S
a-
t
SELMA
HAS A $20,000
WEEKLY PAY-ROLL
THE JOHNSTONIAN
SELMA
OFFERS YOU MANY
OPPORTUNITIES
THE JOHNSTONIAN AND JOHNSTON COUNTY SUN CONSOLIDATED
YOL. 16
SELMA. N. C., THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 1933.
NUMBER 14
World^s Largest Dirigible
Wrecked Off Coast N.J.
Y. S. Navy Dirigible Akron Dips flying condition, but slightly heavy.
Into Atlaritic Ocean When Caught “The lightning to the South be-
In Electric Storm Off the New came quite extensive and also ap-
Jersey Coast 25 Miles At Sea peared in the West. At about 10:00
Shortly After Midnight Tuesday p. m., just as we left the Jersey
Morning, Carrying to An Untime- J Coast, the storm become general all
ly Death All of the 76 Persons | around us. I do not think the ship
On Board Except Three, One of
Whom Died Soon Afterward.
was struck by lightning, for there
was no indication of it, though there
was plenty of lightning all around.
“We continued eastward for about
one hour and I then reversed the
course. When we reached the land
New York, April 4.—In a blinding-
electrical storm, the Akron, mighti
est dirigible ever to cruise the skies, ^
was plummeted into the turbulent again, I saw a group of lights and
Atlantic early today about 20 miles ; I identified the shore line. This was
cT the New Jer ey shore, and by i at about midnight, and our course
•.'usk tonight hope had waned for ! was changed to southeast. About
71 missing members of the crew.
Of the 76 men aboard the “Mis
tress of the Skies” as she crashed
four were rescued, but one of them
I'nd before he was brought ashore
A day of searching by water and
by air brought the discovery of only
one body of the ill-fated crew float
ing on the ocean.
Rear Admiral William A. Moffett,
Chief of the Navy Bureau of Ae-
rcnautics, was among those lost on
th,e Akron. Aroused from sleep by
the storm, he had been in the con
trol room shortly before the acci
dent.
The three Akron, survivors are:
Lieutenant Commander H. V.
TViley of Lakewood, N. J , execu
tive officer and second in command,
■who was at the controls.
Moody E. Erwin, of Memphis,
Tenn., metal mith.
Richard E. Deal of Lakehurst, N.
J., boatswain’s mate.
The rescupd man who later died
was Robert W. Copeland of Lake-
burst, N. J., chief radio operator.
Twelve hours after the crash, the
body of Lieutenant Commander Har
old E. MacLellan of Westerly, R. I.,
was picked up by a Coast Guard
cutter near the scene of the disas
ter.
Lieut. Commander David E. Cum
mins of Prescott, Ark., commander
of the J-3, who was taken from
the water uhconscious after the
blimp accident, died a short time
later
The body of Pasquale Bettio, chief
machinist’s mate on the J-3, was
recovered several hours later.
The five otlters of the J-3 crew
were rescued.
Interesting Items
From Smithfield
The Smithfield High School band
directed bv Prof. G. W. Grove, gave
A Survivor’s Story.
New York, April 4.—A shout of
'Stand by!” Bells jangle in the
engine room. There isi confusion
both there and in the control cabin.
Shouts go out 'against the lash of
the gale—and almost immediately
-there is a sickening crash. Then
men swimming in the sea, and a
great hulk of an airship bobbing,
nose upward, on the waves.
Lieutenant-Commander Herbert V.
Wiley, one of the three survivors of
-the Akron disaster, told about it
dispasionately today as- he sat up-
j-ight in his bed at the Brooklyn
Naval Hospital. Yet, the story lost
nothing in the telling.
It was a narrative of 76 rhen
-trapped in a vortex Of black fury,
-fighting -w'hat they felt in their
bones was a battle against an in
exorable, lashing, battering force—
a fury that defied defeat.
