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(Ik* Highlands J&Wrttnmt
Number 20
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
At Franklin, North Carolina
Telephone No. 24
Entered at Post Office, Franklin, N. C., as second class matter.
WEIMAR JONES Editor
BOB 8. SLOAN Business Manager
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VOL. LXVl
$2.00
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.75
.06
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This article, by the immediate
past mayor of Franklin, is the first in a series of fuest
editorials. The guest editor next week will be Robert M.
Diliard, who recently took office as Franklin's mayor.)
All For One
GUEST EDITORIAL
7*11 F. future of Franklin depends on the future of
* Macon County. And the future of Macon Coun
ty depends on the future of Franklin.
We couldn't have a town without a thriving farm
section, and we wouldn't have much here without a
town as a trading center for the county. Too, we
are all the same kind of people, because 90 per cent
of the people in town were raised in the country.
Franklin is just a core, with highways leading in
from every direction.
Franklin and the rural
sections are fortunate in
having in the county a
third distinctive asset,
an outstanding tourist
center ? Highlands, fam
ed as the highest incor
porated town east of the
Rockies. Highlands, al
though its interests are
a little different, is al
ways ready to cooper
ate with the rest of the
county, as it has proved
time and again in the
various drives and other
community endeavors.
From the agricultural
standpoint, Macon Coun
HENRY W. CASE
ty is adapted to dairying, beef cattle, poultry, sheep,
and trucking. And the business men in Franklin
have supported, and will continue to support, the
agricultural development, especially the 4-H clubs
and the FFA. By doing this, we produce better
stuff, which brings better prices, and benefits both
the producers and the people in town.
Franklin is the countvseat and trading center of
the county, and a tourist town, and anything we
can do to develop Franklin will be helpful to every
body in the county.
I have noticed in the past few years a wide dif
ference in the homes in the country. Today most of
them are painted, and their yards are neat and
clean. And most of them are constantly being im
proved. Getting electricity into the rural homes has
helped, and the farm agents and home demonstra
tion agents have been of great assistance. But of
course these improved homes are, first and fore
most, the result of work and enterprise on the part
of the people who live in them.
Due to this better rural life, we are attracting a
considerable number of people from outside states,
who have bought or built homes in the country,
some of them as summer homes, some of them as
permanent places for retirement.
Because Franklin really belongs to all the people
of the county, any effort to clean it up and keep
it clean should interest everybody in the county.
Just as the country is growing and developing be
cause it has become more attractive, so Franklin
will develop as it is made clean and more attrac
tive. A clean Franklin is the responsibility of all
of us.
As we look to the future, I hope Franklin and the
county can work together for a clean, attractive
town and countryside and for small, diversified,
desirable industries, and that the town will go ahead
with a system of zoning and plans for an adequate
water supply.
?HENRY W. CABE
Our American Civilization
America, land of individual freedom, teaching
unquestioning obedience to constituted authority;
forgetting that every freedom we enjoy was won
for ut by men who were rebels against constituted
Zoning Arid Planning
There i* nothing very complicated about clean
ing up Franklin and Highlands, then keeping them
clean, and finally adding touches of beauty to the
great beauty they already are blessed with. It will
take enthusiasm, hard work, preseverance, and
perhaps occasional use, as a last resort, of the po
lice power. But it is something that can be started
now.
It is to be hoped that the municipal governments
in the two towns will go to work without delay on
zoning, but that they will take ample time for care
ful .study before actually writing such ordinances
into law.
Zoning ordinances are another matter.
Ordinances that are unjust or that will not work
would be much worse than no ordinances at all ; for
they probably would set back progress along this
line five, possibly 10, years.
As a matter of fact, it would be difficult indeed
to write intelligent zoning ordinances without first
doing some town planning ? deciding, in the case of
each town, what its future is likely to be, in what
ways and in what directions it is likely to grow,
and what areas are best fitted for different types of
use, such as manufacturing, retail business, residen
tial property, public buildings, and parks and rec
reational areas.
Franklin, incidentally, is fortunate, according to
our information, in having in its files a rather com
plete town plan. That plan may or may not be ex
actly what is needed, but it certainly would provide
a start. And Highlands is fortunate in another way ;
it has a considerable number of intelligent full-time
or part-tihie residents who have both the leisure
and interest to give time and study to such a
project.
