Macon Rural Community Edition-45 Pictures And Progress Stories
Net Paid
CIRCULATION
Last Week
2540
?P()t Jflacoman
PRICE
10 Cents
VOL. LXVIII? NO. 47
FRANKLIN, N. C.. THURSDAY, NOV. 19, 1953
TWENTY -TWO PAGES
? Staff Photo by J. P. Brady
A diminutive brunette. Miss Lela Jo Galley, (center) was
crowned "Homecoming Queen" during half-time festivities here
Friday night at the Franklin-Clyde football game. The honor
of crowning Miss Gailey, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Gailey,
went to .Miss Carlene Sorrells (right), run ne nip in the band
spomsored queen contest. Wa.tching is the queen's attendant,
Miss Frances Huscusson, who placed third in the contest,
which tfrew 17 contestants.
Miss Gailey Crowned Queen;
Panthers Beat Clyde, 6 to 0
A chilled crowd of some 300 -
fans watched the Franklin High [
Panthers shove over a winning 1
touchdown in the dying min
utes of a game here Friday
night with Clyde ? a game that
capped off the Panthers' 1953
54 season and added a note of
cheer to the schooj's homecom
ing festivities.
It was a scoreless duel be
tween the two evenly matched
teams up to the last three min
utes of the game when Frank
lin suddenly caught fire and
moved down to the two-yard
line. Back Vic Teague fumbled
on the one, but Guard Gene
Mashburn Iced the game for the
Panthers by scooping up the
elusive ball and falling into
pavdirt. The extra point was no
good, giving the locals their
.third win of the season by a
score of 6 to 0.
Vivacious Miss Lela Jo Galley,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clyde
Gailey, was crowned "Homecom
ing Queen" during a colorful
and unique half-time perfor
mance by the Franklin Band,
which sponsored the queen con
test.
rne diminutive oruneue, wno
made a queenlj' entrance in a
convertible against a back
ground of whistles and cheers,
was crowned in semi-darkness
by runnerup Miss Carlene Sor
rells as the band executed a
star formation with sparklers
in her honor. The queen's at
tendant was Miss Frances Hus
cusson, who placed third in the
contest. v (
Band members in charge of
the contest reported a total of
17 entered. The queen was se
lected on a penny-a-vote basis,
and the proceeds, $101.11, are
earmarked for the band depart
ment
In addition to the above three,
other contestants included
Misses Sue Blaine, Barbara
Cunningham, Marlene Fox, Jean ! '
Sutton, Margaret Jones, Doro
thy Barrett. Julia Waldroop.
Sue Duvall, Sue Solesbee, Vir- j
ginia Ray. Ellen Calloway, Ruth ' <
Downs. Jerlene Cabe, and Doris
Tea'-ue.
Thus, th? curtain went down
or, the years s,rid season for
Coach R~. A i Art i Byrd and
Charges. The team's win-tin
standing is 3-l-fl.
LOCAL YOUTH I
CENTER OPENS
Some 68 Teen-Agers
Turn Out For First
Gathering At School
Some 68 teen-agers were on
hand Saturday night for the of
ficial christening of the new
Youth Center at Franklin High
School.
Brainchild of interested adults
and teen-agers, the purpose of
the center? set up in the school
cafeteria? is supervised Satur
SEE NO 1. PAGE 10
SING IS SLATED
The fourth Sunday sing of
the _ northern division of the :
Macon County Singing Conven
tion is scheduled at the Iotla
Baptist Church beginning at
1:30 p.- m., according to John
Campbell, vice-president.
CAGERS START
PRACTICE HERE
Teams Will Open Loop
Season December 8 In
Sylva; 14 Tilts Set
Franklin High's male and fe
male cagere will pull the wraps
off the 1953 loop season De
cember 8 in an away-game with
Sylva High School, according to
Coach R. A. Byrd.
The locals at present have a
14-game schedule lined up and
the possibility of filling four
open dates between now and
the season opener, the coach
said.
Although the echo of bounc
ing balls has been rolling out
of the Franklin gymnasium for
some time now, Coach Byrd of
ficially started putting his lads
and lassies through their paces
Tuesday afternoon.
As things stack up now, the
Franklin girls, who brought the
Smoky conference crown home
last season, will again be the
team for other schools to
match wits with. The future of
the boys' team is somewhat ob
scure at present. With the ex
ception of rangy Dolpha Fouts,
last season's top men exited
via the graduation door.
