aljc .Smitirftdb lieralii
VOLUME 37. SMITHFIED, N. C., TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 1918.
Number 27.
PERSHING'S ARMY
ON WAY TO PICARDY
Intensively Trained and Fully
Accoutred They Are Stream
ing to the Front.
Hl'NS HELD ELSEWHERE.
Losses So (ireat That They
Were Unwilling to Take up
(>age of Hat tie Sunday.
HINDENBLRG'S DATE OFF
Allies Cancel His Engagement
for Dinner in Faris.
The Associated Press War Sum
mary for Sunday in Monday's dailies
looks more encouraging to Allies:
The American army in France is to
fight shoulder to shoulder with the
British and French troops who now
are engaged in the titanic struggle
with the Germans in Picardy, General
Pershing's entire force having been
given into the hands of General Foch,
the new generalissimo, who is to use
the men where he desires.
More than 100,000 Americans, in
tensively trained and *fully accoutred,
are available for use in aiding to
stem the tide of the German hordes
and large numbers of them, on rail
road trains and in motor trucks and
even afoot, already are on the way to
the battlefront eager to do their part
in defeating the invaders.
' The miserable weather which has
broken over the country is proving
no deterrent to the Americans as
they push forward from all directions
toward the battle zone.
From the region of the Somme
southward to where the battle line
turns eastward furious fighting has
continued on various sectors, but ev
erywhere the enemy has been held
and even pushed back at some points.
Nowhere has he been able, al
though he continued to throw great
masses of men into the fray, to gain
ground, except an infinitesmal from
the French north of Moreuil. British
and French machine guns and riflemen
as in the days past, again tore great
holes in the ranks of the field gray
as they endeavored to press on.
So great haye been the losses of the
Germans in front of the British north
of the Somme that Sunday saw them
unwilling again to take up the gage
of battle. Along the Scarpe the Brit
ish themselves went on the offensive
and to the East of Arras captured the
village of Feuchy. On the southern
end of the line, where Von Hinden
burg is endeavoring to pierce through
to the old German positions, as they
stood before his retreat in 1916, the
British and French troops, fighting
together have met the enemy in furi
ous combats, but everywhere defeat
ed him with sanguinary losses.
The town of Moreuil changed hands
four times, but finally rested in the
hands of the British and French,
while the woods to the nort of the
village were captured by the French.
In the bend of the line between
Moreuil and Lassigny the Germans
made frantic efforts to break through,
but the French held them in their
tracks and in addition recaptured sev
eral villages.
Not alone has Von Hindenburg lost
large numbers of men killed or
wounded, but both the British and
French armies have taken a consider
able number of new prisoners and
also captured machine puns. At last
accounts the Germans had launched a
fresh attack in the region between
the river Luce and Avre and fierce
fipliting was in progress.
The reports from both the British
and French war offices seemingly in
dicate that the allied troops have
reached the limits of their retrograde
movement. In any event, they have
cancelled the engagement Field Mar
shal Von Hindenburg made with him
self to take dinner in Paris on All
Foo'.'s Day. Instead of the truffles
and other viands with which the Ger
man commander-in-chief had predict
ed he would regale himself in the
French capital on April 1, his fare
will be that cf the German army; and
instead of passing triumphantly
through the boulevards of the city, a
victor over the French and British
troops, he will ba busily engaged in
dodging the shot and shell hurled at
him by them p.nd endeavoring to with
stand the heavy thrusts of their in
fantry against His battle line.
JOHNSTON! AN IN SERVICE.
Mr. Yates Edgerton Writes Interest
ingly of the Service in Uncle Sam's
Naval Air Service. He Left Trinity
College and Enlisted in December
Last.
Many cf my friends, relatives and
acquaintances, have written me for
information regarding this branch of
"The Service." That I may answer
those nquiries concretely, without
having to rewrite the same ihing over
and over; and also to give an idea of
the life in The Naval Aeronnautic Ser
vice to any others who may be in
terested, I am sending a copy of this
little sketch to your publication.
In order to illustrate the splendid
advantages offered by this particular
branch of the Navy, it will be neees
sary to make many personal refer
ences, the spirit of which I trust will
not be misconstrued. To begin with,
I shall give extracts from my dairy
and from my official "Service Record,"
which is on file in the office of The
Captain-of-the-Yard.
