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?Je fr&rtWin $it?? and GTIyr Highlands fHaroniau WEIMAR -TONES Editorial Page Editor FILLS A NEED Working Together Because Western N'orth Carolina is singularly blessed ? in climate, in an ahundaajflft of good water, in its scenery, and, most of all, in the kind of people we have here in the mountains ? this region is in much better position to pre determine how it shall develop than are regions that lack these things. Whether we are competing with other regions for industry, for home-seekers, or for the trans ient tourist, we are in position to be relatively independent. Because of our advantages, and because those advantages arc becoming kpovvn, industry and home-seekers and tourists are sure to come t<> this region. So, when we actively seek newcomers, we can be selective. These advantages, too, make it wholly un necessary for one Western North Carolina com munity hi compete with another; there are plenty of industries and home-seekers and tour ists to go around. Such inter-community competition can be ex pensive, in mor.e ways than one; and we arc fortunate that it isn't necessary. Instead, we can work together as an area, seeking the best and most intelligent development for the area as a whole. That is the background, as we understand it, for the new Western North Carolina Travel Council. It can do much for the region, and working for Western North Carolina as a whole, it can eliminate much needless duplication of effort. Franklin's Mr. H. Btieck, who conceived the idea of the organization, and Waynesvill.e's Mr. Ned Tucker, who headed a committee that worked out the details and who now has been named as the council's first president, are to be congratulated. This regional travel organization is a long-recognized need. Here's wishing it luck as it seeks to fill that need. > Best Way Of All A little story, told at a recent Franklin Ro tary 'Qui) meeting, is both timely and signifi cant. The speaker was Mrs. John Crawford, Macon County superintendent of public welfare, who described the department's function and told of some of its problems and difficulties. It's activities, she explained, are careful!) Veg (dated by law- ? -often regulated in detail. There are many things the department must do. There are many others it may not do. So, when a person who had suffered an' in jury, came to the department, for aid, he had to be referred to a physician for examination; and when the physician reported the injury was not serious enough to justify welfare aid. the de partment was barred from giving 'his -person financial assistance. In. many places, we suspect, that would have been the end of the case? application received, applicant referred to a physician, and applica tion rejected on a basis of the -physician's re port. Hut thus case did not end there. The welfare department helped the injured person to contract work he could perform. With energy and determination, he pushed the enter prise, and it has grown so that now he is earn ing about $30() a month, right here in Macon County. "If we had given the financial aid requested, 1 am convinced that person would have existed on it ? and exist is all he could have done ? the rest of his life". Mrs. Crawford said. This little story suggests something so old it's trite ? but, happily, is still true I The very best way to help people is to help them help themselves. Good Day's Work In Europe, it is not uncommon for the lowli est peasant to know the arias of dozens, or even scores, of operas, and to hum or whistle them as he goes about his work. That seems strange to Americans, for in this country it is not uncommon for reasonably well educated persons to know little or nothing about opera. . How account for the contrast? A part of the explanation probably lies in the fact that Euro peans grow uj> with opera, just as Americans grew up with Mother Goose. Perhaps equally important is the matter of language. Since most Europeans speak several languages, and since must opera was written by Europeans, usually the European hearer can understand the words in this story-type form of music; to most Amer icans, the words, important in opera, are mean ingless. In the light of that situation, the singing of opera in Knglish is the logical way to make it intelligible to Americans. That is just what the National Grass Roots Opera Company, which will play here December 2, does An- 1 !<>" Franklin performances, it has selected a light opera "Genera-tola". . by the Ita 'a". (?'