Newspapers / The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.) / July 9, 1909, edition 1 / Page 2
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MESSINA IS WIN SHOO Two Terrific Quakes Felt Thursday—The 25,000 Inhabitants In Panic-Mother Dashes For Her Babe And Dies With It In Her Arms. Messina, By Cable. —Messina ex- perienced two terrific earthquakes at About 7:30 o'clock Thursday morn ing, which were accompanied by roaring sounds and are said to have bad a stronger and more undulatory movement than the earthquake of last December which destroyed Mes sina, Reggio and other cities, laid waste to many villages in Calabria and killed 200,000 pec*»le. Although the shocks Thursday had no such terrible consequences the 25,000 residents of this city were' thrown into a state of terror. They ran into the streets panic striken and Thursday night nearly the entire pop ulation was encamped in the open. J The broken walls of the old ruins were thrown to the ground and Mes sina was for a few minutes smother ed in a cloud of dust. The casualties were few and the only persons killed, so far as is known, were a young woman and her infant. The woman had come here only a few days ago and had settled in rooms, which the great earthquake had left relatively un damaged. She was standing at the ORVILLE WRIGHT MAKES THREE SUCCESSFUL FLIGHTS Washington, Special.—Calm, confi dent and nerveless, Orville Wright late Thursday encircled the Ft. Meyer drill grounds time after time in his aeroplane in three successful flights while a crowd of thousands cheered him for the success that attended his persistency and pluck. While the ma chine oscillated atr certain points in its flights and dipped and rose sud denly at other points, it was evident from the regularity with which these things happened that they were due to the condition of the atmosphere and not to Italy fault of the-machine. For tbe tiis>t (light the machine got ;*way with a fine start. Down the •field the aeroplane sailed, curved gracefully and came back up the east «ide of the field along tli£ edge of Arlington Cemetery. The machine Memed. to be behaving beautifully. The first round was made in fifty sec onds. Five times the machines skirt ed the field, attaining a height which varied from 15 to 30 feet. On the sixth round Mr. Wright came to earth within a few hundred feet of the starting point, completing the flight in exactly five minutes. The landing was perfect, the machine swooping down in successive glides until Orville pulled the string which stops his motor and the aeroplane glided smoothly over the grass on its skids until it came to a stop. The ma chine was returned to the starting ap paratus and again was placed in posi tion, and another tliirht was essuved. COMMISSION DECIDES ADVERSELY IN BISHOPS' CASE Washington, Special.—The Inter state Commerce Commission hus de cided adversely in the matter of the complaints filed before them by five bishops o£ the African Methodist Episcopal Chynh, who claimed that they had been the victims of discrim ination while passengers on Southern railroads. The complaints were di rected against the Pullman Company and the Hichmond, Fredericksburg STRANGE FREAK OF LIGHTNING IN MARYLAND TOWN Cumberland, Md., Special.—Light ning struck the house of Johnson Collins, last Wednesday, four miles east of Flintstone, while Mr. and Mrs. Collins, their six children and Mrs. Johnson, a neighbor, were in the kitchen. Mrs. Collins was putting pies in the bake oven. When Mr. •Collins recovered from the shock he found his wife and the youngest] MAY BE THE BODY OF ELSIE SiGEL'S MURDERER New York, Special—Although com plete identification was impossible as yet, there appears to be a strong probability that the body of a Chiua mar, which was found floating in the JLidson river in the upper part of the •city Thursday evening, was that of Leon Ling or William L. Leon, the murderer of ELsie Sigfl. The manV height,, weight and general appear ance tallies witlj Leon Linjj, but as the body was nude, except for a silk undershirt, and had been in the water for more than a week, a thor ough examination will be necessary. Coroner McDonald, who was the first POLITICAL PRISONERS MAKE DASH FOR FREEDOM Seattle, Wash.