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A Ihi mark he means' that the ub criher to this copy f The News is be hind oa subscription. Please make a pay meat as soon as convenient. - H jo4 v k 1 0. xxxm MOUtfl AIRY, WORTH CAROLINA, THURSDiY. MAY 1, WIS. JVO. 30 D SOD I'll The proceedings at Dobsou court last week as published in The New covered only those casi.s dlspoMd of up to Wednes day. Judgment was suspend 'd on payment of the cx.t La the chsc of Boh A 11 red of Mt. Airy convieted of retailing. .John Mills was the witness against him and lie wvtit on the stand and f lil how on a cold wint-r day h h.iol gois to Allred in the warehouse and asked him a- i , l if bout gcttuig some liquor. Me s.ikl he pave Allred seventy five vints aid in a few minuttis Al lred returned and, there hehind A big tobacvo hogshiNtd, sliped tin pint of liquor m his overcoat po icvt pocket. A policeman hap pcrKxl to see thin last act and thus the trouble. All red went od the stand ainl told hew Mills, an old friend of his, came to him and being1 awful thirsty want ei a drink. He said that because of the friendship existing br ''U'H them he went and got some liquor in a pint bottle and gave it to him. He declared that be never was paid a cent for it and that he intended it as a gift to a suffering fellow mortal and that was all there was to it. There was no evidence that All red had ever been accused of being a retailer and tin Judge Vt him off with the cost. Lee Kurrus, an old man, long a citizen oi Mt. Airy, was be fore the court under the charge of retailing. His lawyer plead bin guilty and then asked for mercy because of the poor health of hi client. It was in evidence tint xrp U a year ago Hurrus had .icen a hard working poor man, Trien hi health failed and "he was not bje to work. ' He wtrd to retailing1 and, when .he coiJd rt it had liqiu-r for the boys who worked about the furni ture factories or any one eW who happened to be thirsty. He was aecommodatiaig and when they would go to him foT it if he was out he would telf the-m when he was likely to have anoth r supply. And then when he got in some) thai would quench the thirst he would tell theui the good news. It was very evident that the old man had been doing his best to meet the demands of the. town so far as he was ahle. Then hi lawyer read a cert if i 'at from a physician telling how Ilurrus was afflict ed and how he was not able to work and because of h'y bad condition was likely to die at any time. All of which was very evident from the general appearance of the health of the man. It was line, of tliose cases that no Judge known haw to dispose of. .So judgment was suspended and the tate Mill pay the cost. Hampton Isng was up for car rying a pistol. When an officer arrested the negro in Mt. Airy lie had a pistol hid' in his stock -intg. He was given two months onthe county roads. The Wagoner Ca,ce. The trial of Dan! (J. ouvr charged with Ininiuig Ins store in Hlkiu on Hcc, Id, 1 1 1. viih begun WediMsdiiy at ikhiii mid ntracted much rure atten tion than ordinary canrs. The fire that, burned his store came near burning the whole tiAvn, and ;ls it, was, fmir large houses fill- d with k'oods were dent roved at a bs of many tlioiiMind. dollars. The prikseciit ion was conducted by the solicit or astihttd bv W. V. Carter, J. F. HiMidreii ni'isl II. II. tucker. The case was defend ed by district attoriuv A. V.. llolton, of Winston, 1. M. lieiic, f Yadkinville and .1. II. Fuller of Mt. Airy. Tlie state underlook to slu.w by a chain of circumstantial t vi-j iliMK'e that Wagoner burned the; buildinu'. There was no direct Afldnice, for no iiiiin ever set I fiiv to a building when tlore! was Kinne one htaislin-; to watch ! him. The State undertook to put, li'ithir the chain of eiremn-j tnrici- that proceeded the fire' and also show that Wagoner had i n motive for firing the building.! For a motive for the crime the I fctatc produced eideine to kIioW tbflt he WHS lht nueeriflinir ill busirii-f. He was operating un der the firm iuime of J. L). Ibl cojnb Sc Co. J. I). Holcomh w his wife's brother and each put inn fifteen hundred dl!ars whiyi they bigan busrnem in July, 1H 10. J. I). Holcoinb is a tobacco fuilw man, md travels in the south and had nothing to do with the active management of th bus iness, lib .July lfMl an invunttory was taken of the stis-k and it showed between thirty five and thirty seven hunlreI dollars in gK.lvi and the amount on the books to the company's credit was ail "out e(ual to their indebt-e-lrei, thiw showing that they had iwit inade miK'h moiny. No inventory of the stock had hevn made in a vear and a half