This 1923 a Good Year For Social Legislation in N. C. General Assembly Just Past Showed Itself Socially-Minded Body Favorably Disposed Towards Public Welfare Work in North Carolina; Helped Children and Unfortu-* i nates; State Board pf Public Welfare W‘ Pleased With Results of Session. ' „r \KLL BATTLE LEWIS . •nilili’.H, March 10—This has been -oc year for public welfare leglsla igU-, North Carolina. The general rn:v.y of 1924 was distinctly favor Measures providing for the care unfortunate in the state and the 1,1 ‘.Jon of children. Prison reform pr°No'r*li Carolina, it is true, made but 1,1 ;e headway. But otherwise the Uffislature gave progressive evidence t> was, in the main, a socially-: Eroup. It took no retrogressive B1.l luit followed out the same gen lt(\'policies of the three proceeding c[ lIar sessions by passing laws look i towards the improvement of social nations in the state. ' Moft important among- the social a„res passed during this last ses were: the Mothers’ Aid bill; the ’’ tn raise the age of consent from Vtn 16 years and its companion mak . the legal age of marriage 16 in trad It: establishment of an industrial training'school in Eastern North Caro ;ina for delinquent boys; and the bill to allow two or more counties to unite |lUi;ding a home for the indigent. u was also fortunate for the progress l|f public w.elafre work In North -Caro Ins that the proposed amendment to juvenile court law which would yduee the age limit of- juridictlon of ;hat court from 16 to 14 failed to pass. y0 bin to abolish the welafre officer in any county was successful. The 5tate hoard of charities and public wel fare received an increase of $20,000 In appropriation for the next two years, Fa) percent raise. It was in support of the Mother’s Aj to come up to certain standards in order to bo licensed by the state board it is thought improbable that any consider able number of such institutions will be established. Sentiment Favors welfare Officers Public sentiment in various counties as expressed to representatives in the legislature' appeared to be opposed to the abolition of the office of superinten dent of public welfare. Bills to abolish this office in Surry, Lenoir, Johnston, Columbus and Avery counties were de feated. With reference to Warren county, the state law which made the employment of a welfare officer op tional in a county of less than 82,$$$ in population was re-enacted as a local law. A bill was passed making the of fice of superintendent of public welfare mandatory in Mitchell county and rais- : ing the age of compulsory school at-1 tendance there to 16. Prison reform * bills sponsored by I the N. C. Conference-for Social Service travelled a rougher road in the gen eral assembly than the rest of the so ciol measures. Three out of seven bills on the program of the conference In troduced in the legislature passed These were: to put the state prison on an appropriation basis; to abolish the j department for the criminal insane at the state prison; and to establish a colony for tubercular prisoners. These last two were offerred by George Ross Pou, superintendent of the state prison, and all three had his support. Those which failed to pas? were: to abolisn flogging as a punishment for prisoners; to re-organize the board of directors of the state prison; to change the per-I sonnel of the advisory board of parole and employ a parole officer; and to send to the state prison all criminals sen tenced for more than three months. The appropriation to the State Board of Charities arid Public Welfare was Increased by the general -assembly from $20,000 to $30,900 a year. The State Child Welfare' Commission, of which the commissioner of Public Wel fare is chairman and whose function it is to enforce the child labor law in this state also received an annual Increase of $10,0Q0. Appropriations to state in stitutions in which the State Board of Charities and Public Welfare has special interest were: State hospital at Raleigh, for permanent improvement $394,000, for maintenance, $440,000 as against $766,000 and $320,000 in 1921: State hospital at Morganton $415,000 and $445,000 as against $300,000 and $426,000; State hospital at Goldsboro, $313,000 and $235,000 as against $300,000 and $220,000; Caswell Training school, $500,000 and $146,000 as against $240, 000 and $80,000: Jackson Training school, $135,000 and $100,000 as against $140,000 and $40,000; Samarcand Manor $232,500 and $100,000 as against $165, 000 and $56,000; and for the reforma tory for delinquent colored boys autho rized by the legislature of 1921 but not yet established, $50,000. Clusters of* fruit, preferably cherries or grapes, are frequently seen hanging off the brims of the coarse straw hats designed for midsummer wear. For immediate wear nothing is more pop ular than the small cloche of felt or combination of silk and straw. Willow furniture is accepted all over the country as the best for out-of-door use. On the. cool shaded ver* a,]da there is nothing to make the house more attractive 8 than willow porch furniture such as we have on hand. “BETTER FURNITURE—LESS MONEY” W. J. Bradshaw & Co. Darrell Building ’ Telephone 593 W_ _i_— EFIRD’S Wilmington^ N. C. Never Were Spring Fabrics Lovelier Than These WHAT a colorful season this is going to be! With embroidered and printed fabrics leading the mode, no wonder! Beauty is easy to attain when all fabrics are lovely—drab and unin teresting clothes have no excuse, whatsoever. CSuch exquisite fabrics as you will find here make clothes fashioning a joy—yet prices are modest for sp much loveliness. Silks, woolens, cottons—one simply lovelier than the other.1. ;^ : * ! Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars Worth New Spring Silks bought in tremendous quantities for our 33 big department stores. Wilmington’s portion is here and represents all the newest v weaves, colors and effects for 1 spring. Monday will witness a 1 silk selling, the ljke of which ? you never saw before. Come early for the best selections. \ PRINTED CREPE DECHINE—This is a soft, crepy silk, very pretty for the new spring dress. In lovely patterns of both floral and Egyptian designs, 40 inches 00 wide, at ( Cotton Dress Goods The finest line of cottons to be seen this season anywhere. No excuse now for not having one, two or half dozen pretty frocks for early spring wear. Monday you’ll find these goods on dis play moderateliy priced. IMPORTED RATINE—36 ipches wade, in the new plaid effect. This is a very pretty mate rial and the new weave. d»1 OQ The yard ..1.? CANTON CREPE—A pretty quality all-silk crepe, just the -weight to drape softly, nice for street or dress wear, all d»0 Qf leading colors, 40 inches wide, at... «P FLAT CREPE—Absolutely the season’s newest and best.. It has a soft, smooth, crepy effect, drapes very prettily and is very d»0 AC individual for street or dress, 40 inches wide, at ......... .. MALLINSON’S “THISLDU”—This heavy all-silk tweed is the novelty of the season. Is very effective for street, sport d*0 AO an<^ QC or suits, 40 inches wide... MALLINSON’S HOTTENTOT—A lovely®soft, heavy crepe; a pretty ma terial for blouses and combinations, a pretty Paisley in tfJO AO navy and gray, 40 inches wide. ... MALLINSON’S PONGEE—This is a soft all-silk material and is extremely. pretty for suits, dresses or skirts, <£ 9 QQ 40 inches wide.. • • r.***••''* CREPE SATIN—A lovely soft, smooth silk-satin with crepe back, drapes prettily and is also very attractively used for tailored t CO C A wear, 40 inches wide. MALLINSON’S “HOOS-HOO”—A very handsome crepe is this, with & nice, heavy-weight; splendid for spo/t or street, in either QC plaid or stripes, 40 inches wide.. ALLIGATOR CREPE-—Another of the newest crepes is inis neavy au-sun. material, for dress or tailored wear. It is also splendid for QQ capes or coat dresses, 40 inches wide. ^ _ CORKSCREW CREPE—This is a crepe very much like the cantons, but is a heavier weight, just the thing for the dress without a wrap. It is also attractively used for capes, in navy, brown and gray, 40 inches wide .. -• CREPEfDE CHINE—We have “just filled in’' on our new colors of crepe, all the pretty shades for lingeries and also