Newspapers / Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) / March 25, 1926, edition 1 / Page 1
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mm ^ 8HE VOLUME XXXVI I. $1 p GREAT MINE FIRE = L.. .. GOES ON FOREVER *Mi)iioiu of Ton* of Coal i? Consumed J0E;' k( By King of Mine Fire*; Now Burning After 67 Year* *?|j 39.1*00.000 BEEN SPENT IN EFFORT TO CURB FIRE | Summit Hill, Pu., March 24.?An-| tifcracite strikes may come and fro,) tut, tne summit Hill mine lire ap)K*rcntly goes on fordvor. ' It has been burning for 07 years, ever since February, 1859, and is the west destructive, expensive and famous mine fires in the history of mining in the United States. The area involved is about one rtile long and 1,500 feet wide. More j |g& than $11,000,000 have been expended ib fighting the fire. The tonnage of c?al consumed by this "king"' of mine fires can only be guessed, bur. estirun as high as 14,000,000. ^ W Tlu> coal area embracing the scene oi the fire is owned by the the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, bounded in 1820. Summit Kiil lies in the Panther Greek valley, in what is known as the ichuykirt of Lower coal field of the ?K\ anthracite regions In the years since the fire first wjis discovered, many stories have been told cf its origin. But the true ;rtory, vouched for by the company, is frhnt it was started through hot coals being mixed with ashes, the cause of s?any a fire in the homes of coal ' #onsuCTicrs. It was common in the days before i Ao C vil War to have large stoves at the bottom of the slopes for the 1 *omfort of the men. The "bottom man" at old No. 1 slope when the 1 fire started was one Daniel Boyle. 1 Among other thing it was his duty to attend to the stove. One morning be a little late in arriving, and. < .tarrying to get the stove burning, gave it a severe raking* shaking down 1 rod hot coals with the ashes. ; An empty car was standing near i:*n he shoveled the ashes and hot teals into it. The cars in those days 1 jferc built entirely of wood, sheet ' ^*o?i bottoms not as yet being used. By the time he finished, one of the ' drivers hitched his mule to the car njhl hauled it to one cf th<? unused 1 gangways. He had been ordered to ' ac ra there by the foreman the j j*cvious day, in accordance with the ( Xtreman's intention to place several ten in that section to do some repair work. The foreman, however, changed his mind, and the car, as well as the repairing was forgotten ior a couple weeks. When they started to do it they Sou mi the fire Well under way, the hot coals, mixed with the ashes, hav- 1 i*g ignited the wooden ear and the Aire having spread to the timbers. As!! ift was an old, worked-out gangway* fe the fire spread rapidly to the loose coal. > . I '%&:: j There was little, if any. experience | , . then in fighting mine fires. The only < method eihployed was to flood the} place. This was done but on numii-! out the water it was found that*' tie fire Wad pained considerable \ headway and showed plainly that ] : water war, of little use in combating; a There was such an abundance of ' teal, the vein here beiiig: fifty feet tfcick, and many of the workings being under-developed, it was felt the fire would burn itself out in time, ft was decided to abandon the old slope and sink a new slope (No. 2) farther < west. W>th the development of the slope passed the glory of Summit Bill as a mining town. In fighting the fire in the earl;/ sixties, an pen cut it-as made which i seemed to isolate it for many years, i vcntually the fire traveled past this j cut into the coalarcas beyondi I The next method used wi3 sinking 1-inch diameter bore holes, spaced ; 35 feet in each direction, across the basin west of the fire to establish a _J . barrier 250 feet wide and extending from the ,outcrop on the north to a joint where a water sea! "on the south would prevent the spread of the fire. Pine silt or coal dirt mixed with wa-j ter was run into the bore holes to Jill the crevices and optninsg in the coal seam and the rock overlying it, thns creating a harrier which, it was . believed, would check the fire. It L failed. The next attempt was the sinking v --6} a 12-foct gap 100 feet into the earth, which was lined with concrete and the intervening space filled with -clay, making a fire wall 700 feet long. The fire'traveled so rapidly that it pressed close to the barrier before it was completed and necessitated the engineers working their men in 20-minutc- shifts The wall was finished, notwithstanding the hardships and great expense. Considerable heat filtered through, but the defense halted the fire. For double security, howevyg the west face of L the wall was cleared and a water seal constructed. f Engineers are now certain the fire cannot vault the barrier.; Today there is still evidence on i. V -J V , . 