North Carolina Newspapers

PRESS RUN 4,000 e Net Paid 3,505 Covers j Ashe County j VOLUME 18, NO. 18 SUPERIOR COURT OPENS MONDAY * ★★ ★★★ ★★★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★★★ ★★★★ Revaluation In West Jefferson Totals Three Million Aidermen Cut Figures Forty Per Cent Tues. Tax Rate May Be Fixed At Around SI.OO. Current Rate Is $1.75 TO MEET TUESDAY The revaluation of real estate in the town of West Jefferson has been completed and the board of aldermen and the board of revaluation will hold special session next Tuesday night in the town hall to hear any com plaints from taxpayers, Ralph Campbell, town clerk and man ager, announced yesterday. The town’s total valuation, as worked out by the revaluation committee, amounts to $3,020,849, with real estate being $2,743,705 and personal property $277,144. Members of the board of aider men went over the new figures carefully Tuesday night and de cided to cut this amount 40 per cent. They also estimated that they could fix the tax rate for the next fiscal year, starting July 1. at around SI.OO, provided it is not necessary to make too many adjustments in the valua tion figures. The present rate is $1.75. The aidermen highly praised the work of the revaluation com mittee and said they felt the committee had treated every cit izen fairly and equally. This committee was composed of Dean McMillan, Ed Osborne and Wal ter Tucker. They completed their work about two weeks ago and since then the figures have been checked and tabulated. This special town revaluation was done in compliance with an act passed during the last gen eral assembly by Representative J. O. Bi vins, and at the request of citizens here. Before the revaluation could be done, another survey of the (Continued on Page 4) Poppv Dav Sale Totals $160.00 Contributions To Aid Disabled Veterans And Families Os The Dead The annual observance of Pop py Day. sponsored by the Amer ican Legion Auxiliary, which was held last Saturday, was the most successful ever held here, with the total estimated contributions reaching 5160.00, Mrs. Elizabeth V. Miller, Poppy chairman, an nounced. The auxiliary, aided by the girl scouts and other interested parties, were on the streets early Saturday morning distributing the poppies and receiving the contributions. The contributions made are for the welfare of the disabled vet erans, their families and the fam ilies of the dead. Poppies are sold in honor of World Wars I and 11 dead. The poppies were made by the disabled veterans at Oteen hospital. Mrs. Miller said that she wish ed to express her thanks to the girl scouts for their aid in help ing to make the sale a success. Elkland To Have Box Supper 31st, Weston To Play A box supper will be held at the Elkland high school gym nasium on Saturday night. May 31, at 8:00 p. m . it was announced lore this week. Music will be furnished by Paul Weston and his Hammond electric organ. There will also be cake walks, pretty girl and ugly man contests, and a cake guessing contest. The proceeds will go toward the purchase of a school bus, it was stated, and the public is cor dially invited to attend. Need for the bus is regarded as being urgent. She stet $2.50 a Year in Ashe County Wilkes Man Shot At Jumping Off Place Tuesday Afternoon TELLS ABOUT VISIT kt I ?! wSyO PRESIDENT MIGUEL ALE MAN gave a report to the people of Mexico on his recent trip to the United States when he got a loan for Mexican development. Commencement At V-C To Open Tomorrow Night AH Other High Schools In County Have Closed. Pro gram Announced Virginia-Carolina high school’s commencement exercises will open tomorrow afternoon at 1 o'clock when a program will be given in the gym. Tomorrow night at 8 o’clock the senior play. ‘’The Mummy and the Mumps.” will be given. On Sunday Rev. Grover Thom as, of Grant. Va., will deliver the baccalaureate sermon at 11 o’clock in the Methodist church. Next Thursday night a program will be given, featuring class night by the eighth grade, and a junior class play is to be given on Friday night. May 30. The final graduation program will be on Saturday morning, May 31, in the Methodist church. All other high schools in the county have closed and com mencement programs have been held. ELDER C. R. DANCY WILL HOLD SERVICES The regular monthly service will be held at the