ews
20 f'AGES
An Independent Weekly
Published in an inde
dendent part of these
United States-.
POLK COUNTY ? The Gateway of Western North Carolina
Five Cents Per Copy
*
Tryon, N. C., August 1925
$1.50 a Year
News Begins "Thirty-first
lt3[ as Weekly Newspaper With
The Current Issue
J
. ?r> ? js Have Piloted ;t Through T e Stormy Seas
Long Period ot Publication. Paper Has
"foo*n roMiinuouslii Since the Very Beginning
w iii this issue begins its thirty-first consecu
ol To lk County, and according to historians of
ahrrtd iv. ???' storms during that period than any
1,1 days i.;' sailing ships.' Under many captains
,.ii t (I by-wa >'s going forth to the out of way cor
uintry carry ing its message of hope in the future,
nditions. in
, ist? and it undoubtedly has played a
in spite of ?
' large part in the development of
'lair-'d to ex- I
! Polk County and its resources.
lw !
L farming Country
| of Polk County
Lfwi. Will Kept HoraiS, j
Lt^maki Lower end of
E) [icipiionaiiy attractive
I..... . is not all
I. ; v discovered |
[ ... ;v . ; d the nose of
? the uauticai
K*. -turned our
? aad follow
ML ?
? . . .itj where can- |
I-,; vk drooping j
li::r -*>' is deepest |
mi:-.:. P*Pe from
B_. \.;:h v'arulina rubs
1;.: .. o utturn sister,
K : ? ? mi.-hip of Polk
- -n contented
?t? -? SpcTOUS.
I-W.- ? i: of the gar- ?
v vu.uty. more no
Hp^.o tii if particular sea
? tii. uplands have
?:;> the ghost. We
B:.. tilled farms,
R;..*: l v. beginning to
Bfi>. Y\ aaw corn Ji^lds,
fto- ' at- acres . tha*
?wlii t- more propitious
? vM- ii along and not
Bx-- homes. modern
B'~ .. .v it- fresh with i
m -^au with evi- j
B> - The mules j
? gamboled in}
hurs.-s slaunch- j
??-, i: chard trees,1
B:- font lit. Cot
B' . spoke the j
*. Flowers in j
-i . ated grasses j
B J .. i>jvvs reveal- j
f those who
- hool, that |
?M.,ch has i
it- r education I
and which j
! standing, j
a- along the
in remind
r many_ in
-lvenesg ana i
c tuhine to I
:k County
.:i measure
? xpressions j
Serious i
? :r play?
ancestors
iirst rude
new order
'he old, and
h r with
rowth and
W Season Monday
$?;teer Seie.it'a
Tryon (jrad
*??? ' . !.:i- morning
;ii . accord
S.niU.rticr,
'"IV ' l Students
; i! (Iraded
mi is at>
.Science
Latai
? . . ;? -t.ory
?f '
'a'.,;.
.V,.
fL' .
?V.N
? " ? I.
.If
!'
? '-.-.(Jf
! "rude
Krade
crude
Since its beginning 30 year8 ago,
it has bet u under the direction and
management of many men, some able
and efficient, others lacking that
? mething which makes for success
as a small town publisher, and .the
roll call of editors reads as fol'ows:
Charles Fowles, founder and first ed
itor James McDowell, Geo. F. Pope,
Walter Vandiver, Will K. Jones, T.
C. Crowther, C. H. WiUiams, John
Carnegie, W. C. Corcoran, John H.
Hogan. John Bierbsfum, John L.
Smith. George B. Cobb, Frank Little,
B. F. Copeland, Clarence Bush,
Hume Fraser, and Howard A. Shan
non.
Many of the editors are now dead
>thers have tired of the attempt to
make two ends meet and sought fair
er and more fertile fields, but the
Polk County News continues as a pub
lication, growing steadily in size,
prestige and circulation if not in ma
terial things.
Many times when thoroughly dis
couraged over the financial middle
in which we found its affairs involv
ed aud which we have as yet been
unable to unravel, we have persisted
because we. felt there was a neij for
our (efforts, and that| the effJrt to
boost and build would be appreciat
ed an(i because we couldn't bear to
see the pioneer work of those who
preceeded u^, al$pðer wasted.
