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71st Year ? No. 34
Franklin, N. C., Thursday, August 23, 1956
Sixteen Pages
About Fall
Balloting . . .
On September 8, Macon
County voters will go to the
polls In the first of two gen
eral elections slated for this
fall.
The September balloting will
find them either approving or
disapproving four constitution
al amendments, with the one
dealing with public education
hogging most of the spotlight.
Again, on November 6, they will
go to the polling places to pick
public officials.
On the ballot for next
month's vote are three regular
session amendments. One would
allow limited necessary com
pensation of members of the
General Assembly; the second
would change the date for con
vening the General Assembly
from January to February; and
the third would authorize a
married woman to exercise
powers of attorney conferred
upon her by her husband.
Two Points
Two strong points are em
bodied in the proposed amend
ment (product of last month's
special session of the General
Assembly) relating to public ed
ucation. It would authorize ed
ucation expense grants and lo
cal option to suspend operation
, of public schools.
In brief, provisions would be
made for payment of educa
tion expense grants from any
state or local public funds for
the private education of any
child for whom no public
school is available or for the
private education of a child
who is assigned against the
wishes of his parents to a pub
lic school attended by a child
of another race. A grant shall
be available only for education
in a nonsectarian school and
In the case of a child assigned
to a public school attended by
a child of another race, a grant
shall, in addition to be avail
able only when it is not rea
sonable and practicable to re
assign such child to a public
school not attended by a child
of another race.
The local option point would
authorize the board of educa
tion of any administrative unit
to suspend the operation of one
or more or all of the public
schools under its jurisdiction.
Questions ? Answers
Points of the proposed amend
ment were drawn from the
Pearsall Committee Plan, which,
made recommendations, on ap
pointment by the governor,
concerning the state's approach
to the segregation problem.
Following are some questions
and answers, prepared by the
committee, to provide basic in
formation for the action:
1. What is the purpose of this
program?
A. It is an effort to preserve
North Carolina's Public School
system.
2. Why should we amend our
State Constitution?
A. It is necessary to amend the
N. C. Constitution in order that
the state legislature can pass the
necessary laws to protect the
people against unacceptable mix
ing of the races and thereby as
sure public support of schools.
3. What are we going to vote
on?
A. The people will decide wheth
er they want to authorize the
General Assembly to provide edu
cation expense grants for private
education. They also will decide
whether they want the closing of
any school to be decided by the
people on the local level. In other
words, the smallest school unit
could make the derision.
4. Why should we vote for the
amendment?
A. To give ourselves as much
freedom of choice as is possible
under Ihe U. S. Supreme Court
decision.
5. If the people approve this
program will my child be fprced
to attend school with a member
of another race?
A. Emphatically No.
6. Is this whole thin? an effort
to defy the U. S. Supreme Court?
A. It is not defiance. It is an
attempt to stay within that de
cision, even though a great major
ity of our citizens disapprove the
Supreme Court's ruling.
7. Are we sure that approval
on our part will preserve our
traditional system of segregated
schools?
A. We cannot be sure of any
thing the U. S. Supreme Court
may do, or say. But this Is the
best plan that has been advanced
SEE NO. 1, PAGE 5
WINNING WILDCATS? The Little League "world series"
has been won by the Wildcats, sponsored by Macon County
Supply. Team members are (L to R) front row, Lyman Bry
? staff Photo by J. P. Brady
ant, Alex Corbin, Larry Franklin, Jimmy Taylor, Zeb Cabe,
a.nd Htrgh Franklin; back row, E. J. Carpenter, coach, Sammy
Ta.Uent, Walter Taylor, Jr., Jimmy Williams, Ronnie Higdon,
Johnny Crawford, George Mallonee, and Johnny Cabe.
Wildcats Take
League Series
Macon County Supply
Team Downs Jaybirds
In 3 Straight Games
The Wildcats salted away
three straight victories to take
the Little League "world series"
here.
Sponsored by Macon County
Supply Company and coached
by Ed J. Carpenter, the Wild
cats romped over the Jaybirds
13-8 in their first clash on
August 8; 5-2 in the second on
August 15; and 20-2 last Sat
urday August 18.
Winning pitchers were Sam
my Tallent and Ronnie Higdon.
Tallent hurled the first and
third games and Higdon tossed
a one-hitter in pacing his team
to the second victory. Losing
pitchers were Sonny Burrell,
Ronnie Mashburn, and Dale
Yeary. Mashburn opposed Hig
don in the second game and
registered a two-hitter in the
pitchers' -duel.
Wildcat Jimmy Williams
pounded out a home run in the
third game.
The Jaybirds are sponsored
by the Franklin Jaycees. James
Yeary is their manager.
Playing for the Wildcats were
Ronnie Higdon, Jimmy Wil
liams, Sammie Tallent, Johnny
Cabe, Johnny Crawford, Lyman
Bryant, Larry Franklin, Walter
Taylor, Jr., Alex Corbin, George
Malonee, Donald Woody Fisher,
Hugh Franklin, Jimmy Taylor,
Charles Laboone, and Zeb Cai>e.
