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CIRCULATION
Last Weak
2S29
TOL. JLXIX ? NO. ?
^iablan^ JRacottian
KKANKJJN, N. C? THURSDAY, TO. 4, ltM
PRICE
10 Cents
rOVBTBSN PAGES
KIDS TO TAKE
OVER DUTIES
OF OFFICIALS
School Elections
Slated For Jaycee
Americanism Work
New governments will take
over the affairs of Macon Coun
ty and Its two towns, Franklin
and Highlands, on February 26.
No, It won't be a coup or a
revolution.
City and county officials will
step d*wn for the day and turn
administration affairs over to
elementary and high school
students elected by their fellow
students.
This new approach in prac
tical Americanism is being spon
sored by the Franklin Jaycees
to acquaint students with the
inner workings of government
and to stimulate their Interest
in the complexities of politics
and government.
G. A. Jones, Jr., Jaycee Amer
icanism chairman, explained
this week that the students will
live government from the be
ginning to the end in the day
long experiment. They will con
duct elections in the schools
prior to taking over the offices
of the various officials, with
party politics playing major
roles.
Under the election set-up, two
parties ? Maconians and Carolin
ians ? will attempt to put their
candidates into office.
With the help of school fac
ulties. students are now in the
process of electing student elec
tion chairmen and three-mem
ber boards of election. Party
organization also is under way.
Franklin High School will
elect officers for Franklin and
a similiar program will be con
ducted by Highlands High.
Three county offices of sheriff,
clerk of court, and register of
deeds will be filled by Nanta
hala High. Franklin and High
lands will elect school and wel
fare superintendents, although
actually the two posts are not
elective offices.
Student county commission
ers will be elected by each of
the elementary schools.
Hero Of Mine Cave-In Who Saved Reid
Says He's Had His Last Day Digging
Hsro Of Cave-In Has Had Enough
V, F. W. Supper Celebrates
Week: '53 Projects Listed
.Members of the local Veterans i
of Foreign Wars post celebrated
National V.F.W. Week (January
24-301 with a special member
ship supper last Wednesday
night, basking in the limelight |
of being the only post in the j
17th district to reach its as
signed quota of 165 men.
The supper was an informal
affair, highlighted by a report
on the post's progress in com
munity service during 1953 by
Commander Jack Ragan.
And it was strictly a "stag"
dinner. V.F.W. wives prepared
the meal and then bowed out
of the picture while the men
devoured it.
The live- wire Franklin post,
chartered in *946, outvaced posts
in Asheville, Hendersonville,
Brevard, Canton, and Hayes
ville in reaching membership
quotas. The post also has more
members percentage-wise than
SEE NO. 3. PAGE 12
"I've had my last day In a
mine!"
This curt and emphatic decla
ration by Robert Williams, the
28-year-old miner whose quick
thinking In the race of death Is
credited with the saving the
life of a fellow miner in Mon
day's tragic cave-in at the Mill
Knob Mine, sums up how the
hero feels about grubbing for
mica.
In a crude mining shack some
150 yards from where workers
were attempting to free A. W.
Reid and recover the body of
Donald Holland, Mr. Williams
reviewed the terrifying mom
ents of the cave-in. He was
visibly shaken by the ordeal.
His voice quivered as he rub
bed his cut and bleeding hands
in a half daze.
"I'm just plain lucky, that's
all . . . we heard someone on
the surface yell that she was
cracking and we headed out . .
I was a couple of feet ahead of
Andy and Donald when she fell
and the dirt poured all around
me and something knocked the
breath out of me ... I dug out i
and saw Andy's hat swirling
around in the dust and I knew
he was there somewhere, so I
started clawing through ... I
got his head uncovered and
when his eyes fluttered I saw
he was alive and I lit out of
there.
"I- can toll you one thing
right now . . . I've had my last
day in a mine."
Siide Eyev/itness
Sf--,y 3 'I V ".Hod
I saw it cracking anc! I
yelled as loud as I could, but
they couldn't have heard thun
der with all of that noiss from
the machinery."
That's Jess Carbin speaking.
He's the only eyewitness to the
tragic cave-in.
A'r. Corbin was operating a
mine hoist on the lip of the
strip mine. Near him an air
compressor added to the din.
