CIRCULATION
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VOL. LZVII? NO. 45
FRANKLIN, N. C., THURSDAY, NOV. 6, 1952
TEN PAGEB
Dean Upsets Bryson For House Seat
Macon Backs Stevenson,
But Eisenhower Goes In
State Supports Umstead
And Slate For All
Party Offices
By a slim margin of an un
official 60 votes, Macon County
joined North Carolina in Tues
day's general election in giving
Gov. Adlai Stevenson a Demo
cratic green light to the White
House, but:
The Republican ticket of Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower and Sen.
Richard Nixon ripped open the
once-solid South by taking Vir
ginia's 12 electorial votes and
leading in other Southern states
The narrow victory for the
Democratic nominee. Gov. Adlal
Stevenson, over Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower, Republican, in the
presidential race Tuesday was
even reflected in a straw vote
conducted at Franklin High
school. In the general election
the Illinois governor carried by
an unofficial 60 votes, in the
high school balloting, 67.
to put the GOP forces over the
top for the fjrst time in 20
years.
Gov. Stevenson conceded the
election to Gen. El&hhower
early yesterday (Wfftlnesday)
morning from his campaign
headquarters in the Leland Ho
tel in Springfield, 111.
Macon's unofficial vote was:
Stevenson, 3393; Eisenhower,
3330.
Still following the lead of the
state, Macon backed the Demo
cratic gubernatorial candidate
William B. Umstead and his
party's slate of officers. While
all returns have not been re
ported, the Democrats were well
out in front in the state con
tests.
Mr. Umstead received 3,722
votes here to Republican H. F.
Seawell's 2,948.
Royal Ambassador
T wo-Day Conclave
Begins On Friday
More than 100 Royal Ambas
sadors from the six-county Bry
son City Baptist division are
expected to attend the second
annual R. A. concalve here to
morrow (Friday* and Saturday
at the Cowee church.
In charge of the convlave,
which opens tomorrow at 6 p.
m. with a banquet at the
church, will be the Rev. John
Corbltt, pastor of the High
lands Baptist church.
Scheduled to be present for
the meeting Is the Rev. Bill
Jackson, state R. A. leader, and
a number of other church of
ficials.
The Baptist boys will repre
sent churches In Macon, Jack
son, Swain, clay, Graham, and
Cherokee counties.
Food and lodging for the vis
iting R. A.'s will be arranged
by Macon's 20 Baptist churches,
and tomorrow night's opening
banquet will be prepared and
served by missionary societies,
according to Mr. Corbitt.
Bryson City was the host
town to the first R. A. conclave
last year.
MEANDERING
ALONG
MAIN STREET
Way back in 1918, J. R. Ber
ry, of Franklin, Route 4, found
a baby terrapin and, as was
the vogue in those days, carved
his Initials and the date on its
back. Years later, In 1944,
Thomas Sanders found the ter
rapin near his home and re
turned it to Mr. Berry. The two
men figured the terrapin had
crossed Watauga creek and
traveled about a half mile since
1918.
Released again, Brer' Terra
pin started traveling ? and for ?
nought. Monday Mr. Sanders i
found it again near his home
and returned it to Mr. Berry.
Just goes to show that one
can travel a lot and get no
where.
WINS PRESIDENCY
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
Pick Winners
In Why Vote'
Competition
i
Bryan Hurst, of Franklin,
Route 4, Is the winner of a $25
defense bond for the best essay
submitted by a Macon County
high school student on the sub
ject, "Why Vote?"
The contest, sponsored by the
Franklin Lions club, drew 47
entries from the county's three
high schools.
The winner of the $10 cash
second prize is Miss Myra
WINNERS ON PAGE 2
The three prize-winning es
says on "Why Vote?" appear
on the editorial page.
\ Crawford, of Franklin, Route 1,
and $5 third prize went to
Miss Joyce Baldwin, of Frank
lin, Route 3.
Mr. Hurst is the son of Mr.
and Mrs. Leo Hurst. Miss
Crawford is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Crawford.
And Miss Baldwin is the daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Bald
win. All three winners are sen
: iors at Franklin High school.
The entries were first judged
1 by a committee of Franklin
I school teachers, which eliminat
! ed all but 12 entries. These
went to a committee of West
ern Carolina Teachers college
faculty members, which picked
the three winners.
The educational committee of
? SEE NO. 1, PAGE 10
GRADING JOB
MOVESSLOWLY
Expect Arrival Soon Of
Heavy Equipment On
New Highway
Grading on the new Franklin
Cowee Gap highway, which en
tails moving more than a mil
lion yards of dirt, is proceeding
slowly, pending the arrival of
more earth-moving equipment,
according to S. T. Usry, state
highway resident engineer.
