McDowell
County’s
Leading
Newspaper
MARION PROGRESS
Advert isi»c
in the
ProgreM
Pays
A WEEKLY NEWSFAPElR DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE OF MARION AND McDOWELL COUNTY
ESTABLISHED 1896
MARION. N. C., THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 1940
VOL. XLIV—NO. 37
Final Plans
Being Made For
Trade Jubilee
Three-day Festival Offers Vis
itors Free Prizes Valued At
$500.00.
Merchants, civic clubs and service
organizations of Marion are all mak
ing final plans this week for the ob
servance of Marion’s Trade Jubilee
to be held here next week, April 18-
20.
Three bi? days and nights of en
tertainment for all persons visiting
Mariqn during the Jubilee have been
planned. Approximately $500 in
prizes will be given away during the
festival and free entertainment for
visitors will be provided at all times
during the Jubilee.
Festivities will get under way on
Thursday night with a band concert.
All stores in Marion will be open,
but not for sales. The big feature of
the opening night program is the
treasure hunt, in which the many
prizes offered by Marion merchants
will be given away. Each store in
town will give away numbered tick-
TEACHERS TOLD TO AID
PREVENTION OF CRIME
Quoting statistics on the annual
cost of crime in the United Sttae?,
Judge J. W. Pless, Jr., told city and
county school teachers here last Sat
urday that.a large part of the re
sponsibility for the prevention of
crime rested on their shoulders.
Judge Pless spoke at a meeting of
Marion school teachers in the high
school auditorium.. County teachers
were guests.
Judge Pless pointed to the possi
bilities of community service and of
building juvenile citizenship that
were open to teachers. Courts at
tempt to enforce corrective measures
on criminals, he said, but preventive
measures are in the hands of public
school teachers.
The teachei*s’ meeting was presid
ed over by H. C. Holland, chairman
of the local unit of the North Caroli
na Education association.
Judge Pless was presented to the
teachers by N. F. Steppe, superin
tendent of McDowell county schools.
Following the address of Judge
Pless, teachers adjourned to various
rooms for study groups.
Marion Music
Students To Be
In State Contest
Total Of 52 Pupils To Enter
Trials In Greensboro To Be
Held Next Week.
PLANS NEAR COMPLETION
Approximately 52 music students
of the Marion high school are expec
ted to take part in the state music
contest to be held in Greensboro
April I&-I9, announced mijpic direc
tor Bernard Hirsch, this week.
The high school band will be en
tered in the contest and in addition
several soloists and groups will com
pete in the state trials.
Marion students will compete with
other *‘B” class schools in the state.
Convention Of
Singers Draws
Large Audience
Reccn-d Set For Attendance At
Semi - annual Sing Of Mc
Dowell Society.
The largest crowd ever to attend
any convention of the McDowell
County Singing Society packed the
court house here last Sunday to hear
singers, gathered here from all parts
of Western North Carolina. Some 62
singers took part in the program.
Guest musicians were welcomed
to Marion by Mayor Zeno Martin.
The program began at abo»t 10:00
PRECINCT OFFICIALS
ARE APPOINTED FOR
PRIMARY MAY 25TH
At a meeting of the McDoweH
county Board of Elections held last
Saturday, composed of J. W. Street-
«nan, Jr., G. W. Kirkpatrick and G.
F. Washburn, precinct election offici
als for the May 25th primary were
appointed.
All registrars are Democrats. One
Democrat and one Republican judge
are named in each precinct.
The precinct officials named are
as follows, registrars being listed
first, the second named being the
Democrat judge and the third being
the Republican jud^e:
Marion No. 1: Reid Bird, registr
ar; W. H. Hill and E. W. Parker,
judges.
Marion No. 2; Highland Hawkins,
registrar; Pless Hennsesee and J. E.
Hicks, judges. ^
Marion No. 3: G. W. Biggerstaff,
Cannon and Reid
o’clock a. m. and continued through
most of the day. Program director| registrar; J. A.
