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The Cherokee Scout
and Clay County Progress
10 Cents Per Copy *
Volume 80 _ NUMBER 12-Murphy, North Carolina, 28906 ? Second Class Postage Paid At Murphy, North Carolina ? THURSDAY? OCTOBER 9, 1969
INSIDE
EDITORIAL
.PAGE 4
SPORTS
.PAGE 9
SOCIETY
.PAGE 6
CLASSIFIED
PAGE 11
Another Moore Dodge For Driver Education
E. C. Moore Company presented a 1970 Dodge to
urphy High School this week for use in the Driver
ducation program, the sixth consecutive year the
impany has provided a car. At the presentation were
j-R) James Evans, salesman; Cloe Moore; Murphy
mayor and an owner of the business; Superintendent
of Schools, John Jordan; E. Ray Moore, an owner of
the Dodge dealership, giving the keys to Jordan.
(Staff Photo)
herokee
nited Fund
rive Begins
The Cherokee County
ited Fund drive officially
; under way with a kickoff
akfast in Murphy Tuesday
irning and the news that
re than half the goal has
sady been pledged.
Campaign leaders met at
ell's Restaurant to receive
ir instructions and materials
1 were told tha a telephone
kitation effort by President
I.. McKeever has resulted in
3,000 pledged against the
d this year of $30,000.
The campaign workers will
to reach the goal for
>rokee County in October,
month set aside nationally
United Fund campaigns.
Among the solicitors in the
rphy area are: Doug Carlson
Clifton Precision; Bill
ickett, American Thread;
race Cannon, Levi Strauss
nager; Dave Moody, district
ilth officer; Rev. lliomton
wkins, pastor of First
thodist CHurch; Gene
rmer, manager of
lins-Crain.
Officers, in addition to
Keever, who will also be
kiting contributions are Dr.
aries O. Van Gorder and Joe
Khouri, vice presidents;
nes T. Gentry, secretary;
1 the treasurer, John Jordan,
lerintendent of schools.
The solicitors will be
phasizing that one gift will
a contribution to 22 local
1 14 state and national
ncies. A pledge is preferred
tr ready cash because a small
ount, given regularly, is
ier on the individual and the
ncies can then look forward
i full year of support.
The local agencies include
ins Clubs at Murphy nd
drews for their aid-to-blind
I white cane projects, rescue
tads in both towns, midget
itball programs in both
rns, Little League baseball
Andrews, Boy Scouts, Girl
nuts, Red Cross, 4-H,
iiphy Kiddie Park, Murphy
fi School Band, recreation
igrams in both towns and
ristmas cheer for needy
lilies and children.
Public Housing Loan
Approved For Murphy
A federal loan of $740,037
was approved in Washington
this week for construction of
40 units of public housing in
Murphy.
Ben Palmer, director of the
Murphy Housing Authority,
said the original application
was made in April of 1967.
The confirming telegram came
this week from Lawrence Cox,
director of the Department of
Housing and Urban
Development.
A similar announcement
was made Tuesday by the
office of Congressman Roy A.
Taylor in Washington, saying
the loan had been approved.
Palmer says the local
housing authority will begin
advertising for bids, "possibly
by next week," and
construction will probably
start early next year. The
project will take about 18
months to build, he said.
There will be 10 units for
the elderly. Palmer said, to be
constructed on Hiawassee
Street, near the old L & N
depot. All these will be one
bedroom apartments,
constructed in duplexes and
triplexes.
The other 30 units will be
low-income housing on Park
Avenue near the Rimco plant.
These will be two, three and
four bedroom split-level
apartments. Some will be
duplexes and the others will
have four or six units under
one roof, some buildings being
three stories tall.
Palmer said all of the units
will be equipped with a
refrigerator and stove, tile
floors and electric ceiling heat.
The exterior will be a
combination of brick and
vertical wood siding, according
to plans by the architect,
Henry M. Whitehead and
Associates of Atlanta, Ga.
