The Fraflpi Times
J f ??' 1 Tw.U*r * T KvfU-r W~m? AN O* PftmkUm Cm My
Ypur Award Winning County Newspaper
LOCAL EDITORIAL COMMENT
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Grateful , Again
Once again the people of Louisburg
are indebted to members df their own
fire department and members of the
j rural departments in the county. And
this time, they are indebted to the
Henderson Fire Department, as well.
Quick and efficient action on the part
Of the men who make up these fire
fighting units, saved last week's costly
fire here from being much, much
worse.
There has been no absense of praise
for the firemen by Louisburg Town
' off icials. iFhe Mayor, members of the
Town Council and the Pire Chief have
all issued words of appreciation and
ptaise for the timely assistance given
in the Friendly Four Warehouse blaze
last Tuesday night. A lesser Effort
could have resulted in the loss of a.n
entire city block. Maybe more.
It would seem that Louisburg over
the years has had more than its share
of damaging fires. In recent months.
Green Hill Country Club was severely
damaged and'less than six weeks ago,
the old ABC Store building across
Main Street from the warehouse was
totally destroyed. Earlier it was
Southside Warehouse, By-Pass Service
Center, Village Drive-Inn, Joyner's
Wholesale Building Supply and a num
ber of other businesses in recent years.
? And in every single case, local
volunteer firemen aide^ by rural vo
lunteer departments hive been succes
sful in holding down theHosses.
The Central Alarm System, install
ed a few years ago and the mutual
assistance agreement between county
and city departments are two of the
best things Franklin County has going
for it right now. Whenever one depart
ment is in need of assistanc&r the
others stand ready not only to go^ut
to do the job.
And an additional credit is due
these men. They are trained and know
what to do. They give of their services
without charge and without expecta
tions of any rewards. It takes time to
attend training sessions and fighting
fires is, at best, a danc^eroui' occupa
tion. That there are men willing to
serve by doing both is indeed a credit
to each of them, their departments
and their communities. _
As efficient as they are,, every
department in the county is in need of
better equipment.. Mayor V. A.
Peoples has said he hopes peofrte in
the area will remember .last -week's
services when any of thg "departments
put on a drive for funds.
We share in this hope. We believe
the people will remember. We know
they are grateful.
A Positive Approach
The Courier-Tribune, Asheboro/N. C.
i ne reason soutnern senators nave
fared so poorly against unpopular civil
rights legislation which is/ primarily
aimed against this region is th^ir nega
tive approach.
It hasn't been enough to vote 'no'
to every bill designed either to speed
school integration or mixing o^,other
public facilities or withhold federal
rhoney where discrimination exists in
some form.
Sponsors of what actually is puni
tive legislation directed toward one
section of the U. S. take into account
the opposition they'll encounter
among southern senators and con
gressmen. Their head counts, likely,
exglude anyone below the Mason
Dixon line and concentrate on the
liberal, anti-south and very much se
gregated north.
i This is where the south's strength
lay all along.
School segregation is highly preva
lent throughout the north and western
indust- il tier of states, no matter
wh?' eir public officials have to say
ab civil rights. Neighborhood
sc patterns, prohibited in the
south by fiat, persist elsewhere. The
pattern is logical, of course. Schools
are located in the midst of populated
areas and what naturally arises is a
system of de facto segregation. ' i*
But al| legislation is directed to
ward the south where segregation was
shrouded inlpjality by the states
themselves, flluis, while Mississippi is1
fated to -eventually haVe the most
highly integrated school system, New *
York, Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey, etc.
will go relatively untouched (and inci
dentally fall further down the ranks i#
integrated school population).
Southern senators have targeted
the Department of Health, Education*
and Welfare (HEW) and its enforce
ment powers first.
By removing Htws autnority to
withhold federal funds from unco
operative < southern "school districts,
their strategy would be to fight a
delaying movement which will everv
? 'dually collapse under the weight of
existing civil rights legislation and
court pressure anyway.
