Dedicated
Tc Service
For Progre*?
vol
-NO. 4?
Mforakee Bvaut
Our Aim: ?
A Better Murphy
A Finer County
THE LEAPING WEEKLY NEWSPAPER IN WESTERN NORTH CARQUNA. COVERING A LARGE AND POTENTIALLY RICH TEURITORY
5c COPY? $1.50 PER YEAR
MURPHY. N. C. THlTtSDAY. MAY 1941
MURPHY AND ANDREWSl^FfliFWl^vYftRS
ferebee seeks
"DOVETAILING" OF
HIGHWAY WORK
Complete and Perfect I
System Will Be Aim,;
Official Declares
With his desk already half buried '
with request petitions from towns |
and communities throughout all the
district. Highway Commissioner P. |
B. Ferebee is back art his desk in the
Citizens Bank & Trust Company
without any definte plan as to where
u> begin- It had been expected that
a tenUuve program would be laid
before the new Highway Board by
Governor Broughton, immediately
following the swearing in. at Raleiph. '
last week: but none was mode.
Mr. Ferebee said work would be
mapped out on a state-wide scope
at the next meeting of the Board.
The date will be decided by the
chairman but it probably will be held
in the near future.
It is the intention of the new Board
Mr. Ferebee believes to work out a
pros ram that will be co-ordinated,
throughout the State. That is to say.
every improvement will be planned
and carried out, not only to help the
jnmcdiale connecting highways.
Thus all work will be made to dove
tail.
Personally, Mr. Perebee is in favor
of having all new work on main
highways done under the four-lane j
plan.
"There may be many long stretches
o! roads where four-lanes are not
needed now" he explained. "Never
theless, if these highways are to be
resurveyed. and straightened, they
ihould be graded for four lanes. Con
Con tinued on Back Page.)
Explanation Is Given
Of Fire Alarm System
Due to the numerous fires in Mur
phy recently the fact that very
few people know the method of
sounding: the fire alarm has be
come astoundingly real For this'
reason the Scout offers an expla
nation.
When and if you discover a fire
*o your telephone and call the
Chamber of Commerce inforrmat
'on office. In day hours, Miss
^*ry Jo Davis will receive the call
and immediately notify the police
^d fire chief. During: the night
* policeman will either be at the
b?oth or will hear your call by
roeans of a large bell recently es
tablished outside the booth, and
then turn in the alarm. AL
WAYS call the inforrmation booth!
10 More In County
Called To Ft. Bragg;
Will Leave May 28
Ten more men Irom Cherokee
Count jf have been called u> the
colors. Orders Irom Draft Head
quarters reached County Secretary
Wayne Walker in Murphy Wednes
day, and tile contingent will leave
lor Port Brajs. N. C. a. 6:45 o'clock
Wednesday morning. May 28
As usual, the call will be met en
tirely by volunteers, and the list still
will be long enough to Uke care
of needs for some time. Thus far,
not one man from Cherokee County
has been "drafted."
The present call is the first for
several weeks in this section. It is
the eleventh cull issued from Wash
ington but only the eight for Chero
kee County. The regular eighth,
ninth and tenth calls passed this
section over, without explanation.
Of the ten new soldiers-io-be, four
are from the Murphy section, four
from Marble; one from Andrews and
one from Culberson. They are:
James Theodore Osborne ? An
drews.
Samuel Varner Rogers ? Murphy,
Rt. 3.
Sheridan Carter ? Murphy. Rt. 3.
Burley Hamilton ? Murphy, Rt. 1.
berson, Rt 1.
Charlie Bascomb Davenport ? Cul
berson.
Hugh Martin Humphries ? Marble,
Gerald Junior Wilson ? Marble Rt.
William Wallace Arrowood ? Mar- j
ble, Rt. 1.
Robert Clarence Deaton ? Marble,
Rt. 1.
Carmel Cecil Hall ? Murphy, Rt. 1.
Vaccination Schedule |
For Dogs Announced
By Health Department
Emphasizing the fact that it is
necessary to innocularte dogs against
rabies every year, the County Health
department has announced the fol
lowing schedule for vaccinations.
Murphy School, Saturday, May 10 '
from 9 o'clock A. M. to 2 P. M.
Texana School. Saturday. May 10.
at 2:30 P. M.
Marble School, Saturday. May 17,
from 9 o'clock to 10 A. M.
Andrews Public Library, Saturday,
Mary 17, from 10 o'clock A. M. to 3
P. M.
o
Fairchild engineers have perfect
ed a new "electric eye" aerial camera
which automatically snaps pictures
when a magensium flare bomb ex
plodes, thus facilitating the taking
of night photographs by aviators.