—A cable dispatch from Nome, Alaska, describes a bloody outbreak of Russian political prisoners in the Yakutsk District, Siberia and the flight of the muti neers across the wilderness toward Bering Straits in an effort to reach Alaska. The dispatch says: Advices from Vladmir Station of the Northern Siberia Company, across Behring Strait, are to the ef tmet that a band of Drisonera in the tloor when the shock occurred and rushed inside to save her child. Be fore she 'jould escape from the room the second shock threw down the walls, burying both mother and child under the debris. Soldiers and en gineers who rushed to the rescue heard thS voice of the mother call ing lor help and they worked heroic ally for several hours, when they fount! the dead bodies, the mother with her child in her arms. The first shock was followed quick ly by a second and the people fled pell mell to the American quarter, wbieh they seemed to feel was the safest place of refuge. So great was the rush to the American that the authorities were unable to check the invasion and as a consequence these structures, which were design ed for the most needy ef the' popu lace, were taken possession of by the first tomers. The soldiers, however, soon drew a cordon around this quarter and a was mounted at the bridge leading to it. Many of the panic stricken people were driven oft and orders were issued that no one be permitted to occupy the American quarter pending further instructions. The start was as successful as the first. In the second flight Orville made much wider turns and rose to a greater height. Wilbur Wright watched every detail of the flight with care. It was noticed that at times the motor skipped, but this seemed to have no effect on 'the progress of the aeroplane. The starting rail rung downward into a little hollow in the Held and whenever the aeroplane passed over this hollow it dipped no ticeably and whenever it passed over a vacant space between two of the stabled, it was seen to rise as though on billow of air, but these atmos pheric conditions were easily over come by the clever manipulation of the levers. On his second flight, Or ville made nine rounds of the field in a few seconds less than eight min utes. In his last attempt he remained aloft for a few seconds more than nine minutes and encircled the field nine and one half times. For one complete round he flew very close t* the ground, evidently preparing to land. This he did within two hun dred feet of the aeroplane shed. Dur ing this last flight he went higher than cn his previous trials, reaching a height of forty feet. Just before making his landing the left wing scraped the ground and raised a cloud of dust, but Mr. Wright con tinued to fly half way around the field before descending» and Potomac, the Southern and the Central Railway of Georgia. The complainants were Bishops Wecley J. Gaines, H. M. Turner, Evans Tyree, C. S. Smith and E. n. Brampton. The principle involved in the com plaint was the old one of the "Jim- Crow" car, it being alleged that tho coaches furnished for the negroes are not as good as those for white pas sengers and that the negroes were re fused sleeping accommodations and food on trains. child in her arms standing under a tree in the yard. She could not tell how she got there. One of her shoes had been torn from her foot and tho, flesh wes scraped from her ankle downward almost to the hone. The roof was torn from the house, one side of the building demolished, tho stone chimney shattered in piecos and dishes in the cupboard broken. to inspect the body, believes that it id Leon's as do a number of policemen, but until measurements and facial characteristics are »carefully gone over the identification will remain in doubt. If it is Leon the cause of his death will bo another mystery although one theory, that of suicide, would appear reasonable. In salient features the body bore a marked resemblance to Leon Ling. The teeth were goody as were Leon's, the height about 5 feet 4 inches, which was Leon's height, and the weight 125 pounds, which was about Leon's. Yakutsk district revolted and killed the guards and started on a retreat of 2,000 miles for East Cape, where they planned to take small boats and make the mainland of. Alaska, thirty six miles away. Captain Kalinnikof, acting gover nor of the district, ordered Coasaoks to overtake the prisoners. The fu gitives in ambush killed four Cos sacks and wounded twelve others, forcine them to ratoeoi. TREASURY CONDITION Officials Pleased at the Showing of the Governments Finances. Washington, Special—Treasury of ficials are pleased at the present showing of the government finauces. Ordinarily a deficit in the govern ment revenues of $89,811,150, as shown by statement on July Ist, would not be a matter for congratula tion. Nevertheless at the close of the fiscal year 1909 the treasury officials express 1 much gratification that the official estimate of a deficit of $114,- 000,000 made last December has not been verified, und are hopeful for a ■continuance of the improvement, which has been especially uoted dur ing the last four months. The customs receipts for the year aggregated $301,209,803, which is an increase as compared with last year of $15,000,000. The internal revenue prodcued $24(3,.129,063, a decrease of about $3,000,000. Miscellaneous re ceipts aggregated $50,893,919, which is a falling off of about $8,500,000. The receipts from all sources during the year aggregated $604,4.