McDowell
County’s
Leading
Newspaper
MARION PROGRESS
AdTertUing
in the
Progress
Pays
A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE OF MARION AND McDOWELL COUNTY
ESTABLISHED 1896
MARION. N. C., THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 1940
VOL. XLV—NO. 4
COUMT BOARD
ADOPTS BUDGET
FOR NEXT YEAR
Tax Rate Is Set At $1.16, Same
As Last Year, With Budget
Of $259,067.69.
The tax rate for McDowell county
was set at $1.16 on the hundred dol
lars valuation by the county commis
sioners in special session here yes
terday. The rate remaining the same
as that of last year," although there
are now some changes in fund re
requirements for the 1940-41 levy.
A budget of $259,067.69 for oper-
atfbn of the county government for
the year was adopted. This sum is
$11,422.37 higher than the budget
CITY SCHOOI^ OF
MARION TO BEGIN
CLASSES SEPT. 12
Catawba On Rampage Near Marion
Pupils To Assemble In Audi
toriums; Teachers To Have
First Meeting September 11.
Schools of the Marion city unit will
open their doors for the fall term
on September 12 at 9 o’clock, an
nounced Hugh F. Beam, city school
superintendent, this week.
On the morning of September 12,
pupils in the city unit will meet in
the auditoriums of their respective
schools to receive instructions on
classes and school regulations. At the
central school, complete arrange
ments for holding several classes in
adopted last year, chiefly because of | the Presbyterian church, the Method-
the expense of building the addition list hut and other places will be an
te the county jail. I nounced. These arrangements have
Taxable property in the county | been made necessary because repairs
was this year estimated at $16,700,-j have not been begun on the fire-dam-
000. j aged west wing of the school build-
Items in the budget are listed asilng.
ESTIMATES GIVEN
OF FUNDS NEEDED
ON ROAD REPAIRS
Highway Engineer Sees Need
For $241,800 For Work In
Four Counties.
follows: General county fund, $64,-
233.52; special expense, $6,189.75;
county health, $5,874.75; county
poor fund, $27,473.42; funding debt
service, $4,772.00; court house debt
service, $12,244.38; highway debt
service, $72,896.98; county school
diebt service, $46,546.97; county
school training expense and capital
outlay, $7,513.00; Marion city cur
rent expense and capital outlay, $11,-
322.92.
The itemized tax rate for the fiscal
year is as follows: General county
fund, 15c; health fund, 4c; poor fund
14c; special expense, 3c; Marion city
capital outlay, 2c; school debt ser
vice fund, 26c; highway debt service
A total of $241,800 is being sought
from the State Highway depart
ment for repairing flood damaged
roads and bridges in the counties of
McDowell, Burke, Polk and Ruther
ford, according to information re
ceived from the local highway office
this week.
J. A. Poteat, district engineer of
the State Highway department has
estimated that in McDowell county
$3,600 will be needed for repairing
highway bridges, $9,000 for 19
county bridges damaged, $49,875 for
RAILWAY YETS
HOLD ANNUAL
REUNION HERE
George W. Sandlin Elected
President; Next Convention
To Be Held In Asheville.
George E. Sandlin, of Old Fort,
was elected president of the Old
Timers Memorial Reunion here last
Friday afternoon at ^he close of the
sixth annual homecoming of agents
and employees of the Asheville di
vision of the Southern Railway who
have served the railroad since 1870.
The convention voted to make Ashe
ville the permanent meeting place
for the annual homecoming, and re
elected J. H. Sullivan, of Asheville,
first vice-president; and H. F. Payne
of Morganton, secretary. Mr. Sand-
repairing state roads in the county lin succeeds Frank A. Burgin of At-
Band practice at the central school
was begun on August 15, under the
direction of Bernard Hirsch. Rehear
sals are being held every morning in
the auditorium and about 40 pupils
are attending. Mr. Hirsch has an
nounced that prospects for the con
tinuance of the high standing of the
band are favorable, but that 10 or Catawba River overflowed its banks near Marion last week, cov-
new mufeicians are nee e o ering most highways and threatening many bridges in this section. The
vacancies cause y as year s gra - Catawba, in the upper photo, completely covered the farm of
uation. Parents interested in having McMahan, at the forks of Highways 70 and 221 about two miles
t eir c 1 ren ^ ® j north of Marion. Highway 70, between the bank at the left and the
or no 1 y I trees in the center, is covered with water. The MeMahan home,
t e ig sc 00 o ce. j.^ clump of trees, is submerged to the second floor. Only the roof of
Fall football practice at the cen-1 barn, to the right, is above water,
jtral school is scheduled to begin Sep-j lower photo, flood waters swirl beneath a bridge on Highway
and $32,000 for putting county roads
in shape.
