"Unofficial"
JELLICO, Tennessee
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INTRODUCTION

What I have written in the pages that follow is done in the spirit of one who both appreciates Jellico's potential and also realizes some of its drastic shortcomings in the past. My excuse for writing this book is a constructive one; not to criticize Jellico or elaborate on its failures, but to offer an insight to the "problem" as it developed years ago, as it exists today, and our chances of overcoming it tomorrow. Of course, I do not pretend to have set down on these few pages more than a small portion of a picture it would take much longer to project.
     It is my intention to briefly scan Jellico's past, not dwelling on any one year or event. I have attempted to give a fairly accurate picture of the present, amidst the heated City election a year ago, and the thawing of the ice-jammed passageway to progress in the community. As for the future I have attempted to project some of the effects today's efforts will have on the community 5, 10, and 20 years from now.
      I have been criticized by a few of my younger friends who have left Jellico and are working at various points across the nation. They express great shock when I talk of staying here after I get out of the service and continue my education. They accuse me of lacking ambition. After all "What's in Jellico?"
      Jellico is the future---if there is any. It is a challenge. There are many of you who share with me the love, faith, and dream that one day Jellico will be --- not a large industrial center --- but just a well functioning, self-supporting community which offers opportunity for its young. It is this faith that will carry us through.
      "Let us begin. . . "

Gene Cantrell, Jr.
     Jellico, Tennessee

My hometown, the bustling City of Jellico, Tennessee, in spite of what it may appear today, has a noble and exciting history. Many of the older citizens, to whom I have talked, speak with a certain glisten in their eye when they speak of yesterday when "coal was king" in the "Gem City of the Mountains."
      "Jellico really used to be big time," one elderly citizen recalled recently. "Even some of the big shows and circuses used to stop here on their way north from shows in Atlanta, Chattanooga and Knoxville."
      Jellico by all means has had its fair share of fame and fortune. Many great folks have come from here, and have spread Jellico's fame far and wide. Of course leading the pack was Broadway and Met star Grace Moore. It is very seldom that you can get among a group of people and not find someone who has been in Jellico or at least has heard of the "Gem City of the Mountains."
      In 1885, although its history may go back even further, 34 citizens applied for a charter establishing the City of Jellico. From that date forward its population began to grow by leaps and bounds with the realization of the area's coal potential and the coming of the railroad.
      The community soon became the social and financial hub of the area and provided services for an area whose population pushed the 30,000 mark. By 1900 Jellico's population jumped to 1,283 (a recent Planning Commission report showed that neighboring LaFollette's population was 366 at the same date).

In 1906 (September 21) one of Jellico's two major disasters shook the area and resulted in mass confusion, death and desolation. Possibly there are some today who can remember the Friday morning when a great roar disrupted the early calm when men were just going to work and children skipped innocently off to school.
      The explosion, which erupted from the railroad yard near Kenttucky-side, was later to become known as the "great explosion of 1906." No records are available to show the exact number killed and injured when a car-load of dynamite exploded. But records do show that J.*M.* Cook, Walter Rogers, Johnny Koch, and "Uncle Bud" Bennet died as a result of the explosion. Surely there were more.
      Legend goes that a wheel of the exploded railroad car was found on Indian Mountain, nearly three miles away. And that the explosion left a hole in the ground nearly 100 feet deep!
      In spite of the mighty blow dealt the City at the time of the explosion, Jellico bounced back in grand fashion.
      In these early days Jellico, especially Kentucky-side, was a maze of bars and saloons. Gun fights were not uncommon. But, those things were to be expected in what was little more than a "frontier town of the coal mining region." Later Harlan followed in Jellico's footsteps. In its day Jellico's reputation equaled that of Harlan in its rougher years.
      Jellico launched itself into the first World War whole heartedly. The City's bustling populace stood behind Old Glory in all its splendor. Meanwhile the community reaped the fruitful crops of a wartime financial boom. This was one of the City's fastest growing periods financially.

Coal was king in this era and thus all trade catered to the miners and the mines as later it did with the unions. Through these years Jellico profited and prospered. The City's two school systems (City and County) were unequaled. The highlight of the school year was of course when the two high schools squared off in an athletic event.
      Later after the City School burned, and then the two systems were merged, Jellico was, for a while anyway, one of the athletic powerhouses of the area, As a matter of fact, one season the football squad tolled over their first nine opponents before falling prey to mighty Louisville Male High School in the season's finale.
      Yes, way back when coal was king, the days when Jellico was rich. Back when local merchants and City officials couldn't recognize the changing times and plan for a future when coal would no longer be "king." Where would the City turn for employment when the coal business became mechanized or the supply ran out and the great labor forces were no longer needed? They didn't stop to think about this; they just basked in their glory, which turned out to only be temporary.

