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"He who receives a bene
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it.”—Charron.
DEVOTED TO THE CIVIC, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF ALLEGHANY COUNTY
Volume 11. ‘
GALAX, VA. (Published for Sparta, N. C.) THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1936. EIGHT PAGES
Number 85.
:-v
Washington
CorrMpomctant.
■ICE EARLIER
newly elected Congress
next week, which is
.jrent from the days be
Norrie amendment, when
elected Congress did not
in regular session for
than one year after the
election of its members. The old
"■Congress, holding over until
March, met in December and
rushed its business to comepletion
by midnight preceding its end,
with spectacular filibusters adding
gayety and danger to its con
eluding deliberations. Now, with
the election about two months
behind, the newly elected mem
bers begin to function next week,
thus bringing the framework of
the government into more re
sponsive touch with popular opin
ion.
PRESIDENT IN CONTROL
Inconceivable as it seemed last
year, the new Congress will be
more for the New Deal than ever,
the Democrats having added to
thier top-heavy majorities. The
President, leader of Ms party and
probably holding the future fate
of ..many members in his hands,
will likely experience little real
difficulty in securing his program.
Naturally, there will be debate
and discussion, wits some recal
citrancy here and there, but in
the main the election is too close
at hand and the members of Ms
party will hot care to be put on
the record against him.
NO RADICAL POLICIES
We do not look for anything
radical at the approaching ses
sion. More likely the trend will
be the other way, with the gov
emmevnt being realigned along
more normal lines. This does not
mean, however, that the President
will be shorn of power for the
chancee are that he will continue
to exercise predominant control
of legislation and enlarged execu
tive authority for years. Mr.
Roosevelt has not changed the
general trend of his policies, al
though he will not appear, at
times, to be headed in the same
general direction as before. This
will be due to changed conditions,
requiring new approaches in new
directions, rather than any alter
Administration during the past
few years.
TO PREVENT CREDIT BOOM
What is an evidence of this is
to be seen in the various moves
now being made to prevent a
credit boom. When the President
took office his objective was to
build up the credit facilities of
the country. Today, apparently it
is to restrict the credit facilities.
There is no contradiction. Back
of both maneuvers, that of in
flation and the present braking of
credit, is the effort to secure sta
ble currency, to set the monetary
level at a just figure and keep it
there. At times this may require
inflation, at other times something
like a lid and that is what we
see taking place.
Last week, for example, the
Treasury Department stepped in
to stem the flow of gold into bank
credits announced a decision to
buy miners’ metal and imports of
gold with borrowed money. This
will sterilize the gold and not al
low it to become a basis for new
bank credits through the Federal
Reserve system. The technical op
eration of the plan will not be un
"" (imaken, bat is in line with the
recently explained increase in re
serve requirements and designed
to prevent the piling up of exces
sive credit reserves in the banks.
The danger of an uncontrollable
boom is being tackled immediate
ly but should conditions arise to
require larger credit facilities the
operation will be repeated in re
verse. While they are entirely
different, both transactions are
designed for the same purpose,
to keep our currency lined up
with normal needs of the nation.
NEUTRALITY LAW UPHELD
Backing the neutrality policy
of the government, the Supreme
Court has rendered a decision
upholding the authority of the
President, under a joint resolu
tion of Congress, to proclaim an
i embargo on arms and munitions
to Bolivia and Paraguay in the
Chaco warfare. The Court drew
a sharp distinction between the
of Congress to delegate
to the President in dealing
international affairs and any
similar procedure in regard to in
ternal, or domestic, affairs. The
administration hag persisted in
asking Congress for broad grants
" power to the President, giving
wide discretion in limiting
irts to combatant nations. The
•i
(Turn to Page 6, Please)
Ex-Senator Fess,
Of Ohio, S
To Heart Attack
KHIIUlK'
Republican Stalwart Is
Taken As He Prepares
For Christmas. Passing
Brings Wide Comment.
FUNERAL SATURDAY
Held In Methodist Church
At Yellow Springs, Ohio,
Where Deceased Served
As College President.
Washington, Doc, 29. — In
the midst of,, preparations for
Christmas, former Senator Sim
eon D. Fess, of ^3hio, long a
prominent Republican, died of a
heart 'attack last Wednesday.
He arrived from Cleveland a
few minutes earlier to spend the
holidays with his son, Charles S.
Fess.
