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VOL. LXVII Number 9
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
At Franklin, North Carolina
Telephone No. 24
Entered at Post Office, Franklin, N. C., as second class matter.
WEIMAR JONES
BOB S. SLOAN...
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ance with the postal requirements.
A Macon County Experiment
An unusual experiment is being conducted in
Macon County this year. It is so unusual, in fact,
that it has attracted considerable attention in other
sections of the state.
Back in 1946 nothing resembling a symphony or
chestra ever had visited Macon County. Most of us
here ? including the writer of this piece ? knew next
to nothing about a symphony orchestra ; many of us
knew even less about the great music of the world
? some knowledge of which is quite as vital a part
of education as is an acquaintance with good lit
erature. i
In view of that situation, an educational cam
paign obviously was necessary if the N. C. Little
Symphony orchestra was to brought here in the
spring of 1946. That educational campaign took the
form of a Symphony membership drive, in which
people were asked to take memberships and thus
ma.ke it possible to bring the orchestra here for two
concerts, a free one in the afternoon for school chil
dren, and one in the evening for members.
That was the first of six successful membership
drives that have been conducted here in the past six
years. It marked the beginning of an awakening of
interest in music here, as witness such musical de
velopments in the six-year period as organization
of a band at Franklin school ? hardly more than
an impossible dream back in 1946 ? which draws
capacity crowds when it and allied musical organi
zations present concerts: a full-time public school
music teacher at work in this county ; and some
half-dozen piano teachers kept busy every day with
private pupils.
Meanwhile, too, thousands of Macon County
school children and many hundreds of adults have
heard the orchestra. In short, we've had an oppor
tunity to learn something about the educational
value of these Symphony concerts, and to learn
whether we enjoy them.
Since that is the case, a group of persons who,
year after year, have worked for the Symphony, at
a meeting last fall raised these questions :
After six years of educational campaigns, is such
a campaign still necessary? And if not, why hold a
membership drive?
The group came up with these answers :
Six years is enough ; people here know, by now,
whether they want these concerts.
And the increase in interest in music generally
and in the size of the audiences attending the Sym
phony concerts (last year there was standing room
only for the evening performance) are proof that
Macon County will support this movement without
the nedessity for a membership campaign.
More than a score of Macon County business
houses and individuals were so sure of this that
they gambled good hard cash on it ; they guaran
teed the cost of bringing the orchestra here this
season, agreeing to make up any deficit. If the
concert "pays out", they'sai^l, it will be proof that
Macon County people want good music, and are
willing, voluntarily, to pay fo,r it ; if, on the other
hand, they should not "pay out", then it' would be
proof that this community should forget such con
certs for the future.
So this year there will be no membership drive.
Nobody will be "driven", nobody will even be asked
to buy a Symphony membership. Instead, those
who are interested in good music for this count'v,
those who have found (some of them, to their sur
prise!) that thev enjoy these concerts, will have to
be "self-starters". It is left up to them to go, of
their own accord, to one of the business houses
where they are on sale to get their Symphony
memberships.
Another interesting feature of this experiment is
the fact that the children's concert this year will
not be entirely free. In the belief that people enjoy
and appreciate things more if they pay something
A Lift For Today
? . . . This in none other but the house of God, and this is
the gate of heaven. ? Gen. 28:17.
NO MORE important discovery has been made than that the
bouce of God and the gate of heaven may be found right in
car home or place of. work. The kingdom of God is within us.
Make ma home*, O Lord, Thy dwelling place.
for them, each child who wishes to attend is asked
to bring a quarter to his or her teaicher at school.
The youngsters, with children's ability to quickly
sense what a situation really is, recognize that 25
cents 's far from enough for an admission ticket to
a 25-picce orchestra concert : they take the attitude
that thoir quarters are their individual contribu
tions toward bringing the orchestra here. 'And indi
cations are that hundreds will attend ? that more,
possibly, may want to attend than any Macon
County auditorium will .seat.
Whether the experiment is a financial success
depends, of course, upon the reaction of adults.
Are there enough people here interested enough in
good music for their county to voluntarily go buy
their memberships?
This, so far as can be learned, is the only com
munity in the state that is attempting to have the
orchestra without a membership drive. To assume
that people will .support something worth-while,
for themselves and their community, without be
ing "driven" to it, is so unusual that the Macon
County experiment will be watched all over North
Carolina.
What Is Behind It?
The introduction of legislation by Representative
Monroe M. Redden to reduce the size of the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina
is a surprise and shock to many people in Western
North Carolina.
Rep. Redden proposes legislation which would
deed to Swain county 44.-KX) acres now included in
the Smoky Mountains Park and 4,500 acres of land
now owned by the Nantahala National Forest.
