VOL. XI., NO. 28
"REMINISCENCES."
Biographical and Historical Sketch
by Dr. r. S. flicks, Treating ol
Local Persons and Scenes.
After they crossed the yankee cavalry
cut loose the pontoon boats and the
bridge floated down the river, at the
samu time the river was rising consid
erably and it put things in a bad shape
for them to get back. But when our
bridge was finished the army was there
crossing in good order. Of course our
army was chased by the yankee pickets
to the river bat when our army was all
across we cut the bridge and that ended
the chase. That retreat will never be
forgotten by the Confederates who
were in it, especially those who were
wounded. Isa sv men with one leg cut
of hopping along using heavy muskets
as crutches, had already come from
Gettysburg, a distance of probably 25
or 30 miles and how much further they
had to travel that way without relief
they only found out. The ambulance
transportation being limited it was im
possible to carry only the worst of the
wounded soldiers. Readers excuse me
please, I did not mean to write out a
history of the war, but it is impossible
to write a history of jour travels with
out bringing in some certain localities,
scenes, etc. The electric thoughts of
that old time carries me still further
back to my boy-hood days when 1 lived
in Tarboro with Mr. O'berry, when I
was a member of the blessed Sunday
School, also a member of the Cadets of
Temperance. How grand it made me
feel with my regalia on to be in a parade
and to be a brother mingled in with the
boys that stood at the head of class in
society, such as I might mention, few
of them are living now. I know on'y
of two or three, Mr. Charlie Austin of
Tarboro, Luchuse Landing and M. J.
Battle near Whi takers, who was my
nearest neighbor lor the last ten years,
a good christian friend of mine. In
connection with all these thoughts 1
think of poor old "Uncle" Joe Sessoms
w- f .*' * .»**» e* esWm unuor
General Washington. Yes I saw him
in person, and I can see him now in my
imagination with his walking stick, a
spear on the tr-d of it. The people
called him often by nick name such as
"sixspear" or "seventy six." I was
but a mere boy then but it was greatly
interesting to me to sit down by him
and hear him tell about the war. I
have wondered since if he got Dension,
I reckon not, very iittle if any I think,
in fact none. His home was at the
poorhouse about two miles of Tarboro,
he was one very last to die of
the revolutionary soldiers. It was no
disgrace to him to die at the poor house,
but alas, I do feel it was a disgrace or
an oversight on our part, we the citi
zens of Edgecombe Go. If we can,t
locate his grave we ought to do so as
near as possible and erect a monument
to his memory, and the Mexican war
soldiers should be cared for especially
if in need of more than the pension
amounts to. And along the same line
our present veterans of North Carolina
should be most tenderly cared and pro
vided for if in need. They are most
worthy and deserving. It is true that
there is something being done in the
way of a Soldiers Home, but not near
enough to fill the demand to my knowl
edge. There are many poor veterans
that have or wotlld apply to be an in
mate of the Soldiers Home, but the
echo is "no more room." I do hope
and pray that the next legislature will
appropriate more special funds for that
purpose, let there be whatever political
party there may be in power, be sure
to look after the poor Confederate
soldiers. Well I will go back to my
company. my command crossed
the river I joined in with them. I had
been absent all the winter, now the
company was opened for another sea
son. I had disposed of my forge, so
was then given a place as water carrier,
that was to keep water in readiness to
swab the cannons with in time of bat
tle. I pretty £oon became an expert
at that, I endeavored at all times to
keep a supply of filled buckets with
water changing on hooks swinging to
the guns. In that way it afforded me
much chance to shelter myself during
the battle or going in and out of a bat
tle. I think it will be sufficient to say
that I got along very well during that
/campaign. We went to and fro, up
and down over the mountains and
through the valleys of Va., forded the
rivers several times xluring the cam
paign. There were lots of incidents
that happened that would be interest
ing but too numerous to mention with
the amount of time and space we have
to spare. I nearly omitted two very
important battles. One I was an eye
witness to, the other I was near by |
if he sieeku Mount i^ieeog^
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY THE ROCKY MOUNT PUBLISHING COMPANY.
when it was fought. I will try to give
a description of them* When I say try,
I mean try, for it is an impossibility
for one man to describe a terrific bat
tle, A man with all the eloquent
language and utterance unsurpassed,
elavated abova the field and had the eye
of an eagle he would hardly be able to
describe a mere shadow of the scene of
a battle. jThe first battle I will mention
was known as a Bristo Station. I will
be as brief as possible in trying to de
scribe it.
