Newspapers / Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) / Jan. 19, 1950, edition 1 / Page 1
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Y, JANUARY 19, 1950 KING STREET ROB RIVERS CA&L ROBERT RICKER, _ wounded, overalled man from Midway. Tenn., ? who carried arwWt lie funds, a neat-look t, r _ _i_ ? ? ? ? - id g revolver, black jack, et cetera, was captured Wednesday afternoon as the climax of the most highly organized man hunt ever conducted in this section, as two men, said to be members of a car theft ring, eluded pur suing officers in the Mil- of Wa tauga for about 30 hours, thus providing the biggest excitement known In this section for many long years . . . Comment on the activities of the officers in charge of the chase widely vari ed .. . Reports placed the num ber of fugitives at from 1 to half a dozen or more . . . The number of highway . patrolmen varied with each telling from dozens to hundreds, and the details of the chase were about as varied . . . The folks rendered invaluable aid to the officers and wanted the men captured of course, but most of the comments carried hints as to how the pursued should act in order to escape the dragnet of the law ... "If they knew the country like I do, they'd get right out into Tennes see with no trouble." . . . "Why the heck didn't the guy cache his gun, money and stuff somewhere before his capture?" . . . and on and on the comments ran, every body for the law. but trying at the same time to figure out some avesroe of escape for those who had over-stepped the bounds of orderly living. * t * ? m PATROLMAN ROBERTS <*ii? attention to ths indispen sibls aid rtsdtnd ths officers by ths residents of ths section where ths big manhunt was conducted . . . The officer states that he has never known of more complete and wholeheart ed cooperation . . . "Without the all out support of the citi zens in ths effort," said ths patrolman. "I don't believe we would have reached first base." Mr. Roberts also called attention to the fad that Joe Hardin, local afarpBot. volun teered his services and petrol ed the area from the air for hours in an effort to spot the fugitives. Ths officers are high ly appreciative of all the help given them during the chase. MONEY ... Its existence, or non-existence, its manner of cir culation, its wide travel from the time it comes from the printing press, until tattered and torn, it is sent back into Washing ton, destroyed, and another new note takes its place, is always interesting, and we who handle small sums of the Federal lettuce sometime* note the persistence of certain sizes of bank notes on certain dates . . . Last week five dollar bills seemed to be the favored legal tender among our customers, on other days, the tens predominate, sometimes twenties keep us small fry busi ness men on the run for change, while again the ones, new ones, old ones, and ragged ones fill the tills in the community . . . But there always seems to be money in these days . . . Reference to the World's Alamanac brings us the information that at the last count the total stock of money in the nation was $52,601,128,801 as against the $8,306,564,064 in 1930 and the $4,050,782,821 in 1915 . . . There are more 20 dol lar bills than any other ? $9,119, ? 000,000 worth, and the unwanted and "unlucky" two dollar certi ficate tails the list, there being only $65,000,000 of these bills on record. ? ? ? THE FOLLOWING DITTY is strictly stolen, and Is not to bo contused with the "homo brow" typo of production usu ally found in this column: "A Korean man and his wife con tinually quarrelled, they fum ed and they cuseed and they fought, the diSaentioa always resulting from off-the-cuff re ferences to the in-laws. The husband, see tap that they were getting nowhere at ? rapid rats and that their matrimonial bark was headed for the shoals, derided to recant and have something nice to sar about his irtfe's folks, with a hope that domestic tranquility might again prevail. "Guess I've been wrong." quoth he. apologetical ly. Tour folks are all right. Fact Is 1 like your mother-in law much better than my mother-iii-Iaw.'