Team Managers
Name All-Stars
Team managers voted the fol
lowing to the "Little League
Ail-Star" team:
Ronnie Higdon, Jimmy Wil
liams, Johnny Cabe, and John
ny Crawford, of the Wildcats;
Dale Yeary, Ronnie Mashburn,
Sonny Burrell, and Larry Bun
ton, Jaybirds; David Simpson,
L T. Gibson, Morris Davis, and
Jimmy E. Cabe, Thunderbirds ;
and Johnny Swan, James Cabe,
and Furman Ledford, Reddys.
Pony League
In The Making
A kick-off meeting for the
organization of a Pony Base
ball League in Franklin has
been called for August 31.
Set for Slagle .Memorial
Building at 7:30, the meeting
will see the election of league
officers, selection of the four
team sponsors, and a general
discussion of rules and regula
tions.
Also expected to be on hand
for the meeting is Jack Justice,
of Canton, president of his
town's Pony League. Mr. Jus
tice, as a district Little League
director, assisted with organi
zation of Little League here last
spring.
Pony League play is for boys
13 through 15 years of age.
SEE NO. 2, PAGE 8
Hodges' Unnamed Democrat
Was A Macon County Man
At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week,
a North Carolinian ? Governor Luther H. Hodges ? was one of
four to second the nomination of Adlai E. Stevenson.
In his seconding address, Governor Hodges pointed out that ?
"Sixty-four years ago North Carolina seconded the nomi
nation of the first Adlai Stevenson, for Vice-President . .
The state press published that quotation from the governor,
but did not identify the North Carolinian who made the sec
onding speti'i in 1892. He was a Macon County mail.
The governor's office this week confirmed that the North
Carolinian he referred to was Kope Elias, of Franklin.
Mr. Elias was an ardent admirer of Grover Cleveland, the
Democrat nominated anai elected President in 1892. On the
ticket with Cleveland was Adlai Stevenson, grandfather of the
1956 Democratic presidential nominee, and the delegate from
Macon ? Mr. Elias ? seconded that Adlai Stevenson's nomina
tion, for the vice-presidency.
President Cleveland latei appointed Mr. Elias a lT. S. col
lector of internal revenue.
Mr. Elias was the father of Bernard and Don S. Elias, of
Asheville, and Mrs. I,sabel Elias Jones, of Fayetteville, Ark.,
all of whom were reared' in the Elias home here, which stood
on the site of the present Angel Hospital.
Tourist Registration Here
Already Triple '55 Total
Tourist inquiries at the
Franklin Chamber of Com
merce's information booth have
already tripled last season's
total.
As of last Thursday, more
than 600 persons had signed
the register at the booth. Dur
ing the entire '55 summer sea
son, only 206 signed the book.
About two-thirds of those
stopping request additional in
formation on ruby digging in
Cowee Valley, according to
chamber officials. The rest are
temporarily "lost" because of
the US 23-441 detour and re
quest directions.
At a meeting last week, the
chamber directors decided to
keep the information both op
erating through September and,
if necessary, into October. It
generally operates from June
1 to early September.
Fall coloring along the coun
ty's many scenic drives will be
given special promotion in out
of-state newspapers and publi
cations as a boost to extending
the regular season.
Last week, the cnamber was
only $941 short of its member
ship quota and officials pre
dicted the full $3,240 would be
raised.
OUT OF THE UNDERBRUSH at the foot of Slagle Memor
ial hill is emerging positive signs of a city playground. On
land given by A. B. Slagle and A. A. Siler, the playground is
being developed by the Northwest Neighborhood Club as its
main project. Because of the scope of the project, some as
sistance will be offered by other groups in town. Plans call
1*1 fun stuff I'hotna
for the area to have tennis courts, picnic tables and (ire
places, a Softball diamond, shuffle hoards, and a variety of
playground equipment. Workings are held every Wednesday
and Saturday afternoons by the men. Most of the under
brush has been cleared from the site and the branch
through the center has been straightened.
Forest Receipts
Tops For County
Allocation From
Stumpage Biggest
Amount To Date
National forest receipts for
1955-56 assure Macon County of
its largest allocation to date.
Wayah Ranger W. L. Noth
stein this tfeek announced that
tentative figures just released
place the county's share of re
ceipts for the fiscal year just
ended at $26,607.28.
The slice is more than $7,000
bigger than the 1954-55 alloca
tion of $19,022.76 and tops by
more than $3,200 the previous
all-time high of $23,407.22, made
in 1953-54.
Earmarked for schools and
roads, the forest stumpage re
ceipts and some special use
money are divided among those
counties having national forest
acreage within their boundaries.
Macon County has 147,000 of
the total acreage of 443,968 con
stituting the Nantahala Na
tional Forest and each year re
ceives the lion's share of the
total allocation.
Explaining the increase,
Ranger Nothstein pointed out
that 55 million board feet of
timber was sold during the
fiscal year on the North Caro
lina National Forest.
Macon is one of seven coun
ties having Nantahala acreage.
