Net Paid Circulation
THIS WEEK
2,214
LAST WEEK .
2,212
YEAR AGO THIS WEEK
2,125
fie ifffrnttltti ? t tU .
Knb
?[|)t l^igManbs: Macoman
PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL -- / XDEPESDhM
FRANKLIN, N C? THl'RSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1947
$2.00 PKR YEAR
Watersheds Used f
By Most Towns In
Mouutain Region
12 Of 16 Covered In Survey Rely On
Gravity Systems; Plan For Future,
Mayors Suggest
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Since the water situation appears
to be the most important and the most discussed problem
facing Franklin, The Press herewith publishes the first
of a series <of factual articles on the subject of municipal
water supplies, purely as a matter of information for its
readers. Believing that the experience of other towns in
this area might be of value, the paper has made a sur
vey, by questionnaire, of the water situation in 16 other
Western North Carolina municipalities. The results of
that survey are published below.)
Most Western North Carolina towns get their
municipal water supplies from watersheds, with grav
ity carrying the water 'from .impounding basins or
reservoirs to the towns, a survey shows.
The survey was made through questionnaires recently sent by
The Press to mayors of 20 towns in this mountain region. Six- !
teen of the 20 replied.
Each mayor was asked, first
of all, what 'type of water sys
tem his town has.
Of the 16 frqjn which replies
were received, 11 depend ex
clusively on watersheds with
gravity flow, while a twelfth
gets its main supply from a
watershed.
Two pump water out of a
river or creek.
One pumps water from a
spring inclosed by a tank.
And one uses a combination
watershed-gravity system and i
creek pumping plan.
None of the 16 relies on deep
wells. Only one, in fact, uses
wells at all. Mayor Gordon H.
Winkler, of Boone, reported that
his town has dug two deep
wells purely as a supplement to
its gravity system.
Marshall reported that it
previously used wells, but that
that plan was abandoned in
favor of a gravity system, be
cause of the "inadequate water
supply and excessive cost" of
pumping water from wells.
Questions Asked
The mayors also were asked
if their systems provide ade
quate supplies of water of good
quality; the quantities obtained;
how much the systems cost;
Do You
Remember . . . ?
(Looking backward through
the files of The Press)
50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Miss May McDowell, having
received the free scholarship,
left yesterday to enter the
State Normal and Industrial
school at Greensboro.
A team of Uncle D. Cunning
ham's horses attached to a hack ;
ran away in Webster and tried
to get into the county jail but
lodged on the front porch.
In the show of Red Polled '
calves yesterday there were 16
on exhibition and the prizes
awarded were as follows : 1st,
G. N. Penland, $5.00; 2nd, R. L.
Porter, $3.00; 3rd, F. S. Johns
ton, $2.00; 4th, Ervin Patton,
$1.00.
25 YEARS AGO
The Macon County Building
and Loan Association will open
its books for the first payments
on stock October 6th and 7th
between the hours of 9 a. m.
and 8 p. m., at the office of the
Association, Room 4, Bank of
Franklin building.
Mr. W. E. Furr left Sunday
for Atlanta, Ga, where he will
resume his studies at the At
lanta Dental college.
10 YEARS AGO
A scrvlce honoring those who
have been members of the
Franklin Methodist church for
50 years and more will be held
at the church next Sunday eve
ning. A study of the records
reveals the following who Join
ed the Franklin Methodist
church 50 years or more ago,
and who arc still members: Mrs.
W N. Allman, Dr. F. T. Smith,
Mrs. Geo. A. Jones, Mrs. G. L.
Crawford, Mrs. E. R. Kenne
brew, Mr. John O. Harrison,
Mrs Mary Lyle Waldroop, Mrs.
F T. Smith, Mrs. S. H. Lyle,
Mrs. Lena Myers, Mrs. Myra
Allman, Mrs. J. J. conley, and
Mrs. J. T. Moore.
what the operating costs per
year are; if the systems are
self-liquidating; and about their
experience with other systems.
