North Carolina Newspapers

The Volume 7 4 ? Number 36 Murphy, North Corollna, Thursday and Clay County Prv&ress Ap'.i 2, 1964 10 Pages Th.s Wce(, Pobll?h*d Weekly I Editor 's \ Note-Book Easter Sunday 1964 ii Cherokee and Clay was mark ed by beautiful weather anc churches packed with folk: dressed in their new frock: I and suits to hear the alway: j new story of Easter. ' TR The expected Easter cok snap didn't arrive until earl) Monday, but people were rub bing their eyes in disbelie as they looked out Monda) morning to snow flurries an< below freezing temperatures TR County agriculture expert: say that this weekS late freezt has done little damage m WNC but peaches may be hard tt come by this spring since thi entire N. C. and mojt o( thi S. C. and Ga. crop= were lost IR The third and final dose oi Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine will be given in Cherokee County Sunday, April 12. Dori't make plans to be out of town. IR Trout fishermen arefindinj their dreams filled with hand saw size browns and rainbows this week as they wait for the opening day of the season Sat urday. Clay County's Fires Creek Refuge will probably be the favorite spot, but Valley River and other creeks such as Davis Creek in the lower end of the County and Juna luska Creek in the upper end will see plenty of fishermen. Don't forget the license and trout stamp. TR Parents will take on the teachers in a double header basketball game tonight (Thursday) at Murphy in the High School gym with the first game at 7:30 p.m. The moms play the women teachers first. Admission is J5 and '25 cents and proceeds go to the Murphy ' PTA which is sponsoring the event. IR Superior Court in the county this week has seemed like days of old with practically every WNC lawyer on hand, plenty of important cases, and a big crowd of observers at each day's session. IR Judge Zeb Nettles provid ed a big laugh in court Tues day. A lawyer was question ing a juror and asked him if he had lived here all his life. Before the juror could answer the Judge snapped, "Nope, he's still a'livmg." TR A story in the daily papers Sunday on school enrollment showed that the Cherokee County system has 1,525 pu pils and 55 teachers; Murphy 1,44 7 pupils and 52 teachers; Andrews 1,172 pupils and 44 teachers. Clay has 1,870 pup ils and 50 teachers. 1 H The Murphy Cloggers arid Mrs. Lena Ford s junior square dance team from And rews, plus the Lonesome Travelers folk singing group from Murphy will be com peting in the Mountain Youth Jamboree in AsheviLle Thurs day through Saturday. TR Asheville Citizen staff writer John Parris of 'Roam ing the Mountains' fame is covering court here this week. TR Now that April is upon us, don't forget the deadline for tax filing is the 16th. TR Things are going up and coming down in Andrews. The new Health Center is well underway and construction has begun on the community cen ter. In the coming down de partment, the old Andrews Drug Store building is being torn down to make room for a new building to house a five and dime store and the old Henn Theatre building is being removated to make a new home for a drug store. TR Date High low Prec. 25 66 50 1-06 26 59 46 2.31 27 61 23 0-00 28 66 29 0.00 29 65 33 0.00 30 53 19 31 53 19 ?