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VOL. 25. SMITH FIELD. N. C.. FRIDAY. AUGUST 3. l!?0(i. 22.
STRONG TICKET NAMED
11
! i
Greatest Convention in History
Of County.
Resolution Passed Materially Reducing
the Fees of the Various
County Officers. ,
(
The greatest convention in the
history of the Ilemocratic party [
of the county met here Wednes- .
day. The assemblage of more j
than 2,000 men were called to <
order promptly at tleven o'clock ,
by Chairman b'. H. Brooke who i
called Mr. W. A. Kdgerton to the
chair as temporary chairman. |
Mr. L. H. Allred, of Selma, was
made secretary. The temporary i
organization was made perme- i
nent.
The first matter coming before
the convention was the Holt res- |
olution providing for salaries for ]
county officials. This was sec- ?
onded by Dr. E. N. Hooker. Prof.
I. T. Turlington, J. A. Massen
gillandJ. A. Wellons. It was i
opposed by Mr. Wm. Richard
son, of Selrna. Mr. W. A. Ed- i
gerton offered a substitute pro- i
viding for a reduction of certain
fee and an investigation as to |
the advisibility of reducing other i
fees. This was slightly" amended ' t
by Mr. E. YV. Pou. (This reso
lution will be published in next ;
week's paper.) I pon a vote by ]
townships, the Edgerton substi- '
tute prevailed. The vote stood: '
Hood resolution, 35; Edgerton >
resolution (>7.85. 1
The following resolution was
offered by Mr. Ed 8. Abel): 1
Resolved, by the Democratic (
t'ouveutionoftheCouutyof.Iohn- ]
ston, assembled in Kmithtield,
on this the 1st day of August, ,
190G. That the 8enators of the *
17th Senatorial District and the .
Representatives of .Johnston j.
county in the General Assembly \
of 1907 be and they are hereby I
instructed to cause such legisla
tion to be enacted as will legally '.
permit, I
First. That the people of c
.lohnston county be legally al- >
lowed to manufacture cider from i ]
the fruits grown upon their own !,
lands and sell the same. 5
Second. That the people of t
Johnston county be legally per
mitted to manufacture wine from t
fruits and grapes grown upon c
their own lands and sell the g
same. i
Third. That all local prohibi- t
tory laws except the incorpora- j i
tion of churches and school [;
houses pertaining to the manu- j i
facture and sale of cider and
wine in Johnston County be re- t
pealed. j r
Mr. A bell's resolution was e
adopted, the vote being asfol-fc
lows: For 74.7; against 28.3. e
The Kirby resolution, provid- c
ing for a vote on dispensaries,
was tabled. ' i
The following resolution was s
offered by Mr. E. W. Fou:
Resolved, That it is the sense
of this conventien that passenger
and freight rates in North Caro
lina are too high and our repre
sentatives in the General Assem- s
^bly are instructed to use their 1'
oest endeavor to enact legisla- i e
tion materially reducing the S
same. ' s
The chairman announced that s
nominations for sheriff were in t
order. r
L. H. Allred, of Selma, in one s
of the best speeches of the con- I
vention, nominated Robert Mil- c
lard No well, of Selma. His nomi- v
nation was seconded by William -
Richardson, C. A. Biggs, A. C.
Stancil and C. W. Richardson.
J. F. Woodall, of Benson, nomi
nated Eli S.Turlington,of Eleva- n
tion. George L. Jones, of Wil- c
son's Mills, nominated A. M. f
Sanders. This was seconded by I
J. T. Coats, L. M. Ryals and n
J. A. T. Jones. v
The ballot stood as follows: J
No well BO!*; Sanders 20; Turling- I
ton 22)*. Nowell was declared n
the nominee and on motion his t
nomination was made unani- y
mous. Nominations for Clerk Su- J
perior Court were called for and C
Br. R. J. Noble placed the name \
of W. S. Stevens before the con- I
vention. His name was seconded F
by 1'rof. J. R. Williams and C A. I
Biggs. J. L. Woodall named a
S". T. Ryals, of Benson
The ballot was takeu aud re
sulted in Stevens' nomination,
the vote standing, Stevens 87.5;
Ryals 15 5. On motion the nomi
nation was made unanimous
For Register of Deeds Dr. Geo
D. Vick, of Selma, nominated
L. D. Debnam. This nomination
was seconded by.John \V. Futrell.
