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Entered at Post Office. Franklin, N. C., as second class matter
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
Franklin, N. C. Telephone 24
WEIMAR JONES Editor
BOB 8. SLOAN Business Manager
J. P. BRADY News Editor
MRS. ALLEN SILER ... Society Editor and Office Manager
OARL P. CABE Mechanical Superintendent
FRANK A. STARR ETTE Shop Superintendent
DAVID H. SUTTON Stereotyper
OHARLES B. WHTTTINOTON . Pressman
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MAY 26, 1955
A Lot To Do
--"--a
Just four weeks from today, Franklin's big cen
tennial celebration will open.
We're going to have a lot of visitors.
What will they see?
The first thing they see, unless we get busy, and
get busy now, will be a dirty town.
There's a lot of paint that needs putting on;
there are a lot of banks and grass plots that need
mowing; and there are a lot of vacant lots that
need clearing off. There are a lot of streets here,
too, that are disgraceful ; streets in the heart of
Franklin that have litter ? rocks washed down
from banks, broken glass, paper cups ? that has
been on them not weeks, but months !
Isn't it about time we started on the big job of
getting ready for the big event?
The Best Governed
On the one hand, we have science's miracle, the
Salk vaccine.
On the other, we have millions of parents eager
for this answer to desperate prayer.
In between, is the government ? muddling, if
-ever there was muddling; moving forward, back
ing up, moving forward, then changing its mind
and backing up again.
Maybe some government administration of this
program was necessary. In theory, it seemed high
ly desirable. But it is hard to see, to date, a single
constructive contribution that has come from gov
ernment.
The situation recalls the suggestion of old Tom
Jefferson to the general effect that the least gov
erned people is the best governed people.
Something Irreplaceable
The Masonic Hall on Church Street belongs to
the Masons. Since it is their property, they have a
right, of course, to do with it what they wish.
? / ?
But none of us can live to ourselves, and their
plan to raze the structure effects 'the whole com
munity ; for if and when the Masonic Hall comes
down, Franklin will have lost something irreplace
able.
This is one more in a long line of instances, it
seems to us, suggesting that Franklin i.s 40 or 50
years behind the times, in one respect. Because in
other sections of the country, the value of the old
and the historic has long been recognized; they
not only save the old buildings, they restore and
preserve them. We, in Franklin, on the other hand,
?cannot tear down the old?fast enough!
The Masonic Hall is one of Franklin's few re
maining old buildings. It has seen ? and been a
part ? of a -lot of history.
But it has something in addition to age and his
tory to recommend it. Architecturally, it has a
grace and dignity that are not likely to be dupli
cated. Anybody can put up a modern new build
ing - ? usually something exactly like other new
buildings to be found , all over the United States.
But who, once it is gone, can restore the gracious
old structure on Church street? It gives distinction
to the entire town.
There are many people here, we suspect, who
hope the Masons will reconsider iheir decision.
In the world we live In, freedom once lost is lost to stay
Tost. ? Elmer Davis.
Why Poppy Day?
Saturday will be Poppy Day.'
The annual observance is in the nature of a me
morial to the American boys for whom "the pop
pies grow, beneath the crosses, row on row",
across the seas "in Flanders field". (And, more re
cently, for those who died in World War 2? as
well.)
How better remember those Who gave their all
than by serving their buddies?
So the American Legion Auxiliary annually sells
poppies, using the funds in the service of disabled
veterans of both wars, and of the children of vet
erans.
ture For purely selfish reasons, an owner should paint hU
tenant houses.
A* lot of people In this area seem to think that the way
things have always been done around here Is the ^ay they
ought to be doqe. That's not the case at all. Such people ought
to travel In other parts of the country or other parts of the
world and see the value of trim and painted houses and barns.
Paint, I believe, is an Indication of pride, self-respect. Inter
est and progresslve-mlndedness. We need a lot more paint In
Eastern North Carolina. And I'm not In the pay of duPont,
Sherwln-Wllllams or Pittsburgh or any hardware store or
building supply firm.
