Sljc Smitljficlfi tlcralit
Price One Dollar Per Year "TRUE TO OURSELVES, OUR COUNTRY AND OUR COD." slna,e c " Flve C?nt.
=A - |
VOL. 27. SMITHFIELD. N. C.. FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 5, 1909. NO. 50
YOUNG LADY'S AWFUL DEATH.
Miss Claude Youngblood's Clothing
Catches Fire at Her Homo in
Fayetteville.
Fayetteville, N. C., Feb. 1.?Miss
Claude Youngblood, the 19-year old
daughter of N. E. Youngblood, a
railroad engineer of this city, was
burned to death yesterday afternoon
as a result of her clothing-catchiiig
fire from an open stove.
The young woman was in the sit
ting room of her home. In which
room her father had just left her a
few moments when In some way un
known her clothes caught fire from
the stove and on Mr. Youngblood's
return he was met at the door by
h'3 daughter in a mass of flames.
Physicians were hurriedly summon
ed and everything possible done for
her, but the injuries were so severe
that she died late yesterday after
noon.
The funeral was conducted at 4
o'clock this afternoon by the pastor
of the First Baptist church.
Mr. Honeycutt Writes About the
Matter.
TO THE EDITOR:
It Is not my purpose in writing
this article to indulge in a newspa
per controversy with Mr. S. S. Holt
or THE HERALD upon the position
t they take upon the recent act pass
ed for Johnston County. But in
Justice to the County Officers and
"fair play" I feel called upon to cor
rect certain statements made by Mr.
Holt and say to him that his mis
representations shall not go unnotic
ed. He is not expected to "conceal
my movements" in the matter, nor
do I apologize to him or any one for
going to Raleigh in the interest of
this Bill, which he attacks, and leav
ing my office in charge of my depu
t" whose capability has never been
questioned until this hour.
' >f, ..J.' t*
nij'rol orT&s a County official at his
pleasure. I do not fear his political
knife, but in defense of my deputy
I desire to say that she has proven
a most efficient clerk in every way.
I ask the people of Johnston county
to inspect their records and scruti
nize my work and that of my clerk
and they will find that the business
of the office was not neglected in my
absence.
Following the instructions from the
County Convention of two years ago,
our Representatives reduced the
fees of the County Officials in the
following manner:
In the Register of Deeds Office
fees on deeds were reduced twenty
cents and most mortgage deeds twen
ty-five cents. (Crop liens, chattel
mortgages and title note's not being
effected by the law.) For issuing
County orders the fee was reduced
from fifteen to ten cents. For Issu
ing and recording a marriage license
the fee of the Register was reduced
from one dollar to fifty cents.
In the Clerk's office, the fee for
passing upon a probate was reduced
from twenty-five to twenty cents and
passing upon a probate and privy ex
amination of married women the fee
was reduced from fifty to thirty-five
cents.
1 ne sncrill S cuiliuiiaaiuu nao 11
duced to three and one half per cent.,
while the treasurer's commission was
reduced to two per cent, on Disburse
ments and no commission allowed up
on receipts. At a glance it can be
seen that the repeal of the law re
stores to the Register of Deeds twen
ty cents on derds; five cents on is
suing County Orders and returns to
him fifty cents on each marriage li
cense issued which was plated in the
School fund.
In the repeal of the law as It ef
fects the Clerk, he Is placed on an
equal footing with the Justices of the
Peace and a Notary Public who re
ceive twenty-five and fifty cents for
probate and privy examinations. Why
discriminate against the Clerk? The
Sheriffs commission will be effect
ed not more than one half of one per
cent, and the Treasurer, whose com
mission* have steadily been cut by
the removal of the Road Funds of
the County from his bands, is placed
on a two and one half per cent, com
mission on disbursements and one
half of one per cent, on receipts.
Mr, Holt states that we are going
back to the excessive fees of fifteen
years a&o when the volume at, busi
ness "amounted to not more than fif
ty per cent, of what it does at pres
I ent." This is not true. Fifteen years
ago and during Allen K. Smith's
term of office, he was paid eighty
| cents for the same class of papers
now placed on record for twenty
i c ents, and this class of papers crop
liens constitute three fourths of the I
papers filed in the office. W'htle the I
volume of business has Increased to
i some extent in "the County offices,
it does not overcome the cut of six- '
ty cents on each paper and It is
| well to remember that with an In
crease of business has come a neces
sary increase in the expense of the
office. On one thousand papers Al
? len K. Smith received eight hundred
dollars, while the present incumbent
| receives two hundred dollars for the
j same amount of work.
