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Second clan mall privileges authorized at Franklin. N. O.
Puollshed every Thursday by The FrankUa Press
Telephone 24
WKIMAR JONES . .
JOB S. SLOAN . .
P. BRADY . .
ROLFE NKILL
MBS ALLEN SILER .
CARL P CABS . ,
FRANK A. STARRBTTE
O. E. CRAWFORD
DAVID H SUTTON
Editor
Advertising Manager
News Editor-Photographer
Reporter
Society Editor Office Manager
Operator-Machinist
Compositor
Stereotypy
Commercial Printer
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Outside Macon County Inside Macon Count t
One Year ..... $3.00
Six Months 1.7S
Three Months .... 1.00
T?o Yews ..... 5 .25
* Three Years . * . . . 7.50
One Year $2.50
Six Months 1.75
Three Months .... 1.00
Two Years 4.25
Three Years 0.00
FEBRUARY 7, 1957
We Point With Pride
Do you like the editorial cartoons that (re now
appearing on this page as a regular feature?
They are bought by The Press from the Greens
3x?ro Daily News, which publisNfes one daily, and
gives* us the choice of the week's offerings.
The drawings are by Hugh Haynie, cartoonist
for the Daily News, who posesses to a remarkable
'degree the cartoonist's gift ? the ability to grasp
the heart of a situation and put it into a single pic
ture and a few words. In fact, Governor Hodges
last week called him the "best cartoonist in the
country."
We have long wanted a cartoon for our editor
ial page, but have waited until we could get a good
one. We take pride in being able to offer the Haynie
cartoons, and we hope our readers will enjoy them.
Boorish And Childish
"l
King Saud, of Saudi-Arabia, is anti-Jewish and
anti-Catholic.. So when he landed in New York on
a state visit to this country, that heavily Jewish
and heavily Catholic city was frigid in its welcome.
Mayor Wagner flatly refused even to greet the
visitor.
Whether it made sense for us to invite Saud ?
whether we have any business dealing with the
absolute monarch of a country that still practices
human slavery? ris one thing. But how we should
treat an invited guest is quite another. We don't
always agree 100 per cent with guests We have in
our homes, but none of us would use that as an
excuse to be discourteous.
The New Yorkers' actions were both boorish and
childish.
Busses And Public Policy
Some interesting things were brought out at last
Friday's bus hearing in Ashevillc, held by Mr. Ed
ward H. McMahan, of the State Utilities Commis
sion.
There is the question of whether it is going to
?continue possible for Mapon County people to
go by bus to Asheville, have any time to transact
business or see a doctor, and be able to return the
same day. It won't be possible if the Commission
grants the bus company's request for authority to
discontinue the early morning bus to Asheville and
vthe night bus back to Franklin.
The hearing brought out pretty conclusively that
the bus company is on a treadmill. Several years
ago it began to reduce Service in order to cut exr
penses; the result was a big loss in revenue; now
it proposes to further reduce service? with still
further loss it] revenue almost inevitable.
Also developed was a rather childish dog-in-the
manger attitude. Admittedly, Smoky Mountain
Stages is losing money, system-wide ? but it wants
to hold on to its franchise. Admittedly, it has dis
continued all service from Franklin to Highlands,
to Bryson City, to Murphy ? but it wants to hold
on to its franchise over those routes. It can't or
won't give .service ? but it is unwilling to let some
body else try.
'The issues involved, though, in this and similar
-cases all over the state, go deeper than these things ;
jinvolved are questions of public policy.
Among the questions facing the Utilities Com
mission, it seems to us, are these:
.1. Is the commission to reverse the time-honored
theory that a public service corporation, operating
under a state-granted monopoly, must give service
? wherever there is a reasonable need, letting the
profitable lines make up the deficit from the un
profitable ones ? is it to reverse that policy and let
the bus companies operate only those runs that arc
individually profitable? If so, why grant the mo- ?
nopoly ?
2. Is the Commission going to go a step farther
and allow the bus companies to discontinue all ex
cept main lines, between the larger cities? If so,
what effect is that going to have on the already
hard-pressed railroads? That is important, because
there is serious question whether this country can
get along without its railroads.
3. With iewer and fewer communities served by
railroad passenger trains, it is important that bus
service be maintained. Thousands of people are too
old or otherwise physically unable to drive an auto
mobile; others are not financially able to own an
automobile. If we have no rail or bus passenger'
service except along main lines, what is going to
happen to the thousands of such people who live
off the beaten path?