before the fire, Kxeri'need j merchants Were put on tin stand land allowed to give their opin ion as to tin value of tin sttck al)out tlu time of the fire. Mr. A. (J. Click, an experienced and successful mervhant, stated how lu h:ul notice! the sto'k arul how he was wnpreed with th fat't tlutt it w-as reduced. His ohuvou was that the stock would not represent more than $2.H)01M. J. H. (Wkerham, another experi enced merchant, thought that the stock wits reduced one third from Aug. 1912 ,to Deo. tf the fwum ytr. An effort was mitde to show that goods hiul lHe?n sold with a view to reducing the stock. SsIkv that ct $1.85 per piir at the fttettory in Klkin were wold at $2.00, and whej tliey un dertook to hoy some more shoes to meet the demands of ' their trade the KlkSu shoe factory re fused to sell them for the ixasttn that they were selling them to the retail trade at a price eon wkhmed hekvw cost. TheJi. they had a company at King, N. C. to buy what Khjoi they ntHled and aiter paying $1.83 for the Mhiscj at the factory an.l the freight to Kirr and hack retail ed them at $2.00 per pair. Wagoner had taken out $2,000 imuranoe wbi-n he went rat bu iiws ji4 n iho 23rd day of November, thrte weeks before the fire, he had another policy issued for $2,000 more. This policy was to run for only 120 days. Waifoner owns a farm seven mihw south of Elkin in- Yadkin (Vanity. lKt fall he beffmb to build a utore house ou h farm and gave it out that he would quit busine4 in Elkin and moe back to the farm the first of the year 1913. It was his pur pose to move where he eould give his farm his jerimaJ attention arul also devote some time 1o the stone. He had had circulars jipibbshed to advertise his stock at reduced prict owing to the fact that he intended to move, but liad never distributed the circulam. The store building where he had his goods was a two utory house, with liasnment. The base ment had two windows in the rear with inni bars over ejuh. The door to the base.ni en t was a dou3le door fasteiwd on the in side with a heavy bar which slip- Isl into srtapltn to hold t in position. The basement was en tered from the store room by a wiir ol Mes in the rear of 'the hiiilduir,'. Tin- first fl.r was the mtore room and the second, floor wis entered from the street by a stair w ay and was ued as iii i a lodging nouse, sevcial oiimr 'ii-n occupy inyg roojns in which they slqt. The Firtit Attempt to Fir the Store. Evidence was introduced to shmv that an effort was made to burn 1 lu building oa the iru'M of the blUi of Dee. .1. M. Mes-si-la who clerked for Wagoner made it a' part of his busuii.ss to see that, the basement door was elotM'd and tin1 bar in .,? in every night before he left for home. On the morning of the 14th when lie got to the store be found the basement door bar had been removed. On the night before the VOllli.' lilell who slept over tlie store waked up and foinul their rooms full of smoke. They thought the building afire and after making' a search left their rooms and went to the ho tel just across the street and spent the remainder of the night. The morning1 of the 14th Wagoner bad said that lie came to the More room and went to the rear of the building to an swer a call of nature. He had rooms over The Times building and when he awoke in the night he had' come a hundred yards to answer a call of nature at the rear of hin store room when there were closets in the rear of the building where he had his living iooms. Tlu impression intend ed to be conveyed was that he came to the store and rn.ide an effort to fire the building that night, and while he raised n s'im tu sufficient to run out the youi,, nun, it failed to t the store room oil fire. In this way the bar across the basement bor was left down when he p.LSSed out at the 1ack door, after startup tlu fire, was the impression that the evidence wiis int.(iibsl to convev. lie couKl have reached a closet at the rear of ii rinmi whore he slept in ois; fourth the time tht it tsk him to reach the rmr of the store rKm. arul hence bis explanation of hw bein at the stre the night of the 13th wan suspicious. Whoa the Finn was Started. The night of the 16th, the same being Friday, niht the store burned. Wagoner a part neT, J. D. Ilolcomb, was expected hom. from the South that day. J. D. Meissick pt't up the bar of the base ment door and left the itore soon after dark. During the da he had observed Wag oner to be of a nervoi dfcpo Kitioii and had noticed that he keit going into the basement so many times that it looked odd. When Mcfssiek left the store he had his suspicions arousel to that extent that he went to the rear of the building