North Carolina Newspapers

AMERICA Flrat, Last and Alwmya VOL. XVIII NO. 26 The Sylva Herald * AND RURAIJTE ? CONSOLIDATED JULY, 1943 SYLVA, N. C., WEDNESDTY7 NOVEMBER 17, 1943 THE SYLVA HERALD Dedicated To ProfresaiTC Service To Jaekaoa "County $1.50 A Year In Jackson and Swain Counties ? 5c Cop y Pillsboro Will Soon e Free Of All Debt Labor Mobilization Board Is Doing Fine -W ork In This County Officials Of Employment Service Pleased With Set Up and Results Of Local Board. The Jackson County Labor Mo bilization Board held another ses > sion Thursday/ and Were highly complimented by representatives of the United States Employment Service for th? sDlendid job that was being done here in getting men into essential employment. The board has had satisfactory results from the plan they put into force several months ago, in that a ^secret committee is active in every township and community of j the county, reporting to the board any able bodied man who is not gainfully employed. Such persons are called before the board and given the opportun ity to explain why he is not at work. A If the reasons presented are ade quate, and prove to be found cor rect to an investigating committee, the case is dropped. On the other hand, if the man does not have just cause for not working, then he is registered with the Employ ment Office and offered a job in essential work. Refusal to take sach work, results in a warrant being issued and served by the sberriff. The Jackson bounty board has been complimented for having the best setup of any board in this sec tion, and for having done more work in getting people on Jobs. Many men have, haea notified, i& the past few weeks, and the "fol low-up" work is moving right along. Also some warrants have been ordered issued for one or two who did not take the orders of the board. Mrs. W. H. Hooper Has Five Sons In The Service Mrs. H. W. Hooper, of Cowarts, has five sons in service. This is believed to equal any number from one family in Western North Caro lina. All (five of the men volun teered their services to their coun try. Cpl. Fred D. Hooper is with a ' motorized division, and is at Camp 1 Beale, Calif. Larry W. (Doc) third class petty' officer, is now somewhere in the Pacific area. _ W. Harold, is seaman second j class, also somewhere in the Pa- 1 cific. Erwin Anzil is with the Mer chant Marines, and at present is stationed at St. Petersburg, Fla. Clyde Alvin, second class petty officer, is at Camp Perry, Va. Water Supply Is Adequate Here The recent rains have replenish ed the low water supply in the Sylva reservoir on Fisher Creek in the Balsams, according to R. C. ! Allison, town clerk, this week. j The supply was getting low, fol- < lowing the 90-day drought, but is i no adequate for a long period, he reported. Fire Loss Here ~ Is Small For '43 A review of the fires in Sylva for the year revealed that this year's losses were at a minimum, according to R. C. Allison, town elcrk. The Sylva fire department is all volunteer, with Ray Cogdill, fire1 chief. Travel Continues Heavy On Southern Travel on the Southern Railway j continues to increase, according to records of Herbert Gibson, local agent. j ^ The dollars and cents figures ?ary from month to month, as some months a large number buy tickets 1 to the west coast and sends the revenue column shooting skyward. The number of tickets sold, how ever, ^hows a gradual increase month aifter month. V ^ ; SjHr * ; Lions Club Hear John A. Parris, Jr. Wednesday Night Ninety-two Lions and their wives* heard John A. Parris, Jr., well known war correspondent discuss the present European situation, and tell of the activities of the under grown governments of the Allied Nations. O. E. Brookhyser intro duced th* speaker. Following the talk, a thirty min ute open forum was held with many pertinent questions asked by those present. Some of which Mr. Par ris answered freely, while others he stated must be off the record. D. E. Harris, president, presid ed over the meeting. During the evening President Harris was pre sented with a silver key, in recog nition of his having brought in two new members in the organization. The presentation was made by Jennings Bryson, secretary of the Club. The meeting was held in the Allison building of the Methodist church. Mrs. K. G. Tuttle was chairman of the dinner. Every member, with the exception of one, was present, and announcement was made twice during the p*?t two months the club had registered a 100 per cent attendance. Rotarians And Wmss Hear John A. Parris, Jr. The program of the meeting of the Sylva Rotary Club held on Tuesday evening was featured by a talk by John A. Parris, Jr., who has been representing the United Press in Europe for the past two years. T. N. Massie, president, presided. < The speaker of the evening was^ introduced by S. W?