? They likt^(V<irz-jDtber . newspaper
nmu worthy of the name, gave to the
Polk County News the best that was
in them. Some gave little. others
much? because all men are not alike,
all men have nut had the same train
ingt ail have not tlu' same ability.
Cut little 0r much they gave the best
i hey had":
Familiarity breeds contempt, may
bo. You have been familiar with the
NEWS for thirty years, perhaps. It
comes to yuu as a matter of course.
You read it and give no thought to
the labor ,which goes into it. Yet,
candidly, you'd hate to go without it
wouldn't you?
Po'k County is growing. Every
town in it is growing. Development
is just beginning in a big way. Ten
years from now yoa'll bonder why
you didn't see the big boom coming.
Today I talked to a man who sold a
piece of property come years ago for
$3500. Only yesterday it bright
$65,000. Last year the land where
Lake Lanier development stands was
worth approximately $50 an acre.
Today a lot 50X150 feet brings ap
proximately $1000.
Trade Street frontage in Tryon to
day is worth aoout $200 per front
foot. Some years ago you could
have bought a pretty big chunk of
the town for that. And yet we
have people in the community who
can't and won't see any possibilities
of further expansion.
Twenty years ago we were solemn
ly warned that the bottom had fal
len out of the Southern California
i boom. Los Angeles was then a city
of possibly 100 000. Today it has
over a million population and its still
booming. We heard the same thing
| about F'orida ten years ago. Last
j yt-ar SEVEN MILLION lots were of
fered for sale, and most of them
changed hands at least once.
North Carolina is forging ahead..
The Blue Ridge section will eventu
ally become the year round play
ground for America. Polk County
has a BIG opportunity. Every town
in the county can help the forward
movement. Every individual can
help and the NEWS being the only
paper published in the county has a
tremendous part to play in its devel
opment.
Thirty years from now, the readers
of the NEWS, will look back at our |
files? good as we think they are ?
and wonder how Polk County manag
ed to get along with so little adver
tising ? just as we wonder when we
look over the first issues of the pub
lication. Thirty years will make a
difference and we hope we'll be sit
ting in the editorial sanctum, just so
we can say, "I told you so!"
THE END OF THE JOY RIDE - By A. B. CHAP1N
Stearns High School Has
Many Thousands Spent j
in Improvements
Two jBi( Brick v'tajs, New Auditorium
and Additional Staff of Qualified Ins
tructors Increase Efficiency of
Columbus School
I -
As an indication of the education
al advancement of Polk County and
the increased efficiency of its school
tacilitiea the remodeling of the
Stearns High School stands out as a
shining example. ?
Originally one of the finest school
buildings in the western part of the
state, the county is spending some
$25,000 on extensions and improve
ments. Two brick wings 42X90 art
being added, both two story in height
and a modern plumbing and heating
system is being installed.
One of these wings will house the
auditorium with a seating capacity of
600 and the other will be used as
additional class rooms. The old ai
ditorhim in the main building is being
divided into rooms to accommo a t
the home economics class, and
brary.
when the work is finished Colum
bus will have the largest school
building in the county and one of the
best equipped *n the state.
School in Columbus is scheduled to
begin September 8, but owing to
building operations being tncomp .
there will probably be a delay o a
week or ten days. I
Prof. E. W. S. Cobb, states that
the faculty for Columbus will consist
of N L. Wesslneger, an A. M. from
South Carolina University, as princi
pal Mrs. N. h. Wessineger. English
and History, Miss Katherine Richard
son Latin and French, Miss Katherine
McChesney, 7th grade, Miss Nellie
Jackson, 5th and 6th grades. Mrs J.
A. Feagan, 3rd and 4th Grades, Miss
Eula Russell 2nd grade, Mrs. J. W.
Jack 1st grade, Miss Winifred Bodie,
Musii^Miss Helen Maywood, Home
Economics.
