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Entered at Post Office. Franklin, N. C. u second clan matter
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Preen
Franklin, N. C. Telephone 24
WEIMAR JOKES Editor
BOB S. SLOAN Advertising Manager
J. P. BRADY Neva Editor-Photographer
MBS. ALLEN SILER Society Editor-Office Manager
MRS. MARION BRYSON . . Proofreader
CARL P. CABE Opera tor- Machinist
PRANK A. STARRETTE Compositor
O. K. CRAWFORD Stereotype!
CHARLES E, WH1TT1NOTON Pressman
DAVID H. SUTTON Commercial Printer
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Outbid* Macon County
One Year $3.00
Six Months 175
Three Months .... 1-00
Two Years 5-25
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Three Years 8 00
JULY S, 1956
Garbage And Sense
Most observers will agree with what this news
paper often has pointed out: Franklin is fortunate
in its mayor and aldermen ; they are conscientious
public servants who devote an amount of thought
and time to town affairs out of all proportion to
their compensation ; and, on the whole, they do an
excellent job.
That, however, doesn't mean that the citizens
should approve every action of the board, or agree
?with the arguments supporting those actions. The
Tecent announcement about garbage collection is
a case in point.
Let's take the argument first. Because the town
has grown, says the announcement, either garbage
collection service must be curtailed or the tax rate
raised. That argument, it seems to us, fails to hold
water. For doesn't the growth show up in an in
crease in the amount of taxes collected as fast as
it does in the amount of garbage?
Now about the solution the board proposes. The
board requests householders to burn everything
that will burn, and to put their garbage out front,
instead of at the back door. Until the town can do
what it seems is obviously necessary ? buy anoth
er truck and put on more men ? most people will
cheerfully comply with these two requests. They
will, that is, if the plan works. But the second part
of the plan ? putting garbage out front ? will
.work only if three things happen:
(a) if the collectors are more careful than they
have been in the past about spilling garbage and
leaving it lying on the ground.
(b) if the town enforces the regulation requiring
that garbage be put in metal containers with
covers.
<c) if the truck arrives in a given area on the day
?appointed for collection in that area. Otherwise, the
liouseholder who puts his garbage out front, say
Tuesday morning, must haul it back inside Tues
day night ? or risk having the can turned over, the
lid scratched off, and the contents scattered by the
?dogs that range the town at night.
Without these three "ifs", the cure will prove
worse than the disease ? we'll have' one of the
grandest messes in the town's history.
Hard Dilemma
Last week's anti-Communist revolt in Poland,
and its bloody suppression, points up the dilemma
faced by the United States.
In the conflict between totalitarian Communism
?and a free West, our present policy seems to offer
"but one of two hard choices. The first is ultimate
atomic war. The second is the gradual loss of all
?our traditional Western freedoms, as we give up
one after the other in our effort to compete with
a powerful dictatorship, in a cold war that could
last a thousand years.
Through the darkness of that dilemma is the
faint glimmer of one hope, perhaps the world's
only hope. We can be saved that hard choice only
if the totalitarian Communist regimes are over
thrown by revolt from within.
But is there any real hope of a successful revolu
tion without substantial help from outside? The
point is underscored by our own history ; the
American Revolution almost certainly would have
failed ? and such men as Washington and Frank
lin executed as traitors ? had not France come to
?our aid.
Yet there is little or no evidence that we are psy
?chologically prepared to offer help to revolution
behind the Iron Curtain or even that Washington
[(If THE TOURIST CAN'T MAKE FRANKLIN
;BY CAR, WHY NOT DREDGE THE LITTLE
TENNESSEE RIVER SO THEY CAN COME
BY BOAT?
LITTL6 TENN.!
RIVER
Work on highway to Georgia line poses same old problem ?
roads closed for construction. Cartoonist, though, suggests solu
tion that's new.
has any plans for cooperation with an anti-Com
munist revolution.
The situation is given an ironic twist by an As
sociated Press report: "Western radios beamed
hundreds of broadcasts to Eastern Europe, sending
messages of encouragement . . ." We encouraged
the revolt ? a revolt that, without our physical
help, could lead to nothing but the slaughter that
followed !
And it is given a hopeless note by the inescapable
realization that each time we encourage revolt, and
then let it fail, we lessen the chances of a new re
volt.
Community Disgrace
The recent series o? thefts and break-ins here is
almost without precedent in Franklin. In most
places, such crimes are taken for granted; here,
they are the rare exception.
Let's keep this community different in that re
spect !
The first line of defense against such lawlessness,
of course, is the law itself. Prompt arrest and
trial ; then, if the evidence warrants conviction,
swift, sure punishment ? this can prove a powerful
deterrent. But that alone is not enough.
Back of law enforcement officers and the courts
must stand a community attitude. The most effec
tive deterrent is a sense of shame ; a feeling that
it is a disgrace to the whole community to have
such things happen. That attitude, over the years,
has had much to do with making even petty thiev
ery rare here.