Tiie other counties, their acre
age (in parenthesis i , and their
allocations are:
Cherokee ' 31.4191, $14,650.48;
Clay (59.2461, $10,660 69: Gra
ham (109.4481, $19,694; Jackson
(27,735), 34,990.62! Swain (16,
034 1. $2,894.14; and Transyl
vania l4,8?0 1 , $872.71.
State Official ?
Foresees Industry
An official of the N. C. De
partment of Conservation and
Development foresees "two or
three sizable industries" in
Macon County's future.
Here on a visit Monday, Ed
gar Kirk, whose job Is to help
industry settle In the state,
looked over several possible in
dustrial sites with Verlon Swaf
ford, president of the Frank
lin Chamber of Commerce, and
W. W. Reeves, chamber direct
or.
Mr. Kirk's forecast of more
industry for the county was
made during a dinner meeting
with the Franklin Jaycees at
River Rock Inn. Attending as
a special guest, he informally
discussed with the Jaycees
ways to promote industry.
Mr. Kirk emphasized that
the most important inducement
today is "the attitude of the
people" toward industry.
The community that moulds
the "proper attitude" in assist
ing and welcoming industry is
the one that profits, Mr. Kirk
declared.
Industrial sites, he pointed
out, "are a dime a dozen" Juat
about anywhere, ?
"It's what the people feel
that counts," .Mr. Kirk said.
As a means of raising per
capita income, he suggested
expansion of existing "support
industries"; that is, the small
ones employing only a few peo
ple.
Most communities, he ex
plained, have several little in
dustries that can. be expanded
with some financial help.
Swimming Meet
Scheduled For
Next Wednesday
Plans for the first annual
Macon County Swimming Meet
were announced this week.
The event, slated for next
Wednesday (August 29) at 1
p. m. at the Franklin Lodge
and Golf Course pool, will fea
ture three classes in swimming
and two in diving.
In swimming, the junior class
will be for those 12 years and
under; the senior, 13 to 16
years; and open, for any age.
A class for those 16 years
and under and an open class
come under diving.
Any swimmer, male or fe
male, in the county is eligible
to compete, according to Roy
Biddle. Jr., project chairman
for the sponsoring Franklin
Junior Chamber of Commerce.
There will be no fee for en
tering. he said, and each en
trant may compete in as many'
as three events.
Mr. Biddle is being assisted
in staging the swimming meet
by Bill Zackgraf, a varsity
.swimmer at the University of
North Carolina. He will not
compete.
Late News
and
Briefs
GIRL RECOVERING
Miss Judy Blaine, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Doyle Blaine,
who under went a delicate
heart operation last week at
Emory University Hospital in
Atlanta, Ga? is reported recov
ering satisfactorily.
A second operation is sched
uled for next week.
? ? ?
ESCAPEE REC.YPTI RED
Prison officials reported Mon
day that Junior Laws. 20, an
escapee from the Macon Prison
Camp, was apprehended in
Philadelphia, Ohio He and two
others are understood to have
broken into a filling station
there.
Laws and Dwight Baker, 19,
escaped from the camp on Aug
ust 10 while digging a ditch
at the rear of the compound.
Judge Patton
Is Sworn In
Judge George B. Patton took
his oath of office as attorney
general Tuesday afternoon In
Raleigh.
On hand to see the Frank
lin native be sworn in by Gov.
Luther H. Hodges were School
Supt. and Mrs. Holland Mc
Swain and Mrs. Beth Guffey,
who were in the capital city
on school business.
Judge Patton was appointed
to the post week before last by
the governor.
Mrs. Ramsey's
90th Birthday
Will Be Sunday
Mrs. Texie Ramsey will be
90 years "young" on Sunday.
Widow of John B. Ramsey,
she will celebrate her birthday
with an open house at Slagle
Memorial Building at 2:30 p. m.,
and she invites all of her old
friends to join her.
A program of about 30 min
utes is planned, according to
her son. C. O. Ramsey.
For the past five years, Mrs.
Ramsey has lived in Sylva. Her
husband died in 1931.
The Weather
? and rainfall, u
T-cordcd in Franklin by Manson Stiles.
L ,S" observer: in Highlands by
Tu.lor N. Hall and W. <\ Newton. TV A
onvrwr; an, I at the Coweta Hydrofcvic
Laboratory.
FRANKLIN
Temperatures
High Low Rain
Wed.. Aus. 13 89 63 __
Thursday 88 61
Friday 90 59 _
Saturday 92 60
Sunday 88 63 .23
Monday 85 82 .07
Tuesday 81 63 .31
HIGHLANDS
Wed.. Auu. 15 76 57
Thrirsday 74 54 trace
Friday 80 59 .24
Saturday 84 59
Sunday 81 60
Monday 80 62
Tuesday .71
Wednesday . .35
COWEETA
Wed.. Aua. 15 84 60 trace
Thursday 85 55 _
Friday 87 58
Saturday 89 57 .84
Sunday 85 57
Monday 81 62 .49
Tuesday 79 80