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Entered at Po6t Office. Franklin, N. C., as second class matter
Published every Thursday by The Franklin Press
Pranklln. N. C. Telephone 24
WEIMAR JONES . . . .
BOB 8. SLOAN ....
J. P. BRADY ....
ICRS. ALLEN SILER . . .
MRS. MARION BR Y SON
CARL P. CABE ....
FRANK A. STARR ETTE .
O. K. CRAWFORD . . ?
CHARLES E. WHITTINGTON
DAVID H. SUTTON . . .
Editor
Advertising Manager
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Society Editor Office Manager
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SUBSCRIPTION RATES
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One-Way Streets
The one-way streets experiment here got off to
a bad start. It did because town authorities failed
to take the public into their confidence.
All of us are creatures of habit. Change an in
fant's schedule, and you usually get an upset baby;
change an adults habits, and you are likely to have
an angry man or woman. The change in traffic reg
ulations, affecting people's driving habits, would
have caused some irritation, under the best of cir
cumstances. And, in this case, the circumstances
were far from the best.
Instead of telling the public, well in advance, ex
actly and in detail what was about to be done, and
why, and what was expected of the motorist, auth
orities suddenly put up the one-way traffic signs ?
without either prior announcement of a date or ex
planation. The wonder is not that there was con
fusion and misunderstanding and irritation, but
that there wasn't more!
If you and I are reasonable human beings,
though, we won't damn the plan just because of the
way it was initiated.
Maybe one-way traffic on Main and Palmer
Streets is no solution at all for the serious traffic
problem here. But the only way to find out is to
give it a fair trial.
One thing must be said for the aldermen : They
faced a problem, and they came up with a tenta
tive solution. At least, they didn't just sit on their
hands and shake their heads ; they were willing to
do something.
At the best, the new regulations probably will
have to be modified after a few days' or weeks'
trial. At the worst, they may not help at all. If the
aldermen arc fair-minded, they will stand ready
either to modify or repeal the new regulations, ac
cording to the results. If you and I are fair-minded,
on the other hand, we'll give the experiment a trial,
for a reasonable period of time ? and judge it by re
sults.
After all, driving a block or two out of the way
is no great hardship, provided the traffic moves
smoothly and with reasonable speed ? certainly no
greater hardship than spending ten to fifteen min
utes trying to go two blocks along a traffic-jam
med Main Street.
Xo matter how well it works, though, one-way
driving will he a temporary remedy, not a final so
lution, of Franklin's traffic problem. For it cannot
change these basic facts:
1. W hether it goes two ways or one, the amount
of traffic will be the same. And if the town con
tinues to grow, so will the traffic.
2. We're trying to handle mid-twentieth century
traffic on mid-nineteenth century streets. Ultimate1
ly, we must widen our streets.
3. A major cause of traffic difficulties is lack of
parking space. We need a parking area, in or near
the downtown section ? a big place, where we can
handle not scores, but hundreds, of automobiles
and trucks.
Today's two burning issues: In the nation, in
tegration. In Franklin, one-way streets.
I can visualize a North Carolina with Its highways wider
and safer, with boulevards by-passing congested towns and
cities but with easy access to them. These boulevards will be
beautified with plantings of native shrub and trees; they will
be clean and our citizens will be proud to keep them clean.
And the wayside junk and traah yards will be moved or hid
den by patriotic owners on a voluntary basis or by law
through an aroused citizenry ? Governor Luther H. Hodges.
Bouquet
To everybody responsible for last week's county
fair, congratulations ! Not that they really need
congratulations; because they must be in a glow
about the event's success.
No statistics are at hand about the number of
exhibits or the attendance, but we'd guess it was
considerably bigger than the 1955 fair.
What was most impressive, though, was not the
quantity of the exhibits or the number of people
viewing them, but the quality of what was shown
and the pride of the seers.
There vvas abundant cause for community pride
. . . and we in Macon County have only got start
? *
Could Be True
"We may very well find that . . . we can abolish
the draft and at the same time have a stronger de
fense and at lower costs", Adlai Stevenson has said.
The draft not only is "wasteful, inefficient and often
unfair", according to the Democratic Presidential
nominee, but "is fast becoming obsolete".
Mr. Stevenson's words may be mere political
demagoguery, as the opposition was quick to
charge. But we'd be wise to remember they may
be true.
For aside from the danger to freedom of a con
tinuing draft, there's the vital question of cost. If,
in this atomic age, the draft has become or is be
coming obsolete, the cost is a luxury we can ill af
ford. Those who favor a big military establishment
as a safeguard against Communist aggression would
do well to remember that the Communists' first
hope is that we'll spend ourselves into a depression
. . . with Communism as its sequel.
Whose Freedom?
WARNING: Any part of this piece, without the
rest, will be misleading. We do^'t want to mislead
anybody. So please don't read any of this unless
you read it all. ? Editor.
