Dedicated * To Service I or Progress THE LEADING WEEKLY NEWSPAPER IN WESTERN Our Aim: ? A Better Murphy A Finer County VOL ? NO. 4* NORTH CAROLINA. COVERING A LARGE AND POTENTIALLY RICH TEMRITORY MURPHY. N. C. THURSDAY. MAY I, 1M1 5c COPY ? $1.50 PER YEAR MURPHY TO HAVE NEW SYSTEM OF STREET LIGHTING Old Pole* To Be Placed Along Highway 19 at Both Ends of Town Murphy is soon to have a "Great White Way" lighting up both the main highway entrances to the town Jor more than a mile in each di rection. Now, heavier and more or namental street lamps will be placed 1 nthe town, and the present poles will be moved to Highway no. 19 through and beyond East Murphy. And towards Tennessee and Georgia. The new ^reet lights have already oeen purchased, and one of the first official acts of Mayor-to-be May field. following his election next Tuesday will be to moke formal ap plication for a WPA grant for labor to carry out the program. Credit for securing the new lights should go chiefly to C. W. Savage, owner of the llcga! Hotel. Sercra! weeks ago he was paid a week end visit by C. E. Terrell, head of a big Electrical Company in Chattanooga Mr. Terrell told his host that Chatta nooga was installing a new system of street lighting, and that the d*s ? arding lamps could be bought "dirt rheap". Mr. Savajfe immediately passed this information on to Town Clerk Christopher, who went to the Ten nessee city to investigate. Mr .Christopher found the dis carded light-poles at one-third heav ier and stronger than those in Mur phy: more modern, and better in t-very way. Returning home he re ported this to the Town Board and was authorized to go back and buy, (Continued on Back Page) 0 Charter Cites Murphy Not As City, But Town A Murphy resident, calling to pay his electric light bill this week called Town Clerk Christopher's attention to the bill, which was rendered by "The City of Murphy Electric De partment". "Is it correct to speak of Murphy as a city, or as a town?" he asked. To find the answer, Christopher went to the original charter. That document showed that "Town of Murphy" is correct. Pew men would risk what looked like almost certain death for a $20 bet. but Rose Rhodes, of Hanging dog did. and won. In addition to the money he also saved a lot of gas, and many weary hours of precious time. Rhodes drove a loaded truck down the almost perpendicular sides of Ivey Gap, in Little Snowbird. Worse still it had rained all the night be fore. and the ground was as slick as a piece of fat meat. The truck had to be hauled to the top on the other side, which is not so steep, by a yoke of oxen. By making the perilous trip Rhod es saved himself a drive of about miles. He was moving from Little Snowbird to the Boiling Springs sec tion of Hangingdog. and by follow the regular route, he would have J** to drive about 35 miles. The way e went covered only three miles. 'When Rhodes first suggested tak the short route his friends asked "hy he wanted to commit sucide. o man man could drive down that ^-Precipice, they said, and live. j"1"! Rhodes declared he believed Ciy followed his sister, overtook her. and finally btat out the flames Dr. Harry Miller, called to her bed side found her suffering from secon dary burns on hei body, but declared her injuries were not serious. The near-tragedy prevented little Jane from going to school to receive ! a final report card showing a perfect I record of attendance. ! Knife Fight Sends Bingham To Doctor Wise Bros. To Jail A street fight, watched by a score of men and women in front of the Murphy Electrical office sent Carl Binghaxn to Petrie hospital with his throat cut Wednesday afternoon, and sent Jake and Allen Wise to jail. Twelve stitches were taken in Bing ham's wound, and but for his leather coat, the collar of which was slashed twice, he might have been killed. Jake and Allen Wise were given hearings before Mayor Gray Thurs day morning, and were bound over for Court under $1,500 bond each. Also, Allen was given 60 days, and Jake 30 days "on the roads" for drunkness. The cause of the fight is unknown. Bingham said the Wise brothers art tacked him as he came out of the Electrical office where he is employ ed as a lineman. His throat was cut, he said, by Jake Wise, after Allen hod knocked him dizzy with a blow on the back of the head. Wade Palmer, who works with Bingham tried to separate the bat tlers, and was himself knocked down The fight was finally eneded by Press Gentry < Continued on Back Page.) Drives Loaded Truck Down A Steep Cliff To Win $20 Bet And Save 32 Mile Trip Odell, of Hangingdog, bet him $20 j he couldn't. On April 18 Rhodes got Paul J Abemathy, who is getting out timber near Ivey Gap, to haul a one and one