AMERICA First, Last and Always The Sylva Herald The Herald is dedicated to progressive service to Jack son ... A progressive, well balanced county. VOL. XXII, NO. 18 Sylva, N. C. Thursday, October 2, 1947 $2.00 A Year?5c Copy SCHOOLS CONSIDER RESOURCE-USE EDUCATION FUNERAL RITES FOR JOHN A. PARRIS HELD HERE MONDAY P.Mf Oldest Jeweler In Point Of Service In United States, Expert Craftsman Funeral services were held Mon day afternoon at 2 o'clock at the Sylva Methodist church for John Alvis Parris, 73, who passed away at his home Saturday afternoon following an illness of several months. Rev. W. Q. Grigg and Rev. C. M. Warren were the of ficiating ministers. Interment was in Keener cemetery. Son of the late Rufus and Han nah Jane Parris, he was born Aug. 19, 1874, near Dillsboro and has been a life-long resident of the county. He came from Dillsboro to Sylva about forty years ago and since then has been engaged in the jewelry business here. In length of time in the trade he was the oldest jeweler in the United States, having been in this work for 54 years. Mr. Parris was a member of the Sylva Methodist church, the Sylva Lions club, the Masonic order, and the Knights of Pythias. Active pallbearers were John Wilson, Jr., Ernest Wilson, Jr., Dexter Hooper, Felix Picklesimer, James Cannon, Tom Wilson, Jr., Neil Crawford, Dr. Charles Z. Can dler, Jr., and Ray Orr." Honorary pallbearers were members of the Lions Club. Surviving are the widow, Mrs. Myrtle E. Parris; one son, John A. Parris, Jr., of New York, Associat ed Press diplomatic correspondent at the United Nations; and two brothers, Allen Parris of Sylva and Dock Parris of Dillsboro. At the age of 16 Mr. Parris be came interested the craft of watch and jewelry repair and engraving. A German jeweler, located in Dillsboro at that time, became interested in the young boy and after a few instructions he was able to dismantle and re ' assemble watches and clocks. He " began repairing watches for his boyhood friends and this led him into a field of craftsmanship which he followed for 54 years, remain ing actively at* work until 10 days before his death. His art for engraving became known when he engraved on the back of a watch a likeness of the fir^t sterm locomotive to run into (Continued on page 11) Cullowhee High Seniors Elect Officers For Year At a recent meeting of the sen ior class of Cullowhee High school the following officers for the year were elected: president, James Wike; vice president, Jessie Flake; secretary, Arbie Cook; treasurer, Darrel Tilley; reporter, Bill Bauer. Drury Predicts Smoky Park Travel Record To Be Set KNOXVILLE, Tenn.-Newton B. ] den (D., N. C.), met with the con Drury, head of the national park servation committee *of the two service, in an interview while here states to map increased appropria said that the Great Smoky Moun-*i tion requests that would permit tains National park may break all big improvements in the Smoky attendance records for the travel, park, the nation's most popular, year. Drury said the Smoky attend Before entraining here for Wash- ; ance thus far in .the 1947 travel ington following a conference at year was crowding the million Gatlinburg with North Carolina mark, and that increasing number and Tennessee park-minded groups : of visitors might smash all pre Drury said he was "firmly in ac- vious attendance figures. cord with recommended improve-i Attendance Up ments." . | "Attendance is up at all national "The National Park Service parks," he said. "Thus far we have heartily agrees with the sugges- , had 25,000,000 visitors at our parks tions from the two citizens' groups i and this compares with the pre that would improve the park and vious high of 21,000,000 just before provide new access roads and ; the war. trails into hidden mountaih won- j "Americans are more travel derlands," he said. ! minded thrn ever, and they want Restoration Advocated \ to see everything America offers. "The first thing we need to do, j We want to put the Smoky park, however, is to restore existing in such condition that more vistas roads and trails in the Smokies, \ of rugged and unmolested beauties ' The remarkable interest s.iown by of nature can be opened to the j citizens in the two slates" wi.l go public." far toward achieving major .m- Drury said the national park j provements ar.d will serve as a service headquarters were being j guide for the r.a.ior.i.1 park c."