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Qlft 'JjigWaitbjs Haconian
PROGRESSIVE
LIBERAL
IX DEI' EX DEN T
VOL. LXII? NO. 15
FRANKLIN, N. C? TIll'RSDAY, APRIL 10, 1947
APRIL COURT
TERM TO OPEN
HERE MONDAY
Martin Cas? One Of 74
On Criminal Docket;
13 Seek Divorces
The April term of superior
court will open here Monday
Morning with 74 criminal ana
31 civil cases on the docket.
Of the criminal cases, 35 are
new and 39 were continued at
previous court terms.
Thirteen of the 31 civil cases
are divorce actions.
Of chief interest on the crim
inal docket Is the case in which
Carl Martin is charged with
robbery and assault In connec
tion with the robbery of Weaver
Cochran at his store at Flats
last December.
The defendant, who Is being
held in the Bryson City Jail in
default of $8,000 bond, is charg
ed with robbery with firearms
and other dangerous weapons.
Banister Mlddleton is charg
ed with manslaughter in con
nection with the automobile
death of Mack Allen Adams.
Highlighting the civil docket
of this court term is the case
in which the Town of Highlands
seeks a court order to have
Frank B. and J. Harvey Trice
remove the front porch of the
Highlands inn. The town alleges
that the porch is on town prop
erty.
Judge William Bobbitt, of
Charlotte, will preside over the
April court, and Dan K. Moore,
of Sylva, who will prosecute the
docket, will be here for the first
time in his capacity as solicitor
COfCT
Directors To Be Chosen
In Mail Ballot
Members of the Franklih
Chamber of Commerce this week
are being asked to ballot by
mail for seven directors to
serve during the next year.
The chamber Tuesday mailed
letters to all its approximately
150 members, inclosing mimeo
graphed lists of the member
ship. Each member is asked to
select seven names from the
list of members as his choice
for directors, and to return the
checked list promptly.
The seven men receiving the
largest number of votes will be
declared elected directors, and
these seven will then meet and
elect from their number the
president of the organization for
the next year.
Chamber of Commerce offic
ials urged members to mall
their ballots promptly.
Baptist Pastors
Of W. N C. To Hold
Meet Here Monday
Approximately 50 pastors of
Baptist churches in the area
west of Buncombe county are
expected here Monday for the
quarterly Western Carolina Bap
tist Pastors' conference. The
meeting, to be held at the First
Baptist church here, will open
at 10 a. m.
A number of outstanding
speakers are on the day's pro
gram.
The visiting ministers will be
served lunch by the entertain
ment committee of the local
church In the church dining
room.
The Rev. T. H. Parrish, of
Clyde, Is president of the con
ference, and will preside.
Burton Parker, Farmer
Of Cartoogediaye, Dies
Burton Parker, 58-year old
farmer of the Cartoogechftye
community, died at Angel hos
pital about 6 a. m. Thursday.
He had been in 111 health for a
year.
The funeral services will be
held at Mt. Hope Baptist church
Friday afternoon at 2 o'clock.
Community Singing Set
For Sunday Afternoon
The first session of the Ma
con County Community Singing
will be held at the courthouse
In Franklin Sunday, April 13,
starting at 1 p. m , It has been
announced by A. A. Drake, who
will be In charge.
PLAN RUMMAGE 8ALE
The Business Girls' circle of
the Franklin Presbyterian church
will sponsor a rummage sale,
Saturday, April 19, on tbe Pub
lic square.
21 In Races
For 7 Posts
In Franklin
A total of 21 candidates are
seeking the seven town offices
to be tilled at the Franklin elec
tion to be held May 6.
When filing closed Monday
afternoon, three were In the
race for mayor, and 18 were an
nounced as candidates for the
six places as aldermen.
Only two of the 21 candidates
are among the present muni
cipal officials.
Those who have filed since
last week for the office of mayor
are:
T. W. Angel, Jr., the incum
bent, the owner of Angel's drug
store, and whose home is on
Porter street.
C. J. Mooney, bookkeeper for
Burrell Motor company, who re
sides at Riverview inn, which
he and Mrs. Mooney operate.
The third candidate for may
or, who had previously filed, is '
John M. Moore. I
Eleven have filed for alder
men since last week's issue of
The Press. They are: <
Wade H. Cunningham, brick l
mason, of Green street. i
L. B. (Shine) Phillips, of West <
Main street, coal dealer and
service station operator, a mem- <
ber of the present board. <
John Bingham, of West I
Franklin, produce dealer. 1
R. D. Carson, feed and gro- i
eery merchant, who lives on t
Bidwell street.
T. H. Fagg, of Bidwell street, 1
manager of the Nantahala t
creamery. i
Erwin Patton, of West Main :
street, service station owner. 1
Arthur C. Pannell, of East 1
Franklin, feed and grocery i
merchant. i
Edgar J. Whitaker, with the 1
Standard Oil company here, <
who lives on Harrison avenue.
