North Carolina Newspapers

' ' s - it- " ( t-. ,J ett tJf Aihevll'e County and t!.e Welfare of iu CooJ Pec;.! PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL-rlNDEPENDENT VOLUME XLVI, No. 7 FRANKLIN. N. C, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1331 $1.23 PER YEAR r 3 - r i r-..., .,. r,.., f., - ... t A I S) J t : v A 1 . r? t fy !;v. ) V OUllttfOD Delegation Encouraged After Conferences At Raleigh : y REOPENING" LIKELY Audit Is Expected To Be Put on File Within Next Few Days ; : Prorpects are definitely encourag ing lor the reopening of the Batik of Franklin, according to" word brought back from Raleigh; Wed nesday by a member of a delcga- - tion vhieh wenKthcre early in the week to confer vith members of the State Corporation Commission and its bank , department. An announcement of plans is ex- "pectcd within the near, future?-.-;' Audit 'Awaited -,. The report of the auditors on' the condition of the bank when it rlos eJ December 16 has not yet been " made public but this is expected to be filed and made accessible to the general public in a few days. It had been expected early - this week but there was some small delay. Copies arc - to be deposited with the . Corporation Commission and with , the JCkrk of Macon County Superior Court. Persons - familiar with the bank's affairs arc confident -that the audit will show the ' bank well able to pay dollar for , dollar for all de posits. However, it is regarded a foregone s conclusion that the de- positors . , will have to agree to freeze their deposits for a certain period. But -in view of the likeli hood that under liquidation with out reopening the depositors would have to wait just as tong or longer for their .money, little - difficulty is expected . in" securing the coopera tion of Vrtie1-- JcpbsTtors.-vCieneraT sentiment; throughout v the; county seems to- favor reopening ; of the old bank. . "Many large depositors already have. agreed to freeze, their deposits. :.. ' . " .- ' Two weeks ago it was "announced that a ne"w bank would be opened here, but : proponents" of the new institution have withheld action pending the outcome of plans to reopen the Bank of Franklin. And since the outlook has brightened for the reopening of the old in stitution,, persons " whose names wtre mentioned in connection with .plans for, the proposed Bank of Macon have lent their cooperation in efforts looking' toward reviving the Bank of Franklin. . Members of the committee which went to Raleigh to confer with the Corporation Commission were Charles Ingram," W. D. Barnard, A. B. Slagle, Frank I. Murray, R. ?isk. Toe ' Ashear and C. F. " - t Moody. . : -. - . . .. ' , SLOAN REPORTS STORAGE EGGS GLUTTING MART Fred S. Sloan, Macon county farm demonstration agent, returned Tuesday .night after a trip toAt lanta. where he went to gather in formation concerning the outlook for green farm produce during the coming spring and summer.- While there he also looked into the poul try and egg situation. On his re turn he reported the cold storage houses were glutted with eggs and were dumping them on the (market at prices far below production. He said he was informed that dealers -who had been bearding eggs would haVe to take a huge loss this year. Roy C. Dady Wins Spell in g Contest The people who attended the srcli':ng bee at the courthouse last Friday ivight' were greatly enthused over it Everyone wat in treat suspense when Roy C. Dady and Miss Charlotte Conley were the only two left standing, spelling words that seemed im possible to b spelled. At lastw though. Miss Conley went down on the word "Kaffir." Mr. Dady spelled it correctly, thereby win ning the first prize, gold pin donated by Mrs. Higdon. Miss Conley took the second prize, a box of 'candy mad by Miss Virginia Cunningham. ' Some of the other good spell ers whq stood up until almost the last were . Mr. Randolph, Gertrude Shope, Mrs. Higdon, Ebnan Dady and Dan Wilkie. R D. Sisk Joins v 4 ". Hole-in-One Club R. D. Siik, well known Frank lin attorney and links enthusiast, has started the golfing season in , top-notch form and already has set a, record for other Franklin ' golfers to. shoot at a hole-in-tqn. , ., , Sunday afternoon Mr. ' Sisk teed up-4is ball on No. 6, which is only 210 yards long but made difficult, by a pond; and sand traps. Ha chose his mashie, neatly tapped th little white pellet and then had the satisfac tion all golfrrs - long for. - The ball made a clearcut arc, ' drop ped m the sand green and rolled unwaveringly into the cup. Mr. Sisk bad companion play ers on the round to vouch (or the hole-in-one not meaning, however, that his own word was insufficient. JOilESLOWS FEE FOR GOLF Links Enthusiasts Turn Out as Franklin Course Opens . Gilmer A. Jones, owner, of the Franklin golf course, one of the best ' laid out nine-hole links in Western North Carolina, has an nounced a reduction in the annual green fee for this year. Golfers now can obtain full