I left Trinity College December 10th,
1917, enlisted in the Regular Navy,
(Aviation Section,) as "Landsman for
Quartermaster" in Charleston, S. C.,
on December 13th. When I enlisted I
understood that I would become a
Naval Aviator. But when I reached
Pensacola, much to my chagrin, I
learned that only Naval Officers and
Student Officers did actual flying. I
also learned that men enlisted in the
Quartermaster branch worked on
wings, did wire splicing, and acted as
"^each-Mules." (Beach Mules are the
men, either in long boots or bath-suits,
who launch and pull in the S?a-planes
before and after flights.) And that
the men who worked on motors were
known as "Machinist Mates." Having
an inclination toward mechanical work,
I elected a transfer from the Quar
termaster branch and on January 1,
1918, I received my rating as "Lands
man for Machinist Mate." This rating
pays $32.60 per month. On February
1st, I was promoted to M. M. 2c, which
is the Navy way of saying: "Machin
ist Mate, Second Class." On March 1st
I was again promoted to M. M. lc,
which of course means Machinist Mate
First Class. M. M. 2c, pays $55.50
and M. M. lc pays $66.50 per month.
This is paid in addition to board,
clothes, lodging, medical and dental
attention. This shows how rapid
ly any average fellow can advance
himself if he puts plenty of "Pep"
and thoroughness into his work. If
one applies himself the only thing
that holds one back is a rule stating
that any rating must be held for at
least one month, before the examina
tion for the next higher rating can
be taken.
In addition to the excellent technical
and industrial training1 that is to he
had in the Navy, there are several
other very important things which
offer new opportunities. Among these
are physical culture, all sorts of athlet
ics, military drill, and marksmanship.
Taking myself as an average Ameri
can youth, and any of them could
have done the same thing, let's look
and see What I got out of it. First
Physical Culture: I have learned the
regular code of calisthenic exercises
and could earn a livelihood, in civil
life, as an instructor in Physical Cul
ture. In tho department of Athlet
tics to be had in all such sports as
foot-hall, base-ball, basket-ball, box
ing, wrestling, and the like. So far
I have only gone out for
basket-ball. I made the Navy team;
we won the league pennant; and I, as
a member of the team, got in one of
the swellest feeds a "Gob" ever heard
about. "Gob" is the nick-name of the
sailor. In the Military training depart
ment I worked up from a "Gob" in the
rear rank to Company Commander.
This was made possible by the train
ing I received at Trinity before I en
listed. Last Saturday, lone Weak
ago, I was sent from the training
school to the "Beach." This is where
the actual work and te flying is done.
On Monday morning following, I was
appointed "First Mechanician" on one
of the big twelve cylinder Liberty
Motors, one of the new flying
boats. The experience that I will get
in this work will fit me for a position
commanding an excellent salary
should I ever get back into civil life
and desire to go into the mechanical
field. All this goes to show what the
Navy offers and also proves that the
terrible war cloud has a silver lining
after all. With kindest regards to
SELMA DEBATERS I
WIN IN THE DEBATE
?
The Triangular debates held last
Friday night resulted in a victory
complete for Selma, and a partial vic
tory for Smithfield.
Selma Wins from Kenly.
In the triangular debate held here
at Turlington Graded Sehcol auditor
ium last Friday night between Selma
and Kenly, Selma won a unanimous
decision. The query was "Resolved,
That Congress should enact a law pro- j
viding for the Compulsory Arbitration j
of Industrial Disputes."
Selma's debaters, Miss Bertha j
Moser and Miss Julia Winston Ash
worth, had the affirmative. The nega
tive was upheld by Kenly, represent
ed by Miss Adna Lee Bailey and Miss
Myrtle Watson. It was a splendid de
bate and was pretty well attended.
Selma's representatives were the win- j
ners.
Selma Wins from Smithfield.
Smithfield's affirmative, Mr. John
Grimes and Miss Carrie Brodie San
ders, went to Kenly to meet Selma's
negative, Miss Lillian Snipes and Mr.
Elmore Earp. Smithfield lost to Selma
two to one.
Smithfield Win from Kenly.
Smithfield's negative speakers, Mr.
John O. Ellington, Jr., and Mr. Lyn
don Jordan went to Selma to meet
Kenly's affirmative, Miss Alice Grice
rnd Miss Nellie Ballace, and won in
the debate.
