Newspapers / The Franklin Press and … / Sept. 1, 1960, edition 1 / Page 2
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?0 be ftfmMitt 3fti4 and QIIjp Highlanite fflarmttau WEIMAR JONES Editorial J 'age Editor THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, I960 LKT THKM Sl'KAK This Freedom Is Basic Let the I'rolcstant ministers have their say in the national political campaign, pleads. The -Smith field Hearld. And let them say it from the pulpit. (See "Don't Silence The I'nl.pit" on this page.) The Herald .supports Senator John Kennedy, a Catholic, for President, and it has been consistent ly critical of religious intolerance artd prejudice. But The Herald, as usual, puts its first emphasis not on the current problem or the immediate end, but on principle. ^ And it recognizes that a free pulpit is the bed rock of our whole American system. For without a free pulpit, there can be no freedom of religion ; and freedom of religion undergirds all our other prized American freedoms. Our whole philosophy of the freedom of the in dividual and the right of the people to rule them selves, in fact, rests on religious? though, of course, not sectarian ? concepts. Stand Up And Cheer This newspaper has not always been editorially enthusiastic in support of Mr. Terry Sanfonl, Deni ocratic nominee for governor. And because we con ceive it to be one of the functions of newspaper editorials to try to analyze actions- and public pol icies ? without reference to party or to the individ ual public figure ? and then praise or damn; the chances are are we may be critical again. Just now we stand up to cheer ? and on two counts. v The "Nixon-is-experienced" argument is one the Democratic party, nationally, cannot avoid. It either must meet it or accept it as a major handi cap. In a recent Y. 1). speech in Asheville. Mr. San ford chose to meet it; he did so in these words: "It is true Nixon has been in training for the presidency ? but the trouble is he's been trained by the wrong man." That, we submit, is meeting an issue head oil. Most Democratic politicians avoid criticism of President Eisenhower as they would the plague, and this direct and open criticism of Mr. Eisen hower may prove to have been inexpedient. It was, though, a demonstration of Terrv Sanford's cour age. Then lasl week, in a talk to' the Western North Carolina (Manning Commission at Pillsboro, Mr. Sanford took a look at a non political matter and came it]> with sojne remarks that revealed a pene tratin mind at wor.k. ['raising the commission's efforts to plan f < > r the orderly growth of this region, he turned to the subject of industrialisation; We are now, he said, in the midst of the second American industrial rev okition. Recalling a Jrip he recently made north in search of industry, lie described the ?crowded tenements he saw as he went through New Jersey. Then he told his Dillsboro audience: ''I said to myself: Is this why I'm going to N'ew York Is this the kind of industrial development we are seeking? 1 know that it isn't." Then he continued: North Carolina is lucky in a sense ? you might say for tunate ? that it hasn't been over-industrialized. The state failed to get in on the beginning of the First American Industrial Revolution and suffered because it didn't. Yet it may have been just as well. For we now have an opportunity of avoiding the mis takes of the earlier revolution ? mistakes that brought about crowdings and slums and a waste of resources. We need to concern ourselves with the avoidance of stum crowding ard fiol'ution of our rivers and streams. We don'l want new industry just so we can point out to x visiting cousin the number of smokestacks we have or H be able to raise the level of the state's industrial sta tistics In the nation's catalog. We are interested in new industry for only one reason ? I* provide a better living and to be able to enjoy a better Kring. It is not surprising that this newspaper applauds (hose common sense remarks ; for thai * is a gospel we have been preaching for more than a dozen vears. More to the point, it is a viewpoint thinking Off THI RCCOftO NIW m ? ? ??. i ?a W-Iitfl., C"m a, KaTOJfW "Oh Off, CBd I nx? tnja.fi |?pyf tor t?ie bird tug* ?jpdn." I < I I I Bin ? I'M I | | 1.1 I I II III ? - Wa shington-Exclusive. l>eb]>k\ /t lie o.itiurv ovti', are coining in accept. Mr. Sanfnrd miyht well have added that some : rcas Hi North Carolina its-e.lt" have been biiyhted by iiidisi-rintinate .or ovcr-ihdiistr'ial'ziit ion ; and