All Good Wishes For A Prosperous And Happy New Year To Everyone Everywhere
PRESS RUN 4,000
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Ashe County
VOLUME 15, NO. 52
Local Dairy Industry Shows Big In crease
1945 Has Been A
Record Buying
Year In County
Shortages In Many Lines;
Money Reported More
Plentiful; Needs Grow
Despite many adverse condi
tions, 1945 has been one of the
greatest buying years West Jeff
erson has ever kuown, according
to reports from a number of mer
chants.
And in spite of the unfavorable
weather, Christmas shopping was
unusually heavy. On many days
stores were crowded almost be
yond capacity.
Merchants said the demand is
by far greater than the supply
of most goods and that although
the supply of some items is much
better than during any of the war
years, the demand has increased
by an even larger margin. The
supply of some items has been
decreased.
The great purchasing splurge
this year is attributed to several
factors. One of these is the fact
that during the past few years
many persons have had to do
without manv things they want
ed or needed and now they will
buy almost anything whether
they need it or not.
Another contributing factor is
that the majority of people have
more money than they have ever
had before.
Also, now that the war is over
and the boys are coming home
from overseas, people just feel
better toward each other and
wa n t to give more gifts.
* With the of jxtanv
vicemen there has been an extra
drain on civilian clothing. Many
of the veterans are having trou
ble cuf’itting themselves.
Business is expected to con
tinue with the coming of the
new year, si' there are many
needs yet filled and since also
th-'re will an increase in many
including aFomobiles, elec
tric anplances. many types of
furniture thai have been scarce,
as well as other items.
Baptist Group
Meets Saturtlay
The Baptist ministers and
church workers of the Ashe As
sociation will meet in regular
conference Saturday, Dec. 29, for
the closing meeting of the year.
The meeting will open at ten o’-
clock and continue for an after
noon session.
Several speakers will appear
on the program and plans for the
coming year will be made. “All
Christian workers are urged to
be present,” R. C. Ashley, secre
tary, said.
J. M. Edwards, 82,
Buried Monday
Funeral service was held Mon-1
day evening for James Mack Ed
wards, 82, of West Jefferson, who
died at Stony Point on Sun
day. Burial took place in the
Baldwin cemetery.
Revs. Joe Taylor and T. J.
Houck were in charge of thej
service.
The deceased is survived by his
wife and one son, C. R. Edwards,
of West Jefferson.
T-5 A. C. Walters
Has Re-enlisted
T-5 Avery C. Walters, of Jef
ferson, a member of'the‘333rd
Ordnance Depot Co., stationed at
Fort Jackson, S. C., under the
12th Headquarters and Headquar
ters Detachment, Special Troops,
First Army, has reenlisted for one
year in the Regular Army.
T-5 Walters, who is the .son of
Mr. and Mrs. James G. Walters,
who live at Jefferson, has been
in the army fifteen months. He
served overseas four and one
half months with the 333rd Ord
nance Depot Co., and wears the
ETO ribbon with one battle star
for Central Europe Campaign. I
(The >st
$2.00 a Year in Ashe County WEST JEFFERSON, N. C., THURSDAY, DEC. 27, 1945 $2.50 a Year Out of County
War Heroes Go Back To High School
Hnkl al Star
WJy B It A
p- ; W . /-*
j /-
■F' VJ z M .i .
g' '
I ; A;. *
Ray Simmons, 20, left, and John D. Koss, 22, both of
Pittsburgh, Pa., both married, are shown in class at Mt. Leb
anon high school, where they are earning college entrance
credits. Koss, hero of 15th air force, plans to be an aeronau
tical engineer. Simmons, with the navy off Guam and Okina
wa, hero of several engagements, will major in electrical en
gineering.
Heavy Sleet And
Sno w In County
During Christmas
Holidav, Season Described As
i “Quiet, Bright And White
; Christmas”
/ The heavy coat of sleet which
fell Christmas eve over the blank
et of snow here made the tree
tops glisten, thus insuring a bright
Christmas, but for most people it
was also a quiet one, as the con- ,
dition of the highways made trav-!
el almost impossible.
