? THE DEMOCRAT is your best and most eco nomical medium of advertis ing. With more than 2.600 paid-up, cash subscriptions, your message goes to 13,000 people, on the universally used basis of five readers to each subscriber Watauga democrat ?) An Independent Weekly Newspaper ? Established in the Year 1888. IMPORTANT The date on tout address label shows the data your subscription will expire, and the date your paper wttt be stopped unless sooner rsofw *d The Democrat operat ing strictly on a cadi a ad vance basis. V< )T. LIX, NO. 37 BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY. NORTH CAROLINA. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1947 5 CENTS A COPY SAFETY SHOW TO BE FEATURE OF NEXT WEEK Pressley's Exhibition of Trained Dogs. Designed to Promote Safety, To Be Shown at Blowing Bock and Boone; Rotary. Lions. Spon sor Under sponsorship . I the North Carolina Automobile Asociation. Ernest R. Pressley, traffic officer of the Charlotte police force, comes to Blowing Rock and Boone next week with his unique dog show, dramatically teaching children and grown-ups the prin ciples of traffic safety, and which in a year has grown to be one of the most widely publicized -hows of its kind il> America. Officer Prcsslev comes to Blow ing Rock Tuesday, the 11th, where a showing will be held at the school in the morning and in thr> evening at 8:15. On Wed nesday the show will be held at the Boone high school at 8:45. 1:00 and 8:15 p. m. At Blowing Rock the show is sponsored lo cally by the Rotaiy Club, and in Boone by the Lions Club. A showing is to be held at Appa lachian College Thursday even ing. There is no admission charge whatever, and the adult popula tion is urged to attend the even ing show, and to bring the chil dren. What* the Show Is The principal actors in Officer Pressley's show are four highly trained dogs. Lassie, Elmer, Su sie and Lady, and two pigeops, Oscar and Pete. These dogs have been taught the tricks of vaudeville stage, which have been cleverly arranged by Offi cer Pressley, to dramatize the fundamentals of traffic safety. School children are loudly enthu siastic over the antics of the dogs, and they are more im pressed by the rules they teach than could possibly be achieved by any amount of academic ad vice. The show is actually saving lives and countless injuries of school children walking, riding bicycles, and using roller skates, it the same time indelibly creat ing a safety consciousness that will build a new generation of safe drivers. Junior Traffic Safety Club At the conclusion of each show ing to school children Officer Pressley describes his Junior Traffic Safety Club. Membership requires that each Dupil learn the answers to, and pass a 100 aer cent examination on a test of 48 questions. Through the teach ers all children are given copies >f the questionnaire and are di rected to take them home and drill themselves on the questions ?vith the help of their parents. They are given an oral examina tion by the teacher, and having massed it, they become members >f the Junior Traffic Safety Club! and receive a certificate of mem-| bership. which is a picture of Of ficer Pressley and his four dogs in action. In less than a year more than 70,000 school children have pass ed the test and become members. By the end of 1947 it is expected] this total will reach 200,000 NEW HIGHWAY IS PROPOSED Tennessee Authorities Plan State Highway to Follow Route of 'Tweetsie" Nashville, Tcnn.. Jan. 29 ? A Carter county-to-Carolina state highway on the famed "Route of the Tweetsies" appears in the making. W. H. Black well, vice-urcsi ient and general manager of the East Tennessee and Western Morth Carolina Railroad, confer red with State Highway C^nmis sioner C. W. Phillips this week ind said Phillips indicated ap proval of the proposal that part of the ET&WNC railroad bed be used for a new state-line road. Carter countians have long oressed for a new road to North Carolina, and Governor Jim Mc Cord assured them several months ago they would get it. 