THE JOHNSTONIAN AND JOHNSTON COUN TY SUN CONSOLIDATED
m
B.V • O'?-
VOL. 16
SELMA. N. C., THURSDAY. MARCH 16, 1933.
NUMBER 11
Seima Young Men
Are Found Guilty
The- case of Robert L. Ray,
Jr., and Thoma.s Ray, young son.s of
attorney and Mrs. R. L. Ray, of
delma, were found g’uilty of lar
ceny of a large quantity of cigar
ettes alleged to have been stolen
:'rom a box car on the Norfolk and
Houthern railway yards at Duncan,
between Fuquay Springs and Lilling-
ton, on the night of June 16th, last
in superior court Saturday night at
7:30 o’clock. Their codefendant,
Dernice Bunn, son of a prominent
v.hole.sale mechant of Zebulon ,who
V, as charged with receiving the
Cigarettes knowing they had been
stolen, was acquitted.
The ca.se was called on la t Thurs
day morning before Judgue Henry
-4. Grady, of Clinton, who is presid
ing over two w'eeks’ term of John
ston county court. On account of the
prominence of the families concern
ed much interest has been manifest
ed and .sentiment in the community
has'been about evenly, divided as to
t'le guilt or innocence of the defen
dants. The case has been hard
ought from the beginning. The de
fendant  were represented by Judge
F. H. Brooks, E. J. Wellons and
James R. Pool, of Smithfield. The
rro.^ecution was handled by the soli-
; Tor, Clawson Williams, of Canford.
It was charged by the state that
“the two Ray boys entered into a
conspiracy with Ollie Moore, “Pea-
' ine’ Parrish and Anderson Mar
lowe, who had previously plead
guilty, to rob the box car at Dun
can and proceed from there by way
■f Smithfield and Selma to Zebulon
where the cigarettes wero alleged to
rave been turned over to Bunn, w'ho
was to have di posed of them The
cfate ^Iso alleged that it was soor
a.-icertained that the cigarettes W'ere
■export cigarettes and not having-
proper revenue stamps, could not be
iiisposd of in North. Carolina and
rpon this discovery the Ray broth
ers carried the cigarettes to Selma,
leaving a large quantity in the pos
session of Grover Eason, who lives
near Kenly. Eason corroborated the
evidence offered by Moore, Parrish
and Marlowe in that he testified
that Thomas Ray asked him to
pack the cigarettes, about a bushel
of loose cigarettes, in boxes and dis-
jiose of them and that he would pay
kirn ?1.00 per thousand for his
trouble. Eason denied any knowledge
,cf the cigarettes and offered the
testmony of their father, mother and
Mr. and Mr.-'. Herman Benson that
the night of the alleged robbery
that Robert Ray was at home all
durij^ the night and that Tom Ray
niade a trip to Wilson county, ac
companied by Herman Benson, for
the purpose of carrying some money
to Mrs. Benson’s brother, and re
turned to the home of his parents at
about 9:-30 o’clock, remaining there
the remainder of the night.
The Rays and Bunn offered a
larg-e number of witnesses who testi
fied as to their good character.
Judge Grady continued prayer for
judgment until Wednesday morning
The boy.= were not held in custody
but were allowed by the .judge to
return to their homes until Wednes
day.
Johnston County
Criminai Court
THREE CANDIDATES FOR
MAYOR TOWN OF SELMA
At a meeting of the board of
aldermen H. H. Lowry was appoint
ed registrar for the town election
which will be held in May. A new
registration is required and the
books will open on April 1 and
close on April 22.
There are three candidates for
.mayor: the present incumbent, W. W.
Hare; William Godwin, young at
torney; and I. W. Massey, U. S.
commis.sioner. The election will be
held the first Tuesday in May. Not
only a mayor but the town aider-
men will be elected at that time. The
present members of the board are
Carl .Worley, J. C. Avery, C. P.