Sam T. Houeycutt was nooiinat
rabyC. W. Home, of Clayton.
W. D. Ayera aud -I. VV. Stephen
son seconded the nomination.
John W. Holmes, of Benson, in a
iood speech, named .lames 1*.
'anaday. This was seconded by
Alonzo Barbour. F. T. Booker
nominated Willis A. Sanders.
The ballot stood: Honeycutt
19.5; Can ad ay 2(1.5; Debnam
16.3; Sanders a fractional vote.
)n motion the nomination was
made unanimous
Dr. George A. Hood and Alex
Wiggs were placed in nomination
'or treasurer. Hood was nomi
nated on the first ballot, the
rote standing, Hood 79.85;
Wiggs 21.15.
For the Senate ('. M. Wilson
vas nominated by acclamation.
For the House of Representa
tives Josephus Johnson was
nominated by acclamation.
For second place on the Legis
ative ticket the following names
ivere placed before the conven
tion:
Claude Smith, Fd. S. Abel!, K
?v Coats, S. P. M. Tart, N. H.
Hales. J. P C'anaday and J. A.
r. Jones. The names of S 1' M.
Fart, N. B. Hales and J P. Can
iday were withdrawn before the
nalloting began.
The first ballot resulted as fol
ows: Smith 12 25; Abell 119.97;;
"oats 16; J. A. T. Jones .'1+ 4:
Hales a fraction of a vote.
On the second ballot Mr. |
Jones withdrew and the vote
Rood as follows: Coats +8.1;
Abell +7 35; Smith 6 8; J. A. T.
lones a fraction of a vote.
Ed. S. Abell withdrew his name
nefore the third ballot was tak
>n. The names of J. H. Boon,
f. H. B. Tomlinson and George
L. Jones were placed before the
?onvention and the third ballot
vas taken which stood: Boon
1++; Coats 18.9; George L<
lones 55.+; Tomlinson 9.6;
?imith 4 7. Jones was declared
;he nominee of the convention.
The townships then retired for
;be purpose of recommending
?andidates for County Commis
lioners. The following being re
jorted by the respective die
nnr uuiuiucktcu uy eviui ev
nation: W. T. Bailey, Allen K. |
smith, VV. U. Wrenn, N. W.
smith and Eli S. Turlington.
After the work of the conven-1
ion was done the different nomi
lees were called for and respond
id. Congressman Fou was also
ailed for and made a short but
arnest speech which was well re
vived by the convention.
The convention was harmon-1
ous throughout and did a
plendid day's work.
Will Teach in Selma Graded School.
The friends of Miss Huth Kan
orn Matthews will be glad to
earn that she has accepted a po
ition in the graded school of
ielma. N. C. Miss Matthews is a
cranddaughter of Edward Ran
om, of Tyrrell county, whose un
imely death caused much sor
ow. As chairman of the Con
titutional Convention of 1875,
)r. Ransom rendered the cause
>f good government signal ser
ice that will never be forgotten.
-News and < ibserver.
Galveston's Sea Wall
aakeslife now as safe in that
ity as in the higher uplands.
2. W. Goodloe, who resides on
)utton Street, in Waco, Texas,
iceds no sea wall for safety. He
rrites: "I have used Dr. King's
few Discovery for Consumption
he past five years and it keeps
ae well and safe. Before that
ime I had a cough which for
ears had been growing worse,
low it's gone." Cures chronic ,
loughs. La Grippe, Croup.
Vhooping Cough and prevents
'neumonia. Pleasant to take.
Every bottle guaranteed at Hood
Iros'. drug store. Price 50c.
nd *1.00. Trial bottle free.
PEACOCK IS RELEASED.
Coroner's Jury Charged Him
With Jones' Murder.
The Evidence at The Hearing Before
Judge Connor at Wilson not Suf
ficient to Hold Him.
It will he remembered that two
weeks ago we published au ac
count of the murder of Atouzo it.
.loues at what is known as the
High I.and bridge which con
nects tUe two pieces of ernbauk
meut on the west side of the river
at Smithfield. It occurred about
ten o'clock Friday night. July
13th. in publishing further
facte concerning this terrible af
fair we want to be perfectly fair
without partiality to either
side.
