(EY CITY OF THB MOUNTAIN fubvmb 4Wiai ' SAV7 rJILL TIEARS COMPLETION Isolated Section of County Redeemed by Highway No. 28 Railroad Up the Nantahala River. (By Joe Moore) Beyond Wallace gap, on the western slope of tke Nantahalas, Charles Eg bert Craddock might once have found a picturesque setting for a story of the mountain country. The road .wound lazily down from the gap. dip ping at intervals to the right to em brace a ravine. It bordered clearings in the larger depressions, each with its wonted corn . patches, unpainted ttwelling and outbuildings. The road was rough;' towns were far away: the neighborhood might easily have been left to its tranquil isolation for an other decade or two. It was through this section of the Nantahalas, however, that highway No. 28 was surveyed. Here , it was that the W. M. Ritter , lumber;, company located, erecting numerous structures, and building a railroad up the Nana hala river. Today a transformed "mountain slope lies beyond Wallace gap. Groups of workmen wield picks and shovels along the route the new highway will follow; a steam shovel is in operation in one of the ravines; railroad sidings border the rocky Nantahala. Road construction and the lumbering industry have, hand in hand, come to the once remote vi cinity. ' " 7 , Highway No. 28 has been completed to Wallace gap. It winds Up the eastern slope of the mountain, a typical highland road, doubling back time after time in such manner as to command views of the distant Cowees. Beyond the gap, wide swaths of tim ber have been cleared in, preparation for dynamite, the steam shovel, and the convicts, who follow with shovels and picks to complete the grading. A camp for the convicts is under Construction in a strip of meadow, less than a mile from the divide. They will be housed in two low wood en buildings of considerable length, and will be moved to the new location shortly. The bustle of the workmen here would be enough to change the aspect of the locality, but the scene of greater activity i$ a half mile further on. Here, on a Strip of smooth ground between the river and the hills, Ritter's lumber camp is nearing com pletion. Big, unpainted structures cov er portions ti the level land, . while smaller buildings line the upper side of the road. The band mill is housed in the largest building on the grounds. A sidetrack running into this struc ture, and several smokestacks issuing from the top, suggest the scene of noise and activity soon to be in prog ress. Another large building houses the commissariat. A glance into the room reveeals' stackr of overalls, shelves filled with groceries, glimpses of Workmen who Have come to trade. And not all come to buy. One en terprising farmer came down to find a market for his surplus meal, and probably found it, judging from the saving he offered the commissary. The lumber camp town will afford a market for numerous farm products. The big hotel where the crew, of workmen is fed must be supplied, and it is evident that the farmers are aware of this source of profit. Employment of many workmen has hastened activities at the lumber camp. The newly erected buildings, the near by mountains, the- clusters of men in lumber jackets at work, create an atmosphere not unlike that which is characteristic of a movie scene. Railroad sidings cover the strip of level land, and the main track con tinues up the river to the big timber. Lumbermen have begun cutting on the 14,000-acre tract of virgin forest. F&r ten year? the1 crash of trees and the hum of the band saw will conV tinne."'vi;v -X-': ' ' -'' tV Lumbering is .necessary, but when the ten years have passed, the 'west ern slope of the Nantahalas will have changed A junked railroad will lie at the river's edge. Sprouts will cover the -stumpy, deforested area. But the locality will not revert to its sedentary isolation, picturesque though such tranquility may , be,l for highway; No. 28, ; hardsurfaced, will wind down the slope beyond Wallace Rap-:' v ;-'; .. -:. Gen. Harris Visits Franklin General Peter C. Harris, U. S. Army, retired, formerly Adjutant Gen eral of the army, visited a local hos pital here1 last Friday. - General Har ris and his brothers, Senator W. J. Harris, of Georgia, and Major Hunt- DEM11C ALLS I1S.LI.LC0ZAD In Hospital Three Months- Was Prominent Leader in Church and Civic Affairs. A large circle of friends here have learned with regret of the death Monday afternoon h an Atlanta hos pital of Mrs. M. E. Cozad, of An drews, . mother of the late H. O. Cozad, of Franklin. Mrs. Cozad, who was- 78 years of age, had been in the Atlanta hospital for the past three months. Funeral services were held at the Methodist church in Andrews Wed nesday, and the body was brought to Franklin, where , interment was to be sometime Wednesday, members of the family said. Mrs. Cozad, who had spent con siderable time in Franklin, and who had many friends : here, was known in Andrews as a leader in church and school