»
There Will Be a Call Meeting of the COMMUNITY CLUB Tonight, Friday
THE PILOT
NUMBER
Devoted to the Upbuilding of Vass and Its Surrounding Country
SUBSCRIPTION $2.00
VASS, N. C.. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1922
PRICE FIVE CENTS
A DRIVE ON
The 5th District of the U. S. Vete
ran’s Bureau, comprising the states of
Tennessee, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia and Florida, of
which Mr. M. Bryson’ is District Man
ager, reports that a drive is under
way in the Hospitals in the District,
which will open at Johnson City, Ten
nessee, and Lake City, Florida, on
February 8th, to clear up all pending
claims of disabled men who are hos
pitalized in this District.
This is the first time in the history
of the Bureau that the men who de
termine how much to pay disabled ex-
service men for a disability incurred
in service will come face to face with
the claimant whose case they have
been passing on for over two years.
There are about 900 men in the hos
pitals in this District and every one
of them will be interviewed personal
ly by a Medical Referee and Claims
Examiner and the files are being car
ried with these experts and after in
terviewing a claimant a decision will
be made as to whether or not he is
entitled to receive compensation from
this Bureau.
There are two Squads now opera
ting in this District, each Squad be
ing composed of three Medical offi
cers and three Legal Examiners.
These Squads have complete authori
ty to review each case and make a
final decision and advise claimants
whether or not they will receive com
pensation; these Squads are carrying
the case from hospital to hospital in
trunks. At the conclusion of each
day’s work the cases are brdught in
to the District Offices, where the
necessary record is made and if the
recommendations in a case are for
payment of a claim, a check will be
dispatched promptly to the man in
the hospital.
One Squad will visit the hospitals
at Johnson City, Tennessee; Oteen
and Biltmore, North Carolina, and
Greenville, South Carolina, while
the other Squad will work in the hos
pitals at Lake City, Florida; Savan
nah and Augusta, Georgia; Nashville
and Memphis, Tennessee.
Bed-ridden patients will be inter
viewed at their bedsides and the ma
chinery of the District Office has been
so arranged that if it is determined
that a claimant is entitled to com
pensation be will receive his check in
less than ten days from the time that
his case was taken up with the Hos
pital Squad. It is extremely grati
fying to inaugurate a campaign of
this kind, because of its immense
value in bringing up the morale of the
patients in saving them financial
worry by expediting action on their
cases, which have unfortunately been
delayed in a good many instances. It
is anticipated that the most gratify
ing results will be obtained from this
campaign, bringing good cheer to a
large number of men, particularly
to tuberculous ex-service men who
have been in the hospitals for some
THIS GREAT STATE OF OURS
ARE YOU WITH US?
STUDY THESE FIGURES
The South, says the Manufacturers
Record, is the nation’s greatest asset,
and publishes a list of forty-seven
crops and raw materials as instances
of this section’s rich and lordly contri
butions to the country’s resources. Of
the forty-seven listed, North Carolina
produces forty-one. The Old North
State is the South’s greatest asset.
For example: the south produces 51
per cent of the nation’s mica, and
North Carolina is first among all the
states of the country in the produc
tion of mica; the South produces 40
per cent of the nation’s feldspar, and
North Carolina leads in the Union in
feldspar production; the South furn
ishes 90 per cent of the nation’s early
spring vegetables and North Carolina
has the richest early truck-gardening
section in the South; the South pro
duces 90 per cent of the nation’s
aluminum, and North Carolina has the
biggest aluminum plant on the globe;
the South produces 50 per cent of the
cdun try’s lumber, and in Western
North Carolina’s hardwood forests
and in Eastern North Carolina’s lob
lolly pine woods the Eastern half of
the United States has its richest and
biggest supplies of lumber; the South
has water power capable of 90,000,000
horse-power development, and of this
North Carolina’s share is 1,000,000.
Our Primacy
So runs the list, every item printing
the Old North State’s Croesus-like
wealth in the italics of wonder. The
South produces nearly all the nation’s
cotton and 60 per cent of the world’s
supply, and North Carolina heads the
Union in the production of cotton per
acre. The South grows the country’s
tobacco, and North Carolina gets
more money for her tobacco crop than
any other state, more than any simi
lar area in the world. The South
grows 100 per cent of the nation’s
peanuts and 93 per cent of the na
tion’s sweet potatoes, and in both
crops North Carolina is the third
state in the Union. North Carolina
has grown more corn to the acre than
any other part of the country or the
world. She is America’s fifth state in
the value of all her agricultural crops.