When Jones was found dead
with no pistol about him and
wearing his hat and a tooth
brush in his mouth and no sigus s
of suicide the coroner, Mr. '/?. L. ;
LeMay, summoned to investigate
the case a jury of six men con-!
sisting of Messrs. H. L. Skinner,
James A. Wellons, K. A. Sand- (
ers, A. B. Sasser, George Thorn-!
ton and J . R. Walton. The in
vestigation lasted two weeks, |
during which time four sessions
v ere held by them. On Friday,
July 27th, they reported that
Alonzo B. Jones came to his
death by a ball from a pistol in !
tbe hands of Charles S. Ctaeock.
Peacock was at once arrested.
The points leading to this
verdict and the arre t of Pea
cock were about as follows: On
Friday night, July 13th, Jones
was showing money around
town and Peacock was with him
at different times. They were
together after supper time also.
Jones was in the Peacock store
in tne Fuller building and sold
Mr. W. T. Holland a cigar, Pea
cock beiug absent and the store
at the time being in charge of
Jones and a small boy named
Hamilton who stays there.
About 9:30 o'clock Peacock went
to Mr. J. E. Hudson's drug
store for a cold drink. A little
later William Holt, a colored
man, who owns a tome in Grey
town, a negro village across the
river, saw a man and another
man, whom he says he knew to
be one of the Peacock boys, pass
the store of the Smithfield Sup
ply Company. He stated that
Peacock was smoking a cigar
and the men going toward the
river. Holt was riding a mulei
and after waiting a little while
in town, went on behind them
and smelt the cigar smoke in the
river bridge. Ju6t after crossing
the river bridge he passed the
same two men. A minute or two
later Isaac Sanders, a colored
man, and Isaac Smith and Simon
Smith, two colored boys.Jnearly
grown, and Chester Hraswell, a
fourteen-year-old white boy, all
living on Mr. J. W. Stephenson's
farm, passed two men walking
very slow and close together and
talking in a low tone of voice, i
Soon after this crowd had pass
ed the High Land bridge a pistol i
was fired and they ran and over-!
took Holt. He asked who shot
and said he passed two white
men and one of them was one of
the Peacock boys. Isaac Sand-j
ers said he did not know who
shot but swore later that one of
the men they passed was Charley
Peacock. It is supposed the first
shot was fired to scare the ne
groes as the ball was heard to
strike near them. The second J
shot was fired a few minutes
later. Charley being the only
one of the Peacock boys in town
that night, was arrested on Wil
liam Holt's evidence, corrobora-1
ted by that of Isaac Sanders. 1
He was not put in iail but was
kept in the sheriff's custody a
day and a night until habeas
corpus proceedings wpre held be
fore Judge H. (i. Connor at Wil-1
son. The proceedings lasted
Saturday from 3:30 P. M. to
Sunday 1:30 A. M. with only
half an hour for supper. The
witnesses for Peacock which gave
the strongest evidence for him
were Mr W. 1). Massey, a sales
man for the W. H. Laseiter Dry
floods Co., and Peacock's moth
er and sister. Mrs. Peacock and |
Miss Kosa both said Charley
cauie home before ten o'clock.
Mr. Massay said that 1'eacock
passed him and went before biin
up the street to his home and
went in twenty minutes to ten
o'clock.
The Judge first decided there
was cause to bind him over to
court aud required a bond of
$1,000 dollars for his appear
ance. Afterwards through great
effort on the part of the lawyers
for the defense he changed his
mind and discharged him
We quote from the Wilson
Times the following which shows
something of how the case end
ed after Judge Conner had decid
ed to bind him over to court:
"The speeches of the attorneys j
for both sides had already been
fervid and eloquent, some of the
best we have ever listened to, j
but when this announcement j
came, Congressman Kd. l'ou
arose and under the stress of
great emotion, plead again that )
Young I'eacock be released from j
the spell of such a terrible accu-1
sation.
"He referred to the rearing the
young man had received under
influences of a Christian father J
and mother, in the bosom of a |
refined and cultured people,
among the best in the State, and
that while not a witness he was
positive the young man came in
at the time his people state, for
he and his wife live just across
the street from the Peacocks and
saw him enter his gate.
"The eloquence of Mr. l'ou
was sublime and his appeal
brought tears to the eyes of i
every one in the court house,
and wheu he had finished the big
heart of Judge Connor, that
must all along have felt the
vouug man not guilty of the
crime, responded to the appeal
and young Peacock was agaiu a
freeman."
