WATAUGA COUNTY IT T ? fTT^ A T A T^Vl"^ Tk M /~\ T% A rr\ BOONE
Farming and Touriit Region. Pint in Carolina %/%/ /'\ M /\ I I ? __ /\ I I IJ |%/l ? ?? Lb I The Educational Center of Western North
in Sheep Production. ^ T JLjL X ii. Vj VjjLjL V ,/V 7lV X
lHt P?|iMn Ifl.Ml An Independent Weekly Newspaper ? Established in the Year, Eighteen Eighty-Eight 1?5? Population 2, *73
? ' .
SIXTY-SIXTH YEAR ? NO. 33 BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1955 14 PAGES ? 2 SECTIONS
. 2 : ;
KING
STREET
BY
Rob Rivers
OLD DOCUMENTS BRING OUT
POINTS OF HISTORY
If and when * museum U estab
lished out on the Horn in the West
property, Don Shull of Valle Cru
cis should be prevailed upon to
part with his collection of ancient
documents ? a priceless bunch of
tax receipts, land papers of var
ious kinds and other official writ
ings, dating back from one to one
hundred and fifty years . . . Tax
receipts written on scraps of pap
er without benefit of printed
forms, other forms crudely printed
and torn from the unperforated
sheet, all bearing the yellow tints
of great age, are included in the
Shull collection, some of which
Don brought to town the other
day . . . One recipt made' out to
Mary Shull and signed by a Depu
ty Collector, whose name we can't
make out, reads as follows:
"RECEIVED this l?th day of
August 1814 from Mary Shull
the sum of $2.10 for Direct Tax
upon the property of Ed Shull
in the county of Ashe in the 13th
Collection District, in the State
of North Carolina, nnder the act
of Congress passed the 2d of
August, 1813, to lay and collect
a Direct Tax within the United
States." ... A jury ticket dated
Feb. 1857 indicate* that James
Shull attended Watauga court as
a Juror 3 days at 60 cents a day,
and was entitled to 12 miles
travel at 2 cents a mile. This
ticket bears the signature of H.
Blair, Clerk . . . And there are
tax receipts signed by D. C. Mc
Canless, who was deputy Sheriff
under Jack Horton 100 years ago
right now, and who beat Horton
for the Chief law enforcer in
1856 . . . And folks might be in
terested in a bit of history as re
corded by John Preston Arthur,
concerning a local politician of
the pre-Civil war days in Wa
tauga.
LIVED AT SHULLS MILLS
David Colvert (Cobb) MeCaniess
was a son of James MeCaniess,
who came from Iredell county and
lived near the George Robbins
store site at Shulls Mills ... A
man of education, James taught
school in the neighborhood, did a
tolerable job of fiddlin' and some
woodworking . . . Arthur tells lit
tle of the early life of Cobb 10c
Canless, other than that he was
deputy Sheriff for Sheriff Jack
Horton from 1852 to 1856 ... It
was then that the campaign be
tween the two politicians of the
old school got under way, and Me
Caniess won . . . Fist fights are
said by Arthur to have ensued be
tween the candidates on occasion
. . . Both were powerful men ?
Horton of medium height, thick
set, and MeCaniess tall and well
proportioned . . . MeCaniess is said
to have been a strikingly band
some and a well-behaved and use
ful citizen until "he became in
volved with a woman not his wife,
after which he fell into evil cours
es." ... In 1859, Arthur writes,
MeCaniess took some money he
had received in line of duty and a
woman, rode to Johnson City, sold
their horses, saddles and bridles
to Joel Dyer and took the train for
the west.
FALLS TO WILD BILL'S GUNS
News came to Watauga during
the Civil War, it is recorded,
that Cobb McCanless had been
kilted in Kansas, but it was not
until 1883 that the details be
came known, through the publl
c.tion of D. M. Kelsey's book
"Our Pioneer Heroes and Their
Daring Deeds," from which these
facta were gleaned: that what
was known as the McCanless
gang were Impressing horses in
Kansas, as they claimed, for the
Confederate government, but in
reality for themselves. James
Butler llickok (Wild Bill), not
ed frontier marshal and profes
sional gunman, was connected
with a stage line at Rock Creek,
\ fifty miles west of Topeka. Kan
I sas There be occupied a dugout,
the back and two sides of which
were formed of the earth of the
hillside, into which the cabin had
been built. There, on the ISth
day of December 18C1, In a fight
with ten of McCanless' men,
Cobb McCanles^nd seven of his
lieutenants fell to the guns of
Hirkok and his men, and
thus ended the career of de
bonair, handsome David Calvert
McCanless, Watauga's third high
(continued on page four)
Five Year Oldster Thanks
Governor For Heart Edict
A lively five-year-old boy, Sandy
Parker, climbed on Governor Hod
ges' lap one day last week, to the
Governor's obvious delight, and
pinned a tiny read heart on his
lapel as a gesture of thanks for
the Governor's proclamation nam
ing Sunday, February 20, as Amer
ican Heart Sunday. The full text
of the proclamation appears be
low.
