The Leading Weekly Newspaper in Western North Carolina, Cot
VOL
. XLI.? No. 48P
>ering a l.arpr and Potentially
Murphy, N. C., Friday July 4th, 1930
$1.50 YEAR -5c COPY
URGED THAT
U.S. NO. 19 GO
' UNDISTURBED
Stikclrather Reaue*ted That No. 23
Be Given Franklin-Dahlonega
Route ? Quotes Letter
Commissioner J. G. Stikeleather of
the Ninth North Carolina District,
savs he *equested the Federal High
way authorities to let U. S. Route 19,
ry way of Brvsnn City. Andrews. Mur
phy. Blairsville and Gainesville, be
tween Atlanta and Asheville, remain
undisturbed and that U. S. N?o. 23 go
hv way of F'ranklin and Clayton, Ga.. ?
to Gainesville and on into Atlanta.
In n letter this week to The Scour, I
in reply to an editorial last week, Mr. i
Stikeleather gives his position, and '
quoti - a letter he sent to State En- .
pineer John D. Waldroup, and W .C. |
Markham. executive secretary of the ;
American Association of Highway of
ficial- to hear him out.
Mr. Ftikeleather's letter follow?*:
June 30th, 1930
Editor < herokee Scout.
Murphy, North Carolina
Dear Sir: i
I have just read your editorial.
"Adding Insult to Injury," relative to
the substitution of Federal 23 for 19.
I have no quarrel with your fight for
the retention of Federal Route No.
19; my quarrel is that you insinuate i
that I had something to do with the
change. I did not.
My original request for U. S. High
way 23 was at the request of Ken
tucky. with the cooperation of Ten
nessee and Virginia, and at that time
U. S. 23 was to stop in Ar.heville. La
ter the State of Georgia requested
an extortion to Atlanta. With this
I aiveed, and I recommended a route
for lT. S. 23 via Dillrboro on No. 10
anil on 2S5 to the Georgia line, thence
to Atlanta as the Georgia Commission
should elect. When it became known
to me that Mr. Markham wanted to
re-route 19 by Franklin and on in to j
Georgia and 23 by B'ryson City, An
dryv. t v-.irphy - nd etc.. l 'immedi
ately protested. My lettei daied May
22, which I am quoting below, to Mr.
John !). Waldrop, State Highway i
Kn^'ineer for North Carolina, shows
this. Mr. Waldron was to appear in
(Continued on page 5)
$1U, 000 MONUMENT TO MARK
RESTING PLACE OF MURPHY'S
FIRST PIONEER CITIZENS
OUR 154th YEAR OF FREEDOM
Pyramid of Silver
Gray Marble Now
Being Erected
Monument Probably First of Its
Kind In The U. S.
A pyramid fifteen feet square at
the base and twenty-five feet high, of
silver gray Georgia Marble is to mark
the resting place of Murphy's first
pioneer citizens. Col. A. R. S. Hunt
er Hhci his wife, who are reputed to
be I he first white settlers of this
thriving little mountain city.
The monument is beinjg erected by
the McNeel Marble Co., of Marietta,
Cla., and the construction is being su
pervised by E. C. Ingram, of West
Point, Ga. Mr. ' Ingram ia now at
work on the monument, which is be
inp built on the order of the ancient
Pyramids of Egypt.
The cost of the monument will be
? 10,000.00, which sum was set aside
for this purpose in the will of the
<ate Mrs. Lillie H. Coit, granddaugh
ter of Col. and Mrs. Hunter. The
I nion Trust Company, of Sanfran
cisco, Calif., are executors of the es
tate.
Mrs. Coit was the daughter of Dr.
Charles M. Hitchcock, who was an ar
my surgeon, attached to the troops,
which were responsible for the round
up and removal of the Cherokee In
dians west, and it was while stationed
at Murphy that he met and wooed the
daughter of Col. and Mrs. Hunter.
Three large slabs of marble, one on
the north, one on the south and one
on the west side will carry the in
scriptions, while the east will be left
Plain.
'1 he following wording is engraved
on the three slabs:
Sacred to the memory of Eliza
wyche Hunter, daughter of George
Russell Hunter, Died July 26, 1868,
Aged 25 years.
Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth
Wyche Lucas Hunter, Died January,
'843, Aged 59 years.
Sacred to the memory of Archibald
Russell Spence Hunter, Born Febru
ary 24, 1783, Died June 23, 1844. *
Few people are aware that the Mur
phy we know was once called! Hunt
} ington, yet several years prior to
j 1835, Col. A. R. S. Hunter, father of
the late Martha Hitchcock, mother of I
| Mrs. Coit, established a trading post '
here among the Cherokee Indians. In !
his correspondence and in the offici
al records of the War Department the
name Huntington to designate this
place is frequently used.
