First Transylvania Tornado Hits
-TRANSYLVANIA
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Land v of Waterfalls,
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Brevard College,
Brevard Musk Center.
THE TRANSYLVANIA TIMES
A State And National Prize-Winning Home Town Newspaper
—TRANSYLVANIA
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Vol. 88 — No. 4
SECOND CLASS POSTAGE
PAID AT BREVARD, N. C. ZIPCOOE W712
BREVARD, N. C., MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 1975
15c COPY PUBLISHED SEMI
SI
LY
12 PAGES TODAY
Police Chief Quits Under Tire
This was a trailer home. Now a tornado
shattered mass, its debris is scattered 500 yards
Up the hill. Rev. Troy Stamey, his wife, and child
resided here. They were at church when the
storm struck.
Twister Damage Estimated
At $50,000 In Transylvania
■ ■
if Hinting and skipping
tornado touched down in the
Cherryfield section of
Transylvania County Friday
night, uprooting trees in its
path and doing thousands of
dollars in damage to a
building and a trailer which
was completely shattered.
The storm, the first real
tornado known in Tran
sylvania County hit a large
utility building belonging to
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Lee on
State Ed., devastating it, then
cutting a swath through the
trees, leaped over a mountain
to return to earth on Ross Rd.
where it demolished a trailer
home, the residence of Rev.
and Mrs. Troy Stamey and
their young daughter.
Cal Carpenter, an ac
complished meteorologist,
told The Times “This was a
real tornado, the first one that
I’ve ever heard of in Tran
sylvania. Oh, we’ve had
storms which were called
tornadoes, but they weren’t
really. They were just violent
wind storms. But this is the
real thing.”
The Stameys, fortunately,
were at church when the
storm demolished their home.
The wreckage appeared
almost unbelievable, with
pieces of metal strewn for
some five hundred yards,
along with home furnishings,
clothing, books, papers,
groceries.
Rev. Troy Stamey After Storm
“I’ve never seen anything
like it,” Mr. Stamey said. A
visitor came up carrying a
Bible which had been carried
for more than 100 yards up the
slope. Amazingly, it appeared
undamaged.
At the Lee’s, the outbuilding
had nothing left but the
foundation.
Said Mr. Lee, “I had three
hams and three shoulders in
the building, and I found them
over across the creek on the
hillside. They were scat
tered.” The creek is about 75
yards from the building.
A heavy workbench, “which
tookk four of us to move,” was
on the hillside. “That’ll give
you an idea of the strength of
this wind.”
In other areas trees were
blown across highway 64 and
highway 276. Power was out
for hours in the Cherryfield
Section.
Mrs. Lee said the noise
sounded exactly like a train
roaring by as it swept away
the utility house.
“It was frightening.”
The damage trail indicates
that the tornado entered from
Pickens County, S. C., then
played hopscotch across the
county, flattening trees,
unroofing one house,
destroying a building and
trailer, and knocking at least
three trees over Highway 276
in the Pisgah National Forest.
All roads were clear Sunday.
It left the county in Nor
thwest Henderson County.
Total damage has been
estimated at $50,000.
Home Fire
Victim Gives
City Thanks
Brevard has shown that it
really has a big heart, a
resident who was burned out
of his home last week told The
Times Saturday.
Dave Kowal, a tracking
station employe who has lived
in the city since October of
1973, said good things have
been happening to him since
he lost all of his furniture in
the blaze on S. Caldwell
Street.
“The auxiliary of the
Brevard Fire Dept, came over
with food and clothing. In
dividuals came with food and
clothing and we’ve gotten a
few pieces of furniture. We’ve
even got ten toys for our
daughter Jennifer.
“And the folks up at the
tracking station took up a
collection and gave us some
money. Everyone has just
been wonderful to us.”
The fire, in the early
morning hours of Monday
began “shortly after I
awakened and the house was
cold. I went downstairs to the
stove and it felt barely warm.
I kept a small container of
kerosene a few feet from the
stove which I used to light it
when it went out.
“1 wet a piece of paper in
-See Home, Page 3A
Aldermen
Meet With
Force
Brevard Police Chief James
C. Rowe was fired on Friday
morning by the Board of
Aldermen.
The resignation of the of
ficer was asked following a
meeting of the board Thur
sday night with members of
the police department, and
was submitted by Mr. Rowe to
be effective at noon Friday.
Mayor Charles Campbell
who said “I didn’t sleep a wink
Thursday night,” requested
the resignation, and later
made the following statement
with a grim face:
“It is with deep regret that I
accept the resignation on
behalf of the City Council from
Chief Jimmy Rowe.
"Chief Rowe has done an
outstanding job for the city
and its citizens and his ser
vices will be greatly missed.
“Mine and the City Coun
cil’s appreciation and best
wishes go with him in the
future.”
Mr. Rowe’s resignation
read: “At the icquest of the
Board of Aldermen, I resign
effective at noon today.”
Chief Rowe had been chief
of police for the city since M-iy
10, 1965, a period of almost 10
years and one in which the
police department saw its
greatest period of growth.
Named to succeed Mr.
Rowe as acting chief is
Neugene Styles, who was a
sergeant on the force.
The aldermen made him
head of the department for a
“probationary period of 90
days. Upon satisfactory
service, Styles’ appointment
could be made permanent.”
Dissension in the police
department was given as the
reason for Mr. Rowe’s
discharge.
“I have tried for months to
settle this thing down,” said
Mayor Campbell, “but finally
it built into a mountain, and
the public became involved.