Commander Wiley’s own experi
ence, of being swept bodily from
the control cabin into the sea, where
be swam for what seemed endless
minutes in the black waves, hearing
the voices of other swimmers .all
around, is epical in its dramatic
content.
“We left Lakehurst,” he said, “at
7:30 last night on our regular sched
ule. Our object was to calibrate ra
dio direction finding stations off New
England. Since calibrations could
not begin until daylight and it was
foggy oyer the sea, it was decided
to cruise inland where the ground
could be seen.
“We were over Philadelphia at
- ten past ten. We then headed south,
following the Delaware river. It
was expected the fog at sea would
clear up in the morning. About 8:45
last night we were 20 to 30 miles
south of Philadelphia when we no
ticed lightning ahead. In a few min-
jUtes we had a report of a
derstorm over Washington. We
beaded East and Northeast, toward
the ocean, flying at an altitude of
about 1,600 feet The ground was
obscured by . fog.
“But we knew'our position quite
.accurately. Occasionally a gleaming
group of lights indicated to us a
to-wn which helped u.s check with
-our course. The ship was in good
30 minutes later the ship began to
descend rapidly from 1,600 feet.
“Then I dropped the emergency
ballast which had caused the ship
to drop to an altitude of about 800
feet. We rose rapidly and leveled
off to 1,600 feet ag-ain. We retained
that standard height.
“About three minutes later the
air became exceedingly turbulent
and the ship was tossed about vio
lently. I knew we were near the
center of the storm, because the air
was most disturbed.
“I gave the signal for all hands
to go to the land station in order to
have them available and not in their
bunks.
“The ship took a short lurch and
the rudder control wire of the upper
rudder was carried away. I un
clutched the, upper rudder and tried
to steer with the lower rudder I
was on the right side of the con
trol car and supervised the rudder.
The captain was on the left side
and supervised the elevator wheel.
The evevator man reported several
times that the ship was falling and
I heard the report: ‘Eight hundred
feet.’ By this time the bow of the
ship Was inclined to about 20 de
grees, but even then we were fall
ing quite rapidly.
“In the fog nothing could be seen.
I asked the altitude and the answer
was 300 feet. I g-ave the order to
,'tand by for the crash and the sig
nal was rung up to the engine car.
Almo.st immediately we hit the wa
ter.
“We had, as I remember, a list to
starboard. Water rushed into my
window, carrying me out through
another window. I tried to swim as
rapidly as 1 could to get from un
der the ship, and 1 finally came to
the surface. I could see the ship
drifting away from me through the
lightning flashes. The bow was
pointed in the air.
“Eevrything was a general wreck.
I saw two lights which I thought
were on the stern of the ship. 1
also thought I could see the Barne-
gat lighthouse. I swam towards the
ship and after about ten minutes
found a board three feet square to
which I clung. I saw several men
in the water, but none very close—
not enough that I thought I could
help them. On one occasion I
thought I was 50 yards from one
man, but I didn’t have any board
at that time. When I got several
hundred yards from the ship, the
wind changed and the waves began
to hit me.
“The captain of the ship must
have heard cries of men in the wa
ter I sighted a ship and I swam
easily towards the steamer. They
threw lifelines to me and hauled me
on board. They had boats lowered
and picked up three other men, but
I did not see the boats until I was
aboard the ship.
“As .=oon as I recovered my
strength—in about an hour—I sent
a message giving the names of the
people on board the tanker, that is,
the rescued men. The German cap
tain was an excellent seaman and
did everything he could to save our
lives.
“That’s my story.”
Commander Wiley glanced at the
reporters. One of them asked him
about Admiral Moffett.
“Admiral Moffett,” he said, “was
asleep until midnight. But he came
down to the control car during the
height of the storm. For five min
utes preceding the disaster I did
thuii notice him in the control car,
but he must have been around.”
Commander Wiley said that about
30 seconds elapsed from the time
of the “stand by” order until the'
crash.