The results of these> debates sends
both of Selma's teams to Cl-npel Hill
to debate against the winners fiom
other schools.
The West Leading.
The Western States are leading the
Union in the sale of War-Savings
Stamps. A man who has just returned
from that section of the country
says: "The people West ;.re terribly
in earnest about the war. The flower
of the youth of the West is following
Pershing, and there is a dearth of
young men in all the states. The West
is taking the war in intense serious
ness."
Their slogan is, "Spend, but spend
wiesely!" Save and save earnestly!
Buy War Savings-Stamps.
Priscella Club Meets.
Kenly, March 30. ? On Thursday
afternoon from three to five o'clock
the Priseilla Club was delightfully en
tertained by Mrs. J. F. Foster at her
hospitable home on Maxwelton
Heights. The guests were received at
the door by the hostess and ushered
into the cozy Library which v/as pro
fusely decorated with potted plants
and cut flowers. A cheerful oak fire
was blazing brightly and was enjoyed
by each guest as the air was chilly.
After chatting gaily and plying
needles briskly for an hour or so the
hostess assisted by Mrs. L. C. Wil
kinson served a most delicious salad
course followed by cream and cake
in which the color scheme of white
and yellow was carried out. Easter
souvenirs were given to the guests in
memory of the pleasant occasion.
The entire wheat erop of Franco
has been requisitioned by the French
government.
Oak Grove and Elevation School.
A basket ball came was played last
Saturday, March 30, between Oak
Grove and Elevation at Royall school,
the score was 22 to 4 in favor of Oak
Grove. The line up was as follows:
Oak Grove ? Robert Laughter, L
G., 10; Clarence Johnson, R. F., 8;
R. H. Baker, C., 4; George Wallace,
L. G.; Marshall Johnson, R. G.
Elevation ? Delma Horton, L. G., 2:
Hermon Morgan, L. F.; Herbert
Creech. C., 2: John Hill, R. F.; Wil
bert Horton, R. G. ? X.
all "the folks back home," I am,
Very sincerely,
H. Y. EDGERTON,
M. M. lc. U. S. N. (A.)
Note: ? If any one reading this let
ter is thinking of enlisting, and would
like to ask any questions, I will gladly
jrive any information that I can. My
address is Box So. 2, Warrington, Fla.
A LIVE LETTER FROM FRANCE.
Sergeant John T. Rose, Son of Mr.
J. J. Rose, of Meadow Township.
Writes to His Father From "Over
There." Tells of Some of the Hard
ships and Privations and How
These Things Enlarge One's Spirit.
497 Aero Squadron, A. E. F.
March 5, 1918.
My Dear Father:
You will no doubt remember th pas
sage in the Bible where Jesus spake
the parable of the groat feast where
everybody was invited, but they all
with one accord began to make ex
cuses. One said that he had bought a
piece of land ami must go and see
it and prayed to be excused, another
said he had bought nn yoke of oxen
and must go and try them, and prayed
to be excused; still another had mar
iried a new wife and therefore would
not go. I seem to fall into the last
class. While I might write you more
than I do, I must admit that a good
bit of my spare moments are taken
up writing her. Hut you of course
know how that all is, having been
there yourself, making it useless for
me to try to explain.
While we are far behind the lines
we hear a great deal about what is
going on from Ihe men going to and
from there. These men have had some
exciting times themselves and have
heard so any fellows tell the tales of
their experiences, so that we get pret
ty good idea of what is going on.
I might tell a few things but our mu
tual friend the Censor, may decide to
do some carving with his pen-knife.
So there you are.
What was done toward swelling the
Y. M. C. A. fund by you folks certain
ly did make me glad; because, that
is my line of work and naturally would
be interested, and because of the great
good the Young Men's Christian As
sociation is doing "over here." Y'ou,
too, would be happy if you could see
how the men crowd into the "Y" build
ings. In the evenings after the day's
work is done it is crowded, so much
so that the fellows have to stand. If
it were not for the "Y" the fellows
would doubtless be down the street in a
cafe or walking the streets to keep
themselves warm. And on the streets
the skirt street walkers are always
strolling about "seeking whom they
may devour." And the "Y" has little
things that a fellow needs that
is a bit hard to get here.
At 6:45 a. m. the bugle awakens
us, the bugle calls to reveille, the bugle
calls us to eat three times a day, the
bugle calls to quarters, calls for us
to put out lights at 10 p. m. etc.
