Newspapers / The Franklin Press and … / March 12, 1953, edition 1 / Page 2
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W it JUnatkltst tyiz* s nn& dltt MigManits fittarxJtiinn fctoiid at Port Office, Prmnklln, N. C., u second class matter. tol Lxrm ? ?rwrw? Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press At rrankttn, North Carolina Telephone St WEIMAR JONBS. Sdltor BOB 8. SLOAN Business lltniiv SUBSCRIPTION RATE8: Out-of -County ? One Tew $3.00 In Maoan County? One Tear $uo Six Monthi * $1.75 Three Months $1.00 Single Copy .10 OMHut notices. <ar* ?( thanks, tribute* at rapML W MWh ) ten. *?i cfc ii. ornniftioM or lodetla, wt* be k?hU u ilmlhln ul if at reenter d?W5fietl Mtrartkfaic rata. Sack notices via be Miked "sdr." to ?.s|H once ittt the pootsl requirements. A Gangster Dies In Russia last week there died a gangster whose record, by comparison, casts an aura of something suggesting saintliness around A1 Capone and all his .predecessors, back as far as recorded history goes. For, forgetting for a moment his role as a mur derer, consider this: In ancient times, the most cruel thing an enemy could do was to poison the welLs. Joseph Stalin poisoned men's minds. He did it so ruthlessly and so completely that all indications are that he is genuinely mourned by the people of Soviet Russia as a kindly little father ? almost as a god. Today the Russian dictatorship is headed by an other gangster; one perhaps even more cruel and ruthless than Stalin. So much are ruthlessness and cruelty and physical force taken- for granted in Russia, in fact, that it would not be at all fantastic to learn sometime that Georgi Malenkov murdered Stalin, in order to give Malenkov the advantage of timing the crisis. What the effect of Stalin's death and Malenkov's rise to power may be on the West is anybody's guess. About all that seems even reasonably certain is this: There seemed no hope of peace with Stalin in power. With a change, things could improve. But it is equally true ? perhaps more than equally true ? that they may get worse. For in many men's minds there is a growing feeling that they can never be really better until they first grow worse. * * * . Two things are worth pondering: 1. It was a cruel despotism and dire poverty, in a period when nobody had even heard of Commun ism as we know it today, that produced Joseph Stalin. 2. Can freedom and dictatorship ever find the basis for a working agreement? ? is the world big enough for both? It is to be hoped that the Eisenhower adminis tration, like the Truman administration, will seek, at all costs, to avoid all-out physical war. But that should blind none of us to the fact that there is, and of necessity must be, eternal war between freedom and slavery, as long as either survives. Each is too great a danger to the other to be per mitted to .survive. It may take a generation, or a thousand years, but the free peoples, if they would stay free, must destroy dictatorship, wherever it rears its head. And somehow ? and this, .perhaps, is the most dif ficult of all our tasks ? we must find a way to do it without surrender of all our freedoms in the pro cess. Marked Others Somewhere, at some time, in almost every life there not only is the drama of hope and fear, suc cess and failure, hut also high courage and selfless devotion. It is there, if we could but see and read the whole record of that life. But we cannot. And so when a man dies, even his best friends find it hard to describe in words the innate goodness and nobility, often the innate greatness, that emanated from his spirit. At most, we usually can pick out one or two qualities or characteristics so marked in him as to have left their mark on others. That is true of two men who died here last week. Both comparative newcomers to Franklin, each had a characteristic so marked as to have made an im press, directly or indirectly, on the whole commun With Roy Geoghegan, it was a quiet, unassum ing courage. It was so characteristic of him that close friends and casual acquaintance alike came to expect him to laugh at misfortune and illness ? and he always did. Though he lived in a world filled with people who indulge in self-pity, Roy Geog hegan never bored anybody listening to his com plaints. Friends think of him, in fact, as having laughed, not at, but with death. With St. Clair Anderson, it was devotion to per fection. In his case, that devotion was emphasized in his work as mechanic. It was not enough that a part for a machine fitted "well enough to do"; it must fit perfectly. It was not enough that he had ground a piece of steel to within a hundredth of an inch of the size required ; it must be within a thou sandth of an inch. In a Western North Carolina still influenced by generations of having to get along with makeshift, that demand for precision is a legacy badly needed. An Open Letter to Mr. Walter Dean ? Macon County Representative in the ? N. C. General Assembly Dear Mr. Dean : For the first time in my life, I am writing a legis lator to . suggest the introduction of a local bill. From the fact that it is something I have never done before, you can judge how important I con sider the bill I am suggesting. Never in the memories of most of us have so many people been so deeply interested in Macon County's schools. That, I believe, is an extremely healthy sign; because the effectiveness of a public school .system is just about in proportion to the public's interest and the public's support. I am sure we should all like to have the public stay interested, and I believe the only way to ac complish that is to make the public feel the schools are their schools, and to give the public a part in their operation. How can you accomplish those two things better than by letting the public name the men who make the policies of our county school system ? the members of the county board of edu cation? As you know, under the present set-up, members of