?nn'or-r. Rossini. It tells the simple story of Cinderella. Franklin,, like most small towns (and some cities), has. far too few opportunities to hear good music. The sponsoring Franklin Music Study Club and its committee, headed by Mr. Roy M. Biddle, Jr., have done a good day's work in arranging for the appearance of the Grass Roots Company here next week. It is par ticularly gratifying that there will be a free afternoon concert for school children, as well as the performance for adults in the evening. The- Real Fiscal Need (Qskaloosa, iowa, Tribune) Our economists say money should be made more eLastic ?I'd like to see it made more adhesive. Hurdling Prejudices (Harry S. Truman i As we are getting over the hurdles of some of our preju dices, I hope that one day In the not too distant future we will not hesitate to nominate and elect a worthy man for the Presidency from the South. Old Songs Are Pcptikr <W. E. H. in Sanford Herald) In the e days of rock 'n roll, it's interes -ing to note that in almost any social' gathering, it's the old songs that get the biggest play. No long ago I was in Druham for a barbecue supper. Cynosure of all eyes was a fellow at the piano who was one by one. ticking off the favorites of yesteryear. In terested to note that the young Carolina and Duke stu den s present sung them as lustily as those of my gen eration. Let Me Call Y u Sweetheart; Four Leaf Clover: When You Wo: a Tiilip; Down by the Old Mill Stream: Show me the Way to Go Home; Sweet Adeline; Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Mere; Roll out the Barrel; Let the Res! of the World Go By; The Girl of Vy Dreams; I've Been Work Kennedy Owes Narrow Victory To Combination Of Minority Blocs EDITOR'S NOTE : Below low is an editorial by David Lawrence, reprinted from I . S. News & World Report. A numerical plurality of a few thousand votes ? about or.e half of one per cent of mo e than 67.000.000 ? docs not by any means constitute an ex pteasion of the will of the maj ority of the American people on basic issues of domestic or world policy. . i Senator John F. Kennedy won this election to the Presi dency by a combination of minority blocs and groups in fluenced by reasons of religion, economic conditions and poli tical expediency. Ironically enough, the Negro voters in the North gave heavy majorities to the Democrats, as the "civil righto" crusade of the Republicans failed to pay off politically for then. Nor t'irj the Republican ? following in v:? icv i other minority crcui:- turn out to b ? as num reus as th.-.t of the Democrats. But th-> pc lit ical expedi ency which cauvl t-hi D :n Ocratic politi; Sans in th? South to v;o count"- to the courage ous stir.i on principle taken by so many hith?rto. Dom cc:-atic newspapers ? which openly supported the Republi can tickrt ? c.innot era^e the fact that the people of the South are basically1 conserva tive. Thei: votes, if polled in a referendum solely on the mer its or demerits of the Dem ocratic national platform, would have been cast over whelmingly for the conserva tive nominee ? Vice President Nixon. Similarly, whether i' wa? pride of relieion cr resentment again"-.: the outbursts cf roimr Protestant clergymen which caused so many Catholics to desert the Republican Party this time, there were millions of conservative Catholics who voted for Mr. Kennedy though actually - p.efeiTir.s the. nor- ' radical policies and platform of Mi* opponent. In this sense, Mr. Kennedy's speeches did not repr.-MjTU the views of the majoiily His clrc tlon was due to a tr.ur.iui 'ii y coalition of minority group-. He owes his victory .r. !ar;\" part to the work f'.oi.:' by tire labrr unirpis in almas'. rv? ry p-ecinct in th? L-: : Northern H'.ates. Contributing to his <it ? tion were the resentments of many votei-s in area? wh -v tin employment not or.lv hnd ' brought distress to workers, but had had an adverse im pact on the business of the communities. r Apart from the c'iscontent, however, occasioned by the "readjustin nt" or " recess icr.' ' r"f rr?!r.r .n fVi? national cconcmy. can lh?r? be *air. to have been in genera 1 a verdict of disapproval of the policies of the Elsenhower Administra tion? The closeness of the vote she** that th? ration is fund air.cr.taUy con-erva '.ive in t b ? <:n> th ? no . virion fo" ?a..h -ul experjr.cp's -in r i1"? th? <?a*nt stic o. f?i\ign field ran really bo ir.feu'id a ha-, .r.s been qivin. Naturally Nikita. Ilfcrti 'i ehrv is rcjoicing. and thfc con trolled Soviet press is alreac'y claiming that, the election prov es that the American p-opl^ "expect' Washington to pursue n f"?-anaHe course in jnterna ficnal affairs"-? which pre sumably refects a belief that in nivv At ministration will make concessions to the Sov iets. This is an erroneous inter pretation. but the Moscow ra dio has for several days now been beaming all over the worlfl comments to the effect that America has "repudiated" the Eisenhower policies. Mr. Kennedy Ls not going to b" "soft on Communism" un less he becomes the victim of advisers who are appeasers at heart. His catholic environ ment would seem to belie any : rr'r y :o bow to the Commu iits The Catholic Church has tc:n a bulwark of opposition to Communism tl:i?cu?