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The Leading Weekly Newspaper in Western North Carolina, Serving a large and Potentially Rich Territory in this
L - - - - MURPHyTnoRTH CAROLINA, FIJI DAY. Al'HIL 27, 1928. ~~
LUME XXXIX. NUMBER 38.
state
5c COPY? $1.50 PER YEAR
DAD MEETING
\T HAYESVILLE
ON WEDNESDAY
[r. James G. Stikeleather, Ninth
uiri Highway Commissioner,
Mr. J. C. Walker, District En
yr. met the people <>f Clay
miv in the courthouse in Hayes
r it 2 o'clock p. m. Wednesday,
j >th.
[r. James Penland announced
the object ??f the meeting was
urge and insist upon the impor
:?? to the people of Clay County
the early completion of State
i;v ... v0i OS. and to ar*e, insiet
appeal t<> Mr. Stikeleather to
ml all money lo be spent in Clay
inl\ on No. 2i] afler recounting
?fi \ the history of this road and
part in it.
Ir. O. L. Anderson then slated
?fly the active interest he had
,u in this road from its inception
d for permission to state
he had been erroneously re
ed as against tlii< road when
i was not the rase and the facts
?? in the contrary, and that he al
ls had been and would still l?e
ind the road.
Ir. Stikeleather then clearlv,
l\ and frankly stated what li?
doing and why he was doing it.
stated that last fall when he was
here he was urged to surface
road from the Georgia line to
sstown bridge: that at that time
had no railroad and it did seem
dative that this he done; that
a? cordingly made his plans and
contracts; that thereafter a dele
on of Clay County citizens met
at the Ocona Luftv River bridge j
?wain County and urged him to
i up No. 211 with the surface and
go on to the Georgia line; that
seemed feasible and appealed
lim and that he took it up with
Highway Commission and this
agreed to, subject to the appro
<?l the engineers; tiiat thereafter
was submitted to the engineers
that Mr. Walker and Mr. Ames, |
i*l engineer, came to Clay Coun
jaud examined the road to the
pse.
rgia line and found that it was
11 to the extent that it must be
aced now in order to save it
for this reason alone he was
going to the Georgia line with
surface; that it was solely a
stion of saving a road that had
t built and graveled at great ex
He stressed the fact that he
I his mind constantly on No. 28
I that now since No. 10 was prac
illy completed that one of his
at ambitions was to complete No.
am! he assured the people that
le he <yuld make no definite
?miscs as to the time that he would
ace the Shooting Creek road
;i- soon as funds were available
this work, without being unfair
ihe other parts of the District.
It' then called 011 Mr. \\ alker Jo
" the conditions which moved
?ngineers to insist' on surfacing
he Georgia line. ,
?Mr. Walker, district engineer,
"led that when the proposal was
ide to turn up Shooting Creek
it at Mr. Stikelcather's request
f ame to Clay County with Mr.
lies, chief engineer; that they
<le an examination of the road
ding to the Georgia line; that ori
lally ten inchcs of gravel had
|en piaced on the road: that it was
w worn down to five: that it was
? opinion of Mr. Ames and him
f that unless this road was sur
that it would I>e beyond re
if in a short while; that it cost
?>ut S8, 000.00 per mile to gravel
| road; that it only cost about
'00.00 per mile to treat this sur
e: that it was economy to now
"d S3500.00 per mile to save
? road rather than let it go for
Bother year or two when it would
' 88,000.00 per mile to regravel
"d then the $3500.00 per mile in
(Continued on page 4)
UNAKA CITIZEN
TAKES OWN LIFE
James K. Bryson, 72 year old res
ident of Unaka, shot himself with a
45 calilK'r pistol on Tuesday of
last week, and was buried in the
Unaka churchyard Wednesday after
noon, the funeral services being
conducted by Rev. J. T. Dockerv.
Mr. Bryson, who was living with
! his brother, went to bed about 11
o'clock Tuesday morning and short
ly thereafter shot himself.
