EXTRA
EXTRA
VOL. XXI, NO. 46
Sylva, N. C. Friday, April 25, 1947
$2.00 A Year?5c Copy
Robert Messer and Earl Odear Admit Killing Halls
World War II Veterans Are
Unopposed In May Election
Mayor Gibson And
Preseiit Board Did
Not Seek Reelection
Sylva voters nominated a full
Veteran's ticket for Mayor and
Board of Aldermen in Saturday's
municipal Democratic primary.
This was the first municipal pri
mary to be held in the town in
many years.
Jack C. Allison, heading the
Young Democratic or G. I. ticket,
was nominated for mayor with a
vote of 203 to 164 for his opponent,
W. J. Fisher.
Nominated for board of alder
men were Joseph F. Wilson with
218 votes, Edward H. Baldridge,
218; Lloyd W. Cowan, 193; R. R.
Nicholson, Jr., 193, and Dr. Harold
McGuire, 176.
Unsuccessful candidates for the
board seats were Paul Kirk, 160
votes; James E. Crawford, 171;
James T. Bales, 161; H. E. Fergu
son, 156, and Roscoe Poteet, 154.
Dr. Harold McGuire, veteran of
42, months wifh the Army, was
one of the candidates on the ticket
headed by Mr. Fisher. James E.
Crawford, also a veteran, was on
the ticket headed by Mr. Allison.
This was the only switch the voters
made in their balloting.
The successful candidates will
be unopposed in the general elec
tion Oh ftt&y 6.
The retiring mayor, Herbert
Gibson, and board members, W. T.
Wise, Chester Scott, Walter Alli
son, and S. A. Carden, did not seek
. re-election. Mayor Gibson, agent
for the Southern Railway here,
has been in office for eight year$.
A brief service of the new nom
inees is as follows: ,
Edward H. Baldridge entered
serviAfe August 10, 1943, and was
discharged November 5, 1945. He
was engaged in three major cam
paigns, the Rome-Arno, Southern
France and Rhineland. He was
taken prisoner by the Germans on
ber 21, 1944, and remained in the'
hands of the Germans until libera
tion by Allied forces April 26,
1945. Mr. and Mrs. baldridge and
son, Eddie, make their home in
Sylva. Mr. Baldridge holds a po
sition with The Herald as linotype
operator.
Joseph F. Wilson, son of Mrs.
T. O. Wilson and the late Mr. Wil
son, served with the 8th a*r force
as a gunner on a B-24. He and his
crew made 31 missions over Euro
pean territory. They all came
through alive but were forced to
bail out of their ship as the? were
over England returning from their
last bombing mission. He held the
rank of Staff Sergeant and was in
?Continuing on page 7
SYLVA SENIORS TO
PRESENT COMEDY.
PLAY MAY SECOND
"A ^Million Dollar Joke," a
comedy in three acts by Pauline
Phelps, will be presented by mem
bers" of the senior class of Sylva
High School at 8:00 Friday nite,
May 2, in the Elementary School
Auditorium.
Rehearsals for the play have
been in progress for several weeks
under the direction of Mrs. Luce
and Mrs. Reed, sponsors of the
senior class.
The plot involves a modern
youth who is really a worm, Per
cival Smith, and his million dol
lars in a terrific joke. The worm
is made to squirm by a young lady,.
Peggy Eustis, who shows him his
fault. He reforms and it not
trampled on by his room mates any j
more. Pgrcival receives a million
dol-lars and the money gives him
the confidence to run for mayor.
He has many funny experiences
which will be worth a million dol
lars to the audience.
Combined with the experience
of the directors and artistic skill
of the stage director are the varied
talents and acting abilities of the
senior class. Such a combination
indicates a successful performance
oi "A Million. Dollar Joke."
Two performances will be given.
The matinee for the elementary
children will be presented in the
afternoon,' and admission will be
15 cents. At the ^riday night per
formance, admission will be 25
cents and 50 cents.
Seout Camporec
To Be Held May
16' At Lumpkin j
The regular monthly meeting of j
the District Committee of the j
Smoky Mountain District, B6y
Scouts of America, was held at
Jarrett's Springs Hotel, Friday
evening at 7 o'clock April 18th.
Reports of scouting activities
were heard from practically all sec
tions of the District. Mr. Hugh
Monteith, Chairman of Advance
ment, of the Smoky Mountain Dis
trict, who attended > the Regional
! Scouters Convention, held in At
| lanta, March 30th, gave a very in
I teresting report of this meeting.
