North Carolina Newspapers

f - -f' , i I M , v DEDICATED Tfi I j I iL Hi v v J t II-... Jt Colin Hewspnper . i i 1 County and th Welfare of it Good People 7 7 -AJ PROGRESSIVE IJDERALr-INPEPENDENT V FRANKLIN, N. C T.lUASDAY, JAHUARY 22, 1931 yciur,k xlvi. No. 4 $1X0 PER YEAR assarsrs. : ' J. -i j mmi jij s.-u. mew FlilI2.i00?l Big Meeting of Farmer V "3 FT) 1 " BAI3 PROGRESS To Be Held on January 31 LA17S0UTLCSD -if 1 'J .,, j : ,. - -" ' ' ' ' ' r -r. To Blaclcburn W. Asheville Newspaper Man Becomes Editor of Publication POLICIES OUTLINED To Be Progressive and Promote Welfare of Macon County The Franklin Press, the oldest newspaper-in North Carolina west - of Asheville, has been purchased from Major S. A. Harris by Black burn W. Johnson, former Ashe ville newspaper man. Mr. Johnson took charge of The Tress Saturday afternoon and, be ginning with -this issue, assumes -personal direction of the editing and management of this newspaper, and the operation "of its job print ing plant. In line with v modern newspaper development, he has de "cT'!'"V to enlarge the publication to fi seven-column newspaper, .22 inch es .1 y '""li?.; "i'T, -pprmer-ly,-the' size has been five columns, ,13 inches by. 20 inches. ; v This expansion , will ' enable , the editor to present "a "greater amount of news in a brighter, more in teresting manner and he "feels con fident that it will meet with the approval of both readers and ad vertisers. The Franklin Press will continue to be published every Thursday and should be in the hands of ail of its subscribers living in West ern North Carolina at least by! Friday morning, if not earlier. Policie Projrreive , The editorial policies of The Tress, under its new publisher and editof, will be progressive, liberal and independent. The owner espe cially plan to do everything with in his power to promote the agri cultural and industrial development of Macon County, and he pledges his support to the encouragement of the physical, spiritual and moral wellbeing of the people of this and other - Western North Carolina counties. "Mr. . Johnson purchased The Franklin Press only after a thor ough investigation of. the weekly newspaper : field. He found that this ; was the best opportunity in North Carolina for a forward-looking newspaper, and that Franklin could not be surpassed by any other town of its size, in his know ledge, s a place to jive and work out one's livelihood. He has sin cere admiration for this marvelous mountain country and its people and he aspires to their respect and esteem. ' He has unbounded faith in the future progress of all of Wertern North Carolina and .con : f idently expects Franklin and Ma con county to have a steady, solid normal growth. Improvement Planned Thc publisher wishes to extend a hearty invitation to the readers and patrons of The Press to come in to see him and inspect his printing plant, in which;' from time to time, he plans to make various improve ments, in line with expansion of the newspaper itself. He hopes this enlargement of the --paper, phy sically, will be accompanied by a growth dh circulation and reader confidence and reader-interest. -"The publisher is open to sug gestions at all times. - In "the purchase of the Franklin Press Publishing company, Mr. Johnson acquired all rights to the newspaper,, its equipment and its jb printing " business, which will continue to be operated in con junction with , publication of The" Press.'; :'V'';::,'S,;: ,'; James Henry CareWk and Wil liam A. Allgary, well kntnfn to the v Franklin people through their form er connections with. TIn- -Press, comprise the mechanical staff ; tin ker the present management. ; III Appreciation - ' The new owner wishes publicly to express his appreciation to Ma jor Harris, former ojyner, wnivedit d the paper from 1925 to August 1929, for- the cooperation and in valuable assistance he has given a new man in this rather complicat ed undertaking. He also wishes to . express his appreciation to , m;iny otherii too numerous to . name, foY Ihcir z'A and suggestions, and to She amertiscrs who have shown . .a i ' ,'.:.' TO THE PUBLIC OF MACQ Mr. Blackburn W. John.on W and will edit liin first inue thil.3 number of yean experience in Franklin highly recommended ability. T I Kannen tr know th.t Mr(hnOn h BM MtoluiT pUni to make his paper of use in thelopmt of Mcbw cdunty. Of course he cannot succeed to the f mateiial support of the people we all ccopiTate with Mr. Johnl advertise and develop Franklin V (S Wood Annoiir, Get Fish F;i)m Hatcheries Way. To Restock Streatr Without Cost Offere ; By Government -Arthur A.; Wood fori st suocr-l visor, Nantaliala National Foresi announces that those desiring tf receive fish irom thd federal fis hatcheries at Erwin, Tenn., (shouli get in touch immediately with th, ioresi ranger in nis particular ter ritory of the forest and report his needs. This fish planting, it is ex cst Service in cooperation wilth the Bureau of Fisheries. I See Don Young ' Those desiring to place thi ir ap plications for fish who live I withiu the vicinity of Franklin, or tin mail routes running out trom tryinkiin, should get in touch with lliangei Don Young, "U. "S Forest jTcrvli'ci .lieadquarters . above the M.