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Puollahed every Thursday by The Franklin Press
Telephone 24
Established in 1636 as The Franklin Press
Member: N. C. Pre st Association, National Editorial Association,
Carolinas Press Photographers Association. Charter in ember, National
Conference of Weekly Newspaper Editors.
BOB 8. SLOAN Publisher and Advertising Manager
J. P. BRADY News Editor
WEIMAR JONES Editor
MRS. ROBERT BR Y SON Office Manager
MRS BOB 9LOAN Society Editor
CARL P CABE Opera tor -Machinist
PRANK A STARRETTE Compoaltor
CHARLES E. WHITT I NGTON . . Pressman
O E CRAWFORD Stereotyper
DAVID H SUTTON
Cocnmeiclal Printer
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Out sid* Macon Cooktt
One Year $3.00
Six Months 1.75
Three Month* l.Ot
Two Team . 5.25
Three Tears TJO
Inside Macon County
One Year 92M
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Three Month* .... l.Ot
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Thre* Yesrn C OO
THURSDAY. MAY ?9. 1958
'A* For Effort
Last -week, the Smoky Mountain Staples tried to
take off Franklin's morning bus to Asheville ? '
again.
The "again" refers to "tried" ; for this is only the
latest in a long series of efforts of the bus com
pany to leave Franklin high and dry. And again,
.the proposed change was unheralded in advance.
Thanks to a bit of vigilance, people here still can
go to Asheville by bus and return the sayie day.
Some of the regular passengers were prompt to
notify The Press. Mr. D. D. Davis, district repre
sentative of the State Utilities Commission, also
was alert, and was quick to order the service con
tinued in effect.
This and another proposed bus change were char
acterized by a couple of rather amazing "over
sights". The first was the failure of the bus com
pany ? again ? to get word of the impending
change to the local bus station. The second was in
the arrangement of a schedule between Sylva and
Cherokee; the latter change would have dispatch
ed a bus from Sylva, after it had sat there for an
hour, just late enough to miss connections at Chero
kee. j
If you try hard enough, we suppose, you can
make any business fail to pay. And the bus com
pany deserves an "A." for its effort to make its
short rnns so unprofitable it will have a good case
for discontinuing them.
Our Best Manners
Our best mountain manners to the newest news
paper hereabouts, The Highlander, which made its
bow last week. Of, for, and about Highlands, it is
to be published weekly by James S. Goode Asso
ciates.
Since it is our understanding that one of the
chief "associates" is to be Mrs. James S. Goode,
we'd sav the new venture is launched by a good(e)
team, with good(e) prospects.
There are many desirable things we could wish
for The Highlander ? that it never contain a fac
tual or typographical error ; that all the business
men advertise, regularly; that everybody applaud
when it fearlessly publishes the bad news along
with the good; that nobody ever wait till press
.time to telephone an account of a meeting that
took place two weeks ?arlier . . .
We could wish all those and similar good things,
but that would be idle wishing; because, in this im
perfect world of imperfect humans, none of those
is likely to happen.
So we'll content ourselves with expressing a
more modest hope ? that the publishers and ed
itors of The Highlander have as much fun as we
on The Press have had the last dozen years.
We welcome The Highlander to the Macon
County scene ? for many reasons; most of all, be
cause it is a new signal of the progress and growth
of Highlands, the unique mountain community the
rest of Macon County is proud to claim as its own.
Up To You
Do you believe in the democratic form of gov
ernment? Do you believe in the rule of the major
ity? And do you believe that every right carries
with it a corresponding responsibility?
Your answer to all those questions, surely, is
"yes".
Well, how can we have democratic government,
when we have rule by a minority? And what else
do we have, when onlv 7, .say, out of every 10 vot
er! actually votes, and 4 of those 7 vote one way
and the other 3 another? When that happens, isn't
a minoritv of 4 ruling the majority of 6? How can
"Anybody Give A Hoof About Inner Space?**
4 / _
fcoK6?^J
i
the will of the majority even he determined, much
less put into effect, unless everybody votes?