priv ileges of the course for $20 instead of $25. The latter sum was the amount charged last year and cov ered both golf and tennis. .Under the .new arrangement' golfers will n2ibjy?Jth unless Jtliey. also wish ;,to useithe tennis courts. Daily, weekly and monthly rates will remain unchang ed. , Both the golf course and the ten nis courts, of which there are two. liave been opened for the season and Uarence JJrown, Jr., who has been put in charge of the caddy house, will be on hand when the weather permits playing. Mr. Jones has had fresh sand put on the greens, which were con siderably loosened up by the winter's- snow and ice, and they are now packing down nicely. A score or - more players were seen . on the . course last Sunday and the crowds.: are . expected to increase with the coming of warm weather and tourists. A good many tennis enthusiasts J already are Making use of the two courts, both of which were in use all Sunday afternoon.' BISHOP HORNER AGAIN TO HOLD SERVICES HERE The Rt.- Rev. Junius M. Horner, bishop of the -.Episcopal church of Western North Carolina, will visit St, Agnes church on Tuesday morning, February 15. . Services will be held at II o'clock, with a celebration of the Holy Com-J munion. Atter tne service -tue Bishop will conduct a meeting of thV Congregation, at which time the officers for the year' will be elect ed. . Devastating Fires Cause Untold Damage to Timber BY J. HERBERT STONE (Technical Assistant to the Super visor of Nantahala National Forest) How does fire damage our for ests? This is a question, of im portance to all of lis in these for: ested mountains of Westerri North Carolina.. Possibly some may ques tion whether any damage results from many (ires which destroy no houses, barns, fences and the like, but observation in many regions by manu timbermen. ' foresters, and scientists have shown that eacb fire, no matter' how harmless it appears, . takes its toll from our forests. r' Damage to Standing Timber It requires -no stretch of the imagination to realize" the "damage to the forest when fire burns so fiercely that merchantable trees are consumed or o injured that they did .This sort of damage does oc cur but not on every fire. "The extent of this total destruction URGECOUIITY L1ERGP PLAN Brookings Body Advises Consolidations ' of 23 Counties, 4. suggestITew map Standardized System for Local Governments Also Proposeid ' (Special to The Franklin! Press) RALEIGH, Feb. ll.-A plan for county consolidations which-; w6uld affect a number of Western North Carolina counties is proposed in the .'Brookings report on county government made public this wek by Governor Gardner. . The. Brookings report was com piled by a group of governmental experts with headquarters in Wash ington who were employed by the governor last year to make a. sur vey of both . state and county gov ernments in North Carolina. The latest report from this body urges consolidation of 23 of the state's 100 counties into 11. A uniform governmental system for the . counties is recommended with the. following standardized units: ;. yl. Board of county commission ers. : 2. Pcpartment of finance. -3. Department of justice. 4. DepUrtment of education. 5. Department of health. , 6. Department of highways and public works. .7. Department of welfare. 8. Audit department (state de partment of local government fi nances.) . .' - v "It is our recommendation that a careful' study be made of this fquestion of county consolidation, says the report,- "and to this, end we are listing certain specific in stances in which... it is believed, such a consolidation could be made with advantage." The following consolidations are urged Cherokee and Clay counties, with Murphy as county seat. Graham and Swain counties, with Bryson City as county scat. Mitchell and Avery, with Spruce Pine as county seat. . Henderson and Polk, with Hen dersonvillc as county seat. Alexander and Iredell counties, with' Statesville as county, seat. Stokes and Forsyth, with Win-ston-Salcm as county seat. Caswell and Person, with Roxboro as county seat. - Hoke and Cumberland, with Fa yetteville as county seat. . Wilson and Greene, with Wilson as county seat. Chowan and Perquimans, with Edenton as county seat. Pasquotank, Camden and Curri tuck, with Elizabeth City as county seat. If such consolidations were ef fected North Carolina would- be come a state with 88 counties in stead of its present 100. ' "It is recognized that the people of North Carolina are probably not now prepared, for action so dras tic, says the Brookings report. but it , is none the less desirable that the matter should at least be brought to their attention so that they may be giving it their con sideration with a view of possible action in the future.." depends on the intensity of the fire, the age of the stand and -the species of trees. Thin-barked young trees arc more easily killed than thicker-barked older trees. Pine with its inflammable