Record Rattlesnake and 128 lb. Wildcat
Wiled In Hangingdog During Past Week
The forecast of a big crop of rattle
snakes seems verified by reports
Itom the Hangingdog section. Wild
est? also are reported to be u usually I
numerous; and so daring that
Hwgingdog residents say it isn't ;
to keep a piece of fresh meat
In the house
Mack Swaim. who lives on Bald
Creek and is a brother of Fred Swaim
Chl*f of Murphy Fire Department,
one of the largest rattlers ever
In this section, last week. It
h*1 sixteen rattles and a button.
A record sized wildcat also was
jJJW. on Ball creek near its head,
""beast was shot by Mart Hamby
7*?* It had come right to the kitchen
, ? attracted by the smell of a
ham which had been sliced for
The anlr ial weighed 128
^un^8- Hamby skinned it, and will
show the pelt to any who doubt his
story.
Meanwhile. Paul Abernathy, who
lives in Steel Trap Gap, has turned
rattle-snake into a new sport- He
kills them with fire crackers.
"It's easy and it's fun." Abernathy
said. "All you need is a forked stick
and some fire crackers left over from
Christmas."
"When you sec a rattler, use the
stick to pin his head down. He'll
open his mouth, every time, and he'll
open it plenty wide. Then you liftht
the fire cracker, stoop down close
and stick it beween his jaws. Hell
clamp down ? and BANG! The crac
ker blows his head plumb off."
Abernathy insists the sport is per
fectly safe, but so far he has not
been able to get anybody else to try
it.
GIRL KILLS SELF
ON OLD ROADSIDE;
CAUSE UNKNOWN
Christine Taylor, Aged
15, Borrows 22 Rifle
From A Neighbor
Driven by some in gic impulse that
will never be explained. IS year eld
Christine Taylor, daughter of Drew
Taylor, Peach tree farmer and a
second year student in the Murphy
high school took her own life Sunday
morning', by shooting herself through
the heart with a borrowed 22 calibre
rifle. Shs had gotten the sun from
the home of Henry Inll, nearby, on
the pretense that her father wished
to shoot a mad dog.
The girl killed herself in an old
road, only a short distance from her
home. Her brother, J. D. Taylor
heard the shot, and heard her
scream. J. D. and his father ran to
investigate, and reached the girl's
side just as she breathed her last
She died in her father's arms, with
out speaking.
Before starting on her death mis
sion, Christine had fixed breakfast
for the family. Then, without eating,
she went to the Lai! farm house, and
asked to borrow a gun. Mrs. Lail
with whom she talked, offered the
use of a 22 rifle but said there were
no cat ridges in the house. Lail told
, sheriff Carl Townson that Christine
was apparently txicted, or unhappy,
and ga"ve no evidence whatever of
her grim intention.
Mrs. Lail said Chrr-tine took the
rifle saying she prob . ily could bor
row a couple of calridrfs at the home
of Henry Pa'.nter. \? ho also lives
neaTby. Whether she got the shells
there or not is not known.
Coroner Harry Miller held an in
quest into the tragdey on Sunday
(Continoed on Back Page)
Two NY A Projects
Are Approved by
State For This Area
Two new NYA projects have been
approved by the state office for this
area. Mrs. Willabelle Posey, area
supervisor, has announced, and work
on both is expected to be started
within a short time.
The first project covers work in
connection with repairs and improve
ments to Murphy schools and school
furniture, landscaping and building
fences on the campus. Project super
visor will be B. C. Walker.
The second project will be the
construction of a vocational agricul
tural farrm shop building and the
demolition of an old building. The
new building will be raised on the
school grounds at Hayesville in Clay
county and about 40 toys will be em
ployed for the work. Project super
visors will be Marvin H- Alexander.
The Weather Vane
Listed below- are maximum and
minimum temperatures and precipi
tation for the past week compared
with similar data for last year:
Temperatures
1940 1941
May I
2
3
4
5
6
7
Max. Mln. Max. Min.
59 54 82 42
69 35 82 40
47 38 81 41
56 39 84 45
62 31 80 45
79 38 86 49
86 47 82 60
Precipitation
Total this week
Total this month
Total this year
1940 1941
0.83 0.03
083 0.03
18.32 12.51
Mad Dog at Large;
Animals Attacked
And Child Bitten |
A mad "our doc" is at large some
where in the county, and the Health
department says it has bitten several
other dogs m the Mission section ol
Peachtree. Also a child Is reported U |
have been bitten in Clay County,
where, it is believed, the mad dog
may have come from.
All persons owning dogs that have
been at large are warned by the
Health department to keep them
confined and under close observation
for 14 days. It is possible that any
of them may have been in a fight
with the dog that is mad.
Sanitary Engineer F. N. Johnson
also warns that all stray and appar
ently homeless dogs should be killed.
