TRANSYLVANIA—
rhe Land of Waterfalls,
Mecca for Summer Camps,
Entrance to Pisgab Na
tional Forest and Home of
Brevard Music Festival.
The Transylvania Times
A State And National Prize-Winning A. B. C. Newspaper
TRANSYLVANIA—
An Industrial, Tourist, Ed
ucational, A g r i e ulturel
ind Music Center. Popula
tion, 1090 Census, 10,321.
Brevard Community 7,204.
★
★
VOL 68, No. 6
Authorized at Brevard. N. C.
Second Class MaU Privileges
BREVARD, N. C., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1957 * 20 PAGES TODAY *
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
I
NOW BUILDING
LINES & ROADS
TO PLANT SITE
Services Will Be Available In
The Immediate Future.
Officials Quoted
Simultaneously with the an
nouncement by Du Pont that con
struction of a silicon plant at Buck
forest would be started immediate
ly are statements from the local
telephone company and the Bre
vard branch of Duke Power com
pany that work is underway to give
power, lights and telephone ser
vice in that area in the immediate
future.
Paul DuPre, assistant division
engineer of the State Highway, al
so announces today that surveys
into the plant site from Highway
276 at Cedar Mountain have been
completed, and plans are now be
ing made up in Raleigh.
Mr. DuPre said the highway de
partment will probably let the con
tract in April and the road should
be completed by fall.
Duke Power company crews
from the Brevard branch are now
placing a third conductor out 276
to Cedar Mountain for the increase
in capacity that will be needed by
the Du Pont plant, Frank Yar
brough, the local manager states.
A three phase line will be con
structed from Cedar Mountain to
the plant site in Buck Forest, and
—Turn to Page Seven
Drawing Of Multi-Million Dollar DuPont Silicon Plant At Buck Forest
AN ARCHITECT’S CONCEPTION of Du Pont’s
multi-million dollar silicon plant, at Buck forest, near
Cedar Mountain, is pictured above. Construction will be
started immediately, and the plant is expected to be
erected in approximately a year. This modern industry
is Du Pont’s second installation in North Carolina.
Construction Will
Be Started At Once
Over 300 To Be Employed In Erecting Build
ings For The Manufacture Of Silicon*
Will Let Bids For Sub-Contracts
The Du Pont company, six months after purchasing
10,500 acres of land at Buck forest in Transylvania and
Henderson counties, announces today that construction
will begin immediately on a multi-million dollar plant
for the manufacture of silicon.
This will be the nation's first full-scale plant for the
production of hyper-pure silicon, a vital part of many
electronic and electrical devices.
The plant is expected to be ready for operation
early in 1958, Frederick H. Weismuller, general _mana
ger of Du Pont’s Pigments department, said m Wilming
ton today. The new facility, to be operated by the Pig
ments department, will be known as the Brevard plant.
This will be the Du Pont company's second opera
tion in North Carolina, the other being a large Dacron
plant at Kinston.
The 10,500-acre plant site offers protection against
airborne contamination from industry or agriculture.
Since impurities in silicon are measured in parts per bil
lion, extremely pure air is essential in its manufacture.
Initially, the plant will employ about 200 persons in*
its operating force, though future plans call for a stilt
larger unit, according to Mr. Weismuller. There will be
about 300 persons in the construction force during the
peak building period.
---1 Prime construction will be bv
Theft Ring In Town And County Broken
Op By Police Department, Five Arrested
Considerable “Loot” Is Cap
tured. All Local “Break
ins” Believed Solved
A theft ring, which has been op
erating in Brevard and Transylva
nia county for the past two months, j
has been broken up by the local I
police force.
Five youths, facing charges of j
breaking and entering and lar-1
ceny, are in the county jail. Ac-1
cording to Paul Fisher, chief of
police, the group has admitted to
robbing several places in the
town and county during the latter
part of November, December and
January.
The first development in the
“chain - reaction” investigation
came on January 28th, when Chief
Fisher discovered a typewriter
that had been stolen last month
from the Brevard elementary
school.
He was told that the machine
had been purchased from J. D. An
—Turn To Page Seven
CALENDAR OF
COMING EVENTS
Thursday, Feb. 7 — Presbyterian
and Methodist women’s circles
meet and WMS of the First Bap
tist church meets also. Masonic
meeting in the temple at 7:30 p. m.