Coach Byrd said yesterday
(Wednesday i it is a little too
early to speculate, but he add
ed he has some good material
coming along.
SEE NO. 2, PAGE 10
Mrs. McGaha Succumbs
Monday; Services Held
Wednesday At Bethel
Mrs. Ida Elizabeth McGaha. |
53, a Macon native, died at her j
home in Franklin Monday after
a long illness.
Funeral services were con
ducted yesterday (Wednesday!
at 2 p. m. at 4he Bethel Metho
dist Church. Burial was in the
Oak Ridge Cemetery.
FIRE DANGER
UP; 3 BLAZES ;
ARE REPORTED
Ranger Wasilik Terms
Situation Critical;
Requests Cooperation
Three fires? two on govern- :
ment and one on county land? i
were reported this week as fire
danger continued to amount In
the face. pf a relentless drought.
Nantahala District Ranger
John Wasilik, Jr., yesterday
(Wednesday) described the fire
siuation as Class 4, a "critically
dangerous classification".
The ranger urged all citizens
to exercise extreme caution. He
particularly singled out motor
ists with a plea not to throw
burning cigarettes along the
highways.
The three fires ? all small
ones ? were quickly brought
under control. The first on gov
ernment land broke out Satur
day in the Briartown area on
SEE NO. 3, PAGE 10
Project Closed
To All Traffic,
Engineer Says
The Franklin-Dillsboro high
way project (US 23) is now
closed to all travel, Resident
Engineer S. T. Usry announced
this week.
Although through traffic has
been detouring around the proj
ect for more than a year, local
motorists have been allowed to
drive over the project at their
own risk. But construction has
now reached the stage where
vehicles can no longer use the
road, the engineer said.
SENATOR HERE
ALTON A. LENNON
Mr. Lennon, North Carolina's
junior U. S. Senator, spent Sun
day night here and Monday
went ?. handshaking tour in the
county. The Wilmington lawyer,
who was appointed by Gov. Urn
stead in July of this year to
succeed the late Senator yVillis
Smith, was the principal speak- i
er at a Tree Farm dedication in
Rohhinsviile Saturday.
'We Do Anything, Inc. New
Firm Operated By Six Boys
Talk about ingenuity!
Take a lesson from "We Do Anything, Inc." This firm name |
isn't at all deceiving, for the seven boys behind the impressive i
title are prepared to do anything from baby sitting to fighting
fire in order to raise money for a trip to Washington. D. C., with
the Franklin High senior class in April.
So, with the motto, "The difficult we do immediately, the im
possible takes a little bit longer", these seven boys are ready to
tackle any odd job coming their way.
They are Connie Potts, G. D. Buchanan, Roger Seay, Gene
Mashburn, Victor Teague, Dan Angel, and Joe Patton. All one
has to do to put them into action is contact them at the school
or their homes.
They already have .."fed the kitty" with better than $50 from
fighting fire over the week-end ? 14 hours of fighting and all
were ready for school Monday morning.
Six rules govern the corporation : ( 1 1 all members must pass
all work in school. <2 ? any member dropping out before April
1, 1954, will lose all his share in the enterprise; any member may
sell his share to another person, providing all members agree,
(3 1 any member refusing to help on a Job will be dropped by
a vote of the* members, <4> when possible, all payment for jobs
will be made by check and all money will ^e turned in the fol
lowing school day to be placed In the bank under the name of
the corporation. (Si no money can be withdrawn before April
1,. 1954, and only then by consent of all members, <6> when a
member can't work on a job, he must make up the difference in
hours ar money.
Judge Patton
Appointed To i
Preside Here !
J udge George B. Patton will
be back among home folks In
December? at least for two
weeks.
As a special superior court
judge, he has received his com
mission to preside over the De
cember term of court here in
place of Judge F. Donald Phil
lips, of Rockingham, who is un
able to preside as scheduled be
JUDGE PATTON
cause of illness.
The term opens December 7
for two weeks of trial, the first
week being set aside for hearing
criminal actions, the second
week for civil matters.
A native of Franklin, Judge
Patton received his appointment
as a special judge February 6,
1S47, from Gov. R. Gregg
Cherry.
Meanwhile, .Miss Kate Mc
Gee, clerk of superior court,
said yesterday (Wednesday) the
criminal and civil dockets for
the December term are "about
average". Most of the criminal
actions, she added, are viola
tions of the motor vehicles law.