33345SH! / f ATA An Independent Fan .SO IVr Year BOON) PROHIBITION GETS PUBLIC HEARER Two Week*' He*riu| on Modificatioi of Eighteenth Amendment to Begin April 5 FAVORABLE COMMITTEE REPORT NOT LIKFL^ Washington. March 22.?The pro hibition issue, which has agitatei both houses of congress at this ses sion as has no other question, is to bi given a public heating before a sen ate committee during the two week bemning Aprii 5. This was deter mined upon today by the senate ju diciary committee which approve* with but a single dissenting vote tin program recommended by its sub committee of five for heatings 01 the pending measures for rnodifica tion of the dry laws. Senator Means. Republican, oi Colorado, will have charge of th? hearings and he will attempt to hol< both wets anddrys strictly to th< subject of the bills at issue. Each sia< will nave six days for presentatior of its case, with the wets taking tin stand first. The first measure that will be con pdered will be that by Sdnatoi Bruce, Democrat, of Maryland, pro posing' to change the eighteenth amendment so that those states anc committees which were wet whei the dry law went into effect agair wuld be wet, but would have to He pend on the federal government foi their limited supplies of intoxicants Then the beer bills and the Edge measure to remove the restrictions or prescription whiskey will have theii innings. There are three beer bills proposing four per cent, 2.75 pei cent and beer "non-intoxicating ir fact." Senator Edwards, Democrat if New Jersey, is author of the first, and Senator Edge,. Republican, oi NIpht -Tnrcnc I'/iIK' 4l?.. * ... - Wei leaders have no hope that the committee will report any of the bills favorably. They naked for the hearings, they explain, so congress car alicit officially the opinions of en forccmont officers, educators, ministers and others as to how the dry laws should be amended so as' to make their enforcement less diffi cult. BRAMHAM DECLINES TO ENGAGE IN CONTROVERSY Durham, March 2-i?''Nothing tc say, now or later," was the attitude ;>f W. .(?. Hramhnm. chairman of the state Republican executive committee, expressed toward the Marion Butler broadside hurled at him in a pamphlet headed "Fallacies of Chairman Hramhnm Exposed," - summary uul extracts from which were published ir> several papers of the state yesterday, on his return from a weekend .-pent in western North Carolina. Mr. Bramham intimated that the former North Carolina senator is aft ?r publicity and wants him to help get it for him, through entering into a newspaper controversy?and Mr. Bramham has takem the attitude that he will not help the Marion Butler faction and proposed plan of organization in the state by discussing it. Vet, he also intimated that when the nioke of battle has cleared away, the Sampson county petrel of the state Republicans will be found high and dry on a limb?-Just as on many former occasions. EATHQUAKES Washington, March 24?Two earthquake shocks were registered or the Georgetown university seismograph today. The first, which began atl2:47 a. m., and lasted until 1:30, was placed by Director Tondorl approximately 1,600 miles from Washington. It was of a pronounced character. The second, beginning about 6 o'clock and reaching its maximum between 6:13 and (\:15. was.a distant quake. v V. ?? North P.sirnlino fowmmr- * ? . tcoaiicio SUCilU tUl m\ich money on fertilizer not to use the kind suitable for their crops anci soils, say agronomy workers. the surface of the fire that -hai burned so long and is still burning. A few hot spots are visible along th< south crop of the Mammoth vein. Tht northern part of the fire area bat cooled off materially, although froir the vapor that arises from crevicei at certain places, it is known som< bodies for fire still exist. During the last two years a larg< number of eight-inch drill hole; have been sunk in this section to al low further flushing. This has no been entirely, successful, but in com bination with the barrier cut off anc the silting operations over the,entir< area, it undoubtedly is causing., thi fire to gradually bum.. Y itself out Drilling and slushing along the soutl crop will be continued until the fin in that area also has been iextui guished. j . * . UGA lily Newspaper, Devoted 1 ?, WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAI ^ ?nn *- 11111 ?www r I | n B I Father . | and Son / t FTeei<i??t Cat Tin 9 ^ CnotWve and f S3 y I ''is fatltcr B Coi John Cao!id(^ iff ?T| 1? rtf?