North Carolina Newspapers

Bringing the Holiday Spirit to the poor^ I U IT IS a question whether til* I families helped or the i?ork I art helping them get most L Z*J Joy out of the Christmas die qffw trlbutton. A reel settlement R Jy worker, one Imbued with the right spirit, will tell you that ? only on^ who has visited the hornet of the poor and the suffering on Christmas ere can realise the pleatnre of bringing happiness and sunshine Into these homes.' Many settlement visitor*, who have given op the work for some reason or another, but who return to assist with the Christmas dletrtbutlons, give generously from their own purses that the baskets may be larger and more families aided. Wealthy women, who hare never done lettlement work, enter into the Santa Clan* aplrit and visit the allay and tenement die trtcta of the large cities on the night before Chriatmae, their automobiles heavily laden with toys, tnrfceye and good things to eat They employ Inves tigators to canvass the sectinn la which they are Interested a week before the holidays, and the distribution la made according to their/epoets. Oftentimes small Irra are sent to ths homes, with glass bslle, trimmings and candy toys, and the dotnfrs, with the aid of their chasffeura and the parents of the child r??, Hi the tree while the lit tle tou are asleep. ^Though ittle known, Santa Clans' work in the slums of the big cities is carried on along systematic lines to overcome any overlspptbg of the multitude Of good intentions. In days gone by, charitably Inclined women would leave a large basket of pro visions . la a house In Ignorance of another basket hidden in the closet And it whs not unusual for two or three workers to meet in the same kitchen at the one time, each bur dened with good things for the one family. This is an error of the past; for now the Christmas giving -has been systematized. _ Settlement workers of 'the various societies and representa tives of ths wealthy private givers compile a'list of those they will as sist, and all go over their lists care fatty together 1 > Although the Christmas giving le all cut an<f*dried a few days before the time,' Santa Claus' secret Is not given -iway. Half of the pleasure would be gone if the families knew that the visitors were coming with food and toys tn abundance. It le" true that those who are visited and quiieed by the private workers have a shrewd suspicion, after they have told their tale of woe sad received the sympathy of the visitor, that something substantial is to follow. The regular settlement workers know their ground pretty well; they know which families have had a hard road to travel end are putting np a good battle against the tide of misfortune The settlement workers have little Investigating to do before the holi days; their entrance Into a home or tenement is always greeted wttL sur prise, for they generally make It a point to go where they are least ex pected. "The poor are always with us" la doubly true at Christmas time. Fam ilies who can barely exist, who do not know where the next day'e breed' Is coming from, can certainly not af ford any extras for the holiday sea son They consider themselves for tunate If they have a loaf or two of bread and a small piece of meat for the Christmas dinner and coal for the kitchen lire. No one appreciates this seamy side of the bright Christmas story more than the charity worker. 8be knows that tribnlatlons exist at Christmas time as daring any other part of the year. Tears of experience hare shewn her bow to nee tact and good Judg ment on her travels and where she cannot leare good cheer, she can at least make the sorrows and troubles easier to bear. The "An gel of the Settlement" knows, more than any one else, that there are many cases when the word "Kerry Christmas" would sound like a mockery; where the hand of death, for Instance, has been hearlly felt when K takes away the chief provid er of a large family. Shs knows, also, that tne Christmas spirit is cherished by the poor as well as the wealthy. While they cannot spend the day In feasting and merry making, they c4n at least forget old MMTXflfCra) MrtTMCLAM , A fttAL CHAurfi/AJ ftfl/ftJOfl grudges and let bygones be bygones, ?hake hands with tbefr enemies and wish one another good luck. How many reunions and feconcilla tlons take place then Is known only to these good women. The hearts of mgny men who hare been separated from their wires and families be come softened as the holidays draw near, and tt Isn't uncommon for the settlement worker to find them to gether when she comes with the Christmas basket Many prodigal sons return on Christmas ere. A striking case' of this kind