When completed, the new
housing will be rented to the
elderly and to low-income
families by the housing
authority, the rents to be based
on the tenant's income. Rates
in similar projects in other
cities now range from $30 to
$70 a month, Palmer said.
C. L. "Bud" Alverson is
chairman of the housing
authority and other members
are Ben Warner, Frank L.
Mauney, Duke Whitley, and J.
H. Duncan.
Country Music Shows
Slated At Hiawassee
The Georgia Mountain
Fairgrounds in Hiawassee will
ring Friday and Saturday with
the sounds of string bands in
the Fall Country Music
Festival.
The two-day festival will be
followed with a big gospel sing
on Sunday afternoon, featuring
the Sego Brothers and Naomi,
the Blue Ridge Quartet and
Jimmie "You Are My Sunsine"
Davis, former governor of
Louisiana.
More than 100 musicians
are to participate in the
festival, led by fiddlin' Howard
Cunningham. Singers, banjo
pickers, fiddlers and guitar
pickers wili be holding forth in
the big tent on the fairgrounds
in a show Friday, 8 p.m. until
midnight, and two on
Saturday, 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
and 8 p.m. until midnight. Hie
Hiawassee Cloggers will
entertain at each of the three
shows.
The sounds of of the strings
will be challenged on Saturday
as old-time muzzle-loading hog
rifles are fired in an all-day
match, shooters expected from
several states.
American Thread Holds Family Picnic
American Thread held an all-day family picnic on
Saturday for employees and friends, with more than
1,600 people attending. The site was a grassy area
behind the Marble plant and there were free baloons,
fortune-telling, bingo, rides for the children and
plenty of free popcorn, hamburgers and hot dogs. A
good time was had by all. (Staff Photo)
Simonds Says Special Session
By Commissioners Was 'Illegal'
By Wally Avett
Staff Writer
Controversy, colored by
politics, livened the session of
the Cherokee County Board of
Commissioners here Monday as
Jack Sim o nnds charged a
special meeting last week was
illegal.
"I want to protest-it was an
illegal meeting," Sim o nds
said. He said he was not
notified of the special session,
at which former state senator
Mary Faye Brumby was named
to replace Ben Scott on the
Jury Commission.
Sim onds, a Republican,
said the law requires each
commissioner to be notified
and a notice posted on the
courthouse bulletin board two
days prior to any special
meeting. No notice was posted,
he said, even if the other five
commissioners were notified
and attended the meeting.
"Even if you did notify
the other commissioners, how
about the public?" Sim o n ds
asked. "They didn't know
about the meeting."
Chairman W. T. Moore, a
Democrat, said he could not
remember any notice of any
meeting ever having been
posted on the bulletin board
and said county officials had
tried to reach Simonds by
phone but failed. Simonds
lives in the Wolf Creek section
near the Tennessee line and
works for Tennessee Copper
Co.
A check of the law books
proved Simonds ' quoting of
the statute on notification and
posting of a notice correct, but
County Attorney L. L. Mason
produced a copy of an
amendment passed by the
1969 Legislature which reads
"Written notice shall be
deemed waived by attendance
at and participation in a special
meeting."
Mason interpreted this as
meaning, in his opinion, that
since five of the six
commissioners attended the
meeting a quorum was
obviously present and the
meeting was legal and correct.
Simonds said it was not
the first time it had happened
and, after the meeting, said he
is "giving some thought to
calling on the Attorney
General for a ruling" in the
matter.
Meanwhile , Mrs. Brumby,
who was expected to be sworn
in by Clerk of Court Don
Ramsey early this week, has
not been given the oath of
office and probably will not be
until the dispute is settled. Her
term supposedly began on Oct.
1, the deadline which figured
in the special meeting.
The other two members of
the Jury Commission, both
named when the commission
was formed two years ago,
were re-appointed. They are
Joe Myers of Route 4, Murphy
and Mrs. Helen VanGorder of
Andrews.