work. For years, she was an indefatigable worker in the Parent-Teacher aspciation there, of which she -was president. She is survived by her husband, who is well known throughout western North Carolina; one daughter, Miss Eleanor Cozad, formerly of Boston, but who has been making her home recently with her parents; and two grandchildren, Misses Margaret and Mildred Cozad, of Franklin. Make Mayor's Office Fistic Arena Fncraffintr in a fist fieht in the office of .the mayor that is the newest offens: In Franklin. Hailed before Mayor protem John F. f Rirkman on the charge. Fred Mn naid a fine of $5 and the cost the , usual charge for fighting in Franklin, ( The other participant, rtiarlii" Oliver, was not tried at that time. Since he witnessed the affray, Mayor George B. Jfatton declined to hear the case. The trouble arose over Oliver's re porting to Chief of Police Robert Henry that Moss was drunk. In formed whn renorted him. Moss nave Oliver the lie, and. the affray fol lowed, reaching considerable propor tions before the mayor and 'officer could intervene. . The charge of drunkenness against Moss was dismissed. Bryson Reunion The Brvson reunion or birthday din ner will be held at the home of Mrs.- Tames L. Bryson at West's Mill, N. C, near the Cowee Baptist church, on August 28. All that are related or connected, are cordiallv invited to come and bring a well-filled basket. Dinner will be served picnic fashion in the grove.. ... As will be remembered this is the same date the reunion has been being held in celebration of the late James L. Bryson, who passed away last September, We feel that we should meet and honor the birthday of him whom we loved so well. He can't be with us this year. We know it will be sad, just one short year ago he was with us. We did not know that day that in one short month he would be taken away from us. "Alas! Alas! the autumn came, How many hearts were weeping for him who - 'neath the church nouse shade lay sweetly, camly sleeping" Long, Long, will we miss thee; Long, Long, days for thee well weep, And through many nights of sorrow Memory "will vigils keep. Rest Rooms Improved The town and county co-operating, have made Improvements in the public rest -rooms at- the, court "house here. in the' 'room for men, a separate section has been .provided for negroes, the room has been painted, and, more important, a larger pipe provides suf ficient water to make it possible to keep the place in a clean and 'sani tary condition. . , Some additional fixtures have been installed. . - - The work has just been competed. The .new arrangement is I . striking improvement over the conditions pre viously prevaling. The town and coun ty are expected, jointly, to employ a man whose duty will be to' keep the rooms clean. er Harris, together with their families, have been spending a part of the summer at Dillard. . FRANU4N, N. C THURSDAY, AUGUST PROPOSE SCIENCE SCHOOL NANTAHALA RANGE Buying Power of County Low Macon county . ranks , eighty-second among the state's 100 counties, as shown by an index of the total buy ing power of the various counties. The index was compiled by Dartncll Advertisers Guide, and is quoted by the University, of North Carolina News Letter. The index is determined, it is point ed out bv the News Letter, hv mm. bining a serios of factors chosen tn indicate the purchasing power of coun ties, the tactors chosen are: Value added by manufacture, value of mined products, value of crops, Value i; livestock products, value of fishing products, bond deposits, number of domestic lichtinir consumers, nnmher of passenger cars, number of income tax returns, circulation of 30 lead ing magazines, total population, and an index of population, and an index of population quality. the taible is designed to show only purchasing power, and is not an index of how counties rank in other par tucilars, says the News Letter. Coun ties who buy large quantities of products produced elsewhere stand high, while those that largely live at home rank low in this particular list, it adds. ., Forsyth county, largely on account of its tobacco products, is given a buying power index figures of 366. Graham county at the foot of the table, has a buying index figure of 5. In other words, Forsyth county has a buying power 73 times as great as Graham, Macon county's figure is 17. Swain and Jackson are tied for 75th rank. Their relative buying power is 19. Cherokee stands sixty-ninth, with a buying power just double that of either Swain or Jackson, the table shows. Funeral Services Held For Claude Kinsland Funeral services for Claude Kins land, who died in a Knixville hospital last Thursday from injuries received in the blsat in the tunnel on Yellow Creek, Graham county, last Monday, were held at Upper Watauga Metho dist church at 11 o'clock Saturday morning. Mr. Kinsland was a -native of Macon county, and is survived by .his father, Charles Kinsland, and four sisters, Mrs. James Guest, of