North Carolina Newspapers

I . ; -7,jr ,, m . w m w^ 'nwwm *? ? "s?? ? watauga Democrat 1950 Population ZJ73 An Independent Weekly Newspaper ? Established in the Year 1888 *** ripililln 1MU SIXTY-SEVENTH YEAR.?NO. 1?. BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER ?, 1?M. TWO SECTIONS? 10 PAGES KING STREET BY ROB R1VELRS SEPTEMBER the month of the ripening, and of the golden harvest, and of the first frosts, come in, and despite the record drought, there is- corn in the fields, pumpkins lying gol den in the sun, cabbage and taters in the row, and other stuff to eat . . . And there is the start of school and the sad-eyed young sters laying aside the fishing pole and bidding adieu to the swim ming hole, and loitering along the way to school? or the school bus stop . . . And there are red apples amongst the twigs, even though the crop seems sparser than usual, and the housewives are ahead -with their home can ning, and the shadows are deep and there's a nip in the air at evening tide, and summer's wan ed. AND HOT AS IT IS at high noon, the insistent buss of the katydid sounds the knell of growing things, for there's little will flourish after the sea son of th* harvest rolls around, 'specially so when there'* no rain, and no immediate prospect of the baked earth's being dampened . . . And there's a bit of sadness inside us when the growing season comes to a close, and the earth has given down the good things and there's death in the air ... A transition period between the fruitfulnees of summer and the frigidity of the winter . . . And there's a wistful look back al the happy vacations, the moun tain resorts, and the gay beach hangouts as the furnace is cleaned and the coal man. and the oil man appear with the gathering storms at year's end . . . But it's been a big summer in these parts, visitor* galore have fees ted their eyes upon the beauties of the mountain sides. and we hope many of them will return again when the hills are bathed with gold and russet and crimson, and the valleys are hasy, and there is grandeur in the death of the leaves. THE ANCIENT BOUGH Our colored friends used to sing a never-ending song having to do [ with a pear tree which set in a hole in the ground, down in that beautiful field, and our friend Ben Norris bolsters our belief in the everlasting qualities of the pear tree by fetching us a few pears from boughs which he says arc ISO years old of a certainty and maybe a good deal more . . . I The ancient fruit tree, says Mr. Norris, was originally the pro perty of Levi Blackburn, the grandfather of the late Manley Blackburn of Boone, ifid is now owned by Mr. Murray Brown . . . Levi Blackburn, says M^. 'Norris, left the place when the pear tree was comparatively young, in 1835, and the tree was then giving down bushels of luscious fruit . . The farm is located on New River near Raven's Rock . . . Mr. Norris, incidentally, is 81 years old, and regularly reads the paper without glasses. EVER NOTICE lh? many war* advancing age affects a parson . . . It is parti cularly amusing to obaarv* the studied competence of the mid dle -agar as 4m goes about doing something ha knows utterly nothing about. HILL-COUNTRY USAGE An outsider remarked the other day on the worde"clever" which is invariably used by us moun tain men as denoting generosity rather than talent, dexterity, or skill . . . When we say a fellow is clever we mean he'll give you the shirt offn his btck, and we often say of a man of this sort: "He won't let anybody out-clever him." . . . And when we doubt or arc uncertain, we arc traditional ly "jubus" rather than dubious . . . and a considerable amount of anything a liable to be "a right smart," and of course we aim to defend fftin't" right down to the finish line. Thirty-one slaughter plants in the state buy good and choice grade steers. 4,000 Attend RE A'Meet; Hurt Reelected Prexy Used Clothing Sorely Needed For Destitute The local Clothing Closet is urgently in need of used clothing for the destitute school children, and householders are asked to gather their discarded clothing of the youngsters of school age so that all the children may be rea sonably well clothed before the advent of winter. Especially needed are under wear, sox, shoes, jeans, overalls, dresses, shirts, jackets and sweat ers. The Clothing Closet is a project of the Boone Junior Woman's Club. Those who are willing to contribute clothing should con tact any member of the club or call Mrs. W. C. Richardson, AM herst 4-3795. Emergency Polio Effort Continues This Week The March of Dimes Emergency drive is underway in Watauga county and will continue through this week, according to James Brown, emergency director for the county. Approximately $400 had been reported through August 31, with $31.70 coming from a square dance at Vaile Crucis, and $113.25 from the Western Watauga Sing ing Association. Letters have been sent out