Thursday, February 2, 1928
THE
CHATHAM RECORD
O. J. PETERSON
Editor and Publisher
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE:
One Year $1.50
Six Months »75
Thursday, February 2, 1928
The quick disposal of the case of
Hotelling, the butcherer oi the lit
tle five-year-old girl, furnishes an
argument in favor of the abolition
of capital punishment. The Hotell
ing crime occurred weeks after the
Hickman crime in California but the
former case has long been disposed
of by a life sentence to the peniten
tiary, while at this writing Satur
day the Hickman battle has just well
begun. Michigan has no capital
punishment. * Hotelling pleaded in
sanity; but, insane or sane, it was a
lifetime in prison, since in case of
insanity he would have been sent to
the criminal insane department of
the insane asylum. It seems hardly
a sufficient penalty: but it was a;
certain one, and Michigan disposed
of the case in short order. If Hick
man is proven insane, he can get
only the equivalent of what Hotell
ing has already had dosed out to
him. However, the deadly dread of
the electric chair in Hickman s j
case is probably a sorer punishment;
than death itself, and it may be j
worth while to retain the death pen- j
alty even if it is not often applied.
A trial that Job didn’t have to ;
pay a man with a tractor and saw at ,
the rate of SSO or S6O a day to saw j
some wood and then find that it is (
so long that it practically has to be j
thrown away—too short to cut in j
two and too long to go in the heat- j
cr.
I
If there were any worthwhile sig- j
nificance in the battle of Benton- j
ville to spend a great sum in mak-,
ing it a National Park there would j
be another thing. Moore’s Creek j
battle ground is quite a different i
thing.
DR. W. B. ROYALL
One of the great privileges of !
the editor’s life is to have had as j
teachers the two Dr. Royalls, of!
Wake Forest, Dr. William Royall fa- j
ther, and Dr. W. B. Royall, son. Two
purer, more gentle, and less preten-,
tious men we have never known. j
In 1888, when we entered Dr. W. j
B. Rovall’s Greek class, he seemed
then, to a youth of eighteen, an el- j
derly man, though he was only 44 j
years of age, hardly in his prime, j
His father was an aged saint of'
white hair and long, white beard, i
Under the latter, the writer studied j
English, political economy, psychol-1
ogy and logic, and, so far as ability
to teach was concerned, one might
have taken almost any subject in the '
course- under that one professor.
Forty years, almost, have rolled;
away, and as we write, Dr. Royall, j
Jr., lies in funeral state at Wake i
Forest, dead at the age of 84, after j
60 years as teacher at the same i
school.
During those three score years,!
class after class of the pick of the !
students of the college have enjoyed ■
the benefit of his rich scholarship !-
and kindly personality. Some of the I
greatest Greek scholars in the world
have got their earlier training in the
language under Dr. Royall, among j
them, and possibly leader of all, Dr. i
A. T. Robertson, professor of Greek
at the Southern Baptist Theological ;
Seminary, who is recognized thru
out the w orld as one of the greatest j
authorities in the language of Pla-'
to and Aristotle. Dr. Robertson!
graduated at Wake Forest about the |
middle of the eighties. But he had
as assistant at Louisville, young.
Ralph Herring, son of Rev. D. W. j
Herring, missionary to China, who
was a student of Dr. Royall in his old j
age. Thus it is possible that anoth
er great Greek scholar is to be de
veloped at Louisville to continue for
many years the tradition of the j
great Grecian at Wake Forest. Any-!
way, as scholar and gentle, genial, 1
lovable man, Dr. Royall’s influence
is immortal.
And here we are struck with the
uncertainty of life. I n 1888, J. A. j
McDaniel, of Kinston, was a 20- j
year-old youth, a fine, stalwart,
clean upright fellow, one of the
few men from a wealthy home. The
same paper that brought us the
news of Dr. Royall’s death, carried
also the news of the passing of Jim
McDaniel, a man who lived up to
the standards of his clean and up
right youth.
DR. BASSETT
Twenty-five years ago there was
an uproar in the state. Dr. John
Spencer Bassett, professc* of his
tory at Trinity College, now Duke,
dared to express his own thoughts
about the negroes and about Booker
T. Washington in particular. A hye
and cry arose for his expulsion
from the faculty, Dr. Bassett re
signed but the co.lege and its trus
tees refused to submit to the driving
out of a professor on any such
grounds. It wasn’t so much a ques
tion of the correctness of Bassett’s
opinion that was the issue; but the
question of academic freedom. And
if nothing more was achieved by Dr.
