AMERICA
t
First, Last and
Always
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The Sylva Herald
The Herald is dedicated to
progressive service to Jack
son ... A progressive, well
balanced county.
VOL. XXII, NO. 4
Sylva, N. C. Thursday, June 26, 1947
$2.00 A Year?5c Copy
Big Program Completed For July 4th Celebration Here
National Safety Highway
Program Inaugurated by
Publishers Association
Intensive Effort Is
Required To Curtail
Highway Traffic Deaths
(By MaJ. Gen. Philip B. Fleming,
General Chairman of the Presi
dent'! Highway Safety Confer
ence)
Last year 33,500 persons died in
automobile accidents in the United
States.
That fact may not register very
strongly, Afte~all, 33,500 is just a
figure.
? Maybe you can visualize the ex
tent of the slaughter a little better
if you will imagine that many peo
ple lined up in parade formation
and marching from noon to sun
down to pass a reviewing stand.
Or, suppose all those people had
been killed at the same place?
in front of your home, say. Then
you could have stood on your front
porch day and night, week in and
week out, and witnessed a cjeath
on the average every 13 minutes.
That's as many people as live in
such a city as Elkhart, Indiana, or
Paducah, Kentucky, or Watertown,
Massachusetts. They are all dead
now, killed in accidents that could
easily have been avoided. Hun
dreds of thousands of orphans,
widows and bereaved parents are
left to mourn in every city in the
land.
Ev: ao, 1946 was not our worst
year for traffic fatalities. All things
considered, the record for that year
was pretty fcood. The most tragic
year in motoring history, was 1941
when 37,512 persons were killed.
That was the high point to which
traffic fatalities had stead'ly
climbed over a 30-yeaf periocr* be^
ginning about 1912 when 1,758
died. After 1912, the popularity of
the-automobile grew, and so did
tt>e number of deaths. Year by
year the number killed increased
with a few exceptions?notably
during the war when gasoline ra
tioning drastically curtailed driv
ing.
After Japan surrendered and
gasoline rationing was abandoned,
fatal accidents shot upward. In
the first four or five months of last'
yeaT, people were being done to
death in such staggering numbers
that it was confidently predicted
the fatality list would exceed that
for 1941. So when I say that the
record for 1946 was "pretty good,"
what I mean-is that it might have
been much worse, that the rising
curve of fatalities was turned
downward, and *that the number
killed in proportion to miles driven
was substantially less than in the
?Continuing on page 7
?.
Sutton And Fisher
Injured When Jeep
Gets Out Of Control
j
Billy Sutton and Harvey Fisher i
were painfully but not seriously
hurt early Friday evening when
the Jeep in which they were riding
failed to make the turn toward the :
cemetery at the foot of College I
Hill. The two boys were taken to
C. J. Harris hospital and several
stitches were necessary for closing
the gashes. Fisher was reported to
be driving at the time of the acci
dent.
Although Sutton was thrown
through the windshield onto the
hood of the car, Fisher was more
severely cut, suffering lacerations
on the face.
No estimate was made of the
damage to the Jeep, but city po
licemen report that it was con
siderable. The Jeep did not turn
over, but remained at an angle on
the hill.
ESCAPED CONVICT
TAKEN AS HE SLEPT
NEAR DILLSBORO
Emmet Cook, about 30, escaped
convict from the Whittier prison
camp, was captured early Tuesday
morning by Sheriff Griffin Mid
dleton and Patrolman C. D. Lind
say as he lay sleeping on top of a
ridge near Dillsboro.
Cook, up from Mecklinburg
county for murder, escaped from
road4 j$?ng while woflc
in the Canada section of the coun
ty. Two other men who escaped
at the same time were captured
in Haywood county last Friday.
Sheriff Middleton received a call
about 5:30 Tuesday morning from
j Dillsboro residents ,who saw Cook
making his way through the brush
up the ridge. Blood hounds were
placed on the trail and within a
$ew minutes led the officers to
Cook. Officers statedMhat he was
'in a complete state of exhaustion,
having wandered about the coun
try for a week with little food to
eat.
STORES WILL CLOSE
FOR JULY FOURTH
All stores and business places in
Sylva, except cafes, hotels and
drug stores, will be closed all day
July 4th for this annual holiday
and the celebration to be staged
here on that date.