*.i?ut t've ? or' d,. Mr. Kennedy shares the convictions cf Catholics and non-Cat lio'ics that the triumph of Communism would end re llttrlCTS freedom and other free doms a.s well. There may. t her." for? ,<? r flistirrf pl"? in M" t'' '? religious background. Tr^^d it is to be hoped that the r !i Bious is'-ue in our !x>!itf<-s ni'l bo le-s important hereafter than it has bren in the past. A Roman CnthoVc h~s been elected to the White House, for the first time. This should tell the world that there ic rea'ly no re'igious test for office in America. It Is unfortunrte. however, that, as this prrc?dent i? estab lished. the election should have turned out to be so close. A landslide for a candidate whose basic policies won overwhelm ing approval by the vast ma jority of the people and who happened at the same time to De a Catholic. would have bet ter demonstrated that the peo ple of the United States voted ft - or against a particular per ?-.11, not on the basis of reli gious prejudice, but solely on th? merit? of the issues and the candidates. As it is, many observers, noting the big shift rf ? : ; c.', jji? areas with a large 7: 1 0'; - 'population ? with no ; al!r! .nywhere else in the cc.T'vy- -contend that a Cath o'.'e Kcs decided the election. Th?s is the time when we are ;;!1 erhorted to let bygones be by st aes and to give our new leader the wholehearted sup rort of all the people. But it is a time for more than mere ex hortation to the populace. It is a tune to remind the success ful party and the victorious candidates for all offices that elections do not settle funda mental issues but merely serve as vivid reminders of the di versity of interests and pres. sum that make up the mod ern political struggle. 1 I Macon Man Discovered Famed Yosemite Falls EDITOR'S NOTE: It has lone been general knowledge that a Macon County man, Jimmy Angel, discovert d the falls In Venezuela that b ar his name. Few people here, though, knew that another Maconi^in, James M. Roane, more than a hundred years ago discovered famed Yose mite Falls. That bit of for gotten history was brought to light in a recent artcle in The AsheviUe Citizen-Times, reprinted below. Mr. Roane has many rel atives here. Mrs. Kitty Par rl'h, 94, of the Rurningtown community, is his daughter. Grandchildren who live here, in addition to the children of Mrs. Parrfeh, include the Hauser brothers, James L. (Jimmy) and Quincy J., and Erwln Patton and his sister, Mrs. F. R. Rogers. County Commissioner John Roane is a cousin. In later life, the Yosemite discoverer returned to his rative Cartoogechaye, and i? buried in the Mount Zion graveyard.) By GEORGE W. MeCOY John Preston Arthur, in his "Wi. tjyn North Carolina: A History.'' asks and arswe.s a 'question : Who discovered that wonder land, the matchless valley of the far-famed Yosemite? James M. Roane, of Macon County, North Carolina, in Ma cb of Fifty-one. A;;i;ur. however, .gives no de tails of the spectacular disoov try. I am indebted to Roane's ?r an c daughter, Mrs. Jack Bry : n of Asheville. for mnkit.'.T available the details cf her own i.cer.t researches on his role in finc'ing the Yoserr.ite. Actually, the Wes' " n North C'.r olir.a mountain man was a oILscoverer, sot the srle find er. 'of the valley many persons onsidsr to t" the rao-t beauti ful in tl-e world. That. however, ?cots ret detract from the fire di't due Roane for his part in th^' g'sce aphiral exploration of the great West. The discovery is related to the historically-important dis covery of gold by a woikman, James W. Marshall, on Jan. 24, 1848, at John A. Sutter's mill on the south fork of the American River near Coloma. The gold-strike news spread rapidly, causing excitement in the nation. Western Noith Carolina mountain men in numbers unknown caught the gold fever and sst out for Cali fornia to Join other Argonauts better known as "Forty-Ninr ers." One of these hardy moun tain men was James M. Roane, then a 23-year-old unmarried farmer. Leaving his home In Macon County, he Joined "the first lmigrant company that crossed the plains to Califor nia." The quotation is from an article on Roane written by C. D. Smith of Franklin, Macon County, and published in the Raleigh (N.C.) Register for June 4, 1884. Smith related "facts and incidents" of the discovery of the great valley anc' falls of Yosemite as nar rated by Roane himself. Here is a condensation1 of what P.cane said: ? ? # In the summer and autumn of 1850 Indians began raiding in the Mariposa mining dis trict (to the southwest of Yose mite). The Governor was ask ed to send troops to repel the red men, but, instead, he auth orized James D. Savage to raise a battalion of mounted volunteers to proceed against the marauders. Th.ee compan ies of some 100 men each were raised. James M. Roane was one of the volunteers and a member of Company A uneier command of Captain John Bo! in?. Major Savage's battalion, in a vigorous campaign, subdued and capture;?, as he supposed, all the Indians and placed them in a reservation in San Joaquin Val'ey. * Yet depredations continued, creating a mystery as, to the identity of the raiders;. There was unrest and uncertainty a mong the miners. Finally, an old and friendly Indian ;clved the mystery. For a reward of beads and