t if " w ., - 0
III " N " - - I If f 1 y V II I
9
DEDICATED
TO MACON COUNTY
And to the Welfare and Prosperity
of it Good People
is mmmm y
PROGRESSIVE
LIBERAL
INDEPENDENT
VOLUME XLVI, No. 19
FRANKLIN, N. C THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1931
$1.50 PER YEAR
ESTABLISHED
IN 1885 -
OlJest North Carolina Newspaper
West of Asheville
r. f: railway
LOSMONEY
Plight of Short Line Is
Explained Here by
Officials
FACES BIG DEFICIT
$100,000 More Business
- Needed To Meet 1931
Expenses
' Gross passenger revenues of the
Tallulah Falls railway declined from
yTVfpVTW III 17 U KM pJtjyj? III SJJ
and freight revenues from $212,768
in "1925 to $122,174 inJ930, accord
ing to H. L. Brewer,"" of Cornelia,
auditor and assistant to the re
ceivcr of the line, which connects
with the Southern Railway at Cor
- nelia.
Mr. Brewer gave these and other
statistics indicating heavy loss -of
business by the "T. R" at a meet
ing of Franklin shippers held in
the town hall Thursday night of
last week. J. F. Cray, receiver
for the railroad, and W, B. Ellard,
Jr., traffic manager, also attended
the meeting
Outcome Problematical
The line faces an estimated, op
erating deficit this year of ap
proximately $51,000, it was brought
out Dy Mr. uray in questioning
Mr. Brewer as a "witness on the
stand. ,What the outcome will be,
neither Mr. Gray nor- Mr. Brewer,
would venture an opinion. How
ever, Mr. Gray did say:
"If the Southern Railroad should
decide to stop giving support to
the lalluian rails railway ana nave
it abandoned, the people of Frank
lin "may rest assured that it will
i i i
, De done in an oraeriy manner wu
consideration, . for everybody con
cerned. .You will be given fair
- notice and an-opportunity to pre
sent any arguments yu may have
against abandonment before the
Interstate Commerce Commission."
About a score of Franklin busi
ness men and shippers attended
! meotinrr Mr Hrnv Mr Rrf w-
er and Mr. Ellard weer introduced
by W. L. Higdon.
The figures quoted by Mr. Brew
er showing heavy losses, in the
railroad's business, were taken from
his sworn reports to the Interstate
Commerce Commission. '
Expense Reduced
While the revenues have been
declining, the assistant to the re
ceiver said, large , economies in op
eration costs have been effected
in order to keep -the . line TUnning.
In 1925 operation costs totaled
$227,172; in 1930 theywere $178,
680. " Despite this drop, however,
. tl. n m.nAto rvliirc!so 1 i"n slit inn i a Kat-
LUC HJtfVJ a yiij vv"vinwii v.
ter now than it has been since it
was put in receivership, Mr. Brew
er asserted. . v
He estimated that, ot balance
rev'enucs and expenses, the railroad
would have to get at least $100,000
more business this year above the
amount already anticipated.
ftir. r.uara ioki ine snippers inai
the Tallulah falls railways ireignt
rates were now on the same level
as trunk line rates and were as
low as the Interstate Commerce
. rnmmission would allow them.
Mr. Gray assured the gathering
that he would keep franklin busi
ness men informed as to any new
developments in the railroad's af 1
fairs. Everything, he assured,
would be open and above Doard.
DATES ARE SET I
- BY YOUNG FOR
TAGGING CATTLE
Don Young, forest ranger, an
nounced Wednesday that hogs and
livestock grazing in his district of
the ' Nantahala', National forest,
would be tagged next week.; Rep
resentatives of the forestry service
will be at Wilson Lick on Monday
and at White Oak Bottoms on
Tuesday, he said, to : tag .all live
stock' in accordance with govern
ment regulations.
BILL LEDFORD
IS INJURED IN
AUTO ACCIDENT
Bill Ledford, 67, ,of Rainbow
Springs, is in Angel Brothers' hos
pital recovering from injuries re
rnivpf! Sundav mominir when an
automobile reported to have been
lrivpn bv Howard Cruse accident
ally backed over him. The mishap
occurred at Rainbow Springs. Led
ford was brought to Angel Broth
ers' hospital, where it was found
hU ' nelvis and several ribs had
"been broken. He also suffered in-
iernal injuries.