Asheville Fire Chief Fitzgerald
> To Speak At Firemen's Meet
The annual dinner meeting ajjd
installation of new officers of the
Sylva Fire Department will be held
at Maple Springs cafe Monday
eveniiy, June_ 30, at which time
J. C. Fitzgerald, chief of the Ashe
ville Fire Department, will be the
principal speaker. E. M. Salley, su
perintendent of Enka Corporation
and chief of the Enka Fire De
partment, will also appear on the
program. City officials, members
of the police and sheriff's depart
ment, and state highway patrol
men will be special guests at the.
dinner meeting.
At a recent election meeting all
of the officers of the department
were re-elected and a .new assist
ant secretary was added to the list.
The officers to be installed are:
W. B. Cope, chief; Tilghman Bass,
assistant chief; G. C. Cope. 2nd as
sistant chief; C. E. Campbell, sec
retary-treasurer, W. R. HamjJton,
assistant secretary-treasurer, and
D. M. Tallent, fire marshal.
Chief W. B. Cope and fireman
Felix Picklesimer returned Sat
urday from Durham where they
attended the three-day state fire
man's school where approximately
350 firemen from all over the state
were present.
The school was urfder the direc-?|
tlon of State Fire Marshal Sher
wood Brockwell with classes in the
Durham Armory. Practical dem
onstrations in fire fighting were
presented at the drill tower in
Durham. The Durham fire depart
ment played a prominent part in
the fire tower demonstrations. The
Sylva firemen stated that they
gained much valuable information
at the school which will be passed
on to the other members of the
department in regular meetings
each week.
585 Arrested In May
By Game Protectors
RALEIGH, June 23?Fish and
game protectors of the Division of
Game and Inland Fisheries made
585 arrests during May, according
to records in the office of C. D.
Kirkpatrick, Chief of law enforce
ment. Violators paid $3,253 in fines
and $3,185 in court costs.
Five cases of dynamiting fish
headed the month's report. Each of
the defendants was ordered to pay
the minimum fine ? $100 ? and
court costs ranging up to $20.
QUSZZED IN BLUDGEON MURDER
READY TO BC MTURNSO to Lynn, M&*s? for questioning In connection
with the bludgeon murder o1 Harry Rosen, Lynn, Mass., manufacturer,
Herbert Douglas (left), a former merchant seaman; lira. Laura Shurger
Douglas and her son, Roy Shurger Jr., 15, are shown following their
apprehension by police authorities in Ithaca* R 1 Rosen was found
beaten to deathjn the office of his plant (International Soundphoto)
Contractors Start Remodeling
Interior of Jackson Co. Bank
The Merchants Construction *
Company of Asheville, contractors
in charge of remodeling the inter
ior <?f The Jackson County- Bank
building started their carpenters
to work last week remodeling the
basement and main floor which
they plan to complete within 90
days, officials of the bank an
nounced Monday.
The work of remodeling the
basement and installing several
hundred safety lock boxes will be
completed first, and then remodel
ing of the mair-banking room will
be sttCrtefif. Mdtgarf Manufacturing
company of Charlotte will have
charge of installing new fixture
and equipment in the bank. An oH
furnace will be installed to replace
the old coal stoker type heating
system.
The remodeling job is expected
to cost around $25,000.
Banking hours will continue as
usual during the construction pe
riod, with the carpenters doing
their work at night.
The directors of the bank 're
cently passed a resolution doubling
the capital stock of the institution.
It has also received permission
from the state banking commis
sion to open a full power bank at
..Highlands. For the past 12 years
this bank has maintained a tellers
window at Highlands.
MAIN STREET WILL
BE BLOCKED FOR
JOLY 4TH PARADE
The police department has an
nounced that Main street will be
blocked to-alMraffic and parking
Friday morning, July 4th and re
main blocked until after the pa
rade has returned to its point of
starting. All east and west bound
ktraffic will follow Mill street dur
ing this time. The department re
quests cooperation of the citizens
during this short period of a few
hours so that there will be plenty
of room and no delay in the pro
gram during the morning hours.
