MADISON COUNTY RECORD,
Established June 28, 1901.
FRENCH BROAD NEWS
Established May 16. 1907.
Consolidated November 2, 1911
Th PROGRESSIVE FARMER
int. n t WS-RECORD
BOTH A YEAR FOR
THE ONLY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN MADISON COUNTY
MARSHALL, N. C, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1929
8 Pages This Week
1500
THE NEWS-RECORD
PRICE A YEAR L .
TCul1
SUGGESTS THAT UIADKON GO
INTO THE POWER BUSINESS
Anson G. Betta, Prominent
Owner Of Land In Madison
Writes County Com
missioners
The following letter explains
itself:
West Cummington, Mass.
Sept. 9th, 1929.
County Commissioners,
Madison County, N. C.
Dear Sirs:
Madison County is well favored by
Nature to equal in prosperity any
other county. The mineral resources
are important, if and when, the U
nited States Government will make
it possible for an American employ
ing concern to employ American la
bor and compete with slave owners in
India or the new colonies (7) of Af
rica, which contain some 200,000,000
black people to be put to work,
swamping not only miners, but all
producers of corn and cotton. This
can only be done by means of a right
tariff.
Madison County is. exceptionally
well favored with water power. What
this will, or will not mean, to the cit
izens, is very easy to forecast. The
dam at Redmon gave employment a
bout 1910 for a period and brought
in some temporary prosperity, but
that resource has been lost forever to .
the County, in the main. Do you want
all the poiwer of the county exported,
or do you want it to serve as a mag
net to draw in factories and open
mines f
Do you realize that it costs money
to build transmission lines and that
there is a loss of power in transmis
sion, and that consequently manu
su..
Young Baptists To Ban
quent Together In
Regional
Conferences
er right there, than they can be offer-
cu iu octane jwnci iu wi.s-iwvw v
Knoxville .perhaps?
Do you realize that an investment
in water power plants is considered
about the best and safest investment
in the World? Do you imagine t&e
Redmon power plant could be bought
today for twice what it cost? bo you
know that investors today consider
power plant securities the most gilt
edged there are?
I believe the county would have
the constitutional and legal right to
develop power and offer power to in
dustries. I believe it is the sound
way. in canaaa, near rmgara rans,
with the power supplied by the gov
ernment, rates are about 13 what
they are on the American side of
the Niagara River.
The only chance I see for Madison
County to amount to much industrial
ly, for its citizen and business peo
pler is to go into the power business
and make the power available to lo
cating industries. I notice that a
county in Georgia is doing this.
I should be glad to assist in any
way including looking for power bty
ers. Manufacturers are on the hunt
for location and power. They are
passing you by, but this is not neces
sary. Yours respectfully,
ANSON G. BETTS.
The week of September 30 to Octo
ber 4 has been designated as B. Y. P.
U. Conference Week in the Western
Region of sixteen Baptist associa
tions, comprising Avery, Mitchell,
Yancey, French Broad, Buncombe,
Green River, Sandy Run, Carolina,
Transylvania, Haywood, New Found,
Tuckaseegee, Macon County, Tenn.
River, Western North Carolina and
West Liberty associations. Seven
teen of the Western counties are cov
ered by these associations.
State Secretary James A. Ivey, Ra
leigh, assisted by Miss Winnie Rick
ett, Junior-Inter. Leader, State Pres
ident, Chas. Howard, Louisburg and
Regional President A. V. Washburn
of Sylva will cover this region touch
ing five central points, one each night
during the week. The associations
have been grouped and five meeting
places designated as follows: Bun
combe, French Broad and Green Riv
er associations meeting at Reed's
Chapel in Asheville, Monday night,
Sept. 30., Yancey, Mitchell and Avery
at Spruce Pine Baptist church Tues
day night, Sandy Run, Carolina and
Transylvania at Fruitland Institute
Wednesday night, Haywood, New
Found and Tuckaseegee at Canton on
Thursday night and Macon County,
Tenn. River, Western North Carolina
and West Liberty at Bryson City on
Friday night, Oct. 4.
