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70th Year ? No. 19
Franklin, N. C., Thursday, May 12, 1955
Fourteen Pages
? Stiff Photo by J. P. Brady
Standing In Line For An X-Ray
CENTENNIAL SCENE ?
'Brothers' Back From Trip
Thirteen weary "Brushy Brothers" returned to Franklin Fri
day night after a whirlwind tour of Raleigh and other eastern
points to publicize the coming centennial celebration.
The bewhiskered delegation rocked a clean-shaven Raleigh by
displaying a variety of beards and styles, visited Gov. Luther
Hodges Friday morning and posed for a picture with the chief
executive doffing a top hat, appeared on Carl Goerch's radio
program for an airwaves centennial plug, visited the House of
Representatives and Senate, and chatted with Secretary of State
niau uuic anu uunui a. viiti,
state treasurer.
This tight-knit schedule ex
plains the delegation's weari
ness. The group left here early
Thursday morning.
Making the trip were Mayor
W. C. Burrell, Alderman A. G.
Cagle, Commissioner Wiley
Brown, Sheriff J. Harry Thom
as, Register of Deeds Lake V.
Shope, J. S. Gray, John Cun
ningham, Richard Slagle, Bruce
Palmer, Woodrow Gibson, Elbert
Angel, I. T. Peek, and Holland
McSwaln, centennial co-chalr
man.
Meanwhile, plans for the cel
ebration June 16-17-18 are
moving along, with the "King
and Queen of Centennial" con
test soon to bow on the scene
to fire activity.
A tentative three-day pro
gram is also being roughed out.
? It is planned to have a cen
tennial booth In operation on
the square by Saturday to
handle the sale of souvenirs
and badges.
Records Due In
Records of "The Franklin
Centennial Jump", a specially
arranged tune recorded several
weeks ago by a local recording
artist, Les Waldroop, as a con
tribution to the celebration, are
expected to arrive from a west
coast recording studio within
the next week. Only 250 records
were ordered by the committee
and about 200 are to be sold as
souvenirs. Some 50 will be put
SEE? NO. 2. PAGE 1"
Detroiter
Gets A Badge
In Detroit, a man who
hasn't been here in 30 years
is wearing a Franklin Cen
tennial badge.
He is Charles Weaver, a na
tive of the Cartoogechaye
section.
It all grew out of the ex
pedition to Raleigh last week
of a bewhiskered Franklin
group; about a dozen visited
the capital city to call on the
governor and other officials,
to make sure they knew
Franklin is about to have a
Centennial.
In the party was James S.
(Jim) Gray. Someone who
saw Mr. Gray's Centennial
badge approached him, and
wanted to know about the
Centennial plans.
He proved to be Mr. Weav
er, in Ra.leigh on business.
He asked where he could get
a badge. Mr. Gray agreed to
attend to that, and got a
badge in the mail to the De
troiter Monday morning.
GETS BIG TROUT
Clyde Houston pulled a 20 '/2
inch brown trout out of the
Cullasaja River Saturday after
noon. The big fish is on dis
play at Willie Moses' station.
X-RAY UNIT
KEEPS BUSY
Estimated 4,000
Over 15 Turn Out
For Free Service
By yesterday (Wednesday)
afternoon, more than 4,000 Ma
conians over the age of 15 had
taken advantage of the free
chest X-ray service offered by
the Macon Tuberculosis Asso
ciation.
This unofficial estimate was
given The Press just before
presstime by Fred Dowdle,
county chairman. However, he
said It would not miss the of
ficial count by more than a
few.
With the week-end closing of
the mobile X-ray unit Saturday
afternoon, 3,373 persons had re
ceived the service by official
count. The unit did not oper
ate Monday and official figures
for Tuesday and Wednesday
were not available. But, Mr.
Dowdle estimated? using prior
daily averages ? that another
1,000 received X-rays during
the two days. This estimate,
coupled with the official 3,373,
puts the figure over 4,000.
The mobile unit rolled into
the county Tuesday of last week
at Nantahala where 223 were
X-rayed. Wednesday, the unit
moved into Franklin for a six
day stop-over and in four days
gave 2,417 X-rays. Another unit
entered the county for a one
stop visit in Highlands last
Thursday. The chairman re
ported 417 visited this unit.
Mr. Dowdle estimated the
turn-out county-wide at better
than 90 per cent of those over
the 15 year age limit.
While it was in Franklin,
members of the V. F. W. Aux
iliary, and Junior Woman's
Club served the unit as clerks
and hostesses.
