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People Than^
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^I^VU.LE. N. C, THURSDAY AFTERNOON DEC. m, 1954 rr, , ,'
* :50 !? Adv,nce '? torwood andT^C^-7w,i^
jeaders Say 1955 Business Prospects Bright
Local Plants Plan To Add
) Present Facilities In'55
T. L. BRAMLETT
.Bramlett
3 At 83
>r Illness
?? Lee Bramlett, 83, Hay
lounty's first rural mail car
d a former Waynesville al
i died Monday In the Hay
dunty Hospital after a long
Sett carried the mail on
Waynesville, for 32 years
his retirement
as elected city alderman at
iville in May, 1939, and held
ficc for 12 years. In 1915
ed on the Haywood County
if Education.
as active in civic and poli
fairs in the county until his
ent. He was a member of
rst Methodist Church and
en's Bible Class at the
is the son of J. M. and Anna
Mooney Bramlett of Hay
ounty
lett was married twice. His
?Triage was to Miss Alma
? 1897. She died in 1931.
Tors from this union are
? Bramlett?Page 6>
Expansions of three Haywood
industrial firms were listed in a
report by Carolina Power and
Light Company, through D. E.
Stewart, assistant to the vice presi
dent in charge of industrial de
velopment.
Editor's note ? Heinz Rollman,
president of Wellco Shoe Company
several weeks ago announced plans
for doubling the present employ
ment as new lines of shoes are
manufactured. Mr. Rollman's
plans were announced after the
completion of the survey by Mr.
Stewart.
Included in Stewart's report,
which announced expansions
throughout the system of invest
ments exceeding $30,751,000, and
providing 5.826 new jobs and over
$13,500,000 a year in new payrolls.
The three expanding firms in
Haywood, according to Stewart's
report were: Unagusta Manufact
uring Company, 80: Dayton Rub
ber Company, 25; Underwood
; Novelty Company, Lake Junaluska.
| 10.
"A payroll dollar changes hands
over five times before it leaves a
I town," he said, "so this new pay-.
! roll should add over $70,000,000 to
i the annual business volume of
merchants and professional men in
the area."
The area served by CP&L in
cludes 48 North Carolina counties
and 12 in South Carolina.
During 1954, forty new plants
chose sites within the area and 43
old plants announced expansions.
, They included a variety of indus
I tries: 15 agricultural processors,
j 14 garment makers, 13 textiles,
eight chemicals and plastics and
five each of electronics, wood
working and hosiery plants.
Highlanders To Meet
Here Monday Night
i
The Haywood County Highland
ers will nold a dinner meeting at
; 7 p.m. Monday at the Towne
House, it has been announced.
President L. E. DeVous will
preside at the meeting.
I
Traffic Deaths
Down, Injuries
Up In Haywood
Haywood County cut its traf
fic death toll (as of noon today,
Dec. 30) from four during 1953
to three this year, but injuries '
1 from accidents rose sharply
from 53 last year to 70 this year.
The number of accidents also
showed a marked increase over
i last year.
The three fatalities this year
represent the lowest number of
traffic deaths in Haywood Coun
j ty for the past several years.
The three fatal mishaps occur -
; red on Route 276 in the Francis
| Cove community, at Dellwood
on U. S. 19, and in the Mt. Sterl
| Ing section.
I
Medford
Names '55
Tax Listers
Listing of county taxes for 1955
| will start in Haywood County and
! must be completed by the end of
' January, Tax Collector Bryan D.
J Medford said today.
Tax listers for 1955 will be:
Cataloochee?Mack Caldwell.
Cecil?Mrs. Howard Medford.
Clyde-?Mrs. Ray Byers.
East Fork?Watt Howell.
Crabtree?Hobert Duckett
Iron Duff?Mrs. Roy Medford.
Pigeon?Ed Justice.
Fines Creek?Cauley Rogers
Jonathan Creek?W. Roy Plott. ]
Waynesville?Mrs. Ruth Kelley.