that occurred two years ago waa run across by a settlement work er in Philadelphia. She said that ?he had never witnessed a scene on any stage that could equal it It was a real case of where the Christ mas prayer of a broken-hearted moth er was answered by the return of her bor. * The son ran sway from home seven yean earlier, when a yoUthof sixteen yean. He had a good home and the family constated of his parents, an older brother add a slater. His father was a hard-working man and nsed all his earnings for his home. The young er boy. being the baby of the family, was the pet of all; hot he hail a wild disposition, and he wanted to see something of Ufa He decided to ran away from home and go West When he reached the ranches of Art sons he found that the cowboy life wasn't as bright aa it was painted. He longed for home many a time, but vowed that he would not return a failure. He persevered until he had made good, though it took seven years for him to do it. His fearlessness and daring attracted the atteotlon of the owner of the ranch, aad he placed him in charge of another place. When the young man had a goodly wad of bills accumulated he decided to re turn in time for Christmas. He reached the old house to And that another famUy was living there, and he learned from neighbors that his father was dead; that his stater had grieved so over his disappearance that she died shortly after be had left, and that his brother had been killed in an. accident. The mother, doubly aged with grief, had been left alone and was subsisting as best she could in a third-story room. The son lost | no time and arrived in the room Just after the settlement worker had ranched there with her basket of pro visions. The mother had Just finished telHng her story to the sympathetic listener when this latest prodigal re turned. "No one can really appreciate," said a settlement worker to another city, "how happy one feels ^fter visiting the homes of the poor on Christmas eve. The gratitude of one woman alone last year was enough to recom pense me for the work I did. This woman's husband was in the peniten tiary serving an 18-year term for mur der. It appears that he and a com panion were working tn the cranberry bogs. They quarreled, and In a scuf fle this man stabbed his opponent He made his wife promise she would never allow the family of six to be separated. She not only kept them together by taking in washing and working nntll all hours of the night, but she refused to accept outside aid tn any shape or form. There would have been no Christmas celebration ^ m ctimrnai mvu aivuohd i In this hdfne, andtt ?u a delicate ud dertaklng to bring a woman Uke tbia any provisions. But I explained to her that |t wax a present and her Joy wag only equaled by that of her chil dren, who were more than delighted ( with their new toys. "I have been In homes where the children never had toys, and 1 have brought them their first playthings. In one case there were two children, a boy and a girl, Peptno and Mecbalmo. Their father died when they were babies, and the mother supported them. She had ootne to this country a bride Snd was not well versed with the American way of doing things. She did not even know how to make a rag doll for the children. We brought those children a stnall tree, decorated It, anil gave them'plenty of toyg. Words couldn't tell the\happl ness of those little ones. I "There Is more pleasure In thi work than you would Imagine. We see many sad scenes, sorrow and Joy mingled together, but we also And much to amuse us. Last year we took a basket to an old colored woman. Her husband wigs a paralytic and she bad two orphaned grandchildren to keep. Christmas to her was to be the same as any other day uqt" we arrived with the provisions and toys. She glanced at us as we entered the rooti. and when we put the basket on the table, she stared at it and pointed to herself, as much as to say, 'For meT I said, "Yes, Lisa, that's for you.' You could see nothing but the whites of ber eyes, and she raised both of her hands above her head, clasped them together and said, 'De Lord be praised.' That was all she said; but she repeated It time and again. One ! time her eyes would be as large as dollars and she would joyously sing, the 'De Lord bfc praised' and again she would be sad and mournful and moan 'De Lord be praised.' "Finally her husband, who was un able to leave bis chair, lost his pa tience and he shouted, 'Lisa, good Lord, woman, has you done lost your head altogether? Why don't you I thank the ladies? Then, as a sort of apology to us, he said; 'You'll have to excuse her, ladles, for she has sure ly done lost her head altogether.' As