jflntttklitt press
atti?
Migblaniis JttnrxmroB
8eoond class mail privilege* authorized at Franklin. N. C.
Puollshed every Thursday by The Prank 11b Press
Telephone 24
WEIMAR JONES . . . .
BOB S SLOAN . .
J. P. BRADY ....
ROLFE NULL
MRS. ALLEN SILER ,
MRS. MARION BRYSON
CARL P CABS , .
PRANK A. STARRETTE
CHARLES E. WHT1T1NOTON
O. E. CRAWFORD
Editor
Advertising Manager
News Editor -Photographer
Reporter
8oclety Editor Office Managei
Proofreader
. t . Operator-Machinist
. . Compositor
Pressman
Stereotyper
DAVID H. SUTTON
Commeiclal Printer
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Outbid* Macon County
One Year $3.00
Six Months 1.75
Three Months .... 1.00
Two Tears 5.25
Three Years .... 7.50
Inside Macon Couwty
One Year $2.5#
Six Months 1.75
Three Months .... l.fO
Two Years 4.25
Three Years 8.00
JUNE 13, 1957
The Basic Need
Congratulations to the board of county com
missioners for facing up to the long-apparent need
for more money for the county's schools, ahd for
the courage tgf levy taxes to raise it.
Our guess is there'll he little criticism of the 1U
cents increase in taxes. We suspect, instead, there
may he a question as to whether the increase is
enough.
And we're not talking about the extra 5 cents
Mr. Bueck, incoming school superintendent, asked
for maintenance and operational costs. That other
5 cents may be needed for those purposes ; and of
course operation and maintenance are necessary.
But not important.
They aren't, for the reason that there is little
connection between how many paper towels are
used, or how much wax is put on the floor, on the
one hand, and how much the children learn, on
the other. It is that latter that is important.
What we need in this county is a tax levy to pro
vide a supplement to the salaries of classroom
teachers. Because, generally speaking, schools are
good or bad in ratio to the quality of the teachers.
And surely one way to attract the best teachers is
to pay them more.
There are some who immediatelv will say : "But
we can't afford it." But can we afford to give our
children any education but the best?
Battles And Bottles
The Rutherford County News tells of recent edi
torial troubles, all because of the omission of the
one little word, "not".
It seems someone gave the Rutherfordton chap
ter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy the
flag carried by that county's unit during the War
Between the States ; and a member of the U. D. C.
wrote a piece about it for the paper.
Here, according to The News, is what happened:
Included In Mrs. Williams' article were the proud words,
"Four years It waved Its precious folds over a righteous
cause, and when we furled It, it was because we were
overpowered, not because we were conquered."
Well, the worst happened. The line came out In the
paper, ". . . because we were conquered . . ."
The UDC has not recognized anyone as conquerors of
IMPROMPTU VISITS BEST
the Confederacy, of course, so the error In the paper
amounted to heresy. It was also libelous. And shameful.
And downright disgraceful. Among other things.
We managed to get the line corrected in about one
third of the paper. But two-thirds got Into the malls and
on the news stands. So, If your News of last week said
the Confederacy was conquered, don't believe It. It alnt
so. And we've got a file copy at the office (a corrected
copy, that is) to prove It.
Well, the Rutherfordton paper is not the first to
have such troubles. We could cite a few of our
own. Perhaps even more appropriate to this situa
tion, though, is the old storv that so well illustrates
how typographical errors, once made, stubbornly,
refuse to be corrected.
In this case, the newspaper, referring to the serv
ice of a war veteran, sought to use the high-sound
ing phrase, "battle-scarred". But alas! when the
paper came out. an "r" had been dropped, and the
newspaper's readers were told that the old gentle
man was "battle-scared".
Next week's issue carried humble apologies, an
explanation about the dropped "r", and, to make
the situation abundantly clear, a repetition of the
phrase. But this time an "o" got in where an "a"
should have been, and the old man was called "bot
tle-scarred".
