WEATHER
Unsettled tonight. Fair
and warmer for Sunday.
Fresh N. E. shifting to
N. W. winds.
CIRCULATION
Friday
1,604 Copies
VOL. XI. FINAL EDITION
ELIZABETH CITY, NORTH CAROLINA, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 10, 1921
FOUR PAGES
NO. 289
Ragtime Church Music Utterly
Destroys Spirit of Worship
"
Dr. Hubert Poteat Declares Such
In Religious Worship As
Urges Earnest Endeavor To
Dellrered before an audience jcom- ,
posed mostly of B. Y. P. U. work
ers of the two Baptist churches of the r Pa"te upon the excellencies
city, the address of Dr. Hubert M.jf his nostrum? If so. you have
Poteat of Wake Forest College was!neard, hIm conclude his harangue
one of rltal Interest to Christian
people at large and altogether one of
the most remarkable and striking
-utterances ever heard from an Ellza
"beth City platform.
Had Elizabeth City people known
Hubert Poteat as they ought; had
they realized that as a speaker he la
hardly less gifted than as a musi
cian, as an author and as a teacher;
had they known with what original
ity and Incisive wit he would pre
sent his message and had they had
an inkling of the extraordinary im
port of that message, the annex of
"Blackwell Memorial church would
uUt utC .mum iu. ... i -J
Tiave gone out to hear him and naro -
ly a speaker who has been heard on
a Chautauqua platform In Elizabeth
City would have been given more un
divided attention.
No newspaper report could do the
address justice. A full verbatim re
port would give the reader no ade
quate conception of the telling effect
of the lecture when backed by Dr.
Poteafs virile personality and illus
trated by his rendering pn the piano
of example' of what he calls cheap
tnusic, the adjective referring to the
quality and not to the price of this
music.
The following does not pretend to
te a verbatim report but is an ef
fort to give in substance some of the
main points stressed by Dr. Poteat
In the course of a lecture of over an
tour's duration.
"Religion ' or Ragtime" was the
speaker's theme, and he was insist
ent on the conjunction, taking the
ground that ragtime is as much out
of place in religious worship as a
fcuck-and-wing dance in the pulpit.
The address was a scathing philippic
against ragtime music in religious
worship and a plea for earnest en
deavor to check an evil which, from
the standpoint of the speaker, threat
ens to destroy utterly the worship of
Cod In spirit and in truth through
the medium of song.
, "In son ritualistic churches," said
the speaker, "participation of the
congregation in the service is lim
ited to the singing of hymns. And
yet this exercise, instead of being
universally recognized as of vital im
portance, is permitted, in innumer
able churches, to sink into a kind of
dull lethargy which invariably suc
ceeds in communicating itself, in
greater or less degree, to the entire
aervice." ,
"Where this is the case," Dr. Po
teat went on to say, in substance,
''the purveyor of the cheap, ragtime
'hymn' finds a fruitful soil. He ar
gues that his book will wake the
congregation out of their lassitude;
that the perfect panacea for the lack
of interest in the singing is bound
up within the cheap covers of his
'Tinkling Cymbal'; that the proper
way to stir th,e souls of the people is
to begin with their feet, which be
ing galvanized Into frantic activity
. under the spell of sundry jiggs,
waltzes and Jazzes will speedily com
municate their exhilaration upward.
So he sells his ware and goes on hie
way rejoicing to the next church.
But the adoption of his book is not
a cure tor what alls the church. It
is the substitution of a new malady
lor the old. . ,
"'God is a Spirit and they that
worship him must worship-him In
spirit and in truth'. Those who be
lieve that statement of Scripture
witness with genuine regret the
growing popularity of cheap 'hymn'
books. For those who buy these
books forthwith forget about wor
shipping God in spirit and truth and
begin td 'worship' him In ragtime
and jig. Our ancestors-were so con
siderate of the proprieties of the
sanctuary that for centuries they used
only the actual words of Scripture In
their songs. We, now will use any
thing, be it ever so cheap and un
holy. x
"There are a number erf reasons
for the advance of cheap 'hymns' In
to popular favor.
"In the first place they are exten
sively and shrewdly advertised. At
large denominational gatherings
cheap books are frequently 'furnish
ed' by the publisher, who makes a
habit of piously 'furnishing' with a
view to remuneratively selling later
on. Nearly every evangelistic sing
er, so far as my observation goes,
Uses one of these cheap books.
Many sell them.
"Have you listened to a quack doc
Music As Much Out Of Place j
Buck-And-Wing Dance, And
Check This Evil
Bomeming nice tnis: -now mends,
you can find out all about what alls
you and how to cure It In my little
book here; price only fifty cents.'
