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Editorial Page l\<lilur
Tin RSD.W, JI NK 18, 1939
1IAYK iiivEN l'A r 1 1:\ r,
No Santa Claus, But
In this space t lie oilier day, we suggested the
Western Carolina' Telephone company devote a
share of the savings in labor costs made possible
by installation of the dial system to lower phone
rates.
Well, we'll be honest. When we made that sug
gestion, we didn't really expect it to be adopted;
not, certainly,- the very next day. After all, nobody
expects Santa Claus in midsummer. And this is
June!
We are whollv serious, though, in offering an
other suggestion : We think the time has come for
telephone service to be made available tp jrttral
Macon County.
The state gives a public utility a monopoly. The
purpose is to assure service. Competing, and there
fore unregulated, business could hardly be expected
to give service where< it is unprofitable. But a pub
lic utility, like a phone or a power company, is
granted a monoplv so it Can give service wherever
there is a need, with the highly profitable lines
taking care of any losses on less profitable lines.
Rural folk here have been patient for many
years. The time has come when telephone service
ought to be made available to them. It ought to
be made available, we'd say, to 90 per cent of them.
As of now, our guess would be, the figure is the
other way around.
? > I
An Autoless Main?
Speaking of street-widening . . .
It n>ay be too late, already, to do anything
about Franklin's uptown Main Street. New struc
tures, built in recent years, that come out to or
nearly to the sidewalk may make the widening of
Main Street in the foreseeable future prohibitively
costly. .
That, though, is no reason to give up. There are
more ways than one, as the old saying had it, to
skin a cat.
The solution for uptown Main may be the one
that has been adopted by some other towns with a
similar problem; shift the traffic to other east
west streets ? Palmer and a new one to be cut
north of Main?and get all vehicles off of Main.
Make it, that is, a purely pedestrian shopping area,
with wide sidewalks and an attractive parkway of
trees, grass, and flowers down the center.
It's high time to do something. It's no mere co
' incidence that the only three store buildings in
Franklin that are vacant, so far as we can recall,
all are on uptown Main Street.
Sound Sense
Sonic of the best suggestions this community
receives i'1/ine I'roiii Macon native's who now live
elsewhere. Almost always, they have remained
stonily loyal to their home comity;, usually, too,
they have kept in touch, through The Press or let
ters or l?v visits home. Thus they still are deeply
interested in what goes on here, lint can see the
community with the perspective distance gives.
And living in a different environment, they see,
better than we right at home can, what, we have
here that offers the greatest promise.
A good example of that is the letter, published
011 this pat^c, from Mr. James Bryson Porter. The
point he makes about our old courthouse is one
we, who see it every day, might miss. Vet what he
says is sound sense.
I.'- I "
Progress
? 1 ' '
Thirty-five years ago this week (see Do You
Remember ?), Jack Conlcy's barber shop announc
ed installation of equipment for bobbing, sham
pooing, and "electrically) drying" women's hair.
Kven in the slaid little Franklin of 1021, the bob
for women had arrived!
I
Some women and mam- men fell ;h - innovation
was, nothing short of sacrilege. Aside from the
men's rcsen'iin 'til at this invasion .<>1 the ' i srr'
turn s,inctorum of the 11 -e ai ' ih i- r ' in- ?
was bitter; a.iido froin that, v. <>-uuti with short
THIS IS THE MACON COUNTY scene chosen for the cover of this year's brochure issued
for the Western North Carolina Kural Community Development contests. It pictures beautiful
Pat ton Valley. The photograph was made from just below the. new Patton Methodist Church.
hair ! Bah! What was the world coming to?
Well, we believed then, and now we are sure,
that was progress, progress with a capital P. Not,
we hasten to add, that shearing "woman's glory",
when it was plain and straight, always enhanced
the ladies' appearance. Far from it! But it was
progress toward comfort for the ladies.
