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VOLUME LXXL? NO. 45
1UM
Apr.;*
Apr
PRICE: FIVE CENTS
An Independent Weekly New paper . . . Seventy-Fir st Year of Continuous Publication
BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1M9
I 73 47 70
I 71 4t 73
_ 3 80 90 74
May 4 79 98 83 07 S i! 78
Tptal rainfall for period?4? inch
PAGES? THREE SECTlOf
.36
Spring
Festival
Friday
An open featuring over 100 per
former! kicks off the annual
Spring Festival Friday night at Ap
palachian State Teacheis College.
The crowning of Hay Queen Ema
jene Bryant climaxes the affair
Saturday afternoon.
H. M. S. Pinafore, an opera in
two acts, produced by the College
Chorus, Orchestra, Modern Dance
Club and Playcrafters, begins at
| 8:00 o'clock in the Health and
Physical Education Building.
Nicholas Erneston directs the
musical production, assisted by
Mrs. Virginia Wary Linney, Jerry
Madden and Janie Matthews.
Handling leading roles in the
complicated love affairs aboard
"His Majesty's Ship Pinafore" are
Florence Payne, Gerald Coffey,
Leonard Eury, Peggy Carter, Jerry
Jones, Bud Mayes, Janet Kimball,
Duane Best and Buddy Caudill.
"Eea-lng the World," a program
by the Varsouvianna Club, high
school dance groups from Marion,
Jefferson, Pleasant Gardens and
Celeste Henkle, and the Modern
Dance Club will be presented for
Queen Emajene and her visitors.
Dale McLean will usher in Queen
Emajene Bryant. Presentation of
the Queen and her court begins
at 3 p. m. Saturday, at the Health
and Physical Education Building.
Heralds Virginia Sullivan and
and Shirley Berry will sound the
entrance of the May Court and
their escorts. Attendants are Ann
Sexton, Linda Cline, Johnsie Ellis,
Peggy Smith, Phyllis Curtis, Dixie
Jackson, Barbara Winkler, Martha
Carter, Ann Coetner, Janice Little,
and Nancy McLean.
Maid of Honor will be Barbara
Watkins. Larry Andrews wijl be
crown bearer and Donna Kaye
Winkler and Shirley Miller flower
girls.
The court is under the direction
of Mrs. Daisy Eggers, Miss Janet
Sharpe and Mrs. Carrie Winkler.
Prior to the court presentation,
the college band under direction
of Charles Isley will present an
informal concert at 2:30.
Complete schedule of the Spring
Festival activities:
Friday ? 8 p. m.: H. M. S. Pin
afore musical production, Health
and Physical Education Building.
Saturday ? 9 a. m.: Registration
of visiting high school juniors and
seniors, lobby of Fine Arts Build
ing.
8:30 a. m. ? Guided tour of cam
pus, including art, biology, busi
ness, library, math and dramatics
departments. Display of 29 paint
ings by a group of young painters
from Greensboro in the library.
10:30? Movies of special inter
est to prospective Appalachian
students, college auditorium, pre
sented by John Pritchett and AV
Center.
1:30 ? Mixer for high school
juniors and seniors, Men'* Old
Gymnasium, directed by Ronald
Brooks, college director of recre
ation.
(Continued on page five)
MUSEUM.? Walter S. Tatum, of San Diego, Calif., left, and Liday Tatum inspect ends of logs of Revolution
ary War time cabin on Horn in West grounds. The ca bin, which has been used by five generations of Ta
tums, was presented to Southern Appalachian Histori cal Association by its owner, Liday Tatum, to be used
as a nucleus of a museum the association is starting. ? Staff photo Joe Minor.
HistoricT atum Cabin IsNucleus
For Museum Planned In Boone
By JOE MINOR
(Democrat Staff Writer)
The long-dreamed-of ambition of
Southern Appalachian Historical
Association is at last being realized.
When the association was first
formed in 1990, one of the aims
announced was the founding of a
museum, to show ways of living
in this section from pioneer days
on down through history. How
ever, ways and means of getting
such an institution had to be solv
ed, and it wasn't until just recently
the association could see its way
clear to make this dream a reality.
