Newspapers / Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) / Feb. 23, 1956, edition 1 / Page 1
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A Backward Glance If you like to read of the early day* in Boone turn to page (our for "Our Early File*" item* of *ixty, thirty-sin* and fifteen year* ago. An Independent Weekly N etc* pa per ? Established In the Year Eighteen Eighty-Eight 14 PAGES-TWO SECTIONS VOLUME LXVIIL? NO. 34 BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, IK* Girl Slugs uty In I County Jail Break Bid By V. G. ROLLINS An attempted jail break by a couple awaiting trial for murder was thwarted Monday night in the Watauga County jail by Deputy Sheriff George Smitherman. Jo Ann Severson, 18, and Leo nard La Fond, 20, both of Mil waukee, Wia? tried to engineer an escape, but Smitherman overpow ered the girkand La Fond never got out of hit cell. % The pair, who have been iridieted in the slaying of Lewis A Finn, Chicago chemist, last July near Blowing Rock, are being held with out privilege of bond for trial at the April term of Superior Court. Deputy Smitherman said the Severson girl, who had been re warded for good behavior by be ing allowed to stroll in the cell block corridor occasionally, told him when he went up to put out the lights at about 9:49 that La Fond was complaining of stomach pains and wanted a dose of baking soda. Smitherman brought some soda from downstairs and opened the steel door leading to La Fond's "cage." As he was passing the soda through the bars he heard a noise behind him and turned in time to catch a blow on the head from an improvised blackjack wielded by Jo Ann, who Wad crept up behind Aim. The weapon was fashioned from an apparently brand new dog harness and chain, which she evidently had secreted In her suitcase. Smitherman's eye glasses were knocked off, but he failed to go down from the blow, whereupon Jo Ann attempted to wrestle him up against the cell bars where La Fond could grab him. The deputy freed his arms, however, and swung on the "girl, catching her over the eye with his fiat and knocking her backward. He then pulled her down the corridor to' the head of the stairway and sub dued her. "Forgive me ? I'm sorry," whimpered Jo Ann, who will be granted no further "strolling pri vileges" outside the confines of her cell. La Fond made no statement oth er than to inquire if the occur rence would be "put on his re cord," said Deputy Smitherman. Here is a scene taken from the play, "Much Ado About Nothing," which will be presented by > the Players Incorporated February 28, at 8:00 p. m? la the Administration Building. (Left to right) Naomi Vin cent as Beatrice, Pat Barnett as Ursula, and Mary van Valkenburg at hero in a scene of the play. Shakespearean Play Will Be Presented. William Shakofcpeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" will be presented February 28, at 8:00 o'clock in the Administration Building Auditorium by Players Incorporated, international reper tory company from Washington, D. C. The Players, now on their sev enth consecutive tour, are recog nixed by dram* -critics throughout the Country as one of the nation's outstanding repertory companies. In each of the past six seasons they have travelled roughly 33,000 miles through thirty states and Canada. Twice during the Korean War, they played for troops through Ko rea and Japan at the invitation of .the Department of Defense. This past spring they were received at the White House by President Eis enhower prior to a seven-weeks tour of U. S. military installation* Graduates of Catholic Univer sity's famous Speech and Drama Department, each of the Players has had professional experience, and was selected for the company because of his exceptional acting ability. The goal of Players Incorporat ed is to bring back to the Ameri can scene the travelling repertory. company. Many outstanding thea trical personalities have long la mented the death of the road com panies. By pioneering anew, ths Players have revitaliied a theatre too long centered in one city. The acclaim lavished on the com pany in five seasons of nation-wide touring ? and the increasingly large audiences which turn out to