At each meeting there will be in
spirational addresses by State presi
dent, Chas. Howard, who is one of
ngyguBwtiipi
ttors oT North Carolina. Mr. Howard
is a very forceful speaker and the fif
ty thousand B. Y.' P. U. members of
the Old North State are fortunate in
having such a talented, cultured and
consecrated young man at the head of
their organization. There will also
be conferences' and round table dist
cussions on all phases of B. Y. P. U.
work.
Letters .outlining the schedule and
program are being mailed out from
the Raleigh office and from Regional
president Washburn, Sylva, to the
pastors and other B. Y. P. U. officers
It is expected that large numbers of
pastors, associational officers, General
Directors, Senior presidents, Junior
and Intermediate leaders and other
officers will take advantage of these
(Conferences in their respecive dis
tricts.
The conferences will begin each
evening at 7:00. The churches en
tertaining these meetings are pro
viding banquet suppers for those at
tending. Secretary Ivey states that
this is a new project in B. Y. P. U.
circles and if the Western Region
makes a success of it, he intends to
cover the other four regions of the
state soon.
Much interest is being shown in
young people's work in the Western
part of the state recently due to the
fact that the state B. Y. P. U. convene
tion will meet at Mars Hill in June,
when more than one thousand of the
finest young Baptists in the state will
gather for a three day convention.- ..
ARE NOT EXEMPT
COURT IN MARSH
ALL THIS WEEK "
Almost Entire Week Consumed
One Civil Caie
In
VETERANS URGED
TO CLAIM BONUS
JANUARY 1, 1830, LAST DATE
APPLICATIONS WILL BE
RECEIVED BY U. S.
NEWSPAPER
IDEALS
: World Wat veterans who wish to
avail themselves of the adjusted
compensation, or bonus, provided for
- them under act of Congress must
. make application before January 1,
. 1930, it was announced Tuesday by
Mrs. Mary Louise Moore, executive
secretary of the Buncombe county
chapter of the American Red Cross.
- In event veterans have lost their
discharge papers. Mrs. Moore said,
the Red Cross twill be glad to malce
application to the Veterans' Bureau
for duplicate discharge papers. -
, "It will be necessary," the Red
Cross secretary said, "for veterans
.who have lost their discharge papers
to make application for them at once
in order to secure the duplicates in
time to complete adjusted compensa
tion papers within the time limit."
A number of veterans in Buncombe
county, according to the records of
the Veterans' Bureau, still remain to
apply for their bonus. An extension
of one year was given last January so
that all World War veterans could
avail themselves of the bonus award,
but it is understood that January 1.
1930, is the final date, and no exten
sion will be made beyond - t:mer
Uhevi.. c.uzea.
Every newspaper publisher
wants his newspaper to be the
best, The difficulty is in the dif
ferences of opinion as to what
constitutes the best newspaper.
An editor asked his readers how
he could make his paper ideafl',
jwitn tnis result:
"Cut out the crimes, the mur.
ders, the sensational divorce case
reports," said the nice people.
"Cut out the accidents, the
railway and steamship disasters,"
said the people who "couldn't
bear" to read such things.
"Cut out the politics," said the
old-fashioned wonan. "I don't
understand it and haven't time
for it."
"Cut out the so-called funny
pictures," said the careful moth
er. "Such pictures aren't funny,
and they're bad, very bad, for
children."
"Cut out ponderous editorials,"
snapped the man who merely
scans the headlines. "Nobody
reads 'em nowadays."
"Cut out the woman's page."
said the 'female with the strong
mind. . It's mushy., trashy, triv- I
lai: an insult to our sex." ;
"Cut out sports and theaters,"
said the intellectual. "Both are
bad influences, and both have re-.
ceived altogether too much no-
tice." . - - - '
"Cut out began anoth
er, but the publisher beat them to
"Stop, all of you," he cried.
"On second thought, I have de
cided to cut out myself. It is no
use trying to publish the ideal
paper until I come across the i
deal reader." -
- Without readers no newspaper
can live, and until humanity has
come to live an ideal life there
will be no ideal newspaper: for
nobody would read one that spoke
only of virtue and never of evii
Newspapers are published to print
the news; the nature of the news
is what the people make it,
' North Carolina Press.
