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Entered at Post Office, Franklin, N. C.. as second class matter
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
Franklin. N. 0. Telephone 24
WHMAB JONES . . .
BOB 8. SLOAN ....
J. P. BRADY ....
MBS. ALLEN 8ILER .
Ml 8. MARION BRTSON
OARL P. CABS . . . .
WANK A. STARRETTE . .
O. B. CRAWFORD . . .
CHARLES E. WHTTTINOTON
OAVID H. SUTTON . . .
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SEPTEMBER 6, 1956
We Wonder . . .
"The United States must train more scientists ,
and engineers." If we have read that almost hys
terical exhortation once in recent months, we must
liave read it a score of times.
Well, we wonder . . .
Not that we would depreciate the contribution
of scientists and engineers ; that contribution is
far too spectacular for anyone to belittle.
We wonder, though, first of all, because of the
argument that almost invariably follows the ex
hortation; this country must train more scientists
and engineers, we are told, "because Soviet Russia
is training more than we are". Is that alone suffi
cient reason? Are we always to follow in the foot
steps of Soviet Russia? Surely not! ? unless we
want to continue to become more and more like
the nation whose way of life we most abhor.
We wonder, too, because the demand is not
idbiefly for students of "pure" science ? men who
?seek scientific truth for its own sake ; the emphasis,
instead, is on "applied" science, on training men
who can develop more gadgets, build bigger bombs.
True, more scientists may help us keep abreast in
the technological and arms race. But is that, in
itself, a solution of anything?
We wonder, finally, because there is evidence ?
Jfrighteningly convincing evidence ? that we have,
proportionately, not too few, but too many, scien
tists. For science, especially "applied" science, has
failed dismally to create either individual content
ment or national character. It has, instead, made
life more and more complicated, and left the aveV
age man more and more confused.
Nor has science brought us the one thing the
?world most needs today ? wisdom ; our every mod
ern problem grows not out of technical ignorance,
but lack of understanding. For man's basic prob
lem is the same today it has been always ? how
can he live with himself and his fellows?
The answer to that one is to be found in no test
tube, nor will it ever be stated in a scientific for
mula.
Even if every American became a scientist, would
that really help matters? Is not our real need, in
stead, more great philosophers, more great-souled
men of religion, more dedicated teachers? It is only
they who can help us re-achieve a sane balance be
tween science and things of the human spirit ? who
can help us recapture those qualities that give
meaning to life? the ability and the will to discrim
inate between the wise and the foolish, the good
and the bad; the understanding that must be the
basis of any real faith; the courage to have hope.
For, ultimately, such an achievement is our only
way out . . .
'A- Cool Resort'
It has been 77 years since Woodrow Wilson dis
covered the delights of the Highlands area. And,
even then, that region was widely known, because
young Wilson found Mr. Thompson's hoarding
house in Horse Cove filled with some thirty odd
boarders, mostly from New Orleans and Charles
ton.
Despite the rigors of a t'i;> that required "about
12 hours on the cars and fifteen on a stage over
rough, ill kept mountain roads", the young man
who was to become the 2Nth President of the
United States indicated what lie found was well
worth the effort, for he reported that his party had
"certainly found a cool resort".
Well, the Highlands area is still just that ? as a
glance at The Press' weather reports for the past
eight weeks quickly reveals.
During that July-August period, the highest
?ur Great America ?
I
temperatures recorded for each of those eight
weeks were: 78, 80, 80, 88, 90, 84, 81, and 79. Dur
ing the torrid week of August 1 through 7, when
the rest of the country sweltered, the temperature
hit 90 twice ? for a little while each time.
And the nights? The low temperatures in High
lands during that hot week ranged from 60 to 67!
During the eight-week period, temperatures of
51 were twice recorded, and one night the mercury
dropped to 45.
With weather like that, almost nothing is im
possible for Highlands!
And we'd suggest that one of the things most
easily possible is extension of the tourist season
through October, to include what is, by all odds,
the finest time of vear in the mountains.
Petition And Pressure ;
i
We find ourselves in friendly but emphatic dis- j
agreement with our journalistic big brother, t'other (
side of the Cowees and the Balsams, The Ashe- 1
ville Citizen. 1
i
(
Asheville's morning newspaper takes umbrage at ?
Governor Luther H. Hodges for having remarked '
that he was "not impressed" by "a great number
of .similar-sounding letters" urging expenditure of
more state highway money in Buncombe County.
j
We hasten to say that the quarrel of certain ,
Asheville organizations and The Citizen with the
State Highway Commission i/i their quarrel, and ^
none of our affair. Nor are we in position to know
just how "similar-sounding" the letters to the Gov
ernor are.
We think, though, that The Citizen fails to make
a badly needed distinction between the right of in
dividual citizens, acting spontaneously, to "petition
the government for redress of grievances" and the
right of a well-organized pressure group of a few
organizations or individuals to attempt to force
the government's hand by persuading individuals to
sign "similiar-sounding" letters.
r
Maybe this wasn't a pressure group movement.
