tHUaj&l LikiiAiii
10
PAGES
The Cherokee Scout 10C 1
Per Copy H
and Clay County Progress
Volume 80 _ Number 26- Murphy, North Carolina, 28906 ? Second Class Postage Paid At Murphy, North Carolina ? Thursday, January 15, 1970
County Hit By Snow, Temperatures Of 10 Below Zero
9
Bitter Weather Stops
i
Pine Beetle Invasion
Thermometers dropped to 10 below
zero in Murphy last week and the bad
weather continued this week, bursting
water lines, making roads hazardous and
giving school pupils a prolonged holiday.
But the below-zero weather had a
good side, as County Forest Ranger,
Harold Hatchett reported that it
apparently killed millions of pine beetles.
The Southern pine beetle invaded
Cherokee County in earnest last summer
and the infestation spread quickly,
marked by dying trees with yellowed
needles. It was feared that warm weather
this Spring would cause the beetles to
multiply and eat up most of the pines in
the county, a stand valued at $15
million.
But below-zero temperatures last
Thursday and Friday seem to have wiped
out the beetle threat. "I took 15 samples
of bark from infested trees in the Owl
Creek section home Tuesday and thawed
them out," Hatchett reported. "All the
beetles were dead.
"They may possibly be alive in some
areas," he added, "but I doubt it. I
checked in sheltered areas and it stands
to reason that up on the mountain tops,
the conditions for their survival would
have been even worse."
A similar invasion by the pine beetles
in 1957 was stopped by pure luck,
Hatchett said, when a few days of moist
weather were followed by below-zero
temperatures, killing all the beetles.
He strongly urges landowners with
infested trees to cut them and sell them
for pulpwood while they still can. If the
infested trees stand through the winter,
he said, they will rot and they "won't be
worth a dime."
The snow came early last week. The
TVA's Hydraulic Data station here,
which is an official observation station
for the U. S. Weather Bureau, measured
the first snow at an inch and a half. The
cold weather kept it from melting much
and then on Wednesday night the
temperature dropped.
The thermometer checked by TVA
employes each afternoon locks in the
lowest temperature recorded in 24
hours. At the reading Wednesday, it
showed 8 degrees above aero. By the
next morning it was colder and the
reading on Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m.
showed a low for the 24 hours of 2
degrees below zero.
The reading on Friday afternoon at 5
p.m. showed a low for the previous 24
hours of 10 degrees below zero.
Saturday it warmed up a little but
Sunday morning the snow came again,
the TVA weather-watchers marking it at
another inch.
Schools opened for the first day after
Christmas vacation on Monday of last
week and have been closed every day
since. Pupils sledded on Murphy streets
and hills when the weather was not too
bitter but some are already saying
they're ready to return to classes, which
will have to run later than the original
schedule.
"We were to get out of school on May
26," Cherokee Superintendent John
Jordan said. "But now it looks like we'll
have to go into June and if we miss more
days, we'll have to go to school on some
Saturdays."
He explained that by state law, the
schools have to operate on 180 days
during the school year and the term
cannot be extended too far into June
because many teachers will begin
summer school classes by about June 15.
Teachers, he noted, will have to work
twq days beyond the date when pupils
are dismissed for summer.
"What scares us," Jordan added, "is
that we've already missed seven days and
we're not even into February or March,
when we usually are out due to snow."
B-rrrrr
Icicles were common decorations around Murphy th<
past week as the area experienced snow, freezing rair
and temperatures last Friday of 10 below zero. (Staf
Photo)
Exchange Students Enjoy Their first Snow
Two teenagers from the
balmy Pacific coast of South
America enjoyed snow for the
j, first time here last week and
before the week was out had
experienced the mixed
.'pleasures of below-zero
weather.
Marcel a Iparraguirre, 18,
and Oscar Davila, 15, both of
Lima, Peru, are here for about
three months on a student
exchange program. She had
never seen snow; he had only
seen the white stuff on a
mountain top, from a distance.
Both the Peruvians quickly
Chamber
y Meeting
I
t Scheduled
r The Cherokee County
[ Chamber of Commerce will
> hold its annual meeting
Saturday night at Odell's
Restaurant.
