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The Alleghany Times
DEVOTED TO THE CIVIC, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF ALLEGHANY COUNTY
Volume No. 14. GALAX, VA. (Published for Sparta, N. C.) THURSDAY, MARCH 16. 1939. Number 44.
Hugo S. Sims,
Washington Correspondent
Confusion Reigns
The confusion that exists in
the popular mind as to the for
eign policy of the United States
is duplicated, it appears, in Con
gress, where one hears the de
mand that the President make a
statement and tell the people
exactly what is the nation’s for
eign policy.
The truth of the matter is that
our national foreign policy is in
process of developing, with no
one, even the President himself,
being able to definitely outline
what this government will do un
der all the cricumstances that
might arise. The world itself, is
in a precarious condition, unlike
anything in our generation, and
slowly the nations take congniz
ance of new situations.
The conflict between totalitari
an and democratic states is not
entirely new but it is to be not
ed that Germany, Italy and Ja
pan are working together to se
cure the fundamental readjust
ments of territory and the politi
cal and economic concessions that
they want. To gain their ends
these three nations are not only
arming themselves but they are
subordinating every phase of do
mestic existence to gain military
power.
To any one who keeps up with
developments, such as Japan’s
naval expansion, German mili
tary preparations and the air ac
tivity of Germany and Italy, it is
plain as daylight that these pow
ers plan to use their force, if nec
essary, to secure what they want.
In each of the three countries
the people are subjected to stress
and strain to support the national
objectives and the organized ac
tivity of the nations, together with
all resources, are being mobilized
frankly to put them on a fighting
basis.
A Different Picture
It would be a far different pic
ture if either, or all, of the pow
ers adopted a dictator form of
government, instituted internal
reforms and set about to live at
peace with the world. Such is not
the case. The re-arming, the eco
nomic plans and the propaganda
spread among their peoples are
justified in order to make others
give them what they term their
natural rights.
Neither of the three militant
powers stand alone. The anti-com
munist pact is only a blind, be
hind which is being prepared the
forces for an attack upon ‘the
powers that at present dominate
the world. If the real force of
the treaty between Italy, Germ
any and Japan was enmity of
communism, a war with Russia
would be the goal but, so far,
no direct pressure has been appli
ed against the Soviet by either of
the powers. Their raids have been
launched against the nations that
do not espouse communism.
In this world situation the peo
ple of the United States are con
fronted with the choice of follow
ing an isolationist theory in world
affairs or of taking cognizance
with new situations and following
the policy of cooperation with
democratic powers. Gradually, the
President has moved toward the
latter policy. In Congress, there
is abundant support of rearma
ment- but a slow acceptance of
the necessity of a new orientation
in world affairs.
There are reasons for this re
ctance. Behitt^ us is a long rec
avoiding foreign entangle
i, of depending upon the two
oceans to protect us from in
vasion and of neutrality toward
quarrels of the re-4 of the
world. Besides, in our popula
tion there are qaillions indivi
duals who are closely identified
with other nation?. Americans of
German and Italian descent, for
example, find it qifficult to ac
cept the new world picture and
continue to view/European af
fairs in the lighl( of their ances
try. They are not disloyal to the
United States and\as the issue be
comes more clearly drawn will,
almost without exception, back
the American Government to the
limit. j
Lore of. Peace
Moreover, in the United States
i
DOLLAR DAYS TO BE BIG VALUE EVENT
A district
music contest
wiD be held
—at Appalachian State
Teachers College, Boone,
on Saturday, April 1. Plans
for the contest were an
nounced recently by Professor
Gordon Nash, of Boone, chairman
of the Boone District of the
National Music Contest.
The Boone district includes the
counties of Alleghany, Watauga,
Ashe and Avery. The contest,
restricted to high school students,
includes events for vocal solos,
duets, trios, quartets, etc.; glee
clubs of boys, girls and mixed
groups; instrumental solos and
duets.
Winners in the division will
compete in the state contest which
will be held at the Woman’s Col
lege of the University of North
Carolina, Greensboro, during the
second week in April. The Boone
High School Band, directed by
Gordon Nash, will be the only
band from the Watauga District.
The first place winners in this
state will compete with winners
for other states at the south
eastern division contest to be held
in Charlotte during May.
NationalAnd World
NEWS
At A Glance
WANTS FINE REFUNDED
Washington, March 8.—Senator
Reynolds (D), N. C., proposed
today that the federal government
refund a $2,000 fine levied against
Bemarr Mcfadden, magazine pub
lisher, 30 years ago for printing
an article on venereal diseases.
AGREE ON FINANCES
Washington, March 9. — The
United States and Brazil today
concluded a far-reaching financial
and commercial agreement design
ed to strengthen economic and
political relations between the
two countries and eventually curb.