we left the room and glanced back, poor Lisa was still standing there, looking at us with her hands clasped before her and slowly nodding her head saying: 'De Lord be praised.' We concluded Lisa knew better than her husband. She was thanking the right one. "I have witnessed many reeonsllta tlons of families of foreigners on Christmas eve. The afternoon that I spent at the Immigration station last year was one of the pleasantest of my life. It was Interesting to note the ex pression of gladness on the faces of the children In the costumes of their various fatherlands. They couldn't speak a word of English, bnt they could show you that they were grate ful for the playthings. "I will never forget my first Christ mas visitation. It was my Initial ex perience with social service work. One of the first places we visited was In a court, a poor German family. When we arrived at the house the mother vay telling the three children Christmas/legends. , She had gilded apples, ami that was their only other reminder (hat the morrow was a great festival. She had no melt nor vege tables hi the house, for the next day's meals, and there wak^ne coal In the bin. But the place was as clean and neat as a new pin. "The mother was an educated worn an. and you could tell at a glance that she had seen better days. She had married against the wishes of her family and she was too proud to let them know of her poverty. Her hus band bad gone West to try to better his condition, but was unable to get work there and became stranded. The wife kept the wolf away from the door as best she could by sewing. We brought her a turkey, vegetables, fruits and cranberries, then went out and got a tree and a doll for the chil dren and left an order to have coal sent lh<-re Immediately. It Is Impos sible to tell how grateful that poor woman was." 'TELEGRAPHESE' BEST TO USE Correspondent Finds English Lan guage to Be the Tereest In Europe. Which language makes the best telegraphese? At so much a word one might hasten to say German, because of Its purely typographical device of sticking a number of words together to look like one compound word. We really do exactly the same thing In English, only are print tha elements of the compound ?? separate words. Bat In international telegraphing there is a word length limit (or, ss the Ger mans would print a wordlengthllmlt). Ten letters Is the maximum allowed tor a single word. Any word longer than that counts as two; or as three ?If gets beyond the second ten, as some German words do. When It comet to counting letters or making up Intelligible telegraphese. English. It seems, Is the tersest lan guage In Europe. An Italian news paper correspondent has lately disco* ered this hi telegraphing newi from London to his paper in Italy- At the beginning of the war he naed Italian. Then when all language! except Eng Itsh And French were forbidden he took French. Later, finding that French, though accepted by the post office, seemed to cause delay, hq changed to English, and to his sur prise he finds that he Is saving quite a lot of money In telegraph feds owing to the superior brevity of the Eng lish language as eompared with French or Italian. BELGIAN CITY OF THE PAST Vpre* Ranked In Greatness On* Time i With Chicago and Other Cen ters of Trade. j Doubtless there are millions and millions of Americans to whom the. name of. the little Belgian down of Tpres comes as an absolute stranger and without significance, remarks the Philadelphia Record. Still, in the heyday of Its greatness and pros perity Tpres ranked as large in the civilized world It Philadelphia,' Chi cago. Berlin and other cities of to day, Indeed It was a splendid city when Berlin was a mere hamlet of halt-civilized Slavs. It was in the days of the commercial greatness of Venice that Ypres attained the summit of its prosperity. It was an Important distributing center for the trafic which came up through t^e Adriatic by boat, eras carried over land and then scattered from Belgium to England, Prance. Holland. Germany and other countries, it also has great manufactures, and In the fourteenth century Its population exceeded twe hundred thoueand, making It one of the largest cities In Europe. Ghent and Bruges. Its nearest neighbors, were no less prosperous. With the changing of the trade routes cf Eu rope the wealth afid populatlxi of Yprea disappeared, until It hah now lets than twenty thousand people. -a " But the young fool U not excuaahle on the ground that there la no foot like an old toot. pound and appl)^pm^^^Mieea< making. The quality of ni^hllk ia good. The nature surroundings of the country la Ideal. It coata Tery little to