blankets, he to'.d Majo: Sav age he'd tell him the identity ing cn thr Railroad . . . these were some of the titles I caught a? a guy named Benny Cash went through a repertoire of songs popular many years ago. Notevrcr hy: the guys and dolls of 1960 liked those songs, and even knew the words. Better than the more popular . tunes oi today. DO YOU REMEMBER? Looking Backward Through the Files oi The Prew 63 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK <1895) Miss Annie Woodfin is engaged teaching a school at Webster. Dr. T. W. McLoud returned Saturday from the Atlanta Exposition. Mr. R. L. Porter has about finished his. hew barn, and it is an excellent one. , J~hn W. Mann, of Flats Township, went to Rutherford Ccl'ege last week. . A young man down East hung himself because some people found fault with . him. Should this practice become general, the trees would be full of preachers, school teach ers, doctors, and editors. 35 YEARS AGO (1925) The gates of the municipal dam (across the Little Ten nessee River) were closed November 12, resulting in fill ing the lake in 24 hours, 'the waters now eddy up Rab bit Oreek, ihe Town Eranch, and the Cullasaja River. Power from the new plant Is expected to be available within a few days. ' i 15 YEARS AGO (1945) T1 ? Rev. W. Jack cn Honcycutt, pastor of the Frank ')h Methodist Church, was chosen chairman of the Macon C unty chic er of the, American Red Cross at a meeting Friday evening. 5 YEARS AGO (1955) Mrs, John J. Swan, of FrankJin. has been hired as the cssis1 nt agent for the Farm and Home Development pro gram here. of the mischief makers and pilot him to their hiding place. Accepting the proposal. Maj or Savage selected 60 men from Company A (Roane was one) to set out under Captain Boling in seatch of the hiding place. After a search of three or four days and the crossing of the south fork of Merced Riv er, the mounted volunteers reached the snow-capped moun tains and were led by the In dian guide to a certain pass. The snow was two or three feet deep at this edge of a land unknown to white men. They heard the thunder of a water fall and aaw before them a val ley of great grandeur. Looking up the valley, the volunteers saw what appeared to be smoke. Captain Boling then detailed three men, in cluding Roane, to go with the Indian guide to ascertain the situation. Thus Roane was a mong the first three white men to go into the valley. The small party reached a point from which they could see Indians scattered under shelving rocks with fires in front. A little later others of the expedition descended Into the great valley. Crossing its river, they made a diash toward the Indians who could not retreat due to the wall of rocks at their backs. They resisted feebly and the fight was soon ever. A very old chief (Tenaya) agreed his people would go to the San Joaquin reservation if the white men would wait until the squaws returnee?. from hunting aoorns in the moun tains. The chief told Major Savage he and his pa ty were the first white men ever to set foot in the valley. He said his tribe's n&rre is "Chumitee," meaning grizzly bear. The falls, too hs called "Ohutnitee," but a San Fran cisco newspaper p.inted it "Yo.emits"' and that spelling entered into permanent usage,. Roane said entrance to the valley took place in February; 1851. and the parts iwaained five or six weeks, du: in part to Major Savage'? r c./jri- to wait for return cf th~ r-.f-T.v-. The Indians left reluctantly, for the valley was a t.ibal' Eden, a place of grieat charm. At 'the pass, both whites and Indians gazed back upon the wonderfully beautiful vallev. The old chief smote his bosom and wept. Soon after they reached the reservation, the chief died. Tlwt, according to Roane, was how Yosemite was discov e.ed. It became a national park in 1890. Situated in east-central California, the area is on the western slope of the Siel'.a Ne vada mountains and is some 150 miles due east of San Francisco. The mountain scen ery is magnificent, with the valley itself called "the crown: ingl glory." The valley is eight miles long and from one-half to one-mile wide, with the walls -rising sheer from 2,000 to 6,000 feet above the valley fioor. Who would not be proud to have had a part in the discov-, e.y of one of nature's great masterpieces? Roane and his comrades considered this dis covery, to be one of the great moments of their lives. 