Replies were received from
Robbinsville, Bryson City, Sylva,
Highlands, Waynesville, Brevard.
TryOn, Black Mountain, Weav
erville, Boone, Burnsville, and
Marshall, all of which have
gravity systems; Marion and
Lenoir, which pump their water
from streams; Canton, which
has a gravity system, supple
mented by an arrangement for
pumping water from the river;
and Hayesville, which pumps
its water from a spring, which
is covered by a tank.
Offer Comments
? Quite as interesting as the
facts and figures developed by
the survey are the comments
and suggestions offered by some
of the mayors, with most of
them emphasizing the idea that
a town should plan for the fu
ture, counting upon rapid
growth.
"Build larger than you think
you need", writes Canton's W. L.
Snyder. "Do not rely on small
stream or small impounding lake.
Meter your entire water sys
tem."
"Make sure source is ade
quate, eVen if cost is more",
suggests Mayor James O. Beale
of Highlands.
"In our opinion, gravity sys
tem operated on meters is most
satisfactory", / suggests J. J.
Ramsey, town clerk at Marshall,
which has . tried both wells and
the gravity system.
"Get you a watershed", urges
Mayor Fred D. Pass, of Hayes
ville. "Cost lots, but your troub
les are over for life".
Dam Too Small
"Our impounding dam is too
small to supply the summer de
mand", comments Clerk W. W.
Morgan, of Black Mountain.
"Watershed system should
have a filter", Brevard's clerk
treasurer, T. M. Barker, sug
gests.
Mayor Winkler of Boone
writes;
"We have a good watershed
and the water is pure after be
ing chlorinated. However we
made a mistake and built our
dam too close to the source of
the water and during continuous
dry weather we have a short
? Continued On Page Eight
START PUMPING
AGAIN AT WELL
ON MAIN STREET
Officials Say Pump May
Have To Be Lowered
For Best Results
New parts and piping for
Franklin's municipal well on
West Main street have arrived, !
and installation was completed
Tuesday by the Nantahala Pow
and Light company.
Late Tuesday the pump was
started, forcing the well water
into the mains, but Wednesday
power company officials said
some further tests were neces
sary. It may be found desir
able, it was said, to lower the
pump and install additional
discharge pipe in order to ob-'
tain the maximum amount of
water. The pump is now oper
ating at a point about 100 feet
below the surface in the 325
foot well.
The pump and piping were
taken out of the well Septem
ber 9 for checking, and at that
time it was determined that
new parts and piping were
needed. The well has been out
of operation since that time,
pending arrival of the mater
ials.
In the meanwhile, the two
filtering-chlorinating units and
pump on a creek at the west
end of town have been operat
ing constantly during the day
time, six days a week.
The water is passed through
the filter units to remove sand, !
etc., chlorine is added in the
ration of about one part per
million for purification pur- j
poses, and alum, an acid, and (
soda ash, an alkali, are added
to make the water clear.
Pumping at capacity, the two
units provide approximately 100
gallons per minute, T. L Ra
born. who is in charge of the
plant, said.
With the well pump back in
operation, it will be necessary to
use the creek water only as a
supplement to the well system, !
and this will result in a smaller
proportion of heavily chlorinat
ed water being pumped into the
West Main street main and
thence into the town tanks on
Bidwell street.
The v. ntahala company, which
volunteered to check the well
pump without charge, will be
asked to make checks of the
other two town wells, it was
j said. j
Panthers Win,
20 to 7, From
Haj^esville 1 1
The Franklin Panthers gained
their first win of the season by
defeating the Hayesville eleven
last Friday night on the local
gridiron by a score of 20 to 7.
Franklin scored early in the
game, with Shorty Mason car
rying the ball over to climax a
drive that started on the local
team's 30-yard line. A pass from
Flanagan to Angel was good for
the extra point. >;
Hayesville came right back to
tie the sco*e, driving almost the
length of the field, with Cun
ningham spearheading the of- i
fence on short line bucks. Cun- '
ningham carried over from the
three-yard line for the touch- j
? Continued on Page Eigrh*
Clayton Spending $273,000
For Adequate Water Supply
Franklin's next-door neigh
bor to the south, Clayton, Ga.,
Is in the midst of a $400,000
water and sewer improvement
program.
