 1935.
(Eht (Cltmiker 9nmt
Official Organ of Murphy and Cherokee County,
Sorth Carolina
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
Entered iri the Eos! Otfice ct Murp \orth Carolina,
as second class matter under .! ' ct March 3. 139/.
S tM CARR Editor
L. A.l.EE O . /?;..v'vr?> Manager
SI bSCKlC HuN rKlCE
One ^ea-r . SI-50
Six Months .75
Eayaide Strictly in Advance
Legal advertisements, want ads, leading notices, obituaries,
cards of thanks, etc., 5c a line each insertion,
payable in advance. Display rates furnished on request.
All communications must be signed by the writer,
otherwise they will not be accepted for publication
Name of the writer will not be published unless agreeable.
but we must have nam of author as evidence of
good faith and responsibility.
Murphy. North Carolina. Thursday. November 21, 1935
DEATH T IKES V1 nryr try iv
In an effort to impress upon the readers of this
newspaper the seriousness of North Carolina highway
fatalities and what it means to their pocketbooks, the
following information, which will be a great surprise ;
to many, was compiled from "Guides to llighwav
Safety a booklet distributed bv the Institute of Government
at Chapel Hill, and prepared by Harry \V. MeGalliard.
Here in North Carolina we are killing our citizens
on the highwavs at the rate of three a day. and we are
injuring and maiming thirty-five or forty others per
dav. Last rear, according to reports sent in to the
Motor \ chicle Bureau, we hilled and injured 6273
one and a lwlf limes as many North Carolinians as
were killed and wounded in the entire World War.
These official figures are far too low since hundreds of
minor accidents are never reported at all. In 1935 we
bid fair to pass the thousand mark. Alongside this, the
problem of curbing crimes of violence such as murder
and assult and battery pales into insignificance. On
the basis of gasoline consumption this state stands first
in the Union, with the highest automobile mortality
rate. In the past few years the red clay roads of North
Carolina have given way to hard-surfaced highways,
but we are fast dyeing the shining white pavements red
?red with the blood of thousands of citizens. Death
stalks every traveller.
The COST of these accidents in dollars and cents
is tremendous. If estimates are correct, and they seem
reasonable low. the economic loss in this stale, including
damage to property, hospital and doctor's bills, and decreased
earning capacity, will total over thirty million
do!!srs for ssch on? of th? Jjit yours-. This nissns
that automobile accidents this year will cost North
Carolinians one and a half times a much ah the entire
amount spent on the support of the whole state-wide,
eight-months-term, public school system. Furthermore,
in the past five years, automobile liability insurance
rates in this slate have practically doubled.
Good roads arc a great asset. We need them. But
consider once more: each day three men in this state die
on the highways; thirty-five or forty are injured; the
economic los- totals some seventy-five or eighty thousand
dollars. The morgue and the hospital claim too
heavy a toll, and the strain on the pocket-book is too
great. Yes. w need our good highways. But we must
use them safely.
! hiving the World War 34 North Carolinians were
killed per month. Modern crime claims 37 lives per
month in diis Mate, but the figures can't compete with
death on the highways.?82 KILLED PER MONTH IN
NORTH CAROLINA.
The rate of highway deaths per 10,000,000 gallons
of gasoline consumed is higher for North Carolina than
for any other state in 1934. The booklet says: the na
tional highway death rate is 23.2 per 10,000,000 gallons
of gasoline while North Carolina's is 36.6.
And every year the figure goes higher and higher?
from 675 in 1928 to 986 for 1934.
What kind of accidents take place? One-third of
all accidents involve collisions with pedestrians; onefourth,
collisions with other automobiles; one fourth noncollision
accidents and one-sixth with other objects. Sev.
enty-two per cent of the people killed are between the
ags of 15 and 64.
Beginning in February, and excepting a slight
lapse in June, the highway death rate mounts steadily
and reaches a peak in December almost double that of
February. Vacation trips, pleasure rides, and holiday
travel all contribute both to heavier traffic and greater
recklessness. Most important of all, the days grow shorter
in the fall. Darkness comes sooner, and bad weather
adds to the hazards of travel.
The "week-end" is the most dangerous part of the
week. On Sunday, almost twice as many people are
killed as on either Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday.
Traffic is of course heaviest on the week-end. The
The Junaluska Journal, Andrei
rush of Saturday's pleasure accounts for almost 40 per
Lent of an entire week's accidents.
Accidents happen when traffic is heaviest ? late
afternoon and early evening'.
One-third of all fatalities on the highways occur
dining the five-hour period from 3 p. m. to S p. m. These
are the hours of death.
Around the supper hour?when people are finishin
- the day's shopping, when people are going home from
w i k. when people are going out for a drive after supper?that
is the danger time.
But here is the most surprising fact brought out in
the pamphlet?THREE-FOURTHS OF ALL ACCIDENTS
O CUR IN RUR ' L DISTRICTS, while the remainder are
in cities and towns.
it is also interesting to note that one-half of all
fatal aciidonts occur ON A STRAIGHT ROAD. Oneeighth
are on curves. AND 99 PER CENT OF TI1E ACCIDENTS
ARE ON ROADS IN GOOD CONDITION!