"It is a disturbing fact that
diseases of the heart and circula
tion are responsible for approxi
mately 32% of all deaths in the
nation and are the leading cause
of death in our State. They also
constitute a leading cause of dis
ability and are responsible for a
staggering economic loss because
of lost productivity aqd medical
care expense.
The North Carolina Heart As
sociation, an affiliate of the Amer
ican Heart Association, is a well
known organization devoted to
programs of professional and pub
lic education in the field of heart
diseases. It strives to achieve
broader understanding of heart
diseases and the urgent need to
protect healthy hearts and to re
habilitate heart disease sufferes.
As a means of calling attention
to the outstanding work of the
North Carolina Heart Association,
I hereby designate February 20,
1955 as American Heart Sunday
and urge all citizens to support the
1955 Heart Fund Campaign.
Cones, Rockefellers
Protest Toll Plan
Washington, Feb 14? Gov. Luth
er Hodgei of North Carolina is ex
pected to bring here tomorrow pro
test* from the Rockefeller and the
Cone families against making the
Blue Ridge Parkway a toll road,
Coleman W. Roberts, president of
the Carolina Motor Club, said to
day.
The governor is heading a dele
gation from the state and the
state's members of ( ingress to a
Tuesday conference with Secre
tary of the Interior McKay to ask
him to drop plans to charge for use
of the scenic highway of North
Carolina and Virginia.
The Rockefellers, Roberts said,
gave five million dollars to the
Great Smoky Mountain National
Park which is linked with the
Shenandoah Park of Virginia by
the Blue Ridge Parkway. The
Moses Cone estate along the park
way was donated for a park, he
stated.
Roberts, a Charlotte resident,
told reporters he believed protests
Boone Weather
By JOHN BOWEN HAMILTON
High Low 4 p. m.
30 26 39
49 33 39
S3 30 42
5? . 26 44
43 9 9
10 -5 4
29 -4 23
Precipitation for 24-hour period
ending at 7 a. m.: Feb. 7 1.90; Feb.
11 .12.
Snow: Feb. 12 1.9.
would come from John D. Rocke
feller Jr., Herman Cone, represent
ing the Cone estate, and maybe
other private contributors of mon
ey or land to the development
along or near the Blue Ridge Park
way.
He hinted the state may consid
er charging the federal govern
ment for use of state highways
needed to link together. the finish
ed portions of the parkway.
"The parkway is actually operat
ed at present only with the use of
state highways in such sections as
that around Boone in the Blowing
Rock area," Roberts added.
,"The federal government could
at least defer charges until it has
its own parkway," he stated.
"A lot of people down there are
bitter," Roberts said, "Because no
public hearing was held prior to
the announcement that a toll would
be placed on the Blue Ridge Park
way May 1."
Some 25 U. S. highways enter
the parkway and there are hun
dreds of entrances to it, he con
tinued. He said aproximately 100
communities adjacent to the park
way would be hurt because ooany
residents .could not afford the pro
posed charges. ,
FIRST DIVE*
The atomic-powered submarine,
Nautilus, recently made her first
successful dive. The vessel had
previously made only surface runs
which the Navy said, "Thus far
have been satisfactory."
France's dollar zone exports
show a decline for S954
Dimes Campaign Ends
With $ 3,372 Collected .
Total receipts for the March of
Dimes in Watauga County are $3,
372.67, ami Mrs.. Jerry Coe and
Mrs. W. R. Richardson, co-chair
men, join in thanking the people
for their cooperation and contribu
tions.
It is felt that the campaign was
a success, in view of the fact that
the bad weather had forced the
cancellation of some of the pro
jects planned.