South Fork Primitive Baptist church next Saturday at three o’clock at which time Elder C. R. Dancy, of Marion. Va., will preach, it was announced this week. Service will also be held on Sunday at eleven o’clock. North Carolina Briar Is Defended Bv Rocco Cutri Rocco Cutri, local manufactur er of pipes from laurel and ivy burls recently answered charges made by Hirsch, prominent na tional manufacturer on the merits of the North Carolina product. Mr. Cutri points out that al burls are not of poor quality as Hirsch points out. The text of Mr. Cutri’s letter to the editor of the U. S. Tobacco Journal is published here since it is of in terest to many: Dear Sir: I read with interest the speech of Mr. Rudolph Hirsch, president of the Kaywoodie Co. and Kauf man Bros. & Bondy, Inc., deliv ered at the convention of the NATD held in Chicago. In his speech he remarked that: —“the North Carolina briar grows in swampy ground and along the banks of creeks and WEST JEFFERSON, N. C. Everett Shepherd Seriously Wounded. Wyatt Man Is B^ ; — Everett Shepherd, young Wilkes county man, was shot and seriously injured late Tuesday af ternoon at a store on the moun tain crest at the Jumping Off Place, vie sheriff of Wilkes coun ty told a Post reporter over the phone yesterday. It was reported here yesterday morning that two men were kill ed in a shooting affray at the Jumping Off Place, but the Wilkes sheriff said this was a 1 mistake. Deputy P. E. Dancy, he said, in vestigated the shooting. A Wyatt man, whose first name the Wilkes sheriff had not learn ed, was alleged to have shot Shepherd with a .32 calibre Smith and Western pistol. The bullet , ranged in the shoulder. Shep herd is now in the Wilkes hos pital. He and Wyatt both live at Reddies River. The Wilkes sheriff said the two men and some others were work ing at Ambrose Shepherd’s saw mill and that when they finish ed with their work late Tuesday afternoon they went by the store at the Jumping Off Place. The investigation disclosed that both of them had been drinking and got into an argument. Dr. Foreman To Be Heard Sun. Dr. A. D. Foreman. Jr., will speak Sunday on the Baptist hour on the subject, “The God of All Comfort.’’ Dr. Foreman, a native of Houston and a grad uate of the Southwestern Sem- I inary at Fort Worth, is a pastor jof the First Baptist church of i Amarillo. Texas. He will be heard of stations WWNC, WSOC, WPTF and WSJS at 8:30 e.s.t. Three Ashe Bovs To Enter Stock Show Tomorrow i Three Ashe county 4-H club members will enter the live i stock show in Statesville to morrow, H. D. Quessenberry, farm agent, announces. These are Perry Goss, son of Mrs. C. L. Goss, of Lansing; Jimmie Sutherland, son of Fred Sutherland, of Sutherland; and I Lee McMillan, son of the Post > master at Crumpler. Assistant Agent Ophus Fulcher will aid the boys in taking their I entries to Statesville today. rivers and in the swamps, that is the reason why it is very porous and light in weight, etc.” While this is true in certain sections in North Carolina, it is equally true that Carolina briar burls grow also in great quantities in the ridges of the mountains which is of more consistent texture and a very good wood with beautiful grain. I. who was born and raised in the briarwood business, am a pro ducer of domestic briar blocks, I have spent the past six years in the mountains of w< stern North Carolina and Virginia and have surveyed many thousands of acres of wood land. I respect fully disagree with Mr. Hirsch in his implication that our North Carolina briar has very little or no merits at all for pipe making. It is my honest opinion that the (Continued on Page 4) THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1947 Club Launches A Drive To Boost Fish Population Ashe Fish And Game Club Held Meeting Here On Monday Night With the view of increasing the fish population in the New River in this county, the Ashe Fish and Game club is attempt ing to get fish laders construct ed at the dam near Mouth of Wil son. Va., it was reported at a fish fry here at the City case Monday night. An appeal was made to Repre sentative Doughton and a letter from him was read to the club. He stated that he was taking the matter up with Virginia au thorities. Members of the club explain that without laders it is impos sible for fish to get back over