Schools in the “B” class are those was A. H. Mitchem, president of the j Taylor, judges,
having enrollments of 250 to 750. | McDowell County Singing Society. ! Marion No. 4; J. E. Roland, regis-
In the district music festival held | C. F. James of Marion spoke jtrar; H. D. Broom and Straley. Cur-
in Asheville on March 30 musicians j briefly welcoming the musicians to i ry, judges.
from the Marion high school won 10 j Marion. Adam F. Hunt, superinten- Marion No. 5: Lester Waters, reg-
dent of East Marion Mills, paid re-listrar; Marion Padgett and Virgil
first place ratings, having more en
tries in this class than any other
FOR NEW REGISTRATION I school entered in the festival. Four
j soloists and groups were placed in
With the appointment of regis- the second division, bringing the to-
trars and judges of elections herejtal to 14 units from Marion that
ets. The person finding an article in i Saturday by the McDowell were made eligible for the state con
some store having a number on it County Board of Elections, arrange-
correspondingtotheoneon histick-j^^^^ registration re-
et will be allowed to claim the prize.
In the second night of the Jubilee, jtically completed.
Revision of the registration books
or a new registration was ordered
Friday, April 19, the program will
open with a band concert. A style
show in which most Marion merch
ants and tradespeople will partici
pate will be held in the Marion Thea
tre. The show is scheduled to begin
at about 9:00 o’clock p. m. All Mar
ion stores will be open for sales dur
ing the Jubilee program on Friday
night.
On the closing night of the festi
val, Saturday, April 20, the climax
the three-day celebration will be^
reached with a street dance to be
held on the main business block of
Marion. A square dance of three di
visions has been arranged for the oc
casion and music will be provided
throughout powerful amplifiers. The
Marion stores will be open for sales
Saturday night until the street danc
ing gets under way. Prizes will be
given away to the largest family in
town for the Jubilee.
Prizes to be given away will go on
display late this week in a vacant
store on the Main street in Marion.
AiTangements are being made to
care for large crowds during the Ju
bilee.
test. The Marion high band did not
participate in the festival. It receiv
ed a one rating at the state contest
last year and was not required to
enter the district trials.
Marion high members planning to
for all counties by an act of the gO' to the state contest and their in-
1939 Legislature. Revision of the
books in McDowell was declared too
“expensive and impractical” by the
Board of Elections and a new regis
tration was ordered.
struments are: flutes—Shirley Bar-
ish, Marie Griffin, Harold Goodman;
oboe — Katherine Ledbetter; bas
soons—Virginia Ellis, Edith Marga- Indian quartet of Jackson county
ret Grant, Margaret Moore, Henry! the Victor quartet of Valdese; the
Under the state-wide act passed : Leonard; clarinets
spects to the memory of George W. i Bradburn, judges,
Sebring, deceased, former composer,j Bracketts: George Rhom, regis-
musician, and singer to the memory jtrar; M. L. Arrowood and Ben Gal-
of whom the convention was dedi-; lion, judges.
cated.
Guest musicians were entertained
at lunch by the Marion Kiwanis club.
Quartets taking part in the sing
ing convention were: The Gospel
Four, of Burke county; the Melody
Boys of Hickory; the Creasman
quartet of Asheville; the English
quartet of Valdese; the Lake City
quartet; the Sun Ray and Silver
Creek quartets of Burke county; the
Riding Sisters of Valdese; Cherokee
Buck Creek: Bud Hennessee, reg
istrar; Tom Patton and H. Simmons,
judges.
Dysartsville: .Paul Laughridge,
registrar; Frank Daves and Roy Sut-
tles, judges.
Glenwood: W. E. Morgan, regis-
Large Section Of
Parkway Drive To
Be Open In 1940
Dodge Sees Lake Tahoma As
Attraction To Travelers Ov
er Scenic Highway.
More than 65 per cent of the Blue
Ridge Parkway in North Carolina
and Virginia will have been comple
ted or be in various stages of con
struction in 1940. This includes more
than 320 miles of motorway, free
from sharp curves and steep grades,
out of a total of approximately 500
miles, threading the picturesque
mountains between the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park in North
Carolina and Tennessee, and the
Shenandoah National Park in Vir
ginia. About 140 miles of Parkway
motor road in the two states is en
tirely completed, providing a contin
uous passage over first calss pave
ments. This stretch between Deep
Gap, North Carolina, and Adney
Gap, Virginia, opens on or before
June 1, 1940. Add to this the 105
mile Skyline Drive in the Shenan
doah Park which is open for use and
there is a total of 245 miles of first
class roadway, all with an average
elevation of 2500 feet above sea
level. There are certain other sec
tions which are at present surfaced
with stone, on which the final a»-
trar; Clyde Hemphill and J. O. Gor-jP^^*^
don judges | summer, and which will be used at
’ Higgins': Rex Wilson, registrar; travelers risk subject to necessa-
J. H. Simpson and Sam Marlowe,
judges.
ry construction operations. This in
cludes a section of eight miles be-
BASEBALL CANCELLED
FOR YEAR AT SCHOOL
The schedule for the Marion high
school baseball team has been can
celed this year because of difficulties
brought about by the recent fire in
the school building, announced H. C.