'Blackwell said use of the rail road roadbed would take the highw^ from a point above Hampton through the famous "Gorge" and thence to Roan Mtn. and the North Carolina line. Sev eral miles would be cut off the distance from Elizabeth ton to Roan Mountain The proposed highway would oe developed in a federal-aid program, details of which remain to be worked out. Adoption of the railroad route, popularized by saucv little nar row-guage locomotives that oncc pulled scores of vacationists and picknickers through nature's beauty land from Johnson City to Linville, would assure a scenic highway of major importance. The road would link with North Carolina highways to the Great Smokies Park. Acting Governor M. E. Thompson, who was elected lieutenant governor ot Georgia on the Eugene Talmadge slate, who declares that he is the acting governor of Georgia. The courts will soon decide between him and son of Eugene Tal madfif who was named by the state legislature. NEWS OF WEEK IN ASSEMBMY Resume of Happenings in State Legislature During the Past Week In spite of the considerable amount of time spent on the sup plemental pay bill for the bal ance of the current vear (as one observer put it, "finishing the work of the 1945 legislature"), the work of the 1947 session seems to be moving along at a better than average rate of speed. Many of the major administration and departmental bills arc al ready in the mill and under con sideration tey appropriate com mittees, and so far the commit tees have been making good progress with them. Judging from the number of bills intro duced. this session is ahead o.' the 1945 session for a comparable period of time: at end of the 21st legislative any.- BO-onls had been introduced in the senate and 201 in the house, for a total of 281, against 78 bills in the son ate and 15fi in the house for a total of 234 for the same period in 1945 ? a little better than a 20 per cent increase in speed. The apparently greater speed with which the general assembly is going about its work di?-s not necessarily mean, of course, that this session will be shorter than the last, nor that :t may not rven be a great deal longer As for the work of the com mittees on the major pieces oi legislation, the really controver sial issues have net vet reached the open controversial stage With respect to the controvert over the pay of state eomlovees in general and teachers in par ticular a small ore view been (Continued on page 8) COMMERCE BODY TO MEET TONIGHT Officials of Proposed Freezer Locker Plant to Be Guests of Chamber A special meeting of the Boone Chamber of Commerce will be held at the Carolina Cafe Thurs day evening at 7 o'clock, it is an nounced bv H. W. Wilcox, presi dent. who states that Mr. W. H Dameron. investor in the propos ed frozen food locker plant, and Mr. Coad will be present at that time to get acquainted with the people and to discuss Boontfs newest development.? Mr. Wilcox insists that the Boone business oeople come out for the dinner meeting, and that' there be a good representation ofj the farmers of the countv at this time. Mrs. Wilson Honored In Biographical Work Mrs. Chapell Wilson of Boone has been notified by "Leader* In Education" that ihe has been ?selected for inclusion in the forthcoming third edition of this authoritative biographical direc tory. Selections are made as a re- , suit of recommendations by the committee on policy, and inclu jion in this volume is one of the outstanding honors which may come to an educator Mercury Takes Nose i ?Dive in Mountains! The temperature in Boone and environs hovered around the zero mark Wednesday morning, in the coldest weather to hit Carolina during the present winter. The extreme cold was accompanied by light snow flurries and driv ing winds. Weather forcasters predict that the cold will continue through Thursday, with temperatures ris ing Friday, but plummeting again Saturday. BANK ROBBERS SO FAR EVADE HANDS OF LAW ? Four Armed Men Rob New land Bank. Taking Apnrox imatelv $20,000: Search of Federal and State Officers Have Proven Unfruitful ,SK? 'SUS.'tr ca! "offft thonFB?IUEhtHV 1?" state highway patrol rl r s'.s'fiar* SrLSS? m*"" ? ,.,? . wcannK a a dark hat nl " trouses and saavs ? ? - well dressed. aV'V sct andj January Weather Is Compared to That Prevailing Last Y ear Mr. W. H. Smith gives the Democrat the following detailed comparison of the weather in January. 