that Western North Carolina i> donbiy. blessed tt that, because it is relatively ^industrialize'. :t can learn from the mistakes of other X'orth ( Vro lina areas, as Well as from the indtistriali/.e<| Ka>t. And 'sttrelv otilv fools will refuse to learn front the mistakes of others. Don't Silence The Pulpit. (Smithfield Herald t Let the preachers have their say. In the pulpit. Not merely behind the voting booth curtain. Governor Hodges, staunch Democrat and supporter of Sen ator Kennedy for President, is disturbed by the outcry of some Protestant ministers against the election of a Catholic to the White House. He commends Evangelist Billy Graham for his decision to refrain from discussing the political situation in the pulpit. Graham has said he will let his conscience speak at the polling place on election day. The Governor thinks other preachers should follow the example set by Graham. Silencing the preachers may serve the immediate aims of the Democratic party, but silencing the preachers will not serve the best interest of America. ? Certainly it is no time for using the pulpit for expressing prejudices. Nor is it a time for using the pulpit to spread falsehoods about the Catholic Church. Surely no pastor is called to fan unfounded fears among the members of his flock. But this is a time for responsible preaching relating the principles of religious faith to the economic, social, and po litical affairs of men. The principle of church and state separation is perverted when it is invoked to discourage preachers and church mem bers from giving vocal expression to their faith in politics. A state -supported church? Never. Laws granting special privileges to a church body? No. Dictation of White House or State House or Court House policy by preacher, priest, bishop, or pope? Certainly not. | Preachers, priests, and church members applying their re ligious faith to political affairs? An emphatic yes! And if there is to be any meaningful application of relig ious faith to political affairs, churches must engage in dis cussion of the relation between religious faith and political issues. Such discussion is proper in study groups. It is also proper in the pulpit. This is not a plea for using the pulpit to make a purely political speech or to further the purposes of partisan politics in any way. It is a plea for relating religious faith, high moral principle, right attitude to the decisions that people are called upon to make, Individually and collectively, in the political realm. * " If the preachers have a failing, it is that they speak out too little in the pulpit, not too much. Or It is that they speak out only on one or two pet issues: Catholicism, or liquor, or perhaps gambling. The people grope 'through darkness trying to solve the race problem, the war problem, the labor-management problem, the welfare problem, the educational problem. The people need the light that comes from religion at its best. In the search for light the people need guidance from preachers no less than from editors and educators and politicians. The ancient prophets had their say on the issues of their times. Let the preachers of 1960 have their say on the Ken nedy issue and all other political, social, and economic ques tions, In the pulpit. Not merely behind the voting booth cur tain. Let them have their say. but may they have it while stand ing upon facts and reason as well as spiritual inspiration. There is no place in the pulpit or anywhere else for prejudice, falsehood, and hysteria. LETTERS Those Death Pictures Editor, The Press: Since moving to Franklin in mid-June I have been pleased with the quality of the newspaper that you publish. Most par ticularly I have been impressed with your editorial page, though not agreeing with everything said there. I regret that I waited until now to say these things to you (or I now find it necessary to write the following paragraph also. I was surprised at and disappointed in the series of pictures you published in your August 18 Issue relating to the tragic shooting in the Cartoogechape community. I refer most par ticularly to the picture on the front page of "the crumpled body of Robert Lee Welch", and the picture on pAge 5 of "the blood-soaked bed". These pictures were typical of the trend to ward sensationalism which has been sweeping our whole coun try in recent years. I can see nothing of value that the pic tures added to your coverage of the events. They were unnec essary and certainly inconsiderate of the