North Carolina Newspapers

ALLEGHANY STAR-k TIMES OVER HALF A CENTURY OF SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE OF ALLEGHANY COUNTY 52nd. Yean . No. 26. Sparta, N. C. Thursday, February 20, 1941. Washington, D. C. — Despite Mussolini's oft-repeated claim that everything will come out right in the end, we have it from a high Italian diplomatic source that Ita ly’s reverses in Africa have shat tred the Duce’s hope of post-war gain. The same sources believe that peace with France is very much desired by Italy right now, to protect her flank in Africa from attack by General Wey gand’s French army in Tunisia. Today, Italy, Spain and France— the partner, the neutral and the conquered—are all prisoners of Hitler’s conquests. The ultimate aim of all is a common one,—to escape from the threat of the swastika. , - * * * Facts and figures for (anti) American Bdndists and Reds.— People in the United States in 1989 were “better fed, better clothed, had more invisible ser vants in the form of electricity in their homes, had more electri cal appliances to make housework easier, educated their young peo ple better as measured by the numbers attending high schools and colleges, traveled more as measured by the number of regis tered automobiles and gasoline consumed, read more, smoked more, bicycled more, lived longer as measured by the death rate, more young people married and more of their infants survived” than at any time in the history of the country. This is the con clusion of a study by Professor Bernhard Ostrolenk of the Col lege of the City of New York. A table which supplements the analysis shows that in 1939 the population had increased 7 per cent over 1929, while consumption of milk, meat and butter was higher in 1939 over 1929 from 9 to 46 per cent. Consumption of fruit and vegetables also rose 79 per cent in the last decade. In 1940, men purchased 22 per cent more overcoats and 33 per cent more suits than in 1929. Women purchased 66 per cent more dress es. Residential consumption of electrical power was 120 per cent larger; farm consumption of elec trlaity'mnw- flw* sales of household refrigerators were ahead 114 per cent, of wash ing machines 26 per cent, and of vacuum cleaners 13 per cent. Col leges had a 35 per cent larger enrollment, and high school en rollment was 40 per cent larger. • * * That Adolph Hitler aims at su bordinating Soviet industry to Nasi plans becomes clearer from news filtering out of Slovakia. Since, the Nazis’ march into Prague on March 15, 1938, Ger man engineers have built 280 miles of roads leading east or northeast. From the Slovak fron tier near Vienna a great new highway to the Russian frontier, passing through Bratislava, is be ing cut. It will be 270 miles long, 100 yards wide, will take six years to build, and will cost at least 50 million dollars. Nazi super-highways today run across the protectorate of Bohemia-Mor avia, and Germany also controls the railroad through Rumania to Constanza on the Black Sea. Neutral observers who report a clouding of relations between Rome and Berlin assert that the German officers in Rome, who act as liaison officers . between the Wilhelmstrasse and Palazzo Vene zia, are making the Italians stead ily more resentful by their up pishness. Twice on recent occas ions Galeazzo Ciano, Italy’s swag gering Foreign Minister, has pro tested to Berlin, but without ef fect. Whispers that Mussolini ask ed for military assistance from his partner .persist, and there is a well-authenticated story that ur gent appeals for food and raw materials were unanswered by Berlin. Another Case Of Remarkable Healing In the Star-Times of January 30 the story was told of Perley Truitt’s baby that fell against a hot stove and was severely burn ed. It was hurried to Uncle John L. Joines, who treated the burns in his own peculiar way, and the baby made a remarkable recovery, c Now this weekanother* and al moet identical case is reported right here in Sparta. Thurmon Bennett’s child, about two years o)d, fell against the hot stove and burned its face severely about a week ago. They took him to Unde John for treatment, and today the baby is well and hard ly even scarred. Unde John seems to have a particular ability t in treating severe flesh burns. Gasoline taxes will cost the averace American mqtorist $38 in 1941. fim IP “ > i'-'t-Tx* ssci Oi» r‘«* ‘ •1ts3 ’ ' t 'wo r Id... Britain s Progress in Africa Cairo, Egypt.—Britain’s army of the Nile wrote “the end” yesterday to the first phase of its African t campaign with a report that no Italians remain in Egypt, Kenya colony or the Anglo-Egyptiat Sudan “except as prisoners.” All action has been in Italy’s empire in North and East Africa since February 14, when the British reoccupied Kurmuk, a strategic post on Ethiopia’s western frontier with the Sudan, a gen eral headquarters communique reported. Greeks Progress in Albania Athens.—In hand-to-hand combat backed by deadly artillery fire, Greek forces on the Central Albanian front reported the capture of new peaks while inflicting heavy losses on their Italian foes and taking 300 prisoners. • • • More Greek Success in Albania Athens.—Two Italian blackshirt battalions on the I Albanian front have been virtually wiped out in the past 24 hours, suffering more than 1,000 casualties, by a hard-pounding Greek offensive gaining ground in almost all sectors, a government spokesman said. • • • Britain Aims Every Attack London.