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Vol. IS
The Alleghany Times
TO THE CIVIC, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF ALLEGHANY COUNTY
GALAX, VA. (Published for Sparta, N. C.) THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1938.
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I Number 38.
(Huso S. Sima,
WulUDftan Correspondent^
ISOLATION IS ENDED
It may be some time before
the vast majority of Americans
understand the full implication of
the American rearmament pro
gram. It marks the end of the
policy of isolation, regardless of
how the fact may be camouflag
ed and beclouded; by statements
and1 explanations.
U. S. FORCED TO ARM
One has only to review the po
sition of the United States in
world affairs since the end of the
World War in 1918 to understand
the tremendous import of the
special defense program about to
be undertaken by the Govern
ment. Many readers will recall
the disarmament conference in
3921-22, which set up a naval
ratio between Great Britain, the
United States, Japan, France and
Italy in regard to battleships- and
-aircraft earners. The establish
ed! ratios, five for the United
States and1 Great Britain, three
for Japan and two for France
and Italy seemed a move to defi
nitely limit competition in naval
rearmament.
The United States, at that
time, demanded and Great Britain
granted, full parity for the nav
ies. of the two English-speaking
nations. This was a concession
on the part of the British who
had long followed a naval policy
! of building ships to equal the
fleet of any two powers.
LIMITATION FAILS
The United States also made
certain vital concessions. We
agreed not to fortify certain is
lands in the Pacific, including
Guam, and not to strengthen mili
tary establishments in the Philip
pines. In addition, the United
States, which was in the midst of
a naval construction program,
agreed' to junk millions of dollars
worth of warships, including bat
t'eships in advance stages of con
struction.
As an offset to the concessions
mode by the United States and
Great Britain, Japan and the other
nations entered into certain obli
gations in respect to the Pacific
ana the Far East. These included
t-olemn undertakings* to respect
the ‘territorial integrity of China’
to maintain the "Open Door’’ in
China, to respect the right of the
Chinese people to develop without
molestation and' to take no ad
vantage of existing conditions in
a troubled Chinese nation for
selfish purposes.
The limitation thus placed on
capital ships had no application
to cruisers, destroyed and sub
marines. Naturally, the nations
turned to those categories that
were unrestricted. Therefore, in
1936, a conference was held in
London, at which time, limits
were established for these smaller
vessels. The net result was that
unarmed powers began to build
up to the treaty limits while the
United States, and to a lesser
extent, Great Britain, began to
build up to the treaty as pacts to
establish' permanent ratios for the
navies of the world and to ren
der unnecessary a large naval
program.
JAPAN STARTS RACE
The situation was rudely chang
ed by notice given by Japan, un
der the terms of the treaty, that
upon its expiration, Japan would
not renew the agreement. The
Japanese insisted upon parity for
the Japanese Navy “in principle,”
holding out the general idea that
it was an affront to Japan to ac
cept inferiority in naval tonnage
and that if equality was granted,
it did not mean that the Japanese
fleet would be built to equal the
fleets of either the United States
or Great Britain.
Thereafter, upon the expiration
of the Treaty, Great Britain, the
United States and Japan were un
able to agree upon any limits on
warships, although France joined
the English-speaking nations in a
pact, left open to other powers,
andi implemented with avenues of
escape for idle three signatories
in the event that naval construc
tion by other powers made such
a step necessary.
JAPAN OUTBUILDS U. S.
It is interesting to point out
that since 1922, Japan has built,
or started: building, 217 warships
with a gross of 717,000 tons,
while the United States has built,
or started, only 136 ships with a
gi^oss of 560,000 tons. In other
words, during the period of dis
armament, when this country was
attempting to limit naval rivalry,
Japan was outbuilding the United
States, laying down approximately
five tons of warships for every
foul* tons that the United States
built.
(Turn to page five, please)
Bill Pape and
Wash Turner
were sentenced
—Saturday night in Bun
combe county superior court,
in Asheville, to die, by
Judge Felix A. Alley after a
jury had found1 them guilty of
first-degree murder in the killing
of George Penn, a highway pa
trolman, last! August 22. The ver
dict was returned at 10:14 p. m.
The jury received the case at
7:16 but took an hour for sup
per.
Judge Alley sentenced the two
men to die in the state gas cham
ber in Raleigh on Friday, March
4, but defense counsel filed no
tice of ian appeal, which action
automatically stays execution of
the sentence.
A large crowd was in the court
room as the prisoners, closely
guarded by patrolmen, were
brought in a few minutes before
the jury.
