North Carolina Newspapers

McDowell County’s Leading Newspaper MARION PROGRESS Advertising in the Progress Pays A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE OF MARION AND McDOWELL COUNTY ESTABLISHED 1896 MARION, N. C.. THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 1940 VOL. XLV—NO. 2 PREPARATION FOR NEW INDUSTRIES IS URGED HERE Chamber Of Commerce Offi cial, Speaker At Annual Banquet Heid In Marion: American industry is preparing for its third phase of development, de centralization, and comimunities that are ready for it will reap the harvest of new industries, stated L. P. Dick ie, manager of the Southeastern Di vision of the United States Chamber of Commerce, in an address here Monday night. Mr. Dickie was guest speaker at the annual anniversary banquet- meeting of the Marion Chamber of Commerce. The age of centralization and mer gers in industry is past, he said, manufacturers finding they can only operate their business successfully in communities which offer happiness and contentment to their employees. The job of this community and all others is to make the town attrac tive to the working man, he said. Chambers of commerce are now nothing but grown up “Whittlers' clubs”, resembling the little group of town leaders which gathered in the olden day to “whittle" and discuss community problems and needs. The job of the chamber of commerce is the same today—to plan the building of the city to best serve the needs and desires of the people, he stated. PRINCIPALS MAKE PLANS FOR NEW SCHOOL YEAR High school principals of McDow ell met in the office of County Su perintendent N. F. Steppe here last Saturday and discussed plans for the coming year. Details concerning the organization and administration of the county schools were outlined and general plans for school improve ment were formulated. According to Mr. Steppe, major emphasis at the meeting was laid on the need for better organization and supervision 'of school work in order that schools may function as effici ently as possible. Education must play a vital part in the national de fense program through training in worthy citizenship in a democratic society. It is the purpose of the schools to best meet the needs of the individual and of the state of which he is a part, the principals decided. The registration of high school students will be held on the opening day of school, Thursday, August 29, instead of an earlier date as in pre vious years, it was decided. The flat rental fee for high school text books in McDowell is $2.40 for the year, payable at registration. This entire amount will be collected at one time instead of half at the beginning of the year and half at the middle of the term, as was done last year. All necessary textbooks will be furnished each student upon payment of this fee, said Mr. Steppe in commenting on the meeting. “All textbooks in grades one through seven will be furnished free of charge. However, supplementary readers are not included in the list of free books furnished by the state and a fee of 50 cents per child will be charged for these books. This used to buy sets of supple- BOARD VOTES TO REQUEST SPECIAL TERM OF COURT Points To Accumulation Of Cases; Jurors For Regular Term Are Drawn. The McDowell County Board of Commissioners, in session here Mon day, unanimously passed a resolution to request the Governor of North Carolina to call a special term of Superior court in McDowell county at some time in September to finish up “an accumulation of criminal and civil actions.” A mixed criminal and civil term of two weeks has already been set to begin the first Monday in Septem ber. The conmiissioners will ask for a special term to begin on adjourn ment of the two weeks term. If the special term cannot be arranged at that time the “request shall extend to such subsequent date when a spec ial term can be provided.” Jurors who were drawn for the regular September term of Superior court is as follows: First week: J. Hoke Sinunons, Hor ace Norton, Carlysle Nesbitt, W. J. Porter, Lester Waters, J. A. Bartlett, Grover Brown, Otis D, Greene, J. H. Boyd, A. C. Thomas, Mack Walker, Pink Williams, C. C. Fisher, W. A. McCall, J. Harris Austin, C. A. Mc Call, G. N. Carter, Frank Goldsmith, p. T. Rhinehardt, Dewey C. Brown, Claud 3rown, Otis Biddix, R. W. Sil ver, W. G. Marlowe, W. W. Neal, Jr., Paul