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KEY CITY OF 'x 12 MOUNTAIN!
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VOLUME XLII1
FRANKLIN, N. C, THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1928
NUMBER TEN
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NEARLY TEN L11IK T.1ADE
AVAILABLE F0S.MU
North Carolina Park Com
mission Announces, Gift
Doubling Money Provided
for by N. C. and Tenn.
Raleigh, March 6. The creation of
the Great Smoky Mountain National
Park in Western North Carolina and
east Tennessee was definitely assured
Tuesday with the announcement by
the North Carolina Park Commission
of .a donation by the Laura , Spelman
Rockefeller Memorial of $5,000,000 to
the fund for the establishment of the
park.
The trustees of the Rockefeller
Memorial have agreed to match con
tributions to the park project frorh
all other sources, dollar for dollar,
up to $5,000,000, the Park Commission
announced. Bond issues and public
subscriptions for the( park in North
Carolina . and Tennessee already
amount to $4,860,000 and with this
sum doubled by the Rockefeller do
nation, sufficient funds will be im
mediately available for the 'purchase
of the entire park area, the North
Carolina Park Commission announced.
Confer With Governor Today
The donation, by the " Rockefeller
:tasiiaiai'ia -
1 -CJ- h Car ,a c 1
.. Chairman Mark Squires announced
that later in the day the park com
mission would meet with Governor
McLean and the counsel of state to
present the' facj-on moneys now
QvaiiaKIp for the nark croiect. This
H meeting is expected to result in the
y i nromnt issuance oi ine M,um',ww m
bonds for, the park project authorized
fey the last legislature. ; When the
.Worth Carolina bond issue was pass
ed, it was stipulated that the money
would not be made available until
the Park Commission could present
positive proof that enough money
was assured to guarantee the crea
tion of the park.
A '. simultaneous Vjinouncemcnt ot
the Rockefeller memorial donation
was made irf Knoxville, Tenn., by Col.
David C. Chapman, .president of the
Great Smoky Mountain Conserva
tion association,.
The ncw national park, the first
great reservation of primitive nature
in eastern America, will comprise
428,000 acres of forest clad mountains,
lyings half - in--North Carolina- and
half in Tennessee. V
Ebbs; Nettles, Squires Overjoyed
State Senator Plato P. Ebbs and
Representative Harry Nettles, of
Asheville, who with Representative
Mark Squires,-of Lenoir, are credited
with doing the bulk of the work in
getting the $2,000,000 park bond issue
through the General Assembly, are m
session with the Park Commission
here. Mr. Ebbs, Mr. Nettles and Mr.
Squires, the big three of the" park
movement, - were overjoyed, at the
Rockefeller memorial gift announce
ment, as were all other members of
the commission. .
The membership of the North Caro
lina Park commission comprises :
Mark Squires, Lenoir, chairman; Dr.
E C. Brooks, Rak;igh, secretary;
Plato D. Ebbs, Asheville, treasurer;
D M Buck, Bald Mountain ; - John
G Dawson. Kinston; frame unney,
J Boone; E. S, Parker, Jr., Greensboro;
Mount: Harry
NeTtlkrAsheTillei JatdisonJ
Wadesboro; and J. Elmer Long Dur
ham. '
Memorial To Mother
Mrs. Laura Spelman ' Rockefeller
was the mother of John D. Rocke
feller, Jr. The Laura Spelman Rocke
feller -Manorial 'fund from which the
donation comes, was created in mem
ory of Mrs. Rockefeller.
The gift which assures the Smoky
Mountain Park, is therefore, a me
morial to Mr. Rockefeller's mother.
Tablets bearing her name will be
erected - at the Tennessee and' North
Carolina boundaries of the park, un
der terms of "the donation. Asheville
Sloan Resigns
At its meeting last Monday night
the Sown board elected Mr. vy. l..
WcrAnn as an alderman to fill the
place made : vacant by the resignation
IV VC-ft".-
of Mr. W. NV Sloan: s Mr. Sloan is
engaged in the survey of the lands to
be included in the Great Mnoky
National Park and for this reason
eould not attend the meetings of the
board regularly.
Till '
Gives
DOT ,'JIHALS
D I STATE
First Systematic Mining for
Gems Was Started in 1871
Upon Opening of A Mine
Near Franklin.
(By Joseph Hyde Pratt, Consulting
Engineer, Chapel Hill. N. C.)
' Many of the gem minerals or pre
cious stones of commerce are found
in North Carolina and some have
been found in a- sufficient quantity
to make them of commercial im
portance. Some of these, as the rho
dolite and hiddenite arc gem mine
rals that have not been found in any
other section of . the world.