see them every year ? indicate the suc cess of their venture. LocalGuardUnitHas Recruiting Drive In connection with the National Guard one-day recruiting drive Februaijr 22, 1st Lt. Conley I. Clarke, commander of SVC Btry, 112the FABN, today emphasized the importance of Guardsmen be tween 17 and 18V4 years old vol unteering for six months of active duty training with the Army. "While a National Guardsman is not required under the provisions of RFA 55 to take this six months of basic training," Est. Lt. Conley I. Clarke said, "such training is available to him. Not only doe* such training reduce tl{e time a young man must serve in the ready reserve, but it helps open the way for more rapid promotion in the National Guard, for a commission, and for appointment to the Mili tary Academy." The six-month training is taken at an Army, training center, and upon its completion the Guards man returns to his home town to serve out the remainder of his re serve military service in his local National Guard unit. Coy Rominger Taken By Death Coy Alfred Rominger, 58, of Ro minger, died Monday, February 20, at Baptist Hospital in Wjnston-Sa lem. Funeral services were scheduled to be held at 2 p. m. Wednesday, February 22, at the Piney Grove Methodist Church, conducted by the Rev. N. C. Bush and the Rev. Mr. Wood, with burial to follow in the Piney Grove cemetery. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Aner Rominger; a son, Char lie Rominger of Rominger; a bro ther, Manual Rominger of Banner Elk; and three sisters, Mrs. Grady McNeill, Zionville, 'Mrs. Johnny Walker, Sugar Grove, and Mr*. Vance Harmon, Batch Creek. A high school student may en list in tbe National Guard any time after he reaches age 17 and put off taking his six-month training until after he graduates, but not later than hii 20th birthday, Lt. Clarke stated. "This Army training," Lt. Clarke said, "is a fine thing for a young man, for it gives him an insight in to Army life and tecahes him how to live with large groups of men In his own age bracket. The young trainees are taught how to live in the field and given physical train ing that hardens their muscle* and builds their bodies. While the training is not unduly rigorous, it is designed to make a soldier out of a young man." Brother Of Mrs. Hawkinson Dies ' 'DeBerniere Smith Grey, 30, a brother of Mrs. Walter Hawkinson of Boone, died in Charlotte Febru ary 13th, after a long illneu. Funeral services were held on the fifteenth at Covenant Presby terian Church, Charlotte, and bur ial was in the Huntersville ceme tery. A native of Charlotte. Mr. Grey was a graduate of Davidson Col lege, a veteran of the Naval ser vice, had taught at Fort Mill High School, Fort Mill, S. C. and had studied social work at Richmond Professional Institute, Richmond, Va. He had been active in CARE and held a citation for outstanding work in the organization. Mr. Grey was known by many people in Boone, where he had visited in the home of Mrs. Hawk inson. Water Bonds Are Proposed;! JL is Garbage Equipment Is Voted PolioDrive Successful The March of Dime* in Watauga County was considered a success this year by its co-chairmen, Stacy Eggers, Jr., and Hugh Hagaman. According to figures released this week (4,972.10 was collected, much of which will stay here in Watauga to help with polio cases at hon^e. The co-chairmen expressed grat itude that so many people partici pated in the campaign, and es pecially had praise for two boys who are polio victims themselves for the work done in raising the money. Joe Baird, Appalachian State Teachers College student, and Dempsey Jones, who sold peanuts on the streets of Boone, were es pecially helpful in arousing the interest of many persons who con tributed to the drive, the chair men said. Ira Mitchell Funeral Held Ira Mitchell, 80, died Wednes day. February IS, at hii home on Route 1, Zionville. Funeral services were held at 2 p. m. Friday, February 17, at the Pleasant Grove Baptiat Church, conducted by the Rev. E. O. Gore, and burial was in the Pleasant Grove cemetery. He is survived by two sons, Em ory and Charlie Mitchell, both of Zionville; a daughter, Mr*. Pearl Eggers, of Zionville; a brother. D? lore