r
THE FRANKLIN PRESS
TIIUKDSAY JANUA!
riCIITINC FIRES IN MOUNTAINS
Conlinued from li.u- ..:...
ti get out to civilization. On
una
re;u
.ti;g the cabin ot
night he
found the place -stripped of every
thing stcnlablc. ' ,
Forced To Disrobe
Some days later he :ncjuntere:l a
mountain lad in the b;rk at . i'Y.ink-
l.jr, wearing the socks that had'dis
ajjnearcd, bIouj with his other rloth-
ifig troin the cabin. In the presence
jf a jsroup of the lad s friends the
ranker forced him to take off the
abeks, and threatened hni with prose
cution if he were ever caught in
the forest again. ' . .
:BcIore this occnrrcnc:; 'ill feeling
3iad txistcd between the boy's fam
ily and the forest officials, for the
ley's father had bec,n suspected in
the past of hog stealing, timber
trespass, violating the grazing regu
lations, and killing game on the forest
out of season. Setting fire to a nat
ional forest as revenge for the1 accu
sation against hij son would have
TmeanI nothing inCus mountain life.
The famous 1922 fire broke out a
'week before Thanksgiving on the
siith face, of the divide between
V'oleman and Tallulah . rivers on the
Georgia aide of the state line, and
driven by a bitter November gale,
Mvcpt northward toward the Blue
Ridge and North Carolina.
Fife Discovered . i
Selscr, fire guard at that time on
Jxanding Indian, . six miles to , the
worth, discovered the first smoke
sibout 9 o'clock that Thursday morn
ing. Jumpjing to, the phone he jaug
led the ringer viciously, and quickly
aroused the ranger at headquarters,
25 miles away, across the wilderness.
, "Hit's on the south face , of Little
Bald, Mr. Brown," he explained, when
lie had reported the fire, and cohr
tirvued, bit"ll climb fast, because the
xvmd s dnvirt right with her.
Any chance of stopping it at
Beech Creek until we can get, in?"
snapped , Lrown's voice apprehens
ively, ,
"I'm affered not. Hit's sweepin'
straight up, and ef jt can't be headed
on top of the ridge hit'll cross into
Ivantahala by night, returned Gd
rry;r, "hit's goin' to be a bad fire.
I'j'crythinc's as dry as a bone, and
tucm laurels down in there'll burn
itk6 . tinder. Whoever did it couldn't
.Jiev picked a worse time nor place!"
"Well, do what you can until we
reach you, which will be sometime
tonight. Ill bring in all the men, I
can get,' sUid spread the word in
she county. Luck to1 you, old man,
ud watch put for . evidence," ad
wionishcd Brown, partmgly.. "
Off To Battle
la Five minutes Gilmer was off, on
fooL with pitchfork, "axe, and emerg
ency rations, out the brushy, rock-
strewn ridge top ' toward the dis
ftant flames. And alone he held the
tire trom crossing in
Jarolitia side,
it was a b;ttcr b.uu
divide into
.n the North
id Gilmer
came out ot it a hero, hirst he lost
his coat, burned where he had hung
it in a sapling. For, in spite of the
cold the thermometer was 10 de:
grees above zeno he became drip
ping wet with perspiration trom his
desperate exertions. Then be stum
bled and fell on , his pitchfork, and
one of. the tines rammed through the
calf of his leg, causing a painful
wound. Yet. minus his coat, and in
jured as he was, Gilimcr held the top
of the range against the names 'that
roared up from the south until help
arrived. i
Puncheon Gap, in the Blue Ridge,
betweer Little Bald and Beach Creek
Knob, as the first point threatenedt
Bechi, Cove below the gap on the
south 'side was a caldron out of
which the flames roared upward,
and .licked out on the slopes of the
two mountains. A government trail,
following roughly the crest of the
tange, meandered into the gap and
then off around the north face of
the Bald. This trail gave Gilmer a
line to work from. Raking the leaves
out of it, he started his backfire.
But the wind was strong, and in
stead of carrying the backfire toward
the main flames it grabbed up burn
ing leaves ' and snags, and carried
them spinning off into the unburned
timber behind him, so. that between
rushing to stamp out these newly
set spots, raking the trail, arid try
ing to drive the backfire down the
slope, Gilmer had his hands full.
Help Reaches Him
His lone battle lasted until shortly
after nightfall, when Brown,, the
ranger, with eight men, reached him.
"Whcoo-hoo Hey! Gilmer!!"
Above the crackle of the flames
from his backfire, and drone of the
wind in the bare lijnbs, Brown's voice
floated down to him on the slope.
"Yeoo-hoo! Yeoo-ho, Yeoo-ho!"
Joyously, exultantly, and albeit thank
fully, he shrieked up into the black
ness above him. Down hyre I am,
down. this way!!"
"Oh! So there you are huh? Come
on up and be sociable! What're you
doing,, keepin' warm?" came,, back
Brown's ,voice.
