Jfranklitt ^?rrs&
K.nit
?h* Highlands
Published every Thursday by The Frfcnklln Press
At Franklin, North Carolina
Telephone No. 24
VOL. LXI Number eight
WEIMAR JONES, Publisher
Entered at the Post Office, Franklin, N. C., as second class matter
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We Need A Jolt
"THKSK boys expect a good deal", someone re- j
marked the other day, i Vi referring to the re
turning servicemen. They've been around, and
what was good enough Tor them before th'ey left
home isn't any more. They aren't satislied with
second-rate things, whether it be jobs, or housing,
or entertainment, or anything else. They demand
the best."
That's fine. More power to them!
If they'll keep on demanding the best, they'll be.
doing Macon County a great service. That's still
another contribution Macon's young men and wom
en, coming back home from service in the armed
forces, tan make to their home comity.
For half a century the South, and particularly
the mountain area of the South, was tragically
poor. We had to accept what we could pay lor;
we had to improvise; we had to get along with'
something that wasn't what- we wanted or what we
needed, but something that "would do". And our
parents and grandparents did a magnificent job
of achieving in the face of these obstacles.
I nfortunalcly. however. We have fallen into the
mental habit of being satisfied with things that
"will do". We have become accustomed to accept
ing merchandise "just as good" as what we ask for.
We have become reconciled to receiving poor .qual
ity service from the butcher, the baker, and the
candlestick maker. And, worst of all, we have be
come satisfied with ourselves when we do a job
that isn't our best, reassuring ourselves tha.t it
"will do".
Xo longer, are we so poor that we have to ac
cept anything second-rate. There's no longer any
reason why we shouldn't expect, and demand, just
as good merchandise, just as good service, just as
good housing, just as good government, just as
good entertainment, just as good schools, as are
available anywhere else.
And surely there's no reason why we shouldn't
demand top quality performance from ourselves.
It's high time we were jolted out of this mental
habit ol being content with something that merely
"will do". And these returning service men and
women are the ones who can give us the necessary
jolt ? if we'll just make Macon County a place
where they can both earn a living and get the
things from life they can elsewhere.
A Political Duty
If a democracy is to work, it must have two
things: First, an intelligent, informed, interested
electorate: and, second, honest, intelligent, and ag
gressive leadership.
It was suggested in this column two weeks ago
that it is the responsibility of the voters of Macon
County ? and of the state and nation, too, of course
? to pick the best available men, or women?for
public office: that it is the duty of the voter!? to
give serious thought to the selection of office
holders, to urge the best men to run, and then to
support those best qualified, regardless of personal
interest, or even of personal friendship.
Rut we can't have good leadership, or good gov
ernment. without good men in office. And the vot
ers can't pick the best men unless the best men are
willing to run. It is all right to take the attitude
that "the office should seek the man", but when a
good man is urged to run, he has no right to de
cline simply because he feels he can't afford to hold
public office, or because he prefers private life.
Their biographies clearly show that George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson, two of the men
who made America great and free, longed for the
peace of private life: yet they spent most of their
adult lives serving their country.
If ever the problems of public office, whether in
the nation, the state, or the county, called for good
men, it is today.
All men on the earth are merely one treat family divided
Into many branch*!.? Bandeau.
Phyileal itrength can never permanently wlthitand the lm
Paot ?f ?plrltU?l force? franklin p. UooMvelt,
? ? ? LETTERS ? ? ?
NEEDED: SOME PLANNING
Dear Weimar,
1 want to thank you and congratulate you for going back
home to run "The Frankun Press." I hope your association with
the paper will be as fortunate for you as I believe it is for the
county. .
A few weeks ago X read in "The Press" the announcement
lhat the old Court House was either going to be torn down or
fixed up. I want to add my voice to those who are in favor of
lixing it up. To me it seems a shame that anybody even con
templates tearing it down.
The Court House, the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches
and the old Masonic Lodge are the only public buildings in
Franklin that have any claim to architectural distinction or
historical interest. The only ones, in fact, that the people of
Franklin can be proud of. All the rest, the post office, (though
it's a nice building > the bank building and the other churches
have no special interest, no originality, nothing to distinguish
tnem from a thousand other post offices, churches, and bank
buildinss tn a thousand other little towns.
In cities and larger towns in other parts of the country
millions of dollars are being spent to restore or reproduce old
buildings while Franklin and other little Southern towns seem
to feel ashamed of them. They tear them down and line their
'Main Streets with the most ordinary, shoddy brick ai>d' con
crete-block structures, giving the streets for a block or two all
t he ugliness and disadvantages of a city street with none of
the advantages of either a city or a country town. And it is
not only the small town;; that do this. Look at Asheville. The
business section with its narrow streets and snarled traffic is
i. nightmare and its modern court house a monstrosity. I can't
remember a single public building there that has any charm
or beauty or any claim to historical interest. All because when
it was a small town nobody gave any thought to planning it
or preserving the things worth preserving.
New England small towns are lovely: They (even towns ten
tunes as large as Frankiin.1 have wide tree-shaded streets with
their court houses and banks, surrounded by grass and shrubs,
; et well back from the sidewalks. I don't think the people in
I hese towns are anything like hail as fine as the people in
Franklin but I admire the way they have planned their Main
Streets.
Even in New York the City Hall down near Wall Street,
where land is worth its weight in' gold, sits back from the
street in about half an acre of land planted in grass and trees
(and early spnng jonquils I.
Franklin more than most towns has wonderful natural
beauty and its homes and residential sections are gracious
and attractive. But the business section of Main Street is not
only horrid ugly but more crowded, congested, and inconven
ient than Fifth Avenue. Why. with all the assets Franklin has,
with unlimited space stretching for miles in every direction
and comparatively cheap land values, it should jam its stores
and office buildings -right against each other and right smack
up against it narrow Main Street is hard to understand, ex
cept that nobody seems to have given any thought to plan
ning it.