and parking meter collection in Boone Saturday was donated to the cause, Mr. Brown stated. No figures were available at press time, but Mr. Brown ex pressed the hope that those who intend to contribute do so by Sep tember 10 if possible so that the funds will be available immedi ately to help finance the high cost of fighting polio in the county and nation. Watauga county has had two reported cases this year which were treated in Asheville at the Stevens Opens Campaign For Congress Seat Albemarle. ? William E. Stev cns. Jr., of Lenoir, Republican candidate (or Congress in the Ninth District, made the first ad dress of the official campaign sea son at a GOP rally at the Oak boro School in Stanly County Saturday night Stevens has been active for several months in the district, but launched Saturday what he termed a series of ad dresses "to clarify the issues of this crucial election and explain the urgency of sending President Eisenhower a favorable Congress in November." Reminding his audiencc that the Ninth District gave Eisen hower a 21,000 vote majority in 1952, Stevens said that "the rec ord of the Eisenhower administra tion has justified that overwhelm ing vote of confidence." He said, "In our talks throughout the dis trict, Allene and I have found that people of both parties are prompt to admit that President Eisenhower has done an out standing job with the problems he inherited and the small mar gin in Congress he had to work with." polio center, and is still attempt ing to meet the bills of cases of previous years which need at tention. According to report from the National Foundation for Infan til^ Paralysis (NFIP) polio inci dence across the nation has climbed steadily through the first 30 weeks of 1954. 9,185 cases were reported from Jan. 1 through July 31, 20 per cent more cases than the average number reported in corresponding weeks of the last five years. Requests for emergency aid from NFIP increased this year so that by the middle of May, the headquarters' funds for patient aid hit rock bottom,, according to the report. The NFIP borrow ed money from funds which had been earmarked for research and experimental work in curbing polio and sent the money to local chapters to help defray their ex penses, but this only amounted to token amounts, so the emergency drive was decided upon. Many of the token payments represented less than half of the money needed to finance hos pital bills, equipment and pro fessional personnel. No goal was set for the county but it is hoped that enough money will come in by the 10th' of the month to at least carry the pro gram over until January, when the regular fund campaign is con ducted. Ernest Ross Is Rotary Speaker Mr. Ernest W. Ross of Marion, N. C., Governor 280th District, Rotary International, made his annual official visit to Blowing Rock Rotary Club Tuesday even ing, at 7 o'clock in the Wagon Wheel Restaurant on Main Street Governor Ross discussed plans for the participation of Blowing Rock Rotary Club in the world wide observance of Rotary's Gol den Anniversary in February of 1955. Blowing Rock's Rotary Club meets each Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock at Wagon Wheel Res taurant and all visiting Rotarians in the vicinity are most cordially invited to attend. The Wood row Wilson home is to become a national memorial. 3,000 Have Chest X-Ray s Made During Past W eek Nearly 3,000 persons had x-rays made of their chest last week in Watauga county, in *n effort to determine if they had tubercu losis or not, according to an an nouncement this week by the dis trict health department, with headquarters in Boone. According to the figures 725 people wfere x-rayed in one day by Carl Howell, x-ray technician for the State Board of Health, who is said to have stated that that was a near record for him since he has been in this work. The x-raj| mobile was in Blow ing Rork one day, August 31. where 272 people were x-rayed. It was in Boone four days where an average of 672 people went through, making a total of 2, MO x-rays for the five days. ? The mobile x-ray was brought to Watauga county through the cooperation of the district TB as sociation and the State Board of Health. Mrs. G. K. Moose and Mrs. J. E. Holshouser of Boone and Howard Holshouser of Blow ing Rock were instrumental in seeing that volunteers were pres ent to do the card work neces sary to carry out the operations. The churches of Boone furnished help for this while the unit was stationed on King street at De pot. Reports from the x-rays arc expected to start coming fcack in about two weeks, though many of ^em^will not be returned for several ween. Those with nega tive reports will be sent a post card to that effect, while those who may have had a positive re port or for some reason results wer%not clear will be notified by letter and referred to their physician. A. B. Hurt, president of the Blue Ridge Electric Corporation, was reelected Saturday to that post at the annual meeting of the co-op in Daniel Boone Theater last Saturday. All the other offi cers were reelected as follows: C. L. Mast of Caldwell county, vice president; A G. Beach, Cald well, secretary-treasurer; and C. E. B. Viverette of Lenoir, man ager. More than 4,000 persons attend ed the afternoon meeting, the first to be held away from its home offices in Lenoir, since the begin ning of electric co-op. They heard reports by Mr. Hurt and Mr. Viv erette, concerning the condition of their business. U. S. Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr., of Morganton, made the principal address to the group. He told the farmers that the increase in electrification of farm homes from three to 94 per cent since REA was first established was a miracle. "When I accepted the office of Senator I considered it an office of public trust and accepted in the belief that I could render wider service to the people of North Carolina than on the Su preme Court bench. "I believe tHat the greatness of North Carolina is due, in a great measure, to the fact that there are many of its people engaged in farming. "North Carolina has more indi vidual farmers than any other state and has the largest number of people on farms of any state." Senator Ervin stated he did not believe "In the government doing anything for the people that the people can do for themselves." "By the same token, it is the duty of the government to render service to the people by helping th^m to help themselves. "The electrification of farms has been of more benefit to the state than any other one factor in recent history," he said. Senator Ervin also said he was against the flexible price support program, that he thought it would result in lower income and re duced prices. He also praised the "Nickel for Know How" program in this state. "I am in favor of anything for agricultural research," the Senator emphasized. Harry B. Caldwell, master of North Carolina Grange, spoke of the challenge presented to farm ers today. Mr. Caldwell cited the changes in agriculture, including the increase of crop yields to 45 per cent, of milk production 20 per cent and egg production 50 per cent, of the challenge to the farmer in owning and operating his own business. Mr. Cfcldwell told the REA group he favored a sound farm program based on supply and de mand, saying that flexible farm prices will mean lowering of farm prices and income. H. W. Wilcox, president of the (Continued on page six.) C. of C. Meeting Tuesday Noon Guest speaker at the Septem ber meeting of the Boone Cham ber of Commerce will be George Dewey Martin, new district sup erintendent of the Postal Trans portation Scrvice, with head quarters in Greensboro. The meeting will be held at, 12 noon Tuesday, September 14, in the private dining room of the Gateway Restaurant. Mr. Martin was in the office of the district superintendent for 29 years, three years of which he was assistant district superinten dent For the last four years ha has been on the Greensboro-Flor ence Highway Post Office. P M EXAMINATION AT BLOWING ROCK UNCANCELLED . Tha examination lor poatmaater of Blowing Rock. If. C. has been cancelled. th? U. 8. ClVil Service Commission informed tha Demo crat in a telegram received Tues day The examination for the 14770. a-raar poetmestership had been preTiouily announced as being open for applications until lept ember It. No reason was given for the examination. I Michael Taft Honor Guest At Tourist Meeting Michael L. Taft, director of the State Tourist Bureau of the North Carolina Department of Conser vation and Development, will be the guest of honor and discussion leader at a meeting to be held Friday, September 10, at FotWs Ranch Motel near Blowing Rock. All persons interested in the tourist business are invited to at tend. Lunch will be served at 12 noon, and the business ession will begin at 1 p. m. Those who plan to come for lunch 'should make 'reservations with the Boone or Blowing Rock Chamber of Com merce. Mr. Taft, a native of Asheville, has had a wide and varied experi ence in tourist organizations and hotels before coming to the De partment of Conservation and Development at Raleigh. Alexander To Spend Saturday Touring Watauga Congressman Hugh Alexander tells the Democrat he will visit Watauga County Saturday Sept ember 11, to meet with his friends, and to "make my services available to anyone I may be of assistance to in Congress." The itinerary of Mr. Alexander on Saturday will be as follows: 8'30 a. m. to 9:30 a. m. Vilas Service Station. 9:30 a. m. to 10:30 a. m. Tom Moody's Store. 11:00 a. m. to 12:00 noon, Clyde Perry's Store. 12:30 p. m. to 1:00 f>. m., W. W. Mast's Store. 2:30 p. m. to 3:00 p. m., Blow ing Rock City Hall. 3:30 p. m. to 4:30 p. m., Park way School. 