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[HE MARION PROGRESS
A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE OF MARION AND McDOWELL COUNTY"
ESTABLISHED 1896 MARION, N. C., THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 1944
VOL. XLIX—NO. 6
Gilmer Graham
Resigns Coach
of High School
Hugh Beam To Act As Ath
letic Director During The
1944-45 School Year.
Hugh Beam, superintendent of
Marion City Schools, will act as ath
letic director of Marion high school
-during the 1944-45 school year, ac
cording to an announcement from
Mr. Beam's office. This action was
necessary due to the fact that Gil
mer Graham, popular coach of the
1943-44 season, resigned his posi
tion to accept similar work in the
Asheville City schools.
Since Mr. Graham submitted his
resignation local school officials
have looked high and low for a man
to replace him but were unsuccess
ful in their efforts. Mr. Beam re
ported this fact to the school board,
and also indicated his willingness to
take an active part in athletics un
til such a time when a coach could
be available. The local school was
faced with the situation of discon
tinuing football activities along
with other athletics, or request Mr.
Beam to spend several hours each
•day in this work. Believing that
athletics are a vital part of the
school program, especially in the
face of the fact that considerable
emphasis is being placed on physical
fitness, the Marion City School
board in a meeting Monday night
requested Mr. Beam to do this work.
Coach Beam said that the first
football practice of the year would
be held on the high school athletic
field Saturday morning at 10:00
o'clock. He asks that all boys in
terested in this sport report at this
time ready for work. He stated
that Marion is getting off to a late
start as schools in neighboring
towns started their football a week
or ten days ago. He also said that
there is plenty of work ahead for
the Marion boys, and that there is
little time left to get into shape for
the hard schedule that confronts
the local boys.
GIBSON AND BALDWIN
ASSIGNED TO UNIT AT
HARDING FIELD, LA.
Second Lieut. Ed. B. Gibson, son
of Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Gibson of Ma
rion, and Second Lt. Herman C.
Baldwin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh
A. Baldwin of Clinchfield, have been
assigned to the 72nd Fighter Wing
Indoctrination Unit at Harding
Field, La., prior to being assigned
to one of the fighter combat crew
training schools in the wing for final
training in combat tactics of the
Army Air forces.
During the ensuing weeks of com
bat flight training there they will
' undergo the preliminary phase of
- ground training, including intelli
gence, small arms, aircraft recogni
tion.
Lt. Gibson graduated from Ma
rion high school in 1940 and was lat
er employed as timekeeper at the
Marion Manufacturing company.
Lt. Baldwin graduated from Ma
rion high school in 1942, arid prior
to entering service was employed by
the Parks-Belk company, Johnson
City, Tenn.
SINGING CONVENTION
TO BE HELD NEXT SUNDAY
The McDowell County Singing
Convention will be held at the court
house in Marion next Sunday begin
ning at 9:45 a. m.
The program will include a num
ber of well known singers, includ
ing some favorite radio singers and
the Smith quartet from Spartan
burg. A large attendance is ex
pected.
All singers in the county are
especially invited to attend and
take part on the program.
BALTIMORE PASTOR TO
PREACH HERE SUNDAY
Dr. B. A. Bowers, pastor of the j
First Baptist church of Baltimore, i
Md., and a former pastor of the !
First Baptist church at Gastonia,
will preach at the First Baptist
church here next Sunday at II a. m.
and 8 p. m.
TIRE QUOTA OF ALL
TYPES FOR MONTH OF
SEPTEMBER REDUCED
The tire board of the local War
Price and Rationing office states
that the tire quota for tires of all
types has been reduced. It was
pointed out that one reason for the
reduction in quota is due to the fact
that the allotment of tires for the
past several months has been rather
liberal, comparatively speaking, and
that all tires alloted to applicants
have been exhausted.
It is the belief of offiicals of the
local War Price and Rationing
board that the reduced quota of
tires is sufficient to meet the actual
needs of the motoring- public, pro
vided that complete cooperation
from automobile owners is given to
the tire board. To this end the tire
board urges that automobile and
truck owners request tire replace
ments only when absolutely neces
sary.