Holland, principal, this week.
In place of the baseball work an
intramural program is being arran
ged at the school by coach Art Ditt.
All students at the school are being
encouraged to take part in softball
and track activities. Play and in
struction in these activities is con
ducted every school day afternoon
from 3:15 to 5:00 o’clock. Accord
ing to Mr. Holland, the directors of
intramural athletics hope to include
volleyball, tennis and 'other sports
in their program as soon as possible.
The baseball team was handicap
ped by the loss of much equipment
in the fire at the school and the
dressing room and other facilities
were damaged.
be two registration books, one for | Charles Riddle; baritones— Bobbie j ® ® eptem er 1, 4 .
Democrats and one for Republicans, j Gourley, Charles Wall; trombones—■
Each voter must register according j Bryan Gibson, George Kirkpatrick, ^ PORTER DIES
to his party affiliation. So-called “In-iE. A. Hendley, Charles Bolick; bassj HOME AT OLD FORT-
dependents” will not be allowed toj—John Snoddy, Otis Ledbetter; and; FUNERAL HELD SUNDAY
v'ote in the primaries, but must be; drums — Vernon Rader, Mildred |
registered on the general election | Mangum, Clifford Reece, and Sam'
Montford Cove: George Marlowe, iAsheville and the famed Rho-
registrar; C. L. Holland and Burpee jGardens, and a fine
. ^ — ^ — ijT J Judees istretch of 40 miles between Buck
Virginia Mae | Spruce Pine four; the Sebring Fast j E. L. Tate, registrar; T. W. i^ap and Grandfather Mountain.
The Blue Ridge Parkway land of-
regis-*fic® of the State Hi^way Commis
sion in charge of J. P. Dodge, ha*
just received a supply of 1940 Blue
Ridge Parkway folders and maps,
prepared by the National Park Ser
vice of the Department of the Inte
rior. Information is given as to the
location and «xtent of finished Park-
were George Horne of Forest City ^ judges. j way, what to do, where to stay.
North Cove: J. L. Carpenter, reg-jwhere to dine, including regulations
istrar; Rhom Brown and C. A. Me- to be observed while on the Park-
Call, judges. {way. The development of recreation-
Crooked Creek: Glenn Bradley, |al facilities will go forward this year
registrar; Fred Lji:le and Jim Ho-jin numerous wayside parks, adjacent
gan, judges. j to the Parkway itself. Two parks un-
i der construction are the Cumberland
! Knob Park -at the North Carolina-
by the 1939 General Assembly 1940 i McCall, Mary Shiflet, Carolyn Bow-1 Stepper? of Asheville; and the East* „ . * ' I • j
primaries must be conducted with-ler, Rachel Rabb, Bonnie Kirby,! Marion quartet. i old F t N 1^ C
out politicar markers and without{Swanee Ricks, Ann Laughridge, Ma-| Trio selections were presented byj.^„^. a m r
absentee voting. Only Democrats will]ry Catherine Sebaiitiat^ Lawrencesisters of Forest City andj*^j ’ • • »
be allowed to take part iir the nom- Atkins, Jack Sickles-, Louise Patton,!the Sunny Grove trio of McDowelli9. 2 t?
ination of the Democratic tickets Margaret Westmoreland, B. H.’county. . w r* q-i p w*
and only RepublicaTis will be permil-|Ian^ridge, Ruth Smitt; presented by Miss Eu-1 SiWeiTludees • '
ted to have part m ™mmatinsr the -Mike McCall, Annabelle Londner,.^y | J « ;
Republican candidates whose names Bill Bolton; cornets — Bernard Con-:p „ - ... t- r» , , r ^ xr
1 1 i.- „ 1 u ij r T r> Asheville. Accompanists trar; Jim Boyd and Lester Hollifield,
will appear on the general election j ley, Harold Little, J. C. Bowman,! George Ho “ “
ballots in November. j Henry Dodge, Moi-ris Laughridge, |
At each registration place on Sat- Doris Anderson, Bill Ledbetter, Bob' i ^ .