?Carrrporee fer-4h?-Smoky Moun
tain District will be held at Camp
Lumpkin, ten miles west of Frank
lin on the Wayah Road, May 16th (
and 17th. It is hoped this meeting
I will be well attended by Scouts
I and Scouters of this section,
j Those present at the meeting
First Secretary of the British
Embassy Speaks WCTC 29th
Mr. Frank Darvall, First Secre- i
tary nf. th.a..Brili^h Emh assy... .will.
speak at Hoey auditorium, Cullo
whee, Tuesday, April 29, at 11 a. m.
instead of at 1:30 p. m. as previous
ly announced.
Mr. Darvall's talk, on "The
British Commonwealth and Em
pire," will be the regular chapel
program for that day. The time has
been moved ahead to fit in with
Mr. Darvall's schedule, ge has an
urgent appointment in Washington j
on Wednesday, which will necessi
tate his leaving on the 3:45 p. m.
train from Asheville Tuesday.,
The First secretary's address
will be primarily for the students
and faculty members of Western
Carolina Teachers College and the
Cullowhee High school, but there
i will be about 200 seats available
to the public. Admission is free and
the first 200 persons a!TlVMg Will
get the seats.
It had originally been planned
to have Lord Iverchapel, British
ambassador, give a talk, but be
cause of pressing official business,
he was unable to come and desig
nated his First secretary, Mr. Dar
vall, to speak in his place.
Mr. Darvall will arrive in Ashe
ville Monday, April 28, where he
will be the guest of Mr. John F. A.
Cecil at Biltmore House.
Mr. Darvall has had wide ex
perience in the United States. He
attended Columbia University and
was formerly British Consul for
Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. He
is considered an entertaining and
effective speaker. f
BETTER BABIES IS
PART OF COUNTY
HEALTH PROGRAM
By MRS. LINA PADGETT
Jackson County Nurse
To the parents of the young in
fant belongs the care that insures
the physical and mental growth
of that child into happy, useful
citizen.
The Jackson County Health de
partment carries out the following
program to help the parents of
these infants and pre-school chil
dren:
Clinics 1'cr mothers and babies
are held as given below for exam
ination in order to discover iyiy
deviation from good development
and health. Conditions needing
corrections are pointed out and
referral made to the family phys
ician, or if needed to available
clinics.
Clinics are held in the spring at
the various schools for inspection
of the child who is to enter school
for.v the first time in the fall so
that parents may take the child
to the health department or the
family physician for further ex
amination if found necessary.
Immunization clinics are held
where advice is given as to what
should be done and when to pro
ject the child from communicable
diseases and immunizations are
offered.' Those required by state
law during the first year are
stressed, and later those required
for school enrollment.
The nurse goes into the home
as much as she can to help the
mother with suggestions and to
demonstrate the home, care of the
cl\il,d. -
The Sanitarian carries on his
program that safe living conditions
may prevail at home, school or in
the cafe; and that safe^milk, clean
drinking water and food are'pro
vided.
WNC Groups Go To
Washington About
Park Development
Representatives of Western
North Carolina Associated Com
munities will meet in Washington
next Tuesday with A. E. Demaray,
associate park director, to discuss
ways and means of insuring con
tinuing development of Great
Smoky Mountains National Park
despite the prospects of a sharp
cut in federal funds of this pur
pose.
Mrs. Grover Wilkes
Will Have Recital .
On Thursday afternoon at 1:00
o'clock in the Sylva Elementary
school auditorium Mrs. Daisy
Franklin Wilkes will present her
music pupils in the annual spring
recital. Twenty pupils will pre
sent a varied program of musical
selections. The public is invited to
attend this recital.
Chamber Of Commerce
Membership Drive
,Felix Picklesimer, president of
the Jackson county chamber of
commerce, hag announced tftat
annual membership drive will start
Thursday, May 1. The membership
drive committee will begin can- 1
vassing the businesses of the town
for their membership at this time, i
It is hoped, Mjf Picklesimer stated,
to complete the work within a few
days.
were: Bill Wall, Assistant Scout
Executive; Gaston Means, Field
Executive; John Archer, Everett
Harris, Dr. Harold McGuire, Paul
Kirk, O. E. Brookhyser, Sam Gil
lim, A. F. Neely, T. A. Willets, Rev.