5.00 p. m. to 3.30 p. m., Green Valley School. Hudsons Move To Statesville Mr. and Mrs. Eber Hudson, Kathy and Ida Margaret left Tuesday for Statesville, where they will re-establish their home. Mr. Hudson will teach in the B r a w 1 e y School, Mooresville, while Mrs. Hudson will be book keeper at the Iredell Freezer Locker Plant. The Hudsons have resided in Boone for fourteen months, where Mr. Hudson has been educational secretary at the First Baptist Church. Young COP Of County Meet The Watauga County Young Republican Club met Friday night September 3rd in the court house. Mr. Marcus T. Hickman of Charlotte, President of Young Republican Club in North Caro lina, was speaker, and presented the club a charter. The next meeting will be held Friday evening September 17 at 6:30 with a picnic supper on the courthouse lawn and business meeting later in the courthouse. All members and those wishing to become members are invited to attend. Dem. Rally To Be Held 10th Wataugans planning to attend the barbecue dinner at the State wide Democratic rally in Mor ganton Friday are urged to ob tain advance#tickets, according to Sam J. Ervin III, who is handling the arrangements. A limited number of tickets have been placed with Rob Rivers for local sale, and those wishing to go should see him at once. National Democratic Chairman Stephen Mitchell of Chicago will be the keynote speaker at the rally beginning at 8 p. m. Friday in the National Guard Armory. The 'barbecue dinner is set for ? p. m. at the armory. Many state officials and others have already signified their in tentions to attend the rally. Among these are U. S. Sen. Sam J. Ervin Jr.; former Gov. W. Ken Scott, Democratic nominee for U. S. senator; >nd several oongres liooal ramiirfitw r i 160 Will Face Trial At Superior Court Session Annual Potato Tour Set For September 28 The annual Potato Tour hag been tentatively set for Tuesday, September 28. It will held on this date if the weather is favor able and unless some other con flict comes up. The tour is sponsored by the Vocational Agriculture Depart ment, Veterans Farmer Training Program of Appalachian High School, the Extension Service, Soil Conservation Service, local produce dealers. The Northwest ern Bank, Building and Loan As sociation, and the Federal Land Bank. Plans are made to visit 6 or 8 farmers. Any farmer in the area of the eastern part of the county who has a good crop of potatoes and would like to enter his pota toes should contact the agricul ture teacher, county agent, Mil ton Moretz, or Tom Jackson. It is hoped that several entries will be made. A small area in each field en tered will be harvested and weighed so that a fairly accurate estimate of the yield can be made. A guessing contest will be held at each area harvested and a prize given to the one coming closest to estimated yield. The farmer having the highest yield wiU receive ten dollars. Horn In The West Is Seen By 40,000 The popular historical drama, Horn in the West, closed its third successful season at the Daniel Boone Theatre here Monday night, playing to more than 3,000 i DR. H. M. COOKE Dr. Cooke Opens Medical Offices / ? Dr. H. M. Cooke announce! the opening of his office at the Haga man Clinic in Boone, on Labor Day, for the general practice of medicine. A native Kentuckian, Dr. Cooke was graduated from the Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, and after completing his internship in Memphis, Tenn., practiced in the Plaza section of Charlotte for nine years prior to completing a two-year tour of duty in the Army during the Korean War. Dr. and Mrs. Codke with their children, Marcus and Evangeline, reside presently at 516 Grand Boulevard. Office hours will be from 9 to 11 a. m. and 2 to 3 p. m. daily except Thursday afternoon and Sunday. Roby Gene Thomas Dies In Accident; Funeral Friday A-2 c Roby Gene Thomas died Sunday, September 5, of inju ries he received in an automobile accident last week near Mt Cle ment, Michigan. Airman Thomas' body is sched uled to arrive at the Reins-Sturd ivant Funeral Home here Wed nesday, where it will be prepared for burial and removed to the home of his sister, Mrs. Mac Ba ton, at Silverstone. Th# funeral will be held Friday afternoon, September 10. ? He is survived by his nether, Mr*. Jennie Thomas, Ziontflle; ^ brother, Lee Thomas, Grundy, Vs.; and the following sifters in addition to Mrs. Baton: Mr*. Bes sie Shores, Vilas, Mn. Mona Hodges. Deep Gap, THelma and Opal Thomas, Zionville, and Mrs. Nell Buch, Mrs. Wilmetta Hamp ton, Mrs. Marcelee Brown, and Mihs June Thomas, all of Cleve land Ohio. persons over the Labor Day week end. This brought the attendance (or the season to well over the 40.000 figure, comparing favorably with last year's attendance, said Bob Isbell, publicity director. Among the surviving outdoor dramas, the Boone play was sec ond in attendance only to Unto These Hills, at Cherokee, which is situated in the more heavily-vis ited Smokies