pitch is more susceptible to complete destruction than the nori-rcsinous hardwoods. Far more frequently,' fire injures the quality, of timber produced on the area. There is always a great er accumulation of, leaves and oth er inflammable material on the up' hill side of a tree. As the fire burns uphill, the flames'- tend to lick around the base of the tree from both sides, the draft causing a concentration of flame and heat on this upper sitle. This destroys the' living part of the tree just under the bark and leaves a scar through which rot often enters to spread through the trunk and ren der the valuable butt log unfit for saw timber. In some stands of (Continued on page four) Bill To Gut Coot of Advertising Tax Foreclosure Sales Is Drawn; Would id Burdened Land Owner Editorial One Way To Help Taxpayer A Very large percentage of landowners, especially farmers, sooner or later go through the depressing, experience of having their property put on the block at the courthouse door through inability, frequently merely temporary, to pay their taxes. To protect the rights of the unfortunate property holder the law nas porvided a means of giving him and. all other parties concerned full notice of sale. The action must beWvertised in the public press for Jour consecutive weeks prior to sale. In4 a large majority of oases the delinquent taxpayer finds means during this time to- rain the neces sary funds to bid in his land. But he disoqveres later that he not only has to pay the back taxes and penalties but alio must bear a heavy burden of special fees covering the legal expense. When the county gives him a statement of these he, finds that besidos recompensing the county for its expense, he also must pay, indirectly, a lawyer and a newspaper the lawyer for preparing the legal papers and the news paper for publishing them. To the sorely burdened and bewildered taxpayer this seems to be adding insult to injury. He frequently grows warm under the collar and cusses the newspaper lor what appears to him the needless and exhorbitant cost of legal advertising. He reads the advertisement and it seems maningless. He is not sure whether it is his property or some one's else that is described in the long, technical, involved statement of metes and bui until. But he presumes it is; the sheriff and the law yer have so told him and the advertisement ascribes it to him. He reads in columns adjoining that in which his property was advertised other advertisements almost exactly the eama except for the parties concern ed and the description of the property. The statement of the case, in each instance' the same, takes up nearly half of the space for which he must pay. Being a man of common sense, the landowner wonders why all this needless repetition and technical . superficiality is necessary. Why couldn't the same statement of the case be applied to all of the lax foreclosures advertised? It would be an appreciable saving to the al ready, overburdened taxpayer. , - If these questions are voiced, the answer usually is merely that it is a legal formality which must be complied with. Thomas J. Johnston, attorney for the. Macon County Board of Com missioners, believes it is high time that something should be dorie about this. So he has prepared a bill, to be sent to Raleigh shortly, which would have the effect of eliminating some of the unnecessary, verbose repetitions and reduce the expenses of legal advertisements in cases of tax foreclosures from 40 to 60 per cent. - - . If this bill it enacted it will mean just so much money out of the pockets of the publishers mostly thJ weekly publishers. Hardly any one will deny that they need all they can put their hands on. An opulent weekly newspaper publisher, even a prosperous one, is scarce. However, The Franklin Press behoves that the tax-delinquent should not be punished to the extent of having to pay for unnecessarily Urge legal advertisements just to help the editor along. The old method of advertising tax foreclosures is archaic and this newspaper heartily endorses-Attorney Johnston's bill, but with one reservation that it be amended so as to simplify and abbreviate the wordy, complicated legal descriptions of metes and bounds. DEATH CLAIMS AGED RESIDENT OF COMMUNITY After an illness of two weeks, Tcck Myers, retired blacksmith and ardent fisherman, died at his home here at 2 o'clock Wednesday morn ing. Mr. Myers, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Eli Myers, was born in Ten nessee. The family removed to this county shortly after the War Between the States. For many years the elder! and younger Myers conducted a blacksmith shop at the site where the Baptist church now stands. At the time of his death Mr. Myers was 82 years old He is survived by two brothers, fink Myers, of Franklin, and Tenny Myers, of Baker, Ore. His wife died several years ago. They had no children. His niece, Mrs. George Conley, resided with Mr. Myers. Funeral