1— ..i, I, „ „ . j MARCH | l I W R moS?h SS I j i VOLUME 18, NO. 6 Red Cross Campaign Fund Drive Opens Saturday House Would Outlaw Closetl Shops lu State Many Liquor Bills Before Body; Cherokee Bill Turned Down By Staff Writer Raleigh—(Special)--With a deif inite affirmative vote, the house of representatives Tuesday pass ed and sent to the senate a bill to outlaw the closed shop in North Carolina. The vote followed more than two hours of debate during which opponents of the measure plead ed that the record of labor in North Carolina “does not war rant this slap in its face.” Other opponents asserted that the bill would have no effect on the great majority of North Caro lina industries and hence would be “nothing but an idle gesture.” 29 Proposed Liquor Laws | The perennial row over liquor has resulted in introduction in the general assembly of 29 pro posed laws. The bills range from one offer ed by Senator George Penny of Guilford calling for a state-wide referendum on the prohibition question to one sent forward by the Wake delegation providing j for a referendum in Middle Creek township in Wake on the sale of wine and beer. A public hearing on the pro posed state-wide referendum has been scheduled for March 4 and 5 by the joint finance committee. Prior to the hearing, a hill similar to the Penny measure probably will be introduced in the .house. Among the other 21 measures related to liquor is a bill that i would prohibit beer and wine ■ sales without elections in Ashe. and Transylvania counties. Another would provide for an election in Alleghany county j along with some others on the of wino and b°r. Cherokee Bill F > >med Opposition resuited in an un favorable senate committee re port for Rep. Dan Tompkins’ res olution memoralizing congress to » emancipate the Eastern Band of \ Cherokee Indians. The senate education commit tee voted an unfavorable report after 10 Indians from the Cher okee reservation voiced their pro test at an hour-and-half hear ing. Senator Parker arranged for the public hearing and made the motion for the unfavorable report. Only Swain’s Senator Baxter Jones voted against the Parker motion. Truck Hearing Started The joint utilities commission opened this week the first in what probably will be a long series of hearings on a bill to rewrite the truck laws and de fine, classify and regulate motor carriers. Chief opposition to the measure (Continued on i~age 4) Mail Service Is Curtailed Here Because of condition of the highways blocked by snow drifts mail service in some sections has been curtailed for a short time. • Obids and Oval routes out of West Jefferson were blocked for two days. Several others out of West Jef ferson and Jefferson were par tially curtailed from some sec tions of their routes. All of them made efforts to make the com plete rounds, however. The mail from North Wilkes-1 boro was slightly delayed for two days and had to detour some because of the snow drifts in the highway. Tax Deputy To Be Here March 3, 4 John N. Smoot, deputy col lector, of Lenoir, will be at West Jefferson Monday and Tuesday | to assist taxpayers in filing State I Income Tax returns, it was an nounced this week. Mr. Smoot will be located at Mrs. Tugman’s here, and will ■ work from 9:00 a. m. until 4:00 p. m. each day. Those who de sire to contact him may reach him there. She Dost $2.50 a Year in Ashe County County Has Week Os Severe Winter Weather And Snow DRIVE CHAIRMAN H. D. Quessenberry, chair man of the Red Cross Cam paign Fund Drive. Grass And Clover Seed Available In AAA Farm Plans Farmers Again Reminded To Complete Plans For 1947 Practices Before Mar. 8 Melvin Campbell, chief clerk of the AAA office announced that beginning next week farm ers would be able to obtain grass and clcffer seed under the pur chase order plan through the AAA office. It was explained that this would be handled sim ilar to the lime and potash. The farmer will be given a ticket at the AAA office for the kind of and amount of seed his farm is approved for. This ticket is then to be taken to the seed dealer where the seed may be obtained by the farmer paying a small part of the cost. ‘‘The farmer should see that the kind and amount of seed he expects to use this year is en tered on his farm plan. Com munity Committeemen have the farm plans in each community and will assist farmers in exe cuting them. It is necessary that a farm plan be made before seed can be furnished,” Mr. Campbell said. He said that he again wanted