I really loved Jimmy Rowe.
We owe him a lot. And we’re
going to miss him.”
At the Thursday night
meeting attended by four of
the city’s five aldermen,
patrolmen of the police
department told the city
fathers that it had to be Rowe
or them, the mayor said.
Aldermen present were
—See Seven, Page 3A
AT THE SCENE — Looking
over Greenville Highway area for
road broadening to relieve traffic
congestion at Brevard Elementary
School, are, left to right: Buddy
Melton, School Principal Richard
Voso, D. O. T. Right of Way Agent
Charles Dillingham, Mayor
Charles Campbell, Asst. District
Highway Engineer Ed Edwards,
and Commission Chairman Bill
Ives.
State To Begin Road
Broadening At Schools
The state has promised to
begin doing something about
the hazardous and congested
traffic situation at the two new
Brevard schools "given three
or four dry days to allow the
ground to dry out some.”
So said Ed Edwards,
assistant to the district
engineer of the N. C.
Department of Tran
sportation :
“We can’t work in that
mud.”
Plans are to widen the road
and construct left-turn lanes
both at the site of the new
elementary school on
Greenville Highway and on
North Broad Street at Fisher
Road where the new middle
school is located.
Right-of-way for broadening
at the elementary school was
secured on Thursday af
ternoon when Edwards, D. O.
Local Officers Solve
$10,000 Payroll Theft
A $10,000 payroll robbery in
Buncombe County was solved
Sunday by local sheriff’s and
city investigators with the
arrest of two persons.
Sheriff’s Investigator
Hubert Brown reported that
he and City Detective Tink
Siniard had arrested two
young men, Orville Patrick
Ryan of Rt. 1, Tryon; and
Danny Arthur Lawter, Bat
Cave, and charged them with
forgery.
Mr. Brown was holding as
evidence almost $10,000 worth
of checks intended for em
ployes of the Swannanoa plant
of M. Lowenstein and Sons Co.
in Buncombe County. The
checks had been sent in a steel
box from the Lowenstein plant
in Rock Hill, S. C.
One of the checks had been
cashed at a local service
station, Mr. Brown said
“There are others around that
have been cashed.’’
A representative of M.
Lowenstein was expected in
Brevard late Monday morning
to aid in the investigation, Mr
Brown said.
Mr. Brown said that around
$8,000 of the more than $10,000
in checks had been recovered
Brevard Music Center
Festival Opens July 4
Brevard Music Center’s
annual festival will open July
4 and extend through August
17.
Approximately one show
per day will be presented
during the 45 day period.
Included on the concert
schedule is a block-buster
musical comedy, four
established operas and an
operetta.
“Amahl and the Night
Visitors”, a one act play by
Menotti, will open the opera
season on Saturday, July 5.
Originally written for
television, the play will be
featured as part of the opening
pops-opera presentation.
Mozart's “Magic Flute” will
be presented on Friday, July
XI. It will be followed by
Verdi’s “Rigoletto” on
Friday, July 18. Both operas
were previously produced at
the Music Center and played
to full houses.
One of the longest running
shows in the history of
Broadway, “Fiddler on the
Roof”, will be presented on
Friday, August 1.
The opera season continues
with Gounod’s “Faust” on
Friday, August 8 and con
cludes with Johann Strauss'
immortal operetta
"Fledermaus,” on Friday,
August 16.
As in past years, a majority
of opera roles will be taken by
students and staff of the Music
Center with guest singers
occasionally appearing in
major roles.
In making the an
nouncement, Artistic Director
Henry Janiec and Opera
Director John Richards
McCrae indicated the
production schedule again
includes a variety of works for
every taste, and large-cast
shows which enable the Music
Center to spotlight its resident
and guest singers.
All productions are built and
staged by staff and students of
the Music Center with or
chestral accompaniment by
the Brevard Music Center
Orchestra.
Ticket information and
concert schedules may be
obtained by writing Brevard
Music Center, P. O. Box 592,
Brevard, North Carolina
2*712.
T. Right Of-Way Agent
Charles Dillingham, Mayor
Charles Campbell, Property
Owner Buddy Melton, Com
mission Chairman Bill Ives,
Superintendent of Education
Harry Corbin and other of
ficials went to the scenes of
the proposed work.
Mr. Melton signed the right
of-way, donating the land
needed for the construction.
At the same time, it was
decided to extend the sidewalk
from where it ends about 150
yards short of the school
property on Greenville High
way to the ditch bordering the
school property
The school will construct a
sidewalk from the ditch to the
school’s covered walkway.
This would allow children to
walk to school in safety.
The sidewalk will be build
using city labor and sidewalk
fopms. with the materials to
be furnished by the Board of
Education
A sidewalk will be built
along Fisher Road from N.
Broad St. to the school, ac
cording to Board Chairman
Ives, who announced the
arrangements.
Camping
Gear Stolen
At Coon Tree
A St. Andrews College
student, working on a degree
project in Pisgah National
Forest, reported that $200
worth of camping equipment
was stolen from him at Coon
Tree Campground on Sunday.
The student, Milton Rand, is
offering a $30 reward for
return of a tent, sleeping bag,
a down-filled jacket, and a
backpack. “There’ll be no
questions asked. I just want
the equipment back.’’
He reported to the U. S.
Forest Service and the
Transylvania sheriff’s
department that he left the
camping gear set up after
spending Saturday night at the
campground. He was gone for
about four hours, he said, and
returned to find the equipment
stolen.
Anyone with information is
requested to contact The
Times.