M. Allison, D. A. Grayson, G. HEARING BEGUN IN MARION ON DAMAGE ACTION Plaintiffs Allege Approximate ly $200,000 Lost By Action Of State Agency. Among the programs that have been or should be carried through 1 nioney for community betterment by cham- j mentary readers which are the prop- bers of commerce he listed the prop-jerty of the county and are used by er use of advantages the community county schools,” said Mr. Steppe, has, such as the Blue Ridge Parkway i “All high school students are ask- oiFers Marion; the building of coop-led to bring their rental fee of $2.40,!Moore, Theodore Browning, Landis eration and community spirit among; and all elementary students their j I^ughridge, E. K. Trent, VemeI^ A preliminary hearing in a case in which the plaintiffs allege dama ges of appr9ximately $200,000 has been done to their property was be gun here Tuesday before a jury of view. Plaintiffs in the case are John Yancey and J. W. Winborne, execu tor and trustee of the W. Guy estate. The defendant is the North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission. The case grew out of the alleged appropriation of land belonging to Yancey and the Guy estate for the building of a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The land in question is in the northern part of McDowell coun ty, adjoining Mitchell county. Plaintiffs in the action charge that the State Highway Commission ap propriated 206.76 acres of land con taining approximately 6,825 “valu able apple trees” for the Parkway. They charge that adjoining areas and acreage was also damaged and that total damage amounted to $200,- 000 “or some other large sum” with interest since the date of appropria tion. The preliminary hearing is being held before the jury of view which will determine the damage done to the property of the plaintiffs. The A. Lavender, W. D. Greenlee, W. i jury is composed of Zeno Martin, W. Lonnie Brown, Grover C. Greene, g. Shiflet and J. R. Jimison, who were W. B. Parker, R. Henry McCall, W. C. Howell, W. H, Bradley, Harvey business and profes^onal men; the conducting of institutes where store clerks are taught salesmanship; the conducting of surveys to find why people trade where they do; the es tablishment of business relations aupi^lexB^tary reader fee of Wilson, Peeler Pyatt, V. M. Settle-, the first day of scho«l in order to save time in issuing books and be ginning school work,” he said. The opening of county schools has jbeen set for August 29. Teachers groups to inform the public what j from all the county schools will have business is and what it stands for;| |;hei-r first meeting at the Pleasant the conducting of public forums: Q^rdeits school on Wednesday, Au- where members of the community 28, at 10 a. m. may discuss local and national prob- j Terns;,, and the expansion of public j , interest in the affairs of government, j * FOJCCt 1* OF OFK that the sentiment of the commVinity| may be passed on to the law makers. I Business, which gave the people the comforts they enjoy today, haS) been comdemned, he said. It must be 1 helped and saved, and such orgam-l zations as chambers of commerce are able to put it back in its proper place. This work requires time, work and money and the full cooperation of every community, he concluded. Mr. Dickie was introduced by Walter J. Cartier, secretary of the local Chamber of Comnaerce. Mr. (Continued on last page) M’DOWELL HAD ONLY 4 HIGHWAY ACQIDENTS IN FIRST SIX MONTHS Four of the 3,709 highway acci dents in North Carolina during the first six months of 1940 occurred in McDowell county, according to a six- months summary just released by the North Carolina Highway Safety Di vision. McDowell county’s four accidents were classified as follows: two fatal, one non-fatal, and one involving property damage only. For the state as a whole, there were 317 fatal accidents, 1,418 non- fatal and 1,974 property damage ac cidents the first six nvonths of this year. Eighteen North Carolina counties had clean slates the first half of this year with respect to traffic fatalities. Forsyth led the state in the total number of accidents reported, with 348, and Guilford led in the number of fatal accidents with 20. Two hundred and seventeen of the 317 fatal accidents occurred on the On Local School Awaits Approval The application for a $100,000 WPA grant for repairing and enlarg ing the