auccceaafully false cattle. For theas reaaona U had been believed for aome time that the aauvement would be a aueceaa. Dairy achoola have 1MB introduced of late and are meeting with gratify ing reaulta. In Iredell. Oatawba and adjoining counties tbeee schools have been in progress for the past two months, lien who had milk and by products of the dairy to waste were doing so. little thinking that with a little scientific knowedge they could convert these into money. Three day schools have been the principal means for holding these schools of Instruction. In other instances one day of demonstration a month held at some central point and continuing for six months are held. Both of these types of schools have been well attended and the indications are that with the dissemination of the knowl edge obtained among the farmers of that section the attendance will be even greater. Journal Office* Remodeled. Wlnaton-Salem.?With the cqmple- 1 tlon of extensive Improvements on the offices and composing rooma of the editorial rooma and the composing room ha* been converted Into offlcee. The composing rdora. formerly locat ed In cramped quarter! in the rear end of thla room, has been moved Into the baaement ?' COMING EVENTS. Annual Un Stock Meeting. HtetesvUle? January It-21. ltll. TAR HEEL BREVITIES. The Cramer Furniture Company of Thomasrllle was recedUy sold to J. J. Finch for a mm neeT?3|0.06?; 1 Ham and bacon will be a big feature at the BtateevtUe tire stock abow. Veterans of the Confederate army In Buncombe county receive^ a total of $13,080 In pensions. Wilmington's school attendance is nearly 4,000 MaJ. Graham attended the conven tion of the Agricultural Commission ers at Atlanta. Mecklenburg' county produced near ly 5,000 more bales of cotton In 1913 than this year. Caldwell county has Just closed a successful exhibit of livestock and poultry. A big warehouse has boon charter ed at Tabor and will handle cotton and tobacco Park Avenue school at AahevHle Is serving hot soup to students when they arrive at school each morning. The soup is prepared at the school. H. K. Fleming, aged 83, and McO. Ernul. aged 75. both prominent citi zens of Greenville, died a few days ago. Raleigh pronounced her pay-up week as a great success. J. .A. "Durham was elected presi dent of the Greater Charldlte Club at the annual meeting recently. He suc ceeds Mr. C. C. Hook. Columbus county farmers are get ting loans on cotton stored In ware houses. Several points In Western North Carolina are reporting zero weather. The mission board of the Western North Carolina Methodist Conference has Jnst closed its session at Salis bury. The Richmond Federal Reserve Bank has lowered Its rediscount rates to correspond with those authorized for Atlanta. Buncombe county's annual seed corn show to be held In AshevUle will be bigger than ever this year. Superintendent J. Y. JoyneV is urg ing a permanent secretary of social service. C. T. Tsal. a Chinese official died at Ashevile a few days ago. Durham Presbyterians Have raised most 980,000 for a new church build ing. Brunswick county has agreed to have/a farm demonstrates A/large Christmas tree will be e reeted-on the capitol square for the children of Raleigh. Miss Estelle Marx, the chief clerk of the vital statistics department of Virginia Stats Board qt Health was In Raleigh Inspecting The offices of the State Board of Health and the system of the departmenL The town of Whltevllle will soon have a white way. High Point has Just passed a cur few lew forbidding children under 18 to be od the streets at night. The Community Club of Henderson villo, recently held their first qteetlng In their new $6,600 building. " The Bulletin le the neme of a new paper which will be issued monthly from Ashevllle beginning In January. .The publication will be edited by the Methodists of the Ashevllle dlaSrict of the Western North Carolina Con ference of thN Methodist Ifclscdpal Church, South. REGGOMMEM TUT EXPERTS DO IRK LEGISLATIVE AUDITING COMMIT TEE BAYS IT HAS NOT TIME FOR DUTY. LATE STATE CAPITOL NEWS Ravlaw of tho Lataat Now* Oathorod Around too SUM Capitol Thai Will Sa of Intaraat to Our Raadura j Ovar North Carolina. Hattfc Tbe leRlsIat've auditing commltteia I rhich examined tbe State Treaaury,' ;he office of the State Auditor and j .he Inaurance Department recently,' jnd found the aubaUntial general ?nd-balance In tbe atate treaaury of 1164,572 for the cloae of the flacal fear December 1, filed Its formal re fort with Governor Craig for the leneral Assembly and Included a umber of Important recommends -tone. One is that provision be made tor ex pert accountants to examine the atate natltutlona that receive