Also, he said, any person who is bit
ten should consult a physician im
mediately, in order that arrange
ments. may be made to give the
Pasteur treatment, the only known
preventive for rabies. Johnson add
ed:
"It is only through the cooperation
that rabies can be stamped out."
Several suspected dogs already
have been reported killed in various
sections of the County recently. None
of these animals iiad been vaccin
ated.
New Ticket Offered
At Eleventh Hour, But
It Comes Out Too Late ;
As a result of hundreds of voter*
failing to show up at the polls in
Murphy Tuesday, a rumor spread
that an opposition ticket had been
drawn up in secret, and that a young
army had planned to descend on the j
Courthouse just before closing time,
and write in the names.
Late Tuesday afternoon such a
ticket did appear, but it was too late.
John Donley, Patton Coleman. Fred
Johnson and several others said they
would have been glad to support it.
but they had already voted. The
ticket was:
For Mayor: ? Mr. "Snake" Fran
kum.
For Commissioners: ? Sheridan
Stiles. Wiff "G Man" Stanley. Bob
Grant. "Chicken" Hughes, Sally
Rand and A1 Capone.
Andrews Fight Bitter
But Only 143 Ballots
Are Cast In Murphy
Murphy got a new Mayor and An
drews got, a whole new deal in the
municipal elections Tuesday. The
Murphy result was a foregone con
clusion. there being only one ticket
Charlie Mayfield was elected mayor,
with the same Board that hat. been
serving, plus Lee Shields. The latter,
incidentally, led the ticket
In Andrews it was different. Claim
ing that the Democrats had not cre
tified their nominations within the
legal time limit, the Republicans re
fused to alio*- their names on ilie
ballots.
The Democrats, almost fighting
mad. appealed to the Attorney Gen
eial in Raleigh, to Gray and Christo
pher in Murphy, to McKinley Ed
wards in Bryson City, In Clyde Janet
in Andrews, and to other legal au
thorities. In every case they were in
formed that the Republicans couldn't
do that to them. But tlie Republicans
did. just the same.
This made it necessary for the
Democrats to write in the names ot
all the candidates, on every ballot.
They did just that. Also, every reg
istered Democrat in the town went to
the polls. Tuesday aftemocn a check
up showed that two had failed to
show up. Taxi cabs were immediately
sent to hunt them, and soon they,
too. were brought in.
As a result young Robert Heaton
(Continued on Rack rage)
0
War Work Volunteers
Sought by Red Cross
With a huge .shipment of wool and
other materials due to arrive shortly
the Murphy Red Cross is looking for
volunteer workers to make bandages,
dresses, and knitted garments. Mrs.
C. W. Savage is chairman of the Mur
phy chapter, and Mrs. Mel Miller ic
assisting her in the new project.
Trustees of the Murphy Methodist
church have offered the use of the
basement for the work, and the Sing
er company has offered free use of
sewing machines- A Red Cross in
structor will be sent from Raleigh
to start the workers off.
Heretofore the chapter has used
the club room at the Public Library,
and the members have not yet de
cided whether to remain there, or
to accept the church offer.
Mayfield and Heaton Win;
Shields Leads Murphy Ticket
17 Inch Rainbow Trout One Of 48 Caught
By Party of 4; Birchfield Suspicious
A seventeen inch speckled rain
bow trout, the largest landed in this
section in many a moon, was caught
fcy Grover Mauney in White O.ik
Bottoms last Sunday. The big moun
tain beauty was one 48 brought, back
by Messers. Grover. Walter and Tom
Mauney and Fred Christopher. The
next largest, caught by Christopher,
measured 14 inches. Tnc others av
eraged a little better than 11 inches.
Walter Mauney told Game Warden
Deveraux Birchfield that every mem
ber of the party caught the limit
Walter added that he caught the first
fish, and got his limit long before the
others.
Fred Christopher says Walter fish- !
cd longer than anyone, didn't catch
a single trout: didn't catch anything j
nt all but one horny-head. If this be j
true it may make it just too bad for ;
the others, for it would mean that
somebody caught more than the lim
it. and then gave them to Walt.
Warden Birchfield is suspicious, I
anyhow. Looking over the ca-tch,
which was displayed in Murphy Sun
day evening. Birchfield a?ked Walter
Mauney how long it took him to
catch his legal dozen. Walter said
about two hours.
"And I suppose", suid Birchfield,
"that after you stopped fishing, and
just sat around waiting for the oth
ers."
"That's right" said Walter.
"Well." said Deveraux. 'I can't
prove tlwt you didn't: but I don't
believe a word of it. arnd no Jury
would believe it either- I've a good
notion to lock all four of you up. Just
on general principles."
Later. Warden Birchfield said he
had heard that the party actually
caught 64 trout. Walter refused to
confirm or deny this, but declared
that "if" it were true all the olhers
had been thrown back.
"I don't believe that, either" aaid
Birchfield.