Tuesday the engineer said the
contractor, J. C. Critcher, Inc.,
of Asheville, is expected to move
heavy equipment in some time
this week.
At present, bulldozers are I
.roughing out the general bed
of the proposed road and start
ing work on several cuts and'
SEE NO. 2, PAGE 10
MEETING CANCELLED
The regular meeting/of the
Franklin board o if aldermen
Monday night was cancelled be
cause of the absence of Mayor
W. C. Burrell, who was out of
town, according to Town Clerk :
C. O. Ramsey. A special session :
is planned at an early date, he
pdded
SOUAD PLAYS
HERE FRIDAY
Panthers Meet Powerful
Waynesville High For
Non-Conference Tilt
After trimming Murphy Kigh
18 to 0 Friday afternoon, the
Franklin High Panthers are
sharpening their offensive and
defensive tactics for tomorrow
(Friday) night's non-conference
game here with the powerful
Waynesville Mountaineers.
Game time is 8 o'clock and
the Panthers will trot out on
the field as definite underdogs.
But Coach Ralph (Chuck) Mc
Connell's charges, who accom
plished the impossible here two
weeks ago by overpowering the
power-laden Swain High Ma
roons, could have a few aces in
their football bag of tricks.
In the Murphy scrap, the
Panthers were slow starting,
scoring in the third period and
twice in the closing stanza.
Touchdowns were chalked up
by backs Dick Mashburn, Sam
my Henderson, and Junior Dills.
Good breaks set up the scores.
The first marker, taken over
by Mashburn, came following a
Murphy fumble on the opening
kickoff after the half; the sec
ond on a blocked kick with Dills
carrying; and the third, scored
by Henderson, came in the wake
of an intercepted pass by Pan
ther End Bill Hunnicutt, who
I ambled to the Murphy 16.
Pyatt Announces Plans
Far Methodist Stewards
Meeting Tomorrow Night
A stewards meeting will be
held tomorrow (Friday) night
I at 7:30 o'clock, at the Franklin
Methodist circuit parsonage, tMe
Rev. J. D. Pyatt, circuit pastor,
has announced.
The second Sunday sing of {
the southern division of the
Macon County singing conven- ;
tion is scheduled to be held at
the Longview Baptist church [
beginning at 1:30 p. m., Carter,
W. Henson, president, has an- 1
nounced. All singers are invit- j
ed to attend. I
December
Term Jury
List Picked
Fifty-four jurors for the De- >
cember term of superior court
here were selected Monday dur
ing a meeting ol the board of -
county commissioners.
The court term opens Decem
ber 1, with Judge William H..
Bobbitt, of Charlotte, presiding.
Names of the jurors were
drawn by Johnnie Collins,
eight-year-old daughter of Mrs.
Helen Collins, of Franklin, Route
4.
The name of one woman, Mrs.
Gilmer A. Jones, of Franklin,
appears on the list. By law the
first 36 serve the first week of
court, the remaining jurors, the
second week.
Picked for service the first
week are W. A. Calhoun, of
Route 3, R. B. Wilson, of High
lands, D. C. Hembree, of Nan
tahala, Bert Zachary, of High
lands, G. C. Woody, of Route 3,
Emlis Meadows, of Route 3, Ray
R. Franklin, of Route 4, John
Brendle, of Route 4, J. C. Sor
rells, of Franklin, Mrs. Gilmer
A. Jones, of Franklin, Grady
Wilkes, of Route 3, Henry B.
Cabe, of Route 2, Parker Raby,
of Route 4, H. D. Ditmore, of
Flats, Frank Sanders, of Route
4, D. A. Hall, of Route 3, V. C.
DeHart, of Route 3, Horace T.
Nolen, of Franklin, W. Ransom
Ledford, of Prentiss, Z. A. Shul
\ er, of Highlands, Lex Angel, of
Cullasaja, Will Bradley, of Route
3, J. S. Gray, of Route 2, D. A.
Grant, of Flats, Clayton Bate
man, of Flats, Weaver Gibson,
! of Route- 3, Cecil Green, of
Route 1, Woodrow Gibson, of
Route 3, J. N. Fisher, of Scaly,
the Rev. N. E. Holden, of Route
3, J. L. Hurst, of Route 3, R. J.
Lewis, of Highlands, Arthur A.