Paul Cheek Fatally Hurt
Trying To Scare Friends
By Recldess Auto Driving
Paul Cheek, of Prentiss, is dead
and Henry Tallent, of Franklin, is
suffering from a broken collar bone
and cuts on his head as the result
of the overturning of an automo
bile driven by Cheek on t,he Geor
gia highway about four miles from
Franklin at 5 o'clock Sunday after
noon, cneek, it was reported, was
zig-zagging the car from side to
side of the road to frighten the
other occupants. The wheels on
one side slipped off the concrete
and when he attempted to bring
the machine back on the highway
it turned over twice, landing back
on the wheels.
Cheek wasTushed to Angel
Brothers' hospital where it was
discovered his skull had been frac
tured, his jaw bone broken in two
places and internal injuries Suffer
ed. He was unconscious and his
condition was viewed as hopeless.
Legislature in
For More
"7
FIBRE COMPANY
IS EXPANDING
Plant at Canton Plans
To Use Other Wood
Than Spruce
Welcome news to all of West
ern North Carolina is the an
nouncement made last Saturday
nisrht bv Reuben B. Robertson,
president of the Champion vFibVe
company, that the company would
not abandon or curtail its opera
tion's at Canton on account of the
transfer of 93,000 acres of spruce
land to the Great Smoky Moun
tains National park. Mr. Robert
son stated that 'the company .al
ready has launched a modification
and expansion program, contem
plating the manufacture of new
products. ,
Of especial interest to Macon
comity was his explanation that the
company was planning to utilize
woods other than " spruce. Con
siderable interest is centered in
the question as to whether this
development will afford a new out
let for timber from v this section,
especially chestnut, millions of feet
of which are rotting on the stump.
Contracts Awarded
Already, Mr. Robertson said, the
company has awarded contracts for
$100,000 in new machinery as a
preliminary part of the modifica
tion program. Gradually the plant
will be changed to increase the
output of paper manufactured from
other varieties of timber iistead of
spruce. The plant is also plan
ning the manufacture of additional
products including chlorine, caustic
soda and other chemicals.
A Correction
The correspondent, in the last is
sue of The Press, who reported
that Messrs Chas. and Robert Ful
ton had given the young people of
Bethel community a bridge party
had been misinformed: The Ep-
worth League of Bethel church
gave a social for its members at
the Fulton home, on Wednesday
evening. Some of the older people
present were: Rev, and Mrs. H
C. Freeman, Mr. L. E. Spahr, Mr,
and Mrs. T. L. Saunders, Mr. and
Mrs. Crawford, Mrs. Phillips and
Mrs." E. F. Horn." There were
forty-eight present. Lemonade and
cake were . served. Everyone re
ported a sociable evening.
Camel Contest Winners
To Be Named Next Week
WINSTON-SALEM, May 6.
Prize winners in the Camel ciga
rette $50,000 cash "prize contest will
be announced next week, officials
of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco com
pany said today.
The contest judges and their
staff, who have 4een carefully read
ing the approximately 1,000,000 en
tries, have completed their work,
the announcement stated, and plans
are now being completed for the
actual awarding of the checks.
Thirty-eight prizes, including a
first prize of ' $25,000, are to be
awarded for the best letters on
He died at 10 o'clock Tuesday
morning.
Reported In the. car with Cheek,
besides Tallent, were Ed Whilting
ton, Thad Dowdle and Cecil Holt.
The latter three sustained only
minor bruises and cuts.
vCheek had only recently returned
to" Macon county .from Virginia.
He bought three farms in the vi
cinity of Prentiss, giving one to a
brother, one to Ms father and
keeping the other for himself. On
his own place he had spent con
siderable money in improvements
and equipment. His home was one
of the-best in the section.
Funeral services were held for
Cheek at Union church, "Prentiss,
at 3 o'clock Wednesday afternoon.
He is survived by his widow; his
father and mother, Mr. and Mrs.
Alex Cheek, and by several sisters
and a brother.
Session
than 120 Days
Governor Asks Support
For MacLean's
School Law
RALEIGH, May 6. With a new
message before it from Governor
Gardner asking for support of the
MacLean school law as far as
possible by "a reasonable and fair
and just and workable system of
taxation," the North Carolina Gen
eral Assembly Wednesday entered
upon its 120th day of the present
session. Sixty days is the regular
time alloted for the biennial gath
ering)f lawmakers.
The school few, passed early in
the session and committing the as
sembly to provide for the six
months school term with taxatiSn
other than ad valorem, must be
supported by a sales' tax of some
kind, its proponents say, if it is
carried out in entirety.
Governor Gardner, however, a
staunch opponent of either the lux
ury sales fax, which the house has
approved but which the senate has
killed five times, or the general
sales tax, which the house included
in its original revenue bill but
tirtiiVi olcn was rpifrtirt Kv -ttiA SPll
ate. did not come out for a sak
tax.