White Oak?Joe Davis,
i Beaverdam?Fred Williams and
Vaughn Byers.
Blue Cross
Enrollment
Under Way
The Blue Cross membership en
rollment campaign for 1955 is now
under way and will continue until
January 15.
The drive, under sponsorship of
the Haywood County Community
Development Program, was begun
j Wednesday at a luncheon meeting
of Blue Cross officials, community
collectors, and county representa
tives at the Towne House.
Dr. Hugh A. Matthews of Canton
president of the Haywood County
Medical Society, praised the hos
pitalization insurance agents for
performing "a big service to the
community and for medicine it
self."
He urged the collectors to "edu-|
cate the people on what the insur
ance can do and will do," and
stressed that it insures patrons i
against "catastrophes".
Virgil L. Holloway, county farm |
agent, commented that Haywood
County has received state and na
tional recognition for its hospitali
zation insurance plan.
"Keep it growing and keep it
f one of the best in the country; it
is of tremendous value to rural
I people," he added.
(See Blue Cross?Page 6)
gtronics Class For
lults To Start Jan. 4
a.... . ?
' nave Deen completed herp
tits to take a special two
wse in electronics, under
?s of the state adult educa
?tram. This course will be
Moyment type course, and
bble to any adult, 18 or
*ho is not enrolled in
1 Bowles, chairman of the
?ntmittec, said that enroll
? be Tuesday, January 4,
to the new science building
school where the courses
held.
!s said the class will be lim
15 students, and the places
filled on the "first-crome
ved basis."
Burgess, instructor of the
'c course at the high
will be the instructor of
'
he
ither
COLD
>'e cloudiness, windy and
h Possible snow flurries to
il Waynesville temperature
d?<l by the State Test
?
Mm. Min. Pr.
57 18
53 23
52 14
- 58 18
-- 62 26
61 48 .02
65 50 1.73
this special class. Other members
of the committee include: Fred
Martin, of Martin Electric Com
pany, Lawrence Leatherwood, coun
ty superintendent of education; J.
W. Killian, Jack McCracken, mem
bers board of education, and Nor
man Grant, of Martin Electric Com
pany.
The course will be divided into
four units, Bowles said, with the
first course stressing the funda
mentals of radio. Each unit of the
course will require about 250 hours
of classroom work.
The cost of the course to the in
dividual will be 25 cents per hour
to cover costs of materials and sup
plies used.
No definite time has been set for
a class period, as the initial group
will decide upon that factor as they
meet Tuesday night. Proposals are
(See Electronics?Page 6)
Banking Journal Article
Honors Jonathan Woody
(Editor's Note: The following
article on Jonathan H. Woody
was published in "Banking."
Journal of the American Bank*
ers Association, in connection
with his outstanding work in this
community, especially In promot
ing the sale of U. S. Savings
Bonds. Mr. Woody is one of 12
American bankers being recog
nised by "Banking.")
By ROBERT W. REESE
In every man there Is a drcatr.
that Thomas Wolfe once wrote
aboul: a returning home, a return
ing to the scenes of youth, a mov
ing backward in time and space to
recapture something once lost. For
Thomas Wolfe there was no return
ing. But, for a neighbor of his
whom he didn't know and never
saw. there was the fulfilment of
this dream. He did go back.
His name is Jonathan Woody, the
U. S. Treasury's Savings Bonds J
chairman for Western North Caro
lina. His home is Waynesville. in
the foothills of the Smoky Moun
(Scr Woody?Page fi>
'MR. 1954' and winner of this year's Baby llerby was Ronnie Lee
Ramsey, son of Mr. andJWrs. Bruce Ramsey of Cove Creek, who
was born at 12:t3 a.m. January I, 19.it, at Haywood County Hos
pital. As the county's first arrival of this year, he and his par
^^ents received a variety of presents from Wavnesville merchants.
\ (Mountaineer Photo).
School Holiday
To End Monday
School bells at 8:30 a.m. Mon
day morning will mark the end
of a two-week Christmas holi
day for Haywood County stu
dents.