Fascist-Nazi incursions in Latin
America.
BOASTS AT EXECUTION
Tucker Prison Farm, Ark.,
March 10.—Boasting that he had
killed1 “12 or 15 people,” Buford
Goad, black sheep of a prominent
Little Rock/family, today died in
the electric chair for slaying El
dion Cooley, youthful operator of
a chain of grocery stores, in a
$400 robbery last September.
Goad was known to the under
world and even to his wife as
Joseph B. Anderson.
HOEY SEES GOOD TIMES
Pinehurst, March 11.—Gover
nor Hoey predicted) better times
in the immediate future for North
Carolina in an address before the
Carolina s-Virginia Purchasing
Agents’ Association, which ended
its midwinter meeting here today.
Hoey said 120 new industries
were started in North Carolina
during 1988 and 78 established
firms made expansions.
COMMUNISTS SURRENDER
Madrid, March 12.—General
Jose Miaja’s national defense
council announced tonight that
all Communist strongholds had
surrendered unconditionally and
their uprising against the peace
program with Spanish nationalists
had! been crushed after six days
of fighting.
NOT TO SEEK PENSIONS
Indianapolis, March 13.—Na
tional Commander Stephen F.
Chadwick said plainly today that
the American Legion would pot
ask general pensions for World
War veterans during his term of
office.
1
DIPLOMATS TALK IN PARIS
Paris, March 14.—United States
Ambassador William C. Bullitt
conferred with Foreign Minister
Georges Bonnet at the foreign
office late today. It was under
stood he sought information on
the break-up of Chechoslovakia.
Wants 49th State
DETROIT, Mich. . . The secession
Of five counties from the State of
Michigan to organize a forty-ninth
state was visualized recently by
Councilman John A. Kronk.
Councilman Kronk also says an
other state would square up the,
United States flag.
EstdMoxky is
now being held
in jail
—as a suspect in the Elva
Brannock murder case, he
having been arrested at,
Chestnut Hill, Md., near Bel
Air, several days ago and brought
back here kby Sheriff DeWfctt
Bryan. Sheriff Bryan and a
deputy went to Bel Air, and en
listed the aid of the Sheriff of
Haiford County, Maryland, in
making the arrest.
It is expected that Moxley will j
be given a trial on charges of [
rape and fhurder in Alleghany
Superior Court here in the near
future.
The Brannock girl was crimin
ally assaulted and murdered while
on her way to schoiol in the Sad
dle Mountain section of Alleghany
in February, 1937.
A boost in the
funds for WPA
was opposed
—by Senator Pat Harrison
(D., Miss.), who served
notice Sunday in Washing
ton, D. C., that he would
fight President Roosevelt’s expect
ed request for an additional $150,
000,000 to tide the WPA through
until July 1.
The Mississippian, one of the
leaders in the successful fight to
reduce the WPA appropriation
from the $875,000,000 requested
by Mr. Roosevelt to $725,000,000
said he was opposed to voting
any new funds.
The president’s supplemental
estimate of WPA’s needs is sche
duled to go to congress tomor
row or Tuesday and economy ad
vocates already have indicated it
will stir up a sharp fight.
The opponents of spending con
ceded, however, that it appeared
doubtful the new relief request
could be defeated, or whittled
down.
Some house members have tak
en a stand similar to Harrison’s
but on the other hand, several
Republicans, who joined in vot
ing aginst the $875,000,000 figure
in the senate, have indicated they
would favor additional funds if
the president said they were nec
essary.
House opposition found expres
sion in a decision by members of
an appropriations subcommittee
to make a separate investigation
of relief needs before acting on
any presidential request.
House Republicans, meanwhile,
said they planned to make econo
my an issue in consideration of
the $160,000,000 interior depart
ment appropriation bill, up in
that charfiber today. Party
leaders said they would propose
a 10 per cent cut in the appro
priations.
Senate consideration of the
house-approved government re
organization bill also promised to
have its economy tinge, with Sen
ator Byrd (D., Va.) seeking to
make budgetary savings one of
the stated aims of the bill.
With a crowd of 350,000—
Medieval splendor marked the joyous
ceremonial in Rome, Italy, Sunday
—when the crown of the popes wai placed on
the head of Pius XII, 262nd pope of the Roman
Catholic Churdh. The festive crowd thronged
great St. Peter’s square to watch the coronation
on the balcony of St. Peter’s basilica, the first out-of-doors
coronation in almost a century. Within the mother
church of Catholicism, a huge
congregation of princes, prelates,
diplomats, pilgrims, priests and
faithful flocks witnessed the
stately progress of the coronation
mass and investiture.
Vatican authorities said 71,000
tickets had been issued and it
was apparent that few had gone
unused.