City Council Places
Order For Three New
Traffic Signal Lights
Meeting Friday night, the board
of Aldermen ordered three new
traffic lights to be installed at in
tersections on Mill street and a
caution light at the school house,
Mayor Jack Allison announced
this week. The three stop lights
will be placed one at each end of
the street at the two intersections
of Main and Mill streets and one
at the intersection near the depot.
A taxi license was refused by the
Aldermen to John Cline, Jr. An in
vestigation was ordered on the ap
plication of Theodore Dills for a
beer license.
An investigation, of every water j
| outlet was ordered to find and re- i
Sylva Band Calfed
To Practice For July '
4th Street Parade
Through the effort# of the
American Legion and the Town
of Sylva Sammy Beck, who di
rected the 8ylva high school band
last spring, and who accomplish
ed so much with the boys and
girls during that time, has agreed
to practice with the members of
the band in order to have them j
ready to leAd the 4th of July .1
street parade. Mr. Beck has
asked that all members of the
band who can meet him at the
City.Hall on Friday afternoon at ;
5 o'clock to begin practice. Mr. i
Beck plans to practice with the
boys and girls each afternoon
until the 4th and to be with them
in the parade. He is doing this I
work for the American Legion !
and the town^without pay.
I
\invtff Children
Operated On For
j |
Tonmii item ovals \
Approximately ninety children
benefited from the two two-day
tonsil clinics held in Sylva school
building on Tuesday and Wednes
day of the past two weeks. The I
clinics, sponsored by the Health 1
Department, have been held an- j
nually since 1938.
Ages of the children, ail of whom ;
were from Jackson county, ranged i
from five to thirteen years.
Dr. J. R. MeCracken, eye, ear. .
nose and throat specialist, of 1
Waynesville was surgeon, assisted
by Dr. Thomas. Stringfield, anes
thetist, also of Waynesville.
Other clinical assistants were: j
Dr. N. H. B. Michael, supervisor, i
Mrs. Alma McCracken, P.H.N.!
(Public Health Nurse), Mrs. Ruby
Bryson, P.H.N., Mrs. Elaine T. Gill, 1
P.H.N., all of Waynesville; Mrs.;
Doris Hicks, P.H.N., of Bryson '
City; Miss Mary P. Oliver, P.H.N., 1
of Cherokee Indian Reservation;
Mrs, Josephine Gaines, P.H.N., of
Franklin; and Mrs. Lina Padgett,
P.H.N., of Sylva.
Children who attended the clin
ics were operated on in the morn
ings and remained overnight,
sleeping in the gymnasium of the
school on cots, under the care of
a night nurse. Everything was re
ported to be running smoothly
Wednesday morning.
About a quarter of a million vet
erans reinstated their lapsed Na
toinal Service Life Insurance poli
cies with Veterans Administration
during 1946.
_
pair leakages in order to save the
city water supply. In order to force I
payment of overdue water rents,
the Aldermen decided, water sup
plies will be cut off if accounts are
more than three months overdue.!
SENATE OVERRIDES. 1
PRESIDENT'S VETO
ON LABOR BILL 68-25
Coal Miners Go Out
In Protest; Steel
Production Curtailed
Disregarding President Tru
man's last minute appeal the sen
ate voted Monday to override the
veto of the labor bill by a vote oi
68 to 25.
In his last appeal to the Senate
to sustain the veto, Truman stated,
"I feel so strongly about the labor
bill which the Senate will vote on
this afternoon that I wish to reaf
firm my sincere belief that it will
do serious harm to our country.
"This is a critical period in our
history and any ; measure which
will adversely affect our national
unity will render a distinct disser- !
vice not only to the nation but to
the worjd."
Labor lost no time in showing j
its dislike for the new law by j
staging protest strikes. Over 210.
000 soft coal miners are now idle !
as wildcat strikes spread through- j
out the mines. ^
The nation's steel industry slash- j
ed production as a result of thel
miners strike which will soon see |
coal stocks dwindling and further i
cuts in steel production antici
pated.