Payne, the first to hear the
verdict, and Turner were calm as
they looked: upon the jury_ al
though Payne had broken down
and sobbed a few hours before.
Turner’s former wife and his j
sister-in-law wept openly.
Judge Alley had instructed the
jury that one of four verdicts
could be returned: First-degree
murder, second-degree murder
manslaughter, or acquittal. Con
viction of first-degree murder
automatically carries the death
penalty.
The trial began Tuesday and
the state concluded its testimony
Friday. Its star witness wtas
college-trained Sheriff Laurence
E. Brown( who testified Payne
and Turner admitted killing the
patrolman, 25-year-old George
Penn, and re-enacted the crime
for officers.
The defense offered no testi
mony.
A decision was
reached by
WPA authorities
—Tuesday to “shoot the
roll” on winter employment
and trust that spring will
bring a business boom to
absorb the thousands who will
have to be cut off their rolls
then.
Aubrey Williams, acting WPA
administrator, announced that be
cause of increasing demands work
relief enrollment would be ex
panded to (approximately 2,000,
000 persons during February,
then would be progressively cur
tailed to about 1,500,000 by June.
Thisj officials said, would re
quire an outlay of around $134,
000,000 in February compared
with an average of less than
$100,000,000 a month during the
first half of the fiscal year. Since
WPA spent from July to Decem
ber, inclusive, $562,332,925 of
the $1,050,000,000 earmarked
for 1937-38 work-relief, they (as
serted that thousands added to the
winter' payroll would have to be
dropped in the spring and sum
mer to keep expenditures within
the budget.
Winter renewed
its grip on the
East and South
—Tuesday night, after a momen
tary spell of warm, spring-like
weather.
A cold wave swept east from
the Middle West, where over the
week-end it had driven tempera
tures down around zero and
blanketed the countryside with
snow, sleet and icy rain.
Severe weather prevailed over
the western part of the nation.
Heavy seas battei-ed ships along
the Pacific coast; there were gales
from Portland', Ore., to San
Francisco and heavy rains
throughout Northern California.
An intense cold wave was
forecast for most of the South.
Fayetteville, Ark., had a tem
perature of nine degree, the
lowest in two years. Lows of
16 degrees in Georgia, 10 in
Alabama, and 15 in Tennessee
were awiaited.
Galax bowlers
were winners
in matches
—Tuesday night in Galax
with the Sparta teams.
Both men’s and women’s
teams of Sparta and Galax
participated in the bowling.
The Galax men were victorious
over the Sparta team by 31 pins,
snd the Galax women bowlers
defeated the Sparta team by a
margin of 94 pins.
Total scores made by individual
bowlers in the first, second and
third sets combined, were as fol
lows:
Sparta (men’s team) — Ted
Hayes, 340;, George Reeves, 424;
Dick Gentry, 372; John, Tom Up
church, 369, and another* whose,
name was not learned, 460.
Sparta (women’s team)—Sallie
Vass, 276; Johnnie Hayes, 257;
Yvonne Wagoner, 326, and Sue
McMillan, 311.
Galax (men’s team) — Jim
Reavis, 426; Floyd Williams, 397;
A1 Reavis, 442; B. C. Lineberry,
368, and Dr. V. O. Choate, 353.
Galax (women’s team)—Nell
Jo Anderson, 298; Hattie Weath
erman, 310; Helen Hampton, 325,
and Juanita Anderson, 331.
Total team scores were as fol
lows; Sparta men, 1.955; Galax
men, 1,986; Sparta women,
1,170, and Galax women, 1,264.
Much relief
labor may be
taken care of
—through the construction
of new sections of the Blue
Ridge parkway and bitumi
nous treatment of rock sur
face roads in the parkway sys
tem this spring, according to A.
E. Demaray, associate director of
the National Park service, in a
statement issued Tuesday in
WiLi&hington, D. C.
Demaray pointed out that four
contracts were let in January for
construction of two sections of
the parkway:' 12.6 miles on sec
tion 2-J from Beacon Heights to
Linville Falls, and 10 miles on
section 2-K from Linville Falls to
McKinney Gap, a steel bridge on
section 2-M, and a crossing sepa
ration on 2-D. He estimated that
these contracts (amount to about
$1,100,000 for North Carolina.