Mitchell. Lancaster, Tex.; and ? slater, Mrs. Nora Bumgarner, Warren, Ohio. BULLETIN Second Board Elections Voted; Two Are Rejected Members of the Democratic Executive committee met for the second time TbcmUjt afternoon, to select members of the county board of elections, after the State Board reportedly had ruled that those previously named are ineligible because of the public positions they hold. Recommended for board mem- ( bership were: B. T. Greer, Wiley Hartiog, incumbents, and Hoop er Hendrix. Previously endorsed were Ma jor J. H. Thomas and W. R. Cot trelt Chairman Frank Balrd read a letter from the State Board of Elections in which they said Thomas was disqualifi ed because of his being chair man of the Tax Board of Ap pejls, and being a Justice of the Peace. Cottrell, they said, is In eligible because be Is a member of the Boone police force. The letter gave a decision of the At torney General as authority. WhimsOfWeatherln '55Recorded; DecemberDriestSeenlnFiftyYears By DR. JOHN B. HAMILTON ' In North Carolina ai a whole, December, 1955, was both cold and dry, the coldest lince 1090 and the drieit of the 20th century! De cember had more sunlight than usual in North Carolina, having about 00% of the days with sun light, as compared with a long term average of SO%. In Boone, December, 1955, had 29 days in which the lowest re corded temperature for the 24 hour period went below freezing; there were 14 days of plus 20 degrees or below; there were five days of low readings of plus 10 degrees or below. Low for the month was plus 2 degrees on the 10th. < Moisture-wise. 1950 began with a January almost as dry aa De cember, 190ft, and even colder. In January, 190ft, there were no days when the low reading did not go below {reezing; 21 days showed low readings of plus 20 degrees or below, and six days had readings of plus 10 degrees or below. Low for the month was zero on January 10. January ft-12 had low readings of 4, 1.9, 0, 3, and 3 ? all above zero. February, 1996, in Boone prom ises to be a damp bad month. In 20 days of February alone, there waf more precipitation than in the entire last quarter of 1956 Jan uary and February of 1996 together saw more precipitation than the whole last one-third of 1909. In sult may possibly be added to in jury (if your basement is wet) by the fact that this is leap year, with nine days left in which rain, snow, or sleet may fall ? instead of the usual 28. Any leap year pro posing should probably be done in doors and somewhere above ground level, otherwise the proposition might be received with cold, wet feet ? ? condition not generally conducive to a favorable response. Precipitation in inches, including melted snow and sleet for the year IBM in Boone was recorded as follows: Jan. 1.43; Feb. 6.83; March 6.46; April 6.14; May 3.00; Jane 3 94; July 518; Aug. 4J0; Sept. .M; Oct. 2.25; Nov. 1.67; Dec. 1.25. In January, 1996, precipitation was measured at 1.16; and in Feb ruary through the 20th, 9.31. Snow in 1899 was recorded as falling 13 days in January, total of 17.03; five days in February, 1.9 inches; and three days in March, with just s trace. For January the snow fall it re corded at S.89 Inches, which fell in W days. jJ| |J It has snow one day this month with a half-inch being measured. COACH R. W. (RED) WATKlNS displays several of the 18 firtt-place and one second-place Carolina's AAU trophies his wrestling teams have won since 1933. He holds the trophy which was given by the Watauga Democrat in 1934 when the AAU tournament was held here. ? Staff photo by Joe Minor. By JOE MINOR Cin Appalachian State Teachers College win another Carolina's AAU championship? Coach R. W. (Red) Watkins, who has coached 18 wrestling teams to AAU vic tories, has hopes of making it 19 when the tournament is held hers in the new college gymnasium on March ? and 10. Coach Watkins and Appalachian have built up an enviable record since wrestling was started on an inter-collegiate basis by them in the early 1830s. In fact, they had such a good record of winning that it became difficult to get matches close enough home to make a wrestling schedule practi cal, and the achool had to abandon scheduling outaide