More important, the barber shop bob paved the
way for that great landmark of modern progress,
the beauty parlor. We're entirely serious in calling
it that. Because it's up to all of us, surely, to look
our best: and the ladies, bless 'em! are supposed
to look beautiful. (Is there a man in the house
who doesn't want them to?). And the way a beauty
parlor can transform an otherwise plain woman is
something to behold.
Up to all of us to look our best? That suggests
the time has come for another forward step by the
barber shops. Because, when we take a good look
at a lot of the men we see, and especially when we
glance in a mirror, it occurs to us some of the
males of the species could stand some prettying-up.
Mental Pellagra
(Raleigh News and Observer)
''As certainly as the South's old diet of fat-back, corn
bread and molasses produced pellagra, narrow education
produces deficiency and anemia in personality and civiliza
tion."
That statement by Dr. S. L. Stealey, president of the
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary at Wake Forest,
ought, to be nailed above every school and college door.
Of course, as Dr. Stealey says, mere technical education
designed to harness the physical universe will not suffice.
Much broader education is needed to "produce better men
as well as better machines." Indeed, the broadest education
is needed not only to produce the poets, preachers and phil
osophers which an advancing civilization will require. We
will produce no men with the imagination and aspiration
to harness the universe by limited technical education.
LETTERS
Appreciates Help
Dear Sir: '
Saturday, June 6, I was flying to Franklin to attend the
funeral of my. uncle, Charles Ramsey. Due to low cloud for
mation, it was necessary to circle the Sylva area for about
tw:> hours, after which I was forced to land in Sylva on the
farm of Dennis Higdon.
Unknown to me, the people at the Franklin airport were
in radio contact and fully -aware of my dangerous predica
ment. I would like to apologize for any anxiety that I caused,
and wish to express my appreciation to all of the good people
of Franklin for the kindness and consideration shown me.
I particularly want to thank Frank Plyler, the pilot who
brought my plane to Franklin; and Sid Carter, the chief of
police, who took so much of his time helping me. Mac Whit
aker, and Mrs. Frank Jones, and Danny Angel, of Franklin,
and Dennis Higdon, of Sylva, were most kind. There were
many others bi^t I was unable to obtain their names, but I
am grateful to all of them.
Franklin is a fine town, and the people are "tops" in my
estimation.
? r R. L. BRYSON
Central City, Ky.
The Old Courthouse
Gentlemen:
I was very much interested in seeing the story in The Press
regarding a meeting of citizens of the area to discuss what
should be done with the Macon County Courthouse. As a
person who lived in Franklin for f>ne half of my life (I will
be 50 next month and lived in Franklin for 25 years), X fee!
keenly interested in what Is done about it. I most heartily
agree that something should be done because it is in miserable
shape. It is not adequate for the needs of the county. It
could not be said to be efficient in any sense of the word.
The stairs have always been .a most dangerous hazard! I was
not surprised to hear that someone fell through the floor re
cently. And I'm sure that those of you who live in Macon
County probably feel much more strongly than I do about
its shortcomings.
On the other hand, it is a most distinctive building archi
tecturally. The walls are most sturdy and could stand for
several more centuries without danger of falling. T 6 remove
the. w.-jlls would be a big expense. To build a completely new
building of ever\ the size' of the present building would niean
^enormous expense for the taxpayers. Why not follow the plan
which the University of North Carolina use*-; when a huild
in becomes worn and inefficient, it is gone over and np
rai.-od by fi competent architect, then thoroughly rebuilt
r; the building warrants it. I am not an architect and am
:: ' ( quipped, to say that the courthouse in Franklin >hould
be rebuilt, but as a person who appreciates the fineness in
old buildings, as well as fineness In new ones, I should feel
deeply sorry to see the old courthouse destroyed. The walls
are all made of hand-made brick, which is very highly prized
in such places as Williamsburg and Tryon Palace in New
Bern, N. C. True, the brick needs to be pointed up and in
some places cleaned. I shall not go farther in saying what
should be done with the fine old building, but I shall say
that I hope that a good architect will be called in for advice,
not just a builder who wants the job of putting up a new
building.