Marion high school is now in the offices of the WPA in Washing ton after having been approved in Raleigh, Hugh P. Beam, superinten dent of city schools, announced Mon day. The insurance company has agreed to allow a claim for $32,375 in dam ages, Mt. Beam said, but the repair work will not be started until the WPA grant is approved. After the fire last winter, a num ber of classes were held in near-by churches, and some similar emergen cy arrangement may have to be made this fall until the repairs are com pleted. Plans for the addition, as prepared by Lindsey Gudger, Asheville archi tect, call for four new class rooms, a musi; room, and a gymnasium with room to seat 600 spectators around the playing court. The addition will be of brick con struction in keeping with the >design of the present three-story building, which was erected in 1923. HiAway Commission ker, J. W. Blalock, Clifford Ross, F. L. Simmons, J. A. Devenny. Second week: J. C. Hensley, G. F. Goforth, Joe G. Pyatt, Jr., Pete Ro land, G. A. Lackey, A. C. Hewitt, Clyde R. Miller, Chas. T. Steppe, J. H. Kaylor, James M. Presnell, O. S. Franklin, C. R. Burgin, J. H. Gilli land, Geo. W. Carver, H. S. Brown, appointed to the jury by the clerk of the Superior court. Attorneys for Yancey and the Guy estate are J. H. B. Ehringhaua and R. W. Proctor. Attorneys for the MARION MAN IS KILLED IN AUTOMOBILE CRASH Thomas Robert Saunders, 28, Mar ion house painter, was instantly killed about 8:30 o’clock last Saturday night when the car he was driving crashed into a bank about two miles east of herje on Highway No. 70 Mr. Saunders apparently lost con trol of the car on a sharp curve in the highway. The car crashed into a steep bank on the side of the road and overturnefl. He was said t& have been driving alone except for a dog that was uninjured in the wreck. Mr. Saunders was brought to the Marion General Hospital in a private car, but died befroe reaching it. He suffered a broken neck and other in ternal and external injuries. He was said to have been on his way back to Marion after a short trip when the accident occurred.. Funeral services were conducted in Marion at the home of his mother, Mrs. Florence Saunders, at 11 o’ clock Monday morning. Officiating was Dr. B. F. Bray, assisted by Rev. W. A. Jenkins. Burial was in the Rutherfordton cemetery. He is survived by his mother and two sisters. Miss Mary Saunders, of Lenoir, and Miss Jane Saunders, of the home. Pallbearers were: Wayne Adkins, Roy Rabb, Bud Hennessee, J. M. Lancaster Con Poteat and Joe Bla lock. Flower girls were: Josephine Craig, Frances Barnes, Pete Ed wards, Ruth Cooper, Mary Epley, Louise Poteat, Maxine Finley, Mrs. Wayne Suttles, Mrs. Joe Blalock, Mrs. John Harper, and Mrs. Loretta Allen. County Horse And Cattle Show Is Set For October 4 th Ernest Gardner and D. F. Giles. PLANS BEING MADE FOR RACES AT LAKE JAMES J. L. Hensley, A. A. Jamison, Emory Dowell county boat club. H. Terry, Clyde Henline, W. Gordon j Arrangement for the races are un- Wilson, Sandy N. Allison, Ben Flow-jder the direction of five Marion men ers, G. B. Lipe, Dolph H. Long, j working with Walter J. Car- ! Grayson Snipes, Ray Murray, J. D. tier, secretary of the Marion Cham- Boat races at Lake James on the Sunday before Labor Day are being planned here by a grroup of boat owners interested in forming a Me-! Homewood, J. C. Rabb,J. R. Jimeson W. C. Mclver and-JVank Goforth. The annual McDowell county horse and cattle show will be held Oct. 4 on a lot off the Rutherford road which was recently purchased by a group of interested persons in Mar ion and which may be turned into a permanent fair grounds, it was an nounced this week. The committee directing the plans for the show is composed of S. J. Westmoreland, chairman, S. L. RECORD CROWD ATTENDS PICNIC OF FEDERATION Talks, Singing Contests And Games Feature Gathering At Old Fort. Mashbum, W. S. Shiflet, W. Kaylor, A. C. Bartlett. BRAKEMAN HURT IN FALL FROM BOX CAR Garland PAUL O. NAFE TAKES OVER M’DOWELL NEWS Sale of the McDowell News, week ly newspaper published here, to Paul O. Nafe, former feature editor of the Christian Science Monitor, was an nounced Monday by F. B. Morgan, who has been editing and publishing The News since 1936. Mr. Nafe has taken charge of the paper and plans to get out his first issue today. Mr. Nafe started as a newsboy in Texas, then