Jo further invitation was needed
o 'induce Gilmer to leave his lonely
post, and in a few minutes he had
climbed into the cap and joined the
little grpup of grim mountaineers who
had journeyed all day, first by auto
and '(then for 15 miles on foot to
come to hisassistance.
'. ' : ' Planning The Fight
While-coffee "was brewed, and can
ned beans and bread eaten, plans
were laid for the battle. To the west
flowed Tallulah river, deep in its
gorge, seven, miles away. To their
east, across Little Bald, was cote
mail river at approximately the same
distance awav. Ten miles to the south
the two flowed together,, forming the
ap'X to a triangle, and the fire was
confined within it. The two river
would take care of three sides of
the fire, for the wind was right to
prevent it. jumping, them. It was 15
miles long, to connect those two riv
ers. Ihe task looked .hopeless, but
these were toil-hardened men that'
started the fight that night. They
divided into two crews, and with
Gilmer in charge of "one and Brown
leading the other, lines were Started
east and west, which, after three days
and nights of continuous fighting,
connected the two , rivers and hem
med the fire.
More" help, of course, eventually
reached the scene. Loggers, farmers
from the surrounding valleys, and
even moonshiners from their wilder
ness stills. The forest supervisor and
his assistant, with two carloads of
men from Franklin, reached the scene
the second day. Thereafter the super
visor directed the battle, and shifted
men to .emergency points. , Pack load
after pack load of grub was hauled
in on mules. Temporary camps were
established on the line, and food pre
pared for the battlers. Runners kept
the various crews in touch with one
another. .
Fifty-Five Hours
Gilmer, lips cracked; face slashed,
and leg swelling more and more,
stayed on the- line through 55 gruel
ling hours, leading, driving, exhorting,
goading the wearied fighters under
him to greater effort; till finally the
supervisor ordered him to "get back
to your lookout, and stay there,"
when, with tears in his eyes, -he lit
erally dragged himself up through the
forest to the lookout. But rest was
not ylet to be his. ?
What a view the point gave! Gor
geous, ranges, peaks in rugged pano
rama, fading into a hazed horizon,
gray with smoke. To the south every
detail of the battle in the wilderness
could be followed, for Standing In
dian towers above it all. From river
to , river stretched two lines of bil
lowing smoke, one marking the front
of the oncoming fire, the other the
screen of the backfire.
Gilmer couldn't rest. At the cabin
with him was S. M. Shanklin .deputy
supervisor of the forest, acting as
despatcher for the new fighters that
struggled in, wearied from the long
hike. As new men arrived they were
fed, allowed to rest a short time, and
then despatched to the fire. And with
each crew ' departing for the front,
Gilmer plead to be allowed to go.
Wanted To Go Back
"I'm all right, Mr. Shanklin," he
would plead, "I ain't a bit tired."
"You aren't?" sarcastically. 'Why,
man, there's no use killing yourself!
You couldn't hike to Beech Gap
without cashing in. There'll be enough
stink on us from Washington about
this fire now, without topping it off
with a dead fire enard. Lie down on
that dt and ret yourself, and quit
mashing ymir nose on that window.
You mij;lit bust the glass out, and
it's cold enough in here already."
It was characteristic of Gilmer that
he never agucd, but this was a lime
unusual, and he kept pleading. To
add to Shanklin's worries, Ralph
Moore, lookout on Whispering Bald,
25 miles to he north, and another
fire eater, craved to get into the
battle .Time after time the phone
would ring, and Ralph's-, voice would
hum inovcr the line.
"How's she goin' by now, , Mr.
Shanklin?" he'd ask eagerly.
"Nothing new, Ralph," replied the
deputy supervisor, disgustedly, "they
will have her out by morning." ,
"I'd orter be in thar," for the fif
tieth time, jit seemed to Shanklin,
Ralph persisted, "hit mought break
over some place."
"There are 20 men watching for
that," returned Shanklin, "you're- do
ing more-good watching that end of
the forest than you could ever do
here. What if tfire should break out
on Burningtown, and all of us back
here?"
"Not a chanct uv that, Mr. Shank
lin. They ain't nobody left back this
way to set fire. Ee very body's in thar
with you but th' babies and gran
mothers, an' I been expectin' to hear
uv them goin' too, any time. I'm
gonna freeze to death ef vyer don't
let me in thar whar I kin git warm!"
"Run around the top and get warm
then, you're not coming in here,"
and Shanklin abroutly slammed the
receiver down.
Record All Shot
"Damn you fellows," he said, turn
ing to Gilmer, "I never saw such
firebugs in my : life. - Ralph hasn't
any more sense about taking care of
himself than you have. You can't do
it all." "
'Hit's the- first bad blaze I've had
since I been up here, Mr. Shanklin,"
said Gilmer, worriedly, "I bin kinder
proud uv the record for the last
three years, but she's shot now," and
he mournfully turned back to his
window to watch the . smoke.
"Well you're not responsible, boy.
It's just one of those things that
can't be helped. You've done all that
was humanly possible for you to do,
and more than anybody else could
have done, and there's no use cry
ing over spilt milk, so-rest yourself.