-?? FORECAST: Scattered to broken cloudiness, showers and scattered thunder show ers on Thursday: Friday, rain and a few showers; Saturday, partly cloudy; Sunday, fair. Grand Jury Issues Blistering Report Mr R PHY - I he Cherokee ^ County Grand Ji.ry appointed lor a ycar'i service Monday i at the opening day of the spring term of Superior Court lor the i county came up withabliMer i mg report or i cojidmon; kund . in county buildings. I he Grand Jury c ompleted the report by Tuesday alter - noon and Judge 7 oh V. \ur j ties complimented the group i on completing this part ol their task so soor. f The report read- as tol i lows: j We, the Grand Jury of Cherokee County, North Car olina tor March 30, lJ64term ; of Court do herehy find the ; following: , I hat Grand Jury has con > sidered and passed on all i hills presented to it by the Solicitor. That it appears that Grand Jury recommendations have f been poorly attended and im [ plemented m the past. In the courthouse, we found > plaster walls and ceilings m bad and unsafe condition es pecially in the Welfare Ol > fice and the rest rooms, a well as the Courtroom and entrance halls. A block wall ha.- been unrepaired in the Register of Deeds Office since November, 1963. Radiators m the Welfare Of f ice are in dangerous con i dition. The colored restrooms and other part- of the basement are filthy, cluttered, and con stitute a fire hazard. The second floor ladies room walls are badly marked with names and expressions. We recommend that these conditions be taken care of immediately. Hie County jdiJ wd Joand to be l r i a very .nsati -tai tury o n d 1 1 1 o n from a - Tr ictural standpoint with tloor- a bo at to collapse and planter (ail ing iron! ceiling-- m the kit chen. Most ol the-e dix rep ancies arc due to old age of the strut tare it e!t. I he front hail leading to the upstairs prisoner- quart er- was found to have filthy sheets lying in the floor and 'bage iri open boxes. ?Tisioners cell.-, were verv dirty generally and lack <, on sistent and per-r-teut hoase keepmg and cleaning. I he living quarter- were fiarly clear, and well main tained but the re-t of the building is badl) n: need of attention. I he basement was lourid to be a lire hazard and in need o[ a concrete iloor along with a general cleanup. It is recommended Mat the coal stock pile be d. --.posed of to another count) building using coal. It is also recommenced thai the County Courthouse and jailhou.se ground- be tho roughly cleaned upol all ?; rap paper and other tor-, igi ob,ects. Respect! ally ubmitred, Clyde Gladson, Foreman Members ot the Grady T ry are Mrs. W. A. Sher.-iU, Man Bryson, Carl C. l.edford, Ralph Killian.C. j. S< hroeder, James Newman, ( arter W or ley, Jack C.arrett, (.. ( . Forrester, R. L. Abernathy, Newt Gibson, Jarne ( nrdell, Mollis Robert-, William Kr;g> E. C. Van Hon., W< ? deiirlm, Robert E ? Thompson, and Clyde Gladson, foreman. Water Project Contracts Inked Bids On Disposal Plant Too High To Be Accepted MURPHY " Construction ol a sewerage disposal plan! for M urphy will be postponed until engineers designing the pro ject come up with a new plan or more money ,s available. The announcement of the de lay came out of a meeting of the Town Board Tuesday afternoon whenbids on the dis posal plant and lines were opened. Four firms, Noil Construct ion Co., Smith and Jones, Boyd and Goforth and Willian: B. Dillard Co.'s., submitted bids but all were in excess of the amount appropriated for the job from funds coming from a town bond election and a matching federal APW grant. Smith and Jones Construct ion Co. submitted the low bid ol $369,041. 53, but this bid was rejected along with the others. The W. K. Dickson engi neering firm of Charlotte which is designing the plant was instructed to revise the plans and try to come up with an approved recommendation that would come within the limits of funds available for the job. H. CLIFTON BLUE of Aberdeen, a Democratic Candidate for nomination as Lieutenant Governor in the upcoming May 30 primary made an unannounced visit to Murphy last week. Blue is a newspaper publisher and in 1963 was the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives. Senior Class Play Friday. Saturday MURPHY - Murphy High seniors will present the annual senior class play Friday and Saturday nights, April 3 and 4 at 