little
In North
Carolina
ELKIN
Gateway To
Roaring Gap
And The Blue
Ridge
The Elkin Tribune
NORTH
CAROLINA’S
NO. 1 NEED
VOL. No. XXXV No. 8
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
ELKIN, N. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1947
f
$2.00 PER YEAR
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16 PAGES—TWO SECTIONS
Bond Issue Is
< Proposed For
Surry Schools
_ *—-—
Elkin’s Share
Would Amount
To $250,000.00
J / Elkin would receive $250,OQO for
^ new school buildings under the
proposed million-dollar bond is
sue announced last week by John
W. Comer, superintendent of
Surry County schools.
Mr. Comer announced that the
county board of education plans
to hold an election, probably in
March, to determine whether
Surry County citizens are willing
to authorize the issue of $1,000,
000 in bonds for the planned
county-wide school building and
expansion program. The regular
election books will be used, and no
\ new registration of voters is
planned. The vote will be on a
“yes” or “no” basis, and only the
votes cast will be counted.
Under the proposed bond issue
Mount Airy would receive $450,000
for a new high school system,
Flat Rock and Copeland would be
allocated $80,000 each, Franklin
would get $40,000 for additional
school rooms and White Plains,
.i.. Westfield and Mountain Park
\ would receive $30,000 each for
more rooms. These sums are in
addition to the $250,000 ear
marked for Elkin.
\
Superintendent Comer has also
called for bids to be submitted not
later than January 31 for the
construction of agricultural shop
buildings for the schools of Flat
Rock, Beulah, Copeland, Pilot
Mountain, Franklin, White Plains,
and Mountain Park. A bond is
sue was voted last year which pro
vides funds for this construction
I program.
ELKIN MEN TO
ATTEND MEET
^ Second Annual Session Of N.
C. Wildlife Association To
Be Held 271 h
WILL BE AT RALEIGH
Hugh G. Chatham, president of
the local chapter of the North
Carolina Wildlife Federation, has
announced that about a dozen
members of the Elkin chapter plan
to attend the second annual meet
ing of the Federation to be held at
the Sir Walter Hotel in Raleigh on
January 27.
Dr. Ira N. Gabrielson, president
of the Wildlife Management In
stitute, Washington, D. C., will be
the chief speaker at the meeting.
Dr. Gabrielson is considered the
nation’s foi'emost authority on the
subject of wildlife resources. The
largest gathering of sportsmen in
the history of the State is expect
ed to attend the sessions.
The Wildlife Federation is
sponsoring legislation which would
set up a separate Game and Fisk
department in the State govern
ment. At present this department
is under the Department of Con
servation and Development.
Other speaker's on the program
are Dr. H. S. Swingle, fish cultur
ist at Alabama Polytechnic Insti
• tute; Col Frank Page of Greens
boro, first president of the Fed
4eration; Rev. Fletcher Nelson ol
NMorganton; Harry B. Caldwell ol
Greensboro; Hon. John Martin ol
Atlanta, publisher and editor ol
“Southern Outdoors,” and I. T
Quinn of Richmond, head of th(
Virginia Game and Inland Fisher
ies Commission.
Fire Does Small
Damage To Home
Fire, said to have originated ir
a faulty flue, caused about $10(
damage, to the home of R. JE
Wood in Joncsvillc early Tucsdaj
morning.
Fire Chief Ted Brown said tha
the fire department answered at
% alarm at about 7:50 a. m. Th<
blaze was extinguished quickl;
and with no difficulty.
Chief Brown said that the fin
broke out in a bedroom, to whicl
most of the damage was confined
4Cause of the fire, he said, was :
flue, to which was connected i
•wood stove, that was not lined
Soot fell to the bottom of the flue
caught fire, and ignited workworl
surrounding the chimney.
Advertising Gets Result
City License
Tags On Sale
At City Hall
City Clerk Dixie Graham an
nounced this week that city au
tomobile license are now on
sale at the city hall. All local
car owners are expected to have
tags by February 1. The price
is $1.
