y. ?If)< ISjiflWanb* Xacoman Price 6 Cents VOL. LXIV? NO. 50 FRANKLIN, N. C., THURSDAY, DEC. IS, 1949 TWELVE PAGES Calendar . Of The Week'* 7 EVENTS 1 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15 3:4''; p m. ? First Baptist Sun b -? ?S, nirls' Auxiliary, and Fo- a' Ambassadors at the 'hirrh. 7 p m ? Post No. 108, Amer ic-n T e<;i n, at Slagle Memorial I u'd'n?. ''??1 p. m. ? Nequassa Chapter vn. 43. O der of Eastern Star, i f M" sonic hall, FRIDAY 7 ?0 P- m. ? Franklin Lodge *'i *52, Loyal Order of Moose, af old Legion hal'. SATURDAY 8 p. n ? Square dance (Amer I.e"ion benefit) at Memor ial building. , SUNDAY S o. m. ? Christmas cantata by rhoi ? rf four Franklin churches at Methodist church. MONDAY 10 .a. m. ? Board of county commissioners at courthouse. 10 a. m. ? County board of ed ucation at courthouse. 7 o. m. ? Franklin Troop No. 1, Boy Scouts, at Memorial building. 7:30 p. m.? Franklin Parent Teacher association at school. 7:30 p. m. ? Macon County His torical Society at Bank of Franklin building. TUESDAY 7:30 p. m.? Bingo (V. F. W.) benefit) at old Legion hall. 7:30 p. m.? Junaluskee Lodge No. 145, A. F. and A. M., at Masonic hall. WEDNESDAY 7 p. m. ? Franklin Rotary club at Memorial building. 7: 30 p. m. ? Annual Christmas program at Franklin Presbyter ian church. 7:30 p. m. ? Signal Tel. and Tel. Operation Company No. 3547 at Agricultural building. Slagle PTA To Meet Wednesday Afternoon The Parent-Teacher associa tion of Slagle school will meet Wednesday of next week at 2 p* m. at the school, it has been announced. 50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK The Dlllsboro mail failed to arrive yesterday morning owing to high waters. John O. Harrison is spending a few days at home with his family. He's the big drummer, you know. Rev. J. R. Pendergrass is gathering in material to make some - improvements on his houses recently purchased on the Ee'l corner. Another prisoner escaped from the jail Wednesday night. He is said to have gone out through the same hole in the wall that one escaped through a few nights before. 25 YEARS AGO Senator Henry G. Robertson and Representative A. W. Horn returned from Asheville last week, where they attended a meeting of senators and repre sentatives from the 25 counties of Western North Carolina. Miss Pearl Mpore and Mr. Harley Stewart, Doth of Ellljay, were married in Franklin last Tuesday by Magistrate George Carpenter. "Judge" Hines, of Highlands, was in Franklin Monday for medical attention. He had a rib broken In a truck accident about two weeks. 10 YEARS AGO ? Siler Slagle, WUlard Pender grass, It. E. Church, Jr., and Mack Setser, students at N. C. State college at Raleigh, have arrived to spend the holidays with their respective parents. William Blaine, a student at < Mars Hill college, spent the week-end with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. T. Blaine. The Christmas lighting on i Main street gives franklin a gay and ftitlve air. . Observes 99th Birthday MRS. MARTHA JANE BRYSON Still remarkably active in mind and body, Mrs. Bryson yes terday celebrated her 99th birthday at her home in the Culla saja community. Though she fa irly radiates sweetness and se renity, there's a lot of character beneath the sweetness, as a look at the lace quickly reveals. ?riwto by Crist SMio At 99, 'Aunt Jane* Bryson Laughs, Talks, Has Ideas Still young enough to shake with laughter at a joke, and to be Interested in all about her, a sweet old lady yesterday cel ebrated her 99th birthday. She is Mrs. Martha Jane (Aunt Jane) Bryson, and she observed the anniversary in the home in ?fW<&..she has lived for three quarters "of a cen tury ? every since her husband, the late John T. Bryson, brought her there, a year after they were married. Mrs. Bryson has moved, in fact, only once in her nearly a century of life, she recalled in an interview. That was from her father's home, in the Rab bit Creek section, to the neat, white frame house on Bryson Branch, in the Cullasaja com munity, where she has lived ever since she and her husband moved there, when they had finished building the first two rooms. Both her mind and body belie Mrs. Bryson's 99 years. She has been totally blind for about 10 