Prof. Cobb states that every teach
er employed. In Columbus have pro
visional certificates, and high rat
ing. as competent Instructors, and
that l)e feels sure the c?mlng y??r
win be one of the best in the his
tory of the school.
Greens Creek School will open on
"September i*. Saluda School, Sept.
14 and Mill Spring, Sept. 31 whl e
the Tryon School session begins on
September 7th.
Boarding Houses Expard
TWO splendid new family boarding
houses, commodious in appointment
tm soon be ready for the fall ?
CaDt T. J- Jervey's "Melrose Lodg
wtn present a deeided-y b?
appearance, as will tie one being re
modeled by Mrs. Elizabeth Pue WU
litms also on Melrose Avenue. Mrs.
WUUams has made a decided success
i Her business, at the old p ace
which she has leased for some time
and the future should look very r g
to her "> Une n6W h?7 *
completed .
\
X
Threatens!
Elizabeth Ryan, of London, English
champion threatens the national
crown worn by our youthful Helen
Wills. Miss Ryan, formerly lived in
California. She defeated Miss Wills
in special play last week in straight
sets ? 6-2; 6-0.- Both are now worging
up toward the annual tourney.
Cities Threaten Secession
from States - But Tail
Can't Wag the Dog
Baltimore, Chicago and New York Want
to Es'ablish Separate States but
Congress can't See Their Play
Chicago is threatening to secede
from Illinois and set | up her own
state government BaHimore, too,
it is said, feels herself growing out
of sympathy with Maryland. New
York City has long had a grievance
at the state in which it is located,
and other large centers are taking
advantage of the present crime-wave
agitation to explain their troubles.
The talk of seccession is all non
sense, of course. We have so many
states now that our national govern
[ ment is unwieldy, and it is childish to
talk about witholding taxe8 and set
ting up separate commonwealths
just because the city politician do
not agree, or because a governor
threatens to call out a militia to
stop crime that appears to him to
have become too big a problem for
for the city. We are proud of our
big cities and their achievements,
but they should not forget that they
are populated and sustained and fed
by the farms. However much over
grown the tail may become, it can
never wag the dog.
Road System Spells
Prosperity to Rural
Populat on or H. C.
Roadside Markets, Coupled W.tti Easy
Cummunicauon with Tu?tns aim vi.Lgcs
Wiiere a Moikdt ?x?sts m?ktf
Prosperous farmers
North Carolina farmers and tour
ists now enjoy 235 mileg more of Fed
eral-aid highways than they did a
year ago, according to reports from
tjie Highway Commission. This mil
eage, completed in the year ending
June 30? cost a total of $8^446,717, of
which the federal governmant fur
nished $3,069,696. Highway construc
tion under this plan now under way
in the state totals 217 miles, while
the total mileage completed previous
to last year was 8S4 milts.
This additional mileage, while a
convenience to the tourist in the
state, is a godsend to the farmer, aa
it is estimated that each and every
farmer in this section of the country
averages 19 tons of tarm products
hauled to market and 8 tons of feed,
luel fertilizer, machinery, supplies,
j etc., from town. When good j^rnds
make trucks feasible this is not very
burdensome, but it represents a good
mauy hoars' lobor where -horses and
poor roads must be used. And so
while the tourist finds inter-city
roads mighty comfortaole to the farm
er a good serviceable road from his
tarm to the nearest market is a
downright necessity.
The expansion of hard road systems
uoth in this and other states In re
cent years has given the farmer an
added inducement for going into
business for himself. That he has
not been slow to tLke advantage oi
the opportunity is testified in the
increasing number of roadside mar
kets on the more frequented high
ways. Figures show that each of
these markets takes in fifteen to
thirty dollars up to several hundred
dohars a day, varying with the local
ity, the preponderance of buyers be
ing tourists driving through the vi
cinity. Some of these are nothing
more than stands of simple board
construction while the more preten
tious are housed in buildings which
may be locked after the day's or the
season's business. The most suc
cessful of the markets are so placed
as to have convenient parking facil
itiea where prospective buyers may
examine the articles of goods, which
should be of good qua'ity yet moder
ately priced and attractively display
ed.