—A smashing attack on Germany’s vital war industries and “invasion bases’’ by a fleet of Brit ish bombers that left the Ruhr valley and the Nazi U-boat base of Boulogne ablaze was reported by RAF officials. Putting Greece in a Predicament Sofia, Bulgaria.—A Bulgarian-Turkish non-aggres sion statement issued here last night was interpreted by reliable informants to mean that Greece was in dan ger of being left out on a limb and might have to sue for peace with Italy or suffer the consequences of a German thrust against her. However, the statement clearly announced that agreement to keep the peace was reached “without prejudice to their contracted engagements with other countries,” a stipulation that Greek sources said was “encouraging” for Greece. Sailing Under False Colors Sure Funchal, Madeira.—Survivors reaching here yes terday charged that a German sea raider flying a British flag steamed along with a British Atlantic con voy for four hours one night last week and then sud denly opened fire with all its guns on the unsuspect ing ships. • • • Marine Base and Air Station for N. C. Washington.—Assurance of speedy congressional action on a $40,000,000 authorization requested by the navy for contraction of a marine base and air station on the Eastern North Carolina coast was given yesterday by Chairman Vinson (D), Ga., of the House naval affair* committee. • 1 ■«*&.• •«*•» - 0 —— ^ . q Labor Unions Boost the Food Bill Washington.—Assistant Attorney General Thur man Arnold, the government’s No. 1 trust buster, yes terday told the House judiciary committee that labor union practices are boosting the nation’s bill for food and housing. He testified at the opening of the com mittee’s investigation of defense labor problems, in cluding charges that labor strife is hampering the preparedness drive. Carolina Utilities Annual Meeting Held Saturday The Annual Meeting of stock holders of Northwest Carolina Utilities, Inc., was held at the Home Office of the company in Burnsville, N. C., on Saturday, February 15 th. E. A. Feldtkeller, J. W. Perry, E. W. Mullikin, G. B. Woody and George T. Robbins were elected to serve as directors of the com pany until the next annual meet ing. Following the stockholders •meeting the Board of Directors elected the following officers: President, E. A. Feldtkeller; Vice President and Treasurer, J. W. Perry; Vice President, George T. Robbins, and Secretary and As sistant Treasurer, T. P. Street. George T. Robbins will super vise all operations of the com pany. The company provides elec tric service in Madison, Yancey, Mitchell, Watauga, Ashe and Alle ghany counties for 3,20<T cus tomers. Bible Kissing To Cease In N. C. Courts Yesterday the State Senate passed unanimously the bill which had been sponsored by Repre sentative Fleetas Gobble to abol ish kissing the Holy Bible as prerequisite to property adminis tering an oath in the courts Of North Carolina., *. For more than fifteen years, veteran legislators recalled, a bill to dispense with kissing the Bible has been introduced regularly in the General Assembly and until thig session has been just as regularly defeated. It came up this time at the instance o( the Junior Bar of Forsyth County and had the sup port of all three Winston-Salem members of the house and of Senator Gordon Gray in the upper body. Senator Gray had indi cated his support of the bill the day it passed the house by a vote of 64 to 24 and the speedy approval yesterday was both a courtesy to him and complete _iSisSife Si; i Newell Sees Willkie As Coming Force A new era in American poli tics, with Wendell Willkie as one of the dominating figures, was predicted yesterday by Jake F. Newell, state Republican chair man. < “It looks,” said Newell, "very much like Mr. Willkie is a candi date for either ■ the Democratic or Republican nomination for president in 1944, maybe both.” The chairman, made the pre diction after recalling Willkie’s testimony before the Senate for eign relations committee, which he termed “sincere and straight I to the point.” Speaking of the lend-lease bill, which he said he favored with certain safeguards, Newell said the 1944 issue “will not be the passage of the bill, but will be how well and ably did Mr. Roose velt use the powers granted him under the bill.” Newell said that if Mr. Roose velt “declares a new emergency in which it will be necessary for him to run for a fourth term, it will be necessary fir opponents of a fourth term to rig up a bandwagon with a new name for the parade of 1944. Wilke. Puppy Joins the Army From Columbia, S. C., comes the story of a tired, foot-sore puppy from Wilkesboro, that join ed Battery A of the 128th Field Artillery at Fort Jackson. The dog, about nine months old, scratched on the flap of Corp. George Schenk's tent and then collapsed. Schenk and his tent mates lifted the dog inside, wrapped him in blankets and then fed him hot cereal and meat scrape from the battery mess hall. The dog wore a collar with a license number arid the name Pat M. Williams, Wilkesboro, N. C., inscribed. concurrence in the majority opin ion of the house. Methodism’s Special Day Of Compassion More than nineteen hundred Methodist churches in North Caro lina will participate in Method ism’s nation-wide observance of Day of Compassion on Sunday, March 2. Special sermons and services will emphasize the extra ordinary