family involved. GARLAND YOUNG Franklin . Route 2. Likes Editorial Dear Weimar: I have just read your admirable editorial in the August 25th issue of The Franklin Press. This editorial is well thought out and splendidly written, and certainly presents the picture Strictly Personal)^ WEIMAR JONES In this space last week. I won dered about the origin of the old i idea that when it rains while the sun is shining, it means the Devil is beating his wife. I predicted I'd probably never find out until I got hold of a folk lorist or a specialist in super stition. Well, I was wrong. Early Thursday morning ? v.hen the ink was hardly dry on last weed's Press ? a friend who .lot only has a fine mind and a good memory, but who has lived here all his life, gave me the ex planation he had heaid as a b:y: "The Devil's wife Is crying be cause she's being beaten ? her tears are the drops of rain. But the Lord, pleased at this evidence of discord in Hell, smiles ? that's til .?un shining." ? ? ? Another reaction rnmc later that day from a reader who was not reared here: "Y : u us?d the term. 'Bad Man'. I suppose you :neant the Devil. I never heard that." So that, maybe, was a local ex piession. Any way, when I was a child here, we rarely said "the Devil".. That would have been a little like concerning the Bryson-Fontana Road, the subject of the 1943 ?Tccment between the Department of the Interior, the Na ti mal Park Service, T. V. A., the State of North Carolina, the Highway Commission, and Swain County, as clearly as I have heard or seen it analyzed. I have always admired your style of writing and the clear <Miy you have of rutting through extraneous issues and ar riving at the main one for consideration. (""Mainly there is a moral obligation on the part of the U. S. Government to complete its contract. This issue, as far as Swain County is concerned, is not one for the promotion of facilities designed for, or that might result from, such a road to increase the monetary reward for the people of this area. I can state without reservation that Swain County has a rather large financial interest in the matter as well as the moral issue. The county issued approximately one million dol- ' lars in bonds for the purpose of building the old road, and has received, in turn, $400,000. The balance has been obsorbed by the remaining area of the county by virtue of refunding ' bonds, and the taxpayers of Swain County are' still in the 1 process of liquidating this indebtedness. ! Another fact is that the people of Swain County do not ' desire to violate the so-called wilderness area, but to the con trary, wish to make it reasonably accessible for people who do not have the physical capacity or stamina to visit this 1 region, but could see some of the area from cars and cer- * tainly would get a "sense" of the wilderness area by virtue ' of having skirted it. Not only that, but as you have so timely 1 and properly put it, there are many cemeteries, or "grave- 1 yards" as the old people used to call It, left in this area, most 1 especially the Hazel Creek section, and also near the old vil- ? lages of Proctor and Wayside. As a matter of fact, some of ' the original settlers of this region are buried in the Bone < Valley section, aiM it is my information that all the grave- s stones .left there have been scattered by marauding bears, and the cemetery sites are scarcely recognizable. 1 I would further like to personally commend you on your splendid editorial, as it awakens much more intense interest in the subject on my part, and points out the way the mat ter can be more readily approached. I think I can express the sincere thanks of the people of this area for the attitude you and your newspaper have taken, and the kind intangible offer of cooperation. T. D. BRYSON, Jr. Bryson City, N. C. It is a comfortahle feeling to know that you st?.nd ca your own ground. Land is about the only thing that can't ily away. ?Anthony TroUope. DO YOU REMEMBER? Looking Backward Through the Files of The Proa f 65 TEARS AGO THIS WEEK a (1895) ? Mr. Lee Crawford is running a brick yard near his home, v one mile out from town. t Mrs. J. A. Munday and sister went to Aquone last week to tl spend a month at that cool and pleasant retreat. II A colored Baptist association will begin at Rev. Jim Bris- s tol's church beyond the iron bridge next Friday. a W. P. Pullen and Labe White, two enterprising drummers, had our merchants by the ears Saturday and Monday. ti Messrs. A. G. and Z. B. Dillard, of Rabun County, Ga., were a in town last Friday evening to exchange a load of corn for 51 wheat. tl 35 TEARS AGO p (1925) ii Q Last week Mr. George Wurst, of Orlando, Fla., purchased t: from Mr. Sam Franks the northeast corner lot at .the junc tion of Main Street and Harrison Avenue. Mr. Wurst plans to build a hotel or apartment house on the property. Due to the excellent weather for the past several months, it is now believed that electric current from Franklin's new municipal hydro-electric plant, under construction on the Little Tennessee River, can be turned on by October 1. 