Bus service was hampered as
were communications. Many peo-j
pie on the way home were forced
to stop enroute.
A number of minor automobile
a n cidents were reported because
of the ice-covered highways, no
serious injuries were recorded,
however, Chief Deputy Carl
Graybeal said.
For most people, it was a gen
erous Christmas. In spite of
shortages, gifts were in abund-i
ance. For many children, it was
(Continued op Page 8)
Schools Will Open
In County Monday
Unless weather should make!
roads impassable, all schools in
the county are expected to open
on schedule Monday, as far as it
could be learned this week.
Both students and teachers have
had extended holidays because of i
severe winter weather.
OPA Decrees End To Tire
Rationing, Effective Jan. 1
Washington Tire rationing
will end at 12:01 a. m. Jan. 1, the
Office of Price Administration
has announced.
This will leave only sugar on
the rationing list.
Tire stocks weye frozen on Dec.
8, 1941, and rationing began Jan.
5, 1942.
Under the program 57,000,000
new passenger car tires—normal
ly a 20-month replacement sup
ply—kept almost 24,000,000 pas
senger cars rolling for four war
years.
OPA said that holders of tire
purchase certificates will have 11
days to turn in their certificates
to dealers. This will enable deal
ers to supply them before ration
ing ends.
After Dec. 21 no additional cer
tificates will be issued except in
emergency cases. OPA tire ra
tioning panels will stay on the
job, however, until Jan. 1 to han-
Will Complete
Parkway Soon;
To Let Contracts
Work On Several Stretches
Expected To Begin Early
Next Year
•
Os much interest to this entire
. section is the announcement'from
Paleigh that the Blue Ridge
Parkwav will be finished at an
early date.
Contracts for the most difficult
stretches of the highway between
Asheville and the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park are
scheduled to be let shortly after
January 1, the State News Bureau
has disclosed here.
Over half of the 500-mile
(Continued on Page 8)
METHODIST GROUP
TO HAVE SERVICE
The Methodist Youth Fellow
shin of the Jefferson Methodist
Church will have Watch Night
'service, December 31 at 7:30. Dr.
J. S. Hiatt, Executive Secretary;
of College Advance of the Meth-'
odist Church, and the Rev. A. E.
l ackey will be speakers for the
'"’'ening. The purpose of the serv-
I ice is to emphasize the program of
I education and evangelism.
dle emergency needs of appli
cants who cannot wait until then
for new tires.
Tire production this quarter
reached 11,000,000 passenger tires.
CPA and OPA had agreed that
rationing could be lifted when it
reached that level.
CPA Chief John D. Small re
ported that current weekly pro
duction of passenger tires will be
nearly 4,000,000 this month. He
estimates that 66,000,000 pasenger
tires will be produced in 1946.
Several million tires will be
needed for new automobiles dur
ing the coming year. Millions
more must be available for re
placements.
CPA will continue to restrict
spare tires for new cars, as well
as white sidewall tires and tires
for export to assure motorists the
maximum number of replace
ments.
The OPA will continue to con
trol prices.
Johnson Resigns
As Mgr. Os Kraft
Cheese Plant Here
Will Be Succeeded By Brad
shaw; Others Are Added
To Organization
Levern Johnson, who for the
past 10 years has efficiently serv
ed as manager of the Kraft cheese
plant here, has resigned to enter
the cheese business for himself,
in Pulaski, Tennessee, effective
January 1, and J. E. Bradshaw
has been named to replace him.
Working with Manager Brad
shaw will be Couch Brown, of
Booneville, Mississippi, as gener
al plant supervisor, and Harvey
Payne, as field man.
Bradshaw and his wife arrived
from New Orleans, where he was
previously associated with the
Kraft cheese company for a num
ber of years before entering mil
itary service. Brown has also
been associated with the company
before coming here. Harvey
Payne has been serving as assis
tant county agent since H. D.
Quessenberry resigned to enter
service.
In making public his resigna
tion, Mr. Johnson said that both
he and Mrs. Johnson had enjoyed
living here and working with the
people of this section. “We ap
preciate the fine cooperation we
(Continued on Page 8)
HEADS TEST FARM
M ■Wf
IMm A liwsif
James A. Graham, who has
been named superintendent of
the Upper Mountain Experi
ment Station at Transou, ef
’-»r*ive January 1.