* I t i Last picture of President Coolidge ; the Death of Cc MISSING MAN MAY HAVE BEEN FOUND I Shelby, March 24.?A nmr. has .j been discovered, living, in a small city, i i near Shelby, who beiievcs he is | Charlie Ross, the lost lad, whose "" disappearance early in the seventies t'\ of the past century was one of the . | great mysteries of that period, j In fact, such broadcast publicity j did the disappearance of the child I occasion, that the name of Charlie ! Ross has been a household word in | this country ever since. Now, after more than fifty years, l|a man conies to the front, nnnouitcfi i ing his belief that he is the kidnap- j j pod child. j The story is revealed through J. j F. Gatfney, of Shelby, who has been j I asked by the man in question if he j will make an affidavit to the effect that he believes him to be Charlie I !! Ross. ! Mr. Gafnrey said that he will make] such an affidavit without hesitation. 4,1 actually believe the man to be \ 3harlie Ross," said Mv. Gaffney. I 1 v Asked concerning his connection with the case, Mr. Gaffney- says: "Back in 18?h?the year Charlie! Ross disappeared?I was living- in Gaffney. Soon after the disappearance of the child, there showed up in Gaffney a man and a woman an<| a child. The child resembled exactly ! the published pictures of Charlie 1 Ross. "The appearance of the couple in Gaffney created a great deal of curiosity and comment, so much so that an investigation was set on foot to find out if the lad was not the mis' sing child. Evidently the-father of 1 the family, for such the man posedNas being, got wind of the affair, and dis appeared. [ "Ever since that time I have had the conviction that that child was 1 the missing Charlie Ross. But I lost I sight of him and never heard of him r again, until a few weeks ago when I 5 got a letter frm a man in a city near Shelby, asking me if I was the Mr. Gaffney who lived in Gaffney in '7.3, and asking me further if I remember> ed a child resembling Charlie Ross ! who had lived in the South Carolina I city when I was there. "It seems the man in his advanc ing years has made an attempt to > clear up the mystery surrounding his l early circumstances. He is now i. married and a man of family, and he i wished to clear up his name "find his 5 identity for the sake of those hear i him, before it should be too late. i "He was successful in tracing his ; history back to the Gaffney period. And so he wrote to me. In the let; ters he has written roe, he stated that s he is in correspondence with the - brother of Charlie Ross, Walter L. t Ross, who is still living. He also has - taken up the question with the New 1 York World, the newspaper which e was most active at the time of Charlie 2 Ross' disappearance in trying to trace . him." i There are a number of letter of s correspondence which have passed f between this "lost soul" and Mr. Gaffney during the past few weeks. ' J ' -A DEM to the Upbuilding of Nor ROLJNA, THURSDAY, MARCH 2S, 'L v.'j : !/ . - 1 ? ?n i i ? -? 23^BflKY38XONHB iiul his father, Made Shortly -Befor > lonel Coolidge. R. F. GENTRY DEAD AI JEFFERSOP* j Was Prominent in Fraternal an< Church Circle.-*; Influenza Cause of Death Jefferson, March 2??R. F. Gentn I died at his home here early Sunday meriting following a brief illnes with influenza and complications | The deceased was 51 years of age He is survived by his wife and si3 1 children and two brothers, W. E j Gentry, of Jefferson, and Rev. A. H ! Gentry, of Virginia, and one sister I Mrs. J. G. Horton, of North Wilkes boro. j Tht* Funeral was conducted in thi Jefferson Baptist church Monday j afternoon by the pastor. Rev. S. C j Blackburn, assisted by Rev. J. L ' Reynolds, pastor of the Methodis church, and Rev. R. H. Stone, paste i of the Presbyterian church. A Iarg< I crowd attended and witnessed inter I ment in the town ceremony, thi I burial services being in charge of th< Masonic order, of which the de^eas j ed was a prominent member. Kr- r*?*? x?xt. viciaiy was iung' an uctivt j member of Jefferson lodge" No. 219 I Ac F; & A. M., and of the Jeffersoi Baptist church, of which he was j deacon and treasurer and assistan superintendent and a teacher in th> Sunday school. He was a printer by trade and wa formerly editor of the Damascu News, Damascus, Ya. lie was bon and reared in Jefferson and returnee here from Damascus about two year ago to accept a position with thi Northwestern Herald. NEWS OF THE WEEK AT VALLE CRUCIi Valio Crucis, March 24.- -Mrs. J YV. Whitehead spent the week-en with her sister, Mrs. W. H. Mast. Mrs. D. F. Mast is recovering fror ! her recent fall and injury. Mi*, and Mrs. John Clarke, of Le ; noil*, spent- Sundayat the home o 1 Mr. and Mrs. W. I). Clarke, j Mrs. C. D. Taylor is visiting ij I Boone this week. Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Baird thi jweek received news of the death o j their daughter, Mrs. W. H. Periles j in Spokane, Wash. Mrs. J. L. Tester, who h?c Koo visiting her sister, Mrs. John Dyei in Mountain City for the past fe\ weeks, returned home last Saturdaj Mr. J. H. Shipley, who has been il at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. K Mast, was able-to be at the stor again last week. Mrs. T. W. Taylor made a shoi visit to her parents, Mr. and Mrs. A N. Mast, at Silverstone last week. The school truck has once mor taken its place on the road, relievin the wagon which has been doing dut during the excessive mud, to th great satisfaction of the school chi dren. Mr. and Mrs. D. C. Mast sper Sunday in the valley. OCRA thwest North Carolina. 1926. Fire Cents APPLE GROWING MADEPROFITABL B. T. Taylor Finds That With Proj Care Orchard Can Be Made to Yield Good Profit INCREASES YIELD FROM 150 TO 3,SOO BUSHE (By H. R. Niswonger, North Ca Una Extension Service, South* Ruralisl.) The cash return from comm dal growing of apples docs hot ? pend upon the number of produci wvcs pci dcie, uui iiu tne quality high-conditioned fruit yield p tree. The ultimate aim of every chardist should be to develop a ti that has a large capacity for a ye ly crop of marketable apples. In the program of orchard manaj ment, cultivation and spraying ha more to do with production than a other phase of the work. A fr tree under intensive cultivation pi duces new wood and additional fr buds. It is kept in a state of vig thereby increasing the set of bl s.om buds on the old wood.a nd many instances, making these bt more resistant to adverse weatl conditions. Spraying, in combiuati with cultivation, also inccases the fruit and prevents the accumulati of insects and diseases, theeby redi 'rig the number of culls and mere; in the volume of salable apples. These two factors ir. orch ard mi j aerement have proved very profital ! to Mr. D. T. Taylor of Stony Foi N. C., who has followed the reco: J mendation of the state department i horticulture in co-operation with t j county agent of Watauga couni j Mr. Taylor four years ago purehus ja neglected ochard of around 1,0 - ] hearing apple trees, 10 to 15 years i age. The *soil had crown to , c- - *?*? - I and briers, the trees were severe ! over-pruned and stunted in growl and had not borne a (marketable cr j of apples. The first year it was pi chased, the only attention the orcha j received was the breaking up a turning:Minder of the broomsedge a the grubbing out o? the briers. T orchard that year biomcd very litt ^ | followed by a light crop of arou 150 bushels, nearly all of which f | off due to the absence of the spy 3 j program. ' The second year the trees we .! given an application of nitrate c | soda as the buds weres welling, we cultivated and the orchard sown " j cowpeas the latter part of the sit] | mer. Three sprays were put on, . j dormant, calyx and one later app - cation. The production jumped i 1,200 bushels of marketable fru The third year the same cultivate and spraying were continued with >T production of 2.500 bushels. Air. Taylor, although satisfi u with the quality of fruit, was not ss f isfied with the. condition of the a r i pies, as he had been having too ma _! culls. In eonfedScnce with the coun agent he found that he had be e; nmlttiiC^ [oiie-of the most imports e early summer sprays, namely, t ^ pink bud application or the one pi j ceding the calyx spray. The chi e trouble causing the cull apples w ! the RriisPTir.r* of jir?r?lo a | which begins its infection as the i'ri a I bud clusters are separating and oft , ' as early as the appearance of t e I leaves. "The following year which w s|i?o\v the fourth year under Mr. Ts s lor's management, the producti a was 3,500 bushels. Not only was t j yield increased,"T>ut the condition s the fruit was better; apple scab e fection was reduced, resulting in greater quantity marketable appl Mr. Taylor found that by increasi F the number of sprays the fruit i fc. better. In addition he controlled s I pie scab early infection,which if r checked causes a large number ( the young apples to drop off. T ' spraying up to this time had be I handled by a barrel pump, which w traded in on a power outfit at t II beginning of the season of 1925. T1 outfit enabled the spraying crew cover the orchard in a short peri of time and to nut on the vsirin sprays at the proper period. T 11 apple production this past year w 2,500 bushels with the condition ? the fruit far superior than any * the previous years. > Mr. Taylor kept rerords on c< and returns of this orchard whi n are as follows: Yield for the fo years, 9,700 bushels with an avera v price of $1.25 per bushel at the 1 r* chard, making the gross returns $1 125. The cost of orchard manaj * mcnt, includinb all labor, material i ? spraying and soil improvement. b< es and barrels, etc., was around $ 1 000 per year or a total four-year c L* of $4,000. This gave Mr. Taylor a i return for the four years of .