1947. as compared to that prevailing during the same months of 1946: January. 1*47 Average low temperatures. 28 degrees Average high tempera ture 45 degrees. One sleet, on 1st. 11 rainy days. Snow flurries on 20th and 21st January. 1946 Average low temperature. 19 degrees Average high tempera ture. 3 1 degrees. Snows. 7: sleet, two; nine rainy days. Below zero on 2nd and 23rd. WORK IN JURIES More than 2,000,000 were dis abled during 1946 by work in juries, two per cent more than the 1945 total, but lower than the war years 1941-44, according to preliminary estimates of the Bu reau of Labor Statistics. The es timate of time actually lost from mrork because of these injuries totals nearly 47,000,000 days, which is the full-time employ ment of 156,000 persons for a year There are an estimated 16 mil lion thunder storms on earth pvery year. BE CAREFUL CROSSING THE STREETS So says Lassie, leading lady of Officer Press ley's Traffic Safety S^aiv, doming to Blowing Rock next Tuesday and Boone Wednesday of next week. Lassie is ably supported by three oth er dogs and two pigeons who cntartain as they teach traffic safety. Joint sponsor? are the State Automobile Association, the Blowing Rock Rotary Club and the Boone Lions Club. RITES FOR MRS. MOSS ON SUNDAY Mothar of Local Methodist Minis ter Dies in Charlotte Hospital Funeral services for Mrs. Z. B. Moss, mother of Rev. S. B Moss, local Methodist minister, who had made her home in Boone since last October, were conducted from the First Methodist Church in Albemarle Sunday afternoon by Rev. J. H. Brendail. and burial was in the new cemetery in that city. Mrs. Moss died last Friday in a Charlotte hospital, where she had been a patient for some time. Her death was unexpected, and she was to have returned to Boone the end of the week. Mrs. Moss is survived by three sons. Rev. S. B. Moss. Arthur and Lamar Moss. Those from Boone attending the funeral were: Mr. and Mrs. A. E. South. Mr. and Mrs. Willisi Chester. T. M. Greer, Bob Agle, Grady Tubman, W G. Hartzou and Dr. D. J. Whitener. Mrs. James Cole Has Fatal Stroke Mrs. Lou Rhetta Davis Cole. 64 years old, died at her home inthe Silverstone section Jan. 22. fol lowing a long period of failing health. Her condition was criti cal for only five hours. Funeral services were conduct ed Friday, Jan. 24, at 2 o'clock at the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church with Rev. Ronda Earp in charge. Also taking part in the services were Rev. G. W. Seba.i tian of North Wilkesboro. Rev. D. M. Edmisten of Boone, and Rev. R. J. Starling of Henson's Chapel Methodist Church. Inter ment was in the Cove Creek cemetery with Reins-Sturdivant Funeral Home being in charge. The husband survives, with one son and one daughter, James Colo, and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, both of the home. Also one brother and one sister survive: Claud Davis, Vilas, and Mrs. Roby Wilson. Zionville. Mrs. Cole was a daughter of] the late Holden Davis and Mrs. Ellen Mast Davis, and had been an active member of Pleasant Grove church for man/ years Noted Violinist to Appear at College] Frederic Balazs, young Hun garian-born violinist and com poser will be presented in con cert by Appalachian State Col lege on Friday night. Feb. 7. at 8 o'clock. Mr. Balazs. the former concert master and conductor of the Budapest Symphony, has tfeen in this country nine years, five of which were spent in a Unite*! States army uniform. During the past six years he has given 350 concerts, and is at present a member of the faculty of the Philadelphia Musical Academy. Recently, the University of N. C. committee chairman wrote con cerning his engagement at the university: "Our students enjoy ed the concert tremendously In our opinion, his playing was su perior to that of Rehudi Menu hin" (an artist of distinction who also was on the U.N.C. series). Mr. Balazs' accompanist is Dr Paul Swartz, head of the music department of Bard College, Co lumbia University,. Recently, al Akron, Ohio, Dr. Swartz gave i rorcert entirely of his own works. Something New Added I I Senator Alben W