to remind the farmers that the 1947 plans are now in the hands of the community committeemen and that they must be complet ed now. “The county's program for the year calls for $100,338.00 for im proved farm practices, but in or der to get this plans must be made by the farmers and must be com pleted before March 8,” he con cluded. Ashe County Boys And Girls To Celebrate 4-H Club Week March 1-9 will be celebrated by the 536 boys and girls in the 4-H Clubs in Ashe County along with the rest of the country. Os these 536 members, 262 club boys are planning to. or have already started work on 174 crop pro jects and 131 livestock projects. The main objectives for Ashe County’s 4-H Clubs during this week will be to: 1. Acquaint parents in every community with what 4-H mem bers are already doing. 2. To encourage 4-H clubs to inventory in their community those young people eligible for membership and to stimulate every 4-H member to enroll at least one new member. The national 4-H goal is 3,200,000 members for 1950. 3. To use National 4-H Club Week for the announcement of the 4-H club calender of 4-H events for the year on a county WEST JEFFERSON, N. C. Travel Badly Hampered; Schools Are Closed; Few Accidents Reported Following snow which started a week ago Wednesday morning, Ashe county has experienced a week of bitter winter weather, with the temperature dropping to as low as two degrees above zero and scarcely rising to -as high as thirty. Added to the low temperature has been daily snow blizzards. As a result many of the county roads are still im passable and some sections of the main highways are covered with ice and snow. An official reading of the measurement of the snow, which fell Wednesday a week ago, was nine and one-half inches, and with the low temperature much of this still remains on the ground. Slight blizzards almost every day since then have added some to the original snowfall which has been whipped by winds to leave some spots totally bare and to drift as much as (Continued on Page 4) AllrStar Teams To Play Tourney Games Tonight Schedule Postponed Until This Week Due To Con dition Os Roads Highways blocked with snow and ice caused the officials of the Northwest all-star tourna ment to postpone their scheduled games until this week. Playing will be resumed tonight and con tinue through Saturday. Last Wednesday. Riverview Wildcats and the Boone all-stars were scheduled to play but Boone failed to show up and the game was postponed. The Y. M. C. A. boys from Fries, Va., however, were able to come and won an easy victory over the Jefferson all-stars, 51- 22. Pack was high scorer for the lads from Virginia scoring 16 points, and Dixon led the pace for the Jefferson boys by scor ing 8. In the second game Wednes day night the Mt. City Jaycees defeated the Elkland all-stars, 46-34. Stout, of Mt. City, led the scoring with 14 points. Tonight’s schedule is as fol lows: 6:00, Hollar’s Inc., vs. Mill er’s Creek; 7:00. winners of Riv erview-Boone game vs. Crump ler Rebels; 8:00, Mt. City Jaycees vs. Fries, Y. M. C. A.; 9:00, Blow ing Rock vs. Mocksville Millers. Friday, 7:00, winners of Thurs day night’s 6:00 and 7:00 games will play; 8:00, winners of 8:00 and 9:00 scheduled games will play. Saturday at 8:00, Friday night winners will play. I basis. 4. To encourage outstanding | citizens in every rural community t© volunteer as local leaders, advisors, or sponsors of the var ious 4-H Club activities. “During the war the 4-H Club launched itself whole-heartedly into the war effort. Clubs began to function more efficiently. The members began to realize their importance to their country and strove to do their very best. Last year more cattle, swine, vege tables, eggs, and field crops than ever before were produced as , 4-H club production reached an all-time high,” O. M. Fulcher, assistant county agent said. “Now that the war is over, the 4-H Clubs can truly say that they did their share to help win it. ■The peace is yet to be preserved and a 4-H Club will do its part by keeping steadily at the task of (Continued on Page 4) THURSDAY, FEB. 27, 1947 $3.00 a Year Out of County PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY The Red Cross Is On The Job Serving Veterans C\_ll ■ of Blllfc.. ,k<, During the fiscal year the Red Cross expects to spend $80,900,000 in behalf of servicemen at home and abroad and for veterans and their families. This service merits your generous support. ASSISTANT AGENT O. M. Fulcher, who