(2.540, which is an.increa.se over last year of $3,250,000. On the side of expenditures the totul for the year was $694,244,002, which is an increase over 1908 of cellaneous expenditures amounted to $104,288,538, an increase of $5,000,- 000 over last year. The War De partment expenditures aggrv'-'ited $104,100,242, an increase of $40,- 000,000. The navy account is the only item in the list to show a de- j crease, the figures for the yeaWbeing $115,988,809 as against $118,780,233 j for the year 1908. Pension payments for the year amounted to $101,089,423, an increase of over $8,000,000. Interchange of Student^. London, Special.—A scheme for the interchange of university stu dents between yie United Slates. Canada and the United Kiny'loin, rivaling in importance that istab lishcd under the will of the late Cecil Rhodes, is in process of forma tion, with every prospect of success. The idea, which is supported by an influential committee, headed by thi Hon. il H. i\sr|iiith, I'rime Min ister of Ore it Britian and Lord Rtrntheona, High Commissioner of Canada, and which includes the heads of the ebief universities in fEfeyl'nited Kingdom, and has also the indorse ment of the presidents of the Ameri can and Canadian universities, aims at providing opportunities to stu dents of the three countries to obtain some real insight into the life, pro gress and customs of other nations, With a minimum of inconvenience to their academic work, and at the possible expense. The promoters suggest tho provision of certain trav eling scholarships, the selection for which should be along the lines of the Rhodes scholarships, the select ed candidate, in addition to his academic qualifications, to be what is popularly known as an all-round man. Twenty-eight of these scholarships are proposed, fourteen to be avail able for universities in the United Kingdom, ten for America ad four for Canada, the American and Can adian students securing them to have a week's tour in Great Britian un der the guidance of a university man, the British students, on the other hand, to have a similar tour of America and Canada, always during their respective long vacations. Be fore efforts are made to obtain per manent ,endowment for the scheme, it is proposed that funds shall be asked for its maintenance foi 1 an ex perimental period of three years. The total cost is estimated at $08,500 for the three years, of which sum it is proposed that the United Kingdom shall contribute $36,000, the United States $22,500 and Canada $9,000. Kaiser's Yacht Wins Race. Kiel, Special.—Emperor William's Metor, steered part of the time by His Majesty himself, won the 51-one mile race 'of Eckernfoerdo Wednes day, covering the distance in 5 hours and 10 minutes. Germania was sec ond, in 5 hours ami 30 minutes, and Iduna, owned by the Empress, was third. Fire in Messina Ruins. Rome, By Cable.—Fire started in the ruins of Messina Monday even ing Owing to the i.igh wind and a lack of water, the Cirmes extended over a large area. The coal depot was destroyed, as were stacks of furniture and wood recovered from the ruins, and several euoampments were threatened. Soldiers and blue- I jackets, after two hours' work, suc ceeded in establishing a water sup ply and in diminishing bat iy>t ex tinguishing the fire, which is burn ing itself out. The survivors of the earthquake were thrown into a panic and spent the night in the open. Murderer Riddled. Adrian, Ga., Special.—Fighting in a swamp with a cheap, small calibre pistol, Robert Jenkins, a negro ac cused of murder, Wednesday held at bay' a sheriff'§ posse until he had wounded two of them, and then ex claiming, "Lord, have mercy on my soul!" dropped dead, fiddled by rifle and pistol balls. Jenkins last week shot and killed George K. Howell, a farmer, and wounded Mr*. HowolL A GOOD ROADS PLEA The Duty of (he Press in This Important Movement GREAT QUESTION OF THE HOUR An Able Paper By H. B. Varner, ESQ., Editor of the Lexington Dis patch, Bead Before the North Carolina Press Association at Their Recent Contention Held at Eendersonrille. Building good roads is the great question of the hour in North Caro lina. In the familiar phrase, it is the paramount issue, not only in this State, but throughout the Union. It transcends in importance politics, the tariff, the money question or any oth er question. Nothing is hampering this country so much as mud; noth ing could possibly do more for the development of the State and nation than macadamized highways. Hence, the duty of the |n-ess in this State, especially, to begin a State-wide cam paign for the promotion of better roads. It is our manifest duty to cry aloud to advocate strongly, to publish information, to mold puijlic opinion until the people reach that point where they are willing to bear the cost of building modern roads in