•The tire shortage is not over and
every automobile and truck owner
should observe every rule that will
tend to conserve tires. The driver
should certainly stay within speed
limitations and not exceed thirty
five miles per hour. He should also
see that his tires are properly in
flated, and have them inspected and
balanced at regular intervals.
The automobile and truck owner
can help win the war, by driving on
ly when absolutely necessary, and
when driving is necessary he should
conserve his tires and gasoline in
every way possible.
ANOTHER POLIO CASE
REPORTED IN COUNTY
Another case of Infantile Paraly
sis in McDowell County reported
yesterday brought the total for the
county during the present epidemic
up to 11. This was the first case re
ported in the past two weeks. The
victim, a child from the Montford
Cove community, was taken to Hick
ory Emergency Hospital yesterday.
State health officials report that
the total number of infantile pa
ralysis cases in the state since June
1 has reached 634. Cases have
been reported from 72 of the state's
100 counties.
SGT. HALL SERVING AT
FT. OGLETHORPE, GA.
Sgt. Effie E. Hall of Marion, the
fifth member of her family to enter
the service, is now stationed at the
Third WAC Training Center at Fort
Oglethorpe, Ga., as cook. Now en
tering her nineteenth month in the
Women's Army Corps, the WAC
Sergeant was formerly stationed at
Fort Des Moines, la., and Daytona
Beach, Fla.
Before Sgt. Hall was assigned to
a job in the army mess hall she com
pleted a special cook's course fol
lowing the regular basic training
course. A daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. E. Hall of Marion, Sgt. Hall at
tended Marion high school.
A sister, Cpl. Cleo Mertz, who is
also beginning her nineteenth month
in service, is stationed in England.
One brother, Pvt. Alvin Lee Hall, is
at Camp Lee, Va. and two other
brothers received medical discharg
es last October.
PLEASANT GARDENS P. T. A.
CANNING FOR SCHOOL
Members of the Pleasant Gardens
Parent-Teacher Association are de
voting a large part of their time
during the vacation season to can
ning fruits and vegetables to be
used in the school lunch room dur
ing the winter months.
A report from a member of the
association last week stated that al
ready several hundred quarts had
been canned in the community can
nery and this amount is being in
creased daily.
PVT. LEE HALL ON GUARD
DUTY AGAINST STRIKERS
Pvt. Alvin Lee Hall, son of Mr.
and Mi-s. E. H. Hall of Marion, was
among the group of soldiers sent to
Philadelphia, Pa., recently to take
charge of the transportation strike
which lasted for several days. Al
though the strikers returned to
work, soldiers remained on guard on
the subways, trollies and buses for
two weeks.
Pvt. Hall returned to his duties
at Camp Lee, Va., last week where
he is enrolled in tl^e quartermaster
school.
City Tax Rate
For Next Year
Is Set At $1.50
Rate To Remain The Same As
The Past Year; Proposed
Budget 1944-45 Is $98,000.
j
The city tax rate for Marion for
the year 1944-45 will be $1.50 on
the hundred dollar valuation, the
same as last year. This rate was
adopted at a meeting of the board
of aldermen Tuesday night.
The proposed budget for the year
was set at $98,000, compared with
$95,460 for the past year.
The budget included the follow
ing items: General government,
i $10,800; police department, $7,
| 500; fire department, $2,900; street
and sewer department, $17,700;
cemetery, $1,600; debt service,
$43,500; water department, $6,200,
and capital fund for sundry im
provements, $7,800.
j Final adoption of the budget will
| be made at a later date.