- moved back to Washington from \ ficers." ? Chicago. The move was made in | Mr. Drury, Sen. Tom SVw?rt the decentralization program dur- , (D., Tenn.), and Rep. Monroe Red- | ing the war. GRAND PRIZE WINNING 4-H CLUB EXHIBIT The Cope Creek 4-H Club exhibit at the annual Achievement Day fair, held last Saturday in the community building, won the first and grand prize. A part of the exhibit of canned fruits and vegetables, preserves and jellies, home baked bread, cakes and pies, fresh fruits and vegetables, and needlework is shown in the above picture. This club consists of a large group of boys and girls but only four of the mem bers were present for the picture. Shown in the picture, left to right, are: George Conrad, assistant county agent; Nancy Hartman, Earline Hurst, Leah Sutton, and Shirley Hartman. Miss Sossamon, home agent stands at the' right back. ?Photo by Donnahoe LYCEUM COMMITTEE AT WCTC REVEALS PLANS FOR YEAR Cullowhee ? Mrs. Lilian Buch anan, chairman of the Lyceum committee of Western Carolina Teachers college, has announced the general program aims cf the committee for this year. "For one thing," said Mrs. Buch anan, who is also the school's lib rarian, "instead of just emphasiz ing religion for one week, as has been done, we want to spread it over the year, havivg one out standing religious leader come here each quarter." She added that as many denom inations are represented in the col lege, the religious speakers would be from various denominations. Other attractions the committee p*ans to have here rr.e a g.ce c ub, a large college, a prominert^^eaker on current af fairs, an important play, and art exhibits which will include things of interest to students studing sev eral different phases of art. ?> Merchants Vote To Discontinue Closing Shoppers of Jackson county can indulge themselves six days a week from now on as the majority of the Sylva mer chants voted last week to dis continue the half day closing on Wednesdays. The stores remained open all day yester day for the first Wednesday since the closing period began in the early summer. Jackson Coal and Lumber Firm Making Additions To Plant Messrs. Dan Bryson Hooper and Hoyt Roberson, owners and oper- j ators of Jackson Coal nnd Lumber , company have started a building ( j and expansion program at their, j plant near the depot. A large! 'machine room is under construc-' tion, which when C9mpleted will j house modern woodworking equip- ( ment for the building of cabinets,! j store fixtures, and other custom work. These progressive young busi- ; ness men have already repaired j and painted the office and store; rooms of the firm. The old shed in t the center of their lot has been re- ' i moved, making more room for loading coal and materials. | LEGION SPONSORS "BLAZE OF NOON" AIR MAIL PICTURE Paramount's "Blaze of Noon", a picture of the Air Mail service in its early days, will be shown at ] Ritz Theatre, Thursday and Fri- j day, October 16 and 17, under the sponsorship of the William E. Dil lard Post of the American Legion., Proceeds of the picture will go to (he benefit of the proposed me morial building fund. Six out standing stars, Anne Baxter, Wil liam Holden, Sonny Tufts, William Bcndix, Sterling Hayden and How ard Da Silva, will appear in the thrilling scenes, supported by oth er talented actors. Chamber of Commerce Directors Will Meet The board of directors of the Sylva Chamber of Commerce will hold their regular meeting to night at 7:30 o'clock in the offfice at Lloyd Hotel. This meeting has been moved up one night due to conflicting meeting tomorrow night, according to an announce ment by Felix Picklesimer, pre sident of the organization. Jackson Citizens Greet Governor When Governor R. Gregg Cherry and his secretary, John Harden visited the Cherokee Indian Fair last Friday, several Jackson county citizens were on hand to greet them. Felix Picklesimer, president of the Chamber of Commerce is shown shaking hands with Governor Cherry. To the Governor's right are fharlie Price, Sylva postmaster, John Harden, private secretary to the Governor, and J. A. Gray, editor of The Herald. ^ ~ Pboto by Donnahoe. MU RPHY - ASHEVILLE TRAINS ON EASTERN STANDARD TIME Western North Carolina is now officially in the Eastern Standard Time zone, and our railroad will use this time. For years all pri vate business and individuals have used Eastern time but the railroads have operated from Asheville west on Central time. The two times caused considerable confusion. Now that the new Eastern Stand ard Time belt has been pushed West all trains on the Murphy Branch will use Eastern time. Trains West from Asheville will use Eastern time to Knoxville. The new time