Those questions suggest that, instead of driving
the bus companies to keener and keener competi
tion with the mainline railroads and at the same
time leaving thousands of people without any
means of transportation, it might make sense to
give the bus companies an increase in rates and
then require them to give service ? to the little
towns as well as the big.
Whether the economic plight of the bus com
panies is as sad as they paint it we are in no posi
tion to find out. But the Utilities Commission is.
We suggest it should find out ? and act accord
ingly.
Letters
'Keep It Coming'
Editor, The Press:
Enclosed please find $3 for my renewal to The Press. I
wouldn't want to miss a copy of it. Even though I have been
away from Franklin for nine years, I still get a lot of Inter
esting news from the paper that I would be unable to get
any other way. So please keep it coming my way.
, HOMER H. LEDBETTER.
Canton, Ohio.
Water For Franklin
Dear Weimar:
I was very much Interested in reading the comments In The
Press dealing with the water problem at Franklin, my old
home- town. It was really surprising to me to note the state
ments made by officials of Sylva, Andrews and Robblnsvllle
to the effect that each of those towns had the best water
"in North Carolina, the world, or anywhere". I had thought
that perhaps Burnsville had the best water.
But aside from the "Chamber of Commerce Spirit", I know
that your town is faced with a serious situation. The water
shed has proved very satisfactory here but one difficulty we
have in very cold weather is the fact that the Intakes some
times freeze, being at an altitude of five thousand feet.
I used to have the idea that Franklin shoufcl have utilized
what I knew of as Mill Creek which flows down near the resi
dence where Mr. Lenoir lived. Many years ago I was rambling
around under TrUnont with some other boys and went down
that stream. It has occurred to me that if the stream flow
was sufficient, water from a reservoir above the falls could
be carried by gravity. It may be, there is not sufficient water.
Cartoogechaye Creek should be a safe, adequate, and satis
factory source of water supply for many years to come.
DOVER R. FOUT8.
Burnsville, N. C.
?t
Others' Opinions
(Opinion* exprensed In this apace in not UMMllli those
I of The Piw. Edltorlels selected for reprlntlnt here. In feet.
ere chosen with e Tlew to presenting s earlety of viewpoints. ,
They are. that Is. Just what the caption eays - OTHKRT
Opinions.)
Opportunity vs. Security
(Rocfky Mount Telegram)
Security is the big thing today.
It has come to be the will-of-the-wisp goal of all too many
Americans.
People no longer seejn willing to risk much, if anything, for
opportunity. Most people may rationalize it but when they
can choose between a whole lot of risky opportunity and a
little bit of security, they jump for the security.
Today's graduate seeks the security and the anonymity of
the big corporation. The bigger the better for the greater
safety and security. The brightest young minds are falling all
over each other these days, scrambling for the protection and
guaranteed benefits they believe await them only in the
sheltering arms of General Motors or General Electric or some
other such mammoth economic organism.
There are two big things wrong with this modern phobia.
In the first place security is unrealistic. In the second place
it's un-American. There is In this world no more security than
there is peace.
And, if our forefathers had placed as much premium on
security as we do, they never would have forsaken the shelter
of t)ie Old World for the opportunities of the New.
A small opportunity is more often than not worth more
than a whole lot of security.
"Now The Aircraft Is About To Enter Its Acid Test"
VIEWS . . .
By BOB SLOAN
I have often heard it said that,
in years gone by, Macon County
had the highest percentage of
college graduates in proportion to
the population of any county in
the United States. This is true no
longer.
m the past our people have been
willing to make extreme sacrifices
to see that their children received
a good education. They were will
ing to sacrifice to a degree far
beyond what the average parent
today is willing to make.
Why?
Because the lives of those of
an earlier generation were hard
and their pleasures few.
And because they saw a differ
ent purpose behind education
from many persons today. To
them, education was a preparation
to enable a f>erson to render" ser
vice, to give. To most of us, today,
education is a preparation to en
able persons to take what they
can from life.
Today, a young boy or girl is
told to study this or that; it pays
better. X can remember both my
mother and father urging me to
study in the field that I felt that
I could do the best work, regard
less of the pay. Enjoyment of work
was considered a greater reward
than monetary pay.
When and if desire for money
becomes our sole motivating force,
our living will change to a mere
material existence.
On the other hand, we should
not expect people to teach and
train our children for less than
a living wage. In effect we, today
are asking the public school
teachers to make sacrifices that
we should make to see that our
children are educated.