I Clayton is spending $273,000
on a water system, including
the laying of additional mains,
and $120,000 for sewers.
! A 1,000 acre watershed at the
head of the Little Tennessee
river has been obtained from
the Chattahoochee National for
est, and an Impounding reser
voir is being built near Moun
tain City.
The town is laying nine miles
of cast iron pipe line. A 10
inch line will carry the water
by gravity the three and a half
miles to Clayton, and a six
Inch line will extend the five
and a half miles to Tiger, which
community the system also will
serve.
I A water treatment plant also
is being constructed.
The project is expected to be !
completed by the middle of the
winter.
In the past, Clayton has ob
tained its water supply from 10
small springs, and recently it
has been necessary to supple
ment the supply by pumping
from two small streams.
Sometime ago the water sit
uation in Clayton became ser
ious, and the town obtained a
government planning loan of
$18,000, with which to pay engi
neers to prepare plans and spe
cifications and estimate costs
of a water-sewer project. This
was followed by a mass meet
ing, at which the proposal to
Issue bonds was approved.
Thie bond Issue of slightly
more than $400,000 was sold at
an interest rate of three per
cent.
9*000 Books Ar 3 Available
To Public At Library Here
Nearly nine thousand books
j are available to the people of
Macon County at the Franklin
public library. Biographies, best
selling novels, mysteries, refer
ence books and books dealing
with religion, philosophy, and
the. social sciences all may be
found on the shelves there ?
even if the shelves are a little
crowded, due to lack of room.
The library is widely used
throughout the county, the ave
rage number of books being
taken out each month running
from 1,400 to 1.600. Among the
largest groups of users are school
children and tourists. Mrs. Frank
I Murray, who has worked with
the jlibiary the past eight years,
said there has been a gradual
increase in the number of pa
trons among the county resi
dents during this time and
that now there are, "readers
from the head of Ellijay toNan
tahala." >
Among the current best sell
ers listed as being available at
present are: "The Vixens", Yer
by; "Kingsblood Royal", Lewis:
"The Big Sky", Gutherie; "Mrs.
Mike", Freidmans; "Lydia Bail
ey", Roberts; "The Mircle of the
Bells", Janriey; "The Wayward
Bus", Steinbeckl; "The Chequer
Board", Shute; "East River".
Asch; "Mr. Adam", Frank;
"Pravillion of Women", Buck;
PICK MRS. SILER
/OR AREA OFFICE
Franklin Woman Named
Assistant Head Of
District PTA
Mrs. Allen Siler was elected
assistant director of this 11
county P. T. A district at the
annual parent-teachet district
conference, held at Sylva last
Thursday. Mrs. Siler is first
vice-president of the Franklin'
association.
Mrs. Melvin Taylor, of Bry
son City, is the new district di
rector, succeeding Mrs. T. A.
Luther, of Asheville.
Mrs. Weimar Jones, president
of the local association, report
ing to the conservance on the
work done here last year, said
the local organization spent $1,
090 50 on various projects at
the Franklin school.
Eight persons from Franklin
were among the 179 attending
the conference, which was
marked by talks by state of
ficers, a symposium, and mus
ical selections by the Sylva
school glee club and band, both
under the direction of that
school's public school music in
structor. The delegates were
served lunch at the school caf
eteria.
Those attending from Frank
lin, in addition to Mrs. Siler
and Mrs. Jones, were Mrs. John
Bulgin, Mrs. Emory Hunnicutt,
Mrs. C. N. Dowdle, Mrs. Gilmer
L. Crawford, Mrs. Sam Alexand
er, and Mrs. Clint Byrd.
T hey Grow Tall Corn
In Cowee Community
One of the largest stalks of '
corn ever seen in this section
was recently brought to The j
Press office by J. C. Sorrells of I
the Cowee community.