They'll Be; Missed
Some ten days ago, when Mr. Holland McSwain,
retiring county superintendent of schools, entered
the Franklin High School gymnasium to confer
diplomas, something a bit unusual happened. There
was no particular occasion for applause, but there
was applause ? a spontaneous applause that swept
the crowd and continued from the time he entered
the door until he reached the platform.
Why an ovation for a man just discharged?
In part, it undoubtedly was in appreciation of
his six years' labors for better schools in Macon
County ; in part, it probably was an expression of
affection for the man; but most of all, we suspect,
it grew out of a new, widespread respect Mr. Mc
Swain and members of his family have won for
themselves. Because, in a period that must have
been difficult and embarrassing, they have borne
themselves with a quiet dignity both admirable and
rare.
The McSwains have been good citizens. TWiir
quick willingness to help with anv worth while
cause will be srirely missed. That, plus the spirit
in whicl\ they have met a trying experience, as
sumes them of the personal good wishes of everyone
who has had the good fortune to know them.
Letters
Cowee or Watauga?
Editor, The Franklin Press,
What is the correct name of the gap on Route 23 at the
Macon-Jackson line?
The historical marker in the gap refers to it as "Cowee
Gap". A few personal inquiries have disclosed that many
citizens of Macon County call it "Cowee Gap".
Most of the Forest Service and other federal maps which
I have consulted show it as "Watauga Gap". The extremely
valuable "Vacation Map" published by the Stephens Press
and widely distributed among visitors follows this listing.
Far be it from me as an outsider to say what the correct
name is. I do venture to suggest that the existing confusion
should be removed and that one universally accepted name
should be adopted
For any name to become official, it would have to be
approved by the National Board on Geographic Names. But
my understanding is that this federal agency is disposed to
attach much value to the wishes of the citizens of the
primarily interested community or communities in determin
ing what name shall be established as official.
Certainly the gap is too historic and too important to suffer
from a duplication of names.
D. HIDEN RAMSEY
Asheville, N. C.
Going Home; It's Stepping Back Into Stream Of Love
DORIS BETTS in Sanford Herald
On Saturday we bolted home
from the office with the sud
den thought that we'd like to
go home and see the folks ?
home being always the town
you grew up In, In our case,
Statesvllle, N. C.
We hadn't made It for Mo
ther's Day and here was a
Saturday full of sun that seem
ed too golden for using up on
television or yard work, or even
reading.
runny how the Impromptu
trips are always the best. The
children spring to such excite
ment at the surprise announce
ment of a trip to Grandma's;
the clothes are not all clean
and ready; no advance arrange
ments have been made for the
dogs; the car needs gas and
otl; did we promise anyone
we'd be at home?
The hour between decision
and departure Is a hectic one,
and you ride off on a ttde of
mutual excitement.
"Can I swing In Grandma's
?wing? Do I have to take a
bath at Grandma's tonight? I
don't have to take a nap this
afternoon, do I?"
So home we went ? home to
because Mamma cooked It In
stead of you, and back inside
the walls where ? so short a
time ago, It seems you were
wealing saddle oxfords and tle
ing up the telephone all hours.
Or, to hear your parents tell
it, where very recently you
were climbing up on the furni
ture and spilling jam on the
living room rug.
And coming back Sunday,
after a scurrying overnight visit
which seemed crammed full of
cousins and aunts and aliments
and recent funerals and lots of
little children who are sudden
ly your contemporaries, we had
the sense of having been
"nourished" In some obscure
way by being home again. We'd
seen our children on the lap
of our grandmother, who'll be
their great-grandmother, and
we'd had again that sense of
both time and timelessness
which comes from watching one
generation blend Into the next.
Thinking about the time
home, and the loved ones seen
again, we thought this about a
sense of Family: We thought
that here Is the one place In
the entire world where love
Is not dependent on approval.