The mining for gems has been car
ried on- spasmodically for a" great
many years and probably had its ori
gin first in the finding of water
worn crystals in the gold washings
in several counties where placer min
ing was being carried on; and
second, in the - finding in the mica
of Bn quality. In the gravel from
Lh ntr! wp rp f,nH SfVrral
o- w- j - o
the gold washings were found several
diamonds and a few vircon and ,crni
dote of gem quality,' t
First Systematic Mining
The first svstemiitic miniritr for
gems was begun in 1871 when Charles
W. Jcnks opened the. Corundum mine
in Corundum Hill near Franklin. Ma
con county. The next systematic min7
ing tor gems was the opening ot the
Hiddenite mine at what is now Hid
uenue, Alexander county, m .1001.
This was followed in 1881 by the
. -r .i t- ii tt j
denite, Alexander county, in .1881.
oroanization of the Emerald and Hid
denite Mining company who mined
for emerald and hiddenite in the vi
cinity of Stony Point, Alexander coun
ty. In 1890 was opened and developed
the ruby deposits on Cowee Creek,
Macon county, and the rhodolite de
posits on Caler Fork, Macon county.
1 his 'was followed bv rather ex
tensive operations by
the Amcricant
firm nnd Pearl comnanv for bervl and
amethyst in Mitchell and Macon coun
ties. The amount of material suit
able for producing good cut gems
has riot irt any-case-warranted perma
nent operations. The work in each
case has, however, produced many
excellent gems and as stated above
in two cases produced two new gems.
The. rhodolite deposits of ' Macon
csounty and the hiddenite and beryl
deposits of Alcvandcr county are the
most promising gem deposits for per
manent operations. V -Carolina
Diamonds .
Diamonds have been repeatedly
found in North Carolina, and there
arc now ten authentic ones whose
occurrence are fully established. Be
sides these three others have been
reported. They have been distributed
over a wide area in the counties of
McDowell, Burke, Rutherford, Lin
coln, Mecklenburg and Franklin, and
all of these areas have been very
carefully investigated and the streams
in which the gravels occurred which
contained the diamonds have been
fnllnwprl tn fhi'ir sources, but there
has. bech no information obtained that
gives the slightest-indication as tu
the origin of these diamonds. '
The first diamond- recorded in
North Carolina was found at the
ford of Brindletown creek. Burke
county, and was an octahedral cry
stal estimated to be worth about .$100.
Another was found later in the same
vicinity. The one that was , the first
to attract much attention-was taken
in 1845 from the gold washings of the
Twitty mine in Rutherford, county.
It is described as a curved and very
much distorted octahedron of a faint
yellowish color, clear and almost flaw
less, and weighing about, 11-3 carats.
At this time itacolumite (flexible sand
stone) was announced to have been
found in the same district and it was
pxnertpd that it would be the matrix
bf the diamond as in Brazil and that
L.I 1A V. A'.cXm.aA Imi n"i
FOU
(others would be discovered, but noj-gnch; two tributaries of the. Little
l' knot. nKcnn aJ f. lirr. . n .:r..1 ..tl:i
Koiiucciiou nis ci utvn vvrx.
L it. j: ,1- iU '.t,rMr-
itween the diamonds and the itacohvi
jnite. A fourth diamond an elongated
I. .- -- " - ,
toctahedron ot : a .greemsn, uni .
Pweigning aDom nan a carai, was uu..u
in Lincoln county near Cpttage home
in Tn Todd branch. Mecklen
burg county, two were found at about
the same time, one was a very hand-
LOCAL BOY UTfll
ASHEVILLE TIT JK
Weimar Jones Now State
Editor of Asheville Times
. Has Much Experience in
Newspaper york.
1
The many friends of ): Weimar
Jones will be glad to learn that he
has accepted a position with The
Asheville Times as State editor of
that paper. Mr. Jones formerly edited
the Tri-County News at Andrews and
was later connected with the Associat
ed Press serving with that organiza
tion in many southern cities. Resign
ing his position with the Associated
Press Mr. Jones returned to his
home in Franklin and remained here
about a year doing work for The
Franklin Press, Associated Press and
various dailies of the state. A' few
months ago he accepted a position
with The Charlotte Observer and only
recentN went to Asheville in his
present capacity.
While here Mr. Jones was instru
mental in getting several , hundred
articles concerning Franklin and Ma
con county published in leading news
papers of the South. As secretary of
the local chamber of commerce Mr.
Tones did Excellent work in keeping
' ' In, -
Cmili,l ' - ruMf "i " v !
His hundreds of friends here wish
him the great success his abilities
deserve.
some white crystal weighing about a
carat', and the other a very fine one
of a dark color. From the Portts
mine in Franklin county two have
also been reported, one being a
beautiful octahedron. During the ear
ly eighties a small one was found on
ii Vmnrl ivntprs of Muddv - creek in
: . ' 1COA
- McDowell county; and in 188f . one
tiio ioraYQt fniiiKi in this state and
ttio larrrpt found in this state, and
weighing 4 1-3 carats, was discovered
o nthe Alfred Bright farm at Dysort
ville, McDowell county- It is a dis
torted hexoctahedron, transparent with
a grayish green tinge of color. An--other
has been reported - from this
same region that weighed 2 3-8 carats.