Frank lin, Mrs. Ivory Henry, of California, and Misses Myrtle and Irene Kins land, of Easlcy, S. C. , The deceased, had many friends here, and had the reputation of being a steady, hard-working young man, of good character. He was foreman of the crew in tunnel No. 11 being dug by the Connor Construction company for the Tallassrjc Power company in the Yel low Creek community of Graham county. The premature explosion took the lives of several workmen, and fatally injured young Kinsland. The funeral services were conduct ed by the Rev. Alvin S. Solcsbee, and a large number of relatives and friends attested their esteem by their at tendance. Mountains Inspires Preacher :. Dr. and Mrs. JVS. Dill are spend ing a vacation in Franklin and mak ing trips to various points of interest while here. Recently they drove to Bryson City and on to the Indian reservation. . Dr. DHL a prominent diivne , at Greenville, S. C, has be come enthusiastic over the scenery in the mountains around Franklin. Be low appears a poem from the pen of Dr. Dul. ; This poem ' vas inspired by the - view at ;, jhe: horseshoe- bend between franklin arid : Bryson City : So grandly rise the mountains, Tis wonderful to see, And yield their crystal fountains To gladcn you ami me. , Adown the vale a river roams, The tawny Tennessee, -O'er rocky beds it frets and foams And hurries to the sea. The .flowers are blooming fresh and - fair,- ; . ' : Their fragrance does not falter. But gives its odors to the air Like insense from an altar. To nature's God then let. us look Who shap'd it all so grand, And holds before us nature's book In hollows of his hand. -J. L. D. 18, 1127 Dr. J. M. Reade, University of Georgia, Picks White Oak Flats as Site For School in National His tory Sciences. Dr. J. M. Reade, of the University of Georgia, visited Franklin some months ago, and outlined, in a gener al way, to the Board of Directors of the Franklin Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, a plan he had in mind for the opening, somewhere in the Southern mountains, of a summer school for research in the natural history sciences, with the view that such a school ultimately might and probably would grow into a ycar Yound institute for research the type of educational institution on which educators today arc placing most cm-1 phasis, according to Dr. Reade. " The Georgia professor was assured of Franklin's interest in such a pro ject, and was asked to formulate his! plans in definite shape, and then pre sent them. He has done just that,1 and copies of his "prospectus of an idea" have been received here. Such a project could not be safely started on less than $25,000, Dr. Reade suggested, and in his prospectus he outlines the uses to which that money would be put, a saf margin being kept in reserve to tke care or the institution's needs over the first three years. . I Dr. Reade was much impressed with' the White Oak Flats, at the head of the Nantahala river, in this county. This site was shown him by Z. B. Byrd, of . the local forest service of fice and a director of the Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture. The prop erty, it is understood, could be leased from the government for educational purposes without cost. The govern ment would also co-operate, it is be lieved, in building a road from High way No. 28, at Wallace gap, to the site. . ' Other towns, however, are under stood to be bidding for the school, and those most interested believe that it would be necessary for Franklin to show its interest by contributing at leeast a few thousand dollars to lo cate the school in this county. This procedure is not unusual, it is pointed out, towns generally contributing heav ily to the eendownmcnt funds of educational isntitutions in order to get them located at or near the towns in question. "It is proposed," says Dr. Reade in his prospectus, "to establish on the edge of the Nantahala Forest in the Southern Appalachian Mountains a summer camp school wheih shall offer instruction of college grade in the natural history sciences, especially at first in botany. "The opportunity for such a ven ture can scarcely be doubted. The mountain territory is the natural sum mer resort of a wide region. . . .For all this region the mountains are fair ly central and readily accessible. . . . "Throughout the South there is a growing number of students, under graduate and graduates, and of teach ers in schools and , small colleges, who should benefit by the tamp. It of fers them a wajj to use the long vacation to get recreation and re freshment for the year ahead and at the same time to improve themselves by study and association. To the student and teacher clientele must be added to an increasing number of others.