It takes the same amount of
work and time to graduate from
college for a chemistry teacher
that it does for a cnemical engi
neer. But the teacher will have
to work twelve years and go to
Summer school at least two Sum
mers before he makes the wage
the engineer receives when he
starts to work.
Granted that love of their work
and satisfaction from teaching
young children may compensate,
the difference is still too great.
With this one-sided and unreal
istic attitude, we may so warp the
minds of our teacher; that out of
cynicismn they, perhaps unknow
ingly. will tell the children, "Oo
for the money, Son." In fact, that
is what fs happening, and by our
niggardly attitude in teacher pay
we have helped bring it about.
Dr. Current Leaves
Clinic; Dr. Chase
Returning Soon
Dr. R. W. Current, who has
been associated with Dr. O. R.
McSween at the McSween Chiro
practic Clinic in Franklin since
last September, has returned to
his home at High Point, prepara
tory to entering the U. 8. Army.
Dr. Daniel A. Chase, who, was
with Dr. McSween for several
months in 1956, will rejoin the
clinic in a week or two, according
to Dr. McSween. The Chases and
their two children will come here
from Flat Rock, Mich.
STRICTLY
PERSONAL
By WBMU JONES
The past week's best wise-crack
came from W. E. (Gene) Baldwin.
It was last Thursday morning,
and Mr. Baldwin had just read
the account in The Press of how
the town, digging a well, had gone
down 450 feet and still hadn't
struck water.
It had rained unceasingly for
days, and at the moment the sod
den earth was getting an unusu
ally heavy downpour. Casting his
eye toward skies still so leaden
)t looked as though it never would
stop raining, Mr. Baldwin remark
ed:
"They dug the wrong way. To
get water, they should have gone
up."
* ? ?
That recalled a question that
always has puzzled me: How did
men ever get the idea that, if
they dug deep into the earth,
they would find water?
How did we get the first well?
Was it by accident? Had men,
perhaps, learned to mine for
metals before they learned to
mine for water ? and thus dis
covered there are rivers beneath
the surface of the earth?
Or did some ancient work out
the theory of underground waters,
and dig to prove it? That seems
unlikely, since wells antedate
modern scientific theory by thous
ands of years. We know that; for
we read of wells in the Old Testa
ment. And probably women wer?
going to wells^o draw water long
before even tnfe oldest books of
the Old Testament were written.
* * *
Recently, in this space. I listed
a few things I thought local busi
nessmen could do to encourage
Macon County people to trade at
home. Specifically, I suggested
that first-of-the-month statements
should be itemized.
I thought then, and I think
now, that suggestion makes sense.
If I say to another man he owes
me money (and that's exactly
what a statement does say), he's
entitled to a bill of particulars ?
(See Back Page, 1st Section)
Looking Backward Through the Files of The Press
DO YOU REMEMBER?
6* TEARS AGO fHIS WEEK
Sleighing was enjoyed by many on Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday as several Inches of snow covered the ground.
Mr. John T. Henry, of Ellijay, reported the mercury as 8 be
low zero at his place Friday morning.
To those who are disposed to criticize the spelling in the
po-em printed in The Press last week, we will say that our
spring poet is subject to bad somnambulistic spells after eat
ing pickled cow-cumbers for supper.
25 YEARS AGO
The public school at Otto, a three-room frame structure,
was destroyed by fire Friday night. The building was insured
for $1,200.
Appreciation to G. L. Houk, principal of the Franklin schools,
for the conducting of religious exercises in the schools, was
expressed In a resolution adopted Monday by the Franklin
Ministerial Association.
Mrs. Nellie Brendle, of West's Mill, and Raymond Sanders,
of North Skeenah, were married In Clayton, Ga., Sunday,
Jan. 31. Mrs. Sanders was formerly Miss Nellie Rickman.
10 TEARS AGO
C. D. Balrd was named chief of police of Franklin and Tom
Phillips was appointed night policeman at Monday night's
meeting of the Board of Aldermen. Mr. Balrd, who has been
serving as night policeman, will succeed Homer Cochran as
chief.
Prelo Dryman and E. W. Long left Thursday morning for
Washington to attend a conference of Western North Carolina
civic leaders with Secretary of the Interior King.
?
Eighty-two persons in Macon County ar*e receiving Social
Security benefits amounting to $868.18 a month, according to
the Ashevllle office.