The present courthouse, X am sure, even after being re
built, will not be large enough to take care of the needs of
Macon County. A second building could be built which would
house some of the offices and other functions of the county.
Another thing which pleased me greatly, in a recent issue
of The Press, was the news of a parking lot being built in
Franklin. This has been a sore need for some years. Let's hope
that more will be built to relieve the crowded parking con
ditions in the center of town. Cars and people In town are
wonderful, but improper parking facilities spoil the attract
iveness of the town also. Why not some city-owned parking
lots? This would make it possible to remove some of the
parking from around the courthouse which contributes to
the problem there.
Again let me say that I do most sincerely hope that such
a meeting as the one which was suggested is called and that
a wise plan is decided upon and then carried out. I'm In
favor of keeping the old courthouse!
JAMES BRYSON PORTER
Dayton, Ohio.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Looking Backward Through the Files ot The Press
65 YEARS AGO T^IS WEEK
' (1894)
Two brick yards are in full blast, manufacturing brick to
re-build the burnt district.
Iotla and Watauga crossed bats last Saturday, and the
score stood: Iotla, 34; Watauga, 14.
Dr. B. W. Moore has opened his office next door to The
Press office.
Mrs. H: T. Sloan returned last week from a visit to her
(daughter, Mrs. Kinnebrew, in Athens, Ga.
35 YEARS AGO
(1924)
Of Interest To Women With Bobs ? We have just installed
a modern electric hair drier and are now in position to do
the ladies' work as well as the best equipped city shops. Hair
bobbed, shampooed, and electrically dried in 40 minutes. City
Barber Shop, L. S. (Jack) Conley, Manager. ? Adv.
Mr. Treacy Barnard came home last Thursday from Char
lotte, where he has Jjeen attending school.
15 YEARS AGO
(1944)
i
Mrs. Dave Jacobs, Mrs. Myra Allman, and Mrs. Eliza Siler
were hostesses at a gay social affair, an old-fashioned quilt
ing bee, held at Panorama Court.
5 YEARS AGO
(1954) ,
Joseph F. (Joe> Setser and George T. Stalcup last Thursday
night received 30-year service pins, presented at the N. C.
State Highway Employes Association meeting.
John Wasilik, Jr., will retire from the Forest Service July 1,
with nearly 33 years' service to his credit.
Strictly Personal By WEIMAR JONES
It's human nature, it is said,
to travel to see the sights afar
and neglect those at home. If that
be true, then I have my full share
of human nature.
I had that brought home the
other day when I stood, for the
first time, on the highest moun
tain this side of the Smokies, oil
one side, and of Mount Mitchell
and other peaks in the Black
Range, on the other ? 5,500
foot Standing Indian.
It's been there all the time; and
nearly all the time, I've been here
just a few miles away. But, though
I've been north to trim New Eng
land and east to the miahty At
lantic and south to Florida and
New Orleans and Puerto Rico an{!
west to the rugged Rockies, I'd
never been to Standing Indian
until a Week ago. And, believe me,
no sight afar is more magnificent.
And you know what? I wouldn't
have been there yet, had it not
been "discovered" for me, a native
mountaineer, by a Pennsylvania,
Yankee! W. L. (Bill > Nothstein,
Nantahala Forest ranger, in fact,
long had vainly nudged me; the
other day, he picked me up and
took me.
Maybe there are other people,
right here at home, who also pro
crastinate, and who, like me, long
have planned a trip to Standing
Indian, but who, also like me,
never have got around to it. If
so, they'd be smart to stop what
ever they're doing and go TODAY.
Maconians who know their
mountains say the view is the
finest in the Appalachians, and
I am prepared to believe them.
From the abandoned fire tower
on the peak, you see in a com
plete circle, and how far you see
is limited only by how good your
eyes are.
To the west is Lake Chatuge
and farther south Geogria's Laki'
Burton, looking as though they
were units in a mamoth system
of locks, Chatuge, appearing to
be a thousand feet higher than
Burton ? and maybe it is! You
see Wayah Bald, of course, and
the Smokies. On a clear day,
Franklin is easily visible. To the
east are the Balsams, and so on.