When he was asked what he
thought caused the disaster, he
merely shook his head .slowly, smil
ed in a tired way and asked to be
excused.
a splendid concert at the Sanders
Theatre last Sunday afternoon which
was enjoyed by a large c^.owd of
people. The Theatre -was^ffilled to
overflowing and those pi^sent gave
unstinted praise to Prof'^ Grove and
the well trained boys composing the
band, which is made up as follows:
Trumpets—Linwood Perkins, Roger
Smith, Lacy Coats, Thel Ragsdale,
6uck Marrow, W. A. Gregory, 'Ru
dolph Howell, Hubert Woodall, Carl
Pugh and Nathan Lassiter. Clarinets
—Robert McLemore, Eric Cotter,
Harold Kirkpatrick, Ryland Gregory
and Paul Johnson. Trombones—Cul
len Hooks, James Coats, Nuit Ed-
gerton and Marvin Duke. Saxo
phones—Edwin Perkins, Glen Grier,
Max Johnson and Pope Lyon. Alto
Horns—Bill HoOd and Alex Zaid'y.
Baritones-—Ben Grimes and James
Smith. Drums and Bass—Joe D. Tal-
ton, Zeke Creech, Kenneth Smith,
Chas. Parri.-h and Jennings Jordan.
On last Monday, Smithfield held'
its first primary to name candidates
for offices of mayor and town com-
mi-sioners. As announced last week,
the Democrats had five candidates
for mayor, and 15 candidates for
the 7 places on the board of town
commissioners.
The Republicans did not put out
any candidates in the primary, and
it is not expected that they will
have any candidates in the election
in May. This being the case, quite
a number of Republicans who de
sired to have a voice in the naming
of the to-wn officials, participated in
the Democratic primary Monday,
while others preferred to sit on the
fence and see the fun.
William B. Wellons led in the
race for mayor, with 290 votes. Ev
erett S. Stevens came next with
269 votes. J. D. Underwood received
136 v-otes,Y.d. S. EdmundaoUi;6!?j»rftnd-
L. E. Watson, Jr , 37. There will be
a second primary on April 17th.
The 15 candidates- for the seven
places on the board of town 'com
missioners w'ere, reported to have
agreed before the primary that the
seven receiving the highest vote
would be the nominees. When the
count was over it was found that
four members of. the old board had
won, as follows: Clifton Beasley, W.
T. Holland, W. J. Huntley and Wal
ter Grantham. The three new mem
bers of the board are, Hugh M.
Austin, Don W. Peterson and Dr
W. J. Massey.
Of the old board. Will D. Hood
did not run, and W. M. Gaskin and
W. G. Glass were defeated
The contest in the second prima
ry will be between Everett S. Ste
vens and 'William B, Wellons for
the mayoralty nomination, and it is
expected to be a hot race.
ProceedingsCounty [^QQSeyelt QfferS Plan To .
Refinance Farm Mortgages
Recorder’s Court
state vs. Alton Bryant, white
farmer, aged 23, for assault. Guilty.
Sale of Beer Le.^alized
For North Carolina
Legislature Makes It Legal To Sell
Beverages After Midnight April
30th.—Several Hundred Special
Charter Districts Wiped Out by
Act.
Raleigh, April 4.—Several hundred
special charter dry districts, includ
ing those around a number of col
leges, some churches, the city of
High Point and other places, which
went on the water wagon before
the -whole state went dry in 1908,
were wiped out shortly after 12
o’clock today when the senate ac
cepted the house amendments to the
Francis bill legalizing in this state
the sale of light wines and beer
after midnight April 30. The bill
was ordered enrolled by Lieutenant
Governor Graham when Senator
Francis had successfully moved
without opposition to accept the
house amendments; repeal all lo
cal statutes in conflict with .provis
ions of this general act; raise the
age of minors to whom beer may
be sold to 18, instead of 16 years
as originally provided in the bill;
and enlarge the scope of the medi
ums in which beer, porter and light
wines may be advertised.
