Jfj* Jlacoman
Price 6 Cents
TOL. LXV? NO 4
rK^NKXIN, N. C., THURSDAY, FEBBUAB? 3. 19?fl
EIGHT PAGES
NANTAHALA FOREST
HAS 30TH BIRTHDAY
By PAUL H. RUSSELL v
(Assistant Forcet Supervisor)
. Nantahala National Forest cel
?Bt&ted Its 30th bl- thday on
January 29, .according to Forest
Supervise. E. W. Renshaw.
Tucked down Into the south
wast corner of North Carolina,
it was one of the first of the
national forests to be proclaim
ed In the Eastern United States.
?ta* Nantahala and Savannah
jMrchase units were established
hk 1911 in accordance with the
Ast of March 1, 1911, 36 Stat.
Ml, kfewn as the Weeks law.
Qm January 29, 1920, these units
proclaimed as the Nanta
hala National Forest by Presi
dent Woodrow Wilson.
The original proclamation cov
ered those areas in South Caro
lina and Georgia which are now
the Oeneral Pickens district of
the 8umter National Forest and
the Tallulah district of the
Chattahoochee National Forest.
Also included was a portion of
what is now the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park.
In the late thirties, the bound
aries were revised and the Nan
tahala berame a distinctively
North Carolina National Forest.
Its boundaries now embrace all
of Graham, Macon and Jackson
Counties, most of Cherokee and
Clay, and parts of Swain and
Transylvania.
The only federa'ly owned
lands at the time of establish
ment were the 2. B. Otmstead
grants of some 6,000 acres,
which had been attached by the
U. S. Treasury to satify postal
fund shortages. From this be
ginning, the National Forest has
grown to a total federally own
ed and administered 438,292
acres. Also within the forest
boundaries is a portion of the
Qualla Indian Reservation ad
ministered by the Indian Serv
ice and Eastern Band of Chero
kee Indians,
Many change* have occurred
and many careers have been
launched oh the Nantahala since
Robert W. Shields was appoint
ed as the first forest supervisor
with headquarters at Franklin.
Mr. Shields is now an assistant
regional forester in Region 7 of
the Forest Service; Mrs. Mamie
B. Horsley, the first forest clerk,
is still working in the same ca
pacity, but under quite changed
conditions. Other forest super
visors who have served the Nan -
tah la we e Arthu A. Wood, re
cently retired as supeiv.sor o*
the Mononaahela National For
est; John B. Eyrne, deceased
j Herbert Stone, now regional
i forester for the Southern Res
i n ol the Fo est Service; Phil
1d H. B*;rn, assistant regional
forester, Southen Region; W'l
liam R. Paddock, now supervis
or of the Cherokee National
Forest, Paul H. Oerrard, "?W
supervisor of the Ozark Nation
al Forest; Charles Me ichar, now
an assistant divlsln chief
Washington, D. C.; and E. A
Schilling, "now assistant regi-rial
forester at Albuquerque, New
Mexico. E. W. Renshaw, the
I present forest supervisor, has
been on the forest since 1946.
Other names are linked with
the early days of the forest
when good roads were pracUc
ally non-existent and the wild
erness of Graham County little
known except to the lumber
companies, who were pushing
loeeine railroads back into the
more accessib'e coves. Some of
the ear'.y forest examiners and
surveyors who are easily
ed are James Denman. of Frank
lin- W J Dam toft, n~w an of
ficial of the Chamoion Paper
and Fibre company; W. N
Sloan, retlsed, of
; Roane Bradley, still on ^eob
as surveyor; and John Waslllk,
Jr., still on the job as dis^'ct
forest ranger on the Wayah
Ranger district. Early Forest
Raneers well known In Western
North Carolina inc ude ?rady
Slier now forest engineer on
the Plsgah National Forest '. Tom
I Alexander, proprietor of Cata
loochee Ranch; Ed Potts of
Highlands, now ,?P"*"n|vrd
i erocerv store; and Zeke Byrd.
Thee, and others, were pioneers
! m the development and protec
tion of Uncle Sam 8 forests in
the Appalachians. A few of the
vear after vear were Henry
Baty of Highlands; Gilmer Set
ter of Franklin; N. C. Grfint of
Wesser and Grady Waldroop,
still on the job as Kwkout-dis
patcher on Panther Top Look
: ?Uind'cative of the 'ack oftravel
facilities with most national
forest business handled over
ground circuit telephone lines
strung on trees, is a story told
bv one of the original employes
the chief clerk After abouWO
vears on the job, N. C.
finally had a chance to visit
the supervisor's office in Fran -
Vn and upon being introduced
to the chief clerk, he acknowl
edged the introduction by stat
ing. "I ain't never met her per
sonallv before, but we ve flt a
| lot of fl^es over, the te ephone.