DELAY HEARING
ON LOCAL BILL
Recently Introduced In Leg
islature To Make Elkin
Schools Separate Unit
PRESENTED BY SNOW
Hearing on the bill recently in
troduced in the State legislature
to make Elkin township a separ
ate school administrative unit,
originally scheduled to be held be
fore the joint Senate-House edu
cation committee this morning,
has been postponed several days,
it was learned yesterday.
The bill requesting that the sep
arate administrative unit be set
up here was introduced by George
I K. Snow, Surry member of the
State House of Representatives,
Monday of this week. It provides
that administration and super
vision of Elkin grade school, Elkin
high school, North Elkin elemen
tary school, and the Elkin town
ship colored school be placed un
der a board of trustees or com
missioners named by the govern
ing body of the City of Elkin.
Boundaries of the school dis
trict, the bill outlined, will be the
same as boundaries of the present
Elkin school district, but will be
subject to change by action of the
Surry County Board of Education
and trustees of the school unit.
Mayor Garland Johnson indi
cated yesterday that the bill has
been regarded favorably by State
Senator R. P. Jones of Surry
County.
Members of the city board of
education as designated in Mr.
Snow's bill are R. W. Harris and
Claude H. Farrell, four years; C.
S. Foster and Hugh Royall, three
years; and Everett Holbrook, one
year. Terms are to start April 1,
1947, if the proposal is carried.
Elkin schools have been under
county supervision for about the
past 15 years, when residents did
not agree to supplement teachers’
salaries as had been done in the
past, since 1922. Last April, in a
special election called by the board
of county commissioners, citizens
voted to pay a supplementary
school tax not to exceed 20 cents
per $100 property valuation.
Amount of tax was subsequently
set at 17 cents.
MORSE IS TO
DISCUSS PARK
County Agent Neill Smith To
Attend Session At Winston
Salem January 24
SAYS DEFINITE NEED
Thomas Morse, in charge of
North Carolina State Parks, will
speak at a meeting in Winston
Salem Friday, January 24 at 1 p.
m. in the Chamber of Commerce
office.
Mr. Morse will discuss plans
under way for the development of
, Hanging Rock Park, near Dan
bury, and the general program of
public parks development. The
Hanging Rock park was used as a
| camping site last year by 4-H
| clubs of Surry. Stokes, Rocking
ham, Davidson and Guilford
counties.
' County Agent Neill M. Smith
1 who will attend the meeting, ex
! pressed appreciation for the in
' terest in improving Hanging Rock
as a recreation center,
s “There ’» a definite need foi
i 6uch a park,'* Mr. Smith said
. “Formerly, 4-H clubs of northwest
i era North Carolina used Camp
i Millstone, in Richmond county, as
. a camping site. Often the camp
, there was not available to 4-H
; clubs of this area.”
Hanging Rock Park was firsl
used as a camping site by Stokes
9 county 4-H club# in 1845.
MISS PAUL IS
TREASURER OF
POLIO DRIVE
Will Accept Local Contribu
tions At Bank of Elkin
ELKIN’S QUOTA $2,000.00
Governor Cherry Appeals For
All-Out Support; Will
Close January 31
MUST MEET CHALLENGE
Miss Ophelia Paul has been ap
pointed treasurer of the local com
mittee for the March of Dimes
campaign which began last week,
according to an announcement by
Sam Neaves, chairman of the
committee. I
Miss Paul will accept contri
butions at The Bank of Elkin from
citizens not contacted by other
members of the committee.
Dime banks will be placed in
down-town stores this week for
the convenience of shoppers whc
wish to contribute to the cam
paign, it was announced.
Thursday through Saturday a
special drive will be conducted at
the Chatham Manufacturing
Company for the collection of
funds.
A campaign in the county
schools, under the direction of
John W. Comer, school superin
tendent and county chairman of
the March of Dimes committee, is
under way.
Elkin’s quota in the campaign
is $2,000.
An appeal from Governor R.
Gregg Cherry for all-out support
of the current Infantile Paralysis.
Campaign, which closes January
31, has been received here.