* ? ? ? A FEW DAYS ago a reader re ferred to a tale told herein, sev eral years ago by Jim Rivers, which brought a good many snail**, and maybe is good for another giggle or so A A poor family struck oil, bought a new house and moved from their humbler habitat . . . The resi dence wjts commodious and con venient and carried a h umber of gadgets unfamiliar to its new tenants . . Writing back home, the owners went into a rather detailed description of their new-found haven; as follow*; ? fi # ? \ ? \-r s "The house has six rooms; there it one room we don't do anything but eat in> then there (continued on page *tx) BOONE SHOULD PREPARE FOR TOURISTS NOW WEEMS SAYS Parkway Superintendent Says Tourist Facilities Must Be Provided if This City Is To Get Share from Visitors; Invites Suggestions. | ? ?? ?" by Joe Minor If Boone is to share in the tour ist trade expected to be drawn to Western North Carolina by the Blue Ridge Parkway, it will have to provide adequate tourist fa cilities, Sam P. Weems, superin tendent of the Parkway, told Chamber of Commerce members and their guests at their recent, annual Ladies Night and officer installation program. Mr. Weems stated the Parkway, has opened the way to the most outstanding scenery in' eastern United States. Last year more than 1,400,000 tourists traveled on the Parkway, he said, and great concern was expressed over the lack of adequate accommodations for these visitors. In the 15 years that work on the Parkway has been in progress, very little im provement has been seen in fa cilities for tourists. A brief history of the Park way, dating back to the early 1930's when the plan for the 500 mile drive was conceived, was given by the Parkway superin tendent. In 1933 planneis and engineers began their work of lo cating the route. They worked from central points, such aa Deep Gap and Grandfather Mountain. The routing was changed many times due to the rugged terrain and grading regulation. He said that at no place was the grading for the drive exceeded by eight percent. This regulation was followed to preserve the natural beauty of the route. The right away averages 800 feet, with a paved roadway of 20 feet, with' widened curves. The entire 5001 miles will follow this sarr> pat tern. Over 250 miles have al ready been paved and are open to traffic at all times. N In teen recreational areas were planned and six have been par tially developed and are open to the public. Six gasoline stations are also planned ove r the 250 miles that have been hard-sur faced. Mr. Weems said that the only overnight stopping place directly on the route is the Lodge at (continued on page ten) Stores Close On Voluntary Basis | The board of directors of the Boone merchants association has recommended Wednesday after noon closing on a voluntary basis, submitting that those stores find ing it prectical and desirable should observe the weekly half holiday, at .the same time re cognizing the right of others to stay open if they prefer. The action of the board follow ed a survey made to determine the action of other towns and cities in Carolina in this regard. Information from 75 communi ties indicated practically all of their stores close Wednesday afternoons for a part of the year, with a good many observing the holiday period throughout the year. Following the decision of the local retailers' group, Stan ley A. Harris, secretary says: "Two or three things influence thi* decision: First, the new wage and hour law limits the number of hours an employee may work in certain businesses, therefore, making it very desir able to close Wednesday after noon in order to not exceed the number of hours specified. Some of. the stores find ft necessary to stay open because of certain businesses which they serve. Others, especially small stores, which are family operated just do not desire to close. It's the re commendation of the board i that art effort be made to get each line of business, such as depart ment stores, hardware stores, grocery stores, etc., together for a conference and see if they can roach a decision and if not. each store will do as in their judge ment the wisest thing under the circumstance." George C. Winters Die* In Elk Park re known in Wataiiga County, died January IS at Banner Elk hospi tal, where he had been a patient for fifteen days. Funeral services were held Sunday at 2 o'clock at the Elk Park Methodist Church, Rev. Mr. Clapp, the pastor, officiat ing, and interment was in the Banner cemetery. Surviving are six sons and one daughter: L. O. Winters, Silver Springs, Md.; W. Mack Winters, Plneola, N. C.; B. H., Nage, Aldon and Norman Winters, Elk Park; Mrs. Virginia Buchanan, Elk Park. There is one sister, Mrs. Emerette Crumley, Elk Park. Carl Robert Ricker. 36, of Miday, Tsnxu. Is shown cantor loft, soon after his arras t. His captor. Patrolman R. H. Garland of North Wilkesboro, is shown at left, with Patrolman R. B. Park er of Boon a, oaa of tha principals in the hunt for the gunmen. Articles taken from the person of Richer are being examined by officer* in the picture at the right. They include |}11 in currency plus a tobacco pouch full of silver, a first aid certi ficate, wallet, black jack, revolver, knife, handcuffs. 