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WEEKLY SURVEY DRTH CAROLINA VOL XIX. NO. 13 Publication date. Saturday. Subscription, S5.00 per year. AUGUST 25, 1951 Carl Goerch, Publisher, Lawyers Bldg., Raleigh, N. C. Entered as second-class matter June I, 1933, at the Postoffice at Raleigh. North Carolina, under the Act of March 3. 1879 Joe Hartley Custodian of Grandfather Mountain, manager of the Sing on the Moun¬ tain, operator off several sawmills and also a nursery, he is SI years old and just about the most active man you've ever seen. By CARL GOERCH Dr. Ernest Branch and I had driven to the top of Grandfather Mountain, one of the outstanding scenic attrac¬ tions in western North Carolina. We had driven as far as the souve¬ nir shop and big platform, that is. If you want to go any farther than that, you’ve got to follow a fool trail. We visited the shop and engaged the young man in conversation. "How was the Sing on the Moun¬ tain this year?" "Wonderful," he replied. "Many people?" "About 50,000.” I turned to Dr. Branch and re¬ marked: "That probably means that there were around 20,000, because people always are inclined to over¬ estimate the size of a crowd." "No," objected the young man, "1 don’t think that's any exaggeration. One of the patrolmen told me that 14,000 cars had been counted." I left Dr. Branch and the young man talking together while I went to one corner of the store, got out a pen¬ cil and piece of paper and started doing a little figuring. A total of 14,000 cars. A car is about 15 feet long. Multiply 14,000 by 15 and you get 210,000 feet. There are 5,280 feet in a mile. Di¬ vide 5,280 into 210 000 and you get approximately 40. In other words, 14,- 000 cars, parked bumper to bumper, would string out for a distance of 40 miles. Well, maybe the young man was correct. Of course many automobiles were parked in the huge pasture where the Sing is held, and this would ac¬ count for a considerable number. Just the same. 14,000 cars is a lot of cars. However, we'll take his word for it: 50,000 people and 14,000 cars. The view from Grandfather Moun¬ tain is beautiful in all directions, and the mile-and-a-half trip from the high¬ way to the platform is well worth while. When we got back to the bottom of the mountain we met up with our old friend Mr. Joe Hartley. Joe is responsible for the Sing on the Moun¬ tain, and has been engineering this event successfully for 27 years. During all this time they’ve never been rained out. "How was the Sing this year?" I asked him. "Wonderful," he replied. "Many people?" "About 75.000," he said airily. "Some say that there probably were as many as 100,000." Dr. Branch and I let it pass. I’d like to say this, however: there really is a tremendous crowd at these annual occasions, and regardless of whether the estimates are 20,000, 50,- 000 or 100,000, you'll know that you’ve been in a ciowd by the time you get through milling around with the others. Mr. Hartley is one of the most in¬ teresting individuals you’ll find in the mountains. He is 81 years old and never had a sick day in his life until ( Continued on page 21) ORANOFATt mountain dki4 * [' йа/ч When wo got ready to take Joe’s picture he had a mighty glum expres¬ sion on his face. “How about a little smile?” we suggested. The smile was immediately forth¬ coming but it seems to have been produced as the result of considerable effort. THE BTATE, AUOUBT 25. 1951 3