Three-fourths of all accidents happen in good weather.
Rain is a factor in 4.7 per cent of all fatalities on
the highway.
And the ladies, commonly blamed for blundering
driving, will get a kick out of this. Men drivers are responsible
for more than 95 per cent of all highway j
rlpnthc
However, it is impossible to determine from these
figures whether men are worse drivers as the number of
men drivers far exceeds the number of women drivers,
and furthermore, the average male driver probably drives
more miles per year than the average woman driver.
But the fact remains, men do most of the killing on
the highways.
Over 70 per tent of all drivers involved in fatal accidents
had more than one year's driving experience.
-All this leads us to but one conclusion: SPEEDING
AND RECKLESS DRIVING CAUSE THREE-FOURTHS
OF THE ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY MOTORISTS.
With ail this in mind it might not be a bad idea then
to stop and ponder the last two paragraphs of?"And
Sudden Death":
None of all that is scare-fiction; it is just the horrible
raw material of the year's statistics as seen in the
ordinary course of duty by policemen and doctors' picked
at random. The surprising thing is that there is so little
dissimilarity in the stories they tell.
It's hard to find a surviving accident victim who can
bear to talk. After you come to, the gnawing, searing
3ain throughout your body is accounted for by learning
hat you have both collarbones smashed, both shoulder
olades splintered, your night arm broken in three places
?nd three ribs cracked, with every chance of bad interlal
ruptures. But the pain can't distract you, as the
hock begins to wear off, from realizing that you are
srobably on your way out. You can't forget that, not
iven when they shift you from the ground to the stretcher
md your broken ribs bite into your lungs and the sharp
;nds of your collarbones slide over to stab deep into
?ach side of your screaming throat. When you've stopled
screaming, it all comes back? you're dying and you
late yourself for it. That isn't fiction either. It's what
t actually feels like to be one of that 36,000.
And every time you pass on a blind curve, every
lime you hit is up on a slippery road, every time you J
rtep on it harder than your reflexes will safely take, j
svery time you follow the man ahead too closely, you're
tambling a few seconds against this kind of blood and
agony and sudden death.
Take a look at yourself as the man in the white
jacket shakes his head over you, tells the boys with the
stretcher not to bother and turns away to somebody else
who isn't quite dead yet. And then take it easy.
THE OLD AND THE NEW
With Christmas coming oil we might take to heart
the following greetings of the season received by a Murphy
citizen several days ago:
"A few years ago we remember when her.s were
three dollars a dozen, roosters ten cents apiece ,eggs
three dozen for twenty five cents, butter ten cents a
pound, milk five cents a quart, the butcher gave away
liver and treated the kids to bologna, the hired girl received
one dollar a week, and did the washing, women
WOrP PTlPMCll p1nt)ioe +/v ?kJ a. 1 - 1
w VU>CI cue SUUJCCI, uiu not SniOKe,
vote play poker and raise cain in general.
"Men wore hoots and whiskers, chewed tobacco, spit
on the sidewalks and cussed. Beer was five cents and the
lunch free, laborers worked ten hours a <lay and never
went on a strike. No tips were given to waiters and the
hat check graft was unknown. A kerosene lamp and a
sterescope and the parlor was a luxury.
"No one was ever operated on for appendicitis or
b ught glands, microbes were unheard of, folks lived to
a ripe old age and walked miles to see their friends.
"Now everybody rides in an automobile or flies,
plays golf, shoots crap plays the piano with their feet,
goes to the moviies nightly, smokes cigarettes, drinks
hootch, blames the high cost of living of his neighbors,
never goes to bed the same day he gets up and thinks he
is having a heck of a time.
"These are the days of suffergetting, profiteering,
rent hogs, excess taxes and prohibition. If you still
think life is worth living I wish you:
"A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR"
wrs, N. C.
| TURNING BACK h
10 YEARS AGO
Friday, November 20, 1925
Miss Elizabeth Rice, of Morganton,
Ga., spent the week-end with Mrs,
It. Y. Wells.
Mr. Sheridan Heighway. of Struthers,
Ohio is visiting his father, Dr.
S. C. Heighway.
Mr. H. I.. Davidson, of Atlanta,
spent one day here this week.
Mrs. John Sessions of Andrews,
spent last week-end with her mother,
Mrs. .1. X. Moody.
Rev. and Mrs. C. H. Dickey, of
LaCirange, Ga.. are visiting their parents.
Mr. and Mrs. A. K. Dickey.
Col. T. S. Rollins, of Asheville is
attending court here.
Mr. P. H. Chastain, of Culberson,
was a business visitor here Monday.
Mrs. W. W. Hyde returned last
Sunday to Indianapolis, Ind., where
she had been visiting friends and relatives
for the past month.