The former senator, 75, a new
deal foe defeated for reelection
in 1934, was jovial and in ap
parent good health a moment be
fore the attack.
Mrs. Margaret L. Welsh, a sec
retary, was with him when he
died. He collapsed while seated
on a bed in his room telephoning
a former secretary.
Survivors include three sons,
Charles Fess, of this city, Lehr
Fess, Toledo attorney; Lowell
Fess, Yellow Springs, a manufac
turer’s association representative,
and five grandchildren. Mrs. Fess
died in 1926.
Scholarly and mild appearing,
Fess had been a vigorous critic
of Roosevelt measures.
“There can be no compromise
with the new deal,” he said a lit
tle less than a year ago in dis
cussing possible Republican can
didates. “The new deal is a phil
osophy and net a policy and the
next campaign will be fought be
Teaching was Fess’ first occu
pation . He served as president
of Antioch college, at Yellow
Springs, for six years before en
tering politics^ He wrote a num
ber of books and at the time of
his death had been working on
a history of the two-party system
in the United States.
His passing brought expressions
of grief alike from political
friends and enemies.
Senator Vic Donahey. Ohio
Democrat who defeated him, said
Fess "gave his best in every un
dertaking and followed the best
light he could obtain. He was
my friend and I always spoke of
him as ‘a grand old man.’ ”
Fess moved forward rapidly in
his party’s ranks after leaving
Antioch college. He was keynot
er at the Republican convention
of 1928, which nominated Her
bert Hoover. Afterward he be
came chairman of the Republican
national committee.
| Yellow Springs, 0„ Dec. 29.—
.The body of former U. S. Sen
j ator Simeon D. Fess, educator
and author, was laid beside bis
wife’s in Glen Forest cdmetery
' Saturday.
Funeral services were conduct
ed in the Yellow Springs Metho
dist church, where Fess worship
ped for 80 years prior to his
deathof a heart attack at the age
of 75 in Washington Wednesday.
The Rev. Vernon Van Buren,
pastor, officiated at simple rites
similar to the services conducted
11 years ago for Mrs. Fees.
.Ohio’s attorney general; John
W. Bricker, and Attorney Homer
C. Corry, of Springfield, O., sec
retary of the Antioch college
board of trusteets, spoke briefly.
A quarttet sang "Christians, Good
night,” Fess* favorite hymn,
which was sung at his wife’s fu
neral.
More than 500 messages of
condolence were received by mem
bers of the Fess family. Those
sending them included John Ham
ilton, chairman of the Republi
can national committee; Postmas
ter General James A. Farley,
chairman of the Democratic na
tional commitee, with whose pol
icies Fess often disagreed, and
former President Herbert Hoover.
POPE PIUS IS RESTLESS
.Vatican City, Dec. 80—Pope
Pius XI early today was stated to
be dozing restlessly after a night
in which a gloomier note appear
ed in Vaticin reports of his con
dition.
■4
Where Miracle Landing Saved Eleven Lives
--1—~nrmr • :rrj u ^
PORT JERVIS, N. Yy. . . Lost in a storm and
Merrill, ocean flyer and pilot of a Miami-Newark phi
ng "blind." Dick
made a “pancake
•ing through 1000
i of all on board.
slide’4 in a forced landing on the mountainside here,
feet of underbrush and small trees and saving the
Merrill, with broken jaw, suffered the most serioii
Busy World Again
Celebrates Virgin
Birth Of Christ
Christmas Carols Sung
In Bethlehem Streets.
Spirit of Peace And
Good Will Prevails.
Last Friday—another Christmas
Day—brought forgetfulness- of
toil and trouble to a busy world.
Around the globe, from the
arctic to the tropics, millions re
membered the virgin birth of
Christ and joined in the spirit of
“peace on earth, good will to
men.”
America’s first family gathered
about President Roosevelt for a
Christmas Day duplicated in. un
counted home£.
Turkpy and trimmings were on
the table as families reunited for
But in the White Houses as in
many others, there were absent
ees. Mrs. Roosevelt loft the fam
ily circle to visit Fhanklin D., Jr.,
in a Boston hospital. A daugh
ter, Mrs. John Boettiger, was in
Seattle.
In Great Britain, the popula
tion rejoiced with the Duke- and
Duchess of Kent over the bird),
of a daughter, their second child.