Poetry
Editor
EDITH DEADERICK ERSKINE
Weaverville, North Carolina
THOUGHTS IN SPRING
Others' Opinions
YOUR LINE MAY BE VERY BUSY
(U. N. C. Daily Tar Heel)
The scene is a cluttered room in the Senate Office Building,
and the actors, members of the House Judiciary subcommittee,
have deserted the stage to make room for a wiretap expert,
who is demonstrating his equipment.
The senators are holding hearings on proposals to permit
use of evidence gained from wiretapping in federal court cases,
and the wiretap expert shows how easy it is to eavesdrop.
A telephone "bug" allows police to record telephone conver
sations when the receiver is lifted and general room con
versation when the receiver is down. Another microphone can
be hidden in wallpaper. And a third type receiver is the size
of a pack of cigarettes.
"It costs less than $10 to convert a home telephone, radio,
television set, or phonograph into a wiretap device," says the
expert. "In some respects, it's all rather frightening," the ex
pert adds almost proudly.
And the senators sitting on the sidelines of this demonstra
tion in electronic eavesdropping nod their heads in agree
ment ? because it is "all rather frightening" to know that
the government may probe into one's private life and con
versation, without warrant or warning.
Beyond blue seas, pale towers rise . . .
Beyond the drifting foam
Lie the lands my forebears knew,
The moors and mists of home: >
A part of me Is over there
In a wet. sweet English lane
Where hawthorn buds and<the hills beyond
Are grey in the silver rain;
A part of me in the north of France
At home in Normandy
Drifts out with the scent of apple-bloom
To mate with the tang of the sea;
A part of me to Scotland belongs
Like the plaids that do not change ?
To the skirl of pipes that haunt the glens
With a music wild and strange;
A part of me in Ireland,
On a wind-swept sun-lit hill
Is one with Erin earth and air t
And the lilting tunes that spill
Melodic, down the centuries . . .
Beyond the drifting foam
Lie the dim, nostalgic lands
That echo, softly, "Home . .
BESS HINES HARKIN.
Oxnard, Calif.
STRICTLY
PERSONAL
By WEIMAR JONES
PAINT INDICATES PRIDE
(Holley Mack Bell in Bertie Ledger- Advance)
If I were a millionaire, I would give a prize to every house
holder in the Roanoke-Chowan who painted his house. I'd also
give a prize for every barn, outbuilding, chicken coop and to
bacco barn painted. And being a millionaire, I'd furnish the
paint and brushes.
I'd request that the householder do the painting, if he were
physically able; but since I'm so sold on the idea of paint, and
being a millionaire, I would even supply the labor. Because I
am sold on painting.
There are probably more unpainted buildings in Eastern
North Carolina than in any section of the U.S.A. I don't know
this for a fact, but I'd be willing to bet.
Why this is so I'm not exactly certain. It's not necessarily
poverty; because oftentimes you see a nice big house that's
recently been painted, but the paint gave out before they got
to the outbuildings. And then you see unpainted tenant houses
of people who live in big houses in town and drive big cars.
'My feeling is that people who live in tenant houses have'
self-respect and want a painted house. But, of course, that's
not the main consideration to an owner ? he's interested in
his investment.
If an owner is interested in his investment, it seems to me
that he would paint tenant houses. Paint helps preserve and
insure the lifetime of a house and is well worth the expendi
Back In May, 1954, I was
homesick for Macon County.
Looking back through the
files of The Press, I find I was
writing, in this column a year
ago, how much I regretted all
the things I had missed, here
at home, during my nine
months' sojourn in Chapel Hill:
. . nippy winter days . . .
when the trees are leafless, so
you can see a lot of things you
never know are there, in sum
mer . . . snow on the moun
tains, making every ridge and
hollow stand out against the
sky . . . open wood fires on
cold winter days . . . the woods,
when the arbutus, one of
spring's first flowers, blooms
beneath the dead, dry leaves,
. . . the sight, and smell, of
newly plowed mountain red
clay ... All these I've missed,
for this year."
Well, just to show how fun
ny human nature is, I've been
homesick, all this May, for
Chapel Hill!
Not that I'm not still glad to
be back home; I am. For there's
no place in the world quite like
this spot.
But, somehow, Chapel Hill
casts its own, inimitable spell.
The tiniest, fleeting memory of
its campus creates a nostalgic
longing at once painful and
pleasant.