Store and Residence
} The residence and store of Col.
j Hunter was situated on the bluff ov
erlooking Hiawassee River on its
southwestern bank, just above its
junction with Valley River. Many of
the older people of Murphy can re
member the Hunter home at this
place, traces of which can still be
found. The property of the home site
of Col. Hunter now belongs to C. B.
1 Hill, and is known as the Hitchcock
property.
Col. Hunter and his wife are both
buried on top of the beautilul knoll
overlooking Murphy and the Hia
wassee river, adjacent the residence
of Mrs. Betty Lloyd. Seveal years
ago when Mrs. Coit disposed of her
interest in the Hitchcock property,
she reserved a perpetual casement for :
burial purposes, and the beautiful pyj- j
amid monument her will made possi
ble will be a perpetual and fitting I
tribute to Murphy's first pioneer cit- J
izens, and no doubt it will more and j
more become a public shrine.
Built First Home
In Preston's "Western North Care- ?
lina, A History," we find the follow- |
ing:
"The first house built by a white j
man in Cherokee County was a large i
two-story house with several rooms, j
elected by A. R. S. Hunter, originally '
of Virginia, but who moved into
North Carolina from Georgia. Its !
furniture was of mahogany and was j
brought by Indians on their shoulders
jfrom Walhalla, South Carolina, there;
! being no wagon roads at that time. ,
Mr. Hunter, in about 1838, built a
better house. General Wood and
Gen Winfield Scott were entertained i
by the Hunters during the time of the
removal of the Cherokee Indians. Sev- j
eral of the United States soldiers en
gaged in that heart-rending process |
died and were buried near this old
residence; but these remains were re
moved in 1905 or 1906 to the Na- j
I
MURPHY CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE IS
REORGANIZED
Meeting To Perfect Permanent Or
ganization Ik Called for Next
Thursday Night
At a meeting1 in the court house
! here Tuesday nijrht, a movement was |
I inaugurated to re-organize the Mur
] phv Chamber of Commerce and place
j it back on the active list.
About twenty-five business and
professional men were present. The !
meeting was called to order by C. W. j
i Savage, co-owner of the Regal Ho- 1
| tel. who explained the object of the
meeting and asked that a chairman
and secretary be elected.
Mr. Savage was named temporary)
chairman, and Ralph Moody, promi
nent young Murphy attorney, was
named temporary secretary. On mo
tion these two were elected perma
nent president and secretary respec
tively.
A committee on constitution and
by-laws was then appointed by Mr.
Savage, composed of F. O. Christo
pher, and H. P. Cooper, both promi- j
nent lawyers and R. F. Williamson,
prominent lumber and building ma- 1
terial dealer, and secretary Moody, i
This committee wa? instructed to j
present the constitution and by-laws |
at a meeting next Thursday nipht,
July 10th, for final action by the
chamber.
The majority of those signified
their intention of joining and all at
tending was asked to form the mem
bership committee in an effort to
have as many out at the meeting next
Thursday night as possible.
tional cemetery at Marietta, Gu.
"Fort Butler was on a hill not far
from the Hunter home. Mr. Hunter
had one child, a daughter, who mar
ried I)r. Charles M. Hitchcock, a sur
geon on Gen. Wool's staff during the
"Removal" and the Mexican War.
They afterwards moved to California,
where they acouired many valuable
lands and settled at San Francisco.
They had one child, a daughter, Lilly,
who is now a Mrs. Coit. ..."
The monument which is being erec
ted is perhaps the first and only one
of its kind in the United States. Mr.
Ingram, who is superintendent of the
construction, says he has been erec
ting monuments for the past twenty
six years, and this is the first pyra
mid that he has ever built or heard of.
AGED TOMOTLA
CITIZEN PASSES
SAT. JUNE 28th
J. C. Sales Died Same Day Hi*
Grandson Is Buried
I Joseph Columbus Sales, 4>4 years
i old. died at his home at Tomotla, Sat
urday morning. June 2Kth. at 10:30
o clock, following a stroke t paral
y is the day before.
Mr. S.iles died just thirty minutes
after his little five-year old errand son.
Charles Sales. was buried. His sis
ter. Mrs. \iintie Sneed, died about
three weeks afro.
About ? ghteen months ago, Mr.
Sales suffered his first stroke of l'a
lalysis. and the one which caused his
death came about ten o cIock Friday
morning. It is thought that grief ov
! er the loss of his sister and little
i grandson were contributing factors
to his death.
Mr. Sales was a prominent farmer
, ra. tirally all his life. He was born
in Buncombe county, and at the a- -
of two years, moved to this county
with his parents.
Funeral services were held Sunday
afternoon ltom the '1 omotla Metho
dist church by the Rev. Somers, of
the Murphy Circuit, and interment
was in the formula cemetery.