every county. It is idle for me to attempt enum eration of the benefits good roads con fer on a people. Every man, no mat ter how unlettered, instinctively knows that a good road is a fa better thing to have than a bad road We naturally have it in us to knon the value of, and to construct an easy pathway, but, unfortunately, th devil of tax steps in and tempts us to bear the ills we have, rather than fly to blessings we know of and great ly desire. Qiir people all believe ir good roads, but there are some whe are unwilling to pay the cost. I have heard good men and good farmers de clare that inasmuch as the mud traili we now have were used by their fath ers, they are good enough for us anc it were useless to suggest a change ir them. Others declare that we are to poor to attempt road construction and still others are vehenment ir their opposition to the idea of hand ing down to succeeding generation.* such a lothsome thing as a public debt. These are some of the objec tions one hears. Factor in Civilization. I believe in my soul that a bad road is the greatest curse that can b« laid on a community. It stunts th» industrial, moral and intellectual life of a people. But a good road is equal ly as great a blessing, for once a community gets facilities for trans portation and communication, all oth er blessings will be added thereunto. Mr. Roosevelt has well said that the difference between semi-barbarism and civilization is the difference be tween good and poor means of com munication. Far back in history good road building was recoj, ized as a leading factor in advancing civiliza tion. We are told that early explor ers in Peru found improved highways, one of the military roads being 2,- 000 miles in length, with tunnels through mountains, bridges or ferries over streams, a road 20 feet wide, made of flagstones covered with bitu men. Ancient Mexico built good roads, as did India and Persia. In the latter country the monarch built a smooth, hard highway akmgside of the common earth road, and nono could travel it save his royal high ness. The Roman roads nre btill the marvel of a modern world and are still used. Nothing contributed more to Rome's prosperity and prowess than these imperial highways, straight as an eagle's flight, rer«ch ing to nil parts of the world-empire. Good roads mean progress and prosperity and are a benefit to the people who live in cities, and an ad vantage to people who live in the country. Like good streets, they make habitation along them desir able. You never, or rarely ever and then not for long, see a shabby home by the side of a modern road, where everybody passes and sees how you live. They make people straighten up and put their best foot forward. The value of farms is enhanced. Statistics prove that in nearly every case the Stutes having the highest percentage of improved roads are a powerful factor in encouraging tho settlement of uuused lands. Roads also have a far-reaching influence in holding men to their farms, and re straining them from drifting to the towns. While the manufacturing towns must have labor, who is here that will deny that if our counties had good roads, the hundreds of good farmers would not have moved their families from the country home to town to work in the mills? So great an exodus occurred two or three years ago that farm labor was almost im possible to seeure.' These people are needed in the country; there they would have stayed had there been good roads, which make farm life so much more attractive. As the price of lands depends as much on ac cessibility to market as, on produc tivity, it follows that road improve ment, by holding people and attract ing others, directly tends toward in crease in value* of all farm lands within "touch, of the improved high ways. It is shown that in State# •.,. • : ' - where the average price of land is less than S2O an acre the precentage of improved roads is only 1.8, where as, in States where the aereage val ue ia more than S2O, the average of improved roads is 9 per cent of the total mileage. There are records which showUhai roads have increased the value of farm lands from 50 to 500 per'cent. It has been ascertained by • dozen railroads through their land and in dustrial departments that farms through which good roads run are enhanced in value from $2 to $9 an ea?re, and whether conservative or enthusiastic, all concede that the in crease is narked, immediate and in evitable. Suppose a county of 200,- 600 acres voted bonds, and placing the enhanced value at Only $4.50 an acre, it will be seen that the land owners thus benefitted would gain not less than $900,000. If the bond issue amounted to half a million, there would be $400,000 profit at once. The increase in the profit and price of farm products is equally certain and plain. The farmer's produce is worth nothing unless it can