THE MARION PROGRESS A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE OF MARION AND McDOWELL COUNTY ESTABLISHED 1896 MARION, N. C., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1949 VOLUME 54 No. 16 Special Contest To Start Next Week .. Beginning next week the Marion Progress in cooperation with the Marion Theatre will offer free movie passes to the Marion Theatre each week from now until Christ mas. Anyone is eligible to enter this contest except members of The Progress staff and their families. A knowledge of history is desir able, but any diligent reader who is willing to concentrate on the sub ject for a few moments each week may win. Promptness will be one of the essential factors in securing these passes. Each week there will be four adult passes, one pass to a student over 12 years of age and one to a student under 12. The four adult passes will be divided equally be tween persons residing within the city limits of Marion and the rural readers—two passes to Marion res idents (only one to a contestant) and two to county Teaders. Only the first one to present the (Continued on last page) Achievement Day Will Be Observed On November 12 McDowell County Home Demon stration clubs will observe Achieve ment Day on November 12 with a program at the community building, Miss Elsie Garrett, home agent, an nounced this week. Rev. M. 0. Owens will be speaker. Exhibits will be on display from each of the 13 home demonstra tion clubs and each of the 4-H clubs. Faneral Rites For Mrs. Turner Held Saturday Mrs. Lillie Ann Turner, widow of Louis E. Turner, died Friday morn ing at the residence, Marion, route 1. She was 88. Funeral services were conducted Saturday in Nebo Methodist church with the pastor, the Rev. H. R. Cor nelius, assisted by the Rev. Clar ence Frazier, officiating. Burial was in the church ceme tery. Surviving are four sons, William H. and John of Marion; Grover C. and Robert L. of Lenoir; one daugh ter, Mrs. J. M. Lawson of Lenoir; 14 grandchildren; 26 great-grand children, and one sister, Mrs. Nan nie Murphy of Hendersonville. WOODROW W. JONES announc ed today he would be a candidate for Congress to succeed A. L. Bul winkle'of the 11th District, who has announced that he will retire. Jon es, a Rutherfordton attorney, at tended Mars Hill College and grad uated with an LLB Degree from Wake Forest College. He is a form er solicitor of Rutherfordton coun ty, was in the Navy two years, serv ed two terms in the State Legisla ture, is a past commander 01 the Fred Williams Post No. 75, Ameri can Legion of Rutherfordton, past president of the Rutherfordton Ki wanis club, and was a deacon of the First Baptist church of Rutherford ton three years. FRANCIS MARION VOTES TO ASSIST LOCAL PROJECTS The Francis Marion club voted to lend a helping hand to four com munity projects at its meeting in the community building Thursday evening. A donation of $15 was appro priated for the commercial depart ment of Glenwood school to be us ed for the purchases of typewrit ers. A motion was carried to offer aid in financing free lunches for un derprivileged children of Marion High School. Members voted a contribution of $100 for the Teen-Age club and agreed to sponsor an advertisement in the Hylander, Marion High School annual. Jones Pharmacist At Cut Rate Drug Store H. F. -Jones began work last week as pharmacist at the McDow ell Cut Rate Drug Store. He is a former employee of the Cut Rate Store, and returns to Marion from Columbia where he has been a pa tient in the hospital there. Annual Banquet Of Methodist Women To Be Held Monday Fire Wednesday At Stnith Apartments Firemen were summoned to the brick apartment house owned by W. C. Smith, on South Main street yes terday morning about seven o'clock. According to a report by firemen,, fire in the chimney ignited, but was discovered before the blaze spread to the interior of the house. The portion of the chimney which ignit ed was in the apartment occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Mays Flack . Oil Furnace Exploded An oil floor furnace exploded Wednesday morning in the resi dence occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Jo seph K. Stanley on North Garden street. No one was injured and fire damage was confined to a margin of the floor around the furnace. Mrs. Charles Wesley Clay, the wife of a Methodist missionary to Brazil, will be the principal speaker at the annual banuet of the Wo man's Society of Christian Service and Guild of the First Methodist church to be held Monday evening:, November 7 at seven o'clock in the community building. An attendance of 125 is anticipated. Mrs. Clay and her family are spending a year on furlough with Mr. Clay's parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. (Continued