As is usually the case in a
community wherein both parties
lived, each man having friends;
and relatives, there is quite a
division of sentiment as to the;
result of the trial and a great:
many do not agree with Judge -
Connor's decision.
IN AND AROUND PRINCETON. *
Miss Bessie Joyuer haH return-j
ed home from a visit to Kenly.
Mies Leona Holt spent several
days in Rocky Mount last week.
The farmers say their crops are!
damaged by so much wet weather.
Mrs. DeArmond, of Charlotte,
is visiting her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Henry Holt.
Miss Morton, of Rocky Mount,
after spending several days with
Misses Hattie and MinnieStrach
an. has returned home.
The Cross Roads Primitive
Baptist Church near here has had
an overhauling and great im
provement added thereto by way ,
of finishing and painting.
While Rev. Mr. Pitt man was
conducting service at the Free
Will Baptist Church Sunday
night, some wretch cut his buggy
harness to pieces. The peniten
tiary is too good for the guilty
one.
< in last Sunday evening lightn- j
ing struck the residence of W. I), j
Phillips and tore off one corner,
ripped plank off and split post,
window sills. &c. Mr. Phillips
and his two little boys were in
the house at the time and theyj
received a severe shock. Mr. P.
said he could feel it all next day. j
The clock on the mantle was'
torn all to pieces and scattered. I
On the lbth ult. B. R. Massen
gill was partly struck by lightn
ing and knocked down. He was'
stunned for a while by the shock. |
When he regained consciousness
he asked his daughter to pour j
water on him, as his back felt
like it was on fire. It was gener-1
ally reported that he was killed
outright, but we are proud to
say such is not the case. He had ^
a few days after that a family '
reunion all of his children and1
his twenty-one grand children
were all present and an old fash-1
ion feast of the good things to
eat and then G. Cs made mu
sic for the occasion.
.1. I). F.
STATE NEWS AND VIEWS
What North Carolina Editors
Are Talking About.
Short Items of Interest to The Public
Clipped and Culled From Our
State Papers.
Henry Dixon. colored, wac
kicked to death by a mule twen
ty-live years old at Scotland
Neck, Tuesday.
The Democrats of Wayuecoun
ty have nominated Hon. Den T.
Aycock, a brother of ex-Uovern
or Aycock, for the Senate.
Dud Foster, colored, said to be
a blind tiger operator, was killed
by a Southern train four miles
from Salisbury Sunday morning.
C. W. Kendall, a prominent dry
goods merchant of Durham, has
gone into bankruptcy. His lia
bilities amount to nearly $12,000
Wiley Morgan, aged eighty
seven, the oldest citizen of Row
an Couuty, was instantly killed
Wednesday near his home by his
team running away.
Henry Jones, alias Hilliard
Junius, was arrested in New
Derne Saturday by Thief of Police
Hargart on the charge of having
murdered a deputy sheriff at
Dunn about a year ago.
J F. Rogers, of Asheville, a
brakeman on the western divis
ion, was killed on the Spencer
yard Saturday morning. He was
caught between the cars aud ter
ribly mashed. He hung between
the cars several hours before be
ing extricated. The wreck was
slight.
lu Durham township. Durham
county there is nearly $10,000,
000 of real aud personable pro
perty subject to taxation, out
side of the property that is taxed
by the corporation commission.
Negroes own nearly $100,000 of
property. The American Tobac
co Company has nearly $1,000,
000 property returned for taxa
tion.
While asleep ou the limit, line1
of the Southern Uailway, two
miles south of Salisbury, Itu J
Foster, colored, was struck and
instantly killed by an incoming
train on Monday. His heart
was literally torn open by the
blow from the pilot of the engine
which hit him. Foster had with
him a suit case filled with whis-1
key bottles and carried $ 18 in
cash.
After an all night tight in the1
Sixth District Congressional Con
vention held at Fayetteville last
week, Mr. Hannibal L. Godwin, |
of Dunn, was nominated to sue-!
ceed Hon. G. B. Patterson in
Congress. Mr. Godwin wasnom-!
inated on the B54th ballot by
the supporters of Brown turning
to him. Mr. Godwin represented
this Senatorial District in the
Legislature of lfiO.'i.