8:(X) p.m. at the Elemen tary School Auditorium. This year's production is a 'Hillbilly Comedy' in three acts. Admission price is one dollar for adults and fifty cents for children. Proceeds will go to help with costs on the school yearbook. Also rejected because1 the mam bids could not be ac cepted was a bid of $1,086 from Wells Plumbing Co. of Murphy on the interior plumbing in the dtspo-al plant. No bids were received on the electrical work on the plant. In an earlier meeting I jc. day morning, the Iowrj Board did vote to award the bid on a 250,000 gal. tank lor a new reservoir for the town. This contract went to R. D. Cole Co. for $ 13,830. Five other firms bid on the sale of the tank: to the town: W. E. Caldwell Co., $18,123; Capitol City Iron Works, $15,311; Chicago Bridge and Iron Work-, $16,260; Pitts burg Co. $15,630; arid Whit mire lank Co., $14,641.41. Also awarded wa- the eon tract or i thegeneral water pro ject for the town, including new water lines and some new sewer lines, which went to Smith and Jones Construct ion Co. for $131,343.20. Town officials said that as soon as the engineers come up with a plan to reduce cost: on the disposal plant, and if these plans meet with the approval of the town and the State Stream Sanitation Com mittee, the town will re-ad vertise for bids on the job. LOOKING OVER A MAP OF the Tusquittee Ranger District arc (L-R) Lt. Louis Espino^ of Chile, District Ranger Bunch Ni.gi.Mt, Lt. Victor Morales of Chile, and Mrs. Janice Mc ( ornr , a >?.< rotary i:i the Ranger' office. Forest Service Playing Host Officers From Chili Here To Study Fire Control M'NPHY ~ i he government ot Chili m South America ha - do. ided to organize a lire x ontrol service similar to tht I'. S. I-" or est Service, and two Chilean police officer- are m Murphy (or a two-week visit 1:1 the I.-q'.ittee Ranker Dis trict to lean more about tire f igM 1 1 from forest Service personnel here. * he? are I A. Louis F. :-piri 0 s a , li) ye a r - c Id a 1 :d s ingle, wh: h i- he 1 a T'Njr i f the Chilean Pol lit lor seven years and I.t. V i c tor Morales, 31, who is married and has three children &ar k home, arid who ha- hcei' on the for: e tor 13 ye or. . I'he; ar.-jveJ iri M irp^y S.uida, and will he here- until April U. Durmg an interview this week 'he\ explained that the Chilean PoJk i. Force is roughly The - an e a the gov ernment's arn rut that dar ing peace tll,1c tflL'; orvc as poll-, ei: c: . ihe; and to:.r other oft icers are ui the S. for a four month v : - 1 r with Forest Ser v;. e di-trn t- to learn all they id' about lire control. I he training tour lor the Chilean ofiicer- i- part of the 1 . S. Agency lor International De v elopmei it program. r lie two officer.- visiting here got their tir t taste ol actual combat m 1 ire ! >ghtmg when the local Forest Ser vice personnel answered a cai; to pnt v t i small tire Monday m the Shooting Creek section o: Clav County which burned over 40 acres of National Forc-t land- before it wa put oat. 1 hey joined Forest Service personnel here in lighting the blaze a rid Lt. E-pmosa -aid with, a simle, "we fought very hard and were very tired." Both officer- speak English fluently. They explained that they studied the language in school, completed a "i\ - month refresher course m Chile arid attended a month long coarse in English at the Georgetwon University when they first arrived in the I'.S. During their rwo-week stay here they will visit all Forest Ser\io installations and fire towers in the Iusquittee Dis trict studying Fire control. I hey are already tremen u o j s 1 v impressed with the U. 5. ["crest Service's facilities tor transportation to fires, i i:":mmi,':,ca? ioc.s and fire lighting equipment. I hey explained that the major problem they will face in Chili is a lack of