Deterring crime, though, is a negative approach.
Back of it, there must be something positive. And
of course the only positive approach is training
through the time-honored agencies, the school, the
church and the home. As elsewhere in America,
two things, at least, have gone wrong in that
training: First, too great emphasis has been put
on material things, too little on th^ value of such
intangibles as honesty and the self-respect .such
traits bring; second, there has been far too little
stress on teaching children the difference between
what is theirs and what belongs to somebody else.
What pride can we have in our highways if we are to litter
our roadsides and highways with debris? Are we as citizens
to throw out of our cars paper, trash, lighted cigarettes, etc.,
which cause danger and ugliness and which acts do not reflect
the true character of our people who are generally clean, law
ful and orderly?? Governor Luther H. Hodges.
Others' Opinions
(Opinions expressed In this space are not necessarily those
of The Press. Editorials selected for reprinting here. In fact, _ _
are chosen with a view to presenting a variety of viewpoints.
They are, that Is, Just what the caption says ? OTHERS*
Opinions.)
Who Is She?
(Lumon, Colo., Leader)
Who Is this Helen Hlghwater dame we hear so many are
going to do so much in spite of?
The Difference
(Fallon, Nev., Standard)
Horse sense Is what keeps horses from placing bets on peo
ple.
Who First Played Bridge?
(From "The Bridge Player's Bedside Companion")
If you want to start a controversy among card historians,
ask them this question, "How did bridge come Into being?"
You are likely to get almost as many explanations as there
are historians.
According to one story, bridge was originally played in Is
tanbul, Turkey, by the Russian colony. It was brought to Eng
land around 1884, and there acquired a new name. Two
couples in Leicestershire were wont to visit each other on
alternate nights to play the game. The path between the two
homds led across a rickety old bridge which wasn't too safe
at night. When the game broke up the visiting pair would say
with relief, "Well, tomorrow night it's your bridge." And thus
the game got to be known as bridge whist, then gradually
bridge, with the whist part being dropped.
Another version of the origin of the name is a more prosaic
one. In bridge, the dealer had the option of selecting the
trump suit or passing? "bridging" ? the decision to his partner.
Bridge in the form we know it today really began to arrive,
however, when a dummy hand was laid face up on the table.
And this development, too, seemed to have a story attached
to it.
As the late card authority and historian R. F. Foster tells
It, "three British civil service officers were stationed at a
lonely hill post in India, with no fourth bridge player within
a hundred miles. One of them suggested bidding for the
fourth hand, which would then be placed as a face-up dum
my. "The others liked the idea . . . and called the game 'auc
tion.' It was described in the London Daily Mail as a good
game for three players . . . Then one player asked if four
might play . .
Sound Advice For Parents
(Bertie Ledger-Advance)
The father of a 16-year-old boy has given sound advice to
other parents of teen-age children. If widely heeded It could
prolong the life of countless teen-agers and make the high
ways and streets safe for all who travel.
The 16-year-old son of W. B. Myers, city representative
councilman of Tampa, was the driver of an automobile which
went out of control at a high rate of speed causing the death
of one teen-ager and injuring five others.
At the request of the Tampa Times, Myers wrote his reac
tion to the accident, both as a father and a city official.
Carried by the Associated Press, Myer's statement has re
ceived wide publication throughout the nation. It gives food
for thought for every parent.
"How can you explain to a child," Myers asked, "or even an
adult that has to go under 40 ? the limit where this acci
cldent occurred ? when he is constantly shown examples of
cars which go more than 100?
"They show cars colliding head-on at 60 miles an hour to
show that the so-called safety doors won't come open.
"The car my son drove had these so-called safety features.
Both doors sprung open and Mike Korbly was thrown to the
pavement with fatal injuries. I say this not to excuse my son,
because I luiow he did a terribly wrong thing.
"But I think that safety itself should be stressed, not speed,
not horsepower, not pifckup, not safety features."
Perhaps the automobile manufacturers who spend millions
upon millions of dollars promoting their new models might
profitably dwell upon that statement.
There is also another point which Myers raises, not only for
parents, but for the public generally.
"I think that except in extreme cases, a boy probably
should not be permitted to drive until he is 18. That two
year difference will give him much more maturity and com
?mon sense.
"The law gives a child 16 years old the right to drive. But
I feel that each parent should examine his own child as an
individual and determine whether the child is fit from the
standpoint of maturity and common sense to operate a lethal
weapon such as the modern car."
STRICTLY 1
PERSONAL
By WEIMAR JONES
In this space, a couple of
weeks ago, I talked about the
problems of slowing down in
this jet-speed era, of doing the
things that matter and ignoring
those that don't, of finding time
to be a human being in an age
when most of us tend to become
automatons.
