liacotiian
PROGRESSIVE
LIBERAL
IJV'DEPEJ^DEJV'T
VOL. LI, NO 5
FRANKLIN, N. C, THURSDAY, JAN. 30, 1936
$1.50 PER YEAR
CANCER FATAL
TOJ.TJRYSON
Funeral for Cullasaja Man
Is Set for This
Afternoon
Dies at 108
‘Aunt’ Sallie Passmore
Born in 1827
John Turner Bryson, 85, died of
the effects of cancer at 3 o’clock
Wednesday morning at his home in
the Cullasaja section. He had been
in ill health for the past year and
for several weeks the family had
despaired of his recovery.
The funeral, it was announced,
would be held at 2:30 o’cbck this
afternoon at Salem Methodist
church, with the pastor, the Rev.
B; W. Lefler, officiating, assisted
by the Rev. A. S. Solesbee, Bap
tist minister, and Rev. Mr. Lindsey,
Pentecostal minister.
Mn. Bryson was born July 20,
1850, the son of the late Mr. and
Mrs. Joe Bryson. He was born and
reared, and spent his entire life on
the farm where he died. He was
married March 29, 1874, to Miss
Martha J. Deal. They had eight
sons and a daughter, who, with
their mother, survive.
Lost Fatljer in War
Mr. Bryson was still in his teens
during the War between the States,
and did not see service; fcut th-e
war joost him the loss of his father,
who died of measles while in the
Confederate army.
A devout Methodist, Mr. Bryson
had been a member of Salem
church for 65 years, and for the
greater part of that time served as
a trustee and steward. Some years
ago he was a school committeeman.
Until this year, when his health
forbade it, Mr. Bryson used to
visit The Franklin Press office each
January to renew his subscription.
He had been a subscriber of this
newspaper since its establishment in
1886 and was fond of recalling his
acquaintance with its various edit
ors, especially of the late W. A.
Curtis.
Leaves Large Family
-The surviving children are: Will,
Charlie, Sam and Elbert Bryson, of
the Cullasaja section; George Bry
son, of Sedro-Wooley, Wash.; Joe
Bryson, of Roberts,' Ore.; Bulen
Bryson, of Whittier, N. C.; Newton
Bryson, of. Raleigh, N. C.; and Mrs.
R. iA. Vanhook, of Prentiss, N. C.
Thirty-nme grandchildren and 18
great-grandchildren also survive.
Transferred
Roy C. Dady to be Moved
To Florida
“Aunt” Sallie Passmore, reputed
to be 108 years old, died at 3
o’clock Wednesday morning at her
home several miles so,uth of Frank
lin on highway No. 285.
Mr. and Mrs. Furman Emory,
with whom the c^Id lady lived, ex
hibited a family Bible to testify to
her age. It recorded her birth on
June 5, 1827, in Burke county.
Until four years ago, when she
fell and broke a hip, “Aunt” Sallie
led an active life. Since then she
had been bedridden.
Many years ago Mrs. Passmore
and her family moved to Nantahala
township, this county, from the
Tusquitte section of Clay county.
She moved with the Emorys to the
house near Franklin where she
died four or five months ago.
John E. Rickman, one of Frank
lin’s older residents, recalled today
that “Aunt Sallie was an old
woman when I was a boy; she
must have been well over a hun
dred.” He added that she 'had had
one or two sons in the Civil War.
“Aunt” Sallies’s only survivors
were listed as two grandchildren,
Her husband, Warren Pa.ssmorc,
died many years ago.
The funeral was scheduled for 3
o’clock this afternoon.
Armless Woman Attracts
Curious Crowds to the Jail
A cell in the Macon county jail
was turned into a circus side show
over the week-end while scores of
curious people went there to see a.n
armless woman manipulate her feet
as dexterously as normal persons
use their hands.
Penniless, stiff from the cold and
almost starved, the woman and her
poorly clad family of four small
children and a shiftless husband
were stranded two miles north-east
of Franklin on highway 285 Satur
day night. Their dilapidated model
T Ford broke down and the fam
ily was preparing to camp by the
roadside. They were reported to
Sheriff A. B. Slagle, who offered
them free quarters in the jail.
Soon word spread around town
about the armless woman, who said
she had spent 21 years in a circus.
Crowds flocked to the jail to see
her. She willingly performed, writ
ing with her toes and doing other
feats. All day Saturday and Mon
day the curious swarmed to the
woman’s cell, marveled at 'her
pedestrial gymnastics and shudder
ed at the thought of her dire pov
erty; but few showed their appre
ciation or sympathy with coins. At
a county fair or circus they would
have paid 10 to 25 cents to see her
perform.
Unctomplaining
But the woman had no complaint
to make of her lot in life and her
undernourished children, clad in
cast off rags, rollicked happily
about the jail cell while their
father lolled about indolently.
“It’s sort of mysterious the way
she can do things with her feet,”
commented the man while his wife
put a gift of stockings and shoes
on her younger child, a girl of 17
months. Using the first and sec
ond toes of her feet, she neatly
drew the stockings onto the legs
of the squirming child. Then she
fitted on a shoe, laced it and tied
a bow knot.