And how can you and I claim the right to vote
unless we are willing to shoulder the responsibility
not only of casting a ballot, but of voting intelli
gentiv and seriouslv for what we believe is best for
all?
Those questions are prompted Dv the approach
of the primary election Saturday, May 31. How
they are answered is up to you.
Ain't Science Wonderful!
Dr. Lydia Sicher, Los Angeles psychotherapist,
came up last week with an announcement that
made the front pages. All men, says Dr. Sicher, are
afraid of women, "including their wives".
What an amazing discovery! Who'd ever have
thought it!
All of us can thank our lucky stars for Dr. Sich
er and psychotherapy. All of us, that is. except all
the women and most of the men who are married.
They knew it already.
Furthermore, most of 'em would point out that,
for a scientist, Dr. Sicher was rather careless with
her wording; in the interest of accuracy, she
should have said not "including their wives", but
"especially their wives".
And if you doubt that this is an old, old truth
that Dr. Sicher and psychotherapy have only now
stumbled on, all you need to do is make one test :
Try to find a husband ? any husband ? who'll tell
his wife the truth when she asks him about those
letters he was supposed to mail last week, and that
now are burning a hole in his inside coat pocket.
Snooping Government
(Chapel Hill News Leader)
Cyrus Eaton, Cleveland business man, may be exaggerating
when he declares the United States has a. spy organization
rivalling that of Hitler in his prime. But more than one
citizen has noted with foreboding the growing tendency of
branches of the United States Government to regard all citi
zens as possible enemies.
This habit was one of the curses of life in old Europe and
Strictly Personal By WE1MAB JONES
I always have a good time in
' Chapel Hill, 'and the recent week
end there, attending the confer
ence of North Carolina editorial
writers, was no exception.
The conference itself always is
exceedingly worth-while. But.
whatever the program. I'd want
to attend, just tecause it's held
in Chapel Hill. For Chapel Hill
does something to people
The place is unique ? and
that's a vast under-statement. The
town itself, growing fast now,
still retains the friendly village
atmosphere. The campus, especial
ly beautiful in the spring. Is al
ways impressive. And campus and
town are vibrant, more than any
place.! know, with youth.
All It* weaknesses are on dis
play. But all Its strengths, too.
And today's youth, it seems to
me, has a poise, an honesty, an
idealism shot through with both
realism and courage, such as no
previous generation. It is these
things, that nobody can fail to
feel, that make the pulse beat a
little faster, In Chapel Hill.
This trip, though, I was consci
ous of a nostalgic sadness. The
life of a college generation Is only
four years. And so, with a few
welcome exceptions, all the boys
and girls I knew, the year I spent
there, are gone. I missed the cheer
ful "hello" from halfway across
the campus, the smile of greeting,
the friendly wave of the hand
from boy or girl. It wasn't quite
the same. It wont ever be again.
The annual conference now
brings editors from big and little
papers from all over the state.
The heart of the meeting is the
critique sessions, where you learn
what your editorial page looks
like to another editor. He tells
was the cause of flight across the ocean to an America which
promised to be free.
But one of the consequences of two world wars has been a
growing tightening of government holds on the private citizen.
His habits, his opinions, and even his reading matter may be
called into question and noted in dossiers. He is no longer free
to go and come as he pleases, and his political views may
cause him to be denied a passport for the most harmless for
eign travel, while the United States' system of fingerprinting
for all sorts of reasons has aroused the wonder of even a
hardened Europe.
The refusal of a passport to a University of North Carolina
professor because of Frank P. Graham's endorsement of the
applicant could only have resulted from a niggling and of
fensive snooping by ignorant government employes.
Even Mr. Eaton himself, though well known as an industrial
leader, has repeatedly been finger-printed for what is ironic
ally called security reasons, compelling him to call It "quite
a humiliation for a loyal and devoted American;" while as
for the science which the U.S.A. is now hurrying to develop,
Mr. Eaton has no doubt that has been hampered by the shad
owing and tracking of our scientists.