A secret meeting was held by the Franklin Board
of Aldermen last week. What happened is any
body's guess. After the meeting, a spokesman .said
the board' will tell the citizens of the town what the
board thinks they ought to know, when it thinks
they ought to know it.
Rumor has it that the Board of County Com
missioners has granted big tax refunds to favored
businesses and individuals. But only the board
members and those who got the refunds know who
got how much : for the records of the board's trans
actions are securely locked away from newspaper
reporters' eyes.
In superior court yesterday, a man was sen
tenced, without a jury trial, without having been
indicted by a grand jury, and with newspapermen
and the public barred from hearing the testimony
on which he was convicted. The Press was threat
ened with contempt of court if it should reveal any
details ? even the name of the defendant ? it might
learn.
None of those things happened, of course. But
they could happen. Such things are happening in
other countries. And such things once happened in
England, and even in America.
? All that prevents their happening in this country,
today, is the American Bill of Rights, which guar
antees ? among other things ? the right of the press
to report to the citizens what their government is
doing.
Who would be exploited, if such things should
happen here? Who would suffer injustice and per
secution in secret trials? Who would be powerless
to do anything about the situation because of ignor
ance of what the situation was?
The average citizen!
And so freedom of the press is not something
that belongs to the newspapers ; it is something the
newspapers merely hold in trust for the real ben
eficiary, the citizens of this nation. The press has
the right to freely report on events because, and
only because, the people have the right to know.
That is the real message of National Newspaper
Week, October 1-8.
? Letters
Likes Editorial
Dear Mr. Jones:
I 'was quite pleased on my recent trip to your hospitable
town, In search of rubies, to read the "Three Could Do it"
editorial in your September 20 issue.
Highway safety has been my chief concern for the past
\
fifteen to twenty years. To find parallel thinking on the
matter, so far from home, offset the disappointment of my
vain quest for the elusive gems which I mistakenly assumed
so abundant down your way.
I am gratified at the, albeit, belated attention now being
given the epidemic by our public officials, and have proposed
certain legislation to remedy the terrible and ever-mounting
carnage. It is difficult to understand the apparent reluc
tance to take positive action before now. However, I under
stand that the National Committee for Uniform Traffic Laws
and Ordinances, for the first time In its long history, will
advocate an "absolute" speed limit on national highways with
supporting legislation at state and federal levels to accom
plish this end.
You are to be congratulated on helping thus to spread, the
gospel of highway safety. And thanks again, for your cour
teous recepiton on my visit to your offloe. Keep up the good
work.
CARL A. NDETZEL
Louisville, Ky.
Others' Opinions
(Opinions expressed In this spaee are not neoeaaarlly 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.)
'Luxurious' Postal Service
(Windsor, Colo., Beacon)
Now we know why Postmaster General Summerfleld is ask
ing for an Increase in postal rates. He ha& to find the money
somewhere to pay for those ball point pens on the customers'
desk^j In the Windsor postoffice.
Whoops!
(Lamar, .Mo., Democrat)
Prom society column: "The bride was entranclngly gowned:
In a sheer, soft blue net gown which fell to the floor as she
swept down the aisle."
Poetry
Editor
EDITH DEADERICK ERSKINE
Weaverville, North Carolina
FRANKCIN fof AUTC1WN
Franklin, steeped In a mellow autumn day,.
Is a bit of Paradise not too far away.
Thru opalescent mist the mountains: rise
To meet the turquoise of the skies.
A nippy breeze whips rainbow leaves
From off the many flaming trees..
? The orchards show roey Wilts of Yates
And chrysanthemums bloom by garden gates.
There are cornshocks and pumpkins gold;
Above, wild geese fly south to escape the cold1.
Asters and goldenrods polka-dot the scene
With a background of pines and hemlocks green.
God smiles especially on Franklin In the fall.
So I head for this spot as the road does call!
EARL J. GRANT
Doraville, Ga.
STRICTLY
PERSONAL
By WEIMAR JONES
In his "Blarney* column re
cently, J. P. Brady told about
the group of Ill-mannered
tourists (and most tourists who
come here are anything but ill
mannered) who thought it
"cute" to make smart remarks
about "the strange looking peo
ple" on the streets here. He
then proceeded to describe the
"strange" appearance of the
critics.
The incident recalled a story,
now many years old but still
apropos:
The persnickey woman tour
ist sat down, gingerly, on a
park bench In a Western North
Carolina tourist town; gingerly,
because of the presence, at the
other end of the bench, of an
overalled, unshaven elderly
"native".
Directing her words to the
park In general, but obviously
meaning them for the ears of
the other occupant of the
bench, she commented, with
distaste: "My! there certainly
are some queer looking people
here."
The old man continued his
chewing, for moments; spat
speculatively but accurately at
a knot-hole In a nearby tree;
then, also appearing to address
the world in general, replied:
"There sure are . . . but come
September 1, and they'll all be
.gone".
? ? ?
Last week, Mr. Brady gave
me another text ? that busi
ness about "TREASON", right
on the staff of The Press.