state aid an nuity, especially for he reason that it la practically Impossible for a legls atlve committee to perform this duty with the thoroughness and accuracy that the Interests of the state de mand. Attention la directed to the fact that the funds that the federal govern ment provides for the work at the ex periment station arg paid over to the experiment station quarterly and that there are no vouchers showing how the. money ' la disbursed or under whose direction and authority K is expended. Also the committee finds that the vouchers coming In tor ex penditures by the Agricultural De partment and the A. A M. College are not accompanied by detailed state ments of the purposes for which the amounts ere expended and that there should be a law to require such state ments. Opinion* of the Supreme Court. The full list of opinions disposed of follows: State vs. Ed. C. Craft, et al, New Hanover, no error; State vs. Southern Express Company, Burke, a (tinned; Corpenlng vs. Westell. Burke, new trial; Ridge vs. Norfolk Southern Rail way, Randolph, no error; Clark vs. Wright, Lincoln, new trial; Luts vs. Lincer, Cabarrus, modified and al armed Horton vs. Jones, Caldwell, modified and affirmed, costs divided; Land Company vs. Bostlc, Rutherford, no. error; Carpenter vs. Rutherford ton. new trial; Hoyt* vs. City of of Hickory. Catawba, no error; Pierce vs. Eller, Wilkes, reversed; Whitaksr vs. Darren, Henderson, new trial; Em bier at al vs. (Boaster Lumber Company, Henderson, no error; Pad getts vs. McKoy, Buncombe, no error; motion for new trial for newly dis covered evidence denied; Turner vs. Ashevllle Power A Light Co., Bun combe, new trial; Reynolds vs. Palm er, Buncombs, no error; Ingle Admr. vs. Southern Railway, Buncombe,.no error; A. Dicks vs. Chatham, Bun combe, affirmed; State vs. McDraw hora, Sampson, motion of defendant to reinstate denied; Dtllard vs. Sim mons, Oranvllle, motion for new trial on nsw evidence allowed; Lancaster vs. Bland, Craven, dismissed under rule IT and motion to reinstate de nied. National Guard Board Meets. The advisory board of the North CafTollna National Guard was in ses sion here considering especially mat ters pertaining to compliance in this state with the War Department orders for enlisting companies up to 86 in stead of 68 men aa the minimum strength and providing the additional equipment necessary, numbers of the companies being already enlisted up to the Increased minimum. Affairs generally of the Guard were gone Into oy the board, which consists of Adju tant General Laurence W. Young, Brig. General Royster, Oxford; Col. J. T. Gardner. Shelby; Col. W. C. Rodman, Washington and Col. S. W. Minor, Durham. Employment For Discharged Soldiers. The United States War Department is seeking to establish In this state. In co-operation with the State Depart ment of Labor and Printing an em ployment bureau for honorably dis charged soldiers. To this end Lieut. C. T. Smart. Ninth Infantry, located at Charlotte, has just had a conference with the Commissioner of Labor and Printing In which the Commissioner assured the army officer that he would co-operate in -pny way that he could without doing an injustice to North Carolina's regular labor Interests. Preparing For Demonstration Work, This U the season for counties to make their annual appropriations for county demonstration work In coop eration with the state and federal authorities, and numbers of the coun tte* where the great value of the work la already realised and experienced have made their annual appropria tions. Others Will make appropriations In January. Counties that have taken action are Cumberland, Alamance. Brunswick. Catawba, Edgecombe, Lee, Madison New Hanover Vance, War ren, Wilson, Wl|kes and Yancey. Te Exhibit at San Franclaco. The North Carolina Department of Health has been requested to con tribute Its model village exhibit aa a part of the board's better health ex hibit at the Panama Exposition. This model village In which the number of births In the homes Is shown by light ed windows and the number of baby deaths by the lights In the trlndows being extinguished was brought to the notice of the Children's Bureau qf the Department of Labor by the re cent exhibit made at the health asso ciation meeting at Jacksonville, Fla. TT m * 'V Making Ready Car General Assembly. ' The atata departments ara getting ready for the convening of the legis lature on January 6, and candidates for office in the gift of the legislature in perfecting its organization tor the 66 days of work ahead of it are getting actlvb in ail pans of the stale. O Max Gardner, of Shelby, is the only candidate out tor president pro tern of the senate, a. 0. Self la with out opposition thus far In seeking re election to the chief clerkship of the senate. A three-cornered contest la on for the speakership of the house! with T. C. Bowie of Ashe, E. R. Woolen of Lenoir and L. H. Allred of John ston. seeking this position and A. A. P. Saawell mentioned as a possible additional candidate. 