All this is one result of a terror of communism that looks
farcical In the case of a country so powerful as the United
States. Europe has no such terror, though much closer to
Russia. This convulsion of fear will be much worsened if we go
to war with Russia and spying on both sides will be multi
plied. But few citizens have spoken out against this police
state threat like Mr. Eaton. More voices of protest might in
time reach Washington. >
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Looking Backward Through the Files of The Press
65 TEARS AGO THIS WEEK
(1893)
The population of Macon county by the census of 1890 was
10,102. (In 1950, it had grown to 16,174.? Editor.)
An opening for a new business enterprise in Franklin? for
T. F. Munday to get a rain-crow and a tree-frog and open a
weather bureau. ? ,
In courtesy to the Presbyterian service conducted by the
Rev. Jesse W. Siler, there will be no service at the Methodist
Church next Sunday except Sunday School.
25 TEARS AGO
(1933)
Mrs. O. C. Hall, of Kyle, may not be the only woman school
bus driver in North Carolina, but it is doubted if any driver,
man or woman, has a harder route. It is 12 miles long, cover
ing Kyle, Aquone, and other communities in the Nantahala
section. The 20 advanced pupils go to high school at Almond.
Mrs. Hall's job is to take them to the Swain county line,
where they are transferred to another bus, which carries them
the remaining 12 miles.
Miss Hester Thomas and Mr. Paschal Cabe were quietly mar
ried Friday afternoon, May 26.
10 TEARS AGO
Miss Ann Lyle and Miss Marie Jennings are valedictorian
and salutatorian, respectively, of this year's graduating class
at Franklin High School. Honor students at Highlands High
are Miss Dolly W. McCall and Miss Juanita Alley. Those at
Nantahala are Wayne Deweese and Miss Roberta Roper.
TRIBUTE TO A TEACHER
STUDENTS OF MISS EFFIE BOOE TURN CLOCK BACK 40 YEARS
> Holt McPherson In High Point Enterprise
That commotion In the dining
room of the Sheraton yesterday
was a group of students moving
the clock back forty years or so
for a teacher whose love for each
of them bridged that time amaz
ingly.
The Effie Booe who came to
High Point in 1817, right out of
Yadkin County, was yesterday the
same buoyant self as she met ?
and readily recognized ? students
whom she hadn't seen in all those
days since she was an unforget
able character in the faculty of
old Elm Street School, and, fol
lowing a year in war work at
Washington, two more years at
the Main Street School.
None of us knew just what to
cxpect, for time has a way of
changing people in many ways.
But as soon as she scolded her
husband through the revolving
door and explained his mlxup as
due to the fact they had no such
contraptions down where she lives
in South Carolina. It was evident
she was the same testy gal who
had drilled discipline Into students
of another generation; then she
went up to the dozen or so former
students, looked each one over as
closely as If on official inspection,
called him by name, hugged, kiss
ed and, in general, showed that
astonishing enthusiasm which
made her a great teacher.
Jake Samet gave her a beauti
ful orchid. It brought tears to her
eyes. Then she had to see the
pictures of his four grandchildren
which he produced from a fat
wallet, and she was all eyes for
those youngsters; somebody
brought her a bottle of perfume
She made a lot over the fact that
any former student would offer
her, of all things. "Indiscreet."
for she was always the soul of
discretion! She chlded Frank
Wood and me for ungainly avoir
dupois. while commending Mary
Elizabeth Long on her gainliness.
She was about the youngest one
in the lot. and certainly one of the
nicest guests, as well as teachers,
any of us recalled. Her concern,
as we expected, was less with ma
terial success ? and some had
done quite well ? than with hu
man values and accomplishments
Her husband had little to say.
She talked, as she said herself,
enough for both of them. Charles
Kearns wartted to know when
she'd be coming back, and for
once there was sadness in her
tone as she said she might never
get back ? but it was worth the
trip up here on the bus just to
enjoy the company of young folks
( ? ) she loved and who showed
they loved her!