Barkley (D..I Ky.). senate majority floor lead-l er of the 79th congress, is sport-l ing a brand new "cookie duster," during the 80th session of con gress. He says that the people asked for a change in the Novem ber elections; so he .thought he would give them one ? a mous tache. SISTER LOCAL DOCTOR DEAD Mrs. Laura Johnson. Sister of Dr. R. K. Bingham. Expires In Wilkeaboro North Wilkesboro ? An impres sive funeral service was held Saturday afternoon at the Wilkes boro Methodist church for Mrs. Laura B. Johnson, a highly este emed resident of Wilkesboro. Mrs. Johnson died at the home of her sister, Mrs. A. R. Sherman, at six o'clock Friday morning, following a stroke of paralysis. Mrs. Johnsop was born in Wa tauga county, the daughter of the late Major Harvey H. and Mrs. Nancy A. Miller Bingham, and was nearly 81 years of age, having been born on February 2, 1866. Prior to coming to Wilkes boro to make her home, Mrs. Johnson resided in Troutman and Statesville. Mrs. Johnson was a devoted member of the Methodist church, and as long as health permitted she attended church services with regularity. She was a member of the Woman's Society of Christian Service. To her many friends she was familiarly known as "Aunt Laura." Surviving Mrs. Johnson are one brother. Dr. Robert K. Bing ham of Boone, and two sisters, Mrs. A. R. Sherman, of Wilkes boro, and Mrs. Annie Harwell, of Statesville. The funeral service was con ducted by the pastor of the de ceased, Rev. H. W. Wellman, as sisted by Rev. W. N. Brookshire, pastor of the Wilkesboro Baptist church, in the presence of a large number of relatives and friends. During the service. Dr. B. B. Dougherty, of Boone, a life-long friend of Mrs. Johnson's, paid a beautiful tribute to the life of Mrs. Jo.hnson. Following the funeral service in Wilkesboro, the remains were taken to Statesviflf for inter 'ment. North Carolina has been -al located more than 100 thomomd gallons of tomato Juice and 120 thousand pounds of peach jam for school lunchroom use. accord ing to state director G. Tom Scott of the production and marketing administration. BLOWING ROCK ROBBERS ESCAPE Theo. Greene Robbed of S2.700 at Anller'i Bstr Cardan by Armad Bandits Four armed men. who somi believe were the seme ones that robbed the Avery County Bank, robbed, bound and gagged Theo. Greene, 67 years old. at the Ant ler's beer garden in Blowing Rock Tuesday night of last week, and maple good their escape with $2,700 nrtrurreniry. The four men who participat ed in the robbery were described as being from 20 to 30 years old. and each carried two pistols. The bandits, according to Po lice Chief M. A. Short, were trav eling in a 1941 model Buick. of tan color, with a Tennessee li cense plate. Chief Short said he was called to the beer garden about an hour after the robbery. The place is owried by Jack Greene, and thej aged attendant at the time of thei hold-up was the father of the| owner. LIONS DISCUSS CITY AFFAIRS Municipal Fiatmces and Civic Natdi Take Attention of Local Lions Club Lion Wey was in charge of the. program at the meeting of the! Lions Club Tuesday evening, when Lions Lee Stout, Clyde Greene and Joe Huffman, discus sed the present financial status of the town of Boone and expressed opinions as to the most pressing needs of the community. Lion Stout, a member of the city council, stated that the pre sent yearly revenue of the city government is $30,125.00, expenses [were $31,378, with a net operat ing deficit of SI, 253. The town 'debt was listed at $197,258.21, 'and Lion Stout revealed that there has been a municipal debt j reduction of $47,220.74 during jthe past three years. Lion Greene listed a revalua tion of taxable property as a nec essity, and stated that if property I was listed at 50% of its value a revenue of three million dollars |could be provided. He said that idle property should be taxed at | a double rate, and that the town of Boone should be enabled to | make its own property assess - iment. Lion Joe Huffman stressed the need of the following civic im provements: radio station, in creased hospital, tourist facilities, airport recreation center, water system expansion, increased fire and