ttttb W$ IftgiflmtiUi HarnnUtn LIBERAL - INDEPENDENT PROGRESSIVE VOL. L, NO. IS 744 ENROLLED IN ERECLASSES Illiteracy Diminishing at Interest Grows in Adult Classes The emergency relief educational program which was started in Ma con county on a small scale last fall has grown in to a countywide movement that bids fair to reduce illiteracy to the barest minimum. When the work got under way last September there were only four EKE teachers in the county and a few scattered classes, some. of them consisting of only a handful of people. Now there are 28 ERE teachers in Macon county and 744 men, women, boys and girls are enrolled in their classes. The work is progressing so satis factorily that T. G. Dean, county chairman of the EKE program, hopes that this county will send a representation of three or four hun dred pupils to Asheville on June 1 for a commencement celebration to be held for EKE pupils in all of the western counties. President and Mrs. Roosevelt have been invited to attend the exercises. Ask Cooperation In a statement made public after a conference of EKE teachers in Franklin Saturday, Mr. Dean re viewed what had been accomplish ed by the teachers and asked for public support of their work. He said: "We are now making an appeal to the people of Franklin and Ma con county for donations of books and magazines. We want free clinics for pre-school children. We need an advisory committee of energetic,, bustling, hustling men and women. We are calling for volunteers. .. Will you please get out and learn of our work and be a member of our advisory com mittee." Headquarters Opened ERE county headquarters have been opened in offices over the J. B. Pendergrass store on West Main street, with Mrs. T. C. Justus in charge. The ERE classes are held five or six days a week, usually in the evenings, and consist of five or more pupils. Some of the classes are said to have an enrollment of 65. Some of the pupils have had the equivalent of a third grade education, but many of them have had no education at all. The teachers are paid $12.50 a , week and are required to give 20 hours each week to the work, but many of them work much more than that. Reviews Work Reviewing the program, its achievements and plans for the fu ture, Mr. Dean said: "The work in this county started last September with four teachers. It was pioneer sailing for them. Yet they went out and began teaching in earnest while no one in particular paid very much atten tion. Still they went on, accom plishing things which have not di rectly come to the notice of the public in general, but which will live on in the lives of those with whom they came in contact. "Today, probably you have no ticed, the attitude of the public is changing. People no longer look on EKE teaching merely as a re lief situation. The teachers no longer regard it as a sinecure. From every part of the county complaints are coming in that they are being slighted somewhat be cause we have been unable to place teachers in every locality. F.very community which is fortun ate enough to have a class is en thusiastic. Students from sixteen to 93 years of age are enrolled in these classes. "To date there are twenty-seven white teachers and one colored teacher in lacon county. A total of 744 white students have been (Continued on Page Eight) Delays Announcement Of Examination Results G. L. Houk, Franklin school principal, has postponed an nouncement of a list of pupils who passed the high school en trance examination held on March 23. It "had previously been stated that the list prob ably would be ready for pub lication in this week's Press Maoonian. Mr. Houk said he had decid ed to withhold the list for the time being. He did not say when it would be made public. As soon as available this news paper wiH publish it HOSPITAL GETS DUKE DONATION Angel Institution Receives $5,891 for Free Patients A gift of $5,891 to Angel Hos pital, Franklin, was included in a list of allotments from the Duke Endowment fund announced -in Charlotte Tuesday. A total of $965,894.05 was distributed by trus tees of the foundation, established by the late James B. .Duke, to institutions in the two Carolinas. Of the total, $853,186 was appro priated for 105 hospitals, and 112, 708.05 for 46 orphan homes. Aid is alloted to non-profit hos pitals on the basis of $1 a day per bed for free patients. TAX LISTING DEADLINE SET E. B. Byrd, chairman of the county commissioners, and C. Tom Bryson, supervisor of tax listing, announced today that Saturday, April 20, would be the deadline for listing property for 1935 taxes. Any listings delayed until after that date will be subject to a 25 per cent penalty, they said. Mr. Bryson said that one town ship, Nantahala, already had turn ed in its list book complete and that most of the other townships had nearly complete listings. He expressed the