John Jordan,
superintendent of schools, met
with the commissioners to
inquire about a new roof for
the elementary section of
Hiawassee Dam School. He
presented figures from one
bidder which showed it would
cost about $9,000 and asked
the commissioners if they
could provide the money.
Chairman Moore called the
bid "outrageous" and
suggested that if the county
were forced to spend that
much money on the roof, they
could come out cheaper by
hiring a competent workman,
buying the materials and
paying him by the day to
install the new roofing.
The commissioners
instructed Jordan to get
additional bids on the job and
come back next month to talk
about the project.
Henry Simmons, manager of
the First Union National Bank
in Murphy, appeared before
the commissioners to tell them
of plans for a new building and
ask for some of the county's
banking business, presently all
handled by Citizens Bank and
Trust Co.
On a motion by Emogene
Nlatheson, seconded by Luther
Dockery, the commissioners
voted unanimously to give
several smaller accounts to the
new bank immediately. The
larger accounts, it was
explained, already have checks
printed with Citizens Bank's
name on them and these
checks will have to be used
before any of them could be
changed.
Opposing Army Units
Maneuvering In Area
The U. S. Army is
maneuvering in the Murphy
area again, this time setting up
a mock Vietnam climate for a
training clash between
Airborne troops and Special
Forces.
Complete with
newly-recruited civilian spies
and secret camps, the Green
Berets of the Special Forces
have recently "assassinated"
the mayor of Robbinsville and
Wednesday night "attacked"
the railroad between Andrews
and Murphy.
The Green Berets, just as
they do in Communis
t-controlled areas of Southeast
Asia, have recruited civilians
and are using them in guerilla
operations. For instance, the
Green Berets arrived by
parachuting into Franklin on
Monday night and were met by
their guerilla comrades,
members of the Job Corps.
There are four or more
teams of the Green Berets in
this area, each team containing
nine to 11 men. They rode
away from the airport at
Franklin in Job Corps busses
and will attempt to discredit
the Airborne troops, who
represent allies of the local
government, until the
maneuver end? on Oct. 19.
To assist in their operations,
the Green Berets are passing
out pamphlets urging local
citizens to harass the Airborne
regulars by throwing water
baloons at them and letting air
out of tires on their vehicles.
.. J11? A'rborne troops, about
150 of them, will be occupying
forces and their goal will be to
identify and capture the Green
Berets and their civilian
accomplices. They are
uniformed and move about in
plainly- marked vehicles; they
will also be using several
airplanes when the maneuvers
get fully under way.
The regular troops see the
Green Berets as the Viet Cong
and may even engage them in
battle, with blanks, before the
maneuvers end. The next week
may be very lively in some
sections of "Smokeland," as
the Army has dubbed this area
for the exercise.
The situation, as explained
by the "Green Berets', is this:
The Army of Virginia Land
has invaded this area, (The
Country of Nantahala, your
government has asked the U.S.
Government for assistance.
You are asked to assist in
this training by doing the
following things:
(I Refuse to cooperate with
anyone in uniform.
(2) Charge extreme prices to
anyone in uniform.
(3) Write resistance slogans
on military jeeps and trucks
with chalk or soap, anything
that can be washed off.
(Slogans) Yankee go home.
Destroyed by the underground,
destroyed by the resistance.
(4) Let air out of tires of
unattended vehicles.
(5) Water ballons would be
fun.
(6) Give false information
to the enemy send them on
wild goose chases.
You, as citizens, are urged
not to damage these vehicles as
this all comes from your tax
money.
While this is only a training
exercise, the situation could
actually occur and the training
could help you as well as th?
members of the Special Forces
Group.
Engineers
Survey
Hospitals
Engineers provided by local
industry surveyed medical
facilities in Murphy last week
with an eye toward making
better use of present buildings.