15 TEARS AGO si (1945) a ? si Pfc. Paul T. Childers, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Childers, of Franklin, Route 3, has been awarded the Bronze Star s( medal for "heroic achievement in action" in Germany. M With the return of peace, the nation faces the problem of T finding jobs for 10,000,000 servicemen, the U. S. Employment Service points out. ? fC 5 TEARS AGO ct (1955) U A. C. Tysinger Tuesday night was elected commander of , sc the newly organized Franklin squadron of the Civil Air Patrol. ? swearing; we referred to him as "the Bad Man" ? and we dropped our voices in awe when we said that. A local expression? Well, maybe. But that one sounds to me like it had a Negro origin. Before this Thursday is gone, maybe somebody will set ma right on that. Thursday night I had the good fortune, at the Rotary Club meet ing, to sit next to Dr. Guy Wells, of Statesboro and Dlllard, Ga. I told him my friend's explanation of the sunshine-and-rain devil story. He had never heard it. but agreed it was so logical it must be the correct explanation. Then he told me an interesting thing. He asked if I had ever heard the story of the origin of the word. "snob", i Webster says that word's origin is "uncertain"). I hadn't. Here's his account of the way the word came into use. In the feudal period, nobody counted for much, especially socially, except the nobility. But as the feudal period drew to an end in Prance, the merchants be gan to acquire wealth, and de manded that their names be put on what we today would call the "social register". At last, their pressure for social recognition became so great, they won that right ? but with this condition: After their names, they must always place the Latin phrase, "sine nobilitas" (without nobility >. With time, those words came to be abbreviated Car "s. nob.", and finally the two abbreviations were run together into "snob". That explanation, too. is logical. For what is a snob but one who has gained prominence and recog nition, but has done so without having acquired mobility? * ? . ? We've heard a lot in recent years about the dangers of "anti-intel lectualism' . There is. of course, as there has# always been, too much opposition to new ideas just because they are new. I've long had a sneaking notion, though, that the plague of "anti intellectualism" is not nearly as serious as it has been pictured. It's been my guess that, while there remains a certain amount of supicion of anybody who uses his mind, much of what is called "anti-intellectualism" really is a healthy contempt for something that isn't genuine ? contempt for a pose assumed by those who are not, in the best sense of the term, intellectual at all. In a recent personal letter, av friend put that thought aptly, and. at the same time, neatly made the distinction between the leal and the pseudo-intellectual: 'It seems to me we meet so many people who consider them selves too important to appreciate the greatness of simplicity and too cock-eyed intellectual to value the, unchanging verities ? mere cock eyed than intellectual, I would say." VICTIM OF PROGRESS Remember The Grindstone? _ W. E. H. in SANFORD HERALD What's happened to the grind stone that used to sit in back o f ;very home and farm house for sharpening axes and tools? They ire no more, except on a very oc casional farm. Mechanization and emery wheels lave taken their places. While ;mery wheels are much quicker, hey destroy the temper in the netal of axes, hoes and blades .hat are being sharpened, and in iddition grind them away in rapid jrder; purchase of a new tool s far more frequent than in the lays of the old fashioned grind stone. As a kid it was one of my jobs :c turn the handle of the grind stone that Papa brought to town when he moved from the farm. Sometimes I poured the water as I turned the handle; usually Papa mistrusted my judgment about the amount of wetness necessary and kept