years, but her hearing appears to be perfect, and she is able to get out of bed, and dresses and undresses herself with only a little assistance. She walks with someone to lean on. Almost certainly Macon Coun- j ty's oldest citizen, Mrs. Bryson planned to observe her 99th an- ! nlversary with a quiet family I dinner. Though she complains that her memory Is not as good as It once was, her mind is clear ? as is revealed by the decisive ness with which she speaks. Wearing a lavendar dress, al most covered by a fresh apron, she was seated before an open fire in her living room ? what a lot of living that room has seen! ? when a reporter and a photographer called. Somewhat sparing with her words, she says what she means, and means what she says. "I don't think the world is as good as it used to be", she said without hesitation, In reply to a question. And she was as prompt in giving her reasons: "Too many are wanting a do' lar. People don't care for one another like they used to.". But while she left no question about how she felt on that subject, it was obvious that she sees the bright side, too. She frequently smiled, and once or twice she laughed outright, as she talked. Since she has been unable to read, she has enjoyed the radio, which she "listens to a right smart". And she continues her life-long Interest In the work of her church, Salem Metho dist. She is an honorary mem PLAN YULETIDF. PROGRAM The annual Christmas pro gram at the Franklin Presby terian church will be held Wednesday night at 7:30 o'clock. ber of the church's missionary society, and frequently insists that the group meet at her home. ' She does not know how to accounty lor her longevity, ex cept that "I worked hard all my ?ife, until I got so I couldn't". Ask?d if work isn't the salva tion for most people, she re plied with emphasis: "It was for me." She has always been a meat eater, and relatives say she still doesn't want to go a day without some kind of meat. Ex cept for vegetables, which sometimes disagree with her, she eats almost anything she wants. A girl of 10 at the time, she clearly recalls the outbreak of the Civil War, and remembers her brothers' leaving home to go to the army. And she recalls, of course, that two of them never came home again. She remembers attending school at Holly Springs, and re calls that one of her teachers was Pitzhugh Ammons. And she recalls that "old Dr. Lyle" (father of the late Dr. S. H. Lyle) usually attended her when her babies were born. She is impressed with the changes that have occurred in a century, but does not approve of all of them, as indicated by her remark that the world isn't as good a place today as it was when she was young. The daughter of Billy Deal and Mrs. Martha Jennings Deal, she married Mr, Bryson when she was 23, and they reared nine children, eight sons and one daughter. A'l are still liv ing except the daughter, Mrs. Annie Vanhook. Mrs. Vanhook, who made her home at Prentiss, died about two years ago. Mrs. Bryson's husband died 14 years ago, at the age of 85. Her eldest son, Will Bryson, of Cullasaja, now is 74. The other seven are Charlie, Sam and Elbert Bryson, all of Cul lasaja. George E., of Sedro Woolley, Wash., Joe, of Terre bonne, Ore., Burton, of Whit her, and Newton Bryson, of Raleigh. She has 58 grandchildren, 70 odd great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren. Mrs. Bryson and her unmar ried son, Elbert, live in the old home, but daughters-in-law, nieces, granddaughters, and great - granddaughters are al ways dropping to look after her, and yesterday members of the family were Invited by Mrs. Bry son to her birthday dinner, at noon. It will be presented by members of the church and the Junior ( choir. At the conclusion of the i program, the Joy gitt offering i will be taken. THOMPSON PUT ON PROBATION !N LIOUOR CASE i 'wafford" Custody Case Draws Crowds; Four Divorces Granted George Thompson, 24-year old "rinkltn taxi driver, who last Tuesday was sentenced to eight ninths - n the roads for violat n of the prohibition laws, ,v>u~'dav w-s pl-ced on proba on bv Judsre Dan K. Moore, ??resid'n? eve- the December ??-m of fa con superior court. The sentence was changed by Moore. it was explained n the )uc1