and waited to see if he could detect any thing wrong. After waiting a while he heard a knocking in the room and saw Wagon raise the rear window and look out for a raomewt. Tke night was cod and Mesoek left after waiting for Ahort trkne. , , The Btat wa able to show by two witnesses that Wagoner left the store a few minutes af ter eleven o'clock that night. A hort time after midnight the young men sleeping over the store were awakewd by the dense anoke in their room's and iA had the same oily smell that was so notieable on the night of the 13th when they were wuoked out. They got up at one and it was with great difficulty, that one got out because of th den ty of the mok. They went dofwn on the street and saw that the fire was in the store room. Thejn they gave the alarm and one went to Wagoner'a room. When he called at his door the noise nude was that of a man jumping out of the bed with his Khoew on. A few minutes later Wagoner was at the store room with the keys ami had on his clothes aihl his collar and nocktie were in correct position. The front door was unlocked at orwee and the smoke was so dense and the heat ho great that the room could not Is entered. Then they went to the rear of the building and found that the basement doorj was only pulled together and could be pushed oh h. This they did and found that thev could enter the bascinent and saw that the fire was burning at the head of the stcs that lead from the basement to hc first floor. Sev eral men gathered at ouice and tried to stop the fire before it bad unde sufficient headway to git beyond control. An effort was made to show that Wagoner was indifferent to the fire and stonl around with his collar and necktie on ami made too little effort to aWit in the work of extuMruicdiing the flames. The (State intended to convey the itlea that when Wagoner left the store room after eleven o' clock he fitvij the building and 'assed out at the rear door, thus I hey accounted for the bar be ing left down and the bamii iit door oren when the fire was dis covered. After leaving the building he went to his room and in bis excited state of mind wait ed without undressing. Wheai the alarm was given and be was notified he had ii his shoes, and thus made the nois,. ju bis room. He had iut pulled off bis col lar and neck tie and heiwe be ngleetcd to notiiv that he was appearing at the fire in bis usual dnss', when inanv others had rushed out in their niight shirt. It was brought out that while he haul a wife in the stu-re roonn he had failed to put in it his bsks or any valuable papurs exwpt some little cardii on which w.-re charged goods that he had sold on credit to c us tomers. As many as thirty witnev s were fx:" mined by the State and (very pi mt was contttded by tin I'iw rs that c( Id be rai . id Th' def,i:s-j put : ;us man' ;u thiitv u'i'.irvts show that ''i.r 'i.sL:u ks I i.i! ice.i ei:nl';n,t"d in the usual manner a n 1 that, the I M:lr.'ii Ft-. HI I' I L' i tl f.v r:1 rati from Elkin to tin count.rv was not hi: . " ' VV ""I which leaven it as mere m tlx country was nothing tjworW a, what hal ri.e suspR"ion. r.viienoe. was produced to show that thev had e .-n buying go,Kls a k dur.nu lo- full m-r'.l-.s r.s t:ual and that tl daily tU-iivits were male in tlw 1-anks. KxssheriXf J. D. Hamlin, an experienced menhaiit, told how he bad visited the store during the summer months and again in the fall and had notied no reduction in the stock. lie gav it as his opinioiii that the goods represented $3,500.00 to $4.0(X).00. S. O. Mn(luire, an experienced dry goo.lrt aiilesman, gave it as his opinion, tliat the stock was worth about $4,000.00. N ambers of witnesses were ex amined as to Wagomeo-'s charac ter and without exception they gave it as good. It was brought out in the course of the examina tion that he has served iu recent years as magistrate aud superin dent of public instruction for Yas.Ikiu exsrnty. The law7ers for the State made much of the fact that, as theiy charged, Wagoner got tangled up witk the Govern ment several years ago while, a revenue officer and was tried be fore a United State Commission er charged with making false; en tries in his books acid oollusioa with a distiller to defraud the Government and was bound over under bond of on thousand del lara and fled the wtate and' re mained in Tenneasr for three years, or until he was able to effect a compromise, with the Government, The defense show ed that thia was when Wagoner was a very young man, many years ago. One prominent looking citizen went on the fttaflid and stated that Wagoner's character was good, very good, with much emphasis on the "very". The