Tom Gentry, president,
announced the meeting date,
set by the board of directors,
and expressed hope for a large
tnmout. He said invitation!
have been mailed to a number
of businesses but stressed that
reservations should be
confirmed with the Chamber
office.
The social period will begin
at 6:30 p.m. with the dinner
meeting to begin at 7 p.m.
Officers will be elected for the
1970 Chamber year during the
nfeetlng and two directors will
be selected to serve three-year
! "We are pleased with the
Chamber's 1969 year," Gentry
, eaid. "Progress has been made
on all of the Chamber's 10
' major projects for 1969 and
, work has been accomplished in
other areas for the betterment
? of oar county."
? tie added that brief report)
^ on the Chamber's projects will
M be made at the annual meetinf
-I" Saturday night"
adapted to their winter
atmosphere, displaying
beautiful alpaca sweaters and
hand-made wool clothing from
their native country.
Oscar is staying at the Ken
Godfrey home and he
explained that his older
brother had gone to New York
state on the exchange program
a year or two ago and had
warned him about cold
weather. In Lima, the coldest
weather they have, he says, is
about 58 degrees.
Both the Peruvians enjoyed
sledding last week on the
ice-covered hills in town with
Murphy youngsters and Oscar
was taken on a skiing trip to
Catalochee, where he quickly
mastered the beginner's slope
on a pair of borrowed skis.
Marcella has also been
promised a skiing trip.
Oscar will attend Murphy
High School as a junior, along
with his host and interpreter,
the Godfrey's son, Alan, also a
junior. He has had no English
classes but is picking up the
language quickly in the
Godfrey household.
Marcela is staying at the
John Carringer home with
Markie Carringer, who is a
junior at MHS and a part-time
translator. The Peruvian girl
has had about sue years of
classroom English instruction
and understands the language
although she is sometimes
reluctant to speak it, preferring
to speak Spanish, which can be
translated either by young
Godfrey or Miss Carringer.
Marcela has graduated from
school as a secretarial student,
with the equivalent of a
two-year business course. She
will sit in on a variety of classes
at MHS.
The second part of the
exchange will come next
ummer, when the two Murphy
tudents will go to Lima. The
irrangements for the exchange
ire made by International
fellowship. Mrs. Lynn Gault is
he district representative.
Miss Carringer would like to
isit Marcela at her home in
jma and Alan Godfrey would
ike to visit at the Davila home,
tut their schedules are not
ixed at this time. They are
ifraid that the program may
end Markie Carringer to
mother student's home in
jma, since the Peruvian girl
-isiting here has already
graduated from school.
"They eat rice, just plain
ice," Miss Carringer said,
explaining one of the
idjustments the visitors have
tad to make. Her "sister"
darcela wrinkled up her nose
n dislike as gravies and sauces
vere mentioned.
The typical Peruvian diet
according to the visitors, Miss
Carringer said, includes a lot of
pepper and spices and is
therefore hotter than food
they have been served here.
Lima, a city of three million, is
located on the coast and they
are used to eating more fish
and other seafood than is
usually seen here.
Through their translators,
the visitors also explained that
household servants are cheap
and easier to find in Peru than
in North Carolina. Both of
them are accustomed to having
several servants, cooks and
gardeners around their homes.
Servants or not, Marcela is
skilled at making her own
clothes and showed several
attractive items, either sewed
or knitted at home. She
explained that ready-to-wear
clothes in Lima stores are
expensive and "they all look
alike."
Visitors From Peru
( Two visiting students from Peru, Oscar Davila,
I extreme left, and Marcela Iparraguirre, extreme right,
I posed last week with their Murphy hosts for the next
three months, Markie Carringer, left, and Alan
. r -
Godfrey. On the table are several native-made articles
the Lima teenagers brought to their American
families. (Staff Photo)
School Supt. John Jordan....checking "snow" calendar
Taylor Proposes Code Of Ethics
For Members Of State Legislature
Representative Charles
Taylor of Brevard told a
Republican gathering here
Tuesday night that a bill of
ethics is needed in the state
Legislature and he is personally
going to start the machinery in
motion toward voting on such
a bill in the 1971 session.
Taylor, one of the bright
The Cherokee Scout, faced with a variety of
rising costs, will be forced to raise its price and
some advertising rates, effective Feb.l.