be placed on the market. Time was in England when food would be rotting in one place while people suffered for the lack of it in a community a few miles away, because it was impossible to transport the products of the farms. Pries of Farm Products. Official records -in Guilford county show that the price of farm products since pood roads have ben built has increased from four hundred to seven hundred per cent. And yet, there ia a farmer in my county who maintains that good roads will ruin him and the county, because they will reduce the price of produce, since, when the roads are had, he pets $2.50 a cord for wobd, because wood is made scarce by the impassability of the and he says he would rather haul wood through mud hub deep for $2.50 than to roll along a smooth road and sell it for sl, which price he claims a cord will drop fo in the event of good roads. The exper ience of Charlotte and Greensboro en tirely disprove this absurd idea, for there are not two better markets in the State, and the first named has 200 miles of good roads leading to it, and the second 100 miles. Tax or Bonds? The question comes, how to get good roads? Shall we vote a direct tax or shall we issue bonds? Shall we pay as we go, or shall we pay part now and lflt future generations- pay part ? To my mind, the whole ques tion comes down to whether we want good roads now, or whether we are willing to build a few miles now and let another generation build a few miles and another and another, until in the course pt human events we se cure good roads throughout the State years after every person now at the age of accountability is dead and Hone, I stand for bonds. Mecklenburg has been building roads 30 years, and she has about 200 miles, using direct tax. Guilford has been building roads six years and she has 100 miles, using bonds. We are too far behind to depend on a direct tax. We must go ahead and issue bonds, build the roads, increase our wealth, and reap manyfold the cost of the roads. Is North Carolina to labor another gen eration before pood roads come to pass? God forbid. We would lose enough to macadamize every mile of road in the State. Should a county issue bonds be fore n dollar is expended, a compe tent civil engineer should be secured apd put to work mapping out the county. He should be under either i.'ie county commissioner or a high way commission composed of the commissioners and other men se lected by the people.) It ,is abso lutely necessary that an engineer be employed, even though he cost con siderable salary, for the location, construction and maintenance of roads are operations that no man or set 6f men without the aid of an en gineer can conduct in the proper way to get tlie best results at the least cost. There is a disposition on the part of many people to cavil at the price paid such an engineer, and if you undertake to fight for roads you will meet it at the outset. That idea must be eradicated, as must also the idea that the men entrusted with the public funds will not place every dol lar where it belongs. In an age of skepticism in business, it is not un natural that people should suspect that huge sums voted for roads will be preyed upon. No county can build roads without an engineer who acts as pathfinder, going over the county, studying the situation, making maps, and doing all that very neces sary preliminary work without which ofttimes money is worse than wasted. Road-Building an Art. When county officers learn to.ap preciate the fact that road-building is an art, they will rely more and more upon expert advice and scientific de- monstration, and when they havo learned what class of roads is desir able, they will construct them and then guard them. Therein lies one of the most impor tant of all American highway ques tions. Americans build as good roads as Englishmen or Frenchmen* bpt having done so, they rest contented with their efforts and let each passing breath of air, speeding automobile, or drenching rain blow or wash the road surface away. In the countries of Europe, where the well-nigh perfect roads are the pride of the citbens and the envy and admiration of visiting Americans, moat jealous care is constantly given; a careful day-by-day inspection ia made, and every depression is quickly filled and all inequalities rolled or tamped. Two requisites, therefore, confront the county supervisors at the outset —first to ascertain what roads would be most suitable to that particular section, and secure what sumsfhould be expended for their maintenance after completion. These are vastly important and the nation's very small percentage of im proved roads is due largely to a fail ure to- give consideration to them. Millions of money have been wasted in building roads which local condi tions made impracticable and out of all cost proportion to the county's revenues. There