He is survived by his wife and sev
j en children : Three boys, Neal Sales,
I of Murphy; Guy Sales, of Miami, Fla;
; and Frank Sales, of Tomotla; four
daughters, Mrs. Will Sneed. and Mrs.
n. i . Newton, both ot Miami. Fla;
' and Anna Lou and Catherine Sales,
; of Tomotla; one brother, tlus Sales.
! of San Antonio. Texas.
! LITTLE SALES BOY LAID
TO REST AT TOMOTLLA
Charles Sales, 5 years old, and only
[child ol" Mr. and Mrs. C.uy Sales, of
Miami. Fla.. died at the home of his
grandmother, Mrs. HI Rojrei"s, at To
.notla. last Fiiday morninjr about
1 :.'t0 o'clock.
Little Charles was sick with colitis
i about a week. His mother was re
cently called from Floiida to the bed
>idc of her mother, at Tomotla, and
Charles accompanied her
Funeral services were held Satur
j day morning at 10 o'clock, about thir
' ty minutes before the death of his
, tfiandfathcr, ,J. C. Sales.
The many friends < f the Sales fani
ilies ??xtend heart-fell sympathy in
I their double bereavement.
HOLDUP MEN STAGE PROFITABLE
AND SPECTACULAR ROBBERY AT
HOME OF CARL DICKEY MON. NIGHT
GOLD, NOTES,
CERTIFICATES,
GUNS TAKEN
Officers Working Hot Trail With
Arrests Expected Momentarily
Three men boldly entered the Dick- I
I ey home near Ranker Monday night
under the pretense of trading for a ;
i nun, held Carl Dickey and his aged
mother up at the point of puns, ran- !
sacked the house and made away with j
some $500.00 in gold, a $500.00 cer- '
tificate of deposit, several hundred ;
dollars in notes and all the puns and
pistols they could find, in one of the
most spectacular robberies recorded |
in the county in many years.
The highwaymen are said to have i
stopped at the Dickey home about |
dusk, having come down the road
from Copperjiill. They hollered and
asked Mr. Dickey if he had a lantern
I or some kind of a light, statinjc that
| the lights on their car were not work
i ing and they were afraid to drive
without them. When told that he
did not have a light, Mr. Dickey said
they asked him if there was a gar
age or repair shop close by, as some
thing was wrong with the engine.
1 When told that an expert mechanic
lived back up the road a short ways,
they replied that they stopped there
and had the trouble remedied, but
that it had developed again.
Mr. Dickey said he first came out
on the porch and then went down to
the car. After the robbers could not
secure any help for the troublesome
car, Mr. Dickey asked if they wanted
to buy a good gun. lie told them he 1
had one he would sell. They wanted j
to see it, and he went into the house j
to get the gun. They followed him
to the house, and he then asked them i
to wait on the porch and he would re
turn with it in a moment.
However, when he entered the
house, one of them said he would en
ter also. After securing the gun, they
returned to the porch where the trio
examined it. One of them turned,
grabbed Mr. Dickey's hands while the
others covered him. They demanded
that he give up his money. Then he
noticed that they were masked.
-creaming, and the leader of the trio
tlhrcate.ied Carl if he did not make
her hush up. This he did the best
he could under the circumstan
ces. cautioning her that the worst
might happen if she didn't.
After the house was ransacked, and
the loot secured, Mr. Dickey said the
robbers marched him out to the car
at the point of the gun, where they
made him get in the road. After the
car was turned around, he was told
to run until otherwise ordered. Af
ter running him up the road for
about a hundred yards, he was told to
stop and stand still until they
were out of sight. The last seen of
them, they were fading into the dark
ness.
Mr. Dickey's presence of mind
caused him to secure the number of
the car, which bore a Tennessee li
cense. and this is being checked by
! the officers.
When the officers were notified
late Monday night, an attempt was
made to communicate with Copperhill
and Ducktown officers, but communi
cation could not be made. It is be
lieved that the robbers cut the tel
ephone lines to cover their flight.
Xo arrests have yet been made, al
though with the several hot leads giv
en the officers, it is expected that ar
rests will be made at any moment.
New Carolina Theatre
In Andrews To Open
On Fourth of July
The new Carolina Theatre, in An
drews. announces its opening Friday.
July 4th, with the first all-talking
picture ever shown in the extreme
end of Western North Carolina. Do
lores Del Rio and Warner Baxter, in
"Romance of the Rio Grand." This
is a wonderful all-talking picture of
the great wide open spaces, and to
gether with a well-selected progrram
of novelties and short- subjects will
be sure to please. The first show
will begin at one o'clock, then con
tinuous until eleven P. M.
A complete program for the open
ing and next week's program will be
found in this issue of The Scout.