"Were you ever among those pres
ent at an exhibition of mind-reading?
If so, you were exposed to some such
peroration a this: 'Now, friends,
you can -find out all about my won
derful powers, and develop similar
gifts by a pernsal of my little book
here; price only fifty cents.
' "Neither the uack doctor nor the
mind reader could be Induced upon
any consideration to Invade the
house of God with their books; but
the professional singer halls the op
portunity, and he is quite willing to
Tfegrade and prostltute th8
sanctuary
and defile the worship of God by
howling his wares from the very Holy
of Holies. Jesus, once upon a time.
with a scourge, drove from the
temple the money changers and those
that bought and sold in His Father's
House.
"Perhaps the chief reason, how
ever, for the popularity of the cheap
'hymn' is to be found in the fondness
for secular music of the -same type
which seems to be characteristic !of
our time. Jazz, waltzes, trues, rag
time, slushy sentimentality, 'have be
come the musical expression of so
many of our people ofcjside the
church that the same sort! bf thing,
with a poor, thin veneer
hreliglon,
It
is demanded in the churc
"Worship embraces
(reaching,
prayer ana song, ana no I man can
say which is-most important. Ser
mons and prayers are not timed out
wholesale by publishing noises to be
hawked up and down th
prancing evangelists and
land by
singers.
Why should hymns be thus
"We have in our great
kandled?
hymnals
songs that grew out of
Christian experience and n
I genuine
out of
a desire for a mors impreseke bank
account.
"The method of constructkn of a
cheap 'hymn' is the same as tiat em
ployed in the composition oft secu
lar song of the 1 same typi The
'poet' gets an idea around wlich to
writs. This idea is expressadtln the
chorus. 'There Is Power In The
Blood' and 'Brighten the Cornlr are
fine examples of 'sacred' songl pom
posed In this fashion. The li'orus
is the main feature as in alltkeap
songs, whether for church, orljome
or dance hall consumption. Wlen a
song of this type Is perpetratld in
the house of God the congregation
invariably mumbles the verses and
bellows the chorus. Really, you are
supposed to say 'Tum-te-tum' etc.
until you arrive at the chorus then
you are expected to get under (Ifull
head of steam immediately andtoar
."Brlght-un the cor-nur where lpu
are.' incmentauy tnat very pil
lar song offers a sorry ideal tolnfr
ambitious young people today,
what could be more ridiculous t
the Idea of guiding some one
from harbor across the bar wit
candle in a corner?
"But the 'composers' of ch
'hymns' are far more responsible
the sorriness of the product than
'poets.' The words of the song m
be but poor doggerel, the verses m
show only a distant kinship to t
chorus, the grammar may be natis
ating; but, there Is enough religio
about them to give - the though tfu
singer at least a vague lmpressio
that he is rendering something tha
was Intended to be a sacred sons
But the 'composers' have abandoned
utterly the spirit of worship, and
have fled, bag and baggage, to the
dance hall, the. musical1 comedy and
the cheap movie, for their inspiration
Thousands of churches and Sundav
schools are using the same sort of
music exactly as is Jingled forth by
the electric piano at the picture
house, the pony ballet In the thea
ter and the Jazz orchestra In the
public, dance hall.
"We Bet great store, In our moral
teaching, by association.1 The card
table Is wrong because of its im
memorial connection with gambling.
Now how can a devout Christian wor
ship God by singing a waltz? How
can a sorry piece of ragtime carry a
prayer upward to the Throne? How
can a one-step,' besllmed with the
sensual postures of the dance hall,
make its way, as the bearer of holy
adoration, Into the pure air of the
New Jerusalem?
I 'Saved! Raved!'
The very popular
Is a waltz, thinly
disguised by twelve-eight time, and
- ja fairly good waltz.too The chorus
slodge presents
TREATY DRAFT
i .
Formally Lays Before
Arms Conference
Document Supplant
Angla-Jap Alliance
Washington, Dec. 10 (By The As
sociated Press) The , draft of the
proposed treaty between the United
States, Great Britain, France and Ja
pan which is to supplant the Anglo
Japanese alliance and pave the way
for the acceptance of the American
proposals for naval reduction was
formally laid before the arms confer-,
ence today by Senator Lodge.
It Is a ten year agreement in
which the four nations bind them
selves to respect their existing rights
In insular possessions and dominions
in the Pacific and in case disputes
which cannot be settled by diplomacy
agree to adjust them through con
ferences among themselves.
Any one of the parties may with
draw on twelve months notice.
The treaty requires confirmation
by the Senate.