1 The western section of the etate Is claiming the speakership for Mr. Bowie on the ground that If la the West's time as George W. Connor of Wilson was the Speaker two years ago and Walter Murphy of Salisbury merely fllied out his term in presiding as Speaker for the special session. T. G. fobb of Morganton is seek ing re-election as chief clerk of the House and J. D. Berry of Raleigh Is as yet the only avowed candidate for reading clerk of the Houae. J H. Morlng of Wake is to far without opposition for re-election as sergeant at-arms of the House. D. Gas tor of Peyetteville is seeking the place of sergeant-et-arms in the senate. The organization of the Legislature as to the Ailing of all these places will be settled in a caucus of*he Democratic members of each branch of the Assembly on the night of Jan nary 5. There is a very general Impression entertained by state officials and cit izens generally that the incoming legislature will be markedly conser vative in comparison with Legisla tures that have gathered here for several sessions pant _____ J Nearly 300 Farm Boys Jt University. Classified according to thevpro(es sions of their fathers, the caH of back to-the-laud la imperative to one-third of the students attending the Univers ity of North Carolina. The occupa tion of farming contributes more than twice the number of students enrolled on tha registration books this session than any other occupation or profes sion. Of the total enrollment of U3 students 289 are sons of farmers. The merchants follow next in succession with 132. The distribution of other occupa tions and professions are classified as follows: lawyers 88, doctors 80, man ufacturers 50. public officers 30, min isters 28, real estate dealers 22. in surance agents 23, lumber dealers IV teachers 13, railroad men 17, bank ers 17, contractors 17, traveling sales men 16, druggists II, tobacco dealers 11. livery men 9, mechanics 7, brok ers 78, editors 6, book-keepers 4, printers 9, fishermen 3, civil engineers 3, carpenters I. laborers 3, butchers 3, nurserymen 2, Jewelers 2, hotel keep ers 2, engineers 2, chemist 1. photo grapher 1, promoter 1. mason 1, libra rian 1 blacksmith 1, undertaker i, optician 1, ranchman 1, boardtng house keeper 1, and purchasing agent L School Teachers Must Be Paid. J. Y. Joyner, state superintendent' ot Public Instruction, announced that, with the approval of the Attorney General he hs made s ruling that it ta the duty of the county boards of education, under Section 4486, to bor row mdney for the payment of salaries ot teachers, if peceasary; and he urges that the boards throughout the state take the necessary steps at once to provide for the monthly payment ot salaries without discount or loss to the teachers. / North Carolina Crop Report. The crop reporting board of the bureau of crop estimates of the De partment of Agriculture says that the cotton crop In North Carolina this year will amount to 1150,000 bales against 791,545 last year. The price paid In 1913 In North Carolina waa 11.5 against 5.9 this year. This means a total lose of 517,158,126 to North Carrollna cotton growers this year. Slaughter 20,000 Pounds Pork. This was "hog-idlUng day" out at the Central Hospital for Insane here and Dr. Albert Anderson, superin tendent. reports 10.000 pounds of the nicest sort of meat, with another fins lot of hogs to be killed some time In the new year. Limit Age of 11 to Child Labor Law. Recommendations by Commission er of Labor and Printing 11. L. Ship man to Governor Craig and the Legis lature made public urged a specific age limit prohibiting children under 11'years from working in 'any kind of factory, or messenger service, or any employment during hours schools are In session; advanced laws govern ing safety appliance and sanitation; factory Inspection as to child labor, work hours. Are escapes and the like; and either repeal our mine Inspection law or provide an active inspector. Will Adopt New Fire Pulley. ' '' Commissioner of Insurance James R. Young, just bark from the mid winter session of the National Con vention of State Commissioners of In surance, says that the association adopted practically the same uniform Ore Insurance policy that the North Carolina Legislative Commission re cently recommended for the North Carolina Legislature to adopt and that the state commissioners the country over will ask that the legislatures to adopt this policy, which Is an Improve ment over the uniform policy in force Western Insance Hospital Report The principal matter of Interest be fore the board of directors of the Western Hodpttel for the Insane was Supt. John McCampbeH's report for the two years 'Which closed with No vember 30. The report showed that during the two years 369 patients were admtttedto the hospital and the total number under treatment during that time was 1,6(9. During th* two years 115 patients were discharged OS recovered. 