During the past fifteen years the
I salaries of nearly every public offi
; eial in the State and Nation have
been increased. Among them the
President, Congressmen, Senators,
Governors, Judges, Commissioner of
Labor and Printing, while in John
ston county the County Commission
ers, Jurors and Road Supervisors
will receive more for their services.
The Superintendent of the County
Home and the County Jailor have
been forced to ask for Increased pay.
Personally I feel that the fees of
Justices of the Peace should be in
creased, and if I had it in my powei
every man who attends Court as a
State's witness, would be paid whole
fees and not half fees as at the pres
ent time.
I favored the repeal of the law be
cause I considered it just and right
that Johnston County officials should
be placed on a reasonable basis with
others, and in the repeal of the law
the registration of twenty cents on
crop liens, paid mostly by poor men
of the County, is not effected in the
? least.
If the aggregate fees and commis
sions "collected" by the Sheriff,
Clerk, Register of Deeds and Treas
urer are excessive and unreasonable,
let the political reformer and critic
examine cx-8beriff J. T. Ellington
vrtrr* s,i -mitrry-yvar* iKe'lending Sher
iff of the State and whose political
record and integrity no man ques
tions. Go to W. A. Edgerton, the ef
ficient ex-Register of Deeds, and en
quire of him whether a County offi
cer grows rich from the income of
his office, and in the writers opinion,
the doubtful mind will be satisfied
and the prejudiced mind silenced un
to the end of time.
At the County Convention of 1908,
no resolution was introduced and in
nominating the Representatives they
were not bound by any former Con
vention of two or ten years ago.
To Mr. Holt I will say that we
have not endeavored to "set at
naught" the wishes of nine tenths of
the Democracy, but asking for a re
peal of a law which would be san
ctioned by nine tenths of the conser
vative men of the County upon an
investigation.
The charge of "Breach of Prom
ise" against J. W. Barnes and J. W.
Myatt and those favoring the bill can
not be sustained. The editors of
THE HERALD have misjudged their
men. No truer or more loyal citizens
ever represented Johnston county in
the General Assembly, and they can
be depended upon to do what they
conceive to be their duty regardless
of the attitude of beaty, Holt and
Lass iter.
A public officer 1s placed in a pe
culiar position quite different from
! the private citizen. He is a member
of every church in need in the coun
ty; he is always called upon to help
the cause of charity and the demands
of the unfortunate are ten-fold. At
no time is he expected to refuse eith
er church, charity or campaign offer
ings. And when this agitation sub
sides. it will be found that the con
servative men of the county who
fight the battles and furnish the im
plements of war are with us. It is
not a question of politics but right.
SAM T. HONEYCUTT.
?
A Mistake.
I saw in the last issue of THE
SMITHFIELD HERALD in the Prin
ceton news items a statement, that
there would be a box party held in
| the Baptist church here on the 18th
day of February, 1909. Please state
in the next issue that there will be
no box party in the Princeton Bap
tist church for the benefit of said
church.
W. L PEARCE,
Church Clerk.
WARD TO HANG IN MARCH.
Negro Fiend in Sampson Tried and
Convicted in Superior Court at
Clinton Monday.
Clinton, N. C., Feb. 2.?The trial
of Will Ward (or criminal assault up
on Mrs. MoUio McLeod began here
at 2:30 this afternoon befote Judge
\\\ R. Allen and ended at 6:35 when
the Jury returned a verdict of guilty.
George E. Butler assisted Solicitor
Duffy for the State and Henry A.
Urady was appointed by the court to
represent the defendant, who was
without counsel. At the close of the
taking of testimony the case was
submitted to the Jury upon the evi
l dence without argument upon the
part ot the State 'or th*' defense.
Ward assaulted Mrs. McCeod on
January 19th and has been in the
State penitentiary to prevent his be
ing lynched. He arrived from Ral
eigh this morning under escort of a
detail of the local military company
and the entire company is on guard
duty tonight.
The prisoner sat through the trial
unmoved and presented a spectacle
of stolid indifference. When asked if
he had anything, to say why sentence
should not be passed upon him, he
stated that he was once injured by a
blow on the head which at time# af
fected his mind, especially when he
was drinking.
Judge Allen sentenced Ward to be
hanged on March 3rd. The trial was
witnessed by a packed court house.
All disinterested spectators vacated
the court room while Mrs. McLeod
I was ou the stand at the request of
Judge Allen. The crowd was at all
times orderly.