In pointing out some of the
fhin^es that have taken place
Mr Renshaw calls attention to
I the fact that U. S. Highways ,19.
23 and 64 now traverse the for
est as well as naved state high
ways in addition,, there are on
| the forest road system Si miles
of maintained roads, wlth?4
miles plann~d but not con
structed Mu-h of the road de
velopment orcur-ed during _the
CCC days or tf-e thirties. The
far flung syf *?> of forest tele
rhone lines 1 is *en reduced to
a mlmlmuni a <d short wave
radio is now in use for 'ookout
tower and fire l*ne communica
tion.
Do You
Remember . . . ?
(Looking backward through
the files of The Press)
54 TEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Miss May McDowell left Sat
urday for Greensboro to re
enter the State Normal College.
There will be a poke supper
at Iot!a church next Saturday
nleht for the benefit of the
Methodist parsonage.
Capt. W. P. Moore, of Clay
County, spent part of last week
with relatives In this commun
ity.
Corn and other good produce
exchanged for goods at the
Racket store on the RoMiwon
corner.? Adv.
25 YEAR8 AGO
Within the next few days
work will begin on the High
School's athletic field, to the
rear of the school building. The
field was donated to the school
by Mr. M. E. Cozad.
Mr. Dewey Gregory had the
misfortune to get blowed up
with dynamite, on the Jackson
county highway. He wasn't ser
iously Injured excepting his
eyes? Item from "News from
the Orove".
Mrs. C. C. Cunningham Is
again at home, after spending
several weeks with her son In
Florida.
1* TEAM AGO
The activities of the Wednes
day Card club were suspended
last week and this week, due to
the extremely cold weather.?
Highlands item.
Temperatures here were from
t to 9 below zero the most of
last week ? TelUco Item.
Mr. and Mrs. J. 8. Conley,
Mrs. C. S. Brown, Sam W. Men*
denhall, and W. W. Sloan went
to Atlanta Sunday to see "Oone
With The Wind".
A significant development on
the forest during the years has
been the building of hydro-elec
, trie dams and lakes. Santeetlah,
built by Alcoa, was the first. It
i was followed by the TVA de
velopment of Hlwassee, Appa
lachia and Fontana reservoirs.
On the Nantahala river is an
other power company develop
ment, covering the old town of
Aquone and known as Nanta
hala Lake. The forested coves,
slopes and peaks of the Nanta
hala National Forest supply the
headwaters of such river sys
tems as the Savannah and Ten
nessee and nurtures the water
that makes a great hydro-elec
tric system possible. This la con
sidered by many to be Its great
eat service to the people of the
southeast and the nation.
The Coweeta Experimental
Fo-est. o? 5.000 acres and hvdro
loglc laboratory, was establish
pd on the Nantahala National
Forest for the primary purpose
of determining the basic rela
tionship of mountain forests and
water. Though originally the
Nantahala. as well as other na
tional forests, was created to
protect watersheds and to pro
Continued On Page Eight?
SEEKS REELECTION
J. CIJNTON BROOKSHIRE
For Clerk of Court
3R00KSHIRE0UT
FOR REELECTION
Announces Candidacy To
Succeed Self As
Clerk
J. Clinton Rrookshire- an
nounced this week that he wi'l
seek renomlnation to the office
of clerk of superior court, which
he has held for the past four
years, in the May Democratic
; primary.
His announcement brings to
five the number in this county
already out for Democratic
nominations ? two for sheriff,
one for representative, and two
for clerk. In the clerk's race,
Mr. Brookshire will be opposed
by Miss Kate McGee, who an
nounced last wek.
Tfte son of Mr. and Mrs. J. H.
Brookshire, qf Franklin, Route 1,
Mr. Brookshire made his entry
into politics in 1946, when he
won the Democratic^ nomination
and election as clerk for a feur
(year term.
I Born at Demoregt, Oa., he
moved to Macon County in early
life and Is a graduate of the
Fanklin High school. He at
tended Western Carolina Teach
ers col!ege, Cullowhee, for three
years, and the University of
North Carolina one year.
For three years he served sis
accounting clerk and housing
manager for the TVA, and was
employed as accounting clerk
by Highlands Briar, Inc., here
for several months prior to en
tering the race for clerk in
1946.
He i s a member of the Frank
lin Lions club and of the Moose
lodge.
He and Mrs. Brookshire and
their small daughter, Brenda,
make their home in the Car
toogechaye community.