half ton. Model A Ford truck up the more gentle slope of the mountain. "Several times I thought | the oxen wouldn't be able to make it," young Abernathy later declared | "They finally did. but they sure were i plumb wore out." Arrived at the top. Rhodes loaded the truck with his household goods. Then he chopped down a giant oark i tree, left all the limbs intact, and ! chained it to the back of his truck. Then he jammed the brakes on, put the car in "Bulldog" low gear, and started down. The trail formerly had been used for sleds, and for skidding logs, and It was its narrowness that made the trip possible. All the way down, the | branches of the oak caught on other trees. Had those branches snapped off. Rhodes would have hurtled down to death ? but they did not. Even so. he went pretty fast, and friends who watched the trip say they wouldn't to? It for ten times $20. SOUTHERN TRAIN 1 SERVICE ORDERED RESUMED FRIDAY Mail and Express Badly Crippled ? Towns Wire Indignant Protests After a suspension which began last Tuesday, passenger traffic be tween Murphy and Ashevllle will be resumed Fridap afternoon, when Number 17 is due to pull into Mur phy under its old schedule at 1:45 o'clock. Mail and passenger service also will be resumed. Leaving Murphy for Asheville at 7:30 Saturday morning, "Number 17" will become "Number 18." At the same time, another "Number 17" will start down from Asheville. This, Southern railway officials ex plained, is because the road system calls for "even numbers" making the north -bound trip. From Satur day on. travel conditions will be normal again The temporary stoppage of pas senger traffic created all sorts of in convenience, especially as to mails, which arrived anywhere from eight to twenty four hours late- The plan was to send the mails by freight to Bryson Cit7, and fetch from there by truck. Faulty arrangements CCTised a bad break-down romewhere along the line. Express shipments also were sadly delayed. "Express" came entirely by freight. It was shipped first to Bryson City, taken off there, and held until another freight train came along, bound for these narts. The stoppage Was authorized by the State Utilities Commission, and brought little or no protest from Southern Railway executives, who long have warned to discontinue the Murphy branch becav .e it has been a dead loss for year? It is has not (Continued on E.ick Page.) Tri-County Revival Will Start Sunday In Murphy Church An extended revival will begin at the Murphy Methodist Church next Sunday May 4th. The local pastor. Rev. C. B. Newton will do the preach ing. Music will be rendered by the junior and senior choirs. Monday night will be "young peo ples night". Young people from Cherokee, Graham and Chiy coun ties will attend and this program will take the place of the regular meeting of the young peoples union Tuesday night will be "Official night" and all the church officials, stewards, trustees. Sunday school of ficers and teachers, all officials of the Woman's society of Christian Service, and all service superintend ents and officers are expected to be present. Wednesday night and each night thereafter will be 'every member night." The general public is invited, re gardless of creed. Lifted below are maximum and minimum temperatures and precipi tation for the past week compared with similar data for last year. Temperatores 1940 1941 Ma*. Min. Max. Min. April 24 65 47 63 56 | 25 64 36 69 53 26 68 39 69 42 27 71 36 70 34 29 72 37 71 33 29 74 39 79 36 30 72 44 79 36 Precipitation 1940 1941 Total for week 0.93 1.19 Total for April 4.92 3.49 Total for year 17.49 12.48 The Weather Vane They're Seeing Snakes On Hangingdog ? First Rattler of Year Killed Everybody in the Hangingdog sec tx>n was seeing snakes last week; but we don't mean the kind that travels with pink elephants. These were the real thing, and rattlers, at that! Snake-wise mountaineers say there is likely to be a "big crop" this year. What is believed to be the first rattler of the season in these parts was killed by Paul Gilbert, son of the Rev. Fred Gilbert, who heard the serpent's deadly warning as he climbed the hill across from Joe Abernathy's home in Steel-trap Gap He killed the snake and later disp laced it to his friends. It liad seven rattles. A few days later young Paul Aber nathy, who recently returned home after a year spent working up north" killed & second rattler on the very same hUl. This one, however, had only five rattles. | "Lake Cherokee" Is Name Selected For Recreations Area The new lake and recreation area on Persimmon creek, now under con struction by the National forest ser vice. will be dubbed "Lake Chero kee," judges ol the contest to find a name announced this week. Mrs- W. M. Ramsey and Mrs Ellen Crawford, both oi Murphy, were the winners in the contest and will split the $15.00 prize money giv,-n b;.