Superior Court convened in Mar-
hall Monday morning, Judge Finley
presiding. The entire week up to the
time of going to press has been taken
up with the case of G. W. Cole vs.
Fowler Shelton heirs. The case will
probably be concluded Friday,
is a case in which Mr. G. W. Cole,
now of Tennessee, a former sheriff of
Madison County, is suing the heirs
of the late Fowler Shelton on a pa
role trust or verbal agreement. It
seems that in making his settlement
with the county Sheriff Cole had to
raise several thousand dollars, which
he borrowed from Mr. Fowler Shel
ton, later turning over to Mr. Shel
ton deeds to certain real estate, which
property was to be sold to satisfy the
amount of the loan. It seems" that it J
was a verbal agreement that the bal
ance of the price of the property
UrtVSoW jras tftevert to Cole, ine
lelton heirs Heny any such verbal a-
greement or parole trust. Quite a
number of witnesses have been heard
in the matter and each side is ably
supported by able lawyers. Cole's
lawyers are Judge Frank Carter, Mr.
Thos. Rollins, and Hon. George
Pritchard, all of Asheville, while those
representing the Shelton heirs are G.
M. Merrimon (representing Mark W.
Brown, deceased), Guy V. Roberts,
John McElroy, and J. Coleman Ram
sey. Should Cole win in the suit, the
matter will then be turned over to a
referee to figure out what would be
coming to the Coles.
The Jury sitting on this case is
composed of the following men : Dew-
ev Wallin. J. A. Bailey. G. C. Prof-
fitt, W. W. Plemmons, J. M. Davis, J.
C. Robinson, W. H. Holland, J. M.
Goforth, Fred Rice. K. W. Thomas,
J. B. McDevitt, Will Bishop.
A Real "Talkie"
Sign on front of a local theatre:
"T H E WOMAN DISPUTED"
WITH SOUND. The Pathfinder.
Rose's is modern,
Violet's, too,
But Ma just makes
Her old range do.
The Pathfinder.
Over 2500 Enrolled At
State University
CHAPEL HILL. Sept. 26. Sur
passing all expectations, the student
enrollment at the State University
this year has already passed the
2500 mark, and indications are that
the total for the fall term will be
around 2600.
The enrollment last vear was 2504.
Hence last year's mark already has
been passed, and the record set in
1927, when 2631 enrolled for the fall
term, is being seriously theatened.
President Chase and other Uni
versity officials are both surprised
and gratified at the increase over last
year. Due to the general tightness
of money, it was feared that the en
rollment this year would show a de
cided drop.
More than 400 are enrolled in the
professional schools. The School of
Law has 112. School of Pharmacy 85.
and the School of Medicine 83. The
School of Medicine has two women
students and the School of Law one.
There are 110 in ' the freshman
class in the School of Engineering.
showing an increase of 30 per cent
over use year. , , - -
Editor, News-Record:
There seems to have cone out over
the County the opinion that the
bounty Commissioners recently in
making settlement with the Hot
Springs-Spring Creek Special Road
District, exempted; or relieved the
said Special Road District from the
payment of certain taxes. It has
been reported that it is understood
in certain sections of the County that
the Special Road District is not re
quired to pav the treneral road tax
levied by the Commissioners for 1929.
This is a mistake. The Hot Springs-
spring creek Koaa District is re
quired to pay the road tax just the
same as Shelton-Laurel, No. 16, No.
14 and 15 that voted on themselves
Special Road taxes. The Spring
Creek Road District is not only re
quired to pay the road tax, but the
District pays all other County taxes
just the same as No. 1 Township or
any other Townships in the County.
