I ' 1 i'crcit
U -.tt!2e J Climate
Uj i assed Scenery
Zl '.3 Game Refua
17 Peaks Over '
Feet High
Ideal Dairy County
Creamery, Cannery
Excellent Highways
Cheap . Electric Power
for Industries
Law-abiding Citizenship
A 4 V 'W -o A
K1,C:3 II. P. Un,;!cVi,I
oped Water Power
Mica, ICaolin, A.Lestoi,
Abrasive Materials
Copper, Timber
Precious nd Semi -
precious Gems
Abundance Good Labor
Ample Transportation
Facilities
Pure, Clear Water
Productive Soils
07 A LIOIMIY-IN EMPIRE RIPS FOP. DEVELOPMENT
FRANKLIN, N. C, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1929
NUMBER FIFTY
t
If?
vjjl i y j iff
Hi
BIEW VILLAGE'
Aged Negro Mai). Believed Victim Of Strychnine Poison
' AIlCiiTPR HFin
4 aWilAUlk MMMMUMfM
m iuuiux mil
Bill; , Scruggs Dies i Shortly
V After -Supper ' Last -y
Thursday Night
HIS DOG IS ALSO DEAD
Strychnine Was Bought at
Local Drug Store, Drug
, gist Testifies ? , -
' , Bill Scruggs, aged colored man,
died last Thursday night at his home
in the. Mashburn Branch section .. of
the county, .from what is believed to
have been strychnine, poisoning.
Shortly after eating supper, which in,
, eluded some canned salmon, Scruggs
fell ill and laid the cause of his
sickness to the salmon he had eaten.
He soon became unconscious and died
-within an hour, the body twitching as
though from poisoning effects. ' , .
. Suspicion that Scruggs had been
.poisoned ;first develped when some
member of the family - fed the re
mainder of the salmon to a dog which
died withiri i half hour. ; . ;
, When trports;o.'the;vdeath:: reached
.Franklin,"it was felled . thai a color
ed, woman who gave the name Minnie
Scruggs had bought one-sixteenth of
an ounce of strychnine at a Frank
lin drug store on December 3, stat
ing that she wanted it to poison' rats.
Scruggs' daughter, Minnie, was then
arrested and brought here along with
J. E. Parrish, colored, said to be Tier
sweetheart. Parrish was charged with
shooting at Doc Scruggs, Minnie's
brother. It is reported that he had
also had trouble with Bill' Scruggs;
and it was therefore thought that
he might be implicated with the al
leged poisoning.
When Minnie was brought before
the owner of the drug store, Jim
Perry, at a coroner's inquest on Fri
day, Perry testified that she was not
the woman who had bought the
strychnine. Later when she was tak
en before C. L. Cartledge, the clerk
who had measured put the strychnine,
lie testified that it was his belief
that she was the woman to whom the
strychnine had been sold.
Officers returned to Mashburn
Branch to,, search for a suspect whm
Perry and Cartledge "might agree was
the buyer of the poison. Instead of
bringing back such a' suspect, , how
ever, they returned with Doc Scruggs
and Tom Burgess; colored, and held
them on liquor charges. ;
J. E. Parrish, who was arrested with
Minnie Scruggs, charged with shoot
(Continued on page eight) .
FINAL DRIVE IN SUBSCRIPTION
-CONTEST IS ON THIS WEEK
Campaign Comes To , End
' On Friday, Decern-
ber 20th
"-"With one week remaining in the
final period of the subscription con
test being conducted for The Frank
lin Press by the Franklin high school
Juniors and members of the Teach
ers' Training department, a great sub
scription flurry is looming for these
seven days.
"The Junior class is divided into
"Red" and "Blue" divisions, the Blue
team being headed by Miss , Mary
Jacobs and the Red team by Miss
Virginia Calloway. The two teams
are very nearly tied for honors.
Members of ' these teams represent
nearly every scctjorv .jof -the county,
SITE
WILLFUL DAMAGE
OF EVERGREENS
IS MISDEMEANOR
A little-known law ton the books of
North Carolina makes it a misde
meanor for anyone to willfully commit
any damage-or' injury upon any tree,
plant or crop, within one hundred
yards of any state highway or other
public road rithdut ' the consent of
the owner of the land. . ' '
This' information comes . from the
State Department of Conservation and
Development. At this time of year,
the ; Department emphasizes, there is
considerable discussion about the
conservation of Christmas greens,
such as holly, small evergreens, . and
the like. For violation of the law
mentioned above there is a maximum
fine of $50 or a maximum imprison
ment of 30 days.