are exceptions to all rules, however, and Pike county, Alabama, stands as a glittering exception to the usual construction blunder. There the county officials had planned to ex pend a large sum in the building of gravel roads. Mr. W. L. Spoon, United States su perintendent of road construction, being sent to make an inspection of the county's road possibilities, learn ed that 700 miles of important routes needed improvement. He figured that the cost of gravel roads would be $3,000 a mile —plainly a sum greater than the county could be bonded for. Conditions, however, were ideal for sand-clay construction and he strong ly urged its adoption. By legal pro viso the county could be bonded for only 3 1-2 per centum of the assess ed value of the real and personal property. The plan was decided upon and an issue of $143,000 was voted. One hundred thousand dollars' worth of the bonds were quickly sold, being disposed of in $50,000 allotment*. The first allotment brought a pre mium of $625 and the second one of $825. Forty thousand dollars was at' once spent for mules and rgad-build ing machinery and work was started. With the sum remaining, 118 miles of the finest sand-clay roads in the South had been built within two years from the date of the bond issue; a generous sum was still on hand; eight gangs were at work, and the people were so pleased they stood ready to, take up the remaining issue of $43,- 000 and expend it in the same way. Inasmuch as road building and road mending have been for a century under county commissioners and township road supervisors with prac tically no beneficial results observable —it seems plain that the time for a radical change of methods is at hand** I am an earnest believer in Federal and State aid and co-operation in building good roads, and I believe that the time is at hand when the government w:4l hit upon some plaa whereby it may co-operate with the State and the State with the county, in the work. It has been argued it is unconstitutional. Why should it be more so than expenditure of money for river and harbor improve ments, which often take the form of a private enterprise? As a matter of /act, it has been shown conelasive ly in Congress that so far from being unconstitutional, the government in its very beginning began the construc tion of good roads and expended* more than seven millions on the old Cumberland road from Maryland to St. Louis, a distance of 700 miles, and the work was only abandoned because there arose a question of authority and responsibility as to who should maintain and repair the road, the State, or the Federal government. What does the government do for tlus farmer? We spend millions annually on the army, a dead loss, though doubtless necessary; we spend some hundred millions on the navy; Rave spent a half billion on river and har bor improvements. During ten years we spent more than six billion dollar** of which about forty-seven million' went to the agricultural department; but not a dollar for the promotion of good roads, a common blessing for all the people. During fifty year*, in all the vast sun onr government his dis bursed for one thing and another, not a dollar has been appropriated for roads. And yet, the farmers of the country compose the bulk of popula*-: tion, and last year contributed to the national wealth some, eight 'billions of dollars. The one-horse farmer around ' behind the hill miles from town forms the foundation of the nation, and what has the government done for bim? Nothing. The burden is upon him, he foots the bills; and the gov-* eminent takes his monf?y and spends! it on everything under the sun by the millions, On everything but on what affects him mostly—roads. In 1908| the farmers of this country not onlyi fed more than eighty millions of peo ple, but sent across the sea a billion five hundred millions of farm prodj ucts. This preserved balanee trade with all the world, and gave five hundred millions to the country to set aside for the proverbial rainy day. Had this not been, a billion dol lars would have had to have been sent abroad to pay import duties. It wai enough to pay the immense appro priations of Congress and still ualf a billion to th? national wealthM In the face of all this, the Federifil government has done not a thing foJ gtood roads. —; The forerunners of a national bigh-fl way from New York south to Atisn-I to have recently passed through theß State. I believe the time is at hanfl when the government will spend monX ey on that road. I believe we shall see a road from Asbeville and tl» west through to the coast. It ifl bound to come. The duty of th« presfl KM in hastening the dav. A, M
The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.)
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July 9, 1909, edition 1
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