The area now lying in the park was deeded in
1943 to the park by the commissioners of Swain
county in a four-way agreement between the State
of North Carolina, the board of commissionels of
Swain county, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and
the t_T. S. Department of Interior, of which the Na
tional Park Service is a part.
The three principal factors in the four-way agree
ment are :
(1) The area of the Great Smoky Mountains Na
tional Park was enlarged by the addition of some
44,400 acres, thus increasing the ...boundary on the
North Carolina side to 273,896 acres.
(2) The construction (after the war) of a stand
ard highway between Brvson City and Deal's Gap
(on the North Carolina-Tennessee line) 50 miles
long that would be an important link in a planned
round-the-park highway that has long been one of
the major proposals of the master plan for develop
ment of the national playground.
(3) Extension of the boundary to Fontana Lake
with the National Park Service having the right of
access to and use of waters for construction and
maintenance of boating and recreational facilities,
including piers, docks, and related equipment.
Rep. Redden said that he was introducing the
legislation because of the failure of the Park Service
to build the Deal's Gap highway and because the
park does not need the land.
Since this legislation comes as a complete sur
prise to most people outside of Swain county and
perhaps many within, we are sure there are many
questions which will arise out of what could be
the beginning of the dismemberment of Western
North Carolina's greatest tourist asset. Here are
some questions which people in Western North
Carolina, and for that matter people throughout
the nation, will want answered before the legislation
is passed :
1. Why is this land not needed for the park
when in 1943 it was decided by all parties concern
ed, after considerable study and discussion, that the
transfer of the land would be a good move?
2. If the failure of congress to appropriate money
to the Park Service for construction of the Deal's
Gap highway is Mr. Redden's reason for the intro
duction of this legislation, would it not be more
constructive for him to continue to apply his ef
forts toward bringing about the necessary appropri
ations for the construction of this road, rather than
abandoning the cause so quickly? (Had his prede
cessor, the late Zeb Weaver, given up so easily,
there would never have been a Smoky Mountains
National Park.)
3. Are the reasons assigned bv Rep. Redden for
the introduction of this bill the only ones behind
the demand for this legislation?
Every Week
W e like a' report that has come to this office from
the Macon County schools ? about Brotherhood
Week, observed throughout the nation last week.
No unusual programs marked the observance
here last week, it seems: instead, the report points
out. "in the rchools of Macon County, every week
is brotherhood week". That is the sort of obser
vance which really means something.
Most teachers here, the report explains, lose no
opportunity, throughout the year, "to promote
among their pupils an understanding of people who
are different from themselves in race, customs, or
religion".
That phase, we .suggest, makes for good will be
cause it makes good sense. First, there is an admis
sion- ? something many are inclined to overlook ?
that there are differences; then there follows the
OUR DEMOCRACY
-by Mat
BA THTUBS GADGETS
SOME CYNICS SNEER AT AMERICAN CIVILIZATION AS
A THING OF "BATHTUBS, CARS AND KITCHEN GADGETS."
BUT BATHTUBS MEAN
CUCAML/NESS ?
And the enterprise and inventiveness that create
THESE 'GADGETS* AND THE THRIFT THAT FINANCES AND
EXPANDS THEIR MANUFACTURE HAVE THEIR ROOTS IN
AN APPRECIATION OF THE DIGNITY AND RIGHTS OF
THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE NEED FOR FREEDOM OF THE
HUMAN SPIRIT.
effort to understand the person who is different.
In studying1 the Indians, Eskimos, Chinese, and
other groups, school children here are encouraged
to point out the special gifts, as well as weaknesses
and handicaps, of these groups. And as an aid to
understanding, the study of geography is used to
explain v/hy there are differences among people.
Understanding, the report suggests, eliminates
'prejudice and leads to respect for human rights.
That, in a nutshell, surely 'is the whole purpose
of Brotherhood Week. It might be added that it
also is a major purpose of, both Christianity and
democracy.
Our American Civilization
Specializing more and more narrowly ; wonder
ing why so many of us are cranks.
Measuring progress in terms of size, quantity and
speed ; spending millions for research to learn why
.so many of us die of heart attacks.
? Others Opinions
NEW CIVIL WAR
From certain areas of Yankeeland, particularly in New Eng
land, have been coming sustained wails that the textile South
can out-produce the textile North at lower cost. Owners of the
Northern textile mills have complained that Southern textile
employees woik h^rd-r far less money, and they have threaten
ed to move South, lock, stock and barrel.
Some, in fact have done just that.