Members of the family, hearing
the report of the pistol, rushed inlp
the room to find him dead, life
having passed out instantly.
Mr. Bryson had been married
twice, but was separated from his
i last wife, and it is thought that this
i preyed upon his mind and was a
j contributing factor to his death. On
j Friday of the week before he had
I visited the cemetery where his first
| wife was buried, eleaned off her
I grave and a space beside, and told
his brother that there was where he
| wanted to be buried. Shortly be
fore Mr. Bryson took his life, his
brother left the house and went to
the store. At that time he cave his
brother instructions as to what to
do in case something should hap
pen. but no one thought he meant
to take his life.
He was in the best of health, and
the tragedy was a shocking surprise
to his family and friends.
Mr. Bryson was well known in
this section, and had served as a
deputy Sheriff for 25 years or more,
but was not one at the time of his
death. He was a deacon in the Bap
tist church at Unaka. and was a
highly respected citizen of the
county.
He is survived by his estranged
wife, and three brothers: Goldman
Bryson and Johnny Bryson, of Una
ka. and Sam Bryson. of Coker Creek
Tenn.
WOMAN'S CLUB
Being r the Minutes of the Regular
Monthly Meeting Held Wed
nesday, April 18th
The last meeting of the Club year,
1927-28, was held in the Club rooms
on April 18th.
Meeting was opened by singing
of Club Hymn.
Club Collect by the president.
Minutes of March 21st read and
approved.
Report of the work done by the
Club since October 1st, 1927, to date
was read by the secretary, while
the treasurer gave the financial re
port, covering the same date.
An invitation from the High
Point Woman's Club to the annual |
convention of the North Carolina
Federation of Women's Clubs, which
meets in that city May 1st io the 4th.
was read by the secretary and the |
ioil .. ing delegates were elected to !
attend this convention: Mrs. i\. S.I
j Parker and Mrs. Ralph Moody.
| The president spoke of the Illi
teracy Fund of S5.00 which each
county is asked to pay. Our district
President. Mrs. Black, has asked
that the Andrews and Murphy Clubs
pay this amount for Cherokee coun
ty. The matter was deferred until
a later date.
The secretary read a letter from
the Brasstown Community Club ex
tending to the. Murphy Woman's
Club an invitation to meet with them
Saturday, April 21st. and plans for
accepting this invitation were made.
The president told of the need of
flowers and books for the library,
and each Club member, or any
friend of the Library, was asked to
donate a plant and book.
Mrs. J. W. Davidson, chairman of
the nominating committee, made the
following report: For President,
Mrs. W. M. Alley; Vice President,
Mrs. J. P. Anderson; Recording
Secretary, Mrs. R. C. Mattox; Cor
responding Secretary, Mrs. M. W.
COLLINS ENTERS
BUSINESS IN
DICKEY BUILDING
i
The building program goes along
apace in Murphy. The Store build
ing of Mrs. Nettie Dickey, at the
Postoffice. was completed last week
and occupied by T. L. (Uncle Tom)
Collins with a stock of dr\ goods,
clothing and shoes.
This building is two stories, for
Iv-six feet in depth with twentv-five
feet frontage on Tennessee Street.
It is constructed of brick, and is
modern in every detail. The ground
floor is built especially for a store,
while the second story is equipped
for hotel purposes, there being five
rooms and four baths, and will be
used In Mrs. Dickey in connection
with her hotel.
Mr. Collins was formerly in bus
iness in the Grant building, as man-!
ager of the store of the National
Sales Company. The lease on this
company's store room expired about
the first of the year and it went out
of business, but Mr. Collins was so
impressed with Murphy as a trading
center that he has entered business
for himself.
The foundations for the Adams
store, office nnd apartment building
were poured last week and the brick
work is progressing rapidly. The
contractors, Barnett Brothers, have
a large crew of men at work on the
job and it is expected to be com
pleted by late summer. This build
ing will contain four store rooms on
the first floor, and offices and j
apartment on the second floor, and j
it is understood that the space has
already been let.