42,949 SERVICEMEN ASK
FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS
Raleigh, Aug. 28.—A total of
3,531 members of the armed forces
from North Carolina applied to Sec
retary of State Thad Eure today
| for absentee ballots for use in the
I general election November 7. The
total of applications received by
1 this source alone now stands at 42,
1949.
| Eure predicted the number of ap
plications would be heavy through
September 6, when the War Ballot
commission will have completed dis
tribution of application cards,
i Servicemen wishing to vote in
| the general election may apply di
rectly for ballots, or through rela
tives or an authorized agent. Ap
plication for an absentee ballot in
! North Carolina is construed as . an
i application for registration, Eure
said.
i
i PVT. SCOLES BEGINS
HER WAC TRAINING
s
| Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., Aug. 26.—
Pvt. Mildred P. Scoles, daughter of
j Mr.' and Mrs. F. J. Pruden of Old
I Fort, N. C., is a trainee at the Third
|WAC Training Center here where
| she is learning the fundamentals of
jarmy life. Following the six-week
basic instruction she will be eligible
for assignment in one of the 239
noncombatant jobs to women in ser
vice in this country and abroad,
j A graduate of Old Fort high
school, Pvt. Scoles was employed,
i prior to entering service, as wait
ress at Tingle's Cafe in Asheville.
Husband of the WAC private,
Pvt. Harold J. Scoles, is stationed in
England. Three cousins in service
are First Lt. Charles M. Hendrix,
: South Pacific; First Lt. William
jQuinn, England; Petty Officer Jas.
; R. Rayfield, overseas.
' CPL. HUSKINS RETURNS
i FROM OVERSEA DUTY
| Cpl. G. G. Huskins has arrived
home for a visit with his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Grady Huskins of
; Pleasant Gardens, after being in
: service overseas for the past two
years. Cpl. Huskins was twice re
ported missing in action and spent
four months in a German prison.
He has been awarded the Purple
Heart for heroic service in action.
BOWMAN COMPLETES
GUNNERY SCHOOL
Egt. Sam Bowman has completed
a six weeks course at aerial gunner
school at Ft. Myers, Fla., and has
now returned to his former station
at Venice, Fla. where he is an aer
ial gunner instructor.
He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. J.
S. Bowman of Marion.
JOSEPH STANLEY IS
LIEUTENANT GRADUATE
Joseph K. Stanley, son of Mrs.
Julia Stanley, of Marion, was grad
uated and given the rank of second
lieutenant in an officer candidate
class at the Quatermaster School at
Camp Lee, Va., last Friday.
Superior Court
To Open Here
Next Monday
Judge J. A. Rousseau To Pre
side Over The Term; Both
Criminal And Civil Cases.
The fall term of McDowell Coun
ty superior court is scheduled to
convene here next Monday morning
with Judge J. A. Rousseau of North
Wilkesboro presiding. Scheduled
as a mixed term, the first week will
be devoted to the trial of criminal;
cases.
I
One murder case, one rape case,1
and several criminal actions of mi- j
nor importance are scheduled for
trial during the first week session.
Guy Arrowood will stand trial on
a charge of murder in connection
with the death of Carl J. Rhom at
Vein Mountain last June. Rhom
died as a result of injuries sustain
ed when struck in the head with a
shovel by Arrowood, it is alleged.
The civil calendar contains twelve
cases set for trial during the week
beginning Monday, September 11.
ANNUAL RELIGIOUS
EDUCATION WEEK TO
START ON SEPT 24TH
Chicago—Churches and other re-!
! ligious agencies of rural America j
[will join with those of other cities in i
the observance of the 14th annual j
Religious Education Week, Sept. 24 !
to Oct. 1, to give emphasis to the ;
value of Christian teaching, it has \
been announced by Dr. Roy G. Ross,;
general secretary of the Interna-j
tional Council of Religious Educa- j
tion, sponsor of the program. ;
"Power for These Times" will be !
the theme for Religious Education j
Week in which 42 Protestant de-:
nominations and 182 state, provinc- j
ial, county and city councils of .
churches and religious education ^
will cooperate for community-wide
observances. The week will be ob-!
served throughout Canada as well as
■ in all 48 states.