the dam and up into Ashe county to spawn. Approximately 60 persons at tended the fish fry and enjoyed a war movie. “Appointment in Tokyo,” presented by Sergeants . Triplett and DeLuce, army re cruiters. Jim Haire was in charge of the program and Harvey Payne pre sided. Secretary George Shepherd, of Laurel Springs, announced that the club’s 25 applications for bass to be put in various streams in the county had been approved and that shipment was anticipat ed in the near future. The club has over 100 mem bers. . .j-.. ; 4 Revival Begins Here On Sunday Rev. Charles P. Bowles, Os Statesville. To Assist Pastor Hoyt Wood Rev. Charles P. Bowks, pas tor of the Broadstreet Methodist church, of Statesville, will be the guest minister at the revival beginning Sunday evening at the West Jefferson Methodist church. Rev. Mr. Bowles, outstanding minister of the Western North Carolina Methodist conference and pastor of one of the larger churches of the conference, will assist the pastor. Rev. Hoyt Wood, it was announced. Services will be held twice daily, the morning ser ices be ing held at 9:30 a. m. and the evening services at 7:45 o’clock. The public is cordially ir wited to attend. EXPECT LARGE CROWD AT FIDDLERS’ MEETING A large crowd is expected to attend the old-fashioned fiddlers’ convention to be held in the' Leasing high school gymnasium on Saturday night. May 31, start ing at 8 o’clock. A number of prizes are being iffered to individual players and bands. The program is being sponsor 'd by the Lansing post of the American Legion. Stop Light Here Is Shot Out And Crippled Tuesday Some one shot and crippled the stop light here Tuesday in front of the First National Bank and town authorities are now trying to locate and apprehend the victim. Persons in the downtown sec tion said they heard rifle shots about 12:30 o’clock Tuesday night. This served to emphasize the need for a town officer to be on duty most of the time. It is point out that the Sheriff and his as sistants aid with the work here. ' The condition of Officer Char lie McMillan has improved and . hd is now able to be out again. G. O. P. Heads Os House Committees The men, shown above, are chairmen of various com mittees in congress and are responsible for all bills considered by its members. All of them have been in congress for some time and are taking their work most seriously. Price Reduction Week To Continue Through Saturday Memorial Dav Program Will Be Given Sunday Service Honoring All War Dead Starts 3 O'clock. Public Invited Tribute will be paid to the honored dead of all wars at a Memorial Day and I Am an American Day service to be held in the courthous Sunday after noon at 3 o'clock. The service will be sponsored by the Ashe post of the Ameri can Legion and Auxiliary and the Vet n ans of Foreign Wars. The public is cordially invited to attend. Special music for the occasion will be rendered by the West Jefferson high school band, under the direction of Mrs. Lorene Perkins Dickson. A prominent out -of - county speaker will deliver the prin cipal address. Ira T. Johnston will preside and other special features will be included on the program. Members of the sponsoring or ganizations are urged to attend and to be at the courthouse a few minutes before three o’clock Sunday. The committee on arrangements for the service is composed of John Hardin. L. B. Tyson. Mrs. W. B. Austin. Rev. Hoyt Wood. Sam Davis. P. G. Wright and L. P. Colvard. Scottville And Helton Are Tied For First Place In Mtn. League With three victories and no .de feats, the Scottville and Helton clubs are now leading in the Mountain Baseball league and Lansing, with two victories and two losses, is in third place. Last week end Scottville de feated Lapsing 8 to 2. The game on Sunday between Scottville and Dog Creek was rained out. Helton continued its winning streak by licking West Jefferson last Sunday 5 to 1. Last Saturday Lansing swamp ed West Jefferson 10 to 3 with Blevins doing the pitching for the winning club and Bowers for West Jefferson. The game was called off in the seventh inning because of rain. The Laurel Springs-Helton Sat urday game was postponed due to rain. $3.00 a Year Out of County Good Response To Town-Wide Event Sponsored By Mer chants Association Thousands of people in this trade area have been taking ad vantage