hope that all the list books would be turned in next week. Listing this year got under way promptly on April 1 and property owners have been more prompt than usual in retaurning their tax abstract sheets. Frank Leach, tax lister for Franklin township, will be at the courthouse all next week to re ceive listings not yet returned. Mr. Bryson will take listings for any outside townships whose books have been turned in. Air To Order Hospital To Install Condi tioning Equipment Dr. Furman Angel, medical di rector of Angel Hospital, announc ed Wednesday that he has let a contract to the Westinghouse Elec tric company for installation of air conditioning equipment in the hos oital. "This is the first hospital in this state," he said, "to take this) step for the comfort of its pa tients." Child Seriously 111 From Bee Stings Suffering from innumerable bee stings, Charlie Scruggs, aged 2, was reported in a serious condition at Angel Hospital Wednesday. The child was stung by the ordi nary variety of honey bees while playing around a bee hive. The stings were so numerous that they poisoned his system. FRANKLIN, N. C, THURSDAY. APRIL Passage of Works Relief Bill Assures More Work In Nantahala Forest Area Enactment of the works relief bill, carrying appropriations of $4," 880,000,000, gives assurance of early undertaking of a vast public improvement program in which western North Carolina and Macon county will be certain to partici pate. Detailed plans of public works projects to be undertaken in this section have not been announced, but passage of the bill is expected to hasten work on the park-to-park highway and to result in new pro jects in the Nantahala National forest and other federal lands in western North Carolina. A site already has been selected for a new Civilian Conservation camp in the Cowee community and plans are under consideration for location of another camp at the Coweta experiment station. It is thought likely that several other , camps will be established in the Cooking School To Be Held Here Tuesday, Wednesday APRIL COURT OPENS MONDAY McDonald Brothers To Be Tried for Robbing Service Station With Judge J. A Rousseau, of North Wilkesborc, presiding, the April term of Macon county su perior court is scheduled to con vene Monday morning for a two weeks criminal and civil term. Outstanding case on the criminal docket is that of John and Walter McDonald, brothers, of Charlotte, charged with sticking up Bill Pen land, auto service station manager, and robbing him of $40 on Febru ary 9. Unable to meet bond after a magistrate's hearing, the brothers have been held in the county jail. A heavy civil docket is scheduled. The grand jury named at this term of court will serve for a year, under terms of a bill enacted by the current legislature. Auto Parking Spaces Are Enlarged The town street cleaning depart ment, under the direction of R. F. Henry, police chief, was busy this week marking parking spaces on Main street. "We are making the spaces larg er this time," Chief Henry remark ed, "so no one should have any excuse for not being able to park their cars within the lines. The spaces are six feet with and 17 feet long. That is plenty of room for anybody to drive into, and hereafter I am going to be pretty strict with drivers who leave their cats partly in the parking spaces and partly out." U. D. C Chapter To Hold Plant Sale April 20 The Macon county chapter of the United Daughters of the Confeder acy will sponsor a plant sale on Saturday, April 20, in the store room on the Munday Hotel prop erty on east Main street, it was announced this week. A variety of rooted shrubs, both annual and perennial blooming plants, and a number of cut flow ers will be offered for sale. 11, 1935 Nantahala Forest. John Herbert Stone, supervisor of the Nantahala Forest, expressed the opinion that expansion of the forest would be continued on even a larger scale than in the past two years; but said he had not received any definite instructions from Washington as to what was to be done under the works relief pro gram. The forest recently has made large land purchases and others are under consideration. Improvement of these acquisitions through the construction of roads and trails and the ejection of fire lookout towers will afford work for many men. It has not been learned, however, whether this work will be done by the Civilian Con servation Corps, local labor, or by a combination of both. It is thought very probable that the office and administrative staff of the Nantahala Forest will be considerably increased. Public Invited To Classes At Utility Company's Office A Kelvinator "Cook with Cold" school will be conducted in the of fices of the Nantahala Power and Light company next J4he post- office Tuesday and Wednesday off next week, according to an an nouncement by C. W. Allen, local manager of