was sports editor of the El Paso Herald until 1922, when he went to Boston to become feature editor of The Monitor. He continued as feature editor of TRte Monitor un til he found in Marion the opportu nity to realize an ambition to edit and publish a paper of his own. He is a member of the American Legion, the Rotary club, and is a 32nd degree Mason and Shriner. During the World War, he was com- nianding officer of the 85th squadron of the U. S. air service. Mr. Morgan, who came here from Kinston in 1936, said he and his wife would remain in Marion for about a Harry Hunter, of Nebo, a railway | month before going to Knoxville, brakeman, was confined to the Mari-jTenn., to take an executive position on (ieneral Hospital for examination there. Monday night after falling from a box car being shifted in the Drexel Furniture factory siding. Dr. Guy S. Kirby said that Hunter roads in rural areas, 13 in towns of j was badly bruised and scratched and Mrs. Nafe, now in Boston, hopes to join her husband here in the near future. TO BUILD HOUSE HERE Work on a new dwelling house on Claremont Avenue in Marion will be gin in the next day or two, it was less than 500 population, 8 in towns ig in a serious condition, having suf- from 500 to 1,000 population, 19 inlfered internal injuries, including towns from 1,000 to 5,000 popula-j three broken ribs and injuries in his__ tion, ten in cities from 5,000 to 10,-1 stomach. Hunter complained of se-1 announced this week. The house will 000 population, 16 in cities from 10,- vere pains in the abdomen after the i be tiie property of E. W. Parker, of 000 to 25,000 population, four in accident and is still confined at thejMsrion, and will be an eig^t-room hospital. j stone veneer Ktructurcv The accident occurred late Mon- Contractor for the residence is J. day afternoon. jp. Glenn. cities from 25,000 to 50,000 popula tion and 30 in cities from 50,000 to 100,000. ber of Commerce. The committee is composed of Jack Ballew, Dave Blan ton, Alford Morgan, Will Erwin and Jack James. The committee will m«et next Wednesday night, August 14, at 7:30 o’clock in the Community building to make further plans for the races and the organization of the club. According to Mr. Cartier, boating enthusiasts of this section are being contacted in efforts to form the Mc Dowell boat club. Such an organiza tion would enable members to quali fy to participate in official boat rac es and to promote races with many entries under the rules of national boating associations on Lake James. WELFARE OFFICE GIVES OUT $4,256 IN CHECKS A total of $4,256 was distributed from the McDowell welfare office for old' &ge, dependent children and aid to the blind ^assistance during the nionth of July, announced Mrs. G.W. Kirkpatrick, county welfare officer, this week. A total of 318 persons in the coun ty received old age assistance pay ments amounting to $3,176. Aid to dependent children checks were dis tributed to 54 families representing 103 children. These checks totaled $921. Twelve blind people in the county received aid by checks am ounting to f 159. district MEETING OF LODGE IN OLD FORT A meeting of the 44th Masonic district of the Mystic Tie Lodge 237 A. F. and A. M. will be held in the Old Fort high school building Tues day night, August 13, at 8 o’clock. Motion pictures in colors will be shown of the Oxford Orphanage and the Eastern Star home. The meeting is open to the public and all lodge members are urged to attend. According to Mr. Westmoreland, the group of local men interested in the show have purchased the old Ka- nipe property off the Rutherford Road near Marion. Work will be done on the grounds, a track will be fenced in and other arrangements will be made to provide ample facili ties for the display of McDowell county livestock. - Plans are being made to make the horse and cattle show an annual af fair in the form pf a county fair, where farmers of the county will each year display their best farm products and stock. The show this year is being given much support by the Marion Kiwanis club. Prizes will be awarded to farm ers and tradespeople displaying the best cattle and horses in the show and entertainment for all county residents is being planned. ALDERMEN PASS RULING ON SEWAGE DISPOSAL Marion property owners having houses located within 300 feet of sewer lines and not equipped with