Kilgore, then president of Trinity,
his determined fight for academic
freedom would have nfatde his life
worth while. The following para
graph from his penfehould survive
the ages:
“You cannot hurt this institution
more fatally, you cannot deal it a
severer blow, you cannot bring upon
it more fully the suspicions of just
and honorable men than by enthron
ing coercion and intolerance. Bury
liberty here, and with it the college
is buried. It were better that Trin
ity college should work with ten stu
dents than that it should repudiate
and violate every principle of the
Christian religion, the high virtues
of the commonwealth, and the foun
dation spirit of this nation. Per
sonally I should prefer to a hur
ricane sweep from the face of the
earth every brick and piece of tim
ber here than to see the college com
mitted to policies of the Inquisition.”
The battle was one, a forerunner
of more persistent ones, which in
their turn have been won in the
state. Dr. Bassett soon, however,
went as professor of history at
Smith college, where he has served
more than a score of years, and writ
ten a number of valuable historical
articles and books. But he became
a victim of the deadly automobile
Thursday night, and died a short
while after the accident.
Quite different is the sentiment
in the state today than in those ear
lier days. In 1888 the writer saw
the man who is new president of
the great Northwestern University,
big enough to swallow a half-dozen
Wake Forest colleges, virtually driv
en away from Wake Forest because
he was a Republican. About the
time of the Bassett incident a Ra
leigh pastor barely escaped ostra
cism and loss of his pastorate be
cause he had dared apply, in a pray
er meeting talk, tbe golden rule to
the white people’s relations with the
negroes. He, like the Wake For
est professor, has become a great
man, and is one of the best known
and most scholarly of Baptist min
isters in the United States. But
the state lost him, as it did Bassett
and Purington, and Walter Page.
But that day has passed, and free
dom to a greater degree prevails in
North Carolina. 4
A YEAR SINCE THE RECORD’S
FIRE LOSS
A year ago last Saturday night
The Record lost every bit of its plant
and even its subscription list, and
without a cent of insurance. The
publisher at that time was just be
ginning to get really adjusted to the
conditions prevailing in Ohatham
county and to get his head above the
waters. As a considerable debt was
still hanging over him and the lar
ger part of the security was an ab
solute loss, it was a matter of hon
or to take hold and try to save
the situation against the grievous
odds. It looked as if he might be
sentencing himself to years of slav
ery to undertake the redemption;
but there was no choice. The worst
of it was that the county had suf
fered three bad crop years and prac
tically everybody was hard up, mak
ing the prospects for either a good
subscription oir advertising income
very dark. But there was the hope
that the 1927 crop and prices would
be good, and that the nightmare of
hard times in the county would be
•over. But the new fall brought com
paratively little improvement, since
there w’ere so many holes due to the
former three hard years to be filled.
Nevertheless, the Record has had
a fairly good year and is in con
siderably better condition than a
year ago, despite the fact that it
took the larger part of the yeaer
to get our contract printing upon a
basis justified by the volume of
business. This year, with the print
ing upon a most reasonable basis, by
which expenses of publication are
cut under those of last year to the
extent of at least $750, only the
same amount of business is needed
to bring about some real progress
in getting out of the bonds of slav
ery to which the editor has been
sentenced. Yet it is not a slavery.
We are enjoying the work, have
j lived in a fair degree of comfort,
* a nd shall have something to feel
proud of when the debts are clear
ed up and the old paper is in shape
to continue with a greater degree
of efficiency the work that it has
been doing for the people of the
county through the ups and downs or
a half century.
AH v/e ask is the real co-opera
tion of the people of Chatham coun
ty. We are trying to make a paper
worthy of th.eir support, and can
confidently say that wherein we shall
fail, or have failed, it is due chief
ly to the handicaps under which we
have worked, and in such case you
• should ask yourself if you have done
what you should to make it easier
to run a creditable paper for a
town and county that has very lit
tle stain a paper in the way of
advertising. If we should say., that
there are men right here in Pitts
bottfcvwho have done nothing in the
year just past to help us make the
paper a success we should be telling
the truth; and yet they expect the
paper to be creditable and would be
among the first to hoot at it if
it should fail to maintain a eredit
nble standing. However, we have
little to complain of, but much to
rejoice at. The people of the coun
ty are really beginning to appreciate
the Record. It is easier than ever
percentage of the subscription to
the other hand, it would be a great
favor if all subscribers would renew
without solicitation and without ex
pense to us. When it costs a big
percentage of 'the subscription to
collect it, we are weakened, and the
time which should be given to mak
ing a good paper is consumed in
work that might be avoided. Re
member that one man, with help
only in mailing the paper, is doing
all the work, and that he has to do
it all, or increase the cost of pub
lication.