Transylvania Humane Society
meets at 8 p. m., Gaither’s.
Friday, February 8 — Brevard
high vs. Canton, Brevard college
gym, 7:30 p. m. Ace of Clubs mas
terpoint game, Gaither's 7:45 p. m.
Sunday, February 10 — Attend
the church of your choice.
Monday, February 11 — No Ro
tary club meeting. Transylvania
Shrine club, Gaither’s, 7 p. m. Bre
vard Elementary School P-TA, 8
p. m. Archduke Otto to lecture
here at Brevard high school, 8:15
p. m.
Tuesday, February 12 — Brevard
Little Theatre play, 8 p. m., Am
erican Legion building. AAUW
meets at 8 p. m. with Mrs. M. G.
Pangie.
Wednesday, February 13 — Bre
vard civic club meeting and din
ner, 7 p. m.,'Masonic temple. Little
Theatre play, American legion buil
ding, 8:30 p. m.
LOCAL POLICEMEN have broken up a county
wide theft ring, and Chief Paul Fisher looks on as Bax
ter Morris, chief engineer at WPNF identifies an expen
sive tube checker that was stolen from the local radio
station. Most of the “loot” that has been stolen in re
cent “break-ins” in the town and county has been recap
tured, and five youths were arrested in connection with
the robberies. (Times Staff Photo)
Principal Address At Brotherhood
Banquet To Be Broadcast Over WPNF
The principal talk of Harold G.
Brown, public relations executive
of DuPont at the joint meeting of
Brevard civic organizations on Feb
ruary 13th, will be broadcast over
WPNF on February 13th, begin
ning at 9:30 o’clock.
Bobby Hoyle, the station mana
ger, urges all listeners of the local
radio station to hear this impor
tant address, which is being record
ed at the banquet in the Masonic
temple and played back over the
air at a more convenient time.
This will be a public service pro
gram of WPNF.
Other Programs
The schedule for the Civic hour
for the coming week is as follows:
Friday, Mathatasian club; Monday,
Brevard Little theatre; Wednesday,
Fortnightly club.
On the Farm and home hour the
—Turn to Page Twelve
THIS IS SCOUT
WEEK,CHAIRMAN
WRITES LETTER
Much Information On Cele
bration Carried In The
Times Today
This being National Boy Scout
week, Dr. Earle O. Bryant, chair
man of the Transylvania district
of the Daniel Boone council of
Boy Scouts of America, expresses
appreciation to all persons in the
town and county who are friends
of the Scouting program.
His letter, in its entirety, fol
lows:
“Through the media of the
Transylvania Times and radio
station WPNF, the Transylvania
District Committee wishes to
thank all the friends of Scouting
in our county who have helped
us during the past year with
their contributions of time and
money.
“Many have worked directly
—Turn to Page Twelve
LITTLE THEATRE
TO PRESENT PLAY
“Seven Keys To Baldpate”
Will Be Given Twice Next
Week In Legion Bldg.
“Seven Keys to Baldpate”, a mel
odramatic farce, will be presented
here Tuesday and Wednesday
nights, February 12 and 13, in the
American Legion building, as the
second offering of the Brevard Lit
tle Theatre for the current sea
son.
The play begins Tuesday even
ing at 8 p. m., but curtain time has
been changed to 8:30 p. m., Wed
nesday evening due to a combined
meeting of men’s clubs on that
date.
All of the action of the play
takes place in Baldpate Inn, with
mystery and intrigue said to be pre
dominant in the plot. Robroy Far
quhar is again directing with Mrs.
Rae Stoneback serving as his as
sistant for this production.
The cast combines a group that
are both old and new faces in Lit
tle Theatre. Gene Ladd portrays
the role of William Hollowell
Magee. Earl Rhodes and Margaret
Hampton are cast as Mr. and Mrs.
Quimby with Dave Hilley playing
—Turn To Page Six
DuPont Public Relations
Advisor To Speak At Joint
Meet Of Civic Groups, 13th
JAMES C. GAITHER, Transyl
vania’s representative in the
General Assembly, left Monday
for Raleigh, where he attended
the first committee meetings of
the legislature on Tuesday night.
