North Carolina Newspapers

I j, N A VEAR IN ADVANCE IN I Ipresident D I park to the m Of a Fr B Amid a setting of incompara- , BWe grandeur, President Franklin 11 Bp. Roosevelt dedicated the Great K smoky Mountains National Park I to the perpetual use of all the H people of the United States, in a simple ceremony, at Newfound | Gap, Monday afternoon, and the ' - with cheers, I] /mountains ? as he expressed the determina- j tion of the American people and < the American government to ; make sure that the park will ever < ?-<>?>rved for the free use of a j || DC J/ivwI free people, and that no dictator I shall ever regulate their lives or i I their use of the park. I "I hope," he said, "that a hun- 1 I dred years from now the great 1 I smoky Mountains National Park j I wijl still belong, in practice as 1 I Well as in theory, to the people j I of a free nation." The President 1 I referred to the dangers that 1 I threaten the free peoples of the j I Americas, and expressed his de- 1 I termination to bolster the ] I National Defense in the inter- ; I est of Peace and freedom in ; I aJj America. He placed his I S[smp of approval upon the i I conscription of men for military I training, and the building of , I armaments that will brook no in- < terference from any foreign foe in the affairs of the Americas. He stated that we can no longer < repel an invader with squirrel rifles and pitchforks; but that it now takes air .anes, modern naval vessels, machine guns apd tanks, to make a nation secure. Secretary Ickes presided, and (Continued on Page Two) BACK TO BOATS FOR 1 JACKSON COUNTY ? ? One of the first problems that was tackled by the Red Cross was to provide means of contact between the two sides of the Tuckaseigee river. Boats were constructed and placed at strategic points along the river. They were rendered safe by stretching heavy wire across the stream, and anchoring the boats to the wire by chains, with rings in the end, slipped over the wire. The boatmen propel the craft across the river by hand over hand process along the wires. , Some of the boats are large enough to carryy twenty people at a time. Communication at Dillsboro was provided by means of walkways across the new bridge that is in course of construction, There are boats at Whittier, Wilmot, Barker's Creek, Webster, Cullowhee, and other points further up the river. Save Your Canned Foods From Flood The local health authorities warn the people who had canned i foods that went through the flood waters that it is dangerous to eat those foods unless they are treated in the following manner: Be sure to examine each can carefully to see that the seal ns unbroken and that there no seepage of flood waters into the food. Then, all cans that are intact should be washed carefully and dipped la * chloride of lime solution, to kill anY germs that may be deposited ?n the cans or rubbers. The proper solution is 1 ounce 01 chlorex, So-Hy, or other good chloride of lime solution to 2 gallons of wptoT* "Trtn on'' ? .._vv&. A, AAA Wta, a*aav? I dip the cans thoroughly. A soI i^tion made from chlorine of I iinie itself will be satisfactory. I Chloride of lime preparations I ^de from it can be obtained I h?m any drug or grocery store. I The health authorities advise I ^at the food in the cans is perI tectly safe for eating, after the I have been treated as indiI 1 ated. There is a great wealth of I 'anned foods in this county, and I 1 is believed that a large part I ^ this can be salvaged, since I lhe women in this county are exI canners. 'JS v ; ** v . ^ 1 |, ' . % l\)t 3t HE COUNTY edicates 5>Free Use ee People" Highway Workers At Gigantic Task Of Repairing Damage Highway workers began the herculean task of repairing and rebuilding the highways in this county, and of building bridges ao.rnss t.VtP Hvpt* onH fho ?nnin? -w- wa*v A ? f VA MAiU v**v UU1VA ~ dus creeks, almost before the flood waters had subsided. * By constructing a temporary detour around Cullowhee, via Wayehutta creek, the travel was turned through to Tuckaaeiget, late Sunday afternoon. Workmen ire now widening this road to tun, two tracK, nignway size, as1 it will be used for some time as the main line of travel through the county. Travel was resumed ill the way through from Sylva to Cashier's Valley, today. The road was opened up Caney Fork as far as the Cowarts post office, yesterday afternoon. The road was put in shape and the Wolf Creek bridge, near the home of Luther Owen,was rebuilt and people came from that part of Canada to Sylva, via Lak^Tox away, yesterday afternoon; but that leaves a large part of Canada isolated, except for rough walk. Foot bridges were thrown