matches lor a couple of years. This didn't keep Coach Watkins and his teams from wrestling, how ever. A program within the school was carried on, until this year they were able to get matches scheduled again cloae enough home to get back in the running. So far tHts year Appalachian has won over Efcnory University 33-3, Knoxville Y 28-8, Washington A Lee 29-13, N. C. State, defending AAU champions, 21-0, and Pfeiffer 34-0. They lost one to VMI 19-17. The coach likes to talk about "my boys"? the ones he coaches now, and the ones he has coached in past years. He remembers where many of them are, and if they have kept up wrestling after leaving Ap palachian, either wrestling them selves or coaching teams, he can tell you what kind of records they have. i He points with pride to A) Craw ford, who is coaching the N. C. State tmm. Crawford was National AAU champion for two years in the 17S-lb. class. Chailie Parks, who is with the Baltimore, Md., recreation department, was Na tional AAU 119-lb. champion in 1M4; Elmo Toniick, National 140-lb. champion in 1044. In the coaching business are (Continued on page two). Plans For Inauguration Of College President Are Mapped By EARLEEN G. PRITCHETT The date for the inauguration of William Howard Plemmons as the third president of Appalachian State Teacheri College has been set by the central committee for April 24, and the hoi^r for ten o'clock in the morning. The an nouncement comes from Dean D. DR. PLEMMONS J. Whitener of the college, who is general chairman of the inaugura tion. Dr. Whitener also announces that various committees, composed of faculty representatives, trustee*, alumni, and students have already formulated and are now imple menting plans for the conduct of the inauguration. These commit tees include the following: Central inauguration committee ? Dr. Whitener, chairman, Bar nard Dougherty, H. R. Eggert, Miss Barbara Stephenson, Chapell Wil son for the faculty; Hrs. Harry B. Caldwell, chairman, B. C. Brock, Fred N. Colvard, J. R. Hix, and Mrs. Eunice Moose Jor the trustees. Program ? Dr. Whitener, chair man, Barnard Dougherty, H. R. Eg gen, Miss Barbara Stephenson, Chapell WilsAn for the faculty; Mrs Harry B. Caldwell, chairman, B. C. Brock, Fred N. Colvard, Wil liam J. Conrad, L. A. Dysart, J. R. Hix, S P. Jones, W. W. West, and Mrs Eunice Moose for the trustees; Mrs Daisy W. Eggers, Harry Hal lyburton, Kebekah Rivers, and i. Paul Winkler for the alumni; Wil liam H. Benson, Johnny Christy, Jim Craig, and Carolyn Harmon for the students. Academic procession ? H. R. Eg gen, chairman; Leo K. Pritchett for the (acuity; William J. Conrad for the truateei; Walter Joyce and Irvin E. Kelly for the alumni; and Thomaa Lail and Bob Snead (or the studenta. Invitation* ? J. D. Rankin, chair man, Mrs. Daiay Eggera and Mra. Leo K. Pritchett (or the (acuity; B. C. Brock for the truateea; John Idol, Mra. China Lavendar and Jim Storie for the alumni; Joe Eller and Edward Lakey for the atu denta. Ground! ? W. C, Garvey. chair man, R. W. Watkins for the (acui ty; Frti N. Colvard for the trua tees; W. Guy Angell, M. C. Hoyle for the alumni; Ted Wataon and Baxter Wallace- for the (tudenta. Hosts tod hostesses ? Miss Bar bara Stephenson, chairman, Mrs. Carrie Winkler for the (acuity; J. R. Hix and S. P. Jones (or the trustees; J. G. Hagaman and Guy Swain (or the alumni; Lila Malone and Valerie Mother (or the stu dents. Homing ? Chapell Wilson, chair man; Lcc F. Reynolds (or the fac ulty; Mrs. Eunice Moose (or the trustees; James A. Greene ,and Charles Younce (or the alumni; Herbert Good and Clara Lou Stott (or the students. Luncheon ? Barnard Dougherty, chairman, Mrs. Vivian Welborn (or the (acuity; L. A. Dysart, W. W. Mast (or the trustees; Dr. 1. Ella Hardin (or the alumni; Tee man Haithcock and Joyce Ollis (or the students. BURGLARS ERR Oakland, Calif? Burglars enter ed a local department (tore and la boriously pulled (wo identical safes from the wall. They peeled the steel layers from one contain ing (200. The other ? containing $10,000? was not opened. Greer To End Thirty Years Public Service Roby T. Greer, who will retire u chairman of the Watauga County Board of Election! when the new members