The teacher today has a greater
Job than ever before to teach more
than mere facts, just as Miss
Booe did in her day when the
teacher enjoyed higher relative
status than Is the case now. She
had the courage to try to Instill
in her pupils real love of knowl
edge. the challenge to take the
hard way. emphasis on proper
ideals, attitude, and beliefs. She
sought to sweep away the cob
webs of prejudice and discrimina
tion from the minds of her young
sters and to supply them facta
of life In such areai as should
nave pointed them In the right
direction. To her. teaching was
the most challenging and reward
ing Job in the world then, and it
needs be so today. She had that
happy faculty of making each
child under her tutelage feel like
somebody, yea. somebody with
obligations and responsibilities,
and she instructed her pupils not
only by teaching them but also
by netting an example for them.
Is it any wondef that her stu
dents 40 years later rise up to call
her blessed and In doing so find
that she. more than they, has de
fied those years and remained
youthfully eager to continue en
couraging them?
We like to think of her; because
she can understand better than
most in terms of the poet who
said:
"In the breast of the bulb Is the
promise of spring.
In the little blue egg Is a bird
that will ling,
In the soul of the seed Is the
hope of the sod.
In the heart of the child la the
Kingdom of God."
you what's good about it, he tells
you what's bad. and usually he
tells you how to Improve It.
There's a frankness in these
criticisms that is often blunt;
they are occasionally so savage,
in fact, that these critique sess
ions have come to be known
facetiously among the editors as
"the blood-letting". Yet nearly al
ways they're taken in good humor,
and presumably prove beneficial.
Of more general Interest than
these rather technical discussions
are the sessions at which outstand
ing figures discuss public issues;
with their talks followed by
question-and-answer periods. Here,
too, no holds are barred, the
qusetloners. many of them quite
keen, tearing Into the speaker,
questioning his facta, denying the
validity of his logic.
From these latter sessions, I
brought away a single Impression:
Four years after the Supreme
Court's school desegregation de
cision ? four years during which
it would seem everything possible
to be said on the subject had been
said ? it is the topic uppermost
in many minds. And the problem
ap(>ears no nearer solution now
than it was back in 19S4.
There were three illustrations of
this:
First of all, an editor from Nor
folk and one from Richmond,
guests of the group, though in
complete and violent disagreement
about the segregation-integration
issue, were agreed on one thing ?
Virginia will close every school in
the state, if necessary, to avoid
any desegregation whatever.
The second illustration came in
a talk on the advisability of a new
constitution for North Carolina,
a matter now under study by a
state commission. Wnile the speak
er did not say so In so many
words, he left the distinct im
pression that the race problem
will, and should, decide the issue
? In the negative. Why? Because
the present constitution has a
provision requiring segregation of
the races. If we should adopt a
new one. we should iace the prob
lem of whether to leave that pro
vision out and thus open the doors
to Integration or leave, it In and
thus defy the Supreme Court. So,
he seemed to conclude, better
leave well enough alone, no mat
ter how outmoded our present
constitution.
Finally, there was the debate
between liberal editor Harry Gold
en, of the Carolina Israelite at
Charlotte, and conservative James
Jackson Kilpatrick, editor of. the
Richmond, Va.. News leader.
Their topic was "Dixie's Des
tiny", surely a broad subject: the
South's future will be. determined
by many important factors. Yet
99 per cent of what they said, and
100 per cent of the general dis
cussion that followed, was con
fined to a single factor ? segre
gation vs integration.
Thus the problem posed by the
Supreme Court's decision grips
us; like a cloud, it hangs over us,
day and night, year In and year
out. After four years, we are so
paralyzed by it as to be able to
see nothing else.
I left Chapel Hill with the feel
ing that however good a case may
be made for the Supreme Court's
action, the result has been dis
astrous.
BOOK REVIEW
'Gift From The Hills' Is
Story Of Penland School
And Of Macon's 'Miss Lucy"
GIFT FROM THE HILLS ?