over the river, at Cullowhee and at Tuckaseigee, by utilizing t|he parts of the bridges thai Were tinnnnlnfl fVlO none OUU X15 WK n??M timber. At Culowhee it was necessary to put in several temporary bents for support of the walkway^ on the north side of the river. .The bridge at Tockaaoigee was intact, but the approaches were so washed away that foot bridges were made to span the casms at each end, and ladders were placed at each end of the bridge. It is not anticipated that the bridge at Dillsboro will be replaced, since a new one was already in process of construction. Work has already started on a permanent bridge at Webster, over which travel to Atlanta can. be diverted, and by which Syhra can be connected with Savannah and Green's Creek townships. Work on a temporary bridge at Cullowhee started immediately, so that the college and school j there can open as soon as possi- 1 ble; and it will be open for travel J by the end of this week. Not a bridge was left intact on j the river in this countyy, leaving the county with some forty miles or more with no means of communication between the two sides of the stream that divides it in two parts. ? 1 ? tU* <4owi*m It is thougni umi. UK uaiUMftv to roads &nd bridges in the county will probably exceed a quarter I of a million dollars, and may;! be double that sum. LUCK WILL PREACH SUNDAY NIGHT Rev. G. Coleman Luck who is v i s i t i n g relatives here will preach at the Methodist church, Sunday evening, The service will be held by the Young Peopled Department of the church, and the public is cordially invited.! Mr. Luck is a student In Dallas Theological Seminary. Methodist Women To Meet Monday On Monday evening, at 7:30> o'clock there will be held, in the Methodist church in Sylva, the charter meeting of the Society for Christian Service, the new organization for Methodist women. Mr. Ratledge will preside and officers will be elected. This organization supplants: the Woman's Missionary Societies of the Southern Methodist Church, and all members of the society, and all other women of the Methodist church are invite*! . to the meeting. ^ ?i . X ^ r. -' pI I p ^ J . , - . J r''< SYLVA NOl Red Cross Responds ll Immediately To Call , For flood Relief When it became apparent last week that the job of relief and < rehabilitation was too big for < this count; to handle alone, Dr. ] Grover Wilkes, chairman of the 1 Jackson County Red Cioss Chapter, wired tfce national head- ] quarters in 'Washington for as- < sistance, and the response was i immediate. % < The Red Cross has opened of-- i flees in the Leader Building, in ropms furnished rent free, by 1 Ben Lessing, owner of the build- 1 ing, and up to yesterday morn- 1 .ing 107 families had already i registered as needing either im- ' mediate assistance or help in re- 1 habilitazitation. i Regional Director W. J. Jones 1 and Mrs. Clara Rosen were the : first to arrive. They reached : n l ?- _ J J-? * oyiva oaiuruay morning ana i went into immediate consulta-: i tion with Dr. McGuire, Mr. M. IX Cowan, Dr. Wilkes, Dan Tomp- i kins, the county health au- i thorities, Mrs. Mamie Sue Evans, < home demonstration agent, G. C. i Henson, welfare superintendent, < County Agent G. R. Lackey, Chairman of the County Board of Commissioners, and others. Mrs. Edith McAllister, direc- , tor for the Western North Carolina Area, Miss Laura Holderness, case worker, and Mrs. Wilcox, supervisor, arrived the first of the week. The Red Cross went into the immediate relief work at once, and has now begun taking up the matter of rehabilitation of the people who have lost their homes, their furniture, their clothing, their crops, their livestock, their businesses, and other necessary things, and who are unable to replace them alone. Each case, the workers say, will have to stai# $h its own merits, and ^ = passed upon by the Red Cross Director, a committee from the local chapter, and the family affected, all going into consultation and working out the problem of each, as best they can. ROTARY CLUB VOTES RELIEF DONATION The Sylva Rotary Club at Its meeting Tuesday night voted to give a donation to the Disaster Relief work in this county. Although most of the members had already given to this cause individually, it was pointed out that this was a fine opportunity for 'the club to be of service. At this meeting Thomas Cox made a short talk on "The Development of Acquaintance as an Opportunity for Service," after which the remainder of the meeting was taken up in hearing several members tell of their experiences during the recent flood. Flood Prevents County Commissioners Meeting The monthly meeting of the County Board of