Road sentence of 30 days, to be sus
pended upon payment of $10 fine
and cost. Appeal.
State vs. Alton Lee, white farmer,
aged 22, for assault with deadly
weapon. Guilty, and given road sen
tence of 60 days, to be suspended
upon payment of $25 fine and cost.
State vs Mark Collinsi, white far
mer, aged 23, and Will Eason, white
farmer, aged 19, for larceny of
chickens, value less than . $20. Both
guilty and each given 6 months on
roads. Both appeal, bond of each
placed at $300.00.
State vs. John Eatman, colored
laboi-er, aged 26, and Elizabeth Eat
man, colored, aged 19, for larceny
of shoes and dress, value less than
$20. John Eatman not guilty and
discharged. Elizabeth Eatman guil
ty, and given jail sentence of 30
days to be suspended upon payment
of cost. Appeal, bond $50.
State vs. J. M. Stone, white la
borer, aged 22, for assault with
deadly weapon and reckless driving.
Guilty. Continue prayer for judg
ment upon payment of $25.00 fine
and cost. Appeal.
Tuesday, April 4th.
State vs. Tate Atkinson, colored,
for fornication and adultery. Not
guilty and discharged
State vs. John F. Moye, white, for
assault with deadly weapon. Prose
cution adjudged frivolous and mali
cious and prosecuting witness E. J.
Woodard taxed with cost.
State vs. John Guin, white farmer,
aged 31, for dynamiting in Neuse
river. (Violation of game and fish
laws,. Guilty. Road- sentence of 90
days, to be suspended upon payment
of $100.00 fine and cost. Notice of
appeal, bond placed at $200.00.
State vs. Morgan Defee, white la
borer, aged 27, for careless and,
reckless driving. Guilty and given
60 da-ys--Ttrad sentence, to be su.s-
pended upon payment of $25.00 fine
and cost. Appeal. Bond placed at
.$200.00
State' vs. Son Beasley, white far
mer, aged 23, for assault with car
and hit and run driver. Probable
cause found and defendant bound to
Superior Court under $200 bond.
State vs. Sonny Beasley, white
farmer, aged 23, for assault with
deadly weapon. Guilty and given 90
days on roads. Appeal, bond fixed
at $200.00.
State vs. Wright McLamb, white
farmer, for violation of prohibition
law. Guilty of possession one quart
of whiskey. Road sentence of twelve
months to be suspended upon pay
ment of cost and on further condi
tion that defendant does not drink,
possess, or transport whiskey or in
any way violate the prohibition law
again during next 5 years.
State vs. Roy Barbour, white la
borer, aged 31; Valle McLamb, white
laborer, aged 22; and Lee Stone,
white laborer, aged 23, for larceny
of chickens, value less than $20.00.
All defendants guilty, and each de
fendant given 6 months on "road.s,
but each takes appeal under $300.00
bond. These same defendants were
in two other chicken ^stealing cases
and were sentenced to an additional
6 months on the roads in each case,
or 18 months each in all. They all
appealed in each case.
State vs D. H. Blue, colored la
borer, aged 41, for carrying con
cealed weapon and interfering with
officer in discharge of duty, viola
tion of prohibition law by possess
ion of whiskey. Guilty on all counts
and given 6 months on roads. No
tice of appeal. Sentence to be sus
pended upon payment of $100.00
fine and cost. Appeal withdrawn.
State vs. Duncan McLamb, colored
laborer, aged 36, for carrying con
cealed weapon and violation of pro
hibition law( posses.sion and trans
porting of whiskey), assault with
deadly weapon with intent to kill.
Probable cause found as to assault
with deadly weapon with intent to
kill, and defendant is bound to Su
perior court on that charge. Defend
ant g-uilty of carrying concealed
weapon and violation of prohibition
law. Defendant given 6 months on
roads.
Smithfield Policeman
Gun Battle
Stages
Smithfield, April 5.—Policeman E.