The Park Service also hopes
to advertise soon for bids on other
grade separations on sections 2-B
and 2-D, estimated to cost $73,
000, and the parkway section 2-L,
running from McKinney Gap to
Gooch Gap. Plans for section
2-L are complete, and the Park
Service is waiting only for the
state to obtain rights of way be
fore advertising for bids. Al
though it was thought in the fall
that this construction would be
contracted for before Christmas
the Park Service now hopes to
let the contracts before spring.
“We are reasonably sure of
having all construction on the
Blue Ridge Parkway under way
by spring,’’ Demaray said.
PUPILS AT ELK CREEK
SCHOOL WERE INCLUDED
—on the Honor Roll for the fifth
month of the 1937-38 term, as
follows:
First Grade,—Emerson Jones.
Second Grade—Tom Cook and
Ernest Joines.
Fourth Grade—Heniy Sturgill
and Lyle Cox.
Fifth Grade—Clarabelle Fen
der, Dorothy Joines, Irene Rich
ardsont Brice Richardson and
Charles Warden.
Sixth Grade — Marie Sturgill,
Rheba .Lee Hines and Walter
Estep.
Seventh Grade—Edna McMeans,
Inez Warden and Ilene Musgrove.
REV. HOWARD J. FORD
WILL PREACH SUNDAY
—at 7:30 p. m., at the Sparta
Baptist church, of which he is
pastor.
PREACHING SERVICES ARE
TO BE HELD SUNDAY
—at Shiloh Methodist church by
Revs. R. L. Billings and Lee A.
Hampton, at eleven o’clock. The
public is urgently invited to at
tend and it is hoped that a large
number of persons will be pre
sent.
Casualties Mount As Spain Fights On
TERUEL FRONT, Spain . . . Hurling every last soldier and gun,
saved for his awn offensive at Guadtlajara, Rebel General Francisco
Franco blasts a terrific counter-attack on Teruel, recently captured
by Government forces. Observers ■ report this to be the most crucial
struggle of the war with losses mounting extremely high on both
sides. Above Loyalists taken prisoner by the Insurgents at Teruel
half-heartedly extend the Fascist salute.
A forensic meet
will be held
at Appalachian
—State Teachers college,
Boone, tomorrow (Friday)
and Saturday. The second
annual Appalachian Moun-!
tain Forensic Tournament and i
State assembly will be held at
the Boone educational institution.!
Many of the leading colleges of
the state and some, from adjoin
ing states have isccepted invita
tions to attend.
Lees-McRae, East Tennessee
Teachers College, Mars Hill, Le
noir-Rhyne, Brevard, Maryville,
Tusculum, Winthrop, N. C. State,
Appalachian State, Virginia Inter
mont,, Boiling Springs, Campbell,
Emory and Henry, Furman, Ers
kine, Phifer, Asheville State Nor
mal, tand Western Carolina will
be represented.
The tournament win be direct
ed by the International Relations
Club and Forensic Club, both of
Appalachian College. Bernard
Murdock, Charlotte, is the student
director of the entire program, j
He will be assisted by Jack Gibbs, j
Appalachia, Va., floor manager, j
directing with Ivn.n Pearson,
Boone, and Ruth Epps, Newton, j
Program features will include:!
After-dinner .speaking, debating, j
model business conference of in
ternational relations, impromptu
speaking, oratory, and mock
form of Brussels Conference
which was held in Belgium in
November, 1937.
Italy s worst
explosion took
place Saturday
—when 18 were killed and
hundreds were injured at a
munitions factory in Segni,
the business section of
which was devastated as by an
earthquake. Firemen toiling to
extinguish fierce flames in the
powder plant ruins were certain
they would find additional bodies
when the heat and acrid fumes
were quelled enough to permit
thorough search.
Soldiers, police and firefighters
were the only occupants of the
shattered area in this town of
10.000 inhabitants, 38 miles
southeast of Rome. Residents were
forced to evacuate their homes,
many of them damaged beyond
repair.
The first of three explosions
came at 7:35 a. m.f spreading
panic.
Living amid powder and am
munition plants the town’s in
habitants knew what the deep
subterranean rumble portended.
Many of them, fearful for rela
tives working in the factory, dash
ed into streets already littered
with broken glass and roof tiles.
A second explosion 15 minutes
later was followed by a terrific
blast at 8:03 which destroyed the
munitions plant. Residence ioofs
crashed, injuring householders in
doors. Outside stail-ways collapsed
and doors splintered from their
hinges. All clocks in Segni were
stopped.
The windows were blown from
a roadside chapel two-thirds of
a mile away.