became effective Sun day. j Train No. 18, M'urphy to Ashe ville,'has been set up 15 minutes and now leaves Sylva at 8:30 in stead of 8:45 a. m., according to an anouncement of Mr. Herbert Gibson, local agent. This train now reaches Asfieville at 10:30 in stead of H)45, giving passengers 15 minutes more time in connections with TraTns^for28 and 22. No. 22 goes East to Winston and Golds boro and No. 28 South to Columbia. ?J V Educational Seminar Held At Sylva Church About 50 women from the Meth odist churches of the Waynesville district met at the Sylva Methodist church last Friday in an all-day meeting to attend the fall educa tional seminar for the members of the Woman's Society of Chris tian Service of the Waynesville district. Mrs. W. B. West of Waynesville presided. Speakers heard during the session were Mrs. C. A. York of High Point, conference secre tary of missionary education, who spoke on "World Evangelism", and Mrs. Jessie D.Ames of Tryon, conference secretary of Christian social relations and local church activtities, who told of the United Nations program, emphasizing the part that Christian social relation could play in it. A luncheon was served at the noon hour by the Carrie Rhode, circle of the local society. Fifteen Western Counties j To Have Rigid Fire Control A more intensive lorest fire con trol program will become effective in 15 western North Carolina counties this fall, State Forester W. K. Beichler Jinnounced today. Speaking for the Department of Conservation and Development, Mr. Beichler said the Tennessee Valley Authority was joining the .state in this project to help further forest development and watershed protection in the Valley portion of '.he state. "Fifteen of our counties," he said, "lie wholly or in part with in the watershed of the Tennessee River. TVA has agreed to help finance a fire control demonstra tion in these counties. We welcome 'he opportunity because it will enable us to afford better protec tion to those counties than would otherwise be possible. We esti mate it will take $123,000 a year to do a thorough job in that same area. State and county funds, plus federal Clarke - McNary money now available for the area, amount to about $90,000; TVA will supply $20,000, making $110,000 for the year. This is $13,000 short of ac- , tual requirements but it is also approximately $45,000 more than we have ever had for this area before." ! Responsibility for protecting the 1.6 million acres of forest lands outside federal ownership in the 15 counties rests with the State Division of Forestry and Parks. Limited funds have permitted pro tection of only 1.4 million acres, and even here it has not been adequate. Foresters find that al most 500 fires still occur in these counties in an average year; they burn about 3 percent of tnc total j forest area. With adequate pro-J tection it should be possible to reduce this burned area to one fourth of one percent annually. In his announcement of the pro ject, Mr. Beichler made public this statement by Willis M. Baker, Di rector of the TVA Forestry Rela tions Department: "TVA attached great significance to this coopera tive venture and to the twin ob jectives of watershed protection and resources development it will help accomplish. Many of the Tennessee River tributaries, in cluding the Watauga, Nolichucky, French Broad, Little Tennessee, and Hiawassee, have their origin in westenv?North Carolina?a legion of steep slopes and heavy rainfall. With the annual burn reduced from the present 50,000 acres to legs than 5,000 acres we expect greatly improved water absorption by the soil. . Surface run off will be retarded, erosion ?Continuing on page 7 SYLVA SCHOOLS WILL TAKE PART IN STATE FIRE DRILL OCT. 2 In part of the observance of Na tional Fire Prevention Week the state of North Carolina will carry out a program that no other state has ever attempted. This will be a fire drill in every school in the state at 11 o'clock on Thursday, October 9. The State Insurance Department, State Labor Depart ment, State Board of Education and the oGvernor's office are all co operating in the movement. Jackson county school are pre paring to take their part in the drill. An outstanding speaker has State and Federal Agencies To Plan With Local Citizens In Development of Resources Jackson Farmers Can Now Get Phosphate D. C. Higdon, Chairman of Jackson County AAA, an nounces that AAA phosphate is now available to farmers of this county; and it is hoped j that several cars of phosphate ^ will be received in the county at an early date. There