It's not just the ivied walls,
though that is part of it; it's
not just the intellectual stimu
lation always found in a uni
versity town, though that, too,
is part of it; and it's not just
the kindly neighborliness of the
village, that Chapel Hill, some
how, has managed to retain,
appealing as that is.
Primarily, it seems to me,
what gives the place its charm
is the presence, everywhere, of
youth . . . boys and girls hur
rying ? or, In late afternoon,
strolling, along graveled campus
walks beneath mighty oaks.
There's something moving
about that sight.
For youth is eager; it is sen
sitive, both to the beautiful ar\d
the fine, and to disappointment
and disillusion; and it is so
heart-breakingly sure of itself
(what disappointments it has
in store!)
Seeing those yougsters, has
tening to meet adulthood,
brings with it, too, a thrill.
For here are energy and hope
and dreams . . . here is new
courage . . . here, indeed, is
the future!
A SCIENTIST ANSWERS
IS ATOMIC SECRECY EFFECTIVE?
By LL&YD V.' BERKNER
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This ar
ticle is reprinted, by permis
sion, from the Bulletin of the
Atomic , Scientists. It is taken
from an address delivered by
Dr. Berkner at Dartmouth
College. The author is presi
dent of Associated Univer
sities, Inc., a group of 12 uni
versities administering Brook
haven National Laboratory.)
Really serious secrecy applied
to military technology seems to
have emerged coincident with
the discovery of radar about
1930. ' During the ensuing dec
ade, the record is not impres
sive. Secrecy seriously delayed
radar development, and neither
technical nor tactical progress
was very appreciable. As a con
sequence, radar failed to pre
vent Pearl Harbor, although it
then was technically and dem
onstrably adequate to have done
this relatively simple job. Pearl
Harbor was a tactical failure
born of military ignorance
growing out of secrecy since the
warning of the radar was ignor
ed. Had we advertised our radar
protection of Pearl Harbor, it is
doubtful that the Japanese
would have attempted a sur
prise. In any event, our own
commanders would not have
been ignorant of the powerful
tools at their command.
The development of airborne
radar applications awaited the
war, for at its commencement
we had no anti-submarine .ra
dar, no night fighters, no means
for extensive sea search. The
lack of such weapons is direct
ly attributable to the technol
ogical delays consequent to sec
recy. Had airborne radar been
developed and advertised open
ly, the consequent great prog
ress in these developments
might have so weakened the
German confidence in their
submarine supremacy, or ability
for strategic air attack, that
World War II might never have
been precipitated.
Years Of Delay
More recently, the years of
delay in Initiating a continental
defense to clothe our bareness
to modern bombs arose from
the cover that secrecy afforded
to the recalcitrance of a few
arrogant men. Is It necessary
to cite more examples?
So you can see that the rec
ord of our administration of
secrecy is unimpressive. Yet the
need for widespread secrecy
has become a sacred cow, a be
lief hedged by the deepest emo
tions and accepted without
question by many Americans.
In the present atmosphere, one
is supposed to feel a sense of
guilt in questioning our secur
ity policies. Yet the record
shows that a little less secrecy,
and more comprehension, might
well have altered events enor
mously in our benefit.
Moreover, the policy of ex
treme and widespread secrecy
leads to abuses that have no
place in a democratic state. The
removal of security clearance,
with its inevitable disgrace and
loss of employment, has been
used as a threat to force con
formance of cleared individuals
to current policy. The recent
denial (New York Times, No
vember 16) to military and
naval academy cadets of free
dom to debate diplomatic recog
nition of Red China stems, not
so much from direct efforts at
"thought control," as from the
fear that proponents of Red
Chinese recognition^ a college
debate could not subsequently
be "cleared" under security reg
ulations. Thus their usefulness
would be lost to the govern
ment. Precisely the same sword
hangs over the head of anyone
whose employment requires ac
cess to secret material by
sharply restricting his thoughts
on any controversial subject.
To quote Vannevar Bush . . It
is . . . sadly true that we do
have thought control In our
midst." (New York Times, June
13, 1954).