police protection, street im provement and public rest rooms. AMERICAN RED CROSS I The annual meeting of the Watauga county chapter of the American Red Cross will be held in the Carolina Cafe at 12:00 noon, Feb. 6, 1947. All members of this chapter are invited to at tend. Luncheons will be served and paid for individually. There will be an election of officers for the coming year. HO EFFECT President Truman's Dec 31 proclamation ending hostilities does not affect veterans enjoying benefits under the G. I. Bill of Rights. The deadline for educa tion, loans and unemployment al lowances provisions are based on official termination of the war rather than the end of "hostili ties " MARCH OF DIMES QUOTA IS PASSED AS DRIVE ENDS I More Than Two Thousand Dollars is Raised in Cur rent Polio Campaign; Presi dent's Dance Ends Effort; List of the Late Contribu tors The President's Birthday ball, held at the high school audi torium last Friday evening, offi cially ended the March of Dimes campaign in Watauga county, and Ch&innan Bob Agle reports that total receipts for the cam paign are 82,035.22, or more than 33 per cent above the established Watauga county quota of $1,520. The ball was largely attended by the people of Boone and sur rounding area, and was the high spot of the winter social season. Mr. Agle takes occasion to ?hank the people of the county 'or their fine work in making ? ho campaign so successful, and lists the following recent con tributors to the infantile para 'vsis fund: Previously reoorted $1,120.47 Pev. Tipton Greene . .... 1,00 George D. Judv ?... 1.00 Mr. and Mrs. Roy Keplar 10.00 Bethel School 11.00 Lena C. Reeves 5.00 C. M. Critcher 1.00 Employees Hunt's Store 2.50 Cora F. Parks 1.00 Deep Gap School . . 18.88 Marv Herman, Vilas 7.00 H. W. Wilcox 2.00 H. & W Ser. Station. 1.00 Conley Story 1.00 Windy Gap School 3.80 Valle Crucis Methodist Church 8.40 Ed Folk 2.00 Mr. & Mrs. Edw. Hahn 10.00 Grady G. Moretz 5.00 Green Valley School 32.00 Mrs. T. M. Moretz. Maggie Moretz 2.00 Alfred Adams 1.00 James Marsh 1.00 V. B Mast 2.00 Auto Parts Co. . 3.00 M. W. Beach 2.00 Hollars Grocery 10.00 Main St. Ser. Sta. 1.00 Highway Office 1.00 Walker's Jewelry Store 1.00 Parkway Co. 10.00 Peoples Cafe 1.00 Hi-Land Cleaners 5.00 City Shoe Shop 1.00 Swofford Tire Co 10.00 Bob Anderson 1.00 Howard W. Mast 5.00 D. M. Elrod 1. 00 Jack Mock 1.00 Mtn. Burley Whse. 5.00 Capt. Carlos DcLima 1.00 Coin Collectors 177.24 Mrs. James Phillips 2.00 Dr. Wm. M. Matheson 5.00 A. H Kennedy 2.00 Dance No. 2 201.00 A bee Rohbins 2.00 Crest 5-10-25c Store 5.00 Kdlcrville School 2.00 Gill Phillips 10.00 Bobby Watkins 1.00 Blowing Rock Coin Col 16.32 Ellen Coffey 5.00 G. C. Robbins 5.00 O. L. Broyhill 25.00 Grandfather School 7.66 Mabel School 11.00 |Tumer Church 1.00 Clark Church 1.00 Guv Carlton 1 00 (Continued on page 8) BURLEY SALES END IN BOONE Leu Than Five Million Pounds i of Tobacco Sold on Local Market The Boone tobacco market j closed its auctions last Thursday I and information is that 4,939,066 l pounds of weed was sold here ! during the season, representing a ?considerable drop from the sales of the 1945-46 sales period, due to lowered production through I this part of the burley belt. Ware houseman and others had cons is jtently over-estimated the size of the crop during the first half of ithe season. The tobacco sold for $1,911, 1287.11, for an average of $38.70 jit is stated. Smoking grades com jsistently brouKh high prices, but I the Commodity Credit Corpora - jtion took vast quantities of low grade leal, which failed to bring the minimum price. This pre [ valence of inferior leaf prevented | the market average from reaching (a higher figure. H. F. Cochrane New Manager at Bare's Mr. H. F Cochrane, of Elkin. on Monday assumed the mana gership of Bare's Fair Store here, succeeding Mrs. J. L. Reese, who had operated the store during its existence here, and who resigned in order to take a needed rest. Mr. Cochrane has had 12 years experience in retail selling and was formerly employed by J. C. Penny Co. Mrs Cochrane and two chil dren will arrive during next week, and the family win estab lish residence in the Dr. W. A. Deaton home.