Truman Named
‘Man Os Year’ By
Time Magazine
Cited For His Service Tn Con
nection With Use Os Atom
ic Bomb
New York—President Harry S-
Truman has been named by Time
Magazine as its “man of the year”
for 1945.
In selecting the president, Time
said in its Dec. 31 issue, released
that “the greatest of all 1945’s
great events was the atom bomb.”
The president, the magazine
said, “somewhat unwittingly,
somewhat against his own will,
became more than any other man
responsible for the bomb, its use
in 1945 and its future.”
WANTS PLAYGROUND
FOR CHILDREN HERE
T-
J. H. Myers, prominent lum
berman, this week pointed out
to a representative of. The
Post, the need for a play
ground for ehildren in order
to keep them off of the streets
and announced that he would
start a fund of SIOO for this
cause, providing others would
fall in with the movement.
Mr. Myers stated that there
had often been some develop
ments suggested for adults,
but that he believed that the
need for children was greater.
“I do wish that some safe,
happy place in which children
could play could be establish
ed here,” he said.
Japanese Children See Short Snorter
f MKHBSSmBShk
Sasebo Naval Base, Japan—Marine Private First Class
Earl Sexton, of Route 2, Lansing, exhibits his short snorter
bill to three Japanese children in the town of Sasebo.
Sexton is on occupation duty with the Bth Marine Service
Regiment, at the Sasebo Naval Base, Kyushu.
County Is Still Short
Os E Bond Quota As
Drive Nears Close
Coal Shortage Is
Still Acute As
County Shivers
Prospects To Secure Some
Early In New Year Are
Reported
t
While Ashe county continues to
shiver under a blanket of snow,
the coal shortage is still acute,
with little prospects in sight for
netting more before next year.
Dealers express some hone of hav
ing more then, however.
A number of people have been
forced to use wood altogether in
both stoves and furnaces. And
with the unpleasantly cold weath
er that is also hard to secure.
During the past three weeks
the county has experienced some
of the worst weather ever known
i t this section and for that reason
fuel piles have greatly diminished.
C. G. Sliatley, 37,
Burietl Saturday
Funeral service was held Sat
urday or Charles G. Shatley, 37,,
of Jefferson, who died at his home
December 21. Burial took place
in the Poe cemetery. The Rev.
W. O. Mullis was in charge of the
service. I
He is survived by his wife and
three sons, Roy Dean, Carlee and
Larry Dale, all of Jefferson. I
Congress To Be Faced With
Many Controversial Issues
Washington—No congress in re
cent years has faced an election
year docket as laden with contro
versy as that which confronts the
79th when it reconvenes next
month.
Between January 14 when they
come back from vacation, and
next’Kummer when the hope to
get away for political campaign
ing the legislators must grapple
With more than a dozen major
subjects, each primed with politi
cal dynamite.
There are many items on Pres
ident* Truman’s legislative pro
gram that haven’t been acted on,
and there are many others, not on
the chief executive’s priority list,
that are likely to become bitter is
sues.
The senate in particular faces a
prospect of diving immediately in
to a row, with Senators Ball (R.,
Minn.) and Chavez (D., N. M.)
planning to bring up the bill for
a permanent fair employment
Last Minute Buying Is Urged;
Drive To Close On Next
Monday
Ashe county is still short of the
E bond quota of $127,000.00 for
the Victory Loan, which comes to
a close on Monday, according to
reports received yesterday.
The public is asked to make an
extra effort to buy an extra bond
before the drive officially closes.
Those who received money for
Christmas are particularly urged
to invest this in bonds.
T t ' v as pointed out that should
last-minute buying fail to raise
a
needed to reach the E u quo
tho copntv would fail for 'h«
first time during the past war
loans to raise its quota.
A special effort is being made
this week through the state and
nation to raise the remainder of
quotas before the drive comes to
an end.
In cooperation with C. T.
