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/ / /’“'> ' ~~ 'U-> I v O ■ £SISO f VOLUME EIGHT NUMBER THIRTY-EIGHT MURPHY—“THE TOWN BEAUTIFUL” Hustling and Growing North Carolina Town Where Mountains Tower, Crystal Rivers Flow, and Flashing Cascades Leap and Gleam —Education and Commerce Wedded in Greater Murphy’s Upward March. ROWNING a magnificent hill “high and lifted up,” and spread ing out on a sweeping tableland, whose rock-ribbed base is washed by the juncture of those beautiful streams —the historic Hiawassee and the picturesque Valley rivers, I found the old new town of Mur phy, pulsing with the leaping C blood of a new life and positively enthusiastic over the prospect of being not only a great summer resort, but likewise the commercial and manufacturing metropolis of all those glor ious mountains. I had remembered Murphy, N. C., chiefly as the place where I 4 ‘got off the train” com- ing from Asheville to attend the com mencement of famous Hiawassee High School —of McConnell and Truett twenty-five miles away —and I had re membered it as the point where I came to take the train for Atlanta, after spending the night with my old friend, President John Sharp, who reigns in “might and majesty” over the des tinies of Young Harris College—grand ly engaged in the business of growing men and women—some eighteen miles away. That was only a brief decade ago— and Murphy’s chief distinction then came from being the “getting off place” for two railroads —the South ern railway from Asheville and the L. and N. for Atlanta. What a Change! But behold —what a change! The first thing that greets the eye in the distance is the new Hotel Regal, a superb three-story brick building which would do honor to a city of 25,000 people. And, sakes alive! when you get up on the public square you find on each side of the main streets that are a hun dred feet wide, regular “city-fied” concrete sidewalks twelve feet wide. The sight almost takes the breath of the man who saw Murphy, the village, a few years ago. A “Spunky,” Progressive Town. But passing by the thirty-odd business houses, retail and wholesale, passing by her big furniture factory (now doubling its capac ity)—passing by her roller mills, her overall factory, her woodworking factory, her matress factory and other manufacturing enterprises, present and to come—l have hardly been able to wait to introduce the friend of progress and education to the most beautiful public school building I have ever seen in a town of fifteen WRITE US FOR PLAN TO MAKE CHRISTMAS MONEY—See Page Two ATLANTA, GA., NOVEMBER hundred people in all my educational wander ings over America. Look at the picture on this page—think of it full of bright children and a dozen teachers, and gather some idea of the “spunk” and plucky progress of such a town. But you must go inside and look at the superb completeness of that beautiful auditor ium to properly appreciate the educational en terprise of the community. Every time I see such an auditorium in such a school building in such a town I feel very much like I want to go and “swear out a war rant” for the average school board and have ’em all gloriously “arrested” for not knowing how to construct a building fit to attract and inspire the youth of all the surrounding coun- f J ‘ f JS; JW ■ • .J , w Hi * ; . - k. ; w ■ Pllffi ffi fl| ' * gj h j £:« ~ f> :i i l: • ••• E- K 1 Bl|.- - BO Mll U ■ SM 1 I |i| I i | » *• ", , ■ BEAUTIFUL NEW SCHOOL BUILDING, MURPHY, N. C. try—and especially for the folly that so often says: “We just didn’t have money enough to put a good auditorium in our new building.” And if you press the proposition that, for the sake of the school children and their parents they didn’t have money enough to leave it out —that an auditorium is the most important, far-reaching room in the whole building, some foolish, commercialized, short-sighted city father will answer: “Aw, I want my children to learn their books —they aint got time to be a’trottin’ up stairs a’singing songs every morn ing.” But no such narrow spirit reigned in the school board in the progressive, far-seeing town of Murphy. They believe in that psychic, unifying influence —that patriotic thrill that stirs the heart of the pupils as they gather every morning—their parents often with them, singing the songs that bless and listening to golden truths from teacher or visitor that may give more real inspiration in one bright half- By WILLIAM D. UPSHAW, Editor. hour than arithmetic and grammar, algebra and physics can give in a solid year. Os course the reader understands by this time that a good auditorium in a school build ing is one of my “hobbies” —and Murphy’s surpassingly beautiful school building has left nothing to be desired. Memory of a Partnership Commencement. Bidden by President T. J. Peeples, of Mur phy Institute, the promising Home Board Bap tist School of that mountain section, to deliver two commencement messages, I saw the grati fying picture of a partnership commencement. Murphy Institute being away up on a hill — the highest point above the town, the public school auditorium which is centrally located, was tendered for the commencement exercises and the whole community en tered into a season of good fellowship together. I have this suggestion to make to Murphy: The location is so beautiful and healthful that the town could eas ily be made a great educational center, and several other denominations ought to be induced, if possible, to build district or synodical schools at Murphy. A Little Woman’s Influence. There is one thing about that com mencement which I can never forget. It is the influence of that wonderful little woman, Mrs. Prof. Peeples, over those mountain boys and girls. Un trained as they had been before coming to Murphy Institute, she had taken them under her special care while her faithful husband looked after the gen eral work of the school, and presented to that commencement audience a trained chorus which electrified everybody. You could fairly see the genius of that teacher in every movement of every pupil, every expression of the face, every intonation of the voice. The spell of that mus ic is upon me still. Another fine bit of partnership came when it was discovered that unwittingly an Alka hest Lyceum date had been made on Monday (my lecture night) for the Price Concert Com pany. And we didn’t do a thing but prune off a little of each and put the two together—and between “John and His Hat” and that win some and bewitching Price concert (there’s absolutely nothing better of its kind in this country) the people declared they never got so much for their money in all their born days. President Peeples has been called to another field and his successor at Murphy Institute is (Continued on Page 4.) ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENTS A YEAR :: FIVE CENTS A COPY