Drake, of Route 3, Elbert Angel,
SEE NO. 3, PAGE 10
GETS INVITATION
Dr. Furman Angel announced
yesterday (Wednesday! that he,
Mrs. Angel, and their son. Pur
man. Jr., have received an in- j
vitation to attend the inaugu- 1
ration of president-elect Dwight ]
D. Eisenhower in Washington,
D. C. on January 20.
BAZAAR PLANNED
A Christmas bazaar under
the sponsorship of the Frank
lin Parent-Teacher association
is planned December 6 at the
Nantahala Power and Light
company building, it has been
announced.
FOREST FIRE
SITUATION IS
NOW CRITICAL
Men Battle Four Macon
Blazes; All Brought
Under Control
The fire situation in Macon
County reached the "extremely
critical" stage this week as
Nantahala forest personnel and
volunteer fighters brought four
forest fires under control.
Already this year's fire sea
son is the worst for the Nan
tahalas since 1942, according to
Paul H. Russell, assistant su
pervisor.
Pointing out that there has
been no real rata in more than
40 days, , the assistant supervis
or labeled the situation as "ex
tremely critical".
Mopping up operations on four
fires in the county, which
burned over approximately 259
acres, were under way Tuesday.
No new fires had been report
ed through yesterday (Wednes
j day).
I Saturday afternoon forest
i service personnel and volunteers
I pitched in to bring a fire on
the Westfeldt-Henderson prop
erty, west of the Rainbow
Springs road at the head of
Nantahala lake, under control.
With District Ranger J. W
Laros in charge, fire-fighters
battled a blaze which burned
over 19 acres of government
land on the Georgia-North Car
olina state line in Blue Valley
Two fires kept fighters on
the move Monday night, one in
the Tessente section and one in
I the Rainbow Springs area. The
jTessente fire, near Wheat Field
j Buckeye branch, burned over
j approximately 160 acres and
took a crew of 41 to bring it
i under control. Fighting opera
j tions were directed by Robert
| Pearl, assistant district ranger,
I and Tommy Cabe, forestry aide.
The Rainbow Springs fire,
fanned by a stiff wind, burned
over approximately 80 acres ?
about half government land
and half Westfeldt-Henderson
land ? one mile south of the
Nantahala road on the Rain
bow Springs road. About
men, led by Woodrow Shope.
forestry aide, and Fred Bryson,
county fire warden, fought the
blaze.
In the last 15 days of Oc
tober, 20 fires broke out on the
NantahaJas. according to Mr.
Russell, burning a total of 3,
SEE NO. 4, PAGE 10
'.Grading on the new Franklin- Co wee Gap (I S 23) highway, which entails the moving of
moi* than a million yards of dirt, according to state highway engineers, is going along slowly,
pending the arrival of more heavy equipment. The picture aJbove, taken on the mountain end of
the project, just below York's Motor court, shows bulldoters and other equipment knifing through
a cut, pushing the dirt into a large fill. The bulliing at left is the W. B. Franks' home.
Voting
Shows Increase Of About '?
27 Per Cent Over '48
Tuesday's general election j
saw the Macon County vote j
go up 27 per cent over the j
1948 election.
The unofficial vote Tuesday
was 6,723; in 1948, 5,309.
State-wide, indications were
that the total vote would go
over the one million mark,
breaking all records for bal- 1
loting.
The estimated registration
for Macon prior to the elec
; tion was 9,000.
MISS LEACH,
TEACHER, DIES
Passes Saturday At Age
Of 74; Taught School
For 48 Years
Miss Nora Virginia Leach, a
well-known retired school teach
er, died Saturday morning at
Angel hospital at the age of 74.
She had been in declining
health far some time. She
taught for 48 years, most of
them in the schools of this
! county.
Funeral services were con
, | ducted Sunday afternoon at
2:30 o'clock at the Franklin
Presbyterian church by the
Rev. J. Q. Wallace, retired
Presbyterian minister, the Rev.
C. E. Murray, pastor of the
' Rev. C. E. Murray, pastor of the
First Methodist church, and the
Rev. A. Rufus Morgan, rector
of the St. Agnes Episcopal
church. Burial was in Wood
lawn cemetery.
| A native of this county. Miss
Leach was born March 25, 1878,
j the daughter of Frank and
Susie Cunningham Leach. She
I was educated in the county
schools and attended the Uni
versity of North Carolina and
I Western Carolina Teachers col
lege, Cullowhee. In addition to
her teaching experience in this
j county, she taught for two years
in Georgia.