Jonas Steele, of Winston-Sal- j
em, was struck by lightning Sun
day while returning from his
mother's funeral at Camden
cureh, near Elmwood, and died
early Monday morning. The
mule that he was driving was
killed instantly and his son, in
the buggy with him, was badly
burned. The wife of Max Steele5
and her son, who were nearby, [
were also severely stunned.
Col. Fred A. Olds, director of
the North Carolina Hall of His
tory, at Raleigh, has placed on
the wall of the hall two docu
ments of rare historic value, one
being the New Hern Gazette, of
June 1 <!th, 1775, the other a let
ter of June 18tb, 1775, from
Richard Cogdell, of New Bern,
Commissioner of Safety, to Gov
ernor Samuel Johnson, trans
mitting the Gazette, which con
tained the"Mecklenbunr Resolves
of Declaration," of May -list,
1775. The original newspaper
and letter are in the Rays Li
brary at Kdenton, of the famous
Johnston estate, now the prop
erty of John G. Wood. The let
ter from Cogdell says that this is
the boldest declaration for inde
pendence made in any of the col
onies.
Willis G. Briggs wiil be the
next postmaster at Raleigh. His
appointment to succeed Post
master Bailev was recommended
to the Postoffice Department on
Thursday.
A boy of lb and a girl of 14
were married in Buncombe coun
ty a few days ago by permission
of their parents They rejoice in
the names of Fred Warren and
Kiln Bates.
('hief J ustice Walter Clark Tues
day afternoon denied the petition
of Everett Speuce, the seventeen
year-old Raleigh boy, charged
with murder, in the habeas cor
pus hearing and the youth was
remanded to jail without bond.
Durham is stirred up over the
report that a man bv the name
of Corbett, who has lived in Dur
ham since May, has fallen heir to
fabulous wealth, inherited from
an uncle who died in San Fran
cisco last month. Corbett has
employed attorneys and a thor
ough investigation is being made.
It seems that Corbett received a
letter nearly a month ago noti
fying him that he was oue of
four heirs to an estate estimated
to be worth eighty-five million
dollars. The story is that on
June 11, of this year, Daniel A.
Corbett, siugle, died at his home
in San Francisco, leaving his en
tire estate to three nephews and
a niece. This matter reached
James A. Corbett in a letter pur
porting to be from a probate
judge, in which he was told some
thing of the wealth and how the
money was invested. Since his
arrival in Durham Corbett has
been working for the American
Tobacco Company. The fact
that a poor working man is re
puted to have jumped from his
humble positiou in the working
wotlk to a man worth f21,000,
000, has caused a great deal of
talk.
General News Items.
Iu Russian Roland, Sunday
there were two train robberies, in
one of which two generals, seven
guards and one robber were
killed.
Three people were killed and
sixty injured in a collision be
tween a railroad train and an
electric car near Rassedena, Col.,
Sunday.
Floyd Carmichael, a negro,
was shot to death by a posse in
the presence of a girl he had at
tacked in a suburb of Atlanta
Tuesday
The battleships Atlanta and
Illinois were in collision near
Newport harbor Tuesday, but it
is believed neither was seriously
damaged.
John I). Rockefeller, of the
Standard Oil Company, arrived
in New York from Europe Mon
day, but declined to talk about
the warrant issued for him from
Finlay, Ohio.
William J. Iirvan, in a letter
requests Roger Sullivan, of Chi
cago, to resign from the Nation
al Remocratic Committee in the
interest of harmony.
Secretary Wilson says that,un
der the new inspection law. the
purest meat products in the
world will be turned out by the
packing houses.
The Rennsylvania Railroad
Company has announced a re
duction of the one-way passen
ger rates to 2'/i cents a mile and
will issue transferable mileage
tickets at a Hat rate of $20.
In an appeal to the American
people for help, issued in New
York Saturday, Maxim Gorky,
the Russian novelist, declares
that the Russian government
will now inaugurate a policy of
brutal and beastial reprisals and
will annihilate the leaders of the
people.
The State Superintendent of
Insurance for New York estimates
that the amount of insurance
held in San Francisco by 163
companies was$222,836,307 and
that the actual loss was $132,
823,067. The largest net loss
for auv one company is the Hart
ford Fire, of Connecticut^ which
was $6,186,701.