'BRUSHY BROTHERS' who 'invaded' Raleigh and points
east last Thursday and Friday strike a centennial pose in front
of the 'taliboose' just prior to their departure. They are (I. toR)
Wooilrow Gibson, Wiley Brown, !. S. Grr.v. Holland McSwain,
I. T. Peek, Mayor W. C. Burrell, Bruce Palmer, John Cunning
ham, and Sheriff J. Harry Thomas. Standing behind are Klfoert
Angel and Richard Slagle.
Fire Danger
'Critical'
In County
Fire danger In Macon Coun
ty Is in the "critical" stage
and only a heavy rain can ease
the situation, according to Way
ah District Ranger W. L. Noth
stein.
County Ranger J. Fred Bry
son said yesterday (Wednes
day) no more burning permits
will be issued until the picture
brightens.
Meanwhile, fire watchers keep
scanning the vast blanket of
forest land in the area for that
tell-tale wisp of smoke.
No fires have been reported
since three acres were burned
over on Matlock: Creek Tuesday
of last week. Ranger Nothstein
said.
But, in the week before, fed
eral and state crews battled
nearly a dozen small blazes in
several sections of the county.
Even a light rain is not going
to help the situation much, the
ranger feels.
"What we need is a gusher
. . . sufficient rain to wet the
forest floor."
F. F. A. Chapter
Ready T o Compete
In Area Event
The Franklin Future Farmers
of America plan to be in the
thick of activities Friday and
Saturday at a district F. F. A.
rally in Asheville.
The local chapter is compet
ing in the farm improvement
contests and projects and is
shooting for the top in the
state contest. Last year the
chapter won the district con
test and placed third in the
state.
Saturday at the Biltmore
Estate, the F. F. A. dairy judg
ing team, which won first
place in the Nantahala Feder
ation judging contest In Clem
son, 8. C., on April 21, will
compete against teams from 24
other counties. The team is
composed of Buddy McClure,
Bill McCall, Mark Dowdle, and
Zeb Ouffie, Jr., alternate.
WORK CALL
FOR MALES
IS ISSUED
Burlington Ready
To Hire Men 18-25
For Plant Here
Burlington Industries, Inc., is
now ready to accept applica
tions from men for employ
ment at its Franklin hosiery
plant, according to Stephen A.
Bundy, superintendent.
Only men in the 18 to 25 age
group will be considered at
present.
As has been the policy in
the employment of women since
the plant training program
opened in February, all appli
cations must be handled
through the Employment Secur
ity Commission of North Caro
lina, the superintendent em
phasized.
An E. S. C. representative, S.
P. Davis, of the Bryson City of
fice, is in Franklin at the
courthouse every Monday and
Tuesday from 10 a. m. to 4
p. m. to receive applications.
In an announcement last
week, Mr. Bundy set May 30 as
the opening production at the
$3,000,000 plant just outside the
city limits on US 23-441.
Approximately 60 persons will
be working at first, but this
number is expected to go over
300 in a year and a half as an
expansion program builds up.
Amateur Contest Set
To Raise Band Funds
An amateur contest, the pro
ceeds earmarked for the
Macon County Band, is set for
tomorrow (Friday) night at the
Iotla School, it has been an
nounced.
Prizes are being offered to
the three best acts.
The program also will include
some numbers by the county
band.
W. S. C. S. Meeting
A meeting of the Macon sub
district, Womans Society of Chris
tian Service, is set for Tuesday
at 10 a.m. at the Franklin Metho
dist Church.
TO SPEND $35,000 ?
Lc dge Building Plains Given
An expenditure of $35,000, In
cluding furnishings, is going In
to the new two-story temple
the Masonic Lodge plans to
build in Franklin at an early
date, according to Ernest Hyde,
chairman of the building com
mittee.
A proposal to build on the
site of the present lodge hall ?
a familiar Church Street land
mark for more than 75 years ?
was approved by members at a
meeting Tuesday of last week
after several years of planning.
However, not all of the his
toric old structure will give
way to progress and moderniza
tion. The old tower is to be
saved and remodeled for the
new building.
Construction is set to begin
about June 1,
The fate of the library in the
old building is sketchy at the
present time. Miss Lassie Kelly,
local library committee chair
man, has said plans are being
pushed to put a library building
on the county-owned lot below
the county jail. She also said
some money is on hand to be
gin construction and that a de
tailed fund-raising program is
to be announced soon.
Colonial architecture will be
carried out in the construction
of the temple, which will be 42
by 66 feet and of brick and
tile construction with white
columns in front.
A social hall, kitchen, and
Eastern Star and Masonic of
fices will be on the first floor.
The lodge hall will be on the
second floor.
Plans for the building were
prepared by H. H. Plemmons,
who also is serving with Mr.