the utilities company. Classes will be conducted each afternoon at 2:30 o'clock by Miss Grace Johnston, of Gastonia, who has received special training in this work. The classes are open to the public, Mr. Allen said. Refresh ments will be served and prizes of fered each afternoon. Miss Johnston is a graduate of the Woman's College of the Uni versity of North Carolina and has studied in the Kelvin Kitchen school in Detroit, where she learn ed many new and helpful ideas on food preservation, preparation and serving. Miss Johnston conducted a hos tess school here a year ago which attracted much interest among Franklin women. Church Cleaning Day Set for April 16 Tuesday, April 16, has been set aside as church cleaning day at the Franklin Methodist church. Ladies of the congregation have been requested to meet at the church for cleaning the interior of the building, and the men of the congregation have been asked to bring tools and assist in cleaning the church grounds. Macon County Tax Bill In Senate Committee RALEIGH, April 10-Representa-tive Ray's measure to allow Ma con county and the "municipalities therein" to refund their tax sale certificates has been referred to the senate committee on judiciary No. 1. It passed the house last week. It, would allow five-year notes for face amount of taxes for the years 1927-31 to be given be fore April 1, 1936, and allows fore closure of taxes for these years to be instituted any time before Oc tober 1, 1936. Ruth Taliey, 4, Dies At Rainbow Springs The body of Ruth Talley, four-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Will Talley of Rainbow Springs, who died of pneumonia Monday afterjnoon, was taken to Waynes ville for burial Tuesday. $1.50 PER YEAR CAUCUS TICKET IS UNOPPOSED Only 7 Candidates Seeking Equal Number of Town Offices A "cut and dried" town election looms for Franklin on May 7 with only seven candidates running for the seven offices to be filled. George B. Patton is unopposed for mayor, and so are the follow ing candidates for aldermen : T. W. Angel, Sr., G. E. Brown, J. O. Harrison, H. S. Higgins, J. A. Pal mer and W. C. Wilkes. At one time before the deadline for filing notices of candidacy it appeared that there would be a lively contest for the aldermanic positions. Fourteen men announc ed they would seek positions on the board; but, one by one, eight of them withdrew. Caucus Held With the exception of one man, all of those whose names remain on the ticket were said to have been approved at a series of secret caucuses. The membership of the caucuses was said to consist of leaders in the recent successful fight against issuance by the town of sewer and water improvement bonds. The purpose of the caucuses, it was stated, was to select a town administration that "will spend no money." Those Who Withdrew Harve Bryant, one of the early candidates to file for the board of aldermen, asked his name to be withdrawn shortly after he learned that, should he be elected, the business firm of which he is a member would be disqualified from bidding on town supplies. Others who filed for aldermen and later cancelled their notices were J. E. Rice, W. B. McGuire, I. T. Peek, W. F. Curtis, Nathan Pennington, R. D. Sisk, present mayor, and E. W. Long. The deadline for withdrawing notices of candidacy, first set for Saturday, was moved forward to Monday on a new interpretation of the election law, which sets the time at 30 days prior to the elec tion. As this fell on Sunday, it was held that candidates should be allowed to file on Monday. Although all candidates are un opposed, it will be necessary to hold a formal election to comply with the statutes. Federal Building Must Be Finished in 250 Days Construction of Franklin's hun-dred-thousand-dollar federal build ing must be completed by the con tractor in 250 calendar days, ac cording to information received by T. W. Porter, postmaster. Contract for the building was awarded in Washington recently and Mr. Porter has been informed that B. Gallimore, of Greensboro, was the successful bidder. It has not been learned when he plans to begin work on the project. Mr. Porter said today that the site for the building, the former home site of Alex Moore, had been cleared and he had notified authorities in Washington that everything was in readiness for the contractor to start excavation work. To Stock Game Preserve With Quail, Pheasants Dr. "Furman Angel announced Wednesday that, in cooperation with local game authorities, he had ordered 20 ring-necked pheasants and eight pairs of Hungarian quail. The birds are to be released on his private game preserve and in various parts of Macon county. GOES TO ATLANTA Mrs. Hallie Russell, proprietor of Hallie's Beauty Shop, left Monday for Atlanta to take the Georgia examination for licensing cosmetol ogists, and to study new ideas in beauty work.