“I am counting on every com
munity in the State to do its share
in raising adequate funds to con
tinue the fight against this dread
disease,” the Governor said.
“It is an obligation which all
men of goodwill will be glad to
recognize. We must be prepared
to meet the challenge of polio in
the summer of 1947. We must
have sufficient funds on hand to
insure ourselves against another
epidemic such as we have just
■experienced.”
Governor Cherry said that ‘‘it
is quite evident that comparative
ly few families can hope to meet
the financial obligations involved
(in treatment of infantile para
(Continued on page five)
NEW OFFICERS
NAMED MONDAY
Neill M. Smith Is Again
Named Chairman Of Agri
cultural Council
SURVEY REPORT GIVEN
New officers for the Agricul
tural Workers’ Council were elect
ed at a meeting in the court house
in Dobson Monday afternoon.
Neill M. Smith was re-elected
chairman of the group; C. E.
Mauney, agriculture teacher at
the Copeland school, was named
vice-chairman; and Mrs. D. C.
Davenport, assistant home dem
onstration agent, was elected sec
retary.
Results of a recent nutrition
survey, were discussed by Mrs
Grace Brown, home demonstra
tion agent. The survey indicated
that the greatest deficiencies in
Surry County diets were in citrus
fruits and green and yellow vege
tables. Out of 152 school children
included in the survey, only 34%
listed tomatoes or citrus fruits in
their meals for a three-day period.
Only 51% ate vegetables during
the period. Miss Minnie Ruth
McNeill, elementary school super
visor, conducted the survey with
the assistance of Surry County
teachers. The results were tabu
■ lated by Mrs. Brown.
A more comprehensive nutrition
• survey is expected to be complet
. ed during good health week, Feb
ruary 2 to 9.
; Thirty-eight agricultural work
’ ers and officials of farm organiza
I tions and home demonstration
clubs attended the meeting.
: Elkin Man Guest On
Shakedown Cruise
' R. G. Smith, of this city, left
. Wednesday for Norfolk, Va., to
■ board the new aircraft carrier,
> the USS Valley Forge, as guest
> and civilian observer of a week of
) naval air maneuvers in the
[ Caribbean Sea.
The trip will mark the shakc
l down cruise of the new carrier.
Tribune Advertising Gets Results
YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS RESTORED HER HEALTH—Your con
tributions of dollars and dimes last year made it possible for this
young lady to recover from an attack of the dread infantile para
lysis. She and her doll (at left) were admitted to the State Ortho
pedic Hospital at Gastonia several months ago. She is Mimi Eve
Elliott, daughter of John W. Elliott, R. F. D. No. 2, Shelby. You
can help many other such youngsters regain their health by con
tributing to the annual March of Dimes campaign which gets un
derway Thursday of this week, January 16, and continues through
the month.
Recalls Early Days
Western Union Here
FIRST OPERATOR — Shown
above is Mrs. Willie (M. C.)
Whitener, Elkin’s first Western
Union operator. Mrs. Whitener
came from Mount Airy to be
manager of the local telegraph
office when it was opened in
June 1928, and has served in
that capacity continuously since
that time. Her resignation was
effective Monday.
TEAMS ENTER
J-C TOURNEY
Seventeen High Schools Ac
cept Invitations To Date,
Taylor States
TO BE ANNUAL EVENT
As of yesterday, 17 high school
basketball teams from Surry and
neighboring counties had accept
ed invitations to the annual Elkin
Junior Chamber of Commerce
basketball tournament, Dr. Ver
non W. Taylor, chairman of the
sponsoring committee, revealed.
January 20th was originally set
as deadline for entries, but due
to several unexpected difficulties
which were encountered, any en
tries made until the first part of
next week will be acceptable. Dr.
Taylor said. Several teams invit
ed have not yet returned cards to
indicate whether they will or will
not participate.
At the Jaycees’ regular meeting
Monday night at the YMCA,
members voted to make the invi
tational tournament an annual
affair. Previously the event has
been conducted more or less in
cooperation with the Yadkin Val
ley Conference, but beginning
this year it is to be sponsored in
dependently of any other organi
zation.