X
MURPHY TAKES GAME
FROM ANDREWS HIGH
The Murphy high school baseball
team defeated Andrews high on the
local ground Tuesday afternoon in
a hot contest, the tinal score being
2 to 1. The game was largely a
pitchers battle, Barton for Murphy
striking out 17 of the Andrews bals
men. The Andrews twirler also did
effective work.
Two weeks previously, the An
drews team had defeated the local?
on the Andrews grounds by a score
of 5 to 3. The contest Tuesday,
therefore, evened up the count. An
attempt is being made to schedule a
third game with the Andrews team.
Bell; Treasurer. Mrs. j. B. Storey.
The above named officers were
unanimously elected by a rising
vote.
Following the business session,
I the president introduced Mrs. Cath
| !?on \\ . W arren, our welfare work
| <*r who comes Jo us in the place of
Miss Elizabeth Smith. Mrs. W 'arren
| told of the chief duties of the wel
fare worker, and spoke especially
the need for a Girl Scout organiza
tion. It was voted by the club to
allow this organization when per
fected the use of the Club room as
a meetnig place.
Following Mrs. Warren's talk,
the Club was delightfully enter-!
tained with a vocal solo by Mrs.
Ralph Moody.
Mrs. E. I?. Norvell, the retiring
president, thanked the Club and ex
pressed her gratitude for the co-op
eration given her in carrying on the
work of the Club, and bespoke for
the incoming president, Mrs. W. M.
Axley, the same loyal support. Mrs.
Axley proposed that the Club extend
to Mrs. Norvell a rising vote of ap
preciation for her faithful and ef
ficient service during her term of
office.
Meeting adjourned.
1
WALKER COUNTY
IS PROPOSAL
A 'antahala and Valley town Town - 1
ships Want A ew County of
Walker with Andrews Co. Seat
( F rank I in Press )
A new county in W extern North
Carolina is the ambitious scheme
now being sponsored !?y Nantah^la
township of Macon county and Val
leytown township of Cherokee. The
new county would include the two
townships mentioned, a slice <?f
Swain county so as to include Nan
tabula Station, a small corner of |
Graham and the Clear Creek section
of Clay. Such is the proposal out
lined here Sunday by a prominent
citizen of Nantahala township. Wal
ker will be the name of the new
I county if, and when, the legislature
| authorizes its establishment. The
I boundaries of "W alker" will include
| approximately 160 square miles of
I territory.
According to a statcmem made
here Sunday b> an advocate of the j
I new county the citizenship of Nan
tahaia township is practically unan
imous in favor of the change. This
township is almost solidls Republi
can with only a stray Democrat here
and yonder within its confines.
Such being the case " a self satisfied
democratic administration" al Frank
lin treats Nuntahala as though it
were a stepchild. At least such is
the opinion expressed here Sunday
by a citizen of that township who
has lived there "long enough to
know." He also said that there is
no brotherly love between Andrews
i and Murphy such as should exist
j in any nice well regular * county.
According to this man. Andrews is
of the opinion that "the powers that
be" in Cherokee are constantly pull
ing for Murphy and leave Andrews
to lake care of itself, with the re
sult that Andrews and most of Val
leytown township are likewise sol
idly behind the proposition of creat
ing the new county of Walker with
Andrews as the county seat
It is not believed here ihat any
steps will be taken at the next meet
ing of the legislature to create the
county of Walker. The citizens liv
ing in the area of the proposed
county are quietly working to bring
| about this change at some future
and more favorable date.
j X
| A\ DREWS FOLKS D1SC0U\T
talk About \ew col.xty
" Countyseat " Of Proposed Sew
County Does tXot Take Talk
Seriously i
Asheville Times
A \ DREWS, April 2 1.? While
| formation of a new county, compos
I ed of parts of Macon. Cherokee.
I Graham, and perhaps Swain anil,
j Clay has long been disccussed here,
in a more or less casual way. the
suggestion has never been taken ser
iously, and reports that such a
I movement is being advoc a led by
I citizens of the county Nantahala and
! Flats sections of Macon county are
i not taken seriously here.