In fact there is scarcely anything but
what we hear the bugle. But let the
world scoff and sneer as it will, then; it
pays to be good to be "a good soldier
of Jesus Christ."
Suffering: and soldiering are synony
mous. Hardship, trial and privation
have ever been the soldiers' customary
lot. With the first signing of the enlist
ment papers self-renunciation imme
diately begins. He is compelled to give
up home and friends, the comforts
and privileges cf social life and many
po-rsonal amenities that he has held
dear. He loses at once his individual
ity, his independence and power of
self determination. He becomes part
of a machine, has no power of choice,
must obey without question and serve
as an underling where before per
haps he reigned supreme. He is taken
from the comforts and commodities of
civilization and is compelled to eat
and sleep and labor among the most
adverse surroundings. Under a phy
sical and nervous strain that reaches
almost to the breaking point, he,
nevertheless, often has insufficient
food, insufficient sleep, and, exposed
to the storms and tempest of the ele
ments, as well as to storms and temp
est of imminent hate and death, he is
compelled to subsist in the midst of
surroundings infinitely worse than
those in which we keep our very cat
tle. Most pertinent therefore is the ex
hortation "Endure hardness." He has
to endure it! He cannot escape it,
so that, indeed, he is most apt to say
n bitter cynicism that the exhorta
' ion is platitudinous. And so it would
be if there was nothing coupled with
it. The moral exhortation behind it
shows at once way and a means to
endure it. No man ran go through a
soldier's life by mere physical for
titude. There must be moral fortitude
1 ohind it. The mm may never have
"got religion" in the c!d fashioned
way, but he has, somehow, some way,
gotten a moral purpose. He may
not know how it was done, but his
soul has been enlarged, his spirit set
aflame, so that he can sing with the
abandon of the religious devotee:
"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the
coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage
where the grapes of wrath are
stored :
He hath loosed the fateful lightning
of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on!"
And moved to the depths by his new
soul-clennsing passion, he can cry
with the spirit cf a Crusader to his
brother comrades in arms;
"In the beauty of the lillies Christ
was born across the sea,
With glory in His bosom that trans
figures you and mc;
As He died to make men holy, let us
die to make men fr^e;
While God is marching on!"
While the soldier has many dis
comforts there is a fascination in the
extreme good behavior of so large a
number of men. Then the "Y" has a
number of very good books besides
the daily papers, for the men to read.
It certainly is doing its part to cheer
the men and keep them from being
homesick.
Regards to the neighbors and
friends and love to you and the fam
ily.
Your devoted son,
JOHN T. HOSE,
Sergeant A. S. S. C., A. E. F.
DEAD COVER BATTLEFIELDS.
Horrible Scenes on All Sides and the
Air Heavily Laden With the Odor
of Death.
London, March 30. ? The Morning
Post's correspondent in France draws
a gruesome picture of battlefield con
ditions. "Prisoners state that the coun
try side is full of bodies and thai the
air is hr.rrible with the odor of death,"
he writes.
"Wells cannot be used. The ruined
villages are impossible as billets be
cause they are strewn with Ger
man dead. There are great piles of
bodies along the roads and between
them. The enemy has only recently
found time to bury any of his dead.
"The spectacle of the battlefield car
peted with the bodies of their com
rades has affected fresh troops, who
in this way discovered to their sur
prise that the British are not too
weak to fight. Prsoners say that the
British endurance and skill in fighting
is delaying the progress of the Ger
man Army.
"Among the feats of this British
endurance may be mentioned that
of a detatchment which marched
eighteen hours, fought throunhout
one night and half of the next day, re
pelled three attacks, twice recaptured a
certain village and drug trenches."
PATRIOTIC MEETINGS
IN ELEVATION TOWNSHIP
There will be a patriotic meeting at
Royall school house in elevation town
ship Thursday night, April 4th, at
eight o'clock.
Also, there will be a patriotic meet
ing at Elevation school house Friday
night, April 5th at eight o'clock.
Everybody invited and urged to at
tend. Every man, woman rnd child in
Elevation township should attend one
or the other of these meetings. Your
country is at war and needs your co
operation.
Some good speaker or Speakers will
be present to discuss the War Situa
tion.
F. H. BROOKS.
Chairman for Elevation Township
War Savings Campaign.