urday, April 27, the day registration jbie Gladden; horns—Billy Alley,} ® convention o t e c-
books open in this county, there will j Clinton Norris, William Laughridge,! o
book to vote in the final election. | Bowman. Other high school music, McDowell county farmer,:
The state-wide act governing pri- students expected to enter the state |
AGRICULTURAL FACTS
ON M’DOWELL COUNTY: Virginia line, and the Bluffs Park in
I Wilkes county. Lodges and over-
I night cabins within the recreational
! areas are not expected to be com-
Thomas Alexander Porter, 81, a 1 According to the last facts avail
maries has simply eliminated the
possibility of Democrats or Republi
cans participating legally in the
nominating primary of the opposite
party.
contest are Louis Cutlar, Albert;
Gourley, and Clinton Noyes.
on last I
crops in McDowell county in
1938 were valued at §284,072. This
Saturday morning. He had been iujt^tal was split up among the differ- that each day’s
failing health for several years.
lent crops as follows; corn, $156,100;
pleted during 1940. It is suggested
travel be planned
picnic lunches be
.,ahead and that
Mr. Porter owned several farms in ’ $18 600- oats, $1,310; rye, P*'Ovided. Although accommodations
cotton.
CANDIDATES FILE AS
DEADLINE APPROACHES
Nine candidates for legislative and
county offices have filed up until to
day with the McDowell County Board
of Elections. With the filing deadline
only two days away all candidates
are expected to soon file with the
board.
Three candidates have filed for the
office of Register of Deeds. They are
John Steppe^ George Chapman. and
Zeb Lackey. Candidates for other of
fices have filed as follows: For the
State Senate, L. J. P. Cutlar and
Ashby Robinson; f of the State Legis
lature, J. C. Rabb; and for county
commissioners, I. L. Caplan, R. P.
Morris and C. A. Workman.
FLYNN GIVEN 60-DAY ithat section of the county and "as --g^, tobacco. SI 600-
REPRIEVE BY GOVERNOR ^active in various farm organizations.' §530. potatoes, $21,500; sweet
I j He was a member of the Old Fort , y^tatoes, $21,290; soybeans, $23,-
CLOSING DATES, TIMES j Notice was received here this week; Presbyterian church and was well qqq. cowpeas $5,180- peanuts,
FOR STORES ARE SET. by D. F. Giles, Marion attorney, that; known throughout the county^ i$240- and tame hav'* $29 038
! Governor Hoey had granted a re-j His grandfather, Captain Thomas
I in cities and communities along the
Parkway vary from the finest hotels
ito modest cabins, it is anticipated
that there will be a shortage for the
I traffic expected during the summer.
In the year 1936 there were 2,073 | In discussing the matter of accom-
which
were agreed upon
Four holidays during the year on 1 prieve in the case of Lee Flynn toj Hemphill, fought in the Revolution-! county. Of these farms ™°dations. Major Dodge states that
lich stores in Marion will be closed June 28 to give time for furtherjary War at Kings Mountain and wasjj ggg cultivation. Some Pa’"kway officials wish to encourage
study of the mental condition of the; one of the first settlers of McDowell , 49 3 percent of these had less than ! the development of popular resorts,
10 acres under cultivation. Some j hotels, lodges, and tourist courts in
27.2 percent had 10 to 20 acres; 21 icommunities adjacent to the Park-
per cent had 20 to 50 acres; 1.9 perj^^y. Asked about the proposed de
cent had 50 to 100 acres; 0.5 per | velopment of Lake Tahoma, and
cent had 100 to 220 acres; and 0.1 what it means to the town of Marion,
by members of
the Chamber of Commerce and Mer
chants Association, meeting here on
last Friday night. The holidays set
for closing were, Easter Monday,
July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
New closing hours for local stores
were adopted, the changes to go in
to effect Monday, April 22: Accord
ing to the new regulati6ns, general
stores will close at 5:30 p. m. on
week days and 8:00 o’clock p. m. on
Saturdays. Grocery stores wiir close
at 6:00 o’clock p. m. on week days
and at 8:30 p. m. on Saturdays..
Reports of the committees elected
for Marion’s Trade Jubilee were
made and details of the festival
SENIOR CLASS PLAY AT
GLENWOOD FRIDAY NIGHT
The Senior Class of the Glenwood
High School will present the annual
senior play on Friday evening, April
12th, at 8 o’clock in the high school
auditorium.
The play, “Mr. Cinderella,” is a
three-act comedy with the following
students taking part: Eugene Rum-
felt, Willard Webb, Parks Hunter,
Willard Seaman, Clyde Parker, Ivan
Hidings, Elizabeth Hunt, Edith Mor
gan, Nora Mae Cannon, Sybil O^en-
by, Freddie McKinney, Shirley Ward
and Hettie Upton.
defendant. ! county.