40 cart ridges. watch, social security card and other papers. Shewn, left to right, are LL W. 8. Hunt, Ashevillet Patrolman Garland and Patrolman Parker. (P ho toe by Asheville Cltisen.) Gunman Is Taken as Chase Ends March ol Dimes Gifts Lagging, Says Taylor Campaign for Polio Funds Must See Surge of Contri butions This Week-End, if County To Uphold Record March of Dimes contributions for the 1950 drive are lagging seriously. This information was released by Jim Taylor, county chairman of the March of Dimes drive. If Watauga County is to con tinue its sterling record of sup port of the March of Dimes, this week must see an unprecedented surge of contributions, Mr. Taylor said. Not since 1944, has Watauga County given more to the March of Dimes in any year .than it has received from the National Foun dation for treatment of polio vic tims in this county. The great est selling point of the March of Dimes campaign is that 50% of all collections are retained by the Watauga County Chapter of the National Foundation for Infan tile Paralysis. Over 2,500 North Carolina chil dren were crippled by polio dur ing 1948. Of that number many still require hospitalization and medical care. We were spared in 1949. That Is, only 243 chil dren were stricken with paraly sis. Only time will tell what 1950 holds for your children. We can prepare now for the possibil ity of another severe polio epi demic by giving to the March of Dimes campaign. This is strictly a dollar and cents outlook for our (continued on page ten) Mrg. Dora Wood ring Greene Dies, Age 75 Mrs. Dora Wood ring Greene, 75, died at the home at Zionville January 9. , Funeral services were con ducted at the Meat Camp Bapt ist Church January 11 at 11 o'clock and burial was in the church cemetery. Rev. R. C. Eg gers was in charge of the rites. The husband, J. Richard Greene survives, with two child ren; Mrs. Clint Lookabill of Wy co, W. Va., and June Greene of Boone. There are four grand children. Also surviving are three sisters and five brothers: Mrs. R. F. Sisk, Ore.; Mrs. Charlie Dougherty of Boone; Mrs. Ada Dintaman, Colorado; A. M. Woodring, Thornton, Wash.; Charlie Woodring, Iowa; Walter, Dan, and Toby Woodring, Missouri. Mrs. Greene was a member of the Meat Camp Baptist Church. Beaver Dam Grange Given Distinction The Beaver Dam Grange won seventh place in the State in the co mm unity service contest, spon sored by the National Grange, it was learned the last of the week. The local organization sponsor ed six projects as follows: re storation of old cemetery on Bud Trivett farm, aiding school lunch room, contributed to hoapital fund through proceeds from 3 act play, met with road officials and secured promise of needed road through Beaver Dam town ship, sent garden seed packages to farm families in Europe, and made progress toward the estab lishment of a neighborhood madi Burley Market To Close Today The Boom burley lohMoo market dww Thursday for the ?moo. it is announced by Roscm : Coleman. warehouse man, who report* a splaadld saason. although tha weight of tha tobacco otiind has baan rathar lass than usual. Mr. Colaman stales thai through Monday night tha market has sold 3.750,000 pounds at an average of ap proximately M4.00 par hund red. Dr. Dougherty Is Bank Prexy North Wilkesboro? Dr. B. B. Dougherty, president of Appala chian State Teachers college at Boone, was re-elected president of the Northwestern bank in an nual meeting here. Other officers named by thej directors following the meeting of stockholders were: Edwin Duncan of Sparta, first vice president; Wade H. Shuford of Hickory, W. B. Austin of Jeffer son. W. B. Greene of Kings port, Tenn., vice presidents; D. V. Deal of North Wilkesboro, secre tary; and Edward P. Bell of Wilkesboro, auditor. In report to the stockholders Edwin Duncan pointed out that the capital and reserve accounts had increased by more than $1 million during the past two years and that the capital and reserve accounts not allocated total $2, 606,957.21, or more than the total resources of the bank when it was organized July 1, 1937. The bank ended 1949 with resources of over $33 million and deposits of approximately $30 million. With home offices here, branch es are operated at Sparta, Boone, Blowing Rock, Bakersville, Burnaville, Jefferson, Taylors ville, Valdese, Spruce Pine, Black Mountain, Old Fort, New ton, Maiden. Hickory, Stony Point, and Wilkesboro. Hi School Cagers Take Nine Games The Appalachian Boys Vanity defied the signs of Friday the 13th, and defeated Elkin by a score of 90-36, making them their ninth consecutive win. Johnny1 Burnett, a senior and Appalach ian's greatest threat, led the scor ing with sixteen points. Three boys tied for second place with seven points eath. They were Dale Hodge-j, Bill Blackburn, and CoakerTriplett. Although the boys got off to a alow start the first quarter they fell right into their usual pee* on the second quarter and the score started rising