The estimate of 350,000 in
horse-shoe-shaped St. Peter's
square was conservative. Vatican
sources said it was closer to 500,
000 and many churchmen doubted
if such huge throngs ever had
witnessed the coronation of any
pope or king in history.
They said they were certain no
such crowd ever before had as
sembled before St. Peter’s be
cause recent demolitions about
the square had provided greater
space than ever before.
The pope, slightly fatigued by
the long ceremonial, rested in his
private apartments during the re
mainder of the day.
Intimates said his holiness
“thrived” on his arduous tasks
and seldom felt physical weari
ness. They said he was affected
mostly by the emotional strain.
For the first time, radio carried
the sound ann description of this
precedent-making coronation a
round the .world in half a dozen
languages, enabling all Christians
to share in the church’s most
joyful festival.
As he received the crown, Pope
Pius sat on a gilded temporary
throne on the balcony.
Alleghany ranks
99th among the
100 counties
—of the state in the amount of
local public debt In North Caro
lina, as revealed in a table, based
on data appearing in the report
of the North Carolina Classifica
tion Amendment Commission. The
counties are ranked in the table
according to the per cent, the
total gross debt in each county
—counyt and all subdivisions—is
of the total assessed valuation
for the year 1937.
The figures for Alleghany
County are as follows: Assessed
valuation, $4,083,126; Total coun
ty ddbt—1937, $168,285; Ratio
of county debt to assessed valu
ation—per cent., 3.88; Total debt
—county and all subdivisions—is
$158,235, and Ratio of total debt
to assessed valuation—per cent.,
3.88.
Surry County is 66th on the
list, Wilkes County is 41st, Ashe
is sixth, and Watauga is 51st.
A FREE MOTION PICTURE ON
“BAPTIST MISSION WORK
—In China” is to be shown at
the Spartan Theatre tomorrow
(Friday) afternoon, at 8:30
o'clock, sponsored by the Wo
men’s Missionary Union of the
local Baptist Church.1
The public is invited to at
tend.
May Be Candidate
NEW YORK, N. Y. . . District
Attorney Thomas E. Dewey, 37,
whose successful prosecution of
Janies J. Hines on charges of
conspiracy in the policy racket
has brought him into the lime
light aa a possible Republican
candidate for president of the
United States.
Dr. J. T. Smith,
weD-known Surry
physician, died
—Tuesday afternoon, March
14, at 3:15 o’clock, in Mar
tin Memorial Hospital,
Mount Airy. Dr. Smith,
who was 61 years of age, had
been considered for 40 years the
physical and spiritual physician to
Westfield and a good portion of
Surry County.
Dr. Smith had been ill for six
months. He had hoped to regain
a part of his strength and a little
over three weeks ago said in an
interview that he didn’t expect to
be able to resume his practice, but
“I hope to get on my feet and
mingle with my friends of the
years.”
A native of Surry County, Dr.
Smith was born at Westfield, No
vember 25, 1877, a son of Cap
tain John L. and Anne Cobb
Smith. He spent his entire life
in that section with the exception
of the time he was obtaining his
medical education. He was gradu
ated from Davidson College and
Jefferson Medical College at Phil
adelphia, Pa.
While a young man, Dr. Smith
entered the ministry of the Bap
tist Church and served pastorates
of the Missionary Baptist Church
for many years. During the past
few years his practice had grown
so large he was forced to give up
his pastorates, but he did not stop
preaching.
Dr. Smith—he was “Doctor
Tom,” “Tom Smith” or just plain
“Doc Smith'* to thousands in
Surry—was one of the best
known men in Surry County.
Funeral services will be held
at Westfield Baptist ■ Church this
(Thursday) afternoon, at three
o’clock. Rev. R. W. Hovis, the
pastor, and Rev. James B. Fick
lin 3rd will conduct the services.
Burial will be in the church
graveyard with Masonic rites.
Senator Borah
said there would be
no general war
—“so long as there are enough
small countries for the big coun
tries to divide up.’' This state
ment was made by the Idaho Re
publican senator Tuesday in Wash
ington, D. C.
Senator Borah, formerly chair
mtn of the Senate Foreign Re
lations Committee, said he had
in mind the fate of Manchuria,
Ethiopia, Czechoslovakia and
Spain.
JUSTICE OWEN J. ROBERTS,
OF THE U. S. SUPREME
—Court, underwent Tuesday in
Washington, D. C., what was de
scribed by a supreme court at
tache as a “minor operation.”
Thfe operation appeared to be en
tirely successful R was added.
The justice is expected to leave
Garfield’ Hospital within four or
five days.
A Big Dollar Days Event
Will Be Held In Sparta On
Friday, Saturday and Non.