Hunter Calloway, Nantahala i
Power and Light company em
ploye, whose home is in the c
Bonny Crest section. 1
J. C. Crisp, photographer, who I
resides on Phillips street. I
W- C. Burrell, owner of Bur- r
rell Motor company, whose homei s
is on the Georgia road. 1
The seven who already had c
filed for aldermen are Oscar t
Ledford, Prelo Dryman, John t
Bulgin, Mack Franks, George I
W. Reece, Russell Cabe, and E. e
J. Whitmire. t
Registration of those whose 1
names are not already on the t
town's registration books will 1
get under way Saturday, and j
continue through Saturday, t
April 26. Alex Moore is regis- t
trar. i
Challenge day has been set 1
for Saturday, May 3.
1
Cancel Plan
For Paving
Cross Street
The cross street, or alley, (
running from west Main to ,
Church street, will not be paved ,
? at least, not for the present. j
An agreement was worked out ,
sometime ago between the coun- ,
ty commissioners and the
Franklin board of aldermen, i
under which the county was to I
pay half of the cost, not to ex
ceed $2,500. The property along
the east side of the alley be
longs to the county.
The commissioners, however,
at their meeting Monday, look
ed over the property, and chang
ed their minds about the pro
ject. They found, they explain
ed, that a 30-foot street would
take about 25 feet off the coun
ty's property.
The commissioners' decision
was announced at the meeting
of the board of aldermen Mon
day night, and the street force,
which was ready to begin work
on the cross street, was sent to
another street.
At their meeting the commis
sioners voted to appropriate a
small sum, the amount to be
fixed later, to place markers at
graves in the "potters' field" of
the cemetery. The action was at
the suggestion of Gilmer A
Jones, who made a similar sug
gestion to the town. The com
missioners also acted favorably
on petitions to have roads In
the Prentiss and Oold Mine
communities put under state
maintenance.
The board of aldermen devot
ed most of Its meeting to hear
ing requests for , water, sewer,
and street Improvements by
group* from various parts of
tb? town.
'WELL AND TRULY EXECUTE . . ? The five men who will guide the destines of Macon
County's schools during the next two years are shown above as they took the oath of office
Monday morning. "You and each of you", intoned Superior Court Clerk J. Clinton Brookshire
(extreme right), "solemnly swear that you will well and truly execute the duties of the office
of county board of education according to the best of your skill and ability, according to law;
so help you God". Left to rignt, are Walter Gibson, Bob S. Sloan, Ed Byrd, Chairman C.
Gordon Moire, Frank Browning, and Clerk Brookshire.
M'GLAMER Y GETS
8 BILLS PASSED
Representative Herbert A. Mc
31amery, at the session of the
general assembly that ended
Saturday, obtained passage of
:ight local acts for Macon
In addition, he was the auth
^ounty.
)r of a joint resolution paying
:ribute to the memory of Dr.
N A. Rogers, who several times
?epresented Macon County in
he house.
In state-wide matters, Mr.
VlcGlamery supported legisla
;ion for higher teachers' sal
iries, more old-age assistance,
ind a larger retirement fund;
lacked the state-wide bill for
referenda on the sale of wine
ind beer; and was co-author of
i measure to provide funds for
}ublic school instruction on the
:vils of alcohol and narcotics.
The following local bills were
)assed :
To require the county board
if education to meet the first
Monday in each month, and
>roviding that members shall be
>aid the per diem for each such
neeting; to validate the county
chool bond issue; to repeal the
aw which required a majority
if those registered to favor a |
own bond issue, and validating !
londs voted by the people of
^ranklin: to permit Franklin to
mploy non-residents in certain
>ositions; a similar bill for
lighlands; to fix the salary of
he clerk of superior court for
lis duties as juvenile court
udge; and to provide that na
ional forests funds received by
he county be allocated, pro
ata, to the various county
:unds, starting January 1, 1948.
Measures introduced by Mr.
ilcGlamery which failed of en
ictment included: To extend
lighlands' city limits; to auth
>rize recording of a copy of the
nap of the Town of Highlands;
o permit assessments for side
valk and street improvements in
iighlands; to amend the truck
icense law; to provide a man
vho obtains money in advance
'or work must perform services
xi repay the loan; and to per
nit the sales of certain drugs
n general stores (a state-wide
neasure on this subject was en
ictedt.
Draft Board Completes
Its Job After Six Years
Boys And Girls'
Week Is Planned
Here By Rotary
National Boys and Girts'
week will be observed here
the week of April 27 to May
3, under sponsorship of the
Franklin Rotary club, with
other organizations cooper
ating.
