Our Aim:? A Better Murphy A Finer County She am Dedicated To Service For Progrew the leading weekly NEWSPAPER tN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. COVERING A LARCJE AND POTENTIALLY RICH TEURITORY VOL. 53?NO. IS MI'RPHY. NORTH CAROLINA TH1 KSDAV DECEMBER ?. 1M1 5c COPY??1.5? PER YEAR CONSIDERED FOR MURPHY miracle saves BOY IN CONTACT WITH IJVE WIRE Son Of G&y Johnson Is But Slightly Burned By Touch Of Death The young son of Gay Johnson, of the llrasstown section, came In oon tact with a deadly live wire carrying enough voltage to mean Instant death, and escaped with only slight injuries last Wednesday afternoon. His miraculous escape from death occurred near his home, on the Mur jjhy-Hayesvilie road. The boy was knocked senseless, and it was with but little hope that the ambulance of Peyton O. Ivie was summoned. Before the ambulance arrived, however, the boy recovered consciousness, and save for a slight burn, was apparently none the worse. An electrician said the wire he had contacted carried as high voltage as that used to execute a man in the electric chair. The deadly wire had touched the toy's forehead?a spot close to the brain, and almost invariably fatal; yet his burns were so slight that it ?as not even found necessary to take him to a hospital. First aid treatment was sufficient, and the bey was taken home, where, today, he apparently is playing about the house, as usual. According to witnesses the boy was riding his tricycle across a lawn and ducked to pass beneath a wire. Hiis wire was Testing on a power-line, and hence was charged with high voltage. The boy did not duck quite low enoutrh, and the wire brushed his head. He was knocked from his tricycle and fell motionless, but a moment later he sat up, wondering Just what had happened to him. Final Tributes Paid To Mrs. Pink Cochran Mrs. Pink Cocfoiwi died in her home in Wolf Creek Tuesday mom tan following a heart attack from ?which she never regained conscious She leaves a husband and two (ilildren. The Cochrane have been residents of the Wolf Creek community for ?everal years. funeral services were held in the Macedonia Baptist Church. Priority Ratings Kill Highway Construction; Minor Repairs Are O. K. The long-hoped for road improve ments in Western North Carolina seem doomed for the duration of the war. State Highway Commissioner P. L Ferebee said yesterday. Because of the effect of priority ratings on equipment and materials necessary for road construction. Per ebee said, the Commission must abandon most construction projects. Peretoee attended the Commission meeting in Raleigh last week, with County Commissioner E. A. Wood. He said that, although defense prior ities definitely eliminate any thought of construction work in the near future, minor repairs and alterations will continue as usual. '42 License Plates Are Black On Gold; Ready Since Dec-1 North Carolina's 1942 license plates, which went on sale December 1st, feature bold black numerals on a gold background, long consider ed one of the most striking and vis ible color combinations of the sec trum. Tl;e new tags are in sharp con trast with the 1941 color combina tion of gold figures on a black back ground, which were more conserva tive than the reverse color scheme of the 1942 plates, and did not stand od: as boldi? as the new ones. In other states and sections of North America, 1942 ' licenses will have a wide color range, according to a list compiled by officials of the Carolina Motor Club. Only Texas shares North Carolina's combination of black-on-gold. Nineteen other states will reverse their colors in the new issue of plates. Two states will keep their old colors. Infant William Hartness Dies; Buried Thursday William Eugene Hartness, the in-1 fant son of Mr. and Mrs. William C., Hartness, Murphy, died Wednesday. ! Funeral services were conducted by j the Rev. C. B. Newton Thursday af- j ternoon in the Chapel of the Ivle1 Funeral Home and were followed by burial in Sunset Cemetery. Girls, Beer And Champagne Taken As Two Battalions "Capture" Murphy The army was here Tuesday night tt least a part of it. Olive drab was decidedly the style of the moment, as more than 1200 khakhi-clad Nomads flooded local cafes, barber-shops. Pool-rooms and the movies. Nomadic is the proper description *<*>. for the 75th is a new type mo bile outfit, specializing in rapid man euvering. Most of the men are from C&mp Leonard Wood, Missouri, al though some are from even more re ?ote spots. They recently have been maneuvering in Itexas, Louisiana, South Carolina. The two tat are composed of both army and draftees. they desired, at least nearly all, **" to be treated like homefotts. ''"?V is thetr chief worry. *trls their ?tactP?l avocaithm. One ot the they decidedly don't lflce la to "* oomcred by mum oM army man **** have the "8p4rtt of 19 ' pumped "wa in Usw with congenial ""?"t* oo the Ml saMhra HtenBy "took" the Htle Mmghiltoe mm ttwlr te-is whtaked mm* an the arm* t <k?Ked in ?