He delivered a special message
to a joint session of the house and
senate Tuesday night.
"I ask you to take a position of
acceptance and support of the Mac
Lean bill," Governor Gardner declared.-
However, he qualified his state
ment by adding r
Same Taxation Necessary
."I ask you to recognize frankly,
that it will be necessary next year,
1931-32, to levy some ad valorem
tax for the support of the current
expense budgets of the six months
school term in every section of
North Carolina.
"It seems to me that the prac
tical sense as well as the logic in
our present situation leads irre
sistibly to' the decision that for
the present we accept the principle
of the MacLean bill and that the
state provide "from sources other
than ad valorem taxes as large a
part of the current cost of the
six months school term as you can
provide for under a reasonable and
fair and just and workable system
of taxation.
"Beyond that I do not think you
are called upon to go. Beyond
that I think you should not go."
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Walter
Bryson, of Hihlands, at Angel
Brothers hospital April 28, a son.
how the new cellophane moisture
proof wrappers on Camel cigarette
packages benefit smokers. Second
prize will be $10,000, and third'
prize , $5,000. There will be five,
awards of $1,000 each, five awards
of $500 each and 25 awafds of
$100 each,
Judges of the contest are Roy
W. Howard, chairman of the board
of the Scripps-Howard . league of
newspapers; Charles Dank Gibson,
famous artist and publisher of .Life
magazine, and Ray Long, president
of the International Magazine com
pany and editor of Cosmopolitan.
GARDNER NATJES F
NEW ROAD BODY
Chief Executve Fails
To Reappoint J. G.
Stikeleather
7 MEMBERS NAMED
W. W. Neal, of Marion,
Is Only Member
From West
RALEIGH, May 6.-The list of
seven appointees to the new State
Highway commission submitted to
the Senate Monday by Governor
Gardner includes the name of only
one man from Western North
Carolina Will W. Neal, of Mar
ion. The governor selected Neal
in the face of urgent requests
from a number of counties in the
mountain area for the reappoint
ment of J. G. Stikeleather, of
Ashcville. .
Under the provisions of the
state road law enacted by the
present General Assembly, the com
missioners are appointed to repre
sent tnc state at large and no
member is the representative of
any particular district.
Gardner's Appointees
The list, as announced by the
governor, is composed of James
H. Clark, Bladen county ; N. L.
Stedman, Halifax county; T. L.
Bland, Wake county; James L.
McNair, Scotland county; E. B.
Jeffrcss, Guilford county; C. AA
Cannon, Cabarrus county; and Will
VV. Neal, McDowell county. "
The governor appointed E. B.
Jeffress. chairman of the commis
sion and T. L. Bland as the Re
publican member.
In announcing the personnel of
his commission the governor stated
that he had maturely considered
all the recommendations made from
every, section of the state and in
addition had conscientiously con
sidered nominations made by him
self with a view to selecting seven
of the most able men in North
Carolina to compose the commission
which he-f considers j?crhaps -4h
most itnportant and useful body
he will appoint during his entire
term of office. No member ap
pointed was a .candidate for the
position.
"There is not a man on the
commission," stated the governor,
"who is not endowed by" ability
and interest with high capacity to
successfully develop our highway
.roa1 lM,!icy an1 to insure the
efficient and economical adininis
tration of the road law. I con
sider the composite membership
of the commission one of the best
balanced, most" cohesive and con
structive bodies to be found in
North Carolina."
Ames To Be Engineer
Mr. Leslie R. Ames, scheduled
to be appointed chief engineer, is
not new to the State Highway de
partment. He had ten years of
experience under former Chairman
Frank Page, and -was Mr. Page's
assistant in the period during
which the state was engaged in its
most active program of highway
construction. He " was chief engi
neer from 1926 to 1929. In 1929
he resigned to become state high
way engineer of Louisiana, which
position he was unable to hold be
cause of a fundamental difference
of viewpoint with respect to .high
way building held by him and , by
Governor Hucy Long,
Can Company
Representative
Visits Franklin
L. M. .Goodwin, of Baltimore,
crop production specialist of the
American Can company, and T. D.
Holder, of Denton, Md., canning
specialist of the Maryland farm
extension service, visited Franklin
Wednesday and were guests of the
Franklin Rotary Club at the club's
regular weekly luncheon at the
Scott Griffin hotel. "
Mr. Goodwin came here to look
over the prospects for the estab
lishment of a cannery. He
vv;i:i careful t say that he was
not in the business of setting up
canneries himself and that he was
interested in the field only in an
indirect manner. He held out little
or no hope of interesting anyone
in the. establishment of a cannery
here this year. He stated the chief
purpose of his visit was to obtain
information. After the Rotary
luncheon he discussed the situation
with the county commissioners, C.