A 1933 (March 17) issue of the Jellico Advance-Sentinel (which sold for a nickel then as it does today) gives this account of Jellico's other disaster ...
      "Desolation and waste followed in the wake of a tornado which swept from Nashville along the Cumberland Mountains Tuesday after- noon and evening to Kingsport and Johnson City. Perhaps the hardest hit section was Pruden where seven people were killed and the lower part of the small mining town was completely leveled. More than 50 homes were swept away by the wind, and hail the size of baseballs and in slabs as large as a man's hand contributed to the damage.
      "Towns touched by the storm included Jellico, Anthras, Newcomb, Pruden, Fonde, Harrogate, Middlesboro and others in the neighborhood of Kingsport and Johnson City. Damage estimated in these towns is around two million dollars. Total lives lost will probably reach the 50 mark while the list of injured will reach into the hundreds."
      Other published notes on the storm give supporting evidence to the velocity of the storm. "Mrs. John L. Perkins brought back to Jellico Thursday at noon hail-balls as large as fair-sized marbles which had remained on the ground at Pruden for 43 hours."
      "Tourists from Ohio told a tale of horror upon checking into Siler's Tourist Home. They were nearly swept off the road in the narrows and in Morley a house was blown across the road in front of them."
      The storm's clear-cut back through the mountains, especially through the narrows was obvious for years to follow.

As before, Jellico came back strong after the disaster. But, things were changing. In the late 30's and early 40's, J.*H.* Cantrell spearheaded an untiring battle to bring TVA power into Northern Campbell County. At its completion, this was the most outstanding single contribution, progressive wise, the City had obtained up to that date. It was one of the few steps taken by the City that not only provided a "today" but also had a "tomorrow." Finally, an action on the City's part with a little foresight.
      The early 1940's, although the nation was at war again, may have been one of the last peak periods in Jellico's history. At that time Jellico Drug Company, Elk Manufacturing Company, Mountain Wholesale Grocery, Jellico Grocery, Jellico Hardware, Cumberland Club Coffee Company, Interstate Grocers, Imperial Cantrell and the Coca Cola Bottling Company along with Zauber's Raincoat Factory, joined forces with the mines and railroads as the chief source of employment for the area.
      What happened? The last 25 years are more or less a question mark. The businesses are long gone. The mines are working on a very limited employment basis. Railroad business is nil. There is no railroad passenger service in Jellico. That stopped in the early 50's. Of the original (1940) list of employers only two remain. Imperial Cantrell Manufacturing Company and the Coca Cola Bottling Company.
      As the employment fell off so did the population. Recent State and City Planning Commission figures show that local population figures have dipped almost fifty percent in the past ten years.
      Since the end of World War 11, especially, it has been all downhill for Jellico. The Unions, although well-functioning and meaningful in the outset, provided an outlet for anxiety and tensions with the bombing of coal tipples in downtown Jellico in the wake of Labor and Wage disputes. Adding excitement and color to the situation were the marches on some of the downtown merchants, which terrified many. Thus Jellico completed a cycle. They had been up for years. The tide turned, and they faded fast.
      Since 1950 Jellico has achieved little as a community (until the coming of the Great Society "Pie in the Sky" program which will be discussed later). A new high school was a major achievement in 1952. Federal housing projects came also which were an added asset.

The local folk did make one commendable attempt to improve the employment problem in the mid-50's when they banded together and financially created the Jellico Textile Corporation. Hoyt Morton took the reins as its first president and was chiefly responsible for J. & J. Sportswear's location here. Although the clothing concern later turned out to be a financial disaster it did provide some temporary employment relief for many folks.
      Although things were rough financially, the City suffered from another equally serious problem. Factionalism, stemming from jealousy and distrust, seriously hampered any progressive ideas the City may have had (who said they had any?). And, this remains as a serious problem today.