world situation. It is ex pected that North Carolina churches will contribute $41,000 on this day as their share in the million dollar campaign to relieve human suffering in war-stricken areas, and for special work at home. One-half of the amount will be used for overseas relief in Europe and China. Assistance to. the Mother Church in Britain will 'take one quarter of a million dol lars. The remaining fourth-mil lion will be used in meeting the religious needs of youth in train ing under the Selective Service Act. The million dollar emergency fund is being raised under the leadership of the Council of Bish ops, and its use will be carefully guarded by the Emergency Com mission, of which Bishop Edwin Holt Hughes, of Washington, D. C., is chairman. Plans have just been completed for Bishop Hughes to speak at Centenary Methodist Church, Winston-Salem, on the Day of Compassion. Plans are already under way for this observance in many North Carolina churches, according to a statement by Bishop Clare Pur- j cell, of Charlotte, in charge of Methodism in this state. Gov. Broughtons Reorganization Plans For N. C. Governor Broughton's plan to reorganize various state depart ments held the spotlight last night in sessions of the General As sembly! Both houses received identical bills to allow Broughton and all future governors to appoint their highway commission and their own commission chairman. The house unanimously passed, and ordered ratified, a bill to re move the state highway patrol, the highway safety division and related agencies from the revenue department. The measure would place the agencies in a new motor vehicle department. The senate passed unanimously, and sent to the house, a bill to allow Governor Broughton and all future governors to appoint their own board of conservation and development. This measure also increases the membership of the present 12-man board to 15, and provides that all services of the department must be represent ed on the new board. Methodist Woman’s Society Met Last Thursday The February meeting of the Woman’s Society of Christian Ser vice of the Methodist Church was held at the home of Mrs. Charles Castevens last Thursday after noon, February 13, with Mrs. Ins keep as joint hostess. After the business was com pleted, the meeting was turned over to Mrs. B. O. Choate, the program leader. The study for the hour was the work the Methodists are do ing among minority groups,—the foreigners in our land. The Jews, the Mexicans and the Orientals, were considered by Mrs. Dobyns, Mrs. Mead, and Mrs. Hardin re spectively. Then Mrs. John Cheek gave a very interesting talk on the work Hie church is doing for the Negroes at the various Bethle hem centers, and in many other places throughout the country. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, Marth 13, at the home of Mrs. R. E. Dobyns in Glade Valley, with Mrs.. Black as Joint hostess. Taxes exceeding $828 million were paid the federal government in 194(1 on gasoline, lubricating oil and the transportation of petroleum through pipe lines. This is more than a 30 per cent in crease ever similar special' pe troleum tax collections in 1989. Two Varieties Of Air Defense America relies on airplanes for national defense and soil defense. Heavily armed planes such as the plant four-motored “frying fortress” at top help provide national defense. Planes armed only with cameras heip provide soil defense. The two farmers in lower picture are inspecting a typical aerial photo map, taken from an elevation of nearly three miles and used in adminis tering -the AAA Farm Program’s conservation work. Similar aerial pictures are available showing more than two million square miles of TJ. S. land area. cox Mrs. Mary Williams Cox, of Mt. j Zion community, died at the home • of her daughter, Mrs. J. F. Shep-, herd, on Sunday morning, Febru-1 ary 16. She would have been 86 years old on March 31. She is: survived by three daughters, Mrs. j J. F. Shepherd, of Mt. Zion com-j munity, Mrs. Jesse Taylor, of j Grant, Va., and Mrs. F. S. Tur-1 nipseed, of Filer, Idaho, and byj three sons, J. Roy Cox, of Mt. Zion community, Sam Cox, of California and Charles W. Cox, of Contact, Nevada. There are al so a number of grandchildren, great-grandchildren and many rel atives and friends. Funeral ser vices were held at Mt. Zion Church on Monday, February 17 and interment was in Mt. Zion Cemetery. Mrs. Cox was the last one of the John Henry Williams family and was the widow of Isom Cox. She was born in the Mt. Zion community and except for a short time lived the eojtire span of her life there. She; was the aunt of our correspondent, Mrs. S. E. Smith, and there is printend here with the picture used on the oc casion of celebrating her 85th birthday a year ago. / - COX Mrs. Alice Oox, of Scottville, passed away just after noon on Tuesday, February 18, and funer al arrangements were to be ar ranged by her son who was ex pected from Tennessee. Two out of every three famil ies in the United* States own automobiles, and they are using their vehicles more than ever for recreational travel. The average motorist pays the tax collector about 15 cents an hour, while he is operating his automobile. Baptist W. M. U. District Meetmg The Wilk'esboro Division of the Woman’s Missionary Union will hold its regular mid-year meeting in Elkin on next Thursday, Feb ruary 27th, Mrs. E. C. James, the