Prizes to be awarded, members
decided, will be $200 each to win
ning boys’ and girls’ teams, and
$100 each to runners-up. Trophies
and miniature gold basketballs
will also be awarded to participa
tors. The trophies will be placed
on display at a downtown store
sometime this week.
Mrs. Whitener,
First Operator,
Resigns Post
By THOMAS WILSON
Mrs. Willie <M. C.) Whitener,
Elkin’s first Western Union opera
tor and manager of the local tele
graph office for nearly 20 years,
has resigned.
Through her hands have passed
tens of thousands of telegrams in
the last two decades — telegrams
bearing messages of happiness and
sorrow, hope and disappointment,
joy and grief. The most heart
breaking ones, Mrs. Whitener
thinks, ware those the war depart
ment sent to so many parents dur
ing the war: “We regret to inform
you that your son was killed in
action . . .” Yet the happiest mes
sages — those which told of a
soldier’s safe return — also came
out of the war.
Reviewing the highlights of her
career with Western Union, Mrs.
Whitener recalled the early days
of her telegraph duties. The mod
ern teletype machine had not been
invented when she began work for
the company. Messages were sent
by key in code.
“Morse code had always fasci
nated me,’’ she explained, “so 1
went to a telegraph school in New
man, Ga., to learn telegraphy.”
After five months there she passed
a Morse code speed test and took
her first job as telegraph operator
in Monroe, Ga;
Later she completed a course oi
training for Western Union man
agers in Rome, Ga., and then went
to Florida to work. Sire was trans
ferred to the telegraph office in
Mount Airy in March, 1928.
When the Elkin Western Union
office was opened in June, 1928.
Mrs. Whitener came from Mount
Airy to be manager. She was on
temporary assignment and plan
ned to stay only a few months.
“But I liked the town and the
people so well that I just stayed
on,” Mrs. Whitener said. She
commented on the friendliness oi
Elkin people and expressed grati
fication for the congenial business
relations with the people here.
“It has been a pleasure to serve
Elkin,” she said.
Mrs. Whitener was studying a
cook book when the Tribune re
porter arrived at her home for an
interview Monday. Having worked
seven days a week for the last 2C
years, she has had little time tc
devote to the culinary arts. She
explained that she was trying tc
master the “very complicated art
of cooking.’’
Mrs. Whitencr’s experiences at
telegraph operator included de
tective work on one occasion sev
eral years ago. She told how a
boy in New York wired a local
man for money and signed the
name of the Elkin man’s son tc
the wire. Mrs. Whitener tele
phoned the message to the boy’s
father, who requested that she
(Continued On pace Sight;
FREE SHERIFF
PATTERSON IN
ASSAULT CASE
Is Acquitted By Superior
Court At Dobson
EVIDENCE INSUFFICIENT
Other Cases Are Disposed Of
In Final Session Latter
Part Of Last Week
NUMEROUS BOOZE CASES
Sheriff Sam C. Patterson was
acquitted of an assault charge
lodged last September by Samuel
J. Clement, 70, of White Plains, by
a superior court jury last week be
fore Judge Prank M. Armstrong.
The jury reported finding insuf
ficient evidence for conviction.
Clement said that the Sheriff
struck him when he protested the
removal of his wife to the hos
pital for the insane at Morgan
ton, where she had previously
been an inmate. The Surry coun
ty officer maintained that he had
been acting on verbal orders of
Clerk of Superior Court Fred
Llewellyn when the alleged in
cident took place.
Other cases tried before Judge
Armstrong Wednesday and
Thursday of last week, prior to
adjournment, were as follows:
Troy Nun, assault, two years
suspended, ordered to pay cost of
action and to pay into clerk’s of
fice the sum of $100 for disburse
ment to his wife and her depend
ent children, and to pay into
clerk’s office $30 monthly for the
same purpose.
Robert Freeman, operating a
car intoxicated, 12 months sus
pended on good behavior.