<V
That is, no matter what dif
ferent paths the aunts and
cousins and sisters have taken,
and no matter whether anyone
now understands what anyone
else is really doing, there exists
a whole sea of love to swim
in. It always seems to be wait
ing and what they love is YOU
? not how successful or how
handsome you are, or whether
the money is coming in or go
ing out, or Whether you've got
ten fat or thin or gray haired
in the absence.
They love the YOU In you;
and they love it because of the
blood that is there, because
they remember you when you
were two days old and had a
paprika-colored complexion, or
because of a nearly-forgotten
day when all of you did some
lovely thing together.
Or stood together in the face
of an illness which threatened
all security, or a sorrow which
seemed to shake the founda
tions of living.
They love the time which
is accumulated in you ? the
chin which is like your grand
father's and the temper which
is like Uncle Charlie's.
And they love the promise
the food that's so much better
which they have felt in yoi
and which now passes througl
you and resides in your chll
dren, coming along after.
? ? ?
And sitting here at a type
writer, very late on a Ma;
Sunday night, we do not recal
that anything profoundly earth
Shaking was discussed all weel
end, beyond remembering al
the funny and sad and pathetii
events which, are a short-hand
a symbolism, for a closenesi
seldom expressed.
What we feel Is a sense 01
having stepped In the streair
again, and the stream Is thai
of human being coming dowr
to human being and down an
other step; and the gander
variety love which seems U.
persevere whether the recipient
Is worthy or unworthy.
And what we remember most
as standing for the whole week
end, Is young David as he talk
ed with his great-grandmothei
in a private moment, on th?
green porch rockers on Sun
day afternoon ? while she point
ed out the nest In the crotcti
of a tree in the front yard; and
told him that the Mother Star
ling was bringing dinner to hei
babies.
"Just Relax, We'll Know All About It? ?In Due Time**
^piOACTIVE FALLOUt
STRICTLY
Personal
? r ^ By WEIMAR JONES
We have our share of infla
tion, here in .Macon County. By
comparison, though, prices here
are quite reasonable. Inflation
in Franklin is as nothing, com
pared with other places.
I discovered that in Asheville
the other day; discovered it
twice.
I bought a light lunch ?
fruit, bread, coffee, a piece of
pie. It was 86 cents. No meat,
no vegetables; but 86 cents!
And I am reasonably sure
that same lunch, at that same
place, a year or 18 months ago
cost only 70 or 75 cents. Why
the increase? Because certainly
the price of food at its source
? the farm ? hasn't increased
that much.
Then I bought an article I
have to replace every year or
so. I've been buying that same
item for more than ten years.
Always in the past, it's been
$10. This time, it was $20.
It is true I was given some
extra "service" this time; but
it was "service" I neither need
ed nor wanted. But was forced
VIEWS...
By BOB SLOAN
In opposing President Eisen
hower's civil rights proposals,
Southern Senators are making
a great to-do about the fact
that if the proposals become
law, a person might be de
prived of the right of trial by
jury.
Certainly this right is an
American heritage which should
be zealously guarded.
The people of the South, who
serve on these juries, can do
a great deal to protect and
preserve this cherished right of
ours.
They should see to It that
verdicts are rendered which are
1 the essence of justice. They
1 should not succumb to emotion
- al lawyers' pleadings to "Ren
der a verdict that will go down
in history as saying to the
Negroes that you shall not
" pass". This was the case in a
J recent trial in Montgomery,
Ala., where two youths were
' charged with participating in
, the dynamiting of four Negro
, churches, and the homes of
' two Negro clergymen.
, Even though the state's case
included signed statements by
[ both defendants that they had
i participated In the bombings,
t an all-white Jury, after 95
, minutes' deliberation, returned
. & verdict of, "not guilty", a
, mid jubilant shouts and rebel
, yells, according to Newsweek
; magazine.
What better way can we find
to say, "Justice, who cares a
[ bout justice as long as the
. Whites reign supreme?"
When a jury obviously dis
! regards the facts, as was done
? In this and the Emmett Till
? case, to render, a decision in
i tended to keep any minority
I group in a secondary position,
? are its members worthy of the
' sacred heritage of the right
of trial by jury?
to take It ? and pay for It.