Polio Fund
Lagging; Time Extended
For Two Weeks
The polio drive is lagging,
here and over the state, and
the campaign period has been
extended over North Carolina
tor two weeks, through Febru
ary 14, It was announced this
week by J. Clinton Brookshire,
county campaign chairman.
Contributions received to date
by Claude Bolton, county treas
urer, total $419. This compares
with total contributions in last
year's campaign of $3,665.
Meanwhile, some community
fund-raising events have been
scheduled or are planned.
I At Otto, a square dance will
be held Saturday evening at 8
o'clock at the school, with Rob
inson's string band providing
music. The preceeds are to be
divided between the school and
the infantile paralysis fund.
The first and only school to
report so far, Mr. Brookshire
said, is that at iotla. Children
of the Iotla community collect
ed and have turned In $32.
Nearly two hundred dollars
has been raised in two commun
ities, however, that has not been
turned In.
At Scaly, which contributed
more per capita last year than
any township in the county,
$152.30 was raised at a box sup
per last Saturday night, It was
learned, and J. M. Raby, presi
dent, collected $32 at Sunday's
, fifth Sunday singing convention.
SNAVELY TALK?
AT FOOTBALL
BANOUET II T
175 Hear U. N. C. Hea
?Coach D;so'iss
'Sanity Cod's'
Approximately 25 Franklin
High school football boys, hon
or suests of the occasion, were
w'de-eved and wide-eared for
the pddress of Carl O. Snavely,
head football coach at the Uni
"eisitv of North Carolina, at
last Wednesday evening's foot
hill banquet, held at the Blagle
Memorial bul'ding.
The Franklin Rotary club,
host for the occasion, had a?
its quests member of the
Franklin team, their fathers.
Principal R. G. Sutton and
Coach Milburn Atkins, and
abcut 15 other coaches. All
Smoky Mountain conference
coaches were invited as guests,
as well as three former coaches
| at the school here.
In addition to Rotarians, foot
ball players and their fathers,
and the coaches, about a score
of University of North Caro
lina alumni, as well as a number
of footba'l fans falling in none
of these groups were among the
175 persons present.
Coach Snavely wise-cracked
his way into his audience's at
tention, and then discussed foot
ball as a sport.
While he disanproves of the
San'tv Code, referring to it as
possibly an "insanjtv code", he
declared that he and a major
ity of coaches favor "the prin
ciples which underlie the Sanity
Code.
"The only reward, in my opin
ion ? the only legitimate reward
? which any boy should receive
for playing football is what he
gets out of the game".
"It is not' how much ability
iyou have", he told the boys,
i "but how much you put out
that counts. Talent is the
cheapest thing in the wor'd".
It is an "accepted principle",
however, he said, "that it is
legitimate for a boy to receive
financial assistance on a basis
of need", and he went on to
s->y that the reason the Sanity
Code is impractical is that con
ditions vary at different insti
tutions, particularly with refer
ence to facilities for self-help.
Football scholarships are the
answer at some institutions, he
I said.
Coach Snave'v made humor
pus and complimentary refer
ences tp Macon County men
who played football in other
years .it Carolina, among them
! C. C. Poindexter, now of Hay
wood county, and Lacey Har
per.
John M. Archer, Jr., was Blas
ter of ceremonies at the ban
quet. E. W. Renshaw, Rotary
p-esident, we'comed the guests,
and Fred Huffman, of Morg
anton, introduced Coach Snav
ely^ The Rev. C. E. Murray
pronounced the invocation.
Mr. Archer presented the
coaches present, and Coach At
kins introduced members of the
football squad.
Following the program, also
marked by a black-face act done
by B. L. McGlamery and foot
ball film shown by Coach Snav
ely, U. N. C. alumni met with
Coach Snavely and Mr. Huff
man ? to discuss the Education
Foundation, which provides
funds for football scholarships.
A number of alumni agreed to
make donations to the founda
tion.
Drink Drama
Is Given By !
Local Group |
A capacity audience Tuesday
night witnessed the presentation 1
at the Franklin Methodist '
church of "Prisoner at the Bar",
a temperance drama depicting
the courtroom tilal of a man
for the murder of his wife
while he was Intoxicated
The play was presented by the
Franklin Methodist, Presbyter- ,
lan, and Baptist and the Car
son's Chape] Methodist churches,
and the entire cast, with two
exceptions, wa? made up of
local persons.
The players Included W. W.
Sloan, as the Judge; the Rev.
C. E. Murray, defense attorney;
John D. Alsup, sheriff; the Rev.
Continued On P?f? Elite t?