L. D. Shaw, reckless driving,
six months suspended, fined $50
and cost.
Bud Pike, crime against nature,
sentenced to State penitentiary
from five to 25 years.
Richard Butcher, violation of
prohibition laws, six months sus
pended and fined $50 and cost.
Luther Lee Mathews, hit and
run. no drivers’ permit, and oper
ating a car intoxicated; prayer
for judgment continued upon
payment of cost of action and $50
damages.
James Whitlock, non-support
of illegitimate child, ordered to
pay $1,000 through clerk’s office
to one Margaret Hughes.
Swanson Branson, violation of
prohibition laws, 18 months sus
pended, fined $1,000 and cost.
Roy Goard, appeal, reckless
(Continued On Page Eight)
CHARGE POLICE
WITH ASSAULT
Mac Shaw Holcomb, Arrested
In Dec. By Hugh Laffoon,
Counter Charges
HEARING SET MONDAY
A warrant charging Hugh
Laffoon, Elkin police officer, with
assault and forcible tresspass was
sworn but Monday morning be
fore Magistrate C. A. McNeil by
Mac Shaw Holcomb, Elkin man
arrested by Officer Laffoon last
December and charged with inter
fering with an officer in line of
duty.
The warrant was sworn as a
; counter-c h a r g c by Holcomb,
whose hearing was scheduled
Monday in the magistrate’s court
at the city hall.
The police officer allegedly ar
rested Mac Holcomb and Bill Hol
comb the night of December 4th
near the Bon Ton Grill on Main
Street. Bill Holcomb was charg
ed with possession of liquor, being
, drunk and disorderly, and resist
j ing arrest. It was said that both
, men offered resistance when ap
• prehended by Laffoon, and that
the officer used force in making
. the arrests.
Acting upon a motion made by
, the plaintiff’s attorney, Parks G.
Hampton, Magistrate McNeil re
moved the case to the jurisdiction
' of Justice of the Peace Julius
Hall, and set next Monday morn
[ ing for the nearing on all charges.
! Farm Bureau Calls
Special Meeting
£>. H. Atkinson, president of the
; Surry County Farm Bureau, has
called a meeting of the officers,
directors and convention delegates
, of the Farm Bureau to be held at
[ the court house in Dobson on Sat
: urday, January 25, at 10 a. m.
i The delegates chosen to attend
• the State Farm Bureau convention
i in Asheville will be confirmed.
Mr. Atkinson urged all dele
gates, officers and directors to at
tend.
Litteral And
Bell To Die
For Assault
SCOUT EXECUTIVE — W. A.
Dobson, regional scout executive
of Region Six, which consists of
the 36 Boy Scout Councils in
North and South Carolina,
Georgia, and Florida, is a native
Southerner who has been both a
volunteer and professional Scout
leader since 1921. Before becom
ing Regional Executive on Feb
ruary 10, 1936, Mr. Dobson wras
Scout Executive of the Atlanta
Council for eight years. Under
his administration the Atlanta
Council grew from 67 troops
with 1,567 Scouts to 148 troops
with 3,004 Scouts.
LOCAL POLICE
ATTENDSCHOOL
Special Police School Being
Held At Mount Airy; To
Discuss Accidents
OFFICERS TO LECTURE
Chief of Police Corbett Wall and
members of the local police force
are attending a police School in
Mount Airy this week. The school
began Tuesday and will continue
through February 18. Clares are
held from 2 to 4 p. m. each day
and from 7 to 9 p. m. each eve
ning, the same subjects being cov
ered at both sessions so that of
ficers on night duty and those on
day duty receive the same instruc
tion.
Walter F. Anderson, director of
the State Bureau of Investigation,
and agents of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation are lecturing at
the meetings. “Public Relations
Courtesy” is the subject of Mr.
Anderson’s lecture. State Attor
ney General Harry McMullen and
Albert Coates, director of the law
institute of the Universary of
North Carolina, have also been in
vited to lecture at the sessions.
Traffic accidents, investigation,
traffic and accident prevention
will be discussed at the meetings.