the board of education are nominated in the pri mary, in early summer, and appointed by the leg islature in the late spring ? nearly a year later. As Mr. Gash, the Democratic senator from Tran sylvania county, so well said recently, such an ar rangement is a "farce". The members of the coun ty board either should be elected outright or ap pointed outright ? -not chosen in a half-way-between method such as we now have. This letter is to suggest a bill providing for the election of the members of the Macon County board of education by the people of the county. It would be for you, possibly in consultation with school authorities, here and in Raleigh, to work out the details of such a bill. I take the liberty of offer ing only a few general suggestions : 1. Five men have been nominated to the local board under the present set-up. Bad as that set-up is, they should be appointed and should serve their terms. In short, the bill should provide for the fir^t election to take place approximately two years frpm now. 2. There is nothing partisan about the schools ; they .serve the children of Democrats and Repub licans alike. Furthermore, there is nothing political about school problems. For those reasons, members of the board of education should be elected in a non-partisan election, without reference to their party affiliation. 3. A provision for staggered terms might be wise, thus making sure that one or more members with experience were on the board at all times. I am making this letter public in the belief that it will prompt Macon County people to write you about this matter. I believe the vast majority, with out reference to party, favors such a change, and it will be surprising if you do not get many letters urging it. ? Respectfully, WEIMAR JONES. Any fool can cut prices; but It takes a man of brains to make an article of quality and sell it.? P. D. Armour. ? Letters NEED TALENT, TOO Dear Mr. Jones: Answers to the question, "What are Macon County's great est needs?", as given by the Rotary Club, vary widely; such answers are wrong ? and yet they are right. Wrong because the Franklin Chamber of Commerce Is trying to do much more than any one of these limited tasks, and right because they are all included, along with many others, in the overall program of the organization. I maintain that our greatest need at present is talent In our civic organizations such as \he Chamber of Commerce. We are In need of the rolled-up sleeves. The faithful, hard slugging "Georges" In any organization movement cant do it all. Talent used to mean a unit of money. Some people still think so. They may be generous with their checks? but woefully stingy with the talents in themselves. Even with a very small budget we could accomplish near wonders in this county, because we have access to all the natural resources and natural beauty that are essential to the making of a fine business or tourist center. On the other hand, organizations with an unlimited budget will only be going through the motions unless they have manpower and talent to back them up. We need to bring these two factors into balance, and here we will need the widespread support and power of the whole county, before we glide smoothly and speedily toward our goals. The usefulness of the Franklin Chamber of Commerce in a positive way is undeniable, as a review of its past accomplish ments will show, but any measure of success of these organiza tion or any other organization should be preceded by a ques tion: How many members of this organization have been un sparing with their talents? What we need now are libraries of men ? who are willing to work. I would suggest that every citizen of Macon County re view the past accomplishments of the local Chamber of Com merce, then take a look at the goals set up for 1953; they are broad and ambitious but without the support and endorsement of all our citizens, these aims and ambitions will never be realized. Sincerely, Franklin, N. C. (MRS.) LASCA E. HORSLJ5Y Newspaper Shop Talk Mostly About Us This is the saga of a Wed nesday afternoon. Now Wednesday afternoon is a very special time at The Franklin Press. Because, at The Press, as at most country week ly newspaper offices, Wednes day afternoon, rather than Sat urday, is the end of the week; the paper is "put to bed" on Wednesday, and Thursday morn ing work starts on next week's issue. With the paper gone to press, you'd think things would quiet down somewhat. That's exactly what The Press editor thought last Wednesday. (Though, after seven years' experience, he real ly should have known better.) It was mid-afternoon. From the shop came the roar of the press, the click of the folder as it merrily turned out the finished 12-page issue, and the rhythmic thwat, thwat, thwat of the mailing machine as it slapped name and address labels on the papers. The editor was indulging in that rarest of luxuries around a weekly newspaper; feet on desk, he was doing exactly nothing. The phone rang . . . Was it too late, the phoner Wanted to know, to get a pic ture in this week's issue. The Press some day hopes to have its own photo engraving plant. Until then, though, all pictures must be sent out of town to have ?uts made, requir ing a time lapse, usually of o or three days. So the regretful answer had to be that It was too late. Feet went back on desk and the pleasant occupation of do ing nothing was resumed. The phone rang again . . . This time it was a telegram from a man in a distant state. Please try to get the want ad he ran last January back in this week's issue. Once more a rather discour aged pair of feet were raised from floor to desk. Then there came the coinci dence of the little pigs . . . (See "Meandering" oil page 1.) A man, obviously in distress, entered the office to ask, Was it too late to get a want ad in this week's issue? He'd lost a Pig How? He'd been to the weekly sale at the Macon Livestock Auction yards and had