Mr. Sorrells said that the
stalk, which was 14 feet, six
inches tall, came from a field
of four acres, all of which pro
duced corn over six feet in
heighth, with twb ears and bet
ter to the stalk.
The grower complained that
it would have been difficult to
cut tops on the field if all the
corn had grown as high as this
single stalk, since it was nine
feet to the first ear.
CHAPEL SCHOOL PTA TO
MEET TUESDAY NIGHT
The Chapel School P. T. A.
will hold its regular meeting
next Tuesday at 7:30 p. m. Of
ficers for the coming year will
be elected at this time. All
members and friends are urged
to attend this meeting.
ATTEND MEETING
Mrs. Frank I Murray attend
ed the Secretaries Association
of the Eastern Star in Ashe
ville Monday. While in Asheville,
Mrs. Murray was a guest of Mr
and Mrs. Frank Holbrooks.
SECURITY OFFFICIAL COMING
| A representative of the Ashe
ville field office of the Social
Security administration will be
at the register of deeds office
In Franklin at 9 a. m. tomor
row (Friday).
"Forever Amber", Winsor.
Non-fiction best sellers on
hand are: "Peace of Mind",
Leibman; "Home Country". Pyle;
"Inside USA", Gunther; "Three
Came Home", Keith; "Hiro
shima", Knoff.
The library, which is open
every day, except Sundays and
Mondays, from 1 a. m. until 5
| p. m , is supported by the town,
county, and state jointly.
| One of the reasons for the
library's steadily growing pop
ularity is the fact that an aver
age of 625 new books are ob
tained each year, according to
the librarian.
In relating some of her ex
periences as librarian, Mrs. Mur
ry said that people have a great
deal of trouble in remembering
titles. She recalled that when
the novel, "Lamb In Her
Bosom", was first popular, one
of the patrons asked for "Sheet?
In Her Breast."
While the library deals pri
marily in books, several maga
zines are on the subscription
list and copies of the National
Geographic and Life have been
kept on file for the past ten
years.
Mrs. Murray added that she
hopes persons who find a book
marked "Franklin Library" in
their home, would please bring
it to the library.
Fall Fire Season
Opens; Permits To
Burn Are Required
The fall fire season is on
hand and all persons are
now required by law to ob
tain burning permits before
burning any material in or
within 500 feet of woodland.
The rule applies during the
months of October and No
vember and from February
1 to June 1, according to an
announcement this week by
J. Fred Bryson, state fire
warden for Macon County.
Burning permits may b?
obtained without cost from
Carr Bryson. Cowee; Floyd
Ramsey, Stiles; Andrew
Gregory, Gneiss; John \V.
Edwards, Coweeta; W. W.
Cochran, Flats; U. S. Forest
Servicc ranger's office,
Franklin, if the fire will be
niar government land; the
register of deeds office, or
from J. Fred Bryson.
School Paper
Is To Be Published At
Franklin High
Under the sponsorship of the
Junior class, the Franklin High
school will again have its own
newspaper.
"The Mountain Echo" will be
published monthly by members
of the Junior class. While the
editorship and administration of ;
the paper will be done by Jun
iors, contributions will be ac
cepted from members of the 1
high school at large. **
The following have been nam- j
ed as members of the staff: I
Miss Kathlyn Long, editor, ;
Miss Julia Ann Higdon, assis
tant editor; Hall Callahan and
Miss Elizabeth Ann Phillips, ad
vertising managers; Miss June
Bradley, circulation manager;
Boyce White, sports editor; Miss
Mary Alice Archer, society ed
itor; Miss Mary Ellen Higdon,
exchange editor; and Mrs. Clint
Johnson, faculty sponsor.
The paper, generally an eight
page edition, will be mimeo
graphed by the students.
Complete with up-to-date
news items, editorials, sports
section, social items, jokes and
advertising, the first edition of
the paper will appear early in
October.