I wouldn't have mentioned it,
outside the bosom of the news
paper family, if he hadn't first.
But since he brought it out in
the open, himself, there seems
no need for reticence about this
family skeleton.
Mr. Brady's reference ? and
mine ? was to the expression,
"different than"; an expression
that is coming into use by peo
ple who should know better.
And now that it has cropped
up right here In our own news
paper family, maybe It's time I
preached my sermon on that
evil all over again. So here
goes. . . .
. . different than!""
Of all the Ignorant, ungram
matlcal, nonsensical expres
sions, to me that one Is the
worst.
It rubs me the wrong way. I
suppose the reason it irritates
me is it most often is used by
those language snobs who laugh
first and loudest at the incor
rect language of the unlettered,
who look longest down their
noses at the good English
phrase, "you all", and who even
affect British pronunciations.
In other words, a lot of the
people who use it are those who
should, and claim to, know their
English. Yet they insist on say
ing something is different than
something else.
Different than, indeed!
It lacks dictionary sanction.
More Important, It violates
every rule of logic, as applied
to grammar. Than Is a con
junction, and a conjunction Is
used to connect, rather than
separate. Different, an adjec
tive, Is followed not by a con
junction, but by a preposition;
in this case, the preposition,
"from".
Most important of all, neither
a dictionary nor a knowledge of
grammar is necessary to recog
nize that "different than" Is a
contradiction in terms; it just
doesn't say anything. One man
can be older than another, or
taller than another. But how
in the name of common sense
can one man be different than
another? You might Just as well
say that one man is different
like another.
But the expression is spread
ing; you see it and hear It on
every hand.
And 11 I don't watch myself
I'll end this damnation of m>
pet aversion by saying I'm de
termined to keep on being dif
ferent than the folks who use
m
VIEWS
"y
BOB SLOAN
One way streets are a "hot
Issue" at the time I am writing
this, (Friday morning), and will
be when this paper Is published.
I, for one, feel that the street
committee is to be commended
for trying to do something to
Improve the traffic situation in
Franklin.
The problem, is very difficult
to solve and changes may be
needed.. In the solution that is
being ' recommended. Undoubt
edly, it. will work hardships on
some people in that they may
have to drive more distance In
getting to and from work. How
ever, the main consideration
should be, does It help or Im
pede the general flow of traffic
in Franklin?
As to how It will affect busi
ness, no one can say with cer
tainty. L hope our business men .
will adopt an attitude, "let's
wait and see", and do this with,
open minds.
One thing that I do believe
is, that, unless the traffic situ
ation in. Franklin is Improved .
the federal highways US 441, 64,
and 23 will be routed around.
Franklin. So in the long run it .
m?,y be necessary to drive a lit
tle farther to work to have:
more business after you get.
there.
* * *
In regard to my comment on.
President Elsenhower's health i
two weeks ago the following let
ter was received addressed to.
the Editor:
It seems to me that Bob
Sloan, is having to scrape .' the
bottom of the barrel, to come
up with his weekly dig at Pres
ident Eisenhower.
He must remember that Els
enhower Is not the only Presi
dent who found it "difficult" to
walk about.
The mere fact that he, rode
on a scooter, should have no
bearing whatsoever on the Pres
idential election this Fall.
KENNETH BUCHANAN
Do You
Remember?
(Looking backward through
the files of The Press) , j
50 years ago this week
Miss Mabel Arthur left Friday
for Phoenixville, Pa., where she
is to enter, on probation, a
nurses' training school.
James and Frank Palmer, who
have been in Montana during
the past two or three years, re
turned home Sunday.
On account of washouts on.
the Murphy, branch of the
Southern, no trains from the
East reached, Dillsboro Sunday
nor till up in the day Monday*
consequently no mails were de
livered.
2? YEARS AGO
Miss Carolee Pannell, who is
doing stenographic work for
Judge Thad Bynum at Clayton,
Ga., sp*nt the week-end here
with her parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Arthur Pannell, at their home
in East Franklin.
Mr. M. L. Dowdle left Monday
for Boston, Mass., on a business
trip;
The vocational agriculture
class and the home economics
department of the Franklin
High School will hold an ex
hibit of the products of their
past year's projects at the
school on Saturday, October 10,
It was announced by Earl Mea
cham, Instructor of the agricul
ture class.
10 YEARS AGO
Major and Mrs. Frank Car
mack, who have been operating
the Franklin Lodge and Golf
Course this summer, have clos
ed for the winter and are leav
ing within a few days for Tam
pa, Fla., where they will spend
the winter.
Highlands must have had a
record season in the sale of
picture post cards, since 78,300
one-cent stamps were bought at
the Highlands post office dur
ing the months of July, August
and September.? Highlands
item.
Mr. and Mrs. Wiley Clark and
three children, of the Cullasaja
community, left Thursday for
Grand Island, Fla., wh?pe they
will spend the winter months,