We are es pecially proud of our boyi' var sity this year and would like to encourage the townspeople to come to the high school and see them play. Q CAA blames Bolivian pilot for nation's wont air tragedy. Tennessean Held by FBI in Automobile Theft Case; Has Record of Crime; North Wilkes bo ro Patrolman Seizes Fugitive, as Housewife Gives Tipoff Carl Robert Ricker, one of the gunmen sought for 30 hours In a Watauga manhunt conducted by the State highway patrol, Fed eral and local officers, was cap tured last Wednesday afternoon near Rominger, and the following day the hunt for his companion ended, when it became apparent he had made his escape into Tennessee. Ricker, of Midway, Tenn., with one or more companions had been the object of a. intense search since the car which they were driving crashed into a ditch near Vilas Tuesday morning. . j Patrolman R. H. Garland, of North Wilkesboro, ran the gun man down in a field between Rominger and Watauga River, after having trailed the fugitive for a mile with a bloodhound and its handler. Ricker had suf fered two severe gashes in the{ forehead and numerous cuts on the back of his hands in the acci dent, and had been followed by a trail of blood. Mrs. Eulalie Shoemake of Matney, gave the officers their first good lead, when she told of having given the wounded man breakfast Wednesday. Investigations revealed that the automobile the gunmen oc cupied had been stolen in Ala bama and the Georgia license plates taken near Atlanta. They are believed to have robbed a Ford place at Thomasriile, Ga., and Kicker is reported to have served time for a number of auto theft violations. He was turned over to FBI agents to answer Dyer act charges, and is being held in Lenoir. The wrecked automobile con tained a sawed off shotgun, out board motor, movie .projectors auto tires, car batteries, a variety of Notary seals, electric drill, typewriter and other items. The manhunt started when Patrolman Parker of Boone in vestigated the motor accident, later exchanging shots with one of the fugitives. 35 patrolman took part in the chase, together with FBI agents, Watauga coun ty sheriffs officers, with offic ers from Burke, Caldwell and Avery counties. Many local citi zens volunterred their services and aided the enforcement agents. Pest Control School To Be Held in Boone Some of the state's leading plant disease and insect special ists will come to Boone Friday, January 27, for a one day meet ing on vegetable diseases and in sect pests. Home gardeners, com mercial vegetable producers, seed dealers, and insecticide and fungicide dealers are especially invited to attend. Since the wo men make many of the home gar dens, in this sectidn, It is hoped that many women will attend this school. The program is to be held at the court house and is conducted by the North Carolina Agricul tural Extension Service cooper ating with the North Carolina Ag ricultural Experiment Station and U. S. Fish h Wildlife Serv ice. L. E. TuckwilleT, county agent will preside, with George D. Jones, Extension Entomologist, acting as chairman. The program begins at 9:30 with Mr. Tuckwiller welcoming the group and giving the purpose of the school. At 9:40, Mr. Jones will explain "How Insects Work." Paul O. Ritcher will speak on "New Insecticides at 10:40 a. m. "Plant Diseases ? Cause and Local Vets To Receive $20,000 Approximately $20,000 In in surance refund checks is to be received by Watauga veterans of the last world war, it i> said by Lionel Ward, county service of ficer, who states some checks, perhaps SOiof them, will be In the hands of the payees by the end of the current week. Watauga county had about 2600 men in various brandies of receive in refunds M* of the amount they had paid out in their war-time insurance poli cies. The payments also Include refunds on polices converted on or before July 38, 194ft. Behavior," will be the subject if James H. Jenson at 10:50, with Don E. Ellis speaking on "Recog nizing Some Vegetable Diseases" at 11:40. The meeting will recess for lunch at 12:00 noon. The afternoon session will be chairmaned by Howard .R. Gar ris, Extension Plant Pathologist. The session will begin at 1:30, with the general subject of "Beans," with Mr. Ritcher ex plaining the "Mexican Bean Bee tle Problem," and Howard R. Gar ris, "Anthracnose (nailhead), Blights and Root Rot." At 2:10 "Potato and Tomato" will be discussed. "Late Blight ? Ring Rot of Potato," by Lowell W. Nielsen, and "Insects* by To dor M. Dobrovsky, will be the subjects. 2:45? "Cabbage": "Yellows and Black Rot," by Mr. Garris, and "Maggot and Aphid Problems," by Mr. Ritcber. 3:20? "Other Vegetables": "In sect Problems," by Mr. Jones, and "Disease Problems," by Mr. Ellis. 3:40 ? "Rodent Control,*' by Lar ry C. Whitehead. 