A. Rufus Morgan, John Allsup, E.
Wi Reneshaw, Hugh Monteith and
W. C. Hennessee, District Chair
man.
Will Represent El Salvador At Lions Meet
MISS BRYSON MlSb POVEfcT
Miss Thelma Poteet,.daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe Poteet,. and
Miss Jenneane Bryson; a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jennings A. Bryson.
will represent the county of El Stilvador at the Lions Silver Jubilee
Convention in Asheville May 25, 2G, and 27. Miss Poteet's father i
president of the JSylva. club, and Mr. Bryson is a past president and
past district governor.
Frank Crawford Saiwcvtls
A? As Supi>rinU>mlvni
Of ?Sarhsoa l oustl gj Srhoais
W.G.T.C. MONOGRAM
CLUB SPONSORING
AMATEUR NIGHT
The annual Amateur Night,
sponsored by the W.C.T.C. Mono
gram club, will be held in Hocy ,
Auditorium Saturday night, April;
26, at 8 o'clock.
. Amateur musicians, dancers and
comedians will compete lor?cash i
prizes which will be awarded at !
the end of the show. Winners will ,
be judged by the amount of ap
plause received and by judges se
lected from the audience.
The field is still open to contest
ants. Anyone wishing to enter may
do so by contacting any member
of the Monogram club before Sat
urday night. No entry fee is
charged.
Admission prices are .50 for
adults and .35 for students and
children.
CHILDREN'S WORK IN
CULLOWHEE BAPTIST
GHURQH IS GROWING
The beginner-primary depart
ment of the Sunday School of the
Cullowhee Baptist Church is un
der the direction of Miss Annie
Knotts, first grade .teacher in the
local training school and a genuine j
servant to children wherever she!
goes. She is assisted in the work I
by Mrs. Ed Crawford, who devotes |
most of her attention to the little
folks of a pre-.-chool age.
During the worship hour onj
Sunday mornings Miss Knotts can
almost always be found in her
place in the educational depart- |
TTTgnt uf>?iic itmi'ch budding with,
anywhere from twenty to thirty
children between the ages of six
and nine going through a carefully
planned program which is suitable
to this age group. On special oc
casions they are to be observed in
a body in the auditorium in wor
ship along with the adult congre
gation; in this way they practice
under able and consecrated guid
ance the art of congregational wor
ship. This group of children and
their leader have recently made
a number *>f , improvements in the
appearance of their large class
room, the most obvious of which
is the hanging of attractive drap
eries.
?Continued on page 6
Board Made Selection
Thursday, Also Named
District Committeemen
Jackson county's new H?>i? 1
'ducation, compo I'd < \ H. L-, A: - i
Hi, chairman. John H. Moni-, W.I
R. Enl ?o. Frank 'H. Brown. J:..
and F,dv\ ii:'(i Fou lor, mcj in. >p<.\ u.1 }
ession on Thursday, April IT, ;?!.<i j
?lectori Frank M. Crawford >uper- j
interident of Jai I;on Count;
chools lor ;i -term o! two years.
Mr. Crawiord will take office July
M ill the booming of the new
li c:i 1 year. He succeeds Ad..m
Moses, who resigned someti:r.e ago
to become effective at the end o! ,
his present term June 3oth. Mr. |
Moses has not announced his pi. n> ?
for the future after leasing office.'
Mr. Crawford""Is" well known '
throughout the county rnrl West
ern North CaroMpn, ' ?: n
school circles. He has been in tTuTT
? |
teaching profession for the past 20
years, teaching in Jackson county
schools all of this time except one
year in Buncombe county. He was
principal of the Sylva Elementary
school for 10 years and is now in
nis third year as district principal
of the Webster high school. Mr.
Crawford is chairman of the Dis
trict -Legislative committee of the
North Carolina Education Associa
tion. He is immediate past presi
dent of the Sylva Lions Club. He |
is a native of Jackson county, the j
son of Mr. and Mrs; L. W. Craw- |
ford of Sylva Route 1. He received
his college training at Wesiern
Carolina Teachers College and the
University of North Carolina.
DISTRICT COMMITTEEMEN
At the meeting last Thursday the
board named the following district
committeemen:
-Sylva District?-O. J. Beck, R. U.'
Sutton, Lawrence Reed, Ira Jones,
Kenyon Moody.
Canada District?M. J. Galloway,<
Luther Owens, XamL'ji.