Primarily, it appears that much of the propaganda being
turned out by owners of northern textile concerns is aimed at
particular state governments with a view to obtaining reduc
tion in taxes, and at the unions which, for some years, have
dictated, in a measure, textile wages in the North.
But the Charlotte Observer last week noted a new target,
which raised its editorial blood pressure virtually to the pop
off point.
It was the suggestion that government procurement agencies,
mainly operating in the armed forces, grant contracts to North
ern mills, even at higher prices than of Southern mills.
It was, of course, enough to make plenty .of blood pressures
boil. Such a policy would be a new form of government sub
sidy and one which defies all the laws of economics, supply and
demand, comparative advantage, etc.
Unquestionably, the textile manufacturers of the South, their
trade organizations, newspapers and others will keep a firm
view on such shenanigans and will insist that their representa
tives in Congress prevent such an unfair and "foolish, policy.
HIGHLANDS IN SPRING
The sun is aglow in Highlands
When the spring comes once again
And the pink Arbutus wanders '
Up and down the wooded lane.
The breeze blows cool in Highlands
And the woods are a County Fair,
Flaunting flags of glory
With music in the air.
At evening in the heavens
The sun is an amber crest.
Then it blushes over all the sky
And 'Slowly sinks to rest.
? Kings Mountain Herald.
EDITH DEADERICK ERSKINE
Editor
Weaverville, North Carolina
VIRGINIA E FLEMING
Business
Making
News
? By BOB SLOAN
Lee Wood, for a fellow who
was a mighty sick man a year
or so ago, sure is getting a lot
done these days. This past week
he hroke ground on the con
struction of several new units
for his modern tourist court lo
cated on Palmer street, and on
March 8 he will have a part In
the auction of the Howard
Shook farm located on the
Highlands road. This fine farm
has been subdivided into home
sites and small farms There
are many beautiful home sites
here and If you are interested
in building it would be well
worth your time to attend this
auction sale on March 8.
? ? ?
The new hatchery Is expect
ing to open this next week-end.
This company Is owned by E.
M. Hunt of Denton, N. C. Mr.
Hunt also owns the Denton
hatchery at Denton. The local
plant will be managed by Her
bert Skeen.
As said before in this column,
construction of this hatchery
here is proof that the folks in
the business believe that the
peak has not been reached in
this field yet.
? * *
It looks to me like the legis
lation Introduced by Represen
tative Monroe Redden pertain
ing to the returning of some of
the land from the Smoky Moun
tains Park to Swain County
might help a few folks at the
expense of a much larger group.
Certainly no one can dispute
that the park is much more de
sirabla as a recreational area
with its boundaries reaching to
the edge of Fontana lake, than
It would be if a strip between
the lake's edge and park boun
dary were commercialized. If
the move wasn't a good thing
why did the commissioners of
Swain county agree to the ex
change in 1943? Also consider
the danger of establishing the
precedent of giving back to the
various counties the lands taken
over by the park. If the park
were dismembered how much
tourist trade would western
North Carolina have In 20
years?
Do You
Remember?
(Looking backward through
the files of The Prem)
50 YEARS AGO THIS WEFK
The dispensary spirit seemed
to manifest Itself pretty freely
in town Saturday.*
Mr. W. H. Greenwood, of Ra
bun, drug drummer, was In
town Monday.
Mrs. E. A. Sample, after a
few weeks' visit to her husband
here, left Friday to return to
h"r home at Hendersonvllle.
25 TEARS AGO
According to reports, Car
toogechaye has an optimist de
luxe. He planted a dogwood tree
and expects to raise a litter of
hound pups.
In order adequately to ac
commodate its growing business,
The Press is moving this week
into more commodious quarters
at the Franks building on East
Main street.
10 YEARS AGO
Ben Douglas, assistant state
director of Civilian Defense,
visited Franklin last week to
give instructions to the local
committee.
Miss Emogene Landrum has
been chosen valedictorian of
the senior class of the Frank
lin High school and Miss Vir
ginia Bryant has been chosen
salutatorian.
Royal Burnette Taking
Course In Night Vision
Undergoing a night vision
course at the U. S. Naval Air
station, San Diego, Calif., is
Royal W. Burnette, Jr., aviation
structural mechanic, third class,
the navy has announced.
He is the son of Mr and
Mrs. R. W. Burnette, of Frank
lin.
Veteran pilots, crewmen, and
recruits 'attended the school to
familiarize themselves with the
various ways possible to see
under reduced lighting condi
tions. In the high point of the
"course, students take seats on
a high balcony to undergo a
similated mission over an "en
emy" city lighted to an equal
Intensity of a moonlit night, it
was explained.