Pope Pius XI, exhausted by the
(Turn to Page 8, Please)
Popular Young
Teacher Is Taken
By Death Sunday
Many people m Aiiegnany
county and in other communities
were greatly saddened to learn
of the death of Bert Weaver,
which occurred Sunday morning
about 2 o’clock in the Baptist
hospital, Winston-Salem.
Mr. Weaver, 27 years of age,1
had been ill for several months
and had spent the past five
months in the hospital. He suf
fered from a sinus trouble, which
later developed into abscesses on
the brain. Mr. Weaver underwent
three major operations for the
removal of the abscesses during
his stay in the hospital, ’
The deceased, a son of Mr. and
Mrs. F. G. Weaver, of Peden,
was a graduate of Appalachian
State Teachers college, Boone,
and for the past few years had
been principal of the dMadenboro
Graded school, with the supervi
sion of nose than thirty teach
ers. Mr. Weaver was • very suc
cessful and popular teacher and
had been offered a supplement to
his salary for the present school
year. He was also very well
liked and respected in his home
community.
He is survived by his father,
his mother, who, prior to her
marriage, was Miss Mellie Crouse,
sister of Attorney R. F. Crouse,
of Sparta, and one brother, Fred
Johnston, 8. His only sister, El
len, was instantly killed in an
automobile accident four years
ago. .".'v ,w v
Funeral services were conduct,
ed at the home Monday, Decem
ber 28, at 1:80 o’clock, by Eld
er C. B. Kilby.
More Than 2,000
Attend Brisbane
Funeral Monday
Many Notables Present
For Last/Rites For
Great G&tumnist Held
In New York.
New York, Dec. 29.—Impres
sive funeral services for Arthur
Brisbane, the great newspaper
editor and columnist, were held
yesterday (Monday) at St. Bar
tholomew’s church, after which
the body was taken to Allaire,
N. J-j for burial in the family
plot on the Brisbane estate.
The services Were as plain and
simple as the words Brisbane
used in his writings to teach and
inspire millions the world over.
Nearly 2,000 persons from
side in Park avenue, a throng of
3,000 men and women stood in
reverent silence throughout the
services.
Among the mourners, in addi
tion to members of Brisbane’s
family, was William Randolph
Heerst, publisher for whom Bris
bane had worked for the past
thirty-nine years.
Precisely at 10 o’clock, as the
organ was playing softly and rev
erently, the services began. A
mixed choir of sixty young
men and women, attired in white
surplices, slowly marched iu sing
ing the • Twenty-Third Psalm.
They took positions op both sides
of the casket.
Attired in black and white vest,
ment, the Rev. George Paul Tor
rence Sargent, rector of St Bar
tholomew's, conducted the serv
ices.
The plain DlacK wainux casnei,
resing on a catafalque, was cov
ered with a blanket of violets and
lilies of the valley.
Huge bouquets of flowers, sent
by friends of the deceased edi
tor, were banked on both sides
of the casket.
Seated in the front-row pews,
to the left of the middle aisle,
were members of the Brisbane
family.
To the right sat Mr. Hearst,
Governor Herbert H. Lehman,
Bernard Gimbel. Mayor P. H. La
Guardia, James A. Farley, Joseph
V. Connolly and other close
friends of Mr. Brisbane.
Back of them sat many who
had been associated with Mr
Brisbane for years in the news
paper business.
The choir at the opening of the
services, sang the processional
hymn, "Nearer My God, To
Thee.” Then the Rev Mr. Sar
gent ascended the pulpit and tread
from St. John, Chapter x., 14:
“I am the wmiWcBob and
the life, eeith the Llonf; he
(Turn to Page 8, Please)
Baptist Pastor To
Deliver Now Year’s
Message Sun. Night
Sunday school is to be held
at the Sparta Baptist church on
Sunday, January 8. at 10 a. m.,
with B. Y. P. U- to be held at
6:45 p. m.
At 7:16 p. m., the pastor, Rev.
H. J. Ford, will deliver a New
Year’s message
Nation’s Holiday
Accident Death
Toll Nears 700
Exceeds By Far The
444 Fatalities Of
The Two-Day Holiday
Period Last July Fourth
Chicago, Deo. 29.—Traffic ac
cidents and other forms of vio
lence took almost 700 lives dar
ing the nation’s Christmas holi
days. The figure exceeded by far
the two-day period of last July
the Fourth.