Harper and E. J. Sasser.
State vs. Charlie Strickland, for
rape (Lucile McCabe). Jury return
ed a true bill that Strickland, on
March 2, 1933, did wdth force of
arms and again.st the will of Lucile
McCabe, carnally know and rape
her, she being over 12 and under
16 years of age.
State vs. Gray Pittman, for driv
ing auto while intoxicated, on De
cember 26, 1931 Plea of not guilty.
Defendant pleaded guilty to trans
porting liquor. State takes nol pros
as to driving while intoxicated.
Prayer for judgment continued upon
payment of cost.
State vs. Jasper Wood, assault
with deadly weapon (’fom McLamb)
on January 3, 1932. Defendant
pleads not guilty. Jury returned ver
dict of guilty.
State vs. H. M. Hight, man laugh
ter. State takes nol pros. No co.st
to attach 'fliis defendant is known
to be in extremes with tuberculosis.
State vs. Bill Wiggs, Sr., and Ju
lian S^phenson, house breaking and
larceny. Store house of J. W.
Smith and Dalmar Eason, Decem
ber 14, 1932 Plea of not guilty.
They are not represented by coun-
.sel Stephen on pleads guilty in
case of robbei'y of J. W. Smith’s
.store, but pleads not guilty as to
breaking and entering store of Dal
mar Easom. Wiggs pleads not guil
ty in each case. Jury returned ver
dict of guilty as to each defendant.
State vs. Leon Watson and Willis
Gill, charged with the murder of
Zeke Flinnant in the first degree
The separate ca es of Watson and
Gill consolidated into one case for
trial. Two ven'res that were select
ed for the cases were consolidated.
Each defendant pleaded not guilty.
'fhe following jury was selected
from the regular panel and the .spe
cial venire:
M. B. Bailey, Four Oaks; C. C.
Young, Clayton; R. A. Bailey, Sel
ma; R E. Barbour, Benson; Rex-
ford Barbour, Wilson Mills; S. W.
Creech, Zebulon; J. L. Flowers, Ben-
tonville; R. L. Penny, Ben on; H.
S Honeycutt, Angiar, R. 1; Eli
jah Wheeler, Benson; J. V. Stephen
son, Angler R. 1; J. L.' Boyette,
Kenly.
Both men were found guilty of
second degree murder by the jury
after deliberatin.g for 30 minutes,
returning Tuesday night at eleven
o’clock. Each defendant was given
30.years in the State penitentiary at
hard labor.
Interesting Items
From Smithfield
There are now three full fledg
ed candidates for mayor of Smith-
field, and it is reported that others,
including- at least one of the gen
tle sex, are in receptive moods.
Those who have announced their
candidacies are J. D. Underwood,
the present incumbent; Everett S.
Stevens and L. E. Watson, Jr.
Five of the town commissioners
have announced that they de. ire to
be re-nominated in the Democratic
primary to be held on the 3rd of
April.
It is not expected that the Repub
licans will put out a ticket for any
of the town offices this year, either
in the April primary or the regular-
election to be held in May. The Re
publicans will probably sit content
edly by on the fence and ‘ watch
the fur fly.
Negroes Sentencec
To Thirty Years
It is reported that there will be
no more free government flour af
ter the first of April, as the wheat
which was taken over by the Fed
eral Farm Board under the Hoover
administration is said to be about
all gone, and it is not expected that
any more will be made available
for charitable purposes.
It is expected that Smithfield and
John ton county will be represent
ed at the Raleigh auditorium when
Miss Helen Keller makes her ap
pearance there next Friday night.
There will be no charge for admi.s-
■sion, but it will be necessary to
have a card, -which may be obtain
ed by applying to Mrs. Jack Broad
hurst, Piesident of the Woman’s
Club.
Doctor Dies Few Min
utes After Patient
JOHN W. WOODALL DIES
IN JOHNSTON HOSPITAL
Smithfield, March 16.—John W.