Mr. Gaither is staying at the Sir
Walter Raleigh hotel and says
he will welcome visits by Tran
sylvanians when they are in the
capital city.
i Brown To Address Promi
nent Group Next Wednes
day, Masonic Temple
More than 200 persons are ex
pected to attend the joint meeting
of the civic clubs of Brevard next
Wednesday night, Feb. 13th, when
Harold G. Brown, of Wilmington,
Delaware, a DuPont public rela
tions advisor, will be the princi
pal speaker.
Sponsored by the Jaycees, the
banquet will be attended by mem
bers of the Kiwanis, Lions and Ro-1
tary clubs, as well as the Brevard
and Rosman chambers of com- *
merce.
It will be held in the Masonic
temple, beginning at 7:00 o’clock.
A limited number of tickets will
be available to the public and they
may be secured from John Ford,
Jr.
Earl Powell, Jaycee president,
will preside, and Ed M. Anderson,
newspaper and radio executive,
will introduce the speaker.
Mr. Brown, public relations ad
visor for the Pigments Department
of DuPont, under which silicon is
manufactured, was in Brevard on
Tuesday to release the story to
—Turn to Page Twelve
Important Facts About^Silicon j
Silicon, developed by Du Pont
for use in wartime radar equip
ment is today being used in a fast
growing array of tiny electrical and
electronic devices.
Recently, due to increased de
mand for the hyper-pure product
by the electronic industry, the
price of silicon was reduced $30 a
pound — from $350 to $325 a
pound.
Silicon, a semi-conductor, is
v/idely used in transistors, diodes,
and rectifiers. Although its cost
approaches that of gold, a tiny
sliver of the material — worth
from five to ten cents — makes up
the heart of an electronic device
such as a transistor.
Devices making use of silicon
are vital in the manuacture of more
efficient, more compact communi
cation equipment — telephone
switchboards, radios, and tele
vision sets. By using silicon, elec
tric motors with built-in power rec
tifiers to convert alternating cur
rent to direct current can be con
structed which give the advantage
of direct current without expen
sive control mechanisms or extra
wirings.
! Du Pont announced recently
that it had developed another
grade of silicon, known as “solar
cell” grade selling at $150 a pound,
which will be used in the new “so
lar batteries” which convert the di
! rect rays of the sun into electrical
energy.
Since 1952, according to Freder
ick H. Weismuller, general mana
ger of the Pigments Department,
—Turn to Page Twelve
the Du Pont company, and many
sub contracts will be let to the
lowest local bidders. Officials at
the company explain that as much
of the construction force as possir
ble will be locally employed.
The production manager and
other supervisory personnel are
expected in Brevard in the next
week or two, and upon their ar
rival will make announcements
concerning employment, training
programs, etc.
The plant is expected to produce
about 50,000 pounds of semi-con
ductor grade silicon annually. This
is the material used in the manu
facture of such devices as transis
tors, diodes and power rectifiers.
TheSe devices find wide appli
cation in the electronic industry,
and are essential in the field of
communications, notably radio and
television equipment. They are im
portant in telephone switchboards,
business computers and many oth
er intricate devices.
Nation’s Only Producer
The Du Pont company, which pi
oneered the commercial produc
tion of hyper-pure silicon and is
the nation’s only producer today,
does not make electronic devices;
it makes only the silicon.
Because of its extreme purity,
and the difficulty of purification,
the material sells at $320 a pound.
However, a small sliver of the ma
terial — worth from five to ten
cents — makes up the heart of the
new electronic devices.
The Brevard plant will also
have an annual capacity of 20,000
pounds of ’’solar-cell” grade sQi
ccn. This grade, introduced about
six months ago, selling today at
$150 a pound, was developed by
Du Pont for use in the so-called
“solar batteries” which convert
the direct rays of the sun into elec
trical energy.
tv hi LumiDue rrouucaon
At present, silicon is produced
in a unit at Du Pont’s Newport,
Del., plant. This unit will contin
ue to produce the material during
the period of construction at Bre
vard and will be used subsequent
ly for research and product devel
opment.
The Brevard plant, the first ever
designed completely for silicon
manufacture, will produce no oth
er products. In line with company
policy, the plant has been designed
to avoid problems of air and water
pollution.
The Du Pont plant site lies on
the boundary line between Tran
sylvania and Henderson counties,
and is roughly bisected by the
Little River. Route 276 approach
es the southwestern section of the
site, while the Crab Creek road
runs parallel to the northernmost
—Turn To Page Twelve
v