services were hckl at the home Wednesday afternoon with burial in the city cemetery; MALE QUARTET TO RENDER PROGRAM FOR METHODISTS Nextunday evening a male ouartet will sing two numbers at (he Franklin Me hodist church. The quartet is composed of G. C. Ervin, first tenor; T. D. Johnston, second tenor; R. C. Dady, first bass; and Rogers Dalton, second bass. The service will start at 7:30. Mr. Ervin's theme for the evening talk will be "David Livingstone, The Pathfinder.". At the morning hour Mr. Ervin will speak on ' the subject, "What is the Simple Gospel?" Beginning a week from next Sunday morning he will preach a series of Lenten srrmons on the life of Christ. The Sunday school will meet at 9:45 a. m." It is hoped that all the members will make a special effort to be present next Sunday morning. The Epworth League , will have a Valentine party at the home of Mrs.' J. S. Conley next Thursday evening at "7:30. This will be a masquerade party also,and all the members of the league are cor dially invited to attend. , Statement DR. ABERNETHY HOLDS SERVICES AT BRYSON CITY Dr. Abcrnethy spent last Sun day in Bryson City, and preached in the First Baptist church there at the morning and evening ser vices, for Dr. Creal, the pastor, who was in Florida with his sick wife. Dr. Abcrnethy reported that he had two fine services. Thomas Cribble, of Sylva, oc cupied the pulpit here' Sunday morning, using the third chapter of Proverbs as a foundation for his remarks. The congregation was delighted with his discourse. The Rev. Thad Dcitz, of Sylva, who is no stranger in Franklin. preached Sunday niyht to a well filled church. Rev. Mr. Dcitz used as a text, Daniel 3-25, "And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Indebtedness of Macon Not as Bad as Pictured The current issue of the Uni versity of North Carolina News Letter, usuallya very reliable and informative organ devoted prin cipally to educational and govern mental affairs of the state, carries a comparison of , county debts which, lacking complete details and an explanation, is rather ' damag ing to Macon county and, possibly, to other counties. The comparisons are set forth in a table ranking the counties ac cording Jo the percentage their in debtedness is of Jhcir assessed val uation. The county wide, district, township, city and school debts are listed in groups but the comparison is on the basis of the total of all of these. Macon county is listed as having a total debt of $1,648,925; or 22.1 per cent of its total valuation. 'This puts Macon 94th in the list, with only Clay, Cherokee, Buncombe, Transylvania, Henderson and Car taret having a larger percentage of indebtedness. Currituck ' county leads the list with debts amount ing to only 2.7 per cent of its as sessed valuation. The county wide debt for Macon County Attorney Seeking To Modernize Old Legal Red Tape Thomas J. Johnston, attorney for the Macon County Board of Com missioners, has prepared a bill for introduction in the General As sembly .which would reduce the amount of space necessary tor legal advertisements of tax foreclosure sales and cut the cost of such ad vertisements about 40 to 50 per cent. , Mr. Johnston-plans to send the measure to Dr. W. A. Rogers, Macon's representative in the leg islature, within a few days. The bill would make it unnecessary to repeat in each case, the long state ment of summons and notice. . The attorney pointed out that in some rases' the court costs in- cident to tax foreclosures arc great er than the amount of taxes in arrears. He expressed the opinion that ' his bill would appreciably re duce these expenses. The measure reads: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED, "AN ACT TO ABRIDGE THE REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 2 OF CHAPTER 334 OF THE PUBLIC LAWS OF 1929, REL ATIVE TO PUBLICATION OF NOTICE IN TAX, FORECLOS URE SUITS." Whereas, in suits instituted for the foreclosure of tax certificates under the statutes applicable there to, it is necessary that summons and notice of the action be pub lished in a newspaper for four consecutive weeks; and whereas, in many cases, the court costs inci dent to the said suits far exceed the amount, of taxes assessed against the real estate sought to be sold , under . the judgments in said foreclosure suits, ' and con stitute a heavy burden upon the taxpayers and upon the counties; and whereas, it is to the public interest that the costs of said suits be held to as low a figure as can be done: Now, therefore, The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact : Section 1. That where a number of suits arc being prosecuted sim ultaneously in any county for the foreclosure of lax certificates, all of which arc returnable upon the same day; and where publication of summons and notice in said suits ' is being made concurrently in the same newspaper, and the same arc being published in order, in consecutive columns, with no