All forces of the highway depart
ment in the county are now being
lanta as president.
Approximately 140 Old Timers
and their wives gathered in the high
school auditorium here last Friday
concentrated on getting the through for the opening of the reunion. Old
roads in proper condition. Most work
is now being done on highways 221,
104 and 26.
B. A. Waldenmaier, acting district
acquaintances were renewed, new
friends were made and tales of rail
road experiences were swapped.
Opening the sixth reunion, Presi-
manager of this district of the WPA, j dent Frank A. Burgin stated, “I an»
who is now working out of Marion, j thankful for these people; thankful
stated this week that the WPA is ar-1 for the country in which we live, and
ranging to provide $34,000 for the
employment of labor in McDowell.
WPiV labor is now being used on
farm-to-market roads around Nebo
and Old Fort and on the Peppers
Creek road to Altapass and Spruce
Thank God we are Americans. It is
great to be an American.”
Following the invocation by Rev.
,W. G. McFarland of Asheville, the
group sang “America.”
George E. Lee, of Asheville, vel-
fund 41c* funding debt service 4c •' return j 221, just beyond the forks of Nos. 70 and 221 about two miles north of
’ ’ ’ ’ to Marion on August^ 29 and begin jfanon. The bridge withstood the force of the waters, but many washouts
eourt h^use debt service, 7c.
CAMP ENDS SEASON AS
FLOOD THREATENS AREA
Black Bear camp, located on the
shores of Lake James about 10 miles
for the organ^tion. of t^e^
pects for a “successful” football sea
son are said to be present at the
school.
The first teachers meeting of the
year will be held in the central school
from Marion, officially closed its, amji^orium on the morning of Sep-
summer season Thursday of laart All teachers
week. The 20 boys and 10 officials j ^.j^g jjg present.
at the camp moved into Marion Wed-j
nesday of last week after rising wat-1 METHODIST CHURCH AT
ers of Lake James had threatened to j NEBO TO BE DEDICATED
damage the grounds and buildings.
The season was ended one day ahead, j g Cornett, district super- "““t® District Ranger Jerry
of schedule becau^ of j„tendent of the Methodist church, i Griswold. In the section near the
brought about by flood waters at the dedicate the Nebo i home of George Carver on Newber
^c;^l|U7ed farther down the highway.—Photo by J. M. Lancaster, Marion.
Highlights Of The Flood
Damages In McDowell
Forest Service roads in McDowell; around washed out sections of the
were damaged to the extent of ap-j highway. The roadway was com-
Pine, he said. Fifty-six men were! corned the Old Timers to the reun
put to work this week by the WPA in' ion. He paid tribute to Frank A. Bur-
McDowell and there is now a total of | gin for his work as president of the
46 working on streets and 210 on j reunion and to the 108 Old Timers
rural roads, he said. The WPA will 1 who have died in the past six years.
be in charge of a project for the im
provement of Hiwa WSifl
Marion and Old Fort and will tajce
over other work in the county as des
ignated by the State Highway de
partment, he stated.
‘I am happy to have been able to
women who began their railway ca
reers in McDowell county,” he said.
“Of these 102 that are living today
there are four former telegraph op-
proximately $60,000 by last week’s 1 pletely washed away in five places
flood waters, according to an esti-
I
The farewell banquet of campers |
and officials was held here in the
James Hotel Wednesday night of last
week. Last Thursday morning the 20
boys from Black Bear returned to
their homes throughout the state.
Officials of the camp remained at
Black Bear all this week and are ex
pected to leave today or tomorrow.
According to camp officials, flood j
waters at the camp Tuesday and!
Methodist church next Sunday, Au-i^’^
Creek about 200 yards of contin-
gust 25, The sermon or services
^ijjluous stretch of road was washed out
begin at 11 o’clock a. m.
jand a total of about 300 yards of
Construction
of the Nebo church! roadway was ruined in that vicinity,
between Sevier and Ashford. Tree
trunks and debris are scattered all
along the road and in many places
huge hunks of pavement have been
washed out of the highway.