Special thanks are extended by
the officials to the schools of the
county for their enthusiastic sup
port. A lot of hard work was put
forth by both teachers and stu
dents
The proceed* from the schools
are as follows:
Appalachian Elementary $819.92
Appalachian High Sctaol 1.44.92
Bethel School 29Ap
Blowing Rock 354 M
Cove Creek Elementary ,.. 63.97
Cove Creek High 83.19
Green Valley 77. UO
Mabel 40.00
Parkway 683d
Vail* Crucis ? 49 69
Watauga Consolidated 7.06
Red Cross
Campaign
Is Planned
Plain ire being completed foi
the National Red Cross Drive
which begins in Watauga County
,and over the natian March 1.
Watauga's quota for the 1S53
campaign is $2650 00 /
S. C. Eggers, who was successful
as chairman of the Watauga Coun
ty campaign in 1894, was re-elect
ed again this year and is already
assembling his working committees
and chairmen. He is planing a kick
off meeting to take place a few
days before the drive gets under
way..
The Board of Directors, which
cosists of leading business men,
religious and civic leaders and
town officials will act as a cam
paign committee working with the
chairmen to meet Watauga's quota.
Chairman Watkins explains that
some 40 servicemen and their
families received help and advice
from the Watauga County Red
Cross officials last year, and that
with the present Far Eastern situa
tion in Formosa a possibility of
more Red Cross help may be
necessary in the future. Emer
gency leaves for servicemen serv
ing in the States and overseas in
critical and serious illness and
death in their families and hard
ship discharges, dependency dis
charges made up the bulk of cases
handle by the local chapter last
year.
Meeting Plans
For Organization
Of Young People
A meeting to discuss the possibi
lity of organizing a club for young
people of Watauga County who are
out of high school and between the
ages of 18 and 28 was held Friday
night in the Winkler Building.
G. L. Carter and Dan Hollar
from State College explained to
the group that several counties
have Young Men and Women's
clubs and that these YMW Clubs
arc rendering valuable service to
young people in their respective
communities by providing an op
portunity for these "forgotten
young people' 'to work together.
L. E. Tuckwiller, county farm
agent and W. C. Richardson, assist
ant county agent, Miss Mary Helen
Neill, home demonstration agent
and Miss Catherine E. Holcombe.
assistant home agent, were in
charge of the meeting.
Local officers explain the pur
pose of YMW organizations as fol
lows:
"To develop leadership abilities
among youth and thereby strength
en democratic procedures; to pro
vide helpful information on im
proved farm and home practices
and provide activities leading to
improvement and enrichment of
rural life; to help provide whole
some social and recreational life
for young men and women of the
community; to help young men
and women study together topics
of common interest and thereby
provide for continuing education
demanded by our complex modern
life; to provide ?n opportunity for
young men and women to share in
group and civic activities for bet
terment of the community and to
provide vocational information,
'guidance and training."
Norris Injured
In Ladder Fall,
Is Much Improved
J. C. Norris was released from
Watauga Hospital Monday follow
ing treatment for concussion and
bruises sustained when he fell
from an eight-foot ladder last
Thursday while taking down an
electric sign in front of the build
ing formerly occupied by Harris
It Wagoner on East King Street.
Norris, an employee of Ayers
Electric Shop, said the sign swung
around and struck him on the
h&d, knocking him to the side
walk, 0nd rendering him unconsci
ous.
His employer, Ira S. Ayers, said
Tuesday that Norris' condition is
mu'eh-improved, and he is expect
ed to return to tyk in a few days.
Cement production sets it* 10th
straight yearly peak.
I
Clyde Greene Named Chairman
Federal Agricultural Program :
SGT. YOUNCE . . KEEPS THE MAIL MOVING
Mailman, A Wataugan,
Brings Joy To Troops
The arrival of the mailman each
day is one of the brightest spots
in the life of our servicemen and
women throughout the world.
In the hustle and bustle of open
ing and reading of letters and
packages from loved ones at home,
the mailman is often left out of
the activity.
This is the story of an Army
mailman. He is a local boy. His
mail route is in Atlanta, Ga. There
he carries not only the personal
mail of some two hundred service
men, but all the official correspon
dence of the entire Georgia Mili
tary District.
S|ft. Willie Younce, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Roy Younce of Sugar
Grove, dri.es some fifty miles
every day, five times each week
in his mail run. He leaves home
at 6:45 every morning or just
time enoiuh to stop in at Fort
McPherson, headquarters for the
Third Army, to pick up "distri
bution." Distribution is all the
official circulars, bulletins, let
ters, and other pieces of mail
that pertain to military affairs
at the military district.