—March 17, 18 and 20, in which Smithey’s Store,
Belk’s Department Store, Cash and Carry Store,
Jay Hardin and B. & T. Drug Company are
cooperating to bring to the people of Alleghany County
and adjoining trade territory a veritable feast of ex
ceptional bargains. The cooperating business firms are
I .
| Action was
demanded by a
group of Senators
—Sunday in Washington,
D. C., who often reflect the
Opinions of business men,
when they said they thought
the time had1 arrived for the ad
ministration to translate its vocal
encouragement of| business into
concrete action.
Characterizing recent state
ments of administration leaders as
“helpful,” Senators Burke (D.,
Neb.), Bailey (D., N. C.), and
King. (D., Utah), joined in urg
ing early legislative and execu
tive moves to put these words
into effect.
Senator Bailey said he was
“pleased with the pronounce
ment that have been made,” but
added he believed steps must be
taken immediately to “bring a
bout a cessation of government
borrowing.
A Cokesbury
Training School
will be held here
—at the Methodist Church March
20-23, inclusive, at seven o’clock
each night, according to an an
nouncement made recently by Rev.
L. F. Strader, pastor of the
church.
Two courses will be offered.
One of these, a course for young
people from 16 to 23 years of
age, will be taught by Mrs. G. G.
Adams, Charlotte, and the course
for adults, on the educational
work of the Sunday School, will
be taught by Rev. G. G. Adams,
Charlotte.
Persons from all churches in
this section are invited to at
tend this training school. Those
attending the school and reading
the required book will receive
credit.
Hitler’s armies
marched mto
Czechoslovakia
—according to an official
communique issued early
yesterday (Wednesday) in
Berlin, which announced
that Chancellor Hitler “had tak
en the Czech people under the
protection of the German Reich.”
The announcement came at the
end of a dramatic three-hour con
ference between Germany’s’ fueh
rer and President Emil Hacha
of the broken republic of the
Czechs.
The conference ended at 4:15
a. m. after a day and night of
rapid fire developments which had
seen occupation of parts of the
Czech country by German and
Hungarian nation of the Prague
cabinet, and formal dissolution of
the federal state of Czechoslo
vakia.
What was post-war Czechoslo
vakia had collapsed under the
blows of partition at Munich and
yesterday’s declaration of inde
pendence of the central province
of Slovakia. The eastern prov
ince of Carpatho-Ukraine follow
ed suit in tiie declaration of its
Premier Augustin VokMin.
After the conference to deter
mine the fete of the rest of the
country—Bohemia and Moravia^
ready and eager to serve the pub
lic with the merchandise they
need during the three big bargain,
days and their stores are literally
packed and crammed with bar
gain merchandise for this extra
ordinary selling event.
Exceptional values in ladies’
ready-to-wear and in men’s and
children’s dress and work clothes
will await thrifty buyers at Belk’s
Department Store, Smithey's Store
and Jay Hardin’s, while those who
visit the B. & T. Drug Store will
find specials that will delight
them. Amazing values in foods
await the buying public at Cash
and Carry Store, Smithey’s and
Jay Hardin’s.
Every effort is being made by
each business firm cooperating to
make this one of the greatest
bargain events ever offered to the
buying public of this section.
Drastic reductions in the prices
of merchandise, of many kinds,
has been made and all, who are
interested in getting the most in
real value for the money invest
ed, are urged to turn at once to
the big double-page advertisement
in this issue of The TIMES and
see for yourself the abundance of
golden opportunities for real sav
ings because of the unusually
attractive prices on almost any
kind of merchandise in which he
may be interested.
A cordial invitation is being ex
tended by the cooperating mer
chants to their customers and
friends to take advantage of the
big bargains offered during this
big three-day selling event.
Economy forces
in the General
Assembly suffered
;—another setback Tuesday
in Raleigh when the House
Representatives made two
additional increases in allot
ments and then passed the bi
ennial appropriations bill.
The measure, which in amend
ed form calls for record state
spending of approximately $155,
000,000 during 1939-41, was
sent to the senate.
The increases voted Tuesday
would boost the biennial allotment
for vocational education by $45,
000, and for the department of
weights and measures by $7,620.
The representatives also raised
the per diem pay of members of
the highway commission, the
school commission, and the ad
visory budget commission from
$7 to $10.
For a time, it appeared that ad
ministration forces unwittingly
had opened the gates for a spend
ing spree that would have thrown
the proposed budget far out of
balance.
Monday night, Governor Hoey
and his followers gave the house
an appropriations compromise,
calling for increases totaling
$500,000 in the allotments for
school teachers, the Greater Uni
versity, Womens College of the *
University of North Carolina,
North Carolina College for Ne
groes, department of health, and
state advertising fund.
The compromise was adopted,
after a number of representatives
had accused the Governor of in
fringing on legislation powers by
“writing the budget.”
THE YOUNG WOMEN’S
CIRCLE WILL MEET