*l <*f?? tor a eoid bottle ot beer before retiring, found t.he night spots sold out. even of champagne? which shows that one can afford luxuries, even on thirty dollars a month. Those guns you saw wearing snoods belong to the anti-tank bat talion. and were made of good old wood. The artillery battalion had the real thing. The mobile kitchen, and the mess sergeants axe all right, the soldiers said, but they Just can't treat a spud like Mom can. The 75th, although purely an ex perimental outfit, Is an accurate in dicator of whait our army will be in the next few months?a fast-moving, far-traveling group, minus the wood en guns?we hope! The only voiced objection to the mechanized army is that it seems to be losing some of the old traditions, such as. digging trenches around tents before laying in. Just in case It rains like K did Tuesday night. Early Wednesday morning, even before the earliest riser was out of bed, the soldiers took a tip from Longfellow, folded tbetr tents like the Arabs. "Mid stoutly stole ?way." BLAZE DESTROYS HOSIERY MILLS; CAUSE UNKNOWN Loss Is Placed At $8,000 By Owner Lee Shields; Property Insured Fire ol an undertermined origin Thursday morning complete'.-/ de stroyed the City Hosiery Mills just across the Hiutlvw River in Beal Town. The blaze was discovered shortly after seven o'clock by Ora Ellis. oc cupant of one of the cabins at Shields' Tourist Camp M Us Ellis hurried to the cafe and awakened M Shields, owner of the mill, who called the fire department. By the time fire-fighters arrived the building had been demolished, al though the charred ruins continued to smolder until late Thursday after noon. Mr. Shields estimated damage at $8.000 The building was insured Investigation revealed that the conflagration evidently broke out in the "boarding room.'' Shields said the last mill worker left the room at ten p. m. Wednesday and that none was known to have been in the build ing from that time until the blaze was discovered. State Repairs Close Three Main Highways Three links of the Stale's highway system affecting traffic In this im mediate section are closed for re pairs. according to word from Ral eigh. They are: U. S. 1 between Henderson and Pranklinton and between Raleigh and Wake Forest, with a detour over N. C. 39 and N. C. 59 via- Lcuisburg. Through truck traffic should detour over D. S. 301 from Petersburg COr Payette vllle. U. S. 25 between Hendersonville and Asheville, with a detour for through truchk traffic over N. C. 191 and N. C. 280 via Mills River and Avery Creek. 17 miles hard surfaced. Otfher traffic is maintained over pro ject. with short local detours. Construction of bridges and ap proaches over the Tuskaseigee River has closed N. C. 107 between Cullo whee and Sylva. and between Cullo whee and East Lapo-t. Detours are maintained over a three-mile stretch of macadam road in both instances. County Teachers Plan Meeting December 12 The next County Teachers' meet ing will be held at Martini Creek School on Friday. December 12. ac cording to an announcement by principal of the schools at Hiwassee Dam. The teachers will Rather at 6:30 p. m. Those on the program will be Mrs. Onabee Hickev and Messrs. Clarence Hendrix. County School Superintendent. Alden Cuoke. R. H. Keenum and Oountv Health Officer Whlehard. o Carmel Hall Graduates As Army Pastry Cook Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Hall, of Mur phy, have just received word from Benning. Oa. that young Carmel C. Hall Is now a full fledged pastry baker. He graduated from the Cooks and Bakers School at Port Benning, Nov. 30. Young Hall, who now has the rat ing of Private, First Class, win get a special rating, and a considerable increase in pay. He is stationed with the Servoe Detachment, Corps Area Service Command, Fort McPhemo?. Change Would Save Half Of Time Used For Business Trips LACK OF GARDENS COSTS CHEROKEE $15,00? ANNUALLY State College Expert Says Each Farmer Robs Self Of $54 Farm people of Cherokee County lob their pocketbooks. as well as their health, when they fail to grow gardens, says L. P. Watson, Exten sion horticulturist of N. C. State Col lege. The 1940 census showed that 1905 farms in this county had gardens, but 277 farms in the county had <Continued on hack pare) ?O Big Bond Issue Ordered To Pay County's Debts Orders authorizing the issuance of bonds to refund principal and inter est on nearly a million dollars in out standing bonds were issued Monday by the Cherokee Ccunty Commis sioners. The new issues will cover bond deficits in six townships and the county