The Rotary club, at its
meeting Wednesday night,
voted to sponsor the obser
vance.
Special youth services in
the churches on the Sunday
opening the week, and a
county-wide field day,
marked by athletic events,
Saturday, May 3, are ex
pected to feature the ob
servance.
Expression pupils of Mrs.
K. S. Jones provided the pro
gram for the Wednesday
niglit Rotary meeting.
James McCall
Elected As Governor Of
Moose Lodge
James McCall was elected
governor of the local lodge, No.
452, Loyal Order of Moose, at a
meeting Thursday night of last
week He succeeds Lester Arnold.
Other officers were elected as
follows:
James P. Wurst, vice-gover
nor; Bill Bryson, prelate; and
Mack Franks, treasurer.
The secretary is elected for
three years, and Lake V. Shape,
who holds that office, has two
more years to serve.
C. T. Bryson was named to
succeed Wade Arvey as trustee
for a three-year term. Trustees
whose terms have not expired
are Jesse Estes and Ed Henry.
Mrs. Laura W. Parker,
87, Claimed By Death
Mrs. Laura Ward Parker, 87,
died at 7:30 o'clock Thursday
morning at the home of her
daughter, Mrs. J. B. Brendle, of
Franklin, Route 4. She had been
ill for the past 10 years. Funeral
arrangements Thursday were not
complete.
Cat-Rabbit Creek Area
Going Places, New York
Reporter Tells World
(Editor's Note ? Some weeks
ago Robert S. Bira, New
York Herald Tribune report
er, making a Tennessee Val
ley tour by plane, came to
Franklin and asked for di
rections on how to get to
the Rabbit-Cat Creek sec
tion of Macon County. Ac
companied by County Agent
S. W. Mendenhall and Mrs.
Florence S. Sherrill, home
agent, he visited those com
munities, and recently his
account of what he found
appeared in the New York
newspaper. The article, in
part, appears "below.)
This is a report from Cat and
Rabbit Creek, which lies a few
miles beyond Shooting Creek
and across Chunky Gal Moun
tain on the road from Chat
tanooga into the Blue Ridgfe
Mountain of western North
Carolina.
It is a remote mountain cove
in the extreme eastern water
shed of the Tennessee Valley,
where fifteen or twenty years
ago some fifty families were
wresting a bars subsistence
from famished and eroded hill
slopes. It might be almost any
place in the Tennessee Valley,
for like thousands of other set
tlements In mountain or valley
from here to the Mississippi its
destiny is linked with the Ten
nessee River.
Even today its two lively
creeks that are gurgling a spring
song in these sun-soaked moun
tain pastures may be carrying
with them some token grains
of Cat Creek earth as they race
down the mountains to help
turn the turbines on the lower
Tennessee on their way to the
Mississippi But they are not
stealing much of the land now,
which is why this little cove is
becoming a veritable Shangri-la
and why its story is worth re
porting.
Nobody told this reporter
about Cat Creek; he discovered
it himself during his tour
around the Tennessee Valley in
the Herald Tribune's Lockheed
flying newsroom. In Knoxvllle
he was thumbing through a pile
of agricultural reports and his
?Continued on Fafe Flrt
Local Board Classified
4,140; 1,629 Of Them
Entered Service
October 16, 1940, the first
draft registration was held in
Macon County, and the follow
ing day Macon County Local
Draft Board No. 1 began to
function.
For the next six and a half
years, it remained an integral
part of the national selective
service, and an agency directly
affecting the lives and nearly
every family in Macon County
When it passed out of exis
tence, March 31 of this year,
its records showed that it had
classified 4,140 draft registrants,
exclusive of those registrants
aged 45 to 64.
Of that total, 1,629 had en
tered the armed forces.
Those entering service repre
sent slightly more than 39 per
cent of the number registered,
or about two out of every five
registered.
When the board was organiz
ed, its members were E. W. Long,
H. W. Cabe, and George Dean
Mr. Long, who was chosen as
chairman, is the only member
to serve during the entire life
of the board, having held the
post of chairman throughout
the board's existence.
Others who served as mem
bers were Lyman Higdon, H.
Lee Guffey, E. J. Carpenter,
Lawrence Liner, and Charles M.
Rogers. The two last-named
were members when selective
service expired March 31
During the war, the board
held meetings, usually at night,
weekly, sometimes two or three
times a week, and the meetings
often lasted from three to six
hours. All board members serv
ed without pay.
Mrs. Gilmer A. Jones was i
clerk of the board during its
entire life, except for a six
months' period in 1945-46, when i
Miss Mary Evelyn Angel (now i
Mrs. James Dance) was clerk. t
The work of selective service, 1
however, required the efforts of 1
many groups and individuals i
other than the board members i
and paid clerical staff. i
The late Dr. W. A. Rogers, the <
late Dr. J. H. Fouts, and Dr. H. i
T. Horsley served as physicians l
to the board, assisted by Dr 1
Frank M. Killian In cases where l
the services of a specialist was
required, and Dr. J. L. West was
the board's dentist, all donating 1
their time and skill.