roads into the remote forest areas where mo: t fires occur. They foresee a long range program of education and work to sec i. re funds for their gov ernment's needs in transpor tation and : ommuncation. Ihey talked about the ter rain of their country, explain ing that since Chili is below the equator and is a very long country geographically -peak ing, the weather conditions and topography range from a hot dry desert zone in the north to < old barren zones in the south, but they have no j J.igle. The zone with most timber and lorest coverage i - vers similar to this areu, they explained, and they are very hi eh in praise of the well equipped Forest Service or ganization here and are happy that they can learn so much to take back home to be put to ^ood use in the organization of the new Chilean fire control bureau. Also visiting in the Tus qnittee Ranger District while the> are here to help District Ranger Bunch Nugent anddis tr-ct personnel show the visi tors from Chili what they want to see are Don Thornton, l\ S. Forest Service fire control expert, and Dixie Howell, As sistant Supervisor of National Forests in N. C. bounty Farmers Pocket $60,000 For 'Not Growing' Feed-Grains Mi k i ' m t -i.ncroKee county farm land owners have signed COUNTY ASCS CHAIR - man A. H. Barton smiled this week as he held final payment check for the feed-grain pro gram. up tc par!n ipatc in theFed eral Government's ASCS Feed-Grain program to the tune o! J60.762. This is the amount that farmer? in this county will pocket this year for not grow ing feed-grain, primarily r orn. Established in 1961, the feed grain program was designed to reduce the surplus which was piling up in storehouses throughout the country with mammoth storage bills. When a farmer signs to participate in the feed - grain program, he receives a check paying him for what he could have earned if he had farmed his acreage, theo retically speaking. This acreage that the farm er does not grow crops on can be sown in grass, etc., but it cannot be grazed nor can crops of any kind, including hay, be harvested until after the date stipulated In the con tract he signs. The dates for this year's feed grain program designate I that acreage placed under the contract cannot be grazed, nor an any crop be harvested from that land from Mar. 31 until Oct. 1. There is alsoa requirement that a farmer participating in the program cannot rent a non-participating farm and exceed the base on that farm. A total of 352 Cherokee Farmers signed up to place a total of 1,895 acres in this county in feed-grain program in 1964. This is an increase of 44 farms and 309 acres over last year. Oflicials of the local ASCS office say that the whole eco nomy of the county should immediately reflect this pay load as most farmers are putting the money they re ceive to use in materials for the remainder of the farm. Through the program, some county farmers are finding that grassland farming is better suited to their farms than growing corn. Sheriff's Assailant Gets 7-10 Year Prison Sentence Ml'RPHY - Sc. e'lty , cer oid Henry Miltoi iMilt) And erson, who shot Cherokee County Sheril i Claude Ander son live tune.- here ia>t Sept. 7, was toid by the ,'udge l h a t he wai L.ek; that he wo- not lacing a murder charge, a he r e< eived a -?ente:u e of -.or less than seve.i nor more than 10 year - :*i State Pr i ^on Ralegh. He was tr.ed Monday in Superior Court here b) judge Zeb V. Nettle.