4:00 Discussion, conducted by Mr. Tuckwiler. Souvenir Hunter Has Rotary Seal Patrolman R. B. Parker, com menting on the chaae after the gunmen last week state* that some souvenir hunter evidently took a Bladen county Notary seal from the wrecked car of the accused men. An iMgwiui of the wanted seal had been made by someone soon after the accident, and brought knowledge of its existence. Mr. Parkier jfointe out that since the missing seal provides an important bit of evidence, it would be highly appreciated if the device i? promptly returned. China'*; 1M0 rice crop was about 11 par cant below the pre COUNTY FARM INCOME IS SET IT $3,471,000 BY CO. AGENT roekwlller Gives Estimate <m Farm Income for Old Tear; Livestock Sales Yield Most Money; Review of Agricul tural Progress in Year 1M& Farmers of Watauga county received an estimated income at $3,471,000 for 1949, according to an estimate made by county agent L. E. Tuckwiller, who ta bulated the agricultural receipts as follows: From livestock sales $700,000; dairy products $400,000; poultry and eggs $200,000; tobacco $400, 000; green beans and cabbage $885,000; fruits and nuts $150,000; shrubbery and other horticul tural crops $5,000; Irish potatoes and other crops $230,004); roots and herbs $200,000; lumber and other forest products $500,000. Mr. Tuckwiller relasses the following summary of agricul tural progress in the county dur ing the past year: Nineteen modern grade A dairy barns were completed dur ing the year. A number of farmers construc ted new dwelling houses and in corporated in them many of the modern conveniences. , The artificial breeding pro gram is progressing nicely and 320 cows were bred in the first eleven months of the year. Two outstanding Hereford bulls were purchased to head purebred Hereford herds in the county. Councill and Hamilton Eurchased MW Prince Larry 10. y MW Larry Domino 37, and V annoy Brothers purchased On ward Triumphant 28, by TT Triumphant 3. Thirty registered Hereford bulls were purchased by Wa tauga beef cattle men. Three stud Hampshire rams were purchased to head pure bred Hampshire sheep flocks in Watauga county. These farmers are R. G. Shipley, Ernie Triplett, and the firm of Norris Brothers, Chalmer Phillips and J. W. Nor ris. Nine Poland China boars were placed in the county. Worked closely with county PMA office to get the following materials distributed and used to good advantage: 3,633 tons of lime was pur chased through the PMA office. 34,845 hundred pound bags of phosphate was purchased through the PMA office. This phosphate ranged from 18 to 48%. 11,874 hundred pounds of mix ed fertilizer was purchased through the PMA office. 2, 125 pbunds of alfalfa seed was purchased through PMA. 4,834 pounds of ladino clover seed was purchased through (continued on page ten) Local Estates In Park Area Roanoke, Va. ? Two huge esta tes totaling 7,600 acre* in the re sort area near Blowing Rock, N. |C., have been given to the Na tional Park service as public re creation areas along the Blue Ridge parkway and will be for mally taken over by the park way some time this summer. Sam P. Weems, parkway superinten dent, said last week. He listed these bequests: The 3,600-acre estate of the late Moses H. Cone, wealthy Greensboro, N C., denim manu facturer, including a SI -roam mansion and two buge lakes. The 4,000-acre estate of the late Julian Price, former presi dent of the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Co., of Greens boro. The Cone property has been operated as a memorial park by trustees of the estate since 1947 when Mr. Cone's widow died, Weems said. The trustees arrang ed to turn it over to the park service with the provision that it be used as a recreation area. The deed was recorded last week in Watauga county court house at Boone, N. C., Mr. Weems saidi The deed transferring the Price estate, bequeathed by Jef ferson Standard Life Insurance Co* was recorded earlier last week. Weems said Mr. Price left the property to his children and they later turned it over to the insurance company. The property is well develop ed ana includes stables, tenant houses and 25 miles of quaint carriage roads through the moun tains. This is now used as a scenic path. Riding enthu siasts may rent horses at nearby Blowing Rock. r The Price estate is unimprov ed timber land without buildings. Mr. Weems said the parkway is studying possibilities for JIM of the big Cone manor house. One idea m favor at present, he said, is the establishment of a idlcraft school to teach some the "mountain arts" such as weaving, woodcarving, metal
Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.)
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Jan. 19, 1950, edition 1
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