Sen. John Stennis, D-Miss., had an
extraordinary strategy:
He prqfcjoses that the southerners in
Congress rally behind a "fallback"
measure- one which would demand
an erid to segregation in the north. By
accelerating school integration in
northern districts where neighborhood
segregation runs rampant now, the
theory was that pressure on the south
would slacken.
It made sense. The bill merely
pledges northerners to a modicum of
- honesty in their civil rights fervor.
(We suspect a few would imme
diately lower the mixing banners 'lest
their constituencies rebel.)
But even this positive approach by
Sen. Stennis failed to garner sufficient
backing in the south. Sen. Ervin, as an
example, reportedly jpined dissidents
. who preferred not to have their names
on any type of integration bill.
Sen. Stennis had labored for weeks
"'Hying the groundwork for his measure
which some northern senators would
have been hard-pressed to oppose. If
he'd been successful, equal exertion
would, have been demanded nation
wide to end the standard pattern of
neighborhood school integration
which is hardly exclusive to the south.
Had Stennis attracted unanimous
southern backing, we suspect red faces
Would have prevailed among the li
beral congressional element which has
(long taken out its grievances against
the Old Confederacy as if the war
hadn't ever ended.
The Frarikjin Times
Established 1870 - Published Tuesdays & Thursdays by
? The Franklin Times. Int. *
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Biokett Blvd. Dial OY6-3283 Louisburg. N. C.
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CLINT FULLER. Managing Editor ELIZABETH JOHNSON. Business Manager
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
ASSOCIATION
1969
HliPWBiEHHI
Advertising Rates ^1.
Upon Request . ,
SUBSCRIPTION RATES ^
In f/orth Carolina: ?% f Out of Stale:
On* Year, $4.64 : Six Months. $2.83 One Year. $5. SO; Six Months. $4.00
Three Months. $2*06 Three Months, S3. $0
I ntctcd at second class m?H matter sntl postage paid at the Post Ollicc at Loutobunt. N. C. 27549
The Justice Department claims there are some crooks in the Internal
Revenue-Service. I've been saying that for 30 yean!
Letters to The Editor
To The Editor:
I wanted to write this let
ter in "honor" of the "Frank
iinton Fire Dept.," to show
my most sincere appreciation
and thanks for these most
kind and wonderful people
for their efforts at making
Christmas more complete by
giving my two sweet little
boys some toys for Christ
mas. They really enjoyed
those cute toy* so much, and
it was so heartwarming to
know that there it some
people left in this world that
really has a heart, and make
Chrikmas more a reality for
those who are less fortunate.
It's not the "value" of any
toy or present, that really
counts, "It's being re mem.,
bered," that really touches;
the heart. Remembering ail
these children who are bom
?less fortunate and those who
are suffering from lack of
many things, that we all take
for granted. For remembering
children who are less for
tunate, and in need of many
things, for this is the real true
meaning and spirit of Christ
mas. , ]
So, in closing this letter, I
want to thank all those Fire
men who remembered not
only my children but many
more, and may all their ef
forts be recorded and remem
bered not only her$ in this
world, but by the angels in
heaven. It is so nice and sweet
to be "remembered" and not
forgotton. That is the" most
important gift anyone could
ever give. So, with tears in my
eyes, and joy in my heart, I
thank the Franklinton Fire
Dept., for the toys given to
my children,
William Louis McGhee
225 North Hillsboro St.
Franklinton, N. C.
s~ -
First Duty . J
"Your fi?t iiuty^is to the Qitizen
' who buys the paper in the belief that
it has character and stability, that it is
at all times a defender and protector of
the rights and liberties of our people,
that does -not yield to trie pressure of ~
merchant or banker or labor union.
There* is no known substitute for
integrity, and no synthetic has ever
been discovered for guts."
? Putlizer Prize winning publisher
John S. Knight, in Editor and Publish
er.
As the New Year comes.in, we
have mixed feelings. Our deepest
sympathy goes out to our fine
business neighbors-who suffered
such a terrible loss in the recent ?
disastrous fire.
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But at the same time we are
thankful beyon^l words that we'
can begin 107O with the same
dedicated spirit of service to our
customers which has character
ized our business for over 60 years.