And the close view, by contrast,
is as rugged and spectacular as
the distant one is soft and wide.
Just beyond the tower ? it looks
like only inches away ? the
mountain drops sheer into the
deep, green gorge of the TaUulah
River. (Water from one side o>"
Standing Indian, a part of the
Blue Ridge, drains into the At
lantic.)
The view is there, of course, the
year 'round. But, as I have al
ready suggested, the time to visit
Standing Indian is not next week
and not tomorrow, but today ?
before the flowers on the finest
stand of purple rhododendron
I've eyer seen are gone.
The purple rhododendron^ at
famed Craggy Gardens, near Ashc
ville, as I recall it, is denser than ,
that on Standing Indian. But theie |
must be scores of acres more of it
on our own peak < Standing
Indian is on the Macon-Clay bor
der), And in most places, tho
shrub has grown into virtual trees.
Nobody, of course, can describe
a sight like that; certainly I
can't. But I can say that, for
sheer beauty, that's the most *d
warding trip I've ever made, t
? * 1 *
How dp you get there?
Well, y<Ju don't, unless you're
willing to hike the last two and
a half miles. That hike, though,
is over the excellent Appalachian
Trail.
Bill Nothsteih, it's true, drove
his Jeep on past Deep Gap and to
within some 50 yards of the top.
But I wouldn't advise any but the
most skilled driver to try going
beyond the gap, even in a Jeep.
You can reach the gap in a c
To get to Deep Gap, you ' |
64 west to the first road (a Ft i
Service road) to the left, be; I
Black Gap; then follow that i J
The total distance is less t
thirty miles.
LAM' VS. JUSTICE
Court Decision Leaves Public Unprotected
KnoxvilLe . \ 'eivs-Sentincl
In a San Diego case just de
cided, the Supreme Court has
widened the gap in the law which
leaves the public unprotected
against organized abuse.
Several unions pressured an
employer to sisn a union-shop con
tract. The employer declined on
the ground that his employes were
not interested and there had been
r,n ; lection to delegate one of the
unions as bargaining' agent. The
unions 'then threw a pkr.-t. liiif
around the empl"> pjace and
?put the h' at on his customers' nni
suppln rs to boycott him. Th >
California courts ordered the
picketing stopped, until the em
ployes had selected a bargaining
agent, r.rct awarded $1,000 in
damages.
This action the Supreme Court
has reversed. The court held the
state had no power to act because
the abuses of which the unions
were accused are forbidden by the
Tiift-Hartley Law. Only the federal
ovi rnir.ent can enforce that law.
Eut tlip government, through the
National labor notations Board,
has rtfusefl to take iuris, diction.
This, said the court, uiilri't mako
any difference.
Now, we'll juat leave it to the
Supreme Court to say what the
law Is. But, as a moral proposition,
doesn't this leave a let of people
in a bad fix? Regardless of the
fine words in oodles of laws, Taft
Hartley included, a man can be
harassed, pushed around, badgered
and menaced out of his business.
And nobody comes to the rescue.
The victim wiU.be the "small"
businessman because the NLRB
measures its jurisdiction by tha
size of the business and the degree
it is involved in Interstate com
merce ...
sometimes we think there Is too
mui h law and too litlte justice.
BIGNESS AND MUSIC
In Little Churches, They SING
BOB YARBOROUGH in Elkln Tribune
Does "bigness" sometimes take
away a sense of belonging?
There are a lot of people who
think it does. One of the least
talked about angles to that ques
tion is the matter of church sing
ing. When we say church singing
we mean the singing done by the
congregation.
It is just possible that in the
bigger churches the great em
phasis placed on choir singing can
take a lot away from the worship
in song which most members of
the congregation love.
Elaborate selections are fine
for the choir, which is trained
along that line, but when the
time comes for the congregation
to sing, a simple, soul-satisfying
roof-raiser is needed.
Nothing can bring a congrega
tion closer than standing togethei
and singing an old and well-lovec
hymn.