The judge's charsf to the grand
jury and wise counsel in open court
has had a good effect and encouraged
letting the law take its course lu this
case. Ward claims to be the son of au
Indian mother and to have come from
Oklahoma. His appearance indicates
a decided trace of Indian blood. Hi
wiy be taken back tp Rajel^li proba
bly tomorrow and th'ii* return iiev ?
! for execution.
1 ?
Mr. Stevens Writes About the Mat
ter
TO THE EDITOR:
The people of Johnston County be
lieve in fair dealing and are not wil
ling to single out any one man how
ever humble he raay be to discrimi
nate against him. There never has
been a time in the history of the
county, nor is there a parallel any
waere, but that every officer T?ets
the same fees for the same work, un
til the Laws of 1907, were enacted.
I That law singles out the Clerk's of
fice and places him in the singular
position of having to do work ^or 20 '
cents that every magistrate ahj no
tary public and every other officer
in the State gets 25 cents for, ,jind
l to do work for 35 cents that e*?-ry
body else gets 50 cents for.
There is not a just man living that <
will say it ought to remain so and
will sustain representatives Myatt
and Barnes in repealing it, and this
is the extent that the Myatt-Harnes
act will effect the Clerk's office by
putting it back under the general
laws and on an equality with the
Justices of the peace of the County. 1
Every body knows the motives that
have prompted the wars that have
1 been made upon the officers of the
county.
They first began by demand for
rotation and then for salaries tbut
should be less than the fees of tfie
offices, and that the excess should
go to run the schools and build the
roads of the county, which would
make the poor who have to mortgage
their crops to feed their families the
road builders and school supporters
of the county, a deep laid plot by the
prime movers, and this was a sys
tem advocated by Mr. S. S. Holt and
THE HERALD. Mr. Hoit had the op
portunity to show his friendship for
the schools when the Smithfield
school tax was voted on, and I am
reliably informed that he refused to
vote to tax his property to help edu
cate the children of his poor neigh
bors, and I here and now challenge
Mr. Holt and THE HERALD to show
a single article in which either of
them advocated a reduction of fees.
They opposed in open convention the
very resolution they are now attempt
ing to uphold.
Mr. Holt issued a circular letter
(among the many others circulated)
in which he gave warning to his fol
lowers that some substitute would
1*? offered for his salary resolution
and asked that it be .voted down.
1 Now If the resolution to reduce fees
I (.offered by Mr. Allred, or Mr. Edger
ion or whoever it waul was wrong in
i the eyes of Mr. Holt and VHE HER
ALD two years ago, why this somer
sault now about its repeal?
No one impugns Mr. Holt's rno
! twin, the veil is too thin to hide the
: motive, a blind man can see it.
One reason urged against the re
I peal of this discriminating law was
j that it was not voted on in last con
i vention; for the very same reason
| then, to be consistent, the HERALD
and Mr. Holt will oppose the t!U, I
1 drafted and sent up and Represent*
tlves Myatt and Barnes passed giv
| lap to Jurors $2 per day instead of
$1.50 (where they have to pay $2.00
per day for board and lodging) and
' gh ing to the County Commissioners
i $3 per day instead of $2, and the
magistrates $2 per day for holding
the February and August meetings :
required by law, where heretofore |
j they got nothing. Not only has Mr.
; Holt's sincerity in the matter of edu- ^
rating the children of the land been
tested, but his sincerity in the mat
ter of fees has been tested also, as
the records and papers in this of
j fice a haw that before Mr. Holt had
I been a lawyer six months the courts
have had to put him under a restrain
I lng order keeping him from collect
ing fees amounting to hundreds of
| dollars until the same shall be in
rtjuugitieu Dy tne court. And if it
is allowed it will give him for a few
hours work more fees in one case
(winding up the affairs of the Neuse
Milling Co. without controversy) than |
1 get in about 2% years by being
put back on an equality with the
justices of the pea< under the gen
eral law, and as nuich as the regis
ter of aeeds with three or four as
sistants gets for two or three months
laborious work, and as much as the
sheriff gets for trudging through
sleets and snows, lying out at night
and perhaps facing the assassin's
ius did the, late yhui'iff of
^runsw i< k county) in serving 1W0
hundred capiases, and if the court ,
does allow it then, I submit that it ;
will be a proper subject for legisla- i
the notice. I shall further challenge
the sincerity of Mr. Holt and THE I
HERALD in the matter of fees if j
they do not draft a proper bill to
that effect and send it to Representa- j
fives Myatt and Barnes.