Some 50 feet below him in the
bowels of the mine, three men
SEE NO. 4, PAGE 12
Miner Dies, Another Injured
In Mine Cave-In Here Monday
SPORTS PAPER :
IS APPROVED |
County Board Hits
At Fans Who Assault '
Others At Contests
Hot-headed sports fans ? the ]
type that insists on mopping ]
up the ground with officials,
coaches, and players ? had bet- \
ter think twice before pulling ,
any future stunts of that na- ]
ture.
It will only mean the host |
school at athletic events will ]
suffer for the irrational acts, j,
In a brief session Monday
morning, the County Board of
Education put its stamp of ap
proval to a resolution adopted
at the January meeting of the
Smoky Mountain Athletic Con- j
ference. j ^
The resolution puts the blame .
for acts of assault by fans di- J
rectly in the lap of the host
school and throws the school's
conference standing into jeop- .
ardy.
County . School Supt. Holland
MrSwain said this covers all j ?
athletic events at Franklin, j
Highlands, and Nantahala. All j (
three schools have basketball
' and baseball programs, but
! Franklin is the only one play- j
ing football.
The resolution:
Be it resolved: If any fans
are involved in acts of assault,
a.s defined by law, on officials,
j visiting players or coaches, the
host school may be expelled
from conference athletics for a
j period of one calendar year; i
provided ? that a meeting of
, designated conference represen
tatives be held within one week, ?
at which a quorum of confer- ]
1 ence schools be present, not
counting the offending school, '
and a vote of 2/3 majority for
expulsion: provided ? it can be '
shown that the host school has
failed to take every reasonable
precaution to forestall and pre
vent said assault.
The above pictures ? rushed by car to Gainesville, (ia., for
engraving in order to appear in thte issue ? are scenes of Monday
afternoon's grime cave-in at the Mill Knob Mine. At upper left,
A. W. Reid, whose face was uncovered following the cave-in by
a fellow miner, looks upward as men dig to free him from his
near grave. Below left, a crew brings out the body of Donald
Holland, 38, who died in the tragic avalanche. At right. Dr. J. W.
w ik.no hv /. P. Brad ?
K*'!in (white shirt) i> shown jrohivj down in'o tin- mine to check
on ihe condition <>l Mr. Keid. who i< trapped in the area at the
bottom of the picture. The buckets were used to haul dirt out of
the hole. The center inset, taken frotn the lip of the strip mine,
shows men working around Mr. Keid (arrow) trying to locate
the body of Mr. Holland. Mr. Keid is now in Angel Hospital re
covering frotn injuries.
A 38-year-old father of five was killed late Monday afternoo*
xi a tragic mica mine cave-in near Franklin, which saw another
larrowly cheat death through the heroic efforts of a fellow
niner.
Killed when tons of dirt and rock toppled Into the 50-foot
>pen pit at the Mill Knob Mine about 3:30 o'clock was Donald
Holland, a native of Cullasaja.
A crew of grim-faced rescuers cautiously dug through the
:ave-in for more than an hour freeing A. W. (Andy) Reid, 61
pear-old veteran miner, who owes his life to an employe, Robert
Williams.
Mr. Williams, although stunned and groggy, pulled himself
loose from the avalanche and clawed the dirt from around Mr.
field's face so he could breathe.
Injured and cold, Mr. Reid was pinned in the debris for more
than an hour before the crew succeeded in freeing him. He was
rushed to Angel Hospital by ambulance where his injuries were
listed as a fractured right shoulder blade, a head laceration.
Board Favors
TV Antenna
Atop Pisgah
The Franklin Board of Alder
men favors the controversial
proposal to construct a TV an
tenna atop Mt. Pisgah near
Asheville.
At a brief session Monday
night, the board voted to wire
its approval of the proposal to
Don J. Morris, supervisor of the
North Carolina National Forest.
The proposal is meeting stiff
apposition from persons con
tending the antenna would be
an eyesore on the mountain
peak.
Construction of a city hall
was discussed by the board, but
no action was taken. At the
present time, aldermen are in
vestigating the possibility of
putting the building on the
town lot at the intersection of
Iotla Street and Church Street
extension, where the fire house
Is located.
A special bond election prob
ably will be forthcoming if the
board decides to build.
BUYERS RUSH
FOR '54 TAGS
610 Buy Saturday;
4,428 Total Above
Period Last Year
Just as expected, motorists
flooded the office of the Caro
lina Motor Club here Saturday
to buy 1954 license tags.
Saturday was the official
deadline, but it was later ex
tended to midnight Tuesday.
However, this failed to , stop
Saturday's rush.