If you doubt that, go visit sprtif
of the Smaller country churcjhe;
in this area and watch their re
action to the invitation to sing
Then come back to one of oui
larger churches and compare th>
two.
We don't mean to be critical
but sometimes folks just slip int
a pattern and stay there evei
when they'd rather do otherwis?
Or maybe it's just that we lik
to sing in church . . . and can
keep up with some of the mor
complicated numbers on the pri
gram.
WIT AND WISDOM
At Editorial Conference
SOUTHERN PINES PILO
(EDITOR'S NOTE: As part
of their job, newspaper editors
are inclined to view things with
a critical eye. At the annnal
N. C. editorial writers' confer
ence, the shoe is on the other
foot ? the editors hear them
selves criticized. Below are some
of the comments at the latest
such conference.)
Among highlights of the edi
torial writers' conference at
Chapel Hill recently were the fol
lowing pearls of wit and wisdom:
Malcolm Sea well (on himself),
"I hear some people are calling
me 'the mouthiest attorney gen
eral in the history of North Caro
lina'."
Dr. Lorin Mackinney, profes
sor of medieval history at U.N.C.,
was one of the reading public in
vited to pass judgment on the edi
torial pages. Said he, of his
method of judging: "To tell you
the truth, I took the editorial
pages up to bed with me. Some of
them put me to sleep and some
woke me up!"
Prof. MacKinney came down
hard on "those editorials telling
everybody to get out and vote
The way you editors bellow at
your readers: 'Get out the vote!
Hurry up and vote!' You'd think
the country could be saved if just
enough people would go to the
polls. It isn't how many vote, but
BUT IT'S USELESS
ON CELLOPHANE
Sunday's News and Observer
told about three men who got
out of jail in Alabama with the
aid of a can opener. We'd like to
see em try their luck on a pack
age of trackers wrapped in cello
phane ? Mooresville Tribune.
HOW they vote." The Prtl
snorted like a warhorse: "I'd lilj
to keep some of 'em home ai j
vote twice myself!"
Prof. -Newsman Walter Spe; I
man introduced the judges. All
in masterly Spearman style. Wh J
he came to Fanny Gray (Go|
Morning, Miss Dove) Patton
spread his wings and soared. Afl I
describing her plu-perfect fitntl
for the task of judging the woij
of editors, he said:
"For my concluding observatic
X shall turn to one of Mrs. P
ton's own stories: the scene whi
the old gardener is describing,
lady-employer to a friend ? 'I Vi]
say one thing about her,' t
gardener says" ? and Wal [
grinned impishly out at the
sembled editors ? " "she's a pri |
judge of garden fertilizer.' "
NEVER ENDING
HONEYMOONING
A whole new. scheme to encd
age marriage among wort
people of the country may hi
been hatched by the New
Court of Appeals with its ruj
that women who quit their
to get married are entitled to]
employment compensation.
If equal treatment under ,
law is to be given both sexAijj
would follow that a man
quits his job to get married shciL
also be entitled to unemployn'l
compensation. |
In a sense the ruling wl
have the effect of providing
government-paid honeymoon
couples who quit their jobs)
get married .
The bride and bridegroom,
of whom are gainfully empli
could quit their jobs, get marl
individually draw their unemf
ment benefits and enjoy ar.
tended honeymoon (26 week,
most states) at the expensj
other taxpayers. ( L
When the bride and bridegl
quit their job6 to get mar]
it would provide openings forf
other young people to bel
gainfully employed, and
working long enough to be eli|
for unemployment compensa
they, too. could quit, enjcL
aovernment-paid honeymoon.!
thus set up a neverendinj
volving fund to provide
honeymoons at government]!
pense. {. ?
The only hitch is that I
honeymoon tab the "overnl
pirks up will have to be pT
on to the taxpayers who are
ing. And working folks prod
would quickly tire of payir
week honeymoon bills for _
young coi'ple who wants ill
irirrieri. "
- How onerous can a high
get will: other folk's mono,
Greenville iN.C.' Daily Refl