Approval was
given the housing
hill Tuesday
—by the United States Sen
ate. Administration, lead
ers, beating off a senate
rebellion by the close vote
of 42 to 40, passed along the
bill, designed to stimulate a vast
home-building boom, to President
Roosevelt.
Mr. Roosevelt is expected to
sign the bill quickly. Its sponsors
said much activity in building,
slowed paces of the major in
dustires, will result.
Over-riding the strident criti
cism of a block that included
southern and western Democrats,
as well as Republicans, the ad
ministration men succeeded in
keeping out of the bill the “pre
vailing wage” amendment spon
sored by Senator Lodge (R.,
Mass.).
This amendment would have
forced the payment of prevailing
wages on housing projects in
sured by the federal housing
administration. Its backers said
that without it, the housing bill
would depress wages in the build
ing trades. Opponents declared
the amendment would week the
bill, and by leading to wage-fix
ing in other fields, would carry
the country toward “fascism.”
First major legislation of either
the special or regular sessions
to be sent to the White House,
the bill is intended to make home
buying easier by reducing down
payments and financing charges.
A simple design
for a memorial
to the 14 men
—who died in the crash of the
navy dirigible Shenandoah neai
Ava., O., September 3, 1925f was
approved Tuesday by the United
States Treasury in Washington,
D. C.
Officials said they would ask
for bids soon for construction of
twin shafts of granite, designee
by Rudolph Stanley Brown, an
architect in the treasury procure
ment division.
The monument, for which Con
gress has appropriated $2,500
will bear -a picture of the dirigible
in flight and a plate listing the
names of the victims.
The Shenandoah disaster was
tlie first major dirigible disastei
in this country and occurred
white the airship was passing
tii cough a severe storm.
Traffic deaths
reached a new
high of 39,700
—deaths during 1937, the na
tional safety council reported
Tuesday in announcing its pre
liminary estimate of 106,000 ac
cidental deaths of all types foi
the year.
THE A1RBELLOWS SCHOOL
5th MONTH HONOR ROLL
—is as follows:
First Grade — Mildred Caudill
and Dale Caudill.
Second Grade—Muriel Richard
son and Lebart Caudill.
Third Grade—Faye Caudill anc
Helen Caudill.
Fourth Grade—Marie Caudill.
Fifth Grade—Ruth Richardson
Sixth Grade—Mack Richardson
Several new
books have
been added
1—to the Sparta Public library
l recently. Among these is a book
I by the ever-popular Zane Grey, j
“The Lost Wagon Train,” which j
| take its readers back to the leg-j
I endary days of the West, when j
[there was no law beyond the [
I Missouri.
A great pioneer train of 1601
wagons utterly disappears. With I
one exeception, the young dau- j
ghter of the train leader, every j
soul is wiped out. It is a tale \
of brigandry, love> revenge and j
expiation.
Another book by this popular1
author, “The Shepherd of Guada
loupe,” is now on the shelves.
A copy of Mary Bledsoe’s re
cent novel, “Shadows Slant
North,” was recently donated to
the library by the Skyland Post,
West Jefferson, and Edwin Dun- j
can, Jr. This book is a. welcome j
addition, as the one copy which ;
the library owned has been much
in demand.
During the past ten days, 375
books have been lent from the
Sparta Public Library, which is
not an exceptional number for
that period of time. The public is
invited to visit the library.
i Alleghany sheep
raisers received
second place
—in farm flock production,
according to records kept
during 1937. This infor
mation was given out in a
recent radio talk by L. I. Case,
specialist in Animal Husbandry
at State college, Raleigh. Eleven
records were kept by Alleghany
sheepman, ranging from $7.80 to
$14.93, and averaged more than!
$10 income for each farmer who
kept a record, per ewe.
L. C. Hampton, Stratford, made
a gross income of $14.93 per
ewe. He produced and sold a 144
per cent, lamb crop. Mr. Hamp-1
tori trimmed his lambs, and con-1
trolled stomach worms and other i
internal parasites by moving his!
flock every 15 days to new pas-,
ture. He wintered his flock on,
corn silage and a grain mix- j
ture of cottonseed meal, wheat;
bran and oats, and also allowed
his sheep to run on a winter cov
er crop of wheat arid rye. Mr.
Hampton sold his lambs and wool
through the county pool.
Top honors among the records
kept by North Carolina sheepmen
during the year went to Iredell
county. King Brothers, whose
post office address is Route 2,
Statesville, made a gross income
of $17,53 per ewe. They raised
15 lambs from ten ewes, control
led stomach worms by rotating
pastures and treatment, and dock
ed their lambs.