^Enloe, *as a local boy who had won interna-., tional recognition as a war cor respondent. Mr. Parris told the members of the Rotary club, and their wives who were special guests, of present conditions in Europe and of the part that is being and will even tually be played by the under ground governments of the Allied Nations. During the half hour that fol lowed Mr. Parris* talk, a general discussion was enjoyed of current situations in the war theaters, with the speaker answering questions asked regarding the outcome of the crisis. The meeting was held in the Alli son building -of the Methodist church, with 91 persons present. 42 Eighteen- Y ear Olds Register Twelve boys who became 18 years of age during the month of Oc- I tober are now registered under the selective service system, subject to active duty in the armed forces, it was learned from the clerk of the local draft board this week. In the group were the following: Frank Howard Duch&nan, of Gay, LeRoy Watson, of Cashiers; Wil lard Berry Womack, of Sylva; Os car Hicks Mills, of Sylva, route 1; Bobby Justice Parker, of Sylva, route 1; Hayes Jackson Bryson, of Cullowhee; Sylvester Love, of Sylva. \ Warren Verlon Mathis, of Ar gura; Newylon Gordon Mathis, of Argura; Roy Blackburn, of Nor ton; James Weldon Shuler, of Sylva and Thomas Bragg Cowan, of Sylva. Jarrett Remains Same In Atlanta R. P. Jarrett, well known here,! remains ' about the same in the Henry Grady Hospital, Atlanta, following an automobile accident on September ltth. Mr. Jarrett suffered a concus sion of the brain, and has been in serious conditio^ since. r His wife was also Injured. Mr. Jartett is the son of Mr. and Mr?. R. P. Jarrett, of Dillsboro. J ?' ' ? ' ' ? ' Marine 'Colonel' MEET "Colonel," mascot of the U. S. I Marine Corps training school at Camp Le Jeune, New River. N. C. Note that the steel-helmeted Eng lish bulldog ts equipped with the regulation dog tag. ( International ) Draft Board Reclassifies 116 Men During Week One hundred and sixteen men were reclassified during the past week by the draft board serving Jackson county. In class 1-A were: Jesse J. Brown, George Curtis, George W. Lee, Edd Patterson, Ernest L. Jones, Ambrose G. Gunter, Dean j D. Davis, John S. Laticore, William H. Parker, Ned C. Allison, Samuel C. Arneach, Scott D. Cooper, Spur geon Mathis, Eular Stephens, Hen ry J. White, Hexter Brown, Perry Hall, Arthur B. Ca be, Roy J. Fisher, Joseph F. Haskett, John W. Craw ford, James T. Davis, David E. Cal lahan, Henley B. Jones, Tolvin Ward, Coleman H. Sutton, Ottis J. Barker, James C. Hooper. Howard Brown, Rich J. Sumner, Henry M. Prince, Silas H. Green, Frank J. Gregory, Ralph D. Hall, Ross Irwin Adams, Jan D. Allen, Spurgeon Buchanan, T. J. Painter, 1 Rufus J. Ensley, Robert T. Clayton, Jai$?s H. Bryson, Vernon V. Pan nel,v Willie Hall,. John 1$. Jones, Lawrence .A. Parker, ?rank B. Smith, Dallas R. Mills, Eugene B. Watson, Carl H. Jordan, O'Dell C Hall, Griffing R. Browning, Nute J. Mace, Leonard 0. Huff, Robert E. Frizzell, Vernon I. Coggins, Til man F. Moody, Joseph F. Mills. Kelly Cunningham, Manuel E. Moody, John? D. Parker, Louie E. Carter, Arthur C. Moore, John G. Stiwinter* Dexter Hooper, Earli/ Ashe, Charlie T. Estes, Furl H. Gates, Alvin L. Conner, William B. Cope, Roy H. Reed, Lloyd R. Bum garner? Coot Harris*. Frank L. Trantham, Tolvin Harris, Dan K. Moore, Earle H. Cagle, Herstell H. Moss, John R. Arnold, Frances F. Jones, Lee Reeves, John A. Wat son, Douglas H. Stephens, James F. Rogers, Furman Gunter, Ben L. Davis, David S. Pressley and Clyde W. Cogdill. Class 2- A were: Roy Whittaker, Grady M. Claybo, Leamon Bennett, and Pete Sorrdls. j Class 2-B were: Ralph B. Mc- | Donald, Clellan R. Loveall, Arthur | C. Rogers, Jesse A. Claybo, Daniel B. Shook, Ayscue B. Hooper, Alvin ! W. Allen, iEroest T. Bradley, Wil ,bur Long, Bernard B. Brown, I George Bradley, Zemry R. Wyatt and Claude D. McCall. Class 2-C ""Wire: Logan H. Tay lor, Lewis A. Pressley, Fred J. Brown, Joseph H. Fowler, Haynes V. Reagan, Everett Ledford, Clar ence R. Shook. Class 4-F were: Lawrence L. Shuler, Willie R. Bryson. Blackout Code Still On Books If you gtr aw^ at night and leave your home lights aglow, you're still technically violating Ci vilian Defense rules. That's what the State office said yesterday in answer to a local query, after seve ral persons had asked a ruling. Of course, the State heads ad