Our main army was in two sections.
Longstreet was chasing the Federal
forces from east, westward, along a
road running in that direction. These
two roads crossed in a few miles of the
station. I think it was Hill or Jackson,
or probably both, coming from the
interior in double quick time so as to
cut the Federals off before they reach
ed the cross roads. I was in the,rear of
that section and we double quicked it
for tfiree or four hours, it seemed at the
rate of ten or fifteen miles an hour, but
we lost the race, about one hour late.
The yankees got to the cross roads first
and took the right hand leading to the
station. Between there they ambushed,
formed a line ot battle and before it
would take time to tell it Longstreet's
advanced colums fell in the trap, and
the result was a terrific battle or at
least a slaughter of our men. It was
soon over. The yankees thin fell back
or were forced on to the railroad. Night
came on and the battle was ended.
Next day I was at the field hospital,
and will never forget the sight, the
amcunt of limbs, legs and arms that
had been and were being cut off. There
was a pile of them as large as a small
size dairy, and a greater part of the
wounded seemed to be from Rocky
Mount.
(To be continued.)
NO REDUCTION IN WAGES ON A. C. L.
Contemplated Cot oft After Confer
ence Between Officials end Repre
sentatives of Employes.
It will be cause for keen pleasure in
iJLiS ci~> wile« if is learned* chat alter a
conference lastii.g two weeks between
the Atlantic Coast line officials and re
presentatives of the employes it was
decided that the matter of reduction in
wages, on account of the depression in
business, was ..ailed off Saturday and
things will remain as they are. At
present, however, the shop men at
South Rocky Mount, are working only
eight hours a day, but there is a per
sistent rumor_that this will be changed
soon and the ten hour system resumed.
Business has already begun to im
prove and the number of trains moving
is increasing. Sunday morning three
extra freights were run out from South
Rocky Mount and Monday morning the
local freight business was mucn better
than for some time. This gives a feel
ing of confidence among the employes
that very early traffic will reach a
nearly normal state and this will in
turn bring a return to full time in
working hours and a reinstatement of
men laid off. The Company is "mobil
izing" refrigerator cars at South Rocky
Mount for the movement of straw
berries and early truck, the which also
inspires confidence.
It is said Mr. Harry Walters, the
largest stockholder in the road, was
the prime factor in calling off the pro
posed reduction of wages, and that he
gave as his reason that when all other
systems were tied up with strikes or
other troubles his men remained at
their posts and were loyal throughout.
He further said that the Coast Line
had never had any trouble on its system
and did not propose to have any row.
Young School Teacher.
Mr. C. H. Finch, of Carthage, a con
stant reade. of the Times was in our
office this morning to renew for the
Times, and informed us that his son,
Green R. Finch, a lad of 13 years of
age, holds a grade certificate
and is o teacher in a school in the Prest
Hill district, near Carthage.
Green is a bright boy, a constant
reader ot the Times and a contributor
to Aunt Polly's columns in the semi
weekly.
The Man Who Succeeds
in getting things to come his way
generally makes sure by going out
to meet and invite them in. He
has a checking account at the bank
because of its real value in limiting
wasteful expenses, its conveniences,
its safety and he knows it is an invita
tion to success to meet him half way, an
invitation she is in the habit of accept
ing. Why don't you have a bank ac
count?
fcOCKY K. C., IKIESL k 4Y, IMKCH 12, 1908.
NEW TELEPHONE SERVICE INSTALLED.
Local Exchange Now Equipped With
Central Energy Phone Service
Equal of Any CUy.