“But don’t you ever help her ?”
asked an onlooker.
“Sometimes,” replied the armless
woman’s husband, “but she can do
most everything herself.”
“Well,” said the onlooker, “you
get down there and put the other
shoe on that child.”
Sheepishly, the man obeyed.
It had been reported that the
man—Charles Matthews was given
as his name—had started to aban
don his family on the mountainside
near Glade Gap Thursday night of
last week, when the thermometer
sank to near zero. Tom O’Neil, re
turning in his car from Hayesville,
found the woman and her four
small children, all about frozen,
frantically trying to start a fire
beside the lonely highway.
With tears in her eyes the
woman told him she and her hus
band had had words and he had
('Continued on Paige Eight)
SntAYBELBT
WOUP CIRl
Dorothy Waldroop Shot
While Going Home
From School
Burned
Roy C. Dady, chief clerk in the
offices here of the Nantahala Na
tional Forest, has been notified
that he will be transferred the first
week in February to the head
quarters of the Florida National
Forest at Tallahassee. Mrs. H. T.
Horsely, in the forest office per
sonnel for som« years, will be pro
moted to Mr. Dady’s position., it
was announced.
.jMr. Dady is one of the oldest
employes, in point of service, in
the Nantahala Fo'rest personnel. He
entered the Forest Service Ln
March, 1927, in the headquarters at
Asheville of the Pisgah Forest. He
came here a few years later.
■Before entering the Forest Serv
ice he was connected with the army
and served at one time as news
editor of The Army and Navy
Journal. During the war he was in
the publicity branch of the war de-
partient.
,^r. and Mrs. Dady and family
have been actively connected with
the religious, civic and social life
of Franklin. Mr. Dady has been
teacher of the men’s Bible class of
the Methodist church and also of
a-“Bible class for prisoners at the
state prison camp near Franklin.
BURRELL BUYS
AUTOWANY
Franklin Chevrolet Dealer
ship To Be Operated
Independently
W. C. Burnell, well known Frank
lin and Clayton automobile sales
man, announced Tuesday that he
had completed'negotiations for the
purchase of the Franklin Chevrolet
company from a group of Georgia
business men who for several years
have held the local Chevrolet deal
ership.
Mr. Burrell said he would change
the name of the company to the
Burrell Motor company and would
operate in the future as an inde
pendent dealer. Hitherto the Frank
lin Chevrolet company has been
operated in connection with the
Clayton Motor company and the
Cornelia Motor company. The Bur-,
rell Motor company will continue
as authorized dealer of Chevrolet
automobiles and parts.
Commenting on transfer of the
dealership, W. C. Wood, vice presi
dent of the Clayton_ and Cornelia
Motor companies, said he .believed
it would result in better service for
Macon county Chevrolet owners.
He expressed his appreciation for
the patronage received by the com
pany in the past and said he con
fidently hoped the public would
continue to extend this patronage
to t'h« Burrell Motor company.
Location Unchanged
The company will remain at the
same location on Palmer street
which it has occupied for the past
year. The building, a modern fire
proof structure especially designed
for garage purposes, is owned by
Mr. Burrell. Adjoining it is a sec-
ond-hand car lot on one side and a
gasoline service station on the
other. The service station also is
owned by Mr. Burrell, but has
been leased to an oil company.
Mr. Burrell said there would be
no changes in the operating staff
of the company. Paul Kirk, form
erly of Clayton, will continue as
bookkeeper and parts manager, and
the following will continue in the
repair department: R. L, Blaine,
Earl English, Lyman Frady, Dude
Berry and Arth'ur ShaverS:, oalorcd.
Mrs. Grady Carpenter in
Angel Hospital
Seriously burned when her cloth
ing caught on fire while she was
warming before a fire at her home
in the Cartoogechaye section on
Monday of last week, Mrs. Grady
Carpenter, 23, is receiving treat
ment at Angel Hospital. Dr. Fur
man Angel reported that she was
in critical condition when brought
to the hospital, but that she was
improving and he expected her to
recover.
The lining of Mrs. Carpenter’s
coat caught fire and a quilt she
threw about her to smother the
flames also became ignited. She dis
carded the first quilt and was using
another one when she noticed her
10-months-old baby crawling to
ward the flaming quilt she had
just thrown down. In protecting
the child from the fire she almost
lost her own life. Most of her
clothing was burned from her body.
SIX INJURED AS
CAR OVERTURNS
Narrowly Escape Death
In Accident Near
Lower Falls
Says Postoffice Not
For Loafers and Lovers
Loafers and lovers were warned
Tuesday by Postmaster T. W.
Porter to steer clear of Franklin’s
new federal building.
Mr. Porter cited a postal depart
ment regulation forbidding loitering
in postoffices.
“The regulations plainly declare,”
he said, “that postoffices are places
for business, not for loitering, and
I intend to see that this is com
plied with. I don’t want to find it
necessary to embarrass anyone;
but, if it S'hould'become necessary.