Commissioners scheduled to be held Monday morning, was postponed because Commissioner was unable to reach the county seat from his home on Big Ridge,, and because the Chairman, T. Walter Ashe, was busily engaged in relief Work among the people of the county. Attention Woodmen I [ Our Woodmen Softball Team -won first place in the Minor Xeague this past season and we are all very proud of them, Sovereign Garland Jones deserves lots of creditor his skill In the line of 'coaching and guiding our team to victory. To _i a nr>rw> lafcion , tO OUf I 511UW UUl ?Lp|/A "ball club the Woodmen are going to give them an ice cream supper ! Monday night, Sept. 9th, at 7:30 o'clock. All members of the ball olub and Woodmen are urged to he there on time. Correspondent Felix W. Potts Have you made your contribution to the Red Cross for county, flood relief? llll I ? ITH CAROLINA, SEPTEMBER 5, . ^ J ' _ T ' Few Cou# Schools ; Reopen; Sylva May Reopel Next Week Socqe Of the schools of the iounty were reopened the middle rf this Veek. Others will open on Mondays and still others will not oe open for two weeks or longer. All schools in Savannah, Qualla, Green's Creek, and Scott's ( Creek townships are now open, as \ ire those at Dix Creek, Cane ( Creek, and some of the other . mailer schools. ( Webster and Sylva schools will not be op# before Monday, Sep- : tember lfl. rir later. John's Creek . will probably be closed for a , month. Glenvllle and Cashier's , Valley schools will j reopen on Monday of next week. And it is anticipated that the schools in Cattnon, Don Davis, J. F. Owens, Monday. Dillsboro school lost from $400 to $500 worth of books and will not ojSen until the Sylva schooldoes. ? The reason Bylva school can not reopen is because of the fact that there are'a large number of high " school students living aiong me river Deiween uarKer s Creek and Whlttier, and it is impossible to get them across the river for transportation to Sylva. Webster school will open as soon as facilities are provided for getting the school bus across the Tuckaseigee. There is one school bus still marooned near Rocky Hollow, by two huge slides across the road. One school in Canada, Wolf Creek, can't open until the building is jrepaired. The school house was partially destroyed by the flood. Superintendent Moses, ftftijn that all the school*; wbl open as soon as the State Ifighafasy and Public Works make the roads sd^d bridgdfc&afe for transportation ik the chil' P? Welfare Department Brings Quick Relief T o Flood's Victims The Jackson County Department of Public Welfare, operating under the direction of Cary Henson, Welfare Superintendent, and with full cooperation of the State Department of Welfare, got on the Job quick, after the disaster of last week, and worked day and night to bring the relief to the people that was needed. Mr. Henson called the State Department in Raleigh, as soon as the need for additional commodities became apparent, and by Saturday noon, the trucks were rolling food and bedding into Stylva for distribution to those whom the flood had put in need of immediate assistance. The welfare commodities room remained open all day Saturday, Saturday night, and through Sunday, rendering the assistance to the people. Much of the food and clothing was distributed through volunteer Red Cross workers, and a great deal directly by the Welfare offUe. The Job was too big for any one agency to tackle alone, and all of them combined their forces and worked together for the relief of the Jackson county folks who were in need. Food' and blankets were the main things that the Welfare Department made available to the people and to the other agencies distributing them. The first' trucks to go through to the Forks of the River, left ? s ^4 Sylva at one ociock, sunaay mternoon, and carried two loads of food to Tuckaseigee^ East LaPorte, and to Caney Fork. Mack Ashe drove the North Carolina Forestry Service Truck, and T. N. Massie drove the Massie Furniture Company truck. Dr. W. P. McGuire, general chairman of the local Red Cross Chapter's relief committee, Dan Tompkins, Commander of the American Legion, and T. Walter Ashe, chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, accompanied the trucks and distributed the | food. L The commodities were fur(Continued on Page Two) ' "" I I I ' i; V **? " % ' ' / % W Mm H I H l|^ I H w 1940 Flood's 1 As Reg j Froi i Never before, in the memory i 3f living man, or the traditions that have come down from the i Did settlers or the Indians, has I anything comparable to this I disaster come to this county. ' Summing up the loss and estimating it as best an estimate can be made at this