Woodall, aged about 70 years, a well
Tvno-wn farmer and painter of Cleve
land Township, died at the Johnston
County .. hospital early yesterday
morning of heart failure. Had had
been operated on several days ago
for some other trouble, his heart
wa.s . weak, and he had for some
■time suffered with high , blood pres
sure Funeral services will be held
today at Little Creek Primitive Bap
tist church, conducted by Elder T.
F. Adams, of - Willow Springs.
B’riday night at A-heville, Mrs.
Margaret McCambridge, daughter of
Connie Mack, noted baseball mana
ger of Philadelphia, died, following-
several days desperate illness bht
by an odd coincidence of fate, the
physician. Dr. George Alexander,
•who had been attending her and
who called an Asheville undertaker
to- come for the woman’s body -was
the first to be taken from the home
dead.
F’riday night Dr. Alexander ^pent
several hours at the woman’s bed
side in an effort to prolong her
life until her father could arrive
from Fort Myers, Florida, where
his baseball team is in training and
was said to have worried greatly
lest she ' die before her father ar
rived.
After her death the physician
went to a telephone to call an un
dertaker, was seized with a cere
bral hemorrhage and died almost
immediately. When the undertaker
arrived his body instead of his pa
tient was carried away first in or
der that an investigation might be
made of his sudden passing.
Mrs. McCambridge’s body was
sent to Worcester, Mass., for inter
ment while t'nat of Dr. Alexander
was sent to Montpelier, Ind., his
former home.
Selmii Boy In Earthquake Zone
Mr. R. J. Smith is in receipt of
a letter from his son, R. J. Smith,
Jr., who lives in Los Angeles, Cali
fornia. He tells l^^^ther that he
and family escaped fflPiry in the re
cent earthquake which destroyed
millions of dollars worth of prop
erty and took a toll of a number of
lives. He -says the earthquake left
the chimney.s to his home ready to
topple over at any time. A just a
little over two days from me time
the letter -was posted in the Cali
fornia city hi.s father was reading
it in Selma.
Hog .shipments will start from
Smithfield on March 20th, aiul it i.s
expected that after that date there
will be car.s loaded here every few
daj-.s during the -pring and early
summer. Tho.se who de.sire informa
tion about shipments should commu
nicate with J. B. Slack, county farm
agent. Hog raising in Johnston
county appears to be on the in
crease; and if prices were more sat
isfactory the farmers of the county
would soon have almo.st a continual
tream of shipments of live hogs
going to the Richmond market
These spring shipments bring in
some ready cash at a time when it
is helpful in meeting fertilizer bills
and paying the other expenses of
getting the- crops started. They help
the farmer to “pay as he goes”,
and the farmer who does this need
not owe his crop to some one else
when it is made.
Miss Virginia Sanders, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Sander.s
of Smithfield, was taken to the
Johnston County ho-pital last Sat
urday where an operation wa.s per
formed for appendicitis. Her many
friends will be glad to know that
she is getting along fine.
Leon Watson and Willis Gill, the
two young negro men of Oneals
township, who were in Johnston Su
perior Court this week for the mur
der of Zeke Hinnant, a white farm
er of O’Neals Town.ship on the
night of December 20, 1932, were
found guilty of murder in the sec
ond degree and were sentenced by
Judge Grady to serve 30 years in
the State penitentiary at hard labor
The widow of the slain man tes'
tilled that on the night in question
she heard Willis Gill call her hus
band and state that he wanted to
go into the store. Her husband went
to the store, and shortly thereafter
she heard a gun fire. Opening- the
door she .-'aw two men retreating
into the darkness of the night, nei
ther of whom she could identify.
She rushed to the store and met
her husband on the steps with hi.s
double barrel shot gun in his hand
and in a dazed condition. He recog
nized her and stated that he had
been shot. He told her to take the
keys, lock the store door, and come
to the house. She started with him
to the house and he fell before
reaching the house. She, assisted by
a colored man, Barney Watson, got
him into the house and in bed v/here
death resulted within a very short
time after he had been shot.