An exacting public who use tele-j
phones have no conception of the ex
pense and work necessary to install a
modern system such as the Home Tele
phone and Telegraph Co. has just comr
pleted in the local exchange. A num
ber or" the best skilled workmen have
been laboring for several months sa£~«
stituting a most modern central energy
system for the old magneto style phones
and now Rocky Mount can boast as
good telephone service as any cit# i fr
North Carolina, or anywhere for that
matter. A new switchboard to accom
modate 1600 telephones has been put
and the v/ork of "cutting over"
the old to the new for tie past wegjc
has necessarily caused some inconven
ience to the patrons, but now the work
is completed the better service wiii
more than repay for the temporal
worry.
Mr. F. C. Topleman, general superin
tendent of the Home Telephone and
Telegraph Company, has been here
sisting the local superintendent, Mr.
Mark Williams, in tXe
work of installing the new system, a**j\
they have done their work well. How
ever rapidly our progressive city irtrt*
grow the new plant is ample to takfe
care of subscribers for some years
'come. A visit by the editor to the '.*x
change acquainted him to some extent
with the intricacy of a modern tele
phone system and the necessarily per
fectly adjusted parts that go to make
up the successful operation of it.
the entrance of the wires into the build*-
ing to the switchboard ther ? is a nicety"
of adjustment of the parts which. U
well nigh perfection, and has to be.
The central energy symtexn is a;,
superior to the magneto as the modern
Pullman car is to a box-car, anrt its
vantages are tnjoyed both by pa
tron and the operators in the central
office, where the work is v
Ly Juuuoiii sfty'ie Imone?
You litt the receiver from the hook and
immediately a small light glows at
your number in central offi e and re
mains staling the operaror in the
until your wants are attended to. No
ringing of bell, only at the other end
where the call is extended. At the
switchboard duplicates of all the mem
bers are so arranged that one operator
can make the connection for any num
ber on the list, without the aid of
another operator, or getting up from,
her seat.
In the storage room where the latent
current waits to be loosed to do man's
bidding every possible safeguard for
the protection of the operators from
lightning is found, and it is impossible
for foreign current of electricity to
reach them. Besides the batteries
ordinarily found in small exchanges for
the current for transmission the new
system just installed in the local ex
change includes a large amount of cur
rent from the city's light plant, and
this is transformed into a direct current
by.apparatus in the storage room.
All In all Ihe new plant represents
the very latest improvements in modern
telephony and is up to the exacting de
mands of patrons of chis great modern
convenience.
Homicide Surrenders to Police.
Hezekiah Jones, colored, who shot
Doc Little, a negro hobo, Nov, 26th, as
a result of which the latter died a few
days later from blood poisoning, came
in and voluntarily surrendered to the po
lice Friday. Jones since the homicide
had been in West Virginia, and has
the appearance of having been badly
used by the world. He was given a
preliminary hearing Saturday morniug
before Judge Thorp and all the evi
dence from eye witnesses to the shoot
ing went to show it was in self de
fense, and he was discharged. Little
started the trouble and then went off
and returned with a gnn, with which
he threatened Jones' life, when the lat
ter picked up a shot gun lying across
the bed and shot him in the leg. Jones
then went in the country and stayed a
few days and upon hearing of Little's
death left the State.
The Bank of Rocky Mount
is incorporated under the North
Carolina banking laws, and is regularly
examined by The State Bank Examiner.
It confines itself to a straight, legiti
mate and conservative banking busi
ness, no speculation, no "high-finance"
It respectfully solicits the account of
the people of this community who ap
preciate safety for their money and as
liberal treatment as is consistent with
absolute safety.