Rites Held For
Mrs, L G. Greer
Mrs. Willie Spaliihdur Greer, 71,
former reildent of Boone, and
wife of Dr. I. C. Greer, died Mon
day at her home in Chapel Hill.
Funeral services were conduct
ed at 4 o'clock Wednesday at the
University Baptist Church in
Chapel Hill by the Rev. Charles
E. Maddry, the Rev. Henry Stokes,
the Rev. W. C. Reed and Dr. W. R.
Wagoner, superintendent of the
Children's Home, Thomasville.
Mrs. Greer had taught in the
Morganton public schools, Mor
ganton School for the Deaf, and at
a School for the Deaf in Philadel
phia.
Following her marriage in 1916,
she taught at Appalachian State
Teachers College in Boone.
Surviving in addition to her
husband are two sons, I. G. Greer
Jr. of Hamilton Field Air Base,
Calif., and Joseph P. Greer of
Boston, Mass.; three sisters, Mrs.
Lettie Hamlett and Mrs. Ernest
Walker, both of Morganton, and
Mrs. Hal Teague of Granite Falls;
four brothers, C. M. Spainhour of
Washington, D. C, Joe Spainhour
of Knoxville, Tenn., Ralph Spain
hour of Battleboro, and Walter
Spainhour of Lenoir.
QUERN OF THE MAY ? Emajene Bryant will be May Queen at Ap
palachian State Teacher* College when the May Court la pretested at
the annual College Spring reatlvaL May Day i? ?et for Saturday.
. : ;
The fint thing needed for a
museum, of course, was a building
to house the relics of the past.
Thomas E. (Liday, or L. T., as
he is known around here) Tatum
has presented the association with
a log cabin which has been rebuilt
on the Horn in the West grounds.
The cabin has become the nucleus
of a building that will house many
museum pieces that help tell the
history of (his section.
The cabin itself is a relic of
Revolutionary War days in which
five generations of the Tatum fam
ily have lived down through the
years, including children of the
donor.
The cabin is believed to be the
oldest permanent residence in this
locality. Originally located on the
south fork of New River, fifteen
miles northeast of Boone, near
Todd, the house was being lived in
in 178S. Just how long it had
been built has not been determ
ined.
According to records, the cabin
was built by James Tatum, captain '
in the Revolutionary War. Born
in 179S, at Petersburg, Virginia, he
came to this area and worked on
his uncle's farm as a teenager in
what is now Ashe county, probably
about 1770. Official records at
Washington, D. C, dated January
4, 1887, states that he was voted
to "command the troops in the
western country." "Western coun
try" has been interpreted as being
this area.
Tatum family tradition has it
that he and his wife "came up the
river bringing all of their pos
sessions in two dugout canoes to
start their permanent residence."
Captain Tatum built the cabin
from white oak, poplar, and wild
cherry. He used locust for the
sills. Except for the bottom two
logs of the 22x18 cabin the build
ing was in good preservation when
moved to the Horn grounds last
fall. Over the years the structure
has been weatherboarded and
sealed in so that only the logs
touching the ground were lost.
The rebuilt museum is almost
identical to the original cabin. It
is two logs lower than it was when
first built because of the loas of
(Continued on page eight)
Mayor Hardin
Is Re-elected
MAYOR R. B. HARDIN
Blowing Rock's Mayor R. B.
Hardin won re-election handily
in the election held Tuesday,
receiving a vote of Ml to lit
for Ronda Coffey.
The three-man board of com
missioners and the vote received
by each foUow: I. D. Jones 260,
H. P. Holshouser, Jr. 231, C. I.
Isenhour 203.
The defeated candidate* and
the vote received: F. W. Rainey
162, Wiley N. Greene, 1<8, D. W.
Woo tea 141.
A total of 391 persons partici
pated In the spirited voting at
Blowing Rock.
GAS BY THE TKUCKLOAD
Los Angeles ? A truck tanker
slammed into a stalled auto and
spilled 4,000 gallons of gasoline on
the harbor freeway.
After 40 policemen and eight
fire companies cleaned up the
mess, officers asked Booker Wil
liams why he had left his car there.
"I was out of gas," he told of
ficers.
Williams was given a ticket. The
truck driver escaped injury.
