HOW PERSHING | GOT INTOARMY Newspaper Article Leads Him to Seek Admittance to West Point. SISTER TELLS OF HIS YOUTH I Kept Appointment to Academy Secret Frowi Family ? Head of Expedition ary Force Was of Quiet, Serious Temperament as Boy. Lincoln, Nob. ? It was n newspaper article which diverted John J. Pershing from his purpose to become a achool , teacher and started him upon the mili tary care<*F which led to his appoint ment as general In the United States army and commander of the American expeditionary force In France. The story Is told by General Pershing's sis ters, Mrs. Butler and Miss May Per shing, who are residents of Lincoln. It was while General Pershing and his sister, now Mrs. Butler, were at tending the Missouri State Normal school at Klrksvllle, Mo., that his at- ! tentlon one day was called to newspa- ' per announcement that examinations 1 were to be held for appointment to the West Point Military academy. Yyung Pershing asked his sister's advice as ! to whether he should try for the ap pointment and she advised him to do 1 so. Then followed a short season of , 'intensive study In preparation. In a few days he was called before the examining board and, although Im properly prepared, received the high est mark among the contestants and soon afterward was notified of his ap pointment. Up to this time his action ! Gen. John J. Pershing. had been n secret between his sister nnd himself and it remained so until he was ready to start for West Point. Assumed Responsibility Early. As a boy General Pershing, his sis ters say, was of a quiet, serious tem perament, assuming, as the oldest of | sir children, many of the responsibili ties of the family. I "John," Mrs. Butler said, "although of n quiet disposition, liked a good time nnd enjoyed fun as much as any one. Yet when he started anything ho wanted to get the result, and he gen erally .attained that object before ho gave it up." After having been graduated from West Point and having served with General Miles In a campaign In New Mexico against the Indian chief Ge ronimo, Pershing was stationed as mil itary instructor at the University of Nebrnska. His friends there remem ber him as a fun-loving young man, who enjoyed music nnd dancing, par ties and other social activities and who appreciated a good Joke. "Old J^ck Best," the veteran trainer at the university, remembered Per shing Intimately. "He was one of the finest men that I ever worked with," said Mr. Best. "It's true he was mighty strict with his work, but the results he got were so good that everybody he worked VI th loved him for It. When he was here we had a regiment the university could be proud of. "Usually he was mighty dignified In his work, but he had a way of getting next to new men," continued Mr. Best. "The first time I ever saw him he walked right up to me, slopped me on the shoulder and said: 'Well, Jack, they tell me you got along mighty well with my rredecessor. If you did, I am darned sure we'll get along Just as well.' General Fond of Gardening. "The boys at the university got a surprise the first day Pershing drilled them," said Mr. Best. "It had been their habit before that time to come to dri.!l with shoes blackened or not, Just as they pleased. When Pershing took hold the first thing he looked nt was to see that all shoes were well blacked j and that the heels looked as good as the toes. He was Just that thorough- j going In everything all the time. He was A1 in every way, and you can ask anyone who knew him if that Isn't the gospel truth." Odd as It may seem in n fighting man. General Pershing's one fad, ac cording to his sisters, Is gardening. His father was an expert gardener, and the taste descended to the mili tary man. Whenever he was on leave he Immediately would don working clothes and go Into his father's garden seemingly enjoying the work over the vegetables as much as he enjdyed so cial activities. MR. TART CATCHES BIG EAGLE. The Bird Measured Seven Feet From Tip To Tip of Wing*. It Was Caught In a Steel Trap. Mr. John Allen Tart, of Meadow township, was in town Wednesday end told us about catching a big black eagle which he saw eating one of his geese which the bird had killed. A steel trap was set for him and soon he was caught. In his desperate efforts to get away he broke the chain with which the trap was fastened and car lied it about one hundred yards away from where it was set. He was un able to fly off with the trap and Mr. Tart found him and killed him. He measured seven feet from tip to tip of wings and had very long claws, the distance from back to middle claw being seven inches. I'lenty of Flour and Salt in Town. For the past several days there has been a scarcity of flour in the town of Smithfield. But on Wednesday Mr. S. C. Turnage was fortunate to re ceive a lot of 275 barrels of first grade flour, and is now ready to supply the needs of the people in this section for a few days at least. The flour was shipped in December. Under the law of the Food Administration he is not permitted to sell moro than a barrel to out of town customers, nor more than a half barrel to customers living in town. Mr. Turnage has also just received 575 baps of salt. Watson & Company, of Kenly, also received 1?