. 170 CHILu'itEN BURNED TO DEATH.
i Awful Catastrophe In North Collln
' j wood, 0., School When School
Building Burns Down. i
'j One of the most awful catastrphes in
•. modern history occurred at North Col
i linv.ood, a suburb of Cleveland, 0.,
• Wednesday, when between 160 and 170
school children were buxned to death or
grour d under the feet of the panic
' stncKea crowd who were attempting to
4 escape from the burning school building
; where C 25 were attending school.
i The schoolhouse was of brick, two
»j stories and an attic in height. The
f- number of pupils was more than nor
f-'m'J'v ' itvro, an( j the smaller children
• hud b , placed in the upper part of
the building. There was but one fire
t escape and that was in the rear of the
: building There were two stairways,
- one leading to a door in front, and the
t other to a door in the rear. Both of
i >. -a opened inward, and it is
. -;ar door was locked as
I k..,
•.! When .hejflames were discovered the
i j ac*«who throughout seem to have
*: i /'i bh courage and self-possession
, (ana o bave struggled heroically for the
:>f«* pupils, marshaled the
Ijiiiiii* 'in , , column "fire drill,"
■ j-wnich \ had often practiced.
) F at? y :he line of marchJn this
f j exercise had always led to the front
-.i.-tlo .r an .-i children had not been
-/ir«i it-n l- se •' any other exit. The
ij'nreCHm a furnace situated di
• Jreeti> u i.i i v liU pjtrt of the building.
■ i.When tne c ndren reached the foot of
i-Lthe stairs th. y found the flames close
i j upon them a id so swift a rush was
t| made for the djor that in an instant a
t 1 t'ight Ly packed mass of children was
trailed up against it. second
;none of iho.-.e who were upon, a any por
, | tion of the fi.-st flight of stairs had a
i jfhance for their lives. The children at
• }he foot of the stairs attempted to fight
ii their way to the floor above, while
[ • those who were coming down shoved
hmercilessly bac»c into the flames
xik' an -i/]scaiic ihere was 'a
i frightful panic with two hundred of
t the pupils fighting for feheir lives,
- Most of those who were killed died
r here. The greater part of those who
» escaped managed to turn back and
I reached the fire escape and the win
i dows in the rear.
Various and unconfirmed statements
• are made as to the ca use of the fire and
■ also that the doors of the building had
: been locked at the front entrance, while
i but one door of the rear entry was un
fastened. The janitor, himself be
reaved of three children, says the doors
were open, according, to custom. At
any rate the congestion of fleeing chil
i dren, in the hallway below, effectively
s barred the way, and the little ones
> went to their death totally [unable to
> evade the flames.
Within three hours after the start of
• the fire it had burned itself out, and the
- work of recovering bodies proceeded.
■ The village fire department had only
1 two engines and neither, upon arrival
; after the alarm was given, were at all
effective in stemming the flames.
5
Getting on in The World
is a matter of vast personal interest
to each and every one of us. There is
a wholesome joy in making headway in
the world of dollars; in feeling one's
t horizon of poverty being pushed back,
3 pushed iather and farther away. Get
-7 ting on in the world means growth,
5 material growth; a broader grasp of af
" fairs and a larger confidence in one's
3 ability to do the things which count;
5 the things which make for the upbuild
-7 ing of our community certainly is a mat
-1 ter of personal interest to every prop
? erty owner, every tax payer, every
young man and every young woman in
• our town and the surrounding country.
Do you wish to join the ranks of those
• who are getting on in the world? Its
not so hard as you may imagine; just a
I little practical application of the virtue
■ of thrift, a cutting out of your unnec
-5 essary expenses, the saving of your
» expenses, the saving of your money
I I and the starting of an account with
5 The Bank of Rocky mount.
%
Sharpsbnrg Items.
1 The opening spring weather "is mak
a general stir among the farmers of
the community in preparing for their
crops. Our Supply Company is making
a specialty of fertilizer just now and a
large quanity is being delivered to the
: farmers who express themselves as be
- ing hopeful of a good crop and fruit
1 year. We are pleased to hear such
> hopeful words, as they are encouraging
to tbe producer and consumer, and an j
incentive to greater effort.
Improvements are in progress, and a
new store and dwelling are nearly com
pleted; then we wll have a first class
hotel and boarding house for the acco
modation of the traveling public and
whoever wants to board in a nice,
pleasant country town.