has be gun work as assistant county farm agent in Ashe county. County Guernsey Breeders Are To Meet On March 7 H. D. Quessenberry. county agent, announced this week that a meeting of all Guernsey breed ers of the county would be held at the community building on Friday. March 7 at 7:30 p. m., to discuss the possibilities of a coun ty unit in connection with the State organization. Mr. Quessenberry stated that this meeting was being called be cause of the interest of the Guernsey breeders of the county. “I would like to insist that all breeders of Guernsey cattle, even though they only have one or tw r o registered animals, be present at this meeting to help decide the need of an organiza tion and whether or not we should go ahead with it at this time,” he said. T. F. Cooley, manager of Klon dike Farm, at Elkin, is expected (Continued on Page 4) Schools Expected To Re-Opeu Mou. Ashe county schools which were closed on Wednesday of last week because of the heavy snowfall are expected to re open on Monday provided that the roads over which the buses travel, can be cleared. B. H. Duncan, superinten dent of schools said yesterday that the highway department had done some work on these roads, and in some cases, be cause of the constantly drift ing snow, this work had to be done over again. He pointed out that provid ed that there was no more sleet or snow, most of the bus routes should be open for travel by Monday. Burns Fatal To Bryan Blevins; Home Destroyed By Fire At Phenix Creek Tues. Morning Farm Planning Meetings Have Been Postponed Revised Schedule Announced; Unfavorable Weather Is Cause Os Change The farm planning meetings scheduled to open on Monday have been postponed because of the unfavorable weather and the impassable condition of many of the roads and will open on Fri day evening if the weather per mits. H. D. Quessenberry. county agent announced yesterday. At these meetings farmers will I have an opportunity to discuss production, price and the market | outlook for important crops of; this section. . Representatives of all farm I agencies of the county including J. T. McLaurin, soil conservation ist, Thomas H. Sears, FHA sup- I ervisor, representatives of the AAA office are expected to co- i operate with the county agents in these meetings. In addition to the discussions, a sound motion picture will be presented. The revised schedule is as fol lows: Friday, February 28, Helton i school, at 7:00 p. m.; Monday, I March 3, Riverview school, at 7:00 p. m.; Tuesday. March 4, Green Valley school, at 7:30 p. I m.; Wednesday, March 5, Idle wild, at T. E. Hartsog’s, at 7:00 p. m. More Ashe Farmers Urged To Use Contour Strip Cropping James T. McLaurin and Roy R. Beck, of the Ashe unit of the New River Soil Conservation Dis trict, this week stressed the importance of farmers making plans for the current year, to in clude more contour strip crop ping. It was pointed out that con tour strip cropping was first started in this county around eight years ago. And from the first few who then saw the need, the practice has grown to such an extent that more than 600 farmers will be strip cropping parts of their farms this year. “We hope that more and more farmers will start this practice. So far not one gall or gulley has appeared in a field where strips of the correct width are on the exact contour and all natural draws have been kept in per manent grass of adequate depth. Invariably farmers report in creased crop yields within a few Funeral Will Be Held This Morning At Scott Ceme tery At Phenix Creek Fire took its first victim of the year in Ashe county on Tuesday afternoon, when severe burns sustained by Bryan Blevins, 21. son of Mrs. Rhoda Blevins, earlier in the day, proved fatal. He died at the Ashe county hospital at 4:45 o'clock. As far as it could be deter mined, the fire, which totally de stroyed the Blevins home at Phe nix Creek, below Jefferson, around 7:30 o’clock, Tuesday morning, originated when a coal burning heatrola exploded set ting the wooden structure ablaze. Both Bryan and his mother, the only occupants of the home at the time, were able to make their way out. But shortly after wards, thinking his mother had re-entered the building, Bryan went in again in search of her. It was then that he was severely burned before he discovered she was not on the inside. A motor ist passing by, brought the injur ed man to the hospital imme diately, when it was found his burns were critical. The building and all of