There was some question raised in
making settlement that the special
district should not be required to
pay its pro rata part of the tax levy
to raise money to pay interest and
principal of the $125,000 road bonds
that were sold since the creation of
the said district Of course they are
required to pay this tax the same as
any other part of the county and in
a joint resolution adopted by the
Board of County Commissioners and
the Commissioners for the Hot
Springs-Spring Creek District, it was
especially set forth that the said Dis
trict should be subject to all County
in,;, taxes as any other "Tart of the Coun-
iniS ' rTH,: .1.,1.J .,. -
by. x ins icwiubiuu, hub uui. uci,ca-
sary, for under the law the said dis
trict is liable for all general county
taxes as other parts of the county,
but in ordex to suppress any errone
ous ideas about the matter, the reso
lution was adopted and personally
sismed bv the members of the Board
'of -County Commissioners and the
Commissioners! of said district, it
was reported by the Commissioners
of the said road district that the dis
trict has sufficient money on hand in.
their sinking fund, created by special
tax levy on the district to pay interest-,
and principal that may fall due
widfttfl the next year, without levying
any special taxes for that purpose ow
the district tnis year. I suppose
there's where the erroneous idea orig
inated about the special district not
paying general county taxes.
I wish to state in this connection
that through the efforts of the Coun
ty Commissioners, with the State
Highway Commission the State has
taken over the road from Mars Hill
to the Tennessee line, a distance of
more than twenty miles and the road
irom Marshall by way ot the Fprks
of Sandy Mush, across the Dogget
Mountain to the Hot Springs-Waynes-
ville State Highway, and these roads
will not only be put in shape by the
State with the County aid, but will be
perpetually maintained by the State.
This gives ifte County a State-maintained
highway from the Tennessee
line in the northeast part of madi-
son County to the southwest portion
of Madison County, connecting with
the Spring Crgek-Waynesville State
Highway near the Tennessee line, a
distance of nearly sixty miles all told.
This is one of the grandest things
that has been accomplished for Madi
son County in a long time. Besides
furnishing the people of Madison
County this State-maintained through
highway of about sixty miles from
corner to corner across the county,
it means saving to the county of hun
dreds of thousands of dollars in the
iway of maintenance.' Ihis accom
plishes what we endeavored to ac
complish by the bill introduced in the
legislature by Senator Johnson in be
half of Madison County and which
was ultimately killed, but thanks to
the good judgment of our Commis
sioners this splendid project has been
accomplished.
Respectfully,
JOHN A. HENDRICKS.
COURT ROOM
SNAPSHOTS
(by Our Staff Photographer)
Judge T. B. Finlev is a man of
handsome appearance and of gracious
manner, whether on or off th bench.
He makes a very satisfactory picture,
with his Scotch-Irish color and silver-
w vs k - j unit jlu latti ii a iuuiib vcl v J K'vujv io uuc w auucai ia LCI
much like a judge. The Judge is a in extenso, under another heading of
man of befittinar dismitv. not over- the News-Record. W do not believe
done. He exhibits commendable pa- , George will be deeply hurt if we re-
fifteen years back. Tom has been
mentioned somehow in connection
with the United States Senate. We
hope, however, that he will not for
sake the law and become a lobbyist.
'Either may be odious but the two
might be doubly so. The Buncombe
I County bar is largely made up of
mauison county taient ana tney can
ill afford to lose Our Tom.
We would like immensely to make
a time exposure of Hon. Geo. M.
Pritchard but the chief difficulty is to
keep him still for the necessary time.
His picture is due to aonear later.
tience and kindness in his relations
with the attorneys. A great deal of
patience is required here but Judge
Finley has it. His home is North
Wilkesboro, located in the County of
Wilkes. We wonder that he does not
make Marshall his home, for conve
nience. Uur town . is far
known than N. Wilkesboro.
as, we can hear, there would be no
general objection among our people,
should the Judge accept our sugges
tion to come and live with us.
quest him to sit for us at a later date.
No harm can be done; he is aging
very slowly.
Among the visiting attorneys Judge
Frank Carter of Asheville is easily
the most dramatic of appearance. His
picture is rather beyond words but
some hints are conveyed in the
phrases "leonine head" and "Peki
nese body." The Judge has a won
derfully preserved head o' hair. He
has lately taken to the use of glasses.
But he knows how to make up anf
his glasses fit into the ensemble.
Judge Carter, as we believe, is en
vied by some of the lawyers who are
possibly younger in years but older
in action; some of. them say that
Frank will never see sixty again.