They ^nsfcaly woe dieckrig in
to the feasibility of turning the
now-vacant Murphy General
Hospital into offices for
doctors, moving present offices
there from Providence Hospital
and remodelling Providence,
where space would be
increased if offices were moved
across the street.
The engineers did the survey
at no cost to the town or to
the Murphy Hospital Auth
ority, which will be
given a full report in its
meeting next Monday.
Engineers were provided by
American Thread, Rimco,
Clifton Precision and Peachtree
Products.
School Share Marked
The local option sales tax got a vote of support Monday from
the Cherokee County commissioners, who earmarked 20 per cent
of the potential new revenue for school repairs, equipment and
construction.
Commissioner Ray Sims ramrodded the action and voted for
approval of a resolution of support and the 20 per cent
designation along with Chairman W.T. Moore, Emogene
Matheson, Luther Dockery, and Andrew Barton. Commissioner
Jack Simmonds abstained on the vote.
According to predictions based on sales during the 1968-69
fiscal year, if the whole state votes for the local sales tax
Cherokee County would get $155,835 and 20 per cent of that
would be about $31,000.
School Superintendent John Jordan was instructed by the
commissioners to send out a letter to ail teachers, advising them
of the action, and several of the commissioners said they hoped
the teachers would work for passage of the local sales tax.
Fancy Flying
Beverly "Bevo" Howard thrilled the
spectators with some fancy flying at
the Andrews-Murphy Airport Sunday
afternoon. Before a crowd of
approximately 4,500 people, Howard
wound up the show with a performance
which will not soon be forgotten. In
the above photo he flies his Buecker
Jungmeister inverted using the
beautiful mountain as a back drop.
Shown in the right foreground is the
P-51 which was flown by Buddy Bryan
in the show, giving the crowd a
breathtaking performance of speed and
skill.
Hunting Season To Open,
Forecast For Success Mixed
Hunters head for the woods
Monday with a mixed forecast
for their success by J. J.
Jeffries, Cherokee County
Wildlife Protector.
The season opens Monday
morning at sunrise for bear,
wild boar, squirrels and grouse.
It is also the first day of the
season for racoon and
opossum, the starting time for
these being sunrise rather than
one minute after midnight
Monday morning, as has been
the rule in the past.
Of the bear and boar
outlook, Jeffries says "I think
they may not be any less in
number than last year but 1
believe the kill success will be
less than last year because the
bear and boar will probably
stay back in the mountains.
"There's loU of food for
them, a good mast crop
generally, and they wont have
to come down for food like
they did last year." he said.
The failure of the mast crop
last year caused the squirrels to
much of Western North
Carolina, he noted, and "the
supply of squirrels will be very
limited." No change was seen
for the coon and possum
population.
"The grouse situation will
be improved over what we've
had for the past several years,"
Jeffries says. "From the
number I've talked to, I think
well probably have more
grouse." He said he has heard
the ruffed grouse, also known
as native pheasant, drumming
on Panther Top, in the Beech
Creek section and also around
Hiwassee Campground.
This season the big game
hunter will have to do a little
more than buy a regular
license, blow the wasp nests
out of his favorite musket and
start looking for bear sign. For
the first time, Tar Heel hunters
must buy a special $1.75
license for big game, the
warden warns.
The big game license is good
for hunting anywhere in the
state and is required for bear,
boss, deer or wild turtey.^ '
"Wear some bright
colorv-red, yellow or dayglo
orange," Jeffries advisee, "Be
very careful where you point
your gun and dont shoot at
anything you cant see well
enough to identify as a game
animal-it may be another
hunter and he might shoot
back at you."
Materials Stolen,
Officers lnvestifatii|
The Cherokee County
Sherriffs Department and the
State Bureau of Investigation
are looking into the theft of
building materials at a house
under construction in the
Hiawsases Dam section.
The house was hit by
thieves shout thai
in!
North
of 1
The