attitude of the witness and the emphasis he pint on the "very" was to the state's lawyers like flaunting a red in the face of a mail bull. The witness was asked if, in the face of the fact that he gave the defendant a very good char acter, he knew that be had been a fugitive from the state for three years of his life. Then the law yer wanted to know how much blockade liqiwr the witness had made and he denied ever making any. Hut under the rurid cruss examination be admitted that he had handled and dealt in blockade- liquor for several years ami Unit he and two other nnvi luul cleaned up forty or mty thous and dollars while in the husincAs of dealing in block liquor that other men had made. Then the lawyer wanted to know if he was Vet divtling in it, and he said, "Oh no, that was many ye.:rs ago," and tluit he had refiormed aaid joined the church. Hy this time the Judge ou the bench was intensely interested and turned to the witness wh4i he said tln.it he bad joined the church and mischievously said, "IIojs you haven't gone to pivachiaug," and the witness admitted that he had not entered the ministry. An- other witness wtho gave Wagoner a good character was questioned about "luLiulliiiig the truth , o recklessly," as the solicitor ex pressed it. Arul it was broutrht out that he got turntd ut of his church for "spiking" his eider jit then lying almut it, as Icist that was the impression that the lawyer tried to eamvry. The w it in.s insisted that be got b.u-k in the ehurch and hn Im-cii a teach er of the bible cbi.vi for five years. Hut many men who could nt be embarrass1! by impeaching questions gave Wjigoiier a (ji imI character. He weait on the stand in bis own d feaise aisl t"bl of all bis business transactions and apefiind t make an effort to matte a full and frank statement ! of the whole affair. ' t lawyers soke to the jury Hatuntay afternoon and the ! gave Uie case to them to I consider about dark. Siuulay j morning after they were up they j rendered, a verdict of not guilty, 1 Wagoner had been convict- ! h( T"M P(iW.v .have. ,,,','n uniiueieo. lor arson, riurmng a building where jx-ople are sleep ing, which is pusiisJimejit by duith in this state. It is doubt ful if he will be able to collect his insurance, for he had not tak en tlu inventory annually us the state law reiuir's and he had .... guess in the store. The cost of the action will he , w,v,.rHl h,UHlrM iM ibIv 4v,,J,,....i ...i v.... :ii pay it, the custn Indi'ig for the State to pay only half the cost when a conviction is not made. Quits Cab After 60 Tears ThnotttJe. at frsperveer, April 22. Engineer R. S. Sigman of Speneer has been retired by the Southern Railway Company on a salary for Vife. So far as is known, he is the oldest engineer in the railroad service in this country and is the first to he retired for life. Mt. Sigman began his railroad service nearly 60 years ago, at a time when coal-burners were un known and only wood was used for steaming. In this early day locomotives were named instead of bearing numbers as is now the rule. He was running on the old Georgia Railroad before the Civil War and during the conflict con tinued hii services for this com pany. He had a run between At lanta and Augusta. He was on his engine at Con yers, Ga., when General Sherman came along and was forced to leave his cab, was driven to the woods, until the army passed an.l tons escape.: injury ana re turned to his engine. The cars attached to his trsinn he found burned to the ground, upon his return. It is estimated that during the half-century he has been in the cab, Mr. Sigman has worn out no less than 10 locomotives, illus trating the powers of endurance of a man as compared with a ma chine. For more than 35 years Engi neer Sigman has seen service with the old Richmond & Danville Air Line, and the Southern Railway Company. He has never had serious accident ana has never killed a man while in the service He enjoys the distinction of nev er having been discharged, sus pended, or given a demerit. It is significant that some of the oldest' and best engineers now in the railroad service began firing for Kngineer Sigman. It is esti mated that several hundred have made their first steam for "Dad Sigman, as he is fauniliarly known among his friends. He is now 76 years old, has been in Spencer for the past 13 years, is well preserves! and nev er had a serious illness. It will bp of interest to note that hp ha reared a large family of eight sons and two daucrhters. All of the nons were railroaders, three mow benig engineers. One son, Dr. F, G. Sigman, however, re tired and U now a practicing physician in iSpeneer. Killed by