From Fort McPherson he drives
into Atlanta, some five miles away, |
to pick up mail that comes through
the 0. S. post office. Then on to
Georgia Military District where he
gives the mail to the Army post of
fice or message center as it'i
known in the Army.
At ten o'clock Sgt. Younce starts
another "mail run." This time he's
off to Fort McPherson with mail
that originates at the military dis
trict.
And so it goes. Sgt. Younce visits
the U. S. Host Office three times
daily to keep the mail moving. His
last stop at night is once again at
Fort McPherson.
On an average, Sgt. Younce
handles some 2,400 pieces of mail
every day. He thinks that's quite a
bit of mail.
Sgt. Younce is a veteran of both
World War 2 and the Korean War
and is the holder of the Purple
Heart with one cluster.
His driving while on the mili
tary district mail run last July
earned him the Third Army Safe
Driving Award for two years of
safe driving while operating an
army vehicle.
He lives with his wife and two
sons, Timothy and Kenneth at 588
Culverson St., S. W., Atlanta.
Mercury Slides Below Zero
In Coldest Wave Of Winter
Mercury in Boone thermometers
plummeted to five degrees below
zero Saturday morning, to bring
the coldest weather of the winter.
High winds accompanying the
severe cold ripped a portion of the
roof from the bus terminal, damag
ed the Mountain Burley ware
house no. 1, and blew roofing and
shingles from numerous other
structures in the area. Household
ers, in many cases, were confront
ed with frozen and broken plumb
ing, and garages reported fuel
lines and carbureators of many
automobiles frozen where water
bad collected.
A little more than an inch of
snow accompanied the sharp drop
in temperatures, and while Satur
day morning the light fall was
whipped into blinding billows,
traffic was not interrupted in this
area.
Sunday morning the tempera
ture was four bftow, riling to
slightly above freezing during the
day, and by Tuesday the sun was
bright, and the cold definitely
abated. The weather man brings
tiding of better weather for the
next few days.
Bids Are Asked
On Foscoe Road
The State Highway Commis
sion has asked for bids on the
construction of the highway from
Boone to Foscoe, a portion of
the Mnville road.
?
Involved is 7.S4 miles of grad
ing, paving and structures from
a point in Foscoe Northeast and
east, through Hodges Gap to a
point on US 221 and 321 about
135*fret south of the Boone city
limits.
Transmitter
Fire Causes Loss
Of Radio Time
A (ire broke out at ridio station
WATA'* transmitter In Councill
Grove (east Boone) Monday after
noon, resulting in minor damage
to equipment and causing the sta
tion to lose approximately one
hour of air time.
Harry Witherspoon, who oper
ates the transmitter station along
with Ray Osborne, said the blaze
started at 3.48 p. m. apparently
from a leak in the feed line to the
oil heater in the building. Wither
spoon called the fire department,
then succeeded in smothering the
fire, which had destroyed a parti
tion in the room and partially
burned the floor.
Damage to transmitter equip
ment was caused principally by
smoke and water, he said, and the
statibn was back on the air at
about 4:43.
Watauga Schools To
Be Open Saturday
All the schools in Watauga coun
ty will operate Saturday February
19th in order to make up the day
lost due to snow and ice, says W.
H. Walker, superintendent of
schools.
Mr. Walker states that the nine
months term will end Friday May
20th, unless other days are lost.
Dr. Canipe Ends
Baptist Position
DR. J. C. CANIPE
Greensboro, Feb. 9 ? J. C.
Canipe, secretary of the Baptist
State Convention department of
evangelism, presided over his fin
al statewide conference on evange
lism here today.
He announced his plana to re
linquish his post on July 1 to de
vote full time to his position as
director of the Fruitland Preach
ers' School near Hendersonville.
For the past 10 years, he has held
both jobs with the state conven
tion.
The Executive Committee of the
convention General Board will
name a successor.
Winston-Salem was selected ten
tatively as the host city for the
conference next year. Final con
firmation likely will come with
the appointment of a new director
of evangelism.
Baltimore, Md.? An Aberdeen
Angus cow, owned by Donald M.
Culber, of Edgehill Farms in Glyn
don, recently gave birth to triplets
? three bull calves ? so rare a phe
nomenon that it occurs only three
times in every 10,000 births.