JOHN H. CRAWFORD
BURIED IN CLAY CO, j
TUESDAY AFTERNOON
Funeral rites for John H. Craw
ford, 78, who died June 22 at his
home in Sylva, were conducted
at Ledfords Chapel near Hayes
! ville in Clay County, Tuesday af
? ternoon,. Burial was in the church
cemetery. Rev. W. Q. Grigg and
Rev. C. W. Benson, of Bethel, of
ficiated. Moody Funeral home was
in charge.
Pallbeare rs were. R. C.' Allison,
A. O. Allison, 'Frank Bumgarner,
Holmes Cagle and Ernest Pen land
of Sylva. arid Bob Tiger, Wilbur
Mingus and Frank Chambers oi
Hayesville.
' Mr. Crawford had been in a
critical condition f< r four months
prior to death on Saturday.
He was born and reared in Clay
county where he m. dc his homo i
until about four years "ago when
his farm was taken by TV A to in- '
cTude Chatuga Jake. He then
moved with Mrs. Crawford to Syl
va to be near his children. When
they first came to Jackson county
they lived at Beta, later moving to ?
Sylva.
Surviving are the widow, three
sons, Custer of Madison, Ga., Leon
ard of Hayesvilje and Frank, of^
Sylva; three daughters, Mrs. Jeff
Hedden, Mrs. Jim Resor and Mrs.
B. F. Reed, of Sylva; one brother,
R. W. Crawford, of Hayesville; two 1
sisters, Mrs. Joe Penland, Blairs- '
ville, Ga. and Mrs. G. T. Berrong 1
of Fort Worth, Texas; 10 grand
children, and one great grandchild. \
Famous War Leader J
Becomes College Head
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the j
man who led the allied armies to.i
victory in World War II, now army
chief of staff, has announced his
retirement from military life to ac
cept the presidency of Columbia
University in New York City. He
will take up his new duties with
thd university next year. He suc
tfteds Nicholas Murray Butler, who
retired as head of the nation's
largest school, in?1945.
Eisenhower had been looked to
as possible presidential timber ^y
both Democrats and Republicans,
but has staunchly maintained that
he is not interested in a political
I career.
COUNTY OFFICES TO
CLOSE JULY 4 AND 5
j\11 county offices at the court
house will be closed for two days
July 4th and 5th for the 4th week
end holiday.
Street Parade, Air Show,
Band, Baseball, Beauty
Content Part Of Events
Police To Assist
Chamber Of Commerce
In Tourist Information
In an effort to see that as much
information1 as possible relative to
Sylva, Jackson county, and the
surrounding area sets into the
hands of tourists and others desir
ing this service, the police depart
ment is cooperating with the
Chamber in distributing the ma
terial through its office on Main
street. The police office is open
24-hours per day and can render
this service after the Chamber of
fice has closed at 5 o'clock. Many
people come through after that
hour who could not get this infor
mation otherwise.
THIS IS SCHEDULE
OF EVENTS FOR BIG
I JULY 4TH PROGRAM
10:00 a. m.?Parade toassemble
at schoolhouse
11:00 a. m.? Air Show opens pa
'rade . - ?
11:05 a. m.? Parade leaves foun
tain, proceeds through Main street,
going to East Sylva, then return
through Main street to school
house
12:30 p. m.? Bathing beauty con
test ,
12:30 p. m.? Lunch counters open
1:00 p. m.?Greasy pig
1:05 p. m.?Greasy pole with
prizes at top
1:30 p. m.?Bingo stands open
2:00 p. m.?Fireman's drill
2:15 p. m.?W.O.W. Degree team
i field workout ?
2:30 p. m.? American Legion'
2:45 p. m.?Baseball game?Hia
wassee All Stars vs. Sylva Ball,
clufc
3:00 p. m.? Fat man's race
3:10 p. m.?Boy Scout drill
3:30 p. m.? Horseshoe pitching;
quariet singing; string music;
dancing and other events
1947 Ford to be given away at
end of ball game. Glenn Hooper,
blind man, who was started in
business by the Lions club, will
draw the lucky numbei'.
7:30 j). m.?Street dance
9:00 j). m.?Fire works
Wr take this opportunity to
thank each one taking part in this
Fourth of July celebration and we
sincerely hope that everyone has
qnjoyed this holiday.
Mrs. Charles M. Reed is in New
York this week buying fall mer
chandise for Hale's.