She was an active member
of the United Daughters of the'
1 Confederacy, the Macon County
| unit of the North Carolina Ed
ucation association, and the
I Carson Chapel Home Demon
j stration club.
Survivors include three sis
ters, ^Irs. Pearl Wright, Miss
Laura Leach, and Miss Ida
Leach, of Franklin, and a num
ber of nieces and nephews.
Former students of the school
teacher served as pallbearers,
j They were John Bulgin , Lon
IDalton, C. Tom Bryson, L. B.
I Phillips, J. R. Ray, and Horace
j Nolen. Members of the Carson
| Chapel Home Demonstration .
club were flower bearers.
REPUBLICAN
WINS CONTEST
BY SLIM VOTE
Is First GOP Victory
In Race Here In
26 Years
A decided upset was regis
tered Tuesday in the local race
for the state house of represen
tatives when Republican Walter
Dean squeezed into the house
seat in front of Rep. C. Tom
Bryson by a close and unoffici
al 47 votes ? the first victory
for a GOP candidate In this
race in 26 years.
The vote: Dean, 3,382; Bry
son, 3,335.
Mr. Dean, a former Macon
deputy sheriff, found his
strength in the Ellijay, Sugar
fork, Flats, Nantahala 1 and 2,
Burningtown. and Millshoal
townships, while Rep. Bryson,
who was seeking his second
term in the house, carried High
lands, Smithbridge, Cartooge
chaye, Cowee. and Franklin.
In 1926, the late Rev. Alvin
Solesbee, Republican, defeated
j the late J. A. Porter by a nar
' row margin.
! Mr. Dean's father, the late
H. D. Dean, served two terms
in the state house early in this
century.
Dr. J. H. Crawford. Demo rat,
84-year-old former member of
the general assembly, o: Rcb
t'nsville. apparently was an
easy victor over E. J. Carpenter,
Republican. Franklin insurance
man, for state senator from the
33rd district.
Incomplete and unofficial re
turn*; from the five counties ?
Cherokee. Clay, GrahartJ. Swain,
and Macon ? gave Dr. Crawford
a lead of nearly 2.000 votes.
In the race for county survey
or. Democrat Lake R. Leciictrd
had a substantial lead over Re
publican James Denman on the
basis of unofficial returns.
Iotla Carnival Nets
$246.14; Burrell And
Fouts, King, Queen
Iotla school's Halloween car
nival last Thursday night net
ted $246.14, according to Harry
Moses, principal.
Irvin Burrell and Virginia
j Fouts were crowned King and
queen of Halloween and Brent
| Southards and Mary Jo Swaf
ford, prince and princess. Ed
| Higdon won the prize for being
the ugliest and Miss Nora
Moody was picked as the most
popular.
Daily Grind Of Band Member
Isn't As Tough As Football,
But The Effort Is Parallel
Almost unnoticed in the hub
bub of football games is the
Franklin band, an enthusiastic
aggregation of young musicians
that lend a harmonious touch
to the racous cheering of fans.
Although the day's grind for
the average band member isn't
as strenuous as that of a foot
ball player, the effort put forth
is on a parallels ~
This is easily explained:
Football is a fall spart, play
ing In the band is a year
round proposition that calls for
practice and more practice,
sandwiched between requests
for concerts and parades.
But, the band has its prob
lems. and according to Director
S. F. i Sammy) Beck, it is slow
ly slipping downhill because of
a lack of interest among stu
dents and operating capital'.
As proof of this, he pointed
out that when the band was
formed in 1949 it had 60 mem
bers, as contrasted with this ?
year's 40. And he painted an i
even darker picture by explain- i
ing that almost 90 per cent of
the band members are now jun- i
ior or seniors and that there I
are not enough underclassmen
joining the band to replace
those dropping out through tbe
graduation door.
In Western North Carolina,
the youthful Franklin band ]?
second only to Waynesville High
school's colorful outfit, it the
annual W.N.C. High School
Field Day at Western Carolina
Teachers college is any indica
tion. In the past two school
years (1950-51 and 1951-52) the
local band took second place
honors at the field day. First
place both years went to Way
nesville.
With the proper backing, the
band director feels that Frank
lin could easily move to the
front of the field in this end
of the state. j
The Franklin Lions club has
been the key sponsor of the
band from the beginning and
has received the assistance at
several other civic organization^ ,
foremost among these being the
Rotary club, which helped bay
uniforms for the band the year
It was formed.
The principal source of reve- 1
nue for the band la the scboM 1
ind Mr. Beck estimated that it 1
SEE NO. 5, PAGE 1*