VOLUME LXXIV? NO. 1?. AUGA DEMOCRAT BOONE, WATAUGA COUNTY, NOBTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1N1 NEW BUILDING. ? High atop Grandfather Mountain, highest peak i in the Blue Ridge range, a new visitor facility has been opened. Built to withstand 200-mile an hour winds, the structure contains J meeting facilities, snack bar, gift shop and restrooms. Next spring a natural history museum will be added. Grandfather Mtn. Now Boasts Commodious Visitor Center Grandfather Mountain. ? A new visitor center which combines nat ural stone 800,000 million years old with the very latest vinyl and polyester materials has just been opened atop this 6,000-foot high peak of the Blue Ridge Range. Built to withstand winds of 200 miles an hour, the building atop Grandfather Mountain contains meeting facilities capable of seat ing 200 people, snack bar, gift shop, restrooms and storage. An observation deck has been put on the top of the building, and a specially designed flag pole has been erected. Because three Grandfather Mountain flag poles have been destroyed in the past four winters, the new pole has been hinged and' can be lowered if winds higher than 125-miles an hour are expected. The new visitor center, which owner Hugh Morton says is the largest single construction project in the development program at the mountain, has as its outside sur face Grandfather Mountain stone, and native hemlock wainedged sid ing. A natural history museum will be added to the visitor center in the spring. The meeting area, called the Skyscraper Room, will be available to civic, fraternal and business groups who desire a daytime meet ing place at a mountain top set ting. "We believe it ii something that will be an asset to the whole region," Morton said. New heavy duty equipment for the U. S. Department of Commerce Weather Station will be installed atop the new facility. Weather in struments have been destroyed each winter since the station was established in 1993, but the new heavy duty instruments are be lieved adequate for the mountain top station. Native Grandfather stone forms one wall of the Skyscraper Room and the gift shop below. The floor of the meeting ar?a is of oak, and all the steel beams are furred in surfwood. The entire building is wired for Mountain City Editor Dies Mountain City, Tenn., October 11. ? Death claimed D. 11. S purge on at hii home here Saturday evening after many montha of ill health resulting from a aeries of heart attacks. He was 98 years old, and had been a resident of Mountain City since 1M3. He was editor and publisher of the Johnson County News, which later came to be known as the Tomahawk. He was a native ' of Clinton County, Ind. He was a member of the Mountain City Methodist Church and a Colonel on Gover nor Ellington's staff. He attended Purdue and Northwestern Univer sities and held BS and MA degrees. Funeral was held at the Meth odist Church Tuesday and burial was in the Donnelly cemetery. Surviving are the widow, a son, Patrick, of Knoxville, and a daugh ter, Mrs. Palna Larkey of McLean, Va. sound so that music can be pro vided, lounges are walled in ce ment enamel, snack bar fixtures are stainless steel and glass window panes are reinforced with wire. Designer of the new facilities was Charles C. Hartmann, Jr., of Charles C. Hartmann Architects, Greensboro. Hartmann, who also designed the Mile High Swinging Bridge on Grandfather Mountain, supervised construction, which was done by Brooks dumber Company of Greensboro. Rock masonry was done by Hartley Brothers of Lin ville. Opened last week, the new visitor facilities will remain in operation until the close of the season at Grandfather Mountain on Novem ber 19. Formal dedication of the building will be made when the new museum is completed next spring. Visitors last week with Mr. and Mrs. Aud Ward were Mrs. Lillie Coffey, Lenoir; Mrs. Dailie Turn er, Hickory; Mr. Ellie Privett, Blowing Rock and Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Harwell of Hickory. BLOODMOB1LE COMING OCTOBER 26 Lives Often Saved By Supply Of Blood At Local Hospital By JOE McCLUNG (Recruitment Chairman) la discussion but week with Mrs. Virginia A. Croce, administrator of Watauga Hospital, a number of in teresting and important cases were cited in the uae of whole blood. Just recently a life was laved in Watauga Hospital when whole blood was administered to a patient who had received burns over 69% of the body, and by administering whole blood (four pints), a life was saved. Every day, even In routine sur gery, I