- the Murphy Chamber of Commerce. H. Bueck, superintendent of Mur phy schools, and Lloyd Hfcndnx, superintendent of county schools, made three selections and recom mended them to the forest service. Pinal selection, made for the contest was rendered by Mr. Johnson, of the U. S. Forest service. A large number of entries was submitted and the final choice of a name was rather difficult, the jud ges said. I New Tourist Cabins Built By Massev Offer Just About Last Word In Luxury i The cash prizes will be presented the winners at the dedication cere monies to be held as soon as the lake is finished. The Chamber of Commerce in co operation with the Forest Service, i is planning an elaborate program for j the dedication with a probable all- 1 day outing scheduled. W. M. Palmer, forest ranger foi i (Continued on Back Pace.) TWO TOWNS GO ;TO POLLS MAY 6; ! MURPHY "IN BAG" Hot Fight In Andrews But County Seat Hu Only One Ticket Up Murphy and Andrews both will go to the polls next Tuesday to elect city administrations. In Andrews ? red hot partisan fight looms, with Mayor Recce standing for reelection as a Republican, and with young Robert Heaton seeking the Mayoralty as a Democrat. All the present Republican Board members in Andrews are seeking re election except one. Lee Watkins de clined to run attain. and W. A. Hyde was nominated in his place at a caucus held Tuesday night. The cum pletc lists of rival candidates for the Andrews Board are: i Republican: Prank Bristol. W. , Turner Holland, Zala Adams and W. A. Hyde. Democrats: &ed L. Whitaker, W. G. McKeldrey. Dr. Gerald Almond | tnd Zet B. Conley. i In Murphy, the elation will be a tame affair, for the ticket headed I by Charlie Mayfield has no opposi ! tion. Numerous efforts were made to i set up a second ticket, drawn along fusion lines, but few of those invited to become candidates were willing to run. One new name will appeal' on the I ticket ? thai of Lee Shields. He was chosen to fill the vacancy caused by the forthcoming elevation of May field to the Mayoralty. The new Murphy Administration, therefore will be as follows: Mayor, Charles Mavfield. Board Members, Walter Mauney. Ed Moore, Tom Ax ley. Parrot Odom. Noah Lovingood and Lee Shields. (Continued oil Back Page.) jWall Maps of Murphy Being Made By T. V. A. Large and complete wall maps at Murphy, will soon be available at the Mayor's office. They are being made by the TVA and will be sold ai actu al cost ? about 20 cents each. According to the TVA the maps will show every street, every house, every store, every vaacant lot and every water and sewer main in the town. They also will list most of the home owners. TVA topographers have been working on the maps for almost a year. "I have everything that a hotel can offer, and a whole lot that they ; dont" declared Wade Macssey. He was talking about his new tourist cabins, bordering Highway No. 19. in East ' Murphy, which were opened for busi- ' ncss only a few days ago. Visit those cabins and you'll find thart Wade wasn't exaggeratin?. Built of stucco on tile, to insure coolness in slimmer and warmth in winter, the rooms are large -some 14 by 20 feet, others 14 by 18 feet. To further insure pleasant temperature, the cabins are ceiled with "Isolite". and there are venetiam blinds. Every room has a huge closet, a i large lavatory, and a private bath, j Also every room has a desk, two or i more chairs, and a dresser. The beds i have Beauty Rest mattresses, and j the furnishings are all in solid ma ple. The composition fire-proof floors are covered, from wall to wall with woolen felt carpets that sink pleas antly under one's feet: and there is an abundance of electric light. A two light chandelier is pendent from the center of the ceiling. Also there is a lamp on a small bedside table, and there is a reading lamp on every bed. There also is a radio in every cab in. set in an especially built alcove in the wall, near the bed. Doors and windows are screened, of course, and the latter also are curtained, to in sure privacy. Set ten feet apart., every cabin is sound-proof. The office, which includes quarters for the young collepr graduate whom Massey has engaged as manager, is set In the center of the group. Be neath the office is a cellar with a stoker furnarcr which keeps the cab ins constantly supplied with hot wa ter. Every cabin has Its own parking space, immediately beside It. Massey built the cabins himself, and they show that lie worked with loving care. He has n^jH the Scout to ioTtta anyone tnt-KHw to come out and inspect them at any time.