In order, Rene Vlriani, head of the
French delegation; Arthur J. Bal
four, heading the British delegation;
and Prince Tokugawa, chief of the
Japanese delegates, arose and gave
their assent to the new arrange
ments. They were followed by the
chief delegates of the other powers
represented who also expressed satis
faction at the new arrangement
Minister Sze of China expressed
"great satisfaction" with the pro
posed treaty. While the actual per
fection of the treaty goes forward
it is expected that the naval arma
ment and Chinese questions will
speedily go toward settlement. The
conference adjourned without giving
attention to the question of naval
ratio. t
POPE BENEDICT IS
WATCHFULLY WAITING
Rome, Dec. 10 (By The Associat
ed Press) Pope Benedict, while
following all phases of the Irish
question with deepest interest has
decided to await the final develop
ments before pronouncing his opin
ion on the peace settlement.
Oiling Machine
For Big Frolic
Elks' Minstrel Show Will Have Big
Time Acta In Olio
The local lodge of Elks is perfect
ing plans for the two biggest days In
Its history, the occasion of which
will be the annual "Jollies" at the
Alkrama theater, December 19th and
20 th. Those participating are all en
thusiasm and in a few days will be
in trim to give a finished rehearsal,
and by show time the machine should
be well oiled to run with the precis
ion of a professional performance.
The olio, a longed-for feature by
those taking part as well as outsiders,
will be of four acts. , Two of the acts
are at present running on "big time"
in some of the largest theaters of the
country, and, being handled by an
excellent cast, they should get over
with a bang.
The big minstrel circle and end men
will be better than ever If such a
thing is possible. The end men are
well equipped with laughing matter,
and the soloists have numbers that
are at present running on Broadway,
and will be put over with the same ef
fects used in the original productions.
Everything connected with the
show will be new, the scenery, the
costumes, the acts, the songs, the
dances and the Jokes. It will be re
membered that last year the show
elosed with a hotel scene which
proved a veritable riot. But Director
Gosden says he has something up his
feeve that will make the last scream
,l?ok like a thin dime.
iThe ticket committee reports a hea
advance sale and it is confidently
pected that all previous records for
Attendance will be broken. Reserved
Us go on sale at the Savings Bank
4 Trust Company in a few days.
Is i an adaptation departing very
sliflitly from the original fount of
induration of the once popular
balad, 'I wlsht I was single again.'
'ven worse, however, than the
wale or the ragtime Is the jingle,
fori scrapes the very bottom off the
sloijfh of cheapness. And, strange
fo s4', the Jingle Is more popular for
rirml than for secular songs.
"Vie more general characteristic
of ttse songs must be noted. Not
only to almost all of them possess a
chor? as the main feature, but that
cl'ori Is subjneted to those adorn
nicnti of labor and love that should
alwa! distinguish the most precious
Continued on Page 3
Fell Dead While
Making A Prayer
John Sykes, Colored, Passry Away
Suddenly At A Neighbor's House
Friday Night
While he was in the act of making
a prayer, John Sykes, a colored man
about 65 years old, dropped dead at
the home of a neighbor, John Liver
man, on Brown street, Friday night
at a few minutes before nine o'clock
In the midst of a family prayer meet
ing, supposedly of heart failure'.
Sykes had been employed for two
years by Hlllery Cartwrlght at his
livery stable on Green , street, and
Mr. Cartwrlght says that the colored
man v.'as a willing and - capable
worker.
Sykes worked practically all day
Friday at the livery stable, and ap
peared to be In his usual health,
except that he complained of some
soreness in an arm that he had hurt
several weeks before. His death was
entirely unexpected.
Sacred Opera Was
Beautifully Rendered
Singing, Acting And Costumes Har
moniously Portrayed The Bib
lical Story Of Esther
The Elizabeth City Choral Society
surpassed all former efforts In the
beautiful rendition of the sacred op
era, "Esther," Thursday and Friday
nights. i
Only one thing was lacking, a
large audience.
Not only was the chorus excellent,
and the orchestral music in complete tne turn of events In the Informal
accord, but the characters had been' discussions which, have been going
especially well chosen, and each per- on among the heads of the delega-
son acted so well his or her part thatitlons. The opportunity to bring
children who could not perhaps un
derstand all the wordsol the singing
jwere able to grasp the meaning of
the story throughout because of the
splendid interpretation givej. The
beautiful costumes had their part, too,
In making the story impressively real.