Appointment Of
Boone Man Comes
As Keith Quits
Clyde R. Greene, Boone hard
ware merchant and long a leader
in state Republican affairs, was
appointed Monday as chairman of
the state Agricultural Stabiliza
tion Committee (ASC), following
his appointment to the committee
CLYDE R. GREENET
by only a few days.
He succeeds Fred R. Keith of
St. Pauls, center of a bitter fight
over conduct of the Agricultural
Stabilization and Conservation pro
gram in North Carolina, who re
signed Monday.
A controversy first arose over
Keith, a Republican, when he ad
mittedly sought to replace Demo
crat Horace D. Godfrey of Raleigh,
veteran state ASC administrative
qjfficer, on (rounds that Godfrey
failed to cooperate in carrying out
policies laid down by the state
committee.
The attempt to remove Godfrey
brought an outcry from state agri
cultural circles.
U. S. Sen. W. Kerr Scott called
on Keith last Friday to step down
as ehairijian of the committee.
Scott said he was making the re
quest "in the interest of preserv
ing the program as it has always
operated and keeping it above
politics in the future, and above
all in the interest of fair play to
farmers."
Scott declared "there is no place
for politics in a crrp control pro
gram.' He added "there are mighty
strong indications -that politics is
playing a big part in policy deci
sion. And if that is the case, I in
tend to do everything I know how
to stop it."
\lik{> Fisher, 6 , Owes Life To ?
Scout Who Came When Ice Broke
Young Mike Fisher probably
owes his life to the quick thinking
of Raymond Fletcher, who rescued
him from a pond near hit home
last Tuesday. ,
. Mike, B'/i-year-old son of Dr.
and Mrs. T. R. Fisher of Boone,
Route 1, was oif his way home
from school and had stopped at
the pond near Perry Greene's
home to skate on the itond which
was frozen over. The day befori
he and his f.ther had been skating
on the pond, but Tuesday the wea
ther hid warmed up some and tb?
ice was thin.
He skated out to where the pond
wii over hii head, and then the ice
gave away. He managed to keep
his head above the water by hold
ing on to the broken ice and be
gan yelling for help. Raymond,
who lives in the tame neighbor
hood, heard hia cries and rushed
to the pond.
Raymond waded in, and when he
reached Mike, the chilling water
was up to his nock, according to
reports. He attempted to calm
Mike and told him to take hold
of his coat. He was carrying Mike
out oo hia back when an unidenti
fied man. who was driving by, came
to their rcscue. Both boys were
badly chilled.
Dr. Fisher stated he believed
the quick thinking and prompt ac
tion by Raymond in all probability
saved his i*>n's life.
Raymond is the son of Mr. and
Mrs. Paul Fletcher. He is a scc
ond-clau Scout in Troop 59, Perk
insvtlle Baptist Church, of which
Fred Miller is Scoutmaster.
Dr. Fisher is on the faculty of
Appalachian State Teachers Col
ine cnanges were anounced in
Washington by Secretary of Agri
culture Ezra Taft Benson.
Keith submitted his resignation
as chairpian, an Agriculture De
partment spokesman said, for "per
sonal business reasons." The
spokesman said Keith felt the
committee chairmanship was tak
ing more time than he could de
vote to it
Since Keith's reappointment last
| week, the spokesman said, the de
partment has received 234 letters
and telegrams on the subject. Of
these, 69 praised the department
for the reappointment and 165 ex
pressed opposition to the action.
Greene, the new chairman, who
is also secretary of the Republican
state executive committee, was ap
pointed to the ASC committee to
succeed Terry Smart of Forest
City. Smart was not reappointed,
the Agriculture Department said,
because of a rotation policy affect
ing committee membership.
Keith became chairman when he
was first appointed to the commit
tee a year ago. Other members of
the committee qpe Bill Hooks of
Whitcvillc, who has served for sev
eral years, and David S. Weaver
of the State College Extension
Service, an ex officio member.
ASC administers marketing
quota and acreage allotment pro- ?
grams for farmers, and also hand
les agricultural conservation pro
gram payments for soil-buj|0ing
practices.
STOCK 8 ALE
The General Motors Corporation
recently filed plana with the Se
curity* pnd Exchange Commission
i for (he aale of 4,385,000 shares of
| stock. This was the largest indua
| trial offering on government ree