I ask every man to divest himself
of all prejudices and judge between
men who are striving honestly to do j
their duty and our accusers.
W. S. STEVENS.
Feb. 3, 1909.
8RANDENBURGH JUMPED BOND.
Bail Ammounting to $1,500 is Forfeit
ed and Bench Warrants for Arrest
Are Promptly Issued for Circulation
of the "Cleveland" Letter.
New York, Feb. 1.?Broughton
Brandenburg, the magazine writer,
who was indicted on a charge of
grand larceny as a result of his sale
to a newspaper of an article, alleged
to have been written by Grover Cleve
l^nd, failed to appear today before
Justice Dowllng to answer to tho in
dictment.
ins nail 01 *i,ow, which was given
by a bonding company, was forfeited.
Bench warrant for Brandenbnrg's ar
rest was immediately issued.
Samuel B. Thomas, Brandenburg's
attorney, stated lie had received no
word from his client since last' night,
when he had a telephone conversa
tion with him, and was in ignorance
of the writer's present whereabouts.
The present case against Branden
burg grew out of the selling by him
of gn article purporting to have been
written by the late Grover Cleveland,
and representing him as advocating
the election of Wm. H. Taft. After
the publication the article was wide
ly circulated as campaign literature.
The article was brought to the atten
tion of Mrs. Cleveland, who is alleg
ed to have declared it entirely apoc
ryphal and an investigation ensued,
which resulted In the indictment of
Brandenburg on a charge of grand
larceny In the second degree, prefer
red by the Times.
We are glad to present another let
| ter from Mr. Oscar Rand this week.
This letter was written immediately
. after Christmas from Newquay where
lie spent his Christmas vacation. Our
readers will find much in this letter
' to entertain them.
BAD COPY OR LIGHT PRINT
PUT OFFICIALS ON SALARY.
Let the People Come Together and
Help for the Salary Plan and
Public Schools.
TO THE EDITOR:
i You call on the people of our good
old County to help to find a way out
of the hole lu regard to the fees In
the important oifices of the court
1, as a Democrat an 1 litlzen of
| the county, am a volunteer; and 1
; take my pen to help to defend the
j cause of the people of the county
'by asking for a united effort on the
part of the whole constituency of all
of the peopl? of the county to put
n." officers on a reasoaaiio salary,
and give the surplus funds of tlms ?
offices to the school fund rf the coun
ty.
lu the beginning 1 wi'l tit'.y thst
I am a friend to the officials of the
county and hope they are a friend
to me. 1 wish to also state that 1
am a friend to the Democratic party
and that it has been a friend to me
and all of the people of the oouuty.
Now I wish all this friendship an 1
love to continue in th? future. It
is said that love begeis love, and
now we need a few love seed sown
over the county by the Chairman of
the Democratic Executive Commit
tee while the political laud Is in
good condition for them to sprout,
so that they may come up and grow
into a great mass meeting of the
roiiTitv ut Smlthfiold or nf tholr rp.
spectlve primaries, or perhaps the |
Executive Commltteo meeting might
cultivate this tree of love in such a
way that it would help to give love
in return from the peop's.
In the Democratic Convention in
190*3 I voted for the reduction of fees.
I did not do so because I was oppos
ed to an increase of the school fund,
but because there was such a heavy
plea entered by the opponents of the
salary plan, for the poor man who
generally paid these fees, either di
rectly or indirectly. It is said that
wfliou the Win t leytf the blind rill fall
into the ditch together.
We have some very good men in'
office whoso hearts ought to be large
enougli to hold the interest of all the
people of the county and especially
those of the little bright faced boys
and girls, upon whom the future of
the county depends; and I believe
they are. And perhaps they them
selves are tired of keeping in the
ditch with us and have gotten the
fees back on the old scale so that
there might be enough to pay a rea
sonable salary and some to give to
the bright boys and girls.
To be sure, it Is not selfishness of
the officials, or at least, I hope it is
not. If it is, or is not, I say let the
people come together some how and
adopt resolutions for salary and
school fund and send up to Raleigh
and get an enactment by the legisla
ture for salary and school. Of course
as Mr. Smith says in your last issue
there is more work to be done than
there was in yeir? past but it does
not take scarcely any more force. It
is about as well to wear out as to
rust out. Years ago there was not
enough work to keep busy all the
time A man or woman either should;
be rewarded for their labor and there
are good men ill the offices who
would be glad to continue to fill
them for a liberal salary, and there
are a good many good men who have
never held office that would fill them
with credit and be more than glad
to do it for a reasonable salary.