-co theatre in Franklin. Those in Ithj ' " " . ;. vicinity of Clayton, Ga., should IseiPIanS To Hold Service ! m Ranger R. C. Nicholson, ha.lj St. Agnes Church On quarters at Clayton, and thos-' 4 . . c..Jj- M the . vicinity of Andrews, N. c". ounday Morning northwest of the Nantahala M. ,)iin tain ridge should make their atft plication to Ranger Z. B. Fy headciuarters at - Andrews. Ml Wood explains that these applicj tions cannot be received -at H office in the Franklin Bank buil i"g. Ervin To Preach On 'Some Lessons That Jonah Learned Next Sunday morning the Rii'. G. Clifton Ervin will preach at the Methodist church on the theme, Some Lessons. Jonah Learne At 7:30 in the evening Mr. Er will preach on "Whart Happeiwd in the Bloody . Pass?" Mr. Ervin will preach next Sun day afternoon at Carson's Chapel at 3 o'clock. ; Dr. W. E. Abernethy To Preach Sunday On "Sin as Suicide" Rev. Dr. W. E. Abernethy, pas tor of the First Baptist Church of Franklin will 'preach at " o'clock Sunday morning on "The Tempta tion of Christ" and at 7:30 o'clock in the evening on "Sin 'as SuiciiVi J. C. SANDERS CUTS HIS HEAD WITH AXE J. C. Sanders cut head ih an axe Monday morning, liecessntt ing several stitches t sew the $ Harris Says Rlacon Should Produce More Farm Crops , Agricultural, produi tit'ti in Micon county is only 25 per cent of hat it reasonably should be expect to be, Lyles Harris, fnrnu r 'cditojj and publisher u't The l-rht.kljn jjj-ejj$ iold the Franklin K''iry, cli t its regular weekly luncheon 3!erj nesday noon at the 5:ott ttiffin Hotel. Mr. Harris reiterated, his ei fUs- al .of the Colquitt Cdinty pi P of crop .'..'diversification- i, citeJ facts and figures onl he of this sysiem. wh jel l fas nationwide, attention. .'."-" new suits (in'd V Kega'rding the agric' tion in Macon Count; r..'l t t -i no,,,-;,.., e. JotoooEi Franklin N. C" 7: l9' mi' fl)UNTY: PU'cUmW tU FrWiklin Presi Wek. Mr. Johnson has had line of work ' And comee "lo newspaper man of fact and est extent without tho moral and lonco, it is here suwetted that in tho efforts he Will make to Macon county. led) MAJOR S. A! HARRIS,. former coiiot. :es Means To Highlands Woman First Subscriber if- The first subscription received by The Franklin Press sine the present publisher took charge is from Miss Rebecca S. Harris Havana, Cuba. Miss Harris, m resident of hiHighland. part of tho year, is spending the winter in ' Cuba. She is well known ia Highland! where she has developed several attractive summer placet, includ ing the beautiful estate, "Ki- Kms," situated in the heart- of e town. BISHOP HORNER fcrTlA 1flAPfT, IfT,rtl, III I IliJlL if II V. wwlUU. ' The Rt. Rev. Junius M. Horn er,. D. U., bishop of the Episcopaf Church in the Diocese of Western North Carolina, plans . to come to Franklin to hold services at 11 o'clock .Sunday morning in St. Ag nes church, according to word re ceived from Asheville, where the bishop lives. St. Agnes church has been with out a rector for several years and services have been held infrequent ly. However, plans are being made to . call a minister to serve the Episcopal churches in Franklin and Highlands and various missions in this vicinity. Bishop Horner is well known throughout Western North Caro lina, especially for his, work in the development of mountain mission schools at Finland and Boon. Champion Shoe Shop Is Sold To Bryant H. L. Bryant purchased the Champion Shoe Shop Wednesday from W. F. Curtis. Mr. Bryant is well known in Franklin as a good business man, and plans to keep in stock a good supply oi material and solicits the patronage of the public. Attends Funeral ' Mrs. R. M. Ledford attended the funeral of her cousin, Mrs. Charles Addington at Taccoa, Ga., Wed nesday of this week. statistics, leaving his listeners to ftraw heir own conclusions. He said that 13.6 per cent of t(Ti rnnntv's acreage was under the plow and that 49.6 per cent of this acreage was planted in corn. Tho' eountv's aross income from farm products, he said, was $1, A(r ruvi onrt from Other tWUW a jrvai, - timono Twpntv-four oer cent of the people living on farms in Macon County he added, are iv it me .Murnnoo rrwuyicrn 26 crll:hurch. .. . . cent are 50 years old or olderiV Next week will be observed by Three years aco there were p Presbyterians as' week of self farois in the county without cws, he said, exnressing the opinion that the number of farms without Cst'ie Negotiations Under Way To Reopen Doors of Bank of Franklin - OUTLOOK BRIGHTER Many Depositors Pledge Cooperation With