But if the evidence marked it as such, we .say more
power to Governor Hodges for refusing to be pres
sured.
The Three R's
Contrary to our stern policy of never running
advertising on the editorial page, we bow low to
the persuasive charms of the very lovely ? and
quite lonesome ? young miss who prevailed on us
to "stop being so fussy" and run this:
WANTED: Thousands of tourists who enjoy the beauties
of life to visit Western North Carolina from September
15-November 1 in the provocative and breath-taking com
pany of Miss Autumn, the most exquisitely dressed of all
the mountain seasons. Objects: Rest, Relaxation, and Ro
mance. Don't write, ride!
Others' Opinions
(Opinions expressed In this space are not necessarily those
of The Press. Editorials selected for reprinting here. In fact.
are chosen with a view to presenting a variety of viewpoints.
They are, that Is. Just what the caption says ? OTHERS'
Opinions.)
Find Me One!
(Bob Shuler in His Methodist Challenge)
Find me in the Old or New Testament one conformist,
preaching to please hia times, who is approved by the Holy
Ghost. Who gaye us this revealed Book of God? Never was
the prophet approved. He always cut across the grain of the
generation to which he ministered!
We may not understand why, but for some certain reason
God's prophets were dissenters. They protested. Theirs was a
word of warning. They faced their times, discovered the eVlls
of their day and cried out against them. I am ready to con
cede that such preaching is never pleasant. It never strokes
the congregation the way that produces unanimous purring.
And yet that character of preaching laid the foundations
for Christianity, produced the victories of the early Chris
tian church and gave to the past two thousand years the
revivals and reformations that culminated In Protestant
Christianity at her best.
Method In His Madness?
(Steamboat (Colo.) Pilot)
But behind all the clamor there might be a desperate at
tempt by Mr. Stassen to gain the presidency for himself be
fore he reaches a ripe old age. He still Is young and if the
Elsenhower-Nixon ticket should fall to win this fall he is in
a right proper spot to be the "I told you so" guy who can
lay a lot of claims to the top spot on the ticket in four more
years.
Truman And Nixon
(Windsor, Colo., Beacon).
There Is quite a close parallel, when you come right down
to it, between Truman at Chicago and Nixon out in San Fran
cisco. Each Is popular with the professionals In his party. But
both have alienated independent voters by their campaigning
excesses Both are detested by some, distrusted by many.
The Democrats dumped Truman, In effect, by snowing his
candidate under with a landslide of Stevenson votes. As this
is written, it seems quite unlikely that anything of the sort
will happen to Nixon in San Francisco.
Science is not so nearly infallible that the warnings of In
stinct can always be disregarded. ? The Saturday Review.
An Open Letter . . .
A Debt And A Challenge
... To Mrs. Texie Calcr Ramsey
Dear Mrs. Ramsey:
At your 90th birthday party
;he other day, I found myself
;hinking how much we who are
Drivlledged to live in Western
tforth Carolina, and especially
Macon County, owe you and
>thers of your generation
In the sense that you lived
nost of your lives under primi
;ive conditions, you were
jioneers. There were no wash
ing machines, no telephone, no
rural mail delivery ? none of
the time- and labor-saving de
trices and arrangements that
ire so taken for granted today,
fcnd there was almost NO mon
ey. Yours was a period of do
without and make-do- with
what-you-have.
Dire poverty here forced you
to care for and set store by the
few material possessions you had.
Vet you were .wise enough to
make the distinction between
the secondary and transient
value of physical things and the
primary and permanent value of
those things of the mind and
the spirit that are the base of
any civilization worthy of the
name.
On a foundation of such qual
ities as kindliness, honesty, cour
age, and respect for intellectual
and spiritual truth, you built
here something great ? a place
that, no matter how hard it may
have been to earn a living, was
and is a good place to live
We, today, also are pioneers,
in a somewhat different sense.
Because the old patterns of life
are disappearing under the Im
pact of jet speed, the fear of
insecurity, and such an abund
ance of things that it is some
times a question whether we
possess them or they us.
New conditions call for new
ways; whether we like it or not,
we must create the new patterns
that will ?determine the kind of
life we have here tomorrow.
Thinking of that, and watch
ing your smile and the sparkle
in your eye that 90 years have
failed to dim, it occurred to
me that what is remarkable a
bout you ana so many others ?
most of them long dead ? of your
generation is not the length but
the quality of your lives; and
even more, the qiiallty of the
community life you created.
And, as I bade you good-bye,
I was asking myself a question:
Have we, Who owe you so
much, and who have so much
more to do with ? have we
the character and the insight
Into what matters and what
doesn't to build here a new way
of life, to fit modern conditions,
but one that retains the old
values ? a way of life not just
duplicating the standardized
mediocrity that marks so many
American communities, but one
that will make this a place
where people still find it good
to live?
Respectfully,
Weimar Jones
STRICTLY
PERSONAL
By WEIMAR JONES
It has been said that one
mark of an advanced civiliza
tion is the ability of the aver
age man to express himself
adequately and precisely.
