iner To Build Apartments On Old Central School Site
?3 The Waynesville Mountaineer [ss]1
_____ ? Published Twice-A-Week In The County Seat of Haywood County At The Eastern Entrance Of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park ^
NO. 99 18 PAGES Associated Press WAYNESVILLE, N. C., THURSDAY AFTERNOON, DEC. 1, 1955 $3.50 In Advance In Haywood and Jackson Counties
[nagusta Officials Hope To Rebuild Plantli
j Units Will Be
kit; Four Homes
"I hope to start work on a mod
ern 50-unit apartment house the
next morning after I get my deed,"
Jerry Liner said a few minutes af
ter bidding in the old Central
Elementary School property for
$67,000 Wednesday afternoon.
Liner said he would add to the
present three-story building, and
have 50 modern apartments, com
plete with air conditioning and
elevator service. He said about 18
months would be needed for the
job.
In addition to the apartment
house. Liner said he planned
four residences on Tate Street
which he would offer for sale. *
""They will be nice homes, in
the $20,000 to $25,000 range," he
pointed out.
The bidding on the property was
brisk, with a special committee
from the First Methodist church
making bids for the block-square
site. The 23 lots were offered
separately and were bid in at $35,
050 by. several parties, including
Liner and the Methodists.
When the property was put up
as a. whole, the Methodists started
the first bid at $40,000 and it went
from there to $67,000.
Jarvis Caldwell, chairman of the
Haywood County Board of Educa
tion, said there was no question
about the sale being confirmed at
the end of 10 dayg. unless, the bid
is raised. A 10 per cent increase
over the bid price is required in
order to raise the bid. it was ex
plained by W. Roy Francis, attor
ney for the board.
Medford Leatherwood was the
auctioneer, and said afterwards it
was the largest sale in his career.
Francis told prospective buyers
before the sale that a "good title"
(See Apartment?Page 6)
F. C. Green Says
Investigation
Is Welcomed
"We will welcome any investiga
tion as to any of our actions,"
Faraday C. Green, chairman of the
Board of Commissioners said this
morning in referring to the part of
the Grand Jury's recent report in
which a recommendation was that
'a thorough investigation be made
relative to the sale of some per
sonal property at the county home.
Chairman Green said, "we wel
come any investigation, because if
we have made a mistake we would
like to know about it ourselves.
We have nothing to hide, and all
transactions are open for any in
vestigation that anyone or any
group might wish to make.
"I am sorry," the chairman con
tinued, "that such a thing has
come to the minds of any citizen^,
but we still want it known that
any investigation will have our
hearty approval, and at any time,"
he concluded.
I LINER
I Fund
hin
H Goal
n3 Is $5,800 short
J, E. Fender told
ectors Wednesday
me he announced
)f solicitors were
-up" of their as
?eek.
mncement of the
ive made 100 per
is were announc- |
Kurt Cans, Hay
op, Moody Rulane,
ig. Garrett's Fun
lie's.
ountaineer, Way
ales, Harry Liner
it National Bank, I
il Electric Asso.,
Federation, Reli
?yda Ins. Agency,
p.
id the board will
fiber 14th for the
ind election of of
campaign chair
those wishing to
tion to the Fund,
ng 25 agencies,
ailing the United
5-6277, or mailing
office.
To Meet
County Highland
r December meet
issioners room in
it 7:30 p.m. Mon
president, will
ley Warehouses Cancel
\ Alter Protests Here |
TB
I
? '^*>dlnF>fd,nd ,light
lv*>^'c,oudy
r^nSTSS JSe**
by th* State Test
I 1"'
Plans of Haywood County to-1
bacco producers to go to court
over new charges set by Asheville
burley warehouses resulted in the
dropping of the controversial fees
as auction sales opened Tuesday.
At a meeting Monday morning
in the office of County Farm A
gent Virgil L. Holloway it was re
ported that the Asheville ware
houses were planning to charge
four different fees, including a
per cent commission, 25-ceht
basket fee, 10-cent weighing and
handling charge, and an auction
fee of li5 cents for 100 pounds or
less or 25 cents for more than 100
pounds.