on last page) Post Office Receipts Increased Last Month Postal receipts last month total ed $4,756.55, a gain of $52.52 over October, 1948. Bond sales were list ed at $6,262.50 and the gain in postal receipts at $3,357. These fig ures were released by Postmaster John Finley yesterday. Water Shortage Necessitates Mill Gosings Water main on Mackey's Creek and Clear Creek broke Tuesday im peding the flow of water into Mar ion's reservoir and the mills were forced to close yesterday. Service stations and other places of business which use considerable quantities of water were instruct ed to cooperate in conserving the supply while repair crews were at work repairing the damage. ATTENDS CONVENTION R. W. Proctor attended the an nual convention of the North Caro lina State Bar Incorporated in Ral eigh last week-end. DRIVE WILL BE LAUNCHED TO BUILD A NEW HOSPITAL ■ Funeral Services For I. W. Saunders Held Friday Funeral services for Isaac Walter Saunders, 69, well-known Marion barber, who died early Friday in a Marion hospital were held Sunday in the First Baptist church here. The Rev. M. 0. Owens, Jr., pas tor, officiated and burial was in Oak Grove cemetery. Acting pallbearers were Hubert C. Martin, Milton McMahan, C. Y. Banning, Charles Poteat, W. C. Burgin, E. W. Parker, Sr., W. R. (Continued on last page) COUNTY TAX VALUATION GAINS OVER LAST YEAR Funeral Rites For Mrs. Brown Held Sunday Mrs. Mary English Brown, 71, widow of H. Sewell Brown, died at the residence in Ashford Sunday af ter a long illness. Funeral services were conducted in Concord Methodist church Tues day at 3 p. m. by the Rev. H. I>. -Tessup, assisted by the "Rev. Carl McMurray, and burial was in the Brown cemetery. She is survived by two daughters and five sons, Miss Beatrice Brown of the home, Mrs. G. C. Moore, Dewey G., Romulus J., Hudson H. and Eugene C. Brown of Ashofrd, and Jack Brown of Marion; nine grandchildren; and one sister, Mrs. c Edgar R. Stair Elizabethton, Tenn. County tax books for the year 1949 were turned over to C. M. Pool, sheriff and tax collector, two weeks ago. Figures released from the office of Mrs. Mary G. Burgin, county ac countant, this week show that the total valuation for the year 1949 is $25,676,277, a gain of $3,781,394 over the $21,894,883 listed for the year 1948. The tax charge for 1949 was $266,732.77. The preceding year the total charge was $228,959.08. Of that amount $216,034.93 or 94.35 per cent has been collected to date. Mrs. Kanipe's Mother Passes Old Fort—News of the death this week of Mrs. W. A. Warren of Rox boro has been received here. She was the mother of-Mrs. T. R. Ka nipe of Old Fort. Symphony Orchestra Goal Reached; Concert Scheduled Leadership Day To Be Observed By County Women Leadership Training Day will be observed by Home Demonstration clubs of this county today, (Thurs day), Miss Elsie Garrett, county ag ent, announced this week. Two representatives of each club in the county (in most cases the craft leader and her assistant) will meet at 9 a. m., in Miss Garrett's office for instruction in etching. The leaders will later demonstrate methods of etching to their respec tive elubs. Two Prisoners Escape; One Returned To Cell Two prisoners escaped from Mc Dowell county jail about 10 a. m. Saturday, and one was recaptured during the afternoon the same day, Sheriff C. M. Pool soid. Crawford Roberts, whose charge was auto larceny, was arrested in Spruce Pine by a State Highway Patrolman after his escape and re turned to jail here. Delno Pressley, of Glen Alpine, charged with as sault with deadly weapon, was the other prisoner who escaped. It was stated that the door of the jail was left open while the cell' was being cleaned. Sometime early in March, the North Carolina Little Symphony will play two concerts in Marion— the regular free student concert for the various schools of the communi ty and the evening program for lo cal members of the North Carolina Symphony Society. Mrs. E. W. Parker, Jr., announc ed today that the $750 goal had been achieved. Mrs. Parker was en thusiastic in her praise of the ef forts of the local committee mem bers, and for the generous response of local industrial and business leaders. She also voiced sincere ap preciation for the fine publicity given the campaign by radio station WBRM and the local newspapers. Local music lovers who have not yet obtained memberships in the Symphony Society may do so any time in the near future by contact ing any of the local committee members. Last year the 'North Car olina Symphony broadcast over several nation-wide hookups and re ceived recognition in "Time" mag azine for the splendid work the or chestra is doing in the promotion of fine music throughout the state of North Carolina. RAINED