Ttiri- am ntip or two other diamonds
that are said to be North Carol.man,.
whose exact locality is not known.
It is very possible that others have
deposits but they have Deen over
looked in the washing for gold as no
special attention was paid to this
occurrence.
Corundum Gems
There is no state or country that
cxcells North . Carolina . in its variety
of corundum gems. They' are found
red, ruby-red, sapphire-blue, dark blue,
various shades of green, violet and
purplish, rose, pink, brown, yellow,
gray and colorless. The corundum
gems are determined by the color,
and there arc at the present time nine
varieties that are commonly recog
nized by the liapidaries. In the
marts these are usually prefixed by
the word "oriental" to distinguish them
from other gems of the same name,
but who mineral composition and
character are entirely different. These
varieties are as follows:
' Oriental or true ruby Red of va
rious shades. ..
Oriental sapphire Blue of various
shades;1-1' '
Pink' sapphire Rose or pink.
White sapphire Diamond splir
Color Wss
Onaline. girasol, HyalinV-Pale Mue
or bluish white; ,
Oriental amethyst Purple.
Oriental emerald Green.
Oriental topaz Yellow.
Star sapphire, chaltayant, asteria
Opalescent.
Where Gems Are Found
The locality that has, furnished the
greatest variety of these gems, is the
Corundum Hill mine, at Cullasaja,
Macon county, Sapphires have also
bren found at the Grimshap mine,
Montvale, Tarnsylavia county and .at
Sapphire, Jackson county.
The North Carolina locality for
corundum gems which has attracted
the most ,attention is a tract of land
in .Macon county, between the Caler
. r . I I r -
m i ennessee river. . ocauiu.ui .iuuics vi
. ii' j sA i
rirh tiisreon-blood red color have
been found that could . riot be told
from . the Burmah stones. " Thje' bjst
stone that hiV thus ' far feeen-fdund
was valued a,t $I,500rT1y--smaller
gems have been obtained that were
perfectly transparent and of. good
(Continujid on . page two)
" l ' ' . . "- .
.
Farmers Rally Monday Moot
: Successful In Macon History
HI JSOF NKS
FR0r,l HIGHLANDS
Interesting Locals and Oth
er News from Macon
County's Popular Moun
tain City.
On Tuesday, February 28, Rev.
Clarence Williams, pas;or of the
Methodist church, gave a talk to the
women of Highlands. He spoke to
the mothers and-all the women, asking
that they rally to the spiritual and
moral welfare of our town.
On Wednesday afternoon, February
29, the Women Voters' League held
their monthly meeting in the direc
tors room in the Highlands Bank with
sixxten members present.. After a
discussion of various topics the study
topic of the day "Education in the
State" was taken up and handled
most ably by Mrs. M. .A. Pierson.
Mrs. Pfcrson is a teacher in the
public school and well informed on
the subject! ' Her talk was both in
terestintr and-, instructive
She cj '. .---ii.-i.. ,f j:c
ference ikiuci-i"' comui3i wlim
dance law and a compulsory education
law, stressing the importance of the
latter, 'and urging the women of the
league to take, up the master.
The Highlands Community Club
Sewing Circle met with Miss Bernic
Durgin on Thursday afternoon.
The Womens' Missionary Society
of the Baptist church met with' Mrs.
Carl Zoellner ' on Friday afternoon.
It was decided to have a clean-up
day for the church and church yard
and to make some much needed im
provements on the church in. the near
future. , '
On 'Friday night the young people
of the Methodist church gave a play
"Two days to. Marry" in the 'audi
torium of the sdiool house. The play
was gotten up and sponsored. by Mr.
and Mrs. Williairjs. The audience
was' most appreciative and quite a
sum was realized to be used for re
pairs on the parsonage.
Dr. S. H. Lyle ,of Franklin, was
called to Highlands on .Saturday to
attend Mr. J. Q. Pierson, Who is
quite seriously ill. Mr. Picrson's many
-f-riends-.regr.ctxry-.muchhjs.illness
and trust he will soon be upjigain.
Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Major, of At
lanta, paid Highlands a short visit, on
Saturday enroutu to their summer
home, Camp ' Major Haven, on the
road between Highlands and Dillard.
Radio Program
Tuesday, March 13, 7 to 7:30 o'clock
p. m., Power and the Public. The
Background of the' Problem. The
Producer Speaks. The Consumer
Speaks. Watch newspapers fo an
nouncement of speakers,
, Tuesday, March 20, 7 to 7:30 p. m.,
What Congress is Doing. Guest
speakers Wilmot Lewis. Washington
Correspondent .of London Times.