Miss Lucy Morgan with LeGette
Blythe. (The Bobbs-Merrill Com
pany. Inc., Indianapolis and New
York; 3X4 pp.; $5>
This is the story of the Pen
land School of Handicrafts. It
also ? and perhaps even more
? is the story of "Miss Lucy".
For the benefit of those who do
not know Penland. the school's
"Miss Lucy" is Miss Lucy Morgan,
born on Cartoogechaye Creek and
reared there and at Murphy.
An autographed copy of the
book has been presented to the
Franklin Public Library by Mrs.
Carl S. Slagle in memory of her
husband.
Penland is a dream come true
for "Miss Lucy". And the school
is a child of faith; because, by
all the rules, it just couldn't have
happened. Emerson's observation
that every institution is the
lengthened shadow of one man is
peculiarly true here; yet Miss Mor
gan is quick to give credit to
others ? scores of whom she
names. Time after time, in fact,
she says, when her faith faltered,
it w?s the faith and sympathetic
generosity of others ? the moun
tain people of the nearby coves
as well as friends in far places ?
that gave her encouragement to
start again.
By modestly putting himself in
the background. LeGette Blythe,
who did the writing, has done a
remarkable job. The story is
written In the first person, in
"Miss Lucy's" words, and those
who know her have the fee ting,
as they read, that she is in the
room, speaking. All her energy and
confidence, all her ability to turn
obstacles into assets, all her love
of people and her charming
humor are as vivid as it she were
present in the flesh.
Thirty-eight years ago Miss Mor
gan went to the Episcopal school,
established at Penland by her
brother, the Rev. A. Rufus Mor
gan. to teach. Possessed by a
passionate desire to see the moun
tain art of weaving preserved,
she first learned to weave her
self, then began to teach others
From that has grown the Penland
School of Handicrafts, an institu
tion that has attracted world-wide
attention, where every handicraft
imaginable is taught today.
While the book, is devoted chief
ly to telling the story of the birth
and development of the Penland
School. Miss Morgan's personality
dominates it. and there are de
lightful glimpses of her early life'
and members of her family. All
through it, too, are light touches,
provided by the distinctive humor
of the mountains
Perhaps the best picture of the
atmosphere that is said to make
Penland what it is is contained
in a letter from an Ohio woman,
after a visit to the school:
"Figuratively, as well as literal
ly. it has been a mountain-top
experience-. Not knowing the Pen
land tradition, I had expected to
find only a school where one might
learn a skill; I did not dream
that it was the expression of a
way of life. The distinctive spirit
of the place . . . was a subtle
thing, found in the fragrance of
unvarnished wood in the morning
dampness: at Bailey's Peak
swathed in mists or printed blue
gray above the pink mimosa
blossoms: in the comfortable clop
ping of looms. It was in Auntie
Fleas' cheery good humor and in
Mr. Peters' twinkle and unruffled
patience: in the plaintive music
of the shepherd's pipes: in the
voices singing 'Auld Lang Syne'
softly in front of the glowing
embers of the great stone fire
place . . . ; in Mr. Worst's seren
ity of voice and his fine tact,
kindliness, and respect for the
dignity of men and women; in
Mrs. Conley, motherly and com
petent, carding wool or stirring
yarns in the steaming iron pot
in the dye shed; in Professor
Lear's barbed jests deflating little
shgm balloons: in the glitter of
mica in red clay roads; in Mrs.
McElwain's brook laving forget-me
nots and peppermint: in velvety,
myriad-colored moths fluttering
into the dormitory out of the dark
ness where the whip-poor-will call
ed and the moon rose over the
corn; in Mrs. Ellis ladling out
cider In the fresh coolness of her
spring house; in a woman in the
fold of the hills, washing clothes
in a brook and In an Iron kettle
over an outdoor fire. . . .
SCHOOL'S
OUT
Drive Carefully
American Trucking Association* Inc.