of West Jefferson’s price reduction week, which opened last Saturday and will continue through this Saturday. In compliance with President Truman’s request for the lower ing of prices and for the gen eral effect it might have, many merchants here are observing this National Price Reduction Week by offering 10 per cent re duction or more on many types of merchandise as well as other special savings for the week. The event is sponsored by the West Jefferson Merchants Association. Furniture, groceries, clothing, radios. hardware, drugs and many other items are being offer ed for sale at a big savings. Merchants reported unusually good business on Saturday with keen interest in many items on (Continued on Page 4) REVIVAL UNDERWAY AT GREENWOOD CHURCH Rev. M. L. Chappell, of Tyner, is now conducting a revival at the Greenwood Methodist church. Services are being held each morning at eleven o’clock and each night at 7:30 o’clock. Rev. W. C. Eastridge, pastor, announc ed. The revival began last Sunday and will continue through June 1. The public is cordially invited to attend. ; The Scottville-Dog Creek garni was rained out and Laure ; Springs Sunday defeated Doi i Creek 30 to io' The league standing is as fol I lows: Team Won Lost Pct : Scottville 3 0 1.00( Helton 3 0 I.oo* I Lansing _ 2 2 ,50( Laurel Springs .. 1 2 .331 Wt st Jefferson 1 3 ,25( , Dog Creek 0 3 .00( WEEK END SCHEDULE Saturday, May 24 Lansing at Helton Dog Creek at West Jefferson Scottville at Laurel Springs Sunday, May 25 Helton at Dog Creek West Jefferson at Scottville Laurel Springs at Lansing ASHE COUNTY 15... Leading Livestock and Dairy County in North Carolina. Population; 22,664 | PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY Short Term Is Expected, Only 14 Cases Listed Judge Clement To Preside. Lightest Calendar In Several Years The May-June term of Ashe superior court for the trial of civil cases will commence nejc» Monday with Judge J. H. Clem ent presiding. There are only 14 cases listed on the calendar and three of them have already been settled. Due to this small number, it is anticipated that the term will last less than a week. Slated for trial are the follow ing cases: County of Ashe against H. C. Tucker and others. H. M. Miller against H. C. Tuck er and others. T. C. Bowie against J. W. Gam.' bill and others. Fred Watson against Orville Green and others. Ira Greer against L. M. Stur gill and others. William M. Taylor against Mont Jones. Helen Bare against Van Sheets and Frank Miller. Willie Weaver against Barney Coldiron. Winnie Farrington against Doe. Bare. Eunice Roupe Harrison against William Harrison. There are two Bowie-Gambill cases and if they are tried, it is expected that they will consume right much time. T■— 1— Sheep Siiearing Finals Are Todav L. I. Case To Be In Charge At Upper Mountain Test Farm L. I. Case, of the Extension service of State College, will be in charge of the 4-H sheep shear ing contest to be held at the Up per Mountain test farm near Laurel Springs this morning be ginning at nine o'clock. The two winners of the con test will receive a free trip to the International Livestock Ex position next December in Chi cago. In addition to the contest, £ A. Warner, of the Sunbeam Cor poration. of Chicago, will demon strate proper methods of sheep shearing and the use of the shear master. The public is cordially invited to attend both the con test and demonstration. Hi<ilil Succumbs At Tenn. Home Funeral service for Gordon Hight. 40. was held at his home in Shouns, Tenn., last Thursday afternoon at three o'clock. Burial was in the family cemetery with, the Rev. Ray Jones officiating. Mi. Hight, the son of the late Minerva Davis and LaFayette Hight, succumbed at his home at Shouns. on May 19. He is sur vived by his wife, Mrs. Ella Hight. Scouts Mack 1 A Fine Record At Big Camporee Ashe county’s Boy Scouts made a splendid record at the Old Hickory council camporee held in Watauga county last Saturday and Sunday. Gale McMillan, dis trict chairman, reported. Announcement of the council camporee winners was not avail able in time for publication. The two Jefferson patrols that won in the recent county camp oree attended. They were ac companied by Larry Colvard. dis trict commissioner and Millard Graybeal, leader. A total of 380 attended the council camporee.