Ever alert to improvements of value
and convenience, our Supply Company
has a telephone introduced, and we are
now connected with Rocky Mount and
Wilson by phone.
Our young people are active in things
of profit and pleasure, and a large num
ber of our older people are interested
in their success.
Recenlty the teacher of our graded
school held a nice box social to raise
money for school improvements. On
Feb. 28th, our school gave a very
nice musical and literary entertainment.
The scholars were well drilled, the vo
cal music was very sweet, and the reci
tations, dialogues and tableaux were ■
humrous, patriotic and realistie. Both
the social and the concert were largely
attended and the concert was instruc
tive as well as amusing and entertain
ing, and great credit is due our teacher
Miss Rosa B. Westry for the complete
success attending both.
Mr. W. C. Pridgen and Miss Jennie
Pridgen were married in the Baptist
church by the pastor on Feb. 26th.
On Sunday afternoon March 22nd, at
3 p. m. the Baptist church will hold a
welcome service for their new pastor,
Rev. E. B. Walts. Revs. I. M. Mercer
and W. G. Hall will be the speakers.
All are invited to this service and to
the preaching service every second Sun
day morning and night.
EASTERN CAROLINA LEAGUE FORMED.
Six Clubs Composed of Rocky Moont,
Wilson, Goldsboro, Hinston, Raleigh
and Wilmington to Play Bail.
The Eastern Carolina Baseball Lea
pnie was or»ar.i?ed in TYiI. r c.r Tuesday
with six clubs and privilege for the
advisory board to take in two more
towns, makirig an eight club league.
The cities comprising the league as
formed at Wilson are Rocky Mount,
Wilson, Kinston of the old league, and
Wilmington, Raleigh and Goldsboro.
New Bern, Fayetteville and Greenville
had representatives at the meeting and
two of these cities may later join the
league.
Officers of the Eastern Carolina Lea
gue were elected as follows: T. M.
Washington, of Wilson, president;
Horace E. King, of Goldsboro, viae
president; C. H. Gattis, of Raleigh,
secretary and treasurer. An advisory
board was elected composed of one re
presentatives of each city in the league
as follows* Raleigh, Albert Ccx; Wil
mington, R. H. Gwaltney; Wilson, T.
A. Fulghum; Kinston, W. B. Coleman;
Goldsboro, Horace E. King; Rocky
Mount, N. L. Alcocke. This board will
meet in Goldsboro April 6th, at 4 p. m.
The schedule committee are T. A. Fulg
hum, of Wilson; W. B. Coleman, Kin
ston, and N. L. Alcocke, Rocky Mount.
The league will be under National
Association protection and not on aft
outlaw league as it was last season. The
salary limit is $1,200 and each home
team secretary and treasurer and man
ager will have to file a sworn statement
with the secretary and treasurer of the
league that they nor any agent of theirs
have exceeded this limit. Each club
must submit a contract in duplicate
signed by the secretary and treasurer
and manager of the team and each
player for promulgation by the presi
dent. Within 10 days from March 10
a certificate of deposit of $350 in some
local bank must be filed with the league
secretary and treasurer, by each club
entering the leaguo, this to be a for
feit to the league should the club drop
'out before the season closes. Should
it be proven that any club exceeds the
salary limit of $1,200 a fine of $lOO for
the first offense will be imposed and $5O
for each offense thereafter; besides the
club guilty shall forfeit all games play
ed while the sa:ary limit is exceeded.
The season is to open June Bth and 60
games are to be played, 30 at home and
30 abroad. The visiting team shall
hate option of $4O or 40 per cent of the
gate receipts for each game and a rain
guarantee of $25 a day. Players are to
pay their own board while at their
home towns, and pay days shall be the
first and fifteenth of each month.
Messrs. N. L. Alcockel, J. B. Ram
sey, W. E. Fenner. Lewis Levy and J.
B. Barnes represented Rocky Mouut in
the meeting.
PRICE 5 CENTS
HAPPENINGS IN POLICE COURT.