Flynn, convicted on a first-degree | Mr. Porter was twice married. He
murder charge in McDowell county j ia survived by his second wife, Mrs.
Superior court last January was to
enter the gas chamber April 12, af
ter the State Supreme court had dis-
Martha Anna Porter, four sons, W.
H., W. J., and A. Y., of Old Fort,
and J. B. of Huntington, W. Va., fi-we
missed his appeal last week. Flynn, a j daughters; Mrs. I. C. Wilson of Old
McDowell county farmer, was found
guilty here of slaying his wife dur
ing a quarrel at their home in the
Hankins community last October 9.
D. F. Gil^ was appointed to defend
Flynn when the case came before
the Superior court here.
According to a letter received
here this week by Mr. Giles from
Edwin Gillj commissioner of paroles,
a field representative of the paroles
commission will come to Marion soon
to “make a full investigation on the
ground, contacting any and all per
sons who may be able to throw any
light on this man’s mental pro
cesses*”
SCOUT FUND
Approximately $600 has been
raised for the McDowell county Boy
Scout fund, announced S. J. West
moreland, chairman of the drive for j been accepted to attend the C
Fort, Mrs. Milton Cooper of Wash
ington, whose husband is clerk for
the ways and means committee, Mrs.
D. C. Terrell and Mrs. C. T. Elliott
of Atlanta, and Miss Nell Porter of
Greensboro; one brother, W. Y. Por
ter of Swannanoa, 12 grandchildren,
and two gi-eat grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Sun
day afternoon at 2 o’clock at the Old
Fort Presbyterian church with the
Rev. W. E. Pettit officiating.
LOCAL BOYS TO'ATTEND
C.M.T.CAMP AT FT. BRAGG
Supt. N. F. Stepp, Citizens Milita
ry Training Camp representative for
McDowell county, announced today
that as of April 1^ two young men
of this county, Hugh Alfred Lee and
Lawrence M. Nel^n, Marion, had
. T.
funds in this county, this week.
There are still some persons who
have not been contacted, he said, but
indications are that the gopl of $800
set for the Boy Scout fiiiid will be
reached..
Camp to be held at Fort Bragg,June
12-July 11.
per cent had over 220 acres. In the
same year 1,280 farms in the county
had corn on them. Some 19.0 per
cent of the farms had less than two
acres of com; 36.8 per cent had
two to six acres; 23.4 per cent had
six to 10 acres; 18.3 per cent had 10
to 25 acres; and 2.5 per cent had
over 25 acres.
In 1936 some 135 farms in the
county had sows. Some 81.3 per
cent of the fam^s had one sow; 12.5
per cent had two; 3.0 per cent had
Major Dodge stated that this would
be an example of the type of devel
opment which would be most attrac
tive to visitors using the Parkway.
Being located within a few miles of
the motor road and easily reached
(Continued on last page)
FARMERS WILL SUPPLY
MILK FOR SHELBY PLANT
Twenty-two farmers of McDowell
county had signed with County Ag-
three to four sows; 1.6 per cent had lent S. L. Homewood early this week
five to six; 1.6 per cent had seven or|to furnish milk for a plant of the
more. Some 1,025 farms had chick-j Carnation Milk Company that is be-
ens. Of these 7.5 per cent had less ling established in Shelby. Last week
than 20 hens; 28.9 had 21 to 50; only 12 farmers had signed for the
hens; 2.4 per cent had 51 to 100 route.
hens; 0.8 per cent had 101 to 200 The 22 farmers have agreed to
and 0.4 per cent had 201 or more, j furnish milk from 60 cows for the
I Carnation Company this year and to
SERVICES AT ST. JOHN’S ! raise this number next year.
Rev. Peter Lambeth of Penlandj Plans recently outlined in this
will preach at St. John’s Episcopal | county call for the establishment of
church next Sunday morning at 11 the milk route in McDowell on May
o’clock. Church school and Bible: 15. Trucks from the Shelby plant
There are still three vacancies for j class at 9:45. jwill collect .milk locally from places
McDowell county. Young men whoj Bishop R. E. Gribbin visited this j to be designated. It is expected that
wish to attend this camp are urged I parish last Sunday and conducted j the routing of the tyucks will be
to subhiit thieir applications now. [the services Sunday evening. [planned Monday, April 15.