time, Jackson 1 county suffered to the extent of something like two milion dollars, in property damage. As the downpour fell all over 1 Western North Carolina, and the swollen streams added their water to that which poured from the worst stricken area, the 1 Tuckaseigee became a raging torrent, carrying everything before it. Tuckaseigee was sorely smitten, with stores, homes and farms carried away. The debris formed gigantic drifts against bridges, trees and islands all along the river. Not a bridge was left intact anywhere on the Tuckaseigee, in this county. East La Porte felt the full force of the raging streams of Caney Fork and the river. Cullowheevillage on this side of the stream was almost completely destroyed, and the destruction along the river at Webster, Dillsboro, Barker's Creek, Wilmot, and Whittier was terrible. Homes and business houses went away at these places. The church at Bark around. in pastures on high ground. SAM. B. CANNON RITES AT WEBSTER CHURCH j _ ; Funeral services were conducted at the Webster Methodist church, . Tuesday morning, for Sam B.' Cannon, and interment was in the cemetery at Webster, with the time-honored Masonic burial service conducted by Masons from Spruce Pine, Dillsboro and Sylva. Mr. Cannon, a native of this county, had many friends and I relatives here. For 29 years he has been manager of the Spruce Pine Stores Company, and has made his home there. He was a son of the late Henry Cannon, and the late Mrs. Amanda Allison Cannori, of this county. His niMnni mne i'M'lCC TTvO RrnVfl. W LVLKJ W VYOO 1VAAUU u v ? v .. ..y daughter of the late Albert Brown, of Caney Fork township. Survivors include the widow, Mrs. Eva Brown Cannon; two sons, A. H. Cannon of Bluefield, W. Va., and Sam B., Jr., of Spruce Pine; a daughter, Mrs. Amanda Gilbert of Spruce Pine; two sisters, Mrs. Motz Hamilton and Mrs. Erwin Tatham, both of Hamilton, Wash.; four brothers, T. C. of Sylva, J. C. and M. B. of Dillsboro, and L. H. Cannon of Webster; and three grandchildren, A. H. Cannon, Jr., Merita Ann Cannon and Eddie Lou Gilbert. Pallbearers were employees of the Spruce Pine Store company. Honorary pallbearers were members of the Spruce Pine Rotary club. [ FLOOD CARRIES COW 10 MILES UNHURT * 1 ' The prize story of the flood was that of Jim Ed Norton's cow. The animal was in her master's barn on CaneyFork. The flood came and she was carried down the creek and into the Tuckaseigee, passing East La Porte and Cullowhee, and came out aliv?, at the home of Burke Painter, some ten miles from the place where she was chewing her cud in he own barn, when the disaster struck. The next day she was led home I and is now back in her pasture. I 1. | i * i . i j. i ! i '.1 ' v*m ~ ' '' " I: " . mrtut! $2.00 A TEAR IN ADV lorror G ports Co n More Sheriff Holden Searches River Bank And Drifts For Bodies After Flood t ^ Sheriff Leonard Holden and tiitf deputies, assisted by volunteer workers, has been engaged in the gruesome task of searching the river bank and the large drifts for bodies of people washed away in the flood. Griffin Middleton and Andy Queen went to Canada, on Sunday, on that mission, No one knows how many people were lost, or if they will ever be found. Dock Moses, at Tuckaseigee, told of seeing an automobile come down from the Glenville Highway and plunge into the stream at Tuckaseigee bridge., near his home. No trace of car or occupant has been found. W. H. Smith said that he saw the lights of an automobile or truck enter the swollen waters on the highway near his home, and never emerge. It is known that four persons perished in the Canada section of the county. So far, only two bodies have been recovered. Vessie Mathis, who lived on Sol's Creek, is in the hospital in Sylva recovering from injuries and exposure. He told of a slide land huge quantities of watei doming down Pistol Creek and carrying his home away.. He said he held onto his wife m long as he could, and flnall^ way to the home of Mr. Alexander, nearby, where the sane and mud was removed from hii | ears, and throat. The bodj of his wife was found the nexi day, in a drift not far from when he emerged from the creek. The body of Gruen McCall, year old son of Albert McCall was found on an island neai Bryson City. It had been carried some sixty miles by th< raging Tuckaseigee and Niggerskull creek. Mr. McCall and hi' family lived on Niggerskull. I tremendous slide struck his hom< and the force of it carried hi1 wife across the raging creek, anc she caught the top of a tree anc saved herself. She suffered i broken arm and bruises about her face and legs. Her husbanc and her other child have not | been found. MORGAN