Mrs. J W. Foreman as Esther was
indeed the beautiful and gracious
queen, with J. C. B. Ehrlnghatis as
Ahasuerus, the King. H. A. Brown
ley was the King's Counselor, Ha
ntaan, and his singing and acting
were superb. L. E. Skinner as Morde
cai, Mrs W. C. Twiddy as Zeresh,
Hamaan's wife, Miss Hattle Harney
as Mordecal's sister, Miss Margaret
Sheep as the Prophetess, Miss Virgin
ia Hufty as First Maid of Honor, Miss
Lou Shine as a Medean princess, W.
C. Sawyer as the Scribe, George Bro
thers as the Herald, Charles Over
man as Harboah, Shelton Q, Scott
as the High Priest, Marvin Mann
and Carl Perry as cupbearers,. Misses
Lillie Mae Stevens, Aurilla Btrahl,
j Beulah Hedrick Nettie White, Hilda
Moran, Emerald Sykes, Willie' Fear
Ug and Margaret Harris as the
I Queen's Maids, made up the remain
der of the cast, each contributing in
wonderfully harmonious manner to
the complete success of the perform
ance. v ; X.
I Mrs. I. M. Meeklns as pianist and
F. R. Hufty as director, through
.many weeks of faithful practice had,
with the loyal co-operation of the en
tire cast, wrought this beautiful labor
of love for Elizabeth City. The un
stinted praise and the thorough en
joyment of the opera by those, who
were present is their reward.
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
FOR NORWAY-SWEDEN
Christiana, Norway, Dec. 10 (By
The Associated Press) The Nobel
peace prize for 1921 has been divided
equally between Premier Hjalmar
Branting of Sweden and Christian L.
Lange of Norway, the secretary of
the Interparliamentary Union offici
ally announced today.
Schooner Carried
Contraband Arms
Mexico City, Dec. 10 (By The As
sociated Press) The American fish
ing schooner Hebel, held by Mexi
can authorities at Ensenada, Is de
scribed In the foreign office state
ment as a carrier of contraband
arms.
DR. ALIiEV ACQUITTED
Chattanooga, Tcnn., Dpc. 10 (By
The Associated Press) Dr. W, P.
Allen was today acquitted by a jury.
on the charge of murdering Brush
Gerdeshire last May.
! REHEARSALS TONIGHT AT NINE
, - .v. uiv. t
rehearsals for the Riks Min-
... ii,f nf a
The
Iii i ul c ', ,,,.,
o clock in the Shrine Banquet Han,
Btrels
third floor of the Robinson bulldlu?.,
Gurney P. Hood has returned
from High Point, where he attended
a committee meeting of the North
Carolina Bankers Association.
Senate To Express Itself
On Conference Agreements
- pin, i i
This Decision Due To D esire To Leave No Doubt
In Minds Of Foreign Governments Or Any
body Else Of Purpose Of American People In
The New Undertakings
By DAT ID LAYfRENjEE
(Copyright 1921 oy Tke Aavaice)
Washington, Dec. 9 The Harding administration has
passed the word to the Senate thatit will be given an opportunity
to express itself pn the agreements which are signed by the
American delegation at the Armament Conference.
This decision to consult the ;
Senate on all agreements ir-Convict Says He
respective of whether they are Slaughter
technically called "understand- -
ings," "conventions" or treaties Little Rock, Dec. ;o (By The As.
is due to a desire to leave no cIated Pressj-sheriff's posses are
j Li. -it . n. , j searching for the body of Tom
doubt either in the minds Of the Slaughter, who was killed yesterday
foreign governments or any Jin tho Arkansas hills by one of the
body else of the resolute pur- n4v,lcls he llbetedt frora h9:
' . ; . i tentiary, according to a story told
pose of the American people in gherifl: Crowe Dy the convict, who
the new undertakings. was recaptured.
Origlnaily the president himself ln.jTRAINLOAD EMPLOYES
dlcated that the agreements reached
would be In the nature of excutlve
"understandings" and would not in
volve specinc ODllgatlons. Tnat
I situation, however has developed a
change within the past 48-hours due;ioaded in the stock yard walls today
ouuui. u uiiHiouioio nuiuftaiiuu ui iuc orougni on ine striae oi pacKing
Anglo-Japanese alliance by providing hpuse workers,
a substitute treaty that would do j The packers later denied the re
away with the obnoxious pact wasjport that 8,000 men were brought
too good chance to lose and when into their yards.
ureal Britain secured ,the approval
fo Japan it seemed to the United
States delegation to offer a graceful
solution to the whle business. y
As an evidence of the seriousness
With Which the American KOVern -
ment would view such a new treaty,
indications were given that the ap
proval of the Senate would be asked.
This means too that foreign parlia
ments will have to ratify the agree
ments. Just how far the naval ratio
proposals and the agreement not to
build fortifications and the principal
pact which is to bind the powers not
to maks war on each other in the , now in spam, caoiea menus here w
Paclflc has not yet been officially dis- day announcing the engagement of
closed though it is recognized that
all are Interwlned in one and proba
bly all will be merged In 'a single
agreement.