A. Johnson became mixed up in a
.'mail sized gun battle while in the
performance of his official duties
here Saturday afternoon, but he
came out victorious. He had been
requested by the Dunn police de
partment to lookout for three ne
groes who were said to be headed
this way on a car and who were
wanted in Dunn in connection with
a wreck.
Policeman Johnson went out on
South Third street, and taking his
stand at a point near the Free 'Will
Baptist church and soon sighted the
car and stopped it. He then arrest
ed the three negroes who had two
pistols on their car, singlehanded,
and proceeded to put handcuffs on
them, but before the job could be
completed one of the negroes grab
bed one of their pistols from the
seat of the car and fired, while one
of the other negroes held on to the
one who had the pistol, and begged
him not to shoot. The shot missed
the policeman who returned the fire
by emptying two chambers of his
pistol. One of the bullets from the
policeman’s gun lodged in the arm
of the negro with the gun and the
other, shot went wild. There wa'
said to have been a half gallon of
whiskey on the car which was bro
ken by the negroes during the skir
mish The negroes gave their names
and addresses as, Walter McLean of
Hoke County, N. C.; Duncan Mc
Lean .and D. H. Blue, of Baltimore,
Md.
They were all taken to jail and
locked up, but were given a hear
ing before Mayor J. D. Underwood
Saturda.v night. Blue and' McLean
were bound over to the Recorder’s
Court, Blue under a $500.00 bond
and Duncan McLean $1,000,000 bond,
and Walter McLean was held under
a $200.00 bond as a material wit-
ne'S. Being unable to give the re
quired bonds the three -were remand
ed to jdil. The wounded man was
taken 'to the Johnston Cqunty Hos-j
pital Sunday afternoon where the '
bullet was extracted from his arm.
They were reported to have run
into a hearse or an ambulance near
Dunn, and then hurried away with
out waiting for any adjustment of
the. damage. ■
Policeman Johnson said the gun
was aimed at him, and that the ac
tions of the other negro who held
on to the one with the pistol, and
begged him not to shot, might have
diverted the cour.se of the bullet and
thus saved his life.
Under Plan Farmers May Borrow
On Real Estate Up to 50 Per
of Property Based On “Normal
Values”—Where Prior Mortgage
Exceeds 50 Per Cenit of “Normal
Value” Government Cannot Help
Lhiless Mortgagee Agrees To
Decrease His Claim To M’here It
Does Not Exceed 50 Per Cent of
“Normal Value”.
Washington, April 3.—The fir.-t
step for a farmer seeking mortgage
refinancing under the administration
bill presented to Congress today by
President Roosevelt will be to de
termine if one of the 4,000 farm
loan associations exists in his lo
cality.
If one of these organizations,
which now have an aggregate mem
bership of 400,000 farmers, is avail
able he will make his application
for refinancing through it; otherwise
he may apply directly to one of the
12 district federal land banks. The
application must be made within
two years. A maximum of $2,000,-
000,000 is available.
The banks are located at Spring-
field, Mass.; Baltimore, Columbia,
S. C.; Louisville, New Orleans, St.
Louis, St. Paul, Omaha, Wichita,
Kan.; Houston, Tex.; Berkeley, Cal.,
and Spokane
If there is an association nearby,
it will send an appraiser to view
his property. The appraisal will be
made on the basis of the “normal'
value” of the farm—as distinguished
from present distressed values or
high “boom time” value.
How Value Is Determined
Pavs $7;50 For Land
In Heart of Oil Field
Oklahoma City, April 3.—For
$7.50 T. G Thompson obtained a
tract of land in the heart of the
Oklahoma City oil field. The tract
is 18 inches wide and 140 feet long.
Thomp.'-qn “discovered” the property,
which had been “lost” for 16 years,
and he paid $7.50 for a tax deed to
it.
The normal value basis contem
plates ascertainment of the normal
earning power of the farm based on
an average of - farm commodity
price.s over a long period of time
in the locality.