What of it, if he continues to act
like forty? He is secure in the per
manency of his title: Back in 1913
he imposed a fine of $8000 on two of
Asheville's wealthy citizens for re
tailing likker in a wholesale way.
Many people in Madison County
boast that they "know Tom Rollins
well." As he was born and bred in
Marshall, right on the right bank of
French Broad. River, we will refer
to him affectionately as "Our Tom,
rr . i i i v
Another favorite with us is Gib
Merrimon, also of Asheville, N. C.
He, too, is called Judge, but this is
better i surplusage. He is no judge, if we
So far I are. But he is refreshingly human
and treats a photographer always hu
manely. We might go ahead to say
that he is not handsome but always
acta handsomely; that he is small of
stature but great of mind; that he
needs a tonic, but we have none to
offer. There is much to be said of
this well known barrister but we must
foe very careful, as wei have a favor
to ask of him in the near luture. uio
is given to composing learned briefs
in fact, he writes his own law
books, sometimes. His chief qualifi
cation as a lawyer is Knowledge oi ,
the law. Outside of that fact, he is
not famous. On the other hand, he
is in no sense infamous. May his
tribe increase.
We realize there will be some
jheart-burnings among members ot
the Marshall Bar n tneir picture is -mitted
or slighted. We will take
them as a group but can not now
treat them individually. Later on,
after we have made some collections
of back subscriptions, we propose to
present each one of them with his
own picture, autographed by US. The
Marshall Bar has six members, in
good standing, counting Johnnie Mc
Elroy. Politically, they are equally
divided three, reputed Republicans
nnil thren allesred Democrat. II
Tom has long neglected hair eulture fthus sub-divide!, the Republicans
ana tnis spoils what could be a
marvelous picture. If it is not too
nrsvs.11 In diraitv: the' Demoer
good-fellowship. The Republicans
he break and harrow the ground this
fall and sow it to hairy vetch. His
greatest charm is in his voice. He
can modulate through several octaves.
His outstanding fort is crossing wit
nesses. Tom is possibly not a man.
of deeply analytical mind, but he can
analyze the mind of a witness. First,
he insinuates himself into the confi
dence of the witness. Then Bane!
he shoots one at the helpless testi
fier and make3 him admit that August
11, 1913, was a day for overcoats and
ear muffs! Many an important law
suit has hinged upon the weather of
Nor Did the Ark Have to Refuel
Those endurance flyers still have to
eo some to stay off the ground as
long as Old Noah did. The PathT
finder.
MRS. JAS. BALDWIN
DEAD
...u. twvwu f'.UJV. ax IV lO UUb IVU O - . ,
Into fn ai,lf c n. 1.1...4. urnrlr harrier but thev have to. IOr
the Democrats nave mem utnim
native keenness of wit. In aggre
gate age, the Republicans are again
in the lead, but this is a questionable
advantage. It is difficult to make a
(nmnarison of eood looks, when men
are grouped. We wish it were not so
we would enjoy nothing more than
striking a balance in this respect, ana
we feel sure our many lady readers
would be interested. Each faction
has one member who can not be
truthfully described as handsome
unless you use the term in a spiritual
meaning. All but two memDers oi
our bar use tobacco and one chews in
the court room. He is the same one
who is thinking of going back to law
school. When in Europe he gave up
chewing because over there spittoons
are called cuspiaors. ine smontsrs
fondle their cigarettes in their pock
ets and slip out between witnesses for
o ,Hff nr two. Nothmar is more in-
toroRt.in than the follies and foibles
of great men. One wonders how
they ever became great. The answer
is that a three-story building is a
skyscraper in a town of less than two
thousand people. What has that to
do with the Marshall Bar 7 wot a
darned connection here-; wsrjsrre' just
feeling for a place to quit!
PRISON LUXURY
DIED SUDDENLY WHILE SHOUT.
ING AT REVIVAL
NOT MUCH
DIFFERENCE
Property Valaatioa la MedUoa Near
,-Saaaea La t Year, '-'-,.,
Mr. J. Will Roberts informs us that
property valuation in Madison Coun
ty for 1929 is very nearly the same
as in 1928. The difference is only
$7,187.00. In 1928 the total proper
ty valuation wss f 10,409,625.00. In
1?C3 the valuation is $10,402,238.00.