For the past several court
terms, both dockets haye been
cleared the first week. However,
under the law the term remains
active fo.r a full two weeks in
the event a pressing matter
arises.
ARC MEETING
SLATED FRIDAY
Election Of Officers
Will Feature Annual
Event At Kelly's Inn
New officers will be elected
by the local American Red
Cross Chapter at its annual
meeting tomorrow (Friday
night at Kelly's Inn.
No formal program is plan
ned for the meeting, which is
slated for 8 o'clock, according
to Mrs. Elizabeth McCollum,
chapter secretary.
Present olficers are Z Weav
er Shope, of Franklin, chair
man: W. R. Potts, of Highlands,
vice-chairman: and J C. Jac
obs, of Franklin, treasurer
The secretary urged all mem
terr. to turn o>.:t, for the meet
ing.
17 GROUPS NOW j
!N RURAL EVENT
Cullasaja And Ellijay
Organize Monday With
Countv Aunt's Help
The Macon County Rural
Community Development Pro
"rani swelled to 17 communi
ties Monday night with 'th"
organization of Cullasaja and
Ellijay.
In the contest year ju t end
ed, 13 communities competed
for $1,050 in prize money. Soon
after th" November 1 deadline,
Cowee and Upper cartoogeehaye 1
joined the movement
County Agent S. W Menden- '
hall assisted the two newcom- |
ers with organizational proce- ;
dure Monday night at Culla
ja School.
The Cullasaja organization '
elected Amos Wood president:
Prltchard Russell, junior presi
dent; Mrs. Evelyn Bryson, vice
president; Mrs. Oordon Gibson,
secretary-treasurer; Mrs. Pltch
? SEE MO. 4. PAGE 10
BACONIANS
SET TO M ARK
THANKSGIVING
Highlands, Franklin
Churches Plan Special
Services In Observance 1
A humble and thankful Ma
con County is preparing to join
the rest of the free world in i
the observance of Thanksgiving
next Thursday (November 26 ? .
The churches of both Frank
lin and Highlands are each
planning their annual commun- '
ity Thanksgiving worship serv- j
ices.
Franklin's service will be held (
this year at the First Baptist
Church at 3 a. m. Dr. A. Rufus !
Morgan, rector of the St. Agnes
Episcopal Church, will preside
and the Thanksgiving message
will be delivered by the Rev.
C. E. Murray, Methodist pastor.
Holland McSwain, of the Pres
byterian church, will lead a re
sponsive reading, and worship
pers will be welcomed by Verlon
Swafford, of the Baptist church.
Miss Eveline Giedinghagen,
Baptist music director, will be
in charge of music for the serv
ice.
The Highlands service, slated
for 9:30 a. m., is planned for
the H i g h lands Presbyterian
Church. The Rev. John Buell,
Baptist pastor, will deliver the
Thanksgiving sermon and the
Thanksgiving proclamation will
be given by the Rev. Robert E.
Early, Methodist pastor. The
Rev. Robert M. Hart, Presby
terian pastor, will preside.
Meanwhile, . as the day of
thanks approaches, Macon
housewives are scurrying about,
preparing for the big meal of
the year, while the menfolk ?
at least most of them ? are *i
vading stores for the necessary
artillery and ammunition to
give the Thanksgiving Day
opening of the rabbit and quail
season a big send-off.
Killian Bull Adjudged
Grand Champion Of Show
And Sale In Twin City
A bull owned by Dr. Frank
Killian, of Franklin, was ad
judged grand champion at the
Winston-Salem All-Polled Show
and Sale Friday. The bull rank
ed first in its class and sold for
$900 in the sale.
Two other animals entered by
Dr. Killian placed 3rd and 4th
in their class and sold for $670
and $625.
Board Buys Tract
For County Home
Paper Different? i
Reason Is Section
On Rural Contest
Does your Franklin Press
feel different this week?
There's a reason. In addi
tion to the regular newspaper,
with news and pictures of the
week's happenings, a special
12-page section is include^,
covering the activities of the
13 communities competing in
the 1953 Macon County Rural
Community Development
Contest.
The special section, not too
affectionately referred to as
the "agony issue" by members
of The Press staff, was whip
ped into shape in a little
more than a week.
It contains 45 pictures of
progress ? a record number for
any past issue of The Press.