Week End Visitors at Sattbslii^
i "
The Battleship Inn had as guests
last we6k end, Mr. and Mrs. Robert
Smith and family, Miss Jaunita Bail
ey, Miss Inez Humphries of Spartan
burg, Miss Merle Rotlrs of Greer, S
C., Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Howington
and Mr. Wisegarber. Mrs. J. W. John
son and Miss Eloise Wall who spent
the week end, remained over for the
week. Miss Lucille Moore, one of
Atlanta's popular teachers of music,
who has heen enjoying her vacation
with Miss Smith, left for Atlanta
Wednesday to resume her teaching.
Uncle Bill Stearns Happy As Saws
Buzz and Hammers Clang and New
Mimosa tomes Definite Shape
Genial ?nd Popular Hotel Proprietor Watches Workmen Erecting New
Mimosa While He Talks of Glories of Early
Days In Tryon
Back in the days when Polk
j ness, Wm. H. Stearns, ran Mimosa
; came one of the ibest known and the
j Western North Carolina. The old
I America, as a place famous for the
i its guest list was always filled.
Then along came a fire; Mimosa
; went up in smoke. Uncle Bill appar
jently lost heart. He was- wrapped up
iJust Why A Flaring
Red and Yellow Sign
Says "Keep Out"
Service to Our Advertisers and Custom
ers Demands Service From Every Em
ployee of the NEWS and We Don t
Pay Salaries to Entertain Visitors
Primarily, it means SERVICE, that
flamboyant ( sign which decorates
the door leading to the printing de
partment of The NEWS. For a t'me
a modest, but imperative "KEEP
OUT" in b^ack letters on a white
sq lare adorned the space, but its
very modesty was the cause of its
being ignored. Hence the flame-col
ored back ground with circus red
poster letters ? and even th?t has
failed.
It has -been an enlightening study
of human nature to us to see men
who wo ild scorn to step behind a
counter where the drygoods clerk was
giving him the best service possihje,
tnd dictate how the piece of goods
should be folded, or wrapped, rush
back into the print shop ignoring the
3 top signal, and dictate to our print
ers. Men who would never dream of
following a prescription druggist be
hind his counter and explain how to
compound a prescription of which
they were really ignorant, have over
stepped the same line of etiquette in
this shop. Just WHY a person who
would think ten times before i step
ping behind the wicket of a bank tnd
give orders to the cashier would feel
that he was committing no breach by
doi^Lg virtually the same thing here,
i8 something that has puzzled our en
tire force.
We employ an expert linotype op
erator who is paid for the work
turned out, and not to entertain vis
itors who brav? the dead line in op
position to all rules of business eti
quette.
Our printers are paid to set up the
work th?t is given them, from shop
orders turned in at the front oxfice ,
and not to listen to the wrangle or
some customer who thinkg he can do
a better job thiji a printer witn
years of training.
We have made enemies of a few i
who supposedly stand for all that cul
ture and graceful manners mean in
social life, because we were forced
to insist that they refrain from de
moralizing the entire printing forct
jy their wilfully ignoring this neceo
s&ry sign, deliberately passing th?.
gate, and making personal demandb
instead of consulting the editor who
also has years pf training to hl8 crtd
it . . j
As bexore stated, this sign stands
*or SERVICE. Service to the ma
jority of our friends who know thai
oy giving their order in at the office
lit will be taken care of promptly a.
possible, and be much better in at
p ?a ranee under the skilled fingers o? ,
our employees than if they themse.
ves took a hi.nd in- the Job.
We have tried patience ? have triec
to be polite in thig matter ? but pa
tience is long-suffering, and we will
have to answer cradeness with crude
ntss. True there are many printing
plants in this section, but we have j
never yet seen one where such liber
ties could be taken and "got by with.
We are always pleased to have
visitors call and we will endeavor to
make them welcome ? in the front
office. News- items are appreciated,
business is appreciated but the cost
of operating the NEWS plant is
approximately seven dollars an hour
and we can't afford >f' stop the
wheelg to entertain anjr uody at any
time. That's business, too. We run
a manufacturing plant, and it must
operate on an efficiency basis or go
out of business.
