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