Law enforcement officers of Surry
County and the Mount Airy vicin
ity have been invited to attend the
school at no expense.
STOCKHOLDERS
TO HOLD MEET
Cedarbrook Country Club
Session To Be Held At Y
This Evening At 7:30
TO NAME NEW OFFICERS
Stockholders of the Cedarbrook
Country Club will hold their first
annual meeting tonight (Thurs
day) at 7:30 at the Gilvin Roth
YMCA.
The program, according to Dr.
Vernon Taylor, president of the
organization, is designed to bring
members up to date on what has
been done on the construction of
the new golf course, what needs
to be done, and what plans for the
future are. *
New officers and two new di
rectors, to serve for the next two
years, arc to be elected at the
meeting.
Dr. Tayjtor reports that, very
satisfactory progress has been
made since the club was organized
less than a year ago. He urges
that all stockholders attend to
night's meeting, which is said to
be very important.
Dr. Taylor has also revealed
that a full-time caretaker, Bill
Bryant has been employed to care
for the grounds. By late next
summer it is expected that the
course wll be ready for play, and
that a professional golf instructor
will be added to the staff.
Appeal Notice
Is Filed To
Supreme Court
Found guilty of rape by a jury
of Caldwell county men in Wilkes
County Superior Court Saturday
of last week, Ralph Vernon Lit
teral and Marvin Claude Bell were
sentenced to die in the gas cham
ber at Raleigh March 15.
Judge H. Hoyle Sink handed
down the verdict at 6:35 p. m.
Saturday, after the trial had oc
cupied most of last week in the
historic old Wilkesboro court
house.
The men were charged with the
rape of Peggy Ruth Shore, then
15, of the Pleasant Hill commun
ity, last August.
“The manner of performance of
your duty is in keeping with the
dignity of the manhood of the
state of North Carolina,” Judge
Sink told the jury, following the
verdict. “If the virtue of woman
hood and the sacredness of the
home are destroyed, there is noth
ing left to live for.”
Jury Foreman L. H. Jessup first
announced: “We find the defend
ant guilty as charged in the bill
of indictment.” Judge Sink or
dered the jury to return to their
room, and accepted the second
verdict of “Guilty of rape as
charged in the bill of indict
ment.”
The 12 men, selected from a
venire of 150 persons from Cald
well county, took but 15 minutes
to reach a decision.
Counsels for both defendants
made motions to set aside the ver
dict and for a new trial, which
were denied. Notices of appeal to
the Supreme Court were posted.
Bell sobbed audibly when sen
tence was passed, leaning on his
wife’s shoulder. Litteral, who had
plead insanity, remained calm,
chatting with his mother and wife
who had testified earlier in his
behalf.
Miss Shore, whose testimony of
a wild night ride in the company
of the two men was never con
tradicted, w’aited in the Wilkes
Health Department office while
verdict and sentence were an
nounced.
"I am relieved,” W'as her only
remark.
Jonesville Splits
W. Yadkin Contest
The Jonesville high school girls
lost to a strong West Yadkin team
29-28, while tire Jonesville boys
defeated the West Yadkin boys
40-23 in a double-header basket
ball game Monday night.
Fisher and Owens were out
standing for Jonesville, and Cas
tevens was the biggest threat for
West Yadkin. Dick Vestal of
Jonesville was high scorer with 20
points.
The Jonesville cagers meet Yad
kinville Friday night at 7:30 in
the Jonesville high school gym.
S. S. Group To
Meet Jan. 28th
The Surry Baptist Sunday
School association will meet at
Haymore Baptist Church, Mount
Airy, on Sunday, January 26 at
2:30 p. m.
Speakers for the occasion will
be Rev. C. E. Otey, Dr. R. K. Red
wine, and Rev. H. L. Baurham.
Special singing will be presented .
by a girls’ quartette.
Eighty-one per cent of Glacier
National Park in Minnesota is
accessible only by trail.
MARCH OF DIMES
4
FIGHT
INFANTILE
PARALYSIS
JANUARY U-3Q