Motion Pictures.
The schedule for the motion pic
tures for this week is as follows:
Pine Level, Monday, April 1, 7:30
P. M.
Meadow, Tuesday, April 2, 7:30 P.
M.
New Hope, Wednesday, April 3,
7:30 P. M.
Royal (Elevation) Thursday, April
4, 7:30 P. M.
Brogden, Friday, April 5, 7:30 P. M.
Polenta, Saturday, April 6, 7:30 P.
M.
No one who has attended the mo
tion pictures has felt disappointed
yet. If you come I am sure you will
not feel disappointed either.
Yours for community service,
R. P. MERRITT.
BOY MEETS AWFUL
DEATH NEAR ARCHER
On Thursday of last week Jack Wall
a fourteen year old son of Mr. W. H.
Wall, who lives, on a farm of Mr. G.
II. Hinton in Wilders township near
Archer, came to his death in an awful
manner. He had plowed until twelve
o'clock and started home about a
quarter of a mile to dinner. He got on
the mulo he had been plowing to ride
home. The gear had been left on the
mule and it seems the rattling of the
1 trace chains scared the mule and he
I threw the boy off. One of the chains
get wrapped around ono of the boy's
ankles and he was dragged to his
home, the mule running into a stable.
It is said the boy was sometimes drag
ging on the ground and at other times
was three to four feet up above the
ground. He died at 4 o'clock in the af
ternoon. His skull was crushed. One
of his arms was broken and his
right leg was also broken in several
placcs.
MISS IMOGENE SCOTT THE
BRIDE OF MR. TERRELL.
Burlington, March 29 ? One of the
prettiest marriages that has even oc
curred here was solemnized at 8
o'clock Wednesday evening at the
home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Law
son Scott on Maple avenue, when
their daughter, Imogen, became the
bride of Mr. Marvin ('lay ton Terrell.
The bride, always lovely, was radi
ant in embroidered white chiffon over
satin, her flowing veil of tulle
caught up with orangjb blossoms,
while she carried a huge bouquet of
bride roses and valley lilies. The ar
ray of gifts was most elaborate. Im
mediately after the reception Mr. and
Mrs. Terrell went to Greensboro by
automobile accompanied by the bridal
party, and left for a trip to Wash
ington. Upon their return they will
reside here. Mr. Terrell has spent
the past five years in Burlington and
was engaged in teaching until last
Summer, when he was elected county
superintendent of public Instruction.
His bride is easily one of the town's
most beautiful and accomplished
young ladies. She has spent the past
four years in school at the State
Normal college and Randolph-Macon.
75 KILLED IN PARIS
CHURCH BY GREAT GUN.
Paris, March 29. ? Seventy-five per
sons were killed and 90 wounded, most
of them women and children, when a
shell fired by a German long range
gun fell on nchurch in the region of
Paris while Good Friday services
were being held, according to an offi
cial communication issued this even
ing.
Among those killed was H. Stroch
lin, couns lor of the Swiss legation in
Paris.
The same church was struck by a
shell during the celebration of high
mass last Sunday and many casual
ties resulted.
MANY FORMER CAROLINA
STUDENTS AT CAMP JACKSON
Chapel Hill, March 31 ? According
to lists just forwarded the registrar
by Camp Jackson authorities the Uni
versity of North Carolina now has 192
former students in training there.
This list is now being added to daily.
There are cnly 33 privates in the num
ber, the non-commissioned officers
numbering f>7. Brigadier George W.
Mclver, now in charge of the camp is
himself an old Carolina man.
The general reunion committee of
the University Alumni association has
sent out letters now to all the classes
which will hold their reunions during
the coming commencement. These
classes are: 1917, 1913, 1908, 1903,
1898, 1893, 1888, 1868, 1858. Tuesday,
June 4 is to be alumni day and an
unusually large number of alumni is
expected back to take part in the cele
bration.
Johnston's Cotton Crop.
Some of the prophets and propmos
ticators of Johnston County slipped
up in their forecast of the cottcn
crop in this county for the year 1917.
The Bureau of the Census, Depart
ment of Commerce, reports that 39,
552 bales of cotton for the 1917 crop
were ginned to March 20, lfM8, as
compared with 37,306 for same time
lest year. Only one :or.nty, Robeson,
loads Johnston in cotton production.