Motoring mishaps alone claim
ed 506 of the 675 lives lost in
the Yuletide week-end.
Generally mild weather in the
populous areas which brought out
motor cars in volumes swelled the
fatalities.
Other causes of death—burning
homes, drownings, suicides, plane
and train mishaps, fireworks, falls
and hrawl8—added new names to
the death list.
Pacing the states in traffic ac
cidents were Illinois with 48;
Michigan, 88; Ohio, 34; Califor
nia, 33. and Texas, 31.
Traffic deaths reported by
states included;
Alabama, 18; Arizona, 11; Ar
kansas, 14; California, 33; Colo
rado, 5; Connecticut, 7; Florida,
10; Georgia, 11; Idaho, 3; Illi
nois, 43; Indiana, 12; Iowa, 5;
Kansas, 3; Kentucky, 11; Louisi
ana, 5; Maine, 4; Maryland, 6;
Massachusetts, 3; Michigan, 38;
Minnesota, 1; Mississippi, 6; Mis
souri, 11; Montana 1; Nebraska,
2; Nevada, 1; New Jersey, 12;
New Mexico, 8; New York, 16;
North Carolina, 11; North Dako
ta, 1; Ohio, 34; Oklahoma, 11;
Oregon, 6; Pennsylvania, 27;
Rhode Island, 8; South Carolina,
12; South Dakota, 3; Tennessee,
12; Texas, 81; Utah, 3; Virginia,
22; Washington, 8; West Virgin
ia. 10; Wisconsin, 7; Wyoming,
J r ••• ,* v
Violent deaths from other caus
es by states included :
Alabama, 12; Arkansas, 6;
Colorado, 4; Connecticut, 6; Flor
ida, 18; Georgia, 6; Illinois, 6;
Indiana, 1; Kansas, 2; Kentucky,
17; Louisiana, 8; Maine, 1; Mary
land, 4; Massachusetts, 8; Michi
gan, 6; Mississippi, 3; Missouri,
8; Nebraska, 6; New Jersey, 7;
New York, 10; North Carolina,
8; Ohio, 2; Oklahoma, 4; Oregon,
2; Pennsylvania, 6; South Caro
lina, 1; Tennessee, 8; Virginia,
9; West Virginia, 1; Wisconsin,
1.
Power Company
Gives Reasons
For Interruptions
Interruptions in the electric
service furnished Alleghany coun
ty by the Northwest Carolina
Utilities, Inc., during the past two
months, were, with the exception
of three, caused by someone
shooting off the insulators and
shooting the alumihum conduc
tors. A statement to this effect
was made recently by the com
pany.
It was necessary, according to
the statement, to have the cur
rent off for several hours, in or
der to replace 56 insulators over
a distance of 20 miles.
The stranded aluminum con
ductor between Sparta and Roar
ing Gap was shot with a rifle at
three different places and the
current had to be turned off sev
eral hours while new wire was
spliced in.
The company states that it will
gladly pay a reward of |10 for
information that will lead to the
arrest and conviction of the guil
ty parties. Interrupting public
service is a very serious offense,
and several different charges can
be made against the guilty per
sons it is pointed out.
The interruption on Saturday,
December 19, from 3:10 to 6:30
p. m., was due to the ice and
sleet becoming so heavy on the
transmission line near State Road
that it caused a bredk in the
conductors at a weak place in the
line where a fertiliser plant had
burned down and injured\ the
wires. The company was not
Columnist Dies
ARTHUR BRISBANE
Secretary Hull
Denounces War As
Peace Parky Ends
“We Must Destroy War
Or War Will Destroy
Us,” Says American
State Department Head.
Buenos Aires, Argentina, South
America, Dec. 29.—“We must de
stroy war or war will destroy
us,” declared Secretary of State
Cordell Hull in a plea for peace
read for him as the inter-Ameri
can peace conference came to a
close last Wednesday.
Challenging the rest of the
world to follow the parley’s ex
ample of cooperation in charting
a course for peace, the chief of
the United States deelgation de
nounced militaristic policies
which have been invented,” he
vail in many parts of the world.
^Instruments of destruction
which have been THWKt»3,* iie
said, “are so devastating in their
effects that compromise is no
longer possible. . . . “Glory is
not achieved by the march of
armies and the death of men.
The real patriots and the real
heroes of the future will be the
leaders who find and follow the
road to peace.”