Slayer of Germak To
Die In Chair March 20
Mr. H. P. Jenkins, of Smithfield,
who underwent an operation at the
Johnston County ho.spital last Fri
day, is reported to be in a serious
condition.
Nemars Not Coming
To Selma Saturday
The blinflfold drive which was
scheduled to be performed by Prof-
Nemar in Selma on Saturday, March
18th, will not be pulled off here at
that time owing to the fact that
financial conditions are such that
it was though best to postpone their
coming until conditions in financial
centers have time to adjust them
selves to a more norn^l .‘■tatus
They appeared in Smitlmeld on last
Saturday and were instrumental in
bringing a large crowd Of people to
that town for the occasion, but fin
ancial instibility kept the event from
being what the business men of the
town had hoped -for because of so
little money in circulation. Since
these drivers are featured primarily
for a special trade day for the town
in which each one is put on, it is
plain to see that it would have been
difficult to make the event a great
succe.ss at this time, therefore the
proniotors have decided to \\-ait until
a later date to mhke their appear
ance here.
Though he has a herd of 20 cows
and produce.s grade-A milk for the
town of Hickory, J. R, Wallace of
Catawba County has never had a
silo because of the cost. He recent
ly dug a trench silo and will fill it
next summer.
Raiford, Fla., March 13.—Heavily
.guarded by a squad of national
guard machine gunners, Giuseppe
Zangara, the assassin who shot five
persons in an attempt to kill Presi
dent Roosevelt P’ebruary 15, await.s
the electric chair here for the raur
dm- of Mayor Anton J. Cermak of
Chicago.
Governor Dave Sholtz today sign
ed the death warrant after Zangara
had secretely been removed from the
Dade county jail in Miami where he
wa:s convicted last Friday. The
warrant sets the execution for the
week of March 20, the actual day of
and hour to be determined by Supt.
L. F. Chapman of the .state prison
farm. It wa.s held likely Tuesday
March 21 will be the date.
Under rigid orders from the gov
ernor, interviews were forbidden with
the swarthy Italian who shot down
Mayor Cermak. Mrs. Joe H.' Gill,
prominent Miami society woman,
Russel Caldwell, Cocanut Grove, Fla.
William Sinnot, New York police
man, and Miss Margaret Kruis, New
ark, NJ.
The latter three were not seriou.s-
ly wounded but Zangara was given
an SO years sentence two weeks ago
for attempting to kill the three and
Mr. Roosevelt. He was never tried
for the shooting of Mrs. Gill, who
now lies in a hospital in a serious
condition as a re.'ult of a bullet
wound in the abdomen.
Cerniak died last Monday after a
long- battle with a weak heart, pneu
monia, and gangrene which set into
the lung injured by the bullet.
Within a few hours after Cermak’s
death Zangara had been indicted. In
two more days, he had pleaded
.guilty and was sentenced to death.
Zangara gave as hi.s reason for his
mad act “hatred of capitalists,”
stomach trouble and the desire to
cause Mr. Roosevelt to “suffer fif
ty-fifty” with him. “He- capitalist
and I figure make him fifty-fifty
with me,” said the slayer.
Zangara was brought to the .state
prison by Sheriff Dan Hardie, of
Miami and within 10 minutes was
photographed, fingerprinted and no
signs of nervousness or curosity at
the prison surroundings.
“Are you sorry you .shot Mayor'
Cermak?” Sheriff Hardie asked the
assassin, as he was being led to the
death cell.
“No,” replied Zangara. “Pm not
sorry. I wasn’t shooting at him, but
I’m not sorry I hit him.”
Over 300 Pitt County farmers re
ceived checks for produce handled
by the local Mutual Exchange last
week. Included were those for a
car of poultry, four car.s of sweet
potatoes and produce sold at the
market house.