is an ' acute shortage of freight cars I at this time and it is difficult to get phosphate and lime ship ped into the county, however, the county committee is doing its best and a shipment of phosphate is expected this week. Mr. Higdon also states that seed for winter cover crops is still available and anyone wishing to receive Ryegrass or Austrian Winter Pea seed can get a purchase order for these seed at the AAA office. Any farmer may get seed for a cover crop regardless of the amount of material he has previously received through AAA in 1947. DIESEL ENGINES PULLING FREIGHT ON MURPHY LINE In the Southern Railway's con stant effort to improve service on | all its lines the inauguration of the use of diesel power for freight service on the Murphy line began Saturday. The diesel is only being used as f.?r Ts'^as Adda: at the present time, Two round trips from Asheville to Addie were made Sat urday and again on Sunday. Rail road officials say th;it the Diesel will pull double the tonnage of one 600 class steam engine. It is expected that Die>el power will be used all the way through to Murphy in the near future, pulling the same tonnage that the two steam engines are now pulling. Dr. H. T. Hunter Will Welcome Visitors, Bird To Talk On Resources Cullowhee?A conference on re source-use education will be held Saturday, October 4, starting at 10:30 a. m., on the campus of West ern Carolina Teachers college. Some topics to be discussed are the way in which we are using our natural, social and human re sources,. the planning needed for bringing new industries into this area, raising the level of income and improving the diet and health ol the people, and the opening of ' new avenue for the use of leisure time in Western North Carolina. Representatives from health, welfare, extension, forestry and soil agencies, and from industry, churches, newspapers, and P.T.A. are being asked to consider with school people how they can best increase the emphasis on con servation and resource-use in their community and school programs. Following an address of welcome by Dr. H. T. Hunter, president of the college, W. E. Bird, dean of the college and a member of Governor Cherry's state committee on re source-use education, will talk on Western Carolina > Interest in Re source Use," in which he will give an overview of what has been done in the field up to now. R. L. Weaver, program director, North Carolina Resource-use Edu cation Commission, will discuss "North Carolina Plans for Re sou ive-use Education." William McGIothlin. Training and Educational Relations Di vision, T V.A., will tell of "T.V.A.'s Stake in Resource-use Education." Superintendent Clyde A. Erwin of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction will talk on "Resource-use and the Public Schools of North Carolina." After adjourning for lunch, the conferees will meet again at 1:30 pv m. k> make plans for the future. Dr. J. Henry Highsmith, Chair m a n, Resource-use Committee Public School Program, will pre side. The work to be discussed and planned by the conference is in line with Governor Cherry's state wide plan for promoting interest and action in resource-use educa tion. For convenience in operation the North Carolina Resource-use Edu cation Commission is dividing the state into several districts, each district being centered in a college, and cooperating with certain pub lic schools which will be especially chosen for the purpose. Western Carolina Teachers college and Ap palachian State Teachers college at Boone, will be centers for West ern North CaroUn^f districts. Dean Bird' is chairman of the local college committee which will be responsible for promoting the program as it operates with in dividual schools in this districts. Other members of the committee are Miss Cordelia Camp, director of the training school in Cullo whee; Dr. Carl D. Killian, head of the education department of the college; Miss Nellie Bond, critic teacher in French and social science in the Cullowhee training school; and Tyson A. Cathey, teacher of geography at the college. Sylva Girls Attend F.H.A. Meet Saturday Mrs. Porter Scroggs, Home Eco nomics teacher at Sylva High ? school, and Bleaca Dee Parris and Clarice Hoxitt, members of the Future Homemakers of America, went to Asheville Saturday and represented the local chapter at the district meeting of the Future Homemakers held at Lee H. Ed wards High school and attended by 500 girls from 20 Western North Carolina counties. been secured by the Sylva Fire Department for the occasion here in Sylva.