Public schools were dismissed
in the eounty on Friday. Decem
ber 17. while St. John's parochial
school closed its doors for the
holidays on the 21st.
With the reopening of school
I will come the resumption of high
school basketball games with
I four of the eounty's six schools
scheduled for cage clashes.
Dog Tags Available
From Your Tax Lister
Haywood County taxpayers who
own dogs will receive license tags
in January when they list their
taxes for 1955, it has been an
nounced by tax collector Bryan D.
Medford.
Dogs without lags will be picked
up and taken to the county dog
pound, Mr. Medford said.
Who'll Be
First Baby
Of 1955?
Who'll be the first baby to be
born in Haywood County in 1955?
Whoever gets here "fustest"
I wil certainly get the "mostest" as
the winner of the annual Baby
Derby sponsored bv The Moun
taineer and a number of local
business firms.
Gifts to be presented will in
I elude:
Thirty quarts of homogenized
, milk from Biltmore Dairy, baby
car seat from the Firestone Store,
sterling cup and spoon from Reli
able Jeweler, S10 trade certificate
from Belk-Hudson, bottle sterilizer
from Smith's Drug Store, free
transportation home for the baby
and his mother in Crawford's am
bulance, two-weeks dry cleaning
service by the Waynesville Laun
dry, $3 savings account at the
First State Bank in Hazelwood,
free subscription to The Mountain
eer, and one gallon of paint from
Haywood Builders Supply Co.
Winner this >ear was Ronnie Lee
Ramsey, born at 12:03 a.m. Jan
uary 1 at Haywood County Hospit
al to Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Ramsey
I of Cove Creek.
? / ~
Babson Is Optimistic
Over Business In 1955
B} KtJUhK ?. BABSON
1. GENERAL BUSINESS. De
spite wails from some quarters.
1954 saw a drop la the average
Physical Volume of Business of
only 5% from the record year 1953.
1955 could see a rise of about the
same amount. Certainly, the direc
tion of business until mid-1955 w ill
be upward.
2. BUSINESSMEN WILL
WAKE UP. During 1954 many
businessmen rediscovered the ;
meaning of the word "competi
tion". Sales will continue to be '
made only with real effort in most '
lines.
3. CONSUMPTION OUTLOOK, i
Consumption in a number of lines
has been proceeding at a more 1
rapid rate than has production, I I
forecast a better record in early I
1955 for both steel and automo- i
biles.
4. TEXTILE INDUSTRV. Tex- I
tile industry operated at extreme- 1
ly low levels throughout most of
1954. Coal and railroad equip
ment also exerted a strong down
pull. IIforecast that the textile and
coal industries will be in a recov
ery phase after their loug stay in
the doldrums.
5. PRIVATE CONSTRUCTION.
I forecast that home building and
general construction will be some
what lower in 1955 than in 1954,
but this important industry should
still operate at high levels next
year.
6. PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION. I
forecast that public construction
will increase during 1955. This
should mean a rise in the output of
cement.
7. AGRICULTURAL EQUIP
MENT. This industry has been suf
fering from a decline In demand,
but should now improve. Govern
ment-sponsored planting curtail
ment and crop loans have reduced
Tree supplies, and may make for
ligher agricultural prices later in
(Sec Bahsnn?Page 8)
Stores To Open, Offices
To Close New Year's Day
New Year's Day on Saturday
will be a holiday for most office
workers and many in the area s j
industrial plants, but it will be
"business as usual" for merchants
on the January 1 national holi
day.
Stores in Canton, however, will
be closed on Saturday, it has been
announced.
To be closed here will be banks
and postoffices in Waynesville and
Hazelwood, government offices,
and state and county offices In the
courthouse. Offices of the Town
of Waynesville will be open until
noon Saturday.
Since many business establish
ments regularly work only until !
noon on Saturday, many employees
will be able to get home in time ;
Saturday to watch New Year s Day
bowl games on television.
