The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1934-11-13
Ickes Declares More To Be Gained
By Both States By Placing Highway
And Park Entrance On N. c. Side
North Carolina Route More Scenic and Giving Park
Two Entrances Will Provide Potential Patron
age of 10000 600 More People

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13. (UP).
Overriding with reluctance" the
findings of the board consisting
of Messers Radcliffe. Macdonald
and Cammerer which he had ap-
pointed to make recommendations
with regard to the location of the
Park-to-Park highway, Secretary
of the Interior Harold L. Ickes
yesterday, in an extended and
elaborate decision, gave out his
choice of the so-called North
Carolina route for the road which
will link the Shenandoah and
Great Smoky Mountains national
parks. The secretary's decision
was based on a number of cir
cumstances, first among which he
mentioned as the fact that Ten
nessee already has a well recog-
nized and established entrance to
the Great Smoky Mountain park
in Gatlinburg, Tenn. This. how
ever, was not the only leading
circumstance in his decision. He
declared that under these circum-
stances, he felt assured that to
give an entrance from the North
Carolina side through the Park
to-Park highway would be more
advantageous to both North Car
DINA and Tennessee, than to
adopt two official park entrances
in Tennessee, while. from the
scenic point of view, and this is
to be a scenic highway, it had
been admitted to Secretary lckes
by at least one member Of the
Tennessee delegation that as be-
tween Tennessee and North Caro-
lima, there was no choice Of seen
cry. -,
"Other things being equal, it
seems to me so inequitable ana
discriminating. as against the
State of North Carolina, to give
Tennessee the sole entrance to
the park both from the east and
the west side at Gatlinburg, which
if would have if its contentious
for the scenic highway were up
held, that Tennessee, considering
the character of its citizens and
the eminence of it's public men,
might have been expected to be
among the strongest advocates Of
the North Carolina route. Thru
Gatlinburg will flow the tourist
traffic from the great west and
northwest. Some 100000 peo-
pie already dwell in the area west
of the Allegheny mountains which
is tributary to the Gatlinburg
entrance, while the area east of
the Allegheny mountains, from
which access to the park will be
through the Cherokee gateway,
contains approximately 50,O0O,-
600 people. Here is a present
disproportion in favor of the
Gatlinburg entrance of some 3d.
100000 people besides which it
is reasonable to expect that the
growth in population of the
country tributary to the Gatlln-
burg entrance will be much great
er than in that section which will
naturally seek the Cherokee en-
trance.
Tennessee argued eloquently
for the proposition that the seen
ic parkway represents some sort
of a bargain or understanding as
between that state and North
Carolina for the location of he
scenic parkway in such a manner
as to give approximately 80 per
cent of the parkway west of the
Virginia line to Tennessee and an
equal extent to North Carolina.
Even if Tennessee is entitled to
so per cent of the tourist travel
entering the park, it might be
CONTINUED on page SIX