mitted, there'd be no violation in volved if no blackout drill were called during your absence. And since they've indicated that no such drills will occur except at Army insistence, the chance seemed rath er remote. But' the edict is still on the books even though, to quote, "it is highly probable that some action may be taken on that parti cular phase of our program at an early date." Slight Relief Seen In Coal Shortage Here 125 Attended Annual Legion Armistice Meet John A. Parrts, Jr., native of Jackson county, now one of the high ranking war correspondents of the United Press, and Ellis Jones, veteran of World War 1, of Asheville, member of the Kiffin Rockwell post, were the speakers at the annual Armistice Day dinner meeting of the American Legion on Thursday night. John F. Cor bin, commander presided. ?T. Walter Ashe, adjutant of the post, introduced Mr. Jones, who brought out in his talk the fact that during the first World War, America was victorious, but the peace was lost in Washington. He stressed the importance not only of winning this war, but also keep ing the peace. Dan Tompkins introduced Mr. Parris, who gave the 125 persons present a picture of conditions in the European war theaters. He told them of his various experienc es as an official war correspondent, and of the effect that the recent victories of the Allied Nations were having on situation. At the close of his talk, Mr. Par ris gave those attending the privi lege of asking him questions, stat ing that he would reserve the right of answering them or - not if he wished, During the evening T. Walter Ashe and Posey Cathey were pre sented Confederate service crosses, as lineal descendants of veterans (both grandsons) of the War Be tween the States. The presenta tion was made by Mrs. Tom Wilson, custodian of crosses of the U. D. C. Chapter, who was introduced by Mrs. Dan Tompkins, historian, who in turn was introduced by Mrs. Harry Ferguson, president of the chapter. The invocation Was given by Rev. B. S. Hensley, pastor of the Beta Baptist church, post chaplain. The benediction was given by Rev. T. F. Deitz, retired Baptist minister, who has two sonst/and more grandsons in the present war than any other man in Jackson county. Among the guests present were a number of men in service home on leave. Among them were Lt. (jg) Fred Thomas, recently re turned from the combat areas in the Pacific; Lt. Hooper, son of Mr. and Mrs. D; M. Hooper, of Tucka seigee, and Sgt. Roy Watson, for mer member of the high school faculty. The dinner was prepared and served by the wives of the Legion naires, with the meeting held in the high school cafeteria. Pvt Hardin Hall Home For 12-Days Private Hardin Hall, son of Mrs. Alvin Hall, of Sylva, who is now stationed at Camp Livingston, La., has arrived to spend a 12-day fur lough here with his mother. He was. inducted at Camp Croft and from there transferred to Camp Wheel er- aqd then to his present post. L A check up with the owners of I the coal yards in Sylva during the iweek, revealed that the fuel situa , tion'Ts serious here, but that every i effort is being made to distribute ,the coal to those who are in dire need. W. E. Wilson, of the Sylva Co^L. and Lumber Company stated that - he did not have any coal on his yard at present, but that he had the names of at least 250 persons who I were wanting futl at this time, and [that he hoped to supply them some time in the near future. During I the past six weeks his company had received only one carload, accord ing to Mr. Wilson. ' J. C. Allison, owner of Builder's Supply and Lumber Co., stated i that he had not had any coal for j the -past six weeks, but that he I expected two carloads during the (coming week, but that not over a half ton would be sold to any one ! person. I "The Lord has been mighty good to us here in weather," saidxMr. Allison, as he told of the numbers of persons who were depending on wood alone for heating their homes. It was also learned that ship ments of coal to the local indus trial plants had been slowed down and that thty were using on their reserve. I Mrs. G. W. Scott Of East La Porte, Buried Here Today Funeral services will be held this afternoon at 2 o'clock at the Sylva ,>Iethodist church for Mrs. George W. Scott, 64, of East La Porte, who died in an Asheville hospital Mon day following a lengthy illness, i The Rev. R. G. Tuttle, pastor of 'the church will officiate. Burial | will be in the Keener cemetery, i Serving as pallbearers will be: I P. D. L. Waters1, Roy Micheal, Roe Cole, Thomas Wyke, Hayden Ham ilton and Jimmy Robbins. In addition to her husband, Mrs. Scott is