With advertising prospects rather
gloomy because of continued hard
times, it is exceedingly important
; that the inflow of subscription mon
ey be larger! than formerly. It
actually cost us about $3300 to
print and issue the paper the last
52 weeks. That means that it
takes a lot of business if expenses
are to be paid, we are to live, and
the bonds of the slavery mentioned
are to be loosed soon.
Send in your subscription prompt
ly, and don’t fail to advertise when
you are at all justified in it.
ROADS LEAD TWO WAYS
That the business located in the
village or country in this day of
good roads has little to fear from
the competition of the city houses
, is thoroughly illustrated by the suc
cess of the undertaking business of
Mr. C. L. Laster over in New Hope
township. % Mr. Laster is serving cus
tomers as far as 35 miles beyond
Durham at less than half the char
ges of the Durham undertaking es
tablishments, by the testimony of
one who first priced the caskets in
Durham and* then came on to Mr.
Laster and bought the very same
style of casket for considerably less
than half the Durham price. The
Record has recently stated, more
than once, that Pittsboro is an ex
ceptional site, with its state roads
running out in five directions, for
a real department store. There is
no question that goods can be sold
here cheaper than in a city where
overhead expenses are very much
higher than they would be at Pitts
boro. Mr. Laster has proved the
point so far as undertaking supplies
and service is concerned; now let
some one show that a real city store
will be a success at Pittsboro. A
store that will draw trade from 25
miles around Pittsboro would be a
long step in starting the old- town
on its forward march. There are
25,000 people who would trade at
Pittsboro if they were convinced
that the goods were here and at
prices lower than city prices. A
story was going the rounds last
yeaer of a man out west who built
up the kind of business we are speak
ing about at a mere cross roads and
drew trade from the city to which
formerly his neighbors had been go
ing. There is more reason why Dur
ham people should come to Pittsboro
for cheaper goods of the same qual
ity as might be bought at home.
People must adjust themselves to
the changed conditions. Small towns
that do not make such adaptions
are dead or dying; but life may be
restored by a realization that a road
leads two ways, and that the people
will go the way that is most profit
able to them.
If you didn’t read Bion H. But
ler’s article in last week’s paper, look
it up and read it. Every citizen of
the county should know what the
Messrs. Butler and McQueen have
achieved at Coal Glen, also the rich
ness of the wealth discovered by
j them, a real asset to the county. If
j you read the article you know. With
j its coal, shales, and clays, and two r
THE CHATHAM RECORD
railroads paralleling each other from ;
Deep River to Gulf and reaching out j
into the four quarters of the state,
that section is destined to be the
most important industrial area in
Chatham county. The county owes
a debt of gratitude to the Butlers
and McQueen, and those who have
• money to invest could help pay the
debt by helping to capitalize the
company sufficiently to develop the
vcealth in sight, and at the same
time help increase the taxable wealth
of the county. >c.
How easy it is to get away with
a thing in this day of high-powered
automobiles is illustrated by the com
ing here last week of three men
selling rugs and ladies coats. They
practically confessed that the goods
were smuggled, we learn. Yet no
one thought to have them apprehen
ded, though they were violating the
law in not having peddlers’ license,
and had peddled without license, if
they told the truth, probably in all
the counties between here and Char
leston, S. C. Not only did ®ur folk
neglect to have the men arrested,
but also some of them forgot the
admonition to “render to Caesar the
things that are Caesar’s”. A part
of the government expenses come
from the tariff on imported goods.
The men were driving a practically
new Packard, and were, eccordingly,
prepared to put on a quick flight.
Read how C. P. Ellis of Clayton
made 86C pounds of lint cotton to i
the acre. You will find that nitrate
of soda played a big part in the
result. Chatham farmers should in
vestigate the use of nitrate. When
the editor of ihe Record was a boy
he saw cotton in cold, soggy spring
weather stand red for quite a while.
During his seven-year stay in the
county, 1917-24, he didn’t see any
thing of the kind. In ihe first place,
the land was better drained and
prepared; but he attributed the dif
ference chiefly to the use of fer
tilizer containing nitrate of soda,
which furnished a prepared food for
the little cotton plants in weather
when trie soil was not in a condi
tion to feed the plants. Anything
(hat will give cotton a week or two
| earlier start to bloom in boll weevil
seasons will mean much toward a
worthwhile crop. We believe the
k cold spe.! last June delayed bloom
ing on most Chatham county farms
a full week. At such times a ready
prepared plant food like nitrate of
soda is of great value. .
