PAGE TWO
THE
chathamrecord
o. J. PETERSON
Editor and Publisher
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE:
Six Months
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1927
Well, Mr. Tom Bost, Supt.
Thompson can assure ycu that it
was a “disaster” all right, whoso
ever was the “architect.
It may be safely taken for grant
ed that the average North Carolin
ian knows what he wants without
sending some one to tell him.
To try to convert thte people of
any county of North Carolina to
the wishes of the school oligarchy
by use of their own money may be
likened to robbing the Chinese to
get funds to send missionaries to
them. Hereafter, in North Caro
lina, let the benevolent gentle
men who have the interest of the
dear children so much at heart use
their own money in missionary
work.
Judge Brown’s reputation has
gone to the dogs, but his is not the
only reputation suffering down at
Washington as a result of the at
tempt to have the court declare
Judge Brown insane when he made
what purports to be his last will.
The enmity aroused in that town
by the trial will do more harm than
the sinking of all the wealthy jur
ist’s property would have done.
A man needs a living, and if he
works deserves it, but the piling
up of great fortunes is a curse as
often as a blessing.
We want you to ponder Bruce
Craven’s expression “debt-covered
prosperity.” Consider what is like
ly to happen when the state, coun
ties, and "towns quit borrowing
money and the horde that is now
living upon borrowed money, are
thrown out of jobs, and still the
bonds keep on piling up interest
and demanding increase of sink
ing funds. Possibly a billion dol
lars has been borrowed and spent
in North Carolina the past dozen
years, which is equal to the agri
cultural production of the state
for at least two years, while the in
terest will, in the' long run, amount
to as much more. It should be a
real urgency that adds another
cent to the public debt of the state.
One could almost wish Lindbergh
would be satisfied to rest on his
laurels and attempt no other
flights. He is a world asset. On
the other hand, the fact that he is
what he is, practically makes it
impossible for him to quit. Con
sequently, it is only a matter of
-time when the world will see him
a victim of his intrepidity. The
editor of the Record tried to per
suade Melvin Maynard, the “fly
ing parson,” to quit after his re
nowned flight back and forth
across the continent, but flying was
in his blood, and he died before the
time had come when he might
have successfully attempted the
trans-Atlantic flight. But if he
had lived, crossing the Atlantic in
a single flight would probably have
been an old story before Lind
bergh’s achievement.
Our readers know that the des
truction of the Record plant by fire
left the pubilsher in a difficult
plight, which in connection with
the hard times prevailing in Chat
ham county ever since he took
charge of the paper necessitates
the greatest caution in operating
the business till circumstances be
come more favorable. According
ly, this week, when there is a
skip in several of the foreign ad
vertisements, when local business
is short ,and when a bunch of legal
ads. have just fallen out, we are
printing a smaller paper in order
to conserve strength for the long
run against the odds against us.We
hope business next week will justi
fy the full size, but our readers
should excuse us any time it be
comes necessary to make a smaller
paper to prevent an actual loss.
In another editorial we have
written cf the necessity of county
and town officials being wide
awake when selling bonds. It is
not’ dishonsety that is to be feared
so much, but simply the disposi
tion to feel that the “benevolent”
bond buyer is doing them a favor.
We do not have to go far for an
illustration. Some time ago the
Record received an order from a
Charlotte bond company to adver- j
tise Chatham county refunding!
bonds. These bonds were not in-]
creasing the debt of the county at j
; all, but were to take the place of j
another bond issue. Accordingly,]
I there was no reason why the bonds ]
’ should not have been sold at just j
about as good a rate as any county |
bonds. They doubtless seemed to j
j the commissioners to sell well—
sso,ooo at 5 per cent., and a prem
ium of 5250. But Robeson county
is selling bonds at 4 1-2 per cent.
The $250 premium is exactly the
interest on $50,000 at one-half of
one per cent, a year. Thus, even
if Robeson sells at par, Chatham
loses $250 a year during the tenure
of the bonds, after the first year.
Those bonds were advertised in the
Chatham Record, but not with a
i
view to securing competitive bids
but merely to fulfill certain condi
tions of the law. The bond buyer
was no so anxious that the Record
advertisement be inserted in the ,
Record, but you may be sure he
was not so anxious htat the Record
fall into the hands of competitive j
buyers. The Record does not at
tempt to compete with the financial
journals or even the dailies as a ,
t
medium for the sale of bonds. We s
hadn’t a bond company on our list. "
’Nuff sed.
EDITORIAL INTEGRITY.