Even so, worth-while town planning probably
would involve spending some money ? in .public, as
well as private, enterprises, people usually get just
about what they pay for. It probably would make
sense to employ a man or firm trained in town
planning to make surveys and recommendations.
This newspaper would be the first to oppose let
ting an expert tell us what sort of towns we are
going to have and what they are going to look
like when we get through with them ; the towns
themselves should reserve the right to make the
final decisions. But experts could be extremely val
uable in making suggestions that the layman, on
the spot, would never think of. (It's the same sort
of thing as having a surgical operation ; the patient
and his family reserve the right to make the final
decision, but they get the advice of a good diagnos
tician before attempting to make a decision.)
It also might be a good idea for the two town
boards to name planning commissions, made up of
interested local laymen, to work with the experts,
giving the latter the benefit of their knowledge of
local conditions.
Finally, this newspaper believes that any town
plan .should be adopted only after it has been ex
plained in detail to the public, and until the citizens
have debated it. In that way, a plan could be work
ed out that would have general backing.
Such a procedure would be slow, to be sure; but
by following it, we could get a general, plan that,
because it had the support of the general public,
could be carried over from one municipal adminis-"
tration to another.
? Letters
THE NEXT SUPERINTENDENT
Editor, The Press:
A few words In regard to our superintendent of schools in
Macon County. How confused the whole situation seems to
be and how important a capable man would be to the county
at this time, when we are in a great building program. It
should make us siop and think.
What man is available in North Carolina that Is more
capable of taking over the school system and the building
program? Who knows where the material and equipment for
these new buildings can be purchased for the smallest sum?
No man that has been the principal of an ordinary high
school for two or three years can do the Job. Who has brought
the program so far? Let us use our heads and allow him to
finish it. Yes, I think Mr. Houk can do the best Job. I believe
he will be willing, for he thinks that highly of Macon County.
In our actions we should have the future of our children
and county, not that of an individual, uppermost In our mind.
*
Sincerely,
DONALD 8 EAGLE
Western Carolina Teachers College,
Cullowhee, N. C.
May 15, 1951.
EDITOR'S NOTE: On one point, at least, Mr. Seagle ap
pears to be laboring under a misapprehension. Aa a matter of
keeping the record straight, here Is the situation as to Mac4p
County's school building program, and the responsibility**
completing that program:
The general planning for the building program was the
responsibility of the county superintendent anil the county
board of education. That planning has been completed. With
the exception of the Negro school, the school sites have been
selected, the siaes of the schools determined, the plan* drawn
and approved, and the oon tracts let
From hw# on out, ttM ratpomlbUlty U largily that of (1)
OUR DEMOCRACY ?
^'Memorial Day^?
Countl?M men and women of past generation* haw,
bj their courage, integrity, devotion and sacrifice ,
contributed totbe^lory that is/lmerica.
How sleep th< brave? They sleep well, their dutij
done, their fame secure ~a? we, the living,
carry on the purpose to which they dedicated
their liues?the perpetuation an& advancement
oj Our "Democracy.
the contractor, who is under bond to do the construction in
accordance with clearly defined plans and specifications
(which have the approval of both state and local authorities),
and (2) the architect's building inspector. A man trained for
that type of work, who is here on the ground, the Inspector
being paid by the county to see to it that the contractor
complies with the terms of his contract ? and that he doesn't
get paid unless and until he does.
? Others' Opinions
THE KIDS FEEL FINE
Mr. and Mrs. J. Perquimans Hampstead (fictitious name) of
Winston-Salem have two children named Lucy and Henry.
They found out that the children of friends of theirs who
live nearby had the mumps.
Mr. Hampstead said, "I think this is as good time as any for
Lucy and Henry to get the mumps and get it over with. You
take them over and have them exposed. Then the children will,
In due time, come down with the mumps and we'll be through
with it. It won't be hanging with us."
So, Mrs. Hampstead took the children to the friend's house.
Lucy and Henry played In the sick room with the other chil
dren afflicted with mumps.
Now, quite a few days later, Mr. Hampstead and Mrs. Hemp
stead are in bed with the mumps.