Lamar Gudger. Asheville attor
ney, told tobacco farmers and
county agriculture officials, that
the latter two fees "violated the
spirit" of the law passed by the
North Carolina General Assembly
at its last session.
The attorney added that this act
prohibits any warehouse fees ex
cept the 3>4 per cent commission
and 25-cent basket fee.
Oral L. Yates, field representa
(See Barley?Page <)
. - . 1 W-!. . . ' ' 1 J" - I I".* " ??
THIS PICTURE was made about fifteen minutes after the $7H,MI
blaze started at Unagusta about S:30 Wednesday afternoon,
first of the 55-gallon barrels of lacquer had just exploded whtaa
- Mountaineer photographer mode this picture. The black, billow
In* smoke was seen as far away as Sylva. Pictures made at noon
today are on Paces 2, 3 and 3. Other fire pictures on paces in
this ssetion and also dull? Two of this edition.
. ~ (Mountaineer Photo).
? r- >111 I ?? 1 ? r - - - -
County Farm Injunction Hearing
Slated Here Friday Morning At 10
|
Special Christmas Edition
To Be Published Monday
Haywood County's biggest and best Christmas gift edition ever
will be published by The Mountaineer Monday.
The issue, which will come off the press Monday evening, will
contain scores of gift suggestions for persons of all ages, with
articles and pictures to make your Christmas shopping easier.
Also to be featured will be photographs of displays in local
stores.
The deadline for this special edition will be at 5 p.m. Friday.
Advertisers who have not been contacted, are urged to call The
Mountaineer advertising department as sooh as possible.
Weatherman
Promises
Warmer Weather
The weatherman has promised
more seasonal weather tonight af
ter coming up with three days of
the year's bitterest cold. The
thermometer at th? Experiment
Station dipped to a low of 7 de
grees both Tuesday and Wednes
day nights, coming up with a
''warm" 13 last night.
The season's most severe cold
wave came on Monday night, rid
ing a mass of air borne down from
Canada. Tuesday's high, as re
ported by the Experiment Station,
was 33 and Wednesday's high was
39.
Today is warmer and the up
ward trend is expected to continue
tomorrow.
Wednesday Store
Closings Halted
Until Christmas
Starting next Wednesday, Way
nesville area retail businesses will
remain open on Wednesdays dur
ing the month of December except
for Decembe 28.
Stores and businesses also wil
be open on Friday nights until 9
p.m. on December 9 and 16.
The week before Christmas,
stores also will be open for sev
eral consecutive nights on a sched
ule to be announced later.
The store hours for th% holiday^
were set by a committee made up
of Joe Cline, chairman; Charles
Ray, Bob Wilson, J. C. Jennings
of the Merchants Association and
Ned Tucker of the Chamber of
Commerce.
First-Day Burley Sales
Bring Average Of $56.32
i .
Nearly two thirds of a million
pounds of buriey tobacco brought
an average of $56.32 Tuesday dur
ing the opening day of warehouse
auctions at Asheville.
Last year the first-day average
was $58.89.
Unofficial sales totals Tuesday
were $352,832.14 paid for 626,702
pounds of buriey.
At Boone the opening day aver
age was $55.75 and at West Jef
ferson $55.95.
On 14 East Tennessee markets,
Tuesday sales averaged $56.51.
Asheville's second-day average
was reported as $56.27. Totals were
585,018 pounds of buriey sold for
$329,241.24.
Senator Medford To Be
Speaker At PTA Meeting
State Senator William Medford
will speak at a meeting of the
Waynesville High School Parent
Teacher Association Monday night
at 7:30 o'clock. Mr. Medford will
discuss problems facing the schools
at this time.
Paul Davis, president Will pre
side.
Miss Grace Blanton, student at
Woman's College, visited her par
ents during the Thanksgiving holi
days.
The second hearing on a re
straining order stopping the sale
of the 140-acre county home farm
is slated to be heard before Judge
George B. Patton, of Franklin, in
the courtroom here at 10 a.m. Fri
day morning.
Judge Patton is also expected to
hear a petition from the county
commissioners, defendants in Mi"
case, in which they ask that the
plaintiff's bond be raised from
$1,000 to $25,000.