Heavy Fog
Blamed For
10 Accidents
i An even dozen accidents have1
been investigated by the State
Highway Patrol here during the
past week. Ten of the twelve were |
blamed on an unusually heavy fog
which blanketed this section Mon
day morning.
The new super-highway between
Clyde and Canton was the scene of
one eight-ear pileup reported ,by
Patrolman W. R. Wooten.
Hubert Arrington of Waynes
ville, driving a pickup truck near
the Jones Cove road, was the first
fog victim at 11 p.m. Sunday
when his vehicle left the road
and overturned lit a fill. He suffer
ed slight injuries to his back in j
| the wreck. Damages to the truck
were estimated at $175.
At 6:30 a.m., James Andrew
Bailey of Asheville ran his 1910
Chevrolet off the pavement in the
fog and his vehicle also overturn
J ed.
At 9:30 a.m., eight cars were in
! volved in a pileup on the super
highway. The first four cars, most
seriously damaged, were driven by
William* O. Silvey of Young Har
ris, Ga., Andrew Jack Blankon
ship of Canton, Hoyte Brown Rob
erson of Sylva and Charles Rob
ert Patton of Asheville.
Patrolman Wooten said that Pat
ton's car struck Roberson's ve
hicle from the rear, forcing it into i
the Blankenship car, which, in
turn, rammed into the Silvey car.
Damage to the other four cars
in the pileup was light and their
| drivers were not identified.
An accident at 4:50 p.m. Sunday
, involved a 1949 Chevrolet driven (
! by Mrs. Frances Marie Shepherd |
| of Route 4, Franklin, and a 1941 j
Chevrolet driven by Leonas Adol
j fas Lesinskas, Route 1, Clyde.
Patrolman Wooten said that the j
accident occurred when Lesinskas
was backing his car out onto the i
road on N. C. 209 on the Medford j
Farm road. He was charged with
driving while under the influence |
of alcohol.
Two trucks, one driven by |
Eugene Silas Lowe of Hot Springs :
and the other by James Edison
I Lakey of Stecoah, figured in a
| collision at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the
intersection of Routes 19 and 284
I near the Moody service station.
I Patrolman Wooten said that
! Lowe failed to stop for a sign and j
ran into the path of Lackey's ve
hicle. Lowe was charged with fail
ure to yield the right-of-way.
,
Bill McElroy
Candidate For
Air Academy
William L. McElroy, son of Mr.
and Mrs. P. W. McElroy of Lake
Junaluska, has been nominated as
a candidate for admission to the
new Air Force Academy by Con
gressman George A. Shuford of j
Asheville.
McElroy, a senior at Waynesville I
Township High!
School, will re- j
port to S h a w j
Air Force Base !
at Sumter, S. C. '
m February 7 for|
line series of :
justification tests
and to Ashevllle
School on March
12 for a college
entrance examin
ation test.
The Lake Juna
uska student re
cently took a physical examination
in connection .with the Air Force
Academy a^ the Greenville Air
Force Base.
Another Waynesville area resi
dent?Jeff Reece, son of Mr. and
Mrs. C. J. Recce, also was nomin
ated for entrance to the new acad
emy, but declined the appointment.
Chairmen
Named For
Polio Drive
Committee chairmen have been
apj>ointed for the annual March of
Dimes fund-raising campaign in
the Waynesville area, which will
get under way in January to help
finance the national fight against
polio.
Director of the campaign will be j
the Rev. Earl H. Brendall, pastor j
of the First Methodist Church.
Other chairmen named are:
Promotion ? W. Curtis Russ and
Kenneth Fry; special gifts, J. W.
Fowler. Jr.; schools ? M. H.
Bowles; industry and labor, John
N. Johnson; community develop
ment, Hallctt Ward: porchlight
parade, Adm. W. N. Thomas; sing
ing convention, Kay Allen: Dime
Board, Leo Weill of Waynesville
and Roy Wright of Hazelwood;
coin collectors. Paul McElroy and
Bill Norris; theatres, Joe Massie;
clubs and organizations. David Fel
met; special events, Ott Ledbet
ter; business and professional,
David Hyatt and H. P. McCarroli.