And so FOR BETTER SERVICE to
those who rea/Uy appreciate the best
we can give them, which ig the best
that can be detained anywhere, we
respectfully repeat ? "Can You Read?
No Admittance Means Keep OUT?
This Means YOU!
County was pretty much of a wilder
Hotel, and ran it so well that he be
best liked hotel proprietors in all of
Mimosa was known . tlioroughout
geriial hospitality of its host ? and
in old Mimosa with its historic tra
ditions, its subtle associations and its
intimate appeal to those whom Uncle
Bill had learned to call '"friends".
For years he turned a deaf ear to
!offers which might have resulted in
I thG erection of a new Mimosa.
j"There can never be another Mimo
jsa," said Uncle B^ll with a shake of
his head ? "Mimosa vis gone."
B it as the years passed Uncle Bill
missed the gay gathering which had
made Mimosa famous. Friends urg
ed him to rebuPd. The site is one
of the finest in the "Land of the Sky"
and Uncle Bill had many opportun
ities to sell the property to others,
but always held on.
Today a new Mimosa is rising from
the ashes of the old. The casino
which adjoined the old hotel is being
raised, remodeled and thoroughly
| modernized. Every room will have
its private bath. A large lobby, at
tractive sun porches, and well ar
ranged dining-room will offer induce
ments to winter visitors. Steam heat
will add- to their creature comforts
when the tinge of frost is in the air.
"Uncle Bill" is building a peacn of
a kitchen. He has always prided
himself on his ability to satisfy the
cravings of particular palates, and
he is personally supervising the erec
tion of the chef's retreat. In order
to eliminate obnoxious odors, he is
building a special addition to house
the food factory. It will have a cold
storage plant, and every modem con
venience for the kind of food that
made Old Mimosa fanioup.
Driveways are being graded, shrub
bery trimmed, and the beautiful
grounds made presentable. Uncle
Bill expects t0 open by>- December
first, and old friends are already
uooking winter reservations.
And Uncle Bill sits at his desk
smoking a thick black cigar, watching
i he busy carpenters, plumbers, and
painters with a smile of satisfaction
on his cheery face.
"Glad to get back in the game?"?
Uncle Bill smiled at the question and
waved a noncommital hand in the di
rection of the far away ridges of Old
nog Back, "Don't the mountains look
p.etty from here?"
Glad? Sure he's glad. And New
Mimosa we venture to say will prove
jast as poplar as the famed resort
hotel that helped put Tryon and Polk
v-ounty on the map as a t(5urist cen
ter. j
The grounds where such well
j known characters as Wade Hampton,
j iidney Lanier, William Dean Howels,
ohn Bjrroughs, William J Gillette,
ilichard H. Edmonds and other fig
ures of national importance in the
lelds of art, literature, and science,
oregathered in the old days, will
jnce more become the Mecca of pii
,rims from the far corners of the
arth, and Mimosa will ring again
vith the happy laughter of bright
yed girls and gallant youth.
And in the midst of the gayety,
Jnc'.e Bill will find happiness and
;ontentment, forgetting perhaps Old
<iimosa and its past glories in serv
' ng those new friends he Is so sure to
make.
0
iistoric Romance of
Polk and Rutherford
By Judge D. F. Morrow
Tlje News will next week run the
.nitial chapter of one of the most
anique histories ever penhed, and
which, by its local interest, should
be read by every man, woman and
^hild in Polk County. Each succes
sive chapter should be clipped, or
the paper filed away for future refer
ence.
This i* i'-e History of Polk and
Rutherford Counties compiled by
judge D. P. Morrow, well known
lawyer of Rutherfordton, a writer and
speaker of ability, with that wonder
ful personality which makes his
characters and localities stand clear
i before the eye8 of the present gdnei" -
tion.
Schools and libraries should c. i.
fully preserve for posterity the fas
icinatlng pages as they serially unfold
I for our enlightment and enjoyment.
>