There is no serious discussion of
such a project in Andrews, proposed
county-seat of the new county. May
or 1). S. Russell declared Tuesday,
and Andrews citizens believe that
| the Macon voters are discussing the
1 preposition purely and simply with
I a view to using such talk as a wedge
! to secure road and other concessions
j from Macon county authorities.
Reports from Franklin are to the
effect that the matter is being dis
cussed there by the citizens of the
western section of the county, who
advance two chief arguments as the
basis for their contention that such
a new county should be set up, that
the citizens in the territory of the
proposed new county are almost
unanimously Republican, and, for
that reason, the secIicS ihvoiv'ed
receive little or no consideration
from Democratic ceanty adminis
trations; and, seco id, that jealousy
FRANK ELLIS IS
HURT IN AUTO
ACCIDENT SUN.
Frank Ellis is in a Knoxville
hospital suffering from a cut in ih'e
eye received Sunday afternoon when
his ear skidded into a mail box on
the Belleview road about five miles
from town.
The accident oceured when lie
was rounding a curve at about 35
miles an hour, and the loose srravel
and pebbles caused his ear to skid,
striking a mail box sidewise. The
glass door was broken nnd n *ma|l
pieee of glass lodged in bis eye.
l?ill Adams of the Cherokee Drug
Company, was driving another car
just ahead of Frank, and witnessed
the accident. Plopped and plared
Frank in his car and rushed him to
Murphy for medical aid.
About three quarters of a mile
this side of where tin* first aceident
oceured. they met another ear driven
by l?us Bradley, of Xndicw-. The
front fender of Adams" ear and the
rear fender of Bradley's touched
and Bradley turned over.
In the two accidents. Frank was
the most seriousU injured, the oth
ers receiv in? onh minor scratches
and bruises. At first it was thought
that Frank would lose his eye. but
reports coming from Knoxville late
in the week indicated that unless
complications set up he would be
able to retain tin* sight of his eye.
CARLOAD POULTRY
SHIPPED LAST WEEK
A more than twe*i*y t^tasand
pound carload of poultry was load
el in Murphy by the Farmers Fed
eration of Asheville last week for
shipment to eastern markets. This
represented probably the greatest
shipment to be sent out of Murphy
in one day in all its long history of
poultry shipments. All the poul
try that the farmers brought in
eould not be put in the ear, so an
additional truek load of poultry
and eggs was sent to Bryson City
for loading in another car.
Murphy lias well established it
self as a poultry shipping point.
Local dealers furnish a ready cash
market for the farmers in two or
three North Carolina Counties and
in several north Georgia Counties.
From five to ten thousand pounds
and hundreds of dozens of eggs are
bought by those dealers each week,
who in turn ship these products by
truck and rail to Atlanta, Asheville
and the southern or eastern markets.
About every two weeks the Farmers
Federation of Asheville operates a
| car on the Murphy branch for the
! accomodation of towns up the line,
| which do not have a ready home
| market, sudi as the farmers of this
J section do, and local dealers usu
| ally cooperate with tiiis carlot ship
ment in order to enable the Federa
j lion to secure a full cur by the time
it reaches Ashevilie. However, this
j time the farmers and local dealers
: overdid the mailer and thus assem
i bled more of this product than has
: ever before been brought together
| in one day in. Murphy.
! MRS. STEPS DIES IT IXDRFJf'S
Mrs. George Stepps, daughter of
Mrs. Nelson Wood, of Warne. C.,
died at Andrews April 20th. Mrs.
Stepps was a good Christian woman
and much beloved by all who knew
her. She is survived by her hus
band, four children, her mother,
Mrs. Nelson Wood, one brother, Ar
thur Wood, two sisters. Mrs. Jace
Barnard and Mrs. Guss Puett, all of
Warne.
results in Murphy's continually
fighting Cherokee County's largest
town, Andrews.
Under the proposal, the new coun
ty, to be named "Walker," would
embrace 160 square miles, and
would have its county seat at An
drews.