INTERMENT AT LOVE'S CHAPEL Because of the flood, the place of interment of Ray Morgan, victim of a train accident in South Dakota, had to be changed from Locust Field to Love's Chapel, as it was impossible to cross the river. The funeral was conducted, Friday morning at the home of his iather, by Rev. G. A. Hovis, Methodist minister at Webster, The young man was killed enroute to his home from the State | of Washington. Pallbearers were: Alvin Cabe - ?? < 11 M..1 Delos Bucnanan, xviarsnan outton, Frank Moody, Whit Davis and Ira Ashe. Honorary pallbearers were I Arthur Allman, Harry Long Steve Owens, Woody Davis Frank Henry Buchanan, Joe_H Rhinehart, Prof. R. L. Madison Paul Buchanan, James Clements, Floyd Owens, J. D. Morgan and Charlie Morgan. . Flower girls were: Myrtle Davis, Nan Buchanan, Mesdamei David Dills, Wallace Swann, L. H. Cannon, Do nDavis, J. F. Owens Jim Clements. He is survived by his parents Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Morgan of Webster, one sister, Mrs. W. M Sealor of Washington, D. C., foul brothers, James Morgan ol Black Mountain, Fred and Hay of San Diego, Calif., and Richard of Honolulu. i 4 . ... , -'M ANCE OCTSIDF THE CODNTI rows ' . "!|| me In :i Sections The horror and magnitude of the disaster that struck Jackson county last Friday grows hourly as communication is established with more remote sections of the county. Four persons are known to have lost their lives, and it is feared that there were others, some of whom will never be known. Yesterday morning 107 families had already registered with the Red Cross for immediate relief for assistance in rehabilitation of their homes, farms, their businesses or their livestock and it is believed that twice that number will call for assistance as soon as they are able to get in contact with the officers. Heading in Canada, Caney Fork, parts of Hamburg, and on the Cullowhee Mountain, the mighty torrent swept everything along the streams before it. In literally hundreds of places in that section of the county, great streaks were stripped down the ' mountainsides, from top to bottom, carrying everything before them, down to the solid rock, and in places craters were left from thirty to forty feet deep People in that part of the county 1 say that all the water did not fall from the skies in the torrential rains; but that explosions i like the discharges of dynamite i were heard and the water gushed * from the craters in the earth. Exnlosions and the roar in the I mountains was said to be deaf er&ig. Small branches and creeks f assumed the size of raging rivers. r Streams and slides crashed down K the mountainsides where there f. many hours throughout the county. ~ I The destruction in upper Jackson 5 county is unbelievable. Farms f that were good were utterly fc ruined, and there are hundreds 5 of acres of land that are now totally unfit for agricultural > purposes, ruined beyond any pos? sibility of redemption. r Gardens, crops, livestock, food and feed prepared for the winter ; and placed in houses, barns, springhouses and smokehouses 5 were all carried away. ^ The destruction was not so ; great in most of Hamburg, and 5 there was nothing unusual on 1 the other side of the Blue Ridge. 1 Moses Creek, on Caney Fork, es1 caped; but in most of Canada, on k the main Caney Fork Creek, and 1 -TnV?r? 'a r!rp<?lr and their tribu " " V 1 taries; on Trout Creek, Dixon's Creek, Niggerskull, and Sol's Creek, is where the greatest force of the storm struck, with the ut, most fury. > MBS. W. C. NORTON DIES AT CULLOWHEE , Mrs. W. C. Norton, well-known > and well-beloved woman of this county, was taken by death, at her home at Cullowhee, Monday I morning. A member of a pioneer family of Jackson county, Mrs. , Norton snent her entire life here. . She lived at Webster during the ? years that her husband was 1 sheriff of the county, and later she and her family returned to ! their home at Cullowhee. Funeral services were conducte4 at the Methodist church at ; Cullowhee, by the Rev. Walter Lanier, Cullowhee Methodist min p I ister, and interment was at Cul. lowhee. 7 ~ Many of her friends were pre, vented from attending the fu1 neral service because of flood conditions. **-" < mraivaH ho ho* ? XVIIO, IVV/i lA/li Ml mUTITVM WVA 5 husband, Sheriff W. C. Norton, , by three sons, Oscar Norton, Lem , uel Norton, and Will Norton, of Cullowhee; by four daughter^" , Mrs.. William L. Henaon, of Sylva, Mrs. J. H. Long, Erastus, Mrs. J. . J. Wild, Webster, and Mrs. Johd , Hooper, of Cullowhee; by twenty' four grandchildren, twelve greatgrandchildren, and a large number of other relatives and a host of friends. * . " I t:. |