Masonic Bodies
Will Conduct
Joint Installation
Waynesville and Canton York
Rite Masonic bodies will hold a
joint installation of officers at
7:30 p.m. tonieht at the Lodge
hall over the First National Bank
in Waynesville.
James L. Carwilc will be the
High Priest, Raymond J. Fowler,
Illustrious Master, and J. Ben
Palton eminent commander for the
coming year.
M:E: Companion Charles C.
Ricker. P:G:I1:P: of Asheville will <
be the installing officer. <
All York Rite Masons are invit
ed to attend.
????? " V
Car Fells Fire Plug,
Water Off Christmas Day
As the result of a car striking
a fire plug on North Main St. about m
2:30 a.m. Christmas morning, water tl
was oft in part of East Waynes- o
ville for approximately seven and si
a half hours. d
Town Manager G. C. Ferguson L
said that service was restored tem
porarily at 7 a.m., but high pres- vi
sure forced further work on the c<
water lines, which was not com
pleted until 10:30. d<
Mr. Ferguson estimated that be- tt
tween 200 and 300 families were ti
affected by the disruption?includ- ai
ing Haywood County HospitaL w
Police Chief Orvillc L. Noland
;iid that the lire plug, situated on
>ie cast side of North Main St.
ppositc the Jaincs Shell service
lation. was knocked over by a car
riven by Mrs. Mary Robinson
owman of Allen's Creek.
The chief added that the tn
estiKation of the Incident is not
Mnplcte.
According to reports, some resi
nnts of the area, upon finding
tat they had no water, thought
tat the water pipes were frozen
id attempted to thaw thcui out
ith blowtorches.
New Year
May Set
New Marks
Good business during 1954
and favorable forecasts for
1955 is the trend of a survey
made by The Mountaineer
this week in which a number
of Haywood County business,
industrial, tourist, and agri
cultural leaders were inter
viewed and asked to make
statements.
Most businessmen said
their 1954 business has been
the best in several years, and
several reported that this
year was their best in history.
All, without exception, ex
pressed optimism concerning
the outlook for 1955. Business
in the coming year should be
as good as it has been in 1954
and probably will be even bet
ter, they added.
Statements made to The
Mountaineer included these:
(EDITORS NOTE: The fol
lowing is the first of a two-part
series of articles concerning
business conditions in Hay- _
wood County during 1954 and
prospects for the coming year of
1955. Monday's article will deal
with agriculture.)
Reuben B. Robertson, Jr., presi
dent of Champion Paper and Fibre
Company: "At present, the busi
ness outlook is good. We were
faced with a slack market during
the summer, but our recovery was
rapid. By mid-August, our busi
ness rebounded sharply, and for
the past three months we have had
a healthy backlog of orders.
"We believe that business will
continue good for the rest of this
fiscal year. Furthermore, every in
dication points to another good
year in 1955."
- - ? ? ' _
Jonathan H. Woody, president
of the First National Bank:
"In general, business has been
good in Haywood County and
1954 will go down in history as
a satisfactory year.
"We have had two or three
sore spots ? particularly cattle
and automobiles.
"Christmas trade in Waynes
ville and Hazelwood exceeded ?
pectaUons and proved to be bet
ter than any previous year.
"All of our plants are running
exceptionally well and more
hourly-paid employees are now
at work in llaywood County than
at any other time.
"Indications are that 1955. par
ticularly the first half, will be
considerably better than 1954.
It also loqks like there will be
more new homes built in 1955
than at any time during the past
few years.
"People are paying their debts
and saving their money better
than hereotfore. I am reasonably
optimistic.''
C. T. McCuiston, manager of
southern Bell Telephone , ex
:hages in Waynesville and Canton:
(See Predictions?Page 6)
Highway
Record For
1954
In Haywood
'TO DATE)
Killed .... 3
Injured ... ? 70
(Tkfc Information im,
piled fren SaewSi <r*
Stele RlrtwtT PitraLi
I