"This increase is due primarily to the
ever-rising costs of material and labor and an
increase in postal rates," Scout publisher Jack
Owens said Tuesday. He noted that the price of
a roll of newsprint increased three per cent in
1969 and another three per cent this month.
Labor costs have also climbed during the
past years and postal rates for newspapers
jumped 15 per cent in 1969. Yet the Scout has
been selling for a thin dime, robbed of its silver
content in recent years, since sometime in the
*50's.
Beginning the first of February, the Scout
will sell for 15 cents and subscription rates will
also be increased. For those living in Clay or
Cherokee counties, the new subscription rate
will be $5.15 a year, tax included. Those living
elsewhere will pay $7.73 a year, tax included.
Owens emphasized that those who renew
their subscriptions before Feb. 1 can do so at
the old rates of $4.12 or $6.18 and can save
even more money by renewing for a two or
three-year subscription.
Also effective Feb. 1, the price of want ads
and cards of thanks will increase to a minimum
of $1.50 for the first 20 words or less, 5 cents
for each additional word.
Legal advertising will be at the rate of $1.25
a column inch, which is the Scout's present
local open commercial rate.
The rates for display advertising will remain
the same.
young stars of the state GOP
delegation, addressed about 60
at a meeting in the courthouse
sponsored by the newly
formed Cherokee County
Young Republicans Club.
In a question-and -answer
period following his speech, he
said he planned to announce
for the House again in about
three to four weeks. He served
as the 48th District
representative and was the
House Minority Leader in the
last session.
"Most professions have a
code of ethics," Taylor said.
"The Legislature should do no
less.".
He cited several cases of
senators voting for their own
special interests, dominating
committees which ruled on
their own businesses. One
Senator X, he said, an attorney
hired by a bus company,
sponsored a bill to allow wider
buses on state highways.
"It was improper for him to
sponsor such a bill," Taylor
charged and added that the
man, who was also paid by a
banking association, sat on a
committee which deliberated
on a raise in interest rates.
Taylor said the GOP
delegation to the Legislature
sponsored an ethics bill during
the past session and Senator X
spoke against it and it was
defeated by Legislature, which
is largely Democratic.
The young lawmaker said he
is sending a letter to Rep.
Phillip P. Goodwin and Sen.
Hector McGeachy, co-chairmen
of the Legislative Research
Commission, asking that a
study be started and an ethics
bill be readied for
consideration by the _next
Legislature.
Such a bill, 'he said, should
contain provisions for a
compulsory disclosure by a
legislator of how much stock
he owned in a trucking line or
a bank, or other business an
advisory committee to check
on conduct of legislators,
guidelines telling legislators
what is ethical and what is not,
and finally a criminal section
for punishing violations of the
code.
He explained that the ethics
bill would not be aimed at
keeping qualified people off a
legislative committee, . for
example, bankers on a banking
committee.
"Bankers should not be
kept off banking committees,"
he said. "But neither should
they have a majority on the
committee. There should be
enough bankers on the
committee for technical
assistance but not enough to
dominate it.
"And the code of ethics
would never stop a man from
voting, whether he voted for
the people or for special
interests," Taylor added. "It
would be up to him to explain
his vote to the satisfaction of
his constituents."
Hens Valued
At $12,000
Die In Fire
More than 4,000 laying
hens valued at $3 apiece, died
in a fire which damaged a
chickenhouse in southern
Cherokee County Thursday
morning.
Emory Anderson, who
owned the building, said the
hens represented a loss of
$12,000 and most of the other
3,000 hens in the building were
injured in the fire and may not
live.
The structure is located off
US-64 about 11 miles west of
here and three firemen and a
truck from the Murphy
department are credited with
saving the building from total
destruction.
The blaze started, according
to the firemen, from a
kerosene space heater which
was being used in the
below-zero weather this area
experienced last week. The
chickens were in cages and
firemen said they apparently
suffocated.
Anderson said the loss was
not covered by insurance.
Young Republicans
Officers of the Young Republican
Club of Cherokee County .which
sponsored an address Tuesday night by
Rep. Charles Taylor of Brevard, posed
with the speaker after the event. Left
to right are William D. Davis, chairman,
Mn. John Goodrich,
Nancy Speed, secretary,
and Arthur Hayes,
Photo)