"The Protestant churches of the
nation will attempt to remarshall
the missionary spirit in their educa
tional work during Religious Educa
tion Week," Dr. Ross stated, in
making the announcement. "These
chaotic times demand that we not'
only increase our programs of Chris- ,
tian teaching for those who are now j
attending church schools, but we
also must increase our efforts to j
reach the more than 15,000,000
j children of school age who have had ;
no religious training of any kind." j
Rally Day or Promotion Day ser-;
vices in most rural churches on op
ening day of Religious Education1
Week will emphasize educational.
1 evangelism as Sunday schools renew ,
their efforts to increase enrollment I
and attendance. Christian fellow- .
!
ship in the community will be devel- j
j oped through week-day programs,;
1 and "the unifying power of world i
| Christian fellowship" will be featur- j
I ed in World Communion Sunday ob
servance on October 1.
Rural communities will give great- j
er importance in their religious pro-;
grams to the development of co-,
operation between the home and the i
church during the observance. Lead-!
ership education through workers',
conferences and a deepening of de-1
votional life of leaders and pupils
will be other aims of Religious Edu-;
cation Week. 1
PLAN VICTORY PROGRAM
A a special meeting of the direc-1
tors of the Marion Merchants' As-1
sociation which was held in the city!
hall Monday evening plans were |
made for participation in the Vic- j
tory Day program which will be
when the German phase of the war I
is ended. Final plans for the pro
gram will be completed at a later!
meeting and will be announced
next week.
i
CHANGE IN SERVICES
AT ST. JOHN'S CHURCH
Beginning next Sunday, Septem
ber 3rd, the hours of the Sunday
services in St. John's Episcopal
Church will be at 8:00 and 11:00 a.
m., Sunday School at 9:45 a. m. On
week days and Holy days the hours
of services will be at 9:00 a. m.
MISSING—Sgt. Allen T. Lyde
(above) of Marion has been re
ported missing in action in France
as of June 6, according to word re
ceived by his wife, the former Miss
Ruth Pendergrass. Sgt. Lyde has
been in service since November,
1942 and has served overseas since
January, 1944. He was a para
trooper.
REV. OWENS ACCEPTS
CALL TO THE FIRST
BAPTIST CHURCH HERE
The Rev. M. 0. Owens, Jr., pas-i
tor of the First Baptist church of |
Palmetto, Fla., has accepted a call
to become pastor of the First Bap- j
tist church of Marion to succeed j
Dr. B. F. Bray who recently resign-!
ed. He will take up his duties here ;
the first Sunday in October. j
Rev. Mr. Owens is a graduate of j
Furman Univei-sity, Greenville, S. j
C., and Louisville Seminary, Louis- j
ville, Ky. He has served as assist
ant pastor of one of the largest
Baptist churches in Louisville and
was pastor of the First Baptist
church at Myrtle Beach, S. C., for
four years. He has been pastor of
the Baptist\church in Palmetto for
the past two years. He is married
and has two children.
DREXEL TO SEND GIFTS
TO ARMED FORCES
A list of the names and addresses
of every man and woman of Mc
Dowell County who are now serving
in the armed forces is being com
piled by the Drexel Furniture Com
pany in order that they may remem
ber every one of them with a Christ
mas gift. The cooperation of ev- 1
eryone in the county is asked in sub
mitting these names and addresses
so that no one be overlooked. i
The announcement especially em
phasized that "this applies to all
McDowell men and women and is
not limited to former employees of
Drexel."
A coupon is contained in an ad
vertisement of the Drexel Furniture
Company in this issue of The Pro
gress for convenience in mailing
these names and addresses.
FSA MAKE PLANS FOR
BROAD 1945 PROGRAM
Recently the supervisors and the
county committee of Farm Security
Administration held a meeting and
made plans as to the general pro
gram of work for FSA in McDowell
county for the coming year.