District. Supt. announces. All officers and committee chairmen of Alleghany Associational W. M. U. are urged to atteVid by the local Supt., Mrs. A. O. Joines. The meeting opens at 10 o’clock, and pastors -and members are all invited. There will be inspira tional addresses and committee reports. Two Dentists For Sparta Dr. M. G. Cox, of Independ ence, has made many friends in Alleghany County by the careful dentistry he has done for them, and now he has opened a new office in Sparta to save his friends that trip to Independence. As announced in another column he will be in his office upstairs in the Northwestern Bank building on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and will be glad to have his friends drop in bo renew acquaint ances and see the new establish ment. Also, it is announced that Dr. N. B. Fox, of Statesville, plans to open a dental practice in Sparta soon, probably in the of fice in the Duncan building now occupied by Mr. Black. Birthday Party Surprise A surprise birthday party was given at the home of Mrs. Belle Blevins, oI Topia, last Wednes day evening, February 12th, hon oring her i son, ' Sidney, on his 14th birthday. A large number of his young friends surprised him with gifts. Games were played and everyone seemed to have a good time. Delicious re freshments of cake, fruit punch and candies were served by the hostess, Miss Sara Blevins. Strike Settlement Does Not Settle Negotiations for settlement of a strike which has held up pro duction on $40,000,000 worth of defense materials for 28 days at the Allis-Chalmers Manufac turing Company plant were brok en off late yesterday. Company officials and representatives of the C. 1. 0. had been conferring two days in an attempt to settle the strike on the basis of an agreement reached at Washing ton last week with officials of the office of production management. Army Rewriting Station in Sparta Post Office Today The mobile unit of the United States Army Recruiting Service will be in Sparta, Thursday and Friday, February 20 and 21, and will establish a temporary enlist ing station in the post office building for the purpose of in- 1 terviewing and accepting appli cants for enlistment in the regul ar army. Sgt. Wm. D. Montgom ery and Sgt. Wilfred J. Cart wright, who accompany the unit, will haVe a moving picture outfit along and will show movies that depict the very latest develope ments in our army’s mechanized forces. These pictures will be shown Thursday night at 7:30 o’clock without charge. Everyone is invited to attend. A special effort will be made to obtain enlistments for service overseas, particularly in the Phil ippine Islands. Some of the spe cial vacancies that will appeal to tlte young men are: the second armored division (made up of tanks and heavily armored cars) stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., the field artillery to be stationed at Fort Bragg, N. C., and the air corps school detachment to Be stationed at Panama City, Fla. The army has many opportuni- J ties to offer to young men that are willing to work and want to learn a trade. Those who are ex- ; 1 pecting to be inducted under the j Selective Service should inquire , | j about these opportunities, then 'consider voluntary enlistment in | the regular army, and select the J (branch of service they desire, j [along with the place at which | they prefer to be stationed. Federal Aid . 4 To Georgia Definitely Cut Uncle Sam has withheld $504,- | 074 in federal funds from Geor ] gia, because that state has divert ed gasoline taxes and registration fees away from highway uses. | The penalty is the third and larg-* est ever inflicted by the federal government because of diversion. Congressman Wilburn Cart wright, chairman of the House | Roads Committee, declared, “Con. gress cannot be .expected to con tinue indefinitely attempts to help complete the highway system of 1 those states which pursue the in fensible practice of misappropri ating their own gasoline and other motorists’ special taxes to pur poses not related to highways.” To prevent federal penalties of this kind, and to protect their road systems, 11 states have amended their constitutions to require that mad funds be used actually for roads. Demonstration By Boy Scouts At High School Tuesday morning- in the High School auditorium Troop 53, Spar ta ISoy Scouts, under the direc tion of Scoutmaster Thomas Haig wood put on a half hour demon stration of Scouting activities such as signaling, bandaging, proper flag folding, and described various other Scout activities. Scout Commissioner W. S. Mead gave an introduction, saying this demonstration is part of the pro gram celebrating the national Scouts 31st birthday and the Sparta Scouts first birthday. He also gave a very brief history of the interesting beginning of the Boy ScmSf movement. Prof. Roe closed the little demonstration with some very well chosen and complimentary remarks on the influence Scouting has in making finer men and better citizens. National Congress Gives N, C. One New Member The National House of Repre sentatives approved yesterday a ^apportionment of its 435 spate on the basis of 1940 census fig ures, changing the size of 16 state delegations but making no increase in the total number of representatives. The action involved adoption of a pew formula for seats among the 48 Senate fails to take tion before March 8, h new reapportie under the method 1