Directors' Plan The past week has brought def inite and important steps looking to the reopening of the Bank of Franklin or the opening of a new bank, for which a charter already has been obtained under the name of the Bank of Macon, but pending the outcome of negotiations how under way no definite decision has been reached as to which course will be followed. Last Saturday morning a board of, directors was elected by the persons who have signed up as Stockholders in the proposed new bank and the same afternoon de positors of the Bank of Franklin met with directors of the institu tion in the courthouse and discuss Plcdges were obtained from 110 depositors that they would abide by any decision of the state -bank" ling examiner looking toward ; re opening the closed bank. , . Conferences Held " Conferences were held Monday and Tuesday between a committee representing the depositors and the bank's board of directors and a sub-committee went to Asheville Tuesday afternoon ,to confer with Garnet Henson of the State Bank-! ing Department. Negotiations be tween the depositors and the direc tors still are under way.. At the meeting in the courthouse Saturday it was pointed out by various speakers that it will be greatly to the advantage of the de positors to agree to sign agree ments not to withdraw their funds lof a certain "period in order to make reopening of the bank. posr sible. The opinion , was authorita tively expressed that the depositors would get their' money much, soon er under an agreement permitting reopening of the bank than they would if the bank is permitted to go through the procedure of Iiqui dation. Confidence was voiced by some that part of the depositors' funds could be made available to them before expiration of the pe riod to be set by State Bank ing Examiner Mitchell. H. L. Cabe, cashier of the Bank of Franklin, announced that Bank ing Examiner Henson had inform ed him that 95 per cent of the de positors must agree to leave their funds intact for the period to be set by Mr. Mitchell in order to reopen the bank. Committee Members Members of the committees con ferring pn the question of reopen inc the bank follow.: Depositors: Joseph Ashear, Dr. W. E. Furr, Claude Russell. : Bank directors : Sam L. Franks, M. L. Dowdle, Gilmer A. Jones, R. D. Sisk, George Patton. 1 The following -were elected last Saturday morning as directors of the proposed bank of Macon Coun ty:' i M L. Dowdle, M. D. Billings. S. A. Munday, Grover Jamrson, C. F. Moody, S. H. Lyle, S. L. Franks. DR. EDGAR ANGEL JOINS STAFF OF CLINIC IN BOSTON Dr. Edgar Angel left last Satur day for Boston, where he will b an assistant in the Lahey Clinic, one of the leading clinical institu tions in the east, in the capacity of specialist in thyroid surgery and goiter operations. Dr. Angel plans . to remain with Lahey Clinic for a year, according to his brother Dr. Fusman Angel of Angel Brothers' Hospital. Rev. J. A. Flanagan To Preach Sunday On Misfion Topic "The Task of Missions" will be the subject of the Rev. J. A. Flan agan's sermon at the Presbyterian church Sunday morning at 11 I - t ' t r o clock. In the afternoon the Rev. Mr. Flanagan will conduct services denial and prayec arid special meet- ings will be held here, led by mem bers of the Ladies' Auxiliary of tht In promoting the agricultural program for North Carolina as set out by Governor Gardner to "Farm to Make a Living in 1931" there will be a county-wide farmers and business men' meeting "Saturday, January 31, at the court house. This meeting will be held under the direction of County Agent V. S. Sloan. The speakers for the occassion are state and federal who compose one of the teams sent out to hold one county wide meeting in each county. They will present the agricultural outlook for 1931 by subjects such as pork, dairying, poultry, corn, wheat, potatoes cab bage, truck crops, etc. . Purpose of Meeting The main purpose in holding such a . meeting in each county is to help the farmers in. each section to realize and understand just what they are facing along each line with this years production. It is intended that this will aid them in planning a program of agriculture to be practiced by them this year. 'The questions that are in the minds of Macon County farmers," Mr. .Sloan said, "arc of the nature that "will be explained, by these specialists. The farmers of Macon cottnty tcalize that they must grow Legislature Is Having Hard Time Cutting Expenditures BY CARL GOERCH RALEIGH, Jan. 21 .