Hyde on the building commit
tee. Other committeemen in
clude J. B. Ray, H. H. Gnuse,
Jr., Frank L. Henry, Jr., Nat
M. Phillips, John Crawford, W.
G. Crawford, and Wayne Faulk
ner.
ACCEPTS CALL
TO HIGHLANDS
Walter To Assume
Duties At Baptist
Church On Friday
The Rev. Eugene Walter, of
Kannapolis and Wake Forest,
has accepted the pastorate of
the Highlands Baptist Church.
Mr. Walter, who is expected
to arrive tomorrow (Friday I to
take charge of the church, suc
ceeds the Rev. John J. Buell.
who resigned in February after
20 months to accept the pastor
ate of the First Baptist Church
in Jonesboro, Ga.
Mr. Walter's wife Is a native
of Canton.
Board Approves
Teacher Selections
The newly appointed three-man Macon County Board of Edu
cation has approved all principals and teachers elected by the
district committees.
However, this over-all stamp of approval did not come until
after the board, in regular session Wednesday night of last week,
suggested a reconsideration of the Cowee principalship. T. T.
Love, Cowee principal for a number of years, was not reelected
Band Concert
Is Sunday
In Franklin
The new 70-piece .Macon
County Band, under the direc
tion of T. A. Orr, will present
a free concert Sunday after
noon at 3 o'clock at the Frank
lin High Stadium.
In the event of bad weather,
the director said the concert
will be rescheduled the follow
ing Sunday afternoon at the
same hour.
The hour-long concert will
mark the first appearance of
the new county musical group,
which is composed of young
music students from Franklin
High, Franklin Elementary, East
Franklin, Cullasaja, Union, Co
wee, Otto, Cartoogechaye, High
lands, and Otto.
A program had not been an
nounced at presstime, but Mr.
Orr said it will cover most mus
ical fields, including marches
and some modern numbers.
The expansion of the Frank
lin music program to cover the
whole county and give all pupils
an opportunity to play in the
SEE NO. 3, PAGE 10
'Sunday Dinner'
To Raise Funds
For Youth Center
A "Sunday dinner" to raise
funds for a proposed youth
center for Franklin's younger
set will be staged from 12 noon
to 1:30 this Sunday In the
Franklin High cafeteria.
Interested citizens pushing
for a center have now decided
to build on land donated by A.
A. Slier on West Main Street.
A previous plan was to con
vert a garage at the rear of Dr.
G. R. McSwaln's clinic into a
temporary center. Although Dr.
McSwaln offered to pay for re
pairs and improvements when
the garage ceased to be used as
a center, the proposal hit
some snags. Some opposing the
idea felt the garage was not
large enough.
Several fund-raising cam
paigns are now in the planning
stages to finance a building.
The "Sunday dinner" is the
first. Mrs. Harve Bryant Is gen
eral chairman of arrangements.
and Alex Arnold, Cowee teach
er, was given the post.
But, the district committee
upheld its decision and the
school board met briefly Sat
urday to approve Mr. Arnold.
The Highlands principalship
also is vacant. F. N. Shearouse
has been principal for the past
two years.
Adopts Resolution
On recommendation of Supt.
Holland McSwain, the board
also adopted a resolution bar
ring principals and teachers
from holding office in a po
litical party or political organ
ization.
The resolution, which receiv
ed unanimous approval, states:
"Whereas, it appears to the
Macon County Board of Educa
tion that it is not to the best
interest of the public schools of
Macon County for teachers or
principals to hold any office in
SEE NO. 4, PAGE 10
Late News
and
Briefs
POWER OFF
Power on the Georgia high
way and Murphy highway lines
will be off tonight (Thursday)
from 11:30 to 6 a. m. Friday,
the Nantahala Power and Light
Company has announced.
The power also was off Tues
day and Wednesday.
Crews are installing a power
line to the new Burlington In
dustries, Inc., plant.
? ? ?
ELECTIONS HELD
Schools in the district have
been holding elections for the
past week to select officers for
the 'Government for a Day"
program, which is to be staged
tomorrow (Friday).
The ycung office holders will
take over Franklin town offices
and county posts.
? ? *
FIRE EXTINGUISHED
After a two-hour battle. Frank
lin firemen extinguished a
stubborn brush fire early Fri
day morning behind Trimont
Inn on Harrison Avenue.
The alarm was sounded about
2 o'clock.
One truck was brought into
play.
? r fhflto f [ira.li
A couple of weeks back, it was cows fraternizing with a rab
bit in The Press oddity depr.-tmeiit. This week it's a ladder
climbing dog At the Wayah Bald Easter sunrise service, the
newspaper's photographer felt hot breath on his neck. Turning
he faced the big llover peering down from a tree. The dog be
longs to the R. S. Jones family.