While attending a revival at Mt.
Zion Free Will Baptist church Wed
nesday night, Sept. 25, Mrs. James
Baldwin of near Marshall, suddenly
fell back and was dead in a moment,
heart trouble being the eause. She
had just begun shouting when she fell
back into the arms of a man standing
near and breathed her last. Dr. Sams
was called Immediately, and said that
death was due to heart failure. It is
said she had expressed a wish that
she might die while shouting. She
had been warned before by her phy
sician that her heart was weak and to
avoid unnecessary excitement.
Funeral services will be held Fri
day morning at eleven o'clock, inter
ment following at the Antioch Cem
etery. ; v
Mrs. Baldwin is survived br her
husband and several children., Her
daughter, Mrs. Cora Roberts, died
only about two weeks ago.
Report that Harry F. Sinclair,
multi-millionaire o i 1 magnate
serving a jail term at Washing
ton, was afforded an auto ride
several times a week focussed at
tention on the limits to which
"prison routine" can be stretch
ed. Though District officials ex
plain that Sinclair's outside ex
cursions were limited to visiting
a branch clinic of the jail Sin
clair being the jail's drug clerk
concensus of opinion is that a less
important prisoner would not be
so fortunate.
Compassion for a millionaire's
health or overcrcJwded penal in
stitutions, according to the popu
lar voice, do not condone either
special privileges or unusual lux
uries behind bars for the few
those able to pay for them. If
the wages of sin are to be made
to pay less attractive dividends,
the Hoover crime commission
might well consider other cases of
prisoners who enjoy unusual lib
erties. Another instance is Al
Caipone.
"Yes, very comfortable." Chi
cago's ex-racketeer king remark
ed in his cell at Eastern peniten
tiary, Philadelphia. His cell is in
the "Park avenue" block, so call
ed because of the semblance of
its living conditions, from a pris
on standpoint, to that of fashion
able Park avenue. New York.
Number 5527 smiled as he glanc
ed up from a copy of LudwigV
"Napoleon" which he was reading
while resting in the comfortable
depths of an easy chair. The lat
ter rested on a soft rug (which hid
the cell floor. The walls of Ca
pon e 'a cell were hung with "taste-
fur'' (Philadelphia Public Ledger
quote) paintings., A chest of
drawers, a real bed and a lamp re
flecting - a highly polished desk
completed the "homey" aspect of
Al's cell. -
It was also in a Pennsylvania
prison that a certain wealthy Phil-
adelphian was permitted to dis
guise his cell while serving a term
for killing several people while
driving an auto (while drunk. He
had a stairway and pictures paint
ed on -the walls and installed a
bookcase, chair' and smoking
stand. Subsequently released, he
is now on a prison welfare board.
. The Pathfinder. ;
SCHOOLS
IMPROVING
Raleigh, Sept. 21. -The public white
schools of the State are today 20 per
cent better than they were five years
ago, according to tne current issue
of State School Facts, official publi
cation of the Department of Public
Instruction. School Facts bases this
claim on a composite score on ten
education factors made by these
schools for two given years: 1923-24
and 1927-28.
In 19232 the composite score
obtained was 56.9 and in 1927-28 it
was 68.6, or 20.6 per cent higher,
and thus better. Indications, as bas
ed on the ten factors used by the de
partmental publication, are that a
gradual improvement is being made .
from year to year in the public white
schools; yet, when the schools were
.c.nnJ kn thoA tan fnetorj for
imiwiucu "J "-
1927-28 a smaller improvement h no
Jticeable over the preceding year, i
i "On of the most interesting rssuits
of the application of these factors to ,.
the white schools," . the publication
points out. "ia the 23.2 per cent ad
vancement made by the raral white
schools, whereas city white schools
imDroved only 7.3 per cent during the
same period- from 1923-24 to 1927-
However, as this publication furth
er states, the city schools are still on
an average 41 per cent better than
the rural schools, when compared on
their composite score on the ten edu
cational factors.