are appointed by the State board, hai been in some tort of public poaltion for thirty years. As a member of the House of Representatives, member of the State Senate, member of the Board of County Commissioners, member of the Board of Education, and as Chairman of the Elections Board his official tenure started ty 1926. In contemplatinc his retirement from the Elections Board post, Mr. Gree fives the following statement to the Democrat: A "I with to thank all the people of the county (or their cooperation during my tenure as chairman of the Board of Elections, and at the tame time I want to express my beat wishes to the new board and I assure them I will cooperate with them in any way possible. "1 have icrved in public capa cities for SO years, and appreciate the Precognition and the opportun ities presented me for service. I will continue to be actively engaged in promoting the welfare of Wa tauga county, and In the success of the Democratic party." J Council Wants To Obey People In Water Issue The city council, at its meeting Friday, voted to receive bida on ? new, modern garbage truck, and talked of the expansion "of the city water system, with a view to a bond issue to take care of the neqfls of the rapidly growing com munity. > Mayor Gordon H. Winkler states that the garbage truck which has been in use for several years, has been giving trouble of late, and factory men have been working on the vehicle in an effort to restore normal service. The trouble with the truck, and the recent bad weather have combined to curb garbage collection service, but the Mayor says that this will be back to normal just as quickly as pos sible. The order will be placed for the new machine as soon as bids can be received. Mayor Winkler states that while the water needs of the community ' have been taken care of adequate ly of late, due to expansion of the supply sources, there will be oth er dry years, and the growth of the city will demand more adequ ate supplies. In accordance with the re commendation of engineers, Mr. Winkler say* that a aecond stor ' age reservoir shoaid be estab lished in the eastern put of the town, that another well shonld be brought into production, that the old reservoir needs to be fully repaired, and various other steps taken to Improve the sys tem. It is the tentative plan of the Mayor and council to call a meet- > ing of the citiiens of the town at some future date to find out what the public wants to do about a bond issue for this purpose which would be in the neighborhood of <75,000. "It is the purpose of the city council to follow the wishes of the people, and we shall try to ascer tain their wishes in the matter of increasing the bonded debt or such other action as the taxpayers of the wish in taken efforts to furth er promote the welfare of the com munity," said the mayor. Paul A. Michael Dies At Bethesda Funeral services for Paul A. Michael, 54, of Banner Elk, who died at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland Thursday morning, were held at 2:00 p. m. Sunday in the Banner Elk Presby terian Church. The Rev. Dan Tho mas and the Rev. Glenn Gentry were in charge of the rites, and burial was in Mt. Calvary ceme tery at Balm. Mr. Michael was a retired Navy Chief Yeoman with thirty year* service, and he had been an elder in the Presbyterian Church fbr sixteen years. Surviving is the widow, the former Miss Frost Gwaltney," one daughter, Barbara Ann Michael, and one sister, Mrs Russell Farth ing, all of Banner Elk. Cancer Drive Being Planned Detail* for the annual campaign for money (or the cancer fund are being worked out by the Junior Woman's Club of Boone. The campaign will be conducted during the month of April. Mr*. Richard will be chairman of the fund-raising effort. WORLD POPULATION United Nations. N. Y ? The world's mid-ltM population has been estimated by the United Na tions st a record 2,656,000,000 per sons. Main factor in the 120,000, 000 incrvaae was Red China's re port of 582,603,417 population la
Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.)
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Feb. 23, 1956, edition 1
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