Mrs. Homer L. Hoe and little son,
of Middlesboro, Ky., and Miss Gus
Whitcomb, of Harlan, Ky., and Mr.
W. H. Whitcomb, of Harriman, Tenn.
aiiivvu Wednesday night trt cnonH
sometime with Mr. A. B. Dickey and
Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Dobbs and other
rfelatives and friends.
20 YEARS AGO
Friday, November 20, 1915
C. M. Wofford made a business
trip to Atlanta this week.
Dr. L. R. Castell of Culberson, was
here yesterday on business.
E. A. Gibson and family left this
week for Hobart, Okla., to visit the
former's parents.
\V. H. Whitcomb, of Harriman.
Tenn., and G. G. Whitcomb of Harlan,
Ky., visited relatives here and at
Ogreeta last week.
Frank Herbert and family came in
Wednesday from their home in
Canada, and left for Hayesville,
where they will visit the former's
father, Capt. R. L. Herbert.
T. S. Bosweli, Superintendent; R.
Stone, Chief Dispatcher and Train
Master; A. Lyon, Supervisor, all of
the Southern Railway, spent last
Thursday night in urphy.
39 YEARS AGO
Tuesday, November 21, 1905
Bruce King has moved his family
to Marble.
U. S. Commissioner J. C. Herbert,
of Hayesvile, was in town last week.
H. B. Elliott, wife and baby, of
Andrews, visited relatives here the
past week.
Mrs. F. A. Gennett and children
went to Nelson, Ga., Saturday for a
short visit.
Mrs. Nettie Dickey and sister, Mrs.
Carson, went to Asheville yesterday
for a short visit.
Mrs. Martha Patton and daughter.
Miss Bird returned Saturday from a
pleasant visit to relatives in Tennessee.
Miss Alice Robinson, who has been
visiting her aunt, Mrs. T. J. Sword.
I left yesterday for her home in Virginia.
George Whitcomb and John
Carney, of Jellico, Tenn., arrived Fri.
nniflnnmnnin
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t. ^ns
IT HURTS ME MORE THAI
But if I'm pricking you now, ;
You're not going to lose any :
sewed with J. & P. Coats best 6says
so?and 1
IISTORY'SPA^WO
day to spend a week with h
the former at Ogreeta. iT.4
at Young Harr
40 YEARS AGO C
Tuesday. November 19 tie^Btp
George Abbott leases fV -.'^B
position t' . morning.
John WaUter, of Andrews
town on husine - Saturday. ^^B"?*C
Miss Hatt'u Hughes
brother, llarve;. in Atlan^^^B.
W. A. Hunt, of Toung Ham-^B^'"'
here on business yesterday! ^BJa!,
Judge Robinson left
Bryson City to hold conn. '^B?' (
Allen Richardson, of Amirea^Bek ,
handling the yard stick at ,
tore
\V. A. Bryson, wife and
daughter, came down from CodHu d'
I last Saturday.
I Mrs. A. E. Cunningham and ^B "ft
I Mince, of allwe, were shoyp^^B^ ,
1 town Wednesday last. ;r,.
I Miss Margaret Howell ar.d Ib^B, (
I E. Smith, of Pcachtree, were
J shopping Saturday. r\
\of R. A. Akin returned from t'a^Bp
lanta exposition last week.
Mrs. R. L. Herbert and cha^Ttt
came down Sunday from lUyt^K^
to be present at the marriage
sister, this morning. 0'
Mrs. V. H. Olmsted, of tyu^H ..
ton, D. C., and Mrs. M. H.
of hicago. 111., left last Wtdn^Bj-.
for their respective homes, Bh
spending two weeks as the pn^Lr
Mrs. Olmsted's parents, Dr. and^.i?
J. w. Pattnn
The following parties left f?Blt,
exposition Sunday: p. H. s^B;,
Sam Akin, Ilr.p^s Gillispie,
Bailey, and A. A. Fain, accomp^Fj
by Misses Callie and Annie 0
brasstownI
Br
Miss Hazel Wilson had the
fortune to fall out of a hetiB11
break her arm. She is irapron^Bs
Miss Marie Elliott has
home from Canton where she^B"
several days with her sister, ^B :
Bill Penland. 31
Miss Evelyn Ashe spent last^B'"
with Mr.s Pauline Dyer, cf H^B
Mr. Garland Frankum left ?i^B~
for Gastonia. VK
H cr
The revival at Maggie Chapel
ed with one profession. It
ducted by Rev. Frank Hampton^*.'
sisted by Re\. M. D. Coker. .
Mr. Coy Coffey, of Sweeti^K.
was a visitor here Friday. ^B
Miss Dorothy Payne is visitinc^B C1
aunt, Mrs. Myrtie Raper, of Toa^B^
Bob Payne is visiting relativei^BJ1
fr?ends of Regal this week. jgj
> .- ^?jy& w "< ^B
j^H
more sawdust, because things REf
cord thread stay sewed. Mom
Mom knows. gU