If that be true, then we have
a high type of civilization in
deed here in the Westrrn North
Carolina mountains. For the
local expressions, typical of the
area, not only are adequate and
precise; they are vivid and orig
inal.
What, for example, could be
a clearer description of average
health than our "as well as
common"!
And who could improve on
this one, overheared the other
day: One man was complaining
that he couldn't do this and
oouldn't do that "because I
have to work". Promptly came
this philosophical comment
from one of the street corner
group: "It is unhandy to have
to work for a livin' ".
Or this one, from the lips of
Erwin Patton. Commenting on
a bridge on the Franklin-Holly
Springs road, a bridge that re
quires a sharp turn to get on
and another sharp turn to get
off of, he mused: "When they
built that bridge, they nearly
missed the road!"
The list could be multiplied
indefinitely.
Here's hoping we don't "edu
cate" all this expressive speech
out of the mountain language,
I barely remember Kope Elias,
the long-time-ago Franklin
lawyer, but I've heard about
him all my life. Yet when John
Parris telephoned me recently
to ask for some interesting
Elias incidents, he struck me
"cold" and I could think of
nothing worth-while.
It was not until I had read
Mr. Parris' column about the
man who seconded the nomina
tion of the first Adlai Steven
son, back in 1892, in fact, that
I recalled what is perhaps the
most amusing of the many stor
ies about Mr. Elias And this
one really is about him, not of
him, because it is the remark
of an associate ? an associate
who must have imbibed rather
freely earlier in the evening.
I give it here as a sort of
postscript to that particular
"Roaming the Mountains" col
umn.
Mr. Elias was one of a group
camping and fishing on Nanta
hala. They all slept in the same
room, on pallets on the floor.
Mr. Elias' stentorian snores kept
some members of the party
awake.
At last there was a series of
gasps, puffs, and snorts; then
the sleeper seemed to choke,
and there was a long silence.
After what seemed minutes,
one of the those who so far had
been able to sleep only fitfully
exclaimed, with relief:
"Thank God . . . he's dead!"
I
VIEWS
*7
BOB SLOAN
- Many people who are critical
of the various policies of con
servation of some of the nation's
resources by Government admin
istration are very careless in their
criticism. They make many rash
statements in attempts to discredit
government management.
For example, I have often heard
it said that "we get no revenue
from the government land in this
county; think what we would get
if private citizens owned it and
paid taxes on it?"
For the fiscal year 1955-56,
Macon County received $26,607.28.
Any person f am liar with the tax
paid on mountain land in this
county will readily admit that the
county would not have received
nearly this much in taxes for the
land.
In addition to this, any fair
person will also admit that the
land as a whole is in much better
shape than it would be if had been
cut, slashed and burnt, as much
as it would have been under pri
vate ownership.
Besides the fine revenue it brings
us, we have large stand of timber
?which is cut on a sustained yield
basis thus insuring our saw mills
of a supply for years to come.
The debasers of government
management have to look else
where than the Forest Service to
find an example.
Leaving out the above mention
ed entries for the credit side of
the ledger, the value, received from
soil conservation, fire protection,
and recreational facilities would
well make the Forest Service well
worth more than every cent paid
for it by the people of the United
States.
A * ?
Here is a definition of the new
phrase, "peaceful coexistence." An
American naval plane is shot down
by the Chinese Communists with
16 Americans aboatd but our Pres
ident makes no protest. "Spineless
existence" would be a better term,
I think.
Do You
Remember?
(Looking backward through
the files of The Press)
50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
The Macon County Baptist As
sociation was in session at Briar
town Thursday, Friday, and Sat
urday.
Henry O. Curtis, of Sylva, re
turned from a trip to Florida and
stopped from Wednesday till Sun
day here. He came on the first
passenger train from Cornelia to
Prentiss.
Mr. Booker Robertson, the min
ing engineer who has been work
ing on the Deal property on Buck
Creek, has found a rich copper
mine.
25 YEARS AGO
. Mr. Edison Picklesimer left Sun
day to attend school at Mars Hill
College. ? Highlands item.
Mr. Thomas Henson and Mr.
Lake Ledfora left recently for
Athens, Ga., where they will at
tend Athens Business College.
They plan to study stenography,
bookkeeping, and banking.
Mrs. Alice Childers left last
Thursday for Philadelphia, Pa.,
where she will visit her son. Henry
Childers. She will also visit her
son, Lester, in Hopewell, Va ,
while away.
10 YEARS AGO
Mrs1 William Dunn, of Wash
ington, D. C., who is employed as
a stenographer in President Tru
man's office, recently returned to
her home. While here she visited
her sister, Mrs. Jess Miller, of
Scaly, and friends.
Although Labor Day week-end
saw the usual exodus of summer
visitors, the hotels have a nice
September booking for the time
they expect to be open, and many
of the cottagers are staying over
to enjoy the incomparable beau
ties of "Indian Summer" in High
lands. ? Highlands item.
Mrs. Comer Vandiver spent sev
eral days in Greensboro last week
with her husband. Col. Vandiver.
who Is stationed there with the
Army Air Force.