The association’s ' appraisal then
is forwarded to the land bank in
the district and a check made by its
representatives. The bank is then
ready to purchase fof cash or by an
exchange on the farm at a price
not exceeding the unpaid principal
or 50 per cent of the “normal value”
of the land plus 20 per cent of the
value of the improvements—barns,
dwellings, stationary machines and
other.'.
In many cases outstanding mort
gages represent a larger sum than
50 per cent of the “normal value.’’
Unless the holder of the mortgage
is willing to scale down his claim
to that amount, the land bank will
not agree to refinance. If he does
agree, the new land bank mortgage
will be for the amount the 'Old
mortgage holder accepted with in
terest at 4 1-2 per cent and amor
tization af about 1 per cent a year,
depending on the duration of the
loan.
Amortization payments need not
begin for five years, and interest
payments during that time also can
be deferred. The loan.s. can be for
varying periods from 1 to 40 years.
The shorter the period the higher
the annual amortization payment.
■Must Subalt-ribe to Sitock
Kiwanians Enjoy
Spelling Match
Cotton growers in one communi^'
of Bertie County have pooled their
orders for 400 bushels of certified
planting seed and will attempt to
have only one variety of cotton
planted in the community.
Nicholas Roosevelt
Quits As Envoy
Wheat planted after last year’s
tobacco crop in Person county’ is
showing the effects of the tobacco
fertilization and gives indication of
a good crop.
Budapest, Hungary, April 3.—The
resignation of Nicholas Roosevelt as
United States Minister to Hungary
has been accepted by President
Roosevelt, it was announced. Mr.
Roosevelt will leave for America
. May J, making a brief tour of Eu
rope before going to New York.
The members of the Selma
Kiwanis Club enjoyed an old
fashioned .'-pelling match at their
weekly meeting on Thursday even
ing. Program Chairman Charles
Scales was the teacher and gavojthe
words from the old Blue Back
Speller. Kiwanians Harper and
Lowry were selected captains and
chose sides. “Chauffeur” was given
Prof. Tuttle, who left out one of the
“u’s,” then Charlie Jacobs made a
stab at it and missed, also George
Brietz, who started it with “sho,’’
next, said the teacher, Lowry then
spelled it correctly. Matt Wall sat
down on “Awkward.” Parson Crain
and Lowry were spelled down on
“seive” by Parson Singleton. The
sides soon dwindled down to two
on Harper’s side, John Jeffreys and
Harper, and. one on Lowry’s side.
Parson Singleton, John soon took
his seat, which left only Harper and
Singleton standing. Mr. Harper miss
ed “antidisestablishmentarianism,”
thus declaring Lowry’s side winner.
Mr. Harper said it wasn’t • fair, for
Parson Singleton took two trials on
the word- “kodak.” It .was thorough
ly enjoyed by all.
In case the loan is made through
a farm loan association, the farmer
is required to subscribe for its cap
ital stock in an amount equal to 5
per cent of his loan. He makes pay
ments for this stock with his inter-
e.st payments over the period of the
mortgage contract. ^
If the loan is made directly
from a land bank, the interest rate v
will be from one-half to 1 per cent
higher. In loans of this type, the
farmer must agree, however, that if
there are 10 or more farmers with
aggregate , loans in excess of $20,-
000 in his locality, he will be willing
to join an association formed from:
them, receiving a reduction in the
interest rate to 4 1-2 per cent for
five years. During that period their
amortization payments of 1 per cent
a year may be postponed.
Farmers may also obtain special
loans directly from the farm loans
commissioner on the security of first
or second mortgages on land, chat
tels or crops. The maximum amount
will be $5,000 and shall not be more
than 75 per cent of the normal value
of the property pledged as security.
Brick brooders designed for the
Catawba County Home farm by the
farm agent has reduced the cost of
brooding chicks at this farm and is
assuring the inmates of a bountiful
.'upply of poultry.
M.