HERE ARE FIVE GENERATIONS? The e are five genera
tions in this Macon County family and the photo above is the
proof. Mrs. J. F. Fouts (lower ri;hti is the gieat-great-grand- ;
mother of the fami y; Mrs. H. ?oper Hewer left), great
grandmother; L. B. Roper (upper left) grandfather; and Mrs.
Ca-o' Lee Townsend (upper rig.iti mother, holding her tin?;
daughter, Elaine Townsend. Mrs. Fouts, the great-great-grand
mother, is 87 years of age.
Mrs. Fulton
Former Teachsr, Dic? At
Age Of 81
Mrs. John Fulton, widely
known Macon County woman,
died at her home in the Culla
saja community at 10 o'clock
Wednesday night of last week,
following a long il ness.
Mrs. Fu'ton, who was 81 years
of age, at cne time was a teach
er, having taught in th= srho Is
of th'.s county for about 15
years. The former Miss Laura
Jane Higdon, daughter of Jos
eph H. and M s. Margaret Per
ry Higdon, she was a native of
the Higdoriville community. She
nf rried Mr Fulton in lf'Xi, the
third of last month having
marked the golden wedding an
niveraary. She was a member of
the Sugarfork Baptist church.
Survivors Include her hus
band; one son, Mack Fulton, of
Arlington. Va.; three daughters,
Mrs. Tille y Hende-son, Mrs.
Pritchard Peek, and Mrs. Myrtle
Keener, all of whom live in Cal
ifornia; two sisters, Mrs. Eva
Keener, of Cullasaja, and Mrs.
D. C. Higdon, cf Sy'va; three
brothers, Mack Higdon, of Medi
cine Hat, Alberta, Canada, T. B.
Higdon, of Atlanta, and J. S.
Higdon, of Sylva; five grand
children, and one great-grand
child.
Funeral services were con
ducted at the Sujrarfirk Baptist
church last Friday at 2 p. m.,
with the Rev. William L. Sor
rells. thi Rev. James I. Vinson,
and the Rev. D. V. Mart n of
ficiating Burial followed in the
chu ch i imetery.
P.?ilbe> rers were Troy Shook,
Fur nan McConnell. Edgar Guf
fey, Ear McConnell, Mack Nor
ris, and Fohn Angel.
A ranfc'jments were under the
direction of Bryant funeral
hoire.
Board Will
Reconsider
2 Changes
The Macon County board of
e'ertions will meet tomorrow
? Friday i morning at 11 o'clock
at the courthouse to reconsider
its prevail! action dividing
F nnklln tnwnahlp 'into twn vot
ns precincts and ordering a
new county-wide registration of
voter*,
J. J. Mann, board chairman
in announcing that he has call
ed tomorrow's meeting, said
considerable opposition has been
expressed to both proposals.
At its meeting tomorrow, he
said, the board will hear both
those who oppose and those who
favor the proposed new regis
tration and splitting of Frank
lin township. Interested citizens
are invited and requested to ap
pear and express themselves,
Mr, Mann said.
The board early in December
announced that it had divided
Franklin township into two vot
ing precincts, and had ordered
a comp'ete new registration, to
be held prior to. this sp ing's
primary election.
The township split, ordered
then, was along the center of
Dillsboro road, Palmer st eet,
and the Murphy road, with all
voters north of that line to
vote at the courthouse, the pres
ent polling place, and all those
south of that line to vote at the
Franklin school.
The township, which is an
approximate triang'e, extends
fiom the old Lyle (now Hunni
cutt) place on the Diilsboro
road west to the old Lenoir
place on the Murphy road, and
from Foutstown, on the north,
to Morrison church, on the
south.
Election officials estimate that
roughly one-half of the voting
population of the entire county
lives in this township.
Sheriff's Office,
Of A!1 Places, Is
Picked For Fight
Of all places to pick as the
site for a fight, a trio Tuesday j
afternoon chose the sheriff's of- ;
fice? or, at least, just outside
the sheriff's office.
The three ? George Guest, his j
estranged wife, and her father, j
Byrd Collins ? quickly landed In i
tall for a brief cooling off per
iod, and then paid fines and :
costs totaling $7.20 each. The
fight also cost them bruises, a
little blood, and in Mr. Guest's
case, a couple of black eyes.
They were emerging from the
sheriff's office, where two cases
in which Mr. Guest charged
Mrs. Guest with theft had been
dismissed by Justice of the
Peace John M. Moore. Mrs.
Guest was said to have made
a lunge for her husband; he
ouicklv entered the frov: and i
then Mr. Collins took his daugh
ter's part.