Mr. G. G. Lutterloh is killing two
birds with one stone. He is giving
the Record a bushel (10 gallons) of
fine seed'corn to b egiven, a gallon
each, to the first ten persons who
pay $1.50 for the Record and ask
for the corn. He is thus showing
his appreciation of the Record and
at the same time helping to get a
good seed corn distributed in the
county. The Record appreciates the
spirit of the thing, in both directions.'
Such appreciation on’ 1 the part of a
really sensible subscriber ought to
induce other men who are reading
The Record to subscribe for it.
“Founders’ Day” is to be celebrat
ed at Meredith College today (Thur
sday), and that comes close home to
the editor of The Record. If any
one may may be reckoned as the
founder of Meredith, it is Rev. C. L.
Stringfield. Yet that gentleman in
his campaign for funds for the es
tablishment for Meredith college and
in his plea for equal educational
advanatges for the women with the
men of the Baptist denomination,
told possibly hundreds of congrega
tions that he himself owed what he
was to his Sunday School teacher
when he was a boy down at old Shi
loh church in Pender county, and
that Sunday school teacher, who
according to Mr. Stringfield made
him, was the writer’s mother. Fig
ure it out. Stringfield founded Mer
edith, or did more toward it than
anybody else, and our mother made
Stringfield what he was, according
to his own words. Doesn’t it look
as if we should be concerned some
what in “Founders Day”.
A copy of the Star of Zion, a
Methodist Negro paper published in
Charlotte, fell into our hands a few
days ago. From it we have clipped j
a sensible article on “The Negro in
the Senate.” Here we have an item
about 23 roads to hell, upon which
one of the colored brethren is to
preach. Read the list of the roads
and see if you don’t think he has a
broad arear to cover. Says the Star
of Zion:
Rev. C. C. Shell, pastor of the A.
M. E. Zion church, will start a cru
sade against sin Sunday evening at
his church, when he will preach a i
sermon on the “Twenty-three Roads
to Hades.”
“These 23 roads” according to Mr. '
Shell, are dress of modern women, <
present day amusements, cabaret j'
j dancing, women smoking, the pro- !
J hibition question, uneieanliness, las- I
civiousness, envying, Sunday theat
res, revelling, idolatry, witchcraft
and strife, slack church members,
heresies, seduction.’*'
Wonder why the Kluckers picked
February 22, Washington’s birthday
to unmask. Somebody should dis
cover the significance of it. Since
the denunciation of the klan by the
only two dragons the state
has had and the developments in in
u ana and Alabama, it will be either |
a brave man or a. plumb fool that
continues in the thing when his face
can be uncovered.
The lieutenant-governorship seems
to be the office in most popular de
mand this year. Burgwin, Fountain,
McGougan, and now Col. John D.
Langston are in the ring, and pos
sibly others. With no real race be
tween gubernatorial candidates this
yeaer, it should be possible for can
didates for other offices to gain a
little more of the attention of the
press and the people.
THE NEGRO IN THE SENATE
(Star of Zion, Negro Paper)
A comedy has been enacted in the
Senate of the United States to the
delight and merriment of the stuffed
galleries. With coarse sarcasm,
threats, objurgations; with red,
white and ashen grave Sena
tors have been wrangling and snarl
ing over the Negro, the Catholics,
and prohibition; all of which pro-1
tends nothing particularly to 'the!
Negro.
The North wants its liquor and is
chafing under the restraints and in
hibitions imposed upon it by the
South. As an act of reprisal the
North threatens the South with an
examination into the disfranchise
ment of the Negro.
That the Negro is effectually dis
franchised Senator Borah, nor any
one else can disprove. Writing on
“The South” in the February Fo
rum, Corra Harris confesses, “We
kept up that purely romantic bar
rage of our pride and sorrow long
Classified Advertising.
.you CAN get sugar and coffee
'Cheaper at' O. M. Poe's.
PROFESSIONAL NURSE—I
located in Pittsboro and offer my
services as a professional nurse
to the people of Chatham county.
ELSIE LUCILE PETERSON,
R. N.. Tel. No. 79.
EARLY JERSEY AND CHARLES
ton Cabbage Plants; 500 for 75c.
1,000 for $1.25.—A. B. CLEGG,
Moncure, N. C.
WANTED—TWO LIVE MARRIED
men to take subscriptions in this
territory for a well known publi
cation. Pays weekly salary. Year
round work. No whiskey heads
wanted. Apply in person at Blair
Hotel on Wednesday, Feb. 10 to
11 a. m.
FOR BEST price on Chicken Feed,
see O. M. Poe.
WANTED 500,000 Crossties—
white and post oak; also 50 car
loads of cedar.— O. M. Poe.
WHOLE JERSEY MILK—IS CTS.
a quart delivered anywhere in
Pittsboro early in the morning.