County game wardens . are author
ized to see to its enforcement.
r-iAcou wm
DIB AT PRISON
Death Comes After Birth
.1' .r. ?f whks,; One ; of -. ;i
wst- q. mi -mi w' .WiflSSgirseff
Mrs. Allen Dills,, who, with! her
husband, was sentenced to a term of
imprisonment in the state penitentary
more than a year ago, for the killing
of Dave Waldroop in this county,
died in the state prison several days
ago after giving birth to twin girls,
one of whom . also died. The bodies
were brought to Macon for'.' inter
ment. " The living twin is to be cared for
by the State Welfare department.
Funds to the amount of $2500 are ap
propriated by the state . for needy
children, and the child will be cared
for from this sum. It has been tak
en from the prison and placed in a
Raleigh home.
The Asheville Times last week car
ried an editorial commenting on the
inefficiency of a system that allows
children to ' be rborn of mothers serv
ing prison terms. The stigma of
having been born inside prison walls
should never be borne by a child,
is the opinion expressed by the Ashe
ville paper.
BASKETBALL PRACTICE
TO START THIS WEEK
Basketball practice began, on Mon
day of this week, at Franklin high
school. Coach Kesler is expecting
some 20. men ; to report by the time
(Continued on page eight)
'been 'literally county-wicte.
After January 1, subscription rates
of The Press advance from $1.50 to
$2 a year. It is with the idea of
giving new prospects and old sub1
scribers opportunity to subscribe or"'
renew at the 'present rates that the
contest is being conducted. All con
test returns will be in on December
20, ,the date on which the drive is to
be brought to a close. After, that,
10 days will remain in which to take'
advantage of the old rates. .
In order, however, fer members or
the Junior class or Teachers' Train
ing1 department to receive a com
mission from subscriptions, they must
be given to a representative of one
of these ,gjpups within the next week.
'-'-" . ' . , .i ' ,
S LAID m MNTAHALA
100TH BIRTHDAY
WILL BE OBSERVED
BY J. M. CRAWFORD,
. , . ' "
Washington, D. C, Dec. 6.
Dewey Crawford, attorney from
Fort Pierce; FLa., has written Sena
tor Overman that his grandfather,
John Moore Crawford, of Hayes-.'
yille, will celebrate his 100th birt-'
day on Christmas Day at the court4
house or school auditorium in
Hayesville, where a celebration will
be held in his honor and it is his
purpose to have letters from promi
ment North Carolinians to be read,
to which he believes he would like
to contribute.
", Mr. Crawford states his grand
father is a native of Macon coun
ty and has lived in Clay county, for
the past 75 years; he was a first
lieutenant in the Confederate army
and has taken a prominent part in
public affairs of his community;
that his mental and physical , pow
ers are unusually preserved, en
abling him to remain active with
out the use of glasses or cane.
fl
Macon Instructcrs Prepara
tion Is Increased 1.45
Years Since 1922-23
Since 1922-23 the average training
of the teachers of Macon county has
increased 1.45 years, it is learned
from the State Department of Pub-.
lie Instruction, which has just com
pleted a study of the scholastic prep
aration of white teachers in all the
counties and 34 of the largest cities
of the state.
In 1922-23 the index of training of
the white teachers in this school sys
tem was. 3.81, whereas the , past year,
1928-29, the index of the teachers
employed was .5.31. In other words,
better prepared teachers are now
employed than were six years ago.
The average training of all rural
white teachers of the state is now 2.19
college years, and of city teachers
3.44 years in college. Thus, it is
noted that the training of teachers
in the Macon system is below the
state average of all rural teachers.
79 GALS. LIQUOR
Car Wrecks On Cowee
Mountain As Officers
Give Chase
Working on tips. Sherif f f C. L.
Ingram and Deputy Fred Cabe last
Sunday night caught three men with
24 gallons of liquor on Cowee moun
tain east of Franklin, after the car
in which the men were riding had
failed to round a curve and had
wrecked. Monday 'night on a second
raid, a man with .55, gallons, of , whisk
ey was taken in "a car ' near the' same
place by the same officers. V
. Fred Smathers, Bill Hightower and
a man named Queen, all of Canton,
were the three captured. on Sunday.
Following the wreck, the three were
brought to a Franklin hospital for4
treatment of injuries around their
heads -and faces, none of which were
very -serious. '
Bob Maynard, of Asheville, was
taken on Monday night. Following
preliminary hearings, all were bound
oyer to the next , term of superior j
TEACSIE
SHAVE
raws NET
REPORT ON FARM
170RIC RECIEVED
State Agricultural Board
Holds Meeting At
Raleigh '
. ., n. r ;
Raleigh.' Dec.:. 5. Progress in all
divisions of the 'North Carolina State
Department of Agriculture duuring the
past six months was shown in the
report of Commissioner William A.