sewage disposal facilities will be re quired to install connections with the disposal line, according to a ruling passed Tuesday by the town Board of Aldermen. The ruling was passed by the Al dermen to eliminate unsanitary con ditions surrounding houses in some sections of Marion. The Board considered an applica tion for a license to operate a pool room in Marion and deferred action on the matter until the next meet ing. A petition endorsing the estab- lishnient of the pool room here will be considered. Members of the Marion city school Board will be furnished water free by the town, the aldermen decided, liie move was taken to give the school board members some remu neration for their services. The Board passed a resolution providing for the cleaning up of the grounds of Oak Grove cemetery. “The only way to oppose Hitler’s diabolical purpose is to develop a counteracting Christian purpose in this country,” declared the Rev. Du mont Clarke, head of the religious department of the Farmers Federa tion, in an address before the crowd of 1200 which attended the annual McDowell County picnic at the high school in Old Fort Wednesday. One of the best ways in which to develop this purpose in Western North Carolina, Mr. Clarke said, is to join in the work of the Lord’s Acre Plan, which assists 350 rural churches in this part of the state. Urging his audience to “build Mc Dowell county with the Farmers Fed eration,” James G. K. McClure, president, stressed the fact that the national wealth originates on the farm. Other speakers on the all-day pro gram included Mrs. D. T. Roughton, supervisor of the Old Fort National Youth Administration Project; S. C. Clapp, head of the Federation’s seed department; and Grady _ Walker, manager of the Marion Warehouse.. Among the many performers who entertained the large crowd were the Farmers Federation String Band, the Hickory Nut Gap Trio of singers; and an Old Fort trio composed of Herman Creaseman, Vernon For tune and Clarence Lavender. Hamp ton Bradley, the Columbia radio ar tist, sang several songs; and Misses Inez Webb and Eunice Ayers were a popular duet team. R. A. Neal and his young son played duets on banjo and ukulele; while Mr. Millwood, the ventriloquist, brought his wooden boy Willy. Joe Frisbee gave several ! individual variations on popular j songs. j First place in the singing conven- jtion was won by the NYA Choir, led jby Mrs. D. T. Roughton; while the iMontford Cove Choir, with. Arch i Wilkerson directing, took second j prize. In the quartet competition, the I Old Fort Quartet received the first i award, and second place went to the j Wilkerson Quartet. ! With a load of 63 passengers, John Reel of Haw Branch won the prize for the largest truckload attending ; the picnic. E. W. S. Cobb was judged jto have the baldest head. The prize : for the most recently married couple ! went to Mr. and Mrs. Hampton Brad- jley; while Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Houk, ! wed 52 years ago, took the award for jthe oldest married couple. The fam- ;ily of Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Haynes, I with eight children, was declared bo be the largest present. Winners in the relay races were as follows: Junior boys, Donald An derson, Eston Morris, Ernest Wid- enhouse, and Eugene Lytle; junior girls, Clyta Ledbetter, Leota and Eulalia Marlow, and Emma Henson; boys 10-16, Ernie Marlowe, Calvin Ledbetter, Troy Moore, and Edward Reel; girls 10 to 16, Reva Burkhard, Olene Crisp, Lorene Grindstaff, and Jean Wilson; older boys, Roy and Alvin Parker, Clarence Lavender, and Max Nesbitt; older girls, Jean ette Haynes, Naomi Nichols, Virgin ia Ledbetter, and Joyce Wilkerson; ladies, Mrs. Odell Parker, Mrs. J. C. Parker, Mrs. Etta Morgan, Mrs. P. H. Ledbetter, and Mrs. B. A. Paricer. The winning tug-o-war team, from Montford Cove, was composed of Worth and Wayne Burgess, James Poteat, J. D. Wilkerson, J. L. Led better, C. F. Marlowe, and Ralph Haynes. GROUP TO CARRY C OF C DRIVE TO OLD FORT A group of Marion members of the McDowell Chamber of Commerce will go to Old Fort this week-end in connection with the drive for new members now being made by the Chamber, Secretary Walter J. Car tier has announced. Before the drive is completed new members will be sought in all parts of the county. The drive has been conducted in Marion during the paat week.