survived by three sons, J. | 1 Gerald Sqott, of Asheville, Charles W. Scott, of Columbus, Ohio and Hoard V. Scott, of Newport News, iVa.; two daughters, Mrs. William 1 0. Soderquist, of Sylva, and Mrs. |L. W. Wilson, of Waynesville; nine ! grandchildren and two great-grand children. Garrett Funeral Home of Way rtesville will be in charge of the I arrangements. Dillsboro Masons To Meet Thursday Night r The Dillsboro Lodge, No. 459, will meet Thursday night at the Lodge Hall for the regular monthly i meeting., ' j Special matters of importance [will be brought before the Lodge, | it, was announced by R. F. Jar rett, secretary, and all members are urged to be present. j Otis Massie, former manager of the Ritz Theatre, who is stationed v at Keesler Field, stopped in Sylva Saturday en route to Waynesville to visit his wife and other relatives. Jackson Man, Once Reported Dead, Back Home After 33 Years In West * ' - I Thirty-three years ago, a young ; Jackson county man went to the started in business as a contractor and decorative plas terer. This young man was Hardy Varner. His business thrived, and he stayed in sunny California. It was just about 18 months ago that Thad Varner, a Whit ;tier merchant, received a telegram i from an Oakland, Calif., hospital, j telling of the death of his brother, I Hardy Varner, who had suffered fti stroke before entering the insti | tution. A few days later the hos ! pital authorities wrote a detailed letter giving particulars of Mr. iVamer's death. ' One can imagine the surprise that Thad Varner had the other day when he received a letter, writ ten by someone else, but written for Hardy Varner. In this day and i time, .when all types of schemes are being put into practice, it was only logical that Mr. Varner investigate further, for after all, the hospital jin his brother's town, haH reported his brother dead. The chief of police at Oakland was given the facts and asked to investigate. The accommodating officer soon informed Thad Varner i that Hardy Vainer was still living at the address he had always giv- j en. Arrangements were then made for the Hardy Varner to come home for the first time in 33 years, and visit his mother, now 82, and two I other brothers and a sister. , Hardy Varner is now at Whittier, and while ^ie suffers from the effects of the stroke, he is far from being in the condition the hospital re ported. After it was found the report of Hardy Varner being dead was an error, the hospital was contacted. They explained that two men, both by the same name, approximately the same age and size, and suffer ing the same ailment, entered the hospital about the same time. One man was discharged and the other died; In some unexplained man ner, the nam^s became mixed and hence the message to Thad Varner that his brother had died. The Varner family observed the home-coming of the brother with a family reunion Sunday at the home of their mother, Mn. Hattie C. Varner, at Whittier. No Privacy I THIS MEMBER o f the RAP w Italy is of the firm belief that the sacri fice of privacy Is a small price to pay for a rousing scrubbing, even if the facilities are a bit cramped and the water cold. ( International ) Social Security Tax Might Go Up To 2% For 1943 The Social Security Tax will in crease from one to two per cent for both employee and employer on January 1, 1944 unless Congress decides to- hold the tax rate to the present levy. When the Social Security Bill was passed it carried a sliding scale of taxes to be deducted from the salaries paid, and similar pay ments by the employer. The gene ral rule-of-the^-thumb basfs for es timating how much money would be needed to meet benefit pay ments was that the reserve fund should be three times the highest annual expenditure during a five year period. At the present time the Social Security reserve fund is four and a quarter billion dollars. | The one per cent tax will add another billion and a quarter dollars each year. A number of congressmen be lieve this will be sufficient to take care of the needs because the high est estimate benefit payments made by the chairman of the Social Se curity Board is 940 million dollars per year during the next five years. Some members of Congress believe the present one per cent tax will be sufficient to keep the reserve fund high enough to meet all de mands on it. The Social Security Board, however, contends that the additional tax should be levied be cause of the uncertain conditions now facing the country. Eleven million more people are employed now than ever before. That means many people 65 years old, who would have retired, are