its fur nishings were totally destroyed and were without insurance cov erage, it is understood. Funeral service will be held today at 11 o’clock at Shelter church. Burial will follow in the Scott cemetery. In addition to his mother, the deceased is survived by two brothers, Allan Blevins, Jeffer son; L. H. Blevins, Charlotte, four (Continued on Page 4) years after changing from solid field cropping to contour strip ■ cropping.” McLaurin said. i Strip cropping, combined with ■ contour tillage, crop rotations, i winter cover crops, and grassed waterways has been proved by both experiment stations and farmers to be very economica' and effective and one of tho most practical means of conserving soil and water on cultivated land. I Mr. Beck pointed out in discuss . ing the practice. “Contour strip cropping di vides the length of the slope checks the momentum of run off water, filters out the soil be- J ing carried off. and increases the absorption of rain water by the soil. This is accomplished by the 1 multitude of obstructions offered by the dense close-growing crops in alternate strips, which by slowing down the rapid flow of water cause it to spread and soak (Continued On Page 4) «««imi Need Is Great; Cooperation Os Everyone Asked H. D. Quessenberry Is Chair man: Initial Gifts Are Sought Ashe county's Red Cross Cam paign Fund Drive will officially open on Saturday, March 1 with H. D. Quessenberry as drive chairman. The county's quota has been set at $2330 and the cooperation of everyone is asked in raising this. Special letters for initial gifts have already gone out and a number of workers will also make solicitations, it was an nounced. Sharpe S. Shoemaker is co chairman with H. D. Quessen berry and other special aids in clude Mrs. Ward Ray. Miss Lenna Gambill. L. P. Colvard and Rocco Cutri. Mrs. W. G. Vannoy, chapter chairman said that since 65 per cent of the funds raised would remain in the local chapter, she felt like Ashe county people would be most anxious to sup port the drive. "Knowing the large number of men in service and veterans aided by the Red Cross, should be an incentive to give,” she declared. Drive Chairman Quessenberry, a veteran of World War 11, said that he believed that all families of men in service as well as all others knowing of the invaluable service rendered by the Red Cross should give their whole hearted support to the campaign. Schools will not make special drives as in times past, but have been asked to raise some con tributions. A number of special worker* have been named for the county. They include: Mrs. V. C. Lillard, Creston; Mrs. J. J. Miller, Todd; James Graham. Transou; Mrs. Mathew Reynolds, Grassy Creek; Mrs. Claudia Johnson. Warrens ville; Mrs. Fred Graybeal, Fig; Bruce Graybeal, Fig; Mrs. Ed Eller, Lansing: Mrs. Bryan Kirby, Sturgills: H. H. Burgess. Obids; Mrs. E. V. Pierce. Crumpler; and W. S. Watson, Beng. Other work ers and committees are to be named within a short time Chair man Quessenberry said. Clothing Drive Still Underway I Needs Os European Countries Cited; Some Collections Already Taken , In an effort to aid the hundreds of thousands in war-torn Europe that are suffering from lack of clothing, a drive to collect | clothes is now being sponsored by the three churches here. Some ' collections were made over the I week end, but because of the un favorable weather, the drive is to be continued to enable more peo ple to make contributions. Those who have clothing to give and have not turned theirs in are asked to contact Rev. Hoyt Wood, pastor of the West Jeffer son Methodist church. Rev. E. W. Powers, pastor of the West Jef ferson Baptist church, or Rev. W. P. Boyle, pastor of the West Jefferson Presbyterian church, j It was pointed out that use ■ ful clothing that has as much as 1 six months’ wear is needed. When ! it is all collected and sorted it will be shipped abroad. Movie Will Be Shown At Rotary , A moving picture pertaining to . the dairy industry will be given I by Harvey Payne at the Rotary ■ meeting tonight. “John Martin ■ and Son" is the title of the movie i which is produced by the Nation- I al Dairy Products Corporation. J. I Lester Segraves will be in charge of the program. Raymond Francis was guest speaker at the club last Thurs day and spoke on “The Life of George Washington.” giving not only highlights of his life as a statesman, but as Washington, the man. The speaker was in troduced by Hoyt 'Wood. Earl Davidson was in charge of the program.