Flank Kent', -Vic-President of Falti
morc Sun. .;-
, Tuesday, March 27 7 to 7:30 p. m.,
How w nominate. Presidents. What
is the Presidential Primary ? ""I low
Conventions '"'Nominate.." The-Conventions
' .Final Choice, Speakers an
nounced, later. ..
Western Missionary
v , ; 1 ,r Zone; Meeting
Western Missionary Zone Meeting
of Waynesyille District will convene
at Bryson' City Methodist church
March 17, at 10 a. in: Zone chairman,
Mrs.' J K, Long, urges the . women
and pastors of Methodism in this
section to "go or send a delegate. ,
If you do not have a. Missionary
Society in your church for adults,
young people or children, but see
the need of one or all, just write
Mrs. Long at Bryson City that you
are going to be there to find out how
to get a society in your community.
Every .church should hale, an or
ganization, pf this kind.' t stimulates
the spiritual and; social life of your
community and"( church.
Come along women, and let us
arry out the vision of the Master
and make . this a real jubilee year
for Him. '
A hearty welcome awaits you at
Bryson City!
' Mrs. ROBERT, DAVIS, Superin
tendent Publicity.
(Dili
4-H Boys and Girls Eager
Orders Received for Seeds
and Fertilizers Common
Sense Talks Made.
That the farmers of Macon county
arc thoroughly alive to the impott
tancc of improved methods of farming
better livestock, better seeds and
scientific fertilization was evidenced
here Monday when hundreds of far
mers, their wives and children, the
latter members of the- 4-H club,
journeyed to Franklin to attend the
farmers rally, held by county agent
Lyles Harris. The meeting was
called to' order by attorney T. J.
Johnston who introduced Mayor George
Patton who made the address of
welcome. Mayor ' Patton : appealed
to both town and rural people ,to
co-operate in the interest :ot a better
town and a better county. He be
lieved that the idea of ill will be
tween the country and the town
people to be a : mistaken one in so
jar as Franklin' is concerned. He
pointed out the fact that both town;
and country are dependent upon each
other and that neither can do with
out the other. . .
The county agent, Lyles Harris,
then pointed out the objects of the
to the importance 'of -"good '"seeds --and
farm finance, the correct fertilizers
for truck farming and other crops
and to the fact that bulletins on all
phases of farming were available at
his office for those who desired
further information.
Miss Elizabeth Kelly, of Franklin,
who is widely known throughout the
state along educational and marketing
lines, next made an inspiring; and
useful talk. She pointed out four .
fundamentals that must be mastered
before on could hope to succeed on
tlc farm: 1st, production; second,
farm garden; third, finance; fourth,
marketing. She wen$ into a thor
ough discussion of each, parti
cularly the marketing phase of
farm life. A farmer working
by himself might reach some dc- '
grce. of success in the first three
iundanieiitals, she said, but organi
zation and co-operation were ricc
cessary for marketing farm produce
successfully. The audience listened '
with rapt attention to Miss Kelly's
speech as she used the blackboard
to illustrate how one fundamental
depended-upon- the others,
.Miss Kelly was highly complimen
tary in , her remarks concerning the
high class of citizenship found in
Macon county. She also, paid her re
spects to the. "two by four politicians
who can look through a keyhole with
both eyes at the same time and who
are trying to convince the people of
Macon county that they de not need
a county agent."
Mr. J. D. Kelly, horticulturist of
the Southern "Railway, next spoke of
the importance of a rotation of crops,
lie "referred particularly to the re
cently established cannery here and
what it means to the farmers' of
Macon county.
Mr. V. B. Cox was the next
speaker, of the day and took as his
subject-the question of fertilizers and
referred 'principally' to the importance
of using highgrade 'fertilizers on the
farm, saying'- that -such - fertilizers
vvould lessen the cost of production.
The afternoon sessions of the meet- '
ing were devoted to taking orders
for seeds , and u'rtilizcrs and to ex
changing seeds among the farmers
present. The county a;' nt also gave
instructions to 250 Fou. -PL club boys
and girls' concerning-' "their club 'ac
tivities. This county ovv has , 430
members of the Four-H :lub and oth
ers are constantly joiiu. 4. Consider
ing the fact, that Ihc club movement
was started in this county only three
months ago, the large membership is
considered remarkable. The youngs
ters present had note books and
pencils ..and; eagerly took notes on any
matter submitted to them. Several
older heads present remarked that the
enthusiasm shown by the members of
the club was the most inspiring mani
festation of better things in store
for !thc rural population that they
had seen here in several years.
SUBJECTS NEXT SUNDAY
Rev. R. F. Mock, pastor of the
Franklin Methodist church, will preach
next Sunday morning taking as his
subject, "The Respected Man". At
night his subject, will be "Choosing