not retir ing. They will do so, however, just as soon as the war boom in employment ends. Cessation of war work will also mean a, sharp ! reduction in the amount of money i the present tax will yield. I Webster PTA Has 58 Members The Webster P. T. A. held its November meeting November 9, at the school. The president, Mrs. Fred McKee, presided. Mrs. Claud Cowan, membership chairman, announced that the or ganization now'*has flfty-elght paid I members. Mrs. McKee appointed Mrs. Ban nister Madison, Mrs. Claud Cowan and Miss Sue Tatham as a com mittee to buy books for the Web ster P. T. A. to send as Christmas presents to the soldiers at Fort Brag*. The program for the afternoon was a discussion of the subject: "New Processes in Education, What and Why." R. P. Buchanan dis cussed this topic from the stand point of the high school; Mts. Maud Ensley, from that of the grammar grades; Miss Sarah Belle Hooper, from that of the primary; and Miss Mary Smathers, from that of the high school pupil. Local Rotarians On Hendersonville Program Two Jackson county men will present the program at the Hen dersonville Rotary club today ? Harry Buchanan will be in charge of the program and present John A. Partis as the speaker. Town Plans To Pay Out In '45; Owes Only $3,500 ? Water Department Now Paying All Overhead Of Town; Might Be Tax Free After 1945. "Two more payments and she's all mine." That is the theme song of the citizens of Dillsboro these days, and they look forward to making two more payments on th.ir bonded in debtedness and then will have a clean slate and debt-free. The town of 300 population, looks forward .to getting by without any taxes tif tor 1944 levies. At present t h ; water department is paying all current operating expenses, and all tax funds are being applied to the bonded indebtedness. The ind:betedness of the town has be n reduced to $'1,500 accord ing to W. C. Queen, receiver for the town, since it went into the hands of receivership several years ago. According to Mr. Queen, a $2,000 payment will be made in April of 1944, with the funds coming: from 1943 tax collections, and the re maining $1,500 will be paid in April, 1945, which will be derived from the 1944 levy. The tax rate is now $1 per 1000 valuation. is now $1 per $100 valuation. There is a possibility that a small tax of a few cents might be levied after the payment of all in debtedness in order to create a re nerve for an emergency, ; it was hinted, but even at that, the levy would be very small. Dillsboro will be one of the few incorporated towns in the state to be debt-free in 1945. The town will also enjoy one of the lowest tax rates of any town in the state at that time. Some towns operate municipal power plants and have a low tax rate, deriving their opera* ting costs from the sale of elec tricity. The town officials of Dillsboro are R. F. Jarrett, mayor, with the , board of aldermen composed of 8. W. Enloe, J. C. Cannon and J. C. Sutton. The treasurer is 8. W. Enloe. Mr. Queen has served as receiver for some time and Mrs. Dorothy Williams, is town clerk. Labor Draft Is Not Necessary In This Section Simon P. Davis, manager of the Bryson City United States Employ ment office said that according to labor market reports just complet ed on all major establishments in Jackson, Macon, Swain and Gra ham counties, a labor draft is not necessary at this time. There are only a few establish ments in the area reporting an ac tual labor ^hprtage. Most em ployers are hampered more by ab senteeism and job changing than by actual lack of men. Mr. Davis said there is an actual surplus of certain types of labor. He says that if employers and employees continue to cooperate with the present stabilization plan, the necessity for a labor draft will I vanish. Grade Mothers Plan To Equip First Aid Room The Grade Mothers, which group numbers around 30. met Tuesday evening at the Sylva Elementary school. In the absence of Mrs, J. E. Buckner, chairman, Prank Craw ford, principal, presided. Plans for the beautification of | the elementary grade rooms were formulated and the duties of tha grade mothers ^ere outlined, "the first project to be started will be the furnishing of a First Aid room for the elementary school. The ways and means committee also discussed plans for making money. Jackson Observes Armistice Day In A Quiet Manner Jackson County observed Armis tice Day in a very quiet manner last Thursday. The bank and post office were closed, but business im general went along on normal sche dule. ' ? . The highlight of the day was the American Legion banquet at the . school Thursday night