Commenting on that piece,
Phillips Russell, the just-retired
and beloved professor of crea
tive writing at the University of
North Carolina, offers some
sage advice ? good for all of
us ? in his Chapel Hill News
Leader.
Human beings, he suggests,
would do well" to study the ani
mals. And he selects for his ex
ample a philosophical bull:
"Weimar Jones, editor of The
Franklin Press, comes , forth
with a novel suggestion. It is
that everybody would benefit by
being sick (moderately of
course) say once a year.
"Weimar has had time 'since
his recent mild heart attack to
reflect seriously upon the pro
gram that he shall follow from
now on.
"He might study the ways of
a big black bull In a pasttfre
known to us. He grazes a while
and then he lies down. When
he goes down to the pond to
drink, he lingers In the edge of
the water and studies with ap
preciation the life around him.
He is amused by the bullfrog
that jumps into the pond ahead
of him, he watches the flight
of a dove, and observes the
shadow cast by an overhead
cloud. His thirst quenched, he
rubs his head and neck against
an apple tree. He is willing to
be guided and even led, but if
anyone tries to hurry him be
yond a reasonable pace, he
whirls on him and shows him
his horns."
As would be expected of a
teacher of writing, Mr. Russell
says a lot, and says It well, In
a few words. The example of
the bull is one most of us
might well emulate.
Personally, I am particularly
grateful for the last sentence;
I intend to start growing a pair
of horns, tomorrow ? to be
turned on any and all who
would liurry me!
* ? ?
Add mountain humor:
Two .Macon Countians see
each other for the first time in
a long while. After the initial
greetings, one asks:
"Well, what are you doing
now?"
"O, nothing much; Just mess
In' around."
"But surely you still have to
do something for a living?"
"Y-e-s ... but I'm trying to
wean myself."
VIEWS
?7
BOB SLOAN
Congratulations to the Frank
lin Jaycees for the fine way
they cleaned up after the loud
ly publicized rodeo. Often times,
shows like that do only two
things. First, they take a lot of
money out of our county. Sec
ond, they leave a lot of mess.
Congratulations, again to the
Jaycees for seeing that a lot of
mess wasn't left.
? ? ?
Last week's tragedy at Dry
Falls should convince the pow
ers that be that a guard fence
should be built beside the walk
way down to, and under, the
falls there. At least three per
sons have lost their lives there.
Isn't that three too many?
? ? ?
This writing is being done on
the week-end before the Fourth
of July. We will certainly be
very lucky If we escape having
several traffic fatalities over the
Fourth. The reason is the ab
normal amount of traffic which
will be traveling the Franklin
Highlands road while it serves
as a detour route for US 441.
Very little work would have
been necessary to have kept the
detour on a river level route
that I believe would have been
much safer. Also the combined
traffic of US route 64 and US
441 would have not been all
forced on to the same road.
* * *
The veterans bill which gives
increased benefits to the veter
ans of World War I is good, I
think. I have always felt that
our country is rich enough to
reward its soldiers. Also, it has
seemed to me that the World
War II vets and Korean war
vets were much better treated
than the veterans of World
War I.
Also increasing veterans ben
efits is a much better pump
priming measure than giving
tax reductions on stock divi
dends.
Do You
Remember?
(Looking backward through
the files of The Press)
50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Mrs. J. M. Weaver and Miss
Glen Weaver returned to Ashe
ville, N. C., after a few days'
visit to her father, Mr. J. B.
Gray.
Rev. C. A. Ridley went to Ra
bun Gap, Ga., yesterday to lec
ture at the Rabun Industrial
School last night. He preached
in the court house here Sunday
forenoon and at the Baptist
Churph Sunday night.
Miss Leila Travis, of Newton,
N. C., is spending sometime
visiting the family of Mr. E. D.
Franks.
25 YEARS AGO
The Franklin and Sylva Ro
tary Clubs will hold a joint
meeting at High Hampton Inn
next Tuesday evening. At this
time the new officers of both
clubs will be Installed.
Mr. Oliver Ray, who has been
working in Louisville, Ky., is
?spending two weeks here with
his family on Bonny Crest.
The young people of High
lands enjoyed a most success
ful square dance last Saturday
night at the Masonic Hall. The
next dance will be held July
4. ? Highlands item.
10 YEARS AGO
Miss Elizabeth Yancey, a civ
ilian employe of the army sta
tioned at Frankfort, Germany,
has been here for a week's visit
to her sister, Mrs. W. E. Hunni
cutt, while on leave in the
states.
Mr. and Mrs. Ray Swafford
have returned to their home
here after spending three weeks
in Portsmouth, Va., visiting Mrs.
Swafford's sister, Mrs. A. O.
Stampley and Mr. Stampley.
Miss Marguerite Ravenel and
Miss Clarissa Ravenel, of Phila
delphia, Pa., have opened their
summer home, "Wolf Ridge", on
Sunset Mountain for the sea
son. ? Highlands item.