-The legisla ture has been having a rather in teresting week. Most of its time is being taken up in discussing money matters. In that respect, senators and representatives arc like the average married couple ; there is little chance of reaching an agreement but there is always a mighty fine chance of starting an argument. I interviewed about fifty repre sentatives and about twenty sena tors this week. Every last one of them said he was in favor of re ducing taxes on real estate. That's what yon might call perfect agree ment It was when I began mak ing .inquiries, about their plan for bringing about a reduction in taxes that 1 began to find evidences of almost perfect disagreement. The result probably will be that they'll spend so much time arguing that they won't have any time to actual ly reduce taxes. The State budget for 1931-33 was issued this week. It shows appro priations of $100,000 for this, $200, 000 for that, and $300,000 for some thing else. What's worrying me is where all this money is coming from. Making out a budget is one thing; collecting the money is something entirely different. My wife makes out a budget which in cludes about five new dresses every year, but she doesn't get 'em. There's going to be a big hole in the State's revenue this year. There are 40,000 fewer automobiles on our roads than there were this time last year. That makes close to a million dollars loss in revenue through the sale of license plates and gasoline tax. There arc more folks who will be unable to piyr their taxes than ever before, which means still greater loss in revenue. And when we see the pitiful re turns that we're going to get out of our income tax returns well, unless we begin to take steps right now to bring about a rigid rule of economy, it looks to me like things will just about go bust in six months or so, A number of counties are already defaulting in their bond interest payments, and a lot of others are right on the ragged edge. I visited the State Prison Mon day and had George Ross I'ou take me over the institution. Few people really know what is going on out there. One of these days I want Carolina Provision Firm's Store Entered and Robbed A thief or thieves broke through a barred window of the Carolina Provision company's building near the depot Monday" night and stole goods of an uneslimated value. It was the second time in three months that the warehouse had been entered by thieves. Messers Higdon, proprietors of the com pany, had been unable Tuesday to check the missing goods. How ever, it was' found that half a doz en cartons of cigarettes, wnu'.rm- a's and a on of--1 all of the feed and food crops possible, but under present con ditions they arc not certain what lines of production present the best outlook as cash crops. For this one reason, "he rontinues, IwotiM say that every farmer and farm woman in the county should make it a point" to attend this meeting." ' Problems Faced The problems confronting the farmers today are such as: What about increasing acreage on Irish potatoes, production of pork, or poultry, or corn, orx change from dairying to beef production, or put ting in more acreage to truck crops for the southern markets. The so lution to these, says Mr. Sloan, depends upon the sound judgement of the farmers based on fads and figures as presented in the agri cultural outlook for 1931. The goal to be reached by North Carolina farmers in 1931 as set up by Governor Gardner is for them to produce $40,0(K),(XK) more food and feed crops than in past years. The increase of these crops in 1931 was $19,000,000 over 1929 which means that this much is being kept in the state instead of being sent to fanners of other states. This says Governor Gardner if prac iced for a period of years will ef fect an enormous saving for the citizens of North Carolina. to write it up. Their biennial re port has just been issued. It's a mighty interesting document. You ought to get hold of a copy and read it. Talking about the prison; pour ing money into that old rat-trap for maintenance is like pouring water into a sieve. The old pile of bricks is just about ready to crumble and fall to pieces. College professors claim that an injustice is being done them in the proposal to reduce salaries ten per cent. The mcrcharJf,"thc "manufac turer, the clerk, the laboring man and the farmer have all had to take their cut in revenue and I don't see why the intellectuals should be absolved from their obligation. Just because a man knows how to trans late a Latin sentence or how to pronounce hors. d'oeuvres is no reason why he shouldn't gel down on a level with us common folks when it conies to taking a cut in wages. Especially when we're the ones who arc paying him. Senator Powell, of Columbus County, has introduced a crazy bill, He wants to discharge all married women who arc holding State or county jobs and whose husbands are receiving salaries of more than $100 a month. If that bill 'should' be adopted, it will mean that a whole gang of married nun will have to go back to work again. Governor Gardner says it cost him $9,600 more to live in the man sion than he. received in salary from the State as Governor. It would "soeni that being Governor of North Carolina is almost as er