If an editor ever begins to be in
fluenced by the drift of public
opinion in either writing or re
fraining from writing his honest
and well considered opinions, from
that minute he is not worth a cuss
to his constituency. True, there is
many a thing that does not deserve
discussion, but when a matter of
real importance or of fundamental
principle is at issue, the honest edi
tor must express his opinion, or
he will soon find himself a mere
weathercock, indicating the drift of
the wind of public sentiment.
We take occasion to say this
when by mere chance, we happen to
have been supported by the almost
unanimous voice of the people in
our stand against the use of pub
lic money for propaganda in fa
vor of the county-wide school tax;
for, one of these days, something is
going to come up upon which our
stand will not find popular support,
and when that day comes we want
the people to believe us sincere in
our contentions.
If the people want a paper that
will really be of value to them,
they must let the editor express his
opinion just as freely when they
are unpopular as when popular. An
editor not a hundred miles from
here the other day was approached
by a citizen who, in an insolent
tone, desired to know why he had
published a certain article. That
man was a fool, or was acting one
at that time. If the editor in ques
tion must run around and ask one
or a hundred what he shall publish,
he would better get out of the busi
ness. Minds differ, but the fair
minded does not cuss out the edi
tor, because his views and the edi
tor’s do not correspond.
He waits and it is not long be
fore he finds the editor saying
something that just suits him.
In Sampson-Robeson county, the
writer reached the point where men
respected his editorial expressions
because they knew they were not
mercenary, that they were given
without regard to their effect upon
the popularity of the paper. We
are anxious for the same thing to
occur in Chatham, and when it
does the Chatham Record will be a
real asset to the county, and the
editor will not face bankruptcy ev
ery time he happens to express an
opinion that does not meet popular
approval.
In brief, the only way a paper
can be honest, is to be honest. In
Chatham county hitherto that has
meant danger, while on the other
hand, it has been proven here that
galleries, is equally fatal to con
a play to the grand stand, or the
tinue favor and prosperity. We
should be glad never to have to
criticise anybody or to oppose pub
lic opinion, but so long as men are
what -they are and public opinion
is what it is, and our mind is con
stituted as it is, such a happy
state of affairs cannot be anticipat
ed. Our only plea is that our
honesty be respected both when we
concur in public opinion and when
we run counter to it, and let it be
understood now that our stand in
the school election was not taken to
secure subscribers to the Record.
Subscribe if you want a paper that
will feerlessly express its editor’s
views, whether popular or unpop
ular; otherwise you would better
keep your money, for it. May be
that within a month you will be dis
appointed.
"CLAY CHIMNEY TRAIL"
by
sabm
WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE:
Frank Beeson, from Albany, N.
Y., reaches Benton, Wyoming, then
—lß6B—western terminus of the
Pacific Railroad. He had been or
dered by physicians to seek a cli
mate “high and dry.” He is robbed
of most of his money in his hotel
and loses his last twenty dollars at
monte in “The Big Tent,” a dance
hall and gambling resort in the
“roaring” town of Benton.
Edna Montoyo, companion of a
gambler, is believed by Frank to
have cajoled him purposely into the
game. Broke, disconsolate over
his discovery that “the lady of the
blue eyes,” as he calls her, is what
she is, and finally humiliated over
his glaring “greenness.” Frank
repulses Edna when she begs him
to go away with her, sobbingly
telling him that she had bade a mis
take in letting him lose his money.
He goes to take a job with
George Jenks, a teamster in a
wagon train about to leave for Salt
Lake City.
Capt. Adams, a Mormon, is in
charge of the wagon train.
Rachael Adams, an attractive
young woman, one of his wives, is
in the train, as is
Daniel Adams, his loutish son,
When Edna, who has shot, but not
killed the gambler, Montoyo, comes
a fugative in “britches” to join the
train, Daniel tells his father that
she is seeking Jenks and Beeson.
Capt. Adams shouts, “No hussy in
men’s garments shall g owith the
train.”
Daniel, by a spectacular gun
play foils Montoyo’s attempt to
take Edna back with him.
Under Jenks’ and Edna’s in
struction Frank practices shooting
—is told to “aim for his feet to
hit his heart,” This follows a clever
exhibition of shooting by young
Daniel, who is angered by Edna’s
interest in Beeson.
Daniel tries to bully Beeson. He
is shot by the Easterner, and Bee
son with Edna, flees into the night.
Chapter XI.
A Bargain For a Woman
At last Edna spoke in low, even
tones.
“What do you expect to do with
me, please?”
“We shall have to do whatever is
best for yourself,” I managed to
answer. “That wll be determined
when we reach the stage line, I
suppose.”