OUT GAME TO BE MADE UP Marion High Rippers game with Rutherfordton, scheduled last Fri day, was rained out and will be played November 28, it was an nounced yesterday. The Rippers will play Lenoir Fri day of this week at 7:30 o'clock in Lenoir. The Lenoir team has not been defeated in a conference game this season. Trustees Announce Plans For A New Building Of 60-Bed Capacity S. R. CROSS will head the drive to raise funds for the new hospital building. The drive opens Novem ber 28 to raise $100,000 to be added to funds already on hand. Hamrick To Enter 11th District House Race J. Nat Hamrick, Rutherfordton lawyer and businessman, has addec his name as a Democratic candidatt for representative from the lltl North Carolina district in the 195( spring primaries. The incumbent, Rep. A. L. Bui winkle of Gastonia, has announcec he will not run again. The district embraces Cleveland Gaston, McDowell, Madison, Polk Rutherfordton and Yancey counti es. Charles E. Hamilton, Gastonia lawyer, had announced previously that he was a candidate. Quiet Hallowe'en By Police Chief Hallowe'en was quiet this year. Chief of Police D. W. Smith said, He said he was quite pleased with the way the public cooperated in response to his request to refrain from destroying property. Smith, who has been Chief oi Police since January 25, 1947, saic this Hallowe'en was much quietei than last year. Is A modern new 60-bed hospital and nurses home to serve the people of McDowell county will be built in. Marion, the trustees of Mariorv General Hospital announced today. The $700,000 non-profit institu tion will cost the county less than, one-third actual construction costsr according to W. L. Morris, chair man of the hospital trustees. "If $100,000 can be raised by McDowell county, plus the funds on hand, the state and federal govern ments will give us the rest," added Morris. The government grants, available under terms of the Medical Care Commission's Good Health Program of Hospital construction, will meet over two-thirds of the building costr or about $450,000, if the county's share can be raised. Approximately $120,000 of the county's share has been donated. S. R. Cross has been named head of a committee to raise the addi tional $100,000 needed by the coun | ty to qualify for the government aid. Other members of the commit ! tee are Joe Noyes and Otis Broy hill. The drive will open on Novem ber 28, and every citizen of Mc Dowell County is urged to give his share. The announcement climaxes ti. long study of the over-crowded i Marion General Hospital, which, i must serve McDowell county's 25,000 people, as well as patients from surrounding counties without adequate hospital facilities. Orig inally built as a 32-bed institution, the hospital has added 10 more (Continued on last page) Robbery Reported At 0. K. Station Frances Dean Ray and Fred Hall were arrested on charges of break ing and entering after a robbery was reported at the O. K. Service Station, Chief of Police D. W. Smith, said this week. Smith said both con fessed to the charges, He estimated the loss of candy and cigarettes at "less than $50." Hall, 13, is a minor and will be un der the custody of his parents until he stands trial in juvenile court. Ray will be given a hearing before the Mayor and will face trial at the next term of Superior Court. The loss was discovered when the service station was opened Monday morning. HALLOWE'EN CARNIVAL PRONOUNCED A SUCCESS New Druggist At Tainter's Robert Louis Irwin, registered pharmacist, has accepted a position with Tainter's Drug Store and will begin his duties Friday, November 3, D. W. Tainter said yesterday. He is a native of Alleghany coun ty, graduate of Sparta High School and the University of North Caro lina School of Pharmacy. He was formerly associated with the Turn er Drug company in Elkin. He serv ed in the U. S. Navy 21 months and was associated with the North Wil kesboro Drug company three years. In 1945 he married Miss Sarah Rutledge of Elkin. An experiment with the Marion High School Hallowe'en Carnival this year proved successful, accord ing to a statement yesterday by Mrs. R. R. Cooke. Eliminating the election of a. Harvest King and Queen and cake auction sale, the main emphasis j this year was directed toward pro viding entertainment for the stu dents and allowing the parents to share in the event by participating. Mrs. Cooke and Mrs. W. Ray Smith, Jr., were in charge of ar rangements. It was estimated that several hundred persons visited the school during the evening. A square dance in the gym furnished enter tainment for the high school stu dents although a number of them also joined with the younger set in visiting booths at the carnival show. Net proceeds had reached $368.55 yesterday.