>0 barrels of flour this week. Orders Stores to Close at Noon. Mr. F. II. Brooks, County Food Ad ministrator, has decided that there is no need for any food store to remain open all daty on Monday*. since they can supply the people by noon. Stores all over the county will be closed all day every Monday except grocery stores, and they will close at noon. DRAFT THE SLACKER NICKEL. Before you spend that nickel think n moment. Are you buying with it anything of permanent value? Are setting a good example of gen uine thrift? ? Are you making this purchase be cause you need to do so? In other words, can't you get along Yi'hftt, JWU though L of liuyi|i:- ? I thought so! Now slip that nickel into one of your empty vest pockets. Put other traitor nickels along with it every time they show a yellow streak. When you have enough nickels buy a war ravings stamp. When you have enough war savings stamps exchance them for a $5 war savings certificate. Send the slacker's nickels to the front and help win the war! ? Mary G. Shotwell, in Kinston Free Press. The School Teachers. A number of educational leaders met in Raleigli the past week to further the cause of bett r salaries for the school teachers and the out come was an arrangement for a State wide campaign for keeping up the schools in their present state of effici ency. County Boards were advised to notify teachers that their salaries would be raised next year, in the'ef fort to induce the more competent of the teachers to stick to their jobs. The Teacher's Assembly appropriated $500 to aid in the prosecution of this campaign. Meanwhile, all interested in the educational welfare of the State will be urged to give support tc the constitutional amendment whereby the school term will be lengthened from four to five months. It is a pity that this cannot be done without re sort to constitutional amendment, for there seems to be an ineradical prej udice against voting constitutional amendments and the odds will be against adoption. It is furthermore a pity that the teachers are given no better consolation than that of a cer tainty of better pay next> year. Some fvill hang on, but it is to be feared that unless a way is devised to in crease their pay this year, the school organization will be found spdly im paired. ? Charlotte Observer. New City Carrier. Mr. E. R. Norton has been appoint ed City Mail Carrier for the southern section of Smithfield as successor of Mr. W. Lewis Ellis, resigned. On ac count of his pleasant and accommo dating ways Mr. Ellis made strong friends of a great many people who regret to see him get off the route. Mr. Norton is capable and willing and will make a good carrier. It required 69, r,26,l 13 pounds of white paper for the New York Times last year. To print The Timer 1,285, J472 pounds of ink was consumed. ?a> 'A' ^ -A* -a- 'A' ^ '^WWW^WWWIMW * K * BOX PARTIES. ? * * $&$$$?$$$ ?$%$&&$$$ KiioiEKXHKiiHic Short notices of box parties will be published at a nominal price of 25 cents each. Stamps or coin should J>o sent with notice. ? ? * 9 Carter's School House. On account of the bad weather the box party at Carter's School House has been postponed until Thursday night, January 31. Mr. E. H. Moser of Selma will speak to the patrons of the school. The public is invited. ? ? ? Baptist Center. There will be a box party at Baptist Center school house Friday night, February 1st. The public is invited to attend. ? ? * Thos.? who have had notices pub lished of box parties which were not held on account of b:id weather, may have notice repeated without charge if t!-ey will mention that party was so postponed. ? * * Two or three parties havo paid for j notices of box parties which were not published. If the writer of these will call or write us their quarter will be returned, or notice repeated. ? * * We shr.ll be glad to have a short ] account of box parties held giving us the amount realized and for what pur- 1 pose it is to be used. ? * ? Notices of box*1 parties should be sent in at least ten days before same is held if it can be done. Let the teacher always sign his ojr her^uame to notice, not necessarily jor publi cation, but in order that we may know the name of the sender. Record Crop Acres. The United States Department of Agriculture, credited af farpier in Granvillo County, North Carolina, as one of four farmers in the United States to produce the largest yield of cotton to the acre during 1916, ac cording to S. R. Winters, in News and Observer. The Granville County farmer, whose name is not divulged, grew an average of .3,000 pounds of cotton in the seed to the acre on three acres. The record yield of tobacco, rated in pounds, goes to Franklin county, ffTmofs.* ' Tfiis ' counly~*procl tcecf pounds of tobacco on one a . Cleve land county, Arkansas, produced the record yield of sweet potatoes ? 1,000 bushels on two acres. Norfolk county, Virginia, led the United States in per acreage production of corn ? 174 bush els, whereas the acreage yield for the State was only 28 bushels. Eagle county, Colorado, produced the great est quantity of oats to the acre ? 