When Gilmer A. Jones re
signed as appeal agent, after a
brief period of service, J. H.
Stockton was appointed to that
post, and served as long as the
board functioned. Thad D. Bry
son, Jr., was legal adviser to
registrants for the entire period.
And the late M. D. Billings
served as reemployment com
mitteeman until his death,
when he was succeeded by J. S.
Conley, who held the position
as long as the board functioned.
And some two dozen persons,
living in every township in the
county, gave their time as ad
visory board members, aiding
the registrants in filling out
questionnaires and otherwise as
sisting the board.
Teachers and others assisted
with registrations; the county
agent's office worked with the
board on agricultural defer
ments; the welfare department
made investigations for the
board in cases where deferment
was sought on a grounds of de
pendency; and the county
health department and Angel
hospital provided X-ray and
? Continued on rags Eifht
SCHOOL BOARD
DEFERS NAMING
COUNTY SUPT.
Appoints Committeemen,
Reelects Moore, Acts
On Veterans' Issue
The election of a county su
perintendent of schools was de
ferred until 10 a. m. Wednesday,
April 23, when the newly ap
pointed Macon County board of
education held its first meet
ing Monday.
The board, at its initial ses
sion, also: ?
Appointed local school com
mitteemen for the three dis
tricts in this county
Reelected C. Gordon Moore as
chairman of the school board
And voted to grant - high
school diplomas to Macon Coun
ty veterans of World War 2 on
a basis of tests given by the
Armed Forces Institute.
All Votes Unamious
All actions taken by the board
were by unanimous vote.
The only controversy arose
over the high school diploma
issue, raised at the request of
the local American Legion post.
The question was debated for
30 or 40 minutes, but in the
end, the vote on that also was
unanimous.
The decision to postpone the
election of a county superin
tendent was in order to com
ply with the state law, which
requires 15 days' public notice
that a superintendent is to be
chosen.
The board named the follow
ing to the local school com
mittees:
Franklin district: A. R. Hig
ion, Gene Crawford, Joel Dal
ton, Charles Sutton, and John
Cabe.
Nantahala district: Clint May,
Mrs. Bas Baldwin, and Wymer
Cochran.
Highlands district: Charles
kntfefrson, Frank Potts, and
Walter Bryson.
Of the 11 appointed, two ?
Mr. Cabe and Mr. Anderson ?
were members of the county
Ooard that served during the
past two years.
The meeting was called to
Drder at 10 a. m. in the county
superintendent's office by Supt.
Oiuy L. Houk, in his ex officio
capacity of secretary to the
3oard. Mr. Houk called for nom
inations for chairman, and Ed
Byrd nominated Mr. Moore. The
notion was seconded by Frank
Browning, and Mr. Moore was
Jlected.
Chairman Moore then sug
gested that local committees be
appointed. Pointing out that it
is their duty to elect principals
mi teachers, subject to the ap
proval of the board and the
superintendent, he expressed
the conviction that men should
Oe named who would be active
is committeemen.
Houk Explains
Mr. Houk explained that there
sire three districts in this coun
ty, each set up around a cen
tral high school: The Nanta
hala district, roughly embracing
the area west of the Nantahala
range; the Highlands district,
covering the Highlands area;
and the Franklin, or Tennessee
iralley, district, embracing the
remainder of the county; and
that the law says a local com
mittee may be made up of
three of five members.
List Suggested
Mr. Moore remarked that he
had a list to suggest (or Frank
lin district, which he had dis
cussed with Mr. Houk. Bob S.
Sloan, commenting that three
of the five Mr. Moore suggested
live in Franklin township, said
he felt each of the five larger
townships In the district should
be represented. Mr. Houk point
ed out that Franklin township,
on a basis of population, should
have twice as much represen
tation as any other township.
Mr. Sloan offered his sugges
tion as a motion, it was sec
onded by Mr. Browning, and
was carried.
The board then appointed, one
by one, five committeemen.
Mr. Hlgdon, representing Frank
lin township, was nominated by
Mr. Byrd, with Walter Gibson
seconding the nomination. Mr.
Crawford, of Cartoogechaye, was
nominated by Mr. Sloan, with
Mr. Byrd seconding. Mr. Dalton,
of Cowee, was nominated by
Mr. Byrd, with Mr. Sloan sec
onding. Mr. Sutton, who was
chosen as the Mill Shoal rep
resentative since he lives near
the township line and Is well
known In Mill Shoal, was nom
inated by Mr. Byrd, with Mr.
?Continued On Pif* El|ht