The day was anything but
normal, according to Verlon
Swafford. manager. A long line
formed about 9 o'clock and by
closing time at 6. last-minute
buyers had snapped up 610
tags. Three hundred seventy
nine were for automobiles, 218
for trucks, 12 for trailers, and
one motorcycle.
Compared with 1953. sales at
the local office were consider
ably higher. Through Tuesday,
new tag sales totaled 4.428, as
against 2,845 in 1953 for the
same period.
ZZnd H. L>. Club
Formed Monday
At Higdonville
The 22nd home demonstration
?lub in the county came into
jeing Monday night with the
)rganization of Higdonville.
Mrs. Eva Corbin was elected
^resident: Mrs. W. W Berry,
/ice-president; Mrs. Fred Cor
jin, secretary; and Mrs. Marie
3tamey, treasurer.
The new club has 13 charter
nembers. The organizational
neeting was held at the home
>f Mrs. Lily Young at Culla
iaja, with Mrs. Florence S.
Sherrill, county home agent, as
ilsting.
Meetings will be held the
'irst Monday afternoon of each
nonth. The next is scheduled
March 1 at 1:30 o'clock at the
iome of Mrs. Lily Crawford.
AT BAND CLINIC
Misses Norma Jean Welch and
Mancy Angel represented the
franklin Band at the W N. C.
Ugh School Band Clinic at
Western Carolina College. Cul- j
owhee, Saturday. Band Direc
tor S. F. Beck said eight other
land members were selected,
but dlcj pot attend. i
ana injuries to nis leit teg.
The hospital reported yesterday
i Wednesday i he is In a "satis
factory condition".
The heroic miner, who is 28,
told a reporter he saw Mr.
Reid's hat in the swirling dust
and "just started digging."
'They Couldn't Hear'
A shouted warning to the
three men working in the mine
was drowned out by the noise
of mining machinery. Jess Cor
bin, who was operating a hoist
on the surface, said he saw the
huge slide crack loose and he
shouted "as loud as I could".
But, because of the noise of the
hoist motor and a nearby Com
! pressor, Mr. Corbin said they
"couldn't have heard thunder".
"I rushed into the hole as
soon as the slide stopped", Mr.
Corbin said, "and I found Bob
(Williams i digging Andy's face
out . . ."
Work Under Threat
In near-freezing tempera
tures, a small rescue crew raced
time and the ominious threat
of more of the weakened mine
wall falling on them to free
Mr. Reid, who owns and oper
ates the mine. During the hour
they gingerly dug around the
injured man small chunks of
I earth dropped menacingly into
I the deep shaft and several
| cracks in the wall widened.
The veteran miner chatted
with his rescuers as they
worked and. although he was
still covered from the waist
down, helped them locate the
body of Mr. Holland.
"That's the second one", Mr.
Reid snapped at a photograph
er. "why don't you take that
thing (camera i away."
Other miners on the scene re
ported Mr. Reid was buried al
most up to his neck in a cave
in at the mine last summer.
Doctor Goes In
Soon after reports of the
cave-in reached Franklin, ve
hicles choked the rough road
leading to the mine. Among the
first on the scene was Dr. J.
W. Kahn. who went into the
hole to check on the injured
man's condition.
While the doctor was examining
the imprisoned miner, the crew
uncovered the arm of Mr. Hol
land,. whose body was lying to
j one side of Mr. Reid. The doc
i tor reported he could feel no
pulse and the men immediate
ly concentrated on freeing the
injured man.
?I'm Just Lucky'
As the crew worked, the
quick thinking miner who un
covered Mr. Reid's face, paced
back and forth along the iip
of the mine, stopping to ans
wer questions asked by the rap
idly growing crowd of specta
tors.
Visibly shaken by his narrow
scrape with death, Mr Williams
said "I'm just plain lucky and
I know it."
And he's through with min
ing. . I've had my last day
SEE NO. 5, PAGE 12
The Weather
The week's temperatures and rani tall. w
recorded in Franklin by Vlanao? Stilea,
f. S. weather observer, and at the Coweeta
Hydrologic Laboratory:
FRANKLIN
Temperatures
High Low Rain
Wednesday 67 50 .13
Thursday 52 29 .12
Friday 52 28
Saturday 56 25
Sunday 52 20
Monday 58 14 ?
Tuesday 61 3'
COWEKTA
Temperatures
High Low Rain
Wednesday 66 50 .19
Thursday 50 30 .08
Friday *8 Tt
Saturday 56 S*
Sunday M 18
Monday M 15
a