area. With reduced operating expen ses and fewer complimentary tic ?kets issued than in previous sea sons, The Horn concluded its third run on a sound financial basis, and many mere successful seasons are anticipated. Mid I spokesman for the Southern Ap palachian Historical Association, producers of the drama. This year the script was im proved, trimmed, and tightened into a faster moving story, with most auspicious results reflected in the general comment that Horn in the West is now the best of the three North Carolina dramas from an entertainment standpoint. Most of the non-resident players who take part in the drama were preparing to leave Boone Tues day and Wednesday. Department heads and technical crews will remain yiveral days to complete the enormous task of closing the theatre and preparing sets, cos tumes. properties, and lighting equipment for winter storage. Plans for the 1955 run of the play are already underway, and inclusive dates of June 24 to Sep tember 5 have been announced by R. E. Agle, chairman of the pro duction committee. Calves Needed For Annual Sale Nominations for the Boone Feeder Calf sale should be in the county agents office by Friday, September 10. We need more calves nominat ed to have a good sale, and con tinue to have a sale at Boone. Send your nominations and tell your neighboro to send his in at once. Judge Rousseau To Preside At Criminal Term One hundred and sixty persons will (ace trail when the (all term of Watauga Superior Court con venes September 20, according to Clerk Austin E. South. Most o( the cases involve tra( (ic violations, speeding heading the list A number have been in dicted (or driving while intoxi cated and violating the prohibi tion' laws. Judge J. A. Rousseau o( North Wilkesboro will preside at the one-week session, which will try no civil cases, except perhaps a (ew divorce actions. The Jury Following is a list o ( those who have been selected by the com missioners lor jury duty: Bald Mountain Township ? Hade Cook, A. T. Parker. Beaver Dam ? Don Greene, Max W. Trivett, Gardner Matheson. Blowing Rock ? Fred Spann, Reese Moody, Glenn H. Co((ey. Blue Ridge ? Robert E. Holder, Walter M. Co((ey, Roscoe J. Cook. Boone ? E. B. Mast, Claude G. Miller, Cli((ord Craven. Brushy Fork ? Mrs. B. A. Hod ges, Asa A. Greene, Forest B. Wil son, Bill Bingham. Cove Creek ? James B. Mast. Tom Lawrence. Elk Township ? Clay Hodges, Will Cook. Laurel Creek ? Wilson Hodges, Ray Harmon, AKred Rominger. Mabel ? Edd Reece, Clay Egg ers. Meat Camp ? James A. Hodges, Wade LoOkabill, J. D. Miller. New River ? H. Grady Farth Hig. David L. Bingham, Archie Carroll. North Fork ? Ted Potter, Clay on Main. Shawneehaw ? Bynum Shook, James M. Michael. Stony Fork ? Thomas M. Fair child, Joe L. Coffey, John D. Wellborn. Watauga ? Joe Presnell, Hard in B. Co((ey, Romie Storie, How ard W. Mast. Frank Teague, 47, Has Fatal Attack Frank Teague, 47, resident of the Rich Mountain section, died at Blowing Rock Hospital Friday September 3rd, following a heart attack. He had been in failing health for several weeks, but his death was unexpected. Funeral services were conduct ed at the Rich Mountain Baptist Church at 2 p. m. Sunday. Rev. W. C. Payne and Rev. Howard Shore conducted the rites and burial was in the neighborhood cemetery. Mr. Teague was a well-known farmer, and had resided on the Rich Mountain for thirteen years. He is survived by the widow, three daughters, Rachel, Emma Joe and Frankie; two sisters, Mrs. Robt. Swift, Boone; Mrs. Onie Hayes, Vilas; three brothers, Carl, Boone; Hansel, High Point; Lewis of Savannah, Ga. High School Chorus To Be Outstanding One The Appalachian High School Choral Ensemble has reorganized for the seventh year under the direction of Mrs. Elsie Emeston. The group this year, though smaller than the past two years, promises to be a very capable and interested one. Plans are in the making to give a secular pro gram for the student body during the month, and also the usual Thanksgiving program. The ?roup will also be prepared to sing for various churchcs and civic groups on invitation. The chorus has gotten off to a good start this year by singing several of the songs that will be lung at the State Chorus Festi val, which is held in Greensboro tacb spring. Some oX these songs are: Barefoot, Early in the Morn fng, Two Kingi, Simon the Fish erman, How Finn a Foundation, Orchestra Song, and the Lord Bless You and Keep You. Members of the chorus are: Richard Hunt, W. C. Payne, J. B. Jones, Austin Moretz, Carlton Lyons, Glenn Miller. B. M. Mill er, Aaron Carrol, Gail Phillips, Betty Ruth Hodges, Peggy Wel born, Becky Bingham, Betty Jam Calloway, Helen Parker, Sheila Gilley. On Friday, September 3, the following officers were elected to serve for the year: President) Becky Bingham; vice-president, Carlton Lyons; secretary and treasurer, Helen Parker; librarian, Betty Jane Cal loway.