142 bushels, while the average production for the State of Colorado was only 33 bushels. 1 The Arkansas grower who raised 1,000 bushels of sweet potatoes to the two acres writes that he did fully as well in 1917. His methods are: "I broadcast the land with barn yard manure and applied cotton-seed meal at the rate of 800 pounds an acre. Cultivation was with a one horse harrow." PietbSdt Grove Organizes. A meeting was held in Pleasant Grove township last Tuesday to orga nize a Board of Agriculture. Mr. E. S. Coats was elected president; Mr. Thomas E. Dupree was elected vice president, and Mr. Claude Stephenson was made secretary and treasurer. A Fair has been held in this town ship the past two falls and progress is being made along other lines. The people there are making up to their opportunities.. The Blind Child's Friend. During the past weal; North Car olina lost one of the most devoted of public servants in the death of Mr. John E. Ray ,at Raleigh. Mr. Ray was superintendent of the State School for the Blind. He was a man more nerrly all heart than any we hare ever known, and his whole heart was wrap pod up in the welfare of the blind boy and the blind girl. Sympathy for them and a whole-souled endeavor for the amelioration of their condition was t the ruling impulse of his life. For thirty years and more he and the blind child have traveled life's pathway hand in hand together, and while for the guide the days were oftener cloudy than bright, for the little charge they w&j*e always days of sunshine. The child knew this was so because it was made to feel it. There wits much in Mr. Ray's charneter to admire, but we might say that the whole State lijved him for the very devotion he .constantly manifested to the tende#est [and most appealing of all human so licitude ? the blind chifd. ? Chr.rlotte Observer. BETHANY NEWS ITEMS. Correspondent Honors Congressman ! 1'ou for Stand He Took On Woman Sufi rage Question. Nice Sum Raised at Glendale Box Party. On January 13, at the home of the bride's mother, Mrs. Delia Creech, Mr. Edwin Batten and Miss Adeline Creech were married, the ceremony being performed by Rev. W. D. Stan di, Some of the attendants were: Messrs. J. R. Batten, Robert Batten, Moses Batten and Numa Creech, Misses Callie Creech, Ora Creech, Mary F. Hatcher, Gelia Stancil and Lunetta Stancil. Mr. Loomis Stancil, of Camp Jade- j son, spent Friday with his brother, Mr. Harvey Stancil. His many friends and relatives were delighted to see him. Some of our boys attended the box ( party at Glendalp Friday night. They report ? splendid time. A large num ber of boxes were sold. They sold well and the sum of $101 was realized, i This money will be used for the school house. The teachers of Price's school, with Messrs. Moses Creech and Milton Price, attended the Group Meeting at Glendale last Thursday. Messrs. J. V. and Newson ^Jarron < have purchased the Dennis Simmons Lumber Company's railroad extend ing fr^m Kenly to Narron's Lodge, near Sandy Springs school house, a ( distance of 12 miles. They are haul ing freight and plan to put on a pas senger train as soon as possible. Quite a number of citizens have taken . stock in the road. We are prouder of Congressman E. W. Pou than ever because he took sides with the real Southern women who believe that women should stay out of politics. Whenever the women vote in the South the men will not re spenct and admire them as they do now. ? B. Kenly, R. 2., January 22 ,1918. NEW HOPE NOTES. The box party' given at the school house Friday night was BERS 8-3-3. YOU ?AMJAVE~lT today. Austin-Stephenson Co. )NE FORD CAR FOR SAL. SEE E. F. Boyett, Smithfield, N. C. WANTED ? A SINGLE MAN TO help work on ftirm. Apply to or write Ira Thompson, Pine Level, N. C., Route 1. VLL KINDS OF FERTILIZERS Now on hand. Austin-Stephenson Co. SOME AND GRADE YOUR COT ton *ced and increase your yield ten per cent. J. Rufus Creech. rOBACCO BED CANVASS ON hand now. Austin-Stephonson Com pany. FARM FOR RENT ON THE HIGH Way between Clayton and Smith field, good house and barn, for in formation write H. P. Yelverton, Fremont, N. C., or see Mr. James Hall. \N OTHER SUPPLY OF " TEN Nights in a Barroom," just received at Herald Office. Price 5 cents. By mail 8 cents. TOBACCO BED CANVASS ON hand now. Austin-Stephenson Com pany. IHE SMITH FIELD BUILDING & Loan Association ha? helped a num ber of people to build homes. It will help others, and maybo you. New series of shares now open. See Mr. J. J. Broadhurst. THREE HUNDRED TONS BEST grade fertilizers n^>w in warehouse. Cotter-Underwood Co., Smithfield, N. C. A TWO-HORSE CROP FOR RENT. A three-horse crop for rent. Both crops are near the town of Smith field. W. M. Sanders, Smithfield, N. C. NOTICE. > The undersigned having qualified as Administrator on the estate of G. W. Holly, deceased, hereby notifies all persons having claims against said estate to present the same to me duly verified on or before the 25 day of January, 1919, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery; and all persons indebted to said estate will make immediate payment. This 24 day of January, 1918. J. A. HOLLY, Administrator. Four Oaks, R. 1. ?