The time has come, he said,
"for every nation of the world
to take inventory and to examine
its own purposes and policies.
Like individuals, nations must
learn to forgive and forget the
injuries done them by fellow na
tions.”
Assistant secretary oi state
Sumner Welles read the message
for Hull, who decided not to
speak because of hoarseness from
a cold.
The historic parley adjourned 3
weeks and a day after President
Roosevelt, addressing the opening
session, pictured the 21 Ameri
can republics standing "shoulder
to shoulder” against aggression
from abroad and determined to
prevent conflicts within the new
world.
In their labors ,the delegates
put his proposals into specific
form. They laid the groundwork
for consultation along the Amer
ican republics if war threatens
the new work! from within or
without and for peaceful settle
ment of American disputes.
Farmers' Benefit
Payment Checks
Are Received Here
Sixty-nine checks, amounting to
$1069.63 haw been received by
R. K. Black, Alleghany county
farm agent, as payment to Hie
farmers for soil-building practices
under the 1986 Soil-Conservation
program.
Applications for payments are
being submitted to Washington as
fast as they can be signed. For
ty or fifty farmers have not sign
ed their applications for payment
and it will be necessary for them
to sign before any pajroent will
be received and the quicker they
come and sign the sooner their
chicks will be delivered.
The 1987 program has not
been definitely
from what has been
give iS#“
a graeter
1936 program
*r • " ■ *
1
Arthur Brisbane,
Great Newspaper
Columnist, Dies
Sudden End to Earthly
Career Of America's
Highest Paid Newspaper
Writer Comes Christmas
IS GREATLY LAMENTED
Public Funeral Held
Monday In New York.
Burial Follows At
Alleire, N. J., Estate.
New York, Dec. 28.—The life
of America’s highest paid news
paper writer and one of the
world’s most famous Journalists_
Arthur Brisbane — was claimed
Christmas Day by a heart attack.
The famous columnist and editor
succumbed in his apartment at
1215 Fifth avenue.
Death came to the 72-year-old
commentator at 5:35 a. m. as he
slept in an oxygen tent in which
he had been placed following a
severe heart seizure late Thurs
day afternoon.
Just before that attack He had
just completed his coNhnn, “To
day,’.’ for Friday, and at the mo
ment he died the last words he
wrote weer thundering from the
presses of the Hearst newspapers
and a host of others to his au
dience of millions.
Giving no hint of his illness,
his column began in the simple,
pungent style that has made him
renowned:
Another Chnstmao has u
come, a birthday that means
kindness and hope for so many
millions of hlhnan beings.
Nineteen hundred and thirty
six years ago a beautiful child
came into the world; a few
sad years later dm three cross*
es were erected on the hero
hill called Golgotha.”
A few hours later Mr. Brisbane
drifted off into hi* final sleep.
At" his bedside were his pfcyai
dans, Dr. Leopold Stieglitz and
Dr. Frederick Zeman, and a
nurse.
His entire family was in the
apartment—his wife, Mrs. Phoebe
Brisbane; his son, Seward, 22,
and his daughters, Mrs. J. H. R.
McCrary. 23; Emily Brisbane, 16;
Alice, 13, and Elinor, 12.
Only a few persona, among
them his long-time friend, Wil
liam Randolph Hearst, had known
Mr. Brisbane’s health had been
poor since he returned last Sep
tember from a summer in Europe.
In the last three months, a i
close friend of the family said,
Mr. Brisbane had suffered 16 or
16 heart attacks and had been
confined to his home, but not in
bed, for the last six weeks.
Mr. Brisbane’s death terminat
ed a meteoric career which saw
him rise from a “cub” reporter
on the old New York Sun 68
years ago to the place of the
highest paid newspaper writer in
America. He went from the Sun j
to the New York World and then,
in 1897, left the World to begin
the association with Mr. Hearst
that lasted down through the
years.
As the voice of “Today”—pub
lished in more than 20fl newspa
pers—and “This W§dlr’—carried
orow, iw
*o rasa
1—Trial of Bruno Haupt
mann for murder of Lind
bergh child begun, 1935.
8—First postal savings
banks established in
United States. 1911.
■Mas
dub
•
i—Capi John Smith ■
Jamestown colony oap- ;
_ lured by Indians, 1608.
enfamln Fra
imerican- i ‘
T1 .-I,,v
^ ui oosion, si
7—United