itsell. Towns which will be effected by the order are Hot House, Notla, Val leytown, Murphy. Shoal Creek, and Beaver dam The new issue will be floated to pay off interest and principal on bonds issued by the County and tfce various towns as long ago as 1911, and is authorized under Chapter 257 of the Public Laws of North Caro lina of 1933. Of the total outstanding bond is sues, more than half must be met by the County itaelf. Murphy ac counted for nearly a fourth of the total, having issued $228,000 in bonds from 1911 through 1924. Hearings on the issuance of the bonds will be held in the Office of the County Commissioners during the next two weeks. New Schedule Seen As Of Joint Benefit To Railroad And Public From Otis B. Price, Assistant Gen eral Passenger Agent, the Scout has learned that the Southern Railwtiv Is seriously considering changing Its schedule between Asheville and Mur phy so that trains will get here early in the morning, and depart at night Nothing definite has been deckled, but some such plan has been under study for a long time, with the joint purpose of giving better service to the public, and at the same time in creasing passenger traffic. Revenue from passenger traffic has been so relatively small that the department for years has been operating at heavy loss. It was this steady loss which caus ed the Southern to attempt to dis continue passenger service t-o Mur phy several months ago. Application was made to the Interstate Com merce Commission to run passenger, and mail trains only as far as Hry son City. The request was based orig inally on a threatened shortage of coaJ. Later the plea of lack of pat ronage was added. Refusal of the I. C. C. to allow discontinuance of the passenger ser vice revived a study of the plan to change the schedule. It is probable that the sentiment of various towns along the route and other attending conditions will be carefully investi gated before any action is taken. Mr. Price, speaking unofficially, listed some of the possible advan tages of a different schedule. At present, he pointed out. a trip to Asheville consumes so much time that the day is practically wasted for business purposes. The same thing applies to persons coming here Either way, the passenger reaches his destination in mid-afternoon? or even later. There being no facili ties for meals, enroute. The new ar rival's first act. usually, is to find a, restaurant. Then, usually, he seeks quarters where he can "clean up", (Continued On Back Page) Ex-Congressman Suggests Murphy Replace Washington As Capital Of D. S Greeted by gales of laughter and i siorms of applause at the High j School Auditorium Wednesday morn ing. when he spoke on "Pluck. Pur pose and Patriotism." former Con gressman William D. U pshaw. of Georgia, so captivated several hun dred students that many of them came to hear him speak a second time Thursday night, at the Court House. The Kev. C. D. Newton, pastor of the First Methodist. Church in Mur phy. introduced Mr. Upshaw as "one of the nation's outstanding leaders in the cause of righteousness", and added: "while the cause of Prohibi tion has suffered a temporary bur ial. the Methodist Church and all other friends of public decency and morality believe in the sure resur rection of this prayer-bom cause." Mr. Upshaw caught his crowd by paying a glowing tribute to Murphy, noting the town's remarkable growth since he spoke at commencement exercises here some 25 years ago. Be then suggested making Murphy the Capital of the Nation, declaring: "Murphy Is better qualified than Washington. D. C.. far Washington ?pent ISO minion dollars for Uqoor last year, and drank more liquor per capita than any other city "It Is North Carolina's part, in America's greatest battle to so clean up her own doors, ridding this fine State of the liquor being sold against the vote of the people, that this Tar Heel Empire will startle Washington and inspire the whole nation to ward national sobriety." The speaker held a dollar bill be fore the audience, saying: "If I gave this dollar to Dr. Newton, the chair man of this meeting, an an expres sion of my friendship, and then stole a ten dollar bill out of his tack poc ket. T would be the same kind of thief and robber that liquor is in JkaOti Carolina; for it in probable Hurt for every dollar put into the public trea sury by liquor revenue, the people must buy $10 worth of Honor. "If North Carobna geta three mO lkm dollars a je?r trmn Honor, re member tfrat the good State most spend 30 milrton dollars to get It? and tan* money ought to ?o tar dry goods . family groceries, furniture, homes and happtneas. "That does not count torn op can. mutilated todies and Miliwp spat tered with human blood."

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