Guard. Scotland Neck, April 'Jf.th. Willie Smith colons!, one of the prlon rs on the county chain gang, was shot and instantly kill ed by a guard this morning while attempting to escape. Smith made a da.di for liberty ju.st after toning the camp car here, to be'in work for the day; and made for a hick cluster of bush es. Two shots were fired, one of which esitered under the right shoulder blade and came out through the left breast, penetrat ing the heart. Smith was brought here about three weeks ago from Northamp ton County, under a sentence of two years for horse stealing. This is the third man killed since the establishment of the county, eon vie gang several years ago, the gerund one being kilbsl about two years ago. TAKE TOWNS MEXICO. IN Dozens of Engagements Occur red Last Week in Various Partts cf the Republic. Mexico City, April 27. Fur ther evid'iiee of the aggressive ness of the northern rehels was given today when several liuii !red of them well armed and mounted, captured the town of Vanegas, on the National rail way, in the state of San Luia 1'otosi. They cut the railway to the north and then moved over to Matchuala, a mining ami smelting center. Dozens of engagements have occurred during the bust week ill various parts f the republic. The majority of these have bcPn victories for the federals, accord ing to report here, but in no case have the rehels lost heavily. The greatest rebel losses wero at Feat a, wheru thir casualties are said to have numbered 150. The rebels continue to cover new territory and crijiple trans portation facilities. More than 2,500 miles of the National rail way's nystm are out of com mission. To this is added a long stretch of the Southern Pacrlfw 9outh of Guaymas and other short independent lines. The inability up to date of the government to float a loan is a serious handicap, but notwith standing this, President Huerta is doggedly forcing the campaign. The recent announcement that the pay in thu army .will be a poso and a half a day has been follow ed by fresh efforts to augment the ranks. Volunteers for the most part by eonseription are being obtained ber at the rate of 100 a day. However, the gov ernment's campaign appears to be largely defensive. It believe it will be able to hold Guayma. Mexico City papers are print - ing stories of dissensions among the Sonor rebek and amring their readers that the movement iu the north is disintegrating as a result. The government & suranoes that there are no rehels in the state of S'maloa are not supported by private advicui, which indicatte that even the capital of the state, Culiacan, is threatened. In the south, Zapata and his all'cg art- warj;.g a terrible cam psign or d'llrwetion Ihe gov ernment ironic to proceed without mercy uga ivl the reb els in th- outh. It it said that it ii.ttn-ls to deport men, wo men and cadlren tr the jungk Jl li'iuntaiidro when captured and will .i.:-mp'. tc driv. the others to the Mm'.btrn boundaries of this territory which is popularly described as Msi''o's Siberia. Itccaiu-f the lelt graph line over au enormous area are in contol of he rebels, accurate uews is scarce i'ud there have been ii ui ids frn abroad in thru w'eks Tension jr iht capital caused by the withdrawal of Geti. Felix l)iiz as candidate for th prci deney a a mult of the. refusal of c.wigrts t cidl the elections on July 27, l.a. practically dis appeared fcincc President Huert an I h's cabinet kave agrei'd to make a i.ew effort for the hold-i.-.g ol the elections. Roller Skates Claim Life. s New ltern, April 27. The rollei kati claimed its first victim here t.nlav w'len Kllis Meek ins, the 17-year old m ii cf Mr. and Mrs. saa Meek u s. w ho reside at No. ':, New Soulii Front street, died from luitiie.i nceived from a fall sustaiied while he was skating on I i nock M'-iet i.s,t rsumlay night. The young man, iu com pany with M'vcral companions, was :skatii,f. on Polloek stn et and some (lie pSaUnilv Uirew a small strip of wood a i ross the sidewalk. Not feeing thiif obstruction Meek ins went uow r. the sidewalk at a pretily fast el'p and wheii his ssab'S tin.ik the stuk he was thrown to the pavement with great fore.1 and his hip and three ribs were broken He was taken to lii lioiu- and mcdin al attention n ndeitd, bu be 1 Ul not rally ami yt-ti rday congestion of the bran .sit in and death occurred a few hour 'atcr. t-vveral acci dents have recurred lately to rol ler kater-, bu this is the firO, that ha had a fatal cuiininatsti. REBELS f
The Mount Airy News (Mount Airy, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 1, 1913, edition 1
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