Max Cogburn, one of the law
yers for the 108 plaintiffs said to
day that about 80 applications had
been received from others asking
that they become parties to the
suit to prevent the sale of the farm.
Ray Haynes was named general
chairman of the group opposing
the sale of the 140-acre farm when
over 300 people met at the Bethel
school recently. A steering com
mittee of about 20 were named at
the same time, it was announced
today.
Grover C. Davis, county attorney,
announced last week that a dam
age suit of perhaps $25,000 would
be brought by the county against
the plaintiffs of the restraining
order because of the stoppage of
the sale on November 9th.
Davis had no statemet to make
this morning other than to men
tion the date and hour of the bear
ing before Judge Patton.
This is the second restraining
order issued to stop sale of the
county farm. The first injunction
was dissolved by Judge Moore, and
when the second complaint came
up, he transferred it to Judge Pat
ton, explaining he had expressed
an opinion after hearing the first
complaint.
Moose Get
300 Pieces
Of Clothing
More than 300 articles of cloth
ing and 42 pairs of shoes ? most
ly for children ? were collected
by members of the Waynesville
Moose Lodge during their porch
light drive Tuesday night.
Mrs. E. J. Stanmyre of the Way
nesville Clothing Closet said the
items collected are now being sort
ed and will be distributed during
the latter part of next week.
Distribution will be made from
(See Maeee Page ?>
Court Adjourned
Tuesday As Most
Cases Are Heard
?
Superior court adjourned here
Tuesday afternoon by Judge Dan
K. Moore after most of the 400
cases had been cleared from the
docket.
Two manslaughter cases and the
second trial of a man charged in
the shooting of his son were con
tinued.
The manslaughter charges
against Dewey Forrest Bryson of
Waynesviile, Rt. 1, and Charles
Howard Leatherwood. 17, of
Waynesviile. arose from the deaths
of two persons in separate traffic
accidents.
Bryson is charged in the death
of 13-year-old Bobbie Jean Crow
der of Bryson City; and Leather
wood, in the death of Charles
Weldon Gidney, 52, of Canton. *
Burl Warren of the Thickety
section was granted a new trial by
the State Supreme Court after he
was convicted last February of
assault with a deadly weapon with
intent to kill his son, Paul, and
sentenced to five to seven years.
In other actions Judge Moore
placed on probation three 15-year
old Canton boys after hearing a re
port they paid for goods taken
from a number of stores. They also
had been charged with taking an
automobile.
Damage Put At $750,000
In Haywood's Wont Fire
Unagusta Furniture Company officials were in an
all-morning conference today, working out details to get
essential machines in order to keep Plant No. 1 in opera
tion after fire, destroyed Plant No. 2 Wednesday afternoon,
causing Haywood's largest fire loss in history. The offic
ials set the loss at $750,000.
R. L. Prevost, Sr., president of the firm, told The
Mountaineer this morning: "We are working fast to get
replacement of main machines which were destroyed and
put them in Plant No. 1 to keep that unit in operation."
1 urn c is*-- -? ?
Community
Meeting Set
For Tonight
BULLETIN
A community meeting will be
held tonight. 7:30, courthouse,
to discuss a program for offer
ing assistance to Unagusta em
ployees while temporarily out
of employment. The meeting is
sponsored Jointly by the Cham
ber of Commerce and Merchants
Association.
Members of church groups,
civic clubs, and other organisa
tions are asked to attend this
meeting.
While firemen were .still pour
ing tons of water on the blazing
ruins of Unagusta Plant No. 2,
citizens of the community began
discussing plans for aiding those
employees who might need assist
ance while out of employment.
The groups* were church agen
cies, civic groups, and profession
al folk, both men and women.
This morning the directors of
the Merchants Association and
Chamber of Commerce held a
special meeting to discuss the
question.
At the same time, town officials
of Waynesville and Hazelwood
were in a conference discussing
the matter.
R. L. Prevost, president of the
Unagusta firm, appeared at the
Merchants-Chamber of Commerce
meeting, and expressed gratitude
for the interest shown by the vari
ous groups.