John Q. A. Jeffreys
Addresses Kiwanis
Mr. John Q. A. Jeffreys, president
of the local Building & Loan As
sociation, was the principal speaker
at the meeting of the Selma Ki
wanis Club on last Thursday ev
ening.
“What is the meaning of the word
‘Deficit’ ” said the speaker. “It’s
what you’ve got when you haven’t
as much as you had when you had
nothing,” he continued. “The Ki
wanis motto is ‘We Build’, not
homes, but character, manhood, etc.
This is all right, but I am also in
terested in building homes. The lo
cal Building & Loan Association of
fers jrou a safe place to put your
surplus money at 6 per cent non-
taxable (the B. & L. pays the tax),
thereby making funds available for
your neighbor to own hi.s home
which makes him a better citizen
and your town a better place in
which to live. I don’t want to re
mind you of your investments made
in the past in which you have suf
fered a loss, in some cases as much
as 50 per cent. Give our associa
tion consideration for an investment
and take some stock which will help
you and your town.
‘If you have a boy or girl who
will fini.-h high school in the next
to 10 year.s, start now to save
through the B. & L. stock so you
will have the necessary funds to
send them to college.”
Mr. J. C. Avery, secretary-treas
urer of the local B. &. L., wa.s
also a guest of the club.
Thousands Injured
In Earthquake
Johnston County Go‘
Ops Elect Delegates
Violent earthquakes spread death,
injury and destruction over a path
some 200 miles long and 30 miles
wide in Southern California la.st
night.
Eighty were known dead and more
than 2,500 injured on incomplete re
ports the stricken cities and coun
tryside.
Long Beach reported 22 dead, Lo.s
Angeles 12, Compton, 13, Hunting-
ton Park 12, Santa Ana 3, Watts 4, ^
San Perdo 2, Hermonsa 1 and Gar
den Grove 1, Wilmington, Bellflower
3, Artesia 4, Walnut Park 1, Nor
walk I. Los Angeles repoi-ted 1,500
injured and the Long Beach in
jured role was put at 1,000.
From State and city police au
thorities in the stricken cities camo
reports others were feared buried be
neath wreckage. Hospitals were fill
ed. Fires raged by the dozens.
Governor James Rolph , of Cali
fornia, was considered declaring a
state of emergency. In Washington,
President Franklin Roosevelt exten.l-
ed the facilitie.s of the government
to Governor Rolph to relieve dis-
tre.ss.
The Red Cros.s in Washington
awaited word from its regional head
quarters in San Francisco before
swinging- its huge resources of re
lief into action.
As the stricken area, famed for
its playgrounds and film studios,
worked feverishly to dig out its
dead, minister to its injured, and re
store order out of chaotic, crowds,
the earthquakes continued their de
vastation.
The seventh, at 7:55 p. m. (Pacific
Coast Time), showed a diminishing
in force. But it was false prophecy
The eighth, an hour later rocked
Smithfield, March 14 Seven dele- up with greater strength, adding to
ates were elected to the fifth dis- the wreckage'and casualty list,
trict convention by Johnston county Then two more—at 9:10 and 9:l:>
members of the North Carolina Cot- (Pacific Coast time)—after which
ton Growers Cooperative A.ssociation | buflding.'i. swayed at inter\-als, an-
at their annual primary convention other shaking Los Angeles at 10:12
n the court house here Friday at! p
which M. C. Mann, of Raleigh, sec- |
retary-treasurer, was the principal
speaker.
Mr. Mann termed “mementous”
the conference of some 50 leaders
of organized agriculture with Sec
retary of Agriculture Wallace and
aid he expected much good to come
of it. He also urged farmers on to
renewede activity in the interest of
legislation for the relief of agri
culture.
Discu.s.sing improved seeds, Mr.