intervening printed matter between the various notices, it shall only be necessary to publish the full notice prescribed by Section 2 of Chapter 334 of the Public Laws of 1929 in the first in order of said notices; and as to all the remain ing notices, it shall be sufficient to publish the title of the action and a description of the property involved, to which shall be added a statement to the effect that htc defendants and all parlies interest ed are required to appear at the (Continued on page four) is given- as $874,925; the district and township school debts as $262, 000; town debts (olhur than school) as $512,000. It is true that there arc bonds outstanding for these amounts, or there were at ihe time the Tax Commission compiled its report, but an explanation of the. full facts shows a different picture for Ma con, which would put it far up in the table published in the Univers ity News Letter and make it ap pear as a more advantageous place for investments and industry. I Of the county wide debt $325,000 advanced to the State Highway Commission as a loan to hasten the hard-surfacing of Route 28, and the time is now in sight when this indebtedness will be taken over by the state and the county reimburs ed for the interest it has paid. The Town of Franklin, with a listed debt of $512,000, appears to be deep in the hole, but when it is considered that approximately $324,000 of this has been assumed by a private power company after taking over the municipal hydro electric plant, the outlook is not so dark. . MOTORCADE TO LMKJPKG Stretch of Surfacing at Baldwin To Be Opened February 22 iRANKLINTO PROFIT Gainesville Planning To Put on Motorcade February 24 The last of the concrete has been poured on the Atlanta Short Route, linking Asheville and the Georgia metropolis with a solid stretch' of hard-surfacihg, 57 miles shorter than 'any other route. A , letter received by The Franklui Press Wednesday from A. S. Har dy, president of the Gainesville, Ga., chamber of commerce, an nounced thaf the last link of the paved highway would be opened to traffic on Sunday, February 22, and that on Tuesday, February 22, a motorcade of Gainesville busi ness men and others would come to Frank'lin in celebration of the event. Opening of the concrete stretch between Baldwin and New Holland will mark the completion of a hardsurfaced highway from Que bec, Canada, to Miami and Tam pa, Florida, via Asheville and Franklin, North Carolina, and Gain esville and Atlanta, Georgia. To Boost Business The distance by the highway from Asheville to Atlanta will be 220 miles. The route by Murphy, which inw draws a large part of the tourist traffic,- is 57 miles long er. Opening of the road between Baldwin and New Holland is cx-. pectcd to bring hundreds more automobiles and tourists through Franklin, with a consequent in crease in business for Franklin merchants. There has been some talk of a motorcade from Atlanta to Ashe ville to celebrate the completion of the Short Route, but no word has been received here of definite plans other than those set forth by the Gainesville chamber v of commerce. "Gainesville is not endeavoring to secure any advertising for it self out of this motorcade, "said ihe letter received by The Press, "but simply is paying a friendly visit to our friends it the respec tive towns. "At this season of the year the weather conditons are, of course, uncertain. Therefore, if Tuesday, the 24th, should be a bad day, we will postpone the trip until a day when weather conditions are all rinht. However, .we are going ahead with our plans for the 24th, ami any cooperation you may be able to give us will be greatly ap preciated." To, Make Many Stops The motorcade plans call for stops at Lula, Alto, Baldwin, Cor nelia, Clarkesville and Clayton be fore the good-will cavalcade reach es Franklin. A movement already has been started here to extend an official welcome to the visitors and to pro vide them with entertainment.. Gainesville is making extensive plans for the motorcade and com mittees to arrange for various de tails of the highway celebration have been appointed. Trash Clean-up Urged by Henry It's time to start spring clean ing, Police Chief Bob Henry announced Wednesday, and the city forces are ready to coop erate with all who are in the mood of getting things shipshape for warmer weather. Winter may not be ojuite over, but Chief Henry believe in an arty start and ha said ha will do his part to, see that ail teash and debris are removed as soon as a householder or whoever else has any trash calls for the city truck, fie pointed out, however, that the men in charge of the truck cannot rake back, yards and do the cleaning: the trash should be gathered togeth er in a spot accessible to the truck. Chief Henry emphasized that with the motorcade coming here February 24 front Gainesville, Ga., it is particularly urgent that the community get busy and clean Up as soon as passible. i i .1