I won’t hesitate to ask those who
make a habit of loafing in the
postoffioe lobby to move on.”
Some young men and girls have
been making a trysting place of
the postoffice lobby, Mr. Porter
said, adding: “This will have to
stop. It is annoying to patrons and
it is against the rules.”
Macon County Has 26
Students at Cullowhee
CClLLOWHEE, Jan. 29—Twenty-
six Macon county students are at
tending Western Carolina Teachers
college during the winter quarter,
according to the latest report. It
ranks as the third county in the
state in this respect. Buncombe
county also has twenty-six students
enrolled here this quarter.
Six young people returning to
Franklin from a dance in High
lands narrowly escaped death 'early
Sunday morning when the auto
mobile in which they were riding
slid on the ice covered paving and
went over a 500-foot embankment
near the Lower Cullasaja Falls. A
small tree part the way down the
embankment halted' the tumbling
car, but all of the occupants re
ceived injuries necessitating hos
pital treatment.
The injured are:
J. B. Greene, CCC enrollee, head
injuries.
Miss Thelma Gardner, of High
lands, cuts and bruises.
Miss Virginia Wilson, of Frank
lin, cuts and bruis€s.
Miss Thelma Waldroop, Franklin,
lacerations about the face and head.
Gordon Puckett, CCC enrollee,
cuts and bruises.
Gene Dozier, CCC enrollee, frac
tured ankle and head injuries.
All six occupants of the car were
brought to Angel Hospital for
treatment. Dr. Furman Angel re
ported today that the three young
women had been discharged and
that the three CCC boys were re
covering.
Dozier was more seriously in
jured than any of the others. His
ankle was caught under the over
turned car, a sedan, and it was
two hours before he was released.
A stray bullet from a .22 calibr-c
rifle, believed to have been fired
by a small boy, sent Dorothy Wal
droop to the hospital Monday
afterno'on.
The girl, 14-year-old daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Waldroop, of
Route 1, was walking hom'C from
school with a cousin, Hazel Wal
droop, when she was shot. The
girls were near the intersection of
Palmer and Porter streets when
Dorothy turned to her companion
and said; “J believe somebody has
hit me in the shoulder with a
rock.”
Taken tgo Hispital
The two girls, however, continued
walking home. After they had gone
some distance Hazel noticed blood
stains on Dorothy’s clothing. "You
have been shot,” she said. They
stopped at the home of George
Recce on highway No. 28 and ex
amined the wound. Mr. Reece sum
moned a neighbor, Ted Gillespie,
who took the girls to Angel hos
pital in a car.
An X-ray examination showed a
lead bullet lodged in Dorothy’s
shoulder. Later an operation was
performed to remove it. Fortunately
the bulkt had not shattered the
bone structure of the shoulder. The
girl was reported Wednesday to be
recovering, but she was still in
the hospital.
The bullet was found to be a
short range .22 calibre missile. A
long range bullet might have caus
ed more serious injury.
The girls recalled having passed
two small boys with a rifle, but
they said they thought it was an
air gun and they were .not certain
as to who the boys were.
Narnoiw Escape
“I don’t know who was respon
sible,” Mr. Waldroop said Wednes
day, “but it looks like a stop should
be put to this business of boys
shooting rifles promiscuously in
in town. Somebody might get killed.
Fortunately Dorothy was hit in the
shoulder. If that bullet had struck
her in the 'head or neck, it might
easily have killed her.”
Game Warden “Sews”
Grain To Feed Birds
Extreme cold weather and snow
bring hardships to birds as well as
to human beings. Snow 'especially
is bad for them because it pre
vents them from finding food.
The birds of Macon county, how
ever, will not go hungry as a re
sult of this week’s snow. Tim Cal
loway, county game warden, set
about today to spread grain
throughout the county for feeding,
quail, pheasants and other feath
ered friends. In his car was 10
bushels of wheat supplied by Dr.
Furman Angel, Franklin surgeon
and sportsman.
Warning
Chief Says Promiscuous
Shooting Must Stop
C. D. Baird, Franklin police chief,
warned Wednesday that in the
future he would strictly enforce the
town ordinance co.ncerning the use
of firearms in the corporate limits.
Arous'cd by the accidental wound
ing Monday afternoon of Dorothy
Waldroop, 14, while she was walk
ing home from school, Chief Baird
said a town ordinance forbade the
discharge of firearms' in the busi
ness district and in other sections
of town limited their use to “a
distanoe of 100 yards from any
dwelling or street.”
He said his attention had been
called to the promiscuous use of .22
rifles by small boys and warned
that in the future he would prose
cute any violators of the town ordi
nance and confiscate guns used by
small boys who should fail to ob
serve the law..
“This business of shooting in
town is dangerous,” the chief com
mented, “and we have got to stop
it before som'cbody gets killed.”
Fire, originating in a defective
flue, caused slight damage to the
second floor apartment of Mr. a'nd
Mrs. Wilson in the Porter build
ing on West Main street Monday
morning. Roy Cunningham, pro
prietor of a grocery and feed store
occupying the first floor of the
building, said he suffered no
damage.