There are' plenty of men to take care
of it now," and he turned back to
the stove where coffee was brewing.
Shanklin, himself, has told "some
of the story, especially such parts
as Gilmer leaves out. -n
"The fool never did . tell me about
his leg," so Shanklin says, "Just after-night
a part of the crew from
Coleman river came up worn but.
Their fire was under control and
plenty of 'men' had been left to watch
for breakovers. We could see, that
the other bunch v,: about to reach
Tallulah by the baekfire flames
springing up down on the slopes of
Scaly, near the river. It looked like
the battle was over.
Bog At Work Again
"Well sir, it just goes to show that
vnn nev-pr ran tell. Who'd have
thought that that scoundrel would
still be in 1 the country, much less
still craving to burn. But he was. I
actually saw the new fire set, down
there in the gorge, across the Tal
lulah. First a flame no bigger , than
a lantern light, and then she spread.1
I thought Gilmer would go wild. It
was the first time I'd ever seen him
sure enough mad. There wasn't any ,
stopping him, and nothing to do but
let him - take those worn out men
and go. I'd have gone myself, but he
wouldn't hear of it. Pointed out that
I didn't know ,the way .by the lead
ridge short cut, and he could get
there an hour before I could.
"So I let him go. The boys object
ed, and I couldn't blame them. Forty
eight hours on the line with just
snatches of rest and very little food.
But they went.
"I could watch every move ; they
made. Saw them reach the fire in art,
hour :i and begin their backfires, on
the upper side. Watched, the flames
from their -backfire, creeping down
the sides of the main fire, and finally
must not have been strong down in
there because, they were fighting
close.' It wasn't more than an hour
after , they had surrounded the fire
before everything was burned out
and nothing showed but a few red ,
spots where logs were still smoulder-
snow- Kills Blaze .
"Gilmer and his crew eot back
just before daylight. Next day it
warmed up and sinowed, killing out
the blazing logs and trees, and we
took the whole works off and went
back to covilization. Gilmer stayed at
his lookout tower the rest of the
season. We let him have his way."
Gilmer, now promoted, and occu
pying comfortable quarters at Wil
son Lick Hanger station, is still won
dering about the socks. The man was.
never caught, but Brown did get his
socks back.r-Charlotte . Observer
RHEUMATISM
While in France with the American
Army I obtained a French prescript
tion for the treatment of Rheumatism
and Neuritus. I have given this to
thousands with wonderful results.
. ' ... ... . 4 . f... . V
Ihe prescription cost me running, i
ask nothing for it. I will mail it if
you will send me your address. A
postal will bring it. Write today.
PAUL CASE, Dept C-628 Brockton,
Mass.
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AN APPRECIAT1
AND
ANNdMCEMEOT
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Upon ow entrance into business in Franklin, now nearly two years ago, we adopted as our
slogan the phrase, SAVE AND SERVE. You who have patronized us during these two
years know how well we have lived up to this motto, know it through the courteous service that
has mfailkgly characterized our dealings with you and through the financial saving that has
been yours. Since the day we opened, our business has grown steadily, week by week, month
by month, year by year. And 1926 was the greatest year of all. For this liveral patronage we
wish -to' express tfirough the medium of this paper our hearty appreciation, and to extend to
our customers and friends everywhere our sincere wishes for happiness and prosperity iri 1927.
v;;,: ' -;..y. . :' -i-. '--,-. j, v -' . ,;. . "J ,'. . ,.".;..::.',.;l ' .,,'., - ; -l... , , .. , . ff-. .,, '. . ?'.;V v ' )." '. ' ' ' '. - ... - ',: . J. '.: . "' . 1 -V .. ' "
. '' 1 : : ''j.' ... - ' , ' . , .i " J. ; -' : ' ; ; i ' . ' . r ' .' -i; , -. .') : .r; ' 1
We have long felt the need for a Main Street show room, a more central location than
cur main business house at the corner of Phillips and Palmer Streets. We have now secured
such a location, and are occupying it this week. Our new show room is in Hotel Franklin
Building, adjoining the hotel lobby, arid presents an appearance of which, we are justly proud.
A new plate glass front has been put in, large show windows installed, and the building gen
erally remodeled and refinished. ;In this new location we will at all times have on display a
beautiful assortment of high grade furniture and house furnishings. One of the partners in
( our firm wit! be in charge of the Main Street show rpom,and will welcome you at any time
you find it convenient to call.
' . ' . . 4 - - , "
la the meantime we will continue our Undertaking Parlors at our main building at the corner of Phillips and Palmer
Street?. Also a large stock of furniture,, house furnishings, rugs, draperies, dishes, stoves, Frigidaires, and other merchandise
usual Id a first cbss furniture store, will be carried here at all times.
V7TD A TXTIVI!
w
711 TO
11 J
ALEX MOO EE, Pres.
RMTUEE COMPANY. -
F; Y. McCRACKEN V-Prcs. E.-S. HUNNICUTT, Szz.-Tm.