I wish some organization could be formed in Franklin to
consider the problem of town planning for the future, and of
preserving its interesting buildings. An intelligent plan would
' not only eventually add to the beauty and pleasantness of the
town but would be an eminently practical thing to do from the
standpoint of good business. First of all, it would attract in
terest and comment. And further, it would be proof that its
citizens were on their toes and more forward looking than
most, and this would attract business and capital from other
sections of the country. But half-way measures won't do any
good. The plan would have to be really courageous and out
standing.
Couldn't a town ordinance be passed stipulating- that all
future buildings be set Ukck twenty or twenty-five feet from
the sidewalk so that some day Main Street could be widened?
The street on eithef side of the Court House ought to be
closed. The way it is now it is not only dangerous from the
standpoint of traffic, but it ruins the setting of the Court
House. The Court House ought to be accorded a position of
dignity. Trees should be planted on either side of it, and a
big parking space provided on some side street. The inside of
the Court House should be modernised and if there is not
, enough space for all county offices, a new county office build
1 could be built. All new streets should be made wide enough
to take care of future traffic and the only way to make them
wide enough is to make them twice as wide as anybody can
foresee the need of. Trees planted in a lane between the
streets and sidewalks would add to the street's pleasantness.
Of course, such a plan would not be easy to carry out and
it would take time. But some day, if Franklin continues to
grow, something drastic will have to be done to Main Street.
And it would be a lot better to plan for it now than to wait
twenty-five years,- just as it would have been a lot better ? .
and comparatively easy ? if it had been planned twenty-five
; years ago. -|
I hope there are some people in Franklin who have already
been thinking about these things. With careful planning for
the future Franklin could easily, in years to come, be the
most beautiful County Seat in North Carolina.
With sincerest good wishes to you and "The Press",
ANNIEWILL SILER.
, 112 West 12th Street,
N$w York, N. Y|.
February 8, 1946. ?
P. S. I hope nobody thihks I'm being disloyal to my home
town. I would never have written this letter if I didn't
love Franklin.
PRETTY FACES ? GIRLS' AND CLOCKS'
When a clock is without numerals it is in a way the same
as a young woman without her lipstick and rouge. They are
both pale of face; with dejected expression; lacking prettiness
and wholly less attractive than their basic features warrant.
In the case of the modern girl most of whom ^re vlcacious,
clever, attractive and a pleasure for everyone to see it is a
calamity for her to be seen outside her immediate family with
out her make-up.
Of course, it is her ability to secrete herself behind closed
doors when she has household duties to attend. But if some
one catches her unawares she is always ill at ease and has a
temporary feeling of being inferior and unable to cope with
the situation in her usual forthright manner.
The clock more than likely feels the same way, but is less
fortunate than the young ladies, because it must show its
face to everyone who cares to look: 24 hours every day.
This certainly is a calamity, too. Not just because the people
of the vicinity as well as travelers are deprived of the ordinar
ily pleasant appearance of a well groomed clock, but there are
many indications of other ill effects.
It is barely possible that the heart of the clock is caused to
flutter and a feeling of unsteadiness come over it. Maybe way
down inside it too is effected, causing an inferiority complex
that n turn causes it to act contrarily.
The psychological effect may be so great that a fine upstand
ing clock would say things without thinking. Such as tolling
off several more times every hour when all the time she
would really rather tell the truth.
In summing up the case by all means let's have our young
ladles abroad with proper make-up and likewise give our
clock some paint for It's face.
? SIGNS OF THE TIMES. ,
Franklin, N. C.
February 14, 1946.
If you cannot make light of your troubles, keep them dark.
Wisdom "Ii oft-tlm#s n#ar#r when we stoop than wh?n wl
soar.? Wodswjrth.
i i.
Say: "I saw it advertised in Thr Press".
PLACE ORDERS NC>W
, For FORD-FERGUSON
?%? *
Tractors and Equipment
Macon Tractor & Equipment Co.
Palmer Street ? Franklin, N. C.
FRESH JUICE
From
m FRESH ORANGES -
EAT MORE FRESH FLORIDA FRUIT |
It's much easier to eat fresh fruits than to spend your
money for medicines. You will find the Fresh juice from
Oranges much better for you than canned juice. So
keep a supply of Fresh Oranges on hand. Order from
your neighborhood store.
Ask for MAC'S BRAND Oranges
Rabun Produce Co.
Wholesale Distributors
YOUR EYES examined the modern way will mean better
and more comfortable fitting glasses for you.
EYE EXAMINATION as a side line to some other activity,
seldom are of much satisfaction.
CONSULT a specialist who devotes 'all time and interest
to examining eyes and the fitting of glasses.
DR. LON BURROUGHS
Specializing in examining eyes and fitting glasses
Elliott Block Clayton, Ga.
Hours: 9:30 a. m. to 6:39 p. m. Closed Wednesday
SUNDAYS, BY APPOINTMENT IN ADVANCE
Farmers and Woodmen
The prices on Dogwood for shuttles
has been raised for this season.
Anyone having Dogwood to cut
should contact W. H. Waldroop at
the mill for specifications before
cutting.
We have several boundaries of Dog
wood stumpage bought. If inter
ested in contract-cutting, see us.
We are also buying good grade
Persimmon wood for shuttles at top
prices.
Highlands Briar, Inc.
Phone 1303 ? 1305
FOR EARLY SPRING
?
PAINT UP
We Have Paiiits and Varnishes
?
Grass Seeds
Lespedeza
Garden Tools
Plow Parts and Repairs
t
? -
Macon County Supply Co.
Telephone 23 Franklin, N. C.