One incident of the attitude which has seriously hampered the community for years was evident a year or so ago when a great problem arose concerning the Jellico Advance-Sentinel's attempt to publish statements made by Dr. Charles Prater at a Jellico Development Association meeting. Prater gave the group a detailed account of the "privately owned" hospital's problems with the state which threatened to close the Jellico Hospital. Prater repeatedly stressed that his report (although at a public meeting with many observers) was not for publication.
      A grave situation existed as far as the hospital was concerned. This problem is described in the recent Comprehensive Plan for Jellico, May, 1966, by the Planning Commission. In part the report states . . . "Campbell County residents including those living in Jellico are presently being served by an inadequate hospital facility ... It presently does not meet the standards established by the state for hospital buildings ... the hospital was in jeopardy of losing its license to operate ......
      The City certainly was on the verge of losing its main medical facility and the "Great White Doctor" insisted that the public remain in the dark about the problem. But they didn't. Even before the Advance-Sentinel could get off the presses, word spread that the hospital was about to be closed and alert citizens went to work circulating petitions and flooded Nashville with telegrams requesting that "their" hospital be allowed to stay open. And it did.
      This to a certain extent may have been a minor turning point in the "local interest" aspect of Jellico's problem. Since that time things have certainly been on the upward trend for Jellico. Shortly the government approved a grant for over a half-million dollars for the City to construct a community hospital under the Hill-Burton Act. And, evidently the Jellico Hospital gained favor in the eyes of the state, its still open, and has since undergone some facial improvements.

One isolated, combined community effort prior to the Hospital Crises comes to mind. Although it was in the early '60's before it was finally realized, a drive to gain a new elementary school for Jellico began in the late 50's. The old junior High School building, which had been condemned years before, was finally on its last leg. Students in some grades were forced to go all the way to Newcomb to school. Although Jellico forces met a storm of opposition in LaFollette and Jacksboro, a combined community effort and the editorial backing of LaFollette Press editor Guy Easterly turned the tide and the County Court finally okayed plans for what amounted to nearly a million dollar education complex for Jellico.
      Although we think Jellico out of the forest of poverty and well on the road to financial recovery, there are certainly skeletons in the closet that cause City officials to shutter every-now-and-then.
      The long-gone City officials (not too far gone) who discouraged a major shirt factory from locating in Jellico (back when coal was "king") because they didn't want a "sweat shop" in Jellico, can never be forgiven.
      The City Councilman that bid against the City when it became evident that some railroad property in the downtown area would be made available, will be a shining example of the greed that grabs people sometimes. The City had plans for a Recreation Complex at the site to include a swimming pool and parking facilities, plus a gym. The railroad was interested. The businessman-Councilman approached the railroad proposing to purchase the land himself. The railroads balked.
      And then of course the Church that called Grace Moore on the carpet for dancing in New York ...
      Oh well... "the moving finger writes; and, having writ moves on ...
      Perhaps Jellico will be fortunate enough in the coming years to have representatives around the world comparable to those who have already hoisted Jellico's banner high --- Grace Moore, Homer Rodehaver, Tom Siler, Ray Ellison, Raymond Moore, Mary Starr. The Sage of Jellico-Judge Templeton, Judge Brown, "Big Doug" Douglas (major league baseball player) Viet Nam hero Danny Walden and currently a legend in his own time --- Ned Smith Trammel.

REFERENCES:

1. "History of the Jellico Explosion, Sept. 21, 1906." Jellico Publishing Company.
2. The Jellico Advance-Sentinel, March 17. 1933. Vol. VI, No. 14.
3. "Comprehensive Plan for Jellico." May, 1966. City and State Planning Commission.

Jellico is probably in the same shape today as millions of other small communities throughout the country that failed to recognize the changing times and avert financial disaster.
      While we might attribute Jellico's present blight to the lack of foresight on the part of its elected officials, who is to say that it could have been averted even with the most careful planning. This' we'll never know.
      It is strange that the brunt of the blame for Jellico's failures and short comings should fall on the shoulders of its elected officials. Because, in all actuality they were probably nothing more than Jellico's few interested citizens.
      Today some relief and actual improvements have been noted. A dramatic change has taken place during the 1960's, especially in the last 18 months.
      Several things set the stage for Jellico's "awakening." Perhaps the first in a series of events was the location of the Cloverleaf at Crouches Creek, at the edge of town.
      It was first thought that this would mean nothing but financial woes for local businessmen due to the fact that the new highway was by-passing Jellico. But, although it meant a recession for some businesses, indications are that when the Interstate is finished to the extent that Lexington and Knoxville are connected, the advantages will be unlimited.