Cullowhee District?Ralptf Sut
ton, Blaine Nicholson, Victor
Brown, Clinton Hooper, and Tom
H. Simpson.
Glenville District ? Lawrence
Cooper, Dallas Mills, Tom Holden,
L. L. Allen, and Lynch Dillard.
QUalla Distr.ct?Thad Palton, j
Jode Holcombe, and Alton Ed
wards.
Webster District ? Ernest Lewis,
Joel Wetmore, D. D. Davis, Hurley
Buchanan, and Dan ?Cowan.
A slow-acting nitrogen fertilizer
that feeds crops over a long grow
ing period has bee^developed by
soil scientists of th^U. S. Depart
ment of Agriculture. ^
Killers Used Machine Hammers
To Brutally Slay the Victims;
Robbery Said To Be Motive
Complete confession of the gruesome murder of
Jack Hall and his wife, Margie Maple Hall, on Sunday
night, has been made to Jackson county officers by Rob
ert Messer, 21, and Earl Odear, 24, both residents of
Dillsboro community. One of the worst crimes ever
0
committed in Jackson county's history, Jack and Margie
Hall wero bulldozed to death by blows with machine
hammers carried by the killers in their pockets.
Robert Messer made his statement to officers Thurs
day night while being held in the Sylva jail. After sevj
oral hours of grilling he (Messer) said that he and E<irl
Odear went to the bus station in Sylva where they hired
Jack Hall, local taxi operator, to take them to the home
of Lonnie Odear who lives on the old Dillsboro, Sylva
road, and where Robert Messer had been staying. Mrs.
Hall, who usually accompanied her husband on his night
trips, was with him at the time and accompanied them.
Messer further stated in his confession that he and Earl
Odearjiad planned to strike Mr. and Mrs. Iiall at the
same time at a wid^ place in the road about one fourth
mile from Lonnie Odear's home. They planned the crime
at the wide place in order to prevent wrecking of the car.
He said'that they hit their victims at the same instant,
using machine hammers which they had hidden in their
clothes, Earl Odear striking Mr. Hall and Messer Mrs.
Hall; that when the car came to a stop they jumped
out and robbed Mr. Hall of money-, (it was not stated to ,
the Herald how much they secured). However, officers
have recovered $14.00 which was hidden between Sylva
and Dillsboro. Messer stated that after robbing Mr. Hall
they switched off^thc lights of the taxi, walked back up
the road to Sylva where thejsgot in O'dear's car, which
they had left at Cogdill Motor Company's used car lot,
and headed for Knoxville, Tenn., by way of Asheville;
that they stopped near Ode Robinson's store on Balsam
Mountain and washed some of their clothes in an effort ,
to remove^blood stains, which had spattered over them
as they beat their victims' skulls to pieces.
At this point this was as much of the confession
statement as was released as officers who worked up
the ca$e have other details to complete in connection
with the murder.
Evidence that lead to the arrest of Messer and Odear
showed up Monday morning, almost immediately after
the dead body of Mr. Hall had been discovered about 6
o'clock lying on the floor board of the front seat of his
taxi with his wife lying unconscious across the front
seat. _
Officers found that Messer and Odear had left town
for Knoxville sometime Sunday night or early Monday
morning. They returned to Sylva late Monday after
noon and were brought to the officers by Cesser's moth
er, Mrs. Hannah Messer. After being ^bestioned the
boys were released. Upon securing furtB^royidence,
officers arrested Earl Odear at the home of Frank^hine
headt Wednesday morning and lodged him in Swain
county jail at Bryson City. Odear made his confession
in jail early this morning. His confession coincided in
principal with that of Messer's. Messer wras arrested the
same day and placed in the Sylva jail.
Murder Weapons Found
Handcuffed together Messer and Odear were car
ried hy SwUh Creek
the bridge opposite Sylva High school abouf 10:30 this
morning. Here they pointed out the exact spot where
they threw the hammers in the creek. Surrounded by
a large crowd of spectators Patrolman Phichard Smith
and S.B.I, officers, H. H. Zimmerman, waded in the
I'creek and soon found both hammers. The hammers, now
in the hands of officers, are both the same size, weigh
ing about a pound and a half each with long, heavy
handles.
A Gory Sight
A crime, although committed by young white men
in their early twenties, was horribly staggering to those
who witnessed the bodies of the victims at the scene of
the crime. With blood and brains oozing from the
Vonilnuvd On Pay** 4
Remember Babies ? - National Baby Week, April 27- May 3 ? - Better Babies