- Leaders of girl and boy scouts, and simitar organizations are among them, as are, too, persons con cerned with public recreation and con servation. Both, then, the wide terri tory to be served and an abundant clientele are here." The prospectus discusses the possi bilities of growth from such a school, the' -.requirements of location and the advantages.' of a number that have been examined, and camp plans and estimates of cost, quoting figures for other such schools there is no such school, incidentally, in the South to dayand takes up the questions of faculty and staff. It is proposed, at first, to give courses in' general botany, physiography and geology of the region, taxonomy of seed plants, taxondmv of green cryptogams, mycol ogy, and genetics. . , .The , actual operating expense . per season, at the start, is" estimated at $3,600, and to this "must be added the costs o publicity, and .the emergency of having fewer students than expect ed particularly at first. The school should have funds upon ' which to ope;.ite for . several years. . . .Three years of expense of operation would probably total an amount not far f ro lifflOA gainst this we miht t?.jj- but not too much NUMBER THIRTY-THREE HAMSPSIDS MOT PUPIL Seventy-Seven Other Coun ties Spend More Per Pupil Term of Average Macon Rural School 135 Days. Seventy-seven other North Carolina counties spend more per white pupil, for school instruction than does Mac on. To instruct each white pupil in the public schools, this county, in the school year 1925-26, spent an average of $19.28. This is in com parison with an average for the state at large city and rural schools of The figures are taken from the cur- lished by the State Department of Public Instruction. This county ranks fifty-eighth in the per capita cost of instruction of negroes. The figure was $8.64. This is in comparison with an average of $10.24 for the state. Macon county, in 1925-26, paid its 114 rural white teachers an average salary for the year of $598.97, or about $250 less than the average of $853.23 paid throughout the state. This county paid its negro teachers an average annual salary of $289.58. The negro teachers over the state as a whole drew salaries averaging $467.43. , And, with a lower cost of instruc tion than the average, and paying teachers salaries lower than the ave rage, the county, quite naturally em ployed teachers with professional qualifications lower than the average for the state. The publication ' gives teachers, in accordance with their pro fessional training and general educa tion, a scholarship index figure. That figure for the average white teacher in North Carolina was 579, and it aropea to noy in Aiacon county. The average school term in North Carolina for the year under consider ation was 149 days, as compared with 135 in Macon county. The publication shows that the cost of instruction of pupils, both white and negroes, has increased over the state. ti. ... - :i i r iuc average ycr pupil cusi ui in struction in the white schools in 1904-05 was $3.19, while in 1925-26 it was $26.54. This increase, it points out, is due to a number of causes: the increase in the average school term from 94 days in white schools in 1904-05 to 149 days in 1925-26; the increase in the salaries of teachers from an aver age of $14823 per year for white teeachers in 1904-05 to $853.23 in 1925-26; a decided improvement in the professional training and general edu cation of the teachers; "the decrease m the purchasing power of the dollar ; the number of pupils per teacher; and the increase in the number of high school pupils where .costs are wit vi If tfwlltr mrwtk tliin 4 a tlt 4-1 a i are"in the elementary schools." Justice Dismisses Charge Justice of the Peace George Car penter last Thursday dismissed the charges, against Mrs. Maude Jackson, of Tallulah Lodge, Ga., brought by her husband, Ed Jackson, also of Tallulah Lodge, charging Mrs. Jack son and Blaine Butler with improper relations. The case was dismissed in the ab sence , of the man, and of sufficient evidence, m r. carpenter sata. to persuade Mrs. Jackson to return to Georgia with her husband were unavailing. It is proposed to charge each student a flat fee of $150 for the eight weeks session. More than half that amount would be oyer and above the cost of food. On the basis of 25 students that would mean a surplus of about $2,000 to go toward other expenses. , "Judicious publicity should be a mat ter of importance. An attractive an nouncement, other printing, correspon dence, clerk hire, publications are esti mated at a cost of $1,000 per year. Publication should become a more im portant item after the start. "In summary, we seem warranted in thinking that given a site, $10,000 for physical plant and a $15,000 fupd for three years . operation, the i Camp Nature school might be started with reasonable prospect of success and uesfulness." A copy of the prospectus, which ha been quoted only in part, and which contains other facts, about the pro posed school, as well as blue sprints, etc., is in the hands of the editor of anyone interested in invest i.'7,,M"" ' proposal.

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