PRIVATE FLYING
LICENSES GIVEN
AT SCHOOL HERE
G: ou'J Completes G. I.
Course At Local
Airport
Five veterans of World War
2 received their private oper
ator's licenses when the first
class of pilots was graduated
from the Cooper Flying Service
school here, under the G. I.
training program, last Sunday.
Those receiving private pilots
licenses are: Dekn Carpenter,
Frank Dean, Frank Plyler, all of
Franklin; Raymond E. Allen, of
Cullowhee, and Cash Clark, of
Gay.
The course recently complet
ed by these aviation enthusiasts
covers 50 hours of ground school
work and from 35 to 45 hours
of flying instruction in the air.
Ground school instruction is
under the supervision of Bill
Perkins, and Robert Cooper, of
the Cooper Flying service, and
well known Franklin pilot, gives
the flying instruction.
The course is open to any
veteran who is qualified to re
ceive a certificate of eligibility
for educational instruction from
the Veterans Administration,
and the entire cost, of the pro
gram is paid by the federal gov
ernment, once the veteran is
certified.
8 Grandchildren
Of Pioneer Attend
Gorbins' Reunion
Descendants Of John and
Nancy Corbin gathered at the
old Corbin home on Rabbit
creek last Sunday for the an
nual reunion.
Following a bountiful dinner,
which was served picnic style,
the principal speakers were
Hugh Monteith and John F.
Corbin, both of Sylva.
Eight grandchildren of John -?
Corbin, who came to Macon
County in 1832, were present,
Mrs. Charlotte Littlejohn of
Gaffney, S. C.; J. L. Corbin of
Sylva; and Mrs. W. A. Elliot,
Mrs. Jess Elliot, Mrs. Walter
Elliot, Mrs. Frank Crisp, Henry
Corbin and Dewey Corbin, all
of Franklin, Route 4.
The following officers were
elected for the coming year:
Dewey Corbin, president; O. C.
Corbin, vice-president; and Miss
Villa Corbin, secretary and his
torian.
A large number of out of
town guests attended.
Beg Your Pardon
When Robert Beasley recent
ly was taken into custody at
Alto, Ga., and brought back
here to face charges, the local
officers handling the case were
Sheriff J. P. Bradley and
Pritchard Smith, Jr., high
way patrolman. The name of
Sheriff Bradley was inadvert
ently omitted from the account
of the arrest, published last
week.
Farmers With Big Corn
Yields Asked To Report
Farmers who are expecting a
yield of 100 bushels or more of
corn per acre should contact
the county agent's office imme
diately so that this yield may
be estimated, County Agent S.
W. Mendenhall, said this week.
Several yields of over 100 bush
els have been estimated.
N. C. UNEMPLOYMENT LIGHT
Unemployment is much less
prevalent in North Carolina
than in the nation as a whole,
it is announced by Henry E.
Kendall, chairman of the N. C.
Employment Security commis
sion.
Building And Loan, In 25
Years, Has Lent $615,500
The Macon County Building
and Loan Association next week
will mark its 25th anniversary.
The association started busi
ness October 6, 1922, when its
books were first opened for the
purchase of share of stock.
Starting with exactly noth
ing, the association has grown
during the quarter century of
Its existence until today it has
$134,531 out on loan.
Since Its organization, It has
loaned a total of $615,500 to 675
borrowers. The loans were for
a variety of building purposes,
; about 100 of them having fl
! nanced the construction of new
homes. As of January 1, this
year, the association had a total
of 177 stockholders.
i Every loan has been collect
ed, 100 cents on the dollar, it
was said this week.
| The association started busi
ness with the late John C.
Wright as president. H. W. Cabe
was vice-president, S. H. Lyle,
Jr., secretary-treasurer, and Gil
mer A. Jones, attorney. Direct
ors were J. 8. Conley, the late
Sam L. Franks, the late 8 R.
Joines, the late Dr. 8. H. Lyle,
the late Ous Leach, and George
Dean.
I ? Continued On Paye Elfht