Richard Bradley, president of
the Chamber of Commerce, named
a committee to work with others
in preparing and presenting a
program. The committee is com
posed of J. W. Fowler, Jr., H. P.
McCarroll, Paul Davis and J. W.
Ray.
Miss Debrayda Fisher, manager
(See Meeting?Page 6)
i nt' me seems use a nigni
mare, and we are trying as best we
can to collect our thoughts this
morning, and while we are not
wasting a moment, these things, of
necessity, will take a little time,"
he explained.
The industralist, when asked
about rebuilding, said: "There are
a lot of things involved. Our pres
esnt thinking is to rebuild on a
larger scale with a modern plant,
but right at the moment we are
trying to devote our efforts to
getting machines in order that
Plant No. 1 can continue to oper
ate," he pointed out.
Office personnel were busy noti
fying the 30 salesmen, and large
number of customers of the fire
which swept through Plant No. 2
and in about two hours had level
ed it to the ground. The main
machines for the operation of Una
gusta were In this plant. These
Included the precision and elec
tronic machines, some costing up
to $29,000. The veneer for the
corporation was produced in the
burned plant.
Mr. Prevoet said that there was
some stock partially finished and
that efforts would be devoted to
getting that furniture finished and
shipped as soon as possible, and
that is one urgent need for the new
machines.
As of Wednesday about 100 men
worked in Plant No. 1 and 250 in
Plant No. 2. Mr. Prevost said he
hoped with the addition of the
new machines that more men
would he employed in Plant No. 1.
As to rebuilding. Mr. Prevost
said: "A community built around
industry can't afford to quit when
a plant is destroyed. I have al
ways worked on the motto: 'Where
there is a will there is a way.'
I have had some tough breaks in
my life, but like Daniel of the
Bible. I have tried to overcome the
obstacles in my pathway, and hope
to hurdle this one, even as bad
as it is."
Mr. Prevost said the thing he
was so thankful for was that no
one was hurt. He was warm in his
praise of the magnificent job the
firemen did in keeping the blar
from spreading to the kiin and
(See Fire?Page 6)
Unagusta Workers Asked
To File For Compensation
All employees of the Unagusta Furniture Co. have been asked
by President R. L. Prevost, Sr., to file for unemployment compensa
tion Friday at the Waynesvtlle office of the Employment Security
Commission, located at 120 Church, St. behind the Waynesville
postoffice.
Employees whose last names begin with A through M are
requested to file between 8 a.m. and 12 noon.
Those whose names begin with N through Z are asked to file
from 12 noon until 5 p.m.
This applies to employees of Cnagusta's No. 1 plant as well as
the No. 2 plant which was destroyed by fire Wednesday afternoon.
. Miss Debrayda Fisher, manager of the employment office ask
ed that all war veterans filing for compensation bring their' dis
charge or military separation papers.
She also asked that anyone who cn use workers or temporary
workers call the employment office.
Sidelights Of Fire
A lid from an exploding lacquer
drum sailed several hundred feet
in the air, and looked as if it were
headed for a group of about 50
people across the street. The crowd
scattered back much further.
An elderly lady living near the
plant was moved by ambulance
to the home of a sen, because
her family did net want her
frightened. The sight of the sm
bulanee started many unfounded
Crews ward kept on the roof of
the Tannery and Wollco Shoe
Corporation. Several times the
Tannery roof caught but the guard
ing watchers quickly put out the
blaze.
?? ? ?
Soon after dark, water began
to freeie on the street*.
About dusk a Jet plane flew over
head several times, and it sounded
as if the craft was circling the
fire area.
The Haaelwood fire department
lost several lengths of booe as
bursting barrels of lacquer ex
ploded on them and burned.
A bulldozer cut a fire lane
through the vacant lot between the
fire and Wellco because of the dry
grass and heavy coating oi dry
loaves.
A making boxcar wgp sieved
(See Sidelights?-Page ?>
Highway
Record For
1955
In Haywood
(TO DATS)
Killed 3
(1*54 ? 3)
Injured.... 83
(1M4 ? M>
Accidents 168
Loss.. $77,830
State Htefcwv PstreU