With grateful hearts we take
this opportunity to express our
appreciation to our many friends
who rendered so much aid and
comfort during the fire, and ?
especially to the men of all the fine
Fire Departments'who served so
unselfishly, even risking life and
limb, to protect our property. We *
are well aware that without their
unselfish service so gallantly
rendered, we might well be
unable to continue to serve ^ou.
c
happyImew year
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^ from all the folks at
? McKinne's
Seaboard Stores, Inc. .
'COME
TO
THINK
OF IT..."
by
frank count
Bo$, I'm glad that's over. Aint you? What if you had to go
through it ever week in the year? Of course, there's a whole lot
to be said for the way folks seem to be friendlier and the spirit
is better, but all that noise and confusion. ;
I aint exactly glad to soe Christmas over. I kinda like it t)ut
there's some things about it I cant go along with. It's called
presents, i m m
favor of gittlng
them alright and
to git them, ,1
k now you got
give some. It's
some of them I
git that troubles
me.
I aint never
quite figured out
how come some
folks think
they're come
dians at Christ
mas. I got some
at my house, Liuess'everybody got some. I heard of one fellow
gitting a pig's tjil all wrapped up for Christmas. That ought to
made him happy;
v *
Then there's a buddy who got a box of napkins for
Christmas. Claimed there wont never none on the table. What's
a napkin?
I know one fellow who got a hippie wrist watch from
his-guessed it? his mamma-in- law. Surprisingly, the watch
works. Sorry I can't say the same for the fellow.
Then one of the slimmest-trimmest fellows I know-he's a
doll -got one of the rolling wheels you lay on the floor and
roll. It's supposed to reduce him. Since his little woman
charged it to him he'll get reduced alright.
One fellow who got several of them said he knows where
them wide neckties come from. He saysthey're making them
out of left-overs from mini-skirts. If they git any wider, a
fellow wont need no shirts.
And aint that turkey the saddest looking- thing you ever
seen? No wonder the poor thing died.
Folks arc funny, though'. Folks I seen fluffing every tree on
the lot trying to fine one just perfect done dumped the poor
things out on' the street. Some of them didn't ev?n have the
courtesy of hauling It off for a decent burial. That's they way
It is with some have the courtesy of hauling it off for a decent
I
Then there was one fellow whose neighbor was {Staying
Santa Claus and come over .to his house. When the felloW-and
his youngins looked out their window and Seen Santa's nose
against the pane, it nearly scared 'em all to death. Didn't do
Santa no good neither. The fellow was one of them that didnt
believe in Santa Clause-but his youngins did. They're now
trying to explain the whole thing to their papa.
?
But, wont it quiet everywhere but inside the house? There
wont no creatures stirring down the street. There was some on
the highways, though.
I don't reckon nobody lost no present this year. And I'm
sure everybody knows exactly what everybody else give them.
That's what all them tags is for. Trouble is. you throw away
the tag when you unwrap the package and after that, most
folks have to guess. That aint so bad unless you decide to start
thanking folks for giving you them pajamas when they didn't
give you no.thing but a ball point pen.
i
All in all. though, there's a whole lot to be said for
Christmas. I hope they keep on hayjng it. I'm having a good -
time exchanging all them lhinf$ I got I dont need for some of
them things I didnt git and do need. I made a list but it didqt
do no good. The little woman can't read.
Now, soon's I git them green pajamas and them red socks ?
exchanged for a green shirt and purple 90c ks and git that white
shirt swapped forson>r red pajamas, 111 be all set' for another
year. That is. course, providing I can git somebody to
exchange that wide necktie for two regular ones. That aint
gonna be easy.
But, I'm still better off than the fellow that got a ladles slip
for Christmas. He's too embarrassed to take it back and he aint '
got the nerve to wear it. Don't some folks have troublw,
though?
"C icon IO ,
the New Year with a
heartfelt hop<? that soon the
spirn 01 enduring pcace will spread
, to all men of all nations 'afound the world:
WILSON BUILDING SUPPLY