discovered from Mrs. Groce that whole blood playi an import ant part in any hospital. It is not unusual, as Just recently a case was cited to me, for a patient to receive as much as five pint* of blood. In this particular case, a patient needed 5 pints of a posi tive blood. This blood was on hand in our hospital and again blood proved to be an important factor at an important time in this par ticular patient's life. It is difficult for the hospital to anticipate their blood needs, for whole blood can only be kept 21 days. Not more than a month ago an accident occurred and the pa tient needed 3 pints of blood. Again this supply was on hand in our hospital. In this past year in one particular case in surgery, I learned that 9 pints of blood were used before the operation was completed. In another case cited, 10 pints were used in surgery. This sounds like a great deal of blood; however, there are two cases on record at the hospital where over a period of time a pa tient was administered 33 pints of blood, and the second patient over a period of time was administered 72 pints of blood. Twenty-eight of these 72 pints were Red Cross blood. In this past year there have been two complete blood exchange* In two newborn children. Thus far this year, Watauga Hos pital has used 151 pinta of blood. This, however, is below average. Usually it would be much higher. I had the pleasure of seeing and having it explained to me by Mrs. Groce, how the blood Is ordered, shipped, received, stored, and re turned if not needed. Our census is a deciding factor as to the amount of blood ordered and kept on hand by the hospital. A ship ment might consist of 12 pints of blood lesving Charlotte in a foil insulated box with divided parti tions packed in ice in a plastic bag and double sealed. Arriving in Boone by bus, the blood is picked up by the hospital, taken immedi ately to the laboratory where it is stored under refrigeration. If at any time the temperature drops, a buzzer goes off, notifying those in charge that the blood must be transferred to proper refrigeration immediately. If this blood Is not used in 21 days, then it is returned to the Charlotte Blood Center un- | der refrigeration, where it is then nude into plasma or other import- . ant derivatives of blood. Each shipment of blood is enter ed in a ledger incoming, the pa tient who used the blood, the date it was received by the patient, the type of blood used snd the reac tion, if any, to the patient Accu rate records are kept at all times on this blood so vital to life. If this blood is not used, the date the blood Is returned to Charlotte Blood Center Is then entered in the ledger also. A, O, and B type blood are kept on hand most of the time at the hospital. However, this month alone the hospital has had need for and has used 3 pints of AB positive. Blood can't be placed In value >f dollars or cento tor a life alone :?n't be placed In the category Ither, and blood being a life-giving ind life-saving lubstance, only on Jie importance of giving blood can the value be placed. Before Watauga Hospital became i member of the Red Cross Blood Program, we had a walking blood tank; people were typed and clae ilfied, and when blood was need sd a person bad to be called. Life ind time were involved. This proved unsatisfactory. Now by belonging to the Piedmont Carolines Blood Program, it is im portant not only for us, but to every other chapter to meet tiieir juota so that our needs for Wa tauga County can be met at any :ime. Importance can not be stress id enough for participating in the Red Cross Program, for accldenta, iinforseen needs and death can not M anticipated. So, let's remember October 36, and let's all give so lomeone may live. Cannon Hospital Given Approval Banner Elk? Dr. Lawson Tate, Director of Charles A. Cannon Jr. Memorial Hospital, snnounced to day that the two million dollar liospital has been fully accredited. The Board of Commissioners of the Joint Commission on Accredi tation of Hospitals approved Char les A Cannon Jr. Memorial Hos pital as accredited for a period of three years. The hospital survey was conducted on August 7, by Dr. Arthur A. Magill, field repre lentative, of the Commission. The last inspection wu May 2, 1098, it which time Grace Hartley Mem orial Hospital was approved for full accreditation. Bargains In Household Items and Farm Needs SALE CONTINUES THROUGH SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21 New Low Prices During Our Farmers Hardware & Supply Company King Street Boone, N. C. AAA 4-8801