bought a six weeks old pig. Paid $10 for it. The pig was tied in a sack ? securely tied, he thought ? and placed in the back of his truck. But somewhere between the railway Depot here and Pine Grove the pig had managed not only to wriggle out of the sack but to escape from the truck. At Pine Grove there was no sign of the pig ? only an empty sack . . . ? Hardly had he left the office before another equally distress ed man entered. He, too, hoped it wasn't too late to get a want Continued On Pare Eight? STRICTLY PERSONAL By WEIMAR JONES "Do two things, ud yon would do It." That was the comment. In the course of a conversation, of a young man, formerly In busi ness in Franklin, on the list, 1 published on this page last ' week, of "This Country's Great- i est Needs". "First, you've got to have ] money to do anything. You can i get it by a fair, honest, intel- < ligent assessment of property 1 for taxation. Bring in some one i from outside the county, who knows property values ? but who does NOT know anybody here. | "Second, what is everybody's i business is nobody's business. ) We need a city manager in Franklin ? somebody who knows ( what he is doing to devote his ( full time to the job. And by < all means it ought to be a | YOUNG man. , "Get those two ideaa at work in Franklin, and they soon would be adopted by the county." Also discussing "This Coun try's Greatest Needs", a woman, who prefers to remain anony mous, writes: "For years I have been im pressed by the haughty coldness ?f many who walk the streets sf Franklin. Common courtesy would help Franklin tremen dously. "Second, this town is so lit tered with trash surely passers Iky must call Franklin 'the l verturned, wind-swept Waste Masket'. "Third, more steady pay checks are needed. More plants similar to Van Raalte would solve that problem. If that problem were solved, there would be more money available Continued On Pace Eight ? News Making As It Looks To A Maconite ? Br BOB SLOAN The death of Joseph Stalin may provoke events which will provide a real test as to the greatness of President Elsen hower. The following is suppo sition, but It could come to pass; and besides It's Interest ing to speculate. There are indications that Oeorgl Malenkov, Stalin's suc cessor, might be less inclined to try to spread the communist doctrines and rule throughout the world and will concern him self more with bringing econom ic stability and better living conditions to the people within the present Soviet. This new relatively unknown Russian rul er is first and foremost a party man. There have been reports that there is considerable dis content In Russia today. There fore, Malengov, being a party man, first and last, may decide the best way to remedy this situation is to repair fences at home. This may even lead to the search of foreign markets and certainly a more friendly attitude toward the free nations of the world. Tnis in me long run wui cre ate a situation in which the President of the United States could be confronted with one of the hardest decisions of his life. It won't be a matter of what to do but how to do it. With a seemingly less danger ous Russian the hue and cry will arise to reduce military spending and to cut our mili tary forces in half or more. First, the president will have to decide if we can afford to drop our guard. With memories of Hitler and Stalin fresh in his mind I do not think that Eisen hower will be caught in the trap, but I am afraid that his pleas for military preparedness will fall on ears no more recep tive than those who listened to Franklin Roosevelt, in Chicago in the late *30*8, urge our na tion to gird Itself against the threat of Hitler's legions. De spite his eloquence and logic the great Democratic leader was called a war monger, and we refused to listen. Will Eisen hower be able to provide lead ership that will cause a democ racy to keep its guard up even Continued On Page Eight ? Do You Remember? (Looking backward through the files of The Press) 50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK Messrs. Lawrence Sellers and Samuel Bryson left Monday for Oregon. We wish them success in the Far West. Mr. J. A. Pendergrass, of Nan tahala, was here yesterday and called in to pay his dues, he being a Confederate veteran. He is a zealous .reader of The Press. A crowd of young men from Smith's Bridge expect to leave next Monday for the State of Washington. They are Wm. Hol brooks, E. N. Bates, Barnett and Robert Garland, Jim Van hook, John Beasley, John Young, Javan Gray, Homer Rhodes, and Robert ?Curtis. 25 TEARS AGO A dental bill of 37 years standing was recently paid by Mr. J. H. Worley, of Clay Coun ty, to a Franklin dentist. It perks lis up considerably to realize that our descendants, 4( years hence, may collect a few bills now due The Press. Mr. O. V.'Mlncey has just re turned from California, where he had been seeking work. He says that California is over estimated and that the moun tains here are much better for the average man than Califor nia. Mr. Lawrence Holt, of High lands, and his grandmother, Mrs. Martha McCloud, made a trip to Franklin Wednesday. Mrs. W. T. Moore has return ed home from New Orleans where she attended Mardi Gras. 10 TEARS AGO Henry Stockton, of Greenville, S. C. was in Franklin on busi ness Friday. He visited his cous in, Mrs. M. A. Sanders, on the Georgia road, who has been ill for the past six weeks. It had been 35 years since they had seen each other. Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Bryson celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary Sunday. Mrs. Anne C. (Mrs. A. R.) Hlgdon was elected worthy ma tron of Nequassa chapter No. 43, Order of Eastern Star, at a meeting held at the Masonic hall on Thursday evening.
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
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March 12, 1953, edition 1
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