“Thank you! Once at the stage
line and I contrive. You must
have no thought of me. I under
stand very well that we should not
travel far in company—and you
may not wish to go in my direction.
You have plans of your own?”
“None of any great moment.
Everything has failed me, to date.
There is only the one place left:
New York State, where I came
from.”
“You have one more place than
1,” she replied.
Her voice had a quality of de
finite estimation which nettled,
humbled, and isolated me, as if I
lacked in some esssential to a stan
dard set.
PUBLIC FINANCING.
The last Legislature passed a
county Finance Act, which, along
with the Municipal Finance Act for
ctiies and towns, was supposed to
guarantee proper management of
bond sales in the state, but so far,
according to reports, it has not
done anything. The advocates of
it apparently counted on getting
everything right by merely making
a blue print of it. The trouble was
that the same legislature, while
enacting this law with strict re
quirements, passed about fifty
“special” acts for counties and
towns, allowing them to do any
thing they please about thte
amount of debt, selling bonds se
cretly, etc. It is openly claimed
that bond buyers operating in thte
State have had the best time of
their ■ lives since the Legislature
adjourned—and the tax payers the
worst.
Why any board of public offi
cials will sell bonds secretely, or
make any other contract with a
bond agent, except at public adver-
THE CHATHAM RECORD
“Well at home you will live com
fortably. You will need live no
belt weapon. The police will pro
tect you. You can marry the girl
next door—or even take the chance
of the one across the street, her
parentage being comme il faut.
Your children will love to hear of
the rough mule-whacker trail—yes,
you will have great tales but you
will not mention that you killed a
man who tried to kill you and then
rode for a night with a strange wo
man alone at your stirrup Your
course is the safe course. By all
means take it, Mr. Beeson.”
“That I shall do, madam,” I re
torted. “The West and I have not
agreed. I wish to God I had never
seen it—l did not conceive that I
should have to take a human life—
become like an outlaw in the night,
riding for refuge—” And I choked
passionately.
“You deserve much sympathy,”
she remarked.
I lapsed into a turbulence of
voiceless rage at myself.
For a time our mules plodded
with sundry snorts and stares as if
they were seeing portents in the
moon-shine. Eventually their im
aginings dulled, so that they now
moved careless of where or why.
I could not but be aware of my
companion. Her hair glinted pale
ly, for she rode bareheaded; her
Mormon gown, tightened under
her as she sat aside, revealed the
lines of her boyish limbs.
She was a woman, in any guise;
and I being a man, protect her I
should, as far as necessary ! I
found myself wishing that we could
upturn something pleasant to talk
about!
The drooning round of my
thoughts revolved over and over,
and I dozed, and kept dozing, until
she spoke.
“Hadn’t we better stop?”
That was a curious sensation.
\\ hen I started about, uncompre
hending, my view was shut off by a
whiteness veiling the moon above
and the earth below except immed
iately underneath my mule’s hoofs.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“The fog. I don’t know where
we are.”
“Oh ? I hadn’t noticed.”
“I don’t think there’s an yuse in
riding on,” she said. “We’ve lost
our bearings.”
“Yes, we’d better stop where we
are,” I agreed. “Then in the morn
ing we can take stock.”
She swung off before I had
awkwardly dismounted to help her.
Her limbs failed—my own were
clamped by stiffness and she
stagered and collapsed with a lit
tle laugh.
“I’m tired,” she confessed “Wait
just a moment.”
“You stay where you are,” I or
dred, staggering also as I hastily
landed. “I’ll make camp.”
But she would have none of that;
pleaded my one-handedness and in
sisted upon cooperating at the
mules. The annimals were staked
out, fell to nibbling.
I sought a spot for our beds;laid
down a buffalo robe for her and
placed her saddle as her pillow. She
tised competitive sale, would be
hard to explain, yet it goes right
along every week, not only piling
up the public debts, but selling the
bonds with outrageous impositions
upon the taxpayers. Quite a num
ber of the counties of the state, re
cently, have sold bonds at a fine
premium at the interest rate of 4
1-2 per cent., showing that they
are properly handling the public
business ;but right alon gwith it
comes reports of similar sales at
interest rates as high as six per
cent., showing something entirely
diffferent.
When any board enters into pri
vate agreement of any kind with
a bond buyer whose business it is
to get most so rhimself as cheap as
he can, or sells bonds privately and
secretly, 0 r farms out the “legal
proceedings” to an agent who is
not even a lawyer, it seenis' to us
that they are obliged to know that
they are opening the doors of the
public treasury and inviting the
agents to walk and help them
selves, without any regard to the
sank with a sigh, tucking her shirt
under her, and I folded the robe
over.