According to Mr. Waldenmaier,; erators, three daughters and one son
the WPA will have enough projects,of Walter Graham of Old Fort. Only
in McDowell to employ all men that j the son, Walter Graham, is now with
may be certified by the county wel- j the railroad,” he said,
fare office. i Reviewing his historic records, Mr.
j Lee paid tribute to Mrs. Mamie Bur-
MARION SCHOOL PROJECT jgin Morris, (Mrs. James Morris), age
GETS APPROVAL OF WPA 81,* who was’present when the first
train arrived in Marion in 1870. The
The application for a $i00,000i‘rai'"»'“® ‘he -lunaluska and its en-
WPA grant for repairing the Marion j *‘neer was the late Lester S Aid-
high school and for the construction i *''Ose son, Locke C. Aldnoh.
of a classroom and gymnasium build-
retired in 1937 after serving many
SINGING CONVENTION
WILL BE HELD SEPT. 1ST
H. E. Stimson.
Rev. H. C. Freeman, the' present
pastor at Nebo, will assist in the ded-
^ , , - , ^ icatory services. Many former pas-
Wednesday of last week swept away^
two small shacks at Black Bear, cov-1
ered part of the athletic field and ® presen
broke a small dam on the camp prop
erty. No serious damage was done, it
was said. In coming to Marion from
the camp, the boys and officials
forded four streams and washouts
and at different stages of the trip
used a truck and a horse and wagon.
Officials at the camp this year were
Coach G. F. Laird, director; W. M.
McCachran and Terry Sanford, as
sociate directors; Mrs. G. F. Laird,
dietician, J. B. Crawford, camp doc
tor; Mrs. C. A. Chapman, office man
ager; and Dr. Louis B. Schenck,
chaplain.
The camp season opened June 21
and closed August 15. '
The steel bridge spanning Arm- j^g on the school grounds has been a passenger engineer on the
strong Creek at Sevier was washed | approved by Washington WPA offici- ' ^®^ York, Ontario and Western
was be^un in 1927 The buildine is a 1 said Mr. Griswold. At the head of; away by the flood waters and mayjals and has been presented to the ^ ^ ^
stone structure and cost approxi-1 Sugar Cove creek, landslides blocked; now be seen about 100 yards down , president for final approval, accord-! pleased to note thre^
matelv $15 000 The first pastor or can-ied away large sections of j the creek from where it stood. Sec- ^ ^ communication received this?®^ granddaughters of Capt. Al-
rervtgtfre new church ^ ^ forest road, he said. tions of the roadway from Highway Lfgj, by Hugh F. Beam, city school;burgin who was first agent at
serving m the new was Kev. damaged so I ^^pgriJgndent, from Representa-* Marion,” he said m introducmg Mrs.
A continuous two-mile stretch of, that only one-way traffic is possible ; ^j,^g ^eb Weaver.
DR. CRAWFORD RETURNS
FROM CAMP BEAUREGARD
Dr. Dean Crawford returned Sat
urday from Louisiana and Texas
where he has been stationed with the
Third Army Maneuver for the past
fourteen days. This consists of the
National Guard units of the 4th
Corps area, including North Caro
lina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Al
abama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Mississippi -and Arkansas, in connec
tion with the 8th Corps area which is
The annual McDowell county sing
ing convention will be held at the
high school auditorium in Marion,
August 31st through September 1st.
The first session will be held on Sat
urday evening and the program will
continue through Sunday, with both
morning and afternoon sessions.
Singers for McDowell and adjoining
counties are expected to take part on
the program and a large crowd is ex
pected.
railroad track was destroyed in the 1 in many places.
Lost Covo section near Poplar. A to-1
tal of some three miles of track was Jess Hollifield, age 94, was injur-
I Ernest House, Mrs. J. C. .Rabb and
! Bonnie Burgin of Marion.
Mr. Weaver’s telegram read as fol-j
lows: Re your interest Project 1 ^
reported destroyed. Train No. 38 ofied and was unconscious for two days | by^WPA offici-isecond rail-
, ^ ^ ^ .... u_: i„„^»i;^„|P*^oject was approved by Wi'A omci ; Marion; t6 Miss Julia
ou August 17th and IS before the I daughter of the late
the C. C. and O. made its first run t after being pulled from a landslide j
south to Spartanburg Monday of | which crushed his home, located
this week. No. 37, northbound, was! about 14 miles north of Marion on
operated yesterday. The road had;the Little Switzerland road, Tuesday
been closed for about a week.
Ralph Goodman, rural mail carri
er for the Marion Postoffice, made
his first trip into the North Cove sec
tion Friday of last week. Because of
blocked roads he was forced to walk
approximately 18 miles to deliver
the mail. Last Saturday he was as
sisted by a boy on a bicycle.
RED CROSS TO INSPECT
COUNTY RELIEF NEEDS I {
Miss Bell Bremmer, case worker
from the national headquarters of
the American Red Cross, arrived in
Marion yesterday to investigate re
lief needs in the North Cove section
of McDowell county.