Comedy and Tragedy of a Week as
Enacted In Calamity Hall Before
Mayor Thorp.
Thursday morning Duncan Braswell
was fined $5 for being drunk, to be
paid the next time he comes to town,
the purpose of Judge Thorp being to
keep Braswell away from temptation*
and thereby keep him sober. Will '
Lockhart, colored, was also fined $5 for
being drunk.
A case of much interest was tried be
fore Recorder Thorp Friday morning,
in which Mr. C. G. Proctor and his
clerk, Mr. R. H. Howell, were charged
with selling liquor to Sam Freeman, a
minor who works at the Rocky Mount
Mills. Messrs. Bunn and Spruill ap
peared for the defendant and Mr. T. T.
Thorne for the prosecution and the
case was hotly contested. The prose
cuting witness testified to having bought
whiskey from Mr. Howell at Mr.
Proctor's place on several occasions
and that no questions were asked about
his age until on either Saturday, Feb.
Bor 15 when Mr. Howell asked him
how old he was, after he had bought
whiskey once or twice before. Witness
said Howell told him that he didn't care
how old he was, that he was going to
sell him liquor anyhow, but that he
wanted to know. Witness then told
Howell he would be 17 this year. Wit
ness said then Howell asked him to
come to his room next day, he (If?) well)
wanted to talk to him, and that he
went to Howell's room Sunday after
noon and Howe'l went into the saloon
and took a half pint of whiskey up in
the room, they took a drink and Howell
gave him what was left in the bottle.
The prosecution put on witnesses who
testified that Freeman was seen to be
drunk and that he had made such state
ments to them, about the transactions
with Howell. The defendants, Mr.
Proctor and Mr. Howell, admitted sell
ing whiskey to Freeman on one oc
casion and testified that the circum
stances were, Freeman into
the saloon and asked for a half pint of
whiskey; Mr. Proctor, attracted by his
youthful appearance, asked him if he
was 21 years old, and Freeman respond
ed that he would be 22 this year; upon
this Mr. Proctor told his clerk to let
him have it. The defense attacked the
credibility of the prosecuting witness,
bringing out that though only 16 years
old he had been drinking for several
years, and had been moving from
place to place during that time. The
defendant Howell denied having the
Sunday meeting with Freeman. After
hearing the testimony and able argu
ment pro and con Judge Thorp dis
charged the defendants. Mr. Thorne,
causel for the prosecution, thereupon
took a nol pros as to other similar
cases based upon Freeman's evidenced.
Lawrence Crawford, colored, was be
fore Recorder Thorp Saturday on the
charge of stealing turkeys, and proba
ble cause being shown he was bound
over to Nash court under $lOO bond.
For lack of evidence to sustain a charge
of vagrancy against Andy Watson he
was discharged. Will Proctor was
fined $5 and John Proctor $lO for a
small affns with two men named
Jones. John Lane, colored, was as
sessed $lO for fighting.
Monday morning Frank Battle, col
ored, pleaded guilty to larceny of two
hats from a store and was bound over
to Edgecombe court under $75 bond.
Willie Beddingfield, for entering a
saloon, he being a minor, which is a
violation to the city ordinance, was let
off with the payment of $3, it being
shown that he went in the saloon to de-
I
liver a message.
__
The Personal Interest
you take in building up and caring
for it will have much to do with your
individual success and success of any
enterprise with which you identify
yourself. It is all under your own con
trol —come in and let us tell you how
easy it is to start an account with The
Bank of Rocky Mount.
Piano Toner Coming.
Our piano tuner, Mr. A. C. Johnson,
will be with us for a few days next
week, and any one needing first class
tuning or repairing can call on or
phone us their order and we will have
it attended to.
Mr. Johnson is a practical tuner, de
voting his entire time and attention to
this work. *
Dowdy & Lancaster.
Wanted —Curtains and fancy work to
laundry; prices reasonable. Satisfaction
guaranteed. 297 corner ot Tarboro and
Arlington streets.
Mrs. Clyde Dickson.