While the officers have assistants
and they are to pay there are a
good many school districts in the
county that need an assistant teach
er and haven't the funds to pay with.
I remember very well that the oppo
nents of the salary plan laid special
stress on the idea that the public
schools run four months in the year
and that was as much as was needed
and wanted. If the people cannot j
Bend any more than four months
those four should have enough teach
ers to give all of the advancement
possible in that time. Yes. "right I
is right and wrong is wrong" and It :
would be equal rights to all to give !
the people some of their fees back
to them in a school fund. Nearly
everybody pays some of the fees in I
a lifetime in some way or other. A
good many districts would be more j
than glad to have longer terms. As
for equal rights of officers the four .
important ones are no better to work
for salary than Commissioners, Board
of Education, County Superintendent
of Schools, and Jurors. 80 pat all
I
on reasonable salary from jurors on
up.
80 if you will give us the salary
plan and the surplus to the public
schools, Mr. Officer, you will still
be helping Mr. Poor Man whom you
have led iuto the ditch.
Itut my letter Is getting too long
already. Let the Democrats of John
ston County think of these things. I
am only one, but as one I am willing
, to do my part. When 1 saw in the
paper that the bill to restore the old
fees had been introduced, I said to
myself, "If that bill passes I am for
S. S. Holt's salary plan." The bill
has passed nnd 1 am ready to work
for any plan that will help to
strengthen the party and at the
samo time help to readjust matters
and build up our schools. Let's all
pull together for reasonable salaries
and schools.
Yours respectfully,
H. E. JOHNSON,
Kour Oaks, Jan. 30, 1909.
He Wants a Convention Called.
TO THE EDITOR:
The repeal of the "bill reducing
fees" lins caused some dissatisfac
tion in my "neck of the woods." The
matter ought to be settled officially
In some way and 1 suggest that the
best plan would be for the Chairman
of the Democratic Executive Commit
tee to call a convention of the De
mocracy of Johnston county and let
the matter be settled right. A Dem
npraHn convention mithnrbaH noa.
sago of the law reducing fees and I
feel that tho law should never have
been repealed except upon demand ?t
the Democracy In convention assem
bled. I, for one, am for putting the
officials on a salary. I think the
people have a right to know how
much they pay their public servants.
The great question is "shall a few
men go ahead and repeal a law ask
ed for by a big convention, and es
pecially when the repeal f that law
Is to the pecuniary advantage of the
men asking for Itn Tvtpe&I." Ar? th?
seivunts bigger than the people? Give
us a convention and let us settle
the matter.
J. S. JOHNSON.
Benson, R. F. I). No. 1., Feb. 4.
For Good Roads.
EDITOR HERALD:
Man like a current of electricity
follows the circuit of least resistance.
In the week before last HERALD
we learned that "sections of the law"
were going to be applied to the own
ers and runners of traction engines
and heavy wagons, unless they re
pair the damage they do. If this law
is enforced we will all stop hauling
heavy loads in this country. This
week we are informed through the
HERALD that a petition is being cir
culated to keep these wagons and en
gines from running on the roads of
Smlthfleld township. It appears to us
that this is rather a bad state of
affair? that the public highways are
not sufficient for the traffic. It
seems to us that it is a backward
step to compel any one by law or
public petition to stop any legal and
profitable business, because some of
nc hova Boarv hnrtitifl r?r* thfl
roads are too weak to sustain the
weight of the engines or wagons.
The fact that the roads are so
weak, makes it glaringly apparent to
us that the roads, not owners of en
gines and heavy wagons, need the ap
plication of "sections of the law" and
public "petitions."
We presume though that just as
traction engines and heavy wagons
were not meant for this part of the
world; good roads were designed for
other sections of the world also.
The old way is so much easier.
The path of least resistance is so
cunningly satisfactory. And We feel
so poor too. The tax to construct
macadamized roads would be too
heavy a burden.
We do not believe this to be the
sentiment of the majority of the peo
ple In the county. We believe that
the majority of the people are of the
opinion that the day has come for
good roads; roads that are macada
mized. Johnston County Is one of
the wealthiest counties in the State.
The progress of the times demands
good roads.
D. R. WBILLONS.
Smlthfield, N. C., Feb. 1, 1909.
Mr. J. B. Smith has sold out his
grocery business to the City Grocery
Co. Mr. J. W. Moore will be mana
ger of the store.
I