Turtle Again W inner, ThisTime
In Photo Shop Prize Contests
There is in old, old itory of the
turtle who (oiled the hare, ana de
feated him in a footrace. The
?tory has a moral, and besides
that has filled men'i heart* with
a kindly feeling for the unsightly
turtle.
The turtle haa been at it again
thit week in Boone, and this time
his adversary was the citizenry of
the community, and the competi
tion not a foot race, but a spelling
match! In this latest contest, our
friend of the hard ahell moved to
the head of the claaa, and again a
certain element of trickery waa
employed. A casualties* that once
threw the hare off guard thia time
lulled the citizenry into a feeling
of falae superiority that was their
undoing. Had the turtle been
challenged wifh the spelling of
such words as diaestablishmentar
ianiam or oft-misced words such as
aeparate or beginning, an aroused
public would have downed bin
easily. The challenge though, was
that the turtle MISSPELL a five
letter word. He did it succeasfully
all week long.
The whole thing came about
when George A. Flowers, Jr. de
cided to give hia family name to
the photo business that he has
been operating under the name of
Palmer'!, the name under which
the business was founded by the
late Palmer Blair. As part of a
nine day event in connection with
the name change, Mr. Flowers had
five baby turtles lettered with the
letters R-I-C-OH, he placed them
in a tank in the camera shop win
dow and provided a handy sun
ning log for them. Anyone seeing
the turtles sunning themselves on
this log in such an arrangement
that their lettered backs road
RICOH won a free camera from
the Flowers' Photo Shop. The tur
tles never once correctly spelled
the word, and aa result all wbe as
pired to win ? camera were de
feated.
IndustrialistsfLjke If ri
To Boone, Blowing Ro
Whirlwind
Good Will
Tour Made
Four but loads of industrialists
and their hosts made a whirlwind
visit to Watauga county Saturday.
They were in two groups and one
of the groups stopped at Appalach
ian State Teachers College for tea,
while the other went through
Boone without stopping, and went
on to Blowing Rock where they
stopped at Green Park Hotel.
The groups included some of the
nations leading industrial execu
tives who had been invited by the
Northwest North Carolina Devel
opment Association to tour north
west North Carolina. Another
group went to Mt. Airy and other
points north and west of Winston
Salem. The eleven counties in the
association were all visited.
The first group to reach Boone
came by way of the Parkway at
Deep Cap to Parkway School,
and then to Boone, where they
skirted the college campus,
west by IKC, Shadowline and
the new golf course. They did
not step until they reached
Blowing Rock. From there they
went to Lenoir and other points
In Caldwell county before re
turning to Winston-Salem.
The second group stopped at
Appalachian College where they
were welcomed by Dr. W. H.
Plemmons, president of the insti
tution, and served tea. After leav
ing the college they also were car
ried by Shadowline, IRC, and
the golf course before starting
back to Winston-Salem where a
picnic supper was planned for
them at Tanglewood Park.
Aj they passed through various
towns and communities, they were
joined by leaders of the commun
ities, many of whom continued
with them on the tours. Several
leaders from Watauga went to Win
ston-Salem Friday so they could be
with the industrialists for their
two-day tour of the section.
Included among the executives
were men from as far west as
California, as far north as Maine,
and as far south as South Caro
lina and Georgia.
Many manufacturing organiza
tions were represented. The chem
ical plants, bakeries, poultry pro
cessing concerns, sales organiza
tions, and petroleum industry were
represented.
Many expressed satisfaction at
what they saw on the tours, and
some expressed a hope to return
when they had more time to en
joy and study the areas of north
west North Carolina.
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Hagaman
and Johnny of Winston-Salem
spent the week end with Mr. and
Mrs. George Hagaman, who. re
turned home from Roseland, Fla.
last week, and Mr. and Mrs. Frank
Hagaman.
WELCOME TO BOONE.? Herman W. Wilcox, president of Boone Chamber of Commerce, welcome* to
Boone, left to right, Don L. Price, of Worchester, Mass., R. T. Dunlap, Torrington, Conn., and John T.
Harrison, of New York, just after they alighted from the bus to visit the college campus. The visitor!
were among the more than 100 industrialists visiting Northwest North Carolina in a two-day tour,
sponsored by the Northwest Development Association.