? ? ? ?
Is there anything you and I
can do about inflation?
I think perhaps there is.
Suppose, whenever there is a
price increase, and we are told
that the price is so and so, we
meet such an announcement
with a one-word question:
"Why?"
"Why is the price higher than
it was last week or last month
or last year?"
We ought to be reasonable,
of course. Sometimes a seller
has no choice but to raise
prices, if the wholesale price
goes up, for Instance, obviously
the retail price must go up,
too. And when labor costs go
up, prices have to go up with
them.
But there is nothing unreas
onable in asking the question:
"Why?"
And I think it might set
some people thinking. Because
a lot of inflation is just one
thing ? greed.
I'm sure it would if we went
a little farther and added:
"I'll look around . . . or
"This is something I can do
without; and I'm going to do
without it until the price comes
down".
If enough people did that,
often enough, prices would
come down; and they wouldn't
take long to start falling.
All of us aren't going to do
that, of course; for most of us
are afraid to make a scene;
we'd rather be suckers than
embarrassed. But if even one
person out of ten did it, I
believe it would bring prices
down.
And all the evidence is~the
only way inflation is going to
be really controlled is via sales
resistance ? by you and me
and others like us.
* ? ?
In this space last week, I
referred to the custom of. eating
black-eyed peas at New Year's
to bring good luck. I had al
ways assumed, as I believe most
people have, that this was a
Southern custom ? or, at most,
an American one. But it seems
black-eyed peas and good luck
are associated everywhere. At
least, they are In Japan.
Mrs. Rolfe Neill tells me she
found that out while living In
Japan.
There they have a winter
custom called "Setsubun". It is
a matter of throwing peas
through the windows ? and
Mrs. Neill suddenly found her
house with peas all over it.
They throw peas out the win
dows to throw out this year's
bad luck, and then throw them
through the window outside to
bring good luck for the coming
season.
In Mrs. Neill's case, the
Japanese were greatly disturbed
because one window wouldn't
open. In fact, they weren't sat
isfied until it was pried open,
so the two-way pea-throwing
could be complete.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Looking Backward Through the Files of The Press
65 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
(1892)
Thd joint board of commissioners and magistrates last
Monday set a tax of 9 cents on every $100 of real and
personal property and 27 cents was levied on each poll for
pauper purposes. For ordinary expenses, a tax of 14 and 2/3
cents on the $100 was levied for the year 1892. For public
schools, a tax of 44 cents on each poll was levied. For road
tax, five cents on the $100, and 15 cents on the poll was
levied.
The Franklin commencement exercises Friday night at the
courthouse consisted of a debate for a medal on the following
question: "In the Mght of history, which has been more con
ducive to the happiness of mankind, Democracy or Mon
archy?" The speakers were J. Lee Barnard, Wiley Rogers,
Fred Slier, and Walter Moore. The boys handled the subject
pretty well, considering their age and limited access to, histor
ical books bearing on the subject.
Special from Smith's Bridge: Mr. Bob Conley smiles and
says It's a girl. Mr. R. B. Hyatt was seen coming up the
road a few Sundays ago with the Belle of Smith's Bridge.
25 YEARS AGO
(1932)
Funeral services for Thomas Jackson Johnston, one of the
most prominent lawyers in Western North Carolina, who
died at his home on Main Street a few minutes after 2 o'clock
Tuesday afternoon, were held Wednesday at the Methodist
Church.
A new mica washing plant is being established at the old
Lyle Knob mine by Charlie Shields and Ed Duvall, of Iotla,
who said they expected to have It in operation within a
week. >
10 YEARS AGO
R. N. Dupree has been chosen by the Highlands board of
commissioners as town clerk to succeed Mrs. Virginia P.
Merrill, who resigned He was sworn in by Mayor James O.
Beale.
Mrs. Lee Leach and grandson, Nat Macon, an instructor
at the University of North Carolina, visited relatives over
the week end.