Lexie Clark.
LOST—BLACK HAND BAG FROM
bus at or near Pittsboro on Jan
uary 2nd. Reward for informa
tion leading to recovery. See bus
driver or write Greensboro-Fay
etteville Bus Line, Durham.
HALL’S 15-DAY CLEARANCE
Sale will begin Friday, February
10th, at 9 a. m.
WATCH FOR HALL’S CIRCULAR
of Big Sale. Silk Hose 1 cent
pair first day—Feb. 10th.
I MAKING PROGRESS !
♦ Z
It We are S lad to report, progress in our institution. $
It B has been only a few months since the organization * ♦
Jt of o«r Bank, yet the resources are already about SIOO,- X
It 000. This indicates that we have the confidence of X
<► the people of our section, also that we are able to i
<► serve our customers satisfactorily. We want you to X
<► let us serve you. $
It Your business will help us and we are sure we X
jit can help you. If you haven’t a bank account, start ♦
It one us. We shall be glad to have your account, ♦
It however small, and shall give it the same attention X
It as the larger accounts. True, a small account is not ♦
o profitable; but small ones may grow into large ones. X
It Certainly, there is no better thing for a man to do f
than to make a habit of banking his money. Our sav- X
% in £ s department will take it for you, and pay X
♦ you interest also. X
i i
! THE BANK OF MONCUBE !
t %
| MONCURE, N. C. I
| enough to accomplish in a . practical
I way what we were determined to
accomplish—a South owned and con
trolled for Southern whites.”
The grandfather, “property,” ed
ucational clauses did it, the North
standing by, consenting.
Now that the North can not get
its liquor freely, it assumes horrifi
cattion at the suppression of the
Negro vote, and gestures its spite.
This spite work is without moral or
political value, the flare-up in the
Senate being but a vocalization of
unsatisfied appetites.
The courage and candor of the
South is to be preferred to the cow
ardice and hyprocrisy of the North.
The Negro knows the mind of the
one; the other keeps him guessing.
Finally, when the principles of
Jesus Christ penetrate the heart of
the nation, all discrimination will
cease and racial disturbances be at
an end.
CARD OF THANKS
Mrs. L. H. Mims and children
.wish to express their thanks for
courtesies shown them during the
sickness and death of their husband
and father.
the Madison Square Garden Poultry
Show in New York, poultry club
members of North Carolina won six
first places, three thirds and five
fourth ribbons. This was in com
petition in the open classes against
I all exhibitors.
Get Up Nights?
Try 48 Hour Test
If Bladder Weakness, Get
i ting Up Nights, Backache, a
! Burning or litching sensation,
leg or groin pains make you
feel old, tired, pepless, and
worn out why n6t make the
Cystex 48 Hour Test? Don’t
waiat. Don’t give up. Get
Cystex today at any drug store
and put it to a 48 hour test.
Money back if you don’t soon
feel like new, full of pep, with
pains alleviated. Try Cystex
today. Only 60c.
! FQ$ ; SALE—AT A BARGAIN—
good boiler, engine, and saw mill
outfit. Apply to J. W. Drake, at
Pittsboro, Route 2. Feb 23 p
1 BEST FLOUR for price in town.
See O. M. Poe.
PECANS, FRUIT TREES, ORNA
mentals. Set now and save a
year’s time. For prices, etc,
write J. B. Wright, Cairo, Ga.
EARLY JERSEY AND CHARLES
ton Cabbage Plants; 500 for 75c.
1,000 for $1.25.—A. B. CLEGG,
Moncure, N. C.
CONNELL pays the price and gets
the cedar and ties. Try him and
be convinced.
PLANTS FOR SALE—CABBAGE
and Bermuda Onion Plants, all
varieties, $1 per 1000, 5000 . lots
75c per 1000. Prompt shipment.
Doris Plant Co., Valdosta, Ga.
REAL GOOD coffee at 25 cents a
pound at O. M. Poe’s. Try it.
FOR SALE: ONE CORN ROCK
complete, ready to run, with belts,
pulleys, etc. Makes ten bushels
good meal 'per hour. Price $75.
Also one wood saw ready to run,
engine pulls either. Price $75.
Will trade both for Fordson trac
tor. —M. M. Buchanan, Moncure,
N. C. Jan. 19, 2tc.
WHITE WYANDOTTE EGGS FOR
j sale—sl.oo for 15. Box No. 74,
Pittsboro.
I
LAST CALL—SET PECANS AND
ornamentals soon or another year
is lost. Ask for catalogue. J. B.
Wright, Cairo, Ga.
PAGE FOUR