The Farm Security Administra
tion works with the low income farm
families in an effort to help them
improve their standard of living and
to take their rightful place in the
community. In order to decide just
what jobs were most needed for
next year, the census figures were
studied to determine the proportion
of low income farm families in the
county. It was found that accord
ing to the 1940 census, out of thei
1243 farms in the county 590 had i
gross incomes of less than $400.00
and 945 had gross incomes of less
than $600.00. These figures in
clude the food and fuel that the
family used from the farm them
selves.
A broad program was worked out
that should give these farm families
an opportunity to get the help that
they need, provided they desire it,
and are willing to trp to help them
selves. I
MINISTERS TO MEET
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
The fall meeting of the McDowell
County Ministerial Association has
seen postponed from Monday, Sep
tember 4, to Monday, September 18.
New Books Are
Added To The
City Library
281 New Books Added Since
Last of July; Signs Posted
To Direct New Readers.
Improvements to the Florence
Thomas Memorial Library have
steadily increased during the past
year and during the past week a re
port received from the board of
trustees shows that continuous pro
gress is being made.
The report stated that a total of
281 new books have been added
since the last of July and that an
attractive sign has been placed
across the windows of the library to
encourage new readers to join its
membership.
Signs have also been placed at
various points throughout the coun
ty to show the regular stops for the
"Bookmobile."
Twenty-three books which were
recently received and are now ready
for circulation have been listed as
follows:
Adult Fiction: "The Razor's
Edge," by Maughn; "Strange Fruit"
by Smith; "Colcortion," by Pope;
"Fair Stood the Wind for France,"
by Bates; "What Became of Anna
Bolton," by Bromfield.
Adult Non-Fiction: "The Queen
Was in the Kitchen," by McVickers;
"Yankee From Olympus," by Bow
en; "Atlas of Global Geography,"
by Raize; "Ten Years in Japan," by
Grew; "They Shall Not Sleep," by
Stowe, and "Anna and the King of
Siam," by Landon.
Juvenile Fiction: "Muggins," by
Bradbury; "Glory Be!" by Lam
bert; "The Scarlet Coat," by Gaith
er; "The Big Six," by Ramsome;
"Drums in the Forest," by Dwight,
and "Wings in the Sun," by Wyke.
Juvenile Non-Fiction: "Cocoa
nut, The Wonder Tree," by Sperry;
"Wings to Wear," by Hager; "A
T3oy's View of the Artie," by Raw
son; "Desert Neighbors," by Patch;
"The Listening Child," by Thacker,
and "Jesus Story," by Petersham.
ELECTRIC IRONS TO
REAPPEAR ON MARKET
The Office of Price Administra
tion announces that electric irons
will appear on the market and that
this is one of the first items in the
consumer good field to reappear on
the market since production was
suspended in 1942. OPA Adminis
trator Chester E. Bowles stated that
is was gratifying that a large per
centage of electric iron manufac
turers had agreed to hold the price
line for this product of consumer
goods, especially in view of the fact
that electric irons are in such de
mand.
The announcement further stated
that twenty manufacturers of elec
tric irons have received allocations
to produce 1,768,968 electric irons,
and that these irons will be placed
on the market at no change in pri
ces prevailing in March 1942.
PFC. JOHN E. WILSON
IS NOW IN ENGLAND
Pfc. John E. Wilson, son of Chas.
B. Wilson of Baltimore, Md., and
formerly of Marion, is now with
the armed forces somewhere in
England ,it is announced. He en
tered the service March 11, 1942.
He received training at Camp Polk.
La., the Desert Training Center in
California, and Fort Benning, Ga.,
before going overseas.
Pfc. Wilson's brother, Pfc. Ho
bert D. Wilson, returned to the
States in February after spending
nineten months in the Pacific with
the U. S. Marine corps. He is now
doing M. P. duty at a Navy yard in.
Washington.
MEMORIAL SERVICE
FOR J. D. BRADLEY
A memorial service for J. D.
Bradley, who was killed in France
on July 11, will be held at the
Clinchfield Baptist Church next
Monday afternoon at four o'clock.
The memorial sermon will be deliv
ered by Rev. N. H. Kendall, a for
mer pastor of the church.