Ai for the senate approval, the at
titude of the rank and file of both
Republican and Democratic parties,
is one of sympathy with the United
States delegation except of course for
a few members here and there who,
however, are not strong enough at
this writing to. endanger ratification
of anything that might be submitted.
With Senator Underwood the Dem-
ocratic leader, able to command the
support of at least the majority of I
the Democrats and with Senator
Lodge and the administration spokes
men able to master a majority of the
Republicans, the bi-partisan coali
tion Is powerful' enough to put
through such agreements as have
already been outlined In the press.
The word has been given to members
of Congress that the new treaty
would not Include commitments or
or entanglements or guarantees. It
would, of course, merely forbid the
United States to go to war In the
Pacific until nine months or a year
had elapsed for Investigation. This
is a limitation of the right of con
gress to declare war and - some ad
ministration officials believe it would
even be wise to submit the treaty to
both houses of Congress o that
there may never be any doubt about
the validity of the pact. The Senate
has endorsed the principle of Investi
gation In thirty treaties now In effect
between the United States and all the
Important countries of the world ex
cept Japan, Mexico, Austria, Germany
and Turkey, so It will not be a novel
of unprecedented suggestion.
The timidity of the administration
about consulting the Senate is one of
the most interesting under-the-sur-fae
flevploptriftnts of the conference.
lt 1() (lue iargely to fi-ars of division in
the Senate which were partly ex-
prossed In Mr. Harding's address to
j Congress about the "agricultural
bloc" and partly by Secretary of War
i Weeks In his New York speech about
, , . ,
the dangers of the present congress-
jlonfll system of factions and groups,
I ... . ,,!
,: "" "'r ;-. "
IK uiho a viviu i euuiiur.Liuii u iiuw urn lernui hhihi yin'Miunm, u iuci wuiw
Senate picked flaws in the Versailles was revealed when only by Demo
treaty, and little by little forced its cratlc help waB a two-thirds vote
defeat after an
American executive
,hnd negotiated for
months and se-
cured what, he thought was a.goodStates and Germany. , -
. FOR THE STOCK YARDS
,
Chicago, Dec. 10 (By The AsbocI-
otB(1 PrnHsl A tralnload of new em-
Di0yes said to number 8.000 was un-
while Federal and State officials here
Were co-operating with the officials
0f the meat cutters union in their
ffort te adjust the differences which
FOR BASEBALL PLAYERS
New York, Deo. 10 (By The As
sociated Press) Training schools
lor basebaU players or the formation
'nf unerinl circuit fnr rlnvnlnnmant
Jot players are among the possibilities
of baseball, having been suggested to
major league magnates.
MISS HARRISON TO WED
New York, Dec. 10 (By The Asso
ciated Press) Former Governor
I Burton Harrison of the Philippines,
i his daughter, Virginia, to Christian
QrOBS of Chicago, th wedding to
take place at Algeciras Spain, next
year.
FOUR POLICEMEN KILLED
TWO MARINES WOUNDED
Managua, Nlcarauga, Dec. 10 (By
The Associated Press) Four police
men were killed and one policeman
and two American Marines were
wounded when the police broke up a
fight between a party of Marines off
duty and civilians here today.
BONUSES FOR CHRISTMAS
New York, Dec. 10 (By The Asso
ciated Press) Wall Street fs gradu
ally recovering ficm the general eco
nomic depression and signs point to
a liberal distribution of bonuses at
Christmas.
compromise of national viewpoints.
Mr. Harding's disinclination to bring
the Senate into the situation at the
outset, however has been brushed
aside, by the words of his advisers
who believe the public opinion of the
United States Is so strongly behind
what la being done by the American
delegation at the arms conference
that nothing will be risked by sub
mitting it to the Senate. On the
other hand, several of the- spokes
men, of foreign delegations point out
that all legislative bodies are alike
and that If they are permitted to
haggle and debate a thing Indefinitely
they will talk it to death. They de
clare that the rules of the American
Senate make it possible for a dlscus-
sion to be prolonged while public en
thusiasm tori any project slowly
wanes. On the other hand, tho
Harding administration will have an
advantage In this respect which Its
predecessors did not have. The Re-
publican majority will be assisted by
the Democratic minority for the lat-
ter Instead of pursuing partisan pur-
poses are giving Indications through
.
Senator Underwood of a des re not
to be petty or partisan but to work
...... ...... ,
, vuu"""lut
-secured for the treaty which recently
established peace between the United