>?,1; e The farm, including 50 acres, 25 ^ which is in orchard, was purchai y by Mr. Taylor for $4,500. ie In Ion trusting the two systems orchard practice, it was observed ti ! heavy pruning followed by nsitl j cultivation nor spraying, as pvacth ! before Mr. Taylor took hold of * Copy NUMBER 11 SUPERIORCOURf ,E NOWJN SESSION per With Jugde Finley Presiding, Spring Terra is Disposing of NurobeV of Criminal Cases. LINNEY IS PROSECUTING IN LS Ag^TCNCE OF SOLICITOR HAYES i'o- The spring term of Watauag ?u ?rii perior court convened Monday with 1 Judge T. B Fin ley presiding. Owing <yr" to sickness in the family of Hon. *e~ | Johnson J. Hayes, the solicitor, was in??i not present and District Attorney F. erjA. Linnev carried on the prosecution or.. j for the state. ree j Judge Fin ley delivered his charge ar" j in his usual able way, forcefully and" i concisely impressing upon the grand ?e~ | jurors the seriousness of their oath. lve and giving them the usual instrucuy' tions. u*tJ Judge Finley has many friends in i*?-jthis part of the state who are always* u't; glad for him to come. A fine genor,' tleman and a man of wonderful abili?.s"! ty, he rules his courts in a way bein 1 fitting his honored station in life, tie ids: has won state-wide recognition <ls a ier jurist, having tried some of the ; most noteworthy cases in the history set 5 of North Carolina courts. He won Iwidespread popularity in the famous j Cole-Ormond case last year by his as~ i wise rulings on the bench. Both state and civil dockets were tn" unusually light and court will likely de adjourn today. rk, The cases disposed of on the erimm" inal docket, and the sentences imof nnnarl f I Lioyd Stansberry, carrying eonccal*y j ed weapon, fined' $50 and the coste, e(l I and given a six-months suspended 00 j sentence. ?fj Huffman and Pope, reckless drivlQ? irig, judgment continued until next -ly i term. Lh, j Charles McCBInell, assault with "P)deadly weapon, fined $10 and the ,r" costs. ltl, Fred Penley, violating prohibition nt* laws, taxed with costs aild givan a P.4 six-months suspended sentence. hc' Bern Cook, resisting officer, fined !c*?j$50 and the costs . Wm. Winkler, liquor, not guilty. . Frank McGee, liquor, $100 and ?y j costs. George Moretz, liquor, $150 and ? e j the costs. W. W, Randall, carrying conceal , L* | |ed weapon, two years on roads, j capias to issue on order of the court. !'rt~ | W W. Randall, liquor, guilty, 15 a months on roads. '':~i Milton Goffey (Peanut), liquor, to | judgment suspended on payment of :t* j costs. on I G. G, Wilcox, liquor, fined $25; u I and costs. George Moretz. carrying concealed 1,Weapon, fined ?75 and costs. W. J. Wagner, assault with deadlP"ily weapon, fined $15 and the costs, ny | ,y i WOMAN GIVEN CREDIT L'"! FOR SAVING 30 LIVES iit? . j10 i Mt. Vernon. Wash., March 24.? ;fc" Mrs. F. E. Elijah, a chnmbcrmaul. e i was given credit, last night for having ^ saved the lives of 30 students of ^ Washington State college today when' fire destroyed the Windsor hotel ?n here Johnny Gland and Charles iiukin, two of the students, also I snareo cneait tor neroic conduct. a^j Mrs. Elijah ran through the rooms ^ (after the fire was discovered, wakingr the students, who ore members ^ of the college glee club. Her hands and face were burned but she eontn~ tinued until all had been notified. Glann carried a woman guest to es* safety from the second floor of the hotel and Rnkin assisted two other 58 women down a fire escape. ip: Prof. F. C- Butterficld, in charge lo. of the glee club, also showed great ? courage in directing escapes and e remained in the burning hotel until en all the college men got out. Many .as of them escaped by ropes and sheets *e tied together. ? All of the 117 guests escaped. The loss is estimated at $150,000. od |us Hat Wet Platform Washington, Marcel 24?Frank J. ras Kelly, formerly in charge of liquor ?* case prosecutions in Washington, of ,,.;n jw. ? ~ ^? *?., TT.ii.j nm uk: a MiiuiualC JWI H1U UIUtCQ | States senate in Wisconsin this fall ^st j on a light wine and beer platform, lC^ J the Washington Post said today, ,ur[ quoting him as expressing the belief 8? ] that enforcement of prohibition k l^r" impossible. ?e" Es. W. L. Bryan, who has been Lor quite sick at his home here for aeveral days, is very much improved, his host of friends will be glad to learn. ost let orchard, resulted in neither wood 25. growth .nor fruit, while a complete of syteni of orchard management insed | volving soil improvement, spraying \ moderate pruning, and thinning of of j the fruit, returned to the owner hat ;? four-year average yield of 2.425 bur j bushels per year and at the same jcd! time 'increased the value of the enchej tire farm.
Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 25, 1926, edition 1
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