In Mr. Case’s radio talk, at
tention was called to the fact
that the work of grading and
selling lambs cooperatively in
North Carolina was begun in Al
leghany county in 1934, and has
since spread each year to more
counties. Mr. Case said more
lambs have been sold each year
by this method than the year be
fore. In the western part of the
state, in 1937, lambs were ship
ped cooperatively from Alleghany,
Ashe, Watauga, Mitchell, Yancey
and Madison counties. It is ex
pected that the territory will be
enlarged in 1938 and plans for
shipment of a larger number of
lambs cooperatively from North
Carolina than ever before are
under way.
The records of sheepmen re
ferred to by Mr. Case number
61 and reveal an average gross
income per ewe of $9.36. These
incomes range from as low as
$3.54 to as high as $17.53.
R. E. Black,
Alleghany county
farm agent
—is making an effort to get &
work sheet for every farmer in
the county.
If any farmer has been missed
by the community committeemen
who are canvassing the county
but wishes to participate in the
1938 program, he should go to
the office immediately and fill
out a work sheet.
A list of the farms has been
taken from the tax scrolls, .and in
as.se, anyone has been missed, he’
can go to the office of the county
agent and fill out a work sheet.
N. C. will have
a new $1,500,000
veterans hospital
—it was indicated Tuesday
when Representative Dough
ton announced in Washing
ton, D. CM that President
Roossfveft had approved, plans for
such an institution. Representa
tive Doughton aaid Administrator
Hines, of the Veterans administra
tion, would take immediate steps
to select a site for the facility.
General Hiner^ after leaving
the White House Tuesday after
noon, advised Doughton of the
President’s action. Doughton,
along with other members of the
North Carolina delegation, has for
months been urging a new veter
ans hospital in the state.
Now that the hospital, which
will have 300 beds, has been
nailed down for North Carolina,
individual congressmen will begin
their efforts to secure the facility
for their respective districts.
There has been no indication
by the Veterans Administration
as to where the hospital, which
will be general in character, is
to be located. It is believed,
however, that, it will be located
in the eastern part of the state.
Roosevelt told
the nation
Saturday night
—that it was “glorious” to
have his birthday utilized
for a national campaign
against the scourge of
infantile paralysis. He thanked
contributors to the new national
foundation for infantile paraly
sis in an address broadcast from
the White House.
His message was directed es
pecially to those attending 15,000
balls throughout the country,
celebrating his 56th birthday Sun
day, and to tens of thousands of
others "who had sent coin contri
butions directly to the White
House.
“My heart goes out in grati
tude to the whole American peo
ple tonight,’’ the president said,
“for we have found common
cause in presenting a solid front
against an insidious but deadly
enemy.”
‘■One touch of nature makes
the whole world kin,” Mr. Roose
velt said. “And that kinship,
which human suffering evokes, is
perhaps the closest of all, for we
know that those who work bo help
the suffering find true spiritual
fellowship in the labor of love.”
Mr. Roosevelt suffered an at
tack of infantile paralysis 17
years ago.
In addition to his family, those
invited to witness his broadcast
j from the. executive mansion in
! eluded a group of his old cam
paign friends, and movie and stage
celebrities who came here to at
tend the birthday celebrations in
I hotels and theatres.
The latter included Fredric
j March, Janet Gaynor, Joe E.
I Brown, Louise Fazenda and half
la dozen others.
Mrs. Roosevelt, who entertained
i the stars at luncheon Saturday,
i arranged to hear her husband’s
j broadcast at one of the hotels
I where she agreed to cut a huge
birthday cake.
Her program called tor wmri
wind visits to the capital parties
to greet the movie folk and thank
the crowds for attending.
Among other movie stars who
traveled across the continent to
lend color to the big birthday
ball in the nation’s capital were
Eleanor Powell, Anne Gillis,
Tommy Kelly, Ray Bolger, Marie
Gambarelli and Zorina, the new
foreign star. The stars were
guests Saturday night of Com
missioner George E. Allen at
dinner in the Shoreham hotel, in
Washington, and at 6r30 p. m.
Saturday, the entire aggregation
of stars participated in a four
station radio broadcast to invite
the people of Washington to the
I ball. The Hollywood guests ap
peared at midnight shows at the
Earle and Capitol theatres in
Washington.
In New York, amid myriad
wheeling lights and the blare
and lilt of 14 bands, more than
5,000 persons packed the Waldorf
(Turn to page five, please)