Store Owners Asked
To Decorate Windows
And Display Flags
At the regular monthly dinner
meeting of the Merchants Associa
tion held at' Hotol Carolina, last
ThuTsday plans were made for
putting on a 4th of July celebra
tion in Sylva. All members pres
ent were enthusiastic about the
plans for the occasion and, after
a general outline of events for the
day and evening on the 4th, the
group met again that night and
completed the final details and
scheduled the events.
There will be several main at
tractions during the day, one of
which will be a grand street ^pa
rade to start the day's activities at
11 a. m. Other attractions will in
clude a bathing beauty contest,
raffling off a brand new 1947 mod
el Ford automobile by the Sylva
Lions Club, a huge display of fire
works that night, catching the
greasy pig, climbing the greasy
pole, foot rac^s, horse shoe pitch
ing contests, Bingo with prizes,
baseball game, quartets and string
music, and a big square dance on
the street that night.
The street parade will feature 30
or more beautifully decorated
floats, entered by the various busi
ness?firms of Sylva, one from
Western Carolina Teachers Col
lege and one of Cherokee Indians
from the Reservation; also in the
parade will be ladies on horseback,
members ol the American Legion*,
boy and girl scouts. A number of
local people will be dressed as.
clowns to create "fun along the
parade route.
All entrants in the parade will t
gather at the Sylva high school
ground at 10 a. m. and the parade
will start sharply at 11. It will
proceed up Main street to the new
intersection of 19-23 and 107 and
return over the s&me route. The
beauty contest will follow imme
diately after the parade.
All quartets and string bands of
the county are asked to be on
hand and enter into the day's
events.
It is hoped that the Sylva high
school band will be in shape to
lead the street parade, if not the
committee plans to get an out of
town band for the occasion.
Plenty of food will be available
as the cafes and hotels wil be open,
and a food and drink stand will be
in operation by the women's clubs
of the city.
Plan to spend the day in Sylva^
where plenty of entertainment
awaits all ages. .
Swannanoa 4-II Camp Opens
Agqin To Club Boys And Girls
The State 4-H club, camp at
Swannanoa, used by military forces
during the war years, has been re
turned to civilian use and the clubs
of Western North Carolina will re
sume their summer outings again
in July.
The Jackson County clubs will
spend a week at the camp July 28
through August 2. Club member^
from Macon and Swain counties
will also be at the camp at this
time.
The Jackson county boys and
girls will meet at the courthouse
in Sylva at 9:30 a. m. Monday,
July 28 and return at noon on
Saturday, August 2. Boys and girls
who plan to go to the camp are re
quested to notify either Miss Helen
Sossamon. county home agent, or
M. L. Snipes, county farm agent,
as ^oon as possible in order that
1 transportation and reservations
' may"be arranged.
The camp will provide a staff
j consisting of a director, life guard,
j cooks and other necessary person
! nel. %
The following is a list of food
and other things that will be neces
sary for the members to bring:
| Half cup lard, 2 pound fryer or
i hen, alive; 1 pound ham or 1 1-2
pounds bacon, 2 dozen eggs, 1 gal
lon fresh or 1 quart canned snap .
beans or peas, 1 large head cab
bage or two heads lettuce, half gal
lon potatoes, 6 carrots or beets, 3
large onions, 1-2 pound sugar, 1
glass jelly, jam, preserves or
honey, 2 dozen molasses cookies or
one large cake, 1-2 pound butter
in jar, 1 quart canned or one gal
lon raw apples, 1-2 gallon corn
meal, 1-2 gallon flour, 1 quart can
ned tomatoes or 6 raw tomatoes
half ripe, 1 pint cucumber pickles
or 6 medium size cucumbers, camp
fee $2.50. Transportation and mis
cellaneous expenses $2.50. Other
articles to^take: Two sheets, one
blanket, one pillow and case, tow
els, soap, and other toilet articles.
Movies At WCTC
As a recreational feature for
summer students at Western Caro
lina Teachers College, movies are
being held Monday, Tuesday, and
Thursday evenings from 7.30 to
10:30 in the Student Union Build
ing. There is no admission charge.
? North Carolina's production of
rye is estimated at 264,000 bushels
for 1947, compared with 275,000
bushels produced in 1946.