W. I. Jones, official of the Red
Cross, made a brief investigation of
relief needs in the county this week
and after conferring with Mayor
^eno Martin, chairman of the local
chapter of the Red Cross, recommen-
made up of New Mexico, Arizona, j ded that a case worker be sent into
Oklahoma and Colorado. Troops.this territory.
from these two cocps participated in j Miss Bremmer will be accompani-
these maneuvers which will close jed throughout the county by Miss
about August 25. Dr. Crawford was,Mary Yancey, case Worker for the
stationed at Camp Beauregard. county welfare office.
All crops on the D. C. Bates farm
in the North Cove section were re
ported completely destroyed. 'The
Clay Conley and Marion Good farms
in that area were reported badly
damaged. Practically all crops on
the T. B. Conley farm were said to*
have been ruined.
Two lakes stocked with fish at the
State Fish Hatcheiy broke over
dams Tuesday of last week.
Flood waters swept away the stori
of Guy Lonon in the Ashford section
leavinjg only a filling station sign.
afternoon of last week. According to
information received here, Mr. Hol
lifield was in his home when the
landslide swept down. The structure
crashed down over him and pinned
him by his arm. He was pulled from
the wreckage by his son, Bulow Hol
lifield.
The house and all furniture in it
was destroyed. Mr. Hollifield suffer
ed a severe shock but was not seri
ously injured. He was treated by a
doctor from Little Switzerland.
M. L. Good, lumber dealer and
owner of the Sarah Good Hosiery
Mill at Sevier, estimated that flood
damages to his property amounted
to approximately $50,000. High wat
ers last week swept away his office
at the mill and completely covered
the first Qood of the Sarah Good
plant. ^
The regular schedules of all
Southern Railway trains running
through Marion was resumed at
The loss was estimated at $4,000.00.! about midnight Monday, after work-
Only the cash register in the store men had labored for about a week
was saved. [replacing track washouts between
Morganton and Hickory. Until Mon-
Highway No. 221 north to Lin-!day night, no Southern trains ran
ville Falls has be6n closed all this farther east than Morganton, where
week, workmen and highway men 1 they turned for the return trip to
being employed in building roads ■ Asheville.
President for final approval. Will:
wire you immediately upon informa
tion as to presidential approval.”
According to Mr. Beam, the proj
ect calls for the repairing of the west
wing of the high school building that
was damaged by fire this spring.
About eight classrooms and the libra
ry will be repaired. The library, which
has been found too small to serve
th« needs of the school, will be en
larged..
The new building on the school
gfTounds will be a two-story brick
structure on the east side of the cam
pus and will face Church street. It
will contain approximately four class
rooms, a music room, and a gymna
sium with ^ seating capacity of about
500.
The new building will be used to
relieve crowded conditions that have
existed at the school for the past five
or six years, said Mr. Beam. The
gymnasium will afford opportunities
for recreation and other activities
that have been lacking. In the past
the basement of the .Community
building has been used for indoor
sports of the high school. The Com
munity building has also been used
for music classes which will be held
in the new structure, upon its com
pletion.
Work at the school is expected to
start soon- after the* Pi?e8ident ap
proves the project.
Fuller Burton, the sixth Marion ag
ent, and to Mrs. John B. Newton,
wife of the late John B. Newton,
who surveyed the old W. N. C. Rail
way from Salisbury to Paint Rock
for the Richmond and Danville Rail
road in 1887.
Ladies at the reunion were wel
comed by Mrs. Ben Carr of Marion.
She was introduced by Miss Bonnie
Burgin.
The memorial address was given
by C. S. Fullbright of Henderson
ville.
George E. Lee presented the roll
call of 41 railway men who died
during the past year. The roll call
of Marion deceased members of the
railway brotherhood was given by
George Sandlin.
Mr. Sandlin listed the 16 agents
who have worked in Marion since
1870. Four are deceased — Captain
Alney Burgin, Major James M. Neal,
Amsley A. Yoder and R. Fuller But
ton. Of the 13 living, he listed Wes
ley J. Townsend, of Augusta, Ga.,
George E. Lee of Asheville, Ben G.
Carr of Marion, John F. Conniffe of
Fayetteville, B. A. Cowan of States
ville, F. B. Gwinn of Albemarle, L.
A. Pcicock of Jacksonville, Florida,
F. J. Flagler of High Point, John W.
^'teelman of Hickory, F. M. Williams
of Addie, M. F. West of Canton, and
(Continued on last page)
I