Mann quoted figures to show that
farmers cannot afford to plant in
ferior seed this year when by plant
ing improved varieties they cn pro
duce a .staple cotton that will com
mand a premium. He tiled the in-
crea.se in the quality of ....orth
Carolina Cotton in the la,-t five
years, which has been from around
20 percent to 65 percent better than
seven-eights, and said that had all
of North Carolina's crop la.st year
been sold in such a manner as to
get the premium the cooperative
gets for its members this premium
alone would have amounted to more
than $1,000,000.
J. W. Stephenson, of Smithfield,
present director of the district which
composed of Johnston and Wil-
on counties, pointed out the need
of collective action on the part of
farmers. He presided over the meet
ing. .
J. A. Smith, iof Smithfield, discuss
ed the advantages of lespedeza as
hay and as a soil-building crop.
The following delegates were elec-
tel: Norman .Jones, Clayton; W. H.
Flowers, Four Oaks; G. W. Murphy,
Clayton; F. Pittman, Smithfield; W.
Woodall, Benson; W. V. Black
man, Ben-on; and A. R. Atkinson,
enly. They will attend the district
convention here in April at which
time candidates will be nominated
for director of the district.
NEWS STAND AT UNION
STATION IS NOW OPEN
-A mutual exchange for Vance
County farmers . wa.s recently organ
ized at Henderson by county agent
J. W. Sanders and extension specia
list, J. W. Johansen.
Mr. and Mrs. D. W. Richardson
have opened a news stand in the
nion Station in Selma, where you
will find at all times- all the lead
ing magazines and newspapers,
books, etc. The Union News com
pany has been operating a stand in
depot for a number of years
with Mr. W. D. Goodson as mana
ger, but recently moved their stock
of good.s to another point. Mr.
Goodson returned to his home in
East Tennessee. During hi.s stay in
Selma he made many friends who
regret to see him leave Read the
advertisement of the Kichardson.s in
this issue of The Johnstonian-Sun.
Los Angeles, March 10.—Violent
earthquakes continuing three hours
after the first shock of death and
destruction added confusion to the
scene of increasing damage and ter
ror to all of southern California to
night.
At 9:55 o’clock the toll as re
ported from most authentic sources
available reached 80 dead and more
than 2,500 injured.
The isolation of Long Beach con
tinued almost complete at this hour,
but reports from persons arriving
from that beach area bidicated that
radio flashes and terror-inspired ru
mors of hundreds or even scores be
ing dead in that city were without
foundation.
The path of death stretched fronr»
Santa Ana to Long Beach and Los
Angeles.
Recurrent Shocks.
As these lines were being written
the building of the Los Angele.s
office of The Associated Press was
swaying, with accentuated jolts from
time to time and, at intervals of 10
to 20 minutes, extremely violent
shocks that caused all hands to
reach to some support as in. a" sway
ing small craft at sea.
Hospitals were crowded to over
flowing at emergency centers of the
city and urgent calls were sent out
for all emergency hostpitals.
Surgeons found extreme difficulty
in handling cases of the injured a.s
the great .shocks shook the operating
tables upon which were' stretchc 1
the patients.
Recurrent shocks added new dam
age as attempts were made to check.
Two North Garolnians
Made Ambassadors
Josephus Daniels Is Names As
Ambassador To Mexico and Robt.
W. Bingham Ambas.sador To Go
To Great Britain.
Washington, March 13.—President
Roosevelt announced his first diplo
matic appointments today in prepa
ration for early resumption of the
discussions on world economics, ar
maments and war debts.
To the prize London post he nom
inated Robert W. Bingham, I.ouis-
ville publisher and prominent Dem
ocratic leader. He selected Jesse
Isidor Straus, New York merchant,
to go to Paris. He 'appointed Josn-
phus Daniels, North Carolina pub
lisher, to hold the important Mex
ico - City ambas.sadorahip.
a
..-idLL'
■