Her face gazed up at me; she ex
tended her hand.
“You are very kind, sir,” she
said, in a smile that pathetically
curved her lips. There, at my
knees, she looked so worn,so slight,
so childish, so in need of encourage
ment that all was well and that
she had a friend to serve her, that
with a rush of sudden sympathy I
would—indeed I could have kissed
her, upon the forehead, if not
upon the lips themselves,
mastering; an impulse that must
It was an impulse well-nigh over
have dazed me so that she saw or
felt, for a tinge of pink swept into
her skin; she withdrew her hand
and settled composedly.
“Good-night. Please sleep. In
the morning we’ll reach the stage*
road and your trouble will be near
the end.”
((Concluded next week)
Copyrighted by Edwin L. Sabin.
NOTICE OF SALE UNDER
MORTGAGE.
Under and by virtue of the pow
ers of sale contained in that cer
tain mortgage deed executed by
Ransom Lambert, on the 20th day
of April, 1921, to J. M. Mclver, said
mortgage deed being registered in
the registry of Chatham county,
North Carolina in book FZ page 54
and having been duly transferred
to the undersigned, and default
having been made in the payment
of the indebtedness described in
said mortgage deed, the undersign
ed will, on Saturday the 28th day
of May, 1927, at twelve o’clock
noon, in front of the court house
door in Pittsboro, N. C., offer for
sale all that certain tract or par
cel of land lying and being in Gulf
township, Chatham county, North
Carolina, and lying on the waters
of Cedar Creek, and adjoining the
lands of J. W. Mclver, on the east,
the lands of John Jones and Joe
Reaves on the north, and the lands
of Robert Lambert on the west, and
the lands of Fred Lambert on the
south, containing 46 acres, be the
same more or less, and being the
land on which Ransom Lambert
now resides.
This the 26th day of April, A.
D., 1927.
J. M. McIVER, Jr.,
Assignee of J. M. Mclver, Mort
gagee.
Siler & Barber, Attorney.
EXECUTOR’S NOTICE
Having qualified as executor of
the last will and testament of Mrs.
Matilda Straughn, late of Chatham
county, I warn all persons having
claims against the estate to pre
sent them duly proven on or be
fore the first day of May, 1928, or
this notice will be pleaded in bar
of their recovery. All persons ow
ing the estate will please make ear
ly payment.
This May 2, 1927.
IRA A. SMITH,
Executor, Siler City, N. C.
May 5 —6tp.
taxpayers who foot the bills.
It is strange that a man can
live in North Carolina and not dis
cover the difficulty that the ave
rage man has making ends meet.
Supt. Coon made the statement
here, we are informed, that there
is not a man in Chatham county
who is not able to send his chil
dren to school eight months a year.
We happen to know of one man
who, like the majority in the coun
ty, has suffered severely during the
past three years of poor crops and
low prices, who has let one of his
little boys go and live with a neigh
bor in order to be fed. And this
is a white man. But negroes do
not count, we suppose, in the
minds of the benevolent gentle
men who are pleading for “equal
opportuniites for all the children.”
In this connection, it will be inter
esting to see whether Northampton
county, which has just voted a
county-wide tax, includes negro
children in “all the children,” who
are to have “equal opportunities.”
We Never Close Greensboro N. r
W. F. CLEGG, Owner and Proprietor.
Parking Lot for Patrons
STAR PRESSING CLUB
Cleaning, Pressing Repairing.
Club Rates, $2.00 a Month. Allows as much
Cleaning and Pressing as desired. Repairing
Extra.
WORK GUARANTEED—PROMPT DELIVERY
Phone in your order.
ELBERT RAMSAY, Manager.
—1
With Cash in Hand
Them as has gets.
The man with money in hand, is the man
V in position to meet opportunity half way—
firni »sually he is the man who puts things
aeroM —fceeause he i* ready.
You make ne mistakes when you resolve
l to adjust your affairs so that income is
■ greater than outgo. You will be surprised
how quickly you have cash in hand to make
investments—which in turn will bring you
more cash in hand.
Once you become acquainted with the
many manners in which we can serve you,
you will thank the day when you needed
friendly suggestion and started to build for
the future.
WE INVITE YOUR PATRONAGE
I THE FARMERS BANK
Pittsboro, N. C.
il—■■ I 0 ■ 5 D ""!
0
When gasoline
is as good as f
“Standardany '
radical improve
ment is out of
the Question.
"STANDARD”
GASOLINE
Made in North Carolina
2