pensive a proposition as being a tenant-farmer in North Carolina. Everybody is howling about mon ey. We're blaming every possible agency for the predicament in which we arc now finding our selves. As a matter of fact, if we .hadn't all been so everlastingly extravagant (luring the last ten years, all of us would have had plenty of money with which to meet the present emergency. And we wouldn't be howling about tax es either, because we'd be able to pay our taxes. There's one thing . I've noticed during the last couple of weeks" in rambling over hc State. : The leg islature may be unable to decide our weighty problems for us, but the crowds that hang around hotel lobbies and drug stores don't seem to find any trouble in doing it. tons had been broken open and their contents stolen. The robbers also took the keys hanging in a padlock on one of the doors of the warehouse.' Other signs indicated that they had looked for money, but finding the safe locked they contented themselves with pilfering the sup plies in the store room. This wa9 the second robber in tfwv vicinit of Franklin within fi' e l:i;t month. About Vwo wc-ti. I V,ore of -LJ,-'' u. Rogers Seeks To Restore, System of Fe.e-fo?" -Certain Offices BILLS EXPLAINED Would Authorize County Board To Sell Bonds In Emergencies Proposals to restore the fee sys tem instead- of salaries for the sheriff and certain other officials of Macon county, to, authorize the county commissioners to issue bonds in emergencies and to abolish the $10 fee, in -this county, now paid under statewide statute, for the seizure of automobiles laden with whiskey, are contained in the leg-' islative program outlined at Raleigh by Dr. W. A. Rogers, Macoii s representative in the General As- sembly now in session at Raleigh: A large part of the,, program, was drafted by the Macon County bar association with the coopera tion of the county board of com missioners and Dr. Rogers. Bills Proposed Dr. Rogers said he intended to seek the enactment of the follow ing bills: 1. A bill to be entitled "an act to provide for the assumption and payment by the State of the prin cipal and interest of bonds issued by the various counties of the State where the proceeds of said bonds have been loaned or donated to the highway commission and ex pended on the State highway sys tem.. 2. A bill to be entitled-, "an art. to amend section 108 of the consoli dated statutes relative to recorders court, and to include Macon Coun ty among the counties in which a recorders court may be established." This act would enable the board -of commissioners to establish a re corders or gencal county court for Macon County. 3. A bill to be entitled, "an act to repeal chapter 54 of the public local laws of 1929, relative to sal aries and fees of certain county officials of Macon County, and ic storing the fee system." 4. A bill to be entitled "an act to repeal section 805, chapter 344, of the public-local laws of 1929 and to abolish discounts and penalties in payment of taxes." 5. A bill to be entitled "an act to repeal chapter 210 of the public local laws of 1929 and to repeal chapter 335 of the public-local laws of 1927, so far as it affects the county of Macon." This bill would abolish the $10 fee now paid for seizure of automobiles laden with whiskey. " 6. Another bill would repeal ch ip- ter 63, of the public-local laws of 1929, and enact in its place, a law that wuld enable the Mason Co'in ty commissioners to issue bonds in event of an emergency. "The reason for the bar recom mending 'this is that, in the present financial stringency, an occas on might arise when bonds issued in some amount would become impera tive," President T, J. Johnston, of the Macon County Bar association, said in' a letter to Representative i Rogers. "We hardly think such an occassion will arise but if it should it would require a great deal of ex pense and uncertainty to call an election. You will note that this bill provides that the bonds cannot be issued, however, except in the cases provided for in the former act, without the approval of the St-ite sinking fund commission. 7. A bill to amend the cornty road law. Under provisions of this measure, the board of county com missioners would be authorized to appoint a county road supervisor at a salary not less than $1,000 or more than $1,500 a year; to ap prove a budget for road mainten ance, and to levy the necessary taxes for roads. Oppose CentraliwUiom The Macon county bar associa tion, in a petition addressed Senator Kelly E. Bennett, of F Ty son City, and Representative licg ers, opposes the reduction of t' c number of State highway commis sioners from , nine to four mem bers, as proposed in the Gover nor's biennial message to the Gen eral Asse tly. "We feel-ihatlif the commission were cut down io a smaller num ber of menj--the work of t!.e hij.Iavay, on crr-traiiy" t Rale i '.IK