W. Teague and F. S. Sloan, county
farm agent..
ranklin
Elections Very Quiet;
Mines Def eais Davis
Plans for Summer Golf
And Tennis Tournaments
Here Are Made Public
The Franklin Golf club has chos
en the following method to de
termine its best player for 1931.
A monthly tournament will.be
held from May until October, in
clusive. The leader in the first
flight in each of these will be
eligible to participate in no further
monthly tournaments, and his po
sition in the first flight will be
filled by the leader of the second
flight. Then, on or about Thanks
giving, the winners of the first
flight in these monthly tourna
ments will have a battle royal for
the year's championship.
As there will be only six month
ly tournaments, the runners up of
the two last ones, September and
October, will also be eligible for
the year's championship. A careful
record of each tournament will he
kept so in case the winner of
either of them is absent, or for
any other reason unable to par
ticipate, the man standing next to
him in the" tournament ' of which
he was the winner, will take his
place.
PLAN CONCERT
SUNDAY NIGHT
Methodist Singers Are
To Render Mother's
Day Program
-The choir of th Franklin Meth
odist church will present a special
program Sunday evening at 8
o'clock to which everyone in the
community is cordially invited. A
Mother's Day "Songologue" will
be presented.
The program will consist of
solos, duets, quartets, and chorus
numbers all on the theme of
"Mother." The choir, under the
direction of Mrs. Boyce Munday,
has been working tirelessly on this
program, and an excellent musical
presentation is assured. An offer
ing will be taken after the pro
gram to be used in helping to pay
for the new vestments worn by the
choir. This is the only Methodist
vested choir west of Aslievillc. A
farge attendance is expected at this
program.
At the morning hour, the Rev.
G. Clifton Ervin will speak on the
theme, "The Challenge of Mother
hood." A special Mother's Day
solo will be sung by Mrs. 1'oyce
Munday.
The regular service will be held
at Carson's Chapel at 3 o'clock in
the afternoon.
Make Inspection Tour
Of Nantahala Forest
J. E. Bu'rch,; in the lands division
of the forestry office, and Mr, I.
T. Yarnell, assistant regional for
ester of the regional office, both
of Washington, I). C, have been
making an inspection of the Nan
tahala forest. Mr. Dort, regional
engineer, also has been making an
inspection.
Plans Are Completed
For Training School
Beginning Sunday evening, May
17, a community - school for the
training of Sunday school teachers'
and leaders in church activities will
be held at the Methodist church.
At 7 o'clock on Sunday evening,
May 17, a joint meeting of all the
young people's societies of the com
munity will be held in the Bap
tist church. The special speaker
at this meeting will be Mrs. I).
I). Taber, who is a field worker
of the national council -'of the
Episcopal church. She will ad
dress the young people on the sub
ject of "The Christian Leadership
of Young People."
Classes will start on .Monday
evening, May 18, at 7:30. There
will be two class periods an' even
and Highland
The entrance fee will be nomi
nal, only 50 cents. No prizes will
be awarded the winners' of the
first flinlil in the monthly tourna
ments, but a small prize will be
;,ieii each month to the winner
of the second flight. At the end
of the season, a large prize will be
given to the winner of the season's
championship, this prize to be
chosen by the members of the club.
The May tournament will be
held Monday, May 11. This con
test will be for low medal score,
IK -holes, and all may participate.
The winner will Be eliminated, and
the eiht players making the next
best scores will constitute the first
flight for the June tournament. In
the June tournament the winner
will drop out, and the winner of
the second flight will take his place,
and so on through the season.
A monthly tenuis tournament
will also be held each month, the
first to begin May 11.
Theer will also be an invitation
golf toiiruamuit to be held the
week, of July 4. .
Deposits in Bank
Reported at $35,000
Deposits in the Bank of
Franklin reached $35,000, in
round figures, Wednesday, eight
days after its reopening. All
of this was in checking accounts,
as the bank has not been auth
orized yet to accept new depos
its on which interest muet be
paid. In view of this fact, the
total of the checking deposits
was regarded as very encourag
ing. Scores of new accounts
have been opened in the past
week and others are coming in
daily, it was reported.
DISABLED ARE
OFFERED HELP
Rehabilitation Officer
Employed by State
Visits Here
Charles II. Warren, assistant su
pervisor of vocational rehabilitation
of the state department of educa
tion, visited Franklin last Friday
to interview Macon county resi
dents who are availing themselves
of the advantage of vocational
educalioin that the state offers to
disabled civilians.
Quite a number met Mr. War
ren in the office of . M. I). Billings,
county superintendent of education.