It has not been too long since the City moved into their new Municipal Building. This was the second of a long string of events that have moved Jellico forward. A federal grant, plus a voted bond issue made the new City structure a reality. It was certainly a much needed improvement.
      But, the City wasn't as excited about it as they should have been. A major controversy surrounded the entire situation from the outset. There were hard feelings by some folks over the "inspector" that was hired. But, the biggest stir was' due to the location of the building.
      The site on South Main was selected by City officials. It seems that many people, rightfully, thought that the building should be constructed in the downtown area where it would improve the sight of the center of town and possibly rid the community of the unsightly railroad depot and attached tracks.
      As it turns out the site selected by the City wasn't the best possible place. As a matter of fact it wasn't even a good place. There is virtually little or no parking available in front of the building. During the construction quick sand was uncovered and the foundation was a problem to pour. The ceiling in several different spots has cracks in it already. The concrete floor in the fire department side of the building is cracked. Most people attribute these cracks to the fact that the building is built on unsettled ground.
      Many local folks remain bitter today about the location of the building. But, it has been pretty well accepted and is really an asset to the community, regardless of the bad judgment used in its location. The building houses all City offices, the Jellico Electric and Water Systems, the City Library, the Police Department and jail, and the Fire Department as well as an auditorium used by the City Council and other community organizations for the purpose of meetings.

It was after these things were on the way, along with the Jellico Elementary School in Tannery Hollow, that the actual "turning point" occurred.
      The Jellico Municipal Planning Commission was created in January of 1961 by the City Council. It was formally organized in 1963, but didn't really become active until the spring of 1964.
      Later, other organizations such as the Advisory Committee and the reorganization of the Jellico Development Association began to cause a stir in the ice-jam that had blocked Jellico's progressive movement in the past.
      With the functioning of these groups things really started happening. All of a sudden, there were talks of million dollar grants and all kinds of projects that were almost too good to believe.
      At first folks just laughed. Then Jellico started to get important visitors like Lee Kribbs of the State Planning Commission, Charley Pate, a Knoxville representative of the Economic Development Administration, and Linzy Albert, a Nashville big-wig with the Planning Commission. Even some of the greatest critics in the community had to sit back and take notice.
      There were visitors from Washington, too. A team from the Army Corp of Engineers was here on one occasion to look over the strip-mine pits and gave what they considered to be the primary cause of the almost annual flooding of the Frog-Level section of town.
      Then it happened. The Hospital Crises. The hospital became the main topic of concern in the community up through the last City election.

Amidst the rebirth of Jellico's active attempt to regain ground lost in the last 25 years, the City had an election of City officials which was symbolic of the attitude of the entire community at the time.
      Many have said that the election was the hottest in the community's history. City Councilman A. B. Forman ran against Mayor Harold Moon and headed a ticket of "Progressive" Candidates, which pledged to dedicate their terms to an "operation bootstrap" in which the community would pull itself up and gain some of the improvements necessary for survival.
      Independent candidates for City Council added continual barbs, especially Glenn Moses, which struck both sides hard, but in the long run the Mayor's Ticket was hurt the worst.
      Election issues were made out of the widened Fifth Street and the fact that the project wasn't necessary and the City had fallen down in insuring that it was done properly (which it wasn't). The City officials were chided for not forcing the Telephone Company to remove their poles from Fifth Street and assist in the beautification of that street into town.
      Perhaps the main issue in the election was the hospital. The progressive Ticket pledged that they would not enforce a "one cent sales tax to account for the City's share of costs under a Hill-Burton Hospital" which the City had applied for. This thought of an extra tax brought prompt public attention. The Mayor's ticket never made a comment about whether or not they were opposed to a sales tax, so it was assumed that they were for it, and they suffered at the polls.
      Forman defeated the incumbent Moon by a single vote as the Progressive Ticket swept the polls. All in all four of the six City Council seats and the Mayor's seat went to the Progressive Candidates. The Mayor's race wasn't the only one that was close. A single vote was the difference between a Council seat for Frank Hicks and James Ed Branam. Hicks got the single vote margin.

Meanwhile ---

At about the same time as the election, Harry Britton Brown, local lawyer and chairman of the board of directors of the Jellico Development Association and head of the Jellico Textile Corporation, was hard at work attempting to secure a replacement for the vacancy created by the departure of J & J Sportswear.
      Brown was successful. It was announced shortly before the first of the year (1966) that Wayne Industries would locate in Jellico. They began operations with about 50 employees and have, in a little less than a year, expanded and now employ around 150. Indications are that the number of employees will double in the near future. Government contracts for Army fatigue trousers was what got the operation off the ground. This clothing factory already has a weekly payroll of around $10,000. Certainly a shot in the arm to the area's sagging economy.