. There was an uproar In the
courthouse hall, and the th-ee
three fought their way Into the
register 'of deeds oMce befo e I
they were separated by Patrol
man Vincent Bryson, Police
Chief C. D. Balrd and others,
and taken to jail. i
Merchants
Hear Smith Discuss
Association
Interested merchants last
Thursday night heard Donald
Smith, formerly of Iron City,
Mich., but now a resident of
Franklin, explain the workings
of a merchants association and
the functions of a retail credit
bureau. The meeting was he'd
at the courthouse. i
Mr. Smith, who has had more
than 20 years' experience in
chamber 01 commerce work and
owned and operated his own
crsdlt bureau in Michigan for
the past 17 years, to'd the i
group that he felt the best way
to organize a merchant's asso
ciation was through the local
chamber of commerce. He sug- i
gested the first step for the
local group to take was to ob- I
tain as many memberships as
possible from the local mer
chants In the Franklin chamber
of commerce.
JANUARY WAS
WARMEST EVER
RECORDED HERE
Only 2 Frc.?t? Noted;
Rainfall Is Well
Below Normal
The Weather Man last month
(orgot to look at the calendar,
and Macon County has some
thing like April weather in Jan- /
uary.
It was the warmest January .
in the 15 years since a V. a.
weather station was estah'iabed
at the Coweeta Experiment For
est, according to E. A. Jo'mson,
technician In charge.
Though there were many
rainy days, It was not, hr veve ,
a wet January ? measmed in
amount of rainfall. The total of
541 Inches, in fact, was 27 ->er
cent below the January no.?
for the 15-year period.
With the temperature averag
ing 22 per cent ? or nearly one
fourth above normal ? January
brought vegetation here out as
far as It normally would be in
April. Spring flowers have been
in bloom for sometime, lawns
are green, and fruit tree buds
are swelling, or in some cases
are open.
If the weather continues warm
for another week, and th?n t
turns crld. the fruit c op will
be destroyed. County A^ent 8.
W. Mendenhall said yesterdaV.
If cool weather should cwvie Im
mediately, howe- er. the f'uit
probably would not be severely
damaged, he added.
Pasture and hay crops and
small grains also may be huit,
and Mr. Mendenha'l recom
nended very light grazing whe-e
these crops a'e far enough ad
vanced to be damaged by cold
weather.
The average high tempera
tures last month was 58.9' de
grees, or 15 per cent ab-ive the
15-year average of 50 1 decree*.
The average minimum was 4? r>.
or 34 per cent above the 15
year January average m'.nlmrm
of 28 degrees. The mean temper
ature for 'ast month was 7
degrees, or 22 ner cent above
the 15-year average mean of
39.3.
Frost was recorded onlv tw're
last month, on the 8th the eld
est day of the month, when the
temperature dipped ti 14' de
grees, and on the 9th. when the
low reading was 26. The lowest
January temperatu-e recorded
at Coweeta during the past 15
years was 14 degrees below
zero, on January 27, 1S40
I Though this January h?s hren
the warmest on record. rwb'in 'Ie
day set a January record in
warmth. The high rea'1n?? nn
January 19, 1949. was 75. Thi*
was seven degrees hi? he- th"n
the 68-degree high record last
month. There were three days
last month, however, when the
temperature mounted ta 68 ? the
24th, 26th, and 31st. And one
night last month ? the 6th ? the
temperature never fell belnw 56.
I The weather station at Co
! weeta in Januarv noted 26 days
when more than half the sky
was covered with clouds, three!
when It Was 40 per cent over
cast, and only two clear days.
Band Will Be At Ott*
Legion Cancels Dance;
The American Legion, which
sponsors a weekly square dance
at the SHele Memorial building,
has cance'ed Saturday night's
dance. The Robinson string
band, which plays, for the rvent,
will be at Otto Satu'd-y eve
ning, p'aylng for a polio bene
fit square dance there. TUe
weekly Legion dances will Be
resumed Saturday evening, Feb
ruary 11.
The Weather
>- Temperatures and precipitation fo? rfe*
paat seven day?, and the low tfcapersttjr*
yewerdty, as recorded at the Coweeta'E*
perlraent ttation.
Hl*h ]
Wednesday 64
Thursday 6"
Friday ? M
Saturday 47
Sunday 63
Monday 68
Tuesday 68
Wednesday
Lnw !
54
O
5?
43
4*
52
67
50
free.
.01
01
?5
07
T
<*
01
.17
franklin rainfai ?
(A# recordrd by VI anion Slil.-i f?i TV At
Wednesday, none; Thu:sda\
none: Friday. 48 of an inch;
Saturday, trace; Sunday. tr?re;
Monday, .18; Ttfeaday, trace;
and Wednesday, .10.