55 dlcharged Improved, , nine not Improved, two not insane, one transferred, nasi 117 died. rasnm TOLD BT HDOSTOO SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE ?PEAKS TO SAND HILL FARM ERS ON SETTER FARMIN4. GREAT CROWD AT ABERDEEN Native Carolina Man Prom President's Cabinet Talks, Diversification, Livestock, Etc. .?... Aberdeen.?Diversified agriculture, - the curtailment of the cotton crop, the raising of beef cattle, hog* and, poultry, dairying, and the co-operative work of the people were emphasized is the need of the South by Secretary if Agriculture D. F. Houston, who made a forcible address here, full to :he core of valuable suggestions for [arm and community life. This was vis first address la the Sooth on agri culture since he became a member of President Wilson's cabinet. The occesion was one planned by , the Sand Hill Farmers' Association, ' in aggressive organisation with a ?" membership from fifteen, tawrfa, and rurroundlng territory in this section Secretary Houston, n native of North [[aPbA|t^,jauts secured to..make the address al the rally and wna accom panied here by Congressman Page. Nearly tour hundred people were In the auditorium of the Aberdeen school In ths afternoon and the address of HONORABLE DAVID R. HOUSTON. Secretary Houston mat with close an en t to nand frequent applause. Ik deserved both. man at the executive committee at the association, and In a brief speech. In which the wort of the aasoclatloe was praised sod solid advloe gives, Con gressman Pace Introduced Secretary Houston, commending him for the service he has rendered the country, declaring that wisdom had guided President Wilson In calling Mr. Hous ton Into the cabinet Secretary Houston made no set ad dress. but directed the attention of his hearers to the nrgeet needs ot farm Ufe. The Department of Agri culture, he said, wanted to be of ser vice. He set forth the possibilities In agriculture and presented as a great need cooperative effort In crop mak ing and In marketing. He commend ed the work of the Send Hill Associa tion, and, following his declaration for ootton acreage redaction, he set oat the need for other crops, that there are vast poss'btHtles for them la North Carolina. He urged, too, the up building of the cklaen, of achoolu and of roads. Marketing the crops, be de clared. could well brf done by co operation. Good Farming in Lenoir. Klnaton.?W. C. Boone, an expert of the United States department of agriculture stationed here, will en deavor to have com replace cotton on a fair per cent of the acreage of Denolr county farms next year. New Hanover School Sanitation. Wilmington. ? The Now Hanover Board of Education has mado the ne cessary appropriation for the Instal lation of septic tanks %pd sanitary closets at all the rural school build ings In the county. The new Hemensray school build ing. erected at a cost of $40,040, win be ready for occupancy after the Christmas holidays. It is one of the handsomest school buildings In thie section and 1* the third one to be erected in Wilmington within recent months. " 1 ' !r' Bottlarm Elect Officer*. Salisbury.?The second annual con Tentlon of the North Caroline Bottler* Association closed a few days ego to meet next In Raleigh. Officers were elected as foUows: President, R. L. Ellis. Asheville; first rice president. B. D. Mefcbor, Winston Salem; sec ond rice president. C. Lavear, Char lotte; secretary, George H. Marvin. Oaatonla; treasurer. J. A. Long. Greensboro. A number of addresses especially helpful to members of the organisation featured the meeting. Encouraging Farmer Boy*. West Raleigh.?In order to eacoar age farm hoys to equip thenuolyee for farm work tome handsome prima In the form of A. 4k M. scholarships are being offered by baslness houses of Raleigh and elsewhere. In a Bom ber of other counties of the state the Idea of scholarships to corn club boys Is becoming popular In ease tke Winner , of a scholarship la not eht enough to enter college the eqstra lent sum of money Is deposited to the credit of the bdy at Interest until he Is old onoagh to usa It.