Prior to the City election the Jellico Development Association seemed to be carrying the ball (after the Planning Commission laid the plans) in promoting the majority of the projects of improvement for the community. After the election, the City Council became very active in these affairs.
      Shortly it was announced that the telephone poles along Fifth Street would be going underground.
      A grant from the government under the Hill-Burton Act for a Community Hospital came. This grant would provide about 50 percent of the costs on a 25-bed hospital. The Appalachian Regional Commission will toss in 13 percent and the County has voted $100,000, But still there is a large amount to be accounted for by the City.
      The Strip Mine Reclamation Project was approved, a first for the nation. The City annexed 300 acres of land which included unwanted ponds created by strip mining. Plans are to create twin lakes out of the ponds by draining them and then landscaping them to connect. One of the two lakes will be a fresh water supply for the City and the other will be used as a fishing, camping, and general recreation facility.
      The City got nearly a million dollar grant for a sewerage and water System. Actually part of the grant was a $300,000 loan which will have to be paid back through customer charges. In other words, your water rates have been doubled, in case you haven't noticed.
      Plans were released by TVA for an "Operation Townlift" (pictures elsewhere in this book).
      The Church of God Mountain Assembly voted to erect an auditorium on their property here. Thus insuring that their annual convention would be here for years to come.
      The State announced that they would come in and resurface four blocks of the downtown streets. The Main Street from the intersection to the state line will be torn up and re-paved with new curbs put on the sidewalks.
      All these things and other happenings within a twelve month period almost made the candidate's promise for "progress" a reality.

Although the City has made some actual improvements, not all the credit is due at home. Lee Kribbs of the State Planning Commission more or less adopted Jellico. He directed Jellico in the direction of progress and then pushed them to it, contacting leading officials concerning Jellico's applications for various funds and following it all the way through. Charley Pate and Linzy Albert have also been big friends.
      The Planning Commission here in Jellico has been an outstanding organization in that nearly all of the progress Jellico has recognized today has come from the suggestions of this group. The Jellico Development Association was primarily responsible for the promotion and support of these projects, although they scored on several of their own, such as the community antenna. The Advisory Committee assisted also.
      Although resentment is still obvious, over the City election that dismounted some of the "old guard," Jellico seems to be rolling along to the predetermined goal of success.

Still Some Problems

Although things are on the move there are still some very serious problems.
      Jellico has to account for a large sum of money for the Community Hospital. Financial plans need to be firmed up soon so that construction can get underway. If the hospital is not under contract by May the City will lose its Hill-Burton Grant. This would most certainly kill the progressive image created in the last year.
      Projects for the City, plus a raise in salary for all City employees, and the purchase of a new garbage truck, a street truck (with snow plow) and a new police car among other things, has made it necessary to increase the City tax, and almost double water rates.
      Young people are still leaving the area in droves. The three major sources of employment in the community (Wayne Industries, Imperial Cantrell and Coca Cola Bottling Co.) aren't enough to entice them into staying. A grave situation exists here.
      Then there is the age old problem we earlier termed "factionalism." This continues to be a stickler. Amidst all of Jellico's new energy that has been recently created there are those who are against the people that are working for the completion of these projects. They won't join in; they claim they can't. Many resigned after the last City election.
      The day when folks in Jellico can take sides and battle it out year round politically, like they used to, are gone. If the community is going to survive it is going to take a combined effort of those at the "Round Table", the afternoon coffee drinkers at Tibbies and the members of the "Liar's Club" which used to meet down at Moon's. For awhile, until Jellico really gets stabilized, those political wounds are gonna have to be healed.

THE FUTURE

"My interest is in the future, for its there I expect to spend the rest of my life."