Mr. Billings, who, by virtue of his
office, is also county superinten
dent of. public welfare, states that
many, have been put in touch with
this division of the state's depart
ment' of public instruction through
his office, and that there arc in
Macon both men and women, eith
tr through the effects of illness
or accident, and, . in some cases,
handicapped from birth, who have
ing, .running from 7.30 to 9:30 with
a ten-minute intermission between
periods. Three courses will be
tat'ght. Mrs, IV D. Taber will
teach a course for young pepple
and leaders -of. young people. A
course on primary and junior meth
ods and materials will be taught
by Miss Amy Harrison and Mrs.
G. Clifton Ervin. The Rev. G.
Clifton Ervin will teach a -course
on the Life of Christ.
A cordial invitation is extended
all the people of the community
to attend these classes. The Meth
odist, Baptist, Presbyterian and
Episcopal churches are cooperating
in conducting this school Mrs. J
W. Cantey Johnson is the super
visor of the school.
Patton Reelected Mayor
Of Franklin Without
Opposition
REGISTRAR RESIGNS
Fouts, Conley, Dowdle,
Moore, Penland and
Angel on Board
George Patton, unopposed, was
reelected mayor of Franklin, and
J. A. Mines was named to the
same office in Highlands, in town
elections held Tuesday. Mr. Hine's
opponent was W. S. Davis, in
cumbent. ;
Elected to serve on the Frank
lin board of aldermen were:
Dr. J. H. Fouts, J. S. Conley,
M. L. Dowdle, J. M. Moore, Kas
Penland, T. W. Angel.
How They Voted
Following is a list of the can-,
didatcs with the number of votes
they polled :
J. II. Fouts, 183; J. S. Conlev,
157; W. B. McGuire, 1(16; M. L.
Dowdle, 181; J. M. Moore, 138;
S. A. Munday, 35; Ras Penland,
1; J. B. Henry, 41; J. E. Perry,
87; Sam L. Franks, 66; J. B. Pen
dergrass, "76; T. W. Angel, 112; W.
Kol Carpenter, 58; J. E. Lancaster,
96; E. W, Long, 80; Elizabeth
Kelly, 81 ; Joseph Ashear, 39.
Mayor Patton polled 261 ballots.
The total registration was 432.
Three ballots were ruled out yn
account of being defaced.
Blaine Resigns
C. T. Blaine resigned as regis
trar the night before election with
out explanation. Mayor Pattea
appointed John W, Edwards in his
place. The- judges were Alex
Moore and George Carpenter.
Election day both in Franklin
and Highlands was quiet with bad
weather cutting down the size of
the vote.
Highlands Vote
J. A. Hines polled 115 votes in
the Highlands mayoralty r.tce, to
62 for W. S. Davis. - C. J. Ander
son, J. E. Potts, L. W. Kice, J. J.
Smith and J. M. Hall were el.-cl-:.!,
to the Highlands board of com
missioners'. The full list of can
didates with their votes follows:
C. J. Anderson, 142; S. T. Mar
ett, 70; J. E. Potts, 171; L. W.
Kice, 134; J. J. Smith, 101; J. M.
Hall, 117; M. A. Pierson, 92.
HENRY D. WEST ,
OPENS RETAIL
GROCERY STORE
Henry D. West, formerly em
ployed by the Farmers Supply
company, has leased the Farmers'
Federation building -en Palmer
street and gone into the retail
grocery business in his own name.
Mr. West, who is well known
in Franklin and throughout the
county, announced the opening of
his store the first of the week.
He already has a good stock of
stanlc croceries and feed stuffs
on his shelves: Later, he said, he
planned to enlarge his business to
include shoes, overalls, etc.
The name of the business will be
West's Grocery company. It oc
cupies one of the most spacious
buildings in town. In rear of the
main store room is another large
room which Mr: West said he
would nut at the disposal of farm
ers for storing produce temporarily
when they are unable to find an
immediate sale.
received training that is enabling
them to earn comfortable liveli
hoods, and to lead happy, uSeful
lives. Mr. Billings is desirous of
assisting any resident of Macon
county, who, through accident or
otherwise, has physical handicap
that limits his or her ability to
earn a living.
Mr. Warren, during his visit
ncre, spoke especially of the help
given to those who have lost limbs,
in securing artificial limbs at cost,
and of the vocations taught to
those who, through physical in
juries received in accidents, can
no longer pursue their former oc
cupations. Mr. Warren, who is
assistant to H. L. Stanton of Ral
eigh, has his headquarters at the
District office of the Welfare de
partment, City Hall, Charlotte,
N. C.