Nor do such feats as those limit the
field of her glories. In the per cent of
value added to her raw materials by
manufacturer, she leads all the manu
facturing states. She is second only
to Massachusetts in the manufacture
of cotton goods. Her tobacco manu
facturers lead the world. She has 333
more textile mills than her next best
Southern competitor. She leads the
South in mills dyeing and finishing
their own products. She leads the
South in the making of cheese and the
manufacturing of furniture. She has
We believe in Vass because we be
lieve in it. We believe in it because
it is a good town, regardless of its
defects, and its people are the equal
of those to be found anywhere on the
face of the earth. This town may not
have the wealth of some mcrre favor
ed communities, but it has character,
and character is a possession which
money cannot buy. If you believe in
this, your home town, you are bound
to like it, and if you like it there is
no effort toward improvement too
great for you to tackle.
We shall never grow tired of asking
Our readers to have faith in their
home town. When you feel like criti
cising it, check the words before they
are spoken and weigh the effects with
the advantages. Compare it with
other communities of similiar size,
and then ask yourself if, after all,
you are justified in criticism. You
can always find something good to
say without hurting your conscience
or straining your reputation for ve
racity. And even then there will be
good things in the community that
you’ll overlook.
We’ve a good town now, btit faith
in it, loyalty to it and its citizens and
business men and united action in
pushing through improvements which
all of us know are needed will make
it still better. Don’t stop with the
statement that “something ought to
be done” Gret with your neighbor and
figure out some way that it can be
done. You’ll find the majority with
you—and this town is just like every
other good town in one respect—the
majority are always in favor of the
things that will benefit and help the
community at large.
If the average man were told that
railroad crossing accidents took the
lives of 7,000 people and caused prop
erty damage of $4,500,000 in one year
he probably would shrug his shoulders
and say “it serves ’em right.” For'
the average man does not see the per
sonal side of the warning. He sees ,
carelessness in others, but fails to
see it in himself. Nevertheless, the
same figures show that one motorist
in every three is careless at railroad
crossings, approaching them in haste
and not looking for trains.
On the line of the Southern Paci
fic last year 1909 motor cars and
trucks were wrecked at crossings. In
490 cases motorists ran into trains,
and in 122 cases machines plunged
through crossing gates. In the 970
cases in which drivers ran into trains
136 people were killed and 405 injur
ed.
The note of warning in this report
should be taken seriously by you, Mr.
Reader. The other fellow always is
reckless, in your opinion, and when
you have an accident you are the
reckless chap to the other fellow. The
railroad grade crossing is a death
trap. It should be regarded as such
and approached carefully, watchfully
and with a lot of caution. It may
take a moment longer to make a safe
trip across, but this moment lost may
mean the saving of life and property.
The chap who rushes across occa
sionally reaches a destination he had
no intention of seeking when he start
ed out. “Make haste slowly” is a
mighty good plan when you are driv
ing an auto near a railroad crossing.
SOUTHGATE JONES DIRECTOR
AT VALENTINE’S DAY
(Dogwood Kennel, Lakeview, N. C.)
considerable period of time.
At the expiration of this campaign
it is planned by this Bureau to
establish a continuous service in each
hospital to insure prompt adjustment
of all claims of disabled men who are
hospitalized.
My dear Pilot, don’t you know.
I’m near crazed, I love you so?
If I keep on, this way, a spell
I might not be worse off in—well
I’m really suffering for fear you
Don’t love me, your life long through.
For you’re my Pilot through life’s
maze,
Through all bright or cloudy days.
So it’s plain that you are mine.
And I yofur truest Valentine.
the biggest hosiery mills and the big
gest towel mills in the world; the
biggest denim mills, damask mills,
and underwear factory on the face
of the civilized globe. And among the
people who grow rich on the bigness
of her blessings are the highest birth
rate and the lowest death rate in
America.
A great state, Tarheels! Get the
thrill of her greatness into you. The
Old North State is the richest, the
loveliest, and' the grandest piece of
ground ever given to the hand and
brain of man to enjoy;—James Hay,
Jr., Asheville Citizen.
At a meeting of the delegates from
the 10th tobacco district, which in
cludes Moore county, last week at
Durham Mr. Southgate Jones of Dur
ham was elected. The contest was be
tween Mr. J. R. McQueen of Lake
view and Mr. Jones, each recei^nng
6 votes and the ballot was cast 6
times before either side would give
up. Mr. McQueen asked that hi^ sup
porters elect Mr. Jones and they re
luctantly yielded. Mr. Jones is a
banker and farmer and has given the
co-operative marketing association
very valuable help and promises to
make the association a strong man in
its executive capacity.
AN ATTRACTIVE PROPOSITION
In next week’s issue I hope to be
able to give an outline of the policy
and plans of the boys’ and girls’ live
stock clubs. The proposition is going
to be so attractive that every boy and
girl can secure a pig and start some
work that will be beneficial to their
communities. We will also have a
list of prizes that will be given. I
am asking that you be thinking about
this work and look out for the an
nouncement. M. W. WALL.