For many it is hard to imagine what Jellico's future will be like. There are visions of a fruitful little community, but for most that vision is clouded with dumpy shacks, hungry children and empty business houses.
      But those visions of blight could probably all be erased with one factory working anywhere from 75 to 150 men. Wayne Industries will soon be employing nearly 300. But, the majority of this number are women.
      What Jellico needs is one large employment source for males. The rest would take care of itself.
      The projects on the boards today probably will become a reality. Personally, at the present at least, my greatest fear is for the hospital. If the City doesn't get the financial aspect of it straightened out soon, I fear that we'll lose the grant.
      Jellico will need funds, not only for the hospital, but for the strip mine project. Local funds will be necessary for purchase of all the property involved.
      Then the City must function, and is continually needing new equipment ranging from garbage trucks to various other expensive equipment.
      The only solution appears to be taxation. Already the City taxes have been raised. The water rates are skyrocketing. For years the City tax has been lower than most cities of Jellico's size. Now when they are raised the public lets up a howl, of course.
      A really practical approach to the problem is the "one cent sales tax." Whether it comes now or later, it is inevitable. It just stands to reason that it is better to let people who trade in Jellico help carry the burden of the City's expenses, rather than just property owners. This way the property tax load could be shifted a little.
      The "sales tax" may or may not hurt local trade. This local trade business isn't like most people describe it. Nothing can drive trade away if there is a demand for it. It is the responsibility of the local merchants to create that demand. If they don't, their lack of business is due to their own shortcomings. The trade is in the area, and it is up to the local merchant to make his prices competitive and stock desirable. These factors are what gets business. A "sales tax" would be of little notice if those making purchases thought they were getting their money's worth in quality and service.
      The sales tax will not become a reality during the next year. It should. But, Mayor A. B. Forman and his ticket of Progressive candidates promised that they would not impose such a tax if they were elected. Surely they realize the need for such a tax. But, they will run again, and if they went back on a well-remembered campaign promise such as that one it would mean political disaster.
      The current progress that is occurring in the community is being accepted with mixed emotions. Most are glad that the City is finally moving forward. But, there is a growing resentment in the way things are being handled. The Police Department has been under fire. Several City Council meetings have nearly turned into shouting matches. Most of the community is hurting from the tax burden.
      Another City election is a year away. It is hard to say how the Mayor and his Council stand vote-wise today. People want progress, but don't like to pay for it. In today's give-away society folks just can't see paying for anything, and more than likely will show this when they go to the polls.

Let's Take A Look Forward

By-passing some of the problems today and letting today's generation worry about them, and assuming they solve them, let's take a look at tomorrow. What will Jellico be like when all of its proposed projects become a reality.
      First of all, and most important, the Community (Medders?) Hospital, will provide medical facilities for the Northern Campbell County area. Snuggled in its little cove in Tannery Hollow behind the Elementary School, the hospital will not only be a major victory but a source of great comfort to the entire community.
      How about this strip mine project? It should be developed into a fine recreation area with fishing, picnicking, camping facilities and other related interests. A top-notch tourist attraction. Also an opportunity for some enterprising individual to create some tourist trade in that area. Although it probably hasn't been thought of, a motel in that area would entice folks to the lake area, and the lake area would lure folks to the motel.
      The plan to make 25W between Jellico and LaFollette a scenic highway will certainly enhance the Bowling Straight and Crouches Creek area. Traffic coming off the Interstate at Jellico, going south, would take 25W to Caryville and then resume their trip on 1-75. Again another opportunity to attack some of the tourists dollars.
      If the Pine Mountain State Park becomes a reality, the sky is the limit for tourist attraction in the area. Motels and restaurants and service stations and gift shops and who knows what else.
      As you can see I am very interested in the tourist aspect. I think that this is one of the most promising fields for Jellico to pursue. With the geographical blessings of the area, it is not impossible for Jellico to become a miniature Gatlinburg.
      With Jellico bustling with tourist trade in the summers it would still be necessary for the community to have some industry for employment year round. Jellico must never again concentrate on one area of employment, as they have done in the past. The community must be ,versatile in that it functions through the efforts of many different areas.
      The City should change its type of government. It should hire a good City manager. This plan should be enacted to avert hard feelings politically and also insure that a person trained in City management direct the City's municipal activities.
      If the City should ever come across a top-notch City manager, one who was from some other part of the country (other words not a local boy), they should offer him a 3 to 5 year contract and then give him a free hand in running the City's business.
      Of course the City Council would hire such a man, and would also serve as a checking system in that they would insure that no City program would go too far astray of public sentiment.

Jellico, in spite of the rough row it has to hoe, will make it some day. It may never be a bustling industrial center, or a major tourist attraction, but it will always be home to thousands of Jellico folks throughout the world.
      There is something special about Jellico folks and their feeling for their home-town. And, after all there is something special about Jellico, isn't there? I certainly think so.
      No one place that I have ever been has appealed to me more. I have made trips across the country to the west coast. I have seen parts of Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, and many other parts of the far west. I have been to New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D. C., Baltimore and Atlanta. But, none compare with Jellico.
      Jellico, nestled in its snug little valley has something that no place else in the world has. Jellico is something that no other place can ever be. More outstanding than the fact that Jellico has some of the warmest, most friendly folks in the world, Jellico is home. That in itself makes it the greatest place in the world.

GENE CANTRELL, Jr.