Graham, made last week to the Board
of Agriculture, at is regular Decem
ber meeting. This Board meets twice
a year in July and in . December
nd each time the Commissioner
makes his report. However, the fis
cal year ends June 30, and it is,
therefore, at the summer meeting
that the budget is prepared. Al
though this Department is under the
general budget law, it operates on its
own income and the Board, in co
operation with the' Commissioner, the
executive head, prepares the budget
of expenditures. '
"Reporting on the activities of the
six, test farms owned by the Depart
ment, Commissjonef Graham remind
ed the, Board , that , for the past ,20
years! ' the selection and improvement
of better seed had been an important
part of " their program.. Commenting
further upon this phase of the work,
he added:
"The better varieties have been de
termined 'in '"the" various sections of
the state by extensive variety tests
over a period of years; After this,
the varieties' bist suited to the dif
ferent sections are ihjprOved, and the
seeds are increased for' distribution to
the farmers over , thc;itate t: a- reas
onable price. This year the six test
farms will whavV; for ' distribution
arou,nd 1,500 bushels of pedigreed
seeds of different kinds.,
"This seed improvement work on
our test ' farms has been very valu
able in establishing the North Caro
lina seed crop improvement associa
tion on a sound basis. Professor W.
H. Darst, director of the Association,
has expressed his appreciation of
what has been done on these farms."
The, Commissioner then referred to
the work in tobacco experiments, with
a view to selection and standardiza
tion of the , best varieties, also to
crop improvement work embracing
peanuts. He referred to the "Blake
more," the new variety of the straw
berry developed at the Lower Coastal
Plain Farm at Willard. N. C.
In reporting activities of the State
Department of Agriculture, he official
ly announced to the Board the ap-
h ati an mobs threaten
Murder in battle area
500 More Marines Hurry to
Reinforce Those Now .
On Scene
Washington, D. C, Dec. 8. Reports
of serious conditions in Haiti con
tinued to reach Washington tonight
as 500 United States Marines, were
moved toward the island republic to
assist the 700 already there in main
taining peace.
The cruiser Galveston which was
requested by Brigadier-General John
H. Russell, the American high com
missioner in Haiti, to assist the Ma
rines, arrived today in Jacmel, 20
miles from Port Au Prince, the capi
tal, to evacuate American women and
children.
A gathering of the largest body of
malcontents yet. .reported to the state
MM. IS PUSHED
OH IEI HOUSB
Survey for Concrete Road
Is Made To Location '
Of Town
BRIDGE N ANT AH ALA
Right Of Way for Railroad
Is Being Cleared and
Crossties Cut
News from Beechers, near the site
of . a proposed new. village in Macon
county to be constructed by the Nan
tahala Power and Light company,
subsidiary of the Aluminum' Company
of America, is to the . effect that
work is. being pushed on the project
ed village. tThe new town is being
located near the power house and the
end of the tunnel which' is to car
ry' water from the dam near Aquone.
The village site has been surveyed
and layed Off into ' streets and lots.
A force of carpenters is at work erect
ing houses for the employees. A road
is' being graded from 'bighway No.
10 to the new town, and it is re
ported that the road will be , hard
surfaced with concrete. . . , . -
The right of way. for fthe railroad
is being cleared. Crossties' are be
ing prepared by "a sawmill and by
force- of1.' inert.-, in ahex-woods'It -is
planned, according to reports reachi&g
here, for the Ritter Lumber company
to extend its railway down the Nan
tahala river, connecting with the pow
er company's road at Aquone and
with the . Southern road at Beechers.
This will solve the problem of the
dam interfering with the railroad now
leading to Andrews from Aquoiie
and will also be a direct route to
market for lumber and crossties.
The surveyors report that the sur
vey for the transmission line from
the Andrews power plant will be
complete in a few days. The An
drews plant and the plant near
Beechers will then be connected.
Material for a bridge across the
Nantahala river near the home of
O. L. Coles is being laid dwn. This
bridge will connect the two parts of
the village, as it is to be built on
both sides of the river.
The Nantahala Power company wiS
heed several million feet , for forms
and other building purposes in the
erection of the dam and power house,
as well as several hundred cottages
for employees.
pointment of A. B. Etheridge as
chief and stated that the selection
was made because of the, fitness of '
Mr, . Etheridge, based on experience
(Continued on page eight)
gram received late today from Gen
eral Rups'ell who said that yesterday
morning a crowd of about 2,000 sur
rounded the outpost building at Chati
tcl crying "Down with Borno, down
with Freeman." x (..' t-l
Borno In Hospital '
The "Borno" referred to by the
crowd is the president of the repub
lic, who is now in Johns Hopkins
Hospital, Baltimore, on account of
illness. The state . department said
it was unable to identify the person
referred to as "Freeman," who , was
decried by the gathering. s
The Aux Cayes district was the
scene of the first bloodshed in the
situation which grew out of a strike
in October of college students who
objected to a decrease .in-' the ' scEool's
appropriations Jt.p vcarc. ,tpr otherjrtccds