Lucy and Henry are felting fine.? Pete Ivey in Twin City
Sentinel.
"MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING"
For weeks now this country has presented to the world a
spectacle of almost Incredible asslnlnlty. While a senseless wave
of mass hysteria sweeps over the people at large, our law
making machinery is clogged and completely stalled to allow
our reverend senators, in committee assembled, to go on and
on, hour after hour and day after day, asking of General
MacArthur and General Marshall, and the many who are to
follow them, useless and Idiotic questions the answers to which
are known to all thinking men as well as they are to the dis
tinguished men to whom they are addressed. And all of this
memery because the commander-in-chief of our military forces,
upon the advice of his chief military and civilian counselors, has
found It necessary to relieve or his command the general in
charge of operations In a war theatre. What under heaven Is
all the fuss about? It Is not as though It were the business
of the Congress, or the 8enate, to decide which general should
command a given operation. That Is not their job. Our gov
ernment suffers greatly from too many people, particularly In
Congress, trying to do the other fellow's ]ob. Gen MacArthur,
himself, was a shining success as long as he stuck to his own
military Job, and came a cropper only when he tried to enter
the field of International policy making, where he fid not
belong and had no authority. Well, It all goes to prove that
people are funny animals.
?Franklin Rotary Club's Fly Wheel".
? ? ? ? ?
Men o:ten make up In wrath what they want In reason.
?Cyrus Alger.
r* -
? Ment best successes come after their disappointment!.
?Henry Ward Beecher.
? ? *iA
? r ' ! i ?**
Never do anything Just because other people do It.
? Bruce Barton.
Any fool oan cut price*; but it take* a man of bralna to
mam an areola of qwilty Mil Ifc-? . ?. Armour.
Business
Making
News
? By BOB SLOAN
If you adopt a slogan It's nice
to be able to live up to It. With
that In mind we suggest that
? good slogan for Franklin
might be, "Franklin, the town
with an Individual filling sta
tion for every car."
On the subject of filling sta
tions, there is a rumor that one
of Franklin's most popular fill
ing station owners may leave
the retail field and become op
erator of the new bulk plant
here. The man In question is
D. A. Stewart.
All 8pring I have had trouble
keeping in step with Bruce
Palmer and the new Franklin
Feed Mill. When I would say
that work was progressing well
on the new plant work would
stop and If I said that work
was at a standstill Bruce would
double the shifts. Now the new
modern plant has been com
pleted and the firm Is moved
to the location. Besides a big
help to the farmers of this
county, Bruce asked me to tell
every one that the "side walk
would be blocked no longer.
Perhaps by the time that this
is published we will have had
some rain. If not by that time
the Franklin water supply Will
be reaching the very low point.
If It is a long dry Summer,
as there are Indications of its
being, serving on the town
board may be as hot In the
next three months as the Board
of Education seats have been in
the last three. Perhaps more
than one alderman will roll
over In his sleep and mutter,
"If only we had a nice good
watershed."
Do You
Remember?
(Looking backward through
the flies of The Press)
50 TEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Every teacher In the public
schools of Macon County ought
to take the county paper. The
reason ought to be plain to all
who are qualified to teach.
The commencement exercises
of the Franklin High school be
gins tomorrow night at the
courthouse.
Would it not be along the line
of progress for Franklin to re
vive the Board of Trade?
The dry weather of last
month cut off the strawberry
crop considerably.
25 YEARS AGO
Rev. J. A. Flanagan, pastor
of the Presbyterian churches In
Macon County, arrived here on
the 13th instant and preached
his first sermon at the Frank
lin Presbyterian church last
Sunday to a large and appre
ciative audience.
The local forest officials re
ceived word that two Inches of
snow fell on Wayah Bald on the
night of May 14. What's the
use of going to the Rockies for
cool weather?
1* YEARS AGO
The Franklin team, with Eng
lish pitching, defeated Blue
Ridge in the first game of a
double-header with a score 14
11 In last Sunday's game.
The continued dry weather
has damaged the lespedeza crop
seeded this spring by at least
half and also the potato crop,
according to Sam Mendenhall,
county farm agent.
Through the cooperation of
the Franklin Rotary club, a pig
chain is being started in Macon
County.
Quality
Printing
The
Franklin Press
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