the wetting job lor him self. No way I know of to get as close to your Dad as when you were turning the handle and he was whetting his axe or scythe! Those cold mornings! There was a belief in my set that on a frosty morn, if you set your tongue against a cold grindstone, it would > peel away the skin. Pity I never had the nerve to try it. Modern kids have jets but the old things. No. ? < CATAIJ'A UNUSUAL TRKE Dates Back 35 Million Years LYDIA K. FREHSE In Kettering (Ohio) Times The year was 1723. Mark Cates ly, English plantsman, had come o Arrerica to study the flora of he New World. In hjs wandering ilone the streams and rich river iottoms ol Carolina he discovered ine of our most beautiful flower ng trees, the catalpa. The history of the catalpa goes >ack 35 million years. Today it s found in China and Japan and wo species are native to the Jnited States; the southern varie y, catalpa bignonoides and the nore hardy catalpa speciosa which s native to our mid-central states, distinguished by the most beautl ul flowers of any of our orna nentals, it has been so widely >lanted that it has become laturalized in our region and hroughout most of the eastern ialf of our cquntry. As I write these lines, the atalpa is in full bloom. Could ? e but see the blossoms at close ange we would be amazed and lelighted at their beauty and ragrance. They appear in great bundance growing in upright lusters six to 10 Inches long. Like hose of their relative, the trumpet ine, they show a widely flaring ubular corolla with two lobes on he upper and three on the lower ip. The throat of the flower is triped and spotted with yellow nd purple. Nature believes in cross-pollina ion since it adds to the strength nd beauty of a plant. In this pecies she arranges for it by Ipening the two stamens before he pistil is ready to receive the ollen. The busy bee. ever search lg J or sweets, is lured to the lossom. follows the colored lines > the nectar and leaves behind >me of the pollen from a mature BULL'S-EYE IN 33 WORDS Chicago educator Joseph Shapiro joke these two sentences during recent speech at Duke Univer ty: "The man of distinction has a ation wagon, a second car. a limming pool and a 21-inch color V set. "And he tells us we can't af ird ta spend much more for edu ition." These 33 words say about all lat can be said of the affluent ciety and its under fed schools. Charlotte Observe"?. flower which it has just visited. As summer wanes, the fruit ripens into a 10 to 20-inch long cylindrical capsule or pod. Hence the common name. Indian cigar tree. These stay on the branches all winter discharging their seeds in early spring. If you open one> t of them you will find a row of odd winged seeds, fringed at the ends to aid in their dispersal. The green heart-shaped leaves of the catalpa are eight to 12 inches long and six to eight inches broad. They appear late in spring on long stems and are so abundant that the tree makes a dense shade. Smooth and dark green above, they are downy un derneath and show nectar-bearing glands at the axils of the primary veins, a very unusual circum stance. TONGUE LOST 900 YEARS IS FOUND \ ' One thousand years ago, some people lived along the caravan routes between China and Turkey, and they spoke a language known as Tocharian. It was not an Asiatic language, though it was surrounded by Asian tongues. Tocharian was Indo-European. It flourished from the 5th century to the 10th century and then was replaced by Turkish-type languages. The language was lost for over 900 years. Then in the early part of the 20th century, manuscripts were discovered in the northern Tarin basin in Central Asiaj t One of the scholars who have translated Tocharian manuscripts and is today America's first au thority on the lost language is Dr. George S. Lane. Kenan Pro fessor of Germanic Languages and Linguistics at Chapel Hill. To look at Tocharian the casual observer would think it resembles Sanskrit. However, Tocharian and Sanskrit are not closely related. The language seems to have as sociations with Baltic, Albanian. Slavic. Iranian, Celtic. Germanic and Italic tongues. Dr. Lane be lieves. The Moscow Academy of Sciences in 1959 publised an article on Tocharian. written by Prof. Lane, and included it in a special volume. Another article on Toohar-/> ian by Dr. Lane will be published' In the Encyclopedia Britannica University of North Carolina Report.
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
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