- of A hev ille. Anderson':- attorny, Leo nard Lloyd, eriTereo a plea > I guilty Ji the trial opened, surprising ma. > or-er.ers, a; he asked lor an erciiul judgement. The guilty plea meant that the c a e wo i lU not ijo n a jury. Tht trial wa> omethnig of an a;iti -climax to The events which h rough! it before the bench. Anderson was in the court house about 10:20 a. in. oi. rhe morning of Sept. 7, l'J63, try ing to get a rase postponed for a friend. He cane to the shenii with thi s request, when the sheril! saw that no .had been drinking. Sheriff Anderson placed him under arrest and was leading him up the hall of the court house when Milton pulled a 3^ Smith a; id Wesson five - shot revolver from hi - pocket and emptied it into the sheriff's body at close range. He walked from the court house, hired a taxi to take him out of town, and hid in the woods some 1? mile- Wc. A ^ o I N .rph; J4. ff a' J-1 . v. \ w.-.y Kr h i n . . I he -herd;' . ..j. M-ri ? O : r ? * J =. ta J that hOptr W.i :a tie u.a: r.e wi .Id l.v-. A; dutiur* a! pro v id-4 v <. Hospiial her*. werked d- - - pcraiel) to W.- p ?he hvi ir alivf, the n avh a.' lor the a ailai.l ' Oitifi i.';l : 1 id! i. 1:. the a:tt.-ri.ui! . *hei M:lru. agreed if _irrt .dor. he tarried him eil ;n oi i. e u.'ity ,all a' ..J wj h..'.d w t?i ~ oi:t bo i id ai.til r.:'t r i : ? r : 2 ; ' U.'ldltlOl W r vn . Wtic". Jc:( r t1 f - 1 J . a 1 . . , alllio T twi ~ ^ r, the slier it: w-d i ' : jj'.fcr, Niiitoi A : : v. ?. rcKJ-i'd on r-or.c a.i'j r . ; ir ] r ^ i!.ul rht da) 1=1 ?!:, t j' : _i i . J he tr;a. i-ik i-. thai.1 j. ? . 1 1 1 'i . i . p. . -e, jtio:., died"; fcSel:c :?. r v.le:.\ f-rewi , p jr Sher t A J- r -f : ?? the ? ta:,d iir l. He fold hrw ? -houtr happened. I he : ; t - r i f : aid that N'.:ltu . ii n- Ji "ant ; o sin a id it. at h. hi id <u hitter - :.e ? tow ar d him i. c dsd :.o* wai.t fjiti . i : . d i . 1 ' hed. 1 he proper ,;T jo: : di . pi a > cd the blood- -tatted ? lotho that were.' removed Iroin rhe iherii:'- bod) atur the >.hoet i:g. I heii Dr. w. A- Hoover wh^ treated the ? ? . ^ i ! ? v. ok the ita:.d. Fie de>: riK i wv. r- the bullet - >triA k the ? her it! , out ir. the chej-r, o .r r'n. ahde rner. a-;d ihre< i.i thv. arm.-. "I don't know how tr . : .lkr i:i the ? he -r e d the superior lourt Action Top News Of Week M!TRPHY " I'uC Spring term of Superior Court which convened here Monday has dominated the news, both of ficial arid unofi4 icial, in Chero kee County r hi s week. Judge Zeh V. Nettle- oJ Asheviile ha^ kept things moving at a brisk pace and Solicitor Glenn Hrown wa batting a thousand through I u t_-i day 5 r ec ess. Sheriff Claude Anderson 1 > back at hi - post in good health, arid the case involving his as sailant o( last September wa the leading action concluded Monday. (See story in thi> edition). Ibe selection of a Grand Miry occupied the : ? r s * hour of Court Monday, fhe Grand J ury concluded action on ail bills and completed its re port on county property and buildings by Tuesday after noon (See story m this edi tion). The second major trial of the session wa- underway as the Scout went to press Wed nesday. Four county men were charged m the murder of James Beavers, who was shot in the hack during a gun bat tle la November in the Tel lico section of the county , near a cabin on Tipton Creek. The battle came over an argument between two parties who both wanted to spend the night in the cabin. In this case, the Grand Jury returned true bill - against all lour iric.i i/'n.ir^ed: i h ? r r r . Fair, Don Lovmgood, both oi who? were iv. the parry with Beavers, and Bat Davj;, arjci Oliver Doekery, w'.o wer, . , the c a h 1 1 . wher. th> e-T her three arrived. A preliminary d^ non oi the ease revealed r';d" ^.ea^ers said belor*. he dii : a r I h..r rnari Fair >hoi l-;m, .3 ,J Fa; r went o'i tridl lues day, wth the i'hark.'*. red'., ed to e> o'\i d'^ru' : ' rj'-r ;>r l:n Iila'-ii: tor, ds . ie t \3cje:u 0 n.u'nt warrant, a< ?