It contains stories by com
munity reporters on the year's
activities of each community
? reporters whose assistance
made the publication of the
special section possible. It
contains congratulatory mes
sages from local business and
professional men, who threw
their support behind the
highly successful contest. In
other words, It's chock full of
information and pictures.
To give some idea of the
scope of preparing the special
section, The Press photog
rapher spent two days shoot
ing pictures in the 13 com
munities, traveling better
than 200 miles. Other mem
bers of the staff, after work
ing regular eight-hour shifts,
worked into the nights during
the week to prepare the ex
tra material.
And at last the edition is
out. The Press staff is proud
of the job. It hopes the read
ers are too,
RECRUITING DAY CHANGED
The U. S. Marine recruiting
day here has been changed
from Wednesday to Friday from
8 a. m. to noon. Sgt. Joseph
H. Latham has announced. The
recruiter also announced an
other platoon composed of W.
N. C. enlistees will leave Janu
ary 19 for basic training.
Beagle Wins Field Trial
Cobuin Holden, of Franklin, is shown with his prize beagle,
"Faithful Fan", who won firsrt plare for 13-inch bitches in a
licensed field trial staged by the North Georgia Beagle Club
in Galnesrille Monday through Thursday of last week. It was
"Fan's" first field trir.' and she completely stole the show, com
peting against II dogs from all over the country. The judges
described her as "very bold with a calm, quiet nenre". The
blue-ribbon beagle and her master left Monday for Salisbury
and another* field trial.
New Home For Aged
Will Be Built Soon.
Baldwin Explains
In regular session Monday,
the board of county commis
sioners purchased a $2,500 tract
of land for the site of a new
county home and began map
ping preliminary plans for con
struction of a new home at an
early date.
The board's decision brought
a deep sigh of relief and a note
of triumph from local civic or
ganizations and individuals, who
have crusaded for several years
j against the present dilapidated
and inadequate county home on
I heavily-traveled US 23 (Georgia
j highway".
Board Chairman W. E. (Gene)
Baldwin said the present home
j and property will be sold as
soon as the new building is
I completed.
The board purchased a 25
acre tract in the Bend of the
i River section from Mr. and Mrs.
W. W. McConnell. Construction
will begin as soon as blueprints
are drawn, according to Mr.
Baldwin.
Although plans are indefinite,
the chairman said the board
I plans to construct a modern
one-story fireproof building at
a cost of from S10.000 to $15,000.
The structure probably will have
12 rooms, including a kitchen,
he added.
Six persons are living at the
county home at present.
For years, demands for cor
rective measures at the county
home have stemmed not only
from civic groups and individ
uals but from almost countless
grand juries during superior
court terms.
At the past August term here,
after noting the grand jury's
comment that "our county
home is in pitiful condition".
Judge F. Donald Phillips sharp
ly criticized conditions and ord
ered a certified copy of the re
port sent to each commissionet1.
A picture story on conditions
at the home featured the April
123 issue of The Press after the
fferand jury at the April term
branded the rambling two-story
j frame structure a "disgrace to
the citizens of Macon County".
OCTOBER ROAD
WORK IS LISTED
Highway Crews Finish
Eight-tenths Of Mile
j During Month Here
Slightly more than eight -
tenths of a mile of road work
was brought to completion ill
Macon October by state
highway crews, according to an
announcement by 14th Division
Commissioner Harry E. Bitch
p m n
The following roads, till 10
f' "t wide v.'-re stabilized .apd
the existing surface stre. ;Iit a
fil v" ? *iv. i ffc-bottnd ma; adatn:
H.ii "".ran?ii iioad. .2" mile;
1: i? nd Pleasant
Hiit Ho. J ,2. rhe Tom Johnson
Ho;)d. which is U) It'rt
was <?rpd"d. dialnt'd sur
k -t'd ..with tratli -bound ma
v;:dam for ^ mi.V
In the 10-count division, a
total o. 12.1,7 miles of road im
l" >wnt 'ills wen- completed
fr-.ijv'. the month, the commis
sioner paid.
Quo To Boost
Band Is Born
A Rand Boosters Club was
born Wednesday night of last
week following a dinner meet
ing of interested citizens and
civic club representatives at the
Franklin High School cafeteria.
The purpose of the new or
ganization is to lend moral and
financial support to the Frank
lin District Band as a steering
agency through which the ef
forts and Interests of all groups
and individuals In the district
may be concentrated toward the
promotion of the band.
Since Its organization here
four years ago. the band has
8KB NO. 5. PAGE 10