's ? * * Roane's other activities in the Far West included his elec tion to the office of assessor when Mariposa was organized into a county. Later he was one of the county's supervisors and he also served as a deputy ihpriff under Captain Boling. A few years after Mariposa County was formed, it was di vide t'. and Roane's residence was in the new county of Fresno. He was elected its first super visor and in 1859 he was the choice of the voters to repre sent Fresno in the Legislature, WHY BEAUTY IS IMPORTANT Women give more time to beauty than education because no matter how stupid a man may be, he isn't blind. ? North Carolina Education. further evidence of his prom inence in California's pioneer days. Later, at a time not listed. Roane returned to his old home in the Caitoogechaye section of Macon County, bringing with him gold nuggets in an amount not known now. Evidently though he was successful as a miner and public official. His place in California history, however, is due mainly to his role in the finding of Yose mlte. His name appears in the book, "Discovery of The Yose mite and the Indian War of 1851," by Lafayette Houghton Bunnell, M. D., published in 1880. The doctor was a mem ber of Company A and' was on the Yosemite expedition. Roane, at age 39, married Nancy Watson of Tennessee. He and his wife resided in Macon the rest of their lives and are buried in a Cartooge chay.e cemetery. Their son, William Henry, is the father of Mrs. Jack Biyson whose am bition is to visit Yosemite and see. among other things, her grandfather's name carved on rocks. Roane had hoped his de scendants would see the carv ings some day. Roane, after his return to Ma con County and as the years passed, loved to recall his Cali fornia experiences. On October 9, 1886, The Mariposa Gazette, published in Roane's old county in California, printed the text of a letter from him. It was dated July 4, 1886, and was mailed at Franklin. In it Roane tecalled "the dear old tnoneer clays." Below the letter, a note evi dently written by The Gazette's, editor, Angevine Reynolds, says: "We well recollect seeing the name of J. M." Roane in scribed on the rocks and trees in the Yosemite val'.ey on our. first visit, to the spot in the fall of 1854. We recolUct him ve ry well. He was a popular gentleman. His name was indelibly inscribed on ?cm?4h;ng of a more animate nature than rocks or trees, and is not uncommon to this day." * * s Extent is a letter Roane- re ceived from D. . Bunnell, who -bscame the historian of the ex pedition. DiiC'rJ May 31. 1887, the doctor, living at Homer, Minn., told about his plans for a revised edition of his history. Of interest, in view of the ap proaching centennial of the War of the Sixties, are these remarks he made in the letter to "My dear old comrade": "I take it for granted that you were in the Confederate service, as I was in the Union." (Note: He was a surgeon in the 36th Regiment of Wiscon sin Volunteers ! .- "I was at the two famous Bull Runs, but in compensation I was also at Ap pomattox. I look upon the War of the Rebellion now." (Note: That's a term Southerners never use) "as one of the in evitable necessities of those times, and I have not a particle of feeling against any Confed erate who was a man. X have not a doubt but that I should have been in. the Confederate ranks if I had been a South erner and educated" to believe in slavery as ? God ordained institution. Men propose, but Gofl disposes, as the French have it, and I guess we will corti ? out all right in the end. But while I am on the subject, let me say that you North Carolinians, for 'good1 Union men,' fought like devils." v'.' ' ? t The age of physical discovery in America has long since end ed. It is well to note though that Western North Carolina contributed a creditable share of the men and women who, moved by the pioneer spirit, went Westward and settled in the great mountains and plains. ALL THAT'S LEFT When girls start calling you "Sir" about all you've got left to look forward to is your social security. ? Wall Street Journal. TIIKY'RK DIFFERENT The Insides Of Houses OLD FARMER'S ALMANAC Houses are made of the peo ple who live in them and the life that flows about them. City houses smell of the street on which they live mostly of oil burners and exhausts: they smell of woodrot in da k hall ways, musty rugs and runners seldom unfettered tftom the floors. And in these places there is such a cautious, care ful sullen passing back ahd forth of its occupants that nothing ever quite wears out. never quite decays, is never quite replaced. Polks who have grown old in city houses can scarcely be told from their ancestors ? from the lightiess portraits of g&iufcnama and grandpa hung now closer than ever they were in Ufe. One has the feeling that the ancient people who still crawl about the parlor do. In truth, belong already in their own prim frames. So shall it be but first a timeless inter val to huddle in their favorite deep chairs, which at last, will not unclasp them. They will graduate to the wall. Not all city houses are of such gloomy stuff; neither are all la m houses as 'cheerful as those where there is so much going on. that what is not worn bare is scrubbed bare by poor Ma. for she can never seem to learn Pa and the kkte "to knock their feet off" when they come in. But there is no smell of decay In a farmhouse. Just bread and ironing and honest barnyard smells.
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
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Nov. 23, 1960, edition 1
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