* ordr;^ ;o Soli citor Brew.. Fair, who 15 defended by a trio of lawyers including W. R. b rai'.ci: and Felix F. -.t^ene Al- l i e y , Jr., oi Wa>;;e-vjlle and j l\d M. Jenkins o: Robbr;-- a ville, entered a pi- a of not n Attorney Her:::an Edward ot M .rph; 1 d>>; ti ? g lor the ^ state. A jury m the c ase was em panneled at 3:00 p.m. lues day ana sworn a-, state's wit- L. nes^es against Fair were SBI \ Agent M. G. Crawford, County Coroner J. C. Townson, Kellis Radlord, Ba- Dor kery, Rob ert Hartness, I>a 1 Davis, and , Oliver Doekery. , Much ot lue>day'- Court artior, wa- devoted to a < a >e lr which Hoy! Waidro :p, h ? s o son Steve and Mu hael Aber- a nathy, both in ah -chool 5 en- ^ lors, were charted with sec- r. 1 , n ret assault, a telor.y, on George M. Fleming, a super- . (Cont. on back page) ^ ricr 1 1 : ' j '.eart," the doctor . J 1 J. . I'c doctor explained that i'.. -' crit: was brought to the 'io /ital alter he was shot and 'f a* he- was in such a state of ?. k '.Sat an operation could Of performed for some : . v ho ,r; until the sherif; .n pc:,acd to treatment for .hoc K. I hi operation lasted some !.t:.ri, the doctor said. He one bullet was still i . The :>fu riff's body. \ l At the prosecution put S i -A *ger r M. G. Crawford l the land. He -aid that he ulned to Milton after he had .r rendered. He said Milton ?old vii!u he was sorry and " Mil'on said he was not Jr.. w.'iei. the sheriff ar J him, didn't think . mo. .Id havebeen jailed, and hi'', the sheriff because he r Jwt.i'fit he was going to hit h . n v> jth a blackjack. L..Ucnce >howed that the -ni: cidn't hit Milton, and 'r ,i" ' n ? ;heriff was also not - cur a gun when he was Crawierd said that Milton's ? record showed a 12 month o in 1341 for violation ?J pr uJubi tion law, an assault si-c i . I .:'4 7 , and another as a .1' ; ase in 1962 which re ..n , ; a three-month sus >nidcci sentence. ' i hey say that Milton wants : i^:' with a knife when he's irn-king," Crawford testified. i hen County Tax Supervisor vn Donley, who witnessed 'he -hooting took the stand and :i .o i\ tory of the shooting . a^ain. A attorney Lloyd beganhis :eie:-.;e plea he said, "I have i donee lor the defendant t :v I'd like to make a state ment." I he RobbinsviUe attornty ai. eloquent plea, saying ?f.ai tnereweremitigatingcir e ..instances in the case, in cluding the friendship between Wilton and the sheriff be/ore the shooting, that the sheriff icld no bitterness, that Milton TO years old and in need of i prostate operation, and that lie to 'lis physical condition, 'even if the Lord is good to ne doesn't have too many .u! left. ' "i a . rht - in a begging man r," Lloyd added, "if Mil piinisbment in terms of . i too long, he doesn't jve h left to live for." 'IV has been a difficult a.>e tor me," Lloyd conclud d, "and it's my duty to do the t .-t 1 know how for my client, advised him to plead guilty ;,d a2k tor mercy and rely the court's just judge ici.t." The courtroom was silent or a moment, then the judge aid, "Your client, Mr. Lloyd, ; ri^ht fortunate that he's ot being tried for murder, ive bullets usually cause . arh. Liquor and pistols don't m too good. 1 could give your -a., ten years." Ther. the judge pronounced ?ie sentence of not more than 0 nor less than seven years. Milton Anderson, who had at almost unmoving thr ughout the trial then stood up nd turned to Deputy Robert lartness saying, "Let's go, lob," as he was returned to cell in county jail to await ransfer to State Prison in ialeigh. APRIL S? WON 'V (Tft TNI fll SAT 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 How many phones are "enough7" It all depends on the floor plan of your home and the tire of your family. You jutl name the place, ond Westco will install convenient ex tension phones in the busy spots in your home. Exten sion phones make wonderful gifts too. WESTCO TELEPHONE CQMPANY Murphy Bu?in??? Office Dial >37*2101 MISS APRIL u,,s J.?P?ni?. Jo""?. daughter of Mr. and Mri. Wiii|0m Jomes <y