Above all, secrecy permits a
flood of propaganda, sometimes
officially inspired, that is as
vicious and misleading as any
drivel that the Russians could
hope to produce. Concerning the
recent book, "The Hydrogen
Bomb" by Shepley and Blair,
the former chairman of the
Atomic Energy Commission,
Gordon Dean, writes:
"This is a vicious book. And it
is an untrue book . . . The pub
lisher has noted quite accurately
that the book was 'manufactured
in the United States of America.'
Believe me, it' was."
The lies, distortions, misrep
resentations, and innuendos
contained in such propaganda
cannot be judged and evaluated
publicly when the evidence* is
buried in secret files. The Soviet
government has demonstrated
how under a secret government
a people can be misled by selec
tive disclosure of information
that serves its ends in the or
ganization of its propaganda.
As an aside, one is led to re
mark that the reactions of these
abuses on the scientific com
munity, taken together with
losses arising from restrictions
on communications among sci
entists, has greatly affected our
capability to compete success
fully with the Soviets on wea
pon superiority. This gives point
to the remarks of John J. Mc
Cloy, testifying before the Gray
(See Back Page, 1st Section)
/
News Making
As It Looks
To A Maconite
? By BOB SLOAN
I have often beard people In
Franklin say that Negroes here
In Macon County have just as
good an economic opportunity
as the whites. I wonder how
many Negroes are employed In
our few Industries.
? ? ?
Several people have spoken
favorably concerning the pro
posal I made last week that the
tax rate be In
creased to pro
vide funds for
the upkeep of
the Youth Rec
reation Center
which will be
built here.
(The .reason I
say that so
positively is
that although
the Youth Cen
ter Is still In Sloan
the infant stage, where there
is such a demand the people
generally find a way. Also X
have a great deal of confidence
in the people behind this move
ment.) True, already I have
heard people say that such a
levy might not be legal. But
again I say where there is a
will, there is a way. The swim
ming pool and tennis courts at
Franklin Lodge and Golf Course
were originally built with pub
lic money. A legal way was
found then, and it can be done
again.
Soon the air will be filled
with stirring pronouncements
delivered at graduation exer
cises for our youth to hear and
heed.
Here is the advice I would
like to give to the youth of
Macon County ? "Stay Home".
This is a land of great oppor
tunity if only you will look for
it. The average graduate was
born here; he loves this county.
His parents have built a good
name for him. He (or she) can
make good here, and live a hap
py live. Stay home; Macon
County needs you. There are
those of course who wish to
specialize in some field which
offers no opportunity here, but
first look hard and then look
again and see if your particular
talents can't be* used here. We
need you.
Do You
Remember?
(Looking backward through
the files of The Press)
50 TEARS AGO THIS WEEK
Dr. S. H. Lyle had excavations
made last week for the founda
tion walls of his new sanitarium,
on Harrison Avenue.
Master Frank Bryson took a
fish from his trap Friday morn
ing of the "red-horse" variety
that measured 29 in. in lengt
and weighed 16 pounds.
The rains during the last two
or three days past are delaying
the farmers with their farm
work. The weather has been
quite cool during the past week,
which is not beneficial to corn
and other crops.
25 YEARS AGO
A highly enjoyable dance was
given at the home of Mrs. C.
H. Zoellner Saturday night in
honor of the graduating class.
Four sets were danced to the
splendid music, and those pres
ent spent a thoroughly delight
ful evening. ? Highlands item.
Dr. F. T. Smith, who spent
several dr last week In Wil
son visit: his daughter, Mrs.
Fleet Scruggs, returned home
Friday. He was accompanied by
Mrs. Scroggs and little daugh
ter, Rosalie.
?Mrs. E. R. Kinnebrew is vis- -
iting her daughter, Mrs. Jim
Cook, in Athens, Ga.
10 YEARS AGO
Mr. and Mrs. Edgar E. Wat
kins returned to their home in
Albany, Ga., on Monday, after
spending the week-end with
Mrs. Watkins' father, J. A. Con
ley, and sister, Mrs. H. O. Cozad.
Mrs. C. H. Menger left Sun
day to spend several weeks in
Indianapolis, Ind., with her
mother, Mrs. Wm. Paetz, who
recently suffered a broken arm
in a fall at her home. ? High
lands item.
Mrs. F. Ecker, of Portsmouth,
Va., is visiting her parents, Mr.
and Mrs. B. H. Hedden.