(Continued on Page 8)
COUNTY ANTMAL TO BE
IN HEREFORD SALE
Stamey, Extension
Animal Husbandry Specialist, and
Cecil Jackson, of the Atlantic
Coast Line Railway, were in the
county last week, inspecting cat
tle for the N. C. Hereford sale to
be held in March.
They selected a year-old heifer
from G. D. Cox’s herd at Grassy
Creek. No other cattle were chos
en from this county.
practices committee. That plan
has started trouble every time it
has come up. Senator Bilbo (D.,
Miss.) already has let it be known
he will filibuster.
Some time before May 15, con
gress must decide what it wants
to do about the draft law. It ex
piries then, and many members of
congress want it to go right on
with its dying.
The decision on the draft prob
lem will be coupled with univer
sal military training legislation
the president has requested. The
house military committee is in the
midst of hearings on peacetime
military training now.
Before the end of June, some
decision must be done about price
controls. If nothing is done, the
controls end automatically, for
the price control law expires on
June 30, 1946.
The administration will insist
on early action on legislation set
(Continued on Page Four)
ASHE COUNTY IS ...
Leading Livestock and Dairy
County In North Carolina.
Population: 22,664
W'V. -
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDA
Production Os
Milk Shows Big
Jump This Year
Much Progress Made In Im>
provement Os Herds; in
come Shows Gain
During the past twelve months,
the dairying industry, which has
long been considered a big busi
ness in Ashe county, showed a
sensational gain over the previous
year, with a total estimated in
come of more than $585,000.00.
According to figures just re
leased by L. E. Tuckwiller, coun
ty agent, between December l t
1944 and November 30, 1945* the
Coble Dairy Products Company’s,
receiving station at Lansing, re
ceived 12,311,120 pounds of milk,,
and in the same period the Kraft
Cheese Company at West Jeffer
son purchased 11,150,000 pounds
of milk. Thus, a total of 23,461,-
120 pounds of milk was purchased
at plants located in Ashe county.
It is estimated that approximate
ly 19,300,000 pounds of this milk
was produced by Ashe county
farmers. This represents an in
crease of 2,916,000 pounds over
the estimated 1944
which was 16,384,000 pounds.
Reports further show that
much interest has been shown
during the past year in improv
ing herds. Fifteen purebred dai
ry bulls were purchased by Ashe
county farmers in 1945, and more
than fifty-five dairymen purchas
ed purebred or high grade fe
males. Thirteen of the bulls pur
chased were registered Guern
seys, one was a Milking Short
horn, and one an Ayrshire, Mr.
Tuckwiller said.
Commended For
Pacific Action
Pfc. Cecil John Harris, of Tas
well, Va., formerly of this county,
who served with the U. S. Ma
rine Corps Reserve, received the
following citation from the com
manding officer of the Fourth
Marine Division:
“Commendation for excellent
service in the prosecution of his
duties as a rifleman during action
against enemy Japanese forces in
the invasion and capture of Sai
nan and Tinian, Marianas Island,
from 15 June to 1 August, 1944.
He accompanied several patrols,
which effectively cleaned out ene
my snipers in caves, and his wil
lingness to close with the enemy
was highly commendable.”
Mrs. Greer, 29,
Buried Monday
Funeral service was held Wed
nesday at two p. m. for Mrs. Lu
cille Greer, 29, of Todd, who died
at her home on Monday. Burial
took place in the family cemetery.
She is survived by her husband
and five children, Larry, Jerry,
Linda, Walter and Perry Joyce.
Last Call Made
.. w*. ,
For Red Tokens
Announcing the extension of
the period for the return of red
tokens until January 5. L. W.
Driscoll, OPA District Director,
urged retailers, wholesalers and
primary distributors to turn in
promptly all the red tokens in
their possession.
“The return of tokens since the
meats-fats rationing program
ended November 24, has been,
slow,” Mr. Driscoll said. “We are
extending the time limit, original
ly set for December 12, to give aD
members of the trade ample time
to comply with the requirement.
Because consumers held only a
few tokens, they are required to
return them.”
Tokens need not be counted and
may be placed in regular token
boxes, envelopes, ’ or any type
container for return to the ra
tion bank, he added. Their sur
render is necessary before OPA
and the trade can wind up all
matters pertaining to the termin
ated program.