GETTING ACQUAINTED. ? Nell Bolton, manager of the group of
Northwest Executive's tour that visited Boone, introduces Grady Far
thing of Boone to Freeman H. Session of Alexandria, Va. (seated) as
they took a tea break in the tour through this area of North Carolina.
"Pygmalion" To Be Staged By
Playcrafters Next Tuesday
"Pygmalion," a comedy of
George Bernard Shaw, will be
staged by Appalachian Playcraft
ers of Appalachian State Teach
ers College May 12 and 13 in the
Administration Building Auditor
ium at the college.
According to legend, Pygmalion
was a King oi Cyprus who fell in
love with a statue he had made
of Galatea. Aphrodite gave her
life and Pygmalion married her.
In the plaj, Higgins, a professor
of phonetics, selects Liza Doolit
tle, a poor flower girl, and chan
ges her into a seemingly educated
lady by correcting her manner of
speaking, etc. In the process, Hig
gins, a confirmed bachelor, falls
in love with his protege.
Maurice Stirewalt as Higgins and
Maxine Cooper as Liza Doolittle
head the cast. Others are Bud
Mayes, Colonel Pickering; Bar
bara Brown, Mrs. Pierce; Becky
(Continued on page eight)
GOLF SHOP. Workmen (o ?bout constructing the Golf Shop on Boooc'i golf court* The building will
house the golf (hop, locker room* for both men and women, and the heating equipment. Later plana
call for building a second floor to be uaed In eon nectiort with the courae. Joe Maples, golf pro sup
erintendent. hopes the building wUI be ready when the courae opens sometime between June 1 and 15.
He says the equipment and merchandise that baa ar rived Is at his home now, but will be moved Into
the building as soon as poaaibU.
Dr. King Dies
In Charlotte
Dr. Robert R. King, 74 yean
old, former Watauga county pub
lic health officer, died in Presby
terian Hospital Charlotte laat
Wednesday night, following a
heart attack.
Dr. King, who waa Wilkes coun
ty health officer, had suffered the
?ttack while viaiting in Bopne and
was a patient at Watauga Hospital
until a week before his death
when he waa moved to Charlotte.
He had been ill for more than a
month.
Dr. King, who still maintained a
home in Boone, was a native of
Little Rock, Ark., and finished
medical school at the University of
Arkansas. He was a Presbyterian
medical missionary in Africa for
28 years.
He returned from Africa in 1932
and practiced medicine for three
years in Rutherford county, later
moving to Boone, where he served
with the district health depart
ment until 1944.
In 1944 he returned to Africa
and retired ten years later to re
turn to North Carolina, where he
was health officer in Cherokee,
Graham and Clay counties. He
was a member of the North Wil
kesboro Kiwanis Club.
Funeral services were held Fri
day at 2 o'clock at the Preabyter
ian Church in Boone, by the pas
tor Rev. J. K. Parker, and inter
ment was in Mountlawn Memorial
Park.
Surviving are the widow, three
sons and two daughters: Dr. Ro
bert R. King, Jr., San Juan, Puer
to Rico; Albert King, Chapel Hill;
John King, Wadesboro; Mrs. J.
D. Cobb, Boone and Mr*. E. R.
Eberle, Waterford, Conn.
Blowing Rock
Tax Bill Dies
A bill to enable the town of
Blowing Rock to revalue its pro
perty for taxes, introduced in the
House by Representative Edmls
ten, was reported unfavorably in
the Senate last Tuesday. -
The measure, which had been
sponsored by city officials at
Blowing Rock, had passed the
House some time ago. The Senate
committee unanimously voted to
report the bill unfavorably.
Blowing Rock straddles two
counties? Watauga and Caldwell.
Mayor Robert Hardin of Blow
ing Rock appeared at both House
and Senate hearings, urging pas
sage of the Rietoure. He said It
was an attempt to e<|ualtee the
tak burden in the town.
Watauga has a fairly high prop
erty valuation; Caldwell has a
fairly low one. City tax rates are
b?*ed on the valuations of the two
counties.
The mayor said this means that
residents living in the Watauga
section of Blowing Rock are bear
ing a greater share of the tax
burden than those living in the
Caldwell section.